#let's not hope the theories of him being a traitor come true

[welldonekhushi]

Dude.. the ultimate question that arises in my mind is: "Where is Soap?"

Also.. I turned the color of my blog into a MWIII themed cause.. why not ;)

[suitov]

The anti-Komahina copypasta of all time pt 2/4

[We're still going, gays. When we left off, Hajime was contemplating his true waifu.]

16. Forced Hand holding In these few scenes Nagito gets physical with Hajime. He begins to touch Hajime's hand without permission and then gets suprised, when Hajime wants him to let go off his hand. [src]

17. "Love" Confession You all believe Nagito confessed his love to Hajime in this single scene. Now, I did my research and apparently he attempted to confess, but didn't manage to in the japanese version. Probably because he's aware of Hajime's heterosexuality+ [src]

[Video: original here. Clip is of the ending to Nagito's fifth free time event. Nagito: "Please, don't forget... From the bottom of my heart... I am truly in love with the hope that sleeps inside you."]

+or maybe he was too shy. What's even worse is that he ultilizes hope for expressing his forbidden love to a hetero guy. [src]

18.Friendship Complex Friendship Complexes frequently happen between same sex couples(mostly men). When a guy catches romantic feelings for another man can often lead to friendship complexes because the brain can sometimes lose the heterosexual nerve cell or the hetero heart cell [src]

In Nagito's case I'd say friendship Complex is not the case, because it's the decisison he made. He is a homosexual who curses men hearts. (It's my psychological analysis) [src]

19. Nagito's reason to get Chiaki executed Nagito maybe secretly despised Chiaki in the game, because she was always flirty with Hajime and Nagito got jealous, that she achieved to win Hajime's heart+ [src]

+and receives a lot more love from the others than he ever gained love from his parents. Not only did he choose Chiaki to murder him, because she's the traitor but also because of jealousy. That's why I'm saying. This guy wants to be Chiaki that bad bruh! [src]

20.Nagito bullying Hajime So are you Yaoi shippers ignoring the fact, that your favorite character bullied the MC, acting like a jerk towards Hajime after he found out he's a reverse course student and almost got him executed, by trolling around? [src]

+ Now his fanbase is going to defend him making up excuses "Noooo that's his way of showing his lovely dovely affection to his "husband". [src]

21. Questionable freetime events So we have Nagito accuse Hajime of harassing him with a present: Gag ball. It's meant to shut him the hell up for being too annyoing and he totally changes the meaning of it. It's seriously getting on my nerves how he needs to homofy everything. [src]

22. Nagito's Lying disease In chapter 3, Nagito comes down with the lying disease and acted as dramatic as I expected. He then demands Hajime to leave him alone+ [src]

I'm aware he's telling the opposite and wants Hajime to stay, but here is where the freakness starts and Hajime's disinterest and discomfort shows. Our hetero MC makes the right decision and leaves the antagonist sick at the hospital with no single soul soul left except Mikan+ [src]

who shouldn't have to feel forced to take care of scum like him. The lying disease might have been a possibility for Nagito to spend more time with his rival alone. If Hajime hadn't left the hospital, maybe it could have been the end for the poor MC+ [src]

+who would have been entirely under the influence of Nagito's homoerotic feelings. [src]

Nagito immitating Chiaki The antagonist wants to be in Chiaki's shoes sooo bad bruh. A theory of mine is that Chiaki told Nagito when they were "friends" about her crush she has on the reverse course student before. Since Hajime and him have met already (Hajime as Izuru)+ [src]

+you know, I assume that evil bastard thought of a plan to brainwash the hetero Main character with homosexual desires. [src]

24. Pregnancy Another theory of mine is, that Nagito wishes for Hajime to breed him, so they can make a baby together, but Nagito, who is male isn't able to. It's not possible for the male gender to produce babies, because they don't have an uterus. (Common knowledge) [src]

25. Official Art interpretation [src]

26. Forcing Homosexuality Both Mika and Nagito have something in common. They both force their homosexuality on the main characters, who are like 100% hetero and have their crushes on beautiful females. Both of them like to seduce/manipulate their love interests with femininity. [src]

28.Awareness/Shot through the heart. In Island Mode during Shot through the heart, we learn that Nagito gets all scared and pale of Hajime hating him, because he's aware Hajime despises him and there is no way it will ever change. [src]

[Video: original here. Clip is of Nagito's Shot through the Heart event. Hajime: (That voice just now. Is that... Is that Nagito's inner thoughts?) Nagito: "So I'm all alone with Hajime, huh… What should I talk about today…? All I want to do is… Entertain Hajime… But I guess being verbally abused by him wouldn't be so bad. Ah, but…if I say anything weirder than this… He'd probably hate me… I don't really want that… Ahh, why is this so difficult…!?" At this point, the dialogue loops and the player fast-forwards through it, stopping to shoot "Negate" at the words "hate me", causing Hajime to say his "No, that's wrong" voice clip.]

+Does this guy fr believe Hajime is going to end up liking him the way he will always love his girlfriend Chiaki. Now be for real! [src]

The End of my thread. I'd like to thank everyone who took their time to read this very long thread of mine. I hope everyone understands now how toxic the realtionship is between them and refuse to ship them NOW. If you have any questions regarding my thread. [src]

If you have any questions regarding my thread. Ask me under the comment-section. To clarify, I've worked HOURS on this thread and I better not see anyone comment. "You played the game with your eyes shut blah blah blah" [src]

One day I would love to have a conversation with the 2 creators of Danganronpa @kazkodaka and @SpikeChunsoft_e to discuss my theories and analysis with the both of them, wondering if all of them turned out to be true. Furthermore, I'd be happy for some positive feedback. [src]

So I still find a few people judge me for my thread, claiming I'm delulu. Just letting you all know, I was given a literature stipendium last year and the teacher praised me for always being detailed and factual enough, when writing essays . [src]

[This is the end of mrpoopoofart's thread. For context and completeness, I'll include a grab of his Twitter profile.]

(not satire)

I can also recommend visiting the original links to enjoy the comments and the author's replies.

But wait! There's...?

[Can it be? Seven months later, GOKUPOO IS BACK WITH PART 3???]

[babaika016]

(there may be spoilers so be careful!)

This analysis is good, however, the argument about stereotypes is not as strong as it could be. We have stereotypes in DRDT, even really common ones: Arei is a bully with traumatic childhood, David is a popular guy whose personality is actually a facade, hiding quite a piece of work. There wouldn't be stereotypes if they were boring and bad from the start, it's just important to make it work in your story (DRDTdev makes a great job at it).

Also, I'm not a fan of mastermind Whit theory (That doesn't mean I judge anyone who likes it!! Everyone has their own opinion), and I'll explain why. I think that Mastermind is good when:

It's unexpected from the character

It brings despair to the cast.

The first one.. Let's be clear, a lot of people see him as very suspicious, so it wouldn't cause a big reaction, more like "meh, ok, knew it.". It would kinda be obvious and boring.

About the second one. A lot of DRDT characters think Whit's annoying and are not very "buddy-buddy" or just close with him, except for Charles. So I think that they wouldn't be as shocked as they could be, no "HOW COULD YOU!!!". But what about Charles?

They WON'T live till the end together. It would be boring and they'd probably marry, adopt MonoTV and live happily by that time. /j

Then Whit should die! As If. If he dies in 2/3 chapter- he wouldn't have time for his character development. And if later with Charles- once again, their friendship will go for too long. Moreover, while Whit's arc not even started, Charles is very developed, so I don’t really think he’ll survive for longer than 3rd or 4th chapter.

So why is he so suspicious?

That’s just a shot in the dark, but I’d rather believe that he might be a traitor who draws away suspicion from the true mastermind for some reason. Maybe idolisation of one, as you mentioned. However, him being mastermind would be so obvious that I’d actually be so disappointed and angry.

And yeah, pent up feelings and idolisation can be mixed together, one does not contradict another. And grief could be avoided because… well, that’s the point? He’s avoiding his feelings, he prefers to avoid the truth and be happy with perfected lies where his mom is the best person alive.

I really hope it doesn’t come off as rude cause I just want to express my opinion. Yours is not bad too!

Hello, I'm a Whit fan and I'm about to shoot myself in the foot

I'm gonna sound extremely hypocritical but I find it very funny how a lot of people have placed expectations on what Whit's character is based on previous fictionnal experiences (Happy/Joking character is secretly holding back their sadness).

Even though, I'd argue, Whit is the character we know the least about.

I'm not just saying that as like what we know personally about him but I also mean behavioral wise.

Whit is heavily analysed to have a facade, and I believe that too, even though the arguments on what is behind that facade is up for debate. However we don't actually know what Whit's feelings actually are.

(The reason why I believe Eden and I don't believe Whit, is, unlike him, she has shown no signs of being fake or have any contradicting behavior)

Whit's reactions are very very often contradictory like him caring for people and want to make them smile but also having the most tame reaction to death in this killing game (there is more but this is just an exemple)

Which is why he's the most likely pick to be the mastermind by a lot of people, me included. Because unlike him, other popular pick like Rose, J and Eden have already kind of established a "true character" for themselves that would be harmed in the case of a mastermind plottwist.

Basically those picks, in my opinion, would have character moments that would be ruined and feel pointless if they were the mastermind

Whit however doesn't have much to sacrifice if he is the mastermind mainly because he's already tied up in a bunch of character contradictions unlike other picks. These contradictions can be explained without him being the mastermind but he's really the only one who has those contradictions without having been called out yet (like David).

Also, hot take abound, I don't know why people tie the theme grief so much to Whit's character when actually the main thing that's really been brought up so far with him is idolization.

In fact his secret quote, a thing that seems to incapsulate a character's most important moment, is not about his grief but about him idolizing his mom.

I'm not saying Whit's grief isn't an issue for him, it definitely is, but I mostly mean that people are already posting theories ahead of chapter 2 about how charles will die so that Whit will be able to process his grief properly.

Which I feel is a bit too stereotypical ? It definitely feels like the most obvious path for Whit's archetype.

People associate him rejecting negative emotions as him not wanting to deal with grief but I think it's more likely that he's created a persona tied to his mother that he doesn't want to shatter.

In fact in the David music video thing, the words highlighted in pink is brainwashed and degraded copy. Almost as if he got rid of his personality and replaced it with something else.

Really the only time we've got hints at Whit and grief, is him never talking about his mom dying and also his response to Teruko's grieving response.

[lilibrownlabonita]

The Sun and the Moon- Namor x reader

Summary: The day the Sun asked the Moon to marry him.

Warning: Angst?

Rating: Free

Work count: 3k?

A/n: The lower case words are the lyrics of the song, my inspiration was "O sol e a Lua" by Pequeno Cidadão. *Do not copy or repost.

And 24 hours later the sun rose the moon set and.

The sun asked the moon to marry him.

Said he had loved her for a long time.

Since the time of the dinosaurs, pterodactyls, tyrannosaurs.

The first time I asked her to marry me was after Queen Ramonda's death, she was beautiful as always, but angry and resentful for the death I caused, deep down I knew she would never accept to leave Wakanda for me, but still, I asked, I begged for a chance. I was in love with her from the first time I saw her, in fact, I was destined to fall in love with her, to love her, from the day I was born.

"I cannot marry a man like you, Wakanda would see me as a traitor"

"If you would accept, you would not have to stay here, you would be Queen of Talokan, please my love think again."

"I can't, go away and don't come back, Namor"

The sun asked the moon to marry him.

And the moon said.

I don't know, I don't know.

Give me a break.

It was the first time I heard my name used by enemies being used by my dear y/n, bitter and hurt I went back to Talokan. A few days passed and the confrontation between Wakanda and Talokan was approaching, I didn't want it to end like this, I needed to see her again, to try again.

With the help of Attuma and Namora I managed to enter Wakanda, my destination was my little girl's room, but when I entered I was met by her angry and with a knife pointed at my neck.

"No, I don't want to marry you Namor, I can't."

But the king star.

With all its planets.

Comets, asteroids.

Earth, Mars, Venus, Neptunus and Uranus.

Was to fall in love just for her.

Who despises him and lets him wait.

She denied me again, I had expected it, but I was desperate, I went back to Talokan with a pain in my chest, the war was coming and I didn't want to fight my love.

I promised myself never to love again, I don't want to feel that tightness in my chest, the anxiety and nervousness of loving. If she didn't want me, if she didn't want to be my queen, then I wouldn't try anymore.

And 24 hours passed and again the sun went down, the moon rose.

And again and again and again.

The day I fought Shuri was marked by much more than a defeat, but also by a union, Wakanda and Talokan will now fight for each other, as a King I am happy, but as a lover I feel dissatisfied, how can it be that after all that has happened, y/n, doesn't want me?

"My love, think about it, we can be together now, Wakanda and Talokan are no longer enemies, we are allies, marry me."

"I don't know, I need some time to think."

There was no more time, I couldn't wait anymore, she didn't want me, she didn't love me. Again I left for Talokan, this time with the idea of never returning to the surface, there was no reason.

Namora told me that I was being hasty, that I should wait for a proper answer, but I couldn't find the strength to hold out hope, she had denied my request three times, in theory twice, but the "I don't know, I need time" was like a no to me.

In those unanswered days, I walked a little more closed off, hardly left my quarters or ate properly, kept my time busy so as not to think about y/n.

Attuma convinced me to try to get over what happened and move on, "you are King of Talokan, you can have as many wives as you want", but I didn't want multiple wives, I wanted one, I wanted y/n. My people started murmuring that I was in a state of unlove, that I had been hurt, it was true, I was in pain, and no one could heal me but y/n.

Maybe those who have dubbed me the loveless boy are right, maybe I will never find love, that in fact I will never find someone who can love me.

The sun not knowing what else to do.

So much love to give.

And began to cry.

And melting.

It began to rain, and to wet.

And to darken.

It has been a month since it happened, I found out that y/n tried to contact me, she went to the beach where we usually met, and waited for hours, at first I thought of leaving when I saw her, but then a spark of hope warmed my heart, the smile I was trying to contain overcame me, I surrendered and swam to her.

And 24 hours later the sun rose and the moon set and.

the sun asked the moon to marry him.

And the moon said.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

Give me a break.

"It's been a long time since the proposal my love"

"It's only been a month k'uk'ulkan"

Bingo, she stopped using "Namor", did I have a chance?

"It seemed like an eternity"

"Don't be dramatic, I want to talk to you"

"Funny, last time it seemed like you wanted me as far away as possible"

"I'm going to marry you"

Direct and sincere, that was my girl, never asking but demanding what she wanted, without fear or cowardice. I confess that hearing what she told me made my heart race, my hands tremble, my eyes fill with tears, and the smile on my lips grow, it seems she finally accepted.

[itsclydebitches]

The Bad Batch: A Crosshair Analysis

Hello, Star Wars fandom! I have just completed watching—and loving—The Bad Batch, which you know means I now need to dump all my thoughts about the first season into the tumblr void. Specifically, thoughts on the complicated drama that is Crosshair. I have no doubt that the majority of what I’m about to say will be old news to anyone who watched the show when it came out (I’m slow...), but I’m writing it all out anyway. Largely for my own sanity enjoyment :D

I want to preface all of this by saying that the above is not an exaggeration. I love the show and I love the entire cast. My enjoyment in each of the characters is directly connected to my enjoyment of the season as a whole, which I say because I’m about to get pretty critical towards some of the characters’ choices and, to a lesser extent, the writing choices that surround those. Does this mean I secretly hate The Bad Batch? Quite the opposite. I’m invested, which is presumably just what Filoni wants. I’m just hoping that investment pays off. 

But enough of the disclaimers. Let’s start with the matter of the inhibitor chip. I’ve seen fans take some pretty hard stances on both sides: Crosshair is completely innocent because he’s definitely been under the chip’s control this whole time, no matter what he might say. Crosshair is completely guilty because he said the chip was removed a long time ago and he chose to do all this, no moral wiggle room allowed. However, the reality is that we don’t know enough to make a clear call either way. The audience, simply put, does not have all the necessary information. What we have instead is a couple of facts combined with claims that may or may not be reliable. Let’s lay them out:

Crosshair was definitely under the chip’s control at the start of the series.

He was able to resist it to a certain extent, resulting in a pressure to obey orders coupled with a primary loyalty to his squad. See: telling Hunter to follow the Empire’s commands—which includes killing kid Padawans—but not turning his team in as traitors when they did not. It’s an in-between space.

Crosshair’s chip was then amplified to an unknown extent. I’m never going to claim I’m a Star Wars aficionado—I’m a casual fan, friends. Please don’t yell at me over obscure lore lol—but within TBB’s canon, no one else is undergoing that experimentation. The effects of this are entirely unknown, which includes Crosshair’s free will, or lack thereof.

Crosshair then becomes a clear tool of the Empire, hunting down innocents, killing on a whim, the whole, evil shebang.

In “Reunion” he’s caught by the engine and suffers severe burns to his face. One leaves a scar that covers precisely the place where the chip would have been extracted.

Removing the chip leaves its own scar behind. If Crosshair’s was removed, we can’t see that scar due to the burn.

After these events Crosshair seems to mellow a bit. He does horrible things under the Empire’s orders—like shooting the senator—but is still loyal to his squad—killing his non-clone teammates to give TBB a chance, saving AZ and Omega, etc.

Crosshair claims that his chip has already been removed. However, Crosshair is arguably an unreliable source if he’s been lied to or if the chip is still there, encouraging him to manipulate the team.

Crosshair claims it was removed a long time ago, which is incredibly imprecise. As we can see from just some of the events listed above, precisely when the chip came out—if it came out—makes a huge difference.

Hunter realizes this and presses for clarification, but Crosshair dodges giving it. Again, a legitimate belief that it doesn’t matter, or evidence that he can’t say because something else is going on? We don’t know.

Hunter checks Crosshair’s head and finds the burn scar which proves… nothing. As stated above, they wouldn’t be able to see the surgery scar one way or another: its existence or its absence. It’s useless data, as Tech might say. I’ve seen a few fans claim that Hunter was also feeling for the chip with his enhanced senses, but 1. I didn’t catch any evidence of that in the scene and 2. Even if we assume Hunter did that anyway, the chips are notoriously hard to spot. Fives and AZ couldn’t find the chip at first when examining Tup. Ahsoka had to use the force to find it in Rex. TBB themselves couldn’t find it at first in Wrecker. If machinery consistently fails to find the chip on the first couple of tries—it’s meant to be a hidden implant, after all—why would we believe Hunter’s senses could pick it up instantly? Maybe he missed it, or maybe it wasn’t there at all. 

Crosshair appears to be struggling with a headache in the finale, just as he was at the beginning of the season and just like Wrecker was for the first half.

The point of listing all this out is to emphasize how ambiguous this whole situation is. I don’t want to use this post to argue one way or another about whether Crosshair’s chip is really out. I have my preferred theory (the chip’s still in, but only partially functional), but at the end of the day none of this is conclusive. The writing takes us in what I hope is deliberate circles. Crosshair says the chip is out? Crosshair is not a reliable source of information until we know if the chip is out. What other evidence is there that the chip is gone? A scar? We can’t see if there’s a scar. Hunter’s abilities? He only checked once for a canonically hard to find implant—if he actually checked at all. And why would the Empire want the chip out? Well, maybe it has to do with that push towards willing soldiers, but if that were the case, why leave Crosshair behind and have the “clones die together”? By that point he was one of the most willing, chip or not. Did they have to take it out because of the engine accident? Pure speculation. We just don’t know and THAT is the point I want to make.

Because it means the rest of the Bad Batch didn’t know either.

The core issue I have here is not whether the chip is in or out, or even how long it may have been in if it is out now. The issue is that TBB spent 99% of the first season believing that Crosshair was under the chip’s influence… and they didn’t try to do anything about that. They abandoned him. They left a man behind. Does this make them all horrible monsters? Of course not! This shit is complicated as hell, but I do think they made a very large mistake and that Crosshair has every right to be furious about it.

“But, Clyde, they couldn’t have gone back. It was too dangerous! Hunter had a duty to his whole team, not just Crosshair.” True enough and I’d buy this argument 100% if Hunter hadn’t spent the entire season throwing his team into dangerous, seemingly impossible situations to save other people. Crosshair became the exception, not a hard rule of something they had to avoid. They went back to Kamino for Omega, a kid they’d only had one lunch with, despite knowing how dangerous the Empire was. They went into the heart of an occupied planet to rescue not just a stranger, but one belonging to the Separatist government. They helped Sid when she asked and there was plenty of compassion for the criminal trying to take her place. Most significantly, there wasn’t the slightest hesitation to go rescue Hunter when he was under the Empire’s control, in precisely the same place. Every explanation I’ve seen fans come up with—Kamino is too fortified, they don’t know where Crosshair is, they can’t risk Omega being captured, etc.—also holds true for Hunter, yet there wasn’t a second of doubt about needing to at least try to help him. And his rescue was arguably far more dangerous given that TBB knew they were walking into a trap. Going after Crosshair would have at least had some element of surprise.

I think the problem with these justifications is most easily seen in “Rescue on Ryloth” and, later, “War-Mantle.” In the former, we do watch Hunter decide that going on a rescue mission is too much of a risk, only for Omega to talk him into considering it.

Hunter: “It’s a big galaxy. We can’t put ourselves on the line every time someone’s in trouble.”

Omega: “Why not? Isn’t that what soldiers do?”

Hunter: “It’s not worth the risk.”

Omega: “She’s trying to save her family, Hunter. I’d do the same for you.”

The arguments that sway him are ‘Soldiers should help people’ and ‘Soldiers should specifically help their family.’ So… what does that say about their feelings for Crosshair? They’re willing to put themselves on the line for the parents of a girl they met once at a drop site, but not their own brother? That’s the message the writing sends. “But, Clyde, the difference is that they had an advantage here. Hera’s knowledge of her home planet tipped the odds in their favor.” Yeah… and Crosshair is stationed on TBB’s home planet. Even more than them collectively having the same knowledge that Hera does, “Return to Kamino” reveals that Omega always had additional, insider knowledge of the base: she has access to a secret landing pad and the tunnels leading up into the city. That knowledge was given and used the second Hunter’s freedom was on the line, but it never once came up to use for Crosshair’s benefit. 

“War-Mantle’s” mission puts this problem in even sharper relief. Another claim I’ve seen a lot is that TBB only took risky rescue missions because they needed to be paid. The guys have got to eat after all. Yet Tech makes it clear that going after Gregor will lose them money. They’re meant to be on a mission for Sid and deviating for that won’t result in a payment. He explicitly says that if they decide to do this, they won’t eat. They do it anyway. No money, no intel, a huge risk “on a clone we don’t even know.” But that’s not what’s important, the show says. All that matters is that a brother is in trouble. This time it’s Echo pushing that message instead of Omega. When Hunter realizes that they’re about to try and infiltrate an entire facility and they don’t even know if this clone is still alive, Echo points out that they took that risk once before: for him. “If there’s a chance that trooper is being held against his will, we have to try and get him out.”

Yes! Exactly right! So why doesn’t that apply to Crosshair?

“Because he tried to kill them, Clyde!” No, that’s the easy, dismissive answer. A chipped Crosshair tried to kill them. AKA, a Crosshair entirely under the Empire’s control. The only difference between his enslavement and Gregor’s is that Gregor’s chains were physical while Crosshair’s were mental. And again, the point of everything at the start of this post is to show that no one knows when or even if that chip was removed. TBB definitely didn’t have any reason to suspect that Crosshair was working under his own power until Crosshair himself said as much. We might have been able to make that case at the start of the season, but “Battle Scars” removes any possible confusion. The entire team watched Rex reach for his blaster when he learned their chips were still in. The entire team watched Wrecker become a totally different person and attack them, just like Crosshair did. The entire team forgave him instantly and had their own chips removed. So why in the world didn’t anyone go, “Wow, Crosshair has a chip too. He was no more responsible for attacking us than Wrecker was. We need to try to get him out, no matter how hard that might be, just like we had to try for all these other people we’ve helped.”

But they didn’t. No one even considered rescuing Crosshair. They only went back for Hunter and, when they realized Crosshair was there too, they didn’t change their plans to try and rescue him as well. He’s treated as a particularly threatening inconvenience, not another team member in need of their help.

The problem I have with how this all went down is that the team treated Crosshair like an enemy despite all evidence to the contrary. Despite Omega outright saying that this isn’t his fault, it’s the chip, the group seems to decide that he’s gone crazy or something and that there’s nothing they can do. “It’s fine,” I thought. “They don’t really get what the chip is like yet. They don’t understand how thoroughly it controls someone.” But then “Battle Scars” arrives and Wrecker is treated with such compassion (which he deserves!) only for the group to continue acting like Crosshair is somehow different. It’s easy to say, “But Crosshair shot Wrecker” and ignore the easy pushback of, “and Wrecker nearly shot Omega.” Up until Crosshair’s own accusations and Omega’s ignored comments, TBB’s understanding of the chip’s influence and the lack of responsibility that accompanies mysteriously disappears when the show’s antagonist becomes the subject of conversation. This is seen most clearly in how Hunter tries to frame things during his talk with Crosshair:

“You tried to kill us. We didn’t have a choice.”

“Can’t you see that they’re using you? It’s that inhibitor chip in your head.”

“You really don’t get who we are, do you?”

Hunter mentions the chip, but he acts as if it’s Crosshair’s responsibility to overcome it: “Can’t you see…” Of course he can’t see, that’s the entire point of the chip, the thing he currently believes Crosshair still has stuck in his head. But Hunter and the others—with Omega as a wonderful exception—never seem to have accepted this like they did for Wrecker. When Crosshair “tried to kill us” it’s seen as a deliberate act that he chose, not something forced on him like with Wrecker. When Hunter talks about their ethics, he subconsciously separates the team from Crosshair: “You really don’t get who we are, do you?”, revealing a pretty ingrained divide between them. Even Wrecker gets in on the action, the one brother who truly understands how much the chip controls someone: “All that time, you didn’t even try to come back.” What part of he couldn’t try is not hitting home here? Again, for the purposes of this conversation it doesn’t matter whether Crosshair was chipped this whole time or not. The point is that TBB believed he was chipped… and yet still expected him to somehow, magically overcome that programming, writing him off when he failed to do that. He’s consistently held responsible for actions that they were told (and, through Wrecker, saw) were completely outside of his control. Even when we factor in his claim that the chip was removed, TBB has ignored all the evidence I listed at the start. No one, not even Omega, challenges this super vague and strange claim, or seeks out proof because they don’t want to believe that their brother could willingly do this. There’s just this... acceptance that of course Crosshair went bad. Why? Because he was an asshole sometimes? Taking it all as written, it doesn’t feel like the batch considered him a true part of the team. Certainly not like Wrecker or Hunter. As shown, the batch will go out of their way, risk anything, forgive anything, for them. They have a level of faith that was never shown to Crosshair. 

“Severe and unyielding,” Tech says and he’s absolutely right, but I’d seriously challenge this idea that any of the others would have automatically done better if the situations were reversed. It stood out to me that each batch member has a moment of doubt throughout the series, a brief glimpse into how they think the Empire isn’t that bad, at least when it comes to this particular thing. Basically, a moment that could lead to a very dangerous line of thinking without others to stomp it down. Wrecker announces that he’s happy working for whoever, provided they give him food and let him blow things up. Tech finds the chain codes to be an ingenious strategy and is clearly fascinated with their development. Hunter initially wants Omega to stay on Kamino, despite knowing that this Empire has already, systematically killed an entire group of people: the Jedi. Doesn’t matter. She’s still (supposedly) safer there than she would be running with the likes of them.

There’s absolutely no doubt that those three made the correct choice in defying the Empire, but I believe that their ability to make that choice is largely dependent on them having each other. They survive together, not apart, and it’s their unity that allows them to make the really hard calls, like setting out on their own and opposing such a formidable force. But if Tech’s chip had activated and he’d been left behind, would he have muscled through to escape somehow...or would he have gotten caught up in all the new technology the Empire offered him, succumbing to both his chip and the inevitability that if his squad no longer wanted him, why not stay? Would Wrecker have escaped, or been easily manipulated into a new life of exploding things? Would Hunter have been able to push through without his brothers, or would he have become devoted to a new team to lead? Obviously there’s no way to ever know, but it’s always easier to make the right decisions when you have support in doing so. Crosshair had no support. His team left him and yes, they had to in that specific moment, but the point is that they never came back. As far as we saw throughout the season, they never planned to come back. They all talk about loving the Crosshair who existed when life was easier, but they weren’t willing to fight for the Crosshair that most needed their help. When he says “You weren’t loyal to me,” he’s absolutely right. The same episode, “Return to Kamino,” gives Omega two powerful lines that the group rallies behind:

Omega: “[The danger] doesn’t matter. Saving Hunter is what matters.”

AZ: “You must leave.”

Omega: “Not without Hunter.”

The key word there is “Hunter.” Danger, stakes, risk, probability… none of that matters when Hunter needs help. Crosshair did not receive that same level of devotion.

Which creates a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. The group is upset that Crosshair isn’t rejoining them, but they fail to realize that he has no reason to trust them anymore. He’s not joining the Empire because he’s inherently evil and that’s that, end of discussion. He’s joining it because above all Crosshair wants a place to belong… and TBB has made it clear—unintentionally—that he does not belong with them. The horrible actions that Crosshair took under his own free will (theoretically) came after he realized that doing bad things while under the Empire’s control was, apparently, unforgivable. If it wasn’t, his team would have come back to rescue him. They could have at least tried. But they didn’t, so Crosshair is left with the conclusion that either what he did under the Empire’s control is something the group can’t forgive him for, or they can forgive that (like with Wrecker) and he’s the problem here. He’s the one not worth that effort.

“The Empire will be fazing out clones next,” Hunter says. To which Crosshair responds, “Not the ones that matter.”

He wants to matter to someone and events show he no longer matters to his brothers. So why not stay with the Empire? I mean, we as the audience ABSOLUTELY know why not. Self-doubt and feelings of isolation aren’t excuses for joining the Super Evil Organization. Crosshair, if he is under his own control, is still 100% in the wrong for supporting them, no matter his reasons. So it’s not an excuse, but rather an explanation of that very human, flawed, fallible thinking. He needs to be useful. He needs to be wanted. Crosshair is an absolute dick to the regs and I have no doubt that a lot of that stems from the harassment TBB has experienced from them (with a side of his inflated ego), but I’d bet it’s also due to Crosshair’s intense desire to be valuable to someone. He keeps pointing out the regs’ supposed deficiencies because it highlights his own usefulness. When Crosshair fails to find Hera, the Admiral says that soon he’ll get someone who can, looking straight at Howzer at the door. It makes Crosshair seethe because his entire identity is based on being useful, yet no one seems to need him anymore. TBB seems to no longer want him. The Empire no longer wants clones. Now even regs are considered a better option than him, the “superior” soldier. Everywhere Crosshair turns he’s getting the message that he’s not wanted, but he’ll keep fighting to at least be needed in some capacity, no matter how small. Even if that means overlooking all the horrors the Empire commits.

“All you’ll ever be to [the Empire] is a number,” Hunter says and he’s absolutely right. But to TBB recently, Crosshair hasn’t even been that. He’s been nothing. Nobody worth coming back for. To his mind, at least being a number is something.

I hope that all of this resolves itself into a conclusion that is kind to each side (preferably without a Vader-style death redemption), especially given the still ambiguous state of the chip, but from a writing standpoint I’m admittedly a bit wary. We’re obviously meant to believe that the batch all love each other, but as established throughout this entirely too long post, this season did a terrible job imo of proving that they love Crosshair. Or, at least, proving that they love him as much as the others. If this was really meant to be just a matter of miscommunication, with Crosshair making terrible life choices because he only thinks he was abandoned, then we as the audience would have seen the batch trying and failing to get him out. Or at least establishing a very good reason why they couldn’t take that risk, hopefully with entirely different side-missions so the audience isn’t constantly going, “So you can risk everything for Gregor... but not Crosshair?” I’m VERY glad that Crosshair was allowed to air his grievances to the extent he did, but the end result of that—Hunter continually denying this, Omega walking away from him in their rooms, neither Tech nor Wrecker actually sticking up for him and acknowledging the chip’s influence during at least some of all this—is making things feel rather one-sided. It’s like we’re meant to take Crosshair at his word and accept that he’s this garden-variety antagonist who joins the Empire because yay being on the winning side… despite all these complications that clearly have a huge impact on how we read the situation. It doesn’t help that the show has already embraced an inconsistent manner of portraying chipped-clones. We know every clone has one, we know only a couple clones are aware of the chip’s existence (and can thus try to get it out), we know they enter a “Good soldiers follow orders” mindlessness once activated… yet towards the end we see a lot of side character clones thinking for themselves. Howzer decides that he’s no longer loyal to the Empire, giving a speech where a couple other clones throw down their weapons too. Gregor was arrested because he likewise realized how wrong this all was. But how is that possible? Do the chips completely control the clones, or not? Are these clones somehow exceptions? Are the chips beginning to fail? All of that has a bearing on how we read Crosshair—what were his own decisions, how much he was capable of overcoming the chip, whether that changed at all during certain points—but right now that remains really unclear.

It’s details like that which make me wonder if all these other questions will be answered. Will the story resolve all those ambiguous moments surrounding the chip, or brush them off with the belief that we should have just taken Crosshair at his equally ambiguous word? Will the story acknowledge Crosshair’s points through someone other than Crosshair, allowing it to exist as a legitimate criticism, rather than the presumed excuses of an antagonist? I’m… not sure. On the whole I’m very happy with TBB’s writing—despite what all this might imply lol. Until my brain picks over the season and discovers something else, my only other gripe is not allowing Omega to form a solid bond with Tech and Echo, instead putting all the focus on big brother!Wrecker and dad!Hunter. I think it’s a solid show that does a lot right, but I’m worried that, unless there’s a brilliant answer to all these questions and an intent to unpack both sides of the Hunter vs. Crosshair debate with respect—not just falling back on, “Well, Crosshair is with the Empire so everything he says is automatically bad and wrong” take—we’ve just gotten the setup for a somewhat messy, ethical story. For anyone here who also reads my RWBY metas, I’m pretty sure you’re not at all surprised that I’m invested in going, “Hey, you had one of the heroes suddenly become/join a dictatorship and do a lot of horrific things, but within a pretty complicated context. Can we please work through that carefully and with an acknowledgement of the nuance here, rather than throwing the ‘evil’ character to the proverbial wolves?”  

God knows TBB is leagues ahead of RWBY, but I hope things continue on in not just a good direction, but one that tackles the aspects of this situation that many fans—and Crosshair—have already pointed out. As much as I adore the cast—and I really, really do—it was discomforting to watch a found family show where 4/5th of that family so completely wrote off one of the members and crucially have, at least so far, refused to acknowledge that. I want complicated, flawed characters, but that’s only compelling when the storytelling admits to and grapples with those flaws. We have quite firmly established Crosshair’s flaws in Season One. I hope Season Two delves into the rest of the team’s too.

Aaaand with that meta-dump out of my system, I’m off to write TBB fic. Thanks for reading! :D

[lunapokema]

God, I hate reblogging my own stuff but I have things to add.

First, more about Azi asking Crowley to be an angel again. People seem to be quite upset about that. BUT, but Aziraphale is coming from a good place when he asks this - like I said it isn't about changing Crowley but restoring freedoms. Think back to the first episode of S2 where we see Crowley as an angel (no name given) as he is creating the stars. Look at how happy and excited he is. He never smiles like that again in the rest of the series or shows that level of enthusiasm.

I think, even 6,000 years later, Aziraphale remembers that and feels like he isn't able to measure up to it. He's never made Crowley that happy, so why would his friend throw away this opportunity just to be with Aziraphale?

Because, while Crowley has always been on his own side, done things his own way, seen the world in shades of grey while still toeing the line of Hell's rules - Aziraphale has lived 6,000 years under heavy scrutiny and expectations from his superiors. The same superiors whom have constantly put him down, talked behind his back, belittled his efforts, and basically think he is a screw-up. After S1 they almost exclusively call him traitor and make it clear he's been excommunicated from Heaven.

In summary, it wouldn't be surprising if Aziraphale has a very low sense of self-worth. He cuts himself off from saying" I love you" to "I forgive you" after being kissed because he thinks Crowley can do better. He is obviously upset but is making the decision to let Crowley go.

That being said, second point of business: after posting this I read about the "coffee theory" and holy fuck it didn't even cross my mind. Do I think Aziraphale was drugged or mind controlled? No, not really. He is gullible and easily tricked, which I think was the point of the half-wit Nazi characters getting more screen time: to remind the audience of this part of Aziraphale. They also show him being fairly easily tempted into eating by Crowley, making an error in judgement in Edinburgh and thinking himself a demon after lying to save children.

The coffee thing is suspicious as hell though - it is possible there was something in it that inhibited or suppressed Aziraphales true desires. But the whole thing just smacks of the Metatron manipulating Aziraphale away from Crowley. The two of them fucked up one apocalypse together why leave them to their own devices so they can ruin a second one?

And to throw my own hat in the ring on Crowley's little I understand better than you, and they never change their passwords lines-

Who was Crowley before his fall, if he was anyone other than himself at all?

My own personal theory is that Crowley was a "Virtue" in the 9 choirs of angels. It would put him in the middle of the Second Triad who are meant to fulfill God's plan in the universe. Virtues run the operation of movement in the universe. They are often associated with planets, elements, seasons, and nature. It made the most sense since Crowley was associated with making the stars. Further research led to me finding that the Archangel Raphael was also a Virtue. I find the Raphael and Samael theories interesting since there is evidence for and against both. With the recent season I'm inclined to think that Crowley was not only an Archangel, but the Supreme Archangel.

I mean, Crowley is extremely powerful with the ability to stop time, shapeshift, conjure/control fire, shape reality to his perception/imagination, and summon lightning. Or he could be absolutely nobody which would be even funnier and on brand for the series.

As for more S3 "predictions"/hopes, well...

Since Agnes Nutter was so spot on with her prophecies I'm hoping she foresaw her descendent burning themanuscript and has a backup copy of 'Further Nice and Accurate Prophecies for the World to Come' sent to Aziraphales bookshop addressed to Muriel and Crowley to warn about the "Second Coming" apocalypse.

I mostly just want Agnes back on the show again and to perhaps drag some of the other characters back as well. Adam and Warlock should be 15-16 at this point in the timeline and the Catholic Second Coming of Christ mentions the Anti-Christ.

Aaaannnd this is officially longer than the first post and I've been working on it for over two hours, calling this shit done

Unpopular opinion: Episode 6 wasn't Aziraphales fault. I'm most surprised that Crowley let his angel go off alone with an agent of heaven.

I think heaven is a lot harsher than hell in terms of how they treat their "employees". Heaven is quick to punish for the slightest perceived offense and there is no defense or trial. Aziraphale was basically just sentenced to death and Season 2 confirms that Crowley never told him all of the details.

Aziraphale's character is what humans think an angel is: compassionate, forgiving, kind, helpful, benevolent. Azi wants with all his being to do good as he believes it is why he exists, so taking Gabriel's position makes perfect sense. He believes Heaven (and by extension God) is good, because if not what has he been doing for 6,000 years? He allowed people (children) to drown in the great flood, a young woman died in Edinburgh from his mistake, he did nothing to interfere with wars, mass killings or environmental/biological disasters. Heaven "limited" his miracles and it wasn't part of the Great Plan to save humanity from themselves. I think Aziraphale own guilty conscience would turn his feathers black if he became disilliusioned with God.

He wants Crowley to join him and be an angel again not because he has a desire to change him, but because he wants to keep him close and give him the freedom to be nice and caring without always having to hide/deny it.

The Metatron says he wants Aziraphale for the position because he "doesn't just tell people what they want to hear" - but that is going to go very badly very quickly if they were going to erase Gabriel the first time he ever said no.

So, I think Aziraphale is in way over his head and has effectively trapped himself in a place where he is surrounded by enemies. I don't trust the Metatron and think it is likely they will erase Aziraphale's memories and use him as a puppet. If they plan to start another Armegeddon then removing at least half of the pair that could foul it up again is a good strategic move - and Aziraphale is very gullible.

What I would like to see in Season 3, is Crowley riding in on his big black steed (the bentley) to save his angel.

[eirikaanemo]

Can You Keep A Secret?

Warnings: imprisonment, mentions of starvation and sickness

Note: I haven't actually played Dvalin's quest but I tried to keep it as close to canon as possible. Feel free to leave a comment or message me if you see something wrong.

Venti x GN!Reader

1.9k Words

Your soulmate is secretly Barbatos... now what?

Everyone has a soulmate. And everyone is born knowing your soulmate's biggest secret. For most people it’s really unhelpful, but for some people it helps them find their soulmate. You’re in the latter group, because yours gives you a name.

You've known your whole life that your soulmate is secretly Barbatos. It's… interesting, to say the least. Of course you'd never dare to tell anyone. Thankfully, asking someone what their soulmate’s secret is isn’t very common. It’s considered to be very rude, so no one asks you what your secret is. They'd think you're crazy!

Barbatos hasn't been around for centuries and you're a mortal. This is the sort of thing you would read about in trashy romance novels! But even though it’s crazy and kind of overwhelming, you know it's true. You don't know if he'd ever accept you or want to be with you, in fact, you’re pretty sure he won’t, but you want to try.

Once that’s settled, you just have to find him. If he's anywhere, it's probably the city of Mondstadt. That’s where he seems to have shown up the most in the past, after all. So you move to Mondstadt. It’s a nice place and the people are friendly. Finding a job with the Knights of Favonius was fairly easy and it paid pretty well.

Unfortunately, the 'Storm-terror' problem starts shortly after you move. He throws the whole city into chaos the first time, and then proceeds to keep doing it regularly. The fear is all encompassing, but that's fine, you try to convince yourself. It will all be worth it when you find him. ‘If you find him’, your traitorous mind whispers.

It's been months, a year even, and you're starting to lose hope. How were you expecting to find Barbatos anyway? Shout from the rooftops for him to reveal himself and whisk you away? He hasn't been around for a long time and you knew that. And to be honest, at this point you've given up.

Going home is the logical thing to do, it’s where your family is after all. But you stay because you made yourself a home here. You have friends: Jean, Lisa, and Kaeya. You have come to love the city: music, freedom, and camaraderie. Well, you love the city except for the 'Storm-terror' attacks. Those aren't very lovable.

What concerns you the most though is that 'Storm-terror' is a dragon. And dragons trend to be important (like, archon important). But no one seems to remember this one. So you research. You visit the cathedral and speak with some nuns. You dedicate some time to listening to bard’s tales, asking them if they know any songs about dragons. One does, and it's surprisingly informational. You spend time at the library, pouring through book after book. And after all this investigation, you've come to the conclusion that 'Storm-terror' is actually Dvalin of the Four Winds. Not that anyone actually believes you

It didn't stop you from telling people your theory though, and being more respectful in how you refer to him, despite all the damage he's caused. Eventually they do start considering it and the city starts catching on. If you keep doing this, you may be able to change the city's perspective of and reaction to Dvalin.

The abyss mage catches on to this, and he just can't let that happen. It could compromise the whole plan. So one day he has Dvalin abduct you and locks you up. And true to your luck, this happens out of the blue while you’re taking a walk that you’d finally convinced Jean to go on with you. Which, of course, reverses all your progress and makes the situation even worse than it was before. Incidentally, this also does the exact opposite of what you’d been trying to do by stressing out poor Jean more.

The abyss mage doesn’t care about anything other than making sure you’re not able to go back to Mondstadt. The mage does not care about human necessities. Who cares if you die? Not him. He hates humans. It's kind of part of his job description.

Your prison is where Dvalin retreats to when not attacking. And the mage has to go report to someone else sometimes, giving you opportunities to speak with Dvalin. He never responds to you, but you can tell he eventually starts listening. You start by rambling about various subjects; then talking about how you know he's Dvalin, and that you're sorry he was being treated like he was, once you know he is listening. Because while you don’t know the whole situation, you know that he feels hurt by how humans have treated him.

After several days of talking to him, he slowly starts warming up to you. It’s a strange sort of bond that grows stronger as time goes on. He starts responding and the two of you actually have conversations instead of just you talking. Eventually you even mention how you know your soulmate is actually Barbatos and that you've kind of given up finding him.

He gives a thoughtful hum, lets you vent out your feelings, tries to think of an appropriate response, then allows you to drop the subject once you’ve worn yourself out emotionally. It’s becoming obvious that your health, physical, mental, and emotional, is degrading faster as time goes on.

One day Dvalin and the mage both disappear for longer than usual. After the mage makes sure you won’t be able to escape, of course. It’s not like you would’ve been able to leave anyway. At that point you’re not able to do much at all.

Little did you know that only Dvalin would be returning. They ended up facing the traveler and their companions in battle, and Dvalin was freed from the mage’s influence. The first thing Dvalin does is take them to help "the one decent human, that he actually cares about". You're in bad shape at this point, starving, sick, and weak. But you’re aware enough to hear Jean call your name and feel someone gather you in their arms before blacking out.

When you wake up you're at the cathedral and are feeling much better. Certainly you are not fully recovered, that will take weeks. That one bard who was able to play you a song about Dvalin is always there. You vaguely remember him being there when you were found. He doesn’t really interact with you much, he’s just kind of there, but he does play peaceful music that helps you fall asleep when you’re struggling to rest.

Then the day comes for you to go home. They’ve done all they can for you and you’re past the worst of it. But you’re well enough to be out and about. “Now you take care of yourself,” Barbara lectures you. “Don’t push yourself, get plenty of rest, drink lots of water, and eat three square meals a day, got it?”

“Got it,” you confirm. “Thank you for taking care of me, I really appreciate your help.” She smiles, wishes you well, and returns to the cathedral. You take a moment to breathe and just appreciate being back home, free of your prison and the small cathedral room they’d kept you in while treating you.

Taking a deep breathe you start on your way home. “Hey!” You hear someone exclaim behind you. “Could you hold on a second?” Turning around, you see the bard quickly excusing himself from a street performance before running to catch up to you. Once he’s caught up, he gives you a smile.

“Hi! I’m Venti the bard! Would you be willing to speak with me about something? It’s kind of private so we would need to go to windrise or something, but you’ll want to hear this, I promise.” He says. “Alright,” you agree, “but I can’t make it all the way to windrise. Would my home do? I live alone so we’ll have privacy.” He nods, “that’ll work great!”

The walk home is quiet but comfortable. The bard’s content to hum a tune as he follows you through the streets. Soon you’re home, unlocking the door to let you and your guest in. You lead him over to the couch where you both sit down. “So,” you say, “what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, I was talking with Dvalin a day or so after we freed both of you and he said you mentioned you came to Mondstadt searching for your soulmate. And that you said your soulmate’s biggest secret, the one that you know, is that they’re Barbatos,” he explains. You feel a pang of betrayal at Dvalin’s actions and some guilt for sharing your soulmate’s secret in the first place.

It probably showed on your face because he quickly spoke up again. “He didn’t just tell me for no reason though. You see, I am Barbatos. I’m your soulmate.” Your head, which had been drooping with the weight of your emotions suddenly shot up as you fumbled for a response.

Apparently that showed too because he continued, “And I’m sorry I made it so hard for you to find me. I’m sorry I almost made you give up on me. Most of my waking time is spent incognito so I can watch over everyone while not being put in a position of authority. I didn’t anticipate meeting you ”

There’s a moment or two of silence as you gather your thoughts. “It’s okay,” you assure him. “I understand why you did what you did and I’ll never hold it against you. How were you supposed to know I was even born yet, not to mention that I’ve been in the area searching for you.”

You take another moment or two to gather your wits. “I will also understand if you don’t want to do anything about this,” you state. “I don’t want you to feel forced into having a relationship with me if you don’t want to. The last thing I’d want to do is be responsible for making you miserable. And that’s not to mention how you’re an archon and I’m just a mortal.”

Your talking speeds up as you start rambling, losing control of the conversation as you feel more and more nervous. Once you realize you’re rambling you shut your mouth with a click. “Sorry about that,” you mutter. “I do that sometimes when I’m nervous.”

When you chance a glance at him, he honestly looks a little offended but mostly just really sad. “Is- is that really what you think I think about this?” He asks softly. “Because it’s not. I absolutely want this. I absolutely want you. I’ve been looking forward to this moment for millenia and I wouldn’t give this up for the world.”

He reaches over and slowly, hesitantly, so as to give you time to escape if you want, gathers you into his arms. You realize that he’s the one who picked you up to bring you home. Your ear rests against his chest as lean against him, and his heart skips a beat as you gently grab one of his hands and kiss it. “I’m glad,” you breathe. “I’m glad too,” he voices softly.

You yawn, feeling the exhaustion from your journey home and the rest of the day hit you. He pulls you close and whispers in your ear, “Sleep well, my cecilia, I’ll be here when the sun comes up and when you wake up.” You fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

[caspertheloudassghost]

I’m not sure if what I’m about to say is gonna make any sense, as I am running on two hours of sleep, but anywho—

So I was thinking about the stylistic similarities between the rhyming parts of six (divorced-Catherine and Anna’s songs are very similar in terms of music and tone, same with beheaded-Anne and Katherine’s songs, and died/survived-Jane and Parr’s songs), and I got to thinking about how a lot of reviews of the musical I’ve seen get upset because they feel they were promised new takes on old historical drama and believe they were robbed despite the general awesomeness of each song.

Basically, in almost every review I see, people see the description and believe their going to hear about each lady’s individual story unrelated to Henry VIII, and get Butthurt when they notice the majority of songs are about how each lady got screwed over by him.

For example, “but I’m not what I seen or am I\stick around and you’ll suddenly see more,” “Get ready for the truth, it’ll be revealing,” or “don’t you wanna know how we got this far?” In the opening song.

My theory is that those lines are referring to how each queen is presented within their songs.

For example, Catherine is generally depicted as a pitiful scorned wife. A good queen who’s triumphs are overshadowed by her nasty divorce. Her song speaks of her loyalty to her husband, her country, and her religion. She is shown being headstrong and determined in her duties to all three.

Same thing with bubbly Anne: her story is usually told as that of a traitorous vixen with a plot to steal the crown. In her song though, she is shown as a cheery young girl who flirts for fun and just doesn’t think of the consequences before she acts. Did she mean to get the Church of England created? Not exactly, but it’s working for now so she’s gonna make it work. She’s ambitious sure, but a cunning snake?

Sweet, precious Jane, she did her best to give the king a son, but was too weak to live on. Short, sweet, and simple. Her song is one of the longest songs in the musical. Strong vocals tell of her determination to live on, and how her love will live on.

Anna’s story is that of a princess brought across Europe only to be scorned for her looks. She sings of her palace in Richmond and how divorcing Henry was the best thing that could’ve happened, allowing her to fund a lavish lifestyle without having to remarry.

Howard is the youngest of Henry’s wives. This is usually forgotten as She’s also the only other one to get her head cut off for adultery. She’s mostly depicted as a second coming of Anne: vile, treacherous, and sensual. Her song is bubbly, upbeat, and hopeful; a little girl who slowly loses her belief in love, before being beheaded because the one person she slows herself to trust (just one true friend) can’t keep it in his pants.

Parr is the survivor! Nothing could possibly have gone wrong with her, right? Parr then proceeds to tell us of the many ways she’s been screwed over by fate (and her exes). She finally falls in love again and then Henry pops out of nowhere to force her to essentially be his sick maid until one of them dies.

Let me tell you I absolutely love the irony of Jane, the one who died, singing about being unshakable in her love and determination vs Parr, the survivor, explaining how she’s though putting up with love and marriage.

[jade-parcels]

Hey I hope you don't mind me asking, but where does the idea of Kaeya betraying everyone come from? It seems kind of far fetched to me given the only reason i know that he would would be he's somehow from Khaen'ria. I don't care for spoilers.

Same with Albedo but I haven't seen anything for him that would make me think he'd betray mondstadt.

So this is a loaded question and a lot actually goes into this! A lot of people don’t really get it, I’ve noticed a lot of new players say that, not that I’m accusing you of being a new player, albedo and kaeya seem like they wouldn’t betray Mond so let’s get into it cause I’ve been waiting for this one, I’ve got theories

Kaeya is a descendant of khaenri'ah, we don’t know how many generations removed he is but he still carries the dominant ‘star shaped pupil’ gene.

Kaeya was dumped off at the raginvindr estate by, what we believe to be, his father. We don’t really know how old kaeya is or the age difference between him and Diluc. They could be 1 year apart, they could be 3 years apart. I don’t know how old he was when he was abandoned by his father either but he was old enough to understand when his father told him he was khaenri'ah’s last hope and that he would be a spy for khaenri'ah while living in Mond.

Kaeya is surprised when the traveler mentions khaenri'ah and says something along the lines of ‘that’s a lost nation and only the sinners are left’ I feel like the lost nation is a touchy subject for Kaeya for many reasons

1. He was abandoned by his family and the weight of ‘oh my I’m khaenri'ah’s last hope’ was put on his shoulders at a young age. Kaeya was essentially expected to betray Mond in favor of khaenri'ah

2. His fight with Diluc stemmed from this. When he decided he wanted to come clean, tell Diluc that he’s a traitor. He’s confused, he doesn’t want to betray his home nation of khaenri'ah but he also doesn’t want to betray Mond, which has become his home over the years. He loves the knights, he loves his brother, he loves his friends, he doesn’t actually want to betray them at all…does he? He doesn’t actually know. So he wanted Diluc to either accept him for who he is or kill him and Kaeya got the worst outcome. Diluc didn’t accept him. And he got a vision which prevented him from being killed by his brother so he was abandoned by his second family now

Hopping over to Albedo real quick. Albedo is khaenrian as well. While he doesn’t have star shaped pupils he bears the mark on his neck instead. Albedo was created, not born, he isn’t human. Albedo himself theorizes that one day he’ll destroy Mond. Currently, he doesn’t want to. But later, we may see a change of heart. Maybe he’ll have an epiphany or something and decide to destroy it all. Maybe he’ll meet Dain and the two will chat about khaenri'ah? Yeah idrk

People love the theory of Kaeya, heartbroken by so many abandonments and broken promises. And Albedo, a non-humanoid searching for his true purpose and finding that it’s to avenge khaenri'ah. And Dain, a survivor of that day when khaenri'ah was obliterated. When they all come together, harnessing their power and destroying the city of freedom…uhhh…holy shit…that would be so awesome??

Kaeya is a favorite of many, the traveler has come fo trust him while also being a bit suspicious of him right? Albedo is trustworthy, smart and kind. Dain is actively helping look for the traveler’s sibling and teaching them about khaenri'ah. If these 3 came together I think fans would collectively explode. And the AUs where kaeya is the lost prince of khaenri'ah??? Hello??? I’m busting rn thinking about it /j

Overall, it’s just a fun theory that would really ad depth to the game. To see side characters like Albedo and Kaeya, who were kind and helpful, become a threat to Mond would be so fascinating. They have motives to destroy Mond but I don’t think either actually want to currently. Something could happen and someone could snap…who knows

I wasn’t gonna go search for quotes because im feeling lazy so this is all based on my memory so if I’ve quoted something wrong or misinterpreted a line let me know!!

[the-cartoon-princess]

Why I still ship RivaHisu after 139...

Yep, Levi and Historia. Crazy, right. I bet you never thought of the ship before either, but I've been in enough fandoms now to know anything is possible... Rule 34 and all that.  I always feel too scared to openly declare I like this ship (no, love it) even when I say I ship them once Historia reaches 18/19, but now that the manga has officially ended, I feel more comfortable expressing my love for it, and Tumblr seems a safe place. 

I feel the manga left so much open-ended, that anything is possible. So take all this with a pinch of salt...  I get some of the qualms with RivaHisu. He is much older (by 16 years at least), and she has the ship and history with Ymir (YumiKuri) However… bear in mind Ymir was even older than Levi after being a titan for 60 years, so Historia has dated someone much older than herself (if they did date, that is). I suppose Ymir was still mentally and physically a teen in some way, but the age gap still applies.  The one qualm I do understand the most: They had no chemistry and barely interact on screen. Yes, on screen... So much was going on behind the scenes, as I said, anything was possible. It’s all up to interpretation and honestly, I don’t think Yams will ever clear anything up, and in a way, I don’t want him to (though still pining for Hooded person to be Levi). He has given us this amazing gift. You see it with other fandoms such as Harry Potter, people theorize for years to come. An open-ended ending was the best of all in my opinion.  Well, back to that Levi and Hisu never interacting and having no chemistry thing... Well, they did interact for a short time during Uprising. I always thought the reason the anime removed some of Levi’s more violent scenes towards Historia was a sign of the ship becoming canon possibly one day (in about a one in a million chance, but still possible). They also removed the part where he suggested to his soldiers about turning Historia into a titan after she gives birth, but then it turned out nothing came of the ship, and all of my friends marvellous theories concerning the two never came to fruition after all... Or did they? The ending has been left opened-ended... We even have a brand new time skip where Historia is even older, a full grown woman now at 22 who no longer has ‘teen’ at the end of her age. And then we have a full grown man in his late 30s, two grown people who are only a decade apart (twenties and thirties, respectfully), but we also have no true reveal of the father of Historia’s baby... not really. Farmer-Kun never even had a real name at the end (he will always be known as that farmer who knocked up Historia...allegedly).    People will argue about the real father for years to come, so that is to be expected, but I am going to add a few of my own points as to why Levi may still be the father. Call me crazy. Everything is up to debate and some of this is reaching, but I am biased, so I do admit...  Think of me as serious but not too serious... I don’t mind if you don’t care for this ship, but do so in a polite way (please) if possible.   Reason 1. Historia couldn’t openly declare that Levi was the father because the new fascist Jaergerist government would potentially consider her hostile and create a new revolution, doing away with the monarchy all together... They could have even killed her and her baby if they knew she had a traitor’s child, a man who had a hand in killing Eren Jaeger... Reason 2. It looked to me as if Historia was still sending the Alliance letters, and was very willing to negotiate peace talks with them. Who is to say she never kept in touch with Levi either. She could have sent coded letters about their child, about her learning her first words, taking her first steps, etc. (don’t make me cry now).  Reason 3. This is reaching a little now. Honestly, all of this is reaching, but hear me out... Since Levi can’t be on Paradis to help raise his daughter with Historia, that for me, personally, amplifies the angst and the romance between them and just leaves so much room for the imagination. Imagine what it will be like when they do reunite again... Fireworks! Yams was never about writing straightforward, easy romances... His HEAs are bittersweet at most (look at EreMika).  Reason 4. Who was Historia married to when Jean mentioned it to the creep Reiner? Farmer-Kun? It never directly says... I know Levi and Historia couldn’t have married after the Battle of Heaven and Earth because of all the points I made above, but maybe they got married in secret before the Scouts departed to Marely in chapter 123... Reaching for the stars again, I know, but I like to let my mind wander... Hisu may have even mentioned she is married in a letter to Armin, but never specified who she was married to, and that was how the Alliance (sans Levi) knew about it on the boat. She may have also performed a sham wedding to the farmer for the benefit of the people of Paradis to keep up the ruse (honestly feeling bad for Farmer-Kun, being used like this 😂).  Reason 5. It looked to me like Levi was returning to Paradis. That was why he was looking at the plane (and not just because it made him think of Hange). He was looking forward to returning to the island he helped protect for many years, the island where he was born… Maybe he was hoping to finally meet his daughter too. There is way more to discuss. My friends are much better at theorizing at this stuff than I am, but it’s fun to finally get my own voice out here. I was leading up to it by posting parallels between them, but I wanted to wait until the manga was over until I went public with my love of the ship. I mean, I write fanfic for them, but that’s not enough... 

Remember, I ship two consenting adults. Many celeb couples have large age gaps too. Beyoncé & Jay-Z (12 year age difference, for example), and Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend Camila Morrone was born the same year when Leo starred in Titanic back in 1997 (22 year age gap). Age gaps happen… It’s really all up to debate, but these are just little RivaHisu headcanons that I am going to hold on to for a while. It may only exist in fanfiction, but I will still take it. Also, here is a meme I made. Please feel free to use (if you like the ship too that is).  Thank you for reading my dissertation...  

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 312 Spoiler Analysis: Hero Turned Assassin

It’s Friday, my dudes!  That means the leaks for the new chapter is out!  This time, we’re focusing on our new lady assassin villain who we ended with last week.  Ngl, I love her design and concept.  I actually wouldn’t mind if she stepped on me 😳  All that aside, this was a damn good chapter, but I really hope Deku’s going to be ok taking her on by himself:

Alright, the chapter starts off with a little flashback of Hawks talking to Deku as Deku is suiting up to leave Central hospital.  Hawks reassures Deku that he should be ok from AFO and Shigaraki for now since they aren’t at full power yet.  Their best option would be to take Deku in alive rather than dead.  Hawks can only think of one person who might be capable of capturing Deku: the assassin woman.  Turns out, that woman was his senpai back at the Hero Safety Commision and she’s dangerous.

So, as far as we know, Deku’s most likely going to live several more days even if he does get captured.  However, he’s being hunted down by a highly skilled assassin who was also Hawk’s senpai back in the day.  The fact that Hawks of all people is warning Deku to run away from her if he can say something about her skills.  I can only guess how good her skills are, but I’d say they’re probably somewhere in the S-tier range if Hawks is afraid of her.

The next couple of pages help properly introduce our new villain: Lady Nagant!  A few points here: 1. The bullet is made from her hair which is colored dark blue and pink.  I personally love those two colors, so I’m glad to see that color scheme used on her.  Also hair bullets is such a great concept, 2. That rifle is definitely coming from her elbow which she can bring out and retract at will, which is badass as hell, 3. I looked up the word “Nagant” and it’s actually type of (Russian?) gun that ranges from a 7-shot revolver to a sniper rifle, so that’s a good Villain name for her, 4. She was a former hero under the Safety Commision who decided to go to the dark side for some reason.  Like, did she see the bad side of Hero Society and that caused her to change?  Did she see something in Villainy that caused her to change her POV?  I want to know what?, 5. Again, love her design like hoo boy, Horikoshi snapped with her. 

So, Deku’s on the run from her and he is completely on his own now that his phone is broken.  He doesn’t even know what happened to All Might 😭!  He’s also afraid that All Might and Hawks will be targeted by her.  Deku’s debating wheaher he should run or face Nagant face on.  With someone like Muscular, I wasn’t worried about Deku because he’s not only improved a lot since last time, but he’s taken on Muscular before so he knew what he was fighting.  But, this is a brand-new villain.  Not much is known about her and Deku has never fought her before.  I’d say run, but someone has to take her out.  Maybe Hawks will swoop in and have a reunion with his senpai.  Though, he doesn’t have wings now, so I’m not sure what he can really do against her besides have a chat…

And Deku is shot!  Not fatally thank god, but he did get hit.  Turns out Lady Nagant can actually curve her shots.  Even Deku’s Danger Sense couldn’t detect it in time good lord.  So she can just straight up made bullets that can curve too that is absolutely insane.  Any marksman would be jealous of her.  

Fun Fact of the Day: Based on Horikoshi-sensei’s comment of the week, Lady Nagant and her curve bullet are actually based off the 2008 film Wanted staring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie (he even thanked Ms. Jolie!)!  I decided to IMDB the film to see if I remembered it and it turns out that I have actually seen a little of it before.  You know that gif of McAvoy smacking Chris Pratt’s face with a keyboard and the loose keys spell out “Fuck You”?  Yeah, that’s from Wanted.  Also, the curved bullet Horikoshi is talking about is when Jolie manages to “curve” a bullet enough to kill a group of assassins who were standing in a circle.  Look, I don’t know if physics can actually make that work in real life, but I’ll be damned if that doesn’t sound badass.

Back to the story, we have a bit of flashback to an old TV special that interviewed 100 active Noteworthy Heroes.  The 25th Pro Hero being interview is none other than Snipe, one of UA’s teachers!  It’s been a hot couple of years since we’ve seen him around.  Actually, we don’t even know if he’s alive…  Let’s assume he is and continue with the story.

Anyway, Snipe was having some good friendly competition in the Long-Range sniping with Lady Nagant back in the day.  He explains while his Quirk, “Homing” allows him to lock-on to anyone within a 600 Meter range, he can’t choose where his attack hits and the hit isn’t that powerful (Shigaraki could’ve actually gotten killed back in the USJ if Snipe wasn’t careful enough damn).  Lady Nagant, on the other hand, has a range of 3 Kilometers with insane accuracy.  I did some quick calculations and it turns out that 3KM = 3,000M!  That’s 5 times farther than what Snipe can do.  That is absolutely nuts!

Lady Nagant’s Quirk is called “Rifle”!  Turns out that the secret lies in her bullets made out of hair.  When she mixes her duel colored hair, it works like epoxy putty.  Epoxy putty is a substance that hardens over time.  It’s normally used as a seal for cracks and holes, and it’s both highly-resistant and unshrinkable when hardened.  So, when Lady Nagant pulls strands out of her hair to mix and mould them, she can harden that hair into a bullet which explains the dark blue and pink fibers in the speaker bullet she fired at Deku’s phone.  Apparently, she can make any kind of bullet she wants ranging from hollow bullets to curved bullets.  She can then load and fire those bullets from her rifle into her right arm.  God, there’s so much potential for a Quirk like this.  The only limit I can think of for this Quirk is if she runs out of hair for bullets similar to how if Ibara Shiozaki from Class 1-B (or 2-B now I guess) would run out of hair to use her Vines.  I wonder if Lady Nagant using her hair so much is the reason why it’s shorter now than when she was a hero.

I gotta say, I think this is one of the coolest and unique Quirks Horikoshi has come up with in a while.  It’s just so unique and imaginative!  I don’t think I could ever come up with an idea like this.  I like that her Quirk is almost like a 2-in-1 thing: the putty hair and the rifle in her arm.  They’re both different functions that work in tandem together.  I also love Nagant hero outfit!  She was rocking the long ponytail work, had a visor and antenna on her right eye for accuracy, and a belt holding her hair bullets.  She’s also freakin’ stacked as hell, but I’ll let this one slide because her design is so freaking great.  

Back to the present, Deku managed to catch the bullet, but his left gauntlet has been damaged.  So, it looks like Deku won’t be punching with his left arm unless All Might has some backup Mid-Gauntlets.  Thankfully he’s found out where Lady Nagant is based on where she shot from just twice.  She’s only about 1KM away and Deku wants to get in closer.  God, Deku is so freaking smart.  I want to know his IQ because it must be insanely high for him to figure out where a trained sniper would be after just 2 bullets.  Nagant also says that Deku’s the first one to deflect 2 of her bullets, so yeah, goddamn Deku!

Now we’re finally getting a look at Overhaul (I’m cool with calling him by his villain name instead of his real name for now btw).  Dude’s broken.  Just completely mentally broken.  I don’t think he even notices Deku.  All he can think about is how he wants to go back to his adoptive father, Eri’s grandfather, the man Overhaul put in a coma.  I thought that Overhaul would be confronting Deku himself, but it looks like he can’t.  Maybe him not being able to get his father out of his coma traumatized him real bad with a lot of guilt.  He probably wants to go back to try to heal his dad.  If he can do that, again, I wonder how now that his Quirk probably functions somewhere else besides his hands.

Anyway, Lady Nagant is kind of protecting Overhaul for now.  She most likely has a plan for him later since she mentions helping Overhaul as soon as she’s done with Deku.  Overhaul would be a useful ally since his Quirk can literally destroy and restore matter both living and non-living.  There’s also that glowing effect on her arm again.  If it’s not a taser like I thought before, then maybe it’s some kind of strength enhancer her Quirk gives her.  That arm gun has to be heavy.  IDK it’s not really explained.  

Flashing back to the Tartarus Prision Break, AFO and his ugly mug are talking to Nagant, calling her the “Traitor Hero” and how it’s an honor to meet her.  Again, Lady Nagant’s skills must be incredibly high enough to be recognize by AFO.  Also, her turning her back on Hero Society must’ve been a big story at the time.

AFO tells Lady Nagant of his plan to capture Deku as he predicted this earlier.  So, either AFO is stupidly good at predicting things or he has a future-sight Quirk like Nighteye had.  I want to say it’s the latter since AFO probably did pick up a Quirk like that sometime in the past.

Lady Nagant originally refused to listen to AFO in a very sassy way LOL!  But, AFO seems to have made a deal with her.  He even mentions that Nagant killed many of her fellow heroes to cause the fall of Pro-Hero Society.  Yeah, killing your fellow colleagues will definitely get you sent straight to Tartarus…  I REALLY need to know what made her turn to the Dark Side Anakin Skywalker style.

Also, personal theory that I highly doubt is true, but I wonder if Lady Nagant is the real “UA Traitor” not any of the students.  If she can make bullets that she can remotely talk through, then she could probably make bullets that can eavesdrop on people.  Maybe she listened in on UA and told the LoV about the training camp.  Or she was locked in Tartarus before then and I’m just projecting my hopes/fears onto her.  That could be it too.

Actually, I just realized that she could probably wrap objects around her bullets and fire them.  So, she probably wrapped a speaker around her hair and that’s how she remotely spoke to Deku.  Eh, she could still wrap some listening device around her hair and eavesdrop that way.  I’m just Pepe Silvia’ing the possibilities of Rifle at this point.

AFO uses Overhaul as an example of someone who became a victim of Pro-Heroes. ��This give him enough leverage to make a deal with Lady Nagant.  So, as part of the contract, AFO granted her his Air Walk Quirk!  On paper, a passive Quirk like Air Walk doesn’t seem very useful.  But, this series has proved to us time and time again that passive/support Quirks can be just as/if not more amazing than raw-powered Quirks.  So, a Quirk like Air Walk can get Lady Nagant to so many places for her to fire her bullets.  It’s an incredibly useful Quirk for a sniper.  I do wonder what the limits of it are (because all Quirks have some sort of limitation), but I guess we’ll find that out later.  I really do wonder how Deku’s going to handle Lady Nagant and Overhaul though.  That’s going to be interesting.

Oh boy, that the chapter!  Solid chapter per usual.  Gah, my fingers hurt after typing so much.  I’m glad we got to know more about Lady Nagant!  She was a mystery for weeks, but we finally got some backstory on her.  So, some answers, but a lot of questions are left behind.  I’m actually glad we’re still sticking with Deku so far.  I still want to see Bakugo and Shoto, but we also haven’t gotten a purely Deku-centric arc for a while, so this is good.  Horikoshi truly doesn’t miss!  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be screaming about the next anime episode and Shoto Todoroki sakuga for the next week I will not apologize.         

Me @ Horikoshi every chapter:

Also, this is the Wanted scene I was talking about before:

[five-rivers]

Long Night in the Valley Chapter 2

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Everyone turned to see Midoriya standing on the stairs to the beach, looking down at them.  None of them, least of all Shouto, had ever seen that expression on his face before. That… flatness that almost rivaled his own.  

Uraraka took a step forward.  “Deku?” she asked, uncertainly.  Suzuki, the commission instructor, threw his arm in front of her, blocking her path.  

“Whatever that is,” he said, voice strained and low-pitched, “it isn’t Midoriya Izuku.  Saito’s quirk doesn’t allow for the subject to have an avatar in the dreamscape without a lot of practice.  There’s another quirk at work here.”

“You need to leave,” said Midoriya, descending a single step.  “Now.”

“It could be a result of his own quirk,” said Aizawa, who nonetheless had a hand on his capture weapon.  “He’s had odd reactions to mental quirks in the past.  Jumping to conclusions is illogical.”

“We have evidence Midoriya Izuku is working for the League of Villains,” said Suzuki, backing away from the stairs, slightly.  “By the rules laid out in the standard—”

Shouto tuned Suzuki out, by now quite convinced that the man had nothing particularly meaningful to say, in favor of examining Midoriya.  

It was Midoriya.  Just, a Midoriya that was annoyed, defensive, and maybe a little offended with just a touch of something else.  Which was a weird combination on Midoriya.  Especially as muted as it was. Midoriya’s expressions, no matter what they were, were always so big.  

“—I am recruiting you to aid this investigation and determine the League of Villain’s plans!”

“If you don’t leave, I’ll make you leave,” growled Midoriya.  

Wow, for someone who was the embodiment of sunshine, he could be really threatening.  Then again, sunburns were a thing, so maybe it wasn’t too surprising.  

“You’re here against my will, after coercing me into allowing a quirk to be used on me.  I want you out.”

“Eraserhead, I suggest you restrain this projection, whoever it belongs to.”

“I’m not going to warn you again,” continued Midoriya.

“I suggest,” said Aizawa, “that you listen to him.  We can ask Midoriya about this when we’re all awake and not in his head.  Like you should have done in the beginning.”

Midoriya tilted his head slightly to one side.  

“I agree!  This is very unethical,” said Iida, chopping at the air.  “This is basically an interrogation, and Midoriya is a minor! You need parental permission!”

“Which, before you start talking about him willingly participating in this course,” said Aizawa, “he has explicitly withdrawn. Not to mention his mother signed those opt-out forms, so her permission is withdrawn as well.”

“You can’t be serious—”

“I am,” said Aizawa.  “Take us out.  This whole thing is illogical.”

“I can’t,” said Suzuki.  “Saito is the only one who can shut down her quirk prematurely.”

“What?” said Uraraka.  “There’s no way for you to contact her in an emergency?  That’s really dangerous!”

“That’s not what Saito Yume said, either,” said Midoriya, flatly. “’The dream state persists until either I release it, the people involved break free, or eight hours pass.’ Implying that there’s another way to break free.  One that you, by necessity, must know.  So, leave. Or I’m going to start to defend myself.”

Suzuki took a deep breath.  “I am here,” he said, “to complete a mission given to me from the Hero Commission.  Your refusal to comply with the terms set out in your licensing agreements will be noted.”

Midoriya brought his head up straight again and squared his shoulders.  His hands clenched.  He was wearing gloves, Shouto noticed.  Not the gloves that went with his hero costume, but work gloves.  He’d seen the landscapers who worked at his family home wear something similar.  

Why?

“Fine,” said Izuku.  “Then I’m going to kick you out.”

“That’s impossible, you—”

“I know this beach very well.”

Abruptly, the pristine white sand was covered in towers of trash, separating Shouto from the others.  Suzuki’s insistence that Midoriya was a spy had already had him on edge.  This put him fully into battle-mode.  

He dropped into battle stance, and carefully froze one of the trash piles in front of him, making an icy stair to the top.  His first priority was to find Aizawa and his classmates and regroup.  To do that, he had to get a better vantage point.  

He jogged up the stairs, noting, absently, that he was now in his hero suit, not his school uniform.  What had he been wearing before this turned into a fight?  He hadn’t particularly noticed.  

He reached the top just in time to see Midoriya bludgeon Suzuki with a piece of rusty rebar.

Alright.  Maybe that wasn’t Midoriya.

.

Aizawa wasn’t fast enough getting around the piles of trash. He would have tried to scale them, but there was no safe place for him to grab on to.  The piles were simply too unstable, too untrustworthy, too poorly shaped.

He arrived just in time to see Midoriya, or what looked like Midoriya, impale Suzuki with a pole.  

Before his mind could fully process the problem child attempting what looked a whole lot like murder, he had him wrapped in his capture weapon.

Midoriya had the gall to look confused, if only slightly.

“Todoroki,” Aizawa barked, spotting his other student on top of one of the horribly dangerous trash mounds.  “First aid, stat.”

“Yes, sir,” said Todoroki, making an ice ramp to glide down.

“Midoriya,” he said.  “What was that?”  Perhaps it was illogical to ask, but he still couldn’t quite believe his eyes.  

“I was testing to see if he’d wake up and go away if he got knocked out,” said Midoriya.  He made a tiny, not-quite-shrugging motion.  “This is just a dream, after all.”

Alright.  That was true, but it was still incredibly disconcerting to see Midoriya act so callously towards the life of another human being.  Although he was unsure how many times Midoriya had hit Suzuki, and certain places of impact were less lethal than others, blunt force trauma, especially to the back of the head, could still be deadly.  

There was the sharp report of a gun, and Midoriya jerked forward, blood leaking from some invisible wound to drip down his face. Then he vanished.  

He turned towards that utter bastard Suzuki, eyes blazing, only to find him entirely encased in a glacier except for his head.

While Aizawa had been trying to train Todoroki out of reflexively encasing human beings in ice, due to frostbite, hypothermia, and other potential health issues, he was willing to let it slide.  Just this once.  

“I told you,” said Suzuki, teeth chattering.  “That isn’t your student.  And even if it was, he’s a traitor.”

“Sensei,” said Todoroki, “what are we going to do?”

“First,” said Aizawa.  He didn’t get beyond that, because Uraraka was abruptly launched from behind a wall of trash, trailing a makeshift tether of salvaged bungee cords.

“Found them!” exclaimed Uraraka.  “I don’t see Deku, though!”

“First,” said Aizawa, feeling exhausted despite technically being asleep, “we regroup.”

.

Toshinori was supposed to be teaching a third-year heroics course.

He wanted to be with Izuku at the Hero Commission training, even if he was retired, with only a retiree license to his name.  

He was in the nurse’s office, getting his brain checked by Recovery Girl, because sudden debilitating headaches weren’t on the long, long list of symptoms he’d come to expect from his injuries and medications.

Chiyo was worried he might be having a stroke, an aneurism, or some other sudden, lethal, brain condition.  She’d used her quirk on him at once, and the pain hadn’t stopped. She’d said that, at least, it should stop an aneurism from getting worse.  

Toshinori hoped it wasn’t brain cancer.  As far as personal abilities went, all he had going for him right now was brainpower and a stupidly high pain tolerance.

He closed his eyes against the bright lights of the room. Everything seemed too bright and blurry.  Sounds warped oddly in his ears.  The fabric of the bed underneath him felt gritty against his fingertips.  

It was like he wasn’t entirely here.  

Oh, the joys of hallucinations.

(Something like urgency pushed against the back of his mind. Whispered Eight, and help, and Nine.)

(Something was going more wrong than usual.)

He waited for Chiyo to step out of the room before he snuck out.

.

Izuku emerged from sleep with a choked gasp, heart racing, head spinning.  Where-?

It took him several fraught minutes to get his breathing under control and recognize where he was.  The room for the Hero Commission course.  His classmates and teacher were sleeping next to him, as well as the commission instructor.  What had his name been?  Something with an S?

Thinking was hard.  It was like his brain was occupied with something else and he kept having to nudge it back on track.  It was like—

He shook his head, which pounded with the movement, distracting him further.  He—He should—

What?

An odd sensation overtook him, and he found himself slowly, cautiously standing up.  It wasn’t like Shinsou’s quirk, where his body was out of his control, but more like he was almost sharing control, somehow.  Like he could, at any point, take control back.  And he did, just to test the theory, stopping for a moment, his hand halfway to his backpack.  

But that was hard, and he really wasn’t up for much in the way of decision-making, and the others were quite adamant that he had to get out now.  They’d know.  He trusted them.  

They picked up the backpack.  

Eight was coming.  They could trust Eight.  

The door slammed open.  Izuku froze.  Several heroes in costume and a man with a suit and a commission nametag stood in the doorway.  

“Get him!”

Four moved so differently from Izuku.  Precisely, like he knew exactly how his opponents were going to act, where they were going to be.  It reminded Izuku of how Sir Nighteye moved.  

In seconds, they were in the main hall, sprinting past crowds with the help of One for All.  Izuku felt bad about leaving Aizawa and his friends, but they knew, they weren’t targets. Izuku was.  

Izuku didn’t know how they knew that, how he knew that.  

Parking lot.  Streets. Alleyway.  Rooftops.  His UA uniform was too attention grabbing.  They dropped his blazer behind one of the rooftop ventilation shafts and tugged off his tie.  The button down by itself was less attention grabbing.  There was nothing they could to about his pants.  Alley again.  The people chasing him could track his phone.  They needed to get rid of it.  

Preferably in a way that wouldn’t immediately tip their pursuers off to the fact they had gotten rid of it.  Sending them the wrong way would be a good distraction, would buy them time.  

They slipped onto a bus and dropped Izuku’s phone into a woman’s purse.  Hopefully, she wouldn’t notice the change in weight for a while.  

Six and Two were very good at this kind of thing.  Not to mention One.  

It would probably sound weird to an outsider, but it was comforting.  The experience and care of the past users wrapped around him like a thick blanket, making it so that Izuku didn’t mind so much about his distraction, even though he wished he could help more.  

He got off the bus.  They needed to find Eight.

.

“Just so you know,” said Aizawa, several registers shy of conversationally.  “If you’ve harmed my student in any way, I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell.”

“Nothing here actually affects the mind of the subject,” said Suzuki, rolling his eyes.  “Otherwise, we wouldn’t use Saito’s quirk.”

“Your information hasn’t exactly been accurate so far,” said Tenya, pushing his glasses up and frowning.  Suzuki had, in fact, been fundamentally unhelpful.  “In fact, I believe you have outright lied to us on several occasions.”  He glanced at his classmates for support and did a double take.  

Standing behind Uraraka, half-hidden behind a beaten-up old refrigerator, was Midoriya.  A smaller, slimmer, younger Midoriya, who was wearing an ‘ALL M’ t-shirt, thick gloves, and… and an awfully large amount of rope?

He was also crying, silently, and staring at Suzuki.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said.  He pulled on the rope.  The refrigerator came free, destabilizing the pile of trash it had been supporting.

It all came tumbling down.  

.

Ochako managed to avoid most of the debris coming for her, and slapped most of the remainder, making them float with her quirk.  Even so, by the time the dust settled, she was covered in scrapes, the pink fabric of her hero suit torn—

Wait.  Hero suit?

Whatever, she was asleep, and the more important thing was to find Iida, Todoroki, and Aizawa-sensei.  They had been in the direct line of the collapse.  She was pretty sure Deku had been able to get out of the way.

“Shouldn’t have done that.”

“Five-point touch activation.  Seems to affect buoyancy of objects.  Possible martial arts background based on movement.”

Ochako spun to face not one, but two small Dekus. The new one was, if possible, even smaller than the first and wearing a gakuran.  He had a notebook spread out across his left arm and was writing in it at lightning speed.  

“Hands are a possible weak spot, but a known one.  Be careful of kicks.”  Gakuran Deku’s words devolved into mumbling, but t-shirt Deku was still nodding, so he must understand.  

T-shirt Deku also had a length of pipe.  Ochako did not like where this was going.  

Then again, the whole point of this exercise was to learn how to defend one’s mind.  She couldn’t exactly fault Deku for doing just that.  She dropped into a fighting stance and grinned.  

.

It was nothing short of a miracle, Aizawa decided, that they hadn’t been killed yet. Then again, it was possible that Midoriya, despite his obviously altered and disturbed mental state, was still holding back against them.  

Which was annoying.  Because neither of the two small Midoriya-lookalikes was particularly strong.  Nor did they appear to be using Midoriya’s quirk, despite the fact that Aizawa, Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki had no trouble using theirs.  The problem was that they were terrifyingly intelligent, just shy of ruthless, and had an incredible home-field advantage in that they seemed to know the location and nature of every bit of trash on the beach and in that they could evidently make it disappear and reappear at will.  They also avoided head-on combat whenever possible, letting the terrain do their work for them.  

Fighting them was, in fact, like fighting someone with a quirk completely unlike Midoriya’s.  With a fighting style completely unlike Midoriya’s.

And that made Aizawa wonder, because all too often, he caught Midoriya trying to replicate All Might’s style, and if he did that when he could be doing something more like this—

But this wasn’t the time for such speculation.  

He pulled Todoroki away from a trap again (he evidently hadn’t yet grasped that Midoriya was attacking them), and then jumped away from a chain reaction caused by whatever Uraraka just threw.  

Unless they wanted to spend the next hour being beaten up by the problem child… “We need to get somewhere he has less control over the environment.”

“Off the beach?” suggested Uraraka, panting.  “He said—He said he knew the beach well, so…”

Aizawa nodded.  That was good thinking.  Where were the stairs?

“You need to leave!”  

“We’re trying, problem child!” snapped Aizawa, and, miraculously, that made Midoriya hesitate.  Aizawa pulled Todoroki towards the stairs.   The others were able to follow on their own.  

They made their way up, and as soon as they hit the top step the previously clear sky opened up and it began to pour.  Aizawa was soaked through in seconds.  

Wonderful.  

However, the attacks—which had been relentless up until this point—stopped.

“We left Suzuki,” observed Iida.  

Aizawa held back a groan.  

“Who cares?” asked Todoroki.  

“We do,” said Aizawa.  “We can’t let him run around unsupervised in Midoriya’s head.”

“I think he might have gotten crushed,” said Uraraka.  “He was still in your ice, wasn’t he, Todoroki?”

“Yeah,” said Todoroki.  “Trash should stay with trash,” he mumbled under his breath.  

“We have no idea how any of our quirks will function long-term in a dream,” said Aizawa, not addressing the trash comment because he honestly sort of agreed.  “Nor do we know what his quirk is.”  He sighed. “We may also have to consider that he is correct and Midoriya is compromised.”

Predictably, there was quite a bit of protest.  

“He may also have other information regarding the situation at hand,” said Aizawa.  “Which we need.”

There was a rattle among the trash heaps, and Aizawa turned to watch Suzuki drag himself out from under a mound of trash.  

“You left me!” accused Suzuki, loudly.  “You almost let that gremlin kill me a dozen times!”

“Well,” said Midoriya from behind them, where he absolutely hadn’t been a minute ago, “then maybe you should have left when I asked."

[agentrouka-blog]

I know you don't write much about Stannis, but I'm curious to hear your speculation here. It's a pretty established theory that he is going to burn Shireen (I mean, it happened in the show) and there is some textual and thematic evidence... but I'm having trouble figuring out how and when that would happen in the books.

He is off, about to fight Ramsey (or maybe already did... the end of ADWD is obviously confusing as to his precise location) and Shireen is up at the wall. I think Stannis is going to die pretty early and not make it back to the Wall. He even tells Justin Massey to support his daughter's claim if he dies...so...back to my question.

How, when, and why does he burn his daughter?

To me, it seems far more likely that Mel and Selyse would make that decision.

Anyway, I'm curious on your thoughts.

Oh hello!

I admit, I do base my ideas there mostly on the thematic aspect of it, and on the fact that it would be incredibly boring if Selyse and Mel did it, mostly because that is the obvious choice. Evil fire hungry women burning babies! Poor Stannis!

But let me think about this logistically for a second.

As per the TWOW Theon sample chapter, Stannis is still lurking in the crofter village in the Wolf’s Wood not far from Winterfell, and travel conditions are at least passable in spite of the snow storms, since everyone and their second cousin are moving about the entire North. Tycho Nestoris managed to make it all the way from the Wall to Deepwood Motte to said crofter’s village since he left Castle Black shortly after arriving there with Queen Selyse. Expecting imminent battle, Stannis sends Justin Massey back to the Wall with Tycho, Alysanne and “Arya”, to go buy an army in Braavos, explicitly mentioning that he is to crown Shireen in his stead should he die. Theon speculates that Roose is going to send the Freys and Manderly men with Ramsay to fight Stannis, and that they would attack separately, which would be awesome because obviously Manderly is conspiring against Roose. Since Stannis also just eliminated the traitorous Karstark’s and took control of their men, shouldn’t he be in a good position to beat Ramsay? But will that battle happen? Or how?

Queen Selyse meanwhile is at Castle Black making marriage plans, hating Jon’s Hardhome plans and being uncomfortable with all the Wildlings about, and Jon gets the Pink Letter claiming that Ramsay beat Stannis in seven days of battle. Tormund points out he could be lying and Jon says “There is truth in this”. The true thing is that Ramsay has found out about Mance and the spearwives after Theon escaped, which is shortly before the Stannis sample chapter, but what about the other thing that we have not seen confirmed, the one about the battle against Stannis, and his death?

Jon is about to take his Wildlings south on a three-week march to Winterfell before he is stabbed, and it might turn out that was a lucky thing because it smells like a trap. Ramsay wants Jon to come to him, and Jon was about to deliver.

Jon read the letter out loud in the Shieldhall meeting, so Selyse will hear that her husband is supposedly dead. Everyone knows that now. I don’t see how Selyse would allow Stannis’ heir to be harmed, but the others might no longer care to host her at Castle Black.

"Eastwatch is not safe." The queen put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "This is the king's true heir. Shireen will one day sit the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms. She must be kept from harm, and Eastwatch is where the attack will come. This Nightfort is the place my husband has chosen for our seat, and there we shall abide. We—oh!"

An enormous shadow emerged from behind the shell of the Lord Commander's Tower. Princess Shireen gave a shriek, and three of the queen's knights gasped in harmony. Another swore. "Seven save us," he said, quite forgetting his new red god in his shock. (ADWD, Jon IX)

If Selyse moves to the Nightfort, place of nightmares, or if the Watch decides to cast her out in the hopes of appeasing Ramsay, or whichever thing happens next, Selyse will be surrounded by her red god-loving knights. So will Stannis. 

Your brother's hands are soaked with blood. Farring is urging me to give him to R'hllor."

"Clayton Suggs as well, I do not doubt."

"Him, Corliss Penny, all the rest. Even Ser Richard here, who only loves the Lord of Light when it suits his purposes."

"The red god's choir only knows a single song." (TWOW, Theon)

Like in the Selyse quote, there are references to music when it comes to the red god followers. But while Selyse’s knights are a meagre harmony and one reverts to the Seven, Stannis is surrounded by a full choir of fanatics of his own making, hungry to burn people. His preoccupation is with the Iron Throne but he has fanned these flames and leaned heavily into the image of Azor Ahai, and they all know that the effect of Mel’s magic is real. 

Whatever happens with Ramsey, or with the Northern Conspiracy, Stannis might soon be under pressure by his hungry, freezing army to get results, and if by some happenstance Theon fails to be burned, they might look for king’s blood elsewhere. If he looses his foothold at the Wall, he will be effectively without any refuge at all. So will his men.

Agamemnon sends for his wife, who is elsewhere with Iphigenia, under false pretenses. Stannis might feel pressured to lure Selyse and Shireen to wherever he is - or he might even head toward them, in order to let his followers appease an angry god. It’s that or lose it all, and Stannis is too stubborn to back down, or he might no longer be able to control the fanaticism he fanned.

The show really emphasized the religious extremism in the South, unleashed by Cersei, and how it affected the little “stag” Tommen in his reign and in his death, but I suspect it will play a big role in Shireen’s death, as well. The little doe. There is more balance in making Stannis the victim of his own cynical use of R’hllor. And making Selyse turn back too late when no one is ready to save her own child, the way she was going to let the children at Hardhome perish, as opposed to making her blindly kill her own daughter.

Agamemnon chooses to burn his daughter because he killed a sacred deer and angered a godess. Stannis will kill a sacred “deer” in Shireen, which will be the true sacrilege, and spark the collapse of all he hoped to achieve.

I think.

[whatshername-please]

Out of the Water - Chapter VI

Synopsis: You were very proud to be a mermaid, thank you very much. You didn't want to be where the people were. Actually, you'd rather avoid it. Defending the merfolk was the biggest goal in your life... well, it was until you meet a certain pirate... it seems that your family really had a thing for humans, after all. Not that you'd ever admit it...

Word Account: 4875

Part 6 of ?

Pairing: Harry x reader (he is not in this chapter, sorry)

 Warnings: Some cuss words and underage drinking. 

A/N: English isn't my first language, so I'll probably mess up some tenses, grammar and stuff. Go easy on me, please. Feedback is always appreciated

Masterlist here

                                                      ---------

"I'm never, ever setting foot on shore again, grandpa will have to find another diplomat because I quit!" you announced very eloquently to the only merman in the room: your brother who, on the other hand, was trying to make you help him with his summer homework.

"Yeah sure, it's not like you say this every time you come back from Auradon or anything" he didn't even bother looking up from his essay "Who won the battle of the Irish Sea?"

"But this time is true, they made it personal" you grumbled, swimming back and forth impatiently.

"They always do..." he said absently, knowing very well it was pointless to try to reason with you when you were having an outburst "Was it the Kappas?"

Ok, no matter how pissed you were, you could not have your own brother messing up the Water Kingdom's History like this, so you sat by his side and took the paper from his hand.

"Let me see this" you corrected him, perusing through the essay he wrote "Not the Kappas. The selkies won after the kelpies joined their side."

"I know you're sad..." Nereus said after a while, eyes filled with concern.

You sighed and put the essay down.

"I'm not..." you began, but he interrupted you before you could come up with some excuse.

People believing that you were angry and cranky was one thing, but Neptune forbid anyone to know you've got a heart.

"Yes, you are! It's been almost a week since you went to Auradon and I've never seen you so off. Yesterday Aethra said she couldn't wait until she was old enough to go to the surface and you didn't even roll your eyes. Last year, when Ogen spoke the same thing, you made a complete speech of why life under the sea is much better than anything humans have to offer, you had slides and everything."

He squeezed your hand gently and offered you a supportive smile.

"Even Aqua noticed how quiet you are… Please don't tell her I'm telling you this, but she said she prefers you ranting to this silence."

"I doubt" you let out a breathy chuckle.

The presence of your brother was comforting so you allowed yourself to let your guard down and lay on his lap while he stroked your hair. Both of you stayed a while like this, each one absorbed in your own thoughts. Yes, it had been almost a week since everything had happened and you still had nightmares about that; the look on Harry's face when he said Ben was just going to throw them all back inside the Isle would hunt you forever.

Truth be told, you swam next to the barrier a couple of times, but the only things you saw were seaweed, rocks, some weird looking fish and a dead goblin. It wasn't like you could ask someone to tell Uma you'd be expecting her and, even If you could see her, what would you do? People inside the barrier could not hear anything from the outside, and again, even if they could, what would you tell her? How sorry you were? That it wasn't fair? Uma didn't need anyone saying what she has known all her life.

You were torturing yourself, feeling your stomach turn on itself with guilty when your grandfather glided into the room. Both of you and your brother stood up, showing respect to the king of the seas.

"May I talk to you for a moment, my dear" he pointed to you and your brother took his belongings and left the room, he whispered a "good luck" as he passed by you and swam off.

"Yes, grandpa?" your chest filled up with hope that your grandfather had spoken to Ben and made him change his mind about the Isle.

However, it was only wishful thinking because the reality was way crueler than whatever you could have imagined.

"About tomorrow…" he started.

Oh no! Ben and Mal's engagement party was tomorrow, but you had already decided you weren't going, no matter how hard your grandfather or anyone tried to convince you to.

You couldn't stand the idea of having to smile to them while all you wanted to do was to scream and cry. How could you pretend that everything was okay when nothing was? The hypocrisy made you sick.

"I won't go" you told him, you even tried to use your 'heiress of the throne' tone, but of course the current king of Atlantica wouldn't fall for that.

"You're the diplomat between the human kingdom and the water kingdom" he reminded you, his expression turning as serious as his voice.

"Was" you corrected him "I quit".

That little voice inside your head was telling to stop defying your grandfather. He could be very understanding of some things (like you still didn't believe he knew about Uma all the time and didn't lose it), but he also had plans for you that required you to be Atlantica's representative, because, accordingly to your grandfather and mother, no one would defend the water kingdom's interests better than you.

Actually, that was their way of saying "We don't want to deal with this and since one day you'll have to rule, it's better that you know what to do. Also, we don't want the fish eaters thinking that we hate them".

But, being honest, your grandfather liked humans now as much as he did in the past; the only difference was that he learned how to tolerate them.

Anyway, the truth was: Auradon wasn't as great as people wanted to believe. In theory, having all kingdoms unified was a superb idea, but in practice most of places were losing their own cultural identity, adapting their traditions and habits to fit in Auradon's new rules. If your grandfather had followed all King Beat's proposals 20 years ago, Atlantica would have become a tourist attraction for humans.

It wasn't like King Triton didn't want to be more engaged in Auradon society, but he was afraid to lose the independence of the merpeople. Thus, he hoped that when you assumed the throne, you'd have a better foreign policy than he had without giving up Atlantica's culture and pride.

He looked at you and his piercing glare went right through your soul...

King Triton, intimidating? No, not at all.

"This is not just the King and Queen's engagement party, but also your friend's"

"But grandpa..." you cried out.

"I won't hear it" he raised his hand to show that his decision was final and he wouldn't hear anything else.

You tilted your head back and groaned, if you couldn't talk yourself out of this, you could very well show your dissatisfaction.

"Glad we came to an agreement" he gave a pleased smile like he always did when his wishes were fulfilled and, as he swam past you, he patted your hair "And you might end up having fun"

You rolled your eyes and lay on the floor, defeated. You don't know how long you stayed there, contemplating your misfortune, when suddenly you felt something walking on your tail; you craned your neck and saw Sebastian staring back at you.

"Traitor" you murmured.

"Being in the human world is never my choice. Your grandfather asked me to" he explained, sliding down to your side and you turned over to have a better view of him.

"No one likes to be there, so why do I have to go?"

"For the same reason I had: your grandfather is the king. But I didn't come to discuss the fairness of life" his words caught your attention and you raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Sebastian seemed a little anxious: he looked side to side and beckoned to you to get closer and, when you did, he said in a muffled and rushed voice:

"You know Derek? That lobster? Yesterday, he was near the northern part of the barrier and saw a girl with teal hair there... even better, he said it was the second time he spotted her there by sunset"

Before you could refrain yourself, you picked the crab up, holding him on the palm of your hand. There was no use in denying that you knew Uma because Sebastian had followed you in Auradon and was aware that you and the sea witch's daughter were friends.

"What?" you practically yelled and your whole body shivered with joy for knowing that Uma had been looking for you "Are you sure?"

"Yes" he confirmed "I thought it could lift your spirit up "

"Sebastian it did! I'm going there now" you stood up in a heartbeat, but before you could make your way to the Isle, Sebastian called you.

"If you go there now, King Triton will think you're avoiding the engagement party" he remarked reasonably.

Damn it, he had a point

"Why don't you go tomorrow after greeting King Ben and his future queen?" He suggested, eyeing you innocently, but you saw right true his intentions.

The only reason he told you about Uma was to give you a boost of encouragement to go to Auradon again, this way you would be excited for the party and wouldn't complain too much about being there.

He was a clever crustaceous.

Well, it worked, at least now you could pretend you were having fun, whereas what you were really looking forward to was seeing Uma again.

"Deal" you hold out your hand and you he shake it to seal the deal.

Even if the party was dreadful, the perspective of meeting Uma again was pretty motivating. You should have asked if Derek saw someone else with her, it was weird but you wouldn't mind seeing Harry again.

_____________

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm going back there"

Talking to Sebastian got you very excited; however, now that you really had to go, you were having second thoughts about it.

You didn't have to attend to any human gathering to go to the barrier; you could very well wait in Atlantic until sunset.

"Why can't grandpa send someone who actually wants to be there? Aqua wouldn't mind, or April or Adryan..." you whined - any of your cousins would gladly go to Mal and Ben's engagement, but of course you were the one your grandfather insisted on.

Nereus, who tried to fix your hair in a new style, hummed blankly to show he was listening.

"I'm feeling sick... Grandpa can't make me go if I'm sick" you turned your face to him and he casted an annoyed look at you before going back to applying pearls in your hair.

"You already used that one not to go to the Royal Cotillion" he reminded you, turning your head forward impatiently when you tried to look at him again.

"But I was sick" you protested, earning an amused glare from him "I was sick of human's bullshit".

He burst out laughing.

"I don't think our grandfather will consider it a good reason to skip this ball" he said after regaining his composure.

"Well, at least I'll be closer to the Isle" you mumbled to yourself, but Nereus heard you.

"Why? What will you do?" he stopped what he was doing and sat on the dressing table, staring at you "Please, don't tell you plan on bringing the barrier down by yourself".

"I don't have the power to do it… You know I've tried" you joked and thankfully, Nereus played along.

"You don't need power, use your head... I mean... it is very hard. I'm pretty sure if you swim fast enough you can make a whole in the barrier"

You punched him playfully and got up.

"Hey, I didn't finish your hair" he called out.

"But I have to go, otherwise I won't arrive in time" you explained, grabbing your comb and placing it between the shells and pearls your brother had adorned your hair with.

Of course, the truth was you weren't leaving because you didn't want to be late, but because your brother was smart enough to figure out that you were up to no good.

"Wish me luck" you hugged him.

"Good luck!" he kissed your cheek and with that, you left.

Your mother told you to be kind and not to forget the manners she taught you, your grandfather said how proud of you he was and even asked if you didn't want to take his royal carriage, to which you denied politely.

You rather swam by yourself and if you were going to the Isle after the party, a carriage pulled by dolphins would be hard to go unnoticed.

You bid goodbye and took the path towards Auradon. The City wasn't close to Atlantica, but years of comings and goings made you an expert and you were able to arrive there in a very short time. Also, fins were so much faster than legs, which made the travel easier.

In other circumstances you'd have stopped to talk to many friends that lived nearby, but a little mantra was echoing in your mind "The faster you get there, the faster you leave. The faster you get there, the faster you leave" - you didn't mean to stay more than the necessary; after all. Your grandfather told you to go to Auradon, but he didn't say how long you had to staythere.

Besides, Sebastian said Uma was seen at the barrier by sunset, but what if she decided to go earlier?  You were going to be there one hour in advance for precaution.

Although magic was highly discouraged, there was no other way for the merpeople to become human without it. That's why a magical necklace was given to any mermaid or merman who wanted to venture themselves ashore.

Those necklaces weren't given away easily, though. In order to acquire one, you had to fill a formulary explaining why you needed it and it had to be accepted by King Ben and King Triton themselves. It was very bureaucratic and the only reason this process had to be done was because King Beast declared all magic should be banished so you could not hand around magical objects freely.

However, since you were a royal diplomatic, they made an exception.

Call it privilege.

One good thing about those necklaces was that King Triton made sure that once you went through the transformation, clothes would magically appear to. It was a huge improvement since your aunt Ariel had gotten her own legs from her deal with Ursula; imagine how would it be if you had to walk around naked until you find something to wear.

At least the merfolk didn't have to worry about that anymore. So, once you got on the beach and turned into human you had on a beautiful dress that matched the shells your brother chose to decorate your hair.

It wasn't as pretty as your tail and fins, though.

You headed to Auradon Prep because the party would be held near the school (why they were so obsessed by this place was beyond your comprehension). When you finally arrived, everyone was already there, talking and having fun.

Thankfully, your cousins that lived in Auradon weren't hard to find and rushed towards them - you couldn't help but notice that, as you got closer, they exchanged money between themselves.

"What's going on?" you asked, intrigued by what you just saw.

"Nothing" Arabella answered "What a lovely dress you're wearing. How is gramps doing?".

She changed the topic way too fast, which made your curiosity grow, but you decided to ignore it for the time being.

"He is fine. He misses you a lot and says you should visit us more often. I can't understand Bella, why do you prefer being here among sweaty humans?"

"Do you ever change the subject?" she complained, rolling her eyes "This is a party and I refuse to deal with your bullshit today"

"Maybe tomorrow, then!" you fired back and she voiced her discontentment with an exasperated shriek.

"Why are you like this?" she said before flouncing off, bouncing her hair as she did so.

"What did I do?" you asked Ella, who had been quiet up to that moment, and she chuckled.

"I miss this" she said, pointing to you and the crowd.

"You're the only one"

"It wouldn't hurt if you came to visit us once in a while, you know" she looked up, her hopeful smile made her eyes crinkle and you mirrored her expression, smiling too.

Ella was Ariel's younger daughter and, even though you didn't see her as much as you would like, she was probably your favorite cousin; she was kind and outgoing, which was a good counterpoint to your not so affable nature.

Before you could reply, one of the merfolk who attended Auradon Prep joined you both, he gave you a little bow and handed your cousin some money. You waited for him to leave before question her about it.

"Ella, what's happening?" your tone made clear you wouldn't take a "nothing" for an answer.

The girl sighed, knowing it was a lost battle.

"Maybe there is a bet going on…" she told you, voice trailing off.

You raised an eyebrow, face turning stoic and you feigned boredom.

"Does it involve me?"

"Well, some people didn't believe you'd show up today after the whole Audrey fiasco" she glanced at you out of the corner of her eye and, when you didn't say anything, Ella went on "We made a bet: everyone believed you wouldn't appear, you know. I was the only one who knew you'd be here and now I'm making a lot of money."

She showed you the amount she had already won and it was kind of impressive. It seemed that half of Auradon was sure you hated the human world.

They were right.

Okay, not hate. It was a great dislike.

"I can't believe you thought I'd come" you said without hiding the indignation in your voice and a little offended that your own cousin didn't know you better.

"C'mon. I knew you wouldn't want to, but I was certain grandpops wouldn't give you much of a choice, so even against your will - and I know you must had protested a lot - you'd be here today"

Your cousin was kind, yet cunning, and that was why she was your favorite.

"I'm impressed" you clapped, nodding your head slowly as you did so.

"I know. I'm amazing" she teased and then, her expression became concerned "How are you, by the way? I've heard they will close the barrier forever"

You whined, for one moment you had forgotten about how you failed the Isle and Uma. First you were angry at Mal and Ben, but now? Now you wanted blood... not literally, but you were kind of mad.

"I've been better... you just remind me I had to wish Ben and Mal my best regards in the name of Atlantica."

"Okay, see you later" she cheered and added on for precaution "Try to be polite, please"

When she asked you that, the memory of Sebastian, your mother and grandfather pleading you to be civil in this party echoed in your mind.

What did they think of you? That you were a mannerless monster?

You were very well educated, thank you very much, but didn't waste your good manners on people who didn't deserve it.

"Can't make any promises" you laughed off, disappearing into the crowed to find the King and Mal.

You didn't have to look for them for long as a mass of people was surrounding the fiancés to be while they thanked everybody for coming to their party. They seemed so merry and pleased whilst their subjects wished them all the happiness of the world. People in Auradon were just so fucking good and gracious, weren't they?

Hypocrites.

You had a plan, though.

1- Smile.

2- Greet.

3- Leave.

It was simple, short, and impossible to mess up.

Smile, greet, leave, smile, greet, leave. You kept repeating it like a mantra as you approached them.

For one moment their cheerful expressions froze and their eyes widened to the size a saucer, but they recomposed themselves quickly enough. Either they were surprised to see you there or they were afraid you were going to snap.

But you wouldn't snap.

You had a plan.

"Your Majesties" you smiled, bobbing a curtsy to them.

1 - Smile. Check.

They saluted you, asking how things were back in Atlantica and the conversation was brief and polite, like it should be.

"In the name of Atlantica I wish you both prosperity and wisdom to rule, and that your life is filled with great joys"

You said that in a very diplomatic tone that could have fooled anyone.

2 - Greet. Check

They thanked you and you made your exit.

3 - Leave. Che...

"And…" you turned back with a spin.

Screw the plan; you didn't sell your voice to a sea witch, so you may as well use it.

"Speaking for me, I really want you both to be happy. I mean, someone has to, right? Considering that you doomed thousands of people to a life of suffering just so you could have your perfect happily ever after without any inconveniences"

Then, you left.

One day you'd be all diplomatic and shit, but that day wasn't today.

And, to be fair, you've tried to be reasonable for years and all you got was "Oh sorry, we can't let anyone off the island. It's not that simple, this would require lots of planning and social reintegration, but we will take this matter into consideration in the future...". That's why you started speaking your mind: even if didn't change anything, at least it wouldn't leave a bitter taste in your mouth for not saying your real opinion.

Yeah, your grandfather really should reconsider who he sent to land for affairs of state.

Whatever, just a few more hours and you'd be making your way to the barrier to see Uma.

You were trying to find your cousin again when Audrey intercepted you, looking rather tense.

"Hey" she greeted you but without meeting your eyes.

Audrey seemed to have taken a strange interested in her hands, which she wringed unsteadily, you noticed.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for.. you know... cursing you and your family..." she said, voice shaking a little.

Oh! So Audrey was a nervous wreck to talk to you, how amusing. It boosted your ego but you weren't that mean.

"Relax, Audrey. It's all forgiven" you put her mind at ease.

She let out a breath and her face brightened up.

"But" you offered her a smile that slowly fade into a severe frown "If you do it again I'll make you wish for something as sweet as sleeping for 100 years".

It was clearly a joke but Audrey didn't get it as she excused and made herself scarce in seconds.

"You know... if you want people to understand when you are joking, you shouldn't keep a straight face"

You jerked your head to face Jay, who handed you a glass with a purple liquid in it.

"I wasn't that intense" you took a sip of the drink, it was way too sweet for your salted water taste, and you were pretty sure that it was alcoholic too.

Well, maybe alcohol was the key to survive this party.

"C'mon! You were like this" he mimic you, making quite a murderous expression. Then, resuming his neutral expression, he added "You are like the sea'.

That was new… but you weren't sure about what he meant by that.

"I'm salty and I scare people?" scrunching your face up in confusion.

It took some good minutes for Jay pull himself together.

"I was going to say imposing and beautiful, but that too" he said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

You couldn't help but crack a smile and, since you didn't think of a good answer (which was very unusual), you took another sip of whatever beverage that was.

Fortunately, Jay didn't notice how embarrassed you were by his compliment and changed the topic soon after.

"So, how ar..."

"Stop right there" you warned him, holding your finger up.

"What?" the VK's brows burrowed in confusion but deep inside he was afraid that he had said something wrong.

"I know this face." you explained "Every time people ask how I am, they do this pitiful face and I can't have that... not from you…".

It was painful how most people assumed that you were miserable because of last week events. Okay, you were sad and pissed but gosh, you hated that condescending attitude.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay" he didn't seem offended by your words, but the atmosphere between you two grew colder and awkward.

Great, of all people you could have snapped at today, you did it to Jay.

Now, you were sad, pissed and stupid.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to be rude" you apologized "If you really want to know, I'm a mess. The only reason I didn't cry this whole week was because I live under water, but if you tell this to anyone, I'll deny it".

"It's going to be our secret then" Jay stroked your arm  to show support "You really care about the Isle, don't you?"

You shrugged, not knowing what to say to him. Yes, you cared about the Isle and the people there; it was hard to explain the reason, though.

Maybe another time…

"By the way, I wanted to ask you this..." he cooed and if you hadn't been so busy with that drink, you'd have seen the mischievous gleam in his eyes "Did Uma and you already know each other, by any chance?"

You choked.

Hard.

Jay went to your aid quickly and helped you to recover, slapping your back lightly.

A mermaid choking on a liquid, what a joke.

"No..." your voice cracked and it wasn't because you're still faint "Why would you think that?"

"Well…" he began, but was cut off soon after.

Thank goodness,  Mal and Ben announced they would start their pronouncement and Jay joined his former friends. All people gathered under the balcony where the Royal Family stood proudly, and everybody was eager to hear the news their King and Queen would say.

It was difficult to hear one's thoughts over the cheering and acclamation. However, since you didn't share their happiness, you stayed away from the commotion, enjoying your sweet drink.

Ben started his speech, of course he was very pleased to have Mal as his queen and everyone was happy.

Everyone, except the people on the Isle, of course.

You scoffed so loudly that if people hadn't been hearing Ben's speech, they would have heard you. Subsequently, the king proposed a toast to Mal and you wondered if it would be rude to ignore it.

Everything would be so much easier if your grandfather had made your brother the diplomat of Atlantica, considering he was a people pleaser like you would never be.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to raise your glass, so you did it... very discretely.

For everyone's surprise, Mal announced she couldn't be Queen of Auradon, causing a wave of gasps and murmurs from the puzzled crowd.

Really? Were they really surprised? Like, Mal was a drama queen, she just needed an emotional solo or Evie knocking some sense into her head for her to change her mind.

Unless it involved the Isle of course, then she didn't care to condemn them forever, you thought bitterly.

Yep, you were salty enough to cause hypertension in every single soul in Auradon.

However, you did not expect, not even in your wildest dreams, what followed next. Actually, even after years, you'd still remember that day and think "what the hell just happened". If people were shocked when Mal said she couldn't be queen, they nearly had a stroke when she brought down the barrier. It wasn't like she let just the villain kids off, she destroyed the barrier, and everyone was free.

As a personal note, you observed how fast Ben changed his discourse from "We can't get the merfolk off the Isle without consequences, we need preparation, meetings, plans..." to "Ok, my bae wants to bring down the barrier and I won't argue with her. So yeah, let's do it".

Not that you were complaining but, had you known that it only took a love potion for Ben do what you wanted, you'd have done it.

Wow! What a wild thought to have...

Maybe you were getting a little drunk...

But the barrier came down so, whatever...

You looked at King Beast's face and he was about to pass out any moment, but other than that, everyone seemed very excited to meet the villains.

It wasn't like a minute ago they didn't give a damn about the people there or their fate.

Well, maybe that was Auradon's magic: one moment you hated each other, in the next you were all singing and dancing on a bridge.

You finished your drink in one go, because that was going to be a party to remember.

[blue-spider-lily]

MY BIG MAIRUMA THEORY

A.K.A. DELKIRA IS BEHIND THIS ALL I was waiting with this until the end of Harvest Festival arc and now I can share it with everyone!

1 Delkira and humans

Considering all the info we have about the Netherworld before and after Delkira ,we can say that the previous King was heavily influenced by humans. It is not clear if he was just observing them or were in contacts with some humans but he for sure knew things or two about the Human World. And he wanted to show it to other demons. He saw demons killing each other's for territory and was like “Hey, humans have this ‘sport’ thingy that is fun competition but won’t lead to our race extinction. Let’s try this” and now demons have schools, shops and Evidols BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT DELKIRA WANTED

2 Delkira’s legacy

There are a few things important in the harvest festival that was delivered as side comments and kind of brushed off: 1. The winners are called “Young Kings” and are considered to be future contestants for the crown. 2 The Legendary Leaf Chain Quest was made with a purpose of finding “The least demon-like demon” and 3. The sakura as a final form of the legendary leaf being something that “the creator of the harvest festival wanted to show them”. from all this you can draw the conclusion that Delkira was the one who created the festival and wanted to find his successor hoping for them to be a demon who share his ideals. Ideals he got from humans. My guess is that Delkira had a lot of things he liked about human world. Did he want a human for his successor? This part is unclear but we consider both option later because there is another question we have to ask here.

3 Delkira’s absence

I don’t know about you but I think there had to be a reason why Delkira was looking for a successor. He wasn’t old and nothing indicates that he was sick or anything like that, so why? I saw theories that he was actually a human and was aware of his short lifespan but this is unlikely because we saw him and he was without a doubt a demon. To answer that let’s go into politics. To become the Demon King one must got an approval from the 13 crowns. And the Demon World before Delkira’s reign was a very dangerous place so we can assume 13 crowns from back them had to be quite a bunch of badass. And Delkira being God-level Badass himself got that approval. Likely both by force and using charisma. But demons are a competitive bunch and this was only a matter of time before someone tried to go and win the crown for themselves. I guess that is what Delkira did with his predecessor. So what is important here is to remember that Delkira must had had enemies and be aware of that.

He had to be aware as well of the fact that if he’d ever disappear, his ideals, his Netherworld won’t survive long.  Having demons like Baal only confirms that. But Delkira had to be not only strong but also smart to rule. So he had to make a plan. Probably more than one plan. He set up a path for the future king making it so only someone who was sharing his ideals can walk it. The moment in the end of the harvest festival where we can see him for a split second when the Legendary Leaf blooms works as a confirmation for this theory.

And here comes the next player in this game

4 Delkira and Sullivan 

We don’t know much about Sullivan’s past but there is a couple of things we do: Sully was OP even before Delkira was OP. Obviously, because he’s old. My guess is he was one of the demons ruling the Netherworld before Delkira came along. Maybe he was one of the previous 13 crowns? It sounds possible. He for sure was one of Delkira’s trusted man and he for sure loved the King and the world he created. So what is his place in all of this? We have to answer the first question we had - did Delkira want a human to be the next king or was he ok with a demon, as long as it was someone suitable to carry out his legacy? Let’s consider both options

A) If he wanted a demon then the best course of action is to keep observing young demons to find someone suitable. And what is the best way to do that? Having your trusted man as a Principal! 

B) If he wanted a human, then he would have to assure his trusted man would find one for him. So it is possible that Sullivan either knows about everything and was keeping an eye at the human world or was more or less discreetly manipulated by Delkira to do it. Did he choose Iruma because he deemed the boy worthy? Maybe. Did he just grabbed the first kid he could because “hey, trying to raise any human for the role won’t kill and I just want a grandson tbh” Possible as well. And it’s  not really that important which option is true to be honest, and that’s because:

5 Delkira and the prophecy 

Here comes the tricky part where we have to make a few assumptions: Was the prophecy made before or after Delkira’s disappearance? Did he know about it? Did he want to do anything about it? If he did know, we can assume that the “wanting human as the next king” part gets more possible. If he didn’t then it makes Sullivan more active player in this because that would mean he, knowing both his King will and the prophecy, was looking for a human to take the crown. In any case the existence of the prophecy is a score for the “It has to be human” theories. Which leads us to the next point

6 Delkira and Iruma

If it had to be a human, does it mean it had to be Iruma? Not at all. But it is Iruma because this is how the prophecies work. Sullivan was looking for a human but he couldn’t exactly just observe them and snatch the one he liked. It doesn’t work like that. Ha was waiting for his human to come to him and all it took were two idiot parents! Boom! Now Iruma is taking his first step on a path created for him by Delkira. But will the missing king ever see the young human taking his crown? We still don’t even know why and how he disappeared in the first place so let’s go back to the politics.

7 Delkira’s disappearance

My guess is - there was a traitor. Someone sneaky enough to corner Delkira. Who can it be? Dunno but I won’t be surprised if that traitor is a real mastermind behind Baal actions. Or maybe not. Maybe the enemy was that “Returning to Origins” tendency that Delkira couldn't quite get erased completely and knew it will only grow? Or if there was a single traitor maybe Delkira killed the guy but either got reduced to the shadow of himself in the process, hidden in the Ring of Gluttony or purposely hid himself to watch over his successor. If so, it was a true Aizen move on his part

8 Delkira/Ali

It may be a troll move and a fake lead made by the author but most valid theory at the moment is that Ali = Delkira. But he seems unaware of that fact because it didn't look like he’s hiding something and more that he is confused. But him evolving together with Iruma’s rank has to have meaning. Will his plan be revealed when he remembers his past and Sullivan role in his plan? Or will he stay hidden until the end? The biggest point that can heavily influence the future events is that Sullivan seems to be unaware of his presence and that will lead to lot of things 

[czarojay]

//This is gonna be a long, probably not properly formatted post, but i just couldn’t help but gush about and ramble about this. Also prepare for a wall of text why everyone is the traitor /hj//

I just have so many thoughts on what happened yesterday. Like all the foreshadowings and plotholes and plotlines have been set in motion, completed or filled. And it makes my little writer soul happy, you know?

It was obvious Techno and Wilbur would be the traitors, since Wilbur multiple times said so himself and Techno literally murdered Tubbo in cold blood. Maybe not so much cold blood cause “hE WAS PEER PRESSURED” and stressed af, but you get the point. 

We knew Philza would join Dream SMP pretty much, since Wilbur showed him the script on stream recently. Also like Traitor Philza anyone? How many posts have you seen of the ultimate traitor being Philza? I have seen lots, but in the end weren’t like half the people traitors? Niki betrayed Pogtopia subtly by leaving and building another city, but i guess this depends on your point of view and opinion, since in the final battle she did fight for Pogtopia. Wilbur was the traitor (everyone knows that) by blowing up Manburg, when it all seemed to go right. Techno was the traitor to Pogtopia, but was also betrayed by Pogtopia. Techno was here to abolish government not make another, but at the first time, he knew what he was getting into. Tommy spoke about taking back L’Manburg for two months, since the election, so I do not know why the surprise. While I agree with Techno that they were just terrorists, because Schlatt was elected, voted, not a tyrant in full meaning of that word (this is so complicated, i love this). Eret was the traitor to Dream for a change, because he wanted to help and join Pogtopia, but was also betrayed by Dream, who had supposedly no way of knowing Eret was going to betray them, he just took the crown and plopped it down on our cottagecore lesbian George, who either sleeps or builds cute houses. 

Also Philza being the one to slay Wilbur is just amazing, because there are so many possibilities motives. Philza said he couldn’t kill Wilbur, but he looked on the people of Manburg, L’Manburg, Pogtopia and Dream SMP, Badlands, he looked at all the people gathered here, staring up at him and he said he couldn’t kill his son. Wilbur said he was the one who destroyed L’Manburg, His L’manburg and ordered Philza to murder him. And he did. But why?

Did Philza kill Wilbur, because he knew, that even with Schlatt gone, Wilbur would continue to cause wars and battles and death and pain? Did Philza kill Wilbur, because he knew that Tommy looks up to Wilbur and wouldn’t be able to not let himself be manipulated? Did Philza kill Wilbur, because he thought nothing else could stop him from becoming a monster? Did Philza kill Wilbur, his son, because he couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to help his son, while one is traumatised, staring at them from where he miraculously survived the explosion and the other one was betrayed, but also a traitor and he just needed to do something? Did Philza kill Wilbur, because he looked at the blown up land and he heard his son begging for death and he at that moment was the only person who could make a change? 

Hell if i know, there are too many posssibilities, but what i DO know is that i’m going to meet theories and conspiracies across my tumblr dash for weeks and I will be able to read all your amazing essays and I just can’t wait for it you know?

Chekhov’s gun. We knew L’Manburg would blow up. It would make no sense for it to not blow up after a month of it being the major plot device, one of the few things to keep it going. It needed to happen or otherwise the plot wouldn’t make sense. If this was a book and not minecraft roleplay, I bet everyone would be angry that the Wilbur character didn’t blow up as he said he would through half of the third book of the series! Sure there would be people happy that he didn’t, but let’s all be honest here, all the AUs would feature him blowing it up, it was really the only way for there not to be a massive plothole.

Tubbo becoming a president wasn’t that to be expected before the stream, but during the conversation with Quackity it was hinted towards. We all thought it would be Tommy who’d been hinted towards in the “You’re never going to be a president, Tommy” speech of Wilbur. And to be fair, he was a president for like 1.2 seconds, before he went back to get his discs which as exasperated leave me, because come on you’ve been at these discs for like almost HALF A YEAR WOW, make me happy cause it means more plot to come, chekhov’s gun right? I’m not sure if this applies here though, since they’ve already been used. We’ll wait and see right? Tubbo became a president like he was supposed to become. We all expected him to become the vice president, since Tommy always titled him his right hand man and the parallels were too strong. From Secretary of State through Schlatt’s right hand man through a traitor to end as the President of L’Manburg. Or New L’Manburg should I say?

And it’s even worse when you think about how Wilbur appointed Tommy KNOWING L’Manburg would blow up in a moment. He wanted to give him everything he could ever want and then steal it away the next second, violently, not leaving a shred of hope for it to return. Because, you see, with the discs? Tommy always could fight for them, steal them, get them back. Physical small objects, but worth so much. But L’Manburg? Tommy just got it back, his second home, his people, his place and Wilbur planned to immediately rip it away violently. Tommy would rage, he’d curse, he’d plan revenge. Which is exactly the reason Tubbo is the better choice to be a president. 

Tubbo doesn’t hold grudges, so unless he’s manipulated, not many wars will be initiated by him. He was one of the people who tried to fight the wither, he was the one who immediately jumped to gathering people and making plans for the future of their country. He was the one who made plans to rebuild their nation stronger and better. He jumped to making and building and communicating rather than fighting, which seems to me like something a good leader would do. 

Wilbur as the president barely did things, mostly used pretty words or fought. Only later in Pogtopia he actually did most of the stuff in their ravine, but he still left grinding and food for Techno and in the end he went insane and no good leader should be an insane one. Schlatt? Schlatt wanted to chop down the trees, kill the animals and destroy the nature. He may have been a better, closer and an actually elected leader compared to Wilbur, but that doesn’t mean he was a good leader. So it is possible Tubbo will be the best leader yet. 

But will he even be able to be truly a leader? Tubbo said himself he’s not sure how the whole president thing goes and he agreed to just call it a friend group, so they’re not demolished by Technoblade again, so he’s never going to be truly a leader, especially since Philza joined and everyone looks up to Philza. They’re not going to have a leader, because Techno will kill anyone who even hints towards it and Dream would probably do that as well. Or so he says, but then he made Dream SMP a kingdom, a proper kingdom with a true king. Because let’s agree, Eret was never a leader before. He was just there, sitting pretty in his forest. There was no true kingdom before, just a group of people who decided to play along for the sake of the spy. But even then, it seems pretty hypocrytical of Dream, doesn’t it? He says down with the government, with organized nations, presidents and leaders and yet...

King George has happened. But at what cost, I would say sadly and possibly crying if I didn’t expect it to happen. It was bound to happen since the very first WHITE FLAGS, TOMORROW, OR YOU’RE DEAD. He’s earned no right to the title, he didn’t participate in this war, he hardly does anything on the server. He’s just an heir. Dream forcefully removed the last monarch, so George could become the king and I feel this is going to be a big thing in future, since it wasn’t that focused on during the last streams. I think so at least? We’ll see. 

There’s just so many things to cover here, possibilities are WILD, the lore is just SO HEAVY and I am Thriving, capital T. But isn’t the whole fandom? We’re all loving it here, right? And I want to write even more, but at the same time, I’ve already got 1.5 k words and I’m afraid nobody will read it if i continue, SO HAVE A GOOD DAY IF YOU READ SO FAR. SUBSCRIBE TO PHILZA.