#also WEIRDLY I feel like I would've been more accepting of 'hesitancy' than 'hesitance' so uh. that's... interesting.

[rozaceous]

(Just becaue I love arguing linguistics so feel free to ignore:) Hesitation is a deverbal substantative of 'hesitate' referring to the act of hesitating. 'Hesitance' is a deadjectival substantive of 'hesitant' referring to the quality/characteristic of being reluctant or hesitant. 'Hesitance' and 'hesitancy' have both been in use since about the seventeenth century to fill the same linguistic void and are pretty much interchangeable, but they are definitely not interchangeable with hesitation.

beautiful. taking notes. a stunning clarification. I'm not super knowledgeable abt linguistics in a formal sense, so I love this shit, thank you.

(what I was reading that prompted the hesitation vs hesitance gripe really should have been hesitation then, so whew not hoisted by my own petard! my irritation was founded lmao.)

[weakforarwen]

Episode 3x08 & 3x10 were swapped round for ratings. The new order really messed up the girls' storylines - like Gwen is way more suspicious of Morgana in 3x08, because the former suspected the latter of sabotage in 3x10 & Morgana is more snappish at Gwen in 3x08, due to her prophetic dream of Gwen 'stealing' her throne. Plus, Morgana was very relieved to see her sister in 3x10 as the last time she saw Morgause, the latter was buried under a pile of rubble in Cenred's castle.

What? If that's true, it explains so fucking much. You make very good points about Morgana and Gwen - I'd always wondered why it took so long for Morgana to be reunited with Morgause after The Castle of Fyrien, and also could never understand why Morgana had dropped her act around Gwen so suddenly - to me, though, it was Arwen who suffered the most from that episode swap.

I could never understand why Arwen's relationship was so immature in Queen of Hearts: why Arthur still acted like a boy with a crush who couldn't understand his feelings, why Gwen was still so reluctant to pursue a relationship with him. I'd always thought the writers had weirdly regressed their relationship; it was hard to believe Arthur and Gwen were still so shy around each other after The Castle of Fyrien. Imo, their relationship changed a lot after that episode, when Gwen learned Arthur had her back and was there to stay; The Eye of the Phoenix only confirmed their relationship had grown into something more tangible and defined - they had accepted their love for each other, hence Gwen's open concern about Arthur and the casual kiss in the corridor (in retrospect, Gwen's shock and delight could've been because they were supposed to be hiding their relationship after Queen of Hearts, but made sense after The Castle of Fyrien too).

Queen of Hearts never made any sense to me; it's like The Castle of Fyrien and The Eye of the Phoenix had never happened and Arwen's characterization picked up from where Goblin's Gold, Gwaine, and The Changeling had left off. If Queen of Hearts was supposed to have followed The Castle of Fyrien, that would've made a lot more sense. Arthur had nearly lost Gwen when she was taken by Cenred and had realized he'd do anything for her; furthermore, their relationship had been exposed to Elyan, and even Morgana would've learned about it had she not known already. As such, Morgana encouraging Arthur to go on a date with Gwen, Arthur and Gwen finally going on a date and acknowledging their relationship, and Arthur publicly admitting his feelings for Gwen to Uther, would've felt like a natural progression of their relationship; in The Castle of Fyrien and The Changeling, Arthur and Gwen's relationship had grown bigger than the two of them and could no longer be hidden.

Instead, placing Queen of Hearts after The Eye of the Phoenix felt like one step forward and two steps back. Arthur and Gwen's relationship was written in the same tone as The Changeling, a strange choice more than halfway through the season. Honestly, even if Queen of Hearts had come after The Castle of Fyrien, Arthur would've been a bit OCC. It would've explained why Gwen was still reluctant to go on a date with Arthur (they were still dancing around in each other in The Changeling and The Castle of Fyrien), but how could Arthur have been so unsure of Gwen's feelings for him (he even asked Morgana if Gwen talked about him with the enthusiasm of a boy with a crush - would've made sense after Gwaine, not after The Changeling) and so vague about his feelings for Gwen (he had no problem confessing his love to her)? Dunno. An episode swap would've explained a lot, and the timing would've been much better too, but I'd still have my issues with Arwen in Queen of Hearts. They were so cute in the episode and I love that Gwen became braver and more confident afterward, and that Arthur put Gwen first without hesitating, but, imo, The Castle of Fyrien is a better Arwen episode, with better characterization. Also, it would've been weird for Gwen to openly show Morgana her concern for Arthur had she thought Morgana had exposed their relationship and was just waiting for a chance to kill her. And it made sense Gwen would suspect Morgana of something as vile and serious as murder had she already thought Morgana had been practicing magic and no longer meant well.

Thanks so much for telling me about this!!! I don't know behind the scenes stuff... When you said the episodes were swapped for ratings, was that because they used Queen of Hearts to push the ratings up, or was it The Eye of the Phoenix?

[ravencrossffxiv]

Truth Syrum: So if you had to choose anyone aside from your husband who would you pick? (Bonus points if Haurchefant is in the room. >:3c)

((Nonny this is so fucking mean I hope you know. Also this is obviously LbR post 5.3, in which Raven and Mingxia receive their past lives memories at the end of 5.0, and the utter mind-fuckery that is. Trigger/content warnings of trauma, technically character death, mentions of blood...there’s a lot. Going under a cut bc again, this is long and has some pretty heavy content here.))

"Oh by the Fury why in the seven hells would anyone ask that?!" Raven shouts as she threw her tomephone across the room before hiding her face in a pillow and screaming in mortification.

Haurchefant, who had set aside a tray of a light meal and a warm drink, caught the tomephone almost reflexively. He blinked before giving a small laugh. "Oh dear heart, why are you so embarrassed? After all, did I not tease you for your gazing of the Vii on the First?"

He knew a political rival had slipped a truth serum in Raven’s drink and nearly caused a ruckus at a gala in the Vault. And while Aymeric had dealt with him, he was a little annoyed he didn't get to feed the bastard some of his teeth.

He may let his Fray have some fun later, but right now he was more concerned on making sure his wife was alright.

"The idea of being with or considering anyone else is revolting. I am a very happily married woman who loves her husband and the idea of straying from him makes me feel so disgusting..." She states, but then clarifies "Mind you, I know polyamory is a thing and I am very happy to see people in those relationships make it work, it's just not for me."

Haurchefant smiled as he leaned in and kissed her. "I love you too my wife. And I know your heart, intimately. I know you would never stray." He set the tray down on the bed and settled in behind her, her back to his chest. They ate in a comfortable silence and after the dishes had been cleared from the bed he got a slightly dangerous thought in his head. "Amethyst?"

"Yes love?"

He was quiet for a second, trying to think of the best way to say this before ultimately taking her hands to link their aether. "Would it help to think of this as though this was your other life? The one in which I did not survive?"

He felt her tense for a moment before she started to fidget and play with his hands. "I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse. The idea of you gone..."

"I know. Forgive me for upsetting you my heart. I-" He starts as he holds her tightly against him.

She shook her head. "I know love. I just... It's really hard to think of that because what happened in that life..." She says before looking down at his stomach and tracing the scar there over his shirt, doing her damndest to block the image of blood dripping from his mouth and the light of his eyes fading. "I mean, what better way to break a Warrior of Light than to kill the one they love in a way that they can't save them?"

"Raven..." He breathed as he pulled her tight against him. She held him just as tight and stayed there for several moments, reorienting herself with the fact that this was not that life, yet in those moments she found clarity in the answer to the question on her tomephone.

"Huh..." She muses once she gathered herself. "That was weirdly helpful."

He blinked as she grabbed the tomephone and began typing. "My heart?"

"I think she decided to talk to me, kind of. Or talk to me through my inner dragon in a sense. Which is weird because technically she is me but not really? Anyway, she told me her feelings towards someone she considered long term even though she still felt like she couldn't give them one hundred percent of her commitment, because she was still mourning. And I think they would've understood that, even if she never actually pursued them."

"May I see? I won't judge. Truly I don't think I could." He asked, fully ready to accept if she didn't want to share.

She hesitated for a second before she nodded as she rolled to where her back was to his chest and he could look over her shoulder. "I don’t mind sharing. I trust you. Though I still want to clarify that this is NOT this life. I am with you and I love you. Nothing is going to happen."

He smiled and kissed her cheek, he knew that she loved him and that he was her first choice, and that whoever might be the ones her previous life considered didn't really matter in the long run. "Tis as I said, I know your heart intimately. I know you would never stray to another. I love you."

"I love you too." She said with a smile as he watched her type.

Well this is a very odd question. I hope you know my husband is sitting in bed with me and laughing over this whole ordeal. But I guess I'll indulge in this.

I think my best choice would be Lyna. She's brilliant and strong, incredibly competent, no-nonsense, and she's also utterly gorgeous. I hate that I had such a high level of gay panic when I met her.

"Oh by the Fury you have a type!"

"Shut up you."

"I'm teasing dear heart. Did you forget that Lyna and I were really close friends while I was stuck on the First?"

"You were also petty as all hells and told her about the Source without the Exarch's say."

"Hey he pissed me off, and plus that's kinda how I earned Lyna's trust as quickly as I did. That and when we got shoehorned into a very uncomfortable blind date by her men I wouldn't shut up about you."

Raven laughed. "Okay fair enough."

"Plus I teased you when you were respectfully looking at the Viis in Fanow. Which by the way were you still curious about that? I could still fantasia-"

"No. I'm good."

He pouted and she lightly swatted him in the chest. "Not that I don't think you'd look lovely and beautiful, just..."

"Too soon for the sort?"

"Kinda..."

He smiled and kissed her cheek. "As you wish dear heart.”