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frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers · 4 months ago

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D23: Frozen content breakdown | Breakdown/ Analysis

What a day it was yesterday! So much content we were flooded with and especially for us with the Frozen 3 and 4 update! I'm sure you all know the latest deets but I would like it to break it all down and guess what it could all mean. So be prepared to read a lot! ❄️

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Frozen III logo

A couple of hours before the Frozen panel had begun, we were given a first look of the logo for Frozen 3:

It features the four elements symbols and two snowflakes too for Elsa and Anna as the fifth spirit. The III had a purple - pink gradient to it and the background had a spring scenery south blossom/ sakura trees and mountains far behind. Some of us predicted before that Frozen 3 would be set in Spring given Frozen being in winter/ summer and Frozen 3 in Autumn.

However, some people didn't believe this logo was real. But after the panel, Josh Gad put it on his stories and as a post on Instagram, the announcements and reveals made at the panel.

This must mean that it's real. But a more accurate, rendered logo was also revealed at the Panel and that Gad had also shared in his post.

So my conclusion is that the first one is a working title, a concept of what it would be like when it's promoted. The second one is a mix of the first Frozen logo and the second movie's logo combined being more 3D but still with a frozen effect. This logo is the official used rendered one whilst the first one is just a concept based on the implied spring theme of the movie. Both are real.

Frozen questions left unanswered

When the Panel began we were given a flood of questions on the board that were the questions the fans had after Frozen 2, aka the questions that were left unanswered. Here they are:

Who gave Elsa her powers?

Why doesn't Anna have powers?

Was there a fifth spirit before?

What kind of Queen will Anna be?

Will Kristoff be a King?

Do they [Anna & Kristoff] want kids?

Where are Kristoff's parents?

How did Kristoff meet Sven?

How can Sven be so old and still so virile?

Why is Olaf alive?

What about Marshmallow and the snowgies?

Is it “Hoo Hoo” or “You Hoo”?

What are Elsa's powers still growing?

Why are their castle ruins throughout Ahotohallan?

Where do the nature spirits come from?

Do we still need to beware of the Frozen Heart?

Who is the Frozen Heart?

What happened to Hans?

These questions will most likely be answered in Frozen 3 and 4, as they are confirmed to be a two part film. These are actually really good and interesting questions we have that we do need to have answered. I actually want to try and analyse (and answer them for fun!) them because some people might feel some have already answered so why the need to answer them again?

Who gave Elsa her powers?

We already know that Ahotohallan is where her powers come from. That's the source along with the other four spirits. But they probably felt like they didn't make it clear enough. Some people before Frozen 2 had theorized that there was a Snow Queen who gave Iduna something that caused Elsa to have powers. Maybe there's more to Ahotohallan than we know.

Why doesn't Anna have powers?

This isn't addressed in the movie other than the fact that Elsa and Anna are both the fifth spirit and the bridge which has two sides. But why doesn't Anna, I believe that's because the fifth spirit's role is to create balance between the powerful and the powerless (in a literal magical form). The fifth spirit was never just one being I don't think. It was always two to have one with powers and one without and have the two form a deep unbreakable bond so that humans and magical entities would look at them and see that though different, they can get along and have peace amongst each other, and live in harmony. If both were magical it would defeat the objective of creating peace between the two different types of beings

Was there a fifth spirit before?

I think yes because in the Myth VR on Disney plus, it was revealed that there was a fifth spirit before Elsa and Anna but after it created harmony with the other spirits and humans, it disappeared creating disharmony in the forest and caused the spirits to rage. Then the other four spirits managed to calm down until they were raged again by King Runeard's war between Arendelle and Northuldra. Even if this isn't canon I still believe there was one. I think it's important to know because it could be important with the journey Elsa and Anna next go on.

What kind of Queen will Anna be?

Her own kind of Queen. She will continue to bring peace and joy to Arendelle while also supporting the Northuldra tribe as her statues unveiling had suggested. She won't try to be Elsa. She's not Elsa. She's Anna. She may be the fifth spirit But whether or not she realises that she'll help maintain peace between magic and humans will Elsa's support too.

Will Kristoff be a King?

If Anna does abdicate from the throne then yes. To be exact he would be a king Consort. At the end of Frozen 2 we saw Anna greet the public as Queen and unveil the statue of her parents and kids. That wasn't the coronation which is confirmed and this confirms it too as it asks will he be king? and not is he king? I loved Elsa as Queen but she probably felt that she couldn't take care of Arendelle as she had to restore and look after Northuldra/ the enchanted forest and felt Anna deserved it after she had scared her and Arendelle twice without a doubt.

Do they [Anna & Kristoff] want kids?

That's a question that none of us thought of? Do they want kids? I think they do but will find it hard to do if there's threats and danger around. Anna definitely would be a lovely mother and Kristoff and lovable dad. But I don't think we'll see them have kids so soon, at least not in the beginning of the movie, like we won't immediately be introduced to them I don't think.

Where are Kristoff's parents?

A question we've been asking since the first movie. All we know is that he grew up as an ice harvester. He seems to have grown up independently with Sven. I can't even guess the answer because I'll probably be wrong anyway.

How did Kristoff meet Sven?

Another question regarding Kristoff's backstory we've been longing to see. It's nice to see they're including Kristoff's backstory now. The first two movies were about the sisters backstory and development arcs (and 3 and 4 continue that) but now we can finally learn about Kristoff!

How can Sven be so old and still so virile?

No clue! I never noticed that actually. I never thought of why. I don't know much about reindeer so I didn't know that Sven was so old yet so virile. Perhaps when he was young he was injured and the trolls may have healed him giving him a longer youthful life. I'm certain the trolls have a role in this if it's magic related.

Why is Olaf alive?

Why not how!! Another really interesting question that I can answer. We all know how he is alive because we saw Elsa bring him back to life but why was he brought back? He's still an important part of the sister bond and individually he has much more in him than we have seen. Plus he's Olaf and we love Olaf!

What about Marshmallow and the snowgies?

I believe they all too, along with the ice castle and all other permanent creations of Elsa, got restored either automatically after Elsa's return or by hand when Elsa got the chance. They too are as iconic as Olaf is. I hope they return in Frozen 3. They're so lovable and cute - it would be a fun addition to the movie.

Is it “Hoo Hoo” or “You Hoo”?

I always thought it was... “Yoo Hoo” because that's what people say. Hoo Hoo is an owl's line lol and one says that.

What are Elsa's powers still growing?

Just as we grow individually sometimes in height, in character, in what we feel, powers are no different. They grow as we grow inside. And Jen Lee has previously said that her powers will reach a new height in Frozen 3.

Why are their castle ruins throughout Ahotohallan?

I think they are referring to Ahotohallan as a castle and inside and out it looks ruined. During Show Yourself Elsa has to lift things up and add things to get across to the place where the memories are held. I theorize that the previous fifth spirit may have done something to Ahotohallan or to its power and caused chaos that caused Ahotohallan to have ruins in it. Ahotohallan probably was the previous fifth spirit's castle and when it went rouge Ahotohallan may have been left abandoned and ruined.

Where do the nature spirits come from?

Ahotohallan is where their powers are from. But perhaps it's more complicated than that and it needs to be addressed for lore reasons. There's more to Ahotohallan than we know.

Do we still need to beware of the Frozen Heart?

Oooooh!! My favourite question along with the next two. Do we? We must be if it's even a question at this point?

Who is the Frozen Heart?

Who? Frozen Heart is a person?! It was literally Anna in Frozen but metaphorically it was Elsa. Maybe someone else will be the Frozen Heart. Hans? Kristoff? A new character/ being?

What happened to Hans?

A question we've needed answering since Frozen and one that Hans fans have been trying to answer. His backstory based on official and unofficial media is that he has 12 brothers but they all or at least most of them treat him poorly along with his dad because he's the last child and last in line to the throne. That means, they think Hans as unworthy and unless of anything. So why did the Queen and King have another child? Probably as an accident child or just because. I'm sure the Queen is loving. He was sent back at the end of Frozen to his home, the Southern Isles so they can deal with him themselves and they did. As punishment they made him do chores like sweep up horse poop as seen towards the end of Frozen Fever before Elsa's giant snowball accidentally yet subconsciously hit him causing his major injuries. The southern Isles didn't immediately know where the snowball came from. But what happened to him after that? In a poster in the new Frozen Park in Hong Kong, it is revealed that Elsa and Anna invited the Southern Isles among other kingdoms to celebrate a year since Anna sacrificed herself to the Elsa and the Kingdom.

Hans couldn't come because he was injured. But his return is almost certain in Frozen 3 with his rise in unofficial/ canon media. Will he return as a villain or a redeemed hero is to be determined. I don't think he should return as a villain. If he did he would have taken his revenge out during Frozen 2, as he would have been recovered by then. Seeing the concept art of Frozen 3, which I'm about to go onto, it looks like we'll see mythical beings and a world bigger than Ahotohallan. Hans wouldn't fit as a villain in the expanded world of magic because he doesn't seem to be interested in magic in that greed sense. I think he'll be redeemed and help them in their new quest. Perhaps he does have tied with magic in his ancestry as we know nothing about his family.

All these questions are ones that the team feel like they need to answer in the next two movies and I think that's good. Along with showing something new, we get answers from questions we've long waited for too. And I think it's a good strategy for them to tell us the questions we've been asking so that they can answer it in the movies. They're letting us know that they can hear us and want to fulfil our wishes while telling a new story. It's good communication in my opinion.

Frozen 3 concept art and new release date

Jennifer Lee also revealed the concept art of Frozen 3. I'm sure there must've been dozens of art but this one may have been the direction they're headed in.

We have a beautiful calm colour palette that reminds me of dawn/ dusk of spring. Trees are on either side, golden light beams from behind a mystical palace in the left centre. Flowers and leaves present hinting at a Spring setting. Anna's on a horse with Olaf and Elsa on the Nokk on the river both heading to the palace-like place. The scene is set at night as the aurora borealis/ northern lights can be seen arising from the castle. Perhaps this castle has some connection to the northern lights. In the Lego Northern lights series, the trolls crystals are the ones to cause the northern lights or have a connection to them. I don't think the Lego series is canon but I do wonder if the trolls will have a role in this too.

Elsa and Anna are in their Frozen 2 attires, Anna in her travel one and Elsa in her fifth spirit one but with boots (for practical reasons). That doesn't mean that's their final look. Frozen 2's early concept art had Elsa and Anna in their Frozen looks. Olaf looks worried as he points to something off scene.

Just below the direction in which he points, in the river, lies a shadowy creature. It could be that that's the shadow of the creature Olaf points to. The creature appears to have horns and hold a staff/ spear with a sharp end.

Just below the palace-like place is a land. I was going to say Ahtohallan but the silhouettes are different.

So it seems like this place is unknown. If they went North in Frozen 2, perhaps Thai time they're going south, which is why Hans could appear. But that's just a guess.

During the panel it is also revealed that the release date is November 2027 having it moved back by a year from its original 2026 release date. 2027 seems quite far away just when we felt we were getting closer to Frozen 3 but we'll just have to be patient and hope we get some other Frozen content released meanwhile.

Frozen: Winter Festival short form series?

That's everything that was revealed regarding Frozen 3, but no word on the series that was revealed by dolls and their descriptions. I believe since the movie got delayed by a year, probably to spend more time developing the two part movies (which is a good thing so we avoid the mistakes caused by rush in production for Frozen 2), the short form series will be delayed by a year. That would mean the announcement could be closer to time in next year's D23. That or they wanted to announce the series later. The dolls are to be released in September and the series is said to be released this fall. That is of course unless they have delayed it by a year but we'll have to wait and see if anything gets said before September otherwise consider it delayed by a year (😭).

And that's all the information given to us for now. Frozen 3 looks so good and promising - the vibe of spring with a deeper fantasy element is making me extremely excited! New places, new seasons, new characters, expanded lore, possible character returns, new looks and more!! Can't wait!! And yeah though my patience is sad that Frozen 3 had been delayed by a year, I'm glad because it means they can spend more time on the movie, to develop it properly and not repeat the same mistake they made with Frozen 2 with no good planning and a rushed development to the run up of the movie.

And the Frozen: Winter Festival I'm also excited for. I think Frozen needs a canon series in its franchise.

The future looks big and bright for the franchise! ❄️

Any new info or details I have not mentioned please let me know! Any questions for me please feel free to drop them in the "Ask" box

#disney frozen #frozen 3 #frozen #frozen 4 #elsa #elsa of arendelle #snow queen elsa #queen elsa #anna #anna of arendelle #queen anna #hans #frohana #disney #wdas #prince hans #prince hans of the southern isles #helsa #long post alert

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blackjackkent · 19 days ago

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On closer inspection, our final murder target - Figaro the Facemaker - is now marked with a second quest indicator:

So I guess this is where our final showdown with Dolor is going to take place.

Figaro was super rude to Hector for literally no reason, so maybe this is just desserts, but probably not, so hopefully Rakha can end her foray into CSI on a high note.

(Side note - I've been trying to figure out a reason for Rakha to head into the west side of the city so she could run into Elerrathin's home, and guess what - it's directly across the street from the Facemaker's! Fantastic.)

Rakha doesn't really get the best first impression of the place, as a boutique customer immediately shouts at her as soon as she gets in the door.

"Oi! You! Get in the bloody queue!"

This young man is deeply lucky that Rakha is WAY too preoccupied to get stabby right now. Even the beast urge in her head is entirely focused on the possibility of blood being spilled in Bhaal's name in the next room.

She definitely, however, does not get in the queue but instead goes charging through the main doors into the boutique's back room - and comes to a sharp halt, crouching into the shadow of the door as she sees movement within.

(A/N: Once again, this is way more interesting if you actually do the murder questline. Hector only got here after killing Orin, and I literally didn't know this NPC had another purpose besides insulting your clothes unprompted.)

In a chair at the far end of the room sits a dwarf in a fancy outfit of blue and gold. His body is rigid - rigor mortis, Rakha thinks at first, but then she sees the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest. No - paralysis.

Another paralyzed body lies on the floor nearer the door. Rakha recognizes this one. Devella - Valeria's assistant from the Elfsong.

And Dolor, the Bhaalist killer, the dwarf dressed in red, stalks the edge of the room, a maniacal grin on his face.

"It's unusual for prey to supply the tools of its own butchery," he purrs mockingly, coming to a halt next to a large table lain with a variety of tools. "Razors, scissors, nail files - so many cuts one could make. And yet... such a fleeting window..."

With a delicate touch, he lifts a large knife, positions it at the Facemaker's throat. "But then... who am I to deny the auspices of destiny? For we are celebrating, Master Figaro! You have the delicious honor of being my crowning achievement. Your body is my ultimate gift to my lord Bhaal! Together, we shall transcend!"

(A/N: Props to Dolor's VA; this is a legitimately creepy little speech.)

Rakha has gone stock-still, her eyes fixed on the blade. The beast, having reached the critical moment, has woken and is roaring in her head. Yessss... slit his throat, spill his blood, present your gift to my Father with it painted across your hands...

She finds herself possessed of a sudden terrifying urge not to help but to leap forward, to steal the kill away from this upstart dwarf and rend apart Figaro's chest with her own hands. The blood pulse pounds in her temple like a drum.

"Rakha!" Wyll hisses. "Rakha, come on! We have to do something!"

His voice cuts through the haze and she draws a ragged, groaning breath. She releases the knife she had begun to draw unwittingly from its sheathe, clenching both hands instead into fists.

"Stop... right... there..." she rasps out.

The dwarf freezes, the edge of the blade just touching Figaro's neck. Then his hand drops to his side and he turns to face Rakha, and the manic light in his eyes sends an involuntarily shiver of ice down her spine.

Do you recognize me, boy? she wonders, unsure if it is her own voice or the beast's in her thoughts. Do you know who I am?

"A challenger..." Dolor hisses. He lifts the knife again, this time turning its point towards Rakha. "My lord tests me. This piteous hovel will be your grave, challenger!"

Rakha's head spasms. Kill him first, then, hisses the beast. Fool. Blasphemer. He threatens us. Kill him.

And there's no time to think about this further as Dolor hurls himself at her with a scream of fury.

----

There are, it turns out, five doppelgangers in the shop here to watch the show (including the two "customers" in the front hallway). Not a terribly hard fight, although Dolor is a pain who likes to go invisible which is always annoying.

When the battle is done and the dwarf lies dead, Rakha leans heavily against the wall, her eyes squeezed shut, focusing on keeping hold of herself and ignoring the beast urge, which very much wants her to finish the job by crossing the room and slitting Figaro's throat.

When she opens her eyes again, she finds that Devella - unparalyzed again and looking deeply frazzled - has come to stand in front of her.

"I can't believe I'm glad to see a Bhaalspawn," she says, sober and earnest and just the slightest bit shaky. "But gods... I knew you'd be the one to stop this." She rubs the back of her neck wearily. "If it had been the dwarf alone, we might have stood a chance, but those doppelgangers... they swarmed us." She shudders. "We were paralyzed before we even had the chance to fight back."

Rakha doesn't say anything for a moment or two. People being glad to see her is a new and rare enough concept that it is not something she really knows how to handle well just yet.

Devella has been a strange one - seemingly unbothered by Rakha's heritage and far more focused on her actions, her willingness to fight the Bhaalists and the plot against innocents. And now she's pleased that Rakha is here, without question or hesitation.

Minsc is not here to judge, she remembers Minsc telling her, only a few nights ago. That is a thing for hamsters and hathrans alone. It seems Devella might agree.

The feeling of gratification this brings is unfortunately muffled and deadened by the darker urges; Rakha's instinctive response, with the beast still roaring in her head, is something along the lines of the more fool you, followed by a knife in the neck.

But she waits out the urge, her fingers rapidly flexing into and out of fists, until it passes, and then her shoulders slump as she exhales slowly between her teeth. "I'm glad," she says, carefully and deliberately, "I could keep you safe."

"And I'm glad you're fighting the fight to keep the Dread Lord out of the city," Devella answers gravely.

She takes a few steps over to Dolor's body and peers down at him thoughtfully. "I was on my way to the Upper City when I heard a commotion," she goes on. "I stepped in to see if I could help." She looks up at Rakha with a flicker of a rueful smile. "It's not every day you have the chance to catch a killer in action, not even in this profession. You, on the other hand - you've probably seen your fair share of murders since you discovered your heritage."

If it's meant to be a joke, it doesn't really land. Rakha just stares at her unblinkingly until she clears her throat awkwardly and goes on. "We can question the assailant later, once he comes round, but I think I have it now."

(A/N: Pretty sure the assailant is big dead, Devella, but you're welcome to have a go.)

She begins to tick items off one by one on her fingers. "These killings aren't random. In fact, they seem to be part of some sort of test. That document you showed me before - the one with the victims' names on it? That was the briefing. The killers paralyze their victims, take their hands as an offering for Bhaal, and make it look like the cult of the Absolute was behind it all. It offers access to the 'tribunal' - an initiation rite, held by your Father's acolytes, that brings a new cultist into the fold. And it's taking place beneath 'Candulhallow's Tombstones,'" she finishes triumphantly.

In other circumstances, this would no doubt be an impressive display of deduction. Unfortunately for Devella, literally every one of these things is something Rakha already knows. So Rakha just continues to stare at her expectantly, seeming not to notice as the silence draws out awkwardly.

Devella squints at her cautiously after the pause has stretched a while. "Perhaps they've even asked you to undertake this gruesome sacrament."

(A/N: This is unfortunately one of those moments where none of the available dialog options really quite fit Rakha. The closest thing to an explanation of her intentions is I must find a hand, so I can infiltrate the tribunal and tear it down from within. But to be honest, Rakha isn't really thinking that broadly. Her concern, first and foremost, is finding Lae'zel, and then taking Orin out of the equation. It's not really a concerted effort to bring down the Bhaalist cult. Everything else is, at the moment, an afterthought.

So we're going to take a little artistic license here and adjust the line a little for clarity.)

Rakha shrugs slightly. "I need a hand to enter the tribunal. From there, I have to find the temple," she says curtly. "They have my--" A pause. "My friend."

Devella's eyebrows lift in sudden understanding, and she looks down at the body of the dead dwarf. "Technically," she says pensively, "I haven't yet done an inventory of this crime scene. So... if something were to go missing from a corpse..."

(A/N: OK, so now you admit Dolor is not going to be 'coming round'? Or are you trying to suggest we cut a hand off someone you think is still alive? Make up your mind, Devella! Bit sloppy writing there. XD )

She lets out a heavy breath, and her eyes meet Rakha's with a troubled expression. "You're brave, spawn, to put yourself into the heart of the Hells like that," she says with quiet sincerity. "Braver than us all. But you're just one sword against a god. Are you sure you're up to it?"

Rakha closes her eyes against a sudden stab of pain through her head. Devella is right, of course - in going after Lae'zel, she is at bottom talking about deliberately standing against the god whose blood runs in her own veins. But... there's also no other choice.

"I don't know,"(*) she admits gruffly, opening her eyes and staring down at the blood puddles slowly soaking into the carpet.

Devella studies her for a moment, then nods. "A word of advice, then, if I may. Infiltrate the cult. Deceive your father's lackeys. If Bhaal believes he has you, they will let down their guard. There's bound to be one moment where he trips up, and you see a way to stand against him.'

Rakha considers this. In truth, she hadn't really formulated a particular plan for what to do once they've found the Bhaalist temple, but knowing her, the most likely strategy would be to run in, blasting fire in all directions, and hope for the best. Deception and subterfuge are, to put it mildly, not her strong suit.

But perhaps Devella has a point. Pretend to be under the beast's thrall long enough to get close before striking. Perhaps it's a better chance. Perhaps it will help keep Lae'zel alive...

The only worry is that she very well might start to believe herself. And then all would be lost...

She nods wordlessly.

Devella relaxes and manages another slight smile. "I don't know what will happen to the Gate if you don't," she says gravely. "But I do know that you're damn well the best hope we have. In the meantime I'm going to Basilisk Gate. I'll try to drum up some support - and warn as many important people as possible. Hope I can yell loud enough."

She turns to start walking out of the boutique - but Rakha's hand flashes out, catches her by the shoulder, halts her in her tracks. For a moment wariness flashes through Devella's eyes - but she doesn't pull away, just waits, watching Rakha carefully.

"Thank you," Rakha mutters. "For believing in me."

Devella smiles crookedly, draws back, and offers her a Fist salute. "See you around, Bhaalspawn," she says lightly. "Stay alive for me, won't you?"

-----

(*) Another slight dialogue tweak. In-game line is "I really don't know if I'm up to it..."

#bjk plays bg3 durge #rakha the dark urge #long post alert #WELL THAT WAS A LOVELY LITTLE CONVERSATION #gods bless devella fountainhead #people are starting to be nice to rakha and it's weirding her out but she also desperately needs to hear it #also fuck you dolor and good riddance

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ladytemeraire · 2 years ago

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MicroFlashFic on Twitter did a lovely series for Holy Week and I wanted them preserved in one place.

All tweets described/text copied into the alt text for each screenshot.

#microfiction #other people's writing #here I stand; I can do no other #lux lucet in tenebris #and the darkness has not overcome it #long post alert

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nilusanimationworld · 2 years ago

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So....the KFP4 plot huh? WHEW! I really needed DAYS to process all this & uh...I think I’m finally ready to talk about it?

Also before I start saying anything please note that I may share few more EXTRA details. Where did I get the details? Welllll? I may have cheated & decided to spoil myself a bit to get more stuff out. Although I promise I’m not gonna share any images & go deep to spoil movie. To be honest I myself only managed to get like only 5% extra details. Also reason I had to spoil myself to dig this deep by talking with the person who got this stuff personally from CinemaCon is that I’ve seen a lot posts saying most of you all have GIVEN UP on the franchise after the plot news was out. Granted some of the plot is not making sense. I myself had to read like 100x to process all in. But giving up on the franchise? I still can’t do that. KFP has a special place in my heart. I’m not saying I’m here to rescue by giving you guys hope. Instead I’d highly suggest you all to keep the expectations low....LIKE REAL LOW! The higher we’re setting the bar the more disappointing results we’re gonna get. Some things so far I found does give us a little hope of light & some are well....meh?

ALSO PLEASE NOTE IF YOU DONT WANT TO GET SPOILED I’D HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM REDDIT & TWITTER FOR A WHILE! ESPECIALLY DO NOT USE THE KUNG FU PANDA 4 HASHTAG ON TWITTER

|| SPOILERS UNDER CUT ||

So first let’s just start with the villain herself. The Chameleon. Turns Kate Mckinnon is voicing the villain & her design so far is actually not bad? So far it actually looks good. Only way I could describe her looks is that she’s giving me a bit Shen mixed with bit of Viper vibes. Elegance is the only word I can describe her. Since its only a storyboard image sadly. Its not even a concept art image.

As for her abilities/powers! Ooooh I hate Dreamworks here for baiting us saying this Chameleon can ‘summon’ the old villains. I know they’re doing this for keeping this a surprise or something idk but whatever the CinemaCon fans saw are completely different from the whole summoning idea. Apparently turns out she IS THE ONE HERSELF who can turn into TAI LUNG, SHEN & KAI. SHE’S A SHAPESHIFTER! Which is no surprise since she is a Chameleon & they’re known for changing colors. So I really don’t see the point why Dreamworks made movie news blogs & reports saying & using the word “SUMMON” which is completely different from “Shapeshifting”? Another thing this is gonna disappoint a lot of Tia Lung, Shen & Kai fans because i’ve seen a lot over excited fans who are waiting for a rematch Especially a Po vs Tai Lung. I’m so sorry guys but these guys are not coming back. They originals are dead DEAD!

She’s also gonna shift into one of Po’s biggest challenger yet too. I’m not mentioning this one this is worth saving it for the movie or the trailer. I hope they save this surprise of the MOVIE ONLY

So far for me the villain actually does sound & look promising. Whoever came up with Chameleon shapeshifting idea is actually pretty darn smart. My only concern is that she doesn’t become one of jokester type villains since its Kate Mckinnon who’s voicing. So yeah...that’s the villain info

Now for the fox character Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? LMAO y’all have no idea how many different spellings I had to come across to get this character info! The funny part is people are even changing the fox’s gender in some articles which is really weird because its Awkwafina who is gonna voice her. So far we only know that she’s gonna be shown as a thief first? And later as Po’s student? Her design? No idea. For now.

Judging by Awkwafina’s past animated characters like Sisu & Ms Tarantula I’m assuming the character might be some playful, sneaky, childish, cunning type of a fox character since the fox is gonna be introduced first as thief? idk this is just my thoughts? Bonus if she turns out to be some annoying teenager or young adult who would try to get on Po’s nerves during their adventure.Kinda to give Po taste of his own medicine & realize how difficult it is for Shifu & Tigress who has to deal with Po’s shenanigans.

Also I won’t be surprised if the Fox too has some very similar backstory like Po or Tigress. I’m really getting a feeling the story is gonna be about misunderstood fox who most likely could be either an orphan or abandon by family/villagers or something

Okay so now comes the plot. We all know that Po is gonna get promoted to higher master position & he has to find new Dragon Warrior...yaddy-yaddy-yadda! Apparently their gonna show Po finding Chen/Zhen/Zhan/Chan (SOMEONE PLEASE CONFIRM WHAT’S HER REAL SPELLING!) in the museum where Po is....patrolling? (i’ll be honest this info is a little confusing because I really don’t see why Po of all people is patrolling at the museum especially since now he’s in a bigger position....like why?) So after he finds her & catches her & stuff & she tells about Chameleon & later go on this adventure (Oop! Dragon Knight plot?) to city where the Chameleon resides & here comes the typical Mike Mitchell writing. Take a wild guess what the city is gonna filled with? We had got Wolves for the Gongmen City right? Now what could be MORE DANGEROUS THAN WOLVES? Hmmmmm? Well.....

LADIES & GENTLEMEN! WE’RE GONNA GET CUTE EVIL BUNNIES! WHEW....LET. THAT. SINK. IN

This really reminds me of one episode in LoA where Po had to deal with his past bully which was also a BUNNY! Funny part of that episode was that even Tigress had hard time believing Po couldn’t fight his bully bunny enemy & constantly reminded Po how tiny the bunny is which pissed & offended Mantis off. Anyways back to the main topic.

Now I’m not gonna sugar coat this one. The plot STILL very much does sound very off & very animated series level of writing. Also the person has confirmed this movie is gonna have more of comedy BUT (here’s the hopeful part or at least I’m hoping) the thing is all this info is just like 10 or 20% of the plot. There could be chances that we could still get some emotional stuff since Dreamworks is known for hiding & saving the emotional stuff strictly only for the movie. Remember Puss In Boots? The trailer gives us more of action & the idea of the plot meanwhile the scenes like Puss feeling guilty about not attending his own wedding, the anxiety scene, Goldie’s wish scene & Perrito’s back story all this was saved for the movie. So yeah I am still keeping 5% hope we do get some heavy stuff especially if this movie really does turn out to be the FINAL CHAPTER. Who knows that those storyboards were only the main stuff just to give idea & furious five too MIGHT be there during the adventure but their all split up or something? Idk man I’m just saying.

Where is Shifu? Furious Five? Po’s dads? The Other Pandas? OKAY....uh...so far uh....sadly I’ve no freaking idea where the hell are Po’s dads or the pandas? I’m just gonna assume all the pandas have settled down in Valley of Peace & living regular lives. Po’s dads I’m assuming running the restaurant? There’s sadly no info on this one. Although I really wished his dads would’ve played important role in this one since its gonna be lot difficult for Po to take in his new position & to pass his Dragon Warrior title.

As for Shifu & the Five. We are gonna get them but we’re told they’re NOT gonna be part of the adventure or what so far the storyboards was shown at Cinema Con din’t have much of them. I am still like 3% hopeful for this one since the guy mentioned these were only the boards which were shown there could be chances the changes can be made. But if the movie really is only focusing on Po, the fox & the Chameleon than I’m assuming we might get very few cut scenes of Furious Five & Shifu. Back & forth scenes like they did in KFP3. Either that or the Furious Five are having some other separate mission & hence that’s why Po decides to go solo with the fox.

THIS IS WHY!!! THIS IS WHY WE NEED A WHOLE SEPARATE FURIOUS FIVE SPIN OFF MOVIE

Now for the big question; Why isn’t Po giving his Dragon Warrior title to any from the Furious Five? Especially to Tigress?! OH BOY! When I came across the articles saying Po is gonna have to find new Dragon Warrior replacement my mind too immediately went on Tigress! HECK! EVEN MY MOM SAID THIS! Also I had the whole KFP1 movie flashed in front of my eyes Especially the scene of Tai Lung screaming at Shifu telling him about how he filled Tai Lung's head with Dragon Warrior dreams & trained him hard till his bones cracked & Shifu & The Furious Five being sour & bitter towards Po in beginning...I understand now...I FREAKING UNDERSTAND THE PAIN THEY WERE GOING THROUGH TO PROCESS THE FACT THAT THEY ALL TRAINED THE HELL OUT OF THEMSELVES FOR THIS DAMN TITLE EVEN GOING TO EXTEND THE GET THEIR BONES CRACKED & END UP GETTING NOTHING & instead some random noodle folk panda fell from the sky with no whatsoever kung fu skills gets the title...YUP I UNDERSTAND THE RAGE NOW. AND THIS SHIT IS HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN I SWEAR TO GOD THIS DRAGON WARRIOR TITLE IS SUCH A FREAKING CURSE!! GODDAMN OOGWAY!!

BUT...BUT...Here's the thing what we also see is that Five...ESPECIALLY TIGRESS never had that desperate goal for Dragon Warrior title in the first place. We all know at this point well aware that Tigress only wanted to get the Dragon Warrior title is because she wanted to make Shifu proud but after seeing Shifu finally being more compassionate and the older playful self again thanks to Po. Tigress doesn't hold that grudge or jealousy anymore towards Po. Which same goes for the five since they were already warming up towards Po before Shifu & Tigress.

I know most of us & myself deep down all wanted Tigress to get the title since she has gone through hell the most right from her Bao Gu days but Tigress has made it very much clear that she's moved on from the whole wanting Dragon Warrior title and she's become her own warrior

Now in Tai Lung's case. Even though Tai Lung says he did all that training to make Shifu proud but it was clear that Tai Lung was already blinded & thirsty for the Dragon Warrior power the most (Thanks to Shifu). Heck! Shifu himself admits this that his pride blinded him so badly he turned Tai Lung into a monster.

So yeah I know right now we're all disappointed that Po isn't giving his title to any of the furious five but to some random fox (who is a thief...wow..nice choice Po) but let's not forget that's how even Po's story started & we'll just have to wait & watch to see Po taking Shifu's role as master & trains this fox character.

Also I’ll make a separate post on how Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? (I SERIOUSLY STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HER REAL SPELLING IS) on how she could earn the Dragon Warrior title. That’s not gonna be a spoiler post that is just gonna be an analyzing post or how I can see it happening

And lastly can we trust Mike Mitchell?...OOOOOH BOY! Judging by his past projects I would say it’s a little concerning but lets not forget even Joel Crawford had made some not so very successful projects in the past as well & years later Puss In Boots 2 became one of his best & successful projects yet. I’m not so concern of Mike my main concern is what exactly happen to Jennifer Yuh Nelson for not being part of this so sudden? I remember in interview she had mentioned if she really decided to make all 6 chapters like Jeffrey Katzenberg suggested she really wanted to make a complete beautiful necklace franchise for Po’s journey! Heck to be honest the third movie itself WAS ENOUGH AS A PERFECT END TO THE CHAPTER! It really did give us a perfect trilogy I honestly don’t know why or what made them to give us fourth. This whole retiring thing & passing on torch has been a very common plot trend in most animated/anime/comic medias lately. Anyways. Too late now. Lets see how this chapter turns out.

So....uh..yeah I guess that's it? I tried my best to keep this post with some positive stuff just to you know...lighten up? The thing is we can't say much anything right now because the movie is still in beginning/mid (storyboarding) stage. Its still too early. Changes still can happen hence we cant say much yet. Jack himself mentions that its too early for the trailer. So yeah its very common at times last moments some ideas could have changes.

Only word of advice to the pandom I'm gonna give is be a little more patient. I myself needed DAYS to process & break it down. If we have waited this long we just going to have to wait a little longer. My guess on getting the first teaser we could most likely get it in... August or September (this year)? I'm calculating according to how we got Puss In Boots trailer. The trailer was released in June & the movie was released in December.

We just gonna have to play the waiting game a little long & PRAY!! LOTS & LOTS OF PRAYERS (& INNER PEACE) THIS MOVIE DOESN'T RUIN THE FRANCHISE!! That is all for now. Feel free to share your thoughts or can private DM me!

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britishchick09 · 6 months ago

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senpai's many appearances in the 'images of america' series of historical books showcasing american life by arcadia publishing! :D

#robert wadlow #robert wadlow trash #long post alert #i really had to stretch that caption! ;)#he's also in one about burlington but there's no preview pic of that #the bottom leeper hotel joliet and smith's shoe store pics are new!!! :D

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blackered · 3 months ago

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yo that looks cool! could you lore dump about it? it's fine if not it's just such an interesting idea I'm really curious about it

Sure! idk if I'll be able to explain it well but here we go 🤸‍♂️

their lore was suggested by my friend who knew nothing of Warframe and she accidentally told me smth that sounds a lot like the Sentient's lore (but more peaceful). I just rolled with it

this "species", which I called kitrinens (after citrine because. Silicon. It's all silicon. But still organic in a way!) are made by a special machine.

The machine was created by humans (this is why the kitrinens look very humanoid) and was sent to another galaxy for colonization. However, it was cut off from the humans (for spoilery reasons).

the idea was to create aides to the humans in the colonization "process" but since there were no humans, the AI just went 🤷‍♂️ and made them like that. the kitrinens look like arthropods because reasons (I thought it was cool)

because the kitrinens are machine made, they do not reproduce, but have a full life cycle! I added a baby version for reference in the last post. They also can't be revived like Warframes and just...die lol

the little kitrinens managed to colonize a full planet, then used technology to produce multiple copies of the big machine, and then sent those to other planets in their system (I divided the planet species by arthropod groups, but made an exception for insects since they're so many).

then, they just went on their merry ways and built diverse societies that were able to communicate and travel and such. Very cute, isn't it?

I can go on more about the different planets when the campaign actually happens cause some of my players are reading this 🔍

back to the story, the star in their system accidentally hit the 1st planet with a beam and kinda "corrupted" the machine (my friend explained this phenomenon to me as well but it's SO MUCH NERD STUFF my mind doesn't process it very well). It then started to spew out twisted kinds of kitrinens, full of a substance that could infect anyone by touch.

the whole planet was then evacuated. A special organization was created to deal with that corruption stuff! It took many years and many expeditions to the infected planet to find out what exactly was happening.

this organization has multiple branches: the "military" branch, with ranks and all that; the research branch; the comms branch and the training branch (which is the most important for them). It's very complex and took many years to decide who goes where, but the little robot thingies did it.

also in the military branch, as they get to a certain rank, they achieve their "prime" form, which isn't actually a prime I have to find another name for that. It's just decoration, much like a medal.

eventually, they found out wtf the corruption actually was, how to defeat it and hopefully, cleanse the whole planet. And so, a special operation was launched with that goal in mind. And that's where the RPG campaign starts!

the players will be special agents trained exactly for the purpose of "fixing the 1st planet". But it won't be that easy....

sorry for the long post, I hope this was helpful! I still have so much more to write after this. It was all supposed to be a very small and simple campaign but here I am doing PLANETS and BIOLOGY and HIERARCHIES and LANGUAGES. 💀 But I trust everything will be fine...

as a treat, have a close-up of the ladybug. She's my favorite design so far

#augh this was long #you asked for a lore dump and i gave you a LORE DUMP #warframe inspired #ttrpg #ttrpg writing #long post alert #sunny speaking #ask

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ericaportfolio · 2 years ago

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Hello Puppets' Secret Villains?

So I had a thought about this just now. I want to get this out before I go crazy when Anemoiapolis gets released next week. For the universe of Hello Puppets, I'm starting to think Mortimer's Handeemen aren't the only villains in the series. I believe there's another group of questionable people we should start talking about just in case this is revealed in another prequel or sequel to Hello Puppets. Let me explain...

I guess that the original purpose of the studio headquarters before Mortimer's Handeemen moved into the building was a factory or plant near the city hospital of the time, Sacred Mercy Hospital. From Riley's wing, probably a meat plant. I'm not sure how Owen got the building in the first place other than his dad helped pay for it, but either way, setting up a studio in a former plant like a meat plant was a bad idea, health, and safety-wise. The way the news portrayed the fire in the newspaper made it sound like it was an accident, and the authorities retrieved the bodies of the dead cast member due to the death count mentioned. But wait for a second, this doesn't make sense after playing the original game. Owen's body is still in there. Jake Bowen is still there possessed by a sock puppet. At Midnight Show's ending, Carla and Joel are still possessed, and Owen's spirit is in the body of Matilda, another crew member. I don't think anyone went in because someone like Scout Harper told the authorities about what happened and didn't want to risk going in there to get possessed themselves.

However, here's the twist, so bear with me. With the homeless becoming victims of the puppets, why isn't the city taking this seriously and didn't listen to Anthony, who was investigating the case, and went to stop it? Well, that's because the city leaders are covering this up to decrease their homelessness problem. Think about it! The world was affected by recessions, lockdowns, and economic/crime problems harming big cities over the years. Because of this, the city leaders let the puppets continue with their crimes to have the city appear safe to live with a low homeless and low crime report. If Anthony got the word out for everyone to listen, not only the puppets get destroyed, but the city leaders from over the years could get questioned and arrested if found guilty. With Anthony missing, it seemed they didn't have to worry anymore. That was until Scout's Host escapes the HQ with a dead puppet stitched onto their hand.

If the hospital is still nearby and not relocated, and someone found Host and took them there, the doctors and nurses would question what happened. If they believe they're going to tell security to phone the police. If someone at the police department takes this seriously, actions will have consequences for the puppets as the police and detectives make one horrible discovery after the other. Then Host's potential family and friends, their college, and the college editor who sent them might catch wind of this which would create rightful outrage. If nobody listens, unfortunately, the puppets would take that as a cue to start taking over the world, ready or not. With that, everyone gets possessed by a puppet. In my opinion, in a headcanon, anyone left is just the human actors/actresses playing a part and singing against their wills, similar to Starkid's The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, like it's a Sesame Street episode. Those who don't obey get bagged in a meat locker. Whatever the ending is, karma will bite the city leaders over the years eventually for the greedy roles they played to make themselves look better.

I'm sorry this is long. I had to get some theory about this topic out there to get the ball rolling. So be free to add anything to this to expand this theory. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

#hello puppets #hello puppets midnightshow #hello puppets theory #mortimer's handeemen #hello puppets mortimer #hello puppets mortimer handee #hello puppets owen #hello puppets anthony #hello puppets scout #hello puppets host #long post #long post alert

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gamingofkenna · 2 years ago

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Playing Thimbleweed Park, finding it absolutely delightful, and then going online to see lots of people complaining about it? Baffling. I wasn't planning on making a post-game thoughts post, but now I am anyways

*mild spoilers follow*

I'm particularly primed to enjoy meta storytelling, apparently. I don't know why, but often when I see people complaining about meta stuff in stories, it's the kind of stuff I find enjoyable or interesting. This is a meta story and maybe some aspects are annoying and I just can't see because Gilbert and I have the same style of humor

Thimbleweed Park is not an 'ironic' game, it's not making fun of gaming or 'punishing' players for buying into the game situation (a wild take imo, did we play the same game?)

Thimbleweed Park is a game that loves games. it's a game that loves making games and playing games. it's all about how fun these kinds of games are. poking fun at gaming logic even as it's completely reliant on it; it's saying 'this is silly. isn't that so fun??' you're collecting dust because isn't it fun to collect pixels?? we set up these elaborate puzzles to entice you to the ending because aren't elaborate game puzzles fun??

I don't know how to properly verbalize my thoughts on this topic, just to say that, to me, the characters acknowledging openly that they're in a game doesn't feel a like a cop-out. It feels like it was making genuine what was, up until that point, just a joke. at no point in the game was it not commenting on being a game, from 'the corpse is pixelating' to 'that highway was long, i hope we dont have to walk down it again' to 'heres a flyer about a hintline, i have no idea what that means'. but all of those comments are just kind of jokes. we laugh at the cosmic irony of knowing something the characters don't

once the characters know it, it's not ironic anymore. it's a thing that's always been true, that they've always kind of known, and that's getting directly addressed finally. and once it is, we can start thinking about the vehicle of the game medium in how the story is told

because on the one hand this is a story about free will, kind of, but it's not about how these characters don't have it because they're in a game

like, what really sells the ending to me is how every character's personal quest gets completed. we're in a game and everything's going to get wiped? well I finally got the evidence I needed to clear my father's name, and that's how I'm going to spend my last twenty minutes. Ransome spends the whole game being a scumbag, and his last act before everything is over is to acknowledge that there is a lesson to be learned from this, and to try to make up for it

my interpretation is that it's about the free will to be a better person. Uncle Chuck uses and abuses everyone around him and throughout the ending there's a part of him that's fighting the 'evil' side to beg his niece to free him. it's cheesy and overdone, but the whole genre is cheesy and overdone. Ray and Reyes are direct foils, cold and condescending vs warm and enthusiastic, but even Ray's personal quest ends by giving someone an award for being Good At Games

maybe I'm overthinking this, but for a game that spent so much time expressing how much it loved games, and fun, and cheese, saying the 'its all a game' ending is a 'so it doesn't matter' ending seems to be missing the point. it's all a game; isn't that fun??

(and I want to add that the 'final boss' of the game being the game itself, which I imagine some people will think contradicts my point, really just seems like a continuation of the theme. the characters act like this is going to work even though the player knows 'shutting down' the game isn't going to destroy it - because they're still in a game, and I still want to be able to play it

the real villain isn't the existence of the game itself, but the ideology of 'its just a game so our actions dont matter'. Chuck's evil side is brought on by the AI revealing the nature of the game (though he was a dick long before that); he kills Franklin and Boris because 'this isn't real so my actions don't matter'. he orchestrates this mystery to get Delores to break into the wireframe and shut down the whole game... but of course the game recovers itself. because the game wasn't the problem. it was the dismissal of people and their well-being that was the problem)

#long post alert #thimbleweed park #txt #i feel like i have a really hard time explaining myself and would love to have a full conversation about this #just to help me work through my thoughts #it just feels like a lot of peoples reactions were 'ugh its just a game? dont appreciate it'#whereas my reaction was 'oh its just a game!! thats so fun!'#tbh i had the same reaction with Return to Monkey Island #I knew when i beat that one that it was gonna have some mixed reviews #but I was legitimately surprised at some of the unhappy responses #RtMI was a story about how great stories can be and TP is a game about how great games can be

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thestarsstillfall · 6 months ago

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eggs: scrambled and fully cooked

steak: medium or medium well

milk: whole milk

alcohol: I haven’t drank enough to have a favorite

warm drink: hot chocolate

potato: curly fries (or any other flavored fried potato)

spice tolerance: very low for where I live, but the food here is known for being spicy so it might not actually be that low

idk who to tag… maybe @bluespring864 @kingfisherprince and whoever else wants to join in!

#long post alert #tag game

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frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers · 4 months ago

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Norse mythology in the Frozen universe: How it's all connected | Part 1 | Analysis | Theory

What if I told you Norse mythology is not a stranger to the Frozen universe but rather a very familiar companion? What if I told you that it's all connected and this is not something out of the blue? It's true!

Last night I came across @humongoustreemoon's post (thank you for this!) and it hit me - it got me investigating and going back to theories from Frozen I! There are old Norse runes and Norse mythology all over the place in the two movies and they could be the clues to finding out what we're in for in Frozen 3 and 4. Please stick with me.

This is going to be a long post but I'll break it down to a part one and two.

[long post alert]

Norse mythology in Frozen I

The book

Okay so the very first piece of ancient language that we get is from book cover of the very book that Agnarr goes to find that leads them to the troll valley at the beginning of the movie.

Runes of Knowledgeable [magic] book cover

These runes are of Nordic runes from Norse mythology which is German is mythology. The book reads "ᚱᚢᚾᚬᛦ ᚠᛁᚢᛚᚴᚢᚾᛁᚴᛦ" or “runąR fiulkunikRa”, “Rúnar Fjǫlkunnigra” in proper Old Norse which translates as “Runes of Knowledgeable [in magic]". I tried to translate it myself but it was hard to find the right alphabet and get the right translation. Chrome browser may not render runic font properly or Google apparently. So most of the translations in this post are based on Panya's blog on deciphering the runes.

Then we look at a specific page inside the book.

A page of Runes of Knowledgeable [magic]

Apparently some of the lines in this book are repeated. The lines in old Norse are:

1. ᛋᛏᛅᛁᚾ ᚠᚢᛏᚢ ᚢᛅᛚᛏᛅᛦ ᛏᚢᚴᛚᛅᚼᛁᛘᛁᚾᛋᛁᛋ ᚦᛅᚢ

2. ᛏᚱᚢᛚᛁᚾ ᛅᚠ ᛋᚢᛅᚱᛏᛅᚠᛁᛅᛚᛅᚱᛁᚴᛁ ᛅᛁᚴᚢ

3. ᛚᛅᚴᚾᛁᛋᚼᚬᛏᛦ ᛋᚢ ᚬᛏ ᛁᛋ ᛅᚠ ᚴᛅᛚᛏᚱᛁ ᛋᛅᚱ

4. ᛘᚾ ᚴᚱᚢᚦᛅ ᛁᚠ ᚠᚢᚱᚦ ᛅᛚᛒᚱᛅᚦᛚᛁᚴᛅ ᛏᛁᛚ

5. ᚢᛅᛚᛅᛦᛁᛋ ᚦᛅᛁᛦᛅ ᛏᚱᚢᛚ ᛅᛁᚴᚢ ᚦᛅ ᚾᚬᛏᚢᚱᚢ

6. ᛅᛏ ᚦᛅᚢ ᚠᛅ ᛅᛚᚬᚾ ᚴᛅᛚᛏᚱ ᛅᚠᚦᛁᚱᚦᚬᚾ[ᛚ]

7. ᚢᛦ ᚴᚢᚴᚢᛚᛁᚴᛁ ᚾᛁᛘᚬ ᛅᛁᚾ ᚦᚢᛁ ᛏᛅᚦ ᚴᛅᚱ

8. ᛁ ᚢᛚᚢᚴᛁᚾᛁ ᛅᛋᛏ ᛁᛋ ᛋᚢ ᛅᛁᚾᚬ ᛁᛋ ᚠᛅᛦ

9. ᛅᚠᚦᛁᚱᚦᚬᚾ[ᛚ] ᚼᛁᛅᚱᛏᛅ ᚴᚱᚢᛏ ᛅᛚᛒᚱᛅᚦᛚᛁᚴᛅ

In the blog, they try to translate it as:

1. Stone brought fourth by powers of moon and sky, they,

2. the Trolls from the dark mountain realm, have

3. healing hands. A soul which from cold wounded

4. will heal if brought very quickly to

5. the field of them. Trolls have those nature

6. that they get all sorcery thaw

7. out of approached body to save one. Such action done

8. in true love is only which can

9. thaw heart stoned very quickly quickly.

Making sense, the text says: The Stone (heart) brought fourth by the powers of moon and sky, they, the Trolls from the dark mountain realm, have healing hands. A soul which is cold wounded (struck by the cold powers) will heal if brought very quickly to the field of theirs (the Troll valley). Trolls have the nature that they get thaw for all sorcery out of approached body to save one. Such action can be done by true love only which can thaw heart stoned (heart) very quickly.

It's like what happened with Anna. Anna had been struck by Elsa's "moon and sky" (ice) powers which led Agnarr to quickly go to the Troll valley so the trolls could heal Anna, the cold wounded. Trolls seem to be known to somewhat heal and know the thaw for sorcery magic like such. Pabbie was able to heal Anna's head but had warned the family of being struck in the heart with the powers. For Anna's situation years later, Pabbie told them the cure was true love.

Next to the text page is this image:

It shows a troll healing a royal man/ soldier by taking out a blue misty magic (the same moon and sky/ ice magic Elsa has) from his head and right above it is the northern lights. This could be what happened with Anna, the trolls were seen taking out ice magic from his head and changing up her memories. The Northern lights were used as a visual projection for Grand Pabbie's prediction abilities.

The northern lights will play a huge role in Frozen 3 and 4 I think, just like in Frozen. When Anna sees them in the sky she believes the sky is awake, and Olaf too says the same.

The concept art for Frozen 3 shows that mysterious white castle and the northern lights around it. My theory is that the northern lights are magical and are part of the trolls magic. So troll magic = Northern lights magic. I know this might not make sense right now but let's look at it differently. When it came to the trolls, King Agnarr was very familiar with them and knew all about them. They seem to be a part of Arendelle history. It could be that Norse mythology is part of Arendelle's history which is Agnarr's side of the family, just like Sami culture was part of the Enchanted forest's history from Iduna's side of the family. Frozen 2 explored Iduna's background while Frozen 3 could be exploring Agnarr's background.

The map

Then we have a map that falls out of the book which leads to the Troll valley. In Nordic runes it says “ᛏᚱᚢᛚ” or “trul” which is menas “Troll”.

There's a map compass-like sign at the top left hand corner of the map which resembles the Viking protection symbol the Helm of the Awe in Norse mythology.

So it seems like Agnarr's ancestry is Norse mythology/ Viking heritage as Iduna's was Sami culture.

The memorial stones

A little while later in the movie, when Anna goes to her parents burial, there are runes on their graves.

The left stone reads:

ᛁᚦᚢᚾ ᛏᚱᚢᛏᚾᛁᚴ

ᛏᚢ I

ᚼᛅᚠᛁ

This translates to:

Queen Iduna

She died in the/ at sea

The left stone reads similar:

ᛅᚴᚦᚬᚱ ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ

ᚼᚬᚾ ᛏᚢ I ᚼᛅᚠᛁ

Translates to:

King Agnarr

He died in the/ at sea

In Panya's blog, she says that these aren't grave stones but memorial stones as they didn't find their bodies. I don't know why we never thought of this. They never found their bodies - how could that have? Iduna and Agnarr died in the dark sea and their ship was washed to shore in the enchanted forest all the while the forest was still trapped in the mist. No one could've gotten in or out. And the Northuldra and Arendellian soldiers seem clueless to their deaths which means they never discovered the ship or if they did they didn't find any bodies with the ship. (Brb I'm gonna cryy!)

So I'm gonna go with their conclusion of this theory that Agnarr's ancestry is Norse mythology.

The wedding book

Anyways, next and the last we see the runes in the movie is on a book held by a small troll when they try to wed Anna and Kristoff.

The book reads “ᛏᚱᚢᛚ”, and “Troll” in English.

Powers of the moon and sky

But before I move onto Frozen 2's Nordic rune sightings, I wanna refer back to this, we're a troll is scene healing an Arendellian.

Some believe this is an ancestor of Agnarr who was hit by ice magic. This could be true. It would make sense why Agnarr was so familiar with magic and the trolls. But this ancestor was hit by the magic of the sky and moon meaning that Elsa wasn't the first with the ice and snow magic, which then could mean that there was indeed a previous fifth spirit who also had powers like Elsa at the time of this recorded incident. It's unknown if there were two parts of the fifth spirit, one with powers like Elsa and one without like Anna. I would say there wasn't but after seeing the chaos that King Runeard caused, Ahotohallan believed the fifth spirit should be divided into two with one being powerless so that peace with humans could be made between the magical. Runeard probably hated magic partly for this very reason, that it is dangerous and he fears the unknown. With frozen we learn that if anyone fears the unknown, the magical, they try to destroy it and hunt it down. Runeard feared the magic in the enchanted forest and Arendellians or at least the council feared Elsa's magic so they tried to destroy it until it was Anna who ultimately saved the days and restored peace between humans and the magical. Elsa couldn't have done her part in saving Arendelle and the forest if it wasn't for Anna. That's why both are the fifth spirit.

And the book mentions that the powers are of the moon and sky. That sounds very similar to Tangled where Rapunzel's flower was from the drop of the sun. Tangled takes place in Germany so it could have tied with Norse mythology having Frozen and Tangled connected in not only the same universe but with Norse mythology too. But in Frozen 2 we learn that Ahotohallan was the source of all (elemental) magic and is a frozen river/ a glacier. It could be that it was just being metaphorical as ice relates to the moon and sky with how cold it is. In the D23 panel, we're given the question of who gave Elsa her powers? Now where did it come from because we got that answered. It's who? Ahotohallan isn't actually a being. It's a magical source. Could it be that the who is linked to Agnarr's Norse mythology ancestry? Maybe it's related to the previous Fifth spirit that gave the Arendellian the cold wound. I don't think the Fifth spirit is someone from Agnarr's ancestry but I could be wrong, especially if his ancestry relates to Norse mythology where runes are included. The spirits symbols are runic so it could be from Iduna's side too. Perhaps the two sides are connected!?

Trolls' realm

As for the trolls, I believe the Trolls are part of his culture, with the Old Norse runes. They are revealed in the runed book to come from a Dark mountain realm. For those who have no idea what realms are kingdoms/ holes to different species and gods. It's like a different world basically. Realms are included in Norse mythology but the Dark mountain realm isn't a named realm in the nine realms of Norse mythology. The nine realms are

Asgard

Midgard

Vanaheim

Jotunheim

Alfheim

Nidavellir

Niflheim and Muspelheim

Helheim

I did some research and it seems like Jotunheim or Jötunheimr is the "dark mountain" realm that contains dark forests and mountain peaks where winter never is neverending. But it's a home to giants. In Scandinavian folklore, trolls are giant, monstrous beings, sometimes possessing magic powers and in old Norse, Trolls dwell in isolated mountains, rocks, and caves and are rarely described as helpful or friendly.

In the Frozen universe the trolls aren't giants but are rocks themselves and they live near an isolated mountain, being the North mountain where it's wintery. Except they are always friendly and helpful and are known to heal those wounded by sorcery magic. The realm they're from is called the Dark mountain realm. It sounds similar to Jötunheimr.

Referring back to the concept art, we see a white castle that people are quick to believe is a place similar to Valhalla. Valhalla is basically like paradise in Norse mythology, a place viking warriors go for the afterlife. The majestic described hall is located in a celestial realm in Asgard where the Norse gods live. Perhaps that castle isn't a castle but a hall and that place really is Valhalla which would explain why it sits on clouds. Agnarr was a viking warrior according to Norse mythology so it's possible he's there. Perhaps he and Iduna could return in that sense. And seeing the northern lights surround what seems to be Valhalla, maybe the northern lights are what surrounds and guards these realms.

Read Part 2 here.

#disney frozen #frozen #frozen 2 #frozen 3 #frozen 4 #Agnarr #king agnarr #norse mythology #Nordic #be prepared to have your mind blown #its all connected people #long post alert

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blackjackkent · 10 months ago

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Well, if there was any hope that Shadowheart's parents are being held in any sort of humane way, it's dashed IMMEDIATELY as soon as we get through the door.

This is the Chamber of Loss.

Oh, gods. o.o;

"I see them..." Shadowheart whispers. "I see my parents. Gods... what's been done to them?"

The room is dim and icy cold. Hector stands a little back from the dais and watches as Shadowheart slowly climbs the stone steps, looking up at her parents dangling off of the device that imprisons them.

The two battered people lift their heads like kicked dogs expecting another blow from a cruel master. The man - an elf with dark, matted hair - stares at Shadowheart through lidded, wary eyes.

"It can't be..." he whispers hoarsely. "Another vile trick..."

Purple light sparks along the runes that bind him to the wheel, and the wound on Shadowheart's hand sparks in answer. Both of them let out matching cries of pain.

The woman - human, aged in comparison to her husband's elven youth - opens her eyes more slowly... and her eyes fix on Shadowheart's like a woman sighting water in the desert.

"No..." she says raggedly. "There is no trick. It's her. Jenevelle. Jen... our little girl..."

The man hesitates, hope flashing into his face for what must be the first time in years. "Moonmaiden's grace..." he says softly. "It is you."

Jenevelle...

Shadowheart swallows, swaying a little on her feet with the enormity of what is happening, and for a moment Hector sees her lower lip tremble as if she will burst into tears. But the rage and the terror at what has been done to her family overtakes everything.

"I'm here to get you out of here," she snaps, taking a step forward, reaching up towards the runes as if to dispel them. "They're all gone. It's over--"

A sudden low rumble like an avalanche overtakes the room, a surge of dark magical energy pouring from the mirror against the back wall. Shadowheart staggers, falls to her knees, crying out as the wound on her hand, which has been dormant for so many weeks, suddenly sparks to life again, enveloping her whole hand in pale purple light. The same light wreathes both rings, wrapping her parents in tendrils of agony.

Everything screams. Shadowheart, her parents, the magic itself, and Hector's own heart, for as he looks around, the magic is wreathing them in darkness on the platform.

"Hec?! HEC!" he hears Karlach shout in panic from where she stood near the door, followed by a swirl of elven invective from Jaheira--

And then, suddenly, silence. Stillness.

Hector feels a sort of primal, visceral dread grip him. This must be the Shadowfell again, or something like it - some fundamental manifestation of Shar's power. Everything is dark. The very stone beneath their feet has shifted into the shape of the sacrificial offering plates they have seen in this temple and in the Gauntlet.

Shadowheart's breathing is shaky, thready; she sits hunched next to him as he looks around. Absently, without even thinking about it, he rests one hand on her shoulder, an instinctive protective motion.

And yet what guarantee of safety can he offer her here? The darkness is absolute. He has been torn, once again, from Selune's sight.

"IT IS NOT OVER."

The air vibrates with the sudden, thundering presence of a new voice. The darkness coalesces around them into a familiar form - the same shape represented in a thousand statues Hector has seen in the dark places he has been forced to walk.

The goddess Shar stares down at him, the dark goddess herself, wreathed in shadow, cold as ice. The form she has taken is enormous, towering, domineering, a hundred-foot-tall effigy of black marble blasted into motion. Hector feels his heart start to race, the sudden urge to panic, to flee. He struggles for a deep breath to calm himself and feels it catch in his throat, choking him.

(A/N: See, Mystra? THIS is how you look IMPRESSIVE. You could have done SO much better.)

"YOU SEE?" The goddess's voice feels like an explosion around them. "IT MATTERS NOT IF YOU RAZE THIS PLACE. IF YOU SLAY EVERY ONE OF YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. THAT WAS NEFVER WHERE MY POWER RESIDED."

She leans forward, closer to Shadowheart. Behemoth that she is, it seems as if a wave of hot breath should burst across them with her every word, and yet the air is still as death. "EVERY TIME YOU TRY TO STEP AWAY FROM ME - EVERY TIME YOU TRY TO REACH FOR SELUNE - MY HOLD ON YOU BITES DEEPER. IF YOU HAD LEARNED, IF YOU HAD OBEYED, THERE WOULD BE NO PAIN. BUT YOU STRUGGLE ON. YOU MAKE THINGS WORSE FOR YOURSELF."

Shar's head turns just slightly to indicate the two figures hanging from the runed wheels. "AND FOR THEM."

Shadowheart is very still for a moment, her head bowed. Hector can feel her trembling under his hand on her shoulder. But slowly, slowly, she goes still. Her breathing calms, her head lifts. Distantly, Hector wonders if she is remembering the grounding rituals he has shown her in passing, or that she has seen him use in moments of strife. Whatever strength she is drawing on, it works - she slowly pushes herself to her feet at his side. Her eyes are fiery with rage.

And Hector finds himself drawing strength from her in turn; his own panic begins to settle in his chest, and he turns inward, searching for a calm to match hers. We may be beyond Selune's reach, he reminds himself. But I am here. I am her sword and her voice. And we know that what has been done here cannot stand.

"You're a monster, not a goddess," he says. And in spite of the turmoil in his mind, the words are steady, a blow lashed out at the enormous force that threatens to smite them apart.

"I AM NEITHER," the goddess growls. "I AM NOTHING. I AM THE EMPTY ROOM. THE DREAMLESS SLEEP. THE SHADOW'S SHADOW. THERE WAS NO PAIN BEFORE MY SISTER SET THE SUN AFLAME. NOW YOU EXIST TO SUFFER, UNTIL YOU FIND YOUR WAY BACK TO MY EMBRACE."

"ENOUGH!" Shadowheart roars. Her voice sounds tinny in the great emptiness around them but her fists are clenched as if to batter against the prison of fate that holds them. "I'm taking my parents away from here! I'm taking them away from you!"

"You cannot." The voice of Shadowheart's father breaks across the conversation, flat and full of despair. "We are still bound to you. You cannot both free us and free yourself from her curse." He squirms painfully against the runes that bind him, struggling to speak clearly. "The Moonmaiden... needs you more than she needs us. You are the future. You must return to the fold. We are the past... and our duty is almost done..."

"ELOQUENTLY PUT," Shar rumbles coldly. "HIS MIND STOOD UP WELL TO HIS TIME HERE. THE SAME CANNOT BE SAID FOR YOUR MOTHER." The goddess's lip curls disdainfully. "SUCH BRIEF, FRAGILE LIVES HUMANS LEAD."

She draws back, the black marble figure beginning to meld again with the darkness around them. "THIS IS MY FINAL LESSON. I LEAVE YOU NOW TO DWELL ON YOUR MISTAKES... AND MAKE YOUR CHOICE..."

Reality snaps back around them with such suddenness that it makes Hector jump. Shadowheart barely seems to notice. Her eyes are wide and she has gone utterly still, barely breathing.

"Oh, thank fuck. Hec!" Karlach comes crashing down the stairs like a battering ram, landing on the platform with them, one hand fumbling for Hector's arm. He puts a hand over hers, a wordless reassurance that he is here, that he is all right-- but his attention is still on Shadowheart.

Narrator: Shar's parting words make your flesh crawl. There is no lesson to be learned here - only a family's torment, a spiteful goddess's whims, and an unspeakable choice to be made.

"She's gone..." Shadowheart says shakily. "I don't understand..."

Hector frowns. Pulling free of Karlach's touch for a moment, he steps up to Shadowheart's side. Do you really not understand? he thinks bleakly. Or do you simply not want to?

Her father speaks again. With Shar's disappearance and the withdrawal (for now at least) of the pain, he has slumped again in his bindings, his head bowed. "Shar will never admit defeat," he says quietly. "Not until she has stolen one last thinng from you. We cannot allow your future to be his last prize. Not after all your mother and I have endured to see you again."

His eyes flick to Hector, and the two men look at each other with grief-stricken understanding. "Your companion understands, I think," the elf says. "Help her. Please. Help her see what must be done."

Hector closes his eyes and swallows uncomfortably. Yes. He understands, all too well. And he hates that understanding, because in all his years of religious study, he can rarely recall an instance of Sharran cruelty that was so viscerally awful as this moment.

Shadowheart is watching him, like a condemned prisoner waiting for the axe to fall on her neck.

"She wants you to kill your parents," Hector says bitterly. "Her idea of a parting gift."

She shakes her head once sharply, her eyes full of horror. "No. I can't. I came here for them!"

"And you did," her father says gently. "You found us. All these years, that dream kept us going, that you would break free. No matter what they made you do to us, we knew you were still in there..."

"I knew the dark woods wouldn't frighten you," her mother murmurs. Her head is bowed and her voice a little vague, a little distant. "You were always such a brave girl..."

"She was..." her father agrees. His eyes have not left his daughter's face, and Hector can read the relief and exhaustion and pride there as clear as if it was written on paper. "And still is. You've saved us. Now save yourself. You'll be out of Shar's reach, and we'll be at peace."

"But I only just found you again," Shadowheart cries. For a moment she is the lost little girl in the woods again, desperate for her parents, for the words of comfort that will make everything all right. But the wolf is still at her heels, and it was never really a wolf at all. "After all this time... I can't lose you again!"

"We'll still be with you," the elf says softly. "By the Moonmaiden's grace, we'll never be far. Please... Jenevelle..."

Shadowheart flinches away from the sound of that name, turns towards Hector with a mute plea in her eyes. If her parents can't make everything all right, she seems to silently hope, perhaps he somehow can.

But he cannot. He knows no magic, Selunite or otherwise, that would break the curse Shar placed on her without the dark goddess's consent. And Shar has ensured that the curse will not be broken, that she will never be truly free, while her parents still live.

He knows the dogmatic answer, of course - the one that perhaps his brothers in the monastery might give in this moment. Should she slay her parents here, they will be martyrs in the eyes of the Moonmaiden, and Shadowheart will be free and have done Selune a service in the process.

But he does not say it. Because she is his friend and his comrade and he is proud of her and trusts the woman she has become. Because he has learned that to stand at the side of his friends while they make their own choices is the kindest offering he can give them. And because not too long ago he told Wyll to let his father die, and even though Ravengard lived, he does not want to make that choice for someone ever again.

"This is your choice, Shadowheart," he says, meeting her eyes steadily. "You don't need me to tell you what is right."

Shadowheart hesitates. He can see the cogs turning in her head, the implacable process towards the final answer. "Is this truly what you want?" she asks.

Her father nods. "It is what we need. All of us. You were meant to be a guiding light for Selune's faithful, but they robbed you from us. Now that can be righted... and we can rest..."

"Help us, Jen..." her mother whispers distantly. "I can let go, now I've seen your face again..."

Shadowheart's eyes squeeze shut against the sight of what she is about to do, and she lifts her injured hand, which has begun to glow with a pale white light that seems more Selunite than Sharran. "Goodbye..." she whispers.

"Not goodbye... not even close..." her father answers, and then the white light envelops them both.

The light fades slowly, slowly...and where the terrible torture device once hung there are two pale orbs of light now. One for each of the souls that has been released from torment.

Hector moves up to her side, rests his hand on her shoulder again gently. [SELUNE] "They are with the Moonmaiden now," he murmurs.

"In a way..." Shadowheart says softly. "But they're also right here... look..." She lifts a hand, reaching out to the soft balls of light; they dance a little out of her reach, circling around her before starting to move towards the door. "Moon motes. They bring Selune's light to dark places and offer guidance to those in need. My parents are watching over me..."

It is herself she's speaking to, not Hector, for of course Hector knows all this perfectly well. He just listens in silence, letting her take the time she needs to come to grips with what has been done. And he sends a silent prayer of thanks up to his goddess for this gesture of kindness; it does not undo everything that has been done to Shadowheart, but it is a comfort she desperately needs.

"Let's leave this place," she mutters, watching the orbs drift into the distance. "There's nothing more for me here."

He nods. He wants nothing more than to be far away from here. "One thing," he says cautiously. "What should I call you now? Shadowheart? Jenevelle?"

She turns to look at him with an expression that is heavier with exhaustion than he has ever seen from her. But there is a slight smile, too, as if some weight has been lifted from her, some hope renewed that perhaps she will move forward now. "Shadowheart, still," she says with a slight nod. "I can't run away from who I was for all this time. Besides... there's something fitting to it. You can't cast a shadow without some light..."

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #LONG POST ALERT #also this was super upsetting holy shit #i need to eat but then we have some followup conversations #and also i have a drabble idea for hector because he has some THOUGHTS about everything that has happened here oof #poor shadowheart :( :( :(

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kyra45 · 10 months ago

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Scammer pretending to be in Palestine v2

This post has been remade with better info! Please go to this one:

Got an ask from someone claiming to be in Palestine needing mutual aid? Unfortunately there is a scammer going around and it’s likely the ask you got sent is the same one being sent by multiple accounts who target users interacting with Palestine posts. These blogs use the text/images off a real fundraiser and then post it here pretending to be the person it’s made for. Their accounts are usually only a few days old and they don’t interact beyond the ask/follow. Lately they might make the link to their PayPal account in different colors or claim their GoFundMe is pending so you will assume the real one is theirs. They don’t have any GoFundMe’s set up. They steal from them. If you need proof of something being stolen, searching the text of their post in a search engine should pull up the source. If you know how to report PayPal accounts, please report those used by the scammers.

(Moved to new list)

Below is a growing list of fake/stolen names used across the accounts:

Keep in mind this post isn’t saying all accounts asking for mutual aid in Palestine are scams. Rather, this post is meant to bring awareness of a scammer stealing money from those who really need it by pretending to be a person in Palestine. To report scams, use this:

Report -> Something else -> Illegal uses or Content -> Phishing

#scam #Palestine #psa #scam alert #scam warning #long post #longpost

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rebeltyped · 2 years ago

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@gothictyped : 🖤 ; sender apologises to receiver for something they've done. random acts of service symbol prompts ; accepting.

𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖆𝖞 𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖊𝖊 𝖌𝖜𝖊𝖓 𝖆𝖌𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖇𝖊 𝖆𝖓 𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖍𝖔𝖜 𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖙𝖗𝖚𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖊𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌. duncan felt like an absolute nervous wreck as he sat in this secluded coffee shop that him and gwen used to go to avoid the press, it was 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖘𝖕𝖔𝖙 and it made sense for them to be reunited here. except this could also be the last meeting the two of them ever had. this wasn't just a sit down and catch up. this was duncan's chance to tell her the 𝖙𝖗𝖚𝖙𝖍 about everything. it might be a disaster, she may throw her drink at him, she may slap him and he would deserve all of it. this wasn't going to be an 𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖞 conversation and he was extremely nervous about what he was going to have to say to her. he had to stay strong, keep it together for the conversation and deal with the fallout without using anything to numb the pain. he was different now, he didn't use alcohol or drugs to numb anything, he felt it all and he would be completely present with her.

𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖓'𝖙 𝖘𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖌𝖜𝖊𝖓 𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖘, the day he was arrested and his whole life came shattering down around him. he had been awful to her when they were ' dating ' and he missed his friendship that they had. she had always been one of the few people he never felt like he had to 𝖋𝖆𝖐𝖊 anything with. she had always been someone he could talk to about anything and he couldn't help but wonder 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖎𝖋 he had told her back then? if he had been able to be honest with her about chris' blackmail, the photos of courtney at her abortion appointment and why he had to do 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖎𝖙 𝖙𝖔𝖔𝖐 to keep her safe, even if that had meant hurting her and in the process, hurting gwen by taking advantage of her feelings for him. duncan already knew he was the worst person in this little trio, he had hurt courtney who he had been so in love with, he had hurt gwen by treating her terribly whilst he was constantly high and drunk all the time. he would give anything to go back, to fix all of this, to ensure it never happened this way and he was unsure of what she might do when he tells her everything. would she even believe him? would she even want to talk with him? probably not. he had to 𝖆𝖈𝖈𝖊𝖕𝖙 this as a possibility of what might happen and the consequences of his actions. his therapist had told him that he needed to do this, to move past what had happened and take responsibility for those he had hurt.

𝖉𝖚𝖓𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖒𝖎𝖑𝖊 𝖆𝖘 𝖘𝖍𝖊 𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖉, to not be immediately doom and gloom the moment she approached, but he could tell she was just as nervous as he was. there wasn't the easy 𝖇𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖍 like they used to have, but that was expected, it had been at least two years, maybe closer to three, since the last time they had seen each other. he wasn't even sure what she must have thought when he messaged her. but she was here and he was trying not to let his hands shake too much as he tries to make small talk over his coffee before letting her know the real truth of what happened. tongue flicks across his lips, running a hand through his dark hair as he looked around for a moment, " i didn't just call you here to catch up . . . " duncan admitted, though he was sure that she was already aware of that because it was absolutely not just a chance to catch up and he kinda still wanted to run out of here without saying anything. but he needed to this. gwen deserved to know the truth and if he didn't say it now, he didn't know if / when he ever would.

" 𝖎 𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖉 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 '𝖈𝖆𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝖎 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖙𝖗𝖚𝖙𝖍, " he was going to have to take this slow because he needed to keep it together to a certain extent otherwise he'd never make it through. gwen was one of the few people who had seen him at his absolute 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖙 and he owed it to her to be honest with her now because he hadn't been for so long. she deserved the truth and if she never wanted to see him again, he would accept that, " when you and courtney brought me back to finish out world tour, i ended up in a long conversation with chris. about how i 𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖉 him for leaving like that. bullshit about a contract and all this, but i basically told him to fuck off and that i would be leaving first chance i got. except he wasn't done and he had me backed into a corner because he knew a secret about courtney . . . one that if it got out, it could potentially 𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖞 her and he knew i would never let that happen, " duncan hadn't really told anyone but his parents, courtney or his therapist this story. to be finally telling gwen felt 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖊 but it was about time. one thing about gwen that he had liked was that she was always one of the few who could tell when he was 𝖑𝖞𝖎𝖓𝖌 and he hoped right now, she could tell he was being nothing but honest with her.

" 𝖎 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖞 𝖘𝖙𝖚𝖈𝖐 𝖇𝖊𝖎𝖓' 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖕𝖚𝖕𝖕𝖊𝖙 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖋𝖊𝖆𝖗, " she knew better than anyone that he wasn't scared of very much, but he was always fiercely protective of those he loves and this was his biggest show of how far he'd go to protect them, even if it had meant sacrificing himself in the end, " i had to do whatever he wanted and make it look good. i can't even really remember how it all came up but . . . essentially the reason i kissed you on world tour was for his game . . . and pretty much why i dated you was to make it look more 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖓𝖌. i hurt courtney to protect her. and i hurt you by taking advantage of your emotions and bein' the shittest boyfriend ever, " there was a lot more he could say, but he didn't need to. after he had been arrested, all these stories about his drug use and partying came out, as well as all these stories about him sleeping around whilst dating gwen. which he was sure she was aware of by now, maybe had even known back then but didn't want to say anything. hand comes up to brush his cheek, swiping aside the tear that had escaped down it, " and i am so fucking sorry for doing that to you. i never should have you gotten you caught up in this and it wasn't fair. i'm sorry for so much and you didn't deserve anything that i did to you whilst we were together. i should've been honest with you then, but i didn't know how to tell you. i'm sorry for that and i don't expect you to forgive me, i just wanted to finally be fucking 𝖍𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖙 with you, "

#gothictyped #i. answered : 𝖎𝖓 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗.#iii. verses : 𝖆𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖔𝖙𝖆𝖑 𝖉𝖗𝖆𝖒𝖆.#iv. in character : 𝖇𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖊 𝖘𝖈𝖊𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖔 𝖎 𝖜𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖞 & 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑.#long post alert #drug use mention #alcohol abuse mention #( i am not emotional )#( you are )

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gotstabbedbyapen · 4 months ago

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Why Apollo actually didn't have beef with Odysseus (spoiler for the Wisdom Saga)

Heads up, fellas: The rambling below contains spoiler for Epic the Wisdom Saga!

As we may know, in God Games, Athena needed to convince half of the Olympian council to approve Odysseus' release from Calypso's island. Apollo is the first god Athena encountered and the easiest for her to convince.

Now, why is that? Why does Apollo's beef with Odysseus seem way too easy to rebuke? He barely has any connection with the Sirens aside from the catchy songs, so why did he use them to "accuse" Odysseus (heavy on the quote-unquote because he barely even tried) and not the sacking of Troy, the murder of Astyanax, or the violation of the cows?

Here's my theory: Apollo has no real grudges against Odysseus. Apollo has every reason to be mad with the mentioned instances, but he is also the god of reason and rationality and knows there is no point in being angry.

First, as far as I know, Odysseus had not directly offended Apollo in the Trojan War or during his journey home. Apollo won't just harm anyone, he'd only take retribution against those who disrespected him greatly.

Second, the City of Troy had always been destined to fall so if it wasn't for Odysseus' wooden horse, someone else would have caused its demise. Apollo can't fault Odysseus for being part of the city's inevitable destiny.

Third, Apollo should be mad at Odysseus for killing an infant because he's the protector of the young, right? Well, in The Horse and The Infant, it was Zeus who told Odysseus that Astyanax was prophesied to take revenge on the Greek kings when he grew up, and he had to kill the infant to prevent that. Apollo is not one to go against his father's decree, so he wouldn't be mad at Odysseus for following suit.

(And if you look from a mythological standpoint, if Astyanax actually grew up to cause destruction to the Trojan War survivors, imagine how many sons and daughters of the Greek kings would suffer because the prophesied one was spared.)

Finally, why was he not mad with the cow thing??? Simple!

The cows were not even Apollo's, but Helios'. Apollo already gave his cows to Hermes in exchange for the lyre. So when Odysseus' crew killed the cows, they offended Helios, not Apollo. Of course, you could say Apollo should be mad on Helios' behalf, but that'll take us to point 2...

The crew killed the cows while Odysseus begged them to not. Odysseus didn't commit the crime or enable it, so he was in the clear. And lastly...

Odysseus' crew were already punished by death and Odysseus was left drifting in the sea and stuck on Calypso's island for seven years to the point of driven insane, so whatever "association" he could possibly have with the violation of the cows should be paid enough.

All that aside, Apollo has little to no beef with Odysseus and only makes up a flimsy "reason" to be mad out of obligation. He didn't care about bringing justice to Athena's favorite mortal, he probably only wanted to have fun in the family drama because hey, how often do you get to see your oldest sister asking for a favor from your King-god father?

#apollo #athena #odysseus #the sirens #astyanax #helios #zeus #trojan war #epic the musical #epic the wisdom saga #epic the wisdom saga spoiler #god games #spoiler alert #my ramblings #The Pen explodes with ink #long post

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ladytemeraire · 1 year ago

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I love these goobers so much.

A Ceiling Fan to the Heart

Good Evening, Tumblr Followers! I bring you a short story I've been writing for the last week just for you. Contemporary fantasy, ~3,900 words, gay as heck and full of snarky boys flirting obnoxiously, probably rated teen just because Cam won't stop swearing. Please have lots of fun with it. I know lots of you will see the Sherliam in it, and I'd love to share with you what I do with things like that instead of fanfiction.

“Hey. Cameron. Hold my hand.”

Niko shoved his hand across our table in the university center so close to my face it smacked me in the nose when I looked up from my notebook. The hand he wasn’t shoving in my face was wrapped around a coffee cup like he couldn’t live without it. Probably couldn’t.

“What.”

“My hand,” he said, waving it again. “It needs holding.”

Our table was covered with papers and books from our cram study session between classes, so I gave up trying to find a place to squeeze my pencil and threw it on the nearest notebook to pick his hand up. “Why?”

Niko grinned, his mouth wide and obnoxious and helplessly charming. “Wanted to see if you’d do it without me even giving you a reason. And you did. You liiiiike me, Cameron.”

I let go immediately. “For fuck’s sake, Niko, I have a midterm in half an hour.” I pointed my pencil at him, right between those blue eyes still sparkling with mirth. “If I fail because you keep distracting me with stupid bullshit, I am going to shove this so far up your—”

Niko cut me off with a laugh. “Nothing I do could keep you from passing your midterms,” he said, leaning forward on the table, propping his chin up by curling that same hand into a fist.

“If there’s a way, I believe in you to find it.”

If I failed, it (probably) wouldn’t be Niko’s fault. Studying the formulas was really only half the exam. Everyone stereotyped wizards as nerds pouring over their books of spells and equations—and okay, it was true—but none of that meant anything if you couldn’t convince the magic to work. And how to do that…

Well, if college was gonna teach me that, it’d be nice if it got around to that already. Magic came inconsistently for basically all the students. Only the teachers and a handful of the graduate TAs managed to get it to always do what they wanted.

And Niko. But I’d asked him about it already, and he’d only been able to give me helpless shrugs. Mighta been sabotage, but he honestly probably didn’t know how to explain it.

Magic was fucking hard.

My phone beeped, telling me to get to the lecture hall for the exam. I closed my notebook and started packing things into my bag.

Niko grabbed at my Thaumaturgic Algebra textbook before I could put it away. “Wait! Leave that one.”

I contemplated peeling his hands off it, but he might be looking for me to do that. “I paid 350 bucks for that.”

“I’ll bring it by your dorm tonight. I have an exam later, too, come on.” He looked up at me from his chair, eyes pleading as he draped himself over the textbook. He was trying to look like a puppy. Looked more like a drowned rat.

But I’d had pet rats since I was seven.

And whatever fancy trick he had to compel magic to obey him didn’t mean he didn’t have to study. Half the exam might’ve been trying to convince magic to cooperate, but the other half was all technical equations and fiddly chain sequences. Half the textbooks and notebooks on the table were his, not mine.

“Oh, fine.” I tucked the other two textbooks into my bag with their notebooks and hauled the entire ridiculous weight over my shoulders. “See you then.”

Niko grinned again and the pathetic rat look vanished in an instant. “Thanks.”

My phone buzzed again to remind me to get going, and Niko tugged at my sleeve as I turned to leave.

“Oh, what now?”

He offered his hand to me. “Gimme a hand real quick?”

I gave him a finger instead.

I was dead asleep when Niko knocked on my door and then let himself into the dorm room without waiting for me to respond. I was still at least half unconscious when he barreled in and dropped my textbook on my legs.

“Returned as promised,” he said, turning the words into a song that was entirely out of tune with whatever melody he was trying to put on. Way too loud and clearly not tired at all. But then, Niko never seemed to sleep.

I pulled myself up and rolled out of bed, rubbing at my face as if that would wake me up. “Did you need something?”

He flicked the lights on without even a warning. “You’re supposed to say thank you.”

I made an incomprehensible noise pulled straight from Dreamland and blinked until my eyes adjusted to the fluorescent ceiling lights. Niko shoved a coffee cup from the university cafe at me until it was steady in my hand.

“Dude, I do not need coffee at—”

“It is 9 pm,” Niko said, “on a Friday, the day after midterms ended.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Yeah, and I’m trying to catch up on some of that sleep I missed the last two weeks studying.”

“Or, and hear me out here, you don’t do that and instead you come out with me.”

“Niko—”

He rocked back on his heels, trying to look smaller and more pathetic to weasel another agreement out of me. “No drinking, I promise. And after we get back, I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the weekend. All the sleep you want.”

I was already waking up just having this stupid argument, and I hated it. I glanced over at my roommate’s bed and found it empty. Clearly more on Niko’s spectrum. “Why does tonight matter so much? Can’t we do it tomorrow or something?”

“You’re already awake. You already have coffee. And I have an idea I want to try. Need you to test it with me.”

“Oh, well if you need me to test something,” I said, dripping sarcasm all over the cheap dorm tile. But I took my first sip of coffee that evening and Niko smiled at me like he was glowing.

I squinted at him for a long minute. He’d forgone the jeans and t-shirt from earlier for…much tighter jeans and some kind of sleeveless shirt with sequins. “Where the hell are we going tonight, amateur’s night at a strip club?”

“Don’t be silly; these jeans take forever to peel off. Come on, get dressed.”

I had nothing at all that would match whatever Niko managed find in the back of his closet. But jeans, boots with five sets of buckles each, and a black shirt with more lace than strictly…wise, in October, at least fit the Halloween theme that was slowly creeping over the entire town.

He whistled when I shucked my pajamas off to change, and I threw them at his head. But he didn’t say another word or explain anything until the coffee was back in my hand and we were on the sidewalk heading to the bar district just off campus.

“How’d your midterm go?” he asked, as if he hadn’t dragged me out of bed and hassled me into clothes for a night out.

I groaned. “The written was fine. Practical not so much. I have no clue how you make it work.”

Niko was quiet for a moment. He wasn’t, usually, but he could be when he was thinking over something he considered serious. The hair raised on the back of my neck.

I hadn’t said anything worth Niko’s serious consideration.

“What?” I demanded. “What’d I say?”

To hell with interrupting his thought process.

He jumped. “What?”

“Nah, that’s what I asked. You’re on about something, and I wanna know what you’re using me to test.”

Niko tilted his head and grinned. “You like surprises.”

“You like surprises.”

“And yet you always come along with me without knowing what we’re doing, Cam. I think you like surprises.”

I drained the rest of my coffee and threw it in the bin at the corner just before we stepped off campus proper. “Is that what this afternoon was? Setup to this?”

“Maybe.”

It totally was. And fuck me, he was right about me. I was up for a surprise, if he was the one arranging it. “So you’re not going to tell me what you’re thinking about.”

“Midterms,” Niko said. “That why we have to do it tonight before we dump all of that shit out of our heads until finals week.”

And that was all he said until he wrapped an arm over my shoulders and pushed me into the nearest bar.

Niko didn’t order drinks, as promised, which meant he was definitely up to something besides celebrating the end of exams. But he didn’t tell me why we were there until we’d settled into a corner table alone with soft drinks and a smörgåsbord of snacks.

He threaded his long fingers together over the nachos, waiting for me to have a mouthful of fried pickles before saying, “The first thing we did at orientation freshman year was sit next to each other and the dean told us that at least two thirds of the class was going to drop out or switch to a less finicky major.”

That wasn’t what I’d been expecting. “Are you implying something?”

Niko pulled his hands apart and waved the thought away like a fly. “It’s finicky because there’s no way to convince magic to work except for luck. And the people who can don’t always have the brains to back it up.”

“You can stop bragging now.”

Niko snorted. “I didn’t have a great time during midterms, either.”

I pressed a hand against my chest. “After I let you borrow my textbook and everything?”

Niko finally cracked a smile. “I see I’ve disappointed you.”

“Deeply.” I waved at him with a pickle to keep going, then popped it into my mouth.

“There are a few reasons why some people can do it and some people can’t,” Niko said, holding up his hand with three fingers up. He wiggled his index finger. “One, it’s an immutable trait. A genetic malfunction or something. But—”

“But if it was, they could just test us for it before letting us even start the program,” I said. “They let too many of us who aren’t consistent at it try.”

“Exactly.” He put a finger down. “Two, it’s a mutable trait. Something that can change over time or we can change. Physical maturity or fitness or some mental knowledge. I haven’t read anything that indicates academia knows what it would be yet, but it’s definitely a possibility.”

I nodded. “And then the third one is an external trigger of some kind. Not necessarily an innate trait, but something that changes the situation around you.”

He closed the second finger and pointed at me. “Bingo.”

I glanced at the chaos around us. The unintelligible music. The indistinct chatter loud enough to cover it. The reek of alcohol and cheap fried food and human sweat. Then I turned back to Niko. “And the reason we dressed up and came here for you to tell me about your senior thesis project a year early is…?”

Niko grinned. “To see if we can find a trigger.”

“This is not a study design that’s going to pass peer-review.”

“Of course it’s not.” He grinned. “We’re here to have fun. And maybe give me a hypothesis to work on next year if I even do this thesis.”

I propped my hand up on the sticky bar table, then immediately moved my arm. “If there’s a trigger, it’s something around you all the time. Is that why we’re here?”

He didn’t take the bait. “The type of trigger that makes the most sense to me is an emotional one. And this place is a haven for emotional triggers.” He spread his hands. “So? What spell are you going to test tonight?”

I tucked a hand under my chin and gave the bar another look. It was still a week from Halloween, but that hadn’t stopped anyone from going as goth or skimpy as they wanted in the name of dressing up. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves plenty—some maybe more than they should have been in public. All a little tipsy, all a little too excited on a Friday night.

Which meant they would all be easy to spook for a little Halloween fun.

I turned back to Niko. “All right. I know what I’m doing. How’s this gonna work?”

The nature of Niko’s thesis meant I didn’t spend the entire night happy. But I’d agreed to that, so it was fine. And maybe using magic for pranks was childish, but I was having fun and Niko had laughed the first time he realized what I was doing. Every time the lights and music flickered into something eerie and cut out with static, while chills crept up the spines of the rest of the bar, dopamine hit my brain like cocaine.

Some of the other customers clearly enjoyed the tricks, judging by the peals of genuine laughter. And a few others kept eying the bartenders like it was part of the Halloween gimmick. Only made the joke even funnier, honestly.

Maybe not everything was golden contentedness, but the entire night was steel-edged thrill with only minor interruptions.

I wasn’t seeing a pattern in any of the tricks Niko tried pulling to make me react. Wasn’t seeing a pattern in the reactions, either. But after an hour and a second round of sodas to our table, he stood and stretched.

“Time for a break,” he said. “You’re getting too used to it. Dulling the trigger reaction.”

I stretched my arms over my head and settled back in my seat. “Get us some more pretzels.”

“Roger that, Cap’n.”

He threaded his way through the crowd and I took a slow breath. If he was getting any good data from this experiment, I wasn’t, but it was better than sleeping all weekend. Niko was right enough about that. Time with him was always a spark that kept part of me warm, alive, and awake.

Not that I was going to tell Niko that.

He took long enough that I glanced over to see if it was busy or needed help and caught him just turning away from the bar, balancing another two sodas on the edge of a bowl of pretzels. He met my eyes and grinned but didn’t unbalance the food to wave.

He did, however, unbalance them when another guy got in his way just enough to bump into him, sending one of the sodas straight to the already-sticky floor. I stood, then paused. If I left the table, I’d be abandoning it, and Niko didn’t need help with soda on his shoes.

I sat back down. Maybe it would teach Niko not to try to carry too much stuff at once without any help. Probably not, but hey, if magic was real, why not miracles?

The guy who’d ran into him helped him steady the rest of the food instead, and then helped steady Niko with a hand on his waist. Unnecessary. Completely unnecessary. But Niko didn’t push him off, even with less stuff in his hands and what I knew firsthand was a sharp bite when he didn’t like something.

Whatever. Niko would be back as soon as he could get through the crowd and then I could go get the next drink. I finished off the rest of my soda and flicked one of the last nacho crumbs across the table.

Niko didn’t appear. I slouched against the seat of the booth and waited. Kicked up my feet on Niko’s seat.

He didn’t show up to knock them off and sit down.

I sat up properly and looked over, wondering what happened. Tried to get another drink? Some other dumbass knocked the rest of it out of his hands?

But no. He was still talking to the first dumbass. Who still had his hands on him, and the pretzels had apparently disappeared into the ether.

The hell.

I tried to catch Niko’s eye again, wondering if this was part of the break. I assumed it was going to be us finishing off more snacks and bickering about midterms and textbooks and magic. But apparently Niko wanted to chat with random handsy strangers for what was probably the first time in his entire damn life. The first time since I’d met him for sure.

If Niko saw me waving to him, he didn’t show it on his face or his body language. Instead, handsy dumbass got a sunny smile from him and a laugh I couldn’t hear over the noise of the pub. Didn’t need to—knew in the deepest recesses of my brain exactly what it sounded like.

What the fuck? Niko had caffeinated me out of a dead sleep and dragged me out of my pajamas to a bar to ditch me?

That was it. Niko’s break was going to be longer than a few minutes, because I was done with this. And he could get his own table with Handsy, if he wanted to stay.

I was out.

I stood, and when I did, the lights flickered in earnest, rattling in their sockets loud enough to startle me. I hadn’t done that. Not on purpose. I looked up at the ceiling warily, and so did at least half the rest of the bar. The lights started popping with the nasty sound of shattering glass.

Not me. My pranks had been milder than this. No permanent damage involved. Or at least I had thought that. Maybe I’d fucked something up.

My half-asleep, half-caffeine-high brain started flying through formulas, trying to find the right one to stop the chaos just as someone screamed.

The formulas fell out of my head. I’d barely been holding them in place as it was. They spilled out uselessly as one of the overhead fans tore free of its bolts directly toward Niko.

No, Handsy. Or Niko. It didn’t matter, because Niko realized what was happening even faster than I did and shoved the guy out of the way before I could even move. If it hadn’t been heading toward him, it was then.

Niko was on the ground under a pile of debris while I stood frozen. But the sudden hush that followed finally got my legs moving so I could shove through the crowd to drop at his side. He was awake, but his eyes were glazed over, the blue darker than it should be and murky as a storm. And there was blood leaking from…something.

“Someone call a taxi,” I said. “I’m taking him to the hospital.”

An ungodly hour of the morning and two coffees later, the doctors were done with Niko and had medicated him into some rest.

I wasn’t so lucky, but they’d let me stay in the room with him. His parents were out of state and the injury wasn’t life-threatening enough to call them up, so all he had was me to keep him company. And me to talk to the doctors, and me to stay sensible while the doctors explained his concussion and cast, and me to sit holding his hand while I tried not to pass out.

By the time he stirred enough to coherently answer questions, it was nearly morning proper, although I couldn’t see the sun rising in the windowless hospital room we’d been dumped in.

“Cam?” he mumbled, the words still a little bleary from either sleep or meds.

I squeezed his hand. “Here. How’re you feeling?”

“Like a ceiling fell on me and hospital loaded me up on the good drugs.”

At least he was feeling himself enough to make shit jokes.

“Your stripper shirt is gonna have to get tossed. It’s got blood and bar crap all in it.”

“Damn, I spent a whole five bucks on that at a thrift store.” His eyes were starting to look clearer and he tried to sit up. I hit the button on the side of the bed to angle it for him, and he startled. “Man, I need to get one of these in the dorm.”

“I’ll ask the hospital to wrap it up with a bow for you. Betcha insurance won’t cover that, though.”

The next few minutes were quiet while Niko got his bearings again. No doctors stopped by, but I could hear the steady beeping of the heart monitor attached to one of the fingers poking out the end of Niko’s new cast.

Steady. Stable. Niko was going to be fine.

“Well, this night out was a hell of a mess,” I said. “Not what I was expecting.”

Niko glanced down at his cast and lifted his arm experimentally. “Yeah, not really.” He turned to me with a smile. “Got the answer to my question, though.”

“What? How? What is it? I didn’t notice shit.”

“Well, at least how it works for you,” he said, squeezing the hand that was still holding his. He tilted his head against the pillows to face me and grinned that insufferable, charming smile again. “More research will be needed if I want to write a paper about it. But you? You’re insecure as hell, Cam.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Every time you start questioning your abilities, they fail you. Every damn time you question yourself, in general. You lose confidence and the magic goes.” The grin widened on one side, showing a sliver of his teeth. “What, do you thought I was talking to that guy because I was into him? Please. You got jealous, which meant you got insecure, and then your magic stopped working no matter how much you wanted it to.”

My brain stuttered to a halt, and grabbed at probably the wrong thing. “You think I was what?”

“Come on, Cam, you thought I wouldn’t notice you have a thing for me? Please, that was obvious since the day we met.”

“I don’t think you get to decide who’s not confident enough when you’re that arrogant.”

He tugged my hand. “You’re still holding my hand. And I didn’t even have to ask this time.” He tangled our fingers together and pulled our hands against his chest while I tried to yank it away. His grin softened into something more genuine and less teasing. “You’ll have the confidence to stop doubting if I have a thing for you back one day, and we’ll both know because your magic will work every damn time.”

My cheeks went red in an instant and I couldn’t stop staring at his lips. “You—you want—”

He winked and ruined any genuine sentiment. “And then I’ll finally give you that kiss you want so bad. So hurry up and figure your shit out.”

I tried to free my hand again. “For fuck’s sake, Niko, you asshole, what kind of—”

Niko’s laughter echoed over the quiet beeps of the room, his heartbeat still steady while mine raced against my ribs. He squeezed my hand again, and I couldn’t help but squeeze back.

I leaned forward, over the shitty hospital bed, close enough that he wouldn’t be able to see anything but my face. “I’m going to make you kiss me before the end of the semester.”

His hand tightened. “I look forward to it.”

This story is for free and for fun, but if you want to toss me a couple bucks for the reading or for the work I do here on this blog in general, you can toss me a Ko-fi.

#other people's writing #seeingteacupsindragons #hi I love them #long post alert #that gif is basically me the whole time I was reading

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