#we thought it was a healer issue with one or both healers not being up to par because they started arguing

[rosewaterandpinkseasalt]

if we’re going with that though—do we think steven would really figure that out during the timeline of the show? we only see him up until the age of sixteen. he’s processing everything he’s been through (which is a lot) and he’s in a terrible mental state. i think this is something he’s going to reflect on & really figure out in post canon. if anything, a tiny silver lining is that the end of canon reminds young people that they don’t need to have all their traumas resolved right away! his relationship, too, is something he’s still working on but we can kind of tell they’re always going to be together.

i can’t help but sympathize with steven & as someone who’s older than him i really like how you always acknowledge the outside perspective! lots of rose haters see the show from steven’s perspective and forget that they can have an outside one, too. i try to look at both.

through steven’s eyes, he has a whole belief system set up and so much happens throughout his adolescence that, while he changes and goes through unimaginable things, he doesn’t know what to believe anymore. he starts to only see extremes. he started off with imagining rose as this perfect mother for comfort, and then he learns things about her that are quite alarming (i.e., bismuth being bubbled, not telling garnet and ame and dad about being a diamond) and feels this bitterness & anger. he even begins to question if she’s a bad person. it’s going to take awhile for him to process and figure out everything.

in a very similar way, he has trouble with how he feels about himself. he grew up isolated from lots of kids & finding out he was a protector & a healer, but as time goes on he struggles with self blame and self doubt. he begins focusing so much on protecting others that he forgets about himself—which makes him lose some self awareness, too.

so, when he’s in fight or flight like that and he needs to make a last minute decision, he chooses something that’s extremely self destructive but with the intention to protect the person he loves most. & that’s interesting to me because he’s not only reminding me of one mom here—he’s reminding me of pearl, too.

situations involving life or death & fight or flight, when the person already has lots of unresolved trauma and mental health issues… these situations can easily bring out some troubling aspects of people.

i have so much empathy for steven & pearl that i can’t bring myself to say that they were bad hurtful partners—really, they were being self destructive. & i think connie and rose were upset but more so because they were worried about their partners and they couldn’t do anything to protect them. it’s not something that would end their relationships or lessen trust—but it’s definitely a good example of how putting your loved ones over yourself & not having self compassion can cause issues when they feel the same amount of love for you & want to protect you, too.

@selkie-soup you know steven & connverse better than i do, but this situation is just very interesting to me and i thought i would chime in! i hope this is soup approved :3

it irks me so much when people act like Connie is in the wrong for how she acted after the trial. It ignores three things. One- Connie is 12, of course she won't act "perfect". Two- she tried to talk to him irl but Steven was at the cabin with the gems + his dad. Three- Connie has a right to take space, even if it was in her best interest it's not unreasonable she was hurt. She wanted to be there for him and they promised to protect each other (not to mention if any of Pearl's ideology still effected her) and she felt like their promise was broken. It was for the best she was left behind but she can still have complex feelings about the topic.

[irisbaggins]

Because I'm procrastinating on writing about the history of RPGs, I'm going to actually do a little analysis on that "accidental mind control" scene. Specifically, I want to look at it critically as a text and not as a bit. Why? Well, because I can, but also because it's a really interesting moment that somehow actually fits wonderfully into the narrative.

When it comes to who got mind controlled by Sam, it was just Evan and Jammer that got hit with it, whereas K managed to dodge it fully. And here's why that's so interesting to me, narratively; K is the only one of the three hit by the spell who has refused to let go of their burden. Whilst K has had it pointed out to them that they cannot do everything by themselves, they have still refused so see that possibility. They still end up taking things on by themselves, which has only been further proven by their experience in the hospital. Yes, it was fun for them to live in a fantasy for a moment, but isn't it very interesting that K chose to be a doctor and to specialise in the field they had earlier horrifically failed? Yes, it was partially a gag by Erika, but goddamn does it not fit K's character. In a world where K can be a saviour, a healer, a fixer, they decided to be specialised in a field in which their previous mistake had cost them their friend's life. Erika is excellent when it comes to subtle character traits and flaws peeking through, and this "gag" is proof of that; K feels an incredible amount of guilt, but they try to handwave it off when it's brought into the light - "Just messing around in a hot tub!" - because they cannot process their failure. Because if they failed, then what is their point? If they cannot help people, then what are they even doing?

A thing that will never leave my thoughts when it comes to K, is how we were first introduced to them; with Erika describing K as being "chronically online", fighting with people on social media and engaging in social justice. And I have no idea about you all, but I remember being very much the same as a teenager. Of thinking that every problem in the world was mine to shoulder, and thus piling on issues that were never mine to hold. I see the same happening with K, but K hasn't let that mentality go. They have only gotten worse. They have an Atlas Complex: they take the whole world on their shoulders, convinced that they alone can save it. They cannot let go of that desire to help, that desire to fix, that need for control. They were always like this, since the moment we first saw them; they just channelled that into the rest of the Misfits during the events of the first season.

But in this season? They've been alone for a while, with only Teddy for company and as a voice of reason. K has spiralled into thinking only they can save magic, and it's causing fractures that we - the audience - are only just starting to see the consequences of. Their attempt of healing Evan - which I discussed here - was a natural progression of their guilt at what happened to Magic and the Magic World, as well as their guilt for Evan and themself splitting up where the former clearly got into a lot of trouble without them. K falling into the fantasy of the hospital was them, for a moment, experiencing success, instead of the ever-present guilt that is their current adventure. K could exist within that world, not because they let up on their need for control, but because they embraced the need for control in a world that was familiar and predictable.

Which then leads into Sam's incredible feat of magic, and K's ability to sidestep being controlled. Whilst yes, it was the roll of the dice that decided their fate, I also think any other option would have maybe been less impactful: both Evan and Jammer have begun to realise they can depend on others and let go of their need to control everything, but K hasn't yet. K has begun to admit that it is a problem, but has yet to admit that it is something they must change. That they should not be carrying this burden for themselves. They started to open up to Jammer, but they still have not talked about Itsy and what their work truly entailed. They're still hiding some parts of themself, not allowing others to help with their problems. They don't know how to let others in - at least, not anymore - and so they end up refusing to let up control. They cannot give themselves in to Sam's spell, because they have to solve everything on their own. They're slowly opening up to letting others help, though; Sam was not only able to get K out of the hospital, but K also included Sam in their plan to find the source of the amplification magic. They're just not completely ready to surrender fully to letting others help. Not yet.

But hopefully, soon.

Anyway. This episode was so fun, and I loved the look into everybody's character as they were faced with the challenges of The Trope Hospital. I can't help but want to dig my teeth into what all of these islands brings out of the characters, and how the narrative unfolds. I could go on and on about Aabria's worldbuilding, and about the cast and how they play their characters. Just. Ugh. Misfits is so good, y'all.

[vigilskeep]

wait, Minerva "canonically" has a baby?? i want to know everything!! when how what - how does motherhood change her, pls elaborate, srry if you talked about this before, i just love them so much

she does!! i talk abt this less bc i think its self-indulgent jghsskks and that people are less interested in this, but it’s super fun to think about for me

the baby was a surprise, minerva was kind of being stupid about it lmao because she was being less careful than she might have been in the circle, especially because she’s a warden now so she’s less likely to get pregnant at all, without really thinking through what might happen. (i’m sure our local kinloch hold spirit healer companions both had their field days telling her off for this at some point.) but as soon as it does happen she wants the baby so badly. as a circle mage and then a warden she had never really seriously considered it a possibility for herself, but she loves children, and it’s been so long since she had a real family

it’s zevran’s and zevran is in antiva most of the time. i think she has a weird crisis about whether he’ll want anything to do with a baby, and she would despise for him to come back just out of obligation but also what if he doesn’t come back, and she ends up procrastinating telling him for, like, months. just a stupid amount of time. bc she was born to stress her man out and to give her wardens unnecessary grudges against him because they thought he had obviously chosen not to be here because obviously she would have told him. truly when will his suffering end. anyway he’s thrilled when somebody eventually does him the courtesy of letting him know

the baby’s a boy, she names him duncan, it sparks a whole other argument with alistair that we won’t get into here. he gets nicknamed junior a lot, partly bc he’s duncan jr, partly bc of the ongoing joke that he’s the resident Junior Warden. he was very much raised in warden blue since the cradle. because minerva is so busy and zevran is often away, he’s pretty much collectively raised in vigil’s keep by the awakening squad and whoever else gets added to that trusted inner circle. which works out bc wardens don’t often have kids of their own so they all just kind of... share this one lmao. (and possibly sometimes also oghren and felsi’s kid if they stick around?) it’s velanna who instigates this bc that’s what the dalish do and she’s also literally the only one here who knows what to do with a baby so thank the maker she’s here (minerva’s practised with kids but by nature they don’t have babies in the circle)

i’m so thrilled that spellblade is a crow-themed rogue-like mage subclass bc that’s exactly what i always pictured for duncan jr eventually. he’s a mage, his magic manifests very young, but minerva is very strict abt his studies and it has the unfortunate reverse effect of making getting his dad or nathaniel or sigrun to teach him combat much more fun. it works out really bc his magic having manifested is a tightly kept secret so it’s good for him not to have to rely on it

being a mother kind of changes/crystallises a lot of minerva’s priorities. it’s one thing to say, like, i would like to improve the situation for my fellow mages at some point, or, it sure would be nice to live past a warden’s usual limits. it’s another thing entirely to have a mage child and need to make a world that’s safe for him and live long enough to see it done. it ends up being a key issue of her conflict with the chantry between origins and inquisition because nobody’s quite certain what the rules are. obviously if she were still a circle mage any child of hers would be taken away. but she’s not a circle mage and arguably the chantry has no right to a child born outside of the circle, with no sign yet (as far as anyone outside vigil’s keep knows) of magic. (like i say it manifested younger than normal so this is believable even to those who think he will eventually show.) it definitely exacerbates tensions, shall we say, because obviously they can pry him out of her cold dead hands

he’s probably still only quite young in inquisition. six or seven? somewhere around there, i hate timelines. not sure where he is while minerva and her squad are on their quest, but given the very short list of people she trusts that much, i have to say that the most insane answer is likely: he’s in denerim as a temporary ward of the king. probably the first elven kid to be such

[tcfactory]

I generally agree with this sentiment, but there are some situations where I think the best solution for everyone is to tell someone to go eat a dick and kick them before they can try to worm their way out of things - you wouldn't believe how often it happens in raid groups that someone tries to Calm Polite Rational Talk their way out of taking responsibility for griefing or deflect blame to others because it's surprisingly easy to make someone else take the fall for your shit if they easily get upset - but they are very niche cases, almost always in hardcore content.

Becoming more and more convinced that rude behaviour in MMOs should be seen as a major skill issue - like maybe if you can't be kind to other players, then maybe you're just not good enough to play multiplayer games.

[angstywaifu]

The Lost Sister - Part 8

Synopsis: Xaden is known as an only child due to his sister who 'died' during the Rebellion. Little do they know she didn't die and has been so close this entire time.

Garrick Tavis x OC A/N: Wasn't going to double post today but I'm feeling generous with it being Valentines Day. Sadly nothing super romantic about this one, but I promise some really good stuff is coming soon! I also have a few more one shots, but my requests are open if you have any more you guys want to send through! The Lost Sister Masterlist | Masterlist

The rotunda is empty as Imogen and I enter. Everyone in the dining hall eating. The feeling of being alone should unsettle me given recent circumstances, but after today I feel like that’s behind us.

Usually I would feel her eyes on me, but as she approached me in the hall I had no idea. Though I had been a little distracted at the lack of Garrick, Xaden and Bodhi at dinner.

She leads me over to the edge of the rotunda, and sits on the ledge, leaning up against one of the pillars. I copy her on the opposite side. For a few moments we sit in silence, looking out over the trees and mountains. It’s beautiful under the moonlight. In the distance I occasionally see dragons flying around. I wonder if one of them will be mine come threshing.

“I’d say I’m sorry for how I’ve acted towards you and what I did today. But I’m won’t. It’s just my weird way of processing this I guess.” She finally says, still looking out over the trees. “But, I can’t assure you it won’t happen again.”

I slowly nod my head. “Thanks, I guess.”

She looks over at me as if confused by my response.

“Not going to lie I was expecting a different response out of you regarding this. Also kind of surprised Garrick isn’t attached to your hip after what I did.”

I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips. “Yeah well I kinda ran off after he told me he had feelings for me and I haven’t seen him since.”

She narrows her eyes at me and the look she gives me is like she thinks I’m crazy. Which honestly, I definitely am.

“You ran off?” She emphasises each words.

“Yeah.” I lean my head back on the pillar and sigh. I was such an idiot. “I ran off. Like an idiot. And now he’s nowhere to be seen.”

She shakes her head and laughs at me. “Well if it’s any help, I don’t think you haven’t seen him because of what happened. With Bodhi and Xaden also both gone, and from what I could see their dragons to, I think something’s come up.”

I nod. She’s right. In the last few weeks it had become almost normal for the boys to disappear some nights without much warning. But it still felt like it had to do with me. Maybe they went out to help Garrick clear his head. But if that was the case I’m sure either Xaden or Bodhi would have come to see how I was.

“I’m sure Garrick has told you are history and why I’ve been the way I’ve been?” She finally says after a few minutes of me swimming in my own thoughts.

“Yeah, only took me weeks of asking and then snapping at him in the healers quadrant before.” I tell her, earning a laugh out of her.

“I knew I’d like you. Even if I hate how much you have Garrick wrapped around your finger, I can see why.” She says with probably one of the first genuine smiles I’ve seen on her since I’ve been here. “And honestly I did this to myself. He always said he couldn’t give me more than something casual. That his heart lay elsewhere. He never said who, just that they were part of the rebellion casualties. And then you showed up.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any issues. Though was inevitable with everyone thinking I was dead for the last few years. Though I didn’t know Melgren’s plan till the night before conscription day.” I look away from her back out over the valley below us.

I catch the sad look that passes over her face as she studies me. “Don’t be sorry. You being back, as much as its annoyed me in one aspect, has been good the the guys. But can you promise me one thing?” She says as she stands.

I look over at her and nod.

”Don’t fuck it up. He deserves to be happy. And you definitely make him the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”

And with that, she turns and leaves me alone in the Rotunda with my thoughts.

Imogen’s words hang over my head. Don’t fuck it up. Easier said than done. Part of me is over joyed that Garrick shares the same feelings. Though looking back I’m an idiot for not seeing it sooner. I just put it down to us being best friends. Yes he wasn’t like that with Xaden, but I was a girl. Of course our friendship would naturally be a little different.

But part of me is also terrified. What if it goes badly? What if it puts a divide in the dynamic of our group. I couldn’t live with myself if I came between Xaden and Garrick. As much as Xaden is extremely loyal to Garrick, Xaden would pick me over him without a question. It would destroy him. But he would do it. And that’s not something I’d want him to do.

So I do the stupid thing and avoid them. Which sadly is quite easy with how little they are around. They’re in our daily battle brief class, wedged up in the back corner. I know cause I feel their eyes on me despite not turning around to see if they are there. But when it comes to challenges, their appearance is few and far between. And if they are there I do my best to blend into the crowd. As best as I can with my hair colour. Though I haven’t dyed it since arriving, and at nearly 2 months in my natural dark hair has started to shown through. Rhiannon and Violet keep telling me to let it grow out as it looks good with the dark red.

But outside of classes, I rarely see them. I get glimpses of them, but most nights they aren’t at dinner. Imogen makes comments about them being sent out for drills and such. Must be part of being a third year. Though I do notice they are gone more often than the other third years.

A few times Garrick tries to catch me after battle brief or find me at challenges, but somehow I manage to get away. I’m not quite ready to have the conversation he wants to have. But I can’t avoid it forever. A few times I nearly cave when I see the pained look in his hazel eyes. Pain I was causing. Pain I’d seen in Xaden and Bodhi’s eyes as well.

Soon our gym time turns into Gauntlet training with presentation day around the corner. So far our squad has done pretty well. Only one casualty so far. One I had to watch Violet almost be apart of. She hid it but I knew how much it killed her on the inside. She was yet to fully complete the gauntlet and today was our last day of training before presentation day tomorrow.

As we walk up the stairs to the gauntlet my heart drops. Not only is Xaden standing off to the side, Garrick is with him. It wasn’t uncommon for leadership to watch their squads do training on the gauntlet, so far neither had turned up for ours. Of course they show up on the last day.

Rhiannon who is next to me must notices something is off and follows my eyes to where Xaden and Garrick are.

“Why do you look so scared to see Xaden and Garrick?” She asks.

I hadn’t quite built the relationship with her that Violet had, but it was getting there. But I hadn’t told her about my interaction with Garrick after the challenge with Imogen.

“Remember how he took me to the healers after my fight with Imogen?” I whisper to her so the others around us don’t hear. The last thing I need is gossip spreading about this while I’m still figuring my own feelings out.

She nods. “Yeah I remember. Practically rushed over and scooped you up in his arms before you could get off the mat. Was quite romantic.” I roll my eyes at her.

Our group comes to a stop in front of the gauntlet, Xaden and Garrick making their way over with Emettiro. Both their eyes locked on mine.

I lean closer to her. “He might have confessed he’s essentially been in love with me for years and years despite me being dead and I kind of panicked and ran off and have been avoiding him ever since. Which also means avoiding my brother.”

She shakes her head and chuckles at me. “Girl I could have told you he was in love with you. No one looks at someone the way he does with out being in love.”

I go to reply but Emettiro calls us to start running the gauntlet. And I’m glad Rhiannon and I end up near the front, being one of the first ones to go. Though I doubt Xaden and Garrick are here to try talk to me, as much as they may want to. At the end of the day, they want the wing to do well.

I step up as Rhiannon takes off, my eyes meeting Garrick’s. His face is a mask and I can’t read it at all. I can tell he’s upset though. He’s never like that with me. I’m one of the few he never puts a mask up for. Xaden on the other hand is intently focused on Violet who is behind me. Before I take off up the gauntlet I offer Garrick a quick smile. For a brief second before I take off, his mask falters and his eyes soften as he gives me a tight lipped smile. The entire way up the I feel his eyes following me. He’s yet to see me climb it. And probably won’t tomorrow as most of the leadership wait up top for their squads and wings to pass the gauntlet.

I reach the top with ease. Yet again Melgren’s training had really prepared me for this. I’d barely had any issues getting up the gauntlet in the first day. And most times I caught up to or passed the person in front of me. As much as I didn’t want to think it. I was grateful for his training over the years. I turn around to look down the gauntlet to see both Garrick and briefly Xaden looking up at me. Both look happy with how easily I made it up. Xaden’s gaze drops to something below me. Violet is yet again stuck on the last parts of the gauntlet. And dare I say, does Xaden looks concerned? His eyes shift up to mine. We both know she needs to find an alternate way up the last part of the gauntlet.

Part 9

@riorgail @going-through-shit @fw-gt @bbkissme99 @xceafh

[hulloitsdani]

i want to know your anna thoughts so bad hi.

Hullo! Sure I can provide some Anna thoughts! I have so god damn many. Some other characters are also going to work their way in here too, if you don’t mind. And buckle up, this is gonna be a long one. I got a whole short story for y’all here.

Without further ado, I present to you: The Commander Anna Post

Let’s have some fun, shall we?

So in the age discussion of the feh main cast from a while back, I mentioned how I accounted for Anna’s bizarre position in Askr’s military by making her a child soldier. She has been fighting since she was a young teenager and has logged a decade of combat experience at this point.

I want there to be some fun consequences for this. For example, Anna is rocking some very serious injuries that will likely be with her for the rest of her life. Most notable being her left shoulder. Just by looking at her in full commander regalia, it’s not obvious that there’s any kind of issue. But Anna can’t lift her left arm all the way anymore. Her armor does an excellent job covering up the inconsistency, as it doesn’t allow for that level of mobility anyway. But take the armor off and you can see her shoulder is an absolute mess. It is, and I quote, “the worst healing job I’ve ever seen” according to Veronica.

It’s a bizarre sight for the kid. It’s not the type of thing she expected to learn about an enemy commander. Perhaps THE enemy commander. But in this situation that hardly matters, as she is the group healer as they all trek deeper into the realm of the dead. And Veronica is tending to her wounds only to find the pitiful scarred skin, warped and uneven from a hastily rushed healing process. It’s from a long time ago, she explains. From when she was still just a foot solider. But that… doesn’t make sense does it? Was Bruno not her ally? He has the capacity to heal— he was the one who taught Veronica the little she knows. Even his worst attempts were leagues better than the work done here.

Anna can only shrug, a motion made mostly with her right shoulder. He didn’t reveal that he was a mage of any kind while he was with them. So, even if he wanted to, there’s a chance he could not afford to. Veronica doesn’t know what to say to that. There’s this… uncomfortable knowing between the two of them. They know now, in retrospect, that swallowing down the truth like that must have ate Bruno alive. Just another reason for his sorry state that they didn’t catch until it was nearly too late. Add that to the pile of tiny behaviors that now make sense, right? The intensity of his expression as he insisted Veronica learn how to heal despite her protests and the daggers he’d stare into the intricate scaring on Anna’s shoulder. Throw them all in. Every last piece.

Commander Anna looks at the princess and unexpectedly breaks the tension with a laugh. You see, it’s funny, because this is exactly how she started to figure out Zacharias was Bruno. Very few know about her shoulder. She’s not exactly brazen about it, nor do the people she interacts with have the medical knowledge to glean how serious it is. She doubts even Kiran knows, to be honest. The only person who knows without a shadow of a doubt is Zacharias, because he was there when it happened. He’s probably the reason why she survived that day at all. So, you must imagine her surprise, when a masked stranger targeted this weakness and forced her to fight left handed. It was the most bizarre fight of her life! Fighting someone who clearly knew her, but she herself could not place!

Veronica was not there, but she can picture the lunacy of it. Bruno fighting his comrade as the commander attempted to fight a stranger. She hasn’t really seen Anna entirely thrown off before, but knowing that her brother managed it brings her satisfaction. She deserves it after all the times her and the rest of these fools have done it to Veronica. Feels like comeuppance. She chuckles. They both do. Gods she’s having a moment with the enemy commander. What has the world come to?

Fjorm has a far less positive reaction to piecing it together. After the events of book 2, she knows her time is short. She… cannot face the remains of her family in this state. It would be a slow painful death to rot away behind castle walls and wheeze into soft silks. No, she would much rather die on her feet. Put her body to good use while it’s still able.

So she trains. She trains until she feels her bones threaten to snap. She must have been at it for hours before the commander offers to spar her. With how busy Anna normally is, it’s a rather rare opportunity to spar one on one. Fjorm instantly leaps for the chance.

So they fight, and Fjorm can see it. The way her left arm lags and the scarring that curls out from beneath her sleeve. Burns maybe? Possible electricity? Clearly an old injury from a mage. A weakness in her defenses that she can exploit, surely.

Anna makes no such thing possible. Maybe she learned since her fight with Bruno or maybe Fjorm isn’t fast enough to take advantage of it, but Anna easily evades any attempt to use this against her. Focusing her left just seems to earn Fjorm a swift jab in return. From there, the fight might already be over. Anna’s left arm might be lacking but her legs and mobility sure aren’t. She takes the opportunity to effortlessly bully her way into Fjorm’s space and renders her lance useless. It’s infuriating, but Fjorm is learning. She can do this— she has to. Ten losses deep is when Anna calls it. They put good work in and it’s time for lunch!

Fjorm is ready to throw her lance into the sun.

She insists she can keep going, but the commander is not budging. Still, she tries to push her luck. But once a look of annoyance makes a home on her features, Fjorm knows that’s it. Another disappointing loss. Damnit. She turns to find someone else to spar, but is very surprised to find Anna will not allow such a thing. They are both going to take a break, or Fjorm might find herself barred from the training grounds. She states that if Fjorm cannot be trusted to keep her own wellbeing in mind, then she cannot be trusted out here at all.

However, Anna provides her with a singular counter offer. This can all be avoided if Fjorm tells her what’s wrong. Because she isn’t stupid, something is clearly amiss. And Fjorm— at wits end and most definitely exhausted, dehydrated, and starving—flips her lid a bit. Begins to go off. She’s angry at Anna, and her stupid backswing with her axe, and her own inability to deal with it despite her inherent disadvantage with a lance, and how she keeps failing in front of the people here, and how weak she must appear, and how even the commander of an army in Askr is outclassing her as a warrior and leader, and how she can’t even hate her for it because Anna is just doing her job, and how that all means that the problem must lie within herself!!!

That’s, uh, wow. That’s more than Anna bargained for. She briefly internally wishes that Kiran or Sharena was here right now, as they’re far better at this type of thing. Maybe… she should just go for the most obvious one, yeah? Yeah! Anna isn’t a leader. Commanding people and leading them are vastly different skills. Complimentary! But different.

Look, on ledger, the order entirely under her name, but in practice it is run by four people. Alfonse, Sharena, Kiran, and herself. And it very much HAS to be. The order operates at such a large scale now that the division of labor was necessary. Anna is not so egotistical to think she could run this whole operation by herself, either.

This includes the actual leadership position of the order. Anna is very good at telling people what to do and when to do it, but actually rallying people to a cause? That’s wayyy above her pay grade. Hardly has the force of personality to pull that off. But the others do, and so does Fjorm. Hell, Fjorm has that is SPADES. Despite having lost just about everything, she managed to rally her broken beaten homeland against Surtr and Muspel through sheer force of will. That’s kind of insane, and it’s a little bizarre to the commander that the savior of Nifil can’t see that.

Besides, she’s not a better fighter than Fjorm either. She quite physically can’t be! Fjorm is angry that she couldn’t defeat her in less than ideal circumstances, but let’s be real, all she needs is a little practice. And maybe a full eight hours of sleep. And some food. And water. Can you see what she’s putting down here? The only real leg up Anna has on Fjorm is that she’s going to ask for help, despite the heavy hit to her ego. It’s why the order exists as it does, after all.

That conversation leaves Fjorm with a lot to think about. Both as a person and of her view of Anna. She apologizes for behavior and swears to do better. As proof of her determination, she takes her up on the offer of lunch, much to Anna’s amusement.

Much later down the line, Sharena learns— PROPERLY learns, within the realm of dreams. She’s not blind though. Over the years she has noticed the scaring and the favoring of her right hand. Soooo, Sharena makes an effort to cover her! Stick by her left! Her massive shield is more than capable of protecting her too! And that’s the routine they fall seamlessly into as they follow Peony through Freyr’s dream land and Freya’s nightmare.

Anna generally deals with the challenges of that place better than the rest, for the aforementioned reasons. She knows her limits, she asks for help, and she talks her problems through. The vulnerability may be uncomfortable for her at times, but it is not enough to prevent her from doing so in order to progress smoothly. It might hurt her pride a little as commander, but Sharena and Alfonse are her friends, no? She can say that now, after walking through literal hell and back with them. So she doesn’t mind if they are the ones to see the child she grew around to protect.

Rather angry kid, if you can believe it! Stubborn too. Getting split and copied throughout time and space as a result of Askr and Embla’s never ending war had that effect. And Sharena gets to see that little girl, stubbornly clinging to her axe, bleeding from a wound on her leg that she knows one day will scar over.

It’s from one of the first battles she was ever in, Anna explains. As a merchant, her dad saw it fit to train her in order to defend herself from bandits. And she had put those skills to use before— but not like this. Never like this. It was the first true fight for her life. Not very pleasant, as you can imagine! She still gets nightmares sometimes, as you can see. Happened a few times in the realm of the dead actually. But, luckily, it no longer haunts her as much as it once did. It’s just a scar on her leg now!

The sentiment doesn’t comfort Sharena much. This is, frankly, awful! She hates how scared she looks! A-and how large the wound on her leg is! She hates how… unaware of it she personally was! Why didn’t Anna tell her about this sooner? To which Anna can only shrug. Nobody asked, and if she’s being honest, she probably wouldn’t have told. Not the whole truth anyway. She can admit when she needs help but… she’s still human. It’s a lot easier to admit she had a nightmare than admit that she finds the very thought of bleeding out a worse death than drowning. Still gets her the help she needs, without being more vulnerable than necessary. Sharena rests her head on her shoulder.

“Are all of your scars like this?”

Anna… blinks. No. They’re not. Not even the one on her leg is all bad. She was saved by this elderly couple and their son, who saw the fighting and began dragging injured soldiers off the battlefield. They made awful puns the whole time they stitched up her leg and gave her the best tea she ever had. Anna has bought a lot of different teas trying to find it, but to this day, she has no clue what it was. Makes it better, to be honest. Sharena looks at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

Ah, story time then? Okay. Well. Uh, this line on the inside of her elbow is from a bandit. Rather nasty encounter, but she returned the favor by shoving an entire container of expensive makeup powder into his eyes. Her dad was so mad but god it was so worth it. And this scar on her thumb is from one of her first times cooking in the road. She was pealing a potato but one of her sisters slammed into her and nearly took off her finger. This nick on her clavicle is from the first battle she ever won. When the enemy finally retreated she screamed so loud that her voice was raw for a week. Then there’s this scar underneath her chin, which has to be the most embarrassing ones she has. Zacharias and her had some leftover money one week and decided to treat themselves to a drink or two or five. In trying to make it back to the barracks, they both fell. Hard. She walked away with this, but Zacharias fully fractured his wrist. Explaining what happened to the healers the next morning was dreadful. And… and then there’s the one on her shoulder. Anna was actually recovering from it when she met Alfonse and Sharena.

The princess sits up for that one. Really? Gods she didn’t show it. And it’s because, on some level, she couldn’t. It was from the last battle before the shaky truce was called between Askr and Embla. The one Veronica will inevitably break. And the truce was called for good reason. The battle was hell on earth. Anna… nearly died there. She should have died there, frankly. A point blank strike from a lightning mage with metal armor in the rain should have been the last mistake she ever made. But by some miracle, it wasn’t.

… In retrospect, she thinks it’s because of Zacharias. Things got hazy after she went down, but knowing what they do now, he must have used his own magic to kill the mage and heal her. She didn’t walk out unscathed, but it was enough.

Haha, gods, she will never stop feeling guilty about him, will she?

Anyway, the injury was pretty bad. Her shoulder never moved the same again. But seeing as they were both recently hired to be Sharena and Alfonse’s retainers, they couldn’t exactly let Gustav know how serious it was. Might cost them the job. So a truly comical level of shenanigans went into ensuring it was kept secret. Including this game she created where every time Zacharias accidentally touched her injured shoulder, he would pay up 10 gold. He was not a very touchy guy, but even Sharena knew that this was something he just did. A tiny reassuring shoulder pat to convey that he was listening. So this was, perhaps, the best money making scheme Anna ever came up with. His apologetic look would shift so quickly into one of so much instant regret. And Sharena, upon reflection, remembers this.

WAIT WAIT WAIT SHE REMEMBERS THIS. THATS WHAT THE NOTE PASSING THING WAS!!!! Alfonse had pointed out in one meeting that the new retainers were passing something between each other and Sharena insisted it must have been notes because of how boringgggg it was. BUT NO IT WAS GOLD. ZACHARIAS TOUCHED HER SHOULDER EARLIER IN THAT MEETING AND SHE WINCED. HE THEN WAITED A WHILE BEFORE PAYING UP TO NOT MAKE IT OBVIOUS. THATS HILARIOUS!!!

Anna starts cackling as Sharena begins to line up all the pieces. The nightmare fully dissipating as she shares in this silly secret. There’s a chance she would have died with it. Hell, we know of a world where she probably did. This is not a story she’d even give to her family of merchants, who despite being direct reflections of her, do not share the scars she’s littered with. Never had to be, and thus don’t quite understand. But, Sharena does. All her friends do. And it feels weird to say that because real friends have always been in short supply. But gods this is too good. How absolutely absurd it is, that they are in the realm of dreams trying to find their missing friend and defeat the goddess who took them, and Commander Anna of the Order of Heroes is about to pop a lung laughing as she tells Princess Sharena of Askr about the fallout from the time she nearly died.

It’s dumb! This is dumb! And it’s possibly the happiest she’s ever been.

[wolfeyedwitch]

Hand stomp for Icarus?

With Bloody Outstretched Hands, Part 12: Hand Stomp

Thank you for your patience! Have Luke having a bad day.

CW: hand whump, prejudice against fictional group (superpowers), prejudice-motivated violence

Masterlist

---

Luke was halfway through his PT exercises when Zera came into the gym like a stormcloud. He watched as they all but stomped their way over to the wall of gear while they roughly tugged off their mask. Zera ran one hand through their bright blue hair before donning a pair of boxing gloves, stalking to one of the punching bags, and beginning to attack it like it had insulted their entire family.

Luke finished his set of exercises in a state of bewildered concern. This was far from the younger hero’s normal behavior. Usually Zera was almost disgustingly peppy while in the gym. A normal day would see them bopping their head along to whatever catchy tune they had blaring in their earbuds, enthusiastically running through one of the simulations the gym had to test their teleportation skills. A bad day would have them going through weapon forms at half-speed to ensure they got everything right. Luke wasn’t sure what it would take to get his coworker in this state, and he was almost afraid to ask.

Well. He didn’t become a hero out of an abundance of self-preservation instinct. 

“What’s got you all riled up?” he asked when Zera finally stripped off one glove to grab a water bottle. “Toss me one, too?”

They took a second bottle from the fridge and lobbed it underhand across the gym. Luke caught it in both hands. Nice; the PT was really paying off. A few months back he wouldn’t have had the dexterity or coordination to make that catch.

Zera gave a smile at whatever triumphant face Luke couldn’t help but make. Then they shook their head with a grimace. “It’s Bailey,” they said, setting down their water bottle and pushing their now-sweaty hair out of their face.

It was Luke’s turn to grimace. He understood why they were keeping the villain at their med bay, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “Are they giving you trouble?”

Zera shook their head. “No, they’re eager to tell us everything they can. Maeve is probably going to have to call the interview, because I’d bet dollars to donuts that they’d push themself way too hard trying to give us info.”

“And end up paying for it sooner rather than later,” Luke said with a nod. Concussions were a bitch, even with a healer’s help. “So they aren’t being stubborn. What’s the problem?”

Zera frowned even harder. “The problem is that this whole thing is incredibly fucked up, Luke. I knew we had PR issues, after Marcus and his apprentice, but apparently the way the villains tell it is even worse. Slipknot was apparently using the threat of us as the stick to keep Bailey in line.”

“What was the carrot, then?” he asked, coming to stand next to the younger hero.

They shrugged. “A place to belong, someone helping them out after their parents died, a chance at making a difference in the world. Take your pick.”

It was Luke’s turn to frown. 

Zera noticed. “What?”

He hesitated. Zera was a good hero, but they were still pretty young, with the naivete that came with it. 

“What? You’ve got that face again. Come on, out with it, boomer,” Zera teased.

Luke shook his head with a huff of laughter. They were right to tease; he wasn’t that much older than they were, though he felt plenty ancient on days his injuries acted up. That didn’t change the difference in experience, though. Zera still had an optimism he’d lost somewhere between his first year as a hero and his extended stay in the ICU after his attack. 

“Just…” he started, trying to get his thoughts in order. “I dunno. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re missing something. This all feels…” He broke off, unable to properly articulate it. 

Zera was already shaking their head. “Hell if I know. But they seem genuine enough. They aren’t trying to downplay anything they’ve done. If anything, they seem like they’re taking on too much accountability.”

He hummed noncommittally in response, but Zera’s words stuck with him as he headed out, leaving them to their workout. That was exactly what it was that had been bothering him. Bailey seemed guilty. They seemed like their conscience was weighing them down like Atlas.

On the one hand, that could have been any number of things. It was looking more and more like whatever relationship Bailey had with Slipknot had been abusive, and guilt was a common response in abuse victims. It could have just been the fact that Bailey had a conscience.

On the other hand… 

He was probably overthinking it. He should talk with his therapist, honestly. This was the exact kind of thing that Heroes League had therapists on staff to deal with. 

On the other hand, why would a supposedly small-time villain be so guilty? Because maybe they weren’t nearly as small-time as they seemed. Some small, unkind part of Luke couldn’t help but think that Bailey had to have done something to be feeling this guilty about. Just because they didn’t know what it was, didn’t mean it didn’t happen. 

The thoughts kept racing through his head like hamsters on a wheel, squeaky and annoying and going absolutely nowhere. They pestered him the rest of the day, no matter how he tried to ignore them. They were still there when he finally managed to get his insomniac ass in bed for the night.

Luke was no stranger to nightmares. He’d been an insomniac long before his injuries, but after? It seemed like any time he managed to steal a few minutes of sleep, some fucked-up nonsense was playing on the movie screen on the back of his eyelids. 

This dream seemed to follow the same recipe as most of them: take one soda of bad memories, add one mentos of dream logic, and shake vigorously. He was a kid, running over rooftops to escape from bullies. The next moment, he was flying over the city looking for a suspect for the Heroes League. He caught them; they caught him. 

The suspect held him over the edge of the roof—no, that was the kids. They caught him; he hadn’t run fast enough. 

Awww, are you scared, you little freak? You should be. Don’t you know we don’t want mutts like you around here?

(I thought you guys had rules about dangling people off buildings?)

He squirmed against the grip of the older boys, the ones who were always first with an insult or cruel “prank” against the kid who didn’t have enough control of his powers to keep from outing himself.

Why don’t you just float away? Get lost! 

Hands shoved him forward and pulled him back. He was falling—backwards? No, forwards, towards the edge of the roof. His hands barely came up in time to break his fall. 

You freaks are ruining the world for normal people! You can’t just run around flaunting what kind of mutant you are and expect us to sit back and let it happen!

(You can’t just ruin people’s lives and expect no repercussions!)

Someone, or maybe multiple, was kicking him. His weight shifted awkwardly on the edge of the roof. No, no, nonono, he was going to fall!

Cheering sounded in his ears, cruel and expectant. 

His legs went over the edge, torso slamming painfully into the side of the building. Now he was just holding on, and his hands were already starting to hurt. 

His fingers went from dull ache to sharp, hot agony in an instant. He opened his mouth to scream— (he… tried to? Was there something over his mouth?) but in true dream fashion, nothing happened. 

He looked up to see one of the bullies with a boot on his hand. The older boy gave an ugly grin and started to grind his heel into Luke’s fingers.

The cheering got even louder. 

Get him! Make him scream!

He looked down at the boot again. But wait, that wasn’t a kid’s shoe. 

That was a combat boot. Charcoal gray, and… familiar.

Luke looked up. 

It wasn’t his childhood bullies standing over him. This figure wore a red and gray outfit, menacing and eye-catching. 

Poppet scowled down at him and shoved their boot forward. Luke’s hand tore on the rough cement of the rooftop, before encountering nothing but air. 

He woke up before he hit the ground.

---

Dun dun dun! He's starting to remember!

Small text in parentheses is from Sadistic Choice.

Taglist:

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[acourtofthought]

I’ve been seeing a lot of people saying how they don’t think Lucien and Elain are well matched as mates. I don’t know if I can agree or disagree with this yet. Because so far the only times we’ve seen them interact they’ve been dealing with trauma or they were being watched. Which is really awkward even without all the trauma, when you’re trying to get to know someone.

But we haven’t seen them interact alone, after moving past their trauma. So how can anyone say they aren’t(or are) well matched as mates.

I do like that they have similar past trauma with mourning past relationships and the lives they thought they’d have. And I do love how Lucien seems to only care about her well being.

Anyways, I love you thoughts and insights. And was wondering what your thoughts are. About them being or not being well matched as mates.

I do agree that having to watch certain interactions through the eyes of Feyre made things awkward because Feyre was doing her best to keep Lucien away from Elain and her clear discomfort with her finally needing to ask Lucien for his help after what the healer said was pretty obvious during the tea scene. That's not Elain or Lucien's fault, it's the fault of Feyre, Nesta, Mor, and Amren who were all standing around pretending to be busy with other things while encroaching on a pretty intimate moment. That's why the library scene between Elain and Lucien is one of my favorites, because they were more "real" with one another without nosy eyes and ears (at least to their knowledge). Clearly Elain was in a bad place and clearly Lucien was struggling with the fact that Jesminda did not turn out to be his mate as he'd believed for centuries but it was still a lot more of an emotional exchange than the others that we saw when Feyre and Nesta were in the room with them.

It's ok if you'd like to see more on page interactions between them before making that decision though but I think their lack of on page interactions is actually part of what solidifies how well matched they are.

Sarah has no issues writing a romance between two characters only to tear it all down. Feyre and Tamlin, Chaol and Celaena, Dorian and Sorscha, even a possible one between Chaol and Nesryn. She doesn't shy away from two characters feeling something for one another all the while she's planting little clues as to why they're not going to work in the end, why they're not matched the way she likes her endgames to be.

So why then has she written Elain as ignoring Lucien when she's finally begun to move forward from Graysen? If Elain's endgame person is supposed to be Az or someone else then what harm would there be in Elain interacting with Lucien so the reader can see exactly why they wouldn't work out and why she'd decide to officially reject their bond? A bond rejection isn't like a regular breakup, it's something that will trail the two people forever, the loss of the other half of your soul. Elain is absolutely free to reject Lucien but she should do so only after knowing exactly what she's dooming them to for the rest of their lives, knowing exactly who she's rejecting. Sarah could have easily written an Elain / Lucien storyline like Chaol and Nesryn, where we saw them spending some time together before their book but once TOD rolled around we had already begun to see what was missing in their pairing and why they both ended up with others.

Instead she has Elain saying nothing to Lucien for nearly two books. Won't talk to him, won't interact with him, nada.

If there is no chemistry between them then why the need for that behavior?

What is more likely is it's going to be impossible for them to interact without us kicking our feet and giggling every time they do. Elain is different from her sisters, the author has repeated it over and over. Yet Elain is in the same court surrounded by the same morally gray, hulking warriors as her sisters who ended up with two of the brothers. While Elain might have a physical attraction to Az, it's clear that when they do interact their banter / conversation falls extremely flat. While Elain is trying to spend time with Feyre, Feyre only thinks of her like a pleasant companion. While Nesta and Elain were once close it's clear that Nesta has always treated Elain like a child in need of protecting. I mean, Nesta and Feyre can't even imagine Elain having sexual thoughts or being exposed to kinky sex, that's not how you treat an equal.

Even without knowing what we know of Elain and Lucien, it's pretty easy to see that Elain is not truly compatible with anyone she's currently around and it's not for her lack of trying because she is making the effort yet neither her sisters, the wraiths, Az or any of the other bat boys bring out the best in Elain. At this point the only one who brings out the best of Elain is Elain herself. And if she's not truly compatible with anyone she's currently around and spending time with / interacting with, that logically means her people are elsewhere.

Lucien and Elain might not interact much but we've been given a lot on who they are as individuals.

First the author straight up told us that she once thought Lucien and Nesta would be together until she realized they were poorly matched and Elain took she and Lucien by surprise. That alone suggests that the author knows Elucien will be matched because she moved forward with them as mates, not Nesta and Lucien.

Sarah then freely offered up (not even prompted) where Elain and Lucien would go on vacation, that they're both happiest in nature. One could still argue Elain and Lucien won't end up together but I don't think someone can take away what she said about what makes them happy. Loving nature is a personality trait, regardless of who they're with. But if they end up with someone who loves nature just as they do it can only help their compatibility.

We know Elain is bothered by cruelty.

We know Lucien prefers his words to weapons though both Elain and Lucien will pick up a weapon to defend their loved ones if necessary.

We know Elain is happiest in sunshine.

Lucien, while an ally of the NC, is connected to the Spring Court and Day (Autumn too but I'm pretty sure that's not where his main story is headed), both courts associated with the warmth of the sun.

Lucien laughed himself silly when tricking Feyre into eating the berries.

Elain has now given multiple gag gifts at Solstice.

Both Elain and Lucien are emotionally sensitive, not afraid to show their tears and not afraid to express their love for their friends / family through words and physical embrace.

Neither Elain or Lucien blame others for the things that have happened to them, they often process their trauma internally.

Neither Elain or Lucien actively seek out revenge against those who have wronged them.

They both called Amren cranky at different times.

Sarah made it a point to tell us that Elain refused the Illyrian leathers and though Lucien had to wear them it did not mean he was choosing the NC.

We know both Lucien and Elain take care in their appearance, enjoying fashion.

They are both underestimated by those around them.

They both had loved but lost that love because of traumatic circumstances.

They both easily make friends and are said to be the only ones who truly enjoy parties / balls.

Elain doesn't want to be coddled or fought over and Lucien has only ever given her the space to make her own decisions, even stepping aside for her to go back to Graysen rather than "claiming" her which some fae would feel would be his right.

Sarah said her FMC end up with who they need to be with (not want), the one who offers their character the most growth and she wrote Lucien as being the first and only one of two (with Rhys later being the second) who gave her credit for killing the King).

Moving forward, maybe we'll see Elain and Lucien talking, really talking, and won't feel they're compatible. But honestly, I can't understand how anyone would think that because they (in my opinion) are Sarah's best laid out couple to date. She's had the time / books to build up their individual characters in a way she didn't with any other especially because she seemed to know early on the direction she'd be taking them and I think that's reflected in how perfectly matched Elucien seems to be. She's had the chance to lay out crumb after crumb telling us exactly why they'd be a match even if Elain hasn't let her guard down enough to see it yet but when she does I think they're love story is going to be the most powerful one she's ever written with two characters who are more perfect for one another than we've ever seen.

I think Elain and Lucien will not only be mates and lovers but best friends, more their own found family for two than we've seen from any other FMC. Feyre had the IC, Nesta had the Valkyrie and while I know we'll see friendships between Elain, Lucien and many others across the different courts / lands, I think Elain and Lucien will never find more connection, peace, and happiness - a place to truly be themselves, then what they find when it's just the two of them together.

[egrets-not-regrets]

After Stormbreaker: Little Bird, Problem Children

Of Fin and Feathers AU: In the aftermath of the incident with the Grey Knight, more bonds are formed. Rhitta and Addax are ready to cause problems, but Mara and Broug says "no".

Author's Note: Rhitta is the name of Escanor's giant axe from the Seven Deadly Sins anime. I thought it was fitting. :)

Ocean divider (c) @saradika-graphics

Tagged: @shadowfirecat , @kit-williams , @bleedingichorhearts , @barn-anon , @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan

@sleepyfan-blog, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @bispecsual , @ms--lobotomy , @whorety-k

@gra93fruit-blog, @i-am-a-dragon34, @felinisnoctis

It’s been a night since the wounded mers were brought to the gannet colony’s temporary roost to be stabilized and worked on by healers and apothecaries. Mara frowned. All this damage just from a single Grey Knight. The gannet elder rubbed the bridge of her nose to release some tension and stress. With Lana intensely bonded to this Grey Knight, it added a new complexity to this whole situation. It didn’t help that Lana got badly wounded in the process as well. 

Though it seems like the ones who took the brunt of the injuries were the mers who were chaos-aligned. She wondered if they were specifically targeted. Luckily, they were surprisingly not-too-difficult patients. For the most part. It did help that they were on bedrest and that both Osteron and Zariel, and the Alpha Legion brothers were there. Especially to deal with some of the more restless patients.

Her colony avoided the area where the mers were, being wary of the strange mers that arrived in their temporary roost. Only a select group of healer harpies and their assistants were assigned to assist the apothecaries and care for the injured. 

Mara walked around the healing ward checking in with her harpies and the patients. She passed by one area, hearing the restless World Eater mer loudly argue with the Iron Warrior captain. 

“We should pay blood for blood! Our battle will be legendary!”

“Let’s get that asshole!” A young voice popped up. That’s Rhitta. Oh no. 

“Don’t be daft! You are not going to fight the Grey Knight, Addax! Y’barely survived the last fight with him.”

“The little one agrees with me! He’s a threat—”

Ignoring the World Eater, the captain fixed Rhitta a dour, pointed look, “Child, don’t cause problems. It’s only out of courtesy to Addax that you’re staying here.” 

Mara decided to step in before the situation got out of hand, “I have to agree with Captain Broug, I cannot allow you to fight with the Grey Knight.” 

The chaos Iron Warrior mer shot her a relieved look and straightened his posture, reassured to have Mara’s support in agreement. 

Mara glared at the young harpy and scolded her, “Rhitta, before you get all bloodthirsty and vengeful on Claude and Jophiel’s behalf, remember that Lana’s life is tied with the Grey Knight’s. If he dies, she does as well.”

“Oh.” Rhitta’s feathers deflated at the reminder. 

The elder harpy was annoyed, she had no need to deal with more issues right now, let alone have another merAstartes fight on her claws, “Do not encourage more conflict unless you want your privilege to assist the healers here taken away.”

“She’s not leaving.” Addax growled loudly, scarred chest and tattered fins puffed out in a challenge. 

Broug tensed, ready to act should the Addax start going under the influence of his Nails. He had struck a somewhat strange friendship, no, more like a camaraderie with the World Eater, as both of them had fought together against loyalist forces and other warbands back in their time. Though both of them nearly ended each other when they met again in Ancient Terra with Addax having lost control due to the nails. 

Broug was generally indifferent towards the gannet harpies, he was however not interested in facing the wrath of the Alpha Legion brothers, Erriox and his scoutlings, and possibly the Grey Knight, should Lady Mara get injured. 

“Addax.” He said in a warning tone. 

The World Eater sat up, ignoring the complaints from his healing wounds, his large stature protectively blocking Rhitta from Mara’s view, “No, the little bird is not leaving. My nails have been quiet since she arrived. I can think… clearly right now.” he said. 

“Nails?” Mara asked, looking at Broug in question. 

The Iron Warrior Mer sighed; he did notice that Addax was less… reactive and less aggressive than usual ever since that little harpy came into their space. That was the reason why he even allowed her to stay. “Most World Eater mers from my time, like Addax here, have technology called the ‘Butcher’s Nails’ implanted in their brain. It increases their rage and aggression, making them more formidable on the battlefield.”

Mara heard what Broug left out of his explanation, putting two and two together between what both mers said. It seemed like these nails impair Addax’s other thought processes, which is concerning since aggression is the only thing that is left, making the World Eater a potential threat. Rhitta’s presence, however, took away or dampened the effect of the Butcher’s Nails in Addax’s head. That brought on another question, was Rhitta bonded to Addax? So far, the young one remained quiet, hidden behind the large World Eater mer. 

“Rhitta, dear?” 

“Yeah?”

“Do you feel a bond or magic connecting you to Addax?”

“I think so? Like he feels familiar? I feel safe and comfortable here even though he looks scary.” She became thoughtful and grinned, “but it’s also like I know he’s my partner and we’re gonna fight the world together and cause problems without fear!”

“Yes!” Addax matched her enthusiasm, feeling a surge of fierce pride towards the little harpy.  

Both Mara and Broug replied with a resounding “NO”.

It was disconcerting how there was no familiar biting of the nails deeper into his mind after his outburst. Addax palpated the implants on his skull curiously. This confirmed his suspicions about Rhitta’s presence. For the first time in a long long time, he could feel emotions: pride and amusement; without the pain of the nails’ influence. And all due to this harpy child’s presence. How ridiculous. A rough chuckle emitted from his throat and grew into a laugh, cracked and rough unaccustomed to being able to do so loudly and not quite as long previously. 

A small set of claws tapped on his arm, “Are you ok?” Rhitta asked worriedly. 

“Yes. Yes, I am.” Addax replied, eyes crinkled as he felt relief and something he dared to think is akin to hope. He gently patted Rhitta’s head, marveling at the softness of her crest feathers. Such softness and yet there was no building rage, no compulsion to rip and tear her apart. Rhitta’s resulting giggles made him feel an odd warmth bloom in his chest. Perhaps this was what a bond should feel like or at least how he understood from what the bonded battle brothers had explained. 

Mara’s expression softened as she watched the heartwarming interaction between Addax and Rhitta. She sighed, “Since Rhitta’s presence keeps away the nails’ effects from you, she is allowed to stay.” Rhitta was about to cheer when Mara continued sternly, “However, Addax, you are absolutely not allowed to fight ith the other mers, especially the Grey Knight. You should still be in bed rest while your injuries heal, not looking to pick fights with others.”

The World Eater mer was about to protest, but Broug’s immediate hiss of “shut it” silenced him. 

“Rhitta, since Addax needs to heal, you are not to encourage that behavior. Is that understood?” 

The young harpy gave a little dejected huff before replying, “Yes, Mara. I understand.”

“Good.” Satisfied by their response, the elder harpy turned to Broug, “Captain, would you mind keeping an eye on them? If you need assistance, the apothecaries and Zariel and his brothers are here to help. When Addax is better it will be worth testing how far Rhitta can go before the nails’ effect returns and we will need to discuss the logistics of how to make this work.”

“It’s not the first day, nor the last that I’ve minded that thick skull of his. It will likely be easier with his nails calmed. You have a point however, and I will keep that in mind.” the Iron Warrior mer chuckled. 

Mara gave him a small smile, “My thanks, captain.”

“Of course.”

[navree]

I'm constantly baffled how many writers seem to overlook and mischaracterize Jason when he has arguably the most potential of all the Batkids, or at least the Robins! Like, so much can be built upon wrt his life as an impoverished youth and how that informs his perception of vigilantism, law enforcement, drug abuse, etc. Hell, his resurrection itself is something he had over the rest of the Batfamily for the longest time, before everyone else got a take a turn and it became so overused that Jason's own trauma became a footnote. Alas, most people at DC just treat him as the "Angsty Bad Boy™️" who doesn't play nice with the other kids. He's so wasted, Jason Todd deserves better.

I've always felt that if you're going to try and write a finite narrative out of Jason's story (as opposed to comics) then at some point he should quit vigilantism. His entire adult life has been solely about that and, as someone who for a long time was most famous for dying, he should get the opportunity to live, especially for himself. BUT, so long as he remains a vigilante, he offers a really interesting perspective on vigilantism that you don't really see anywhere else.

Jason, like some of the people I feel have the most reason to be in this life in Batman media (such as Bruce and Dick), has experience being a victim of criminal behavior, yes, but he also has the experience of being on the other side of the window. He knows the criminal element intimately, and from a young age. His father was a low-level criminal, it got him sent to jail and eventually murdered while in jail; Jason grew up in a low-income neighborhood that has been by and large overlooked by Gotham and that allows criminal behavior to breed there to the point where the name Crime Alley no longer refers to a singular event (the murders of the Waynes) but all the other issues there; Jason himself has committed criminal acts when weighing the option between obeying the law and ensuring his own survival. He has a different perspective on criminality and law enforcement and outside enforcement of legal codes than anyone in his life, because he's lived on both sides of the lines and they've both had profound effects on him and should shape how he views the world differently than other people he knows.

Jason's vigilantism, and honestly even how he deals with stuff during his crime lord era, should be motivated by at once knowing that issues don't pop up out of nowhere and that even criminals have interiority, but also a deeper understanding than most as to how the actions of criminals affects not just innocent bystanders but innocents in their own lives. It's a unique perspective that not only enriches Jason as a character but can also provide some pretty thought-provoking conversation about vigilantism and Batman's role in the world and even the concept of extra-legal justice we find in most superhero comics in general that DC could honestly use.

Like yeah, ok, I did find Stephen's monologue about his role as a doctor being that of a healer at the end of the General Strange arc in this year's Doctor Strange hokey, but the way a superhero's personal life informs their actions as a hero is an interesting concept that only gets shallow explorations most of the time, and Batman media could really use it in more depth given how shallow people's understanding of Batman is (Batman's a capitalist Batman's a fascist Batman beats up the mentally ill Batman victimizes the poor, dear God shut up).

And when it comes to Jason's death, it is pretty obvious that, when it comes to the Batfam, DC is trying to recapture that feeling that came with A Death in the Family every time they kill a character off, to try and tap into what made Jason's death such a big thing. But the problem is that they fundamentally do not understand why Jason's death was so big.

For one, and the most shallow reason for it, Jason's death wasn't just death. At the tail end of a series of difficult issues for him, like finding out his dad was murdered in prison and Bruce lied about it, to the debacle with Felipe Garzonas, to Bruce benching him as Robin (which, given that Dick being benched ended with him no longer being Robin and leaving Wayne Manor, it's reasonable to infer that a formerly homeless kid who experienced a significant amount of trauma due to that homelessness would start to worry that no Robin=no longer being able to live with Bruce and having to live on the streets again), Jason ends up trying to find his mother. And when he finds her, this adult woman, who he should be able to trust, if only because she's a grown woman and he's fifteen, deliberately leads him into a trap with someone he is deeply aware is dangerous, points a gun at his head, and tells him that what's about to happen is his fault while he tries and fails to fight his way out of what he knows is going to be a really bad set of minutes. Honestly, more people need to read ADitF, because the sequence of events is a lot more horrifying than pop culture remembers it. Jason is already beaten into the ground by Joker's henchmen before the Joker gets started on him (while Sheila stands back and watches, God) and by the time it's done, half of Joker's suit is colored red instead of purple to represent blood and everyone in that warehouse thinks that Jason is already dead. And then he gets blown up. Jason's death resonated so much not just because of the fact that it happened, and that Bruce felt upset about it, but also because what happened to him was horrifyingly brutal and to date remains one of the truly most sadistic things the Joker has ever done.

For two, Jason's death had an impact because it was meant to stick. Unlike Bruce getting lost in time or Damian getting stabbed, where it was pretty clear that the characters were not going to stay dead, and then by the time you get to Dick and whoever else has died recently, where the audience (and the characters) have no reason to believe that this will be permanent, Jason's death was meant to be the end of the story. Due to Starlin's hatred of Jason as a character (which is weird) and DC in general wanting to move away from kid sidekicks at the time, Jason was supposed to die and then stay dead forever; there's a reason why the saying was "nobody stays dead in comics except for Jason Todd, Bucky Barnes, and Uncle Ben", because he was meant to, you know, stay dead. It hits because the audience itself, along with Bruce and Dick and Alfred and Barbara and everyone else in Jason and Robin's life, thought that this was the last we would see of Jason Todd alive and that he would never come back ever again. It's also why his resurrection packs so much more of a punch than anyone else's either, both in universe and out of universe.

For three, Jason's death was greatly helped by the meta-narrative in a way that nobody else's has been. Because, the eighties was a period of a lot of change for DC, and especially for Batman due to the popularity of The Killing Joke (which wasn't even supposed to be canon, yet by the time Jason died Barbara was already confirmed in canon to be paralyzed and therefore have the events of that book take place) and especially The Dark Knight Returns. Which means that the eighties was when people started writing darker Batman stories, and they kept going from there, and the characterization got darker along with it (seriously, read something from the early eighties and then something from, like, the 2010s, the difference is insane) as Batman slowly just because a darker and more sullen character. And because that change coincided with Jason dying, and there was an initial attempt to push a sort of "Jason's murder is turning Bruce into a crazy person" message to really show audiences how badly Bruce was dealing with the situation, it creates this sort of in-universe progression where Jason's murder fundamentally altered Bruce in a way that has, so far, proven utterly irreversible.

It's not just that Bruce's son was murdered and that he's had to deal with the grief and trauma of that loss, it's that the grief and trauma of that lost basically completely shattered Bruce and he is never going to be able to put himself back together again. He is never going to return to who he was before Jason died even though the initial hurt has literally been reversed because Jason was resurrected and subsequently re-entered his life. Jason's death was so calamitous, so monumentally awful, that it changed who Bruce was as a person in a way that can never be undone or reversed, and most of the people in his life these days don't even know what Bruce was like before, while the people who do know just have to live with the fact that Bruce as he was then is as dead as Jason was (this fic by @damianbugs really gets to the unique tragedy of the whole thing so go read that). None of the other Batfam deaths have that, not even Stephanie's, which was also meant to be permanent before it got retconned, and so they don't hit as hard because they not only don't have much impact on the audience, they don't even have much impact on Bruce as a character, certainly not anywhere near that Jason's did in both intensity and longlasting effect.

The problem is that DC didn't really didn't expect Under the Red Hood to be as popular as it was, so they kept Jason around without really knowing what to do with him or having any plan for him, which is a choice we're still feeling the consequences of today in that they both still don't really know what to do with him and really resent him for it, along with his longterm popularity in all of his iterations. And fandom itself likes to just hew to tropes with no basis in canon whatsoever based on the shallowest understanding of all characters, including Jason, so that's not even helping matters much, and why I stick to my own bubble.

[monsieuroverlord]

X-Men #1 Thoughts:

Wasn't bad. I thought it was more on the expository side, but for a first issue of a new era, that's not a negative.

Spoilers:

I'm very happy we haven't completely forgotten Krakoa. A police chief comes and visits the X-Men base (an old Orchis Sentinel factory in Alaska) and Beast gives her a tour.

He makes a subtle comment about how he sorta missed out on Krakoa (you'll know what he means if you've read X-Force).

Glob Herman is also there, running the greenhouse for food! No sign of his chickens, but there's still time.

There's also a discussion of the tension between the town and the X-Men base, as the sentinel factory shutting down cost a lot of people their jobs. To me, its very reminiscent of how building privately-owned prisons near small towns often creates a lot of stable jobs and is seen as relatively favorable by the community at first, but it also makes the town heavily reliant on it, and if it ever shuts down, the local economy absolutely tanks. Not to mention, there's a huge stigma that comes with being a prison town and no new growth occurs and the area stagnates. (Definitely a phenomenon in US rural towns, one of my Honors classes in college had a unit on prison systems in the US and it was eye-opening, to put it mildly).

Xorn is also at the base, and he's the team healer. For some reason, he's back in the Morrison jacket.

Finally, on he roof, Magneto introduces himself, and he's going by Max again, which is his original name, I believe. He also has a cool hover chair, much like Xavier's hovering wheelchair thing. He intimidates the police chief a bit, but McCoy manages to make sure everything goes relatively well. No blood was shed, so the better than usual.

Cyclops and field team are out on an Orchis-related mission -- six mutant signatures have just cropped up and they initially assume its a few newer mutants captured by an Orchis remnant calling themselves "Fourth School". They believe they need to become a mix of AI, Human, and Mutant to overcome all three.

Wolverine was close enough in the area, so Cyclops asked him to check it out, and then they received s physic distress call from him after he was captured. The Fourth School had tortured him a bit, harvested some organs for genetic material, etc.

Cain and Illyana already have a hilarious dynamic, bantering back and forth, playing rock-paper-scissors and trying to one-up each other in the fight.

Idie and Quentin have a conversation about Krakoa in the midst of fighting. Idie makes a comment about how the X-Men failed her and how she was thrown in the Pit, making a jab at Quentin for doing X-Force sanctioned crimes and pointing out the hypocrisy. There's also a callback to the Jean Grey School days, and even Quentin mentioning how he used to do Kick.

Idie is the real powerhouse of this issue, both freezing and melting all sentinels and Orchis members in her wake. Absolute star of the show.

I also sincerely hope this doesn't lead back to another romance between Quentin and Idie. I just think Idie needs a chance to grow on her own, maybe meet back up with Nekra for some advice on occasion, you know? I really liked that dynamic in Exiles.

Psylocke grabs Wolverine, and he's healing back up. She doesn't have a lot of dialogue this issue, but there is a really cool moment where she comes out of the shadows and psychically wrecks the Orchis agents.

It turns out the six new mutants are actually Orchis agents and full grown adults. The new suspicion is that genetic tampering is at play, but the question is how did they successfully activate 6 different people all at once so well that Cerebro pinged them as mutants?

Regardless, The X-Men quickly defeat them as they don't have the combat experience to use their powers well.

There's also a secret round table of benefactors for the Orchis Fourth School, and they're not happy with the X-Men defeat. It seems like they are set up as the new "Big Bad" of this era.

Mission is complete, Beast is tasked with investigating the Fourth School and all their fancy tech. Logan heads off back toward Canada, and we got some insight on his current feelings, which I found particularly interesting:

Positives: Its not explicitly related to Akihiro (I'm still being a huge worrywart about Hellverine). And weirdly, this mindset feels more in-character to me than the conclusion of Wolverine #50. Logan's a tired old man who has had to rebuild so many times in his life. It makes sense that seems to be exhausted and burnt out right now, but still willing to help the X-Men on occasion.

Like, he went through a hell of a lot in the Sabretooth War. Maybe it makes sense that he doesn't have the healthiest coping mechanisms and buried it down while the war was going on, but now its over and its all bubbling to the surface.

I hope we see more of that in the upcoming Wolverine run. And Hellverine is still heavily on my mind, so I'm cautious as fuck right now. I still maintain he was not sad and self-hating enough by the end of Wolverine #50 -- we were pretending he had "fixed" everything with his son during Krakoa. He should be even more devastated then he ever was before. And this is including the times he killed his own son, because it means in his dumb macho-brain, he had "earned forgiveness" and it was BRUTALLY taken away (AGAIN), but I digress.

The issue ends with a shot of giant frozen sentinel, as Beast requested a team to help dismantle it, but Cyclops said to leave it for now to remind the town what they owe the X-Men (implying that they saved the town from this massive sentinel).

My Overall Thoughts:

Like I said, its very exposition heavy, but I don't think that's a bad thing. This issue does a really good job in setting up characterizations -- individual voices, their motives, current contexts post-Krakoa, etc. It also sets up the tensions, potential future conflicts, dilemmas, interpersonal fights, etc. Its all set-up and gives you a pretty good idea on what this book is going to be about without requiring you to go back and read too many previous issues. And if you want to, the key words like "Jean Gray School" are there, so its not too subtle as to get you too confused with different runs.

Like I said, Idie is the star here and I love her.

There are some fun moments, and I think this run has potential.

[emmy-dekarios-bg3]

Heart of the Weave - chapter 25

Our food arrives so we sit back down at the table after several minutes of dancing and laughing. Oh, man, when Gale laughs, when he smiles so big, it gives me the best feeling inside. It’s as if a swarm of butterflies are dancing around in my stomach or an overwhelming sensation of excitement is bursting through the seams. Sigh. I love being the only people up here – outside of the staff, of course.

“Oh this food looks delectable,” Gale comments. “Thank you Jamus, for all you do. Say, how is your brother doing?”

Jamus clears his throat and nervously smiles, and it worries me for a moment. Why is he acting so skittish? Is he normally like this?

“He’s excelling in his career as a full-time healer for folks who need it. Sometimes he travels to Neverwinter, but most of the time he’s in Baldur’s Gate. However, he will be moving out there soon enough… It’s bad right now, and it’s only about to get worse. I thought it was terrible before, when the Absolute was the biggest concern in the world. The horrors in Baldur’s Gate right now are about to spread like wildfire and everyone will either be affected or killed.”

Gale and I pause, staring at each other in bewilderment and trying to comprehend what he’s talking about. I’m not surprised Baldur’s Gate is once again under fire, but also, I was hoping for continuous peace.

“What are you talking about?” I ask. “What’s happening?” My first assumption was the tadpole, but I know damn well that’s impossible. But what else could be “spreading”? Some sort of outbreak, maybe?

“Oh, you haven’t heard. My apologies. Well… It’s the Bhaalists. Those bloodthirsty, evil freaks who are human but act like monsters to please their God… Which, I know you’re aware of.”

“Yes, we killed Bhaal’s chosen. Orin.”

“Yes, well, there have been horrible murder sprees. Worse than ever before. Several are trying to become Bhaal’s chosen to replace Orin. It’s not safe. People in the city are having to hide in the woods or travel to the mountains to escape. Still, some are found unfortunately. That’s all I really know. I hope someone intervenes, and I am begging to the Gods that Jasik makes it here safely. I’ve been worried. What’s worse is, I’m sure Waterdeep will be targeted at some point also.” FUCK. Just what we need. If it’s not one fatal issue, it’s another. I guess now really is a great time for Jenevelle, Gale, and myself to be immortal, though this isn’t an unusual predicament for us. Still, at least our baby should be okay. I hate that we had to find all of this out during a romantic dinner.

“Just keep your eyes peeled. They’re everywhere,” Jasik adds. “Though, who knows. Baldur’s Gate could be the only target.”

“You say that now, but eventually the city will run out of people for them to obliterate. The cult will, I assume, either kill each other or target other cities THEN kill each other. It;s only a matter of time before we find out.” Gale is right – it’s just a matter of time before everything turns to pure shit. I close my eyes, noticing images of Gortash, Orin, and Ketheric in front of my very eyes. Those vile monsters who are still managing to make this world turn into chaos, despite the fact all three of them are dead.

We make it home rather late, but Jenevelle is still awake somehow. I notice the baby’s eyes wide as she smiles and giggles at Karlach.

“I promise you both, I tried to get her to bed but all she wanted to do was play. What can I say, though? I’m Auntie Karlach.” I laugh as she hands me Jenevelle, who looks thrilled to see me.

“She definitely enjoys having you around, and why wouldn’t she?” I respond, smiling down at my baby. She begins reaching for me so she can nurse.

“So that’s what it is. She just wanted your goods! Little miss had me fooled. Anyway, I’ll see you both later. I’m exhausted and have to hang out with Wyll’s dad tomorrow. It’s a long story.” She doesn’t exactly sound thrilled, but I guess it’s important to hang out with your in-laws every once in a while, right? I think since both of her parents are dead, she’s wanting to have some sort of bond with a parental figure of some sorts. She’s brought it up to me a few times in the past.

“Thank you, Karlach. You truly are a treasure,” Gale tells her with sincerity. Her face lights up as she opens the door to leave.

“D’aw, friend! Don’t mention it!” As Karlach closes the door behind her, Gale sits down on the sofa next to me while I nurse Jenevelle. It’s apparent that he knows I’m worried about the Bhaal cultist situation, judging by the way he’s studying my face. In the past, they weren’t trying to kill Orin; she had them by a leash. Now it seems to be a fierce murder spree that’s getting worse by the second. How was tonight the first I heard about it?

“Are you alright? I’m so sorry if your night was ruined. I tried to make it so special for you… For your birthday.” His voice is dreary along with his puppy dog eyes.

“What? Oh honey, no. You made it more special than I could’ve imagined. Now that we’re immortal, birthdays aren’t a ‘thing’ anyways. With that in mind, you gave me an incredible night I won’t forget.” He smiles and takes my hand within his, rubbing my knuckles gently with his thumb.

“I just hope everything is alright.”

“Unfortunately, this issue going on in Baldur’s Gate is outside our control. It never stops. I guess the Bhaalists are nothing compared to what we fought before.” He sighs and hesitates, as if something else is lingering in that intelligent brain of his.

“Since they’re not being stopped, that means we may have to intervene.” I hate how right he is; who else would team up and do it? With us being the ones who defeated the elder brain, I have a feeling everyone will be depending on us anyway.

“What about Jenevelle?” I question, worried who would be watching her or how this will play out overall. “We can’t leave her with anyone unless they happen to be immortal, too. You know, in the case of Bhaalists.”

“I know she’s immortal but I still worry about our baby. Man… My ghasts are flabbered. Let’s talk with the others tomorrow and see what they think. One of us may have to stay home with her.”

If it means protecting my daughter, immortal or not, I’m all for it; though, this means Gale and I will be separated from each other for a hot minute. I kiss Jenevelle’s forehead as she starts to become sleepy, then hand her off to Gale who hasn’t been able to hold her much today. I smile at her as she falls asleep comfortably in his arms.

I keep thinking about our friends left behind and if they’ll even be able to fight off these cultists alone. Halsin. Jaheira. Minsc. Even Lae’zel, who I assume is the Astral Planes still, but it’s worth worrying about. Then I come to remember that we have Withers – how could I forget about him? We’ll reach out to him to summon our friends bright and early tomorrow. My brain is racing from the stress and anxiety, causing me to have issues falling asleep. Gale however seems to be unbothered and resting peacefully beside me.

I get out of bed and head down the stairway to the kitchen so I can grab a glass of water and a little snack, thinking it might help ease my mind just a little. As I make it to the kitchen, I hear Tara’s little feet tapping around on the floor.

“Emmy? Darling, is everything alright?”

“Oh, sorry to disturb you, Tara. Just coming down to eat something. Ugh… Gods. I want to quit thinking about that damned murder cult.” She flies up toward me, her gaze holding onto mine.

“Truth is, they’ll always be around. There will constantly be evil lurking about, especially from those Bhaal worshippers. They will stop at nothing to please their disgusting God.”

“The thing is…they’re on a rampage. It’s like a competition to see who can become his favorite. The nastier, more disgusting murders, the better. His Chosen has been dead and there’s basically a breeding cow that’s been creating so many Bhaalspawn to worship him. He craves the attention, but also craves their deaths. All the cultists are killing everyone, and each other, so he can have a new Chosen.” The thought of all this is disturbing me, though it’s nothing new. I just can’t imagine how many are out there right now, and it’s only a matter of time before they spread to other cities.

“How are you going to stop them, dear? There’s only so much you can do.” She’s right. No matter what we do, there will always be Bhaal assassins or cultists on every corner. We can at least try to locate the source of them… The ‘breeding cow’ for instance. Maybe there’s more than just that, maybe there’s another source.

“When the sun rises, we’ll discuss the next steps with our companions. Either Gale or myself will stay here with Jenevelle.” I hear footsteps tiptoeing down the stairs, and I realize it’s Gale. He usually comes down around this time for a glass of milk and then back to bed, but this wasn’t exactly the case here.

“Baby, what are you doing? Stress-walking in the middle of the night, huh?” He seems genuinely concerned, and he knows this entire situation is eating me alive.

“Yes…Yes I am.”

“Come back to bed and we can talk about it.” His voice is sleepy yet so gentle, and the smile on his face brings me a glimmer of joy. I smile back and follow him up the stairs to our room, where I basically tell him exactly what I told Tara. However, I started to fall asleep as I addressed my concerns and I didn’t even get to finish telling him everything that’s on my mind. Mmm. The numbness as the body falls into a slumber is so relaxing.

[cancerian-woman]

🔥 + Hope Mikaelson

unpopular opinion about Hope Mikaelson…I got a few actually.

Tyler being successful in trying to kill Hope would’ve saved her from loads of trauma she gets in her life. I know how it looks and full disclosure before somebody gets the wrong idea I love Hope lol. Hope unfortunately was doomed the moment Elijah labeled her the family’s savior and then the plot constantly treated Hope as an adult. When she went from ages 0-19/20? However, I have seen plenty of Mikaelson fans be pissed at Hope for how she acted in s5. I mean, she’s acting like a teenager. Which she was, not an adult. She was always in charge of holding that family together that needed to separate and break that co-dependency. People were mad Hope didn’t kiss her grown 1000 year old Daddy & Uncle asses when she had every right to be pissed at her family in both TO/LGCS. Hope only became the tribrid for self-sacrificing reasons NOT because she wanted too legitimately. In a way Tyler did want to prevent this type of situation on a child. Yes, it was extreme but he had his motives.

Hope’s life from being distant to her family to the constant protector or healer due to magic for her friends/family is very identical to Bonnie. Alaric’s main reason for getting Hope to the school in the first place was to be the protector of everyone. Elijah thought she’d be good for the family. Something to bring everyone together. She’s their “HOPE” literally lmao… Bonnie does that with her friends and by proxy the whole town. Bonnie and Hope parallel each other deeply on multiple accounts yet Bonnie is never going to be considered as powerful or “deserving of that power” I should say because she’s black and Hope is white. Bonnie’s last name is Bennett and we know how glorified the Mikaelsons by the fandom.. I’ve seen people compare traumas between them and really? It’s all the same but Hope’s emotions are shown. An example being: Hope/Bonnie “dying” and begging Enzo/Hayley to stay and die with them. A lot of Hope and Bonnie debates are faulty when people fail to credit that without Bonnie the tvdu witches (even the ones in the Bennett bloodline after Bonnie) do not have a blueprint on their own.

Lastly, Marcel’s relationship with Klaus/the Mikaelson’s is much more interesting than Hope. Klaus and Hope we don’t see a lot and what we do see is always timed. Haylope took up all the time. Klope has the soft moments but mainly those are where Hope’s a child and can’t give an opinion to Klaus’ bullshit. Love him but we all know who Klaus is lmao. Klarcel has more layers to it. Marcel DOES love Klaus but he isn’t going to excuse his or the Mikaelson’s shit just because their family. They don’t show enough of Marcel’s childhood to show us if there was errors in how Klaus raised him but we know Klaus/Elijah mentality did have an impact on how Marcel connects with other people. Same, could be said for Hope with others or her family but they simply didn’t have that time. Klaus understands and admitted to Marcel he fucked up and was trying to fix it but couldn’t do it. Elijah/Klaus admitted they wronged Hope but died and didn’t even attempt to fix their problems with her. But, full disclosure and no offense to anybody who reads this part: you can’t acknowledge Marcel’s position vs. Hope’s position in the family without acknowledging the racial issues in the writing. TO heavily sits on Hope being the “good change” in the family while Marcel(the former adoptive child) represents another flaw for the family. Oh, and one can’t forget Rebekah’s husband. I will say this Hope and Klaus are the only two that constantly sees Marcel as family. No, matter if he is disowning Klaus at the moment or if Hope is pissed at everyone.

[shmowder]

Hiya! Back for round two of sharing my patho characters as i actually changed my mind I do feel comfortable sharing one of my patho self inserts (My self inserts aren’t one to one projections of me for the most part just bits and pieces!!)

This one’s Name is Falin dankovsky, Falin is only a year younger then our dear bachelor and is our very own bachelors lovely spouse their relationship is very stable and loving even if both are very work focused they will always find some time for the other even if it’s something as minor as just sitting in silence, and in the later days of the game their relationship is the only thing keeping the other stable as the common thought is “I need to keep him alive…I will die for him if needed” they absolutely fight over petty things though they love eachother but will argue over things that seems utterly nonsensical to anyone who isn’t them.

Falin is a psychologist! And one of the healers, who really wants to help everyone he comes across he hasn’t become jaded with his job if anything he is far too empathetic towards people often leading him to be pulled into rabbit holes in order to help the sick. He does however often act before thinking and has difficulties asking for help meaning issues that could easily be solved linger for days since he can’t properly advocate for himself. But he is a good listener and offers advice/ solutions to others when he can even if it causes him issues later on, he unfortunately kinda has a martyr mentality where someone must be willing to sacrifice themself to help others and it has to be him nobody else is allowed. 

Falin’s reason for being involved in the main plot is he got a letter asking him to get a man with the last name Stamatin declared mentally sound so he may be executed for a murder which he’s like I can look into it sure but I’d prefer if we got him institutionalized and maybe not murdered for his crime?, Falin leaves for the town a day after Daniil leaves meaning the bachelor has no clue the other is in the town at all until the morning of the second day.

Once falin gets off the train someone attempts to murder him however only succeeds in giving the psychologist a minor concussion, Falin ends up waking up in a grave meeting Clara who claims that she’s his younger sister she tells him ‘we are both born from the same grave’ Falin is like yeah sure why not? I believe this weird child in this graveyard…why shouldn’t I? And then she drops on him “oh you can do miracles too btw” then immediately peace’s out and falin’s like….huh? What the hell does she mean? But falin learns quickly that his blood can reverse death! So the issue is he can’t cure the plague in someone until after they’ve passed and even then that runs the risk of bringing them back completely wrong! But another issue is the question of is that what the dead what have wanted?

Then here’s some Other important character notes: Falin is a trans man which causes him to be slightly paranoid around others due to the fear of people finding out this and turning on him so he is constantly keeping a balance act of hoping nobody notices why he doesn’t have facial hair, why his chest seems rounded and why his voice is so high. he also is borderline so that doesn’t make his fear of others turning on him any the better as Falin is constantly convinced everyone will leave either due to his status as a trans man or because they secretly hate him without knowing that….please get him onto some meds he needs them badly…he’s just having an awful time all around. The only other characters he actively is friendly towards is Daniil, Clara, anna and Eva. with Clara their dynamic is very much so two siblings constantly fighting over literally everything with where their only argument to the other is to the lines of “well I’m older!” And “Well I’m moms favorite so I get to cure the plague” I also want the meta reason for them being siblings being that their dolls were marketed as siblings kinda like Barbie and her sisters or something similar? If that makes sense?

He’s either neutral to everyone else or they are actively hostile towards him, The kains and the Stamatins are ones who are most hostile towards him for obvious reasoning however after Falin’s ability is exposed the kains want him to bring back Simon and aren’t above using the only family Falin has as leverage to get that goal. He actively believes the mistresses as well as why wouldn’t he? Both he and his sister make similar claims so why shouldn’t he believe them as well?. The house he places the most respect into would be the Saburovs for fairly obvious reasoning but he’s very snippy with Alexander at times since falin doesn’t do well with male authority figures at all (it’s the daddy issues!)

During day 5 to day 10 he gets his period leading his exhaustion meter to deplete further his dialogue with others get more snappy and the hunger meter drops quicker, he also has less blood to spare on those days so you can’t bring back any dead bounds and once those bounds are dead for longer then two days they are completely gone meaning Falin can either bleed himself utterly dry or can risk failing others, oh and if he bleeds himself too much he passes out and gets a lecture from Daniil when he comes too. Not overly sure on what his ending would be but it’d probably be him siding with either Daniil or Clara’s way of going about things and aiding their ending.

Oh one bonus thing for fun! Falin and franziska would met a couple times and Falin thanks her for being kind to Clara and gives her some ammo and an egg as a small thanks for being nice to his younger sister but overall they really aren’t overly chill with eachother on account of dankovsky and Franz praying the other dies every single night before bed.

-immune anon back again! Submitting another one of my own character sillies! I do apologize for how long this is lol once I get rambling I can’t stop rambling!! :P

Welcome back! And with another amazing OC, banger after banger I swear.

It's very sweet that their relationship is stable with the Bachelor; Daniil isn't the easiest person to get along with, let alone share a life with. He still deserves love like anyone else, both of them constantly putting in the effort to ensure each other's comfort and needs are met is the epitome of love.

And only one year younger! Does that mean they met in university 👀 or high school sweethearts? I love relationships that are built on friendships.

Fighting over petty things is just Daniil's love language dw, he is just built like that. Happy to see Falin give him a taste of his own medicine too.

God, it's genius how you weaved him into the story! Alexander just sent a letter to the first psychologist he got recommended because he's still not over how Peter weaselled his way out of punishment.

The both of them having no idea they're going to the same place. Daniil is on one of his work trips to meet a supposed immortal man after an old colleague, Isidor Burakh, sent him an invitation offering arrangements.

While Falin received a letter asking for a psychological evaluation of a man whose last name sounds really similar to that famous architect who built the Capital bridge.

THE CLARA SUBPLOT I CAN'T

IT'S SO FITTING OF HER

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Falin: So how are we siblings?

Clara: Wouldn't you like to know, miracle boy.

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I absolutely adore the meta reason of them being siblings! They come in packs! Do not separate!!! oh, my heart, that's so precious. Even tho they just met, they feel this connection as if they've known each other from a long time ago.

Maybe the toy set was marketed as the "Miracle siblings!" or something. The two sandcastle kids took it literally but then had a fight and separated Falin and Clara.

The "I'm mom's favourite" line took me out.

Finally, some bpd rep. God I relate to him so much, that paranoia really never goes away and it blends itself so well with your own thoughts that it's hard to separate the shadows from the truth.

Bpd is also a personality disorder, rather than a chemical imbalance in the brain like depression. Meds can't "cure" it, only lessen the symptoms. It's a learned pattern of behaviour that one must unlearn.

Why do I feel Alexander would be lowkey touched by someone being snippy with him in a daddy issues way? Sure, he will never show it, but at least he got to experience the equivalent of being a dad dealing with a moody teenager for like a couple minutes. He would never tolerate any disrespect towards his wife, however. Falin is welcome to blame and curse him out as long as Katerina's name stays off his tongue.

There is a symbolic parallel between him bleeding himself out to bring people back to life, equating his blood to the worth of gold, then being hit with his period, preventing him from using his miracles for a while.

It's having a choice that's the moral. One was him giving his blood out of his own agency, taking it out of his own body and using it for good.

The other was blood forcibly being taken out from him in the form of a period. Suddenly that blood is draining him and exhausting, removing all his agency as he has no choice but to endure it. It especially hurts more with how much he is worried about others figuring out he is trans.

The one thing special and extremely helpful is being twisted and weaponise against him, threatening to expose his identity while stealing away his magic.

I'm glad to see Falin and Franziska are friends! or at least know each other. I love when OCs are connected and have intertwined stories.

[masterghandalf]

Embers Review: Part II

Embers Review: Part II

Wow, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? First, I’d meant to get this review up pretty soon after the first part (here), then I’d meant to get to it shortly after wrapping up my reread/commentary of the whole fic (here, and then that got away from me, too! But, finally, we are here with the long-awaited second part of my Embers review; let’s do this! Anyway, last time on our journey through Vathara’s epic Avatar: The Last Airbender fic Embers, we introduced the fic, discussed what I liked about it, raised the question of whether the fic is really Fire Nation apologism as it’s commonly accused of being, and gave a rundown of a lot of the worldbuilding of Vathara’s version of the Avatarverse. I’d initially planned to wrap things up in two parts, but I’ve since decided that characters deserve a whole section to themselves, because this fic has so damned many of them, both canon and OCs, and talking about them deserves a lot of space. So today, we’ll be discussing that, looking at canon characters first and then at Vathara’s various OCs. I’ll note that this isn’t meant to be an exhaustive rundown of every character in the entire fic, just the ones who contribute something of note to the story as a whole. Next time, we’ll wrap things up by looking at the overall story, the fic’s themes (both the ones Vathara is trying to communicate, and some that I think probably slipped in subconsciously) and the fic’s relationship to its source material, as well as my overall thoughts. If that sounds interesting to you, join us after the cut!

For fair warning, this part of the review will be mostly critical, because I rather strongly disagree with Vathara’s interpretations of a lot of the major canon characters and/or what she does with them, and while I like a lot of her OCs conceptually, I have issues with how a lot of them are used in the broader context of the fic. That said, once again I’d like to stress that though I’m critical of many aspects of this fic, it’s not intended to be a personal attack on anyone who does like it; different strokes and all that. With that out of the way, onward!

Canon Characters Zuko: In canon, Aang was the primary protagonist and Zuko was the deuteragonist and foil; Embers reverses those roles, making Zuko the primary protagonist, and he’s clearly Vathara’s favorite character and she wants to give him a lot of time to shine. Unfortunately, I feel like in her drive to put Zuko at the center of the story, Vathara ends up overwriting a lot of what makes the original character compelling to begin with. Canon Zuko, despite being a prince, is very often the underdog, a talented but “normal” firebender who continually has to struggle against everything the universe can throw at him. Embers Zuko, though, is special. He’s a yaoren. He’s a dragon-child. He’s a fire-healer. He was secretly a super-talented firebender all along. He’s a Fire Nation great name (and Vathara puts a lot more emphasis on the status of the Fire Nation aristocracy – and aristocracy in general – than canon does). He’s Kuzon’s reincarnation. The White Lotus was secretly grooming him to be the world’s savior if the Avatar never returned. Even his characteristic bad luck is actually revealed to be a side-effect of a bargain between the spirits! It’s all just a bit much, and for all the fic rails against acting like the whole world revolves around Aang, it often feels like it just shifts things so everything revolves around Zuko instead. This also leads to the weird running theme where it feels like every aspect of Zuko’s personality is somehow tied to his being a dragon-child/great name/yaoren etc.

Another aspect of canon Zuko that the fic papers over is his moral ambiguity, and how he’s torn between what his conscience tells him his right, versus what his society and especially his father have told him he’s supposed to be doing. Embers sands off a lot of Zuko’s rough edges from the get-go, giving him an altruistic motive (keeping Azula off the throne) for wanting to capture Aang and become Fire Lord that he never had in canon, explaining how his canonical acts like attacking the Southern Water Tribe and Kyoshi Island were never really that bad, and generally acting like the Gaang should have always understood he was an honorable opponent who never meant them serious harm. When push comes to shove, his internal conflict also gets resolved rather easily at the end of the Ba Sing Se arc as he breaks with his father officially with a minimum of fuss. Beyond that, Zuko is pretty consistently presented as someone who is experienced in the ways of the world (except when he needs basic things about dragons, spirits, society outside the Fire Nation, etc. explained to him…) in contrast to the Gaang, who are presented as ineffectual and naïve, with the exception of Toph. On top of that, it often feels like his canonical trauma from suffering and abuse is used as something of a bludgeon to shut down anyone who judges or criticizes him (and is made worse than in canon, as well, including details like Azula repeatedly trying to kill him when they were children) while other characters’ trauma isn’t given the same courtesy. In general, I just can’t help but feeling like the fic shoots itself in the foot – in its efforts to make Zuko cool, it ends up with everything that makes Zuko Zuko getting lost in the shuffle.

Iroh: The fic’s handling of Iroh is… unusual. For the first half of the fic or so, he’s one of the most in-character of the entire main cast, and Zuko-Iroh bonding moments are something Vathara generally is very good at. He does get some of the same treatment as Zuko regarding having his edges sanded off, but it’s less noticeable because even in canon, Iroh’s already had his character development from ruthless warlord to wise old master before the series actually began. On the downside, once the fic hits the halfway point and especially once Shidan enters the picture, Iroh’s characterization takes a nosedive. It almost feels like Vathara has decided Zuko has traded up to a better mentor and doesn’t need Iroh anymore, since it turns out there’s a lot going on that Iroh doesn’t know about, his plans with the White Lotus have inadvertently helped make Zuko’s life worse, and there’s just not much he can offer that Zuko can’t do better for himself – even Iroh notes that Zuko’s battle plan against General Fong is better than he would have done. And then in the final arc Iroh and Zuko just end up feuding with each other for no real reason, like Vathara has decided she just has to have conflict between them – and in the end, Zuko gets vindicated and the two of them rather quickly reconcile, making it feel all the more like a sudden plot device. I’m just genuinely not certain what happened here.

Aang: As mentioned previously, Aang and Zuko more-or-less have their spots swapped, with Zuko becoming the main protagonist, and Aang becoming the deuteragonist and foil. And Vathara admits that she has a hard time writing Aang, and it shows. Aang isn’t really presented as evil or a bad person, but his portrayal is still very negative in that he is presented as a naïve, ignorant child who means well but has no idea what he’s doing, no real conception of the consequences of his actions, and consistently makes every situation he’s involved in worse. Furthermore, by her own admission Vathara has a hard time getting into his mindset and value system, especially his pacifism, so his commitment to Air Nomad values is mostly reduced to him spouting hollow platitudes all the time and expecting everyone to agree with him about them, and being confused when they don’t. From his arrival in the Fire Nation in the back half of the fic onwards, he also falls into a rut where he seems to have an epiphany, only to immediately forget it and screw something else up, resulting in him needing to be lectured by everyone else again until he has his next epiphany and the process repeats; only by the very end of the fic does it feel like his lessons have actually stuck. He’s also presented as being entirely ignorant not only of the way other cultures work (Vathara has to handwave to explain why Aang, who had implicitly spent much of his childhood traveling with Gyatso and had friends in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, could be so sheltered), what dragons are and even his own people’s “true” history, and so constantly needs other people to explain these things to him. Now, Vathara does ultimately allow Aang to start maturing and to save the world… but it feels like it takes a very long, rather uncomfortable road to get there.

Katara: Ooof. If Vathara doesn’t seem to get Aang, she seems to really have it out for Katara. Katara is presented as manipulative, self-righteous, selfish, judgmental, ignorant, parochial, and outright homicidal towards Zuko in particular and the Fire Nation in general, a terrible influence on Aang, and we get several lengthy ANs explaining just how horrible Vathara thinks she is in detail. Further underscoring this point, whereas Zuko’s childhood trauma is played for sympathy, Katara’s is presented as the reason why she is (in Vathara’s opinion) so profoundly messed up as a person without the same sort of empathy. Even her canonical Team Mom role is ultimately presented as her using her noncanon waterbender mind-control powers to essentially force the people around her into a found-family relationship, regardless of whether that’s what they actually want or not. Now, ultimately, after an extended humiliation conga during the Ba Sing Se and Beach arcs and nearly dying from element sickness, Vathara does seem to decide Katara has suffered enough and lets her somewhat redeem herself and drift closer to her canonical characterization, but it still feels like she’s the least prominent and developed of the Gaang after that point, is still a bad influence on Aang, and provides the opening for the sea serpent to attack the Gaang and Zuko. So even at her best, the fic’s Katara feels very much like a mixed bag. I genuinely wonder if Vathara just took Katara’s third-quarter-of-book-three anger at Zuko, stripped away all the context from that, and decided it was her default mode and everything else was just pretending, because that’s what it often feels like.

Toph: Toph, like Zuko, is clearly one of Vathara’s favorite characters. Her primary role is to be the voice of reason in the Gaang - she’s the only one who’s practical, the only one who actually befriends Zuko, and the only one who understands how the world really works (which results in the odd situation where Toph – whose entire understanding of the war before joining the Gaang came from spying on her dad’s business meetings – understands the war itself, the political and military situation, and Fire Nation culture better than people who’ve actually lived these things). Unfortunately, it feels like the end result of a lot of this is that Toph seems to exist largely to do three things – to do cool earthbending stuff, to be right while the Gaang is wrong, and to be Zuko’s bff (to the point that while he’s fighting the sea serpent, the human connection that keeps him going is Toph rather than Iroh). And like with Vathara’s take on Zuko, it feels like all of this leaves relatively little room for who Toph actually is.

Sokka: Weirdly, Sokka may be the one who feels the most like an actual person out of the whole main cast. He doesn’t get shilled the way Zuko and Toph do, but he also doesn’t really get bashed the way Aang and Katara do, either. He clearly believes in his culture’s values, but he’s also willing to see other people’s point of view. He’s actually recognizable as his canonical self, something that a lot of the other characters aren’t, and he gets some good moments with Aang and Katara that actually feel genuine. He even gets the kill on Ozai in the final battle! On the other hand, Vathara does something really weird with him in the later part of the fic, where he gets forcibly spiritually adopted by Temul and made spiritually part Fire Nation… because every character Vathara likes has to have some connection to the Fire Nation and/or aristocracy? Now, the fic admits this isn’t supposed to be a good thing – Temul wasn’t doing Sokka a favor, she wanted to hurt Aang by stealing one of his friends – but it still feels like in the actual story it only has positive consequences (as Sokka gets new understanding of the Fire Nation and free lessons from a master swordswoman out of the bargain), and in the end the plotline sort of gets swept under the rug without amounting to much of note. It’s just a really weird choice for the character.

Azula: Hoo, boy. I have issues with what Vathara does with Azula. First off, in the first part of the fic Azula is basically the most visible antagonist, and it feels like Vathara just wrote her by going down a list of stereotypical “sociopath” traits and checking them off. The result is that Azula, while not necessarily more evil than her canon self feels differently evil, if that makes sense, with a lot of focus on her hurting people, messing with their minds or wanting to cause death and destruction for the lulz rather than in pursuit of actual goals (including going out of her way to set Zuko and Mai up despite know that, in Embers, they’re cousins and therefore off limits… for some reason), how she apparently repeatedly tried to kill Zuko when they were kids and how she’ll destroy the Fire Nation if she inherits the throne (how she’s meaningfully different from the past three generations of tyrants the Fire Nation has been under isn’t really established). Much is also made of the fact that she’s a “dark dragon” which is apparently fancy dragon-child speak for “sociopath.” And then… Amaya comes in and “heals” her, and almost immediately afterwards Azula starts getting character development. And I hate it. The message – intentional or otherwise – is that Azula was just born broken and the only way she could ever become a good person is if someone came in and “fixed” her against her will, and as a neurodivergent person myself, that makes me deeply uncomfortable. And as the fic moves into its back half and Azula becomes the protagonist of her own subplot as she tries to unravel the real villains’ schemes, we’re repeatedly assured she’s changed and is totally different now… but honestly, there’s very little evidence of it in the text. She seems slightly less murder happy and slightly more pragmatic and willing to work with people rather than use them, but really, the fic’s ultimate assurance that she now cares deeply about the Fire Nation and will be a good great name for the Caldera comes completely out of nowhere (especially with aforementioned repeated statements earlier in the fic that Azula would destroy the Fire Nation if she ever took the throne)… and the final implication that she’s absolutely planning to use her position to rebuild the Fire Nation’s empire (which everyone seems to be weirdly fine with?) just makes it feel all the more like she never really changed, no matter what the fic tries to say the contrary.

Mai: Mai, like Sokka, feels weirdly in-character, and stands out among the rest of the cast because of it. The biggest divergence is the revelation that she’s actually a close cousin of the royal family, therefore sinking the Maiko ship because of complicated family-tree related reasons (and freeing her up to be paired with one of Vathara’s OCs, Min Wen). That said, her arc across the later chapters plays out somewhat strangely, as we make a big deal about her splitting with Azula… only for her to end up teaming back up with Azula like nothing ever happened in the back half of the fic. But in general, Mai feels like she’s rather a background player, compared to the other people around her.

Ty Lee: Another big one. In canon, we know basically two things about Ty Lee’s backstory before she ran off to join the circus – she’s the daughter of a noble family, and always felt overshadowed by her six identical sisters. Vathara throws that completely out, to reveal that Ty Lee is actually from a sect of elite assassins sworn directly to the Fire Lord – and, oh yeah, she’s also secretly an airbender. I know the “Ty Lee is an airbender” theory was popular in the fandom back in the day, but I never cared for it (it always felt like it boiled down to “she’s quirky, she has grey eyes, and she’s very agile” and not much more) and I don’t much care for it here. Now, this basic character concept – an airbender assassin, raised to be loyal to the Fire Lord, who goes out into the world and has to wrestle with how all the propaganda she’s been fed her whole life is a pack of lies – is actually interesting in a vacuum, but as Ty Lee’s backstory, I find it kind of baffling. He characterization also plays into some of what I think of as the fic’s “elemental determinism,” with her canonical flightiness being exaggerated to practically fair folk levels of blue-and-orange morality, and Azula directly attributing Ty Lee having a “mind that works according to alien rules” to her being an airbender. I just find this a rather puzzling take on the character, especially putting her next to Azula and Mai, who though I have issues with Vathara’s take on them as well, are much more recognizably themselves.

Fire Lord Ozai: Ozai is the big bad in canon, but in Embers he’s mostly demoted to being one of three main antagonists, and of the three he’s the least prominent overall, the least powerful, and also the first to die. Otherwise… he’s pretty much in-character, so far as can be told from his handful of in-person appearances (admittedly, Ozai’s a pretty straightforward evil overlord in canon, so this might not be hard). On the other hand, I think the fic doesn’t do a great job of establishing his exact relationship to the other villains – he’s working with Makoto, and Makoto’s working with Koh, but does Ozai know about Koh? It's not like Ozai will be left with much to rule over, if Koh destroys the world… And does Makoto know of his involvement in the death of her son Azulon, or does she just think it doesn’t matters, since Ozai is still her grandson? Either way, Ozai’s characterization and role in the story are pretty straightforward, even if he’s often overshadowed by villains bigger than he is.

Makoto: The second member of our villainous triumvirate, putting her here because she’s very technically a minor canon character – technically she’s two minor canon characters, actually, albeit reinterpreted in such a way as to be entirely unrecognizable compared to them. She’s not a bad villain, necessarily, but I think she’s the wrong villain for the story – her existence is part of an overall trend of the dragon stuff taking over the story entirely, and it also rather overshadows the Fire Nation’s canonical crimes to learn that an ancient evil dragon has been pulling their strings since Sozin’s time. Unfortunately, despite how she’s hyped up, her actually on-page track record… isn’t great. Zuko drives her off from Asagitatsu at about the two thirds mark. She fails to kill Aang at the Day of Black Sun and subsequently vanishes from the story for a long stretch. And then she finally gets killed off by Zuko and Langxue without accomplishing that much at the final battle. I’m also left a bit confused about her motive – it’s not entirely clear when she went bad, when and how she allied with Koh, and what exactly her angle in all this is beyond wanting power and hating most humans. Basically, I think there’s an interesting character and effective antagonist here, but she’s unfortunately rather underbaked, and I can’t help but feel like she’s in the wrong story and the wrong setting.

Koh the Face-Stealer: The third, final and most powerful member of the villain triumvirate and true big bad of Embers. And, okay, I’ll be frank – I do not like this take on Koh. I much prefer his canonical self, as the creepy, dangerous keeper of eldritch secrets. Embers Koh feels like a pretty generic “great evil” type of villain, who is too removed from the story to feel like much of a direct threat, and who doesn’t come across as terribly threatening in his handful of on-page appearances. And while I’ve seen Korra criticized for making Vaatu too much of a Western-style Satan analogue (which I don’t particularly agree with – not every big, scary supernatural thing is Satan, people! - but… that’s a topic for another time) Embers Koh feels much more… Satan-y. He’s the Avatar spirit’s estranged, rebellious child, he works primarily by manipulating and corrupting humans, his ultimate goal is to end the world, he even commands a legion of damned souls – even his ultimate desire for his “parent’s” approval fits with certain traditions where Satan is understood as the enemy of humanity and not of God, and ultimately believes God will come around and see things his way. What noticeably seems to be missing is any parallels to the figures Vathara said actually inspired him – Nidhogg and Jormungand. The way he’s finally defeated is fairly clever, but also doesn’t feel particularly well foreshadowed. Ultimately, I just think Vathara makes Koh a rather dull villain, and much less interesting than his creepy-awesome canon self.

Wan Shih Tong: Is also a villain in this fic. I’m not entirely sure what motivated Vathara to change him from a cranky misanthrope who wanted to punish the Gaang for lying to him and tricking him (because… they did) into an outright co-conspirator of Koh’s who’s been stealing knowledge from people and was even responsible for the Misty Palms Oasis drying up(!), but there you have it. It also feels like for all he gets built up, his subplot never gets much resolution beyond his agents being banished from the Earth Kingdom by the Earth King, and he never actually shows up in person. But it still feels like another case of a questionable direction to take a character in.

Long Feng: Splitting the role of main antagonist in the early arcs with Azula, Long Feng feels pretty in-character, though I can’t help but feel Vathara makes him less creepy and more mundane compared to his canonical self. He’s also given a war hero backstory his canon self didn’t have, which plays into the fic’s overall softening of the Dai Li, though he’s not really made more sympathetic otherwise (in fact, he feels like he's the only member of the Dai Li who’s actually villainous – all the others are presented as honorable punch-clock villains!). He also makes it through the events of the fic’s take on “Crossroads of Destiny” alive and without being backstabbed by Azula… only for her to kill him off immediately at the beginning of the next arc, which makes it feel like Vathara spared him, immediately realized she had nothing more to do with him, and quickly course-corrected and killed him off anyway.

General Fong: Becomes a major antagonist for several arcs in the third quarter of the fic. Fong wasn’t a good guy in canon, but he was more of a reckless fool who was unconcerned with collateral damage in pursuit of what he thought would bring his side victory – this Fong is an out-and-out war criminal who basically feels like the Earth Kingdom’s version of Zhao. Which is part of a broader trend of characters who don’t like the Fire Nation being exaggerated (and those who are already villainous made worse) in Embers. Ultimately, though Fong ends up getting killed off anticlimactically off-page, seemingly to show how war is hell and what a great general Zuko is becoming.

Jet: Jet is another victim of the “characters who don’t like the Fire Nation getting made worse” trend in the fic. Canon Jet was a ruthless guerilla fighter who crossed a line when he started targeting innocent civilians, but at least started with good intentions and was genuinely trying (if not always succeeding) to change for the better during the Ba Sing Se arc. Embers Jet is basically a serial killer who specifically targets Fire Nationals and actively revels in the collateral damage he causes. But, while we’re repeatedly told he’s a threat to anyone of Fire Nation heritage who crosses his path… he’s also kind of incompetent, being consistently and effortlessly shown up by Zuko whenever they encounter each other, with Zuko considering him more of a nuisance than anything (and Embers Zuko, unlike his canonical self, seems to hate Jet from the beginning). Ultimately, I really think that Vathara does not like Jet and feels the need to both demonize and humiliate him whenever he’s on-page, and in the end he just sort of vanishes from the story with a vague handwave, with his storyline entirely unresolved.

Earth King Kuei: Personality-wise, Kuei is pretty recognizable as his canonical self – a well-meaning but incredibly sheltered and naïve young man who’s spent his whole life kept in the dark by the Dai Li so Long Feng can run the Earth Kingdom in his name. But he’s also the beneficiary of one of Vathara’s recurring trends – how awesome the aristocracy are. It turns out he’s secretly an immensely powerful spiritbender, and that being Earth King gives him a ton of spiritual powers, including the ability to banish Wan Shi Tong and his agents from the Earth Kingdom! Sure, the Earth King was compared to a god in canon – but that was by Long Feng, justifying why he should be kept locked out of actual responsibility. And then he ends up being courted by some sandbenders… and drops out of the story entirely, his subplot completely unresolved, until he gets a cameo at the end.

Hakoda: Hakoda’s portrayal is somewhat inconsistent. Vathara seems to like Water Tribe warriors more than she does their benders, and so Hakoda is generally presented as a reasonable and level-headed man, but beyond that she can’t quite seem to decide if he’s an ignorant barbarian who needs to be shown the ways of the world or a seasoned and capable military commander; it mostly seems to vary based on what makes the other characters she likes more look good and/or what best serves the needs of the story. He still gets off better than his daughter, though – though it’s a bit strange that the most in-character Hakoda feels in the whole fic is a moment where we immediately learn he’s actually under Katara’s mind-affecting influence during it; not sure if that was deliberate or not.

Teo: Teo’s role in the fic isn’t huge, but still feels worth mentioning. Teo, like several of the other Northern Air Temple inhabitants, is in the process of becoming an airbender… which for some reason means he and his people have to start espousing Air Monk ideals so Zuko can complain about them, however little sense that makes. Vathara is at least willing to allow him to be somewhat open-minded, though, which is better than Aang gets, but it’s still weird that detachment and non-violence get associated as inherent airbender traits, even among people who weren’t raised as airbenders. Also, Zuko lectures him about ableism (regarding Toph) at one point, in a scene that feels absolutely backwards.

Piandao: Mostly feels like his canon self, but with some significant changes to his backstory. Specifically, he was involved with Kuzon and, more pertinently, with Temul, with him being her adopted heir and the lord of Shu Jing (rather than just a wealthy swordmaster who lives in a fancy house) which seems to point more towards Vathara’s love for nobility in general and the Fire Nation nobility in particular.

Captain Jee: Formerly Lieutenant Jee. On the one hand, seeing that Jee survived the North Pole and ultimately got to reunite with Zuko is nice. On the other hand, it really feels like Jee’s only real role in the story ends up being to conveniently deliver Suzuran and a ragtag bunch of misfits crew to Zuko right when he needs them, and the character himself and his relationship with Zuko doesn’t feel like it’s given as much focus as it could have.

Fire Sage Shyu: The friendly Fire Sage who helped the Gaang in “Winter Solstice Part II,” brought back here to become Aang’s firebending teacher. On the one hand, I do think that using Shyu here, instead of someone more obvious like Jeong Jeong, is rather clever. On the other hand, we have an entire subplot about the Gaang having to break him out of the Boiling Rock, and he delivers some ominous warnings about a Fire Sage conspiracy to assassinate Zuko and Azula, and then… that’s it. He vanishes from the story completely, and never even gets around to teaching Aang any firebending (ie, the thing he was supposed to be there to do). I honestly wonder if Vathara forgot about him.

Kuzon: From what we see in the show itself, Kuzon really doesn’t seem to have been anyone important – just a guy Aang knew in the Fire Nation way back when. But it was always a common theory that he was someone important, and Vathara takes that and runs with it. He was a nobleman, a master firebender, master spy, helped save Air Nomad children from the genocide, and was Zuko’s past life and Ursa’s grandfather. I don’t much care for it, tbh. It reeks of the idea that background details can’t just exist – everyone and everything has to be important, and of course a main character like Aang couldn’t have had a friend who was just a guy, he has to be a super-important person. It’s just… not a take I much care for.

Lady Ursa: I really don’t think Vathara knows what she wanted to do with Ursa. On the one hand, Ursa is given way more emphasis than she was in canon. She’s Kuzon’s granddaughter, she’s a dragon-child, she’s the reason Zuko has unusual abilities like fire-healing, and we’re given a lot of emphasis on her family, home domain and bloodline. On the other hand, despite all of this Ursa herself is barely in the fic. It turns out the question of “where did Ursa go after she was banished?” was “chilling in her hometown,” which is rather disappointingly mundane. We’re told she may have been attacked by a spirit at some point and has spiritual trauma that makes her not want to see her children… but nothing ever comes of that. She shows up dramatically at the climax… but her only contribution is to speak a single line of dialogue and put a reassuring hand on Azula’s shoulder. She never even gets to interact with Zuko. It just feels like Vathara decided to tie the character to a whole bunch of important stuff, and then never actually gave her anything important to do for herself.

Gyatso: Gyatso’s portrayal is weird, since he’s pretty much exactly like his canonical self, but Vathara never really explains how a society like the one she gave the Air Nomads could have produced him. He’s just… the token decent Air Monk, apparently. Though even he is given a moment where he seemed to think that the Air Temple culture being destroyed was a good thing, so long as the children survived, which… eesh.

Fire Lord Sozin: On the one hand, Sozin is presented as being villainous, like his canonical self, and is still responsible for starting the war and ordering the Air Nomad genocide, which are presented as bad things. On the other hand, it feels like he gets a few inches of whitewashing. One of his major motivations for his crimes turns out to have been love for Makoto, rather than desire for power or to reshape the world for himself. For another, it turns out the Fire Nation hated the Air Nomads long before he showed up. Finally, apparently watching the position of Fire Lord literally kill his father was what convinced him he needed to direct the Fire Nation’s aggression outward (despite canon indicating the Fire Nation of Sozin’s youth being in something of a golden age). None of it is enough to redeem Sozin as a character, mind… but when even Sokka is expressing some sympathy for the guy, I have to side-eye it.

Past Avatars: Roku, Kyoshi, Yangchen: Really, none of the past Avatars come off well; Vathara seems to be going for the idea that every Avatar creates problems their successor will have to solve but takes it so far that it ends up seeming like having an Avatar in general causes more harm than good. Roku is presented as being completely worthless, doing nothing but upholding the status quo and betraying his own people (who he was never really a part of) in the process- I think canon Roku would absolutely agree that he wasn’t a very good Avatar, but I think this is taking things a bit too far! Kyoshi gets it worse, becoming a racist reactionary who committed genocide on half the Fire Nation and then imposed the Fire Lord on the survivors, thereby starting the whole mess everyone else is still dealing with (yeah…). Kuruk I’m skipping over because the fic doesn’t really dwell on him, but even Yangchen is presented as having been a brainwashed victim of Xiangchen’s cult and needing to be rescued by the yaoren before she could do anything, and then died the last time Asagitatus blew, with very little trace of the woman who was both a devout Air Nomad and, implicitly, one of the greatest of all the Avatars. And Vathara also decides that they’re not actually Aang’s past lives, just separate human hosts of the Avatar Spirit… apparently for no other reason than to give Aang something else to be wrong about.

Ja Aku: So far as I can tell, this is Vathara’s name for the kid who told Aang it wouldn’t be fair for the Avatar to play on any team. …and for some reason she had him survive the genocide and grow up to be Fire Lord Azulon’s favorite assassin. What. This is never actually resolved in any way, and he never shows up in the present story (past the flashback Kuzon’s assassination) so I’m assuming he died in the interim, but really, this detail is just dropped on us and then nothing is done with it.

Chin the Conqueror: Seems to be mostly unchanged from canon, though Vathara ties him into her overall conflict as another pawn of Koh’s (like seemingly every major warlord in history…). He’s also used, weirdly, to underscore how everyone always hated the Air Nomads, since apparently he used resentment of them to fuel his rise to power, and Toph indicates he’d have genocided them if he could. But overall, he’s one of the less consequential historical figures in the fic.

The Lion-Turtle: Shows up briefly near the end of the fic, with his sole contribution being to give Aang a ride to the North Pole, which makes it feel like Vathara included him more out of obligation than because she had anything interesting to do with him. We also don’t get much information on how his species fits in with the radically rewritten prehistory of the Avatarverse in Embers.

There are also a handful of canon characters – including Suki, most of the White Lotus masters, and the Mechanist, among others – who appear in the fic, but whose roles are brief enough, and whose personalities are kept close enough to their canon counterparts, that I’m not going to bother discussing them individually.

Original Characters Amaya: Amaya is arguably the most prominent of the fic’s OCs, as Zuko’s healing teacher and Iroh’s eventual love interest, so I’m going to go ahead and start with her. And I have to say, I don’t much care for her. To start off with, there’s something rather uncomfortable on how she seems to come off as the token “good waterbender,” especially whenever she’s lecturing Katara (who is usually written to come off as much worse in comparison). In those circumstances, it just makes it feel like the character is there to knock another character down. Worse is that she seems to have a pretty appalling lack of medical ethics – she performs her spirit healing on Iroh (so he and Zuko can pass in Ba Sing Se) without ever making it clear to either him or Zuko what she was doing, despite the fact that we almost immediately learn that this healing can go rather badly wrong (and does, for Zuko), and she does something similar on Azula later on. That’s bad enough on its own merits, but there’s a laughable bit later in the fic where Katara is outraged that Amaya always asks for permission before healing someone (because Katara apparently thinks a real waterbender always knows what’s best…) when we know for a fact that Amaya does nothing of the sort. IMO, it’s a bad first impression, and makes the fic’s later attempts to repeatedly tell me I should love Amaya leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Huojin: Huojin is… there. Imo, he’s probably the least interesting of the fic’s major OCs, basically just there to be a level-headed and reasonable Ba Sing Se city guard (who happens to have Fire Nation heritage, because of course he does). He’s supposedly based on Jim Gordon, but honestly, I have a hard time seeing any similarities between the characters, beyond the fact that they’re both cops. Beyond that, I don’t really have a lot to say about the character.

The Wens: If Huojin is probably the least interesting of Vathara’s OCs, the Wens are probably among her better ones, at least initially. The sequences of Zuko befriending a relatively normal Earth Kingdom family are some of the better parts of the fic, and it’s also interesting to see Jinhai and Suyin exploring their Fire Nation heritage (because here we have characters for whom wanting to learn about and be part of Fire Nation culture makes sense!) and even Min gets a fairly interesting arc as he starts out a loudmouth bully and wannabe Dai Li agent but ends up being humbled by the troubles he goes through and learns to appreciate his family. On the other hand, Meixiang is a character who really feels like Vathara’s mouthpiece (albeit one of several, and probably the least obvious about it) when it comes to evangelizing Fire Nation values, and the revelation that she’s related to the Fire royal family kind of undercuts the Wens’ characterization as normal people caught up in big events (though it does underscore the fic’s fixation on royalty and nobility). And then, about two thirds of the way through the fic, despite being major characters beforehand they just sort of… drop out of the story and make only a handful of token appearances afterwards, leaving their arcs largely hanging. I think this really epitomizes a problem the latter part of the fic has – all the stuff with spirits and dragons really takes over the story, and ordinary people get left in the lurch.

Shirong: I’m torn on Shirong. In a vacuum, the idea of an honorable Dai Li agent who just wants to serve his city but gets caught up in events beyond his control, that force him to question his orders and everything he thought he knew, could be really compelling. Unfortunately, Embers as a whole as a problem with trying to whitewash the Dai Li, and I think Shirong really epitomizes that, because instead of being an outlier he actually ends up being her template for how the Dai Li in general are characterized, as honorable men willing to do the hard but necessary things to defend Ba Sing Se, who happen to be led by a bad apple. And as a whole, that makes me really uncomfortable. Speaking of uncomfortable, there’s something about how, after Shirong becomes a yaoren and a firebender, that he seemingly has to transfer his loyalty to a Fire Nation lord (Zuko, in this case) when it’s clear he wants to be a loyal subject of the Earth King that really rubs me the wrong way. As the fic goes on, he also feels like he keeps getting demoted being less a character in his own right and more a sidekick to Zuko and Langxue, who eat up most of the page time in the yaoren side of the story. Overall, I’d call him an interesting concept for a character, marred by… questionable execution.

Agents Quon, Bon, Bolin and the Dai Li in General: Lumping all of these guys together because, frankly, they all blur together. Like I mentioned with Shirong, Vathara’s idea of the Dai Li seems to be that they’re honorable men who want to protect Ba Sing Se and were just led astray by that dastardly Long Feng, which considering the sorts of people who tend to belong to these sorts of secret police organizations in real life seems… naïve, at best. Even Quon, Long Feng’s second-in-command, turns out to be a good guy when out of Long Feng and Azula’s influence – and speaking of Azula, they don’t join her of their own free will, but because she used her magic mind control powers on them. Furthermore, Vathara adds an entire idea that the Dai Li are supposed to be an order of exorcists and spirit fighters that has no basis in canon but gradually eats up their entire characterization here, until it’s hard to remember that they were ever supposed to be a secret police force. Occasionally the fic will nod at the Dai Li being bad – Zuko is disgusted by what he sees at Lake Laogai, but then we just turn around and are apparently supposed to assume that the people responsible for those atrocities really aren’t that bad, honest! The Gaang are even reprimanded by Amaya for assuming the Dai Li are evil… when they’ve been given no reason to think otherwise. Honestly, the whole thing bugs me.

Xiu: Not a huge part of the story, but she keeps popping up at various points, seemingly to offer a normal person’s perspective on things and/or to give Zuko or the Gaang someone to talk to. When it comes to fulfilling those roles, she’s… fine, and I don’t really have a lot to say on her otherwise, beyond that it does seem a little improbable that this random weaver keeps popping up all over the world just in time to run across the important characters (maybe she and a certain merchant of cabbage should start a support group).

Teruko: Teruko is another character who feels like she’s mostly there to be Vathara’s mouthpiece. As a dragon-child from Byakko, her primary role in the story seems to be to stand around delivering exposition about Byakko and/or dragons, at least until Shidan shows up and takes over the duties from her. When she’s not doing that, she’s clearly meant to be a cool tough girl type who everyone likes and looks up to, and as Zuko’s self-appointed bodyguard/aide/big sister figure she mostly has an excuse for hanging around even when she’s not really doing anything but backing Zuko up. That said, her role is kept specific enough that she feels like she largely avoids being too much of a spotlight-stealing-squad, though like most of the Byakko characters it’s hard to avoid the feeling that she’s supposed to represent what the Fire Nation is supposed to be like… which might be a plus or minus, depending on what you think of Vathara’s take on the Fire Nation. And at the end of the fic, she suddenly seems to be about to get together with Shirong… I’ll admit I’m bad at reading subtext, but I’m not sure that was foreshadowed at all?

Suzuran’s Crew: These guys are basically there to be one acme ragtag bunch of misfits ready to jump ship from the Fire Nation and side with Zuko, as essentially admitted in the ANs. Unfortunately, despite the amount of time we spend with Suzuran I feel like all of them aside from Teruko are pretty underdeveloped, having about one major personality trait – lovable klutz, grizzled NCO, charming ladies’ man, etc. – each, and despite the amount of fanfare they’re introduced with, it doesn’t really feel like they end up doing too much (aside from Sadao, said lovable klutz, learning Zuko’s firebending style) beyond dropping in occasionally to remind us that they’re there.

Shidan: Probably Vathara’s biggest mouthpiece, even more than Teruko. Like his fellow dragon Makoto, I don’t necessarily think Shidan is a bad character so much as I think he’s the wrong character for the Avatarverse. He’s potentially interesting in concept, as an ancient dragon hiding out among humans, seeking revenge for his slaughtered people, who fell in love with a human and sired a bloodline along the way, but unfortunately in execution he mostly seems to show up only to overshadow the other characters in the story. He’s an uber-mentor who knows more about what’s really going on than Iroh; he’s yet another character who lectures the Gaang on everything they’re doing wrong; he even killsteals Hama during her fight with Katara. In a lot of ways, he’s indicative of the dragon plotline as a whole, which isn’t a bad fantasy story on its own merits but sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the Avatarverse and tends to take over the whole story whenever it’s brought up. And then, weirdly just before the Day of Black Sun he wanders out of the story and never returns to it, leaving his entire subplot unresolved.

Langxue: Langxue is another character who, in theory, could be very interesting – an unlucky kid who is empowered as a yaoren, has to deal with new memories and new powers and a destiny he’s agreed to without really understanding what it means. Unfortunately, it feels like he mostly gets regulated to being “the yaoren who remembers his past life,” which mostly means he gets to lecture people about the real history of the Embers!verse, how yaoren work, they’re relationship with the Avatar, and so on – and to berate other characters, like Iroh and the Gaang, whenever they’re doing things wrong. Unfortunately, the fact that he suddenly gets his past life memories and now has to deal with that is mostly overlooked, and it feels like the fic never makes any real distinction between Langxue and Hyourin and generally treats them as the same guy, with continuity of existence. His relationship with his surrogate big sister, Saoluan, is sweet, but doesn’t really get enough focus, IMO. Basically, this is another case of a character who had potential that I didn’t really feel got realized.

Saoluan: Langxue’s adopted big sister. She’s another character who had interesting potential, as an adult Kyoshi Warrior from a generation above Suki, and also as a normal person who gets thrust into having to deal with spirit-y weirdness when her little brother becomes a yaoren. Unfortunately, it feels like Saoluan’s main role in the story is to be wrong about things, and to have to be corrected about them by Shidan/Zuko/Langxue himself – she’s even explicitly made a hypocrite so her criticism of Zuko for his attack on Kyoshi Island can be ignored. I also can’t help but feel like from her perspective, when Langxue recovered his past life memories that her little brother was suddenly taken away and replaced by a stranger… but the fic never really delves into that to any significant degree, and it feels like a missed opportunity. I do like what we see of Saoluan and Langxue’s dynamic when the yaoren stuff isn’t being centered in the narrative, though. Unfortunately, Soaluan is another character I feel had a lot of wasted potential.

Tao: Tao is Aang’s spiritual teacher. He’s not an uninteresting character, especially when we learn that he’s seeking atonement for his (minor and indirect) role in the Air Nomad genocide, the revelation of which is also a rare moment where Aang feels in-character as well. Unfortunately, I don’t think Vathara likes him much, probably because he hates the Fire Nation (with very good reason, as it happens). Almost everything he teaches Aang about spirits, the Fire Nation, and bending turns out to be either flat-out wrong or at least fatally flawed, and he seems to make Aang’s personal issues worse, rather than better. And after Aang runs off to the fire Nation, Tao stays with Hakoda’s fleet… and becomes yet another character who disappears from the story, his arc unresolved.

Eshe and Amisi: Two sandbenders (technically, a sandbender and an airbender) who come to Ba Sing Se to court the Earth King. They’re introduced with much fanfare… and then, because Vathara decides to abandon the Ba Sing Se plotline two chapters later, they vanish from the story (noticing a pattern here?) save for a brief cameo at the end.

An Lu-Shan and Yakume: Huojin’s boss and the Fire Nation sergeant put over his company during the occupation of Ba Sing Se, respectively. I don’t have a lot to say about them individually; they just seem like two more of the gruff, professional, dutiful veterans this fic is replete with already, and they don’t really stand out. Their storyline feels like it’s essentially a buddy cop kind of thing – an Earth Kingdom guardsman and Fire Nation soldier are forced to learn to work together! They fight crime (literally)! But in the broader context of the fic, it’s kind of hard to ignore that Yakume is part of a hostile military force occupying Lu-shan’s city, and that Yakume is part of an overall trend of presenting the rank-and-file Fire Nation soldiers as honorable men and women serving their country, with the real problems coming exclusively from the leadership, and so I have to side-eye it a bit. And then the Ba Sing Se plotline peters out and the two of them, guess what, vanish entirely from the story.

Temul: Okay, I think there’s a bit of a disconnect between what Vathara says she’s doing with Temul, and what she’s actually doing with Temul. Per the ANs, Temul is supposed to be a representation of how even a nasty, bigoted person can become a hero and do the right thing under the right circumstances (in this case, defying Sozin and helping save Air Nomad children from the genocide). On the other hand… almost all the terrible things Temul says and believes about Air Nomads are borne out by the story, so the moral comes off as more like “as obnoxious as the Air Nomads are, their children don’t actually deserve to die for their parents’ sins” which is… a rather different (and decidedly more uncomfortable) thing. And then there’s also her forced “adoption” (which reads more like mind-rape) of Sokka, the consequences of which the fic never, IMO, adequately wrestles with. And of course, because she was a dragon-child in life, as a ghost she’s extra-special and extra-powerful.

Shih and Gyate: Aang’s biological parents. Okay, the fic dances around the idea, but… it’s pretty clear that’s what they are. As ghosts, bound to the Western Air Temple they don’t get a lot of focus, but considering the fic’s overall focus on bloodlines, clans and heredity, and how unnatural everyone else things the Air Nomads are for raising their children communally, there’s something kind of off about the implication that Aang can’t save the world unless he knows his biological family. And of course, Shih turns out to have been a renegade Fire Nation onmitsu, because why wouldn’t he be?

Asahi: Zuko’s ostrich-horse. They’re clearly meant to have a deep Aang-and-Appa style bond, but I don’t think Vathara does a great job of showing it. After Zuko and Asahi are separated at the beginning of the Ba Sing Se arc, despite how distressed we’re told Zuko is I don’t think he thinks about her at all until they’re reunited several arcs later, and even after that her appearances tend to be sporadic at best. Still, there’s something appropriate about Zuko having a cranky ostrich-horse that he seems to be the only one capable of bonding with, you’ve got to admit.

Boots: The betobeto spirit Zuko sends the Gaang’s way. He essentially ends up becoming another team pet for the Gaang, and really doesn’t add much to the story, beyond being Toph’s partner in mischief and showing that Aang doesn’t know as much about spirits as he thought he did.

Skylord Subodai: The idea of a historical Air Nomad leader being the Avatarverse’s equivalent of Genghis Khan isn’t entirely without merit. Unfortunately, it’s almost entirely in the service of how the Fire Nation are the only ones who remember the real history of the Air Nomads and how terrifying they were, and the implication that the Air Nomads have no moral high ground over the Fire Nation because Subodai conquering the world in the name of “peace” is no different from Sozin conquering the world in the name of “prosperity.” The implication that the Fire Nation really did battle an “Air Nation army” and had lingering cultural trauma from it, and that was the basis of the propaganda in the history textbook Aang read… isn’t great, though in another fic I might let it slide.

Xiangchen: Despite having been dead a thousand years, Xiangchen really feels like he’s posthumously one of the fic’s main antagonists. It turns out the Air Nomads’ entire religion was a sham, created by this guy who only believed in peace because he hated warriors, who brainwashed everyone to go along with him (including Yangchen, before she was rescued) and was being guided by visions that were being sent to him by Koh. Needless to say, I can’t help but find all of this super uncomfortable, and a lot of it feels like it’s aimed at Aang explicitly – hey, your culture’s greatest hero, the guy you admire more than anyone, was actually a monster as bad as Sozin! Have fun with that! I can get trying to grey up the Air Nomads a bit, but I feel like Vathara takes it too far, and Xiangchen, as the root of the problem, epitomizes that.

Avatar Kesuk: Arguably the one who really started this mess; a Northern Water Tribe Avatar who went mad two thousand years ago and had to be put down, earning humanity Koh’s enmity in the process. Considering the rest of the fic, and how the Avatar in general, waterbending and things related to water, and Water Tribe women who aren’t Amaya tend to be portrayed, the idea that it was a female Water Tribe Avatar who was responsible for everything going wrong has me side-eyeing it (especially with the repeated assertion that the next Avatar will also be a Water Tribe woman, and the assumption that this will also be a bad thing). It doesn’t help that she’s only introduced about three-quarters of the way through the fic, without any real foreshadowing before that, which makes it seem (whether it’s true or not) that it was relatively late in the game that Vathara decided on just what Koh’s beef was and hastily added Kesuk in to explain it.

Ping: Okay, Ping… is hard to talk about. She was the victim of sexual assault from Fire Nation troops, and a subsequent honor killing by her own family. I’m not the best person to say whether the fic handles such dark issues in a responsible manner, so I’ll refrain. I do think it’s a bit… off how Ping is basically a McGuffin who exists to set off a plot Zuko stumbles onto, which is driven entirely by how she died rather than anything she did while alive; and also that the fic heavily and rightly emphasizes how horrible her family’s actions were… but mostly glosses over the Fire Nation soldiers who raped her in the first place. But at least she’s happy with Lu Ten in the afterlife now? *shrugs*

Conclusion Embers is well known for its huge cast of characters, both canon characters and OCs. And it definitely deserves that; even just looking at the prominent ones here, and clumping some related characters together, it clearly has a ton of them. And, to Vathara’s credit, a lot of her OCs are genuinely memorable, and generally, with a few exceptions (Shidan…) don’t take over the story at the expense of the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, I think a lot of Vathara’s characterizations of the canon characters are… odd, seeming to be less reflections of their canonical selves and more being bent into particular shapes to make particular points, and as other reviews have mentioned, when Vathara doesn’t like a character, hoo boy, it shows. Several of the OCs (Meixiang, Teruko, Shidan, Langxue, and Temul being the most obvious) also fall into a trap where it feels like they’re being used as an authorial mouthpiece, to lecture the other characters and/or the reader about how the world really works, which if you don’t agree with Vathara’s takes can get a little wearying after a while. I think the fic also has trouble juggling its large cast – even with its massive size, it’s pretty clear Vathara ends up not being able to keep all the balls she’s put in the air spinning, and a number of characters (Shidan, Shiyu, Tao) or whole subplots (Ba Sing Se, the Wens) either fizzle out anticlimactically or just vanish completely without any real resolution to their arcs. Still, even with the flaws, managing as large a cast as she does is pretty impressive for a fic of this scope. Anyway, next time – and hopefully the wait won’t be as long *fingers crossed* - we’ll wrap up the review entirely, focusing on overall plot, themes, the fic’s relationship to canon, and my final thoughts about the whole thing. See you all then, and thanks to everyone who’s stuck with me on this!

[angstywaifu]

You Think I Wanted This? Dain Aetos x Reader

Prompt - “You think I of all people wanted to fall in love with you?” by @fw-gt

A/N: For a prompt for a character I never thought I would write, I am honestly really happy with this. So I hope all you Dain girls like this. Pre Warning though, there is no happy ending. This is just Dain angst. So enjoy if thats you thing? As always requests are open if you want to suggest anything.

Masterlist

It was so hard to keep my focus on Devera and Markham who were talking about one of the current issues on our borders. I could feel his eyes on me and the bruise and cut on my eye. My squad had come back from our RSC interrogation training late last night. We had been told to let our injuries heal naturally if they weren’t life threatening. So here I sat in battle brief, with my squad, with very visible and notable injuries.

Most of the other riders had ignored it after our arrival back at formation this morning. But not him. I had felt his eyes on me as soon as I had taken my place in the rotunda. Had felt them in the corridors as our squads crossed paths. And I knew if I looked to my right I would meet the sandy brown eyes of Dain who sat a few seats away with his squad mates. His squad had yet to be taken for interrogation training. But we had seen enough come and go to know what it entailed. Knew from the injuries the other second years had returned with what awaited us. And yet I had felt his eyes on me all morning. I knew I wasn’t the only one. A few rows behind me I knew my closest friends were watching him as well. Probably wondering why Dain was watching me like a hawk.

Dain and I had become friends somehow. Somehow he trusted me unlike the other marked ones. All the others he kept his distance from. Somehow that one challenge had changed everything. The challenge where we had gone all out as it was one of the last of the year. We had ended up sending each other the healers quadrant, both being deemed a stay over night. We had also been the only cadets there. The joys of giving each other concussions and a mender not being available to heal us fully till the next day.

With only each other for company, we had begrudgingly talked to each other. We had then stayed up till the early hours of the morning talking till a healer had told us off and demanded we get rest before being mended in the morning. From there it had spiralled. Late night sparring sessions, catching each other in the library while we studied. Keeping our new found friendship secret. Mainly for Dain’s sake than mine. I would definitely get a talking to from my friends, but Dain would have it far worse if his father found out he was friends with a marked one. A child of the rebellion.

But recently our friendship had changed. Something more teetering at the edges. Our library catch ups turned into study sessions in one of our rooms, our sparring sessions having a little extra tension when one of us managed to pin the other underneath us on the mat. I had started getting feelings for Dain. Very strong feelings for Dain. I would get jealous any time he doted after Violet, protecting her. But then my heart would do cartwheels whenever his eyes met mine. And my eyes would wander whenever I could see him during sparing and challenges. Admiring the way he handled himself, and honestly the view. Dain wasn’t as built with muscle as Xaden and Garrick were. But the amount he did have suited him perfectly.

I had fallen hard for Dain Aetos, as much as I had tried not to. I had fallen for someone that was considered my enemy. And I had to put a stop to it. Or at least get through the next year and a half where we would most likely get posted far away from each other and I would never see him again. Just another year and a half. In the distance the bell rings across the college, signalling the end of classes and the start of lunch. As I had been too out of it to unpack anything for the class I quickly grabbed my bag and rushed down the stairs. Away from Dain’s eyes. Very glad my spot in the room gave me a quicker escape than Dain who I had glimpsed fighting against the crowd to get to me.

I headed for my room, hoping Dain would head directly to the dining hall where most of the quadrant would go. Where I should be going seeing as I had slept through breakfast this morning. But clearly Dain knew me better than I thought. I had been so caught up in making it to my dorm room to change before challenges that I hadn’t heard the fast approaching steps. A yelp escaping my lips as a hand grabs my jacket sleeve and drags me behind a pillar. My eyes meeting the sandy brown eyes of Dain. His eyes are frantic as they take in my face properly. Focusing on the deep blues and purples around my eye, and the scar that extended from more fore head, narrowly missing my eye before ending halfway down my cheek.

”You should go see a healer.” He says as his eyes meet mine, his hand still grasping my jacket sleeve tightly.

”Not allowed to.” I say numbly as I cast my gaze away from his, feeling my cheeks starting to flush under his intense gaze.

I see his eyebrows furrow in annoyance, a slight tick in his jaw. “But you’re hurt. They can’t stop you. I’ll take you.” His hand releases my jacket as he goes to grab my hand.

I step backwards, his hand hanging in mid air where it went to grab mine. “I don’t need you to baby me like Violet. I’ll be fine.” I snap at him.

I hate myself as the words leave my mouth as he recoils. He had confided in me about his situation with Violet. From the kiss they had shared at Threshing, to the fights they’d had since she had arrived. He had confided in me about that, opened his heart to me and let me in. And I had just thrown it in his face. I knew he was just trying to help. But something in me had reared up at it. Telling me to shove it away. That I didn’t need his help. Didn’t need his pity. Didn’t want the help his name would bring if he took me over to the healers.

“I’m not trying to baby you. I know you’re different to Violet. But you’re hurt. You need healing.” He pleads to me as he steps towards me again.

”If I was out in the field I wouldn’t get healing. They’re just preparing us for when we leave.” I take a step back. I see the pain in his eyes as I step back, my words pushing him away. Maybe this was my way out. It pained me to do it, but I had to distance myself from him. Push the feelings I had away. I couldn’t be with someone like him. It would never work. Him the Colonels son, and me a marked one from the rebellion. A reminder of what happened. Our friendship would never leave this quadrant. “I don’t want your pity, and I don’t want healing the rest of my squad wont have available to them. I don’t want the privileges that come with your name.”

I go to push past him, my only avenue of escape. I had hoped my words would numb him. Stop any reaction he would have to me walking past him. But his hand reaches out and grasps my hand, spinning me around to him, his other hand cupping my cheek. His eyes go with with shock at the contact. I want to pull away, but its as if something is holding me there. Something willing me to not move. A connection. No. A presence? What was it. Whatever it is lets me go after a few seconds, Dain releasing his hold on me as he stumbles back. The shock still evident in his eyes. As if he has been told something he can’t quite believe.

”You love me.” He suddenly blurts out.

I stand there in shock as my own eyes go wide. How the hell did he know I had feelings for him? Wait. Did he say love? No. I just had strong feelings for him. Feelings I needed to get rid of. Feelings that shouldn’t exist. Feelings I was trying my best to get rid of by pushing him away. Feelings I had not told him about. But somehow he had know about them. Dain’s hand the had cupped my cheek still hovered in mid air as his eyes darted between it and me. Could Dain read my thoughts? It’s then I realise he has never told me his signet. That the patch on his uniform indicates classified. A mind reading signet that could only be activated by touch would definitely be one they would allow to stay. And one they would keep secret.

“No. No I don’t.” I tell him as I shake my head quickly.

”No you do. But you don’t want to.” He says with a sad tone to his voice as his eyes focus on me.

I swallow nervously as I stare back into his eyes. My suspicions confirmed. Dain could read thoughts at touch. And I had been practically screaming mine in my head as I had tried to push past him. I knew he hadn’t done it on purpose by the way he was reacting. But hard to ignore something when it is practically being yelled at you.

”You think I of all people wanted to fall in love with you? Gods I tried not to. I tried so hard.” I feel wetness on my cheek and realise I’ve started crying. “But I did. I fell so fucking hard for you it wasn’t funny. And I shouldn’t have. But here we are.”

”You make it sound like a bad thing.”

”Because it is Dain!” I yell, not caring who hears us now. “We shouldn’t even be friends. I should have ignored you that night in the healers quadrant. But I didn’t. I should have pushed you away when you sought me out after. But I didn’t. I didn’t because I didn’t want to push you away. But I should have. I should have ended this before I fell fucking fell for you.”

Dain just stares at me in shock. I swear I see some tears in his eyes as well. But unlike mine they dont stream down his face. He manages to keep his emotions in check.

”What if I fell for you to? What if I was dumb enough to fall for you to even though I knew I shouldn’t be?” He takes a step towards me.

I shake my head. “There is no what if, because even if you did Dain, nothing can come of it. This doesn’t end well for us in any scenario.”

He reaches out and takes my hand in his. He knows I will try to pull away as he links his fingers in mine and holds on tightly. “What if it did?” He asks softly, leaning down to rest his forehead on mine.

I close my eyes, not wanting to stare into his eyes that I know will have me succumbing to my emotions. I needed to push him away. I couldn’t let him in. I couldn’t go down this path. It only ended in heart break. It would not have a happy ending.

”We know it doesn’t Dain. Someone like you and someone like me don’t work together. We would constantly be hiding it. I don’t want that.” I say softly, still keeping my eyes closed.

I feel his breath across my face as he sighs. He knows I’m right. And I know he would constantly be torn between who he is, who his father is and me.

”We could just have this. Have us while we are here. Where we can hide it. Enjoy what time we have.” His voice pleads to me.

My breath comes out shaky. His grip on me tightening in response. “I can’t do that. I can’t do this knowing there’s an end date. I can’t Dain.”

I feel him nod. His movement causing mine to move with his. He knows I’m right. I open my eyes to see his sandy brown eyes already staring into mine. So much sadness in them. So much emotion in them. I know mine reflected the same. I wonder if he could sense my emotions with his signet, or if it was just past memories. Either way it didn’t matter. Everything was out in the open right now.

”Can I have one thing before you walk away? Before we go and pretend we don’t exist to each other any more?” He asks.

I nod at him, and in an instant his lips are on mine. I don’t even try to push him away. I let my emotions take over. Let my body do what I’ve wanted to do whenever he’s had me pinned underneath him on the training room mats. I grasp his jacket and pull him as close as I can as I deepen the kiss. His lips parting in response. His arms wrapping around me so tightly I don’t know where he ends and I start. The kiss is urgent and passionate, both of us knowing this will be the first and last time this happens. We pour all our emotions into it before shuffling feet has us breaking apart. No one could see us behind the pillar, but we couldn’t risk it. I can feel the tears threatening to flow again, so I push past Dain with ease this time as he lets me pass. Not daring to look back to see if he watches me go. But I know he does. I feel his eyes on my back like I had all day, but this time for a different reason.