#anyways abdication for Wille always

[goldenwilmon]

I’ve always felt like “Matilda” is a very Wilhelm-coded song, but after watching ep5 in season 3, I feel that even more

Because

“You can let it go,

You can throw party full of everyone you know,

And not invite your family,

‘Cause they never showed you love,

You don’t have to be sorry for leaving and growing up.”

🥲🥲🥲🥲

[degreeofdisorder]

as someone who's both a staunch anti monarchist irl and yet is obsessed with fictional modern royalty stories, it is truly one of my greatest pleasures to know that they all end with the same conclusion: monarchies are unsustainable in the modern era and they're bad for everyone involved. and the happiest ending possible is freeing the royals from their shackles. bonus points if they abdicate for love. it's just so good. i eat it up every time.

[groenendaelfic]

do you think wille will/should abdícate in the future or do you think he’ll become king one day?

The way this is worded I am 99.9 percent sure this is one of my friends trolling me, but I'll bite anyway even if it is, so strap in, because I have many messy, convoluted THOUGHTS. (in case it isn't sorry for presuming Anon and thanks for your question and being curious about my opinion)

The reason why I think this is a friendly troll ask is because you can't make this an or question and I have been very vocal about that in the past. I mean you can, Young Royals fandom is doing it all the time everywhere, but you shouldn't and yes I'll keep being nitpicky about that.

Why? Because In the context of monarchies and royalty the word abdication only applies to crowned monarchs and yes it does make a difference.

Let me use a (simplified) irl example: Harry didn't abdicate, William can't abdicate (yet), only Charles can and only now that he's king. Charles could have given up his rights to the throne in favor of William when he was still Prince of Wales, but that wouldn't have been an abdication, not if he had done it before becoming King himself.

The same is true for Wilhelm. Wilhelm can only abdicate after ascending the throne. If he's not king, it's not an abdication.

Yes I'll keep harking on about this until the end of my days, because while it might not seem like a big deal what word you use here, it actually makes a big difference legally and politically and on all levels if it's a crowned monarch and head of state formally abdicating or if it's an heir giving up their place in the line of succession.

So what we're actually all discussing here (most of the time) is should Wilhelm give up his place in the line of succession and right to the throne, and my immediate reaction to that (after no, never, but also he's sixteen, it's way to soon for any of that) is, how and in what way?

We're all rooting for Wilhelm and want him to be happy, of course we are. Wilhelm is my absolute favorite, but I hate this trend in the fandom that's romanticizing what everyone likes to call "'Wille's abdication" or abolishing the monarchy in general, because just because "it's right", doesn't mean it's in any way easily or quickly done in a "haha and now Sweden no longer has a monarchy" kind of way. That's not how it works.

Don't get me wrong, I'll never romanticize the monarchy or any other systems enforcing hierarchies and inequality, not in irl nor in any of my fics. Tax billionaires until they aren't anymore, eat the rich and yes, of course get rid of all monarchies, but you can't just go "lol no longer a prince", especially when like Wilhelm, you're still a teenager and can't make a properly informed decision about what you're doing.

Now before you all come at me with pitchforks, of course teenagers can tell right from wrong and make informed decisions, but Wilhelm grew up not only with immense privilege, but also extremely sheltered and in a bubble. Yes he started out his first semester of 'high school' in a public school, but I promise you the majority of his classmates' parents weren't plumbers or tax accountants.

Wilhelm has no idea of real life, not even rich people real life. He doesn't go to the store or buy his own clothes, and neither do his parents, nor do they randomly go to restaurants or whatever. Wille has never been able to go out in public without being photographed and noticed and everyone making a fuss, and he has no idea how most things work because there's always staff doing everything for him quietly and in the background.

If, and I say if, Wilhelm is sure he wants to step back from his role, then he should still wait until his early to mid twenties before doing so, because doing so is complicated and not something he can change his mind about later. Also he needs to learn about normal life first.

But I digress. Lets say Wilhelm does want to give up the throne. He's brought it up himself as a possibility when he was still desperately trying to get Simon back in any way he could. That still makes him a prince and a duke.

He'd still be a member of the royal family/house (I hate how that seems to be used synonymously in English). Not being king wouldn't mean he wouldn't be expected to become a working member of the royal family once he's an adult, except now there'll be a different monarch, one he'll have to obey within the family hierarchy, and chances are it'll be August.

Okay, so we take this a step further. Wilhelm gives up his rights to the throne and doesn't become a working royal, but that would mean betraying his family (his words) and stepping away from them. Not just his parents but everything he's grown up with and everything he knows. And he'd still be a prince and a duke.

Wilhelm will never be Joe Average Wille (is Harry now? Was Diana? and neither of them were next in line), no matter how much he might want to, especially not after S02E06 and I know I've said it before but I'll say it again: he'll keep being hounded, he'll keep being seen as royalty, and the only thing that'll change is who pays for his security.

(which btw the security thing is no joke, I know Wilhelm has no Diana levels of celebrity yet, but he's now the first openly queer modern royal and heir to the Swedish throne, there will be significant international media interest and it will stay, especially now with smart phones being able to capture his every move, and I'm old enough to remember the shit show that happened when Diana no longer had official protection officers and police protection and it was not fun, hounded is an understatement and professional 24/7 security is expensive and private security will never be as good as those who also have government/Security Service resources)

Also I firmly believe that what Wilhelm hates is not being royalty or the future king, but being forced into a role, handed a script and expected to perform without any of his own input.

When that changes, and it will, his attitude towards it will also change.

People argue that he'll be happier once he gives up his place in the line of succession, but I disagree.

I think he might have been happier had he been born a normal kid, but also maybe not because then he'd be a very different person, so there's no telling, but he'd always live with the guilt of betraying his family and heritage, and people, both well meaning and not, will never let him forget that.

Yes he struggles now, and I don't want to make light of his struggles, but every teenager struggles with their identity and place in life and things will be different once he's grown up and more secure in himself.

My 'ideal' fantasy solution were this irl would be for Wilhelm to become the last King and to work with the government to ensure a smooth transition once he retires, because abolishing the Swedish monarchy is complicated, but do I think that'll actually happen? No. Because that's not the kind of person Wilhelm is.

Also Wilhelm has been born to immense wealth, privilege and soft power, all three of which he will to a degree keep all his life no matter what happens.

Of course he needs to put his own mental health and wellbeing first, and I'm aware that he never asked for any of this, but he still has it, and with that comes a duty, and I think it'd be absolutely selfish of him to just take that wealth, privilege and soft power and to let the "common people" deal with the mess he left behind, because let's not kid ourselves, if he announces he'll give up his throne tomorrow and sticks with it until he's eighteen and beyond, do you really think people in power won't do anything they can to keep the system in place?

Kristina loves her son and wants what's best for him, even if she's not the best parent, but she'll not dismantle the system for him.

She knew what August had done, and she still would've rather had him as heir instead of even so much as considering anything else.

The Royal Court most certainly won't, and even if the elected government wouldn't be opposed to getting rid of the monarchy (if, there's a chance but not a guarantee, depending who is in power when that happens), that's not the end of it.

You can't abolish the monarchy and keep the nobility (edit: as it's been pointed out you can in theory, but my point is that the nobility won't be happy about it because it's a threat to them as well, and not just socially, and why would a Sweden in the 21st century do one but not the other, elites don't like changes in the status quo, even if at first glance it doesn't directly affect them, and this does), and there will be plenty of people, both obscenely rich and averagely well off people, who will do their utmost to keep their position of privilege.

It will not only become a matter of equality, Sweden is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world. It'll be about history and heritage and tradition.

It'll be a giant mess and if it wants any chance of succeeding, it'll need someone in power to actively work towards it, someone whose position the monarchists and traditionalists and conservatives respect, and that has to be a King Wilhelm, not a Crown Prince Wilhelm or a Prince Wilhelm or a Joe Average Wille who took his wealth and privilege and soft power and ran away because he chose to be selfish and leave a system in place no one was better able to do something about than him.

Now of course I'm once again talking about an adult Wilhelm, canon Wilhelm is still a teenager and shouldn't have to deal with or worry about any of that, and he gets to want to be selfish, because he's sixteen, but he won't always be sixteen, and when he isn't any longer his outlook will have changed as well.

Now we come to another point though, and that is that Wilhelm is not a revolutionary. He has his own head and a temper and doesn't want to blindly do as he's told, but he's not the kind of person who goes and topples a system.

I don't even think Simon is. He wouldn't mind the monarchy being abolished, sure, but I don't think he has the energy to become a political activist and to fight the system all his life, especially in a life without Wilhelm.

With Wilhelm it's different, there I'm sure he'll use the power he has for good. He'd be aware that he can change things and do his best to choose his engagements carefully should he become a member of the royal family.

That said, in time I don't think Wilhelm will mind being King, not if he also gets to be with Simon at the same time, and I don't think he should give up his place in the line of succession.

Finally, and most importantly, because we're talking about a TV show and a fic fandom here and not irl, I love playing with the idea of the Royal Court, the Swedish upper class, and all the conservatives and monarchists having to (figuratively) bow and scrape to an openly queer, headstrong monarch and the gay, biracial love of his life who also happens to be the son of a poor, immigrant single mother, because that is a very, very cathartic thought, and so yeah, King Wilhelm and Prince/Duke/King Consort Simon all the way, always.

That's what drew me to this show in the first place, a queer Crown Prince, and not a random queer teenager going about his normal life. There're plenty of other (great) shows for that.

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Do you think the books could have had a Nikolina endgame ?

I don’t think it was possible in the sense that it was ever actually in the cards as a canon endgame. I feel pretty strongly that LB was decided on Malina from book one. And she’s said before that Nikolai was initially supposed to die in S&S, so he was only conceived of as a side character. Which makes it unlikely, in my opinion, that she ever sincerely considered him being elevated to an endgame love interest.

That being said, I think narratively, with all the existing scenes in the books, that it would have been really easy to have them be endgame. I say this obviously with some bias because while I heavily multiship, Nikolina is my favorite Alina ship. It is endgame in my heart and uh… in the show right now I guess! And while, of course, it is an entirely different ship and dynamic, the KoS duology, centering a Zoyalai endgame, with Zoya kind of awkwardly jammed into an Alina-esque role of grumpy rags to riches protagonist with suddenly discovered unique powers that have her lauded as a saint, does point to that being a solid conceptual trajectory?

Anyway yeah while I ship a lot of things, I don’t necessarily think they’re all narratively suited to being an endgame ship without major reworking of what canon is about. But I honestly think Nikolina would’ve been an improvement. Because on the one hand, the biggest issue with the R&R ending is Alina ending up exactly where she started, feeling like she’s being punished for attempting any growth at all. On the other, if the two major love interests represent “rule monstrously, give into power” vs “don’t rule at all, abandon everything and regress to the safe cage of your childhood” then Nikolai represents a good middle ground of “rule, but try your best; see what happens”

I like the way it would answer the question of the inherent corruptive quality of power, and the Darkling’s insistence that Alina will turn out just like him, almost with a question? Like Alina and Nikolai both have morally ambiguous sides, in the trilogy they’re both a little frightened by what they might be capable of in the name of the greater good.

The canon ending solves this by basically… removing the opportunity for corruption. This is true of Alina losing her powers and retreating to her childhood home, and honestly kind of true in KoS for Nikolai too where, firstly he seems to have completely lost any moral ambiguity whatsoever, but then he also abdicates the throne. And I don’t know I find that somewhat simplistic and boring! I enjoy the idealistic and hopeful but somewhat uneasy resolution of them both remaining in power, having decided to change things in Ravka for the better, and to maintain their morality basically through deliberate effort and compassion— with no firm guarantee that they will be successful on any of those counts.

I also just really enjoyed how they connected over shared trauma, and how they always got along and were fairly kind to each other? So an ending that focuses on them picking up the pieces together and being fairly uncertain about the future but willing to try their best, would’ve been very poignant and sweet to me!

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

I got a Q that came accidentally as a DM vs. an ask, so I'll just re-state it here and then answer it: "Why do you think Rohan wasn't concerned about Théodred being single and without children? Shouldn't they have wanted another heir to keep his line going if/when Théodred died?

So, first off, this does seem weird on the surface, at least relative to how many actual monarchies have worked. Queens have lived or died, wars were fought, and entire nations fell when a monarch failed to produce a clear heir. So you'd think that Théodred, being in his 40s, would be considering that need. But maybe not! As shown in the Théodred fic I’m in the middle of rolling out, my personal HC for him is that he held out against marriages of convenience or alliance to have a real love match instead, and he didn't find that until close enough to his (untimely) death that the marriage itself never happened. But he also just didn't feel the call to parenthood—not all of us do!—and was more than happy to pass everything to Éomer and his descendants when he died. After all, he loved Éomer as something between a brother and a son, and that's classic heir territory. So he didn't need to rush into marriage or kids because he was comfortable with Éomer as his own heir and had made that clear enough that it was accepted.

Canonically, of course, there's no evidence for that. But there's also no evidence that Théodred's situation is all that odd in late Third Age Middle Earth. There's almost no one of any significance in the story who is married or actively raising children until the very end of ROTK. Galadriel, Bombadil, some minor hobbits, Beregond...these folks are the exceptions, not the rule. Everyone else is unmarried or widowed (or whatever you call what happened to Elrond), and the younger generation is childless—even the other hereditary heirs to power: Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas, Elladan & Elrohir, Pippin, etc.

There’s a range of reasons for that. We're told dwarves just don't put a lot of priority on marriage. The elves are fading, so they've got other things on their minds, and they tend not to have children during times of war and strife anyway. Gondor is described as a land “falling into dotage” and decreasing in population so there’s almost an element of fading there, too, though of a different kind. The Shire is the one place where there does seem to be a lot more marriage and childrearing happening, so it's probably more of a coincidence that our 5 main hobbit characters (incl. Bilbo) just happen not to be among them at the time of the story, either because of age or queerness or some other reason particular to just those individuals vs hobbit culture as a whole.

That leaves Rohan, and I'm not sure I have a super satisfying answer. Théoden's family does appear much less uptight about issues of inheritance and power and heritage than you'd think. His father very nearly abdicated the throne, and Théoden himself is kind of shockingly casual about the transfer of power when he tells the Rohirrim to just "choose a new lord as you will" should both he and Éomer die in battle. (Were we one hot nephew away from Rohan having the first democratically elected head of state in all of Middle Earth??) If the royal family felt that way, perhaps they were just reflecting a broader culture that was more comfortable with the idea of power not always going linearly from father to son and so setting up those lines through marriage and babies was not as important to them. In that case, Théoden might have been willing not to force his son into a marriage he didn't want, and Théodred may have felt more free to take his time deciding on things. All of which brings me back in the direction of my own HC, so I guess that feels satisfying enough to me!

[angelasscribbles]

In Your Room Chapter 10: Let's Get Married

Series: In Your Room

Fandom: TRR                    

Pairings: Leo x Drake

Rating: Pretty G

Warnings for this chapter: none

Song Inspiration for the series: In Your Room by The Bangles

Word Count: 1,773

A/N: So one night a bunch of us were playing around with the incorrect quote generator and I promised @whatwouldvalerydo that if I ever wrote this proposal, I would tag them so here we are and here it is!

This hits two of the themes for the @choicespride pride month prompts: Marriage and Royalty and the @choicesficwriterscreations Pride bingo space for Family, and @choicesjunechallenge for Proposal.

Brief summary so far for anyone new to this series: Leo Rys, the crown prince of Cordonia gives into long repressed desires when a dare is thrown down. He becomes more and more involved with his younger brother's best friend until feelings can no longer be hidden. But his father isn't about to let the heir to the throne come out publicly and convinces Drake that if he loves Leo, he'll leave him. Drake leaves, but a heartbroken Leo abdicates the throne for love and follows him all the way to Texas.

My other stuff: Master List.

The Jaguar Hills Ranch was decked out in wedding finery. Fall colors adorned everything. Pumpkins and bales of hay were scattered strategically around the open clearing behind the main house. Lanterns were strung from the sprawling back porch to the open-air barn that was itself filled with decorated tables, an open bar and a dance floor. Twinkle lights twined in the branches of all the trees bordering the clearing. A massive arch made of orange and white flowers was centered in the clearing.

For the first time in his adult life, Leo was happy.

He had abdicated the throne and upped sticks, leaving behind not just the crown but the weight of his father’s judgements.

“You want to abdicate the throne so you can be with Drake?” Liam sounded far too happy about the news.

Leo didn’t think he was getting it, “Yes, but-“

“No buts! That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time, Leo! You both deserve to be happy and-“

“Yeah, but Liam, listen!” Leo grunted in frustration, “That means all of the responsibly gets dumped in your lap!”

Liam paused for a long moment, the smile fading from his face as he contemplated that. “That’s true….but you’ll be free to be with the person you love, Leo. And I’ve had all the same training you have. I can do it. I’m ready.”

Liam looked so goddamn resolute Leo wanted to cry, “I love you for that, but have you truly thought about how this will change your life?”

A bright smile broke out across his brother’s face, “Not that much, to be honest. I was always going to play a huge role in your cabinet. This just means I’ll have a bigger role in Cordonia’s future, but other than that, nothing really changes for me.”

“Dad will expect you to pick a wife at the next social season,” Leo blew out a breath as his fingers fidgeted with his ear, “Are you ready for marriage?”

The smile on Liam’s face grew ever bigger, “Can I show you something?”

“Sure.”

Liam produced a ring box from his pocket and opened it, thrusting it toward Leo, “It was mom’s. I’m going to ask Riley to marry me! I was going to ask her anyway, so this changes nothing.”

“Wow!” Leo’s mouth fell open as he took the ring and stared down at it, “You’re really serious huh?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Liam asked, retrieving the box and closing it, “She’s amazing and I’d be a fool not to recognize that.”

“Shouldn’t you talk to her about if she’s willing to be queen?”

“We’ve talked about it.” Liam told him as he returned the crushed velvet box to his jacket pocket, “theoretically of course. Me being the spare has always carried the possibility that I could be thrust into your shoes. While I certainly hoped nothing bad ever happened to you, I always knew the person I married would have to be okay with the existence of that possibility.”

Leo stared at his younger brother in shock as a disbelieving laugh spilled out of him, “How the hell did you get so to be so goddamned mature and so much more emotionally aware than your older brother?”

Liam shrugged, “Maybe because I wasn’t forced to hide who I really am my entire life. It’s not right, the way dad has treated you.”

Leo felt tears well up in his eyes, “You’re really okay with this?”

“Are you kidding? My brother and my best friend being happy together? I am more than okay with it!”

Leo pulled his younger sibling into a tight embrace as he whispered, “Thank you!”

Leo’s eyes scanned the crowd of their loved ones. Friends and family. Everyone was there.

Well, almost everyone.

Not that he’d expected his father or his stepmother to attend. Constantine was still angry with him for…well, all of it. The abdication, the engagement to Drake, which the tabloids had picked up on. Even in America, the doings of a self-deposed prince were still fodder for the gossip mill.

The public at large couldn’t get enough of it.

His actions were reviled in the most repressive regimes and by the conservative half of his home country but celebrated by the rest of the world.

His adopted home, America, had been mostly welcoming, segments of it even rejoicing over the choices he had made for love. Love. His chest tightened as he glanced across the clearing at the man that would be his husband in less than an hour.

Drake’s family was gathered in the great room, laughing over a game of charades. Even after months of living with them, Leo was still amazed at the easy, comfortable way they interacted with each other. It was nothing like the way he had been raised. Being there was healing. Being accepted for who he was, and as a part of their family, was a balm to his troubled soul.

As the night wound down, he was seized with an impulse. Something he had been agonizing over suddenly seemed obvious and easy.

“Hey, babe,” he grabbed Drake by the hand as the other man walked passed him.

“Yeah?”

Leo smiled, impressed with his own inspiration, “I have a riddle for you.”

“Okay…”

“Do you want to know what your gay name is?”

“My gay name?”

“Yeah, your gay name!”

Drake shook his head with a laugh, “Are you drunk?”

“No. Yes. Maybe a little, but come on. Don’t you want to know?”

“Okay, I’ll play along,” Drake turned to him expectantly, “What is my gay name?”

“Well…it’s your first name…”

“Right….” Drake started to turn away, but Leo pulled him back. When Drake turned back to him, Leo slid down to one knee. Drake’s eyes widened, “What are you doing?”

“Your first name, and my last name….”

“What?”

“Or I don’t know….I could take your name?” After all, his last name was synonymous with his father, homophobia and bad parenting whereas the Walker family had welcomed him with open arms.

“Leo, are you serious?”

“I told you the day I got here that I wanted to marry you! Didn’t you believe me?”

“Yeah, but….I didn’t think…I mean….are you sure?” A hint of uncertainty flitted through Drake’s eyes. Leo knew he still harbored some idea that he hadn’t been worth abdicating the throne for. He was wrong. Being loved by Drake was worth everything.

Leo sprang to his feet, “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life! Stop doubting yourself! You’re amazing, and everyone knows it but you! Now, are you going to give me an answer or are you going to leave me hanging?”

“Goddamn it, Leo!” Drake wiped at his eyes, “You’re going to make me cry! Again! Of fucking course I’ll marry you!”

Leo was happy. He didn’t miss his father, or his stepmother’s presence. His brother and sister-in-law were there for him. His best friend, Olivia, was there along with her now live in girlfriend, Hana.  

But still. There was something…someone missing.

He sighed as he watched Bianca fuss with Drake’s tie.

Leo had been deprived of a loving mother not once, but twice in his young life. He barley remembered Helena; he’d been so young when she’d left. Eleanor had been kind and loving and treated him no differently than she had Liam. She had considered him her son too, in more than just name and Leo had been happy again, for a while. Her death had been as hard on him as it had on his brother.

Bianca made her way over to Leo next, “Well, I came to help you with your tie, but I see you don’t need it.”

Leo gave her a dimpled smile, “Side effect of being a prince I suppose. Dressing well is literally in the job description. I could tie a tie before I could tie my shoes.”

Bianca reached up and pinched his cheeks, “I love that smile!” She’d sure seen a lot of it since he’d been at the ranch.

And not just his. She shot a quick glance at her son who was beaming with joy as he laughed with his sister and a group of his childhood friends. She’d never seen him so happy, and she was grateful for it. She couldn’t doubt Leo’s love for him, he’d given up a throne and a crown to be with him. Not only that, but he’d come to the ranch ready to pitch in and work. She couldn’t imagine anyone better to have as a son-in-law.

Leo caught her hand in his with a rare earnestness in his eyes, “Thank you, Bianca. For everything.”

“You’re welcome, Leo,” she shook her head with a smile, “But you’ve given as much to this family as it has to you. I’m not pushing, and you don’t have to if you’re not comfortable with it, but you can call me mom if you want.”

A lump rose up in his throat. He absolutely wanted to. Before he could respond, a commotion at the gate drew his attention. Security was arguing with a woman. A woman who looked dressed to attend a wedding. “What the hell?” His eyes tracked from the gate to Bianca to Drake then back again.

Drake was on the other side of the clearing, oblivious to the ruckus going on as his sister tried unsuccessfully to fix his hair. He swiped at her hand and knocked the brush to the ground. Leo could hear Savanah’s frustrated yelp from where he was standing.

“Let’s go find out,” Bianca headed toward the gate and Leo strode after her. Bianca had welcomed him into her home and her family. She had treated him as another child. He was not about to let her deal with whatever was happening at the gate without backup. It was probably just an overzealous reporter, but still.

They closed the distance quickly.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the guard was pushing the woman back toward the gate, “it’s by invitation only.”

“How did you let a reporter get past the main gate?” Bianca demanded.

“Sorry, Mrs. Walker, she just-“

“I’m not a reporter!”

Something about that voice struck a chord deep inside Leo. He froze as he tried to get a look at her. “Stop! Let her go!”

The bodyguard looked to Bianca for confirmation. When she nodded, he released the woman. The guard stepped away leaving him an unobstructed view of a tall, middle-aged, blond-haired woman with the same ocean blue eyes he saw in the mirror every morning.

A multitude of emotions hit him in the chest all at once, “Mom?”

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

hiiiii bestie i have ended up watching both seasons e5 of yr tonight and i had some THOUGHTS so like sorry that this is gonna be long and very rambley but im gonna (....mostly) copy it from my book since thats where i wrote it down dfhkgdhg

so during the phone call after the suit fitting in s2, Kristina tells Wille "sometimes we have to put our own needs aside" and this is probably her training talking, im sure, but i wonder if it plays as part of the catalyst for Wille giving Simon the reins in the "this is the situation" scene outside Simon's house later. like,,, aside from the reveal of August being Wille's backup, i always felt like there was something more that happened with Wille in this scene and idk why i feel like this could be it??

bc pairing this with both of the music room fights (s2e5 AND s1e5)... there's a feeling and mention both times about how Wille is not considering Simon's needs or feelings, and both times he's only protecting himself. but his mom tells him that he has to learn to put his own needs aside, and i wonder if that was an "OH" moment for him ya know?? this happens not too long after the s2 music room fight so it's not too much of a leap??

but then of course, Wille is also influenced by Boris before he goes to Simon's, but i think both Kristina AND Boris ultimately played a big factor in what happens.

because Boris' advice is about being himself, and being his own person, and being able to make that choice, which plays directly into his conclusion that he could abdicate if he has August as a failsafe. it's an option that (i think, personally) he hadn't actually considered a real option. but now Boris is helping him see that it IS a choice he could make.

but it's Kristina's words that cause him to give that choice away. it is no longer his choice, but Simon's. he wants Simon to choose, because despite what Wille wants or needs, what is important is what Simon wants or needs.

anyway that was a BIGG thought i had and idk if it makes any sense to anyone but me but i wanted to share <3 this is what i get for watching yr at 4am.

BONUS THOUGHT: this one isn't recent, i have no idea when i wrote it down, but here is a much smaller additional thought from the yr book: the way that the sound cuts out when Simon is with Marcus >>> during karaoke, during the rowing competition, after Wille leaves him at the ball...... is it a manifestation of Simon's anxiety?

that is all for now ok ily have a wonderful day darling <3

Hi bestie!

I definitely think that Kristina and Boris both played a part in convincing Wilhelm to have the "this is how it is, this is how I feel" conversation, even though they didn't know it. They each gave him half of the solution. Kristina tells him that sometimes he has to put his own needs aside: "this is how it is." And Boris then gives him a sense of permission to put himself first: "this is how I feel."

And I also agree that the argument was the first event in the domino effect of that. He had the argument and was like "shit" so he went to his mother, and then his mother said what she said, so then he went to Boris. And that all led to "this is how it is, this is how I feel."

So, yeah. I agree, obviously. You have good thoughts.

As for the bonus thought: that makes a lot of sense. Music is Simon's safe space, so when the music goes out....

It's also common that when Simon gets angry or upset, the shot goes out of focus. Which I think is a neat little quirk.

Anyway, love you! Have a good night.

[justfriendsbestthings]

Ive started the Crown and the way the Queen Mother blames the older brother for abdicating because that killed the younger brother in the long run as he took on the role of king.

Anyway, lots of Wille feelings. Lots of feelings about real monarchies which are always always bad, but I do love fictional ones which this one is not really as it’s all based on real events and a real family. Kind of.

[purplehoodiesimon]

I want wille to crash and burn down the monarchy while being a part of the monarchy and everything that previous, wille future king supporters have already said. BUT I feel like that will reduce the chances of wilmon being endgame.

Wille comes out as queer to the whole nation and all of that and he and simon sort everything out and go public because of course they love each other. but again is that love always enough to sustain a relationship? that when you are the first public queer royalty couple. yeah sweden is progressive and all that but it won't be fun and games at all. a public relationship is anyway pretty challenging and when you're in a queer public relationship with your partner being a poc, gay man in a VERY white nation, how accepting will the people be towards simon and how will simon deal with all of that? no matter how much wille or the royal family tries to protect simon and his family, it'll never be pretty imo. and yeah we can be like they won't give a fuck about what people think and blah blah, but how realistic is that thought? the monarchy is supposed to serve the people, and their opinions and acceptance towards them will always be important no matter how much we would like to think otherwise.

I've read wilmon fics where simon "arranges" to the royal lifestyle, and they're written very well and I love reading them but I feel like that will be kind of ooc of simon. and it'll be asking too much out of simon to change his lifestyle and mannerisms in order to "fit" into the royal family.

So all in all i don't know what i want!!! i want wille to be the future king who's proudly queer and changes the whole picture of bland ass monarchy but at the same time I don't want simon to give up on his previous life just in order to just be with wille and I also want wille to be able to live his life on his own terms. as long as he'll be a part of the monarchy even as an out and proud queer king, he'll never have the kind of autonomy or freedom that he desires.

They can definitely take the route where wilmon initially get together and then realise that it ain't gonna work because of the monarchy. and they then focus on wille's personal growth as a queer king and simon moving on with his life and them ending on happy terms and all that. and them gradually finding other people. and wilmon just being one of those "love is not always enough for sustaining a relationship" past couples. but I won't be able to take that becs no matter how beautifully they do it, for me nothing is above wilmon being endgame 😬

In conclusion, I'm very conflicted about this whole thing <3

You have perfectly summed up my feeling on the matter. I feel like Lisa has really set it up such that either option would have it's pros and cons and it really is a hard decision—just as it would be irl for a monarch abdicating vs burning it down. I mean just that alone is a hard decision and then you factor in Simon's dislike of the monarchy and public life, Wilhelm's anxiety and desire to be normal, the fact that they're queer, how the monarchy could just continue on after he leaves, how being a queer King would make history, etc etc. It's really been set up such that both ways could be correct. Like in my opinion, there is no wrong decision here. It could honestly go either way and either way the decision will be made with a lot of care and nuance (on both Lisa and Wilhelm's part).

[nuoyipeach]

Five Senses - Part Two

Chapter Five

As much as her mother didn't want Seulgi to go through this, she knew she'd be left heartbroken otherwise. She agreed to Taeyong's request, to take Seulgi to dinner with him where they could, as he hoped, find a way to solve their issue.

Taeyong had it all planned. He knew she wouldn't agree to just staying out of his family, what happened isn't something she can simply leave out of her life and move on from. So he had it all prepared, or at least he hoped he did.

His leg shook with anxiety as he waited for the mother and daughter to arrive. He reserved a private room at an expensive restaurant, wanting everything to go perfectly. There was a knock at the door and he froze as Seulgi's mother first entered and smiled softly.

Taeyong stood up immediately and bowed. "Hello, thank you so much for coming." he looked back up to see Seulgi in shock, evident her mother didn't tell her about this meet-up. Before she could say anything he went closer and held her hand. "Please listen to me. I'm willing to do anything to solve this, please."

She took deep breaths, and a look at her a mother, and finally decided to just sit. The two women sat on the opposite side next to each other, Taeyong pouring them some water before sitting calmly himself. "I know everything now, and so do my siblings. Well, some of us at least... We can't take it too far though, my mother doesn't want another war to break out, especially between family." he heard Seulgi sigh at this, rolling her eyes as she looked away. "I'm willing to compromise."

She turned to him at this, staring confused at him. "What compromise are you willing to do?"

"Abdicate."

Both Seulgi and her mother sat shocked. Taeyong was the eldest son, naturally making him next in line to the throne, and leaving such a big responsibility behind was not easy. And as much as the palace angered her, the last thing Seulgi wanted to do was tear apart a family.

She noticed his hopeful eyes, and thought of what to say. "Taeyong... that won't work." she managed to let out, and could tell he definitely was not expecting her response.

"Why? I want to be with you Seulgi, and if that means leaving behind a corrupt royal life, then so be it." he got up and switched over to the chair next to her, holding her hands in both his. "I love you Seulgi, I don't want to live a life without you, or one where you're always upset."

"Taeyong..." she sighed, finally turning to him and holding his hands as well, which gave him slight hope. "I love you too... and if it weren't for all this I would've never left you. But you have to understand I can't be around the palace, especially not your father. And for you to just up and leave your life isn't something I can live with the guilt of. I don't want to break you away from the rest of your family, especially your siblings. And what good would you leaving do anyways? Your father's actions can't be reversed..."

"What if they could?" the two turned to her mother, who looked as if a light bulb appeared on her head.

Seulgi stared at her mother confused. "Mum what do you mean?"

"Taeyong's crown prince, isn't he?" the two nod. "Seulgi, you'd be queen. What if you can reverse the actions of his father? Kings have certain powers that the rest never could, how else could his father break the soulmate rule. As crown prince you'll learn of these powers, and maybe you can start undoing the damages of his actions."

+++

[emmys-grimoire]

Lesson 56 analysis + 57 predictions

I was right and wrong! Nothing unusual.

The Belphie-Diavolo arc continues and we go to meet up with Diavolo, only to discover it wasn't him who paged us, but his captor. We go to confront the captor who threatens us with a gun and Diavolo seems pretty carefree and oblivious about the man's true intent until he freaks out and attempts to shoot Belphie. MC can use their magic to protect him, but he informs us that bullet don't harm him anyway. A lightbulb seems to finally go off in Diavolo's head and he realizes what is happening, and he transforms and seems adamant about punishing the assailant. Belphie learns how much Diavolo cares about him and goes all tsundere-y throughout the rest of the lesson.

The big thing that happens is the Diavolo background bits and his confession + kiss. I anticipate there was much squeeing, but it was pretty standard confession fare. I have a harder time getting into it because we didn't really have any big bonding moment with him prior to him apparently falling for us.

But whatever. There are some interesting bits to comb through!

Raphael: Misunderstood?

We find out in the beginning of this lesson that Belphegor has a much higher opinion of Raphael than the rest of the brothers, that seems to have stemmed from Raphael once saving him when he got lost in the forest back in the Celestial Realm.

Up until this point, all associations with Raphael have been negative. This gives us some background on why he might be irritable and snide all the time, because Michael is also noted to be a sadist by Simeon, who enjoys making harsh demands of his underlings. He might be a hint resentful and taking it out on the brothers? That might be multiplied if Michael clearly goes easier on them due to favoritism in spite of all their troublemaking. I think that'd kind of make sense.

They like to put emphasis on how secretly malevolent the Seraphim are -- that they're duplicitously evil. Not sure how much they're actually trying to hide it, though? It sounds like Raphael was pretty upfront about how he felt about everything.

Diavolo's Flaws

We find out that Diavolo is actually aware of his penchant for using his royal status to get those around him to do what he wants. We also find out that his mother died giving birth to him, and his father was very strict in raising him. He was sheltered, and not allowed to speak with anyone outside of the castle.

Getting Tywin Lannister vibes. Diavolo isn't sure whether or not his father hates him for being responsible for his beloved wife's death.

In spite of being sheltered from the outside world, Diavolo still manages to meet Barbatos, which I think confirms that Barbatos was not always in their service. I was wrong that Barbatos's employment was connected to his father's machinations, though: it was Diavolo who twisted his arm into it, because Diavolo desperately wanted a friend and became enamored with the stories of the outside world that Barbatos told him.

Diavolo threatened to abdicate his throne if Barbatos didn't stay. Which is actually... kind of an asshole move? I imagine he refused for a reason, and Diavolo taking the throne was apparently very important to his father (and probably the Devildom as a whole if the succession would be muddled).

I don't think at this point Barbatos minds, but I wouldn't blame him if he initially did resent Diavolo.

Diavolo has demonstrated he has the ability to sense lies and he's a good judge of character, so him being unable to ascertain whether or not his father or Barbatos really likes him seems noteworthy. I think Barbatos is the best fake smiler among them, but he's been at Diavolo's side the longest.

He has a surprising amount of insecurities when it comes to his closest relationships, but I'm afraid a lot of it is his own fault: if he hadn't extorted Barbatos and instead Barbatos entered his service of his own free will, he probably wouldn't need to second guess the butler's intentions. Additionally, if he didn't demand Lucifer make a vow in exchange for his sister's life, there's a chance that maybe it'd be easier for Lucifer to open up and get closer to him like a friend naturally would.

And then maybe he wouldn't have spent most of season 2 worrying over how Lucifer may respond to bad news!

But he's growing out of it. Sort of. I'd be wary of him trying to strongarm MC into a decision they may not necessarily want to make, though, even now. Maybe especially now given his apparent attachment to them.

Barbatos scheming

Barbatos is being schemey!

I have a feeling this involves the information Luke relayed to him about a potential rift growing between Michael and Simeon. I would not be surprised if Barbatos has actually peered into the future and knows what Michael might be planning, and he's positioning himself to counter it.

I was hoping hard mode or the subnode would shed more light on what this conversation entailed, but nope, it was just more fluff. I doubt they were just discussing dinner, though.

Predictions

This lesson was more Diavolo-centric than I expected but that's hardly unwelcome. Like expected, it was a good fluffy lesson in spite of the, uh, grim background.

The brothers behaved for once and didn't intrude upon our bonding experience with Diavolo and Belphegor.

We didn't actually receive a star for this trial, which is... odd. Maybe we'll receive it in the beginning of the following lesson, or perhaps this romp wasn't a trial? It'd be the first one that wasn't. I'll be really surprised if they go for another twofer and don't give Lucifer his own special arc.

I was expecting to be rewarded our star and having the lesson end on a cliffhanger but it feels like the next lesson will be the beginning of the final arc. Outside of Barbatos's potential maneuvering, we weren't given any further information on what Michael may be planning.

If Season 2's format is any indicator, the next lesson is when everything suddenly hits the fan. I sense another sudden exposition dump on the horizon.

They did mention going to yet another space-themed park but that sounds like it'd be too... samey. Also not a place that sounds like it'd be Lucifer's cup of tea.

I'd be willing to bet Barbatos will play a part in the finale and by extension so will time travel (again), but other than that I got nothing. If Michael is aware of Barbatos's powers -- and he may very well be -- maybe he'll be the one who manages one hell of a Xanatos Gambit and try to turn it to his advantage. I'd be surprised if he wasn't similarly prepared, particularly if he's plotted and meddled with Devildom affairs in the past.

But I'm not even entirely sure what he really wants yet, and that drives everything.

The most straightforward motivation would be getting the brothers back, but he must know they would never willingly go back presently and we're not even entirely sure daddy would want them back. I theorized that he might be trying to get MC to turn the demon brothers back to their angel selves but there really hasn't been much progress shown in that regard.

I do expect our meddling in the flashbacks will have some unforeseen consequences which Michael alluded to, but I still don't know exactly what and I'm not entirely convinced that they will actually be to his benefit.

He might want to change the past, prevent whatever triggered Lucifer to start hating their father and/or stop him from meeting Diavolo and growing more and more doubtful about the Celestial Realm's intent... but he already had that opportunity when MC went back in time, and he would have to find a way to manipulate Barbatos into getting him to that specific point in time. If he's in league with Solomon, he could feasibly do that via the pact but...

Are we really betting on a villainous Michael-Solomon tag team? idk man

And Barbatos can just eliminate that timeline fork with a snap of his fingers, like he did before.

I guess I'm finding out along with you guys. Again!

[tamikc]

&&. announcing her royal highness, ( tamiko ), the ( 28 ) year old ( princess ) of ( japan ). she is often confused with ( fumika baba ). some say that she is ( impulsive and meddlesome ), but she is actually ( insightful and amiable ).

idek where to begin so i’ll jump right in with her info sksksks, somewhat proofread but most likely a mess

content warning: mentions of death and car accident

the third-born princess, tamiko is the baby of the imperial family. seeing as the attention was nearly always on her older brother, tamiko became her sister’s shadow. fumiko was poised yet opinionated, strong-willed yet open-minded. tamiko would be lucky to become half the woman she was. she was close with her brother as well, but not nearly on the same caliber – he was busy being prepped for the throne anyway.

arts were pressed upon them just as formal education was, tamiko choosing nihonga (japanese painting) and violin. she knew from a young age she wouldn’t have much influence in the courts, so she focused on her education and using what she learned to help people. architecture had always interested her, considering most large cities were left building up and not out, and japan was full of historic, ancient buildings as well as towering glass skyscrapers.

fumiko’s departure for europe and america brought an odd emptiness to the palace. tamiko called and sent letters and some of her paintings, but nothing beat the rare visits fumiko blessed them with (usually at tamiko’s pleading).

their father’s passing rocked tamiko’s world. she’d been closer with him than with her mother, and her siblings were off living their own lives. tamiko’s calls to her sister increased with the growing loneliness, often requesting to see her in person as soon as possible.

knowing her sister formed her own path in education, tamiko realized she had the opportunity to pursue her own passions too. only after applying and being accepted to tokyo university of the arts did she share the news with her family — imagination told her seiji would’ve been proud and encouraging.

she attended her first courses for architecture in autumn 2012, and she continued to study nihonga on the side. in autumn 2013, her third year, she participated in an exchange program with école des beaux-arts and spent the school year in paris. here, the university introduced her to louise, tamiko’s own personal welcoming committee. they befriended each other, and tamiko even attended louise’s commencement ceremony at the end of the school year.

tamiko finished her undergraduate work back in japan and subsequently began her master’s. a few short years later after that and she was beginning the doctorate program. if her sister could earn a doctorate, so could she, and tamiko could move on from being just the baby of the family. royal duties were far and few between, mostly only appearances and photo-ops.

masahiko’s decline was slow but somewhat noticeable if one paid attention, tamiko’s comments of worry brushed off with a stern look and mention of heir stress. she didn’t think anything past that, her only stress was school, so perhaps her mother had been right about the way the crown prince had been acting. the tailspin of the accident changed the imperial family’s course, fumiko announced as the new heir and their brother abdicating. tamiko would never admit this aloud, but a strange giddiness filled her — her sister would have to come home, they’d be able to see each other more (so long as crown duties didn’t interfere and send the older woman spiraling down the same path). tamiko visited her brother often, bringing a new painting each time to spruce up the drab hospital room, and she continues to send him her work now that he and his family are living outside palace walls.

now, tamiko has unofficially declared herself fumiko’s right hand (she’d never say such in front of their mother), but she’s in her final year for her doctorate and has an opportunity to be involved in royal doings.

extra: tamiko speaks before thinking, often blurting out her opinions without considering the emotions of others (she’s done this with fumiko on a few occasions and always apologizes with a sorry and a sheepish smile). she’s always planning ahead, whether it be trips or events she wants to go to, turning eighteen and attending college gave her a whole new sense of freedom. this may come off as impulsive to some, but in reality she’s known about her plans all along and ends up having to decide between her interests or those of her loved ones. while she never thought she’d actually be able to do anything with architecture, with fumiko lined up to take the throne, she might be able to squeeze her ideas in after all.

plots:

friends from paris — she was there from 2013-2014

childhood friends

brief exes/flings

art buddies

ppl who don’t like her ?? idk 

gossip buddies

idk the sky’s the limit

[mollyencrypted]

So, the King Lear On The Continent AU (AKA, the one where @inexplicifics' Warlord Geralt keeps getting dragged into everyone else's petty political bullshit, and Cordelia has rather complicated feelings about her terrible family):

The thing is, Cordelia is not a politically savvy woman. She isn't cunning as her sisters are, cannot play the games of flattery and falsehood that will allow her to survive. What she is is observant. She listens, she talks to people, and she knows that in the Wolf's lands the people have well-kept roads and well-stocked stores, the peasantry can afford to change their clothes, there are no unscrupulous nobles diverting the wealth of their people into their own purses. And in the Wolf's lands, the exiled third daughter of a senile King from a country that few people even remember exists might have prospects outside of a whorehouse or gutter. Might even have a chance to save her family from themselves.

The court sorceress, Lady Miranda, is young and naïve, barely more than a student, and cannot reconcile Cordelia's unjust banishment with her image of Lear the benevolent, the just, the noble, but Cordelia has always counted her as a friend, and so whilst her father professes not to care where she ends up, be it desert or marshland or the bottom of the sea, Miranda hears her request to be portalled to Wolvenberg.

In Wolvenberg, she steels herself, squares her shoulders, tries to capture that same indomitable spirit that runs through her sisters, and that once ran through their mother too. And she walks into the closest inn - the Griffin's Eyrie, and scans the interior. There's a group of Witchers drinking in the corner - she's thought they might be there, if they're anything like her father's soldiers - and she strides up to them, trying very hard to ignore the fact that she is very young, and not very skilled in self-defense, and these men are very big. And she drops to one knee, and begs them to escort her to the Wolf, where she might request sanctuary. She's expecting them to leer or look down her dress or...well, she's not really sure what else and doesn't want to know either, but the point is, they don't do any of those things. One of them gives her a hand and helps her up, and his companions finish up their drinks, and nobody seems at all suspicious of her motives, and isn't that peculiar? But now is not the time to be unpacking all of that.

She spends three days with the four Witchers - Griffins, she learns, on their way back from a hunt - who continue to treat her courteously and not very much like her father's soldiers at all, before they finally reach Kaer Morhen and she is brought before the White Wolf, Warlord of the North, and hopes that behind that unreadable expression is a heart that will see fit to help her. She tells him about her father, his failing mind and growing ego and the way she and her sisters - sharp-tongued Goneril and volatile Regan - grew up, always competing with each other for his love and attention, the way he has now left himself at the mercy of two women who have no reason to love him back, raised with the knowledge that they will never be as good as sweet demure Cordelia and faced with the sight of him casting aside even her, and she begs him to please, help her fix it, because she knows she has every right to resent him and she does but she still doesn't want him dead and her sisters will show no mercy.

As she speaks, she feels rather foolish for daring to think that the most powerful man on the Continent would listen to the pleas of a disgraced ex-princess from a nowhere-country, but when she is finished he hmms and retreats to speak with his Council. And Cordelia is lead away by a young woman in a blue-and-red silk dress, who introduces herself as Milena and offers to help her clean herself up.

In the end, the decision is made that the Wolf will not invade Cordelia's former homeland (and she's relieved at that), but that he'll lend her a small force, comprised of eight Griffins, to provide numbers and Lambert, to speak for the Wolf and guard her and Milena, who is apparently his wife (or something like that, Cordelia isn't sure) and whose presence will hopefully make it clear that this is very much not an invasion (and also to stab anyone who gets too close to Cordelia and shouldn't be there.)

Cordelia's terrible family end up gathered in one of the council chambers, and Cordelia gets to work, with her escorts staring down anybody attempting to object. Her father has formally abdicated the throne and isn't in a fit mental state to re-ascend anyway; she asks his cousin if he'll be willing to host the old king at his estate, and that's that problem taken care of. His cousin, whom she's always called 'uncle', is just as short-sighted as he is, but he's loyal and trustworthy and will ensure he spends the rest of his days in comfort.

Finding someone to take the throne is a little harder - her father has no sons, neither of her sisters can be trusted with that much power, and she herself is certainly out of the running - but her uncle's eldest son is of royal blood and is a truly good and responsible man. He's almost as naïve as she once was, but his brother is anything but, and although he's technically illegitimate, giving him a title and land of his own ought to keep him loyal enough to the new King that he'll make a decent advisor. Both her sisters would have been far happier in the military, but there's nothing Cordelia can do about that, and so she requests that they be given advisory positions too, and her father's former chief advisor, blunt and honest, to appoint anybody else necessary and keep them in line.

Cordelia herself cannot stay in the kingdom, although now-King Edgar has rescinded her banishment. She cannot remain in court after bringing the Wolf's forces upon the country, and she cannot bear to stay with her father after his treatment of her (she loves him, but she does not like him especially much, after all of this), and so she returns to Kaer Morhen. And...it's good, is what it is. Witchers can smell lies, it turns out, and so people are honest in a way her father's court rarely was, and she makes friends quickly - Milena, Oliwia, Aleksander, Jaskier... and maybe they haven't found a real job for her yet, but she can sew and spin and sing a little bit. She'll make a place for herself here somehow, and she'll work through her complicated mess of feelings eventually.

It's going to be alright.

No, really.

[fantasyinvader]

Beat Binding Blade tonight

So, right off the bat I'm going to admit. I abused the arena and save states. This is a really, really hard game. And while I enjoyed it, I'm going to give three things I didn't like about it.

1)Enemy reinforcements arrive at the end of the player phase, and can attack during the enemy phase. That is unfair, especially when I assume that parking a unit on the spawn point will prevent them (It doesn't) or my healer just happens to be in the area. I like difficult games, but when I fail at something in those I want to feel like it's my fault for doing so. When I die in Bloodborne or lose a unit in Fates Conquest, I'm willing to accept it because I felt it was fair (plus I'll just restart the chapter in Conquest anyway). I could have not died if I had played a little better. This game was not fair when it did that.

2)The supports. A lot of the stuff about the characters is locked away in their supports, since this is one of the old Fire Emblems where it throws units your way because it's assuming you didn't reset the game when one died. They don't get cutscenes to be important, and with only five supports per character (barring if one dies, then any unit that had supports with gets those supports back). And even then, getting an A rank doesn't pair up any units except for Roy. So you don't get to play love doctor here, it's only really there for the stat boosts. But in the case of my boy, he needs those supports in order for his character to fully come through.

3)I can take 8 units into the final battle, and they're the only ones who get full ending cards. Everyone else just gets a single line. Kinda weak if I use someone like Fir for most of the game, but bench her at the end to give Rutget Durandal.

Even with my cheating, I still enjoyed this game. Mostly for the story. When Fire Emblem first appeared in Smash Brothers Melee, as a kid it instantly caught my attention. Roy and Marth just looked so cool with their swords and armor (true fact: My favorite design for Link is the Skyward Sword design, simply because it has chainmail under the tunic. I get it, the tunic is iconic but SS's Link just looks practical), and I preferred Roy because I though his fully-charged shield breaker hurting him was cool. I even keep a Cipher card of his in my wallet for good luck. I wanted to know what Fire Emblem was, what kind of game it was. My friend showed me a screenshot of the upcoming GBA game in Nintendo power, which I got for the following Christmas (sadly, I didn't get Sacred Stones as I got a PS2 the following year). I loved that game, but the idea that I was playing as Roy's father always was a bit of a sour point for me. It's because of that game when I got a 2DS a decade later, because I wanted to game but kept getting pulled away from my console, I eventually went back to Fire Emblem.

And, I'm going to admit, Binding Blade hurt me because I played Blazing Blade first. It really did. I mean, Hector dies early on, Lyn is presumably dead hell a lot of my old comrades probably died in this war, Eliwood's wife dies shortly after they are married while Eliwood is more useless than ever, the kid I saved in Bern becomes a genocidal maniac, and the fact that the characters of Blazing Blade kinda caused this to happen by releasing the seals on the Legendary Weapons in their own quest... It kinda bugs me that the Legendary Weapons I used in Blazing Blade are in their trap filled storage places. Like, who returned them there? And if I have characters from that game returning in Binding, I find it strange they don't comment on needing them again. But this is a case of the game trying to be a prequel to a story that wasn't written with it in mind.

But at the end of the day, one thing just kept popping up in my mind. Binding Blade is the antithesis of the Crimson Flower route from Three Houses. I know they said Genealogy of the Holy War was an inspiration, but I can't help it. I've seen so many people try to praise that said route as some sort of denouncement of the rest of the franchise. That it's about putting power in the hands of the people (it's not) instead of having some Lord be the good king. Granted, the Mandate of Heaven seems like it's a running theme of the series, so without understanding what that is I can understand why people don't grasp what that part of the message. But Binding Blade, it just hit so many things on the nose that I needed to say something.

So without further adieu, I'm just going to bring up a few points.

With Regards to Humanity

It's interesting how both Zephiel and Edelgard come at this from different angles. Sure, they both lead wars of conquest across the entire continent, and I'm guessing Zeph didn't tell his troops what he was planning on doing once he won so there's likely a level of deception going on there as well. He really doesn't care for his fellow man, and the game goes out of it's way to show us why. Hatred, greed, or even selling out your people in the name of self-preservation. The game doesn't shy away from showing us any of this, saying that it's wrong and thus why Roy has to kick some guy's arse. Zephiel knows this, but in Edelgard's case? She's out there fighting for absolute power, destroying anyone who won't bend the knee to her while those who do out of self-preservation like House Gloucester are rewarded for it.

In essence, Edelgard is everything Zephiel saw wrong with the human race, she is why he felt we needed to go extinct. The very things he condemns humanity for are the things she reward. Zephiel would have actually handed over power to those he felt deserved it if he had won, whereas Edelgard is demonstrably shown to hold onto power until near the end of her life. One wants humanity dead, the other wants all the dragons. They even oppose each other in their classes. Edelgard is based on the red emperor archetype, she wears red, her class is the heavily-armored Emperor and her weapon of choice is an axe. Zephiel is a king, armoed but wearing purple and he uses a sword in battle.

Even if they both have screwed up history with their family's due to their father's inability to keep it in his pants, they're both presented as villains despite being ideologically opposed which goes to show with Fire Emblem the method IS the message.

Ancient Wars, Super Powered Weapons and Lies.

War of Heroes vs. The Scouring. The former is an event where the full details are shrouded in mystery, up to the player to piece together the clues and figure out the truth for themselves...or in Crimson Flower's case, ignore the truth and act out in your ignorance.With Binding Blade though, when the truth starts coming out, it hits hard. I mean, right from the beginning of the game we're told man was the one who broke the peace by attacking the dragons, but then we learn that those legendary weapons messed up the environment, resulting in dragons needing to use human forms only to be slaughtered by man. Dragons were blamed for the environment, the people who used those weapons were revered as heroes. We don't know why mankind launched their attack, but we do know that they weren't able to slay the Demon Dragon, one who had her soul destroyed in order to control her, because the Heroes felt sorry for her. It's making dragons out to be the victims here, much like the dragons in Three Houses. But Crimson Flower only serves to demonize them, acting like they can't understand humanity when the dragons in that game are a lot closer to humans emotionally than the ancient dragons in Elibe.

The Elites in comparison weren't heroes, and that lie has been confirmed as Rhea trying to make peace.

The good ending for Binding Blade is being able to save the dragon whose soul was destroyed, whereas Crimson Flower ends with slaying a dragon after you've spent the entire game triggering her (and is the ending that leads to oppressive rule under Edelgard, in addition to the only ending without sunlight. What? You thought you'd get the good ending when her final boss theme was playing on the last stage?). Also, you need all the Legendary weapons in order to unlock the final stages, which all play into the big mystery. Crimson Flower requires the player to not understand that the world-building was done to support fighting against Edelgard instead.

Merits of a leader

Let's not beat around the bush here, Roy will not carry you through Binding Blade. His bases are low, and while he has good growths he is unable to promote until the very end of the game. Even then, you need to save the Binding Blade's usage to ensure you get the good ending. Roy is also very unsure of himself, thrust into a position of leadership despite his young age. But look at what happens when he succeeds, he manages to overcome the odds and take down the mightiest army on the continent. At the end of the game, he's shown himself as more than capable of leading. Not to mention, he also believes that humans and dragons can live together, even seeing this in Acadia (and if Ninian was his mother, he's unknowingly proof of this as he is 1/4 dragon himself. May explain his poor bases). If he marries Liliana, he even becomes a King for likely much of the same reason Byleth does in SS/VW (most leaders are dead following the war, plus combining his territory with Ostia which had already taken over Lyn's land after she abdicated/married Hector). Roy learns the truth as already established.

Compare this to Crimson Flower Byleth. Byleth leads the Black Eagle Strike Force, but credit for it goes to Edelgard. Byleth never gets any recognition for this, no position of authority despite proving themselves, instead that goes to Caspar Jenkins of all people, and ends the war continuing to fight TWSITD from the shadows to support Edelgard's regime. And if you read between the lines, Edelgard is NOT a good leader, resorting to bribes, threats, cronyism, secret police, propaganda, and even TWSITD's support and later stolen tech in order to maintain her rule. Byleth lost whatever emotional development they got from White Clouds during this route, once again becoming the Ashen Demon, and is even willing to let themselves die if they can't keep their “humanity” in check showing a distaste for their own draconic heritage (showing humans and dragons can't live together in this timeline). They didn't grow into being a leader, they devolved into being Edelgard's unthinking muscle. Byleth never learns the truth in this route, falling for Edelgard's manipulations resulting in them losing Enlightened One/Nirvana status.

Not to mention, Heroes Relics have really low weapon levels. In theory, they can be used by anyone but only safely by those with Crests and most fully with a matching Crest. Legendary Weapons, on the other hand, can be used by anyone with an S rank in their type. Your characters have to EARN the right to use those things and you'll need them to deal with all the Manaketes during the final level, whereas Relics aren't exactly that level of broken.

Honestly, seeing the ending of Binding Blade and Idunn recovering put at least one tear in my eye. Crimson Flower's just made me feel like the game was calling me an idiot (which considering the Nirvana/Enlightenment thing, it kinda was). I would love if Binding Blade got the Echoes treatment, or even if they just did a GBA collection for the Switch. But after all these years, one thing is as certain now as it was when I was a kid.

In this house, ROY'S OUR BOY!

[ibijau]

Sunday 11th: Free spot - Age/role reversal, where Nie Huaisang is the oldest with a bratty little brother, while Lan Xichen is the sweet and happy Second Jade of Gusu Lan

This will be a two parter at minimum and the role reversal won’t come up until part two oops

Also on AO3

Inside Lan Qiren's office, Nie Huaisang bowed deeply before the renowned teacher. 

"I leave my brother in your capable hands," he said, before turning to Lan Wangji and bowing again. "Please, make sure he doesn't create troubles. I trust your judgement in these matters, so punish him if need be." 

Next to him Nie Mingjue scoffed, as only a boy unused to discipline could. Nie Huaisang, who was the entire reason his brother often came off as a stubborn brat, sighed. The Lans would have a lot of work with that one.

Lan Xichen, who had been standing behind his brother, stepped aside to grab Nie Mingjue's arm, smiling brightly. 

"I'll make sure he behaves," he promised. "If he does anything bad, I'll tell Brother and Uncle." 

"Xichen-ge!" Nie Mingjue cried out, betrayed. "I thought we were friends!" 

"We are, but Nie zongzhu trusts us. Don't you, Nie zongzhu?" 

"I trust you most of all," Nie Huaisang said, amused as always by this too earnest second master of Gusu Lan. He almost laughed when Lan Xichen's face turned bright pink at his comment. It was always fun to compliment those Lans. "Lan Er-gongzi, please take good care of my little brother. I know you will be a good influence on him." 

Lan Xichen preened, until Nie Mingjue elbowed him in the ribs for this betrayal. This time, Nie Huaisang really couldn't help laughing. He exchanged a glance with Lan Wangji who also looked amused, in his own manner, while Lan Qiren just sighed and dismissed the two boys so grown-ups could speak in peace. Well, two grown-ups and Lan Wangji, who wasn't quite nineteen yet, but often behaved as if he were already in his seventies or more. 

"How are things in Qinghe?" Lan Qiren asked, inviting his guest to sit while Lan Wangji served tea for both of them. 

"Better these days," Nie Huaisang confessed. "We haven't had another plot against us since that last time. I think everyone is coming to term with me being in charge until Mingjue comes of age… And five more years isn't so much to wait." 

Lan Qiren nodded, knowing as well as Nie Huaisang what that sort of waiting felt like. Though of course, the circumstances were different. 

Lan Qiren's place within Gusu Lan could never have been contested, while Nie Huaisang was only the talentless son of a dancer turned concubine. On the other hand, Nie Huaisang would be truly free in five years, when his father's true heir could be crowned sect leader, while the best Lan Qiren could hope for was that in eighteen months Lan Wangji would become more involved in sect affairs, but Lan Qiren would remain regent unless his brother decided otherwise. 

Although Nie Huaisang got along well with Lan Qiren who was little more than a decade his senior, he was close friend with Lan Wangji who was only a few years younger. And so, for the sake of his younger friend's wellbeing, he hoped Qingheng-Jun would continue leaving the burden of power on Lan Qiren's shoulders. Lan Wangji deserved to have a free youth, or at least as free as his temper allowed. 

"How long is Nie zongzhu staying?" Lan Wangji asked, sounding hopeful. Or at least, Nie Huaisang gathered he was hopeful, he could be so hard to read. 

"I really only came to drop Mingjue," Nie Huaisang sighed. "Things are more stable, but I'd be a fool to stay away too long. But you must come visit me, Wangji. We haven't chatted in so long, you really must. I'm even willing to go on a Night Hunt if need be." 

A near smile appeared on Lan Wangji’s face at that offer, both of them knowing what it cost Nie Huaisang to say such a thing, but also that he really would if it was the only way to see his friend. 

-

It had not been the worst Night Hunt Nie Huaisang had ever been on, mostly because he'd let Lan Wangji do all the work. In exchange, he was the one paying all the expanses, and so had dragged Lan Wangji into a nicer inn than his friend would have picked. Someone had to spoil Lan Wangji, and Nie Huaisang was happy to do it. He hadn't managed yet to convince his friend to have a little meat, but the night was still young, and it was just the two of them since they'd requested to have their dinner served in their room. In private, Lan Wangji occasionally relaxed a little more. 

"So, I hear Mingjue’s making friends?" Nie Huaisang said, pouring himself some wine. "Those Yunmeng boys?"

"Jiang gongzi," Lan Wangji confirmed. "They have frequent arguments. They always make up." 

"It's good he's met someone with a temper to match his own," Nie Huaisang laughed. "Xichen lets him get away with too much. He writes to me, you know?" 

"Nie gongzi?" 

Nie Huaisang shook his head. "Mingjue wouldn't write to me if his life depended on it, the brat. No, I meant Xichen. That boy is adorable, he took it so seriously when I asked him to take care of Mingjue, and now he gives me updates. Wangji, you have the best brother, I want to trade."

"Hm. No." 

"How selfish!" Nie Huaisang whined. "Just you wait, in five years I'm free! I'll seduce Xichen, get him to the Unclean Realm with me… Then he can make sure Mingjue behaves, while I'll be painting all day." 

Lan Wangji rolled his eyes, before taking a sip of tea. 

"Oh don't worry, you wouldn't be left alone," Nie Huaisang said with a wide grin. "Maybe Wei Wuxian could be convinced to stay in the Cloud Recesses?" 

Instantly, Lan Wangji spit his tea on the table, glaring at Nie Huaisang who howled with laughter. 

"Huaisang!" 

"Blame your brother! He's the one who told me about it. I thought he was joking, but… Seriously, Wei Wuxian? Ah, Wangji, you'll always surprise me." 

Lan Wangji's glare intensified, as if the very idea of him liking anything about a brat like Wei Wuxian were an insult to his character. It would have been more credible if Nie Huaisang hadn't known his tell, and noticed his red ears.

"He's smart, and talented," Nie Huaisang noted, a little more seriously. "A brat, sure, but he'll calm down with age. I can't say he's my type physically, but you're entitled to your bad tastes." 

"A sect leader can't marry a man," Lan Wangji sternly noted. 

Nie Huaisang shot him a surprised look, shocked that Lan Wangji would even be thinking of something so serious. He would have to write to Lan Xichen about this. If Lan Wangji's crush was this deep already, they needed to help along. Propriety didn't matter much in the long run, Nie Huaisang had learned early. 

And besides, there was always Lan Xichen to give heirs to the Lan sect. 

-

Discussion conferences were never much fun. Those held in Nightless City, even less so. Nie Huaisang hated most other sect leaders, though he felt justified in that by the fact they didn’t like him much either, with the exception of Lan Qiren, who was an old family friend, and Jiang Fengmian, who was too weak willed to hate anyone. Everyone else treated Nie Huaisang like an idiot for his continued insistence that he would abdicate in favour of his brother as soon as Nie Mingjue was ready for it, never understanding that aside from his lack of interest for the job of sect leader, he would merely be obeying his father’s own wishes.

Nie Mingjue was their father’s true heir, Nie Huaisang’s only role was keeping the throne warm for him.

Of course nobody except Lan Qiren would understand that. A bunch of greedy, selfish fools the whole lot of them, who would have sold their own fathers and sons to grab a little more power. The worst, by far, were Jin Guangshan (who’d always taken the old Nie sect leader for an idiot, since he would never have recognised a bastard, let alone married the whore who bore it) and Wen Ruohan (who rumour said had murdered his own father indeed, and who had certainly killed Nie Huaisang’s, something for which he’d pay someday). If either of those two dropped dead before him, Nie Huaisang would only have laughed and left them to rot in the sun.

Which wasn’t to say that either of them knew that.

Nie Huaisang hadn’t survived years of internal conflict in his sect without learning a few things, and so he made sure to be especially polite to those two very powerful men. It annoyed Nie Mingjue to no end, but he wasn’t sect leader yet and couldn’t do anything about it.

And so, Nie Huaisang had to pleasantly talk with those two awful men while the juniors of all sects took part in an archery contest. It wasn’t Nie Mingjue’s greatest strength, but he did well for himself, so Nie Huaisang was determined to congratulate and praise him for his hard work. Meanwhile, Wen Chao had failed horribly and been eliminated very early on, which delighted Nie Huaisang more than words could have said, even if he forced himself to babble that surely it couldn’t have been anything but bad luck. Not that anyone really cared, anyway. The stars of the day were the Twin Jades of Gusu Lan and Wei Wuxian, who had done so well and would have been in the top three together, if not for some incident forcing Lan Wangji to give up.

When the contest was over, Nie Huaisang rushed to go meet his brother and his friends, eager to congratulate the boys… and to escape the grown-ups.

It amused him to find Nie Mingjue having an argument with Jiang Cheng, with Wei Wuxian laughing to the side and Lan Xichen watching them indulgently, like a benevolent older brother to those three terrors. And out of the four of them, Lan Xichen was the first to spot Nie Huaisang approaching.

“Nie zongzhu, were you looking for your brother?” he asked with a bow that the Yunmeng boys imitated. “Did you see how well he did in the contest?”

“Very well indeed,” Nie Huaisang agreed. “Though I found myself mostly watching you. I knew Lan Er-gongzi was a skilled archer, but this was amazing. I wouldn’t be surprised if the heavens had opened to welcome you as a martial god, you were simply brilliant.”

As always, Lan Xichen blushed at the heavy praise, which was the very reason Nie Huaisang did it. That boy always reacted so strongly to any little compliment, it was simply a joy to see.

Nie Mingjue rolled his eyes, and slapped his brother’s shoulder.

“You’re such an embarrassment, Da-Ge,” he muttered. “Can’t you behave normally sometimes?”

“Did I say something wrong? Lan Er-gongzi, did you feel insulted perhaps?”

“Not in the least,” Lan Xichen replied, his cheeks turning a brighter shade of pink. “But perhaps Nie zongzhu is… a little too generous in praising me. I only got the first place because Brother had to quit. Otherwise, he would have won for sure.”

“Second place wouldn’t be bad either,” Nie Huaisang insisted. “And having a calm character in the face of adversity is a quality in and of itself, one that I envy. Lan Er-gongzi just needs to accept that he is a very skilled young man. He wouldn’t have been picked as the first most eligible bachelor of this generation otherwise!”

This was, without a doubt, the brightest shade of red that Nie Huaisang had ever seen on poor Lan Xichen who clearly felt greatly embarrassed by that list that had started circulating some months earlier. It was a fairly accurate list though, and one Nie Huaisang could have written… except he would have placed his brother higher (seventh only was an insult) and removed himself from it (he was eighth only because of his current position as sect leader, and did not intend to ever marry if he could avoid it).

"You're such a creepy old man," Nie Mingjue grumbled, elbowing him in the ribs with more force than was really necessary. 

"Nie zongzhu isn't old, he's only twenty two, right?" Lan Xichen protested, before turning to the Yunmeng boys who had been watching them with great amusement. "That's not so much older than the rest of us, right?”

“It’s barely older than our sister,” Jiang Cheng conceded, always trying so hard to be polite even when it did not come to him easily. Nie Huaisang really hoped some of that would rub on Nie Mingjue over time.

“So it’s settled, Nie zongzhu is not old at all,” Lan Xichen decided. “Nie zongzhu should really spend more time with us, instead of other sect leaders.”

While Nie Huaisang couldn’t help laughing at that very tempting offer, Nie Mingjue glared at his friend. For some reason, Lan Xichen turned bright red once more and had to look away. Ah, he really was too cute, none of the other Lans were ever so sweet.

“I’d do so gladly, if I truly had a choice, but duty is a cruel mistress,” Nie Huaisang theatrically sighed. “In fact, I’ll abandon you again now. I only wanted to get a chance to congratulate all of you for your amazing performance. You’ve all done very well, and I feel lucky to have seen such talented young men perform like this. Now though, I must return to sit with boring old men and pretend there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

The four boys had the kindness of pretending they were disappointed to see him leave. At least, three of them had to be pretending. Lan Xichen was sweet enough that he might have been sincere in saying he wished Nie Huaisang could have stayed, though Nie Huaisang had no doubt they’d all have much better fun without him.

Ah, to be young and free.

Nie Huaisang wondered what that was like.

-

The news of the burning of the Cloud Recesses reached the Unclean Realm a few days after it happened, carrying with it grim rumours. Qingheng-Jun was either wounded or dead, his eldest son captured or dead as well, and as for the youngest, no one seemed to really know. Maybe he too was dead, leaving only poor Lan Qiren to pick up the pieces, as he had already done more than once now. If the political climate had not been so tense and the Wens so clearly looking for excuses to attack everyone, Nie Huaisang would have flown straight to the Cloud Recesses to check what had really happened and offer his support.

Just days after they heard about the Lans, a messenger came from Qishan Wen, ordering that twenty young people of Qinghe Nie should be sent to be taught properly in cultivation matters, among which one at least needed to be from the main clan itself.

Nie Huaisang, who was no fool, understood what that truly meant. The Wens wanted to have his brother in his power.

His first instinct, of course, was to refuse. He hadn’t spent six years protecting Nie Mingjue from coups and attacks within their sects just to hand him over to the people who had murdered their father, the ones who Nie Huaisang suspected to have supported at least one or two of those coups. And yet, after thinking on it for a few hours, Nie Huaisang realised that this choice, like many others, wasn’t quite in his hands. So he summoned his brother to the throne room, hoping that treating this like official sect business would make Nie Mingjue a little more willing to bend to his authority.

It did not quite work.

In fact, it did not work at all.

"I'm not letting you send me there as a hostage!" Nie Mingjue roared when Nie Huaisang announced his decision.

"I'm your sect leader and your elder brother,” Nie Huaisang pointed out, trying not to wince. This was going exactly as bad as he had feared. “If I give you an order, you have to obey." 

"Some sect leader you are," Nie Mingjue snapped. "Always bending before everyone, trying to stay on the good side of the man who murdered our father. If I were sect leader…" 

"Well you're not, not yet. And you'll never be unless I keep you alive!" Nie Huaisang shouted, before taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Mingjue, just because nobody has tried to kill me recently doesn't mean they've given up on it. If I resist Wen Ruohan and start a war, they'll turn on me, on us! And even if they don't, who would side with us against the Wens? Jin Guangshan covets our territories, the Lans are weakened, and Jiang Fengmian doesn't have the numbers to be of any use. Qinghe Nie is alone. We're alone, Mingjue. Please understand that. Please let me protect you."

Nie Mingjue glared at him and stepped closer. He’d grown a lot recently, and was slightly taller than Nie Huaisang. He was likely to keep growing, too, and would probably be as imposing a man as their father… if he stayed alive long enough for it.

Nie Huaisang begged any god that might be listening to keep his brother alive.

"Protect me?” Nie Mingjue spat, looking down at his older brother. “Are you sure you're not just sending me there to get killed by the Wens, so you don't have to pretend anymore that you'll abdicate in my favour? After all you've gotten so good at leading the sect, and I'm just a brat, who'd blame you for wanting me dead?"

Nie Huaisang slapped him. 

It wasn't a strong blow, and with their difference in cultivation and power, it couldn't have hurt much. In fact, Nie Huaisang’s hand probably stung more than his brother’s face. Still Nie Mingjue found himself stunned into silence and pressed a hand to his cheek. 

No matter how bratty, headstrong, or disrespectful he'd been before, Nie Huaisang had never once hit him until that day. At the same time, Nie Mingjue had always taken his brother's defence whenever someone accused Nie Huaisang of plotting for power, knowing full well how much it distressed his brother that anyone would think him capable of harming Nie Mingjue. 

"I hate you," Nie Mingjue hissed. 

"Hate me if you like, you're still going to Qishan," Nie Huaisang replied. 

"If you were a real sect leader, a real cultivator…" 

"Well I'm neither!" Nie Huaisang exploded. "I don't have the strength to start a war, and I even less have the power to fight in one! In four years, when you sit on that damn throne, you can declare all the wars you like, lead this sect however it pleases you! But until then it's me who decides how we're playing this game, and I say we are not going to give Qishan Wen an excuse to slaughter all of us!"

"I really hate you," Nie Mingjue retorted, still rubbing his cheek. "I wish your mother had never come to Qinghe." 

"I wish the same. I'd rather have been the obscure son of a whore than to lead this stupid sect for you. Now go and pack your things! I need to decide who else I'm sending." 

Nie Mingjue stormed away, cursing loudly and stomping his feet. Nie Huaisang waited until his brother was far enough, and collapsed on the throne, curling up on himself to cry.

He could have taken the whole world accusing him of scheming and being a bad brother. Even if Lan Wangji or those few Nie elders faithful to him had suddenly turned on him, he could have borne with it. But to hear that Nie Mingjue too doubted him after all was more than he could take.

It took him a long time to calm down, but he did eventually. And then, as he was quite used to doing, he pushed aside his feelings and set out to decide what would be the best way to protect his brother. Nie Huaisang stayed up all night making a list of nineteen Nie disciples who could be trusted to keep Nie Mingjue safe not simply from whatever the Wens had in store for them, but also from his own temper.

His brother would survive this.

Nie Huaisang refused to consider any other possibilities.

-

When Nie Mingjue and the other disciples returned, exhausted and on foot, Nie Huaisang ran to his brother and hugged him in the middle of the courtyard for an embarrassingly long time. It alarmed him when Nie Mingjue didn’t push him away or complain, as he’d started doing over any displays of affection these last couple of years. Instead, Nie Mingjue pulled his brother closer to him, as if needing the closeness as well. Later Nie Huaisang would worry about what might have caused this big boy of nearly seventeen to so desperately need a hug, but right then he just took this rare gift and enjoyed it while it lasted.

When at last Nie Mingjue reluctantly let him go, Nie Huaisang looked around at the other disciples. He frowned when he counted two missing, when he saw wounds on several of them. These boys were his, almost as much as Nie Mingjue, and it made his blood boil that anyone had harmed them. He quickly gave orders for the healers to check on them and food to be served for them, before dragging his brother to the privacy of his quarters to hear what had happened.

It worried him again when he sat on his sofa, and Nie Mingjue not only sat near him but curled up against his side, the way he used to do as a little boy.

Then his brother explained everything that had happened, the punishments, the threats, the slaughter in that cave, the monster, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian being lost to the world perhaps, the long run home, and… Nie Huaisang pulled his brother as close as he could. They both knew better than most how carelessly cruel Qishan Wen could be, but this was a new low.

“I shouldn’t have sent you,” Nie Huaisang whispered against his brother’s hair. “You were right, I shouldn’t have.”

“They’d have attacked us, like you said,” Nie Mingjue replied. “Wangji-ge said that they were well prepared when they came to the Cloud Recesses and would have killed all of them if Lan Qiren hadn't given in about burning the library.”

“We’re not Gusu Lan,” Nie Huaisang hissed. “We know how to fight back. I shouldn’t have risked you, I’m so sorry.”

Nie Mingjue only hummed in answer. After a moment he pulled back from his brother, looking horrifyingly serious.

“Da-Ge, do you think we’ll really have a war now?”

“If they attack us, we’ll defend ourselves,” Nie Huaisang replied. “If they attack our friends, we’ll come to help them. If they attack the Jins… I’ll send Wen Ruohan a basket of flowers in thanks, and then we’ll still prepare for war. I don’t think it can be avoided now.”

Nie Mingjue nodded. “I’ll help. I’ll fight, I’ll lead men, I’ll do anything you tell me. Anything except stay away from the fight,” he quickly added before Nie Huaisang could say a thing. “I’m not too young for it, and with their numbers you know we can’t spare anyone. If Wen Chao is standing at his father’s side, why shouldn't I stand at yours?"

The idea of Nie Mingjue in battle, of him facing not just monsters but actual people capable of far more harm than any supernatural creature, left Nie Huaisang breathless with horror. His little brother shouldn't have had to deal with that, not yet, not ever. Nie Huaisang’s soul screamed in protest. 

Most of his soul, anyway. 

The part of him that had been fighting daily to maintain power over Qinghe Nie so it wouldn't be stolen from Nie Mingjue saw this upcoming war as an opportunity. If they did well enough for themselves, if Nie Mingjue proved that he had the potential to make a great leader, the way Nie Huaisang knew he would be when his time came… It could buy them peace within their sect, turn a few more elders and ambitious cousins to their side. If they could be made to see Nie Mingjue the way Nie Huaisang saw him… 

It was a risk to take, but it'd be worth it if it worked. 

And between Nie Huaisang's cunning and Nie Mingjue’s everything, how could it not work? 

As long as they were together, Nie Huaisang felt capable of anything. 

-

Roughly a month into what they had dubbed the Sunshot Campaign, Nie Mingjue barged into his brother's tent, dragging behind him a bewildered young man by the name of Meng Yao. A new recruit into their sect, arrived in Qinghe Nie shortly before Nie Mingjue had escaped from the indoctrination camp. A young man who showed great promise, Nie Huaisang had thought, putting him among the troupes led by his brother. 

Nothing to do with the fact that Nie Huaisang had taken notice of Meng Yao for their similar backgrounds and, knowing how some of their disciples could be, decided to leave that young man under the protection of Nie Mingjue who did not tolerate anyone to be badmouthed for their origins. 

Nie Huaisang had expected that sooner or later his brother would talk to him about Meng Yao, hopefully in good. 

What he hadn't expected was Nie Mingjue demanding that Meng Yao be made his second in command right this instant. 

"Did Meng gongzi agree to this?" Nie Huaisang asked, deeply amused by the shock on the young man's face. 

"Why would he refuse?" Nie Mingjue retorted, so sincerely puzzled that it made his brother laugh. 

They had all seen some ugly things this past month, but Nie Huaisang was grateful that his brother hadn't been too changed by it yet.

"Please just ask that man what he wants," Nie Huaisang chuckled. 

Nie Mingjue rolled his eyes, as if his brother were acting obtuse on purpose, but he did ask Meng Yao whether he wanted the job or not. 

Meng Yao hesitated, which marked him as someone clever enough to realise the amount of responsibility he'd get if he said yes. But he did say yes, which spoke of a certain hunger for better circumstances that Nie Huaisang would have to keep an eye on. Ambition had never been a trait he liked in others, lacking it so much himself. 

"Well if everyone wants this, I can only agree," Nie Huaisang announced. "Welcome to this mess, Meng Yao."

"Thank you for this honour, Nie zongzhu," Meng Yao replied with a deep, elegant bow. "I will try to be worthy of it." 

-

The weeks that followed were both some of the hardest and the best that Nie Huaisang had ever lived through. 

He had not been confronted with such levels of fear and stress since the first year after his father's passing. At the same time, he wasn't alone to face it all this time. His brother was now old enough to fight some battles of his own, literally and metaphorically, which took a huge weight of Nie Huaisang’s shoulders. And Meng Yao, although dropped into this unprepared, had soon proven to be a great asset as well as a great friend. 

It had been so long since Nie Huaisang had made a friend. Not since his father's descent into madness, in fact. All those years he had only had Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren to turn to, and he liked both of them immensely, of course, but there was so much they simply couldn't understand. 

Meng Yao did.

He knew what it felt like to be the son of a mother only, no matter how glorious the father. He knew about disdain and fighting for respect, about needing to be better than anyone just to perhaps be treated the same. Meng Yao was the only person to understand what Nie Huaisang’s life was like, and he was ever so glad that his brother had decided to take a fancy to the young man. 

He hoped Meng Yao would stay with them for good, a perfect addition to their little family. 

He told Lan Wangji as much, a few weeks after Meng Yao's rise in ranks, too delighted by the way things were going to keep the joy to himself. 

They were technically meeting in the Nie camp to plan a joint attack by Lan and Nie forces, but Nie Huaisang refused to make any decisions until Nie Mingjue joined them and gave his opinion. He was the one who knew the field's situation best after all, and he generally understood military manoeuvres better than Nie Huaisang. So as they waited for him to return from a quick reconnaissance mission, Nie Huaisang did what he did best and chatted endlessly. 

Because Lan Wangji was always so quiet, it took Nie Huaisang a criminally long time to realise his friend seemed a little out of it that day. 

"How is it treating you, being sect leader?" Nie Huaisang asked. "To rise to power in such circumstances, that can't be… I can't imagine."

"It was similar for Huaisang," Lan Wangji soberly replied. "I have people to rely on." 

"Oh, right, I heard Xichen made it home safely! It must have been such a relief! I know I was worried for him. But him and the books were safe in the end, right? You must have been so relieved!" 

Lan Wangji nodded, quite earnestly, and yet something still didn't look right. It had to mean the reason for his melancholy was the last possible option. And that, sadly, also meant it was not something Nie Huaisang thought he could help with. Still, even just by lending a friendly ear… 

"So, I hear you were there when they found Wei Wuxian again?" 

Lan Wangji flinched at that name, visibly so. 

It had been barely two weeks since Wei Wuxian was found, but already odd rumours had reached Nie Huaisang, rumours that didn't quite fit the image he had of that brilliant but silly boy. The state in which Wen Chao's men were said to have been found was… 

"It must have been rough, hiding three months like that, or being a prisoner of the Wens," Nie Huaisang hesitantly said. "And after what happened in Lotus Piers… But I'm sure he'll be back to normal with a little time, and then you can go back to inefficiently flirting with him." 

"No." 

"Why not? Come on Wangji, I'll even help you!" Nie Huaisang offered, delighted by the idea. "I know that type, they flirt with everyone, but it takes them by surprise when someone flirts back. Just smile at him a little and I swear…" 

"No," Lan Wangji repeated, more insistently. "It is me or Xichen. I will not be my father. I will not take my brother's choice from him." 

Nie Huaisang blinked a few times, trying to understand what Lan Xichen had to do with anything. 

"Wait, Xichen likes someone ?" he gasped. "Oh. Who is it? Do I know her? Is she pretty? Had he started courting her?" 

"Him. Not yet. The circumstances aren't right." 

"Oh." 

Nie Huaisang pinched his lips, a little disturbed by the idea. He had nothing against men who preferred other men, having that taste himself. And even if he had liked only women, since he suspected that Nie Mingjue had a thing for pretty boys as much as girls, he could never have found that sort of preference disgusting. 

Still, it felt odd to him that Lan Xichen might have a crush on anyone. Perhaps that was because Lan Xichen had never once mentioned it to him. Not that they were close by any means, but they had written to each other so often that year Nie Mingjue was in Gusu, Nie Huaisang thought that Lan Xichen had come to see him as another brother figure, one in whom he might have confided more easily than in Lan Wangji. 

Clearly, he had thought wrong. 

"So what if you both like men?" Nie Huaisang said, choosing to ignore his discomfort when Lan Wangji’s was greater. "There's always the option of getting a concubine. My grandfather certainly did, and back then cut-sleeve weddings weren't half as accepted as they are now." 

"Concubines are frowned upon." 

"You Lans need to stop ruining your own lives. Get that Wei boy, Wangji, and let Xichen get… Who is it, anyway? Someone I know?" 

Lan Wangji threw him an unimpressed look, the one he had whenever he thought Nie Huaisang was acting obtuse on purpose. For once, it wasn't the case. Still, it meant that it had to be very obvious. Nie Mingjue, perhaps? But that seemed unlikely, Lan Xichen used to joke in his letters that he wasn't sure if Nie Mingjue and Jiang Cheng were arguing or flirting. That also took Jiang Cheng out of the picture. Wei Wuxian then? But no, Lan Xichen was so supportive of his brother's affections, it was impossible. 

Nie Huaisang was stumped. Aside from these three, he couldn't imagine who Lan Xichen would have been friendly enough with to fall for them. 

He was about to ask for clues when his brother stomped into the tent, followed closely by Lan Xichen and Meng Yao who both looked rather worried. 

"How nice of you to join us at last," Nie Huaisang noted lightly, as if this were a perfectly fine and polite way to come in. "Please Mingjue, sit down so we can commence." 

He gestured at a sitting cushion next to him, only for his brother to glare at him. 

"You need to write a recommendation letter for Meng Yao," Nie Mingjue ordered. "He wants to join Lanling Jin, but they've refused him before. They won't dare if he comes recommended!" 

Nie Huaisang felt his blood freeze. He tilted his head, trying to catch Meng Yao's eyes, but the young man refused to look at him. An admission of guilt in itself. 

"Meng Yao, I don't think that's a good idea," Nie Huaisang sighed. "Aren't you happy with us? Aren't we treating you well? You know how much we value you, you're the only person I trust to look after my brother. If you leave…" 

"He's Jin zongzhu's son," Nie Mingjue interrupted, as if that were news to Nie Huaisang. "He has a right to be in Lanling Jin! If they were stupid enough to turn him down before, I'd like to see them do that again, when he has the support of another great sect!" 

Nie Huaisang smiled without joy, full of affection and pity for his little brother. It must have been wonderful to be such a righteous and honest person that you couldn't understand that others weren't.

But Nie Huaisang had long ago learned how other people were, and so he could guess just how awful of an idea this was. First of all, Jin Guangshan was a man who loathed all his bastards, and hated being told what to do. Secondly, if Nie Huaisang were to give Meng Yao a recommendation, it would just be the son of a lowly concubine supporting the son of a prostitute. Between whores' sons, of course they would help one another, people might say, and then dismiss all of Meng Yao's skills because they had been praised by the wrong person. 

It would be such a disservice to Meng Yao. It would be sending him to people who wouldn't appreciate him the way Nie Huaisang did. 

It would be losing a friend, when he had so few. 

"Jin Guangshan doesn't like me much," Nie Huaisang said at last. "I'm not really sure…" 

"Please, Nie zongzhu," Lan Xichen pleaded, stepping forward. "It is really important to Meng gongzi. Maybe if Wangji too writes him a letter? After all, we owe him as well." 

"How so?" Nie Huaisang asked. He shot Lan Wangji a surprised look, but it was Lan Xichen who spoke again. 

"When Wangji sent me away with our books, I met Meng Yao who rescued me and protected me," Lan Xichen explained, smiling at Meng Yao who was looking more and more embarrassed. "Without his help and advice, I would surely have been caught by the Wens, and who knows what might have become of me." 

"He never said." 

Meng Yao risked a glance at his sect leader, and smiled weakly. 

"At that time, I wasn't sure who could be trusted with such sensitive information," he confessed. "And besides I wanted to be accepted for my own merit. I wanted a chance to truly prove myself, relying only on my skills and hard work." 

"And you did!" Nie Mingjue exclaimed. "So Da-Ge will write you a letter to present to Jin Guangshan. We'll be sorry to lose you, but family is what matters." 

Nie Huaisang pinched his lips. Nothing good could come of Meng Yao leaving them, he was one of theirs now, he belonged with them as surely as if they shared blood. 

But if Nie Mingjue truly wanted this, if he was certain of his decision… it was high time that he started becoming more involved in their sect's life, and this was part of it. Besides, what was the worst that could come from it? 

"I'll write you that letter, Meng Yao," Nie Huaisang promised. "I hope you find in Lanling what you seek. And if you do not… You are always welcome in the Unclean Realm. Tomorrow, in a year, in ten… You are our friend, Meng Yao, and leaving today doesn't mean you can't return later." 

And he would return, Nie Huaisang was certain of that. Still, the pain of losing this skilled collaborator, this valued friend, was compensated somewhat by the explosive joy of these three boys. Meng Yao bowed deeply in thanks, while Nie Mingjue broke the stoic persona he was trying to put on lately to hug his brother. As for Lan Xichen he smiled more brightly than Nie Huaisang had ever seen him before, saying again and again how grateful he was that Nie Huaisang was helping him repay his debt. In a very un-Lan manner, he even knelt next to Nie Huaisang and gave him a brief hug.

When Lan Xichen jumped back to his feet to return at Meng Yao's side, Nie Huaisang’s eyes met Lan Wangji, his friend once again giving him That Look. 

Nie Huaisang glanced over at Lan Xichen, so excited for his friend's good fortune, while a very overwhelmed Meng Yao could only stare at him with open gratefulness and affection. 

Oh. 

Well, that settled the issue, Nie Huaisang thought despondently. 

They would never have kept Meng Yao anyway. 

[darkisrising]

Five Times, by DarkIsRising, pt6

Previous parts here on ao3 Five Times Din and Luke Met (and one time they never parted) +1

Luke wakes up alone, but he knew that he would.

For all that Luke has the Force on his side, it’s nothing compared to a careful, soft-footed Din that is determined not to bother Luke when he has to leave. The sun hasn’t even cleared the horizon outside Luke’s window and he knows that Din is long gone by now since he’d said he needed to get off Yavin’s moon before the chrono changed from night to day.

Luke lets his fingers idly drift down his chest, his hips, and lazily circle his cock, the cool of his beskar bracer trailing in his hand’s wake. Not to start anything, really, just to press the lingering memories of Din’s touch into his skin. Like that could hold the traces of him there for just a little longer.

Closing his eyes, Luke can almost sense that steady, even shape that he’s come to know as Din’s light in the Force. He can nearly fool himself into believing that Din hasn’t left at all, which is ridiculous because Luke knows that he has, and there’s little point in getting weird about it now.

Stolen hours. Brief meals. The occasional diplomatic function. The occasional call for a Jedi to guard the Mand’alor’s back when the diplomatic function dissolves into violence because these are Mandalorians, after all…. This is what their lives have become from the moment that that rusted-out heap of Din’s had landed in front of the temple. It hasn’t changed much through the years as Din’s thrown himself helmet-first into unifying the broken, bleeding fragments of Mandalore’s once vast empire.

This is how it is, how it has to be.

“This is the Way.” Luke says wryly into his empty, echoing room, before sighing and rolling off his bed to throw on some clothes. *

Humidity builds across Luke’s forehead well before he makes it outside.

He can feel Grogu still sleeping when he passes by the youngling's room, so Luke tells Artoo to keep an eye on him before heading for the temple’s wide entrance.

After a childhood spent in the desert’s cracking heat he’s come to appreciate the wet weight of Yavin’s air as it settles heavy in his lungs. He likes it best of all in these early hours, when he can find a spot to meditate among the rustling leaves and the flitting insects before the sun turns the air into a thick, sludgy soup and the work of the day really begins.

Luke is still deciding where he should go when he sees that Din has, in fact, never left.

Worry prickles behind his ears, but the tendril of Force that Luke sends into the Mudhorn doesn’t find Din hurt or unconscious or any number of terrible things that Luke can bring to mind.

He just feels tired.

So Luke is more curious than anything when he holds out his hand to send some of his power into the ship to disengage the ramp. It lowers without a single creak or groan, and Luke is pretty smug about that. The work they’d done to the Mudhorn hadn’t been easy, but it had been satisfying to be elbow-deep in ship repairs by Din’s side. Drifting tools into his hand before he so much as asked. Grinning at Din’s wide eyes when he realized that Luke could rewire the internal port cables by touch alone, thank you very much—I’m not just a pretty face, Din—and laughing as Din chased Grogu away from the russet hull paint the kid so desperately wanted to taste.

Luke finds Din in the cockpit, sitting in the pilot’s seat. He doesn’t look up from where he’s staring at the helmet in his lap, too lost in whatever it is that is etching a frown across his forehead. Luke maneuvers around the narrow space until he can run his thumb against the warmth of Din’s temple and trace the contours of his face with a delicate touch.

“What are you doing?” Luke asks quietly. Carefully. Din only sighs, weariness clinging to the lines near his eyes, and he turns his face so that he can wordlessly press his lips against the mudhorn signet on Luke’s bracer. “I thought you had to be out before daybreak?”

“Change of plans.”

“Oh yeah? What happened?” Luke leans a hip against the console, mindful not to knock any of the controls when he does.

“Nothing."

Luke blinks, waiting for more, but Din has gone silent.

Din and his silences. They could last until the last star burned from the sky if Luke weren't around to pester him out of them. This one feels different, though, so Luke lets him have it until he’s ready to speak again.

"I didn’t want to leave," Din confesses at last.

“So. Wait,” Luke shakes his head, trying to follow the pathways of Din’s thoughts and for once finding the way blocked. He’s not consciously keeping Luke out, more like Din isn’t sure of what he’s thinking, himself. “Where have you been this whole time?”

“Here. Just sitting here.”

“Huh.” Well, that's… different. Unexpected, really. Especially from Din, whose sense of duty is so finely honed that Luke’s personally seen him take bolts of blaster fire on more than one occasion when he thought it would get him to his meeting with Mandalore’s new senators faster.

"What?"

"Nothing," Luke says, crossing his arms and propping a foot on Din’s seat beside his hip. "I'm thinking."

It's pretty funny how impatient Din is for the silence to end now that he’s facing a pensive Luke for a change, but Luke needs to get his thoughts in order on this one. It's too important—Din is too important—to kriff things up by charging ahead blindly.

"Maybe,” Luke hesitates, though it needs to be said. “Maybe it's just time?"

“What are you talking about?”

“Mandalore is about as stable as you can hope to make it, all things considered. Maybe you should go ahead and get your ass kicked by Bo-Katan. Let her take the darksaber, and all of the responsibilities that go with it. You've done enough.” Luke turns his foot so that it can tap Din’s hip, cajoling and fond. “You've done more than enough.”

Din leans back in his seat, closing his eyes for too long to be mistaken for a blink but not long enough to register as defeat. “But there's still more to do.”

“There will always be more to do, but you're not alone. Not anymore. You don’t have to hold it all together by yourself.”

There are some silences that Din falls into where it doesn’t matter whether he’s wearing a helmet or not, his face is just as unreadable either way. This is one of them. Luke wants to touch him in that moment so badly but he knows that whatever Din is thinking is too important for distractions.

“Anyway,” Luke says lightly after a time. “You don’t have to decide all that right now. I think maybe for today you just need a break. Like, what are you supposed to be doing on Mandalore today?”

“We’re signing treaties all week.”

“Are they important treaties?”

“I don't even know anymore.”

There’s something bleak that hovers in the pinched grooves of Din’s mouth and Luke fights to keep the worry out of his voice. “So that doesn’t sound like something you need to be there to do. Be a king. Pull rank. Comm Bo-Katan and tell her you won't be coming and if there’s anything that needs your attention she can bring them over here herself. She certainly knows where to find you,” Luke grins, remembering the last time she’d been dragged on a side trip to the Jedi temple because Din had found out Grogu had a fever that Luke had no other strategy for dealing with but to keep him in a healing trance until it finally faded away.

“I won’t abandon Mandalore,” Din says, voice a rumble of seriousness, eyes dark with the weight of all he's willing to endure to satisfy his unrelenting code of honor.

“It’s not abdicating to take a break. You’re just going to stay here with me for a bit. Help me keep Grogu from eating all of Yavin’s aquatic life." Luke taps his hip again with his foot, teasing. "Maybe even meditate.”

Din snorts. “Isn’t that just a fancy, Jedi way of taking a nap?”

“Only one way to find out,” Luke grins brightly, not taking offense in the slightest. “Come on. Stay a few days. Let me finally teach you to meditate, you coward.”

“Yeah. Okay,” he relents. “That sounds good.”

Luke leans in to kiss Din’s cheek where it is the smoothest before he takes Din’s helmet from his lax hands and slides it onto his head. When Din makes the call, he’s careful to keep out of holo range, but he does hold Din’s hand the whole time he’s speaking to a clipped-voiced and obviously irritated Bo-Katan.

Oh, yeah. She’d gladly take the opportunity to kick Din’s ass a few rounds if given the chance, Luke notes with a smirk.

When the comm is done, Din snatches his hand back so that he can rip his helmet off. Like he can't stand to be wearing it one click more. His breathing is fast and Luke isn’t sure what’s going on with that, but the good news is Din is staying. They have some time now, and maybe it’ll even be enough to sort through this strange mood that Din is lost to.

“There. That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?”

The laugh that sputters from Din comes out like he’s amused despite himself. “Easy for you to say. I noticed you stayed where she couldn’t see you.”

“Oh, well, that was strategic." Luke waves a careless hand in the air, and is glad to see Din's face settle into something approaching normal. "Didn’t want her to get distracted if she saw me, since, you know: Jedi and Mandalorians. We’re mortal enemies and all that.”

“Uh huh.”

“Also, she’s kind of intense. And really good with a blaster.”

“She can’t shoot you through a comm unit.”

“Well, if anyone could do it...” Luke trails off and is rewarded by Din’s laugh—a real one, this time—the kind that sweeps the legs out from under Luke until he’s grinning and helpless against it, too.

“Here,” Luke offers, when it subsides and Din’s looking about as close to happy as he can get when the skin below his eyes is so dark with exhaustion. “Let me help you get a little more comfortable.”

And because he knows it will make that smile on Din’s face stick around a little longer, Luke is sure to name each of the parts of Din’s armor as he takes them off of him. Din’s been trying to get Luke to learn the difference between a vambrace and a pauldron for years now, and this time as he sets Din’s beskar aside one piece at a time, Luke nearly gets it all right.

“There,” Luke says when he’s finally done and Din’s warm body is only covered by soft things.

Once Din’s gloves are peeled off he starts touching Luke and Luke is more than happy to let him. A hand reaches to tilt Luke’s face down so that Din can better see it from where he sits. “What are you smiling about?”

Luke shrugs. “I like what I see."

“And what do you see?” Din asks as he catches Luke by the wrists and pulls him closer.

“What I always see,” he answers truthfully. “A Mandalorian. My riduur. Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.”

“Your accent is terrible,” Din laughs, but there’s a spark to his dark eyes that lets Luke know that his efforts to learn Mando’a haven’t been completely wasted. “Whose been teaching you?”

Boba Fett, actually. The last time Luke went down to Tatooine he'd stopped in to thank him for his help in finding Din, one thing had led to another, and they ended up getting incredibly drunk together. Luke showed him holo after holo of Grogu while Fett taught him phrases in Mando’a.

That had continued—or devolved, as Han grumbled when he’d heard about it—into semi-weekly comms, and who knew Fett had such a thing for poetry?

Luke’s been waiting for the right time to spring this particular surprise on Din, and so he tries a verse out now, knowing full well he’s mangling the language even without feeling the shudder that falls across Din’s body at the first word from Luke’s lips.

“O'r te uur be Ka'ra—”

Din’s eyes widen with horror as he whispers: “Oh, no.”

“—O'r te dral be beskar, o'r te kaab be te akaanir—”

“No,” Din snickers. “Please, no.”

“—o'r te dinui be tal, Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.”

“Quit it. Please, I’m begging you.”

Luke spares him the rest of the poem and instead laughs into the hollows of his lips: “Dinui. My Dinui. My gift.”

Broad palms bracket his face and Luke loses himself to the feel of Din’s mouth as it slots against his, always warm, always perfect, always his.

“You are Mandalorian, with or without your armor. You are Mandalorian with or without your throne,” Luke tells him when they need to come up for air and he might be breathless but it doesn’t make him any less sincere. “Like I would be a Jedi whether I had a lightsaber or not. It’s about who we are, not what we have.”

“Mmm,” Din agrees, and this time their kiss becomes a needy, wanting, seeking thing.

“What are you thinking?” Luke asks when Din pulls away from his mouth so that he can bring their foreheads together.

“I’m thinking,” Din says, humor lining the spaces of his words. “That my riduur is beautiful and wise and far better than I deserve.”

“Good thing your riduur has such terrible taste in men,” Luke teases and Din kisses him across an eyebrow.

“It’s a very good thing.”

Din’s hand drifts between their bodies and he goes a little crazy when he feels Din’s bare fingers work their into his pants to close around his cock. Making a desperate, keening sound, Luke bucks into Din’s grip as he peppers kisses up and down Din’s neck.

“Force, I love you,” Luke says fervently. Wildly. “Tell me what you need from me, Din. Anything. I'll do it.”

From the edges of his vision Luke can see Din’s face crease in a frown, because as much as Luke worries about Din and his kriffing, unyielding, beskar-strong notions of duty, he knows that Din worries about Luke’s whole-hearted impulsivity just as often.

“You know that’s a dangerous promise to make.”

“Not when I make it to you.” Luke slides his fingers into Din’s hair, holding on as he rocks his hips and he can feel Din starting to get hard beneath him. “Anything. I'd do anything for you. I mean it.”

“I know you do, cyar'ika.”

“Tell me what you want. Please,” Luke begs as Din’s hand finds a twist to his downstroke that knocks the breath from his lungs.

“Right now I want impossible things,” Din admits. “But I’d settle for sex. Here. In the cockpit.”

"Oh, Din," he sighs so happily that Din laughs and Luke has to catch that laugh on his tongue, to chase the vibrations of it until they rest in the corners of his own smile. "From the moment you towed me by a cable onto your ship, that’s all I’ve ever wanted from you.” The end! *** Mando'a translations: riduur - spouse Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum - I love you dinui - gift cyar'ika - darling, sweet heart And then this absolute masterpiece of a fragmented poem that was written for me by the incandescent, incomparable tessiete who didn't hesitate when I cried at her that I can't write poetry in English, much less Mando'a: O'r te uur be Ka'ra, o'r te dral be beskar, o'r te kaab be te akaanir, o'r te dinui be tal, Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum In the silence of stars, in the burnish of steel, in the din of the fight, in the giving of blood, I love you. Thanks all for following along! Hope you enjoyed the ending. I’ve appreciated your enthusiasm so so very much :-)