#specifically about her role as the saviour

[icarianstars]

✨THE SAVIOUR✨

[sevikas-biceps]

Since everyone's making theories about Maddie...

How long were you sidled-up with that self-serving war pig? She oinked poison in your ear, and you just ate it.

I could be wrong, but this is my take on this line from the A3 teaser.

It's Vi who says this, and to Caitlyn at that. Now, the camera cuts to Ambessa in the trailer, which I assume was to deliberately mislead the viewers into thinking it was about her. But we already know that Ambessa is a warlord—and Vi herself is already aware that Caitlyn sided with Ambessa in this whole shebang. Martial law? Attacking Viktor's commune? She already knew. It'd be redundant to make this line refer to Ambessa herself.

Honestly, there's a good chance it refers to Maddie.

Look at the words used: sidled-up, self-serving, pig.

We know Caitlyn and Maddie shagged, which would explain the reason for 'sidled-up'. To 'sidle-up' means to move close to someone in a quiet or secret way. And, as far as we can infer, only Ambessa seemed to be aware of this 'professional entanglement'—so this relationship must be a secret.

But what about the terms self-serving and pig?

Let's talk about the pig symbolism first. Why that animal specifically? Well, in Shamanic culture; pigs are often seen as the image of healing, fertility, sensuality, and most of all, are made as offerings to gods.

In this case, we can confirm a few things:

Maddie acts as Caitlyn's rebound after her breakup with Vi. Healing and sensuality. If Maddie was indeed a traitor, as most theories seem to suggest, then this means that the CaitVi breakup was a very lucky coincidence: it gave Maddie a reason to get even closer to Caitlyn, one of the figureheads of this war. Not only would she have direct access to any movements or resources regarding Piltover, but she would also act as Caitlyn's saviour: an emotional attachment, a distraction.

In the process of becoming a paramour, Maddie is also essentially selling herself out. In a way, she's offering herself to a god. This isn't too literal, of course, but the imagery stands. This move is very much reminiscent of a concubine's role: in forming that connection with Caitlyn, the time is ripe for a full-scale conflict. If Maddie sought to destabilise Piltover, and Caitlyn is the leader of the city; then Maddie would have the ability to make Topside a breeding ground for war.

Right after Vi says this to Caitlyn, the latter merely responds with a broken, I know!

What does it take for her to express herself in such a way? The last time we saw a breakdown from her, or when a breakdown was at least imminent, was that moment they shared in the tent after the attack on the councillors' memorial. She was pushed to the brink.

All they did was piss me off! What kind of animals...

Animals.

To think that Caitlyn would now sound so resigned?

It's interesting, isn't it?

The betrayal cuts deep—because if this traitor is indeed Maddie, then she'll bring up old wounds as well: Marcus, Grayson. The sheriffs whom Caitlyn knew and/or served—and, to some degree, likely idolised. You'd imagine that, ever since stepping to the role of Commander, she'd've gone over their old files. She knows Marcus was a double-agent; he'd pointed a gun at her on the bridge. But there'd also come a time when Vi would tell her the truth about Vander—about the Hound—and what he meant to Zaun. What he meant to Grayson. Another betrayal, even if a rational one.

Anyway; I really do hope this 'self-serving war pig' that Caitlyn's 'sidled-up with' is indeed Maddie, because all the pieces fit too perfectly into place to think otherwise.

[laurelsofhighever]

Sometimes I just think about how dicey the relationship must be between the Chantry and Ferelden.

On the one hand, Ferelden was the birthplace of Andrastianism - the saviour of southern Thedas was an Alamarri barbarian too stubborn to fall under the yoke of her Tevinter masters, the only one worthy of getting the Maker to turn his gaze back to His children - but on the other hand, the Chantry has done so much to distance itself from those roots, from centring the faith in Val Royeaux’s Grand Cathedral to dismissing folk songs like “Andraste’s Mabari” as borderline heresy.

More than that, it had an active role in the subjugation of the Fereldan people. During the events of The Stolen Throne, the mages in Kinlock Hold are shown to be afraid of getting involved in the politics of the rebellion by harbouring Maric even for a single night because Circles are meant to remain neutral. AND YET mages from Orlais are brought specifically to Gwaren to help the Orlesians squash the rebels. Mother Bronach is there throughout Meghren’s reign legitimising his oppression as “the will of the Maker” and extracting tithes from the Fereldan people for the Chantry, while it’s strongly implied that Fereldans themselves are barred from serving any meaningful role in its hierarchy, if you pay attention to what Sister Ailis says.

So we have a source of national pride in Andrastianism itself, and we have a source of suspicion with how closely tied the Chantry as an institution is tied to Orlais, and possible resentment for the Chantry’s encouragement of indifference to the Orlesian Occupation. You can’t tell me the Rebel Queen Moira didn’t play into the imagery of Andraste the Liberator, fighting back against the tyranny of an unjust empire. You can’t tell me she didn’t use the people’s faith as a weapon to refute the idea of the Occupation being the Maker’s will. At the very least, you can’t tell me that after the war was done, nobody made that connection, given that she, too, met her end through betrayal.

And then we get to the Inquisition. There’s going to be a bit of a difference depending on who ends up on the throne after the Blight, because Alistair is far more outspoken than Anora both on his opinion of mage rights and his disdain for the Chantry in general (but he’s also an ex-templar so I’m sure there are headaches about how to square that away), but no matter who rules Ferelden, the actions of the Inquisition are the same. For the second time in living memory, a foreign power is giving itself free rein to tramp over Fereldan soil, seize its castles, and make decisions for its people. A foreign power with pretty strong ties to the Chantry (declared heretical or not), justifying their occupation through religion.

Just saying, Fereldans must have a complicated relationship with their majority religion.

And don’t get me started on my theory that the Chantry sanctioned the original invasion of Ferelden as a way to have an exalted march without spending money or effort or making other Andrastian nations nervous

[poedays]

Okay Sam (Redacted Audio) and Claire (Castle Audios) would be friends if they met.

Hear me out.

Obviously we have the whole David and Claire dynamic that could happen - alphas with less than two parents - but based upon some canon (and some headcanons), Sam and Claire seem like they’d get along better. Or at least they’re more similar, in my opinion.

Castle herself said that ‘If [Claire] likes a style of clothing, then she'll get a bunch of the same clothes in different colors.’ on her tumblr. And in that one audio where Tank is packing Sam’s things for a pack trip, Sam says he just buys clothes in bulk when he likes them. They both have no sense of fashion. I love them for it. Additionally: flannel. Specifically: red flannel. We can’t convince ourselves they both don’t wear it. It’s convenient, it’s warm, it’s simplistic yet not basic, it’s practical, it’s reusable. All good reasons. But I believe they both own it for a secret reason… Because it’s hot… Enough said.

Another point: the healing thing. Claire is a blood mage, Sam was a freelancer (open wielder in Castleverse terms) with a speciality/interest for healing. They both have respective listeners that need this special skill a little too much. But we digress - this isn’t about Tank and Ranger. Both Claire and Sam have negative side affects for their healing: Claire’s eyes and fingers turn black when she uses blood magic for too long and she often focuses on healing others and not herself - personally I believe she gets migraines if she focuses on her blood magic for too long, but that’s just me. Sam’s magic physically exhausts him and gives him headaches when used for a long period of time or for excessive wounds. They’re both saviours who let themselves get hurt in the battle. It’s poetic, it’s romantic, it is concerning.

Additionally, a few little facts to fully tie together these two. Both Claire and Sam have Dom vs Dom energy with their partners (Ranger is basically Claire’s partner in life at this point, whether or not they’re romancing yet). Both wanted to be a healer in an occupation before a major life event strayed them from that role. Both have a snarky little friend who likes to push them into social events (Vincent, Beth). Both have a older/younger sibling relationship with another character (once again Vincent, Knight). And finally, both absolutely have one pair of boots that they wear with every outfit 24/7.

Also they were both betrayed by someone who held a position of power above them, but we don’t talk about that part.

Thanks for following this madness.

TLDR: They’re both protecter types that wear red flannel and like healing things.

[crimsoncold]

have you ever thought about the snow queen fairytale in connection to jonsa? it might be a reach but i can see elements of them in there

Hi asoiastarks! Please forgive my very delayed and rambly response to this ask

I hadn't really considered this fairytale before but when I thought about it in depth I ended up having way more to say about the connection between Jon and Sansa's stories (and Jonsa as a romantic pairing) and fairytales in general than I expected so I'm putting my response below...

While I wouldn't say that there is one specific fairytale that jonsa (or jon and sansa individually) clearly and directly follows I would totally agree with the opinion that Jon and Sansa (two of asoiaf's comparatively most traditionally romantic characters) definitely seem to draw from or echo several common aspects found with protagonists of traditional fairy tales- both as individual characters and as a potential romantic pairing.

I've definitely seen people describe Sansa as a romantic heroine that has tragically been "misplaced" into a brutal world like westeros- and I think that description holds up and that ultimately her gentle and romantic nature will result in an end that is not simply having all her happiness and hope being destroyed by consistent trauma and narrative punishment but rather will have to involve her life flourishing into something beautiful but still grounded providing a more satisfying end for someone who maintains much of the sort of traditional kindness/goodness found with the typical fairytale princess despite the horrors around her- otherwise asoiaf would seem little more than an outright bitter and nihilistic story

I also think we shouldn't sleep on Jon who underneath his wonderfully bitchy sarcastic grumpy or occasionally ruthless exterior holds similarly romantic values and thoughts

Generally speaking it wouldn't surprise me that someone could find commonalities between a fairytale and Jon and Sansa, I feel that many common tropes that are found in a great number of fairytales can correspond to aspects of Jon's or Sansa's individual story and personalities or to Jonsa as a pairing by itself.

Just listing a few off the top of my head ...Having and reclaiming some secret identity that they may or may not have know about, young members of nobility/royalty raised or living in hiding due to their lives being in peril- typically in a position of lower class than they might actually belong to; being the target of the machinations wrath or cruelty of evil kings/queens/or some type of sorcerer or spellcaster, having notable interactions with or a special connection to animals or some type of mythical creature, the concept of being resurrected from some form of permanent sleep or even death

.... and of course in the case of a possible romantic relationship forming- them being character's who after experiencing incredible hardship, tragedy, or sorrow are ultimately awarded for exhibiting, maintaining, or gaining traits such as kindness/compassion/bravery/dutifulness/or selflessness, the possibility of either of them occupying the role of a hero or saviour for the other from either literal physical threats/enemies or more metaphorical ones like their loneliness or emotional trauma, as well as having a completed and happy story arc that ultimately cumulates in them forming a deeply intimate and loving partnership or marriage.

When it comes to the Snow Queen specifically I'm only passingly familiar with this fairytale (so please forgive me in advance if I miss something obvious or get any details wrong) but based on my very basic knowledge of this fairytale I can definitely think of a number of interesting commonalities/parallels this fairytale could have to Jonsa.

Firstly, because so much of Jon, Sansa, and the Stark family's storyline is rooted in a snowy and cold environment (the north, winterfell, the wall, etc.) and because one major threat in the overall story comes in the form of "ice" (i.e. the Long Night and the Others coming from beyond the wall) it doesn't surprise me that one could find a number of (at least surface leve)l commonalities to a story like the snow queen with its similarly icy setting and villain, as well as find a number of common basic story elements/imagery that occur in both- though not always in the same type of context or role (e.g. the appearance of or focus on ice/snow/snowflakes, roses, crows, doves, and a girl traveling and reuniting with someone in the north, the emphasis put on the sweetness or goodness of a character, and the unexpected effect or power that a character's faith/prayers/love/or inherent goodness can have on the world or people around them)

Most of all i can definitely see the potential for some more direct similarities between the snow queen and a hypothetical (but very possible) jonsa endgame for asoiaf....

First in the form of a character like jon being healed and changed from his own altered state (e.g. some form of strangeness, purposelessness, distantness, coldness, harshness, forgetfulness, or trauma that occurs in the aftermath of his time with the night's watch and his subsequent assassination and resurrection) after he is reunited and touched by the sweetness and affection- the love, tears, or even kiss- of a distantly regarded (or even forgotten post resurrection?) but once beloved part of his childhood- in the form of a girl he was raised with who has made a dangerous and long trek north to be reunited with him,

Secondly I could see strong paralelles occuring regarding the ending, i.e. one that centers around two individuals returning to their common home, grown and deeply changed by their experiences but with a hopeful and happier future promised or symbolized in the form of the changing season (with the upcoming one promising to be a time of warmth and renewal after the comparatively harsh or treacherous winter).

Side Note:

Given got/asoiaf's efforts towards exemplifying a far more corrupt, harsh, cruel, senseless and unjust world than what is typically seen in fantasy works I'm not exactly expecting an ending chock-full of sunshine and rainbows....

However I find it notable that Sansa, and to some extent Jon, exist as somewhat of an outlier in an explicity harsh and grim setting (and are further flanked by a number of characters that are a great deal less romantic and more pragmatic, if not outrightly more selfish, cruel, or even brutal and psychotic)

As a result there is something quite striking about the way many of Jon and Sansa's experiences, core personality traits, and their supposedly hopeless or rejected- yet still deeply idolized- dreams end up resembling eachother in so many ways.

Their desires and motives may (for lack of a better word) be comparatively "simpler" and more straightforward than those of many other characters yet they also correspond to an underlying shared sense of duty and desire for family, and are simultaneously deeply meaningful to the character's personally while also exemplifying an appropriate blend of the series realism/pragmatism with jon and sansa's trademark romanticism.

I do believe that a bittersweet but hopeful and affectionate end for these characters and this epic fantasy tale can definitely (at least in part) take the form of not just a reunion of the surviving starks but also in a sort of slightly twisted and bastardized fairytale end for the series via Jon and Sansa having their dreams (of winterfell, marriage, and family) being fulfilled by a respectful, willing, and even loving marriage to one another.

(a love and relationship that would initially be appropriately fraught and seemingly forbidden or obscene but ultimately would be allowed to blossom giving these two characters the closest a story like asoiaf will ever get to a traditionally "happy" fairytale ending)

A Jonsa endgame would also offer a thematically appropriate foil to several other notable romantic relationships in the series...

Like seriously there is way too much sibling incest in this series for GRRM not to be building up to something/coming full circle in the end with a very different but still pseudo-incestuous relationship in the form of Jonsa

... like I swear to god he's gonna be like "here have a bunch of current, recent, and long past tragic, ruinous, and/or deeply unhealthy and harmful incestuous marriages and relationships...isn't this obviously always such a terrible thing to occur?" only to go against typical expectations of readers and once again reject the simplicity of an obviously black and white story with a strong and consistent divide between the "heroes" and the "villains" and instead sucker punch the audience by offering up an emotionally and thematically fulfilling but somewhat unusual (even uncomfortable for a number of readers) and bittersweet end that once again involves an incestuous (of sorts) relationship only this time amongst the "good" characters in the story, in the form of a marriage between cousins and psuedo siblings Jon and Sansa.

[saintsenara]

hear me out on this one: ron/narcissa

thank you very much, anon!

and i certainly will hear you out.

i am invested in the plausibility of all malfoy/weasley ships because the two families are narrative mirrors - and narrative mirror pairings are my jam.

and i'm invested in this one specifically because i adore the concept of narcissa/molly so much - especially the way that their narrative confinement to the domestic sphere, and the loneliness this causes in each of them, is simultaneously very different and yet so very similar.

ron is the one of the weasley children who seems to be the most like molly - in that he's the one who expresses love most obviously through domestic and pseudo-domestic tasks. he clearly likes to take care of people who matter to him - in a way that narcissa, who occupies that caring role within her own family, has probably never experienced [while i think lucius is a good husband, he is so clearly bound up in his role as the family's "leader" and "protector" that he isn't going to ever take that more feminine-coded caring position in his relationship with narcissa].

and he's also clearly a little bit lonely, just as molly is. while the sibling who is least aligned with the rest of the family in terms of personality is obviously percy - and while i reject the common weasley-bashing sentiment that molly and arthur are bad parents - ron's position in the order of children means that he does seem to receive less of his parents' emotional attention than his older siblings or ginny. this is then compounded by his position in the golden trio. he's harry's everyman sidekick - not special like the hero, and not clever like hermione, the helper-figure. and this affects his status in the eyes of all the people who look to harry to be their saviour - the order don't care about ron, the ministry doesn't care about ron, ron is shocked to discover in deathly hallows that dumbledore even knew who he was - and in the eyes of all the people who consider harry the scum of the earth - voldemort would, i am certain, be hard-pressed to pick him out of a line-up.

narcissa has that unstable social position too. both the order and the death eaters consider her less important to the arc of the series than bellatrix - and i think we can also imagine that she was the sister who received the least emotional attention from her parents, given how shocking both bellatrix and andromeda's behaviour was, and that this explains why she is the most conformist and staid of the three.

and two unlikely people realising a similarity which takes them on a shared journey of self-discovery is a hot trope.

and one that i will go in for every time.

[mio-nika]

Disgusting (comic) AU. Over-arching plot, characters profiles and relationship dynamic breakdown.

Plot:

Mostly based on a modmad "What if Ace Attorney Investigations: Simon Blackquill".

Post Dual Destinies, Phantom spends some time in prison (like a month). And now let's get him out (temporary), so he can sell his employers with comfort. And also pair him with Simon, because they don't hate each other enough. Phantom get's his Bobby mask because artistic continuity, if I change his face we are bordering on Original Character territory.

I'm not smart enough to write actual spy plot, so they are existing in some limbo doing something spy-like. I'm mostly here to inflict the massive amounts of psychological and emotional damage on characters and fans.

Main Protags:

Phantom - after his meltdown in court, getting shot and the conviction his brain got chopped in much finer mush. With his blood, fingerprints and face being recorded he has no way of going back to his classic "run and hide" bullshit. Doesn't like to be out and about. Prefers to be locked up in jail, since he gets solitary and full protection.

Simon - is suffering. Understands the assignment of being paired with the guy who actually knows how to run underground spy business. But still does not like it. AT ALL.

Athena - since I'm not a fan of women centric whump (it's very rarely good and I can count the good examples of it on one hand). I'm using her as a plot device and brain can opener. She's not involved in operation, bc Simon cares about her to much. But sometimes spends time with Phantom as a psychotherapist.

Relationship chemistry:

Everything is very bad. I mean. Except psycho duo, but they are kinda. A well oiled machine.

• Simon <- -> Athena - they are something that I call platonic soulmates. Two people who's lifes are so deeply intertwined, that they can never be apart. They are friends. They are siblings. They are uncle and niece. They would be together from this point to the eternity.

• Athena -> Phantom - she feels disdain towards him, but also pity. I mean:

I truly think that the therapist in her. And the saviour complex would destroy her "he killed my mom". So she kinda goes as "I would help you, but only if you yourself would try to change. Bitch you live like this".

• Phantom -> Athena - fear. I mean. She can read his mind. She can feel that he feels. She is the reason why his life was destroyed. And I'm not only talking about last trial. She made original reading from his bomb threat.

Her abilities to read his mind is probably horrifying to him, since his entire persona based on hiding. But I also think, that he would gravitate to her. She thinks he can change. She's also mentally not normal. She's a therapist. There's a lot of reasons why he can be scared, but also longing for understanding.

• Simon -> Phantom - disgust, babeey! There's probably a lot more, but this bitch does not talk to me. So I'm just observing him from the side.

• Phantom -> Simon - we went so far from good doggie woof woof, that we came back to it.

I'm calling it "fucked up backward loyalty". It's half "I has no reason to make him even more mad, we are trying to work here". And "please please please give me any type of attention". It's the same way as with Athena. Before every human interaction Phantom had for *we don't know how much* time was filtering through his role. Basically "it's my funny friend Bobby", not "it's my funny friend Phantom". So I think he got kinda. Lonely. Not even lonely, more like deep social dissociation. Simon hates him, but he hates HIM, SPECIFICALLY, not Bobby. And the hate is extremely powerful emotion it's almost like love.

Anyway. Local spy got his brain hard rebooted. And mistakenly imprinted on two people who hate him. WHAT CAN GO WRONG

[musicoftheheart]

i am not in a Positive Mood atm and so i will be picking a bone with disney because there is one song that has frustrated me since the day i heard it and i vow here and now that one day i will rewrite it and that song is My Once Upon A Time from descendants 3

for context, the song comes right after all of mal's closest friends and her fiance have just been turned to stone. unless she can find a way to turn them back, they are - for all intents and purposes - dead, essentially. and, as she says in the song, its her fault. i dont 100% agree with that, but its not the bit i want to pick at

no, what id like to rant about is the fact that the whole song - the whole song - is her talking about how she needs to fix it because its not how she wants to be remembered. what?! im sorry, her friends have been turned to stone and shes concerned about whether she'll be portrayed as a hero in history books? what the fuck.

allow me to point to a song that achieved exactly what mouat shouldve: the next right thing, from frozen 2. in this song, anna learns her sister is dead, because olaf (who's life relies on elsa) dies in her arms. anna's song shows how she picks herself back up, not for herself but because she has people relying on her who need her. because its the right thing to do. not because she wants to be seen as a saviour, but because she wants to save the lives of everyone still in danger. shes already lost her sister, she doesnt want to lose her kingdom, her people, too.

tnrt in frozen 2 was an impactful and emotional moment. mouat in d3 showed mal brushing off the fact her friends were gone and instead focused on her reputation. and i get it - i get that the whole point of the descendants trilogy was that you get to write your own story, and that nobody is wholly good or bad, and that youre in control of your own decisions and whether they help or hurt - but this should be a moment of pure emotion for mal as she recognises how her own actions have led to the loss of her friends, but that she has to carry on if she ever wants a chance to save them; to save everyone. it should not be focused on her being good for the sake of reputation

and, to add to this, im fully aware that throughout the three movies, we see how mal values other people's perception of her, especially so at the start of d2, and then again at the start of d3 both as her role as future queen, and when she doesnt tell her isle friends that it was her call to keep the barrier closed. shes afraid of how theyll see her, yes, but we had the character growth during d2 where mal became more confident about not fitting with the perfect princess look (represented by her transformation into the dragon, and continued use of such magic despite it coming from her evil mother, as well as her dress changing from auradonion colours to her signature purple), so any insecurities there shouldve been wrapped up. and her lies in d3 were, ultimately, for the good of everyone, and only temporary. the barrier had to stay closed until they could figure out a way for it to be safe for everyone. if she had let them bring down the barrier too soon and a villain had caused chaos, then that would ruin the chances of the barrier ever coming down forever. and if she had told her friends - specifically evie - that it was her call, then she knew that evie would convince her to change her mind. but changing her mind at that point was not for the greater good, therefore she lied. as much as a small amount of it was for her reputation among her friends, it was also for the good of auradon and the isle

therefore i refuse to believe that muoat shouldve been focused wholly on her reputation. we know mal cares so much about her friends and about ben, so why didnt the song dive into that? why were we not looking at her guilt, or her determination to carry on so that she could save her loved ones and her home? why, instead, did we focus so hard on the way she wants to be remembered for her heroics and good deeds?

i also understand that mal may be compartmentalising to an extent, by ignoring her own grief for her friends and instead focusing her attention elsewhere to keep herself going. she very clearly does have insecurities about her decisions and her role in auradon, so it would make sense to distract herself with that rather than letting herself break down over her friends. if this was what they intended, though, i think it was poorly done. at least, i certainly wouldnt have brushed past it quite so nonchalantly. mal hardly seemed to care that her friends had been turned to stone after the first - what - two lines of the song? and even then all she says is that she deserves it. she deserves it?? like it had just been a shove in the playground or something, and not an attack on her loved ones - one that, remember, could very well result in her losing them forever

quite literally, her only lines in the song about losing her friends are: "here you are alone and you deserve it // your friends have turned to stone and thats on you" and that is it. everything else is about her story being written, or about serving a cause, or her reputation not being linked to her parents'

i really do not like this song. i havent watched d3 for over a year, so i do apologise if ive missed/forgotten important context, but from everything i remember and listening to the song itself, i do not believe it does the moment justice. i want to rewrite it one day, ive no idea if i ever will or how, but i dont like it the way it is.

[inanewmoon]

You've teased Ranma and Ryoga for the world fusion... I know Akane will be teased at some point.. but can I ask about Konatsu? Ninja girl in a Ninja world sounds fun.

Oh, wow, that's a difficult one! 💙 I don't have a good answer yet, but I can waffle a bit about it. Maybe it will end in an idea where to best include her. 💙💙💙 (I guess that by itself reveals some of the answer already - I didn't really plan, or ran into a scene that needed her specifically, yet? But there still might be a cameo if convenient, or a short storyline that includes her in some capacity)

In general, I am approaching this merger by transplanting a handful of Ranma characters into Narutoverse (where Shikako from DoS also lives). These characters "have always lived there" in this interpretation, and I had to tweak their ages a little too, since Narutoverse begins at ±12 years old and not ±16 average for Ranma. I don't wanna *overload* the Narutoverse with Ranma characters, which is why not everyone is getting moved. By design, it's gonna focus mainly on Ranma, Akane and Ryoga, and any other characters are slightly relegated to the background and or cameos. Konatsu, sadly, isn't either Ranma, Akane or Ryoga not anyone close to them, so she starts at a big disadvantage in this cruel Ranma character lottery. I guess her fate also depends on my plans for Ukyo... who I also haven't fully decided on (don't tell anyone).

So first, Konatsu is somewhat easy to transplant (pun intended) into Narutoverse, because her skillset... is actually kinda canon to the Naruto verse. The multi body technique and other tricks are part of the common legendarium of what "ancient mythical ninjas" could do. It's more accurate to say that Konatsu and Naruto share the same roots and inspirations for their powers. 💙💙💙 Very superficially, Konatsu shares some commonalities with Haku. Fearful/abusive childhood, devotion to a saviour (Ukyo and Zabuza, respectivelly), and gender-themes, but it's a stretch otherwise.

Dreaming of Sunshine story has chosen to not lean onto trans interpretation of Haku, focusing on Haku's "oh... and... I'm a boy" instead, but in my heart both Konatsu and Haku deserve to be trans girls. 💙 They just live in the worlds that might not have had that exact word or description to fully-understand at the time? Mostly due to the meta reasons, too (Kishimoto just can't write girls, and Rumiko probably didn't have an lgbt+ vocabulary at the time, even though Konatsu is much more obviously trans-coded than Haku). It's a whole long conversation I don't wanna get into too much.

I will be doing "more gender" in Leaf's Ranma, so Konatsu can feel safe about her identity if she makes the cut 💙💙 So... to sum up in some ways Konatsu's similar to Haku, and one option (devasting for Konatsu-fans in Leaf's Ranma AU) would be to give some of Konatsu's roles and impacts (which were minimal in the Ranma managa, she came entirely too late to change things, even when we love her 💙) over to Haku, not *needing* and extra character in the mix.

But... I don't think that is satisfying enough. The scope of the Leaf's Ranma story isn't huge and all-encompassing, so I might just not find time for her at all (sorry). But if I do... I suspect I will place her by Ukyo's side, whichever form Ukyo is gonna take up in the AU.

So... that's was a whole lot of words to say "I don't know." But if she does show up... It's gonna be with Ukyo. 💙

Thanks for the question, sorry for a mess of an answer 💙

[boringbxtch]

Vincent Sinclair x reader

You decided since Vincent was busy with his artistic vision or so he made it seem and Bo was god knows where, probably messing about in the garage that you would go for a walk in the woods. About to walk out the door and doubling back at the last second by deciding you would take Jonesy just incase so you’re not entirely alone.

Walking down the street to cut out somewhere that technically wasn’t a path but ended up being used as one you reach the tree line with your companion trotting excitedly around you, tongue hanging out of their mouth. With no specific direction in mind you wander further in without looking back which if you had done you would’ve seen a group of 4 people walking up the turn towards Ambrose but like I said you went on none the wiser.

Meanwhile the people coming out of the car were exhausted due to traveling all day and the mini trek as they managed to run entirely out of petrol though Jordan maintained that before they left the last town they stopped at that he filled it up fully so they should’ve had no issue passing straight through the place. Of course no one believed him.

Bo was prepared for the group to appear in the garage slipping into the role of concerned mechanic while making sure to keep the bolts that he stole from the car hidden. Same act every time so it goes without a hitch until one of the group manages to slip out of Bo’s grasp while Vincent deals with the others, heading all to predictably to the trees.

There’s a giant splash making you back pedal around sure that you were alone, it’s jonesy of course it is you should’ve known to not be so paranoid in the middle of nowhere when the most dangerous thing around is your found family and your love Vinny. Your artist who right now is dragging his new project down to the basement.

In your day dreaming you didn’t hear the crunching twigs or the heavy breathing heading straight your way so it came as a shock when you felt someone crash into you taking you down to the ground. Realising the trouble you could be in you started to panic just as the twins appeared.

Having thought you were innocent she attempted to drag you with her, because of course you could never be with these horrible men and she couldn’t leave you to that fate her friends had gotten. You weren’t willing to go anywhere but you were getting dragged against your will while she was screaming at you. You saw the dangerous glint in Vincent’s eye and wanted nothing more than to run to him. The woman having realised she had been surrounded stopped and surveyed her whereabouts, Bo was to the left and Vincent was to the right and threats were being thrown. You saw the moment when she realised that you weren’t a victim but a part of this fucked up town. Taking her only chance left she grabbed you quickly and pulled out a sharp tool ( one picked up from the garage) jabbing it into your throat and pleading for a bargain. If she is let go you’ll live but if not your blood is on their hands.

You saw the anger in both twins even your mostly calm man. Feeling the sharp spike press deeper into the thin skin of your neck you feel the breath rattle in your throat and the shaking of your limbs. This was a woman willing to risk it all to save her own skin. Grudgingly agreeing out of sheer annoyance for the girl in danger, the pain was dulled with the removal of the weapon before you were thrown forward onto the dirt and abandoned by your attempted saviour turned attempted murderer. Bo without hesitation brought the gun out he was carrying and fired 2 shots straight into her head. Dead on impact while you were safe again in your loves arms being lifted off the ground ( I don’t care what size you are, that man has proved he’s big and strong he’s got you 😉) pressing a kiss to the waxy cheek you knew you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[jaggedjot]

An Extended Set of Notes on a Look at Season Two

Or, an attempt at being cohesive in extenuating circumstances.

"He wants you in pieces for the privilege of putting them back together as he sees fit." Armand has correctly identified Daniel's saviour complex (part projection-denial of his own feelings for Louis, part assertion of the white masculinity he leans into) with Louis.

There is a distinct edge to the smiles that Claudia and Armand give each other.

It is implied through the montage that Louis’ speech about his newfound commitment to pragmatic optimism ("Stop feeling sorry for yourself. A shit life beats no life. And where we're going now, we can't be running away again.") is aimed at Claudia. If that is the case, then Claudia is going to rightfully furious at this implicit criticism of her own despair at being an eternal adolescent, especially as this is coming from the man who played a significant role in causing that about. Not to mention the underlying resentment it suggests Louis has about her willingness to leave him, when Louis will be doing something similar to her later in the season.

I do need Sam Reid to teach classes about how to remove a shirt or waistcoat that smoothly.

The third episode of season one had Daniel point out how different Louis portrays Lestat in the present day to the original interview, namely that at the time he seemed to despite Lestat. Armand though clearly recognised that the anger and loathing Louis exhibited in the 1970s is something of a front to mask still existing love.

Initially I thought that Lestat was eating bible scripture, but, judging by the modern costume, he may be eating one of Armand’s scripts instead; the symbolism of both potential images is wonderful.

While Claudia and Madeline’s heads are already turned away, defeated, we catch a glimpse of Louis watching Lestat leave them to their fate.

Interesting that Armand is not going to pretend that there isn't something between him and Lestat.

Whoever blocks the sex scenes understands the importance of desperately grasping hands. I wonder if this tussle will end, as the previous one did, with Louis’ initial dominance fading as he allows himself to be overwhelmed.

“Let me guess, he’s your companion, finally. Picked another one over me!” It must be incredibly difficult for Claudia to see Louis find love, and be loved so intensely, when she is unable to in large part due to Louis' decision for her to be turned as a child. And for Louis to then decide that he has grown out of their relationship.

The line of "You fear Armand. You should fear the other one." before cutting to Louis smashing a glass against a priceless painting. My crazy girl is back.

Present day Louis actually seems to be wearing a colour that isn't black for the first time.

Even having rewound a dozen times, I still have no idea what horrific creature Louis imagines crawling out of the hollow of Lestat's throat. You would presume it would be a rat, but there is something insectoid to it.

A lot of theories about what happened on that fateful night in San Francisco being refuted or made more valid, specifically the seeming confirmation that it was Louis that left that scar on Daniel, and that the interview did take place the same night Louis and Daniel met.

Claudia and Louis sharing Madeleine is quite something.

The implication of the montage accompanying Claudia’s “You got to give up something to get something.” seems to be that Claudia is going to realise that she can never be fulfilled while maintaining her splintering relationship with Louis. Then for it to be followed up by Louis' "You and me, me and you." speech to her.

Santiago's inclusion in the "You and me, me and you." montage promises many things.

This trailer does nothing to contradict my theory that Armand is standing in the prompter’s box of his theatre during the trial, while claiming in the present day that he had no say over what happened next.

Please tell me Lestat's imagined ghost is not accompanying Louis and Armand during all their Parisian dates.

The shot of Lestat laughing while holding an ashing cigarette further confirms that there will be flashbacks to Rue Royale, as the blurred background looks very similar to the downstairs room.

"Pieces of my life gone. I knew who I was without those pieces." LOUIS.

The toast between Claudia, Madeleine, Louis and Armand seems to be taking place immediately before the trial, because Claudia is wearing the same fateful yellow dress and Madeleine the same blue blouse and, seemingly, red two-piece skirt and jacket.

The collapse of the bookshelves containing memorabilia of the past are not clearly connected to something happening in an interview session. If this is a response to something dramatic or particularly emotional in the story, you would expect Daniel to be up close, not sitting behind a desk alone.

It does hurt me to see Louis cry.

[agentrouka-blog]

A crazy idea now I had. You know we are pretty sure D@ny coming to Westeros will be after Aegon became king in the south. It will be a sort of Dance 2.0 and there are a lot of parallels, like Barristan becoming Criston 2.0 but worse (he will die much far away from home, in a battle that nobody in Westeros care, no song will be sung for the once most admired knight of his time).

I have been trying to think about others parallels while understanding what's going to happen, using the show and looking at what was mixed and one thing always makes me frown is Varys goal around here, looking at what we had in the books and what we saw in the show.

So, reading Dance, we have the "turncloakers" that went from green to black or from black to green, and we have interesting characters too, like Corlys Velaryon and Larys Strong, and I can see Varys a "good" mix of them. And what do they do? They, supposedly, murdered Aegon after he killed his sister, whatever their motives.

In the show, Varys wished to see D@ny as the saviour, but after witnessing her tyrany, and meeting the Starks (and learning about Jon) he decides to kill her. It's subtly established, when one of his birds report about D@ny not eating the food, and he saying that they would try again. What? Posion her? Yup

So, what if after D@ny/Rh@ny (Maegor With Tits) murders Aegon, Varys becomes part of her Council (he helped Tyri0n escape, he may help him gain her trust) and even if D@ny is mad at Illyrio (probably dead), she may accept him in her circle. And that would be her ending.

What if then we have another parallel of Dance. D@ny dies mysteriously. Jon went to kill her after learning about his half-brother's death and is afraid of her menace to the rest of his family/Sansa, and is a) accused of killing her (Varys killed Kevan with a weapon, what is stopping him from killing her in the chest with a sword, dagger, crossbow) or b) he does a Cregan 2.0 and has to organize the wastelands of Westeros as the heir of the IT.

Idk, I just have this on my mind mostly from Varys plots in the show and his scenes in the books...

Hi there and sorry for the delay in responding!

Generally I agree that if Varys doesn't meet his end in connection to Aegon himself, he'll be one aspect of conspiracy-making around Dany one way or the other.

But I don't think that GRRM would give him the role of ending Dany.

There's too little thematic connection there. These aren't characters who have been known to each other and moving in a shared political constellation for enough time to make a murder like that seem like a meaningful conclusion to her arc. It's not a cynical, opportunistic political scheme that ultimately ends in a new status quo for the Targaryen dynasty. The Dance 1.0 eliminated the dragons as a factor but it reestablished the Targaryens as the ruling dynasty, incest and Valyrian supremacy and all. The ultimately futile and destructive scheming fits that very well.

That will not be the case when Dany dies, when King's Landing is a pile of ashes, when the dragons are ended once again as a factor. This will be their absolute end, clad in the imagry of apocalyptic destruction. High drama. The mode by which it comes about is likely to be thematically drenched in why that's a good thing and why it is inherently inevitable. Whether she is killed by someone with genuine emotional grievance against her destructive power, or whether she ends in self-destruction because of the delusional obsession with fire and superiority... it has to match what makes Dany specifically and the Targaryens generally bad news.

Unlike in the show, book!Varys is a scheming villain, full stop. He cuts out the tongues of children and manipulates people into their own destruction based on his own personal political vision of what's best for Westeros as a whole. A "well-intentioned extremist" at the most generous interpretation. He is essentially little different from Dany, and only vaguely so from Littlefinger. There is nothing inherently special about him that would qualify him to end Dany, on a thematic level. He will likely try. But he will fail. He's not getting a win like that to send him off before his villain death.

If someone (other than herself) ends Dany, it has to be a figure that represents what truly opposes her. And that's not Varys.

[bibibbon]

What is your idea for his arc?

I'm still writing, but the first half of his arc focuses on him gaining respect and recognition from the group he's in (in this case the League of Villains, but the group has another name and they're more competent from the beginning). In the League of Villains, there's a ranking system that goes from weakest to strongest, Nine is in 8th and this frustrates him, so he does everything he can to climb the rankings and prove to his teammates what he's capable of. He's the kind of friend that no one likes, only his team respects him, especially Slice, who is the first person he saves in my version.

How do you plan to interconnect nine's arc with izuku?

I plan for them to start developing a bond at the time of the USJ. Yes, in my version, Nine is responsible for the attack, although it will take a while compared to the manga, since I want my version to start as a slice of life. The situation will only reach a level of tension (Ending) when Class 1A is in their third year. Izuku will start to see Nine as an enemy, and this also happens with Nine, especially when Nine discovers that Izuku is the one with One for All, the power that he hears Tomura and All for One talk about so much.

Do you plan to flesh out Nines team a lot more?

Yes, I intend to develop them and I'm making new stories for them too. The character I'm developing the most is Slice, since in my version, she has suffered so much that she lost her sense of living, until she was saved by Nine, she sees him as a savior and blindly follows him, even though she ends up being easily manipulated. It's like the relationship Harley Quinn has with the Joker.

Who is the biggest antagonist within the series?

I can't reveal anything, I want to leave a surprise and I hope you like what I'm planning.

What is your plan for nine? How are you going to wrap up his antagonistic role so soon?

I want to make him serve as the first main boss of the story, I'm building my story as if it were a game (Mainly a JRPG, I'm taking inspiration from Persona for certain moments), I want him to be someone who can start to break the perfect image of heroes that Izuku and his squad have at the beginning (I'm really going to develop Izuku). I want to make his ideologies clash with Izuku's thoughts and opinions, like showing what society can do to certain individuals. Nine is the antagonist of Izuku's first year and his class. His participation as an antagonist ends with the end of the first year of class 1A, then another character takes his place.

I hope the answers are good for you. Thanks for the questions.

Thanks for answering the questions I asked!

Honestly i just put them as rhetorical questions and I wasn't expecting a reply but thank you!

I think it's an interesting idea the way you have chosen to play with nine's character and completely change him from his stoic depiction in the movie.

I love that you're developing nine and his relationship with his team. I hope you add more to him and mummy to be specific as he gets forgotten a lot of the time and I literally can't even find a picture of mummy and nine together in the movie.

Having nine climb the ranks and maybe even be introduced to the league through the desire to get stronger, healthier better and to establish his ideals.

I think that Nine's eagerness to climb the ranks and be the strongest in the league would allow for him to be at the front ans center for many of the leauge plans and conduct his own plans.

From what you have answered its interesting to see the sneak peek of what nine and slices relationship may be and honestly iam much more interested in how you're choosing to develop them. Iam aware that you're planning to make slice all in awe of nine due to him being her saviour but what does nine think of her? Could she influence nine change?

Having the league of villains have a ranking system is interesting! Yet I am very interested in the way you may be depicting shigaraki as he seems to be AFO's right hand, so he controls the league. Does the league like him? Will the betray him?

[zukotheartist]

I finished Succession and Shiv's role was so interesting to me because of course, on one side it's so sad to see how she never stood a fucking chance because she's a woman and you have to change the system, not fight for a seat at the table (where, if you do get it, you'll go on to opress other women and minorities), so she just ends up staying with Tom, supporting him and having his kid because she'll have more power that way than if she lets Kendall be CEO.

(Maybe it's just extra sad to me because i'm sapphic and tho i do like men, id prefer marrying a woman exactly for the social aspect of it - i wont be expected to give birth, be a stay at home wife/mom, etc while Shiv's literally become like her mother and Marcia and all the other women her father's messed with).

BUT on the other hand...

it's such a nice fuck you to her because time and time again, she's chosen the opressor's side. She's a white "feminist" through and through. She only cared about important issues either on a surface level to appear morally good and superior to her family (Roman being the only honest one of the siblings, calling out how they're all terrible people but the others just try to hide it because they like being seen as a good person more than they like actually being a good person) or when they got so concerning that they could have even affected Her (abortion, Roman points out that she won't have a problem since she's rich and he's right to some extent but if abortion is criminalised, you're gonna have to be careful about getting it even if you have the money for an illegal one because rich people are always being paparazzied and "a source close to the family has shared this" and that and Shiv was most likely already pregnant when she was making the abortion argument when deciding who to back as President of the United States). She picked herself, her own interests and the opressive messed up system over and over again, thinking that with her power and privilege she'd be the exception if she fought hard enough, only to finally fucking realise that she was never going to win because the system that she constantly supported never cared about supporting her or people like her.

The only difference between her and Kendall (who also loved to play the feminist card when it was favourable but it was only for show, to get approval and treated his female workers like shit, mansplaining to his lawyer Lisa and to his assistant Jess, who are also both specifically black and would be even more affected by Mecken as President) is that Kendall's a guy so he can't play the woman card and instead has to go for the White Knight Saviour complex card. Shiv, being a woman, can act exactly like Kendall but then turn around and play the "oh but you're only angry with me because I'm a woman" card (btw, I DO think they were all sexist to her and that's not justifiable and she IS allowed to call out the sexism that she deals with personally, but she doesn't get to use the feminist/sexism card overall and then just ditch it when it's convenient).

Btw this same argument goes for their queerphobia, they were completely alright with it at moments and then at others, mainly when used against them, (like Kendall saying Lukas was being homophobic by calling Kendall's numbers gay) they would call it out "hey dad, that's homophobic/transphobic". So, which is it? Are the queer-trans jokes funny and alright or are they messed up?

These are ALL terrible characters and i love and hate them so much and the writers of this show are fucking amazing, holy shit, what a ride!

[where-theres-smoak-2]

I'm trying to think of ways Aleksander could return. One of the showrunners pointed out that his hand still remained. I'm not sure who has it and who could ask Sankta Elizaveta to revive him. What do you think? I doubt it would be Alina and i think it would be intriguing if someone wanted him as a new Saint - to come back and save Ravka.

(King of Scars Duology Spoilers)

Well the last time we see the hand is when it is on the table whilst Vladim, Aleks' Alkemi, was sprinkle Baghra's bone dust onto Aleks' severed wrist and giving him a new hand. So I am going to assume since he was doing some kind of research at Aleks' behest into amplifiers or more specifically morozova living amplifiers, that Vladim still has it. The question is what is he is going to do with it? Vladim was also one of the grisha that had some of baghra's bone dust. We know that sharing pieces of the same amplifier creates a connection between the grisha that killed the amplifier and the others who wear it, like with Alina and Aleks. We also know that his grisha were very loyal to him as a lot of them suffered at the hands of the first army and likely others, like Fruzsi who was sold by her own family, and were saved from their suffering by Aleks. Vladim is the only one left of those grisha so its likely he is very angry that all those he shared an amplifier with are now dead, almost like his family has been taken from him, I could see him wanting revenge but also wanting to bring back Aleks, his leader and protector. I could totally see Vladim believing Aleks is a saint who should return and save ravka as he is already a saviour to Vladim, so if he saved Vladim why wouldn't he also save the rest of Ravka.

As for who else may play a part in his resurrection obviously I think Elizaveta will play a role because of the bee easter egg in the finale. From the answers I got on posts and asks, plus a bit of research it seems Elizaveta wants to bring back Aleks because she believes him to be the true ruler of ravka, seeing as this would be similar to Vladim's view that Aleks is the true saviour of Ravka I could see these two deciding to work together. But I do think it is possible that they might end up roping Alina in too. I could see it going one of two ways either Alina follows her corruption arc to the point where she realises that Aleks was right and begins to yearn for him to return and Vladim finds her and takes her to see Elizaveta who tells Alina she can bring Aleks back and then the three work together. Or it goes more similar to the books but instead of it just being Nikolai and Zoya who are tricked by Elizaveta its Alina as well. Or a secret third option, Alina finds out about Nikolai's merzost infection and wants to help him and that leads her to Vladim and Elizaveta who trick her into believing that she can both bring back Aleks and rid Nikolai of the merzosts at the same time. Like maybe they tell her the only one who can take away the merzost inside Nikolai is Aleks and so they need to bring him back.

But really there are so many different ways it could go. Its possible Alina plays no part in Aleks' resurrection at all and is off on a separate story arc when she then discovers Aleks is back and has to deal with all the complicated emotions that come along with that.

[ups3tti]

OKAY elaboration time - Kai was looking for his purpose and identity. he seemed to think that just by putting the gi itself on, he'd reach his true potential, as if it would feel right- he was trying to do it alone, trying to prove he was worth the title and the power, whereas everyone else's true potentials up until that point had been reached while protecting someone else. Even as the viewer you know it looks wrong on him, the green gi looks strange while he's yelling about fire to pump himself up because he's the fire ninja. He's not the green ninja, and putting on that gi started to prove the opposite of what he wanted it to. - Morro's spent the last few decades in the cursed realm wearing something *resembling* the green gi, down to the dragon emblem. That emblem is in silver as opposed to the gold it is on Lloyd, which carries the implication that Morro is literally wearing a second place medal. This is indicative of his mindset- the gi and the title is a competition you can win, not a role for someone to play. Much like Kai, he seemed to think simply having the actual gi itself would make that identity fall into place for him, or at least force everyone else to realize it was meant for him. Also, as a side note, I find it interesting that in the flashback, Morro's training gi and the green gi are the exact same style- implying that either the original green gi was fashioned specifically with Morro in mind as the owner, or that Morro's training gi was fashioned to imitate the green one exactly. - Nya, unlike Kai and Morro, did not have to take or sneak the gi on- it was freely given to her. She wore it in order to protect Lloyd and save ninjago, not because she wanted to be the green ninja or thought she'd earned it or something. It was her plan in the first place- to wear it and therefore draw the most attention and possible danger to herself. She was going into an environment where that gi would inspire hatred and vitriol, not the praise and recognition the previous two sought. When Nya was first introduced to the concept of the green ninja, it was so that Wu could ask her to approach the golden weapons and find out if it was her. She refused outright, she cared more about forging her own identity through Samurai X than for being the green saviour. She never wanted to be the green ninja, and ironically that's the thing that probably would've made her the best choice for it had it not been Lloyd. I could talk about Nya specifically here for AGES especially because of how relevant Possession and that entire plot was to her character as a whole but I'll keep that for another day - Arin did not wear the green mask because he cared much for the concept of the green ninja prophecy, he wore it because he cared about Lloyd and the ninja. he looked up to them, they gave him hope, they inspired him. They embodied who he wanted to become to the point of teaching himself spinjitzu. When Lloyd found him, he gave the mask back immediately, because the mask was representative of Lloyd- why would he need it if the actual Lloyd was right here, willing and able to guide him. I do think that that relationship to the mask caused him to idolize Lloyd and ninja-hood a bit. I have many more thoughts but those veer into spoilers for the leaked half of season two and I will refrain.

Love thinking about the people who wore the green gi/mask but weren't the green ninja

Kai trying to prove himself, Morro in defiance, Nya in disguise, Arin for confidence and strength. Idk all of them have a very specific relationship to the concept of the green ninja and it drives me nuts. Might elaborate later