#so if it's actually been about mercy all along then he has been needlessly cruel when he thought it was righteousness

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

“because he never accepts that it's never been about righteousness--it's about repentance.” except javert killing himself IS repentance.

well, it’s like 12 different things, because bro had gone days without sleeping and very little food and water and he already had low self-worth and kept asking the amis to kill him and just assumed he was going to die AND THEN valjean upended his understanding of the world and morality. he was really going through it & there are a lot of overlapping reasons for why he jumps into the seine.

but javert is like Number One Most Responsible guy in the whole story. taking responsibility is his Thing (forever bitter the musical doesn’t include the punish me monsieur le maire scene). how else, in his derailment, could he atone for his conceived misdeeds other than by handing in his resignation to god? in the brick he had already left a note urging his superiors to treat convicts at toulon better, which is another step in his repentance (and another crime the musical commits by not including it). jumping into the seine was another step.

honestly a lot of ppl who like the book think the musical was dead wrong to exclude him from the big heaven group sing, because it COMPLETELY undermines the themes of forgiveness and compassion threaded throughout les mis. like the musical was simply wrong lol.

This is helpful context! I am still finishing the brick, although I have fully read the abridged version, and that detail about the letter wasn't included, so I didn't know that occurred! (And thank you for the message--this is a long response but I'd love to hear more of your thoughts!)

I agree that Javert is certainly deeply distraught and remorseful; like you mentioned, his worldview is literally falling apart, and his actions reflect his mental state. But his death isn't really repentance--in the sense that it's not what God would have wanted. To me it reads like a Judas situation: a desperate realization of a huge mistake, and doing the only thing you think can make it right, namely, ending it all. That's the just punishment for someone so wrong, isn't it?

But true repentance, meaning the repentance that the Lord desires, is about changing your ways, not "paying a price." Had Javert really understood the beauty of Valjean's mercy (an image of Christ's, just as the bishop's undeserved mercy was to Valjean himself), rather than killing himself, he would have lived to also become "an honest man"--in heart. One who could forgive and understand forgiveness, for himself as well as others. One who could recognize that he is not The Law, that he can fall, but that he can also be "brought to the light." One who could accept that men like Valjean, and men like himself, CAN change, and be changed.

It's tragic to me because so much of "Stars," and his character in the book as well as the musical, is about wanting to be righteous, to rise above his birth and the sinfulness he associates it with. It's about wanting to please the Lord by his actions. But in his end, he shows he never understood what God really wanted from him, and that's where my original phrase comes in: not righteousness, but repentance. To live, and face the man you were, knowing it's no longer the man you are. That it's never been about what you've done or can do, but about what's been done for you. That's the Gospel that he could never fully accept.

To use another example you mentioned, that misunderstanding drives why he asks the Mayor (Valjean) to punish him--in his worldview, mercy is unjust, or at the very least, unfair. Evil must be punished; "those who fall like Lucifer fell" receive "the sword." But "as it is written," God "desires mercy, not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13). God would have wanted Javert to live, and Javert couldn't see that, and that's why it's devastating to me. In his misunderstanding of the heart of God, he misses what would have set him free from the chains of sin he's always been trying to escape.

That's why he's contrasted with Valjean, who (though he carries guilt about his past till the end of his life) is eventually able to face it and confess what he had done to those he loves. He knew there was mercy to be found, if only it was asked for. Javert was too blinded by pride and shame to realize it, and so, while broken, he never was able to truly repent.

For that, you must go on.

[im-the-punk-who]

Hi, I dont know if you read or know anything about Macchiavelli's "Il principe", but I am studying it in school and I cant help but compare it's fundamentals to how Flint leads. I'm just curious about what you think

Eekekekekekekekekekekkek okay so first off Anon, you are absolutely, 100% right to be getting those vibes. If it’s not actually textual it is at the least meta-textual that Flint ascribes to a very Machiavellian type of leadership. His whole ‘never was there a Caesar who couldn't sing the tune’ speech is...licherally a direct reference to Machiavelli's philosophy that leaders cannot retain their leadership without sacrificing some level of ethical behavior in order to manipulate and deceive their subjects into following them.

And, Flint owns at least two books from thinkers who drew directly on Machiavellian thinking in their texts: De Jure Belli Ac Pacis by Hugo Grotus and The Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes are both visible in Flint’s cabin, and both drew heavily on the type of leadership principles established in books like Il Principe. 

(Also, my eternal quest for the book that sits *under* The Leviathan in that scene remains. Y’all I will literally pay someone for this knowledge. My best guess is Plato’s De Republica.)

In fact, the whole system that Flint’s world was operating under at this time was very machiavellian in influence. 

Henry VIII, who converted to Protestantism and who would eventually lead England in the conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism that would then in turn eventually lead the country into the War of Spanish Succession(the war being fought during the London 1705 flashbacks), was a student of Machiavellian thinking. He took the teachings of Il Principe to heart and used them to transform his country. Over the next hundred and fifty years, England would change from an entirely Catholic country to a Protestant one. Of note, Catholic scholars generally disagreed with Machiavelli’s principles on the grounds that it did not support the Divine Right of Kings.

As well, the Enlightenment thinkers that influenced Thomas Hamilton(and Flint himself) were starting to argue more for personal liberty and choice of the governed, both concepts presented in Machiavelli’s writings. (For those following along, this approach was also being used to justify slavery, as what was ‘good for the state is good for the man’ was used as justification for everything from impressment to colonization and slavery. Men were willing to set aside their morals for what they justified as good for the state. Shrug emoji.)

As James says of England when he and Thomas view the hanging in London:

“You think Whitehall wants piracy to flourish in the Bahamas?”

“No I don’t think they want it but I think they’re aware of the cost associated with trying to fight it. And I think that that sound travels.”

Here we see that Flint knows what Thomas doesn’t or does not want to accept: that England is willing to sacrifice some morality and some amount of lives(both of pirate-prisoners and the ships they take) in order to save themselves the financial burden of rooting out the causes of piracy. The justification for piracy was that it is too costly to fight, and that the nation ultimately benefits from a bit of strife as it drives prices up and allows England to place within the sights of its citizenry an identifiable enemy. (Note that Blackbeard also argues the same of Nassau, that prosperity ‘made it soft’.)

Even as he is changed by Thomas’ line of thinking, this lesson will stick with Flint and we’ll see it over and over again as he deals with the men’s hatred of himself by redirecting them towards other avenues(Vane, Hornigold, England, etc.)

And in actuality, this is what sets Thomas very much apart from his political brethren - he was *not* willing to sacrifice his morals in order to achieve a ‘more effective’ victory. Once he realizes that moral deficit shown by England, he creates the pardon plan to argue directly for a more moral and just way of governance. His whole premise for the pardons was to show England that an approach that considered the needs and wants of the governed was ultimately more effective, both in cost and in gaining the genuine good will of the people. And again, this is another likely reason why Thomas was then targeted by Peter Ashe and his father. Railing against the entire system of government was dangerous. Particularly if one was railing against the government in a way that could be seen as support of an opposing system of religion and political rule(remember how I said before that Catholics were generally against the Machiavellian systems?) Put plainly, Thomas’ rejection of Machiavelli’s leadership tactics would have been yet another argument for his treason against the crown.

Interestingly also, Marcus Aurelius - Thomas Hamilton’s homeboy - is said to be one of Machiavelli’s five “good” emperors, of whom Machiavelli wrote,

“[they] had no need of praetorian cohorts, or of countless legions to guard them, but were defended by their own good lives, the good-will of their subjects, and the attachment of the Senate.”

How we tryna be.

And so we see that Flint has - not so much fallen back into England’s line of thinking but perhaps that he never really fell out of it. And that this is actually a rift in his potential ability to conform to Thomas’ line of thinking, assuming we see that line as more morally correct. We do see Flint, gradually, throughout the course of the show, move more away from this Machiavellian line of thinking, especially once he meets Madi and the Maroons.  And to me at least it’s one of the most important character shifts we see - in contrast to the trajectory of John Silver becoming Long John Silver  - throughout the series. Just as Flint is finally starting to really value the lives of those around him, Silver has learned how effective those tactics can be in achieving his goals. As Hands says - ‘I wonder if he knows how much you learned from him.’

And in fact, Silver almost directly quotes Machiavelli at one point when he talks to Flint about their different leadership styles.

“I once thought that to lead men in this world, to be liked was just as good as being feared, and that may very well be true. But to be both liked and feared all at once, is an entirely different state of being in which, I believe, at this moment, I exist alone.” 

Whereas Machiavelli in his chapters addressing cruelty and mercy writes

"Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved." 

This is clearly the approach Flint has taken - he is the most feared captain on the seas. Certainly in the colonial world and on Nassau, too, his name brings a certain amount of fear with it. Because of this he has been safe from rebellion for quite a long time - however he is also not unaware that his power comes from the people. In the very first episode he talks of his plan with Gates to “position people in all the right places so the crew would never turn.” He has, for an unknown amount of time but I would suspect from the very beginning, been manipulating the crew’s opinion of him to keep them happy. Gates himself, and Silver later, are prime examples. 

Both of them; Gates for the first ten years or so and Silver in seasons 2+3 act as a go between - being the ‘liked’ to Flint’s ‘feared’. They convince the crew - the ‘people’ in this case - that Flint’s plans are in their best interest and not truly the act of a tyrant. It is only when Flint forgets - or neglects to respect - that the will of his crew is how he keeps his power, that he really starts to fail. And, later also, that now he has a rival - Silver. 

Now, I do want to point out that personally I don’t think Flint is a needlessly cruel ‘ruler’ in the sense the crew sometimes thinks he is, nor is he trying to be as a king is to english subjects. He has power, of course, and he does manipulate, lie, and kill if necessary to maintain his power in accordance with Machiavelli’s principles, but he does not do so ruthlessly or to a degree that is unnecessarily violent, nor with only his own advancement in mind. His goals genuinely are in service of the people he leads, even if the tactics he uses sometimes put them in danger for it. Moreso, I would argue that Flint is a prince who created his own princedom. He took an existing power structure(the pirate council in Blackbeard, Hornigold etc) and took most of the power for himself, either through luck, violence, or political maneuvering. And then he kept it through skill and tactical advantage.

Silver, in contrast to Flint’s new princedom, is truly a ‘prince of the people’. He comes to power through convincing the other pirates that he has their interests at heart - even when he doesn’t. But Silver soon learns that being a well-loved leader is difficult. It isn’t until Silver kills Dufresne and Billy uses that fear to build a legend that ‘Long John Silver’ the pirate king comes into being. Silver learns, just as Flint knew, that in a world or corruption, often leaders need to make sacrifices of things they would have once deemed important. 

(I think it’s also important to note for Silver that his main goal is actually one Machiavelli writes of as being ��a will of the people’. Silver’s main wish is not to rule, not really. His biggest motivator is ‘to be free’. To not have to make choices based on the will or subjugations of others. And so, he attempts to make the leadership forced upon him into something that frees him - unfortunately for him, Madi is right when she says that the ‘Crown is always a burden’ and it would be truly impossible for him to find the kind of freedom he wishes for while wearing it. Which, honestly, is part of why he ultimately fails in that regard as leader of the revolution.)

In the later seasons we see Flint go through this change in philosophy after he meets Madi and the Maroons. He begins to actually value the lives of the people he leads. When put to the choice of going through with the raid on the Underhill estate despite the risk it poses to the slaves on other plantations, Flint resists the idea. As he tells Madi - it would have cost them far more to ignore the ‘will’ of those people he hoped to lead - the slaves - than it would gain them to go through with the plan. And later, even though he can’t be blind to Max’s sway with Eleanor and the others, unlike Billy (and oh how the mighty have fallen, Mr. Bones!) he doesn’t even seem to consider keeping her rather than trading her for the lives of his other men. He no longer wants to trade a potential political victory for the suffering of those he leads. So, too, when he attempts to trade the cache for the fort, he is doing so with the goal being to not have to put those under his power in danger if there is another option. It is, at least to me, an incredibly moving character arc and one that is so very understated. 

And honestly, I think it’s what *needed* to happen before he could move on from his rage-hate bender and begin to find the sort of peace that one might argue those ‘good’ rulers had. Machiavelli’s principles tend to get in the way of your ability to connect with other people: when you see them just as pawns in a game, friends and foes lose their intrinsic value of just being important on an emotional level. It is only through learning to truly value his partners that Flint can learn how to be a better and more just leader.

Also, this passage in chapter 15 absolutely KILLS me in regards to both Flint, and Thomas Hamilton:

“Men have imagined republics and principalities that never really existed at all. Yet the way men live is so far removed from the way they ought to live that anyone who abandons what is for what should be pursues his downfall rather than his preservation; for a man who strives after goodness in all his acts is sure to come to ruin, since there are so many men who are not good.”

Like bitch!! We get it!! Too much sanity!!! Shut up!!!!!

Anyway, all this to say that you’re absolutely right in seeing parallels between Flint’s style of leadership and a Machiavellian prince - he is absolutely written as a prince-like leader. As are Silver, Rogers, even the Maroon Queen(and Scott and Madi as extensions of her) can be compared to certain rulers in Machiavelli’s archetypes. Even Thomas, who models himself after one of those ‘good emperors’ engenders a type of political leader Machiavelli writes about.

(Also lastly, i want to very quickly point out this guy, Cesare Borgia:

Who was a prince of ‘fortune’ who lost his princedom to trusting the wrong person. What a beard, amirite? What a face. He’s even got the rings! I’m sure this means nothing.)

So basically yeah, Flint is absolutely a Machiavelli bitch. 

[tomakeitbeautifultolive]

Regarding the new leaks, or ‘before you get your hopes up too high’, hear me out.

Leaks as seen here.

We’ve all apparently been “worked into the panic they want us to be in”, and “HBO's social media teams must be sitting back and laughing their asses off at us”

Why? Because allegedly, Dany is proven, without a doubt, that she was never mad and was framed, and then gets brought back to life.

Okay? Am I supposed to be impressed by this?

Bitch still lost everything:

Her dragons

Her best friend

Her knight

Her armies

All of her advisors

The love of her life

Her hope

Her claim to the throne

Confidence in herself

Emotional stability

Need I go on?

She then, what, has to come back to life knowing the one person she trusted the most didn’t trust her enough not to give her the benefit of the doubt for long enough to explain she’s not guilty? Long enough not to kill her?

Ned had heard enough. "You send hired knives to kill a fourteen-year-old girl and still quibble about honor?" He pushed back his chair and stood. "Do it yourself, Robert. The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. Look her in the eyes before you kill her. See her tears, hear her last words. You owe her that much at least."

Ned 👏 Stark 👏 is 👏 talking 👏 about 👏 Daenerys 👏

Daenerys lost everything for a kingdom that what, Bran gets to rule, now? Full of people who sure, know she’s not mad now but still can’t appreciate her and never fucking will? Spare me.

Further, if Sansa Stark is alive and well anywhere in Westeros, Dany is never safe nor welcome there. Why? Because she’s not a Stark.

Let’s say that the boatbaby foreshadowing was real all along and Jon missed her uterus in the stabbing and she might, what, be a single mom(?) forced to see her murderer’s face every time she looks at her child?

Worse yet, do you want to tell me she forgives the man who killed her, the man who believed Tyrion Lannister above her, and they live happily ever after?

What kind of abused woman consolation prize bullshit is this? It’s still not good, fam.

So NO, HBO social media, you don’t get to “laugh at me” just because you might not turn Dany mad, after all.

D&D are still a bunch of needlessly cruel dicks who fucked up all KINDS of characters every which way. This doesn’t  change any of that.

*DAENERYS NOT BEING MAD IS NOT A TWIST ENDING*

And I’ve spent the last few hours debating with others, bargaining that maybe Jon doesn’t actually murder her despite like five leaks confirming he does.

It’s a fake scene! A mercy killing! The throne is poisoned! Jon was framed too!

Like, maybe one of these desperate threads of hope is true and Jon’s character isn’t assassinated like we were led to believe but like... the truth is, we shouldn’t count on it.

[snowbellewells]

Self Promo Sunday: “Scaling the Walls”

Originally, I started this one before the season four finale actually aired, though the idea and set-up were based on the promos, and I didn’t finish it until that episode had shown. Still, this is more my own idea of how the “Emma being trapped in a tower and needing a rescue” plot could have played out. I revisited it the other day and thought that someone else might also enjoy it on Self-Promo Sunday!

"Scaling the Walls”

By: @snowbellewells

Wave upon wave of pain racks her body, radiating through unendingly, nearly rocking Emma Swan off her feet. The only thing keeping her from falling to the floor in an unconscious heap are the chains binding her hand and foot to the stone wall of her tower prison. Her eyes slam shut, and she tries fruitlessly to press her hands to her brow, only to have the motion arrested halfway through by the shortness of her bonds. It feels as if her head may split in two if she cannot exert some pressure to keep her senses together, but all her efforts are for naught. She is trapped and will remain so, no end to her agony in sight.

A strangled scream rises from her throat, pouring past her lips out the window into the trackless woods surrounding her cell and reverberating off its walls. She feels her heart wrenching and shattering as this psychotically unrecognizable version of Snow White plunges her hand once more into Emma's chest and grasps, squeezing and trying to pull out her own daughter's heart. The fact that this is her mother, made bloodthirsty and malicious by some wretched curse, only makes the torture worse, as the face whose kindness Emma has always treasured grins wickedly and Snow throws back her head with an evil laugh. "Oh darling! If you think you will ever defeat me, you're living in a dream world. You as the uprising’s pathetic hope?!? Their promised Savior?" The words are hissed right in Emma's face as the clawed fingers squeeze her pounding organ tighter and jerk at it again, "It’s almost laughable. I am the Queen, and you will rot in this tower, unless you relinquish your lovely heart, and your magic, and submit to my control."

Emma is practically trembling with pain and exertion, sweat running down her forehead and stinging in her eyes, fists clenched at the effort it takes merely to retain awareness through this newest onslaught, petrified by what might happen to her if she slips away. She bites almost through her lower lip, trying not to scream or cry anymore – knowing it only brings this twisted version of Snow pleasure. She has also long since ceased trying to remind her mother of the truth, as it also brought only pain at previous attempts. It hardly bears mentioning that her magic is either not working or no longer accessible to her. She is certain that this Snow won't take that for an answer. Still, can't the other woman see that if Emma had control of her powers she wouldn't stay here at their mercy? Tears fall from Emma's eyes silently at the cruel, unknowing stare focused on her, but she holds back any sound.

The new Evil Queen twists her hand within Emma's chest, and Emma is sure she must be dying. A howl of agony tears from her throat against her will and echoes in horrible crescendo. The sounds of abject despair and torment go winging out the lone window of the tower to be heard for miles around by those who ignore the cries of a rumored hero supposedly suffering at the Queen's hand.

The heartless slave version of Prince Charming steps forward from where he waits in the shadows, hand outstretched in supplication as he urges his Queen. "Your Majesty!" he pleads fervently. "Stop, please! You'll kill her at this rate and never harness her magic for yourself!"

His dark haired mistress darts a dangerous, crackling, narrow-eyed look over her shoulder at him against the far wall, pausing only an instant before her hand shoots out and throws him against the solid stone, where he falls incapacitated. "Silence!" Snow White orders needlessly as he seems completely stunned into submission.

Her shuttered, emotionless eyes, venomous and sharp as any serpent's, flick back to her prisoner and gleam with cold intent. "You're going nowhere, Princess," she purrs, the title cruel and mocking with the inflection she gives it. "You'll die a prisoner either way. But how much more you suffer before I can gain your heart and your power is entirely up to you. Tell me now how I can accomplish this, and put yourself out of your misery."

Emma trembles helplessly where she stands; her abused, aching muscles stretched beyond endurance but unable to gain relief. She wants to cry out to Snow that she is not this monster; they need to fight together to escape whatever alternate reality Gold and the Author have plunged them into - despite knowing her plea will do no good. Though she senses she will need her magic before all is said and done, though she knows she must hang onto what strength and sanity she has left, Emma thinks that in this awful moment, if she knew how to give up her powers, she would allow the Queen to have them. She doesn't know where Killian or Henry, or any of the other people she has come to know and care about, are – if they have been brought along in this nightmare as well, if they know themselves, or if they have been changed. All she has seen is the inside of these stone walls and these horrific mockeries that should never be called her parents.

However, Snow White seems to take her quiet helplessness as defiance and she shrieks in wild rage. "Have it your way!" she yells. An almost electric pulse of energy erupts from the other woman's palm, and Emma feels it crawling through her veins, burning and scorching unbearably.

Her howls of helpless agony as she quivers in her restraints overlap on each other in desperate, unending climax, until she finally slumps, boneless and insensate in her chains, lost to the world.

~888~~888~~888~~888~~888~~888~~888~~888~~~

Killian Jones does not know how he got himself roped into such a ridiculous venture. He shakes his head in disbelief once more as he looks behind him to the skinny, bedraggled youth with brown hair flopping in his eyes who follows him through the thick undergrowth at the forest's edge – 'more a fool's errand than a hero's journey' his mind insinuates as he recalls the words of the boy on his heels as he had looked up at Killian with a wide open expression of hope.

What had he been thinking, letting his sense of duty move him to follow this child off his ship, away from the harbor, and on this – what had the lad called it? Operation? Yes, that was it…Operation Swan's Rescue. He had thought himself long past dreams of being a dashing hero and undertaking courageous missions for the good of his people. That was all burned away in the ashes of a Pegasus sail and sunk to the depths with Liam's body long ago, when he was another man. Yet, he has never claimed to be wise or cautious, to do what makes reasonable sense, and he was not able to resist this ragamuffin's precocious grin or the somehow familiar twinkle in his big, trusting eyes, and so here they were, quite possibly chasing a mirage, a dream: a princess in a tower needing a champion to save her.

The lad certainly weaves a compelling tale, Killian thinks to himself as he pushes further into the trees and bracken, keeping well off the beaten path. Of course, he has heard the stories; everyone in this section of the kingdom – where the tower is supposed to reside – has heard of the Savior, the lovely being of hope and light magic, somehow born to the Evil Queen and her favorite plaything, then imprisoned by said mother in fear of her daughter's magical power someday overthrowing her reign of terror. Killian himself had always thought them mere fables – fireside tales to charm and entertain. However, this boy seems so sincere, and so desperate, that he finds himself believing the youth's words.

Beyond that hunch, the sense of trust, his mind cannot help but whisper, 'What if?" If there is truly a Savior, a being of Light and Good, who could restore this land to what it once was, to the beautiful, peaceful kingdom of his youth where he remembers running wild in the fields with Liam chasing him laughingly, where he wove daisy chains to take home to his mother and he could still bask in the love of her pleased, quiet smile. If the Evil Queen's rule can be brought to an end, doesn't he owe it to his people, his country, and Liam's memory, to explore every possibility? Isn't it only good form for one in his post to venture forth and make sure? Not only that, but if such a pure innocent is being held captive, if everyone knows and merely leaves her to such a fate…it twists knots of tension in his gut, not letting his mind rest. A fool he may be. He may be walking directly to his death, but his conscience will let him pursue no other course.

They have come to a stop at a running brook – refilling their canteens, slaking their thirst, catching their breaths – when a wretched wail of agony rings out in the air, silencing the birds and echoing off the trees in harsh, violent waves. Killian's eyes meet the lad Henry's, and they both freeze, horrified by the sound of such suffering. The anguish he hears in that cry lets Killian know for certain he was right to follow this quest. He must stop whatever is being done to this prisoner.

They take off at a run, unheeding of their safety or what they may find. Crashing through thorn bushes and grasping vines, panting with exertion, they both nearly go tumbling headlong to the ground when Killian skids to a sudden halt and Henry plows right into his back.

They have dashed into a deserted clearing, and there before them, rising dark and foreboding into the clouds, stands the tower. The grey stones are cracked and jutting, looking as dark and unwelcoming as must have been intended, and though his eyes search frantically along the base, Killian can see no way in.

Both pirate and youth stand frozen in uncertainty for a long stretch, until abruptly the cries of suffering halt, all goes silent, and Killian finds himself desperately jolted forward. He does not know if this will work, but he simply must take action. The imprisoned woman – according to Henry, their last chance – cannot be dead. They cannot be too late. Grasping at the rugged wall as best he can with his one working hand, he wedges his hook into a crack between stones. With one last glance to make sure his young compatriot is still with him, Killian begins to climb the tower.

~~888~~888~~888~~888~~888~~888~~888~~888~~~

Awareness trickles back to Emma with the scrabbling, scratching sounds of metal scraping along stone. Blinking her eyes blearily and raising her head from where it had slumped awkwardly on her chest, she vaguely determines that the strange scuffling is coming from just outside her prison's single window.

Emma scrunches her brow in confusion, trying to determine what new threat could be coming for her now. She knows that the tower is high, high enough that no fully sane person would attempt to scale its walls. For the few fleeting instants she has been free of her chains in the years it seems she has been held captive here, she was able to see out over the entire forest, well over the tops of the tallest trees.

Just as she is looking fruitlessly around the barren room for something she can defend herself with against this intruder, a metal hook and strong forearm fling themselves in the window and clutch tightly, soon pulling a messily wind-ruffled head of black hair and a belovedly familiar face over with them. Her pirate, whom she had begun to fear herself lost from forever, practically hauls himself though the opening, flopping onto the stone floor, chest heaving with exertion.

"Killian!" she cries out plaintively, so glad to see him that she doesn't even care how girlish and helpless it might make her sound. "You found me!" She begins to run to him, momentarily forgetting her bonds, until the chains jerk her back.

His head shoots up at the sound of her voice, startled blue eyes meeting her gaze. He looks unsure, as if he doesn't know what to make of her awe-filled greeting. Turning quickly in the next moment to stand and return to the window again, he surprises her once more by reaching out his hand to pull someone else up and into the window after him.

Emma's heart swells at the sight of Henry. Both her son and the man she loves are here at last, safe and sound and come to rescue her. Henry doesn't seem to suffer the same confusion that Killian does. Once the man has stopped brushing him off, asking if he is okay, and lets him go, Henry rushes to her with a joyfully relieved shout of "Mom!" and wraps his arms around her – literally bringing warmth and hope back into her cold, lonely false existence.

"You found me," she repeats, a dazed whisper this time, overwhelmed by the belief and determination her son has shown to get here, and the bravery he has exhibited in climbing a tower guarded by the Evil Queen's men, at the risk of his own life – for her sake. She squeezes him tighter, wishing more than she has in all the rest of her time here to be free of the chains so that she can really take her little boy – well, young man now – fully in her arms.

She can only chuckle and shake her head when he grins at her and says exactly what she should have been expecting, "Did you really doubt we would?"

Emma's gaze flicks to Killian again, where he stands back awkwardly watching the reunion. He scratches the spot behind his ear uncertainly, but then he meets her curious, searching glance. She is frozen when their eyes make contact, breath catching with emotion. Not only is he here helping Henry, but he came to her aid even without remembering who she is or what they mean to each other. She wants so badly for him to hold her, for the sort of passionate kiss they have only recently begun to allow themselves to set everything back to rights.

Surprisingly, as the moment stretches on, Emma can see something come over Killian's face. She holds her breath, hoping against hope that somehow what they have, the connection between them, has survived this reboot of their history and who they are in this fictional reality. As she has suffered here alone, afraid she would never see his face, hear his beautiful, lilting voice, or feel his gentle but inflaming touch again, she had come to realize the truth. She loves him with a depth that scares her. She has for a long time, but could never find the words to say it aloud.

Killian tilts his head to the side, beautiful ocean eyes squinting in concentration as he studies her face, almost seeming to look beneath her skin, into her soul. Taking a tentative step forward, he reaches out, taking her hand in his one, gently rubbing soothing fingers over her skin reddened from the heavy shackle. Reaching out with his hook, he smoothes her wild, tangled hair back from her face and over her shoulder; a familiar, intimate gesture he has made several times, whether he realizes it or not. "I know you, Lass. Do I not?" he finally murmurs, eyes searching hers for an answer.

It is as though he has stolen the very breath from her lungs and the words right off her lips. All Emma can do is stare at him, amazed by his unbelievable, inexplicable faith, and nod in affirmation. She can still see wonder and adoration shining from his face, directed at her, even if he isn't sure why. Can he still somehow see what he means to her in her face? Still feel what they have – or echoes of it – despite everything that has been altered? Emma finds herself willing to hope as never before.

Unfortunately, at that moment they are interrupted by the sound of several pairs of booted feet pounding up the steps to her cell, harsh voices calling about intruders and securing the 'mad princess'. All three of them whirl to stare at the heavy door of Emma's cell in alarm, knowing the pirate and young prince can climb back out, but that they have no way to release her from her chains. She can't escape with them.

"Go!" she urges desperately, trying to spur both Henry and Killian on. She cannot bear to think what may happen to them if they are discovered here trying to free her. The guards are getting closer all the time and her heartbeat is pulsing in her throat at the danger to her two most precious loves. "You can't be found here! Please!"

Henry's eyes show understanding beyond his years as he nods his assent. Clasping her hand tightly for a split second, he vows, "We'll be back for you, Mom," before he moves toward the window, swinging one leg over the ledge and preparing to go.

Killian's face shows no such resignation. His look is desperate, frantic to save her. "What happens to you when we go, Love? I cannot leave you to them!"

"You have to, Killian…for now…I'll be alright." She gives him a brave, if tremulous, smile, needing him to be safe, even if she is not.

"No," he breathes, shaking his head and not moving an inch, even when Emma hears the running footsteps halt and instead the dreadful sound of a key turning in the ancient, rusty lock.

Whirling to face the door as it swings open, Emma prays that somehow Killian will slip out the window after Henry in the nick of time, or that some echo of the magic she possesses in their real world will shield him from their malevolent foes. Of course, as they have been ever since she opened her eyes in this parallel universe, her wishes are ignored, and with cries of attack four of the Queen's armed black guards charge forward.

Killian steps in front of Emma swiftly, easily shielding her in a single movement. He pulls the cutlass from his belt and strikes down the first assailant with deadly grace; the movement a slash as quick and sharp as a jagged finger of lightning. The second opponent meets his hook and falls motionless at their feet.

For several tense moments, Emma's breath is stolen watching the lethal accuracy Killian employs, protecting them both flawlessly and without hesitation. He ducks the third attacker's strike, and the guard overshoots, running past them, stumbling and falling just in time for the pirate to parry a fourth henchman's blow. They engage for only the briefest flurry of sword passes before Killian has bested this one as well and kicked the unconscious man away. He turns sharply, on guard with the knowledge that one last aggressor is still waiting.

Emma wants to call out to warn him, spare him the shocked pain she sees flare in his eyes when he finds his last foe, but she can't – not with the guard's hand gripping her throat, cutting off her air and her voice. She shakes her head at her sailor, knowing he won't protect his own safety but merely lunge forward to save her. She puts out a hand in an effort to wave him back, urging him to think for a moment, fight as smart as he has been, but somehow Killian misconstrues her motion and lets his eyes follow her gesture. Perhaps he thought she was reaching out for him in fear, but he is distracted one second too long.

The guard stabs forward, arm pushing stealthily from under Emma's outstretched one. He catches Killian in the side, under his ribs, and then drags the sword blade across and up, slicing a long path through leather and flesh with sickening depth.

Those fathomless blue eyes snap wide in shock and pain and a gasp flies from his lips as Killian's forward stride draws up short. Having achieved his goal, the final guard releases his grip on Emma and flings her away. Emma registers that she is screaming, crying out for Killian, but he doesn't answer, falling to his knees and bringing his hands up disbelievingly to the blood flowing from his side.

"Let that be a lesson to you before considering future attempts at escape," the guard growls roughly. "I'll leave him with you, to be sure you understand the price of crossing our Queen."

The heavy door slams shut again behind him, and Emma stumbles forward, clanking chains and all, to fall beside her pirate, sobbing out his name and pulling his head into her lap, cradling him protectively the best she can with her limited movement, tears falling from her eyes to his cheeks as she bends her head over him, fearing he is already gone, the wound is so bad. "Please…Killian…I'm so sorry…" she murmurs frantically, brushing his dark hair off his forehead, trying to ease his pain and keep him with her.

It isn't long before she feels smaller hands on her shoulders, pulling her into a hug from behind, trying to offer comfort before crouching next to her and attempting to staunch the blood still pouring from Killian's wound.

"Henry?" she questions blearily, confused.

He shrugs, "I just held onto the outside wall right below the window. Luckily they didn't check for anyone else. When the fighting stopped, I crawled back in."

She shakes her head at his daring, but her eyes quickly fly back to her pirate. To her shock, he is also chuckling at her son, though the sound is rough and choking. "There's a lad," he manages teasingly to Henry, before a horrible wracking cough interrupts and she sees blood at the corners of his mouth when he pulls his hand away afterwards.

Emma's tears still fall and she begins whispering apologies in his ear once more. He only shakes his head, "No, Lass…don't….be sorry. You are worth it. You and Henry….will find… a way out…I'm…glad I was…part of it…" His eyes flutter closed and his chest heaves mightily to keep moving up and down.

"Killian?...No!" she cries out when his eyes fail to reopen.

"Mom!" Henry breaks into her panic, his hand on her upper arm pulling her back to her senses. "Mom, you have to kiss him. True Love's Kiss! It'll save him. It has to!"

It seems so farfetched that she hardly dares to hope, but Emma is out of options and desperate not to have Killian slip away in front of her. Tracing a hand along his jaw, she lets her eyes slide shut and leans even closer to his mouth. Just before she presses her lips to his, she whispers as she did once before, "Killian, come back to me."

A disconcerting pull in her stomach and a spinning feeling makes it seem for a minute as if the world has turned upside down and the floor has dropped from under her. Blinking her eyes to look around once the whirling sensation eases, Emma is stunned to find them back in Storybrooke, sprawled inelegantly on the pavement in the middle of Main Street. Her fingers are somehow miraculously twined with Killian's as he sits up beside her, whole and unharmed from the sword wound still fresh in her memory, and her other arm is wrapped tightly around Henry. The chains and her tower prison are gone, and she gapes like a newborn baby at her surroundings. Killian turns to her, a rakish grin on his face, and she knows both realities are in his mind too. "It would appear you saved me, Swan," he teases lightly, but real affection brims in his eyes.

"What would I do without you, Pirate?" she whispers, holding on tighter and trying to keep the quaver from her voice as she burrows into his embrace. It is long past time he heard the words, and suddenly so simple for her to add in a whisper against his heart, "I love you."

Tagging a few who might enjoy: @kmomof4 @hollyethecurious @searchingwardrobes @therooksshiningknight @spartanguard @jennjenn615 @bmbbcs4evr @resident-of-storybrooke @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @laschatzi @ilovemesomekillianjones @gingerchangeling @blackwidownat2814

[kingofthewilderwest]

I was surprised that you didn't mention Viggo in your mental illness analysis. I've always thought that he seemed like a high functioning psychopath, perhaps an example of the Dark Triad (psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism). He is ruthlessly cruel to dragons, infects people for profit without remorse, and has a henchman executed in his first appearance. He also seems to have lacked genuine affection for his own brother. Like Dagur, I found his redemption unrealistic.

From this post.

The post prompt did ask specifically for dragon riders, which is one reason I wasn’t putting Viggo on the radar, but I suppose I also interpret Viggo’s personality from a different angle than you do. While it is true that Viggo can be cruel to dragons (though not out of the norm for Barbaric Archipelago society!), can be very self-confident, and is interested in his profits, I also find Viggo to be someone who operates under a sense of gray morality rather than a psychologically diagnosable, consistent disregard to others. He especially isn’t someone I find who acts with something like Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) - it takes more than being greedy and putting oneself first to have NPD. There are so many neurotypical human beings in this world who act with both greed and disregard to certain populations (like non-human animals), and Viggo is someone I think who manifests a drive for profits - but not someone who has an excessively inflated sense of self-importance or an inhibition to comprehending others’ emotions. 

I find Viggo a neurotypical individual, as with most of the villains in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise - Alvin the Treacherous is also someone who does horrible things without care to other individuals, Krogan has far less interest in other human lives, but that sort of treatment of other humans comes from many avenues, not per say personality disorders. What experiences we have in life and how we respond to them shape how callous or kind we are to people, and that’s what happens with Viggo. I mean, even siblings loathing each other is something that happens with far more frequency than the psychological conditions detailed in the DSM.

And in truth, beyond a discussion of mental ailments, I also don’t think that calling Viggo extremely callous and lacking remorse is a full picture of what his personality is. I see Viggo as a character who is willing to go into more “gray” zones than others with conscience do, but he’s also someone who doesn’t give up his conscience entirely. He even admits that as a kid he was someone who thought a lot more along idealistic virtues. So he’ll do brutal acts, yes, but needlessly brutal? Not as much. And the more time Viggo spends with Hiccup… the more we see instances of mercy.His very introduction sets the stage as someone who sees a gray zone of morals (rather than no conscience) and is willing to learn the techniques to win from anywhere he can. It’s through this sense of conscience, and this sense of learning techniques from whomever he can… that he comes to respect Hiccup. I think that his redemption was written in a realistic, gradual-growing manner.

Viggo’s redemption arc grows in two main fronts: his disenfranchisement with Krogan, and his growing respect of Hiccup. 

Setting the Stage: Viggo and Ethics

In Viggo’s character introduction, we see how Viggo talks about the blur between society’s typical assessment of good and evil. He furthermore mentions something interesting - when he was a child, he wanted to be the “honorable Viking” himself.

Viggo: Maces and Talons. I began playing with my grandfather when I was just a boy. I always insisted upon being the honorable Viking chief. I could never understand how he bested me time and time again. For years I assumed his skill transcended mine. 

When we are young, we’re often more idealistic, be it anything from dreaming how far we’ll succeed in life, to believing how people will (or should) act in difficult situations. Society can have a sense of an ideal “good” morality framework that makes you act like the honorable Viking in every circumstance, doing nothing that would be even the slightest bit morally gray. We learn that Viggo had that sense of conscience and idealistic good in him as a boy, a desire to be that honorable and morally upright being who never stepped into questionable mud.

But what Viggo learns in life - and which many of us do, honestly - is that moral choice isn’t so easily black and white. What actually is the right choice is more convoluted in context, circumstances, means, ends, goals, values, starting states, ending states… so many factors… that it’s sometimes legitimately hard to weigh all the pros and cons and make what you believe to be morally best. Do you do something some people would consider “sketchy” to reach the great, moral end goal? Or do you avoid getting that great moral salvation moment at the end because you cannot tolerate doing something “sketchy” at the start? Or do you just play it by whatever your conscience feels at the time? Deontology, teleology and utilitarian-type ethics, virtue theory… there’s a reason why philosophers have posited so many different frameworks by which to evaluate moral theory and to try to arrive at an understanding of what morality is. It’s because it’s tricky as fuck in the real world.

The way I see Viggo’s comment, he started with a pretty idealistic deontological framework as a boy. He believed that he could always do the right thing and that the means would always be just as pure as his ends. Deontology in moral philosophy is the belief that actions in and of themselves are good and bad, and that you can’t use any action to reach a greater goal at the end (the ends do not justify the means, essentially). But Viggo found out, through Maces and Talons, through the trials in life, that this maybe wasn’t the best way to approach life’s challenges. And indeed he continues on to say:

Viggo: But you see, in Maces and Talons, as in life, the line between good and evil is often unclear. Black and white can become gray so easily. What one soul considers evil another might consider righteous. The honorable chief who fails to see this is found to be the fool.

Viggo isn’t saying that any action is permissible. What he’s saying is that he’s moved from a deontology-based ethical framework to something more utilitarian. That is, he thinks the ends can justify the means. Sometimes you have to do something that might raise a few eyebrows in order to reach that better end result. That’s what he’s saying about “What one soul considers evil another might consider righteous.” Someone who is a deontologist would frown at a utilitarian individual’s course of actions, but both people legitimately believe they are doing the morally upright choice.

Now, I’m not saying that Viggo believes he’s always in the moral good. I don’t think he does. He knows he’s made moral mistakes and has crossed the line. But I also don’t think he’s saying, “Meh. All actions are okay. Nothing is evil!” Viggo is just saying that you’re naive if you’re going to try to act life as a deontologist. And that is indeed how we see him act throughout Race to the Edge. He’s not going to do something “sketchy” without remorse and reason, but he’s also going to take a few steps down the “gray path” that the strict deontologist wouldn’t.

This setting the stage is important to understanding Viggo’s character as he comes in contact with Hiccup. Hiccup is someone who still holds the ideals Viggo has discarded as unsatisfactory and incomplete. It’s one reason why Viggo might think Hiccup isn’t a threat at first. But as you watch Viggo develop, you realize… Hiccup’s ideals being the “honorable Viking chief” are going to hark to Viggo’s internal interests, too. And as Hiccup still manages to get things done without being played for a fool… Viggo’s respect in him will grow.

Viggo’s “Mercy”

Viggo has a sense of mercy for the people around him, too. It’s not readily available in his opening introduction - that’s a rather ominous and worrisome moment. However, it sets the stage for how he continues developing. We know Viggo is someone who once believed in being the “honorable Viking chief” - and now his introductory scene shows how he has removed himself from what he believes is a naive perspective.

When Viggo learns about the hunter who takes inventory without permission, he first holds a sword in front of the man. Many other villains in the HTTYD franchise would have been crueler to this man. But Viggo, instead, after terrifying the man by holding a sword to him, puts the sword away. He doesn’t punish the man, lets the man go away, and says, “We’re not animals.” His first appearance isn’t executing a henchman; it’s granting the henchman a second chance. The man, as he leaves Viggo’s tent, breathes out, “Oh, thank you, Viggo. Thank you.” Viggo is a harsh boss who is willing to do some scare tactics to get people to pay attention to him, but he isn’t going to kill someone for a minor infraction like that.

In fact, Heather, who’s used to seeing lots of barbaric people in the archipelago, is surprised to see Viggo’s mercy. He’s acting a lot kinder than many of the villains she’s come across before - including her brother.

Heather: You forgave that man. I wasn’t expecting that.Viggo: Forgiveness. Not exactly a sound business practice, now, is it?

Now, this isn’t the full story. You’re right. If you’ve been reading this far and are raising your eyebrows, that’s because you know we’re not done. This scene’s not as cute and clean as that. We hear the man screaming after he’s taken away. Clearly the man who thought he was forgiven wasn’t brought out free - he was punished. Clearly Viggo isn’t as forgiving as his first action makes him appear. 

I personally am not convinced the man necessarily died. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but since it’s a long, sustained scream that we hear in the distance… the man is likely to have survived. The man would have been suddenly punished, given how he was deceived, but a quick execution would have created a cut-off scream. Regardless, the end result of Viggo’s conversation with Heather isn’t the nice-sweet-mercy-thing we originally thought. He’s giving her an ominous threat about what could happen to her if she ends up being a traitor. She could get taken out before she even realizes that she’s being punished.

The reason I’m bringing this up is because it still sets the stage for Viggo’s perspective and growth throughout the show. Viggo might have punished this man in a creepy way - be it death or something less - but the concept of “We’re not animals” actually, interestingly enough, remains. Viggo is willing to do some dark, manipulative things - like trick this man into thinking he’s punishment-free, then enacting the punishment - and through it intimidating Heather - but he’s also someone who pays attention to the gray zone of morality… and we see that the more we interact with him.

Growing Tensions between Hunters and Riders

Hiccup starts as a toy to laugh at. But as the two interact increasingly more, Viggo finds that Hiccup should not be underestimated. This is the growth that happens between these two from Seasons 2-4.

So. For starters: Viggo doesn’t kill people when he doesn’t need to. He toys with Hiccup when they first meet, but he doesn’t kill the teen - even when he has the chance. This is true even in “Maces and Talons Part 2″ before Hiccup influences Viggo. We see from the start Viggo has the internal capacity to grant mercy. 

At this point, Viggo finds Hiccup more of an amusing nuisance than anything else - not a threat to be extinguished. Viggo even thinks that Hiccup’s reputation plays the young man up more than he actually is. So, at this point, Viggo believes he doesn’t need to kill Hiccup - Hiccup hasn’t done anything to “merit” that. It’s enough for Viggo to show Hiccup that he’s more manipulative and powerful than the boy, and through that, hopefully dissuade the young dragon rider from interfering with his business dealings. Viggo manipulates, without killing, to toss Hiccup off his back before the boy can do any more mucking around with the dragon hunters.

Of course, Hiccup doesn’t get dissuaded. Hiccup decides to continue tackling on and disrupting dragon hunting trade. The kid Viggo initially considers to be an amusing non-problem turns into a real problem. Viggo becomes frustrated - the kid is interfering with his business! (His legitimate business, might I add. Everyone in the Barbaric Archipelago was hunting, fighting, or using dragons for trade goods. Viggo doesn’t necessarily beat dragons cruelly - he’s using them as wares like everyone else at the time). And so Viggo transitions from disregarding Hiccup to finding him an actual, annoying, frustrating pest.

Now Viggo needs to deal with Hiccup.

At first, Viggo thinks that he can deal with Hiccup and his increasingly meddlesome behavior by manipulating Hiccup - hence his “Defenders of the Wing” manipulation tactic. Hiccup can still be of use as he is. The kid’s fervor for protecting dragons can be used. But by Season 4 times, Hiccup has aggravated and tarnished enough of Viggo’s plans that he really needs to do something about Hiccup, and he’s going to use increased measures, precautions, and dangerous tactics to do so.

Viggo and Hiccup constantly raise the stakes and circumstances for each other. They continue seeing the capabilities each has. By this point, Viggo no longer underestimates Hiccup, but considers him quite the adversary. Just consider the change in perspective Viggo’s had toward Hiccup from S2 “Maces and Talons Part 2″ versus S4 “Gold Rush”:

“Maces and Talons Part 2″ - Viggo is not worried about being exposed to Hiccup alone, thinks that Hiccup and Toothless were no problem or danger at all to him, and leaves them alone without any consequence once he has the Dragon Eye he needs.

“Gold Rush” - Viggo mentions having extra precautions about being around Hiccup and the riders, and in fact is planning to kill them and their dragons because they’ve been such a threat to his operations. He goes out of his way to make sure the residents of Dragon’s Edge are eradicated.

It’s a growing rivalry with a morphing perspective on Viggo’s end.

And by the end of it, Hiccup outsmarts Viggo… and Viggo falls to his near-death.

Viggo, despite having his added gray morality choices (compared to Hiccup’s limited “honorable Viking” ideology), is overcome.

Viggo’s Mercy

Viggo has learned to see Hiccup as someone to not be underestimated. Viggo has seen Hiccup’s inventiveness and abilities to get the task accomplished. As someone like Viggo who takes tactics where he can, it makes sense that his frustration of Hiccup… turns into begrudging respect of Hiccup. He can respect someone clever wherever he finds them.

We see Viggo starting to take some of Hiccup’s ideas to level the playing field. Viggo starts using the cauldron to withstand the fires of the volcano - the same tactic Hiccup and the Defenders of the Wing used to survive lava. This makes sense. Viggo is a tactical man who knows when an idea is smart.

But because Viggo is learning to begrudgingly respect Hiccup… he’s actually being influenced by Hiccup in more ways than how to survive lava encounters. He’s also got some respect for Hiccup’s ideological framework - that ideological framework that Viggo himself once held true as a child.

And this is where we really start to see that Viggo does have a sense of mercy and compassion for other individuals. 

Krogan is introduced in a way somewhat akin to Viggo. Krogan at first seems to offer mercy to a dragon hunter who doesn’t like how they hunt, asking for feedback and offering to let the employee leave. But then Krogan murders the man and asks the others if they’re willing to question his tactics, too. Just like Viggo, Krogan offers false mercy and trust, then shows who’s really in charge. But unlike Viggo, Krogan never demonstrates a respect for smart, tactical behavior, nor a respect for the value of a human life.

Krogan is someone who’s more willing to be ruthless with his punishments or disregard others. In this season the two butt heads a lot about not only how to run their operation… but also about moral values. Viggo is the one who tells Krogan they need Fishlegs alive because the boy has extensive dragon knowledge; Krogan is the one who says he has enough knowledge himself and they might as well kill Fishlegs. Viggo is the one who says that reverence isn’t a bad thing so long as it doesn’t cloud one’s judgment, and uses Hiccup’s ingenuity and victories against Viggo as inspiration for future projects; Krogan is the one who just looks down on Hiccup and thinks he shouldn’t be given such respect. When Krogan says that Hiccup’s weakness is being afraid to shoot to kill, Viggo actually seems… irritated at the suggestion.

And, most tellingly, when Krogan is willing to let men die going down into the lava… Viggo is trying to minimize casualties:

Krogan: Why are you sending only one man down at a time?Viggo: I sent three down last time. Only one came back, which is two more than the time before that.Krogan: They’re disposable. That’s why we have so many of them.Soldier: That’s right. Krogan doesn’t tolerate failure.Krogan: Right you are. Now, say your farewells and get your pathetic behind back in that tub. Now!

Krogan doesn’t care if these men die. The fact that Viggo actually is trying to keep his subordinates from dying says something, doesn’t it? In a subtle way, Viggo’s enacting mercy.

Throughout Season 5, we see that Viggo is definitely the more thoughtful and considerate individual between the two.

Some of it is harking back to who he always has been - again, he didn’t kill Hiccup needlessly in “Maces and Talons” or anything. Some of it is that Krogan’s rudeness is making Viggo hate their alliance and disrespect his partner in crime. And some of it is also harking back to Viggo learning to respect Hiccup for who he is, tactics and morals and all.

Viggo’s Redemption

Frankly, the more we see Krogan be rude to Viggo, the more we see Viggo preferring Hiccup over him. But because Viggo and Krogan have the same goal, while Hiccup has an opposing goal, it’s pragmatic and obvious for Viggo to continue with his current partnership.

Until, of course, that partnership ends. Krogan forsakes Viggo. Krogan, like always, has no regard for anyone else. Krogan, like always, holds no respect for Viggo’s motivations and ideas. Krogan, through these actions, butts Viggo out of the game and nearly has him killed.

So for someone who’s grown to respect Hiccup Haddock and grown increasingly disillusioned with his partner Krogan… and for someone who still has some goals he needs to accomplish with extra assistance… it makes sense that Viggo is going to go to a new partner.

Viggo does this in a realistic way that isn’t sudden repentance saying he’s wrong. Viggo is still manipulative, trying to trick Hiccup, talking up things like the red oleander flower. Viggo is still wanting to partner with Hiccup for his personal ends, not for bettering Hiccup’s stock or because he sees eye-to-eye with Hiccup’s desires. But Viggo’s working with Hiccup out of a set of conditions that makes complete sense from context.

Viggo is never someone who returns back to idealism and what he considers a naive frame of ethics. When he recruits Hiccup for help in Season 6, he even tells Hiccup that the kid isn’t ruthless enough, and that this is going to come back to bite him. Viggo has learned through life that the person who seems to have greater skill is probably the person who isn’t limiting themselves from achieving their needed (and often good) end. But because of how situations fall down between Viggo and Hiccup, he makes that last-minute redemption built out of the respect that’s been ever-growing out of him for the dragon riding crew.

At the very end, when Viggo is about to die… he’s going to respect the boy who he sees deserving of respect, over dying for the cause of Krogan, who’s betrayed him.

And maybe, in that part of Viggo that’s still a child, he’s happy to be fighting for the “honorable Viking chief” - even if he, the traitor, dies in the end.

So for Viggo’s characterization arc? Personally, for me, it works.

Unlike Dagur, I think that Viggo’s arc was much better paced and gradually built, with a good progression of events that allow us to understand why Viggo would eventually take Hiccup’s side. He’s not someone with a psychological inability to feel compassion for others. He’s not someone so self-important that he can’t respect and learn from people who best him. He’s not someone unusual to society - he’s someone who is focused on profits and puts others’ interests a little bit aside for his own gain. He’s not someone who is morally credible in every choice, but he’s also got some good points to make about how we might or might not achieve our goals. Frankly, I agree with Viggo on more points than I should probably admit. But regardless, this is why I appreciate his character arc, and why I feel he was a well-constructed character start to end in the RTTE narrative.

[it-hurts-because-it-mattered]

Okay, so I was talking to the wonderful @fuck-yeah-firebringer​ about Spies are Forever and we got on to my interpretation of Owen, then she convinced me I should post all my ranting about it.

Essentially, I don’t think Owen was a villain. (Not just that he’s sympathetic or “good deep down inside”, but genuinely not a villain and actually at least as heroic as Curt, possibly moreso.)

Before I even start I’ll acknowledge that he’s clearly an antagonist regardless of his morality; he’s working against Curt at every turn and also working on personal revenge against him. But I’m going to argue that Curt is on the wrong side of that struggle, and that Owen has a legitimate right to revenge.

First thing’s first: Chimera, and the plan that drives the plot. Owen somehow survives his fall and the subsequent explosion and, after a while of presumably recovering physically and certainly working through his feelings of anger and betrayal, he decides that what he’s going to take away from that night is a lesson about what happens when people are allowed to operate with minimal oversight, less accountability, and an almost mandatory surplus of arrogance. He himself spends the night casually torturing his lover, before the two of them jovially maim a man and tell him he should be thanking them, and that’s treated as charming and par for the course. Then Curt decides to needlessly blow up the building, fully intending to kill everyone inside, and proceeds to drink on the job while making a game of secretly setting the timer dangerously short, and seemingly gets his partner killed with his recklessness. 

After this decision, he joins Chimera. All we know about Chimera is that it’s a diverse group of powerful people pooling their resources and influences to try and make a better world. Because this comes from Owen, we assume that this is actually some sinister conspiracy, but why should it be? All we see them endeavouring to do is break down the way spies operate (at the height of the Cold War, I might add) because it leaves way too much collateral damage by inventing the internet and allowing the intelligence community to use bugs and computers for gathering their intel, instead of using armed men. And Barb is working on this exact same technology on behalf of the US! It’s not as though we’re supposed to believe there’s something inherently horrifying about it. (Plus, you know, we live in a world where it actually was invented and we generally consider it to be a very positive thing.)

Next let’s move on to his time undercover as The Deadliest Man Alive. He has exactly three on-stage kills that aren’t nazis: a man who’s killed over 1400 people, including his colleague in cold blood literally 10 seconds ago, and undoubtedly deserved to die. The useless prince who... Okay, didn’t deserve it, and that’s clearly an example of the kind of collateral damage that Owen is working to make obsolete, but in the context of a Cold War spy story political assassination is kind of value-neutral, neither good nor bad, and there are plenty of ways you could argue it was for the greater good considering how utterly useless he’s supposed to be. (I’m not actually making any of those arguments, this is not a good moment for Owen and I’m not going to seriously defend killing an innocent man, however useless he was, but given how morally grey spies in general are, I don’t think this really qualifies him as even slightly villainous.) And finally, the Informant. I don’t have any kind of canonical excuse for this one (apart from as a necessity for him to escape? But that’s pretty flimsy) except to say that Curt and Tati have both done far worse, and that we’re working with some very morally grey characters. However I personally think this killing was entirely justified, as I thoroughly distrust Informant.

(I can’t really articulate or properly defend that distrust, there's just something about all his disguises/roles and how seriously he takes them as roles while also being kind of terrible at his job (leaving the plans lying around, causing Curt problems all through the casino, being a complete mess at the meeting just before he's killed), and his whole thing about not recognising the man in the mirror seems ominous. Plus he had literally no relationship with Curt beyond two brief, not too friendly, jobs together (cafe and casino) but signed up with him to throw his career away and risk his life? I just generally get a shady feeling from him. (Bonus points for during One More Shot when he cuts himself off mid-sentence then says he forgot what I was going to say, I think it was going to be something incriminating that almost slipped out because he was drunk but he caught himself in time.) I choose to think that he was some kind of double agent, or setting himself up to betray Curt, or some other issue, and that Owen knew about it and killed him for it. After all, DMA seems to see straight through his disguise in the meeting and be intentionally making him uncomfortable.)

Of course, there’s the matter of his reputation and his kill record. To start with, my biggest assumption here is that all his kills (at least as DMA) have been under comparable circumstances to his on stage kills. Either necessary collateral damage in a way that’s par for the course as a spy, or people (e.g. nazis and mass murders) who deserve killing. Secondly... There’s no way that he’s killed over 1400 people in the 5 years since he survived the fall. Which means that either he’s claiming kills he hasn’t made, or the number is accurate and he’s including his kills from his years working for the British. (Or both, and he’s claiming unsolved murders to kill the place of his old kills because he’s undercover.) Unless he’s claiming kills that aren’t his, the Agency’s supposed file of his victims is obvious bullshit. And even if he is making false claims, it’s still hard to believe that they would have poured the resources into tracking and recording all of these kills, along with pictures and ages of the victims, yet been unable to actually catch him. All of this is to say that basically I call bullshit on the “penchant for females ages fourteen to twenty two” line; it’s either Agency propaganda or DMA falsely claiming those kills to bolster his reputation. He’s definitely a killer, but so’s Curt, and so’s Tati, and we have no reason to think he’s been any more cruel and callous about his killing than they have.

Essentially... A spy is a spy, forever, whatever. Owen didn’t stop being a spy, he only started working for a different agency; one that seems to genuinely be set on building a better world instead of gathering national power.

And this leaves us with the revenge against Curt. Curt nearly got him killed, and then left him for dead. This would be bad from anyone, but between what they owed each other as lovers and the obligations of partners to look out for each other, it’s a particularly terrible thing. He had every right to pursue and enact his revenge, yet he could never quite pull the trigger.

In part 3, Curt is rusty and let’s DMA get inside his grip, at which point he unloads his gun in a panic. Owen lets him unload every single shot, before easily taking the gun out of Curt’s hand, so he probably could have taken it at any point. Even then, Curt is left unarmed, surrounded by Owen’s allies, while Owen still has (at least) his machete, yet he leaves Curt unharmed and runs off.

At the end of the first act, he has Curt at his mercy, and tortures him. This is definitely him getting his revenge. But it’s also a way to put off actually killing him, and once he’s got the blade to Curt’s throat, he’s still so, so slow about it that I’m not at all certain he would have gone through with it if Tati hadn’t intervened.

After he kills Informant, he could have easily shot Tati and Curt too, but instead he lets them go.

Throughout Cut To The Chase, he seems to be hugely more skilled than Curt with every single weapon they use, implying that he could have killed Curt at any time but instead is just playing with him.

And then the final confrontation... Curt was utterly defeated and vulnerable. And there were several dramatically appropriate moments for Owen to finally do it... But every time he let the moment pass, and kept on talking, because he could never actually pull the trigger. Then Curt disarms him, and he doesn’t even seem to care too much, and then Curt coldly executes the lover he betrayed and abandoned.

I won’t even get into all the details and intricacies of Owen’s emotions throughout that penultimate section, that part is easy enough for everybody to watch and see his mixed feelings, though different people will have different opinions on exactly what means what. (Me and @fuck-yeah-firebringer found ourselves precisely reversed on which lines we each thought were angry and which we thought were loving, so that seems like a lost cause to specify. :’) )

I'm not trying to say that he's a particularly good person or anything, but I don't think he qualifies as an actual villain, and I think he actually comes off as more heroic than Curt, all things considered. They’re both spies, with all the moral issues that follow, but Owen is working towards what seems to be a more noble goal, seems to be a lot more careful than Curt “we gotta blow this whole facility” Mega about who gets hurt along the way, and can’t bring himself to kill his old lover, who in turn shows no hesitation before executing him.

[science-fiction-is-real]

“The Search”, Its Problems, and how to fix it.  Pt 4:  Zuko

“The Search,” the series of comics that describe Zuko's search for his long lost mother, were met with mixed reaction from several of the fans.  While many people liked “The Search,” and it certainly had some good elements, I purposefully found the story disappointing.  And whenever I find a story disappointing, my instinct as a writer is to pick it apart and try to figure out how I would make it better.

I've been talking about “The Search” for a while.

In post #1 I talked about Ursa,   In post #2 I talked about Ozai,   and in post #3 I talked about how I would rewrite Ursa's backstory and the “Zuko Alone” arc if I were handed the creative reigns.

This post I'm going to focus not on Ursa, Ozai, and what happenned before the events in ATLA, but instead on what happens during the course of Zuko's search for his mother.

While the other members of the Fire Nation Royal Family are handled poorly to say the least, Zuko's portrayal in “The Search” actually makes for some pretty good fiction.  I found Search Zuko to be likable, interesting, and relatable.  His inner conflict throughout the story is thought provoking and intriguing.  However there are some problems with his story too.  Zuko's story arc is tightly tied to his mothers, and Ursa's arc has several problems. If we change Ursa's arc we will have to change his. The story didn’t force Zuko to challenge his flaws in a way I think it should.  My version of the Search would keep the main themes of Zuko's inner conflict, but change the mechanics of how it happens.

So here we go. Zuko, his problems, and how I would fix them.

Search Zuko, from the first pannels in which we see him, is a pretty cool dude. He is mature and responsible, and he reads more like an adult than the angsty teenager he used to be.  He cares deeply for the welfare of the country he leads.  He also realizes he is the de facto patriarch of his broken family, and he takes that responsibility seriously, feeling deep compassion even for Ozai and Azula.  I related to pressure Zuko puts on himself, and I admired him for his willingness to take up that mantel.  Zuko does have flaws however, as all good characters do.  He loses patience with his mentally ill sister, to the point of dangling her off a cliff.  When he learns he might not be Ozai's son and thus might not be the rightful heir, he toys with the idea of abandoning his Fire Lord duties.  But the flaws add to Zuko's complexity as a character.

Zuko's inner conflict in “The Search” has to do with his identity.  Identity is a major theme in the Search, and it it clearly evident when we look at his mother’s story arc.  Ursa is forced to give up her identity for a new one when she is marries into the royal family.  She gives up her identity again when she surrenders her memories to the Mother of Faces, and then regains it when she asks for her memories back. Other story details cement the identity theme,  the fact the story opens with characters wearing masks and acting in a stage play, the inclusion of spirits who give/take/change people's faces, the tiny detail Zuko's half sister names a doll after herself, the fact Ursa’s last words to Zuko are “Remember who you are.”  It makes sense why the writers would choose Identity to be a theme for “The Search.”  The story focuses on Zuko's parents, and our parents are an important aspect shaping our identities.

Zuko's identity crisis starts with the bombshell he might not be Ozai's biological son.  I love the scenes when he discusses this “revelation” with Aang.  Zuko finds the news troubling, but also relieving in a way. He contemplates the idea of stepping down from the throne, and leading a simpler, happier life with his “real” parents.  This mirrors Ursa's decision to surrender her role as mother and princess to live in peace with the man she loves (and because of the mirroring, it makes sense why the writers chose for Ursa to lie about Zuko's parentage and surrender her memories).  Aang uses his air suction powers to suck Zuko back into reality, reminding Zuko of his responsibilities to the Fire Nation and to restoring peace.  The tone is thoughtful and mature, and it’s interesting to watch.

While this is not a bad conflict for Zuko to go through, it has some problems.  It is built around Ursa's arc, which as we've already discussed in previous posts, is pretty shitty, even though it goes along with the story they want to tell for Zuko.  There is no need to sacrifice the mother’s arc for the son’s.  We have to change Ursa’s arc, so we have to change the plot of Zuko’s as well.

I also don’t think it makes sense for Zuko to contemplate giving up the crown and walking away from duties to the Fire Nation.  It doesn’t fit with his personality or the extensive character development he’s already been through. Zuko is a person who does the right thing even when its uncomfortable, and he also is not a quitter.  We just had an entire series of Zuko gradually coming to understand his responsibilities, and then working up the courage to live them out.  It was three seasons long.  After all that, why is he so eager to throw those responsibilities away?

Okay... I disagree with the writers’ decision to give Zuko these “flee for the hills” urges.  But let’s step back and accept it as it is.  Let’s say that these urges are a character flaw that Zuko needs to work through, that make him more complex and interesting.  Do they actually add to his story?

 Zuko in “The Search” certainly has flaws, but the way the writers handle those flaws is less than stellar.  In order for flaws to work, the character must be challenged by the flaws, must actually confront them, and must overcome them if the story is to have a happy ending.  Zuko sort of confronts his “flee for the hills” urges when Aang reminds him of his responsibilities, but Zuko doesn’t really seem to struggle with this flaw in a meaningful way.  He never questions why he feels this way.  He never even decides those feelings are wrong.  He just... decides to keep being Fire Lord.  I don’t know why, maybe Aang convinced him? Maybe he decides to stick with it when he learns he really is Ozai’s son?  Perhaps I didn’t really understand the plot very well.  Perhaps they didn’t really intend for this to be a character flaw or inner struggle at all.  Perhaps they just included it as a part of Zuko questioning the origins of his birth.  In which case, it doesn’t add anything to the story, and it makes Zuko look needlessly irresponsible, which we know he is not.  Either way.  It doesn’t work.

Zuko has other flaws as well.  They also give Zuko a bit of a temper.  I'm talking about the aforementioned scene where he dangles Azula over a cliff ledge.  I'm not really sure how we are supposed to interpret this scene.  Initially I assumed they used this scene as proof Zuko was Ozai’s son after all.  A few pages earlier, Zuko was talking about his parentage with Aang.  And dangling someone over a cliff is a very Ozai-like move.  I like this scene because I think Ozai/Zuko paralleled are the most interesting thing we’ve seen in the comics so far.  It did give me some goosebumps the first time I read “The Search.”  But it is supposed to be a Zuko/Ozai parallel scene, why do the writers give us the scene and walk away? Why don't the other characters call Zuko out on his cruel behavior?  Why doesn't he realize he's done something wrong?  Zuko doesn’t suffer any consequences for his behavior.  The Authors don’t actually force Zuko to confront this character flaw and don’t use it to challenge Zuko’s growth.

In the end, I came to the realization that I was interpreting the scene incorrectly.  Zuko doesn't have a bad temper because it's a character flaw he needs to overcome.  Zuko loses his temper because the writers think Azula deserves it. In fact, in the last few pages of the comic, Zuko actually decides to withdraw all compassion for his sister all together, ordering his friends to attack her.  The writers treat this as if it were the lesson Zuko should have learned all along, as if it were the point of the story.  Zuko actually uses the phrase “I've been naive.”

This is the part where I start getting angry.  This progression of events, that line “I’ve been naive,” not only goes against everything the show stood for, but is also just in really poor taste.

Really Gene and Bryke?  Azula deserves it?  For fuck’s sake, Azula isn’t a “good person,” but she’s also severely mentally ill, suffering from profound heartbreak from her past, a victim of abuse, and only 15 years old.  ATLA the show taught us that everyone deserving of compassion, that everyone deserved a shot at redemption, and that compassion actually works.  If anyone needs mercy at this point, it’s Azula.

And this lack of mercy is coming from Zuko, of all people.  Zuko had so much compassion offered toward him from Iroh and later the Gaang.  He was given a second chance when he really didn’t deserve it, and it worked.  And Zuko is in many ways in a similar situation to Azula, having suffered a great deal of abuse and heartbreak himself at the hands of the same god damn person.  Zuko of all people should understand the need to show Azula compassion.  Why is morally-confused, lil-punk-bitch “Book One”-Zuko willing to reach out his hand for Admiral Zhao, while mature, wise, reborn-on-Christ Comics-Zuko won’t show any compassion toward his own sister?

It makes me want to throw a plate against a wall.

But I think we'll understand more about Zuko's inexplicable lack of mercy toward his sister when we take a closer look at Azula, and learn more about how the writers want us to think about her.  That's a topic for a different post.

SOO.... HOW DO WE FIX THIS....?

If a “Search” re-write wants to stick with the Identity theme, there are other ways to give Zuko a fat juicy identity crisis besides saying he's the bastard son of some theater geek, or having him flirt with the idea of quitting his job and running away to join the circus.

One way to do this would be for Zuko to learn details of his parents story as he searches for clues for his mother's disappearance.  In my version of “The Search” which I talk about in post #3, I change things up by having Ursa do bad things for good reasons when she kills Azulon herself.  We also get the story of Ozai transforming from a young idealist to the villain we get in the show as he is corrupted by power and ambition.   Zuko in “Search 2.0” would learn about this story detail by detail.  As he gains more insight into who his parents were as people, he also gains insight into how he has inherited their traits and behaviors and personalities.  What he learns could trouble him.

I LOVE the Ozai/Zuko paralelles we get in the ATLA comics.  It fascinated me in “The Promise” watching Zuko teeter on the edge of becoming a dictator himself (though that story could have been handled better too).  One of the most compelling scenes in “The Search” is when Zuko talks with Aang about how he might not be Ozai's son, and then a few pages later he dangles Azula off the side of a cliff, a very Ozai-like move.  In my own interpretation of the characters, Zuko lives by the morals his mother taught him, but has a base personality more like his father (bad temper, tendency for black and white thinking, takes things a little too seriously at times).  Zuko could learn more about this as he learns more about his father's history. If Ozai was once a young idealist like Zuko is now, what's to stop Zuko from giving in to the same corrupting forces, especially considering how similar their personalities are?

There are more chances for identity-crisis-inducing revelations as Zuko learns about his mother too.  Maybe throughout “Search 2.0,” Zuko learns more and more about how much he has in common with his father, which disturbs him, so he clings to hope he's like his mother too.  He has an idealized version of her in his head of a saint, giving him hope he can be a saint too.  But when he learns towards the end his mother also has done some not so great things, like murdering Azulon, Zuko has to deal with the fact everyone has both good and bad inside them. Zuko is forced to confront the fact it really is our choices who make us who we are.  We can't rely on an identity that is handed to us.  And it takes hard work.

It's a different type of identity crisis than what we got in “The Search,”  but I think it would work for a hypothetical “Search 2.0.”

In a Search 2.0, Zuko's flaws would also be handled better.  I would probably choose different character flaws to highlight, but they don't have to be too different.  In “The Search” we got, Zuko's flaws show up in response to things he learns, or after the fact.  A better idea would be for Zuko to discover his flaws as part of his identity crisis itself. As Zuko learns more about his parents, he discovers he carries some of their flaws with him, especially his fathers.  This causes him distress, but in order for him to have a happy ending, he has to confront those flaws, and realize he can only overcome them with hard work.

We can even keep the flaw of Zuko having a bad temper.  It doesn't have to be the only one he works on, but it's good one to highlight.  It's a flaw Ozai also has, and I want Search 2.0 will focus more on how Zuko is like and unlike his parents.  By confronting his temper, it gives him a chance to work on his relationship with his sister as their conflicts come up.  It gives him a chance to meditate on the importance of compassion like the compassion Iroh and the Gaang showed him.  It also gives Zuko a chance to reflect on what it truly means to be a good person or a bad person, in light of how he has some of his father's bad traits and his mother's good once.

Most importantly, the Flaws will not just be There (TM) but also will be obstacles Zuko will have to overcome.  Maybe we'll show Zuko working with all his might to control his temper around his sister.  Whether he succeeds or not will depend on weather or not we want the story to be happy or darker, but if he fails, we are NOT going to ignore it as if Azula deserves it, for crying out loud.

Lastly, I want Zuko to take the compassionate, responsible attitude he has for his family—all of them—which we see in the beginning of the comic, and carry it through to the end.  I admired Zuko so much in the first few panels.  It would be such an interesting story to watch Zuko struggle to keep that compassion for his family and actually succeed as part of the story's climax.  I want to see him struggle with his impatience and anger toward Azula, but also recognize in the end she needs him more than ever.  None of this “I've been naive” malarkey we got instead.

So those are my thoughts on Zuko in “The Search.”  Please comment if I missed something or you have something you'd like to add.  Thanks for reading ma dudes.

[dawnscngs]

sage :   what is your muse’s legacy ? what do they want to be remembered for   &   what might they actually be remembered for ?

salvia :   is your muse possessive over people or things that matter a lot to them ? how do they express that possessiveness ,   or lack thereof ?

snapdragon :   is your muse merciful ? why or why not ?

for vel and william

BOTANICAL HEADCANONS — accepting ( @veritcs )

sage :   what is your muse’s legacy ? what do they want to be remembered for   &   what might they actually be remembered for ?

The idea of 'legacy' is complicated for Vel. He's never been the kind to seek any recognition or notoriety, he vastly prefers keeping his head down and working unnoticed. Less people bother him and he gets done what needs to be done, It's a win/win. In his main FFXIV verse, that approach is impossible, since there's not a person on the star who doesn't know at least the title that was dropped on him.

So, currently, he's had this legacy built up as some great hero without any desire or consent on his part. So anything he leaves behind at this point will be as the 'Warrior of Light', or even worse the 'Hero of Eorzea' (despite the fact that he is neither a hero, nor Eorzean jfhgsdjh)

If he had to choose a legacy for himself, something that people will remember long after he's gone, he'd like to be remembered as Khagan of the Azim Steppe, since in his heart, that's his biggest achievement— even among all the god-killing and war-fighting. The Steppe is his home and he is Xaela in all but blood. There is no greater honor.

salvia :   is your muse possessive over people or things that matter a lot to them ? how do they express that possessiveness ,   or lack thereof ?

I generally dislike the word 'possessive' when it comes to people. Vel is very...protective? Territorial. He doesn't consider the people he cares about to be his possessions, but he does get very confrontational towards anyone or anything that threatens them— physically or emotionally. Absolutely will fight anyone, anywhere, anytime over it. (This means the twins' dad is going DOWN.)

When it comes to his things, he's definitely a little possessive. There was a time where he didn't have anything of his own at all, and he likes to keep his things close so there's no possibility of them being lost or stolen. Just don't touch his stuff without asking, he really hates that. Thankfully, though, he doesn't have a lot of material stuff that he gets like that over. Pretty much just his weapons and food. He'll share food if you ask but don't just reach for his food that's how you get your hand bit.

snapdragon :   is your muse merciful ? why or why not ?

HM. Well, I wouldn't call him merciful, exactly? He doesn't hesitate to kill in battle unless specifically asked not to cause any deaths, he has no qualms about torture, if it's deemed necessary (though he doesn't like it, he will break some fingers to get a person talking if need be.), and if someone has done something heinous enough, by his standards, even if they aren't his current opponent, death is on its way.

That said, he isn't needlessly cruel? Not every opponent in battle is one he's going to decide to kill, and he dislikes the killing of the tempered just because there wasn't a way to cure them at the time. Especially since there's a way to do it now. Those affected by the sineaters in the first are a bit different. He doesn't like the idea of killing them either, but he understands better why it's done, since there's the whole transformation factor to it and everything that comes with that.

Vel has a very 'kill or be killed' mentality about a lot of things and it's basically what he falls back on when in situations that require a choice of mercy. If his opponent will kill him if he doesn't kill them, then he won't hesitate. If his opponent is incapacitated and shows no signs of continuing the fight, and if he doesn't hate them personally, then he'll feel no need to kill them.

(this is long already, so William's are under the cut)

sage :   what is your muse’s legacy ? what do they want to be remembered for   &   what might they actually be remembered for ?

William has a pretty established legacy at this point, it just depends on who you are and how you knew him before the fall. To the vast majority, he's remembered as a villain. An infamous threat to the country as a whole and a horrid, cold-blooded murderer. Indeed, this was his goal all along. He sought to make the demons of the world pay (including himself) and to become the common enemy that would bind all of England together, pushing the society smoothly towards equality.

There are others, however, who knew him— not as the Lord of Crime, but simply as William James Moriarty. A professor, a friend, family. Those people will be the ones who remember all of his forgotten pieces. His kindness and warmth, his idealism, his desire to protect and to help at any cost. Everything that made up his heart will be carried by the people who love and have faith in him, and really, what more could he ever ask for in a legacy?

salvia :   is your muse possessive over people or things that matter a lot to them ? how do they express that possessiveness ,   or lack thereof ?

William is an interesting case. He has certain tendencies that can be read that way (the "colonel moran is finally mine" line comes to mind), but the way I see it? He would never be genuinely possessive over a person. Everyone who he considers 'his' is not his in a possession sort of way, and he would never truly force a person to attach themselves to him.

He expresses these feelings through unconditional love and care. The others may have all been willing to sacrifice themselves just the same as William was, but William was never truly willing to sacrifice any of them.

He has a bit of an ego when it comes to protecting the people he really cares for. He doesn't tend to consider how they might see his attempts to take everything on his own shoulders and only considers that, were the positions reversed, he would want someone to do the same for him.

Which is funny, because when his loved ones do offer to support him and protect him in the same ways (moran offering to make a kill for him, louis requesting to join the rest of the moriarty family on jobs), William is either reluctant or outright refuses.

snapdragon :   is your muse merciful ? why or why not ?

He is, no matter what he thinks. He hates killing and violence, even when it's directed at those who most deserve it. The act of killing has broken him down bit by bit over the years and eaten him alive. Were it not for his ideals and circumstances, he could have lived a perfectly happy life and never raised a hand to another human being.

His killings themselves are usually as quick as he can make them, and he won't kill anyone innocent. He destroys himself, actively, all so that those who are never shown mercy or justice can have a world where they are.