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evsacademicessaysblog · 2 years

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People Under 3 Report

EDCR202 People Under Three

“PEOPLE under three? You mean BABIES? Those aren’t ‘people’ yet!! You’re just studying nappy changing until you can have your own baby. Why would you waste your time with those studies? Mothers have been taking care of babies forever without having to ‘study’ it!”

I am glad you appreciated my off-cuff response to that question and asked for more. In this report I will lay out why I believe his claim was wrong and why Early Childhood Education (ECE) for under 3s is important, so important as to require to be the focus of a field of study and as laying the groundwork for identity, confidence, and learning.

Early Childhood is not babysitting, and so what if it was?

How many mothers and parents do you know who need additional support and pastoral care? Who need for their kids the kind of care event hat you get in care? If ECE was babysitting, and later I’ll explain how it’s not, that wouldn’t be a bad thing as it’s not good for children to be raised in the isolation created by the dissolution of the extended family in western society (Johnston; & Deisher, 1973).

Mothers haven’t been taking care of babies forever without training, in the past, for most cultures, a whole village raised a child, parents alone without support or extended family to give the required stimulation and care for a child to flourish is a very modern and western invention. Mothers co-raised their children in a community where they were trained and taught by grandparents, godparents, extended family, and other community members with experience. Looking at many Pasifika (Rameka, et al., 2016), Indigenous (Herber, 2001) and Asian communities today you can still see this style of childcare and looking into Europe’s past (Pernoud, 1962) this was the case there with vast networks of dozens of godparents covering every aspect of life, intergenerational and communal living which saw children supported and exposed to a stimulation, care, relationships and learning from a whole community not just their mothers.

Nursey’s and ECE centres provide that engagement and relationships for under 3s who would otherwise so lacking in the modern system. Kaiako need training and education in how to best provide that support, care and stimulation young children need to take advantage of their capacity to learn and build the diverse relationships they need to build their own identities and dispositions: understandings of who they are who they can be which are essential to future life, learning and relationships. Without training and access to the theory and science around ECE kaiako won’t be able to best support under 3s in this vital early learning or meet the diverse needs of learners.

And we need to know how to address the needs of all children, we can’t rely on parents to tell us what their kid needs, and all children have individual and diverse needs, and you need to study to learn enough tools to face all those situations. I have a friend with two children who are a lot of work and when her youngest went into centre, even though she had the experience and training to know what her kid needed she couldn’t explain that as she was just tired, exhausted, and more than anything just needed to hand him over to a trained kaiako who had the skills and knowledge to help without her needing all that extra labour.

Children under 3 uses their whole brains, it’s the only time in their lives when their whole brain is burning with learning before the synaptic pruning steps in and they need an environment to take best advantage of the fizzy whirlpool of connecting electrons as the electricity in the new growing brains sears glowing pathways in every direction before they set in the patterns most used (The secret life of the brain. Episode 1 The Baby's Brain: wider than the sky, 2002), as such it is especially vital that under 3s get the involvement not just of parents, who might be too tired to think themselves, but a rich stimulation of relationships and experiences, that kaiako are trained to provide.

Knowing more than “changing nappies.”

ECE is more than just “changing nappies” or proxy-parenting, kaiako are responsible under Te Whāriki (Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education., 2017) for providing under 3s with enrichment and support their needs, learning and development, exemplified and best described through the five strands. To look at their example, changing nappies can’t just be a functional act and we need the understanding to no why, and not change nappies that way but instead approach that act through the five strands in order to make that interaction one which upholds the child’s mana, rights and contributes to their understanding and trust in the world and ability to act within it. For example, changing nappies carried out following a Pikler method (Marlen, 2017) of respectful care, the practice of centring the child in such activities and not the activity, aligns with Te Whāriki (2017) strand’s: Through comminating directly with the child, respecting their boundaries and focusing on them for the duration of the activity they can be affirmed as individuals and kaiako can recognise them as such. Through use of language with them and close attention to their comfort, reactions and languages, verbal and nonverbal, their communication development and our understanding and ability to communicate them is enhanced. Through respectful care (Belasko, et al., 2019), asking consent and treating them as people not pieces in a nappy changing factory, belonging, contribution and wellbeing are all enhanced as through been treated respectfully by kaiako they learn to respect others and themselves, developing identities that know their limitations, comfort and consent. Can trust and feel safe enough in the centre environment and around adults to build those relationships, dispositions and links to the people and worlds around them to explore, learn and grow. Modern understanding of human development is rooted in a socio-cultural perspective valuing humans as individuals who co-construct their learning (Vygotsky, et al., 1978) and views of the world through their relationships with people, places and things (Rogoff, 2003), through this we can see the importance of how under 3s are treated and how this effects all aspects of their being and futures.

Seeing the many aspects and impacts on the child in just this one example of what might be considered an insignificant interaction, as seeing this as an interaction and not as a chore, the kotahitaka or holistic nature of ECE teaching and the development of infants is shown. Every interaction and every aspect of teaching under 3s impacts on them in multiple aspects of their life and development and so teaching under 3s and understanding them is a vital, vast and complicated task that you really need to study as if you had to find it all for yourself you’d be lost and those children would be left for the worse as we have seen in the past when under 3s were not respected as people and those who they were handed to, not trained to care for them.

How we got here and what happened before we did.

The colonisation of Aotearoa & Te Waka o Aoraki in the 19th century that formed New Zealand brought with it Britain’s industrial family model (Walker, 2016) and the economic and social pressures that destabilise the extended family (Johnston; & Deisher, 1973) along with laws that penalised the indigenous methods of communal childcare (Milne, 2017) and stigmatised solo mothers (May, 2013), in this environment many children became unwanted or their parents left without the means or support to care from them. Without an understanding of the value of trained educators and carers for under 3s, the system of baby farms developed. Baby-farming describes a practice where a “nurse” would take babies and look after them without disclosing their parents, for profit (May, 2013, p. 123). Overtime this practice attracted individuals interested in the money not the care of children, and with no awareness in colonial society of the needs of infants, their rights or the need to take seriously childcare, a blind eye was turned to these baby-farmers or the wellbeing of infants. Even after the discovery of mass graves, infanticide, abuse, neglect and scandals such as the trial of Minnie Dean, colonial New Zealand was more concerned with the immortality than the wellbeing of infants or the effects of poor treatment on their long term success and wellbeing (May, 2013), the eventual establishment of the kindergarten system in the late 1800s by these concerns was able to slowly developed into the ECE systems of today through the struggle of ECE kaiako and academics to fight for the credibility, scientific access and training required to centre children’s learning and create a system under which under 3s can be recognised as what they are, capable and in need for support, care, love and opportunities to learn (Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education., 2017).

Assimilationist practices in imposing whiteness, English language and the a culture of secularised Anglicanism on children persists from that harsh colonial period into even today, which the national standards and code of conduct for all teachers (Education Council | Matatū Aotearoa, 2017) recognises by requiring that Māori learners be affirmed as Māori and all learners have their home cultures, identities and heritage affirmed and upheld. This is also a right under the UN rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989). Through this we can see the importance of trained kaiako with an understanding of the rights and identities of under 3s in caring for them. Te Whāriki (Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education., 2017) provides a foundation, and certificates & diplomas the theorical grounding and understanding for kaiako to meet these requirements and prevent the historical wrongs against under 3s be repeated by accident or ignorance against the under 3s of today.

These requirements, combined with the training ensure that kaiako today are qualified. Not just that that they know how to best meet the needs of children and enhance their learning, not just that they know what harms and hinders children so to avoided, not just that they know how to assess, see and recognise learning and build upon it to aid the child in building their identity, but that by being qualified, certified and trained the rest of society knows they know it too. The qualification is a sign of gained knowledge and also of vetting, police checks and experience, in study and placement that ensures that kaiako going to to teach, are safe to be going out to teach and anyone leaving their children with them, can check that. It’s not just important that kaiako are trained for the learning of children, but to everyone involved with children. In keeping under 3s cared for, supporting their growth and identities and in making sure, in a way the government, schools, parents and society can keep track of, that the type of neglect and harm that was once common in New Zealand is not happening and does not happen.

In all this report has been about one issue, the one that unites all these points and his questions, why is the study of children under 3 so important. It’s because children under 3 are important. Their care, their development, their families, their safety, and their futures. We need kaiako who are qualified, so we know our children are safe. We need kaiako who are up to date with the research, so we know our children are given the best support in developing into who they choose to be. We need kaiako who know the past, so we won’t repeat the worse of it as we chart a path to the future. We need kaiako who understand methods and practices, so they provide the best care for our children and their wellbeing. We need kaiako who have experience in practice before they take on the responsibility of teaching. We need kaiako who understand that under 3s are capable, and confident people with the full rights of personhood and kaiako who have been taught how to fight for those children, their rights and their education. If we didn’t have courses, papers and degrees to study education, we could end up again in a world where the people with so little regard for under 3s they’d ask those first dismissive questions response for the care of under 3s, what sort of outcomes could those attitudes bring?

Bibliography

Belasko, M., Herran, E. & Anguera, M. T., 2019. Dressing toddlers at the Emmi Pikler nursery school in Budapest: caregiver instrumental behavioral pattern. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(6), pp. 872-887.

Education Council | Matatū Aotearoa, 2017. Our Code Our Standards: Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession. Ngā Tikanga Matatika Ngā Paerewa: Ngā Tikanga Matatika mā te Haepapa Ngaiotanga me ngā Paerewa mō te Umanga Whakaakoranga.. Wellington: Education Council | Matatū Aotearoa.

Herber, A., 2001. Whanau Whakapakari: a Māori-centred approach to child rearing and Parent-training programmes, Hamilton: The University of Waikato.

Johnston;, C. M. & Deisher, R. W., 1973. CONTEMPORARY COMMUNAL CHILD REARING : A First Analysis. Pediatrics , 52(3), pp. 319-326.

Kelm, M.-E. & Smith, K. D., 2018. Talking Back to the Indian Act: Critical Readings in Settler Colonial Histories. s.l.:University of Toronto Press.

Marlen, D., 2017. All About...: Pikler. Nursery World, 6 March.2017(5).

May, H., 2013. The discovery of early childhood. Auckland: Auckland University Press.

Milne, A., 2017. Coloring in the White Spaces: Reclaiming Cultural Identity in Whitestream Schools: Chapter 6: Coloring in the School-Learning Space.. Counterpoints, Volume 513, pp. 95-127.

Pernoud, R., 1962. Joan of Arc. MavDonald & Co. English Translation ed. Paris: Editions du Seuil.

Rameka, L., Glasgow, A. & Fitzgerald, M., 2016. Our voices: Culturally responsive, contextually located infant and toddler caregiving. Early Childhood Folio, Issue 20, pp. 3-9.

Rogoff, B., 2003. The cultural nature of human development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education., 2017. Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga-Ministry of Education..

The secret life of the brain. Episode 1 The Baby's Brain: wider than the sky. 2002. [Film] Directed by B Brown, D Grubin. s.l.: David Grubin Productions., PBS.

United Nations, 1989. Convention on the rights of the child (1989). United Nations Treaty Series, 1577(Treaty no. 27531), pp. 3-178.

Vygotsky, L. S. et al., 1978. Mind in Society. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Walker, R., 2016. Reclaiming Māori education. In: J. Hutchings & J. Lee-Morgan, eds. Decolonisation in Aotearoa: Education, research and practice. Wellington: NZCER Press, pp. 19-38.

#EDCR202 People Under Three #Teacher's College #Early Childhood Education #2nd year #University Essay #Essay #Education #Infants & Toddlers #New Zealand Curriculum

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crellanstein · 4 years

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Prodigious

I find it odd how the fandom focuses so much on Aang’s childhood being ruined when he learned he was the Avatar at 12, but there’s very little talk about how discovering she was the Avatar as a toddler affected Korra’s life and how she was raised.

But we’ll circle back to that...

Because this is a good starting point to talk about one of the most prevalent themes in the story, which the mainstream discussion of tends to only focus on a few characters -- That is the Child Prodigy.

We’ll start with the two most obvious. The ones we always talk about.

Azula.

The clearest example of your typical child prodigy (if there is anything typical about a prodigy). Azula showed early mastery of very advanced Fire-Bending techniques, and is the only Fire-Bender to use blue flames, which was intended to make her stand out amongst the other villains but is also indicative that her Fire-Bending is more pure and powerful (blue flame is produced when burning pure O2 or fuel without contaminant at a very high temperature).

All this lead to her being praised and favored by Ozai as a child, but as double-edged swords go, this also meant she had a lot of pressure on her shoulders to never fail, and she rarely did. Her ego matched her talent, and let’s be honest she was the baddest bitch the show had ever seen. Conquering Ba Sing Se, defeating the Avatar in combat, and dropping some of the most devastating lines of dialogue in villain history; she was a force nobody wanted to reckon with.

And that become a problem for one asshole in particular...

Being jealous of his own child is just one item on a laundry list of reasons why this guy is the worst father in the history of fathers. Azula had begun to outshine him with her victories, and Ozai’s maniacal ego couldn’t handle that, so he left her behind to babysit the Fire Nation while he went out to burn/conquer the world, which also was her idea.

And while this wasn’t the only thing that aided in her demise, it certainly was the final straw which sent her spiraling down into this...

In the end Azula is a sad example of how certain unfair expectations are placed upon talented children, and the more they succeed, the more these expectations grow and weigh on the them until they either disappoint those looking down on them or surpass and embarrass their elders.

It is a lose-lose situation which inevitably destroys them.

There is a similar example of the child prodigy, but his story goes a little different.

Aang.

Even as a twelve/thirteen year-old boy Aang by far has the most impressive stats among any character in the Avatar universe.

Basically mastering 3 of the 4 Elements in less than a year, after mastering Air by the time he is twelve (not to mention inventing his own Air-bending move, the Air scooter).

Aang is an example of a child prodigy who had too much thrust onto him at too young an age because of the talent he showed; because of this he panicked and ran away, and the world was worse off for it.

Aang/Sokka/Katara’s story is all about how in times of War, responsibilities normally handled by adults are pushed onto kids who then have to grow up very fast in order to deal with it all.

The message is clear. War robs the young of their childhoods.

Now, let’s talk about a different kind of child prodigy.

The Unacknowledged.

Yes, of course I’m talking about Toph, the greatest Earth-Bender to ever live.

Because of her blindness, Toph’s family tried to keep her sheltered and safe by hiding her from the world. Refusing to believe she could ever be more than helpless. Anyone who has seen the show knows that is far from the truth.

But because her potential went unseen, there were some negative effects to her personality. Initially, she resented her parents, and rebelled; which established a certain level of independence, a bad attitude, and a hot-headed streak. Over time spent with the Gaang these behaviors subsided because she finally had friends and they accepted her for who she was. By the end of the series she was fully willing to accept aid from them when she needed it, like holding on to Sokka’s arm in environment where her bending couldn’t help her “see”.

Toph’s story is a foil to Azula’s, both showed immense talent and badassery, but while recognition of Azula lead to ever-mounting pressure for her to succeed; the lack of recognition for Toph created a need for her to be acknowledged and set an undercurrent of frustration which leads to her acting out in the ways she does.

The lesson to take from Toph’s story is not to shelter your kid from the world out of fear for their safety, and to be open to recognizing their talents, not shun them.

Next are two more Unacknowledged.

Katara and Sokka.

Their story, and the reason behind their circumstances, is one of the more complicated and nuanced ones in the series, so here we’ll focus on how it fits into the subject of discussion.

Because of the War, Katara was robbed not only of her mother but also of any Southern Masters to train her, and any role models Sokka could have looked up to left with his father to fight. Because of this Katara’s potential and Sokka’s genius went unacknowledged not due to neglect but rather due to circumstance. (Yes, I think Sokka is a genius, how many 15 yr olds do you know that can plan an invasion, design submarines, and spit poetry off the cuff?).

This is a further example of how War robs kids of necessary childhood experiences, and these two robberies had particular effects on both Katara and Sokka’s character developments.

Sokka had the responsibility of protecting his home put upon him at a young age. The men of his tribe leaving prevented him from completing his rite of manhood until the Gaang ran into Bato of the Water Tribe, and early on Sokka was constantly trying to prove himself as a man and a leader. Sokka is one of the smarter characters of the series, but he rarely got credit for it until the third season. Not to mention that because he wasn’t a bender he often seemed less useful than the others. The circumstances of war made his talent go unnoticed and because of that he often was unsure of himself and overcompensated to prove something.

Speaking of talent going unnoticed.

Katara is definitely one of the more talented benders of the series. After training herself for years with little progress, she essentially mastered Water-Bending in a few weeks under Master Pakku. While her anger towards the Fire-Nation mostly centers around the loss of her mother, it can’t be ignored that the delay in her training was a direct result of the Fire-Nations’ actions. Toph’s anger and frustration vented itself as rebellion. However, the same frustration and anger is within Katara, but because she wasn’t as natural a bender as Toph she sought to learn and be respected, and when that was denied to her is when that anger bubbled to the surface in some terrifying ways.

While Toph’s talent went unnoticed because of her families neglect, Katara and Sokka’s wasn’t acknowledged because there was nobody to acknowledge it. Because of that both brother and sister wanted to prove themselves to the world.

And then there is Zuko.

I know what you’re thinking. Zuko wasn’t a prodigy, his Fire-Bending skill didn’t catch up with Azula’s until the finale and he never mastered Lightning-Bending, but this section is about the Unacknowledged.

Zuko had many other talents besides Fire-Bending, he was a master swordsmen, and was able to successfully break into every secure facility he attempted in the show (which was almost every secure facility the show featured). Unfortunately, these talents were never recognized, because the only thing the royal family cared about was bending ability (It’s possible the reason he learned the sword was because he lacked skill in Fire-Bending).

As per usual with Zuko, this part of his tale is quite sad. Many can relate to being outshined by a sibling, and when it becomes all too clear that one cannot match another’s talent it’s quite understandable to focus on what they do excel at, but even then there is no promise of recognition for their own talent. Zuko was even mocked by his father during the solar eclipse when Ozai tried baiting him into attacking with his swords.

This lack of recognition is one of many sad aspects of Zuko’s early life, but it is a definitive example of one of the hardest unacknowledged prodigy’s cross to bear. The Outshone prodigy, one whose talents are never noticed because a bigger and brighter star stands in the way of such recognition, and arguably the most frustrating type mentioned here. Toph/Sokka/Katara all came from situations were there was no recognition being given to them or anyone, but Zuko had to bear watching massive amounts of praise be piled on to his sister while he and his accomplishments went by the way side.

Ozai summed up the situation best.

“Azula was born lucky, Zuko was lucky to be born”

Alright now where have I been going with all this?

So, far we’ve covered a lot of wrong ways to treat a child, whether they show talent or not, and how the circumstances of war can also take many things from children.

But what happened to Korra?

(Before we get into to this I should state that I like Korra, and the purpose of this is not to bash her as a character or her arc, but rather to give a little of my insight into it.)

It’s well established that Aang was told of his heritage too young, and that was a detriment on his development into an adult, but what would have happened if he realized his powers himself not long after he could walk? We’ll never know, but we do get to see the effects it had on Korra.

When she revealed herself as the Avatar, Korra set her entire life in a new direction, and because Aang tasked the White Lotus with finding and training her that direction was out of her control. There are two key differences between Korras’ and other Avatars’ lives.

1. She grew up in isolation on a White Lotus compound.

Every Avatar before Korra we know of spent a portion of their early lives traveling the world in order to master the elements; along this journey they not only learned how to bend the other 3 elements, buy also many things about the 3 other nations and the world they are tasked to protect as a whole. By confining Korra in safety and bringing the masters to her the White Lotus deprived Korra of this opportunity to learn and grow and understand the world and the people within in. It also deprived her of learning modern bending styles until she reached Republic City.

While this might have kept Korra safe from the Red Lotus, it grew within her a naiveté about how the world worked, and because of this when she actually did venture out into the world she was terribly unprepared for it.

2. She was trained and mastered 3 of the elements by the time she was 16.

Most Avatars don’t know they have this power until they reach 16 and then they spend several years learning to control it. Korra’s natural talent in the bending lead to her training being expedited not by necessity like Aang’s, but due to her talent and eagerness. Korra excelled at the physical part of being the Avatar and because of this by the time she reached maturity she had become over-confident in her abilities and true to what her Fire-Bending master said in Ep.1 she lacked restraint.

I’m not saying her bending isn’t great, but rather because it is so great it’s her go-to solution to anything, and she enjoys that so she uses it with enthusiastic gusto and not a lot of thinking before striking.

This overconfidence coupled with her naiveté of the world is what lead to many of her rash decisions and actions, most of which had negative consequences, and I believe are the reason behind some fan are dissatisfied with her. Aang had been almost the complete opposite, even by the age of twelve he was an experienced world traveler and an incredibly humble guy.

Some may have been dissatisfied by these character decisions, but they served a purpose, they are only the beginning of her arc. The internal challenge Korra must overcome through 4 seasons is to humble herself before the world, and learn from it. This was finally achieved in the 4th season when the metal poisoning in her body forces her to face others in the world as equals, only then had she completed her journey.

And why did it all go this way?

Because she is a very unique child prodigy, what she demonstrates in the first episode of LOK would be akin to a toddler playing the violin or hitting a three-pointer; she could bend 3 elements close to just after learning to walk. That is the kind of prodigious talent rarely seen because it is mostly impossible. How does a rational person handle a child like that?

It’s a tough question, and something this essay has been circling around the whole time. Each example here is the wrong way to handle talented and different children, but what is the right way?

As always look to Iroh.

Who treated his surrogate son Zuko with both respect and compassion.

Unlike Toph’s parents, Iroh worried over Zuko’s well being, but also allowed him to be independent, make his own decisions, and take his own risks.

Unlike the Nomad Leaders, he didn’t want Zuko weighed down by his position in the world and the responsibility that came with, and always encouraged him relax and take advantage of the moment.

Unlike Ozai, Iroh would always be there to support Zuko in his victories and his failures. Iroh shows him the right path but does not force him down it.

And even after Zuko betrayed and abandoned him.

Iroh was never angry with him, and embraced him upon his return.

He wanted Zuko to grow and be a better man. Even if Zuko wasn’t a prodigy like his sister.

And that is the answer here. The way to raise a prodigy is the same way anyone should raise any child. Love, Support, a Guiding Hand rather than a Forceful Shove, Recognition of What Makes Them Unique, and Forgiveness When They Falter. The problem comes along when you start treating children differently because you see them as different or special. All children are different, all children are special.

Kids are kids, and they all deserve a proper childhood.

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charlotte-headcanons · 3 years

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Hey! How have ypu been? 2,3,6,7,9,15 Who else but Monty (Kata, Brulee, Peros too :D) yeah it's a big order!

Phew, that one sure took a while! But everything for you, friend 💕💕 We're alright, hope you've been well too! ✨

Some practicalities first: We decided to organize this answer by characters, for maximum space to go into detail on each headcanon! Some headcanons pertain to our modern AU rather than to the One Piece canon as we found these headcanons worked better for a particular prompt: we'll indicate those at the start of each bullet point!

Send us a number and a character and we'll post headcanons!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: Mont D'Or is a librarian by passion and a prosecutor by profession. He opened up and manages his own library in the early mornings and late evenings, but in-between that, he works on court cases. He might be overworked, and is definitely a workaholic but he hardly ever slacks off on either of his careers; and he's notorious for being professional, convincing, and very attached to every case. Highly principled unless Mama orders him to do something for her, he refuses to prosecute those he doesn't believe should be prosecuted, and for those he wants to face justice - he will get so heated that he might get reprimanded by judges for yelling or by cops and detectives for joining their investigations uninvited. His sister, Galette, is his secretary, and she follows him around everywhere, helping out however much she can!

3. Drinking headcanon

Mont D'Or... might have a bit of an alcohol problem. It's not that he gets drunk often... but he does drink regularly. Essentially, every time his siblings piss him off, he takes a sip, so you can imagine how many sips accumulate throughout the day. His prefer drink is red dry wine and he mostly drinks alone, without witnesses, not to give a bad example! To get really drunk, he would have to drink a lot; but if he does get drunk, he mostly gets more explosive than usual or somewhat lagged out, processing all information input slower than normally.

6. Musical headcanon

In Mont D'Or's eyes, the main function music has is to help him either focus or unwind. For both of these roles, he enjoys classical music most - think especially something akin to Wagner. He despises loud music and prefers instrumental pieces, although he is also an opera enthusiast. His guilty pleasure, discovered quite recently, could also be lo-fi kind of music! It calms him down a little, even though he doesn't like to be caught listening to it, as his expressed music-related opinions are overall quite snobbish.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

Mont D'Or would gladly cook if he had the time for it; but being as busy as he is, he is forced to depend on others and on ordering food throughout each day. His tastes encompass rather fancy cuisine: he adores charcuterie boards and seafood, refuses to eat fast food, adds cheese to pretty much everything that is remotely acceptable like an apple pie and calls it an acquired taste. Besides that, he always likes to have a cookie with his black coffee; considering how much coffee he drinks every day, that is a lot of cookies consumed!

9. Childhood headcanon

As a child, Mont D'Or was known as just a nerd. He was way more shy and less aggressive than he is now; it was only over time, having been ridiculed by some siblings for his unconventional (in this family) interests, that he toughened up and learned to stand up for himself. Ever since he learned to read, Mont D'Or was a frequent visitor to all libraries of Totto Land. At the time, there weren't that many, nor did they have impressive book collections, so soon enough, Mont D'Or started reading books way above his age target group, and by the time he came of age, he was disappointed to find out that he has already read every book currently available within Big Mom's territory. At first, little Mont D'Or wasn't quite sure what he can offer to his family of murderous pirates: he wasn't strong nor all that ruthless, and his strengths could be found rather in the areas that wouldn't be that useful for sailing or plundering. He also felt lonely before Galette came along, and he could most often be found alone, or around Compote, who had a soft spot for her smart little brother. Eventually, Mont D'Or figured out that strategy and organization were the areas where his family could need him, though; from there, he moved on to transform from a quiet nerd into a pillar of Big Mom Pirates’ planning.

15. School headcanon

Besides setting up many more libraries in Totto Land than it once had, Mont D'Or took it onto himself to kickstart a proper education system in his mother's territory. In the past, none of the Charlotte siblings went through formalized education, rather having to learn from experience or directly from Big Mom, other pirates, and from each other. Now, Mont D'Or makes sure that teachers are recruited to Totto, and at least basic schools (available universally) are established!

Modern AU: It is probably not surprising that at school, Mont D'Or would be a straight-A's student. Stellar at every test, he would however not be all that liked by the teachers due to his behavior problems. His temper and lack of respect for authority if the authority is wrong would both make him a troublesome student to get in conflict with. He'd absolutely correct the teachers on their mistakes, and if they dared refuse to acknowledge their faults... he would yell. 😔

Katakuri, Brulee, and Perospero under the cut!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: As we discussed in a previous post, Katakuri would definitely be every parent's dream child, aka a doctor and a lawyer in one! A neurologist and an advocate, Katakuri would be very close to burnout, and wouldn't really actively work in the law field anymore, not wanting to infringe on Mont D'Or's turf. He would definitely work too much, but telling him to rest would hardly be a solution: with his perfectionism, he would not be able to sleep unless his task was carried out well. He wouldn't like his job all that much, really, but he'd still keep it to continue supporting his younger or less talented siblings with his money; and not to disappoint his mother, of course.

3. Drinking headcanon

Katakuri refuses to drink alcohol, finding every possible excuse to not be pressured into it. First of all, he just doesn't want to show his mouth, lay down, or do something even more embarassing for anyone to see if he gets drunk. More importantly, though, he is scared of falling into an addiction as a coping method, so he prefers to just avoid the temptation altogether. If possible, he'd rather not be around drunk people, too!

6. Musical headcanon

Katakuri enjoys all kinds of music and has quite a diverse tastes, with some of his favorites coming from indie rock, metal, cute pixel music, grunge, and more. He is quite embarrassed to share the music he listens to, so when possible, he listens to it on headphones. When he's fully convinced that he's alone, he might sing a little or bob his head to the music he enjoys; if listening to songs around people, though, he'll keep a fully straight, unmoved face.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

As the supreme donut lover, Katakuri actually has a secret bucket list of all flavors of donuts he wants to try! He cares about the textures of food a lot, and generally prefers soft and chewy things. To set him apart from Luffy, Katakuri also doesn't really like meat, with few exceptions! Sometimes, Katakuri joins Perospero in his morning tea drinking sessions, and it was from his older brother that he learned to like his tea very sweet. As for cooking, he tried it as a child, but found to have little patience for it back then; now, he'd probably do way better if he tried to cook, but just like Mont D'Or, he just doesn't have the time!

9. Childhood headcanon

Katakuri is probably the Charlotte that changed the most since his early childhood. Before the Brulee incident, he was actually a rather lazy, even if talented, kid. To get him to train, an incentive of donuts was always necessary; and having been highly influenced by Daifuku and Oven, he also used to be a bit of a troublemaker. If anyone made fun of him or annoyed him, they would always see Katakuri throwing hands - he was far more eruptive than now and didn't really care what others thought. Brulee getting hurt because of him, though, had a life-changing effect on him; and it effectively molded him into the hardworking, serious, troubled person that he is now.

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: Despite starting off as a troublemaker who slept through the boring classes, these days Katakuri is a model student, and many teachers marvel at his transformation. He is just as good in sciences as in sports, and often represents his school in various competitions, regularly winning too! Although he gets A's in everything, his favorite school subjects remain the humanities. After school, he revises the lesson material for exactly an hour every day, but doesn't need to study much before tests, having a great memory and a kind of sixth sense for filtering out important information. Despite not wanting to be in the spotlight, he's very popular with fellow students and a lot of classmates have secret crushes on him, girls or guys!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: As we headcanon, one of Brulee's main hobbies is tending to her herbal garden, and she knows a lot about the healing properties of plants! Naturally, then, she would gladly choose pharmacy as her career path: the calm atmosphere combined with helping others would fit her vibe perfectly. Besides that, she would also work voluntarily babysitting the children of her siblings; the kids would always be kind of scared of her at first, but soon enough they would outright cry whenever she would have to leave even just for a moment.

3. Drinking headcanon

Brulee drinks alcohol rarely and in small amounts; mostly as an addition to a good dinner. She is an extreme lightweight, so anything more than one glass of her favorite white wine results in her becoming way more clumsy than usual and inevitably getting a next-morning headache. To avoid this, she makes sure to never drink more than she knows she can handle!

6. Musical headcanon

Another classical music lover, Brulee would enjoy something akin to Schubert's songs most! Even though she isn't the best at it, with her voice being just a bit too nasal and too scratchy, Brulee likes to sing (especially ballads and lullabies!) and often hums while working. Having a bit more free time than most of her siblings, Brulee also managed to learn some instruments, albeit she only ever stuck to the basics and simple pieces. The piano is the instrument she plays rather well, so she can teach her younger siblings how to play a few easy songs if they so please; very recently, she also picked up the violin, and she enjoys practicing it although, so far, the sounds she can make hardly resemble what she would like to hear.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

Brulee cooks a lot and enjoys doing that a bunch! She's quite experimental and healthy with her recipes, and prefers salty foods as well as meat or soups. As a result, she is one of the few bastions that keep some of her siblings from succumbing to dessert-only diets. Once in a while, she bakes bread too; since she always cooks way more food than she needs, she often ends up sharing or donating it! You can almost always smell something cooking up in her hut; even if Totto Land has so many high-level chefs, Brulee still likes to make her own, homemade food herself.

9. Childhood headcanon

As a child, Brulee was much more anxious than she is now. She was always a bit awkward and clumsy, and kind of bullied for her witchy appearance by the other children in ports and in Totto Land. Over time, she learned to embrace herself, though; in the stories her older siblings told her, she always identified with the witches, and she later proceeded to amplify this image of herself as much as possible, instead of resenting it!

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: Brulee would be a mediocre student, who'd be kind of picked on, at least until Katakuri got all set on defending her! Her favorite school subject would be history, and she'd also enjoy some parts of biology - though she'd much rather learn about plants and animals than the human insides. Always a sweetheart, Brulee would enjoy secretly making her classmates happy with little anonymous gifts; each birthday or Valentine's Day, anyone could count on at least one card from a secret friend, who everyone would suspect to be her, as she isn't all that great at hiding.

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: Perospero would be an interior designer, but really, one of a kind. Even if just designing a chair, he'd see his work as art and himself as an artist, and he'd act accordingly. Cracker Any architect unlucky enough to have to work with him would end up in despair as he'd blatanly ignore the technical limits and capacities of a building for the aesthetic. Likewise, his clients would have to be prepared for many unexpected decisions and costs: Perospero would not take orders from them but always stick to what he thinks looks good, no matter how intricate or expensive. Effectively, the only clients brave enough to employ him more than once would be the rich and extravagant ones: those would appreciate his work immensely, while anyone remotely more practical would have to complain.

3. Drinking headcanon

Perospero parties and gets drunk quite often, although he exclusively drinks overly sweet cocktails and never drinks outside of a social context! When he has too much to drink, he gets either hyper, horny, or annoying - or all three at once - depending on his mood. Whichever it is, he also loses all understanding of personal space, gets a lot more touchy, and much more likely to lick everyone and everything. At the end of the night, he has the tendency to pretend that he's much more drunk than he actually is, too, hoping that someone will carry him home like the princess he wants to be; though most of the time, it just ends up with Daifuku pulling him back by the leg.

6. Musical headcanon

Perospero loves to sing, especially publically, and he's surprisingly good at it! damn I really got a stroke first time I heard him sing, like, my man, how can you sing so well with an entire tongue out wtf Perospero explain. His preferred repertoire of music to sing includes all sorts of songs from musicals; as for music to listen to, he ranges between musicals and hyperpop, or any music sweet and bubbly on the outside but disturbing and horror-like as it develops!

7. Food/cooking headcanon

Perospero does not cook on principle, insisting that they have the chefs for it. His diet as a whole is downright atrocious; he adds sugar to quite literally everything, acts dramatically, as if he was poisoned if forced to eat anything not sweet enough, and mostly lives off candy. His 'tea' can hardly be called that anymore, considering that it contains more syrups and sugar than tea itself. Basically, Compote gets chills whenever she sees him eat and continuously marvels at how the fuck he is still alive.

9. Childhood headcanon

Having to take care of his siblings early on, Perospero didn't get much of a careless childhood. Once Linlin was unable to keep all children with her on the Rocks Pirates ship, by the time he was 8, he was put in charge of all the younger siblings she left in a port (while Compote was looking over the ones that stayed with Linlin on the ship). Perospero looks back at his childhood fondly, though; he liked ordering his brothers and sisters around, liked being in charge, and especially loved being admired and looked up to as the eldest sibling role model. Once Katakuri became a new favorite of the family, Perospero was so jealous and grumpy for a while that he even went through a rebellious phase of trying to run away; he came back less than a day later though, having cried his eyes out once missing his family and homesickness kicked in, never to try to leave ever again.

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: At school, Perospero would definitely focus on socializing way more than on learning. Among the teachers, he would be known as a smart but lazy kind of student, doing the bare minimum for most classes, though excelling in art and music. He would have mostly girl friends, essentially running his own mean girls group; together with them, he'd always come up with excuses to not exercise during P.E. so that his looks don't get ruined and so that he can just spend the time gossiping about the guys instead. If someone got on his bad side, Perospero would also not be above bullying them, although he wouldn't do that in a conventional way - rather, he'd just make his victims severely uncomfortable, getting way to close, switching between flirty and dangerous tones, and making them feel trapped before just backing off and laughing. An absolute menace to society, even in a modern AU 😔

If you managed to get through all of this, we salute you, soldier 🎖️Hope you enjoyed, though! ✨ It was sure fun to come up with. Thanks for the ask! 💕

#one piece #charlotte katakuri #charlotte perospero #charlotte brulee #charlotte mont d'or #ask

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sxfik · 3 years

Text

and when the seasons change (will you stand by me?)

read on ao3 • main masterlist • law school masterlist

summary: when kang sol's mother has to work late, she has to take care of byeol. it's just her luck that she has an exam the next day, one for professor yang of all people. joon hwi, being the kind classmate he is, offers to study with her.

or: byeol is solhwi mastermind, and she's says everything we wanted to say to the two dummies.

request by anon: hiya! saw that you do solhwi prompts so I was thinking that Sol A has to babysit byeol but there's a big test the next day so she calls joon hwi over to help her w studying. meanwhile byeol(being iconic) tries to set them up in true shipper fashion.

a/n: this is based on a request i got on tumblr, pictured above! i have around 5 (ish) fics that will go out over the week so stay tuned for those lmao! uh yeah, i don't really know what else to say other than im really sad law school ended so i've just been sad and mopey, but still writing to fill that hole. as always, enjoy <333

Although Joon Hwi was the 'star' student of Hankuk Law School, he was never much for studying. It's not because everything came to him that easily, but because finding the strength to concentrate and study when he could be hanging out with his friends or doing anything better with his time was insanely tempting. Finding the effort to get to the library, and read up on his textbooks was arduous and he always found it easier to study by himself, no distractions around. This was, of course, until Kang Sol came along. For Joon Hwi, everything in his life was turned on its axis when she came into his life.

When he first met her, in Professor Yang's class, she was just the poor girl being grilled by the professor. His heart went out to her, watching her pull her hair out of the bun to avoid the question. He didn’t know what possessed him to answer for her, but he assumed it to be a one time thing. But from the moment she crashed into him yelling "Second Round Judicial Exam, save me!", he was stuck on her.

Slowly, she was everywhere in his life, from the study group to the legal clinic to a majority of his classes. Unlike so many of his classmates, who were by the book and generally clinical in personality, she was a fireball of energy and passion. In class, despite not being the best student, she would argue with so much passion and energy that it was impossible to win against her. It was fascinating, watching her connect and jump from case to case. She would throw herself into everything she believed in, which included defending him from the school and his uncle.

Joon Hwi has liked girls before, but he's never been so captivated and head-over-heels for anyone in his life. Love and dating seemed secondary, and he preferred to keep it out of his life until he reached his goals. You could call him selfish but he prefers to call it being focused on his goals. He's always had one goal in life, and it was to work with the law, whether as a judge or working as police or as a prosecutor.

Yet, if Kang Sol was in the room, his eyes were on her. Whether she was frustrated at him or teasing him or gleeful with him, he couldn't help but smile at her. If she was around, he was right by her side, making her laugh or cringe or annoyed.

So there he was, studying in the school library with Kang Sol. Professor Yang’s exam was right around the corner and unlike last time, he cannot miss the comma in the given case. Plus, he doesn’t even have the excuse of being accused of a murder this time, so both Sol and Joon Hwi were hunched over their books, pouring into the texts when Kang Sol’s phone blared loudly from her bag, startling them both.

Sol cringed as she dug around in her cloth bag, the classic dirty looks tossed her way by the sleep deprived students as she stood to leave the library and take the call. He buried himself back into the textbook, but the concentration was lost and he was more interested in the call she’d gotten than ins and outs of defamation laws.

Around 10 minutes later, Sol was speeding back to her chair, the phone clutched firmly in her hand. But Joon hwi could see her frustration from a mile away. Her face held that pout, her eyebrows furrowed and grumbling under her breath. It was adorable.

But he was worried, considering it was the day before the exam, Sol couldn’t afford to be distracted from her studies. He wasn’t blind to her struggles in school, but Joon Hwi never considered her lesser than him for not being able to pick up the concepts with speed.

Unlike him, and a majority of his classmates, she had passion and a heart when dealing with clients. He could see it in her mannerisms with clients in the legal clinic, patiently explaining the clause or the issues they might face to the client. She’s sympathetic to the max, always hearing out the client’s grievances before making a judgement on what they had done. She was exactly what the world needed: a sympathetic, patient lawyer that was willing to fight for the client, someone that they can cling to. He and every professor in the school knew it, but it seemed Sol was the only one who never realized how essential she was.

Suddenly, he felt himself getting up to gather his materials with her without a second thought, despite the confused look Sol shot him. He wasn’t sure what exactly possessed him to do it, but he knew that if she wasn’t there, he didn’t want to study at the library either. Grinning at her, he walked out, side by side until they were outside the quiet library. She paused in her tracks all of a sudden, taking him by surprise and he paused too, looking back at her, tilting his head in confusion.

"My mom needs to work late today, so I need to rush home and take care of Byeol," she looked up at him finally, her face apologetic. "I'm sorry, Joon hwi but I don't think I'll be able to study for the exam with you," she started to walk away, but he couldn't let her go that easily.

"I'll come with you," he offered, surprising himself, "I'll study with you. Plus, it'll be easier to take care of Byeol with two people than one, right?"

She paused, looking back at him, conflicted. Sighing, Joon Hwi stepped closer to her. "Come on, let's not keep her waiting. Shall we?" He was determined to keep her company, especially since she’d have less time to study since she’d have to take care of Byeol. It was easier this way, and I’d do this for any friend he told himself.

The ride there was slow and quiet, but not an uncomfortable one. They both walked in tandem, with their backpacks filled with everything they'd possibly need to study, and even the bus ride was peaceful, the two of them staring out the window, watching the scenery pass by them. Joon hwi sat beside her, rather than across from her like last time, just to save space on the bus. On the very empty bus they were riding together.

Days like this, where the air was heavy and humid, the earth preparing for a heavy rain, were the most comforting types of days. The air was still warm and humid, making Sol’s hair poof out slightly, her naturally wavy hair frizzing out of her bun. The feeling of her beside him, as if this was a regular ritual for both of them, brought a sense of content in his heart. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, whether it was the girl beside him or the past year’s chaos, but watching the trees and the traffic pass by them brought more peace to his life than ever.

The two made their way into the alleyway, where Joon hwi had once stood guard of when Lee Man Ho once lived, threatening her family. He's standing in front of Kang Sol's house behind her, holding her backpack in hand as she struggles with the keys.

Finally, finally, she gets the door open, and a figure zips by, crashing into Sol. Byeol’s arms wrapped Sol's waist, like the adorable sister she is. Sol stumbled back into him slightly at the sudden weight thrown onto her, but nonetheless, crouched to envelop her sister in a bone-crushing hug. Joon hwi couldn’t help but smile at the two sisters, their love for each other enveloping him

"Unnie!" she grinned up at her, "Did you bring him with you?" Her eyes were serious and wide as Sol opened her mouth to answer.

"Byeol-ah!" Joon hwi yelled out from behind Sol, peaking out to see the 8-year old grinning at him, much wider than she did at Sol. Ha!

"Joonhwi-oppa!" the girl squealed out, leaving Sol's grip to run to him. As she ran to him, he picked her up and twirled her in the air, the girl's giggles echoing through the small alleyway as the two greeted each other.

Sol, standing by the door, smiled faintly before calling out, "Come in, before either of you catch a cold!" Both of them filed in, incessantly chattering as if they hadn't seen each other in months, even though it had only been two weeks since Joon hwi had been by to take the two sisters out to the park.

"Oppa! Why did you come with Unnie?" Byeol asked, finally being set down inside the house, looking up at him curiously as Sol

"Ah, we have an exam tomorrow, so I'm here to study with her," Joon hwi replied.

"Good," the girl jumped onto the couch. "Unnie needs a lot of help," the girl quipped back, nodding her head solemnly, making her look a lot older than 8 years.

"Yah Kang Byeol!" Sol exclaimed, indignantly. Joon hwi chuckled at the two as Sol turned to him. "Here, we can work in the dining room," she moved to grab her backpack from him, stepping towards the dining room.

"NO!" Byeol yelled out at the both of them, her hand flying out to stop the two of them, "Unnie, you should work in your room instead! You know I'll be watching TV and obviously, it'd be too loud for you to focus," the girl rushed out, her doe-eyes a bit too wide, her voice a little too innocent. She is definitely plotting something, Joon hwi narrowed his eyes at her but she avoided the look, choosing to jump off the couch and walk towards them instead.

Before either of them could protest, the girl pushed the both of them towards, presumably, Kang Sol's bedroom. Sol awkwardly laughed at him, Joon hwi shooting her an amused look. They awkwardly stood in her room, Joon hwi avoiding her gaze and choosing to look at the walls instead. Her room here looked similar to the one she had back on campus. Her desk was stacked to the max, sticky notes lining the walls with old reminders and little notes of encouragement. It was neat, but brightly colored, which suited Sol so very well.

“Let’s get started shall we?” Sol finally said, clearing her throat, gesturing for him to set down his books. He obliged, sitting at her desk while she chose her bed. They both set up all their materials, the awkward silence shifting into a peaceful one, the two working themselves into a comfortable rhythm.

It had been almost an hour of straight studying, both of them regurgitating criminal codes and case precedents from memory. Joon hwi was sure that by this point that his mind was complete mush, and Sol was starting to wither, her eyes almost glazed over while she started into one of her casefiles. Her hair was a lot puffier than it was when they started. Turns out, Sol had a habit of ruffling her hair with her pencil each time she was confused or working herself too hard, which was often.

“Let’s take a break shall we? I’m going to get a glass of water,” he said, standing up and stretching his arms out, trying to put the two out of their misery. He yawned, the stiffness in his muscles finally noticeable when he stretched out. She nodded back to him, yawning and stretching out in her chair, before she picked up her phone to check some messages.

He walked out of her room and back to the living room, where byeol was still glued to her seat, her eyes on the TV playing some cartoon. Heading over to the dining table, he poured himself a glass of water with the pitcher, before heading back to check on Byeol.

“What’s this show called?” he asked her, taking a sip of the water while watching the show with her.

“Hm?” Byeol turned to him, “Oh, it’s this show about two kids who set out to find a treasure mapped out by their parents,” she explained, gesturing towards him to take a seat beside him. He obliged, opting to sit beside the girl, both their eyes glued to the screen. A few moments passed by, before the little girl turned towards him.

“You know, my sister’s favorite color is dark green. Not like emerald green, but forest green tinted with some dark blue,” Byeol said nonchalantly. Joon Hwi’s eyebrows furrowed, confused as to why the girl is telling this to him. “And, her favorite ice cream is this nutella infused one that you get down the street, closer to the town square. It’s been her favorite since she was little,” she continued, not giving his confusion any heed. The girl rapidly started telling him facts about her dear sister, all the while confusion took over his features.

“Joonhwi-oppa,” she squinted at him, pausing as her face grew serious, “You like my sister, don’t you?” He sputtered, choking and coughing out the water. “I knew it!” she excitedly squealed.

“Byeol, byeol, shh, you can’t let your sister know okay,” he brought a finger to his lips, his eyes alarmed. For an 8 year old, Byeol was surprisingly cunning and observant. She had managed to figure out what he had been struggling with for the past year after just a few short visits. They shared a look of understanding between the two, before the girl turned her attention to the show, leaving Joon Hwi walking back to Sol’s room. The Kang Sisters, he shook his head, laughing as he thought, what a perfect duo.

bonus

It had been almost 3 hours of studying together before Kang Sol realized that the sun had set outside, and all of a sudden, they were in a rush to clean up. Joon hwi had to leave before the dorms closed entrance and because of their studying, the two of them had their head buried in books since the time they got to her house.

She was glad to have him over though. Despite her hesitation at the school and fears of inconveniencing him, having Joon hwi made the process a lot smoother. With his careful and gentle help, she had a much easier time understanding the concepts and she was eternally grateful, considering Professor Yang’s exams were always some of the toughest.

They were rushing out of the house, his backpack in her hand as he hurriedly put on his shoes and stepped outside the house. But before Joon hwi could turn with a hurried goodbye, she called out to him, her breath suddenly lodged in her throat.

“Thank you,” she quietly told him, the prospect of looking into his eyes as he leaned over her doorstep daunting. “Thank you for helping me, Joon hwi, it was really kind of you,” she beamed at him, trying to convey her gratitude and more in the only way she knew possible.

They both paused, looking at each other as the air got thicker between them, as if a string was drawing him closer to her. She watched as he swallowed slightly, his adam’s apple moving slightly before he let out a soft “You’re welcome,” and a classic smile, before he rushed out, trying to catch his bus.

She sighed, watching him as he rushed off, capturing the bus. Soon, she thought, Soon, I’ll tell him how I feel. She reassured herself, turning around only to find Byeol hiding behind a pillar.

“Byeol? What are you doing, weren’t you watching a show?” she questioned her sister, but Byeol made no response. Suddenly her sister frowned at her, muttering something about how can she possibly be a lawyer and she’s so blind, leaving her in utter confusion at the front steps.

#law school jtbc #jtbc law school #law school #law school kdrama #law school netflix #jtbc #jtbc drama #solhwi #mine #my writing #fanfiction #kang sol a #kang byeol #han joon hwi #ryu hye young #kim beom #kim bum #i’m not gonna lie i’m not extremely happy with this one but i really struggled to incorporate the scenes i wanted to have so it felt very #repeatitive

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amaya-chwan · 4 years

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Takeaways from Therapy Game: Restart Chapter 09

HELLO FRIENDS! And we’re back at it again with chapter 9 featuring our favourite dorks, Shizuma and Minato! ❤️💛🎉

Sensei was kind enough to post the first page of this chapter on her Twitter! 🥰😍😘

“I thought you understood, but men who fail to keep their promises deserve punishment, okay?!” --- The text next to Minato.

That’s just 🔥🔥🔥🥰😍🔥🔥🔥

Let’s get right into the takeaways, shall we? It’s a shorter chapter this month, but it is very focused on Shizuma’s residency journey while juggling his house hunting schedule with Minato, and with that, a lot of dialogue. There was also a lot of technical terminology I had to keep looking up ;A;

In this chapter:

Minato is an angry, scowly boy when Shizuma doesn’t keep his promises!😭

Poor Shizuma, he’s torn between keeping his promises and his work. 😭 😭 But I’m proud of you, Shizuma! 👏👏

Minato, my son, I am glad you are getting the simple happiness you deserve! Your patience really is a virtue! 🥰😍❤️

Onodera... really lacks person skills. Is she a recluse? Or someone with poor social skills? I hope we find out?? And she honestly... is so stoic. I cannot read her at all. 😅😅

SHIZUMA, I CAN FEEL YOUR DEDICATION TO AND LOVE FOR ANIMALS THROUGH THE PAGES! You are so very capable of being a vet and I’m glad you are getting the experience you wanted and needed to succeed! ❤️🐶🐱🐹❤️

Also, your k*nky thoughts during work really bit you in the butt, didn’t it, Shizuma? 🤣

Shizuma’s smile makes everyone weak. 🥰

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! As always, I promise there is a surprise (or two) at the end! 😉✨

Our chapter begins with a grumpy Minato sitting in a cafe. The shop attendants peg him as a celebrity of sorts because of his good looks, even though his face is hella scary to them.

We find out that Minato is annoyed and upset because his and Shizuma’s house hunting date (set for Shizuma’s next day off) is cut short since Shizuma is observing an operation in the morning on that day. In a flashback, he tells Minato that he should be able to make it in time for their afternoon appointment.

In that same flashback, Minato recounts his plans to Shizuma of going to a hotel and having a quickie with Shizuma to alleviate his pent up frustrations before heading to their appointment. He then continues to vent his pent-up frustations on Shizuma, saying “Will you take responsibility if my desires reach their limit and explode during our private house tour?”

Shizuma is caught in a bind and really wants his surgery to finish sooner, to which Minato responds by saying Shizuma isn’t the only person who can do this surgery. Nevertheless, Shizuma knows this is an invaluable opportunity for him, and promises Minato that he will make it in time for their 2PM private tour. Minato, still looking a little annoyed, tells Shizuma that he’ll be waiting in the cafe in front of the real estate agency and to meet him there. He warns Shizuma that if he is even a minute late, he’s will go home and never house hunt with him again. Shizuma then promises that he’ll be there!

The flashback ends, and we realise that today is the day of their house tour. Minato is caught up in some “Super Narrow-Minded Time” and worries if he’s going to be all alone with a girl, only then to remember Shizuma openly confessing to his colleagues that he’s dating Minato and that there’s no need to worry.

Minato looks over at the real estate agency and, in deep thought, reflects on how he never thought he’d be living with someone and, despite it being a weird feeling to him, he didn’t think he’d be able to have such an ordinary, simple “happiness”. He smirks to himself and says that he should be nice to Shizuma when he gets to the cafe.*

The scene changes to Shizuma, who will be our main focus for the rest of the chapter. He is observing Onodera in surgery along with her brother. They go through what happened with their patient (i.e. the dog belongs to Onodera’s brother’s daughter. The doggo ingested skewers and it appears to have gotten stuck in the dog’s throat/stomach). While talking about the suggestions from the neighbouring clinics on how to treat the dog--trying to get the dog to vomit and if that doesn’t work, they’ll have to do invasive surgery--Shizuma, having encountered her brother before, didn’t know they were related at all since they have different surnames.

Her brother goes on and vouches for his sister’s amazing skills as a vet, cutely calling her by her name “Akira”, to which she clicks her tongue at him. They have some short sibling bickering afterwards, and Onodera then reveals to Shizuma that he’s mainly there to keep her brother in check (i.e. babysit) and not so much hands-on experience.

With Onodera’s brother being a chatterbox, Shizuma is unable to ask critical questions during the procedure and wonders why he is even there at all.

We then see Onodera extract all the contents stuck in the dog’s throat (?) without having to do invasive surgery. Her brother is overjoyed, but she is appalled that the dog ate so much trash and hair. She then tells her brother that she won’t be helping next time unless they take better care of their dog and their house (so the dog doesn’t eat so much dirt and trash). Onodera then tells Shizuma, who she again calls Iijima-sensei and not Ikushima-sensei, to clean up.

Fast forward a bit and Shizuma is happily looking after the dogs being treated at the hospital/staying overnight. There is a thunderous roar and two dogs approach Shizuma to be hugged, to which he obliges. Knowing he has a lot of time to spare and will make it to the appointment, he thinks back to Minato and wonders if he is afraid of lightning. He then thinks of some naughty NSFW thoughts, imagining an X-rated scene in which Minato is scared of thunder and lightning and that affects their love-making session (in a good way 😉).

Another thunderous roar is heard, much louder than the first, and the dogs are so scared, they wet themselves... and pee on Shizuma’s scrubs and pants. (Also, we find out Minato isn’t afraid of T&L).

Going to the locker room to change, Shizuma is being nuzzled by the dogs, who appear to be very apologetic to him. He awkwardly smiles while thinking that the dogs peeing on him was punishment for his NSFW thoughts at work. While changing into his pants (but not scrubs), Onodera walks in and sees him in his boxers. Very flustered, he tells Onodera she’s walked into the wrong room. She then takes Shizuma to get his clothes washed, all the while the awkwardness in the room continues.

Breaking the silence, Onodera applauds Shizuma for his work in the OR, thinking he’d be more annoyed by her. He then tells her that it’s all thanks to the teachings from Hayami-san and everyone else at the clinic and from Onodera during the operation earlier that day. Onodera comments that he’s getting along with everyone in the clinic, to which Shizuma responds with how things were off to a rocky start at first, the nurses were scary and hostile, but now they can talk and are even going out for flower viewing together.

Onodera reveals she wasn’t invited to that and hasn’t heard of it until now, and Shizuma just sits there feeling bad. He then invites her to join them next time for a drink together. But she just says all his efforts in befriending everyone at the clinic would go to waste if he does that.

Before Shizuma can react, an elderly-ish woman and her daughter hurrily enter the clinic with their sick dog. They are Nakajou-sensei’s patients, but it is her day off today, so Onodera asks what she can do for them while telling Shizuma he can go home. The dog has been in labour for a couple of hours and the last puppy hasn’t come out. Onodera berates them for not bringing their dog in sooner.

The women are taken aback, with the elderly one clapping back at Onodera, expressing her worries and inexperience in a situation like this. Onodera, with her lack of people skills, essentially tells her to be quiet, saying a C-section is the only option for them--a natural birth isn’t possible at this point anymore since the dog has been in prolonged labour and is exhausted.

The elderly woman, angered at Onodera’s stoicism and bluntness, says she will go to another hospital if Nakajou-sensei can’t come in. Before anything escalates any further, Shizuma comes into the room with the patient records and diffuses the situation. With his very personable approach to the women, he speaks to them calmly and introduces himself as he was with Nakajou-sensei during their last consult. He pets their dog, named Hana-chan and praises her efforts**, while also calming down the women, telling them he understands their worries while sharing his own dog’s birthing struggles, trying to build that rapport with them.

He explains that given their dog’s current state, it would be wise for them to reconsider taking her to another hospital and keeping Hana-chan here, vouching for Onodera’s skills and assessment as a well-experienced vet. He asks them to believe in Onodera. The elderly woman thinks about it, and then tells Shizuma she will leave her dog in their hands ONLY if Shizuma stays with Hana-chan the whole time.

Shizuma, knowing that he might miss his private house tour and anger Minato, is resolved to helping his patient and says he will definitely stay to help.

And that’s it for this chapter! It’s a bit of a long read again and we get a slightly suspenseful cliffhanger here... will Shizuma make it or not? Will Hand-chan safely deliver the last puppy in her litter? Will Minato see Shizuma soon? I guess we’ll find out in the next chapter! 🥰

Since Minato and Shizuma don’t really have a lot of panels together, please enjoy two little snippets from this chapter~ ❤️💛

(*) Minato, thinking in the cafe

(**) Shizuma with his patient, Hana-chan

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING! 💜 📢 As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

The next chapter will appear in next month’s Dear+ (the December issue) out in November and the cover page will feature our adorakble pair! ❤️💛

🎉⚠️🎉 ALSO in next month’s issue, there will be a Therapy Game Mini Drama CD 🎉⚠️🎉 Sensei is treating us a lot this year!

If you wish to order the magazine, I’ll be more than happy to let you know where I purchase mine, so please feel free to message me/comment here and I’ll let you know! 😁

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜

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fandom-meanderer · 4 years

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Beauty and the... [Pt. 6]

Pairing: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd x Reader, Sylvain Jose Gautier x Reader, Felix Hugo Fraldarius x Reader

Part: (6/?) [First] [Previous] [Next]

Genre: Romance, Drama

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

P.o.V.: 2nd

Word Count: 2,584 Words

Warnings: Language

Further Notes: And the long awaited chapter is here! Four chapters after this are left, are you ready?

You watched Sylvain from across the room. You had told Mercedes, who came to check up on you, that you weren’t feeling too well that day and was going to skip classes earlier today and she simply agreed and wished you a happy rest. None of the other Lions were particularly concerned about Sylvain’s absence, it wouldn’t have been the first time this semester when it occurred after all. But now that your hands were free from their snares, your mind wandered back to the night before only more often, and it drove you insane.

What did he mean by that?

Well, of course you knew. It wasn’t the first time you’ve heard him say it, but for some reason it felt different. You weren’t dense. You knew that boy caught feelings for you, and he caught them hard. But you truly didn’t feel the same—

Wait, actually?

You relaxed in your seat in the classroom and watched him yammer on to Felix. Would being in a relationship with Sylvain be that bad? Then you watched as another female student blew him a kiss, to which he winked back at her as if it was just a reflex and you scoffed to yourself.

“What was I even thinking?” You rolled your eyes and opened your book. But some strange thought compelled you for a moment and you shut your book and looked back to who you thought was your older brother figure and your best friend and huffed slightly. “Well…”

You knew Sylvain, you knew him well. If you looked past the obvious flirt, he’s actually a very deep person with very deep insecurities. He’s a lot smarter than people chalk him up to be, and truthfully you don’t think he’s be a bad boyfriend, but he would have to be as hooked to you as you are to him, otherwise you’re just set up for heartbreak.

Now you know Sylvain’s got it bad for you, you didn’t miss the way he blushed, you just elected to ignore it, but at the same time that’s just Sylvain. He gets hooked on one girl, then it dies out like a flame in the rain. You’re very close with him, that much is fact, and you’re really not sure if risking your near sixteen years of friendship is worth a relationship. But there lies the possibility that he is that infatuated with you, but now it’s the argument of is it love or is it infatuation, because both are two very different things, to your understanding. If you were to ask him, truth be told, he’d probably say they’re the same thing.

Now for a brief lesson on the whims of love, as presented by Professor Byleth to his colleagues. The origin of ‘Love’ and the origin of ‘Infatuation’ do stem from the same roots, they start in the heart, but it is where that feeling travels to that differentiates the two. As many might protest against, infatuation travels to the head, while love travels to the rest of the body. Infatuation is to be defined as the being obsessed with the simple idea of being in a relationship, and in this case that is a majority of Sylvain’s feelings in general. Where as love is something that encases one whole, it is the simple deciding factor that allows you to put the other before yourself when necessary, but at the same time to prioritize yourself when you must.

To bring this back to your situation, you know Sylvain enough to know that the boy is constantly hooked on the idea, but never on the truth. You trust Sylvain, you really do, after all, it is him you go to before the others most of the time, he has the best insights once he drops his dumb-jock facade and decides to become an actually decent guy.

“Um… (Name)?” Dimitri tapped your shoulder and you are pulled out of your in-depth analysis.

Dimitri.

Whenever you think you’ve gotten over him, he just has to show his dumb face in front of you in his dumb school uniform with that dumb blue cape and his dumb blue eyes and you feel yourself falling for him all over again. You feel bad for Sylvain, he had to sit through you talking about Dimitri over and over again for years, you thought about apologizing, but whenever you gave a hint to, Sylvain would reassure you that it was fine.

Dimitri is such an enigma, let that be known. You had known him for years, thanks to your mother, and you have seen his rises and falls and everything in between. But the question now arises, is what you feel for Dimitri love or infatuation?

“Oh, hey, Dima, what’s up?” You force a smile on your face and he eyes you suspiciously.

“I was wondering if you could help me out with bow training?” He asked.

Oh, you almost forgot about that. Dimitri’s strong proclamation of switching to bow skills, one you wouldn’t have seen coming from a mile away, but one that wasn’t a horrible surprise. You nodded.

“Sure, I’ll try to get you a silver bow so it doesn’t break again,” you laugh. And there’s another thing that was on your long list of ‘WHY I LOVE DIMITRI.’ It’s the honesty, the way you could read his feelings on his face. The first thing you noticed was how the tips of his ears would turn red first before the rest of his face did, then he would do that nervous side glance that would send your heart racing. Sometimes you were afraid that people would be able to tell how whipped you were for the young prince because, truth be told, the odds of you and Dimitri being end game were short, very short. He’s a prince and you’re a commoner who just happened to be lucky enough to be a part of the lives of nobles, it was just not meant to be.

You would describe your story as a complicated romantic plot. But the boy behind you would describe it as a sob story. As frivolous as he seems, Sylvain is in no way an idiot. He knows your feelings for the Prince, and he knows Dimitri’s feelings for you, there’s no way he could ever stand a chance against the crown prince of Fhirdiad, and in your heart, your relationship has plateaued at ‘Sibling-Like,’ a placement he wasn’t happy with, but one he was willing to maintain.

“Honestly, Sylvain, look at you, you’re pathetic,” Felix scoffs. “You’d might as well just tell her how you feel so you could stop looking like such an oaf when she does as much as breathe.”

“It’s just that we’ve been friends for so long, I don’t think I should say anything,” Sylvain kept his carefree smile on his face, but his words were somber. “Plus, her and Dimitri have a bond we could never have.”

“I don’t think so, but alright,” Felix shrugs. “I’ve had enough of your moping, take action or I will for you.” Sylvain blew a piece of his hair out of the way and slumped his shoulders.

“Yeah, I hear you, Felix,” he groans. The door to the classroom opens and Byleth walks in, tomes and papers stacked in his hands. He tosses them on the table and turns to the class.

“I hope you’re all ready for your first mission as students. Bandit removal, make sure your weapons are ready and repaired, we move out in a few hours,” he instructs. The class affirms his questions collectively and next thing they knew it, they were at the drop-off location, getting in formation.

This wouldn’t be your first time going against enemies, which is sad enough to say. But the life of a commoner isn’t one of luxury. When you weren’t with your mother in the castle, you were with your father at home, home being a small cottage in the middle of the woods since your father was a paranoid maniac.

It sounds cruel, but there’s no other way to put it. From a young age you had to do things for him, and that included making sure people who were hellbent on killing your father, claiming that he was “cursed” or whatever new word they cooked up for him, weren’t a problem. When did it start again? You had to have been ten at least, right?

Oh, goddess above, you just realized how bad that sounded.

Let’s set something straight, you’ve never killed anyone! Gods no. You just scared them away, is all, enough for them not to come back to hurt your father.

Now the person who taught you how to use your sword in the first place was your father, before the “Goddess please take my life away as well as my wife and child” blubber he spouted out, in fact, he was also involved in the Monastery’s defenses, until he was untimely “retired” as Seteth put it.

Another unknown fact to most, actually you didn’t recall ever telling your friends either, you had connections in the Monastery even before you were admitted to the Officers Academy, mainly for fear of being disparaged since you were technically only let in because of “connections,” and goodness how you hated using that word but it was all that was there to use. As far as your classmates know, you got in because of good grades.

Which you believe would have been right, if only you actually went to school.

# Commoner Things.

Regardless, Dimitri and Ingrid’s books always kept you as educated as you had to be.

But let’s get back to the story.

“(Name), I want you and Felix to work together for this battle,” Byleth instructs. “You two should play off of each other well, focus on bow skills.”

“Right,” you nod. You link your arms with Felix. “Guess you’re stuck with me, Lix.”

“Great, now I have to babysit while I’m in battle,” Felix rolls his eyes and you smile.

“I feel like I never partner up with you anymore! What’s the worst that could happen?” You shrug.

“With your luck? Murphy’s Law is your best friend, (Name).”

“Don’t be like that, don’t worry, I have your back!”

That exchange was ten minutes ago.

You and Felix have been pushed back and essentially cornered by the enemy bandits, and the rest of the class was on the whole other side of the battle field.

But it wasn’t your fault! Felix was the one who was cocky enough to think he could handle the west side by himself, and you had to follow him because otherwise Byleth would have failed you. So now the both of you were hiding behind a rock, out of Vulnaries, and on the brink of exhaustion. And since the Professor wanted you to focus on your bow skills he may or may not have confiscated your sword, and Felix was being a dick and not letting you use his.

“How many arrows do you have left?”

“Uh… six.”

“How many enemies are left?”

“Uh… also six.” You hold your bow close to you and Felix holds both of your shoulders.

“Look, (Name), I always make fun of you and say you will never amount to anything because you are a commoner—“

“Geez, Lix, I get it, I’m worthless, chill out.”

“But right now this is me telling you that you can and you will one shot all those enemies because otherwise we will both die out here.”

“Well maybe if you gave me your sword—“

“It’s broken, (Name), you really think I’d give this to you and toss you out there? If Sylvain doesn’t kill me, Dimitri will tear my innards out.”

“Right. Okay,” you nod in tiny. “I dunno, Lix, my hit rate is one to six.”

“You can do it, I know that better than the others,” he shakes you slightly.

“Okay, okay, but if I die I am so convincing the Goddess to let me come back down so I can strangle you.”

“Deal. Now go kill those bandits.”

“Right, okay, right,” you nodded your head again.

Quick reminder, you’ve never killed anyone.

Also quick reminder, you don’t specialize in bow.

Also another reminder, last time you killed a fly you cried.

Okay, good luck, (Name).

You stood up and drew your bow back, focusing on the closest bandit, taking a deep breath in, you adjusted your stance, remembering Claude’s words, and as you exhale, you release the arrow, following it’s trail and hitting the enemy, leaving him out of commission.

“Oh gods, I did it. I actually did that… I am so sorry, I am so so sorry,” your expressions shifted dramatically. Felix poked his head out from behind the rock.

“See what did I tell you, (Name)? Go fuck some shit up!”

“Watch your language, Frauldarius,” you draw your next arrow, a new found confidence setting in you, and aim for your next target. Maybe you’re imagining it, but there was something different about how you were using your bow today, something more intense, to put it simply. Did arrows really fly that fast? And was a wooden bow really that strong enough to eliminate the enemies in one hit?

All questions for later.

Finally there was one last bandit and, using the same technique as the previous bandits, you took your shot.

And missed.

“You missed?!” Felix ran both hands through his hair.

“I told you I was a beginner!”

“So you miss your target the one time you shouldn’t miss?!”

“Oh shut up, Felix, you’re lucky I got the first five!”

“You two are really arguing, at a time like this?” The bandit halted in his tracks.

“Yeah we are, fuck off,” Felix grumbles. You glare at the bandit, grab Felix’s broken-ass sword, and drive it into the bandit’s chest.

“Don’t fucking interrupt me!” You growled. “Anyways, I don’t understand why you’re so unreasonable, Felix, you don’t see me complaining about your attitude 24/7.”

“That’s because you’re weak.”

“Say that again to my face!”

“I did!”

And the argument continued for the Goddess only knows how long and it finally ended when the Professor found the two of you and explained that the battle had been long over, then after a thorough scolding for worrying the entirety of the class, the two of you just decided not to talk to one another. Although you did find some joy in seeing Ingrid nag Felix about his broken sword, going off about how he should have checked before their very important first mission. But then your joy ended when she turned her anger towards you and lectured you on how you should have some respect for the people who were older than you, and also how you shouldn’t argue in battle since it’s “distracting” to the other classmates, but how could it be “distracting” if it was only you and Felix?

Either way, you had a bitter attitude for the rest of the week, and none of the Blue Lions were brave enough to go up to you and even make small talk.

And it wasn’t until Friday night when Felix decided to man up and go up to you.

Tag List: @cynicaltj @jumblybumble

#fe3h #feth #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem #fe3h x reader #fe3h scenarios #fe3h imagines #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #dimitri x reader #fe3h dimitri #felix hugo fraldarius #felix x reader #fe3h felix #sylvain jose gautier #sylvain x reader #fe3h sylvain #ingrid brandl galatea #mercedes von martritz #byleth eisner

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stephadoodles · 5 years

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DOAFP Episode 1x03 Review - “Disaster Relief”

I had more to say about this episode than I realized! A lot of great metaphors and another themed episode, although this one only focused on two of the three story lines in regards to the theme.

Sasha sets up the main idea of the episode by talking about her raison d'être, mispronouncing it as raisin. In short, her reason for being. This starts Elena off on thinking about what her raisin is (and I’m going to feel silly typing that every time). They show the school announcements and how awkward the principal is at giving them, easily foreshadowing what Elena’s going to end up doing by the end of the episode. However, she decides that being the Hurricane Watch person is her calling instead.

Throughout the episode, Elena works on her speech for the competition, and seeks advice from a variety of people. When we do get to finally see her speech, she throws a little bit from everyone in, with an anecdote like her mother suggested, a splash of humor with a pun from Sam, and some hurricane-related facts, which she had been researching early on. It’s a nice reflection of how she took advice from everyone and mixes it up to make it uniquely hers.

And man, if the whole competition isn’t a giant metaphor for the state of politics (and really society in general). The girl puts together a smart, funny, and engaging presentation. She’s shown working on it for days and puts a lot of effort into it. Meanwhile, the guy gets up there, makes a few dumb comments that he clearly didn’t put any real work or effort into, and wins easily. It’s likely something that adult!Elena will have to deal with in the future, but it’s symbolized in a middle school situation as well.

Ultimately, Elena figures out that since she’s so comfortable with public speaking, and that it’s something she enjoys doing, she should take over the announcements. She excels at it, and it’s another little hint at her future.

Meanwhile, Gabi has a nice date with Sam planned, now that their relationship is out in the open. She’s shown clearly worrying about her kids and not being sure if she’s ready to leave them alone while going out on dates. It made me wonder if she never really went out before, even with friends, because her kids are definitely old enough to be on their own for an evening. I was babysitting other people’s kids by the time I was Elena’s age.

Gabi’s focus on her kids gets in the way of her dates, messing up both of them with the first being cancelled, and the second being crashed by the kids (and Monyca). While Sam seems understanding at first, and he definitely rolls with it when everyone shows up at the restaurant, he’s clearly out of his depth with the realization of how having kids impacts your life. He and Gabi have a conversation at the end of the episode where he admits that he didn’t realize how having kids would change and impact their relationship, and he’s honest about the fact that he’s not sure how he feels about that.

It’s a surprisingly honest conversation, and the fact that they’re putting that much focus on it surprised me. It’s a very adult topic to deal with, in the sense that younger kids – who are the target audience for this show – might not be as interested in it. But when it comes to adults, having kids is a huge decision and if both people in the relationship don’t agree on it, the relationship ultimately won’t work. Gabi states as much and points out that her kids are her reason for being, and that they come before anything else in her life. Sam is then faced with the choice of whether he wants to still be a part of her life, since it would greatly involve the kids. It’s left on a cliffhanger that isn’t resolved until the next episode.

And then there’s Bobby’s story line, which is the one that doesn’t connect to the reason for being theme. His is essentially focused on his burgeoning relationship with Monyca, and that apparently means getting to second base right away. This was definitely the most eye-rolling aspect of the episode for me, but teen boys are teen boys, I guess.

Considering the fact that it does look like they’re going in the direction of Bobby being gay, it’s interesting to watch his relationship with Monyca develop. There’s little build up to their actual relationship, and it’s hard to tell if they’ve even really interacted before this. At times, Bobby seems uncomfortable, and doesn’t seem super enthusiastic about it.

Bobby hears through his friends that she wants to meet up with him in a spot that is apparently a popular hook-up spot for students, and it means that she wants to go to second base with him. Clearly, none of these boys have any idea what they’re talking about, and I doubt any of them have been in a relationship or even kissed anyone before, but they’re talking a big game because they’re dumb teen boys. This leads to a sequence where they sit around in Bobby’s bedroom and try to figure out what exactly this second base is supposed to be, which leads to them practicing on one of Gabi’s bras. When Gabi catches them, this leads to her giving Bobby part four of eight of the sex talk (which she has binders for).

This whole story line, if for no other reason, is a great example of how the show is able to talk about much more mature topics. No show on modern Disney Channel would be able to get away with this. Between this and the casual swearing, it’s clear that the Disney+ platform is allowing for a lot more freedom. But it’s all still appropriate for middle-school aged kids who have likely (hopefully) had some kind of sex talk at this point and can handle some low-key swearing.

It’s all wrapped up when Bobby goes to meet her, and Monyca simply tells him that she likes him. She also points out that the whole concept of “bases” is outdated and patriarchal, which is the only valid response to that whole story line.

The main theme of the episode is finding your reason for being. It’s normal for kids to start thinking about that around middle school, and schools are definitely starting to approach the idea of “figure out what you want to do in life” a lot earlier now. The conversation that Elena and Gabi have about how you don’t have to figure it out when you’re young, and how it may take a long time for you to find your reason is a really important one. With the pressure to pick a future and figure out what you want to do with your life happening younger and younger, it’s important to have the message that it’s okay if you don’t know yet, or that it might change as you go through life. There’s no age where you just have everything magically figured out.

A few notes:

Usually Disney shows don’t reference anything political, but the science class is clearly having a discussion about climate change, and there’s a poster on the wall referencing it. This is shown again in later episodes as well with the evolution lesson

Camila makes another reference to not having a good relationship with her parents, and I can’t help but wonder if we’ll get more of her back story and focus on her in the future

Elena had to correct another teacher on the pronunciation of her name

Similar to how Iris in Andi Mack was named after a goddess of rainbows, I’ve noticed that Monyca tends to wear a lot of clothing/accessories with rainbows on them (Coincidence? I think not).

#doafp #diary of a future president #elena cañero reed #bobby cañero reed #doafp reviews #my reviews #this is loooong wow

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kaycha1989 · 6 years

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The Right Partner

My Hero Academia Fanfic

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou, OC

Rating: Mature

Summary: After graduating UA, Bakugou joined Best Jeanist's agency as a sidekick, but after three years of failed attempts at finding Bakugou a partner, Best Jeanist is desperate. Could a friend of his have the answer to his problem or will Bakugou scare away his newest partner?

Chapter One

“Honestly, I don’t know what to do with him.” Best Jeanist tells his friend Spotlight over the phone, “I’ve tried teaching Bakugou to rein in his anger and about the importance of keeping up appearances but he is impossible.”

Spotlight is a hero in America that is also into fashion. Like his name suggests his quirk allows him to control and direct light. He can focus light into powerful beams or direct it where he needs it for photo shoots.

“He looks like a handful.” Spotlight replies looking at the picture Jeanist just sent him, “With that handsome face and powerful quirk he will definitely have no problem becoming popular.”

“If it wasn’t for his foul mouth and his abrasive personality, plus he runs off everyone I try to partner him with. The sidekicks at my agency refuse to work with him. He has great potential to be the number one hero if I can only teach him how,” Jeanist sighs.

“So… you need a partner for him that can take his shit and hand it back to him.” Spotlight says thoughtfully.

“Yes, but the people I know of that can deal with Bakugou already have accepted positions at other agencies. His friends understand him and are used to his behavior but he needs to learn not to be so explosive with his words.” Jeanist replies.

“You know I have someone who might be just what you’re looking for.” Spotlight said with a chuckle.

“Seriously? At this point I’m willing to try anything,” Jeanist says eagerly.

“It would be more like fighting fire with fire… someone with a strong personality and quirk that can keep up with Bakugou. Honestly, if this works they will be a scary strong team, and it just so happens that she is interested in being an international hero,” Spotlight tells his friend.

“I don’t need another problem child,” Jeanist says irritably.

“You misunderstood me, she isn’t a problem child. She gets along very well with others but is a very dominant leader in a group. I usually pair her with the newbies to teach them how to cooperate and listen in a team setting; she has a natural knack for it,” Spotlight informs him.

“Sounds promising,” Jeanist replied, “What more can you tell me about her?”

“Truthfully, I’m not really willing to let her go. She is already rising fast through the rankings here in America. She is an amazing singer and performer as well, and I’ve recently talked her into doing some modeling. Her potential is amazing but she is still lacking in some self-confidence,” Spotlight tells his friend. “She is one of those ‘she doesn’t realize she is beautiful’ types. I just sent you a picture.”

Jeanist opens the email his friend sent. The picture loads to show a young woman with beautiful almond shaped green eyes and long dark purple hair that looks like it would reach her waist if it was down. Her bright smile and alluring eyes make her look like someone very friendly while at the same time making her appear to be someone you wouldn’t want to make angry.

“Wow, she is definitely a beauty but that won’t stop Bakugou from being and ass,” Jeanist informs his friend.

“Trust me it is not her looks I’m counting on,” Spotlight laughs.

“What is her quirk?” Jeanist asks.

“I’m glad you asked. I think it will be a perfect match for Bakugou’s Explosion…” Spotlight replies

%%%%%

Great, this is just great… how many of these damn partners do I have to run off before Best Jeanist realizes I don’t need one? Bakugou thought to himself.

The young hero had been called in to report to Best Jeanist’s office. Bakugou guessed it was because he had found him a new partner. It had been a while since he ran off the last one, so he thought he had finally gotten the point across.

Reaching the pro hero’s office, Bakugou threw the doors open with a bang. Flopping down in a chair he, glared at his mentor.

“If you break the door you’ll have to pay for a new one,” Best Jeanist tells the young hero.

“Whatever,” Bakugou scoffed, “What do you want?”

“Well, I think I’ve finally found you a partner,” Jeanist tells him.

“This shit again? How many times do I have to tell you I don’t need a damn partner,” Bakugou hollers.

“Whatever you may think, having a partner early in your career is essential to your development as a pro hero,” Jeanist tells him. “It took a lot to get her here from America. She was a sidekick for a good friend of mine, and he didn’t want to let her go.”

“Her? So you are pairing me up with some damn chick from America?” Bakugou blustered. “I don’t have time to babysit some fucking girly wannabe.”

“Wow, Spotlight wasn’t kidding. He really is quite the charmer!” a sarcastic voice came from behind him.

Bakugou turned around in his seat to see a young woman standing in the doorway. She was tall with dark purple hair and green eyes. She walked in with a bag slung over her shoulder and made her way to Jeanist’s desk.

“Hello, sir.” she held her hand out to Jeanist. “I’m the hero from Spotlight’s agency, Wildside, and I want to thank you for this opportunity.”

Jeanist took the hero’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “I trust your trip here was a good one?” Jeanist asked.

“My flight didn’t have any problems and the person who picked me up was very nice,” Wildside said with a smile.

“Tch,” Bakugou scoffed. Great, another goodie two-shoes that is all smiles and fucking rainbows.

“Well, I’m glad you made it,” Best Jeanist said as he sat behind his desk. “I would like to introduce you to your partner, Katsuki Bakugou. His hero name is Ground Zero.”

Turning toward the ashy blonde man, Wildside held out her hand, “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Whatever, let’s get one thing straight: I work alone.” Bakugou brushed off her handshake and stood up to his full height so that the top of her head reached his eyes.

Matching his fierce glare, she smiled. “Well, I guess you will have to get used to working with a partner then.”

“Bakugou, I want you to show Wildside around the agency,” Jeanist interrupted.

“Like hell!” Bakugou yelled before storming out of the office.

“Well that was interesting,” Wildside said turning back to Jeanist.

“I’m sorry for his despicable behavior,” Jeanist apologized. “He may not seem like it, but he is an exceptional hero.”

“I will have to take your word for it sir,” Wildside said looking back towards the door. “Spotlight said I was going to have my hands full.”

“I hope you still wish to stay?” Jeanist asked.

“Definitely, I’m not about to let that grump ruin this for me. You can count on me sir,” She replied. “I should introduce myself properly. My name is Hales, Kia Hales.”

“It is nice to meet you, Miss Hales,” Jeanist bowed.

%%%%%

Bakugou slammed his locker shut after he shoved his costume inside. Grabbing his towel he turned to head toward the showers only to come face to face with his new partner.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” Bakugou asked. “This is the men’s locker room or can’t you read Japanese?”

Kia ignored his remark. “I can read Japanese just fine but I don’t know my way around the agency yet. Jeanist said to find you and have you show me to the support and wardrobe offices.”

“And what, you just figured you would come in here and take a peek?” Bakugou accused, aware that he was standing there in nothing but his boxers.

“Not saying that you aren’t impressive, but you’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before,” Kia said with a grin.

“What?” Bakugou snarled.

“I figured I would have to corner you to get you to help me, so here I am!” Kia said.

“The hell? Just wait outside.” Bakugou said pushing his way past her and heading to the showers.

Smiling, Kia made her way out of the locker room and sat on a bench outside the door to wait for her partner.

Bakugou took as slow a shower as he could, taking his time to dry and dress himself. He was hoping his new partner would get tired of waiting and leave. Much to his dismay, when he left the locker room she was sitting there waiting for him.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked gruffly.

“If you could take me to wardrobe I would appreciate it,” Kia replied.

“Follow me,” Bakugou said.

Kia quickly gathered her bags and followed Bakugou down the hall. Pointing to his right he told her. “Women’s locker rooms are down that hallway.”

“Thanks,” Kia replied.

They walked in silence until Bakugou stopped at a door two floors up from the locker rooms. “There,” he said crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway.

Kia walked in and introduced herself to the staff. Bakugou remained at the doorway, curious as to what his new partner was doing. Pulling a suit out of one of her bags, Kia handed it over to the staff along with a file.

“Anything specific you want for your costume?” one of the staff members asked.

“Well if definitely needs to be resistant to burning or freezing. As far as color I’m not too picky. Try not to make it too revealing if you could please. That file contains the makeup of my old costume as well as specifics on my quirks.” Kia told them.

“Very well, we should be able to have your new suit ready in about three days,” the staff member said to her.

“Thanks so much!” Kia replied.

“By the way, who is your partner?” the other staff member asked. “Jeanist likes partners to have slight similarities in their uniforms.”

“Really?” Kia replied. “Well, my partner is Ground Zero.”

The staff members’ faces darkened when she told them who her partner was.

“You poor girl,” one of them said.

“We will definitely have to make the fabric sturdy,” another said. “And she will need spares.”

“I hope you have better luck than his former partners,” one said while patting her on the back.

“Uhm …thanks?” Kia replied, making her way to the door.

She was surprised to see Bakugou still standing by the door, and from the look on his face, he had heard everything the staff members said.

Bakugou turned with his hands in his pockets, bangs covering his eyes he made his way down the hall. Kia followed behind looking closely at her new partner. Filing into the elevator, the silence continued.

“You didn’t like what they were saying, did you?” Kia asked.

“Who the hell cares what those losers think?” Bakugou snapped.

“You know, it’s ok to have...” Kia started. Bam!! Bakugou’s fist collided with the wall right next to her head.

“SHUT THE HELL UP IF YOU DON’T WANT TO DIE!!” Bakugou exploded.

“If you are trying to intimidate me, it’s not going to work,” Kia said with a glare.

“FUCK YOU!” Bakugou pushed away as the doors to the elevator opened. Turning away he stormed out of the elevator and towards the front doors of the agency. Throwing the doors open, he stomped off. Kia watched as her short tempered partner stormed away.

“Well we are off to a good start,” Kia sighed to herself. “I better find somewhere to stay.” She took off in the opposite direction, not sure what to think of her new partner.

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17 | Ch 18 | Ch 19 | Ch 20

#BNHA #my hero academia #katsuki bakugou #kaycha1989 #mature #fanfiction #OC

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clairekatswritingcorner · 6 years

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Where Do We Go From Here?

Word Count: 2,104

Summary: Alexys is the only one who believes in him, and part of that is only because she believes in herself. Despite the warning signs, she refuses to accept that there isn’t something redeemable in the alien overlord that was once a formidable enemy to she and her crew. Can her hope prevail over his malevolence?

*Author’s Note*: Another commission for @bad-blue-moon-rising, this time featuring her bad timeline canon AU for her selfship with Ug! Just by that description you should expect that it’s sad, and if you don’t, I’m telling you that it’s tragic and makes my heart hurt jfielshge BUT never fear, somewhere in there a happy ending can still be seen. I hope you enjoy!

A few weeks had passed since they’d managed to put the chaos to rest, but things were still pretty tense. Alexys was the one who shouldered the brunt of the burden, considering the integral role she’d played in creating this situation in the first place. Thanks to her, the fallout had caused less damage than expected, which was a relief no one took for granted. But she’d also convinced the crew to allow her to bring the TerraCor head back with them, alive and in one piece. Not everyone was keen on the idea from the beginning, and it had taken all of Alexys’s skill and persuasive power to convince them that this decision wouldn’t end up coming back to bite them. Their circumstances already couldn’t get much worse, which was probably why the team ended up caving to her proposition with minimal fuss.

Part of her was still in denial about the fact that she’d fought for such a cause at all. She had every right to be just as bitter as everyone else, to take her frustrations out on the man at the root of the nightmare they’d just barely managed to survive. He was ruthless and stubborn and unappealing…well, that last point was a little bit debatable in her eyes. Eyes whose opinion she wished she could have ignored, that she regretted letting sway her feelings in the first place. The man they’d captured and taken into their care was stoic and calculating and harsh, but Alexys was still able to see something more in him. She wasn’t entirely sure what that “more” happened to be yet, but she’d already decided that such information wasn’t essential for her to come to a conclusion.

It should have been, though. She should have used her head, listened to the others, taken their advice. She should have seen what they did, followed the thoughts and feelings they exhibited that were rationally guarded and judgmental. This alien tyrant didn’t deserve a second chance, didn’t deserve an opportunity to be rehabilitated, if such a thing was even possible. Something in Alexys desperately wanted to discover that it was, that she would be able to pull it off. She didn’t know the first thing about reforming someone’s bad habits, especially ones that were as nasty as his. Stampeding through the star systems and imposing his will on any and all that stood in his path. All he cared about was the wellbeing of his business—the entity, not the people.

He’d cost the crew members more than they cared to remember, but also what they swore they’d never forget. They couldn’t afford to, because they felt it was necessary to cling to the blame and rage that they’d cultivated towards this man who had become their natural enemy. So much conflict and confusion and pain…he’d instigated all of it, and yet Alexys wanted to keep him like a pet. She wanted to nurture him and help him see the error of his ways. The rest of the crew figured that receiving just punishment would be adequate enough to teach him a lesson, but the girl was insistent on not treating him with violence. To her, yielding to the encouragement of such malicious spite would only end up making them as bad as him.

They had a lot more to deal with upon their return to Earth than just the problems they brought back with them. That was another reason everyone had reluctantly deigned to agree with Alexys, because they didn’t have the energy or the focus to try to argue with her, knowing that in the end they still wouldn’t be able to change her mind. She was firm in her beliefs, and if she really wanted to be the one responsible for babysitting the heathen that’d threatened their lives, then what was the point of trying to stop her?

Well, it was the principle of the thing, really…none of them wanted to be forced to see the face of the man that’d caused them so much grief ever again, who had stolen so much from them, especially in Ethan’s case. Despite the close relationship he and Alexys shared, she wasn’t going to let it alter her conviction. Unfortunately, as a result, it seemed a rift had formed between them. Ethan rightfully felt betrayed, while Alexys felt guilty and confused about whether or not she’d actually done the right thing. She didn’t like knowing she’d hurt her friend, the boy who felt like family to her. He was still family in her eyes, but she wasn’t sure if he saw her that way anymore. As depressing as it was, they’d all lost someone, and if she could move past it and end up helping the culprit improve his ways and atone accordingly, then the extra suffering she was currently enduring would be worth it.

On the other hand, if he truly did end up changing his ways, Alexys wasn’t sure what she’d do. What could she do with someone like him, an alien with a merciless disregard for anything that didn’t suit him or his goals? He’d been somewhat cooperative with her so far, which was a good sign, but there was always a hint of caution in the back of her mind that was ready to pounce the moment something started to go wrong. She was sure she wouldn’t be able to fight or detain him on her own, which was an objective truth due to his strength. She’d seen what he could do with and without a weapon, and she was confident he’d be more than formidable in defending himself against even a group of trained athletes or soldiers. In a way, she supposed he could be seen as a soldier for his own cause. But he was going to have to let it rest, because that ship had sailed for him. Here on Earth, she was going to do whatever it took to impress the reality of his situation upon him.

They were sitting across from one another in the living room, her leaning against the armrest of her chair while he sat tied up in his own. A couple of her friends had made sure to tie him up tightly, and maybe even a little painfully. The alien didn’t mind, and for now neither did Alexys. His comfort wasn’t what was important, but his comprehension, his understanding. If she could get him to see things the way she and the rest of her friends did, maybe she’d have a better shot at convincing him why he needed to change. Whether he thought he’d done anything wrong or not, she was sure he had to have some sense of morals crammed in a dark corner of his subconscious, just waiting to be dusted off and put to good use again…if he’d ever even used them before, that is.

“Are you just going to sit there and stare at me all day?” His tone was thick with the implication that she was the one offending him. With a defiant huff she crossed her arms and settled back in her chair. “If I knew this is what I had to look forward to when I was brought to this bore of a planet, I would have put more effort into my escape.”

A bout of incredulous laughter burst forth from Alexys’s mouth. “Oh please. As if you have the means to try to escape now. How long are you going to keep this pompous leader complex up, anyway? Because I promise no one’s buying it anymore.”

“It’s not an act, it’s simply who I am,” he replied with a sneer, and Alexys shrugged.

“Well, you’re going to have to get over that eventually. Because no matter how much you want to be, that’s not who you are anymore. The people you controlled, the power you had, it’s all gone. Dust in the wind, never coming back. So, if you’re still interested in having some kind of meaningful future, you’ll stop being so arrogant and at least try to listen to what I have to say. What I’ve been saying for the past couple of weeks. I’m honestly getting tired of having to repeat myself.”

“Then you could just give up,” he challenged with a smirk, and Alexys was just a few seconds away from lunging over the table and punching him.

Instead, she stood up and made her way around the table in a much more civil, sensible manner. She leaned in close to his face, examining it for any trace of something salvageable she could work with. It was pretty hard, almost impossible, and the girl was starting to think maybe he was right. So much time and energy wasted on a lost cause, someone whose viewpoint wasn’t going to be influenced or budged no matter what she tried. But she couldn’t give up, not yet, maybe not ever. She’d vowed to make bringing this man back with them worth it, to have something to show after how hard she’d fought to make it happen. It was like they were caught up in an endless game, and somehow, he was playing it better than her without even knowing the rules. She wasn’t going to let him make her give in, though. If she ended up calling off this little arrangement, it would have to be on her terms.

He tried to shuffle away as she approached, but due to his restraints his movement was impaired to the point of immobility. He gritted his teeth in dissatisfaction, trying to overcome the urge to turn and look at her. There was something wrong with him every time he saw her face, something distracting and unpleasant. And the one thing that made it so unpleasant to him was that deep down…it actually wasn’t unpleasant. It wasn’t something he was trying to feel or think or do, but it seemed his mind and emotions had other plans, and they were running wild inside him with reckless abandon. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do if such things persisted…he wasn’t sure what he could do about them as they stood now.

What happened next startled them both beyond belief. Without warning or even really meaning to, Alexys reached out and ruffled his hair. Usually smooth and slicked down, she’d done away with any and all remnants of the utilitarian style. Now his hair was sticking up in all directions, naturally fluffy, curly, and voluminous. There were lingering traces of whatever product he’d used on it here and there, but for the most part she’d rubbed it all out. Or at least, she’d given his hair the opportunity to return to its original state as opposed to being forced into boring flatness by his hideous air gel.

“What in the—what are you doing?” he was simultaneously annoyed and astonished, and he also wasn’t sure which reaction was more potent. “Don’t touch me, what were you thinking?”

“I like it.”

That simple phrase shut him up in a heartbeat. He looked at her out of reflex, and the moment his eyes fell upon her face, he swore his heart stopped completely. She was looking at him with such affection, such tenderness…the softest expression he’d ever seen anyone make in the entire universe. No, those unwanted feelings couldn’t be coming back, she couldn’t be doing this to him…but she was. He was helpless to her charm, a charm that she didn’t even know she possessed, and that she probably would have denied if someone tried pointing it out to her. But it was this charm that kept him here, convinced him to be as accommodating as his pride could tolerate. Every time she used it on him, he felt another piece of his resolve being chipped away, making room for the feelings that seemed to never stop expanding deep within him.

“So, Counselor—” The way she said his title made him shiver. His real name was Ug, the name he’d been christened with at birth. He preferred to be known by his official title, Counselor Tetra, head of the recently disbanded TerraCor. A name that had once struck fear and respect into the hearts of anyone who heard it. He didn’t plan on giving into his captors easily, granting them access to information as personal as his true identity, but even his skepticism was getting difficult to cling to. When she said it, or really anything addressing him, all he could think about was how much he wanted her to do it again. “Where do we go from here?”

#self insert #selfinsert #self ship #selfship #oc x canon #self insert fic #self insert fanfiction #selfship fic #selfship fanfiction #self insert commissions #selfship commissions #my writing #claire writes #one shot #bad-blue-moon-rising #commission

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jocelynbass1991 · 4 years

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neuxue · 7 years

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Wheel of Time liveblogging: The Gathering Storm ch 12

In which no one expects Egwene to be made of awesome. Their loss. Or gain, depending how you look at it...

Chapter 12: Unexpected Encounters

I’m glad we’re seeing more of Egwene this book.

The poor Red sisters assigned to babysit her know all too well what they’re getting themselves into and they don’t like it.

It had been well over a month since Siuan had conveyed her disturbing news in Tel’aran’rhiod

Wait, really? A month? The frequent POV-switching is definitely giving this book a faster pace, but it’s wreaking havoc on my ability to keep the timelines straight. That’s never been a strong suit for me in the first place, frustratingly. The Cleansing was a nice catch-up point, but after that…even last book I felt like I was losing track a bit. Ah well. It’ll all converge eventually, right?

The events were a reminder that the world was coming apart. This was a time when the White Tower should have been a source of stability. Instead, it divided against itself while Rand al’Thor’s men bonded sisters. How could Rand have allowed such a thing?

Well…he didn’t. Except he sort of did, by basically ignoring the Black Tower and more or less everything that was going on there. But then, he also didn’t have anything to do with this directly. Except, that’s part of the problem. So in conclusion, it’s complicated.

I do think she sees the bonding as a bigger problem than it actually is, but it’s not hard to see why she reacts this way. Even in context, to a reader with far more information than Egwene herself has, the bonding of the Aes Sedai is a moral and ethical mess of a minefield. It’s a perfect example of how two wrongs don’t make a right, but the do make a right clusterfuck of things.

That’s with context. Egwene has a fair bit of the information connected with it, but she doesn’t have everything. Nor is she getting it from an unbiased source – and she herself is far from an unbiased observer. And at this point, she really doesn’t have a way of knowing what Rand is thinking, or how exactly he reacted to this or what he would and wouldn’t do. I also am fairly sure she doesn’t know that Rand was bonded unwillingly. It’s been a very long time since they’ve seen each other, especially in terms of how much has happened in that time. So it’s frustrating to see her thinking this, but it’s also not at all unrealistic. So much depends on perspective, and what information is available. And Egwene is Aes Sedai, and her entire focus right now is on the White Tower. So anything that interferes with that is going to get a strong response, and perhaps sometimes a disproportionate one.

There was obviously little left of the youth with whom she’d grown up. Of course, there was little of the youthful Egwene left either.

I like the balance in this, and the sense of acknowledgment that the blame doesn’t necessarily lie with one of them alone.

I’ve no doubt said before that one of the things I enjoy most is watching characters move along the friends/enemies ‘axis’. Rand and Egwene are a rather fascinating example, because they’re certainly not enemies, but they’re very nearly antagonists at this point. Yet there is still an underlying fondness, and an underlying familiarity. They think about how they don’t know each other anymore, but they did once, and that still comes through. Neither wants to hurt the other; the antagonism comes more from a difference of position and perspective and perception. They’ve essentially inherited opposing roles, and the more they come to embody those roles, the more strained their previous relationship becomes.

But that previous relationship is what makes this so interesting; it would play very differently if a random young Amyrlin were chosen, who had never met Rand al’Thor. Then there’d maybe be a sense of tension in watching them both, and wondering what would happen when they finally met or confronted one another. But the fact that Rand and Egwene do know each other – whether or not the Amyrlin and the Dragon Reborn do – and Egwene once tried to help Rand learn to channel and Rand once stayed to fight in a town full of Seanchan because he could not live with himself if he didn’t try to help free Egwene, and they once loved each other and in some way probably still do, and they’ve each had parallel but distinct and entirely excellent arcs in the interim, makes it all so much better.

Plus, I just like watching characters become enemies or friends or allies or antagonists out of circumstance, when it’s not what their original inclinations were. It’s one of my favourite things. (It’s why I just about died when Moridin saved Rand’s life in Shadar Logoth and then they reflexively fought Mashadar together while holding hands). All variations. Give them to me.

That, oddly, led her to thinking of Gawyn.

This is more disappointing to me than any of her thoughts about Rand, by a very long margin. You could do SO MUCH BETTER, Egwene. Like not having a romance subplot at all! Sigh.

Gawyn could look after himself; he’d done a competent job of that in the past. Too competent, in some cases.

Er. I mean, I don’t even hate Gawyn, but I think you’re giving him a bit too much credit there. The guy is a mess.

Siuan and the others would deal with the Asha’man matter. The other news was far more disturbing.

Okay, so maybe she’s not putting as much emphasis on it as it seemed. I am also rather amused at how both she and Rand have had their moments of outrage related to this whole deal, and then both delegated it to other people to sort out.

All in all, it’s probably best that they do delegate. The Asha’man and Aes Sedai are going to have to eventually learn to work together, and being able to carry out civil negotiations is not a terrible first step. At least in theory. In practice, given how the last book ended, it might be a bit more of…a mess.

But if it’s Dragon and Amyrlin calling all the shots there, it could end up being more complicated later, especially if one or both of them…isn’t around anymore. If there’s a way to establish actual working relationships between the two Towers (heh), that’d be ideal.

Egwene’s more disturbed by the fact that Halima was one of the Forsaken. Which, yeah, fair.

Egwene’s backside hurt, but the pain was growing increasingly irrelevant to her. Sometimes she laughed when beaten, sometimes not. The greater pain – what had been done to Tar Valon – was far more demanding.

A greater and more important focus, that makes other pain irrelevant and easy to…well, in her case, not ignore so much as accept without issue. I will spare you yet another rambling essay on how Egwene and Rand cope with pain, but suffice it to say the various similarities and especially differences of method and circumstance continue to fascinate me.

It wsa going to be a full day, with her appointments with sisters, her scheduled beatings, and her regular novice load of scrubbing floors or other chores.

And I thought my schedule was bad.

Bennae has asked for a repeat lesson with Egwene, which is apparently unusual. Eventually the Tower is going to run out of sisters to teach her, if they’re all only willing to do it once.

Egwene cleared off a stool, placing the dusty skeleton of a rat on the floor bewteen two stacks of books about the reign of Artur Hawkwing.

I was going to say this seems like an unrealistic caricature of an academic – those are very different fields of study, after all – but then I glanced over at my own bookshelf. Considering that I’m not even in acadaemia, nor am I nearly as old as Bennae…yeah, fine, I’ll concede this one.

“Let’s see…” Bennae mused. “Suppose that you were in a situation where you were in conflict with some members of your own Ajah. You have happened upon information you weren’t supposed to know, and your Ajah’s leaders are quite upset with you. Suddenly, you find yourself beign sentenced to some most unpleasant duties, as if they are trying to sweep you under the rug and forget about you. Tell me, in this situation, how would you react?”

Subtle as a brick, Bennae.

Egwene seems to share that sentiment, but does an admirable job of playing along and offering decent advice, rather than laughing or getting up to hit her head repeatedly against the nearest wall.

I suppose her time with the rebel Hall did give her rather a lot of practice in maintaining a front of polite patience. It’s a useful skill to have.

“Likely, she’s being ‘punished’ to keep her out of the way while the Ajah leaders search for a traitor. When they know there isn’t one, they’ll be more likely to look at the fallen sister’s situation with empathy – particularly after she’s offered them a solution.”

“Solution?” Bennae asked. Her teacup sat in her fingers, as if forgotten. “And which solution would you offer?”

“The best one: competence. Obviously some people among the Ajah know these secrets. Well, if this sister were to prove her trustworthiness and her capability, perhaps the leaders of her Ajah would realise the best place for her is as one of the caretakers of the secrets. An easy solution, if you consider it.”

So this is clearly the ‘next step’ in showing how the perception of Egwene within the Tower is shifting – her story last book ended with her having solidly won over the novices and with some of the Aes Sedai looking at her a bit differently. Now, she has a sister actually asking her for advice, in a manner that could only generously be called indirect. She is winning this part of her battle, winning the Tower over to her from within.

Still, I can’t help but find this particular conversation a bit…I don’t know. Too easy?

It’s not that it doesn’t reflect well on Egwene, because it does. The solution she proposes is very neat, and she presents it straightforwardly, without any veiled threats or demands. It’s not a ‘I will solve your problems but only if you make me Amyrlin’. She’s simply demonstrating her own competence, much as she is telling Bennae to do. Proving her trustworthiness and her capability, and offering a solution to the problems that plague the Tower, by showing that she is willing and able to help an individual sister.

No, the part that makes me sort of raise an eyebrow is that Bennae has to ask for help in the first place. Bennae is well over a hundred years old, and as an Aes Sedai she should be no stranger to manipulation. Or to thinking her way through things.

That said, Bennae does seem to be presented as not the brightest of the bunch, and I think part of the issue overall is that while Aes Sedai are very good at manipulating people and circumstances, many of them seem less good at dealing with change and uncertainty. The Tower is in crisis, and for the most part they’re not equipped to deal with that. And then along comes this girl who doesn’t fit anywhere – doesn’t fit into the rigid power structures and heirarchies and complicated webs of authority and position that the Aes Sedai put so much store by – to throw everything further into chaos. Except that instead of acting like a wild card, she walks calmly through the halls and gives advice to novices and refuses to break or even be visibly shaken by what is being done to her, and what is happening in the Tower and the entire world around her.

So she’s become something of a beacon of stability in a time of uncertainty. Not to mention, oddly enough, a point of unity in an increasingly divided Tower, wherein Ajahs and even individual sisters are more and more isolated. So from that angle I can definitely see how she’s drawing this kind of attention from not just novices and Accepted, now, but a sister who doesn’t know how to deal with a sudden change in circumstances, when so much is not how it used to be. When the old ways aren’t working and the rules aren’t as solid as the once seemed, and those unable to adapt or to push against the prevailing currents of chaos are struggling.

“Unjust punishments sometimes cannot be avoided, but it is best never to let others forget that it is unjust. If she simply accepts the way people treat her, then it won’t be long before they assume she deserves the position they’ve placed her in.”

Egwene’s turn to be about as subtle as Perrin’s hammer to the face.

But it’s a truth that perhaps needs to be hammered in, a bit.

And actually, this helps further explain why a sister with far more experience might be looking to someone like Egwene for advice. Aes Sedai carry their air of calm superiority easily when around ordinary people, be they commoners or kings. But amongst Aes Sedai, it’s rather more complicated. There is a strict heirarchy, and the various points of etiquette and authority and submission are thoroughly drilled into them, and so no matter how confident a sister might be outside the Tower, put her in a group of other Aes Sedai and she may find herself struggling to assert any kind of position whatsoever. So to even think of fighting against what’s happening in the Tower, or of standing up for herself to Ajah leaders, is probably close to unthinkable for your average Aes Sedai.

Egwene, though, was never even raised to Aes Sedai by the ordinary methods. She was brought in and raised for the sole purpose of being a puppet. She was supposed to fit neatly into her incredibly limited place. From the beginning, she was supposed to accept the way people treated her.

And from the beginning, she refused to. She defied those unspoken rules and manipulations, at first by outmanoeuvring them or appearing to submit to them, and eventually by showing them all too clearly that no, she would not be the puppet they wanted her to be. She refused to accept the way they treated her, and in the end she showed them that she did deserve the position they placed her in…but not at all in the way they expected.

She has never been an Aes Sedai in the Tower, subject to all the pressures and complexities of the heirarchy. It never had time to work its way into the core of who she is, making her unable to fight against it where necessary. Instead, she jumped in right at the point where everything was thrown into chaos, and she fought for her place from the word go.

To most other Aes Sedai, especially those who have spent a long time in the Tower, in this ingrained system, that’s something of an alien concept. And not one readily adopted. So to then see this girl not just fight the status quo but instead regard it calmly and then proceed as if it didn’t exist…perhaps it’s not so surprising at all that an Aes Sedai suddenly ‘demoted’ in some way would look at Egwene and wonder how she does it. Wonder if maybe she could help. Because she’s been demoted farther than anyone, and she appears to give exactly no fucks.

“I am always willing to help, Bennae,” Egwene said in a softer voice, turning back to her tea. “In, of course, hypothetical situations.”

It’s such a stark difference to Elaida – and a crucial one, especially in terms of appearances. Elaida is largely isolated, and takes a domineering position with regards to Sitters, much less individual Aes Sedai. She rules by edict and fear at this point. Whereas Egwene does not threaten, does not demand, does not even campaign, here. She just responds to a question, and offers her advice willingly – and makes it very clear that she is willing to give advice. She makes it clear that she still believes herself Amyrlin, but she also doesn’t set herself so untouchably far above the rest as to alienate them completely. She is Amyrlin, and the duty of the Amyrlin is to serve.

She could so easily fall into an image of desperate overconfidence or deluded arrogance, in her insistence that she is the Amyrlin Seat. Instead, she projects calm confidence, and combines it with a form of humility that only serves to highlight that confidence.

Turns out Bennae isn’t the only sister summoning her for advice, now. Things are changing. It’s time for the next step, whatever that is.

So a Brown praises her reasoning, a White praises her logic…

And now Suana is trying to recruit her to the Yellow. I see what you’re doing, there. Of all Ajahs and of none…

“Being of the Yellow isn’t about skill, child,” Suana said. “It’s about passion. If you love to make things well, to fix that which is broken, there would be a purpose for you here.”

And that, Egwene does have. She may not be a healer in the traditional sense, but she has taken on the task of healing the White Tower. In order to heal what the oncoming end of the world may bring. And she also has sought to find ways to unite all women who can channel, to close rifts there.

Nynaeve said of Egwene, early on, that “Egwene has the desire to heal, the need to.” And…she wasn’t entirely wrong, as it turns out. Just…Towers and maybe worlds, rather than people.

“My thanks,” Egwene said. “But the Amyrlin has no Ajah.”

This really is one of my favourite aspects about the exact manner in which Egwene was raised. There’s an echo of the ‘chosen one’ idea, almost, as ‘of all Ajahs and of none’ takes on a hint of prophecy. Except it isn’t prophecy, it’s just Egwene and choices. So it’s a nice interplay.

And I’m liking this hinting of how Egwene fits or can be perceived to fit aspects of each Ajah. Especially as they are increasingly divided and set against each other, she stands as someone who can unite and embody all of them.

It was a shocking conversation. Suana obviously didn’t consider Egwene the Amyrlin, but the mere fact that she was recruiting Egwene to her Ajah said something. It meant she accepted Egwene’s legitimacy, at last to some degree, as a sister.

I’m getting the nagging feeling, now, that things are going too well. In the ‘something disastrous is about to happen’ kind of way. Things are going her way, she’s winning over sisters rather than just novices, the perception of her is shifting…when an arc hits this point of everything smoothing out, that’s when things tend to catch on fire.

“have the Sitters spoken of what to do about the tensions between the Ajahs?” “I don’t see what can be done,” Suana replied.

Well challenge fucking accepted, said Egwene.

Once she left the Yellow sector of the Tower and collected her Red Ajah attendants, she realised something. She’d gone through all three meetings without being assigned a single punishment!

Yep, definitely time for something to explode.

There is the looming threat of the Seanchan attack Egwene dreamed, hanging over their heads…also there’s Mesaana still in the Tower, and Aran’gar off somewhere…and the ominous way Tarna’s delegation to the Black Tower ended last book…and of course there’s always Elaida. So really, no shortage of places from which total disaster could strike. Excellent.

They were coming to accept her. Unfortunately, that was only a small part of the battle. The larger part was making certain the White Tower survived the strains Elaida was placing upon it.

But even in getting them to accept her, she’s working towards that. She’s providing them with a rallying point, and now with hints and pieces of encouragement dropped to reach out to one another across the walls that have gone up. And she’s giving them a point of stability around which to gather, when the Tower’s foundations shake. The more they accept her, and the more they listen to her, the stronger that position will be.

Now time to pay a visit to Meidani, who has quite an impressive collection of souvenirs. Cool.

“Besides, I’m still not certain how I regard you.”

“I don’t care how you regard me,” Egwene said evenly, seating herself on an oversized oak chair, bearing a plaque that identified it as a gift from a moneylender in Tear. “And Amyrlin needs not the regard of those who follow her, so long as she is obeyed.”

“You’ve been captured and overthrown.”

Egwene raised an eyebrow, meeting Meidani’s gaze. “Captured, true.”

*whistles softly* damn.

“The Hall among the rebels will have chosen a new Amyrlin by now.” “I happen to know that they have not.”

Man, Egwene is on a roll here. It’s been a while since she got to drop a solid one-liner on the Hall; she must have been getting bored.

Poor Meidani never even saw her take on the Hall, and thus is entirely unprepared.

“Even if that is true, you must know that they picked you to be a figurehead. A puppet to be manipulated.”

Egwene held the woman’s gaze.

“You have no real authority,” Meidani said, voice wavering slightly.

Egwene did not look away. Meidani studied her, brow wrinkling slowly,s tep by step, furrows appearing across her smooth, ageless Aes Sedai face. She searched Egwene’s eyes, like a mason searching a piece of stone for flaws before setting it in place. What she found seemed to confuse her further. “Now,” Egwene said, as if she had not just been questioned, “you will tell me precisely why you have not fled the Tower.”

Beautiful.

Never underestimate the power of silence and unwavering eye contact.

Also never underestimate Egwene al’Vere. Really. People have tried. Now they have regrets.

“Why not leave?”

“I…cannot say,” Meidani said, glancing away.

“I’m commanding you as your Amyrlin.”

“I still cannot say.” Meidani looked down at the floor, as if ashamed.

Curious, Egwene thought, hiding her frustration.

OH. IS SHE…if she can follow this, or put the pieces together, and figure out that there are Aes Sedai in the Tower working together to track down the Black Ajah…if she can join them and make it actually work…talk about healing the Tower.

So Egwene can get other information out of Meidani – that she’s not a traitor, that she’s trying to renew a relationship with Elaida on the orders of ‘the others’, etc. Which is enough to indicate that there is a stronger reason for her to not be able to speak of her reasons for not leaving. Come on, Egwene, find a way to get the answer to this one. That would be a major step forward, potentially.

“We will mend the damage that Elaida has done, and I will sit in my rightful place as Amyrlin. But we have work to do.”

“I can’t—”

“Yes,” Egwene said. “You can’t tell me what is wrong. I suspect that the Three Oaths are involved, though Light knows how.”

Not three, Egwene. But she’s getting there, and I also like how she stopped herself from just pushing Meidani the way Elaida would have done. She’s firm, but she’s presenting this instead as a problem for them both to approach. And also giving Meidani some indication of why, rather than just trying to force information out of her.

“You can’t tell me why you’ve remained in the Tower. But can you show me?”

YES. HELL YES. LET’S DO THIS.

Meidani’s not certain but Egwene’s already on to the next issue, which is how to get out of Meidani’s rooms without running into spies from other Ajahs. Because the Tower is fucked.

Oh. Okay. That’s one way to do it.

“What is that?” Meidani asked.

“It’s called a gateway,” Egwene said. “Used for Travelling.”

“Travelling is impossible!” Meidani said immediately. “The ability has been lost for…” She trailed off, eyes opening more widely.

Meidani is getting in about ten minutes what the rebel Hall got over the course of weeks. I almost pity her.

I like how the first person in the Tower Egwene has shown Travelling to is the woman who clearly has a lifelong love of travelling. It’s a nice touch.

“Yes, Mother,” Meidani said

Well that didn’t take very long. Just some well-placed silences, a steady glare or two, and a demonstration of trust in the form of a weave that, to Meidani, would be a true gift. Not to mention solid evidence of Egwene’s ability to casually do the impossible.

“I must warn you, however, that you may be surprised at what you are stepping into. It could be dangerous.”

Meidani. Please. Have you met Egwene? I can barely remember the last time she did something that wasn’t dangerous. Her introduction to the story was basically ‘I’m going to join you as you flee the Two Rivers in the middle of the night’ and she hasn’t slowed down since.

And HERE WE ARE. Four Sitters in a room, all of different Ajahs, not at all expecting to have Egwene al’Vere unleashed upon them.

“The al’Vere girl.” Ah. Right, well. This will be interesting.

So they’re berating Meidani for what they see as a breach of her Oath, and completely ignoring Egwene. We’ll see how long they can keep that up. I’m betting a page.

Oaths Egwene didn’t know about, meetings away from the upper corridors, a Warder guarding the door…were these women of four Ajahs, or of one?

Ha. So close, and yet so very, very far.

And just like that, Egwene’s figured it out. Part of it, anyway.

“You gave her a fourth oath, didn’t you?” Egwene interrupted. “What under the Light were you thinking?”

Yukiri glanced at her, and Egwene felt another swish of Air. “You were not given leave to speak.”

“The Amyrlin needs no leave to speak,” Egwene said, staring the women down.

Not even a full page. And so the fun begins.

“Has this entire Tower gone as insane as Elaida?”

Well someone needed to say it.

“It was only done out of necessity. This one couldn’t be trusted, not after siding with the rebels.”

Already explaining themselves, even if it is with a tone of dismissive authority. Still, that’s a far cry from just ignoring Egwene. And if they’re trying to justify their actions to her, she’s already won half the battle, as far as this conversation goes.

“Do not think we’re unwaware of your own involvement with that group, Egwene al’Vere,” Yukiri said. […] “If we have our way, you will not be treated with such coddling as Elaida has shown you.”

Egwene gestured indifferently. “Still me, execute me or beat me, Yukiri, and the Tower will yet be in shambles.”

She has somehow turned a situation in which everything is at stake into one where she has nothing to lose. She has made herself untouchable; there is absolutely nothing they can do to her, short of destroying the Tower itself. Because she has made herself into a symbol of a higher cause, and has dedicated herself to that cause: healing the Tower, and uniting the Aes Sedai to face Tarmon Gai’don.

So she can say things like this with absolute conviction, because she believes them now. She can sit here with these women and ignore their threats and stare them down, because what can they do to her? Nothing has worked so far, after all. And it throws them completely off-balance, because they have no idea how to deal with her. She’s outside their ‘system’, and refuses to be pulled into it. Yet she’s not working against them, either. She’s on their side, and she’s working for the Tower itself, and so long as they are doing the same, there is absolutely nothing they can do to her.

“Sometimes, difficult decisions must be made. We cannot have Darkfriends among the Aes Sedai, and measures have been taken to search them out.”

Little do they know that Egwene was one of the very first ones assigned to search out the Black Ajah, long before these Sitters even acknowledged its existence. It’s a nice way to weave that thread back in, after so long.

And the fact that Seaine has even told her this much shows that their attempts at ignoring her – and ignoring her authority – are already falling apart. You don’t waste your time justifying your actions to someone who doesn’t matter. You especially don’t do so if it involves divulging highly sensitive information.

So these women were using the Oath Rod to search out Black sisters. If you took each sister, removed her oaths and made her reswear them, you could ask her if she were Black. A desperate method, but –Egwene decided – a legitimate one, considering the times.

The question then becomes, how do they make it a widespread requirement? Not the fourth oath, of course, but the unswearing and re-swearing? Because if there were a way to do that, to implement it throughout the Tower…then perhaps we could end up with something like what Egwene ‘remembered’ in her Accepted test. Something that destroyed the Black Ajah.

“But swearing this woman to a new oath is unnecessary!” “And if the woman is known to have other loyalties?” Saerin demanded.

Oh, it’s well and truly over for them, now. The argument, I mean. It was as soon as they acknowledged her enough to start explaining, but now that they’re trying to argue back? I’m going to go ahead and call this one for Egwene.

Though she’s willing to put aside the issue of the fourth oath for now, perhaps because she knows she’s gained something of an upper hand. Or at least a position of equality, even if they don’t see it yet. So she’s going to press them for as much as she can get, because this is a rare opportunity: four Sitters, each of different Ajahs, who are also involved in something that could greatly benefit the Tower.

“What of Elaida herself? Have you determined if she is of the Black? Who gave you this charge, and how did your cabal form?”

“Bah! Why are we speaking with her?” Yukiri demanded, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. “We should be deciding what to do with her, not answering her questions!”

It’s a bit late for that, Yukiri.

“If I am to help in your work,” Egwene said, “then I need to be aware of the facts.”

Framing it as a given that she is going to help – she’s not asking their permission, she’s moving directly on to step two. It’s a very useful trick.

They’re still trying to shut her down. That’s cute.

“One more word, and I shall see you taking penance until you run out of tears to weep.”

“I doubt you can order me to any more of it than I already have, Yukiri,” Egwene said calmly. “Unless I am to be in the Mistress of Novices’ study all day each day. Besides, if you sent me to her, what would I tell her? That you personally gave me penance? She’d know that I wasn’t scheduled to see you today. That might start raising questions.”

“We could just have Meidani order you to penance,” said Seaine the White.

“She won’t do such a thing,” Egwene said. “She accepts my authority as Amyrlin.”

Every part of this scene is beautiful and I love it.

“That’s meaningless. “We’ll just order her to send you to penance.” “Will you?” Egwene said. “I thought that you told me that the fourth oath was meant to restore unity, to keep her from fleeing to Elaida with your secrets. Now you would use that oath like a cudgel, forcing her to become your tool?”

They handed her that one on a silver platter. But then, of course they did. They’re still thinking of her as a novice, or as a rebel, as someone they don’t need to take seriously. They’re still underestimating her, and she’s had far too much practice with using that against those who try.

Besides, they’re Sitters. They’re not used to having to justify themselves or explain themselves, especially to a girl in novice white. So they are stepping right into these traps without realising that Egwene can and will make full use of every misstep.

“No woman should have this much power over another. What you have done to these others is only one step shy of Compulsion. I’m still trying to decide if this abomination is in any way justified; the way you treat Meidani and the others will likely sway that decision.”

It’s not really shy of Compulsion at all. And yeah, okay, there is a reason for it. Whether or not that reason is acceptable, though, depends on where you’re standing. Much like the way in which the Asha’man bonded sisters – because that’s actually not far short of Compulsion either, and is justified from one angle but less so from another. It all gets messy fast.

Yukiri’s still trying to get the others to ignore Egwene, but that train has long since left the station. Meanwhile Saerin still thinks they can treat her like a child.

“You cannot continue this charade of being the Amyrlin Seat. We all know how often you take penance, and we all know what little good it is doing. So let me try something that I assume nobody else has tried with you: reason.”

“You may speak your mind,” Egwene said.

I LOVE IT. I also actually like that Saerin is taking this approach here, because she’s not that far wrong, really. Few have tried anything resembling reason with Egwene. They’ve just tried to force her back into what they think her place should be, despite that failing spectacularly at every turn.

But the very fact that Saerin is taking this approach means Egwene has taken control of the situation. They haven’t recognised it yet, but she has turned the focus of the room onto her, rather than letting them proceed with ignoring her. They’re addressing her now, and very much on her terms.

“All right. For one thing, you can’t be Amyrlin. With that forkroot, you can barely channel!”

Oh come on, you call that reason? That’s such a weak argument it actually starts slightly detracting from the scene. Not in a major way, but…she can’t possibly have thought opening with such an easily countered statement would work.

“You’ve been demoted to novice.”

“Only Elaida is foolish enough to assume one can remove an Aes Sedai’s rank.” Egwene said. “She should never have been allowed to assume she had that power in the first place.”

“If she didn’t assume it,” Saerin said, “then you would be dead, girl.”

Now that’s a far better point, because as Saerin sees it, Egwene’s caught by that one. Except…what she’s failed to understand is that Egwene actually has accepted that.

Egwene met Saerin’s eyes again. “Sometimes, I feel it would be better to be dead than to see what Elaida has done to the women of this Tower.”

Egwene isn’t fighting for herself, or for her position. She’s doing both as a way of fighting for the Tower itself.

And if I weren’t already convinced she was going to die, the honesty with which she embraces this would probably have done the trick.

“I must say,” Seaine said quietly, “your claims are completely irrational. Elaida is the Amyrlin because she was raised properly by the Hall. Therefore, you can’t be Amyrlin.”

Egwene shook her head. “She was ‘raised’ after a shameful and unorthodox removal of Siuan Sanche from the seat. How can you call Elaida’s position ‘proper’ in the face of that?” Something occurred to her, a gamble, but it felt right. “Tell me this. Have you interrogated any women who are currently Sitters? Have you found any Blacks among them?”

OH.

“Now tell me this. Were any of these Black Sitters among those who raised Elaida? Did any of them stand to depose Siuan?”

HERE IT IS.

There was silence.

“Answer me,” Egwene said.

“We found a Black among the Sitters,” Doesine finally said.

‘Answer me,’ Egwene commands, and one of them obeys. Full round to Egwene.

But more importantly…Egwene has now managed to create a moment not unlike some of those she’s pulled on the rebel Hall.

“Siuan was deposed by the bare minimum number of Sitters required,” Egwene said. “One of them was Black, making her vote invalid. You stilled and deposed your Amyrlin, murdering her Warder, and you did it unlawfully.”

“By the Light,” Seaine whispered. “She’s right.”

Boom.

I love these moments, and Egwene is so wonderfully good at delivering them.

And okay, by that same logic, I suppose you could say Egwene’s entire war vote was also unlawful, as it was decided by the minimum number and if I remember correctly, Delana was among them, and potentially other Black sisters as well. But Egwene was raised by a full Hall, and the declaration of war and seizing of the war powers was more a way of making them acknowledge the authority they elected to give her but then tried to withhold.

Besides, the technicalities don’t actually matter here. They only matter in the sense that Egwene needs to find something that will make them see her as Amyrlin. This, it turns out, is such a thing. Seaine chose to argue with her on the basis of legality, Egwene countered with truth, and Seaine at least has acknowledged it as legitimate grounds for her claim.

Now it’s time to cement it.

She had to remain in control. She had to.

Part of the reason she’s so good at landing these moments is because she sees them through. Not only that, but she knows how to pick her battles. She knows when to push, and when not to. And she knows that when she does press for advantage, she has to follow through.

“You call us false, Yukiri? Which Amyrlin would you rather follow? The one who has been amking novices and Accepted out of Aes Sedai, banishing an entire Ajah, and causing divisions in the Tower more dangerous than any army that ever assaulted it? A woman who was raised partially through the help of the Black Ajah? Or would you rather serve the Amyrlin who is trying to undo all of that?”

Well when you put it like that…

And she’s finally in a place where she can put it to them that directly. She isn’t dropping hints here, or giving advice. She is facing four Sitters, and she has just shaken their view of Elaida’s legitimacy, and so she is making them face the choice: her, or Elaida. Making them see that it is a choice, and that it’s one they can’t just ignore.

“Surely you’re not saying that you think we served the Black in raising Elaida,” Doesine said.

“I think we all are serving the interests of the Shadow,” Egwene said sharply, “so long as we allow ourselves to remain divided.”

Yes.

There’s really not much to even say to that, except that it is true even beyond the Tower. So long as the Light remains divided, chaos reigns and the Shadow triumphs.

And it’s such a great statement, because it does reframe the whole thing as so much bigger than a power struggle or a petty argument. The ‘we’ also frames it not as an accusation but as something they must all combat.

“As admirable as I find your work to discover the Black Ajah, I am far more encouraged by your willingness to work together to do it. In the current Tower, cooperation between Ajahs is rare. I challenge you to take that as your main goal, bringing unity to the White Tower.”

An interesting place to take the conversation, but actually a very good one. Because they really are pretty much the only multi-Ajah group functioning at the moment, and therefore they are a starting point. It also further emphasises that Egwene is not fighting them. She is working with them; they are all on the same side, here. The side of the Tower itself.

She stood up, and she half-expected a sister to rebuke her, but they almost seemed to have forgotten that they were speaking with a ‘novice’ and a rebel.

Funny, that. It’s okay, you get used to her. Sort of.

“Do you have the Oath Rod here?”

“No,” Yukiri said. “It’s difficult to sneak away. We can only take it on occasion.”

And now even Yukiri, who argued the longest against even engaging with Egwene, is answering her questions with full explanations.

“A pity,” Egwene said. “I’d have liked to take the Oaths.”

Huh. I would have thought saying that would just highlight the fact that she isn’t exactly Aes Sedai by the normal ‘rules’, but I suppose the statement itself also emphasises her commitment, and her complete confidence that she is Aes Sedai.

But I don’t think that, if Egwene swears the Three Oaths, it’ll be done in a hidden-away room in the basement of the Tower, with only five sisters as witnesses.

“Regardless, you will promptly take it and release Meidani from the fourth oath.”

“We’ll consider it,” Saerin said.

It’s not a full statement of obedience, but all things considered it’s really not that far off. That Saerin is even saying they’ll consider her order is more about saving face than anything else, at this point.

“Know that once the White Tower is whole again, the Hall will learn of this action you have taken. I would like to be able to inform them that you were being careful, rather than seeking unwarranted power. If you need me in the next few days, you may send for me – but kindly find a way to deal with the two Red sisters who are watching me. I’d rather not use Travelling within the Tower again, lest I unwittingly reveal too much to those who would be better left ignorant.”

She left that statement hanging before walking to the door.

Beautiful. I just love the chance to watch a character come in and own a room like that.

They were not expecting her, and what they got was not what they would have expected if they were. And, like the Hall after the war vote, they’re going to be seeing her very differently now.

Meidani is stunned, but Meidani hasn’t seen Egwene work before.

“You really are the Amyrlin,” she finally said.

Indeed.

Next (TGS ch 13) Previous (TGS ch 11)

#this entire arc is a gift #Wheel of Time #neuxue liveblogs WoT #The Gathering Storm

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trouvxilles-blog · 8 years

Text

Character Development : Description

BASICS

Full Name: terrence oberon yoon Nicknames: terry, “t” (lance usually calls him this), dumbass, asshole (both on more than a few occasions) Sex/Gender: male Right or Left: right Age: 21 (international) Height: 5′9 Eye Colour: dark brown Hair Colour: black Distinguishing Marks: a mole on his right cheek; scars across his left wrist; a small diagonal scar on his right temple from getting into a fight; a small, light birthmark on the left side of his chest, and a small, light, heart-shaped birth mark on his right hip bone. Paragraph Of Physical Traits: his skin is fair with golden undertones. his overall body type is slender, but toned from rotc training. he has soft features that people think make him look pretty, and broad shoulders that tells people he’s actually a man which especially helped when he grew his hair out. his arms are toned but still pretty skinny despite doing push-ups and playing basketball; his hair is an uneven dark bob with just as uneven bangs.

FAMILY/RELIGION

Parents: yoon sangchul (father, unemployed asshole alcoholic), alice han (estranged, former file clerk; he doesn’t know what she’s doing now) Siblings: five (5) - titania (tanya), 26, works a desk job her friend got here in the morning and as a bar waitress at night - lance, 23, web developer because he’s basically a genius, got a scholarship in one of the top universities - juliet (julie), 16, 10th grade, takes a lot of babysitting opportunities - tybalt (ty), 14, 8th grade psycho, usually helps julie babysit when their rundown house turns into a daycare every saturday - robin (puck), 7, 1st grade, they love him Marital Status: single Significant Other/s: changes frequently (but who has time for commitment when you barely have time for yourself?) Children: none (unable to think about children when he’s already basically taking of three.) Other Relatives: an aunt who lives in chicago, a grandmother somewhere in northern california, an uncle in incheon (married with kids), grandparents in chuncheon Pets: none (can’t feed a family. obviously can’t feed a pet.) Friends: generally has a lot of friends because he’s way too outgoing and obnoxious for his and everyone’s own good; however, he’s picky when it comes to people he wants to keep a constant figure in his life. - bob kim (a barista from the usual cafe he goes to for coffee runs; he still wonders if that’s his real name; regardless, he still has a crush on bob) - sylvan carter (a barista from the same cafe; bob’s best friend and wingman; in love with terry, but terry doesn’t know nor does he care; terry likes him enough but can never get his name right.) - charlotte ‘charlie’ lee (his baby who he adores so much and will do anything for, including buying charlie cake with what’s left of his money) - aiden kwon (he’s only friends with aiden because aiden is friends with charlie; and also terry knows aiden likes charlie so there’s that.) - kiel sang (a non-blood related twin; both their existence essentially defies any known laws of metaphysics - but their whole relationship is something We Don’t Talk About) Enemies: gets into a lot of petty fist fights, but doesn’t really make lifelong enemies; he probably even fucked one of the people who beat him up at one point. Ethnicity: korean Religion: agnostic (or whatever) Beliefs: he believes in a higher being, but not necessarily a god. he thinks there are probably multiple gods out there making bets and just watching people get fucked over. he still prays sometimes, but he doesn’t tell anyone that. Superstitions: he sticks bills onto every mirror in the house during new year on the off chance that they can earn more money that year. julie and ty have been helping him for the last six years. it doesn’t hurt to try. that’s basically it. Diction/Accent: his southern californian accent is indistinguishable unless he says certain words. he’s also a better english speaker, so he often mispronounces korean words.

SCHOOL/WORK/HOME

Education: public school (primary and secondary); college: verse-dependent, on a cadet scholarship // kookmin university (achieved admission scholarship as a freshman) / santa barbara city college (under financial aid - federal work study) Degree(s): working on his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism Occupation: broadcasting student-intern for a tv & radio studio in the morning, mini-mart employee by afternoon night Own or Rent: own; his family owns their own borderline dilapidated house, originally owned by an aunt who moved to chicago. Living Space: cramped; it’s not small in its entirety, but with seven people living together in a two-story, two-bathroom (upstairs has a toilet and a shower, downstairs only has a toilet), four-bedroom house, it’s going to get pretty cramped. terry shares a bedroom with two brothers, lance and tybalt; julie shares a bedroom with their youngest, puck; tanya gets her own room because she damn well deserves it; their dad has his own room, but he’s never around so it’s basically an empty space with a bed. Work Space: the mini-mart isn’t a large place, but it does hold necessary items like basic consumable items and toiletries, which is why they have a lot regulars customers, mostly people who live nearby. the studio is a relatively large media conglomerate. his internship is in the main headquarters which houses multiple enterprises. Main Mode of Transport: walking because it’s free; sometimes the bus or subway if they can’t travel on foot; they steal unattended bikes or skateboards when they have to.

PSYCHOLOGY

Fears: failure, losing control, losing any one of his siblings Secrets: no one from his internship and workplace knows he has bipolar disorder or the fact that he’s gay; they keep illegal drugs at home; his family steals shit to survive. IQ: around 130 - typical for a post-graduate student. (fun fact: his older brother’s is around 160, go figure.) Eating Habits: quick eater because he’s always in a hurry, but not a messy one; sometimes eats on the go - he’ll stuff a piece of bread into his mouth anime style and run out the door to make it in time for class Food Preferences: he’ll basically eat anything aside from pickles (when you have no money, you can’t exactly choose what’s in front of you especially when you know your sister worked her ass off to put food on the table); he loves sweets, especially the hard butterscotch candy the mini-mart owners let him get for free. Sleeping Habits: usually sleeps on his stomach. at the end of most days, he just plops on the bed, exhausted. sometimes he forgets to change out of his jeans. when tanya checks up on them, she has to pull the covers over him. Book Preferences: contemporary classics (the little prince, a clockwork orange, the catcher in the rye, lolita, etc.), can quote shakespeare’s plays but prefers his poems, short stories because they’re quick to read since he doesn’t get much time to himself anymore. Music Preferences: alternative rock, indie rock, indie pop - basically music that pumps him up and keeps him awake. Groups or Alone: groups, mostly because he’s used to it, living with seven people and all. he’s also an extrovert, so he really doesn’t mind being around people. he doesn’t mind being alone every now and then, though. Leader or Follower: both. a follower - when tanya’s in, she’s in charge. he was in rotc, so he’s good with following directions. a leader - when tanya and lance are out, he’s in charge. when he was promoted in rotc, he was praised for being a good leader. Planner or Spontaneous: spontaneous. even his college major was a spontaneous, last-minute decision. he’s especially (dangerously) spontaneous when manic. Journal: used to have one - started multiple ones throughout the years - but never had the time and focus to actually fill one out completely; during junior year, his journal served as a mood diary (as suggested by a therapist). he managed to write on it for three months, and then just forgot about it. Hobbies: reading fiction novels, basketball, soccer, hanging out with his siblings, hanging out with kiel his friends, flirting with bob at the cafe, getting drunk, being an asshole. How Do They Relax: what is relaxation he’ll stay at home and read; he also reads a lot during idle hours at the mini-mart, especially if he takes a night shift. if he’s not too tired, he plays basketball. What Excites Them: seeing kiel almost everything excites him when he’s manic. coffee runs get exciting just because he gets to see bob. What Stresses Them: financial issues (but that’s an issue for their whole family),the possibility of not arriving on time and missing deadlines, not being able to earn enough money. Pet Peeves: slow walkers or people who tend to block the fucking way, especially when you’re in a hurry; people who can’t follow simple directions; people who are habitually late and end up making him late; people who take food from his plate without asking; loud whispering because i can fucking hear you; sudden shift in deadlines; simple grammatical errors. Prejudices: people with mental illness are dangerous and a hindrance (as a collective, despite his only experience being with his bipolar mom and alcoholic dad, hence why he refuses to believe he has the same problem). Attitudes: depends on his mood - manic, stable, depressive. when manic, he has no value for his life (and the law). lance had to force him off the roof once. when depressive, he can barely (or doesn’t) get out of bed. he overdosed once. when stable, his general outlook in life is optimistic - because what else can you do in this situation but hope? Obsessions: keeping things in order, getting enough money to feed the kids for a week, kiel Addictions: caffeine (mostly strong cheap-ass coffee, but they’re also stocked up on soda); alcohol and nicotine (not as bad. he smokes a lot, but he’s trying to keep both under control); does weed sometimes; isn’t really into hard drugs. that’s about it. Ambitions: join the marines (formerly), get into west point (on hold because tanya can’t stand the idea; lance is still trying to talk him out of it); else, he’ll apply for a job at the studio after graduation and work his ass off all the way to the top (from a lowly production assistant to scriptwriter/director/producer; hell, he’ll act if he has to; he’ll take what he can get).

OBJECTS KEPT IN

Purse/Bag: he has a messenger sling bag where he keeps his phone (a black nokia lumia his older brother passed on to him), a worn-out wallet with barely any money in it, a secondhand paperback novel, a pack of cigarettes. Wallet: money (or how much of it he has), an old photo of him and all his siblings (from when the youngest was only two years old), an old family photo tucked behind it, school ID, fake IDs Fridge: two milk jugs, a loaf of bread, cans of sodas, beer (lots of it) - that’s its usual content. Medicine Cabinet: mood stabilizers (lamictal), antipsychotics (abilify, zyprexa which he doesn’t use anymore because he overdosed once), aspirin, some pcp/angel dust that tanya doesn’t know about, and some weed lance hides that everyone knows about anyway Glove Compartment: he doesn’t have his own car but his dad’s glove compartment is filled with receipts, unopened letters (mostly bills), drugs, and money he spends in one go. Junk Drawer: literally junk, except he probably has a gun in there somewhere, and a pack of weed he shares with lance. Backpack: handwritten notes on yellow paper, photocopied pages from required textbooks, photocopied notes, scripts that need proofreading and editing, a secondhand novel that changes on a weekly basis, pens that are pretty much out of ink, a pack of cigarettes. Desk: journal (mood diary; just in case he feels like writing in it again), colored pens, pages from scripts he had to edit and proofread, a pack of cigarettes, the laptop he shares with everyone in the house. Clothes Pockets: loose change, mostly. a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and a few small bills stuffed into the pockets of his jeans.

OTHER

Halloween Costumes: would be easier if they can actually afford already-made costumes. the siblings used to come together to make costumes for julie, tybalt, and puck with whatever items they can salvage. their close neighbors help them out, too. now that they’re older, they just make one for puck. it’s fun for all of them. it’s something they look forward to yearly. Talents: creative writing, especially comedy writing (he doesn’t think so, but lance does); shooting hoops; shooting a pistol or rifle, and getting perfect aim almost every time; showing up at the last minute; balancing at least ten piping hot coffee cups at the same time; forgetting sylvan’s name; being an overall asshole (he’s the best at this) Politics: a liberal, but mostly neutral. he has other shit to worry about. Flaws: mental instability, addiction, pride, self-destructive tendencies, tactlessness, recklessness, impulsivity, always ready to throw punches, noncommittal (relationships) Strengths: fitness, aim (they were taught to shoot a gun in rotc), intellect (fast learner), wit, determination, creativity, resourcefulness, humor, humility, loyalty, never backs down from a fight. Drugs/Alcohol: a lot of alcohol, frequent drug use (mostly just marijuana; the last time he took pcp, he was manic and almost died from both mania and drug hallucinations), prescription drugs (mood stabilizers and antipsychotics he refuses to take). Passwords: phone: 0603 (it’s not a secret), e-mail: b!tch_y0u_th0ught1004 (tybalt has been trying to get into his e-mail even though he just uses it for work purposes); others: 060395 Prized Possessions: doesn’t really have one except for the photo of his siblings tucked in his wallet. Time and Place: february 22, 2016; 10:00pm; seoul, south korea // february 22, 2016; 5:00am; santa barbara, california. Special Places: the beach. the sound of the waves and the feeling of his toes buried beneath the sand relaxes him. back in santa barbara, his mom used to walk them to the beach every weekend because it was close by. Special Memories: when he got promoted from cadet to officer cadet in rotc. when he had chickenpox, tanya stayed up all night to take care of him. when lance first found out he was gay and confronted him. when he finally told tanya he was gay, and she said i know. during his first mood crash, julie would constantly check on him and bring food up to his room. when tybalt won first place during his first science fair. when puck took his first steps, and all five older siblings were there to witness it.

#[ wow this took forever ]#[ this got super long but fuck it ]#( ` | profile )#( ` | minimalist )#submission #( ` | horribly limited ` hc )

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