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raayllum · 3 months ago

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Faith and Relationships in TDP

Relationships in TDP—familial, platonic, romantic, etc.—place a lot of emphasis on belief. Do you believe me? Do you believe in me? Is the way you see me the way I see myself, good or bad? This has always been an undertone of course, but some Rayla-Aaravos parallels and Viren with Kpp'Ar made it ping in my head, so I thought it was time to talk about.

Relationships that will be examined roughly in order:

Harrow + Sarai / Harrow + Viren

Viren and Kpp'Ar

Claudia and Soren

Terry and Claudia

Aaravos and Claudia

Rayla and Callum

Janai and Amaya

Ezran with his council and Zym

Janai and her people

I'm sure there'll be others (Ellis is going to make an appearance at one point, Runaan and Rayla, and possibly Karim / Miyana as a contrast) but this is what came to mind most notably. I'm also going to do my best to stay out of the weeds with TDP talking about how characters view things (or their perspectives of each other / actions magic etc.) as beliefs as otherwise we'd be here quite literally all day, but there will inevitably be some of that. But without further ado let's look into it:

Living Up to How People Think of You: Does Being Believed In Make You Better?

Time and time again we see TDP frame faith (and trust though that could be a separate meta on its own, but we'll touch on it a bit here), specifically someone having faith in you, as something that can make you better. If you have faith in someone, you trust and believe in them to behave a certain way—in ways that likely align with why you love them or believe in them—and so long as those patterns are maintained, the love and faith and trust remains. The belief holds and continues to be a steady foundation.

This is something I noticed being particularly prevalent in S1, specifically between how Viren talks about his dynamic with Harrow, and how it mirrors how Viren talks about Harrow's relationship with Sarai.

Now this comparison is actually one of the reasons Viren/Harrow always felt a bit fruity to me ever since S1 aired, since as Viren explains:

He asked me to stand next to him for the portrait because he knew I would stand by him through anything. I have to stand by him through this too. [...] It means there's one more thing I can do to convince him. (1x02)

Your sister made him better. Harrow told me he was never as strong or brave

but he tried every day to be stronger and braver so he could live up to what she saw in him. (1x05)

For Viren and for Harrow, this "I want to live up to how you see me" was ultimately a good thing. In Harrow's relationship, he did his best to live up to how Sarai saw him, and that meant being a loving compassionate father, and trying to be a champion of "strength and justice". She reminded him of his best principles and understood them, and it's clear that her words got through to him in his final days with his rejection of dark magic and urging their sons to break the cycle. For Viren, Harrow's words likewise got through to him, with Viren becoming a better father for the first time since Soren and Claudia's early childhood and in what he sacrificed to save Katolis: his own refusal of dark magic, and acknowledging that like Harrow, he should've been a not just a king, but "a servant".

But in classic TDP fashion, someone believing that you can be better, or believing that someone makes you better, is not always a good thing:

Aaravos believed in humans when all the other elves and dragons thought we were worthless, stupid, dirty animals.

So he gave us magic.

Aaravos' 'belief' in humanity, and in Claudia by extension ("But no matter: your daughter is far more powerful"), is the foundation of her loyalty to him. Claudia is extremely receptive to how other people view her, which is why she's coarse about judgement and tries to maintain a positive internalized viewpoint ("But I'm not evil. It's me. You know me") of her own self and actions, even while routinely acknowledging that she's doing increasingly "vile, dangerous" things. Likewise, her belief in Aaravos begins with faith that he can save her father, evolves into gratitude for what he's given humanity (because until S6, dark magic is always routinely a positive net force to her), and is bolstered by her own feedback loop with a Viren who's trying his best. His assertion that "you do anything for your child never the other way around" while trying to spare her helps her justify Aaravos' actions, since he's acting on behalf of Leola, and therefore whatever he does is "necessary. Like my dad."

Conversely for elf-human relations, we have Callum and Rayla. Callum is also a burgeoning mage, and Rayla is also important to his magical journey, providing a listening ear and occasionally some sound advice. The S2 novelization goes so far as to say that Rayla is the first person to tell Callum

“I believe in you.” Callum blushed. No one had ever said those words to him before, or at least not that he remembered.

And we see her routinely express faith in her friends, particularly Callum and Ezran, even when the odds are stacked against them, other people disagree (Runaan, Lujanne, Sol Regem), or they don't have faith in themselves:

She has faith that Katolis and her boys won't be like the Silvergrove when she returns (and they aren't). She does her best to believe in Ezran in 1x09, or at least not be a jerk even if she can't totally take him at his word due to her own skepticism. She's another elf who also believes that humans are capable and strong, and sometimes even more so than elves:

The human kicked dirt at her, and Rayla scraped at her eyes, angry—infuriated, even. Humans were frustrating. Humans were clever. Humans could do anything, they could be anything, they could take their own fates and change them—

Which is, of course, the opposite thread of belief that Aaravos actually holds, which is that his pawns will always make his parts and that Callum playing into his hands and being nothing more than a pawn is inevitable. Callum also returns this in 5x01, citing "If she didn't tell me, she had a good reason," and that knowledge/belief is all that needs to not only set Rayla free, but reassert that she doesn't owe him an explanation until she wants to give one free of obligation and guilt — as she eventually does, changing her fate bit by bit at a time.

So does being believed in make you better? Overall TDP says that it can if you let it and work consistently towards it, but it does depend on what the belief is. We'll also loop back around this idea when we talk more about TDP's thread of having faith another section from now, but moving forwards to:

Belief as a Continuing Thread

The distinction between "this person believing in me" as an act of betterment versus "belief as a continuing thread," is, in my head, a difference of actively working towards living up to person's belief in you versus that belief forming a continual relationship foundation of stability and stagnation rather than change. In other words, belief as a continuing thread probably bleeds in the most into worldviews—I am a good person because I do Y, I stand by your side because of X, and as long as those beliefs built on actions aren't disrupted, they are maintained.

We see this perhaps encapsulated most in Terry and Claudia's relationship. Terry's belief in Claudia isn't about any sense of making her better ("Look at her sleeping, she's just perfect"—4x04) or guiding her down a specific path ("I can't [tell you what to do]"—6x04). He's not trying to change her, but instead, it's the foundation of his support for her. His belief in Claudia is built into their dynamic and why he is so loyal to her, as he explains in 4x09:

I've seen you do a lot of awful things, dark magic things. But I always believed in you because you had a reason.

As touched on here in a meta more about Terry overall, this is also why he doesn't like Aaravos in S6, because Aaravos' reasoning isn't love but revenge, and that's Terry's internal tipping point, even if Claudia can't recognize the distinction yet.

Of course, we can also see these continuing bonds of belief be severed. Unlike how Viren was trying to live up to what Harrow thought of him, or Harrow with Sarai, Viren and Kpp'Ar's relationship was a much more outright, direct mentor-mentee dynamic, Viren even following in Kpp'Ar's footsteps to become high mage:

I turned on him. My mentor, my... my teacher. A man who believed in me when... when I was nothing, and spent years of his life invested years of his life helping me become... what I became.

It's worth noting, I think, therefore, that while Viren does have clear regret over coining Kpp'Ar, he does still describe the act as necessary to Lissa in the past and in recounting the event in the letter. It is only after he takes Lissa's tears by force that we see him directly agree with her assessment of him being a monster. We also see Viren's continuing search for importance ("When I was nothing" / "I thought you were going to be something special, something important!" / "You're a nobody" to Kpp'Ar) parallel Claudia's views on dark magic as well ("We weren't born with magic, we were born with nothing" / "Humans had nothing").

This continuing thread of belief is also what allows Rayla to bring people back from being 'monsters' in a way with Esmeray and Runaan later on in the season through her faith that she can get through to them and help them, and that they're capable of receiving help.

In a similar vein of disillusionment of Viren and Kpp'Ar, though, we also see Soren come to this realization (and then back again, in some ways, in S6) with Viren:

I've known Viren longer than anyone here. I mean, because he's my dad, but it took me a long time to understand who my dad really is. And it was hard to see, because I really... I really looked up to him. He's smart, and the way he talks, you really believe that he's a good person, that everything he does is to protect his family, his home, or all of humanity. He makes you think that as long as you do what he says, you must be doing the right thing. Even when he asks you to do something bad. Something evil. So the truth is, someone who wants you to do horrible things and convinces you that they're good, that's a villain. My dad is a villain. And he's only gonna get more powerful, and the more powerful he gets, the more people will listen to him, and believe him, and follow him.

We see the continuing thread of Soren not trying to change Viren or Viren trying to change for him (in arc 1), but of Soren understandably believing in his father and Viren's judgement precisely because of things Soren perceives as lacking in himself ("I know I'm not the smartest / Dad is so smart, so I figured there must be a good reason") and because as a child / young adult, you're inclined to believe whatever your parent tells you at more or less face value. That said, Soren does talk specifically about how belief in others can intersect with belief in leadership, which is interesting in its own way. So let's move onto:

Belief as Faith / Having Faith In Our Leaders

Having faith in our leaders is something we've touched on already, albeit indirectly. Sarai believed in Harrow to be "a champion of love and justice"; Soren and Claudia believed at different intervals that their father would be a good leader. We see this reflected in Janai and Amaya's relationship predominantly in season 6:

Do you think I can lead my people after everything that's happened, all the mistakes I've made?

We see this similar theme in how Opeli and Corvus interact with Ezran in S3, where they support him as a monarch, specifically, as well as a person:

Ezran and Janai are also characters who tend to have a lot of faith in others, as well, which is part of their leadership. Janai has "patience and faith" that they can rebuild, that the architect can make her amends, etc. Ezran routinely has steadfast faith in his loved ones and their ability likewise to be better (not executing Viren, setting Soren and Claudia free, "She'll know what to do" / "she's alive, and wherever she is, she loves you too" about Rayla, "I think he would want you to, if you wanted to" about Callum and Harrow, etc). Even with Zym in season two:

But we'll get it, no matter how impossible it seems. We believe in ourselves, and we're not giving up, are we?

which is also a sentiment Janai extends to her people:

So we can have faith in others, in ourselves ("I will learn magic. It's who I am"), in our leaders, some prejudiced worldviews ("No, humans are liars" / "Are they really your friends, or are they just taking advantage of you?") and have all those things intermingle. We've talked briefly about disillusionment in threads of continued belief, and failing to live up to the beliefs / views of how others see us, or when belief breaks. I want to close this out by talking about Runaan and Rayla, briefly, namely:

This fits in this section (in my head) precisely because Runaan is Rayla's leader as well as her father, which is a unique dynamic that only Viren-Soren&Claudia get close to replicating, of being believed in by someone who also very explicitly tells you what to do (hi Claudia with Aaravos). Runaan lived in one reality (Rayla can be an assassin) and then immediately went to the other (she never will be) with no in between.

Meanwhile, we have characters like Ellis and Callum, who are able to acknowledge other people's realities even if they can't (for a variety of reasons) fully commit to them and sit somewhere more in the middle, which I think is interesting, particularly when it likewise comes to changing plans or acknowledging other realms/perspectives of reality.

And if I go any further into those weeds I'll start talking about TDP's whole emphasis on trust that is twice as long as this meta already is, I'm sure, so with that I'll wrap things up (sort of).

Conclusion, Kind Of

This doesn't have a real conclusion because this is so sprawling with like, a hopefully but not necessarily coherent common thread, but basically:

When you act in alignment with how others see you, this can help you live up to your 'full potential' — good or bad. And if it's bad, that might be a time to break their continued thread of faith in you, or you towards them, in order to be something truly better and new. All relationships, positive or negative, depend on faith/belief because they depend on reliability and expectation, and when those things are broken, this can either transform a relationship for the better or demolish it completely.

Are you having fun? Was this fun?

Anyway can't wait for S7 to ruin my life with Terry-Claudia, Callum-Ezran, and Callum-Rayla's threads of belief in particular.

—Dragons out

#tdp #the dragon prince #analysis series #analysis #parallels #the gang's all here

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castielcommunism · 3 years ago

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it's been a hot minute since ive seen episodes where jack and dean interact and i was wondering what ur take is on their dynamic and the best way to show it in fic :0 the last thing i saw of them was a gifset of dean trying to comfort jack after a nightmare and to me it came off like the last person he wants to be like is his own father but he also isn't really sure how else to be a dad and is doing his best lol but that was just one scene

I’m gonna be honest with you I’m not very familiar with their on screen dynamic because the way dean behaves towards jack reminds me way too much of my father so I just like blacked most of it out in my brain. I’ve seen every episode of spn but the last three seasons are especially blurry to me because I find it difficult to stomach most of the time. I think their canon relationship as depicted on the show is unsalvageable and I hate it lol.

the issue over and over again with spn is that dean’s issues are amped up to 11 at all times, so the guy I actually like is the watered down version of him. and also the shit that happens in the last three seasons plot wise is just so astronomically dumb that I can’t really take it seriously. like putting jack in the malak box. him killing mary. apocalypse world. the chuck stuff in s15. it’s bad in a way I don’t really find interesting or compelling at all so like I have a hard time taking it seriously or having any opinion about the larger plot stuff beyond “lol this is stupid.”

I think if you took the general interpersonal issues between dean and jack (dean’s resentment towards him for having to raise a child he doesn’t want, exhausted by the fact that he now has another person he’s responsible for, jack’s complex about having to be useful to everyone he cares about to justify his own existence, etc) I think you could have a pretty compelling dynamic where they both figure out how to make it work, with heavy emphasis on dean doing most of the character development because jack is a kid and he’s an adult.

like my platonic ideal scenario of jack being introduced into tfw would require dean to be knocked to the bottom of their family hierarchy. cas now has somebody he will prioritise over dean, and sam and mary both do a lot of the emotional work involved in raising jack. dean has to find a way to live with his family in a way where he’s no longer the head of household (and live with the fact that there IS no real head of household). jack becomes the centre of their family but there’s no actual leader. I think that would almost immediately solve a lot of the imbedded interpersonal issues between tfw and make everybody a much happier person, dean included.

sorry this is kinda all over the place, but I think that like, dean and jack are always going to have a bit of friction between them, but not in a way that’s truly destructive. dean having to walk on eggshells a bit and be extra careful with the words that come out of his mouth and the way he treats jack is my ideal scenario. I think dean’s a guy who wants to do his best at whatever task he’s given, but he doesn’t really know what “his best” looks like so it involves some flailing and occasional missteps. I want him and jack to have a good relationship, but also for it to be a bit awkward and strained, like dean truly does feel like a step-parent newly introduced into the family and is still figuring out what to do with this kid that the rest of his family already seems to know and love and understand a lot more than he does.

I think where he and jack would be at their most relaxed and comfortable is when dean is trying to teach him some practical skill (driving, cooking, fishing, etc). If the problem between them is one that is technical or mechanical in nature I think they’re on solid ground and can easily bond with one another. where it becomes more of an issue is when jack is having a conflict with a friend or he’s feeling down or he needs emotional guidance on something. I think dean is terrified of leading someone through that kind of problem because he doesn’t feel equipped to lead himself through something like that, much less a child he’s responsible for. so he has a deer in the headlights kinda response to it that either involves him delivering an awkward and vague “you can do it champ” speech that isn’t super helpful, or him immediately trying to find cas/sam/mary to deal with it.

so anyway I think if you took his comments from s6 about his relationship with ben seriously (ie his concern that he’s becoming his father) and actually worked through that, you’d get a dean who is generally out of his depth, terrified of saying the wrong thing, who DOES say the wrong thing sometimes that is mildly scarring/creates conflict, but overall wants to do right by jack and is essentially learning how to do that on the fly. I genuinely think dean could be a decent parent, even a great parent in some areas, but that requires a change in the existing tfw dynamic and for his emotional/social issues to be scaled back to like 20-30% intensity. I don’t think parenting will ever come naturally to him despite growing up as a caregiver to sam. Like that start to his life basically put him at a perpetual disadvantage when it comes to emotional resiliency. Being that emotionally deprived as a child does have long lasting consequences that take time and effort to work through. Being nurturing and emotionally sensitive is something he has to actively work at, but I think he’s fully capable of doing it, and will be a much healthier and happier person once he starts doing that work.

#dean.txt #asks #jack #dean studies #oog sorry this is long

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nightswithkookmin · 3 years ago

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From Jimin: To the hyungs Jungkook is just my little brother...

I have no idea what that says. But if this is what he said, then definitely it leaves room for interpretation because it's an incomplete statement. You don't need to know the nuances of the language to understand that that statement is a sentence fragment that expresses an incomplete thought on the surface of it.

The omission of a second clause implies the opposite of what was said in the first. It's as simple as that.

The question anyone would ask upon hearing that is, so... he's more? Or, so he's not your little brother?

Makes sense...

But I've seen other translations such as, to the hyungs JK is like my little brother and in other instance, Jk is our little brother etc.

Makes you wonder if these interpretations took the context of the conversation into consideration or even why Jimin would make such a statement in the first place in their attempts to provide nuance.

"SUGA: Jungkook is good at everything

J-hope: Jungkook always surprises us. he changed his style recently!

Jimin: The hyungs all think he's like my actual little brother.

V: Jungkook is good at keeping his focus

JK: Everything about Jungkook is pretty!"

It's Jungkook from the members' lens.

When you interpret Jimin's bit within this context then it's more likely he is trying to highlight his dynamic with Jungkook more than anything, mainly to the effect that Jungkook is perhaps obedient, likeable, sweet, puppy etc.

Comparing Jungkook to his actual little brother is a compliment and perhaps has a much deeper meaning than mere friendships in my opinion. It shows just how close, more than co workers they are, how more than friends they are, how really close they are.

I don't know why shippers shy away from comparisons to family bond when in fact the bond of family is the greatest bond one could ever have.

BTS do have a habit of liking their bond to that of family- and they love to show that bond off.

It's interesting seeing Jikook through the lens of the members when most times the bond of those two are invalidated, watered down and downplayed.

Everyone would have us believe Jikook are sworn enemies from rival states. So however you wanna interpret what he said, there's value in taking things at face value. You don't need to do too too much with it to try to get its meaning across because then that would be analysis and analysis are always subjective and subject to our own confirmation biases.

To the hyungs, he's like my little brother, he is just my little brother, he's like our little brother- all have the same sentiment if taken from the perspective of that whatever JM said was intended as a compliment to Jungkook.

Perhaps Jungkook treats JM just like a younger brother would a Hyung- given the culture of respect between hyung/dongsaengs, given the way hyungs are expected to take care of their dongsaengs, given the emphasis BTS places on their bond, honorifics culture...

Perhaps he means, Jungkook treats me in such a way you'd think he were my actual younger brother- a theme which to me is in line with that whole Jimin treats me better than my own brother does or the numerous times he's compared him to his own brother or something along those lines.

They love eachother very much. Whether that is platonic or romantic is up for debate but I don't think after this anyone can invalidate their bond or gaslight is into thinking those two aren't close at all.

If the members see them as this close then it really puts an end to this whole Jungkook is uncomfortable with Jimin nonsense.

The busan bros, the busans, the sun and moon duo, the exceptionally close pair, the hyungs all think Jungkook is like my actual little brother etc

They all have a similar vibe to me.

I guess what I'm saying is, I don't care much about the nuances of the language in this context or in any context to be honest as the intention behind the text is pretty obvious💀

To me he is either providing the hyungs' perspective to affirm his dynamic with Jungkook or to affirm all that he's been saying of his dynamic with JK which is that JK is like a little brother to him just as he repeated in Festa.

To highlight and affirm their bond or to compliment Jungkook like the other's were in this instance.

This is the diagram some Karny drew to explain the nuances of the text.

And here I thought I was extra chilee.

I'm not mad at this. Love when a moment brings out the delulu in yall's eyes😭🤣🤣

I don't know why we are hung on Jimin's words out of all the statements that were made trying to dissect and over analyse it.

On one hand I feel some people are over sensationalizing while others are just plain invalidating Jikook's bonds- especially over something Jimin of all people would say.

He slick slick. I'll give him that. And he loves him some double entendres. But he's also usually the one to use dictum that makes it easier for his words and meaning to be translated- if they get translated. So it's fascinating to see the confusion his words are creating out in these streets. It really ain't that deep if you ask me chilee.

Alas, we are all adults and we all have different perspectives on these things. I'd say, find a source you trust based on their track record and stick with it. Do your own analysis or seek out others' perspectives on it. This is mine and how I take it- regardless of what any Karmy says😊

My delusions are mine and mine alone. No disrespect to Karmy. In fact, yall great people doing great holding it down for the gays🤭

Also disclaimer, I'm not a translator and any translation used here isn't mine.

In conclusion,

Hyuna screws her dongsaeng and Rain fucks his Noona. Dead that whole Jikook womb mates shit before I lay my paws on ya.

youtube

Please pls Jikook is louder than this🙄

youtube

Jeonlous counts. Keep your wokeness yo yourself please. You must be in the wrong industry if you think you have to live by a code of ethic in these ship streets.

There is no ethical nor moderate consumption of ships under shipping. There is nothing like ethical or moderate shipping for the holier than thou shippers in the back.

We all ghetto ma'am. You might as well go all out😴

My favorite line from their song though is when Hyuna sings, "I'm finna tell my father about us and pledge eternity to you. You have to be careful always though, there are lots of pretty girls out there. We have to tell the world, I can't share you with another girl."

Eventually they told the world🤭

Their careers suffered but they did it anyway.

Please no nondelusional, fake woke, moderate shipper person should tell it to me when I talk about Jungkook's frustration to come out with their relationship and come act like it's illogical hence implausible for him to want to come out etc😒

I like my delulu perspective better😌

Peace.

GOLDY

#Youtube

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devintrinidad · 4 years ago

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So Uhm, CAW anon here. I haven’t been into Hetalia for years. But I feel like talking about a few things I noticed back in fandom a lot that I didn’t see at all in the canon manga/anime (though Hetalia itself is just a fanfic of history. I’m only focusing on character and relationships present in the canon series).

Ok a lot has probably changed since the last couple of years in fandom. But back then I saw a lot of depictions of the FACE group: England and Canada not having much of a relationship. France and Canda being the closest while France and America aren’t close at all. America and Canada having a strained if not dysfunctional brotherly bond. Canada having no backbone and being a sad sack all the time or just being a pure angel with no flaws. America being too childish.

I’m going to try to remember all the canon bits to back me up. But I’m mostly curious if there’s anything off and your (most likely much more up to date and informed) thoughts.

Canada and England have a pretty good relationship from what I’ve seen. We’ve sen plenty of material of England being present in colony Canada’s life. He used to cook for him too (poor Canada) and Canada spent almost about the same amount of time with him as America did. Later on Canada chose Enlgand over America when the colonies revolted. He didn’t want to pick a side but in the end he did. He fought against American troops. Was there when England was heartbroken over the fighting. He even acted as a strategist, using his knowledge as America’s twin brother to use America’s weaknesses against him (sending surrender papers inside a basket of food. America was so hungry it took George Washington telling him to resist to not take the bait). Later on when America and Canada were trying to mend their relationship. Canada would get so nervous and have England talk for him all the time instead (which only confused America). England did it without any fuss despite any issues he and America might still have. Overall Canada recalls having a good childhood and England was a part of that. The two might not be as close as America and England are, but they have their own history and bond both are very comfortable and happy with each other.

America and Canada. Fans I ran into often focused on America and England’s dynamic history. But the North American brothers have a lot of their own turmoil and strength to them as well. While Canada might,moan about being invisible and such. Canada also remembers having a very fun childhood with America. So much he remembers how sad he was when America grew up much faster then him and couldn’t play with him all the time like he used to. When Canada told America he didn’t want to fight, only to choose England, America felt betrayed. He loved Canada and wanted his twin brother to fight for freedom with him. Their relationship went pretty sour for a long time. But the two did end up trying to be mature later on in life and congratulate each other despite how annoyed they are at how different the other is.

From there we only get brother goodness. They can bug each other a lot. Canada takes for granted everything America has done and gone through, things that have also been good for Canada. While America likes to mess with Canada and act pushy with him. They do like to horse around and spend time together. Despite their differences, they’re probably the closest siblings in the world of nations. They’ve gone through their bitterness and still chose to be close brothers in the end. They like to play sports together. They like to use their appearances to mess with England who can’t tell them apart like France can. They call each other on the phone a lot. They have a joint Search for Santa Claus operations every winter. America respects Canada’s opportunity and ability to easily get along with others. He also takes Canada’s concerns very seriously and offers reasonable and helpful advice such as how to help his citizens get along. Canada’s opinions must mean a lot to him since Canada is the only individual to make America cry in despair when he went into his 3 hour insult rant against him. Despite his complaints about his personality, Canada looks up to America as a big brother who he always goes to for comfort or help. He respects and admires America a lot and trusts him as his closest confidante (after his polar bear. Not that that bear is ever helpful). Overall America and Canada have their downs like every sibling pair has. But they also seem to have a very strong and stable connection where they can act like brothers and best friends. Sometimes I think it’s easier to imagine America is closer to Canada then he is to England.

America and France. Back then these two didn’t get a lot of attention. Which is strange because there’s tons of material of them interacting throughout the centuries. France used to cook for America when England wasn’t around (I bet when Colony America said English food was as good as French food, some thing broke inside France. The reason America started disliking English food is because France made it his mission to salvage some of his tastebuds. Xp). France has been the only FACE member to stay by America’s side without conflict. Both of them obviously had a close bond since France gave America Lady Liberty and you could see teasing and ruffling America’s hair like a big brother. The two hang out a lot. They go to Maid Cafes together. They seem to have lunch together all the time at conferences since France is always looking for America to go eat together. They apparently also have sleepovers a lot and like to compare different genres of movies. Whatever issues their people can have with each other never seems to affect their personal interactions. France is the big brother of love and that’s sometimes a running gag for jokes. But he really seems to be like a normal big brother figure for America. He often worries about America and Russia’s scary relationship and chides England for raising America to be weird. In a deleted strip, France is preventing America from drinking alcohol because he’s too young (being physically 19). It also gets a bit heartwarming when you recall the Joan of arc strips where France meets the reincarnation of Joan and she’s an American. Almost like America is now taking care of Joan and giving her the opportunity to be free and happy in ways she couldn’t before.

Also while it’s not part of their dynamic. It’s always interesting that when the author wanted to show the Nation’s personal relationships with humanity. He always chose America and France. The supposed happy go lucky airheads who often gain a affectionate yet somber (to even downright tragic) experience from it.

Overall America and France have a nice quiet and stable relationship. You could say while England raised America as a colony. France was among the mentors to America on how to be his own Nation.

I think that’s it. Again my memory might be foggy but that’s what I can recall. =P

~~~

WAIT A MINUTE YOU’RE ALSO A HETALIAN??? AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME???

Okay, I’m going to prioritize this ask/submission thing first because wow, you’re a Hetalian and Hetalia has a special place in my heart. First of all, I’m kind of flattered that you think that I’m up to date for this, hahaha. I’ll have to tell you, while I do know a lot about American history, I’m actually more of a fan of the Itabros, hehehe.

A few tumblr people that I know specialize in Hetalia and have already posted FACE dynamics a lot in the blogs are, but not limited to: @historihet @stirringwinds and @ellawritesficssometimes. I’m not sure if Ella is still active, but there’s a lot of content that you can browse through if I’m not thorough. Also, again, the list of tumblrs that have been associated with FACE are definitely more than I can imagine, those are the three that I follow and know off the top of my head.

To @historihet @stirringwinds @ellawritesficssometimes, I love your interpretations and love for history! If I say anything inaccurate or something you don’t find to your liking, please inform me! I don’t want to spread misinformation and I’m just so excited to talk about Hetalia to my dear Anon Friend :D

If you’re reading this, I hope that you all have a wonderful day! And keep up the great work with your own analyses/fanart/fanfiction/etc. You guys rock and keep the fandom alive. :D

Anywhoozles, what you said here is fairly accurate. FACE definitely has its up and downs. Assuming that you haven’t been active in the fandom since... let’s say 2012-2014ish era, you might have noticed that the common bonds are Canada and France (platonic), France and England (rivalry/lovers/enemies), and the most concerning relationship America and England (brothers/rivals/lovers???). What you said in your analysis really applies within the sense of what is considered to be manga/anime canon, not necessarily historical canon.

In historical canon (if you want to go down that route), FACE is one dysfunctional mess if you want to consider it as one family unit. Every one of them at one point has been at each other’s throat at one point (whether it be at war or just snubbing the other because of politics).

We have:

1. The Revolutionary War (England vs America)

2. War of 1812 (Canada/England vs America, with special emphasis in 1814 because Canada burned down America’s White House if I remember correctly)

3. The XYZ Affair (I’m pretty sure it was a snub in diplomacy??? which actually started a war???)

4. The fact that American promised to help France in their own revolution, but Washington said no because we’re still a new country and all that jazz (...I know this because of Hamilton IF YOU’RE ALSO A HAMILFAN I WILL CRY)

5. And like the entire history of France/England is just its own thing

As you can probably tell, FACE... I think was just a term for the fans to make this makeshift family dynamic that is cute in some respects if this was like a human au, but definitely a cluster of effs if you imagine them as eldritch abominations that were brought to life because of human imagination.

Like, the dynamics can go in so many directions if you want to choose one aspect of history over another.

In @stirringwinds, they often write/draw about America as this Prodigal son who happens to be like the Crown Prince succeeding his once proud father. (America turning into a superpower after the World Wars and the English Empire just kinda dismantling itself because of everything.... OF COURSE THAT’S AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION, PLEASE DON’T KILL ME FOR INACCURACY!

Whereas for another tumblr, @historihet they portray the USUK relationship as more of a ship. Like, the whole brother relationship that is skewed in the anime/dubs/subs (this is due to the fact that some fans take the whole older brother thing too literally because in Japan, you call your elders/peers that happen to be older than you via polite endearments) is more of a... I’m not gonna say paternal, but it was more of a mentor thing? I’m not sure, I haven’t interacted with them much, but I’m pretty sure they ship it. Plus, their art is so amazing and they’re obviously a fan of history because wow, their head canons and their art is so beautiful and detailed.

As for the whole France and Canada relationship, I think this can be further elaborated via @ellawritesficssometimes. I remember reading that France and Canada, while having a similar relationship to England and America, it wasn’t that close or as heartwarming as many fans make it out to be. If you follow Canadian history, I’m pretty sure Canada was under French rule for a sort time before becoming part of the English Empire. Like, Canada was part of the Empire for a longer time than under France. This means that France wasn’t always there, England was. You can further read between the lines about the English/Canadian relationships, especially if you consider the fact that America fought an entire revolution to get away from England because of neglect on England’s part and on Canada’s part.... all he had to do was ask.

Soooooo....

Overall, I’m glad that you told me that you were part of the Hetalia fandom. It’s nice to see that the fandom is still alive and kicking, hahah. That reminds me, I’ve got to finish my series concerning Italia Veneziano, oops. Just wondering, but why did you want to talk about this? Not that I mind, it just seems out of the blue...

Thanks for the analysis and your chat! I hope that you have a wonderful day! :D

Please don’t tell me you want a FACE fic, hahahah. XD

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fatalism-and-villainy · 4 years ago

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oldie but curiousie - Aredhel/Celegorm?

Kind of an ehh, but I think I land more on the side of “don’t ship.”

Why don’t you ship it?

No particular reason! I don’t have anything against it, and I can actually get behind it as a sort of youthful experimentation, but I generally prefer it as a friendship/familial relationship. Also I do sometimes see Aredhel on the more aromantic side of things, so that’s part of it too.

What would have made you like it?

More information about pre-Darkening Valinor and emphasis on the basis for their tragic falling out might have given me more initial interest in their relationship upon first reading it, such that I imprinted on the ship more when I joined the fandom. I think possibly coming to it at a different point in my life would have helped, as when I first read the book I was more into non-romantic interpretations of important m/f bonds? And I still am for sure, but they’re less emotionally important to me in this particular moment.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Oh, for sure! I really enjoy both the characters involved, and there’s certainly a lot of compelling stuff going on in their relationship - I’ve talked before about how I think they both feel slightly out of place in their families, and while neither is the type to have straightforward, honest conversations about feelings, there is that silent understanding between them that draws them together. And there is plenty of Lake Mithrim drama you could wring out of their dynamic and history too! So I do really like the potential for their dynamic, whether platonic or not - I just don’t have strong feelings and prefer it platonic. :)

#veliseraptor #awkwardly memes #my silm thoughts #replies

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hydreig0n · 4 years ago

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my opinions on controversial (??) star wars ships

\\i realize that probably no one cares, but why not lol// also i cut it in case you’re icked. also also definitely no shame if you ship any of these.

OBIKIN (anakin skywalker + obi-wan kenobi): gotta start with the most well known of course!! at first i thought obikin was a weird ship bc the movies seem to put an emphasis on their bromance, but after watching tcw and reading some novels, i can kind of see it?? there are always a ton of mentions about how they complete each other, know each other intimately. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, their dynamic feels very equal. like once anakin is an adult obi-wan and him are given roughly the same amount of respect and their skills match up. also....the obikin authors in the fandom. damn, yall research and have very specific knowledge when you write fics.

overall: im fine with the ship (obikin authors are too strong). however, i love them with a family dynamic too. ANAKIN MAY NOT BE A MINOR DURING THIS.

QUIOBI (qui-gon jinn + obi-wan kenobi): i can’t seem get on this ship, no matter what i see. the age difference to me is just too big. qui-gon is rougly 25 years obi-wan’s senior, and the master/padawan dynamic just sticks. i can’t imagine them talking in a way other than teacher and student or proud father and grown up kid.

overall: i don’t ship it. maybe in a same age!AU. obi-wan/qui-gon interactions are interesting tho.

REXSOKA (rex + ahsoka tano): the most controversial!!!! this one is weird. like first of all, rex is one of thousands of (basically) slaves designed only to fight in a war under their jedi commanders. ahsoka is his superior officer. secondly, clones age faster, so while rex is 10, for a clone he is an adult whereas during this time ahsoka is a young teen (technically making her older/experienced than him). in tcw, this is wrong bc the dynamic is all over the place. in rebels though, once they are both older adults i can’t say that it wouldn’t work considering obikin. they feel like equals. [i havent watched rebels, but the gifs make it seem so]

overall: i don’t ship it. they call each other platonic nicknames, and again i feel like their relationship from the war sticks. im not against it, however, if they’re both older adults.

BARISSOKA (ahsoka tano + bariss offee): this was really cute in season 1 or 2 (i forget). ahsoka gives me lgtbq+ vibes. then bariss became a terrorist and framed ahsoka for it... so uh yeah that’s horrible.

overall: im neutral about it. they’re the same age which makes me much more comfortable, but i don’t feel anything too strong for it. they’re both young so i didn’t think about it much until i heard about it. also how could you recover from,, that.

OBIMAUL (obi-wan kenobi + darth maul): this one is hilarious to me lmao. maul is so unhinged an obsessive about obi-wan. despite him being evil and killing everyone, in tcw he somehow doesn’t seem evil just crazy. he did kill a significant chunk of people obi-wan loved.

overall: can’t imagine it. like in what scenario would this be a thing. if obi-wan were to turn evil i think it’d be a chill couple tho.

[PLEASE NOTE: these ships are only okay in the sw universe. raising a child then dating them is extremely wrong irl, as well as all other obvious unhealthy relationships.

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS > OTHERS]

#the last part is a joke bc i only read and produce gen content lmao #star wars #tcw #star wars prequels #obikin #quiobi #rexsoka #barissoka #obimaul #ships #obi-wan kenobi #ahsoka tano #qui-gon jinn #anakin skywalker #captain rex #darth maul #maul #barris offee

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amethystlogan · 5 years ago

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A Seat at the Table

So, this is my first Sanders Sides fic, so please leave a comment or something if you enjoyed or have suggestions for my next one. I honestly wrote this in like an hour after stewing in post-episode feels, so who knows if it’s actually any good.

Summary - Janus tries to figure out his physical place in the discussion, Patton helps him out. Mild angst, fluffy ending I guess?

Pairings - platonic moceit?

IDK, enjoy whatever comes of this

It was the middle of the night when Janus crept down the stairs into the living room of the mindscape. He had made sure that the other sides and Thomas were asleep, so as to not be interrupted by sudden summonings or walk-ins.

At a glance, the sides’ living room didn’t vary much from Thomas’. Only a few key elements gave it away. Virgil’s spare headphones on the couch, Patton’s cookie jar and a jar of Crofters left on the kitchen counter, the occasional Rubix or fidget cube strewn about, and...

Janus sighed, looking at Roman’s sword, sheathed and propped against the wall near what would be his spot in Thomas’ living room. He shook his head, and approached the spot. Kneeling, he placed a small card on the ground where Roman usually stood that read, “Roman (sometimes Remus)”. To his left, he placed a card in front of the blinds that read, “Patton”. He continued, placing “Thomas”, “Logan”, and “Virgil” in their respective places, with another prolonged glance towards the anxious side’s place on the stairs.

Turning on the spot, Janus surveyed the room. He presently stood in the center, where a camera would typically be placed to capture their discussions, and in his mind’s eye, he could see the framing around each spot, where each side stood.

What didn’t stand in the room was a table. The so-called, grand “discussion table” was just another muddled metaphor. Janus may be listened to, may even be accepted, by Thomas, but this wasn’t as simple as pulling up another chair.

Janus glanced down at his hands, ungloved, holding another card, bearing his own name, but having no place to put it down. The framing wouldn’t work, he didn’t fit, he didn’t belong. He would always have to stand in for another side in order to be heard, which would only result in more conflict. And, in all honesty, that was the last thing he wanted. While he appreciated the sentiment and all, now that Thomas understood what he needed to change moving forward, Janus could step back from their table and leave them to regroup without worrying about him. He had never been concerned with the other sides accepting him, only with Thomas seeing the truth of what had been happening in his own mind.

Janus pulled on his gloves, and, ignoring the few tears stinging in his left eye, began to crumple the card in his hands. He had planned to snap them all away when he was done, anyway. It was fine. He was fine. His right eye began to burn in tandem, but he ignored that as well.

Before he could move to get rid of the rest of the cards, he heard the tell-tale creak of the step third from the top, from when Remus had pried the flooring up in preparation for a prank and no one bothered to repair it. Standing on said step, was Patton.

Janus spun to face him, too startled to think to snap away the cards, or to return his pajamas to his normal attire, or at least summon his cape. He felt suddenly exposed in the cool darkness of the empty room at night, and under Patton’s equally startled gaze.

Patton squinted down the stairs through the dark at him. “Couldn’t sleep either?” he whispered, “I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I thought I’d pop down here and borrow Virge’s extra headphones to try some music without disturbing anyone.” He descended the rest of the stairs, and crossed to the couch for the headphones. He turned to face Janus again, who cringed slightly, seeing the moment Patton’s eyes caught on the cards on the floor. “What were you doing down here, kiddo?” “Oh, well, you see...”

Janus scratched at the back of his neck, where his scales met his hairline. He didn’t know what to say. He was caught off-guard, in the middle of the night, without any of his fail-safes, sarcasm, or finesse to hide behind. He certainly didn’t want to lie to Patton now, not after all that had happened.

Patton drew closer as Janus continued to stammer, searching for an answer, and loosely held his hands, giving room and time for Janus to pull away if he wished. He frowned as he pulled out and smoothed the crumpled card, and seeing Janus’ name, pieced it together with Janus still rambling a bit. Patton glanced around once more, to ensure his conclusion, while catching the words, “framing”, and “video format” in Janus’ stuttered attempt at explanation.

Patton turned to face Janus, who trailed off into silence at his softened gaze. “How ‘bout you stand next to me in the videos, kiddo? Maybe on my other side, for the time being,” he paused, awkwardly, “But maybe we can ask Thomas to switch with us, and we can sit on the couch together! At least for some of the more casual talks or something, I dunno.” “You mean it, Patt?” “Of course I do! It... means more than I can say that you trusted us enough to share your name, but even more so that you did that in an effort to get us to trust you. I want you to know that I do, and that I want to understand you better. I want to get better at mending the rift between Thomas’ sense of morality and his mental wellbeing. I figured, maybe you could help me with that.

Janus was a bit shocked, if not in part because this was certainly not where he expected his midnight excursion to lead. “Wow, that, really means a lot, Patton, but maybe that’s a good place to leave the heart-to-heart for tonight. we can’t let on to Logan that we’ve broken his ever-precious sleep regiment,” He said, thinking, especially after all the emphasis on self-care lately. “True that!” Patton exclaimed, but in a hushed excitement,”See, you’re catching onto our famILY dynamic already, Janus!”

They started back up the stairs together, spare headphones and name cards in hand, when Janus turned to look back at Patton’s spot, their spot, by the window. “Hey, Patt?” he whispered. “Yeah, kiddo?” “Do you think Thomas would consider opening the blinds you keep hitting for the next video?” “You know, Janus, in a way, I think he already has.”

#ts spoilers #janus sanders #patton sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #writing #fanfiction #platonic moceit #?#someone teach me how to tag stuff #mild angst #i think #happy ending

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kendrixtermina · 5 years ago

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The Team Dynamics of the Three Houses

Essay time! =D

Part One: Team Makeup and Thematic Framework Blue Lions

Overarching Theme: Classic basic fantasy archetypes but with a dark twist (We have Prince Charming/ Guilt-ridden softboy standard-issue JRPG protagonist, Handsome Lech/Idiot Friend, Standoffish Rival, Gentleman Thief, Lady Knight, Sweet nice healer, Adorable spellcaster Girl, the Gentle Giant etc. )

Composition: Has the most people with crests, and the one guy with a naturally occurring major crest. Foreshadows how the crest obsession is particularly bad here, due to Faerghus’ harsh environment and a society that’s both religious and has a serious element of hero worship

History: Notably the most tight-knit group. Everyone knows each other already. It’s basically Dimitri, Dimitri’s longtime best friends, the daughter of Dimitri’s former instructor who heard lots of stories about him and her super nice BFF who gets along with everyone... and Ashe, who didn’t know the others until the academy, but since he is a honest sweety who loves cooking and knight stories, he hits it off with the others right away.

Atmosphere: Everyone has kind of the same hobbies (cooking, handicrafts, weapons collecting, knight stuff) and a lot of history, some posters have remarked on missing the “family ambiente” in the other routes but since the bonds are stronger they’re also more charged, it’s also been said that it’s the group with the most inter-team drama, especially when you feature in their relatives - You have Dimitri’s whole character arc, all the family drama between the Fraldariuses and the Dominics, Ingrid’s hangups regarding poor Dedue etc.

As expected if you recruit any of them they’ll kinda have a hard time going after their old home, even the tsundere ones.

The Leader’s position: For all that Dimitri’s friends refuse to drop his honorifics they really are his friends. They’re just all kinda polite with the obvious exception of Felix, and he’s largely tsundere. Despite the afore mentioned drama we see plenty of Dimitri just hanging out with his friends and even coming to them for help, he’s really just one of the bunch .

Since Faerghus is in chaos everyone’s pinning a lot of hopes on Dimitri and it’s not like he’s completely unaware of that or doesn’t have the corresponding sense of duty, he’s always torn between that and his revenge plan which eventually just takes over. He pursues this entirely on his own, too, with not even Dedue knowing what he’s sneaking around the library for.

How this “flavors” part one: Gives it a very “personal” touch. Faerghus, it’s culture, recent past and current state of chaos are fleshed out a lot (we learn plenty about the Alliance and the Empire but Claude and Edelgard have greater scope plans) and since a lot of the part I missions concern the instabilities in the kingdom they affect the characters directly. Basically since they’re more “regular” fantasy protagonists we gotta hit em all with the Drama hammer to keep things fresh. And that’s how it continues - They follow Dimitri because of personal loyalty (both toward him specifically, and because it’s in their culture), and Dimitri just wants to protect (or avenge) the people he cares about.

How this Ties into The Themes: The Kingdom route eventually becomes very much a Power of Friendship story where they all stick it out with Dimitri in his time of need because he’s their friend and they want to be there for him and that makes a lot more sense if there was a big emphasis on friendship/ found family before that, and of course their friendship is what eventually helps him turn his life around.

How does Byleth fit into this: Dimitri, like Hubert and Leonie, can be filed into the box of those who aren’t immediately awed by their heroic charisma. He doesn’t really get people who aren’t as outwardly expressive as him (eg. Edelgard) But unlike, say, Leonie, Dimitri has no settings between crushkilldestroy and stilted politeness and seldom expresses or responds to overt hostility most of the time. On the one hand there’s a side to him that’s a bit judgemental and vindictive, but that extends to himself too so he’s very ashamed of his flaws and is afraid that he won’t be accepted, so he projects outward that same acceptance that he likes to receive.

So the end result is that he goes out of his way to befriend Byleth, he encourages everyone to speak with them in a familiar manner, insists that they join the victory celebrations etc. Then of course he gets to see that they’re actually quite supportive and so in time they become, as Dimitri puts it “the heart of the group”.

By the time they find out that Dimitri ever disliked them, that’s long past. He’s a very high-empathy, emotional person so once he likes you he really likes you and will regard your troubles like his own. Some ppl might say that maybe the bond feels more special since it took longer to “earn”. He’s practically ready to swear a blood oath with them once Jeralt dies. There’s an unappreciated Symmetry here like he goes through the trouble to ‘defrost’ them, and then they return the favor by supporting him through his difficult times when they perhaps get to see the ugliest side of him.

Further Dynamic Notes:

So you have a dynamic of working past/ understanding and accepting each other despite one’s flaws and differences. (whereas Claude and Edelgard are interested in Byleth right away, because they’re unusual, but in slightly different ways - Claude can kinda relate to the experience of sticking out itself but is still stumped by being unable to read them, whereas Edelgard sticks out in the same way so you’re actually on the same wavelenght to begin with)

“opposites attract” specifically in the way that they balance each other out. A cool steadfast leader type certainly has a grounding effect on Dimitri as a very reactive person, but he also pulls them into the ‘normal’ world a bit after they spend all this time just wandering the world like all places are the same to them. They basically put the magic destiny on the backburner to help him out. They still become archbishop and all to fit the standard fantasy look of it all but not like full messiah like on the church route

Even after the timeskip Byleth kinda plays the mentor role or at least that of the dominant person/ big spoon in the relationship (though Dimitri ends up waaay taler than them especially fem Byleth), “Excuse me this is my emotional support mercenary”

If you go the platonic route you very much stay at „mentor“, Byleth is basically the brains of the operation post timeskip ‘cause the old Mitya can‘t come to the phone right now and Gilbert and Rodrigue would follow him off a cliff

Plot wise, their contribution is to stop the revenge trip when it gets to be a too obvious kamikaze stunt, which they, as a relative outsider to Faerghus and experienced, pragmatic fighter, would do when someone like Gilbert would not

Character journey wise, they refuse to give up on Dimitri and still see the good in him so that he eventually comes to a point where he could envision his own redemption/ come to accept/forgive himself and learn that its okay to move on and live his own life

Byleth can be said to somewhat even out the flaws in everyone‘s leadership styles (while the house leaders help Byleth find their own direction – i didnt come up with this alone there was a brilliant post a while ago that i cant find rn) – In Dimitri‘s case, he has authority/credibility/integrity („Pathos“), being the rightful king with many loyal followers, and emotional/ personal leadership as an emphatetic person who inspired respect for his character („Ethos“) but is lacking in plans („Logos“)

Golden Deer

Overarching Theme: Ragtag Bunch of misfits /Unlikely Heroes (let’s see, we have trickster turned lying politician, upper-class twit turned opportunistic conservative, lazy rich girl, shy glasses boy and his best friend dumb muscle, cursed werewolf girl, stuckup teen genius and the mean money obsessed one )

Composition: Has the most honest-to-goodness commoners - and they largely got in on their own merits, too, while almost all the others had connections. You have a few peeps from the Alliance’s prominent merchant class and one completely ordinary village person whose father was a simple hunter.

History: Bar the two merchant kids none of them know each other and even they’ve been a little estranged since the demise of Rafael’s parents. There are a few backstory connections (Such as Lorenz’ dad basically having murdered everybody’s dead relatives, or Leonie’s village being in his territory) but they’re largely indirect. They come from a range of different backgrounds and life experiences. Even Claude just showed up the year before and doesn’t know anybody. Of course this is all so you can watch them grow into a team on-screen all leading up to Claude’s epic speech about how they got along despite being from different backgrounds (or be surprised if they show up as one post-timeskip)

Unlike Dedue or Hubert, Hilda can still be napped early on because she doesn’t really become Claude’s right-hand person until halfway through part oneIf you recruit any of the deer they’ll say that they didn’t have that much ties to their homeland anyways.

Atmosphere: These are definitely Garreg Magh’s party animals. Or like a bunch of theatre kids. They’re tremendous fun. “Less complicated” as Claude puts it though some have missed the intensity/drama of the other bunches. The Alliance itself might be full of political intrigues but this younger generation is fairly chill with the important exceptions that are Leonie and Lysithea but Leonie’s lack of chill is largely Byleth-specific, she’s plenty chill in her other supports, and though Lysithea probably donated all the extra chill for the other deer and hence doesn’t have any left, the others love her anyways wether she wants to or not because try as she might she can’t really get an argument out of them.

This certainly jives well with Claude’s “friendly surface level extrovert” gimmick they all get along on a surface level and you’ll be hard-pressed to find an ounce of social skills in the Black Eagle house, and the Lions have the Drama Moments, but some have also perceived the deer as not quite as open.

At the same time they’re not superficial. We have a large abundance of Artsy Ones, we have Ignatz, Claude and Lorenz both write poetry, Leonie isn’t good at it but she does draw etc There’s enough insightful ones for depht and insight to be a significant undercurrent in the group dynamics. They all have different sortts of insight - Hilda can read people well, Ignatz has this sort of intuuitive thoughtful understanding, Lysithea is observant and logically astute, Leonie has street smarts etc.

The Leader’s position: Precarious. No one knows him, no one trusts him. He just showed up one day, very suspicious timing, not long after his uncle dropped dead (that was Lorenz’ dad but it’s not like anyone knows) and then he’s a shifty weirdo who cannot help being slightly unnerving despite his friendly extroverted demeanor.

Still he’s a big believer in teamwork, appreciates the value in everyone’s perspective and he can do the friendly extroverted charm well enough to eventually win over most people based on that, though its not until waay after the timeskip that he even considers letting anyone past the soft outer layer. (In Recruited, Raphael remembers him mainly a lover of feats and merriment)

The longer the story goes on the more the Deer transition to being “Claude’s jolly detective bureau” in which he pulls on all their individual insight for maximum info collection.

How this “flavors” part one: It’s taken up largely by Claude’s search for information with the various events being seen in that light.

Claude’s first reaction is often to ask questions and be curious with the emotional response hitting him somewhat later, though it’s definitely also that he keeps up a cheerful face for the team.

Ironically he’s the only one who came to Garreg Magh for it’s intended purpose: To get a ruler’s education and do networking. Dimitri and Edelgard were already onto Thales courtesy of his having killed their families, him searching on his own, her making preparations for her takeover, and Claude doesn’t know - it’s probably a game balance thing because Claude is the smartest person in the game and if he started out with all the info there would be no plot.

How this Ties into The Themes: It all builds towards Claude’s big speech about people from different backgrounds coming together. It’s like a microcosm for what he wants to do with the world, to bring people from different places and backgrounds together and have them understand each other.

Lorenz takes until halfway through part II to come around, but come around he does. (markedly, this happens only on Claude’s route, otherwise he sticks with the empire out of self-preservation and opportunism, though he gladly jumps ship to join the kingdom. )

How does Byleth fit into this: Now I‘ve seen some people saying that Claude initially didn‘t like Byleth or just wanted to use them, but I don‘t think that‘s true. I do think he actually liked them, found them interesting and wanted to befriend them. But Claude, on principle, doesn‘t trust easily, and will in any interaction look at how he can use it.

It‘s a habit born out of both natural curiosity and intelligence (What the 12type eneagramm calls a „Mercury“ Personality type) and the need to survive in a hostile environment where people tried to kill him as a child, and as such it‘s automatic second nature. He has a strong overruling self-preservation instinct. Claude is suspicious and will interogate people completely independent of how much he likes them. No amount of like makes him trust implicitly.

He doesn‘t have a bad impression like Dimitri, but he doesn‘t immediately click like Edelgard and the curve is pretty nonlinear: With Dimitri we have a clear progression from dislike to like and then the reversal where Dimitri had defrosted Byleth and now Byleth must defrost Dimitri. With Edelgard she likes them immediately out of similarity (like Felix likes Byleth, or like Edelgard likes Lysithea and Petra), and the difficulty/drama only comes later when Byleth‘s connection to the church and Edelgard‘s plots become apparent, but mostly she‘s sad that she‘s „destined“ to be enemies with this person she likes, her level of like never goes down. Claude meanwhile – you might compare him with Dorothea. He‘s used to being able to charm people as well as read them, and Byleth is not only a brick wall, but remains one upon closer examination. They really don‘t know about their past – but Claude takes that as evasions and becomes more and more suspicious.

A big turning point here is the Jeralt situation, where Byleth finally opens up and tells him everything, and Claude realizes they‘re not hiding. And that‘s something I really love about their dynamic – Byleth tells him all and Claude is so interested in them and looks out for them.

Though you could assign each of the three a „turning point“ after which they open up - The diary for Claude (which shows him that Byleth really isn‘t hiding anything) Flayn‘s dissapearance for Dimitri (which convinces him that Byleth cares) and the holy tomb scene for Edelgard (which shows her that Byleth won‘t betray her)

Further Dynamic Notes:

Claude and Byleth relate because they both stick out, but it‘s notably about the experience of sticking out in and of itself, whereas in Edelgard‘s case they stick out in the same way. They’re also alike in that they only found out some secrets about themselves when they were already young adults, Byleth’s magical destiny, and Claude finding out he was related to the ruling house. From how he mentions “not being raised in the lap of luxury” and how his royal connections in Almyra are also “distant”, he might in fact have been raised in a normal village and not known he was the king’s bastard son for some time, though once the secret was out he definitely got some princely instruction like training with Nader.

The dynamic both interpersonally and as an action duo is very much a complementary one. Dimitri is very different and has that sorta morality chain dynamic going on. And though they each have their specialties that the other is lowkey jelly of Edelgard and Byleth actually fill a fairly similar niche as the charismatic superhumanly powerful field commander. Meanwhile with Claude there’s a division of labor: Claude’s the planner and Byleth’s the enforcer. He repeatedly observes that his plans would be way less effective without someone of Byleth’s caliber to carry them out.

Out of the three lords Claude is the only one where you get the sense that Byleth works for Claude post-timeskip or that Byleth becomes his subordinate. Dimitri’s lost without them, and while Edelgard offers them a formal position as royal advisor after the mock battle and gets this line about how they can’t yell orders at her in public now that she’s the emperor, but it’s phrased in such a way to suggest that she just wants them to yell orders at her discreetly. They certainly balance out Claude’s presentability/trustworthyness problem the way that Hubert quickly puts them in charge of morale to patch Edelgard’s PR shortcomings, but Hubert pretty much says this to Byleth’s face whereas Claude is the only one who knows where the ship is going for the majority of verdant wind. And in the end he’s like “Babysit fodlan for me while I finish world peace” He’s also the dominant one on an interpersonal level, he gives Byleth this speech about how they should use their position more confidently and promise to detective out their mysterious past for them. He also tries dropping hints that maybe Rhea’s not to be trusted though Byleth’s dialogue options are written to suggest that they bought her maternal act and want her back – some ppl said but this way really expositions that „well meaning deception“ aspect of Claude‘s character. He frequently steers ppl toward something they don‘t want but with the hope that they‘ll want it eventually. Perhaps he could be said to have a very fluid/dynamic view of things and people; The other two lords view them more as fixed, hence „I respectfully disagree… lets settle this by stabbing each other“

The platonic end result is your basic Epic Friendship, tell each other everything, very supportive, look out for each other, take down a zombie warrior together in an epic team attack, what more could you want I think I‘ve made a whole post about what a good friendo Claude is, initial ulterior motives nonwithstanding… He certainly had strategic advantages in the back of his mind but I don‘t think he ever faked liking Byleth

Plot wise, having The Messiah on his team gives Claude a bargaining chip to seize control of the church with its greater influence. On the other routes, he wisely refuses to touch that particular hot potato with a ten foot pole.

Character wise Byleth‘s influence largely serves to mitigate his jaded cynism. He starts to actually believe his far-flung dreams might happen, so he plays far less defensively than on the other routes.

Claude is smart and charismatic („Logos“ and „Ethos“), his main problem is that nobody trusts him. This is a bit more dimensional than just a flaw though, because he hides his real goals (though they are not truly sinister) both to avoid fights with people who would oppose these goals (contrast Edelgard who declares her intentions openly and deals with the fallout, so she has to fight the knights whereas claude manipulates them) and get the chance to gradually convince them and reveal the truth once ppl agree, also he‘s more a tactician than a strategist and often changes his plans in accordance with what he thinks is doable under the circumstances, and not telling what his plans are gives him the freedom to do that – either way, a downside of that is that no one trusts him. He lacks credibility and, having shown up out of nowhere, has less loyalty and support. Byleth, as a chrch-sanctioned charismatic figurehead, naturally mitigates that.

Black Eagles

Overarching Theme: Subverted Villain tropes. We have Emperor Evulz / mad science supersoldier, Black Mage classic, Seditious Chancellor Junior, Sexy Mage, Eccentric Scholar, Pretty Barbarian, Fighting Obsessed Blood Knight and Antisocial Sniper

Composition: It‘s nobles all the way down, even the one commoner used to be famous and is from the capital where all the wealthy ppl live (as opposed to the decentralied alliance and the very spartan kingdom nobles) – The capital‘s a heaven for culture and sophistication but you also see the evident elitism/corruption/inequality problem going on. In keeping with Adrestia being more secular, Ferdinand‘s the only one who‘s explicitly stated to be a believer (in the Marianne support) and he‘s not even super devout

One should also appreciate the irony that the side with the ‚saintly‘ crests is now against the church whereas Faerghus, ruled by the descendants of Nemesis‘ former allies and where he used to have his stronghold are now fighting for the church. But should you go with the church route it also makes a kind of sense as they‘d be goig back to the empire‘s distant origins in a sense.

History: They all vaguely know/ have heard of each other due to their parents being co-workers or living in the same town, many have at least met each other but at the same time they‘re not BFF like the Lions and many take a bit to warm up to each other.

Another thing of note is that while many of the Lions‘ families were also friends and have been associates since the days of Nemesis, many of the backstory connections for the adrestian studenrs would seem to predispose them to being foes rather than friends, half their dads‘ essentially dethroned Edelgard‘s and are various degrees of complicit in what happened to her siblings, Petra was basically taken hostage by the previous administration, Dorothea has good reason to have beef with the local rich people etc

Atmosphere: I‘ve seen some ppl who played the other routes first say things like how they were struck by how individualistic they are and how there‘s far less team cohesion, or how they „all seem to hate each other“ - I don‘t think that‘s correct assesment but they definitely are quirky, independent-minded or both. They scamper off in all directions when introduced and definitely don‘t bother with formal politeness or friendly facades, if they‘re annoyed with you most of them will probably say so. Even Bernie gives Ferdinand a lecture once XD They‘re basically goth. Though I do think it‘s sorely underappreciated that there definitely IS friendship and admiration between them esp. later in the story, admiration & appreciation being key factors especially since they‘re none too easily impressed.

Of course being independent minded makes it likely that they wouldn‘t blindly follow a leader who‘s up to no good, but it would make them just as suitable to participate in a rebellion

Another thing of note is that while the Kingdom nobles all learned to hold sharp objects in the nusery and many of the deer have street smarts or survival experience having had to live through tough circumstances most of the Eagles are complete greenhorns when you first deploy them – sure many have seen their share of effed up stuff but not in a warlike setting. And you have many of the sensitive/reluctant ones like Bernie, Linny and Dorothea. This of course could either make you think twice about the church sending them on missions or predispose you toward Flayns brand of pacifism.

Of course this just leads to Hubert and Edelgard (and to a lesser extent Petra) to clearly stand out as the experienced ones. El-chan and Hubie dear have most definitely killed a man before. The rest of them will definitely have to measure up to pick up the slack after the two of them leave.

The trajectory certainly goes differently, in CF they all return notably more confident after the timeskip (most notably with Bernie) perhaps in keeping with how Edelgard believes in & promotes self-reliance whereas in Silver Snow they never quite stop being like „AAAAA“ though I suppose the point is that they get their act together and do the deed regardless.

The Leader’s position: Absolute both in terms of power (sorry Ferdie) and dynamics. Definite ‚student council president‘ vibe, she largely interacts with them as a taskmaster/ to make them do their homework. She markedly doesn‘t like this and would like to be one of the bunch but genuinely finds it hard to step out of boss mode.

She does try her best to cultivate an equal atmosphere and for what it‘s worth most do drop the honorifics and tell her when they disagree.

How this “flavors” part one: The emphasis is certainly on expositioning how much everything in the setting sucks especially on the church‘s horribleness, I mean in the end if she‘s essentially like „We‘ve all seen it this past year“ but of course there‘s also definite foreshadowing that sHE is up to something, there‘s certainly peeps who picked her ‚cause she‘s pretty and she looked more put-together/less obviously dodgy than the others but then didn‘t personal taste wise jive with her character. The whole scene after Jeralt‘s death is definitely a point where you either decide you hate her or love her forever; You get both „WTF“ and „I get it“ type of dialogue options.

How this Ties into The Themes:

No matter what route yo pick you essentially get a story about going your own way and putting right what the previous generations done fucked up – wether they do this by leading Adrestia back to its holy origins, or by backing Edelgard‘s revolution.

On a political level they either go against their homeland or the previous administration, and personally they‘re all sorta expected to take over their parents‘s job and follow these expectations of proper nobility that they have no interest in and many of them renounce their titles or cut ties with their folks. Only Ferdinand particularly wants his fathers job and even them he means to do it very differently. The happy ending, for most of the eagles, is getting to choose their own paths

How does Byleth fit into this:

Mostly, they shift the team dynamics from Edelgard as the absolute leader in a lofty, distanced position to her coming closer to being „one of the group“ working under Byleth.

There‘s a reason she later names her elite troop the „Black Eagle Strike force“ in honor of their time at the academy. This is almost the bigger difference, because Byleth isn‘t there for the timeskip. The big change is caused by creating this situation where all the black eagles leave with Edelgard, so she knows she can trust them and having real allies needs the slithers less.

It‘s very hard for her to step out of boss mode for reasons ranging from her personality, backstory, monarch obligations and fear of vulnerability, but having Byleth be the boss for once helps. Some of her most formative experiences were a) Her family betrayed by almost all its allies including her own uncle b) being helplessly dragged around as a hostage. She wants to avoid being helpless ever again at all costs and thus grew to be a very proactive decisive adult which is mostly a good thing but can cause her tome come off blunt and unyielding at times. I mean when she‘s worried that Hubert, her best friend, is hiding some worrysome secret from her she‘s like „Tell me that‘s an order!“ and when he expertly sidesteps that (since he knows her well and understands that she wouldn‘t actually force it out of him) she‘s stumped and doesn‘t know how to tell him that she‘s worried about him – and this is a guy she knows since forever. With the other eagles she really looks out for them but can only really show it through her „leader“ persona, she has this one trick, and when it doesn‘t work (like with Caspar or Linhardt who don‘t really want anyone to boss them around or talk politics) she‘s stumped.

This is hugely mitigated when another person of her caliber shows up with whom she can share the responsibility or even leave it to them so she learns to allow herself to be soft and do stuff like admit her doubts, this starts with Byleth but also radiates into the other relationships. See Caspar and Linhard revising their bad first impressions of her later in the support chains

Further dynamics notes:

A recurring theme is being misunderstood (outright stated in the introduction and that one quote by ladislava – and also in the church route dialogues where Seteth says that „the people will never understand her ideals“ ) and finding someone who understands, which is different from Claude and Dimitri who ultimately want the world at large to understand and accept them. Edelgard has given up on that long ago - her version of the „pep talk“ scene implies she thinks its impossible to truly understand anothers sorrow – I like to think that after her siblings died she found great comfort in Hubert being „not much for condolences“ and talking plans rather than sympathies while everyone else was showing pity for something they couldnt understand. Dimitri is basically traumatized (he relates to Dedue about losing everything and thats why they‘re so tight knit), Claude is basically an outcast and relates to all that dont quite fit in, but Edelgard… yes her family‘s dead much like Dimitri‘s, but in addition to that, she has been through an indescribable science fiction fantasy thing that no one has any context for. She views herself as so altered that she considers herself a whole different person and her past self basically dead. Hence someone like Byleth or Lysithea who could relate to all that is very, very tempting to her – we‘re not told if that‘s the truth or just her perception though, Hubert doesn‘t note her being extremly different, and later on she kinda admids that she herself distanced herself from other people.

Likewise the ship dynamic is ‚birds of a feather‘. Edelgard tells you right away: She feels that she and Byleth are similar and is drawn to them because of that. It‘s not just the mad science background, both are stoic natural leaders with a bit of a dorky side. This goes both ways – While others are often mildly stumped by Byleth, she can read them pretty well and gets a lot of dialoue like „wow you‘re telling the truth“ or „I can tell you‘re lying“ - that happens so often that it‘s even used to hint that she‘s the flame emperor.

If you had to name a dominant person it would probably be Byleth but overall this combination is disntinguished by being relatively equal and balanced. She likes having Byleth‘s support but repeatedly mentions wanting to support Byleth as well - As she says after the big mock battle, „sometimes its better to have someone to rely on to support each other through the darkness“. Team dynamics wise they feel a similar niche – the abnormally powerful, stoic charismatic leader who inspires many followers and is a gifted field commander. When they‘re not allies they are foils after all. But as pointed out in their A support despite their similarities each of them have their own particular strenghts that the other envies – Byleth is a better tactician and ultimately better at moral support (though their time powers help). On the flipside, Edelgard is more proactive whereas Byleth struggles with that, and at least her 22 year old self probably has more raw strenght (judging by her stats total and how they‘re evenly matched in the church route reunion cinematic though she isn‘t using her preferred weapon)

If you don‘t marry her then the note the A support ends on would suggest that Byleth sorta gets adopted as a honorary big sister/brother with how El asks them to use her childhood nickname and just lampshading the sense of kinship between them – the platonic outcome is a family bond, which buils as much on similarity and alikeness as their romantic outcome

Plot wise, Byleth‘s presence gives Edelgard something that she wouldn‘t otherwise have: Reliable allies. This means not just Byleth themselves, but the other Black Eagles whom she feels are more firmly on her side as they never defended Garreg Mach from her assault. As she puts it when she tries to recruit you as the „Flame Emperor“, the slighterers will go around causinga strocities but with the sword of the creator on her side she could courttail that better and generally has less need to coorperate even for purely pragmatic reasons so she is free to weaken them ahead of time, kills Cornelia right away rather than work with her etc. Interestingly this is why the front lines are actually further back when Byleth returns than they are in the other routes, but then the war ends the quickest.

Character journey wise, Edelgard goes from being convinced that she has to give up everything to be a tough leader to allowing herself to just be a person, cummulating in the ending where she pulls a washington/cincinatus, abdicates and gets a normal life.

In terms of leadership style, Edelgard has „Logos“ and „Pathos“ to spare, she‘s described as a remarkable leader who inspires remarkable devotion and has a cause/ rationale – but she‘s got her weakness with inspiring loyalty on an interpersonal level. The followers are loyal to the cause – Edelgard herself is perceived as unapproachable and shady/unsavory, see Dimitri‘s rant about how she‘s „strong“, or statements by herself and Ladislava that people tend to misunderstand her. As a superhuman science experiment she is by definition not a „relatable“ leader. So once Byleth proves trustworthy Hubert immediately puts them in charge of morale and of support/pep talking the reluctant recruits.

(In part II we‘ll get into decision making processes but I think here we have to separate by route rather than house since it’s most evident post-timeskip and dependent on plot events.)

Team Dynamics and Decisionmaking

Empire Route

Here, there is a very clear distinction between inner circle and outer circle. Edelgard and Hubert have their own thing going on and once you prove loyal, you’re in, and you get to see a whole different side to both of them, Edelgard lets down her guard, Hubert acts polite and sympathetic where he was previously suspicious and mocking, and they basically tell Byleth everything, including the unsavory pursuits that they keep secret from everyone else – but overall the secrecy, maintained for realpolitik reasons, never truly stops. Basically those three make all the decisions.

Notable is that if you’ve recruited Lysithea she hovers on the threshold between inner and outer circle. She was fed the cover story of the nuke being a church weapon (though she did’t buy it) but WAS told about the secret assault on Arianrhod. This is prolly cause Edelgard likes her, she can become her main advisor in their paired ending.

Kingdom Route

Dimitri describes himself as as someone who thinks change should come from the people and that the leadership should serve them, for all that he prefers to uphold the basic order of society, and this is reflected in his leadership style – though this also reflects that he is a ‚people person‘ rather than a planner, so the plans are left to his advisors like Byleth, Gilbert and Rodrigue. He is more the emotional/ spiritual lynchpin than the mind or will of the group.

In Azure Moon, especially later on, the decisions are really made by the entire group and you see them considering their next step together. Dimitri spills the backstory as soon as it comes up, telling everyone about his relationship with Edelgard for example.

In early part 2 this is at an extreme in that Byleth, Rodrigue and Gilbert are de facto making the decisions and Dimitri is at best a grumpy figurehead that they‘re putting up because they need him as a symbol, but at the same time he doesn‘t really compromise on his revenge obsession and is just dragging the whole team along/ not really reacting to how they are making him the lynchpin for their hopes. (though it is important to note that he didn‘t ask him too either – they decide to follow him out of friendship or loyalty to his house) yet inwardly Dimitri too is blindly following what he believes are his obligations.

A huge turning point is when he returns after the whole rain conversation and Byleth gets to ask him some variety of „What do you want to do“ in which Dimitri makes a step toward both inner and outer self-directedness, but precisely because of that becomes are more complete/better consensus leader.

I also want to stress that Claude and Edelgard LOVE togetherness and cooperation and equality as concepts every bit as much as Dimitri does they want to be one of the team but they find it difficult. And of course Dimitri’s style has its own flaws too

Alliance Route

While the Blue Lions decide everything together and either variation of the Black Eagles setup has an „inner circle“ that makes the decisions, in the Golden Dear that inner circle is basically just Claude.

Even Byleth doesn‘t find out his plans until part two, and it‘s later still till he comes clear with the team (and still doesn‘t reveal all but points to Cyril as a stand-in) Hilda and Lysithea are discernable as preferred right hand people, and Byleth and Marianne as special confidants, but in the end Claude rarely shows his real self and only he knows the plan. If Hilda and Lysithea pick up alot about him and his true self it‘s because of how observant THEY are and how much Hilda is basically a lot like him.

Claude does all the thinking and motivates followers (from Lorenz to the random merchans who support him) by promising them things they want – because even if he can‘t trust peopöle, he can trust their self-interest.

Church Route

Since you are with the church that is ideally a sort of benevolent parental authority under the supposition that people need guidance and that‘s a good thing it is perhaps fitting that though Byleth winds up the nominal leader, this is actually the route where they are more of a follower. They do watch Seteth says, who is doing what he believes is his duty and mission, and we have Flayn as an innocent, pacifistic voice.

They lost their dad, and the Nabateans are a sort of surrogate family. (wether its one that youre born into or marry into, the wiord „family“ is stressed) – they are the „inner circle“ making the decision and the empire kids, ragtag misfits estranged from their homes, follow. On the one hand they‘re going against their home country on the other they have the saint‘s blood and Adrestia USED to be church aligned so it also makes a kind of sense.

Among the Adrestian kids themselves, Ferdinand and Petra get a chance to shine as the ostensible leaders. They are stalward, competent leader-like people in CF too , but there they are more overshadowed by the much more experienced Hubert and Edelgard. - Though when you think about it they are like „pure hero“ versions of them who were never forced to become as cold and pragmatic. Ferdinand, like Hubert, is a nobleman from a storied family who is proud of it but wants to fix its tarnished reputation from his corrupt father. Petra, like Edelgard, is a former political hostage who experienced hardship at a young age and worked her way up all on her own, being very serious and competent despite her young age. I prefer the version where they stay buds rly.

It‘s worth noting that Seteth, ‚Heir of Purpose‘, sees it as their families duty to protect Fodlan and is the only one really doing that – his brothers noped out, and Rhea, uneknowst to him, twisted „protect“ into „rule/subjugate“. One might question who gives him the right to decide things because his mom is magic but on the other hand he really is 100% benevolent and I see no sign that he has any greedy intentions especially in in Silver Snow, all the countries collapse and someone needs to keep order, he doesn‘t understand what the empire‘s doing and why just sees their agression and really is rising to the challenge of upholding peace because something needs to do something about the violence. He had withdrawn to protect his daughter but then in the end he‘s the last one who is really doing what Sothis would have wanted. He looks most like her too having the slightly darker, ‚spikier‘ hair.

Further Thoughts

I’m curious to see how Yuri, the Ashen Wolves, and Cindered Shadows compare/contrast to this and i theyll manage to make the dynamics sufficiently different so that its neither a carbon copy or a blabk mary sue ish superlative.

I mean the other routes are so interesting to dissect because its a tradeof and all have their own flavor so really CS would do better to try to be “different” or, better yet, “complementary” than “better” or “cooler”

#three houses #fire emblem: three houses #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #black eagles #blue lions #golden deer #three houses meta

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sireneia · 5 years ago

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W a i t you're making a game? I literally just stumbled across your blog, can you explain what it's about?

For reference to people in the future, this ask is referring to a deleted status post I made on this blog to just make people aware of why I was being inactive.

Yes, I made a game! It’s a visual novel that I made for my class (I do this kind of thing fairly often at my university) and it takes place in a Fir/e E/mblem fanmade continent that’s separate from all the canon ones.

It’s technically available on itch.io but I also am of the mind that a game I made in a week is very embarrassing and I’m not sure if it’s worth sharing, but I’ll go into the details of the plot, characters, and gameplay under the cut.

The game takes place as a sort of side story to what a full FE game would be like, placing less emphasis on the big scale war and more emphasis on a group of characters that, if this were a normal FE game, would not be plot important at all LMAO

Queen Selene, the hypothetical main lord, is a recently coronated royal of the Kingdom of Sirius, a kingdom famed for its pegasus knights and light mages. Selene, though young, has risen to the throne after her father died in the recent war against the country of Antares. Sirius was victorious in the war but suffered heavy losses, something their neighbors, Sargas, plans to take advantage of by launching another war on Sirius right afterwards while they’re weak and weary to expand their domain.

This little side story focuses on the tale of three half-brothers. There are three chapters in the game, and each brother gets one chapter each where they are playable. Actions taken influence how that character will behave in future sections when they are NPCs instead of playable, leading to different variations of conversations, dynamics, and mix-and-match endings. The relationships between the characters is ultimately decided by your actions in each of the three chapters.

You play first as Cyrus, the middle brother, then Levant the eldest, then Elios the youngest.

Levant as said before is the eldest brother. He has looked up to his mother since he was young, the siblings’ shared mother being a high-ranking officer in Sirius before she died giving birth to her youngest son. Despite the fact that pegasi hate men, Levant was determined to be just like his mother and through sheer will and determination managed to get her steed to tolerate him. He is infamous in Sirius as their first male pegasus knight, but he was overeager and overconfident. When he was first made a squadron captain, a troop of Antares soldiers marched past where his unit was stationed. He ordered the other soldiers underneath of him to launch a ‘surprise attack’ on the Antares soldiers but actually they all were led into a trap. Levant was the only survivor of the skirmish and though he was expected to continue to fight but in a different unit, he deserted the royal army entirely, unable to cope with the consequences of his actions.

Cyrus is the middle brother. He holds the platonic ideal of knightly philosophies but has an issue with idealization as well as being the most hot-headed of the cast.

Since his childhood, he has always placed Levant upon a pedestal. He sees Levant as a perfect, historic person and changes his tune once Levant becomes a deserter. Cyrus finds himself unable to reconcile with the idea that the person he viewed as the best knight ever actually being afraid of death (both for himself and those around him) and transforms all that worshiping into bitter resentment. He no longer approves of Levant’s lackadaisical nature since Levant no longer has the prestige to back it up, and he condemns Levant for being a layabout, an alcoholic, and a gambler after the incident.

Cyrus enlists in the royal army to try and restore their family’s name and honor— to prove they’re not all like Levant. He is tireless in this effort, spending every moment of his life attempting to get in good with the various officers of Sirius as well as studying and training instead of pursuing any real hobbies. He is devoted to the act of being a knight and nothing more.

Elios, the youngest, is regarded as a prodigy. However, he does not at all care for the values of chivalry or glory that Cyrus does. He thinks both his brothers are unnecessarily complicated, thinking the both of them are just not honest enough with their feelings and they could save all this hassle if they actually tried to understand each other. Elios himself is honest to a fault, much to the chagrin of others.

He holds a joy for traveling and odd jobs— something he found out while shadowing a mercenary group. He is currently employed with said mercenary group as a necessary act in order to rise to being a full-fledged pegasus knight, a goal set not by himself by rather by Cyrus so as to not waste the large amount of talent Elios has. however, Elios holds trepidation about this future set out for him, not wishing to follow either of his brothers’ footsteps.

Elios, unlike Cyrus, forgives all of Levant’s bad behaviors. He does this because Levant is the only one who spends time with him in a nonstressful manner considering how much time Cyrus spends on training and studying. Levant being unemployed guarantees more time to spend with Elios, which helps ease the unrecognized fear he holds of ending up alone. He is excessively easy on Levant consequently.

Lily is a peer and friend of Cyrus. She is the daughter of a noble and is a pegasus knight to show her family’s devotion to the royal family of Sirius. She is constantly trying to test herself and make herself stronger, making Cyrus her training partner and comrade due to how analytical and steadfast he is. Where he’s serious, she’s quite a bit bubbly. She hopes to one-up him at some point.

She maintains her happy-go-lucky exterior by venting her frustrations through her poems, and while she tries to maintain a stance of being open and transparent, she will often stop herself from voicing out any actual serious complaints or deep emotions she has— a result of her strict upbringing.

#Anonymous #+. / ooc.#+. / inbox.#long post ---

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dangerliesbeforeyou · 6 years ago

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HIStory’s ranked (no one asked, but here i go)

so i was sittin here, talkin to myself about the HIStory series’ and was like ‘hey, i should rank them’ (which i’ve seen a few other people do, but mines a lot more rambling than there’s because i can’t shut up lol)

so here’s my views lol (ordered from worst to best, imo):

6) My Hero (HIStory1) -

probably universally acknowledged as the worst episode, and i’d be inclined to agree with the masses on this lol... not only is the tone and humour of this series so weird and disjointed, but the entire story line literally makes no sense lol?? it’s unclear who the audience should be rooting for (especially as it goes out of it’s way to paint our protagonist as really unlikable lol, not to mention the love interest is the dullest character ever conceived like ???), as well as this the ending feels completely unrelated and bizarre...

i think this concept /could/ have worked if the guy the woman was inhabiting (which sounds weird without context, but like she’s dead lol) was somehow also inside his head? or if she got to see his memories or whatever & tries to adjust her personality to match the guy’s, causing love interest!dude to fall in love with the guy... (like i could go into more detail, i basically hav an entire au written in my head lol, but yh...)... that way, her letting go of him in the end would feel so much more well set up? especially if she was generally more understanding and likeable..

i think overall this series just fails in telling a decent story lol... & the cringe is even beyond what i can handle lol

5) Obsessed (HIStory1) -

people might be surprised to see this one so low down, especially since i know a lot of people really love this series (& if u do, no hate to u btw, ur allowed to like whatever u want idc), but i realllllly don’t like this series... like at all ...

the plot is weird anyway, which isnt inherently a bad thing, but then u add on the really bad couple and it’s just...... bad lol... like everything about their relationship is built on lies and deceit, and even more so than that it’s built on a lack of mutual respect and fundamental trust for each other! tall guy (i don’t know names soz) feigns memory loss in order to get closer to short guy (btw, the scenes with them being domestic were really sweet, & i firmly believe this could have been an alright series for the actors if the story line wasn’t so bad), short guy’s whole existence in that universe was a lie lol (like i know there’s no easy way to tell someone ‘lol well i’m technically from the future’ but still), then there’s the whole resolution at the end & it’s just so ??? frustrating lol!

nothing bugs me more than seeing conflict in relationships (on screen or irl) that could be solved simply by TALKING TO EACH OTHER GODDAMNIT & isnt lol... my other issue with this series is the fact tall guy 100% forced himself upon short guy in the tent & like we’re just supposed to accept it cos ?? he’s saying no and pushing away but actually he wants it because he loves tall guy ?? like fuck no i’m not accepting that lol!

basically, bad & bizarre story & characters, & gross tropes just makes this hard for me to watch and enjoy lol... i think, like in my hero, this could’ve done with being a different story altogether lol... (maybe tall guy actually did lose his memory & he falls for short guy all on his own with no predatory intentions?? idk something like that)

4) Right or Wrong (HIStory2)

this one & my number 3 are very much tied tbh, but this one is just slightly lower just because i’m not as big into the couple as i know a lot of people are... & it’s not necessarily the age gap, cos i dont actually mind age gaps in pairings (just as long as the younger one isnt a minor, obv... and also i think any gap that’s 30+ years is a bit weird lol..).. i think my big problem with this is i dont really see why younger guy (again, i have no idea of any of these characters’ names lol) would fall for the older guy? like the older guy is obvs going thru some issues, and hasnt been taking care of himself or his kid properly because of them, but like we dont rly see a lot of why he’s a great guy? like we get the sense young guy is attracted to him, but like love is more than just thinkin they’re hot lol... idk lol this might just be me tbh i just couldnt see why he’d be interested lol

i did like the whole family side though, and showing how a man who was previously with a woman can still end up with a guy (bisexualityyyyy (or some variation of that thereupon)) is something you dont always see in media, so i thought that was pretty cool! (even if the ex-wife thing was kinda lame lol...)

i think overall i see what this series was going for, and that it actually did an alright job in some parts... the biggest problem is that it’s kinda just forgettable lol... maybe that’s why people like obsessed so much lol? maybe it was a train wreck but ohh boy at least u wont forget it in a hurry lol!

3) Stay Away From Me (HIStory1) -

i’m a bit torn about this one, cos there are parts of it i actually really like (them going from rivals/enemies to being good friends to being more), and other parts i really didnt (the stereotypical squealing yaoi fangirl friend)... & tbh, i kinda wish this had just been a show about the budding friendship between the 2 guys... it almost feels too forced to me that they’re made to ‘fall in love’ when i actually think them both becoming less selfish and learning to respect each other as step brothers & friends is actually already a really great story (& i know that it doesnt fit with the whole ‘HIStory’ thing, but stories of platonic brotherhood/’bromance’ are just as important as gay representation... isnt a /substitute/ for representation, don’t get me wrong, but it’s always so beautiful to see decently portrayed non-toxic friendships between guys... ok this is a rant for another day tho shhh)

i think maybe why i like this one more than the other HIStory1′s is because kinda nothing happens lol... it’s not overly complex with weird unexplained magic things happening, it’s just a simple story lol... is it still tropey as hell? of course lol! but i think the ‘realism’ of the world really helps, and i def think this was incorporated more into HIStory 2, which i’m really glad about...

overall, this is a relatively harmless series & is actually quite sweet at times... the kiss is awkward as fuck tho (there, i said it lol...)... it suffers the same forgetability as right or wrong tho...

2) Crossing the Line (/Boundary Crossing) (HIStory2) -

ok, so here’s a series i 100% love & totally agree with the hype around lol! i hav no interest in volleyball (or any sports tbh), but the way this show handles the friendships and dynamics between the characters is really well done, especially for a series that’s only 8 episodes long! i also really love that none of the characters really fall into any stereotypes (which is a great improvement from HIStory1 i can tell u lol), and are given the space to actually have some growth & nuance at times?!

(nuance? in MY HIStory series?? it’s more likely than you think!)

the main couple have really amazing chemistry, and the way they get together doesnt feel too out of place or that it’s going to fast, it just sorta flows really nicely... even the side couple are pretty well done (though i wasnt that big into them on my first watch, just cos the whole overbearing older brother thing was kinda annoying... i liked them more as the series went on tho...)

i kinda dont have any major complaints? which is bizarre cos i always hav complaints about things lol... maybe my complaint would be that they all look way too old and attractive to be whatever teenage age they’re supposed to be lol... (but tbh that doesnt take anything away from the story so i’ll forgive them lol...)... i think maybe i wouldnt consider it my favourite because the story line didnt grab me like the number 1... but i really cant fault it in terms of what it delivers lol, legit such a well put together series!

1) Trapped (HIStory3) -

lol i think anyone who’s been following me for the past few months aren’t in the slightest bit surprised this is my number one... i just love it too much lol!

from the incredibly well written and well acted characters, to the interesting and engaging (even if a bit ridiculous) plot, to the beautifully told romance , it really has it all doesn’t it!!! & i think even if this wasnt an enemies to lovers thing (aka one of the most godtier of all fanfic tropes), there’s so many things going for this series that make it worth watching! i have a few complains about editing choices and a few bad trope plot points which were just unnecessary (plus the fact we missed out on a lot of background info on some major characters lol...), but like despite everything this series rly struck a chord with me deep down in my soul lol

i could go waaay more into detail (and maybe i will one day lol... tho not rn, i’m v tired), but the gist of the matter is: i really love trapped lol

(conclusion)

Even though i’ve complained quite a bit here, i am so grateful for the HIStory series’ for bringing really interesting, and a little mad, stories with gay characters and story lines, with a big emphasis on happy endings! there are so many lgbt stories/characters in things that end up dying or just have bad endings, which just sends this horrible message that lgbt people aren’t worthy of having happy endings, which is completely untrue!

So i look forward to future HIStory’s, even if some of them are gonna be bad (& maybe none will live up to the trapped!shaped bullet firmly lodged in my heart lol)

fin~

#HIStory series #HIStory1 #HIStory2 #HIStory3 #(not gonna tag them all individually cos we'll be here for years lol)#review #rant #(not really)#gay series #taiwanese series #lgbt series #lgbtq #HIStory #i've not read it through lol... might make no sense... dont read this lol

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raayllum · 3 years ago

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with all of myself :: callum’s mage arc + rayla

So in season two, there’s an emphasis placed on breath throughout, specifically with Callum’s character. This is a motif littered throughout the season during some core scenes and during a couple of core relationships (Callum with each of his parents; Callum and Claudia; and Callum and Rayla). Jack De Sena has said himself that one of the things he takes into account when playing Callum is where the character places his breaths and how well he can breathe, in particular.

Which is to say: Callum’s arc as mage is synonymous with his relationship with Rayla, and more than just the canon text of the show supports this. (For example, the game Battlecharged has Rayla as his Motivation card, but in the alternative Dark Mage Callum deck, Claudia is his Motivation card.) But for now we’re just gonna talk about the canon show text, so without further ado: let’s talk about Rayllum and the concept of a magical anchor.

Now some of this is self explanatory. I’ve talked before about how Rayla is tied to just about every stage of Callum’s arc as a mage: being his first real teacher, being the first person to call him a mage, he did dark magic for her, she’s by his side when he unlocks the sky arcanum, him successfully getting his wings is very Power of Love trope, etc. So too is the concept of a magical anchor: a person that’s uniquely tied to another person, often seen in stories with Powers as the person who can calm the other down (think Aang and Katara with the Avatar state), or who is a primary motivator and agent of change in a character’s power growth arc.

We see this sort of dynamic begin to be set up in s1 through the aforementioned moments, as well as in season two in more overt eyes like in 2x07-2x09. However, S2 adds another layer of symbolism by steadily building a motif.

When Callum is with Rayla, he can Breathe.

Repeatedly in season two, we find Rayla attached to instances where Callum has been through something terrible, but afterwards, he lets out a breath and relaxes into her — particularly during their hugs.

This is noteworthy especially compared to his relationship with Claudia, where Callum hyperventilates and cannot breathe.

But just as Claudia represents one magical path Callum could take (Dark Magic), Rayla represents the other (primal magic) in more ways than one. Besides the aforementioned ways she’s tied to his mage arc, such as calling him a mage, season two takes this one step further with the imagery it establishes for arcanum being adjacent to their developing romantic relationship. Lujanne states that understanding the Primal is learning its secret, set off by some sort of spark. A personal, internal realization that happens due to a spark — a kind of metaphorical fire. Like say, a lightning strike.

Moreover, Rayllum is also attached to the secret of the arcanum. Not knowing Rayla’s secrets — about her binding, and Harrow, and then her feelings for him — keeps him from being fully able to understand her. Then, after 2x03 where he knows all but the latter, Callum says, “I understand why you couldn’t tell me.” (Also a nice call back to his “I do not understand girls” in 1x02, again, about Claudia.) None of this is to say that either girl’s place narratively is to be a love interest, but rather than their different ideologies concerning magic nicely parallel — and sometimes determine — their respective relationships with Callum and in ideological opposition to each other.

All of this is to say that there are multiple scenes where Rayla encourages, or helps, Callum to breathe properly and collect / calm himself. She helps keep him grounded, cares for him, and protects him. So it’s little wonder in some ways that her love for him is paralleled with Sarai’s love for her son in 2x09, since as I’ve said before, TDP parallels all kinds of love with each other, familial, platonic, romantic, etc. What’s actually being highlighted is the calming and unconditional aspect of both of these relationships.

It’s not a coincidence that one of Callum’s main flaws is that he can stuck in his head, and that being stuck in his head is literally how he’s being tormented in 2x09. It’s also not a coincidence that Sarai tells him to get out of his own head and think about the present — a present that Rayla is calling him back to, a present where she’s holding him tightly and is trying to keep him with her.

Additionally, there’s the way that his metaphorical plotlines with Claudia and Rayla intersect in 2x07 and his choice to do Dark Magic. He uses Dark Magic for reasons Claudia would detest (saving a dragon and an elf, specifically Rayla) and does things Rayla would approve of in a way she finds morally abhorrent (through Dark Magic). But there is little doubt that the main reason he does Dark Magic is for her. Broader meta I wrote after s2 talking about that in further detail here, and supplemented with quotes from the Book 2: Novelization that came out earlier this year here:

Could he really bring himself to go through with his plan? What if he didn’t succeed? What if he compromised his beliefs and it all ended up being for nothing?

[…] But her blade bounced off with a clang, sparks flying. She reeled back and tried again. Nothing happened. She was in trouble. Callum inched toward [where Claudia’s tome lay]

So Rayla is routinely tied to Callum’s ability to breathe, and to stages within his mage arc beyond that, which is why when she’s by his side in 2x09, Rayla’s presence and witness of that scene is an added reason it feels so satisfying. But this is only the first half of why I believe Rayla is Callum’s magical anchor, so onto the second half: how and why season one and season three add to the discussion.

Mostly 3x09, with an already pretty iconic (and self explanatory scene).

I’ve written about how much their individual journeys — Callum’s doubt in regards to magic, Rayla’s cliff motif — culminates in this scene in a pretty in depth meta, so I won’t touch on too much of it here. Said meta also touched on how Callum won’t risk his life to learn magic (as 2x04 shows) but he will risk his life to protect and save his loved ones (Ezran, Rayla) on multiple occasions, the Leap being one of them.

Perhaps, then, the point of the Leap for the sake of this meta is its parallels with 2x09, at least emotionally. Rayla and Callum are both watching the other seemingly slip further and further out of reach; Callum is drowning in Rayla’s worst fear, as she hates water, and Rayla is plummeting through the air in one of Callum’s fear of heights (being skittish about jumping down from tall places in 3x02 and 3x06 from the ambler’s nose; nervous about jumping in 3x05, etc). Both culminate in anguished love confessions — or at least, Rayla gets very close, and Callum does confess his love even if Rayla doesn’t hear it, yet.

Rayla has always been the one pushing Callum to explore magic — “Is this a guessing game? Just do it!” “Hey sad prince, let’s go get your cube” “Like some kind of breakthrough?” “If you say so, mage” “Did you get him to each you any new sky spells?” — even if she’s always had his safety at the forefront of her mind (which Callum doesn’t always prioritize). She’s also always been the one taking care of him.

So, understandably, Callum is willing to move mountains for her. He’s willing to die with her. She caught him when he was out of breath (and then they passed out holding hands because they’re just Like That)

So now he catches his breath so that he can catch her, too.

She’s the key to his magic, and to his happiness, in so many ways. Because they love each other with all of themselves, and they always will.

#rayllum #s2 #where can i put it down?#tdp callum #tdp #tdp meta #the dragon prince #arc 1 #analysis series #parallels #pining!callum

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letmetellyouaboutmyfeels · 6 years ago

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Can we just talk about this for a second?

Dear God, I love this moment. I love it so, so much. Previously to this I had already headcanoned Mason as aromantic, and this sealed the deal for me. But whatever his romantic or sexual orientation, this is a hugely important moment in storytelling.

Because I cannot tell you how many times someone is a playboy. The guy who can have any person in his bed that he wants (if it’s a woman they tend to go for the ‘lonely bossy executive obsessed with work’ type which is… a whole other issue). But his life is empty. The endless parade of beautiful people means nothing to him. And then bam, he discovers The One. The One person who is special and different and it’s violins and roses and happily ever after and marriage.

It’s one of the many examples of how much goddamn emphasis we put on romance. How romance completes you, heals you, how romance is the end all and be all form of love. But newsflash? It’s not. Romantic love is beautiful, but it can’t be the only love in your life. You need more than one person in your life. You need friends and family. It wasn’t romance that saved me when I was suicidal, it was my mother’s love. It was the love of my friends. If I die without finding a life partner, I won’t be dying ‘alone’. Because I have friends and family who love me. I might be single romantically, but I’m sure as hell not alone, and I’m far from loveless.

And here—here we get someone who explicitly talks about how he found love that saved him and gave him meaning… but it wasn’t romantic love. It was parental love, for Rufus.

Mason flew across the globe to come to Rufus when Rufus was breaking down at MIT. He saw himself in Rufus and he mentored him and came to love him as his family. He’s not always perfect in how he expresses that love—his behavior in season one is rather sketch—but season two especially does a good job of showing Mason and Rufus’s close mentor-protégé, father-son dynamic.

For once, for once, romantic love didn’t save the day or the person. Familial/platonic love did. And I think that’s fucking beautiful.

To circle back to the aromantic idea, I do think that this also tells us—not explicitly but as explicitly as we’ll ever get—that Mason is aro. Mason is the only person on the show who has never felt sexual or romantic attraction to anyone (we could debate about Emma and whether she was genuinely attracted to Nicholas or just playing him, I admit that is a gray area, so setting that aside) but we are given several comments that show he has had sex before and presumably enjoyed it—such as in this very scene where he talks about having any number of women in his bed.

But Mason states that he has never understood or felt real love. I’m praying this means in his adulthood and that he had a good family life growing up but we don’t know that. All we know is that he’s never once shown any romantic attraction to anyone on screen, and states to Denise here that he never has done so in his past, either. In fact he felt like something was missing, something was off about him, something was wrong—a way that many ace and aro people describe themselves as feeling.

And finding Rufus and coming to care for him, that was enough for Mason. He didn’t go looking for a life partner. He didn’t say, “I love Rufus as my son but I would also like a wife/husband person to go with that.” He said, “huh, this is love, this is what was missing, this is my family and it’s all I need.” In short, he found familial love and stopped looking for any other kind of love.

Now, I’m biromantic as well as bisexual. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a life partner and if I don’t ever get one, I think I’ll be okay. I know it’s not the end all be all of my life. But do I want a romantic relationship? Yes. I admit that I daydream about that, and have since I was a kid. I haven’t always actively sought one out—in fact, when I was a teenager I specifically didn’t want a romantic relationship until I was older, and have stated several times to matchmaking friends that I’m not going to look for a romantic relationship, if I’m meant to be with someone then the universe will give me a goddamn meet cute or make us coworkers or something. But the fact remains that whether I go out to bars or swipe right looking for The One, I do want a romantic life partner. I’ve found friends and family, but that hasn’t stopped me from wanting romantic love as well.

Mason, however, stopped. He in fact never once even talks about wanting a romantic partner, and he doesn’t talk about dating, or wanting to date. Mason is the only character with no romantic arc. Yes, even Carol has one—hers is just in the past, with Cahill and Henry. But Carol’s romantic choices have huge effects on the present day storyline. Emma and Nicholas use romance to manipulate each other. Denise’s romance with Michelle is then used to inspire her younger self to keep fighting for the life she wants. Jiya and Rufus’s romance is epic and fights against fate and death itself. And we all know the Jess-Wyatt-Lucy-Flynn mess that came to a head in season two.

But Mason doesn’t get anything. Not even a mention of an ex, or a passing flirtation. He’s the only non-romantically attached Time Traveler who doesn’t flirt with a historical character (Flynn is another exception but he’s a) a grieving widower and b) head over heels for Lucy, both of which count as ‘romantically attached’). Even Rufus, who is in love with Jiya and dating her, expresses moments of attraction to Josephine Baker and Hedy Lamarr—which being a good and loyal man he never even dreams of acting on, but he does acknowledge them. Mason, however, gets hero worship instead.

In a show rife with romantic tension and romantic storylines, this is telling. In fact a big criticism of season two is that it focuses too much on the love square of Jess-Wyatt-Lucy-Flynn and not enough on actual Rittenhouse. It also introduces the cringe-worthy romance between Nicholas and Emma (again I think they were both trying to play each other but that’s my personal interpretation). But Mason, and Mason alone, gets nothing.

That sounds like I’m saying Mason was left out in the rain and I’m not saying that at all. I’m pointing out that in a season filled with love declarations (I can count at least eight off the top of my head), Mason’s Big Damn Declaration is about the man that he states he views as a son.

I think that’s important, because it shows how we need platonic and familial love as well as romantic. I think that’s important, because it shows how non-romantic love can save us just as well as a ‘significant other’. I think that’s important, because not all of us are in a place where we can be in a romantic relationship, and it’s not wrong to hold off on that or to feel fine without one. Whatever your sexuality or romantic orientation, I think that’s important.

But for me, it also seals the deal that Connor Mason is a wonderful, nuanced, flawed, complicated, human, and aromantic person. And that’s how I will be headcanoning him until the end of time, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

#timeless #timeless meta #connor mason #I was gonna post this like last week #but then took a break from tumblr #sorry not sorry #for spamming you all with Timeless meta

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whateverisbeautiful · 7 years ago

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Richonne in Retrospect

#27: The Gift (5x09)

Alright, so I’m excited to talk about this next Richonne moment cuz it’s super special and cuz I need some positivity rn since This Is Us has me super emotional and Walking Dead has me super emotional. 😭😭😭

And now these two shows are about to air their most emotional episodes in February and I’m just so not ready. 😢 Like these shows really want to break my heart into a million pieces. 💔

So this Richonne moment couldn’t have come at a better time cuz it really is one of Rick and Michonne’s sweetest and most important moments, in that it shows how much these two really do love each other. 😊😌

But first, I’m here for the couple vibes as they collect bags of things they can use and Michonne makes the hopeful suggestion about how they can try and make this place livable.

And then when she sees that Rick and Glenn aren’t sold she ardently says, “It can work.”

I love that Rick is so gentle and patient as he brings up the valid point about how there’s no sight lines since this place is surrounded by forest. Like he’s trying to say “it won’t work” as compassionately as possible cuz he knows how important this is to her and he doesn’t want to just insensitively shut the idea down.

Michonne suggests that they could start taking down the trees and put a wall up cuz Sis is the type of person who stays strategizing and trying to find a way.

And you literally see Rick respond like such a husband that knows this is a dead end, but he’s going to at least consider it for her. I really don’t think he’d be this accommodating for too many others, but Homegirl has this man’s heart.

Michonne can tell Rick and Glenn still aren’t fully on board so she says “Look” and then she stays gesturing for that added emphasis lol.

You can just feel her desperation to find a place to call home for her family. And as she walks towards the opening of course they follow, cuz Rick is always willing to at least go and see for Michonne.

But then they all see that a full on massacre has occurred, with all those body parts sadistically severed, which sort of puts a damper on the possibility of making this place home.

Seeing this brutal aftermath for herself, confirms to Michonne that this place really won’t work and that it’s clearly susceptible to unforeseen attacks.

And you can see just how visibly devastated and deeply disappointed Michonne is to get this confirmation.

And we’re not the only ones who can see she’s upset cuz Rick can clearly see it and feel it too.

I love that when they stumble upon this gory scene, Rick’s attention immediately turns to Michonne and how she’s taking this. Like they were not kidding about the whole I’m okay/You’re okay thing, cuz you can tell that in her not being okay, he’s not either.

Now, you know how I like to say that Rick and Michonne are magnets? It’s not even a joke, y’all. 🙌🏾

And to prove it lemme just present some solid evidence real quick that these two are very much magnetically connected. 😋

See I wasn’t even playing lol. These two are magnets! And I adore this gif and this moment. The fact that as she walks forward, Rick just instinctually walks towards her. Mag-to-the-nets, y’all. 😊👏🏽

This in-sync movement so accurately paints the picture that they’re one and how where she goes, he follows.

Also, in seeing her broken up, you can tell he wants to find a way to fix it. I appreciate that her disappointment and sadness matters so much to him, to the point that he even follows after her without even fully realizing it.

And Homeboy’s eyes are only on her. Even when Glenn speaks, Rick still stays looking at her at first. #entranced.

Glenn says it doesn’t matter if Rick had killed Dawn of if he would’ve or if Daryl did, none of it matters. And it’s a pretty somber outlook.

(Side note: Re-watching this moment with Rick, Michonne, and Glenn makes Rick and Michonne’s conversation about Glenn in “Say Yes” even sadder, cuz Glenn was present for a lot of there little Richonne landmarks. 😭)

(Other side note: This show is wrong for having Glenn hold a bat in this episode. 😭)

So then Michonne brings up Washington and how, even tho Eugene lied, there might have been a legit reason he thought of Washington.

She looks at Rick when she says “We’re close” and asks “What if there are people there. What if it’s a place where we can be safe.”

I love that you see Rick really hearing her out. And every day their without a home is a day they know will be riddled with danger and, while finding a home base doesn’t end the danger, it at least makes it so that they can rest a little and not be so on edge all the time cuz they’d be somewhere somewhat safe. And you know their family being safe is really important to both Michonne and Rick.

She then says, “We’re 100 miles away. It’s a possibility. It’s a chance.” and similar to when Michonne told Rick they should try and fight back against Negan even with the odds against them in season 7, we’re again seeing her remind Rick that they have to take a chance for the possibility that their family will be better because of it.

Then she gets more passionate as she says “Instead of just being out here. Instead of just making it. Cuz right now this is what making it looks like.” And y’all, Rick is all ears. Like you can tell seeing her bare her heart out is resonating with him in the deepest possible way.

It’s a big deal that Michonne feels like she can be this vulnerable with him. Like she’s not hiding how she feels cuz she’s come to trust Rick enough to be this candid.

And this clearly means something to him. I know I keep saying it, but this episode really is so telling of how much he prioritizes her happiness and how much it matters to him. 😊

She then poses the question, “Don’t you want one more day with a chance?” and, like everything else she’s said, you see this question resonate with him as well, cuz that really is what Rick wants.

And what’s sweet is that in being together these two give each other that very thing; a chance for more than just making it. 🙌🏾

It’s also important too that Rick’s repsonse suggests that having one more day with a chance is something that’s important to him cuz in Michonne’s last relationship she had to watch as her man and her community stopped trying to have that and then that’s when everything fell apart. So for Rick and Michonne to be on the same page about this just helps confirm why they’re really right for each other.

And y’all, you know how sometimes Husband’s like to surprise their wife with a gift? I feel like that’s what happens next. 😋

Cuz they see some walkers approaching and Rick says “We should go”. And Glenn and Michonne both turn away thinking he means they should leave this community and head back.

It’s tough seeing Michonne turn away feeling like her words fell on deaf ears, but see Rick just wanted to grant Michonne’s request in a surprise sort of way lol, which makes it all the more special. 😊😋

Cuz then he says “It’s a hundred miles away.” which lets her know he’s talking about more than just leaving this area.

I love that he starts with saying it’s 100 miles away cuz it shows that Rick heard her mention the distance and is now essentially telling her “I’m willing to go the distance for you.” 😊

Both Glenn and Michonne turn to Rick when they realize what he’s saying. And then Rick says, “We should go to Washington” looking straight at Michonne. Like Glenn is not exactly there rn cuz R&M are definitely having a moment. 😋

And I love that it’s crystal clear that this is about Rick wanting to make her happy and trust her instinct. 😊

There was a woman named Lori who once said Rick would never just up and move on a hunch...But she thought. Cuz Rick just demonstrated how he would be willing to do that for Michonne cuz soul mates. 👌🏽

And then when Michonne hears this, she legit looks at Rick like he’s the one. And Homeboy’s giving the same look back.

It’s cute seeing that they have seriously caught all the feelings and this moment between them is just really precious. 💯😊

Like to know he not only heard her and considered it, but just off that one pitch he’s willing to make this big decision. Whipped Rick is alive and well, y’all. Here for it. 🙌🏾😋

Again it reminds me of their cell moment in season 7, where Rick was motivated to take a chance and make a big decision for the group once Michonne poured her heart out to him.

Seeing that this has been their dynamic for the longest it really throws those “Richonne came out of nowhere” arguments out the window imo.

The way they’re interacting with each other just makes it so clear that falling in love was inevitable. 😌 Like the relationship between these characters couldn’t have just stayed platonic cuz their love goes too deep.

And seeing Rick be such a real one, by taking Michonne’s words to heart and deciding to take this big step for her, really had me like…

You can almost visibly see both their hearts grow two sizes for each other and I’m too here for it.

And then the world goes back to screaming at them pretty much immediately so this major stride in the relationship doesn’t get to be expounded upon as much in this moment.

As they rush to find Noah and Tyreese, they’re taking out walkers and often times Michonne is the life saver but we get to see Rick come to her rescue when she struggles against a walker with a metal thing in his neck.

As they head out of the community, we see that even with the emergency seat change Rick and Michonne still sit together. I’m just saying, those magnets are at work ‪24/7‬ and I’m not mad at it. 😁

So this episode really helped to establish the serious love that’s forming between Rick and Michonne. And to me, this episode showed us two things in particular and that’s that Michonne has the gift of being able to really win Rick over and Rick enjoys being able to give these kinds of gifts to her. ☺️

And episodes like this, that show us why Richonne is something special, really are nice gifts for us. So if this episode was a gift then this upcoming Richonne centric episode is like Christmas morning. 👌🏽😋

#richonne #richonne family #richonne fandom #michonne #rick grimes #twd #the walking dead #not my gifs #s5 #richonne in retrospect #5.09

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