#He doesn’t really have powers (Will elaborate on why later but they share 1 parent not 2) but he’s straight up immune to fire

[lcec0ldheart]

Concept scribble of Violet’s brother?

I don’t think I’ve told you guys yet, but Violet has a younger half brother -Haven’t gotten around to drawing him yet, but I think I have some kind of idea of what he looks like now. His name is Crimson (it would be funny to name him Scarlet but nah) and he’s…around 10? A chaotic, charimastic kid that’s too clever for his own good and sometimes is a bit crazy but that’s what makes him fun! He’s shy with new people but once he’s comfortable with you, better hope he’s not gonna drag you into all kinds of hijinks. He’s a bit emotional and does care what you think and likes attention, even if he doesn’t say it. Sweet kid that makes mistakes.

(update: give me a bit after class him to shade but here it is. wait why does he look like a girl-)

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. The trial happening right now bothers me because we get to see how Thanatos and Echo reacted to this, but Demeter and Persphone don’t know and I know why they don’t know yet. However you think that would tie some more stuff up together

It was Minthe, Thanatos and Thetis who whistle blew on Persphone. Meaning Thanatos would probably be called to trial and would have to face persphone and I would hope say something to her BUT I kinda doubt that’s gonna happen.

But the other thing to this Minthe is a plant who can’t testify. Are hades and Persphone hide the fact she’s a plant and pretend she’s missing or are they gonna say “yeah I still don’t have control over my powers but I’m queen now” HOWEVER I truly believe RS is just gonna not address these two plot points until way later.

FINALLY Eros and Psyche KNOW the last person Daphne was seen with was Apollo, did they chase after her after he got shot by the arrow? We don’t know. We don’t even know what they’re doing about Psyche. Did Eros and Psyche even see the Daphne tree? Are they going to try and sneak in to tell Persphone?

I know the plots gonna focus more on HxP secret marriage at the court trial rather than the actual consequences and the fact people are turning into greenery left and right. (It’s not Persohones Faullt Daphne is the way she is but RS needs to focus on other plot points I feel)

2. like, age gaps, height differences, and power imbalances dont always have to be bad, the issue to me is that the way rachel does it is hyper-focusing on how young, small, and child-like/unexperienced persephone is compared to the old, giant, and all powerful/mature hades is like ... yeah obvs people are going to find it creepy? how would they not?

3. i honestly cant stand the "theyre immortal gods the age gap doesnt matter!!" agreement because like??? ok??? then she could easily be 300 years old then? she shouldnt be so borderline underage then?? like the immortality aspect actually makes the age gap worse, not better??

4. i realize getting nitpicky over unimportant characters in lo having american names is a bit dumb, but it does speak to just how lazy rachel is and how little care she has for greece and its mythology. there are countless english names that are also greek, yet even that's asking too much of her. percy jackson isnt a perfect series, but even the characters (who are in america) have greek influence and meanings put into their names and characterization, something rachel doesn't even attempt to do.

5. ok but thats a good point, because rachel seems to be taking physical wounds to matter more over the mental ones, when thats not how trauma works. her writing on zeus is reflective of her writing minthe, where she confirmed she has a severe untreated mental illness and that's linked to her evilness, and thus what she should be punished for. meanwhile persephone own mental issues can be bastardized as a "yass queen" thing?? somehow?? its just bad writing all around.

6. i kinda wish lo fans would listen to their own logic and give the same leeway to the other characters. theyll scream from the rooftops that hades and persephone and hera can be awful people all they want because thats ~realistic~, meanwhile minthe and zeus and everyone else are held to such extremes they can never meet and are hated and despised for nothing in compared to hxp or hera. either hold your faves accountable or let off on hating characters who do the same as them.

7. i see a lot of lo fans excuse how everything drags as "thats how a slow burn works" and its like ... no? because most of that slow burn isnt even hxp, its rachel forcing in more plots we dont need, and when its hxp, you look at the timeline and how they act and its actually neck-breakingly fast? like if as much time had past in LO as irl time then yeah, four years is a slow burn, but its only been maybe a month in comic? so its not slow for them at all, but it's a drag for the readers.

8. See, the difference between Lo!Hades and Punderworld!Hades is that PW!Hades has so much personality, he and Persephone are literally bustling with life (even though one of them rules over a realm of dead XD) AND their interactions are so cute with their awkward attempts at flirting and failure at doing so. Persephone is still somewhat sweet and “pure” but she’s also a bit of a spitfire, she’s not easy to surrender, she has wants and dreams and that little differences makes her character likable!

We NEVER get to see anything like that with LO!Hades and Persephone, we don’t see them have these sweet interactions, these heart-fluttering moments, because there’s no base or foundation for those sorts of moments! It’s always these very out-of-character unrealistic scenes expected from a married couple, but they just met! It doesn’t feel natural, it feels forced and rushed and so slow at the same time.

Although Punderworld makes Demeter overbearing, i love her characterization i really do, waAAAY more than LO!Demeter, because we actually understand her reasons for her overprotective behavior and we get to see her in a more sympathetic light/manner in the newer chapters, we see her as more than “mean mom hates bf”

9. Daphne and Thanatos were adorable. Like, Daphne was a sweet, caring girl with genuine interest (and power/agency) and Thanatos was a shy, awkward guy who was just doing his best (and not pressuring her). They weren't perfect, but it was something! Why couldn't LO be about them?

10. What I find funny is that Minthe and Thetis have a more defined friendship than Persphone and other female characters.

Minthe and Thetis ARE TOXIC don’t get me wrong but both characters are aware of each other’s motives. Minthe knows not to trust Thetis fully and is straight with her on her opinion of Thetis. But the readers clearly know their relationship as well as the characters.

Persphone is in gray areas with most her female friends. The beginning of the story we are lead to believe Artemis and P are besties with the dress sharing and the way in P’s mind they’re holding hands with Hermès. But clearly now their relationship is a question mark and they’re both more detached than we thought. Artemis was just being nice to P letting her stay with her because they’re both in the TOGeM but they’re probably more like acquaintes at best.

Daphne and P we know they’re friends but P isn’t straight with her. Like Daphne is P’s only named friend, but did P think of her as the other overbearing nymphs? We don’t know because they’re all pink and some of them are dead. Despite being told they grew up together we don’t even know much about their relationship what do they like about each other? Does Daphne agree with Demeters parenting or P’s need to leave? When did Daphne get to move to Olympus? I feel like the plot just says “these two characters are friends “ but doesn’t elaborate much. Why did P let Daphne in her room at Hades mansion and not the other nymphs? P told Daphne that Apollo is dangerous, but it was a little too late. Also why didn’t P have her phone number when she got to Olympus? Wouldn’t she know to contact her on insta or something? P was like “omg I know no one except Hermès “ but that’s not true! Daphne! I could go more but I think we get the picture that Daphne’s plot point is having the readers be told Persphone has friends but she doesn’t but she does.

Were shown that P and Meg are getting along because P was nice to Meg, despite Meg being silently jealous of P, but what about Meg now? Is she ever gonna tell P that she’s jealous of P that she had a mad crush on Hades, even her journal? Or is that all gone now? Does Meg even matter any more or is she now here just to support HXP?

[blushing-titan]

Reasons why I believe the cabin vision was Mikasa’s dream - and not an AU

I briefly touched upon this topic in my previous Mikasa/Anti Eremika-themed interpretation, but in this post I’d like to elaborate further - why do I think that the vision from chapter 138 was Mikasa’s dream, and not an actual AU flashback? As in my previous post, a little warning first: there will be spoilers, as I’ll be using panels from the manga.

1. I want to go back...back to our home

Many fans interpreted this as Mikasa having a flashback to alternate reality, in which she and Eren share a cabin in the mountains - a reality in which they’re both living safely and peacefully. However, it’s important to remember that for Mikasa, the meaning of home is very symbolic - it’s been shown ever since the first chapters of the manga:

After losing her biological parents, she feels like she has nowhere to go - her home was just taken away from her. She’s cold and scared...but then, as dr Jeager invites her to live with his family, Eren wraps his scarf around her and says:

...to which she simply replies: ...okay. Let’s go home. She has just been saved, and despite all the horrible things that happened previously, she has a home again - a home symbolised by the good-hearted boy who wrapped his scarf around her when she was cold. In the following years, this fact becomes a source of her strength and will to fight...

...but, as the time goes by, the boy who saved her changes and seems to be drifting away from her. She feels like she’s losing him, so this time it’s her turn to ask:

My point is that ever since they met, Eren has always symbolised home for Mikasa. He has been her safety, anchor and source of strength - which is why it’s so hard for her to accept that, after all his wrongdoings, he may not be the same person that he was when he wrapped the scarf around her. I believe that’s what she meant by saying: I want to go back to our home - in fact, she even thinks about his old self right before the cabin sequence starts:

Now, onto the second argument...

2. Mikasa idealizes Eren in her mind.

I’ve seen opinions that Mikasa views Eren through rose-colored glasses - and it’s not entirely untrue. When he saved her, she created an idealized image of him in her mind - she perceives him as a good-hearted, caring person who would never willingly go against his friends or hurt any innocent people. No matter what he does, she still tries to see him through this filter. It’s the reason why she often misunderstands him.

(Notice how even Armin is concerned by Mikasa’s answer.)

In another example, Mikasa tries to justify Eren’s actions by saying that he had done it all out of care for his friends.

Knowing all that, it makes perfect sense that the Eren from her dream would be an idealized version, too. He openly acts affectionate with her and is devoid of any fiery or violent character traits of the original Eren. Instead of hurting (or saving) anyone, he runs away with Mikasa to spend his last years peacefully, just with her. 

Many fans caught up that this version of him is quite OOC, as it goes against everything that his character represented up to this point. He has always been a fighter, dedicated to his goal of achieving freedom. Therefore, the decision to run away from problems (...along with his general behaviour in the cabin vision) just seems off to many people...but what about Mikasa’s goals? Quite frankly, they perfectly align with what’s shown in the dream - she just wants to be with Eren and keep him safe from harm...

...and yet, with the way Eren is, it’s simply impossible for her in reality...

...so she creates this scenario in her mind, as a way to comfort herself. In fact, it may have been suggested that she’s been dreaming about living away from danger with Eren ever since her training days - she even proposes that they could go back to the settlement together. Ironically, Eren leaves as she’s speaking, without her even noticing - instead, he wants to get stronger to keep on fighting.

3. Author’s note

A while after ch.138 came out, the information about the particular author’s note appeared on the internet. It said (35) draw Mikasa’s ideal, which (to my understanding) suggested that the vision was based on Mikasa's ideal answer to the question asked by Eren a few chapters earlier.

As we know, her answer was family. Later on, she wonders if she could have changed anything by giving him a different reply. Therefore, I believe the cabin dream was based on what she really wanted to say back then, and how she wanted for the following events to unfold.

I’ve seen many fans theorize that the vision was a flashback of the AU in which she gave him a different answer. I’ve said that in my previous interpretation, but I’ll gladly say it once again - Mikasa’s reply shouldn’t have such a huge impact on the future of the entire world. She should never feel guilty about it, as, at the end of the day, Eren went on with the rumbling and it was his decision. I really dislike how much weight the AU theory puts on Mikasa and her answer, when in fact, if Eren really wanted to give up on his plan, he simply would have done it. He had a lot of occasions to stop, one of which being a collective plea from all of his friends - including Mikasa. 

In fact, if he really wanted to run away with her, he could propose this idea himself - however, the fact that it’s clearly stated that her “correct” answer was required for it to happen makes me strongly believe that the vision was indeed Mikasa’s dream, based on her ideal reply.

4. Plot mechanics

Due to the fact that Mikasa’s See you later, Eren appears in the first manga chapter, many people speculated that it must be because Eren somehow saw a glimpse of an actual AU, dismissing the possibility that he could have seen Mikasa’s mindscape. Personally, I’ve never understood this argument - mostly because we already have a few complicated (...and not fully explored) plot mechanics in SnK that could explain this phenomenon - one of them being paths/founder titan’s power.

Ackermans are supposed to be immune to the founder’s ability to alter memories, however Mikasa is still a subject of Ymir. Therefore, as shown in the manga, she can manifest in the paths, meaning that Eren is able to connect and talk with her telepathically. Thanks to that, I don’t think it’s impossible that he may have seen her dreams/memories through paths, even without altering them - and from there, transfer these memories to his child self. Even more - this could also have been done by the original founder - Ymir Fritz - who’s been observing the entire interaction. At this point, it’s implied that she doesn’t have to be ordered by anyone anymore, so it’s perfectly reasonable to think that she acts out of her own free will.

Taking this into consideration, what’s the point in introducing an entirely new and confusing plot device (ability to experience AUs) when the story is one chapter away from finish? In my opinion, there are enough matters that need proper closure and questions to be answered in these final 45 pages - adding a new plotline only complicates everything more, when it should be the time to close up all the already existing ones.

That’s all from me today! Hope I managed to get my points across - thank you very much for reading! ❤️ All the manga panels used above obviously don’t belong to me - all credits go to the author!

[sneakydraws]

Well, here it is - a lengthy explanation of each card in my mdzs major arcana deck and what I meant to convey/what i would have changed in retrospect/what alternatives i considered! It’s a bit messy and my typing style is lazy but hopefully it will be an interesting read to some of you :)

And so you don’t say I didn’t warn you - jiang cheng’s section (11 justice) is absurdly long lmao

0 the fool  I elaborated on this in the post itself but yeah basically jin ling is kind of representative of all the damage and trauma caused by the past, and there’s a kind of danger there of him falling victim to the same vices as the older characters and repeating the same mistakes and perpetuating the cycle of war and misery (the cycle that we already see with how the jin sect became the new wen sect, and later with how jgy became the new wwx) and he has a lot of room to grow! He grows so much over the course of the novel, comes to realise the complexities of the past and gets a harsh life lesson in how nothing is as black and white as it seems. But ill save talking about his progress for the end, for now whats important is that he has room to grow and also a dog. I don’t really have a justification for the sun, i mostly just thought it looked sick? It made its way to the next card as well, where it makes a bit more sense, but then i realised it was a dumb motif to include 1 the magician I still very much like wwx for the role, and that illustration would have probably had him raising a corpse on his left and pointing threateningly to the sun on his right. I considered including the table as well, with some mdzs relevant items replacing the card suits. Anyway, like i said wwx got a few cards to himself already so i went with the alternative wq design, since i think she fits the card as well. Both she and wwx are highly skilled people, extremely driven once they set their mind to something. The card to me symbolises the creative mind as well as a general drive for action, which fits them both - wwx was famously a prolific inventor, and wq came up with a previously unheard of surgery, after all. This card strays pretty far from the rider-waite deck design, largely because i was still figuring out how i wanted to approach this series, but you can still see the influence. 2 the high priestess I was actually going to skip this card at first because I couldn’t think of a fitting character, but once i considered a qings character post death, it all fit pretty well. She was already a highly intuitive person in life, and in sharing her memories with wwx she is, in a way, relaying a kind of secret knowledge. Anyway she’s one of my fav characters so im glad i got a chance to include her. The coffins could be interpreted to be xxc and sl or xxc and xy 3 the empress Theres other mother figures in mdzs who got to be mothers for a longer time, but jyl definitely embodies the positive aspects of this card the best. She’s nurturing, kind, emotionally supportive, she already mothered wwx and jc quite a bit when she was young. Plus i liked that the rw card had both water and flowers, making an easy lotus connection. In retrospect the stars look kind of out of place and i should have replaced them with something more relevant... Also, i should have had her hold a lotus seed pod instead of a flower, haha 4 the emperor Like i said I considered jc for the role but hoching bullied me into admitting that nmj was better… they’re both more of an inverted emperor than an upright one but then again theres hardly any character in mdzs who would fit upright emperor so. Jgs was also considered but he’s even uglier than nmj so i couldn’t bear to draw him 5 the hierophant It was pointed out to me that lqr would have fit this card better and the truth if that statement haunts me to this day. Unfortunately I have no space in my brain for lqr so lxc got the role instead. My main reason was his role during the wen destruction of gusu lan, when he ran away with the contents of the library - this is why there’s bookshelves behind him. The keys, take, from the rider-waite deck, are meant to represent the gusu pendants that allow you to enter 6 the lovers Im sure many people would have chosen wangxian here but I uhh don’t really care abt wangxian personally? And also their love story is so convoluted that jyl and jzx seem idyllic by comparison lol. Also i didnt really have an idea for who to put in the angel’s place for wangxian… mme jin certainly did not get these two together in the end but undeniably she and mme yu did initially give them a chance to fall for each other so. Thats something i guess. Anyway the trees became their sects’ flowers and the mountain became the burial grounds - an omen of their tragic fate, basically 7 the chariot There might have been other characters who fit this card better but i couldn’t really think of another card for lwj and i thought it would be weird to not include him… anyway i don’t really care for current timeline lwj BUT i do like that he was clearly influenced by wwx to walk his own path in life based on his moral convictions rather than follow his sect’s rules blindly. The chariot is to me a card of self control, self determination and focused action, so it seemed fitting. The composition felt kind of empty without the actual chariot so i padded it out with the guqin, the cloud recess in the bg (it doesn’t look great but i tried to replicate the drama design….) and the bunnies which conveniently fit the colour scheme of the sphinxes in the rider-waite design 8 strength Like i said before, my interpretation of this card is more… morally ambiguous than the quote unquote official meaning, so i thought about manipulative or duplicitous characters more than kind characters whose strength is expressed through gentleness (though i did consider jyl briefly for the latter interpretation). As such, i considered both jgy and nhs, but ended up going with jgy largely because i couldn’t pass up the opportunity to put the nie sect’s beast as the lion. 9 the hermit My thoughts immediately went to bssr lol. It may be an overly literal interpretation but whatever, i like it just fine. And i like that i managed to echo the rider-waite silhouette in the mountain and the tree (and even in bssr herself) 10 wheel of fortune God i love the parallels between these 2… this card to me is about how you cant trust your current situation, good or bad, to last forever, and these 2 embody that perfectly imo. Wwx went from son of a well off servant and a powerful cultivator, to street rat orphan, to adopted son of sect leader jiang, to double orphan, to MIA, to terrifying but admired warrior, to terrifying and despised traitor, to dead, to, at the very end, suddenly respected and trusted again. The dishonesty and cheapness of whatever the public’s current opinion of him is is portrayed beautifully as far as im concerned. And jgy of course claws his way up to power only to instantaneously become public enemy number one, to the point that he’s probably blamed for stuff there’s no reason to believe he had a hand in. Wei wuxian’s silent astonishment at how quickly the cultivation world turns against jgy and towards him again is a delicious moment of thematic resonance.  11 justice I settled on this card for jc after he got booted from the emperor seat but i do think it fits, in a somewhat convoluted way. I turned both the sword and the scales into visual representations of the golden core transfer (can you tell im obsessed with it). According to biddy tarot, the justice card is partly about searching for the truth, and the scene where jc finds out about the transfer is of course a big deal. I was also very influenced by the reversed meaning again - which is about being reluctant or unwilling to face or accept the consequences of your actions. I feel on an intuitive level that this fits jc but I’m not sure how well i can explain it - it’s something about how he’s a little too comfortable scapegoating wwx for things that were also, if much less so, influenced by his actions, and also something about the way he keeps wwx at an arm’s length emotionally but still leans on him and accepts his support when he really needs it, and somewhat hypocritically expects wwx to put the needs of him and the jiang sect before the needs of others. And also something about the core exchange is the consequence and proof of wwx’s deep - terrifyingly deep, even - love and care for him, which is something jc doesn’t seem to let himself acknowledge. Maybe even something about how you could argue that the way all of the jiangs acted around wwx - jfm’s favouritism that left him with the feeling of a debt he needs to repay, mme yus insistence that he be a servant more than a brother to jc, prepared to give his life for jc, and jc’s own unwillingness - or inability, he was a child after all - to clearly acknowledge wwx as an equal to himself, enabling wwx’s self sacrificial and protective tendencies - that all of this was what caused wwx’s complete and unquestioning willingness to do whatever it took to protect jc, and therefore paved the way to the golden core transfer. And i don’t mean this to be scapegoating jc - especially considering how young he was when this all went down, it wouldn’t be fair to expect this level of emotional perceptiveness, awareness and maturity of him - but i think adult jc has to grapple with the fact that the chain of cause and effect was not as simple as wwx fucking everyone’s lives up to be a martyr, and that both jc and his parents had a role in that story as well. I don’t even necessarily think this is something that jc only realised in the current timeline - i think it’s something he felt on some level this whole time, and it probably led to a lot of feelings of guilt - but the suibian reveal definitely puts it in sharp focus, and i think he’s now better equipped to handle this introspection than he was as a recently orphaned, traumatised teenager, lol. ANYWAY the window with the fabric is both a nod to the rider-waite design and a reference to the destruction of lanling - i actually did some basic ass research for this, and it seems that in ancient china fabric would indeed be hanged in a window if the normally used paper was damaged. The design of the window, as well as the very idea to use it to imply the reconstruction of lanling, was taken from this great piece of jc angst by my pal moroll1! Oh yeah also the covered window kind of works as a denial of forgiveness for jc because it’s like a halo but covered up... Also I completely forgot to put a blindfold over his eyes which would be perfectttt because blind justice and the core exchange......... ok moving on 12 the hanged man I always have issues with this card because i cant find a satisfactory summary of what it’s really about. Best i can tell it symbolises a need to hit pause, surrender or let go of something… ive also seen it tied to sacrifice? So mo xuanyu doesn’t fit perfectly, but sacrifice is definitely there in a surface level reading kind of way, and the idea that you have to surrender or let go in order to achieve your goal does fit the whole deal of getting revenge but giving up your life in exchange and not being there to see it 13 death This is probably one of my favourite cards, definitely not because I have huge issues with change or anything…. I see this card as signalling the necessity of change or putting an end to something / leaving something in the past in order to start anew? At first i considered putting past wwx, mxy and current wwx here as a kind of transformation and one cycle flowing into the next... But firstly, I’d already used mxy in the very previous card, so putting him in again would feel like overkill, and secondly, the longer I thought about it the less convinced I was that this would even fit with the card’s meaning? Because coming back from the dead doesn’t like... trigger an internal transformation within wwx or anything? Anyway, fun fact: the design I ended up going with was actually originally intended for judgement! I thought I was being very clever with the whole “figure plays an instrument and the dead rise” parallel, but apparently I’d just completely forgotten that the judgement card had a completely different composition... Truly I was boo boo the fool... But yeah anyway at the end of the day I figured the design would kind of work for death as well, with Wen Ning and the theme of transformation, (since in his case coming back as a fierce corpse does actually mark a certain transformation in behaviour) and Wei Wuxian’s protection of the Wen people essentially signifying an attempt to break the cycle of oppression if that makes any sense? Like, wwx is trying to revolutionise the way the world works a bit, if you catch my drift 14 temperance  The centrist card! Again this is probably going off track from the “official” interpretation, but to me this card has a certain “don’t commit fully; do everything in moderation; don’t take either side” flavour to it that i personally find infuriating irl and that i very much assign to lxc. It’s entirely possible that I’m misinterpreting his character because i didn’t really pay him (and the 3zun in general) much mind while reading, but hell, I’m allowed to pick favourites and choose who i want to interpret deeply vs shallowly. Again, i wish id chosen lqr for hierophant because its so annoying for a character i don’t care about to get two cards…. But oh well 15 the devil My alternative idea for this was jgy as the devil and lxc plus nmj as the figures, but since all three had been featured already (multiple times, even!) i figured I’d go with xy instead, especially since he’s among my faves lol. I think the devil signifies something along the lines of unhealthy attachment, obsession or addiction, which isn’t 100% accurate in the case of xxc and a-qing, but if i stretch it a bit to cover toxic relationships in general, and especially manipulation or negative influence, i don’t think it’s half bad. My main struggle here was to choose who amongst the xxc/sl/aq trio to choose for the human figures. 16 the tower Arguably jin zixuans death and the following massacre of nightless city were the final and most direct reason for the siege of burial mounds, and the tiger seal is good shorthand for wwx’s loss of control over his powers, which led to the deaths of jzx and jyl. When reimagining major arcana i like to feature some kind of building in this card (spoilers for a possible future project but in my rose of versailles major arcana set the tower is bastille) and even if it’s not a tower, the image of wwx looming over the gathered crowd from atop a rooftop is so good i couldn’t resist 17 the star Struggled with this one - considered both jin ling and lsz for it, as symbolising a hope for the future, but that was kind of covered by the world so it wouldn’t make sense to include here as well... As usual when I struggle with interpreting a card (as opposed to understanding it but struggling with matching a character to it, like with death or moon) I went to biddy tarot and read all the details about its meaning. What i got was that this card signifies an incoming period of introspection and inner peace following a time of turmoil, as well as a general moving on into a new, better phase of one’s life or finding new meaning and purpose. The figure also suggests someone vulnerable, but possessing a keen sense of intuition as well as a good degree of practicality and common sense. Given all those, I settled for mianmian because IM LOVE HER..... I also kind of see her as a prelude to the “just one person is enough” theme present in tgcf!! And i think her decision to abandon her sect because she saw the toxicity and corruption in it is a very inspiring action - even if it didn’t make a large visible impact, i think the appearance of her and her idyllic family at the very end of the novel - paralleling and mirroring wangxian - implies that at the end of the day, it was a meaningful one 18 the moon Another card i ALWAYS fuxking struggle with - this time less because i can’t grasp its meaning and more because I can never find a character that fits it well. I usually get fixated on the “dreams and subconscious” part, but if i lean more on the “disguise, deceit, anxiety and fear” part, i eventually figured the whole yi city arc wouldn’t be a bad fit. I say the entire arc because it really does encompass all those themes if you include both the past and the present - xue yang’s disguise, his tricks with the villagers, a-qing’s lies and even xxc’s reluctance to talk about his past as well as xue yang pretending to be xxc all fit the disguise and deceit angle, and the general mystery and creepiness of the current timeline yi city work well with the anxiety and fear - the mist, the slow uncovering of the past, even a-qing being revealed to be an ally after scaring the shit out of the protags. I definitely struggled with including all the elements and characters, and even moreso with making them vaguely fit the rider-waite composition, but i think it ended up okay ish. OH and i completely forgot to draw mist swirling around them :( 19 the sun I was considering mianmian’s family for this one, but since I used her for star, I ended up with wwx and his parents instead. Once again I’m reinterpreting the card a bit - normally I think it symbolises incoming times of pure happiness and abundance, as well as a connection with the inner child, but I gave it more of a nostalgic or sentimental twist - wwx looking back at the brief glimpse of his happy childhood. 20 judgement another card that i struggle to interpret a bit... Here i actually used the tgcf tarot zine as a reference! In it judgement is summarised as “rebirth, following duty, absolution” SO i figured that nhs, mxy and wwx all together would fit pretty neatly... wwx achieving (public) absolution through clearing his own name after being reborn, and nhs sort of calling on wwx to expose jgy’s crimes... It’s a bit messy but not bad I think! 21 the world This ties very closely to my read on mdzs as a story - which is that it’s, at the end of the day, largely about cycles, and about how hard it is to break them, but how we gotta keep trying and have hope anyway. Or maybe more precisely, that the people directly involved with and influenced by the trauma of the past might not be able to get over said trauma and that the hope for healing from it will be shouldered by the new generation. Or something like that… Basically what i mean is that jc and wwx and lwj and lxc and nhs and jgy and all these people who were in the thick of the sunshot campaign and the siege are so profoundly affected by it that it genuinely feels by the end of the story like there is little hope for them to ever truly overcome that trauma and build a better future without repeating the same old mistakes - but there is a glimmer of hope in the new generation, specifically in jl and lsz. And it’s a bit paradoxical, because they have also been directly impacted by the past tragedies - lsz having his entire clan wiped out after wwx failed to protect them, jl losing both his parents to wwx’s mistakes - but despite that loss, and despite coming from arguably the two opposing sides of the past conflicts, they are both, in the end, capable of moving past that tragedy, of recognising the complicated nature of those conflicts (jl’s moment of clarity at the end is both heartbreaking and hopeful) and forging friendships between clans in the process. I honestly think that the extra where jl is struggling to assert his authority as sect leader, to treat his subjects well and to cooperate with other sects in a truly amicable way is the single hopeful ending note for the larger themes of the novel - it allows us to imagine that maybe these kids can learn from the mistakes of their elders rather than getting sucked in by resentment at those mistakes, and actually build a brighter future for the cultivation world. And sidenote, this is also why i have a soft spot for jin ling and lan sizhui as a ship... speaking of which their poses were directly referenced from the lovers card ehehe

Looking back, I’d like to add some symbol of jin ling’s trauma so that it mirrors baby wen yuan in the tree stump... maybe his father’s sword? 

[lemonpeter]

Sugar And Spice

Chapter 1

So, here is the beginning of a new fic! I’m really excited about this one, I love pregnancy fics so this is my kinda unconventional take on one lol I hope everyone enjoys 💕 I’m a little nervous to post it because I love it but I’m not sure other people will, so please don’t be too harsh 💕

On ao3

Warnings: discussion of pregnancy (not mpreg, this is not that kind of fic), surrogacy, Peter’s age isn’t mentioned (but he’s somewhere in his early 20s)

————

The first time Peter proposed his wish it was completely out of blue.

He and Tony were cuddled up together, just holding each other and whispering sweet nothings that made the other blush uncontrollably. It was one of their favorite pastimes together, always entertaining.

But one thing Peter whispered was completely different than the others:

“God, I want a baby with you.”

To say it surprised Tony was an understatement.

The older man choked on his own tongue, coughing and sputtering until he caught his breath again. “You...Peter. Honey. Love of my life. You realize that’s...impossible, right?”

His husband just sighed a little, kissing him gently. “I mean, it’s impossible from us, but we could still have a baby. We could adopt. Or something like that.”

Tony watched him, trying to gauge if he was serious. But the dreamy look on the other’s face told him that this really was something he wanted. “Yeah...something like that….”

They’d talked about kids before. Peter wanted them, Tony wasn’t sure. He’d never even considered the possibility for a multitude of reasons before he met Peter. But then they got together and he saw the appeal of having children. Of course, it wouldn’t just happen, but there were other ways. They just hadn’t really discussed them too much.

Although he figured maybe the time of not talking about it was over.

But then it didn’t get elaborated on. Maybe Peter got embarrassed, maybe it was just a fleeting thought he shared. So it was a while before it was talked about again.

It wasn’t brought up again for nearly six months.

But then they were buying their first house together. Not an apartment, not a penthouse over Stark Industries. An actual house, complete with their own land and-

And it had a couple extra bedrooms.

Tony’s thinking was that they could use them for storage, maybe knock out a wall between a couple of the rooms to make an extended lab.

Peter, on the other hand, touched the door frame of one with more gentleness than Tony had ever seen. A tiny, dreamy smile pulled at his lips.

“What, honey? You got any ideas for this one?”

The younger man nodded a little as he turned to face his husband again. “This room would be so perfect for a nursery.”

And Tony was taken by surprise all over again. He didn’t choke this time, at least.

But his heartbeat sped up considerably and suddenly he could see exactly what Peter was talking about.

His eyes darted around the room as he mentally mapped everything out. A crib in that corner, a changing table there, play area, dresser. He envisioned Peter entering the room with a little baby in his arms as he hummed under his breath.

Wait- no, the humming really was coming from Peter.

“What do you think?” He asked nervously. “Is that stupid? I mean, I know we can’t really...yknow. But I still….” he trailed off, sighing a little. “Never mind.”

The nervousness and shutting himself down made Tony think that maybe that was why it hadn’t been talked about again.

“No, no,” Tony quickly assured him. “I can definitely…” he looked around the room. “Yeah, I can definitely see a nursery in here.”

The younger man still looked down, sighing again. “But it’s not...possible. I know.” He rubbed his arm, an action Tony knew he used to calm himself down. The fact that they couldn’t have kids genuinely upset him.

That just wouldn’t do.

“Hey, don’t say that. We could still have a baby. We could adopt, like you’ve talked about. Or there’s the surrogate route.”

Peter watched Tony, nodding a little. “Yeah...you’re right….” he just didn’t know how to really go about anything.

Tony hummed a little, one finger tapping to his chin as the ideas flooded his mind.

His husband watched curiously. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing, nothing. But all I’m saying is it’s not impossible. Maybe in one way it is, but there’s always more than one way.”

The younger man finally smiled a little, nodding. “Yeah. Maybe we can...look into other ways?”

“Of course, honey. Of course we can.” He picked the man up and spun him around, laughing softly before kissing him. “We’ll have our baby.” He looked around the room. “You’re so right about this room, honey. I can’t wait to see it in action.”

———

The house was purchased and a week later they started moving in.

They worked hard, filling every room that they had plans and decor for. The rest of the avengers helped as well as some of Peter’s non-powered friends. Everything was unloaded pretty quickly and then Peter and Tony were alone again.

Peter disappeared for a while after Tony started on sorting out his tools and things in the garage. But after a while, he started missing his husband and went looking for him.

He shouldn’t have been surprised to find him in the vacant room that they had discussed being a nursery.

The younger man was sitting on the floor, fingers sliding over the soft, new carpet.

There was no furniture or any boxes in the room, as Tony specifically told everyone to keep it empty. They had plans for it, even if the plans weren’t set in stone yet.

Tony moved to sit next to Peter, groaning a little as he felt his knees creak in protest. “God, my knees and back are really feeling the heavy lifting we did.”

His husband looked at him, laughing softly. “I told you to leave the lifting to the super people. Your poor old man back can’t handle it,” he teased.

The older man snorted. “Oh, shut up. I’m not old. Just got a decade of superheroing and being thrown around under my belt. My poor body has been through a lot.”

“Uh huh. So you should have left it to us.”

Tony chuckled. “I know, I know….” he smiled a little. “So...have you just been sitting in here?”

“Yeah,” Peter admitted. “Is that super weird?”

“I kind of expected it,” Tony told him. “You’ve got baby fever,” he teased. “Of course you’d be in the nursery.”

“Not a nursery yet.”

“Yet.”

There was a moment of silence, almost tense as Peter audibly took a heavy breath.

“I want a baby so bad, Tony. I don’t know why it’s so sudden but it is. We would be such good parents! And we’ve got a new house with space, a big yard, more than enough money to support a child.” He sighed a little. “But I know...you don’t really….”

“What? I don’t what?”

“You don’t...really want kids. I know we’ve talked about it but-“

Tony made an offended noise. “I do want kids. I wouldn’t lie to you about that. Peter, I would love to have a child with you. It just takes time to look into everything, a baby isn’t just a split second decision.”

“Then let’s talk about it. Let’s talk. Plan. Find the best plan for us. Let’s do this, Tony!” Peter looked at him, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. He had put himself down for so long because he didn’t think that Tony really wanted kids. So he would jump at the chance to talk knowing that wasn’t actually the case.

“Okay. Okay.” He smiled a little. “We’ll talk about it. But for tonight we need to relax. Most of everything is set up and we have a new house to christen,” he joked.

“You’re so dirty,” Peter laughed, covering his mouth.

“Is that a no?”

“No, we definitely need to do that. Doesn’t make you any less dirty, though.”

———

They did months of research.

Adoption was ruled out after a bit, it seemed too emotionally complicated from their points of view. And they’d determined that they want one of them to share genetics with the baby. Even if both of them couldn’t be biological parents, they wanted to have one. They wanted their baby to look like them.

So they began looking into surrogacy instead.

They got in touch with an agency to draw up a baseline contract while they looked for the perfect candidate. And there were many candidates to talk to.

All of the women they interviewed were nice and seemed like good people, but none felt like the One.

Until they met Beatrice.

She was on the younger side and sweet, helpful and seemingly right for them right from the first phone interview. So they set up an in person meeting next.

The first thing that Tony noticed was her eyes.

He didn’t want to say that they looked like Peter’s, because no one could match the level of beauty that his husband’s eyes held. But they were similar enough that he instantly felt a connection to her.

And his immediate thought was that if she was a good match, their baby could potentially look like both of them. Since Beatrice looked so much like Peter.

That wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.

“Come in, let’s sit down,” she murmured, gesturing towards a table and chairs.

They’d set up the meeting at a cafe, so it would be a nice and relaxed setting. And so Peter could have a cup to fidget with nervously as they talked. It seemed like the perfect setting.

“I’ll go order, what do you want, Beatrice?” Tony asked. He slid his fingers over the back of the chair as Peter sat down.

“You don’t have to do that, Mr. Stark, I can do it,” the woman told him, starting to stand.

“No, it’s alright. I can order so you and Peter can talk and I’ll pay for your drink.”

She sat back down, smiling a little. “Thank you, Mr. Stark. That’s very kind. I think I’ll just have...oh, anything mocha. Surprise me. As long as it’s got chocolate.” She laughed, looking across the table to Peter.

Tony nodded. “Perfect. I’ll go place the orders. Be back in a moment.” He walked into the building, humming to himself as he did.

Peter smiled at the woman across from him once Tony was gone. “So, have you ever done this before?”

“The interview part? Or the actual end goal?”

“The second one. Have you been a surrogate for anyone yet?” He asked curiously.

“I have. Just once before.” Beatrice smiled a little. “But I’m still in tip top condition so I’m happy to help someone else. And I have my own kiddo at home, so I’ve actually done the whole pregnancy and birth thing twice.” She laughed.

“How did it work the first time? For you and for the family?”

She leaned back in the chair a little. “Well….”

———

When Tony came back, the other two were getting along fine and laughing.

“Glad to see you two are having fun.” He grinned, setting the drink carrier down on the table and sitting next to Peter. “Oh, and I got you a salted caramel mocha,” he told Beatrice. “I hope it’s good.”

“I bet it’s perfect,” she assured him, taking her drink.

Peter smiled, grabbing his cup and taking a sip. He hummed. “Absolutely perfect. Thanks, Tones.”

“What did you get? Probably something fancy-shmancy, being married to this guy,” Beatrice joked.

Tony snorted. “He doesn’t even drink coffee. He has hot chocolate.”

“Fair enough.”

“So what did you guys talk about while I was gone?”

Peter hummed, sipping his drink before talking. “Just about the first time she did this. Carried for someone. It sounds like it went smoothly.” Which was typically a good sign. Even though pregnancies were fairly unpredictable. “And how it all worked between them.”

“Them?” Tony asked.

“Me and the family,” Beatrice told him. “Things were good. They still are. I still get to see the kid if I want to. We’ve had a few meetings.”

The older man nodded. “That sounds really good.” He glanced to Peter.

His husband was absolutely beaming, eyes bright and excited as they kept talking.

He didn’t have to say anything for Tony to know what he was thinking. Of course they’d have to talk about it...but she seemed like the one.

They went on for nearly an hour, discussing every little detail, talking about their lives, things that mattered and things that didn’t matter for the arrangement. They ended the interview with a promise of a next meeting and friendly goodbyes.

Peter and Tony got into their car, taking a moment to relax and process everything that had gone on in their time with the candidate.

Then Peter started crying.

“Honey, what is it?” Tony asked, worried. “Hey, talk to me. Did it not go well?” He was worried that maybe he misread his husband’s reactions to everything. Maybe everything wasn’t as good as he thought.

But, “She’s perfect,” the other man whispered, wiping his eyes. “Tony, it has to be her. She has to be the one. Do a next meeting, all the background stuff, whatever. But it has to be her.”

A smile tugged at Tony’s lips and he nodded. “Of course, honey. Let’s contact the agency. See how she felt about everything. But I think we’ve found our girl.”

“She’s gonna have our baby,” Peter said happily. “God, this is so perfect.”

And Tony couldn’t disagree with that.

[the-sparrow-sings]

TIMELINE FOR MY SPARROW’S HEADCANON

I want to write a LONG fic series about her life going into the Hero of Brightwall’s life; but I do not have the time/energy to commit to that right now, so here’s a vague timeline since I REALLY want to talk about it anyway lol

Pre-Game

• Her parents were infamous Pirates, Rayven(her father, Hero blood), and Catarina

• Reaver knew them as friends before the girls were born; even held Rose once as a baby(somewhat uncomfortably)

• They were forced by foul weather to dock near Bowerstone some time after Sparrow was born; Rayven was captured and hanged, Catarina escaped momentarily with the girls

• Catarina hands baby Sparrow(around 1 year old) to Rose and tells her to RUN, and SURVIVE; she is then captured; but no one is looking for the children so little Rose escapes with Baby Sparrow

Post-Childhood, Pre-Main Game

• Teresa has a hard and fast rule that Sparrow is not to leave the valley, and specifically not to go to Bowerstone. She is concerned that Sparrow will have her parents’ natural desire for adventure and sign onto a crew for a life of piracy

• Upon reaching Adulthood, Sparrow is frustrated by Teresa assuming she still makes the rules for her; and she sneaks off to visit Bowerstone for the first time since her childhood

• She spends the day/night having a gloriously rowdy time with a man she only knows as Captain/The Captain(Spoiler Alert, it’s Reaver) and she fully intends to join his crew

• He has no idea who she is, though he is immediately reminded of his old friends; and unknowingly recounts tails of her parents adventures to her. He is more than a little astonished that someone drew out the urge to discuss something other than himself

• They spend the night together above Bowerstone’s bar; waking up at the crack of dawn to Teresa standing in front of the bed

• She all but drags Sparrow home with her, leaving Reaver both disappointed and a bit relieved; he was not sure he liked that she stirred up something in him

During The Game

• Sparrow is a Rowdy Girl with a love of fine women, dangerous men, and banditry. She loves the rough&tumble bandit lifestyle, but is good hearted enough that she tends to change towns for the better; this is why she loves Bloodstone, it’s a hard town that never changes

• Feels pressured to marry Alex, and feigns happiness for his sake; trying her best to be busy with quests to avoid being near him

• The Spire all but wipes out her formally sweet nature; seeing her adopt a much darker world view; this is where she transitions to pure evil, and becomes much more direct with her wishes and underhanded with her plots

• At first, she flat out refuses to see Alex after The Spire; she doesn’t see the point of it, and figures if he had any good sense he’d have moved on, since she was never in love with him in the first place

• When Alex eventually catches up with her, she attempts to let him down very concisely, but his entitled behavior toward “his wife” ends with a knife in his gut, and a disgusted sneer on Sparrow’s face

• She recognizes Reaver right away, though she has changed too much for him to recognize her. Her heart aches for the innocent young woman she was when she last saw him

• He puts the pieces together of who she is when he first fights by her side; reminded of fighting alongside her Hero father

• The pair share a moment in that cave, seeming to begin something before the collapsing rocks urge them to keep running

End Game/Post Game, Pre Fable 3

• Reaver steals her kill from her, and she is devastated; her sad state only compounded when Hammer reacts harshly to her desire to bring back her own loved ones

• At the end of things, she finds herself alone again, Rose off who-knows-where, her dog her only companion

• Having grown up in exceeding poverty, she spends her time and her gold buying up property left and right, putting former greedy landlords to death

• On a whim she purchases Reaver’s home, keeping it clear of squatters for him

• She finds his first journal entry, and promptly seals them all away in a locked box, not wishing to invade his privacy

• By the time Reaver returns, Sparrow is Queen; and he is more than thrilled when he sees her summons, an elegantly tied scroll left on his bed; concise in her own handwriting, “Captain, I expect a visit when you return, I’m sure you don’t need my address; Sparrow”

• Now, Reaver is both intrigued and mildly frightened

• He enjoys the prospect of having a shag with the queen (and, though he won’t admit it, he has missed more than her body); but he knows she was...a bit cross with him for leaving so suddenly after that business with Lucien was sorted out

• He is concerned that she may kill him/have him put to death, but ultimately decides that the potential rewards far outweigh the risks (with a healthy dose of understanding that it could prove unwise to ignore a direct summons from the Queen)

• On first glance, Queen Sparrow is hardly the girl he remembers from the tavern, or even the shoot-first-talk-later hero who sauntered into Bloodstone a year ago

• Her rise to power coupled with her emotional isolation have left her bitter; a fair yet harsh ruler. She was loved by many for her low rent prices and the protection she offered; but she kept the nobility on a very short leash, and had little patience for those who would waste her time

• That said, she did seem to be focused on keeping up appearances; at least, Reaver could scarcely believe all the exquisite finery and pompous ceremony was her doing

• Had he not been so gifted with perception, Reaver would have failed to pick up on the tiny cracks in her collected facade upon their public meeting

• She declared him her newest advisor, citing his heroic blood, worldly knowledge, and instrumental role in Lucien’s downfall as credentials enough

• When she received him in her private chambers however, the public mask of Royalty slipped away as she all but pounced him

• After a while, Reaver playfully tosses around the idea of them having a true public relationship; and Sparrow turns him down flat; refusing to make a toy of her heart

• Reaver does not quite understand why he feels disappointed; after all, he’s got a position of High Power in Albion now, and he gets to warm the Hero Queen’s bed with very few strings attached...he should be thrilled

• Eventually, Sparrow faces pressure (both domestic and foreign) to marry

• Reaver offers his “services”, talking of what a good king he would make, but Sparrow refuses on the grounds that his former life of piracy did not amuse every foreign power, and making him king could potentially amount to a declaration of war

• She marries some nobody from the aristocracy; the relationship, as well as the king’s power, being little more than an elaborate puppet show

• Reaver absolutely loathes the king; “Sparrow only has room for one pompous, arrogant, bastard in her life; and it sure as hell isn’t this spindly Lordling”

• The marriage certainly complicates Sparrow and Reaver’s cladenstine appointments; and his unexpected negative feelings almost push him to leave Sparrow’s Court

• Until she comes to his quarters one night, looking frantic and desperate; like she had been pacing around and pulling at her hair

• The king has demanded children, and old Albion Royal Law/Tradition demands she comply; Sparrow however, absolutely refuses to birth that man’s weak and “noble” offspring

• She asks Reaver to give her a child in secret; she assures him that he will have absolutely no fatherly obligations; but if she must bare children(which she knew from her vision of the future was inevitable) she wanted them to be strong with the blood of heroes

• Eventually, Reaver accepts, and Sparrow is sure that the child inside her is his

• Reaver does his best to avoid spending time with her, he has spent centuries avoiding these connections for a reason, after all

• But he can’t shake the hate in his heart each time he sees the king look so prideful of his impending heir

• The Baby is born with a thick tuff of black hair, and thankfully, is Sparrow’s spitting image as he grows

• Reaver does his best to avoid Logan, truly stepping in for the first time when the boy comes up missing

• Sparrow puts together the ransom at once, not willing to risk her child’s life with her usual bravado

• At the same time, Reaver uses his underworld connections to easily sniff out the kidnappers; going in secret to collect the boy before Sparrow even has a chance to leave the castle

• Reaver holds his son for the first time as he ends the lives of the scum who took him with a vengeance

• From that point on, Reaver is focused on watching over the boy; if from a distance

• He becomes prone to undermining the king when he is trying to teach some bullshit Strict Lesson to young Logan; cutting the king down with remarks of how Reaver has SEEN tactics like his in action...and they never bode well

• Reaver does not truly admit to himself his fatherly feelings however, until Sparrow accidentally becomes pregnant

• A little girl with beautiful brunette curls, who stares back at him with his own eyes; when he holds her for the first time, she squeezes his finger tight, and he knows he would move the earth for this child

• Princess Ophelia is a happy girl, running around the castle with very few unpleasantries like “rules” or “structure”, thanks to her intimidating “Uncle” Reaver pushing around the king and anyone else who would dare stifle her

• The King however, does not take kindly to Reaver’s increased intrusion on “his” family; becoming obsessively strict with the children each chance he gets

• Reaver doubles down on his mischief, often making a point to whisk the children away to festivals and other fun outings

• He is overcome with pride when little Ophelia proves to be a crack shot at the carnival’s various shooting games

• Once, a tiny Ophelia ran to him crying because she wished Reaver was her father instead of the king

• Sparrow has to intervene more than once when Reaver decides he wants to outright murder the king

• The king tries to put his foot down with Sparrow; demanding that Reaver be removed from Court and sent away

• Sparrow laughs at him, before recounting the tail of her first husband; and reminds him of the very strict limits to his own power

The Death of Sparrow

• Some time after Logan reaches his teenage years, the Queen is mysteriously assailed by a sudden and dire illness

• In my personal timeline-The Sickness is actually a curse laid on her by Teresa for refusing to follow her directive any longer; but this isn’t revealed until my Post-Fable 3 Plotline

• Reaver sits by Sparrow’s bed as she lay dying- truly and wholly distraught for the first time in centuries

• She grips his hand suddenly, with all the feeble strength she can muster, and the look in her eye tells him that the time he has dreaded is upon them

• She begs-orders him to watch over their children

• He pulls her into his arms. “Sparrow, I need you to know, I love-”

• “No,” she hisses, faint as a breath. “You don’t.”

• He is devastated by her final words. For the first time in perhaps centuries, he has decided to open his heart and admit those words...and she didn’t believe him...and now it’s too late to prove it

• He spends much of his time in the days following her death obscenely intoxicated-more than usual, trying to wipe away the regret he feels for not making her feel loved while she was alive

• Reaver comes to her balcony often, to look out over Albion in the cool night air-and consider hopefully-perhaps foolishly- that the wind ghosting his hair against his cheek is more than just an act of nature

• One night, he arrives to find the king standing in his usual spot; and perhaps it is his own melancholy that moves him-but he actually believes the king has come to mourn

• Until he speaks to him of course. The king is only in the room to decide how he wishes to redecorate it for when he takes a new wife to be queen

• Reaver is enraged by how casually the king speaks; how quickly he thinks to replace Sparrow. His mind fills with the image of some power hungry political climber marrying this idiot for the crown

• Reaver was no stranger to political intrigue. How often did new royals arrange for the tragic deaths of their stepchildren, so that their own children might have a better chance of inheriting the crown? Reaver could not take that chance

• One bullet, ringing off into the night, was all it took to send the King’s corpse crumpling unceremoniously to the ground

• Eventually, Reaver is captured, and Walter(as chief among Sparrow’s advisors) personally orders(and intends to carry out) his execution; however he is stopped by the arrival of the young-now king-Logan

• Ignoring everyone, Logan crouches down to where the guards have forced Reaver to kneel, and simply tells Reaver that he knows, before ordering everyone to leave them in private

• As it turns out, Logan had taken the task of sorting through his late-mother’s things when he stumbled upon Reaver’s journals-and an entry that makes note of his feelings for her

• Following that discovery, Logan had done diligent research and digging; and had come to the conclusion that he and his sister were almost definitely the result of Reaver’s long term affair with their mother

• He demands Reaver tell him everything, and surprisingly, Reaver does. He comes clean about it all-everything from the Court of Shadows to Sparrow’s dying wish

• This is why Logan trusts Reaver to remain his advisor

• The secret of their parontage is kept from Ophelia however. After all, it was a secret for a reason, and she was so young at the time that she could hardly be counted on to protect such a secret; she doesn’t learn Reaver is her father until breaking into his home in search of information

• No longer in danger of execution, Reaver feels he has no choice but to down a bottle or two of fine wine, and write to his former companions of Sparrow’s death

• He keeps it very short. He wasn’t their friend-he wasn’t even on good terms with them

• “She’s Gone; R.” Is all the letters say, and they think him callous and uncaring for it; but they cannot see the waste bin of crumpled papers where his writing had been shaky in his grief or the tears stained the pages

OKAY THAT’S WHERE I AM GOING TO STOP BECAUSE BEYOND THAT WE START REACHING INTO FABLE 3 TERRIROTY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR READING THIS

[noknockingonmydoor]

Headcanon

Semi-related tidbits on Heaven’s Door, Rohan’s isolation, obsession with reality, Pink Dark Boy, Koichi, interpersonal relationships. (warning: this is long)

You know how, at first, Araki said Rohan got his Stand after being pierced with the arrow during DiU, but then later on in Rohan at the Louvre he’s shown being adamant on not using his power to read people on Nanase back when he was 17? Yeah... lemme expand on how I see it.

He developed the power way before the events of DiU, but he had no idea what it was, or how to use it properly. Back then, it wasn’t even a Stand as we know them, just a latent power gradually getting developed in his subconsciousness, as his passion for using art as a form of authentic self-expression grew. He had no control on when and how to use it--it would just... sort of happen, mostly whenever he was really interested in someone/something--kind of like with Nanase, since, at that point, he was starting to get really interested in women and growing aware of his sexuality. (Also, she showed him kindness and genuine interest, which he craved back then--more on that at some other point, probs.) He legit thought he was insane and hallucinating the first time his powers happened and he never told anyone about it, because he didn’t want to be ostracised even more than he already was. Eventually, he accepted it as proof that he was special, meant for great things, and superior to all those who undermined him.

Oh, wait-- what’s that? People undermining, ostracising the great Rohan Kishibe? That was a thing? It’s more likely than you think.

Prior to getting famous, Rohan didn’t have a lot of life experience. For one, his childhood is an ominous big black hole in his memories, and he was homeschooled for the majority of it--by some very strict tutors, chosen by his parents... until he drove off every single one of them. The little time he spent in a more public, yet respectable educational environment as a teenager, he didn’t seem to fit in, as he didn’t know how to behave, what to talk about, how to react to things happening, what was acceptable, what was not. Not that he had anyone to talk about these things with, since his parents were always too busy, and he didn’t feel like talking about it with some unhelpful therapist. He was so sick of those. Many of his peers were quick to brand him a weirdo and avoid him, if they didn’t outright mock him about his shut-in lifestyle, his appearance, his interests--anything at all, really. Admittedly, it stung to be treated that way, but he didn’t want it to be obvious, so he shielded himself with displays of arrogance and lack of care for their opinions, which later escalated into an impressive amount of narcissism. It only made those same people resent him more, but they mostly left him alone... save for the few who saw through it and kept on provoking him. Once he’d finally had enough, he went off on them so hard that he almost got punched in the face and caused an incident that almost got him expelled, if it weren’t for his parents meddling in to pull some strings. (Ironically, Rohan would later on drop out in his final year, and cut out all contact with his parents. Whoops. More on his relationship with his parents at some other point)

He showed no remorse at all for his actions, which earned him both fear and respect from various individuals. He was sent to some more psychologists who didn’t help (always telling him what to think, believe, feel, as if his way of perceiving, existing wasn’t valid--which prompted his own interest and interpretation of various psychological phenomenoms), made to do extra work that only further goaded him to misbehave--nobody ever seemed to listen to him, or put an effort to understand where he was coming from. All they seemed to care about was shaping him to fit into a mold he never even wanted to fill, so he grew very resentful and mistrustful of people trying to butt in on his damn business. Feeling helpless in escaping this constricting reality, he’d often escape to his own, alternate reality, which kept him same throughout all these life’s trials. The world of Pink Dark Boy. He didn’t remember when he first came up with the character, or the world, or the story, but he had a feeling it had always been a huge part of him... and, at some point, he decided he wanted it published, revealed, shared with the world. And when Rohan Kishibe decides he really wants something... he doesn’t falter.

The earliest chapters of his work are very grimdark and edgy, because that’s how he felt while making them. Very authentic, and gut-wrenching, and believable, and terrifying and intriguing--was how the critics described it later on. Yet... there was only so much inspiration he could draw from his own experience, and retain this flattering reputation without circling around the same subjects, themes he was familiar with over and over again. At that point, he went off the rails a bit, and let his curiosity, need to know, to learn, loose far more than was wise, because he wanted to rapidly, almost forcefully, gain experience, knowledge, skill just so he could keep up with his work, and the supposed demands of his new fans (actually, his own impossible standards and demands). It worked, for a time, before he was burned out to the point of nearly losing his mind--which brings us to the events of DiU, when on a fateful whim he decided to move to Morioh, in an attempt to reconnect with his unknown childhood self, find peace, regain his mind in a town much smaller than Tokyo, where he’d lived most of his life... only to be stabbed by an arrow (possibly at his own request... lmao), and fully awaken Heaven’s Door. 

It felt so, so validating to finally have a name, and an explanation for this power, however vague it was. And when he realised that he could control it, and the possibilities that such a power opened? He completely fucking lost whatever common sense he had in his euphoria, which explains his extreme behaviour when he first met Koichi (willingness to alter his memories, kidnap him, kill him, also licking that fucking spider and punching himself in the face and JUST. EVERYTHING). If he couldn’t use his own limited knowledge of reality, he would steal it from whoever he deemed worthy, interesting, moving, etc--and Koichi’s pure, unrelenting kindness and courage and willpower was so, so wonderful, beautiful, worthy, inspiring to Rohan, which is why he latched onto the other so intensely. I believe this weird, weird friendship was very unhealthy at the beginning because of how needy and demanding Rohan can be and how much of a pushover Koichi can be, but later on Koichi figures out how Rohan works and how to put him in his place. It’s simple--once you have Rohan’s respect, he’ll submit and own up to his behaviour if you call him out on it. Kind of like at the end of DiU, when Rohan made fun of Reimi and acted all tsundere during their goodbyes, until Koichi gave him That Look and Rohan confessed his true feelings. He just... he really admires, respects, trusts Koichi. He feels it in his guts it’s safe, right to do so. He relies a lot on his gut feelings, because they rarely fail him.   

Koichi was probably Rohan’s first actual friend--not that he never had any meaningful relationships before, they just never stuck around long enough because Rohan never felt the need to invest himself too much into maintaining anything with anyone. He’s just very picky. In the rare event that he did try, it wasn’t reciprocated, or he just lost interest after finding one (1) flaw he didn’t like. He was just fine being on his own, doing his own thing, before hanging out with Koichi, stalking him observing his interactions with others and the world around him awoke inside of Rohan the wistful need to connect with someone on a deeper level. The need to experience genuine friendship, understanding, trust, giving something away without demanding something in return, looking past one’s flaws and accepting them, and allowing himself the vulnerability of it going both ways. All very, very foreign things, ones he’d convinced himself he was above experiencing, but a necessary part of being happy, fulfilled, real--something Rohan had missed out on in his life-long state of self-absorbed isolation--both forced and self-imposed.

THERE IS SO MUCH MORE thoughts I have on all of these subjects and I’ll probs elaborate at some point but I think this is enough for now lmfao bye. To end things, allow me to present one of my fave Rohan panels which kind of inspired all this

Rohan in love? Did you mean: yet another thing I’ll probs write about at some point 

[neoyi]

I hope your okay with another ask! “:D I hope this is a simple enough ask; Any general headcannons for all the knights? (or at least your favorites?)

Simple ask indeed, but general enough for me to fill a textbook. Admittedly a lot of my headcanon is centered on either Propeller or Specter Knight because I’m not nearly as invested in the rest as I am those two. But still, what headcanons do I have? Okay, I’ll try and write one headcanon for each knight so I don’t go overboard.

1.) King Knight: ...is smarter and cleverer than he looks and acts, but has a problem of not applying himself because he’s so delusional and one-tracked in his goals. King Knight is very determined and we see in spite of a doting mother, he doesn’t lack independence. Look in his room and you can get an idea of what he does. He works out, he draws, and he’s handy with tools. He cares for his rats! They may be his subjects, but if his pets aren’t kept in good condition, then they’d be dead weight to him, so he knows how to properly care for his animals. It’s possible he likes animals; he shows more affection to spinwulves than he does anyone else. And of course, if you should choose, he can Joustus, a game that generally requires strategy. King Knight is kind of like that guy who has a degree in like engineering or something/ It he could just utilize it properly, he could get him a very good job, and a cushy life, but he rampantly chooses not to because he’s that much of a BONEHEAD. He’s dumb in a different way and it’s holding him back.

2.) Plague Knight: ....and Mona does not want children. They knew right off the bat and decided then and there once they were officially dating. They aren’t the type of people to be parents and kids are...well, little things running around ruining science experiments and throwing shit around. Besides, Plague and Mona already throw shit around, why should those little bastards have all the fun?

The closest the two come to having “kids” is creating imperfect clones of themselves as they get older. Most of them were merely tasked to finish what they themselves started and keep mad science alive. As centuries pass, the clones would keep creating more clones to continue their work. Each clones were a little less perfect than the other, and in time, they’ve more or less reduced to Blorbs. Specter Knight, still around centuries later, occasionally would check on them (if not at first to keep them away from the public since they carried Plague and Mona’s chaotic desire to raise Hell), but soon decided they were now harmless enough to be left alone to their own device.

3.) Treasure Knight... and Propeller Knight are rivals and they both haaaaaaaaaate the other’s occupations in the pettiest of ways. They’re pirates, so they automatically have a rapport, but Treasure Knight finds it insulting that Sky Pirates are A Thing. Pirates belong in the SEA. They fight giant squids and bury treasures deep in the heart of lost lagoons and islands. SKY Pirates? What the heck is even a SKY pirate? What does a SKY Pirate even do? Where’s the big ocean with all the Mystery and Scary Ass Sea Creatures? They fly with birds???? There’s Mountains?????????? They don’t even have GIANT squids, just medium-sized Sky Squids. And Floating Islands? That’s just cheating.

Every single one of their meeting inevitability end with the two having a pirate match to secure the most gold or engage in a duel. Sometimes Treasure would win some, other times Propeller would. They would keep this fierce competition  until they died.

But

That doesn’t mean neither one disrespected each other. From Treasure’s personal perspective, Propeller Knight is many things - frivolous, fancy, and shallow - but he is still a PIRATE. Sky Pirates are Dumb, but they’re still PIRATES. Propeller Knight goes by his own code that Treasure personally doesn’t get, but he respects the hell out of him because Propeller sticks by it and uses his piracy to achieve his goals. When push comes to shove, they can, have, and will shake hands through mutual kinship.

There is one thing both Treasure and Propeller can 100% agree on though: Subterranean Pirates are the WORST. Why is that even a THING?!

4.) Mole Knight: ...is not just digging in the Lost City because he “claimed it” as his own nor because it’s a good place to practice his superb digging skills, Mole legitimately and genuinely is curious about the history behind it. He’s an archeologist; a man thirsty for knowledge. He knows a lot about history in general, but his expertise lies in the Lost City.

Post-Shovel of Hope, he learns to share his findings with others. His obsessive need to keep the ruins for himself dissipates over time and he learns the value of teamwork. There are others like him who shares his love for knowledge and past civilizations; Mole is incredulous to know there are other working theories he never considered! In the end, it is not his pride that mattered most to him, but his passion to uncover and preserve this beautiful, ancient world. After all, he has ancestral ties to the Lost City and the best way to keep that alive is by sharing his knowledge with others.

6.) Tinker Knight: ...once invited his friend Propeller Knight over to show him something he invented. It would be handy because he needed a way to record his many inventions. He shows off a projectile that displays a moving image on a screen. He calls it...”Moving Pictures!” Propeller is amazed; this could, indeed, store information in ways the written word cannot.

Propeller asks him after, “Tinker, my good friend, have you considered using this Moving Picture for purposes other than recording?”

Tinker is puzzled, “What more could I use it for?”

Propeller chuckled, “Perhaps you can devise a story out of it. Like a stage play, only using these, er, what did you call them? “Celluloid”, to capture a story. We could have words written on the screen after a person speaks since it’s silent.”Tinker is flabbergasted. No, he only intended it to be used to archive his inventions and ideas. Why would anyone want to make a story through his Moving Pictures?Propeller, not listening (of course) sighs, “And you cannot call it Moving Picture, it’s too mouthful. Come on, Tinker, you who speak so pragmatically, would know to shorten it. Perhaps we can call it “Movers.” Or “Mov ‘ems.” Oh! I know, “movies.”

“That is a bad idea. I do not like it at all.” Tinker scoffed.

“Well, it was worth a shot, “Propeller shrugged, “How goes that rocket blueprint of yours? When will my dreams come true; that I shall one day reach the Moon?”

7.) Polar Knight: ...My headcanon is that he is too secretive to have a past that could be told... Also I haven’t really thought too much about this guy. Get back to me when I play his story mode in Showdown.

I do personally believe he is NOT related to Shield Knight though. He likely knew her, but only through proxy from Shovel and Black Knight.

8.) Propeller Knight: ...has always had a beautiful face. He takes great care to ensure it looks nothing less than perfect. But living a life as a pirate comes with drawbacks. One day, during a time of great grievance in his life, Propeller Knight comes face-to-face with a foe most personal. The battle is horribly one-sided for Propeller was at his lowest. He lost concentration and with it, an eye.

The first few days wearing that unsightly eye patch was too much to bare. He had to readjust to his newfound vision for one, but his face - no longer perfect. He questions so many things in his life; he’s made so many sacrifices, so many enemies, and lost a few good people in his life under various circumstances. Him losing an eye seemed paltry in comparison, but it symbolized the decisions he’s made and he has to live with it. Who is he? A Pirate? A Prince? Neither or Both? Does he fight against the corrupted nature of the Rich and Powerful even though he once lived among them?

He can’t answer them now. All he can do is slowly let the scars heal. He will not take for granted the friends, family, and love he has in his current life. They will be his rock and he will carry them to the winds. Propeller puts on his eye patch and stands up. He can still look at the setting sun.

9.) Shovel Knight: ...I don’t think he’s a fish person. But I’m boring and think all the knights are human.

10.) Shield Knight: ....spent some time suffering nightmares. She would wake up and remember that she hasn’t been trapped for a while. The Enchantress is a distant memory, but the events are still recent that she still endures these horrid flashbacks. Shield Knight imagines she’ll never really get over them, but her determination is strong and she knows little by little, the nightmares are becoming less and less of a occurrence.

Recently, she’s been taken to gardening. Shovel introduced it to her. They don’t really have a home since the two are always on the go, but that little farm house Shovel vanished off to years back still remain. So they often return and plant new crops. Shield found it patronizing and difficult at first, unsure what Shovel saw in it and how it could help her. Now she finds it therapeutic.

Nowadays she can go alone and pick out fresh carrots and potatoes without Shovel at her beck and call (so she lets him sleep in a bit.) It feels good. It feels peaceful. She could get used to this.

11.) Black Knight: ....I imagine he’d be the type to sacrifice himself so Shovel and Shield can be happy. Maybe one day he does exactly that. It also meant saving the world as well. Black Knight regrets a lot of things, but this he does not...

12.) Specter Knight: ...”You will not remember me centuries from now,” He proclaimed one day. For one who was always sure of their relationship, this was a particularly alarming moment of vulnerability from Propeller.

“What?” Specter Knight tilted his head in confusion.

“You once told me you shall always carry me in your heart; that way you will remember me long after I’ve passed on,” Propeller elaborated, “But be real. Undead immortal or not, you cannot think to remember who I am thousands of years from now. It will be so long and you will have done so much by then.”

“Propeller...” Specter was incredulous and frankly, kind of hurt. Why would Propeller assume this of him?

“It is alright, you are not obligated to do so. I want you very much to live a wonderful life long after I am gone,” Propeller smiles, “Make friends, have adventures, help people....fall in love again. It is alright if you forget me because you will have a life fulfilled.”

Specter is silent and for a while, it seemed believable what Propeller said would be true. He lowered his head, then remembered he was sick of it, sick of feeling sad when it took years to learn how to be happy. He stared intensely at Propeller and sternly told him, “No.”“ Excusez-Moi?”

“I will help people, I will make friends, I’ll go on grand adventures, and yes, maybe I will fall for another centuries down the line, but you are a damn fool if you think I will forget you,” Specter clutched his chest, “Thousands of years from now, if I am still wandering this strange planet, I will still remember you.”

Propeller looks at his lover, stunned. He is touched. This is the kind of grand romantic gesture he lives for, but he tears up not out of joy, but somberness, “...I appreciate the thought, Donovan, but it’s alright if you cannot keep this promise. I’m just saying.” Specter sighs and wraps an arm around his husband.

                                                          ~*~

Ten thousand years, the sun is red and the planet drying. Very little life exists, and Death walks collecting the last remaining souls. He eyes the massive star, forever looking like a malicious red sunset (he loved the sunset...) Soon, it would go supernova and perhaps, perhaps he can finally rest for good. Then he can be with his loved ones.

Wind is rare nowadays, but whenever he feels a breeze his way, Death knows who is watching him.

He has not forgotten him...

[hforhonesty]

Book Review #1 | Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

“Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.” [official synopsis of the book]

Full title: “Carry On: The rise and Fall of Simon Snow.”

Or, as I often refer to it, the death of me.

I can already hear my friend A. complaining that I read this book at least twice a year – which is odd, I get it, but I also can't help it. She says that I'm obsessed with it...

... She’s right. But there's a reason if the motto of my brand new blog is "H for Honesty", so I promise that I won't let my obsession take over the review. Scout's honor!

Anyway, we have to straighten some things out before we settle down to work, since I know that there are people out there who are not appealed by this book because of its similiarities with the Harry Potter Saga.

The Chosen One and the prophecy themes, the analogies between characters such as Penelope Bunch and Hermione Granger, the Drarry vibes, the English school of magic...

So if you want to complain about these similiarities, then stop reading, watching tv shows and movies or even breathing because, guess what?, it's literally impossible not to be influenced by others, especially if you are a writer.

I think that inspiration is good; it means that you've reached the heart of your readers and left a permanent mark on it. As a wanna-be writer I can only aspire to do such a great thing as inspiring someone to the point that they want to share their own stories.

Speaking of Rainbow Rowell being inspired by Jk Rowling, well, it doesn't mean that she plagiarised her work – far from it. Rainbow's World of Mages is something fresh, modern, unexplored. It has cliches just like any other great story, but instead of running in circles it goes beyond them.

This is why the first character I want to introduce is Agatha Wellbelove, who’s supposed to play the role of the protagonist’s love interest. I’m gonna be honest with you guys – I didin’t like her at first, like not at all.

It’s hard to explain without spoiling the book but I’ll try my best, alright?

Agatha is the only daughter of one of the richest and most important families of the world of mages. Her father is a doctor and her mother is very invested in the social part of their community, hence the charity works such as having poor, orphan Simon stay at their house during Christmas break.

Beautiful, popular, kind. She had to be all these things for her whole life because everything had already been set up for her. Even her relationship with Simon was inevitable. I know it’s silly but think of Shrek: like Fiona, she had to play the role of the damsel in distress locked in the highest tower of the castle, awaiting for her knight in his shiny armour... only to be his reward at the end of the story, when the magical war is over... if he manages to survive.

But Agatha is more than that.

“Lucy disappeared?” I say.

“Worse,” Mum says. “She ran away. From magic. Can you imagine?”

“Yes,” I say, then, “no.”

She wants to spend time with her normal friends, go to a normal school, be a normal person without the burden of magic on her shoulders. But she can’t, of course, because everyone would think that she’s insane, so she’s stuck in a world where she doesn’t belong.

Magic is a religion.

But there’s no such thing as not believing – or only going through the motions on Easter and Christmas. Your whole life has to revolve around magic all the time. If you’re born with magic, you’re stuck with it, and you’re stuck with other magicians, and you’re stuck with wars that never end because people don’t even know when they started.

I honestly didn’t understand her character at first, because c’mon, if someone came to me and told me that I could attend Hogwarts/Watford and have magical powers if I wanted, I wouldn’t even hesitate to answer hell, yeah. But this is another matter, ofc.

The point is that Rainbow Rowell’s characters are what I’d like (and dare) to define «the apotheosis of relatability». They are not just fictional characters. When they think, when they talk, when they act... they seem extremely human in my head, they seem to bloody exist, as if they weren’t made of paper...

I think that this effect is mostly due the fact that the book was written in first person singular. Yeah, I know that most people avoid this type of point of view like the plague, but believe me when I say that Carry on is 100% worth it.

Every chapter mirrors the thoughts of the main characters, from Simon’s to the Mage’s, and is shaped by them. For instance:

When Simon is talking, his words are articulated in short and/or mostly broken sentences.

He doesn’t reply – he must still be working up to a bluster.

Snow blusters like no one else. But! I mean! Um! It’s just! It’s no wonder he can never spit out a spell.

When he’s thinking, the pages are filled with long and elaborated phrases, which can be seen especially in the first chapters of the book;

Baz, on the other hand, has the opposite problem. He comes up with the most complex sentences when he’s speaking, while his thoughts are often interrupted by the use of round brakets, which is undoubtedly of my favourite features of his chapters.

So even though he seems this cool and charming and extremely confident and super duper talented and handsome magician, this is just his façade. In reality, he’s the type of guy who would rather be alone during meals because he’s too self-conscious and doesn’t want his family to see the fangs that come through when he’s eating.

It’s no secret that Baz is very secretive when it comes to his feelings or anything that concerns his private sphere, as he always weighs his words before he speaks up. But when the crosstalk is between him and Simon, there’s literally nothing in the world that Baz loves more than teasing him.

“I know what you are,” I snarled.

His eyes locked onto mine. “Your roommate?”

I shook my head and squeezed the hilt of my sword.

Baz stepped into my reach. “Tell me,” he spat.

I couldn’t.

“Tell me, Snow.” He stepped even closer. “What am I?”

I growled again and raised the blade an inch. “Vampire! I shouted. He must have felt the force of my breath on his face.

He started giggling. “Really? You think I’m a vampire? Well, Aleister Crowley, what are you going to do about that?”

I love the dynamics between Baz and Simon because their relationship is so genuine and thriving, absolutely compelling. You can see the deep impact that they have on each other from page one. Yes, they are roommates (oh my god, they are roommates), but they are enemies too, so they don’t really know how to deal with each other beyond their rivalry, especially when they have to team up against a common enemy.

These dynamics are way funnier when you consider that they concern a third character too. Yes, this is the moment I introduce you to the person that was recently hospitalized due to severe back pains caused by the burden of carrying Simon Snow’s bullshit on her shoulders from day one: Penelope Bunce.

She told me later that her parents had told her to steer clear of me at school. “My mum said that nobody really knew where you came from. And that you might be dangerous.”

“Why didn’t you listen to her?” I asked.

“Because nobody knew where you came from, Simon! And you might be dangerous!”

“You have the worst survival instincts.”

“Also, I felt sorry for you,” she said. “You were holding your hand backwards.”

As you can see, I love Penny. She’s clever, she’s talented, she’s this amazing young woman who is not afraid to walk with you toward eternal damnation or help you hide a corpse or do both at the same time. Because she’s all that – and more than that. She’s everything.

Penny is the kind of person who, right after you say that “curiosity killed the cat”, would rejoin that “satisfaction brought it back”. She is exactly the character that I needed as a role model during both my childhood and my adolescence: stubborn, curious, terribly ambitious... For some time I had been convinced that these were negative traits, but it’s mostly thanks to Penny that I’ve started to realise that they are good qualities instead.

I see a lot of myself in Penelope, and I could never thank Rainbow Rowell enough for creating her characters.

I could never thank Rainbow enough for writing about this amazing world and sharing it with us. And I will never stop thanking her for deciding to give us a sequel, Wayward son.

In the meanwhile, thank you. Yes, you: the person reading this review. I hope you enjoyed it! If so, follow me for new pieces :)

With love,

M.C.

P.S. I apologise for the inappropriate use of the editor but it appears that tumblr hates me.

P.P.S. My friend A. says hi – and wants you to know that the only reason she can stand the Mage is because his name is David... you know, like David Dobrik. I can’t even.

[sludgyreview]

Frozen 2 Review

Okay, this is my first review on here. I am not a professional or anything so I will just kinda write what I felt when leaving the movie. 

First off, I do want to say that I actually really enjoyed the movie. I was a big fan of the first one, even with its flaws, and that’s true for this movie as well. I’m generally critically, but also easily pleased so if you’re not looking for any spoilers, I can give a quick rundown for whether or not you should see it.

Non-Spoiler Mini Review:

If you liked the first movie, you’ll like this one. The characters are still entertaining, music is still good, and it looks great. Overall, just a very solid movie, as anyone would expect.

Okay, time to get spicy. SPOILERS ARE AHEAD

Okay, so almost everything I love about this movie also has a negative side to it. Many of my complaints fall under a giant umbrella complaint of “This movie should have been longer.” The movie was 1 hour and 43 minutes, according to google. I just don’t feel like that was enough time to tell everything they were trying to tell. I’m going to run through everything I think falls under this category.

Kristoff

One of the main characters of the original movie, I think he suffers the same fate that Buzz did in Toy Story 4. He was largely written off as a recurring joke, since most of his screen time had to do with trying to propose to Anna, and failing horribly. Sure, it was funny, but it would’ve been nice to see more out of him. Maybe something about how difficult it is to be in love with a princess or something. (Idk I’m not a screenwriter)

Elsa (And her relationship with Anna)

To preface, I think Elsa was kind of boring in the first movie. She was one dimensional, with basically all of her personality being “I am scared people will know about ice power,” and “people know about ice power, now I am free.” 

I think that this could’ve been the fault of the movie, and not Elsa’s character, since the plot didn’t allow for much development here. However, the second movie is different.

There was a really good concept they started exploring, mainly regarding Anna and Elsa’s relationship. Multiple times throughout the movie, Elsa tries to leave on an adventure without anyone, so they don’t get endangered. First, when she leaves Arendelle in the first place, and second, when she leaves the camp. Anna, understandably, wants to go with her, because last time this happened everything went to hell. She manages to convince Elsa those first two times. This culminates in one last event, where Elsa forcefully distances herself from Anna using ice powers and stuff, and continues the adventure on her own, having tricked Anna (and Olaf) into thinking she was going to go with her. After Anna and Olaf are able to talk to each other again, Olaf comments that he’s actually angry, something he’s never felt before. Anna shares that he has every right to be angry, and it’s clears she’s also angry that Elsa pushed her away again.

So right here, this could’ve been great. The setup is perfect for Elsa to have more character development, realizing that pushing people away isn’t the answer. It could’ve brought depth to this one dimensional character, who realizes her flaw. But that’s just the problem. Due to a certain event, which I will expand upon later, when Anna and Elsa reunite, Anna is only happy to see her, and this aspect is never touched on again.

I love when characters have genuine flaws, and I would’ve loved if more time was spent on this.

Also, one minor thing I did like was the reveal that Elsa and Anna’s parents’ ship actually sank in the Dark Sea, while they were looking to help out Elsa. Elsa understandably felt responsible for their death, which I felt was good character development. However, it is reconciled fairly quickly with Anna, so this also suffers from not having enough time put into it.

All the Elements and Stuff

A new idea introduced in this movie was the Enchanted Forest, which is guarded by 4 spirits, Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. (Wonder where that’s been done?) It was a cool idea to have more magical stuff in this movie. A lingering question from the first movie was, “Where did she get her powers?” or whatever. Watching Elsa tame the different spirits was entertaining, especially the little lizard dude, because he was adorable.

My problem comes in with the whole Ice Spirit thing. It is revealed that Elsa is actually the ice spirit, and that the voice calling to her was her mother. To be honest, I didn’t really understand what was going on. I don’t know what her mother was, or if she had actually been alive or something. I felt like they were trying to convey something that was clear to the writers, but not to the audience. Something about it was just off, so they should’ve taken time to elaborate.

Or I’m dumb idk

Okay, gonna switch over to some other topics now. I want to talk about another main issue I had, that being, “a lack of consequences.” To start, I’m going to talk about my least favorite part of the movie.

The Elsa and Olaf Death Fakeout

My other complaint I felt were passable. Sure, they could’ve been expanded upon, but the movie was still doing fine. This though? I actually didn’t like this.

If you’re reading this without seeing the movie, I’ll give a quick rundown. After Elsa realizes she’s the ice spirit, she goes into a weird cave and learns the truth about a past event that is key to breaking open the magic wall of the Enchanted Forest. (More on that later) For some reason, what ensues is the rapid freezing of Elsa, just as Anna froze in the first movie. Elsa sends a last breath to send an ice message to Anna about the truth, so that Anna can save the forest. Olaf begins to die as well, since Elsa had “died”, and Anna is left in a cave, crying over her dying friend. What follows is a very sad song and all that, and it’s actually pretty emotional.

But here’s the thing. This is a Disney movie. If a character dies in a Disney movie, they build up to it. Big time. They really let you know the character is dead. Elsa “died” so suddenly that you knew right away she was going to come back. And because she was gonna come back, Olaf was going to also. 

And come back they did. After breaking the spell on the Enchanted Forest, Elsa is revived, and saves the day from another event. (See next section.) She brings Olaf back, and everyone lives happily ever after.

This pissed me off. Elsa had pushed Anna away, gone alone, and died because of it, which seemed like a good consequence of her actions. But everything ended up fine anyways. The consequences were almost immediately resolved, and I just hate that. So, here’s what I would’ve done instead!

First off, rewrite the story in such a way that Elsa does not “Die.” Make her get trapped by something in the cave, or have her pass out. Make Anna go save her. This way, their reunion could also include the Elsa character development I wanted so badly, since Anna would know she wasn’t dead. 

Second, a more intriguing option. Some might disagree with this, but maybe make another movie. Set up some sort of conflict that leaves the movie on a cliffhanger, with Elsa comatose and Olaf out of commission until that’s resolved. I’m not sure what the ensuing movie would be, but it would be far more interesting than what we got. Of course, the main issue with this would be ending an animated Disney movie on a cliffhanger, which never happens. I know why this wouldn’t work, I’m just saying it would be better this way. 

Better than trying to fake us out.

Arendelle not being Destroyed

This one is smaller, but a conflict at the end of the movie includes destroying a dam to free the enchanted forest. However, destroying the dam would also destroy Arendelle. Anna, knowing what the “Next right thing” is, something that is commonly referred to in this movie, decides that destroying the dam is the right course of action.

The water makes way to destroy Arendelle, and then Elsa comes in at the last second and saves the day. 

My main problem with this is it lessens the blow of the movie’s message. “Doing the next right thing” is a powerful message to give today. It indicates that even though something may be hard, or you may have to sacrifice something, it’s better to do what you know is right. (Ex: climate change) However, what this demonstrates, especially to younger children, is that doing the right thing doesn’t have any consequences, I think that’s the wrong message to send.

They easily could’ve done the “Arendelle is a people, not a place,” and it all would’ve worked out.

I have one last complaint, and it’s a small one.

Twist Villain

This doesn’t matter too much, but they pulled another “twist villain” on us. The twist is that the conflict that trapped people in the Enchanted forest was started by Arendelle, not by Northuldra. 

Obviously. 

It is a huge exaggeration to call this a twist. I don’t know how it would’ve been rewritten though, so I guess I can let it slide.

Okay I know that sounds like a lot of complaining, but I do have a couple of extra things I was to pay special attention too that were great. I’m gonna go rapid fire because I’m getting tired of writing, and it’s easier to talk about the things you like.

Music- The music was integrated much better into the story than the first movie. Every song advances the plot, except for Lost in the Woods. But that’s excusable, because the whole sequence of Lost in the Woods is hilarious. Can’t wait to see the memes come out of it when the movie is released digitally. Also, they didn’t forget that the movie was a musical halfway through, like the first movie, so that’s nice.

Anna and Olaf- They were still great. Olaf was funny, and Anna was complicated enough. Just as good as they were in the first movie. Also, Anna becoming queen at the end felt right, so I’m glad they did that.

Again, the fire spirit lizard is so cute.

The movie is gorgeous. It’s still amazing to see how far animation is progressing, even since 2013. (Also, Frozen came out in 2013. That’s not okay. :(  )

Okay, that’s my review. I know it sounds like I hated it, but i really didn’t. I thought it was great. If you like animated films, or just the first movie, definitely go see it. Although I suppose at this point if you’ve been reading the whole thing you’ve either already seen it or don’t care.

I plan to review the Devil May Cry Series after this, since I just finished the fifth game. Gonna review them all at once, since I played them one after another. Not sure when that will be, guess we’ll see.

[wroughtbetwixtfanfic]

Love, Blood, And Rhetoric, Ch 1.

Fandom: The Society.

Summary: Campbell's just trying to survive in the new world. He knows he can make it-- it's everyone else he's worried about.

Rating: Mature.

Tags: Canon Divergence, Mental Health Issues, Family Issues, Substance Abuse, Complicated Relationships, Consent Issues, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Mild Sexual Content, assuming Elle and Campbell are both 18 for the sake of things, Underage Drinking, PTSD, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, implied eating disorder, Fix-It, Campbell has mild ASPD, and is actively trying to not be awful

Word Count: 6061

Part One, Ch 1 || Ch 2 || Ch 3 || Ch 4 || Ch 5 || AO3

Disclaimer: This is part two of a three part series. Reading part one is more-or-less essential.

This is a canon divergent storyline for Campbell, using (in my experience) a realistic take on conduct disorder and ASPD instead of Hollywood "psychopath" stereotypes. While people with conduct disorder can be violent and abusive, the diagnosis does exist on a spectrum, and neither ASPD nor "psychopathy" should be diagnosed before the age of 18; this is one thing that rubbed me the wrong way on The Society. Campbell's power will be more in his ability to manipulate-- not "being crazy". Hopefully I can succeed in presenting a more understandable and less sensationalized vision of his behavior. Please note that I have no intention of making him a violent abuser, to bring his character more in line with my experiences of how an emotionally neglected teen with moderately reduced empathy would behave, provided they were actively attempting to help themselves.

Tl;dr I just wanted to make Campbell less needlessly shitty, because it makes me feel better as a person, and because I wanted one (1) antagonist who isn't just an evil, horrible abuser with a scary mental illness.

Thank you for reading, and leaving kudos/comments/likes. <3 

///

The bridge was quiet as a graveyard. It was something out of a science fiction movie, wasn't it? Alice in Wonderland type shit. Something happens, and suddenly the world goes inside out, with people transported to some other dimension. No one had said a damn word, but it was the only explanation that made any sense at all. It looked like home, but it wasn't home. Everything felt a few degrees to the side. Just a tiny bit abnormal. Forests that sprouted up around them overnight. Everyone else in the city, gone. The smell, gone. Gordie was the first to break the silence. "I mean, there's only so many options."

"Maybe we're dreaming," Allie offered. "It's the best option." Campbell rolled his eyes, but held his tongue for Cassandra's sake. They would all have to be dreaming the exact same dream at the same time, and that seemed far less likely than some sort of weird wormhole situation. Harry was sitting on his car hood, with Helena and Luke next to him. He ran his hands through his hair; he was still half drunk, and had no business being there, but there he was and he was freaking out. "Maybe this is just some elaborate fucking game. Like, someone built an exact replica of our town and just put it in the middle of nowhere, and if we just walk..." He paused, waving his hands towards the trees. "Like, this way or that way or any way, eventually we'll get back to the real world." Christ, that was an even worse theory. Campbell sighed. "An exact replica of the town," he pressed, "complete with all our family's cars? Our clothes? Our bathroom towels, posters, jewelry, stuffed animals, the food in our fridges?" "I'm not saying it makes any sense." Crossing her arms, Cassandra leaned against the bridge and frowned. She had that debate team look in her eyes. The look that said she was trying to dissect the situation in her mind. "There was a smell, and then it went away. It came back, and the buses came for us." Harry scoffed. "You're gonna just work this out, Cassandra? Like some logic problem? I mean, not a flicker of a doubt?" "The world doesn't just turn upside down without a reason. We're not in some play-within-a-play. Okay? Clever is not the same thing as true. There is a point to everything, there are answers." "That's right," Helena chimed in. "God doesn't just play games with people for fun." Cassandra clenched her jaw as she looked to Helena, then to Campbell. They had both stopped going to church a long time ago, and Cassandra had been the one to get religious-specific plays banned from school performances. Campbell didn't really believe or disbelieve anything, but he knew Cassandra and Helena had gotten into argument before about all sorts of things. LGBT rights, abortion, gun control... He could see that anger stirring up in Cassandra. It wouldn't be pretty if it got loose. Luckily, Luke seemed to sense the tension and butted in. "All right, look, Grizz and I will get a group together and we'll go hike out here through the woods, okay? Like a search party." Helena nodded. "I think that's a good idea." "Do you think it's safe?" Cassandra asked, frowning. "Yeah," Grizz replied, "sure." Luke tried to smile. "Grizz knows what he's doing. And if there's people out there, we gotta find them, right? You know. To get help." "I'm leaving." Harry got up off the car and headed towards the driver's door. His eyes were glassy, distant. It wouldn't be long before he imploded. "I'm hungry." Allie stood up, glaring. "You're leaving?" Campbell watched the bickering that followed, wondering when-- if at all-- they were going to ask his opinion. But he knew they wouldn't. They never did. If they would have shut the fuck up long enough to bother, Campbell would have told them that the horizon looked a little too clean for a West Ham summer. Too clear. He would have pointed out that there were no planes, no trails even, in the sky overhead. Wherever they were, chances were they were alone. Instead, he focused on his phone while everyone started arguing in full; Elle was trying to call. Can't talk now, he texted. At the bridge with Cassie and others. She replied quickly. Why? What's wrong? Not sure. All roads out of town are blocked. Blocked? We can't get out? Has anyone found our parents? Campbell rubbed his face with one hand. No, we can't. No adults or younger kids yet. Trying to figure out what to do. Oh. A long, long pause. Show me. Whatever was happening, Harry was officially done. His tone sharpened, and Campbell looked up to see him trying to collect Kelly. "You coming with, Kel?" He stood there, staring, when she shook her head. Ouch. Harry hadn't mentioned that they were on the rocks; he was being an unreasonable ass, though. Not a surprise. "Jesus christ, just get in the car." "Leave her alone," Will grumbled. "Hey, fuck off, Will." Harry looked to Campbell, seeking someone to follow him. Campbell just raised an eyebrow. Harry seethed, getting into his car and starting the engine. "Fine. Who gives a shit." He knew Harry would be mad at him for a while, but eventually he'd stop being a selfish prick and come around. Campbell needed to be there, to keep an eye on people and the situation; he needed to hear what was happening, and plan accordingly. If Cassandra couldn't keep herself together and all hell was going to break loose, Campbell needed to be ready. In the mean time... Cassandra blinked at him and he moved to her side, lifting his phone to take a picture of the blocked off tracks and road. "What are you doing?" "I'm just gonna send a text. Let everybody know how fucked we are." "Campbell!" she hissed. "Don't. Come on, let's think about this." But there was nothing to think about. Campbell pressed the send button, and his phone dinged in confirmation. He smiled at the look of horror on her face, sitting down on the sidewalk while he waited for Elle to reply; it wasn't often that he actually felt stronger than Cassandra, or even smarter, but it was one of those rare moments that he saw an opportunity and took it. Hiding the truth from people would only backfire. She'd thank him later, if she had the sense. Cassandra was still moaning over it. "Fuck. Why did you do that?" "Relax, Cassandra. I don't have many people on my contact list." "But they'll share it with their friends. It'll spread." "A slow, steady distribution of information is better than pretending things are fine." "Campbell--" "Look." Setting aside his phone, Campbell turned to Cassandra and held her gaze. "You, me, and like a dozen other people already know. How long do you think it'd be before one of them squealed, huh? Someone would let it slip, at some point. And if you go back into town, telling everyone it's all good when it's not, at some point they'll realize you lied. What do you think is gonna happen when three hundred teenagers stop trusting their student body president, Cassandra?" "I'm not student body president anymore. Harry said so, and it's true." "Harry's a shithead." "Then why are you friends with him?" "Not the point. You're one of the smarter people here. Gordie, Bean, Will, Grizz? They're amazing, but you were the closest thing to a leader we had back home. That doesn't just go away." Cassandra chewed on her lip. "I don't want to be a leader. I'm..." She pressed her hand to her chest. "I'm sick. What if I can't get my medicine?" "Tough shit," Campbell retorted. "Power is in your hands, and if you don't get a grip on it, someone else is going to put you in the dirt. All the medicine in the world won't help you if there's a fucking mutiny." "What do I do, then?" "These kids are gonna get scared, and they're either gonna look to you or they're going to challenge you. Pull yourself together." For a long time, Cassandra didn't speak. She sat next to him and gazed woefully at a small group of teens that were heading their way, some walking and others jogging. They were pointing at the road, and some began shouting. A few began to hover closer to her, looking nervous. "Well. Maybe you're right." "Usually am. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an acquaintance to console." Elle had arrived with the group, staring off the side of the bridge at the tracks. Other kids joined her nearby, and Campbell could hear them whisper as he approached. He was telling the truth. What does this mean? How is it possible? He ignored them, leaning against the railing next to Elle; she didn't look at him, but she leaned a little closer. "This is such bullshit," she said after a time. "What are we supposed to do?" Campbell shook his head. "Whatever is happening, if we're stuck with no way out, then we gotta do what you do in any survival situation. Secure resources. Shelter, food, water." "Should head to the store and grab some shit before people all get the same idea." "Probably, yeah." Elle glanced over at him. "You're pretty calm in all this." "Getting panicked or scared just means mistakes get made." He texted her a small list of supplies. "Go to the store. Bottled water. A lot of stuff can be frozen or dried. Get what you can, we'll figure out how to preserve it later." She nodded, turning and heading towards the closest market. Campbell waited for her to be out of earshot, then headed towards Cassandra, who was talking to Will and Sam. Everyone else seemed to have dispersed. They all glanced at him, but kept talking; Will was discussing the food situation, already, and Will specifically mumbled something about dehydrating and canning. Well, at least Will had some clue, then. "I saved a bunch of YouTube videos," he said, looking sheepish. "I always wanted to be a chef, so..." Campbell kept walking. They already were making plans; they didn't need him any, and he should go make sure that Elle was doing alright. He made it a few yards before Sam caught up to him, grabbing his sleeve to get his attention. "Where are you going?" Sam asked. "To get what I can." Campbell sighed at the way Sam's eyebrows knit together. There was no point in wasting time trying to explain, and besides, he had to make sure Sam wasn't gonna starve to death. "Coming?" There were a few different stores and markets in town, and while there was one close by, Campbell knew of a smaller one run by one of those doomsday prepper types. There wasn't as much variety there, but it did have gallon-sized bottled waters and things like powdered eggs. People went to it for camping supplies, but not much else; it wouldn't be the first place most would think to go to. Sam followed him inside, watching at Campbell began to fill a basket full of supplied. At least he didn't try and argue that it was theft or anything. "What are you getting?" "This is for you. A week of water. Jerky, nuts and seeds. Dried eggs. Dried fruit, some other shit. Keep it in the basement until you need it." "Why a week?" "Because if the utilities go and no one comes for us after a week, they're not going to." He didn't mean for the words to come out quite so grim, but it was useless to sugarcoat things any. "Keep using the water at home as long as you can. If it goes off, use this." Campbell grabbed some for himself, and they managed to weasel the baskets home without being seen. Probably because most of the other kids were at home crying or at the bridge by that point, who knew for sure. At least no one approached them. As they put shit away, Campbell made a list in his head of things in stores that would be in high demand. Toilet paper, first aid kits, batteries, medications, alcohol, anything for hygiene. Bleach, matches, lighters. And knowing his peers, condoms. If he got his backpack and headed out again, he could probably snatch a good stock before anyone else thought of it... Sam sunk onto the sofa once they finished. He tilted his head as Campbell got a couple backpacks, and made another list on his phone. "What are you going to do?" "I have some business to take care of." "Harry?" Maybe it was the comment itself, or maybe it was the eyebrow quirk of Sam's eyebrow, or some sort of tone his brother had. Either way, Campbell's mood soured on the spot. "Don't pretend like you know me." "I don't know you. That's what scares me." There was nothing to say to that, in the end. Campbell stormed out of the house, heading towards the pharmacy first. Most of what he wanted would be there, and the chances of anyone else being there already were slim. To his surprise, when he arrived, someone had already been messing with the lock; they hadn't managed to get in, whoever they were. Campbell slipped his lock picking kit from the backpack and made quick work of it. First was anything addictive, then meds that would be important. The pharmacy had a little book behind the counter that explained what everything was, and Campbell swept through as fast as possible to grab asthma medications, birth control pills, anti virals, whatever looked useful. He paused as he examined the shelves, seeing a prescription for Cassandra. Her heart meds. He tossed it into his backpack, and then found the rest of that medication and stole it, too. Harry's home was close by. Campbell headed there, knowing Harry would let him stash shit there until Campbell convinced Sam to get in line. When he knocked, though, no one answered. Sighing, Campbell found the hidden key Harry had made specially for him; the house was quiet when he came inside, with Harry nowhere in sight. He hid the backpacks in the attic first, then went hunting for his friend. "Harry? You were supposed to be here eating." A muffled sound came from the living room. Campbell found Harry laying curled up in a ball on the floor, under a blanket. "Hey, buddy. You don't look so hot." "Leave me alone, Satan," Harry slurred. "Are you high?" "Maybe." Campbell flopped onto the floor next to Harry, lifting up the blanket to peer in at him. "C'mon. Tell me. What'd you take?" "A xanax. From mom's medicine cabinet." A quick trip upstairs, to peek at the dose. Not worrisome, but definitely more than a beginner should take, and enough to knock Harry on his ass for several hours. Campbell went into the kitchen and made a can of soup. Harry's favorite, split pea with ham. He brought it to Harry and sat on the floor again, tempting Harry with it. Eventually, Harry crawled out from under the blanket and took the bowl. "She dumped me." Harry poked at the green mass. "Kelly. We found out her dad was screwing with my mom, and I don't know. She got pissed off at me." "You do stick your foot in your mouth regularly." "I didn't mean to make her mad. Now we're in this fucking nightmare world, and... what am I supposed to do? I can't do this alone." Campbell resisted the urge to gloat. He'd never really liked Kelly, anyways, and the feeling had been mutual. "Look, you two have been having problems for over a week now. This changes nothing." He reached over, snagging the spoon from Harry's hand and loading it up with soup. "Besides. You're not alone. You have me." Harry didn't fight as Campbell fed him the soup. "You know what I mean," he said through a bite. He suddenly stopped, swallowing and sinking his face into his hands. "Maybe you don't. Christ." "You're hung over and high. Eat your soup and we can talk later." He muttered under his breath, but Harry listened anyways. Campbell put on a movie, chilling while Harry ate; when Harry was done, he slumped against Campbell and fell asleep. Well, at least he couldn't panic if he was passed out cold. Hours passed. Harry eventually woke up enough to stumble into the shower and clean himself up, while Campbell made them grilled cheese sandwiches. Harry had just returned when their phones began to buzz. "It's from Cassandra." Campbell slid Harry a sandwich. "She wants us to get to the church as soon as possible." Harry shook his head. "Man, fuck her." "Quiet. She knows what she's doing." "Do you seriously believe that?" "Yeah, I do." Harry didn't say anything, but he tightened his jaw, and Campbell saw something in his eyes that planted another seed of worry. Rebellion. Fucking hell, it was starting already. Campbell headed towards the bathroom while Harry got dressed; it was a quick detour to the bedroom of Harry's parents, where Campbell knew Harry's mother kept a gun. The case wasn't locked. The ammo was right there. Thank fuck Harry never had the inclinations to kill anyone. Campbell made sure it was unloaded, then stuck the gun in his waistband and the ammo in his pocket, before heading back out. Harry was waiting on the porch, and they hopped in his car and made their way to the church. By the time they got there, people were starting to gather, but it was mostly empty still. Cassandra was standing by the water fountain, leaning against the brick wall and taking deep, slow breaths. Harry went on inside without waiting. Campbell hung back, sidling up to Cassandra when no one was paying attention. "I can't do this," she whispered. "I can't." Campbell nudged her shoulder with his own. "It's gonna be okay, somehow. If it makes you feel any better, I knocked over the drug store and stole you a few months worth of your heart meds." "You... What. No, no, nevermind. I don't want to know." "You're welcome. But seriously, just chill out. What are you even talking about?" Cassandra ran her hands through her hair. "Luke texted Helena. Helena texted me. We got ahold of everyone on the buses, but people all keep asking me what's going on. You were right. People are looking to me, and I don't know how to lead them." Campbell shrugged. "We're kids, okay? Most of us aren't used to living in the real world. They're gonna be worried about things like resources and safety. Guide them a bit towards ways to get or keep that, and they'll follow." "But why would they take my word for it? I have maybe five friends, Cam. There's over two hundred people coming, and I don't know how to trust them, or get them to trust me." Trust wasn't something Campbell was familiar with, but he knew no one would trust Cassandra if they saw her as weak. And if Cassandra didn't believe in herself, then weak was exactly how she'd come off. Cassandra had been tempered by her love for her family and friends. It was sweet, it was good, but sweet and good wasn't going to get shit done. The people in their town only understood wealth and power. But it was too late to talk more; dozens of people were heading their way, and Campbell knew better than to be seen lingering around Cassandra too long. He took a seat in the back, far from the Cassandra and her little herd. Sam was there, surrounded by Allie, Becca, Gordie, and Will. His actual, chosen family. Even Harry was up there, and Kelly. He felt a small stab of jealousy, but bit it back as soon as it reared its head. It'd do no good. "You could join them." Campbell glanced up at Elle's voice. She stood in the church aisle, watching him. "No, that wouldn't be a good idea. I don't want to be a public relations nightmare for my cousin." "Stay away from the alcohol, and you'd probably be fine." "Elle..." "No, Campbell, whatever you're about to say just don't bother. The best thing you can do is promise never to do that again, and then keep that promise, okay?" "I can do that." "Are you sure?" "Yeah." Campbell hesitated. He hated making promises, because he knew he could be unreliable and he hated breaking promises just as much, but Elle was worth the effort. "I promise." Crossing her arms, Elle looked down at the floor. "Alright. Well, Kelly invited me to sit with her. I'll let you know if they say anything good." She didn't wait for an answer. Elle peeked back at him as she headed up front; he tried to smile at her, and she didn't really smile back, but it was a start at least. Campbell turned his focus to the crowd in the church and their quiet whispers. Many were scared. A few were angry. Most just seemed confused. As time passed, they became restless. At least, that was until Cassandra stood, and began to speak. She stood in the center of the stairs leading to the podium. "Listen. Hey, listen up." Silence fell over the church. Cassandra continued, her voice shaking at first, but becoming louder and clearer as she carried on. "While we're all here, together, there are some things that we ought to figure out. Before we rip this place apart and maybe... you know, start hurting each other." She paused as quiet murmurs spread through the gathered students. "I don't know what the hell is going on. Maybe Luke will come back with some good news." Elle spoke first, her tone annoyed. "Maybe? Of course he will." "Yeah," Harry agreed. "Why don't we just wait and see, Cassandra?" Cassandra sighed. Her eyes darted to Campbell, for just a split second. "Because I would rather prepare for the worst before the worst happens." "What does that mean? Prepare?" Kelly wondered. "I don't know specifically, but I think it means we agree not to just take things when we want until all the food is gone and we starve." The murmurs turned into a panicked rumble. Campbell winced, but Allie, Clark, and Helena loudly agreed with Cassandra, and that seemed to quell the surge of fear... until Harry opened his goddamn mouth, just as Campbell knew he would. "This is bullshit." Will's back was to Campbell, but he could heard the disbelief in Will's voice. "Jesus, man, what is your problem?" "What are we agreeing to, Cassandra?" Harry turned to Cassandra, ignoring Will completely. Some of the students waiting in the pews began to yell in agreement with Harry. "Which one of us gets to decide who gets what? Your friends?" Becca let out a huff. "It's called democracy." "I'm not a fucking idiot, Becca." That was debatable, Campbell thought, but he kept quiet. At least for the time being, to see how things would play out. At least Cassandra seemed to have a handle on things, for the time being; Harry was getting flustered, especially when Cassandra brought out the coin she'd kept from the play. "How do you want to decide things?" she challenged. "Every person for themselves? Then we're back to where we started. Maybe you want to flip a coin to see who decides? You don't like democracy? How about random fucking chance?" Harry scoffed. "That's--" "Call it, Harry. Call it." "I'm not gonna do that." "Okay, okay. I'll call it for you. You get heads." Cassandra flipped the coin. "Tails. Still think it's unfair? Best two out of three. Oh! Tails." "I... I mean..." Cassandra flipped a third time, but this time, her face fell. "Tails." Harry looked frozen. The church had become so quiet, it was like no one was even breathing. Harry was thinking back to the play, and Campbell knew everyone else was, too. "Do it again." Four more times, Cassandra flipped the coin. Tails, tails, tails, tails. Harry stepped back from Cassandra, eyes wide. "Fuck." For a moment, Cassandra paused. She stared at the coin, and flipped it again; she closed her eyes, her hand over the coin for a long moment before she finally looked. "Heads." She held up the coin, and the crowd let out a long sigh of relief. She turned her attention back to them, lifting her voice once more. "It's all up to us. There's no civilization here, not until we start one. So what are we gonna do? First, I think we have no choice but to share. Share food, share resources." "Houses?" Harry asked. "Maybe." "Fuck you." Allie stood up. "Really? How much electricity do we have? Until it's all used up and everything goes dark? I think 225 people in 200 houses doesn't make sense." 239, but who was counting. "Keep what's ours!" some random fuckhole shouted from the other side of the church. "What is yours?" Cassandra questioned. "Do you have money? Who you gonna pay? The things that you need to live-- food, clothes, the stuff in stores-- no one owns them." Will and Harry erupted at one another over housing, and Campbell sighed, leaning back and closing his eyes. They were snapping and snarling, and the mood in the church was getting tense. Will on one side, arguing for Cassandra's view that there should be rules, organization, a method. Harry on his own side, screaming about how he should get to do whatever he wanted. Campbell understood. Harry was afraid, afraid of losing what was his and the comfy little life he had for himself. The big house and big bed and things were all he really had, in his mind. And well, men in general weren't great with sharing, were they? But Campbell knew history sided with people like Will and Cassandra. Capitalism, mine-mine-mine, greed. It never fared well in situations like the one they were in. No, they needed rules. They needed some sort of system, where everyone had an equal portion of things. And they had such a small, small window of time to get things going and working, before it all fell into chaos. Harry was yelling at Cassandra, getting ready to storm off like the entitled rich boy he was. Great. "I don't have to listen to this. Not anymore." "Harry, this has nothing to do with you," Cassandra snapped. "We need to--" "I don't need to do anything you say, you fucking--" Campbell had been busy loading the gun while the two argued, with the rest of the students starting to stand up and scream back and forth, too. He stood, pointed at the back wall's roof where it wouldn't hurt anyone, and fired a single round. The angry screams turned into screams of panic as everyone hit the floor. Some started crying, but everyone was staring at him, and no one was speaking. "Well..." Campbell took to the center aisle, walking towards his cousin. He had to act fast, before anyone recovered and tried to stop him. "Fuck this. Harry's right." Cassandra's mouth dropped open. "What?" "No one elected you king, cousin. Did anybody vote for her? Did they?" Campbell stopped in front of Cassandra and gestured to the cowering teenagers on the floor. "Anybody elect her to speak on your behalf? No?" "I... I don't want to be king." Campbell stared hard at Cassandra. She was stuttering. Oh, it wouldn't do at all for her to look like this in front of the people she was trying to rally. He cocked the gun again, but this time, he pointed it at Cassandra. There was no bullet left in the gun, but she didn't know that. No one did. "That's not what it looks like. Is it?" Allie jumped in front of her sister, glaring daggers at Campbell, but Cassandra gently brushed her aside. Something flickered to life in her eyes. Something courageous. Self-sacrificing. "I've thought a lot about dying. I've almost gotten used to that. But I don't like to be afraid." Cassandra looked down the barrel, then met Campbell's gaze. If she had any idea of the hand he was playing, she didn't give it away. She simply stood tall, steeling her voice and not flinching a bit. "Do you want chaos? Fucking shoot me." And there she was, the Cassandra he loved. Campbell chuckled, lowering the gun and giving her a little smile. "I don't want to shoot you. I wanted to get everybody's attention." Just one last part of the plan to put into place. "This meeting's obviously over. We'll be back when Luke gets here. Until then, if anybody else is tired of listening to her, you can follow me." Campbell turned and headed towards the door, knowing Cassandra would be watching and counting each and every person who left with him. She would know their names. Their faces. She would know exactly who was siding against her. Once he got to the exit, he glanced behind him. It was a good sign. Harry and Kelly. Seven others, of various genders. A tiny, tiny minority, and no threat to Cassandra at all. She would be safe. But then the church doors swung open with a bang, and Campbell fell back. Everyone did. Luke walked in, flanked by Grizz, Bean, Gwen, and the others that had gone out into the forest. In Luke's arms draped Emily's pale, limp body. Gasps and noises of despair rippled through the crowd, and everyone parted to allow Luke access to the table at the front of the room. Grizz cleared the table, and they all stood around, staring. Some started to cry. Some tried to check for her pulse. She was dead. It was clear the minute Luke came in. Campbell had never really known Emily, so he stayed near the door, letting everyone else have a chance to see her for themselves. Closure or whatever. "She died from a snakebite," Luke called out. "Her whole body just shut down. We did everything we could, but we couldn't save her." Grizz spoke when Luke sank to the floor. His voice was flat, cold. Practical. "So we're gonna bury her tomorrow, before it starts to smell. I'm gonna need a couple of guys..." "There's nothing out there, guys. Just a whole bunch of just... woods that go on forever. We're all alone. This isn't our home." This isn't our home. Those four words were all it took to shift everything. He looked to Sam, his thoughts already spinning. His little brother was huddled with Allie, Cassandra, and Becca, and Campbell could practically smell the fear on him. Alone. Sam didn't trust Campbell, and now they had to be alone together? They had to try and survive together? It wasn't going to work, not like this, especially when-- not if, but when-- things started getting cutthroat. Campbell was too bitter, too hateful, and he knew he wouldn't be able to handle the stress of worrying about them both. Especially if Cassandra expected people to start sharing houses. There was no way Campbell could do it. He would hurt someone, at some point. In the end, it was for Sam's own good. Campbell knew he, at some point, would snap. He would destroy Sam. He wouldn't want to, or even mean to. But if they were on their own, trapped, it'd be like too many rats in too small a cage. They'd turn on each other someday, and Campbell knew he would always save himself, without hesitation. Sam deserved better than that. So... Campbell eyed Cassandra and Allie as they walked past, heading to their home. They had already opened their home to Will. Safety in numbers, right? And Cassandra loved Sam. Allie was protective of her family. Sam trusted and loved them, too. They could keep him safe. They would take care of him, and sacrifice their own needs for him if it came down to it. They could be the home Sam needed, even if it was just for a little while. Campbell just had to hope that Sam was angry enough inside, hurt enough by years of distrust and backbiting between them, that he'd be happy to leave. He grabbed Sam's arm as Sam followed after their cousins. Campbell kept his face calm, his voice neutral. Maybe it would be simple. No need to get nasty about it, if Sam would go willingly. "Hey. Don't come home tonight." Sam tensed. There was hurt in his eyes, and the smallest glint of stubbornness. He was angry, but not angry enough. Not yet. "It's my house, too." Campbell studied Sam's face, choosing to dig a little deeper. Something more painful was going to be needed, obviously. "Ever since you were born, I never had just one day that was mine, until now." It was the truth, anyways. It had been the Sam Show from day one, and it was no secret that Campbell resented Sam for it. "Alright?" Sam stared Campbell down, not saying a word. Not at first. Finally, he shook his head. His voice was low. Pained. But he didn't look away from Campbell, not even a little bit. "No." So, that's how it was going to be. "Give me the key, you little fag." He had never called Sam that before, or anything like it. He'd busted plenty of people's lips for less. It felt dirty on his tongue, but it was the one thing that Campbell knew would hurt Sam past the point of forgiveness. And if that didn't work... Campbell shot his hand out and scruffed Sam like a petulant kitten, digging his fingers hard into the back of Sam's neck. "Give me the key." Shock was the first emotion that crossed through Sam's expression. Campbell had never laid his hands on Sam before, either. He'd never needed slurs or physical violence before. But persuasion wasn't working, and maybe shock was exactly what Campbell needed to bring Sam's rage to the surface. It worked like a charm; the fury finally arrived, hurt transforming into a deep, crushing hatred. It was the same hatred that Campbell had seen in Sam the night Oliver was found dead, and fuck, it wasn't what Campbell wanted to see. But it had to happen now, before it happened later. Before Sam got hurt worse. Sam handed over his key to the house, then shoved Campbell hard and walked away. Campbell watched him go. Sam didn't look back. Good. It stung more than Campbell had expected, in some weird, dull way, but it was necessary. Wasn't it? Sam would be with Allie and Cassandra, where it was warm and welcoming and loving. Campbell would be on his own, away from anyone he could easily hurt, with time and space to figure shit out. When he got home, it was dark. He turned on the lights, turned on some music. There was cold cheese pizza still in the fridge; he ate it, not bothering to heat it up first. It was late, and he was tired, but there was a restlessness in him that wouldn't let him sleep. He ended up standing in the living room a bit past midnight, with the lights turned off and just a little bit of moonlight streaming in through the windows. He'd turned off the music, and it was quiet. Perfectly quiet, like he'd always fantasized about. No one to interrupt him, no one to scold or condemn him or look at him funny, or bother him with questions or requests, no one to have to pretend around. Happy, relaxed, carefree... Quarantined. Campbell sat in the middle of the living room sofa, emptiness settling over his shoulders like a frigid, heavy blanket. For the first time in years, he cried.

[stardyng]

Hi Arya stan from before here. I don’t hate Sansa I actually really like her character and started following her tag on tumblr and guess what it’s super annoying most of the time to try and appreciate her when there’s 1000+ blogs who can’t just like her without hating Arya and Dany. Season 7 had shit writing for all of the characters so I get being angry at Arya for the things she did then because some of it was dumb I get it. I just find it really annoying that Sansa stans have spent the 1/2

Have spent the last week or so trashing Arya and Dany because of a 10 second clip that nothing happened in. Why do you guys want her to come for Dany and Arya? Why do you want to watch a show where they make women fight because it’s fucking gross? I see no one comparing the male characters and preparing them to go against each other. I don’t think Sansa is an idiot. Dany is an important ally against the white walkers and I hope they come to appreciate each other and work together. I hope she 2/3

I hope she protects Arya and they actually get along like her parents would’ve wanted them to. The last thing I want to see is a season of Sansa passive aggressively berating everyone in the room just for the sake of her being a “bad ass” it’s stupid and doesn’t make any sense. Go watch the video where the writers discuss season 7 and you’ll see that Sansa was still being manipulated by Petyr and did want to take power from Jon. Arya had a right not to trust her in the beginning. 3/3

________

What’s so wrong about me having an opinion and expressing it? I can’t stand S7 Arya and Daenerys in the show, and I have every right to express why. If you don’t like that I do that, just block me or mute the anti arya stark and anti daenerys targaryen tags so none of that pops up in your efforts in finding someone who appreciates all three characters. I’m sure there are people who love Sansa that think really fondly of Arya and Daenerys. I’ve seen some of these people, and I even follow some of them. There’s two Daenerys stans on twitter that I absolutely love, and their analysis on her character (especially the book version of her) is outstanding. There’s a lot of Sansa stans as well who I see really appreciate the sisterhood between her and Arya, who have both of them as their favorite characters. All props to them. However, that’s not me. I don’t like these two characters (among many others) right now and I’m not going to pretend to like them, or filter my opinions because of some stranger on tumblr. If I like them later on, then that’s good, but we’ll get there when we get there. I’m here because I want to discuss the series in a candid manner, and how am I supposed to do that when whenever I talk about my negative feelings on a character, someone always complains on my blog about it. If you don’t want to see that negativity, block the tag, or me. Yes, I fully agree that Season 7 has been really bad for most characters. Not all though. Cersei stood out to me as being magnificent in the past season. She clearly surpassed her father in any way you could think of. Jaime I still really enjoy and find quite compelling. Even though I wasn’t satisfied with some elements in her story (aka. everything that has to do with Arya), I really enjoyed Sansa and her story-line last season as well. Plus, there was Theon, who’s character arc is turning out quite different from what I originally imagined. So there’s that. I didn’t like what was going on with pretty much everyone else, and I’ll elaborate on that if I wish to. 

The thing is that Sansa stans have said nothing about Arya in relation to the new content that has been put out. Arya stans just want to insert themselves in an argument that they play absolutely no part in. This has nothing to do with Arya. Yes, I did make a post elaborating on my frustration of how much of an absolute monster she was (don’t kill the messager, maisie williams said that first) last season and how the show is literally going to ignore it, but when it comes to the actual trailer and any of my post about it, Arya wasn’t even really on my mind. Nor was she on any of my mutuals mind either. That being said, let’s talk about Daenerys for a moment. I criticize Daenerys because she’s a tyrant, because she’s an imperialist, because she has committed literal atrocities, because she has been neglectful of the former slaves in Essos, because she is pretty much slated to commit atrocities in Westoros as well. She is a threat that needs to be dealt with, in the same way that Cersei and the White Walkers are, and I don’t even know how Daenerys stans manage to still ignore it when all of Emilia Clarke’s interviews about this new season alludes to the fact that Daenerys is going to snap soon. Plus, for starters, when has Daenerys been a good ally to the North? She has been more of an inconvenience in the fight against the white walkers than everyone else combined. She gave them a literal dragon that destroyed the wall. Because of her actions and general incompetence, thousands of people are going to die. That’s not forgetting that without Daenerys in the equation, all the seven kingdoms could have worked together to deal with the threat, but now Cersei is going to stab everyone in the back. So like…Daenerys really needs to clean up her mess. Also, the idea that having two female characters be against each other is ‘‘fucking gross’‘ is just weird. Y’all didn’t say the same thing when Daenerys and Cersei were fighting for the throne. Y’all didn’t say the same thing with Lysa was trying to murder Sansa. Y’all didn’t say the same thing when any of the male characters have expressed distaste with each other. There was a literal war of FIVE kings, but it’s so terrible to suggest that two women who would have very valid reasons to not like each other, don’t like each other. The trailer hints at that, all the casual fans are talking about it and articles that were written months beforehand even suggested this being an actual thing. This is not something that Sansa stans have created out of thin air. It’s a legitimate plot point in the story, that you will just have to learn to accept one moment or the other because it’s going to be an actual thing. And did you just say that you don’t see people pining the male characters against each other? Cleganebowl? Did you forget about that? People have been hyping it up for years now. Daenerys has been a liability thus far, and has done absolutely nothing to earn the trust of anybody in the seven kingdoms, so I really don’t see what Sansa has to like or respect about her, especially considering that she risked her life in order to take her ancestral home back and have it be independent again.

Honestly, Sansa and Arya are probably going to get along just fine next season. I don’t mind that, because that’s what I wanted in the first place last season, but that didn’t happen. Now, the writers made me intensely dislike a character that I really enjoyed, and that makes me extremely sad when looking at how much they could have done with their relationship and Arya as a character. I don’t really care that much about Arya in the books, but there’s a lot more to her character, and I understand why people love her that much. I don’t share the feeling, but I understand. Arya in the show is an empty vacuum of murder and sexism, and I’m not going to pretend that I like it. I also don’t want Sansa to be passive aggressive towards everyone. I hope Jaime pledges his allegiance to her, I hope we get more moments between her and Brienne, I hope they have more conversations between Jon and Sansa, hope we get more of her with Bran as well. I hope that we get to see her dynamic with all kinds of characters. Just because I pointed out that she clearly doesn’t like Daenerys doesn’t mean I want her to dislike everyone. Also, just because I want the show to recognize that Arya has lost herself, doesn’t mean that I want Sansa to hate her. I want the problem to be addressed in the narrative, and fixed later on. Also, Sansa wasn’t really manipulated by Littlefinger. He was incapable of making her do one thing. He told her to keep Brienne close yet Sansa sent her away. He tried to increase the divide between her and Arya, and she spotted his slipup and went to Bran to verify all the information with him. On the other hand, Arya was running around spying everyone at Winterfell like a little rat, and tormenting Sansa for being feminine every step of the way. The only one he did manage to manipulate was Arya. Plus, Sansa was literally offered to take Jon’s spot (and if she did it, I would have cheered)  but she refused the damn thing. Like, we seen the scene. Also, the fact that Sansa wanted power, but still pushed herself to the side to let Jon have and keep it just goes to show how much of a great and caring person she is. Sansa was an absolute queen this season and had not committed one wrong act and that’s the facts. So nope, Arya did not have any right to torment her, or to make her fear for her life seeing as Sansa did nothing wrong. I even made a post a while back elaborating on that, so if you want to read it, you can. 

[lelitachay]

Frozen Fanfiction: Søsken

Summary: Even though Anna loved her sister-in-law, she couldn’t help but notice there was something peculiar about Elsa. Everything starts to make sense after an accident and a forced family reunion.

Modern AU. Kristanna - Frohana - Kristoff & Elsa BrOTP

Chapter 1 - North mountain

Chapter 2 - Aftermath

Chapter 3 - Family

Chapter 4 - Siblings

“Sure… What is it?” said Kristoff with a little caution.

Anna caught his hesitation but chose to ask anyway. She was going to end up asking him sooner or later. It was best to just do it. “Elsa mentioned something, in the way back to the hospital yesterday. Something about being terrified of hospitals,” she paused to look at her boyfriend before continuing. “She was under the effects of the drugs so I didn’t really paid attention to it at the moment, but today when she woke up… she seemed so desperate to get out of there. I- I thought she meant it like ‘I don’t like hospitals’, but she truly is afraid of them, isn’t she?”

Kristoff heard the question in silence with his eyes fixed on the road, his stoic face not betraying the multiple things he had thought his sister could have said under the influence of the drugs. When Anna finished talking, he relaxed a little. He thought it was possible to give his girlfriend a convincing answer without divulging anything his sister wouldn’t want him to share. ‘Well, if she didn’t want me to share, she could have stayed silent yesterday…’ he thought to himself before saying, “uhm, yes, she is. I know what happened today, when she woke up, didn’t look good but trust me, she is okay. If that’s why you are asking.”

Anna watched Kristoff give a methodical answer, which was a little odd for her boyfriend to do. “She looked ready to run out of there with a broken leg, Kristoff. Are you sure she is okay?” usually she trusted Kristoff’s answers, but she was genuinely concerned about her sister-in-law this time.

“Mhm.”

She waited for him to elaborate, but he kept his eyes on the road and nodded as if they were talking about the weather. She believed he was diminishing the situation by not facing the problem, “I understand some people may not like hospitals. I don’t like hospitals, but I understand they are only there to help me. Elsa… she looked utterly terrified of being there. Maybe she needs help…”

At that last statement Kristoff turned his head to face Anna. He wanted to make sure she understood his sister was okay and that the last thing Elsa needed was some strange idiot messing with her head. “No, Anna,” he let out a breath. “She doesn’t need help. She’s got all the help she needs with her family. Mum is the one that helps her with her fears. Don’t worry about it.”

“Not worry about it?” she was surprised to see her boyfriend, usually the first one to look after Elsa, not really interested in his sister’s problem. She understood he may have been used to seeing Elsa in a frightened state, but she felt the girl needed more help than her boyfriend imagined. “Kristoff, I don’t know much about this or about your sister, but she really is afraid of hospitals. What happens if your mother is not there one day? What is she going to do then?”

“Anna, look, I know you-”

“Maybe she should get some professional help,” she interrupted him.

“No, Anna.” The answer short and definite.

“But-”

Realising Anna was not going to drop the subject, Kristoff chose to explain a little further. However, he was already getting tired of Anna’s insistence. He knew Anna was a sweet girl trying to help and he loved her for that, but how was he going to explain that forcing Elsa to talk to a stranger about her feelings was off the table? Elsa had little to no control over her emotions whenever she talked about personal fears; forcing her to face a professional was not going to help at all. “Look, I know you are only trying to help. And I thank you for that. But it’s not necessary. Gerda is-”

“But she is so afraid! It’s irrational.” Anna interrupted once again, raising her voice a little.

At that last comment Kristoff felt his patience wear thin, “It isn’t an irrational fear, okay?!”

Anna crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window, talking in a gentle voice once again, “It looks irrational to me. People working at the hospital are only trying to help her. What if Gerda is not there to help her? What then? Is she going to run with a cast and-?”

“Anna!” he grumbled. “Stop it,” he chose to lower his voice once Anna looked at him once again. “I know you mean well and I know it may seem irrational but…” he didn’t know how to continue.

“But what?”

“But Elsa…” the conversation should have been simpler. He should have been able to make Anna stop worrying instead of starting an argument with her. But it was difficult to explain and the suggestion that his sister was anything but normal, even if Anna didn’t mean it that way, got on his nerves.

“Yeah?” she insisted when Kristoff stopped talking.

Sighing with exhaustion, he chose to beg for Anna to let the matter go, “Look, she has her reasons not to feel comfortable inside a hospital room, okay? It’s something she is working on, trust me. Just let this go, please.”

Anna kept looking at him for a few seconds, trying to find an answer in his body language. But Kristoff kept looking at the road in front of him. His face not betraying his feelings. Anna noticed he was tired, that much was obvious, but it could easily be for the day’s events and not the conversation. She did notice the pleading in his voice though. She looked outside once again, dropping the matter.

After a few minutes in silence, when he noticed Anna had dropped the subject, he decided to say one last thing, to let her know he was grateful for her concern. “I know you worry. And I know you do it because you have a big heart. So, thank you.” He felt he owed her a better explanation for his outburst and so he added, “it’s part of Elsa’s past and I don’t feel comfortable talking about it. Just please trust me when I say she is okay and that this fear is not unreasonable. My sister is not crazy.”

The way he uttered the last statement crushed Anna’s heart a little. He was so determined to protect his sister… she felt guilty for prying. “I never said she was… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t meddle like this.”

Kristoff extended his right hand and grabbed Anna’s from her lap. He gave her a little squeeze in reassurance. He didn’t blame her for caring too much.

After their awkward conversation, both of them remained quiet. Fortunately, they reached the North mountain sooner than they had imagined and started working on their tasks. Anna felt it was appropriate to let Kristoff take care of Elsa’s personal list while she packed the girl some clothes. She felt out of place disarranging Elsa’s wardrobe but she knew Kristoff was going to forget half the things girls considered important. She hadn’t talked much about fashion with Elsa, but she noticed the girl cared for her appearance. She always used light makeup and her clothes were stylish, even if they looked a little worn out.

Once they agreed Elsa’s things were ready, they proceed to pick up all the stuff they had left behind the previous day. They arranged their bags and checked every shutter in the cottage was securely closed. The last thing Elsa needed was someone breaking into her place.

It was dark outside by the time Kristoff and Anna got back to the hospital. The young man wanted to deliver Elsa’s things and talk to his parents about Elsa’s accommodation, before taking Anna back to her house and picking up Sven. He thought the best idea, to give Elsa the news she was staying in the city, was by showing her the things he had brought from her place.

Before entering the hospital room, he was able to see Gerda and Elsa talking peacefully. Both women looked tired but Kristoff could notice they were enjoying their conversation by their joyful expressions. It was incredible to see the effect the old woman had in his sister. Whenever she was upset or troubled by something, Gerda was the one who could calm her down. The woman’s gentle nature was something Kristoff admired. He knew he had a similar power over Elsa, more than once the girl had used him as an anchor; but being brother and sister also meant they had quarrels from time to time. So, he considered her mother to be someone sent from above to help Elsa whenever he couldn’t do it. He felt bad for interrupting their moment but he couldn’t waste any more time. He wanted to take Anna home before dinner after all.

After greeting each other, and a quick chat between Anna and Elsa, Kristoff showed Elsa everything they had brought her. Elsa looked through the things, surprised to see there were more things than she was going to need in the few days she was staying there. The doctor had paid a visit during the afternoon and, even if she didn’t feel comfortable by the man’s presence, she had to agree with her mother that the doctor’s visit had been more positive than they originally expected. The man had given them excellent news, everything was going as good as planned with her leg and, if nothing changed during the night, he felt confident about discharging Elsa the following day.

Once she checked all her stuff, she said, “Kristoff, you brought me more things than necessary, what is all this stuff? And… is that my suitcase?” She asked looking at the suitcase by the side of the bed.

She watched his brother smile at her sheepishly before he said, “It is… Sorry, sis.”

From the way he apologised and the way he had shared a quick look with her mother, Elsa knew both of them were plotting against her, “What? Mum?”

“Did you really think you were going back to the mountain?” said Gerda matter-of-factly.

Not believing what she was hearing, Elsa decided to play the ‘doctor’s recommendation’ card on her mother, “I was explicitly told I had to rest. I shouldn’t move from home once I was discharged. Where do you think home is?”

“Home, right now, is a place where there’s someone to look after you, young lady.”

“But-”

“No buts, Elsa,” said Gerda. She sounded definite but there was certain tenderness in her voice. “You won’t be going to the mountain until you can get there on your own.”

“I can’t believe this,” she stopped to think for a moment about the conversation they were previously having. “Didn’t you say your trip was next week? Where am I going to stay? I’d rather be alone in the mountain than alone at your place.”

“Don’t you remember you have a brother?” countered the old woman.

“What? With Kristoff? But he-.” Elsa stopped to think about a good reason not to stay with her brother, but since she couldn’t come up with something she pleaded, “Mum, can’t we talk about this?”

“Sweetheart, you are not allowed to leave the bed for at least two weeks and then you have to use crutches at least for eight more weeks. Be reasonable, you can’t stay in a cottage in the middle of nowhere.”

“But I- I-… I am not changing your mind about this, am I?” she asked, giving up the fight.

“You never stood a chance,” laughed the old woman.

Laughing at his sister’s crestfallen face, Kristoff interjected, “It won’t be so bad, Elsa. I’ll be there to help you and I promise I’ll keep the place perfectly clean.”

Elsa looked at the man, incredulous of his statement, “You don’t even know what clean means.” Then she remembered something, “don’t you have to work?”

“It’s winter season. The ice factory works part-time at this time of the year. I’ll probably have to work the morning shift though.”

Gerda stood up from where she was sitting and walked towards Kristoff to put an arm around him, giving her boy a side-hug while she looked straight at Elsa. “See? It’s perfect!” she said proudly. “And with your brother’s help, your father and I won’t have to cancel our trip! Unless you want us to, of course.”

Elsa chuckled at the woman’s happy expression before saying, “No, it’s not necessary. You go and enjoy your holidays, you’ve been planning them for months.” She then proceeded to threat Kristoff, pointing her index finger at him, “you better keep the place spotless, Kristoff.” To which he answered by raising the arm he was not using to hug his mother to show his sister he was not going to try anything stupid.

Anna couldn’t help but laugh at the family scene she was witnessing. In her opinion, the Bjorgmans looked so happy and tranquil whenever they were together, it was contagious. She felt it was time to step in and protect her boyfriend from her sister-in-law’s threat, “I’ll help you and Kristoff with the cleaning or anything you need, Elsa… If you want me to, that’s it. I still owe you so much,” she added quickly.

Not waiting for Elsa’s response Kristoff grinned and said, “That’ll be great! See? We’ll even have company!”

Elsa just rolled her eyes at her brother’s happiness, deep down she knew he was just pleased he was not going to be the one doing all the cleaning. ‘That stinker’ she thought to herself.  

Once everything was settled, Kristoff and Anna said their goodbyes to Gerda and Elsa. Kristoff had insisted in returning to the hospital to stay for the night after dropping off Anna, but his mother insisted it was better if he went home, slept and prepared the place for Elsa’s stay. When he tried to change his mother’s idea, claiming she needed to rest too, she explained Kai was taking the night off to stay with Elsa. He felt a little guilty for leaving his parents alone at the hospital, but he knew it was best if he did sleep a little that night.

The streets were covered with fresh snow and it took them some minutes to reach Anna’s place. “Want to come in and have dinner with us?” suggested the girl once they were getting off the car in Anna’s driveway.

“I’m not sure, I was thinking of just picking up Sven and then going home.”

“Come on! Mama and papa will be happy if you choose to join us,” she said eagerly opening the door to her house.

“I don’t know… I don’t want to trouble your parents,” came Kristoff’s reply while he carried her bags through the door.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous.”

When Kristoff entered the house, he was able to see Agdar -Anna’s father- sitting comfortably in the living room. The man seemed to have been reading a novel by the stove when he raised his head to greet the couple.

“Kristoff! It’s nice to see you!”

“Nice to see you too, sir,” Kristoff approached the man and shook his hand. Even after a year of officially dating the Arendelles’ daughter, Kristoff had to admit he was still a little intimidated by the man. He was a nice, kind man who happened to love his daughter more than life itself; so, it was logical for Kristoff to feel he needed to earn the man’s respect. Anna had assured her boyfriend time and time again that Agdar and Idunn loved him just as much as she did, but Kristoff always felt the need to prove he was a nice man with good intentions.

“How have you been, son? Were the two of you able to return to the mountain?”

“Honestly, I’ve been better,” he let out a sigh. “But to your question, we were. We were able pick our stuff from the mountain, together with some other things Elsa is going to need.”

At the mention of their things, Anna realised Kristoff was still holding her things in one hand while he talked with her father. “Oh! It’s okay Kristoff, let me take my bags to my room real quick.”

“I’m sorry about the accident, Kristoff. Anna explained to us what happened. How is your sister doing?”

“She is better. She is fully awake now and she remembers everything, which is good news. We were afraid she had hurt her head at first. Her leg is another story-”

“Kristoff, dear, hi!” said Idunn as she appeared from a door at the back of the room.  “It’s nice to see you again. How was the trip?”

“The trip was uneventful. We picked our things and made sure the cottage was securely closed. The last thing Elsa needs right now is someone breaking into her place.”

“That makes sense… How is she?”

Agdar laughed at his wife’s antics and interrupted the conversation before Kristoff had to explain everything once again. “Kristoff was just telling me about it, darling. Before you interrupted him.”

Idunn got close enough to her husband, who was still sitting on the couch, and smacked his arm playfully. “Well, you could have told me Kristoff and Anna were home. I was at the back searching for an old mat Sven could use tonight.”

“Oh! That’s right!” said Kristoff interrupting them both. “Thank you so much for taking care of Sven. I didn’t want him to be on his own the whole day. He seemed a little nervous about the accident.”

“Don’t worry about it, dear. He is really good company. If you need, he can stay with us for a couple of days.”

Kristoff watched Agdar nod behind his wife, agreeing with the woman’s suggestion. But since Elsa was going to be discharged sooner than they expected, he thought it was better if Sven was at his place by the time she was released. “No, it’s not necessary, but thank you. I was planning on taking him home tonight.”

“Are you sure?” asked Agdar as he stood up.

“Positive. I have to stay home tonight preparing everything for Elsa’s stay. I’d rather Sven be there with me.”

“He is sleeping at the back right now. I’ll go fetch him if you want,” said Idunn.

Anna, who was walking down the stairs heard her boyfriend’s answer and knew it was a matter of time before he excused himself and announced he was leaving. She wanted to stop him before that happened. “After he has dinner with us,” she said aloud.

“Anna, I told you-” began complaining Kristoff when he was once again interrupted by Idunn. Kristoff really liked his mother-in-law but the woman needed to learn to take turns while speaking. It was obvious were Anna got that trait.

“Oh, yes please, stay with us. I was just making dinner,” said the older woman with excitement.  

“Honestly, it’s not necessary…”

“Stop being polite and stay!” complained Anna. “I know for a fact you have no food at your place.”

The Arendelle family watched Kristoff try to find a way out of the dinner invitation. He loved Idunn’s cooking but he was physically exhausted and just wanted to crash on his bed. Seeing he was dubitative, Agdar decided it was best to give the boy an ultimatum. He wanted to hear a bit more about the accident and the girl’s health after all. “You better hear the ladies, boy. When they made up their mind about something there’s no turning back.”

Kristoff watched both women nod their heads and finally complied, “I guess I don’t have much choice then.”

Dinner had been nice and peaceful as always. Anna had the opportunity to talk with her parents about their week at Elsa’s cottage; what they had done, where they’d gone and even what she had learnt just before the accident. Kristoff joined the conversation too, he had enjoyed himself as well and he had more than one anecdote to tell his in-laws about Anna. Agdar and Idunn listened to their stories laughing and commenting about the interesting things they knew about the place. Agdar was a businessman and he knew a thing or two about the North mountain since it was one of the main touristic attractions of the city. So, the conversation carried out pleasurably for all of them.

It was after dinner, when they were having some coffee, that Agdar remembered about the boy’s sister. “You never finished telling us about your sister, Kristoff. Did you mention her leg was compromised?”

“Yes, her right leg is severely broken,” he said after he finished his cup of coffee. “She’ll have to stay in bed for at least a week or two. And she’ll have a cast for at least ten weeks. She hurt her left arm and hit her head too, but those are minor injuries fortunately.”

“Oh, poor thing. Will she be all right?” asked Idunn with concern.

“We think so, yes. The doctor seems optimistic,” he answered with a smile.

“Anna has mentioned she works as a ski instructor, is that correct?”

“Mhm, she does.”

“Won’t the injury affect her job?” wondered Agdar.

Kristoff nodded in confirmation. He hadn’t had the time to talk about it with Elsa, but he knew the injury was going affect Elsa’s work deeply. She was going to miss winter season, which was a big monetary problem for Elsa; but he believed the biggest problem was going to be her leg. She would need to make a full recovery before being able to ski again, which was certainly going to take more time than they originally thought. “This injury came at the worst time for Elsa. She had been working non-stop in a new slope for her students,” he began to explain. “Everyone in the mountain is positive this season is going to be excellent. Many tourists have already booked cabins to spend winter holidays at the mountain. Even Elsa had some classes booked. She hasn’t mentioned anything about that yet, but she’ll be crushed when she starts returning her client’s money and declining new students.”

He stopped to think for a moment about his sister’s reaction once she started noticing all the money she was going to miss, when he heard his girlfriend’s groan.

“Ugh, this makes me feel even more guilty! I hadn’t even thought about her job!” She put her head in her hand and asked, “What is she going to do?”

Kristoff watched Anna and he felt his heart burst. She was so worried, and she cared so much for his sister he felt the need help her relax. “Hey, I told you Elsa did what she believes is right. She takes very seriously her role as an instructor, and she considers her students’ well-being is in her hands when she teaches. Trust me, this was the best outcome in Elsa’s eyes.”

Anna was still mortified with her hands covering her eyes when Idunn decided to speak, “still, we owe your sister so much, Kristoff. Anna could be the one in the hospital bed right now. We want to thank her as soon as she is feeling okay.”

Idunn and Agdar had discussed earlier that day the accident, and how close Anna had been of falling off that cliff. They’d agreed on thanking Elsa properly one day, so Agdar decided to speak too. “Our Anna means the world to us, Kristoff. Make sure to let Elsa know we are in debt with her. We are ready to help her with anything she needs.”

A little ashamed, even if he was not the one receiving the compliments, the young man said, “Thank you. I’ll let her know.”

“Maybe, when she feels better, we could prepare a special dinner for her, Agdar” suggested Idunn. “To finally meet her and to let her know we are serious about our debt.”

Kristoff knew his sister was going to be embarrassed about the attention if that dinner ever took place, so he chose to try and change the couple’s mind, “oh, no. It’s not necessary. Elsa, she… Well, she doesn’t like receiving too much attention. She is a little weird about social gatherings to be honest.”

“Oh, nonsense. It’ll just be dinner among family. We promise,” said Idunn smiling.

The conversation kept going for a few more minutes until Kristoff decided it was best to call it a night.

The next day, Kristoff drove to the hospital after having a quick lunch by himself in his apartment. He had come home late the previous night, and he had crushed on his bed as soon as he had had the chance. The events the previous night meant he had to spend the following morning arranging his apartment and doing the shopping before picking Elsa from the hospital. His mother had called earlier that day, telling him the doctor had informed them Elsa was being discharged in the early afternoon. So, he hurried in order to make sure everything was ready by that time.

When he entered the room, he saw his sister sitting on the bed already dressed in her normal clothes. Well, clothes as normal as her cast allowed her to wear. She was wearing a worn-out sweatshirt and wide-legged baggy shorts. He thought it was an advantage Elsa was not bothered by low temperatures because any sane person would freeze wearing her outfit outside that day.

She raised her head to greet him with a smile when he entered, “Hi!” said Elsa with joy.

“Hi. Are you free to leave?”

Elsa groaned and said, “Not yet. The doctor told me to wait, he wants to give me some recommendations before I leave. And I’m waiting for a stupid wheelchair.”

Wheel-chair?” he repeated. He knew Elsa’s cast was going to be an inconvenience, but he never thought she was going to need a wheel-chair.

“Yes, I’ll need one apparently,” she answered looking at her cast with disdain.

Kristoff noticed Elsa’s cheerfulness disappear when her attention was focused on the cast once again. For what Gerda had told him that morning, Elsa had had a rough night, she kept complaining about the pain and the bother the cast was going to be in the following weeks. So, it was logical for her happiness to be short lived; leaving the hospital was good to put Elsa in a better mood, but not good enough for her to forget about her injuries. The young man just hoped the doctor could show up and discharge Elsa already. It was clear his sister was needing some fresh air. Until the man showed up, he decided to make his sister company.

“Where’s mum?” he asked, unable to come up with a better topic for conversation.

“I have no idea. Maybe she wanted to buy all the required medicine before we left the hospital.”

“What? I told her over the phone I was going to buy your medicine. Why won’t she listen to me?” he commented, a little annoyed with his mother’s decision.

Elsa was about to give her brother an honest answer, she wanted to tell him not give it a second thought, but after a few seconds an idea crossed her mind. She was bored out of her mind sitting in the hospital bed, so she chose to have a little fun with her brother. She smiled to herself and replied, “Maybe she knows you can’t be trusted. I think she finally noticed how incompetent you truly are.”

Kristoff heard Elsa’s comment and raised his head with fury, ready to ask his sister what her problem was, when he saw her mischievous smile. He realised the comment was only to annoy him and so he chose to reach the side of the bed, where he stood tall by her side. Crossing his arms over his broad chest, he raised and eyebrow and asked, “Oh, really?”

Elsa tried her best not to be intimidated by her gigantic brother and she continued mocking him, “Well, yeah. It was time she noticed, don’t you think?” She raised her chin trying to look at him in the eye and defy him, when she saw how close he was standing. In any other situation Elsa would have backed down, but at that moment she was confident her brother was not going to try anything funny while she was confined to bed. But then again, in her overconfidence she forgot her brother had perfect access to her sweatshirt’s large hood. Before she knew what was happening, Kristoff pulled down her hood and covered her head, not letting her to see a thing.

“Ha! Gotcha!” he laughed.

“Hahaha, let go of me you fool!” said Elsa from behind the fabric.

Kristoff tried as best as he could not to hurt his sister in their childish fight. He knew she still had a bandage over the left side of her head, so he tried his best not touch nor pull too hard on that side of the hood. But he was not going to let her go without an apology first. “Not yet. Say the magic word.”

“Hahaha, come on!” Elsa was trying as best as she could to stop Kristoff with her right hand. She was going to put up a fight before asking for forgiveness.

By the sound of Elsa’s laughter Kristoff knew he was not hurting her in any way. So, he used his free hand to restrain Elsa’s good hand, and repeated, “I said, ‘Say the magic word’.”

Without her good arm Elsa knew she was screwed and finally gave up. “Bawahaha, okay, okay. I yield. I yield.”

“I haven’t heard the mag-” he began saying when he was interrupted by a loud reprimand.

“What are the two of you doing?! Kristoff let go of your sister! Are you crazy?”

Brother and sister stopped struggling after the woman’s scolding and froze in place. They knew Gerda was the sweetest, gentlest person ever; but she was also the scariest when she was angry. After a few seconds, Kristoff gently let go of the hood and took a step to the side, away from the bedside. He looked at his mother and gave her a nervous smile. Even if he was twice as large as the woman, Gerda had the power to intimidate him when she was angry.

“Kristoff, answer me, are you nuts? Your sister is not yet discharged from the hospital! What were you thinking?” Gerda’s face was red with anger.

Not finding a good explanation that could get him off the hook, the young man looked in his sister’s direction hoping she could help him out. That’s when he noticed Elsa had her head down and was trying not to laugh under her hood. He couldn’t see her eyes, but he could see her broad smile.

Kristoff glance to the side and his expression called Gerda’s attention. The old woman turned her attention to the younger woman in the room. She let out a frustrated sigh and said, “Elsa apologise to your brother.”

At this Elsa stopped laughing, raised her head in alarm and asked, “What? Why?!”

“The two of you have been under my care for over ten years, Elsa. Do you really think I wouldn’t notice you started whatever this was?” said the woman unamused. “Please apologise and behave like an adult while I complete your discharge papers,” she finally said as she sat on the chair to complete her task.

Elsa complied and apologised to Kristoff even if she knew it was not necessary. Kristoff was anything but mad at her. In fact, he was completely amused by the outcome of their little fight. After a moment in silence she had an idea and asked her mother, “Mum, where you buying medicine?”

“No, I was picking up these papers,” the woman replied, not raising her head for her work. “Kristoff said he would do it.”

Noticing her mother was not looking at them, Elsa called her brother’s attention and whispered, “It’s a shame. I thought she had finally realised you couldn’t be trusted. I’ll be dead by the end of the week.”

Kristoff just laughed, choosing to let his sister win that round. If he came up with comeback and they started another fight, their mother was going to murder them right then and there.

After some minutes, Kristoff began chatting with their mother about the bureaucracy of the hospital while the young woman remained quiet on the bed. From time to time Elsa would rub her thigh, right over where the cast ended. She hadn’t complained about the pain out loud because she didn’t want Kristoff to think he had had something to do with it. Even if she agreed with Gerda that her fight with Kristoff had been irresponsible, it had nothing to do with the pain she was feeling at the moment. If anything, the fight had helped her distract herself from the constant ache numbing her right leg.

To Elsa’s dismay, they had to wait over an hour for the doctor’s final visit, which made her feel a little anxious, hospitals had the ability to get the worst out of her and staying there was a constant mental strain. When the doctor finally showed up, he was accompanied by a male nurse who brought a wheel-chair for Elsa to take home. The doctor prescribed some more drugs Elsa was going to need and gave strict orders to move as little as possible in the following days. His recommendation was for her not to move from bed until her next visit to the hospital, which was schedule on the first days of January. At the mention of the date, Elsa realised she was going to spend her birthday and the holidays bedridden, frustrating her deeply.  

Once the doctor was gone, Kristoff helped her get on the wheel-chair and they left the hospital. The drizzling snow and the cold air outside was calming on Elsa’s nerves, but it just made her wish she was in the North mountain once again. She reassured herself it was going to be just for a few weeks even if she knew the recovery was going to take longer than that; she knew needed to set reachable goals. Right now, her goal was to endure two weeks in bed doing absolutely nothing. And she was not at all happy with the idea. She liked doing things, she loved working. When she was younger, she had found out that being busy kept the mind from wandering. If she kept busy, her mind was set in autopilot and life became easier. She was not sure how her mind was going to react to being inactive for a long period of time, but she was glad to know Kristoff was going to be there by her side to help her.

A/N- A transition chapter. Not much happened but it was necessary to create the atmosphere I needed for the story. This chapter took longer to write than I originally intended but it was because I kept coming up with ideas for some future chapters.

Tagging those I think may like to know about the chapter update: @thegeekogecko, @snowycrocus @ellacarter13

[loki-in-hogwarts]

Polaris - part 2 : The Inner War

Peter Parker x reader Summary : You are a mutant, half sister of Wanda Maximoff. After the recent events of Sokovia, during which you reunited with your only family left and met the Avengers, you are now trying to find peace and stability. Unfortunately, peace and stability is far from being in the Avengers future... Warnings : none ? Words : 3.5K A/N : I really like this series ! I hope you will too and I will comeback for a part 3 😉 And this is part of the 12 days of Christmas writing challenge ! Also this is not edited...peace

part 1 part 3 part 4

After Tony's comeback, things went really quickly. You immediately all directed to Berlin, where Steve had been located. On the flight, you stayed all together, discussing about a plan.

"Of course, we won't severely harm them alright ? We don't want to fight, just to stop them", Stark said looking everyone straight in the eyes.

You all nodded.

"Good."

You talked and shared ideas for some other hours and eventually you split ad you were about to leave too when Tony grabbed your shoulder, calling you.

"Y/n. I have a special mission for you."

You frowned. He looked serious but if you had learnt anything with Anthony Stark was 1.he was never serious long and 2.he always wanted to keep you safe. That's why this special mission thing seemed odd to you. You crossed your arms with a smirk, raising an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"I want you to take Spider boy on walk in Berlin", he added with a knowing smile.

There it is... Were you ever wrong ? You rolled your eyes but still smiled. You both turned around to look at the boy. He seemed a little lost and intimidated by everyone. When Natasha asked him if he wanted some water he answered :"No thanks, Miss Widow."

You were staring at him with a sweet smile. Tony looked at you and rose his eyebrows.

"He is a dork", you replied trying to make it sound like an insult but you clearly didn't.

Tony laughed.

"He for sure is ! But look at him, he doesn't know anyone and you're the same age. I want you to get to know him and just-"

"Become friends ?"

"I was going to say make out but being friends is cool too. Actually I would prefer that, I'm not sure I'm ready to see my...to see you with a boy. You should do a walk in Berlin together, we still don't know where they are exactly, you deserve to have a little fun", he was starting to sound serious again and he probably felt forced to add : "Plus you like dorks, don't you ?"

You gasped and tried to answer something but he kissed your forehead and left. You sighed and headed to the clumsy boy seat. He was looking at the sky by the plane window.

"Hey ! Can I sit here ?, you asked pointing the seat next to him.

"Y-yeah, of course !"

He turned around and took his stuff off from the seat, dropping some on the floor. He kneeled to get it and banged his head on the chair arm while standing up. You giggled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey y/n. What's up ?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you'd like to come with me for a walk in Berlin when we'll be there."

He eyes widened and he answered surprised : "Yup. I would love that."

He seemed weird and you narrowed your eyes with a smile.

"Do I intimidate you Peter boy ?"

He gulped.

"I-I, no, it's-not you... I just, hum, don't know how to act around girls ?", he replied sounding more like a question.

You chuckled.

"And Tony thought that I was the one least intimidating you...", you whispered. "You're such a dork Peter boy !", you said at loud to Peter, who seemed to feel sorry. "Listen, I just want to get to know you. I'm not gonna lie, I'm excited that there is finally someone my age in the group. Please, come with me for a walk ?"

He nodded, blinking. You got up and left, then retraced your steps and added, falling in Peter's doe eyes : "I like dorks."

A smile lit up his face and his eyes twinkled.

"I like intimidating, bad ass girls", he answered, joking.

You left with a stupid smile displayed. Wow, this was unexpected. Feeling that you hadn't forecasted filled your heart.

You landed in Berlin and reached for the hotel where you were staying. Your room was right next to Peter's, a door connecting your rooms. Stark... You chilled a bit on your phone then got ready to go out. You put on some light makeup and wore a dress with knee-socks. You knocked on the door that linked your rooms and Peter opened it, shocked.

"Y/n !", he exclaimed.

"Ready for a walk ?"

His hair were wet and he was wearing a towel around his waist, displaying his surprisingly well designed muscles. Your eyes widened.

"Obviously not...", you added, staring at the ground.

"Come in, I'll just put on some clothes-"

Don't feel so urged...

"I'll take a look to your room and see if it's better than mine, in which case I will steal it", you laughed.

He giggled, passing a hand in his hair and headed to the bathroom with some clothes in his arms. You entered in nd immediately noticed a small jacuzzi. Damn it Tony ! This guy was evil.

"You have a jacuzzi ?!", you exclaimed, disbelieving

"I knew that you would have wanted to steal it as soon as you saw that !", Peter's voice answered from the bathroom.

You jumped on the bed and turned on the TV. You were looking for something to watch but you stopped on a music channel airing Left hand free by Alt J. You jammed on the song and Peter went out of the bathroom in a hurry.

"I love this song !", he exclaimed.

You laughed.

"You ready ?", you asked

"Yup"

He opened the door and let you go out first.

"So you're Scarlet Witch's sister ?"

"Hum hum", you nodded.

"Do you have the same powers ?"

You looked around you and grabbed his hand, bringing him in a small, empty corner of the park where you were walking. You focused on the metal of your boots and of the bracelets around your wrists. A green light appeared around them and you started to fly.

"Wow ! This is so cool ! So what is it ?"

"I control metal. That's a bit less cooler than what Wanda is capable of."

"I still think that's dope", Peter said with a smile.

You walked back to the park and entered the city.

"What about you ? You said that it started 6 months ago ?"

"I was bitten by a radioactive spider. It enables me to be super fast, super strong and very agile. Oh and I have Spider senses, it's like very developed instinct."

"I think that's pretty dope too ! And how did you hide this to your family ?"

He seemed embarrassed.

"I...only have my Aunt. My parents and uncle are dead."

You stopped.

"I'm sorry ! I shouldn't have asked", you declared.

He took your hand.

'"That's ok, don't worry", he told you smiling sweetly.

"You know, my brother and parents are dead too, I get it", you added, still holding his hand.

He stuck a lock of your green hair behind your ear.

"Orphan buddies", he joked.

You smiled and shrugged. You walked and talked about each other for another hour. Peter had brought a camera and he was filming everything. You played the model and posed in front of the lens. After having spent the whole afternoon out, you decided to head back. On your way to the hotel, you stopped in front of a stand that was selling German sweets.

"Come closer lover birds !", the shopkeeper called you.

You turned around and faced each other.

"We are not-"

"Come here ! Do you want to taste this ?", she asked giving you a heart shaped biscuit. "It's perfect for the lovers !"

You rolled your eyes and Peter took the biscuit. You glared at him.

"What ? You don't refuse a free sweet !", he exclaimed, defending himself.

You took one too and bit it.

"This is delicious ! It tastes like orange blossom, oh my god, that's incredible !"

Peter gave some money to the woman and grabbed a bag of biscuits.

"Here's for you", he said with a soft smile.

"If your man offers you biscuits, you should marry him. That's a German saying", the woman declared nodding.

"We are not-", you tried to tell her

"Thank you Miss, goodbye", Peter interrupted you pulling you to the hotel.

After this cool afternoon, you all ate together in the hotel restaurant. You were next to Peter and in front of Tony.

"So, you two went out downtown, huh ? How was it ?", Tony asked with the same grin.

"Really cool, we had fun", you said with a murderous look to your mentor.

The other members started to speak and you fortunately changed subject. After the dinner, you took the stairs to go back to your room. You heard a few moment later Peter entering his too but you soon fell into a sleep haunted by nightmares of Wanda.

The next morning you were woken with a start. Tony managed to locate Steve and you had to act as quick as possible. You packed all your things and put on your fight clothes. With a sighed, you posed your headpiece on your hair. It was green and in metal, something that you made in souvenir of your family. You went out of your room and saw Happy standing in Peter's room, desperate.

"Peter ! What are you wearing ?"

He had a weird homemade costume on. You bypassed Happy and lean on the wall.

"Peter boy, when you're part of the Avengers, you have some advantages..."

He was staring at you with widened eyes.

"Such as this", you said, showing your clothes with your hands.

"You look-", he started.

"Get the suit on", you declared as Happy opened a suitcase.

Inside there was a much more elaborated version of his old suit, surely made by Tony. Indeed, being an Avengers meant that Tony would very likely build a suit or an armor for you. He had suggested to do so for you only a week after you started to work with them, it didn't surprise you that he did the same with Peter. The boy took the suit, super excited and went to the bathroom to wear it. When he went out, he was already trying some gadgets.

"This is amazing !", he yelled.

"Pete, you look amazing in this. Have you ever considered wearing some more skintight clothes ?", you questioned with a grin.

You could swear that he was blushing inside of his mask.

"Come on, there's no time to loose !"

You jumped in a bus and Tony gathered all of you to try to make a plan.

"Y/n !"

You turned around and saw Vision.

"Yes ?", you answered softly.

"I wanted to tell you... If you don't want to be confronted to your sister, I will be there."

You smiled. Vision was the kindest person ever. And even though he was born yesterday, he was extremely emphatic and he understood everything.

"Thanks Vision, I think we should do it together.", you said taking his hand and squeezing it.

Then, he did something you wasn't expecting. He wrapped his arms around you and held you tight.

"I care about you y/n. As much as I care about your sister."

You were truly loved about what he said. That was the first time that he had such a behavior with you.

"Me too, Vision."

He patted you back and left. You arrived in an abandoned airport 30 minutes later. You went out of the bus and executed what Tony had planned. You detected Steve all fell around him, stopping him.

"Cap", Tony said.

Steve saw you all around him. Iron Man and War Machine had flew and landed in front of him. Black Panther jumped on his left and Black Widow appeared behind him. You flew and jumped on his right.

"Oh, you too ?", Steve questioned as he stared at you and Natasha.

"Steve, there is no need for this. Drop the shield. Please, you c-"

"I won't drop the shield and let Bucky down", he declared.

"I had planned you would say that. Underoos !", he screamed.

Spider-man jumped, webbed the shield and Cap's wrists and landed on a car.

"Hey everyone ! Captain, big fan. Mr Stark, this suit is extremely intuitive-"

"We can talk about that later..."

"Alright, yes."

You rolled your eyes and Steve rose his prisoned wrists and you knew what was going to happen but before you could anything, the arrow had already liberated Cap. You used your powers to deviate it but it was too late. In the same time Peter tried to say something but he was hit by a tiny man that became big. He took the shield and gave it back to Cap.

"What the hell was that ?", Rhodey asked, surprised.

He and Tony flew in the air and they identified Sam and Bucky running in a hallway. James was hit by Steve's shield while Natasha was taking care of the shrinking man. T'challa ran to catch Bucky but he was stopped by Steve that threw his shield on him and they fought. In the meanwhile, Tony told Peter to get Sam and Bucky. He turned around and looked at you. You nodded, showing that you got it and flew, following him. He broke a window and entered in, kicking Sam. He stopped a punch from Bucky grabbing his fist. You had to admit that was quite impressive knowing the strength of the man.

"Wow ! You have a metal arm ? That is awesome !", he exclaimed, amazed.

"Tell me about it !", you declared, landing on your feet and using your power to immobilise the arm.

"Y/n !", Peter and Sam called out at the same time.

"You're going to fight your favorite uncle ?", Sam asked, fakely hurt.

"Better, I'm going to kick your butt !", you declared with a grin.

You threw your power on his wings and he kicked Peter. He flew away with a web and Bucky threw a car on him.

"I think you lost this !", he yelled as he threw the car back on Barnes.

As Sam jumped and opened his wings, you controlled them and they closed. Wilson fell on the ground. Peter webbed them both on the ground. You noticed a red light from outside and froze.

"Go y/n, I got this !", Peter said as he took your hand.

You looked at him, kissed his cheek and flew outside. You left him stunned. You landed on the floor and saw Iron Man trying to stop falling cars surrounded by red power. You focused and threw the cars away as they were about to fall on Tony. Wanda turned around and opened her mouth. She seemed about to say something but you suddenly saw Peter being kicked by Sam's drone and you crushed it. But Peter fell on the ground. You ran to him.

"Spidey !"

"I'm fine, don't worry !"

Cap's team gathered and they were running to the Quinjet when Vision stopped them with his stone, tracing a line in front of them. Your squad formed a line in front of them.

"Just like we said earlier alright ?", Stark declared.

You started to run to each other. Tony had told you that if a moment like this should happen, each one had to focus on someone. Tony flew to Steve, Natasha ran to Clint, T'challa jumped on Barnes, James flew in the air with Sam and Peter webbed the shrinking man. You turned to Vision who nodded. You flew on Wanda. You immobilised her wrists thanks to the bracelets she was wearing.

"Still didn't get the lesson ?", you asked with a grin.

Vision threw his laser around her, but she managed to run away. She started to throw car to Peter and you stopped them while he was webbing them to dodge them. You took care of the shrinking man by using your green power that showed you where he was standing. Peter then fight Steve while Vision was taking care of Wanda. Cap threw the shield and a truck fell on Peter. He was desperately trying to hold it.

"A little help ?", he screamed.

You grabbed it with your power and threw it away. Suddenly the shrinking man became really, really big and threw Rhodes away. Peter caught him. You all focused on the giant man and Bucky and Steve used it to escape. Vision noticed it and cut a tower for it to fall in front of the jet they were running to. Wanda pushed the tower with her powers and you pulled from the other way with yours. The building was surrounded with red and green light. Rhodes threw a sonor wave on Wanda and the tower collapsed as she fell, but Roger and Barnes still managed to get through. On the other side, Peter, Tony and Rhodey were teaming up and made the giant man fell, but Peter got slapped by the big hand and flew away.

"Spidey !", you screamed as you flew to him.

You and Tony landed next to him. You kneeled to check if he was alright. He jumped when he woke up and tried to fight you.

"Same side ! Look, that's me !", Tony said and pushed you back.

"Hey, I was scared", Peter sighed relieved.

"You're done, okay ? You did a good job, now stay there, alright ?"

"What ? No, I'm fine !"

"Stay down !"

"No, I got to get him back !"

"You're going home or I'm going to call May ! You're done", he flew away as you watched the scene.

"Wait ! Mr Stark wait ! I'm not done, I'm not...", Peter stuttered as he tried to get up.

He put on his mask and you stopped him, pushing him gently to the floor.

"Okay I'm done, I'm done", he declared as his arms weren't responding anymore.

You took off his mask and kissed him on the cheek before taking a few steps to fly away.

"Can you please stop doing that !"

You stopped and turned around.

"You don't like it ?", you said and flew away.

"No, I don't like you flying away every time !", he yelled for you to hear it. "The kiss, I like it too much..."

You saw Wanda in Vision's arms on the floor and landed next to them.

"I'm sorry", you heard Vision say.

"Me too", Wanda answered.

You saw the Quinjet fly away and Rhodey followed it. Behind him were Tony and right after Sam. Rhodes asked Vision to threw his laser on Sam, but he dodged it and it hit Rhodey instead.

"No !", you cried and jumped in the air.

Tony tried to catch him too. But you knew you were too far to get him. You tried to curb his fall at least. Sam was following him too. Rhodes hit the floor. Tony immediately kneeled asked FRIDAY to look for a heartbeat.

"Heartbeat detected."

You sighed, a tear falling on your cheek. Sam landed next to you.

"I'm sorry..."

Tony threw a missile on him. Vision arrived too. They stared at each other.

"What have we done ?", you whispered, defeated.

"What are they doing there ?!", you screamed on Tony.

He didn't answer, back to you. You had came back from Berlin, Rhodey was in a specialised clinic, but they were talking about a paralysation for life; Wanda, Clint, Sam and Scott Lang, the shrinking man, were locked in a prison; Vision was god knows where; Steve and Barnes had disappeared and Peter was probably back in New York.

"You can't lock them up in a prison !"

"They are criminals, outlaws", he answered coldly.

Since you were back, your mentor had lapsed into silence.

"They are my family !"

He turned around and you saw that he was crying.

"They were mine too. And Rhodey's."

You took his arm. He grabbed you and hugged you.

"This is obviously not permanent. But I don't have another solution for now. I swear, we will find a way. And you can visit Wanda."

You calmed down.

"What should I do, then ?", you asked.

"I might have an idea...", he declared with the first smile you had seen him display since the battle.

Peter was back at school and clearly not enjoying it. He missed the fight, the suit, the team...and you. Luckily, Stark had left him the suit and he was still using it to patroll New York. Before leaving him, Stark had summed up the whole situation and asked him to keep it on low profile. That's what he always did. Hide. Today, he sat next to Ned in English class, who was harassing him to know where he was, why he had missed school, etc.

"Please, please, calm down everyone !", Mr Klein asked. "I have an important new to tell you. There is a new student that will join us in a few moment. I want you all to be nice to her and make her feel good here. There is still some...peculiar thing about her. Some of you may already know her as-"

"Polaris !", a student in the class screamed pointing at you as you entered in the classroom.

"Hello everyone", you greeted.

Peter gasped.

"Y/n ?!"

taglist : @double-leo

[brainyparenting]

Obedience: Why Do You Have To Tell Them Five Times? ❓

"In one fairly typical encounter, a father asked his eight-year-old son five times to please go take a bath or a shower. After the fifth plea went unheeded, the father picked the boy up and carried him into the bathroom. A few minutes later, the kid, still unwashed, wandered into another room to play a video game." -Elizabeth Kolbert

This situation may be extreme, but most parents I know have some version of this complaint. It's a good question: Why don't kids just do what we say the first time we say it?! And there's a good answer. Several, in fact. Here are eight reasons from the child's perspective -- plus solutions that work for parents!

1. They don't share our priorities.

No child understands why a bath is so essential. And every child has something else he's in the middle of doing, that seems more important to him. It may not look important to you, but a child's play is his work -- that's how young humans learn. That's a good thing--you want a child who's self-motivated, rather than expecting you to entertain him.

Solution:

First, connect with your child by noticing what he's working on and acknowledging his priorities:

"Wow, look at this elaborate structure you're building! Can you show me how it works?"

Then, give him a warning that you're about to overrule his agenda with your own:

"Liam, it's bath time. Do you want to take your bath now, or in five minutes? Ok, five minutes with no fuss? Ok, that's a deal -- let's shake on it!"

2. We've trained them not to pay attention until we yell and threaten.

Your child is no dummy. She knows she can milk extra time before bath if she just ignores you. That doesn't make her bad, just human. So if your child is like the eight year old who ignored five requests, it means you've trained her that you aren't serious until you yell.

Solution:

Instead of giving directives from across the room, move in close to your child and touch her. Connect by commenting on what she's doing. Then say:

"Excuse me, Isabel....I need to tell you something,"

and wait until she looks you in the eye. If she's staring at a screen, warn her that you're going to pause the game or the TV. Don't give your directive until you make eye contact, so she knows you're serious. If she's glazed over from watching a screen, ask her to repeat back to you what you've said. Give only one warning, then stick to the time limit you've agreed on. Follow through. If you don't, you're training her not to take your requests seriously.

3. They need our help to make the transition.

When you're engrossed in your computer screen, don't you find it hard to pull yourself away to tend to a whining child? Kids experience our repeated nagging the same way we experience their whining. That means they try to tune it out. 

Solution:

Give one warning. When you go back in five minutes, connect again by commenting on his play: "Wow, look at those trains go!" Remind him of your deal:

"Ok, Noah, it's been five minutes. Remember our deal? Five minutes and no fuss. It's bath time now."

Then, create a bridge from his play to what you're asking:

"Do you want the two engines to leap off the track and race all the way to the bathroom? Here, I'll take this one and you take that one; Let's zoom!"

4. Their frontal cortex is still developing

Their frontal cortex is still developing the ability to switch gears from what they want to what you want. Every time you set a limit that requires your child to give up what she wants in order to do what you want, she has to make a choice. When she decides that her relationship with you is more important than what she wants at this moment, she follows your request. Every time she does that, she's strengthening the neural pathways in her brain that help her redirect herself toward a higher goal. That's how kids develop self-discipline.

But this only works if your child switches gears somewhat willingly. If you drag her kicking and screaming, she's resisting, rather than choosing. She's not building those self-discipline neural pathways. (That's why there's a "self" in "self-discipline. It's chosen from inside.)

Solution:

Set limits with empathy so she WANTS to cooperate, and gets plenty of practice exercising her brain to choose the higher goal.

5. They don't feel heard, and they do feel pushed around.

We can't MAKE children obey, unless we're willing to hurt their bodies and break their spirits. They have to WANT to cooperate. Luckily, our kids usually give us the benefit of the doubt and follow our rules, as long as they feel heard and like they have at least a little bit of control or choice.

Solution:

Acknowledge his perspective. If possible, give him a choice.

"I hear you. You're saying it loud and clear-- NO BATH! You really don't want to take a bath. I bet when you're older you'll NEVER take a bath, right?.... And tonight you do need to get clean in the water. You have a choice. You can choose a bath or a shower or a sponge bath. Which sounds like the most fun?"

Sometimes, hearing your child's perspective might even convince you to compromise or change your position. That's fine. Just explain your reasoning, so your child knows that it was his win/win solution that changed your mind, not his obstinacy.

6. They feel disconnected from us.

When kids don't follow our lead, it's often because they feel disconnected from us. Why on earth would your child feel disconnected? Because he was away from you all day. Or you lost your temper at him this morning. Or he's angry at you because you always have the baby on your lap. Or you rely on timeouts and consequences for discipline, instead of connection. Or maybe just because he's a little person in a big world, and that gets scary, and all those scary feelings get pushed down inside, where they block the child's ability to lovingly connect.

Solution:

Constantly rebuild connection by empathizing with your child's experience, both when you're giving a directive and as often as you can all day long.  Be prepared for any upset feelings to surface once your child feels that warm connection more strongly, because that makes your child feel safer. Stay compassionate through the resulting meltdown. After he's had a chance to "show" you the upset that's been weighing on him, your child will feel re-connected and more cooperative.

7. They've given up on us.

Children naturally look to their parents for nurturing and guidance. If they're convinced that we're on their side, they want to please us. So if your child is defiant, or you keep finding yourself in power struggles, that's a red flag that your relationship needs strengthening.

Solution:

Half an hour of Special Time, one-on-one, daily. This seems so simple that most parents under-estimate the impact. But I have never seen special time fail to strengthen the parent-child relationship, which always helps children want to cooperate more. (Special Time also helps your child work through whatever issues they're grappling with at the moment, so it makes children happier and emotionally healthier.)

Laughter also bonds you with your child, and roughhousing is usually the easiest way to get laughter going. Every child needs belly laughs and giggling both morning and evening to stay connected. When a relationship feels tense, laughter is often the easiest way back to connection. 

8. They're human.

Force creates push-back. All humans resist control, and kids are no different. When kids feel "pushed around" the strong-willed kids will rebel, and the more compliant kids will lose initiative and the ability to stand up for themselves. 

Solution:

Choose your battles. Make sure your child knows you're on her side and she has some choices. Coach your child rather than trying to control her. Listening to your child raises a person who can think for herself, stand up for what's right, and isn't likely to be taken advantage of.>

Discussions about whether kids are spoiled always indict parents for raising kids who aren't obedient, as if obedience is the holy grail to which parents should aspire. But don't you want to raise a child who's self-disciplined and WANTS to cooperate? That's very different from obedience, where the discipline comes from outside the child. As H.L. Mencken said,

"Morality is doing what's right no matter what you're told. Obedience is doing what you're told no matter what's right."

The quote that opens this post is taken from an article that doesn't mention any of these reasons why kids don't do what they're told. Instead, the author says that kids ignore parents because "Parents want their kids’ approval" and "worry that we're going to damage... kids by frustrating them." This accusation surfaces in every discussion alleging that kids today are spoiled. But I just don't buy it. The man who picked his eight year old up and put him in the bathroom wasn't afraid to set a limit because he wanted his son's approval. It looks to me like his son didn't follow his directives because the dad didn't follow through on his limit. He had trained his child to ignore him. And he most likely finished the evening with shouting or smacking, which decrease the child's respect and connection, and therefore decrease future cooperation.

Does setting empathic limits sound like a lot of work? It is, in the beginning. It would certainly be easier if kids would immediately comply with our every directive with no questions asked. But the good news is that following these practices consistently not only raises a self-disciplined child, it raises a child who knows you'll follow through, so he doesn't need to be asked five times to do something. Which makes it a whole lot easier to get him into the bathtub. 

Title: Obedience: Why Do You Have To Tell Them Five Times? Sourced From: www.ahaparenting.com/RSSRetrieve.aspx?ID=13126&A=Link&ObjectID=469931&ObjectType=56&O=http%253a%252f%252fwww.ahaparenting.com%252fblog%252fObedience_Why_Do_You_Have_To_Tell_Them_Five_Times Published Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2021 04:00:00 GMT

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[vvrathbound-blog]

Talk about art / images / music that inspires your rendition of Vlad...

Time to gird your loins and Bram your Stokers..

ART & IMAGERY: 

Gothic architecture! A given but nonetheless worthy of research considering... game title. I’m half afraid to list justifications of why because it already seems obvious when the setting is considered in the genre of gothic, as well as just the architectural style; when the two cooberate there’s not only an atmosphere of suspense/danger/terror etc. but a conceptual notion that the place itself has to Say Something about its inhabitant(s). The whole isolated, empty, delapidated castle, its rooms absent yet heady with the sense of a once tangible presence, is a well known analogical edifice for Dracula as it is. The exploration of his castle as a liminal space wherein the state of the vampire, in itself, is a liminal space between life and death.. I COULD GO ON !! Main point: setting is integral with own portrayal of him, visuals of such very easy to grab from slew of pre-existing Dracula media... one addition to the concept which will talk about later is the mechanical aspect of the castle.. Steampunk but not Victorian...

An overarching painter inspo would be Bosch, specifically DEMON ORGY IN HELL you can visit for yourself here. Resemblance between right panel and Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia (reblogged gifset only yesterday) informs Dracula’s true form, the debased base of evil should it be allowed to party without parental guidance... In terms of DEATH, memento mori in vanitas still life works very well because of skulls being placed next to books, signifying more scholarly side of scientific pursuit Vlad shares with Lisa... Also informs environment! Many cabinets of curiosities being established in castle I imagine, especially with Lisa encouraging him to travel!

You can see more aesthetic references that I have/will reblog. Safe to say the visuals Ayami Kojima provides for games is paramount !! 

MUSIC:

Biggest weakness !! Main aid in helping to understand and decipher characters. Will inevitably make a mix at some point but for now will indicate specific tracks and why influence is so important.  

Halber Mensch - Einstürzende Neubauten (track ends at 4:11, tw for teeth in album art)

Casually picks song from renown industrial band as example of industrial being #1 Vlad genre -- Shyamalan twist! -- it doesn’t use any industrial sound effects. I’ll eventually get to my point but, as aforementioned, Vlad’s castle is buit on machinations which are incredibly elaborate & incredibly important when applying gothic genre theory of the place reflecting the inhabitant. He is (immortal) man of scientific progression! Industrial machine integration into classic Gothic architecture!! Enlightenment in Romanticism.. therefore metallic basis of Neubauten’s work is already applicable BUT I chose Halber Mensch because of its arrangement of a human choir (?) chanting to emulate the sound of a machine, thus using an organic body to create sonicality of mechanical texture. Castlevania lives as a machine!! Despite Dracula not living at all... half-living half-man.. If translated lyrics online are correct then also highly relevant considering the castle relies on Dracula’s power to function...

I WAS also going to pick a Ministry track but I’m very particular in use of applying industrial genre to him. Rather than using mechanical sound effect to emulate a beat or ‘pulse’, the song needs to be a breathing machine .. iykwim..

Bloodborne - Ryan Amon (Bloodborne OST)

I’m a PLEB who can’t play Bloodborne because I will never git gud. HUGE fan of soundtrack and concept art though and this track is ... . operatic levels of drama.. has inherent ‘danger closing in’ vibe with building brass and sweeping violins (point in which it see-saws makes me think of psychadelic hallucination due to blood-draining), etheral vocals... most theatrical gothic track honestly which is perfect for Dracula.

Fail (Cinematic Cut) - Depeche Mode

Lyrical content listing disillusionment with society = Vlad’s disillusionment with humanity, repetition of ‘hopeless’ has a sense of ‘omnipresent overlord looks down at ant ppl, imagines squishing them’. The 8-bit bridge also acts as a nice call-back to old Castlevania game soundtracks, with synth ambience also found in show. I’m sneaking Walking in My Shoes in here too for ‘self-victimizing villain tries to justify his reasons for being morally corrupt by blaming everyone else, thinks he’s hero of his own narrative (is not)’, video also references Bosch.. and I literally JUST noticed the castle on top of the hill in the background ...

The Weeping Song - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Good Son Alucard doesn’t agree with Dad Vlad’s ethos of human’s deserving nothing but suffering and bereavement and death AT ALL, alluded to in lyrics: ‘Father, why are all the children weeping? / They are merely crying son / O, are they merely crying, father? / Yes, true weeping is yet to come.’ BUT WHO’S REALLY WEEPING Over loss here HMM?? Last verse pinpoints conclusion of Symphony of the Night game efficiently..

I have a slew of Lisa/Vlad tunes but will only throw this one in and let it speak for itself...it was originally written for a Nosferatu musical ..