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miimo96 · 7 months ago

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A Mermaids Sacrifice

1 of the many things I see brought up a lot, is How Will TBHK end? Now Normally I usually don't do these here, but I just have the feeling as to how I think the story of TBHK will end, and I think you may not like the answer. (MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD duh)

⚠️THIS TOOK OVER 9 MONTHS TO MAKE ⚠️

Judging by how this series works, It's obvious that we're not going to get a happy ending, but rather a somber one, this story is about a Girl falling in love with a Ghost, no matter how you look at it they're romance is Doomed from the start and with a reputation of knowing to BREAK their audience, you can tell aidairo is far from ever ending things happily. So here's how I think TBHK will end.

Ever Since the Reveal of yashiro's lifespan being cut short, hanako has been doing Everything in His power to Delay the inevitable, at 1st only wanting to make yashiro happy in her last moments, Until realizing His Love for her and wanting to “Save” her at all costs (as seen with the Picture perfect arc and even going as far as trying to sacrifice her best friend Aoi in her place) with surprisingly more and more issues occurring in the process, the Harder he tries, the more problems occur and yashiro seems to notice this, hence why she offers to stay in the far shore with him, everything that happens seems to be stemming from her Fate. This series is known for being quite Dark, and I don't mean that by saying that it's tragic or anything, I mean that it's Sad. The entire series deals with a lot of dark topics and often finds a way to always end on a somber note, especially when it comes to the seven wonders and their backstories, So with a story structured like that, it's obvious there's only 2 ways this series could end.

OPTION 1: THE BAD ENDING: yashiro's memories get Erased

Before the Events of the recent Chapters, I initially thought that this series would end with yashiro losing her memories; Something that always bothered me about the series is How hanako mentions that the only reason yashiro is able to contact him, is because she's near death, And that normal people like Aoi can't usually summon him, Ever since then, hanako's doing everything to save her, and I think THAT'S the problem. Because he keeps trying to prevent her fate, bad things keep happening, and judging by the recent chapters, I think the Clock keepers know this, hence why they put them on trial, it's the trial of yashiro's fate and how it's affecting the school, technically hanako is breaking the Canon and they decide to go back and change things, with the Newest chapters resulting in the New timeline we see now, but that left the question: What exactly did they change?

Well what if it was her meeting hanako. If the Clock keepers changed that she never met hanako, then her destiny COULD change, if she never met hanako then she never would've made her wish therefore she never becomes his assistant, and that she never destroys the yorishiro's and isn't on the path to dying, yes all of her adventures and memories with hanako and kou would be erased, but in the end she's alive and that's all that matters, and knowing hanako, I think he would be fine with that if it meant Saving her. he would be alone, yes, but she's safe, she gets to live a full life, and that's all he wants; It would be somber but fulfilling ending, one that's not Totally depressing, with her Dying. Plus we LITERALLY almost saw that happen with the severance arc when hanako tried wiping her memory, So there's a good chance that it might happen again, (Side note, and this is after re-reading chapter 112, But I Was TECHNICALLY right, I mean sure it didn't exactly play out as I thought it would, but I WAS PRETTY CLOSE, although instead of it being due to the fact that yashiro never meets hanako because she never made her wish in the bathroom, it was because Hanako DOESN'T EXIST, he never died therefore he Never became the 7th wonder, so my theory was right, it was just in reverse ^^; ) an ending where yashiro gets to Live, but at the COST of cutting her ties to Hanako, along with her memories. In my opinion, I think that would make for a really good ending, 1 of letting go and moving on, however, there's another option, and that's if YASHIRO dies.

OPTION 2: THE SAD ENDING: Yashiro's Sacrifices herself

Now This is the ending I don't want but it seems to be the 1 we're heading towards, are u ready? (Inhale...sigh) Yashiro HAS to Die no matter what; The entire premise of TBHK has been built around yashiro avoiding her Fate, with hanako Doing EVERYTHING to keep her alive, even going as far as to try and have “GOD” extend her life by destroying all the yorishiro's, however, that Exactly seems to be the problem; in Chapter 95 Sakura Reveals the reason why yashiro's lifespan is So short, saying that Yashiro's lifespan is set to run out once she DESTROYS every single yorishiro. Up until now yashiro's only destroyed 4 so far I think, basically only leaving hanako's, the Clock keepers and number 6 and 3s left, but idk if number 6 EATING his still counts but anyway that leaves 3 left, so she's basically been on the path to her fate the entire time, and ever since she met hanako and became his assistant. So what if she never destroys them? If her lifespan is so short because of her destroying the yorishiro's, then what if she never destroys them in the 1st place? if she never destroys them in the 1st place then she isn't on the path to dying, therefore the Events of the series never happen, and that's what I Originally thought, Until I realized that It doesn't even matter, Because the whole reason why hanako wants to destroy them from the In the 1st place, is because of Tsukasa, or should I say, the Entity of the Red house. Literally EVERY SINGLE THING that happens is because of that Damn THING, so it doesn't even matter if she destroys them or not because in the end, it will Always find a way to F#$%k Shit up, eventually resulting in Events playing out, and the thing that Proved that to me, was with how in Chapter 117, Teru kinda confirms this when he talks about how the Clock keepers could just easily reset the New timeline. Saying that because they've already changed things once, who's to say they won't change it again? After all the Only reason why the wonders exist, is to keep balance and order between the humans and Supernaturals, and to keep the Other seven wonders in check, and since they don't exist in this New timeline, there is No telling what could happen if Events ever DO playout again, leading to the Situation we are at now, and he's kinda right in away. To put it “Simply“ The New timeline is LITERALLY a “What if” scenario of What if Tsukasa NEVER Left the Red house, resulting in what we see Now with hanako now becoming Evil, Tsukasa still being a vessel, and the entity still trying to cause Chaos, I think, it's still kinda hard for me to understand what the Entity's whole goal is, and what it's Really after in the end, So if anyone has the answer as to what the Entity's WHOLE DEAL IS, that would be pretty helpful.

Anyway, this actually brings me to the whole theory I have as to How I think this series will end, and it all has to do with 1 character: Tsukasa. What if the only way to prevent these events from happening, is to Stop Tsukasa from ever making that Sacrifice for Amane’s lifespan? if Tsukasa never jumps down that Hole, and never becomes the Entity's vessel, then the Events of this series never happen, after all it's mainly because of Tsukasa that all this even happens in the 1st place, from getting Amane to kill himself, to getting the yorishiro's to be destroyed, to even causing the timeline to be reset. If Tsukasa is the main reason behind everything, then the only way to stop it is by stopping him, or should I say, stopping him from THAT POINT, but there's just 1 problem, the only reason why Tsukasa makes that sacrifice in 1st place, is Because to extend Amane's lifespan, if he doesn't do that then Amane will die, and while I do think aidairo is capable of ending it like that, I don't think that will be the case, I think the Only way this series will end, is if Yashiro ends up sacrificing herself.

Up until now yashiro's fate has LITERALLY been the Driving force of the story, with her having giving up on an extended lifespan twice now, once in the fake world in the Picture perfect arc and another when Aoi was sacrificed in her place, Yashiro is slowly starting to realize that wishes require sacrifice, both figuratively and literally; So what if it Turns out that the Only way this series could end, is if Our MAIN character, ends up sacrificing herself, to change the EVERYTHING. Ever since the chapter where yashiro 1st traveled back in time during the Star festival arc, we've had the possible idea of Time travel being an element in the story, and even more so Now, especially with the stuff surrounding the Red house, Clock keepers, and even the Star festival all having a connection to Time, and what's really interesting about that, is that yashiro seems to be the cause of it. In Star festival arc we see yashiro meet baby hanako when she Time-slips for the 1st time, leading to him to fall in love with her and changing his wish from wanting to be an astronaut, to wanting to see her again, another glimpse of this is when yashiro Time-slips again and this time instead meets tweenage Hanako, leading to his fixation with her growing even more, because he REMEMBERS who she is, heck the Only reason why Tsukasa Even leaves the Red house in the 1st place, is because yashiro or kou (I can't really remember) tells him about the future and how hanako kills his younger brother, leading to him becoming curious and wanting to find out more, resulting in him starting the Events once again.

It seems to me that it's All just an Infinite Time loop, 1 where no matter what, eventually things will playout, And all Because of Tsukasa's sacrifice and yashiro's involvement. Yashiro has Literally been the Driving force of the entire series, so I wouldn't put it pass aidairo if it Turned out that yashiro's lifespan/sacrifice is the Thing that ends up resolving the story; I feel like yashiro will play an important part, 1 where she ends up back time, but at the Point where Tsukasa sacrificed his life for his younger brother, and instead of HIM Jumping down that Hole, it will be YASHIRO instead, resulting her sacrificing herself for AMANE, and probably ending up as the Supernatural. We keep getting so many hints that yashiro will become a school wonder, ESPECIALLY since the opening for TBHK, Has mentions of an 8TH wonder, And ever since I heard about that I IMMEDIATELY thought of yashiro being a main candidate, And with yashiro no longer having her fish form, ya have to wonder: How EXACTLY will that play a part into the story? But the THING that really Sent me on this path that yashiro could end up probably sacrificing herself, was from 1 Specific panel from the VERY 1ST Chapter of TBHK, one that depicts yashiro Transforming into a fish for the very first time.

As you can see this panel depicts yashiro falling in what looks like, WATER, Obviously to show yashiro Transforming into a fish but the thing that Speaks out to me, is the WAY it's PANELYZED.

Up until Now aidairo has lately been reusing old panels and Scenarios for Newest chapters, (I'll pull up some Examples on screen so you can get an understanding of what I'm talking about) however THIS panel has always stuck out to me for an Odd reason, mainly because it DOESN'T match with aidairo's whole Paneling Style, let me explain. For example if aidairo needs to demonstrate something about a certain character, they'll normally make a small little panel involving little details that people associate with them, for example hanako is always associated with Red camellias, a flower that SYMBOLIZES romantic love, passion, and deep desire, All things that perfectly represent hanako and his relationship with yashiro.

Another example would be how they Stylize things, for example, when a character like Teru's on screen they'll Normally add a filter as if to make them look like they were in a shoujo manga going as far as to even add text bubbles that make them LOOK like they belong in a shoujo manga, this is mainly because we are seeing through yashiro's point of view and this how She SEES them almost like “Princely ” however my FAVORITE example would have to be when there's a Serious scene, and the characters will speak in Black text bubbles, or have even a HINT of Shading in said text bubbles, as if to emphasize the WEIGHT and Impact of the conversation.

This Panel has lived rent free in my head for MONTHS and I never really understood why, that IS Until I read THIS SPECIFIC POST.

Now this post talks about a lot of things regarding TBHK, but the Thing that really Stood out to me was from 1 specific section involving 1 little piece of evidence about the Red house, Specifically, that it was built on top of a Well, and that well just SO happens to be the Same PIT that the Kannagis were sacrificed to. I don't think it's a coincidence that aidairo made this Specific panel filled with WATER, just to later on play with and create more concepts involving water, ESPECIALLY for yashiro, a character they HEAVILY associate with water.

Basically I theorize that yashiro will probably end up Time-sliping again, this time with her going back to THAT POINT, causing her to pull Tsukasa away and instead of him jumping, it will be HER instead, causing not only Tsukasa to still be alive, but Amane as well, and since Amane will never get to meet yashiro at the Star festival, he'll never change his wish therefore he'll never become a Supernatural, and will INSTEAD become an astronaut or a teacher in the end, resulting with yashiro Now becoming GOD or maybe even the 8TH Wonder. If yashiro DOES Die then That would break the Cycle and I think not only save Tsukasa, but Amane as well, because She would be taking his place. I know it seems Crazy but if you REALLY think about it, suddenly things start to make sense, and ya know what, it Really makes for a Perfect ending, because now instead of her being saved by hanako, She will be saving HIM, But anyway that's just my theory. whaddya think, do ya agree, or am I just Completely effing CRAZY?

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jaywalkers · 1 year ago

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hi róisín, since ur in med, i was wondering : is aftg v medically accurate ?

hihi! i'll preface with that i'm not a med student, i'm a final year paramedic student, but i think my scope and areas of practice fit the antics the foxes get into in aftg enough to comment on it!

i won't talk on aftg's take on medications, antipsychotics or otherwise, because a lot of other lovely people who are far more educated on the topic have written about it! when it comes to aftg's treatment of injuries, though, i do have some things to say.

i'm going to tee up a couple of examples of frontline medical treatment in aftg and make some comments on them! granted they're very messy, but i hope they're understandable enough.

from the best, to the worst:

kevin's hand

i don't think it's unfeasible that kevin was back to playing capacity two years after his injury happened — while i think that his hand was probably severely fractured, and there was likely different fingers involved too, with good surgical intervention (which he was likely able to access) hand fractures, even complex ones, can be healed enough in 4-6 months.

the ligament injuries would be the more pertinent, and i think those would be the more pressing concern for him outside of the healed bones, considering ligament injuries can cause chronic issues not limited to pain. i would be surprised if abby was the sole medical provider for the foxes, because while she does appear to be a well-rounded sports nurse, kevin probably would have needed to work with a dedicated physiotherapist and/or a hand specialist to get the use of his hand semi-back to normal.

other questions abt kevin's medical problems? please observe here

2. neil's wounds post baltimore

when it comes to how these wounds are treated by medical staff, i have no concerns. the hospital neil is brought to by the FBI seems to have treated the wounds well and left him to sleep off any negative follow-on effects from the chloroform. the only thing i have qualms with is the implication from the hotel scene that the hospital has put an adhesive dressing over neil's burn on his cheek, which is a big no in wound-dressing — burned skin is very delicate, and adhesives can damage or rip it away with removal. it's why we use glad-wrap in the prehsopital setting for burns, because it's sterile and not sticky!

abby, when she gets her hands on neil, changes the bandages so the wounds can be visualised and aired out, cleans them again, and then re-dresses them cleanly. i have no issues here.

when it comes to how these wounds are treated by andrew, i have only this text from my brother when he first read the series a couple of years ago

throughout the series, including post-nest, andrew is constantly getting his grubby little mitts in neils fresh wounds. he should not be doing that. in particular in the hotel scene he peels away the adhesive dressing over a burn which is just a recipe for tissue-loss, severe pain, and increased risk of infection. i don't know how abby didn't scream because i would have.

just andrew. in general. yikes, my dude. don't do that.

3. jean

jean. he is the kicked dog of this series and i genuinely don't know how he was alive at the start of the book series, let alone at the end. at the start of the series, he has (according to the EC) experienced not only numerous fractures to various bones, but has had two incidences where he 'bashed his head open on the concrete', and needed 266 stitches total. also ten incidences of waterboarding.

if we break this down: that's two major head injuries, multiple incidences of significant amounts of blood loss, and ten incidences of asphyxial peri-arrest events.

it's further implied by both the novels and the extra content that jean was not given time to heal from these injuries, and instead had to play games. add to that the hours of the nest and the living conditions, and i actually cannot fathom how jean was not yet dead, by either a single incident or the culmination of many. exy is a contact sport. those head injuries, plus an accidental shoulder-check into the plexiglass could have, and should have killed him.

i'm glad he didn't. i think it's important that he didn't. but it is a miracle of biology and the sanctity of his cerebral blood vessels that he stays alive to the end of the books.

---

anyway i hope this all makes a bit of sense! im writing this half-mad with eight hours until my last exam for my 2nd to last semester so i'm running on energy drinks and way too much memorisation work of how benzos work. thank you for the question! and as always, please field more my way i LOVE this stuff.

#tfc #aftg #asks+answers #aughhh this was fun

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ladysternchen · 6 months ago

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The Self-Destruction of Elu Thingol

I'm not going to do anything else this meta week but write about my fave, sorry. (Like really sorry, I'm always scared I'm boring everyone to death with always talking about the same things).

But today's a short and very sketchy one, but I feel I need to say it anyway. Even if it is kind of apparent and nothing new.

I HATE how Tolkien left Elu Thingol alive after the wolf-hunt. Like WHY? I mean, the Tale of Beren and Lúthien has a few issues (first and foremost, it totally contradicts the Laws and Customs. Beren and Lúthien would only have needed to fuck in the woods and they'd have been wed nice and proper, with nothing anyone could have done about it. The whole Silmaril-as-brideprice-idiocy need never have happened. But then, we wouldn't have had a story), but this is what so bothers me. Like, this is Tolkien being cruel. but he is that to most of his Silm-characters, so I can't really complain. But... BUT! 😩

Like why let Beren give his life to save an elf, only to torture that elf? Like yeah, I know about Lúthien's famous 'coming back from the dead', but really? Why couldn't Elu die instead of Beren, pay his dept, and later be re-embodied in Valinor? And Beren could have lived out his life with Lúthien just as unbothered by what's going on around them, and if that accursed choice of the Half-even REALLY needed to be, then Lúthien could still have begged to be allowed to follow her husband at the end of his natural life.

Why why why why? Only so that Elu can rue his mistakes, and learn from them, only to lose another child and then die the most undignified death ever.

But I digress a little.

Still I feel that it is fair to say that Elu was never right again after Lúthien's death. He fell into deep depression when she and Beren died, yes, but the real, true blow came when she came back to life mortal. She 'healed' him, and yet took away all hope.

And no, neither he nor Melian were being over-dramatic. Child-loss -even if the 'child' is already grown up- is one of the most profound pains one can experience, not only to humans. Elves should per default not experience that. They do not leave Arda, so even while there is profound grief over being parted from a beloved person, that person is still there somewhere, and there is a very good chance that after some time, they will be reunited.

Can you imagine what it must feel like for such a being to lose a child like Elu and Melian lost Lúthien? Their ONLY child? I don't think that either of them was ever ok again after that.

And yet Elu did something rather peculiar, when presented with a half-starved mortal boy whose mother is a cousin of Beren's- and took that boy in. A noble act, maybe, one to show how much he is repenting of his actions against Beren, but also an act of deliberate self-harm (no, I have no textual proof for this. Yes, I'm still adamant that this is what it is). Because he did not only care for Túrin- he loved him as his son, a boy who must die the same death Lúthien died. I think this is also why Melian never really got involved with Túrin apart from protecting him, and seeing to it that he would be well tutored.

Elu, however, let himself love a doomed child again, and do everything right he did wrong the first time, and still be hurt in the worst possible way- not only by Túrin's death but by Túrin leaving Doriath in scorn, and accepting neither pardon nor apology.

(And yes, I do have this wild theory still that Elu's death was actually suicide. I mean, insulting armed Dwarves is very stupid. But then finding nothing to defend oneself in a SMITHY is... illogical. I still think he wanted to be killed, so he would not have to witness his daughter's death a second time. And when the chance came, he took it gladly. Yes yes, I know there is zero evidence for that and no-one will agree with me there. Be it.)

#silmarillion writers' guild #tolkien meta week #tmw #elu thingol #the tale of beren and lúthien #the children of húrin #sorry that this is so sketchy

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eleanorfenyx · 1 year ago

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I have finished Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and here are some of my thoughts! (Obviously not spoiler free)

The cases are absolutely batshit insane and I loved it every single time they were like 'we totally collected this evidence that incriminates a secret suspect, just believe us and also don't question when the fuck we had the time to do this or when we figured out that we needed to look for it'. 10/10 no notes, that's a hilarious way to have a genius detective. Show us nothing, tell us everything, YES king.

That being said, I could have done with a lot less standing around having the supporting cast repeat whatever Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing announce, maybe in an attempt to make sure their genius is clear for the audience? I get it, but at the same time it felt a little too hand-holdy for me, especially in scenes where LLH and FDB had already discussed their findings between themselves before presenting them to the concerned bystanders. I can read between the lines (or else understand what has just been explicitly stated) without having every conclusion filtered through a slightly different sentence structure to make sure I got it.

Di Feisheng amnesia arc my fuckin beloved

Di Feisheng destroying his 'father' and freeing everyone in Di manor in a vicious act of catharsis that tied nicely into the main Nanyin bug-mind-control-thing narrative my beloved

Di Feisheng my beloved

The amount of times I was like...genuinely surprised he and Li Lianhua didn't kiss is both embarrassing (because I do in fact understand censorship and what I sign up for with these dramas and yet and yet) and numerous enough that I could...possibly...theoretically..write a 5+1 fic of every time I want them to kiss about it. No one hold me to that but it's something I think I'd like to do.

Re: the above point: because what the FUCK was that ending?!!! EXCUSE ME?! I gotta FIX THAT SHIT.

There will come a day when the strength of my hope for an unambiguously happy ending in a queer(-coded? is the source originally bl or is this its own thing?) wuxia drama is rewarded....but it is not this day. I must fix this myself.

Jiao Liqiao's laugh is one of the most annoying things I've ever heard. I was reaaaaally hoping someone would just up and stab her during one of her little evil laughing fits. At one point I was shouting "KILL HER, KILL HER" at my screen because I could NOT take anymore of her (unfortunately, I did in fact have to take more of her).

I still think her insistence on being obsessed with DFS is hysterical when he is so VISIBLY only interested in LLH. Explicitly STATES that his only life purpose is to fuck fight LLH again. Babygirl (derogatory) he is so fucking gay let's get you a nice knife to the gut instead, okay?

I thought the whole Shan Gudao plot was interesting, going from looking desperately for his body -> putting him to rest -> hunting for his murderer -> finding out he's alive/the mastermind behind everything going wrong (which I was proud of myself for realizing before the reveal, I'm normally bad at that) -> thwarting him with sass and superior martial arts at every possible turn -> killing him stone fuckin dead with beginner level skills because he's so up his own hole he can't see that's what's happening - was really fun!

He also has a SUPER annoying laugh he can fuck off

OH OH OH MARTIAL ARTS SKILL OF TRANS YOUR GENDER?! I MARRIED HER SO HER AFFAIRS ARE MY BUSINESS NOT YOURS??? ASKING YOUR WIFE FOR HER FORGIVENESS AND UNDERSTANDING AS YOU LAY DYING AND SHE GIVES IT TO YOU?????? OKAYYYYYYY

The twist at the end that LLH is the one with royal blood was so funny to me. Like it's a good twist and I love that Shan Gudao was just quite literally always a fuckin try-hard loser in ways he didn't even know, but also it was SO funny. Granny coming in clutch at the last fuckin minute with secret knowledge she just literally never shared.

LLH is such a smooth motherfucker. Shame about his insistence on dying when quite literally everyone (bar the people who suck) is begging this man to just live. Just LIVE DAMN IT!!!!! I really liked it when FDB begs him to just consider his own life as important for ONCE and remember that people care about him because YES his self-sacrificing and committment to Chilling Out Farmer Style was not the mercy he thought it was!

LIVE AND GROW OLD WITH DI FEISHENG YOU DAMN IDIOT (the likelihood of me resisting the urge to write at least the one fic for them is zero to none)

Unironically love spitting up blood as a plot device and this show is no different. The Drama. The Panache. The desperation of everyone around you because you have BLOOD coming out of your MOUTH and you are FAINTING. Poison acting up? Spit blood. Someone bitch slap you with their magical palm ability? Spit blood. Get stressed? Spit blood. Get stabbed? Spit blood. It's always good!

Okay I think that might be all I've got for now, if I think of anything else I'll add them in a reblog. I thoroughly enjoyed it, would definitely recommend!

#mysterious lotus casebook #my thoughts #for whatever they're worth #it was nice too because unlike say Word of Honor I didn't mind the overarching plot about the jianghu #and the magical cures/objects that everyone is racing/fighting each other to get to first #WOH was just plain boring outside of the interpersonal relationships in my opinion #but in this there were only a few times I really just did not care about the latest fetch quest and wanted to get back to the relationships

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hiemaldesirae · 1 year ago

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Hiii :) it’s me again, the anon who yapped about fanon Vox, I’m here because I need to yap again: I’m kinda worried about season 2

After rewatching season 1, I felt like the stakes weren’t high enough for Charlie & the Hotel. One would think going into battle against Heaven would be devastating and disastrous but the only characters that permanently died were…background characters. I don’t count Sir Pentious because bro is alive and will most likely have a bigger role to play in the story now that he’s in heaven. The hotel was destroyed, yeah, but like minutes later it was rebuilt with the help of Lucifer.

That’s another reason why I feel like the stakes aren’t high enough, they added Lucifer way too soon. How are Vox & other future villains meant to stand a chance against the King of Hell?? I think it would’ve been better if took Charlie a couple of seasons to convince her dad to help her cause.

My main worries for season 2 are about Vox because I can’t stop thinking about him LMFAO. Anyways, I’m scared Vox will be a second Adam, goofy villain that gets killed off pretty quickly and anti-climactically. Vox was already a silly villain in season 1 (sending Pentious to the Hotel as a spy, cheering when Alastor got his ass beat, etc, etc.) so it’ll feel like a waste if they continue writing him that way. I want Vox to be an actual threat and kill one of the main characters PERMANENTLY. Preferably Angel Dust cause it’ll cause a shit ton of discourse since he’s well-loved by both the characters in-universe and the fandom but I don’t think that’ll happen. I just need Vox to lock in 🙏

Don’t get me wrong, I love Hazbin Hotel (only because of Alastor & the Vees but shhh 🤫) but I want the story to evoke emotions from me, I wanna be anxious, I wanna feel hyped, but I don’t feel any of this when things go too perfectly for the main characters and everything goes wrong for the antagonists.

I’m so sorry for the long ass essay, I would make my own post but I don’t wanna be perceived 😭😭

oh i completely understand ur worries nonny dont even worry about the essay

i definitely feel like theres a Risk of that happening to vox especially since . well. vivz doesnt have the best track record to begin with (cannot speak for hb but the way she deals with some characters and resolves their arcs is. questionable) but i personally think (hope? believe?) that since there are members on the writing and animation team who are fans of the vees that she wont just kill vox off for no reason / comic relief(or any of the vees, really) + also of all the vees vox is probably the most likely to die in a dramatic scene considering how he and al are set up to be character foils and killing him off in the stupidest way would be such a horrific storyline fumble i cannot in good conscience believe that vivziepop would even be able to fathom its stupidity. of course im holding out hope still because if theres one thing ive learnt about the internet its that you do not under any circumstances trust any public figures to make the right decisions ever and this applies to animated shows too.

vox killing someone forever would really manage to cement his place in the storyline as a big baddie, but i do have to disagree on wanting angel dead- personally- and as much as it pains me to say this- i think him killing husk or niffty would have the same effect while not interfering with angels healing arc: in fact itd even further angels healing arc and self discovery, alongside giving alastor a reason to perhaps go toe to toe with vox. (i do think that killing angel off would have an interesting result but it feels like an abrupt and unnecessary move to make, tho it may just be ny preference to want to see recovery arcs fulfilled so those characters can live their best lives)

++re what you said ab the hotel not having enough stakes for the next season, i totally agree- bringing in lucifer feels a bit like a cheap copout and didnt really serve to further **charlies** character arc (arguably you could say making up with her father developed her backbone more but. hm. idk you couldve done that in a multitude of other ways sooo)

#ran rambles #hazbin hotel #general asks

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daily-rayless · 6 months ago

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AO3 Wrapped: Writer Edition

Got the idea to do this from @deemoyza

Words written this year: 25500

Works written this year: I wrote four fics this year, though two of them came pretty late and haven't been posted yet: "After the First Time" (Aerith, Final Fantasy 7), "Tenuto" (Tales of the Abyss -- I'm counting it as one fic because it's a drabble collection), "Matter Recollected" (Fate, we'll see about that title), and "Mother Paws" (Narnia, we'll also see about that title). (Other fics I posted this year had been written earlier.)

Work Most Proud of: "Matter Recollected". Most of the word count comes from that one, but it was an attempt to tell a bigg-ish story in a short-ish amount of space. I think I did pretty well establishing scenes and the characters' circumstances, then letting them stew in their own angsty juices for a while.

Work with Most Hits: Between the two that have been posted, definitely "After the First Time". FF7 is a much bigger fandom than Abyss.

Fav title: "Tenuto" gave me so much trouble, trying to find something to unite ten drabbles, so I fell back on music (appropriate for Abyss), and the fact that ten is there in the word was a bonus.

Pairing You Wrote the Most For: None of the pairings overlap, though the ArcherHakuno (technically ShirouHakuno) "Matter Recollected" is the longest, so we'll say that.

What Work was the Quickest To Write: "Mother Paws". I was thinking about Narnia while I was exercising (sure, that's a thing that happens) and ideas started leaping out of my brain; so I stopped what I was doing and hammered it out in thirty, maybe forty minutes.

What Work Took You Longest To Write: "Matter Recollected" took about a month, in forty-ish minute bursts every night. "Tenuto" also took a fair bit of time in the editing stage, getting the drabbles down to 100 words.

How Many WIPS do you have for next year: No first drafts. Things are being edited, though, right until they're posted, so we can count stuff from The Muse Trilogy there. Still wondering if I should even post the earlier Fate stuff, and I have one outstanding Abyss fic from a few years ago I might post.

Longest Work of the Year: "Matter Recollected" at 21100 words.

Shortest Work of the Year: "Tenuto" at 1000 words.

Fav character to Write: I really enjoyed dipping into different povs for "Tenuto", including characters I'd never really touched before. But if I'm honest, I love writing for Hakuno, my impression of her as a character is still developing, and she's just a lot of fun. So we'll say Hakuno.

Which work of yours have you re-read the most: Maybe "Tenuto"? Editing was all about repeated whittling.

Total Kudos this Year: 55. (Most of that is for Aerith.)

Total Hits This Year: 497. (Ditto!)

Total Bookmarks This Year: 6

Total Subscriptions This Year: 0

What Do You Listen To While Writing: I tend to listen to my music on shuffle. In most cases, having lyrics doesn't bother me, and I listen to a lot of folk and piano pop, so it tends not to be very intrusive to start with. It definitely helps mentally separate me into a writing mindset.

Fav line or passage: I don't know if I have a favorite, but I like this one: She watches Cloud walking ahead of her, turning to say something quiet to Tifa. She has to pull away from him now. But in the days that follow, she doesn't. Maybe she can't, but she suspects she merely doesn't. She did, after all, warn Cloud that the only thing she was really good at is giving up. Because she knows she'll probably die, and the Whispers still cluster around her and take from her, and the Lifestream, as beautiful as it is, doesn't have the same tenderness of being alive.

#ao3 wrapped #fandom #writing #final fantasy 7 #tales of the abyss #fate #the chronicles of narnia

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nellie-elizabeth · 6 months ago

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Outlander: Carnal Knowledge (7x12)

You ever watch an episode of TV and actively cackle at the events playing out on your screen? I have been in full-on cackle mode for this entire plot thread of this show. It's everything I could have asked for.

Cons:

So, I think sometimes this show's acting is stronger than its writing, by which I mean a stellar performance from Sam Heughan can often elevate a clunky line of exposition, or the genuine passion in Caitriona Balfe's face can elevate an otherwise cheesy moment in dialogue. That remains the case in this situation as well, but there have been a few moments in Jamie's dialogue specifically that felt kind of awkward. It happened last week when he was explaining about not being on the Euturpe, and it happened again this week when he's explaining to John about why he has soldiers chasing him. Just super clunky moments where he's having to lay out basic tenants of the plot for the audience that don't feel naturalistic.

Also - I need to go back and re-read this section of the book again I think, because I was having trouble following the logic of why Jamie needed to drag John with him all the way out of the city. Once he's clear from the soldiers why doesn't he just say "hey, sorry for the light kidnapping, I'm going to run - just say that I hit you and then gave you the slip, and go back home." Like, what extra protection does John afford Jamie on his way out of the city, if the goal is to get a horse and sneak out? It only makes sense if there are still soldiers with their eyes on him who don't want to take him in by force for fear of harming Lord John. A nitpick, but I was distracted by it.

Pros:

But come on. This episode was SO juicy, where to even begin?

I've been really pleased by William's acting this season, I totally believe his distress. He's an inherently good person and, one might think, fairly open-minded and understanding, but this situation is just beyond the pale for him. I loved his conversation with Claire, where she points out that either way you look at it, she is still his stepmother. He's very reasonable and calm with her as he asks for details about Jamie and Geneva, and then when he finally does lose his cool, he storms off and destroys some property but doesn't actually take anything out on Claire.

Of course, later, he does rather hilariously and horribly take it out on Ian. Poor Ian and Rachel sharing the good news of their betrothal, and William says a strained congrats and then turns away, only for Ian to reach out for him with a smile on his face, likely wanting to invite him to the wedding or something, and William just turns around and socks him full in the face. It's darkly hilarious since Ian has no idea that it's coming. Also, this scene is so sad to me because Ian still believes that Jamie's dead, so when William is being all horrified about being Jamie's son, Ian is like "how dare you, any man would have been lucky to be his son." All the while, William could tell the poor guy that his uncle is alive, but fails to mention it in all the excitement. I also liked Rachel being horrified by the violence but also standing by her man when William allows Ian to be arrested.

We also get to meet Jane, a prostitute who William... befriends? If that's the right word? at the height of his despair over the revelation of his parenthood. He's rather awful to her at first, but then later he protects her from being taken by a man who wants to "bugger" her and likes it when the girls don't enjoy it. He takes her upstairs and offers her a night of repose, saying he won't molest her or anything. Jane, who offers William this plain first name in lieu of the "fancy" appellation of Arabella that she uses at work, seems to find William's honor charming enough that she actually does pursue sex with him, even though he's saying that his honor, his word, is the only thing he has left and he doesn't want to abuse it. It's a messy situation, because on the one hand William is saying no and Jane isn't stopping, but on the other, she's trying to give him a kindness in the only way she understands how, and he's so mixed up in the head about what's right and wrong that he doesn't know how to process anything that's happening. We'll see more of this dynamic later, and I'm anxious to see if they make any changes in adaptation...

Last thing before I turn to the juiciest stuff: we do have a moment where Jamie and William confront each other, but there's actually no opportunity for any sort of emotional catharsis or explanation. Earlier in the episode Jamie says he's sorry to John that William had to find out "our secret" and then says they'll find him and explain... but here, Jamie just shoves his son up against the nearest surface and threatens to expose him as a bastard if he doesn't get Ian free from capture. It's Jamie being very pragmatic and dangerous and very much damaging his already completely destroyed relationship with his biological son. Pour on the angst, why don't you!

The opening scene with John and Jamie - I was having the most fun staring at David Berry's face as John and just watching all the conflicting emotions. Delicious. On the one hand, Jamie's alive, and on the other hand, John has to tell him that he's had sex with Claire. I just kept thinking about how this whole scene is undoubtedly the most physical contact these two men have ever shared, what with Jamie tugging on John's arm and guiding him around Philadelphia, and then the uh... other kind of physical contact when Jamie is beating John bloody and John is basically egging him on. It's so twisted to imagine what John is thinking about everything that's happening. I love that he refuses to give Jamie the details, I love that he screams "I'm not bloody sorry" when the soldiers are dragging him away. Jamie spends this episode thinking himself the aggrieved party in this situation, and yeah, sure, hard not to see why he would feel that way - but at the same time, John didn't do anything wrong, in going to bed with Claire, did he? Strictly speaking? I also really loved the fact that when the rebel soldiers first turn up, Jamie's first instinct is actually to stop them from taking John. It's not exactly a protective instinct born of affection in that moment, but there's this sense that instinctively, he knows he and John are a thing separate from rebels vs. loyalists. He knows that this is a personal thing between them, and he doesn't want to hand John over into the hands of people who might mean him harm. The moment where you actually feel like Jamie has crossed a line, in my opinion, isn't really with the punching. It's when he gives John over and lets him be taken as a prisoner.

I could go on and on about the exchange between them, so much of this excellent dialogue is lifted straight from the book - Jamie's initial reaction being this kind of restrained and polite curiosity: "oh, why did you and Claire have sex? How interesting, please explain yourself" is sort of the tone here, and John's bewilderment is also such a treat. His incredulous anger: "What do you mean, why? I thought you were dead!" It's just such a treat for me that for all of the book moments that can't make it to screen, for all of the things they could have chosen to truncate or cut, it's my favorite stuff in the world that's getting the full drawn out treatment.

Then the Jamie and Claire scene, which happens a bit differently than in the books - the fact that it happens at Lord John's residence and that they end up having their reunion sex on his dining room table is frankly just... sending me. But honestly the whole scene is delicious, perfect acting from them both. When Claire is explaining what happened, there's this moment where you think Jamie will have to be moved to understand: Claire has just finished saying that she was contemplating suicide, and that John had the look of a man about to throw himself off a cliff, and that she really needed triage in that moment, that John provided her solace when she was at the depths of despair. There's this look on Jamie's face like he can't help but be moved by the idea of these two people being so deranged in their grief that they did this insane thing they never would have done in their right minds. But then, Jamie suddenly asks, quite calm and matter of fact: "did he bugger you?" And it's such a slap in the face to Claire and to the viewer both. Jamie isn't going to be super-human about this, he isn't going to be emotionally mature enough to accept what happened and move on. He's jealous and he's mean about it, and I love the drama there.

I also feel like this scene elevated the weird emotional triangle between Jamie, Claire, and John, even from what it is in the books. Claire has a line about how she couldn't bear to be alone and also she couldn't bear for John to be alone, and she seems so genuinely worried about John and what Jamie did to him. Then there's the beat right before Jamie decides to set aside the matter (for now), where he talks about how at Helwater, when Geneva died and William was a baby, John saved Jamie's life with his friendship. He's drawing a parallel - both of them know what it is to have John Grey hold you together when you're on the verge of falling apart. Another weird twisted way in which each arm of this triangle act as mirrors to one another. So juicy!

Meanwhile, John's eye is a mess because of Jamie's attack, and Denzel gets word that John is going to be hanged as an example, because he's deemed important enough to make a spectacle out of. So Denzel arranges to help John escape. The end of this episode is framed so amazingly and hilariously, with Jamie and Claire having passionate and re-connecting sex on a table, while John is wearing an eye-patch and in utter disarray, running through the woods as a shot rings out behind him. Lord John Grey's No Good Very Bad Day. Somebody give that man a hug.

So yeah. This whole story-line is the best because it takes my favorite character, Lord John Grey, and just shoves him into such a Situation. I love putting blorbos in Situations, I really do. Can't wait for more of the season to play out - we've got a lot of juicy stuff ahead of us, and I'm so curious as to what makes the cut from the books!

9/10

#review #outlander #outlander review

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makoredeyes · 11 months ago

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Keep it coming you say? 👀 I saw that tag! I'm ~quite~ bored, so here's a couple questions/whatever they're considered, lol.

Yes, flattery will get me very far here, indeed! To where? I do not know, but whatever, compliments! You deserve them. I'm rather sure my friends are tired of hearing me go on and on about destiny characters, ':)

How's your writing wip's going so far? I'm waiting very (im)patiently for any updates, I've totally not re-read everything forty-two times.. hope their all going well!

A little self indulgence here, but I like to think Andal Brask was the Hunter Vanguard when Osiris and Saint-14 were in, because.. come on, I'm rather sure the time frame adds up. I like to believe before, because their dynamic just seems really fun to me. Lots of great opportunities. (I partly blame that one fanart sylenth-l made of Andal and Osiris for this, it was really funny). What do you think their dynamic would be like?

What do you think it'd be like if the Iron Lords mysteriously came back alive? 👀 I'm talking, SIVA couldn't actually kill them because their ghosts hid in the light in their bodies, and SIVA only goes after non-organic materials right? Maybe it couldn't work it's way into the light, and as long as their ghost + light are intact, = alive. But *only* after the Warmind managed to get control over SIVA and free their physical bodies from harm? It's a thought I had, influenced by a few fics but I quite like the idea. Just imagine, a ghostless, lightless Osiris receiving word that maybe, they weren't as dead as he thought they were. Or Fel and Timur coming back only to realize what happened to Osiris?? Poor Sagira?? Learning lady Efrideet's alive? 👀 (Is that her name?)

Or perhaps, In this one fic, it's Timur and his special, take over your will little stunt he has, was keeping SIVA at bay, I think that's pretty neat too! So many possibilities! (If you were the one that wrote these, I hope you see this as a compliment cause I am not about to go dig through Ao3 to find them xD)

Either way, it'd be like a modern!au of the iron lords, for them at least, hah (I can just imagine Gheleon having a mental breakdown that their memorial involved fighting one another)

I can't really think of anything, but rest assured I will *probably* be back once I'm dome tormenting my poor boy Tevis

Ahaha yeesss YESSSS I feed me I'm such an attention whore lmao RIP XD. (fr tho bless you ;_; )

I am writing! There are longer gaps between posts rn because I have lots going on in my life, but also, because I am working on many fics at once. I counted the other day I have 26 WIPs but six I am actively working on in concert - three for Housefire that are all directly intermingled plot and timing-wise to the point where I'm not even entirely sure what order I'll be posting them in yet, another chapter for Things Found (I am trying to stay 2 chapters ahead with that to make sure I have a cohesive story for it), and two XXX stand-alone one-shots! I should fish out another teaser for everyone soon. I think it'll be one of the one-shots that makes it out next tbh they're the furthest along. But the naughty stuff is also the slowest to get written bc I yanno...can't write that stuff at work, etc. haha. But I've felt a new wind of motivation lately for writing and am picking away at these projects pretty regularly. <3

I'm going to admit I am not very well-read on the hunter squad in general, BUT iirc I believe Andal was Vanguard during the City Age. He was definitely around as I recall his presence in the comics. The problem with that time is that Osiris was largely absent. This was when the Cult of Osiris was gaining traction, and Osiris' obsession with the Darkness and the Vex was really heating up. He was neglecting his duties to the Vanguard (with Ikora often standing in as proxy for him) and he wasn't really paying attention to anyone else. Like. At all. There was a lot of unhappy tension even with Saint at that time. Andal, by all accounts, was a damn good fella though, and while I think just about everyone nettled Osiris, Andal also stuck up for him where he could. Even if Osiris couldn't appreciate that in the moment I'm sure he would come to later. I look at Osiris and see him as he is now, with some hard lessons learned and some hard losses under his belt, realizing a little too late some of the damn good souls he had in his court, Andal included. All of that said, 100% in a lighter, easier setting, a free-spirit like Andal (and/or Cayde...heaven forbid them both together!) would drive a stuffed shirt like Osiris up an absolute freaking wall with pure comical results, hands down.

(a side note, a brain storm, an insane thought that just poisoned my brain - a sweeter moment hidden from time: Andal's guitar and this gift of song Saint has hinted Osiris has....??????! I'm not melting it's just hot in here, right???)

As for Ironsbane and SIVA... I have INDEED put an awful lot of thought into this. Quite a lot. So much. I have my own ideas on ways to circumvent the disaster, O Reader Mine, but you're going to have to wait a while longer for me to write it. :3 (Housefire is, after all, ultimately, a fixit )

*but no SIVA attacks whatever it is programmed to, organic or not: and Rasputin set it on hundreds of Iron Lords and wiped them all out with the sole exception Efrideet and Saladin with the directives “REPLICATE, ELIMINATE, IMMUNIZE” it was not what SIVA was made to do but he deliberately repurposed it into a weapon. (I could go on for years about Rasputin and his darker epochs, but especially his misappropriation of SIVA lol)

** Your mention of Timur and his spooky skills DID remind me of another fic I need to get back to as well OTL TT_TT I still have requests I took in January I have yet to complete. At this rate it's going to take me all year to get them all done and by then I'll be taking more aahaha whuups.

#ask #destiny 2 #makowrites #headcanons

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khoicesbyk · 2 months ago

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The Royal Romance.

Forevermore.

A/N: this is the next chapter in the journey of my OTP. Follow along for the fun.

Rated: Mature (at times can and will be Explicit. I'll be sure to change the rating when and if that happens). | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual. Y'all should be used to this from me by now 😁) Also may contain some violence and other themes you may find offensive | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: King Marquise Rys (LI) and Queen Shanelle Miller-Rys (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and original characters created by me and/or other authors [their characters have been mentioned and/or used in the story with their permission] ) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 14K words. (may be slightly more or may be slightly less. Look, I stop counting after editing and re-editing and driving myself insane. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or DM me and I will gladly add you! 😁😘

This series is rated Mature. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click Here!

Tag List: @choicesfannatalie22 @tessa-liam

Chapter 16.) Glimmer Of Hope. Part 1.

A very dark cloud hung over the kingdom of Cordonia after the horrific attack at the Cordonia 5K race. Many had questions but the main question everyone had was how could this happen?

That was a question Marquise was desperately trying to answer.

He had spent the last three days after the attack holed up in his office, fielding calls left and right, while speaking with investigators on the case. It was starting to bother him that no one had any answers for him. At least not yet. Every time he closed his eyes, he could still see the car barreling towards him. It was starting to haunt him. Focusing on getting to the bottom of this attack kept him away from his family. Something that was starting to bother his wife.

Marquise was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Shanelle knocking on his door before she came in.

“Well you've certainly been busy,” she said as she entered his office, catching his attention.

“Yes, I have,” he groans, “this has been an absolute nightmare.”

“I know,” she said as she sat across from him.

“Where are the kids?” he asked.

“In the ball pit with their cousins and grandmother,” she replied, “it's the only thing that's kept them preoccupied.”

Marquise shook his head.

“I wish to God that they weren't there. It will haunt me for the rest of my life that they are there to witness this.”

“How the hell did this happen? How did we get here?” Shanelle asked.

“I don't know. I don't understand it myself. The event was covered by guards, and yet the driver could still get and go through the barricades that were set up,” he replied.

“What do we know so far?” she asked.

“We have a final victim count,” he replied.

Shanelle let out a shaky breath.

“How many?”

“80 total. 44 injured,” he replied, his face grim, “and 36 including the driver, are confirmed dead.”

Shanelle covered her mouth as she shook her head sadly.

“Oh no…all those innocent people.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Marquise groaned as he threw his glasses down on his desk.

“Trevor! Oh my God!” Shanelle gasped loudly.

“That's probably the only bit of good news that I have so far. He survived. He's in a coma and has several severe injuries and will require surgery and extensive physical therapy but thankfully he's alive.”

Shanelle breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank God.”

“There is still so much to sort through.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“Who the driver was. What was their motivation? Why would they target an event like this?” he replied.

“Do we know anything about the driver?”

“So far we know the driver is a man.”

“I kinda gathered that.”

“Interestingly enough, the crash isn't what killed him.”

“What killed him?”

“When they pulled his body from the car, a syringe was found jammed into his left arm.”

“So he killed people then somehow killed himself?”

“That's what it looks like. The car he was driving was sent to a lab to be processed. And when they opened the trunk, they found several suitcases and a backpack inside.”

“Like he was fleeing something?”

“Or not. We don't know yet.”

Shanelle nodded.

“Do they know what was in the syringe?”

“No. The coroner hasn't given an official cause of death. At least not yet.”

“So some mystery man goes on a rampage, kills 35 of our own and then himself and this is all we know so far?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We will know more but for now, this is all we have to go on.”

“Do we even know his name?”

“No. But I’d imagine we will once everything in the suitcases and backpack found in the trunk has been processed.”

“That's gonna take time.” she sighed.

“I know. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of rushing this investigation.”

Shanelle shook her head.

“Like you said earlier, this is gonna be a nightmare.”

“Indeed it is. Especially now that the people are scared.”

“Well, there goes the Lantern Festival.” Shanelle sighed.

“You're canceling the Lantern Festival?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Shanelle stared at her husband.

“No?”

“You heard me the first time.”

“Marquise I can't host the Lantern Festival. With everyone so scared, no one will want to come out.”

“That's precisely the reason why you’re going to host it. You just said that the people are scared. And many are looking for safety, not to mention something to hope for, and this will go a long way to giving the people something to hope for.”

“Are you sure? Won't it look like I’m trying to downplay what happened at the race?”

“Do you remember the first one you hosted after it was discovered that Anton was trying to kill us?”

“How could I ever forget?”

“You hosted your first Lantern Festival amid a national crisis, and it was wildly successful. People came together despite the fear they had for themselves and the Monarchy, to celebrate and remember why they love this kingdom as much as we do. Not to mention what it will mean to the children. They've never been to one and I want them to see the magic in the sky as they watch the lanterns light up the night.”

“I don't know. I don’t know if it’s worth the security threat.”

“I do.” he said as he gathered her hands in his, “I need you to trust me when I say that this will work out. This will give our people the glimmer of hope that they are desperately seeking right now.”

Shanelle sighed defeatedly.

“Okay. Okay, you win. I'll host the festival.”

“Listen, I know and understand why you are hesitant to host the Lantern Festival, especially after everything that has happened in the last few days. But again, our people are looking for hope and reassurance. And they will always look to you for that hope and reassurance.”

Shanelle took a deep breath and nodded resolutely.

“As much as it pains me to say this, you’re right.”

“Atta girl.”

“The people need this. We need this. We need to assuage the fears that many may have. While assuring the people that we’re safe we can also watch the kids have fun watching the lanterns in the sky. And since it's already been announced I couldn't back out of it even if I wanted to”

“Indeed. And well I might have some more good news for you.”

“Oh?”

“Your cousins, Princes Mordecai and Malachi have been assigned to the case. Since they're both new members of the King's Guard.”

“Good. Those two graduated at the top of their respective classes.”

“Yes. I have a meeting with them later on.”

“Okay. I won't hold you up for much longer.”

“Leaving so soon?”

“Yes. I think that I should go rescue your mother from her grandbabies.”

Marquise snorted.

“Yes. Go rescue her. She could probably use a break.”

“I'll see you later, handsome.”

Just as Shanelle got outside Marquise’s office, she ran into a member of the King’s Guard who was carrying a box.

“My Queen, I was sent here to see you and His Majesty.”

“Okay. He's inside,” she said to him as she followed behind him.

“My King, I come with news for you both,” he said to Marquise.

Marquise nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“These are some of the contents found in the attacker’s car,” he replied.

“Do you know what it is?” Shanelle asked.

“Yes ma'am. This is what was found in the attacker’s backpack after it was processed. We’re still processing the suitcases. The investigators thought you and His Majesty would like to go through them yourselves.” the guard replied.

“Bring it here,” Marquise said to him, “is this everything that was recovered?”

“No sire. A vial of some sort was found underneath the driver's seat. It and the syringe that was found on the driver is still being processed.

The guard set the box down on the desk, bowed, then left.

“What do you think it is?” Shanelle asked.

“Only one way to find out,” he replied.

He put on a pair of white gloves and then carefully broke the seal of the box and dumped the contents out onto his desk.

“What is all this?” Shanelle asked.

“Let's find out,” he replied, “oh and you might want to text Mom and tell her you'll be a tad bit late.”

“On it.”

After she texted Margo, Marquise handed Shanelle a pair of white gloves before they went through the contents of the box. There were wallets, a notebook, multiple passports, a map of the route the race took, several sets of keys, and a flash drive.

“There are passports to at least half a dozen different countries,” Shanelle said as they combed through everything.

Marquise opened one of the wallets and pulled out an ID, cash, and credit cards.

“Let me see one of the passports.”

Shanelle handed him one of the passports. He compared it to the ID in his hand.

“What is it?”

“This ID has a name but no picture. The same with this passport.”

“What's the name on the ID?”

“Pietro Sorensen.”

Shanelle began looking through the passports in front of her.

“None of these passports have a picture but they each have the name Pietro Sorensen.”

“Could be an alias.”

“If it is then we have no idea who the driver really was.”

“Well, we do know that the driver was a man. So we’ll start with that and then work our way back.”

Marquise picked up one of the passports.

“We’ll figure out whoever this person is and what their motivation was, in the meantime I’ll have this evidence sent back to the lab and have it thoroughly processed.”

“We already know what their motivation was. They were trying to kill you. If it wasn't for poor Trevor pushing you out of the way…” Shanelle trailed off as she wrapped her arms around herself.

He rubbed her arms.

“It’s okay. I'm…relatively okay. I'm here. I'm alive.”

“Yes, you are. But Trevor isn't. He's in the hospital in a coma. With life-threatening injuries. While I am grateful for him and especially for his selflessness, I’m scared he won't wake up. He has a family to take care of.”

“I know.”

Shanelle shook her head just as the phone on Marquise’s desk rang.

“Hello? How can I help you? Are you sure? Yes. Yes, I know. Alright. Thank you for calling to tell me. We will be there soon. Maybe within a day or two. Yes. Okay. I’ll be in touch.”

Marquise hung up the phone.

“Who was that?” Shanelle asked.

“That was Naya. Trevor is awake.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. She said he was groggy and disoriented but coherent.”

Shanelle let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank God.”

“So we’ll give him a few days to fully wake up then we’ll go visit.”

“Okay.”

“In the meantime, I have to formally announce the death toll and injured count from the rampage. That will more than likely be, first thing tomorrow morning.”

Shanelle shook her head.

“I want to be there when you make the announcement.”

“Alright. In the meantime, I have a meeting with your cousins to finish getting ready for.”

“Alright. I'll go grab the kids. What will you do with all of this?” she asked, gesturing to the evidence on his desk.

“I'll have it boxed up and sent back to the lab by the end of day.”

“Okay. Well, I'm off again. I'll see you later.”

“See you later my love.”

20 minutes after Shanelle left, her cousins arrived at the palace.

“Good afternoon gentlemen. Thank you for meeting with me.” Marquise said in greeting to the brothers, “Please take a seat.”

The Princes took a seat across from him.

“Can I offer you two anything?” Marquise asked.

“Water if you don't mind.” Prince Malachi replied.

Marquise nodded.

“And for you, Your Highness?” Marquise asked Prince Mordecai.

“I heard you have an impressive bourbon collection so a glass of bourbon if you don't mind.” Prince Mordecai replied.

“A man after my own alcoholic heart.”

Marquise served them both.

“Thank you for the hospitality, Your Majesty.” Prince Mordecai replied.

“Of course. Now let's get down to business.” Marquise said as he sat down.

“If you don't mind my asking, why are we here?” Prince Malachi asked.

Marquise took a thoughtful sip of his drink.

“You’re here because of your impressive records at the training barracks and the academy. You were given high marks for your combined investigative skills. And because I know I can trust your discretion.”

That piqued Prince Malachi’s interest.

“Thank you my Liege. What would require our discretion?” he asked.

“There are parts of this investigation that I don't want Her Majesty to know. At least not yet. And I am trusting you two to keep the parts that I don't want her to know to yourselves.”

The brothers shared a look.

“Won't that anger our cousin?” Prince Malachi asked.

“After all she is known for her temper.” Prince Mordecai added.

“Will she be mad at the two of you? No, because you're acting under the direction of the King. Will she be mad at me? Definitely. But with her being pregnant I want to keep her stress levels at a minimum.” Marquise replied.

The Princes both nodded.

“So can I count on the two of you?”

“Yes sire. Of course.” Prince Mordecai replied.

“While I don't like keeping anything from my cousin, I am at your service my Liege.” Prince Malachi replied.

“Wonderful,” Marquise said to them as he handed them each a pair of white gloves, “Now I want you two to put your investigative hats on and take a look at all of this and tell me what you see and don't see.”

The brothers nodded and then started sifting through the evidence on Marquise’s desk. As they looked through the passports, Malachi noticed something odd.

“There's something about the paper in this passport,” he said to Marquise.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Do you have a blacklight?” he replied.

“Here,” Marquise said as he handed him the blacklight.

“Brother kill the lights please,” Malachi said to his brother.

Once the lights were out, Malachi turned on the blacklight and shined it over the passport.

“You see there? It's a color variation with a seal,” he said to Marquise, “It's on all of the passports. And look at what it says.”

Marquise looked at the seal.

“Property Of The Kingdom Of Kasnia.” he read aloud.

“Kasnia? But I thought they were an ally.” Prince Mordecai said.

“They are. Shine the blacklight over all of them.” Marquise instructed.

All of the passports had the same writing.

“If Kasnia is an ally of ours, why do all of these passports have their seal?” Prince Mordecai asked.

Marquise studied the passport closest to him and then compared it to the ID closest to him and noticed something odd when he held it under the blacklight.

“That passport says it's from Kasnia correct?” he asked the brothers.

“Yes.” Prince Malachi answered.

“That's funny because this ID in my hand was made here,” Marquise said to him.

The Princes looked at each other.

“Are you sure sire?” Prince Malachi asked.

“Yes. Our seal is in the corner of this ID.” Marquise replied as he showed the brothers the ID, “Turn the lights back on please.”

One of the brothers turned the lights back on.

“How is it possible for these passports to be made in Kasnia but the IDs were made here?” Prince Malachi asked.

Marquise thought for a moment as he examined the closest passport to him.

“What I’m about to tell the two of you is strictly off the record and does not leave this room. Understood?”

“Yes sire.” Prince Mordecai replied.

“Of course,” Prince Malachi replied.

“About 5 years ago there was a joint op between Kasnia and our kingdom against the now former kingdom Alevendia. A few agents of the Crown Shield and the Kasnian Spec Ops infiltrated the kingdom after pirates on the island had been hijacking shipments coming through the Aetherian Archipelago. Their IDs were made here and their passports were made in Kasnia. And to get them to the embedded agents they had to go through Sulovaria.” Marquise explained.

“That's in the South Kestovian Sea, yes?” Prince Malachi asked.

“Yes. One of the crates containing IDs and passports was stolen and never recovered,” Marquise replied.

“And you think these are stolen IDs and passports?” Prince Malachi asked.

“If they aren't the actual passports that were stolen, these are very sophisticated forgeries,” Marquise replied.

“How do you want us to proceed?” Prince Malachi asked.

“Again, for now, this stays between the three of us. At least until the labs can process everything. In the meantime, I am giving you two this one very simple assignment.”

“Which is?” Prince Mordecai asked.

“You two are to track down what actually happened to that stolen shipment. Understood?” he asked.

“Yes sire.” Prince Mordecai replies.

“Of course Your Majesty,” Prince Malachi replied.

“Excellent. Now each of you is to take one of the passports and IDs with you and then track down a man named Simeon Georgescu. He was one of the main handlers on the original opp. As far as I know, he's now retired and lives just east of Portavira.”

“Yes sire.”

“At once my Liege.”

“Wonderful. Now again I am trusting you both to be extremely discreet about this special assignment that you've been given.”

“We will be discreet. No one will know outside of the three of us.” Prince Malachi said to Marquise.

“Good. Because as you both know an opportunity to prove yourselves like this will probably never come around again.”

“If we prove ourselves worthy to you, what do we get as a reward?” Prince Mordecai asked.

Marquise reached into his desk and pulled out two contracts with their names on them.

“You will become the two youngest members of the Crown Shield. Because after all, that's been the goal of the two of you all along has it not?” Marquise asked.

“This is quite an honor, my King.”

“Yes, indeed it is. We will not fail.”

“Good. Now remember, as far as Her Majesty knows you two are assisting with the investigation so be sure to keep up with it. Now I want you to take all of this evidence back to the labs to have it processed and then get started.”

“Yes sire!” the brothers said in unison.

“Good. Very good. Now that you have your assignments, you can take your leave.” Marquise said to them, “And oh one more thing gentlemen, see that you two don't disappoint me.”

The brothers nodded before packing up the evidence box and leaving.

The next morning Their Majesties were making their way to the throne room to make the official announcement about the tragedy of the past weekend. The mood between the couple was somber.

“I hate having to do this,” Shanelle said to her husband.

“I know. I do as well. But unfortunately, this is where we find ourselves at the moment.” He said as they reached the throne room doors.

Marquise took a deep breath then squared his shoulders, donned a stoic mask, and gave a nod to the guards to open the doors. They made their way to the thrones where a cameraman and Donnie Brine of the CBC were waiting, Marquise nodded to them both to begin broadcasting as he and Shanelle took their seats.

“Donnie Brine here live at the palace. With an exclusive statement from the King and Queen. We go live now to Their Majesties.” he said before the camera panned to Marquise.

Marquise looked directly at the camera.

“To my fellow Cordonians, today Her Majesty and I come to you with an update on this past Saturday’s tragic end to the Cordonia 5K race. It is with a heavy heart that I disclose the final victim count. Out of the 80 total victims, 44 sustained serious injuries. While 36 including the driver were sadly killed.”

Marquise swallowed before he continued.

“This is an unspeakable and unimaginable tragedy for our kingdom. One that Cordonia has never seen the likes of and that I pray will never be seen again. And we grieve for the innocent lives of victims as well as grieving with their families and loved ones. And here today we promise to cover all funeral costs of and for the bereaved. As well as disbursing a one-time bereavement payment to each victim's family.”

Marquise cleared his throat.

“This tragedy truly breaks my heart. On a day that was meant to be fun and a day of giving, was turned into a chaotic, frightening, and heartbreaking scene. I am alive today due to the heroic and courageous actions of one Duke Emmanuel Trevor Benton II. If it was not for him sacrificing himself for me, I might not be here today. I owe my life to him. And because of his brave and selfless actions, I will be officially naming him a Defender Of The Realm. It is my sincere hope to celebrate him once he has recovered from his injuries. I want to thank you all watching at home and around the world for joining my wife and I today.”

With a subtle nod from Marquise, the cameraman switched off his camera. Donnie walked up to Marquise.

“For what it's worth, Marquise. I'm happy you’re alive. I was there with my wife and our granddaughters. I watched the whole scene play out. It was truly terrifying but I'm thankful you’re okay. Physically speaking anyway.” He said as he held out his hand.

Marquise shook Donnie’s hand.

“If there is one thing I can always count on, it's your friendship after all these years. Thank you, Donnie. It means a lot.”

“Always my friend. We’ll speak soon?”

“Of course.”

Donnie nodded respectfully to Shanelle, who politely smiled at him before he and his cameraman left. Once they were gone, Shanelle let out a breath she’d been holding in.

“Thank God that's over.”

Marquise rubbed her shoulders.

“Indeed. It wasn't fun, I can assure you of that. But it was necessary. Even if it was extremely difficult.”

“And what about the bereavement payments?”

“Checks are written and will be sent out tomorrow.”

“How much is each check?”

“$10,500.00.”

Shanelle nodded.

“I would've preferred an amount closer to $12,000.00 but I can accept that figure.”

Marquise checked his watch.

“It's almost time for my meeting with the Defense Council.”

“Okay. You head on to your meeting and I’ll get Khari ready for her gymnastics practice. Will you be able to pick her up after and take her to her appointment with Nadia?”

“Yes, I should be done by then.”

“Alright.” she said before kissing him sweetly “I’ll see you later.”

“See you later my love.”

He watched her walk down the hall and around the corner before he walked to his office. When he got to his office door, he was met by a member of the King’s Guard who had a sealed manilla envelope in his hands.

“My Liege, this just came for you. It's from the coroner's office. It's the autopsy report on the driver.” the King’s Guardsman said to him.

Marquise broke the seal of the envelope, pulled out the coroner’s report, and read it with an eyebrow raised.

“Something wrong sire?” the guardsman asked.

“It says he had a lethal dose of epinephrine in his system. It was a high enough concentration to cause a heart attack.” Marquise replied.

“So he died of suicide?” the guardsman asked.

“Yes.” he replied as he slipped the autopsy report back into the envelope, “thank you for bringing this to me. If she hasn't already left, let Her Majesty know that the autopsy report has arrived.”

The Guardsman bowed before leaving Marquise’s office. Once the guard left, Marquise got ready for his meeting with the Defense Council. As he got ready Shanelle swung by.

“Hey.”

“Hi. What's up?”

“I can't stay long but a guard told me that the driver's autopsy report arrived.”

“Mmhmm. Here,” he said as he slid the envelope with the report to her.

She opened the envelope and read the autopsy.

“He died from an epinephrine overdose? You can do that?”

“Mmhmm. It's rare but possible.”

“What does this mean for the investigation?”

“Officially his death will be ruled a suicide but it will not hinder the murder investigation. The authorities will still process everything that was found.”

“Well, at least now we know how he died. And that he’ll still be held responsible for the deaths of 35 people even if he is dead. We just need to figure out what his motivation was. Also, I didn't see a name for the driver listed on this report.”

“I didn't either, which means we still have to figure out who he was.”

“Please tell me that this investigation won't go on for the rest of the year.”

“Not at all my Queen. I plan to have this whole thing wrapped up long before it’s time for Khari to start school in September.”

“Okay.”

“And I assure you, that none of this will impede your hosting of the Lantern Festival.”

“Good.”

“Mommy!” Khari called out to her mother.

“In here babe,” Shanelle replied.

Khari walked into her dad’s office.

“Hi, Daddy!” Khari said to her father.

“Hello, my love. You look incredible. Is that singlet new?” He replied.

“Yeah. It’s the Galaxy one that I wanted. What do you think?”

“Come do a twirl for me.”

Khari executed a perfect pirouette.

“Look out world! The newest Prima Ballerina of the Cordonian Ballet Company has arrived.”

Shanelle snorted and Khari giggled.

“Thank you, Daddy.” She replied with a perfect curtsy.

“I’m sorry that I have to miss your practice.”

“It’s okay. Mommy said you had a big meeting today that you couldn’t miss.”

“Unfortunately I do. But I will be there to pick you up afterward. Because you still have an appointment with Nadia today.”

“Do I have to?” Khari asked.

Her father just looked at her.

“Worth a shot…”

Shanelle checked the time on her phone.

“Time to go babe.”

“Okay.” Khari replied before hugging her father, “Bye Daddy. Love you!”

“I love you too precious. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay see you later.” Khari said to her father before speaking to her mother, “Come on Mommy.”

“Right behind you.” She said to Khari before saying to her husband, “Good luck with your meeting.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you two later.”

Marquise watched them walk out the door. 30 minutes after Shanelle and Khari left, Marquise was joined by the members of the Cordonian Defense Council.

“Hello everyone. Welcome. Please have a seat everyone.” Marquise said to everyone in the room.

Everyone took a seat around Marquise’s desk.

“Now that we’re all here, let's get down to business.” Marquise said to the room before turning to General Greenwald, “Now General you called for this meeting. May I ask why?”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Yes, I did. I wanted to convene the council to speak on the issue of the war in Kasnia. And to discuss the actions of Lord Gallagher.” General Greenwald explained.

Lord Gallagher rolled his eyes.

“I’m not sure I know what you mean General.”

“You can play aloof all you want. But I am not here for your games. I am, however, here to see that you are removed from the Defense Council. Effective immediately.”

“Excuse me?!” Lord Gallagher asked.

“You heard me loud and clear sir. I will not stand for a traitor to be on the council.” General Greenwald replied.

“I am not a traitor!” Lord Gallagher said to him.

“Then what do you call inviting the Monarchs of a rival kingdom into our home?” General Howell asked.

“Outside of treason?” General Castor asked.

Lord Gallagher set his jaw.

“Not that I owe either of you an explanation, I extended an olive branch and they accepted,” he replied.

“You extended an olive branch to a greedy tyrant and his wife! On top of the fact that should you win this challenge that you have against His Majesty, you are willing to sell us all out!” General Howell said to Lord Gallagher.

An awkward tension hung in the air before Marquise cleared his throat.

“While I too am disappointed in and with Lord Gallagher, the only way he can be removed from the council is if he dies, retires, or is voted out by his fellow council members.”

“Very well then. Your Majesty, I hereby call for a vote for the removal of Lord Gallagher.” General Greenwald said to Marquise.

“Now wait just a goddamn minute! I have earned my place on this council!” Lord Gallagher protested.

“Was that before or after you conspired with my now thankfully dead aunt against me?” Duchess Olivia asked.

Lord Gallagher looked at her.

“All I did was have a meeting with her.” Lord Gallagher gritted out through his teeth.

“You promised her my duchy! All in exchange for her supporting you in this frivolous challenge. All the good it did her.”

“Lucretia was willing to look to a brighter future for Cordonia.”

“Oh please! She was always willing to sell out anyone to save her own skin! Including me! The only heir to Duchy Lythikos.”

“Is there a point here?” Lord Gallagher asked.

“You simple-minded bastard! You are no better than Lucretia or my former no-good ex-husband Anton for that matter. May they both rot in hell where they both belong. But to answer your question milord, yes there is a point to this. And the point is that not only does the power and greatness of Lythikos and its people stand by and with the crown and Their Majesties, but when this vote kicks off, I will be voting you out!” Olivia snapped at Lord Gallagher.

An older gentleman cleared his throat.

“Well, I for one support Lord Gallagher. It is time for a change in the guard. And he and Lady Makenna can foster that necessary change.” he said to the group.

“Thank you, Lord Milford. At least someone here in this room sees the vision my wife and I have for Cordonia.” Lord Gallagher said in acknowledgment.

“I support Lord Gallagher as well. While I have no ill will towards Their Majesties or their accomplishments. It is time for new blood and fresh perspectives for our kingdom.” Another older man spoke up.

“Thank you as well, Duke Braddock. Having your support means everything to me and my wife.” Lord Gallagher said to him.

“Yes. Let's go ahead and name all of the cowards of Cordonia so we can be rid of them once and for all.” Duchess Olivia said out loud.

That comment set off a flurry of bickering between the members. The bickering was starting to get on Marquise’s nerves.

“Enough!” his voice boomed throughout the room, “now everyone please sit down!”

Everyone sat back down.

“Now I understand that some of you are not happy with Lord Gallagher. I also understand that some of you support him. But bickering back and forth is no way to settle a grievance amongst council members.” he said to them before clearing his throat, “now General Greenwald has called for a vote so I will allow a vote to be convened.”

Lord Gallagher rolled his eyes.

“Of course you will. Because you’re scared of me.”

“Be careful with how you speak to me, my Lord. I don't take kindly to threats. No matter how idle and empty they may be.” Marquise warned him.

Marquise cleared his throat before speaking to General Greenwald.

“Now General, since you called for this vote, I will allow you to present your reason why Lord Gallagher should be removed,” Marquise said.

“How can we, the Military Defense Council, trust Lord Gallagher now with our kingdom's military operations and secrets when he has such disdain for the very kingdom he wants to rule?” General Greenwald asked, “If he's willing to sell us all out, what else is he willing to do?”

Marquise nodded.

“Thank you, General. Lord Gallgher, the floor is now yours,” Marquise said to him.

“Whether many of you like me or not, I deserve to be here! I have earned my place on this goddamn council! I have immense knowledge of Cordonia’s military tactics and tactical schemes. Yes, I invited King Desaad. It was done as an act of diplomacy. Because it's better to have him with us than against us. He is a powerful leader. Much more powerful than the one we have now. And if it bothers any of you that my wife and I took the initiative to initiate a working relationship with King Desaad then it will just have to bother you! Because inviting King Desaad to a silly luncheon, that wasn't any good anyway, is not a good enough reason to have me removed from this council!” Lord Gallagher said in defense of himself.

Marquise nodded.

“Thank you, Lord Gallagher. That was a passionate defense. Now let’s be democratic and put it to a vote.” Marquise said to everyone, “All those in favor of dismissing Lord Gallagher from his post here on the council, say aye.”

“Aye!” many said in agreement.

“All opposed?” Marquise asked.

“Nay!” a few said in agreement.

Marquise tallied up the votes.

“The votes have now been given and counted. And unfortunately for you Lord Gallagher, the majority have voted against you. Therefore, by the powers invested in me as King, you are hereby dismissed from your post here on the Military Defense Council. Per The Military Secrecy and Sovereignty Act and The National Defense Secrets Protection Act, you are hereby prohibited from sharing any information learned while you were a member. If you are caught sharing any sensitive information especially, military information or plans, you will be arrested and charged with treason.” Marquise said to Lord Gallagher.

Lord Gallagher was furious.

“You fucking idiots have no idea what you've done or the giant mistake you've all made! You'll see! You'll need me soon enough!” Lord Gallagher yelled at the council members who voted him out before turning his fury to Marquise, “And you? I swear to God that I will make your life a living hell for taking this from me!”

Marquise looked at him coolly then shrugged.

“No one forced you to turn against your kingdom. You chose to betray the confidence this council had in you. So instead of always blaming me or even blaming the other council members, learn to take accountability for your own selfish and self-centered actions. I am beginning to believe that there is something seriously wrong with you Aldon. And I pray that you figure out what that is before it’s too late for you or Makenna.”

Lord Gallagher glared at Marquise.

“Now I do believe that this meeting is adjourned. You all are free to leave.” Marquise said to the room.

While everyone left, Olivia stayed behind.

“That Lord Gallagher is going to be trouble for you and Shanelle,” she said to Marquise.

“I've faced worse. He's angry and will more than likely lash out. Nothing I can't handle.”

“And what about Shanelle?”

“She's strong and smart. She can put him in his place with her eyes closed. Nobody intimidates her. She intimidates them.”

Olivia chuckled.

“Yes, she does. But just in case you ever need my help, you know where to find me.”

Marquise winked at her.

“Always Your Grace. It's been good seeing you.”

“Likewise Your Majesty,” she said before she left.

Marquise got a few emails sent out and phone calls made before he left to pick Khari up from practice.

When he arrived at the gym, Khari had gotten changed and was waiting with her coach Jean-Henri. Marquise’s cousin.

“Bonjour cousin! Content de te voir!” Jean-Henri said in greeting to Marquise.

“Bonjour cousin! Ça fait plaisir de te voir aussi.” Marquise replied.

“How are Her Majesty and the twins?” Jean-Henri asked, “I didn't get a chance to speak with them when she got here earlier.”

“They're doing good, cousin. Thank you.”

“That's good. I won't hold up much of your time. It's good to see you cousin. Maybe next time you come, I'll finally get you on the balance beam.”

Marquise snorted.

“Oh yeah. Let me just limber up first.”

The two shared a laugh.

“I'll see you two soon,” Jean-Henri said before going back into the gym.

“You ready to go to your appointment?” Marquise asked Khari.

“Yup. Let's go!” Khari replied.

As they rode to Khari’s appointment, she had her headphones on and was dancing in her seat while singing in Korean. Marquise became curious so he tapped on her headphones, catching her attention.

“Huh?” she said as she paused her music.

“Are you singing in Korean?” he replied.

“Yeah.”

“When did you learn Korean?”

“When I started listening to K-Pop.”

“K-Pop?”

“Yeah. It stands for Korean Pop Music Daddy. Keep up.”

Marquise’s flabber was gasted.

“I know what it stands for. The question is how do you know about K-Pop?”

“Because of Aunt Aly. It's our thing.”

“You and Aly have a thing?”

“Yeah. I send her cat memes and videos and she sends me pictures of her new cat Marshmallow and the K-Pop groups she likes. Like this one. Krazy Kids. Sam Tae-Hyun is my favorite in the group. He's the cutest.”

Marquise gave her a lopsided look.

“He's the what of the group?”

“He's the cutest one in the group, Daddy.”

Marquise felt his eyelid twitch so he decided to change the subject.

“So Aly has a new cat huh?”

“Yeah,” Khari replied before showing him pictures of Marshmallow, “that's Marshmallow. He's a grey kitty.”

“He does have a pretty coat.”

“Yeah, he does. I kinda wish I had one like him.”

Marquise snorted.

“Nice try. Not gonna happen.”

“Aww, why not?”

“Because having one purring allergy attack is more than enough.”

Khari made a face that Marquise couldn't resist.

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Much better!”

“Go back to listening to your music.”

Khari put her headphones back on and went back to dancing and singing in her seat.

“…the things I let you get away with,” he muttered to himself.

When they arrived at the Children’s Hospital, they were escorted inside to Nadia’s office where they were greeted by her receptionist.

“Hi, Cami!” Khari said to the receptionist.

“Hello, Your Highness. And hello to you, Your Majesty. Welcome back.”

“Good afternoon Cami. It's good to see you.”

Cami smiled at Marquise.

“You as well sir. I have you all checked in. They'll take you both back in a few.”

Soon they were led to an exam room where they were greeted by Nadia.

“Hello! Hello everyone!” Nadia said in greeting.

“Hi, Nadia!” Khari replied.

“There's my sweet girl!” Nadia as she hugged Khari, “How are you doing sweetie?”

“I'm doing okay Nadia,” Khari replied.

“I hear you have a little sister on the way.”

Khari nodded with a smile.

“Yeah. I'm excited. Me and Mommy won't be outnumbered anymore. We’ll have a vote for our side.”

Nadia chuckled.

“Speaking of the proud Papa. Another daughter. How are you feeling about that?” Nadia asked.

“I don't think it's hit me yet. But overall I’m happy. I can't wait to meet her.”

“I'm really happy for you and Shanelle. And the fact that you'll be naming her after your mother is the cherry on top. She would've been thrilled.”

“Indeed it is Nadia.”

“How are you otherwise, my handsome nephew?”

“I'm alright. All things considered.”

Nadia raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Mmmhmm. And are you taking my advice from the last time I saw you?”

Marquise chuckled nervously.

“Uh oh! You’re in trouble, Daddy.” Khari quipped.

“Would you be satisfied if I said that I’m trying to?” he asked Nadia.

Nadia sighed.

“You and my son work too much.” she sighed.

“Speaking of Carlo, how is Mariana doing?” he asks.

Nadia smiled.

“She's doing good. She gave birth a few days ago.” Nadia replied.

“She did?” Khari asked, “I didn't know she was having a baby.”

“Yes. She gave birth to twins this past Sunday. A boy and a girl.”

“What did they name them?” Khari asked.

“They named their son Sebastian Giancarlo Rys III and they named their daughter Nadia Adrianna Rys,” Nadia replied.

“Aww! They named their daughter after you.”

“And named their son after your Great Uncle.”

“I can't wait to meet them.”

“You'll meet them soon. In the meantime, we have an appointment to keep. So are you ready Princess?”

Khari nodded.

“Yes ma'am.”

“Then let's get started.”

Khari’s appointment including getting shots went fast and smoothly.

“Well that went well,” Nadia said to Khari and Marquise.

“Yeah,” Khari said as she rubbed her arm. Nadia smiled at her warmly.

“It'll be okay. Your spot will heal. Okay?”

Khari nodded.

“Now as for you,” Nadia said to Marquise, “I have the boy's appointment with the behavioral health specialist scheduled. I'll send you the date and time. And I will have the final report for the Princess sent to you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Nadia.”

“Of course, nephew. I'll see you all soon.”

When Marquise and Khari got back to the waiting room, they were confronted by a furious Lady Makenna.

“You!” she angrily pointed at Marquise before getting in his face, “You no good son of a bitch! How dare you remove my husband from the Defense Council!”

Marquise adjusted his cuff.

“Makenna, while I understand that you're visibly upset, this is not the place nor the time,” he spoke calmly to her.

“Do you think I give a damn whether this is the time or place?!” she asked him, her voice shaking with anger.

“Daddy, who is this?” Khari asked.

“My love, this is Lady Makenna Laurent-Joseph. She and her husband are the two challenging your mother and I for the crown.” Marquise said to his daughter.

Khari studied Lady Makenna with her head cocked to the side. She was unimpressed by Lady Makenna.

“Why are you here?” Khari asked.

Lady Makenna scoffed.

“Well hello, Princess. It's nice to finally meet you.” Lady Makenna said to Khari.

“You didn't answer my question,” Khari replied.

Makenna looked down her nose at Khari.

“Well, aren't you a forward one?”

“You're still not answering my question lady.”

Makenna scoffed.

“I don't answer the questions of simple children.”

Khari crossed her arms.

“I am not a simple kid. I am the Princess Of Cordonia. And when I ask you a question, you answer it.”

Marquise let a satisfied smirk cross his face.

You've reached the end of part 1. Stay tuned for part 2!

3 notes · View notes

terresdebrume · 1 year ago

Text

Actually, speaking of Charles and Crystal's situationship and how it interacts with Charles' trauma, I have some thoughts about their two main scenes (the kiss and the not break up) and I'm going to start with the kissing scene and keep the other one for a different post

Prefacing this with the fact that Crystal is doing her best in a shitty situation with no model for or experience with healthy relationships and while I'm looking at this from the angle of 'this is actually probably fucking Charles up a fair bit' I am NOT here for Crystal bashing (hmu if you want to talk about Crystal's fucked up situation though, girl is Going Through It)

So the thing about the C/C kissing scene is that not only is it more about both of them trying to get the Devlin house out of their head, I think it's also the result of Charles' survival mechanism meeting the fact that Crystal is too in her head to be emotionally available when Charles needs it, and as a result kind of paves the way for Charles' later outburst

As a reminder, the scene goes like this (transcribing this with netflix on):

Charles & Crystal sit on Crystal's bed. Both fiddle with their hands, both are looking at the floor. Crystal: Today totally sucked. Charles: Yeah. Yeah it did. Crystal, glancing at Charles: Mmm, at least it's over now. Charles, still not looking at her, visibly tense: You know I've... [chuckles] Wow. I've been angry for such a long time. He looks at Crystal Crystal, nodding: Mmm. And I'm tired of riddles and spirits and demons and not being any closer to finding out who the hell I am. Charles does a little sigh and relax/deflate. Crystal, looking at Charles: I just want something that's real. Charles visibly makes a decision, then kisses Crystal. Crystal, surprised, rubbing her lips like they tingle: Could you even feel that? Charles: No. Shakes his head. But it doesn't matter. They kiss again.

The thing that strikes me here is that Charles was actually trying to talk about his trauma. He starts the scene wanting to discuss his emotions, something that he probably assumes

Would make Edwin uncomfortable

Crystal will understand because at this point I think he still thinks Crystal is angry like he is

I'm also reasonably sure he doesn't know about Crystal's encounter with David in the house. I don't think Edwin would have mentioned it, for one. Secondly, the scene reads like this is the first occasion they've had to sit down and discuss anything (so no prior catch up) and thirdly, and most relevantly, I think if Charles knew about David's little stunt while he was in the loop, it wouldn't even occur to him to bring up his personal issues.

Again, this is not a diss against Crystal. I think if she realized what Charles was trying to do she'd do her best to listen. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize, and I think what happens here is that Charles' takeaway is that Crystal's ongoing issues need to be prioritized over the recent development with his, because she needs comfort and Charles fixes things both as a protection measure and as a way to be loved needed and appreciated.

So, when Crystal says she needs something real, I think Charles makes a conscious decision* to give her something real and nice that'll take her mind away from the bad places it's stuck in. At the same time, I think he's also sinking into kissing (which he's missed) and being seen by someone his age who's alive so he can tell himself that it's close enough to what he wants for him to be okay...and in doing so, he adds a layer of repression to a very recent re-traumatizing event and precipitates the build up for the lethal confrontation with the Night Nurse.

*Based on the fact that Crystal has expressed interest in the option before. I'm 100% positive the kiss wouldn't have happened if Crystal had been on a hard no from the start.

#Dead boy detactives #Charles Rowland #Meta #DBDA Meta #Charles Rowland Meta #My Meta #10n

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fala-alfredo-pasta · 1 year ago

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On the topic of Nagito resenting Izuru, I actually think it could go beyond that. Something that I'm not totally convinced about is none of Class 77 having any hard feelings towards Hajime. While them loving him inside the simulation makes perfect sense, would that really carry over smoothly once they were back out? Because his actions led to both them being brainwashed and for their deprogramming session being sabotaged in the first place. And to add insult to injury, he can take some solace in feeling less "tainted" than they are. Izuru had more autonomy and self-control during the Tragedy, while they were reduced to vicious idiots acting on whatever violent impulse came to them. Like with Sonia, she has to live with being known to the world as the tyrant queen who brought her homeland to ruin (though I personally like to headcanon that Novoselic is recovering). Meanwhile for the few people who are aware of a 15th Remnant, Hajime is "that one other dude with the long hair that we're not even sure killed that many people". I mean if I came out of the NWP with all that mental (and possibly physical) baggage, and the dude in our group who was most responsible for the rest of us becoming so fucked up was conversely the least guilty of us AND got handed a thousand super-talents...well I think I'd be a wee bit resentful and jealous. And going back to Nagito, it also seems a bit unrealistic to me that in most fanfics there doesn't seem to be any resistance from him to accepting medical aid from Hajime. Or dismay at discovering it was done while he was in a coma. Because on top of him probably not feeling like he'd want to prolong his life, accepting that kind of aid from the former Izuru would probably feel kind of infantilizing to be honest. Dude gets handed everything you ever wanted including a better version of your luck, he betrays Hope's Peak because he's bored, does absolutely nothing while someone dear to you is murdered and you and your classmates get brainwashed, sets things up so that your attempted suicide will actually result in you getting possessed by your nemesis...and now you're just meant to let him assert the power of a doctor over you and welcome him as your savior? I just think there'd probably need to be a moment where Nagito is convinced to accept treatment, rather than it being done to him without his consent. Make him feel assured that he has agency and control over his own body, and that continuing to live was his own choice. Because otherwise I think it could get really nasty. " I don't care that you're the most talented man alive. Even if I'd wanted to live, you, of all people on this planet, YOU are the last human being on Earth that I would want help from."

Ooo this be a spicy take! But some very good points! First off, sorry for taking so long to reply to this question it just this got me back into my Dangan theorist mode, and I wanted to replay all of Chapter 0/6 as well as read a summary of Zero in order to re-examine how the game and novel present Izuru Kamukura.

I’ll try my best not to derail this because Izuru’s whole existence and backstory is just…..such a brain worm for me that I can speculate on for hours. There’s just so much we don’t truly know if we’re basing this solely on the games (which I usually prefer to do seeing as the anime is filled with contradictions). But, doing so would mean having to excuse his involvement (or lack of) in preventing Chiaki’s murder and class 77’s brainwashing since there’s nothing within the games that indicates such things happening since even within game it flat out states Junko manipulated her high power connections (ie: the Ultimates), one by one and not in a batch.

She really only used video footage of explicit killing to manipulate the Reserve Course into rioting (Dr0), the rest of the world into more despair (Dr1) and as a way to taunt the Future Foundation (SDR2). Hell, technically, there is no proof that Chiaki actually existed in real life if we’re going only by the games too. That was something canonized by the anime.

Well okay. There may be ONE thing in the second game that can potentially confirm Chiaki’s existence in the real world and that’s her presence being listed in the book Nagito got with everyone's info. However, this was given to him by Monokuma and Nagito did destroy any of the information regarding his classmates time in and out of school that could have very well revealed that Chiaki wasn’t ever there—but I digress and this aint about Chiaki rn this is about Izuru.

What we do know of him through the game is that he sees himself as being used by Junko and thus brought in a flash drive with her AI to insert into the Neo World Program as a virus so he could use her instead. This feels contradictory though, if the end result would be Junko taking over all their bodies. You can’t even argue that he did it so Hajime could override his present self and come back because that would have happened regardless (that was literally what was SUPPOSED to happen). So then why bring Junko back? How was he using her in that regard? Well, the only thing I can think of is that he pretty much already knew how it was all going to end, and that creating a killing game was the only way to ensure everyone stayed alive whilst retaining their old memories thus decreasing the chance of them falling back into Ultimate Despair when re-awakened and in a way saying “fuck you” to Junko’s despair and destroying the last remnants of her both in name and digitally.

Cool beans. He still lied to them all though. Junko states that each of them willingly went into the program knowing well that her virus was going to force them into a killing game to cause despair. Izuru, though, didn’t tell them his whole plan or how it was truly going to end, otherwise no one would have joined. And that’s not necessarily bad–he was doing it for their own good! Except, well, there’s not conclusive proof that he did so for their sake (and since we don’t know if Chiaki existed irl we don’t know if he did this for her). Also given how indifferent he is in-game, the fact that his surgery left him emotionally distant, and his lack of connection with class 77, well it’d be easier to believe that Izuru did this all purely out of self interest in a way to get “revenge” at Junko and perhaps alleviate his boredom.

Now, present Hajime WOULD have an emotional investment in class 77 and it’s that reason he sticks around to help them recover. But, honestly, I agree that the ex-remnants would take some time to come around to fully trusting him again because remember: they ARE still recovering from despair. It would not be surprising if their residual remnant emotions feel betrayed by him for lying to them and essentially killing off Junko for good. Add in their in-game memories conflicting with their past memories every time they see Hajime and he’s not quite the same Hajime they befriended thus reminding them that he’s also that guy who just randomly showed up one day then manipulated them into a scheme for seemingly his own self interest, yeeeah it might take them a while before being buddy buddy with him.

Though they will eventually, but let’s focus on Nagito for a bit because he’d be the absolute last person to come around in fully trusting Hajime/Izuru. Because you see, while it was stated that the remnants agreed to be part of the killing game, we know for a fact that not ALL of them did so. And we know this because of chapter 0. In it, we see Nagito meeting Izuru for the first time (as Nagito literally says he’s never seen Izuru before), thus Izuru has not been in contact with Nagito to inform him of the plan (which actually brings into question WHY Nagito is even there/agreed to re-programming but that’s a theory for another day). We also see Nagito being very confused about Izuru’s talking about his flash drive with Junko’s AI in it. And, although he doesn’t fully understand what Izuru is planning, what he takes from it is that he’ll be able to see Junko again and get the chance of killing her himself. Izuru does not correct him or inform him of anything else. Meaning, Nagito knows absolutely nothing of the killing game he unknowingly signed up for nor of the possibility of his body being taken over by Junko.

In other words: NAGITO DID NOT CONSENT TO THIS AT ALL.

Unlike his classmates who can forgive Hajime’s actions as Izuru because yeah technically they DID agree to it, Nagito was not even informed much less had the option to say yes. You can argue that Izuru did so intentionally knowing that Nagito’s strange half-remnant state and intense resentment towards despair and Junko would have made him too much of a risk to the plan that is was better to leave him in the dark, but it still doesn’t change the fact that Nagito didn’t get a choice. Add in our previous discussion of why Nagito would be resentful towards Izuru because of all his gifted talents along with this and I’d say yeah, Nagito wouldn’t be all that welcoming toward accepting Hajime’s help post game.

This doesn’t even add in your note on pro-longing his life without his input or anything from the anime, so if Chiaki’s death was actually used as a trigger for class 77 and Izuru could have done something about it–YEAH that’s going to make the resentment exponentially worse.

So your last tidbit of Nagito getting a chance to decide something for himself just hits so strongly given he never got the chance to do so before. It’s the least he deserves now.

#anonymous #danganronpa #komaeda nagito #fala replies #sorry for the long post but once i get an excuse to talk about some of my #dangan theories and thoughts BOY do I use it #that being said pls never message me about my UDG theories because I WILL WRITE SO MUCH #(pls feel free to message me about my UDG theories i will write so much ;--;)#gosh this message really got me goin' lol replaying part of the game four years #later after knowing all the deets really reminded of...how mean Izuru was lmao #and the way he talks about talentless people is so on par with Nagito its honestly kinda #meaner than Nagito lol even Nagito basically just says “well it is what it is"#rather than wholeheartedly agreeing with him as you'd think he would #when even Nagito is like ''damn bro chill'' maybe you SHOULD chill lol #love me a sassy izuru #a e i o queue

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