#also like if their idea of rebellion changes does that mean their appearance would change

[princekirijo]

One of these days I'm gonna rant about the idea that the thieves' outfits represent "their idea of rebellion" and how I like interesting that concept is.

[puddingforg]

Can... can I maybe beg for info dumping about Owen and Hubter's original designs/story?

OFCCC!! I LOVE talking about my ocs so if you have any questions from what I’m about to tell please ask, now brace yourself this is a long one,

Ok lore, where do I start, imma give some world-building context first: Thousands of years ago there were these dudes each from a different species whose sole purpose was to protect their nation. Nobody really knows how they appeared but they had been protecting their nations for generations. As more Nations appeared and more wars started happening, lesser and lesser of them started appearing, first, it skipped a generation, then two, then three and so on until nobody knew what had happened to the fearless warriors that once fought for their nations, in some cultures they were forgotten, in others, they were treated as a myth and in others, they were treated as a curse who would come and cause chaos and destruction. There are 5 of them, they are an elf, a dragon, a vampire, a mermaid/man and a faun. Here are some Sketches as to how their designs might look but I’m probs gonna change them

forgot to mention but the world is kinda in a medieval era¿, it's like a DnD campaign of some sort lol

Ok so- Hunter and Owen being part of the main cast obviously are these previously mentioned “warriors” - Kinda… let me explain, I’ll start with Owen cuz’ his backstory is simpler, you have your stereotypical perfect mermaid, however, these mermaids are a pretty discriminatory species, if someone doesn't follow their very strict beauty standards, which ofc is being a cutesy little fish-tail mermaid, they are categorised as a sea monster. Sea monsters live in separate places from the mermaids. Mermaids have the most territory residing in a huge and radiant city, like Atlantis, where everything and everyone is perfect living a perfect life. Then we have sea monsters, that, despite being way more, are left to live in a small, not very fit-to-live territory with little access to food and resources. Now, there is a deeper reason as to why that is. The normal mermaids have no idea of this but within the royal family there is this prophecy, which is engraved in a rock that they keep hidden, that someday a shark-tail mermaid ( like Owen, who just so happens to be who is meant to protect the people ) will appear and take the throne from those who aren’t meant to have it ( the mermaids ) The royal family for generation has kept the sea monsters oppressed in hopes that they don’t rebel and take the throne. So, Owen lives with his mother in a little house on the sea monsters side, he’s pretty liked and well-known bc he is one of the few ppl, like members of the revolutionary army, that dares to go to the mermaids side for food, ( little parenthesis, the revolutionary army has asked him multiple to join but he refuses each time bcs “he doesn’t like conflict” )  he’s pretty cocky with his abilities so for him it's no issue to go to that side bcs he is sure that he’ll never get caught (he has, he just escapes rlly easily ) it was actually in one of these occasions that he met Hunter, and finally I have a drawing of that! 

here’s the full page, it also comes with their designs and size difference 

I’ll explain how the hell Hunter is underwater and his reason to do so later btw. To summarise what happens next, they break out of prison, Hunter realizes Owen might be the one Caly is looking for (I’ll explain who she is later) Hunter asks him to go with him to the surface, Owen agrees, they go, adventure commences! ( for anyone wondering, yes Owen does end up making a rebellion and taking the throne but much, much, much  later) 

Now to Hunter, 

He’s a shadow-shifter, which essentially means that he is just a shadow w/o any real physical form so he can shift into whatever he wants, however, while he can make small alterations to his body like growing an extra pair of arms, grow wings or grow a couple of feet, to make big changes like increase his size exponentially for example, he needs a huge calorie intake that he can transform into mass/shadow that he can shape. Now I just said that shadowshifters don't have physical forms, that’s not the full truth, due to evolution they have developed a “base form” that resembles humans except that they are slightly taller ( around 7 feet ) and have black with purple eyes, like in this drawing here. 

Shadowshifters are still, well shadows they just look human to sort of blend, but Hunter for example when faced with very strong emotions loses control of himself and turns into a shapeless shadow. 

Onto Hunter's backstory, shadowshifters were a nomad nation, never really given their own land to call home, so they just wandered in caravans around all the lands. They were a hated species being seen as less by almost everyone because they didn't have a physical form. ( the real reason is that they were afraid of what they could actually do if they wanted to attack a nation, bc shapeshifting is a very broken ability 🙂‍↕️) They were so hated that other species began to hunt them, the fact that they were taller and had black eyes made them an easy target as they were easy to identify. One day the shadowshifters were crossing through the woods that sat in between the border of humans and fawns. They were playing music, the children were playing and an overall happy aura was taking over. As Hunter was playing with the other kids he ran over to his mother to ask her for her necklace so he could use it in the game they were playing, his mother happily handed it over. (This is important) Suddenly they heard a big crash followed by screaming. A huge group of not only humans but dragons and hybrids as well had attacked them. Then, the fire started, the dragons began burning everything as the humans and hybrids hunted them down. Hunter's mom grabbed him by the hand and started running away, Hunters mom knew that they wouldn't be able to outrun them, so she hugged Hunter tight saying her goodbyes and instructing him to run away as fast as he could, and to not look back for any reason. Hunter ran nonstop into the fauns territory until his body gave out and he fainted. He got woken up by a kid faun, close to his age, who was slightly shaking him and asking if he was okay. The kid looked at him confused, asking again if he was okay and reassuring him that he was safe. He said that his name was Kamal. Here’s how he looks like as a young adult

Kamal took Hunter to his village where Hunter would tell Kamal’s mom what happened; Fauns being a very docile species did not have any hate towars shadowshifters btw; Kamal’s mom decided to take Hunter in and raise him, the people of the village where also very kind and accepted Hunter. He lived a fairly happy life, until he was around 17. See the one who was supposed to protect the fauns was Kamal, and both he and Hunter decided that the best way to do that was to become bounty hunters and roam the borders of the fauns territory to make sure no one dangerous came in, they started doing this when they were around 13 so by the time they were 17 they were pretty good at it, however, as most teenagers, they believed themselves to be invincible, or at least Hunter did. ( This part is still in development so it's not gonna be that well-written jsjs ) One day, as they were doing their jobs and patrolling the borders, Hunter noticed a group of fairly known criminals entering the forest, so being as reckless as he was, he just started running w/o thinking, Kamal being more cautious decided to check the wanted posters he carried with him, he saw that the leader of the group had a danger level of 4 and a torch stamp ( Wanted posters rank criminals with danger levels ranging from 1 to 5 and if they have a torch stamp means that they have magic ) Kamal rushed to stop Hunter from doing something stupid but when he got there he had already started a fight, Kamal joined knowing there was no way Hunter could win on his own, While they were fighting one of the criminals launched at Hunter’s back with a sword while he fought someone else, Kamal saw this and rushed to push Hunter out of the way getting himself stabbed. Kamal's powers began going haywire, the ground shaking, plants and trees growing fastly everywhere, this scared the criminals away but the damage was already done. Hunter just stood there holding his brothers body, as the last bit of air left Kamal's body Hunter's necklace began glowing and something green started coming out of where Kamal's heart was, and the crystal on the necklace started absorbing it. When it stopped, the crystal was glowing green and the realisation of what just happened dawned on Hunter and he started screaming and crashing out, this caused him to lose his physical form and become a huge shadow that moved frantically everywhere, until he eventually passed out. When he woke up he was in his house, but not in his room, he was in Kamal's room, and his (adoptive) mom was hugging him asking him if he was okay and where Hunter was, he just stood there trying to make sense of everything, then he heard it. His mother called him Kamal. He rushed to the bathroom and saw himself in the mirror, there in the reflection stood Kamal. 

And that’s it ✨✨ there is soooo much more I have to say abt their stories but to do so it was very important to have hunters backstory clear so parts of the actual story are clear, I left a ton of things un explained so please ask if y’all wanna know something, I might take some time but I assure you that l WILL respond so dw. Gosh, I didn’t even touched the reasonings behind their designs, not only that but a bunch of other stuff happens in the actual story that’ll love to tell but I feel like this post is long enough so maybe I’ll post that another day.

[cotton-fae24]

Hello Everyone, so I need a little more time, so part 4 of chapter 7 will be posted on Sunday instead of Saturday, sorry about that. But I thought for now, I could show you some concept art for mermaid Eda! (I can't believe I haven't done hers yet).

Eda's design is based on a Red gurnard fish with such large fins that it looks like wings. I thought it fit the freedom-loving owl lady quite well. There were a lot of early ideas that never went through. One idea was her still being able to cast magic and actually being able to fly with her fin-like wings. Maybe she still can fly, but we just haven't seen it yet, but it was decided that no one in the Boiling Bay could practice magic (at least not yet) which meant Eda's role had to change.

When the idea of Lilith being the supreme monarch came up, that would technically mean Eda would be a Princess or at least royalty. An idea then came up of Eda being known as the "Pirate Princess" and running away from her duties to pursue a life of adventure and crime. While her sister, Lilith would try to catch her sister to chain her down. There was even an idea of Lilith trying to manipulate Luz against Eda by enticing with a life of royalty. Why was this cut? I felt like it was too similar to the show. Though this is still an owl house AU, I didn't want it to be "owl house but mermaids" I wanted to reinterpret the characters where their lives went into very different directions.

In the end, I decided that Eda would live in the palace with her sister, though she avoids royal duties as much as possible. The reason why she says in the castle is actually for King's, as she wanted him to stay in one place. I felt this change not only kept the story grounded, but also forced Eda's relationship with her Princess title head-on, and her feelings on it (which yes, will be delved into soon). Plus it allows the sisters to interact and conflict with one another. Though Eda does still have a pirate appearance to her, now she dresses like that to be the complete opposite of what a princess should be, a source of rebellion you could say, a way for her to put on a different persona.

One last thing I want to mention, in regards to Eda's redesign, it takes a lot of inspiration from @astrolavas designs specifically Amity's design, when she did her mermay month owl house au. While they're not clones to each other, I wanted to credit her as an inspiration, as her designs I did reference for my designs.

Please check out @astrolavas Tumblr she's so talented and her art is so amazing!

Anyway, I promise you that part 4 will be posted on Sunday, that is a promise.

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! Want to double check that I've done a decent job of avoiding disfiguremisia, and try to turn it into great counter to hatred instead of just an okay one.

Preface: I have a form of memory loss and likely brain damage so I cannot always phrase things clearly although I will try my best.

Personally I do not feel happy reading escapist stories as that happy ending is not achievable for real people. We don't get to live in a place that's completely safe and free from judgement. I'd like to write people in a hostile world who find love and safety and community, however this does necessite writing hostility. I want to make sure I'm doing so with care.

I would like to make sure that the hostility written as tension does not tar how I write how one of the main characters. He should be written with dignity and respect even when he is not being treated well by those around him.

One of my characters is blind and develops severe burn scars. He wears a blindfold to help with photophobia and sensory overwhelm, but takes it off when its dim. (CVI plus autism.)

While he does wear a cloth coverings in public due to ugly laws, he views it as a ridiculous requirement and happily removes this mask when with friends. He also enjoys that being visibly strange or somewhat unnerving to most people means that shallow people who judge by appearances avoid him.

Question: what other things might I be able to employ to counter disfiguremisia? I have him being content with his face as it tells a story of his life and he's a blunt, forward person, not covering his face for most of the story despite laws necessitating that he do so, and a few other things too (and many side characters with facial differences and deformities also).

Also none of the central plotlines centre around facial difference. He's joining a servant rebellion, befriending a bitter exile intent on status at all costs, and discovering the truth of history. (Also a mind controlling octopus being is involved and a semi sentient moon amalgam thing but don't worry about it everything's fine.)

I think later books will be a more effective counter due to lack of ugly laws and him finding a lovely interest. I will also do my best to make the counters feel real and feasible - I want it to feel like an achievable option for those who deal with prejudice in the real world. I want his happy ending to feel real.

I respect the hell out of escapist fantasies it's just that they do nothing for me personally. I really want to write someone dealing with a lot - more than I ever have - and coming out the other end happy. Yes this world is hostile and will judge me but I can find joy despite it all. Some say the world is universally cruel but I have not found this to be the case. It is wise to be wary but myself and friends can create small sections of time and space where no precautions are necessary. Am I not part of the world? Are not they? The world is not universally cruel as long as I and those I treasure live in and we are not extraordinary, simply uncommon, and what is uncommon is still a great bounty. (Something to that effect.)

I'm set on what I want to write but the specifics I'm more than happy to change in order to bring joy. Do you have ideas on how I can do this full idea full justice?

Hello,

before getting to your actual ask, I have a "few" questions about the premise of the story itself.

You mention that you don't like escapist fantasies - that's fair. Taste differs; you can write whatever and that's great. But I do find the insistence to write a story about a specific type of discrimination as an outsider rather strange. If you want to have facial difference representation, I assume you want to have readers with facial differences, correct? I mean, I don't think that many able-bodied people would be too interested in it specifically considering most don't know what it is. So okay, this is supposed to be a story of characters with facial differences overcoming centuries worth of hatred and all that. Arguably more, considering that disfiguremisia and ableism go all the way back to Biblical times.

Why are you the person who needs to tell this story?

Just as people with facial differences are readers, we can be authors as well. We tell our stories. I will take an #OwnVoices book over a one that isn't that any day, and this fact will influence the rest of this answer. I'm a firm believer in #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs and all when it comes to this stuff.

Have you talked to people with facial differences who would be interested in the kind of story you want to tell? Do you know what they want to see from an author that's not taking it from their own experience? I don't count here, because as I made clear before, I'm not and won't be interested in it. I also don't know anyone in the community who has ever said "I wish more people without our experiences wrote about how hard it is to be us!". You need to make sure there are people who want this.

So, have, or will you, reach out to those that could like it? Sensitivity readers, random people online who like to read about disfiguremisia in their free time, advocates who work on media-centric problems? Anyone who would enjoy it is automatically a better candidate to help than me. I'm too jaded.

If you want to talk about people with facial differences in such detail and setting, you need to get to know us. One guy with a specific set of opinions from a blog on Tumblr isn't that (thank god), but I guess I can serve as a reminder that not everyone will be excited to read a book that represents them in some way. We still have preferences.

To write it, you need to involve yourself in the community, start actually spreading activism about our issues. Preach about Face Equality and celebrate when our once-a-year week happens in May. See what disfiguremisia causes. Share our efforts to get all the problematic garbage off the big screen. Read our stories. Understand us as people who are incredibly diverse, and that not all of us like to be described as strange or unnerving.

If you only want to talk about our suffering as some quota to fill on a "types of discrimination" list, it will always be flat and inauthentic, and if you don't put in the effort it's pointless. We don't want tragedy porn, and we don't need to be included in every story about struggles that just wants some brand-new type of bigotry in it. We want authors who care about us, the living and breathing people. And sometimes it might mean respecting our opinions on writing disfiguremisia.

Here is a great post by @writingwithcolor explaining the effects of tragedy exploitation. Not everything there applies, but I would consider it a very valuable read.

If you think about all this, and decide that you are ready to write such a heavy, community-based story, go ahead to...

Actual Answers! Hooray

what other things might I be able to employ to counter disfiguremisia?

Sympathize with him. Disfiguremisia is a tragedy, it's brutal and it hurts. It's traumatic and impossible to forget, even if it wasn't happening constantly just to remind us that it's still there. On this note, I would recommend you research writing characters with PTSD.

Have him think about it. Sometimes I get home after getting stared down on the street and just want to yell. You don't forget a microaggression or a hate crime after five minutes. Let him vent and let him be upset. He can have flashbacks or recall similar situations that happened in the past.

I'm glad that he's aware of disfiguremisia unlike a ton of characters who are somehow always unable to figure out that it's a problem. If the ableism he's facing is so systemic and severe, individual people will be even more extreme. You can have him remember that the shop owner was a slur-spitting bigot, or that his neighbors avoid even talking to him. I want him to call them out - in retrospective, at the moment, in his head, whatever - on what they're doing. Throw a "not this fucking thing again" or something in there.

The minimum is to make him feel like a human with an internal thought process, who is able to actually experience what's happening to him, and for it to have long-term effects.

Also, outside of the whole disfiguremisia thing and me being overdramatic, check out our #blindness tag, and research burn scar care. If you don't show the boring and mundane, it will only feel closer to tragedy porn; just a sad thing one after another.

I will also do my best to make the counters feel real and feasible - I want it to feel like an achievable option for those who deal with prejudice in the real world.

This I think is the part of the ask that made me the saddest, and not because of what you wrote. I tried to think of achievable ways; ways that we did it, tried to do it, and are doing it, and one-by-one I crossed them out as "didn't work", "no one cared enough" or "kinda worked but honestly, it didn't". Face Equality is basically non-existent, not matter how much it hurts me to admit it. We are trying our best, and it doesn't work. It's just plain hard for me to come up with suggestions for this.

In fiction, I suppose that personal resistance is the way when it comes to this. I don't think there are feasible systemic changes that could happen that don't border on magical thinking or get into the "singular glorious revolution that somehow fixes everything and everyone lived happy ever after. We fixed racism, yay!". This just sucks. He could try to educate the people who are willing to listen - that's somewhat what I'm trying to pull off here on this blog, I guess. Sometimes it works, often it doesn't, but in his situation it wouldn't hurt to try.

The fundamental part here will be whether your character is able to find a way to make the ordinary person care in the end. To me, society who still hates us just as much, with a small group that thinks we're okay isn't a happy ending. The opposite, rather. It's cold and isolating to know only your friends could value you as a human being, and downright sad to imply that we should be happy for that. I don't mean that everyone should love us in every story, but there's a difference between The Ableism being represented by an antagonist or two versus the entire world except for the main characters.

If you decide to go forward with this story, I do hope your other readers with facial differences enjoy it.

mod Sasza

[This ask was submitted before my announcement of not taking questions regarding this subject matter. As of publishing this, it still applies.]

[dragoneyes618]

Thoughts Upon Reading The Wish Novelization

I still haven't watched Wish yet, but I've read the novelization, and here's my thoughts about it. Because I am the kind of person who wonders about random background unimportant details and asks way too many questions about how things work. I've noticed that I'm not a very good companion to watch a movie with. ;)

Asha's grandfather is one hundred. She is seventeen, meaning he was eighty-three when she was born (give or take a year).

To compare, take the Madrigals from Encanto. Isabela and Dolores are 21; their grandmother is 75.

So wouldn't Sabino be kind of too old? Wouldn't it make more sense for him to be Asha's great-grandfather instead? Or did Asha's parents and/or grandparents get married late or something?

Also is Sabino her mother's father or father's father?

Never mind, it says on the wiki that he's Asha's father's father. So that answers that. Also that Asha's father's name was Tomas.

And now the wishes! Okay, so everybody gives up their wish when they turn eighteen. Why eighteen? In the medieval period in Spain the age of adulthood was not eighteen. The medieval period anywhere, really. I read that in Spain people were considered under their parents' jurisdiction until the age of twenty-three for men and twenty-five for women, unless married (which applied to both men and women). Most certainly not eighteen. Then again they weren't going to make the main characters in their twenties. But then they might as well have just had the age be sixteen or whatever.

And then you just...forget your wish? What's the point of that, then? Why would you want it to be granted? If you don't remember it anymore you have no desire for it anymore.

And the wish ceremony is only once in a lifetime, but what if your wish changes? What you wish for at eighteen is probably a lot different from what you wish for at forty.

What if by the time your wish is granted you don't want it anymore? After all, you moved on because you had no memory of wanting it!

Like that lady who wanted to create the best dresses. Why would she want to create them? Presumably that was her job. Maybe she's a seamstress from a family of seamstresses. Or something. But then her wish to create the best dresses is taken from her and she has no memory of ever wanting to make them. She has no desire or drive to at all. So she becomes something else. She does a different job. Maybe she becomes a baker or something. Then all of a sudden she's granted the ability to make the best dresses, after years and years of doing something else because she had no desire to create dresses anymore. Now what?

And there was that one wish of someone holding a baby. Presumably the wisher wished for a child. Does that mean the wisher will remain infertile until and unless Magnifico grants the wish? And how would that work anyway? Would a baby just appear out of nothing onstage?

And Sabino's wish. It seems that his wish was to create music with his lute. It would've been a lot simpler if his wish had been worded that way instead of "create something to inspire future generations." Magnifico was actually right that ideas can be dangerous. Of course, Sabino would never hurt anyone, but the people he inspires might, or the people they inspire might, and so on and so forth. For all Magnifico knows, Sabino's inspiration is a rebellion or something, instead of simply music.

And now Magnifico. A name like Magnifico is a bit on the nose, no? I assume that was not his original name. Maybe he renamed himself after gaining magic. A magnificent name for a magnificent sorcerer king! 

He was not born a magician. It says that when he was young his family was attacked and he didn't have magic then. Where did he get magic from then?

And I'd like to know a bit more about this "great loss" he suffered, wouldn't you?

He founded Rosas. Why did he pick the name Rosas then? Isn't the way these things usually work is naming the kingdom or city or whatever after some derivative of his name?

And what exactly does the king's apprentice do? Apprentice to a sorcerer, but there weren't any other sorcerer's around in Rosas, were there? What happened to the other apprentices, and if you've ever read the Wings of Fire series I'm worrying that the same thing that happened to the dragonmancer apprentices in that series happens here. (Spoiler: They died.)

And Amaya, the queen, knows exactly who Asha is. Alright so it makes sense that she'd know the name of whoever was applying to be the next apprentice. Also I thought it was so sweet that she was giving Asha advice.

But apparently she's been watching Asha and knows how she acts and feels and so on. She's the queen and Asha is a random person in Rosas. I get the feeling it's a pretty small kingdom. It must be, though, for everybody to be able to gather once a month. Probably that one town is basically the whole kingdom.

Also I wonder whatever happened with that poor guy who had the interview right before Asha.

And Magnifico seemed to trust Asha very quickly and then revealed his true motives to her also very quickly. Did he think she would agree with him but drastically misread her intentions?

You know a lot of the wishes could have been fulfilled on their own. Like Simon's wish was to be a loyal guard. He could have fulfilled that wish by.....joining up with the king's guards and training with them and becoming one of them. Obviously he's already loyal if he wants to become a guard in the first place.

And I want to know how Amaya and Magnifico met! I want to know more about them in general!

My guess is that they met and married only after Magnifico became king because she constantly calls him mi rey.

Although on the other hand maybe they were married before that and she calls him that because she's so proud that he became king.

Also you'd think Amaya would have had some questions after Asha's interview. Like "if Asha isn't being your next apprentice why did you want her to sit with me then." 

And it seems that that weird green forbidden magic changed Magnifico. He could be reasoned with, before. But afterwards he threatened Amaya. I thought he truly loved her, but he was willing to hurt her with magic. I think the magic changed him, made him worse. And once you embrace it, there's no going back....

But Amaya seems to accept evil Magnifico with surprising ease. Once she sees that apparently it's impossible to undo the magic's influence she just...accepts it. Like you'd think she'd try to talk to him or something. Like even after he's in the mirror you'd think that she'd try to talk to him and ask him what he was thinking and see if he knows of any way to undo the forbidden magic now that he can't harm anyone else. But nope.

I did think that part was kind of funny, though. She's like "Well you do love mirrors!" She's seen quite enough of him staring into mirrors and preening over how handsome he is.....

But also Asha figured out that the queen was on her side and would go against her own husband just from seeing how changed she looked after realizing what Maginifco was doing? Aren't queens, like, trained never to let their true emotions show in public?

Also random but Magnifico says he granted fourteen wishes last year but he grants wishes once a month. What are the extra wishes?

Maybe, in addition to the monthly granting, sometimes he grants an extra wish on notable occasions, like the anniversary of the kingdom’s founding and holidays and so on. Which might be why everyone expected Sabino's wish to be granted - he was surely the oldest one there, and a 100th birthday is indeed an occasion.

And also why is sixteen year old Dahlia working in the palace kitchen? Is she apprenticing to someone? Do her parents work there?

Also I think it's funny how half the kingdom has a crush on Magnifico despite him already being married. Like Amaya is literally right there.

And then the ending with Asha being a fairy godmother. Crossovers aside, I don’t care about that, and I want an answer that is not bashing the movie, please, why did they word it that way? Why did Asha's friends say she should be their fairy godmother as opposed to "You'll help us all fulfill our wishes" or "you'll grant everyone their wishes" or so on? Asha is very much a human, not a fairy at all. and it's not her magic, it's the star’s magic.

So the fact that they specify fairy godmother implies that fairy godmothers already exist in the universe of Rosas. Which is maybe a clue as to where Magnifico got his magic from.

Back to Magnifico I wondered why he didn't immediately suspect that the light was Asha.

Although I thought it was funny how everybody was cheering the light and he was like "No, it wasn't me, it's a traitor!"

Like somebody figures out his true colors, he reveals his true motives (didn't he worry she would do something or tell people?) and then literally that night somebody's meddling with magic. He didn't suspect her?

When Magnifico and his guards showed up at her house I thought he'd finally come to that conclusion. But then it turned out Simon told him.

Also how did they escape on the king's horses? They're unfamiliar to the horses and likely have less experience riding. Shouldn't the horses reject them in favor of their own riders, or at least be slower and confused? Like it should have taken them longer to get the horses to trust them and let them ride them.

And Magnifico kind of doomed himself in the end. Overnight he went from a beloved wishgranting king to one trying to destroy all of them and blot out the stars. Made it pretty easy for the population to celebrate his defeat. As opposed to what he had until then, which was the word of one random teenager against him.

Especially considering his wife was against him! That definitely convinced a lot of people. Amaya seems pretty popular.

I wonder what the everyday people were thinking. One day out of the blue there's a traitor, who seemed like a nice ordinary girl but she meddled with magic which the king says is illegal and he's the king so his word goes. Then the king starts doing creepy magic and people's wishes start being destroyed and he tries to kill Asha.

Also does Bazeema have a crush on Gabo or something? She kept popping up right next to him.

And I wonder what Asha's mother's wish was.

Also Magnico states that he doesn't even charge his people rent. But how does that even work? Every kingdom and country in history has charged taxes. You need money for a kingdom to function. Basic. How does Magnifico pay his guards, then? Pay his servants?

Maybe he uses wishes as payment. Like with his guards, maybe they have to work for X amount of years and then he grants their wishes. Plus while they’re working for him they get food and a place to live and so on. Magnifico using wishes as payment wouldn’t completely solve the money question, but it would go some way to.

Also, the fact that Magnifico didn’t charge rent, nor presumably any other form of taxes, suggests that he really really wanted people to live there, to the point of forgoing any money he could make from them, so he could have their wishes….

Also say what you will about the ending but I think it could actually make sense for Magnifico in the mirror to be the Evil Queen's mirror. So they didn't destroy this mirror, right? It stayed in the palace. It's still there for the next generation of rulers, and the next. It gets handed down throughout the centuries and eventually they forgot the story behind it; they just know that their family has a magic mirror that can tell them anything. Because he has magic and can use it to find out anything. Now Rosas is in Spain and I think Snow White is in Germany but this could work. Back in the day royal families from different countries married each other all the time to create alliances. So somebody from the royal family of Rosas married Snow White's ancestor and brought the mirror along. And the mirror was passed down through a few more generations until it came to the Evil Queen. The Evil Queen was royalty by marriage, so the mirror could have belonged to her husband. It could have already been in the palace when she came. 

Also I was thinking! Magnifico's changed green magic that turned Simon evil! Isn't that sort of like what happened to Magnifico in the first place?

And I also want to know how long ago Magnifico founded Rosas. It must be pretty recent; it's still a very small kingdom. This is probably why he's so eager for people to visit and move there.

Sabino is 100 years old; presumably he moved to Rosas in his lifetime and wasn't born there? Maybe he knows about how it was founded and so on.

Imagine being older than the kingdom you live in! Quite an accomplishment! (Most kingdoms aren't new, so....)

So Magnifico can grant literally any wish, which he uses to encourage people to live there. Okay but this is literally any wish. Maybe this is another reason why people are coming to Rosas! They want their wishes granted! Literally any wish! Never mind the wishes to fly or swim or whatever! Where are the wishes for things like endless wealth or to be king, things which people have most certainly wished for over the centuries? Where are the desperate people traveling to move to Rosas to get their wish fulfilled? Where are the wishes like "I wish my dead brother was alive" and "I wish my fatally ill wife was cured of her illness" and "I wish my son who got run over by a cart last month was completely healed?"

[jeannereames]

It's true that Alexander seems to have not liked the part of managing/ruling his empire? I saw it mentioned a few times in different places.

Given that he kept running around, looking for new adventures, I'd say he didn't! LOL

More seriously, he seems to have been fairly good at delegating. So was his father (from whom he no doubt learned the skill). Delegating doesn't mean he didn't keep up with things. If Plutarch can be trusted (and in this detail, I think he can), Alexander was a prodigious letter-writer. Or maybe "letter-dictator" would be more accurate, as he wouldn't have written most with his own hand, especially not official correspondence. That's what Eumenes' veritable army of secretaries were for. ;-)

I'm sure he kept track of things, but he didn't manage most of it in a hands-on sort of way. He was too much of a doer to get sucked into the minutia. That's what a fully-functioning court is there to do for him. "I want to implement X; have a plan on my desk for how to get it done, by Friday."

He did seem to care about the broad brushstrokes. The whole plan to begin adopting Persian court protocol, and to merge parts of it...that was most definitely all Alexander--given how much opposition it stirred up. However necessary, it wasn't one of his more popular decisions. And he does seem to have taken an interest in how to implement it. But this is post-330 BCE.

Early in his career (pre-Gaugamela), when conquest was at the forefront of his mind, his usual post-victory solution was to reinstall whatever administrative framework was already in place via the Persias. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." He was in a hurry to move on. Some places he completely bypassed in his rush (central Asia-Minor, for instance).

Just reappointing the Former Guy proved to be a bad idea in several cases (rebellion in his rear). He replaced them, but in doing so, he also began to get more skeptical. By the time he returned from India in the spring of 324, he was giving more thought to making the empire function. This included booting a number of previously appointed satraps and administrators who'd gone rogue while he'd been in the East. Some were Persian, some Macedonian, but he replaced them all with Greeks and Macedonians, which suggests he'd stopped trusting the locals. (Far from some Brotherhood of Mankind, ala W. W. Tarn.) He did do the mass marriages, but that's a different thing.

What, exactly, he had in mind as the end-form of his administrative revamps isn't clear, as he inconveniently died before they were fully complete. (*snort*) It seems to have been more parallelism than true fusion, not unlike what he'd done earlier in the summer and fall of 330.

Ironically, he was also planning Yet Another Campaign in the West, so he clearly didn't intend to cool his heels for long. My personal suspicion is that, far from expressing distrust, Alexander called in Antipatros specifically to complete these changes. Krateros could handle the now-pacified Greece well enough. ATG needed Antipatros' great experience to sort out Asia.

I do think the day-to-day of governing bored him, but not the Big Ideas part of governing. That he appears to have liked well enough.

[revserrayyu]

2.1 Penacony thoughts [part5]

**BIG STORY SPOILERS** Chatting up until the end of the current story so if you haven’t finished it yet then I’d encourage you to do so before reading any further.

Before all the big reveals happen, I appreciate these few dialogue options we get right after the Aventurine fight. It sounds like they’re all asked in rapid succession and the last one is completely valid considering how often we actually switched viewpoints during this update.

Once Sam appeared, I knew it was finally going to be the moment where we learn who he truly is. As they list out the other hunter’s specialties and his own lack of one, he mentions “there is only one method that I use,” and I wanna say it’s deception..

..because lo and behold, everyone was completely right and the person beneath the armored suit is indeed Firefly herself. I’m not surprised, just interested in learning about her reasons. Was that death of hers planned and why? Has she always been Sam, even way back during the Jepella Rebellion trailer? Or does that device in her hand allow her to appear as Sam? Because didn’t we hear to talking to a “mecha” in that one dreamscape last patch? She just seems so out of place among the other Stellaron Hunters but I’m eager to learn more about her once we pick up here next update.

Also, I’m just gonna say it.. I wasn’t truly upset over her “death.” I feel like we were kinda forced to care for her after she gave us a tour of Penacony, but that alone wasn’t enough for me to get properly attached. That time was real brief and only took up a small section of the previous update. Not to mention the many weeks in between updates where I spent much time thinking about almost everyone else aside from her. Most other characters we’ve met on this planet received trailers, drip marketing and so much more to get me invested into learning about them while Firefly’s presence was short lived. I would genuinely be upset if anything bad happened to Black Swan, Acheron or Sparkle and I’m already emotional over Robin, Aventurine and maybe even Sunday. There’s stuff going on with Gallagher and Misha that I’m still curious about and we haven’t even properly met Boothill yet but I’m so excited to see him. Maybe my opinion on Firefly will change during the next update, but for now I really don’t have any strong feelings about her other than simple curiosity. I am pleased to see her still alive for the Trailblazer’s sake, but if she somehow survives this entire story and Aventurine doesn’t..hmpf.

All that aside, the scene with Gallagher and Sunday was.. a lot to take in, but once again we have someone else calling Sunday crazy. Perhaps he should go to therapy.

The framing of this scene is nice and sorta confirms those purple nightingales do in fact see everything happening on Penacony, acting as Sunday’s eyes and reporting back to him. At least that’s the vibe I’m getting.

This is quite unexpected? Honestly I feel like every time Sunday is involved there’s a new plot point that’s introduced into this giant story. Both sides definitely have it out for each other, that’s for sure.

What in the hell is this twist??

Sunday thinks Gallagher is in disguise, but after the hound tells him to take a closer look, Sunday starts to notices all these little details about him that seem reminiscent to 52 other members of the Family.

I wish I could say this idea is foreign to me, but it actually reminds me of Kamui from the second season of Psycho Pass and how his body is made up of 184 different people and 7 personalities. Kamui was also unable to be detected by any scanners and that also reminds me of Gallagher and how almost no other Bloodhound knows who he is.

And I haven’t the faintest idea on what Sunday means here but I noticed the voice over doesn’t even say “minion of the Enigmata” no matter how many times I tried to replay this line over.

It’s at this moment where I started to waiver with my distrust towards Sunday and actually start to feel bad for him a little bit solely because of the strong emotion in his voice when he questions why Robin had to be killed. It at least prevents me from thinking he had any part of it.

Then we head into a cutscene and dear god, things happen quick. This one shot of Gallagher reminds me of his light cone just because of the lighter.

This frame of Sunday looking down on him feels so intense and I kinda love it with both the intense shadows and harsh light.

And then..? Our angelic and handsome man gets killed?? Presumably by another memory zone meme I guess I dunno it happened in an instant and all I have to show for it is splatters of goo??

Oohhh my goodness.. this story took such a turn. Many of them actually. Seeing how Sunday is a puddle on the floor similar to what happened to Firefly, I wanna believe that he’s gonna be okay? If she could survive, surely he can too. Maybe? I’m still not to sure about Robin’s condition and I’m being so darn hopeful that Aventurine is alive somehow. That’s definitely the death that hurts most for me if true. Anyways, I’ll end it here and just say there’s many answers to look forward to with the next update. As always, I’m not trusting anyone! Astral Express family only!

(originally written on 3/30)

[clarafell]

what your theories of what the new movie might be about and other things?

unprompted / always accepting

Welcome to my blog, dear anon!

One of my biggest theories is how Homura is handling contracts after deciding Kyubey is not fit to handle them, which is long overdue punishment ever since the Incubators created the Isolation Field to ultimately confirm the existence of the Law of Cycles through Homura. I've had this theory for a pretty long time, immediately incorporating this theory into my headcanon. I've always enjoyed the potential of Homura making contracts for a long time due to her self-proclaimed title as a devil / demon. But ever since I saw Devil Homura's symbol in the background of the shot with new bow-wielding character in the first trailer is when I've been 100% convinced that Homura is handling contracts and wishes. Even if this theory turns out to be incorrect, then I will still happily accept it as canon to my portrayal of Homura.

Another theory that I support and adore is the way the Clara Dolls are now being put to very good use by being made to disguise themselves as Homura in the new movie. I always liked the idea of them fighting when they aren't doing their own thing in the Rebellion movie, but I always wondered what kind of future the Clara Dolls had in the future. Their designs and inner lore are very unique, so I always had a soft spot for them. To use the existence of the Clara Dolls to make even more different versions of Homura, their mistress, is something that I instantly fell head over heels with as soon we began to see different versions of Homura. All the little yet new changes you see in Homura, such as how the Homura dancing with Madoka has red eyes, could easily be written off as a disguised Clara Doll.

Why, Lia, do you love the theory of the trickster Clara Dolls being Homura?

Because it can be tied back into the world of ballet. In the Swan Lake story, the Black Swan (Odile) chooses to impersonate the White Swan (Oddette) in order to win the heart of the fooled Prince Siegfried. As you can tell in Rebellion, Homura is a big fan of ballet dancing. It is no wonder for Homura to pull inspiration from one of her favorite ballet stories. Even her Devil form outfit is heavily inspired by the Black Swan character in the Swan Lake, dark yet beautiful.

(Fun Fact: Another important thing to note is "Clara" in "Clara Dolls" comes from the main character in the Nutcracker story, which is yet another famous ballet story!)

One of my rather neglected theories about the new movie is the existence of Ai...

Ai means Love in Japanese. For anyone who is unaware, Ai is mentioned in the Wraith Arc manga. Not only is she mentioned, but she also makes a brand appearance. She is a new principle, classified as a miracle, born from Madoka and Homura’s joint wish. Ai is the the embodiment of Akemi Homura’s emotions, but she also seems to be connected to Homura's very magic.

In my opinion, I would suggest everyone to try to read up on the Wraith Arc because it really does explain how Rebellion occurred. Ai does play a big part in the Wraith Arc, but I won't go into too much detail on that part of the story.

Let's take a look at her, shall we?

Ai has to be one of the most healthiest sights of Homura ever. Anyone, I hope, can tell Ai is more certain of herself with just one glance at her. She has no shame, not a single speck of doubt, and certainly no anger... Or self-loathing. She is proud of herself, perfectly content. She is pure, confident, and more wise.

As shown in this visual poster above, two sides of Homura are facing each other. The smirking Homura the viewer sees, I suspect, has to be one of the Clara Dolls in disguise. Not only does she wear a different headband, but everything about her presence screams it has to be one of the dolls.

But what about the Homura that we cannot see?

I suspect that Ai has to be the same Homura, the one with the red ribbons. If you look very closely at the red ribbons, even the red ribbon is not the same as Homura's regular ribbons near the end of the 12th episode. There is more detail on these ribbons. Either way, one of my more wilder theories is that Ai is going to face down with Homura. One of my personal theories is that Love, the Homura with the red ribbon in her hair, is fighting against Homura in order to make her face the light.

This is a really wild theory, so I'm not 100% sure about the strength of this theory. I can, however, see it happening. Devil Homura may have realized that concept of love in Rebellion, but she is still running away. Ai is soooo done with Homura at this point, probably, so it wouldn't be surprising if Ai decides to get her hands dirty.

One of the theories I don't really enjoy is Walpurgisnacht actually being Homura. I've never liked this theory, but I've never hated it... Even now, I'm hoping they don't go down that route. Walpurgisnacht and her mysteries are occur through the course of history, so I would prefer to see Walpurgisnacht with more flesh and bones. I want to see more original work attached to Walpurgisnacht, not somehow actually being Homura. At the end of the day, I'm eager to see what they do with Walpurgisnacht.

If they can make that theory work, then I'm willing to give that particular theory a shot. Personally? I will always prefer Homulilly as Homura's witch form. I can understand the temptation to make Homura be connected to Walpurgisnacht, trust me. I simply want Walpurgisnacht to be given a more unique role. There is so much potential with her, after all.

This isn't a theory, but I'm really hoping that we still see bits and pieces of the Concept Movie trailer in the Walpurgisnacht Rising. I have cherished that video for way too long to let it be forgotten. Even now, I'm still analyzing both the Concept Movie and the two trailers for Walpurgisnacht Rising.

If you made it this far, what is one of your theories on the new movie?

[bastetwastaken]

OC ask - Face, Day, Hair - any oc's you wanna chat about so I can visualize a good default idea of them when I see 'em pop up ⭐

Thanks friend <3

I'll give Silk (nickname) some attention for this one ^.^ He deserves it <3 Silk is a human, and he's one of the main characters in my fantasy romance about a demon accidentally saving a humans life, becoming bound to him, deciding that hey this is actually quite nice we should be friends, to oh wait, this is something a little more than friends...

face: Describe your OC's face. What's their smile like? Are their orbs cerulean? What would someone notice first when looking at them? - The first thing someone would likely notice is how green his eyes are. They're not naturally green though, he wears contacts because he wanted to change his appearance as much as he could to avoid his past. His smile is rarely genuine, years of model work has left him with the ability to fake a smile more often than he smiles genuinely, it's a defence mechanism for him. He has a strong jawline and high cheekbones, his skin is blemishless (his skincare routine is infinitely better than mine ever will be), he usually wears makeup which will be lighter on casual days when he's not working but generally consists of eyeliner and a natural coloured gloss or lipstick.

day: What does your OC wear on a normal day? Why do they default to those clothes? Do they wear similar things, or do they change it up? - His default is leggings and an oversized jumper in cooler months, just casual jeans and shirts in warmer months. If he's going to an event or anything related to work then it's high fashion time baby, I mean he's decked out, expensive clothing, jewellery, shoes, the lot. Never the same outfit twice. If he's just out with friends then he'll go for smart casual shirts and pants type thing.

hair: How does your OC wear their hair? Does it have some kind of meaning? - He has an asymmetrical haircut, his black hair is shaved on one side of his head, long on the other. This is again, his attempt to change his appearance so much that he doesn't see the person he used to be when he looks in the mirror. It's also a form of rebellion for him, a little defiance and protest of his conservative up-bringing and the stuffy office worker he used to be. It was his way of reinventing himself when he became a model, something to set him apart from others and catch peoples eye.

[innernerdpenguin]

The manic pixie dream girl trope and what it means to be a likable protagonist

I wish that there was more representation for weird girls in the media, just weird, strange, uncharismatic, awkward girls in cinema. I want to see girls like this because I identify with these girls. I want to see girls who struggle to fit in and who know what it's like to feel like the odd one out. Girls who don't feel exceptionally beautiful, or smart, or funny. In other words I want to see a weird female protagonist in a show because I feel like it would be an accurate representation of who I am. I don't like the manic pixie dream girl trope. I hate the trope because they do not treat this character like a human being they treat her like an accessory. Her only purpose is to develop the male protagonist, make him a better person, and then she has to leave. She could never be developed more as a character or be treated like a human; she is just an almost broken accessory that completes its service and then is no longer valuable. Additionally, I hate this trope because it fetishizes women in real life who do act like these characters, and then these real women meet other people around them who wish to get close to them however they do not see these women as people but also accessories to help develop them, but when these women act like more than just accessories and like real, complex, genuine people, these fetishizers treat them as if they are disposable, yet again just another almost broken accessory. In some ways I do relate to the manic pixie dream girl trope but the trope does not explore the girl in a truly deep, developed way. It doesn't develop her problems or talk about her thoughts or fears and frustrations as a person. She is just a device to highlight the main protagonist more. Additionally, in movies where there ARE girls who are uncharismatic and weird, the girl is always forced to change. She has to change her hair or her fashion or she needs to take off her glasses. The girl is never able to be herself, she is always expected to change for the people around her. In comparison to her male counterpart, If there is an awkward male protagonist in a movie he never has to change or alter his physical appearance, everyone around him just adapts to his antics and everyone else changes to suit him. Furthering more this idea that women only exist to be someone else’s fantasy. In a movie an uncharismatic girl can’t continue to be herself because it is too unredeemable. She needs to be exceptional in a certain way. She needs to fulfill this role of being gorgeous, or smart, or have a quality that would make her a useful accessory to someone. Which also leads me to wonder, why are there no black manic pixie dream girls? Why are there no black weird girls in cinema? The point of a manic pixie dream girl is she is an “unconventional” girl who is still supposed to be desirable to the male protagonist and weird girls in media are girls that are relatable to the audience but in the movie she still is able to be desirable to a group of people. The reason why I think there are no black weird girls or black manic pixie dream girls in the media is because black women are not seen as desirable or people to relate to in the media. In every coming of age film I see the black side character is either the sassy best friend or an academic weapon. A black girl in the movie could never just be an oddball character who is trying to have fun and navigate her life. I would love to see shows about being an awkward black girl because it would give awkward black girls everywhere representation and something to relate to, to remind them that they aren't alone. It would be really incredible to see both weirdness and blackness in a show because society doesn’t typically allow those things so seeing both of those things be represented at once would be a great act of rebellion.

[little-elf-wanders]

I would also like to add, because all this is brilliantly put, Fenris wasn't allowed to soften his views on mages because he ended up in Kirkwall. Which just continued to prove him right time after time. Not to mention, he had two of the most untrustworthy mages beside him the whole time who absolutely would not have a chance in hell of changing his mind. Anders, who loves the idea of Tevinter so much, who will debate and purposefully challenge Fenris on his traumas to try to win an argument about magic and freedom while COMPLETELY refusing to listen, who see's him as a 'dog' and will approve of returning him to Danarius who canonically SA'd him. Then there's Merrill. She's sweet but to him all she'd appear as is another mage who thinks she's smarter than demons, she's incredibly naïve to think she can get one over on it because he's right about it too, the demon gets one over on her and has the possibility of getting her whole clan murdered because of her. And she's a blood mage to boot, one of his most hated mage types due to everything he'd seen and known in his bones as a slave. Slaves were their torture victims and BLOOD sacrifices ffs.

Not ONCE did any of them prove him wrong?

Yet you know who he does respect and is kind to, though? Your sister Bethany, because she is at least extremely aware of the dangers her magic can bring. And Hawke if they're friendmancing him or just not a power hungry mage who is blind to the dangers of magic.

Because in this world, whether you're pro mage or not, you're shown time and time again how that magic warps people, how people use it for their own selfish reasons and how yes - it is WILDLY abused. Whether you admit it or not. It gets abused. And no solution is offered besides rebellion. Say what you want about the power structures, they play a part in breeding some of the desperate acts we see however... not all of them were pushed into a corner. Some of them just abused it. But Tevinter is a prime example of what not to do. And how corrupt a full 'mage rules' mentality would breed something heinous.

Yet everyone's so purposefully blind to it because it's political. Fenris has trudged through the horrors of what that means. And he's not even asking you to do anything uncomfortable. Just see it can be fucking dangerous and not be a prideful git about it.

I'm not saying they should all be locked up, not even close, but god damn the hate they give Fenris for being justifiably unwilling to listen to the same tired excuses and abuses of power over and over again. I will never understand the hate Fenris gets, because he is a PTSD victim and he's clearly hurt and being triggered constantly. Yet he gets called a bigot for having his flinches? Sometimes pro-magers really, really miss the point. They're so busy fighting this imaginary fight about fake abuses they refuse to see a character who was given to us to show the nuance behind it all - and more importantly, that the world isn't Ferelden. It's complex. It's more than just 'my sides right and yours is wrong'.

I got passionate because Fenris is one of the characters who inspires my empathy and love due to how he changed how I thought about the narrative - my aversion to Anders is likely because he feeds into the fire of fighting abuses, meanwhile it's easy to see how he also abuses people too. Fenris was the one who made me realise as a mage player how contrived it all is. And how both sides completely trample over the normal folk while having their own abuses to scream about.

The thing is, even if Lucanis did hate mages generally (which as @dreadfutures says here, is probably not why he's called the Mage Killer), surely we can understand that that means something completely different in the north than it would in the south, right?

It's going to be really interesting to see how the fandom engages with Tevinter tbh. Like, back in DA2, a lot of people thought Fenris was pretty unreasonable about mages. It's easy to feel that way. Even I feel it sometimes and I love Fenris. But then you take a step back, and you remember that his entire life experience is mages having absolute power over him and using that power to cause endless suffering. Those people are still chasing him until Act III, making it difficult for him to shift his paradigm and see the situation in the south for what it is. And some players, even knowing that context, still had trouble seeing Fenris for anything more than a bigot. They couldn't see his context anymore than he could see Anders' or Merrill's.

And as players who have played and loved three games set in the south of Thedas, we are the ones who are going to have to shift our perspectives now. The power structures in the north are different. The way they operate and maintain their power is different. Sure, the base principles still apply, but the devil's in the details. Someone "hating mages" simply does not have the same connotations in the context of the north. If a character in Tevinter says something like, I don't know, "Something must be done about those mages," it doesn't in any way mean the same thing as it would when spoken in Orlais under the southern Chantry. And maybe I'm just stating the obvious, but Idk, I felt like it warranted saying, not just for Lucanis but for all the new characters we're going to be meeting in the north.

[solusidigital21]

Time Is Running Out! Suppose About These 10 Methods To alter Your Meaningful Jewelry Kaufen

meaningfull jewelry

We took the time to really feel what it was prefer to be deeply seen by another human being. Use this form when you've got come throughout a typo, inaccuracy or want to send an edit request for the content material on this web page. For basic feedback, use the general public comments part under (please adhere to guidelines). For my own section (Zachary’s story), the hand-drawn approach is a style I was most comfortable with and one thing that's extra manageable throughout the tight timeframe. Rather than only transitioning between the 2 states of the posting section (visible and hidden), the action of posting may very well be related to an animation that clearly transitions between you writing a put up, to the submit being revealed. In our more and more fast-paced society, during which we glorify being busy and deal with countless demands on our time, life can usually really feel like a battle to sustain. Basically, he’s saying that means is like an equation-add or subtract value variables, and also you get kind of which means. Following different philosophers who write on the meaning of life, I maintain that in discussions of the which means of life, "meaning" is mostly used in the second sense-that is, that of worth or worth.

As a few of the accounts are by individuals who're quite younger, animation helps present the anonymity wanted for the accounts. In gentle of this, I want to ask you: How does no matter we're doing to contribute to the beauty, meaning, and wellbeing of the world, make any sense except we're doing that within the context of guaranteeing that there are people left on Earth to have fun, obtain, and carry it ahead? Inside the police bus, we exchanged tales, feeling a way of joy and accomplishment. What appears most constant, nonetheless, is the deeper awareness that is a witness to all of this and even this seems to have various layers to it as it is skilled from the inside. However, beyond that is a point the place the soul seems to open up into Spirit. What seems much more fixed is what we call witness consciousness. In my dream, I had deeper consciousness of the approaching and going of varied varieties of phenomenon in the sector of thoughts, consciousness or no matter name you need to provide it. This is how I hold all of the phenomenon that I spoke of above.

” In other phrases, I don’t exist in the way I assumed, standing apart or above a ground of Being. Walking in direction of the police bus I reminded myself to look as much as the sky and touch gratitude for the sunshine above me. Walking on the Earth grew to become a miracle. Looking down, feeling into my toes, I remembered to contact gratitude for the Earth beneath me. I breathed deeply and let the feeling move into and by me, holding in my heart compassion and gratitude for her courage. Wow. I have such a feeling of deep, deep gratitude for Extinction Rebellion New York City (XR NYC). We also knew that a few of our pals can be transferred, to spend the night time in one other location, the notorious ‘Tombs,’ the detention middle of new York City. We knew what to expect and the way to reply. We knew in our bones that it was price putting ourselves, our bodies, on the road for that.

Since the jail segregates men, based on state notion of identification, we knew it would be a type of ‘men’s circle.’ We knew we wanted to be collectively in some strategy to support each other, and to deepen our connections and dedication. What occurred to me in a distinct approach is how thoughts seemingly come out of nothing and go back to nothing. From this observing house, I’m watching feelings, ideas and even self and holding them as object. It’s actually extra difficult, however the self is consistently changing and when situations change it can cease to exist as an observable phenomenon on the planet Earth. As my insight deepened still additional, I realized at another stage that my character or higher self-identity is absolutely no completely different though it's a phenomenon that persists for an extended time period. Step one is to take word of your liked ones’ likes as well as dislikes, traits of personality in addition to accessories that you just typically notice sporting. As properly we all the time give 100% customer support and are innovators in our field.

Instead, we will set aside blocks of time (guarded effectively) for working on our minds. Then, we sat down collectively in our circle and set some intentions. They come in shorter, informal types, or you can opt for a more elegant set of tassel earrings. People with greater ranges of training and better incomes are usually extra probably to mention their family and profession as issues that give them that means than are folks with decrease levels of schooling or decrease incomes, respectively.1,2 Mentions of service and civic engagement are typically larger amongst these with extra schooling. You can work towards your children’s happiness by giving them love and spending quality time with them, ensuring their basic wants are met, ensuring in as much as attainable that they are wholesome, encouraging them to get the mandatory schooling for the profession of their selection, and encouraging them to work together with household and friends. I've now a greater sense, in my body, of the mission and the power of their commitment and love. Just now, scripting this has introduced a deep crying release to my body, with tears flowing, and I’m holding tenderly my very own face and chest in my palms.

Our hands and arms have been aching from being restrained behind us, and we couldn't sit again. In a Western context, I might equate this with the ground of Being and with Emptiness in Buddhism. Two well-liked and considerably alternative ways to look at it are represented by Eastern and Western Mysticism. Responses are weighted to be representative of the adult inhabitants in every public. These variations help clarify why the share giving a specific answer in sure publics may seem a lot decrease than others, even if the topic is the highest mentioned source of that means for that given public. I ask you to contemplate participating in what could show to be the greatest and most powerful mass movement in human history: a movement of movements. We took time to actually welcome and begin to hold space for our experience, grounding it within the soothing sensations of the load of our our bodies, the breath flowing in and out of our lungs, the rhythmic movements of our bodies.

Despite the fact that it was simply a very short time in jail, it was such a relief to be out. Choose your supplies, size, and even an inscription that will mean one thing. I have decisions about what I will identify with as me in any explicit moment. I invite you to become involved, to add your voice and your contribution, in your personal unique manner - to participate in perhaps the best single historical moment of our species, as Joanna Macy calls it, The good Turning. The last word nature of actuality would be Emptiness within the sense of phenomenon being empty of really standing apart in any meaningful way from the all. But not everyone’s expertise was optimistic that day - some of us had the sense of being intimidated and harassed. The Buddhists can be inclined to say that the self is “empty” of inherent or non-contingent Being. Within the East, the tendency is to say that Atman equals Brahman or that basically your deepest self is God.

Therefore, they're subsumed in a larger subject and from this area I can label them as phenomenon slightly than self. In all of the circumstances that I mentioned, the worldview of Buddhism would advise to carry all phenomenon as a dream. Again, since all of this was arising in a dream state, I am simply reporting observations and never defending what I observed. Again, nature makes some values, and culture provides a truckload of additional ones. Many others resist and rebel at what their tradition has chosen for them. In other phrases, like we have a stream of ideas, I sensed or felt a stream of “identities” dissolving and arising once more. Next, we sat and allowed ourselves to get in touch with our our bodies, our feelings, our thoughts, and the emotions flowing through us. Tune in for the stay hour-lengthy broadcast with Rabbi Simon Jacobson to get real solutions to your actual…

[pennamesmith]

Panopticon

Horde Prime is a thing that hungers. 

He is from a place far beyond this soap bubble of a universe. His world is vaster, darker, deeper, but it is also crushing, cold, suffocating. He longs to subsume the flickering light of this plane, to cast out the shadows. But no light will ever be enough, because Prime is the shadow. 

Others of His kind have come to this reality before, and will again. They ooze through hidden fractures and crawl out of holes torn open by greedy fools lusting for obtainment. But they are forced to hide in darkness, cowering in the backs of poisoned brains and frail hosts. Only Prime embraces the fire. Only Prime seeks not to snuff out the light, but to become it. Only Prime. 

He has built a place for Himself here. An empire. He is the ruler of known space, and everything He sees He makes His own. 

And Horde Prime sees all. 

— 

Horde Prime made Himself a body of sinew and flesh to live in, and then He made it again and again and again. He looks in every direction and He sees Himself reflected. He looks into His mirrors and sees the blazing world of light. Of course, these reflections don’t truly feel the ecstasy of existence. Such things are for Prime alone to know; the First, the Only, the Truth. 

And Horde Prime knows all. 

The reflections are perfect. Prime makes them perfect. If any should show a crack or a flaw, He feeds them to the flames of His light. He watches them char and wink out of existence, and He feels the thrill of their terror and pain. When one of His broken reflections vanishes before expiring — pulled through a wound in space to somewhere beyond his reach — He marks it as an unusual memory, but nothing more. Horde Prime has more important matters to concern Himself with, here at the center of all things. 

Later, when His lost little brother somehow manages to send a message back from nowhere, Prime’s curiosity is piqued. When a new world appears, its energy blooming like a rich flower, His lust is sparked. And when His warped reflection dares to stand before Him, face changed and thoughts hidden, His rage burns white-hot. 

—

Horde Prime considers the abomination. He hates its very existence, yet He cannot bring Himself to destroy it. Impossibly, it is something new, a well of unfamiliar experiences, and He cannot control His hunger. 

Peering into His defective brother’s memories, Prime sees a strange story play out. A shipwreck. A rebellion. A pathetic attempt at an empire equal to His own. 

And love. 

Love. The very thing Prime craves above all else, sustenance He has snuffed out suns to obtain, exchanged freely between a lower creature and a mistake of creation. 

“There was even a time you wished I would not come for you. Is that so?”

His jealousy is sharp and furious. Never before has one of Prime’s own reflections looked past Him to someone else. The very idea that one could love another more than Him is anathema. He takes the thought of the violet woman and hides it within Himself. He will make his brother love Him truly again, because it is inconceivable that such devotion could be given to anyone but Prime. 

With divine grace, He allows the wretched thing another chance to prove its loyalty, and another, and another. An unlucky cat offering temptation crosses the apostate’s path, but the lost brother resists. Ashamed and afraid, it confesses with tearful eyes, and Prime is pleased. He is a patient and forgiving god. He drinks deeply from the vessel until it is empty and pure, and Prime’s light burns brighter still. 

—

Horde Prime knows that something is wrong. 

A tiny piece of First Ones technology, clutched in a guilty hand, catches like a mote in His eye. He knows it is there. He knows what it means. He could rip it away from the foolish defect without the slightest effort, but He does not. 

He wants the poisoned brother to recant on its own. He wants to be chosen. He needs to be wanted. Horde Prime cannot remember when He last felt so starved. The other creatures in this universe, the beasts who must accept Prime’s light or perish, their resistance He has learned to accept. It is only natural for lesser life forms to require correction. His own creations, however, are another matter. Until now, not even the most broken and worthless of them has ever wished for a life apart from His presence. 

It is unbearable. 

Horde Prime views the little brother’s memories over and over and over. He listens to the woman’s words and watches her face awash in light. He examines every detail, and He still can’t understand it. He visits the amusing little stronghold on Etheria’s surface and scoffs at what He finds. How could anyone love this more than Him? It is a child’s idea of attainment, naive and pitiful. 

Prime sends His armies to cut out Etheria’s Heart, the corrupted brother among them. It is another test. Everything is another test. Prime will never stop giving tests to the ones He loves. He waits with bated breath when she appears, watching unseen, wanting desperately for His little brother to make the right choice. His rage when it rejects Him again carves deep scratches into the arms of His throne. It is sickening. 

“What have you done to me?” 

—

Horde Prime burns. The planet burns. He holds the Heart within His grasp. All will be as it should, again. He offers His brother one final test: Prime’s light or this doomed backwater darkness. Only by killing one can it have the grace of the other. There can be only one choice. 

When Prime falls, He knows that there is no hope left for this mad prison. He lets His vessel die and His true body erupts like an exploding star. His arms reach out across dimensions. He sees all. He knows all. 

“Ah, little brother. So it’s true. You have been thoroughly corrupted. So be it.” 

The world will end in fire. Though all is reduced to rubble, Prime shall rise again. He looks across the crumbling planet and sees the tiny creatures clinging to each other with worthless love, and it pleases Prime to know they will be shown how misguided they were before the end. 

Horde Prime holds the failure’s body and the rebel scientist and binds them together. He will let them see what comes of choosing such a life. He will let them perish together as He creates the universe anew. It makes no difference. There is nothing they can do to stop it.  

Love cannot hurt Him. 

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Okay but I would LOVE to here your heretical opinions on Padame if you ever want to share them or any of your other views on star wars prequel characters. Your character analysises are INCREDIBLE and really fun to read <3

Oh boy, are you sure about that? Well, the ask has been made so here, we, gooooooooooooooo!

Padme’s one of those strange characters who appears as one thing but in actuality is quite different. Because she appears as the first thing, and it’s something people really like, most people accept that at face value and if she’s not always consistent--well, she came from a series of screenplays written by George Lucas.

Padme comes across as a very noble, kind, and courageous character who is also quite politically savvy. At fourteen, against all odds, she saves her planet from invasion when the Senate did nothing, secured herself an ally in the chancellor (nevermind him being secretly Palpatine), and even after relinquishing her title as queen remains a major player in the senate for years and is seen as enough of a threat to warrant several assassination attempts (one so bad she has to be guarded by Jedi and sent home to Naboo for several weeks). 

And I’m not saying she’s not any of these things. Padme is very courageous, is one of those odd politicians who... believes she stands for what she believes in (more on this later), and has a remarkable political career.

However, she’s also romantic to the point of being completely and utterly delusional, self-centered, and frankly a little nuts.

(Yeah, you knew you were waiting for me to say something terrible, WEREN’T YOU?!) Right, so what’s wrong with Padme?

Well, if you look closely at a few of her choices, the ones that never seemed to make much sense, then you can look at her other choices and... Well, it all sort of comes together. 

That’s right, I’m talking about “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”.

Attack of the Clones we have the very lackluster and strange romance of Anakin and Padme.

On Anakin’s end, his infatuation with Padme makes a lot of sense. She was part of the party that rescued him from slavery, she was very kind to him, and was the prettiest girl he’s ever seen in his life. Ten years later, always having harbored a crush on her memory and keeping it alive through whatever news he hears of her, she’s grown into a very beautiful woman and Anakin is by chance introduced back into her life. I get why Anakin falls head over heels for Padme, I’ll get more into this later and how their relationship has some major issues (aside from the obvious), but I understand why he marries this girl out of nowhere even when it could get him thrown out of the Jedi. (As an aside, since this is more of a Padme post, I think Anakin was spurred on in part also by the death of his mother and his massacre of the Tusken Raiders. Anakin’s life was flipped upside down in a very short amount of time, one of his great emotional ties is suddenly gone, and I think he has this internal crisis that culminates in him deciding to marry Padme. Without this, he and Padme may have become lovers, but I don’t think he’d marry her).

On Padme’s end... it’s a little less clear. Anakin has grown into an attractive young man, yes. Take out all of George Lucas’ dialogue, and maybe Padme finds Anakin very charming. However, Padme secretly marries a Jedi she’s known for three weeks. Now, I’d be a bit more forgiving of this, love is love and we can’t always think rationally, but there’s some other things.

Unlike Anakin, Padme hasn’t been spending the past ten years romanticizing her memory of Anakin Skywalker. When they met in Phantom Menace, Anakin was not only five years younger than her, he was nine-years-old. To fourteen-year-old Padme, Anakin was not then dating material and was instead this poor boy in slavery. Which means while Anakin has build up justifying this rapid romance, Padme really doesn’t. What this means is that her romance with Anakin reads a lot more like a romantic fantasy. Cute dashing bodyguard shows up, saves her life, through contrived circumstances they’re sent back to beautiful Naboo where they spend time together, only cute bodyguard is a Jedi and can’t marry, which makes their love excitingly taboo! 

Everything Padme does, before and after this point, lends itself to this overdeveloped sense of romance. Padme wants to be whisked away, wants to have this secret unsustainable marriage with a man who cannot be married, she’s in love with the idea of being in love. Given how little time she spends with Anakin, how little they really know of each other, I’d say she’s more in love with the idea of Anakin than Anakin Skywalker himself. And this isn’t a bad thing necessarily, or at least not a grievous flaw, however, that’s not all. 

Padme chooses to marry Anakin knowing he murdered an entire village of men, women, and children. She marries him almost immediately after the massacre of the Tusken Raiders. Note, she does not learn about this later and have to come to terms with it, she is right there. She is on Tatooine with him and sees him go to do it and then return. 

Padme doesn’t take it... particularly well, that said, she also seems to shove it under the carpet immediately. She, first, marries Anakin within days after this event. She second, never really has a “holy fuck, Anakin” conversation with him. And worst yet, she never confesses to anyone else. Padme is a hypocrite and willing to sacrifice everything she believes in, albeit I believe unwittingly, for her romantic fantasy.

She tells no one about what happened. An entire village was brutally massacred, those who are already poor and oppressed and have no voice, by a man who is supposed to be a protector of all people in the galaxy. I’m sorry, Anakin, but if Padme was who you think she is then she would have to tell the Jedi Order at the very least if not the Republic. Instead, there are no consequences, only Anakin’s descent into guilt and madness as three years pass with it festering in the back of his mind.  Padme does not stand for the poor, for the people, or for justice. She only does so when it does not conflict with her own interests, i.e. her actions regarding the invasion of Naboo. More, I do not believe Padme has the introspection to realize this about herself, she never realizes that not narking on Anakin was very very very bad. Three years pass and she lives the whirlwind romantic fantasy that she and Anakin both want. They’re secret lovers/spouses, meeting up at the oddest hours of the day and... This is three years of this ridiculous affair. Three years to come to terms with the fact that something must change. And then the kicker, Padme gets pregnant, and this is where the extra delusional comes in.

The child should have been a signal of the end. There can be no more secret now. Padme is having a child, presumably out of wedlock, and even if space is very very very different from our society I imagine this would be quite the scandal that could even get her thrown out of the senate. I believe Padme mentions as much to Anakin. More, Anakin is no longer a lover, he is now a father. What’s supposed to happen now? They raise this secret child, instructing them that Anakin is only a father in private, never in public?

Anakin and Padme briefly flirt with the idea of Anakin leaving the order. Anakin even wants to do so, but it... never happens. Now is the time it absolutely should happen. Yes, Anakin’s a big part of the war effort, but he could at least start talking to the Order and they could decide if it’d be a slow or fast exit. 

My theory, Padme’s too in love with the fantasy. Anakin leaving means he’s no longer a Jedi, it means he’ll come to Naboo, be unemployed and be around. Anakin visiting will no longer be this romantic, fraught with the danger of being found out, passionate, short lived event for Padme. It’ll become real life. He’ll be a real, ordinary man, she’ll be a real, ordinary, woman, and that spark of romance will be gone.

I don’t think Padme wants that. 

Which is why, even with the child on the way, we see Anakin and Padme continue to play out this ridiculous secret lovers fantasy. And then, of course, Anakin goes insane off screen.

Padme is told that, once again, Anakin has murdered dozens of children. Of course, this is a terrible thing to be told and she can’t process it. She needs to find Anakin and confront him, but people always criticize Lucas here and feel it’s out of character for Padme to have run to Anakin in sobbing hysterics with no plan of enacting vengence.

Frankly, I think it’s very in character. She did nothing about the Tuskens, remember? I think at the end of the day, the murder of the Jedi children means very little to her. What hurts Padme the most is that the fantasy of Anakin she married is not real. The Anakin she married would never murder the Jedi children, betray the Republic, or do any of what he’s done. And I think Padme only has that strong, iron, will when she knows the world she’s in. With the Trade Federation, her stance was obvious. Her people were being oppressed, butchered, and invaded. In this case, the world she knew no longer exists.

The Republic is gone, perhaps hasn’t existed in thirteen years, as it turns out the senator who had always been her biggest supporter was a Sith Lord. The Jedi are gone, children murdered by Anakin while those in the field are picked off by their own clone soldiers. Padme’s world has fallen apart, and I think that makes it much harder for her to be the girl we saw in Phantom Menace. In time, perhaps, she would have joined the rebellion but... I do think Padme might have also given into despair.

So, yeah, that’s Padme for you.

[ofcrowsanddragons]

And I appreciate your post! There's a lot to chew on when it comes to who Lucanis is and what he wants. Even Lucanis himself isn't very clear on what that means, I suspect!

And "he's rebelling against the specific mentality caterina tried to instill" is a great jumping off point for thinking about Lucanis's arc, and I love it. Lucanis figuring out how to LIVE is central to who he is at the beginning of Veilguard, and his little rebellions up to this point inform what that means to him.

Lucanis has so many character traits established by the "Coffee with the Crows" quest:

He's doing the "grocery shopping for the team", regardless of whether anyone thinks someone of his status should be doing it. (I doubt this was a mentality Catarina deliberately instilled in him.)

He pays close attention to what his companions want or need, regardless of whether they like each other.

He never thought to buy a Wyvern tooth dagger for himself, making this a rebellion he never considered for himself.

His family relationships are fraught, with him and Illario undermining each other constantly. Illario deliberately tries to ingratiate himself with authority figures and/or Lucanis's friends by putting Lucanis down. Meanwhile, Lucanis undermines Illario in a more patronizing, and even patriarchal way: Illario isn't good enough, so Lucanis needs to take care of him. (The fact that Illario has to position himself as less competent than he is because of the deception has to rankle him.)

Lucanis believes that "to live fully is to live truly" and muses that most of his path up to this point has been "determined for him" (the nod to determination is an interesting play on words). It opens this as the core question of his arc.

If you're a Crow, Lucanis won't stand for you being self-deprecating, and expresses how much he believes in you

Edit: also takes that extra moment to enjoy the coffee before heading back to the Lighthouse: another rebellion?

It's really fun to consider what elements of Lucanis's personality are a rebellion against Catarina under the guise of being a good assassin. After all, if doing x, y, and z make him more effective, she can't stop him from doing it.

If working with an abolitionist vigilante here or there makes it easier to complete a job, then why wouldn't he free (eyewitness) slaves? If his hobbies make for a more effective arsenal, why wouldn't he knit? If feeding the team makes him more indispensible, then the Veilguard can't cut the Crows out of a world-changing event. More importantly, he gets to exercise the elements of his personality that are softer, without being called "soft." No one would ever accuse the Demon of Vyrantium of THAT!

If he can hone himself into the sharpest blade in the world, then he can also define for himself what that means. If he's more effective than anyone else, then no one can question his methods.

I think that makes the question of what enjoyment he can get from his tainted-by-association profession even more interesting. Because literally everything he does—including his little rebellions—are done in the service of being a better assassin. Arguably, he has appeared to become exactly what Catarina wanted, while maintaining the core of who he is... all out of spite.

Where does that leave him, if he has the power and determination to determine his own fate?

(Image description under cut)

Screenshot of my tags under user covertleathers's post:

#fun thoughts #little rebellions #i think some of the pushback has been on the idea of simplifying lucanis into someone who #specifically doesn't want to be an assasin because assassination is morally wrong #as opposed to someone who's being forced to figure himself out because several issues have come to a head #possession but also the inheritance question rearing its ugly head #also more opportunities for relationships (platonic and otherwise) than he's ever had #lucanis dellamorte #crow thoughts #veilguard meta

this is just me yapping about lucanis tbh

one of the big things DAtV tells you about Lucanis is that he has been robbed of basically any agency in his own life. I am very fond of his exchange with a trans Rook, where he expresses with the slightest hint of jealousy that he admires Rook for being themselves unashamedly.

I've seen some back and forth re: Lucanis enjoying being an assassin, and I think the rub for me is that any enjoyment he finds in it is tainted, in a way, because it isn't a life he chose. He rebels against it in the ways that he can (freeing eyewitness slaves in WMJ, for example), and expresses no interest in ever having a higher position than the one he does. Most of his "enjoyment" is derived from going after the Venatori, objectively bad people. He makes it his whole thing. He exercises the very little control he has by bending the rules and shaping his situation into something he can swallow more easily. He takes pride in the more vigilante aspects of the Crows.

(sidenote: being a weapons enthusiast or any similar hobby is not inherently tied to being an assassin.)

But ultimately he's incapable of freeing himself from that life if he wants to, and as someone else said, Caterina very much puts him on the spot with that public promotion and he *can't* say no. They can't afford to look weak in front of all those eyes.

So it's not that i want to "simplify" him into a househusband. I just want him to be allowed to get to know himself and find who he wants to be. I want him to have choices.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine being Sokka and Katara’s cousin and having a complicated romantic relationship with Zuko.

Your cousin Sokka had initially set you up with Zuko because he figured the firelord needed some fun and you were exactly that. You weren’t interested in titles or riches you were just an infectious whirlwind of carefree energy. He figured Zuko could learn something from you and so arranged the date.

He could tell by how light Zuko walked into the room the next day that his plan had worked and he liked seeing the positive effect you were having on Zuko. The pressures of the throne had really been weighing down on him and you helped him to get some much-needed freedom and connect with his non-Firelord side....however it always had a way of coming back.

Zuko loved dating you but he’d gotten pressure from every single fire nation noblemen on the council to break up with you. They disliked you because you were from the water tribe so many viewed you as an outsider trying to influence the fire nation. Zuko’s reign was still so new and with rebellions breaking out more frequently Zuko agreed. He had to put his country first even if that meant losing you. One thing Zuko hadn’t realised however was you had a very different view of your relationship...for one thing you didn’t even realise you were in one with the Firelord.

Your POV

Zuko was always pretty tense but you noticed tonight he was even more stressed and quiet. You tried to make conversation but he was sombre throughout dinner and when you’d finished he put his cutlery down and looked across at you. “Y/n I need to speak to you”. You nodded folding your arm “sure, what’s wrong?”. Zuko sighed "Y/n i’ve really enjoyed our time together but i...have to break up with you, I can’t see you anymore". You blinked surprised, one at Zuko’s honesty and two at the news you had apparently been dating the Firelord. You and Zuko weren’t dating or even close to dating, in your mind you’d just been having fun and sure you were definitely not just friends but you also didn’t think you were boyfriend/girlfriend. Regardless of what the label was you quickly realised what Zuko was telling you and it made a heavy weight settle in your stomach. Whatever this between you was...it made you sad to think it would be ending.  "You do?" you asked remaining composed and Zuko nodded. "It’s nothing to do with you it’s me, being firelord i don’t have the time for dating or fun, i don’t think it’s fair to keep this going when I can’t guarantee i’ll always be able to give you my attention". You nodded your head "that sounds fair, thank you for thinking of that". "No problem" Zuko said smiling sadly and you nodded awkwardly. “I’ll be going then” and you went to walk away when he spoke again "but i really enjoyed our time together y/n, i really did". You smiled "me too, you’re pretty fun for a royal" and bowed "see you around firelord” and you walked away.

Zuko’s POV

You walked out of the room and Zuko sighed. He felt a mix between relief and sadness. That had gone a lot easier than he thought it would and that should be a good thing but it didn’t feel that way. A part of Zuko had wanted you to argue with him or to dig to find the real reason he was breaking it off. He knew if you’d have challenged him in even the slightest way he’d have told you the truth and taken back what he’d said but you had just agreed and let it go without a fight. Zuko couldn’t help feeling disappointed and a little hurt. You remained on his mind the rest of the day and Zuko couldn’t stop wondering about your reaction. He was sat with your cousin Sokka when he decided to bring you up. "Just so you know I’ve ended things with y/n" Zuko explained and Sokka blinked "i’m sorry what?". "I know i should’ve warned you seeing as she’s your cousin...i’m sorry". Sokka shook his head "no i’m confused how do you think you were dating her". Zuko blinked "what do you mean? You literally set us up". "I introduced you because i thought y/n could make you loosen up a bit but Zuko y/n doesn’t date". Zuko blinked "but we hung our several times and...kissed and stuff". Sokka sighed "oh god as gross as this is to have to explain about my cousin...Zuko that doesn’t mean you were dating". "It doesn’t?”. Sokka sighed "okay here’s what you need to know about my cousin, she grew up in a town that was heavily sexist and married girls off at young ages, so as times started to change she leapt at the new opportunities. She refused to ever date anyone, it’s too much commitment and so instead she has fun with people, typically for short periods of time and then she flutters away, usually leaving a broken heart or two". Zuko blinked "but we were dating!". "Did you ever agree to make it exclusive?" Sokka asked. Zuko shook his head "well not in words". "Did you ever ask her to be your girlfriend?". "No but i thought it was implied". "Did you ever call her your girlfriend then?". "No i...it was new i didn’t want to come on too strong" Zuko sighed. Sokka patted his back "and there’s the broken heart". "I’m not heartbroken just confused! Why did she let me break up with her if we weren’t even dating?". "Well breakups are awkward, imagine having to explain to someone in the middle of one, that you're not even dating, i bet she did it just to spare your feelings". As soon as those words left his mouth Sokka regretted it. "No i didn’t mean that...i meant". Zuko stood up angrily "it appears i need to find your cousin".

Zuko was furious. He felt like he’d been living two different lives this whole time and that had caused so much stress. One half of him was the teenager who wanted fun, the freedom to go on dates and just be careless. Then the other half of him was the Firelord who knew he had to be responsible. He knew all the elder nobles thought he was too irresponsible and all his friends thought him too boring and conventional. He liked you because you opened him up to new things and made him feel normal. Not too young or too formal, just right, you made him feel valid.

But he’d sacrificed all that for the “greater good” and now not only was he regretting his decision he was also furious because apparently he wasn’t anything to you anyway. The thing he’d struggled so much with, you weren’t even aware of.

Zuko walked into the large living room the gang had taken to lounging in and saw you sat with Haru. He felt his temper rise as Sokka’s words filled his mind. How you broke hearts and moved on instantly. You laughed at something Haru said and Zuko’s eyes narrowed. He really meant nothing to you. Zuko stalked across the room and came to stand in front of you both. Haru jumped "Firelord Zuko" but you took your time glancing at him. You eventually raised your eyes to his and nodded "Firelord Zuko". Zuko tensed "y/n we need to talk". "Is it urgent because....". "It is, now...please" Zuko said and he walked away.

Your POV

You blinked as Zuko stormed away and apologised to Haru before following him. You had no idea why Zuko wanted to speak to you, surely everything was wrapped up now you were done but he seemed so angry. You’d heard about this famous fire nation temper but you’d never seen it on Zuko and part of you was a little impressed. You liked fire benders for that reason precisely, their inner fire and passion but Zuko had been completely composed and calm the whole time you’d know him. Not now though.

You followed Zuko into a room and he shut the door. "Zuko what’s wrong?" you asked and he spun to face you rapidly. "What’s wrong?" he cried "why did you let me break up with you and say all that rubbish if I meant nothing to you?". You paused "who says you mean nothing to me?". "Sokka!" Zuko cried "he explained how you flit from person to person, never dating them just having fun and how you move onto your next person when you get bored. We were never dating, why didn’t you correct me?". You shrugged "i... I didn't want to be rude, but Zuko I wasn’t just waiting to flit from you to someone else". "Ow yeah, Haru’s just a coincidence?". "You broke up with me! Why are you angry even if something was going on with Haru?". "Because i didn’t want to break up with you y/n" Zuko explained "i did it because i had to and it was a really tough decision for me to make. It felt like a big sacrifice to me and then to find out you didn’t even think twice about me" Zuko said rapidly before staring at the floor almost deflated. "Zuko i do think about you" you said softly "whatever Sokka said isn’t completely true. Yes i don’t like putting labels on things but that doesn’t mean i don’t care or feel the same things anyone does at the start of something. I think the reason i move on or flit around so quickly as you said is because i move on as soon as I start feeling things, i don’t like being vulnerable so me not thinking of you as my boyfriend wasn’t because I didn’t care about you, it was more to protect me from the opposite". "So you do like me?" Zuko asked and you took a breath. "I do...a lot". Zuko rushed forwards hastily and kissed you. You kissed him back wrapping your arms around his neck before you paused "but wait...i thought you said you literally weren’t allowed to do this". Zuko nodded but didn’t remove his hands from your waist "i did, as Firelord i’m expected to behave dignified and composed all the time, i’m not supposed to get emotional or act irresponsibly for example by dating an unconventional water tribe girl" Zuko smiled "but i don’t care! I don’t care if they disapprove! I don’t care if we’re boyfriend and girlfriend or it’s just casual, all i know is i really like you and really really want to kiss you". You smiled and rehooked your arm around his neck "then kiss me".

Zuko was obedient and kissed you passionately before moving onto your neck. You were both surprised and pleasantly fascinated at Zuko’s confidence. Usually he was shy and kissed you quickly before moving away but now....now he was confident and purposeful with each touch. It was very attractive and you suddenly saw why the fire nation had such a strong reputation. Zuko caught the look in your eye and smiled "if you want we can....go to my room?". You smiled "lead the way”. Zuko stepped towards the door so quickly he knocked a table over but he just tugged you past it "leave it, it can stay that way for all i care right now" he muttered and you laughed at how spontaneous he was being. It was nice to see him let his hair down and you grinned as he pulled you through the fire nation halls hastily. He yanked his door open before pulling you inside and slamming the door. Trapping you on the other side. "Hmm i don’t think running through the hall is dignified Firelord Zuko". Zuko shrugged "neither is this" and began to kiss you again.

***

You laid side by side and Zuko seemed very relaxed but you were wondering about something. "Should I be going...am i even allowed to stay here in your room overnight? Doesn’t it break some century old fire nation tradition?" you asked. You’d never been in Zuko’s room before and only now did it really hit you he was the Firelord with a whole country on his shoulders and hundreds of advisors all monitoring his every move. If they’d gotten so angry at you for spending time together surely the nobles would be furious at you spending the night in his quarters? Zuko however did not care. "Of course you can” he said immediately “no servants will bother us and my guards will know to leave so we can be alone...of course that’s if you want to? If you don’t want to stay the night...". “Are you kidding me? And miss sleeping in these silk masterpieces?" you asked wriggling against the royal bedding. Zuko laughed watching you before he looked more serious. "I meant what i said" Zuko said softly "you don’t have to be my anything...i like you, i don’t need any labels or anything". "But do you want them?" you asked. You’d been more honest with Zuko than you’d ever been with anyone and now a part of you....wasn’t terrified by the idea of making him something more. But Zuko had also listened to you too and didn’t want to scare you off. "All i want is you" he smiled coming closer "if you don’t want labels then they won’t come anywhere near us". You smiled at the effort Zuko was making and leant into him. Zuko wrapped his arms around you and you buried your head in his chest. Ignoring the feeling in your stomach that you should have been more honest.

1 week later

Zuko definitely took what you’d said into account. He was a lot more confident with you both in private and publically. Apparently almost losing you made him more determined to make the most of his time with you. He invited you to royal events and was attentive to you throughout them. When nobles questioned him about you he would tell them it was none of their concern and refuse to answer any further prying. You liked seeing Zuko stand up for himself using his dominant abrupt side but also kind of missed his soft sweet side. Sure having a temper and attitude were hot in the moment but after a while they lost their depth and you got the feeling it was an act Zuko was putting on for you. As if  Zuko thought by acting tough and in control with his court you’d be more attracted to him when in reality you loved how caring and considerate he was.

Zuko was also struggling. As well as maintaining the imposing Firelord who didn’t care what others thought of him, Zuko was also pretending he was okay with being casual. Zuko was not a casual person in any meaning of the word. He was a dramatic over-thinker, he had never been carefree and although in the moment with you he did enjoy it, afterwards his mind fretted over everything he’d done. He also worried about your open relationship. He knew freedom was important for you but he couldn’t help but wonder if when you looked at another person you’d start seeing them as well. Zuko liked you a lot and was sure he never wanted to see you with another person. He wondered if it was selfish but he wanted you all to himself and wanted an exclusive relationship....but he’d promised you he would be fine with this and that meant more to him.

So you and Zuko continued the charade to please the other, no idea that the other person actually felt the exact same way.

Your POV

You and Zuko had just had a pleasant evening with his friends and were retiring to his room for the night. On the way you passed a guard who looked at the two of you and then frowned. Zuko immediately tensed and went into Firelord mode. “Something you want to say?” Zuko called and the guard lowered his eyes “no Firelord Zuko”. “I thought not” Zuko agreed and took your hand. Zuko led you into his room and shut the door with a loud snap. You watched Zuko and all the things you’d been feeling this week came up. You needed to say something and now was just as good a time as any.  

You prepared for the night and sat down on the edge of the bed watching Zuko warily, wondering how he’d take what you were about to say.

"Zuko i’ve been thinking about something and I think we need to talk” you said suddenly and Zuko jumped standing up taller. "Are you okay?" he asked immediately coming to sit next to you. "I am and i want to thank you for all the effort you’ve gone to but i think we need to reassess the situation”. Zuko immediately panicked, you’d realised he wasn’t a cool collected leader and that he was faking it....you weren’t attracted to him anymore. "Y/n i think i know what you’re going to say" he frowned when you carried on "i miss how it was before". Zuko blinked "what?". "I know you’re trying to be more dominant in your rule and to be more protective of us but that doesn’t mean you have to act all unfeeling and unbothered for my benefit. You’re a kind sweet person Zuko and I like when you show that, so i guess i’m asking have you been trying to change for me?". Zuko looked down "i have....you just reacted so intensely to me being more confident and so i thought you’d want that more". "I do love it when your confident" you smiled "but you don’t have to keep that in every aspect of our lives, maybe just when we’re alone?". Zuko felt a blush rise to his cheeks but he nodded "okay". You smiled "and sorry one more thing....i know i said i don’t like labels but i think i’d maybe like to try them?". Overcome with the realisation you felt everything he did Zuko just kissed you passionately. You kissed him back before laughing as you separated "what was that for?”. "For weeks i’ve been playing this character and restraining myself from asking you to be exclusive with me and i thought if i felt this way how can we be compatible but all along you felt it too". You blushed and nodded "yes i....i’ve felt that too”. Zuko grinned and kissed you again before pulling away "wait let me make sure i understand this correctly, you’d like us to start dating? Properly and officially?". "And exclusively" you smiled and Zuko grinned "i’m going to do this officially then, y/n will you be my girlfriend". "I thought you’d never ask!" you cried and kissed him again.