#Its a tragedy the deaths are important to the themes and to the surviving characters

[ciderjacks]

Everytime someone describes AAA killing off the coven as a “mistake” an angel dies

[kseniyagreen]

Some thoughts about Li Lun's arc and the meaning of the drama.

Life is full of contradictions, and my relationship with FoF has its contradictions too. Not all moments feel right, especially on closer inspection. And this is actually a very common story with works heavily laden with the author's idea. Under this thought that the author wants to express, some plot lines inevitably bend and the character arcs are distorted.

But I want to point out one thing that - in my subjective opinion - is missed when people talk about the lack of development Li Lun's redemption arc.

The point is that Li Lun doesn't have a redemption arc because there shouldn't be one in the entire concept of the drama - not just Li Lun, no one has one. This drama is fundamentally not about redemption at all.

Li Lun's problem is not that he is wrong about people. He actually sees people quite accurately. In a sense, he sees the world more clearly than others - it's not for nothing that he has a "true eye". And that is his tragedy.

Because the message of the drama, clearly voiced in another context, is "he sees things with his eyes but does not see with his heart".

Having received the true eye, he gained the ability to see reality as it is - with the darkness of human hearts, with injustice, separation, the inevitability of death. But reality as it is is unbearable - that is why we dream, and that is why the theme of dreams occupies a central place in the drama.

The theme of the sea of suffering reminded me of a poem by Yosano Akiko:

"They told me that the road I took

would lead me to the Sea of Death;

and from halfway along I turned back.

And ever since, all the paths I have roamed

were entangled, and crooked, and forsaken."

Not only Li Lun, but all the characters from the very beginning are moving towards the sea of death, and this is the main content of the drama.

Having realized that reality has no meaning - what can you do? Stomp your feet and break toys like a child - what Li Lun did. Drown in despair and crawl towards the cemetery - what Zhao Yuanzhou did in the beginning. Adapt to this cruel reality to the point where you cannot die because you no longer really exist - what the main villain did and Li Lun tried to do.

Or you can try to create your own meaning in this meaningless world, contrary to laws and logic - which I see as the message of the entire Zhuo Yichen's arc.

So, returning to Li Lun, the point of his arc was not to atone for sins or sacrifice himself for the greater good. But to realize that there are still things that are important to him in this world, even if they are broken, and there are things that are more important than physical survival.

How organically and logically this line was drawn in the drama is a debatable issue. I must admit - I also miss something in Li Lun's line. As well as the fact that in general the drama often forcibly pulls the characters' lines under the cruel rule of this world "a demon can truly be himself and follow his heart only on the threshold of death." The authors sometimes didn't try hard enough to justify such a radical situation.

But I still love this drama - more like a poem than an adventure story. Poem about death and dreams and person's will that is trying to pull this impossible dream through the reality of death.

Sometimes, in order to wake up in reality, you need to accept the death of a dream. But if a dream becomes more valuable than reality, if you are ready to hold on to it at the cost of your physical existence - sometimes you die with it. But sometimes a dream lives on after you. And sometimes a dream shared with others changes the world a little and gives you a chance to survive in spite of fate.

[mcclainwilla]

JJK 271 spoilers under the cut!!

So, with the leaks out and the series (un)officially over, I wanted to offer an alternative (NOT optimistic, but accepting) perspective to how things ended...

...specifically with Gojo.

I am a Gojo lover. I am a tragedy enjoyer. And I believe that both the (implied) return of both Sukuna and Kenjaku and Gojo's shitty posthumous treatment by the rest of the cast boil down to the same themes that have defined Jujutsu Kaisen from the start.

Jujutsu Kaisen has a punitive narrative. When a character fails to honor their goals, retribution is swift and severe. Itadori failing, continuously, to guide people to proper deaths. Nanami failing to keep his juniors safe in Shibuya. Geto failing to follow through on his own ideology. Jujutsu Kaisen also has a circular narrative. Its characters' storylines are defined by the generational curses that haunt jujutsu society. Gojo and Geto were thrown at missions like grenades until Geto finally went off. Ten years later, kids are still being exploited for their talents. Itadori, for all rights and purposes, died in the juvenile detention facility. The Shibuya task force was like, at least 50% high schoolers. Nothing has changed, despite Gojo's dream of fostering strong and capable allies who will overturn the system.

Now, about that. Gojo stated his intentions multiple times throughout the manga. He wanted to break the cycle. But that panel showing Sukuna's finger? Not surprising at all. He failed to break the cycle. Why?

Because without concerted effort, there will be no true change.

That is the point of Jujutsu Kaisen. It always has been. We ended up right where we left off - with the looming threat of Sukuna in the form of a surviving finger - because no one made an active effort to step off the tracks; instead, everyone combined their forces to push back against the train. Sure, the train stopped - Sukuna was exorcized, mostly - but trains have engines, and when jujutsu society grows complacent, the old order will begin to creep back into place.

There's another way of saying this. We ended up right where we left off - with kids as cannon fodder - because Gojo failed to consider that he couldn't dismantle the system from within the system. And the worst part is, he figured it out, right before the end.

Too late, Gojo realized his plan of a peaceful coup would never come to fruition. He realized he would have to take tangible, violent action in order to have even a chance of guaranteeing his students' futures. But because he was too slow to realize this, the hammer dropped, he failed, and died. And now, his kids might get to live to see another day, but they live to see another mission, too. And another Sukuna finger, and another Kenjaku. No one's efforts were focused enough. Like Yuki said, they were treating symptoms, not causes.

What's interesting is that this 'concerted effort' clause can also explain Gojo's apparent insignificance to the surviving cast. After Geto left, he leaned into the role of the Strongest, because there was nothing left for him to be. He took missions. He automated Infinity. He only started teaching so that the next generation wouldn't be lonely - he mentioned nothing of how that revolution would impact himself, presumably because it was of no importance to him. He'd already given up on having the very thing he tried to build for his students.

You can, actually. You can ask a flower to understand you, but you would be insane to do it, because it won't, obviously. So why would you bother?

Gojo never bothered. He let his loss haunt him for the rest of his life and never tried to put it behind him (or if he did, he did a shitty job at it). Instead, he let it motivate him, guide his choices, hollow out his heart. And in his death, he reaped the consequences of refusing to reach out for companionship: by making himself into a weapon, rather than a person, he was used, rather than mourned.

(But even though he knew he would die in the fight against Sukuna, he still wanted Itadori to keep going, to have hopes and dreams! It would be better if the world no longer revolved around 'the Strongest,' because that way, no one would have to be alone! What a nice dream. What a shame he only fought 'til blood at the end - first the higher ups', then his own.)

It's not comfortable to look in from the outside knowing that, after all that sacrifice and loss, nearly nothing was gained. But imo, it's not the thematic reach some say it is.

Jujutsu Kaisen was never about curses. It was about consequences.

[rabbiteclair]

more Girls' Last Tour thoughts, which are admittedly mostly thoughts I had for the first time about five years ago only to resurface today upon having a long conversation about the series with a friend. this one is fully spoiler-y

as far as emotional suckerpunches go, I personally think it's like... [the entire Silence chapter] > [Chito's breakdown after she realizes the Kettenkrad's bricked] > [the end of the Art chapter] > [the end of the Life chapter] > 'the planet will finish life's long work and go to sleep as well' > [the actual end of the series]. This isn't a criticism of it, since I really like the end. I just find it kinda funny.

similarly I find it funny that this series, where every named character is strongly implied to die either during or shortly after its events, which is about 40% ruminations on death, containing the line "currently, you two are the only surviving humans of whom we are aware," is categorized as an Iyashikei. H E A L I N G. I mean I don't even necessarily disagree but goddamn.

One of the core dichotomies of the series, I think, is... it repeatedly makes it clear that people have done horrible things here, and the amount of deliberate destruction that's gone on is absolutely monstrous. They stumble onto nukes and giant war robots that can blow up a city, and there are destroyed tanks and giant craters everywhere. Basically everywhere they go is a former war zone. But it takes a really positive view of humanity. Outside of the attack on their hometown in the flashback, every single person they meet is nice and helpful. Any time it delves into human nature, the message is 'actually humans are pretty cool most of the time, and our basic drive is to take care of each other, not this survival of the fittest bullshit.'

which is one thing that I think sets it apart from a lot of fiction in this space? It never tries any kind of 'humanity is doomed in the long run because we're all violent animals beneath the facade of civilization' message or anything. Humanity rules, and it's a genuine tragedy that things have come to this.

kinda related, the series does a lot to make it clear how all of this is an unfathomably large tragedy. There are tons of background shots of entire abandoned cityscapes, there's the chapter with the mass grave, the gigantic library full of books, and so on. The actual scale of 'no, really, everyone and everything has an end sooner or later' gets driven in repeatedly. At the same time, it spends a lot of time on how something as small as destroying a single diary can be a tragedy in its own right, too. I guess I'm just kinda used to media that takes that kind of grand high-level view dismissing the small stuff as trite and unimportant when we could be putting up another number with lots of zeroes to say how many people died.

there are a lot of different ideas floating around on things like what it all means in the end, and whether it's meaningful to leave anything behind. The AI is overjoyed when she gets her chance for oblivion. The people in the graveyard have a statue to watch over them. Chito's attempt to leave something in the form of her diary is ultimately futile, and while she learns to find other meaning, destroying her diary and the books still isn't portrayed as a good thing. Other people are recorded forever in images and videos, and it's wonderful. Ultimately I don't think there's any one answer or message. Keeping with the general existentialist kinda themes, what matters is what the people involved find meaningful in that context, but that drive to create and preserve meaning for the future is both universal and noble.

while there's a lot to be said about the visuals overall... the fact that basically the only thing on the upper layer is a spiral staircase leading up into the air with no destination sure is some symbolism, huh.

similarly, while it wouldn't change the events any, symbolically I think it's very important that their long, ultimately pointless meandering journey that ends in death was upward, not downward.

on another level, though, it's kinda implied that the higher strata are newer/more recently maintained. So it's also essentially them moving through (and revisiting a lot of) human history to take their position at the very end.

Yuu's gun is never used for anything but target practice, and then she chucks it aside as soon as it's too much effort to carry. They use an old tank for a shower. They find a working military sub with nukes inside, and it's only useful because there's chocolate and a way to look at the storage on a camera. The one time they really fire a weapon, it's horrible, and the one thing they kill is portrayed as a tragedy. Even their helmets are mostly a running joke of 'oh my helmet totally would've stopped that falling building.' For a series that includes a lot of military stuff, it regards military stuff somewhere between 'disdain' and 'indifference.' Very 'the world is ending and you think a rocket launcher is going to be useful? Put that thing down and help me look for food.'

that said, the choice to give them a vehicle from WW2-era Germany is still a pretty damn unfortunate one. Considering the series's consistent stance against violence, disinterest in war, and casually disdainful treatment of weapons and military stuff, I'm comfortable saying that Tsukumizu almost certainly isn't a closet nazi, but still. At best it gives the wrong impression to anybody who hasn't gotten about a dozen chapters in and started thinking about the themes, and there's nothing the themes do with it that wouldn't work basically as well with any other military transport anyway.

the fungus things apparently being the inspiration for the god statues is clear enough, but just what their deal is remains surprisingly undefined. I've always figured they were genetically engineered or something, made specifically to clean up the environment. Which is itself a hell of a thing if so, deifying the creatures that basically symbolize 'maybe we can undo the harm we've done, and if that takes longer than we live, at least we'll leave something behind.'

I really don't know how to feel about the whole Shimeji Simulation connection. (if you aren't familiar) On one hand I feel like it undermines a lot of the series' messages to go 'oh but just kidding, everyone's fine and nobody really dies for good.' On the other hand, as somebody who's read/watched through the series about half a dozen times and really marinated in the despair, my primary immediate reaction is 'oh thank god they absolutely deserve this.' And it isn't like I haven't written multiple stories about characters embracing their imminent demise only to turn out okay against all odds in the epilogue.

Yuu's gay little run. this is still a thought

[potionwine]

Oooh, you’ve also seen Nirvana in Fire?!? That was SO good. And as inspiration for PF?? That, explains some things, dang! It works

My friend. My dear. My lovely Cimi—

WHAT in the world—

Have I seen the drama that bloody changed my life; my favourite comfort c-drama; the series that I rewatch yearly the way I rewatch lotr every Christmastime; that exquisite story with the most incredible breadth and variety of characters with impeccable character work and amazing themes and an ending that respects its viewers which however tragic is thoroughly earned and identity porn and politics and pride and grief, god, so much grief—and an Emperor who is shakespearean in his tragedy and—

Okay. Okay, no, you could not have known, tis a failure of my part if I have not spoken enough about it—I probably mostly reply to other people's posts as they liveblog their watching but. BUT. God when I saw your ask it felt like you came up to me to remark "hey wow so you also ship PF?" that's how gobsmacked I was lol!!!

I have dragged everyone in my life into watching this show! I have mutuals on here who can testify to my introducing them to it omg. I just checked and the earliest NIF post I reblogged was in 2016 so I have been watching it every year since 2016 hahaha!!! Although it's pretty complex chinese, and since so much of the show is made up of characters sitting around talking the intricate plot into existence, it's not really a beginner-friendly c-drama either!!!

NOW I DIDN'T KNOW YOU'VE WATCHED IT TOO???!!!

I. have. been. going. UTTERLY MENTAL. at the lack of anyone with whom I could talk about it? OR SO I THOUGHT. So many times I thought of going into our discord to be like "has anyone ever heard of NIF because hhhhhhh the phoenixflare resonance" or like "so is anyone into TGCF perhaps perchance mayhap???"——because heh. hehehehe. heheheh??? My fic is practically a NIF/TGCF mashup, it's a Lin Shu+Xie Lian!Joshua Rosfield & Jingyan+Hua Cheng!Dion Lesage——and I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I wanted to ask god please does anyone else see my vision please god does anyone?? but no one would even understand the references, and I couldn't even ask in areas (asian fandom) where there would be a higher chance of people knowing what crack I'm on because asian fandom is all about that...you know...that I loathe—and I have been in pain and I thought right well fine I'm writing the fic anyway it's fine if I have no one to scream about it with because I'm writing it and then I'll find fellow competence porn+politics enjoyers if they find my fic and—and.

God. What an earth-shattering message to receive in my askbox! You are some sort of miracle <3

Do you see it??? Do you see it? A boy who burned to death in an inferno as an innocent betrayed youth in a catastrophic event caused by his own family, his father slain, his entire clan (and all the troops under his banner) wiped out or scattered. A boy reborn after extensive and horrific injuries after an agonisingly long period of recovery: a ghost who crawled his way out of the gates of hell, the last of his broken once-noble house.

That boy's transformation into his new identity of Mei Changsu/Margrace. His off-screen discovery of the truth that led to Meiling/Phoenix Gate and his continued on-screen quest to learn more. His determination to hold the true culprits accountable at immense personal cost and suffering. His dogged persistence despite incredible odds and visibly failing health. Being surrounded by people who love him and want to protect him, and himself constantly undermining their efforts because his goals are more important than his health. (Because in truth he knows perfectly well that he won't survive, but he can make a difference while he is alive.)

Something that amuses me hugely is how Lin Shu and Joshua literally both come back as 宗主? I love it so much! They come back with the same title! Both of them come back as clan leaders of an organisation that obeys their every command! Margrace is the 不死鳥教団の宗主(=leader of the cult of the undying bird) and Mei Changsu is 江左盟的宗主(=leader of the Jiangzuo alliance).

AND. Hooooo yea this PF fic is just JingSu at this point because oh, a handsome, principled, prideful, and stubborn prince who is a decorated warrior famed for his numerous military accomplishments and the man who is essential to the success of Lin Shu's/Joshua's plans? The resurrected boy barging into his prince's life: no matter how insane it is to choose your side, still "I choose you, Your Highness Prince Jing"??? The fact that the undervalued prince has a history with our secretive ghost protagonist? And (arguably) frequently thought about and missed the bright boy he knew once upon a time in happier days—"I know you," says Dion Lesage without a shadow of a doubt, extremely normal of him to instantly recognise a dead boy he met 20 years ago?

Mutual admiration of each other's integrity and capabilities? Reciprocal faith and remembrance? The foundation of deep respect and enduring friendship, their shared goals and shared family??? I froth at the mouth. JingSu are cousins, PF are stepsiblings by their parents' marriage. Each pair is bound by destiny and by choice—other people have made choices that permanently entangled each pair's lives together forevermore (Joshua+Dion and Jingyan+Xiaoshu), and the choice they themselves personally made to choose each other—

DO YOU SEE THE VISION.

How difficult it is to pursue justice when everyone involved is family and how impossible it is for Lin Shu the nigh-extinguished Chiyan fire for Joshua, the guttering flame, to indict Jingyan's father the Emperor of Liang Dion's father the Emperor of Sanbreque of his crimes against Joshua's family without opening old wounds and hurting many loved ones in the process including Dion himself. The people directly responsible for the tragedies are related to the protagonists in one way or another! If Lin Shu Joshua ever wants resolution for his grief unending, he has to strike at his beloved's father, and plot meticulously to avoid all of the dangers of attacking such a powerful enemy.

(Of course, I acknowledge the critical difference in Jingyan's versus Dion's feelings about their respective fathers.)

Now if only Joshua had done the famous blizzard scene with Dion instead of letting him go off to carry out his ill-advised coup—"Xiao Jingyan! You stand where you are! If I don't stop you today, what are you going to do? What do you think you can possibly accomplish if you charge in to challenge imperial power like this? Do you think you can simply force the Emperor [to do what you want/change his mind about Anabella Wei Zheng]? You have honour and valour but why do you just not have brains! How many more people must be hurt, you tell me!"

Anyway Joshy doesn't have the insufferable smugness of Xiaoshu but he does absolutely have Xiaoshu's pride, the sort of pride that is not just personal pride but familial pride too (after all Joshua comes from extremely prestigious lineage)—just look at how he speaks to Ultima in every scene, his lordly manner. Joshua I think has more Consort Jing to him, and Consort Jing is only my favourite character in all of NIF, in a drama where I love every character to bits—steel in softness, ever gentle ever polite yet not to be bullied and not to be underestimated and also extremely perceptive and learned and patient. Extra sweet bonus that Consort Jing is also a healer. Elegant, restrained, and very repressed. Who knows the depths of Joshua's Consort Jing's grief and loss?

But you know, Jingyan, near the end he is completely in charge—the prince who was always a great and respected general on the battlefield is now more than that, he's directly taking responsibility for all of his people as their future ruler—that means thinking on multiple fronts and exerting control over all of the key governing officials, not merely his military officers. He's leading with confidence, and there's that little scene where he apologises to Xiaoshu for taking action on several plans without consulting him, and Xiaoshu says no, this is the way it should be, this is the correct state of affairs: you are the crown prince, and this is rightfully your arena. You lead, you decide, you command.

Jingyan now sees clearly, he's found out and accepted the truths of his father's role in the atrocity at Meiling and everything that happened back then. He rightly perceives the failings of his family and seeks to redress past wrongs and avoid repetition of past mistakes, he weeds his court of the corrupt and the cowardly, he's become the best possible version of himself: stronger than ever, not just a powerful wartime commander-in-chief but an inspiring leader in the imperial court, careful, thoughtful and politically up-to-speed, finally stable in his sense of self instead of being permanently stuck as that angry and lost and hurting child. He has renewed purpose, he possesses hope for the future, he is able to dedicate himself fully to what he truly believes to be right and act in furtherance of righteous causes—

Critically, this is the man he becomes only because Xiaoshu came back into his life to shake it up. Without Xiaoshu he wouldn't even have the opportunity or means or knowledge. The radiant and fiery boy who Jingyan missed all his life came back to save him. From the outsider prince without contacts or support within the imperial court->to the crown prince who has the court subdued within the palm of his hand. From his pitiful existence as a neglected, unfavoured prince, his lowkey constant simmering resentment, his half-dutiful half-forced obedience of paternal orders that chafe at his conscience->into the steadfast and self-assured prince who is capable of fighting for the betterment of his country and the rallying point for virtuous officials who share those aspirations. The drama shows the audience that Jingyan is unquestionably ready to assume rulership, and together with the person he loves most, they achieve their goals, they save each other and their country (by arresting its downward slide due to the rotten state of its governance).

It's just a strong headcanon of mine (albeit one that I can absolutely present extensive arguments for) but to me Joshua Rosfield is the one and only character able to perform that same abovementioned function for Dion Lesage. Catalyst, turning point, spark that ignites the fire—whatever you call it, this is salvation. It is beautifully poetic that both Lin Shu and Joshua are characterised by fire. They are the fires of change that burn away the old life: before their arrival, the two war princes exist in a state of wearying routine, long-suffering and almost hopeless. Both Jingyan and Dion are shackled by their stations and duties, both are unloved sons with virtually no chance of their circumstances improving without drastic action, and both are trapped in precarious situations where they are subject to the whims of their father (if their imperial fathers turn on them, it will result in irrevocable loss of their status).

Dion's position is weak in the Oriflamme imperial court—pretty sure this point isn't up for debate, since no one ever speaks up in support of him despite the obvious injustice of his ill-treatment. His degree of influence in the court is much, much, so much less than any reasonable person might expect someone who is literally Bahamut and crown prince to have. The Council of Elders and other officials stand by haplessly while he is progressively stripped of power in favour of Olivier. Nobody defends him, nobody objects. (Or maybe some did, and were eliminated.) Even Dion himself submits to the abuse despite inherently superior abilities. Career politicians know which direction the winds blow—they don't defy their Empress, meaning they are either her cronies or too fearful of her to make themselves a target by any raising any opposition. Added to that is the implication that Dion was often away for long periods—and as Xiaoshu explicitly tells Jingyan in the drama, the crown prince cannot leave the imperial capital untended because that is the surest way to lose power. Dion may be Sanbreque's mightiest weapon and revered by the populace, but in practice his political sway is almost negligible. He is not able to leverage himself effectively.

Don't get me wrong, for these reasons I extra extra love the canon portrayal of J*** obeying Joshua against her wishes and T****** obeying Dion against his wishes—I absolutely think their obedience is, to them, the truest and highest and final demonstration of their love and understanding of their respective masters. And both Joshua and Dion expected no less from them. [I've not typed the names out just in case the search function ends up capturing the post and putting it in their tags, not because I hate those characters; I just don't want to be uncivil within fandom.]

But the very point here is that, you know, sometimes you aren't supposed to leave someone just because they say so. Sometimes it is the worst possible course of action to obey someone just because they command it. Sometimes it is undesirable at best and disastrous at worst to support someone's every decision out of unchanging (if uncharitable, one might even say unthinking) loyalty. That is a fundamentally unequal relationship, and while beautiful in its own way, is also uniquely doomed. The truth is, Joshua was always going to pull that trigger, and Dion was always going to pull that trigger: the master was always going to sever the relationship. Those pairs were doomed as soon as they began, because one party can only ever say yes, and yes means the end, you see? That is The End, that is the final break. By their very subordinate nature and by their established personalities within the game, "yes" is the one and only answer J*** and T****** can ever or will ever give. Their master will say, "Leave me", meaning it is over, and they will reply, "Yes, I obey". Because this is the only answer that proves their devotion, leaving them totally incapable of changing the script. Both J*** and T****** knew it and played their parts to perfection, and my heart hurts for them.

In NIF terms, I reckon J*** is Gong Yu, and T****** is Lie Zhanying. Zhanying will follow Jingyan to the end, whatever it may be—in fact in one episode he explicitly says so, and his loyalty is never in doubt. He will go to his death if Jingyan orders it. He will always support Jingyan's decisions. He and the rest of Jingyan's men have been following Jingyan even when the prince was out of favour and cold-shouldered and constantly dispatched to safeguard the country's frontiers—inconvenient places where comfort is low and the environment harsh. Jingyan's favoured brothers live in the lap of luxury within their palaces (like Olivier), while Jingyan himself (like Dion) has always been at war. And as with Zhanying, T****** will never be able to change this status quo on behalf of Jingyan (Dion). For all his boundless dedication to his lord, Zhanying will never be able to improve his prince's standing in the court, never be able to secure more political power for his prince (unless his prince decides to revolt/coup), never be able to make his prince's father love or prize his prince.

It is not a problem of character or willpower or desire. It is, simply put, a problem of power. It is a problem of class. The servant rises as their master rises, and falls as their master falls. In other words, the servant's status is determined by their master's status. Zhanying is Jingyan's deputy. When Jingyan's status was elevated, Zhanying naturally also assumed commandership over more troop divisions because those were allocated to the prince by the Liang Emperor. (There is no doubt in my mind that T******'s status as second-in-command is because of Prince Dion. He's too young to have earned that position by gradual promotion through meritorious accomplishment. Unless you're telling me that the knights dragoon don't have a single officer above age 30.) Zhanying is invaluable to Prince Jing in security, in warcraft, and in a variety of generic daily tasks. However, he is part of the rigid imperial system and lower in the hierarchy. He may persuade his lord, but he cannot order him. He may disagree, but he cannot defy. He may privately despise the Emperor/Empress, but he cannot show it and cannot act on it (literally treason). His role is to follow and obey. If he does not perform that role for whatever reason, he fundamentally negates his utility to his lord.

Ergo, endgame Jingyan is only possible because his true equal and soulmate, his real zhiji, came back to challenge the status quo. In fact, came back to challenge him. It is not merely the fact that this person understands him above all, it is also the fact that this person has the ability to act on that understanding. Jingyan is technically also Xiaoshu's prince, master, and eventual Emperor—so where is the difference?

The difference is, Lin Shu is comparable in nobility. Lin Shu is the cousin of princes and the incumbent Emperor's nephew, Lin Shu was raised amongst the imperial household, and played and studied and fought and hung out with them as peers of roughly equal rank. In this respect Joshua actually outstrips Lin Shu: Joshua is a prince by blood, and had Rosaria not fallen (especially if Sylvestre had not risen to the throne), would have been higher status than Dion. It's a massive pet peeve of mine that so many fans in XVI fandom don't seem to realise that Joshua was crown prince? Everybody knows Dion is crown prince, but do they realise Joshua is the original? In the English version prologue, the knights do call him "prince" and "your highness". The Rosarian throne is Joshua's by right of birth. At the time of their meeting as children, Joshua outranked Dion. They were equals as Dominants of their nation, but Dion back then was the child of a Cardinal and not the child of Sanbreque's ruler at that time; i.e. he was not a prince and not in line for the Sanbrequois throne.

The other wonderful similarity is Lin Shu's and Joshua's statuses as outsiders to the system when they reintroduce themselves to Jingyan/Dion. As Jingyan's strategist, Lin Shu has more leeway with regards to making his prince listen to him and take his advice. But importantly, he is now Mei Changsu, and that means he is able to play outside of the system. The imperial system effectively cast him out when it killed him. The strict codes of imperial conduct no longer chain him as they chain those confined within its structure. As a free agent unlike Zhanying, he has the right and privilege of choosing his own master. That includes the right to leave or to change his mind. And although the prince's strategist is supposed to be subordinate too, Xiaoshu would never truly be subordinate in the same fashion no matter how many times he bows his head, because at his core he is still high nobility and it still shines through despite everything. His manners are still perfect. He still navigates life with the easy expectation that people will serve him. He grabs the Duchess' hand and yells at Prince Jing and gloats at Marquis Ning. It's all the little ways that remind the audience, over and over, that this man was raised as a posh lordling. You can remove the boy from the upper class but you can't remove the upper class from the boy. It's the same with Joshua. His manners are still court-perfect. He still moves through life accepting that he will be served. He may bow his head to Dion and call him "your highness" but he also takes the liberty of throwing himself at Dion for a hug. Because to him, the prince is not some lofty and untouchable figure to be addressed with unfailing deference, he's just a friend.

(I know T****** is minor nobility, to be honest Zhanying definitely is too. The deputies of high level royals aren't going to be commoners. But I don't think I have to explain the gulf between ruling class/a close blood relative of the monarch versus lower nobility.)

Joshua too is an outsider that isn't beholden to Sanbreque's Emperor in the way that all of Dion and his knights owe their fealty. Again in this respect Joshua has it better than Xiaoshu—Joshua is his own sovereign master, and that should impact his perspective, his sense of self, and therefore his behaviour with others and how he navigates the world.

Gong Yu... I think anyone who's watched NIF will know exactly why I say that J***'s counterpart is Gong Yu lol. I think the s/h/u/a/t/e/s want her counterpart to be Princess (Duchess) Nihuang and they certainly produce fanwork in that vein, and I respect them for it because fans be doing what they love and hooray for that. But..... she's Gong Yu.

For all these reasons I am utterly obsessed with a Joshua that pushes back at Dion. The person able to challenge the status quo and challenge Dion. An equal who listens to Dion's absurd speech in the palace at Twinside and calls utter bullshit, who says, "A matter for the imperial family? are you joking? that's my mother, that's my younger brother. an imperial matter for you to resolve? say rather, our family, OUR problem to resolve. You don't get to go off half-cooked to arrest or kill my mother without actual political strategies, notwithstanding your military capability to launch a coup. And also, what about your dad? However much I love you, my darling Dion, we have to talk about the way that you insist on poor little meow meowing your awful father because my dear old mum didn't do Phoenix Gate alone and she for sure didn't immaculately conceive Olivier."

Endgame Dion isn't satisfactory in several glaring ways and it annoys me hugely that even unto the end he never grapples with and confronts the truth of his father instead of the idealised version that lives in his head. It's a little bizarre how Dion's arc is often praised by fans, since it feels very incomplete to me. Or, well, fine, perhaps just unsatisfying (since XVI simply isn't his story). His deep-seated need to be loved by his father prevents him from seeing anything clearly, which is so ironic for the only character to possess a third eye in canon? His honour and his might have been squandered in service to a selfish, uncaring, and objectively bad monarch, yet despite how earnestly Dion wants to be a good prince to his people he seems wholly incapable of recognising this fact? His mind repeatedly shies away from his father's shortcomings. In one scene he calls his father out for words befitting a tyrant, yet ultimately he persists in the belief that his father simply needs to be saved from Anabella's evil influence as if Sylvestre Lesage isn't a 50-year-old adult man who schemed his way to the throne and killed a woman's whole family and happily married that woman to beget legitimate offspring with her.

Soooo....... I've just spoiled the whole plot of my fic but it's really just NIF nonsense as usual and that is actually extremely predictable of me. But honestly the spoiling is not a big deal, because as with NIF, fundamentally my story is not meant to be plot-twisty and suspenseful—the real storytelling skill of the NIF drama is that the audience should be able to quickly grasp the overarching plot with no difficulty because the pleasure of this particular type of story is to watch the protagonist achieve their heart's desire, step by delicious step. The objective of this type of story is to properly pay off what it promises. NIF=the wronged protagonist seeks justice. We already know Lin Shu will obtain justice by the end of the tale, what we are here to enjoy is the journey! Same really for IEM I reckon; by the end of chapter 1 Joshua's goals should be really obvious, and since my little fic will have the happy ending tag because I only ever write happy endings, the audience basically knows he'll succeed—it's very much a journey not destination kind of story.

Ooof the post is crazy long and took me 3 nights to compose an answer and I haven't even managed to go into any TGCF elements but that work mainly contributes to characterisation instead of plot. One of the craziest XVI scenes was the Hideaway's sickbay after Twinside, the genuine regret Joshua expressed and how he blamed himself for not reaching out to Dion sooner; now the Empire and her prince lie in ruins etc. Surely he remembers this is the country that destroyed his own? Surely??? What kind of person, robbed of home and throne, can find it in himself to respond with so much empathy and kindness? Sanbreque has now experienced pretty much the same tragedy they inflicted on Rosaria two decades ago, and isn't that just the funniest parody of divine retribution? Instead of viewing this as Sanbreque's just deserts, Joshua Rosfield pities them and wishes he could have helped them avert this disaster.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wonderfully Xie Lian-coded. Something something someone who has been through the worst and nevertheless chooses goodness and kindness. Someone who intimately understands the ugliest and lowest depths that people sink to, yet refuse to lose themselves in that temptation even when vengeance would seem perfectly justified.

You've known for a long time now that I love a Joshua who is very similar to his mother. This is why lol. It's about that delicious, delicious contrasting foil. It is the difference between Jun Wu & Xie Lian, as it is the difference between Anabella & Joshua. That the indestructible integrity we see from Xie Lian or Joshua didn't come easy, they weren't born perfect, their ethics were tested and forged and earned through suffering the likes of which most people will never know. The person that they have each become is the sum of their choices actively made. In the canon of TGCF and XVI, both of these ex-crown-princes live on in disgrace, in circumstances best described as reduced and humiliating, their respective kingdoms fallen, their wealth and glory spent—but they are better and braver human beings than everyone around them, they are beautiful and noble souls, quiet and unacknowledged, and only Hua Cheng and Dion truly see and fully understand that (and therefore cannot help but love them utterly).

I've a few more thoughts regarding Joshua swirling around as captured in other Xie Lian posts: here, here, here, and here. Not sure if you know TGCF or are into it as well, but just leaving links to those posts here for my own benefit too. I've been gravitating towards phoenixflare comparisons in various hualian meta posts since early 2024 so clearly these concepts have been stewing in my head for some duration, but I haven't fully teased out what it is about these two ships that gives me that niggling sense of connecting similarities.

^ Whereas I clearly know exactly what it is about JingSu that makes me point and holler "THEM!"

[adalineozie]

MJ is named Meera Jain in the 2004 Spider-Man: India comic, actually! While Gayatri clearly mirrors Gwen's role, she IS a model like Mary Jane, as we can see her on some billboards in Mumbattan.

While the movie does focus more on Gwen's father's death and its counterparts (Including, interestingly, Miles' father), even flashing back to Amazing Spider-Man when Captain Stacy died in front of Peter, Gwen's inevitable death in Spider-Man stories is touched on a bit, when she mentions outright and how it's mirrored by her surviving while her Peter dies. While Miles is still our main protagonist and a lot of the themes about averting fate revolve around him, we spend a LOT of time with Gwen in this movie, even starting it in her daily life instead of Miles, so I definitely think averting the classical tragedy of Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy is going to be important. Or, fuck, now that Gwen's dad isn't a police captain and Miles' dad is, Miles might just be the Gwen Stacy to Gwen's Peter Parker, as convoluted of a sentence as that is.

To anyone who hasn't watched Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, SPOILERS!!!

You have a very good point, Gayatri is an original character for the movie and it seems confirmed she is the Gwen Stacy counterpart as Meera Jain is Earth-50101 Mary Jane counterpart in the comics. But Gayatri also seems to be playing as the role of MJ too. And as you said, since the movie is about Mile's averting the tragedies of Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy also plays a very big role is changing the tragic fate of Gwen Stacy being that her death is infamously a major Spider-Man tragedy.

And if so, Gayatri may possibly be saved from her tragic fate and I'm curious what her life will be like going forward with Pavitr.

Thinking about it Anon, it hurts my brain but you might have something going on there with Miles possibly being Gwen's Gwen Stacy (say that ten times fast). I think it's a stretch with them being from different universes but thinking about it, if the movie also hinted at Gwen suffering the same fate if she fell in love with Spider-Man (Miles) and the two times Miles saved Gwen from falling in both movies (falling at the collider fight and falling in Mumbattan), it might also be same the other way. As you said, now with Miles' dad becoming Captain and if Miles could save Inspector Singh, who's to say Gwen can't save Miles' dad now instead? Am I getting it?

[nightvyre]

Appreciation post for HoTD soundtrack

Sad my man Ramin Djawadi isn’t nominated for Emmy but i know that he will get that nom for later seasons (Gullet *ekhm* God’s Eye *ekhm*) ANYWAY still wanted to make a mini-essay to appreciate his works for HoTD S1, starting with the first piece we hear on the series : The Heirs of the Dragon.

THE HEIRS OF THE DRAGON

This is the first piece we hear on the series. This theme is definitely a nod to House Targaryen’s theme. It’s slower, but more powerful. More glory. You could feel the magnitude of House Targaryen’s power which, makes sense, because during this scene, Rhaenyra was explaining how House Targaryen stood at the height of its strength.

And then you could hear the GoT main title’s theme in 1:44, which i think is just an easter egg because the first episode has no opening title; this scene serves as one.

And then from 1:58, you could hear the beating drums, but it’s not like the usual beats that signal a triumph. No, these are chilling drumbeats that signify the decline of an empire. Because that is what HoTD is about: The Dance of the Dragons, a Targaryen civil war that resulted in the collapse of the Targaryen Dynasty.

The drums that we hear on The Heirs of the Dragon is also part of Aemond Targaryen’s theme. Which is actually a really cool detail because, in a way, it was Aemond who (accidentally) started the civil war. We hear this beating drums several time during Aemond’s scenes when:

he went to the Dragonpit to see dragons after being mocked for not having one

he claimed Vhagar (Aemond Rides Vhagar, 0:00 - 0:50)

he was ranting to Criston Cole how he should be king instead of Aegon

he chased Lucerys Velaryon and ultimately killed him (Bloodlines Will Burn, 1:17 - 1:28)

So yeah I think it’s a really nice touch because Ramin Djawadi succeeds in telling the premise of the series in 2,5 minutes, as well as setting the tone for the whole show: we’re dealing with something powerful, something huge, something that will alter history. A tragedy that could only be ended the way it started: with fire and blood.

THE GREEN DRESS

Alicent Hightower’s theme song, which captures her character perfectly. The beginning of it encapsulates Alicent’s sad, manipulated, and lonely childhood. Then it builds up towards 1:25 where the tone changes: Alicent realizes that she is Queen now, that she holds power, and that she is willing to do anything for the survival of her house and her children. Nevertheless, despite the change of tones, we could still hear the tragic melody, foreshadowing that Alicent, despite being queen now, will still have a tragic ending. That tragedy will follow her from childhood until her death.

I also love the chosen title for this piece. It refers to the famous green dress that Alicent wore during Rhaenyra Targaryen’s wedding. When she entered the room in the middle of King Viserys’ speech.

"The king will not be happy. Right in the middle of his speech." "The beacon, on the high tower, do you know what color it glows when Oldtown call its banners to war?" "Green."

With a single entrance, Alicent declared war against Rhaenyra. The color was so important that since then, everyone on the Queen’s side was later known as "the Greens". And thus, this soundtrack officially became the Greens’ theme.

Ramin recylced this theme for another piece of his work later on in the season : Interest of the Realm. The soundtrack of Aegon’s coronation. Unlike the original score, this is the epic version of The Green Dress. No tragic melody, just pure greatness that gives you goosebumps. Alicent’s theme comes at full power (2:10) when her son, Aegon, was walking down that aisle, waiting to be crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms.

BLOODLINES WILL BURN

The soundtrack during the first dragon fight in the show (not really a fight considering Vhagar is the largest dragon alive and Arrax is … well, not even 1/3 of her size). The showdown between Aemond Targaryen and Lucerys Velaryon, the event that started the Dance of the Dragons.

The first half of the soundtrack did a tremendous job in showing how terrifying Vhagar is, and how unhinged Aemond could be. That bit of Aemond’s theme in 1:18 with the repeated strings sound, as if echoing Aemond trying to search/hunt Luke in the middle of the storm. "You owe me a debt, boy!" And it keeps building up until 2:05, falsely luring the audience of Luke's safety, until Vhagar comes out of nowhere and ate Luke. The part from 2:06 - 2:30 felt like it came straight out of a horror movie, as Aemond realised the dire consequences of his actions.

And the second half ,,, now THAT is something that musicians have to take notes. The theme itself transitioned from horror-like music to Rhaenyra’s theme (The Power of Prophecy). Rhaenyra’s theme is hopeful, so we think we may have found relief when it starts playing, but then the theme became distorted and monstrous, because Rhaenyra just learnt that her son died. From 3:28 until 4:00, we could feel Rhaenyra’s devastation, grief, and anguish—all at once. And by 4:01 towards the end, Rhaenyra’s theme was fully corrosive. Rhaenyra wanted to solve the conflict with the Greens with peace. But then they took her son. There is no mercy or peace after this. Only war.

It’s literally a descent to madness. And Ramin Djawadi perfectly captured it.

i think it’s just beautiful that Ramin Djawadi really gives thoughts to all of the details and incorporates them to his works. HoTD sountracks are more than just background noises. Thanks to Ramin Djawadi and his talent, they also serve as a means of storytelling as well. It makes his works more memorable and have more depths.

[web-novel-polls]

Favorite WN Quotes - Bonus: DPA

Quote 31: Unfathomable Cherishment

“Eleris had traded the entire world and her own life for me. Because she loved me that much. I couldn't even begin to fathom how much Eleris cherished me.” - The Demon Prince Goes to the Academy, Chapter 634 

Quote 32: Remaining Child

"An action borne from simple fear, beyond good and evil…As a mother….I want to protect my remaining child."   - Luna Artorius, The Demon Prince Goes to the Academy, Chapter 423

Quote 33: Mountain of Sins

"Of course, I know that no matter what, the mountain of sins I have accumulated cannot be cleared away... But if it's possible, if I can contribute even a little to prevent that future tragedy. Maybe I can alleviate, even just a tiny bit, the weight of the slaughter and sins I've accumulated... I dared to think that way…"  - Eleris, The Demon Prince Goes to the Academy, Chapter 427

Quote 34: Meaning in Life

"If I can't find meaning in death, I will find it in life."  - The Demon Prince Goes to the Academy, Chapter 450

Quote 35: Excuse for Complacency

"It is right not to engage in reckless acts…However, standing atop the mountain built upon my recklessness, I cannot help but think that refraining from something due to its recklessness is merely an excuse for complacency."  - The Demon Prince Goes to the Academy, Chapter 466 

Quote 36: Blasphemy

"Isn't it blasphemy to believe that the gods always pursue goodness? No, to believe that the gods always make choices for the sake of humanity?" "Did the gods ever say that the good they pursue is the same as the good for humans?” - Rowan, The Demon Prince Goes to the Academy, Chapter 577

[Propaganda below] - Major Spoilers Warning!

Quote 32: Remaining Child

The context of this quote is that Luna Artorius is the mother of the hero who killed the demon king but died in the process - Ragan Artorius. The main character is the author of the story [The Demon King is Dead] who transmigrated into the body of Valier, Jr. - the son of the demon king. He chooses to attend the (human) Empire’s academy to become strong enough to survive a world-ending disaster and ends up befriending the strongest student of their year - Ellen… Artorius. In this part of the story, the main character has been revealed as the son of the demon king with great emphasis on how fear causes war and suffering. How the demon king was planning to create a new world for demons, but he couldn’t trust the Empire with his plans for fear of them taking the power for themselves and the Empire couldn’t trust the demons not to attack them (leading to the Great Demon War that killed the Demon King, the hero’s party, etc.)

And to add to this, Luna Artorius is preparing to die here! She’s not supposed to interfere with the “outside world” and will likely disappear if she does so! But she can’t help but regret losing her son and ends up feeding in the same cycle to consumed him. 

Quote 33: Mountain of Sins

Eleris was originally a tyrannical Arch-Demon (before becoming a vampire) who was deposed by her own son. Out of guilt for her own actions, she becomes a pacifist who helps whoever she can, including being the only member of the Vampire Council who chose to help the demons during the Great Demon War. She’s the first member of the Demon spies the main character meets in the (human) capital. Her past is only revealed in the late stages of the novel, but her constant desire to protect the demon realm while loving humans is integral to the story. She’s just… *clenches fist* so important to me, and the theme of doing what you can despite never being able to redeem yourself or fix what you broke is fantastic

[adamwatchesmovies]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)

Few series end on the same gratifying note as the Harry Potter franchise. Spanning a whopping 8 films (the last book being split into two), it remained remarkably consistent. At worst, the stories were workmanlike translations of J.K. Rowling's books, or a bit too fan-oriented. Now that we're at the end, what a journey it's been. With all of the exposition laid out in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Part 2 can jump right into it and deliver everything we’ve been anticipating.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) continue their search for the horcruxes - magical objects in which Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has hidden pieces of his soul. As the trio scrambles to find the artifacts and a way to destroy them, they realize their quest will bring them back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, now governed by Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) and the rest of Voldemort’s Death Eaters.

After the persistent dread of Part 1, our heroes can finally enjoy a glimmer of hope. It isn’t going to be easy but finally, we feel ready to tackle the big bad… for the most part. The film, the characters and the audience always remember that our main characters are teenagers. They may have faced - and survived - enormous dangers but it’s always been through a combination of their wits, ingenuity, and a lot of dumb luck. There are no teachers to fall back upon now; it’s just the three of them desperately piecing together the last clues handed to them by their late headmaster. As we reach the finale, everyone we’ve met over the years gets to play a part. Emphasis on everyone. As before, you need to have seen all of the previous chapters, understand the lore, remember who was the teacher of this class X years ago, why this character was important to Ron or Hermione, how we felt about this person when we met them versus now, etc. In a movie with Part 2 in the title, you know this going in.

The film works because we have already invested time and effort into it, because we have spent years watching and revisiting these people and these places while eagerly awaiting the ultimate showdown. All of the characters returning - even if it’s just for a tiny moment - makes you feel like you’re there too. This fight isn’t just about the boy who lived anymore, it’s about all of us.

Let's pause to think about what a monumental task this was for director David Yates. Going in, all of your feelings and expectations are amplified. The second that familiar theme by John Williams comes in, you reach for the tissues. This could be the last time we hear it - ever. Still, it wouldn’t have been worth the wait had the scale been wrong. This is the final battle between a 17-year-old and an irredeemably evil wizard with a snake face but you don’t want it to feel silly, you want it to be epic - and it is. In the action scenes, you’ll have difficulty sitting still. You'll be too busy wringing your hands in nervousness, moving from side-to-side trying to dodge the spells flying throughout the air or punching into the air to show your support for our heroes.

There are a few character’s stories which are not completely resolved - Timothy Spall’s Peter Pettygrew for example. I would've rather seen those ends tied than the epilogue. If I were to fish around for more criticisms you could also say that no, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 is not REALLY a film, it’s HALF a film. Does that take away how frightening it gets, or how joyous it make you feel when things are going well for our beloved trio? Does it make the tragedies any less devastating or the battle any less epic? No. The series has grown up since the lighthearted whimsy and innocence of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone all those years ago. It’s built upon itself, expanded its world, gotten us to fall in love with its characters and enchanted audiences. Never more than in this final chapter. (On Blu-ray, November 15, 2019)

[siderealcity]

Doomed by the song lyrics

I am going to have Footsteps in Snow stuck in my head all day. Spoilers ahead.

Ysayle is a fantastic character. And in a lot of ways, she's the precursor to Emet-Selch. The unambiguous enemy who joins us on our journey and turns out, in the end, to have been just like us. But that's getting ahead of things.

When we meet Ysayle for the first time, there's no doubt she's a villain. The Warrior of Light has no inside perspective on what the heretics are about. The only one we've actually, really met up until now was Inquisitor Guillaime, and he was a serial killer. He didn't have any redeeming values whatsoever. So, Ysayle can make whatever speeches she wants about our blind faith, we literally have no idea what she's talking about. We're not breaking into Snowcloak because she's a heretic. We're breaking into Snowcloak because we already know they're going to summon a primal. They've murdered people in order to steal crystals. It's not really open to interpretation.

We risk our lives chasing her to the primal fight, and I think it's really important to Ysayle's character to note how the fight starts.

She begins with a prayer.

We whom gods and men have forsaken shall be the instruments of our own deliverance. Partake of my flesh--fill this vessel with your light! Walk amongst your brothers and sisters once more.

Oh, Saint Shiva, still the hatred within our hearts and bless us with eternal grace.

The quest takes its title from the first line. The Instruments of Our Deliverance. And this is the fundamental problem the story keeps coming back to. Where does salvation come from? Does it come from the gods? From the stars? When your life lacks meaning, when you want change, where do you get it?

Ysayle, despite stating that the gods--at least Halone--have forsaken her, decides the answer is still to place her hopes in a higher power. Shiva is a saint and a hero to the heretics. And even though Ysayle knows on some level that Shiva was an entirely ordinary elezen woman, part of her still believes that she was divine. That ending the Dragonsong War isn't something a mortal person could do. Or even something a group of people could do. Ysayle's vision of the truth behind the war doesn't motivate her to take her followers and try to change Ishgard. That's impossible, so far as she believes. A goddess can deliver salvation and redemption from on high.

People can only create suffering and tragedy.

And it's hinted at there in the prayer, but it's even more clearly written in the lyrics of her theme song: Ysayle doesn't think she's going to survive the summoning. She's inviting Shiva to replace her. The song, Oblivion, is about facing down death, and then unexpectedly finding you're still alive and forced to carry on fighting. That's... that's the plot here. Ysayle's hero figure, her saint, was a martyr. Of course her ideals of peace hinge on sacrifice.

That's the only role an ordinary person can play.

But the battle ends, and she lives. Now what?

Ysayle and Estinien are, arguably, the two most obviously doomed characters in the game from the moment you meet them. Estinien's fate is painfully obvious if you've played the dragoon quests before starting Heavensward. We don't know a lot about Shiva before we get to Ishgard, but there's plenty here in Akh Afah to hint at it, and then we get a bigger hint as soon as Ysayle tells us who Shiva actually was. That her sainthood, her legend as a mediator between dragon and man, was entirely because of her death.

Ysayle's struggle sets up the recurring problem of the plot. Faced with an unsolvable, terrible fate, salvation, for the greater good, must be paid for with sacrifice. That's the solution that has always been chosen. By the Convocation, and Amaurot. By Venat and her followers creating Hydaelyn. By the sundering. By Moenbryda, to slay Nabriales. And Haurchefaunt catching the death blow from Zephirin. And Ardbert and his friends. And eventually, all the Scions in Ultima Thule. Only through great sacrifice can salvation be attained.

Heavensward is, in a way, a build-up to rejecting that idea.

You start by losing everyone. All that's left of the Scions is Alphinaud and Tataru. And Alphinaud is a shell of his former self for a good chunk of the expansion. Then the story promptly gives you the most obviously doomed characters in existence and sends you on an impossible mission, cheerfully asking, "What are you prepared to sacrifice for victory?"

The story up to the Singularity Reactor is full of losses you are powerless to prevent. Most notably Haurchefaunt. They're not choices you make. They're there to remind you this will cost you something. Ardbert literally says that to you in Shadowbringers on more than one occasion. I wonder what this will cost you. There has to be a price, doesn't there? Miracles don't come cheap.

Maybe the price is never being the same again.

When Ysayle arrives during the battle with the Gration, it's kind of important to note that she has no idea what's going on. She wasn't privvy to what happened with Thordan at the Vault. She doesn't know about the key, and the island full of Allagan doomsday devices floating overhead.

It's important to take note of this, because without it, her decision seems like a failure to move forward. She started out in this story intending from the first to sacrifice herself for the greater good. And then she does it at the end. No lesson learned.

Except that's not what she's doing.

All she knows, heading to that battle, is that Estinien, who is definitely an idiot, just used way too much of the Eye's power. She persuades Hraesvelgr to take her to wherever that was, not to save the world, or for the greater good, or to stop Thordan.

Much blood has been spilled in my name. And for what? For a false cause that I created for want of the warmth of companionship.

She's there for her asshole friends.

But even now, I cannot let go of my dream--my dream of a tomorrow in which no child need freeze alone in the snow.

She has come to the battle to save her stupid, idiot friends, whom she nonetheless believes are capable of changing the world. Redemption is not beyond us. Not because it will be delivered from on high by a divine power, but because we can attain it ourselves.

She recites the prayer to Shiva again, knowing she's going to her death because she sure as all seven hells can't take a Garlean battleship by herself. She couldn't even beat Ravana. But she can buy a little more time for the people she cared about.

Stupid Gaius. "Tell me, for whom do you fight? And do you believe in Eorzea?" is the central question of Heavensward, and he's not even in this expansion.

[historicalfictionderekclark]

Exploring the Rich Tapestry of Historical Fiction Books

Historical fiction is a genre that transports readers into the past, blending real events with imaginative storytelling. These books serve as a bridge to the past, offering a glimpse into the lives of people, the struggles they faced, and the social, political, and cultural forces that shaped history. But what makes historical fiction books so captivating, and why do so many readers love them?

The Allure of Historical Fiction The primary appeal of historical fiction books lies in their ability to bring history to life. While history textbooks present facts and dates, historical fiction weaves these facts into a narrative that is often emotionally engaging. The genre allows readers to experience history through the eyes of fictional or historical characters, making it easier to empathize with their challenges, joys, and tragedies. One of the key strengths of historical fiction is its ability to give a human face to past events. For instance, books set during World War II allow readers to understand the personal experiences of soldiers and civilians. Whether it’s the story of a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied France or a family struggling to survive the bombings in London, historical fiction can shed light on the emotional toll of historical events.

The Importance of Research in Historical Fiction For an author, writing historical fiction is both a creative challenge and a research project. The accuracy of historical events and settings is crucial in ensuring the credibility of the book. While some authors take creative liberties with the past, others are meticulous in their research, using primary sources, such as letters, diaries, and newspaper articles, to create an authentic atmosphere. Writers like Hilary Mantel, known for Wolf Hall, spend years researching their subject matter to ensure that every detail—from the food served in the Tudor court to the way people dressed—is accurate. This commitment to historical accuracy is important for several reasons. First, it helps the reader feel immersed in the time period. Second, it provides insight into the everyday lives of people from different eras. Historical fiction allows readers to witness the intricate details of their daily routines, customs, and societal norms, which can be eye-opening and educational.

Famous Historical Fiction Books and Their Impact There are many landmark historical fiction books that have left a lasting impression on readers. For example, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, set during World War II, explores themes of death, survival, and the human condition against the backdrop of Nazi Germany. This novel resonates deeply with readers due to its unforgettable characters and the unique narrative voice of Death itself. Another well-known historical fiction book is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which follows the parallel stories of a blind French girl and a German soldier during the same period. The novel beautifully captures the harrowing realities of war, but also the small moments of kindness that transcend even the darkest times.

Subgenres of Historical Fiction While historical fiction books often focus on real historical events and figures, the genre is versatile and offers a wide range of subgenres. Some of the most popular include:

Biographical Fiction: These books focus on the lives of famous historical figures. For example, The Paris Wife by Paula McLain offers a glimpse into the life of Hadley Richardson, the first wife of Ernest Hemingway.

Historical Romance: Set against the backdrop of historical events, these novels often focus on the romantic relationships of their characters. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is a prime example, blending time travel with romance and historical detail.

Alternate History: This subgenre imagines what would have happened if certain historical events had turned out differently. An example is The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, where the Axis powers won World War II.

Historical Mystery: Often set in earlier centuries, these books mix historical settings with crime-solving. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco is a prime example of this intriguing combination of mystery and history.

Why Readers Love Historical Fiction The enduring popularity of historical fiction books can be attributed to several factors. First, historical fiction allows readers to immerse themselves in different eras and gain a deeper understanding of the past. It’s an opportunity to travel through time, without leaving the comfort of your own home. Additionally, historical fiction often tackles timeless themes, such as love, power, and the human condition, which resonate across time periods. These universal themes are explored in different contexts, making historical fiction books relevant and relatable to modern readers. Lastly, historical fiction offers a rich and immersive reading experience. The attention to detail in the settings, the complexity of the characters, and the way in which the plot is woven into the fabric of history makes it a genre that can captivate readers for hours on end.

[pookys-ponderings]

Barefoot Gen

Films like this really show why media is an effective tool for empathy.

When we learn about the nukes that America dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in academic environments, its all too easy to pity momentarily, compartmentalize the tragedy and move on. But the reality of it was that even after surviving instant death by incineration, living around the area was waking hell, unlike any other bombing anyone has ever dealt with, and seeing the atrocities in film form really puts things into perspective.

When the movie opens, we're greeted by a family struggling to get by in WWII wartime as rations are low and most people are poor. Considering that I knew the movie was about the bombings, I spent the first 30 minutes of the film being charmed by the family, but also mentally preparing myself for the worst, when it came. The important part of these first 30 minutes of the movie is to show that the people affected by the bombings weren't the people instigating and taking part in war. They were civilians, even opposed to the war and the Japanese government's decisions at the time, as shown through Gen's father.

When the bombs actually drop, its a miracle at all that Gen survives, considering the girl next to her when the bomb drops is dead and partially incinerated. He goes back to his house which is now in flames, and Gen and his mother watch their family burn as they cannot lift the debris.

The living are portrayed like zombies, and soon after the streets are littered with dead bodies. The black rain that comes is said to cause cancer and deathly illnesses caused by radiation poisoning for years to come. The water that they attempt to give to people ends up killing them. Civilians and soldiers who are cleaning up the dead die horribly from radiation poisoning, losing their hair and coughing up blood. Healthcare systems and are flooded with people half alive, with wounds covering their body and maggots festering inside of those wounds. Gen loses his hair to radiation poisoning, and they take in a little boy Ryuta. There is not enough food to eat between the main characters or to keep the baby alive, and when the boys get enough money to buy powdered milk, they are too late and the baby has died from malnutrition.

Considering all that happens to them, its a little surprising that any of the main characters survived at all. I found that maybe the film might even be downplaying the effects of the radiation (the main characters being essentially fine from radiation, the wheat growing in the ground but potentially contaminated and not safe to eat) and omitting where they would get water for the sake of the theme of growth and survival, or perhaps for the sake of time. I am wondering if this is better portrayed in the original manga, where the story is loosely based off the author's real experience as a survivor of the Hiroshima nuke.

Even with that though, I think the film effectively portrayed the horrors of the event and I think the themes of resilience and regrowth have merit as Hiroshima is now a thriving city again with a population of 1.2 million.

[coeluvr]

A New Interactive Novel

Links :

✧ Play the game

Last Released: Chapter 4

Total Word Count: approx. 192.8k

Last Updated: 2nd of September 2024

✧ Bonus Content

Total word count: approx. 16.7k

✧ Ko-Fi / Patreon

✧ Discord

✧ Report a Bug

✧ Ask Guidelines / FAQ

✧ Character Descriptions / Official Character Art

✧ Pinterest References

Crown of Ashes and Flames is a fantasy interactive fiction game, free to play on pc and mobile. You play as the only remaining member of the royal family of Vesphire; living in the home of the man who took away everything from you.

It is currently in development and each chapter will be released as they are finished.

The war had taken everything from you.

King Luceris had taken everything from you.

You were just nine years old when all of this happened. One moment you were in your room sleeping and the next you were walking through smoke and ash trying to find your parents.

Love, he said, was the reason he started the war. Ironically, you lost everything you loved but you also lost yourself when he let you survive and dragged you away to his home.

In a new Kingdom with no one on your side what choices will you make to survive? Who will you become?

Inside of you, there’s something burning for revenge and there’s only one thing I want to tell you. Let it out.

Content Warning: This game is rated MA-17. Depictions of violence, injuries and blood, and death; trauma, depictions of mental health challenges, child marriage, psychological horror, animal cruelty, and optional sexual content. Player discretion is advised.

The story starts in the Kingdom of Vesphire, a fictional kingdom within a fantasy universe, but it truly begins in the Kingdom of Rosea.

The two kingdoms are situated in a world that was blessed by the gods, the lands were filled with magic and beasts of wonder. For unknown reasons the gods abandoned the realm taking everything they had brought with them while the beasts moved to forests and the sea. Anywhere that was far from civilization.

You were born and raised in Vesphire until tragedy struck and you were taken away to Rosea. Contrary to the snowy lands of Vesphire, Rosea was tropical in the north and temperate in the south with mountains surrounding the lane.

The Kingdom is a colorful land with green scenery contrasts to its large white buildings. The streets are always busy from early mornings to the late nights, and filled with calls from the shopkeepers from their wooden stalls with sun-faded striped fabric or blue tarps above it. It is truly a lively place.

The ruler of this kingdom is none other than Luceris De Rosea. He is the man who led destruction right onto your home, he is the one whom all of Rosea admire. The land is immensely beautiful but many of it's people harbor great hatred towards you due to you being the last royal of Vesphire.

✧ Play as the royal of your own making:

Name [including nicknames]

Gender [male, female and nonbinary options]

Pronouns [choose a preset or set your own]

Personality [develop personality traits that will influence event sequences and the behavior of other characters towards you]

Appearance [including scars and tattoos]

✧ Develop deeper relationships with the characters, each with their own themes and stories, and find romance if you wish for it.

✧ Build rapport with characters from all over the continent, aid them with their problems or use them as a pawn in your story.

✧ Build a codex as you explore the world that surrounds you; encounter people, places, history and magic.

✧ Encounter important timed choices with alternative results if time runs out or you choose to abstain.

The characters in this list are those with whom you can form a deeper relationship, whether it be platonic or romantic. While all characters are available to everyone, only Hunter is gender selectable.

It is important to note that these characters are not the only ones of significance.

Fadiya Akter - The Royal Mage’s daughter, and one of the only people that doesn’t have something against you. She’s cheerful, talkative and kind - like a fairy. Fiercely loyal to you, to the point that she gets into trouble just to defend you even in court. She is a powerful mage just like her mother. She is one year younger than you.

Helios De Rosea - The Crown Prince of Rosea, and the child of the man that destroyed your home. He has a radiating smile that instantly brightens up the room, like sunshine itself. He is the hero of all fairytales, the boy with a golden spirit full of light and hope. He keeps his distance from you, after all you are the last royal of Vesphire. He is one year older than you.

Hunter Oakes - Crown Prince’s shield and Sir Lancelot’s ward. Easygoing and reckless; their serene smile puts everyone at ease. They’re loyal to the hand that feeds them but understand what you went through was an injustice. They are four years older than you.

Soarine De Norazaan - Eldest daughter of the King of Norazaan, and an envoy to Rosea. Her smile is charming and practiced, she has a vixen-like personality. Soarine wishes to take the throne and better her kingdom, her desire for the throne is underlined by a thirst for revenge against the people in her kingdom who have forgotten their own history. She is one year older than you.

Vincent Annora - Son of the current General of the Imperial Army and the one who will take her position in the future. The perfect example of what a knight should be. He is very guarded and passionately protective of the people he cares about, he may seem rough around the edges but has a gentler side to him at times. He dislikes you due to his mother’s own hatred towards you and your late family. He is two years older than you.

Thank you for reading!

[bardic-tales]

REFLECTIONS (SI X IA)

Novel: Fall of Darth Jadus

Pairing: m!SI (Darth Jadus / Darth Noktis) x f!IA (Cipher Nine / Cynthia Prescost)

Fandom: Star Wars

Word count: 2981

Warning: Suggestive languages and themes, Death of Main Character, Language, disturbing imagery. Minors DNI

Premise: Cipher Nine must come to terms with her Sith lover’s death, but she finds herself overwhelm by her other Sith companion.

Author’s Note: This idea has been floating around in my head since my husband and I both restarted our original characters. Some of it is taken from an RP that we were running in chat while we were questing.

It also takes place during the Heart of Terror Act for the Imperial Agent. We have decided that Adaki is using their Force bond and occasionally Force teleport to be with her physically. He is testing everyone’s loyalty, especially Cynthia’s. After all, she will be his Empress when he democratizes fear and tries to take the Emperor’s place.

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1.

The Empire had almost completed its grieving steps and Darth Jadus had been dead for several months before Cipher Nine only begun to understand the full weight of her grief.

Right after Darth Jadus’ death, she went into survival mode, not allowing herself to grieve properly. She had the Empire and its welfare to think about. Her grieving would have to wait. And wait it did.

She sat up in the darkened room and squinted against the blackness.

Nine wondered how she could feel the gap in her life that the Sith’s death left behind. She didn’t know the man long, but he left an impression upon her life that hardly anyone else had.

He just overcame the loss of his fiancée, too, she reminded herself. She didn’t openly weep when he told her the tragic tale of how his fiancée was taken from him and how he searched the entire galaxy for her. It affected Nine in a more subtle way.

While she and Jadus didn’t share a kiss or other similar intimacy, there was a warmth to their interactions. He once told her that he would not pursue a relationship with her until she was sure she understood the dangers of becoming involved with a Dark councilor. Jadus would not lose someone he cared for again.

After enough time in the darkened silence, she was able to fall back into her usual fitful sleep. There was nothing refreshing about it. That was when the dreams would come, her mind’s endless search for her one great tragedy.

The dreams were always the same. Jadus’ death would play over and over in her mind, though from a perspective she never had. She never witnessed his death, but in her dreams, he died right in front of her. The method was always different, but the result was always the same. She failed him.

Quickly, another of these nightmares overcame her. Jadus was standing before her, speaking, but she could not make out the words. Whatever it was, it seemed important, urgent, even.

Nine tried to cross the distance between them, but she couldn’t lift her feet. She took a step forward, trying to fight the resistance, and the distance between them grew. The flagship’s floor crumbled away. A tomblike silence immediately followed, as blinding, fiery stars twinkled around the sundered starship.

I’m only dreaming, she told herself, to wake up, but it didn’t work.

“You failed me, Cyn,” Jadus lamented, reaching for her in vain. “You failed me.”

“Jadus!” Nine cried out as she reached for him. She could almost touch him, almost brush his fingers with her own. This had been the end of her nightmares from the time he was lost to her. He continued to die in many ways. Each time was more gruesome than the last, but the end result was always the same. Nine couldn’t make it to him in time.

Blood seeped from a wound upon his chest and soaked his dark leather outer robe. It pooled within his gloves until it streamed off his finger tips into a widening pool upon the sundered ground.

Jadus dropped to his knees. The bottom of the lightsaber hilt attached to the belt looped around his waist clattered against steel flooring. He looked up at her. His metallic helmet glinted in the neon emergency light. The Klaxon alarm drowned out any other thoughts or sounds, except his voice repeating those terrible words once again. “You have failed me, Cynthia.”

Nine sat up in the blackened room. She blinked against the darkness and tried to get her bearings. Everything looked unfamiliar to her. Gone was the ruined starship, the gore, and her lover. The only thing that remained was the crushing weight of her failure.

Her heart raced, and it was the only sound she could hear in the night’s perpetual stillness. She was utterly alone.

The silence was suddenly broken by the cacophony of the door being caved into the room. It turned end over end until it smashed against the metallic dresser in the far corner of the room. Wires and cords dangled from the top of the metal door frame.

Adaki stood on the other side, his hand outstretched. The Zabrak had used the Force to gain entry into her room. He stood there, his carmine-colored chest glimmering in the naked golden fluorescent hallway light. Twin onyx stripes raced diagonally across his hips, and their pointed tips disappeared beneath the waistband of his loose-fitting raven trousers.

“What are you doing, Lord Adaki?” She hastily pulled the covers over her breasts, pinned the top of the blanket under her arms, and stared at the interloper.

“I heard you cry out?” he said as he stepped into the room, unable to hide the concern on his countenance for a fleeting moment. “Are you alright? What happened? Were you attacked?”

“It was a bad dream,” she said, almost laughing at the outrageousness of the situation. “Are you going to bash down my door every time I have a nightmare, my lord?”

“That sounded like no ordinary nightmare, and they are hardly harmless. Nightmares can cause great damage. A powerful Sith could attack you in your dreams.”

As she continued to press the sheet against her body, Nine turned away from him. She known he couldn’t sense her thoughts of feel her emotions. Most Sith couldn’t. Imperial Intelligence trained her well.

Not well enough, she relentlessly reminded herself. If someone hadn’t placed a block within her mind and dampened her connection to the Force, she would have been able to sense that there were two targets for the dissidents: one on Dromund Kaas and one above the planet, her lover’s star destroyer. Jadus’ words echoed in her mind. Nine failed.

“The Sith in my dreams cannot hurt me.” The skin bunched around her eyes as she stared at the wall. Wetness clung to her thick eyelashes. She blinked the tears away. “He’s only a ghost from my past.”

Adaki set down on the bed beside her. The plush mattress sunk beneath his heavy weight, and her body shifted towards him from the disturbance. His scent drifted to her, reminding her of desert trees mixed with blossoming flowers. The Zabrak’s cologne was like himself: powerful, intoxicating, and a bit sensual. It was the fragrance of desire.

“Was it Lord Jadus again?” The words were unusual spoken by him, coming from a Sith. There was almost a gentleness to his tone, but she knew how treacherous he could be. Since she had traveled with Adaki for a brief time before she met Jadus that first time, she knew he was a brutal man who discarded things like a person threw away trash.

With those doubts in her mind, it still took only a second to lower her defenses. The dream and its aftermath left her vulnerable. The knowledge she failed not only the Darth in charge of Imperial Intelligence but also the man she had come to love left raw, like a pat of butter stretched thinly across toast.

“It always is.” Nine dared not look at him. She swallowed the lump thickening in the back of her throat, but it wouldn’t go down easily. Nothing was ever easy now in the wake of Jadus’ death.

“You will discover the truth behind his assassination, Cyn. You are the best that Imperial Intelligence has to offer. You will unmask the conspirators and bring them all to justice.”

“Fuck justice,” Nine responded coldly. “I will bring them vengeance. I will make them suffer for what they have done. I will make them pay for robbing the galaxy of Jadus’ greatness.”

Adaki stared at her, apparently dumbstruck by her confession. His countenance took on a hungry expression, like he saw her with a renewed sense of passion. It was clear that she surprised him.

“You would make a wonderful Sith, my dear,” he purred. “If only you would let me train you.”

Jadus asked to do the same thing. He had told her that looking at her felt like he was staring into a font bubbling over with raw Force energy. She was a beautiful and terrifying person. That was what had attracted him to her.

Nine had never considered herself particularly unique. She was only a citizen working for the Empire and didn’t feel as if she had any connection with the Force. If she had, she surely would have felt something. And that, itself, had worried Jadus.

Was that the nature of a relationship that an Imperial had with a Sith? One or both of them would meet death. She understood any apprentice that Jadus had would eventually try to kill him. That was the reason that she had refused Jadus’ help, his offer to train her. Any training from any Sith would make her lose her sense of identity and would eventually pit herself against the one who trained her, in this case, the man she had loved.

It doesn’t matter. Nine didn’t kill Jadus, but he was still dead. She was still responsible. She should have anticipated it, should have known that the conspirators would go for the second most powerful Sith in the galaxy. The death of such a prestigious council member would be how she would make the Empire crumble if she were a terrorist.

“I don’t understand what you mean, my Lord.” Nine folded her arms around her chest, still pressing the thin sheet to her body. She felt naked and exposed as her bare shoulder brushed his own.

Adaki leaned forward and watched her. She swore she saw that emotion in his eyes before, but how could she? They briefly traveled together when she was given her first assignment by Imperial Intelligence. That was before Hutta and before she swore fealty to Darth Jadus. There was surely no romance or interest between them, as there wasn’t enough time for it to blossom.

“As I told Lord Jadus,” she said, “I’m nothing special. Nothing that would require training from a Sith of your magnitude, my lord.”

“I have told you before to call me Adaki. Pray, I do not ask again.”

“My Lo — Adaki, are you sure that is wise? People will gossip.”

That was not the only reason she was protesting. Darth Jadus had her call him by his name, too, so much so that he insisted on it much like the Zabrak was currently doing. It made their interactions seem personal and intimate.

If she would have known then what she knew now, she would have insisted on keeping things formal with him. Her heart wouldn’t have been split in twain, otherwise. He might have survived. He might have been at her side now …

“People gossip,” Adaki said. “That is what they do. It would be simpler to stop the sun from rising than to stop the common rabble and their incessant talking. I don’t waste time worrying about what people say behind my back, only I they venture to plotting against me. That is wholly unwise, however.”

“As you say, Adaki,” she conceded.

“You are wrong, you know?” he added. She glanced at him, confused.

“What do you mean.”

“You said you are nothing special. Nothing that a Sith of my magnitude should show interest in. You are wrong. There is something there, elusive, but it is there. You have some connection to the Force, that much is clear. I can feel that much, but it is muted. It is difficult to describe, almost like a limb that has been severed, the memory remains.”

“As you say, Adaki, but I still can’t feel it.”

The truth was that she didn’t feel anything he described. Even if what he said were true, Nine was sure that if she had any connection with the Force that would require training she would have shown talent. Still, she knew there was no sense in arguing with a Sith Lord. It would be a fruitless exercise as his decision was already decided; Adaki rarely changed his mind after that.

How do I know that? Nine thought. There was something more to their relationship, the familiar sensations lighting her memories, but the more she was around him, the more her thoughts felt cloudy, as if she were peering through the memory with a thin gauze of fabric covering the past.

Adaki raised his right hand, but she didn’t shrink away. Despite the fine hair lifting up on her arms, she didn’t sense any danger. He clutched her face and covered her mouth, left nostril, and chin in a tight grasp. His fingers bite into her flesh.

Nine still wasn’t afraid. She felt as if she had finally come home after being lost, as if something from a long distant past had finally clicked into place. It was strange to her that someone like Adaki felt the way he did. She never was led by her heart, always putting the Empire before her needs, but it didn’t make sense that two Sith Lords had made her question her loyalty to her obligations. This was unlike her.

Adaki stared into her eyes, and she looked back. His hand slid down her face until he gripped her chin and jawline, exposing her neck and lips to him. His gaze dropped to her mouth. A chill traveled up her spine, overshadowing any grief she may have felt. It was replaced by an urgent need, the desire burrowing itself within her mind, eclipsing everything else.

Kiss me. If she could have thought straight, she might have considered that maybe he was clouding her mind and guiding her emotions. She may have demanded he leave and allow her to mourn her fallen lover, the other Sith Lord who died from her failure. Instead, the only thing that Nine could think about was the Sith Lord sitting next to her. Once again, she silently pleaded for him to kiss her.

“I can.” He stared into her eyes as he spoke. “You should be able to to. You reach out for the Force, grasping at nothing instead. Constantly and fruitlessly, you try to catch it. You are unaware of this? You are. It is such power. It calls to me. It is … seductive.”

His words traveled through her like the clear note of a tuning fork. The only thing she could feel was desire. Maybe, that’s what he was talking about. She had no experience to draw on nor anything to really compare it to.

All she knew was that he was the opposite of what she knew a Sith should have been. He cared — at least, when it came to her. Adaki was the first one who rushed to her after Jadus’ death, offering to travel with her and lend his aid, and who was she to refuse him.

Her mind felt dull once again, but she wouldn’t look away from him. He commanded her full attention much like her lover did. There was so many things about Adaki that reminded her of Darth Jadus, and it made it easier for her to let her guard somewhat down with him.

He was exciting to her, a breath into a dismal imperial life. She couldn’t deny the way sparks seemed to fly when he stared in her eyes nor could she deny the guilt burrowing deep within her gut. Her other lover’s death was too recent for her, to fresh in her mind.

What should I do? Nine was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

“You have power over it, even if you don’t know.” He bent his head forward and his mouth hovered before hers, the black tattoos revealing to be a dark gray with a splash of crimson flesh from his lips. “You are also reaching out to me, beckoning me, trying to overwhelm my senses. You aren’t doing that intentionally?”

“Doing what intentionally?”

“Making me want you.” The words should have served as a sobering slap to the face, but it had quite the opposite effect. She narrowed her eyes at him, sizing him up like prey. Her tongue darted across her lower lip briefly as she looked him up and down.

“You want me?”

“Absolutely.”

There was one hitch in his plan. His entrance made it so they were not alone. The door still lay against the wall. Cables still hung down from the entrance way, revealing where the door once was.

It appeared that wouldn’t deter him. Adaki leaned down and brushed her mouth with his, a soft gesture that she thought she had imagined until he deepened the caress. His fingers glided along her jawline, up to the side of her face until he lost his hands within her mass of hair. He grasped the dark strands and tilted her head back.

His lips did not leave hers throughout the entire time. He nibbled at her bottom lip, pulling the flesh between his teeth, before letting it go.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she could taste his minty toothpaste he had used previously that evening. . She closed her eyes. This wasn’t what she had planned when they had both retired to their separate rooms that evening, but if she were honest with herself, this was what she had wanted from the time they departed her ship and hailed that first taxi to the promenade.

Adaki pulled away. His mouth shimmered with her saliva before he ran the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip, still tasting her, but soon after that, he recomposed himself and she doubted that they even shared an sort of an embrace.

Nine was the first to speak. “Don’t stop.”

“There are more important matters to attend to, Cyn. Take that frustration you feel and use it to see to your revenge. Don’t let this cloud your purpose.”

[hatterstan-shameblog]

Lord, if I see another character from Alice In Borderland post from you imma binge it tonight—

if it’s not too much to ask, could you give me a nutshell?

...Very likely, seeing that this is an Alice in Borderland sideblog.

Here's my elevator pitch:

Alice in Borderland is a Japanese horror/sci-fi drama that is very (and I do mean very) loosely based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. It follows a young man, Arisu, as he and his friends get mysteriously transported to an alternate universe where they are forced to participate in deadly "games" in order to survive.

Even though it is a show about "death games", at its core, Alice in Borderland is an exploration of life, death, and morality. The value of life, the complexity of relationships, and the effects of mental illness are just a few themes that are covered in the narrative; there are very little black-and-white assertions about humanity and show that circumstance does have quite an important influence on a person's decisions.

It is often compared to Squid Game. I think they are somewhat similar to a point, but they differ pretty drastically when it comes to the main focus. Squid Game is more of a critique of capitalist society, while Alice in Borderland is more about the triumphs and tragedies of the human spirit. That being said, they're two completely different shows, but since they often get lumped in together for being about death games, I figured I'd give my two cents just so you know what's up.

While I can't say it's a show for everyone, I do believe that it's got a good mix of excitement, mystery, and character development while being clever and well-paced. And at 8 episodes in the first season, it's just the right of material to binge over a few days.

[mystery-salad]

A thought, on reforging Caladbolg

When you learn that the sword can be reforged, it’s an amazing joyful moment. The legendary sword forged with the power of the Dream itself, from a thorn on a bough of the Pale Tree. Through the power it holds, the weapon can bend and change to manifest the qualities of its wielded. Both positives, strengths…and negatives, weaknesses. And now, it calls to the Commander (or a player character of your choice) to wield it, the first non-firstborn, perhaps even first non-sylvari to hold this weapon and have that unique connection to a living weapon.

In the process of reforging Caladbolg, you face a handful of challenges. The simple collections which involve locations tied to strong aspects of emotions or features in the world, and locations of shards scattered throughout the jungle it shattered in. But you also face another challenge, a little more...personal. Not to you, but to the past wielders, Riannoc and Trahearne. And these moments. These are interesting.

First the sword pulls you to Lychcroft Mere. A simple little sylvari settlement is Kessex Hills, wholly unremarkable save for the fact that this is where Riannoc made his stand against his own Hunt. The very Hunt Caladbolg was crafted for, and the first known Hunt to be failed entirely through death of the valiant. From the way he spoke of it, Riannoc’s Hunt was his life. He knew it better than the world itself and the people within it. He was blind to the fact that his apprentice was terrified, because he was here with the sword and he would win. Because it was what he was born to do. But he didn’t win, he was abandoned and overwhelmed. And with his death came failure, in the only form he could truly see it. He believed himself a fearless hero who could abandon all else, but he fell and fear overtook him in that moment, and he failed. The sword brought us to his lowest moment which he himself could not accept as he succumbed to it. “Caladbolg...I thought that with it in hand, I had no need for fear.” “Caladbolg draws out what is in your heart, hopes and doubts alike...perhaps it wanted to remind you to let your good outweigh your bad.”

Once you’ve worked through this, another vision is called for. Caladbolg pulls you to Matriarch’s Perch. So you return to the jungle, to the crash site in Verdant Brink. One could argue this location failed many, it was a tragedy in action and still serves as the site of many dead and lost. And here you find Trahearne, not the site of his death but where the airships fell. And you have the chance to inquire upon this. After all, you fought and learned from Riannoc at the location in which he died and relinquished his claim on the sword, so why not the same for Trahearne? The answer sheds an interesting light on how the sword may work. After all, it chooses the locations and it is through its own memories that you experience these visions of the past wielders. “Caladbolg does not see the world as we do. It could be that this region was its last battle before being broken, or it recalls a particularly strong connection to Marshal Trahearne.” Both options presented are viable surely, but...if it was simply the moment it shattered, why would it be the moment tied to Trahearne’s own misgivings instead of its own? If it was simply a strong connection, why not the moment it cleansed Orr with him? But then you hear the words voiced sourcelessly during the fight with him. A voice from nowhere, silent yet oh so visible just as with Riannoc, one that we can only assume is from Caladbolg itself. And the words don’t speak of shattering or bonds. They speak of failure. “But all the scholar found was despair at the impossible task. Perhaps from the beginning, it was indeed simply a dream.”

We’ve got a recurring theme, the sword is taking its new potential wielder through lessons and tests tied directly to the moment the previous wielders failed. Not just moments of hardship or setbacks, but hopeless failure. The kind you don’t simply bounce back from. And neither of them had. These were the moments at which both Valiants truly lost the sword through their own hopelessness, before any ties could be physically severed at all by death.

And then the sword pulls again, this time to The Artesian Waters, the place Orr’s cleansing began. A strong magical conduit to reforge Caladbolg officially and with it, forge your own bond to the weapon. Here you don’t face an outward enemy, you face yourself. A Remnant Of A Hero. And the words the sword speaks as you strike down your double? “Drowning in doubt, the hero could not even save themselves.”

Now I get the purpose of putting this fight where it is. It’s a poignant location for Caladbolg reforging itself, and it’s a universal location of importance to most (if not all) commanders. There was nowhere else the game devs could logically put this fight that would work so universally for as many player characters as possible as a location of significance. BUT…

Consider, for a moment, the sword pulling elsewhere. Caladbolg calling for a location of which Ridhais knows no significance. But the Commander does. The commander recognizes it by name alone, and feels their stomach drop. Consider Caladbolg reaching for the same hopelessness of the Commander that mirrors the past wielders. It means to test you, to see how you fare facing your own lowest point as Trahearne and Riannoc had both ultimately failed to survive themselves.

Where would caladbolg call the Commander, I wonder, if it truly sought to test what it hoped would be an unwavering bond to a new hero?