#for possession of her (and her kingdom). she's a character but more importantly she is a symbol and her actual personality is

[solidsnakesfiftyhuskies]

the relationship between me and quiet metalgearsolid is just like ursula k le guin and lavinia from the aeneid

[reverseenchancia]

Headcanon: The Amulet of Avalor Chose Sofia—and Destined Tilly and Cedric to Guide Her Path

**Premise**: The Amulet of Avalor is a powerful artifact that not only responds to those who wear it but carefully orchestrates connections with those around the wearer, subtly influencing lives and destinies. Sofia was chosen because of her unique heart, but her journey was not meant to be undertaken alone. Aunt Tilly, a seasoned adventurer and former Storykeeper, and Cedric, the ambitious palace sorcerer, were each destined to play critical roles in guiding Sofia. Through their mentorship, trials, and transformations, Tilly and Cedric would reveal the amulet’s deeper magic and fulfill its true purpose: not only freeing Princess Elena but inspiring compassion, redemption, and wisdom in all connected to it.

The Amulet’s Origins and Sentience

The Amulet of Avalor’s magic predates even Enchancia’s royal line, crafted in an age when artifacts were designed with intricate, moral spells that bound them to certain virtues. In essence, the amulet was designed not only as a tool but as a test of character, silently observing each wearer’s actions. While the amulet's primary goal was to free Princess Elena from her curse, it required someone who not only possessed kindness and bravery but who could influence others to grow, transform, and heal. Sofia’s destiny was thus twofold: to liberate Elena and to bring about personal growth and redemption in those connected to the amulet’s journey.

This sentience in the amulet made it more than a mere magical object. Over centuries, it awaited a wearer who could rise to this unique challenge. It encountered various princesses who were kind, noble, or brave but still lacked the perfect blend of traits necessary to accomplish its true mission. When Sofia came into possession of the amulet, her innocence, compassion, and humility triggered a response in the artifact unlike any other before. However, Sofia’s journey would be shaped and tested by the wisdom and guidance of those around her—most importantly, her Aunt Tilly and Cedric the Sorcerer.

Tilly’s History with the Amulet and Her Role as Sofia’s Mentor

Aunt Tilly’s background as an adventurer and Storykeeper gave her an innate understanding of magical artifacts, including the Amulet of Avalor. While growing up at the palace alongside Roland and Cedric, Tilly’s fascination with magical lore likely introduced her to the amulet. If she had possessed it briefly, she may have sensed its sentience and known it wasn’t meant for her, leaving it behind before setting out on her travels. Her role as a Storykeeper and her knowledge of mystical artifacts would have given her the wisdom to understand that some magical objects have unique destinies and must pass to the right person.

Tilly’s departure from the palace and her decision not to take the amulet with her suggests she recognized it had a specific purpose in the kingdom. When she finally met Sofia, Tilly quickly identified her niece’s innate goodness and suspected that the amulet had chosen her for a reason. Rather than imparting all her knowledge at once, Tilly takes a “watchful mentor” approach, letting Sofia navigate the amulet’s mysteries while offering guidance only when needed. Tilly’s respect for Sofia’s independence helps Sofia grow in confidence, encouraging her to rely on her instincts.

- **Evidence**: In episodes where Tilly mentors Sofia, she often encourages Sofia to think critically, challenging her to approach problems from a moral perspective. For instance, Tilly doesn’t simply tell Sofia the amulet’s secrets but provides hints and leaves it to Sofia to discover the answers, fostering Sofia’s self-reliance and wisdom.

- **Additional Note**: As a former Storykeeper, Tilly likely knew about the amulet’s deeper magic, including its connection to Princess Elena. However, she trusted that Sofia’s path would lead her to this truth when the time was right. By allowing Sofia to discover Elena’s fate independently, Tilly helped Sofia grow into a hero capable of freeing her.

### Cedric’s Obsession, Redemption, and Unlikely Role as Protector

Cedric’s history with the amulet is more complex. Growing up in the palace alongside Roland and Tilly, Cedric became aware of the amulet’s legendary powers early on. His fascination, however, was driven by ambition rather than wisdom. Unlike Tilly, Cedric saw the amulet as a means to achieve personal glory, yet he was repeatedly thwarted in his attempts to acquire it. Cedric’s frustration grew as he watched the amulet lie dormant in the palace for years, unaware that it had chosen not to reveal its power because he was not the right person.

When the amulet chose Sofia, Cedric’s ambition clashed with Sofia’s purity. His initial attempts to seize the amulet failed not only because of Sofia’s resilience but because the amulet itself thwarted him, knowing he wasn’t meant to wield it. However, Cedric’s growing relationship with Sofia slowly began to shift his focus. The amulet’s indirect influence, combined with Sofia’s kindness, gradually inspired Cedric to re-evaluate his priorities, leading him down a path toward redemption.

- **Evidence**: Despite his constant plotting, Cedric often finds himself helping Sofia, albeit reluctantly. The amulet subtly places Cedric in situations where he has to choose between selfish ambition and genuine assistance, each time nudging him closer to a protective role. For example, when Sofia faces dangerous magical challenges, Cedric’s concern for her well-being overrides his desire for the amulet, demonstrating a protective instinct he wasn’t aware he possessed.

- **Additional Note**: By the time of Elena’s release, Cedric has transitioned from an adversary to a true ally. His journey from a self-serving sorcerer to a caring mentor reveals that the amulet’s mission included redeeming Cedric, using Sofia as the catalyst for his transformation. The amulet’s power, therefore, extended beyond Sofia; it influenced those closest to her, fostering growth, healing, and loyalty.

The Amulet’s Master Plan: Uniting Tilly, Sofia, and Cedric for Elena’s Freedom

The amulet’s ultimate goal was to free Princess Elena, a task that required a team united by trust, loyalty, and purpose. Tilly’s wisdom, Sofia’s bravery, and Cedric’s evolving protectiveness formed a trio perfectly suited to uncover the amulet’s secrets and fulfill its mission. By bringing together Sofia, Tilly, and Cedric, the amulet ensured that Sofia would receive guidance from both the experienced adventurer and the reformed sorcerer, enabling her to grow into the hero capable of freeing Elena.

1. **Tilly’s Wisdom and Sofia’s Courage**

Tilly’s role as a mentor helped Sofia prepare for the dangers of her mission. Through subtle guidance, Tilly taught Sofia about responsibility, courage, and respect for magical artifacts. This wisdom became invaluable when Sofia embarked on her journey to free Elena, as she relied on the knowledge Tilly imparted to navigate the amulet’s powers and challenges.

2. **Cedric’s Transformation and Loyalty**

Cedric’s gradual shift from rival to protector was a crucial component of the amulet’s plan. As Cedric developed genuine affection and loyalty toward Sofia, he became someone she could rely on. When Sofia faced magical threats or needed help deciphering the amulet’s secrets, Cedric’s expertise and loyalty played a vital role. His protection became especially significant as Sofia approached her final task of freeing Elena.

3. **The Team’s Combined Strength in Freeing Elena**

With Tilly’s wisdom, Sofia’s compassion, and Cedric’s knowledge of magic, the amulet had assembled a team capable of confronting any challenge. By the time Sofia was ready to free Elena, she had not only learned about magic and bravery but had also built a support network that embodied the amulet’s ideals of loyalty, wisdom, and courage.

- **Evidence of the Plan’s Success**: In the final stages of Elena’s rescue, both Tilly and Cedric play instrumental roles. Tilly offers guidance, while Cedric provides magical expertise, ensuring Sofia has the resources and support needed to complete her mission. The amulet’s “plan” comes full circle, revealing that it never intended for Sofia to undertake this journey alone.

Conclusion

This headcanon weaves together the destinies of Sofia, Tilly, and Cedric, portraying the Amulet of Avalor as an artifact with a grand design. Rather than choosing Sofia alone, it selected a trio of souls—Sofia for her compassion, Tilly for her wisdom, and Cedric for his potential redemption—to fulfill its ultimate purpose. Tilly’s guidance nurtured Sofia’s sense of responsibility, Cedric’s transformation provided Sofia with loyalty and protection, and Sofia’s kindness united them all, culminating in the liberation of Princess Elena. In the end, the amulet’s mission was not only to free Elena but to transform the lives of those connected to it, fostering a legacy of friendship, wisdom, and redemption that would endure long after Sofia’s journey was complete.

[tellusd20]

Artwork by @hirodraga A campaign I started in June 2021 has finally concluded and this band of tomb robbers and grubby mercenaries archaeologists and brave adventurers have gone their separate ways at the end of their expedition. Starting from top left and then zig-zagging down to bottom right, here are their brief bios and character arc conclusions: Qiliq: orc ranger and party leader. Minor noble from the empire of Alamgir who got roped into a matter of family honor. His uncle, the patriarch of their family, had been disgraced and accused of cowardice. His uncle had subsequently undertaken an honor quest into a magical wasteland (the remnants of a collapsed civilization) with the promise of retrieving the crown of a long-dead tyrant as a trophy for the emperor. He disappeared instead, leaving Qiliq to both solve the mystery of his disappearance and to complete the quest. The party accomplished both objectives, recovering both his uncle's corpse and the crown. The tyrant's crown turned out to be a powerful, sentient magic item that began speaking to them in their dreams, preying on insecurities and tempting them into bargains. Almost all of them desired it for themselves, but in the end, Qiliq ended up possessing it. Instead of returning to Alamgir and presenting his emperor with a new prize, Qiliq turned to a conquistador path, using his newfound wealth from the expedition to hire more mercenaries and carve out his own bloody "kingdom" on the periphery of civilization.

Minerva: elven druid, common born retainer of a reactionary noble house in the elven empire of Melate. A spy inserted into the group to ensure that any elven artifacts recovered on the expedition were returned to their homeland. Over the course of the campaign, she made a bargain with the fey to betray her sponsors in favor of the empress for her own gain.

Minerva possessed the tyrant's crown when it was first obtained, but ended up trading it to Qiliq in exchange for a political marriage and a leadership position among the forces he intended to raise. She went on to conduct numerous atrocities in their conquest of a new 'kingdom'. Her player was aware that the lifespan difference between Qiliq and Minerva meant that the crown would pass back into her possession again within a few short decades, and she was fine with being patient.

Zerrus: tiefling warlock masquerading as a human sorcerer. A con artist, grifter, and criminal from Alamgir's lower classes, he misrepresented himself to acquire a spot on Qiliq's expedition and the opportunity to gain wealth, power, and most importantly, a way out of the country. During the course of the campaign, he somehow managed to keep his secrets. Zerrus liquidated his share of the expedition's treasure, purchased a townhome in the city of Aphursa (a bustling, Istanbul-style metropolis), and went on to invent the world's first multi-level marketing scheme.

Auden: human fighter, archaeologist from the kingdom of Talland. Marooned in the wasteland by the deaths of his prior party, Auden gratefully took the chance to join a new group after meeting them at a frontier outpost. Upon the conclusion of their adventure, Auden returned to his homeland and university, where he published numerous research papers on his findings. He became a highly sought subject matter expert on the wasteland; published tales of his adventures raised him to something of a minor celebrity and enabled him to found a profitable consulting service for other expeditions.

Aupo: orc, orthodox cleric from Alamgir's anti-magic Tathir religion. He signed up mostly to remove heretical and blasphemous artifacts from existence. His enthusiasm for the task often generated tension with the rest of the party, particularly when his hammer fell upon expensive relics. The crown never revealed its true nature to Aupo, and the rest of the party concealed the truth from him, knowing he would attempt to destroy it. He signed up with Qiliq's mercenary force, becoming a fanatical missionary in new lands.

Herwyg: human druid, archaeologist from the kingdom of Talland. Upon return to his homeland, he liquidated many of the mundane treasures but kept all the interesting pieces for his own collection. His research papers and artifact loans to museum exhibitions won him tenure and academic awards, as well as recognition from the royal government for his service to the kingdom's cultural prestige.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Anime Overview: The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

Whew, not typing that again! We’re calling it Magirevo. If you couldn’t tell from the trademark long title, it’s a light novel adaptation, but most importantly, it’s a yuri light novel adaptation.

(And yes, technically an isekai, but the isekai element isn’t focused on a lot. It only comes into play at the last minute, in a surprisingly emotional way!)

The story centers around two extraordinary girls- Anisphia, nicknamed Anis, and Euphyllia, nicknamed Euphie. Anis is a rambunctious princess who’s given up her claim to the throne. Royals are expected to be able to wield magic, and Anis was born without the ability. So she’s developing her own field of study, “magicology”, and inventing tools that will allow anyone access to the wonders of magic. Since magic was restricted to nobles before this, Anis making it easily accessible to the common people naturally threatens the gentry, and Anis is branded a heretic. On top of all that, Anis has openly declared if she ever did get married, it would have to be to a woman, and she’s not interested in continuing the royal “bloodline”.

Euphie, in contrast, is entirely focused on fulfilling her role as a proper noblewoman. She’s arranged to be married to the future King, Anis’ brother, Algard, and is determined to live up to expectations. But then Algard betrays her and publicly destroys her social standing.

That’s when Anis steps in to save the day. She takes Euphie’s hand, quite literally carries her brother’s girlfriend away, and promises Euphie they’ll discover the root of the conspiracy brewing against her. So their partnership- and blooming romance- begins.

Sometimes just I want to watch girls fight dragons and save kingdoms and use cool magic. And sometimes I want to watch girls be gloriously joyously gay. I want to watch them fall in love, kiss, dance grandly, and team up to defeat enemies with swords and sparkles! I want to see layered, powerful queer protagonists in fun fantasy adventures! Magirevo delivers wonderfully on all those fronts, and (easy mark that I am) that alone would probably have been enough for me, but that’s far from all the series has to offer.

Anis and Euphie are great protagonists. Anis is chaotic and passionate with her love of magic. She’s bold, openly queer, and charming right off the bat. Meanwhile, Euphie is a girl struggling with the fact she spent her whole life trying to fit into the mold of perfect lady, perfect prodigy and perfect future queen. Every choice was made for her, but now that life has been ripped away. She’s free to make her own choices now, but all that possibility is frightening and overwhelming, and seeing how other people live makes her feel empty aside. The care that the show puts into representing Euphie’s depression is one of the best parts of the early arcs. The sharp direction really lets the viewer feel Euphie’s sense of loss and melancholy, as well as the hope she comes across when she realizes there’s a power in making her own choices, and when she finds inspiration in Anis.

Both girls are dynamic, easy to root for, and have a strong rapport with each other. They also both go through some nice development. The story starts off with Euphie as the vulnerable one who’s burdened with expectation and Anis as her confident savior, only to completely reverse the roles near the end of the story. We get to enjoy the journey of watching Euphie grow bolder and more self possessed, meanwhile as the story goes on it becomes clear that Anis’s sunny nature hides some aching insecurities and royal traumas. She’s not unscathed by how others denigrate her for not having magic, or from the pressure of her role. The character arcs are simple to follow, but the development is satisfying.

Yuri adaptations are often cursed with scant resources and middling-to-poor looking animation (sobs in Otherside Picnic) but Magirevo is thankfully a glowing exception to that. The animation is slick, and the show delivers some punchy action scenes and great emotional moments. When Anis and Euphie wield dangerous magic to fight an attacking dragon, it’s just as fun and hype as your average action shonen, and it’s great to see lesbians get to go feral and do ridiculous OP fantasy shit.

Magirevo also has some really fun side characters, like the cynical goth gremlin Tilty and Anis’ charmingly snarky maid Illia. There’s a few fun surprises in store- like a compelling hints of another wlw side romance, involving a vampire! It would be nice to see these characters get a little more attention, but the anime can only cover so much.

The second episode has a few hiccups that might stick out to some viewers- Anis’ father reacts badly to her antics and her declarations that she loves women, and his reaction is played in a goofy anime slapstick violence way that’s very tonally weird (it's even weirder in prose, believe me). There’s also jokes made about Euphie feeling initially uncomfortable about Anis’ flirtation and this includes Anis “helping her get her clothes off because they’re too complicated to do on her own” and Euphie being obviously unhappy with this. In the light novel, since we see Anis’ POV and there's not much of a negative reaction from Euphie, so we know she genuinely did just want to help Euphie with her clothes and wasn’t being a perv, but it doesn’t quite come off that way in the anime. Though at least the whole thing is much briefer and less skeevy than it's manga counterpart. (And Anis never repeats this behavior again).

There’s also some brief scenes of Anis at the bath later on, and an even briefer scene where Anis touches a girls boob as part of an examination and said girl is super embarrassed (this one goes by quickly enough and Anis’ expression is detached and clinical enough it doesn’t make much of an impression- it was so much worse in the manga). In the area of things that are unsettling on purpose, there’s a pretty well-done scene where Anis has to listen to a bunch of old nobles talk about her like she’s breeding stock, and a lot of emphasis is put on her disgust, fear, and discomfort. It delivers the message well, but might be upsetting.

The other caveat of the show is that while making magic accessible to commoners and upsetting the outdated hierarchy is a clear theme of the show, it’s far more focused on Anis’ and Euphie’s relationship. I think that’s for the best, though it might make one feel like the show glosses over some things. You shouldn’t expect super complex political intrigue or a rigorous, detailed examination of oppression- the show’s more into romance and cool fights. (The ending of the anime also makes it clear the fight to reform the kingdom is ongoing, so we might get more in the novels, for what its worth).

The anime also manages to condense three light novels into 12 episodes. This leaves the last arc feeling a little cramped with all the big emotions and ideas its covering, but after reading the light novel I discovered that the anime didn’t cut out much of value. The anime is by far the best way to experience the story, as the light novels are incredibly repetitive and full of exposition dumps. The anime wisely cuts all that out and focuses on what matters, the emotions and the characters. I do wish there was one more episode at least, since judging by the care the anime team shows I think they would have capable of adding good original content, but overall I’m very impressed with all the adaptation decisions. The anime turns an uneven, dragging novel series into a tighter, jam-packed story with a satisfying finale.

And what a finale it is!

When I say joyously gay, I really mean it- the Magirevo finale is one of giddiest celebrations of queer romance I’ve seen in anime. You will happily drown in rainbows.

It’s so rare to see a yuri adaptation get far enough with the source material that we get romantic catharsis, and Magirevo goes for every inch of it! Even the early moments of Euphie’s shyness and Anis’ pushy flirting become more meaningful as the roles are reversed in a truly fun way.

We even see the isekai concept used for meaningful emotional drama I always wish more stories would go into! It’s stellar all around.

Magirevo is a fairly simple story at its core, treading on some well-worn fantasy archetypes and tropes. But the loveable characters and jubilant execution of the romance make it a treat to watch. Who cares if it’s not super deep? Queer viewers deserve something shiny and fun once in a while, and Magirevo truly has a magic of its' own.

[panthera-dei]

Whumperless Whump Event Day 12 (Very Late Entry)

Prompts: "Trapped under rubble" / "I can't move my legs."

Fandom: Wings of Fire

Story Info:

Title: "Broken Crown"

Characters: OCs (Links to view images of them can be found below)

Rating: T for canon-typical injuries

No warnings apply

Idiots to lovers, and also idiots who are already lovers (what can I say? Apparently Visionwhisper is a great matchmaker for everyone but herself.)

@whumperless-whump-event

Dragon OCs:

Visionwhisper

Forger

Crown-of-Thorns

Anglerfish

Sleeper Shark

Nightsnake

Story beneath the cut!

“If you liked our razzle-dazzle, my IceWing friends, our dear music-maker Sleeper Shark will be coming around with the magician’s hat. Any amount you can give will be appreciated! We want to keep bringing our shows to dragons across the continent. And please, tell your friends! Write to your acquaintances in the Sand Kingdom and remind them that dragonets below age three get in free!”

Behind the thick velvet curtain, Visionwhisper rolled her eyes. “You were right about Nightsnake making a good master of ceremonies, but I wish he would just stop talking.”

Crown-of-Thorns huffed and wrapped her short, wide wings closer around herself, curling into as small a ball as she could - although, considering that the MudWing hybrid was easily the largest member of the troupe except for Forger, she had limited success. “Who cares what he prattles about? The IceWings are still clapping, and more importantly, parting with some of their gold. Three moons, it's cold out here.”

“Well, it is the border of the Ice Kingdom,” Vision replied, reaching for the mug of steaming cider on the backstage table.

“It's so cold that even if I possessed the ability to breathe fire, I couldn't, do you hear what I’m saying, Viz? It's cold enough to freeze the cloaca off a SkyWing!”

Vision promptly coughed up some of the cider, wincing as a few drops of steaming liquid shot out of her nostrils as well. “Really, Crown?!” Both dragons fell silent and watched as the cider droplets quickly froze to ice. “You know what, you’re right. It is cold out here!”

Vision's quip caused both of them to burst into peals of laughter. Vision took a sip from the mug and passed it to Crown, who took a gulp and sighed in satisfaction before returning it.

“Where’d you find that, Viz? Not enough cinnamon for Anglerfish to have made it.”

Vision clicked her claws together, suddenly very interested in her talons. “Oh, um, just a couple minutes ago, while you were doing the Feat Of Strength bit.”

“Uh, I said where, not when.” Crown narrowed her eyes, unconsciously flashing the bioluminescent patches on her legs. “Spit it out.”

“It was nothing, Forger brought it by earlier, I’m sure he made some for everyone -”

“By all the whales, no wonder you were squirming like a salamander when I brought up SkyWings earlier. Hm. And no, none of the rest of us got any fancyscales drinks,” Crown replied with a little sniff.

Vision felt the scales of her cheeks heating up. “We - um. We should probably see if Angler needs any help loading the wagon.”

“Ah, I see how it is. The only other female dragon in the troupe, and you'd rather make me work than let me enjoy the juicy gossip. I see how it is.”

“There isn't any gossip.”

“But you wish there were?”

“No! I mean - well - but - I -”

“OK, OK, don't kill yourself, Viz. Great kingdoms!” The snowflakes were beginning to stick to Crown’s iridescent brown and magenta scales as she shook her head. “Besides, your reactions are telling me everything I need to know.”

Vision froze, and it had nothing to do with the snow. “You won't say anything?”

Crown rolled her eyes. “And give my boss a stroke? I don't think so. Besides, with you dead - or a sea cucumber - then I would be the only one left to run the place, and you’d better believe I’m not doing all this work by myself. Speaking of which - you’re right, we should help load the wagons, and I’m sure that some of those crates are NightWing size.”

“Hey! I’m not even that small!”

A few minutes later, the wagons were almost entirely packed, the stage had been dismantled, and every tent had been rolled up tight.

“We missed a box,” Vision said. “I’ll get it.”

“I got it,” Anglerfish replied, already stepping towards it as he flexed his forearms.

Crown jumped over, trying to beat him to it. “Allow me!”

“Are they always like this?” Forger whispered to Vision, causing her to jump.

“Don't do that, I didn't even know you were there! … Also, if you're asking if they're always bickering and trying to impress each other? Yeah, pretty much.”

Suddenly, there was a loud crack, followed by an eerie groan and the sound of splintering.

“Look out!” Nightsnake shouted, but it was too late. An enormous chunk of ice broke off from the ridge above the two dragons and hurtled in their direction. Anglerfish leaped out of the way, dropping the box in his scramble, and Crown began to jump after him. Before she could launch herself out of the path of the falling ice, her claws lost purchase on a slippery patch, and she ended up sprawled across the frozen ground as the ice smashed to the earth.

When the spray of snow and ice crystals had subsided, the first sound was Anglerfish bellowing in shock and terror. “Crown!” He plowed into what remained of the ice chunk, hoping to roll it away from her, but her cry of pain stopped him.

“Curse this moons-forsaken kingdom,” Crown whimpered, her body shaking. “I can't move my legs. I'm pinned.”

“Don't panic,” Visionwhisper said. “We’ll get you out of there. Sleeper Shark, you go find an IceWing, see if we can get some help. They must know how to get rid of this. Nightsnake, you keep her warm until we can get her out of there.”

The two dragons nodded, Sleeper Shark breaking away and flying towards the IceWing village while Nightsnake, the hot-blooded SandWing, curled up beside their trapped friend. Crown closed her eyes and nodded to him in thanks.

Forger rubbed his chin with a talon, deep in thought. He knew that he had the power to fix this, all of it, but using his animus magic was too risky, even if it meant saving Crown’s life. He would have to find another way. “If we can't roll the ice away from her without hurting her, perhaps we could melt it.”

Anglerfish shook his head resolutely. “Too dangerous. That could kill her.”

“At worst, she could come away with a few burns. That's better than being trapped in ice. The only dragons who can survive for long here without getting at least a case of frostbite are the IceWings - which none of us are.”

“Let's not lose our heads over this,” Vision interrupted. “You two are talking about worst-case scenarios. Nobody’s going to freeze to death or burn to death yet. Sleeper Shark went to get help… If we're lucky, one of the IceWings can tell us what to do.”

Dissatisfied, the other two dragons nodded.

“Hey, guys?” Nightsnake called.

“Is she OK?” Vision asked as she stepped over to them.

“Not really.” Nightsnake held up his talons - and they were soaked in red. “I think that the ice boulder thing must have cut her up when it hit her. She's losing blood. I think it's pretty fast.”

“No,” Anglerfish whispered.

Vision swallowed hard. “OK, we can't wait for Sleeper Shark and the IceWings. We have to get her out of there now and get a healer to look at that wound.”

“But we can't do it without hurting her worse,” Angler said, his brow creasing in worry.

“I know, and nobody wants to do that, but it's going to be worse if she keeps bleeding like that. We have to move fast. So here's the plan: Forger will melt the ice boulder. Start at the top so the fire is less likely to touch her. Then, Angler, once it's light enough that you can lift it straight up without rolling it, you pick it up and get it away from her. I’ll grab the bandages and be ready to stop the bleeding the best I can. Nightsnake, you keep her awake.”

“I’ll try,” Nightsnake replied, even though the fear was evident in his voice.

Forger nodded. “I’ll need everyone to stand back a bit.”

With surgical precision, the SkyWing hybrid emitted a thin jet of superheated flame that danced across the top of the ice. The hiss of rising steam mingled with the odd sound that preceded SkyWing dragonfire. After mere seconds, almost half of the boulder was liquid, with the remains of the boulder glazed with melting water.

“Stop,” Anglerfish signaled. “Let me try to lift.”

“Careful,” Forger said. “That water could still be hot.”

If Angler felt any burns, he didn't seem to notice or care as he gripped the ice with his talons and hefted it straight up into the air. Carefully, he pivoted and hurled the ice away from them and into a snowbank.

“You did it!” Vision cried, snatching up the bandages and dashing forward.

“Guys! Guys!” Sleeper Shark huffed, dashing into the midst of his friends. “I got an IceWing!”

The snowy white dragon swooped gracefully down and landed beside the SeaWing, tucking her wings against her body and leaning in to see Crown’s wounds. “Well, it looks like you don't need me anymore. What did you do?”

“We melted the ice until it was small enough I could lift it,” Anglerfish replied. “Can you help her? Are you a healer?”

The IceWing shook her head. “Our village doesn't have anyone above the Fifth Circle, and we can't take you further into the Ice Kingdom without the gift of diplomacy. Sorry, but you're on your own. Good luck.” With that, the white dragon flew back towards her village, disappearing into the snowy sky.

“Well, that did us no good!” Anglerfish roared.

“Step aside,” Forger said to Vision quietly. “Does she have any bones broken?”

Vision shook her head. “Not that I can see. I think it's just some lacerations from the sharp edges on the ice. She’ll be OK, once the bleeding stops.”

“Do it,” Crown piped up weakly, wincing in pain. “I know what you're thinking, Forger. Just make it quick.”

Forger nodded. “Stand back.” Slowly, he peeled back the already-soaked bandages.

Vision knew what was coming as soon as she heard that same odd, guttural hiss that always preceded Forger’s fire. She covered her ears, closed her eyes, and stepped away, curling up into a snowdrift.

“Uhhh… What's happening?” Sleeper Shark asked.

“You might want to look away for this,” Nightsnake told the SeaWing brothers, his face wrenched in a look of pity.

Blocking out the sounds of Crown whimpering and her short claws digging into the ice, using the same expert precision and care, Forger exhaled thin yet strong bursts of fire to cauterize each of the wounds.

“It's done,” he said finally. “You still all right?

“A little grossed out, but I’ll live!” Nightsnake quipped.

Despite her ordeal, Crown still had plenty of strength left to swat the SandWing. “Shut up, you!” Then she chuckled. “Downside of being half MudWing and half SeaWing: I can't breathe fire, no matter what temperature I am. But the upside?” She tapped her brown scales, which were already beginning to heal over. “Fireproof scales. I came from a blood egg. Comes in handy, every now and then. Now I just need some mud and I won't have anything to worry about.”

Vision smiled. “Then let's get out of here! What are we waiting for?”

“Guess the wagon’s already packed,” Crown grunted. “Oh wait, it's not.” Dragging herself to her feet, she grabbed the box that Angler had dropped (and which everyone had forgotten) and chucked it onto the last wagon. “There. Gotta do everything myself, don't I?”

Anglerfish wrapped his tail around hers and squeezed her tight. “Don't ever do that to me again.”

“Ouch, get off me, squid-brain!”

Forger scoffed in disbelief. “They really are always like that.”

Vision nodded. “Like nothing ever happened. Unbelievable!”

Forger didn't know what came over him then. He saw the snowflakes sticking to her deep purple scales, and for the first time, he noticed the faint silvery sheen on two teardrop-shaped scales around her eyes, and it was like time seemed to slow around them. Gently, he pressed the side of his snout against hers.

With a quiet giggle, she bumped his snout back. “You're warm.”

He didn't even think about it when he spread his wing wide and let her snuggle against his side. He walked quietly and in awe.

Ahead of them, Anglerfish twisted back his head to sneak a glimpse of them before turning his focus back to the wagon he was pushing. “Are they always like that?”

Crown snorted. “What, you mean are they always madly in love and everybody notices it except for the two of them?”

“Uh… yeah?”

“Then yes, my shining pearl. They're always like that.”

[istar-ingolmo]

The Problem of Galadriel

There is a problem with Galadriel. It’s not with her actions in LOTR and It’s not with her as a person. The problem is prior the Fellowship arriving in Lothlorien to meet the Lord and Lady; she did not exist. Galadriel, as a character, was invented as Tolkien was writing his sequel to The Hobbit. He needed someone who was wise and powerful to help the Fellowship, and, more importantly, Frodo after the loss of Gandalf in Moria. So, he creates Galadriel and her husband Celeborn, to serve as the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien. We find out in The Fellowship of the Ring that not only is she quite powerful, but she also possesses one of the three elven rings of power. Nenya, The Ring of Adamant.

Therefore, to have this kind of power she must be an immensely important elf. This is where we run into our problem. Galadriel is this immensely powerful elf, one of the rulers of one of the last elven kingdoms still in Middle-Earth. However, neither she nor her husband, Celeborn, are mentioned at the Council of Elrond. They appeared as they were needed in the narrative. Then Tolkien spent the next nearly thirty years of his life trying to reconcile them with the rest of his legendarium. This resulted in the problem of having to rewrite much of what he wrote since 1914 concerning the First Age. This makes Galadriel's backstory inconsistent at best.

There are essentially four different versions of these characters, first is in The Lord of the Rings where she originated. The second is in Appendix B that appeared in the Return of the King. Then her history is related in The Silmarillion and finally, two versions of her and Celeborn’s history that were published in Unfinished Tales. There are other tales that Christopher Tolkien later collected for his History of Middle-Earth series. We also get some lore on her in an unlikely place, the book of sheet music called The Road Goes Ever on by Donald Swann.

Each of these four Galadriels tells us something different, and there are sometimes years between these character revisions. In brief, Tolkien changed his mind constantly on where he wanted her to originate from and her involvement in the events of the First and Second Age. She went from a Sindarin Elf to a Noldorian Elf. She also went from desiring lands and lordship to simply being a seeker of knowledge. She went from participating in The First Kinslaying at Alqualondë to defending the Teleri. Finally, Galadriel went from being barred entry to Valinor to simply choosing to linger in Middle-Earth. With each revision, Galadriel’s importance grew.

The creation of Galadriel for The Lord of the Rings created a 'problem' that spurred on countless revisions of many of Tolkien's oldest tales concerning Middle-Earth. If Tolkien had lived longer, it is very likely the stories we got in The Silmarillion would be considerably different from what we ended getting in 1977.

History of Galadriel (in brief and in order as Tolkien revised her):

In LOTR:FOTR she is a Sindarin Elf of Nargothrond

In Appendix B at the end of The Return of the King, she is now the sister of Finrod Felagund of Nargothrond, making her now a Noldorian Elf. Finrod notably saves Beren from Sauron. Her husband is kinsmen of Thingol of Doriath, the father of Luthien. Galadriel's daughter, Celebrian, is married to Elrond.

In Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn, her travels have bouncing as round Middle-Earth. She is distrustful of Annatar (Sauron), while the rest of the Noldor in Eregion are taken with him. A coup happens and she flees Eregion though Khazad-Dûm. She rules over Lothlorien before passing the lordship to her son. When he dies, she and Celeborn return to Lothlorien.

In Of The Rings of Power and the Third Age she is elevated to the status of mightiest and fairest elf that remained in Middle-Earth.

In The Silmarillion, Galadriel participates in Fëanor's rebellion, seeking to be a ruler of realm of her own. She is present at The First Kinslaying. She meets Celeborn in Doriath. She is also unwilling to return to Valinor with the other Noldor and lingered in Middle-Earth.

In The Road Goes Ever On, a sheet music book by Donald Swann, we learn that Galadriel is actually banned from returning to Valinor unless certain conditions are met. Implying she is not repentant enough to be allowed back in Valinor.

In The Shibboleth of Fëanor we learn that Galadriel can perceive people's mind and judge their heart. She sees Fëanor for what he is and dislikes him. She is not swayed by his rebellion and actively fights against his forces when they commit The First Kinslaying. She follows him to Middle-Earth out of revenge. It is also here where we find out that Fëanor was enamored with her silver-golden hair and asked for a tress. She wouldn't lend him a single hair. It is implied that her hair inspired Fëanor to make the Silmarils.

Some final notes in 1973, removed Galadriel even further from Fëanor's rebellion. She intended to go to Middle-Earth beforehand, but was barred by the Valar after Fëanor's rebellion. She meets Celeborn in Alqualondë this time while visiting her mother. She goes to Middle-Earth in despair of the violence of the Kinslaying.

Until Next Time! Namárië!

[mk-wizard]

Sailor Moon 90s Anime is STILL the best

Hi. I know I am on a Sailor Moon binge here, but after seeing all of Crystal, Eternal and on R (season 2) of the first anime, I want to get this all off of my chest... and before I go further, since these are all animes, I will refer to them as 90s, Crystal and Eternal. And after watching them all, I have to say that the 90s takes the gold medal as the best Sailor Moon anime so far and this is why;

1- It had the best pacing. - While I admit that sometimes, it went too far with the filler, 98% of the time, it worked with the 90s. It took its time to make you get to know the characters for better or for worse, it made you see different sides of them, it gave them a chance to truly develop and be multi-dimensional, and it made you care about them. When a death happened, it felt tragic. When a victory happened, you cheered. And when you saw what side characters did, it mattered. I mean, who can ever forget the contribution 90s Naru Osaka had to the story? And everyone who has seen the 90s anime cannot forget her. More on the character development and getting to know characters later.

Sure, it wasn’t true to the manga and even the characters had different personalities, but I let that slide by because when Crystal and Eternal did follow the manga to the letter, we didn’t get a chance to digest anything. The only characters who develop are Usagi, Chibi-Usa and the outer guardians, and for the last bunch, it was the bare minimum. Crystal and Eternal were fun rides and I would be lying if I said I didn’t like them, but they were like roller coasters. They gave you a thrill, but fast and been done. The 90s was like a slow scenic ride that gave you surprises, emotionally touched you, made you cry, made you laugh, made you root for the heroes and even at the age of 37 years now, I keep rewatching this series.

2- The art of the 90s was better because it was sketchy, dark and edgier. - I know Sailor Moon doesn’t seem like this on the surface because the heroines are lovely girls in cute costumes, it emphasizes femininity and all things pretty, it has a romantic theme and is all about love, but Sailor Moon is also one of the darkest, grittiest, edgy and violent magical girl animes I have ever seen since Magic Knights Rayearth. Sailor Moon has on screen deaths which were permanent most of the time, on screen stabbings and the drawing of blood, and fights that got so hardcore, that real punches and kicks were thrown. The dark edges, black line art and sharp edges worked with the atmosphere of the story. I mean, look at the difference between the halls Dark Kingdom of the 90s (above) and that of Crystal.

And if that is not enough to win you over, the characters were much more animated, organic and conveyed more emotion whether they were exaggerated or serious.

In Crystal, the expressions and body language was very dulled down. Not to mention, very stiff.

Everything is also too bright and soft which makes the characters look like velvet dolls with too much make up especially with the line art. I will give them props for adding better details, cleaner lines, the glow of magical items, and details in the gems, but everything else is all wrong.

Eternal was better, but still not quite there. The colours are still way too bright and the characters still look too much like dolls from having line art that is too wispy. And I really do not like how the eyes have this unnatural glow to them. The edgy scenes become lost with all this brightness.

3- We got to see that there was so much more the characters than just heroes or villains. - Since Usagi is the titular character, let us just talk about her in the 90s since I could go on forever about how much we learned about the characters. In any version of Sailor Moon, Usagi’s role as a Sailor Guardian has always been the core of the story and she does indeed show progress as one. However, the 90s tells us that no matter what, she is still going to be herself too which is just as important and she shows character development as just plain old Usagi too. The manga, Crystal and Eternal which only paint Usagi as not doing anything right except be a Sailor Guardian, but the 90s show her hidden talents and learning new skills. For example, she was bad at cooking at the beginning of the series.

However, by Sailor Moon R, she gets the hang of it and is able to cook a meal by herself. Yes, she is messy, clumsy, never gets the hang of making cookies and is nowhere near Makoto’s level especially when it comes to presentation, but she is good at cooking food.

Another hidden talent of Usagi’s is her drawing skills. She isn’t just good at drawing. She’s got talent at it, so in the 90s, Usagi is quite the artist.

And it is admirable that 90s Usagi is open to trying new things even if she isn’t good at them. She practices, she explores and tries to enlighten herself. Sure, academics, coordination and organization will never be her fortes, but she really does have other and tries to discover more.

In Crystal and Eternal, she is good at being Sailor Moon, she is a good friend and a good girlfriend, but that is it. She is one dimensional here and she isn’t the only one to painted like that. Everyone is only the obvious and that is all the audience gets.

4- Better character redemption. - I mentioned before that Sailor Moon had grit and was dark, but the 90s also made it more complex and did character redemption right. It was open to the possibility of bad people becoming good. For instance, the Black Moon Clan Specter Sister are unforgettable for being successfully redeemed.

Yes, I admit that the monster of the day would get killed by the hands of the Sailor Guardians, but they also clearly showed that the monsters were not people or even alive. They were made of energy, clay or sand. When the monster of the day was a possessed innocent, they were saved through exorcism. Very rarely was an actual person ever killed and even when they were, it was either by the hands of another villain, their own hand, self defense or as a last resort. They never used killing as means of dealing with every single bad guy.

Furthermore, the bridge arc about the Makai Tree that also served as a prologue to Sailor Moon R could be seen as a story about mercy, kindness and love. It stands out as the one time the big bad was actually a misunderstood big good being the Makai Tree herself. And even Ail an An were never bad, but were raised bad. And even then, they changed. This story is unique only to the 90s so far, but it was great and stood out for that reason.

In Crystal, the heroines will kill a person without a second thought which I am shocked that no one brings up how repetitive and contradictory that is. The pretty warrior of love and justice should by all means protect the Earth, but doing so by killing off the bad guy all time is not love or justice. I also think the caption in this picture sums up how I feel about how the one and only time bad guys were given a chance to be redeemed...

Eternal was better because the Asteroid Guardians got redeemed and saved. However, even then, I feel like there is still a double standard. They were one of the good guys to begin with and Sailor Guardians. In the 90s, the Amazoness Quartet wasn’t, but were given a chance to change anyway. I find it cool that the Quartet turned out to be Sailors and even better that they will go on to become Chibi-Usa’s team, but mercy is not just for your allies or for your own benefit. Everyone should be given at least one chance to fix their mistakes.

5- We got to know Mamoru better. - I admit that no matter the incarnation, Tuxedo Mask will never be as powerful as Sailor Moon except when he is King Endymion, but the 90s take on his character made him better even if they did omit his super attack being Tuxedo le Smoking Bomber. What the well dressed masked man lacked in firepower, he made up for in intelligence, insight about the enemy’s weakness, courage and skill. The only times he ever did get overpowered was either by bad luck or because it was intentional because he was taking a hit for Sailor Moon. And even then, he always got back up. He’s a real man like that.

More importantly, we get to know him as Mamoru too. Even before he confides being an amnesiac to Usagi, we see his struggles with feeling alone in the world from having no memory of his life before a tragic accident which also killed his parents. Now, him being a stern cynical person makes sense because I probably wouldn’t be pleasant to be around either if I lived with that. Once his walls come down, we see that deep down, all he wants is to belong somewhere and have a family. It should also be noted that 90s Mamoru doesn’t love Usagi because he is “destined” to. He loves her because he wants to. Even during that brief period where he broke up with Usagi was an act of love. The thing I also always liked best about 90s Mamoru is that even though he loves Usagi more than life itself, his life doesn’t revolve around her which is a healthy thing and he tries to encourage Usagi to be the same way for her own good. He is studying to be a doctor, he has a job and he even has his own crowd which I think is great.

In Crystal and Eternal, while I do see an attempt at trying to follow this trend by showing that Usagi and Mamoru were on their way to falling in love even before they got their memories back, I still find he was one note and we never really learn much about him that has nothing to do with Tuxedo Mask, Endymion or anything royal related. Sure, we know that he’s studying to be a doctor and is a genius to an extent too, but that is it.

I would like to end this by admitting that the 90s was not perfect either, but out of all the takes on the tale of Sailor Moon as of date. Crystal and Eternal were ok, but they just cannot stand up to the quality of the 90s. The only thing I can say I find Crystal did better than the 90s were the costume designs. Specifically, how they let Venus keep her chain belt, Pluto’s key chain belt, Uranus and Neptune’s shorter gloves, Uranus’s sword, Uranus having two earrings, Mercury’s suit is shoulder less which I always found suited her better, and I liked Sailor Moon’s brooch and necklace better in season 1.

And even then, I should have liked it if Jupiter’s antenna was always on display as it is just something I always found cute in the manga, I liked Mars’ five point star earrings better in the 90s, and I like how in the 90s, each of the Inner Guardians’ sailor stripes were a little different.

Of course, this is all my opinion. I would like to hear which of the animes did Sailor Moon right in your opinion and why. Thanks for reading and stay safe, and have a great day.

[oswinsdolma]

Proving all the Knights of the Round Table have magic part 3: Elyan

I've seen quite a few people headcanon Elyan with magic before, and it's definitely one of the more popular magic!knights hcs, so I apologise if I accidentally hijack anyone else's points xx

The most obvious indicator of this is the fact that Elyan leaves Camelot a year before Merlin arrives. This is about the same age Morgana's magic shows itself, so it would be natural to assume he left because he began showing signs of being a warlock, Camelot's laws being what they are.

It is also implied that Elyan left fairly abruptly, with Gwen having no idea where he went. He may have left in a hurry because somebody might have noticed him, and not told Gwen or Tom for fear of putting them in danger.

Perhaps in a darker note, he didn't say where he was going because he was ashamed of his magic and didn't think his family would accept him.

Gwen says that "[Elyan] always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time". Maybe accidents happen around him because he had trouble controlling his magic and found it increasingly difficult to cover for. This could be another indicator as to why he left.

Elyan didn't return to Camelot even for his father's funeral, and while he expresses his guilt, he doesn't give sufficient reason why: the reason? He may not be able to tell Gwen because he was still scared to return with magic.

When Gwen reveals her relationship with Arthur, Elyan is skeptical, and maybe even a little panicked. After all, would your sister falling in love with someone with the power to set you ablaze not be a terrifying concept to anyone with magic? But when Arthur comes to rescue them and proves himself to be slightly less of a prat than he may think, he tentatively agrees to return home, though I suspect this is mainly for Gwen's sake.

When the immortal army invades Camelot, Elyan manages to stay hidden and fight off some soldiers. Note that he is the only one of the group within Camelot with no Knights' training, which begs the question: how did he manage to escape? The answer could very well lie with magic.

Again, in The Darkest Hour, he is one of two knights that survived the meeting with Morgana. He is one of the more inexperienced knights as well, which suggests that he may have aided himself magically in the fight.

When faced with a seemingly unbeatable threat, Elyan says to Arthur: "tomorrow, we fight in your name, sure. For freedom and justice in this land." Now there is a lot to unpack here, but if we break it down, firstly there is the fact that Elyan places is emphasis on "your" when addressing Arthur. He has previously made a statement about the Pendragon crest, but in this moment, it seems that he cares more about Arthur than this. This is clearly indicative of the fierce bond between Arthur and the core knights, but it could be more than that: the emphasis of "your" is specific to Arthur, but perhaps more importantly, it is an exclusion of Uther. In his time, Arthur has made mistakes, but he has generally been more sympathetic towards magic than his father, and this may be Elyan's subtle way of acknowledging that.

In addition, the words: "for freedom and justice in this land" could just be in reference for Arthur's abilities as king, but this is a deep speech and one would assume it has a deeper meaning. Freedom and justice are two things that have not been afforded to those with magic for a long time. Uther's twisted "justice" involved executing anyone who disagreed with him and anyone who could be vaguely affiliated with sorcery. As for freedom, Arthur has created a fairer kingdom than his father, but magic users still live in fear. Combined with the earlier stress of "your", this is indicative that Elyan too believes that Arthur may one day come to bring peace to anyone who is born with magic.

This last point also has the implications that Elyan knows of the Once and Future King and surrounding prophecies. Though he is described as a troublemaker by Gwen before he comes to Camelot, he keeps his head relatively low upon arrival. Perhaps in the time he spent travelling, he sought help from magical communities, e.g. the druids, who helped him control his powers. This would also explain his vagueness about his whereabouts and lack of contact during the years he was missing.

I could go on about this quote but we'll leave it there for now.

Before he is overtaken by the power of the Lamia, Elyan is vocal in standing up for Merlin. This could be because he knows what it is like to be shunned by society. Magic could be a reason for that. (Also I fully believe that the only reason the Lamia didn't try and take over Merlin was because she was scared of the extent of his magic, not just because he had magic.)(and the merthur reasons when I'm in the mood)

Then Elyan falls sick, before the others begin to show symptoms. Maybe the Lamia sensed some magic and decided he was more trouble than he was worth.

Elyan was not raised by druids, and does not have the same powers as Merlin so wouldn't have sensed the power of the shrine, at least not too strongly. When he first sees the spirit though, he is genuinely sympathetic, even before the murderous intent takes hold.

In the Dark Tower, Elyan is consumed by his need to find Gwen, convinced that he is to blame for her capture. This could be survivor's guilt (and to an extent, probably is), but it is equally probable that Elyan believes that he should have used his magic to protect her.

Going off on a slight tangent here, the theme of "I have magic so it must have a purpose" within warlocks/sorcerers in the show is a) not a healthy mindset and b) uncomfortably common. Elyan may have latched onto the idea that he must use his magic to protect Gwen to convince himself to stay in Camelot, and with that conprmino, he began to fall apart. His behaviour is almost identical to Merlin's fervour regarding Arthur at this point, and it's fairly disturbing that these characters adopt this mindset that is Not Good For Their Mental Heath, Please Get Some Therapy.

Elyan dies. It's heartbreaking, and he does so trying to save his sister. But what is interesting is his funeral. When most main characters die, they are given a funeral in Camelot, e.g. Uther, Lancelot (the first time). But then Freya and Shade!Lanceot (and later Arthur) are set to rest in the Lake of Avalon. The difference between the two is that the lake funerals were arranged by Merlin, and those laid to rest there can somehow be affiliated with magic.

Now I'm not saying that Merlin knew about Elyan's magic, because sometimes he can be really not very perceptive about that (though it's always fun when fics cheerily toss that out the window because it's fun goddamnit-), but I don't believe he was entirely oblivious. Think about it: there are two of Arthur's closest friends canonically hiding magic from him and it's fairly probable that they'll pick up on Elyan's magic at some point. Even if it's just little things like his sympathies with magic or gentle arguments about the way mages are treated. There are so many avenues to explore with this it's overwhelming-

I also think Elyan may have picked up on Merlin's magic later in the series: the point of realisation was probably when Merlin rescued him during his time being possessed by the drowned druid boy, upon which he says: "you know, Merlin, you're much braver than you look." This is the first time Merlin has revealed his more BAMF side to Elyan, and in this moment, something unspoken passes between them. If not mutual understanding, it is at least Elyan realising what Merlin does beneath his carefree exterior, and despite the possession, I think he acquires a lot of new respect for his friend.

(also are we going to ignore that the lake funeral implies that it was arranged by Merlin. How close were they and what stuff did we miss out on behind the scenes for him to be trusted with this?? I need to know)

Elyan and Mordred have a friendship in series 5. If the earlier headcanon about Elyan learning to control his magic with druids is true, perhaps he may have recognised Mordred from his time there. They probably didn't acknowledge it much, but it created a bond between them.

And now for the mythological context!!

Of all the Knights of the Round Table, Elyan's backstory is perhaps the most estranged from the original legend (of course all of them are fairly disconnected *flashbacks to pope-gwaine* but Elyan's is w a c k y)

As a consequence, there is little to draw on for behind-the-scenes evidence of magic.

Elyan, or Helayn, was another Knight whose origins stem from France (the Vulgate Cycle, I think, though he could have surfaced earlier). He is said to have joined Lancelot in exile after his affair of 'courtly love' with Guinevere (go and look up this concept- it gets convoluted in the myths but is really interesting in terms of both origin and content). Anyway, his exile here could represent the time he spent out of Camelot before his appearance in s3, and relates to hiding from harsh laws, particularly if we regard Lancelot and Guinevere's relationship in the same way as we do in the Vulgate Cycle (basically keep the context with the appropriate work and it sort of makes sense)

I appreciate this seems a little like grasping at straws but that's literature I suppose ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In the legends, Elyan is nephew to another of Arthur's knights, Sir Sagramore. This knight is less famous than some, but at one point, he embarks on a quest to find the fay. The fay are closely linked with the she, and perhaps also live on Avalon, somewhere mortals are only supposed to see moments before death. Perhaps Elyan can be associated with this magic?

In reality, there is little written of Elyan and no prose or poetry dedicated to him so it's quite hard to find stuff about him.

Also legend!Elyan is heir to the throne of Constantinople, which just goes to prove how widespread and deeply convoluted the mythos is.

[swynlake-rp]

“They say every story has a beginning–except mine. My story has two…“

FULL NAME: Princess Elena Flores of Avalor /  Ximena Delejos BASED ON: Princess Elena (Elena of Avalor) FACE CLAIM: Adria Arjona PRONOUNS: She/her BIRTHDAY: November 16, 1994 CURRENT STATUS: Closed

Character Information || cw: discrimination, displacement, kidnapping ||

Elena’s childhood was idyllic until her parents were the victims of political assassination upon a diplomatic visit to neighboring Venezuela when she was fifteen years old. It was supposed to be fine after that. The murders of her parents was supposed to be her big tragedy. She was supposed to become queen and rule her kingdom with a fair but leading hand, but that came crashing down just under two years ago. An evil sorcerer attacked Avalor and Elena fled the country with her assigned guard Lieutenant Gabriel “Gabe” Núñez, sister Isabel, and friend Mateo De Alma.  She hoped that the attack on her country would be the end of their troubles - or at least signified a period of respite - but Elena couldn’t have been more wrong.

None of the countries bordering Avalor (Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia) were willing to take the royal family in as refugees, nor were the rest of the governments on the continent. Even the pro-magic Peru, although to Peru’s credit, they took in hundreds of displaced citizens of Avalor. The reason behind Elena and Isabel being unable to find asylum on their own continent, was their popularity among their own people. Avalor being a friendly but reclusive magic country scared the leaders of South America and they feared an uprising from their magick populations and being usurped by the Avalorean royals. Elena and the rest of the grand council tried and tried to reason with them, to explain that usurping anybody and taking over anywhere wasn’t at all what they had in mind, but to no avail. Elena’s possession of a magical item that the evil sorcerer was after was an additional mark against them - they feared an invasion of their own countries as well.

A princess without a country and the steward of a sought after magical item, Elena needed to find safety and find it fast. The Dominican Republic, South Korea, Serbia, Nepal, Switzerland, Germany, and Uzbekistan all granted them temporary asylum for a short period of time each, but bouncing from country to country just wasn’t cutting it. So while hiding in a small abandoned cottage by a German forest, Elena insisted Gabe go ahead and investigate Western Europe, to see if it’s really dotted with settlements as Magick safe as they heard from an old Serbian woman. “Send word and Isabel, Mateo, and I will join you when you find a place to live.” Reluctantly, Gabe went on ahead but trusted Elena’s safety to Mateo.

Gabe and Elena communicated through scattered phone calls for the following months, until on Elena’s end the correspondence suddenly stopped just under three months ago, at the end of May, without any explanation. Without any indication to Gabe that something was wrong…how was he to know?

A group of German magick-hunters nearby suspected Elena and Mateo of being hexendämonen - witch demons, their slur for magicks - and broke into the cottage while the three were sleeping to abduct them. It took them two weeks to find a chance to escape the basement of the home they were held in, and once they made a quick stop to the forest cottage to salvage any belongings and retrieve the Scepter of Light that Mateo and Elena hid inside of a wall and masked with anti-discovery magic, they fled Germany. They’ve been bouncing around Western Europe for the past month and a half.

Unbeknownst to any of the trio, the English town Mateo has inexplicably led them to has just what they’re looking for. Safety. But more importantly? Gabe. Elena’s lifelong friend and personal guard. They’ve been separated since November, and Gabe is unaware of their time in captivity..

Gabe must be worried sick - if he even cares at all. Which is a cruel thought, because Elena knows her friend worries about her, but she can’t help but to be a little bitter and angry. Why hadn’t he come to look for them, did he not think something was wrong? What could possibly have preoccupied him? Did he find somewhere to live happily and forget all about them? Did he think Elena was too much trouble so he just…ran off?

Elena doesn’t want to be angry. She knows that she really doesn’t have a right to be angry. It was HER idea he leave in the first place. And it’s not as if HE had a way to contact HER. Elena was only able to call when the she, Mateo, and Isabel had gathered enough loose change found on the streets or in a wishing fountain to use a pay phone, and after escaping Germany they never stayed in the same country with the same currency long enough for gathering to be any use. And more than anything she misses her dear friend and just wants to see him again. See him safe, and happy, and thriving. And he’s been away from her for so long… he must be enjoying the freedom.

Even if he doesn’t want to be her bodyguard anymore, which would suck because she’s never not felt safe with Gabe…but if her life has taught her anything it’s that nothing good ever lasts for her.

✓  Brave, determined, family-oriented

✖  Bossy, impatient, reckless

Character Suggestions

Latina

Current Relationships

Lieutenant Gabriel “Gabe” Núñez (assigned guard) Princess Isabel Flores of Avalor (sister)

Possible Relationships

click here!

Magical Abilities

Scepter of Light – its many mysterious abilities are currently unknown, but are triggered by oral commands. But beware–it drains the user of his/her strength the more it’s used

[jungleslang]

I feel like a lot of people are really sleeping on the Band of Exiles. Like can we just take a second to think about Lucien, the son of Day who was raised in the Autumn Court, and ultimately found a home in the Spring Court. Now, he's not welcome there any more, and despite his connection to the Night Court, that isn't his home either. Lucien has ties to all of these different courts, and yet he is not able to have a true home in any of them. Now let's think about Jurian, who used to be a general and was a fierce defender of his people, willing to do terrible things to win the war. His soul was trapped against his will and in the possession of a sadistic psychopath for hundreds of years, only for him to be resurrected by a different psychopath. He's now in a world where everyone expected him to be the bad guy and didn't bother to look any further, even though the first thing he wanted to do when he got resurrected was make amends, do the right thing. He's in a world that has moved on without him. And then we have Vassa, who was ripped from her position and her body, sold and enslaved to a death God. She is a queen whose kingdom is no longer hers. During one of her visions, Elain says she can hear Vassa screaming with utter rage.

These are three people who have experienced immeasurable pain, who don't really have a home, who are struggling to find where they belong, and who ultimately feel like outcasts. Yet they somehow managed to find solace, maybe even a home, in each other. And we have no idea how this happened or how it went down. We've barely been given glimpses into their dynamic. This is one of the reasons why I desperately hope SJM will make Elriel canon and not Elucien. I NEED a book about the Band of Exiles in my life. And I know SJM could write a book about Elucien and the Band of Exiles together, but I personally feel like that wouldn't work because I don't think there would be enough space to explore both of them in depth.

Elain and Azriel are already friends who clearly have a strong bond. And we saw in Az's POV that they both have romantic feelings for each other. So there is already a foundation for their relationship. At this point in time, Elain and Azriel already like each other deeply. This is not the case for Elucien. Elain has been avoiding him for three books now, and they haven't really had any significant interactions. So if SJM went the Elucien route, she would basically have to build them up from scratch. And these are romance books, so Elucien would be the main focus, which leaves little space to explore the Band of Exiles in depth. No hate to Elucien obviously, I see why people ship them and the potential they have, but I personally would never want them over the Band of Exiles. Like these are the people Lucien has chosen to be with, while Elain was thrown at him, which he himself states in ACOWAR. Vassa and Jurian are the people he feels comfortable with, the people he trusts, and most importantly, the people who make him feel wanted. Wanted enough to stay with them after everything he's been through and after being kicked to the curb by Tamlin, a person he cherished. Like how can I not want that for for my precious foxboy???? It literally makes me so soft just thinking about it.

I also kinda feel like we can see the ease Lucien has around Vassa and Jurian. But Lucien and Elain are not at ease around each other, not at all, although I guess you could say that's because Elain has avoided him and not really given it a chance. But honestly, I wouldn't even care if SJM gave us a Band of Exiles book with no romance at all, and it was just them forming a friendship like Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie have. Let's be real, Lucien, Vassa, and Jurian are all interesting, complex characters on their own, with painful backstories, but when you put them all together??? Ugh, it kills me. Maybe I'm just a slut for a good found family trope. Give me that over a mate bond any day tbh. I will be absolutely devastated if SJM doesn't dedicate a whole book to them, because they deserve it. Regardless of if Azriel ends up with Gwyn, I still wouldn't really want a book about Lucien and Elain together, especially when he has this amazing dynamic already that's begging to be explored. And when we've had two mate stories in a row already.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is if I don't get a whole book just for the Band of Exiles, I will RIOT. Like you guys, the potential they have is insane. I know she won't, but if SJM made them into a polyship my heart would explode.

[swiftadrift]

hey chickpea it’s me, wishy, your friend, colleague, but mostly importantly, your joy.

I’m too lazy to find and name specifics but do any of your main/secondary… or really any ocs have any cool lore you’d like to share? in particular I want to know about leaf because i named him and he’s very special to me

also if heronflame was born in the polix, alleyclan, or nouveau flame, how would she be different as a character? also what would her alleyclan name be… I think trashfire

If you're my joy then I'm your Swift

Anyway- 1) I do indeed have some OCs that have storylines I'd like to talk about! It's Night and Jay!

Night is not the most social cat ever.. she tends to stick to herself. A lot of people find her very eerie, especially since paranormal events happen around her all the time - lights flicker, ominous howls cry out, things fall over, and the space surrounding her is really cold. Unnervingly cold. There's a reason for it, too! Ghosts really do crowd towards her, because she can see them, and they find her fascinating. She's a mortal, after all, and that's different than a bunch of dead ghosts! Occasionally, she allows them to possess her, feeling bad that they missed doing basic things like eating food or feeling warmth. One day, a new spirit came up, claiming to have died before she could finish a project she'd been working on for a while. After hearing of Night's charity, she decided she couldn't just ignore an opportunity like this! And Night agreed.. but, unfortunately, vengeful spirits don't exactly tell the truth. Also it's stupid but I named her Night Umbra because an umbra is like the really dark part of a shadow where there's absolutely no light and I thought it'd be so cool to name her that-

Jay is a prince in a kingdom that's ruled by only the richest cat. After all, if you're rich, then surely you know how to be successful, and can lead others to the same success! However, that backfired, and only taught everyone spite, manipulation, and selfishness. Jay hasn't seen any of this before, due to spending his whole life in the castle, but that doesn't make him any less bad - a long time spent in isolation let his most negative habits fester until they overtook him. Then, he's sent out into the wild for the first time ever. And the world's a lot more cold than he thought it was. However, as fate has it, there is something he can do to change it.. That makes it sound really serious but his story's like really lighthearted and comedic- it's like watching a cartoon with primarily filler lol. Also his name is Jay Roi, and Roi means King in French! I would've done 'prince' but in French that's just 'prince' so

And as for Leaf - I have the main OCs with stories, like Snow, Night, Thorn, Jay, and Brooks. Leaf, as you've probably noticed, is not one of those- I don't really know about a storyline for him 'cause I've got noting. I do have a few notes, though? He's constantly babied (Not due to anything in particular, I just suppose he looks like a child or something??) and can't do many things on his own, so a minor storyline (Probably a part of Thorn's story?) is him learning to do things by himself.

2) If Heronflame was in the Polix, she'd be like.. the same lol but with Crescendo instead of Sumire! Her name would probably just be Heron or something

If Heronflame was in AlleyClan, I don't think she'd be as much of a stickler for the rules but she'd be a lot more diplomatic than most of the clan. Really taking in a bit of the Warrior Code like it's a moral compass lol. Also TRASHFIRE?? /lh Trashflame is much more fitting, keeps the suffix /j /lh In all seriousness, she'd probably be like. Orangepeel maybe?? Orangeslice?? Maybe Orangeslice.

If she was born in the Nouveau Flame, she'd be so anti-Sumire it'd be crazy- like "Damn Sumire really sucks!! The laws in ParaClan are horrid!" Despite probably never meeting Sumire.. ever..

Also, another thing may also be changed if she wasn't in ParaClan.. can't say too much about it here though lol

[drazavonia]

The Original Princess of Heart? 

When the X-blade of the Master's era split into twenty pieces, seven of those pieces became the pure lights of the princesses in KH1. 

However, something about that doesn't make sense to me. If Union X takes place about a million years prior to even Birth by Sleep, then these princesses shouldn't have been alive back then. Even their worlds in Union X are data projections, so that means the seven lights quite literally traveled at the speed of light disregarding any "borders of time and space" to become a part of future hearts. This would mean the seven lights were either collected by the Master upon separation or they had joined with the hearts of seven individuals amongst the Age of Fairytales.

Both of these outcomes could be possible at the same time. If the Master had to somehow resurrect the people of his time using the power of waking then he would've dispersed the lights between seven individuals. 

*Also very important to remember is that in KH3, we learned that the princesses can pass on their power to new hearts. 

The First & Most Important Princess: Strelitzia

First, if KH3R Kairi is any indication of how powerful a keyblade wielding Princess of Heart can be, it's no surprise despite how adorably shy and reserved Strelitzia is, that she was chosen to become a Union Leader of the dandelions. Ava was told specifically to choose the strongest wielders to become dandelions and move on to the next world.

Strelitzia unfortunately could not partake in this journey because she was struck down by "Darkness". Unbeknownst to her, she was chosen by the Master to receive the Book of Prophecies, placing the target on her back.

But why would the Master bestow Strelitzia of all the Union leaders with a B.O.P? This book which holds the contents of the future is meant to guide the Dandelions in the absence of the Foretellers and the Master so they can keep collecting the light to preserve the worlds.

According to that description, the Book of Prophecies dictates the future of the world.

When he says "letting false light dictate the future", he's referring to Young Xehanort's metaphor for weak hearted people being sheep in wolves clothing. "Those who aren't genuine and try to justify their actions to retain a sense of self." In other words, KH1 Riku (which is interesting).

Back to Strelitzia, if she is a holder of one of the seven lights from the X-blade, then more than any other character in the Age of Fairytales she is the truest and brightest light. And just like Kairi, her heart would never lose to Darkness. So it would only make sense for the Master to give the Book to someone whose heart could never be corrupted or lost to the darkness. 

Unfortunately just like Kairi, she was still able to be felled properly by a Keyblade just like any other human.

Strelitzia's heart ascended to Kingdom Hearts alongside the fallen wielders post Keyblade War. 

If the Master gave these hearts a second chance inside of the player characters of VERUM REX  in Quadratum, then I have the strong belief that the holder of Strelitzia's heart is:

In Versus XIII, Stella was supposedly dead before the game actually began and anytime we saw Stella it would be within Noctos' dreams. The Stella seen at the party with Noctis was an illusion. This is extremely similar to how Sora has hallucinations of Kairi throughout KH1 because she resided inside his heart.

Strelitzia is not only introduced after the Keyblade War, but she was dispatched by Darkness possessing Ventus beforehand and unable to accompany the Dandelions.

The next time we see any possible trace of Strelitzia is within Larium's dream of the memory of them together, where she's wearing the white coat. 

As to my main reason for why Stella/Strelitzia may be a princess of heart, it's the impressive feat she seems to be attempting in the VERUM REX trailer.

Stella opens a gate or seal in the sky with her powerful pink light and looks to be destroying that section of the city.

However, I'm pretty sure she created an Inversion that destroyed that portion of the world and everything in the surrounding area was sucked into the downward spiraling wormhole to be transported to wherever it leads.

We already knew that the 7 lights of the x-blade became a part of the hearts of the princesses.

But in KH3/Remind, we learned two more things.

The powerful light of a princess is passed down onto new hearts, when the current protectors are done protecting it.

By crystallizing a heart you can preserve it,  keeping it from fading away. However, Xehanort split Kairi's heart into seven individual pieces to use as a fail-safe to summon Kingdom Hearts. This means with the extraordinary power to crystalize someone, Xehanort didn't even need the other six princesses to awaken Kingdom Hearts.

This could mean that even one princess (Kairi) could be an ultimate source of true pure light in the world.

You have the power to summon Kingdom Hearts all on your own (possibly).

Kingdom Hearts grants you the power over all worlds.

Kingdom Hearts allows you the power to create a new world. 

Kingdom Hearts allows you to reshape your own reality, or Unreality. 

So, if Stella did have the "Heart of a Princess" while in the Unreality, that would explain why she has the extraordinary power to reshape, distort or more importantly invert it towards the Reality.

This might also explain why whomever was in control of the Gigas wanted her so badly, just like Maleficent and Ansem wanted Kairi in KH1.

[avomorg]

can we read anything for the glass cutter AU? Its living in my brain rent free and I neeeeed more 0-0 Its so amazing <3

Unfortunately (or fortunately), this is not just a romantic story, it's just that I'm drawing one challenge right now. :) I'm sorry, there is a lot of text here.

I use this tag to mark posts related to story of my main character, Hani. The presence of the OC changes the events of the plot of the series, so I can say that this is AU. Since this is not a single plot, but a story associated with almost each of the seasons of Ninjago, AU doesn't have a single idea. But I can say that this is a story where there is another ninja in the team.

I know there are many such characters, and this AU was originally made just for fun. But maybe I can make something good out of it.

I have a detailed article describing Hani's storyline, but I haven't translated it yet, so I'll tell you the most important things.

Hani is the daughter of Wu's ally, Keyon. During the events of the pilot episode, he was killed by skeletons – so Wu said. Hani then became the new master of glass.

Hani studied at Darkley's Boarding School for Great Children, where the ninjas worked as teachers after the second season. She could not learn to control the element on her own, so the glass was attracted to her against her will and left cuts. The ninjas noticed this, but didn't going to interfere, but Zane took pity on the girl. He became involved with her despite Wu's ban (he didn't need the daughter of Keyon, because Keyon died through Wu's fault). Hani became very attached to Zane, with whom she felt safe. He taught the girl frightened by her abilities to find strength in herself. Zane was not sure if her abilities were similar to those of a ninja, but he understood that they should be used for the good of Ninjago so that Hani would not use them for evil. Therefore, he did his best to have Hani join the ninja team and be under their supervision. To do this, he had to argue with his friends and Wu.

In Rebooted, Zane managed to gain Hani's recognition as a team member. Yes, she was weaker than a ninjas, but over time she could become a good fighter – and, most importantly, her abilities would not threaten the safety of Ninjago. Unfortunately, Zane died, and the ninjas didn't want to take responsibility for the girl, so they left her in the care of Garmadon.

After the death of Zane, she was devastated, as after losing her father. But she continued to train alongside Lloyd and Garmadon. Constant training and the desire to be stronger made her character quite tough, but she could confidently fight the enemy. Garmadon didn't like her aggression and too strong will to win, he tried to make Hani more calm.

In the Tournament of Elements, these problems intensified. Clouse skillfully used Hani's aggression, making her an enemy for all other participants in the Tournament. The girl herself, due to the constant use of the element in battles, lost her common sense. Even her appearance began to change. In the end, Clouse was almost able to get her to fight by his side – but Hani was too dangerous, so Chen decided to get rid of her. She was thrown in the desert, chained to the skeleton of some monster. Hani missed the battle in the Elders' Corridors. It was only after this hard lesson that she realized the importance of Garmadon's ideas. But it was already too late.

Maybe Hani would have died in the desert... If not for Morro. He introduced himself as a poor traveler and helped her get out of the chains, while learning from Hani about what is happening in Ninjago. Later they met as opponents. Morro offered Wu to exchange Lloyd for one of the ninjas (this was an attempt to eliminate Nya; if the elements returned to the ninjas, Wu would not develop her abilities). Wu traded Lloyd for Hani. Master never wanted to take her on the team and thus got rid of her. Hani realized that Lloyd was more valuable to the team than she was, and also she hoped to get rid of Wu with Morro's help. As a result, Morro and Hani tried to manipulate each other, but they succeeded equally badly – so they only learned the secrets and weaknesses of each other, being in the same body. Both became vulnerable to each other, so they ceased to be strangers. At the end of Possession, Hani pulled Morro out of the water, creating her Elemental Dragon for the first time. Morro was unable to surrender and die when he had a living ally.

After Morro stayed with the ninjas, the course of events in the canon changed quite a lot.

In the Skybound, Hani looked for ways to bring Morro back to life. But first, Wu had to be convinced to remove the curse from the student. While trying to complete these tasks, Hani found herself trapped like the other ninjas. But Morro was used to achieving everything himself and remained at large, and in the end he helped Jay and his team.

Day of the Departed was the perfect moment to bring Morro back to life. Wu surrendered and removed the curse from him, the portal is open and can let Morro through. But his fear of being unprepared for life almost ruined everything. Morro considers Yang's fate unfair and was ready to give him a place in the world of the living. Cole practically forcibly sent Morro into the portal so that he would not interfere in the fight between the master of the earth and Yang.

In the Recording (fanseason) reveals the stories of the Morro and Hani families. The wind masters are associated with the Cloud Kingdom, which is now in danger. Only Morro, whose fate is in his own hands, can fight the lord of fate. Hani and Lloyd go in search of the Master of Writing, because only they can actively move between worlds: Lloyd is a descendant of the FSM, and Hani, like the former glass masters, is called upon to protect him and follow him. The fates of Morro and Hani, written in the scrolls of their fates, are contrary to their wishes, and they must deal with this.

You can find a little more information about Record on my Instagram, later I want to make full posts here.

During the fight with the Hands of Time, Hani was almost glad that Wu had resigned and supported Lloyd as the new leader. But gradually she began to sympathize with Wu, despite what he had done in the past. The fact that he sacrificed himself to save the students changed Hani's opinion of him. But Morro still hasn't forgiven the teacher. He believed that Wu couldn't just disappear from the life of a ninjas.

The events of the Sons of Garmadon are changed: Lloyd approaches Harumi not because of sympathy for her (since he is already in a relationship with another character, besides, sympathy for the girl is too weak a hook), but because of the desire to bring his father back to life. But to bring back the real Garmadon, not his evil appearance. The real Garmadon will be able to deal with the Sons, like the Anacondrai generals with Chen's army. Harumi, like the entire imperial family, belongs to a mysterious association that knows the secrets of resurrection from the dead. Mysticism and a blind desire to meet his father again deprives Lloyd of the ability to think sanely, and he believes Harumi. Can't a whole secret society lie? Unbeknownst to Lloyd, Harumi bribed the respected Ninjago explorers and mystics to put on this whole show. But Morro doesn't trust the imperial family, since he once participated in the war between the dynasties. He is confident that the Sons of Garmadon are ruled by the descendants of the overthrown dynasty. He doesn't believe in the resurrection of Garmadon and condemns such attachment of Lloyd to his dead father. Morro is also suspicious of Harumi's physical fitness. He is a dangerous foe, so the Sons are trying to eliminate him. Hani generally agrees with Morro, but she still really wants to see Garmadon, so she doesn't want to suspect Harumi. Morro is on a ship and enters the Realm of Oni and Dragons, Hani stays with Lloyd. Before parting, Morro manages to conclude a Yin-Yang Promise with her.

In Hunted, Morro didn't lose heart and settled in the desert - he was used to wandering and starving. Morro tried to save the wind dragon from the Hunters, but failed, was punished, and nearly died. Despite all this, the cruel world of Oni and Dragons came to his liking. As Wu grew older, he and Morro finally found a common language and came to an agreement. Hani at this time trying to continue the fight after the loss of Morro and Zane. She becomes cruel again, like in the Tournament. Due to the destruction of the city in the streets a lot of broken glass, and with so many shells Hani can easily destroy enemies. Harumi gives the order to clear the streets of glass in order to deprive the Resistance of such a dangerous and ubiquitous weapon, but getting rid of all the glass in the city is impossible. The ninjas returned in time – blinded by grief, Hani has not yet lost herself, as in the Tournament.

Morro and Hani already hope for a respite and calm, but Oni's appearance again forces them to be ready for battle. Hani has both interest and disgust for Garmadon, who was resurrected by Harumi. Morro willingly communicates with him, Garmadon cannot really offend him with his sharp remarks. Hani greatly fears for Lloyd's life as he and Garmadon descend into the Darkness. After Cole's fall, Hani tries not to lose control of herself, as she did before. Morro tries to use the wind to pull Cole out of the Darkness, but is unable to break through the cloud. In the final battle with Oni, Morro and Hani use Spinjitzu. Morro is hesitant to team up with the others in the Tornado of Creation because he is unsure of his ability to use Spinjitzu, but Hani persuades him to take the risk. After the completion of the Tornado, Morro hits hard against the wall of the monastery. This encourages him to actively learn Spinjitzu.

The Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu events have been changed, but I haven't finished the AU for this season yet. For now, I can say that the ninjas ended up in the tomb of snakes not out of boredom, but because of the deception of Clutch Powers: he competed with a young researcher for a place in the Club and wanted to use the ninjas to pass traps in the tomb. The Forbidden Spinjitzu is a special elimination weapon used by the FSM to purge Ninjago of its serious competitors. The theme of not just winning, but eliminating enemies runs through the entire season and makes it darker, because the enemy of the ninjas is now Zane. And he is not going to negotiate with them.

Hani's story in 12-13 seasons in progress.

Thanks for reading to the end!

[redteabaron]

Sansa and the (yellow brick) road home

The movie The Wizard of Oz follows along the general theme most heroes/heroines do; the journey to the inner self, at times in relation with the outer world. (The book by Baum, and by relation the movie, has racist/xenophobic/nationalist undertones and implications that continue and multiply through the text that I’m just not going to include here since this meta is already too long and I’m also not going to include the political or Baum’s personal symbolism in these things.) 

I’m going to go off on a limb and assume mostly everyone knows the general summary of TWOO and not summarize it, if not, the wiki on the movie itself is pretty comprehensive. Below, instead of a short novel describing all the possible references and parallels found, I’ll just be using summarized points about how Sansa fills in for Dorothy Gale on her road home.

Red shoes - Red in the film, as that’s what I’m focusing on rather than the silver ones in the book since that was all about the free silver movement. Red for women and girls in a lot of fairy tales often represents the path onto adulthood, particularly connected to menstruation, which isn’t an enormous part of Sansa’s arc but it does get quite a few notable mentions (usually from gross people concerned with her ability to produce heirs). Sansa, like Dorothy, only gains her “red shoes” once she leaves home (that is, setting her on a path to metamorphosis and growing up). The “red shoes” symbolize things Sansa possesses that people, envy, admire or desire for their own. Sansa’s red shoes represent womanhood, agency over self, beauty, intelligence, her kindness and compassion. 

Sepia colors to technicolor in the film/Kansas to Oz - This transition from little to no color to places where it becomes a feast for the eyes (from the north to the south) represents Dorothy’s and Sansa’s feelings toward their respective homes and the places of their desires. Sansa yearns for something else, something different and southron because that is the place all the songs and tales are about. The north, as reiterated by numerous characters both northern and southron, is a hard, harsh place that has little beauty. Sansa, like Dorothy, feels unfulfilled and out of place in her home. She doesn’t explicitly state how out of place she feels in the north like Jon and Arya, but there is the implication that at least within her family she is out of place (perhaps with the exception of Bran who wants knighthood, loves songs and stories like his sister and doesn’t stick his nose up in the air at the fact that Sansa prefers the ones with ladies or love). King’s Landing is her land of Oz, a place of magic and possibility like all the songs, it’s a world of technicolor and danger.

Yellow Brick Road - The yellow brick road is just that; a road on which Dorothy needs to follow to meet with the wizard of Oz, and most importantly the journey she must undertake to go home, and Dorothy does want to go home, she misses it even in this enchanting land that seems to be everything she first wanted. Like Dorothy, Sansa wants to go home after briefly being in the place where dreams are supposed to be a reality (all the stories can’t be lies) and this beautiful place has more danger than she’d realized; Sansa’s yellow brick road is a sight more twisted and unclear with far fewer friends and guarantees of safety. Dorothy is told to stay on the Yellow Brick Road to find her way to her ticket home (the Great Oz), otherwise she’ll run into danger. 

Sansa’s metaphorical ‘Yellow Brick Road’ is her role as a ‘pawn’ in the game of thrones; she has to play within the rules others make for her and outliving them, or she will have no other recourse for survival. 

Toto - Toto is Lady; the animal in a fairy tale setting that is something unknown in a child, yet to be understood or tamed. Toto was Dorothy’s playmate, constant companion, and likely her confidante, and undoubtedly although Toto didn’t have a large part to play directly in TWOO, he set off the events to occur the way they did for Dorothy throughout her time in Oz and in Kansas, but at least she had the comfort that he was there with her throughout it all. Toto is symbolic of a natural gut instinct (his hatred of Miss Gulch, where Lady hates the Hound) and the one who uncovers things normally concealed (again, Lady’s dislike of the Hound despite being the gentlest of her siblings). 

Lady, like Toto, sets off a chain of events for Sansa personally, but Sansa doesn’t have the comfort of Lady being there with her. Here, Lady is the unknown part of Sansa (that functions as her gut feeling, portrays her true self yet to be realized) but ultimately she, a part of Sansa, is killed by Ned at the behest of Cersei (also featuring Robert once again turning aside something unjust and gruesome for an easier solution). 

It brings Toto escaping from the Wicked Witch of the West in a harsher light. Dorothy’s tearful happiness that Toto escapes alive even while she’s captured and her life is in danger … yet Sansa is in danger and Lady is dead, only alive briefly in her dreams. Toto represents a part of Dorothy that manages to escape the worst of the punishment, yet a part of Sansa is already dead, spiritually, at this point. With Robb’s death and his last words being Grey Wind, we can assume there is no ‘getting a new direwolf’ or just simply recovering from the death of their direwolf. 

The Twister - Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon uproot Winterfell and the Seven Kingdoms unintentionally. By accepting the position of Hand, Ned paved the way for her journey there. Later the deaths of Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon, Sansa is trapped in King’s Landing/the Vale (“Oz”). Robert is the Twister and once in King’s Landing, Ned is the locked cellar, essentially leaving her out in the open in danger as he doesn’t share his worries with Sansa. He deliberately leaves her as the odd man out while he manages to speak with Arya about the situation and at least makes her aware that there is danger. 

Poppy field - The allure of giving up and wasting away; in TWOO these lovely, deadly flowers cause those who breathe in their sweet scent to lay down and fall asleep until their death. The poppy field represents apathy and surrender during difficult times, and similarly this makes its appearance for Sansa who abides by all the rules of her captors (people who have harmed her, her family, her home, etc) - but she only succumbs to this from a certain perspective. Sansa hasn’t fallen asleep and succumbed to her metaphorical poppy field, she is, in effect, lucid dreaming. Dreaming while aware, even if she must stay in the dream so she can survive. She’s giving everyone around her the illusion that she is trapped in her “dream”, that she is “Sleeping Beauty” while she continues to learn, adapt, and observe.

Dorothy has three companions that remain with her on her journey that all want the great wizard to give them something they feel they lack. While in the book/film, it’s clear they’re still good people and not without their positive traits, everyone focuses on what they lack across the board. In the sections below, I’ll be using commonalities found in the (unwanted) “suitors” of Sansa on her journey where they too focus on their negative traits, or are the inverted intentions of Dorothy’s companions.

Tin Man/Tyrion Lannister/Sandor Clegane - Men of sympathetic circumstance and who want to be wanted as they are, or desire to be loved/objects of desire and are understood among others as not having a heart or not able to.

Both Sandor and Tyrion project their feelings of rejection from society and in particular women, noblewomen, and lust onto Sansa (a child, a prisoner of war and an easy, isolated target). They are the most selfish form of desire for the Tin Man’s want for a heart; where the Tin Man desired a heart for the purpose of loving others and everything (although he finds later he never needed a physical heart because he was good and loving all along) Tyrion and Sandor desire a heart from someone else for themselves.

They’re who are typically the ones we want to root for as the underdogs who get their just rewards as they have been abused in their positions or misfortunes in life, but they ultimately fall short because they are simply awful and have built up these defenses and use them against Sansa despite being positions where they could have proven to be the ‘knights’ she yearns for (barring the enormous age gaps which inherently leaves these matches undesirable anyway). 

While Sandor’s backstory regarding his abuse at the hands of his brother are awful, he himself enacts abuse on others - the murder of Mycah, him relaying regret for not raping Sansa when he had the chance (whether or not he meant it, she was a child and it’s an awful thing to regret not doing), and his participation in the unkiss as well as verbally abusing her and gaslighting Sansa. Yet he wants kindness and some sort of love or affection from her regardless of his treatment of her. She sings the Mother’s Hymn for him during the Battle of Blackwater Bay, in a way, giving him some form of (her) heart although that wasn’t what she’d intended to do (she misremembers the trauma so we can assume she was terrified), it can be inferred that Sandor got something from her that he wanted (subconsciously or not). 

Similarly, we have sympathy for Tyrion because although he is highborn, he still faces constant mockery, obstacles, verbal and physical abuse due to his disability and looks. However, he still wants to be lord of Winterfell and he wants Sansa (who he finds himself attracted to) - girl or woman-child or whatever she is. Tywin could have married her off to a Lannister cousin, so Tyrion does have the choice to pass her up, but he chooses to go forward with the marriage and even prepares to take her against her consent (where he molests her and says he could be the Knight of Flowers in the dark; essentially telling her to lie to herself about how she felt about him and the situation) but stops after he feels guilty. Tyrion could have been sympathetic because he isn’t without his soft spots (see his conversation with Jon Snow, his consideration for Bran, etc) but he again falls short. He wants love and affection - but he has rather exacting standards, the same thing that infuriated him about Sansa not finding him attractive.

Like the Tin Man it isn’t that they have no heart. Unlike the Tin Man, however, for Sandor and Tyrion, it’s simply that most of that heart shown consists of selfishness and self-centeredness. Sandor might immediately cop to it and never attempts to hide it, but he tries to bring every man down to his level by saying how awful everyone is, everywhere. Tyrion meanwhile may be capable of kindness, but he shows that he is easy to offend when it is rebuffed or denied, as though he expects payment for such a thing.

Cowardly Lion/Ser Dontos/Joffrey - Characters who have the titles of courtly images; Joffrey is a prince, then a golden king. Ser Dontos is a named knight. Both have the roles in songs and stories where the expected virtues would include courage, grace, humility, honor, etc but ultimately do not have these things even if they have the appropriate titles. 

In TWOO, the Cowardly Lion presents a falsehood or an oxymoron (after all, how can the king of all beasts be a coward?). Joffrey and Dontos do the same. (How can a king be cruel, how can a knight not have dignity, etc). Sansa’s attachment and adherence to songs/stories isn’t really all that different from any of the ideas the Stark kids have about their favorite stories, but in her journey specifically, we see her unraveling popular propaganda in Westerosi high society; she even makes comparisons in her inner monologues. 

Where the virtues of kings and knights are meant to be shown, we see her expectations fall very short of what the title is meant to indicate about the character of the people who hold them.

In both Joffrey and Dontos, they lack these qualities even if we, Sansa, may briefly hold out hope for the better (where Joffrey immediately kills that by suddenly having Ned executed, where Dontos sells her off to Littlefinger despite trying to play her Florian). In particular, Ser Dontos ultimately fails as the CW because he says he wants Sansa to be safe, to be her Florian, but isn’t truthful with her about it, yet he wants to reap the reward for it. Joffrey believes himself to have these qualities but is often called out on it by other characters, playing the CW in the beginning who immediately attacks the Tin Man, seemingly unaware of his lack of character. 

In TWOO Dorothy says she’ll miss everyone, but she’ll miss the Scarecrow most of all; below the characters I associate with the Scarecrow are the ones who Sansa might be able to more easily pick out traits (or trick herself into seeing more good than exists) she is most comfortable with (one of the characters below is most obviously not “safe” or the one she has the most affection for, but rather the one she tries very hard, due to her current dependency on him, to project or emphasize what he’s “done for” her). 

Scarecrow/Petyr Baelish/Harry the Heir/Ser Loras - Characters shown or believed to be less intelligent, without depth, or even overrated. They are stuffed with straw, padded with nothing of substance in a person.

Briefly starting with Ser Loras, I included him specifically because even though Sansa has a little crush on him, she quickly realizes that he never had interest in her, and didn’t remember giving her the rose even though it was the highlight of her day when he did. This is an indication to Sansa she doesn’t know him even though she daydreamed about him. She doesn’t truly know him, is what she realizes and he doesn’t know her despite the implicit belief that love or affection can be found and trusted at first sight. He was handsome, seemingly knightly, dreamy, and he turned out to be no one who would have any consequence for her.

Harry the Heir, we don’t know much about as a person beyond the basics. He has one illegitimate child and is currently courting Saffron, who is pregnant with his second illegitimate child. He is a knight. He’s Robert Arryn’s heir. There’s the idea that he’s quite good at knightly actions (jousting, swordplay, horsemanship, etc) and likely indications that he is a little egotistical. From the released chapters of Alayne we’ve seen, he does apologize for his rudeness, but I don’t believe he’ll be around long enough for us to explore his person. Our understanding of him, and I believe Alayne’s/Sansa’s understanding of him will be one of pity, knowing his fate, but ultimately we won’t know him enough for it to be particularly impactful save for how his death will affect Sansa’s actions. 

To that end, Harry has every possibility of being a better suitor than the others that have sold themselves as her beaus, but it won’t last. Where we read that Ser Loras didn’t remember Sansa or seem to care or was invested in her, we’ll see that ultimately Harry is another, if newer scarecrow; ultimately a character of seemingly goodwill, or at least one who won’t wish her harm, but will fall flat by not having substance or not be allowed the time to develop much. 

Admittedly, Petyr as the Wicked Witch of the West is also fitting, but considering we are constantly told in text how dangerous he is forces him to the forefront of our minds as this terrifying endgame boogeyman. Since asoiaf likes to have little twists and turns and defy immediate expectations, he isn’t likely so important to the final fate of Westeros, and by extension, Sansa’s fate. His biggest impact will be having spirited her away to the Vale and keeping her under lock. To that end, he is (one of) the Scarecrow(s) in Sansa’s journey. 

The whole “I’ll miss you most of all, Scarecrow” here applies to Petyr. Not that he represents a positive point in Sansa’s journey home, but he does represent safety, even though it comes at a price. (Where he tells her to call him Father, where he molests her, gaslights her, verbally and psychologically abuses her and she forces herself to dissociate, ultimately piling on the trauma). 

Petyr isn’t stupid, or without a brain, but he is overconfident in his mind, to the end that he will make huge missteps he won’t have accounted for (Jeyne at Winterfell, not thinking Sansa will be capable of fleeing or thinking for herself, believing he knew everything that happened after the Red Wedding, doubting Dany is a dangerous element, underestimating Aegon, etc) despite giving Sansa similar warnings (all while believing she would be too stupid or naive to heed them). He, like the Scarecrow, is a planner but ultimately he will meet an anticlimactic death. He, and numerous other characters, sell the idea (very loudly) that there is more to him than there appears, that he has great depths, that he is one of the most dangerous men in Westeros.

That isn’t to say he isn’t dangerous - he obviously is. He kicked off a violent war, arranged for the deaths of numerous people, has quite a lot of money and power (although he doesn’t have a name with weight). It’s just that with every person who announces how dangerous he is, we’ll see in Sansa’s journey when we see him as his truest self, stripped of his gold and power we will see nothing. He has no great depths to plumb beyond his own ambitions.

He is the Scarecrow who already found his “brain” (where Petyr already has the lesson that his strength is his mind), yet in the end, is still a scarecrow. Just the form of a man filled with straw.

Wicked Witch of the West/Cersei - The ever present danger that never loses focus on Sansa, seemingly magically out of reach from danger to Sansa’s eyes. Cersei, in a way, is this insurmountable force to Sansa; she is the purest form of danger that exists and it’s why Sansa has no choice but to hide and trust that Littlefinger will keep her concealed.  

Cersei blames Tyrion and Sansa for Joffrey’s death, and especially has a grudge against Sansa for her “red shoes” (her name, her agency, her womanhood, children, beauty, etc, we see her reference snidely about Sansa’s qualities whenever she talks/thinks about her) (see above for what Sansa’s red shoes are) and the action she believes she is responsible for. She has multiple hangers on as Queen Regent (flying monkeys who do her bidding). 

She, from Sansa’s point of view, has all this power and represents someone who can’t be stopped (we see the same thing with Dorothy and the WWW), but yet the Witch dies easily. In TWOO, she’s melted by a bucket of water Dorothy accidentally spills on her. I think this may be an indication that Sansa may have another indirect hand in her death (indirect as with the Purple Wedding), perhaps letting some information she gives be used against Cersei, or something. But ultimately, Cersei, like the Wicked Witch of the West won’t have a particularly “onscreen” death (she’ll likely die in King’s Landing, either by Jaime’s hand, or indirectly through Tyrion when Dany burns it).  

Oz/Man behind the curtain - The songs and tales of Westeros that conceal the darker truths that exist behind what power means; a means of propaganda that Sansa is forced to unveil on her own. While all the Starks learn a lot more about people, the world, truth and lies, politics, etc Sansa’s position in court leads her to pay a lot more attention to what people don’t say. She also develops a deeper understanding of how what she believed came to actually be. She has to learn how to weed out the domino effect stories and songs have, even though at their core they can be appreciated (for instance, that honor and nobility are good things, even if the song/tale about the person isn’t someone who realistically practiced it). 

This saturates court culture across the world, although her focus is on Westeros, but we know that this isn’t just a southron issue; this exists in the north, across the Narrow Sea, within Houses, legacies, and even singular people. 

[drwcn]

I can’t wait for more of your discordance au, I’m a sucker for angsty wangxian! I’m actually really curious about what’s going on with Lan Xichen the whole time he’s gone. Is he recovering for all that time or is there some political plot he needs to take care of? I saw that courtesan Meng Yao tag too which makes me even more intrigued 👀👀👀

Awww you guys >:) Thank you so much for the encouragement. 

Unfortunately, Xichen and Huaisang are not a pair. The hidden agenda of this fic is xiyao (lol sorrah), and I know people tend to feel either YAY or NAY about xiyao so I’ve totally separated the wangixan and xiyao part. You can read one without the other and it wouldn’t make much of a difference at all. At best Meng Yao is mentioned in end of the later wangxian parts once or twice. 

I love Xiyao because I think it’s full of possibilities. Obviously canon!xiyao is tragic and problematic af, but this is an au, so... I do ...what I...want? Meng Yao in this au is his own worst nightmare - a courtesan, and Zewu-jun is the handsome polite gentlemanly amnesiac he saves. 

Below cut are more reasons why Lan Qiren longs for the sweet release of an early qi deviation (arc synopsis of lan xichen & meng yao’s half of the story). 

Lan Xichen’s Arc: where politics turned deadly.

Well, just because Wen Ruohan isn’t a thing doesn’t meant the Yin Irons aren’t a thing. Is there political bullshit waiting to happen? Absolutely. Except our protagonists are proactive this time. 

For months, both Qinghe and Gusu have been getting reports of strange sightings along their Lanling borders. NMJ and LXC have been investigating, and they suspect that JGS may have had something to do with it. Prior to Lan Xichen’s disappearance, he was getting close to finding out the truth. 

What happened was this: 

Xue Yang (who will exist solely in other people’s narration) had killed the Changs and taken a piece of the Yin Iron. Upon capture, XXC and SL (both alive and well and doing their own thing) delivered him to the Chief Cultivator, thinking justice has been served. (Lol. no.). Once JGS got his hands on one of those, he began to plan world domination bad things with it and shit started acting fucky right away, eliciting the suspicion and subsequent investigations of the Lans and Nies. 

Jin Guangshan does wonder how his secrets are being leaked, but he doesn’t get to find out until the end. 

Lan Xichen, on his part, is fairly sure of what’s been causing the appearances of these so called “fierce corpses”. He knows about Lan Yi’s barrier in the Cold Cave, and suspects someone has gotten their hands on a piece of the Yin Iron. Both he and Nie Mingjue suspect Jin Guangshan, and have been quietly collecting proof. 

Jin Guangshan, not about to be defeated so easily, sets up a trap and ambushes Lan Xichen during one of his investigations. LXC was in “plain clothes” as part of the investigation, because it’s dumb to go around investigating dressed as the Sect Leader of Gusu Lan, but during the ambush, Lan Xichen loses Liebing and Shuoyue in the process.  The only thing he has on him is Shuoyue’s sheath when he is found by Meng Yao. 

When Lan Xichen wakes up, he doesn’t remember anything or who he is. He sees a pretty young man who introduces himself as Lianfang. Lan Xichen was wearing blue when he was found, so “Liangfang” calls hims A-Lan. 

Meng Yao’s tragic back story that’s actually tragic:

The bullshit - er, the story - as always, starts with Meng Yao getting kicked down the steps at Jinlintai by his Ho™ of a dad Jin Guangshan. In this universe, Jin Guangshan isn’t just a rich powerful Sect Leader, but also the Chief Cultivator. If anything, he has more reason than ever to make sure Meng Yao isn’t around to besmirch his good name (not that he has any good name to bismirch).

Claiming Meng Yao to be a liar, Jin Guangshan ordered his goons to have Meng Yao “taken care of”, but before that could happen, Madam Jin had come out to see what was the commotion. This was Zixuan’s birthday celebration after all, everything had to be perfect. 

What she saw certainly enraged her, but her husband was about to kill a boy, possibly his own son, spill blood on their son’s day of birth celebration. Such cosmic bad karma she couldn’t possibly accept. “You don’t have to kill him, you absolute buffoon, just make sure he never comes back here!” 

She meant buy his silence with money but Jin Guangshan had a more permanent solution.

Before the day’s out, Meng Yao was sold to a brothel, and was told “that’s where you belong”.  Once, perhaps, he had dreamed about gaining the love of his father, but no longer. Now he simply wants his father ruined and dismembered. 

But first he has to live. 

The madam of the brothel had a keen eye for “good merchandise”, and one good look at young Meng Yao with those big eyes, delicate frame and dimples and she knew she could make big bucks off of him. 

(And before anyone asks how old MY is here, the answer is: young. One of the many reasons why I would personally like to volunteer to stab JGS until it looks like he’s been cursed with the Thousand Holes Curse.) 

The first couple of years were decidedly grim for MY. He was kept away from customers (mercifully), but he was a brutally trained in the art of dance and music. They kept him fed enough to dance but not too much to “ruin his figure”. His instructors quickly found that the youth was a quick study and got up no matter how many times he was trampled on (literally and metaphorically). It was no secret that life was gruesome, but Meng Yao survived. Meng Yao made his debut. Meng Yao became famous.

The establishment where he made his debut renamed him Lianfang - to collect/gather fragrance - and so from then on, he became Lianfang-gongzi. Soon, his art (and other stuff) caught the eye of an obliging patron who purchased him from the madam. 

The patron, by all accounts, was a brute of man who had more appreciation for the liquor in his cup than the arts, but he was a cultivator, wealthy enough, connected to many other cultivator gentry familiues, and most importantly, led a subsidiary clan of the Chief Cultivator. As his prized courtesan and dancer, Meng Yao served at his whim, entertained at his parties and made happy his friends, all of whom were practicing cultivators or at the very least connected to the cultivation realm. 

Our evil gremlin would not be our evil gremlin if he didn’t make the best of every situation. Meng Yao quickly discovered that not only was he particularly talented at getting people to divulge information to him, but that men were significantly uninhibited after sex and alcohol. Armed with a sweet face, an eidetic memory, and a hate inside him that longed to see Jin Guangshan severed limp by limp, he began his revenge plot. 

(Here, I took inspiration from Nirvana in Fire’s character Princess Xuanji of the fallen Hua kingdom who was sold into servitude but established Hong’xiu’zhao, a spy network of girls/women who either worked as courtesans or secondary spouses of noblemen. Her goal was to create chaos and dissension within the royal court and government, like mites eating away at a large tree from within.) 

Meng Yao amassed an enormous amount of intels on gentry families and evidences of the many underhanded conducts of the Chief Cultivator himself. He did this through his own work and through the other women working in his network, all of whom have been wrongfully aggrieved in some way. He promised them that one day he would help them to freedom. 

For five years he’s been collecting secrets of gentry families, and had been stirring discord for three, weakening their cohesiveness, and using their growing animosity to weaken Jin Guangshan’s control on his subordinates. Naturally, Meng Yao heard about Xue Yang and the Yin Iron. It was also him who had been drawing attention to it for the other major sects. 

Meng Yao doesn’t know Lan Xichen is the Sect Master of Gusu Lan, but he has no interest in hurting a man from nowhere. “You can stay here with me until you are better. After that, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to be on your way.”

Physically Lan Xichen recovered quickly, but when it was clear his memories wouldn’t be coming back, Meng Yao allowed him to stay. 

The rest, as they say, is history. 

~

Meng Yao has been Lianfang, been the famed courtesan, for longer than he cares to remember. He’s been had, used, and passed around by so many men that their faces are just blurried sillouettes in his memory. And yet, he’s never felt for a moment that he belonged to any of them, not even his patron, who possessed his contract and could resell him back to a lesser establishment and ruin him in a heartbeat. 

But when A-Lan held him in his eyes, warm and dark like a summer’s night, without judgement or expectations, only gentle sweetness and a fond regard, Meng Yao could almost pretend he was just A-Yao, the name whispered reverently by those soft lips. The hand that held his moved to stroke his cheek, almost shy, and Meng Yao realized with a fearful pang that if this man from nowhere with nothing were to ask, Meng Yao could most definitely become his. 

The thought scared him more than he was willing to admit. 

~

The message delivered by the pigeon was clear. Meng Yao crumbled the slip of paper in his hand, then set it aflame in the candlelight. 

The man who’s been living with him for the past four months, who he knew as A-Lan, who he trusted enough to take to bed, was the Sect Master of Gusu Lan: Lan Huan, Lan Xichen.

Zewu-jun.  

Everyone, even a non-cultivator such as himself, has heard of Gusu’s Wei Wuxian, Lan Xichen’s young widower, left alone after not even six months of marriage. 

But if even he wasn’t married, Lan Xichen could never accept him as he was, no matter now much his personal desire wanted him. 

His hands shook. He balled them into fists. 

Meng Yao should’ve known... he should’ve known it was too good to be true. 

No matter, he told himself. This too, is an opportunity, perhaps the only one I will ever have. I will use it to destroy Jin Guangshan once and for all. 

~

Lan Xichen made his way to the window, and gazed out into the courtyard where A-Yao was reading under the willow tree. 

You should go home, a voice inside him said. Go home to relief Wangji of his burden, to release Wuxian from his mourning. Go back to the seat of Sect Master and the responsibilities waiting for you. 

One more day, another voice fought back. Just one more day. 

He doesn’t leave for another month. 

[hellsbellschime]

“the reality is that most people in Westeros don’t want a Targaryen king or queen and they never did.” you sure about that, hun? because text suggest otherwise, but go off i guess.

“When Queen Visenya placed a Valyrian steel circlet, studded with rubies, on her brother's head and Queen Rhaenys hailed him as, "Aegon, First of His Name, King of All Westeros, and Shield of His People," the dragons roared and the lords and knights sent up a cheer...but the smallfolk, the fisherman and field hands and goodwives, shouted loudest of all.” -the world of ice and fire

“He (jaehaerys i) was nine-and-sixty at his death, and had ruled wisely and well for five-and-fifty years. Westeros mourned, and it was claimed that even in Dorne men wept and women tore their garments in lament for a king who had been so just and good.”-the world of ice and fire

“. . . elsewise, we bow only to our own lords, and the king. The true king, not Robert and his ilk." He spat. "There was Crabbs and Brunes and Boggses with Prince Rhaegar on the Trident, and in the Kingsguard too. A Hardy, a Cave, a Pyne, and three Crabbs, Clement and Rupert and Clarence the Short. Six foot tall, he was, but short compared to the real Ser Clarence. We're all good dragon men, up Crackclaw way."”-a feast for crows, brienne iv

“"It's a sin and a shame," an old man hissed. "When the old king was still alive, he'd not have stood for this."

"King Robert?" Arya asked, forgetting herself.

"King Aerys, gods grace him," the old man said, too loudly.”-a clash of kings, arya vi

“Viewing stands had been raised beneath the walls of Lannisport, and the cheers of the smallfolk had echoed off Casterly Rock like rolling thunder. They cheered Father twice as loudly as they cheered the king, the queen recalled, but only half as loudly as they cheered Prince Rhaegar.”-a feast for crows, cersei v

“The Targaryen dynasty had produced kings both bad and good, but none as beloved as Baelor, that pious gentle septon-king who loved the smallfolk and the gods in equal parts...”-a dance with dragons, cersei ii

there are numerous more instances where we are told targaryen rule was good for westeros, especially for the smallfolk, these are only the ones that come at top of my head rn. of course there were bad kings, like there are bad lords in every houses’ history. but overall they were and still are very much loved by the common people and did much good for the realm. so keep dreaming hun, the superior house has a book (and another one on the way) and a side novella written about them❤️

-----------------

LOL I mean there’s no need to be quite this rude and condescending, perhaps we just have different perspectives and that’s fine, but... is anyone even left alive who remembers a Targaryen king besides the Mad King? And putting that aside, like I get you likely saw something I said in the anti-Dany tag and are super pissed because Dany is destined to be the greatest queen who ever lived, but GRRM’s analogies and metaphors aren’t exactly subtle. He’s an explicitly anti-war and anti-interventionist writer who made House Targaryen and Daenerys in particular into interventionist warlords who solely rule because of the threat of WMDs that only they possess, so it’s fine if you stan but clearly these characters were not created to be idealized.

 And to be honest, I’m really disturbed by this line of thinking. The idea that invading a group of relatively peaceful countries, forcing them to become one country, and making yourself the ruler over it is justifiable under any circumstance is really not the life lesson I think GRRM was trying to teach the world with ASOIAF. Obviously point of view is a huge element of the story, but what I find strange is that you’re citing quotes about characters who have done objectively bad things. The whole point here is that GRRM is trying to teach the readers that perspective can drastically differ from reality, and regardless of who liked people like Visenya, Baelor, or Rhaegar, the fact is that they did things that were objectively wrong and had very serious and deadly consequences for the realm. Sure, people were cheering Rhaegar when he was the last dragon, but were they still cheering when instead of stopping the Mad King he absconded with a highborn teenager and abandoned his wife and kingdom to illegally marry and impregnate her? Baelor is known as the blessed, but was he helping the Seven Kingdoms when he starved himself to death? And most importantly, do you think that the people of Westeros are going to be cheering for Queen Daenerys when she commits mass genocide in King’s Landing? 

Honestly there is absolutely nothing wrong with loving certain characters and certain houses, but I mean this sincerely, if you’re solely looking for certain houses or characters to be the one dimensional beloved heroes and you’re ignoring every obvious flaw that GRRM is putting in the subtext, then you’re missing an enormous part of what makes ASOIAF such an amazing read.