#Ending speculation for two Kingdoms

[corishadowfang]

            I’m not sure I’m cut out for this.

            The thought came quiet as Brain, very carefully, held his newborn daughter to his chest.  She was…so much smaller than he’d expected her to be.  She was still awake, only making a few quiet noises of protest as she stared up at her father, and it felt like something was cracking through the barriers he’d been so careful to put up.

            He didn’t know if he knew how to be a father.  He knew how to navigate Scalan politics, now—knew the right things to say at the right times, the people to argue with and the people who would be more willing to help if he agreed with them, the people to make connections with outside Scalan’s inner circle to help keep the higher ups off his back.  He knew how to fight Heartless, and discretely keep an eye out for Darkness, and utilize his sources to try and figure out how and when disaster would strike next.  (Because it would.  He knew it would.  Daybreak Town had never been enough for it—and he wouldn’t let himself fail a second time.)

            But this was—this was new.  This was something he’d never spent time cultivating the skills for—something he’d never planned on.  Something that felt…strangely terrifying, and reminded him, painfully, of the other kids he’d never been able to keep safe.  (He wondered, distantly, if things would’ve been different if Daybreak Town hadn’t fallen—if he and his friends had managed to hold onto each other, and build lives together outside the Keyblade War.  It was a painful thought, though, and he brushed it off as not worth thinking about, even if it left a lump in his throat.)

            A quiet noise of protest drew his attention, and he blinked out of his thoughts.  His daughter waved her hands up at him, making a face that looked distinctly like a pout, and despite himself, he found his expression softening.  “You’d probably be happier if you went to sleep,” he whispered.  “Suppose you get that from me.”

            Another whine, like she was offended, and he huffed a quiet laugh.  “Right.  Sorry.”  He shifted her a bit, and wasn’t even entirely sure if he was holding her right, but she seemed more content with the new position, her quiet protests dying away.  Hope you don’t take after me too much, he thought, painfully bittersweet.  Don’t think we need two of us.

            His daughter quieted, finally slipping into sleep, and Brain’s throat tightened a bit.  “I don’t really know what I’m doing, kid,” he whispered, “but I’ll…try my best not to fuck you up too much.  Alright?”

            He’d just…have to hope that was enough.

[lennythereviewer]

Theory: Jax is NOT a self-aware NPC nor is he actually trapped in the circus: He's a hacker who can leave at any time.

Even what little we got in terms of Jax content in episode 3 has been reinforcing a belief I've had for awhile, and in fact Jax's brief standout moment in ep 3 added a new wrinkle to my thought: That he's not some NPC who gained sentience and slipped in with the humans, he's actually a hacker who backdoored his way into the Digital Circus, and he's not trapped there.

Jax seems to have an affinity for keys and getting into places he shouldn't belong. Twice now he's done this thing of spinning a key on his finger while boasting about it. He mentions in episode 1 that "I got keys to everywhere" and in episode 2 he swiped the key to the kingdom from Ragatha, and the candy monster calls him a "Master of Unlocking Things" which I think could be genuinely some subtle foreshadowing. A hacker would potentially be able to do something like clip out of bounds, find security keys, crack passwords, and so on and so forth. All he's done with this however is seemingly just pull pranks and leave things in peoples rooms; he's a troll.

We've all speculated about the mysterious pin-back covers: The official pin merch line showing everyone's rooms except for Jaxs, which only shows his door and peeks of The Void tearing through the wall. We're not privvy to what's in Jaxs room if he even has one at all. His room door might actually be his own sort of exit door since he's not trapped. For him it's like loading into a VRChat server and he can log off any time he wants, he's just always sure to be there when everyone else is active so no one notices.

A small stupid thing but, "Jax" is not too far off from "Hax"

Okay, so if Jax is a hacker who can come and go as he pleases, a question is why? Why does he keep coming back to torment everyone around him? His brief gag in Episode 3 I think filled in the blanks for that: He's not just a hacker, he's a streamer and he's broadcasting everything that's happening in the Digital Circus to a watching audience.

He's the one character who has consistently broken the fourth wall in all three episodes so far, the first two episodes were him mugging to the camera and giving comical shrugs and knowing glances to the viewer, but in this episode he outright addresses the audience while seemingly talking to no one to the POV of the other circus members. He's acknowledging his chat. Plus in merch promotion Jax has openly acknowledged his IRL popularity, another form of fourth-wall-breaking.

This may also explain his overall behavior; the reason he's always causing problems on purpose or forcing the group to go on the most dangerous path or take the most 'exciting' option in their adventures: It makes for a good show. Audiences don't want some stupid silly candyland fantasy! They want car chases and explosions! They want to see what wacky things happen to the other circus members! The show must go on! Jax is chasing content, and when he can't get that content it upsets him like the end of Episode 2. Maybe that ties into his self-worth, maybe he needs that sort of validation from his chat and audience.

This angle also adds a bit of a meta angle to the entire series: We the viewer also tune in to watch our favorite circus buddies suffer through whatever zany adventure Caine cooked up. Are we any better than Jax's livestream audience who tune in to see how they're tormented by Caine this week? Heck maybe in-universe we're the audience Jax is playing to! We too want to see them sweat and suffer to get that sweet character growth so are we part of the problem?

Time will tell whether this comes to pass and whether or not I'm overthinking this, but I've had this thought for awhile and only after this episode did the livestreamer angle come to mind.

[kradogsrats]

Timeline Revisions, Archdragons, and the Cosmic Order

This was supposed to be a post about Shiruakh and Laurelion, but I got derailed momentarily by discovering that there's actually no evidence that Sol Regem was the first Dragon King, meaning the Dragon Monarchy did not start only 1200 years ago, which is something I based like 80% of my history speculation and analysis on. As stupid as I feel about this and as interesting as it was in terms of elf/dragon/human political climate... well, it has made less and less sense as we learn about the other Great Ones and the Cosmic Order. So probably for the best.

Revised/Updated Timeline

Let's do a reset on what we actually know:

Pictured: The official timeline slide as presented at SDCC 2019.

5,000 years ago: Primal elves emerged, elves and dragons were not allied (i.e. presumably the dragon monarchy did not yet exist), and it sucked to be human.

3,000 years ago: the archdragon Shiruakh and the Startouch elf Laurelion battle to the death.

2,000 years ago: Humans acquire (primal) magic, and Elarion is founded. Humanity ascends toward a golden age.

1,200 years ago: The Dragon Prince Anak Araw ascends to the dragon monarchy throne as Dragon King Sol Regem.

1,000 years ago: Sol Regem confronts Ziard, the first dark mage, and threatens Elarion before being blinded with corruption. Luna Tenebris ascends the dragon monarchy throne and expels humanity from the eastern half of Xadia. The archdragons form the Border to keep the two halves of the continent separate.

300 years ago: Luna Tenebris dies without a suitable heir. The Sunfire elf Queen Aditi vanishes before she can resolve the ensuing succession crisis. Aaravos, the "Fallen Star," is defeated and imprisoned by the Archdragons and the Orphan Queen. Avizandum ascends to the dragon monarchy throne.

2 years ago: Avizandum is killed by the human King Harrow. His mate Zubeia ascends the dragon monarchy throne, with their son Azymondias as Dragon Prince.

"Now": Aaravos escapes captivity, but is returned to his heavenly form until his stars realign in 7 years. The archdragons Zubeia, Rex Igneous, and Domina Profundus perish in the battle. Azymondias is the last known living archdragon, and the status of the dragon monarchy is unknown.

and here's things we know happened, but not exactly when:

Between 5,000 and 2,000 years ago: the Startouch elf child Leola teaches humans the secrets of primal magic. Her violation of the Cosmic Order is reported by Dragon Prince Anak Araw, and she is executed for it. Her death forms the Sea of the Castout in Eastern Xadia.

Between 3,000 years ago and 300 years ago: the fang of Shiruakh is forged by humans into the Novablade. At some point, it winds up in the hands of the Celestial elves at the Starscraper.

Between 1,000 years ago and Now: the city of Elarion is either destroyed or naturally falls into ruin. (Anyone who can actually cite a reliable source for Elarion being destroyed is more than welcome to do so, otherwise I will die on the "we have no evidence that Elarion was ever destroyed, actually" hill.)

Sometime before 300 years ago, and probably before 1,000 years ago: the (arch?)dragon Aithne Solaire, mate of Anak Araw/Sol Regem, is killed, by him unwittingly burying her alive in an episode of rage. (I say "probably before 1,000 years ago" because she presumably would have succeeded him as Dragon Queen, if she was alive.)

Between 1,000 years ago and 300 years ago: the modern human kingdoms are founded. The mage wars end as the western half of Xadia is depleted of magical resources. (Unclear whether those two events are directly related.)

Some Speculation: The Archdragons, the Cosmic Order, and Shiruakh/Laurelion

This was originally supposed to be a post about Shiruakh and Laurelion, but let's rewind a bit. We know the Great Ones (a.k.a. the "First Elves") built or instituted something to either create an ideal Cosmic Order or preserve one they had foreseen, because that's what Aaravos wants to destroy as his revenge.

This Cosmic Order seems to be tied to an idealized state of stability—humans acquiring magic is known to be the first step in a descent to "chaos"—but also hierarchy. Archdragons are at the top. Elves venerate them. Humans are lesser beings than both. I think there's a very strong chance that the dragon monarchy was instituted either by the Great Ones, or by some agreement between them and the archdragons. The dragon monarchy oversees and preserves the Cosmic Order while the Great Ones... do whatever it is they do, because they don't actually seem very interested.

Destroying the archdragons (instead of just Sol Regem in particular) could be on Aaravos's agenda simply because they betrayed him 300 years ago, but I suspect they are considered a foundational pillar of the Cosmic Order in some way, and taking out three of the last remaining four was a pretty big win for him. We don't know where archdragons come from—like if a primal has no archdragon, whether one will just... coalesce. If that's the case, it clearly either takes more than 300 years or there's some kind of problem with Luna Tenebris's death and the Moon primal (possible).

Now, as for Shiruakh and Laurelion:

I'm assuming we'll get a translation for Shiruakh's name at some point, the best I could get was Hebrew shir ("song") and ruach/ruakh ("spirit", "breath"). Personally, given Shiruakh's coloration and the fact that her scale empowers Claudia with fire, I would lay money on her being an archdragon of the Sun. Since sometime after her death, Anak Araw is Dragon Prince, a Sun archdragon dynasty on the throne also makes sense. I would also have zero surprise if she was Anak Araw's mother, the mate of the at-the-time Dragon King, just because that would set off some animosity, there. Especially if she was hunted down because of some Cosmic Order bullshit, which would also be delicious—him and Aaravos angry for the same reason.

So why did she and Laurelion fight? Well, we just don't know.

Hmmmm. But no, we don't know.

Now, I would bet that either the Death of the Immortal poem was written long after the actual events, or else large chunks of it are missing, since Kazi skimming over "Laurelion fought an archdragon and its bite killed him" and/or "and then he exploded" would be... kind of weird. The archdragons seem to be aware of what will happen when Aaravos's mortal form dies, so presumably they wouldn't be too keen on delivering a suicidal bite if there are other options available... but the other option is the Novablade, which has the same problem. The Orphan Queen, having the same problem as the main cast, may have "spared" Aaravos less out of some mysterious compassion and more out of also sparing herself and everything in what looks like probably a multi-kilometer radius.

I (and I think a lot of others) had just kind of assumed that Laurelion was targeted for death because of some transgression, but now it seems at least equally likely that he was enforcing the Cosmic Order against Shiruakh going rogue. Given the close relationship that's implied between the archdragons and the Great Ones, with no clear point for it to have soured (except with Aaravos, specifically), it seems unlikely that the archdragons or the elves would feel the need for such a weapon. Which is consistent with the fact that, as we now see in the illustration of Aaravos's tale, the Novablade was actually forged by humans.

Given the trajectory of human civilization over the timeline, I wouldn't expect them to have the technology or knowledge to work draconic ivory that way a thousand years before they acquire primal magic. On the other hand, if Shiruakh's tooth was kicked around for a couple thousand years, why did they suddenly feel the need for a Startouch elf-killing weapon? Is this just a case of dick-swinging, like driving a car that can do 250 MPH when you're never going to go above maybe 90, and that's if you're a huge asshole (which you probably are)? "My sword is made from an archdragon's tooth and can kill a god"?

Was Aaravos behind this, somehow? I would not be at all surprised if Aaravos was behind this, somehow. It's unclear whether one Great One could kill another in single combat, or otherwise force them back to the heavenly plane—if not, the advantages of such a weapon might outweigh the risks for the person with the most motivation to dispatch other Startouch elves. A contingency.

(But I personally also think that Aaravos's manipulation was behind things like... the formation of the Border, so.)

Anyway, since either arc 3 or the leadup to it will presumably involve a lot of frantic researching, maybe we'll finally get some of the Orphan Queen story and learn some of what she figured out.

[peekofhistory]

I read on Wikipedia that Japanese geta originated in China, where they had a different construction and were worn through a few periods. I would love to learn more about the versions worn in China! Have you seen any pictures or information about them?

Hello :D

Yes, geta (or muji/木屐 in Chinese) does have a long history in China. Historians speculate it was likely around the Tang Dynast when the muji entered Japan due to the large economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries during this period (a lot of Tang Dynasty artefacts in Japan today were also exported there during this period).

The earliest muji artefact found in China of muji is from over 3000 years ago, at the Cihui ruins (慈湖遗址):

You can see there's 5 holes on the shoe, rather than the 3 holes on the Japanese geta today. Here's a Japan vs Chinese geta/muji in comparison (left Chinese, right Japan):

The Chinese one wraps all the way around the foot whereas the modern, Japanese geta has just the two straps at the front (I don't know if the geta in Japan went through any changes throughout history or if it had always been like that).

There are also some that have just a single, wide band across the front (like a slip-on sandal today), or one strap across the front where the toes are, and one near the back for better support.

In Chinese history, this type of footwear was mostly worn around the Han/Weijin period, although there are records of it being used in later dynasties as well.

These pairs are from the Three Kingdom period (late Han), unearthed from the Zhuran tomb (三国，东吴，朱然墓). They're unique because of the lacquer coating painted on top.

These three are from the Six Dynasty Museum (六朝博物馆) in Nanjing (Six dynasty = from Three Kingdom to the end of the North/South Dynasty (东吴、东晋、宋、齐、梁、陈)).

These two sets were unearthed from the Xuancheng Western Jin tomb (宣城西晋墓)

The muji was categorized into 3 types:

Lianchi (连齿) = the two wooden 'teeth' at the bottom of the muji and the top piece is all carved using one piece of wood

Yinmao (阴卯) = the two wooden 'teeth' at the bottom are separate from the top piece

Pingdi (平底) = no wodden 'teeth' at the bottom, like a platform or wedged heel:

In Western Han 202 BC-8 AD) there was a book called: 西汉史游 《急就篇》 (Western Han Shiyou <Jijiu Chapter>)

This book was kind of like an encyclopedia and covered things like animals, plants, food, clothing, medicine, court positions, instruments, along with other topics. It was used to teach Chinese characters and also spread information (like a textbook used today). In this book, it mentions the muji.

Later during the Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 917 AD) the court official Yan Shigu (颜师古) added to the book that: "屐者，以木为之，而施两齿，所以践泥" ("The ji [muji], is made from wood, has two teeth, so can step on mud")

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

Do you have any specific idioms that you’ve come up with for Rohan?

Yes! I’ve got a huge mishmash of adages, idioms, little sayings and turns of phrase that I’ve made up over time for use among the Rohirrim. A bunch of them are in old posts, which I can’t locate because Tumblr’s search function is garbage, so here’s just a random helping from memory in all of the above categories:

“Crumbs will do when crumbs must do” (often shortened to just “crumbs will do”). Leftover from the famine of the Long Winter, it means “stop whining and make do with what’s available.”

“The proof is on the tongue.” This refers to the cultural tradition that the way to recognize whether a stranger is a friend or foe is to see if they can speak Rohirric, but it gained added nuance after the reign of Thengel, when he came back from Gondor speaking Sindarin and Westron all the time, which rubbed people back home the wrong way. Now it’s used as sort of a general expression about whether something or someone is genuinely of Rohan.

“Cirion didn’t win alone.” Based on Cirion coming to Eorl to ask for his assistance (which ultimately led to the Oath of Eorl and the founding of Rohan), it means “don’t be too proud to ask for help when you need it.”

“[Person] rides with their hands at their chest.” Proper riding posture has your hands at hip level, but amateurs often end up raising them higher to keep their balance (rather than making the correction in their seat as they should). Basically, this is one of the harshest insults you can fling at someone by insinuating that their horsemanship is bad.

“He’s going to hear Béma’s horn.” Referring to Oromë’s sounding of his great horn as he rode against the servants of Morgoth, it means that someone did something very stupid and now he’s going to face wrath for it.

“The glory of the grass is the glory of the field.” I stole a version of this from one of my favorite books, Matrix by Lauren Groff, but I think it’s perfect for a kingdom of plains and grasslands where collectivism is necessary for survival. One blade by itself is nothing, but a field has shape and substance and beauty. And if your field is not doing well, your personal glory as a single blade is still diminished even if your blade is thriving.

“[Person] has gone with Ácith.” Ácith is the Rohirric name for Béma’s wife. Flowers bloom in her wake, and so they believe that the appearance of simbelmynë on their graves means that she’s been there to escort the dead person on to their after life. So to “go with Ácith” means that someone has died.

I *also* really like thinking about unique words that would exist in Rohirric and not in other languages. I’m already on record as saying that I think they have DOZENS of words for “horse” that recognize different distinctions and nuances that no one else bothers with, but I’ve also speculated that they’ve got words like something that translates directly as “oath honor” and means the pride of having fulfilled your promises/commitments at great personal cost.

I totally LOVE this stuff and could sit around thinking about these all day every day, so if anyone else has examples that they want to throw out there, please do. I would LOVE to see them!

Check out part two here!

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to The Worst's Chapters 383-385

New title - 50. The Birth of Evil

Brief summary: Cale and Alberu scams Queen Tamahi. Cale gets an event quest required for hatching Eden's egg. Cale's group prepares for Eden's nativity.

==========

We got 3 chapters to welcome the end of the hiatus. There was also an author's note, thanking us readers for the messages of support and well wishes she received, and wishing us a happy new year.

Cale using his shield to block the explosion reminded Alberu of when Cale first revealed his Shield AP in the plaza. So in the spur of a moment, Alberu decided to recreate the hugging scene too.

Cale and Alberu: *hugging* Cale: (Did he overdo it? His hands are trembling?) Cale: Need help? Alberu: You'll help me? *frowns* Cale: (Why do I feel offended by his shocked look?)

There was Cale and Alberu working together to scam Queen Tamahi of the Lan Kingdom. She was interested in joining the alliance of Cale's Dark Kingdom and Alberu's land in the game. 😂😂😂

Tamahi: Can the Lan Kingdom join the alliance between your two kingdoms? Cale: Opportunity comes to those who seek it. Tamahi and Cale: *shakes hands* Alberu: *smiles brightly* Super Rock: But Cale… she does not know that the Dark Kingdom is from the Eight Evils, right? And the crown prince has no land to rule now, so he is just a future king in name only. Then, isn't this an alliance that doesn't even exist? Cale: (Be quiet.) Cale: *makes eye contact with Alberu* Alberu: Hahaha! Cale: Hahaha!

Because of their agreement, the Lan Kingdom closed its doors and began to massively recruit and train warriors, leading to users speculating that they were preparing for war.

Poor Dark Bear. Cale's allies continuously scared him. From Heavenly Demon's Demon Cult to former Pope Kesilia and the half-blood dragons. 😂 But Dark Bear was scared of Eruhaben the most, especially because of Eruhaben's strange enthusiasm with playing the game as a quasi-NPC. So when Cale arrived, Dark Bear was greatly relieved.

Dark Bear's evaluation: Cale, CH, scary baby dragon, and two vicous cats = the most normal of the bunch Demon Cult members = crazy fanatics Beast tribe people and Gashan = strange people Pope Kesilia and half blood dragons = weird people planning to create the Miru Knights Eruhaben = the strangest and scariest of them all

Meanwhile, Eden had yet to hatch because it was blocked by a quest. Cale received an event quest that in order for Eden to hatch, he would need to have a "backstory" or "legend" surrounding his birth. The game would even reward Eden based on how good the legend surrounding his birth was. Thus, Cale recruited Clopeh Sekka, the expert in legends, to direct the best legend for Eden and get a guaranteed S-rank reward. 🤣🤣🤣

Cale: Call Clopeh Sekka. Everyone: !!! Cale: He knows legends best. We should call in an expert. Egg Eden: *tries to protest by shaking* Cale: Birth is a blessed thing. I'll give you a wonderful nativity scene. Egg Eden: … *resigns himself to his fate*

When Cale told Eruhaben, Clopeh, and Pope Kesilia about the quest, the latter two were excited and began planning the event. HD joined in because the Demon Cult and the Central Plains world also had lots of legends. And poor Dark Bear continued to be scared of them all. 🤣🤣🤣

Thus, Director Clopeh Sekka began his directing. Seven days before Eden's birth, the Cotton Candy Castle and the entire 7th Evil dungeon area had an ominous atmosphere.

HD - uses his unique power to create dark red clouds that cover the sky Gashan - uses his crows to create an ominous atmosphere around the castle Cale - uses golden lightning in the sky, makes trees everywhere move, makes it pour rain and wind Raon: Human, aren't you overdoing it? Cale as he uses his APs: ...Shit. *regretting it now* Mary - makes skeletons come out of the ground Clopeh: It's not enough. Evil must be more evil. Enough to make the Eight Evils bosses to focus on us. Clopeh: *looks at Eru, Rosalyn, and Raon* Eru, Rosalyn, and Raon - summons a black pillar of light that could be seen by most people in the game

I'm laughing at HD. He just awakened his unique power, and now he was using it for Cale's production. 😂😂😂 Sheritt also had a role here - Cale assigned her to write the legend about Eden.

Later, Cale filmed the ominous scene and "leaked" it to the game forums, making users wonder if some great demon was about to be born. 😂😂😂

Ending Remarks The last part was just so funny. 🤣🤣🤣 But before Eden's nativity, it seemed like Count Lupe and Aurora would be meeting next chapter. We would finally find out if Count Lupe and other NPCs were the missing demons in the Demon Realm.

[loriache]

World Map Notes: the Elven Northern & Southern Central Continents

These nations are where all the elves in the story except Marcille and Thistle are from. This post collects all the information I could find about these two nations, and included a bit of analysis based on that information.

TL;DR (includes both fact and my speculation):

The Northern Central Continent is a feudal monarchy with a strong class system, as well as strict borders, & could probably be considered an ethnostate. It's deeply hierarchical, and the queen is a traditionalist - so it's probably very structurally biased against non-elves and half-elves.

Elves in the NCC practice cannibalism in some rural areas!

The Southern Central Continent is more diverse, with a large tallman population on its South Coast.

To elves, "Court Magicians" exclusively refer to those serving the elven queen - a prestigious role that seems likely to be only open to nobles.

The SCC may not be a monarchy, though it's not clear what kind of leadership or societal structure it does have.

The NCC will habitually take anyone involved in ancient magic as a criminal to prosecute on their terms, regardless of jurisdiction, but this depends on their political influence and ability to pressure local leaders to agree to extradite the criminal.

Elves VS Dwarves and Gnomes may have been at war around the time of the Golden Kingdom being sealed. This conflict also may be one of the factors pushing the kingdom to be sealed in the first place.

The "Central Region" might be the origin of the "Common Tongue" that our characters speak.

Northern Central Continent

The Adventurer's Bible | p. 132

For this place to have a high quality of life, and also a declining population - especially when it's so close to the Western Continent, which is stated to have poor quality of life - there must be strictly maintained borders and a strong anti-immigration policy. Based on the attitude of the elves, I wouldn't be surprised if it was very difficult to move there unless you are also an elf.

It could probably be considered an ethnostate - and while in these kinds of fantasy worlds, that's pretty common. Take Rivendell, or Moria, in LOTR - they take for granted that these kinds of different fantasy races will live in separate communities.

But that isn't actually realistic, and I think Kui has considered it as more of a politically established status quo rather than an obvious natural result of having magically distinct "races". Which, even in Dunmeshi, I think is a difficult and not-terribly-accurate way to represent politics - racism does not emerge from actual, physical differences between races, after all.

But Dunmeshi's presentation of this idea is interesting, because of the recognition that if there is an "elven nation" which prioritises the interests and rights of elves over other races, that is because there's a deliberate, concerted effort to keep it that way.

But there's a small section of the NCC with a high tallman population - I wonder what kind of community they have, and how they fit into the strict elven hierarchy?

The Adventurer's Bible | pp. 134 & 136

Kabru and Rin, and other kids like them, who are adopted or taken as adopted children(rarely - the way Milsiril treats Kabru is not perfect, but she's deliberately attempting to be better than other elves.... meaning other elves are usually worse)/pets/objects by elven nobles, as well as accomplished or notable individuals who earn the elves' favour/are "invited" to stay (such as they try with Laios at the end of the story) would be an exception.

Other long-lived races could probably (...?) visit, but given the historical conflict between elves, dwarves, and gnomes, I think they'd also be pretty hostile to many of them coming to live on the NCC, even if they see them as more like equals.

Social Structure & Nobility

The Northern Central Continent is an absolute monarchy under a 372 year old queen, Heimeya (IDK what the official romanisation of her name will be).

...With extended "nobility", which are the group that the canaries' guards draw from. We don't get much clarification of what sort of structure their nobility has, what titles there are, and where our characters who are nobles fall into it.

Pattadol (House of Vari), Mithrun (House of Kerensil), and Milsiril (House of Tol) are nobles.

Mithrun's noble house, Kerensil, is apparently a well-known family of investors! I wonder what sorts of businesses they invest in & what the elven economy is like?

Milsiril's house, on the other hand, is a well-known military family. I wonder if Kabru could claim the surname "of the House of Tol". He did go to family gatherings after all. But if he was comfortable doing so and it would be accepted, I would assume he'd have done so when introducing himself to the canaries.

Flamela is a distant relative of the queen, who has additional status due to exhibiting the genetic trait associated with their queens, extremely dark skin.

The queen is a "staunch traditionalist" who wouldn't even acknowledge a half-elf like Marcille. Nice! I really feel bad for Kabru and Rin growing up as tallmen in this sort of culture.

Court Magicians

While generally this is a term for any magic user who serves in a royal court, in the Northern Central Continent it seems to carry a lot of esteem; even just as the daughter of one, Pattadol assumes Marcille has the right to boss her around and to handle highly secret, highly illegal ancient magic secrets.

That makes sense, as in the society of the Northern Central Continent, you'd be directly serving the elven queen. But also, she has enough Court Magicians that Pattadol would not expect to know Marcille's mother's name, but few enough that it would be a big deal and Cithis would know about it if one had a half-elf child.

I don't think it's remotely unlikely based on that to assume that this role is only available to nobles.

A "Court Magician" who doesn't serve the NCC Queen isn't a "real" Court Magician in the eyes of NCC elves. Those short-lived monarchs would be happy just to have an elf around regardless of whether they were actually any good at magic.... according to Cithis.

Magic seems very important to the society of the NCC elves. The queen communicates with her subordinates via familar, and the birds we see surrounding her seem like they are some kind of magic - perhaps not familiars since we see her familiar, but some other kind of scrying?

Also, based on the fact Pattadol assumes a Court Magician would be serving the Queen of the NCC, we can theorise that perhaps whatever structure the SCC has, it isn't a monarchy....? Heimeya is "the queen of the elves", after all - that doesn't sound like there's another elven monarch competing for the title just next door.

Ordinary People

Apparently the NCC is a safe place and life is easy -- but given the strict class system, I kind of expect that varies a lot depending on the family you're born into.

The only elves we meet who are not nobles are the convicted criminal canaries, so it's hard to get a sense of what life is like for them from that. Cithis was apparently a wealthy fortune teller with "an intense jealousy for those born noble or wealthy." So I assume she was not born into comfort.

Apparently "There are also primitive villages deep in the woods and underground, and in some regions cannibalism is still practiced." Which is awesome. Based on her videogame elves art I think Kui's probably making a little nod to Divinity: Original Sin elves, who can absorb memories through eating the flesh of others. Elves in dungeon meshi don't have this trait, but I wonder if there is a magical ritual or some kind of cultural practice with a similar intention.

Cuisine

Marcille's mother didn't think much of the elven cuisine.

Liricmumwarel is fancy candy given out by the elven queen the shape of which conveys blessings.

Elf Cake is a crumbly dry cake that Kabru and Thistle don't think much of. I've heard someone discuss what it's likely to be made of, but I am afraid I don't recall.

Southern Central Continent

The Adventurer's Bible | p. 132

It seems like the Southern Central Continent gets a lot more immigration and has a more diverse population, especially along the south coast (near the Western Continent). That south coast has a high tallman population.

Fleki and Lycion are from the Southern Central Continent. Fleki got into ancient magic for the money, so you can assume there's probably class disparity there too; things are noted by Kui to be more "disorganised" than the NCC. Not a bad thing at all - the NCC is definitely too "organised" in my books. But that does potentially also mean there's less, e.g., bureaucracy, central organisation, less of a social safety net. But then again, in the NCC I doubt that whatever "safety net" there is, is available to everyone.

We can't extrapolate much from Fleki & Lycion's personalities, because they clearly aren't in the most stable societal position, and I get the sense that they're the countercultural type - they probably don't represent the type of person typical to the SCC. Also, our NCC characters are all either nobles or used to navigating high society (Cithis, Kabru to an extent) so they aren't exactly a typical "ordinary NCC person" as a basis for comparison either. However, there's less of a "strict set of social rules" type of feel to the SCC characters, fitting with my suggestion that the SCC may not be a society with a strong feudal element.

Geopolitics & Conflict

The fact that, despite their being from the SCC, Fleki and Lycion are in the Canaries, who work directly under the NCC's Queen, implies that the the NCC feel entitled to process and prosecute people who commit ancient magic-related crimes regardless of any notion of "jurisdiction". This is backed up by the way that they were going to take Marcille - but that is something that the governor of the Island had to give permission for, which Laios is able to withdraw. So I assume that the NCC elves apply pressure on various world leaders to extradite criminals involved in ancient magic.

The SCC would cooperate with this, since they're allies, even if they don't have a great relationship (according to the World Guide).

The NCC are also clearly able to take half-foots without trouble, as we see by Chilchuck saying he's known half-foots who got involved with "black magic" (ancient magic) and were disappeared by the elves. But I doubt gnomes or dwarves are giving people up easily - though that probably doesn't go for dwarves like Senshi and Namari, without strong community ties.

Long before the current times, elves fought dwarves & gnomes. There might have been more than one of these conflicts...? While long ago, this war isn't "ancient" (like the ancients who sealed the demon into dungeons, before their world was mostly destroyed by it).

Thistle, Delgal, and the Golden Kingdom were (I believe) caught up in one of these conflicts, which used Melini as a staging ground - thus why Thistle was pushed to seal the entire kingdom in the dungeon.

To do this, Thistle unseals a dungeon created by the "ancient people". These could be the "ancients" who created the dungeons, before the apocalypse. Or they could be another, still extinct, society.

Regardless, at least one of these conflicts seems to have taken place after the golden kingdom was sealed - so, within the last 1000 years.

Though, this could refer to a different, more localised conflict between the Golden Kingdom and their dwarven neighbours.

The order of events is that the Golden Kingdom was sealed (1000 years ago or so) > Dwarves took over > Elves stole the land from the Dwarves ("long ago" by the Island Lord, a tallman's, standards) > Elves gave the land to a local lord, who was either an ancestor of the Island Lord, or the Island Lord himself. The Island Lord is himself a descendant of the lord who poisoned Delgal's father, as is noted in the World Guide. However, it isn't impossible for there to be large gaps of time between these events, which could put the elf / dwarf wars at a more recent date.

The fact we know that the elves stole the land from the dwarves, and then granted it to a political actor who was relevant during the events of the Golden Kingdom flashbacks we see suggests to me that the events were roughly contemporaneous. If they were, that puts at least one of these conflicts at roughly 1000 years ago.

So, the elf/dwarf & gnome conflict is "long ago" by short-lived standards, but would be considered "modern" by the long-lived races, if you ask me. At least, the equivalent of the World Wars for us - recent history, even if we weren't alive.

I'm guessing the "Elf King" from the below panel in fact was a word that's more gender-neutral in Japanese, since the "Western Elves" definitely have a queen.

Language

When Kabru says the "Central region" I expect he means the region where the NCC and SCC is.

The fact that he observes that the lack of any accent means he's from the Central Region is really interesting. It could mean two things;

either they switched to speaking in the language spoken on those continents, which Kabru would naturally know, having grown up there. It's 100 percent possible, but I think this would be noted in the story.

or, the language that gets called "the common tongue", the one that all our principle characters speak for most of the story, originated from the elves in the Central Continent. Or at least it's the same one that the elves use, and their political influence is great enough that their accent gets to be considered not an accent at all. The fact they were "granting" land in this area to tall-man lords suggests a large enough historical influence in the area that this is quite plausible to me.

Mithrun absolutely does have an accent - nobody speaks without an accent. His accent is just politically and socioculturally normalised to the point of being considered the "default/proper" way to speak - like received pronounciation in English.

The common tongue isn't ubiquitous everywhere - not just Kuro, but Kiki and Kaka are also noted to be studying the common tongue. The Tansus were born on the Eastern Continent, so probably gnome communities there speak their own language - Kiki and Kaka grew up primarily surrounded by gnomes after all.

It's also quite likely that Kabru, specifically, because of where he grew up, would consider Mithrun's way of talking to be the default "not an accent" accent. His adoptive mother surely has the same upper-class NCC accent. I expect that other characters might experience it as more "marked".

This isn't a world where everyone speaks the same language everywhere; the common tongue is called that, but there are many different languages. Kabru and Chilchuck are two characters who are adept with many of them - Kabru speaks the language of the kobold, and probably lots more. Chilchuck works as an interpreter as part of his union stuff - I can tell you from experience that that's a hugely valuable skillset in that context, as many of the people who most need union representation are people who don't speak the dominant language, or at least not fluently.

If you got all the way to the end of this post.... thank you for reading, I love you. Check out my other World Map Notes under that tag on my blog; I've made a few so far and there will almost certainly be more. Next I'm thinking the dwarven nations...? But I could be persuaded if someone had a preference.

Also, anyone got any speculation on what, exactly, is the previous time that Heimeya ate a person/monster/chimera that this panel implies:

We really don't have anything to go on whatsoever, but I think it's a fun tidbit.

[pathologicalrunaway]

i saw that one tumblr post about how aviary cheapens the point of sky as a story (the civilisation is lost and all we know are only shadows of what was before; but aviary brings everyone back and we coexist now, instead of being two generations that were never supposed to meet) reposted on reddit a while ago and i have a couple of thoughts on this matter.

because one hand, i do agree that there was a bittersweetness in walking through a dead world that was lost. that aviary feels alive and the world is supposed to be dead. but i think a crucial aspect of this whole discourse (lore-wise) could lie in the first character aviary can be associated with. and this character — and their little village — do not really contradict the point of the game, but contribute to it

hopeful steward. they are, first things first, a child. like we are, as players. and children are often associated with hope for a better future, and this game is no exception. it's up to the children to bring light back, it's us and our connections that make sky a happy place. it's us that bring hope in the fact thay maybe, maybe not everything is over yet. that there's still something to admire, something to love, something to believe in.

steward is the one waiting in front of the village doors, they are the one showing us how to bring back the village, so it would make sense to assume that the village is their idea and, to an extent, their responsibility.

they are in charge of this silly little community like elders once were, but the elders fell. they made bad decisions that led to the world's destruction. this is mostly speculation, at least now, and we should wait for two embers to give us the whole picture, but it looks like the reason why aviary exists is because the world was on the verge of collapse and hopeful steward (and a couple more people) wanted — if not to prevent this — at least to try to save someone.

a second chance for the dying world.

they were hoping for a better future despite the inevitable doom. they had hope in the fact that, even in those dark times, the world would bounce back.

and their name says a lot about them. they wake up to see their home destroyed, their friends gone, the bells broken. the only thing alive is the child with a candle in front of them. but they don't succumb to despair, they keep faith, showing the newcomer around, explaining what happened.

they have no reason to believe that the kid that has just fallen fron the sky can restore light. they have no proof they are even able to do such things, that they are strong enough. they just hope.

and their hope pays back, eventually, after oh-so many losses. the world — and, most importantly, its people, — are saved. maybe not in the way any of them wanted but hey, life's tricky like that.

hopeful steward and their village refraim the point of the story, not destroy it. we spent years wandering in an empty kingdom haunted by the ghosts of what once were its people, not knowing what happened, or who they used to be, or if there was a way they could be happy again. and now we know that dark times don't last forever. trees grow back when people leave cities, animals return to where progress preciously exiled them from, and humanity bounces back. life is a cycle, and nothing just stays gone forever. good times come, eventually. with hope and friendship and love.

but it doesn't mean things are exactly the way they used to be, no. the realms are still destroyed. people look very different now. aviary village grows, but it's slow and painful and we are constantly reminded of how nothing is the same anymore (nesting guide looking wistfully at the picture, compassionate cellist and duets guide's dream coming true far too late). many go to the stars because this is an option now, and there is no guarantee the village's inhabitants will stay there forever, just like there was no guarantee back then that they would live there happily ever after.

and eden stayed the same. at the end of the day, all the loss and pain and mistakes of people there were before us is still here. it's just now we're stopping mourning the past and focus on the present instead

[bookishdaze]

Noah's Ark for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

You know how the story of Caesar is inspired by Moses? Freeing his people and taking them to the promised lands?

Well, to continue this trend of using events and figures from the Bible as inspiration, Noa from Kingdom is based on Noah. They're not subtle about it at all.

Our main ape is named Noa, he saves his people from a flood, and there's a very big boat in the background for good measure. In case it wasn't obvious enough!

However, I believe we are not done with the similarities to Noah from the Bible. The story of Caesar as Moses happened in both Rise and War, actually. So if the similarities to Noah will continue in this new trilogy...what will that look like? Time to speculate!

First things first...we need an Ark, right? What will that look like? For this post and speculation, I will use other movies for inspiration!

Note: I'm not saying these movies were purposefully based on Noah's Ark. This is mostly for ideas and inspiration.

I've thought of bunkers, planes, and boats.

Bunker as the Ark

Okay, this idea came to me after watching Greenland with Gerard Butler. In Greenland, we follow John who has to take his family to a bunker in Greenland because an asteroid is going to hit earth that will wipe out all life. I know a bunker is not a big method of transportation like a boat, but here's why it could fit!

The flood from the Bible was a world-ending event that wiped out everything, right? Well, bunkers are built to withstand world-ending events! Maybe there's a big danger like a virus or bomb that the apes will need to escape from by hunkering down in a bunker.

Even in Kingdom, the apes have to climb deep within the bunker/vault in order to save themselves from the flood. Maybe foreshadowing that a bunker will save them from another "flood" event in the future?

In Greenland, the humans leave the bunker once the dust has settled after nine months of living underground. One of the first things they see are birds, a sign that there is still life on earth. This reminds me of how Noah used birds to see if the waters from the flood had receded enough for it to be safe to leave the Ark. This also makes me think of how Noa's clan raises eagles...

The POTA franchise has always used bunkers in in its story, all the way back to the originals with the mutants from Beneath the Planet of the Apes that lived underground.

Aircraft as an Ark

Some movies/shows that come to mind that use aircraft, planes, and even spaceships as an Ark are Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Thor Ragnarok, and The Handmaid's Tale.

In GotG Vol. 3, the movie ends with a bunch of animals escaping an exploding spaceship by getting on Knowhere, a spaceship/planet. This reminds me of how Noah had two of each animal on the Ark.

In Thor Ragnarok, Thor gets the people of Asgard on a spaceship in order to escape the destruction of their home world, Asgard.

In season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale, June and other rebels create a plan to get a bunch of children out of Gilead by having them escape on an airplane.

Even before this, when June learns how many others agreed to help, she jokingly replies, "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

I did create this post earlier this year where I discuss how Kingdom could be foreshadowing Noa taking flight in an aircraft. Where would the apes get a plane? Where would they go? And if it's a plane, what would they be escaping? The humans? Maybe it's both apes and humans escaping something? Other humans? A bomb? A virus? A natural disaster?

Boat as an Ark

This one is very on the nose, lol. I don't have other movies as examples for this one, but the story of Noah uses a literal boat, so I don't think I need to find other examples to prove this as a possibility. I personally don't think it would be a boat, but it could be another neat way to show how apes are advancing. And considering how apes die by drowning a lot in Kingdom, and how other movies like the 2001 POTA shows apes being afraid of water, apes getting on a boat could be a neat way to show how they're no longer afraid of the water?

Soooo that's all I got. A bunker is the one that makes the most sense. I also really like the idea of planes and apes advancing enough to understand flight. Boats I'm not very confident on, but I'm open to all possibilities. Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas!

[wileycap]

THE TORCH (Headlines from the end of the Hundred Year War, as collected by the Royal Museum and the Military Historical Society)

The Torch was a newspaper founded in year four of Fire Lord Azulon's reign and shut down in year 16 of Fire Lord Zuko's reign. It had two purposes: to act as a mouthpiece of the current regime and to provide sensationalist entertainment. Due to the oft-conflicting nature of these dual purposes, examining the Torch can provide insight into Fire Nation society during the War and the spread of information within it. The Torch was occasionally permitted to gently criticize the government, leading scholars to believe that its true purpose was to alleviate public tensions and moderate criticism of the War.

Barbarians Destroy Grand Fleet At North Pole: Unnatural Powers Used, Fire Lord Ozai Vows To Protect Nation

Obituary For Admiral Zhao: "Not well-liked or particularly competent, but still mourned by 5-12 people in the nation"

Air Nomad Terrorist Sighted In The Earth Kingdom: "Possibility of Earth terrorism in the homeland", Cautions Top Official

Air Nomad Terrorist 'Oung' Sighted In A Swamp: Possible Drug Use?

Air Nomad Terrorist Kidnaps The Daughter Of EK Noble Beifong Amidst Rising Cries To Submit To The Fire Nation- "Helpless and blind"

Giant Drill Launched, Destroyed In The EK - Expert: "Definitely the best way to spend the equivalent of three years' GDP. All hail Fire Lord Ozai."

War Minister Caught In "Peace Conspiracy": Fired (Note: A correction was later printed, clarifying that the minister was burned to death.)

VICTORY! Fire Nation Covert Forces Capture Ba Sing Se, Led By Princess Azula

Disgraced Prince Spotted In Tender Moments With EK Sweetheart - "A travesty"

JUSTICE! Air Nomad Terrorist Uang Killed

Prince Zuko And Princess Azula Return To The Homeland

Prince Zuko Confirmed As Crown Prince: "Now that his official mission to strike out at our enemies is complete, the Prince will resume his duties"

The Most Eligible Bachelor? Prince Zuko Is Still Without Bethrotal

Royal Etiquette Trainer Slams Top Bachelorette Princess Azula: "Time to find a suitable match"

Renowned War Hero Princess Azula Has No Plans To Marry, And That's Okay

Former Etiquette Trainer Imprisoned For Defaming The Royal Family

East Coast School Life Disturbed By Cave Dancing

Fire Nation Factory Relocated In A Planned Way Without Any Explosions, Officials Report: "There are no river spirits in the Fire Nation"

Vicious Teen Arrested For Scamming, Destroys Part Of Peaceful Town: "This is why truancy laws are necessary"

Prince Zuko, Princess Azula Spotted Relaxing At The Beach: Six Injured, Luxury Mansion Destroyed

Spooky! Old Woman Keeps People Prisoner Under A Mountain

Two Ministers Jailed For Spreading Lies: "Prince Zuko was never banished and to claim that he was is a crime", Says Palace Spokesperson

Airship Fleet Unveiled, Thwarts Barbarian Incursion

Traitorous Former Prince Zuko, Who Was Banished For Three Years, Abandons His Nation

Front Falls Off Of Airship: "Highly unusual, I'd like to make that point"

Concerns Raised Over Fire Nation Engineer Uniforms: "Revealing and chafes my nipples"

Are Ancient Civilizations Still Here? "No", Says Expert

Escape At Boiling Rock! Two Prisoners Freed, Two Traitors Captured: "Really, the result is a net zero, if you think about it" (Note: No corrections were issued, despite a factual error in the number of escaped prisoners.)

Decorated Veteran Harrassed By Teen Girl, Own Mother

Hilarious! Ember Island Players Debut New Comedy

Fire Lord Zuko Ascends The Throne, Promises Era Of Peace

6 Reasons Why Fire Lord Ozai Is The Most Successful Ruler In History

Sozin's Comet Approaches, Officials Caution Against Firebending In Public

Four Things You Need To Do During Sozin's Comet To Ensure Prosperity For Your Family

Phoenix King Ozai Launches Surprise "Final Strike"

Ozai Of The Fire Nation Held For Crimes Against Humanity

Avatar Aang Brokers Truce

Is Fire Lord Zuko Still Single? Speculations Erupt

[pink-delirium]

To Protect and Love

Chapter One

Masterlist

You’ve always repeated these rules since becoming the heir:

1. Heirs should never be afraid

2. Heirs should always remain levelheaded

3. Heirs should be smart and wise

It’s these rules that your teacher told you makes a great ruler. Your older siblings learned these rules when they were placed as the heirs and now it was your turn.

But it shouldn’t have been like this.

Your older brother, Kieran, should’ve been the only one to learn these rules, not you nor your older sister. Your instructor even said:

“If you need a model for these rules, remember Prince Kieran and how he acted.”

And you couldn’t help but agree with him. Kieran was level headed, never afraid of anything (you still laugh when thinking of how he managed to steal a cookie from the head cook, who you guys used to call the Ugly Troll), and he was smart (always earning the praise of those around him). Kieran was the pride of the kingdom, your father would boast to other rulers that Kieran would make a grand king one day.

Yet… Kieran would never get that chance to be King. Maybe it’s because Kieran died two years ago that’s why you remember it so clearly or maybe it’s because of his manner of death that you’re always speculating to yourself on what truly happened that day.

You remember seeing the workers around the palace scurry around in a frenzy, calling frantically for a doctor. You remember being put into a room with your sister, Adelina, and being guarded by knights around the clock. You’re not sure how many days you and her were stuck in that room (but based on your tally marks, you suspect it was about four days) before you two were allowed out but sometimes you can’t help but wish you never left that room because everything that came after.

You remember being quickly dressed into mourning clothes, and being taken to a chapel and standing there with Adelina in confusion as you saw your mother crying. Nobody would answer your questions until your father came over to you two and delivered the news in his own way.

“Adelina. You are now the new heir.”

Maybe your father knew that he was still the King and couldn’t allow himself to show emotions even when being faced with the situation of having to bury his son, his heir, because as quickly as he came by and informed you and Adelina of the news, he left. You both weren’t allowed the chance to take in the news before one of your father’s advisors told you what had happened.

Kieran was dead.

Kieran had been murdered and they couldn’t figure out who had done it.

And now your sister was the heir. The same girl who had told you that she’d never wanted to be a ruler over a land was now forced to take the position.

But she wouldn’t go down without a fight.

—

After the funeral and the mourning period, Adelina caused a ruckus in the castle. She fought constantly with your father, constantly skipped her lessons with Kieran’s former teachers, and had even tried running away but was caught by a knight.

If her end goal was to have your father decide that she wasn’t fit to be Queen then she accomplished it, but it wasn’t without a price. He had gotten so frustrated with her that he had arranged for his advisors to write an abdication statement and make her sign it.

While she signed it without causing a fuss, it also signed away her rights to stay in the castle. Your father had arranged for her to wed with a prince from a neighboring kingdom in order to build up an alliance with them. You still remember the last time that you saw her, it was at her wedding, she had asked to see you one last time before walking down the aisle.

She cried on your shoulder that day, you’re not exactly sure as to why she cried but you had your suspicions.

Maybe she cried because she realized she would be far away from your mother and you.

Maybe she cried because she had realized what she had done and was now stuck in another kingdom having to play the role of a wife to a man she barely knew.

Or maybe she cried because she knew that you would be forced to take the crown.

You never got the chance to ask before you were asked to leave the room and head out to wait for the wedding to begin.

It’s when you and your parents are leaving the wedding and heading back home that your father gave you a look and you knew what it meant.

You are now the heir. Don’t disappoint me.

Me: man this dad sucks

Also me: realizing I’m the one writing him that way

[old-lorarri]

❨ main f1 masterlist | football masterlist ❩

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𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖 → lewis hamilton x fem! singer! reader

false alarm they aren't over people but something is coming that is going to break the internet in all the right ways + collab w/ @h4m1lt0ns | part 1

𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐎𝐘 → lewis hamilton x fem! surfer! reader

summer break brings out the best type of content surfer boy lewis provided by his very own surfer girl

𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 → lewis hamilton x fem! latina! tattoo artist! reader

two of the sexiest tattooed people in the world are a couple and everyone loves them so much

𝐕𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐄 → lewis hamilton x fem! wife! singer! reader

first performance in four years leads you to re-indulge in something that you vowed to quit, lewis isn't happy but at least roseco's on your side | part 2

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐌𝐄'𝐒 → lewis hamilton x fem! wife! singer! reader

after the argument of the previous night lewis woke to an empty house, will it remain like that or will it change? | part 1

[hugemilkshake]

Enjoy the milkshake! The ask got mangled so I had to take a screenshot

Students recruitment

-Patonic-

Pt 1

!TW! Under the cut

You were enjoying your time at this school! Everyone in the Pure Vanilla Kingdom was super friendly towards you!

One day you ended up meeting a cookie from the Créme Republic, the same place the The Créme Knights are from! And lucky you, she was a palden too!

Her name was Financier Cookie, you were slightly scared to talk to her but you ended up taking to her, she was stoic but nice enough.

When you introduce yourself she paused and asked if you knew Kouign-Amann Cookie, when you responded with yes, you’ve met her and thought she was pretty nice!

Financier Cookie looks at you and says that Kouign-Amann has talked a lot about you, and it was to the point that others thought you were some demon or hallucination that had captured her mind and heart.

When you asked for more info you were told that Madeleine Cookie had more information.

He reacted in almost the same way Financier did, he was a bit more verbal though.

But he started to tell you how odd things were with Kouign-Amann… and you don’t think you’ll see her OR Purne Juice and Capsaicin Cookie the same again…

—————————————

Kouign-Amann met you per request from the Preceptor

She saw you as somewhat of a younger sibling, I mean you were aspiring to be something so why not take after her and be a paliden?

But things weren’t that simple

Other schools had their eyes on you, like Scovillia and Parfaedia.

While yes, two of her good friends went to those schools, she had to get you to join the knights.

Anyone who tried to offer you a place in another school received a nasty glare from her

But hey! You were able to hang out with all the paladins! They enjoy your company!

But one time.. one of the paladins clothes were caught on fire…

Now Madeleine Cookie said that this is speculation but he wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of this was true

It was suspected that Capsaicin Cookie set the paladins clothes on fire.

I mean Scovillia wanted you to join and those pesky palidens were getting to comfortable with you

Why would you hang out with boring old paladins when you could be rocking out with Capsaicin Cookie!

He’s so nice and warm! You could hang out with him for hours and not get bored! And also the other Scovillia students I guess.,

But one day when you were getting kinda tired of the Scovillia students, the smashing of glass and smoke covered the room and you felt someone gently grab your hand

Prune Juice led you away from those obnoxious Scovillia students.

It’s fun yet peaceful with Parfaedia students! Prune Juice can teach you about any potion you want!

But even when you had fun with the Parfaedia squad, Kouign-Amann would come over and beg to help her train, and the cycle would start over again

All of them were disappointed that you chose some small school but that might have been for the best…

[prying-pandora666]

Who is Izumi’s Mom? Copium Edition

So we all know that Bryke have refused to confirm who Izumi’s mother is. Even when they released family trees, the conspicuously left Izumi’s mom blank.

So incredibly frustrating!

So since Bryke insists on baiting us and not giving us closure, here’s a dose of copium for all shippers.

First off! Izumi’s name means “spring fountain”. Remember that.

Secondly, she looks like this:

REASONS WHY YOUR SHIP OF CHOICE COULD STILL MAKE SENSE!

Mai - She looks the most like Izumi. She canonically dated Zuko (until they broke up AGAIN). The former comics’ writer believes they will make up. She and Zuko have a history surrounding fountains. Even with all the drama, she remains the most likely candidate.

Katara - It should be self explanatory why a child named “fountain”, as in water, may be a reference to the one water bender Zuko dueled with most. The two of them clearly developed a connection by the end of the show, and Katara once even offered to heal Zuko’s scar. This one is all but debunked due to Kataang being canon, but it’s still nice to dream! And no one can deny they look great together.

Jin - Zuko and Jin shared lovely chemistry on their one date. Zuko was even willing to risk getting outed as a firebender in the Earth Kingdom and imprisoned, just to make her smile. This scene is also significant because it involved a fountain. Considering the bulk of Zuko’s redemption happened in the EK and the plot continued into the comics dealing with the blended FN/EK colonies, I can see why this would be a good thematic choice.

Toph - A rarer pair but one that one storyboard artist snuck in a reference for! Toph and Zuko have a lot in common. They both come from families of status that abused them for their failure to conform. Toph was born blind while Zuko has a disfiguring facial scar that realistically should affect both his vision and his hearing to an extent. Toph also has a friendship with uncle Iroh and was the first member of the Gaang to successfully understand and comfort Zuko as well as she did. Some point out that Zuko’s daughter Izumi has vision problems (like Toph) while Toph’s daughter Lin has a facial scar (like Zuko). The name Kanto, the alleged father of Lin, can also be written with the characters for “crown capital” so some speculate it’s an alias for Zuko. Spring fountain could be a reference both to the Earth element’s season of spring as well as to a volcano, which is like a fountain combining fire and earth. This scene is the most telling, with two doves representing Zuko and Toph. When Zuko walks away from Toph, the two doves kiss, signifying that perhaps a romance between them is destined for the future. Luckily, Toph knows how to listen and wait. Everything that applies to Jin about making peace with the EK applies even more to Toph since she’s actually from a noble house.

Suki - A bit of a wild card since she’s dating Sokka! But the comics showed Zuko and Suki getting much closer. When no one else was on Zuko’s side during the conflict in the colonies, and even Mai dumped him over his desperate visits to Ozai, Suki stayed by Zuko’s side. She never lost faith in him and tried her best to be there for him. The two have clearly developed a close friendship and bond of trust. Some even see it as romantic, which spells bad news for our boy Sokka. However, seeing as the book Legacy implies Sokka and Suki broke up, perhaps Zuki shippers have more evidence to stand on than originally thought! Everything that applies to Jin about making peace with the EK would also apply, since Suki is also from the EK. Perhaps she could fan the flames of his passion?

Sokka - Okay we all know it’s not going to happen but they’re really cute and I get it. The fountain claim applies to Sokka same as it does Katara! Hey there’s always a chance! Korrasami proved that!

Ty Lee - Not a lot to go off here but it’s undeniable that the two have a weird, unspoken tension. Why is Zuko quietly beefing with his sister’s bff? It’s never explained. Something is definitely going on there! We just don’t know what it is. In the comics, Zuko does lament not playing with Ty Lee and the other girls more as a kid.

Azula - I mean… okay I get it. The features that Izumi has in common with Mai, she also has in common with Zuko. So it’s not impossible to see why some would think she looks like Azula too. But can we please not make ATLA into Game of Thrones? This certainly isn’t helping:

Jet - He’s dead now so it’s not possible. But did Jet actually have a thing for Zuko? You know… it was really unclear.

[sunshine-zenith]

This is kinda a part two to this post here, about Ballister’s scar. Specifically I wanted to speculate a bit on Ballister’s relationship with Queen Valerin when you consider the fact that he was a mistreated and vulnerable child when he met her

Like. Look at this moment here

She’s reassuring him. She genuinely believes in him, and it’s clear from the knighting ceremony, when she specifically lowers her voice to tell him how much she’s been looking forward to this moment that her intentions around him a pure. She wants to change things, she wants to give this kid a chance, and she’s killing two birds with one stone by making him a knight

But like Nimona herself says, question everything

Look a little bit closer at this image — the queen is well dressed and already had a statement prepared. Ballister is dressed in rags and looks like he hasn’t even been given the chance to wash his hair. He looks surprised and a little scared when the media erupts with questions. And I don’t think this was the Queen’s doing, necessarily — odds are the Director was the one who was supposed to prepare Ballister, and chose not to, because she probably knew that while the Queen wouldn’t judge him for looking like the homeless kid he was, the media would. Still, it shows that while the Queen has overall say on Ballister’s future, she doesn’t have a lot to do about his present

Ballister says he loves the Queen, but it’s hard to tell if he meant he loves her like you’d love a family member, or if he “loves” her like someone who has been raised to not question authority “loves” said authority. He took a deep breath and looked to Ambrosius during the knighting ceremony, not to her. She realistically probably wasn’t super involved, even if she wanted to be — she had an entire kingdom to run, other knights to knight, and likely spent her days making progressive decisions that were controversial with the conservatives in her kingdom. Plus, if she had been super involved, it could’ve increased bias against him, like she was favoring him above everyone else — Ambrosius seemed overall not sure popular among the knights, and while they respected his authority when he was put it charge, there was definitely a vibe that they resented him for being the “Golden Boy” descendant of Gloreth.

Let’s compare Bal and Queen Valerin to Comic!Ballister Blackheart and one of the Queen’s inspirations, Dr. Blitzmeyer (the other was the king, who was a basically prop that was referenced heavily in relation to Ballister as someone he should kill before dying off screen).

Blackheart and Blitzmeyer end the comic opening a lab together, working as co-scientists. Blackheart clearly thinks of her as a friend, but she thinks of him as a fond colleague for most of the comic — she’s happy to offer help in the form of exposition, and she helps him save the day by giving him a McGuffin That You Just Gotta Read The Comic To Understand, but part of her is worried he’s a rival scientist that wants to steal her ideas. She still welcomes him in her home and offers him team. When he’s at the end of his rope and needs a comfort hug, she awkwardly indulges him

She’s surprised when he puts her down as his emergency contact

Dr. Blitzmeyer is a quirky scientist that hangs out on conspiracy forums and probably practices witchcraft for the sake of scientific study. Queen Valerin is a warm and progressive monarch who makes controversial decisions. And they make big decisions regarding helping Ballister

Remember the reluctant McGuffin handover?

She’s weighing the odds of him lying to her and stealing/tampering with/destroying it, hesitating before trusting him. If she had said no, a lot more people would’ve died in the comic, but she had no way of knowing that. She was barely interested in looking out her window and just worried the thing she spent years on would be wrecked

Now, the Queen — we don’t see her weigh the pros and cons of letting Bal become a knight, but she had to. And consider what she was presented with: a homeless kid with either no family or an abusive one judging from his scars and bruises. He had no adults in his life to protect him. No one to tell her no, making him essentially a child soldier might not be in his best interest. And he jumped a fence into the middle of a knight training session declaring he wanted to be a knight, basically coming to her — essentially the perfect candidate for her semi-social experiment

I can totally see her in another world letting this kid into her home and giving him tea and comfort, but I don’t think she could here. While she meant good, she took in a kid with nothing to lose and gave him everything to lose (a home, education, likely his first friend, safety), while also putting him under unavoidable social pressure. And she did it while the only adult figure other than her in his life, the one who would actually be involved in his upbringing — the Director — openly and defiantly failed him from the get go, and protested letting him join the knights to her face

Y’all I adore Queen Valerin, even if we only got her for like five minutes. Even if it’s in a speculative sense I like that she’s a good person while morally gray actions. She very much improved Ballister’s circumstances by giving him a home and the opportunity to pursue his interests. She clearly cared about him. She’s also a politician who, even if unavoidably, lowkey set him up to be a scapegoat without a backup plan and no outside support

Like. Y’all.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Was reading over the reverie arc tag and saw that you said to re-ask you about Im after what happened is revealed. (I'd provide the link but tumblr won't let me) So, while not much was revealed, thoughts?

what i think is really interesting about imu is how they compare and contrast to the other characters who have been set up for us as endgame villains, those being blackbeard and akainu. compared to both of them, imu is established quite late in the series, and how they will fit into the unrolling narrative and themes of the story is still somewhat unclear.

both blackbeard and akainu are established firmly well before they enter the main story as primary antagonists. we hear about blackbeard as far back as alabasta and meet him in jaya, while akainu is first seen in robin's enies lobby flashback and mentioned even before that. and they each also embody a strong thematic conflict with the main characters that is going to need to be overcome by the end of the story.

blackbeard mirrors luffy in his pursuit of the pirate king's throne, existing in the same lineage of villains as doflamingo and big mom. it seems almost certain that he will be the final and most difficult fellow challenger for the title of pirate king that luffy will need to face, and the eventual showdown between the blackbeards and strawhats has been telegraphed for quite some time. the question this conflict asks is, what does it mean to be a pirate? what does it mean to be a pirate king?

meanwhile, akainu is the embodiment of authoritarianism. he's the law, brutal and indiscriminate; he represents the order that would stifle freedom. he is much more alike to antagonists like rob lucci and cp-9. while i usually try to avoid speculation on this blog, i think akainu's final defeat will probably not be at luffy's hands; i think a showdown with sabo is much more likely. and the reason i think this is because the question that the conflict with akainu asks is, what does real justice look like? this is ultimately the question of the conflict between the marines and the revolutionaries; they are two armies fighting over whether the current order will be maintained or torn down and built anew.

so, then, imu. we meet them quite late in the game, and still know very little about them. however, i do think this is in itself thematically resonant; we see almost no trace of imu anywhere else until we reach mariejois itself, because they have been deliberately erased from the world. imu is tied, specifically and inextricably, to the mystery of the void century, of the erased history, and we will only learn the truth about them when we learn the truth about everything else.

imu's role in the story seems to be specifically to finally provide a direct antagonist to the overarching myth arc of the void century, the forgotten ancient kingdom, and the will of d; the imperial crimes of the world government, shoved endlessly under the rug. can you build a world-spanning kingdom on a lie? will it stand? for how long? there can be no such thing as an immortal empire no matter how much force you might use to make it so. you can't pin the sun in place in the sky.

while it's impossible to really guess this conflict is going to unfold given how much information we still don't have, my top three guesses for who will be primarily involved are robin (for obvious reasons; unraveling the truth of the void century is her dream, and imu stands directly in the way of that), vivi (also obvious; imu is targeting her directly), and law (both because his new goal is to unravel the meaning of the will of d and because it seems significant that imu is likely a previous recipient of the ope-ope no mi's immortality technique).