#which she herself says is 'admittedly very speculative'

[wonder-worker]

Margaret of Anjou’s visit to Coventry [in 1456], which was part of her dower and that of her son, Edward of Lancaster, was much more elaborate. It essentially reasserted Lancastrian power. The presence of Henry and the infant Edward was recognised in the pageantry. The ceremonial route between the Bablake gate and the commercial centre was short, skirting the area controlled by the cathedral priory, but it made up for its brevity with no fewer than fourteen pageants. Since Coventry had an established cycle of mystery plays, there were presumably enough local resources and experience to mount an impressive display; but one John Wetherby was summoned from Leicester to compose verses and stage the scenes. As at Margaret’s coronation the iconography was elaborate, though it built upon earlier developments.

Starting at Bablake gate, next to the Trinity Guild church of St. Michael, Bablake, the party was welcomed with a Tree of Jesse, set up on the gate itself, with the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah explaining the symbolism. Outside St. Michael’s church the party was greeted by Edward the Confessor and St. John the Evangelist; and proceeding to Smithford Street, they found on the conduit the four Cardinal Virtues—Righteousness (Justice?), Prudence, Temperance, and Fortitude. In Cross Cheaping wine flowed freely, as in London, and angels stood on the cross, censing Margaret as she passed. Beyond the cross was pitched a series of pageants, each displaying one of the Nine Worthies, who offered to serve Margaret. Finally, the queen was shown a pageant of her patron saint, Margaret, slaying the dragon [which 'turned out to be strictly an intercessor on the queen's behalf', as Helen Maurer points out].

The meanings here are complex and have been variously interpreted. An initial reading of the programme found a message of messianic kingship: the Jesse tree equating royal genealogy with that of Christ had been used at the welcome for Henry VI on his return from Paris in 1432. A more recent, feminist view is that the symbolism is essentially Marian, and to be associated with Margaret both as queen and mother of the heir rather than Henry himself. The theme is shared sovereignty, with Margaret equal to her husband and son. Ideal kingship was symbolised by the presence of Edward the Confessor, but Margaret was the person to whom the speeches were specifically addressed and she, not Henry, was seen as the saviour of the house of Lancaster. This reading tips the balance too far the other way: the tableau of Edward the Confessor and St. John was a direct reference to the legend of the Ring and the Pilgrim, one of Henry III’s favourite stories, which was illustrated in Westminster Abbey, several of his houses, and in manuscript. It symbolised royal largesse, and its message at Coventry would certainly have encompassed the reigning king. Again, the presence of allegorical figures, first used for Henry, seems to acknowledge his presence. Yet, while the message of the Coventry pageants was directed at contemporary events it emphasised Margaret’s motherhood and duties as queen; and it was expressed as a traditional spiritual journey from the Old Testament, via the incarnation represented by the cross, to the final triumph over evil, with the help of the Virgin, allegory, and the Worthies. The only true thematic innovation was the commentary by the prophets.

[...] The messages of the pageants firmly reminded the royal women of their place as mothers and mediators, honoured but subordinate. Yet, if passive, these young women were not without significance. It is clear from the pageantry of 1392 and 1426 in London and 1456 in Coventry that when a crisis needed to be resolved, the queen (or regent’s wife) was accorded extra recognition. Her duty as mediator—or the good aspect of a misdirected man—suddenly became more than a pious wish. At Coventry, Margaret of Anjou was even presented as the rock upon which the monarchy rested. [However,] a crisis had to be sensed in order to provoke such emphasis [...]."

-Nicola Coldstream, "Roles of Women in Late Medieval Civic Pageantry", Reassessing the Roles of Women as 'Makers' of Medieval Art and Culture

[rs-hawk]

ok. Here’s a screwball idea. I don’t care if you don’t do it or even ask, but it’s here.

This thing is a Venus figurine. Many people tie them to being symbols of fertility due to their exaggerated, chubby proportions, and a lack of a face (kinda looks like they’re wearing vases). Because these things were made like in the Upper Palaeolithic era, and since society was a lot different back then (clearly), many people speculate that they could represent healthy or fertile women, goddesses, or simply self-portraits by their own makers.

from the way I see it, a Venus figurine represents a healthy woman very much capable of loving and having kids regardless of her appearance (lack of facial features), so the idea is simplified to this:

Fucking a life-sized Venus figurine who only wants to love, and be loved.

and now it’s done. This was most likely a fat waste of my time.

Friendly reminder that I'm an Anthropology major. When I tell you I fucking love Venus- Lord. I'm basically vibrating rn. I can't wait to drop nerd shit in this post. More asks like this I'm BEGGING. Prehistoric is my second area of interest! Pre-Colombian Americas is my main. I will go feral every time I get an ask like this. I’m not a fan of the almost self deprecating way you asked it, but I like it so-

Come to Life Venus of Willendorf x College Student Cis Male! Reader

"You know, some say that instead of a fertility Goddess, this is just a self portrait of some random woman. Like, look at her hips. That's how they'd look if she was looking down at herself while carving, you know?" you gushed, marveling at the small statue as you and your friend crowded around it. The velvet ropes stopped you from getting too close, but the statue was almost magnetic.

“Imagine being this chick and knowing dudes for centuries have used you to jerk off,” your friend snickered, side eyeing you.

"Come on dude. Do you really have to talk about her like that?" you scoffed, hating the idea of anyone else using her to get off. There was an aching in your cock that you couldn’t explain. Admittedly, you felt a little embarrassed about it. It was just a statue, but there was something about it.

“ ‘Her’?” he repeated, grinning teasingly at you. “So sorry I insulted her. Is she going to be upset with me?”

Rolling your eyes, you drew them away from the statue. “Whatever. Let’s go check the rest of the museum. I’m sure there’s plenty of other things from the Paleo that we missed.”

“You’re not going to write your essay about your wife?” your friend gasped, putting his hand to his chest with mock shock. “She’s going to be so hurt!”

Rolling your eyes again, you waved him on, though you did spare another glance at the statue. After the museum trip, you found yourself coming back to the museum again. And again. And again. And again. You were there nearly every day. When no one was around, you started praying to the small statue, whispering wants to her. How you wished you could have held her. How often you thought of her. Sure, it still made you feel a bit silly with how often your cock ached when you thought of her, but who would a statue tell?

The next morning, you woke up early. Much earlier than usual. Despite that, you couldn’t fall back asleep, so you began your morning routine. When you made your way to the living room to head to the kitchen, you stopped in your tracks. Sitting on your couch was… Venus?

“What?” you frowned, thinking maybe you were still asleep. This had to be a dream.

Her head turned, Her braids moving just enough for you to see a glimpse of facial features, but they seemed scattered. Not quite right. Then they were gone completely. You stood frozen. Rooted to where you stood.

“I came to pay a visit to my most dedicated worshipper,” She said in a voice that sounded the way a first kiss felt.

The way She spoke, you were certain she was smiling, if She could. She gestured for you to come sit beside her, which you did. Your head was spinning. Was this even real? You couldn’t help it when your gaze roamed Her bare body. Everything about Her was so perfect that you felt like touching Her would be like defiling a holy place.

As a thousand thoughts ran through your mind, She cut them all off by placing one hand on your thigh, the other tilting your chin so you had to look down at Her chest. You swallowed hard, your cock already aching. How would She feel wrapped around you?

The two of you didn’t speak for several moments. You wanted so badly to touch Her, but you still struggled with the idea. She, however, seemed to have no such reservations. She pulled down your pajama pants, running Her firm palm over the bulge in your boxers. A low groan escaped your lips. That was the end of your hesitation.

You stood up, kicking the pants off from around your ankles, quickly taking off your boxers as well. She chuckled slightly, though She seemed intrigued when you got on your knees in front of Her, lightly pushing Her plush thighs apart. You worshipped Her cunt just as well as She knew you would.

Your tongue lapped at Her, Her thick thighs and the overlap of her tummy nearly suffocating you. The coolness of Her core made you almost desperate to make Her cum and taste it on your tongue. She tasted like saltwater and copper, and all but Her majestic cunt and thighs seemed to still be primarily stone. All you wanted was to make Her happy. All you wanted was to continue to worship Her.

She moaned as you slid a finger into Her dripping pussy, moving your mouth to dutifully suck on Her clit. The metal decorations on Her braids clinked together when She threw Her head back, letting you see the curve of Her throat. A Goddess’ blessing. Or maybe the sounds were of the metal decorations hitting against the stone like braids themselves. Your other hand snaked between your legs, pumping your aching cock in time with how you were fingering Her. It only took a few minutes for Her to cum on your tongue, much to your satisfaction.

“What a skillful worshipper I have,” She nearly purred, pulling you up by placing Her hand under your chin.

She laid on Her back, spreading Her legs for you. In seconds, you sank into Her. Your thrusts were not rhythmic, but She didn’t seem to care, moaning and arching Her hips up to meet you. Your mouth found one of Her large nipples, taking it into your mouth as you softly groped Her other breast, your stomach and chest pressed against Hers. The softness and squish of Her stomach making it easier for you to adjust as you slammed into Her. It surprised you as Her limbs and head seemed to be solid stone. Maybe She could control it at will, but you didn’t have much time to ponder it. Not with how She was pulsing around you.

When you finally came, you didn’t even try to pull out. Why would a Goddess of fertility want you to? The two of you were panting together as your seed spilt deep inside of Her.

“I think I’m going to stay with you,” She whispered in your ear, the coolness of the metal loops sending a shiver down your spine.

“Please do,” was all you could get out, your mind back to reeling.

Like this story? Support me on Kofi ☕️ ❤️

[lacrimosathedark]

THAT'S IT! This is a Janet Drake Defense Post

As may be obvious, I spend a lot of time reading fanfic. And there's this trend that drives me nuts, and it's villainizing Janet Drake.

I'm not gonna say she's an A+ mother. She's not. She chose her career and adventures over spending time with her child much of the time. But fandom portrays her as some rich pompous ice queen, which is never shown.

Janet Drake mostly appears in the story Tim's introduced, and in the story she dies.

So, let's start from the top: Haly's Circus.

This event is the only time we see her really interacting with Tim before her death, but it shows that at least when he was young, she was an active part of his life. She was worried about bringing Tim because it might scare him. And then rightfully scolds her husband for being sexist because Jack Drake actually IS a jerk.

...I don't like the art in this comic. Or that the writer doesn't know how kids speak.

But Janet is being supportive of Tim's clear interest in Dick's performance.

And then tragedy strikes and she acts like, y'know, a mother.

Her priority is getting her son and herself out of there.

Also worth noting that the Drakes sent a copy of that final photo of the Graysons TO Dick, which is how he has it at all. If both of them were stuck up pricks, would they even bother sending a photo to a grieving child performer they hardly know? I can't imagine Jack really bothering, but I don't see why Janet wouldn't.

And then, by the time she's dying, we know that Tim's parents have been away for a very long time, he never knows where they are, but they've communicated enough that he knows that they've been fighting.

They're passive aggressive to say the least. This marriage is clearly not working anymore.

EDIT CUZ I REMEMBERED A THING:

It's worth noting that this is a time before smartphones. This comic was released in 1990, which was when pre-paid mobile phones had just started existing. Coverage isn't universal NOW, so back then it was even less, and Jack and Janet are archeologists (or archeologist adjacent?) so they're going to be in less developed and populated areas most of the time. It's unlikely they'd have consistent access to a functional phone that could call the states to talk to Tim regularly.

This isn't to defend their absence, because fuck that, but it's to give it some context. I don't think they were trying to ignore or abandon Tim. Communication was just not readily available and Janet seems to get wrapped up in work...and Jack's an asshole.

Also for note, Janet is probably the one sending Tim postcards in the first place. It being signed "Mom and Dad" is what makes me think that. Jack would have put himself first if he wrote it, it woulda said "Dad and Mom". That's admittedly pure speculation, BUT IT FITS SOOOOOO

My thought is if this were made modern, Janet would be sending extremely scattered texts and Tim would get next to nothing from Jack unless Janet prompted him.

END EDIT

(Fair warning, this story is a few levels of Yikes, but I'm gonna stay on topic)

Bad guy Obeah Man does...something? to the pilot, and they crash, and he has a group of people kidnap the Drakes and their assistant Jeremy.

Danger really puts some things in perspective, for Janet, at least. And that continues for her. Jack is a bit delusional and in denial, thinking he has any control of the situation.

They are tied up and filmed for ransom, their assistant killed right in front of them.

Jack just keeps raging, but Janet is having regrets. Notice how she doesn't cry until Tim is brought up. Could be nothing, could be something.

And then she dies.

Her only other major appearance is when Tim is having a fever dream from the Clench and everything is kind of okay for a minute.

Tim very clearly loves his mom. And we may not get a lot of characterization for her, but she's not cold or callous like people write her constantly.

And now, we finally have a little more about her as of Batman 134.

I haven't really been keeping up since the Gotham War stuff because What The Fuck Was That My Guy, but I recently saw this specific comic.

The multiverse is fucked up again, some way some how, and Bruce is lost (again) and Tim has to get him back (again). This time, Tim is going in after him. But he doesn't end up going straight to Bruce.

He goes to see an alt of his mom.

Tim missed her so much that he ended up going to her before Bruce.

And her immediate reaction is to run up and hug him. Does that look like a mother who doesn't love her son?

"Do you have anyone to take care of you?"

"I don't know how this happened, this miracle...but I just know, in my heart of hearts, it was to show me...that every version of my son is a good one."

Tell me again that this woman is heartless and didn't want her son, I fucking dare you.

And we get more meaning to the name "Robin" and a little crumb about Tim's grandmother. As a treat.

This is all to say, please stop writing Janet Drake as a cold, heartless bitch.

Small final note though: Jack Drake is, in fact, a shitty person and a shitty father. He does still love Tim and Tim loves him AND THAT IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE, but the relationship is a mess. If either parent is actively abusive, it's 1000% Jack "smashed a TV because my son wasn't listening to me and threatened Bruce Wayne at gunpoint" Drake. Probably part of why the marriage was falling apart.

Anyway, yeah, let's retire the "Jack and Janet Drake are Bad Parents" tag and replace it with "Jack Drake is a Bad Parent" and "Janet Drake's C+ Parenting" or something.

[rune-rambles-art]

Okay I have to yell about Koleda Belobog Zenless Zone Zero because I feel like I love her in a very specific way that I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about. More under the cut because I have,,, so many thoughts.

Koleda is such a good portrayal of someone who struggles with their perception as an adult. A pretty easy conclusion to make with the first thing she usually says on the character select screen being “Hey, don’t look down on me!”, but it definitely goes a lot deeper the more you spend time with her. Specifically, she seems to struggle in her perception of herself as someone much more mature than her younger peers, but still not on the same level as the adults in similar positions of power as her. I kinda. Hate zenless for not explicitly stating how old she is, but given she rose to her position at Belobog “when she came of age” (which honestly, I still can’t give a concrete answer to what hoyo means by this? Some searches I found claimed the working age to be 16 in China, I’ve seen others online claim 18 but that’s not reliable. Hoyo I'm begging you put official ages on your characters it's a cool and based practice), she waited for a significant amount of time before taking up her role as president. She is an adult from what the game implies, and a core part of her character is fighting against the constant infantilization she faces due to how she looks.

Let’s start with her love of desserts (and a honestly this is the reason I started writing this). It’s her most highlighted character trait (it is also the first known attribute in her trust rank profile when you unlock her), and most of her trust events on 6th street revolves around them. Initially, she hesitates in proclaiming her love for them, likely to avoid being perceived as childish.

Her rank 4 trust special event is, admittedly, my favorite, but it’s one of the best breakdowns of this.

In order to maintain her image as a mature adult, she uses her position as company president to get around having to request a special dessert drink by name (in her defense, "Sweet Girl Fluffy Marshmallow Lambkin Milk" is an insane mouthful of a product name). At the end of the event she admits that saying its name “wasn’t as bad as she thought”, but her initial kneejerk reaction was a complete rejection of even entertaining the idea of doing something that could put the image she worked so hard to create and maintain at risk. Despite this, she still refuses desserts that aren't tooth-rottingly sweet, even if they are seen as the more mature or "refined" option. It's only around people that she really trusts does she allow this part of herself to be known, because she knows they wouldn't misconstrue this behavior as childish.

I also think her perception on the differences between kids and adults is interesting ("thank you agent story quest" we all say in unison). She doesn't ever feel like she fits in with other kids, probably due to all the responsibility she had to take on as the eventual heir to her father's company. But she also holds a vocal distain for many of her adult peers. Her declaration of "When I was younger, I thought the whole world was rotten, trying to make people just as rotten when they grow up." is a reflection of how she struggled to find her place in the world as she was forced to suddenly transition into adulthood, while still trying to understand the actions of the adults around her.

Her relationship with her father becoming strained contributed significantly to her world outlook as well, and may have caused such a specific distinction of what she deems "the world of adults". I don't want to dive too specifically into that because spoilers and the game is only a few weeks old so. Pin that for another time maybe? It definitely matters in the sense that the loss of her father is the catalyst for the loss of her childhood, but a lot of the specifics in how that affected her are speculative (and I don't wanna get too headcanon-y in this particular post) and she explicitly chooses not to discuss it too in-depth with the proxy (which, girl. Valid). But she's slowly learning to cope with that loss, at least it seems that way by the end of chapter 3. Honestly I could probably find more to add about the agent story in particular, but I would have to replay it to get a better idea.

To me, Koleda Belobog is very solid representation for women who had to grow up too fast, struggle with the perception of being seen as an adult, and hold guilt about indulging in acts that can be perceived as childish by their peers because they never fully got the chance to just be a kid. It truly did resonate with me, and it feels like such a specific "if you know, you know" kind of experience that I don't feel is talked about as much in media, especially with people who identify as female during their youth.

Also, also! I hope they dive in a bit more on how she got/has so much hollow corruption at a young age. Because they imply that she is so short as a result of this hollow corruption. Like that's so damn interesting conceptually and I know they delved on it more in Rina's agent story but. It was more of a mental affliction than a physical one.

Anyway I've been working on this for like 2 days now but that's all I have in terms of like. A canon-compliant character analysis.

TLDR; Koleda is such a perfect example of "God forbid short women exist" and I love her for that. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[lucky-clover-gazette]

Arceus Forbid Women Do Anything

Chapter 1/3 | 2,254 words | Rated T

Commandment I: Gaslight

The challenger met the Champion’s intelligent gaze and quickly looked away. They knew what they needed to tell her, they knew that it was important, but in the awe of the moment they couldn’t help but ask— “So you’ve met Lord Volo?” She seemed unsurprised by the question. The challenger supposed that it must have been asked many times before. “I am his Champion, yes.”

Read the full chapter on AO3 or under the cut:

The challenger approached the Champion of Hisui atop Mount Coronet. The Spear Pillar Temple was strangely decrepit for a holy place, where it was said that the Lord of Hisui himself convened with his most beloved mortal creation.

The title of Champion was highly sought by the wielders of Hisui, who longed to impress their almighty deity. Some even spoke of immortality as a reward, to say nothing of the material gifts and fate’s favor. But for as long as the current Champion had held the position—which was to say, the entire recorded history of the region—she had never once been bested in battle.

But that, the challenger knew, would change today.

The Champion stood at the very edge of the temple ruins, staring out at the sky as if frozen in a perpetual state of deep thought. The challenger immediately recognized the colors and styling of her attire as those of the Lord in his most traditional depictions. Fine white silks were artfully draped around her form, and she was adorned from head to toe with emeralds and gold. Her hair flowed in the breeze, only slightly flattened by the ornate diadem on her head.

“Do you wish to challenge the Champion of Hisui?” she asked, causing the challenger to sharply inhale. The woman did not face them, and clearly did not plan to do so without a formal conversation.

“I wish to speak with the Champion of Hisui,” the challenger said, forcing their voice to steady. “There is something that she—you—ought to know.”

The Champion turned around at that, revealing the face of a woman who most certainly did not age naturally. In fact, she appeared to be not much older than the challenger—but of course, appearances could be deceiving.

“I will admit,” said the woman with a slight smile, “that is a new one.”

The challenger blinked. They had not expected such a casual composure from the Champion of Hisui—although, their expectations had admittedly been imprecise. There were plenty of rumors regarding the Champion’s personality throughout the region, and much speculation regarding her team of pokémon, but there had never once been a challenger who had returned with the memory of what they’d experienced. It was common knowledge that when it came to Spear Pillar, the only way to leave with a tale to tell would be to best this woman in battle. Otherwise challengers could expect to return bewildered, collected at the foot of the mountain by rangers patrolling the area.

“Very well,” said the Champion, gracefully rearranging her silks as she sat on the small stairway leading to her former perch. It seemed bizarre for her to lower herself in front of her challenger, until she motioned for them to the do the same.

“Evening the battlefield,” she explained with slight humor as they took their place beside her.

The challenger met the Champion’s intelligent gaze and quickly looked away. They knew what they needed to tell her, they knew that it was important, but in the awe of the moment they couldn’t help but ask—

“So you’ve met Lord Volo?”

She seemed unsurprised by the question. The challenger supposed that it must have been asked many times before.

“I am his Champion, yes.”

A chill ran down the challenger’s spine. His.

“Is he watching us now?”

She tilted her head slightly, and the challenger regretted the tactlessness of their words.

“This is the holiest place known to humankind and pokémon alike,” the Champion said. “I should hope that the Lord is watching.”

The challenger had been warned of this. They took a deep breath.

“I know the history of this world,” they said, “and I know that we are meant to believe it.”

“History?”

“That this world of peace was created from the ashes of another; an irredeemable and infernal world, which had fallen as a result of its own wickedness.”

The Champion nodded. “That is the truth.”

“But I don’t think it is,” said the challenger, nerves increasing with every word. “You have to listen to me, please. I have heard the voice of the old world’s creator, and it has told me the truth.”

“You… what?” The Champion appeared genuinely surprised by this. Distressed, even.

“The old creator was subjugated by the Lord,” the challenger explained frantically, needing to get the words out before said Lord lowered himself from the heavens to intervene. They would face Volo, of course, on behalf of this region’s true deity—but not before freeing the innocent Champion from her Lord’s deceptions.

“A single mortal—the Hero of Hisui, blessed by the original creator—once served as the protector of its divinity. The man you call Lord Volo weakened them, defeated them in battle, and ultimately seized the god’s power by force. He used it to erase that entire world and imprison the true creator’s physical manifestation, taking its place and wielding its abilities himself.”

The Champion did not appear convinced. “But what of the Hero? Was she erased?”

“According to my god,” said the challenger, “they fell.”

“How interesting.”

“But that doesn’t matter now,” the challenger insisted, reaching for the woman’s finely-adorned wrists. “What matters is that you get out of here. He’s going to come down and I’m going to fight him, and it’s going to be dangerous for anyone without godly powers behind them. You don’t deserve to get hurt, when all you’ve done is loyally serve a Lord who does not deserve your fealty. So please believe me, and abandon this temple while you still can.”

It only took one look at the Champion’s face to know that the challenger had failed. Her expression was now stern as she rose to her feet.

“I will not tolerate such blasphemy,” she said, reaching within her silks for a strange-looking pokéball. The challenger narrowed their eyes at the thing—was it wooden?

“I’m telling the truth,” the challenger said, removing their own pokéball from their belt. “Arceus told me in my dreams!”

Something shifted in the woman’s expression at the sound of the true deity’s name. “Arceus does not exist,” she said, releasing her opening pokémon: a samurott.

The challenger decided to engage in the battle, if only to continue the conversation and potentially delay Lord Volo’s arrival. They released their opening pokémon and watched, in horror, as the Champion’s samurott defeated it with a single move.

The challenger took another deep breath and released their next pokémon, whose perfect type match would almost certainly return the favor.

“And even if it were true,” the Champion said, “even if my Lord did not simply create this world from ashes, but set the fire himself… do you not believe that a peaceful world is worth creating?” She replaced her fainted samurott with a typhlosion as if it were an afterthought.

“Not if it took the erasure of an entire world, just because it wasn’t perfect!” the challenger argued, their second pokémon falling just like the last.

“The Lord appreciates the world as it is,” said the Champion, motioning to the decrepit temple surrounding them. “If he were determined to destroy every imperfection, would we still have ancient ruins?”

The challenger sent out their next pokémon. “I don’t care about ancient ruins.”

The Champion shook her head condescendingly as she collected her fainted typhlosion and released a decidueye. “Well, Lord Volo would certainly be displeased to hear that.”

“I’m not here to impress Lord Volo, I’m here to fight him!” Another one of the challenger’s pokémon, done. That was half of their team.

“I’m afraid you will have to defeat his Champion first.”

They took out her decidueye. In response, she sent out a pokémon that the challenger did not recognize—a small black figure made of thick lines, almost resembling the written character L.

“You might as well take that now,” said the Champion, as a smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. How could she not see that the entire world was at stake here? If Lord Volo continued to spread his lies, if Arceus could not be returned to its former power, then—then, it would be bad!

“This isn’t a game,” the challenger spat, taking a turn to heal their nearly-fallen fourth pokémon. This was their fastest one by far, and the unfamiliar pokémon seemed to be the Champion’s weakest, so hopefully—

The challenger’s fourth pokémon fainted.

This was not part of the plan.

“Arceus told me to get you out of here,” the challenger told the Champion. “Those were its explicit instructions.”

“Ah,” said the Champion, “so you weren’t prepared for a fight with me. Just with my Lord.”

She watched him with amusement. She understood, then, that even if they managed to beat her team, they would be entering a battle with an actual deity with a single conscious pokémon.

“Unfair, isn’t it?” she taunted, and the challenger could not believe they’d mistaken her as kind.

Who was this woman, anyway? The Lord’s Champion from the dawn of this world’s existence, almost certainly immortal and incredibly skilled as a pokémon wielder…

Their mind still racing, the challenger only half-paid attention as they took out the Champion’s unknown pokémon. In its place, she sent out a togekiss.

A togekiss.

It made no sense. The challenger’s jaw dropped. “But only Lord Volo has—”

“I wield her on weekends,” the Champion said, as the world’s most sacred creature destroyed the challenger’s fifth pokémon.

There was something in her eyes now that the challenger hadn’t noticed before. It frightened them. Arceus had not warned them about this, it had only insisted that they get her out of way—

“Wait,” said the challenger, hesitating to send out their final pokémon. “She.”

The Champion raised an eyebrow, resting a hand on her hip. “She?”

“When you referred to Arceus’s fallen Hero, you called them a ‘she.’”

The Champion crossed her arms over her chest, confusion turning to delight. “I did,” she confirmed with a patronizing smile.

The challenger froze.

“I did not appreciate it,” the Champion told them, “when you called me weak.”

The challenger narrowed their eyes. “So he did defeat you.”

She did not scowl, or even wince. She almost appeared proud. “Send out your final pokémon,” she told the challenger, “and I will show you defeat.”

Togekiss chirped happily and spun in the air. The challenger prayed to Arceus as they released their final fighter: the first pokémon they had ever wielded, entrusted to them more than a decade ago.

Togekiss defeated it with a flick of a wing.

The Champion tutted pityingly as she walked closer, recalling Togekiss and reaching for her final pokéball. “Now, don’t be too hard on yourself,” she said as a pokémon emerged at her feet.

The challenger narrowed their eyes, unsure what to make of the strange misshapen figure. “But you’ve already won the battle—”

The Champion sighed, beleaguered, as the challenger became transfixed by her spiritomb’s magic. “But seemingly, still not the war.” The challenger could barely hear her final words before losing focus completely:

“Send Arceus my regards. I look forward to meeting its next challenger.”

And then everything faded to white.

─────────────────

The Lord Volo’s realm was abundant in daylight. Unless, of course, he wished for it to be nighttime—then the only light came from the brilliance of the stars, arranged into elaborate images of his choosing.

He rested his cheek on his palm, smiling adoringly as his Champion approached his throne.

“Tough day at the office?” he teased, using the modern terminology she had taught him by the light of countless campfires.

She did not kneel, nor did he expect such behavior from his beloved Champion. Instead, she dropped herself right into his lap.

“We should really put a bench down there or something,” she said, playing with the hair of a god as if it were a child’s toy. “The steps are rather uncomfortable.”

“Very well,” Volo smirked, and then snapped. “Done.”

He did not actually need to snap, to create a bench atop Mount Coronet. But Volo had always been one for dramatics.

“Show-off,” said the Champion as she kissed Volo’s lips. The slight change of angle allowed him a cheeky squeeze of her clothed flesh, a brush of long fingers along her waist, and of course one mustn’t forget the chest—

“Don’t you want to know how it went?” the Champion asked, doing absolutely nothing to stop Volo’s exploration.

He smiled and hummed into the skin of her neck, feeling the coolness of her jewelry against his cheek. “Let me guess,” he said between kisses and nips, “you won the battle?”

“Always,” the Champion said, gripping Volo’s hair and pulling him closer. “Well, almost always.”

He recognized the slight self-deprecation in her voice and bit more harshly. Her noise of combined pain and pleasure was a hymn to his ears.

Volo pulled back slightly to meet his Champion’s eyes, brushing a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. “Well then, my fallen Hero…” He adjusted the pendant around her neck, the first gift of many from her Lord, so it rested exactly where he wished it to be. “Why don’t you show me how you live in defeat?”

She picked up his suggestive tone and returned it tenfold. “Anything for my Lord,” said the Champion of Hisui, reaching for a particular point of interest beneath Volo’s deific attire.

“You endure with such grace,” Volo praised, running a gentle hand through her hair. The Champion sighed softly and relaxed against her true Lord, far from the outsider Arceus had attempted to make her. 

And indeed, it was good.

[amethystfairy1]

I rewrote my novel. Admittedly I deleted it because it felt like it was me ranting and you wouldn’t enjoy it, but it made me feel good that you wanted to read a random person’s analysis.

To get out of the way first is the potential wild card invisible stalker. I saw some people speculating it was Mumbo because that seems like a rogue ability, but there’s no reason for him to have been stalking this group he barely knows instead of be with his own. I think it’s a new character, which you didn’t tag either for spoilers or because they don’t truly appear in this story. The latter is my guess, and their purpose is to be another thing hanging over Gem’s group as they go into the fight. As to who they are, because of that recent post on spoilers and the ninja thing, I’m going to guess Etho. The “why” for whoever it is is “to be revealed” information.

Next, the bird reunion. Based on that summary, they have to fight and it’ll definitely be intense. My guess is either during the pre-fight banter between the others or when they first come in contact and a failed sneak attack, the twins will recognize each other, hesitate, but go into the fight anyway because that’s what their friends/masters want. Major cognitive dissonance. I predicted one would get the upper hand and almost, but not quite, finish the other, but more specifically I think Grian will beat Pearl because she’s still injured. If I was writing it, he’d notice the injury, target it because that’s what a good killer does, and simultaneously hate himself for it. And then more delicious angst because a good avian would finish her off, but he can’t do it.

Meanwhile, I think Gem would be fighting the other two. She says in the first chapter that she’s low on magic, but she’s scary enough without the spirits. If I had to guess, I’d say she could normally solo everyone in the other group (not without difficulty, but would win in the end), but it would be the combination that could get her. Scar is also running low on magic, but we don’t know how the two compare. I don’t think we’ve seen Scar fight without magic either, so he could quickly empty his reserves. Mumbo is a very scary opponent and has the element of surprise, but I’m not sure how he’d stack up in a brawl. Judging by that summary of him nearly dying, I’m not optimistic. Scar has previously detected enemies with the spirits, but it’d be interesting to see if another nature elf can go undetected with their own magic. Then it’d be up to Grian to notice them when they’re pretty close, if he’s in a state of mind to do so effectively.

Speaking of state of mind, that was just them physically. Mentally no one is doing well. Mumbo and Scar are worried about Grian and are probably mulling over the target they painted on their backs. Gem is stressed out about the stalker, always worried about Pearl, and her guilt and frustration are turning to rage. That could all cloud her fighting abilities, but so could that empathy she’s trying to shut down. Recognizing Mumbo could give her pause, as could seeing Pearl in Grian and herself in the other boys. A vision just came to me of Grian using his wings to protect one of them from Gem and that causing her to stop. I could also see her stopping if she thought Pearl was about to die again. Both sides would stop if one of the avians admitted they’re siblings, but I can’t see them forcing that information out in the middle of a fight. I think the fight will end with one side recognizing themselves in the other and choosing not to continue. Then we can get a more wholesome birb reconnecting.

The thing I’m less sure about is Impulse and Skizz. I don’t quite know if they’d even participate in the fight or how that would go. I can easily see Impulse deciding not to participate because it’s not his job and he wants to protect Skizz, or him going with the group and being worried about Pearl with this job. If they do participate, that weighs things more in the favor of the Soup Group. From what we’ve seen, Impulse is strong and can tear through normal adventurers. Of course the boys are much stronger, but I’d expect him to hold his own. Skizz is a little more tricky. If he fully fights, I’d expect he’d be a beast. He was nearly retained, so he had serious skills, the only concern would be how much fighting he’s done since being sold. Granted, that didn’t seem to hold Grian back. I doubt Skizz’s heart would be in this fight though, and he’d be looking more to see if Impulse will die or if he can kill him. That won’t happen of course. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if a moment comes and Skizz either saves Impulse or doesn’t take the kill, and later has to ask himself why.

So, yeah. That’s my thoughts on what I think is being set up for this story. You don’t have to respond to this. Now I know that even if you don’t, you still enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing if I’m right or be proven wrong. Doubt I’ll be disappointed either way.

I

LOVED

THIS

SO MUCH

RAHHHHHHH

This is so so so so sooooo cool!?

Obviously I'm not gonna super in-depth respond to any of your predictions because I don't wanna give any tells because spoilers but I need you to know that I LOVED THIS.

I WAS BEAMING THE ENTIRE TIME I READ IT

It just makes me SO happy that my stories have the moving parts that make someone able to think it through and come up with theories about what's gonna happen, and that you enjoy the story enough to do so just makes me so very glad! Thank you so much for retyping your novel because I ADORED IT and I will be saving it and I love it very very very much!!!

I'm so glad you're looking forward to this fic, I have so much planned and lots is gonna happen, I'm just SO excited to share it all and it's so wonderful to see everyone is trying to figure out what's gonna go down!

Thank you thank you thank you for sharing!!! 💖💖💖

[psychic-refugee]

Got a question for you. About these rumors of Jenna removing her name from executive producer of WSSF. Thoughts on that?

From my research it’s mixed results. Wiki still has her listed as an EP but IMDB does not list her as EP for WSSF, but does for Wednesday. In all honesty, I don’t ever recall if it was ever on IMDB. So, I can’t say for sure if it not being on IMDB means anything.

I do not see any news outlets reporting that she has been removed as EP.

So overall I don’t think much because I don’t know much. lol

My first questions are where do the rumors originate? Are they from a credible source and/or are we corroborating it with IMDB? Are we simply inferring it because of IMDB? Or is this just speculation from her fans who seem to be obsessed with this narrative that she hates certain people and loves certain others?

Entertainment law is not my subject matter expertise, but I can speculate as a fan.

I think some context to the history of WSSF is needed for context/basis of my speculation.

WSSF is a small indie movie that has gone through delays because of Jenna and Percy’s commitments to Wednesday promo, COVID, and a very lengthy strike.

Jenna is also a much bigger star than when she first signed onto the movie and became EP.

My understanding (which admittedly is very little) of an EP, besides investing money, the title can come with certain responsibilities/commitments beyond being the star. This can include post-production responsibilities such as sales, marketing, and distribution. (Last visited 29/9/24 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_producer)

To try to cut off some less than flattering accusations towards Jenna or her costar:

She can’t divorce herself from the movie entirely. Even with removing herself as EP, she’s still the star. Her name is all over it. Her face is all over it. There is no getting around the fact she was part of it. If she is removing herself as EP, I do not believe distancing herself from the film itself is the reason. It would be a waste of money to break a contract if that was the reason because it’d be pointless.

Her invested money in it is already spent. The movie has been made and it’s premiered. There is no recouping it if she takes her name off it via EP. I do not believe it’s a money issue.

It really depends on what her actual contract says, but two things that are left as an EP are residuals and responsibilities. She still has the possibility to make money from streaming residuals. More so as an EP and a star than just the star.

My gut instinct says she would break the EP agreement because she doesn’t have the bandwidth to honor her responsibilities as EP and doesn’t believe any possible residuals is worth her time any longer.

Besides Wednesday and BJBJ taking obvious precedent over WSSF, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had other things in the works. I would totally believe that she has other big-ticket projects in the works that could easily pay to break her EP contract to get her out of it as part of her compensation package. If not, then she has certainly made several pretty pennies in the last two years that I think she could afford to break the contract herself. Again, WSSF is an indie movie and I'd be surprised if it had severe harsh monetary penalties.

Besides COVID and the strike, her co-star had unfortunate, baseless rumours spread about him. While I don’t think it’s the sole reason Jenna considered while de-prioritizing WSSF, it would be naive of me to think it wasn’t considered at all. This is another thing that works against potential residual numbers.

All of it together has really worked against the success of the film, and I think Jenna just doesn’t think it’s a worthwhile endeavor any longer. At least not to spend time and effort promoting a movie that basically missed its chance due to issues outside of its control.

It sucks, but from a completely business view, I totally get it and support it.

Lets also be honest, her fans, especially the Wenclairs, aren’t exactly tethered to reality. They do not support her projects where she is heterosexual. They constantly criticize her acting and her male leads when she has to portray a heterosexual.

Her fans are so bad that she feels she can’t debut ANY relationship in real life. (Vanity Fair, 6 August 2024).

I don’t think her “fans” understand when they keep harping on her “girl kisser energy” or “she has no chemistry with men” is a criticism of her acting and does not make it seem they think she’s a good actress. From their rancid behaviour, its clear they are more attracted to her physically than they admire her acting skills.

It’s really insulting, but they’re too narcissistic to ever actual think on their behaviour.

At bottom, I think Jenna sees the writing on the wall that WSSF for many reasons not her or anyone who worked on the film’s fault, missed its chance.

If she does remove herself as EP, then I think she will do it with the utmost respect and professionalism that she can. I don’t think she will ever speak poorly of the film or anyone who worked on the film.

All we will be able to do is speculate, but only Jenna and those she’s working with, will ever know the truth.

[geekgirles]

Your Heart’s Desire

If you haven’t noticed already by my posts, I’m pretty much team Meldred when it comes to the love triangle in Unicorn: Warriors Eternal. I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I’m a basic bitch; they called each other “my love” and that was enough for me to pledge my alliance to them. 

Of course, given Emmelyn’s predicament, Edred’s less than ideal reactions to the conundrum, and Melinda not even remembering her own story with him, it all makes for some very interesting character interactions and dynamics. And given how we still have much to learn about their original selves and their pasts, that allows us to speculate about how they met, fell in love, and how it all evolved into the situation we’re facing now. 

In light of The Heart of Kings, I have come up with a few reasons why this ship is so compelling to me, namely, why Melinda fell in love with Edred even though we are still missing her perspective in this whole situation, and how it explains (though not necessarily justifies) some of Edred’s recent actions. 

To make a long story short (not like it matters, I’ll be sure to expand on this nonetheless), I would say the reason these two love each other so much is because their each other’s everything. 

In Melinda’s case, I’d say the reason she fell in love with Edred is because he is probably the first person in her life since at least her mother’s death to love her unconditionally. 

As we first learned in The Past Within and recently confirmed in The Heart of Kings, ever since she accidentally turned her mother into the Evil, Melinda’s relationship with Merlin has been strained. Today’s episode showed Merlin does indeed love his daughter, but he’s been blaming and reprimanding her for what happened and her perceived “lack of control and strength” since she was a little kid. And until Emma stepped in and put Merlin in his place, Melinda had clearly been carrying that burden her whole life, internalising that fault, throughout all her reincarnations. Or, as she said herself, for over a thousand years. 

So while there’s clearly love there, it was far from being the kind of unconditional love one would expect from a parent. 

Moreover, there’s everyone’s reaction to her. Throughout the entire episode, everyone aside from Merlin and Unicorn had referred to Melinda as either “the dark witch” or “Edred’s witch” (which I’m convinced is just a clever way to undirectly call her his bitch, given the show’s setting). Nobody calls her Melinda, not even when the flashback showed she was around when Edred ran away and in the present everyone seems to know it was her he left everything behind for. And judging by his throaway line about how everyone blames her for leaving, even though they had never returned since then...it all seems to indicate not many people had actually interacted with Melinda up to that point, even though they were all familiar with her.

This, alonside the fact that she was distant and in hiding during the wedding ceremony (which, admittedly, could be because the elves don’t like outsiders intruding upon their traditions, though, then again, they seemed perfectly fine with Unicorn once everything was resolved), seems to indicate Melinda was an outcast, probably has been her whole life as a result of her powers and dark and mysterious nature.

(This is clearly her watching Edred’s wedding, c’mon)

An outcast Edred gave everything up for. 

At this point I wholeheartedly believe Melinda fell in love with Edred because he was the first person in her life who consistently placed her as his top priority. The first person who never failed to look out for her and reassure her he loved her. 

Because I think we can all agree Edred’s love for Melinda has been one of his central, most consistent traits, as well as one of his most redeeming qualities. He’s been devoted to her since the very beginning.

Whereas Merlin callously brushed off her near death experience when they first battled the Evil (in the show, at least), the moment Seng confirmed she was hurt Edred rushed to her side and got angry on her behalf at her father. 

Even now, even when they’re fighting the Evil or its minions, Melinda’s safety is one of his biggest concerns. Whenever she gets hurt or knocked out he is always the first to call out for her. If anything happens to her during a fight, he will immediately ask Seng to find her. And he will be worried sick for her if it seems like something’s troubling her.  Except for the ship incident, whenever Melinda needs help, Edred is always there, willing to give her and ready for her to just...take it.  Even if making sure she’s okay means preventing her from seeing nude statues of men, he will do anything for her without question.

Even if that anything means abandoning everything he’s ever known and breaking the unbroken line for her sake. 

Melinda is everything to Edred, and that means everything to Melinda.

In a way, his loving promise as they said their goodbyes when they thought their time together was up sort of feels like a reassurance on his part. Almost like it’s not the first time he’s had to remind Melinda that his love for her cannot be changed.

And of course, this all ties back to Edred’s side of the story. 

As I was saying, Edred essentially turned Melinda into his whole world when he left his kingdom and family behind for her. We don’t know if by that time Unicorn had already been formed or if on the contrary that was just the beginning and he met Melinda under completely different circumstances. But we do know this: Edred gave everything up for Melinda. 

He essentially came to the conclusion that he didn’t need anything else as long as he had Melinda. 

As we’ve already seen during the episode, this was in no way ethical nor logical, and directly led to a lot of trouble, but the matters of the heart rarely are logical or even ethical. 

Now, with this in mind, let’s think about his actions so far during the series. 

I don’t mean to justify any of them, because one of the things about Edred is that he can be equally heartwarming and charismatic as he can be flawed. So it’s important to understand his actions still had harmful consequences (hurting/alienating Emmelyn, undirectly causing the kraken that destroyed Copernicus as well as Winston’s lycanthropy...); it’s just that now we have a better understanding on why he did what he did. 

Edred not only left his home, but also agreed to fighting an endless battle against a powerful Evil that has clearly endangered his life and those of his closest friends for centuries, and it all seems to indicate he did that for two reasons: for the good of the world, and for the promise of being reunited with Melinda every cycle. 

But suddenly, upon his latest reincarnation he finds out the love of his life doesn’t remember him, seems to be fonder of some random human than of him, isn’t even acting like the woman he fell in love with, and might not ever return his feelings at all during that reincarnation. And, apparently, all because her host’s spirit is asserting herself over her and holding her back. 

From his perspective, his desire to bring Melinda back and lack of care for Emma make perfect sense: without Melinda, he has essentially lost everything. It basically means sacrificing everything for her in their first life was pointless. 

That’s why he’s so desperate to get her back, why even the smallest sign of affection from her is enough to render him flustered and as happy as a kid on Christmas Day. Because right now it’s the only thing he has to go by that his love is still there somewhere.

Edred and Melinda love each other and, dare I say, work as a couple because, alongside Seng and Copernicus, they’re the only constant each other has in a life of neverending change. 

[imagine-being-straight]

The urge to talk about Rupa and how her character is both unknown and known is so strong. Like what do you mean we have to chase after the little crumbs of facts we know about her to try to understand her and how that’s very much intentional. I don’t expect a Rupa focused episode, not because they couldn’t fit one in, but because I don’t think it’d make as much sense for her character.

Anyways this post was an excuse to say I feel like we should talk about Rupa’s drinking a bit more than we have. In comparison to her, yeah Momoka drinks but we get explicitly told one of the reasons she drinks so much is that she’s terrified to admit how much music means to her. So yeah hey Rupa why are you trying to drink so much???? Is it because the loss of your family still weighs on you even know and you don’t know how to forgive yourself for never expressing your love for them before they left???

We have yet to see Rupa really get angry which is something I feel like something we need to see because her guilt has been eating her up inside. Hell she even admits this herself when Nina tries to confront the xenophobic customers and Rupa admits that maybe she needs to be more “rock”. I think the band has slowly become her outlet for all the emotions she’s been holding in since the her family passed.

Now admittedly this next session is pure speculation on my part but I wonder how Rupa will react to some of her family members still being alive. From her Spotify voice message, we actually learn her mother passed some time ago which is why she and her father (who is Japanese) moved to Japan. This also explains why we only see one gurney in the flashback in episode 11.

Now the reason I’m speculating she still has some family members is because of these two frame here.

We see someone with flowers presumably in front of one of Rupa’s parents grave. Now is it possible it’s past Rupa with her long hair except everyone else has flashes to important people in their life in the present. Nina has her family at home, Subaru has her grandmother attend the concert, Momoka has Diamond Dust watching, and Tomo even has her mother whose she’s estranged with show up.

It took me a while to figure out who she was until I saw the hair color and her eye color and put two and two together.

I’m personally in favor of the theory that Rupa still has some unknown family members alive, but you know I could be looking too far in something that’s already been stated to be false in canon.

[a-student-out-of-time]

//I TOLD YOU ALL I’M NOT CRAZY!

*Ahem*

//But alright, let’s go over everything one by one:

WHAT I GOT WRONG:

So I was incorrect about where I arranged Eden and Hu’s secrets. Eden likes girls, and we still don’t know what Hu’s deal is, but it’s not looking good for her

Admittedly, while I thought it would be thematically appropriate, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Eden could simply have chosen to be kind in spite of everything

So Nico is claiming they attacked Ace? Okay, fine, but I still don’t buy it.

WHAT I GOT RIGHT:

I knew Whit’s mom was dead

Shout-out to @newdanganronpaanotherv3​ for that detail about jockeys and their eating disorders, I never would’ve called that one on my own, but we were all correct

I knew everyone was gonna accuse Nico of being the murderer, but I remain adamant that they didn’t do this. Something is up with that entire moment and I don’t get it. It feels too staged for it to be genuine, and I’m wondering if this was something the actual killer of this case instigated somehow.

MY SPECULATION:

First off, I’d like to say that David is even more suspicious than ever before. There is no fucking way he got Xander’s, I absolutely refuse to believe it. Not only because it makes zero sense for Xander to be the mastermind, for the mastermind to already be dead, or for him to have anything other than the secret regarding survivor’s guilt.

No, David is talking out of his ass on this matter. He went last so he could bullshit an explanation, I’m certain. It’s going to be established that Xander and Min’s secrets were swapped and the two of them got each others’. It makes no sense on any level for David to have Xander’s secret.

Secondly, I’m 100% convinced my switch theory is correct now

Why do I say this? Well, look at the way that J’s been acting this trial. For one, she’s pretty verbal this trial, and it’s only episode one. Not just that, but look at the ways she’s been acting and the things she’s been saying.

That’s just funny, sure, but here’s one that confused me.

J, sweetie, we’ve known all about that for days now. I kinda would’ve thought you’d be used to it by this point. Also, why are you suddenly all embarrassed about it all over again?

And then there was this bit regarding Nico and Ace, which really interests me:

“Even if the person you tried to kill is still alive” feels a little too specific to include in a situation like this. She could’ve easily just said “Even if you didn’t kill Arei, you still tried to take a life.” But she added that extra bit there.

All of this feels very odd, especially when you also take into account what Whit’s been doing this trial as well: derailing the hell out things and refusing to give a straightforward answer. What did he say about revealing who the manipulator is?

That’s it. No elaboration, just “nah.”

And what happened when Teruko started asking Eden about the note? Whit chimes in again.

It’s like he’s trying to stall for as long as possible.

Meanwhile, Eden is adamant that Arei didn’t commit suicide, either by herself or with any assistance, but she’s refusing to elaborate as to why, exactly. She asks Teruko to back her up, but won’t give her exact reasons.

You know what I think is going on here? One that explains why, if my theory is correct, Arei hasn’t revealed herself yet, and it’s quite simple

Arei has a plan going on behind the scenes, and Eden and Whit are both in on it. Switching clothes suggests J was also in on, it, and given that Whit and Charles are super close now, that implies he’s also part of it

We have a conspiracy of possibly as many as five people who have their own goal in this trial, and it has something to do with the murderer and/or the manipulator. This group of people know some shit is up, and they’re trying to sort through the bullshit to figure it all out.

So there’s another thing Teruko’s distrust has earned her: being left out of this conspiracy gang, despite Eden hinting that she knew something and wanted to let her in on it too

Eden clearly knows more than she’s letting on, and it has to do with that torn note

[placegrenette]

Who are wives of ZaQ and Alem? Like do you know anything about them more than their name? Thank you :)!

Why yes, anon! Admittedly some of this stuff I'm not very well informed on, and I will kick you over to the lovely Sara (@bbcblackjack) for more detailed explanations. But I will also thank you, for giving me the the opportunity to say nice things about Veronika and Zhadra!

So, first up: Veronika Zhangalova and Alem started dating in... I want to say, 2019? I'm not sure. And then very quietly got married in 2021. I don't know her birthday or hometown but I'm pretty certain she, like a lot of Kazakhstanis, is ethnically Russian, and she may only speak Russian and not Kazakh but don't quote me on that. Anyway. She was, and is, a working model (here she is modeling some of Bibotta's clothes, for example) and was working in some kind of management capacity for Juz when she and Alem started dating. I don't know if she has an official position at Ninety One's company, but given how active she is on IG / TikTok, it wouldn't surprise me if she did some kind of social-media content management for them. (It would also not surprise me if she were the one to suggest that the absolutely epic face she pulls at about 3:50 of last year's Aqtobe tour stop video be kept in final edits, and thus preserved for Eaglez' enjoyment forever.)

Also, by the way, the story I have heard is that Veronika is singlehandedly responsible for the Irina Kairatovna / Ninety One bromance, as she was in an IK video and then introduced the two groups to each other. So if you liked "Taboo," you now know who to thank.

If you go through the Veronika tag on @ninetyonekz you'll figure out pretty quickly that she's an unabashed Ninety One fangirl and also very dedicated to promoting herself and Alem as True Love. I do think there's a bit of calculation in this: promoting the two of them as True Love enhances their individual respective brands, to give it the most crudely materialistic spin. But I also think that the calculation is in the social-media posting and not the love itself: that she's genuinely crazy about him and he about her, and they like to hang out together and have shared hobbies. Q-Eaglez apparently gave her some grief when it was first revealed that they were dating (which was, IIRC, an Eaglez asking at a fanmeeting, "There's something going on between you and Veronika, right?" and Alem bashfully replying, "Uh, yeah"), because a lot of Q-Eaglez are immature teenagers, but hopefully that's died down by now and everyone can just enjoy good-hearted people being publicly happy with each other.

Speaking of which:

ZaQ's wife's name is Zhadra Abdulzhapparova, and I honestly know even less about her background than I do Veronika's, although given her name I strongly suspect she's ethnically Kazakh. She may also speak Russian only? I'm not sure. Anyway, she has been Ninety One's primary hair and makeup artist since at least 2017, as she has sole MUA credit for "Su Asty," but she and ZaQ didn't get together right away, I think they didn't become a couple until 2018 or 2019.

(Yeah, Ninety One are apparently kings of office romance, which has worked out beautifully in two cases and still leaves me a little nervous. You can start to understand why Bibotta at one point had to devote a whole series of Instagram Stories to shooting down rumors that she and Ace were an item. Like brother and sister, she said. I'm pretty much hoping that's the case for all the other women working for Ninety One at this point, with regards to Ace and Bala.)

I don't follow Zhadra on IG, so I've missed a lot, but my impression from following the guys is that ZaQ kept things pretty quiet until the split from Juz and then posted this pic with the caption "Wife," in April of last year. Which of course set off some speculation, which turned out to be unnecessary, because in July THEY GOT MARRIED and it was WONDERFUL, Boss Yerbolat gave a toast and sweet Nurs Bazarbay danced all night and Bala did the Macarena and everybody Instastoried the heck out of the event and I just had a big smile on my face all morning watching the live updates roll in. And now that they're married, ZaQ makes no secret of finding his wife super cute. I think Zhadra's less outgoing on social media than Veronika (and generally less interested in being a celebrity in her own right), but they did do one professional photoshoot together, from which the above photo was taken.

(Also see here for a ramble on my part on why it's particularly adorable that ZaQ, of all the members, married the group's makeup artist.)

Also the cats are originally Zhadra's, which is why you may now refer to ZaQ as Cute Cat Stepdaddy. Their names are Flerken and Vivian and I don't know which is which.

One thing I've noticed (and I've referred to this before) is that ZaQ & Zhadra + Alem & Veronika seem to work well together; last year they traveled as a foursome to the UAE to see 50 Cent perform, for example. Which is a good thing, if I'm right. I also think that the natural outgrowth of ZaQ and Alem spending more time with their wives is that Ace and Bala have been bro-ing around with each other more than either of them have with the other two (hence Space Season 4 Episode 4, 75% of the footage of which is Bala beating up his hyungs and Ace videotaping it). I mention this to shoot down the hasty conclusion that Zhadra and Veronika, separately or together, might be sowing dissension within the group; I think the individual friendships between the members can (and should) change over time, as they age and grow and confront new challenges, but "change" doesn't equal "become worse." I prefer to hope that everyone gets along with everyone else and Zhadra and Veronika are universally valued parts of the whole Ninety One enterprise.

Finally, anon, I have not the slightest wisp of a clue who Ace or Bala (or AZ) might be dating. If you hear anything credible, feel free to report back!

[tadpolesonalgae]

hm ok so seeing various takes on cbmthy that i mostly at least somewhat agree with but wanted to share mine too i.e i think it's fine for azriel to treat her like that, and it does admittedly seem like how he would act based on the books, although it is sad, and i don't really like the idea of reader ending up with him after that, even after groveling because at least personally speaking i feel like i'd harbour a continuous distrust for him, whenever he says something yk. like if they end up together at the end and they confront her insecurities (which she may have overcome! but we all have setbacks w them yk) and he tells her he does truly love her or that she's important to him that he's lying,,, if that makes sense? like if there's a bond b/w them i feel like i at least wld feel like he's only w me because of the bond and that he doesn't find me physically and emotionally attractive, or bc elain left for lcuein,, and like he would've indeed felt this in the beginning yk? idk. i do like the idea of eris and her getting together,, but only because it feels like r is more herself around him and gets insulted less?? idk. is this going to be a dark fic? idek. tbcf the entire ic seems like an asshole tbh, yk? like idk how well acknowledged this is but like,, they're not really very good people yk,, with the rhys-feyre assault-ish scene that's barely mentioned to feyre just ruining the entire spring court which wouldve had innocent people and not just tamlin,, and idk there's always a distaste in the book for the entirety of court of nightmares instead of only like keir and his goons. anyway can't wait to see more, good day!!

‘like if there's a bond b/w them i feel like i at least wld feel like he's only w me because of the bond’

I still haven’t fully decided on if I’m going to make a mating bond part of the plot (compared with it snapping in the background once a happy ending might be reached) BUT!!! If it does happen, I’m quite set on it only becoming apparent to Azriel after things have already been resolved!

I fully get that doubt would most likely have fun with how reader’s mind is at the moment, so I think unless Azriel falls in love with her independently, reader would continue to have those speculations, if that makes sense?

‘is this going to be a dark fic?’

Not in the way other stories on here are marked with [***] (so sexually dark). However, reader’s powers do connect to some heavy themes in the real world which might be upsetting for some people to read depending on your life experience?

I wouldn’t say it’s going to get dark, but more that—like with Nesta—her powers, if they go unchecked, could harm a lot of people? I don’t want to reveal too much about what her magic can do, or if it actually will end up harming anyone, but I’d say it’s (like basically everything in this fic) kind of bittersweet :)

‘they're not really very good people yk,,’

I find this quite fun, because obviously they’re all terrifically old, and have each lived through two wars and a lot of bad stuff in between, as well? Like Cass obliterated the entire camp that hurt his mother, Azriel tortures people, Rhys probably killed hundreds of innocent (?) people at the behest of Amarantha, and probably many before that too (I mean, we know he’s morally grey, so I wouldn’t say that part’s particularly surprising)

Then Amren is her own creature and Mor’s probably done some pretty awful things, too?

But then obviously for most of the series we only see the IC from Feyre’s perspective which is pretty rose-tinted because they help her massively?

Anyway, I think it’s fun to sometimes have these characters make mistakes? Explore their moral compasses? What stuff do they think is too far and does that change if it’s done to someone they love? Will they cross their own lines then?

Idk, it’s interesting 🥳

‘anyway can't wait to see more, good day!!’

Thank you! I really enjoyed reading through your ask! It really felt like you were typing how you would speak in regards to how your thoughts are laid out—very entertaining to read 🧡💛 :)

[moltz23]

[FETH Theory] What if Rhea becomes Edelgard's insurance against "those who slither in the dark" outside of Crimson Flower/Warriors: Three Hopes because...?

... She can be used as an "end the war" button?

(Goes without saying there will be spoilers for both games in this post).

Outside of the Crimson Flower route and the Warriors: Three Hopes' timeline, in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Rhea getting captured by Edegard during Chapter 12, and subsequently being kept hostage somewhere in Enbarr Palace's secret chambers for 5+ years, is an important event in the story that just... happens. For all intents and purposes, Rhea gets swallowed by the ground, and while Edelgard is always the main suspect, no one knows why she could be doing it.

Don't expect to get answers from Rhea herself either.

The biggest and only direct hint given to players about it can be found in the game's paid DLC content. Namely, by exploring Abyss after Edelgard & Hubert's death in the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes, it's possible to find a suspicious NPC that says the following:

I've got a message for ya...from a dead man. The Emperor was keeping the archbishop alive as insurance against those who slither in the dark. "When you go to Shambhala," the message says, "take the archbishop with you."

Due to its vagueness, this line raised a bit of speculation back when this had been just found. In what sense was Rhea insurance? Did Edelgard plan to use her as a weapon, given Byleth's faction is told to take her to Shambhala? Or what?

As I've been replaying 3H recently, a realization struck me that could very well finally explain what the heck is up with Edelgard capturing Rhea and keeping her hidden to begin with. It is admittedly a somewhat mundane answer, but it does its job.

(It goes without saying that at the end of the day this is just a theory, so take my words with a grain of salt. Also, there will be spoilers for both Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes.)

My theory goes as follows:

Outside CF & Three Hopes, During Part 2, Edelgard's answer toward TWSITD in case she's double-crossed is to threaten them with revealing Rhea's capture to the public.

Edelgard in Three Houses starts a war against the Church of Seiros under the argument the institution and Rhea are responsible for all that is wrong in Fódlan and all that jazz, all while having allied herself "those who slither in the dark" for strictly utilitarian reasons. As the war develops, Edelgard actively expands the Empire's territory further, which is convenient both for her (given the scope of the reforms she want to pull off) and also for TWSITD (whom want to seize the surface for themselves). The thing is, outside Three Hopes and Crimson Flower, Edelgard manages to level down the monastery and capture Rhea pretty quickly, and not only the war still continues, Rhea's whereabouts remain hidden from the general public.

While no reason is ever stated for this in Three Houses, Three Hopes' Golden Wildfire route indirectly argues it's because Rhea and her Church are being used as the perfect carte blanche for the Empire to reunify Fódlan under Imperial rule. This is why Claude's endgame during the second half of Golden Wildfire is to remove Rhea out of the equation before the Empire gets to her, as the move strips away Edelgard's biggest argument to keep the conflict afloat. Hence the "Ok. Now what?" sort of ending the path gets.

In all likelyhood, the next thing coming is probably Fódlan's own "Pope Wars".

This in turn left me wondering the following; What if this is exactly Edelgard's insurance against TWSITD in the non-Crimson Flower paths of Three Houses? 

Anything the Slitherers may attempt to boss the Emperor around could be rendered moot by Edelgard threatening to reveal that Rhea has been "recently captured" by the Empire. Thales could try to call her bluff in such scenario given this move hurts both him and Edelgard in the process, but... Can he afford to do so? Given riding Edelgard's conquest train puts TWSITD in a position where their goal could be achieved? 

Not helping matters for TWSITD is that Crimson Flower highlights that Thales and co. - in the Three Houses timeline - don't have anything resembling a betrayal insurance should Edelgard turn coat (the next best thing are the Javelins of Light, but Edelgard defuses their whole threat by framing the church as the ones with the weapons, so...), which makes sense since the group has historically never been in a position where they have had to dispose of their ally of choice, mainly because their proxy wars always implode before it gets there due to outside interference from Rhea/Seiros and the Church. And while Thales could try to run the war without the Emperor under the identity of Lord Arundel in the case the enemy gets to her first (like in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind), not only Edelgard's answer to that outcome is to just force the victor to kill her on the spot (thus wrapping everything in one fell swoop), Hubert's post-mortem letter then becomes the coup de grace that puts the nail in the coffin for good.

A month after this letter is delivered, Shambhala is nothing but rubble.

What do you guys think about this possibility? Do you see it as the likely truth of the matter? Or perhaps do you believe using Rhea as an actual weapon against TWSITD is the more credible answer? (Would Rhea even allow Edelgard to use her as one?)

[meeko-mar]

Can I just compare Bakudeku to Korrasami for just a moment

Not as in, their relationship, but in terms of fandom experience, perception and how it became Canon.

So, some years ago, LOK was on it's 4th and final season. So of course, shipping discourse was high. Who would Korra end up with? Would she end up single, be back with Mako?

Or....there was a big calling for the couple Korrasami, that is, Korra and her female friend Asami, to get together.

Now, up until the point of the finale, (and grant that I haven't watched in a while so I'm speaking in an overall sense and recalling my experience) Asami and Korra had been teaming up more and more. Korra had been really, badly, injured in the last season, leading to her isolating herself in the SWT for about 2 or 3 years to heal with Katara, and upon heading back to Empire City, she takes an abrupt turn to spend more time isolated and on a sort of spirit journey in the wild because she didn't feel ready to face her destiny and her friends and was suffering from PTSD. She later returns to EC, and to Asami, and they are close together for the season.

This all caught the attention of the Korrasami shippers who had, at the time, kind of only been casually shipping them because, hey, wouldn't it be nice? and they were slowly and steadily getting more crumbs, and the ship gathered momentum as the seasons progressed.

But lo and behold, everyone else was saying such things as:

"they're a female/female ship, it will never happen, even if you want it to" (even shippers of Korrasami were resigned to this because the precedent in youth animation in western cartoons at the time, was of course, not inclusive of same sex couplings).

We SAW the subtle development between the two and DARED to hope and dream that it might one day become canon, even though we thought it unlikely because of the trend towards heteronormativity. We saw their interactions and toiled over if they were trying to hint at something more between them.

"They're just friends. You're reading into it"

Because the "just friends" behavior of Korrasami in later seasons were:

-Asami being deeply supportive of Korra when she was injured (and for a time, disabled) Like, literally, getting on a knee, putting her hand into Korra's and saying "I'm here for you, for ANYTHING you need" kind of supportive, even offering to COME to the SWT with her. (Korra sacrificed her desire to have Asami close because she didn't want Asami to drop her duties as basically a CEO to tend to her)

-Korra receiving letters from all of her friends during her healing period, but ONLY responding, in a very beautiful letter, to Asami's.

-Korra honestly apologizing for being gone so long without writing more than one letter or sharing more of what was going on or where she went

-Asami complimenting Korra's new hair and Korra BLUSHING and looking SO charmed(and returning the compliment of how amazing Asami always looks) --there is no hetero explanation for this.

-being battle partners and constantly having each other's backs

-Asami protecting Korra from pursuing enemies while she's in the Spirit World(leaving her physical body vulnerable)

-other characters in their circles being literally like "What's going on with you two??"

-Culminating in the final episode after the final battle with Asami breaking down, confessing that she wouldn't know what she had done if she had lost Korra in that final battle(she'd even lost her father the same day) AND THEN Korra comforting her and suggesting that they, the two of them, alone, take a trip together, to get away from it all for a bit.

-It ends, when They literally walk into the spirit world portal holding hands and staring lovingly into each other's eyes as the camera pans from them into the spirit portal

Which, LET ME TELL YOU, watching this when it first premiered, for the first time, WAS AN ALMOST TRANSCENDENT EXPERIENCE. It was a soft scene, emotional, beautifully animated, and the MUSIC just hit you right in the heart. Like, they didn't even kiss to really hammer it in that THEY ARE IN LOVE, however, it was an EMOTIONAL PAYOFF and there was NO arguing that they were not a couple. Creators soon after confirmed, yes, they are both bisexual women, and they are in love.

And so, you could definitely say that Korrasami could have been interpreted as just "Very Good Friends" behavior, of "Gals being Pals", and many people DID argue that, and would later claim that there wasn't "enough build-up to the relationship". And part of the atmosphere in media back then(esp. Nickelodeon at the time) they really couldn't be blatant about it up until that ending. It was even a thing that Nickelodeon had been kind of shooting them in the foot for a while with switching around air times, and eventually taking it off air and putting it only available to view ON THEIR WEBSITE. There was a lot of fuckery with the studio at the time, and It wouldn't have been far off to think that they had issue with the idea of this series ending with two girls together romantically.

..

It just kind of makes me think of people telling BKDK, not only "They're m/m, it'll never happen in shonen manga" but ALSO anything from "they hate eachother" to "They are toxic because Bakugou bullied him(blatant disregard for any current development of Bakugou's character) and so it can never ever happen" to "Ok sure they're becoming friends again, but that doesn't mean they love each other or will by the end of the story"

When arguably, Korrasami was basically given the same dismissal.

And my dudes, it's only gonna get more intense from here.

Like, Bakugou and Izuku are friends now(again). There's no denying that. They would literally die for one another. Their relationship, and the emotions between the two of them in the coming arcs will only be compounded, with how the last arc left off and how Izuku SUDDENLY left and how Bakugou has so many unresolved feelings, and how, like Korra being the Avatar and having to save the world multiple times over(and the PTSD she got from it), Izuku is carrying a heavy burden that Bakugou is determine to help him see it through to the end without LOSING Izuku in the process. Their stories are so closely tied together and they are SET to return to each other, and it CANNOT end WITHOUT them being together, in some capacity, even if it is just platonic.

So...I wouldn't write BKDK off just yet. We're at the same spot right now that Korrasami shippers were when they were starting to seriously think that there was something canon about Korrasami.

So, Am I saying that I for sure, 100% believe that BKDK will become romantically canon? Not really; the hurdle of it being a Shonen-oriented manga being actively marketed for boys, is admittedly a huge hurdle to overcome, and I, as an American, cannot begin to understand all of the cultural barriers, or implications breaking any of those barriers would have to a Japanese audience or for Horikoshi/his career as a manga-ka.

I still don't know what Horikoshi is thinking when it comes to BKDK, he's obviously very private and all we can do is speculate on what he feels about it; there's still a possibility, however small, that he may actually be the biggest BKDK of us all, and "telling the story he wants to tell" may yet include BKDK becoming canon(that quote may also have nothing whatsoever to do with any romance, but we don't know)...But, much like I was at the point in the Korrasami tale, I'm still painfully aware of the precedent that remains in the way.

Like the Korrasami tale, though, I suppose there is that possibility that we will see something completely amazing and groundbreaking, and I will once again have that transcendent experience where an unlikely ship suddenly becomes reality. At this state in the Korrasami tale, I had NO IDEA that we were shipping the real, canon deal, and it honestly surprised me, being that I usually attach myself to something that never becomes canon, lol(*cough*Zutara).

We're in the thick of it now, we just gotta wait it out and see.

[janiedean]

Hi, you're very good at explaining stuff so I was wondering if you could write something about how Brienne ending up as someone's bodyguard/in their kingsguard or whatever isn't a good ending for her (even if the person is supposedly worthy?) Thank you!

I think I went into it more in depth back in the day in case it's under the janie writes meta tag but in short:

there is a thing named character development which means that if brienne starts the series wanting to be in renly's kg then ending the series being in someone else's kg... makes no sense

specifically: brienne wants to be in renly's kg because she doesn't literally see any other way to be in songs/be the closest thing to a knight she can get/be near the man she loves

breaking it more in depth: - brienne is in love with renly because other than being her type he's also the one person who treated her with some basic decency like not even WELL just with some basic decency - renly knows that and he admittedly said he kept her around bc he knew she was loyal but like... he didn't care about her - brienne thinks that she can't marry anyone bc she's not marriage material nor love story that is reciprocated material but also that like... she can't be a knight officially bc she's a woman so basically being in renly's kg is the closest she can get to it - which means that basically she's gone like 'okay I'll live a celibate life forever in the shadow of a man I love who doesn't love me back for whom I'd die when he doesn't care either way because it's the closest to being a knight I can manage in this shitty society even if I'm technically a highborn lady and I would actually like to have a family and someone to love me back' - which is... a pretty miserable position to live also I can 100% assure you that thinking you'll never get anyone and you have to settle is like Not Standard Attractive Experience™ and like... so she's an ugly™ woman who can't have what she wants but tries anyway and settles for the best thing

also: kingsguards in asoiaf are coded as bad like I've said it since forever but the kingsguards are rotten organizations, knighthood is a rotten thing and all the good knights in these books are people who are reviled, laughed at or not consider themselves one (jaime brienne and sandor l m a o) and all the ones that are considered good/great/spotless are... bad or shit or gregor clegane and as I've ranted more than once (here and here) brienne is slated to be the in-verse recognized truest/best knight including actually getting the title so if she's that good the point is... she can't be part of a rotten organization now is it

now: the moment renly's toast and she can't be in his kg anymore brienne's sl goes like... she swears herself to the first woman who doesn't treat her like crap/respects her which is supposed to become her own aerys and meets the guy she's canonically in love with by the end of affc with whom she has a storyline that's like... stated to go in a reciprocation way and meeting said guy makes her realize that she sees the world too much in b/w and that guy also gives her a priceless sword and sends her on a quest and oh hey after that she has to... do what killed *his* will to be a good knight ie killing her former mad liege lady bc the choice is that or the guy she loves (I mean going on speculation but that's what was the affc choice) and like... the difference is that she won't throw in the towel and go on and then she'll get to shine and be the knight she was always 100% meant to be and so on

and like... point in brienne's sl: she hates that she's not fit to be a worthy son or daughter for her father bc she was too freakish? well she's going to get both as in if these books don't end with ser lady brienne of tarth being with the man of her dreams I'm eating my own hat because as I ranted above it's all textually there

and guess what... brienne has her own storyline and she's going to come out on top and for that she has to be front and center of her own piece of story

which....... if she gets into a kingsguard doesn't happen because she would swear herself into a life of service for someone else to whom she'd always come second and if it's sansa's it's even worse bc it means she should sacrifice her personal wants, the chance at being with a man she loves, her own title and having a family bc she's serving... the standard attractive lady bc she's idk she owes catelyn a debt? iiii dooon't thiiink so and like since sansa is also stated to have her own love story in a book where it says both beautiful girls and ugly girls get it if the ugly girl gets into the kingsguard then.... what message does it send? the one that dnd did which is not the one grrm wants to send

brienne bodyguarding ppl means that she's playing second fiddle to someone else and sacrificing her own wants and needs because she doesn't believe she deserves them beyond TRYING TO BE A KNIGHT and her arc isn't going like that, so if she starts it like that then there is no way in hell it ends in the exact same place

brienne is stated to be the first anointed lady knight and to do whatever the fuck she wants with it/after and to have her cake and eat it (knighthood and love story) and anything that goes against that/says that she has to end up in a subservient position to someone who only values her skillset and her loyalty goes against everything the text has stated

also, tldr: brienne ending up in a kg has an 'ugly girls have to settle and can't be happy romantically and if they follow their dreams they can only have it halfway and in a demeaning way' message printed the fuck over it in neon letters and that's not what grrm wants to say or ever wanted to imply and I'm dying on this hill /two cents, welcome to my ted talk

[incorrect-quotes-from-she-ra]

Morning! I hope you don't mind if i give you yet another She-Ra thought I'm too damn lazy to post on my own. Also, it's long again. I WILL find that character limit some day.

So, we know the way Shadow Weaver raised Adora resulted, among other issues, in her being selfless to the point of self-sacrifice, which came to a climax in the Heart's failsafe business.

And it's been suggested that this was basically intentional on Shadow Weaver's part. Basically, selflessness is a very beneficial quality for others to have. My theory is that <b>her plan for Adora had always been specifically for her to someday use the failsafe and release all magic</b>.

(i will admit i am also curious how formatting works in this app. thank you for your help with these experiments)

So, evidence. Let's start with her name. I know this is a remake and they were stuck with the existing names, but there's a scene where Scorpia complains about it ("yeah i GET it, everyone LOVES you"), which constitutes the writers acknowledging its meaning, which makes me think it's fair game to analyze.

First, I'm obviously assuming Shadow Weaver choose it, as part of her ongoing parenting plan. It's also possible it was her original First One-given name, we don't know. Neither quite works because either she or Light Hope should have had some issues knowing what the name was and they clearly knew automatically. Really the entire series is weird in that everyone communicates with everyone else way too easily, and i will definitely rant about that someday.

For now let it stand that Shadow Weaver is the parent figure, it makes the most sense for her to pick the name, both in-universe and narratively, so i shall assume so by default. I have two things to say about that choice.

First, as we all have noticed, most of the princesses have names ending in -a. All of them, if you count "Glimma". It's never said to be intentional, but it would make sense. And then IF such a tradition exists among Etheria's royalty, it's not unreasonable for Shadow Weaver, a notable and moderately respected member of the land of knowledge, to know about it.

And then if she knew, of course she would take it into consideration when looking for names. Admittedly it's a little weird with the anti-Princess propaganda that the Horde has, but she doesn't really need to explain or justify this. Hordak has a very [i]laissez-faire[/i] attitude, and everyone else she clearly doesn't care about.

And if she knew or suspected that the princesses' powers were related to the Heart of Etheria, which i will argue for later, then giving her a princessy name is also adequately ironic.

The second name bit is that Scorpia clearly knows some Latin, but not enough. True, <em>adorare</em> means to worship and/or to love, but Latin verbs are more complex than that. _Adora_ specifically is 3rd person singular present indicative active. The translation would be "she loves".

Names aside, i want to talk about how they (we) learned about the Heart of Etheria. Castaspella doesn't know what to do, Shadow Weaver suggests they take a road trip to research, which she's reticent about but concedes is probably the best use of her time, and they find success. We don't know how long it took them, but i had the distinct impression that it wasn't very long.

Naturally, I'm suggesting Shadow Weaver knew all along, and led Castaspella on the trip to have an excuse for the inevitable "how do you know?". Also tricked her into thinking it was /her/ discovery, and maybe even that she was succeeding where Shadow Weaver had failed before, if necessary.

That's why she's so excited to share their results with everybody, and Shadow Weaver cuts her off, apparently just to antagonize her for fun, but I'm suggesting it was also because for her this is the culmination of a decades-long plan, and she wants to Get On With It.

It's also interesting that there was a mural depicting the Spell of Obtainment in the hallway leading to the failsafe. It was a reminder of Shadow Weaver's past, and an opportunity for her to show she regrets her results but doesn't repent from her choices, which i quite like actually. But I'm also saying that, meta-textually, it was a signal that she'd been there before, literally.

And then there is the potential in-universe connection, since we don't know what exactly the spell was meant to be obtaining. Power, for sure, and from what happened we're probably meant to assume it's tapping into some sort of demonic entity or dimension.

Fair enough, except that it never comes up again. And it's kind of a big plot point that Etheria is isolated from the rest of the cosmos, which may or may not conflict with it having a contactable "hell". Meanwhile there's the Heart of Etheria Project collecting all that magic, which Mara's allies (and their descendants) would know something about, have access to at least one backdoor to, and may well have tried to tap into its power at some point.

And then what went wrong may well be one of the defense mechanisms of the Project, though I'm admittedly veering into unfounded speculation.

So, a rough timeline. Light Spinner was always motivated to excel and craved power. She was probably always envied the princesses, who command greater magic than most sorcerers with apparently none of the study and practice.

She took to researching everything she could that might lead to power, eventually discovering the chamber with the failsafe, and presumably other information left by Mara's Friends, either in other chambers or in documents she's since removed. She would have learned a lot of things from this.

As i suggested, i believe she knew there's some connection between the princesses at large and the Heart of Etheria. Incidentally, i don't know exactly what that connection is, and in particular whether princesses were created by the Project or an existing phenomenon that the First Ones co-opted. But it doesn't matter, exactly.

What's important is that there's clearly a connection, more specifically a control system for the princesses and their magic, which is presumably related to how Shadow Weaver was able to tap into the Black Garnet's power. With Hordak's help, obviously, since she clearly believed it when he claimed he could cut her off at will, but he's later shown to have basically no understanding of First Ones' tech, so the knowledge must have come from her.

For the record, i would guess she thinks princesses are artificial, empowered both magically and politically to keep the planet in check, and that they would be depowered once the failsafe was fired. I also think that may be true, actually, since it almost happened when Entrapta was messing with the system, and if i recall none of them were shown to use any magic after Adora did fire it, while she clearly used Perfuma's power. But anyways!

Back to what Shadow Weaver learned, she would know some of what the failsafe does, namely disrupt the system that's hoarding most of the planet's magic, thereby spreading magic to all (most notably her), and some of how to use it, and the fact that she couldn't do so and hope to live, and some of the criteria for who can. That part is important.

But first, she also learned the Spell of Obtainment, deemed it more likely but didn't think she could do it herself, despaired of getting help until she thought Hordak's rise to fame would give her #casus belli#, lost her patience when the Mystacor leadership disagreed, etc etc etc. Pretty uncontroversial in this part, i think.

After she'd joined the Horde, when Hordak showed up with baby Adora and wanted to lump her with the rest of the orphans they have, Shadow Weaver pleaded to have her get special treatment. She even said that she's special, and it couldn't have been her leadership skills or good heart, since she didn't have either yet. It's heavily implied she could recognize her as a First One, but it's not clear why she would care, since they were known for leaving behind advanced technology, which a baby also doesn't have. Unless, of course, she knew there are devices only a First One could use, and maybe has plans related to that.

So I'm pretty sure she learned the criteria that the failsafe requires, devised some spell or technique to check people for them that she pretty much used all the time, just in case, and was very surprised when a newborn tested positive. She was also surprised when Hordak made her personally responsible for the raising of the kid, but her reaction is pretty much "ok, that could work, i guess".

Also also, i suspect she can read First One script. Not perfectly like Adora, but better than Bow's parents probably. Mostly because when she puts Adora's hand on the crystal and says "i think you know the password", that seems like a very transparent attempt to pretend she knows it too when she doesn't. But that seems irresponsible at such a crucial moment, she and Castaspella should really have researched it earlier. Or at least her line there should have been "you can read this, right?" or somesuch.

So I'm thinking it's a double bluff, hoping everybody assumes she doesn't know so she doesn't have to reveal how and why she knows, again.

And that's all i have, i think? This is not nearly as well laid out as i would like. But then, nothing ever is, right?

Also it's not even close to morning anymore. Thank you if you even got this far, and have a good evening!

hi!!! this took me a while to answer, i'm so sorry about that <3

i'm very low on energy today so i cannot summon up the brain energy to respond properly to this, as much as i want to, i'm really sorry for that as well

i love this theory!! it actually fits in really well with canon and makes, like, a LOT of sense now that i think about it. i definitely wouldn't have thought of this on my own, so thank you for sharing this with me!! :D