#and Kiel calls me strong | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sylver-drawer · 2 years

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It definitely felt lackluster... I was so happy to meet Diana FINALLY but like, where was she before this? She could as well have been non-existent with how absent she was in the narrative. Athy, even early chapters Athy who was more detached from the world, should've wondered more about Diana, I feel. She was an orphan in her second life, and her dad in this life is a murderous maniac who she fears will kill her on a whim. Let her wonder about her mother, the woman who kept her despite everything, someone she could've loved. (Make her lament how unfair it all is, to not have a parent she could let her guard down with. Make her lament how unfair it all is, to not have a parent to fully love and trust. And let that develop into a strong bond and appreciation for Lily. And maybe Felix.)

And yeah after Claude softens up maybe they can bond about Diana. Though I'm not sure how it'll get to that point, mainly because Athy would've seen how fast and viciously Claude shut down Felix's mentions of Diana, and being the paranoid kid she was she could've chosen to hide her curiosity (and almost-love) towards Diana from Claude. But YES letting Claude move on from Diana's death, bonding with Athy, with Felix butting in their conversation... It truly would've been nice.

Lily at first fearing (and perhaps resenting, if she knew he basically abandoned her) Claude, because like you said, she witnessed him commit a massacre. She should've warned Athy to be cautious around Claude (and the first time Claude calls Athy? Lily has a heart attack)

And YES at Athy's past life trauma carrying over! Let her be afraid of over-spending, constantly checking the budget, and not knowing what to do with all this money because in her past life it was always tight in a way that never let her be comfortable. Let her be paranoid because of the situation she got put in, reborn as a character with a tragic fate, reborn as a daughter of a murderous man, the same man who killed the character (the same man who killed her the first time around). Plans and plans and plans, everything has to be under control, everything has to be perfect or she will go crazy. Always running, always marching, always looking over her shoulder to see if her demons had caught up yet.

Claude... one thing I could see working with Claude is fear of betrayal. His brother betrayed him, his fiancee betrayed him. Perhaps that's why he doesn't like to have people in his palace, the reason why he's so iffy towards nobles. Give us how Penelope impacted him. Give us more Penelope, in general!! She was such an interesting character yet she felt so underutilized.

Does Jenny ever wonder about her mother, about the woman so shrouded in mystery? Perhaps she asks Roger about her mother, only to be told she's not important. The emperor's more important. Perhaps she felt drawn to Rosalia because Rosalia looks like Penelope and sometimes she feels Rosalia could be Penelope instead, her mother instead. Someone she could've loved.

AND YES GIVE US DUCHESS ALPHEUS. GIVE US THE WOMAN WHO MUST'VE TAUGHT KIEL AND JENNY KINDNESS AND GENTLENESS BECAUSE THEY SURE AS HELL DID NOT GET THAT FROM ROGER. Honestly we know nothing about her. Can't even try to deduce her looks because my god Kiel is like a copy-paste of Roger in terms of colouring (part of the reason why I was so bugged by green-eyed Jenny in the end... she just looks like a copy-paste of her mother)

The Ruby Palace concubines... They were just forgotten. As if they didn't exist in the first place. This bugs me so, so much. Have Lily remember, have Athy remember. Have them memorialize the lives lost, have them acknowledge the ghosts that haunt those halls. Have them not forget, have them not turn away their eyes. Remember, remember the tragedy, and remember the fact that it could be them soon.

Give us significance, give us weight. Honestly it's not like I don't like WMMAP, I just wish its potential was more... realized.

Htkngoclu this was a whole rambly essay— I hope you enjoyed it??

Reading your asks have been so entertaining, so don’t worry!

While on a similar topic, I will always be disappointed that Athy’s second life in Korea was ONLY ever used for her greed when she was five and her daddy issues, and only ever those two exact things. If they wanted her to carry on parental need from her second life, she should have ALSO yearned for Diana. Why only Claude. Let’s be honest, it was only used to make her not abandon the first sight of him, because if she really craved parental figures she should have had more interest in what would have been her first mother sobs. Her orphan backstory of growing up alone in korea was literally just a plot device for her to excuse Claude’s actions because, “He’s the only dad I’ll ever have, so I guess having a child killing father is better than no father”.

Like, miss girl??? Did you learn NOTHING from your past life other than daddy issues? No, “run the moment danger arises”? What happened to saving up money for when you’d have to be forced to run away? Claude was a tyrant for heavens sakes, just because he doesn’t want to kill you now doesn’t mean he won’t kill you later (forever sobbing). For someone who had to fend for herself and only herself since she was born up to adulthood, you’d THINK she’d retain that knowledge. She couldn’t rely on anyone. Her trusting Lily makes sense because Lily has only been kind and has been raising her—but CLAUDE?! She knows she would die from him. She knows he has anger issues and has no qualms about killing anyone, even if it’s a child (I feel like everyone??? forgets that??? the amount of times he was chill with just threatening and letting children die).

Lily, Lily, Lily, why are you allowing Athy and Claude to interact??? Where was that death glare when you and the maids thought Felix kidnapped baby Athy??? A knight possibly kidnapping your child is horrendous, but letting her interact with her tyrant and bloodthirsty father… isn’t?

And the Alpheus Duchess. She was mentioned only once, and it was when they were children (there was a scene where baby Ijekiel told Jen that he was going to study abroad and she said that they could go and tell ‘uncle and auntie’ he didn’t want to go if he wanted to stay). So we know she was alive at that point in time. But then she’s just? Never mentioned again? And it frustrates me? Seeing as she held no importance or mention in the last arc when Roger was being possessed + no word of her when Jen leaves the country with her dad, one can only assume she passed away at some point. But??? When???

I am so tired. Of mothers and/or aunts being dead in manwha. It’s either dead or the villain, and a subpar villain. Not an actual villain, mostly it’s just a jealous stepmother. We were robbed of so many things. How good would it have been if Rosalia was alive. She could have been a villainess Athy could actually face (Aeternitas was ok, but it was mostly Lucas dealing with him. Ana was a good villain for Athy that challenged her… for the few chapters he was the villain). Someone who didn’t mind underhanded tactics to achieve what she wanted, but also intelligent enough to assess the situation and the people involved to say the right words to avoid punishment and deflect the blame.

But she was reduced to… dying because Lucas bit the world tree.

Claude’s character could have also been better, and I don’t mean a better father (although that was great,y needed). If the story wanted to make him flawed, they could have made him flawed and make those flaws make sense. He was written like every other male character, a tyrant who kills people just because… that’s the only thing he can think of. Like, he really thought the first solution to his headaches was to go out and murder a fourteen year old girl. You use magic for gods sakes, you have access to the greatest doctors and magicians to create a medicine or spell for them, but you choose murder? Murder a little girl who’s literally just kinda existing because you hate her for god knows why?

The narrative does not know what to call that man. He’s called a cold hearted tyrant some times, but some times he’s called the hero who saved the country. We can’t even be sure of the latter because we have no idea how Ana ruled for the month or two he was emperor, so story wise I’m definitely leaning towards the first.

If you really wanted to write a tyrant emperor justified by his backstory, you could give him more nuance like you said. Have him kill people, but because he’s afraid of betrayal. He’s more strict with the higher nobles because of his trauma and being bullied for being low born, so that causes him to forgive lower nobles more with much lighter punishments. Lower nobles also require more power to usurp the throne, so they’re of little threat which is why he’s so much more hard on Dukes and Viscounts. Make him flawed but have those flaws make sense.

He has no justification for being so cruel to kids by the way >_>

A good trait Claude could have had was also being opposite to Athy in greediness. He grew up in the castle full of lavish riches, but was mistreated so much for being low born. He should be more reluctant to spend because of the trauma of nobles who would waste and flaunt their money instead of gifting Athy all the riches the castle has just because he can.

Oh yeah, not necessarily a flaw pick, but like? Felix being revealed to be a magician made me realize, we know jack about him? We know his mom was Claude’s nanny yes, she died earlier on, has been loyal to Claude ever since, yadda yadda but like??? We know absolutely nothing about this man. I don’t think we even got confirmation if that Duke was his dad or not too I believe, it’s just a giant fan theory everyone accepted as (head)canon. And Lily too! We don’t know anything about her. Did her family just? Let her work in close proximity with the tyrant emperor? Just cool with that, at such a young age too? Quick reminder that she was most likely in her mid teens when everything happened and she volunteered to take care of Athy, since in Felix’s flashback she was still being courted and hit on by multiple men to the point he remembered always being her shield.

Did Lily’s parents just let her? Work in the same castle where she witnessed a massacre? We know so little about such important characters and it honestly baffles me. I doubt we’ll get any more info too since Spoon said it’s more romance focused from now on.

#who made me a princess #wmmap #wmmap anastacius #wmmap claude #wmmap lily #wmmap felix #wmmap athy #syl tea

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athys-obelia · 3 years

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summary: no one's evil au lmfaooo but make it pt. 2

character/s: anastacius de alger obelia, claude de alger obelia, athanasia de alger obelia, jennette de alger obelia

and here's part 1 <3

oh my god okay. okay. so.

ana, claude, athy and jennette - they go on a LOT of vacations

claude complains every single time but anastacius pulls his trump card and sends athy and jettie BOTH after him

u think he's strong enough to say no after that? lmao jokes

and their vacations always go this way:

jennette: isn't this scenery just gorgeous, uncle

claude: indeed it is. and...quiet

jennette: ...too quiet

[cut to anastacius in the distance, fighting a bear as athy cheers him on]

athy + anastacius, hands down the most chaotic pairing yes i will not be taking criticism

they have tea in ana's palace everyday, just the two of them, they're so poised and picture perfect through the entire thing everyone thinks it's just the emperor giving profound advice to his heir

it's actually them deadass scheming,,, ana has no qualms discussing everything from court gossip to military tactics, both of which she's so on top of all the time

if anyone shit talks jennette or claude, this tea party is where their slow and agonizing demise is planned out to the dot

[true story - count sivan once made the fatal mistake of expressing his favour for athy as the next empress, dissing jennette by comparing her to athy sm which inevitably sparked a debate that ranked the princesses. a week after athy's sources informed her of the kindling behind this new debate, the count's sudden divorce became the talk of the town, and the man's business faced bankruptcy all of a sudden. the sivans still haven't recovered.)

athy n jennette were actually allowed to visit kiel in arlanta a few times, except it was too dark at their first arrival, postponing the meeting to the next morning

buttt then jettie can't sleep and she decides on a midnight snack run (their hotel doesn't really have the maids the palace does, but oh well. she's left the palace w lucas n athy plenty of times)

felix tags along btw, he knows this trip is important to the girls since they're leaving the palace without their Overprotective Papas™ for the first time and want some sense of independence, but... she's just so smol n he couldn't bear it if anything happens so he just shadows her

she totally knows he's there

n e ways so there's a juice place right beside their hotel which she aims for, but when jennette reaches it, it's closed

and out of nowhere, a voice addresses her - "hey you, do you come here a lot?" she nearly jumps out of her skin at the brunette, relaxing when she sees he's literally a kid around her age and not a murderer lmfaoo "me neither," he continues without waiting for her, pouting at the closed sign, before he asks for her name and whether she's new in arlanta

she confirms that yes, she's only visiting, and refuses to tell the stranger her name, still feeling strange at being addressed as 'you' for the first time (well, minus lucas, but he was like her brother and had the emotional capacity of a teaspoon, so)

he eyes her. "you're so weird. i've never seen a girl out so late before, and alone too. are you stupid?"

(felix has his sword out at this point)

she's flushing now and has no idea why she's still out here, but then this stranger kid apparently senses her mood and tells her the best ice cream store in arlanta is not too far away

(he also explains he knows someone who's starts doing weird things when she's hungry as well, and tries to defend that ice cream is actually a healthy midnight snack, "you can just take a healthy flavour like strawberry or mango, mangos are healthy,,right"💀️💀)

so jettie has travelled all the way from obelia, she loves her papa but he would have a heart attack if he found out she was ever awake this late?? yeah bc she's never getting this chance again, jennette accepts the offer

the stranger boy seems to be taking the whole "i'm not telling you my name," thing like a joke, and asks what he should call her since 'you' was getting boring

she goes with "lady j" and like a knight, the boy becomes "sir c"

(felix is on the verge of committing a crime - the princesses can only have one knight, after all)

they walk as the the boy navigates the streets in the dark, and she asks whether he's from the academy, seeing his uniform

"of course i am! you could probably tell bc i look so smart, right?"

she snorts. "yeah, that."

she also comes to know that this guy,,,well he might as well be a tourist? she's out here asking stuff like "oh where's the statue of lady alphia?" or "aren't we really close to the museum where they keep the first emperor's sword?" and he goes "lady do i look like your brochure?? but if you turn right from here there's a cool arcade and across the street from there is the best street food vendor you'll ever eat from."

well at least mans had his priorities straight 😌

"so can you take this off?" he asks, pointing towards her dress once they've neared the store

um???????? sir tf????????????

anyways jettie has been living with lucas n her dad farr too long to not take this the wrong way?? "...no?"

the boy raises an eyebrow "look, it looks like an expensive cloak but i promise i'll return it, alright? i gotta hide my uniform."

ohhhhhhh. 😳.

so she unfastens the cloak and because he's kinda just staring at it cluelessly (he can't even tie his shoelaces fight me), jennette sighs and moves the clothing over his shoulder, fastening it in place at his neck

he's literally a tomato when she looks back up and realises that yes, we are way too close rn

bc she's ana's daughter, jennette by default cannot function when she's flustered. so she kinda stumbles backwards like a fish out of water (years of princess training n etiquette? where art thou??) and 'sir c' has to grab her forearm so she doesn't bump into the pillar behind her smfh

the shopkeep is definitely suspicious of this pair that's definitely too young to be out so late, but chalks it down to his sleeplessness

they escape the store with the ice cream before the shopkeep can ask any questions, and 'sir c' escorts jennette back to her hotel. he climbs onto the roof of the building, helping her up as well

(felix wishes he had a magic stone to capture this moment, this is the first time he's seen jennette become such fast friends with someone)

she stands on the roof (it hurts her butt so she doesn't wanna sit)

"my sister would be so jealous right now," jennette murmurs, "she told me her ideal first date would be either a picnic or something like a moonlit walk. we're having like a moonlit picnic."

it's silent for a few seconds the boy speaks up, "is this a date?"

oh-

oh.

"i mean- i didn't- i don't- uh."

give her some time lmfao she's loading

"i don't really mind that," he tells her, and she thinks she might just walk off the roof in her embarrassment - who just says something like that?? "you're probably feeling really lucky right now, right?"

jennette: ✊😔

he does look pretty in the moonlight, she admits to herself, listening as he excitedly tells her about his siblings at home and how she should send an offering to the gods since they gave her the good fortune to be on a date with the most good looking one of all four of them

in turn, she tells him about how she spent her childhood away from her amazing dad and had gotten closer to him recently, about her sharp-witted uncle, her sister and friends

(the 'friends' section includes felix and he's melting)

she smiles - it's almost as if, at finding out he treasures his family just as much as she does, they've gotten a bit closer

and he tries to listen. jennette had guessed that his temperament was somewhat like her dad's - her dad didn't know how to listen, always making his opinion known before anything else, though she supposes as emperor he could do that

'sir c', on the other hand, tried his best, his blue eyes focused on her as he almost burst from the unsaid words he was holding back, trying to let her finish. the sight was an odd mix of sad and insanely adorable that she couldn't help but let him tell her about everything he couldn't hold in

sensing she could pass out from her exhaustion nearly half an hour later, and 'sir c' escorts her to her window and helps her sneak in bc "what sort of knight would i be otherwise?!"

(felix can't stop shaking the entire night)

the next morning, jennette's heart is pounding as kiel shows her, athy and felix across campus - the chance is low, but still...

"ezekiel!" comes a voice, and the four watch as a turquoise haired boy waves down the alpheus heir "are these the guests you mentioned?"

kiel introduces the trio to johannes vastia before asking, "where's cabel?"

"at the training grounds, he asked if you could bring everyone there so he could show them around there."

"... they're my guests though?"

athy is quick to befriend johannes (i mean she and his sister are practically the same person, so) and at the grounds, jennette's blood runs cold

(so does felix's)

the brunette doesn't notice her at first, arguing with johannes about something as kiel introduces him as cabel ernst

jennette is hyperventilating?? actually back up is this girl even breathing??

cabel ernst from kiel's letters? the 'loud and obnoxious cabel ernst', who gradually turned into 'my acquaintance cabel ernst', then 'hardworking, passionate cabel ernst', and finally 'my friend cabel'?

she'd actually rather admired this slow build of respect between her friend and the ernst boy, and had even expressed her interest to meet him

"this is the first daughter of his highness prince claude de alger obelia, princess athanasia-" cabel mock salutes the princess before his mouth forms an 'o' and he remembers to bow, "-and here's the emperor's only daughter, her highness princess je-"

andddd his eyes widen comically "-hey, lady, it's you?"

yeah jettie is on the brink of literal death - her entire face reddens as this...cabel, grins at her

she watches as he glances behind her, "and you're the guy who was following us - sup?"

felix flinches "...you knew...?"

cabel shrugs. "i mean you do kinda suck ass at the whole subtle thing."

"don't say it like that," jennette retorts, "felix was trying his best."

"princess 😭😭 you knew as well?"

"uhhhh no?"

athy + kiel in a corner: 👁️👄👁️

they watch as cabel's eyes widen all of a sudden and he just,,,runs away

...🐦...🐦...🐦...

yeah well anyway he comes rushing back a few minutes later, a piece of cloth in his hand "...*huff* here *huff*...you go."

athy totally flips out "jennette is that your CLOAK???!??"

"uhhhhh no?"

"um do you realise uncle would literally wage war at this."

and as if it would make everything better,

"i washed it," cabel offers with a grin

"you didn't," the vastia heir deadpans

"i mean, johan helped a little bit."

kiel smiles murderously at the pair. "johan, did you know cabel took the princess out?"

"wait, you're a PRINCESS??"

your honour they aren't very smart

so the group orders some coffee (milk for cabel smfh) to find out what happened, cabel mentions "date" and everything goes to shit again lmfao

kiel and felix scheme against poor cabel while athy n johan get over that stage pretty quick ("listen. MY sister will be living with ME after the marriage and if your friend wants to be with her he'll have to come with us to obelia." and johan's just like "fine by me ✌️😊") and start planning the wedding

cabel + jennette dip n sneak out of the academy again to get the juice they couldn't the night before bc shit is getting awkward here

on another note, our uncle cius' musical intelligence is actually very high - he can probably play more instruments than i can name tbh, but he feels most comfortable singing and i shit you not, this man has straight up an angel's voice

(didn't like singing in front of others coz he was secretly a nerd and only knew old love songs with deep lyrics, athy found out and educated him)

jennette tends to have nightmares often, most often regarding their family - she's seen her father murder her uncle for the throne, and vice versa, athy admitting her affections towards jennette were a front to get the position of crown princess, her uncle killing her to solidify athy's claim, etc - her family is her everything, so despite however many times these horrible scenes play before her, she's left sobbing uncontrollably

and on these nights, she leaves for her father's room, who holds her close and sings her to sleep

also lucas n jennette are like sibling duo# 1,,, jettie is an active lucathy shipper even though he denies it sm - like their dynamic is just peaceful walks in the gardens as she watches the plants n lucas shi talks the nobility and kiel

claude and athy have a thing for each other's sleeping on each other? idk it's weird

athy once fell asleep on the couch while reading with him, and claude moved her head onto his lap so she wouldn't be uncomfy sitting - well, she woke up to his hand absentmindedly raking through her hair and it was just so soothing that whenever she's tired and he's working or reading, she just plops her head on his lap and zzzz

and claude wondered what was up with that, so she proposed they switch roles and he felt so awkward trying to lay down in front of her lmao

obviously athy noticed and she just started reading, thinking he might be more comfortable if her attention isn't on him completely - she ended up reading out loud while playing with his collar and he just,,,passed out

also anastacius has definitely pulled jennette aside regarding the issue of his heir at some point - she had been hesitant at first before admitting she wouldn't like to be the empress at all

i know we'd all love to see empress!jettie and her sister duchess!athy ruling the court, but i really really really can't see her wanting the title?

so thus start athy's empress lessons, but holy shit her teacher is mean

like this man makes me want to bash his face in?? so he doesn't like the idea of athy becoming empress over jennette at all, all bc of both hers and claude's mothers being commoners

he has one of those long ass sticks that you use in presentation to point at stuff?? idk but basically mans has athy name every region, its lords and their vassals during their first lesson

the first time she gets one wrong, she's too shocked as the stick meets the delicate skin of her forearm to react

now the thing is, wmmap!athy would probably stand up against this bc her dad is the emperor and she's his only heir, but i imagine with anastacius' social nature he holds many parties / balls where she's probably heard claude's mom + diana slander and it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to be self conscious abt it (now she's the emperor's heir while jennette, 100% royal + noble blood, is right there which probably makes her feel even less legitimate)

so she endures it, the light marks on her arms as well as the taunts of his she's too smart to not understand - perhaps this is the price to be accepted in jennette's place?

and honestly, no one really notices until at breakfast a few weeks in, where jennette mentions how her dresses are still so modest when sleeveless dresses were more in fashion - ana is suspicious because athy is always on top of these things, societal trends and such, and claude is sus from the way she hesitates slightly in her answer, "i haven't had the time lately, i suppose"

the lesson after focuses on ettiquete since everyone knows she's good at politics and such already, but now tears of frustration are pooling in her eyes because what the hell?? this guy had made an opinion of her long before he even met her, so anything she did would be wrong in his eyes

he gives her a sinister smile, "tired, princess?"

"no," she insists, keeping her voice level. he's about to spout some other nonsense, when anastacius enters the room, taking a seat across from her

anastacius watches quietly as athy answers the teacher's questions in her "public" voice. he watches as her usually cheery disposition is replaced by something far more...dead, despite the front she puts on for him. he's soundless as she hesitates in her answers where she normally would've been louder, more confident. he stops watching in silence when his niece flinches at the sight of the stick

oh.

he interrupts her lesson, not missing the way she winces almost imperceptibly when he grabs ahold of her arm, announcing, "we're going."

he just- it's just that that was the moment he knew for sure - the sight of his niece emotionally disheveled for the first time reminds him too much of how his own brother had once been, and he'd... he'd promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt his family anymore

he ends up taking her to the port with some of his advisors to welcome some royal guests, insisting that she would learn better from experience rather than books - but the guest delegation gets so boring that he sneaks her out of the meeting n they end up in the streets

now athy has no idea where they are, but apparently her uncle does?? ana has his hand on her head as he navigates the streets of the capitol as if he comes here everyday, using magic to casually disguise the two of them

in the meantime?

felix is at the port trying to cover for them smfh, he makes up this huge story about how the great wise emperor wanted to familiarize his heir with the locals, understand her subjects, yada yada

back at the palace prince claude is currently dragging a man by his collar and only upon jennette's insistence does he throw him in prison rather than literally kill him

(jettie visits him later in prison to give the guy a piece of her mind, after felix's visit he's sporting a few noticable bruises and the prisoner is practically unrecognizable once lucas visits)

back to athy + ana, they end up stuffing themselves with some super good street food as anastacius confesses that yes, he has definitely been sneaking out of the palace ever since he was a lil kid

athy almost mentions that she, lucas n jettie sneak out too but that might give him a heart attack, so

"it's so pretty, uncle cius," she says, gesturing towards the necklace he holds up. once he's paid for it, anastacius fists the necklace, opening it to reveal the jewel pendant - now imbued with his magic and replaced with gold lettering of the word athanasia

and she realises that yes, that's what both him and her dad have called her all her life, haven't they?

"you're my heir, athanasia," he uncle tells her with a small smile, "i am proud of that."

getting teary, she tells him, "i'm really proud of you too, uncle cius," triggering a very flustered + blushy anastacius

this mans craves validation - not from the sycophantic nobility, or the obsequious concubines he'd dismissed all those years ago, but from the family he thought he'd neither have nor deserve

and just the acknowledgement is so large for athy - he wants her as his heir, not because she's his niece, but bc he trusts her to look after his hard work after him??? - yeah she's totally bawling her eyes out

anastacius magics her a handkerchief but my mans magic isn't that strong?? lmao he's used up so much by now that the 'handkerchief' turns out to be some scratchy tissues

awkward amirite

nope! athy laughs at that, offering him a sip of her drink as she magics another straw and a proper handkerchief lmfaoo

n e ways so when they return, everyone's shocked to learn that the crown heir, princess athanasia will actually be joining the official circles as anastacius' temporary aid - he doesn't wanna entrust her to anyone but family, and decides that the best way to learn is by his side

(she's so confused bc lucas doesn't normally bat an eyelash when she wears the prettiest gowns, but he deadass can't look her in the eyes when she's in her aid uniform - it's more like a suit than it is a dress)

yes lucas women in suits >>>>>

everyone is STUNNED when at dinner, claude proposes they leave on vacation??

anastacius is just not having it?? like no, this is not my brother, and he throws a grape at claude to check if it's a clone or sum (¿¿how does that work??)

anyays so he ain't no felix, ana's aim is ass and it hits jettie instead

mans nearly gets on his knees to apologise

long story short everyone preps for vacation, but by some aCCiDeNt claude n athy end up at a different destination than jettie n ana, when she suggests returning to the palace to regroup, mans deadass sulks

"so you wouldn't like to spend this time with your father, despite barely visiting my office for weeks?"

o-oh

so at their return, the nobility starts pestering everyone that the princesses aren't independent enough, yada yada idc so to quell this annoyance, to the girls' joy, they get to move into emerald palace together, while claude and ana stay in the ruby and main palaces respectively

literally emerald palace becomes such a cool place to be in since it's the residence of the only decent people in this family, the brothers spend hours going through the requests of maids who want to be transferred

it's such a busy time because of athy joining the court and jettie starting her studies as well - naturally, since she isn't becoming empress, she'll be getting the duchy claude + athy were to be given in the beginning

speaking of futures, jettie's interest in plants and cooking has definitely branched out into herbs

claude notices her tending to a small garden during his visit to athy and even gives her a few tips (he had been studying medical since he was a kid, and picked it up again when athy was born and the empire stablised somewhat)

this soon becomes a routinely thing, and he actually starts reading up on some herbs and even orders a few for her prospering garden

after a month of her learning from books, claude proposes adding a medic as one of her teachers, and turns out his hunch was right?? she's excelling at medicine and they keep it between themselves for the time being

it doesn't last long though, bc they're on a hunting trip when ana injures his leg

and !! this girl istg, she gets to cleaning and wrapping the wound without blinking an eye, as if it's the most natural thing ever, and claude is just smirking while athy and anastacius and literally everyone else: 🌟💞✨jettie✨💞🌟

literal tears coming out of anastacius' eyes "how come my daughter is smarter than me😭💅"

claude: that's not a very high standard, brother

anastacius: ✨suddenly i'm an only child✨

behold, the people in charge of running an empire everyone 👏👏👏

even though jennette is claude's (unofficial) student and athy is her uncle's heir, they both ask their dads to the debutante

yes athy does dance with lucas, anastacius sent him an invitation even though he wasn't a noble (he's an active match maker 😌) and nobody dared question the emperor's special guest

at the end of the night, kiel gives jettie a letter from arlanta - it's an invitation to the academy during holidays, from a certain brunette

when she brings up the subject, felix lets out a squeak and literally everyone goes silent 😭😭

athy n kiel are just out here DARING him to spill them beans

but anastacius takes on look at his excited lil kid and decides that yups, she's going to get everything she wants

a/n: i literally don't know how many parts this should have lmaoo but y'all made it this far!! thanks for reading i hope you liked it<3

#non dysfunctional family!au #or ana decides to stop being a shithead!au #functional family!au ??#wmmap #sbapod #who made me a princess #suddenly became a princess one day #anastacius de alger obelia #claude de alger obelia #athanasia de alger obelia #felix robane #lucas #jennette magrita #jeannette magrita #kiel alpheus #ezekiel alpheus #beware of the brothers #cabel ernst #johannes vastia

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dustedmagazine · 3 years

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Ian Mathers’ 2020: We’re stuck inside our own machines

I’ve had a song I loved in high school and haven’t thought much about since stuck in my head. The song “Apparitions” by the Matthew Good Band is a fine example of the alt rock of the late 90s; if you grew up then but somewhere down in the states (or elsewhere) instead of my southern Ontario you may well have your regional equivalents, and like this one they may not resonate terribly strongly outside of their time and place. It popped back into my head after a long time recently and of course 2020 has changed it a little. A song that as a teen I felt keenly as about loneliness (albeit also about how technology can feed into that) of course now plays on my nerves as another small piece of art about the way that most of us (those scared and/or responsible anyway) have only that relatively narrow, technologically mediated connection to the people we love. All of us, artists and listeners alike, are trying to fit our feelings and art and selves down these little connections, with some success.

On a personal level, 2020 wound up being stressful in ways we couldn’t have predicted even after the pandemic hit. In circumstances that could have seen governments on this continent support those unable to work (and those who shouldn’t have to), support those workers who are truly essential, support workers and renters and even landlords and small businesses, instead we got a near-total abeyance of those governments using the resources we provide them with to save any of us. On a personal level my wife and I were lucky enough to be able to work from home (not that it didn’t come with its own forms of stress, and now that I’m off until January I have several work/stress-related illnesses to recover from) but still saw friends and loved ones lose good, used-to-be-sustainable livings overnight, saw family businesses succumb to a near-total absence of effective government support after months of trying to keep above water, etc.

It is probably no surprise that this is not a situation conducive to listening to music, let alone writing about it; I have deliberately and happily kept busy on behind the scenes stuff at Dusted that I could still manage but looking, at the end of the year, at the amount I managed to actually create is demoralizing if not at all shocking. I’m not sure I think next year will be ‘better’ in many important ways, although at our job there is a growing feeling among coworkers that next year has to have some work/life balance because 2020 was, maybe more than anything else, unsustainable.

That’s not to say I didn’t spend a lot of time and emotion on music this year, and if nothing else constant sleep deprivation, stress, and panic meant I was probably open to being deeply moved by all sorts of art even more than normally (it’s gotten to the point where I can’t even read a sad or moving twitter thread out loud to my wife without getting teary, which is kind of… nice?). Funnily enough the band that did the most to keep me sane didn’t really put out anything in 2020. Personal favorite, Low, instead started, in early April, getting on Instagram with something they called on whim “It’s Friday I’m in Low.” With one brief break they have now done by my count at least 35 shows (catalogued here, by the way), every Friday at about 4 my time.

Admittedly it’s easier for Low to pull this off than some bands, since the 2/3 of the trio that sing are a married couple (they’ve had a couple of socially-distanced backyard shows with bassist Steve Garrington, but he’s mostly been isolating elsewhere). These shows have seen the band’s Alan Sparhawk take a mid-set break to do follow-up phone interviews with the acts featured in the COVID-curtailed touring bands series Vansplainingthat they started on YouTube, or just to give a tour round their vegetable garden and talk tips. It’s seen Alan and Mimi Parker draw on their impressive, 25+ year body of work (averaging 4-5 songs a set, I don’t think they’ve repeated themselves yet) and talk a bit between songs about pandemics, politics, song choices, and whether Alan should grab his bike helmet this time.

They’re not the only musicians out there speaking love and sanity (and playing music) into the strange digital interzone filled with hate and disinformation where we’ve all been forced to gather while locked down, but they were and the most consistent and steady signal being emitted each week. No matter how tired I was from work or what new symptoms I’d developed or what horrific thing I read into the news, even if I had to take an emergency nap while it was actually airing, every Friday the show was there. Once things do return to something more like normal, it’s one of the few things I’ll unambiguously miss about this weird-ass year.

So if that makes an argument for Low as my band of the year (admittedly again… it’s not like Double Negative has aged poorly, either), that does a disservice to those 2020 records I did connect with; even if there are still literally dozens I have to go through, many of which I expect to love, my top picks this year (if as unrankable by me as always) hit me as hard as any top pick in recent years did. So here I present a quick and informal top 5, which the rest of my top 20 following in alphabetical order. Here’s hoping for more time and space in 2021 for music, and even more than that, for more support for those who need it from those who could have been providing it all this time. (The Matthew Good Band, incidentally, always did best with their ballads. “Strange Days” is another I’ve had in my head these days; the image of moving “backwards, into a wall of fire” has stuck with me since the 90s and it’s never felt more grimly appropriate.)

Greet Death — New Hell

New Hell by Greet Death

This one is, in some sense, cheating; it came out November 2019. But that just means it’s the latest winner of my personal Torres Prize for Ian Being Late to the Party (so named because becoming slightly obsessed with Torres’ Sprinter just after I sent in my 2015 list was the first time I noticed that one of my favorite records of each year tends to get picked up by me just after I call it quits on the year, no matter how long I try to wait). This very doom and gloom slowcore/metal/(whatever, just know it’s heavy) trio at first felt very much like my beloved Cloakroom (whose Time Well has also won a Torres Prize) but sure enough nuances revealed themselves. Back in February it felt almost a little too negative, but then the rest of 2020 happened. And the extended burns of “You’re Gonna Hate What You’ve Done” and the title track remain searing.

Holy Fuck — Deleter

youtube

Probably the record I’ve been trying to write about the longest in 2020, and the one I’m most disappointed in myself that I just couldn’t get the requisite paragraphs together. It’s a wonderful effort from the consistently great Toronto resolutely human-created (and —mediated) dance music quartet, one that both feels like a summation of everything they do well, and with the addition of some outside voices (including strong turns from the singers of both Hot Chip and Liars) a step forward at the same time.

Spanish Love Songs — Brave Faces Everyone

Brave Faces Everyone by Spanish Love Songs

As the year got worse, this roar of defiance only got more crucial for me to hear every so often; I was a big enough fan of it, even after writing it up for Dusted, that when they solicited fan footage for a subsequent music video you may just be able to get a glimpse of me in it. (I’m the one in a “No Tories” t-shirt.) My punk rock-loving twin brother was the one who introduced me to Spanish Love Songs and we were supposed to spend an evening in June screaming along to them live in a packed, sweaty room. I need that in my life again.

Julianna Barwick — Healing Is a Miracle

Healing Is A Miracle by Julianna Barwick

It’s a sign of what 2020 has been like here that even just this album title leaves bruises, and while I privately worried Barwick would have a hard time following up 2016’s sublime Will (probably my favorite record that year), it seems that continuing to take whatever downtime she needs to keep focusing and refining her particular muse has once again yielded amazing results. Anyone who thinks they know what a Barwick track sounds like should really check out, say, “Flowers”, but much of this record absolutely sounds like Barwick, just even better than before. She also boasted my wife and I's favorite streaming concert of 2020, an absolutely gorgeous rendition of this album with Mary Lattimore showing up.

Phoebe Bridgers — Punisher

Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers

I joked on Twitter recently that I have far too nice a dad (and far too good a relationship with him) to be as obsessed as I am with Phoebe Bridgers’ “Kyoto”, but here we are. Like most of her generation, Bridgers’ social media presence ranges from shit-posting to inscrutable, but even though things are often just as hard to figure out in her beautiful songs (as they often are in life), there’s an emotional clarity to them that can just grab you deep down. Couple that with seriously impressive songcraft and the progress from her already astounding debut Stranger in the Alps and more than anyone else in 2020 I’m excited to see just where the hell Phoebe Bridgers is going to go, because it feels like she’s talented and hardworking enough to go just about anywhere and drag a lot of our hearts with her.

Other Favorites

Aidan Baker & Gareth Davis — Invisible Cities II

Anastasia Minster — Father

Deftones — Ohms

Hum — Inlet

Kelly Lee Owens — Inner Song

Mesarthim — The Degenerate Era

Perfume Genius — Set My Heart On Fire Immediately

Protomartyr — Ultimate Success Today

Rachel Kiel — Dream Logic

The Ridiculous Trio — The Ridiculous Trio Plays the Stooges

Sam Amidon — Sam Amidon

Shabason, Krgovich & Harris — Philadelphia

Stars Like Fleas — DWARS Session: Live on Radio VPRO

Well Yells — We Mirror the Dead

Yves Tumour — Heaven to a Tortured Mind

Five Reissues/Compilations/etc.

Aix Em Klemm — Aix Em Klemm

Bardo Pond — Adrop/Circuit VIII

Charles Curtis — Performances & Recordings 1998-2018

Coil — Musick to Play in the Dark

Hot Chip — LateNightTales

Ian Mathers

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tirorah · 3 years

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In ‘Shizuka, Come In!’ Everyone Still Has Much to Learn

That’s right, kids, it’s that time of the week again! I’m back with yet another Strike Witches rant!

This week we had the Shizuka episode, or at least, that’s what the episode’s title led me to believe. But interestingly, this wasn’t totally a Shizuka spotlight. Although it did show us how far she’s come, it also hammers home one of the central themes of Road to Berlin: everyone has flaws, and they need to overcome them to win the day.

The Hattori Dilemma

I’ve had mixed feelings about Shizuka so far. When she was first properly introduced, her hero-worship of Yoshika was understandable but grating. Thankfully, that only lasted for one episode, and she became a nice support character thereafter. Through her, we’ve also gotten a bit of an outsider’s perspective of how the 501st behaves, showing us how much their lofty reputation can deviate from reality. But I wouldn’t say she’s filled any particular roles that couldn’t be handled by one of the other members of the cast. The fact this has come at the cost of so much potential Lynne screen time is a bit disappointing.

When I went into this episode, the above was the number one thing I hoped to see resolved, or at least somewhat alleviated: giving Shizuka a clear role that would justify adding her to a roster of 11 already-developed characters.

Did this episode do that?

No. But I don’t think that was the intention either.

Shizuka Is a Great Soldier

Although this episode wasn’t all-out combat, owing to the setbacks the cast faced, this was definitely the start of a three-part finale. And I think we’re going to see more of Shizuka in the rest of it, all the way up to the ending. Plus, there’s still the matter of what her special magical ability is (if she has one; it might be cool if she didn’t), and this episode seemed more about showing us how much she’s improved since joining the 501st.

In particular, I really enjoyed how much Shizuka valued communication. She’s good at following orders and protocols, and she showed that here: constantly communicating with Minna whenever needed, and holding her own in the meantime. In fact, Minna implicitly trusts her to do well, as when Shizuka reports she’s fighting a new Neuroi solo, Minna doesn’t sound all that concerned. She doesn’t immediately send someone over to help, either (although Shirley did show up to catch her later.)

Did you notice the pool of blood is bigger later on? RtB has been so good at these little details.

Shizuka did everything right, and others even comment on how much she’s improved. But her strong suit is also her glaring flaw: she’s stiff and is incapable of thinking on the fly at times, making her less adaptable in the heat of combat. This is most clearly seen when she realizes the Neuroi’s core isn’t where it was last time; shocked and flat-footed, she stops moving around, and it’s in that moment that the Neuroi’s drones surround her and self-destruct, wounding her. This stiffness also stems from her inexperience; as she matures, she’ll likely learn to adapt to rapidly changing battlefield conditions. And she’ll probably loosen up a bit like Trude has.

This comparison to Trude isn’t accidental: in the Movie, she was introduced as an inexperienced Trude knock-off at first, and in the tail-end of this episode, their similarities are on display once again. As Shizuka sees what’s happened to Yoshika, despite having done everything perfectly fine, she blames herself for her friend’s condition. Yes, her injury did put everyone else in a very tight spot, but there was nothing she could’ve done better. There’s also the factor of her self-confidence; while she’s improved in this regard, there are still moments in this episode where she feels useless—lesser—compared to her more experienced colleagues.

And Shizuka isn’t the only one whose flaws were shown this episode. Episode 10 was, surprisingly, more of an ensemble work than previous episodes; Yoshika, Minna, Trude and Shirley were all given some time in the limelight.

Yoshika Is a Terrible Soldier

Let’s start with Yoshika, because oh boy, she was flawed as all hell. Longtime viewers of Strike Witches will already know that Yoshika isn’t much of a soldier. She starts out as a pacifist, and only takes up the gun when she realizes she can use her power to protect others. Protecting people is so ingrained into her psyche that it’s the very foundation of almost everything she does in this show, and nowhere is this as apparent as here.

This means that although she’s a sweet girl who will happily follow orders, she also disregards those orders the moment it conflicts with her desire to protect people. This trait ebbs and flows throughout the episode: at first, she does her bit for the plan, but when things go tits-up and she’s ordered to retreat fully, the lives lost around her push her to defying her orders. Shizuka manages to placate her by saying she’ll fight in Yoshika’s stead, and Yoshika does end up doing as she’s told; a fact that has Lucchini and Shirley ribbing them, stating that’s the biggest headline of all.

Ah, but then in come Patton and Bradley, and when they find out what’s wrong with Yoshika, they tell her not to use any magic until they go for another attack on the Hive. Before Yoshika can respond to this, a Neuroi appears to attack their facilities in Kiel.

When the need is this great, Yoshika ends up undermining her earlier character growth and runs off to the hangar before Minna or anyone else can even get a word in. She remains adamant when Minna stops her; it’s only Mio’s stinging reprimand, saying she should trust in her comrades, that makes her relent.

You say this, Minna, but it didn’t do much good in the end, did it? Also, another good Commander moment for Minna.

Keep in mind: this relapse of sorts may be frustrating for us as viewers (it did annoy me a little), but it’s all part of the struggle to become a more balanced person. Whether Yoshika will move past this compulsion is hard to judge at this point, but setbacks are also a natural part of progressing as a person.

Finally, when Shizuka is wounded and the others are struggling to stop the bomber Neuroi from crashing into Kiel, Yoshika decides to use her amazing shield to save everyone. Unlike the previous situation, this action is at least justified: Kiel is important for the operation, and had it been wiped out, Operation Southwind would be back at square one and many people would’ve died, including high-ranking personnel.

Her condition is unknown by the end of the episode, leaving us to wonder if she’s finally pushed herself too far again. I suspect the ramifications of this ending won’t be fully felt until the show’s final episode, at which point Yoshika may pull another deus ex machina and fly once again. (I think there’s still one shot of the first PV left unused, where she’s alone in a hangar and she says she wants to protect people.)

Minna Is a Great Commander

Yay, Minna got more to do! She actually gets to fight again, and she also gets to lead the 501st into battle, meaning we were finally shown some more of her leadership abilities in the field. She keeps a cool head, and this time suspects the trap before it’s sprung. She also has to rein in Trude a little this time around. Best of all, she somehow finds the time to give Shizuka some pointers even though they weren’t fighting alongside each other. It’s this grasp of the bigger picture where Minna performs better than anyone else.

But Minna is still incredibly protective of her girls, so when Shizuka’s out cold and they seem to be in an unwinnable situation, Minna gets a bit crazy again and flies at the Neuroi to slow its descent with her shield. This, at least, is born purely out of compassion; she wants to give the others more time to rescue Shizuka. But it is a loss of self-control in a way, not a good look for the person who’s supposed to keep everything under control.

Trude Is Put on the Back Foot

It was interesting to see Trude in this episode. She seemed her usual, level-headed RtB self…right up to the moment things started going wrong. Even though the Wall-type Neuroi have drastically altered the situation—making it clear the Neuroi were prepared to deal with them—she disregards Minna’s warnings and dives at the core. And when the retreat is ordered, she makes it obvious she’s unwilling to leave. Fortunately, for her sake, Minna hits back with this:

Trude does follow orders again after that, but these are curious lapses in her self-control that we haven’t seen for quite a few episodes. And now that Trude is officially the second-in-command of the Wing, such errors in judgement potentially spell disaster for the very people she wants to keep safe.

She indirectly faces a similar challenge later in the episode: when Shizuka is stranded and unresponsive, everyone tries to save her, only for the Neuroi to crowd its explosive drones around her prone body. Trude and the others stop short, and as Shirley asks her for orders, it becomes clear that she has none to give. She doesn’t know what to do. At least she doesn’t lose her cool, which is a small victory.

To contrast her actions earlier in the episode, when the Neuroi starts descending toward Kiel, Trude’s role shifts from attack to support. It’s very fitting that when Minna attempts to slow down the Neuroi to save Shizuka, Trude first once again calls her an idiot—and then goes in to help her anyway, because damn it Minna, you can’t do it by yourself. The two of them, plus Erica, go completely on the defensive, trusting in the others to save Shizuka.

Shirley Is Overconfident

Shirley had a very interesting role this time around. Early on, everything seems to be going smoothly and she gets quite cocky, even saying they might not need Yoshika at all. But she does change her mind once things start going awry; she’s obviously matured a fair bit since the early days, and in this episode, she’s very responsible and quickly feels like things have become dicey.

There are also a few moments where she’s supportive of the others, like telling Yoshika they’re almost in firing range and she just needs to hold on a bit longer, or telling Shizuka she did well and kicked lots of Neuroi ass. This is important, as Shirley technically has a responsibility for many of her younger comrades. But instead of Minna’s nurturing, motherly attitude, or Trude’s mix of tough love and gentle attentiveness, Shirley is the fun big sister who tells the best stories during parties. You need all three.

She also saves Shizuka’s life twice, first when Shizuka faints after defeating the bomber Neuroi solo, and later, when Shizuka is stranded on the Neuroi with a wounded leg. That second rescue is especially nice to see: Shirley zipping between Neuroi mines and grabbing Shizuka’s hand so precisely at that speed; it’s quite impressive! It also rewards the trust Minna and Trude placed in their subordinates (who would then, technically, be under Shirley’s command) to find a way to save their friend while the Karlslanders bought them time. Shizuka’s rescue is a nice team effort, spearheaded by the woman who used to be far more concerned with her own dreams instead of being a responsible figure.

Patton Is a Goddamn Idiot

I would not at all be sorry if he got blasted into space by a Neuroi beam.

What, you thought there’d be more here? Nope. The man is so flawed he wraps right back around to a void of nothingness.

More Importantly, There’s Also Something Fishy Going On

At least Patton and Bradley had some narrative weight in this episode, though, first with the reveal of Yoshika’s old prototype Striker, and then…with this:

For the first time in the season, we see hints of the military being dumbasses by holding onto some sort of secret weapon. Ah, Strike Witches traditions, what wonderful things they are. Anyway, the weapon seems to be some sort of huge tank with two frontal cannons. (Other commenters think it’s this thing, and I believe them.)

Either way, they seem to highly regard this thing as some sort of trump card, and Bradley also had this bizarre line:

…Luck?! I’m pretty sure that’s not how commanding works. If it did, I’d be much better at strategy games.

To me, their dialogue about the secret weapon seems to indicate they have some sort of ulterior motive. But they don’t seem to dislike Witches like Maloney did; it’s more like they’re using them as tools, ready to discard them when they think Witches are no longer needed to achieve victory. That was obvious when, after two tense episodes of retaking Kiel, the military just rolled past the Karlsland Trio with a cheery “Hey, good job! We’re going to go and retake Berlin now, choo choo!” They didn’t even inform Minna and co. of that before their arrival.

There’s also this little fact that Trude—of all people—points out:

Because Operation Southwind has faced delays and the like, the military’s apparently decided to keep the public unaware of their struggles. Instead, the newspapers paint a rosy immediate future, even though they failed in their objectives.

I’d also like to point out that this tidbit, while not followed up on in this episode, was impressive to see mentioned. War propaganda is a real thing—we’ve seen some examples of it in headlines before, such as when Shirley was reading the paper in Episode 4—and it makes perfect sense that the narrative’s been twisted like this to keep people calm. Minna doesn’t show much of her personal feelings on the matter, but while Trude doesn’t show any anger, it’s clear she’s not a fan. I really hope this gets some payoff later, and RtB’s track record gives me confidence it will.

But yeah, all this secrecy and stuff is a bit suspicious. I can’t put my finger on it.

…Or maybe I’m overthinking this. Maybe the military’s higher-ups aren’t as bad this time around. After all, Mio was witness to the whole thing with the secret weapon.

…

Oh shit, Mio!

O Mio, Mio, wherefore art thou Mio?

Considering we heard her in the preview, I was 100% expecting Mio to have a big role in this episode. Except…she didn’t? She barely did anything important. I was very thankful when she told off Yoshika, as Yoshika’s flaw was getting out of control, but she didn’t do much else of note, mostly serving as a link between scenes or conveniently broadcasting Shizuka’s injury just before the chaff cuts off communications.

Heck, she didn’t even have any dialogue with Minna! I was fully prepared to roll my eyes at their drama-filled shipbaiting (wholly different from Minna and Trude’s drama-filled shipbaiting, of course), but no, nothing.

I assume she’ll still have a role to play in things to come. That plane of hers has been teased all season, and in an earlier post I alluded to a way she might be able to fly into combat with it. Well, we’re almost at the end, so I might as well tell you my theory:

I think this has been set up as far back as Episode 2. In that one, we found out some sort of anti-Neuroi technology has been invented. It can be incorporated into an object (like that ship) and it will give that object a certain degree of resistance to Neuroi beams.

It seems to show up as red dots in the material itself, whenever a beam hits it. This shielding isn’t infinite, but it did allow the Doge to survive several otherwise fatal hits. With this technology, as well as the maneuverability of a fighter plane and Mio’s experience and skills, she could be capable of contributing somehow.

Road to Berlin

Is the title of episode 11, which is intriguing. Usually, namedropping the title is reserved for final episodes, or very special ones. As we know, the ‘Road’ is the personal challenges and setbacks the cast must overcome along the way. With some of their flaws built up in this episode, it seems natural for episode 11 to continue this theme, as the final offensive on Berlin begins, Patton and Bradley reveal their weapon (which I assume will backfire in some way), and we’re treated to an ominous shot of Mio watching over a bedridden Shizuka. Will Yoshika and Shizuka recover? Will Mio finally fly into combat?

Interestingly, the preview doesn’t have Mio’s voice in it at all, which makes me wonder how big her role is going to be. Instead, it’s Minna, Erica and Trude we hear, signaling we may have more Karlsland Trio goodness coming our way. I know which I prefer, but I do hope Mio gets one awesome scene all for her, so that Mio fans who’ve been waiting for her return all season won’t be left disappointed.

#strike witches #road to berlin #hattori shizuka #miyafuji yoshika #gertrud barkhorn #minna-dietlinde wilcke #charlotte yeager #okay but seriously; how did we get an episode with Minna and Mio within talking distance from each other #where Minna STILL talked more to Trude?!#and with more I mean more than zero #it might just be RtB's Trude bias (for which I feel there's plenty of evidence by now)#but this is WEIRD #also! who wants to bet on Trude having half a breakdown because she didn't do well enough to protect Yoshika?#(let's hope it leads to a hug from Minna)#sakamoto mio #oops I forgot to put her in the tags! how appropriate for this episode

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queer-as-used-by-tolkien · 4 years

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So, on the subject of the Icebrood Saga so far...

There will be spoilers. Probably.

TL;DR: Commander isn’t faking it anymore. We’re strong, and we can depend on our allies.

So far, the main thing I’ve noticed is the mood of the whole Icebrood Saga. Like, for some Commanders, Jormag is TOTALLY a flashback to Mordremoth. We should be panicking, anxious, worried, frustrated - all those things. But we’re NOT, and some of us are accusing ArenaNet of being cowards for not daring to bring up HoT and Trahearne again.

But I don’t think that’s the case. I think the Commander has grown, and learned, and become wiser.

Recall back to Season 2. Season 2 felt rather rushed, as far as character perceptions. We were hurrying to fight Mordremoth, trying to fit in figuring out Glint’s egg and Caithe and the memory seeds all at once. Trying to get Braham and Eir to resolve their problems, get the races to work together properly.

In Heart of Thorns, everything was new and scary and there was this voice in our heads, we were panicking and worrying and wondering who we could trust. We were frustrated at how other people were responding to the doubt by shunning the other sylvari - this is the Pact, we are unity, we’re supposed to come together when there’s danger, not push each other away! And yet at the same time, that slowly increasing mountain of dread that was weighing down on us, making us panicked and sloppy sometimes, jittery fingers and angry, frustrated yells when we can’t do it on time because of our stupid fumbling fingers - we all know what that’s like. Commander was going through the same stuff, but it was life-threatening. Worse, it was mind-threatening. It was putting our friends in danger, it was putting Trahearne in danger, and seeing all those turned sylvari was just heartbreaking.

So then, in Season 3, we were grieving and frustrated and our friends kept disappearing when we needed them most - Canach went off after he was free of Anise, Rytlock was called to the Black Citadel, Braham was truly angry at us, Marjory and Kasmeer were having problems, Caithe was being mysterious and absent, Logan turned into ‘Marshal Thackeray; Zojja’s gone, Eir’s dead, Rox is with Braham, we don’t have anybody except Taimi - and we can’t vent our problems to Taimi, she’s just a kid, it would break her. We’re going off, not knowing what to do anymore, fighting White Mantle and mursaat and taking down Balthazar and criss-crossing all over the place looking for something to do because we’re pointless, we don’t have anywhere to go, we’re lost and alone but nobody notices, at best they’re all like Ellen Kiel going ‘one person against a God of War... eh, it’ll be fine!’ Commander needs to talk to somebody, nobody’s listening, nobody’s there, we needed them!

In Path of Fire, we kind of just gave up - Taimi wasn’t wrong with her foreshadowing when we challenged Balthazar - ‘fight me! For the honor of war!’ because the Commander didn’t care about dying. Commander knew that. We went out to Elona alone, one person vs Balthazar, we knew it was a suicide trip, like Eir on the Honor of the Waves, going out with a bang, fighting an opponent who’s barely even relevant to our mission of killing the Elder Dragons... we knew what we were getting in to, it was one last desperate call into the void, a plea for attention, please help me before I die on this pointless quest, are any of my friends still out there, or did the last of them die with Mordremoth?

Then we died, and remembered who we’d been before Mordremoth - we were heroes, we were the Commander, we were an inspiration and a rallying cry - and we came alive determined to be the person Trahearne saw in us.

In Season 4, with all things crashing down around us - Joko, Kralkatorrik, Taimi - we had to do something, we fought on through the storm, not knowing what was going to come next - after Joko, Kralkatorrik, and how are we going to do that? It’ll break the world! It’ll break the world if we don’t, just the same - but we can’t not fight, we have to try, have to hope. That’s what LS4 was about, it was about hope in the face of all odds, desperate hope that something would come up and save us all from doom. It was a grim hope, that maybe we’d all die, but we’d die fighting, we’d die in unity with our brothers and sisters in the extended Pact.

And then, we made it through, and we didn’t expect that, and we were overjoyed and happy... and Commander, in particular. We were much wiser now, having come through peril and grief and pain, and we’re stronger, much stronger, because we didn’t die, and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger... and even though nobody else noticed our depressed state before, they notice our joy and peace now, and we can truly be a guiding beacon, a point of hope for those who can’t see the way themselves.

That’s what the Icebrood Saga is about. We’re a rock in the storm, we’re truly strong now, and not in a way we ever thought we’d be. We tried to be the perfect leader, the Commander, we thought every failure spelled our doom - but we’re better now. Failure doesn’t define us. Commander was nearly killed by Bangar in the latest episode, but they had their friends around, Commander could depend on them as they depended on Commander.

Aurene is the beacon of hope to the world, shining brightly in promise. But the Commander is that encouraging flame encouraging our friends to keep going. Braham, finding himself and becoming the Wolf. Jhavi, realizing her leadership potential - Commander sees in Jhavi who we were, after our leader died. Jhavi doesn’t think she can lead, Jhavi doesn’t know what to do, she knew Almorra like a friend. But we know better, because we’ve seen her strength. Almorra trusted her, as Trahearne trusted us - that should be enough. And it is. We’re helping Rytlock and Crecia - we see the potential in Ryland, too, because we’re old and wise by now.

So when Jormag comes knocking at their minds, at our mind, we can stand strong and defy the dragon. I did not bow to Mordremoth, and I will not bow to you! During the Mordremoth Disaster, we were flailing, looking around for somebody, anybody to anchor our hope in. I think we picked Canach, then, because if we believed in him then we could believe in Trahearne, believe they’d both be alright. Now, we need to be the person that everyone else clings to for hope, especially for the sylvari.

So the Commander isn’t a wreck of flashbacks and panic and worry - we know exactly what’s going on. We know that Jormag tries to divide us, same as Mordremoth, and if it succeeds then we’re doomed - but if we stick together, we have some chance of winning. We know that we’re a small force against a huge storm, fighting charr and Icebrood and the whispers, and we could never win by ourselves, but we’re strong. We have the Commander, we have Aurene.

Commander is no longer a scared, grieving individual against the storm of mursaat and traitorous gods and evil liches and Elder Dragons everywhere, panicking and trying to pretend to be strong and infallible, as if we can’t show weakness to our closest friends. Commander is safe with her friends, we’re allowed to show weakness, because we’re all together in this. They can depend on their allies. They isn’t too weak to hold them up when they’re hurt. And they isn’t too weak to show them the way when their hope dims.

So maybe Commander has nightmares. Maybe Commander is nervous. Maybe Commander needs Aurene’s reassurance, Aurene’s direction. But we can show it. Commander is unity, and has been since the beginning. Commander is strong, yet we can show our weakness. Our allies are here, now, and they’ll heal us when we’re injured, be there with words of support when we need it.

And we will be there for them. We will be the friend in danger that gets Braham moving and becoming the Wolf finally. We’ll be the calming voice that soothes the arguments between Rytlock and Crecia. We’ll be the reassuring hope that Jhavi needs to battle on for her General.

Commander is strong. The Pact is strong. Our friends are strong.

The Commander is not alone... and neither are our allies.

Jormag has failed.

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cinaja · 4 years

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Before the Wall part 11

An acotar fanfic on the time of the War. For summary and the entire fic, click here

Disclaimer: The world and the characters of acotar belong to sarah j maas

----

Miryam tugs at the sleeve of her dress, frowning. I's not quite long enough. At least it covers the brand on her left forearm, but the scars on her wrists are painfully visible.

The opening of her tent flaps and Miryam looks up, expecting to see Jurian. Instead, Helion enters.

"Oh, don't look so disappointed", the male drawls, "I might get the feeling you don't like me."

"You'll find that few people take kindly to being called a witch."

Helion has been hounding her these past days, ever since the incident with the wards. Trying to get answers out of her. So far, Miryam has managed to avoid him.

Helion just huffs a laugh and points towards Kiel. The falcon's wing is almost healed, it puffs his feathers and clicks its beak at Helion. "It's not like you're trying hard to hide it."

Miryam glares at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She tries to shove past him, but, quick as lightning, Helion grabs her arm. "I'm not your enemy", he says softly. Miryam can see his magic moving through the air. Her sleeves begin to grow, covering her wrist. "I don't know why you think I am."

Before Miryam can reply, Helion lets go of her arm and takes a step back. A second later, Jurian and Mor enter the tent. Jurian frowns at Helion, Mor winks at her.

Both of them are dressed in their finery for the meeting, Jurian in light leather armour and Mor in a red silk dress that is far more revealing than anything Miryam could ever wear without breaking down.

"Everyone ready?", Helion asks, "Then let's go."

Hesitantly, Miryam takes his arm. This time, she pays close attention to the way the strings move around him, trying to figure out what they mean. But he winnows far too quickly for her to make sense of the glowing lines. They land in the garden once again. Miryam steps away from Helion and closer to Jurian.

"Everything fine?", he whispers into her ear.

Miryam nods and gratefully takes the arm he offers her. She tries to pretend she doesn't notice the encouraging look Mor shoots her.

Then, Andromache rushes down the palace steps towards them. She pauses for a moment to smile at Mor. "How's training going?"

"Oh, fine", Mor replies. Miryam wonders if she imagines the colour staining her cheeks.

Andromache smiles. "Maybe one day, we can train together." Then, she turns to Miryam. "Come on, the meeting starts in an hour and there's so much to discuss."

The queen falls into step next to her. "I missed you during the meetings, it's so much harder without you here. You're the only one who can really deal with the Fae."

Miryam wrinkles her nose. When did she become the expert for Fae? Oh, right. When she thought it was a smart move to announce that she was the one who knew them best.

"What's going on?", she asks.

"Is Nakia still being a pain?", Jurian cuts in

"She isn't a bad person, you know? Just hard." Andromache sighs. "And yes, a real pain sometimes. Most times. Anyways, most days, this council argues three quarters of the time. We can't seem to agree on anything."

Miryam stifles a groan. "Any good news?"

"You're the only one both us and the Fae seem to respect, so that's good." Andromache grins. "And we now control the Callian Pass."

"What?", Jurian asks, "You're serious?"

"What's the Callian Pass?", Miryam asks.

Jurian says, "It's one of the only ways through the mountains. An incredibly important strategic location. Who got it?"

"Erithia", Andromache says and Miryam freezes, "It's funny, really. We kept sending out messages to them and they kept refusing. And then, they take the Callian Pass from Rask and send a message the same night, telling us they'd like to join." She shakes her head. "Did you know that their Prince was engaged to-"

"So Prince Drakon will be at the meeting today?", Miryam asks, before Andromache can say that cursed name.

She wonders if the Prince will recognise her. Probably not. Chances are he already forgot about the slave girl she helped escape. Maybe it would be for the best. But somehow, Miryam knows she'll still try to thank him, no matter what.

"No", Andromache says, "He sent an emissary. I heard politics isn't his strong suit."

"Oh, that certainly is true", a new voice says from behind and the Grand Duke of Sangravah steps next to Miryam. He bows to the waist. "Lady Miryam. A pleasure to meet you again."

"The pleasure is mine", Miryam replies and returns the gesture, "How do you know the Prince?"

"Knowing is too big a word", the Grand Duke replies, "We met a few times, but I mostly just heard of him and read his texts. I'm quite fond of some of his ideas."

Miryam wants to ask another question, but the Grand Duke already turns to Mor. "So you're the one from the Night Court?", he asks.

"Yes, Your Grace." Mor inclines her head (not deep enough by far).

"Prythian, hm?", he says, "I always felt you guys take yourself quite seriously for such a little spot on the map."

Helion and Mor exchange a look.

"Let's go to the meeting room", Miryam says before one of them can start an argument and walks ahead.c

The meeting room is different from the one Miryam remembers. Mostly, the table is bigger and there are more people sitting around.

"You ruined my fun", Jurian whispers into her ear, "I would have loved to see that fight."

"Sorry. But I would have hated to pick up the pieces afterwards."

Jurian rolls his eyes and kicks a Fae soldier out of his usual chair. The male lets out a growl and Miryam offers him an apologizing smile, making him calm down a little.

She leans on the back of Jurian's chair. "Can you manage the hour until the meeting starts without getting into a fight?", she teases.

"Sure." Jurian smiles up at her. "Since I have no interest of meddling with the Fae, I'm staying right where I am."

Miryam doesn't have the same luxury. But fortunately, she likes several of the Fae in this room. During her time as an emissary, she met most of these royals and some of them were alright (cutthroat, with words like knives, but not bad people)

Still, it's weird to have these conversations. One moment, Miryam's perfectly at ease, sometimes she even enjoys herself - the next second, it takes all of her self control to keep smiling and not break down.

She manages to get a grip of Mor for a moment and make sure she's doing fine. It's the female's first time in foreign politics, but the High Lord excused himself, so Mor had to step in. As far as Miryam can tell, she is doing well (messing up the rules of Continental politics so badly that Miryam has to suppress a wince whenever she says something, but since she's from Prythian, no one minds). Either way, Miryam has only exchanged a few words with her when another Fae royal wants to talk to her.

Eventually, she ends up in her seat next to Jurian and the meeting begins.

The first one to speak is a white-winged Fae male who serves as emissary to their newest member. He gives a brief summary about what happened in the Callian Pass and officially informs them that Erithia would like to join the Alliance.

"And your Prince couldn't be bothered to come himself?", one of the present royals asks.

Another one laughs. "He was probably scared to mess up again after that incident with Queen Ravenia."

A few people chuckle. Miryam honestly wonders why Prince Drakon sent an emissary. He may be bad at Continental politics, but surely he must see that staying away only makes things worse.

The Seraphim emissary bristles. "Prince Drakon is understandably busy with his army. He sends his regards."

A Fae female smirks. "Or he thinks he won't be able to resist all these pretty mortals on the council. After all, I heard a rumour that he broke his engagement with Ravenia over one of her slaves."

"And I heard", Miryam says lightly, "that spreading rumours about your allies is frowned upon in polite society. At least it's not a very nice way to thank them for winning us an important strategic location."

"Thank you, My Lady", the emissary says and inclines his head

Miryam smiles at the male. "I apologize for the incident. Do tell your Prince that we are grateful for the assistance."

To her surprise, there are no more teasing comments after that. Does she truly have such power over these centuries-old royals?

The vote on accepting Erithia's wish to join the alliance is pure formality. For all their cruel jokes, no one is about to reject an ally this powerful.

After that, the floor is given to a female from one of the countries south of the Black Land. "I'm afraid I don't have good news", she says, "We lost 1500 soldiers yesterday."

Jurian frowns. "What happened?", he asks.

"The Black Land tried to invade, we sent an army to meet theirs. At first, we were holding our own, but then, something changed. I still don't know what exactly happened, but suddenly, our magic stopped working." She shakes her head. "Our soldiers were slaughtered. Less than two hundred made it out alive."

"What do you mean", the Grand Duke of Sangravah asks, "your magic stopped working?"

The female shrugs, looking a bit helpless. There are shadows under her eyes. "It just vanished. High Witcher Artax was at the battle, I assume that he cast a spell."

It's all Miryam can do not to flinch at the male's mention. She takes a deep breath and slips on a mask of neutral interest. She keeps a tight grip on her emotions, refusing to let the sheer terror that's flooding her at the memories appear in her scent.

Helion is watching her closely from the other side of the table. She wonders if he thinks she could have stopped it, if he truly believes she could have gone up against Artax and saved these soldiers.

Queen Nakia shakes her head. "You mean to tell me that one witcher could do this to an entire army?"

Helion snorts without taking his eyes off Miryam. "They could do worse. Artax, especially."

Andromache asks, "Can't we get some of them on our side?"

"The witcher's Guild isn't exactly known to care for mortals", Helion says, "And joining our side would mean giving up on the Sacrifices, which isn't likely. Especially with Artax as the High Witcher."

Miryam wishes she could vanish. Her power is whispering inside her and the fact that this room is full of powerful Fae, all of whom make no effort to dampen their power, isn't helpul at all.

"So", Jurian says (and Miryam doesn't want to hear what he has to say, but she can't stop him), "Nothing we can do about this. Unless someone knows a way to kill all these witches."

A few people laugh. Miryam doesn't.

Fortunately, the conversation turns away from the Guild after that. Instead, they argue endlessly about everything from chains of command to strategies. Miryam doesn't feel like she's entirely there. Even as she navigates the conversation, wielding words like knives, working together with Andromache and the Grand Duke, her thoughts keep drifting back to those dead soldiers.

And finally, the meeting is over. She is so very tired.

Helion winnows all of them back to the camp. Miryam brushes off Jurian's worried question if she's fine and hurries off to her tent.

----

Rhys is having a horrible week.

The flight from Prythian to the Continent with his soldiers was already difficult. It took two days to get to where they were supposed to be and during that time, he had to get through a total of fifteen dominance battles with the Illyrians.

By the time they reach their designated camp, Rhys is done. He's about one insult away from snapping.

This straw is an Illyrian male who somehow thinks it's a good idea to insult a bunch of mortal soldiers and then get into a fight with them. Fortunately, Rhys arrives before someone ends up dead. His power slams through the male's shield and Rhys grabs him by the wing. The male whimpers as he drags him off.

The mortals, however, don't look scared, even though they quite obviously lost the fight. If anything, they seem angry.

"Sorry about that", Rhys calls out to them as he drags the male towards their camp, "That one isn't trained yet."

He doesn't let go of the male's wing until they have reached the Illyrian camp that's still being constructed next to the main one. A part of him wants to shrink back from the cruelty, but these Illyrians understand nothing but brutality.

All around them, Illyrian soldiers stop their work to watch. Rhys drags the male to the centre of the camp.

"Stay away from the mortals", he snaps, loudly enough that everyone can hear him.

He releases the hold on his power enough to let the Illyrians around him feel it in the air. Turns around slowly to hold all of their gazes.

Then, he lets go of the male's wing and stalks off.

Even after his declaration, he spends the day breaking up fights and dealing out punishments (ordering the beatings makes a part of him shrink back each time, but it's all the Illyrians know. Anything less and they won't take him seriously). To make matters worse, after a few hours, the mortals are fed up with the Illyrians' attitude and are tired of being pushed around and start fighting back.

By the time everything is finally settled, Rhys is done. Done with acting so cold and cruel, done with the Illyrians sneering at him. He just wants to go home, back to his family. Or at least, he wants a moment of peace in his tent.

But when he enters the commander's tent, he hears voices. Inside, he finds the Ironcrest Lord, Marek, and a male he never met, though his dark skin makes it seem likely that he's from the Continent.

"What's going on?", Rhys asks sharply.

The male arches an eyebrow at him. "I'm having a meeting with the commander."

"I'm the commander", Rhys says, a growl escaping his throat. He jerks his chin at Marek. "Out. I'll deal with you later."

The male looks inclined to object and Rhys lets his power rumble through the air. Malek bares his teeth, but is smart enough to do as Rhys says.

"As I was just telling that other one: Your soldiers", the strange male hisses, "are a menace. Since you arrived, there were 36 fights. More than in the last two months in total."

Rhys winces. "I apologize for their behaviour. I gave them orders to stay away from the mortals."

"Well, you're not a very good commander, are you?", the male (likely the general in charge of the camp) asks, "Letting your soldiers walk all over you. How did you even get the position, a green boy like you?"

Rhys bristles. "My father, the High Lord, appointed me."

"Oh, wonderful", the General drawls, "A prince. Grown up rich and thinks he deserves everything he got. You probably never even saw battle. You know, I just love kids like you."

Rhys glares at him. "I trained for years to earn that position."

The male laughs. "Then I have news for you, little prince. Your father, apparently, doesn't recognise you as a son. Meaning, no protection for you. So you'll see your fair share of battle." The male brushes past Rhys. "You know", he says as he exits the tent, "I've always wanted to make a privileged little prick like you learn what life is like for normal people."

----

"You're dead", Jurian drawls, "Again."

"I'm sorry", Mor snaps from where she's lying on the ground.

"Don't be sorry, do better."

"I'm trying!"

Jurian glares at her. "No, you aren't. Because your mind is elsewhere." He sheathes his sword. "Either focus on what's going on, or stop entirely."

Mor glares right back. "I just heard that my uncle sent my cousin and one of my best friends to the Continent to fight. And I'm not allowed to contact them, so I have no way of knowing if they are alright." She shakes her head. "They could die and I wouldn't even know."

Jurian doesn't really know what to say. He hasn't had any kind of family beyond his soldiers since he was a child. If Mor wants sympathy, she should go to Miryam. However, Jurian may be able to offer some advice.

"They send out casualty lists", he says, "You can check there."

Mor bites her lip, then nods. "Good idea. Thank you." She hesitates. "You want some advice?"

"What kind of advice?"

Mor looks torn for a moment. Then, she says, "You know, the entire camp noticed what's going on with you and Miryam by now."

"This isn't the kind of thing I'm discussing with you."

Mor shakes her head. "Just make a move, Jurian. Because she isn't about to."

"What did she tell you?"

"Talk to her." With that, Mor turns around and walks off.

For a moment, Jurian considers running after her and making her answer. But somehow, he doubts that would be win him any favour with Miryam.

He straightens. Truth is, he should have talked to her long ago. It's been months since he realised what he feels for her. But better now than never.

He only remembers that his timing is off when he enters Miryam's tent. She's been in a bad mood ever since the meeting. (At least that's what Jurian thinks. But with Miryam, even he sometimes has a hard time telling.)

At the moment, Miryam is standing at her work table, sorting through herbs. Which means she's upset over something. At least she turns around when Jurian enters.

"Did anything happen?", she asks, "You look a bit pale."

Honestly, he considers running off. But that's what cowards do.

"Everything's fine", he says, "Let's go for a walk." Miryam doesn't move and Jurian adds, "Come on. You can't hide in here the entire evening."

It isn't the first time this happens. Miryam thinks no one notices when she has a bad day, but Jurian sees. He can't usually tell why (and asking, he learned early on, is not helpful) but he usually finds some small way to help.

Miryam puts down her herbs. She follows Jurian out of the tent and through the camp.

The sun already set, but the camp is still full of soldiers sitting around campfires. Miryam, once again, is all smiles and kind words, addressing most soldiers by the name. Jurian, too, calls out greetings left and right, but he leads Miryam towards the edge of the camp.

"Where are we going?", she asks once they reach the trees at the edge of the camp.

"It's a surprise."

Jurian thought long and hard on where to tell her, until he finally decided. He prays she'll like the place he chose.

It's a walk of fifteen minutes from the camp. They spend the time talking about this and that - how Kiel's wing is healing, the newest rumours going around the camp, why Queen Nakia has a stick up her ass.

Finally, they reach their destination. Jurian goes first, pulling the branches of a tree apart for Miryam to go through. She pushes past him and goes entirely still, staring at the waterfall before them.

The moon is standing high in the sky and its light reflects on the water, transforming each drop into tiny diamonds.

"It's beautiful", Miryam whispers, awe on her face. Jurian loves that about her, how she treats everything like a precious gift.

Carefully, he reaches out and tugs a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You are beautiful", he says softly, "And kind, and smart. And so very brave."

"Jur..." Miryam turns to him, a thousand feelings reflecting on her face. "I'm not sure if I can do this."

Jurian doesn't know what to reply to that, so he just waits in silence, holding his breath. The waterfall is loud enough to drown out the sound of his racing heart.

Finally, Miryam says, "There's just so much..." She takes a deep breath. "There's so much I never told you. And I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to. But I'm a mess, Jur, I don't think you know how much of a mess I am."

It breaks his heart, to hear her say this. To see her so unhappy. He reaches out for her hand.

"I know that things will be hard", he says, “and that you can't tell me everything, but that doesn't change anything. Because even if I could have every girl in the world, I'd always choose you. You're all I want, all I ever wanted and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

There are tears shining in Miryam's eyes. "I-", she says, but then she freezes, her eyes fixed on something behind Jurian.

He's about to turn when he feels the sting at his back. A sword point pressed against his back, hard enough to draw blood.

"Don't move", a voice hisses from behind him.

Jurian is an idiot. Such a Cauldron-damned idiot. He just berated Mor for not paying attention, and what does he do? Run right into an ambush because he can't take his eyes off Miryam.

"Run!", Jurian snaps at her.

Then, he darts aside, narrowly avoiding being pierced by the sword (those Fae are always surprised when a human fights back). He draws a dagger, but before he can swing at his attacker, ropes of fire wrap around his wrists, climb up his body.

Jurian gasps in pain, the dagger falls out of his hand as he is forced to his knees. The fire isn't hot enough to truly burn his skin, but it hurts. Then, there is cold metal at his throat.

"Don't!", Miryam screams. She is being held by two red-skinned faeries with horns, one male, one female. She's fighting in their grasp, kicking and thrashing.

"Stop it or he dies", a female voice says from behind Jurian and the knife presses harder against his throat.

Miryam freezes. A moment later, the knife vanishes from Jurian's throat. The ropes of fire remain, though, singing his skin. A High Fae female, her skin the same light brown as Miryam's, steps between them.

She laughs softly and points her bloody dagger at Miryam. "You're a wild one, aren't you?" She nods towards her companions.

"Stay away from her!", Jurian shouts. (A nightmare. This is a nightmare.)

No one listens to him. One of the faeries grabs Miryam by the arm and pulls back her sleeve, revealing the brand on her forearm.

"Look at that", the female drawls, "Isn't that just lovely?" She steps closer and runs a hand through Miryam's hair. "You're going to make us very rich, dear."

Jurian is shaking with rage, but also confused. If this is an ambush, why are they only focused on Miryam? They don't even seem to know who he is.

"What are you talking about?", Miryam asks. Her voice is shaking.

"What if she isn't the one we're looking for?", one of the faeries asks, almost worried, "You know what happened the last time a bounty hunter brought the wrong girl."

The High Fae turns to Miryam. "Who was your owner, mortal?"

Miryam just shakes her head wildly. "Please, please, I never did anything, I'm no one, just-"

One of the faeries hits her in the face. "Answer the question, scum."

Jurian strains against the ropes binding him, but that just makes the fire burn more.

Miryam is crying and her voice shakes when she replies, "The crown. I worked in the kitchen, I'm no one. Please, I don't know what you want from me."

Jurian is going to kill these Fae. Slowly. (He knows it's far more likely they'll kill him, but he still imagines the end he'll give them if he gets free.)

The female steps closer to Miryam, who shrinks back. Runs a finger over her cheek. "You're very convincing, dearie. But my guts tell me you're the one."

"No, no, I just worked in the kitchen. Under the cook, Dalior. He always hit me with his spoon, I don't know why-"

One grabs her by the neck, hard enough to make her whimper. Jurian growls softly. But the Fae lifts a hand.

"This is useless", she says.

She turns to Jurian. He has a moment to brace himself before the ropes begin to burn. Pain shoots through him. He grits his teeth, trying to keep from screaming.

"Stop!" Miryam shouts, "Don't hurt him, please!"

"Oh, I don't want to hurt him. Just tell me the truth, then I'll let him go", the female says, "Because you are the girl who stole Queen's lover, right?"

"No", Miryam whispers, "I never even met the Queen, I-"

The pain intensifies and now, Jurian does scream. He can barely hear Miryam begging, the Fae refusing.

"Alright!", Miryam finally shouts.

The pain stops. Jurian falls to the ground, panting. Groaning in pain, he manages to rise to his knees.

Like someone turned a switch, Miryam stops crying. She holds her head high and stares at the Fae. Jurian could have sworn her eyes are burning from within. But maybe, that is just the moonlight playing tricks on him.

"You are right", she says, voice cold as ice, "I was one of Queen Ravenias' personal slaves for three years. I am the one you're looking for. But I didn't steal Prince Drakon - he left because no one in their right mind could stomach being with that monster you call queen for an hour, let alone eternity."

Jurian stares at her, not quite able to hide his shock. Cauldron. He knew she belonged to Ravenia, but he always thought she was one of the thousands of slaves owned by the crown. Not...

"Thank you", the female drawls, "Like I said, you'll make us very rich."

She takes a step towards Jurian. He tries and fails to get up. So this is it. The end. He always wanted to die in battle. Not like this.

"No!", Miryam screams, "You promised to let him go!"

"Oh, hush", the female says, "Once we deliver you to Ravenia, you'll envy his quick death." Then, she draws her dagger.

----

This is mean, I know. I'm sorry. To be fair, I went 10 chapters without a cliffhanger. I'll try to get the next part up as fast as possible.

#miryam #jurian #drakon #morrigan #mor #helion #before the wall #the war

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whiskeyworen · 4 years

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(This was originally gonna be for Dragonbash but got seriously delayed, so now it’s just a story bit referenced in Aspect V. I just really wanted to flesh this out. Plus it let me use The Sound in a story.) DragonBash Revelry How many years has it been? Cyrus wondered as he wandered the thoroughfares of Hoelbrak. The party was in full swing; Dragon Bash was back for the first time in years, hosted by Hoelbrak's Master of the Lodge, the illustrious and legendary Knut Whitebear. He'd even personally seen to the occasional tour of Hoelbrak and all its attractions, both local custom and festival, for visitors. It was just a shame that Cyrus had been on one of those tours and heard the egotism and self-aggrandizement in the elder Norn's voice. While he was more than willing to point out the accomplishments of others at the festival, they would inevitably, always be just less than Knut's own achievements. Or he'd casually joke that he'd had to hold back because he was 'just too good' and it would 'ruin the fun' for others if he ever competed in any of the various challenges and tournaments. Cyrus could only take three of those kind of jokes before he quietly broke away from the tour group and made his way to the Upper Commons for a drink. With any luck, they'd have some good, strong, smooth whiskey waiting somewhere. He hated braggards, and he hated braggards that had nothing but claimed everything even more. It soured his mood. So off he went.

It feels like forever but has it really been... is it only four years? Or is it five now? I don't remember anymore. He mused, watching the holographic dragon soar across Hoelbrak's immense central courtyard. A courtyard that would have been the size of a small town back home. The projector mounted on top of the Spirits-themed refraction lenses was Asuran made, judging from the cube design and the angularity of all its features. But it was damned powerful; the holographic Kralkatorrik was easily almost to scale. Thankfully, it wasn't to-weight, or it would have easily crushed the Snow Leopard Lodge when its programmed flight caused it to alight on the grand, golden hood of the building. The true Kralkatorrik might have even been bigger, but at this scale it was extremely hard to tell. As he watched, he remembered the last Dragon Bash. It had been held in Lion's Arch...what was now called 'Old Lion's Arch', even though there'd been an even older one before the floods of Orr. He remembered the city Council had gotten together to celebrate the Pact victory over Zhaitan. The pagentry and fire works. The fact that that was the year Scarlet made her first move. There had been no way Cyrus could have known what she was going to do, other than she had told him there was a plan in place. She wanted someone on the Council who was sympathetic to her ... requirements. For the Plan. There was a trap laid that killed dozens, wounding councillors and taking the life of Theo Ashford. If it weren't for the efforts of Inspector Kiel and others (including at least some of the Pact Commanders who just happened to be at the celebration), Scarlet's plan to put Mai Trin on the council would have worked. It was a dirty, low thing to do, Ceara. Cyrus frowned, aiming his thoughts at the years-dead Sylvari. I know you were having issues finding allies, but damnit, THAT didn't need to happen. He sighed, ordering a drink from one of the vendors and wandering through the drunken revellers, hopefully for somewhere quiet. We could have worked on negotiations with Lion's Arch with a softer hand, gotten them on our side and explained what we needed to do. But you were in such a hurry...

His thoughts were interrupted when he was jostled from behind by a big, meaty elbow. A splash of icy ale poured down his shoulder and arm, a little bit of it hitting the back of his neck and soaking the silver fur trim. "Agh! What the hell?!"

Cyrus turned, irritated, only to find himself glaring at the belly-guard of a very big Norn. That Norn just frowned down at him with drink-foggy eyes. "Hey. You spilled my beer."

Part of him wanted to accuse the Norn of deliberately bumping him as he went by, to spill his drink. The expression on the larger man's craggy face, the way he was already shifting from foot to foot, and how his free hand was starting to clench in anticipation... He's looking for a fight. Cyrus concluded immediately. It wouldn't matter what he said; this Norn had decided he wanted to fight someone, and Cyrus had just been passing by close enough to let him indulge his sadistic urge. Cyrus straightened up, and slapped a pleasant smile on his face. "Apologies my friend. I've had a couple, and it's so close around here, I didn't mean to bump you!" It was not THAT close around them. In fact, people had stepped back away from the Norn and his friends, already seeing the storm coming. Cyrus had made his mistake by being lost in his own thoughts while walking past them. The Norn raised his stein slowly, glaring. "You SPILLED my beer, little man." That stein only had dregs in it, but based on how much had spilled on him, Cyrus figured there wasn't much left to begin with. This ugly bastard just wanted a free drink... or a free punch-out. "Indeed I did, for which I am very sorry." He called out to the barmaster nearby. "Could I get another one of whatever this gentleman was drinking?" He even smiled innocently, as if he had no clue how close he was to danger. A moment later, a new stein in his hand, Cyrus turned back to the Norn. "Here you go my friend. Ah, let me get that empty one for you." He quickly traded the mugs with the large man and placed the empty one on the counter with a few coins he plucked from one of his waist pockets. "Once again, let me apologize." He continued in that same, oblivious, innocent, and very sorry tone, and held out his hand for a handshake. "It was fully my error, and I hope this makes up for it." The Norn grumbled a bit, clearly not expecting such a placating reaction. His clenched fist opened slowly, before he thrust it at Cyrus, completing the handshake. Cyrus gripped that huge hand with one hand, while giving the Norn's arm a friendly pat like they were old friends. "Enjoy Dragon Bash! Drink responsibly, my friend. Sometimes it can sneak up on you." With that, and one more pleasant smile, Cyrus turned back to the table he put his drink on, retrieved it, and began to walk away. Behind him, the Norn just stared blankly at him, before shrugging in disappointment and taking a sip of his beer. The Norn's legs began to weaken when Cyrus was ten steps away. First it was a little wobble. Then it was a looseness that seemed to travel over his entire body. Muttering something about 'don't feel right', he proceeded to start collapsing, his friends swarming to catch him before he fell and hurt himself. "Is he alright?" One of the friends asked, as Cyrus slowed for a moment. He covered his pause by taking a sip of his drink. "Oh probably. He's had a lot to drink. I wouldn't doubt that last one might have been too much for him." Cyrus said nothing as he resumed walking, but the pleasant smile had faded from his face with each step. Oh, the Norn would be all right in the morning... But he was going to have a hell of a hangover. After all, the dilute Iboga venom in his blood would have worn off by then. What no one had noticed and that he hadn't drawn attention to was that when he'd ordered the drink and paid for it, when Cyrus had reached into his pocket, he'd actually reached into TWO pockets. One held his money... the other held a supply of fast-action adhesive pads. Pads treated with various chemicals for all sorts of occasions. From the shape of the pad he'd felt as he pulled it out, he knew he got the Iboga venom. Great for causing weakness and hallucination, and unconciousness. Normally he'd have used that pad if someone was critically wounded and panicking, to put them under nice and quick. But they made a pretty good Lights-Out button in a pinch. When he'd patted the Norn's arm while shaking his hand, he had applied the pad directly to bare skin. They wouldn't find the pad either, because the adhesive on it wasn't a strong one; too much exposure could be dangerous, so he, Tenna, and Moryggan had come up with a plant-based organic glue that wore off in minutes. Even faster in the cold, like in Hoelbrak. It was probably stuck to someone's boot by now, and completely out of venom. Just a pad of fabric that fell off someone's clothes.

Maybe I'll head over to the Lake. Cyrus mused. It'll be pretty with the fireworks reflecting off it. And there'll be less morons around.

***

Dragonbash wasn't going as planned for Sonnya. Not as planned at all.

Oh, she'd made it to the celebration alright. She'd even participated in a few of the games, like the holographic 'boss fights' as the announcers were calling them. It was good fun even when she got swatted across the arena by a giant holographic Vinetooth! Her armor easily took the brunt of the hit, and there's no way the game masters would permit someone to actually be hurt....badly.

But afterward, she'd felt pretty thirsty and wandered up to the beer-sampling hall on the rise overlooking the lake. The smell of the scented, flavored lagers was quite enticing, as were the haunches of meat cooking on grills. So she'd had a couple of each. She'd worked up quite the appetite!

The first drink, she didn't notice anything wrong. Just the usual tipsy that came with drinking from a stein the size of your head. Nothing she couldn't handle.

The second drink though... She felt weird. Making slurred apologies to her drinking companions (who barely noticed her lurching off her stool), she stumbled out into the night, away from the sounds of partying.

Shouldn't m'implants b'purifin' d'booze? She thought lazily as she stumbled in the snow. Sonnya blinked her eyes blearily, her vision going in and out of focus, everything way too bright, way too distorted. There were only a few torches along the path to guide her, and a few at the nearby Norn shrine, but right now they were as bright as the sun in midday and wavering like a desert mirage. Actually, the whole world was wavering like a mirage. Sonnya realized that when she went to take a step up what seemed to be a hill, and felt her stumbling down. Apparently it wasn't a hill at all! The realization came way too late, and she lost her balance, spinning and falling down the mild incline to lay on her back, staring at the night sky.

"Hehe... that Dragon looksss.... lika Dragon!" She mumbled to herself as the hologram Kralk soared overhead. It looked so funny to her, with a big, wobbly head and stubby little wings. She reached up for it curiously, before noticing that her hand simultaneously looked enormous but also really really tiny. "Ooh..that'z werd...."

"Uh... Excuse me?... Are you... are you okay?" She heard someone ask, and a human face slid into view, looking at her with something between bemusement and concern. Whoever it was pushed their glasses up on their face, clearly confused. "Do you need any help?"

"Ahm ookay..." Sonnya started to say, before her armor beeped and flashed a message to her. She paused, her silly grin fading and her face scrunching up as she tried to read. "Wait.... Nah, Ahm... I not okaayy..."

She tried to sit up, but it took three full tries and the stranger's help to get her sitting up. "M'plants ss'ppost ta take th-beer. Make it...nah-beer."

The stranger blinked. "Plants? Wait... do you mean actual plants, or like, some kind of implant or something?"

"Bing bing!" She grinned, and reached out with one armored digit to lightly tap his nose. "Numbah two! Got it r--" She paused, collecting herself for a second. "Got it RIGHT on tha first try! Yur a pers.... pres.... a smart bookah hooman."

That made her pause again, and she rolled her head back to look at him upside down, her eyes wide with curiousity. "How'dya know whut 'plants'r anyway?"

The stranger chuckled, shaking his head, which looked really weird from her perspective. "Let's just say that I'm very familiar with implant technology, okay? And don't worry, I don't take 'bookah' as an insult."

***

Holy cow, she's soused to the eyeballs! Cyrus couldn't help but stare as this little armored Asura with the big blue eyes and the orange hair blinked at him slowly in drunken confusion. Does she really have implants like she says? I've never seen gear like hers before!

It looked like his dismissive comment about the bookah-thing finally sank in, because she got this horrified look on her face and half-spun, half-rolled over from where he'd been sitting her up to grab onto his coat. Her eyes were almost terror-filled as she clung to him. "I'm s-so SAWRY! I didn' mean to call you a bookah! I-it juzz...slipped out! I never call any'ne that!"

He blinked, and shook his head, smiling as placatingly as he could. Her mood swing from happy to scared-sad almost gave him whiplash, but he'd seen that kinda behaviour before. Oh boy howdy, had he seen it. Cyrus knew he had to disarm this bomb before it went off. "It's okay, miss. Don't worry. I'm not hurt by it. Are. You. Okay?"

She had mentioned something about having implants, and now a thought was germinating in his head; if her implants were actually real, internal implants, and did any kind of chemical or organ-based adjustments or modifications.... There was a good chance he knew exactly what had happened.

"Nuh. Not 'kay." She said, heavily shaking her head, her gloves holding the leather of his coat tighter. "'Plants nuh-working right. Wurking backwards" She got a look on her face, and made a sound that was like a gulp, a sigh, and a swallow simultaneously. "...I'mafeel sick..."

"Oh shit." Cyrus immediately spun her around, getting her quickly to her feet and aiming her away from him, as he scooted her closer towards the edge of the lake, and off the main path. He knew that sound. In fact, it wasn't just a sound.... it was The Sound. The Sound of someone's stomach deciding they'd had enough. The Sound of 'I have five seconds before everything comes up.'

He hated that Sound, but was so very, very glad he recognized it. It saved his coat, his gloves, and his boots, because he'd just gotten her to the lake edge when it all came up.

The less said, the better.

When she was done, Cyrus was about to ask her if she was okay again, but realized she'd gone limp. Whatever her implants and the booze were doing inside her, it'd finally knocked her out. "Ah crapdammit. Now what am I going to do with you?"

***

Sonnya awoke with a groan, and painfully struggled to open her eyes. Her mouth felt like both sandpaper and bitter root at the same time, and her throat wasn't much better. Her head pounded, and the light coming through the slatted windows -- though diminished -- still hurt a lot.

Slatted windows? She couldn't bolt upright in surprise (everything hurt too much), but she did pry her eyes open wide enough to look around tiredly. It looked like she was in some inn room in one of the lodges. Maybe the head lodge. It was so hard to tell, and frankly she was beyond caring. "....the slag happened to me?"

"You're finally awake." A voice came from nearby. Rolling her head to look, she realized it was some human with glasses. He was getting up out of his chair near the window, putting a datapad down and pouring a glass of water. He offered her the water as she sat up. "You were out for a good six hours. It’s already morning. How's the head?"

"Feel like a dolyak sat on it." She grumbled, sitting up and sipping the water tenatively. It felt good in her mouth and throat; crisp and clean glacier water. "Or maybe a Dragon or something. What happened?"

"Near as I can tell, you got rip-roaring drunk." He told her, sitting down on a stool by the bedside. "I found you and you really couldn't care for yourself, so I just made sure you didn't do something silly like go out onto the ice and freeze, or try to scale a lodge and ride the Kralk holo or something."

That got a single ruefully chuckle from her. "Well, thanks, but I wouldn't have frozen. Armor has built in heaters. The fall from the lodge might have done it though."

"Are you sober enough to tell me what happened?" He asked, sitting back and crossing his arms, his eyebrow raised speculatively. "You slurred a bunch of stuff to me, but I wasn't sure I heard things right."

Sonnya hid her surprise by drinking a bit of water, organizing her thoughts. How much had she blathered, if she blathered? What did she say? "Oh? What kind of stuff was I saying?"

"That your -- and I quote -- ' 'plants were working backward'." He repeated dryly. He saw her try to hide her surprise; she was good at dissembling, but she was also tired and worn out, and there was a fraction of a moment when her expression shifted.

"That's interesting." She replied.

"Yep. I wasn't aware that implants were a thing." He pushed a bit, a smirk sliding onto his face. "Yet. Anyway."

Her ear twitched, but she said nothing sipping the water again.

"Mind if I tell you what I think happened?" He asked innocently.

She shrugged, not looking him in the face.

"Fine then. You've got some kind of new tech. Physical implants in you. You can't really deny it because you tried really hard last night to tell me what was wrong." He pointed out. "My thinking is, those implants of yours do something with your chemical balances, and you thought you had it all figured out."

He chuckled. "But you didn't quite realize what would happen if you drank. And the implants did something they weren't supposed to."

There was a long, heavy pause. Sonnya didn't answer, but she didn't deny either. Part of her was amazed that this human had figured out so much, or even understood rudimentarily what her implants did. The rest of her was angry at herself for blabbing so much, and for screwing up her creation so badly.

"....They're prototype." She finally said. A finger traced around the rim of the glass, before dipping in the water. "They were supposed to keep my blood and body clean of toxins. Thinks like being drunk wasn't supposed to happen at all."

"Obviously. But that can't be the reason for your implants. I mean, just to eliminate drunkeness? There's cold showers for that." He pointed at her chestplate, with its glowing coils built in. "I know quality armor, and that you got on is better than top of the line. I've never seen the like. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was actually connected to you."

Sonnya pulled the bed furs up around her shoulders and over her armor, hiding it. "....Just what did you do while I was unconscious? You didn't touch me, did you? Try to get into my armor?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Or try to remove it?"

The strange human shook his head, waving away her threat. "I only moved you from where you collapsed, to this bed. Didn't lay a hand on you otherwise. But like I said, I know armor."

She glared at him, pulling the furs tighter. "....it's classified."

There was another silence, this one tense and tight, as she glared at him, and he just looked at her with this flat, almost bored expression.

Finally he shrugged, and got up from the stool, heading for the door. "Well, since you're awake and at least semi-sober, I think my job is done. I'll be heading out then."

"Wait a moment!" Sonnya called, as he opened the door to leave. He turned back slightly to look at her.

She fidgeted for a moment, before sighing. "....Thanks for making sure I didn't hurt myself. Or anyone else. I could have done some real damage out there if I'd been able to move at all."

He considered her and shrugged. "It's okay. I don't mind helping people when they need help. Just take care of yourself, okay miss? The room is paid for the rest of the day, so just get your legs back under yourself."

Sonnya nodded, and he started to leave. Before he shut the door, he added. "Oh, you might want to recheck the lines of code for whatever your plants do for sugars, alcohol, and your liver. That might be where the glitch is. Anyway, see ya."

With that, the stranger was gone, leaving Sonnya with questions. But she was grateful, and surprised, that someone had stopped to help her.

#gw2 fanfiction #GW2 screenshots #Dragonbash #My Characters #Cyrus Sigismund #Sonnya Danae #Drunk #hangover #tie-in story #tyrias-library #The Sound #embarassing moment #funny

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avenger-concerto · 5 years

Text

Operation Knight Song (RFSS2018)

Heya @invaderpig I’m your Secret Santa for 2018. I want to extend my deepest apologies for posting this so late. The Holidays got hectic as hell for me back in December along with other priorities coupled with post-Holiday slump. I managed to finish this ficlet though. I had a blast working on this one. I’ve never done Doug x Frey in any fan RF4 work so I hope I captured their dynamic finely.

Wishing you a late Happy Holidays and a Happy new Year! Once more, I would like to thank @runefactorysecretsanta for hosting this event. This is my third time in a row participating and I love how it brings the RF community together.

Title: Operation Knight Song

Genre(s): Slice of life, romance, fluff, comedy, some drama

Pairings / ships: Doug x Frey and Margaret / Meg x Forte

Rating: T (13 and up) - mild profanity, some innuendos / suggestive jokes but nothing extreme.

Summary: During the Night of Holies in Selphia, Doug and Frey help Forte confess to the love of her life in a group outing.

Word count: 3813 words.

It was the snowy and star-lit evening of Winter the 24th in the independent town of Selphia. More specifically, it was the eve which preceded Christmas day: the Night of Holies.

Usually, it was tradition for the natives of Norad and by extension Selphia to celebrate the evening in peaceful solace and tranquility. In addition, it was known as a night perfect for romantic rendezvous and evening dates. It was all the more true for the Night of Holies this particular year.

Within the grand halls of Selphia Castle, the princess and her first man hurriedly prepared for what the former codenamed as “Operation Knight Song”.

“Doug, we’re going to be late. C’mon you’re taking too long! They might have arrived at the plaza already…”

“Hold on, dear. Ngh, this jacket’s too huge! I have no idea what size Volkanon picked out but it’s taking me longer than usual to…”

“Ok, less complaining, more moving or we’re gonna be late. We don’t want to keep them waiting, right?”

“Wait dear, I’m finished!!”

In a frenzied but enthusiastic rush, Princess Frey’s husband: Doug, descended from the 2nd floor of their living area with a pair of black pants, brown snowboots and a crimson colored jacket. Despite his previous complaints, it turns out the jacket was just about the right size as shown through his satisfied grin.

“Well, how do I look?” the red-head dwarf asked between gasping breaths.

“You look fantastic!” Frey chirped with a smiled as she clapped her hands together. “What do you think of mine now? Dolce and Clorica helped pick this out for me the other day. We had it custom tailored and ordered from Norad’s capital.”

Doug took another look at his wife’s snow-friendly attire which consisted of a beautiful black coat accompanied by an emerald coloured Wooly fur snow cap with both pieces complimented by an illustrious snow white scarf. For the evening, Frey had also undid her twin-tails, letting her long and beautiful emerald hair down.

“Stunning, I dunno what else to say.” Doug widened his eyes while his lips formed what could easily be described as a dreamy yet flustered smile.

“Hoooooh? Flirting this early on in the Night of Holies?” Frey snickered as she motion towards her husband, clinging onto his arm playfully. “I guess you are desperate for a spot within Santa’s Naughty List.”

“Gahhh, cut it out!” Doug yelped, his objections contradicting his now reddened cheeks. “N-not that I mind but not this early either, h-haha…”

“This blockhead,” Frey whimsically thought, “Wonder how we’re gonna have kids at this rate?”

Doug spoke, “So uh, what about Ventuswill?”

“She’s fast asleep.” she informed her husband, “I had Clorica and Vishnal prepare her a cup of hot milk and a serving of pancakes. Venti wanted to go to bed early so she wouldn’t wake up late and miss the Christmas festivities.”

“Alright! Now that’s all settled…Let’s head out then, shall we?” Doug smiled coolly, extending his hand out.

Frey giggled slightly as she took her husband by the hand. “Of course. As the high princess of Selphia, Operation Knight Song will not fail!”

For the sake of some yuletide context in this given Night of Holies and by extension “Operation Knight Song”, it is commonly well known in Selphia that there were two individuals who helped push the princess together with the hotheaded dwarf shopkeep of the general store. The honour went to none other than Margaret or by her nickname: Meg, the gentle elf musician of Porcoline’s Kitchen and Forte, the dashing and valiant head knight of the town.

Meg acted as a wingwoman of sorts to her close friend Frey and it was Forte who was always there to convince Doug to get his act together when it mattered the most. They’ve both remained strong family friends to Selphia’s royal couple ever since.

Of course, there is much more to this story and Frey herself knew it very well. Throughout this all Meg and Forte remained close friends. Relegating the overall feeling to “friendship” was a massive underestimation, so to speak. In reality…

“Forte, Meg! We’re here!” Frey excitingly called out as she and her husband approached the two figures waiting outside on the snowy centre of Selphia plaza.

“Good evening you two!” Margaret waved her hand and approached the couple, giving Frey an affectionate hug afterwards. “Ohmigosh, you both look so adorable!”

“Awwwww, thank you!” Frey squeed in delight. “You’re looking stylish too Meg. Same goes to you, Forte!”

“N-no, I’m not in need for any compliment whatsoever…” the blonde and tall knight mumbled. “I just put on a new cape that Kiel bought me. If anything, Meg looks so much better.”

Margaret wore her usual outfit but this time adorned with an azure mantle cloak, a kind of fashion that was common in the Nation of Elves as well as a checkered scarf which Forte had given her as a birthday present earlier in the year.

Forte had her usual armour equipped with additional protection from the winter evening including the aforementioned new cape which her younger brother had given her as a present. Outing or not, a knight had to remain prepared for anything. Whether it would be against monsters, immediate threats…or confessing to the love of her life.

“Great, then we’re all gearing to go.” Frey raised her fist into the air. “Onward to the observatory!”

“Hey, be careful or you’re going to trip!” Doug called out as his energetic spouse went on ahead. “Honestly, some things never change…”

“You seem rather excited yourself.” Forte commented with a half-smile on her face. “Not as enthusiastic as Frey but still.”

“Yeah, yeah yeah…So, you’re ready for this?” the dwarf gazed at the knight whose cheeks became flushed with pink not soon after. “I mean, you can do it any other time of the year but if you want to leave a lasting impression, it’s now or never.”

“Um, I know that!” Forte answered with a determined voice.

“What do you know exactly, Forte?” Meg curiously tapped her on the shoulders, resulting in a brief but alarmed shriek.

“M-MEG?! UHHH NOTHING!! WE WERE TALKING ABOUT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Just about how we should enjoy the Night of Holies b-because it only comes once a year. Yeah, it’s like that.”

“Well, best we get a move on. The snow might stop at any moment and I want to bask in this blissful scenery as much as possible. I saw Frey rush past your house already.” Meg stated while pointing to the western-most exit of the plaza.

“R-right…” Forte nodded as she followed Margaret down the steps leading to the town’s western residential district.

Doug was left alone in his thoughts for the time being. “Man, I know Frey wants to thank them for everything they’ve done for both of us but…this is something out of a romcom novel that Granny Blossom keeps inside her old shelves.”

Frey’s eccentrically named plan, “Operation Knight Song” had one and only one singular goal: successfully get Forte to ask Meg out. This wasn’t anything platonic or familial either.

Another piece of information that was common to most of the town’s inner circle was that Forte being madly in love for Selphia’s star musician, Margaret.

As a knight, romance or intimacy was not within her scope of immediate prioritization. Those never crossed her mind as much as it did for the other girls in town especially during their seasonal sleep over gatherings.

Yet Margaret came into Forte’s life and ever since then her existence alone did just about everything to question the knight’s supposed heterosexuality.

There are numerous reasons as to how the elven musician had stolen the knight’s heart but even then she couldn’t list all of them properly without breaking down into an awkward, stuttering and anxious mess. Meg was resourceful, hardworking, beautiful, compassionate, charismatic, somewhat of a dorky odd-ball, both shared some latent fear of phantoms (Pico was the prime exception) and Forte’s mental list could go on and on.

Forte was content simply just remaining close friends with the musician but as the months and years went by it became clear that she couldn’t deny her own feelings any further.

It started out with simpler things such as her regular compliments towards Meg becoming more frequent in nature. It was followed with other small instances such as their hands brushing against each other by accident on several occasions or noticing the aromatic scent of her hair on a more regular basis. Afterwards, it all escalated to much greater physical contact such as sitting awkwardly as Meg fell asleep next to her on the bench during one late afternoon after work.

It reached an apex when the musician casually kiss the knight on the cheek during her birthday. All Frey and Doug could recall was that Forte was reduced to a stuttering, flustered mess that same day.

A few weeks later, the knight confided with the royal couple that she could no longer deny the feelings she’s harboured for Meg and declared her resolved intention to confess.

Needless to say, Frey 100% supported the proposition alongside her husband, even if the latter wasn’t too enthusiastic about lowkey stalking their Night of Holies date in the guise of a group outing.

Doug sighed and hurried to catch up with the rest of the group. Even if he wanted to, it was too late to turn back now.

Within the top floor of the windmill observatory’s interior, Doug had finally caught up as his wife handed out the hot beverages and snacks she had prepared for them all prior to leaving.

“I brought along some hot cocoa and choco cookies.” Frey pulled out four heated thermos containers and a plate of chocolate chip-cookies from her picnic basket. “I have a few bottles of Prelude to Love in here too that I brewed up during these past few days if you’d like some later tonight Meg.”

“That would be lovely, thanks!” Meg cheerfully replied.

“Doug and I are gonna go head down now.” Frey announced suddenly, “Oops, you see…uhhh…turns out I forgot a few extra cloaks and blankets, incase for when it gets colder tonight…Y-yeah.”

“Wait, we just got up here!” Doug stuttered in an alarmed fashion. “Also, I brought us some blankets and cloaks in my bag…AGH.”

Frey interrupted her husband’s objections by playfully pinching him on his bottom. He played along as a result. “Uhhh, I mean yeah. I totally forgot them. H-haha, oops.”

“We’ll be right back in a jiffy, ok? I left the hot drinks and cookies near the benches next to the outer entry. Help yourselves!” Frey playfully declared as she and Doug descended down the stairs.

Forte sighed. She knew very well that the entire thing was a copout ruse to make sure she and Meg were alone. She appreciated the sentiment but wished as well that the couple didn’t have to sacrifice a part of their romantic evening to help her confess the feelings she’s held for so long towards the beautiful elven musician who stood nearby.

“Ahem. Ummm, mind if we step outside? I want to take a good look at view right now.” Forte somewhat nervously proposed.

“Hmm? Sure thing. The snowy evening view probably goes great with the hot cocoa.”

“So easily. What about your fear of heights, Meg?”

Meg giggled lightly and responded, “Why would I be worried about that? Especially when I have you by my side?”

Forte couldn’t help but melt internally and smile at the sentiment. She extended her arm out towards Meg, offering her hand. “Well then, shall we?”

“Wowwww!!” Meg gasped in delight. As they walked into the exterior viewing balcony of the observatory, the sight of a tranquil snowy evening glittered with the night sky’s stars awaited them both. “I’ve been to this observatory countless of times but the view’s always amazing…”

“And to think you were afraid of coming here, let alone of setting foot into the observatory’s top floor because of your fear of heights…” Forte teased slightly and continued. “…I’m glad you’re enjoying the view these days.”

“Uh huh…” Meg nodded enthusiastically while she opened up her drink. Taking a light sip, she sighed happily. “Ahhh, this is heaven. I’m not big of a chocolate lover as much as Dolce but this alongside he winter evening is pure utter bliss…”

“Indeed,” Forte agreed, taking small sips of her hot cocoa while her gaze was transfixed between both the view and at Meg herself. “This reminds me of my childhood…Our parents always used to make us hot cocoa on winter evenings. My mother was practically a master at the craft and it was one of the many things that warmed our father up after his snowy evening patrols…”

“Forte…”

“They’re both gone now. However, what isn’t are the memories they left behind for Kiel and I. For that reason…I want to keep living on, protecting those I hold dear and…well, continue to make even happier memories with the people I care for.” Forte uttered the last part out with a faint blush.

“Awwwww, that’s so sweet…” Margaret softly said, hugging the knight from the side. The surprise was almost enough to let her drop the hot cocoa she had been handling finely.

“EEEEEK!! M-meg…please.” Forte staggered, “I could have spilled something hot on either of us… be more careful…”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it,” she laughed gingerly, breaking the hug. “I really am happy though…to be here. Happy to be with you all…that’s all.”

“Hmmm? Is something the matter?”

“Well, just that…When I first came to Selphia, truth to be told: I was afraid. Porcoline had recently taken me under his wing at the time…I knew nobody in town. I wasn’t sure if I could open my heart up so easily. Especially somewhere so far away from home…Then I met you, Lumie, Venti, Dylas, Arthur, Frey and everyone…I fell in love with this town soon afterwards. It’s far from my birthplace but…Selphia’s my home. I wouldn’t have it any other way and…I’m just so thankful to be here with you all.”

“Meg…”

Meg sighed trying to shake away what was a bittersweet smile on her lips just moments ago, “…Sorry, I got over sentimental again. Winter evenings like this remind me of my homeland a bit, I couldn’t help it. Anyways, why don’t I play us a song?”

Now was the time, Forte realized.

“Uhhh Meg…look…I…there’s something I need to…uh, well…”

“Huh? You want me to play a Christmas song? Ok, I’ll think…Silent Night or Jingle Bells…I want to see how it works on my harp…”

“No, that’s not it, I wanted to say that…um…”

“Wait, neither of those songs? Well, I’ll just play us Joy to the World and…”

Forte bit her lip in frustration. Her thoughts raced insanely as her heartbeat rose sharply. “Forte, it’s now or never.”

“I got it! I’ll go play us Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, that was a classic my old teacher taught me…”

“Meg, please listen to me: I love you.”

“...Huh?”

As the knight uttered those very words from her lips, it’s almost as if time itself had stopped in its tracks that winter-clad evening. Meg’s expression went from that of her usually cheerful eccentric one to that of pure speechlessness.

“I don’t mean as a friend or as a sister. Meg…look, I love you as a woman. Romantically. You’re caring, knowledgable, talented, compassionate, empowering, warm and just pleasant to be around everyday. My chest has been racing as of lately just being next to you…I don’t know what else to say…”

“Forte…is this true?” Meg blinked while a tint of red began slowly surfacing from her own cheeks.

“Yes, it’s all true. I was scared prior to this…We’re both girls and I have no idea how your culture does it…hell, I’m not even sure how my parents would react if they could see this but I don’t care! As a knight of Ventuswill and all of Selphia, I’m not going to hold my feelings back in front of the woman I love, damn it!”

Once more, Forte was met with a silent and blank response from the musician. Fearing it amounted to nothing but a potential awkward rejection, she steeled herself for what was next. She walked into this knowing that heartbreak might be a viable outcome but she would rather have professed her feelings than hold her silence forever.

“I’m sorry…who was I kidding. Just pretend I said nothing, please…Regardless, I want us to remain friends and…”

“You idiot…” Meg gritted her teeth, glaring with tears in her eyes.

Forte wasn’t given much room to react as Meg tightly embraced her as if it would be their last.

“M-meg…?!”

“Honestly…you blockhead…” she sniffled, keeping her arms wrapped around the knight tightly. “Took you long enough…! I’m so happy…I’m so glad you feel the same way…”

“Feel the same way…y-you…you mean…?”

“Yes…but…I’m afraid too. Not because we’re both girls. I don’t care about that at all…it’s because I’m an elf. You’re human.”

“What if you are an elf? I care nothing about that. I know there are places in Norad that ostracize your people but I’m not…”

“It’s not that!” Meg cried out as she continued to cling onto Forte. She blinked through her tears and continued, “It’s much more complicated. You know that elves live longer than humans do. What if you go before me…? You’re a knight…You’ve already pledged your life to the sword. Your line of work makes it so that you’re ready for death at any given moment. If you die before me and I have to live out the remainder of my existence in this world without you…I…”

“Meg…” Forte whispered, “You’re not wrong. I’ve devoted my life to the path of the sword. The sword is nothing more than an extension to my real devotion: those who I care for. You included most of all. You’re right…maybe I could fall in battle or I might succumb to illness, who knows what the future has in store but…I’d rather face those dangers while protecting and loving you…”

“Forte…”

“I know we have to go slow of course…I-if you say yes, that is!” Forte stammered but regained her verbal composure right after. “Going moderately is the key but my feelings for you are genuine…Meg…I want to be your knight and dedicate my sword to you. B-by that…I want to be your girlfriend. W-well…?”

It wasn’t too long after that the musician’s anxious tears were immediately replaced with tearful giggles as she broke her embrace. “Honestly, do all knights have to confess like this? I don’t even want to know what the marriage proposal would be like…!”

“H-hey, I was being serious…”

“I know, Forte. I know very well…Therefore, my answer is: I accept!” Meg spoke out the last part with a cheerful grin as she wiped the last of her tears away.

“Huh?! Meg, are you sure about this?”

“More sure than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Not going to lie: I’m still anxious…I have no idea what awaits us but…with my brave and dashing girlfriend by my side, I have nothing to fear.”

“Meg…ugh…I…” Forte attempted to choke back a sob as tears welled up her own eyes. She stepped forward and gave her beloved a firm embrace. She sobbed softly between sniffles and hiccups, “Ngh…I’m so happy…I was afraid that…ugh…Meg…I love you! I love you so much!”

Reciprocating the embrace, Meg giggled softly as she comforted the sobbing knight. “You big dork…I love you too…don’t panic. Even if I said no, I wasn’t going to leave you behind either…You’re precious to me no matter what…”

“Sorry…I shouldn’t have lost my composure like that. It was unknightly of me, so to speak.” Forte calmed down as Meg wiped her tears away.

“I dunno, I have absolutely no problems seeing this side of you either.” Meg playfully teased.

“Hey!! Ugh…you’ve always been unpredictable at times, you know that?”

“Maybe. Maybe not…I wanna do something else unpredictable, of course.”

Forte swallowed a lump as her heart raced once more. “Well, what would that be?”

Kiss.

Eyes still widened, Forte stared blankly as Meg’s lips parted from hers in a quick but blissful instant. “Merry Christmas Forte. I love you.”

“Ah.” Forte said aloud and continued. “Ah. Ah. Ahhhhh.”

Thud.

“Oh my gosh, Forte!!” Meg cried out in horror as she witnessed her newly confessed girlfriend dropping to her knees. She immediately knelt down herself cradled the flustered knight around her arms. “Are you okay?! Do you have a fever?! Are you tired?!”

Meg was all the more puzzled as she witnessed Forte’s unconscious but dreamy eyed and flustered expression. It was as if she had gone to heaven and ascended into a higher plane of goddesshood.

“Honestly…I need to get us both inside ASAP. Can’t have my girlfriend fainting outside here.”

Unbeknownst to either of them, the royal couple stood quietly in wait within the observatory’s interior in a floor below.

“Fufufufu…looks like Operation Knight Song was a grand success.” Frey sheepishly giggled. “Mission accomplished!”

“Uhhhhh…We did absolutely nothing besides eavesdrop.” Doug informed in a deadpan tone.

“C’mon, dear. We promised to be backup for Forte incase she froze up but looks like she didn’t need our help. That’s my Forte, haha…”

“Well, I’m happy for them both. That much I’ll say. I think we need to go up there before Forte freaks out any further.” Doug proposed but his intentions were interrupted by the mischievous princess holding up a mistletoe over both their heads.

“Oh hell no. Dear, please. Not now…w-wait until home at least!!” the fiery red-head dwarf took a step back, panicking.

“Awwwww, don’t be like that.” Frey licked her lips. “It’s almost midnight. Besides, I want to give Forte and Meg some time to themselves while I have my own little fun…”

Doug swallowed hard, laughing nervously. He had no intention of denying his playful wife’s advances but he braced himself for what came next. This of course consisted of Frey pouncing on her husband and showering him with cuddles and a flurry of kisses over his face and neck.

Overall, it was just another snowy, heated, chaotic but romantic Night of Holies in Selphia.

#rfss2018 #rune factory 4 #rf4 #rf4 frey #rf4 doug #rf4 margaret #rf4 forte #frey x doug #meg x forte #yuri #femslash #avenger concerto writing

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trinity-blood-translations · 6 years

Text

Radio Head - Epilogue (Trinity Blood RAM 5)

Radio Head - Prologue Radio Head - Chapter I Radio Head - Chapter II Radio Head - Chapter III Radio Head - Chapter IV Radio Head - Epilogue

* * *

Epilogue

Page 241

The hull split in the middle was sinking in the water while a huge vortex curled in the winter sea. Mixed in the sound of the explosion by the burning fuel were now and again strident screams to hear, probably the agony of the barely survived passengers. Since all lifeboats have been destroyed it must be feared that there is no one to survive. Those who were blown into the sea will freeze after at most 10 minutes due to the coldness of the water.

“Ah, well then ….no one can be saved….right Isaak? In the end what was it all about? What the hell was the point of that?”

“A tragic drama caused by the pure love beyond life and death of a love triangle----”

Holding a cigarillo between his fingertips “Magician coughed gently. In the fluttering powdered snow, with his gaze pursuing the purple smoke rising toward the gloomy sky he added:

“If you want to add a title, I wonder if it should be this?”

„Oh, yes? Pure love…“

As if he had heard a funny joke, “Puppeteer” cleared his throat. They were standing on the sea surface ----- and he giggled while thrusting his toes into the passing surface of the stormy winter sea.

“Hey, “Magician”! What kind of expression did you just use? I didn’t know until now that the concept of something just like “love” is comprehensible for you.

Page 242

“You are disrespectful! Even I have a human soul![1] I understand feelings like Love[2]!”

“You are aware of love? The reaction of methyl hydrazine and hydrogen peroxide in the test tube cannot be called love.”

“What do you want to say?......I think about it since long ago, “Puppeteer”: Don’t you misunderstanding me as a serious antisocial personality or a joyful serial killer?”

“There is nothing like that. Anyway, isn’t that rude to all the serial killers? Because they don’t think about it to destroy the world, don’t you agree?”

“That’s right, however….strangely, even if you deny it that way I don’t really feel relieved.”

“Magician” wanted to protest but the words of his opponent were too correct, so he wasn’t able to refute it ----- he looked slightly frustrated and dropped the cigarillo at his feet. They were standing at the sea level ----- to be exact while stamping out the fire of the cigarillo on the metal surface spreading below them, he pointed at the almost sunken ship where only the bow was left behind.

„Besides that, look at that please. Surely I’m a person who get by the enemies unwarranted stigma and I’m called a terrorist et cetera, however even I will never do a massacre to that extent…..moreover it’s impossible at all to succeed in it that much efficiently.”

Page 243

“Well, to kill so many people one need very much effort and a plan.”

“I thought you'd say that! Such a great task, having done as easily like that, moreover successful executed completely without any malice…….is like: A single selfless love brings sometimes more sorrow than hundred malice intention.”

“Who is the saying from?”

“From me.”

“Magician” answered as if nothing happened and snapped his fingers. Immediately thereafter the bodies of the two men started to lift off ------ no, not really. Something that was floating under the sea level till now, carrying the two men on his back, this big object emerged now from the sea.

This “something” ----- was a crimson painted metal body, at first glance reminiscent of a giant boomerang. The oblong hull was over 100 meter in diameter, slightly bent in the middle and his almost smooth silhouette had the perfection of nature. This shape is too strange to call it a submarine; rather it was closer to a whole-wing plane that existed in the world before the Armageddon.

〈Your Excellency, the warship will enter now the diving mode.〉

From the hatch, on which “Red Baron” [3] was engraved, a hard female voice could be heard. The woman, who seemed to be on the other side of the speaker, urged the two men to board the ship.

Page 244

〈Please, come slowly inside the ship. In three minutes we will leave this area of the sea at battle depth. ----- We will go straight to the naval port in Kiel.〉

“Understood, Captain Skorzeny ….. Oh, that’s right. The other guests, did they arrived at the destination?”

〈Do you mean the dispatch executives[4]? In that case, several people are confirmed in the city of Vienna. ----- They still not seemed to notice that the countess Vogelweide is behind it. 〉

“I see. But I guess that is only a matter of time. …….. Well, “Puppeteer”. Shall we continue the conversation inside? It’s a bit cold here.”

“Jawohl![5] ….. Oh, that’s right. By the way, there is one thing I would like to know, Isaak. If you were calling the “Red Baron” special for us, why was this relaxing cruise necessary?”

“Things are not as you said. There was a proper reason for it……..Look at this please.”

While he slipped through the hatch “Magician” looked back with a serious expression. Where the hell he had just took it out, but in his hands he was holding a bottle of white wine.

“This "Pale Bride" is the original brand of "Bachelor’s Pride". Only guests on the ship are allowed to drink it….Oh right, after this unfortunate incident with the ship, I wonder if this is the last bottle in the world.”

Page 245

“Isaak…..You….!”

“Puppeteer” shook his head in order to suppress the strong urge to throw his lamenting colleague into the sea. Even though it’s useless, just in case, he tried to preach.

“I said the other day, ‘Don’t make your job to your hobby!’, isn't that right?”

“To respond that, I have to say, as for me, unlike others, I have not ever made my job to a hobby ---- but I admit, that I bring my hobbies to work.”

“Oh, sure. I thought so.” :sight:

Just before closing the hatch, “Puppeteer” turned his face one last time towards the scenery outside and suddenly rubbed his eyes.

“That is….”

The luxury cruise ship has already disappeared from the sea surface. There, where the winter sea swallowed the ship and more than 100 lives was pitch-black up to the last corner, were only peacefully flying snowflakes. ----- But what caught the eyes of “Puppeteer” wasn’t this lonely sight.

A woman stood on the sea surface.

From here one could only see the side of her face, but she seemed to be young. And the clothing she wore was a white coat. ------ No, it wasn’t. Isn’t that a pale wedding dress?

While “Puppeteer” unusually speechless stared at the apparition, the woman looked down sorrowful on the sea, where the sea swallowed the ship. But right in that moment a strong wind mixed with snow passed by. ----- For a moment the young man blinked a few times and as he opened his eyes wide again, the figure of the woman, like a Fata Morgana, had already disappeared without a trace.

Page 246

“What’s the matter?”

“No,…..it’s nothing.”

“Puppeteer” shook his head in response to the “Magician’s” question and stretched out his arms gracefully. Why was in such a deep dark night from this distance the figure of that woman and even her facial expression clearly to see? For what reason was she standing on the sea surface? While closing the hatch in order to deny doubts like that, he snorted callous.

“Human beings are really such a foolish, isn't that right? ..... Alive or not.”

* * *

End of „Radio Head“

[1] Well, finally we got it to know. J (心 – heart, soul, mind)

[2] The word “Love” is here with Suffix, giving the additional meaning of admiration or condemnation.

[3] Red Baron

[4] No idea who they are talking about. If anybody has, please write me. (Maybe the AX or the Kind Ludwig?)

[5] yup

#tb never forget #trinity blood #Sunao Yoshida #Thores Shibamoto #Isaak Fernand von Kämpfer #Dietrich von Lohengrin #Susanne von Skorzeny #red baron #rosencreutz orden #rco #light novel #Rage Against the Moons #radio head #epilogue

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someone-online · 6 years

Note

Dear Evan Hansen with Kiel and Bethany!!(BTW, your Story Thieves musical headcanons make my day! ❤❤)

Thank!! :DDD

Once Kiel FINALLY gets around to listening to DEH (and broadens his musicals from beyond just Hamilton), he doesn’t like it at first. Part of the reason is because he can’t tell the story from the soundtrack, and the other part is because there’s a lot of pretty sad songs. However, the more Owen plays the soundtrack, the more it grows on him. After a bootleg, while it isn’t one of his favorites, he grew to appreciate the show for the message it gives.

His favorite song is “Sincerely Me” because it’s the most upbeat in the show and his favorite character is Larry because Larry reminds him of when he trusted the Magister, which makes him wish the Magister was as nice as a person as Larry and could’ve been a father figure to him. (”To Break In a Glove” is his second favorite song, and also his favorite scene because after learning that the Magister had bad intentions, he too longs for a father figure to guide him and give him advice, whether on life or just a baseball glove as well.)

He’s watched the bootleg twice. He can’t watch it too many times within a quick period, however, because it’s too much angst for him to handle. He did promise Owen that he’d listen to some audios of the understudies and the newer cast members.

Bethany was at first quite neutral on DEH, but she did love the songs. Like Kiel, it’s pretty sad for her to listen to, but she’s able to handle the angst of the show better. She’s read books that were much more painful to go through.

Her favorite song is “Requiem” because Zoe is one of her favorite characters. In fact, her top characters are all the girls of DEH because they’re all strong in their own ways, and she loves that. She does lean towards Alana and Heidi a bit more, though. Alana because Alana’s enthusiasm reminds her of Gwen’s optimism, though it has made her wonder if Gwen ever feels like Alana. (She hasn’t asked yet.) Heidi because she reminds her of her own mom and the way she had to take care of the both of them when her father went missing.

(Lowkey ships Galaxy Girls.)

Bethany hasn’t seen a bootleg; instead, she read the script. She also jumped into parts of the script with Owen after he begged her to do so. They only watched some parts of it in person, though, like Evan’s speech. The scenes where Evan is on his own, or the characters are in their homes, they didn’t witness, because that would change the story, and they jumped in to experience the musical, not talk to the characters.

Bethany did remark that it was weird to hear background music and watch the characters burst into song in such a normal setting.

(Bonus: Kiel made a parody of “If I Could Tell Her” for Bethany that he calls “If I Could Tell You” which is basically him singing to Bethany what he loves about her. She loves it.)

(Bonus #2: “Bethany, is that Evan Hansen over there or did Ben Platt decide to come to our town?”

“Well, he doesn’t seem to be anywhere near our place according to his latest photo on Instagram–”

“DO YOU MEAN–???”

“Probably. It’s a book now, right? He must have found one of the portals I made connecting all the worlds.”

“EVAN HANSEN IS STANDING 20 FEET IN FRONT OF ME OH MY GOSH!!!!”

“Owen, chill.”)

#story thieves #deh #dear evan hansen #kiel gnomenfoot #bethany sanderson #kielany #gwethany #slightly

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writerleo86 · 2 years

Text

Terravenger Season 5 - Part One: Episode 368 (Do Not Copy)

On the large clear glass floating in the pink sky, the calm Pixie waited for her opponent Alana Robin to hover closer.

After that, the pink-haired girl threw her hands forward and waggled each point-finger repeatedly. That was when Alana landed before her. And Pixie walked two steps toward her opponent.

Then Pixie explained as Alana stood unconscious before her.

"It gave me some time to study your moves. Then I was able to use Silent Night once you let your guard down."

She gave a quick chuckle and said "My, my. Looks like I won this match. Once you wake up, you are gonna feel so embarrassed."

At the Waiting Room of the Terravenger Counsel Building, some of the commanders had watched the battle end from a large screen that floated before them.

"Wow!" reported a happy Aurah. "Pixie has advanced to the next part of the exams."

She gave out a wicked laugh and replied "But then, this is Pixie I'm talking about! She's the strongest out of my three!"

Beau shook his head as he gave out a strong grin.

And he said "It appears that Kastano had time to teach her the Silent Night technique."

"Among others," Aurah implied. "Kastano has been a great influence on that girl since she was younger."

Ban informed Beau "What did you expect Raven? Kastano won the lottery when his sister had Pixie. Since that very day, Kastano devoted his time to the girl like she's his daughter."

Beau turned his head and claimed "Kastano has barely told me about his niece. It seems though she is walking the right path. And she too has a strong will of fire inside her."

Then he faced Aurah and told her "Pixie has grown into quite a warrior. You should be proud of her results."

"Oh I am, Raven," said Aurah. "But I had great confidence in her. Like I said, Pixie is one of the strongest students I had a pleasure to look after these following years. If you think Silent Night was a good ability, wait until her next match. She's versatile at its best!"

At the other side of the room, another commander -- Barbarus -- had watched the ending of another match in a floating screen in front of him.

He gave a wicked grin as he thought to himself "Way to go, Rodriguez. I knew you had winner in you."

Patricius soon found another screen that floated by his left side. And he gave a soft smile.

"Everyone!" Koel informed the others. "Another match is about to start!"

At a large area of earth, two students had stood at each side as they were surrounded by burning red lava.

The dark-haired boy from the Cinna Armed Forces gave a soft smile and informed his opponent "Although it has been short, your time in this tournament ends now. I'll see to that."

"Are you going to keep talking?" asked the blond-haired boy from the Kiels Armed Forces. "Or are you going to come at me, Cinna?"

Asia Monroe hurried to the right side of Patricius Kelly.

And she reported "My student will be fighting one from Kiels."

Ban walked forward as he cried "Wow Pattie! Your camp's going against Monroe's!"

Patricius lowered his head and stood with fear in his eyes for a moment.

"Kelly?" questioned Asia. "Are you alright?"

"Hey Pattie?" Ban asked. "Are ya still with us?"

After that, Patricius stared at the blond-haired youth that was displayed on the floating screen.

And the worried commander responded "The boy representing my academy in Kiels. He is... He is my little brother."

"What?" called Koel.

"That's yer brother Champ?" asked Ban.

Patricius told everyone "His name is Ronan... Ronan Kelly. He is one of the bests in close-quarters combat. He was taught Judo during his second year. He decided to learn that style so that he can control his... He can control his anger."

Episode 368: The Preliminaries -- Ronan Kelly

"His anger?" asked Koel. "Does the child have anger issues?"

Patricius lowered his head and replied "In a way, yes. And that has to do with my family. Well, mainly myself and our dad."

And he informed everyone "See, my parents had their problems and decided to end their marriage. But my mom found out that she was pregnant a few months later. At that time, Dad kept me while Ronan lived with Mom. Since then, Ronan has never cared for Dad because he barely had any time to spend with Ronan. And that... That gave Ronan a lot of anger."

"Poor boy," said Asia. "He just wants to spend time with his father."

"He also had it in for me," added Patricius. "Since Dad took me in. I only knew all of this because Mom has been talking me everything."

"And I'm sure..." Ban implied. "...it's difficult for you brothers since you became the Kiels Commander."

"He barely speaks to me," Patricius replied. "My mom and my lieutenant are the ones that give him information on his grades and accomplishments. Ronan's a great scholar. He's best at Math and Animal Science. So, he's quite intelligent."

At the site surrounded by lava, the youth named Ellek Crane gave out another sinister smile. A large cloud of tiny gray fragments soon flew in the pattern of a spiral from in front of him toward his opponent.

"Gas?" questioned his opponent.

Ronan Kelly quickly rolled to the left side which made him avoid the projectile. And he found a few of the fragments burning a small part of his right shoulder.

"What the hell?" He cried.

Ellek informed him "This is my special ability. It is called Crabocinis. The tiny fragments that may appears as gas is from the element Earth. Once you are hit by it, the fragments can easily burn through your skin. It can also go through your armor with enough energy."

Small clouds soon shot from the left finger of Ellek. Ronan continued to dodge every projectile by performing either rolls or spins. Then the blond-haired youth rushed to him and threw a barrage of punches. Ellek quickly created a large wall made from the fragments which blocked every hit from Ronan. Meanwhile, burns slowly formed on Ronan's fists as he threw his punches.

After the wall fell into dust, Ellek blew a Left Side Kick to his ribs. The attack forced Ronan to move a few steps away from him. And Ellek continued his assault by firing small bullets made of the burning fragments.

Once parts of his body were hit by the quick projectiles, Ronan pressed his hands together.

He soon placed his left hand forward as he called out "Repello!"

A small bubble of blue energy formed by his left hand as every projectile from the enemy had blown into the burning lava.

Next, Ronan lowered his left hand as he pushed his other forward. A small ball of red energy flew from his hand which pushed Ellek to an edge of the area behind him.

"Pello!" Ronan yelled.

Ellek lifted his head and asked "Are you actually one of them?"

At the Waiting Room, many of the commanders grew shocked as they watched the battle from the floating screen before them.

"Patricius?" asked Beau. "Is he like you?"

Ban cried "Is that lad a Quin user?"

"A Quin user?" questioned Koel.

"What's that?" cried Asia.

"Of course,"

The group faced the elder Rubeus Finley who sat on his chair behind them.

Finley informed everyone "Patricius Kelly is one of the few human beings that can use that. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree either."

Patricius shook his head and he responded "My dad is a Quin user too. But I didn't know Ronan was one."

The young counselor Mercury walked a few steps toward the commanders and he said "He must be a Quin user."

And Finley replied "It's rare. But it exists. The Kellys use Quintessence. It's pretty much the Fifth Element used for Alchemy."

The old man faced an emotionless Mercury as he informed everyone "Mercury uses the five basic elements I believe. But he ain't got the abilities the Quins do. Mercury's close to them though."

"Patricius!" Beau cried. "You have never informed me that you had such an ability!"

The young commander Patricius lowered his head and he answered "My Quin abilities don't compare to my dad's. Apparently Ronan's isn't far off from Dad."

A large cloud of the fragments had spread around him as the cocky Ellek gave a grin.

Meanwhile, Ronan placed his right hand forward once again as it summoned green energy that spun as quickly as a disk.

"There is no reason to continue this," Ellek told him. "Even if you are a Quin user, you still are no match for me."

The size of the energy disk began to grow larger as Ronan told his opponent "Just shut up and fight already!"

And Ellek ran toward Ronan as the large cloud continued to surround his body.

"I..." Ellek yelled. "I will make quick work of this! Just watch me!"

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joestories · 4 years

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I don’t think I can actually remember the plot of a single James Bond movie. I’ve seen lots of them. And I’ve seen lots of pieces of them on TV over the years. But what actually goes on in a James Bond film?

Are these bad movies? When I think of what constitutes a James Bond film, I realize I’m mostly remembering Austin Powers, then working backwards to determine the serious version of every aspect of it. Why is Austin Powers more memorable? Maybe because when I saw Austin Powers as a teenager, at least I could identify with him as an outsider.

But! You know what was great? The music in the James Bond films. Remember Live and Let Die? Again, I’ve seen the movie, I don’t remember a thing. I think James Bond actually dies at the beginning. Which is a weird choice, sort of a Janet Leigh/Psycho thing, I guess. But it doesn’t matter, because then that McCartney song comes on, and it’s so theatric. Is there a name for that genre of music? Whatever it was, there should have been more of it.

Anyway, I figured out how to play the main part of that song on clarinet and I would play it for my friends in 7th grade band class. This was definitely not something James Bond would have done.

Here’s all the facts I know about James Bond:

The author of the books picked the name James Bond because he thought it sounded boring.

Sean Connery was the first James Bond and most people consider him the best.

In one of the movies, he flies around with a Union Jack parachute. As a child, I thought this was the same thing as the Confederate Army flag in our neighbors’ yard and I was confused.

Somewhere in the first few decades of Bond films, there was a guy who played Bond for a single movie, and people seem to have strong opinions about him. I get the impression that there’s more to the story. I should probably figure out what’s going on there.

Goldfinger turns people into gold by touching them. If your whole body is covered in gold paint, you would die because your skin couldn’t breathe. There’s a ska band called Goldfinger.

James Bond has access to lots of cool gadgets. I guess if I was going to latch onto any part of the franchise, it would have been that.

My uncle once showed me a picture of him sitting with Richard Kiel, who played Jaws in a couple of Bond movies. This picture is regarded as a sacred family artifact.

There’s a movie called Goldeneye that I’ve probably seen. It was adapted into a video game which was a lot more memorable.

Pussy Galore.

Octopussy.

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slamsams-blog · 4 years

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The Spy Who Loved Me - #24WeeksofBond

24 Weeks of Bond continues this week with Roger Moore’s “The Spy Who Loved Me”. A tale of two government agents who are the top of their class who get paired up to work on a mission together and who ultimately fall in “love”. I put love in quotation marks because we never see or hear from Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) ever again. Usually when Bond falls in love we here from them again in some way like with Bond’s late wife Tracey, or Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale - so I hesitate to say they fell in love, but I will because that’s the movie’s gimmick.

This is Roger Moore at his peak in the role. This has always been one of my favorite films because of the simple, playful, and fun plot of these two agents trying to best each other, the big action sequences, and of course...JAWS! There are a few things to not like about this one, I mean I can definitely think of a few, but overall you come away from this movie feeling like you have had a ton of fun. We still haven’t seen all the Moore films yet, but I’m pretty confident in saying that The Spy Who Loved Me just edges out Live and Let Die as Moore’s best Bond film. Moore is hitting his stride with confidence and playfulness, the two qualities that Roger Moore brings to the character, and wether you like it or not, what we know Moore’s Bond to be.

Like I said before, this film is incredibly easy to follow...A Russian submarine has gone missing due to a submarine tracking system that is low key being sold to world powers if the price is right. So while Russia deploys their best agent on the case, so does England. What I truly love about this film is the script and direction that set up this story so beautifully. In the pre title sequence we see a pair of lovers in bed, when an agent (we are assuming is the man - damn gender roles) gets called to report. The movie swerves us when the woman answers the call. This is how we are introduced to Triple X. Subsequently Bond is called to London and sets off to ski only to be chased by some henchmen, one of whom, is the man Triple X was sleeping with earlier.

What takes place next is a stunt that helped revitalize what was a struggling franchise on the brink of extinction. The Man With The Golden Gun was one of the worst drawing Bond films of all time - and the franchise was in jeopardy! But they pull off a stunt here when Bond skis off a cliff and they let the camera roll on the stuntman free falling for what feels like forever and kicking off his skis, he then deploys the parachute with the British Flag, and I’m sure people went nuts. This set the future of Bond in a comfortable place for decades to come. And to follow that we get Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does It Better” which I believe won an academy award for best song? I don’t know, I’m too tired to Wikipedia right now, but I know it was at least nominated. I love that song, it sets the tone for the movie in such a beautiful way.

I also believe they did that stunt in one take.

So we are starting off on a great path to an enjoyable adventure where Bond and Anya are gunning for the same microfilm that contains vital information. We are also introduced to Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) who is a mega billionaire who as his own underwater marine laboratory. We don’t really know too much of his backstory and why he is so rich and why he loves the water so much, he just does and wants everyone to live underwater with him. So we don’t know too much about him, which makes his character, to me, rather uninteresting and uninspired. BUT he has got a killer henchman named Jaws (Richard Kiel) who lives in infamy as one of, if not thee most iconic Bond character of all time. There is no way that Jaws doesn’t come to anyone’s mind when thinking of the James Bond Franchise. You would of course think of Bond, Q, maybe Moneypenny, and Jaws.

Funny enough, Richard Kiel actually played the same exact character (Metal teeth and all) in a comedy the year prior to this film’s release called “Silver Streak” starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. No idea how that happened. Silver Streak came out in ‘76 while The Spy Who Loved Me came out in ‘77. They had to have been filmed around the same time, so who thought of the character first??

This is the first of two movies that would have Jaws being a thorn in Bond’s side. Here he is absolutely terrifying - in Moonraker they turn him into a comedy act (which I admit is great, I love comedic Jaws). This Jaws is the quintessential Bond baddie. He is so big and strong and can kill people with his teeth and is seemingly invincible. Jaws dies like 40 times in this movie and keeps coming back - it is starting to feel like a running joke.

As the plot unfolds...so do the uncomfortable gender roles that the mid-seventies likes to rub in our faces. We have a bad ass Russian spy who has a Triple X (sex reference) code name and always seems to be falling short of Bond’s cunning - because, well, he’s a man. She also finds herself needing to be rescued by Bond a lot - because, well, he’s a man. I really think they fell short here with this character, they just couldn’t quite pull the trigger on writing a character that is truly Bond’s equal. She gets close, but in the end, she just becomes another “damsel in distress”. However, we get a powerful scene between Bond and Anya when she finally finds out Bond was the one who killed her lover after we had established that they had fallen in love. She says “Then after this mission is over, I will kill you”. Some good stuff there.

This is another film that makes me laugh when thinking about a man like Stromberg, who has these heinous plans to attack New York City and Moscow with NUCLEAR MISSILES, can gets thousands of employees to work for him and just go along with the plan. Stromberg wants to start a new world under the sea (did I get Little Mermaid stuck in your head?). An ungodly insane scheme, but whatever - has he even thought about where the hell he would get his GROCERIES??? This leads to a wonderful battle scene between the captive Naval soldiers who were taken by Stromberg and Stromberg’s men. I love these big battle scenes. Bond catches up with Stromberg who has found more time to sit his ass down for a dinner for 9. Kills him easily. But then runs into Jaws again but scoops him up with a magnet to the teeth. Ingenious.

Final scene of the movie where we expect Bond and Bond girl to celebrate a job well done boils down to Anya seeing her next mission out to kill Bond. But all is actually good, and we end up seeing them celebrate a job well done in front of their superiors. Classic.

The Spy Who Loved Me has some classic moments, unforgettable characters, and catapulted Bond into the future so for that I say it’s one of the best, BUT it does have it’s faults in poor character development and a weak portrayal of Anya Amasova (not Barbara’s fault, just a victim of the times and short sighted writing). That’s all I have to say about that...what did you think of The Spy Who Loved Me tonight??

Reviews from Friends:

My Mom

The Spy Who Loved Me was absolutely great. Roger Moore was so smooth. My favorite car scenes were in this movie. When his car turned into a submarine and even better, when it came drifting out of the ocean onto the beach and Bond tossed the fish into the gawking crowd, it was a laugh out loud moment, even though I am usually watching these films alone. I wasn't so impressed with the big boss, Stromberg, but Jaws was a lot of fun. Barbara Bach had that unforgettable face, but her acting was not quite as much. I don't know which number this was in the sequence, but I love these old Bond films.

24 Weeks of Bond will return August 3rd with -

Diamonds Are Forever

#Roger Moore #jaws #james bond #the spy who loved me #24WeeksofBond

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seauxfientertainment · 4 years

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Is "How You Like That" by BLACKPINK worth the hype?

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[July 11th, 2020]*

It's been only two weeks since BLACKPINK (BP) released the seemingly hit or miss, record-breaking single; "How You Like That" (HYLT). It is the pre-release single from their upcoming debut studio album and there has been a lot of talk surrounding it.

People seem to either hate it or love it for a multitude of reasons. Reasons I will explain in this post.

I'll be talking about the song itself, the aesthetics, the music video and the controversy it incited, as well as the records it broke, and then I'll give my final thoughts on the song.

So if any of this interests you, you can continue reading. I'd appreciate it if you did.

*this post was originally written a couple weeks ago for a different platform.

•••

1. CONCEPT PHOTOS AND PROMOTIONAL ASPECTS

The hype for HYLT actually started about a month before the name of the track was even revealed (longer if you consider the year long hiatus BP took between the "Kill This Love" EP and this new comeback.)

On May 4, 2020 reports came out stating that BP had finished recording their first full length album and then on May 18 YG ent. projected a June 2020 release.

The first teaser poster was posted on social media on June 10, confirming that the release date would be June 26.

Finally, the Blinks' more-than-a-year-long wait for a comeback was coming to an end!

On June 12 YG ent. released a prologue to BP's new reality show "24/365 with BLACKPINK" on the BP YouTube channel. In the video Jisoo gave a spoiler to HYLT saying, "if our previous songs gave off the vibe of being strong and powerful, I think this song is more hip [hop], that shows us our swag." (Translation comes from the in-video captions.)

So, at this point we'd been told that BP would be taking an artistic turn from their previous discography. Things were going good. For those who were complaining that most BP songs were essentially the same song, now were being promised something different.

Then things started to look really good.

From June 15 to the 21st YG released individual posters, concept photos, and videos promoting the single.

And everyone was excited for the new comeback. The previews were nothing short of enticing. It seemed like we were getting a dark concept. Jennie had red smudged tear stains. Lisa had deep red hair. They all looked so stoical. Maybe this comeback was going to be a serious one?

YG dropped the Music Video teaser on June 24 and everyone was hyped.

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Although the theories were flying and everyone seemed to have differing ideas for what this new song would have to offer, in general everyone was happy. We might just get something unlike the typical BP comeback and the hype built up from there.

•••

2. MUSIC

Now let's discuss what we actually got.

On Wikipedia, HYLT is credited as a blend of trap and hip hop, but I would include electropop into that mix. To start, the song is fairly short, barely making it to three minutes long (a little bit more about the hastiness of a couple parts on the track later), a common theme that has been occurring in pop music in the past several years.

I listen to this podcast called "Tiny Meat Gang" (it's done by two comedians, Cody Ko and Noel Miller), and in one episode they mentioned what they believed was the direction the music industry will take in the future. They believed that TikTok was pushing the music industry in a direction where all songs can be shorter since only 10-15 seconds of the song actually goes viral instead of the whole track.

(The clip is from 38:25-41:40, if you're interested)

HYLT definitely has the elements needed to go viral. Something I'll continue to point out throughout this post.

The song opens up with an orchestral instrumental beginning, then slowly builds with Jennie, Jisoo, and Rosé's vocals to the bass drop and into a chorus, which to put it nicely, leaves something to be desired by those who were expecting a drastic change of pace from BP's previous comebacks.

The recycled beats and the over use of tag lines and onomatopoeia are just some of the reasons why people have been critical of this particular BP comeback and previous ones.

mera (Youtube channel), her video titled "The Real Problem with Blackpink" goes way more into detail on this topic of repetition in BP songs. I highly recommend you check it out.

In the second verse Lisa raps over this Arabic sounding beat that's actually really cool. By far my favorite part of the entire song and was the only part that really stood out to me and was distinguishable from other BP songs. Lisa's style of rapping fits the song well in my opinion.

Up until this point the song had been fine, it wasn't the best thing ever but it also wasn't the worst. This is where things started to seem rushed. The bridge, with Rosé and Jisoo, was barely there and then we go into the usual beat switch outro with chanting.

•••

3. LYRICS

The lyrics are quite vapid, at least in my opinion. The message of the song isn't ground breaking and doesn't really tell us anything about who they (the members of BP) actually are or how they feel.

In essence, the song is a revival track. At quick glance it may seem that the song is about coming out of a bad breakup feeling empowered despite the circumstances (which make sense since that was essentially the same concept used in "Kill This Love"), however, according to Genius, the meaning is actually 'deeper' than that.

Apparently, the meaning of the song is that the girls were in a dark place with all the hate they had received and now they're back stronger than ever.

As mera so colorfully says in her video, BP's music suffers from "forget to write the chorus" syndrome. All they do is repeat the same phrases over and over again. I will say this though, the chorus can easily make it a viral song. It's simple and easy to sing along to, as well as the dance isn't super difficult.

They also stick in seemingly random phrases. Such as the reference to the 1950s "Adventures of Superman" with the line "Look up in the sky It's a bird, it's a plane". Some had mentioned that it's a play on their group name.

Bird = B

Plane = P

BP = BLACKPINK

But I think there are visuals that better support these lyrics in the music video.

As for the line distribution, it's pretty good for BP standards. Rosé and Jennie together make up more than 50% of the song, each finishing with 29.4% and 29.3% respectively. Lisa's in third place with 23% and Jisoo is last with 18.3%. However, what Jisoo lacks in lines she gains in screen time in the music video, so in my opinion it levels out.

From what I understand there is a small group of people that make BP songs but prominently this man, Teddy, is the main producer and lyricist for them. He's made songs for them for basically their entire career.

Personally, I think YG needs to either find someone else to make their songs, someone with new ideas, or have Teddy and the others on the team work with the members themselves. Let the members write some of their own stuff so that it seems more personal. Many groups do this and it adds an authenticity to their sound.

This is only the first song released from the new album, so who knows, maybe the other songs are very personal. But until then, HYLT is all we have, and things don't look too promising.

•••

4. CHOREOGRAPHY

I'm not going to lie, I actually really like the choreography.

I know a lot of people complained that BP uses 'recycled' dance moves. I did some research and they've used the same choreographer, Kiel Tutin, for their past couple title tracks ("Kill This Love" and "DDU-DU DDU-DU") so that's why things might seem familiar.

Side note: Kiel Tutin has choreographed for a ton of K-POP artists. For example, 4minute ("Crazy"), TWICE ("Feel Special", "Fancy", and "More & More"), Big Bang ("Bang Bang Bang"), and he also even did Jennie's "Solo."

I think the choreography matches the tone of the song. It's fun and not super complicated yet it looks elaborate with all the staging.

My personal favorite parts of the choreography is Lisa's little body roll movement in the second post-chorus:

And when Lisa and Jennie make an little arch with their arms for Jisoo to walk under:

I don't really have anything else to say about the choreography. It's just good.

•••

5. MUSIC VIDEO AND AESTHETICS

The music video is gorgeous, who is anybody kidding? Nothing too mind blowing but just beautiful to look at:

The sets were so intricate and gave atmosphere to the song. Rosé in the flowers, the arctic oil field, the tropical jungle, the staircase with the wings, the street market, the pink world dome. It's all so aesthetically pleasing.

However, the music video wasn't just nice to look at. It did reveal a lot more to the story told in the song.

Jordan Orme, a music video editor made a video breaking down all the little details the director and editor(s) used to show the story written in the song. I found it very useful to better understand the meaning of the song and the visuals. Check it out if you want.

Some of the visuals that I appreciated the most were the umbrellas during the second pre-chorus with Jennie and Jisoo.

Jordan had spoken about how he thought the umbrellas represented protection or being shielded from the hate. And then with Jisoo the umbrellas are burning because they no longer need protection, they can take on the hate themselves. It was just a little detail I enjoyed.

I also quite liked the buildup to the outro and the outro itself.

Each of the members stood in front of the wings as Rosé and Jisoo sang:

"The day I went down with my wings lost / Those dark days when I was trapped / You should have ended me when you still have a chance"

During the Superman reference ("It's a bird, it's a plane") they showed the heads of the Trojan horses and then later showed their wheels, rolling in, when Jennie yells "Bring out the boss bitch!"

It's the little details that get to me.

Although now I know that the Trojan horses represent the BP members passing themselves as a gift to the music industry but in actuality they're preparing to 'attack' (supposedly with their upcoming album), when I was researching the meaning behind them I found this user on Quora, Hamedah Badmus, who while answering the question "What does a Trojan Horse means in the latest Blackpink video clip 'How You Like That'?" gave their interpretation of the music video using Greek mythology. It's amazing how people can imagine things that others can't. They created a whole other storyline.

The music video for HYLT appears to be universally liked. However, there is one problem with the video. Which brings me to my next topic.

•••

6. CONTROVERSY

In the scene where Lisa is rapping on a throne in a North African street market, there is a statue of the Hindu deity Ganesha:

This upset many followers of the Hindu religion, and rightfully so. There's no excuse for making fun of someone's religion. It's personal and should be taken seriously.

From what I understand Ganesha is the Hindu God of New Beginnings, Success, and Wisdom, and the Remover of Obstacles. In regards to the statue, the proper way to display Ganesha is on an alter. You are not supposed to place the statue on the floor or in low energy areas, such as the bathroom, garage or laundry.

I'll probably talk about this in more depth in my next post about Agust D's new album, because he dealt with a separate but similar situation, but here I'll simply say that ignorance, such as haphazardly using a religious icon in a music video without real knowledge on how to properly display said icon, is unacceptable. Especially with a group as popular as BP who reach millions of people from around the world.

This isn't the first time BP has upset followers of the Hindu religion. In "DDU-DU DDU-DU" Jennie was criticized for wearing a Bindi, a decorative mark worn in the middle of the forehead by Indian women. Jennie's, I believe, was a jewel one. And in the "Kill This Love" music video when Jisoo is shooting an arrow she's wearing an Indian headpiece.

I've also seen clips of the members mimicking traditional Hindu dances. It's tasteless and done out of ignorance. Like any other instance of cultural appropriation, it must be addressed and learned from.

•••

7. LIVE PERFORMANCES AND FASHION

The live performances have been a bit lack luster for me (so far.)

The members just don't seem that into it. The dancing was uninspired to say the least. Lisa's always giving it her all, but the other members are just going through the motions. And it hasn't even been a month yet.

The Inkigayo Comeback Special from 0628 was by far their best performance. They got to do a short intro and the set looked like a jungle temple. I also really liked the costuming during that performance. Lisa has these red boots and all the background dancers were wearing cute pink tops with jeans and their hair in braids. It all looked great to me.

They also looked stunning on Jimmy Fallon. (They wore the outfits similar to the top photo down below). I liked Jisoo's bell sleeves and her little pigtails.

In general, the outfits for this comeback have looked really nice and complement each other well (except for Jisoo's purple dress in the bottom picture from above. A lot of people said they liked it, that it made her stand out but I didn't care much for it. I think it clashes with the other outfits.)

(BTW did not notice Lisa's yellow glove in the winter scene of the M/V)

This comeback also has many different looks. It would be nice to see all of them with slightly different sets similar to the music video during their live performances.

I believe that this era is Lisa's era, at least fashion-wise. I mean Jennie's modernized Hanbok is nice and everything, she's definitely been given some pretty amazing outfits:

And the hair, you can't forget about the hair. From braids, to blonde streaks, to a shoulder length cut, the stylists seem to be giving Jennie everything.

But Lisa's outfits are killing it.

My favorite look from her, and probably from the entire comeback, has to be the jewel-beaded top and blue (denim?) pants she wore during her rap in the music video.

Also she looks gorgeous with that black bob cut hair.

(She also looked great in her LILI's FILM dance performance but that's on the side)

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I did very much enjoy their encore performance. There's something about watching them in a relaxed environment where they don't have to worry about messing up the choreography. They can just sing and have fun.

YG should include more moments like these in their performances.

•••

8. INITIAL ACCOLADES

One of the biggest reasons why HYLT is garnering a lot of hype is the amount of records it's breaking and how much success it's gotten since it's release.

HYLT has broken five Guinness World Records:

—most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours

—most viewed music video on YouTube in 24 hours

—most viewed music video on YouTube in 24 hours by a K-POP group

—most viewers for a premiere on YouTube (1.66 million concurrent viewers)

—most viewers for a premiere on YouTube for a music video

They received what they call in South Korea as a 'perfect all-kill', charting #1 on Melon, and charting on Genie, Naver, etc.

HYLT debuted at #12 on the Gaon Digital Chart. (The Gaon Music Chart is essentially South Korea's version of the Billboard Chart.)

On Spotify, HYLT debuted #5 on the global chart with 4.073 million streams and #10 in the US with 762k streams. Although that's not that surprising since BP is the most followed girl group on Spotify.

•••

9. FINAL THOUGHTS

So, is "How You Like That" worth the hype?

The short answer: probably not.

The song itself isn't bad, it's just repetitious. Like we've already heard this song before, and we kind of did with "Kill This Love" and "DDU-DU DDU-DU", among others.

I think the song fits it's purpose; a fun song for people to dance to and make videos with. It has its catchy tag lines ("How you like that?", "Look at you, now look at me", etc.) and its electropop dance beat. It doesn't really need anything else.

I was reading many of the opinions on Reddit, one person had suggested that if the outro was used as the chorus the song would have been better. Everyone's saying the song would have been better "if Jennie had her own rap", "if Rosé got a high note", or "if the song went on longer."

Another person said that if HYLT was sung by another artist it wouldn't be receiving the same amount of hype. That's probably true.

I don't know, man.

Those who like BLACKPINK songs will keep on liking them, those who don't will keep on complaining. And that's that.

•••

I believe a majority of the problems BLACKPINK faces is due to their company YG. They have the money and the resources to make unique, sentimental music. They just decide not to. Rather, they make budget cuts, putting the least amount of money into the group and maximizing capital. Especially because, just like this comeback has proved, BP can put out anything and it will sell. Only further encouraging YG to put in the bare minimum.

I don't dare to question the talents of the BP members when it comes to song writing, because, honestly, I don't think they've even been given the chance to try. Like I said earlier if YG had Teddy work with the girls to write songs and get their input into the creative process they could release innovative and inspired songs.

I hate to make comparisons because I don't want to say one particular group is better than any other. In actuality they're all talented, they just need the support from their company. That being said, I do look at groups like BTS who were given a whole lot more reign when it came to the creative process. And it certainly has never hurt them. If anything it increased their popularity since more people could relate to the deep meanings in their songs.

You can't feel empowered all the time. It's only human that we feel weak and vulnerable at times. I want to hear about those sides of BP. It would humanize them rather than being idol robots that do whatever they're programmed to do.

Anyways, thank you for reading this post. I put several hours of research just to write this, no joke, but I enjoyed it.

This type of project would probably be better suited for YouTube but I'm just not a sit in front of a camera type of person. I enjoy writing though, so this seemed like a better fit for me.

Please, leave a comment on what you thought about BLACKPINK's "How You Like That" and maybe leave a suggestion for what K-POP topic I should review next (songs, albums, idols, groups, videos, etc.)

Until the next one,

Seaux Fí

•••

SOURCES

Wikipedia

Genius ("HYLT" English Translation)

BBC NEWS (BP: HYLT scores the biggest premiere in YouTube history)

kieltutin.com

guinnessworldrecords.com (BP's return sets new YouTube records with HYLT)

scmp.com (Did BP's HYLT video insult Hindu religion? Plus 4 more times K-POP's biggest girl group stoked controversy)

allkpop.com (forums: Jennie's Bindi Controversy)

kpopmap.com (BP talks about the choreography for HYLT, fashion and thoughts on breaking records)

r/unpopularkpopopinions (Mega Thread: BP - HYLT)

thespruce.com (The Proper Way to Display Ganesha)

#kpop #kpop bands #kpop girls #kpop opinions #blackpink #how you like that #blackpink how you like that #blackpink hylt #music #kpop songs

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