#Ultimate Young Royals Character Tournament

[frogprincesnowglobe]

Ultimate Young Royals Character Tournament

Crown Prince Wilhelm of Sweden Vs Simon Eriksson

It's finally time! The last two polls in the main tournament are here. Check out Boris Vs Felice to see who takes the crown here. This is the big one. The two characters so overpowered they would have dominated the main poll, here head to head!

Prince Wilhelm of Sweden: You know him, you love him, it's our awkward and anxious but strong and brave teen prince who comes with a side of "I will take you down." After coming to Hillerska boarding school this Forest Ridge First year discovered a new passion---Simon Eriksson, and he flop flop flopped his way into his heart too. He's kind, and sweet, and once held a gun to his cousins head after slowly taking away everything he loved. Brilliant. Stunning. Amazing.

Simon Eriksson: You know him, you love him, it's our tough choir boy who comes with a side of "fuck the monarchy" After coming to Hillerska boarding school and managing to stay under the radar for a month a new student caught his eye---Crown Prince Wilhelm of Sweden. There were ups and downs...and downs...and ups, but this boy brought the romance. He's brave, and strong, and sticks to his beliefs. He stands up for what he believes in, and he once told off a Royal advisor for stopping him from singing his amazing love song about the Crown Prince in front of a live audience including the Queen at the schools 120th Jubilee. Go off! Brilliant. Stunning. Amazing.

[tohwitchesduels]

GO WITCHES DUELS!

Lore: It's been a minute since the Collector visited Boiling Isles (a few months after defeating Belos), however now they're back and willing to play a new game with the Demon Realm. After some talk with King, they both decided to host a tournament known as WITCHES DUELS (that's the name you have chosen). The 16 most powerful teen witches in Boiling Isles will participate (willingly) in a tournament to decide who is the most powerful teen witch in the Boiling Isles!

Information about the tournament: The tournament will feature 16 characters of my choosing competing with one another based on their strength and skill. This by no means is a popularity contest, so I don't care if you know or like the characters featured in battles, as ultimately the battle shall decide who would win a witches duel. The tournament rather than a simple bracket will also feature side battles that would decide the position in the rankings, so get ready as there will be a lot of duels.

The first round is composed of 8 1v1 witches duels between characters that were paired randomly (except for one case but I will explain it later once I introduce the bracket). After this, the winning eight will catch a break so all the losers can face each other in a grand battle royale against one another to decide their positions in the tournament (occasionally if some people tie they will also get their own battle). Once the battles of losers are over we shall advance to the second round which shall decide who gets to semi-finals. The elite 4 themselves will catch a break as I will feature a minor bracket featuring the losers of the second round. The winner of this bracket might have a chance to battle the elite 4 once the semi-finals are sealed, in which there will be 5 battles: 2 official semi-final battles; 2 winner vs losers battles; the battle between the losers of the semi-finals. Then a champion of the second round bracket can yet challenge the elite 4, which can change their placement in the ranking and finally, there will be the last battle between the champions of the semi-finals.

The Format will naturally be polls, however, under each poll, there will be an explanation of what participants can and can't do during the duel: what spells they know and can use depending on the battle format; whether or not they can utilise specific tools like palismen for example; what is their mindset going into the battle. Now keep in mind those are not Death Matches, so no need for calculations on how much raw power the characters have and only a brief summary of what they can and can't do, and the battles are decided in imaginary scenarios by either stadium out or losing consciousness (under the Collector's supervision no one shall die).

There will be no "See results" options as I don't want them to mess up the voting so you will have to make some tough choices, but that's why I feature explanations so you can have a better idea of how strong featured characters are, even if you don't know them or their capabilities. I also would appreciate it if you could provide your own propaganda and agendas regarding what characters are capable of.

If there is a situation in which participants tie, they will either be featured in a battle royale in which the person with the least votes shall be out, or they get their match-ups switched if there are more ties (though only even numbers of battles). There are no repetition if matches unless there were issues with voting or the post. However all battles are final and characters won't meet twice unless it's a battle royale.

Who will not participate in the tournament:

All adult characters are off-limits for this tournament as they shall have their own league. This is strictly a teen championship. I decided to do such separation as adult characters just outclass the teen characters, meaning hardly it would be a fair match for young rising stars.

Only characters with importance and established capabilities shall participate so no background characters that have only 5 seconds of screen time

Vee shall not participate in the tournament. Vee is in this awkward position where she either gets so stomped she shouldn't have considered participating in the first place or is just too OP to give anyone else a chance. As a Basilisk Vee only possesses two abilities: magic absorption and shape-shifting. Because of the nature of magic absorption which can render the opponent powerless if used correctly, Vee simply has an unfair advantage towards most of the competitors. However, Vee herself possesses next to no experience when it comes to battling. Vee doesn't utilise her shape-shifting powers creatively and only limits herself to taking forms of other people which is effectively useless as she does not gain their powers (and even if she did it's either unfair since she will transform into someone who naturally counters her opponent; it would be near impossible to see which form could she actually take at this point, and technically speaking it would be another character battling and not Vee herself) but such deception is effectively useless in 1v1 duels. Vee's absorption powers are also pretty slow and can be easily interrupted as Helos demonstrated (and are not as final as the Greater's Basilisk) and as I said, Vee has no experience in battles so she can't really fight with her personality, nor doesn't know any spells to use to help her.

Masha shall not participate as they have yet to discover magic. So Veesha is only cheering on others

The Collector shall not participate since he's OP, so he rather organizes the entire tournament and arranges the game specifically so no one could get hurt while the kids go all out.

King shall not participate as much as Vee, he's either too strong or too weak to participate. King is not yet fully realized Titan so he does not possess the prowess that Titans possess, only being capable of basic light spells (weaker than average ones), squeak of rage, and barrier (which while strong, can also be easily countered). King instead becomes the announcer and the host of the tournament, along with the Collector.

Hooty shall not participate as he is both too strong and too memorable to give it a fair fight (as Hooty isn't OP, but he might as well end up as such due to the voting). He also becomes the host and announcer of the tournament, but rather the adult league.

Adult league: The characters of the past like previous Grimwalkers, Caleb and Evelyn, etc. shall not participate since we literally don't know how strong and capable they actually are.

Adult league: Camila shall not participate as she barely has any battling experience. She's the best mom and she is willing to throw hands, but she simply lacks experience with magic and her battling style can be easily countered. There's also memeable potential of her swiping everyone with La Chancla, which is hilarious, but not realistic. It would be satisfying to see her try to hit Odalia with a sandal, but Odalia can unleash the phantom that would steal such a sandal and then straight-up knockout Camila if we're being serious and no fun regarding this (but in our hearts Camila is the true winner we all know that)

Adult league: Dell Clawthorne shall not participate as he never used any magic within the show and now he's disabled.

Teen League: As the name suggests, only teenagers will participate, toddlers will not

Adult league: Only a few established Covenheads will participate since the others don't have fully-realised potential

Adult league: Titan Trappers shall not appear as they barely have any champion showcasing the true extent of their magical skill.

Adult league: Jacob Hopkins shall not appear as he lost to Camila who herself can't participate for not having enough skill (I did consider Camila to participate but I ultimately decided that she won't)

Invitations - to those who showed interest in the tournament or TOH in general, but no pressure or need for you to participate in the voting. Just wanted to invite you and ensure there will be some audience to the tournament. Oh, and I also don't mind if you use more than one account to vote as long as those are established blogs and not some spam blogs (like try to not rigg the game too much):

@lilcactusboi @wren-writes-things @the-god-of-chaos-himself @violet-prism-creatively @watery-melon-baller

@thescarletdaffodil @akmonasyrk @lapluieellepleut @damianwaynelives @crushpunchh

@impact801 @evermorecatra @rosetyler42 @memory-overload @cwolfnerakagnome

@branmuffins22 @zyrafowe-sny @metalinjector95 @michaela-artist @goingtohellwithyou

@iheartleopards @thatwierdquietkidthatdraws @sophiesophsofia @tbonner2 @amity297

@itslilacmoon @lucascii @fabseg-reader

Anyone can vote in this tournament of course, but I'm not sure if everyone will see it so I hope at least you can spread the popularity of the tournament or decide on your own who wins and who loses

[presidenthades]

I’ve been cobbling together a playlist for the Daughters-verse, and so far I’ve finished the Daemon’s Handbook portion. I treated it like I was assembling a movie soundtrack. See below for the author’s rambling explanation of why she chose each song (yes, including some Disney).

Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea: Daemon’s emo boy anthem at the beginning of the fic. (See lyrics: “some princes don’t become kings.”)

You’re Welcome: If this fic was a Disney movie, Daemon would be singing this song when he’s first introduced to his future stepdaughters (while the Targbros eavesdrop in the background because they’re still under the delusion Daemon is cool).

Secret Melody: Nice, sweeping instrumentals for Daemon’s temporarily idyllic life on Dragonstone.

Mother Knows Best: Replace “mother” with “step-kepa” and this is basically Daemon’s entire anti-Targtower lecture to the girls in the first half of the fic. Dragonstone = Rapunzel’s tower.

Message In A Bottle: All the girls and boys sending ravens to each other.

Yakety Sax: The ultimate chase theme music for when Daemon keeps trying to catch Lucera during her escape attempts.

Natural: When Daemon does the mean thing with Luce and Aemond’s letters.

Rude: THE theme song for this whole fic, but it culminates during Jace and Aegon’s elopement. The entire song is about marrying someone’s daughter even though the dad doesn’t like it. It’s perfect and I won’t hear any arguments.

Royalty: When all the adults clash in Chapter 6 about whether to annul the elopement…

O mio babbino caro: …and then Jace swoops in with the winning hand by pulling on Viserys’s heartstrings! (This song is from an opera and it’s about a girl begging her dad to let her marry her love.)

Dance of Dragons: For the scene where Aegon asks to go to the Stepstones, then Aemond follows him. If I was filming this (I know nothing about filming), young!Aegon and young!Aemond would be saying goodbye to Jace, Alicent, etc. at 2:15, then they’d hop on their dragons and disappear into the clouds, then at 2:33 their dragons explode back out of the clouds and suddenly it’s adult!Aegon and adult!Aemond post-time skip flying to Dragonstone. Or something like that idk.

Wild Heart: Sweet little instrumental for the reunions in Chapter 7.

Don’t You Worry Child: For whenever Daemon and Baela have a conversation/scene together. AKA Daemon’s emotional growth theme music.

Flight of the Silverbird: Instrumental when all of the Targaryen dragons are flying above King’s Landing at the end of Chapter 7.

The Tournament: For the wedding tourney, especially Baela’s mystery knight moment.

Slipping Through My Fingers: Mostly for Rhaenyra’s emotions during the wedding preparations in Chapter 8, but Daemon gets to have some of the feels too.

House Velaryon: Wedding parade scene.

La Coronación: A grand and classic-sounding instrumental for the wedding scene.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This): Daemon’s fever dream from when he gets wasted at the wedding feast to when he suddenly remembers his blacked-out memories about Luce and Aemond in Chapter 9.

7 Years: Daemon’s big blow-out with Rhaena and then Luce in Chapter 10, and remorse for his actions hits him really hard. (See lyrics: “only those I really love will ever really know me,” and also “soon I’ll be 60 years old, will I think the world is cold? Or will I have a lot of children who can warm me?”)

Wasting My Young Years: Daemon is feeling really sorry for himself near the end of Chapter 10 while he hangs out with Joff. Also he feels old.

Daemon and Rhaenyra: For their heart-to-heart at the end when they talk about the kind of world they want to leave for their children.

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life): Daemon’s last big decision in this fic: let Lucera think Aemond set the trap, or find out the truth? He chooses the latter, and that leads to the fic’s happy ending, his mending relationship with the girls, and the culmination of his character arc. Daemon in Chapter 1 would never have made that choice, but that’s why we have emotional growth in stories.

Heroes (We Could Be): End credits music, because Daemon has redeemed himself.

[ficretus]

Interpreting Ruby's and Jaune's rivalry with Cinder through Joan of Arc references: Cinder as Burgundy

In some of my previous theories I already alluded to this. That one of Cinder influences in Joan of Arc story is Duchy of Burgundy as a whole, although mostly represented through its Dukes. Previously in my Joan of Arc RWBY theories, I've also read Cinder as Dauphin, King Joan ended up serving. It might seem odd, but this is not necessary contradictory (I've already made timeline theory about it)

Quick tl;dr, Jaune's Joan of Arc story seems to be splitting two parts of her story (one being her life up until meeting the King, second being her military career) and overlaying them on top of each other. This creates dual reading of events and characters in the show. For example, fall of Atlas can be read as Joan's village being burned for the second time before she goes out seeking Dauphin (and this time they were prepared and villagers were evacuated) as well as Joan's unsuccessful siege of Paris which ended with her retreating over the bridge.

Cinder as a Burgundy is mostly read through the second part of the story, being perpetual hindrance to Jaune/Joan and nemesis of Dauphin/Ruby.

RUBY AND CINDER, BEACON AND BEYOND:

Duke of Burgundy at the time, Joan the Fearless was in the power struggle with the members of Dauphin's party, Armagnacs. Current King, Dauphin's father, Charles VI was mentally ill and incapable of ruling the kingdom. So these two parties fought for the King's regency all while English were invading the France after their victory at Agincourt. Although not an open ally of the English, Duke of Burgundy did nothing to stop their advance.

This is simple role setup. Armagnacs represent Huntsmen society as whole. Ruby is Dauphin, both were named leaders at relatively young age (15 and 14 respectively), one being leader of a Team RWBY, other being leader of Armagnac party. As I stated in some of my previous theories, silver eyed warriors are basically royalty of the Remnant. It's exceedingly rare gift that originates from a God, just like status of a monarch was seen as divinely mandated in medieval Europe (also to remove silver eyed warrior as a threat you can gouge out their eyes, similar to how royal pretenders were often blinded or mutilated in some other way to be removed as a threat). Salem represents the English, being existential encroaching threat to the society.

As I stated before, Cinder is duke of Burgundy here. Ambitious leader that turns their back to their logical allies for their own gain. Burgundy was French Duchy fighting French royals, Cinder is human siding with Grimm. Just like a Duke, Cinder was initially perceived as an independent threat before eventually being revealed to be in leagues with the ultimate enemy, English/Salem.

As for a King, I am going with Amber. First of all, just like silver eyed warriors, Maidens are also symbolically royalty since their power is also of divine origin. Charles VI and Amber both theoretically held an immense power but were unable to use it due to their condition, Charles being mentally ill while Amber was comatose. So instead of being powerful, they were merely an object of dispute between two clashing parties.

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Cinder was almost successful in seizing Fall Maiden power, but Amber got rescued by Qrow. So instead, Cinder orchestrated a plan of taking the other half of the Fall Maiden power by infiltrating Beacon. She rigged Vytal tournament, created a panic by slandering both Yang and Pyrrha with use of Emerald's Semblance before going for a kill. She took full Fall Maiden power, defeated all the enemies in her path before being eventually stopped by Ruby.

Unsuccessful seizure of full Fall Maiden power parallels Duke's attack on Paris in 1418. He managed to seize the seat of power and captured King himself, but was unable to capture Dauphin and prominent members of Armagnac party. This meant he didn't fully seize it since Armagnac party still held the power to oppose his decisions. And while I did say Ruby matches Dauphin, this is an instance where role is taken by someone else. Armagnacs taking Dauphin away in the middle of the night does match Qrow's rescue of Amber. So Cinder's portion of Fall Maiden power now represents the King, while Amber's portion is represented by Dauphin and Armagnacs.

Duke spread various malicious rumors about the Armagnacs. Blaming them for the deaths of Dauphin's siblings as well as claiming they held Dauphin against his own will. This parallels Cinder's slander of entire Huntsman society during her Vytal Festival speech after orchestrating the death of Penny. This is bit ironic, since Duke was also one of the potential culprits behind the death of Dauphin's two older brothers. So irony is that just like Duke blamed Armagnacs for something he potentially did, Cinder blamed Pyrrha for something she was responsible for.

Duke would attempt to reach an agreement with now 16 year old Dauphin, first at Melun, and then at Montereau. During the latter meeting, due to Duke's supposed insolence and treachery he was attacked by Dauphin's men and murdered. This somewhat matches an encounter between Cinder and Ruby, although in that encounter enmity definitely wasn't supposed. Interesting part is the wounds Duke suffered. While I couldn't find how an attack exactly went, the wounds that are described do match wounds Cinder suffered. First wound was axe slash across the face, which matches Cinder's scarred left side. After he was killed, Duke's hand was cut off, which again matches Cinder (albeit right hand in Duke's case).

______________________________________________________________

Either way, this didn't help Dauphin's case in the long run. Duke John's successor was his son Philip, who became sworn enemy of Dauphin. He not only became an open ally of the English, he co-signed Treaty of Troyes with English that declared Dauphin illegitimate and an outlaw. Philip also married his daughter Anne to Duke of Bedford, at the time regent of English throne.

This does match Cinder's trajectory post Fall of Beacon. She turned into Ruby's nemesis, actively looking to kill her in most story arcs. Treaty of Troyes which declared Dauphin an outlaw does somewhat parallel the fact Ruby was forced to run away from Beacon, which was taken over by the enemies. After that, Ruby also ran from her home and has been on the journey ever since. Duke's closer ties with English, going from informal to open alliance mirrors Cinder being more attached to Salem post Fall. Cinder went from independent threat to Salem's subordinate narrative wise. Philip's marital ties to Duke of Bedford (who was effectively ruler of England at the time) somewhat parallel Cinder's Grimm arm. If Salem is Queen of Grimm and was shown to be able to create them, so they are effectively her kin. So Cinder being fused to one is symbolical marriage between human and Grimm.

______________________________________________________________

During Philip's reign, Burgundian goal was no longer be control of French monarchy, instead it was pursuit of independence. Philip sought out to increase the power of Burgundy through conquest and marriage, so he could eventually proclaim himself the king and no longer be French vassal. This matches Cinder's motivations in multiple ways.

First, as one of her secondary objectives she wants to retrieve the Relics for Salem. Relic Fall Maiden power unlocks from the Vault is Relic of Choice, which takes the form of a Crown. So both Philip and Cinder seek out the crown, one symbolically other literally.

Second, Philip's goal of amassing power matches Cinder's own power hungry ambition of obtaining all Maiden powers. Reason for that ambition is also similar. Philip wanted to amass the power and influence to break from French vassalage, Cinder as seen in her backstory desires freedom.

Third, while they are both subordinates to higher power, that being English/Salem, they are pretty unruly. Both Philip and Cinder used their servitude as a means to an end for their own goals. Philip at several occasions disobeyed English and at Siege of Orleans he retreated before the battle even began because he realized he is not gonna get the castle if they conquered it. Cinder is similar, if Salem is not enforcing her orders, Cinder will often ignore them for her own gains or look for the way to bypass them (her recruitment of Neo to kill Ruby is good example).

______________________________________________________________

Dynamic of Ruby's rivalry with Cinder matches that of Dauphin's rivalry with Burgundian dukes.

Initially, Ruby was simply another thorn in Cinder's side. While she did dislike her, she also underestimated her capabilities. On the other hand, in initial portion of the story, to Ruby Cinder was big bad she needed to stop. The fact Cinder's acts resulted in Ruby awakening her silver eyes adds to that. Their pre Fall of Beacon rivalry matches the rivalry between John and Dauphin. John is matched against inexperienced teenager as a threat, his underestimation of Dauphin's abilities ended up costing him his life. On the other hand, to Dauphin John was more personal threat, being murderer of his uncle and potentially even of his siblings. Dauphin dealt with John, but didn't realize he gave a way to even bigger threat of Philip and his alliance with English. Ruby dealt with Cinder, but at the time doesn't realize there are even bigger threats lurking in the distance.

Both of these rivalries flip after that. Cinder no longer sees Ruby as just another thorn in her side, she sees her as her nemesis that needs to be killed at almost any cost. This matches Philip, who not only allied himself with English to avenge his father, he looked for any way possible to undermine Dauphin. On one side, you have extremely bitter Cinder and Philip, on the other, you have almost apathetic Ruby and Dauphin. Post Fall, upon realizing the grand scheme of things, Ruby sees Cinder as just another enemy she needs to defeat. In fact, she kind of seems tired of dealing with her. Dauphin was similar, he just saw Philip as another enemy, the enemy he tried to persuade to stop fighting him at several occasions.

Bit of tinfoil for the end of this section. Collar Philip is wearing in this painting is symbol of Order of the Golden Fleece, knight order he himself founded. Tinfoil comes in multiple ways. First, symbol is presented as a collar. In most of her outfits Cinder wears choker or similar neckwear. She is also symbolically collared most of her life. Second, color pattern gold on black matches her Atlas arc outfit. In most of his paintings Philip is either wearing black or red as dominant color, which is again Cinder parallel. Third, collar is made out of fire strikers, tool used in fire making. This is parallel to both Cinder's Semblance and most common use of her Maiden power.

Philip was also extravagant dresser, which is pretty straightforward parallel to Cinder.

Tinfoil down, onto the next section.

CINDER-JAUNE RIVALRY:

Jaune and Cinder didn't interact pre Volume 5 besides being in the same room when Cinder murdered Amber. However, her role in Pyrrha's murder and Fall of Beacon made her Jaune's main rival for foreseeable future.

Fall of Beacon parallels important event from Joan's childhood, first time her village was sacked by Anglo-Burgundian forces. I briefly mentioned second time that happened (which was also by Anglo-Burgundian forces), but unlike the second time, village wasn't evacuated and it took the brunt of the attack. Joan lost her home which would only be retaken after local lord intervened. This event not only lead to her spiritual awakening, it also made her staunch supporter of French King and enemy of Burgundians and English.

Cinder's and Jaune's meeting in Volume 5 captures well dynamic Joan would have with Duke of Burgundy if they ever met, as in, he would have no idea who she is. And why would he? Villages being sacked was normal occurrence during the war. "Oh, you are peasant that survived sack of village by my forces? Do you have slightest idea how little that narrows it down?" Jaune cared about Cinder because her actions forever changed his life, while to Cinder he is pretty much a nobody.

Joan would end up fighting against Burgundians at several occasions, but at no point would it indicate any personal animosity coming from Duke's side. Even when she was eventually captured by the Burgundians, she was treated relatively well in captivity. They didn't see her as some kind of nemesis, she was merely good source of income when they traded her to the English.

Joan/Jaune, Cinder/Burgundy, Ruby/Dauphin forms consistent rivalry triangle. Joan/Jaune hates Burgundians/Cinder, but Burgundy/Cinder don't care about them. Duke of Burgundy/Cinder hates Dauphin/Ruby, but Dauphin/Ruby don't care about them. And Joan/Jaune and Dauphin/Ruby mutually support each other.

GOING FORWARD:

What does reading Cinder as Burgundy mean for the future? As I stated in my previous theories, I expect Vacuo arc to parallel Joan's later campaigns, most notably her last one, siege of Compiegne. Burgundian forces attacked Compiegne, castle that was under the protection of Dauphin. Joan herself rallied an army and tried to relieve the siege. While Joan herself was captured, city barely held on.

If translated into the show in straightforward way, this would mean Cinder will attack Vacuo and end up failing (no shocker there). However, at some point of the arc, she will successfully capture Jaune. Interesting thing about Joan's capture was that she was knocked out by an archer. On top of that, she was then held in custody under jurisdiction of two Burgundian officers, Lionel Bastard of Vendome (who had lame arm) and John of Luxembourg (who had a missing eye). If you combine those traits (archer, lame arm, missing eye) you once again get Cinder.

While theoretically, she might end up killing Jaune in that encounter (after all, Joan of Arc was burned alive), I suspect straightforward capture more likely if it were to happen. Cinder doesn't seem to hold as much of a grudge against Jaune as it is vice versa. I already made a theory about that if you are interested in checking it out.

Now onto the new territory. Years after Joan's execution, Duke of Burgundy's marital ties with Duke of Bedford ended after his daughter died. Instead of renewing their arrangements, Duke of Bedford took different bride, angering Philip. Philip also started to be more and more distrustful of Bedford, seeing him as bigger threat than Dauphin. So instead of renewing his alliance with Bedford and English, Philip made a deal with Dauphin. In exchange for various privileges, he recognized Dauphin as a King of France and helped him fight the English.

This has variety of interpretations. I'd say clearest interpretation here would be Cinder growing disillusioned with Salem. Volume 8 already had very blatant parallels between Salem and Madame, so that's not unlikely thing to happen. Cinder would be breaking away from yet another person that wants to hold her as a slave. Philip viewing Bedford as a greater threat than Dauphin could be related to Cinder finally realizing Salem's true intentions. Their endgame plans were always contradictory so that's not unlikely. Straightforward interpretation would imply Cinder will join the good guys against Salem near the end of the story.

I stated before that I parallel Philip's marital ties with Bedford to Cinder's Grimmification. Those ties were broken off some time before he allied himself with Dauphin. This could imply an encounter between Cinder and Ruby that takes place before she joins them, in which Ruby will destroy Cinder's Grimm arm. In fact, this might be the catalyst for Cinder realizing she was wrong and joining them.

Question is for how long and to what extent. For example, Philip broke off his alliance after only four years and started supporting rebellions against Dauphin. This could mean two things: First is that this part won't be adapted and Cinder will be straightforward ally to the good guys up until the end. Other interpretation is that she'll be more of a third party that only helps out when it suits her, kind of like Raven during early volumes.

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As I stated before, Cinder fits both the role of Burgundy and Dauphin in Joan of Arc story, depending on what angle you are looking from. Interesting part is that when she plays the role of Dauphin, attention is mostly on her relationship and potential redemption with Jaune, while when she plays the role of Burgundy, attention is mostly on her relationship and potential redemption Ruby. Personally, as I stated before, I see it as two overlapped stories, therefore both of these relationships will play a crucial role in the future.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to write a comment if you feel I missed something or have your own interpretations.

[more-than-a-princess]

"If you're looking for Gundham, he went that way." Voice coming from above, the princess would find Fuyuhiko in a tree of all places, his feet swinging in an idle kick as he sat high amongst the branches with a finger pointed off towards the dormitories. "And if you're not looking for Kaz, he went that way. Saw him with a box of random shit and a crazy ass grin though, so it might be interesting this time."

Unprompted IC asks - Accepting from mutuals!

The voice from above had made a bold accusation, one that gave Sonia pause to look up. As much as she wanted to be a normal high school girl at Hope's Peak Academy, she didn't want to be thought of as someone whose world revolved solely around boys. Beyond not wishing to make a conscious effort to try, it simply wasn't true: she had friends, hobbies, interests, and of course, the ever-important royal responsibilities she was expected to uphold and carry out.

At present though, her focus was entirely on friends. Her best friend, actually: Chiaki had handed her the file folder and asked if Sonia could fulfill her errand. She had a gaming tournament to attend and was running late, so the Ultimate Princess hadn't minded making the journey to the administrative offices to drop off several papers. It was on the path that cut through the main courtyard that Fuyuhiko, from above, had called out to her, causing her to sigh in gentle annoyance in his general direction.

"What makes you believe that I am in pursuit of, or fleeing, either of them at the moment?" She asked with raised eyebrows, lips curling into a small smirk. A challenge, to see if he might fire back with something witty, maybe even biting, at her character or habits. So many were afraid of engaging in a tete-a-tete with royalty, but she doubted Fuyuhiko held such apprehension. He spoke his mind, something she admired. "But more to the point, is the view lovely up there? Climbing trees is such fun! I used to do the same as a little girl."

Though with a far larger audience. Her family had looked another way for a time, allowing the young princess to be followed by a maid, a nanny, and two members of their private security, always with a portable mattress or blanket to catch Sonia in when her tiny hands could no longer hold on or she'd climbed too high and didn't know how to get down. But a combination of stricter etiquette lessons and wardrobe had put a stop to it: spare time was hard to come by, and it was improper to shimmy up a tree trunk in a skirt.

"Did you climb trees often when you were younger too, Kuzuryuu-san?" She asked. Maybe they had more in common than they thought. "I liked it as a way to avoid my title and expectations, at least for a little while. The world just seemed far more simple and free from up high."

@the-ultimate-muses

[k-pepp]

@frogprincesnowglobe did some polls a while ago - Character Tournament. First it was all the characters who weren’t Wille and Simon (Felice won) and then Wille vs Simon. I remember I was so happy that they basically tied. The (Tumblr) fandom loves them equally

i know the fandom it's 90% Wille 10% Simon but if I had been Simon I would have kicked Wilhelm's butt as soon as he told Simon to forget about it .Simon was down bad lmaoo

Wait I'm confused about this 90/10 assertion, I don't see it that way at all! There's so much love for Simon, at least here on Tumblr.

[trashcankitty12]

Nabu Headcanons

Meet Prince Nabu Wayne of Tides. (The realm closest in proximity to Andros.)

He’s a second born child, laid back, and relatively insightful. (At least, that’s what his friends tell him.)

Nabu had a bit of a sheltered upbringing, but he managed to have some fun adventures anyway, becoming a strong wizard and a great (future) king.

(All headcanons are mostly for my Left and New Company of Light verse. If you have any you’d like to borrow, feel free. :) )

-Nabu, the second born of the Tidese Royal Family, and the only son of the King and Queen of Tides.

-He has an older sister named Talia, who is the future Queen of Tides.

-Nabu had a fairly normal life for a royal kid, or at least, he wasn’t quite as sheltered as some of the royals…

-At least, he wasn’t until the attempts against Layla and Sky by remnants of the Ancestral Coven. After that, he was kept closer to the palace. (Unless under protective custody.)

-Before the attempts, Nabu was allowed to roam the palace and the outskirts of the palace with his sister.

-They admittedly would get into trouble, the two were pranksters against the guards and their parents and just… They love to laugh and they laugh together.

-When Nabu discovered his powers (and his sister discovered hers), their parents employed the best magic tutors/magic teachers they could find.

-Their teachers would often take them out of Tides and into other realms to learn how to adapt their magic and how to push the boundaries of their powers.

-(Yes, those field trips would continue after the attempts were made, but they were done with body guards and soldiers as chaperones.)

-Nabu is fluent in up to seven languages, but he seldom gets a chance to really speak most of them. (He did his best to find friends from other realms to speak with after Timmy unblocked his phone from the rest of the Magical Dimension’s internet.)

-He fell in love with airy/loose fitting clothes at a young age. It made him feel like he was the character from his favorite book series and he found it helps him be more agile when he’s doing his training. (And his parents found that it worked well with the Tidese Royal Robes. So win-win.)

-Nabu has no qualms or ill-will toward his sister for being the one next in line for the throne. In fact, he’s glad about it. It means less he has to worry about and less stress on his plate.

-He was also the first one to realize his sister had a secret-girlfriend and that she wasn’t a royal. And the one who did his best to bridge the gap between Talia and Anne and his parents.

-When he was 14, Nabu managed to talk his parents into letting him attend Coventry Academy for Wizards and Witches.

-This gave him more opportunities to learn about magic and the rest of the Magical Dimension.

-(Also, his roommate? Diaspro’s older brother, Jasper. And honestly, they actually got along pretty well.)

-Nabu found out just a month before Layla did about their engagement. He wasn’t happy and even brought up how his sister was allowed to choose her future spouse, why couldn’t he?

-He was so angry he ditched Coventry. (With some help from Jasper to keep his disappearance on the down-low, on the promise that he would come back after he had more information about Layla.)

-He tried really hard not to like Layla when he finally found her. He did. He wanted to hate her and despise her and find a way to terminate their arranged marriage… But he couldn’t.

-Nabu fell in love with her almost immediately. Her strong will, her independent nature, the strength with which she carried herself… How big her heart was for her friends and how quick she was to defend her home… He couldn’t have asked for a better match.

-(Yeah, they had a shit-ton to work through after they found out about each other… But in the end, they had both fallen in the deep end for one another and were more than willing to see how their relationship would go.)

-Meeting the guys and getting to know them was the reason why Nabu wanted to, and managed to after a long talk with his dad, transfer to Red Fountain.

-He ended up being roommates with Timmy. (Which doesn’t bother him quite so much… He just wishes Timmy would have a normal sleep schedule…)

-At Red Fountain, his best classes were magical defense and beast taming. His worst? Whenever he had to use a blaster or fly a ship… (Or use a compass… Nabu is good at a lot of things, but without his magic, he has a shit sense of direction.)

-Nabu actually enjoyed the camping trips Red Fountain took them on. It let him feel closer to nature and to his squad mates.

-At Coventry, Nabu was the best at illusion magic and divination. His worst here was anything that had to do with curses. He can’t summon enough negative energy for curses.

-(Not to say he doesn’t have negative feelings or that he hasn’t been extremely angry or upset before… But Nabu is just a naturally jolly person. And a logical one when things seem to be going downhill. He just feels that with his friends and Layla, he can handle anything.)

-(Also at Coventry, he and Jasper tended to get into trouble of their own. Pranks against fellow students and some of the teachers, nothing malicious. Though he did have Jasper keep him away from Diaspro. She had, at one point, attempted to pursue him in an attempt to show her parents she could secure a throne somehow. Which was not on Nabu’s list of things to do.)

-Nabu and Jasper are still friends, though more long distance these days since Jasper has really had to step up as the future King of Isis. (Especially since Diaspro got into trouble. Again.)

-Nabu got his tattoos when he was about 16. He completed a ritual on Tides that basically meant he had become one with the ocean and had the waters moving within him.

-(His sister has similar tattoos on her arms, though more bubble foam/like.)

-Nabu loves to surf and to swim and scuba diving. Honestly he just loves being near the water and having sand between his toes.

-He loves dance and often has Layla teaching him new moves. Sometimes, if your lucky, you’ll see them dancing in the kitchen while trying to get snacks for movie nights.

-Nabu is big on healthy eating and yoga. His mother just ingrained both into him at a young age.

-At least with yoga, he has friends who enjoy participating with him. And with the healthy eating, he’s great at making healthy alternative snacks. (Which Flora absolutely loves him for.)

-Riven and Nabu became unlikely friends rather quickly. Neither of them is quite sure how it happened, but both are quite fine with their arrangement. Riven shares things with Nabu he has issues sharing with others and Nabu gets to vent out some of his frustrations with Riven that he’s more nervous to voice with others.

-(They also get into competitive surfing competitions. But the kind where they can laugh at each other afterward.)

-Nabu loves animals and hopes to have pets in the future. (He couldn’t have any pets other than fish at home because his parents weren’t… Pet people. But he knows Layla has a soft-side for dogs, so he’s hoping they can find one they both love.)

-Once he officially joined the team, it kind of shocked him how often they got into trouble. Like he was pretty sure that the whole Valtor thing was a one-time instance.

-Like when he found out about the group’s freshman year, he nearly lost his mind. (“You guys fought a battle that nearly ended the entire Magical Dimension? At 15?! You out of your minds?”)

-And then when he heard about the sophomore year shenanigans. (“Layla, you went to ShadowHaunt, on your own, when Darkar was still in charge?!” “I had to save the pixies.” “And then everyone went after Darkar?” “Well yeah. Couldn’t let him have ultimate power.” “How are any of you still alive?”)

-When the Mandragora thing happens during their senior year, he just sort of accepts it. (“Oh look. Someone else who wants to kill us.”)

-And then the Black Circle shit… (“Can… Can we not have a single break? At all?”)

-Poor Nabu, he’d went to having a relatively quiet life of royalty to always having to try and save the world because if he doesn’t help, Layla will be doing it on her own anyway.

-He loves swapping royalty horror stories (and gossip, not that he’ll admit that part) with Stella and Sky. (Layla isn’t as big on it. She just doesn’t care at all who’s doing what. Though she does participate from time to time.)

-While he’s not a fan of video games, Nabu does like to cheer on Timmy and Tecna when they have a tournament going on. (And he even supplies them with snacks. Nutritional ones. They don’t seem to notice the difference.)

-Nabu and Flora tend to go on tangents together about nature conservation. He’s big on ocean protection, just like she is on forest preservation and together it’s just… Wow.

-(They have even been to a few protests together. Sometimes heated ones. Thankfully, due to Nabu’s status, they haven’t gotten into too much trouble.)

-After his near-death experience, Nabu tends to have nightmares. Strong ones. Ones where he does actually die and he can see Layla and his friends just losing themselves in morning.

-He wakes up crying and Layla just holds him tight.

-(She has nightmares too, about losing him after she had been so close to doing so.)

-(Which is why they pushed their wedding date up a bit. So they can be married before something does take them away from each other.)

-One somewhat good thing came from the whole experience… Nabu’s magic evolved a bit.

-He’s better at divination than he’d ever been before. With his abilities, he can sometimes get visions of things in the past or of things to come. (And sometimes, if concentrates, he can bring up the visions in pools of water so he can share them with others.)

-(When he gets the hang of it, he’s sure he’ll be able to do better once he understands how this part of his powers work.)

-Nabu hopes that with everything he and Layla have been through and survived, it’ll give them the experience and knowledge necessary to become the best rulers Andros has ever had. (Or at least, rulers as amazing as his parents and Layla’s parents are.)

[darkarfs]

my favorite WWE matches of 1997

Though I officially started watching wrestling in 1995 (my family famously first bought SummerSlam that year, which would be my first wrestling show ever, because it was $25.00. 1995 was a bad year for wrestling), I became a regular watcher of both WWE and WCW Raw and Nitro, and was able to buy my own PPVs, around summer of 1996, when Hogan turned. The first show I bought with my own money was In Your House: Buried Alive, though I kept up with weekly TV. And, for better or worse, I've been a fan ever since.

1997 was a REAL rollercoaster year for wrestling. The NWO was becoming a bloated mess in no time at all, Bret Hart was riding high, while he and Shawn Michaels publicly hated one another, a young Rocky Maivia was slowly transforming into the most charismatic wrestler of maybe all time, a young Steve Austin has broken his neck and can only work 5 minute matches but is somehow the most OVER wrestler in the company, and by the end of the year, the Screwjob happens, Bret's in WCW, Shawn's on handfuls of SOMAs (yet main-eventing). In a lot of ways, I'm grateful, because I side-stepped all of Hogan's WWF and WCW run. But it was a tornado of a year for a business always on precarious footing, as it ever has been.

And it gave us some CRACKING matches! - The 1997 Royal Rumble I love me a Rumble, and it's REALLY hard (but not impossible) to find a bad one (1993, 1995, 1999). And I personally love one with a storyline that runs throughout, and in this case, it's the ultimate heeling of Stone Cold Steve Austin. He visibly dominates the match until he hears Bret Hart's music, and then goes into panic mode. And it furthers the characterization of Bret's hand-spun narrative as being rightfully pissed that he's being taken advantage of by the roster, screwed by the company, and booed by the fans. Fun bonus: this is also the only Rumble appearance of lucha legend Mil Mascaras, who was so full of old-school carny spirit he famously refused to let anyone else eliminate him, so he eliminated himself, pissed Vince off, and was not spoken of again on WWE TV until the 2012 Hall of Fame ceremony, where he was inducted by his huge prick nephew, Alberto del Rio. - Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, WrestleMania 13 This match is considered legendary, and for good reason. The greatest technical wrestler in the company vs. the best brawler, months of build, the world's most iconic (and off-the-cuff) blade-job (so much so that the visual of Austin bleeding in the Sharpshooter going "DAAAHHHH!" became the cover for his first VHS) and the wrestling world's most exquisite double-turn. It's fun, it's thrilling, it feels at once timeless and modern. Fun fact: there's a fun version of this match you can watch with just Austin doing commentary over it, and it's entertaining as hell. A true classic, and one of the greatest 'Mania matches of all time. - Ken Shamrock vs. Vader, No Holds Barred match, In Your House: a Cold Day In Hell Vader, famously, while a big teddy bear and a for-all-accounts lovely guy outside of the ring, had a reputation of being a bit "snug" with other wrestlers. Meaning he hit a little too hard, had little self-control, and took liberties with people, especially rookies and younger guys. It's supposedly why Shawn Michaels didn't want to work a world title program with him from summer to fall of 1996, because he was "too rough." But what never occurred to Vader is that trying that with a guy who's had 2 matches but has almost 5 years of MMA experience might not be the smartest or most prudent idea. Shamrock gives Vader as much as Vader gives him in this match, and there are moments where you can tell the guys are going into business for themselves. There's a moment where Shamrock is clubbing Vader with punches, and you can hear Vader, as he's turtling up and putting his arms up to block, yell "SLOW DOWN!" and then he rolls out of the ring to catch a breather. Vader, by the end of this match, is bleeding through his mask, a product of a broken nose, which is why I assume he gives Shamrock the stiffest short-arm clothesline I've ever seen. It's brutal, it's stupid, it weaves in and out of the script SO many times like a drunk man trying to stand up straight on a canoe, and I'm fascinated by each and every instance. - Owen Hart vs. the British Bulldog, European Championship Tournament Finals, Monday Night Raw, March 3rd Somehow, a workrate classic is stuck on a rinky-dink episode of Raw from Berlin, Germany. Smith and Hart blended some of their acquired WWE-style of work with classic junior heavyweight wrestling, complete with intricate reversals and fast-paced offense that was unlike either man's designed ethos of the time. Hart's shift toward his underhanded instincts as the match wore on provided enough story to balance the beautiful grappling from two men with impressive resumes. You can feel that these two knew one another, grew up together, and most importantly, wrestled together. An honest-to-God sleeper hit, but everyone who knows this match calls it a classic. - Shawn Michaels vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, King of the Ring It's a concept that would be beaten into the ground in short order: Tag Team Champions that hate each other's guts. John Cena, seriously, has only been tag champions with people he's feuding with. That's

not even a joke. Austin and Michaels won the belts out of mutual dislike for the Hart Foundation, and then were programmed together for a wild match at the King of the Ring, one without a winner. Early on, the two actually pieced together a tremendous wrestling match full of nifty counters (prior to Austin changing his style after August for obvious reasons), before it degenerated into chaos after both men assaulted referees in the heat of the moment. Granted, neither man could really lose this one, so the screwy finish did serve its purpose. Until that point, it's a different type of incredible Austin match. You're never so happy to see a double-DQ finish. - Owen Hart & the British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels & Stone Cold Steve Austin, Monday Night Raw, May 26th And now we have a match set! The previous 4 participants in a brilliant and brutal tag team match. The Tag Team championship switch marked Austin's first piece of recognized gold in WWE, in a match on free television no less. That's not to insult the match any, as it was a pay-per-view quality fracas that barely slowed down. It is a mere 14 minutes long WITH entrances, but it moves at a clip, and everyone has their working boots on. It was a harbinger of days to come for this new period in WWE's history, and the crowd ate it up.

- Taka Michinoku vs. the Great Sasuke, In Your House: Canadian Stampede What happened here? Just when you think WCW had the cruiserweights cornered, WWE pulls this shit...and then kind of ignores it for a few months. But not before importing two of Michinoku Pro's finest to have a TakeOver-length exhibition. At first, the crowd in Calgary wasn't sure what to make of the undersized performers, but it wouldn't take long to win them over. From Michinoku's hands-free springboard dive to Sasuke's beautiful Thunder Fire Powerbomb, the expansive crowd was positively hooked on the daredevils with each passing minute. Although Sasuke wouldn't be long for the company, and Michinoku's run as Light Heavyweight Champion faded as 1998 wore on, the display at Canadian Stampede was a wondrous experience. This wouldn't have looked out of place in a Chikara King of Trios tournament. - The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, Brian Pillman, the British Bulldog) vs. Team Austin (Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Legion of Doom, Ken Shamrock and Goldust), In Your House: Canadian Stampede I would have put this match on the list for the entrances and the finish alone. The crowd is at fever static for the entire match, seriously at the level of Punk/Cena at MITB 2011. And even though the Harts are the heels, they're in Calgary, and they get rock-star level ovations for merely existing. Everyone plays it mad and delighted, and you can tell they're all having a ball. Especially Pillman, who is just magically unhinged, a template for a young Dean Ambrose during their feud with the Wyatt Family. It is a magical, unreal main event, one of the best B-ppv main events maybe of all time. Well...other than MAYBE... - Shawn Michaels vs. the Undertaker, Hell in a Cell, In Your House: Badd Blood The very first Hell in a Cell match may very well double as the greatest of its kind. What stands out to me (other than how the match ends) is just how GREAT Michaels' selling is. When he's running away, he's constantly looking around for an exit, like a scared rat. When he finally gets caught and struck, he sells almost to the level he did for Hogan at SummerSlam 2005. But while he was doing that to make Hogan's offense look stupid, he's doing it here to make Taker's offense and anger look legit, and it somehow WORKS. But as fabulous as the match and the psychology is, it somehow takes a backseat to the debut of the Undertaker's monstrous little brother Kane, finally confronting his older brother in perhaps the greatest character debut in WWE history. - Mankind vs. Kane, Survivor Series I dunno what it is about this match that does it for me. Mankind's emotional lead-up to the match, where he's sad that Uncle Paul (Bearer) left him. Maybe the fact that Kane sells like Michael Myers, not so much that he's in pain, but as if he's never been hit in the face with a steel chair, a DDT or a piledriver. Maybe it's because Mick takes more horrific bumps than he needs to to make sure Kane looks like a legit monster. Maybe it's the broken Virtua Boy lighting. But it's genuinely unlike any other Mankind, Kane or ANY match I've seen before or since. It's a perfect somehow sympathetic serial killer vs. bigger, scarier serial killer that feels nothing story in a wrestling match. I didn't even know you could DO that.

[multiverseforger]

Scorpion" is the alias of Hanzo Hasashi, formerly one of the finest warriors of the Japanese Shirai Ryu ninja clan,[2] until he was slain by Bi-Han, a member of the Lin Kuei (a rival clan of Chinese assassins) who worked under the name "Sub-Zero". Scorpion became a "hellspawn" revenant residing in Hell, later called the Netherrealm, who sought vengeance against those responsible for the destruction of his clan and the murder of his family, including his wife Harumi and his son Satoshi. Although essentially neutral in allegiance, Scorpion joins forces with anyone who can assist in his plans of revenge. He was once manipulated by the sorcerer Quan Chi, whom he promised his life to in exchange for his impressive kombat abilities in order to defeat Sub-Zero.[1]

In his initial backstory, displayed in the first game's (1992) attract mode, he is described as only having enmity towards Sub-Zero, which was attributed to rivalries between their opposing ninja clans. His ending revealed that he was actually an undead specter who had been killed by Sub-Zero and was survived by a wife and child.[3] This was further explored in a tie-in comic book written and illustrated by MK co-creator John Tobias and published by Midway. In a one-page scene, set aboard a junk en route to Mortal Kombat tournament host Shang Tsung's private island, Scorpion shocks Sub-Zero with his unexpected return exactly two years after his death, declaring that his "demons" had allowed him to return and avenge his demise.[4] After Shokan Prince Goro's defeat at the hands of eventual champion Liu Kang, Shang Tsung's army launched an attack, forcing Scorpion to team up with Sub-Zero, the thunder god Raiden, and other tournament survivors to hold them back before he killed his rival and disappeared.[4]

In Mortal Kombat II (1993), Scorpion discovers Sub-Zero has somehow returned, and planned to compete in the second Mortal Kombat tournament held in the otherworldly dimension of Outworld and hosted by the realm's emperor Shao Kahn. He tracks his nemesis down but notices, in the process, Sub-Zero sparing the life of an opponent in battle. Scorpion realizes that this is not Bi-Han, but instead his younger brother, Kuai Liang, who had taken on his brother's codename in his memory and was tasked with completing his failed mission of assassinating Shang Tsung. As a result, Scorpion vowed to serve as the new Sub-Zero's guardian in atonement for killing his older brother.[5]

In the 2005 beat 'em up spin-off Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, set during the events of Mortal Kombat II, Scorpion is a boss character who attempts to kill the game's playable protagonists Liu Kang and Kung Lao. He appears in both masked and unmasked forms, with the latter being named "Inferno Scorpion". The planned co-op game, Mortal Kombat: Fire & Ice, which would have starred Scorpion and Sub-Zero as the protagonists, was canceled when Paradox Development, the developers of Shaolin Monks, "couldn't do it in time and under budget."[6]

Scorpion, along with all of the game's palette-swapped human ninja characters, was not playable in Mortal Kombat 3, but returned in the 1995 upgrade Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 when Shao Kahn tried to conquer the Netherrealm after his invasion of Earth, and enlisted the ninja in his forces. Scorpion's allegiance to the Kahn quickly dissolved when he discovers, in a continuance of his MKII storyline, that Sub-Zero was one of Earth's chosen warriors, with whom he sided in their final showdown with Shao Kahn.[1]

Quan Chi was officially introduced into Scorpion's rivalry with Sub-Zero in the main MK storyline, starting with Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (1997). Scorpion is featured therein as an unplayable boss character, appearing twice throughout the game. Despite playing a minor role, his background was officially expanded in a feature on the game's official website, where his real name and that of his clan were revealed, while his yellow outfit was described as an apparent mockery of the Lin Kuei after former Lin Kuei member Takeda developed ninjutsu before leaving the clan and forming the rival Shirai Ryu.[2] Scorpion is enlisted by Quan Chi to find a map hidden in a Shaolin temple, a task the sorcerer also gave to Sub-Zero in order to engage the two rival ninjas in combat. If the player performs a killer move on Scorpion, he will reappear as another boss later in the game. In Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), Quan Chi tricked Scorpion into believing that Sub-Zero was involved in the deaths of his family and clan, resulting in the specter allying with him. In Scorpion's ending, he emerges victorious over Sub-Zero, but Quan Chi reveals his involvement in killing Scorpion's clan and family. When the sorcerer attempts to banish Scorpion, the latter grabs the former at the last minute, sending them both to the Netherrealm.[7] A variation of this ending was seen in Sub-Zero's conclusion, when Sub-Zero stands over a fallen Scorpion before being knocked down by Quan Chi, who again reveals his scheme and claims that both ninjas were pawns for the fallen Elder God Shinnok, which results in Scorpion killing Quan Chi and declaring Sub-Zero free of his curse.[8]

Scorpion's MK4 ending is carried over into Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002), where he relentlessly hunts down Quan Chi, only to be attacked by the Oni Drahmin and Moloch, whom the sorcerer had hired as protection and to help free him from the Netherrealm. In his non-canonical ending, Scorpion is killed when Drahmin and Moloch hurl him into a Soulnado, a magical tornado consisting of tormented souls trapped between Earthrealm and Outworld. In Scorpion's biography in Mortal Kombat: Deception however, he is depicted as having escaped as well. He meets the Elder Gods, which, coupled with his witnessing Raiden's death and the emergence of Onaga, the Dragon King, causes him to accept a new role as the Elder Gods' servant while working to prevent Onaga's merging of the realms.

In the Konquest mode of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006), Scorpion cuts a deal with the Elder Gods to serve them in exchange for the resurrection of the Shirai Ryu and his wife and son.[1] However, they resurrect them as undead beings. Enraged, Scorpion seeks to destroy the Elder Gods' chance of preventing Armageddon by taking the elemental Blaze's power, but the Edenian demigod Taven defeats him and he is later killed by Sub-Zero in a battle royal amongst the series characters in the game's opening sequence.[9]

In the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, an alternative-timeline retelling of the first three titles, Scorpion reprises his role from the first game in seeking vengeance against the elder Sub-Zero, Bi-Han. This time though, he serves Quan Chi from the start, unaware that the sorcerer is the mastermind behind the murder of his family and clan. Raiden, attempting to alter the timeline in hopes of averting Armageddon, talks Scorpion into sparing Sub-Zero's life in exchange for reviving the Shirai Ryu. Scorpion agrees, and when he defeats Sub-Zero in the Netherrealm, he refuses to kill him. However, Quan Chi convinces Scorpion otherwise by showing him a graphic vision of Sub-Zero murdering his wife and child. Despite Sub-Zero protests, Scorpion promptly incinerates him. He reappears on the tournament grounds holding Sub-Zero's skull and spinal column.[10] Later in the game, the younger Sub-Zero Kuai Liang seeks revenge for his brother's death by demanding a fight with Scorpion in Shao Kahn's arena, which Quan Chi grants. Scorpion immediately recognizes the new Sub-Zero as the original's younger brother, and while he is defeated, Kuai Liang is apprehended by his clan before he finish the revenant off.[11] Scorpion is last seen when he fights and loses to Raiden in the Netherrealm before disappearing.[12] In his non-canonical arcade ending, the Shirai Ryu appear before Scorpion as ghostly apparitions who reveal the truth about their murder and aid him in killing Quan Chi for his deception. In Sub-Zero's ending, he learns the truth about his and Scorpion's families and offers the specter a chance to join him in his quest for vengeance. Scorpion accepts, joining Sub-Zero to form their own Deadly Alliance.[13]

In Mortal Kombat X, which takes place two years after the previous game, Scorpion was sent to attack the Special Forces alongside a revenant version of Kuai Liang. Due to the efforts of Raiden and his allies however, they were restored to their human forms and freed from Quan Chi's control. Over the course of the following two decades, the newly restored Hanzo Hasashi reformed the Shirai Ryu, trained Kenshi's son Takeda Takahashi, and made amends with the young Sub-Zero after he revealed Quan Chi was responsible for the murder of his family and clan. When the Special Forces captured Quan Chi, a revenge-minded Hasashi subdued them and released the sorcerer so he could challenge him to a final fight before he killed him. Concurrently, Quan Chi's associate D'Vorah appeared so she could have the sorcerer free Shinnok from his amulet. Hasashi decapitated Quan Chi, but not before he could finish reciting a spell to successfully free the fallen Elder God, who immediately incapacitated everyone in the surrounding area.

In Mortal Kombat 11, Hasashi continues to lead the Shirai Ryu in protecting Earthrealm as its Grandmaster a further two years after MKX and Shinnok's defeat. When the keeper of time Kronika caused a time anomaly in an attempt to erase Raiden from history, she brought a past version of Scorpion to the present so she could recruit him to her fold with the promise of resurrecting his clan and family.[14] Meanwhile, Hasashi worked with Sub-Zero to foil Lin Kuei clansman turned cyber ninja Sektor and his plans to build a Cyber Lin Kuei army. They were successful, despite facing opposition from Bi-Han, who had been resurrected as the revenant Noob Saibot, and learning that Sektor played a role in murdering Hasashi's clan and family.[15] After Kronika's forces compromise or destroy most of their bases, Hasashi agrees to house his Earthrealm allies at the Shirai Ryu's Fire Gardens.[16] To help locate Kronika's Keep, Hasashi suggests forging an alliance with Kharon, a ferryman who transports unfortunate souls to the Netherrealm who he and Sub-Zero met while they were revenants.[17] He succeeds in recruiting Kharon and convincing his younger self to turn away from Kronika, but he is killed by D'Vorah. With his dying breath, he urges his younger self to abandon his pursuit of vengeance and defend Earthrealm. Scorpion keeps his word and joins the allied forces of Earthrealm and Outworld to stop Kronika.[18][19][20] In his non-canonical arcade ending, the younger Scorpion fails to keep his promise to his future self, and kills Kronika so he can restart history to ensure his loved ones' survival. When he discovers that otherworldly forces conspire to make sure the tragedy always repeats itself, he undergoes a quest for revenge against them.

[solarsonicsoda]

Pro Wrestling Histories - Toni Storm

Having been in the business since 2009, the 28-year old Australian has long been a prominent star of the UK and Japanese scene, most notable for her work in Progress and Stardom. It was there, whilst based out of Liverpool, that she grew her name and honed her skills, becoming one of the premier women's wrestlers of the time. She would be the inaugural Progress Women's Championship, holding it for 357 days, and win the World of Stardom Championship for 258 days. Her exploits in Europe and Asia would see her expand to North America too, where she would wrestle for many independent companies as an imported talent!

It was around this time she would garner attention from WWE, who would bring her in for the 2017 Mae Young Classic, and all women's tournament, in which she would reach the semi-finals. Shortly after, in May 2018, she would sign an exclusive contract with WWE. In what amounted to a three-year run with the company, she would return for the second Mae Young Classic, ultimately winning the whole thing, as well as finishing as the runner-up in the tournament to crown the first WWE NXT UK Women's Champion, falling to fellow Aussie Rhea Ripley. She would go on to dethrone Ripley after 139 days, holding the title herself for 230 days. She'd mainly wrestle in WWE's smaller brands of NXT and NXT UK, working as both a face and a heel, and competing in the dreaded WarGames stipulation. She would also feature in two Royal Rumbles as NXT representation before moving to Smackdown, one of WWE's main two brands. However, this would not be a fruitful run despite a small feud with Women's Champion Charlotte Flair. Storm would depart the company at the end of 2021, citing unhappiness with the atmosphere and lack of respect she felt that "crushed" her "love of wrestling".

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GIF by devil-madame-zombie

Three months later, Storm would sign with WWE's biggest rival in North America, AEW. Here she would quickly find herself in contention for the Women's World Title, losing to champion Thunder Rosa, before winning the championship at All Out 2022 after Rosa was injured and a new champion had to be crowned. She would hold the title for 76 days, losing it to the popular Jamie Hayter. From here, she would soon turn heel, aligning herself with fellow WWE alumni Saraya and Ruby Soho to form The Outcasts. They would use green spray paint to hinder and humiliate their foes, with the alternative trio running roughshod over the roster. With Hayter legitimately injured, Storm would reclaim the World Championship at Double or Nothing 2023, holding it for 60 days, where she would lose it to Hikaru Shida at AEW Dynamite 200. The Outcasts storyline wasn't particularly popular, and would be phased out following this, which leads us to her current character that I really want to discuss.

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GIF by damnhausen

Following her defeat to Shida, Storm would begin to unravel. She would dress and talk more extravagantly, and seem to not remember much of her recent history. She would also lose her grip on reality, slowly coming to believe herself to be a classic movie star of early Hollywood, though with a wrestling spin. Many compared her character to that of Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard: a former silent-film star growing more and more deranged as her achievements sink further into history. Storm would fail to reclaim the title at All In 2023 (which I was there for!) and a week later would officially split from The Outcasts. She went on to take on the "Timeless" name, cementing her new delusional character fitted with outdated references, grandiose speech and pronunciation, misunderstanding of who people are, and her brilliant catchphrase: "Chin up, tits out, and watch for the shoe!" usually following by her throwing her shoe at someone. This came from her early interviews, where a frustrated Storm would throw her shoes in rage. Storm would also acquire a butler in the form of Luther, the former deathmatch journeyman Dr. Luther, as well as defeating Shida for the AEW Women's Championship at Full Gear 2023, becoming a three-time champion. She holds the belt to this day, being one of the most popular acts on the AEW roster with her new character. Rising star Mariah May has also joined her entourage as an obsessive fan who Storm has little time for, which has further advanced her character. As of writing (February 2023), Storm is in a feud with Deonna Purrazzo, with the two set to face one another at Revolution 2024 on March 3rd.

Pro Wrestling Profiles - "Timeless" Toni Storm

I want to bring some more particular knowledge of wrestling to the blog, so I wanted to discuss one of my favourite wrestling characters right now! That being "Timeless" Toni Storm!

Ring Name: Toni Storm Nicknames: Timeless Age: 28 Billed from: Stage 7 at Warner Studios (Originally Gold Coast, Australia) Finishing Moves: Storm Zero (Snap Piledriver) Accolades: Progress Wrestling Women's Champion, World of Stardom Champion, Mae Young Classic Winner 2018, NXT UK Women's Champion, 3-time and current AEW Women's World Champion

Formerly an 80's rock-inspired character, when Toni Storm lost her second AEW Women's World Championship, she began to lose her mind. Distraught, she became increasingly unhinged in a series of backstage interviews. Storm would begin to dress in eccentric night gowns and flowing jackets, styling her hair in more and more glamorous ways, and looking frantic. These interviews would also see her spiral mentally, questioning how she could have lost her title when she is such a beloved, illustrious star. This all painted the portrait of a woman driven mad by her failure and desperately holding it together. She would scream, get extremely animated at the interviewers, and even throw her shoes out of anger on some occasions. This led to the memorable closing line "Chin up, tits out, and watch for the shoe!" as she tried to keep herself together, and served as warning to her interviewer. Her grasp on reality would start to loosen as she would forget her allegiances, title holders, and even others identities as she struggled to reclaim her title.

Toni Storm would soon split from former friends and cement her new identity, a crazed woman believing herself to be a star from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Dubbing herself as "Timeless" she would incorporate many new quirks to her character. With extravagant outfits outside the ring, she would dress like a classic ladies wrestler of the mid-20th century in the ring. She would also add a butler in the form of Luther, and an obsessed fan in Mariah May. Beyond this, Storm gained an ability to summon a black-and-white filter whenever she is the main focus on screen, as well as adopting outdated references, eccentric pronunciation, and various old-timey and grandiose mannerisms.

Now AEW Women's World Champion again, Storm is extremely entertaining, frequently joining the commentary table to discuss opponents as well as exhibit a loose grip on reality as she truly believes she is a great of the 1950's and beyond, with little memory or knowledge outside of her delusions. The mixes of comedic elements with the unhinged nature of the character, paired with Storm's excellent wrestling acumen makes her one of the best women's wrestlers in the world right now. It's a truly gripping character and if you're not familiar, check out some of these videos to see the entertainment she brings!

Watch for the Shoe, "Accepting" her Third World Title, On the Debut of Deonna Purrazzo, AEW Official Toni Storm Timeline, General Compilation

[frogprincesnowglobe]

Ultimate Young Royals Character Tournament: The Final Results Winners Crowned!

We're crowning some young royals today! Thirty Eight contestants came in but only a select number will win. Over the last nine days we voted down the top characters in Young Royals, and now it's time to crown the winners! Check out the previous poll results here. Also thanks again to @hillerskalibrary for hosting fan week, which inspired me to finally do this tournament which has lived rent free in my head for months.

Reminder: We have one over all winner and then the winner of the battle between Wilhelm and Simon. Winners below the cut!

Your Top Winner overall is.........

FELICE EHRENCRONA!

In the final round Felice beat out Boris, winning with 67.% of the vote. Felice has been Crowned the ultimate young royals character and Princess Felice of fictional Sweden. She is wearing current real world Princess Estelle's crown for her coronation.

Your top between Wilhelm and Simon is........

In a surprise finish they tied with less than a percent between their vote counts so:

Both Crown Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and Simon Eriksson have been crowned winner!

The people have voted! Some of you will be very pleased that with less than one percent (0.8%) between them it's a tie and they both have been crowned winner!

These boys are a team after all and you couldn't have one without the other. The results speak volumes about how much you all love them both! Makes me feel emotional.

For his coronation Wilhelm has been Crowned with current real world Crown Princess Victoria's crown.

Prince Simon Duke of -an area in Sweden I've yet to determine- wears Princess Victoria's husband Prince Daniel's crown. It felt fitting for these two boys! ♔

And that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone for playing along, voting, and having fun! I really enjoyed putting this together and getting to know more fans of this wonderful TV show we all love. Can't wait to see what season 3 brings and maybe in the future we can do something like this again! ♔

[omegatheunknown]

AEW Revolution 2021

Super fun night at Daily's Place, all told, but if all you're going to remember about a big card is how it ended, well...

-Production continues to be a bit of an issue. AEW PPVs tend to be closer to ROH than to WWE, which I imagine is largely preferable to the core audience, minus the hiccups that include continued ill-timed (but not gratuitous) camera cuts, sound mixing absolutely drowning theme music and uh, evidently the crucial pyro, whether they're going to spin it on Dynamite or not. - I haven't done a full-sized review for a long while. I sorta dipped a few months into the crowd-less/small, masked-crowd era out of watching Dynamite and NXT regularly. Though I did watch the Royal Rumble. For some reason. Anyway I miss hot crowds, I miss surprise pops. - I would like a straight answer out of anyone 'disappointed' by Christian. Who were you holding out for that wouldn't be a disappointment? Punk? On what planet was that actually happening? At least it wasn't Angle, or Foley, or someone unable to actually go. Christian's got gas in the tank, and let's not pretend he isn't one of the best to ever do it, in terms of his actual wrestling.

*Pre-Card Britt Baker & Maki Itoh v Riho & Thunder Rosa (*) - Star largely awarded for Maki Itoh's stateside AEW debut and implied continued presence, which is undoubtedly cool and good. Outsized personalities are something the women's division can definitely work with, even if this was not much of anything, as random pre-show tag matches go.

*Main Card The Young Bucks (C) v Chris Jericho & MJF for the AEW World Tag Team Title (***) - Wasn't going to be the usual high-octane Bucks tag match against this pair, though MJF's grappling is perfectly suited to what he's doing and Jericho, despite his abject (and okay, supposedly irrelevant, but man is hard to enjoy him on screen these days...) clownery on social media, remains perfectly willing to lionsault and work real snug. - Don't know what would've put this one over the top, a hot crowd? Outcome wasn't super in doubt for me? Casino Tag Team Royale Match (***) - I'm not a big fan of matches with more than three teams, or more than six competitors, or... I mean these are always slogs and if you're going to derive any satisfaction it's going to be from surprise eliminations or unlikely teams showing up or who ultimately wins. - In which case, two out of three ain't bad. QT Marshall's renaissance continues, the depth of the division is entirely out of hand (Bear Country? Good! Varsity Blonds? Good! The Pretty Picture? Also good! Sons of a Gunn? Probably good eventually!) and of course, fucking Death Triangle is absolutely who you want winning. Hikaru Shida (C) v Ryo Mizunami for the AEW Women's World Title (***1/2) - Shida is locked in. Early days in AEW she didn't look much more talented than any random STARDOM mid-carder, but she's found her comfort zone as a character for an anglo audience, and she's kicking ass in the ring. - Mizunami obviously knows Okada's tailor, entrance robe-wise, and a little touch like that imparts so much gravitas to a performer you don't necessarily know the most about, outside of her tournament run. - This was a very good match but the finish lacked for oomph. Post-match angle was... clumsy. Silly? Good on Rosa for chasing a crowd out of the ring singlehandedly I suppose. Kip Sabian & Miro v Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy (*1/2) - Literally all I wanted here was for Miro to unleash the beast and we started in that direction and I was pretty hype, 'Charles' got taken to the woodshed and OC could barely crawl to the ramp. - 8 minutes with back and forth seems a little unnecessary, though Orange has beaten Jericho among others. Still, he could've been a non-factor and Miro could've sent Chuckie T into the shadow realm. Hangman Adam Page v Matt Hardy (**1/2) - Well this was going one way. Always have to remember that Matt has walked that way pretty much his whole career and is still quite capable in the ring, some really nice counter sequences ending with reliably crisp twist(s) of fate. - Should probably bump this up a whole star if not two for the triumphant finish. I mean... that's awesome. The Dark Order are a wholesome face cult that's there for *you*, Adam.

Ladder Match for the 'Face of the Revolution'/TNT Title Contendership/A literal giant brass ring (**1/2) - AEW's set the bar for ladder matches a little higher than the likes of Cody and Lance Archer could possibly reach, no slight on them but this is not their wheelhouse. Caster's in a weird place, push wise... some 'fire' bars, though. - Lance could've won though. Or Penta. Though, Scorp deserves title shots, overdue for some gold, I can't even think of the most significant singles belt he's held... AWS? RevPro? - Ethan Page is a kickass get, though unavoidably I think about the possibility of getting Jordynne Grace (among others in Impact's women's division) onto the program. - Weird highlight of the match just seeing Jake getting attended to on the bottom corner of the ring for a couple minutes. How much has Jake the Snake done to establish the credibility and value of Lance Archer? So. So much. Sting & Darby Allin v Brian Cage & Ricky Starks in a Street Fight (****) - Sting, in 2021, having the match of the night. 61 years young. Well. He had some explosive looking stinger splashes, and looked pretty game for most of it. - Darby, as is tradition, was thrown at or through or threw himself at or through most of the big spots, and that's worth the price of admission for this whole cinematic digression. Plus, Sting. - Commentary should've... stopped? Taken a different tone? I'd like to see future Sting cinematic matches go further into the Lucha Underground aesthetic. Kenny Omega (C) v Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match for the AEW World Title (***1/2) - It's a shame. We watched Onita v Funk before the PPV and this was obviously light years better in every single way, there was actual wrestling, Kenny did a springboard maneuver in an exploding death match, everything looked pretty vicious, the pace was solid, even the Good Brothers stealing Kenny's valour by helping him was totally fine because they were all leaving Mox to get written off for the foreseeable future. - But uh. - Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom! - You cannot tell us that the ring is going to explode and then the ring does not explode. You cannot ask poor Eddie Kingston to sell like death for some sparklers. You cannot end your show with a wet fart. Air out of the room like the end of... well, any WWE PPV.

[mythgirlimagines]

Anon KG Characters With SDR2 Talents

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MYTH: Former SHSL Chef

One of the four chaperones of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate and Wyre’s childhood friend. Having always helped around in the kitchen as a youngster, eventually she has become experienced enough to make three-star recipes from scratch all by herself. With help from her family, she has eventually opened up her own restaurant called “Mythical Munchies”. Multiple critics worldwide state that Myth’s delicious cooking is matched only by her kindness and hospitality towards her customers. 

Clothes: A pink and white chef’s uniform with a heart shaped ascot and a heart patterned apron.

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WYRE: Former SHSL Animator

One of the four chaperones of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate and Myth’s childhood friend. With an eye for design and a rowdy and reckless personality, Wyre’s main craft lies in the art of animation. Well known for such titles as “Creature In My Mind” and “Wendigo’s Winter”, her hand-drawn-animated horror flicks are definitely worth a watch, if you have the stomach to watch them. Due to spending a lot of time holed up in her room working on her next project, she usually lets Myth bring her food to prevent her from starving.

Clothes: A beige hoodie with a monster design on it, cracked glasses, black fingerless gloves, a tattered tan skirt with a dinosaur skeleton on it, black stockings and brown boots.

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SCAR: SHSL Gymnast

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. Having been inspired by the protagonists of action anime and manga, she aspires to be athletic and fit just like them. Being able to bend into a bunch of unnatural positions have led her to believe that she is possessed by an evil amorphous entity, which lead to her Chuunibyou personality as the Demon of Agility. While she still has her hammy Chuunibyou personality even at Hope’s Peak, many people have cracked the facade to find out that she is just a concerned mom friend who wants the best for her companions. 

Clothes: A purple hoodie with demonic motifs over a red and black leotard, black stockings and red sneakers.

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FUSION: SHSL Nurse

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. A very logical, yet empathetic soul, he’s managed to pass his medical school exams with flying colors, despite still being in high school. Many patients at his workplace have nicknamed him the “Gentle Giant Genius” for his gentle personality, his height and for being a treasure trove of medical knowledge. At Hope’s Peak, he’s known around the school for being like a father figure to his class, to the point that many of his classmates have accidentally called him “Dad”, which he takes as a compliment.

Clothes: An oversized white lab coat with a red cross on the back over a light blue turtleneck, black pants, brown loafers and brown glasses. He keeps medical supplies and candy both in his giant lab coat and his giant afro.

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FUSION II: SHSL Gamer

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. Obsessed with gaming ever since she first bought a console, you would usually find her either gaming on her computer or on her multitude of consoles. While she isn’t picky with games, she mainly specializes in games that require speed and precision, such as platformers and racing games. But her gaming isn’t the only thing her fans adore her, for her sassy and snarky commentary on her Let’s Plays have gained her a massive following and a one way ticket to Hope’s Peak.

Clothes: A Galacta-themed hairpin, white and blue headphones, black sunglasses, a zipped-up white gakuran with gaming-themed badges on them, a skirt with a pixelated white to blue gradient and steel boots that add a couple of inches to her height.

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JANON: SHSL Swordfighter

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate and Curious’s bodyguard. They were raised by a family of sword-fighters in the country of Inrakhu, who taught young Janon everything they needed to know. They’ve earned their title by winning in a multitude of ruthless Inrakhuin sword-fighting tournaments, despite said battles giving them quite a lot of scars. Ever since Janon met the Inrakhuin royal family and the heir to the throne, Curious, it has been their sworn duty to protect the impressionable princex from harm, not that Janon would admit that they’re in love with the princex.

Clothes: A blue blazer with sword-fighting medals pinned on the front, over a white button-up shirt with a red tie, black gloves, black pants, black shoes, a black surgical mask to cover their facial scars, and their prized sword “Xunmarthic” in a scabbard on their back.

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SPARKLE: Former SHSL Photographer

One of the four chaperones of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. With an eye for beauty, and a desire to capture these dazzling moments, this flashy and bombastic girl took up the hobby of photography as a way to capture the feel of these ever-sparkling moments. Her favorite moments to capture are scenes where the scenery and people in the photo match up perfectly, and her quick reaction time means that these moments would most certainly be captured perfectly. Despite her photos being a source of pride for her, her one main desire is to have her ever-dazzling self be included in her own pictures.

Clothes: The same clothes she wears now, except instead of a sparkly purple cape, she has a sparkly purple and gold digital camera around her neck.

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EGG: SHSL Team Manager

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate and Wet Sock’s twin. Although they’re prone to making cursed comments at the most inappropriate of times, those who can look past that can see that Egg is really motivational underneath those cursed comments. From baseball to volleyball, they’re able to motivate and push even the most disobedient of teammates to victory. Every time Egg’s students score a point and win the game, you could see Egg squatting in the bleachers crying tears of joy, just like a proud dad.

Clothes: Black glasses, a green tracksuit with a white feather design on the front, over a yellow t-shirt, and the same shoes from their original design.

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WET SOCK: SHSL Lucky Student

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate and Egg’s twin. Forever salty that their idiot twin actually has talent, while they had to win a lottery just to get acknowledged Hope’s Peak, they have adapted a bitter and knife-obsessed personality to push people away. But according to Egg, they just need to look past his bitter and cursed comments and you’ll see that they’re just a massive tsundere who only wants validation from others. Hopefully, Wet Sock’s bitter shell will get cracked during their time at Kibo-Con.

Clothes: The same clothes, but without the snow logo and earrings.

——————————————————- CURIOUS: SJHSL Princex

One of the two SJHSL students participating in the SHSL Internship Program. As the eldest child of the royal family of the small European country of Inrakhu, Curious was groomed by their family to be the best princex for their country. However, one of the princex’s main flaws that the family still has yet to fix is Curious’s rampant gullibility and impressionability, which means he can easily be swept up into the wrong crowd. To combat this, they’ve chosen the greatest and merciless Inrakhuin sword-fighter, Janon, to protect their child from deviant commoners.

Clothes: A green over coat over a beige vest, a green tie and a white button up, and the same pants and shoes from their original design.

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NERD: Former SHSL Yakuza

One of the four chaperones of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. Nerd is the heir to one of the biggest crime syndicates in all of the country, with over 300,000 members under his command. His parents, the previous heirs, have taught him everything he needed to know about being the best Yakuza heir there is. He’s gotten every quality a good yakuza must have; merciless, ruthless, assertive, and above all, a great negotiator, to the point that even the sound of his name instills fear in anyone unfortunate enough to hear it. 

Clothes: A pinstripe suit and fedora, similar to Fuyuhiko’s suit.

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ELDRITCH: SHSL Mechanic

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. The best way you could describe Eldritch, is anxiety and paranoia in a 5’ package, or at least, that is how he is most of the time. There is only one way you can have a chance for Eldritch to break out of his shell and trust you; bring up the topic of vehicles/machines and he would be blabbering a mile a minute about the safety and unsafety of said vehicles. The main reason he became a mechanic is to protect others from experiencing the dangers of faulty vehicular design.

Clothes: A camo tracksuit that resembles a F1 racers outfit, black gloves and sneakers, and brown goggles on his head.

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DREAM: Reserve Course Student

The lucky Reserve Course student picked to go on the annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. Despite not having a talent, she’s just too darn happy to be in Hope’s Peak and have the best friends a girl can hope for! Her motivational and sunny attitude manages to lighten up the otherwise sullen atmosphere of the Reserve course. Although deep down, she would love to have an awesome athletic talent, and to this day, you could find her at a sports center, training her body to become even fitter and hoping that she’d get propelled to SHSL status.

Clothes: A normal white school uniform with a pink ascot, skirt and pink barrettes in her hair, white stockings and pink slip on shoes.

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IRIS: SJHSL Animal Breeder

One of the two SJHSL students participating in the SHSL Internship Program. Ever since Iris was little, animals just seem to flock to her like it’s nothing, and luckily, Iris loves the animals back. After owning loads of pets, she’s managed to breed animals that live longer, are smarter, are more obedient, or just have more appealing features, which managed to propel her to SJHSL status as the SJHSL Animal Breeder. She’s very easily recognizable for her positive and cheery attitude and the four blue budgies constantly perched on her shoulder and head, named Europa, Ganymede, Io and Callisto.

Clothes: A light blue jacket with white pawprint designs on each pocket over a dark blue dress with a black cat design on the bottom, black knee high socks and white sneakers with a light blue pawprint design on each side.

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FANCY: SHSL Musician

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak’s annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. Music and a need for attention has always caught Fancy’s eye, so being a musician sounds like a no-brainer for a career, and boy does their music slay. “All That Glitters” and “From One Star To Another” are just two of the platinum-level songs that their band “The Dandy Capes” managed to expertly craft as a ground-breaking merging of classical and rock music. Fancy takes their career as a musician very seriously, and would never do a stupid stunt if it means jeopardizing their career.

Clothes: A black and white tuxedo with music notes for the cufflinks and sheet music designs on the sleeves and pants, and smoothed out, long white hair with dyed black stripes in it.

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PURPLE: SHSL Traditional Dancer

One of the attendants of Hope’s Peak annual field trip to Kibo-Con Ultimate. Her choreography is smooth, coordinated and above all else, beautiful and graceful, alongside narration of a compelling story using very descriptive and old-fashioned vocabulary. But while she seems confident and stoic on the stage, the same can’t be said for her behavior off the stage, for she is otherwise very timorous and socially anxious, always cowering in the corner or hiding behind bigger people. The one thing that can lure her out of her hiding place is candy, particularly wagashi, such as konpeito and dango.

Clothes: A dark purple kimono with lilac flower designs, white socks and zori sandals

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Tune in next time for part 3, “Anon KG Characters With NDRV3 Talents”!

How did I do? Could you picture yourself with any of these talents?

It was truly worth it in the end!

-Fusion Anon

—

I love me as a chef! You never fail to impress, Fusion

[senaar-ika]

The Pixie & The Bard: Ch. 1

Hi there. It’s been a while. I honestly just haven’t had the creative energy or motivation to write recently. I moved house and started working more and I’m about to start a new semester of university. What with the world being a flaming trash bin my brain hasn’t quite been up for much. 

Welcome to all the new followers and thank you to everyone who’s stuck around. I’ve had this first chapter of a multi-chaptered fic sitting in my drafts for a while so I thought why not share. I hope you enjoy!

Summary: You’re working as a fairy at a Renaissance Festival in the New York countryside when you meet Charlie and Henry. A father and son who are quite the pair. You flirt with guests at the festival for fun all the time, but something feels different about this one . . . 

CW/Tags: nothing major, just heavy flirting, awkward dad Charlie, literally too much Henry but I promise his relationship to reader is important, also E making up shit about renaissance faires, this is mostly just me longing to dress up like a fairy and go to a festival and watch people joust ok 

Word Count: 2.6k

Chapter 1 - An Chance Encounter

The festival grounds are surrounded on all sides by forest. Trodden down dirt walking paths snake past vendors and performers, ultimately leading visitors to the main events in the center clearing. The Fairy Tree -as it is affectionately known by performers and guests alike- is your territory. The ancient sycamore tree looks like something right from the pages of a storybook with its sprawling roots, knotted trunk, and layers of thick branches. 

Your inner child sprang out on your first day when your manager led you to the tree, explaining that your character should mostly keep in a close radius to it. She didn’t have to tell you twice. You were up the tree and swinging casually from the branches in minutes. Some of the other fairy cast members wander the festival, making mischief and spreading glitter. But you’re perfectly content to hang around your tree. 

Of course you’re safe, never climbing too high or swinging too recklessly. You keep a little wooden flute at one hip and your bag of “fairy dust” at the other. Piping out mysterious tunes from up in the tree only to surprise guests who happened along past. If they have children you often toss a handful of sparkling fairy dust down, relishing their squeals of delight. 

Today is Saturday. First Saturday to be exact. First Saturday is always the busiest, or at least that’s what the returning cast members have been telling you. First Saturday always falls on the first weekend when schools are closed for the summer, so the families turn out in droves. You likely won’t get a real break today; it’s all hands on deck. 

You lean against the trunk of the old fairy tree, one arm hugged as far around it as you can. You’re only about ten feet up, but it feels like you’re part of the forest. A breeze rustles the leaves, bright and green for the start of summer. You close your eyes gently. In the distance you hear a horn sound and a wave of cheers rise up, carried by the breeze. 

Afternoon tournament already? The day has flown by. Cast members don’t get to have any modern technology on hand while performing, so you tend to gauge the time by the schedule of festivities. Afternoon tournament started at two. You’d been up in the tree since lunchtime. The tournaments, which include jousting, sword fighting, and axe throwing, pull the biggest crowds. Meaning smaller attractions got a bit of a break. 

Carefully you slide down to sit, resting your back against the trunk and balancing your legs horizontally along the length of the branch. You breathe in deeply, just listening for the familiar sounds of the tournament. 

“Dad, look!” The whisper-shout of a young boy pulls you away from the quiet, but your first glance at the boy’s father nearly fells you from your perch. Tall, dark, and built like one of the festival’s knights. He’s focused on his phone, typing furiously. The boy tugs at his father’s sleeve, trying very hard not to look away from you, as if he’s afraid you might disappear.

“What is it, Henry?” It isn’t sharp, just distracted, offhanded, but the bassy richness of the man’s voice sends a flutter to your chest. 

“There’s a lady up in the tree! Look!” You smile down at the boy, Henry, leaning forward a bit so that the iridescence of your wings catches the light, and you wave. The dad glances up briefly from his phone only to do a double take.  

“Hail and well met, gentlemen!” You called, pitching your voice up and putting on your character’s fairy accent. “Ye wouldn’t happen to be lost would ye?” 

Henry is quick to speak up, “My dad is trying to get a good phone signal!” The dad’s face turns a ridiculous shade of pink, his expression sheepish and embarrassed. You giggle, swinging your legs over the side of the branch so they dangle. 

“I dunno what that is, young lad, but perhaps he’d have better luck with a carrier pigeon?” One of the top rules was to always stay in character. No talking about modern life. Immersion is key and after all you’re here to make magic. But Henry seems confused.

“You don’t know what a phone signal is? Don’t you have a phone?” Ah so he’s one of those smart kids. Before you can say anything, Henry’s father cuts in.

“She’s a fairy, Henry, look. Fairies don’t have phones.” The dad explains, gently. His voice is practiced, as though he has to explain a lot to his son. You nod along with him, crossing your ankles and propping your chin on your hand. 

“Aye, he’s right!” You chime in, “And you two look like . . . hmmm.” You scrunch your face in consternation for a moment. “Ah! I know! A knight and his squire?” You point from father to son.

Henry starts to laugh and his father smiles, looking from you to his son and back. 

“Yes! Young squire Henry and the brave knight Sir . . .” You trail off, gesturing towards the boy’s father. 

“Charlie,” He finishes, holding your gaze steadily. You feel your grin widen and you tilt your head, reminding yourself to stay in character. 

It’s not like flirting with guests is discouraged; actually, it’s almost expected of most fairy cast members. You’ve just never been caught off guard like this before. Something about this man, Charlie, sends your heart racing. Perhaps because he seems far too dashing for a dad, or maybe it’s how quickly he is willing to play into the immersion of your job. 

“So the brave knight, Sir Charlie, and young squire Henry find themselves at the Fairy Tree.” You slide yourself over to the trunk and begin climbing down, using the little foot and hand holds nailed into the tree. “Trying to relay a message with no luck?” 

When you reach the ground, Henry bolts over to you. “Why didn’t you just fly down?” 

You crouch down to his height. “Flying for me is like running for you. It’s so exhausting!” 

Henry nods, understanding, and looks back over his shoulder at his dad, still standing a ways back. Charlie smiles at the two of you before glancing back at his phone. 

“My dad is trying to send a picture of me to my mom.” There it is. You feel something in your chest sink a little. You should’ve expected it really. Hot dad and cute kid? There has to be a mom somewhere in the picture. Henry, unaware that his simple statement shook you, continues on. “She lives in LA, but I get to come see my dad every month. He likes to take me to do things like this.” Oh, hot divorcee dad. 

“And what have ye done around the festival today, young lad?” You actually smile as Henry carries on in that childlike way, just talking. Simple statements. Pouring out their day for you. 

The two of you plop down to the forest floor. Henry absentmindedly plays with the grass and pebbles. You pluck a couple of clovers from the grass and begin stringing them together. Usually the fairies are encouraged to tell stories to the children, but this particular child seems happy to tell you the story of his day. Henry is just finishing up recounting how they had eaten turkey legs and french fries for lunch when his dad approaches. 

“I’m surprised to see such an adventurous pair missing the tournament,” You remark, handing Henry the bracelet of clovers you had woven while he was talking. “But I’m glad to hear your stories, young Henry.” 

“There’s a tournament?” Henry’s eyes light up as you slip into your role, telling him all about the lore of the festival.

“Why of course, young Henry! Every sixth day the King holds tournaments where our bravest and strongest knights may show their skill! There’s sword fighting and jousting and horses, and of course all the fair maidens of the kingdom come as well!” You try to avoid looking up at Charlie, squatting down beside his son, for fear of stumbling over your words. “The fairy folk like me perform great songs and dances for the royal court, and all the guests like you cheer and awe at all the talent!”

Henry is hanging on your every word, completely frozen and enraptured in your performance. 

“Unfortunately for you, the tournament for today is probably just finishing up.” Seeing the boy’s face start to sink with disappointment you add, “But! After the tournament the fairy folk will lead a parade back to this very tree and we’ll tell stories! There’s always a bit o’ music with our stories. I play this!” You pull your flute from its slot on your belt and hold it up for Henry, whispering your next sentence. “If you and Sir Charlie aren’t in a rush, I suggest you stick around, the parade should be arriving any minute now.” 

“Can we stay, dad?” Henry turns excitedly towards his father, eyes still wide. Charlie’s face breaks into a full grin that goes all the way to his eyes which crinkle at the corners. A noticeable dimple also appears on his cheek. Stay in character, you have to remind yourself. 

“Of course, honey, if you want to.” Charlie places a hand gently on his son’s back. 

It seems as though Charlie’s about to say something to you, but before he can you’re overtaken by the sound of jingling bells, flutes, and footsteps crunching along the dirt path. 

“The parade!” Henry scrambles to his feet, turning in the direction of the noise. 

You catch Charlie’s gaze as you both move to stand up as well. He mouths a silent “Thank you.” You smile and give him a wink, lifting your flute to your lips. Moving quickly, you dance back to the tree and climb up to hang by one hand from one of the handholds nailed into the trunk. The tune of your flute matches up with the commotion coming up the path. 

At least once a day, a large group arrives at the Fairy Tree led by cast members like yourself. It’s part of the job, performing like that. So why are you so nervous? 

The parade rounds the forest bend, finally coming into sight. Two fairy cast members lead the group, one with a tambourine, the other a pan flute. A dozen or so children are close behind with a couple more fairies mixed in. Bemused parents and adult stragglers make up the rear. 

“Aha!” The performer with the tambourine, halts the parade and points to you. “Kind guests and members of the parade, this is our sister Dewdrop!”

You hop back down to the ground, lowering your flute, and slip into the loose script that formed around storytime each day. “Are we to tell these fine folks a story today, Evergreen?”

And with your line, you settle. This is just your job. You do this every day. Every day there’s a new story. Every day there’s a new crowd. 

You and the other fairies sit the little ones down on “toadstool” seats while the adults gather around. Henry choses the seat closest to where you stand, you notice, so you make sure to give him a smile when you can. Like a good actor, you dance your eyes across the crowd, trying to bounce rather than stick to anyone in particular. But.

But you can’t help but get stuck on Charlie. He’s watching you so intently, occasionally glancing down at Henry as he laughs at all the silly jokes and goofs. Today’s story is one about how the king of the festival was trapped and magicked to dance for eternity by the trickster pixies until a kind hearted fairy saved him. The stories are always a bit silly like that. 

When you and the other fairies take your final bow, all conducting the children in a chorus of “The end!” and tossing handfuls of fairy dust, you make eye contact with Charlie again. Everyone is clapping politely. He’s smiling at you. You hold his gaze for just one second longer. He’s the first to look away, clearing his throat and raising his gaze to the treetops. You barely have time to process what just happened before Henry is tugging at your skirt. 

“You didn’t tell me your name is Dewdrop!” He exclaims, somehow still thriving off of the high energy of the show. 

You giggle, dropping down to his level. “You never asked, young Henry!” 

“That’s a funny name.” He scrunches his nose in such an innocent way you can’t help but smile. 

“Well all the fairies are named a bit differently than you humans.” You explain, “We’re given names that connect us to nature and-” 

“Wait a second!” Henry interrupts and suddenly runs over to his dad. 

They converse softly for a moment, Charlie leaning down so Henry can whisper in his ear. Charlie seems to be thinking hard about whatever his son is saying. He flicks his eyes over to you for what seems like a millisecond, you can’t even be sure he did look at you. Then he nods and Henry scampers back over to you. 

“My dad says we can come back tomorrow! I want to see the fighting and the contests like you said!” Your heart seems to stop for a second before you become very aware of it beating in your ears. 

“That - That’s wonderful, young lad!” You shake yourself back to this fantasy that is reality. “You must stop by the tree and say hello then.” You chance a look over at Charlie to find his eyes locked on you. He smiles and gives a slight nod of his head. 

He steps forward reaching for his son’s hand. “Alright, Henry, let’s get going now and let our friend get back to doing … fairy stuff.” Henry’s face scrunches in a way that your years of working around children tell you he’s not thrilled at the idea of leaving. So you swoop in with a little assist. 

“Sir Charlie’s right, young lad.” You take a pinch of fairy dust from the pouch on your belt, “I’ve got official fairy business to attend to around the festival. But here, I’ll give you a bit of parting sparkle so that you’ll shine until we meet again!” With a flourish, you dust Henry’s flower bracelet with the glittery powder. 

That seems to satisfy the young boy as he gives you a toothy grin and turns to leave with a quick “Bye! See you tomorrow!” 

“Well hang on just a second!” You decide to milk this moment a tiny bit more, just for fun. “That’s no way to leave a proper lady! Give us a bow and a fare thee well!” 

Henry looks confused for a second but Charlie elbow’s him lightly. “Like this,” he whispers. He executes a wonderfully low bow, crying out “Fare thee well, Dewdrop! We shall return on the morrow!” in an over the top sort of faux English accent. 

You laugh, fully, almost definitely out of character. That’s when Charlie looks up from his bow, holding your eyes as he rises back up to his full height. After a second, he clears his throat and elbows at Henry again, muttering “Your turn.”

Henry does his best to imitate his father, but his bow is a bit shaky. “Fare thee well, Dewdrop! We shall . . . Dad what is it?” 

“We shall return on the morrow,” Charlie mumbles, failing to conceal a smile. 

“We shall return tomorrow!” Henry finishes and stands back upright. 

As the two of them finally start down the dirt trail you call after them. “Safe travels, Sir Charlie and Squire Henry! T’was a true pleasure that our paths should cross!” 

“Bye!” Henry yells back. 

Charlie looks over his shoulder at you one more time. You wave. He smiles. And then they turn the corner. And they’re gone. 

[laannie0803]

El rey Daemon I Fuegoscuro, nacido como Daemon Mares y apodado el Dragón Negro, fue el hijo bastardo del rey Aegon IV Targaryen y su prima, la princesa Daena Targaryen, siendo el mayor de los Grandes Bastardos. Fue fundador y cabeza de la Casa Fuegoscuro.

Daemon fue concebido durante el tiempo en que su madre, la princesa Daena Targaryen, estaba prisionera en la Bóveda de las Doncellas. A finales de 170 d.C., la princesa Daena dio a luz a un hijo bastardo a quien llamó Daemon en honor a su abuelo. Daena crió sola a su hijo y se rehusó a decir quién era el padre del niño; Daemon creció en la Fortaleza Roja y fue enseñado por los maestros más sabios y los mejores hombres de armas, entre ellos Ser Quentyn Ball, el maestro de armas del castillo. Creció amando la lucha y se distinguió como un excelente guerrero, a pesar de su corta edad.

Fue nombrado caballero por su padre, el rey Aegon, en su duodécimo día del nombre, al distinguirse en un torneo de escuderos. El rey le reconoció como su hijo bastardo y le entregó Fuegoscuro, la espada de acero valyrio de Aegon el Conquistador, además de tierras y otros honores. Desde ese momento, Daemon tomó el nombre Fuegoscuro para sí mismo, fundando una nueva casa noble

A la muerte de Aegon IV, el nuevo rey Daeron II acordó pagar la dote que el difunto rey había prometido al Arconte de Tyrosh para que su hija Rohanne pudiera casarse con Daemon. Daemon dijo que no pretendía ese matrimonio, pero finalmente decidió honrar a sus padres de acuerdo a sus deseos. El día de su boda, Daeron le concedió tierras cerca del Aguasnegras para construir un castillo sobre ellas como regalo de bodas. Daemon y su esposa llegaron a tener siete hijos y al menos dos hijas.

Después de que el rey Aegon IV legitimara a sus bastardos antes de morir, Daemon esperó algún tiempo antes de rebelarse. Reunió consejeros, quienes le urgieron a reclamar el trono, especialmente su medio hermano Aegor Ríos y su amigo Quentyn Ball. Se cree que fue la boda de la princesa Daenerys con el Príncipe de Dorne Maron Martell lo que desencadenó la Rebelión Fuegoscuro. Daemon participó en el torneo que se celebró en honor a la boda y fue derrotado en las justas por el príncipe Baelor Targaryen.

Se sabía que Daemon estaba enamorado de la princesa; que ese sentimiento era correspondido es objeto de dudas pero doce años después de la muerte de Aegon IV, Daemon reclamó el Trono de Hierro como verdadero heredero de su padre y lideró la rebelión contra su medio hermano, Daeron II. Daemon atrajo muchos seguidores con sus habilidades militares y por poseer la espada Fuegoscuro, lo que le valió el apodo del Rey que esgrimió la Espada. Muchos a quienes les desagradaban las costumbres dornienses y el carácter académico de la corte de Daeron, prefirieron el fuerte carisma de Daemon por encima del conocimiento y la religión.

La batalla decisiva de la guerra se peleó en el Prado Hierbarroja. De acuerdo a Ser Eustace Osgrey, quien peleó en el bando rebelde, Daemon peleó "como el Guerrero encarnado". Derrotó a Ser Gwayne Corbray de la Guardia Real en un combate singular que duró casi una hora. Luego, en vez de atacar a las fuerzas del príncipe Maekar, defendió al malherido Corbray y ayudó a sacarlo de la batalla.

Entretanto, Brynden Ríos y sus Picos de Cuervo encontraron un lugar elevado desde el que poder disparar flechas hacia las fuerzas de Daemon. Daemon y sus hijos gemelos, Aemon y Aegon, murieron. Con ello, las posibilidades de victoria de los rebeldes se esfumaron.

Los hijos sobrevivientes de Daemon fueron exiliados junto a Aegor Ríos. Sus descendientes se rebelaron al menos cuatro veces más, hasta que Maelys el Monstruoso, el último de su linaje, fue asesinado por Ser Barristan Selmy al término de la Guerra de los Reyes Nuevepeniques.

Puede que haya sido un guerrero formidable y ambicioso como lo fue el príncipe Daemon, pero al final pasa lo mismo que con otros hermanos... Pelean por el trono y de todas formas la guerra solo sirvió para causar muerte, miedo y problemas por las ambiciones y la envidia de un hermano menor.

King Daemon I Firefighter, born Daemon Mares and nicknamed the Black Dragon, was the bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen and his cousin, Princess Daena Targaryen, being the eldest of the Great Bastards. He was founder and head of the Casa Fuegoscuro.

Daemon was conceived during the time that his mother, Princess Daena Targaryen, was being held prisoner in the Vault of the Maidens. In late AD 170, Princess Daena gave birth to a bastard son whom he named Daemon in honor of his grandfather. Daena raised her son alone and refused to say who the boy's father was; Daemon grew up in the Red Keep and was taught by the wisest masters and best men-at-arms, including Ser Quentyn Ball, the castle's master-at-arms. He grew up loving the fight and distinguished himself as an excellent warrior, despite his young age.

He was knighted by his father, King Aegon, on his twelfth day of the name, by distinguishing himself in a squire tournament. The king recognized him as his bastard son and presented him with Darkfire, the Valyrian steel sword of Aegon the Conqueror, in addition to land and other honors. From that moment, Daemon took the name Fuegoscuro for himself, founding a new noble house

On the death of Aegon IV, the new King Daeron II agreed to pay the dowry that the late King had promised to the Archon of Tyrosh so that his daughter Rohanne could marry Daemon. Daemon said he did not intend that marriage, but ultimately decided to honor his parents according to their wishes. On his wedding day, Daeron granted him land near the Blackwater to build a castle on it as a wedding gift. Daemon and his wife grew to have seven sons and at least two daughters.

After King Aegon IV legitimized his bastards before he died, Daemon waited for some time before rebelling. He gathered counselors, who urged him to claim the throne, especially his half brother Aegor Ríos and his friend Quentyn Ball. It is believed that it was Princess Daenerys' wedding to Prince of Dorne Maron Martell that sparked the Darkfire Rebellion. Daemon participated in the tournament that was held in honor of the wedding and was defeated in the jousts by Prince Baelor Targaryen.

Daemon was known to be in love with the princess; that this sentiment was reciprocated is a matter of doubt but twelve years after the death of Aegon IV, Daemon claimed the Iron Throne as his father's true heir and led the rebellion against his half brother, Daeron II. Daemon attracted many followers with his military skills and for possessing the Darkfire sword, earning him the nickname of the King who wielded the Sword. Many who disliked Dornian customs and the academic character of the Daeron court, preferred Daemon's strong charisma over knowledge and religion.

The decisive battle of the war was fought in the Prado Hierbarroja. According to Ser Eustace Osgrey, who fought on the rebel side, Daemon fought "like the Warrior incarnate." He defeated Ser Gwayne Corbray of the Royal Guard in a singular combat that lasted almost an hour. Then, instead of attacking Prince Maekar's forces, he defended the badly wounded Corbray and helped pull him out of battle.

Meanwhile, Brynden Ríos and his Raven Beaks found a high place from which to shoot arrows at Daemon's forces. Daemon and his twin sons, Aemon and Aegon, died. With this, the chances of victory for the rebels disappeared.

Daemon's surviving sons were exiled alongside Aegor Rios. His descendants rebelled at least four more times, until Maelys the Monster, the last of his lineage, was killed by Ser Barristan Selmy at the end of the War of the Ninepenny Kings.

He may have been a formidable and ambitious warrior as Prince Daemon was, but in the end the same thing happens with other brothers ... They fight for the throne and anyway the war only served to cause death, fear and problems for the ambitions and envy of a younger brother.

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Granbelm

When it comes to Granbelm, I feel like you fall into one of two camps: you either get it, or you don’t.

I realize that’s a pretty vague and unhelpful statement, so let me clarify. To some extent, your ability to enjoy any piece of media is determined by how well you connect with its specific wavelength. The subtle differences in cinematography, dialogue, visual aesthetic, themes and so on can make all the difference in the world in determining why, for example, I dislike the Haruhi franchise, yet I love a show that starts from pretty much the exact same premise, Chuunibyou. If you can latch onto a show’s overriding attitude, you’re going to enjoy it. If you can’t, you won’t. Simple enough on its surface right?

Well, I feel like that Granbelm supercharges that dichotomy to a far greater extent than I’ve seen in a while. Despite it being one of the least watched anime of Summer 2019, there’s a sizeable contingent of fans who absolutely adore it. On the MAL forums, on Anime News Network, scattered across the internet, there are plenty of people who love this mashup of dark magical girl tropes and mecha action with all their heart, praising the characters and the ideas explored and putting it right up there near the top of their lists for anime of the season. And on the other hand, you have the rest of the anime fandom, who lost interest in it, dropped off after a couple episodes, hated it from the get-go, couldn’t be bothered to care about it, or are still watching but not quite sure why. Something about the particulars of Granbelm’s storytelling leave very little middle ground for an audience to fill you either get it, or you don’t. If you get it, it’s a powerful, resonant piece of art that will stick with you long after it finishes airing. If you don’t get it, it’s a bizarre, disappointing, not really insulting, but overall uninteresting waste of time.

The story, an original script from the director and animation team behind Re:Zero, centers around the titular Granbelm, a Fate/Stay-Night-esque battle royale between young mages that occurs every full moon. These mages, all young girls, fight in stout, stocky mecha that channel their magical energy in powerful attacks, shield them from damage, do weird wobbly magic business and all that good stuff. Defeat doesn’t mean death, thankfully; it just means you’re knocked out of the running, and the competitors who last the night pick the battle right back up when the next full moon rises. The ultimate prize? A supposedly unlimited wish from an unseen entity that’s probably got a monkey’s paw or two up its ass, because this wasn’t enough like Fate already.

At any rate, into this ongoing tournament is thrust our protagonist: Mangetsu, a seemingly normal girl who gets air-dropped into the middle of a Granbelm match and quickly finds herself fighting alongside everyone else in her own mystical dwarf mecha. No one is quite sure what to make of her, least of all herself; if she’s able to compete, it means she’s descended from a mage’s bloodline, but nobody knows which one, and at any rate, her unwittingly joining up after the tournament is already under way it weird enough itself. But if she’s part of Granbelm, there’s nothing to be done; she can either drop out, or keep competing and fight to have her own wish realized. Mangestu, unsurprisingly, chooses to fight, and thus she begins her quest to beat out the rest of the colorful characters who are participating in this tournament, all while forging an initially uneasy alliance with a fellow competitor- Shingetsu- who’s decided to help her orient herself in this confusing new world. No points for guessing that things are darker than they initially appear, the Granbelm tournament itself might be a lie, and everyone’s got a closet full of skeletons ready to expose when it’s time for Maximum Drama(tm)

Honestly, though, for as much as I poke fun, Granbelm’s a lot better constructed than that description would lead you to believe. Calling it a mashup of Madoka and Fate wouldn’t be wrong, but it would also be a disservice to the many original ideas Granbelm comes up with. Even if you can guess the general trajectory of the story, the specifics of what’s actually going on will completely take you by surprise, with enough foreshadowing in the opening episodes for the eventual reveals to make sense. I know I was thrown for a loop when I realized that a couple things that were bugging me about Mangestu’s characterization turned out to be entirely intentional. There’s a damn smart narrative contraption at the core of this thing; no surprise, considering how good Re:Zero was at planting and payoff. And speaking of Re:Zero, another strength its director carries over here is sheer force of hype. The mecha battles are all riveting spectacles, rendered with kinetic cinematography, dizzying displays of power, and lush color palettes steeped in purple and blue. You feel the propulsion of these pieces of psychic armor zooming through the sky, aided by a killer sound design that makes them feel less like lumbering chunks of metal and more like Tron-esque digital programs. There’s so much confidence in every decision that it’s easy enough to get lost in the flow and jam out to the chaos.

So here’s the question I’m left with; If Granbelm is so good at crafting an engaging spectacle, with cool action and direction and interesting plot turns, then why did I- and so many other people- keep getting sucked out of it?

It’s here that we must turn our focus inward and talk about themes and meaning. This, I think, is where the heart of the divide lies between the people who love this show and those who don’t: do you get what it’s trying to say? Do you connect with how it tries to say it? Because from my perspective, Granbelm goes about exploring its themes in a very, very unclear and unfocused manner. Just take a look at the first episode if you want proof of this; it’s entirely dedicated to throwing Mangetsu right into the deep end of Granbelm and watching her experience it from the ground up. It’s certainly cool, but a nagging question I kept coming back to all throughout that episode was, “Why?” We’re given plenty of information about the players of Granbelm, the mechanics and lore, the cool shit we can expect from the battles, but we’re given no context into the emotional stakes involved. We learn nothing about why these girls are fighting, what’s at stake for losing, what deeper meaning is driving their stories, nothing. We’re given no reason to care about Mangestu until the end of the second episode, and even then it’s such a weak motivation- she wants to be useful to people- that it doesn’t feel worth the wait. Sure, you don’t need to dump the entirety of your show’s thesis on the audience right at the start, but at least some context is needed to help them get invested, right?

Unfortunately, I would find myself asking that question of “Why?” plenty of times throughout Granbelm. It takes a while for the scope of the story to really come into focus, and while the eventual reveals are, as I said, cool, it feels like the meaning behind them should’ve been driving the story forward from a lot earlier. Everything feels disconnected and unclear, like every conversation the characters have is meant to be the defining moral statement of an entirely different show. There’s some stuff about self-determination, there’s some stuff about humanity’s natural inclination to abuse power, and I think the ultimate point was something related to accepting the responsibility to evolve, but I feel like I’m scrambling around in the dark trying to piece together an incomplete puzzle. And it’s not a fun mystery where the pursuit of meaning is part of the point; the way Granbelm presents the ideas it explores, it feels like it’s trying to be clear about the point it’s making. But for me, at least, it really wasn’t.

Actually, now that I think about it, the real problem might stem from this: Granbelm is bad at connecting its planting to its payoff. Too many times over the course of this show, it would set up a conflict, and then eventually solve that conflict in a way that technically made sense, but also felt incredibly lacking. To use the most obvious example, Shingetsu’s biggest rival is Anna, a fellow witch who grew up as her close friend and adopted sister. They used to be incredibly close, but Anna eventually descended into jealousy and envy as Shingetsu’s talents far outstripped her own, to the point where she would do anything to take her down, even as Shingetsu desperately wants to mend their broken bond. It’s an understandable enough conflict on its surface, and without spoiling anything, the conclusion it reaches is probably the only conclusion it could have in a story of this nature. But actually watching the conflict play out getting to that point is so. Unbelievably. Not. Interesting. Anna as a character is far too arch, far too underwritten to care about. All she does is scream and make rage faces with increasingly unhinged fury, to the point where it’s impossible to buy into the supposed tragedy of her situation. She’s like a caricature of the jealous rival character, and at every point the story could’ve taken to let her indulge in some actual goddamn pathos, it instead instructs her voice actor to blow out yet another vocal chord and the animators to increase the dilation of her pupils. The way her arc resolves makes sense, but the character herself is so broken that it’s impossible to get invested in her.

And this isn’t the only time something of this nature occurs. There’s another character whose arc revolves around trying to save their sister from a curse, and the exact nature of how they get to the end of that arc feels just as half-baked and underwritten. There’s a lot of question I still have about the nature of the magic system, whether it was supposed to be good or bad or something in between. Occasionally, the show pulls a magic power out of its ass that feels like it’s supposed to be important and meaningful, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how it got there. Granbelm feels like a well-constructed show from the outside, but on the inside it’s just a mess. Not an annoying mess (okay, Anna’s shtick got insufferable at times), but a mess all the same, a plot that felt like it did actually know what it was doing, but for some reason couldn’t communicate that knowledge to me. I kept feeling like these was some missing piece I wasn’t getting, some aspect that I wasn’t picking up on that would make all the pieces fit together. But for the life of me, I couldn’t find that piece.

At least, that’s what I got out of it. Like I said, there are plenty of people who really like this show. So maybe that missing piece is still out there, and I just couldn’t find it for whatever reason. Maybe there’s some aspect of Granbelm that just speaks to some people with more clarity than others. All that considered, despite how down I’ve been on this show, I do recommend checking it out. It’s possible you’ll be one of the lucky few who’s able to figure out what it’s going for and thus find a new anime to add to your favorite’s list. And then maybe you can come back and explain it to me, because I’d really like to know what’s so potentially powerful about Granbelm that I just couldn’t figure out. For the moment, though, while I can’t call this show a disaster, I’m definitely frustrated that it never clicked together the way I wanted it to. And I give it a score of:

5/10

And the summer reviews continue! Next time, we check back into the wonderful world of Fate spinoffs to see if the latest one is any good. See you then!