#the secret of the nameless kingdom

[inkyyghost]

i own them all now

[j6e-y]

the best AT princesses that aren't in the show (except for nmp, who technically appears with a different appearance?)

[behold-ninja-powah-245]

Opinions on The Secret Of The Nameless Kingdom?

[spritesncrap]

Evil Plant from Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom (3DS)

1. Resized | 2. Original

Sprite-Sheet from Spriters Resource

[pendragonsclotpole]

building on my idea that merlin takes on the name ambrose pendragon after arthur’s death, like imagine it’s 50 years later.

everyone from camelot is dead. the anglo-saxons have won, historical conquests of britain are continuing on as they did and here remains merlin, previously known as emrys, neither name really a surname and the latter always more of a title, but both representative of a world that no longer exists, a kingdom that has fallen apart, a servant with no master, a half without that which makes it whole.

so maybe merlin leaves. he explores. first he travels the isle and perhaps when people ask him who he is he defaults to an ancient practice. people, you see, have often been known by what they do or who they serve or where they come from. for a while, for the decades that pass wherein people remember the rule of the pendragons and the great kingdom of camelot and the failed prophecies of albion, he is not Merlin of Ealdor but Merlin of Camelot.

but people die. memories fade. time passes. merlin remains. and after a while, he cannot call himself Merlin of Camelot. not only do people forget his old kingdom, they forget his name, they bring along new languages and then around 300 years after arthur’s death, a collection of stories begin to be written, about magic, about merlin, about—

Arthur.

people you see, have often been defined by what they do or who they serve or where they come from. when the stories of arthur begin to be told anew, and remain with merlin through the tide of centuries, merlin resolves to forge a new name. he devises first the name in the style of a servant or of some of the common folk.

Merlin of Pendragon.

merlin toys with that idea, wears it for a few decades but something in those words rings false, sounds wrong, and unsettles his blood, as if he lays claim to a dynasty that shall never be his and will never rise again. when he uses it, people laugh and think him an uneducated fool playing at legend. it feels trite and awkward and wrong.

Merlin Pendragon sounds better, more forgivable if not entirely presentable. It makes merlin sound like he is a Pendragon, but only one sorcerer has ever laid claim to the Pendragon name and her name had not been merlin. (it makes merlin a Pendragon, and not even when Arthur lived had merlin considered such a fate a possibility, that Arthur could ever consider—)

merlin continues thinking, and by the time he settles on a replacement it is out of obligation and urgency. he cannot be nameless while he works as a healer and travels the world and serves other people as best as he can. he cannot be merlin Pendragon if the only man who could have conferred that name to him is dead.

instead he becomes Emrys Pendragon, and for a while, that name becomes a second skin. but like the serpent he has always been, merlin eventually sheds that skin. centuries have passed and those who once bore the name emrys, the last descendants of the druids and the people of Camelot, now only recognize that name in legend. the name once more marks him as stupid fool in love with the romantic notion of chivalry. besides, the languages have shifted and a name that once rolled off the tongue has become clotted and stuck in the mouths of people. no one can say it as it had once been said nor as it once belonged by arthur’s side, if only in secret.

merlin again returns to the drawing board, and luckily by that time he is aware of the translations of his many names. on a visit to rome, the grand imperial capital Arthur once dreamt of seeing as a young man, merlin thinks of a perfect substitute. His final name.

Ambrose.

Ambrose Pendragon.

it is emrys, but not quite.

it is merlin as he is forced to live without Arthur.

it is what Arthur could have been if he had lived at merlin’s side.

it is, written shorter, A. Pendragon.

it is a simple name. it is a stupid name. it is a name that breaks his heart and reminds him of his failings and keeps the faith alive within him.

years after adopting the name, merlin wakes up and walks to his desk and sees the name written on the outside of an envelope and he imagines it’s a letter from arthur.

a thousand years later, he sees it written on the sides of coffee cups and envelopes, monogrammed on his coats and cufflinks, inked on his essays, emblazoned on the side of his shop, and merlin imagines that when Arthur returns, he will return to a world already familiar with an A. Pendragon.

It shall be a welcoming world, as if across all these centuries, by some miracle, Arthur Pendragon had lived all along.

[bonefall]

Windstar's kits in BB are Dust Muzzle and Morning Whisker. With the former being renamed Dustiest Muzzle to fit naming conventions. But whats Morning Whisker's new name? Esp since you said that they will probably be the leader after Windstar passes and theres already Morningstar of ThunderClan (my beloved).

TO RECAP FOR THOSE COMING IN;

There's three groups in BB!DOTC now; Park Cats, Mountain Cats, and Forest Cats. Forest cats are the oldest cultural group and have lived around the White Hart for decades. Park cats arrived a few generations ago following their king away from the destruction of their home down south. Mountain cats recently followed Gray Wing the Wise down from the north at the beck of prophecy.

Forest cats are given a simple, natural name, and then their talent earns them a suffix from a small pool of traditional meanings. Bee, a strong fighter, might earn -sting, -slash, or -stone.

Mountain cats inherit the last names of their parents, and are usually given first names that work with them. Tempest Sky and Quiet Wing's children are Gray Wing and Clear Sky. Quiet Wing then had another litter with Stone Peak, and they were named Fluttering Wing and Jagged Peak.

Park cats are born nameless. They're given simple descriptions about their physical traits, traditionally until they're given a mentor. They spend their adolescence as (Mentor)'s Paw, until they make an achievement that is worthy of their leader giving them a title of three words or less.

Normally the leader is the King, but the Wind Coalition broke off from the River Kingdom many years ago. The Wind Runner sees herself as being much better than a King, HER kingdom is self-made, battle-tested, unprotected by the powerful river or the secretive forest.

Moth Flight isn't her child anymore, but I do know I want The Wind Runner to keep three total. At birth, the kittens were "named" Littlest One, Middle One, and Biggest One.

(It's tradition that the first real name of a Park cat is their apprentice name, but Windy is BURSTING with hubrice and LOVES breaking traditions. So it's possible the three of them did something different.)

SO currently I'm thinking their new names are;

Emberkit: Littlest One -> Embers Under Rain

Morning Whisker: Middle One -> Prayers at Dawn

Dustiest Muzzle: Biggest One -> Dustiest Muzzle

Embers might still die rather young, but at the very least she gets to apprenticeship. I'm not entirely sure on what I'm doing with her yet. If her name is a title, she managed to light a fire during a rainstorm (probably using flint)

Dustiest Muzzle gets his title from being an early tunneler and both bold and curious enough to stick his nose in every burrow. It actually reads as kind of unearned though, you could put it in English as "works harder than everyone else" which he probably just got because he's the son of The Wind Runner.

(Not that he isn't hardworking, just that Windstar doesn't even pretend she isn't biased.)

And Prayers at Dawn is interesting, because praying to future Clan cats looks like tilting your head upwards, and feeling the wind stir your whiskers. In Ancient Parkmew, her name meant something more like "Rousing Whiskers at Sunrise." I like the idea that she's quite religious for some reason, possibly also a friend of Moth Flight when it comes time.

The Parkmew word for "whiskering" eventually becomes the Clanmew word for the physical position of making prayers.

So Prayerstar would be a perfectly good name to avoid the conflict of Morningstar down the line later, BUT I'm also tempted to make the name MOURNINGstar and maybe have her take Mourning Whiskers as a title during her life.

Maybe even as a self-given title of great sorrow. I could have her become very close to Moth Flight and make her heart break when Moth and her children agree to split themselves up across the five Clans in Moth Flight's Vow.

Hmmm... perhaps Windstar's last life withered away pretty slowly, and Mourning Whisker knew she was going to inherit the Wind Coalition on the brink of war with SkyClan already attacking. Moth and her kits knew that WindCo would defend them all with their lives, and that's exactly why they knew they couldn't stay.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Mystery: Oh, How the Iron Coffin Hungers!

There's been a rash of graverobberies across the kingdom that have the authorities suspecting necromancy. For their part, the necromancer's guild has nothing to do with these crimes and is willing to hire your party to help clear their name. The investigation will lead you to through tombs, black markets, and haunted crossroads of the realm, as it becomes clear the culprits are seeking far more than coin or corpses at the bottom of those defiled graves.

Clues & Complications:

A missing body is usually a dead giveaway that a necromancer has been involved in a grave robbery, as most criminals only care about grabbing what valuables they can and wouldn't result to bodysnatching unless someone was going to pay them for it. How unusual then when a few of the bodies begin turning up days after they were exhumed, one in an abandoned cellar, one on the side of the road, and one in a completely different town, which may give a hint as to the culprit's movements.

Working for necromancers has its benefits, the guild is aware of the habits of the corpse trade (only in a theoretical sense, you understand, yes?) and can use their magic to extract information from the cadavers. Strangely enough it appears all the corpses bear the marks of previous magical questioning, hinting that it might be information the robbers were after, not flesh or treasure.

The bodies all belong to minor gentry or well-to-do merchants, the ideal targets for graverobbers who don't mind breaking into a tomb or fussing with a trap (both of which the party might have to do during their investigation) if it means access to better plunder. If the party press deeper however they'll notice a recurring symbol, on a ring or a tattoo or etched into the gravemarker, resembling the crudest sketch of a jawbone.

Just like it seems the party is getting answers, the corpses they've been trailing sit up and lunge for the nearest individual's throat, transformed by dark power into a rampaging ghoul. Chaos ensues as this awakening occurs not just with those corpses that have already been found, but also with those that were previously undiscovered as well as a half dozen or more random bodies scattered across the countryside. Though they seem too possessed with hunger to be capable of speech, if the party manage to restrain one of the ghouls and sate its unholy hunger, they may just get the last few clues they're looking for.

Background: In life all of the bodies belonged to a secret society known as the jawbone club, a bad pun on one of the first mystical objects they'd obtained; a crude weapon made from the skull fragment of some great beast, unearthed on one of their founder's estates by some adventurers clearing a nest of monsters.

Their association started a few generations before as a mostly innocent affair, a nameless but exclusive social lodge where those in the know could smoke and gamble and make the sort of back room deals that occupy much of the energy of the idly wealthy. Those who took an interest in the jawbone realized that whoever held it had greater luck in their personal affairs, in no small part because of the unlucky and sometimes disastrous circumstances that would befall their rivals. They became secretive, an inner circle within the lodge that took on more authority as their powers grew, understanding emerging that if they fed their blood to the jawbone it would grant them power.

Power does not spring from nowhere however, as the weapon was infact an artifact dedicated to the ghoul-saint Doresain, the avatar of a hungry and terrible demon god who was in turn feeding on the hungry ambitions of the inner circle. Unconscious impulses became whispers became visions, as the tithe of blood raised to sacrifices of flesh and fingers, because what was letting the razor teeth of some dead beast scar your body if it meant your hateful old uncle suddenly took ill just after rewriting his will to leave you his fortune.

Things came to a head with Catiro Wayte, the youngest and least favored son of a large noble family. The Wayte clan owned land and mills aplenty and were no strangers to ambition, Catrio and his siblings were practically weaned on it. So when the opportunity came to take hold of his fortune at the price of only a little pain Catrio was only too happy to pay it, and keep on paying so long as he had blood to let and skin to scar. After they'd come to understand what it could do the Jawbone Club had made rules about how often its members could make use of the artifact, fearing not only discovery but one of their number growing in power above the others. Catrio begged, bartered, and blackmailed to jump the line every time he could, hacking away a little more of himself each time, not giving his wounds time to heal up between sacrifices.

One night, when the itch of pride and avarice overwhelmed the pain in his infected flesh Catrio broke into the jawbone's sanctum. It was too late when the others found him in the morning , he'd carved open his belly looking for more of himself to cut away and had died with the artifact buried in his guts. Such heedless sacrifice opened a door for the ravenous hunger of the gnawing god, transforming Catrio's corpse into its mouthpiece, hungry and cruel. For all their resources the Jawbone club were unable to slay their former friend, instead sealing him in the lodge's basement and later an iron coffin they had constructed. They had a select number of their most trusted find a place to entomb Catrio's body (along with the bone it still clutched) in some unknown location and swore all the rest to secrecy, dissolving the jawbone club and swearing never to speak of it for the rest of their days.

The Culprit & The Consequences:

Catrio left much behind on that night he met his end, including a commonborn mistress and a daughter named Heliana only a few years old. One could theoretically source his ambition to his desire to make a place for them in the world, but that would be making things far too simple.  Unrecognized by her father’s family and cut off from Catrio’s support Heliana and her mother ended up scraping to get by, with her ending up in the gravemaking trade out of one part practicality, one part wistful desire to perhaps one day find where her father was buried.

after nearly four decades after she and her mother were forced out on the street, Heliana’s crime spree began when by chance she found the first of the Jawbone marked graves. Remembering the stories her mother had told her about the club and its excesses, It took only a little convincing to have her fellow undertakers help her unearth the body, and a few charms learned from a travelling death priest to get the cadaver talking.  After that it was just a matter of asking which corpse knew what, tracing her way through the postmortem ranks of the Jawbone club until she found out what had happened to her father and where his body lay. 

Originally, all Heliana had wanted to do was give her father a proper burial alongside her some years dead mother, as she was told was always his wish. Plans changed when her father began to speak to her within the iron coffin after she’d unearthed it from its secret hiding space. Through the magic of the ghoul-saint he knew her, knew of her hungry years, and of the long dormant pride and ambition he’d handed down to her along with his blood: a desire to be recognized no matter the cost. He whispered a plan into her mind, a way for him to return to life and use the artifact he still carried to make everything as it should be. Naturally when they caught her agreeing with the corpse, most of Heliana’s muscle deserted her, and might give your party a much needed lead in their tall tales.

The animation of the other jawbone club members as ghouls was only a warning sign, a byproduct of Heliana breaking through the outermost layer of the iron coffin’s wards in preparation of something far more calamitous. Her father’s plan (or rather, the thing wearing her father like a mask) is to have Heliana burn the iron coffin along with her mother's bones in a ritual pyre at the heart of the Wayte estate. Catrio’s spirit will be free, devour the grounds (and his unwelcoming family) and use the power of the jawbone artifact to remake them all as they should be, with him as lord of the manor, united with his lover and child.  While she’s more than willing to even the score with the people who denied her birth and threw her mother out on the street, why Heliana doesn't suspect is the horde of flesh eating undead and other malign spirits that will be unleashed should the ritual be allowed to finish.  

Art 1 Art 2

[yaeggravate]

brief post about kaeya's potential future arc (or why 5 star kaeya will totally happen 🔮✨️)

so something i noticed is that kaeya always removes or distances himself from the end of any situation he's in. (it's much more noticeable in his hangout).

first is crepus's death. he hangs back and doesn't get involved in his final moments.

kaeya disappears in the final section of the ballads and brews event. you can find and talk to every character except him.

in the venti route of his hangout, kaeya stays back when it's time to sing with everyone. venti then drags him back in. (what's odd is that venti didn't even notice he was gone at first 👀 "now you see them, now you don't")

Kaeya: Slipping away before the final verse is sung, before the poet has uttered the last line, before everything has concluded… I don't know, something about it just resonates with me.

klee says kaeya hasn't read her the end of the book series the fox and the dandelion sea yet, which is about a guy stuck in a loop. in somewhat the same vein, in the secret summer event, he tells her a story about the jinni and a shepard boy but changes the ending from what we know from the in game book…

and then we have the prince qubad play, where he quietly exits after it ends. he explains why himself (through nahida's auge):

(Use Nahida's All Schemes to Know on Kaeya, optional) Kaeya: (I always like to extricate myself before things start getting tedious.)

in the same route, kaeya quotes the character jaques from shakespeare's play as you like it

Kaeya: Let me think... "All the world's a stage, and all the people merely players."

which is very fitting considering, quote the wiki:

Jaques takes no part in the unfolding of the plot, and confines himself to wry comment on the action and exchanges with his fellow characters.

he also silently does things for others without wanting to take credit, i.e. being rewarded.

and i think i know why 😏

in his character story, kaeya is referred to as a chess pawn in CN, he then repeats this in his hangout.

Kaeya: But I shall not bow to the will of fate. I am no pawn in heaven's plan.

further emphasizing it's not a random throw away term.

i'm neither chess expert nor chess amateur. but anyone can pull up a wikipedia page 😤

pawns are the only pieces that can't move backward, pawns can get promoted to another piece when they reach the end of the board, and… pawns are expandable, made to be sacrificed for the kingdom.

he even expresses the desire to age backwards….which pawns can't do of course.

A very simple such analogy is the Pawn — the expendable, powerless, nameless foot soldier who may, if his actions are brave and his heart is true, become a Queen (although someone more practised at the game may note that the pawn is really a symbol of why you should never overlook apparently powerless people).

that sounds exactly like kaeya's situation, doesn't it? many people have questioned why kaeya is a 4 star given his importance to the main plot, but i think it could be a deliberate narrative decision. (at least i hope it is 😬)

if kaeya is a pawn he can be promoted to a queen when he reaches the end…. except kaeya doesn't want to, as demonstrated by his unwillingness to see things through till the end.

why would he do this?

simply put, it's foreshadowing 😏

kaeya will have his character arc eventually, where the only sensible path is accepting that he must reach the end because pawns cannot stay pawns forever

Promotion is mandatory when moving to the last rank; the pawn cannot remain as a pawn.

there is some sick sense of irony in him declaring he won't be heaven's pawn, when a pawn can only stop being a pawn by moving forward.

i think kaeya's birthday letter about tcg of all things is also hinting at his arc:

If you think about it, playing cards aren't easy at all — you gotta do the math before throwing the dice, and be extra careful with your every move. One step wrong, and the whole table is turned. When that happens, don't you think it's most amusing to watch your opponent's frustrated face, hmm?

(uh oh, celestia 🤭)

say he does reach this metaphorical last rank, what would that look like for him? gameplay wise it would mean a promotion to 5 star status. story wise? a magical girl transformation into the second coming of fischl.

haha ok but, unfortunately i doubt it's that simple.

something else that has been foreshadowed is kaeya's eventual fate…

Traveler: What did you think of the story? Kaeya: It was alright. I suppose the hero always has to sacrifice himself to save others, and it does make for some good storytelling. But it leaves you wondering how he really feels about the whole thing. Did he ever have second thoughts? Only he can know, I suppose.

Kaeya: My dear audience, I ask you this: Do you believe in fate? If fate decreed that your life was to end in tragedy, what would you do?

Kaeya: I, Qubad, will spend the rest of my days in a foreign land, till I breathe my last in a place far from home.

Kaeya: And anyway, life is short, so we should make the most of the time we have. Right now is the perfect time to relax and enjoy ourselves, and who knows how many other chances we'll get. So come on, what do you say?

Fallen I 还没尽…兴… Haven't enjoyed...to the fullest...

When It's Windy 真是和平啊、可又能持续多久呢？ How peaceful, but how long can it last?

Traveler: Good night, Kaeya. Kaeya: Is it that time already? I'm not sure I'm ready to say goodbye.

let's face it, these are death flags. no, kaeya is not going to perma die, but this might be what he has seen through the Auge der Verurteilung and why he's so reluctant to reach the ending of his story.

but in order to defy fate and become a 5 star you have to throw yourself into the embrace of the immernacht first 😈

[nikkigameslore]

Im probably missing something but its late and i am sleepy so must trust that i got at least most of the important bits.

A Newbies guide to the 7 nations

Disclaimer- I put the infinity nikki nations in here but we dont know a whole lot about them just yet. It is mostly used as a reference point since it isnt known how much the previous two games will influence Infinity just yet. styles arent really a hard rule but more what the nation is known for and what is most prominent in that nation. Also tried to put a bit of history for each one as well.

ALSO this isn't including events like the 7 day war/blood curse etc. Its just the nations.

Ninir/Lilith/Heartcraft Kingdom - fairytail styles and lolita aesthetic, very cute and whimsical fashion.in love nikki Lilith nation is ruled by King Royce, younger brother to Queen Nanari who brought Nikki to Miraland. Her disapearance is speculated to be the cause of soldiers. As well as Nidhogg who was appointed as prime minister to handle political affairs due to her sickly health. Lilith was founded by peace lovog designed from Cloud and Pigeon who were tired of war, they came together in the ruins of Ninir and rebuilt the city making it a neutral nation for artists and stylists.

Later the name of the nation changed from Ninir to Lilith in order to honor the queen who was beloved of her people. In Shining Nikki Ninir Kingdom is ruled by Queen Lilith who is said to be the most beatiful in the nation. She is sweet, kind and tolerant She is a devout believer in an old legend that states when the full moon is at its peak the time is great for making wishes. Her style influenced the people greatly and became a part of what made the nation stand out

Cloud/Linlang Empire -think like ancient eastern/imperial styles. Usually very elegant styles, kimonos, qipao etc. Cloud is one of the oldest nations ruled by an Emporer and (in LN)has four noble families or clans in positions of the government which are given control over each geographicapart: Yue (West), Bai (East), Zhu (South), and Ming (North). The royal court is located in the Cloud Capital which is in Eastern Cloud. The Tower of Zen was built after an old King Saint Cloud met an oracle in his dreams who told him to build a tower to the heavens. It took decades to build and is said that only an accomplished king and queen could ascend the and reach the heavens. For this reason it is believed that the king and queen are reincarnated from the dragon and phoenix that appear above the tower. There is also a history that says in ancient times two sister guarded the day and night. Bixiao (day) and Chixiao (night) and could only meet during an eclipse. As humans grew more war-hungry so too did Chixiao and she tore her sister into the four wills of war. Bixiao then sealed Chixiao in a circle within the clouds and fell asleep, hoping the blood of the emporer could awaken them again one day. in Shining Nikki the worship of Cang River influenced the traditional fashion of Cloud.

North/Empire of Light - we are going to war and we are going to look hot and sexy while doing so. Knights and soldiers with swords and guns, North is a cold kingdom and has a lot of uniforms, capes, and coats in its style. in love nikki North is a kingdom ruled by King Ryan and is permeated with war and bloodshed. From a young age student attend military school to become warriors and beig part of the military is a point of pride. North does not have a religion and only believe in themselves and the strength of their own person. Notably the Nameless Chivalric Order was established here, a legend that appears only in times of war in order to fight for the peace of North. It is said they guard the secret key to ending the Blood Curse. League Tyr was also established here by Nidhogg (from Lilith) with other powerful warlords. Nidhogg used this league to lead an attack on Cloud City despite King Ryan disagreeing and asking other nations to help stop them. in Shining Nikki the people use their fashion more as protection from the cold weather but also to expose the brutality of war and draw attention to regaining peace. In this time is tradition for parents to take their kids bear hunting, traditionally done with bows they replaced it with shotguns after the war.

Apple/Starhail Federation - very modern and fashion forward. From evening gowns to ripped jeans, almost anything you might see on a red carpet. Apple Federation was once a colony of Pigeon Kingdomo and thus their styles tend to have a lot of overlap. Apple gained independence after a youth named Welton rebelled. There was a war that lasted four days (known as the War of Independance) and after Apple declared itself a nation. The Apple Federation Apparel Group, founded by Helz, became one of the most influential pillars of the government and politcs as well as Mercury Bank. Becuase of this, Apple Federation sided with League Tyr in the war betweeen League Tyr and Cloud. However the Apple Government and Apple Federation Apparel Group opposed this and sided with North, Cloud, and Lilith.

Wasteland/Terrra Alliance - bohemian fashion, desert wear, sort of sterotypically 'exotic' vibes. Generally has a lot of focus on accessories such as bracelets and headdresses. Wasteland is made of many different tribes and was isolated from the mainland for a long period of time, so the people maintain an original and tribal way of life. They use knots to keep record of history and tribes hold their own ceremonies each year to gain greater ability in designing. (side note: a lot of players pointed out that Wasteland seems racist it was a full discussion in many of the servers I played in and was brought up to the developers, this is also part of why we see different skin tones now.)

Pigeon/Twinmoon Kingdom - its kind of similar to Apple but dial it back a few decades. Princessy almost, as well as a lot of elven styles with a focus on nature themed outfits. Pigeon is a nation with many diverse people including humans, elves, dwarves, and gnomes (and Kindred which the best i can sum up is vampire elves and only seem to exist in LN). IT was founded by the King of Light Elves Ludwig. After Mercury assassinated the late king August his daughter Ophelia rose to power and became Queen. Though she does not hold much real power as the government was mostly controlled by old aristocrats and Mercury himself. in LN it is ruled by Queen Elle, who founded the Iron Rose Stylists Legion, after the Light Elves lost the ability to rule through the Theft of the Holy Crystal. Though many people in Pigeon love her, Elle is feared by many outside of her own kingdom. Pigeon is a deeply religious nation who believe that God watches over them daily.

Ruin/Whaleport - probably the one that stands out the most. Sci-fi, AI and futuristic wear. Ruin is the most mysterious and least known of the nations. in LN it is ruled by an AI known as Queen Berta/Beta (previously known as the Shimmer) and was built on the ruins of the "Lone Whale" shipyard. They have no relations with other nations and (with one exception) no citizens are found on the mainland. It is said their technology is so advanced that if used in war they could destroy the world. in Shining Nikki Glow was "born" to find a way to save humanity. Glow is multiple and communicates with herself calling out again and again to the gods but hearing only herslef in answer. In some she is an AI and in some an android, one of her plans includes The Whale and The Star Sea.

[supportingjatpcast]

Where to find the JATP Cast as of December 12, 2024

happy four years to this account! you know the drill. let's get silly with it and check up on where everyone is nowadays:

Madison Reyes- Julie Molina (@themadisonreyes on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

The Bad Seed Returns

All Kinds of Love (available on all music streaming platforms)

Allie Mitchell Must Win (in preproduction)

Charlie Gillespie- Luke Patterson (@charles_gillespie on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

The Class

Love You Anyway

Chevel Shepard: Good Boy (music video)

The Rest of Us

Madison Park: better w/o you (music video)

Conséquences (six episodes)

I Am the Night (pilot episode)

Speed Kills

Charmed 2018 (Pilot and Episode 2)

Naomi Sequeira: Pastries (music video)

2nd Generation (episodes 1-6)

The Next Step (season 5, episode 17)

Degrassi: Next Class (season 4, episodes 8 and 10)

The Outlaw League

Totally Killer

The Get Back Girl (postproduction)

Suze

Deltopia

Debbie Gibson: Love Don't Care (music video)

Shattered Ice (postproduction)

Soul's Road

Splitsville

Owen Patrick Joyner- Alex Mercer (@owenjoyner on Instagram and Twitter)

Julie and the Phantoms

Acapulco (season 2, episode 3)

Knight Squad

Henry Danger (season 5, episode 9)

Slime Cup (season 3, episodes 1-6)

The Thundermans (season 4, episode 15)

The Veil

It’s On

100 Things to Do Before High School

Nickelodeon’s Ho Ho Holiday Special

Something Here (postproduction)

Final Destination: Bloodlines (postproduction)

Jeremy Shada- Reggie Peters (@jeremyshada on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

Interrupting Chicken (season 1, episode 3)

Dragons: The Nine Realms

Multiversus

Adventure Time: Distant Lands

Cookie Run Kingdom (English version)

Scars

Denton’s Death Date

Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Adventure Time

Mr. Student Body President

Spiderman 2018 (season 2, episode 1)

Cheerleader Nightmare

Blooms Adventure Time TD

When Jeff Tried to Save the World

DreamWorks Voltron VR Chronicles

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series

Gloria Talks Funny

Cartoon Network Live

Surfs Up 2: WaveMania

Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations

Lego Dimensions

Badly Drawn Animals

Adventure Time: All’s Well That Rats Swell

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M

Adventure Time: Game Wizard

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom

Adventure Time: Card Wars

Aliens in the House

Adventure Time: Ski Safari

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don’t Know!

See Dad Run (season 2, episode 8)

Incredible Crew (season 1, episodes 1-18)

Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?!!

Paranorman

Adventure Time: The Wand

F.3.A.R.

That’s What I Am

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (season 1, episode 18; season 2, episodes 6, 18, 19; season 3 episodes 1, 3)

Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey

Parenthood (season 1, episodes 4-5)

Healing Hands

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Chowder (season 2, episode 24)

FusionFall

Cold Case (season 5, episode 1)

The Loop (season 2, episode 4)

Lost (season 2, episode 12; season 3, episode 21)

Ghost Whisperer (season 2, episodes 21-22)

Shark (season 1, episode 16)

Southern Comfort

Nip/Tuck (season 4, episode 13)

Bambi 2: The Great Prince of the Forest

No Rules

ER (season 11, episode 6)

The Incredibles: When Danger Calls

Team America: World Police

Miracle Run

Good Girls Don’t… (season 1, episode 4)

My Neighbors the Yamadas

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (season 1 episodes 2,3,5,7,10)

Battle For A Free Video Game (Season 1, episode 6)

Cookie Run: Witch's Castle

Vintage (available on all music streaming platforms)

Ballerina (available on all music streaming platforms)

Mad Love (available on all music streaming platforms)

Midnight Promises (available on all music streaming platforms)

Jadah Marie- Flynn Taylor (@thejadahmarie on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

Family Reunion (season 4, episodes 4-5)

Home Invasion (season 1, episodes 1-6)

Sarah Jeffery and Jadah Marie: Audrey’s Christmas Rewind

Descendants 3

Descendants 3: Good to Be Bad (music video)

Ready Player One

Mann and Wife

Blue Bloods (season 7, episode 8)

9-1-1 (season 7, episode 2)

Sacha Carlson- Nick (@sacha_carlson on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

9-1-1 l: Lone Star (season 3, episode 14)

American Housewife (season 3, episodes 6-7)

A Christmas Story Live!

Everything I Ever Wanted

Sacha Carlson & The Light (check out his band!)

Savannah Lee May- Carrie Wilson (@savannahleemay on Instagram)

Julie and the Phantoms

A Cowgirl’s Song

The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders

Knight Squad

Cousins for Life (season 1, episode 12)

Bizaardvark (season 2, episode 20)

School of Rock (season 3, episode 6)

Dance Rivals

Booboo Stewart- Willie (@booboostewart.art on Instagram)

(look, i adore booboo. i do. but this man has 114 acting credits on IMDB, and there is no way that i am typing all of them out and including exactly what episodes of shows he’s in. and that's not even mentioning things where he is credited as a stunt performer or listed on a soundtrack. love you all, but i do actually have a life outside of stanning the jatp cast, so im just linking his imdb page here. happy searching babes!)

Carlos Ponce- Ray Molina (@poncecarlos1 on Instagram)

(Carlos has 54 acting credits, and many are in Spanish, a language that i do not speak. check out his IMDb page here.)

Sonny Bustamante- Carlos Molina

Julie and the Phantoms

7th & Union

Law & Order True Crime (season 1, episodes 3-5)

New Shoes

Heaven’s Flume

That Girl Lay Lay (season 1, episode 1)

Cheyenne Jackson- Caleb Covington (@MrCheyenneJackson on Instagram)

(Cheyenne has 71 acting credits. I'm not typing all that out, because I doubt that you want to read all of that and also I have a full time job that isn't JATP related. Check him out here!)

[nick-knackwrites]

💜 Levi Week Day 4 💜

Hello again, Lovelies! This is my submission for Levi Week Day 4: Fairytale and Marking @levievent

I apparently do not know how to write anything short and this beast absolutely got away from me - whoops 🙈 This story is loosely based on the Norwegian fairytale, Prince Lindworm, which you can find here:

Pairing: Levi x f!reader

Wc: 6.8k

Notes: Whipping - but not the fun sexy kind 💀, Marking - also not the fun sexy kind 💀, A little suggestive at the end but SFW

Tucked neatly behind the rolling Western Hills and far removed from the sprawling cities of the north, your small village was a quiet haven. Folks helped each other and lived their lives free from interference from the great noble families in the capitol. It was a simple life but it was peaceful. 

Until it wasn't. 

When the royal messenger arrived, even before he made his announcement, you knew that the peace of your nameless little village would be forever shattered. His announcement fell like a death sentence. For all intents and purposes, it was one. And on the receiving end? You. 

According to the messenger, you were to ride with him back to the palace where you would be introduced as the bride of the King's first son. 

In any other kingdom, at any other time, this would be considered an honor, especially for a simple shepherd's daughter such as yourself. In this kingdom, however, there was no worse fate that could befall a maiden. The reasons for this were not wholly clear but rather shadowed in rumor and mystery. 

Through all of the guesses and speculation, there were only three facts that could be discerned as absolute truth:

1 - On his 17th birthday, The First Son had some horrible curse placed on him that gave him a “monstrous appearance”. 

Rumors about what that means range from the practical: a horrible disfigurement of the face, to the ridiculous: red skin, horns, and a forked tail. 

2 - The Second Son had found his true love (otherwise known as a maiden whose father had deep pockets and lots of land) and wished to marry but, in accordance with the curse, would not be able to do so until the First Son was married. 

3 - Naturally, the King scoured the land for a willing bride, always keeping the details of his son's appearance secret. So far, two princesses, three noblewomen, and a wealthy merchant's daughter have all been offered as brides. None of them have been seen again. 

The rumors about what happens to them range in method but not in theme. Whether they're buried alive, drowned, or cannibalized, all theories end with the women dead. 

You were sure you would be no different. Refusing a royal order would result in your execution anyway, though, so you gave your father a hug, kissed your mother goodbye, and clumsily climbed into the small carriage, ready to face your fate.

The royal family, apparently, had a differing opinion on your readiness. Which is why you are currently sitting in a huge copper tub while a rather skittish lady's maid fills it with steaming water. 

Her hands shake as she fills a cup and pours it over your head, causing water to spill into your eyes. You both pretend that's the reason you're crying. She combs shampoo through your hair with a gilded brush that is probably worth more than all of your father's property. The cost of the rose soap she uses to scrub every inch of your body could likely feed your village for a week. 

It is only once she begins the process of rinsing the suds from your soft, warmed skin that you find the courage to speak. 

“What is he like?”

The cup splashes into the sudsy water, dropped by your startled maid. “Oh. My Lady, I am sorry but I cannot speak of him.” 

Her eyes are wide and the poor thing is trembling. You take pity on her. “Okay, I shan't ask then.” You pause and then let out a short snort, “And I am no Lady. Surely you scrubbed enough dirt from under my nails to know that.” 

“Well you be!” She insists earnestly. “You're to marry a prince after all.” 

“Am I?” 

Her face falls and she turns to grab a towel.

“Answer me that at least.” You call after her, “Do you truly believe I will live long enough to have a wedding?” 

She thrusts the towel towards you, holding it stretched between two worn hands and hides her expression behind it. “I do not know, My Lady.” 

You step into the towel and turn to face her, tilting her chin up so you may look into her eyes. “You do not know but you do think I will.” It is not a question. You can see in her eyes that this is a fact. You let out a long breath. “Because no one ever has. Why should I be different?” 

“But you are different!” The hope in her eyes is painful to look at when there is so little of it left in your own heart so you move to the large vanity on the opposite side of the room and take a seat. “That's why they chose you- all of the other women were royalty, nobility, or very wealthy and they were all . . . rejected. But you're not any of those things so maybe you stand a chance!” 

You snort again as she pats your hair dry with the softest towel that has ever graced your tresses with its touch. It is a pity that you only get to enjoy such luxuries for so brief a period. “I do not believe there is any great quality I possess that could not be found in such fine women as have already been introduced to the First Son. I appreciate your well-wishes for me, truly I do, but I fear they must be in vain. Now come, let us talk of more cheerful things. Tell me about your life here in the palace.” 

So the girl - who's name you later learn to be Mina - relates all of the latest castle gossip to you, which makes no sense to you at all, and shares all of the woes of being a member of the working class, which makes all the sense in the world. All the while, she paints your face and braids your hair into an elaborate updo that requires an alarming amount of bejeweled hairpins to fix in place. 

You think the worst of it over when she pulls out a corset. As she brutally tugs on the laces, you find yourself experiencing a change of heart and are suddenly very glad that this finery will last only through today. After the corset comes a chemise, a hoop, four petticoats, and a velvet long-sleeved ballgown in a rich purple color with a low square neckline that reveals nearly all of your decolletage.

Once all is said and done, you look nearly unrecognizable. It makes you more than a little uncomfortable but you suppose that is the point, after all. To make you as beautiful, charming, tempting as possible in the hopes that this man (if he is even still a man) will not burn you? Crush you? Dismember and torture you? Whatever it is he does with his victims. You find yourself hoping it will work in spite of yourself. 

Mina leads you through winding passages and down several staircases. The further you go, the less servants you see. The halls are empty and your footsteps echo when you reach your destination. This part of the castle is old and is not decorated with the gilded frames and fine paintings of the wings you already passed through. The stones are cold and damp and the musk of disuse hangs heavy in the air. Before you stands an enormous oak door that you cannot remove your gaze from. 

A soft touch on your shoulder and Mina's voice shake you from your stupor, “This is the South Wing - the rooms of the First Son. You are on your own now, miss. No one enters here except the First Son himself.” 

You frown, “No maids or servants?” 

Mina shakes her head. 

“That doesn't make sense though, how is his laundry done? Or - or how does he get food?” 

The only response you get is a constipated look from Mina and your heart drops somewhere below your stomach. You guess you know which of the rumors are true now. 

“Mina please don't tell me-” 

“I'm sorry, miss!” It comes out in a squeak and Mina scurries off, back the way you came. You briefly consider making a run for it but there's no way you'd be able to find your way back through the labyrinthine hallways before someone caught you and had you publicly executed. Whatever waits for you beyond the door will at the very least give you the dignity of a private death. You take a deep breath and pull the door open. It swings shut behind you with a resounding thud and you take a moment to assess the sitting room you have stepped into. A sturdy marble table takes up most of the space in the center of the room but there is a large fireplace in the back and chairs and loungers are scattered around the walls. The feeling of neglect sit heavy here too and there is a fine layer of dust covering everything except for the path from the door you entered from to an identical one on the right. 

Maybe it's the force of habit or maybe you're just delaying the inevitable but you move to the fireplace and slowly begin to load logs from the small pile in the crate to the left side. You find a matchbox on the mantle and light and stoke the fire. You rip a decorative cover off a pillow on a lounger nearby and set about ridding the room of dust. You're not sure what pushes you to do it. A drive to survive a little longer or maybe a desire to control one thing when everything else is spiraling around you. Either way you push yourself to clean the area until your face is flushed from more than just the rouge that Mina had applied and your panting breaths threaten to split the seams of your corset. 

You inspect the few bookshelves for a single crooked spine and realize that there is nothing left for you to do here. You smooth out the folds of your dress, now spotted with dust, and march to the door. 

You knock once, firmly and loudly, then stride into the room. Night fell nearly an hour ago and there are no candles lit in the sconces that you can barely make out on the walls. You step in and are proud of yourself for only jumping slightly when the heavy door slams behind you. Once your eyes adjust to the darkness, you can make out a large four poster bed directly in front of you. There is a door and a wardrobe to your right and bookshelves and a large chest to your left. A nightstand rests on either side of the bed and moonlight trickles in small streams through the gaps in the heavy emerald colored curtains obscuring two large windows on the left wall. 

There's a lump under the far window closest to the bed, big and black and dishearteningly non-human shaped. You stare at it for several moments, trying to discern what it is when it moves. A gasp escapes your lips and you take a slow step back. You still don't know what it is but quickly determine that it must be the First Son when it begins to speak in a low rumbling voice, “What do you want?”

Perhaps the cleaning had made you grumpy or perhaps you had truly lost your mind but the tone he used absolutely rubbed you the wrong way and you found yourself snapping back, “Your hospitality could use some work, Sir.” 

A sound rumbles from the thing that could have been a laugh or a scoff, “My lack of social graces hardly matters here, do you not agree?” 

You feel a frown tug the corners of your mouth down, “In fact, I do not agree. Being kind always matters.” 

“My apologies then. Allow me to try again. Welcome to my hovel, little mouse. Would you like to scream in terror or try to run first?” 

“You've given me no reason to do either thing.” You stubbornly argue. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you recognize that arguing with a being accused of the torture and murder of half a dozen women is a bad idea but you find it's easy to silence that part of you with your indignation.

“Oh?” There's a slithering sound before the lump unfurls and moves faster than your eyes can track. The curtain pulls back with a sharp swish, flooding the room with pale moonlight and the First Son circles around you coming to a stop directly in front of your face. 

More rumors are instantly cleared up for you. The First Son is not a man. Coiled around you is a wall of muscle covered in sleek black scales that shimmer like oil. One end tapers into a rounded tail and the other rises off of the floor to stare at you with surprisingly human eyes. They're gray in color and are not slotted the way an actual serpent's would be. He's bigger than any snake you've seen but not as big as the basilisks from the folktales your mother used to tell you while you milked the goats. 

His body is powerful and imposing but you find yourself more paralyzed by his piercing gaze. You feel your heartbeat thrum in your throat and with the way his nostrils flare, you're convinced he can smell your fear. 

“And now?” He taunts. “What will it be, little mouse: screaming or running?” 

The goading instantly brings back your anger and you unfreeze, scowling at him. “I have a name, you know.” You give it to him and try not to shudder when it repeats it in his low, smooth voice. 

He repeats it again, adding, “What a stupid girl to yell at a monster in his own abode.”

“I'm not stupid, I'm just frustrated.” You stubbornly insist. “I also don't appreciate being threatened, Sir.” 

“I have not uttered a single threat against you, little mouse.” 

You huff and cross your arms, “Being intimidated then.” 

“Are you intimidated?” He sounds almost amused. 

Completely, you think. “No,” you state. 

The First Son huffs and then breaks his gaze. He speaks as he glides to the opposite window and gestures to the ornate rug in front of it with his tail. “There's a hatch that leads to a tunnel under this rug. It lets out into the Darkling Woods to the north. Follow the trail there to a small village, the other girls will take you in.”

You look between him and the rug several times, putting pieces together. “The other girls. You - you didn't eat the other girls?” 

He growls, “No.” 

“And,” you look up at him hopefully, “You're not going to eat me?” 

“No.” 

“You're letting me go.” 

“Yes.” 

“You're helping me.” 

He sighs and rolls his eyes, “I'm trying to. Look right now is the best time to go - it's dark and it's in between rounds for the guards but the next shift will be here soon so you need to go qui-” 

“No.” 

“What?” 

“I'm not going. I don’t want a new life. I want to go back to my family.”

You can't go back.” He sounds regretful, “You'll be put to death if they know you left here without marrying me.” 

“Well that won't do.” You cross your arms and turn back towards the door to the sitting room. “Come on, let's have it all out then. I've got a fire going next door.” 

His eyes are wide with shock. “You have what?” 

It is your turn to sigh. You look back over your shoulder as you exit the room. “A fire. Now let's go. I have questions and I believe I am entitled to your answers.” 

With that, you stalk over to one of the big armchairs placed to the side of the fire and plop down rather inelegantly. The boning in your corset digs into your hips and belly, forcing back upright just as quickly. Annoyed and frustrated with a great many things, you stand to remove your dress and then rip the damned thing off. The ridiculous layers of fabric underneath follow until you are left in the chemise. You dump the clothing next to the fireplace and call back to the bedchamber, “I haven't got all night! Well I suppose I do but I don't like to be kept waiting and shall be very cross with you if you continue to make me do so!” 

The First Son slowly enters the room and folds himself into a pretzel of sorts on the rug in front of you, next to the roaring hearth. He gives your discarded clothing a rather pointed glance but you ignore it in favor of studying him. In the light, you can see that scales on his belly and underside are not black but a dull gray color, reminiscent of his stormy eyes. He turns those eyes to you and they look completely lost. “What have you done with this place?” 

“Well someone had to take care of it and it obviously wasn't going to be you.” 

He shoots you a glare, “My bedchambers are immaculately clean. I just don't ever come in here.” 

“Well you should. Perhaps if you spent more time cultivating manners and less time brooding in your bedroom, you would have found a wife by now and neither of us would be in this mess.” 

“Little Mouse, no amount of charm could save my wretched appearance. No one would be mad enough to marry me no matter how gentle my manners.” 

“Well we need to find a woman mad enough and quickly.” 

“What?” 

“Keep up!” You snap. “We need to get you married so I can go home without being killed and you can stop pretending to devour helpless maidens. We both get want and we never have to see each other again. Let's get cracking on a plan.” 

“Little Mouse, you are more stupid than I thought. Do you honestly believe anyone will marry me when I look like this?”

“How did you get to be like this, anyway?” It's a blunt question and is probably too bold but you're too tired to try to find a more diplomatic method of asking. 

“Story is that my father tricked a witch into giving him some of her magic flowers. When she learned she'd been deceived, she tried to curse him but he used the flower's protection so the spell ricocheted and hit me instead.” 

There's silence for a while and then your mouth opens seemingly without your consent. “That's shit.” 

The First Son reels back, “I'm sorry?” 

Never one to back out, you double down, “That's shit. Your father messes up and you pay the price? Complete horseshit.” 

Amusement laces the First Son's tone when he asks, “They didn't find you in some nobleman's house like those other girls, did they?” 

You flush, remembering too late that a real lady would never curse in front of royalty. “Well, no. They dressed me in those fancy clothes but I am no real lady. I'm the daughter of a shepherd. I'm sorry if my language offended you but I don't take back what I said and I'm not sorry for who I am.” 

His lips curl up in what might have been a smile on a human face but, frankly, it just looks like a horrifying grimace on his. “I'm not offended by your language and I would never ask you to change who you are, Little Mouse. Besides, you're right. It is shit.” 

You smile at him, “So how do we undo this?” 

His grimace/grin falls, “What?” 

“If we wanna get you married, which we do so I can go home and you can stop being miserable and pathetic, we've got to make you human again. To do that, we need to break the curse. So how do we break the curse?” 

“We don't. We can't.” 

“Sure we can! There's always a way to undo spells. We had this old crone that passed through our village each spring and one year, she turned my neighbor into a newt! It took a couple of weeks and we had to find a lot of peculiar ingredients, but eventually we made a concoction that turned him back. So, how do we undo this one?” 

“If we can, no one knows how.” His tone is positively glum.

“That's shit too.” 

“What is?” 

“Your attitude! We'll think of something, Mr. Gloomy Gills.” 

“Gloomy Gills?” 

“If you get to call me ‘Little Mouse’, I can call you something silly too.” 

He mutters something that sounds suspiciously like ‘stupid girl’. “You know snakes don't have gills right?” 

You didn't. “Well I can't keep calling you ‘The First Son’ in my head. It's pretentious and time-consuming.” 

“You could call me by my name, then.” 

“Well maybe I would if I knew it.” 

“Levi.” 

“Levi. Hmm, seems fitting enough. Will you call me by name now, please?” 

He pretends to consider it, “No. I like Little Mouse much better.” 

“Levi!” You scold but he is already slithering back to his corner of the bedchamber. 

“Goodnight Little Mouse.” 

And so begins your unlikely friendship with Levi, the Cursed First Son. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You don't get along very well at first. Levi is surly and you're quick to anger and there are lots of spats between the two of you. There's nowhere else for either of you to go though so you learn to work through your differences rather quickly. The gaudy dress and god-awful corset are vehemently disposed of before dawn fully breaks the first day. Levi informs you that there are some old pants and shirts of his that you may wear in the wardrobe and while the sensation is strange at first, you are delighted in the freedom britches give you and are prepared to swear off dresses forever.  

By the end of the second day, you have each discovered all of the things that most vex the other and have spitefully used them as much as possible. You also realized that Levi calls you ‘stupid’ nearly as much as ‘Little Mouse’ and that neither nickname will be going away anytime soon. 

By the end of the third, you have learned how to apologize to each other. You are grateful for this as it seems likely to be a skill that will be used often. 

The end of day four sees you swapping stories from your past and sharing hopes for the future. This one surprises the both of you but it also feels good to establish a camaraderie of sorts. 

Day five is where you learn that Levi despises dancing and filth but adores his mother and teas of all kinds. His mother passed away when he was little and according to his stories she was an absolute Saint. You wonder if it balanced out his father being the world's biggest dickhead but don't voice it. 

Day six is when you stub your toe on the table and Levi learns exactly how unladylike your vocabulary truly is. You suspect that this knowledge endears you to him. 

By the end of the first week, your friendship has solidified and you have agreed to rope Mina into your plans to free Levi from his ill-earned fate. Though hesitant, Mina agrees to help and is soon galavanting across the kingdom in search of witches and answers. 

By the end of the second week, she's found them for you. 

You had spent the week exploring the Darkling Woods with Levi, learning to make tea using a fireplace instead of a stove, and learning more about this fascinating creature that had become your housemate. You had settled into a comfortable routine with him which is why the knock at the door startles you so fiercely. Levi had been lounging in front of the fireplace, warming his scales. You found yourself in a position that had rather quickly become familiar, sitting with your knees to your chest, leaning back against Levi's muscular body as you read one of the many books on his shelves. You weren't a very strong reader, having not received any sort of formal education, so Levi had been teaching you in the mornings. You peel yourself away from the smooth scales to admit Mina. She doesn't come near the fireplace, still too frightened by Levi's appearance. You can't exactly blame her for feeling afraid but you do inwardly roll your eyes at the dramatics. She knows he's not going to eat her so it seems silly to insist on maintaining distance. Your mood brightens at the news she has brought, though. 

“I found a woman who claims to know the cure.” 

“What did she say?” 

“She said,” Mina glances nervously at Levi, “She said that the monster has to be beaten out of him.”

“Beaten out of him?” You repeat. 

“Yes.” 

“So, what, am I supposed to start punching him until he's normal?” 

“She-,” Mina's voice breaks and she clears her throat to try again, “She recommended a whip.” 

“A whip?” You hate that your disbelief is making you sound like a broken record but you can't help it. 

“That's what she said.” 

“No.” Your voice is firm and final, “Absolutely not. We're not going to-” 

“What else did she say Mina?” Levi speaks for the first time since her arrival. 

Mina turns to him and swallows heavily. “She said that you need to beat the monster but nurture the man. At the end of each week, you'll need to beat him until his scales crack. Then bathe him in warm water and let him soak until he -,” another swallow, “until he sheds his skin. Once you get through all of the monstrous layers and he sheds for the last time, he'll be human again.” 

“No.” Your voice is thin. “No, that's - thats terrible. There has to be another way. Mina can you-” 

Levi cuts you off again, “Mina please fetch a whip from the stables.”

You turn to him desperately, “No, Levi, please -” 

He interrupts again, this time with your name - your real name. “This is my choice.” He explains gently. “It is my curse and my body so it is my choice.” 

Tears run unbidden down your face, “I can't possibly-” 

“You can. And I'm sorry but I have to ask you to. Please.” 

Your eyes do not stray from his for a second when you say, “Mina, get the whip.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first crack echoes off of the walls of the washroom and you are convinced that it will ring in your ears forever. Levi doesn't make a sound but you whimper like a kicked puppy. His scales bear no mark from the hit. 

He grits his teeth. “Little Mouse, you're going to have to do better than that.” 

“I don't want to hurt you.” Your voice is almost a wail. 

Levi sighs heavily, “I know, love, but you must. It's okay, I can take it.” 

You jolt a little at the pet name, one you've never heard him use before, but you're too stressed to dwell on it further. You steady your hand and snap the whip forward once more. This time, the crack is accompanied by a sickening crunching sound and you see a crevice in the shimmering scales where the whip landed. You press on. 

Levi hardly flinches through the lashing but by the end he is grunting in pain and there is blood running between the wounds threaded throughout his scales. You're sobbing and apologizing over and over like it's a mantra as you fill the tub with water warmed by the fire and help Levi crawl into it. 

Beat the beast, nurture the man. Nurture. You gaze hopelessly at his pitiful form curled up in the bottom of the copper basin. You have no idea how to nurture that which you have already harmed. You think of your mother, combing her hands through your hair when a girl from the village had hurt your feelings. You remember the hug given from the same child when you twisted your ankle in a race. You think of Levi, wrapping you up in his tail to make you more comfortable as you read. 

With a final sob, you sink to your knees and plunge your hands into the water. Gently, you rub the scales you had split open, removing loose shards and cleaning the blood. When moving up above the injured area causes Levi to let loose a soft contented hum, you become bolder, allowing your fingers to glide up and down the expanse of his muscular body. He is almost purring and you stifle a giggle as your hands move to the white scales on the underside of his body as well. 

You're beginning to think that you've got the hang of this nurturing thing and are feeling quite pleased with yourself. That illusion is almost immediately shattered when you feel Levi's entire body go tense under your fingertips. 

“Levi?” You question softly. 

Levi lets out a small pained sound and turns his face away from you so that he is speaking to the wall when he says, “Little Mouse, I think you should go now.” 

“Have I hurt you again?” Guilt floods your mind. 

“No,” he denies, though his voice is strained. “You just - you should go. I am - it's -” he huffs, “It will take some time for the skin to shed. You should get some rest.” 

You've never seen him this flustered and you worry about leaving him on his own after all he has endured. “Are you certain?”

“Yes!” The word is out almost before your question ends and it is much too loud for the small room the both of you occupy. He clears his throat and in a much more appropriate volume level bids, “Goodnight, Little Mouse.” 

You go to bed feeling more confused than you did on your first day here and dream of a man with hair the color of shimmering oil who wraps you in his strong arms and calls you ‘love’. You remember none of it in the morning. 

The rest of the weeks pass by much the same. You read and converse with Levi and take walks through the Darkling Woods. Though those are less frequent now as they make Levi weary. You make tea and talk about your dreams for the future. And each Saturday night, you whip Levi until he is bloody and raw and then run soothing circles into his shedding scales. You think it should get easier each time but find that it becomes more and more difficult instead. 

Talking about returning to your family also becomes more difficult. You can't figure out why until Levi slips up and calls you ‘love’ instead of ‘Little Mouse’ again after his fourth lashing. You feel like you've been struck by lightning and it suddenly all makes sense. You're elated and terrified all at once and you know you have to tell Levi what you've discovered right away. You keep yourself up all night determining how to. 

Once the first few weak rays of sunlight grace your windows, you slide to the floor and place a gentle hand on his snout. “Levi, Levi. wake up please. It's important.” 

He cracks a single eye open at you and heaves a sigh that shakes his entire coiled body. “Little Mouse, what could be so important that it could not wait for the sun to make a complete appearance.” 

“I think I found a way that we can both get what we want without having to keep hurting you.” 

He groans and twitches the curtains open with the end of his tail. “Little Mouse, we have already discussed this. There is no way for you to go home unless I am married and there is no way I can find a bride in this form. I know you don't like it but we have to keep going.” 

“That's just it,” you're blinking rapidly, a nervous habit, “that's not what I want anymore.” 

If he had eyebrows, you're sure one of them would be cocked in disbelief. The emotion comes through strongly enough in his tone anyway, “You don't want to go home?” 

“No.” There is not a single hint of doubt in your answer. You've thought it through and you're certain. 

“And why not?” 

“Because,” you can feel the blood rushing to your face and you fight to maintain eye contact, “I found something that I love more.” 

His eyes narrow, “You found some-” then widen as he realizes what you've just confessed. “Little Mouse,” it sounds as though the words are being punched from his throat, “you cannot mean that.” 

“I do.” There is no doubt here either. Levi hears it and sees it in your eyes and rushes toward you. You laugh at the sensation of being squeezed on all sides and just barely catch Levi muttering, “You foolish, insane, wonderful, stupid girl.” 

You wrap your arms around him, just below his head and smile giddily to yourself. You frown when Levi releases you and pulls away. “This doesn't solve our problem though. We still have to carry on the beatings for me to be human.” 

“Well, we were trying to break the curse so someone would marry you and I could go free but I don't want to go free and I'll marry you regardless of what you look like so it doesn't really matter any more does it?” 

You panic when he just stares at you blankly. “I mean, only - only if you'll have me, of course. I would never want to force you into marrying me and I'm sorry if I-” 

You've never been so grateful for someone cutting you off. “You'd marry me? Right now? Like this?” 

You shrug helplessly, “Well, yeah. I love you.” 

You frown as you realize that he never said it back. “But if that's not how you feel or what you want-” 

He laughs, a big belly laugh that you've never heard from him before, “Little Mouse, I'd have to be stupid to not return your feelings after all we've shared these past few months. Of course I love you.” Your heart skips a beat at the words but he's not finished, “Which is why we have to continue. You deserve a normal human partner and a normal life. I want to give that to you.” 

“All due respect, but you are the heir to the throne.” You laugh, “You could never give me a ‘normal’ life, Levi.” 

“Does that bother you?” He asks. 

“No.” You run a hand down his snout causing his eyes to slip closed, “And neither does this.” 

“Hmmm. Well it does bother me. I want to be human again. Besides,” he opens his eyes and there is a hunger in them that you have not seen before, “there are a great many things that I should like to do to you that I cannot while in this form.” 

Heat rushes somewhere below your navel and you swallow heavily before replying, “I'm sure we could manage.” 

His eyes close again and he groans, nudging your shoulder with his head. “You'll be the death of me,” he whispers into your collarbone. His forked tongue flicks to lick at your throat - once, twice - and you are ready to put your words to the test but he pulls away and insists, “Which is fine as long as we restore my humanity first.” 

So that is exactly what you set out to do. You half expect everything to change after your confession but nothing really does. You still make tea and read and talk and explore. 

However, there is now a thick undercurrent of desire to everything that you do and your mind is cloudy with lust more often than not. You pray fervently that each lashing will be the last. 

Your prayers are answered after only two excruciating weeks. 

You wake to find the spot on the floor where Levi sleeps vacant. You tiptoe to the drawing room but he isn't there either. You pad to the bathroom next and are about to turn to leave when you don't see him only to realize that he is there and you did see him. You just didn't recognize him. 

He's standing - on two human legs - in front of the large looking glass fixed over the sink, staring at his reflection. You find yourself staring at it as well. His hair is the same inky black as his scales but it looks much softer and is undercut with a longer top layer parted down the middle. His skin is pale and his heart-shaped face is angular with features that somehow look both delicate and sharp. He's dressed himself only in a pair of loose fitting linen britches and an expanse of solid muscle is presented to you in the lower portion of the mirror. He is beautiful. You're ogling, and you know it's rude but you can't stop. Levi catches your gaze in the corner of the mirror and one side of his mouth pulls up into a very attractive smirk, “Hello, Little Mouse.” 

The voice is the same as is the warm look in his striking silver eyes and before you know what you're doing, your feet are leaving the ground at such a speed you feel like you're flying. You launch yourself across the last few inches and he catches you effortlessly, squeezing you in his arms and twirling you around the bathroom floor. 

You think this is the happiest you have ever been, will ever be, but then he is kissing you and it feels like joy is exploding out of your chest. He kisses your lips, your cheeks, your nose, your forehead, your neck, and then moves back to your lips. He is everywhere and you are on fire and you never want to stop but you have to part for air eventually. When you do, your hands release his face and slide down to his back where they are met with raised ridges. You frown and push away, forcing him to turn around as he does. 

“Oh, Levi.” You place one hand over your mouth as the other runs over trails of raised skin and patterns of older scars. The lines stretch and intersect in a horrifying pattern that covers every inch of his back and you instantly know what caused them: You. His back is a map of every single blow you landed on him while he was still in snake form. “I'm so sorry, Levi, I'm so so sorry.” 

You feel like you're going to be sick and stagger backwards, trying to put space between the two of you. 

Levi gives his back a single cursory glance in the mirror and shrugs, stepping forward and closing the distance again. “I'm not.” He wraps his arms around you and smiles. “Stupid girl,” his voice is so overwhelmingly fond, “I don't care about the scars, Mouse.” 

“But I-” 

“Left your mark on me. In every possible way. Now I have a physical mark as well.” He shrugs again. “To be honest I kind of like the idea of being marked as yours.” 

You bury your face in his collar bone. “You know that's not what I was trying to do, though, right?” 

He laughs and it thrums through your skull. “I know. Doesn't stop it from being true though.” He lifts your face and kisses you soundly. “I love you and I don't care about the scars. I spent ten years of my life as a giant snake. I can handle being a little ugly now.” 

He begins kissing a line down your jaw as you protest, “It's not ugly! You're not ugly - you're so beautiful and they're beautiful, I just,” you gasp as he finds a spot below your ear that has your knees turning to jelly. “I just feel bad for putting them there.” 

“Hmmm.” Levi begins to suck on the spot in earnest and your legs actually give out on you. You feel him smile against your skin as he catches you and holds you against him, never stopping his work on your neck. The feeling of his lips, tongue, and teeth is nearly all-consuming but you are distantly aware that he's walking you both back toward the bedroom. “Well then, I suppose I need to even the score and give you some marks of my own.” 

You're too turned on to give any kind of intelligent response to that and find that you remain in that state for the rest of the morning. Every morning after is spent in much the same state as well. 

You never thought you could feel this good about being so utterly, blissfully, stupid.

[inkyyghost]

[azurajae]

Y'know, I've been thinking a lot lately about appearances and identity in regards to both Sora, Yozora, and the Nameless Star.

Both Nameless Star and Yozora say that the person we see as Yozora isn't really what he looks like. Nameless Star specifically says his heart was replaced by another and his form had changed beyond recognition.

You know who else had their form changed "beyond recognition"?

When I first watched the trailer, I just couldn't believe my eyes that this guy was Sora. Like I knew in my heart it was him, but my eyes couldn't recognize him. Judging by the reaction videos I watched, many people seemed to feel the same (it was only when he summoned the Kingdom Key that people were affirmed that it is, Sora). Compared to the lovable spikey haired boy we've grown to love, his KH4 appearance, it's almost like night and day.

Nameless Star talks about how her identity and name had been taken from her. Yozora seemed to have lost his identity too, no longer looking like his original form. And now Sora has been changed so drastically?

I know Nomura did say that Sora looks like this because he is in Quadratum, but even if that's true, it doesn't mean that there isn't also a very delibrate reason on why Sora looks like that and not more like... Sora. I know that KH dev team and Nomura is not uncreative enough to not come up with a more faithful realistic interpretation of what Sora looks like. Just look at other modern FF characters and they were able to pull off their older designs faithfully in realistic graphics, so... why the hell does Sora look like Noctis?

Now how does connect to Sora's changed appearance? No idea honestly, but I do feel do something's up. More consequences to do with being banished from reality? Did Sora get his heart replaced by another too? Or perhaps did he lose part or all of his identity like Nameless Star or Yozora? I have like a crack theory where this could all be foreshadowing that Luxu is about to body hop into Sora, but I have no proof.

And for additional theming, there's a whole can of worms with Riku looking almost exactly like Yozora and Kairi's beta footage from the KH1 secret footage looking eeriely familiar to the girl in the Verum Rex trailer. The whole thing about MoM is that we don't know his identity. And then there's also the fact that Luxu literally replaces people's heart with his own when he body hops like what happened with Yozora.

Like, something is going on here... right?

[autisticlalna]

figured i should also do some theorizing of my own in avid's comments (if only to make people more aware of Nightmare existing), so here's my own current insanity after watching avid's ep8 premiere:

okay, theory: maybe Avid himself was pulled up out of the Void? maybe by his boss, whoever that is-- i'm guessing the Nameless King from the Nightmare series, considering the conversation Trog & Kitt overheard in Trog's episode 3. it feels like it's somebody from outside what we've seen so far, seeing as they're having to use Avid as a conduit for their will. there's also what's Milkman- uh, the Underswamp Wizard said about there being something else out there in the Void, and that triggering another flash of memory of Limbo.

either way, Avid was banished to Limbo, which… what if that's the depths of the Void? or, in another direction, what if Avid's fascination (and rejection) of the Void is because it reminds him of Limbo and the missing gap between him arriving there and him waking up in the Jungle Kingdom? he's vocally skeptical of the Void being alive or having wants and desires-- is that because of personal experience? and we still don't know how Doovid got monkeyified besides him saying he "saw some weird stuff" when returning to the Overworld. if Avid's transformation is related to his unwilling ties to Limbo, did Doovid also pass through it when going through the End portal home?

"you're an open book". "no more secrets". how much of it is "Avid hiding things from people" and how much of it is "Avid hiding things from himself"?

[a13thprincefora13thprincess]

The 13th post: More than a Disney Prince

“Hans is a prince. He is a Disney Prince, but he’s more than a Disney Prince. He is many things. And there are a lots of secrets and twists and turns that we take with Hans.” "A lot of the scenes I recorded did not end up in the movie" Santino Fontana on Hans.

From Admiral Westergaard to Prince Hans of the Southern Isles

As you will already know, Frozen is an adaptation from the tale “The Snow Queen” by danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Disney had been trying to adapt “The Snow Queen” for decades. Different ideas were developed and a lot of changes were made in the process (you have a really interesting post about Frozen’s development by @greatqueenanna here).

We know that at some point, when Elsa still was a villain, the idea for Hans’ character was a nameless “Admiral Westergaard”, who was Anna’s love interest.

Evil Elsa deleted scene

Elsa was then changed, from a villain to a villain who had a redemption thanks to Anna, while Admiral Westergaard became a surprise villain.

Fast-forward to the final act: Elsa creates an army of snow monsters to attack our heroes while Kristoff has “a Han Solo moment” and comes to help Anna. To halt Elsa’s attacking army, the two-faced Prince Hans triggers a massive avalanche — not caring that the avalanche also puts Anna, Elsa and all of Arendelle in jeopardy. Anna realizes Elsa is their only hope, so she convinces her to use her powers to save the kingdom (...) Elsa’s heart is then unfrozen allowing her to love again.

At some point, Admiral Westergaard was changed to Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. This is a strange change for a villanous character if you ask me: they not only made him a Disney prince by birth, but also gave him the first name of the author of the original tale. Besides, keeping in mind that the names of the main characters in Frozen are meant to be a Hans Christian Andersen reference (Hans Kristoff Anna Sven), prince Hans would somehow be the most important, because he’s the one who was given the author’s first name. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Oh, but maybe it's just a coincidence.

Besides this, there is the fact that the kingdom’s name, Arendelle, is based in the norwegian town of Arendal. The isles located south of Arendal are, in real life, Denmark. And Hans Christian Andersen was danish. So they gave prince Hans not only the name but also the nationality of the author.

Also a coincidence?

Disney gave us a huge, very important clue with the Frozen Fever map.

This picture was originally posted by @wrath-of-zirro. A lot to analyze here.

On the top left corner there is a map of real Arendall with Denmark on the south; and the Frozen Fever map on the right. It is clear "The Southern Isles" are the danish isles of Fyn and its surroundings.

Map of real life Denmark with Fyn (Funen) in red from Wikipedia. Compare to The Southern Isles in the Frozen Fever map.

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, capital city of Fyn.

In the bottom of the picture we see the Egeskov Castle in Fyn, whose tower reminds of the one we see in The Southern Isles in the Frozen Fever map. It looks like it the castle was still under construction in the Frozen Fever map (there are 13 princes, so they need a huge castle I guess!). It's quite hard to me to think all of this is just a coincidence.

But that is not the only Andersen reference. Hans having twelve older brothers reminds of Andersen's tale The Wild Swans. That tale is about a princess who has eleven older brothers. The princess is named Eliza, which reminds of Elsa and, not unlike her, she is taken for a witch and is almost killed for that reason.

It is also known that Disney planned to make a movie about the danish author's life which started developing in the 1940s (the same time period in which they started trying to adapt The Snow Queen).

That project was later abandoned. Nevertheless, Disney has adapted many of the danish author's tales.

So... could it be that when Frozen was finally made, the creators decided to pay homage to the danish author by making him a Disney Prince?

But wait... there is more.

Thanks to @thelittlehansy I knew Hans Christian Andersen himself appeared as an animated character in an episode of The Little Mermaid animated series, called "Metal Fish". So, if Disney already had an animated character design for H.C. Andersen, and Prince Hans was a tribute to the author, it would make sense they would look alike, wouldn't it? They just had to redesign the character to make him look young, regal and handsome. Let's have a look at how did the animated version of the danish author look like. I found the episode in swedish language on Youtube:

Part 1

Part 2

They look pretty similar to me. Ginger, big nose, large chin, with sideburns, wears a vest and, in the last scene, a tailcoat. Even the fringe is similar. If you still think all of this is a coincidence I have to disagree. As the Duke would say: The can be no doubt now.

Frozen Fandom: But that's not posible! Making the author a villain, not very important for the story, and the center of silly jokes?! That would be so disrespectful!

Well, I have spent two years trying to prove Frozen makes perfect sense withouth Hans being a bad guy. Santino Fontana said a lot of the scenes he recorded weren't finally included in the movie, so it's safe to think we miss a lot of information about the character. The movie is not badly written; it's too well written in fact: the plotholes are part of the plot.

Frozen Fandom: But Hans is the villain!! He plotted a whole plan to take over the kingdom, took advantage of Anna's vulnerability, leave her to die when she needed him the most and let's not forget almost decapitate Elsa after lying to her about her sister's death.

*Sighs in frustration* All you can accuse Hans of is being a jerk to a dying Anna, being in a very stressfull, life-or-death situation. But let's deny these accusations one by one.

Lying to Elsa about Anna's death: Technically, he wasn't lying, as Anna was dying because of ice magic and Hans though (because of Anna's own words!) Elsa willingly attacked her.

Almost decapitated Elsa: Already explained in the 11th post of this analysis.

Leave Anna to die: Hans was sure there was nothing he - or anyone else - could make to save Anna, and let's not forget the overall situation: people in the kingdom was in inminent risk of dying because of the winter (remember the Duke's words: if we don't "do something" ( = kill Elsa) soon, we all will freeze to death), and he was really shocked (see 9th post of this analysis) to know Elsa had attacked Anna.

Plotted a whole plan to take over the kingdom: The only evidence for this is his own "villain monologue", which I don't think we should take seriously for reasons already explained in the 9th and 12th posts. Telling Anna he wanted to marry her and then arrange "a little accident" of Elsa is more him being a jerk than confessing an evil scheme.

Took advantage of Anna's vulnerability: I have to disagree. I think he manipulated her a bit, but not all of the time. If we look at their "date" from an objective point of view, we realize that for the most part he was just being friendly. Dancing, taking a walk, eating something is not something particularly romantic.

There were not ardent love expressions, he didn't even tell Anna he loved her. Can we really say he "seduced" her? The shoulder bump is romantic? It's more a friendly gesture, that is coded later in the saga as a "sibling thing".

We are led to see the scene in a subjective way, through Anna's eyes. But if we rewacht the scene from an objective point of view, all we see is a friendly interaction.Things don't get really "romantic" until "Love is an Open Door". And let's not forget it's Anna who begins it and this is Hans' first reaction:

Then he basically plays along with her, and at the end of the song - when he proposes to her - that's where the manipulation begins.

Another reason against Hans being a villain would be his facial expressions. He only has facial expressions that could be labeled as villainous in a few scenes (already explained in previous posts). I find it very telling that when he sentences Elsa to death, creators chose to give us a close-up of his face expressing sadness - when a smirk would be more fitting, since this happens after the betrayal scene. It's like they wanted to tell the audience: "No, Hans is not happy to sentence Elsa to death; he is devastated".

Frozen Fandom: He`s faking to the Duke and the dignataries.

It could be, but it's unusual for Disney characters to fake to the audience. Gaston makes villanous expressions since he first appears, so the audience can easily identify him as a villain... but everyone in the town think he's a great guy!

And Mother Gothel... think how interesting would it be if the audience wasn't given the backstory at the beginning of Tangled. But still in that case, we would be able to analize her expressions and realize they are different from those of a worried parent.

Frozen Fandom: well, so who do you think is the villain then?

Simple: there is no real villain in Frozen. But there are two fake villains. This pair.

Before we continue we have to make the following question: who is this Elsa?

But was she the cursed princess to be saved, or the wicked witch to be vanquished? And what was his role in this story? (A particular understanding, by @fasadi)

Elsa: A witch in distress

While most of the audience identifies Elsa as a princess, making Frozen a "two princesses movie", this is only half truth. Anna is "the princess" and real protagonist in Frozen, while her sister shares some traits with other kind of classic Disney characters. Let's see: Elsa...

Is older than the princess

Has magical powers

Lives isolated

Has a position of power (she's the princess heir and becomes the Queen)

Wears heavy make up

Wears purple clothes (her coronation cape) and uses purple eyeshadow

Curses the princess and the kingdom

Her actions have a huge impact on the plot

Has a great (villain) song

Is (almost) killed by the prince

The 13th Disney princess shares these characteristics with these ladies:

From my point of view, the Evil Queen from Snow White is the one that has had the biggest influence in Elsa's look. I found the following description of the Evil Queen on the Disney fandom wiki very fitting for Elsa:

"From the outside, the Queen appears to be calm, regal, and sophisticated, but in reality, this collected and stately facade hides an extremely sadistic, hateful, cold and sinister person" (Elsa's facade is similar and also hides her real self) "The Queen is an icily beautiful woman with a serene, unfeeling face and a slender figure. She has pale skin, red lips, green eyes, and seemingly penciled-on eyebrows"

They both wear a long cape with a pendant. You can't really blame the Duke for thinking Elsa was "a wicked witch conspiring to destroy us all", can you? After all, this is a fairy tale. There has to be a witch!

(Full comic here. A very fun comic showing Hans has all the traits of a classic Disney Prince. I'd love to see something similar with Elsa as a classic Disney Witch!).

At the end of the day, Elsa mortally attacked her sister and almost killed her whole kingdom because she had a massive anxiety attack. But even if she is, technically, a Disney witch and the villain of the movie (in the sense her actions are those of a villain) Elsa is not evil. Her thoughts, feelings and motivations are very different of those of a villain. She can't control her powers and feels unable to cope with the problems she has created, so her response is to run away.

This learned helplessness makes her another classic character: the damsel in distress. Elsa has to be saved from those who want to kill her to end the eternal winter and save the winter. She is first saved by Hans, who risked his own life entering the Ice Castle to save her from the Weselton guards and was able to stop her with a sentence that basically meant "I trust you" (whole analysis in the 7th post) and later saved by Anna. And, just like Hans saved Elsa from killing two men, Anna saved Hans from killing Elsa.

But, just because the audience "knows" Elsa they fail to identify her as the witch of this tale. They fail to understand that the Duke's reaction and prejudices against Elsa were, in fact, quite logic and understable. They fail to understand that (almost) everyone in Arendelle feared Elsa and wanted her dead, so the curse disappeared. The audience has all the information they need to realize Elsa meant no harm but... do the audience has all the information they need to understand Hans' character, and his sudden change at the end of the movie? I'm pretty sure we miss essential information.

Remember my interpretation of the gloves parallel in the analysis of the betrayal scene? One glove off = fake villain reveal. Now look at the Hans and Elsa dolls. "Hero and villain" series, and there are TWO sets of dolls. The first one: Elsa as the Snow Queen (hero), Hans in his fake villain reveal clothes (villain). The second one: they are in their coronation clothes, Elsa as a Queen who is secretly a witch (villain), Hans as the perfect Disney prince (hero). And the looks of complicity are very obvious.

And if Prince Hans' inspiration was the danish author himself, is there some real life woman behind Elsa?

The answer is Yes.

Hans Christian Andersen's inspiration for the Snow Queen was the most important of his (long) list of imposible loves.

Jenny Lind

Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 1820 – 2 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and undertook an extraordinarily popular concert tour of the United States beginning in 1850. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music from 1840.

Yes, I know she doesn't look like Elsa. But still, she was the inspiration for the Snow Queen, and Elsa is inspired on the Snow Queen, so... she somehow "is" Elsa.

From Wikipedia:

She toured Denmark where, in 1843, Hans Christian Andersen met and fell in love with her. Although the two became good friends, she did not reciprocate his romantic feelings. She is believed to have inspired three of his fairy tales: "Beneath the Pillar", "The Angel" and "The Nightingale".[4] He wrote, "No book or personality whatever has exerted a more ennobling influence on me, as a poet, than Jenny Lind. For me she opened the sanctuary of art."[4] The biographer Carol Rosen believes that after Lind rejected Andersen as a suitor, he portrayed her as The Snow Queen with a heart of ice.

One of his stories, "The Nightingale", was written as an expression of his passion for Jenny Lind and became the inspiration for her nickname, the "Swedish Nightingale".[46] Andersen was often shy around women and had extreme difficulty in proposing to Lind. When Lind was boarding a train to go to an opera concert, Andersen gave Lind a letter of proposal. Her feelings towards him were not the same; she saw him as a brother, writing to him in 1844: "farewell ... God bless and protect my brother is the sincere wish of his affectionate sister, Jenny".[47] It is suggested that Andersen expressed his disappointment by portraying Lind as the eponymous anti-heroine of his Snow Queen.[48]

So, to sum up this very long post:

Hans and Elsa

Who people think they are

Who they really are

Conclusion

So... if I'm on the right track, and Disney created Prince Hans' character as a tribute to Hans Christian Andersen, wouldn't it make sense they planned to give him the happy ending he did not have in real life?

Time to analyze the Helsa hints...but that will be in a next post.

First post of these series here.

[wisteriagoesvroom]

Charlos au where carlos is a resident of a politically destroyed country and charles is a hitman and carlos needs his help to kill the politicians and restore his country and they pretend as a married couple BUT ALONG THE WAY—

i was like “oh god not more prompts” and was gonna mentally nope out of this. but THEN i had a vision of hitman/huntsman carlos paying a visit to royal charles’s accommodation — in this fantasy-ish AU charles is the heir to the kingdom that follows matrilineal lines and gender presentation is less rigid. and anyway i digress. point is:

carlos is in charles’s room, high in a castle tower. the fireplace is crackling and carlos had to fight off almost a dozen henchmen to even get here, but for now they are indispensed and unlikely to bother carlos or charles for the next several hours at least.

charles has been hiding an important diplomatic fact about his family (a freshly negotiated alliance with the hamiltons, a formidable line on their own, one of the most respected and coolly ruthless) that may alter the balance of power as they know it.

carlos is aware of that charles has this secret, that he is likely bethroed to another, because it’s a political marriage. and maybe he knows that charles knows that he also knows, so really it’s a triple bluff.

so carlos has come to the room to seduce charles and see how far he can push the other man. he leans into his heartbreaker/debonair persona and seduces the socks off charles. backing charles onto a chaise sofa, leaning into his space, eyes flickering over his body, voice all husky: “we both know you’ve wanted this, cabrón.”

“did i?” charles whispers. head tilting in carlos’s hands, jaw moving under carlos’s fingers as he speaks. carlos remembers the last time he felt this sensation. it was an injured deer he had found in the forest, before his men made the mercy kill with a knife.

“when were you going to tell me about king hamilton?” carlos asks.

what does he have that i do not? carlos doesn’t say. his mind echoes with the answers. a treasury. an army. safe harbour, fortified by unfathomable power — so much so that charles would never need to run from anything again.

charles remains very stil in carlos’s hands. he only blinks once, slowly, like a cat trying to prove it is not a threat. carlos knows better. he has travelled far from these lands, you see. he knows that there are large cats, not like here. ones that swish their tails just like kittens, but they are to be feared.

“carlos. this game is so much bigger than you could understand.”

that angers carlos. the reminder that he has been a pawn. so he leans his body over charles, pushing charles’s back into the chaise with a thump. he towers over charles, wills him to feel his hardness, his rage, his fear.

it is a corruption of the way they once laid together, summer day in a field far away, on a previous trip when he was assigned special royal guard. no entourage, just the two of them, a quick disappearance from the city in a politically fraught time. they went west, all disguised, so nobody knew charles’s name. and carlos wishes he could have just a minute of that day back. he wonders what he might do with that minute, now.

carlos leans down, and they kiss. carlos holds back at first, then doesn’t, mouth challenging charles’s, heated, bordering rough, willing him to challenge back.

charles is icy as a surface of a lake.

when they break apart, carlos is breathless. charles keeps his hands on carlos’s shoulders, but it feels mechanical, a rote dance with a nameless suitor. carlos knows charles, knows the mask he puts on when he truly retreats inside himself. for a necessary performance, for self protection. and carlos hates it.

“was any of this even real to you?” carlos spits.

charles’s eyes are open, then. and sad. embers burning through coal before it dims again.

“would it make a difference to you, if it was?”