#potential like she might in a modern timeline

[retrograderesemblance]

how are you ruined?

ruined by trauma

you cannot get over the past. you are constantly remembering, never forgetting. you cant live in the moment because the moment is not what brought you here. you are birthed, raised, and killed in the past. you will never get over what was done to you, be it big or be it small. you cannot escape what you refuse to confront.

tagged by: @honorhearted​ sort of ;) tagging: anyone

[memescomicswriting]

It's Nice to Have A Friend

Ch 2: There's Many Different Ways That You Can Kill The One You Love

Summary: Fate is cruel on how it goes about obtaining its desires. It must be fate, because there is no other explanation for how perfectly molded Y/N and Helaena are to one another. They complement one another like opposite sides of a coin. Where Helaena is shy, Y/N is outgoing. Helaena has a photographic memory. Y/N has emotional inteligence. They have the right temperament to be the missing piece in one another’s lives. Ying and Yang. Then there are the boys. Love them or hate them, they’re there. Even the adults cannot escape the Targaryen chaos, and the fallout doesn’t spare the minors simply because they’re adolescents. Follow how Y/N and those around her carve out lives for themselves amongst the weight of the Targaryen legacy in a modern Westeros.

Word Count 9.4K

Pairings: Aegon x Y/N, Aemond xY/N, hints of Jace x Y/N, Platonic! Helaena x Y/N, Father Figure! Harwin x Y/N, Mother Figure! Rhaneyra x Y/N, Mother Figure! Alicent x Y/N

Warnings: 18+ you’ve been warned

Lots of profanity, sexual innuendos, drug and alcohol use, boys being stupid jerks, infidelity, divorce, eventual smut

A/N: God this chapter was such a task to write, but really enjoyable too. We see Y/N a year after moving in with Harwin and then six years after moving in with Harwin. For any age/timeline confusion, please check the Background information

Chapters drop on Thursdays. Please, please, please, please share your thoughts. I wanna hear them. I don't bite, promise!

Sereies Masterlist

It was no secret that Harwin had absolutely zero idea what to do with a girl. Even after a year with Y/N. He was as loving and supportive as anyone could hope for in a father figure. He encouraged her bike riding, various sport interests, and taught her how to kick the crap out of any boy who dared look at her wrong. Where he got lost- the hormones, attitude, and subtleties. Even his childhood friends, male, on the more sensitive side could not compare to the urgency a young teenage girl put onto every aspect of her life. Probably because they all had the attention span of a goldfish back then.

She can’t get her hair back into the perfect ponytail. Her hair is ugly and awful! No, she HAD to have the latest game console because all her friends have it and she was being left out. Arya must hate her because she didn’t sit with her at lunch today! Any inconvenience was a potentially life altering event. Harwin didn’t find Y/N less than a boy for it. They certainly had their own complications. He just didn’t know what to do about it. His own mother passed when he was young. So he had next to no insight on girls in general. Then the period came.

Late one night Harwin was awoken by muffled crying. That wasn’t an odd phenomenon in the apartment. Y/N lost her parents. She had every right to cry. Harwin always made sure to check in. If she wanted him to hold her, he would. If she wanted space, he’d give her that. What he didn’t expect was the bathroom light on, sink blasting, and Y/N fervently scrubbing blood off of her night bottoms. When they made eye contact, Y/N broke out into full sobs. It took some time, and encouraging deep breaths, to understand the entirety of the situation. Y/N woke up feeling like she needed to use the restroom. Then she felt it. The wet. Y/N panicked, flipped the light, and was horrified. She couldn’t understand what was going on. Obviously her mother hadn’t gotten the chance to explain what she’d one day go through.

Harwin felt helpless. There she was tired, sobbing like the world was ending, and he didn’t know how to comfort her. Mimicking her frantic energy, Harwin began sending texts and making calls at 3 am. He didn’t stop until he received the call he needed.

There was the click of the phone connection, a breath to say something, but Harwin anxiously spoke first. “Rhaenyra.”

Any annoyance that she might have expressed jerked to concern. She sat up against the headboard. Joffrey just fell asleep after a nightmare. She spoke as directly as she could while maintaining a whisper. “What’s wrong?”

Gods bless Harwin. He hadn’t been gifted a glossary for teenage girl issues. “Y/N got her period.” It was blunt, directly to the point. There was no other way he could formulate the night's events into a gentle analogy.

Rhaenyra let out a reminiscent chuckle. Her father acted the same way. He was panicked as well, but above all, concerned. It clued her in on how much he cared for her. “Well she is of that age.”

“Rhaenyra.” He repeated her name with more strain. His voice hushed as he shifted away from Y/N’s door. “She’s bleeding and crying. I can’t seem to explain this to her in a way that doesn’t make the crying worse. Her bed’s a mess and I have nothing for her to use.”

Though he had difficulty understanding the more dramatic of her female tendencies, sometimes he entirely forgot that she was a girl. He didn’t think of her as a boy, just a kid who needed him. His kid. The simple biological inevitable had slipped past his radar.

“Okay, okay.” Rhaenyra straightened her tone. “Stop trying to explain it. Tell her everythings going to be okay. Strip the bed and let her know it’s just bedding. It’s disposable. Let her run a bath or shower or whatever she wants. While she does that, quickly go to the twenty-four hour pharmacy. Get sanitary wipes, small pads with wings, pain reliever if you don’t already have some, an electrolyte drink, and if they have them, period underwear. It will specifically say period underwear.”

“I-” Harwin nodded, committing the list to memory. “I can do that.”

“When you get back, put her to bed. Everything will be better in the morning.” Rhaenyra let out a sigh. She brushed her loose hair out of her eyes and over her head. “Bring her by the house tomorrow. You can take the boys and I’ll.. I’ll explain things to her.”

Harwin let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Thank you Rhae.”

Harwin hadn’t explained much the next morning. He didn’t want to traumatize the poor girl more. Though there was protest about leaving the apartment in her condition, Y/N relented and got in the car. She was confused and a tad fearful when she recognized the driveway they’d pulled into.

“I can’t go in there Harwin.” When they’d parked, she jumped in her seat and clung to his arm. “The boys! The boys will want to play and I- I can’t do that!”

Harwin ran his hands down her hair stopping to caress her cheeks. “I promise you everything will be alright. The boys won’t bother you.”

She didn’t have much time to protest. Rhaenyra slipped out of the house and made her way to the car. The two older boys came barrelling out of the house and into the front lawn. Laenor followed behind with little Joffrey in his arms. Betrayal flashed in Y/N’s eyes and it struck Harwin right in the heart. She turned back to the outside world when the car door was opened for her.

“Hi Y/N. I hope you don’t mind the boys borrowing Harwin for the day. They’ve been very eager for this all boys adventure.” Rhaenyra saw the silent exchange between the two and thought that pretending this was a scheduled event would help defuse the tension. “But I didn’t want you to feel left out, so I invited Helaena to come over and have a girls day with us. She’ll be here in an hour or so. Come on in and wait with me. I saved some breakfast treats for you.”

Harwin mouthed a thank you behind Y/N’s back. He knew it wasn’t easy for Rhaenyra to talk to Alicent, but the fact she had to, to get Helaena for the day was an immense act of kindness to him. If he wasn’t already, he would’ve fallen in love with her then and there.

“I’ll be back later today.” He squeezed Y/N’s hand for reassurance. “Maybe we’ll return with pizza.” One of the boys shouted in excitement with the mention of pizza.

Like a wounded puppy, Y/N slunk out of the car mumbling some agreement. The boys rushed past her to climb in the vehicle. Laenor gave her a farewell smile.

Rhaenyra’s house was large. It needed to be to accommodate her family. Her father gifted it to her when she married Laenor. Though the exterior gave off the assumption of wealth, the interior was warm and inviting like a family home ought to be. All the furniture was a shade of beige to hide unavoidable stains that came with multiple boys. Plush pillows added accents of color. Dogs circled Y/N with excitement. A cat was hiding from the chaos on a bookshelf.

The kitchen reflected the morning’s creations. Mixing bowls were stacked in the sink with syrup covered plates. There were spots of flour on the counter. They never hired a personal chef. Rhaenyra and Laenor enjoyed teaching the boys how to cook and care for themselves.

A spot at the counter was cleared off for Y/N. Rhaenyra brought out french toast to heat up. Fruit was cut and mixed into a bowl. Butter and whipped cream had their own dish. Rhaenyra served Y/N and she let her hunger push her manners aside.

Rhaenyra found the girl amusing. She’d always wanted a daughter. They thought Joffrey would be a girl, but they were wrong. Maybe Y/N was a chance to practice for the day she was blessed with a little girl. Maybe Y/N was as close as she’d get.

Y/N’s eyes shot up from her plate when she heard Rhaenyra’s interest. With a tender smile, Rhaenyra tucked piece’s of Y/N’s hair behind her ear like she’d seen Harwin do for her comfort. “I’m glad you’re enjoying your food. Especially without much mess. My boys would’ve launched berries at one another by now.”

Y/N giggled. A twinkle came back to her. “I like to eat my berries more than I enjoy throwing them.”

Rhaenyra burst into giggles of her own with the unexpected remark. “Then you’re welcome to eat as many berries as you like.”

“Thank you.” Y/N hummed while taking a bite of her food. Her feet swung beneath her as the stool was too high for her feet to touch the ground. “Harwin is an alright cook but he likes these nasty shakes and snack bars. He says they’re good for you because they’ve got a lot of protein, but I don’t believe him.”

“I don’t blame you. They are unappetizing.”

While Y/N finished her food, Rhaenyra had excused herself to the other room to cue up music and movies on the TV. The snack bin and fridge were restocked the night before and the boys were prohibited from touching them under penalty of no sweets for a week. Once finished, Y/N placed her plate in the sink and went to find Rhaenyra. Two rooms over, Rhaenyra was curled up on the couch without her slippers and a coffee mug in her hand. Y/N didn’t know what to expect but she took a seat on the opposite end.

“How are you feeling?” Rhaenyra asked with gentle concern.

“I’m.. I’m fine, thank you.” Y/N avoided direct eye contact, but would glance in Rhaenyra’s direction with worry.

“That’s good.” Rhaenyra nodded along though she knew better. “Your first period can be scary.”

Y/N jumped like Syrax the cat when she was startled. 

“I know you might feel betrayed by Harwin informing me, but he did so out of concern. It sounds like you were awfully upset last night and that’s no way to be over something natural. And since he couldn’t attest to what you’re going through, he trusted me to.” Rhaenyra didn’t try to invade the girl’s space but she kept her body language open if Y/N wanted personal contact.

“I didn’t know my body could do that. I thought I was hurt and, and,” She hiccuped. “And I didn’t want Harwin to be mad about the mess.”

“That mess isn’t one anyone would be mad at.” Rhaenyra reassured her. “It’s something that you can’t control when it happens, but you get better at guessing when it’ll start.”

“I don’t remember my mom having that kind of mess.” Y/N admitted in a barely audible mumble.

“Because us grown women have had practice and we’re good at containing it.”

“So this will happen again?”

“And again, every month for many years. Every woman goes through it. It’s something that bonds us together. I won’t lie to you. It is never enjoyable, but it becomes normal to you.”

“I don’t want this to happen again. What if it happens at school? What if someone sees?” Streams of tears formed down Y/N’s cheeks and she flung herself into Rhaenyra’s waiting lap.

Rhaenyra encircled the girl in her arms and kissed the top of her forehead. “That’s the thing about us girls, we look out for each other. You’ve got Helaena and she’d never let that happen to you. And you, you’d help her too. Wouldn’t you?”

Y/N nodded against Rhaenyra’s chest. “So you see. It will all be alright.” She rocked a bit, like she would with her boys when they skinned a knee or bruised an arm. “And I’ll be here to answer any questions you might have.”

“Thank you.” The gratitude was soft and high pitched. It showed off how young twelve truly was. It didn’t take long for Y/N to fall asleep against Rhaenyra’s chest. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and Rhaenyra was so safe and warm. Eventually Rhaenyra had to slip out of Y/N’s grasp. She made sure to slowly lower the girl back onto the cushion. The throw was placed over her peaceful sleep.

It’d taken Alicent longer than expected to drop Helaena off. Daeron was no older than Joffrey, but fussier. She hoped that meant he’d be a calmer adolescent as his brothers had been the opposite. Today, Aemond decided he didn’t like the face Aegon made. The children’s play room turned into a boxing arena. Viserys was of no help. Locked in his study. He insisted he needed to work on some project before taking the boys for the day. The nanny had the day off. But since Rhaenyra had been the one to ask for Helaena, he could make time for his sons. Any other day, if Alicent had asked, there’d be some excuse. She was bitter that it took Rhaenyra asking for Viserys to remember he had other children. All the same, she was happy to enjoy some time with just her girl.

Alicent had difficulty understanding Helaena. Her boys drove her to her wit's end, but she grasped why they were the way they were. They were young boys. Helaena though, she was not a typical young girl. She couldn’t stand going to the salon with Alicent. Something was always too loud or smelled too strong. At times, if the light was too bright it bothered her. She didn’t like her nails painted or someone cutting her hair. As a toddler she fought to escape the dresser’s chair. Rather than dresses with frills she preferred plain fabrics of the same texture. She loved the outdoors and anything that crawled. Her brothers were wild. Helaena just liked wild things. And she was smart, so smart. She knew what was going on around her at all times and comprehended her surroundings with the ability of someone twice her age.

The word Autism was brought up in early elementary school. Helaena was ahead of her peers academically, but she had difficulty interacting with them. She’d often cry in class for no apparent reason. Allicent vehemently rebuked any teacher who suggested something was wrong with her daughter. To Alicent, to admit she might be different was to admit she was defective. Helaena got better at controlling her reactions and regulating her behaviors. Masking, they called it. Still Alicent refused to accept they needed help. It wasn’t until Alicent noticed how Helaena plucked her eyelashes away and the bruising from pinching her arm that she finally relented. High functioning, that was the diagnosis. As an adult, Helaena would most likely blend in with everyone else, but she’d always struggle. There would always be something too loud, too bright, or taste wrong. However, now she had access to therapies and medications to help with her anxiety. Helaena could almost be normal.

Though she’d typically loathe the idea of time with Rhaenyra, Alicent saw how Helaena thrived with Y/N’s friendship. The girl could be quiet for Helaena’s sensitive ears. She also enjoyed being outside and tolerated Helaena’s interest in oddities. Y/N had the patience to listen while Helaena rambled on and on about her latest discovery. And because Y/N would go along with Helaena’s tendencies, Helaena in turn trusted Y/N when she suggested something outside her comfort zone. Maybe it was Y/N’s time spent with only her parents as company that made her more mature with other children. Alicent didn’t know anything beyond what she could see. What she could see was how Helaena’s lashes grew back and her actions grew bolder. For that, Alicent could view Y/N no less as a gift from the seven. She could even keep Aegon on a leash. Anyone who lightened her parenting load had Alicent’s favor.

So yes, she’d tolerate Rhaenyra if it meant bringing Y/N some comfort and Helaena time with her best friend. In a way, she projected herself onto Y/N. She lost her parents at the same age Alicent lost her mother. Like Alicent was, Y/N was surrounded by more male figures than female. Y/N presented more average female interests in comparison to Helaena. She’d let Alicent hug her. Y/N would even seek out a hug on occasion, though she was hesitant. Alicent was not her mother but the mother of her friend. Y/N was astute and kind as Alicent was as a girl. It was wrong, and she felt overwhelmed with guilt after, but on occasion she’d catch herself wishing Y/N was her daughter instead.

Rhaenyra greeted Alicent and Helaena at the door. With hushed breaths, she explained the details of the situation to Alicent. Alicent, in turn, was horrified for the girl and disapproving of Harwin. She held back her thoughts on the latter. She made a mental note to gently pull Y/N aside the next time she came over.

Helaena had made her way to Y/N off Rhaenyra’s instruction. She stood over her friend. Her head cocked to the side in the curiosity of her friend’s sleeping form. Silently, Helaena plopped down on the small space between Y/N and the couches end. This made Y/N stir.

“Helaena?” Y/N asked in her groggy haze.

“You sleep well. You don’t snore. Aegon and Daeron snore.” True to herself, Helaena was matter of fact as she tended to be.

“That’s good.” Y/N yawned and stretched. “We couldn’t share a room at sleepovers if I snored and kept you up.”

“No, we couldn't,” Helaena nodded her head in agreement. “My mom made me bring you one of my swimsuits. I hope I picked one you like.”

Helaena held up a blue and green striped one piece. Y/N took it and looked it over. How was she going to swim today? Wouldn’t she be like a squid with ink in the water. Helaena had told her of squids last week after watching an ocean documentary.

As if sensing her apprehension, Rhaenyra and Alicent appeared in the archway of the room. “You’ll be alright.” Rhaenyra reassured.

The girls spent the day swimming in the Targaryen-Valyrian pool. Y/N preferred this pool to Helaena’s. This pool had a diving board, slide, and sprinklers. Sometimes, Laenor and Harwin would bring out a net for pool volleyball. Rhaenyra engaged with the girls. Alicent tried, but at some point she found her way to a lounge chair to scroll on her phone. Helaena had a grand time sharing why mermaids couldn’t be real but lit up when Rhaenyra explained they could still pretend. The pool was adjacent to the guest house if they needed anything. Lunch was Doordahsed.

When they had their fill of the pool, Rhaenyra set up a movie for the girls. Though Helaena was adverse to most physical contact, she was content with Y/N’s weight against her on the couch. They settled on the Jungle Book. It had animals for Helaena and a plot for Y/N. They shared their snacks. Alicent and Rhaenyra respected each other’s distance. 

Neither realized how much time had passed till the boys appeared with a cacophony of boyish laughter. As promised, they brought pizza. Rhaenyra’s sons bypassed their mother at the sight of their aunt and Y/N. They had to tell them about their day. Helaena liked her nephews but could only tolerate them so much, but they were better at boundaries than her brothers so it appeared she liked them more. Alicent exchanged pleasantries with Laenor and Harwin. Sensing out of place, she called for Helaena claiming it was time to leave. Though Rhaenyra offered for them to stay, Alicent insisted that they had to get home to check on the boys. Helaena and Y/N whispered their secret goodbyes. Probably plotting when they could see each other again. Then Alicent and her daughter left. The remaining children missed the knowing glances the adults shared amongst themselves.

When it was time for bed, Rhaenyra insisted Y/N and Harwin spend the night. She had everything Y/N would need. Jace’s clothes, though for a boy, fit Y/N just fine to sleep in. The boys could make a fort on a bedroom floor and enjoy the night together. Once all the adolescents were asleep, the adults talked over glasses of wine.

“I don’t know how to explain it. Your girl must be magic.” Rhaerya pronounced as she took her seat next to Harwin. With the boys and Y/N asleep, they could be free with their affections.

“Must be.” Laenor agreed. He sat opposite the paramours. “How else could you explain Alicent being almost pleasant.”

“She’s a special girl.” Harwin mused before becoming a bit more melancholy. “I just hope I’m doing enough for her.”

Rhaenyra took Harwin’s hand in hers and made him lock eyes. “You may not be her father but you’re a great dad.”

“She’s thriving and she loves you.” Laenor reassured.

“I just see how much joy she gets being around Helaena, the boys, you, and then I think of moments like last night. When I wasn’t what she needed.” Harwin sighed and leaned back against the couch.

“You did your best.” Rhaenyra consoled.

“And actually, we’ve been thinking…” Laenor began which peaked Harwin’s interest. “Since Y/N is happy here, and since you’ve had less time for Rhae and the boys since assuming responsibility for her-”

In excitement, Rhaenyra cut in. “Move into the guest house! Like you said, Y/N has so much joy when here. The boys love her. We love her like one of our own. The boys love you, and I miss you.”

“It takes a village.” Laenor reasoned. “You wouldn’t be raising her alone anymore.”

“I, I don’t know what to say.” Harwin’s brows creased in consideration.

“Think it over.” Offered Rhaenyra. “There isn’t a deadline to the offer.”

Harwin and Y/N moved in by the end of the summer. The guest house was relatively the same size as the apartment. Y/N’s person wasn’t upheaved by a move. She’d spent most of her life moving. It was a tad strange. The arrangement. The adults explained it away to the children as they were all family and families lived together. The fact Harwin was their biological father was no secret. The explanation given when asked was Laenor couldn’t have children. That played at people’s hearts and ceased further questioning. However, to everyone but the three primary adults and uncle Qarl, Rhaenyra and Laenor were truly a married couple. In love and all. Oh how wrong they were.

Alicent always held her suspicions. Rhaenyra and Laenor moved to quick into marriage. They never expressed trying for children. Yet one day, Laenor couldn’t have kids, Rhaenyra was pregnant, and they used close family friend Harwin as the sperm donor. Viserys, Corlys and Rhaenys never questioned it. Then again, they never looked too hard into their children’s activities. Viserys would hear none of it any time Alicent tried to broach the conversation. She had no proof other than her perceived suspicions. 

That was, until Y/N came to Helaena crying one day.

….

No one who spent Yuletide with the Targaryens could say it was an uneventful experience. One would think the children were the root of all mischief, but really, it was the adults who couldn’t behave. Viserys wanted the family to spend the holiday together. Easier said than done. You had Alicent, her children, and on occasion her father. Then there was Rhaenyra, her children, Harwin, Y/N, and Leanor who brought Qarl, openly, for the last several years. Two-thirds of the Yule celebrations Y/N attended, Damon, Leana, and their daughters attended. If both Leanor and Leana were in attendance, then Rhaenys and Corlys were to be expected as well. That many adults with interwoven history kept things interesting.

There was the year Damon forgot how old his niece and nephews were. He bought each a preschool aged, drivable, electric dragon. Despite the older children being in their early teens, they enjoyed the gifts more than those of the intended age. The gathering room became their race track. Several holes in drywall, a busted floorboard, and one trip to urgent care later and the remaining dragons were locked in the garage.

Once Viserys called Alicent Aemma after one too many glasses of punch. Leana strengthened it hours prior, insisting this was not the children’s bowl. That made breakfast the next morning very awkward for everyone in the house. When it became clear that not only did Viserys not remember the slip up, but was oblivious to the tension, Aegon started an over under on how long it would take for Alicent to lose it. They made it to the Yule dinner.

The year of Rhaenyra and Leanor’s divorce was particularly awkward. Rhaenyra refused to speak to Alicent months prior. They hadn’t been in the same room since “the incident.” The children had to convince her to attend rather than host her own gathering. Rhaenyra spent the entire affair staring daggers into Alicent. Leanor, though not as volatile, didn’t do much to ease the tension. His idea of a petty come back was inviting Qarl. Alicent was uncomfortable with her guest’s lifestyle- as she called it. Harwin, bless him, tried but he also had zero tolerance for any disrespect towards his soon to be wife or family. That included Leanor and Qarl. Though Rhaenyra and Leanor’s marriage was founded partially out of fear of coming out to Corlys and Rhaenys, they’d taken things rather well. They were saddened that their son thought they’d ever reject him over something he had no control over. Screw outdated Faith of the Seven views on homosexuality. Leanor was their beloved son. Jace, Luke, and Joffery were as much Leanor’s as they were Harwin’s. Rhaenys and Corlys loved their grandchildren none the less, and neither had issue with reminding Alicent how she outed their son and nearly destroyed his family. Laena was worse, as she was fiercely protective of her brother. If she saw one of her nephews shed a single tear, no matter the cause, Alicent was to blame. Daemon lived for the drama and fanned the flames. Rhaenyra’s boys were in turmoil as their entire world just shifted. Aegon and Aemond used it as an insult whenever there was a disagreement. Y/N was stuck in a cycle of anger and timid guilt. She regretted she said anything to Helaena in the first place. She was mad at Alicent for not caring who she hurt on her never ending quest to defame Rhaenyra. She was mad at Rhaenyra and Harwin for putting her in the situation to begin with. She felt guilty every time the boys looked her way. Viserys was beside himself as there was no respite in fights to break up. He almost fainted when Rhaenyra and Leanor brought the divorce papers to Yule Night and used the gathering to throw a parting ceremony.

It was only tradition that the Yule of Y/N’s senior year was a disaster as well. The dining table was the battlefield. Words were weapons. Feelings were cannon fodder.

After gathering everyone’s attention, Viserys stood from his seat at the head of the table. “I’m very pleased to look around this room and see the faces of those whom I hold most dear. I’d like to propose a toast to you all. To my family. That despite our differences, we are all her together, as a family. As we’ll continue to be through the change-”

“Viserys.” Alicent warned, trying to pull him to sit. “Now’s not the time.” The latter pleaded, but not enough.

“Time for what, Mother?” Daeron, oh so young and innocent, asked.

“I would appreciate your sensitivity and support, my family, as Alicent and I begin the process of divorce.”

“Viserys.” Alicent seethed. She wasn’t ready for this but that damned punch struck again.

“Old friend, I don’t think-” Otto began.

“No, no, your thoughts are what ensnared my brother in this ruiness match to begin with.” Daemon spat at Otto. Neither liked the other, never had, never would.

“Now Deamon, she’s still the mother of four of my children-” Viserys began.

Damon tutted. Alicent nodded in agreement and held herself proudly.

Viserys’ protection withered when he saw the deathly stare Alicent shot at Daemon and the scowl of warning at Rhaenyra. “-Even if she chooses to bring another man into our marriage bed.”

“What?” Wide eyed, shocked and inflamed, Rhaenyra’s focus burned on Alicent.

“Oh don’t hang me for sins you yourself are guilty of.” She was rather quick to her own defense. She let her pride blind her to the fact children were still in the room. Her ire shifted to Viserys next. “And you, you’ve held a ghost in our marriage bed for the entirety of it!”

With the implication of her mother, Rhaenyra knocked her chair over as she flew to make Alicent regret her declaration. Luckily, Harwin caught her. A cacophony of insults followed from all directions.

Calmly and with a glimmer of amusement, Rhaenys turned to the older children nearest to her. “Take the younger ones to the playroom please.”

Jace grabbed Joffrey and Luke followed. Aemond picked up Daeron. Aegon, Helaena, Baela, Rhaena, and Y/N followed behind the rest. It was Helaena’s idea to set up the Nintendo games for the younger boys. Joffrey and Daeron were the same age and easily distracted that way. Luke, rather than follow the elder lot, volunteered to remain with the two youngest. Playing Mario Kart interested him more than the destined debrief.

Aegon looked to Aemond and Y/N, it wasn’t a suggestion but an invite. Aegon was going to drink no matter what. Aemond had no objections considering the pandemonium of it all. Y/N was thinking the same thing. Even Helaena was ready to numb herself. Baela and Rhaena were in unfamiliar territory and had no objections. Jace, well he wasn’t sure what the others silently agreed to, but he followed.

While in the doorframe to the upstairs den, Jace was stopped. Aegon held a hand to his chest. “Uh, uh, uh this is reserved for those who can hang. You… cannot.”

Jace inhaled like a bull ready to charge. Fuses were short all around.

Y/N knocked past Aegon and let Jace in. “Don’t be a twat.”

“Is it or is it not my parents who are this Yule’s shit show? If anyone can be a twat, I can. And…” Aegon turned back to Jace with a malicious grin. “One drink in and he’ll be running to hide in his mummy’s skirts.”

“Do us all a favor and go skydiving off the roof you wastril cunt.” Jace would’ve taken a swing, much like his mother, if he wasn’t being held back.

“That’s enough.” Y/N’s voice boomed over both the boys. She was holding Jace back. Helaena didn’t know how to act. Aemond, much like his uncle downstairs, was finding the scene in front of him very amusing. Baela and Rhaena simply observed, eyeing each other with their own secret language.

“Jace,” Y/N’s voice sweetened. “Can you please get me one of the hard seltzers from behind the bar, in the small fridge?”

“Ugh,” Aegon rolled his eyes. He’d already swiped a bottle of wine. As Jace made his way to the bar, Aegon made his way to a leather sofa. “Gods forbid we exclude one of your devotees.”

“What?” Y/N spun to Aegon in hardened confusion.

“Oh don’t play naive. We all see the way he looks at you. His eyes are glued to your ass like a starved dog follows a meat truck. You say jump and he asks how high.”

Aemond was leaning forward against the back of the couch, behind Aegon. It’s how Aegon was able to hear Aemond’s small huff of amusement. Already in the mindset to destroy everything around him, Aegon went in on his brother next.

“Like you’re any better.” He shifted to look up at Aemond who was now scowling. “You blow a load anytime she breathes in your direction.”

Aemond wound up to deck his brother but Aegon rolled to the floor to avoid the punch. His laughter was borderline maniacal.

It was Helaena’s even voice that halted the ongoing spiral. “That’s not true.”

Her words were adamant. Everyone cocked their heads at Helaena’s interjection. “Neither like Y/N. She’s like a sister.”

Looks were exchanged. The boys in the room would think the declaration was one of sarcasm if it hadn’t come from Helaena. In Helaena’s world, it was obvious that everyone viewed Y/N like a sister, like she did. Or at least, that’s all she showed knowledge of. They’d known each other for seven years now. Y/N lived with Jace and his family. Everyone was uncle or aunt to Y/N. What Helaena didn’t realize was Y/N wasn’t blood with any of them. She was a consistent presence. They were hormonal teenagers. She was a shame free focus of affection.

Y/N observed each and everyone of them searching for anything she could use to continue her intensional delusion. None of them had feelings for her. They were all friends. Kind, devoted, affectionate friends.

An uneasy truce settled over the room. Helaena was an adamant person and no one was in the mood to go up against that brick wall tonight. So slowly, those without drinks slinked to get one. Guards were still up regardless.

At least two hours passed. It was enough time for each of the older children to go through four to six drinks each. With ease they dismissed one of the youngest when they came to make an inquiry. Not one in the elder group bothered to hear the question. That caused a problem when the youngest made their way downstairs to inquire about something to eat. The adults, exhausted and nursing their own drinks, were confused. Certainly the older children could’ve gone down to the kitchen to scrounge something up for the lot. Where were they? They were where? Doing what?

In their bacchanalia, the older seven did not recognize the storm of footsteps marching their way. Alicent blew down the door like a twister. Rhaenyra was on her heels. Soon a disgruntled Viserys was next to enter. A disapproving audience of Corlys, Rhaenys, Leana, and Harwin lined the halls. Daemon and Leanor had the good sense to know the circus would round back to the center tent. Harwin only went to keep his wife from ending up in the back of a city watch cab.

None of the older children could clearly make out what was being shouted at them. They were intoxicated and there were too many voices echoing off their disappointment. Aegon and Alicent were the first out of the room. She dragged her oldest out by the collar of his shirt. In contrast, a gentle hand guided Helaena to follow. Viserys shuffled Aemond forward. Leana came in and collected her daughters with a firm hand on either’s shoulder. Rhaenyra was last to guide her son and ward out. She was fuming like a dragon with smoke, but her guidance was just. The events of the night left everyone wanting a reprieve. She was disappointed in how her children sought it. 

It was agreed upon that Corlys and Rhaenys would accompany the younger children to the kitchens and distract them from the additional chaos to follow. Those being reprimanded were lined across the main room’s couches. Rhaena and Baela were off to the side. They’d face the least amount of punishment. Leana was a constructive parent, preferring to explain than admonish. Daemon wasn’t too concerned. He was doing worse at sixteen. Jace couldn’t make eye contact with a soul in the room. Aemond’s gaze firmly fixed to a very interesting speck on the wall. Helaena watched the room unafraid. Y/N and Aegon stole glances at one another.

“Deplorable.” Viserys began. “Delinquent, and unbecoming behavior from the lot of you! You see the strife your family is in and decide that’s the opportune moment to turn into tipplers?”

“Seems like the opportune moment to me.” Aegon muttered under his breath.

Viserys strode towards his eldest son. “What was that boy?”

Y/N turned her full attention to Aegon. His eyes were hardened and glaring between his mother and father. Y/N tried to bore her gaze into his mind, willing him to shut up before he made things worse. It didn’t work.

“I said, it seems like the opportune moment to me.” Aegon replied defiantly.

Alicent scoffed. She flanked Viserys to scold her son. “So you lead this debauchery? Is it not enough that you torment us with your frivolity and recklessness at university? You flitter about with no care, no decorum, no decency-”

Aegon roared and in a flash was off the couch in his mother’s face which caught everyone by surprise. Never had he stood up to her admonishments. “You of all people have no right to lecture me about decency!”

“Aegon,” Rhaenyra made a move to step in. She hadn’t turned oblivious over the past couple of years. She noticed Aegon began spending more and more time at her house rather than his own. At first she thought he and Y/N were hiding something, but then Y/N got a boyfriend and Aegon often made his way over even when Y/N was out.

“Mind your tongue to your mother.” Enmity welled in Alicent’s eyes. Her lips quivered in anger, fists clenching and unclenching by her sides.

“And when did you earn this deference, mother? Was somewhere between my audacity to question why your gym trainer was in your bedroom, and when you threatened to ship me off to the citadel when I refused to go with you to the sept to pray away our shared sins.”

Gasps filled the room. Those who hadn’t had questioning brows were in desperate need for their drink. Leaning into the attention, Aegon outstretched his arms and addressed the room. “Yes my dear family. My mother’s personal trainer, Christon Cole, puts the personal in personal trainer. In fact, he’s so devoted that he’s been bedding her for over a year now!”

Aegon strode back to his mother, eye to eye, a breath apart. “And she threatened that not only would no one believe me if I told, but that she’d see to it that I ended up at the wall. Isn’t that right, mother.”

The sharp clap of palm meeting skin rang throughout the room. Alicent’s breathing was labored by the crushing weight of Aegon’s admissions.

Aegon held his cheek in his hand. Tears collected in his eyes. His head had been thrown to the side, but he looked up at his mother with animosity that rivaled tenured enemies. Otto pulled Alicent away from her son. He was shushing her, insisting she calmed down. Viserys looked defeated. Everyone was mimicking the math in his mind. It had been a year. A year and Aegon knew. Aegon knew but didn’t tell his father. Aegon knew and didn’t tell his father because his mother threatened to have him banished and the closest to incarcerated you could get with or without committing an offense.

Rhaenyra looked to Leanor to speak for her as she was too dumbfounded by the turn of events to find her voice. “It’s best this discussion continues in the morning when cooler heads can prevail. You’re all dismissed to your rooms. If any of you dare further the troublesome actions of the night, the consequences will be severe.”

Other than Aegon, the others scrambled to leave the hostile environment. The sequestering was a delight by this point. Aegon trailed behind, slowly, letting his blazing scrutiny be known throughout the room. After feeling his hatred was known, he relented and crept away to the safety of his room.

...

Helaena hadn’t felt like talking. Y/N made it clear she could. Her home life had sunk into a deeper ring of the seven hells tonight. Y/N would stay and hold her and listen if that’s what she wanted. It wasn’t. Like a sponge, Helaena absorbed the emotions from the room and it exhausted her. She just wanted to sleep. So without much fuss, she collapsed into the safety of her bed to block out the world if only for a handful of hours. Y/N took the opportunity to truly prepare for bed.

Down another corridor Aegon too had thrown himself upon his bed. Though the air was chilly, he turned on his ceiling fan. The repetitive circle and white noise worked to dry his tears and release his stored adrenaline. He hadn’t spoken a word since climbing the stares. What did he have to say? Nothing he wanted to relive at the moment. Though he had a suspicion someone would make their way to his room to try.

The door opened and closed swiftly but quietly. Aegon didn’t look up to greet the intruder, but a smug grin slightly quirked his lips. “Was wondering how long it’d take.”

“And who did you expect, brother?” Aegon shot up from his reclining position to find Aemond at the foot of his bed. His arms were folded, button down sleeves rolled up, the creep hadn’t bothered to change in the time they were dismissed. He remained as composed as he thought it was intimidating.

“Get out.” He commended immediately.

“T’was quite the spectacle of an evening.” Aemond clearly had no intention of heeding his brother's words. “Don’t you think?”

“I said get out.” He sheathed. “I thought you just a twat, not a deaf twat.”

Aemond hummed. It was his response before his response. Just enough noise to fill the silence and prolong the time to gather his thoughts. He walked around the room, observing the state of things. He ran a finger over an unread book, then the laptop nearby, using the touch to his brother’s possessions to rile him up further.

“I didn’t appreciate your pettiness earlier.” Aemond announced, hands clasped behind his back.

Aegon scoffed. “Always mama’s little-”

“I’m not talking about Mother.”

“What in the seven hells are you on about then?”

Aemond stood silent, wanting his brother to catch on and admit he wanted to embarrass him in front of Y/N. Aemond wanted to wound Aegon with the understanding that Y/N wanted him less than anyone else. Irritated, Aegon either refused or was too daft to follow.

“Y/N.” Aemond clarified with a proud raise of his chin.

“Y/N?” Aegon asked in humored disbelief. “All the lunacy affairs of the evening and that’s the one you’re hung up on? Really brother? We all knew you carried a torch for her, but I didn’t know you were this down bad over some snatch.”

Aemond’s eyes inflamed with malice. The disregard in which Aegon spoke made him see red. “Do not speak of her in that way.”

“Please, you want to mount and ride her just as much as our gangly nephew. You idiots follow her around hoping one day she’ll attest your devotion was proof enough and let you fuck her stupid. Guess what, never gonna happen. She’ll continue to string you along with crumbs of affection like the pair of fools you are. She doesn’t want you. She never has and never will.”

Aemond was biting his cheek to remain composed. Gods, he fucking hated his cunt of a brother. If he was on fire, the world had to burn with him.

“And you’re nothing but her plug for an occasional high. She hates you.” Venom dripped from Aemond’s words. “Loathes you even when you’re good for that one thing. You taunt me because you know I have a chance when you could fuck everything with a pulse in a fifty mile radius, be the last man alive in Westeros, and she’ll remain the one girl you could never touch.”

“Oh brother,” Aegon stood and rounded the bed to stand face to face with Aemond; much like he had early with his mother. “For that I’m going to make her scream my name while you watch.”

...

Alicent passed back and forth in front of the fireplace biting her thumbnail. She lost her composure, she knew that. She knew she was wrong to have slapped Aegon. She was wrong for making him keep her affair secret. Viserys was right to threaten to take the children away. If she’d slap Aegon, who’s to say what she’d do when her other children brought her to anger. She sent her father away long ago. His presence only further incensed her anxiety.

By now, almost everyone was in bed or preparing to be so. Alicent couldn’t walk past their doors knowing the judgment that radiated behind them. Her pride and regret were at war with one another. The crackle of the fire drew her attention. She became lost in the flames. Fire and Blood were the words of the house she married into. Maybe that explained why she spent over half her marriage with her own blood boiling. This was the tipping point.

“You should try and rest.” A level voice spoke from the archway of the hallway leading to the stairs. “You’ll need all your faculties for the morning’s conversations.”

Alicent’s relaxed curls draped over her shoulder as she went to address the speaker. Rhaenyra.

“Please don’t wear the facade of worry. It’s unbecoming of you.” Alicent’s tongue hadn’t dulled. Here was an external target after her inward massacre.

“I worry for my half-siblings. They’re blameless in this.” She took steps to further herself into the room. “It hurts. Doesn’t it?” Rhaenyra cocked her head in rhetorical questioning. “Having your intimate life gutted and displayed for vultures to feast on.”

“The irony isn’t lost on me.” Alicent dismissively waved Rhaenyra away.

“And yet we live through this cliche. The pious turned sinner. The righteous banner fallen to the flames of indulgences.” Rhaenyra couldn’t help but let a little bit of satisfaction drip into her words.

Alicent’s arms were folded protectively over her one another, hiding her chest and how it heaved. “Where have you been all this time, hm? Playing house with your lovers and your father’s money. You ran from one flight of fancy to another. Fleeing duty, while the rest of us were left to carry on the burdens of your family name.”

“You chose this Alicent!” Rhaenyra retorted exasperated. “You chose. Your choice. Am I supposed to thank you for your election to marry Viserys and become queen of country club society?”

“You and your uncle, so quick to flee from the duty your name holds. Who else was left to hold up tradition and respectability.”

“Some traditions are best left in the past, Alicent! Look how the burden of them has destroyed you and your children!”

“And what do you know of my children?”

“I have eyes Alicent. Aegon carries the weight of all your regrets to the point where he withdraws into vice just to feel something other than the crushing knowledge that all his mother’s dreams died with him. Helaena is only as functioning as she is because the seven blessed us with Y/N. Do you really think she’s so quiet, or did you notice that she spends half her nights at our house rather than yours?”

“Stop it!” Alicent shouted the command but it settled as more of a plea with her hands over her ears.

“Aemond harms himself in the desperate search for a scrap of attention. All those achievements… he pushes himself to extremes in the hope that this next accomplishment will be the one that gets you to see him. And Daeron, well his Ipad has been his parent for some time now. My father isn’t blameless, but godsdamn Alicent I never thought you were one to give up.”

“I tried!” Alicent’s voice was stretched and scratchy with the strain of the day. “So damn hard that it broke me and I didn’t even want any of this!”

Taken aback, Rhaenyra studied the splintered woman in front of her. “Then why do any of it?”

“Because I thought I was doing what was right.” She sobbed out, finally letting her blood boil over into tears that had for long run dry. “I was doing what I was taught was right by the faith. Push want aside for honor. My father thought it was the right choice. My only choice.”

A breath two decades withheld deflated from Rhaenyra’s lungs. “Oh Alicent.”

…

Y/N spent her shower sobering a bit and replaying the night’s incidents. Another marriage who’s nail in the coffin was a child catching the act of infidelity. She was the only one in the house who could understand that perceived guilt. She felt empathy for Aegon and horror at his abuse. It was no surprise that her limbs acted on one accord with her emotions. She was carried to his door. Just outside of it she heard rumbling, a crash, and a string of cuss words. Everyone on this side of the house must have taken their Ambien tonight, as she was the only one concerned.

She dashed into the room not knowing what to expect, but certainly not expecting the scene in front of her. Aemond had Aegon by the throat on the floor. His knee was pinning Aegon’s legs down to avoid any kick up. Aegon was doing his best to swing at his brother’s jaw and scratch at his hands. Since Aemond’s growth spurt he’d had the upper hand as he’d always been the better fighter of the two.

“What in the seven hells?” Y/N rushed over to Aemond and hooked her arms under his and tried to pull him up. He heard her but he’d yet to process her presence or words. His reasoning was glazed over by the malice he felt. “Get off of him.”

Locking in like she was the anchor in a game of tug-of-war, Y/N heaved again. It was enough of a reprieve of pressure for Aegon to free his legs and bring a knee to Aemond’s gut. Aemond relinquished his hold on his brother’s throat and it sent him and Y/N spilling backwards. Luckily Y/N landed without much airtime as she was already low to the ground. She landed on her bottom with Aemond splayed over her lap. His hair fanned her like a blanket.

The sounds of labored breathing filled the room for the duration it took the shock to wear off. Y/N didn’t dare move with a recently volatile Aemond on her. Aemond’s limbs felt the ache of adrenaline and he didn’t care to move. Aegon rubbed the tender skin of his neck. He was the first to climb to his feet. He took a cold soda from the mini fridge next to his bed and held it to his neck. Watching him care for his injury persuaded Y/N to take action. With gentleness, she slid Aemond off her lap and onto the cool floor beneath her. 

She approached Aegon with worried care. Aegon allowed her to lift the soda can up to investigate his injuries. Y/N’s back was to Aemond, but he didn’t need to see her front to know her expression was one of concerned care. He could see it in the way Aegon’s creases softened. He knew it in the way Aegon allowed her in his proximity. Aegon was a bloody fool. He spent so long torturing Aemond and Jace over their affection for Y/N. It distracted him from the longing he felt for her. It was evident in the way he sought comfort in her touch.

Aemond straightened himself into a seated position before he spoke. His arms wrapped around his criss-crossed legs to give himself some comfort. His voice was as small as he could make it. “Why are you helping him?”

Y/N didn’t take her eyes off Aegon. She was guiding him to sit on the bed while she remained staning, holding the soda can. “Because he’s hurt.” She answered as it was obvious to her.

“No,” Aemond cleared his throat and spoke a bit louder. “Why are you here? You hate him.”

Y/N deadpanned and turned her disapproving gaze to Aemond. “I can have my disagreements with someone and still care for them when I know they’re hurting.”

Aegon sucked his teeth and released into a cocky smile like he had as a child. Due to her turn, Y/N couldn’t see Aegon’s face. It was reminiscent of the shit eating grins he’d wear when standing behind one of their parents on the rare occasion he wasn’t the one being scolded. Aegon didn’t need to speak for his previous words to repeat in Aemond’s mind. The childish expression was enough.

“Do you know what he said about you?” Aemond’s jaw hardened, teeth ground in irritation at his brother’s perceived upperhand. He wanted to hurt Aegon. If he couldn’t physically, then emotionally. Even if it scorched Y/N.

Y/N’s brows furrowed in confusion. Was this fight not over their mother and father? “What do you mean?”

Aemond stood at this and strode towards Y/N. He looked down upon her. There was a storm raging in him. “You stand here nursing his wounds but do you know what he says behind your back?”

All enjoyment evaporated from Aegon. “Aemond.” He warned, voice hoarse. Y/N’s attention went from one brother to another and back.

“You’re to be mounted and rode. He’d fuck you infront of me to prove a point.” Aemond continued as Y/N’s eyes widened at the crassness of it all. “And that was only tonight. To others, you’re the snatch on the side for when he’s finally bored enough to let you get it wet.”

Y/N’s eyes watered. She didn’t want to believe it. Aemond grasped hold of her chin and turned her neck to land her waterworks on Aegon. He wanted her to see the man she was doting on. See the real Aegon. In turn, Aegon had the good sense to advert his focus in shame at his words. He itched with regret over his loose lips. He never thought Y/N would hear his words and he didn’t even know why he said them. It was the rise from others, the attention, and the satisfaction he received from it that fueled his disgusting claims.

Y/N knew Aegon’s tells as well as Aemonds. He never made eye contact when caught in something shameful. Regrettably, she adopted the Targaryen tendency to make the world burn with her when hurt.

“Your jollies come from defacing the few who foolishly show you some affection. You’re pathetic.” Y/N spat. The soda can fell to Aegon’s lap.

Aegon’s sight focused on her pleadingly. “Y/N.”

“No.” She held up her hand to stop him from going further. “No more excuses. No more apologies. You want to talk like fleabottom trash, then be it too. Don’t call me when you’re drunk and crying. Don’t text and ask me to drive an hour to pick you up from whatever university bar you’re puking in. In fact, do me a favor and choke on your vomit next time. Maybe that will finally shut your foul mouth.”

Aemond snickered and it drew Y/N to turn on him. “And you, fuck you for being so bitter that you’d break me to watch him bleed.”

Aemond stumbled back as she pushed him out of her way. He allowed it in his shock. He hadn’t thought his admissions would be turned back on him. He hoped they’d make her seek him out in comfort.

“You both can kill each other for all I care.” Y/N stormed out of the room. Tears fell from her eyes with every step and she tried to dry them. The door slammed at her exit and it startled both brothers, making them plummet into the mess they’d made.

Next Chapter

[superbrieflightstudentlove]

The destruction and disrespect of Luke in the Disney "Canon"

Hello, any Original EU/"Legends" Star Wars fans here? I wanted to share some of my opinions about the current Disney Canon not only in terms of the movies, but also their comics and novels too. So let's start with my biggest gripe - the handling of Luke Skywalker, once the main hero of the beloved franchise.

We already know that Disney hates Luke Skywalker for the crime of being a "white, heterosexual guy" aka not diverse enough for modern woke politics. We all know how they handled him in the "Sequel Trilogy", the less said about that, the better. Their novels also try very hard to throw as much shade (and many times outright hate and contemp) at him as they could and portray his twin sister Leia as the superior one in every way, whether it's Force potential, mental resilience, emotional control or even moral compass.

Their comics from what I heard tend to be somewhat kinder to him, to a point, but even then some writers are just itching to portray him as lame and as much of a failure as possible. One such instance that pissed me off was when I heard that in one of the comics taking place after "Empire Strikes Back", Luke encounters another Force sensitive, a young woman who is also an aspiring Jedi, who somehow manages to get into Luke's mind deep enough to see the nemory of Darth Vader telling him that he is Luke's father. Immediately afterwards, she manages to trap Luke inside a nearby hole and use her Force Powers to fill it with water. Luke somehow forgot how to use his own Force Powers (even after being trained by Yoda himself for months and enough to impress even his father Darth Vader during their battle at Bespin, even though it was clear that Luke was still no match for him by that point, Luke's progress was still big enough to leave an impression on Vader), and literally drowns there. Yes, you read that correctly. Luke doesn't just almost die, he actually temporarily dies for real, before Artoo zips the Force Sensitive gal unconscious and resustitiates Luke back to life. Now I don't know who this Force Sensitive girl was, it's possible that she might have been at least partially trained Padawan during the Clone Wars, who somewhow avoided being slaughtered during Order 66 like Reva, but it seems quite unlikely. From what I heard, I got the impression that she was still young around the timeline of the "Original Trilogy", around Luke's age, so if she was raised in the Temple of the Old Order, she must have been still youngling, just like Reva was. So how come Luke, at this point in his training, was completely unable to defend himself against someone who is in most likelihood just a beginner, while he should be just as advanced if not more so considering by whom he was trained and that not that long from now, he is going to go toe to toe with Vader himself?

Now we know that Disney tried to portray Luke as average, or even below average, so no Jedi Prodigy here, despite being the son of the literal Chosen One and according to George Lucas inheriting the same Force Potential as his father, but they still have to fit this somehow with the original movies, yet I find it hard to believe that if Luke was this much of a weakling, he would be able to stand against Vader in the "Return of the Jedi". Even if you say that Vader was just that emotionally conflicted and torned apart by having to fight his own son, so he held massively back, it still doesn't explain why would Emperor Palpatine even agree to Vader's proposition to turn Luke to the Dark Side and make him one of his apprentices. What would be the point? He needs a strong replacement for Vader, considering he is paranoid that his "old friend" is getting some rebellious ideas into overthrowing him, and if Luke can't provide a reasonable alternative, why just not destroy the young man outright and be done with it? It's honestly strange. I know that Disney stated that Vader never lost his potential even after Mustafar unlike in the original EU and Lucas' vision for the OT and PT movies, so it might make perfect sense for Vader to be naturally much stronger than Luke and that he was always just going easy on him and that's why Luke managed to get the upper hand on the Death Star, if they didn't want to keep the fact that Luke inherited his father's full potential from the old EU, but they also made their version of Vader not caring about Luke nowhere near as much as the old one did. He even actively attempts to kill Luke after Bespin in one of his comics. This is after he knows this is his son, the only thing of his beloved wife left in the world. In fact they made Vader's redemption almost entirely about Padmé, rather than Luke in his own right. It's after Darth Vader investigates his wife's death and sees a video of her saying on her deathbed that there is still good in him, that brings his old self to the surface, not the fact he finally found out he has a son that he presumed was dead for two decades because of his actions. And after the Emperor whoops Vader's ass again, he forgets even about his wife's words on her deathbed, and actively tries to murder their child. Lovely. But of course when it comes to Padme's identical Handmaidens, especially Sabé who looks most like her, he stops his hand. Even when he was still Anakin, they made him even more obsessed with her than he already was in the PT or anywhere in the old EU material and that says a lot. In one of their books he even thinks about how for Padmé he would burn the whole galaxy down, sacrifice everything and everyone else dear to him, including their own unborn child. And I swear that I saw some people on Tumblr sharing excerpts of this, swooning how romantic this is.

On one of their next encounters, he gets turned on on Luke's fear of him and says something along the lines of only sparing him because his Master ordered him to. Heck even Palpatine seems to bizarelly care about Luke more than Vader does, when he is shown worrying that Vader might kill Luke despite the fact that it was originally Vader who convinced Palpatine in "Empire Strikes Back" to spare him, declaring him as "just a boy". So why the sudden going easy on my clearly incompetent weakling of a son in the final movie? Siths despise weakness! What is the point of luring Luke to the Dark Side if he is always going to be just a slightly above average Force user, even with proper training? Remember Vader believed in the second movie that Luke's potential in the Force is big enough to finally make a difference in his fight against Palpatine in order to overthrow him! This is after Vader beats the absolute shit out of Luke on Bespin, yet still believes his son has enough of a potential to be a serious threat against the Emperor once fully trained. This might be just a wishful thinking on Vader's part, but the fact that Palpatine agreed to his proposal to turn Luke speaks volumes about his talent and potential in the Force. It's clearly not just a father's sentimentality or nostalgic feelings involved.

What is even more insulting is, they made Luke to be beaten up pretty badly by a random Imperial Guard when he surrendered to Vader on Endor. This is shortly before their meeting, yet in the movie, Luke appears perfectly healthy and without any bruises or injuries when he faced his father for a private little chit chat before he is brought to Palpatine. Why did Luke, at this point a very skilled Force User, let himself be beaten without any resistance? Alright, I understand he was trying to lay low for his plan to work and not get himself killed when he is unarmed and outnumbered, but why is there no physical evidence of it in the movie itself? What is the point of even including it in the first place then?

And don't get me started on making Sabé try to kill Luke too after she finds out whose son he is. She was one of the closest, if not the closest companions and dear friends of his mother. It is even implied that she was in love with Padmé, however unreciprocated it was. Now the weirdness of being sexually and romantically attracted to someone almost identical to you aside, she has sworn a solem vow to protect her Queen with everything she has got, even laying down her life for her if need be, which she stated she is perfectly happy to do directly to Padmé's face no less. After her death, she, alongside every other Handmaiden, vowed to get revenge for their Queen's death and Anakin's death too (they saw both of them as heroes and didn't know that Anakin became Vader. To them Vader was the one who killed them). They even created an organisation within the Rebel Forces called Amidalans for this purpose.

Now, it's true that at first Sabé was forced to work with Vader against her will and wanted to kill him, but after she discovered his true identity as Anakin Skywalker, she began to view him in a different light and started to cooperate willingly. She agreed to help him overthrow the Emperor and to crown him instead. She starts to think how ineffective the Republic was and how the Empire in the right hands would be a much better system of governance. How she came to the conclusion that exchanging one genocidical maniac for yet another one is a good thing, is anyone's guess but here we go. Funnily enough, she even thinks that she (Sabé) is the one who can redeem him and bring him back to the light based on Padmé's words that there is still good in Vader.

After Vader grows tired of her and kicks her out of his servises, she develops an ingenious plan to test Luke on whether he is susceptible into following his father's footsteps, prepared to kill him if he shows any signs of anger, by literally ambushing him, shooting at him relentlessly and threatening one of his allies at gunpoint. Unbelievable. This absolutely hypocritical ass even dares to call him a Sith to his face when he is just defending himself after he crushes her sniper, which you know, she was just using to shoot at him. Why she thinks she has any moral highround here to play a judge, jury and executioner over a life of someone who did nothing to warrant it, just because he happenes to share DNA with someone is beyond me, especially since not so long ago, she was happily serving Vader herself and even considered him a viable option for a galactic ruler. What's funny, is that the other Handmaidens even pointed out how by joining Vader and the Empire, she is going against everything Padmé stood for and if she was still alive, she wouldn't approve of Sabé's actions in the slightest. She even chose Vader over the rest of the Handmaidens at some point, yet she has the gall to play a morally superior being and judging her Queen's child's character while she herself is morally compromised and far from being a saint, by playing sick, twisted mind games with Luke with the intention to hurt him and potentionally kill him for the crime of being related to the same man she was fine working for not so long ago.

Yes, Luke might be Vader's son, but he is also Padmé's son, and as far as Sabé knows, her only child (she doesn't know about Leia). Does that mean nothing to her? Why be willing to sympathize with your Queen's genocidical, mass murdering, child killing hubby (she knows that he was the one who marched on the Jedi Temple and killed everyone inside, including the younglings) and wanting to make him the absolute ruler of the known universe based on nothing but the words of a dying woman you once served when he has shown absolutely no indication that he deserves it, just the opposite in fact, but not be willing to extent the same courtesy to your Queen's innocent child that has yet to do anything bad. In fact, she knows that Luke is a War Hero who works for the Rebellion and destroyed the first Death Star, so you would assume that he is far more deserving of her loyalty and protection than Vader ever was.

What is happening here? How could Disney lost the plot so much? This is such an inconsistent, illogical mess. All the characters are massacred beyond reason.

But what do you think? Let me know in the comments.

[whumpster-fire]

Rating the Overlords in Hazbin Hotel:

#10: Valentino. Bitch ass motherfucker supreme. I want him to die and I want it to hurt the whole time he is dying. Fucking scumbag. Also IDGAF if he's a moth I will always maintain the headcanon that the sleazy prick is a pubic louse.

#9: That one blue firey skeleton dude in the meeting who didn't say anything. Has literally no characterization.

#8: Zeezi (that one pink and green lady at the meeting): Has literally no characterization but that color scheme is eye bleeding and I'm here for it.

#7: Rosie. Man she's cool and all, helpful to Charlie, friends with Alastor, but she just doesn't capture my interest the way the others do. Being the overlord of cannibals is a really niche thing it seems like compared to being in control of major forces that are fucking up society, I have a feeling she maintains her position because (a) she's smart, and (b) the other overlords don't really want her domain because taking eating human flesh to the level of an obsession is kind of dweeb behavior.

#6: Velvette. Horrible cringe zoomer iPad kid (or Millennial, I don't know). I absolutely love the fact that she showed up at the meeting and literally everyone else in the room was like "What's with this sassy... lost child?" Has so much potential though for her character to embody the absolute worst of internet culture. Next season I want to see Velvette trolling, going "L + Block + Ratio," and doxxing random sinners and getting them killed for her own entertainment.

#5: Carmilla Carmine. Awesome. I like seeing people in hell who are still people and not obsessed with becoming the most cartoonishly evil motherfucker possible because "hey we're already in hell, might as well get crazy." People can have friends, family, etc. and still do shit that gets them sent to hell. I'm getting "was leader of an organized crime family in life" vibes. Also has vibes of being one of the less horrible overlords to work for because she's emotional stable enough to know that being cruel to your minions for fun is bad for morale.

#4: Husk. Okay he's a former overlord but let's say Overlord Emeritus. He has my respect as an overlord for dying in like the 70s but choosing an absolutely classic vice to make his domain: drinking and gambling. Also the timeline here implies he rose to power when Alastor was already around. I wonder if there was a power vacuum because Al killed the previous overlord of gambling?

#3: Vox. I hate his cringey techbro ass but in a "I want to put this man in a jar and shake it vigorously" way. The fact that he actually enjoys Valentino's company is a major minus though. I kind of wanted to see a strained business relationship where he dislikes Val immensely but works with him because sex sells and Val has the market cornered. Also his voice is kind of... generic. I was really hoping for him to have a Mid-Atlantic Accent but of a more "mid-century TV anchor" type to make it extra clear how much he wants to rip off / replace Alastor and as a part of him that isn't as hip and modern as Mr. Died In the 50s wants to present himself as.

#2: Zestial. Hello Mr. Tall Dark and Mysterious. He is so fucking cool. I want so badly to believe that he and Alastor are genuinely friends and respect each other but also Alastor respects Zestial enough to want him to think he's cool, and when Zestial showed up Alastor internally panicked because of 'Oh shit my friend showed up while I'm being trailed by the lamest minions in hell, he's going to think they're mine this is so embarrassing!'

#1: Alastor. What a fucking guy. This man is being dragged kicking and screaming into character development and I am here for it.

[cuntylouis]

What are your hopes / predictions for Season 3?

I think and hope that Louis will stay as very important for the story and isn't reduced to a sidecharacter or just Lestat's love interest. It's the single most important thing to me. I think him and Lestat won't get back together until later but they'll still be interconnected and everything Lestat will do is related to Louis

They're going to do the whole rockstar Lestat thing, which has potential to be an incredibly entertaining storyline and it'll probably run through the whole season and possibly longer. Lestat's rock star era is a reaction to the book being published, but i've seen people speculate that in this version he isn't angry at Louis for it, and more at Talamasca and Daniel, and the tour thing could be partially to protect Louis by distracting vampires who're planning to kill him. I think that could be the case but i hope there's still some friction between Lestat and Louis about the book and different versions of events because i thought that was interesting in the original series. Wrt Lestat's music and stage persona it sounds like it's not going to be traditional rock and more like a mix of different genres

I don't know are we going to see ghost!Claudia yet at this point (i think it might reduce the impact of her death like i felt the appearance of dreamstat sometimes reduced the impact of his 'death') but i think her presence and absence will be heavily felt. She'll be constantly in every character's mind

Though s3 has been called TVL season i'm sure it's going to be structured very differently than the book because TVL being almost entirely flashback doesn't really lend itself to television medium, it would grind the plot to halt. I think the flashbacks are going to be interspersed with the modern time scenes, and at least half of the story is going to take place in the present. I think Lestat telling his story to Louis is one possible way they can bridge the timelines and also involve Louis more

The entirety of the Vampire Chronicles lends itself poorly to television adaptation, because it's so dialogue/internal monologue and description heavy, has so much origin stories, and often has little plot or the plot sucks. I think as Rolin has already implied, they're going to mix the best and most adaptable elements from all the books of the series rather than going in order book by book. So we'll likely see things from qotd and later books already in s3

I think what Assad said about making 'what happened between Armand and Daniel in Dubai' the new 'what happened in San Francisco' and doing a whole bottle episode focusing on it is a great idea, would love if they actually did that. I'm very curious to see what's going on between Armand and Daniel, and learn more about Armand and his motivations. Not to sound like an annoying stan who can't accept different interpretations of their fave, but Armand is one of my favorite characters of all time and i thought his characterization in the show was amazing for 2 seasons until this finale where i thought it felt pretty confusing and shallow, and stuff related to Armand and his relationships with other characters felt very rushed and inconsistent with his earlier characterization. I trust that there's going to be more to it, and i hope that more is good and complex enough to feel satisfying to me

GABRIELLE! Gabrielle is one of the best characters in the books and i'm really excited to meet her and find out who's playing her and how she's going to be portrayed. And like Sam has said several times now the dynamic between her, Lestat and Louis is so interesting. With writers who actually care about Louis and Gabrielle as characters in the way Rice didn't it's going to be an absolute hydrogen bomb of a dynamic. Can't wait for the best worst mother-in-law and son-in-law relationship of all time

[charlidos]

I feel you linger in the air episode 9

There's so much to unpack in this episode! I've been home sick all week, so I've had time to obsess a little more than usual and have far too much to say. So here's a very long review. Forgive me.

First, Yai takes care of Jom in the most loving way. He can't stand to be away from Jom for even a second at this point, I think. Up until they became intimate, it was always Jom taking care of Yai, and Yai didn't really stop expecting to be served. I like that they haven't tried to make Yai more modern than a man of that time could possibly be. He's young, upper-class and doesn't know any other time or system (he's not been to France, after all) and while he might want change, his perspective is very limited. But I think Yai is gradually changing his mindset, because of Jom. And taking care of him like this is part of that.

I'm also struck, again, by how natural, warm and intimate the interaction between these two seem. Obviously two actors who are an acting match made in heaven.

I also believe that is why Yai doesn't protest more against the engagement. He was obviously already sad and frustrated over his current life (before Jom turned up) and lack of choices. But he also seemed to have resigned to this fate, and doing what he was told. I always think it's presumptious of us modern day people to expect people in this time to rebel. Because I don't think we really understand the cost. He risks losing everything he has; family, money, job, security, position etc. What would he do? What choice does he actually have? So how could he protest against his dad's decision when it comes to Jom? Jom made him dream again, but it's still just a dream.

I think the saddest scene in this context was with Yai's mom. He felt so betrayed by her, getting no comfort, no understanding. My heart broke for Yai right here. She also has little power over events, but surely she could have given him something.

Yai talks about how he's loved Jom since before he even met him. And we already knew this, since we've seen another version of Yai already, in the very first ep (will they have time to get back to him in this series?). So I gather that Yai is reincarnated through the times, and always loves Jom, his fated lover. But how about Jom? So far, we only know he's travelling in time, and we don't know if there's any reincarnation going on with him. Does Jom have to jump through time in order to meet Yai in all of his lifetimes?

However, I do feel like the creators are a bit more interested in telling the story of what it was like living in Thailand in 1927 (or 1928?) for women, queers, servants etc, than the time travel and reincarnation bit. Because there's only three eps left, and so much to explain! I really have no idea how Jom's time travel works here; it seems like some kind of loop, or parallell timelines, since he meets himself both in the present day and in 1927. So does these events happen continously, over and over? And where is Jom right now in 2023? Is he in a coma, or is he missing? Is his physical body in 1927 or in 2023? So many questions, so little time.

It does bother me that Jom is still keeping his biggest secret from Yai. I understand why but still, it such a big thing. Yai knows he's hiding something, but he doesn't know that it's potentially the most heartbreaking thing of all: that Jom doesn't belong here, and might soon be gone forever. Jom at this point probably doesn't think he's ever going back to his own time, so maybe he doesn't feel the need to tell Yai. Particularly considering how strange it would sound. Still, when you hear Yai talking about his dream of just being able to spend his life with the one he loves, it's so epically sad that he doesn't even know that being forcibly engaged isn't even the worst thing.

This whole scene was so full of sadness to me; all those crushed dreams of his. His longing for more, freedom, love, the world. So many people now and in history who have had to live like this. It's always worse when you know there's more, when you get a taste of it, but can't keep it, than not knowing it existed at all.

Jom's first reaction to this engagement was devastating. How he immediately resigned to his fate of having bad relationships which end with him being alone. It's like his previous break-up forged a path in his head which he immediately went back on, interpreting it as betrayal. It surprised me at first, because I thought he would understand how Yai was pressured. But somehow, in this moment, he just saw the pattern in his life instead. And since he's started to accept his life being in this time for the rest of his time, he had already built it up around being with Yai. Even though he, with reason, must know it was a pipe-dream. But I suppose he needed something to hold on to. He only has Yai, after all.

At first, I was confused by why Jom then was being so cold to Yai, and maybe I don't fully get it even now, but I think Jom wanted Yai to be able to let go. And therefore had to give him a stronger push away by being the one making the decision. But what does he mean "I can wait"? Wait until Yai's dad is dead? Until Yai has his own money and can decide his own life? I suppose his previous experience of being betrayed steeled him. But I think he also realised that Yai is not like Ohm, that this is the real thing, that Yai is worth the wait. It's just that for the moment, they have to wait. (Oh, but it's so sad that they don't even know that Jom will be gone soon! Yai will have to wait for his next life... )

Finally, this whole engagement event was surely the cringiest event ever seen. You'd really have to be completely blind, psychopathic or ignorant to be happy seeing Yai being so miserable. He wasn't even trying to pretend, he just went through the motions, all lifelessly. The only ones smiling at this event were the three men who've done nothing but cause misery to their families. And then there's the fiancé herself. What is up with her? If she likes Yai, surely she must at least notice something is bothering him? But she seems completely oblivious. Like she and Yai are attending completely different engagement parties. Maybe she trying to keep a brave face, but ugh, it looked cold and weird.

All the while Yai was looking too handsome for words. And so, so sad. There's really nothing sadder to me than resignation. When you've given up, when there's no hope left.

But Jom to the rescue! Gosh, this ending took me completely by surprise! I didn't see that coming at all. (Despite it giving some comfort, I think it was a mistake airing the trailer for ep 10 directly after the end, this time. Because it really spoiled a little too much.) What is Jom going to do? I had a fleeting thought that he was actually going to do a performance, like sing or rap or whatever. That would have been so weird! But I guess it's something to do with revealing something incriminating against the jolly men responsible for this charade.

This series really deserves a lot of love, it's so beautiful and full of heart and history. I think they may be trying to take on a few too many issues at once to fit in these 12 eps, but we'll see how they manage to tie it all together in the last three eps. (Pleeeeaaase let there be a season 2!) But I also feel they take their characters' plight very seriously. And Bright and Nonkul take their characters love for each other very seriously too. It's been so long since I've been so convinced that two people love each other in a drama. It sucks you right in. Can't help but being obsessed.

[desultory-novice]

...What time is it...? It's time to slowly clear out Dess's massively over-stuffed inbox with another LIGHTNING ROUND!

> both does and doesn't survive

Oooh, that choice of words!! /pos

> a refusal to stop just because the story says its finished

And ahhhh, this too!! /pos

...Okay, wow, I need to draw more Beast Pack now... (Sorry, I wish I had a more intelligent response than that but I daresay you already laid claim to the most brilliant words!)

--

Hello hello! As a fan of the show Firefly back in the day, I APPROVE OF GALACTIC WILD WESTS!

But no, this is really smart! Most of the people who come to Popstar could be easily categorized as shipwrecked or refugees of some kind. People from the "greater" more modernized galaxy winding up on a backwoods-y planet. (And I think it's been described that way in certain works. Or implied?)

Depending upon how you take the Floralia situation, Popstar could be a bit like Australia or some other small island callously "claimed" by the British Empire. Outside of a few places like Butter Building (and even that is a maybe) most of its locales seem to be places that are still standing from ancient history. Not a lot has been done with it from this generation of Popstarians. It's frontier-land.

Also, Max as a robber-baron is a A+++ idea! This all reminds me of how in my expanded Dreamy Gear concept, I made the HWC one of those shady AF age of expansion railway companies! It just feels very in tune with the way the HWC was doing things! (Under the table and independent of any galactic authority, to be certain!)

--

As far as that particular puffed up depiction of Dedede goes, I can see it too, tbh! ...Nyeh. XD

Pardon my YGO Abridged reference.

--

I have to admit, I haven't read every novel in-depth, but Takase-sensei is getting a lot closer to my own views of Kirby + Kirby-verse here. I feel like the Planet Robobot novel might be the last one of hers where I really appreciated the specific take she took with things!

(Btw, I wonder if we'll get a third novel this year? I still don't think a Mago Epilogue novel is coming just because no Meta Knight XD but I'm curious what other story she might cook up now...!)

--

I think it's a great thing to think about! Just like HAL and Kumazaki love to dump lore in the most obscure places, I think we're meant to think about these things! Enjoy going in depth on them!

Now, I think I lean towards a more emotionally balanced Taranza, even while seeing him as someone in mourning. I've of course laughed at the various crying/distraught reactions people have given him (which are all really funny!) but I also think that maybe he'd be someone to take it more as what it is - a tribute?

(At least, I don't think Magolor means it negatively. I'm not 100% on that, because he DOES like to play tricks on people. But I also have a personal HC that he learned about Halcandra and the Lor/Master Crown during time he spent with the spiders so I don't think he'd do that to Taranza to be mean. Maybe Magolor never reached the stage of being "friends" with Taranza and Sectonia, friendless wizard that he is, but I think he liked them, potentially?)

So, I think Taranza would be touched by the mask (he MIGHT cry though) and the way it is labeled. It's subtle. It doesn't flaunt the fact that Taranza never got his feelings across to his beloved. Nor does it disrespectfully rewrite history as if he had.

I think Susie is also able to have a fairly calm (?) or at least highly restrained reaction to seeing her father's visage. But again, I like the concept that she might mock-threaten to sue Magolor too!

If Magolor DIDN'T get contracted by Susie to make that Weekend Outfit Susie mask and instead made it himself based on observations of her in his trip through the timelines, now THAT would get him in some serious hot water for sure! (But she probably would compliment him on how she looks appropriately cute in it.)

...Daroach would have something quippy to say, I would feel. Probably something a li~ttle prickly about how it's funny he doesn't see a mask depicting MAGOLOR's time under the possession of an evil artifact!

Magolor: "......"

I suppose Marx's reactions to a mask of his soul form depend entirely on where you place Marx on the "more intelligent than he looks" slider. If he's just a silly little guy, then Magolor just made a palette swap mask of him and that's funny!

If he's actually very, very SMART then he would say the same thing as before - on the surface. And then he and Magolor would have a very serious talk about things. In private.

(I, of course, love a Marx who is exceptionally magically inclined. Possibly more attuned to magic than a non-Master Crown empowered Magolor. And he might be able to recognize just from a glance what exactly is "going on" in the Marx Soul mask - certainly from the invocation of "Soul" in the name. Namely, that Magolor saw something HE SHOULDN'T.)

Coo: "...Why am I gray??"

And I agree that Kirby would love the different colored Kirbys and probably made all the Dream Team try them on!

PS: I would love to write/draw/read/see more depictions of the others enjoying Merry Magoland! It's such untapped ground!

--

I did, in fact, post my treatment for my best attempt at coming up with an entry-evel Kirby movie with plenty of easter eggs back in this post! I'm not... 100% satisfied with it, as it's so heavily and clearly an ADAPTATION smooshing several plots into one.

But I did what I could with the idea of trying to cram as many games and major characters into three movies as possible while sticking with Kirby = Friendship as a major theme.

To be honest, I'm more in love with the plot concept I teased for the "second movie," that combines Squeak Squad and Triple Deluxe and RtDL together and pits Kirby and the gang against the Squeaks against Magolor and Taranza against Sectonia against Traitor Magolor in a wacky mystery of mistaken motives!

I think the "thief vs thief" and "royalty vs wannabe royalty" aspects make the characters from that game mesh together a little better than trying to speedrun the Dark Matter Saga + Marx in one movie.

But lets answer some of the rest of this, shall we? ...If you go back enough years, I would have liked to see a Kirby movie done entirely in 2D, but even the old anime series recognized it was easier to keep Kirby on model if he were 3D. So nowadays, it would have to be 3D.

I don't expect it would go for a particular visual style, ala Spiderverse or Puss in Boots. I really think it would look like your average Disney/Pixar/Illumination "clean" CG movie....

But it would be fun if they tried for a more impactful style! Something heavily cell-shaded, perhaps? I love the aesthetics of Epic Yarn and Rainbow Curse, so while a movie might not be the place to get super experimental, I wouldn't mind them trying!

Mario has proven that you don't need to massively twist the characters into the Hollywood "cartoon" model to be successful so I think Kirby could lean more toward a "faithful" depiction.

That said, while -I- personally would do everything possible to work in as many references as possible if I were put in charge, the sad truth is, I never would be, and so I expect a Kirby movie would be a little vanilla in its plot. A "Kirby vs King Dedede only oops, Dark Matter/Nightmare is really behind things!" story?

I wouldn't necessarily expect to see the Animal Friends or Adeleine or Gooey in it. Maybe Marx, given he's popular. (But I don't expect a massively nuanced take on him. ^^; )

...I'd go see it though, either way!

--

Oho!

This is a pretty interesting concept because Elfilin is not really anything resembling a combatant. Then again, Adeleine isn't much of one either...

Because Adeleine takes a lot from the Artist copy ability (and the same can be said for other Dream Friends who call back to certain movesets) I think I would continue along that path and base Elfilin at least partly on the ESP copy ability.

Elfilin would have a few unique attack moves, based on the use of their tail, probably. Little excited, flicky movements! As well as moves based around their ability to make portals/rifts!

They might be able to use weaker versions of Fecto Elfilis's moves including a softer version of Elfilis' Antares spear? (Probably made of light or a phantasmal version, rather than just a miniaturized version of it XD ) And of course, every X number of times you use the move that summons objects from a dimensional rift, a miniature Big Rig falls out and rams into something! XD

--

...Anon...

How you tempt me... 

.

Our setting is a dimly-lit smoky bar. A woman with thick hair covering one of her ruby eyes and with warm, earthy skin leans in, her gold jewelry flashing, her dress sinking past her feet.

“The others call me...'clingy.' Said I don’t know how to let go.”

Her partner, an older gentleman with plenty of blond left in his slicked back hair and a surprisingly attractive squint shuts his pocket watch and smiles a cat-like smile at her.

“Misty, you know my only purpose in life is to grant your wish.”

.

May you all be damned with that visual as I have been!

--

If I don't say this enough, I have received so much support from this fandom and I'm just so very grateful to all of you.

I hope all of you are receiving the love and care you deserve as well for being such creative, kind, patient, understanding people...!

[negative-speedforce]

Which of your OCs is most likely to be able to identify any pride flag from looking at it? Which OCs know only a few? Who's most likely just to make something up?

The St. Florian's Crew (Siv, Jay, Cat, Kyle, Max, Gina) could probably identify any flag, though Siv might get a little confused if it debuted between 2015-2018, since she was dead between those years.

Team Hex (Hailey, Cassandra, Jay, Arya) could do most, but might get a little confused on the obscure ones. Arya, despite being over 2000 years old, manages to nail every single one.

The Requiem Trio (Liah, Qiara, Marie), despite all being some flavor of LGBTQ, probably wouldn't recognize that many, given that they're from the distant future and the flag designs have probably changed by them. However, Liah could probably name every single pride flag, as long as they're the versions from her time.

None of my Star Wars OCs would recognize our universe's pride flags, since they're in an entirely different place in the cosmos from the rest of my OCs. However, when it comes to recognizing their universe's flags, Pyrrha would absolutely suck at it, given her extremely sheltered upbringing.

In the Odyssey-verse, Vanessa and Matt would be best at identifying pride flags, and Victorie, Dolores, and Aldrich would be the worst, given that they're all immortal vampires and aren't 100% up to date on modern culture. Dolores might be able to get a few, but she still uses a flip phone so we'll see.

Ellis doesn't really understand the human concepts of gender or sexuality, so they might be able to recognize the color schemes of the different flags, but they wouldn't really be able to explain the meanings of them. Their human companion, Gabi, would probably be able to identify all but the most obscure ones.

Overall, excluding potential flag differences bc timelines or universes-

Most likely: Cory, Pippa, Matt, Vanessa, Jay, Liah Thalia

Least likely: Director Hawke, Ellis, Aldrich, Victorie, Pyrrha

[laqualassiel]

Trying to decide in the Spark!Ardyn au where Ardyn goes after getting Blessed by Ifrit, because there’s no way on the Pyre he’s sticking around in Niflheim now that he knows Besithia is insane enough to try daemonifying an Astral.

Now the only question is: where does he go?

There’s Tenebrae, the closest and easiest to reach when Ardyn has no identification or money and hardly any knowledge of the modern world. Get Tenebrae world building and politics, stuff on the Oracle family, and eventual interactions with a younger Sylva, who might not even be the Oracle yet depending how old Sylva’s mom is. The threat of Niflheim discovering Ardyn (again) is highest in Tenebrae, given Tenebrae’s proximity and vassalage. The people of Tenebrae would likely be more religious than other countries, so we can build on the established Cosmogony and how that ties into the official religious doctrine. Ardyn’s grief for Aera would be more raw here, with Aera’s family as constant reminders. There’s also the possible conflict of the Oracles potentially knowing about Ardyn’s new Blessing, and if Bahamut had made known to the Oracles of his mandate that no other Blessings are permitted, that could put the Oracles in a position of having to choose between Ardyn and the will of the gods (or at least the only one whose actually awake). Depending on how far the canon historical timeline gets yeeted, Ardyn would be present when Noctis is brought to Tenebrae for healing and would promptly derail Niflheim’s whole invasion.

Next closest location is Accordo. Harder to get to because of the necessity of traveling by boat, but it is part of the Empire so there’s less travel restrictions to worry about there. Here we’d get Altissia world building and politics, meeting young Claudia Claustra and her movement to free Accordo from Imperial rule. No daemons in Accordo, so Ardyn’s magic would stay under the radar longer, and therefore less risk of Niflheim and Besithia finding him. Ardyn would integrate more into city life here, rather than living as a hermit. Dunno what Ardyn would do to make a living, but he’d pick up some sort of quiet career. In addition to meeting young Claudia, we’d eventually meet Prince Regis and his Retinue when they come to Altissia and get tangled in the politics there. There’s also the chance of Leviathan waking up and being Not Pleased to find the former Accursed and now one of Ifrit’s Sparks living on her front lawn. In this location Ardyn would probably get involved with Claudia’s underground resistance movement, and would probably interact quite a bit with Weskham after he stays in Altissia.

There’s Galahd, which has less world building needed (bless @secret-engima) but I could play around with the Clan politics of the time and their oaths to the Crown. Galahd would fold Ardyn in no problem, and without havens and only a scattering of temples Ardyn would put his magic to use the quickest of all locations. He’d be safest from Niflheim here, and pretty safe from Mors sending assassins too. Dig deeper into the differences between Galahdian religion and the official doctrine. Meet some of the baby glaives. Meet Prince Regis when he comes to Galahd briefly. Help fight the Niflheim occupying forces after Mors pulls the wall, which adds the risk of discovery from Niflheim.

Lastly, we’ve got Lucis. Farthest from Niflheim and hardest to get to, but the easiest to disappear in the Lucian Outlands. Would probably set up shop as the og ‘Witch’ of Malmalam Thicket, and meet young Kimya when she shows up demanding to learn from him. Highest threat from Mors’ assassins. Would likely meet Regis and co at least once. Offers the chance for Ardyn to rescue Cor from the Tempering Grounds, including a long overdue meeting between Ardyn and Gilgamesh. After Mors pulls the Wall, would have the threat from Niflheim’s invading forces. Ardyn would be more involved with the Hunters in this, if only tangentially, and might have more interactions with Cid and Cor as time goes on. Of course, being in Lucis means he’s faced with reminders of his brother’s family, and could even make the pilgrimage to Somnus’ tomb if he’s feeling particularly self-destructive.

So, any thoughts or ideas on where Ardyn ends up after running from Niflheim?

[katyspersonal]

Damian and Mico cute headcanons 🙏

☁️ Damian would be 'fatherly' (or motherly? xd) partner for Mico, as he is somewhat older and is quite mature and more stable emotionally. Micolash could really find the most comfort in collected partner that could calm him down. Micolash can be an intense person! He had quite emotional problems, PTSD and nightmares even before the cosmic horrors, but Damian naturally would want to hold a person like this and tell them it will all be okay.

🐚 On the other hand, Damian's softness and caring attitude leaves him vulnerable for anxiety episodes. He has to watch all these darn kids go insane and is powerless to pull them back! But whereas Damian is very stoic person that is good at suppressing such feelings to be the "strong one" in any company, Micolash is a person he can open up about this vulnerable side to. Mico knows a lot about herbs and meds, and is able to make good tea, incense and other stuff to calm the nerves. So, he will take care of Damian, always able to identify when Damian is at his mental limit and not acting as his usual self. No one else is able to see past Damian's poker face like that! x)

☁️ They actually happen to share a lot of skills and knowledge. Both can cook well and love doing that, both love animals and can take care of them (sweet simpler times BEFORE Micolash would start switching heads of crows and dogs with one another ;-;), both have advanced medical skills, all that. Damian used to keep the vivarium at Byrgenwerth and using his biology knowledge to help with studying weird plantlife and fauna, but Micolash was a rare case when Damian had almost nothing to teach him...?

🐚 Them both being so similar in their life skills would make it not certain who does what chores, so they'd have to decide whose turn it is now through playing a game (from rock-paper-scissors to chess)! EXCEPT for cleaning. This one is always on Damian because Micolash is too lost in thoughts to watch his surroundings x)

☁️ Micolash would soon surpass Damian in his skills though, becoming way more advanced in both medicine and arcane. In my "official" timeline at some point the dynamic would slightly shift to Damian being more like a butler/bodyguard/assistant than a 'dad'! You might remember me depicting Damian helping Micolash to dress up for an event or kissing his hand. He is to Micolash what Yurie is to Rom, but he would not mind. In the 'nothing bad happened and everyone lives' or 'modern' AU, Damian would just straight up end in this role, taking care of Micolash's room, meals and schedule, whereas Micolash would be that wonky scientist type always too into his research to remember his basic needs.

🐚 Basically, they have potential for* both* very equal and supportive relationship and for more clearly distributed 'roles'. Which way it shifts just depends on how interested Micolash would be in healing and simple life pleasures, I bounce between two versions of this dynamic for this reason!

☁️ Perhaps not very 'cute' one, but Micolash would be rather possessive over Damian, feeling very uneasy if Damian gives a lot of attention to someone else. At least a couple of times, he pulled Damian away from someone that also needed his care and attention. This is usually the subject of their fights. Micolash becomes a LOT like a little baby when he gets jealous, just... straight up the vibe of a son of a single mother that will be upset if she tries to date someone because he wants her attention just to himself. Abandonment issues, man. I'd say although this is unhealthy, it is sort of... bittersweet reason for the fights? Sometimes Damian would manage to reassure Micolash that he is still the most loved person for him and he'd get to him as soon as he'd help that other friend/student/whatever. While waiting for Damian to be "all his" again, Micolash would become even more aloof than usual, spending the entire wait time making something nice for Damian (like a cake, a drawing, sewing him some cute shirt, etc). Not just for the sake of Damian, but for his own too, as that'd feel like connection while being separated.

🐚 They really love sea shells, both of them. If they could go to the beach properly, they'd collect a lot of them. And end up trashing their house with them, too, because none of them would have the heart to not hoard -_-" Collecting cool rocks is their second favourite thing. Basically, their 'dates' tend to be going on adventure somewhere to collect various wonders of nature! They legit need someone more reasonable to stop them and understand they do not need that much stuff hoarded xD

☁️ They have mismatched sleep schedules, like, very much so. So since there is a problem with going to bed at the same time, they read each other books before sleep! Damian will read him various stories, and Micolash would read him creepy ass scientifical research papers on experiments, surgery etc. Damian still sleeps like a baby tho because what matters is that Mico sounds genuinely excited and is sharing something he loves with him xD

_____________

Thank you for the ask!

[oneokkombat]

My live reaction to this mk1 story expansion leak ignore I’m one month late my dumb ass didn’t think there was a reddit for leaks

Disclaimer: potential spoilers ofc, I’m aware this might be not completely accurate to the future story expansion this is just for funnsies don’t take me too seriously also I’m new here pls have mercy

while reading this whole thing I felt like the “we are so back, it’s so over” meme it was a roller coaster my god

Midway reading this I felt a headache coming idk why I thought the reboot meant the story line would get less crazy I clearly misjudged by A LOT

But don’t get me wrong I was loving it lowkey

We are getting the lin kuei bots I think and I’m kinda excited for that

Anyways, I’m so excited about getting to see kuai and harumi’s wedding omg <3 and apparently everyone from the crew is going (or almost everyone)

I hope we get to see Hanzo

Harumi is going to appear in the story line and we might see her kick some ass hell yeah

Whoever is the person who betrayed the Shirai Ryu I’m coming for your ass

Anyways, wedding is ruined 💔 it became a war zone 💔

I wonder who the other Lin kuei is (cyrax?)

Mileena immediately wanting to kill them😭 isn’t that why people where against her being empress girl pls

Also kuai immediately also wanting to kill the traitor 😭

So what what I’m understanding, titan havik is not mk11’s havik (leak said liu mentions he’s different from the one he knew)

We are seeing khamelion omgg

Geras getting kidnapped it’s so funny to me like 😭 I get havik is a titan and they are powerful and shit but isn’t geras like more powerful for being the time keeper?!?/! (I could be 100% wrong tho)

WW2 JONATHAN GAGE (AND HIS SUPERIOR MIGHT BE SONYA) as a COD girlie this was one of my highlights because all I was thinking it’s who funny would it be a crossover between these versions of them and the COD modern warfare crew

I do wonder if he’s completely different than our Johnny in the sense he’s more serious or if he still a little bit goofy, personally I think it would be cool if he was still a bit goofy, maybe like mk11 future Johnny 🤔

EMPRESS TANYA!! But she’s married to rain..

EMPRESS LIN MEI!! but she’s with reiko..

I don’t hate reiko or rain..I just don’t like the pairings

Also I think this lin mei is evil 💔 BUT APPARENTLY TANYA ISNT!!

During this whole thing I forgot to say we are getting to see an evil kenshi 👁️👁️

After seen mk1 story I did wonder if there’s a timeline where there are like colosseums where many characters from different timelines fight, and apparently there is!

We are seen a version of ashra, maybe nitara, and mk11 sindel(? Or just an evil one, which I’m excited for because I kinda like evil sindel

Very romantic rain sacrifices himself for Tanya..I still don’t like the pairing

The fact that WW2 Johnny apparently plays an important role in the story expansion it still so funny to me because it’s just so random

What’s also so random is his team up with scorpion I wonder how is their dynamic

I’m going on a tangent for WW2 Johnny but the potential for angst of him it’s so big like what if he wanted to be an actor but was forced into the military to help with the war, him feeling jealousy of his counterpart who did get to be an actor..

No comment for the next section sorry

Anarchist liu kang slay !

Remember when I mention that meme? Well it was also how I felt reading about bi-han like HE JUTS KEEPS FUCKING IT UP to all the bi han enthusiasts im so sorry omg

Someone whether it is his brother or literally anyone else need to smack some sense into him please

He gets corrupted 💔 but then him (and geras !) get saved

Poor geras fr

I do feel bad for bi Han because it is implied he felt ashame of being corrupted so easily, I was like “oh we are so back this is the redemption” and them he disobeys liu kang and I was like “nvm it’s so over”

Evil scorpion and sub zero and I think it’s the og ones

They get killed HSJSJ

WE ARE SEEN TAKEDA AND KENSHI AS FATHER AND SON AGAIN but they are evil😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Bi Han get his grandmaster title revoked rip bozo I do wonder if we are going to meet the new grandmaster of its it’s just a random lin kuei

This might set his redemption or make him worse idk but it’s funny how he just gets thrown to the temple rip bozo

Kuai forgives the traitor so easily I could never, but he empathizes that he also believe his brother’s lies and I like that, so funny he invites them to his wedding again

ALSO WEDDING NOT RUINED CUZ THEY ARE GETTING ANOTHER ONE !! they better just not mention it but also show it I need a cute wedding montage Ed boon pls

Final thoughts: that’s crazy. If they change everything I would be ok as long as we still get wedding and ww2 Johnny (IM HOPING FOR THAT MONTAGE) anyways spare the awful grammar it’s 2am.

[kristannafever]

She Ain’t Gotta Do Much - 3

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M WC: 5542

Chapter Index

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

The next morning Kristoff brought his own coffee, not wanting to deal with the suits or Berkleigh upstairs again, even if it did mean he might bump into the Boss.  Anna was becoming an increasing presence on his mind when he wasn’t working.  

He looked at the stupid Instagram app the night before, sneering at his ugly ass photo.  Berkleigh had indeed added herself to his account.  He was following one and had one follower.   She must have followed him back when he’d gone back to work.  

Out of what could only be morbid curiosity, he looked at few of her pictures.  It was nothing but twerking, bikini poses and duck-faced selfies.   With a sneer he’d closed the app on his phone and planned to figure out how to delete it in the morning.  That picture she took of him was fucking awful anyway, he had no use for social media.

Then as he’d drifted off to sleep, he wondered if Anna had an Instagram account.  If she did, what did her pictures look like?

Sven came in with a coffee and two croissants, handing one to Kristoff and muttering something like ‘get over it already, it’s free food.’

They worked hard and took their lunch on a picnic table outside on the opposite side of the building as the day before.  It was an hour earlier than they normally took it and Kristoff had his fingers crossed that they were not going to run into Berkleigh again.

He ate his sandwich and opened Instagram again, quickly glancing at Sven to see he was occupied in his own phone while he ate, then located the search thing to look up Anna. He found her quickly, beautiful smile unmistakable blue eyes staring back at him from her profile picture.  He went onto her account and began looking at her photos.  

Most of them were work related.  The ones that weren’t we usually her with people, or her at some sort of function or on some kind of vacation.  There was a mix of her professional and personal attire across all of her pictures. He paused on one particular photo of her in a park of some sort, hair twisted into twin braids, pink flannel shirt and blue jeans.  He had to admit he preferred this look over the one she had for work.  

That was when he accidentally liked the picture.

All afternoon he wondered what her liking his photo back had meant.  It was a message that she knew he was looking and she had wanted him to know that she knew.  Which meant… what?  He agonized about it until she came to check on their progress and bid them a good evening like nothing had changed.   That left him even more confused.

That night before bed, as much as he wanted to see the rest of her pictures, he didn’t dare open up that app again.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

 The next day had been long and hard.  The only saving grace was that it was Friday, which meant beers after work and two carefree days of doing whatever the fuck they wanted.  They only had about two hours of work left when Anna interrupted them with a sorry looking expression on her face.  It put Kristoff immediately on guard to see her friendly ease was replaced with nervousness

“Sorry for the intrusion,” she began.  

Sven shot Kristoff a sideways glance.  He was on edge too.  Anna hadn’t been nearly this formal or forlorn looking with them so far.  Something was wrong.

She said, “I apologize, gentleman.  I’m not sure how to start…”

“It’s okay, Boss. Just let us have it.”  Sven’s tone was serious.

“A potential overseas client has informed us of a schedule change.  They were supposed to visit the upper offices in the timeline we laid down, only they’ve moved the visit up a bit.”  She winced, saying the last part.

Kristoff’s stomach dropped. “How much is a bit?

“One week,” she answered quietly.

Sven and Kristoff both let out a simultaneous exasperation of air.  They were already working twelve-hour days.  Getting the entire scope of work done in three weeks was going to be impossible.

“I know, guys, I know! And I am so sorry,” Anna said.

Sven said, “Boss… that’s just not gonna happen.”

Anna began to wring her hands together.  “I don’t have many options here.  I was told I needed to get my people out by that timeframe.  They don’t want the office full of all the extra labourers when their big deal potential client comes in.  It is imperative to them that we pick him up.  They are offering a huge bonus for you both to get it done on time.”

“We have our electrician slotted in for the timeframe you gave us, not to mention-” Kristoff started, thinking furiously about all the logistics when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Let us talk it out a bit, okay Boss?  See what we can come up with?” Sven said.

She nodded, her anxious eyes shifting over to Kristoff a moment.  “I’ll come back when I’m leaving for the day.”

Both men nodded and watched her walk away.

Kristoff turned to Sven. “What the fuck are we going to do?”

He threw his hands up. “I don’t know. We can’t do it!  That gives us what?  Just over two weeks to get it done to the finishing stage.  Impossible!  I don’t know what we are going to tell her.”

“Maybe they can move to some other space?”

Sven shook his head. “She explained very clearly before we went over the scope of work that the stipulations on accepting Anna’s request to get the renovations done to her floor, was that the CEO and other big wigs wanted as little interruption in their operations as possible.  Moving somewhere else is going to take too much time and resources.”  He paused, chewing on his lip.  “This is probably going to come down harder on her than us.   You really should have been paying attention to that conversation.”

Kristoff absolutely did not want to let Anna down or get her into hot water with her superiors.  He hated seeing the stress on her features only moments ago.  It didn’t sit right with him to see her without an easy smile.  

He rubbed his fingers down his chin, thinking.  “We can hire a grunt to haul while we finish the demo.”

“Okay, but like you said, what about the electrician?  We have him lined up based on the initial time frame.  Not to mention that asshole is going to balk at having to get it done about three times quicker than we agreed to.”

“If he can’t work with us, we’ll fine someone else.”

“That soon?  And that’s if we are at the framing stage by then. Can’t show a grunt how to frame properly, we know that from experience.  Oh, and then there’s the sheetrock.  You and I both know we are none too quick at that.  We’d need to hire a company to come in and get it done.  And rush them.  That will really up our overhead.”

“She mentioned a big bonus if we can get it done.”

“Kristoff, none of that is going to matter, because we can’t get it done.  We were already on a massive time restraint.  We would need to have to work this weekend and the next two, plus the sixty hours a week we are already putting in to even have a chance at this. We can’t do that again, we got so burnt-out last time it nearly put an end to us.”

“I know, I know.  Just let me think about this a moment.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why aren’t you freaking out about this as much as I am right now?”

“Because, Sven,” Kristoff shot back, “we both knew how important this job is to our survival. If we can’t do it, even if they are in breach of contract, it’s not going to look very good for us, is it?”

“No, I guess not.”

“So let’s figure this the fuck out, okay?”

Sven hesitated, then nodded. He knew as well as Kristoff that the stakes were high.

*****

Anna’s heart was hammering in her chest as she took the elevator one floor down.  She walked through the dirt and dust on her heels, nearly choking at how thick it was in the air.  The guys had resumed working, meaning they must be finished talking about how – or if – they were going to proceed.

She called to them repeatedly until they heard her and turned of their obnoxiously loud tools. It was amazing how much they had removed from the space already.  Perhaps there was hope that this was possible.  She hated how much pressure the bumped-up time frame was putting on everyone.

They walked over, brushing the dust off their clothing.

Anna tried not to cough. “Hello, gentlemen.  I wonder if you might have a solution for me?”

“Can I ask first,” Sven said, “what are the repercussions if we can’t get this done?”

“Well, you can-”

“We meant for you,” Kristoff interrupted.

“Me?”  They both nodded.  She was touched that they were worried about her.  It was so damn sweet of them.  “Everything moves so quickly in the corporate world, it wont effect me too badly one way or another.  The only negative for me is that my superiors might harbour some doubts as to whether I might be qualified for any future promotions from my current position if I can’t take care of this myself.”

“What does it mean for us then, if we can’t do it?” Sven asked.

“You can sue for breach of contract, and they will just throw money at you to make it go away. That’s why they are prepared to throw money at you to get it done when they want.  If you guys can’t do it, they’ll pay you off and then pay to get someone who can.  Simple as that.”

“How much money are they offering?” Kristoff asked.

Anna gave them the figure and both men were clearly shocked despite trying to remain impassive.  They looked at each other, having a silent conversation, and turned back to her, which was kind of adorable.  Anna could tell they were best friends and had been for a long time.

Sven said, “We have some ideas about how we can possibly manage this.”

“Lay it on me.”

“We bring on a labourer to haul trash while we finish the demo.”

“How long?” Anna asked.

“Two days tops. Starting tomorrow.  And that’s if we can find someone tonight.”

“No need to stress over finding a labourer, I can haul trash, no problem.”

Kristoff looked about to object at that when Sven shot him a look.  It made Anna want to smile were she not still nervous about getting these guys to accept the new terms.

“Done,” Sven continued. “Next, we’ll work fourteen-hour days next week.  If we don’t get next weekend off to rest after this twelve-day long haul, we are going to get burnt out.”

“Of course, completely understandable,” Anna agreed.

“We’ll get to work immediately on re-organizing our electrician as soon as Kris and I are done the framing. Then we will sub-contract the drywall to get it done as quickly as possible.”

Anna nodded, eager with there the conversation was going.  “I can help with that.  I can talk to the electrician and find another one if he isn’t on board.  I can also source out a good drywall company for you and get them in when you need them.”

“That would help a lot, actually,” Kristoff said, finally smiling a little.  It suited him wonderfully.

“Lastly,” Sven added, “the windows and doors for each office that you picked out are still being manufactured.  There us no way we can speed that up.  You are going to have to deal with us in your space for a lot more of the finishing work than we anticipated.  We will not have the paint done as we had initially discussed, and we will most likely still be fucking around with the taping and flooring, so you will have to find a way to work around us.”

“That’s fine!  We can absolutely do that.  I will make sure my team stays organized and out of your way.”

The men shared another silent look and this time Anna did smile.  

“If all of this is acceptable,” Kristoff said, “then you can move back into your space in two weeks from today.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?  We can move in on the Friday?”  She assumed they’d have to be moving in over the weekend before the client came with the tightened timeline.  

Kristoff and Sven nodded and Anna immediately felt a lump in her throat.  

“I could hug you!”  She started towards them fully intending to do so.

They both backed up a step. “It’s okay,” Kristoff said, holding up a hand. “We are filthy.”

“I don’t give a shit,” she said, and threw her arms around him.  He barely moved, but Anna didn’t care.  She also didn’t care that he smelled like dust and sweat.  She was just elated that they cared so much to work with her on this.  She hugged Sven next and he patted her shoulder blade a few times with his fingers.  

She stepped back and Kristoff looked down at her, disappointed.  Anna realized her black blazer was covered with dust.  She brushed it off and smiled at them.  “I will be here bright an early, ready to help. What time?”

“Are you sure?” Kristoff started. “It’s going to be a lot of lifting heavy material into the bin in the alley.  Pretty dirty hard manual labour.”

Anna tilted up her chin. “I am no stranger to hard work, Kristoff.”

He looked a little surprised to hear her say his name out loud.  The only she reason that she knew Kris was short for Kristoff, was because she learned his full name after liked her photo on Instagram.  Or perhaps he was surprised by her defiance.  Either way, he was not the first man she had to prove wrong.  At least with Kristoff, it looked like he’d regretted his choice of words as soon as he said them, unlike most of the other assholes she’d had to deal with over the years.

“He just means it’s going to be a workout.”  Sven flashed Kristoff a strained look.  “No issue for you though, Boss. I am sure.”

“Of course, I meant nothing by it,” Kristoff added, not quite meeting her eyes.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

 Kristoff woke up feeling stupid all over again over his words, making Anna think he was suggesting that she couldn’t handle hauling the construction trash.  It had kept him up late, frustrated that she might get wrong ideas about what kind of person he was.  He only spoke up out of concern, knowing that it was more physically demanding than most might realize.

He scarfed down some scrambled eggs standing in his kitchen then threw a PB and J together.  He’d slept in a bit and did not want to be the one to show up late.  He was right on time when he rolled up to Sven’s house and he hopped in their work van.

The drive was quiet. They were both tired from a full week of work and were looking at another long seven days ahead of them. It was the uglier side of being self-employed.  They were responsible for every facet of their business, including the labour.  It was the dream that one day they would be the ones with offices, running their company and hiring people to do the labour. Only then would they feel like they’d made it.  For now, however, they worked job to job, and Kristoff’s Ma carried around a cell with the number from their advertising should anyone call inquiring about work.

So far, it had remained silent.

They parked and rode up in the elevator.  When Kristoff walked through the doors into the construction area, he was surprised Anna was standing there waiting for them.  

She smiled. “Good morning, gentleman.”

They both bid her a ‘good morning’ in return and Sven began the run-down of what her job for the weekend was going to be.

Kristoff couldn’t stop staring at her.  She wore a brand-new set of Carhart work clothes and gloves, looking like she’d picked them up after work on her way home last night.  He was impressed with her forethought.  Her appearance mirrored theirs, so she clearly understood the scope of work.  It made him admire her even more.

They got to work and a couple of times Kristoff had to remind himself to stay on task.  When his mind wandered, his work slowed down, and they could not afford to slack off.  At least Sven didn’t appear to notice.  If he did, Kristoff was going to get an earful on the ride home.

*****

After three trips down hauling all the construction garbage, Anna was feeling pretty damn great with herself.  It felt good to get in some physical work.  Sure, she was sweaty and the thick gloves were sure to destroy her manicure, but she was hauling ass getting the stuff down to the bin and doing a great job. Both men had shared impressed glances a few times.

She kept plugging away until it was lunch time.  She hadn’t realized that they brough their own and she felt a little sheepish that she needed to duck out like she usually did and get some.  Wanting to be quick, she picked up a sandwich at the deli across the street and rushed back.  They were almost done however, and quickly got back to it while Anna scarfed down her meal as they filled the bin.

By the end of the day her muscles were burning.  They worked at least two hours past when Anna assumed they would quit.  She didn’t dare speak on it though.  Both of them looked absolutely beat and they still had six very long days ahead of them.

No one said much as the men packed up their tools, then they all rode down in the elevator.  

“Same time tomorrow?” Anna asked when they were outside, kind of hoping they would have a later start. She was tired as hell.  

Sven said, “You bet.”

Anna missed him calling her Boss all of the sudden.  He looked too tired to keep up with his humour.  She glanced over at Kristoff and he was looking intently at her.

“Thanks for all your help today,” he paused for just a second, “Miss Arendelle.”

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

 Her entire body was sore when she woke.  It was slow going, trying to haul her ass out of bed.  For breakfast she ended up having to stuff a granola bar in her bag to eat while she drove to work and chided herself on not having time to make a lunch.  

Anna had wanted to be on time, except she got there about ten minutes late.  The bin was already full when she arrived on the floor.  

Without greeting them, she hauled the bin down and emptied it.  When she got back to the floor there was a pile started for her.  Working quickly, she filled it as Sven brough over a few more items to top it off.  Anna took it down and the next pile was a bit smaller.  It took four loads to get caught up to them.  They worked so fast it was incredible.  

Anna had been working so diligently, she hadn’t even realized how far they had gotten until Sven pulled out a broom and started sweeping.  She looked around, realizing that Kristoff was just finishing with the last of it.  When he was done, he loaded up her bin and gave her a smile.

“Last one,” he said.

Anna grinned back at him and took the load down, thinking about how gorgeous a smile looked on him. She was bouncing on her sore legs, excited they had gotten it all done before lunch time.  She eagerly wanted to go home and have a nice long hot soak to ease her muscles.  Followed by a couple of glasses of wine and ordering from her favourite Italian place for dinner.

When she got back up to the floor with the bin, they were still working however.   Kristoff was measuring something on the floor when Sven noticed her walk up to them.

“Thanks for the help, Boss!”

“You’re welcome,” she responded. “What… are you doing now?”

“Marking a layout for the framing,” Kristoff said, still looking down at his tape measure.

“Oh.  Can I help?”

“Nah, you’re good,” Sven replied.  “You can go home now, Boss.”

Anna had been thinking of doing just that a few moments ago, only that was when she thought that the guys could knock off early too.  She should have known there was more that they needed to accomplish today for the week ahead.  

“Seriously, just give me a job.  I can manage,” she offered.

Kristoff stood as the tape measure snapped back into the case.  “Honestly, this is pretty much all we can do today.  We’re picking up the material in the morning and then we start framing.  Once we’re done with this we’re out of here too.”

“Oh, okay.  How long will that take?”

Kristoff’s head tilted slightly to the side as he looked into her eyes.  “Couple of hours.”

Anna pulled her phone out of her back pocket and looked at the time. “So, about three?”

“About there, yeah,” Kristoff agreed.

His brown eyes were so warm and inviting.  Anna knew immediately her plans had changed.   “Okay, I am buying you both drinks and dinner tonight as a thank you.  You name the time and the place.”

-----

It had taken some convincing, but they guys finally accepted.  Or rather, Sven had accepted.  Kristoff was silent and appeared eager to go the entire time, and Sven only agreed after he’d looked at his friend.

Anna went home to shower and change into casual clothes and realized as she was getting ready that she was ecstatic.  They didn’t have too much of an opportunity to talk with all the work that needed to be done, but she’d observed more about Kristoff that she liked.  The way he joked with Sven in passing, the way he smiled at her every time be brought material to the bin.  The way she’d caught him breaking things up into more manageable pieces.  Some of the items Sven had thrown in she had indeed struggled to lift into the trash bin in the alley, not that she would ever admit that.  

Kristoff suggested a Pub that him and Sven frequented quite a bit and Anna was waiting outside when they arrived.  

They both showed up in jeans and that was where the similarities ended.   ��Outside of their nearly identical work clothing, it was interesting to see their different personalities reflected in their choice of personal ware.  Anna approached them for another hug, not giving them any options to opt out.  Sven gave her another awkward pat on the back and then Kristoff actually hugged her properly, although loosely.  He smelled amazing.  Like soap and shampoo.  Sven was wearing some strong cologne, which seemed appropriate for how he was dressed. All designer, all to impress.  He had on a thick metal chain necklace and rings on each hand.  She imagined he went to clubs on Saturday nights.

Then there was Kristoff. Flannel shirt, boot cut jeans and worn in cowboy boots.  Feathery blond hair clean and soft looking from the shower he would have had only an hour ago.  Easy smile, nothing else.  Down to earth and absolutely everything that Anna had come to find attractive in a man.  It was something else to see him out of his work clothes.

The girls on the floor had pestered her about which one of the two jacked construction workers she thought was hotter, and they all had their own opinions on who was better looking. While Kristoff and Sven were both very handsome, for her it wasn’t so cut and dry.  What attracted her to men was more than simply looks.  After that first meeting, she knew Sven wasn’t her type, even though she still liked him as a human being and definitely could see them being easy friends.  Kristoff on the other hand, was a little harder to peg, therefore a little harder to see for who he was.  It had taken a bit, but she could see it now having been around him all weekend.

And she liked it.  A lot.

They all ordered beer and they all fell into easy conversation.  Even Kristoff was more talkative than she’d ever seen him.  It delighted her to no end to see him comfortable and showing her what he was like outside of work.

After sharing a couple dozen wings and a few other appetizers, Sven announced he was tired and wanted to head home.  Kristoff appeared a little surprised by that for a slit second before brushing it off. Sven thanked Anna for the drinks and the food, then he smacked Kristoff on the arm and told him to be there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning.  Kristoff grinned and gave him the finger in return.

Anna found herself smiling ear to ear watching them.

When Sven left, Anna asked, “Would you like to stay for one more, Kristoff?”  She really hoped that he would say yes.  

He smiled. “Sure.”

They ordered another round and a silence fell between them.  Anna was the one to break it.  “I apologize again for putting such a rush on the job.”

“It’s okay, no worries,” he said softly.

“I truly am grateful you guys accommodated me with everything.”

Kristoff shrugged. “Could be worse.  If you weren’t leaving the bathrooms and breakrooms where they are, it would be really difficult.  It gets complicated when you have to move around a bunch of plumbing.”

Anna smiled. “I can imagine. When we outgrew our space and the bosses were set to move up to the floor above us, they tore everything out. It took months.  They kept changing things and adding things.  The CEO decided he wanted a fireplace in his office!”

“A fireplace?” Kristoff chuckled.  “Whatever for?”

“God, who knows with that guy.”  Anna took a sip of her beer.  “That’s why I wanted to re-do our space so much.  I may be the boss for everyone on my floor now, but I don’t want them to think my head got so big that I believe I deserve a massive over-the-top office. Not to mention it’s not my style at all.”

“Oh?”  Kristoff raised his eyebrows.  “What is your style?”

Anna sat back in thought. No one had outright asked her that since she brought up the renovation.  

“Something functional. Simple, but not minimalist.  Wood and earth tones for the furniture and pops of colour everywhere else.  Basically, nothing like how it used to be.”  She chuckled. “Although I do love the idea of some bookcases.”

“I can build some for you, if you’d like.”

She blinked at him, touched with the offer.  “I couldn’t ask you to add onto all the other work you have.”

He smiled.  “It’s no issue.  Won’t take me very long.  I do a lot of built-ins.  The bonus will more than cover the cost of material for something so small.”

Anna looked into his eyes. They were so warm, so lovely.   She had no idea she would get so much enjoyment out of looking into someone’s eyes. And now that she had gotten to know him better, his demeanor was absolutely wonderful.  A far cry from almost every man who worked on that upper floor.  She realized that she wanted to start spending a lot more time with such a delightful man.  As long as he was available, that is.

“That would be very kind of you, Kristoff.”

“No problem, really.”

They were quiet a moment, sipping their beer when Anna decided to go for it.  She would have already been looking all over his Instagram account to try and find out, only he just had that one stupid photo of himself.

“So, Kristoff, you have a girl waiting at home for you or what?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Me?  No.  No one waiting at home.”

“Hmmm.  And are you and Berkleigh a thing, or?”  Anna was pretty confident that it wasn’t an issue but she needed to find out all the same.  There was no point in wasting her time on someone who had other ideas.

His cheeks started to darken.  “Her? No, nothing going on.  I mean, I’m not interested.  At all.”

“You might want to tell her that.  She thinks you’re going to ask her out soon.”

“Shit.”  His shoulders dropped and his hand came up to rake through his hair.  He looked down.  “I was trying so hard not to be rude to her.  She’s… very…”

“Annoying?”

He looked up, smile pulling at the side of his mouth.  “I was going to say persistent.”

Anna laughed.  “She is that, too.”

“I figured.  She was pestering me to set up an Instagram account and told me she wasn’t going to leave me alone until she did it for me. I didn’t really want it.  I don’t know why I caved.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Trying to be polite?”

“Something like that.”

“Is that who took that photo of you?  It’s awful.”

Kristoff laughed. “It’s terrible, I know!”

Anna adored his laugh. It was something special that he showed to few people, she could tell.  There was a lot to admire about him the more Anna spent with him.

“We can fix that.” She held out her hand.  “Give me your phone.”

He didn’t hesitate. After unlocking it, he placed it in her palm and sat back in the booth.  Anna opened his camera and lifted the phone.

“Tilt your head to the side a bit.”  He did as he was asked.  “Now smile. No, not that smile, it looks forced. Give me that little half smile you used when I called Berkleigh annoying.  Yes, that’s it.  Perfect!”

Anna took the photo and looked at it.  Damn he was handsome.  Easily one of the most striking men she’d had the pleasure of being out with.  Not that this was a date.  Yet.

“There, now this is a good picture,” she said, handing the phone back.  “You can make it your profile picture and just delete that awful one. Make your first post what you want it to be, you know.  Not what someone else thinks it should be.”

Kristoff appraised himself on the screen a moment before looking back up at her.  “Thank you… Anna.  It’s a very nice picture.”

That was the first time he’d called her by her first name and it delighted her to no end.  He tucked the phone back in his pocket and they sipped their drinks again.  

Anna said, “You can follow me, you know.”

He just about choked on his beer.  “What?”

She laughed. “On Instagram. You can follow me.  I mean, we both know you were looking.”

He pursed his lips as he turned his head away, clearly embarrassed but smiling nonetheless.  His hand came up and rubbed his jaw before he looked back to her, cheeks all red again.  “We’re just gonna openly talk about that, huh?”

Anna grinned.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  Is this something that you were hoping to never think about again?”

“Actually, yes.”

Anna laughed again. “Oh, Kristoff.  You are adorable you know that?”

One eyebrow went up.  “Am I now?”

“Uh huh. Cuter than a baby lamb.”

The side of his nose came up and he was smiling naturally now.  “A baby lamb?  Not that cute.  Baby buffalo or something, maybe.”

She laughed harder. It had been a long time since someone had made her feel so delightfully at ease.  This man was something special.

*****

They exchanged their phone numbers at the end of the evening and later that night when Kristoff was lying in bed, he added the picture that Anna took of him as his profile picture to his Instagram.  It took forever for him to figure out how to do it.  Then he deleted the one that Berkleigh had taken and unfollowed, then blocked her.   After that he followed Anna.  She followed him back two minutes later, making him smile.

Then he changed his account to Private.  

It did cross his mind if that might be a little harsh to just block Berkleigh like that, except Anna was clearly interested and that was everything to him right now.  He did not want the secretary to get in the way of what he could have with her.

He was sure he was going to fall asleep smiling he was so happy.  As soon as they were done this long-ass work week, he was going to ask her out on a proper date.

---

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[frogprincesnowglobe]

So I know there has been some talk about people hoping we get to see a birthday in S3, but I thought wouldn't it also be cool to see the Crown Prince's name day?

According to the modern Swedish name day calendar the name day for Vilhelm or William is on April 6th. Correct me if I'm wrong as I live in a country that doesn't have name days, but I'm assuming Wilhelm would be celebrated the same day. Erik's name day is on May 18th. And since Erik is no longer the Crown Prince (RIP) that means that the Crown Prince's name day is moved up a month and a bit of change, and since filming is happening somewhere around March--June, 2023 with S2 ending in Late February/Early March, it would potentially fall right at the perfect time for the show's timeline.

This would also be the first time that Wilhelm's name day would be celebrated in the way you'd celebrate the Crown Prince's name day. After reading about how actual Crown Princess Victoria's name day is celebrated I was really interested in how they might play it out in the show. The Crown Princess's name day is on March 12th and this year she celebrated at the Royal Palace in Stockholm with the Army Music Corp, the Guard of Honour, and the Main Guard marching into the courtyard. The Army Music Corp also gave a tribute concert, and she received flowers as well from the Swedish Armed Forces. It looks like from what I could find as a non Swedish person it's pretty similar each year.

This kind of pageantry is something I think Wilhelm would absolutely dislike. I don't think he'd enjoy having that kind of attention on him. But it would open up more opportunity for him to explore his feelings about Erik and how he feels about stepping into a role that had been his brother's his whole life. The Crown Prince's name day his whole life has always been May 18th (if things work the same as the real world in fictional YR Sweden) and it's always been about his brother but now it's on a completely different day and all about him. I get the impression that other Royal name days, like for other princes and princesses aren't quite as important as the Crown Prince/Princesses. Again correct me/let me know. I think it could also be another thing to butt heads with Queen Kristina about, and maybe a chance for Wille to be more open about his feelings with her. It also would be an opportunity to see him do some princely duties.

In any case I think It would be just as cool and interesting as seeing a birthday play out. It's a medium sized celebration that could take place and wouldn't need to take up too much screen time, and would serve a good chance for character development and not just be an event that happens. I'm not predicting it will happen (who knows if anything I predict will come to fruition anyway) but I think it would be really neat if it were an event we get to see happen!

[weerd1]

All right, I feel it’s time to dig into my new comfort show, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Let me say up front, I love this show, so if you’re looking for someone who’s been watching Star Trek since the ‘70s to gripe about new Trek, you won’t find it here. Is this show perfect? Of course not. Is it Deep Space Nine good? Not yet, but I see potential. Episode by episode look and a long chat after the break! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

What it DOES feel like is TOS. From the variety of genres used to tell stories, to some downright weird plot points, to some remarkable social commentary, this really feels like what would happen if they just made TOS now. I lament a bit that we have 10-episode seasons instead of enough in a season to allow for some MORE variety the way TOS had more than 25 episodes a season.

So how about visual continuity?

This show looks like the way I would see this universe when I read novels or played the RPG: effects have caught up with the way I brain painted the Blish adaptations or those early novels. It works for me.

What about character continuity?

Barring the fact the show has canonized the idea that even the “Prime” timeline can shift a bit due to the influences of time travel across the universes (which I love), I think the nuances this show brings do nothing but enhance my understanding of TOS. The Spock/Chapel moments now on TOS? Christine now asking Spock, “have you ever been in love?” in the episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” becomes a bit of gut punch! What does it mean to her when he begins to lose control due to Ponn Farr? Does she think he might be reverting back to the Spock of a decade before who chanced to unleash emotion?

Visually and character-wise, we have not changes but expansion. Honestly, most of these perceived “changes” reminds me of Gene Roddenberry taking the opportunity to enhance the Klingons when he had the budget in The Motion Picture. Did he care that the Klingons weren’t bumpy? Did he care to come up with a solution? He didn’t: He was a creator who now had more tools to work with. SNW does that.

My sole complaint, which honestly stretches across many modern shows, Trek and otherwise is about language. TOS and its progeny up until Enterprise used a more stolid, slang-free method of writing which to me added to the timeless nature of the show. When characters in modern Trek use modern vernacular it ties the episodes for me more to the present rather than allowing me to suspend my disbelief that this is the future. This is just my personal preference, and is certainly not something that torpedoes my love for the show or characters.

So, if you’re still with me, let’s get into the nitty gritty, each episode rated from 1 to 5 LLAPs. 🖖

SEASON ONE

“Strange New Worlds” 🖖🖖🖖🖖

After DISCO S2 gave us a Pike which made Spock’s actions in “The Menagerie” entirely plausible, we pick up here with him knowing his destiny and he’s having to work on that. As it plays out, we get some great explorations of what Star Trek and Starfleet within the universe is about. We also get a pretty pointed commentary on our present and what allowing politicians to appeal to and encourage the baser, xenophobic impulses of their constituencies leads to. Solid start, solid introduction of return and new characters, and wow is this show gorgeous.

“Children of the Comet” 🖖🖖🖖

A solid episode which feels a little long in places. However, showing Sam Kirk is this universe’s Guy Fleegman is terrific, and we get some great Uhura moments. Also, fly, Erica, fly!

“Ghosts of Illyria” 🖖🖖🖖🖖

About as TOS as you can get! Crewmembers trapped on a planet below as danger approaches, a strange disease threatening the crew. Plus, a couple of good character revelations that start threads which will continue well into Season 2.

“Memento Mori” 🖖🖖🖖✌️(That’s a half)

The beginnings of expanding on the Gorn while giving us more background on La’an Noonien Singh (whom I originally was none to happy that she was Khan’s descendant, but S2 really uses that beautifully). She’s a terrific character and this episode helps us know why. Also- see my comment above about making the Klingons “more” because you have the opportunity as SNW picks up the way ENT showed us the Gorn were more than just a slow moving dino allegory and kicks it into high gear.

“Spock Amok” 🖖🖖🖖

A very fun episode which continues to show us that TOS’s T’Pring was more than just a diabolical woman who dared mess with our heroes. Have greatly appreciated what they have done with her. Also, Enterprise Bingo!

“Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach” 🖖🖖🖖✌️

Credit here first of all for a very TOS title. Then a TNG style morality play, but one that does not end happily. Dig it.

“The Serene Squall” 🖖🖖✌️

The Orion pirate captain and Pike’s mutiny was a little too…well silly for me. However, Captain Angel and the Sybok name drop, plus Christine being badass? All in there. Also, this sets up some Spock/Chapel stuff for S2 and I dig all of that.

“The Elysian Kingdom” 🖖🖖✌️

Again fun, and a neat way to deal with M’Benga’s daughter storyline. A bit indulgent in places, but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves so much, and we get Christina Chong’s dog Runa. VERY TOS when it all comes down to it. Bonus points for the DS9 reference.

“All Those Who Wander” 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

Oh- the Gorn are warp capable Xenomorphs. How HORRIFYING. Also, some real stakes as we lose Hemmer, and Spock really starts his S2 arc here.

“A Quality of Mercy” 🖖🖖🖖🖖✌️

Terrific method of tying in some more TOS to contextualize the show, a modernized TWOK uniform, and a new Captain Kirk. I didn’t walk out convinced by Paul Wesley’s Kirk, but he wins me over early in S2. My real complain here is Ortegas falling into the role of the bigoted Styles from “Balance of Terror.” Did NOT seem like her style. Kudos to a bit of a cliffhanger, even if it does feel a little tacked on to the episode. Also, they missed a bet not having James Frain (DISCO’s Sarek) playing the Romulan Commander.

(Also, the show misses a bet not having Rebecca Romijn or Jess Bush voice the computer.)

Overall S1 is a solid start that ties itself plenty to what has gone before, without resorting to simple, overwrought nostalgia baiting to tell a story. Like some other recent Star Trek.

SEASON TWO

"The Broken Circle" 🖖🖖🖖🖖

Spock stealing the Enterprise on a semi regular basis is now in my canon, and I am grateful. Pelia, I am convinced, is actually Carol Kane’s character from “Taxi.” M’Benga rolling out the stimulants didn’t make a lot of sense to me on my first viewing, but in context with the season, this is actually setting up a really interesting—and dark—bit of character development.

“Ad Aspera per Aspera” 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

This. This is Star Trek. ‘Nuff said. (Ok, also, THOSE DRESS UNIFORMS!)

“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow “ 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

Here, HERE Paul Wesley’s Kirk wins me over, even if it is an alternate version. Earning money (and apparently a lot given the remarkably nice apartment they stay in) by playing CHESS, recognizing that La’an’s universe should stay because Sam’s alive, the slow seduction…yup, that’s Jim Kirk. Plus, This episode acknowledges that time is fluid, referencing how TOS tells us the Eugenics Wars SHOULD have been in 1992, but it keeps shifting. Elegant solution that opens so many doors to future stories. Also, baby KHAAAAAAAANNN!

“Among the Lotus Eaters” 🖖🖖🖖🖖

Nice callbacks to “The Cage,” yes. But this episode BELONGS to Erica Ortegas. “My name is Erica Ortegas and I👏🏻fly👏🏻the👏🏻ship!” And let’s add “thread the needle” to awesome starship tricks, shall we? Erica makes this good episode great.

“Charades” 🖖🖖🖖🖖

Vulcan shenanigans are back with a fully human Spock, and indeed, this one is funny. Ethan Peck’s comedy chops are great here, especially with Sam Kirk’s mess. Anson Mount delivers in the funny department too as Pike serves up Vulcan food. Very poignant stuff here for Christine though, and though I was initially, “oh no,” continuity-wise, I really ended up liking what this MEANS to what we saw on TOS.

“Lost in Translation” 🖖🖖🖖

A bit cliche, but a good Uhura episode, and though it seems like they're trying a little TOO hard to bring Kirk in, the Lt. Kirk/Ensign Uhura dynamic here is really good. The Jim/Sam thing also something I enjoyed. What makes this episode for me though is when Uhur figures out what's going on, Pike trusts her. Blows up a whole-ass mining station on the word of one Ensign. Go, Nyota!

"Those Old Scientists" 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

Just perfect. From the seemless merger of Lower Decks animated characters, to the meta commentary about "oddly specific references" and people talking "really slowly and quietly" this just works. Also ENT love! Uhura and Ortegas geeking out over Sato and Mayweather just made my day. So much fun, nothing could wipe the smile from my face! (Spoiler alert: The next episode will gut me.)

"Under the Cloak of War" 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

Holy crap. You thought DS9 played around with questionable moral decisions in a war setting, SNW here shows us they're not afraid to travel into Moore/Behr's space and take a whirl. The weirdness with M'Benga pays off here, and as a veteran myself they way this episode delves into our inability to provide the emotional context to what war does to us to someone without the same frame of reference? Fantastic. I was pretty uptight for most of this episode, because I felt it. I cried in places, was made uncomfortable in places, and what a set of reveals for both Christine and of course M'Benga as we see those flashbacks.

"Subspace Rhapsody"🖖🖖🖖

I WANT to give this one another LLAP, as I love musicals, and I love the fact they were bold enough to do one. The cast pulls off their numbers wonderfully, there's some great moments, especially between Jim and La'an (HE'S BACK???), and they conceit that makes this work is though a hair silly, pretty consistent with Trek and it's quantum/multiversal/anomaly episodes of times past. The only thing that doesn't work for me are the songs themselves. A couple are OK, but they just didn't stick with me. And I made sure I watched a couple of times, just to see if it was my mood. I can't help but compare this to Buffy The Vampire Slayer's "Once More With Feeling" though, and there are three songs from that I keep on my permanent playlist, and can sing pretty much the whole ep verbatim. This didn't make me want to do that; I just really enjoyed it. I wanted to love it. (Shout out though to the "Once More With Feeling" Easter Egg.)

"Hegemony" 🖖🖖🖖🖖

As soon as they gave Captain Batel a first name in the musical, I got worried, and sure enough these Gorn bring that to fruition. She's not dead yet, but she's in trouble, and this is a tight action episode. I appreciate that this new young Montgomery Scott is a) played by a Scot, and b) something of a mix between the Doohan and Pegg versions of the character. My only fear now is we have this cliffhanger, and between the writer's strike and modern TV's general refusal to follow seasonal schedules, we may be in for a far worse wait than the summer of 1990 left us with William Riker's "Fire."

So that's my take. Yes, there are missteps, or things that don't QUITE work, but if I want to compare this to the glory days of 90s Trek, we're only 20 episodes in, and already having a great time when TNG, DS9, and VOY all took at least a season or two of 24 episodes each to find their way. Sure, classic Trek all but hit it out of the gate, but again, we don't have but slightly more than 2/3 of their first season of episodes. We’re 20 episodes in and the worst ones are JUST good, there hasn’t been a bad one yet. SNW has found a way to be a prequel without suffering from their audience’s foreknowledge, and fit themselves firmly into Trek lore without just relying on playing Trek Trivia Madlibs to write their scripts (though Kirk KEEPS showing up!). I'm a little worried as I was really digging on DISCO for the first two seasons as well, and season 3 was a huge disappointment to me. Let's hope whenever we get back to this, they keep up the good work. I am more than ready to again boldly go.

[livingdescenddeadrise]

Some canon character plot ideas below! Hit me up if you have any interest. There are some of these that I would prefer to plan the canon character and others were I may prefer to write an OC against.

Alpha/omega werewolf dynamics: This could work in a lot of the fandoms, honestly. Thoughts around: Alpha Steve Rogers trying to figure out the modern era and navigate the whole potential mate thing when there are people clamoring for him. This is an alpha with little to no experience. His whole world has already been thrown on its head. Add in finding someone who he genuinely cares about and wants to do right by. Alpha Negan Smith has been around plenty of omegas, especially as leader of the Sanctuary. In the fucked up world that they live in, he never expected to find his destined mate. Alpha Michael Myers coming across an omega that he doesn't want to kill, not entirely understanding the feeling, and stalking the omega to try and figure it out. No one but him is allowed to touch said omega and lord help anyone that does.

Various soulmate aus: Again, can span most of the fandoms. Whether it be seeing how things play out with the addition of a soulmate for a particular canon character (might it save someone from the Sawyer/Hewitt family, could soulmates be drift compatible, would the Seeds provide more leniency) or if it throws the canon timeline and events out of the window. Doesn't matter to me and I'm open to all sorts of different versions of this (world in gray until soulmate brings color, first words, sharing thoughts, soulmate marks, cannot harm each other, etc)

Jim Hopper x OC: I would honestly love to write against Hopper, if someone is open to it. Willing to double. Canon events or au doesn't matter to me. I'm open to brainstorming how to add in an OC, though I do have a few developed and ready to go into the world.

Thomas Hewitt/Leatherback x OC: Again, I would love to be able to write against a Thomas. My thoughts surrounding this one would be a childhood friend, one that got bullied like Thomas did but stood up for him, was forced to leave but found her way back. How would things once the packing plant closes play out? Would she remain safe? Would she help the family? Would Hoyt let her?

Nancy Thompson x OC: Let me play Nancy against any of your OCs. Let's play things up and do crossovers. Why not traumatize the woman a little more by sending her to Crystal Lake? Or finding herself in Haddonfield on Halloween. Any sort of AU accepted as well. I would be also open to her against other horror canon characters. Or anyone who might fit into the setting.

[auranova26]

Mei-Ling Design Notes and Inspiration 1/2

Unlike her younger twin, Mei-Ling actually went through a large degree of changes compared to both versions of her design in the main timeline. Honestly, went through a large degree of some research and thought to get to the current design that I now have for Mei-Ling. I hope you find some of these notes interesting and fun to read.

I say two designs, but technically Mei-Ling has like 3 designs: Vampire Hunter, the Darkstalkers OVA, and Vampire Savior. Really sad the only full body look of her VHunter design is literally her sprite. The illustration of her Hunter design from one of the covers of a Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers comic by Udon is quite the beautiful pin up shot, but makes the mistake of giving her the bracelets she has as part of VSAV design. Oops.

Her design is honestly not that different in the OVA compared to her VHunter design. Only big differences are the color of her clothes under her robes, her pants being a different color, the main color of her robe being a defined orange color, and how her hat is both taller and is both orange and yellow. Actually, sounds like a lot really, but design of the clothes themselves are not that different.

Her VSAV design is a general overhaul of the Hunter design. I can only imagine the reason that was done is because they had to animate her for the 'Detached Souls' Dark Force and it might have been a major pain in the ass to animate her robe and sleeves. It isn't bad, but I hate the hat and prefer her robe being open rather than closed. It is genuinely surprising that despite being a non-playable character, the team gave her a different design. A nice consolation.

OH RIGHT, I need to talk about what my thought process was. Sorry, just needed to note all the interesting design things regarding her different designs. So, I generally have stuck with the design she had in VHunter as I just prefer it more compared to her VSAV design. I might have given a jab to the artist who made that pin up of her for that Udon comic. Let me retract that cause I did basically the same thing when I first started drawing her back in 2020. Tweaked the colors here and there to my liking and made her sleeves not as large, but generally the same idea.

Later on, added a little detail on her clothes that I saw an artist by the name of Murai do with her interpretation. This won't be the last I will bring up this artist, hoo boi.

At one point, I changed the sash around Mei-Ling's waste to be an Obi Sash as to make things easier for me.

Around mid 2021, when I was getting more serious about my Cryas Darkstalkers mythos and even further with my love and obsession with the Shao sisters, I went about the process of giving them a makeover, truly trying to give them distinct enough designs. While Hsien-Ko was not too different as her core design was basically near perfect, there was a lot of room for change for Mei-Ling. I mean hell, she had different official designs anyway, what is stopping me from going ham. I mean hecc, look at this concept sketch when they were considering her design change from VHunter to VSAV. Quite a bit of thought. However, I wanted to go further.

Since I wanted to flesh out the sisters, I went about thinking about their potential heritage, the time period they were alive in during the Qing Dynasty, women's fashion at the time for the potential social status they could have been in at the time, the occupation they were training for, and the fact that…well they are Chinese. Since Mei-Ling gives the vibe of being very into her culture and wanting to maintain it, I wanted her clothing to both show off her heritage and her role as a Xianshushi Mystic. Hsien-Ko is said to be more 'modern' in her mannerisms compared to her older twin, so why not have Mei-Ling be more traditional. The first thing to get us on track is to start at the beginning. Mei-Ling and Hsien-Ko were born in 1730 in China during the Qing Dynasty period. In my research and with corroboration with a friend of mine, I decided that the Shao sisters would be a mix of Han and Manchu, two ethnic groups that were the most prevalent at the time period. Their mother was Manchu while their father was Han. However, since their father was killed before they were born, they were more influenced in the ways of the Manchu people as they grew up. The Shao family in themselves are not among the imperial courts or the elite. However, because they have provided a great service over the centuries, they are given more leniency and not treated like the common folk. Plus, with eventually being trained to become Xiānshù warriors as their mother saw great potential in them, that helped to influence them as well.

To start with, let us begin with the robe. So, to my understanding in the main timeline Mei-Ling was generally based on the idea of Daoist priest attire. Doing some searches, jiangshi films did feature such priest like characters with that general idea, even with the color. However, I wanted to do a bit more looking. In my search, the open robe design that her VHunter and my design go with is something referred to a beizi (褙子).

Some parts of Daoism do have their priest having an open robe design, but also the beizi in general was a form of wear that the Chinese people did wear.

It was around during the time of the Qing Dynasty and according to Wikipedia, it was something that was dominant among the Han women of the time. A nice way to acknowledge her Han roots. Yellow doesn't seem to be really a thing with actual Daoist priests' attire, but it just fits Mei-Ling so well, I stuck with that color. While the beizi is prominent with having long sleeves, I decided to trim it down enough to where it ends past her elbow, kinda like her VSAV robe's sleeve length. Ey, giving some credit to that design. As for the trimming, this card I came across showed it in a neat way where it is actually not just flat but has some dimension to it. I liked that and went with it, along with the idea of the trimming being orange.

The hat is loosely based on a hat known as a guānjīn, shown on the far left of this image.

The main timeline version was certainly not one to one about it. But honestly, I like the stylized, simpler idea, so I used that as a base. I took a lot of observations and notes from the way the OVA hat is drawn. However, I just prefer the hat to be one color, so I stuck with yellow. I liked the yin-yang symbol as well, so kept that too.

Another minor detail about Mei-Ling's beizi are these almost padded looking pieces of cloth that follow her trapezius to around the middle of her shoulder. Honestly, I just made them up. These concept sketches I made show me coming up with the idea as I was thinking of her design. It just looks cool and neat.

On to the garment underneath.

With the Shao sisters also being Manchu, this is where some of the influence kicks in. The Manchu wore a set of clothing known as 旗裝 (qízhuāng). The specific kind that the sisters wear falls under something known as Bianfu (便服). Mei-Ling's bianfu is stylized to be a robe that is the length of a magua.

The sleeves are loose and long enough to reach her wrists. The main part of the robe is rich red color while having trimmings and a collar of a lavender color. Contrasts nicely against her beizi.

You may be curious what is going on with the cloth around her waist. Honestly, it was only put there mostly to help solve an issue I had with Mei-Ling's design: the bagua mirror. So, in this shot from the OVA, it is held up by a set of straps.

Ok, fair enough. But the issue is that nothing from the front suggest that those straps even exist. The mirror may as well just be magnetically attached to her a la video game style. In my concept phase, I was wondering what to do. One thing I did notice that was really cool was from the story 'Monsters and the Secret of Immortality'.

Granted, the design of Mei-Ling in that story is wildly different from any incarnation of Mei-Ling, but it presented a neat idea: her mirror was holstered at her waist. Not only that, but it did also look a lot more like a bagua mirror in its design. The mirror's design in this story set the base for how I design the mirror, though I only have two rows rather than the typical three. However, she is wearing attire that doesn't really fit with either her Han or Manchu roots, so I needed to come up with something more fitting to her culture. In my research, I did stumble on something that fascinated me.

What you see is not the original image that inspired me, but still illustrates the idea. Cloth at the waist held in place by a ribbon. I honestly don't know if that idea of garment has a name, but it struck a chord: Have the mirror hang around her waist.

Unlike any official design of Mei-Ling and to differentiate herself from Hsien-Ko, I decided to switch from the baggy trousers to a more straight cut pair. Looks nice and smooth and still goes along with the kind of trousers they wore in that time era. The color I chose just honestly meshed well with her bianfu, plus is warm compared the cool colors of the trim of her bianfu.

While the wristbands she has for her VSAV design are cool looking, something about them just doesn't mesh well with what Mei-Ling is supposed to be. While yes, she is a weapon master (and likely taught Hsien-Ko all she knew about weapons), she is presented more as the mystic of the duo. They look rough and tough. Honestly, would look better on Hsien-Ko in all honestly since she is in the thick of battle. However, I still wanted her to have something at her wrist. I chose to go with a simple orange jewel bead wristband. Simple and elegant for her.

So, if the mirror was moved to hanging around her waist, is there nothing at her back? For a while, there wasn't anything. But eventually, the idea of putting some kind of design back there did come to mind. Eventually, I landed on this design.

Her ref sheet goes into to detail about it, but to put it simply dragons have a big thing with their family considering their mother upon using the Art of Unusual Transformation turned into one. According to what I found via searching Japanese sources, primarily the Japanese Wikipedia entry for Hsien-Ko, there is mention of their mother transforming into a golden dragon. That is very cool since the OVA and a few anthology stories show this.

Mei-Ling's official hairstyle is best described as a bob cut. I went with the OVA as a general base, but slowly overtime adjusted it.

On both sides of her hair and near her hairline, there are these basically fangs. Despite her being more human in appearance, I thought it was still a nice idea to subtlety add some mildly wild elements to her since she is non-human. A bit crazier are these two pincer locks of hair. Honestly, I just took what was already part of her official design and exaggerated it into something cool. For some asymmetry, one is larger than the other. As for the general shape of her hair, I did fan it out more for volume as to make her hair different from her human form.

Mei-Ling's general body shape. Honestly, besides making her distinct from Hsien-Ko as they are both fraternal twins, I just wanted to really make her unbelievably beautiful. In a way, considering hardly anyone gives her the time of day because she is non playable, I just like the idea that she is actually very voluptuous and gorgeous. So that is why she has the general proportions she has. I wouldn't say she is skinny or the typical anime proportions: She is just fit, well endowed, and curvy. Among the Cryas DS cast, the only character that is around her breast and butt size is Felicia. As for why she also has tone to some parts of her body, the fact is she was conceptualized with that as you can see with this concept sketch of her official design. Mei-Ling has just about everything going for her in terms of looks.

Whenever she has appeared in games or media, Mei-Ling has had a multitude of different eye colors. I personally just stuck with green, like the OVA did. Green just looks nice on her, really makes her face mesmerizing. Specifically, I wanted the shades of her eyes to be more of like jade.

For now, will need to end things here for the first part of this design blog as I have used the permitted 30 images for a blog and the last bits require more images to explain things. So be sure to head to part 2, the final part right here: