#so she was basically just the daughter of a former noble family and just kind of rich. maybe

[schadenfreudich]

Just thought "isn't there a weird term in german for nobility? Something like 'verlaucht'?" So I looked up "verlaucht" and the term is "erlaucht". I am so glad nobility doesn't exist anymore in Germany.

[howlingday]

(can't remember if I sent this one before so sorry if I did) jaune Arc is a proud member of the arc sword lords a combination of a noble family and knight order devoted to mastering the sword. Though he's the odd one out of his family. Instead of relying on twitch reflex and aura and charisma jaune devoted himself to the basics and a strong body with full plate. Between the family's sword style ( the steel net) which focused on the seven strikes and how to block dodge counter and parry them and crane style a martial art all about balance footwork and defence leading to a brutal counter and jaune's own mastery of the disarming and armor sundering. Well the end result is that jaune's basically impossible to touch in combat and every mistake ends in a counter that either takes away your weapon your armor or your life. A style so perfect jaune's armor shines like new because he's never even taken a scratch. But is a tank enough in this world of bloody evolution? Or is the shining knight of remnant due for a greater fall when his skills fail to match up to the power of the soul?

(tldr: jaune's a super tanky build that lacks any magic or aura from a family that are either spell swords or monks what's life like for the black sheep of the arcs?)

"When I was growing up," Jaune said, leaning his head on his partner's, "I was kind of the odd one out."

Pyrrha remained silent as he spoke. The two had grown closer as of late, and though it wasn't the level of intimacy she'd desired from him, it was still nice to be this close to him. In the corner of her eye, she saw Nora and Ren turn the corner, only for the former to guide the latter back the other direction. She'd have to thank her later somehow.

"Dad was the best guy with a sword in town. And all I ever wanted to do was to be him." Jaune gestured with his arm out. "That tree? Split in half. These marble columns? Well, you wouldn't be able to tell from a distance, but he could slice them so finely, you'd have to use your finger to tell the difference." He chuckled. "And then there's Mom, and she was the best with magic. She could make anything happen with spells. The two of them made the perfect daughters." His hand fell to his knee. "And then there's me."

"You're good, too, Jaune." Pyrrha said, resting her hand on his. Neither could tell, because they refused to look each other in their faces, but both could feel heat rushing into their cheeks. "And you've always been good to us, too."

"But not good enough for my family." Jaune said softly. "To them, I was 'Big Jaune,' or 'Jaune the Jock'. Every time I tried to help out with something other than grace, or something smart, or anything that wasn't 'lift big heavy thing,' I was useless."

"But you're not useless, Jaune." Pyrrha found her courage to look him in the face. "You're smarter than you think, and you're more than just the muscle of the team." Pyrrha chuckled. "And to be honest, I thought Nora was more of the muscle anyways."

The two shared the chuckle while Nora giggled next to the quiet, yet smiling Ren.

[valiantvillain]

Decided to make my Dragon Age OCs with a picrew (which I sadly clicked out of and now the link is lost to the murky sea of my memory).

Katla Cousland: the She-Wolf of Highever, a woman with a surprising amount of steel in her spine despite her slight frame and stature. Fergus was partially convinced she became a warrior just to show the noble boys playing for her hand that she wasn't to be trifled with. Capable and charming but always with somewhat of an edge beneath the sweet smile when it comes to negotiation, always with the undercurrent that if words fail then she will always be more than willing to duel you or straight-up deck you. Scorned the very notion of love until Alistair made her laugh for the first time since her family's death and kept her laughing afterward, aka reminded a person to dig its way out of the all-consuming vengeance. Politically shrewd and proud of her status as a Grey Warden, she wears almost exclusively blue and silver since marrying King Alistair and becoming Queen so as to remind nobility not just in Fereldan but also the rest of Thedas just to whom they are speaking. Honestly, my favorite stone cold badass OC I've ever had.

Valery Hawke: A purple Hawke and spirit healer whose sense of humor is essentially a shield against the crushing weight of expectations, abject good deeds punished, and years of parentification. Should have been in the club but was expected to play secondary primary parent to Carver and Bethany following the death of their father and their mom essentially shouldering a good chunk more of the responsibility onto a thirteen year-old Valery. This girl is tired and sincerely hoped that once her siblings were out of the house she could finally move out and start living her own life...then of course the Blight happened and suddenly head of the family responsibilities ramped up to 100. Initially learned healing magic to treat her brother's injuries and turned out to be good at it so she kept with it. Was attracted to Sebastian the moment she saw him and felt like she could just be Valery around him instead of Hawke once they got to know each other. Basically her chaos was deeply drawn to his calm and she found solace in his unabashed kindness and desire to help people. Left Kirkwall with him and is now married to the Prince of Starkhaven.

Rhiannon Lavellan: my baby-faced Dalish inquisitor and the daughter of a craftsman and a city elf who ran off and joined the Dalish. Grew up under a stern father who expected Rhiannon to follow in his footsteps and while she wasn't half-bad at the family business so to speak, she was far better suited to using bows than making them. Though she does still carve occasionally when left to her own devices. Was only meant to observe the peace talks was in the perfectly wrong place at the wrong time due to stomping off angry due to a disagreement with the head of the group. Is in a constant state of imposter syndrome until the second act and she realized it didn't matter whether or not she was the Herald of Andraste because she was the job needed doing and it needed an Inquisitor. A task which was made bearable by the surprising friends she made in it, the people who got to see her as a person beneath the titles. Became really good friends with Dorian, Vivienne, and ended up developing a sort of big sister/little sister relationship with Sera. Was more surprised than anyone to realize she fell in love with a human, and a former templar at that. While she may now see her gods in an entirely new light, she still wears her vallaslin with pride, as a reclamation and a defiance rather than a brand. Once Solas and the Evanuris have been dealt with, she will be glad to return to Cullen and their children and their retirement. They more than deserve it, don't they?

And finally my first and likely canon Rook, Asala Mercar. A former Saarebas who survived the explosion of a qunari dreadnaught at the age of seventeen alongside two younger children. Her collar destroyed in the sea that almost claimed her, she defied the soldier who attempted to bring them back to the qun, a defiance he did not survive. And so three saarebas children became Tal-Vashoth. An innately kind and nurturing soul, she took care of the younger ones until, hungry and worse for wear, they stumbled upon a Tevinter military camp. She earned them sanctuary with the promise of qunari secrets. Impressed by her cleverness and her magical talent, she was adopted by the Mercars. She accepted only on the condition that the others became her siblings as well. A defector of the Qun and an alien adoptee of Tevinter, the newly named Asala navigates an uncommon space in the world, one where she is never entirely welcome but at least begrudgingly respected for her skill, wit, diplomacy, and leadership. Traits most would not have assumed of a qunari, but Asala has always possessed a curious mind and an aching desire to understand people, as well as a talent for the study of languages. Despite the years since her escape, she still cannot catch the scent of the sea without a surge of nausea and the very thought of seafood turns her stomach. Suffers from seasickness and thalassophobia.

[hallowedbe]

a gust of wind makes you pull your jacket closed; notes of baked bread, vanilla, old books, and blackberries fill your nose. you think you hear zombie by the cranberries playing in another room. ah — it must be pearl.

BASICS

name: pearl sierra becker nicknames: none age: fifty-two gender: cis woman pronouns: she/her sexuality: biromantic & bisexual date & place of birth: november 10th in bearhold, wa faceclaim: winona ryder occupation: former slayer / owner of once upon a thyme bookshop & bakery notable characteristics: glasses (switches between black, red, and purple frames), a near constant tremor in her hands, a scar that runs through her right eyebrow to the corner of her eye from an attack when she was younger traits: altruistic, neurotic, scatterbrained, maternal, awkward, eccentric similar to: laurie strode, lorelai gilmore, wanda maximoff, sally jackson, abby sciuto, jody mills, mary winchester

BULLET POINTS — * TW FOR SIBLING LOSS, SPOUSAL LOSS, AND GENERAL THEMES OF DEATH & VIOLENCE

- grew up in bearhold, born into a long line of slayers and a family of hunters ( on her father's side ). her mother was a slayer and she was taught to fight tooth and nail to protect their town as soon as she could pick up a blade. - the second eldest daughter of four children, pearl worked hard to become the slayer her parents wanted her to be. succeeded for most of her life & lived a relatively normal life in bearhold — she helped out at the family shop (once upon a thyme), did patrols on the weekends, and made a name for herself as a kooky but lovable young woman. was content to live her life in bearhold and follow in the family lineage. - when pearl was 16, her older sister, lilith, died. it rocked the becker family and tensions began to arise — pearl could not be lilith, the perfect slayer and daughter, could never dream of it, but she tried. hard. her faults became more apparent without her role model in the picture and pearl began to become disillusioned with the slayer lifestyle. could killing be that noble when they were in it so young? - met her late husband, damien, when she was 21. a hunter himself, he was kind, patient, and benevolent. a whirlwind romance, pearl believes he was her soulmate; soon, pearl was pregnant, and the two were married (in part due to pressure from her parents). they may not have had much but they were happy, the picture of a loving little family. - damien died when pearl was 32 and manon ten years old; pearl had been going after a vampire, a very cunning & very elusive one. it was a game of cat and mouse and pearl, for once in her life, was the one being hunted. her husband paid the price; she killed the vampire and swore off slaying forever. for her — and for her daughter — she would be normal. - began to work full time at once upon a thyme after, inheriting it after her father'sdeath. pearl and her parents never quite repaired their relationship, but they were cordial, which pearl supposes is all she could have asked for. she still talks to her mother, though it's strained. shame and guilt fill her with every step, and she began to become accustomed to the now-heavy boots. - known now as the local kooky, neurotic, and eccentric bookstore owner; loves talking to her customers. very involved in town proceedings; even if she isn't a slayer anymore, she has a lot of experience and her expertise is valued. she lives in a decently sized apartment directly above once upon a thyme and owns a plethora of cats. - constantly anxious about exposing manon to the life that she had growing up, and made it a point not to "indoctrinate" her the way her own mother did. is it working? find out later! - once upon a thyme has become a beacon for her to give a bit back to her community — she transformed it from just the shop and cafe to include various settings for studying, board games, and reading. they also sell records & occasionally a few cds. everything in the store is secondhand, from the decorations to the games to the books. loves her employees like they're her own kids. - once upon a thyme also has bookstore cats — a black cat, a calico, a snow white cat, an orange cat, and a gray tabby. they wander the store and like to say hi quite often. there's currently a poll on the chalkboard voting for names for each of the cats. stay tuned to see what wins <3

[mermaidsirennikita]

Do you have any HR with the hero having a profession instead of being nobility?

Yes, def! I love non-noble heroes.

Lisa Kleypas writes a lot of self-made men, with some of the most prominent books I'd recommend (there are other ones, these are just my favorites) including:

Dreaming of You. Derek Craven runs a successful gambling club; he was born in a drainpipe!!! He named himself!!! He lived on the streets, he totally made a success of himself, and now he can't deal with his sense of inadequacy and his dirty, dirty hands sullying Sara (though he will for sure do stuff to her... I mean, if she was wearing a mask and they got started and he realized it was her during... he might as well finish it...)

Secrets of a Summer Night. Simon Hunt is self-made, and he comes off as a super successful industry tycoon. It's hOT. And of course, the conflict of his book is him asking the poor but blueblooded heroine to be his mistress, while she's like "omg he's so COARSE!!!"

Marrying Winterborne. Would recommend reading Cold-Hearted Rake, which does have a noble hero, beforehand for context. Rhys Winterborne is Welsh (!) and owns a department store and he's always like "spend my money babe".

Seduce Me at Sunrise--Kev Merripen is kind of like... a servant for the Hathaways? But he's also grown beyond that. He's most definitely not nobility, and nor is Cam in Meet Me at Midnight (which is also good, but I don't love it quite as much).

Again the Magic--McKenna was a servant for Aline's family, was sent away because of their romance, and made his money abroad

Lorraine Heath has some, which I love:

Between the Devil and Desire. Just re-listened! Jack Dodger was a child thief (the bEST child thief! He's Dodge!) and now owns a gambling club that's super successful.

Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel. James Swindler was also a child thief/con artist (a swindler perhaps) and is now an inspector. There's also a novella following this book about their friend, Dr. Graves, who's obviously a doctor and was a graverobber as a child--but I haven't read that one yet.

Her Sins for All Seasons series has 4/6 heroes who were born illegitimate and therefore aren't noble--Beyond Scandal and Desire has Mick, who runs a club, The Scoundrel in Her Bed as a hero who does similarly but is kind of halfhearted about it (and was a horse slaughterer when he was younger), and The Duchess in His Bed has a hero who runs a club for WOMEN!!! There is another self-made hero I've yet to read in Beauty Tames the Beast (I think?).

Elizabeth Hoyt has a lot of heroes who aren't noble:

Scandalous Desires--Mickey O'Connor is an extremely successful river pirate.

Thief of Shadows--Winter runs an orphanage for poor lil babies

Sweetest Scoundrel--Asa is trying to build up a pleasure garden (he's Winter's brother)

Most of Joanna Shupe's Gilded Age heroes are not noble, because American. Special shoutouts to:

The Rogue of Fifth Avenue--the hero is a former thief-turned-lawyer/fixer for a rich man, who falls for his boss's daughter

The Prince of Broadway--Clay Madden runs a casino and begins mentoring his hero (in a revenge plot)

The Devil of Downtown--Jack Devlin is a gangster lol

In the Fifth Avenue Rebels, the first three heroes (basically everyone but Lockwood) are not noble but they do come from money. Shoutout to The Lady Gets Lucky (Kit is rich but demands to be taken seriously by starting a supper club) and The Bride Goes Rogue (Preston is Vague Tycoon Man).

Grace Callaway has:

Pippa and the Prince of Secrets--Cull runs a band of CHILD THIEVES and lives on the criminal/vigilante edges of society

Glory and the Master of Shadows--Wei is a martial arts master who is recovering from some pretty severe trauma, while also handling some dirty dirty deeds on the low.

Sarah MacLean's first two Bareknuckle Bastards books (Brazen and the Beast and Wicked and the Wallflower) have criminal underworld heroes, and Knockout has an inspector hero!

Stacy Reid's A Scoundrel of Her Own has a hero who was born poor but has risen up in society (which is now why he wants to claim his upper class childhood sweetheart as his own muahahahaha--)

Beverly Jenkins's heroes generally are not noble, because she doesn't write about white Brits, but they do often come from money. Galen Vachon in Indigo comes from a wealthy, influential Creole family, and the hero of Forbidden is passing for white, but is actually the biracial son of a plantation owner.

[bardfm]

* ˖ ♥︎ emily bader  &  cis woman  &  she/her     |     wilhelmina “mina” roshan, the musician of lyris for the past three years. they're twenty four, and known to be quite clever, charismatic and talented, but on a bad day they can be spoiled, egocentric, vain. within lyris, it’s common knowledge that mina is always strumming her lute in search of inspiration, and they don’t have any interest in being a rider.     |     empty wine glasses, colorful skirts made out of silk, a finely crafted lute, loud laughter, the sweet call of nightingales

* ˖ ♥︎  STATS

BASICS

BIRTH NAME :  wilhelmina roshan. NICKNAME :  mina. AGE :  twenty four. PLACE OF BIRTH :  capital city of andraech-íle. RESIDENCE :  lyris. OCCUPATION :  musician/bard/occasional player. GENDER :   cis woman. PRONOUNS: she/her SEXUALITY :  bisexual.

APPEARANCE

FACECLAIM :  emily bader. HAIR COLOR :  warm brown, falling in well kept waves down her shoulders. EYE  COLOR :  hazel, big and clever. HEIGHT :  5′ 4 ft / 163 cm. BUILD :  slender and graceful, with the poise of someone who had etiquette lessons from a young age.

PERSONALITY

TRAITS :  clever, charismatic, talented, spoiled, egocentric, vain, ambitious, playful, impulsive, passionate, manipulative. TROPES :  the bard, genius ditz, the heart, the serial romeo, innocently insesitive.

FLAWS :  mina has difficulty seeing past the tip of her own nose (which, in fairness, is quite a lovely nose). she doesn’t intend to be so egocentric, and her heart is almost always in the right place, but humility and kindness are virtues that she hasn’t quite mastered. it’s not that she’s mean, exactly, she’s just... exceptionally good at being herself. STRENGTHS :  far sharper than her popular drinking songs would suggests, mina is a master at reading people and navigating even the trickiest situations. with a wink and a well-placed word, she can charm the boots (and quite possibly the pants) off of just about anyone. Don’t be fooled by the flash and glamour, there’s a quick mind behind those sparkling eyes.

PRIMARY  VICE :  pride. PRIMARY  VIRTUE :  fortitude.

HOBBIES :  learning to play new instruments, reading, attending social events that include free alchool and powerful people. SKILLS :  besides her musical talent, mina is surpringly quick with a shortsword, something she learned while living in caerleon with a former lover. QUIRKS :  always humming something underneath her breath, has a huge sweet tooth, is incredibly allergic to mulberries.

LIKES :  recieving love letters (though she hardly reads them), collecting trinkets and jewlery, embroidered clothes, mulled wine, lemon cakes. DISLIKES :  humourless people, having a routine, being ignored, unflattering lighting, bad music. FEARS :  losing her voice, being forgotten, being tied down.

CHARACTER INSPO:  jaskier (the witcher), a terrifying cross between scanlan shorthalt and jester lavorre (critical role), lestat de lioncourt (vampire chronicles) medieval-fantasy chappell roan tbh EXTRAS:  pinterest / playlist

FAMILY

FATHER :  oskar roshan. MOTHER :  ilse roshan. SIBLINGS :  mina is the youngest of four children, gretel, annika and hayden.

  * ˖ ♥︎  BIOGRAPHY

wilhelmina roshan is a bard of her own making — just ask her. the fact that she's the youngest daughter of the obscenely wealthy roshan family? a mere coincidence, she insists with a dazzling smile. her childhood was an idyllic vision of music lessons, opulent toys, and sun-soaked vacations, but mina always had her eyes on something grander. being from the bustling capital of andraech-íle, she grew up listening to fantastical stories from far-flung lands, and by age eleven, she knew deep down that the life of a pampered noble just wasn’t for her. she longed to be a different kind of pampered — an adored, continent-wide famous bard, whose songs would send hearts soaring and crowds roaring.

at seventeen, mina packed her bags, bid her family a fond farewell, and set off to conquer the world with only the clothes on her back (and a small fortune in her pockets). self-assured and as radiant as a sunrise, she soon found herself playing to packed taverns, where patrons sang her lyrics as loudly as they cheered her name. adorers sent her gifts, and admirers — well, they lined up for a chance to catch her eye. 

but even mina’s star-studded life wasn’t without its lulls. tales of a mysterious, dragon-filled city began to stir her restless heart, and soon enough, the rumors were too tantalizing to resist. so, with absolutely no connection to the creative block that had plagued her recently (all artists go through that, don’t they?), she packed up and headed to lyris. dragons would surely inspire her next great ballad! upon arrival, she was swept into the city’s theatrical troupe, where she naturally assumed the role of the main star.

alas, even stars can fall. mina’s stint with the troupe lasted a mere two years, ended by what she would call "creative differences," and what the troupe would call "a raging ego and too many spats with the director." no matter. the stage was far too small for her ambition anyway. now she’s set her sights on a solo career, ready to charm her beloved fans with music so grand, even dragons might sing along.

[thelikesoffinn]

AAA, okay - (it's fun for everyone involved I think, it's so interesting reading everything you have to say, like seriously....) My tav is a human noble, and her name is Saoirse (this doesnt really matter i just love her lmao) and she has a bad relationship with her family; her parents are very traditional in that they see men as the heirs, and women don't take over thrones/noble houses, it's the sons that do this. She had one older brother, and her parents intended to have another son to have the "spare" so to say, and instead, they had her- a daughter. No matter how many times they tried after her, they could never have another child (a lot of miscarriages tw) and they ultimately blamed Saoirse, saying she was a curse to their family. Her older brother eventually dies in battle- and he was the only family member who loved her/treated her well; in an attempt to get *anything* from having a daughter, they intend to have her married off- but she runs from home and never goes back; she's a barbarian and the reasoning for that is because she's so full of pent up anger and rage from her familial life that, well, being a barbarian is an amazing outlet for that rage. She's kind of on the middle ground of being good and bad- she likes to help people (usually children or people she feels are pure of heart) but she also likes to get things in return for doing things (it's how she lived after leaving her family!) And she's actually pretty vulgar with her speech despite having been a well and proper noble (she was groomed to be a good noble girl - because if they were going to have a daughter- she was at least going to be proper.) A bit blunt sometimes. But sometimes, her little noble girl peaks through in some situations. It's what makes her good at convincing people and being diplomatic... And I just wonder if Astarion would just be... So annoyed by her/hate her noble upbringing- like I always thought perhaps at first he pins her as a noble and thinks she's been raised with a silver spoon in her mouth... Like I wonder if they'd even work at all, you know? Anyways sorry I'm going on for too long- and her story is probably very cringe but I still love her!!!

Aw, come now, flower. We don't do cringe. We love all them Tav's and Durges on this blog. Unconditionally.

Also, Saoirse and my durge Whisper - born Alastríona- have to be chaps now solely based on the fact that they both have Irish names 👉🏻👈🏻

Anyway!

At first glance, I can't see why Astarion and Saoirse wouldn't work. I don't even think he'd be that annoyed - at least there's no inherent reason for him to be as far as I can tell.

I can only speak very generally, of course, because I don't know how exactly Saoirse would behave in conversation and what traits she carries the most openly, so a lot of what follows will be based on assumption.

The "worst" clash of character I could see would be the part where she likes helping people. But that's relatively infinitesimal of a problem since she at least wants compensation for what she does. He generally handles that better than he does straight-up martyrs.

Furthermore, Astarion is a man of quick judgement - both by nature and by affliction - so how he first views Saoirse is probably highly dependent on how she initially presents herself.

Is the first impression more noble or barbarian?

He might look down on a very posh noble girl, but less because of her inherent nobility and more because she's "sheltered". (She obviously isn't, but he doesn't know that yet.)

(And, let's be honest; the former would be rather ironic, seeing as Astarion is likely of nobility as well. I wouldn't put it entirely past him, but it would need a very special attitude to make that one probable. )

But, going off of that: Nobility is basically the peak of shelteredness, as we probably all agree. Like, sure, being of nobility might not be easy, and there's a lot of expectations that come with it, but, in the end, nobles never go hungry.

They don't have to sleep in dirt.

They don't have to grovel just to be able to live.

Their pride is intact in all it's facettes and their dignity hasn't been ripped to shreds.

Astarions, however, has.

His dignity was shredded by Cazador, every little plight against his humanoid rights leaving another mark until it's raw.

Over the course of the game, we see him regain some of the pride he likely used to hold in himself. We can see it in how he stands up for himself later on - one of my favourite moments being when he berates Tav after they mention that Cazador has "really destroyed" him and he's like "No. I'm still here." and all that.

BUT that's later.

He has to get there first so, at first, "sheltered people" are likely to be a sore spot of his.

I think I mentioned it before in another ask, but people who experienced a lot of trauma tend to view those they consider "sheltered" in a rather negative light.

"Sheltered" relates to naïveté and naïveté can be viewed as idiocy, thus leading to infantilising behaviour towards the sheltered person. They "Don't know anything" and "haven't seen anything", so "how dare they talk"? It's a very normal point of view, and Astarion is probably not different in that regard, even if he's not outright saying so because he needs Tav on his side.

But, with Saoirse specifically, I see another thing coming up that could possibly be interesting.

Saoirse was raised as a noble, but she is somewhat blunt, vulgar and angry. She is used to having poise and grace. It's what she grew up seeing, what was expected of her and what was instilled in her for the longest of times. But at the same time she's a barbarian. A barbarian! The very opposite of a noble; the true opposite of poise and grace.

That's a contradiction if I've ever seen one and with Astarion being as deep in his survival mode as he likely is...well, he'd definitely notice. He'd notice that her gait is too elegant for your standard barbarian, her poise too graceful and her choice of words too perfect at times to be what she seems. But he'd also see the rage she carries and her willingness to let it out when the situation arises.

It's two very different natures that meet - the elegant and somewhat cold nature of nobility and the fiery passion of barbarians. It will take time to actually see how those two correlate and that is definitely something that would have him wary.

Contradictions like that are dangerous, because they make people somewhat unpredictable. That is something he absolutely doesn't need right then. If he can't somewhat estimate her actions, he can't make use of her. Worse, he can't plan his own actions properly because who knows what sets her off?

No. Astarion needs Saoirse to be predictable so that he can be safe.

So he'd likely hesitate a bit longer before he can truly be open with her. He needs to scope her out and get to know here more - enough to actually see who she truly is - to feel safe enough to trust her.

(Learning of her past is likely helpful here because it weaves the red thread through everything. Knowing how she grew up will explain her anger, thus helping ease his uncertainty. It basically takes the contradiction out of Saoirse because her actions suddenly begin to make sense.)

But as I said, despite that contradiction, I don't see any reason why those two wouldn't work! If anything, I think it could be a very healing relationship for the both of them.

(Especially Saoirse, seeing as Astarion is extremely loyal once you're in his heart and he's not shy about telling you that you're the only one he's ever cared about. He'll choose you over everything else, maybe shy of his own hide, and that could be exactly what someone like Saoirse needs after a lifetime of disdain. )

That's it, flower! That's as much as I can say from what you've told me - but do hit me up if you'd like to know more or for whatever other reason!

Saoirse sounds absolutely lovely, and I would love to hear more about her ❤️

[noshitbarnes]

World's Apart: Chapter 2

Pairing: Loki x Goddess!OFC, Steve x Goddess!OFC

Summary: Alina, the Goddess of healing, was cast out of Asgard by Odin, but has recently returned home under secrecy. Just when she believes her secret is safe, she's summoned to help heal Thor, who has grown ill since taking the thrown. Suddenly, Alina is forced to be around Loki while trying to help heal his brother. Will she be able to live in the castle with Thor and Loki again or does her heart belong back on Midgard?

Warnings: angst, Loki being a tease

Word Count: 3,092

Notes: From now on Alina will be referred to by her Goddess name, Eir, since she's not in hiding anymore! I hope you guys like this chapter, let me know!

Worlds Apart Masterlist

“So you’re not dead then?” Loki said flatly.

Eir takes a deep breath and looks into his ocean blue eyes that are now narrowed at her, “No, I’m not.”

There was an awkward silence while Loki continues to stare at her intensely, he then walks over to the window, turning his back. After a moment Heimdall broke the silence, “How about we let Thor rest?”

She glances at Heimdall and then to Thor, “Yes, of course.” She glances at the ground running a hand through her hair before making her way toward the door, “Um,” she turns around to look at Loki, who was still facing the window, she sighs and turns to the head lady in the room, “if there is any change in Thor's condition, please come and get me? Even if it’s the slightest.” the woman smiles and nods.

Eir turns to leave and begins walking down the long hallway, in no rush, she decides to admire the beauty of the castle, missing her former home. She missed the peacefulness of it, a simpler time. Smiling to herself, she could almost see her young self running around the courtyard with Sif, when life hadn't hurt either of them yet, she even missed swapping books with Loki, sparring with Thor, and learning magic from Frigga. She stops at the terrace that overlooked the garden, walks outside, and decides to watch the sunset for a while before heading back to the village that she called home now.

Frigga. The queen taught Eir the basics of magic and truly made her the healer she was today, she missed her dearly. Eir always knew how to do healing spells, she was taught by her own mother, but Frigga expanded her knowledge of magic and made it fun. Frigga taught her how to do illusions, protection spells, and how to defend herself if ever the time came, which looking back it's almost as if the queen knew she would need it one day. She was amazing, so brilliant, and so kind. Honestly, she was more of a mother to Eir than her own. Her own mother was rarely around, she never knew the true story, but one day Eir ended up living in noble housing and becoming Frigga’s handmaiden. Not knowing why her mother left had always been a shadow over her life, but sometimes knowing the truth can make things worse, all Eir knew was that once she started living in the castle, her life got so much better.

Eir was still a young lady when she first began to live within the palace. Frigga was so welcoming, her whole family truly was, they treated her as if she was no different. Odin had his flaws, he wasn’t exactly a great father-like figure to have around. He never treated her as a daughter, only as a warrior, which was fine since Eir wasn’t his daughter anyway. Allfather had too high of expectations for her once he discovered her gifts, which is why he punished her so greatly once he discovered her betrayal. Thor and Sif were, quiet frankly, Eir's biggest fans and her best friends. They both helped train her for battle, to which she became quiet well-versed with a sword and bow staff. Loki on the other hand, was a puzzling one for her to figure out. It seemed that Eir was one of the few he would talk to, when they did speak, it was either about books or he would just flirt. Not that Eir minded the flirting, at least she didn't think she did at the time, but sometimes he took it too far; either he got too close, would touch her cheek, or get too suggestive, and she would always have to remind him of who she was and what she could do. Which would just spur him on even more.

Eir sighs as she looks out onto the city once more, wishing she could've had more time with Frigga, could’ve been a better student, a better woman. She felt so guilty for letting the queen down and being cast out. Frigga never said she blamed her for what happened, she even tried to help when things started to go side ways, but even she couldn't say the boy. Yet somehow, even that wasn't enough to calm Odin and his all-powerful rage. Even as Allfather was stripping Eir of her status, Frigga stood beside him and wept.

“Eir?”

Eir is pulled out of her thoughts when she hears her name, from a voice she hasn't heard in so long, she turns and sees Sif. She smiles, having not been so happy to see another in so many years. Sif is wearing her red and silver Asgardian robe, looking dazed and confused, even without her armor and sword, she looks like she could strike anyone down in a second. Eir smiles and walks over to her as she grabs the Goddesses forearm, “I-I thought you were dead!” Eir returns her shake, not sure what to say, Sif looks to her with somber eyes, “You just disappeared one day. I have missed you.”

Eir sighs and looks back out at the sunset, “I'm truly sorry. I have missed you as well, Lady Sif.”

Sif lets go of Eir's arm, “Are you here about Thor?”

“Yes, I actually just left him. I treated him with a healing spell of my own making. Hopefully, that will be enough," she pauses and looks back in the direction of Thor’s room, “I’m not sure what's wrong with him.”

It was quiet a while and then Sif raises an eyebrow, “Loki was trying to heal Thor on his own, with no success. Have you spoken with him?”

Eir sighs in aggravation, “Yes, well I think I offended him when I said his spell may not have been enough.” She walks back out on to the terrace and leans her elbows on the railing, “He had little else to say. Just shocked I’m alive, much like you.”

She follows her out, “I see,” she walks over and stands next to her, “would you mind telling me why you left? It’s been at least 200 years.”

Eir sighs and stands up, “Look,” she glances around to see if anyone is listening, “I made a terrible mistake and it cost someone their life, so Allfather gave me a choice; either be locked away forever or be cast out, never to return. I chose to be cast out.” She shakes her head, “I thought if I was cast out, I could become a better Goddess, and possibly prove myself worthy to be here.” Furrowing her brows she continues, “He chose to send me to Midgard, hoping I would be able to help them with my gifts, which is where I have been. But,” she leans her hip against the railing and stares out at the city, “with my powers, I hear the Asgardians that are in pain. All of them. I hear their cries for help and I feel their agony. It was too much for me, so I silently came back," she chuckles a bit holding back tears, “or at least I thought I did. Nothing gets past Heimdall.”

There was a long pause when Sif says, “Allfather told us you had died.”

Of course he did, it was less embarrassing, for everyone, “He did that to protect me.” Eir hated lying, plus she's never been good at it, never wanted to be good at it. “You need to get better at lying, darling.”

Eir freezes. Even after all these years away, his voice still gave her chills, still caused her hear to skips a beat. She turns to the entryway of the terrace and finds Loki leaning with his back against a gold column, his arms folded across his chest, and smirking. Silently Eir hated after all this time, after everything, her heart still ached for him.

Loki tilts his head slightly, “You haven’t gotten any better at it in the 200 years you’ve been gone.”

Eir glares at him, “How long have you been there?”

He uncrosses his arms and moves away from the column, closer to where the women were standing, “Not long enough to be honest.” He looks Eir up and down, a little too slowly, and smiles.

Eir shifts slightly, feeling vulnerable under his gaze, “Can I help you with something or are you going to continue to stand there and leer?” She snaps not liking the feeling he was giving her.

He chuckles and smiles once more, “Now now, irritable are we?” He moves a bit closer, “I haven’t seen you in a while, darling. I missed the view.” He winks and smirks.

Eir rolls her eyes, despite her racing heart she was loving the attention, it had been a while since anyone had flirted with her. Well, correction, it’ had been a while since she'd allowed anyone to flirt with her. Suddenly Sif grabs ahold of her arm, “Loki, enough.” She pulls her away and the pair start walking toward the dining hall.

As they walked away, Loki laughs, “You’re no fun, Sif.”

The women ignore him and continue walking to the dining hall, “Alright, I hope you’re hungry, Eir, because you will be dinning with me! We are celebrating! The return of a Goddess!” Sif says grinning while almost skipping toward the dining hall.

Eir laughs, loving seeing her so happy, “What am I to tell everyone of my return?”

“The truth since you are a terrible liar.” She chuckles, “I guess that’s one thing Loki has above you.”

She rolls her eyes, “I don’t exactly think a talent at lying is a great thing.”

“I didn’t say it was a good talent.”

**********

Everyone at dinner wanted to talk to Eir, everyone, including nobles that wanted nothing to do with her before her "death." Then again, it’s not often a Goddess returns from the dead, but still, she was exhausted. She didn’t tell anyone that she was cast out, then again no one asked where she had been, which was mostly due to Sif telling everyone it "wasn't any of your business," which everyone seemed to accept. The other reason was that everyone was too busy drinking to even ask such specific questions. Eir on the other hand rarely drank, she knew what alcohol could do to even the most responsible of a person, so most of the time, she'd take care of the drunk.

“So where will you be staying, Eir?” Sif said giggling. She had been drinking throughout the evening and Eir had become her caretaker. After watching Sif throughout the evening, Eir didn't think she would be able to find her room on her own, so she was helping her back.

“I’m not staying here Sif, I’m going back to my home, in the village.” Eir says as she tries to hold the warrior steady.

Sif frowns and puts her arm around Eir's shoulders, “Really? But you’re taking care of Thor! What if he needs you?”

Eir chuckles at Sif protests, “Then they can come and get me, Heimdall knows where I am.” When the women reach Sif's room, Eir manages to open the door with the warrior still slung around her shoulders. She helps carry her inside, walks over to the bed, and helps Sif into it. She keeps giggling to herself, making Eir smile, "Alright, sleep well, Lady Sif."

“Thank you, Eir, for taking care of me, y-you always have.” Sif manages to slur out.   Eir laughs and pulls the covers over her, “Always my pleasure Lady Sif, just get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sif doesn’t respond, so Eir assumes she's already passed out. She looks around the room and, luckily, finds a small trash can. She retrieves it and places it at the bedside of her friend, just in case. Quietly shutting the door she smiles, this was one thing she never thought she would miss about her old home. Pursing her lips she decides she needed to check on Thor one last time before getting some sleep herself. As she walks down the hall to Thor’s room a voice stops her, “Thor’s condition hasn’t improved.”

She takes a deep breath, “Would you stop following me?” She turns around to glare at Loki who’s leaning against the wall nearby.

“I am not following you.” He snaps.

"Right cause you always linger by Sif's room late at night," she rolls her eyes and Loki scowls at her, “anyway, I think I should still check on him. He is why I’m here after-all.” She turns to walkaway.

“I’ll accompany you.”

Eir scrunches up her nose as he catches up and the pair walk in silence to Thor’s room. When they get there, Thor is the same, still unconscious, and he hasn’t moved. She sits on the bed next to him and checks him over. His eyes look a little less sunken in and he seems less pale, but she wished he would wake up.

Minutes pass in silence and Eir sighs as she gets up from the bed, “Maybe he’ll be conscious in the morning.” She says quietly to herself. She walks over to Loki, who is standing near the window with his arms crossed, watching Thor, almost scowling at him, but she knew he was worried too. She frowns and looks at the floor, “I don’t know what else to do right now, Loki.”

“We’ll just have to wait a bit longer, I suppose.” He eyes her for a moment and looks back at Thor, “Maybe you should stay here until Thor is well.”

She raises an eyebrow in suspicion, “Beg your pardon?”

He shrugs, “It would be easier to find you here than in that village of yours.” He uncrosses his arms and moves toward the door, “There is a vacant room near mine.”

Eir laughs to myself, “Of course there is.” She eyes him suspiciously.

“What?” He looks to her confused for a moment and then smirks, “I’m actually trying to be a gentlemen for once darling, you might want to take advantage of it.”

She shakes her head, “Fine, but only until Thor is well.”

“We’ll see about that.”

She crosses her arms, “I’m not staying, Loki. I won’t.” He ushers for her to leave Thor’s room and they start walking down the hall in the direction of the newly vacant room.

“Oh please,” Loki chuckles, “Thor isn’t going to allow you to leave once he's awake. Him, Sif, and you were best friends. Inseparable. He isn’t going to just give that up.” he pauses and raises an eyebrow at me, “Not again.” he pauses, “Plus, you know you miss it here. I can see it in your eyes.”

She hesitates but then responds, ”Is it that obvious?”

He nods, “The way you looked out on to the city the other night, you looked like you were reminiscing a bit. Plus, the way your face lights up when walking these halls, it’s actually adorable.”

“Adorable? I don’t know about that.” She looks at the passing walls feeling her cheeks go red.

“You don’t see your face the way I do, darling.”

She shakes her head and looks at the floor as she walks, “Um-uh, I guess not.” She pauses and takes a deep breath, “Regardless, I still can not stay here. Odin cast me out, Thor's not going to want me here if his father did not.” Loki scoffs and she scowls at him, “What?”

He rolls his eyes and comes to a stop, “I don’t know the cause of you being cast out, I honestly don’t care, but you know Thor better than me; even though Odin didn’t want you to be here, he will want you to stay.”

She rolls her eyes, “We'll have that fight when he awakens then.”

Loki looks at the floor and sighs, “So be it.” He points to the room the two were facing, “That is my room,” he then gestures to the one across the hall, “that one is vacant. If you want, it is yours. I won't force you to stay, it’s just an offer.” He moves to wall his room was on, so that he was now in front of her.

Eir nods, “Well, thank you. I know how difficult it is for you to be nice.” She wrinkles her nose a bit and smirks at him.

He chuckles and moves a step closer, “It’s not the easiest thing for me, but it’s not the worst.” She blushes as her heart starts to pick up it's pace.

Loki always knew exactly what to do to make Eir's heart race and he loved every second of it. Their relationship had always been, complicated, if words had to be put to it. They'd flirt, well Loki would flirt, and for the most part Eir would relish in it and the only reason he knew that was because he could read minds. Not that he did it often, but sometimes Eir was a difficult person to read, so he would just sneak a peak, and Loki loved her mind, if that was even possible, but he loved the way he made her feel more. He loved the way she blushed when their hands accidentally touched, if they walked too close together down the hall, or if he purposefully touched her cheek. After all these years, he didn't think she would still get nervous around him, but time apart makes the heart grow fonder he thought. If Loki had one anyway.

Loki chuckles, “Nervous, darling?”

Eir smiles, “Of course not.” Thinking to herself that she really needed to get better at lying.

“You’re face says differently,” he puts a hand on the wall behind her, blocking her from going in to the vacant room, “I've always loved that expression on you.”

She looks at his hand, the one in her way, and back to his face then bites her lip. If she didn’t care about cleaning up her reputation, she would let him have his way with her right now because that's what she really wanted, “I need to get some rest, Loki,” she reaches for his arm, “do you mind moving so I can do so?”

He smirks and pulls his hand away, “Alright, darling. We can pick up where we left off another night then,” he steps back and smiles sweetly, “goodnight.”

She glares at him and walks toward her new room, “Goodnight, Loki.”

**********

I have no idea if these tags work lol but these are the people that wanted to be tagged last time I wrote for this story:

@t-w-hiddlestoner @lasimo74allmyworld @deputy-orange-juice @mandyfric18-blog @unicorniorosacomefrutillas @princeofsassgard @happy-kisscs @whatisanniedoin

[remnantoforario]

Remnant’s Top Ten Anime of 2020

2020 Was certainly a ride wasn’t it? To those that managed to make to make it through in one piece, or any piece, good job. Hopefully 2021 is better to us all. 

Despite the world mostly being on fire, I’d hazard to say that a lot of good shows came out in 2020 (despite a number of them being delayed to either later in the year or this year altogether). I meant to release this list much earlier, but I kept changing it around. 

Anyway, here are the ones I thought were the best. 

Honorable Mentions:

Dorohedoro

Synopsis: The plot centers on a man named Caiman and his search for his real identity after a transformation by a sorcerer left him with a reptile's head and no memory of his former life. 

Along with his friend Nikaido, he violently assaults sorcerers in the Hole, with the aim of taking their heads into his mouth, where a strange face will appear and confirm whether the sorcerer he has bitten onto was the one responsible for his transformation or not.

As the residents of the Hole, the En family and the Cross-Eyes gang, along with many others, collide with one another, the mystery of Caiman's identity begins to unravel, reigniting ancient grudges and threatening to forever change both the Hole and the sorcerers' world.

Thoughts: This is the only Netflix anime I watched this year (I missed out on Great Pretender before the year ended), and I can honestly say I had fun with this one. It’s animation was good, the story was engaging enough, and the characters were all unique (Noi best girl). The one problem I would say with the show is that it can come off as unfocused at times, meandering from one plaot point to another with no real connective tissue. 

Still a fun series though. 

ID: Invaded

Synopsis: The anime follows the investigations of Narihisago, a renowned detective now in prison, who is tasked with diving into the id wells of various serial killers. 

Two years prior to the current events, Narihisago's daughter Muku was brutally murdered by a serial killer, leading Narihisago's wife to commit suicide. These deaths prompted him to hunt down and murder the killer, earning him his prison sentence. He is still depressed and haunted by his wife and daughter's deaths, but also uses this as motivation to take his work seriously and help stop serial killers. 

Thoughts: One of a handful of original series that came out this year. This show gave me heavy Inception/Minority Report vibes from both its premise and presentation. It wobbles under the weight of its own concepts towards the end, but it still a fun ride nonetheless. 

Gleipnir 

Synopsis: The story centers on Shuichi Kagaya, a high school student with an unusual secret. He has the ability to transform into a monster resembling a giant dog mascot costume with a zipper down his back and a large cartoonish smile. After rescuing a strange girl, Claire Aoki, from a warehouse fire, they join each other to search for Claire's older sister, who is assumed to be responsible for the death of their parents.

Thoughts: When the initial rollout for this show began I admit I wasn’t really a fan. I thought it was just going to be a hyper violent, fanservice show. Now in some ways it is that, but if you really look Gleipnir tells a very interesting tale of identity and what it truly means to have a wish granted. The music was pretty good as well, and that’s really something from me as a person who doesn’t pay attention to soundtracks. 

Hope this show gets a season 2, but if not I’ll more than likely start the manga. 

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina

Synopsis:  Fascinated by the stories of Niké, a witch who traveled around the world, Elaina aspires to take the same course. Her determination of studying books and magic leads to her becoming the youngest apprentice witch to pass the sorcery exam. 

However, when Elaina attempts to receive training in order to become a full-fledged witch, she is rejected due to her extraordinary talents until she finds Fran, the "Stardust Witch," whom accepts her. After earning her title, the "Ashen Witch," Elaina begins her exploration around the world, visiting and facing all kinds of people and places.

Thoughts: As a fan of the Light Novels, I was pretty excited when it was announced it was getting an anime. For the most part it didn’t disappoint. Though it skipped most of the stories in the novels, the show still told a few good stories that made for some amazingly animated tv. 

Talentless Nana

Synposis: In the near future, mysterious monsters known as the "Enemies of Humanity" begin to appear, and with it so do children with supernatural powers called the "Talented". To prepare them for the upcoming battle against these Enemies, all the Talented are sent to a school located on a deserted island, where they have all their daily needs provided for until they graduate and communication with the outside world is forbidden. 

One day, a new student named Nana Hiiragi arrives at the school. Her friendly and cheerful personality lets her quickly make friends with the class. However, with Nana comes a whole litany of mysterious occurrences on the island. 

Thoughts: I can’t say too much about Nana without spoiling it’s first episode twist, but I will say that its a pretty interesting show with a fairly compelling game of cat and mouse being played. 

Now on the the actual list:

10. The Misfit of Demon King Academy 

Synopsis: After 2,000 years of countless wars and strife, the demon king Anos Voldigoad made a deal with the human hero, Kanon, to sacrifice his own life to ensure peace could flourish. Reincarnating 2,000 years later, Anos finds that royal demons now harshly rule over lower class hybrid demons in a society that values Anos's pureblood descendants over the demons who interbred with other species, such as humans and spirits. 

Finding that magic as a whole has begun to decline and his descendants weaker as a result of the peace he created, Anos, now technically a hybrid himself, decides to reclaim his former title of Demon King, but first, he must graduate from the Demon King Academy where he is labeled a total misfit.

Thoughts: Originally I was going to put Nana in this spot, but its lack of a real ending pushed it out of the list. If only slightly. Misft at Demon Academy is just a fun ride from start to finish. There’s always something about shows with ridiculous OP protagonists (Overlord, One Punch Man, etc.) that gets the blood pumping. 

It’s like junk food. Great for the right moment, but not needed all the time. 

9. Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Synopsis:  A charismatic troubleshooter tries to keep the peace between warring factions while protecting his loved ones in Ikebukuro West Gate Park.

Thoughts: I honestly had no idea what to make of this show when I first saw the synopsis, but I gave it a try on a whim. I’m glad I did because this was easily the dark horse of the Fall season. I really liked the mostly self contained story format the series had, and there were a few very good episodes here. Check it out. 

8.  My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Synopsis: Catarina Claes, the young daughter of a noble family, one day bumps her head and regains memories of her past life as an otaku. It is then that she realizes she has been reborn into the world of the otome game Fortune Lover, reincarnated as the game's villainess who, regardless of what route the player took in the original game, is doomed to be either killed or exiled. 

In order to avoid these routes that lead to doom, Catarina begins taking countermeasures to try and avoid things going the same way as the game. This, however, ends up having unexpected consequences on her relations with the other characters of the game's world.

Thoughts: Normally I’m not a fan of Reverse/Otome harem series, but somehow Bakarina managed to pull me in, to a good result. This show was easily one of the best comedies I watched this year with a good cast and a likable protagonist. 

7.  Deca-Dence 

Synopsis: In the fortress city of Deca-dence, the lowly Tanker girl, Natsume, dreams of becoming a Gear warrior following her father's death during a Gadoll attack. She is assigned to a maintenance team led by Kaburagi whom she discovers is more than he appears. Kaburagi has a secret role in eliminating "bugs", humans who threaten Solid Quake's operations. 

When Kaburagi discovers that Natsume is listed as dead in the company database, he decides to keep her under observation and offers to train her to fight.

Thoughts: Giant monsters and giant robots. What more do you need? Watch it. 

6. A Certain Scientific Railgun T

Synposis: The Daihasei Festival has begun, and that of course means that Tokiwadai Middle School—a prestigious all-girls' middle school—is competing too. Despite the participation of the "Ace of Tokiwadai," Mikoto Misaka, the other students who are participating are still putting their utmost effort into winning, no matter how impossible the feat may seem against her might. However, not all is fun and games. Due to the the festival, Academy City opens to the outside world, and various factions have begun plotting ways to infiltrate the city. Misaka appears to be on their radar, and as the festival proceeds, people lurking from the shadows begin to emerge...

Thoughts: Not really much to say here. It’s the third season of Railgun, but good thing here is that each season of Railgun is better than the last. Truly the best of the To Aru universe. 

5. BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.

Synposis: Urged on by her friend, Kaede Honjō begins playing the VRMMORPG NewWorld Online under the name Maple. Not wanting to get hurt, Maple opts to be a shield user with maxed out defense stats, and continues putting every status point she earns in the game into increasing only her defense level. 

As a result, she is left with slow foot speed and no magic, but her high defense allows her to endure most hits without taking any damage. This, along with her basic-level creative thinking, allows for her to make unexpected accomplishments in the game, its quests and events. By doing this, she ends up earning all kinds of equally unexpected skills and becomes one of the strongest players in the game. Thoughts: Bofuri is another OP power fantasy like Demon King Academy, but with the twist of being fused with CGDCT. The cast is extremely likable (especially Maple) and when Silver Link wants to they can make the battles REALLY dynamic. A nice comfortable watch, which was sorely needed in 2020. 

4. Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Synposis: The story follows Princess Syalis, a young princess who was kidnapped by the demon king, and her quest to sleep well while imprisoned.

Thoughts: A simple premise for a not so simple story. Sleepy Princess for me was easily the best comedy of the year, with plenty of heart and action thrown in as well. I was wary of the series at first, thinking that the premise wouldnt be entertaining for more than a few episodes, but boy was I wrong. Each episode was funnier than the last and Doga Kobo pulled out all the stops to make it look as gorgeous as possible.  

3. Jujutsu Kaisen

Synopsis: Idly indulging in baseless paranormal activities with the Occult Club, high schooler Yuuji Itadori spends his days at either the clubroom or the hospital, where he visits his bedridden grandfather. However, this leisurely lifestyle soon takes a turn for the strange when he unknowingly encounters a cursed item. Triggering a chain of supernatural occurrences, Yuuji finds himself suddenly thrust into the world of Curses—dreadful beings formed from human malice and negativity—after swallowing the said item, revealed to be a finger belonging to the demon Sukuna Ryoumen, the "King of Curses." Yuuji experiences first-hand the threat these Curses pose to society as he discovers his own newfound powers. Introduced to the Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School, he begins to walk down a path from which he cannot return—the path of a Jujutsu sorcerer.

Thoughts: Originally I wasn’t going to put this on the list, because the season doesnt conclude this year, but I decided to make an exception since the show started so strong. Many people were hyping this up as the next big shonen, and they were right. Mappa really went balls to the wall with this show and I’m pretty hype for what happens this cour. 

2. Akudama Drive

Synopsis: The bustling metropolis of Kansai, where cybernetic screens litter the neon landscape, may seem like a technological utopia at first glance. But in the dark alleys around the brightly-lit buildings, an unforgiving criminal underbelly still exists in the form of fugitives known as "Akudama." No stranger to these individuals, Kansai police begin the countdown to the public execution of an infamous Akudama "Cutthroat," guilty of killing 999 people. However, a mysterious message is sent to several elite Akudama, enlisting them to free Cutthroat for a substantial amount of money. An invisible hand seeks to gather these dangerous personas in one place, ensuring that the execution is well underway to becoming a full-blown bloodbath.  

Thoughts: Want to know what it would be like if Quentin Tarantino made an anime? Well here you go. An adrenaline filled rollercoaster ride from start to finish with a crazy cast of characters and even crazier visuals. There’s even a bit of social commentary in there if you squint. 

1. Oregairu Climax

Synopsis: Resolved to become a more independent person, Yukino Yukinoshita decides to smoothen things out with her parents, and the first step toward achieving that goal is to prove herself. As graduation draws closer for the third-year students, Iroha Isshiki—the president of the student council—requests a graduation prom in collaboration with the Volunteer Service Club. Yukino accepts this request of her own volition, hoping to use it as a chance to demonstrate her self-reliance, but what lies ahead of her may prove to be a hard hurdle to cross.

At the same time, a chance for the Volunteer Service Club members to better understand each other presents itself. And thus, Hachiman Hikigaya's hectic and bittersweet high school life begins to draw to a close.

Thoughts: The gif says it all really. I could just leave that there and end this list on a somewhat high note, but I’ll explain it. 

Now objectively, there were better shows than this one (off the top of my head JJK comes to mind) but when you combine all three seasons there is no contest in my mind that Oregairu had one of the most perfect endings to a series I have ever seen. 

It was an ending 7 years in the making. The first season in 2013 was good, the second season two years later was even better, but Climax was Oregairu at is absolute best and that goes beyond the story and characters. A lot of praise also has to go to Studio feel., who took over animation duties from Brain’s Base in season 2. While BB’s animation was much more accurate to the LN, feel’s more realistic designs fit the more mature direction the story was starting to go, giving the anime some of its best moments. 

Watching Hachiman, Yukino, and Yui grow and change from naive teenagers to somewhat understood young adults was amazing and sometimes heartbreaking to watch. Hachiman’s search to find something “genuine”, Yukino’s desire to be independent, and Yui struggling with her feelings of love and friendship all clash and compliment in very interesting ways that makes these three characters even more relatable than they were before. 

Lots of long running series don’t stick to landing, but in my eyes Oregairu stuck it perfectly. That’s why its my favorite anime of 2020.

Here’s to 2021. 

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

I decided to watch the Walker pilot so you don’t have to. #2

Because I don’t love myself enough, I guess. Let’s continue.

Recap in case you missed the first part: it’s boring, Jared acts like he stumbled on the set and never heard about it before, Texan law enforcement must wear very pristine shirts and cowboy hats or they will die, I guess, the cinematography wants to be good but I’m not sure it knows how to do it.

The last thing I mentioned in the first post was Jared doing a thing with his mouth but I think you need to see it. It’s basically the extent of Jared’s acting in this show. I had nothing against you, man, I swear. I even got your autograph once. I’m not a hater. I’m just looking at him...

THE TITLE CARD! I had paused the episode riiight before the title card. You have to witness it in all its embarrassing glory

Whose idea was it??

Some shots of the city of Austin. Walker and Martinez (Mexican Lady Cop) are having lunch. She says she’s heard about him, he asks what she’s learnt, she says, I textuallty quote, “I hear you are the edge of the coin”. Again, we are not allowed to have any kind of slight metaphor without the dialogue slapping us in the face with it.

“Not head or tail, just... your way” Jared didn’t even come up with the metaphor in that interview, it was in the script. Unless he came up with that line, which isn’t even a good line.

She basically tells him not to get in the way of her career. Being a Mexican-American cop is hard! Such deep commentary.

They start discussing the case, which I had already forgotten about. The cop who was slightly assaulted and won’t talk about it. “Maybe whatever was in that truck spooked him enough to abandon his oath” maybe it was a monster. god I wish it was a monster so that’d mean I’m watching Supernatural and Jensen is in it. The “oath” thing is kinda icky, like they want to remind us that being a cop is a noble path. It is in some places under some conditions. But we’re talking about Generic American conditions.

He’s like “let’s use the traffic cams to see if we can see something” and he slips right into his Sam tone. Admittedly that’s a Sam kind of thing to say.

It was day, and now it’s night. Walker house. He arrives when his family have already started dinner. Except the daughter isn’t there, she’s out with a friend. “Isabel, some Mexican girl” Walker’s father calls the friend. “Mexican American, dad” the gay brother corrects him, a deep and interesting commentary on ethnicity in the United States, we’re weeping with emotion.

Walker apparently isn’t happy that his mother has enrolled his daughter in a Catholic school, his father snaps back at him. We don’t care. We’re not emotionally invested in any of this.

There’s some awkward dialogue because he mentions the daughter playing basketball, but she’s switched to soccer. Wow, it’s like she’s become an entirely different person in those eleven months he was undercover! Can you believe? Apparently she used to play soccer before, she’s come back to it. Whoa. She’s an utterly unrecognizable person now, it’s going to be so hard for Walker to get to know her again from scratch. Can you believe?

Then he gets a call. He needs to pick up the daughter from the police station. He does some Jared awkward faces and leaves.

The daughter (Stella) was at a party and was arrested for possession. I miss when possession meant demonic possession. Dramatic music plays. She’s there with the Mexican American friend, whose parents arrive and he starts a speech on how they should get to know each other better. It is so not the right context to start making friends. “Epic first meeting” Isabel says. “I’m so sorry, this is so embarrassing” Stella says. “For who?” Walker quips, like a normal person does.

He’s like, let’s go, and the girls hug, which is the only believable expression of affection I’ve seen so far in the episode. Can’t the story be about Stella and Isabel?

Father-daughter conversation in the truck. Apparently we have emotional moments in cars, which we have never seen on television before.

He asks what she was thinking, she’s like, duh what do people use drugs for. She calls him out for disappearing completely. She mentions how it was bad enough that they didn’t have mom. He says “we both got to stop acting like she’s gonna come back and put us right” which makes absolutely zero sense. It’s like someone wrote it on a note for how to develop the characters and they just decided to slap it into the script of the pilot. Remember these people haven’t seen each other for eleven months, he left shortly after his wife died. They didn’t have the time to process the grief together, why is he even saying that line here?

Meanwhile Martinez get home and we meet her boyfriend, a very cute Black man. They’re cute. Why can’t the story be about them?

He asks her about Walker, she says he’s a mess. Oh god. She says he was a Marine, “signed after 9/11”. Holy shit. He’s a Marine who signed up after asdfghjkl can’t you feel the Manly Trauma here????

He’s a Marine who signed up to fight Muslims after 9/11 and now has a dead wife, he’s exactly the kind of male lead character we need right now.

She says she’s trying to figure him out. Her boyfriend is like “dude stop thinking about that guy, he’s not at home trying to figure you out” and she replies “oh I’m pretty sure he thinks he knows everything about me already”.

This is the first scene that hasn’t felt bad so far.

Meanwhile Jared and his brother go to a bar. It’s very ~Texas Aesthetic~, and they’re wearing cowboy hats, of course. You are not allowed to go to a bar without a cowboy hat in Texas. “The brothers Walker” the flannel-shirt-clad bartender says, coming with drinks. Jensen Ackles makes a face somewhere in the mountains.

The brother goes to call his partner and the bartender starts chatting with Walker. She has a conversation with Jared’s awkward faces and she’s like, I guess you left because I couldn’t answer your questions about what happened yo your wife. This is how people converse in real life.

She asks him if he’s alright and he doesn’t answer, instead is like “let’s have a dance”. He doesn’t say he’s fine, but I think it still counts as a I’m Fine Lie Moment #2 because that’s what it is in spirit.

I know you’re bored, I’m bored.

They dance in the Texan bar, I’m distracted by the pool tables and wish this was Supernatural so we’d see Jensen Ackles play pool.

Obviously the dance is interrupted by work - a text from Ramirez who says she’s got something, “office 8am?” so he leaves because he has to wake up early. I’m not kidding.

I was kind of warmed over by Ramirez and her cute boyfriend and by the bar who was kind of nice as a location, when the next scene at the office immediately starts with Ramirez saying “My mom wouldn’t let me play with dolls when I was a kid, so Iearned about cars instead”. I die a little inside. It’s the second time she’s referred to her mother wanting a son...? So she’s badass because she wasn’t raised to be feminine...? Ew.

So they have this lead thanks to her knowledge of cars. They go investigate. I’m bored.

I shouldn’t have said I was bored, because Walker destroys my boredom by having Jared pick up a cross and start talking to “JC” sarcastically asking him for guidance about his kids going to the Catholic school. “Can you stop” Ramirez says, along with all of us.

By the way they’re in a workshop run by an ex-convict who employs former criminals to make figurines (like that cross). I got a bad feeling about this. Former criminal in cop shows is always code for current criminal.

The investigation leads to two guys who work in the store - “oh I know you,” one immediately says when he spots Walker, “you’re the ranger with the dead wife”. Walker is like, what did you say. And the guy is like oh I heard the story of a ranger’s wife biting a bullet near the border, guess you couldn’t protect her uh~~~

They exchange more provocations - Walker calls him some lowlife something and the guy goes to punch him and Walker beats him up. Violently. I’m uncomfortable. We’re supposed to think he’s exaggerating here but... he does get very violent and should not be a cop. Period.

They go to Ramirez’ house because he cut his hand. Her boyfriend is like “baby there’s a dude bleeding on your couch” I want a season of him, exclusively him.

She scolds Walker. Not because he beat up a guy with more force than needed, but because he acted stupid and that’s bad for her career. I’m uncomfortable.

Also, what’s bad is that they’re supposed to work *together*. He says he has his own way of doing things. Yikes yikes yikes.

She says that her theory is that they put them together because he always break the rules. Apparently she read up his cases and he always break the rules. The main character of the show is a cop who break the rules in half the cases he works. Yikes yikes yikes but also did I mention yikes?

No, wait, he acknowledges that he “bends” the rules, like that’s better! Yikes!

More bad dialogue, then Stella’s school calls him. She hasn’t been at school.

He goes to ask Isabel’s mother, who reveals they haven’t their papers yet, so any criminal activity would mean deportation. He talks about it with Ramirez and mentions that his brother who’s a DA could get in contact with the Feds to speed up the papers. Are we supposed to be like “oh what a good guy”? The thing is just creepy to me.

Well, at least Ramirez says something about it, or actually quotes her mother who used to say that the law doesn’t protect us. That’s why she ~burned bridges~ with her family! Apparently because she became a cop.

Ow. Her mother is not speaking to her because for her, her daughter being a cop is like a betrayal. But for her it’s a way to set things right! We’re supposed to think her mother is exaggerated. #notallcops #individualgoodcopscanchangethesystemfromtheinsideforsuredefinitely

Meanwhile their investigation continues. Remember the cross Walker randomly picked up to mock the concept of Jesus? Ramirez stole it. And now they find out there’s heroin in it. Alright... obviously the business that was supposed to rehabilitate former criminals is a cover for cartel drug dealing. What were we expecting. I’m tired.

Ramirez decides to work the case alone and sends Walker to look for his daughter. “I was that kid once, I always wanted to be found”. The impression you get from the scene is that Walker had forgotten about his daughter missing lol. Ramirez insists he goes. I’m uncomfortable with how many times people put on cowboy hats. Someone should count. We’re only 30 minutes in and it feels like it’s happened 80 times.

Alright, a break now! My laptop’s ventilation is running like crazy, VLC and long tumblr drafts are a bad combination. Or maybe it’s just my laptop being allergic to this show.

[leosaku]

ok ok ok hold on a second. galaxy brain time. adrienette anastasia (1997) au

featuring: marinette as anastasia, adrien as dimitri, nino as vladmir, alya as sophie, nonna gina as the dowager, gabriel as rasputin, and nathalie as bartok but way less fun

rest under the cut

marinette is obviously the princess so that's pretty self explanatory, except she's the only one and therefore technically the crown princess. it doesn't affect the story

alya is the daughter of the palace's head chef and also marinette's childhood best friend. in this au, she escapes with mari and gina and ends up staying with gina in paris. they both hope that the real marinette is out there somewhere but as time goes on, they both start getting tired of all the fakes

gabriel is a former russian noble who was stripped of his power when people found out he was performing experiments with dark magic to bring his dead wife back, adrien is his son who gets sent to moscow to live with the french ambassador's (aka mayor bourgeois) family due to his mother's family's connections

bc the bourgeois family often visits the palace, he sees marinette a couple of times (but she’s too shy to talk to him) and also spends quite some time exploring the place to escape from play hide and seek with chloe and that's why at that fateful party he knows where to lead the princess so she can get out

the ambassador's family also escapes, but adrien gets stuck in moscow. nino, a commoner, finds adrien passed out from hunger in the alley next to their house and the lahiffe family takes him in. adrien takes their last name, and he gets the nickname “alley cat” from the people in their neighborhood bc of his uncanny ability to sneak around and steal and/or charm people into giving him free food. eventually, him and nino become con men when they get older and he becomes kind of notorious (most people just know him as “the alley cat” though lol)

in the mean time, marinette gets found at the train station and taken to an orphanage. she doesn't remember anything, but she was found wearing a red dress with black spots so she gets the nickname ladybug (korovka) and it sticks, even though her “actual” name is maria/mari. instead of wanting to go to paris because of a necklace, marinette wants to follow her fashion dreams instead of being stuck working at a factory (she also feels a certain pull to the city that she can't quite explain but she ignores that bc that just sounds ridiculous)

the rest of the story is basically just anastasia with a few minor tweaks to include side characters and fit their personalities better and stuff, you know

oh and nathalie is a raven instead of a bat and she isn’t like... evil? she just kinda goes along with the schemes until she realizes that mr “alley cat” lahiffe is actually adrien agreste. she goes to gabriel and tells him and she expects him to calm down or at least be careful with his crazy revenge scheme since he knows his son is there but gabriel’s just like “perfect, i can use him” and she’s like uh huh... i’m backing away slowly now...

[shellyb04]

And here we are, all caught up. You'll notice I fell into a bit of a Chinese drama and historical hole for these last ones! I will try to post as I finish shows so I can give a bit more of a review. Enjoy!

A love so romantic (Cdrama)-Girl pretends to be a long lost granddaughter of the Gu family and falls for the Gu family heir. 8/10 Very funny. The last ten episodes get a bit annoying with dumb amnesia and such, but overall really funny main couple.

The Greatest Love (Kdrama)-An A-list movie star with a heart condition meets former girl group member and now most disliked celebrity. Against all odds, he falls for her. 9/10 This is extremely funny and a bit tropey, but it gets major bonus points for the ending. There's no crazy amnesia or unreasonable misunderstandings. Their dilemma at the end makes sense and wasn't dragged out for too long. There was a bit in the middle where she was trying to reject him that dragged for me and I didn't like the other girl group members very much. But overall, really fun.

The Rebel Princess (Cdrama)-A princess is forced to marry a general turned prince instead of her childhood sweetheart prince. They ultimately fall for each other and endure war, kidnapping, betrayal, and every other kind of misfortune that can happen in a historical drama. 9/10 This drama was refreshing because the couple was so amazing together. They were kind as well as cunning. They were the only characters not seeking power and I just loved the way they worked. It does get a little draggy during some of the palace politics. I also think some of the villians didn't think through their plans. But overall, the leads made the show. Although there are some genuinely heartbreaking moments and too many women committing suicide.

Love Script (Cdrama)- A CEO gets into an accident and believes he's a Prince from the Ming Dynasty. A psychologist is hired and she becomes part of the palace staff in order to treat him. But she begins to fall for him. 8/10 I liked all the characters. It's a really light show and there's a couple of plot twists that ultimately made the lead romance work for me. There were a few too many flashbacks and I found myself skipping through them a lot.

A Girl Like Me (Cdrama)- Ban Hua has three failed engagements, partially because of her blunt manner and explosive temper. She begins getting visions of the future and uses them to save her family from trouble, along with Rong Xia who has his own agenda...but will he be distracted by Ban Hua!? 8.5/10 I really liked this one. The story moved along rather quickly. I love that the Ban family are perfectly happy in their little sphere of life. They adore each other and simply want their family to be happy. The only real negatives are that I don't think some of the villain plots made sense especially toward the end and I thought the last two episodes should have wrapped up the story not made more characters power hungry and foolish. Overall, I really liked it, especially Ban Hua and Rong Xia's banter and courtship.

My little happiness (Cdrama)-An intern lawyer and a successful neurosurgeon who were childhood sweethearts meet again as adults only she never knew his name. Watch the duo fall in love. 8/10 This is a pleasant little ditty with no big problems. The relationship between the main girl and her best friend feels super real to me. I love both main couples. It's a simple sweet sappy love story. There's never any doubt how it will end so just enjoy the sweetness.

Oh! My Sweet Liar! (Cdrama)-Historical- A female painter infiltrates the home of a noble family to paint a copy of a precious item. When her escape goes wrong, she fakes a pregnancy by the family heir to save her life. They make a contract marriage so he can escape an arranged marriage he doesn't want. But there are secrets and plotting people throughout the family home. 8.5/10 I really liked the majority of the show. It was a bit slow the second arc of the show and really the last three eps could have been a bit more streamlined, but I loved the Li family. It was so nice to see the love between the family.

Shopaholic Louis (Kdrama)- A wealthy heir gets amnesia and is found by a poor country girl newly arrived in Seoul to look for her brother. The two fall for each other while searching together. 8.5/10 Super cute. I loved the main couple the whole way through. The side characters grew on me as well. It was a nice sweet story overall.

Love in Time-Cdrama- Writer and a CEO were friends in Jr high but had a falling out. Present day they enter a contract marriage. 8/10 A point bump for 30 minute episodes. The story was sweet and simple with a few pleasant turns. The last episode is a bit dumb. I would've rather just had more epilogue than a faked amnesia plot. I liked the side friendships, but wish the "villain" had a better motivation. Just " I loved him and worked hard for him so he should be mine" obsession got old. The tropes were in full display so avoid if you hate those.

Love and Destiny-Cdrama- A young immortal wanders into the wrong place and awakens the God of War. He discovers a secret about her even she doesn't know. The two fall in love, but bad things happen. Can they overcome destiny with love? 7/10- This one seemed to be a bit long at 60 episodes and it took WAY too long to get started. But by episode 14 or 15 I was completely into the love story and most of the side characters. The two "villains" were annoying but ultimately I understood their choices even if I felt they were immature. Overall, it's good, but a little too slow in some places and the last ten episodes could have given me some more couple moments.

Divorce lawyer in love (Kdrama)- She's a tough as nails divorce lawyer and he's her office manager until she goes to far in a case and her license is suspended. Three years later she's the office manager and he's the lawyer and he sees his chance for some payback.. Enemies to friends to lovers. 8/10 It has its funny moments. I enjoy most of the "case of the week" stories. I thought the resolution to the main antagonist was a bit hand wavy, but overall, solid and enjoyable with mostly fun side characters.

The Sword and the Brocade (Cdrama)- A concubine's daughter marries a Marquis in an arranged marriage. She has to deal with conniving concubines, controlling mother and mother-in-law, as well as a family that doesn't want her around, and a rival family all while trying to continue her embroidery career. 7.5/10 Started out fairly strong but toward the end it felt really drawn out. I feel like the last two plots should have been more combined cause it really dragged the pace of the show down. The characters were good. I liked most of the characters a lot, but a few began to make weird decisions toward the end.

The Eternal Love (Cdrama)- Modern woman sucked to alternate past where she has to share her doppelganger's body. The two with the help of their maid try to figure out what's going on. But things are complicated as each soul is in love with a different prince.,-6/10 The story is okay, although the last four episodes are weird. Chemistry with the leads is fabulous. Really not great production quality. I couldn't get through Season 2.

Eternal Love/Ten Miles of Peach Blossom (Cdrama)- Bai Qian and Ye Hua are star crossed immortals who fall in love in three different but intertwined lives. 9.5/10 Started off slow, then got wonderful about ep 10, then pain and misery for a few eps before back to joy and falling in love and back to pain. But one of the best revenge scenes by Bai Qian! I sort of hated that basically every other couple seems doomed. I tried to watch the pillow book before this and just got bored. I may go back to it someday as I love that couple.

General's Lady (Cdrama)- independent noble sent to marry the "demon" general at the border only to fall in love with him. However there are factions trying to harm them. 9/10 Super light and sweet with lots of kisses. I got a bit bored a little past the middle of the drama when they went back to the capital. But the last several episodes brought me back around and I laughed out loud multiple times. Love all the couples throughout and how it showed there were multiple ways to be a strong woman.

[usergreenpixel]

JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 1: La Seine no Hoshi (1975)

1. Introduction

Well, dear reader, here it is. My first ever official review. And, as promised, this is one of the pieces of Frev media that you have likely never heard of before.

So, without further ado, sit down, relax, grab drinks and snacks and allow me to tell you about an anime called “La Seine no Hoshi” (The Star of the Seine).

“La Seine no Hoshi” is a children’s anime series made by Studio Sunrise. It consists of 39 episodes and was originally broadcast in Japan from April 4th to December 26th of 1975.

Unlike its more famous contemporary, a manga called “Rose of Versailles” that had begun being released in 1972 and is considered a classic to this day, “La Seine no Hoshi” has stayed relatively obscure both in the world of anime and among other Frev pop culture.

Personally, the only reason why I found out about its existence was the fact that I actively seek out everything Frev-related and I just happened to stumble upon the title on an anime forum several years ago.

So far, the anime has been dubbed into Italian, French, German and Korean but there is no English or even Spanish dub so, unfortunately, people who do not speak fluent Japanese or any other aforementioned language are out of luck ( if anyone decides to make a fandub of the series, call me). That being said, the series is readily available in dubs and the original version on YouTube, which is where I ended up watching it. The French dub calls the anime “La Tulipe Noire” (The Black Tulip), which could be an homage to the movie with the same name that takes place in the same time period.

Unfortunately, while I do speak Japanese well enough to maintain a basic conversation and interact with people in casual daily situations, I’m far from fluent in the language so the version I watched was the French dub, seeing as I am majoring in French.

So, with all of this info in mind, let’s find out what the story is about and proceed to the actual review.

2. The Summary

(Note: Names of the characters in the French dub and the original version differ so I will use names from the former since that’s what I watched)

The story of “La Seine no Hoshi” revolves around a 15-year old girl called Mathilde Pasquier - a daughter of two Parisian florists who helps her parents run their flower shop and has a generally happy life.

But things begin to change when Comte de Vaudreuil, an elderly Parisian noble to whom Mathilde delivers flowers in the second episode, takes her under his wing and starts teaching her fencing for an unknown reason and generally seems to know more about her than he lets on.

Little does Mathilde know, those fencing lessons will end up coming in handy sooner than she expected. When her parents are killed by corrupt nobles, the girl teams up with Comte de Vaudreuil’s son, François, to fight against corruption as heroes of the people, all while the revolution keeps drawing near day by day and tensions in the city are at an all time high.

This is the gist of the story, dear readers, so with that out of the way, here’s the actual review:

3. The Story

Honestly, I kind of like the plot. It has a certain charm to it, like an old swashbuckling novel, of which I’ve read a lot as a kid.

The narrative of a “hero of the common folk” has been a staple in literature for centuries so some might consider the premise to be unoriginal, but I personally like this narrative more than “champion of the rich” (Looking at you, Scarlet Pimpernel) because, historically, it really was a difficult time for commoners and when times are hard people tend to need such heroes the most.

People need hope, so it’s no surprise that Mathilde and François (who already moonlights as a folk hero, The Black Tulip) become living legends thanks to their escapades.

Interestingly enough, the series also subverts a common trope of a hero seeking revenge for the death of his family. Mathilde is deeply affected by the death of her parents but she doesn’t actively seek revenge. Instead, this tragedy makes the fight and the upcoming revolution a personal matter to her and motivates her to fight corruption because she is not the only person who ended up on its receiving end.

The pacing is generally pretty good but I do wish there were less filler episodes and more of the overarching story that’s dedicated to the secret that Comte de Vaudreuil and Mathilde’s parents seem to be hiding from her and maybe it would be better if the secret in question was revealed to the audience a bit later than episode 7 or so.

However, revealing the twist early on is still an interesting narrative choice because then the main question is not what the secret itself is but rather when and how Mathilde will find out and how she will react, not to mention how it will affect the story.

That being said, even the filler episodes do drive home the point that a hero like Mathilde is needed, that nobles are generally corrupt and that something needs to change. Plus, those episodes were still enjoyable and entertaining enough for me to keep watching, which is good because usually I don’t like filler episodes much and it’s pretty easy to make them too boring.

Unfortunately, the show is affected by the common trope of the characters not growing up but I don’t usually mind that much. It also has the cliché of heroes being unrecognizable in costumes and masks, but that’s a bit of a staple in the superhero stories even today so it’s not that bothersome.

4. The Characters

It was admittedly pretty rare for a children’s show to have characters who were fleshed out enough to seem realistic and flawed, but I think this series gives its characters more development than most shows for kids did at the time.

I especially like Mathilde as a character. Sure, at first glance she seems like a typical Nice Pretty Ordinary Girl ™️ but that was a part of the appeal for me.

I am a strong believer in that a character does not need to be a blank slate or a troubled jerk to be interesting and Mathilde is neither of the above. She is essentially an ordinary girl with her own life, family, friends, personality and dreams and, unfortunately, all of that is taken away from her when her parents are killed.

Her initial reluctance to participate in the revolution is also pretty realistic as she is still trying to live her own life in peace and she made a promise to her parents to stay safe so there’s that too.

I really like the fact that the show did not give her magic powers and that she was not immediately good at fencing. François does remark that her fencing is not bad for a beginner but in those same episodes she is clearly shown making mistakes and it takes her time to upgrade from essentially François’s assistant in the heroic shenanigans to a teammate he can rely on and sees as an equal. Heck, later there’s a moment when Mathilde saves François, which is a nice tidbit of her development.

Mathilde also doesn’t have any romantic subplots, which is really rare for a female lead.

She has a childhood friend, Florent, but the two are not close romantically and they even begin to drift apart somewhat once Florent becomes invested in the revolution. François de Vaudreuil does not qualify for a love interest either - his father does take Mathilde in and adopts her after her parents are killed so François is more of an older brother than anything else.

Now, I’m not saying that romance is necessarily a bad thing but I do think that not having them is refreshing than shoehorning a romance into a story that’s not even about it. Plus most kids don’t care that much for romance to begin with so I’d say that the show only benefits from the creative decision of not setting Mathilde up with anyone.

Another interesting narrative choice I’d like to point out is the nearly complete absence of historical characters, like the revolutionaries. They do not make an appearance at all, save for Saint-Just’s cameo in one of the last episodes and, fortunately, he doesn’t get demonized. Instead, the revolutionary ideas are represented by Florent, who even joins the Jacobin Club during the story and is the one who tries to get Mathilde to become a revolutionary. Other real people, like young Napoleon and Mozart, do appear but they are also cameo characters, which does not count.

Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI are exceptions to the rule.

(Spoiler alert!)

Marie-Antoinette is portrayed as kind of spoiled and out of touch. Her spending habits get touched on too but she is not a malicious person at heart. She is simply flawed. She becomes especially important to the story later on when Mathilde finds out the secret that has been hidden from her for her entire life.

As it turns out, Marie- Antoinette, the same queen Mathilde hated so much, is the girl’s older half-sister and Mathilde is an illegitimate daughter of the Austrian king and an opera singer, given to a childless couple of florists to be raised in secret so that her identity can be protected.

The way Marie-Antoinette and Mathilde are related and their further interactions end up providing an interesting inner conflict for Mathilde as now she needs to reconcile this relationship with her sister and her hatred for the corruption filling Versailles.

The characters are not actively glorified or demonized for the most part and each side has a fair share of sympathetic characters but the anime doesn’t shy away from showing the dark sides of the revolution either, unlike some other shows that tackle history (*cough* Liberty’s Kids comes to mind *cough*).

All in all, pretty interesting characters and the way they develop is quite realistic too, even if they could’ve been more fleshed out in my opinion.

5. The Voice Acting

Pretty solid. No real complaints here. I’d say that the dub actors did a good job.

6. The Setting

I really like the pastel and simple color scheme of Paris and its contrast with the brighter palette of Versailles. It really drives home the contrast between these two worlds.

The character designs are pretty realistic, simple and pleasant to watch. No eyesores like neon colors and overly cutesy anime girls with giant tiddies here and that’s a big plus in my book.

7. The Conclusion

Like I said, the show is not available in English and those who are able to watch it might find it a bit cliché but, while it’s definitely not perfect. I actually quite like it for its interesting concept, fairly realistic characters and a complex view of the French Revolution. I can definitely recommend this show, if only to see what it’s all about.

Some people might find this show too childish and idealistic, but I’m not one of them.

I’m almost 21 but I still enjoy cartoons and I’m fairly idealistic because cynicism and nihilism do not equal maturity and, if not for the “silly” idealism, Frev itself wouldn’t happen so I think shows like that are necessary too, even if it’s just for escapism.

If you’re interested and want to check it out, more power to you.

Anyway, thank you for attending the first ever official meeting of the Jacobin Fiction Convention. Second meeting is coming soon so stay tuned for updates.

Have a good day, Citizens! I love you!

- Citizen Green Pixel

[heartthrummed-a]

i am once again full of muse for genshin verse things so here’s a quick rundown of the idol muses’ genshin verses. this is an incomplete list, as many are still in the works, but! it’s still a good handful! also under a cut bc it got long oops

tsumugi aoba: 19, dendro catalyst, inazuma. isn’t actively involved in the resistance, but isn’t super shy about his support for them either. simply trying to live life and right the wrongs of the past after assisting one eichi tenshouin in causing trouble for many unfortunate souls. still possesses his vision, though since he does not have a fake, he often leaves it hidden.

kohaku oukawa: 16, electro sword, inazuma. hails from a family of assassins that serve the main suou family, who in turn serve baal as prominent members of the bakufu. kohaku decided to make his escape from his family after his cousin and the sole heir to the suou family, tsukasa, did the same and left for mondstadt. however, kohaku remains in inazuma and still works as an assassin, though on his own rather than for the family. eventually met madara mikejima and formed double face, vigilante pair working in the udnerworld, with him. also an active member of the resistance against baal. still possesses his vision and wears it openly.

adonis otogari: 18, pyro sword, natlan. a wanderer traveling all across teyvat, for he found no love in the warrior lifestyle of his home in natlan. at present, he is staying in mondstadt, but he never stays in one place for more than a few days, wishing to explore everything each nation has to offer.

mika kagehira: 18, cryo catalyst, fontaine. a performer in fontaine’s traveling circus, known for their mismatched eyes, their skills lie in dance, acrobatics, and contortion, and they are known to employ their cryo skills in performance as well. nicknamed “the marionette”  for their peculiar aesthetics and their style of movement in their contortion acts.

kuro kiryu: 19, pyro claymore, inazuma. once a delinquent and a rebel leading a ragtag group of anti-baal delinquents long before the vision hunt decree began, kuro and his friends were caught and brought in by the bakufu, originally to be executed. however, keito, another friend of kuro’s, persuaded baal that kuro would be an asset to them in order to bargain for his life. in return for kuro’s power and skill serving the bakufu as one of their own, the lives of him and his friends would be spared. to this day he serves as a member of the bakufu, though he has secretly supported the resistance behind the scenes since the vision hunt decree began. still possesses his vision and is able to wear it openly as part of the bakufu.

shinobu sengoku: 17, electro bow, inazuma. also hailing from a family that has served baal for generations, shinobu has recently begun to be deployed on the field as a member of the bakufu. however, he has no love for the tyrant their archon has become, and secretly (but desperately) searches for an escape from the bakufu, hoping to support and fight for the resistance instead. still possesses his vision and is able to wear it openly as part of the bakufu.

ritsu sakuma: 19, cryo catalyst, mondstadt. originally from khaenri’ah, but while they weren’t cursed, they were put into a deep and long sleep when the gods attacked and destroyed the nation 500 years ago. they recently awoke from their slumber and set off on a search for their older sibling, rei, who they figure must have also survived. they ended up caught by a band of treasure hoarders who sought to kill the vampire, but one of their members betrayed the group to save them, and together they took off to mondstadt. after much convincing fron arashi, ritsu joined her in becoming a knight of favonius, still keeping up their search for their sibling all the while.

sora harukawa: 17, anemo catalyst, inazuma. an active member of the resistance who is often sent traveling across inazuma for its sake despite his young age. lives a ‘on the run’ kind of life, but thoroughly enjoys it and all he does for the resistance in hopes that he will get to see the vision hunt decree finally fall. still possesses his vision and wears it openly, but often hides tsumugi’s on his person as tsumugi entrusted him with it.

arashi narukami: 18, geo polearm, mondstadt. originally a treasure hoarder, she is the one who betrayed her group to protect and save ritsu from being executed when the rest of the group feared the vampiric creature. when the two escaped her former group, arashi brought up the idea of going to the city of mondstadt, and later the idea of joining the knights of favonius to begin anew. telling ritsu that it might help them find their sibling, the pair passed the trials together, and remain members of the knights to this day.

tatsumi kazehaya: 19, anemo sword, mondstadt. a priest in the church of favonius who was previously a fatui agent. he was a rather notorious one, recruited out of inazuma years ago, and he was known for being rather jaded and cruel in all that he did. however, it was his eventual work partner kaname that persuaded him to see that the fatui ultimately was no good and that there was more to life than dominion and control. so the two fled, and thought kaname suffered a terrible accident in the resulting fight, tatsumi was able to take them to the church of favonius where both were given refuge. he eventually became a priest there after devoting himself to the anemo archon, and remains such to this day.

mayoi ayase: 18, a fatui skirmisher, specifically a pyroslinger bracer. their family originally came from inazuma, but moved to mondstadt years ago as their parents sought to chase dreams of freedom and song and begrudgingly took their child, who they never treated well, along with them. mayoi was later one of the many children taken from mondstadt by the fatui, but unlike their comrades, mayoi survived all they went through. namely experimentation by dottore that turned them into the skirmisher they are now. to this day they serve him, though their fear of him is immense and they dream of escape back into the freedom their home stood for. alas, knowing they are barely human anymore, fear of not finding a place for them in this world (and a fear of retaliation in the event they’re caught) keep them rooted in place. also, unlike other skirmishers, mayoi does possess an electro delusion, even if as part of dottore’s recent experiment to see if skirmishers could handle additional elemental power.

kaname toujou: 18, hydro polearm, mondstadt. they were originally nothing more than a traveling bard under the name himeru, prominent and well-known in mondstadt and even, to a lesser extent, in neighboring nations. however, when finances grew tight, kaname ended up turning to the fatui for business aid, and in turn was forced to work for them in secret. they ended up partnered with tatsumi, a cruel and jaded man, but kaname eventually got through to him and made him see the fatui was hardly worth it. eventually the pair executed an escape plan, though kaname was severely injured in the process. while the rest of the world wrote them off as dead, tatsumi brought them with him to the church of favonius, where the pair was given refuge and kaname was eventually healed. kaname goes on to become a knight of favonius after their recovery, where they remain to this day.

tsukasa suou: 17, pyro sword, mondstadt. as mentioned, he came from a prominent noble family in inazuma known to support baal, with many of its members joining the bakufu. as the sole heir, it was expected that tsukasa would do the same. however, he grew furstrated with this way of life and the vision hunt decree, and thus fled inazuma as a whole. ending up in inazuma, he decided he would join the knights of favonius so he might protect people rather than oppress them as the bakufu would have expected him to do, and later successfully passed their trials to become a knight. after learning of his cousin kohaku’s move to do something similar and suspecting his involvement in the resistance brewing back home, tsukasa began landing financial support to him and the rest of the resistance as much as he could.

yoshiko tsushima: 16, cryo catalyst, inazuma. the daughter of a pair of traveling bards, yoshiko spent most of her childhood alone while her parents performed in other nations. however, when the vision hunt decree began, it was decided all three would flee to find refuge in mondstadt. unfortunately, they were caught by the bakufu, and a scuffle ensued that killed both of her parents when they tried to take back all three visions. yoshiko fled at her mother’s behest, but ended up not only losing part of her memories with her vision, but so traumatized that she assumed the identity of “yohane”, a fallen angel from another world cast from her home into teyvat as punishment for rising up against her god. yohane, seeing baal as just the same as the god she was defeated by, decided she would stay in teyvat to take her down as both a redemption for herself and a proving ground so that she might go home and try again on her god again someday. now she’s a prominent leader of the resistance, though she desperately hides from her peers the truth of her identity and circumstances. obviously, she no longer possesses her vision, but trains with a sword to remain a fighter.

umi sonoda: 17, hydro bow, inazuma. daughter of the noble sonoda family and the sole heir to the sonoda trade association (basically the inazuma equivalent of the feiyun commerce guild), umi grew discontent with her family’s support and aid in the vision hunt decree, as well as that state of inazuma overall. however, since she had not yet assumed the power over the trade association, umi had to seek other means to help the people. to do so, she began to set out at night in a mask and change of clothes, tracking the bakufu’s movements and preventing their acquisition of visions where possible. she also guided fleeing citizens to the crux after striking a deal with its captain, beidou, to take refugees across teyvat for their protection. all of this earned her the title of a “hero”, who was dubbed “aoi” simply for her blue color scheme. umi, however, vehemently denied the title of a hero and tried to prevent any attention begin drawn to her, but to no avail. she was eventually caught and captured, but was saved by members of the resistances before her vision could be taken and she herself executed. from then on, because her family officially disowned her when she was revealed as aoi, umi began to work as an active member of the resistance. still possesses her vision due to the interference of resistance members, but keeps it hidden on her person at all costs.

[mogsk]

So I watched an anime called “Violet Evergarden” recently, the elevator pitch of which is basically “feral girl is taken in by military man, turned into a child soldier, military man dies, but not before telling her ‘I love you’, but she doesn’t know what that means, so after the war she becomes a ghostwriter with the ostensible aim of figuring out what ‘I love you’ means through other people’s expressions of love via letter-writing.

It’s a good little concept, and while I enjoyed it, it’s also stuck in my brain as being profoundly odd from a storytelling perspective.

Like, the initial premise is v strong, Violet’s driving objective is to understand the last thing she heard her father figure, “The Major”, say to her before she blacked out and woke up with no arms. She was a feral orphan child with little grasp of language or expression, and so she is burdened with not understanding what this very important person to her was trying to convey before they parted ways. Good shit.

And it seems to carry this fairly well at first. Each episode varies in how much it advances the central plot, but each boils down to Violet having to learn a lesson about how people express their feelings for each other, how they express love through words, or how they fail to do so, and so slowly she goes from only being able to produce very precise and terse letters which read more like military reports, to being able to swoop in and fix people’s interpersonal problems with the power of a well-dictated love note.

Where it kinda falls apart for me is about halfway through the series, where we see that Violet has more or less grown into her role as protagonist in an anime about the power of letter writing and the meaning of love (-ish). She’s gotten so good she’s tasked with facilitating one half of a romantic correspondence between the nobles of two nations whose relations are still tense after The War (which Violet fought in), and so have decided to arrange a marriage between their noble children -- a 14-year old girl and a 24-year old man.

Now up to that point, the messaging around the central theme felt odd, but it made sense, like, Violet is growing to understand love, and so how the show does this is by giving her a lot of weird and fraught situations around that theme: we have a woman who is in love with a man, but she wants to play hard to get which Violet ruins by writing a letter that just directly states ‘I have no feelings for you, please stop calling on me’. So then she goes to letter-writing school where one of her classmates has an alcoholic brother who she wants to express her love and thanks towards, but doesn’t know how to pierce the barrier of grief surrounding him due to the death of their parents in The War. 

It keeps on like this p consistently, the central question “What is love? What does someone mean when they say ‘I love you’?” is addressed fairly cleanly, but then, once the issue of Violet’s struggle with being able to convey people’s emotions becomes effectively resolved, we kinda start to leave the rails!

Back to the mid-point episode, so, through trying to properly convey this 14yo princess’ feelings, Violet learns what her true feelings are. No, it’s not that she is discontent with being forced to marry a man ten years older than her because, you see, they already secretly met at a royal party when she was, like...10?? And he found her crying and was, like, “Hey kid, you okay?” and that was the first genuine expression of human emotion outside of her dutiful maid she’d ever gotten. You see, what her discontent is is that she knows the man she met, with a heart so simple and pure he feels compelled to comfort a crying child, would never write these letters, and so Violet conspires with the prince’s ghostwriter to allow them to have a more honest correspondence (which is then reprinted in all the newspapers around both countries.)

What got me about this episode is how it, like, throws all these different narrative threads in the air around this central theme of “What is love?” -- the concept of arranged marriage, the idea of confusing appreciating someone’s kindness for having other feelings for them, the MAID who is, like, the princess’ closest friend and confidant, but who has to explain that, once she’s married off, they will have to part ways because she doesn’t serve the princess, she serves the royal family and there’s this great scene where the princess is weeping after she says that and the maid is like “I cannot accept that command, I will continue standing here right by your side” and it’s really intense!

But then...it all gets dropped in the interest of the final note being...yeah sometimes you have to marry a guy in his twenties when you’re just a teenager, but love’s just funny like that ig!

Which sounds ungenerous, and like, I wanted that to be the case, I wanted it to be setting up something, like, “Despite Violet gaining proficiency in letter writing, she still is struggling to understand the more nuanced dimensions of love and so her shortsightedness will come back round to bite her in the ass” (it does not, we even get a montage of all the people she’s helped including the newly married royal couple smiling happily at the camera.) 

We then get more episodes like this, where Violet’s done learning about Love and is now in effect teaching it to others. She does this by...sitting and looking pretty with a guy while they wait for a comet to go by, imitating a playwright’s dead daughter so he can be inspired to finish his play, and...writing a bunch of letters on behalf of a mother dying from anime mom disease, but who wants to be able to speak to her daughter as she grows up through a series of pre-written birthday letters.

And, like, in isolation, it’s all very moving! Each story has a very touching emotional drive to it, but it seems like the question of “What does ‘I love you’ mean?” p much falls to the wayside, even after we get the big 3/4s of the way through reveal that the Major is dead and Violet didn’t know! So we’re treated to flashbacks of their relationship, including the moment where he repeats that damning phrase!

But then we really don’t pick it back up again? It kinda superficially grows in relevance as we approach the conclusion, but it’s never again properly addressed until after a sudden spat of military drama breaks out with people trying to reignite The War and Violet suddenly having to put down her typewriter and pick up her combat knife, but now, for some reason, she refuses to kill people because...she isn’t just a tool?

And I think this is what ultimately frustrated me, is that those are two great themes “Discovering what it means to love” and “Can a person conditioned to fulfill a specific purpose ever be free to choose their own path?” but the problem is, the series really has centered itself on the former while kinda sorta implying the latter, but in the final scenes, we are suddenly given a resolution to the latter (which is basically Metal Gear Solid, “You are not your DNA”, “Just live Snake” that’s been done beautifully and with more thought already by, well, Metal Gear Solid) whereas the former, what was the entire driving force behind Violet’s character development is kinda sorta hand-waved off as “What is love? I still don’t think I know, but maybe that’s just how it is!” which is fucked up coming from someone who by the midway point is basically counselling or facilitating love between people!

So, like, I enjoyed it a lot, there were some great moments and the supporting cast, while mostly one-dimensional save for Violet herself, made for at least nice scenery, but I’m just so blown away by how they seemed to manage to forget (or ceased wanting) to tell the story they laid out in the beginning in favor of some p uniform military drama that suffered precisely because most of the series was dedicated to developing the central theme that it ultimately seemed to abandon, or perhaps came across as being burdened with having to carry into the conclusion.

Also it was super fixated on dads, like, The Major is basically Violet’s dad, his best buddy who goes on to hire Violet as a ghostwriter has a big reveal in the end that he’s been writing letters to his hypothetical future child, the sad dad playwright with the dead daughter -- I dunno what to do with all this besides the usual base level of suspicion I have for all dead-heavy content, but yeah!

There’s two movies, a side story from mid-way through the series and a sequel, and I feel like I almost have to watch them at some point, just so I can tie a neater bow on how I experienced this whole story, but yeah, Violet Evergarden, come for the cool metal typing hands, stay for the heartfelt explorations of what it means to love people, shift nervously in your seat when dads suddenly become involved!

[flastar13]

Analysis and review Blindsprings Prologue Book 2

Hello everyone, this is the first time that I will analyze a literary work, I chose Blindsprings because I love the art and history of the webcomic, I will focus on the prologue because it is very interesting for me because (Warning I am not a native English speaker, I speak only Latin American Spanish so I apologize for any misspelling): 1. It is at the time of the Orphic government, which we know very little. 2. It shows us Tammy's life as a princess and priestess before the academic revolution. 3. Three very important characters appear in the story but they have appeared minimally in the plot. These are Tammy's empress mother, Aliana the sister whose salvation is the reason why Tammy still serves the spirits and Gregoire leader of the academic revolution and creator of the great seal.

Without further ado let's get started.

-First on the cover we see on the left Aliana very arranged, surrounded by young noble men, and on the right side we have Tammy, surrounded by spirits and mist. Aliana's side is bright and pink in color. This is the third time the character is represented in that color

Tammy on the contrary is represented in green and in the dark. This is very interesting because green and pink are generally opposite colors, this is a way of telling us before reading the chapter that both sisters are opposite but at the same time they are both dressed in white and they do not look very happy in their respective places. basically not very different?

We turn the page to the first page, there Tammy is brushed by a maid whose courtesy seemed somewhat acidic to me and Tammy does not look comfortable when being attended and insists on brushing her hair herself, something rare if you are a princess, not to mention that she squeezes her hair. fists as a sign of annoyance. Another thing is that her room is blue, I know that at first glance it does not seem strange but Tammy never uses blue, she almost always chooses green, white and black, also blue is associated with the academics she hates but according to them, she I support them at the beginning. Is it true? Did she choose that color as a show of support, until she betrayed her by overthrowing her family?

We continue on the next page, apparently a party is being held and the nobles instead of showing respect to their princess and high priestess, are hostile and call her a bastard. Well that was a bit obvious.Tammy is a redhead and the rest of her family is brunette.

Leaving that awkward place, Tammy complains about the cruel comments and reveals to have arrived at the palace a few months ago, and the page text says that she was hiding in a cloister. My reaction was WHAT! According to the fable that appeared in the annotations, it is said that Tammy has lived her entire life in the palace walls and she does not know anything else but in truth she has only lived a few months. The only explanations I can find are: the academics are as I suspect unreliable narrators, it was actually symbolism or they were simply referring to another princess but they used the figure of Tammy because she was more popular. Later she goes to a kind of sanctuary of the spirits but her charming older sister has prepared a small trap for her, thorns (which reminded me of her cello but that on the contrary allows her to serve the spirits) prevent the entrance, annoying Tammy breaks the thorns but Aliana transforms them into snakes causing an understandable fear and panic in Tammy that makes her flee. Aliana laughs but to my surprise she is short lived and she feels somewhat regretful (I hope this is part of a redemption arc where she learns to treat her little sister better than her). Tammy cries for what happened, and is consoled by none other than GREGOIRE, the future leader of the academic revolution. Tammy shows that she is comfortable with him, she tells him about her problems as her sister intimidates her and that she had no say in the matter of being a priestess, Gregoire tells her that she is not to blame for anything, just Aliana is like that because she has always lived in a cruel place and knows nothing else, but she must not also become cruel and never forget where she came from. In agreement they confirm the incongruity of the fable and the reality, Tammy knows and lived in another place at least morally better than the court and Aliana did not. I wonder how long Gregoire and Tammy have known each other, he calls her by her name, he is kind unlike the rest of the court, he seems to know his past and there is a lot of trust between the two, I think that led Tammy to support him, at least at first. Also something that you notice both dress more simply than the rest of the court

I think it is to show how the two are strangers in that place, Tammy illegitimate daughter and Gregoire a common man brought by the empress to court on a whim, but they have managed to support each other, and their clothes show that connection.

Even so I still find it surprising to see Tammy in a simple white dress, I must admit I got used to that 

And I had expected to see Aliana instead with a simpler dress than her sister's, as she is generally represented.

On the other hand, the empress has an argument with Aliana because the young princess chose young people reluctant to marry her for the simple fact of being even more reluctant to marry, and wanting to be a priestess again, which is why she torments to her sister. The empress only tells him that she should be grateful that she is not a priestess thanks to having legitimized Tammy. Cool this confirms that Tammy is illegitimate but has recently been recognized by her mother, probably due to as mentioned earlier in Lady Thorne's story, her other legitimate daughters are apparently sterile and Aliana is her last chance to give birth to an heir but She must first marry and we know that being a High Priestess does not allow it so Tammy should have replaced her, but why should she be grateful? Why will she be able to know herself the happiness of being a wife and mother? I don't think so, the empress seems to me to be a bit cold to refer to that, or is it like I'm afraid a sign that being a priestess is darker than it seems. Human sacrifice? Something worse? I fear for Tammy and the other girls with pacts with the spirits. The next scene is my favorite because the four of them finally get together, although their expressions are barely communicated, they say and hide so much at the same time.

Gregoire bows to the empress and Aliana, calls them by their title very different from how he relates to Tammy, reinforcing the closeness between the two, as well as Tammy's simplicity unlike her mother and sister. I am fascinated by how the opposites that are Gregoire and the empress are also shown, the former cares for Tammy, while her own mother does not even speak to him about her by having her in front of him. His clothes reflect the loyalty of each one, the empress wears green, a color related to the spirits her family serves, Gregoire wears blue, which, as I already mentioned, is related to academics, which he will lead in the future. Only Tammy and Aliana wear white as a sign of innocence, and a subtle omen about being caught between the struggle of these representatives of ideas so opposed to each other but strangely seem to attract each other, in a room whose windows look like cages or bars, a sign that at last after all, they are all prisoners of their papers.

Here, as the empress passes near them, Gregoire seems fearful of her, to the point of wanting to protect Tammy from her even if they have been ignored, this is rare, in the history of Lady Thorne he seems comfortable and safe with her , by betraying her and facing her. Hell he caresses her cheek like she's her girlfriend and not the person he's overthrowing, and she doesn't hold back her advances.

Gregoire seems to have a mania for touching people's shoulders.

That nervous face is scaring me. And what follows even more

Everything is obscure and Gregoire's ambiguous comment plus the fact that it is good for Alina not to be a priestess according to her mother, it gives me a bad feeling, I have the feeling that something bad can happen to Tammy I will explain it in another post as a clue that gives the webcomic is in another chapter, but it is well known that it is so bad that Gregoire is going to want to save Tammy from him and maybe that one of the reasons for his revolution, but I doubt that Tammy supports him in that, I think it will be like another Harris given the evidence that Tammy throws throughout the webcomic, about how Harris never asked her how her arm was scarred and saved by the spirits of academics.

Anyway, this prologue makes me think that maybe Gregoire is Tammy's father, he cares about her more than his family and she was his "service" to the Llyn in decadence but I'll talk about that another time, just like the fable and Tammy's possible fate as a priestess. It also shows me that at the end of the day and no matter how bully she is, Aliana, like Tammy, does not have the slightest control of her life and others always make decisions about her, only that Tammy tries to carry it with more grace but showing anger and sometimes defiance of people who try to control it. Aliana no, she shows her disgust by abusing the weakest like Tammy and never does the same to her mother, although she is the one who has the final word on who is a priestess according to what it seems so far, even so the most Close to challenging her mother she does is pick people who wouldn't marry her and try to convince her to marry Tammy (Seriously throwing your sister into an arranged marriage). Well I hope that one day she matures and joins her sister so that they can both finally take charge of her life. No more

See you soon.