#i am his child. pragmatic to the end. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

velvetwyrme · 11 days

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transformers one is out now!!! have yuo watched it yet?? how was it?? c:

HI ANON i hope you dont mind that i kept this in my askbox for a couple days because I hadn't watched it yet (wanted to make sure I was No Longer Sick, because being sick in the cinema is Not Great) and also technically it hasn't released here yet,,,? BUT apparently they've got advance preview weekends for like. the same price so Obviously I went.

ANYWAY I HAVE WATCHED IT NOW AND IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!! THANK YOU FOR ASKING.

AHHHHHHHHHH hold on I've been talking nonstop about it for like the last. 4 hours. fucking help me. or dont. I love to chatter and will continue to do so under the cut shjfkgnwmbfks so if you count this, it'll end up nearing 6. I'm... probably going to talk about this as if you know the general premise of the movie, but if not. Google it. Or just go watch it!! (Can recommend) I talk too much to summarise it fhfjfbskdnfkf

Vague spoiler warning because I don't know what I'll talk about rhdjfbekntkr,,,,

Edit: If you've been following me for any amount of time, you know that when I say this got long, you really do have to believe me on that.

My mom liked it as well???? She came with me because I didn't want to subject any of my irl friends to my tf rambling and she didn't want me to go alone fbfkfbkd I thought she wouldn't, but SHE LIKED IT.

Okay so first off: going into the theatre, I was so so afraid that I was going to have the same thought I had after watching Puss and Boots: The First Wish, which was- "I REALLY liked that, and it would have been one of my favorite movies if I was still a child." (Still a really good movie!!)

BUT I DIDN'T HAVE THAT. I JUST REALLY LOVE THE MOVIE FULL STOP.

Anyway, onto my wild rambling.

The visuals were superb!! Gorgeous. No notes. Freaking amazing animation and character design and world design !!!!! I'LL COME BACK TO THAT I COULD YELL FOREVER ABT WORLDBUILDING. The characterisation is so so good, so tasty.

Also because I'm a huge honkin nerd...

The movie is largely focused on the dynamic between Orion Pax/Optimus Prime and D-16/Megatron, but the other characters also shine through really well, and they show off a lot personality even with the ones with very few scenes. Elita-One is a fucking delight I wanna kiss her!!!!!!! She's so cool and pragmatic and it SHOWS in what she does and how she acts. She IS better than you, and she knows it. Even Starscreams confident yet cowardly nature is shown with him lounging on a throne and slinking off after his fight with D-16, and he's barely there!!! RAHAGGHHH I love what you can do with characterisation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also my god this movie was funny. Even when the pacing is fast it's a GOOD fast. Comedic moments are used really well in this, and it flips smoothly between that and the more serious and heartfelt bits.

AND HRHFJFJDK okay so maybe its just my sense of humor, but I found Bee to be really really really funny. He's just like me for real!!! Talks too much, excited as HELL about everything!!!!!!!!! HE'S JUST LIKE ME. I also told my mom this and she was like. "Yes! He is jist like you!! He talks a lot. You would do the knife-hands thing. Also, you're wearing yellow." And. I was. I am. hrhfjfjfkkghdk 💛💛 Shockwave in this movie is ALSO very funny. He gets punched <3 Many other characters also get punched, but he complains about it. He reminds me somewhat of TF Animated Shockwave but less intimidating sgdjfbdjfbdmfbmd

Speaking of characters... Airachnid was so pretty. I love her design so much!!!! She's alien and COOL and I love her!!!!! She has so many eyes... (I'd ALSO love to know more about what her deal is. But... her lack of a motive/story is made up infinitely by strong screen presence and personality) Sentinel was ALSO very pretty and I loved seeing him on screen but I (spoilers) loved seeing him get ripped in half more. Those were LOVELY shots.

I brought my mini Soundwave along with me!! I liked Soundwave in the movie even if he didn't play a big part <33 The "there sure are a lot of waves" joke was VERY funny because I had the exact same thought moments before.

There are a LOT of cameos in the film and I kept going "AHHHHH [CHARACTER]". I get why they didn't add more as main characters- there were a loooooot of characters running around already, and only 2 hours!! Even so, I still wish we saw more of the other characters that cameoed (JAZZ!!!!!! MY BOYYYY!! I WAS SO SCARED THEY'D KILL HIM OFF) or had minor appearances because I just. I want to know what they'd do with the characterisation........ but that's what fanfic for for ig ehfjfhdk,,

And on the topic of lovely shots, theres a series of scenes near the end of the movie with no dialogue, only music and sound and. It's SO good. It's so impactful and beautiful and ausuaiaiurhrgh...

The whole movie is inherently sort of a tragedy since it's a prequel. We all know how it ends; what these characters become. But the build up to that is so SO good. I loved the character progression- D-16'S PROGRESSION TO BECOMING MEGATRON IS!!! AHHHHH!! I loved seeing him shift from one perspective to another and they made it believable.

His anger and betrayal giving way to violence- there's this one bit shortly after they are given the ability to transform where you See that violence in D-16 fir the first time, and it's shot so starkly in comparison to the other characters (who also fight to get away) and it's just like. Oh. There's the potential for something dangerous there.

It is so so interesting to me to see how that violence is framed in comparison to the others- all three of the other protags have their moments of violence- Elita-One is very very intimidating and used violence/threats to get her way, and Bee has this lightheartedness/innocence to his violence... Orion Pax is just. he's doing what needs to be done, he takes no joy from the destruction- he's fighting back, but I think most importantly all of them know when to stop.

There are the fights and punches that get thrown around, and then there is D-16 wailing on Starscream. Megatron RIPPING SENTINEL IN HALF. God that scene was good.

Anyway, sometimes in media a character goes through a Big Event that changes or breaks them, but here? There is no breaking point for D-16/Megatron. It's a slow spiralling descent and you see him taking one step after another, deciding to continue down this path. This is shown in a more literal way with his eyes slowly changing colour through the movie (fucking SICK SHOTS!!!!!!!) but there are a dozen more moments where you can see him decide who he is becoming.

IT WAS REALLY GOOD, I LOVE SHIT LIKE THAT.

And as audience!! Though we know this change is inevitable!! (This is an event in the past- the end of this is already written!!!) It's still tragic!! I feel for him!! I want him to keep getting back up in the face of Sentinel's cruelty!!!!!!!!!!

Orion watching his friend change, seeing them grow further apart... and he still hangs onto that hope right up until the end (and even after that!!!!!! He banishes him, because he will not kill him!!)

imo, they did Orion Pax/Optimus Prime really well in this one- he gets into a lot of trouble and it somehow works out. I think they do really well in making him feel down to earth in this- he's punchy and dynamic and has this unwavering respect for the people around him, but he's also good at being tricky and manipulative to get interesting outcomes that nobody else could have considered- he knows how people tick on an individual level and he knows how to use that. He thinks differently, and it's fantastic. Most importantly, Orion can see something nobody else can: a world where things are better.

Orion becoming Optimus... ough. aough. It's so!!!!!! AHHH. I loved all of the sequences that follow after. When his signature axe made an appearance I was so excited it was REALLY COOL. ALL OF IT WAS SO COOL.

The fight choreography is FANTASTIC and while it was a little messy at times (so much... going on........) it was fluid and dynamic and mwah mwah mwah I love it.

ALSO I SAID I'D YELL ABOUT WORLDBUILDING but this is really really long already so like. I'll keep it short as I can

The glimpses of the society that exists is FASCINATING to me. We don't get to see much of it, because our main characters are purely of the lower classes, so what's available to us is quite limited, but the class structure is INTERESTING to me. Unlike IDW, where form dictates function, this universe is driven (ha. ha.) on the idea that some Cybertronians can't transform (and thus work in the lower classes, as miners and waste management etc.) but as it turns out, (spoilers) they actually get their transformation cogs removed before they come online. And like... I can't help but wonder how they pick who gets that treatment?? Luck???? I'm dying to know.

ALSO I really like the Quintessons (sad they're not the the horrible five faced creature things. I wanna see the Weirdos!!!!) but I still think these fuck hard. They're really buggy and organic and cool (I adore their ship designs holy shiiiiiiiiit- just yesterday I was admiring all the bugs and monsters and crabby things in Guild Wars 2, and now THIS?? BLESSED.) And the CYBERTRONIAN DEER ARE COOL!!!!!!!!!! I like them. That's all. I wished we got to see more of the bio-mechanical parts of the planet...

AND AND THE PLANET ITSELF HOLY SHIT AHHHHHH!!!!! The city is gorgeous- the spires going up and down is mwah amazing. The roads and rails appearing/disappearing as they are used? PEAK. The MINES and the surface of Cybertron. They're shifting, moving, alive. I legit was staring slackjawed when they were in the mines- it's just SO COOL to watch!!!

OKAY. IM DONE NOW.

...

AUGH I want to watch it again. I probably WILL watch it again.

If you got all the way down here, thank you for reading (?!) and please tell me what YOU thought of it if you've seen it 🥺👀 Or if you're going to. I definitely recommend it.

#inbox #anon #velwy.txt #transformers one #AUUUUUAHHHRHHHHHRGHG #used up all my words in the post for once.#also hey. in the unlikely event any of yall are in nz. did you know reading cinemas do movies for $10 #SOMETIMES $5.#i saw the newest alien movie for $5 and i was like WHAT A STEAL #ANYWAY THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ASKING AND GIVING ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO YELL FOREVER #i dont (....think) i talk unprompted too much on here but. i do that sooo much around people irl #or if u think i talk a lot here unprompted then imagine i do that More.#as i said in the post. i relate so hard to bee because he just Keeps Talking.#ANYWAY I SAID I RAN OUT OF WORDS BUT EVIDENTLY NOT RBRJJTKMGNKS #BYE. IM STOPPING MYSELF NOW.

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utilitycaster · 1 year

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I know there have been many Takes about Laudna and Orym after latest episode. Yours saying that this is not a bad development for Orym is interesting to me because my knee-jerk reaction while watching was being horrified he went so cold about Bor’Dor’s death. But after some time, I guess him finally choosing to be pragmatic after days torn by his own idealism would be a much healthier route for him in the long run.

I want to know what you think about Ashton, though. Some people are saying, they “let” Laudna kill Bor’Dor because they thought it’s what she needed. That sits wrong with me because Laudna made that decision and she’s not a child, but Ashton is my favorite character and I can’t help think I am biased lol.

Please excuse my badly structured sentences, I’m not native speaker.

Hi anon! Your English is great!

I think this is a revealing question in that, in fandom, I think a lot of people lead with "well, obviously, my favorite character is clearly morally in the right, or, failing that, the character I don't like is morally in the wrong" rather than considering the situation, the context, the genre norms, what makes for the most interesting story, etc. So recognizing that Ashton's your favorite and that might be coloring your opinion puts you ahead of a lot of people.

Anyway: I think it can be true both that Laudna made her own decision and that Ashton could, had they wanted, chosen to make an effort to stop her and they didn't. I don't think that means Ashton is responsible for what Laudna did per se, but I also don't personally think he had a moral imperative to save Bor'Dor. I think someone who thinks he did have that moral imperative might disagree, but they should also be blaming Laudna just as much in that case.

Someone else remarked to me that based on the discourse you'd think Orym - the only person who did not attack or restrain Bor'Dor - executed him in cold blood. Just to recap the fight: we only really had one round during which Orym gave Prism a potion to heal her up and did bait and switch to protect her; Ashton hit, with non-lethal intent; Deni$e restrained Bor'Dor; Laudna cast Hunger of the Shadow, knocking Bor'Dor unconscious; and Prism punched him. The following round was technically not run as combat in initiative order, and had it been, Bor'Dor could theoretically have died of a failed death save before Laudna's turn, but Orym and Deni$e made no attacks and Ashton chose to lead away Prism. Probably any of the three martial class characters could, had they wanted to, stopped Laudna. None of them did.

Which I think goes back to the second paragraph: In the end? I think most people are making their judgments of whether or not they think Bor'Dor should die, and even further back to whether or not the Ruby Vanguard is a cultish, terrorist organization, deciding on whether his death was justified or not, and then, if they think it was not, pinning blame on the character they like least. You can argue for any, though frankly, I think Orym is the weakest argument: Laudna is the one who literally killed him, both knocking him unconscious and taking the final death save. Prism took the most death saves with her punch. Ashton dealt a significant amount of damage and did not intervene when Laudna had an unconscious Bor'Dor at her mercy. Deni$e is the one who initially brought up her suspicions, forcing Bor'Dor's hand, and similarly made no physical effort to stop anyone. Orym indicated his approval to Laudna and did not try to stop her.

I think that had Bor'Dor not attacked the party, and had instead simply run away, tracking him down and killing him would have been excessive, but on the other hand, he had a lot of information that could have been extremely dangerous to Bells Hells, so at the very least I think they needed to take him prisoner; but he's not wanted by any specific legal system, so I think he'd just be their hostage, dragged along, indefinitely, as they attacked his friends over and over again. There isn't a nice, neat solution where everyone is happy. Deradicalization is an admirable goal, but it requires a massive amount of effort and resources that I don't think Bells Hells have, and no one should be expected to deradicalize someone who is actively committing violence against them. Once Bor'Dor attacked, to me, this became self-defense and an admission that he was lost: that he'd spent several days with them during which they were kind to him, but because of their ideologies, he attempted to kill them anyway. At that point, I don't fault any of the characters present for killing him/letting him be killed in response.

I guess the last point I'll make is that while, in terms of empathy, there is obviously a huge difference between killing someone regretfully, and killing someone and relishing it, they are, in the end, dead either way. I don't interpret Orym's behavior as cold, but rather merely calm acceptance that he can no longer avoid the inevitable war - and I do think that acting as though Orym's subjectivity in this situation is problematic while ignoring that Prism and Laudna were in no way objective either is an incredibly poorly considered argument, and deeply unfair- but in the end, whether Orym is stoic or whether he breaks down crying, Bor'Dor is still dead. I am not going to fault a character for having an outward emotional reaction that doesn't match what I think it should be when I think their motivations were reasonable.

#answered #Anonymous #critical role #I think a lot of people are mistaking empathy for forgiveness or mercy #i think Orym's actions are deeply empathetic. I think he sees that a few differences in circumstances could have made him a vanguard member #and he also sees that the vanguard's response to their own pain is to make more orphans and widowers of innocents in the name of ideology #and that prism - the one person who believed bor'dor - would have been the collateral damage #anyway sorry for making this about orym again but I think it's necessary context for understanding why i'm like ashton's fine #bc they're all fine imo

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myfandomprompts · 2 years

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𝐀𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 | 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐖𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞 - 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒

Summary : Back in Deep Den, you are doomed to live without Aemond as you carry his child, but the civil war takes a turn and you might see light again.

Warning : Fire & Blood spoilers (still not canon partly) Masterlist (Part 23 - Part 25)

A/N : Sorry for the delay, I have many chapters in store and figuring out the end, thank you for being your kind words all of you!

“Why was I not notified of this? I am part of this family too, I should have gone with him.”

Your mother was watching you pace the room with concerned eyes, your agitated state worrying her due to your current state.

“Please child, be reasonable. You are in no condition to travel and your father only wishes for us to be safe.”

It had been months since you had arrived safely in Deep Den, escorted by Ser Sterron and several others, and since that time you had been unfairly put in the dark about what was happening in King’s Landing, your mother considering that any news might endanger your health and the babe’s.

Upon your arrival, you had begged your father to go to the capital and negotiate the release of Aemond, one way or another you had said. But he had dismissed your pleading, stating that he could do nothing while his own troops were still fighting on the side of the Greens, something that would not change any sooner.

The most difficult and important piece of information your parents were holding from you, however, was the plan of the Black Queen to execute the Kinslayer, because each time your husband’s subject was brought up, you either became very angry with sorrow or fell into anguished cries, forcing your parents and brother to be very careful with what they could say around you.

But from the moment news of Jacaerys Velaryon’s capture came, taken prisoner by Daeron Targaryen, now called ‘the Daring’, your parents could finally relax. They were now strengthened in the conviction that Rhaenyra would not risk Aemond’s life as long as her son would remain hostage.

Your mother was a Black at heart, believing that Visery’s daughter would be merciful on your House once she would rid Westeros from the usurpers, her own family member, Ser Lorrent, part of the Queen’s guard a pride for her.

Your father, however, was more pragmatic. He had taken great care in not spreading the word of your return to Deep Den.The fact that in the past, no Green had even lifted a finger in order to rescue you from the grip of Ulf the White, one of their own allies, was concerning, and he wished for you to remain as far from them as possible from now on.

But your father was also more sensible to your sadness regarding the father of your child than his own wife, your mother, taking more seriously your pleas about striking a deal for his release. Not being able to help you pained him, hiding information from you as well, but he told himself that it was for your own good, that you had suffered enough.

Instead, he patiently waited for an opportunity, aware of the fact that any attempts on his part to reach Rhaenyra on his own would indirectly label him as a traitor to the Greens and endanger his men as well as his House.

When a raven from Ormund Hightower arrived, your father finally saw that opportunity. The Lord of Oldtown was requesting the return of Ser Sterron as Commander of the Lydden troops as well as their Lord, and for him, it could only mean that the Greens were finding themselves at an impasse, and were sending for all the help they could, and in this case, diplomatic counsel. The Greens’ situation was dire: they had lost most of the battles, had solely one dragon left on their side, Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White having been murdered by a noble group called ‘the Caltrops’ weeks ago, and the only leverage they possessed at the moment was Jacaerys, their only hostage while Aegon’s heirs were still missing. Lord Donnel suspected that his presence was requested by Daeron, Cole and Ormund for something more than simple leadership. So on the morrow, he was gone. Leaving you behind.

“Do not worry,” your mother had continued. “Soon the rightful Queen will be proclaimed as the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and we will be able to plead our case and prove our loyalty. Your father will make sure of this.”

“Mother, I do not care who sits on the Iron Throne, my only wish is for my family to be safe, and that includes those you call usurpers!”

Your mother’s words often sickened you, and you were unable to hold your tears at this moment, overwhelmed by the feelings of loss that plagued you for months, your pregnancy sensibly not helping.

“Oh my darling…” she took your hand in hers gently. “The Queen will be merciful.”

You snatched away from her grasp before hiding your face in your hands, breath trembling. You knew your mother to be wrong, obviously too quick to forget about Aegon’s assassination and the death of Helaena. The ‘merciful’ Queen would not rest until Lucerys’ death was fully avenged.

However, the more your mother spoke, the more the harsh reality dawned on you: the Greens were losing, and soon, the Blacks would take their place as rulers of the Seven Kingdoms. Nothing then could stop Rhaenyra Targaryen from making an example of your husband, his brother, his nephew and niece, his mother, and Aemond’s offspring. Your child .

Upon your arrival you had cried for weeks as your head filled with dark thoughts of the possibility of ever seeing Aemond again and of your child being taken away from you. But after a while, your own body became numb to the repetitive images you inflicted yourself with, and soon you only felt nothingness, as if someone had puffed out the flame that made you live, leaving you staring into the dark as you gently rubbed your swollen belly.

The pregnancy was tough on you, and everybody inside the castle walls had their doubts on whether or not you would bring this baby into the world or even make it through yourself. Many believed and feared the “Kinslayer curse”, and the rumours that it was inflicted upon you as well was growing wild. The maester kept compelling you to take those awful potions you knew were inefficient because none except you realised that your affliction was beyond the physical, something no medicine could cure.

The only soul inside of the castle that brought you comfort was your brother. Amory, despite being only four and ten, had everything of a young lord, without the arrogance. He loved you and his concern for you, although much better hidden than your mother’s, was expressed through his visits, warm conversations and games he liked to play with you in your good moments, and you were glad that he was here. He did not pity you nor looked at you with these worried eyes you met whenever you left your quarters, and your connection to him was so deep that it felt like you shared your heart with someone again.

Now that your father was gone, he was spending more time with you than before, watching you grimaced each time you drank down those nauseating looking potions. But you could not forget. You could never forget.

It has been days since the chaos had started, and Aemond could not decipher what was happening outside of his barred window, low beneath the ground. But then again, the Prince had no idea if he could still trust his ears.

From his cell deep in the dungeon, he rarely heard anything other than the guards and the clashing of waves, so when chanting emanating from the city reached his ears, he had got up and listened.

But now, as the sun set, he realised that the noise was now coming from the inside, and he clearly heard the door to the dungeon open, followed by footsteps as he narrowed his eye at the dark corridor in the hope to see the intruders. Soon, several men appeared, with only one of them carrying a torch that cast light upon their alert faces, part of their armour visible under their cloaks.

“Your Grace, we must make haste, the guards are gone but they could retreat here at any moment.”

Aemond did not move, studying the face of the man who clumsily tried the lock of his cell as he finally realised why he looked so familiar: it was one of Cole’s men.

“Why? Where are they?” Aemond asked as the door opened.

“Those left are busy protecting the west side, but they could be gone already. Quickly, your Grace.”

A loud commotion from above that made everyone look up prevented Aemond from asking further questions, and soon everyone pressed themselves out of the dungeon with renewed haste.

“Lady Y/N, my mother…” he tried to say over the noise.

“Already outside,” the man answered as he led him through the unusually empty barracks. “The guest wing was closer so we reached her first.”

From there it was easy. No one was there to stop them, no soldier standing guard where they should have been, no servants to sight them, and certainly no nobles strolling the dungeon as they kept their descent in the dark tunnels of the Red Keep and onto the secluded beach at the foot of the ramparts. Aemond could still hear the ruckus above, and he made a guess that whatever was happening, it was certainly bad for Rhaenyra. He rejoiced at the thought but had no time to confirm his suspicions as he was met with the open air for the first time in months, making his eye blink to adjust to the sunlight as he advanced on the beach. Against the setting sun, he could decipher the silhouette of his mother boarding a rowboat with the help of other men, her sight filling him with relief as he looked around, looking for you.

“Where is Y/N?” he asked the man next to him as he struggled not to stumble on the hard sand. The man’s eyes became wide, almost frightened.

“She… she has not been sighted since Bitterbridge, your Grace. Since Vhagar had helped her to get away from the betray-” the man tried, thinking that talking about his precious dragon would somehow soothe the Prince from the absence of his wife.

But it failed as Aemond suddenly stopped in his tracks and violently grabbed the man by the collar, making his muscles ache by the effort but ignoring the pain at the moment as he slowly understood that his swine of an uncle had lied to him all of this time, taunting him.

“Where. Is. My. Wife?”

You had no idea how to take the news.

King’s Landing had been sacked, or something close to it. You knew of the citizens’ exhaustion at the constant restriction and increased taxes due to the war, but you had not expected for an entire army of hungry and angry rebels to stand against the Queen during the Rogue Prince’s absence in protest. You heard that the crowd was so unrelenting, so vindictive that the whole City Watch had been overwhelmed, their numbers already thin due to the enlistment. But the rebels had been organised. One of their groups had taken the precaution to break in the Dragonpit, force the dragonkeepers to bound the Queen’s dragon Syrax before trying to slay the beast. The fools all perished in her flames, but not before they injured the yellowed scaled beast so badly that she would never be able to fly again. You also heard that in the chaos, many dragons had flown away from the Dragonpit at the sudden swarming of the crowd, was there by fear or by command of the dragonkeepers in order to protect them, no one knew for sure.

But more importantly, you heard that Rhaenyra Targaryen had been gravely wounded during the riots. Indeed, once she realised that the rebels would try to weaken her by any means necessary, she had tried to reach her dragon. Whether or not she knew her mount to be in danger is unclear, but the fact remained that she had left the Red Keep after ordering her children to be taken away, heading to the Dragonpit with an escort. But it has not been enough, and in the end, Ser Lorent, your great-cousin, had been the only one remaining at her side able to pull her out of danger following the disastrous event.

Several days later, she had succumbed to her injuries.

It is said that at Daemon Targaryen’s return, it had been a bloodbath. Learning of the death of his wife and the fleeing of his children, he had executed all of the rebels in rage and grief as well as ordering a strict curfew, before calling for a meeting in order to launch a final and long due attack on the Greens, convinced that the riots were their doing. Only his in-laws, the Velaryons and his daughters were left to try to slow him down.

But the news you longed for the most never came. Not a word about Aemond or Alicent, your only comfort found in the fact that if Aemond had still been under Daemon’s watch, he would have executed him immediately upon his return, by pure revenge. That is, if he was not dead already.

Your heart fell in your chest at the very thought and you cursed the fact that you were so far away from King’s Landing, with child and that everything was so slow to reach your ears.

This also ironically seemed to be the perfect moment for your waters to break.

Aemond missed Vhagar dearly, frustrated that he had to ride to Tumbleton instead of flying, but it was nothing next to the anguish he experienced whenever he thought of what might have become of you. Right now the only thing stopping him from leaving to search for you was his mother, her state frail and distraught due to months of captivity worrying him so much that he could not bring himself to abandon her until they reached the safety of the town.

Their little party had been forced to travel low across the King’s Woods, avoiding every main path in order to reach their destination unseen, putting him in a foul mood.

Because Tumbleton was north of Bitterbridge, Aemond had hoped to find traces of Vhagar there, since he had Cole’s men tell him about everything regarding your whereabouts, learning of the way you had been dragged across the Crownlands and held in the late Caswell’s castle under the watch of Ulf the White. Aemond dearly wished that the traitor was still alive so he would have the pleasure to detach his head from his body himself. Your escape had surprised him, wondering who would be bold enough to snatch you from under a dragonrider’s nose, but he already had his suspicion on their identity as he got closer to the camp where his army waited.

And his intuition turned out to be right. Tumbleton was surrounded by a chaotic mass of tents spread across the dry fields and all he had to do was to search for a certain sigil with a silver badger on it, and he would have his answer.

But as he dismounted, he was instantly harassed by maesters who insisted on examining him, claiming that he needed to slowly readapt to normal activities after months of captivity. Annoying him greatly, it only resulted in Aemond lashing out at them, before entrusting his mother to Cole’s care and striding away angrily, ignoring his great-cousin’s greeting, not wishing to waste another second of his time.

It did not take long to find the Lord he was looking for as everybody came to see the Prince Regent's return, eager to see how affected by the Blacks he had been. But Aemond had no care for them, instead walking straight toward two men standing from a distance near one of the tents, a Lord and his knight.

As he levelled with Lord Donnel Lydden and Ser Sterron, the former bowed slightly to greet him, something akin to satisfaction in his eyes.

“Prince Aemond. It is a relief to see you and your mother unharmed and safely returned. I trust that every step of the plan to rescue you has been strictly followed.”

Aemond had no patience to decipher what that meant and went straight to the point.

“Tell me you know where she is.”

Ser Sterron lips curved upwards at his words next to them, unsurprised by the Prince’s direct question. His Lord bore the same expression.

“She is safe. And… rather well, due to the circumstances.”

It took a tremendous effort from Aemond to not let anything appear on his face as immense relief flowed inside him.

“What circumstances?” he asked hastily, watching your father’s condemning expression try to find his answer, hesitant.

“The child she carries had, and still, puts her in danger. I have taken great precautions in order to preserve her from any harm or any soul that would plan to use her in any way. I am sure you understand your Grace, that my intentions are only for her to remain as far as possible from this conflict.”

Aemond felt the blood rush in his ears at the Lord’s words, already irritated by the tiring journey he had suffered.

“You insult me greatly, my Lord, if you believe me incapable of keeping her safe. Are you saying that you intend to have her hidden away from my family? From me?”

Lord Donnel looked briefly ill at ease, his gaze still bravely holding Aemond’s.

“I only ask for your discretion. A lot has happened since your… absence, and as I am sure you know, it is one of your own allies that had my daughter cut out from anyone she knew during months, if not worse,” Lord Lydden’s expression was harder now. “Consequently, if you care for her as much as I do, I would only ask of you to-”

“I would die for her, that’s how much I care. I love her more than anyone ever has.”

His voice had been louder than he had intended, and in truth he had not intended to speak those words at all, surprising himself. Never has he expressed this to anyone aside from you.

Lord Lydden arched a brow, bemused at the Prince’s outburst, but the ghost of a smile was noticeable on his face.

“I… see,” he discretely glanced at Ser Sterron before turning to Aemond again. “Then we are in agreement. She should not leave Deep Den, not until all of this is over.”

He had said the last piece in a lower tone, wary to not be heard by the people walking past them. Aemond was about to answer that he will be the sole judge of that, but a sudden familiar feeling of electricity coursing through his body prevented him from doing so, making him sharply inhale and take a step back.

He looked at the sky, as if he had spotted something only he could see, but a minute later, what he was looking for-. No, what he was feeling came soaring through the sky, casting its shadow over the town.

Every soul in the camp looked up and pointed fingers in awe as Vhagar circled around them, roaring, before making her descent into the nearby field, making the tents shake in her wake.

Aemond’s heart jolted in bliss, and he could not repress a smile as he politely bowed at Lord Lydden in order to make his leave.

“I will send your regards to your daughter, my Lord.”

At that, he swiftly turned on his heels and headed straight toward his beloved mount, striding across the camp.

As he got nearer, it became impossible to tell which one of the two were the most joyous, as Vhagar heavily extended her head towards him when he approached her, squealing in excitement while Aemond flattened his palm against her hard green scales, feeling their heat and rejoicing at the sensation of their bond being restored at last.

“My girl, I have missed you,” he whispered as she nudged her snout against him.

He felt whole again.

Well, almost.

A/N: Holidays are over, and here we go again. I wanted to thank you for all of your kinds words and support, it means a lot and it's worth being said over and over, you readers are everything. Happy New Year!

-0- Part 25

@let-love-bleeds-red @crazylokonugget@jeyramarie@ephemeralninon@mrswhitethornbelikov@dudfahsn@missusnora@queenofterrasen418@honeytrapsblogp-graham@heathclifftragedyy @discowizard88@ivartheblessed@xceafh@bubbletae7@omgkatherine97@tzipora-art@signyvenetia @ml0103 @nsainmoonchild @lonadane @skythighs@bietchz@samnblack@mariaelizabeth21-blog1@projectcampbell @ripdragonbeans @caribbeangal@polireader@zillahvathek@moni-cah @literishdegree99 @a-beaverhausen @thekinslayer @maniccrystalhippie @princessofdarkwinter @isaxbella749@claudie-080102@ebaylee422@hydrationqueensworld@crumblychunksofheaven@officiallyunofficialperson @grungegrrrl @stargaryenx @dark-night-sky-99

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is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not · 5 months

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General Hazen I know now is not the best time but what can you tell me about the Ilkhan? (sent from @freelance-belter-catgirl)

The ilKhan. Alaric Ward. He is the child of three, though only two had intent to do so. He is the genetic offspring of Katherine Steiner-Davion, Vlad Ward, and Victor Steiner-Davion. The last genetic contribution was done without knowledge or consent of Victor.

He broke down the Fortress Walls, sacked the Republic of the Sphere, conquered Terra, became ilKhan, and revived the Star League. This he has ascended to the highest office, in the spirit of the ideals set forward the Founder. This would seem to make the best of us. But no one is perfect.

What is more, he is now facing the unenviable task of building and maintaining a new order, in the face of years of bad blood between the major powers of the Inner Sphere, and hopefully reversing the general decline of... everything.

And I said, he is not perfect. He rose to power in Clan Wolf through unscrupulous means, deliberately bled and then shunned the Wolf's Dragoons in the ilClan Trial and after, and is, in general, manipulative and egotistical.

But he also rid the Inner Sphere of Katherine Steiner-Davion, and recognized Malvina's insanity for what it was (eventually) and denied her the chance to become ilKhan - which I am certain would have ended extremely poorly for all concerned.

Furthermore, he is an excellent orator, an accomplished tactician, and has a clarity of purpose that is exceedingly rare. He is extremely cunning, and a lethal warrior. And finally, for all his flaws, he is deeply rational and pragmatic, and willing to defy convention to gain advantages, and achieve his goals.

As ilKhan and First Lord, I respect him for his station and skills. But personally, I greatly enjoy the privilege granted by my membership in the Order of the Star: I am one of, at the moment, nine people who can openly state our opinions and talk back to him, in a sense.

Alaric did not know of that privilege before granting me and the others the title, and we use it. Constantly. It keeps him humble, I think. To have people who are technically his lessers able to openly question him.

Plus, it annoys him to no end. It is very fun.

#battletech #mechwarrior #story event #oc rp

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metvmorqhoses · 2 years

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did aleksandr ask for alina's consent before installing the stag collar on her body? if he didn't, isn't that a form of assault?

A form of violation and betrayal, yes. A form of rape-y act directly against Alina out of some sort of inner perverted evil as they are constantly painting it (even continuously implying Aleksander is the most responsible for what happened to Genya), absolutely no. It's disgusting and disrespectful towards his character.

It's difficult to pinpoint what exactly bothers me about this particular and continuously stressed metaphor in the show, but I'll do my best to explain.

For book!Darkling the matter is a bit different and the justification for his actions is more pragmatic and less personal, but Aleksander in the show is an immortal being constantly carrying with him hundreds of years of excruciating pain, loneliness and heartbreak, a still very present and very painful humanity, for the sake of trying again and again to save his persecuted people. He lost everyone and everything, repeatedly, but the old abusing mother that loathes him and that he nevertheless stubbornly loves. He is resigned to this living eternal hell, because he believes he has a noble and selfless mission to accomplish. The only problem is that, no matter what he does, no matter his efforts, he simply doesn't possess the right kind of power to "change the world".

Then, many centuries down the line, a miracle happens. Not only a miracle that could put an end to all wars, a forced perpetual peace (this is what he wanted to do weaponizing the Fold, forcing all the countries to stop all conflict at gunpoint), but a miracle that could mean to him specifically the end of his personal solitude and despair.

So, he tries to do his best to give this girl everything he would have needed as a young boy and was denied to him, someone who believed in her, someone who taught her, someone who could make her feel her worth and unique destiny, someone who assured her she was not alone. But since of course he has a duty, he thinks, towards Ravka and his people, since he is the adult of the situation, since he is the eternal mastermind, he obviously cannot only selfishly focus on making her love him. He has also to make sure she follows the path he had schemed for her in the most efficient and direct way possible, for the sake of everyone.

That's the reason for the half-truths, for the faint general deception - Aleksander is not a fake groomer who is trying to brainwash a young girl, he is a desperate man whose soulmate is a frightened child who has to save the world and give sense to thousands of years of collective suffering and efforts, his own included and that, in his opinion, has to be guided since he cannot afford to have her fail or to lose her.

Everything goes better than anticipated, she even effortlessly grows feelings, real feelings, for the real him. Then one night his mother tells her in the worst possible way an exaggerated for the worst version of the truth, and she flees without even a second thought or thinking of hearing his version of the story.

We can safely affirm Alina betrayed him first, but not only on a personal level, which I'm sure he would have immediately forgiven, but she, in his mind, had turned against the salvation of Ravka, on top of being a deserter of the army he was the general of.

Those are the events that led to his decision to decide for her about herself, decide to take control of her power, to forcedly share it. And even in this case he continuously tried to make her see reason, to talk to her, and she just continuously shunned him and exaggeratedly hated him for the sole reason she was told half-truths by the person in the most difficult position on planet earth.

This is when Aleksander decides that, for the time being at least, taking control of the Fold is more important than her free will. He also thinks he has lifetimes to make amends, to make her understand.

Am I condoning his actions? No, it was indeed a violation and a betrayal on a personal level, but it was a decision I completely understand from his point of view, even if I find it morally wrong.

If one single person in the world had the cure for cancer in their blood and yet refused to donate it for whatever reason, what would you do? Respect them and leave thousands to suffer? Or would you do an amoral thing for the greater good and force them to? What is the greater good? You see, it's pretty much the trolley dilemma Aleksander faced. I don't think there's actually a psychological winner. There's only a mathematical winner - the suffering of one instead of the suffering of many.

All this has obviously nothing to do with the disgusting way the show is painting it, over and over, as if Aleksander was basically an ideological rapist. Is more complicated than that, more noble than that, don't you think?

#shadow and bone #the darkling #darklina #aleksander morozova #alina starkov #the grisha trilogy #anon #asks/replies #one and one thousand stories lis told

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bluewarf · 1 month

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I have a lot of scattered thoughts about Dungeon Meshi vol. 9, actually. (gonna talk about spoilers below)

-Marcille has a definite habit of misjudging and infantilizing the other races. Comes with the territory of being an elf. Even so, she seems to take that tendency to the extreme with Fallin. Maybe it's because Fallin was so young when they first met? I do think it's interesting though to view it through the lens of Marcille having unacknowledged romantic feelings for her. Loudly insisting that Fallin's just a little girl who needs looking after is a lot safer than examining the depth and nature of her attachment to her best friend.

-that said, Marcille x fireball OTP

-The look of pure excitement on her face after being told that she'd just been killed and brought back-- babygirl, you are just as much of a freak as all these other weirdos in your party.

-Speaking of, Laios' internal moment of "oh, but I'm the freak?" when Marcille casually mentions having eaten fish testicles.

-and to continue on the subject of the dynamic between these two characters specifically, there's a lot to unpack with Laois' succubus taking the form of Marcille, his initial reaction to it, and the way that it ultimately goes about winning him over. So much so that I don't know where to begin with it, really.

-everyones' succubi have some interesting implications. Marcille having the romantic sensibilities of a middle school girl and/or telemundo-addicted abuela. Chilchuck being charmed by generic Hot Single half-foot ladies who bear no resemblance to the estranged wife that he's nonetheless remained faithful to. Whatever the fuck senshi had goin on.

-and of course, Izutsumi. kitten. :( She really doesn't seem to have had anybody looking out for her before joining Laios' party. Even Toshiro, who calls his servants family, was so quick to leave her behind in the dungeon when she went MIA. I do love the moment where she pauses to consider the idea of her beast half as a companion and partner. OTP ended with Marcille/fireball, Izutsumi/self-acceptance is my new ship.

-(in light of the nature of her succubus, I'm choosing to interpret her as aro-ace btw. girl CAN still appreciate the raw sensual power of a panther tho.)

-Chilchuck's dad side really comes out where Izutsumi's concerned. The way that he tries to guide her to the "right" answer when she's frustrated with the rest of the group, how quickly he assumes responsibility for her seemingly disappearing, and the fact that he's the first to suggest looking for her despite in no way being physically up for it when he's normally mr. pragmatism. I am such a sucker for adoptive parent/child dynamics.

-oh yeah, why did that cute little page spread of "monsters that steal your heart" on chapter 60 kick off with chil having a nightmare about his three daughters being axe murdered (by himself?) and senshi getting ensnared by a vision of his former party alive and embracing him. all drawn in a chibi style. Ryoko Kui has really mastered tonal whiplash.

all of that isn't even beginning to touch on Kabru, Mithrun, and the massive lore drops, but I'm gonna have to come back to that later.

#dungeon meshi

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heartscrypt · 1 year

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Hii! I have a question about your thoughts on jamiazu.

Do you think that Azul would ever be able to confess any romantic feelings for Jamil? If so, how? And if not, would they be able to get together in any other way?

Sorry if this is a weird question, just curious.

thanks for your question! it is SO not weird at all i really enjoy stuff like this. actually i am going to go on a huge ramble that goes on a little tangent so like. LONG POST AHEAD!!!! be warned!!!!!

anyways. azul is always confessing his romantic feelings for jamil whether he knows it or not. in every interaction. because he's so damn obvious. hope this helps LOL

in all seriousness though. i really like to think that azul is kind of cursed to be a hopeless romantic despite it going against all of his pragmatic sense. i mean. he's a child of divorce who hates leaving things up to chance and he believes in getting something back whenever he gives something away. being head over heels with someone goes against his whole nature, so i think it's definitely a new thing for him. he won't recognize that his feelings are romantic right away because he'll be too busy trying to justify to himself why he's investing so much time and energy into a guy that Clearly wants nothing to do with him and won't give him the time of day. its business, guys, i swear.... stonks.....

i think once he does come to terms with it though. it starts leaking through in Every Interaction he has w/jamil. in every encounter, azul basically ends up saying I Love You without actually ever speaking it out loud. whether it's through his actions (like getting jamil gifts / offering to help out without any genuine expectation of repayment) or or his words (like implying things about them being good together / complimenting jamil excessively). things he did before he realized, but they just have so much more Weight to them now that he Knows he likes the other in a very Non-Platonic-Business-Partners way. he doesn't intend for it to have that emotional weight but its fucking impossible for him to hide and he does NOT know what to do with himself.

he keeps pushing forward regardless because some part of him hopes that his feelings will reach jamil but he also does it with the expectation that jamil will push back like he always has and that's completely fine by him because never actually directly admitting that these feelings are romantic means that the rejections also stay platonic and that is. Way easier to bounce back from. because god forbid jamil sees at who he is behind all the walls he's put up to protect his most vulnerable and emotional self and ends up hating the real azul too.

tl;dr: i don't think azul would go out of his way to make a real, honest confession of his feelings. but he's so obvious it actually hurts to watch

---

ok so. as for jamiazu get-together:

maybe im like super biased b/c im a sucker for narratives that involve jamil learning to shake his passivity and going ahead and Taking what he wants. but i always think that any scenario where jamiazu gets together has to be initiated by jamil somehow. azul can make the first move and several moves after that but jamil has to be the one to make the Final move if that makes sense.

i don't have like. one set get-together scenario but i have a couple that i like to rotate in my head sometimes. most of them involve azul being a failgirl and getting caught off guard because i think it's funny and jamil also thinks it's funny. here are two for your viewing pleasure:

azul makes a pass at jamil that is romantic-coded but could be interpreted as platonic. jamil seizes the opportunity to turn it Explicitly into a romantic thing and fluster azul to no end about it.

azul: there's a new tasting menu at the mostro lounge if you'd like to come with me and try, i'd love to see what your discerning palette makes of it ^__^!

jamil, very casually: yeah sure. why not. i'll go on a date with you

azul, who did NOT expect a yes so his head is about to explode in t-minus 5 seconds: oh, uh. that's .fantastic, actually— wait. ....DATE?!?!?;!?

jamil corners azul and admits romantic feelings first. bonus points if it's a situation where any romantic confession would be incredibly out of the blue. and the way that jamil says it is like dropping a bomb on azul

like in potions lab. azul's concentrating very hard on pouring an exact amount of a substance. jamils watching him and at some point out of nowhere he breaks the silence in between them by going "i think i like you. in the romantic sense". azul's concentration snaps immediately and he fumbles the beaker into the cauldron out of sheer WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING. it explodes in both of their faces. they both have no chance to address what jamil said because crewel is chewing them out for the next 15 minutes about lab safety. during the entire 15 minutes azul looks like he's been hit over the head with several bricks. Repeatedly. jamil's smirking the whole time though he dgaf. takes pleasure in flustering azul

anyways. im insane about these guys ♥️ if you stuck around and read the entire post im really sorry for writing so much i just have a lot of thoughts

#twst #twisted wonderland #jamil viper #azul ashengrotto #jamiazu #azujami #jamie talks #txt post #the public forum #again. sorry for the long post. oh god they make me so sicj #delusional posting tbh #the azul hopeless romantic hc is something that is very special to me #something about it is just very good. goes against his entire character but he cant help but Feel that way although he knows its irrational #also a big fan of jamiazu situationship #where jamil still insists that he finds azul insufferable and azul calls jamil his future business partner #but they also make out on a regular basis. so obviously they're both not telling the truth #so fucking funny to me. but thats not what you asked so ill elaborate on that eventually on another post

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theonevoice · 11 months

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Sorry if this is a little foggy and poorly worded, but I have been sitting on this thought all day, after working on a scene from Mamoru Hosoda's Wolf Children, and might as well put it here. The scene in question is the one where little wolf-boy Ame, sweet child who loves stories and picture books and who struggles to come to terms with his hybrid identity, one day while out in the woods with his sister and his mother on a sort of wolf-training excursion suddenly starts crying. And the reason why is crying is that, in all the picture books, he keeps seeing the wolf depicted as the bad guy that ends up shooed away or killed. And because of such representations, now he wants to repress his wolf identity, that has always been a lively and funny, although hard to figure out, part of his life. He is terrified of being what he is because the narrow representations that he has access to tell him that the world does not like people like him. It's a powerful little moment in a beautiful movie, that always makes me tear up, and if you missed it I highly recommend you watch it. If you are not into anime movie and just curious of the scene, I found a clip on YouTube:

youtube

Anyway, this scene made my lonely braincel twitch, and I was thinking, now that we are approaching the end of this glorious - as far as the mediascape is concerned - year 2023, that many people underestimate the enormous power of fantasy narratives in expanding the borders of gender (and minority in general) representation. Having an author canonically establish that certain fixed categories do not apply to one or more characters for in-universe reasons takes away that nasty oblique excuse that some people use to deny and disparage diversity in media (where I live they usually sound like "they only made this character a person of color to please the woke liberalsTM even if the historical context doesn't allow it", or even, comically, "it is narratively implausible that this character is or shows to be queer but they were forced to do it by THE GAY LOBBY" - yes, this is an actual conspiracy theory loudly promoted by Italian journalists and politicians, and yes, I am personally deeply ashamed by it). Obviously, almost none of said people has the faintest actual interest in narrative aspects, but they still use the excuse to pollute the public discourse and attack minorities. And I am aware that there is a possible dark pitfall here: in the best possible world, we should not need to take the route of fantasy settings to have something that should never have been denied in the first place, but from a pragmatical standpoint it does work. Having authors saying "nope, sorry not sorry, they are wolf-children / angels and demons / weird vampires / anachronistic pirates in a fantasy context so your self-proclaimed laws of plausibility do not apply and you can shove them where the sun does not shine while we enjoy the show and put this beautiful, funny, delicate, deep and sad things on screen", is like having a cultural picklock which is also a cultural battering ram thrusting the representation-door open. Shows like Good Omens, Our Flag Means Death, What We Do in the Shadows (and their fandoms with their massive collective creative endeavour), by offering the symbolic shield of a fantasy setting can establish a safe space where 1. queer people (especially young people but not only) can finally recognize themselves and stop feeling like they are alone and don't have the words and images they need to describe themselves; 2. not queer people can get used to a larger set of possible identities and not only realise that 100% of said idenities are in fact - hold on to your butts - still people with thoughts and feelings and needs, but also, through the power of mimesis, acquire a deeper understanding of forms of life that they don't directly experience. Including, hopefully, understanding how similar we all are when it comes to us being ultimately a bunch of naked apes who walk on this spinning rock trying to be as little miserable as possible.

Again, sorry if this sounds clumsy and blunt, given how delicate and complex this subject is (one does not simply walk into Mordor talk about the lives and needs of other people like that), but I had this thought stuck in my shallow brain wrinkles and I wanted to try and put it into words.

#celebrate your fandom #go #ofmd #wwdits #ourgoodshadows #good omens #good omens 2 #our flag means death #what we do in the shadows #Youtube

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revoevokukil · 1 year

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there is a lot of talk about the relationship ciri and ava and laramore and the relationship with the laboratory elf did he use her as a consolation or a kind of medicine for the pain he suffered because of lara? and what does she feel for him is it just because he is a wise man or does she have feelings did she feel Ciri as a threat? please i want your opinion on this relationship

A courtesan or a lover (prospective, new, old, or otherwise)? Or a psychologist? The former frequently function as the latter. Certainly though, a woman who very much wanted to be in that boat instead of Ciri that afternoon.

We met the "laboratory elf" in Lady of the Lake.

She found Avallac’h on the terrace by the river just as he was boarding a boat in the company of a gorgeous elf-woman with straw-coloured hair. The elf-woman was wearing lipstick the colour of pistachios and flecks of golden glitter on her eyelids and temples. … Ciri was about to turn around and walk away when Avallac’h stopped her with a gesture. And invited her into the boat with another. Ciri hesitated. She didn’t want to talk in front of witnesses. Avallac’h said something quickly to the elf-woman and blew her a kiss. The elf-woman shrugged and went away. She only turned around once, to show Ciri with her eyes what she thought of her. ‘If you could, refrain from comment,’ said Avallac’h when she sat down on the bench nearest the bow.

Ironically, TW3 gives her a name: Isilira. In short, Lira. Not a huge jump from Lira to Lara, and that already says plenty. I am only half joking. (She is also implicated as a spy; present on Naglfar in a cut quest. But it's unknown if the Child of the Elder Blood quest was at the game in that iteration of the game or not.) TW3 reinforces the idea of her as of Avallac'h's paramour and I don't think it's misguided. Based on what the game shows, Isilira seems up for indulging Avallac'h's desires, or maybe shares some of them in a complementary manner (perhaps they're using each other in a mutually enjoyable way; wouldn't that be lovely). On display in the laboratory though are both Isilira's and Ciri's jealousy and preconceived notions about Avallac'h: Isilira hopes he is not serious about Ciri and Ciri hopes exactly the opposite, that there is something more serious Avallac'h feels toward her.

Why was the elf woman at TnL that day? What made her special enough to earn a private rendezvous with one of the most powerful elves in the realm? Gorgeous, prepared. She clearly expected to be favoured over Ciri, but was restrained & distant enough not to make her displeasure known to Crevan upon being set aside for a dh'oine. (No, correct that: closely avoiding a three-way date. Crevan's oblivious at first, inviting Ciri to him immediately.) If theirs is an established relationship then boundaries might already be set (lover or professional courtesan, I think there would be a minefield to learn by heart with Avallac'h just the same). If she is new, well, then her contempt for Ciri is all the more understandable (an object of desire or a potentially useful client preferring some mongrel over you, I mean…). How serious could it possibly be, though? How much does the elf woman know about the gossip circling about Ciri, who bears the eyes of Lara? Does the "don't take away my memories of Lara" not apply to anyone but Ciri? Evidently.

Rewind.

I find the fact that this scene with the elf-woman is included in LotL incredibly interesting.

The man who has ever only wanted the love of one Woman, who cheated on him and did not want him in the end, is himself wanted by other women. Crevan's love for Lara seems to have been painfully genuine; earnest, despite his inherent pragmatism. It is always interesting to see what happens to people like him upon being disappointed in an ideal they have allowed themselves to fall for.

I think Avallac'h's vanity is a surprisingly underappreciated aspect of his persona. He is an elite of the elite - The Guy - and he knows it. He has an ego. Appropriately bruised by The Woman. But The Woman is dead and a few others at TnL may have sighed in relief when it happened; there's free real estate now. Joke's on them, of course, but has that ever stopped anyone persistent in the short term? I guess it takes a particular type.

Speaking of types: Avallac'h seems to be all about the Halo effect nowadays. To be seen as romantically linked with an attractive partner puts a seal of approval on a man's desirability in the eyes of other women. You don't know the guy personally and might infer he has qualities women desire in mates. Interesting insofar as the scene's included for Ciri's POV. You can halo-effect yourself too, of course; most who have ever been left or betrayed or hurt have questioned their self-worth. And that's yet another aspect that makes Avallac'h a really complicated character. You wouldn't know this implied mass murderer's heart and ego have been chewed up, mangled, and spat out by The Woman he loved unless her ghost was summoned: but simultaneously, when you learn it, you also learn that while Crevan is genuinely forlorn he is also absolutely resentful. Underneath, he is still angry. He hasn't dealt with it. Perhaps he is trying to deal with it.

(And I can hear a fic calling at me with a plot of him going to the she-elf as to a bed shrink; a witch he spends almost as much, if not more, time talking to while they are bathing as he does fucking her. I imagine Ciri features heavily in those conversations, as this is where it all gets really deliciously messed up. And I imagine Isilira is - on a professional level - amused, even while personally her heart is finding new degrees of stone to turn into. There, a WIP was born. Thanks, anon!)

And as concerns his vanity, who is to say Crevan didn't think he was the best thing since sliced bread right from the get go; when he was courting Lara? Being genuinely in love with someone makes you adjust your personality a lot, sure, but given how in-your-face Avallac'h's self-love is I don't think it's ruled out he took it as self-evident he was the best-suited for Lara. A wonderful loop: Destiny confirming self-importance and self-importance confirming Destiny. (But also - love; do we not all think along these lines when we are in love? Which came first? What feeds what?) Now, I don't know much about being the top 0.01% and how that affects what you're looking for in your partner - someone who understands your exceptionality & embraces what others see as vices must have been reassuring & relaxing on some level for Lara - but I can see smugness causing an allergic reaction even if the person loves me very-very much. Moreover, I think it's ironic how emotionally unavailable Avallac'h post-Lara does to those who desire him what Lara ended up doing to him. Circles of hurt everywhere; unintentional or not.

#asks #avallac'h #isilira #lady of the lake #lara dorren #ciri #the witcher #wiedźmin #the witcher 3: wild hunt #the witcher character analysis #witcher headcanons #aen elle #the witcher books #and that he is an aev saevherne who cannot allow his own ego to overshadow things but is still capable of selfishness is just a delight #quoting gimilzor: avallac'h you chucklefuck #fave

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dangermousie · 1 year

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It took over a 100 chapters but I genuinely ship Xiao Qiao and Wei Shao now. It’s a delight to watch their priorities slowly switch more and more towards each other despite both of them not wanting this/being terrified of it on a conscious level (because she’s a woman who guards her heart as she knows marriage can never be equal and he guards his because warlords who get weak over women don’t last long) and that the issue of her family is not resolved - it is so realistic to me that even as he falls for her and acknowledges it to himself he still hates her family - I mean her grandfather purposefully did not send reinforcements so his father and older brother would die in battle leaving him a 10 year old with a grandmother trying to hold the fief together long enough until he grows up enough to fight. Like - the fact that he’s decided he won’t actively murder her family is a big deal enough. But I love that she refuses to give up her family who except for her uncle who was meh were universally loving and good to her. And fed up with always having to cater to him makes it blunt precipitating their biggest fight. I super love that they eventually make up but still this matter remains unresolved, they just stop mentioning it. It feels realistic.

I also love that what precipitated her opening her heart is when he got wounded and sick. Because I think this is the first time she truly GETS that he’s human. Because he’s so competent and also from her past go around she knows at least nothing is supposed to happen to him until he overthrows the dynasty. So she’s been treating it all as eh whatever. But she is confronted with him wounded with a poison arrow and while his life is not in danger, it forces her to realize that (a) yes he is flesh and blood and can be hurt too (b) past go around is no guarantee of safety or same outcome in this.

Because this novel loves its sex scenes, I am still cracking up at his “wanna bang!” “No you are wounded that may make it worse!” “Well then you can get on top” thing ahahahh. I am mildly surprised she is not pregnant yet but I guess they do keep separating for long periods of time and the novel does explicitly addresses that she tries to minimize chances of pregnancy both because she wants to be older and because her heart being guarded she’s not sure she wants to give him a child.

We see that ugh wannabe rapist dude back. I thought he was killed but looking back all Wei Shao ordered was to chop off his dick and stuff it into his mouth. That is another thing not making it into the drama 😝

PS I peeked at the end mainly because of Da Qiao X Bi Zhu who remain my babies and I love that the horse slave became a nobleman with a giant army guarding his border fief and is still a wife-devoted guy who doesn’t just adore Da Qiao but is permanently grateful that a high lord’s daughter ran off with him instead of a very fancy marriage, when he was a literal slave. I love that Da Qiao’s insane on a practical level decision taken purely out of love turned out so epically good on a pragmatic level. She ends up being legal (and only) wife of a super powerful warlord who worships the ground she walks on. Go, Da Qiao!

#cnovel #the marquis is innocent

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aikoiya · 1 year

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LoZ: TotK - Meeting One's Match (Overall Story Summary) Part 2

TW: Mentions of past rape & child enslavement (though, it's only mentioned as past trauma & is acknowledged as disgusting); panic attack; mention of death of loved ones, multiple, both canon & non-canon; mentions of child abandonment; mention of concubines, both male & female; mild violence; intrusive thoughts & pseudo-possession; mentioned child sacrifice & implied torture of a minor, very bad, horrible stuff; possible others that I can't think of off the top of my head rn.

Just because they are in the story does not mean that I condone it.

And, I am very open to criticism so long as it is constructive in nature & presented politely. In fact, I encourage it!

Before reading, I'd recommend going here first: Nemma Masamuna Profile & Personality

MOM Part 1 & MOM Part 2.

I recommend that you read Part 1 first.

And, for the rest of my Meeting One's Match stuff, go to my LoZ My Fanfic Masterlist.

---

Let's start back where we left off, shall we?

Anyway, where was I?

Oh, yes! Nemma was kidnapped!

---

Now, I think that I'm going to make Nemma's capture a result of Kōme & Kotake's attempts to be rid of her as they don't appreciate how "soft" Ganondorf is becoming because of her. As in, they heard Rauru's attempt to persuade Nemma & then later informed him of her routines, which enables one of his Sheikah Warriors to kidnap her.

I think I'll make it Nemma's father, Masashai, who steals her away, just to really drum up the drama. He's one of Rauru's best & he even offered to do it himself as she was his spawn. Which, the use of such a word to describe one's own offspring had caused Rauru's eyes to narrow as he'd never speak of his own daughter (now 3 years old) thusly. But he was nothing if not strategic, so he'd let it slide for now.

(The toddler princess was hidden far away, outside of the Demon King's reach for now. Rauru was doing this for her.)

Masashai saw Nemma's dalliances with his king's enemy & his queen's killer to be deeply shaming & he wished to correct the girl's behavior.

At the same time, Rauru would recognize in Nemma the complete absence of a desire for power that wasn't something that she, herself, had earned, as well as the qualities of a true & wise ruler & a noble, honorable warrior. As such, he wouldn't kill her, instead choosing to seal her away.

Though, before that, he'd try to convince her to his side once more.

I don't know how the conversation would go, but by the end, she needs to be sealed, so obviously not well.

Either way, Masashai had placed Fuda on her that sealed her magic away, devested her of her lockpicking tools, & had made sure that her forearms were bound as well. This kept Nemma from being able to escape.

Perhaps, Masashai is standing guard & utterly ignoring her. Nemma tries to ignore him in return, but at some point, she just can't believe how little he seems to care.

Then again, no matter what she'd say, I see Masashai as the sort to value his job & his duty to the Hyrule Royal Family far & above more than he could ever value her, so he'd simply ignore her as irrelevant.

Which Rauru would very much notice. At least if there was an aura of tensness about the Sheikah, it'd indicate that he in some way wished to address her but couldn't because of his duty. However, all Rauru could sense from him was stern, if relaxed & calm, resolve. Which did not bode well...

While the young lady was being difficult, she was still the man's daughter. The Zonai King loved his own precious daughter with all his heart, so seeing a man be so utterly & completely uninterested in his own offspring & unmoved by her plight, now confined in a cell.

Well, it made his hackles rise!

Despite being one of his best, he'd have to reevaluate the man's employment. Rauru wasn't sure he wanted someone who obviously didn't value his own flesh & blood near his little girl. As he couldn't be sure that he'd protect her to the bitter end. Or if he'd be terribly pragmatic & see the parent as more important than the child due to them being able to just make more. That was perfectly fine when it came to animals, but this was su preciosa hija & if his bebita died because of this man, destrozaría al bastardo, miembro por miembro! (He would rip the bastard apart, limb from limb!)

Oh, he'd give the Sheikah man the chance to explain himself, but he'd better be careful about what he says.

—

Anyway, upon realizing what happened, Ganondorf loses his absolute damn mind.

He keeps the Namikaze no Odori & Fa'gáron'jï Bojaqàr'è on him at all times.

It's the perfect chance to hammer it into the Gerudo King's head that while Rauru was arrogant for allowing Ganondorf close (& not heeding Zelda's warnings), Ganondorf was also arrogant for killing Sonia & not taking seriously the threat of retribution or that his insatiable thirst for power might come back to bite him in the ass.

—

In the beginning, all the vaien were with Ganondorf in his attempts to siege Hyrule to rescue their beloved queen. However, too many are killed. Ganondorf tries to rallies them again. Then again. But with each successive battle, they lose more & more. Until they refuse & mourn the loss of their queen.

Here, part of why he began to subjugate the Gerudo in the other Gerudo settlements was in a desperate bid to gain more warriors with which to fight Hyrule, hoping that with more firepower he could manage to save Qamàhfu (his beautiful moon). He would then use his dark magic to control them & make them fight. Which, to be honest, Nemma would likely not be okay with as it violates the promise he made to not enslave people, but he more so saw it as indentured servitude as he was only planning on keeping them under his sway until after he'd gotten his wife back. Slavery was meant for life. Servitude was simply paying back what was owed until it was no longer owed.

Anyway, some of the only ones who didn't back down was Ayamay & Nemma's friends, Tïsàla & Nīra, who all ended up being a surprising source of comfort & support for the Gerudo King. Which Ganondorf finds himself very much appreciating. Nīra had even offered to fight too as Nemma had been teaching her Kiridō, including Kirijutsu, before the Sheikah had been kidnapped & Ayamay had continued to train her afterwards. She became the first Gerudo to really use knives in battle.

Admittedly, he'd been contemplating killing Tïsàla & Nīra, as he hadn't liked how much time the women were spending with his wife.

Now, he knew that there was absolutely nothing going on between them. Not only were the three of them all very, extremely straight, but he'd often heard the two privately calling Nemma Vàlayàrï, or tiny sister. Which, the use of yàrï instead of yà specifically indicates an almost exclusively familial or platonic affection.

It was simply that he was a jealous person by nature.

But, the determination that the yaidja (guardswoman) & pàrmàgsta (cook or chef) showcased for rescuing his wife was admirable. So, he supposed that he would allow them to live. Besides, it'd make his beloved sad & after losing her now, he couldn't bear to be the one to cause any more distress even if she never learned of his involvement.

(The invasive thoughts had taken on a strange tone. One of possession that he was familiar with as he, himself, was quite possessive, but absent of the genuine love, care, worry, or affectionate frustration that often laced his own heart when discussing his wife. These whispers were that of someone who was angry that his favorite toy was taken from him & this made Ganondorf worry that this was how he secretly felt for his beloved moon. The idea of seeing her as nothing more than a prize or something to use for his own pleasure, something he owned, but that he wasn't owned by her in return. It sickened him. Reciprocal ownership was extremely important in Gerudo romantic relationships. He should be as much hers as she was his.)

Ganondorf was also surprised by Ayamay's fearsome continence in battle. He'd expected the woman to leave it all to the younger generation, but she'd stepped up, having appeared in a Sheikah battle suit & kimono with a coiled Jōhyō pinned to her hip, a Naginata in her hands (which hit him rather hard as he knew it to be the chosen weapon of Sheikah women defending their homes & families), & a look of absolute murder in her eyes.

While Ayamay never had anything personal against Rauru & she even sympathized with him for his loss, he also took her grandbaby & that's crossing a line with her.

She'd taken out quite a few of her fellow Sheikah.

"If there's one thing my grandbaby's right about. It's the erosion of our warrior culture. They've gotten too reliant upon the Zonai's technology."

Likewise, Ganondorf refused to let go & he became fueled by his own hatred that was amplified by Demise's curse, those very whispers that took over his mind more & more with each day that he went without removing the stone.

As well as the sound of Nemma's heartbeat through the Gossip Stone hanging from his ear.

---

At some point, I want Ganondorf & Ayamay to become suspicious of how upbeat & unworried for Nemma his àdï'vàman (adoptive mothers) were. Ayamay begins to spy on them, using an old Gossip Stone infused with Recall magic to record their conversations.

It took some time before she finally heard them speak of their dealings with Rauru.

Ayamay was heartbroken for Ganondorf, but she couldn't say that she didn't expect it.

That night, she finally revealed the 2 witches' many attempts at her & Nemma's lives before playing what she recorded for him.

The man's face had gone blank. He very quietly told her to leave the stone with him & leave.

---

Ganondorf removed the Secret Stone once more, the mental effort with which to remove it this time being almost unbearable, & spent the rest of the night just processing everything.

In many ways, he was afraid of his vàman. They'd... he knew that they weren't... good to him... Knew that how they'd raised him wasn't... normal...

But, his whole life, they'd told him that they did those things to make him strong, a great king. Powerful. And he'd been so sure that they were right.

But, Nemma was nearly his equal & Ayamay had never done to her the things that his vàman did to him. If she'd been a Gerudo vai & still trained the same or had even simply taken on the blessing of Talthïrï to become a vae, she'd likely have beaten him soundly multiple times. Yet, despite this Nemma also never had to dally in Gánō (black magic) for the sake of her power either. She was powerful by her own merit, training, dedication, & perseverance & didn't need to be needlessly cruel to assert dominion over those around her. Even on him. Stern, but never needlessly cruel to those who didn't deserve it.

So, what had even been the point? Why did they-?

He always thought that they did these things for him. For his glory! For his destiny as king of all Hyrule! They had been the ones to teach him about Nīkôzeto'reqra! (An ancient Gerudo philosophy that is no longer practiced. It's basically China's 'Mandate of Heaven' philosophy or the idea of 'Might Makes Right.' Basically, it says that the one who is stronger, the one who wins, is right & correct & righteous. That they have a divine right to do whatever they so desire & treat those weaker than them however they wished. It is very much discouraged by the general Gerudo populous today, but Kōme & Kotake live & die by this philosophy, always have in every incarnation, & they made sure that Gdorf lived & breathed it as well.)

If it were truly all about power, then why take from him the most powerful & loyal person in his life?! Why take away one that gave him such satisfaction & contentment?!?

Why did they betray him!?!?

For the first time since that night with the nightmare, Ganondorf cried. It was quiet & he didn't even realize it was happening as he trembled & panted out broken gasps of heartache.

A glint caught his eye & he saw the weapons he'd had specially made with his vàman'jï (mothers', as in belonging to them) names on them.

Then, his sorrow was replaced with bitterness & fury & hatred.

If they thought that they could give away that which was his, & only his, then they would rue having taught him no mercy!

Even without the Secret Stone in place, his eyes began to glow bloody red & black crept over his schlera like dark tendrils. As if on instinct, he reached for the stone once more.

---

When Ganondorf confronts his àdï'vàman, Ayamay, Nīra, & Tïsàla are there with him. He found it odd how their silent support comforted him even as he wore the stone.

I'm not entirely sure how this goes.

Though, I want Kōme & Kotake to assert their authority over him as his mothers. To say that he is as powerful as he is because of them. And yada yada.

But, at some point, I want Kōme to snap at him & call him voevï (boy) & he flinches away instinctively, but the presence of Ayamay's hand on his arm (even as her skin quietly sizzles at the contact) causes him to straighten & stand firm. (Since Nemma had been stricken by his Miasma, Ayamay had been experimenting with ways to make clothes that could resist it. She is wearing a pair of gloves that do so in this scene. However, they are still not complete, so some is still getting through. She had done so using the odd clumps of dark mass that Nemma kept in a box covered with Fuda featuring strange Fūinjutsu that Ayamay couldn't comprehend.)

Like, I definitely think that Demise's curse influences Ganondorf to a degree, but I also think that he's as bad as he is as a result of both nature & nurture.

I still want Ganondorf to be a very bad man who does bad things of his own accord, but I also want it to be a complicated situation. That, yes, he's bad, even a monster, but it's partly because he was intentionally raised that way.

Either way, in the end of it all, Ganondorf has the witches marched out amongst the tents of the Gerudo settlement & announces to the Gerudo that Kōme & Kotake conspired with Rauru to take their Vàmàh Vai'àtta (Moon Queen) from them.

There was first stunned silence, then a deafening cacophony of ragefilled shouts.

Ganondorf asked them what their punishment would be & their answer was a resounding "DEATH!"

His brow furrowed with minute sadness before scrunching with certainty & resolve.

The king handed out his Shōki (瘴気, Miasma) Weaponry to his subjects & basically said "have at them."

(Again, he's still awful. Still merciless.)

Despite everything they'd done, he couldn't bring himself to watch.

Then, in a moment of fury, they break free to become Twinrova & scream out that he would be nothing without them. A battle ensues & through it, they reveal quite a lot.

Did he think that he'd be anywhere near as powerful had he stayed with that weakling vai that birthed him?? She'd have made him soft! That he was lucky they'd been rid of her & her boy toy!

As they bellow, Ganondorf is striken silent for a moment, unable to process. Yes, he'd always known that, logically, they weren't his mothers by blood, but they'd told him that he'd been abandoned. That they'd found him alone in the desert.

But they'd lied. Just like they'd lied about everything else in his life.

The battle commences, but the results are the same. The women who raised him dead at his feet, the Fa'gáron'jï Bojaqàr'è, Namikaze no Odori, & the various Shōki Weaponry that he'd provided his subjects with, stained with their blood.

Once he'd returned to his room, as he took everything in, he suddenly couldn't breathe.

The tips of his fingers tingled & he felt nauseous. Why were his thoughts so loud, crowding his head? Was this a heart attack?! How could something like this happen?? Shouldn't his magic protect him from that!?

Panick sets in & he doesn't know what to do.

He eventually ends up passing out. His rest fitful.

---

Ganondorf later learns from Kotake's journal that they'd believed him to be the mortal vessel of their master. Which turned out to be some... ancient arch-demon only referred to by titles, the most frequent being the Bringer of Demise whose hatred & resentment for the gods would incarnate & wrought havoc to the Golden Land of the legendary Hyrule every myriennia or so. (A myriennia being a period of 10,000 years.)

The Hyrule of legend said to have been little more than myth due to its contradicting stories.

The Twinrova had actively sought him out to take him from his mother, a Gerudo from Ealiyah Town in the Highlands, & had killed both her & her Ovelian (those without pointed ears, so just regular humans) husband in the dead of night.

The Ealiyan Gerudo were known for allowing men into their settlement, many even living amongst them. He wondered how he would've turned out had they never stolen him away...

Further in, he learns that his parents had tried desperately to protect him, but were slain for their troubles. He also doesn't know what to think of how Kotake noted a small vaivï'jï (girl's) bed in the nursery & several toys too advanced for an infant. Though neither Kōme nor Kotake found a vaivï (girl) there, they suspected that one might be hiding. He could have a vàla (sister)?

Vah Amàhrta! W-was his King Name even his King Name? What else had they lied to him about?? Who was he? He felt... violated...

Judging by the information that he'd gleaned, it should begin with Nāfï for the snowy mountains & still end with either Khrin or Zïr for the Boar Constellation that he was born under. But… beyond that, he knew not what time of day he was born, not really, so he couldn't complete it...

As for his first name, the name given to him by his Vàma. His true Vàma… He… he had no clue…

He felt so… lost…

He... doesn't know how to feel about all this... &... he's suddenly... very aware of the whisper in his ears... He becomes uncomfortable in his own skin. The whispers now sound less charming & more sinister in his own mind. It made his skin crawl.

He begins to have full conversations in his head with it. It's slimy in countenance, trying to convince him to do things that, had he never met Nemma, he's sure he'd have done anyway, believing himself able to use these ideas to his advantage. Even now, he was sorely tempted by the whispers, but some odd sense of self-preservation seemed to kick in. Telling him that it would be unwise to trust whatever this thing was.

Vah Gela, was he going insane??

—

Ganondorf has Kōme & Kotake's names removed from his Shōki Weaponry & has them replaced with Nemma & Ayamay's names in the Gerudo script.

They've both become such important parts of his life in such a short time & in 2 completely different ways.

---

Rauru ends up interrogating Masashai, who is somewhat confused by the questions, but answers honestly, none-the-less. Yet, it was his own answers that doomed him in the end.

He was fired & he just... honestly didn't understand why. So, he asked & the answer had shocked him. Really & truly.

It'd be the first slap of reality that he'd get.

He returned home in a daze to his new Hylian wife, Amira, & his twin sons, Akiru & Masaru. Who had been born to him 10 years ago.

Yet, despite Masashai's hopes for them, he'd soon learn that neither boy had the heart of a warrior, but that of a chef & blacksmith respectively.

Akiru would later grow up to become an Itamae, or skilled master chef, & inherit Ayamay's old restaurant. Which, the restaurant & the recipes in the scroll that he eventually gets from his grandmother would both be passed down for many generations before being inherited by Koko & Clotta's mother, then will later be inhereted by Koko herself.

Masaru, however, learned as much as he could from his grandmother later, the few things she knew about blacksmithing, but ultimately had to figure most everything out himself. His line would eventually lead to Suma & Mura, who in the modern era, reside in the Masamuna Family Smithy in the Rikoka Hills.

In the end, Masashai won't recognize that he'd already had the warrior child that he'd wanted until near the end of his life, but that he'd been a fool in shunning her.

Which, he will survive to an old age, but will be miserable & alone in the end. And with age & experience will come wisdom. Not much, but enough to make him realize some things.

It'll only be on his deathbed that he'll finally open his daughter's letters & he'll find himself suddenly mourning the loss of someone that he never really knew due to his own idiocy.

---

I'll likely go over the final fight between Ganondorf, Rauru, & the Sages, but later.

I do know that he wouldn't be nearly so cocky, but he would be very volatile as the black had entirely consumed his schlera.

Ganondorf would be tense & angry & would say that Rauru knew why he was there & demand that his precious treasure be returned to him.

Which, Rauru would reply with "you don't deserve the favor."

Though, I don't think that Zelda or the other Sages would know what Rauru had done.

---

Anyway, the only thing that would keep Ganondorf sane for those 10 long millennia would be the sound of his wife's heartbeat through the Gossip Stone Earring.

And he'd only find her upon falling into the Depths at the beginning of the game. She'd be housed within a pale blue crystal casket with a luminous stone frame, glowing Zonai & Sheikah runes etched into the surface of the stone. It was beautiful & made her look otherworldly & he could almost pretend that she was just asleep, but he hated the separation with a passion.

Ganondorf would spend the rest of the game beside her body, trying to break the seal, but being unable to even touch her without burning. He wondered if this was how she'd felt being unable to touch him?

It was torture.

I also see him taking out his anger & resentment on Link by using his Zelda puppet. As if to try & make the other man understand his pain. It was cruel, but he'd always been thus.

---

Regardless, the seal on Nemma will only break when Zelda's husband (I will die on this hill, damnit) is at his most direst need. Which would correspond with Ganondorf being at his angriest & most bestial.

The idea was that Nemma would see Ganondorf for the monster he is, but in the end, Rauru would not have expected for Ganondorf's immediate reaction to be to drop everything upon seeing his wife alive, well, & conscious & rush to her side. Removing his Secret Stone immediately & apologizing profusely for not having been able to protect her & the millennia of unfettered isolation as he fussed over her.

(A lot of the ideas for Nemma getting kidnapped came from @karume-everything-else; the only thing I really added was the part where Rauru doesn't kidnap Nemma until after Ganondorf kills Sonia. Which I feel makes more sense given what we know of Rauru as a character.)

—

I'm not sure how the battle would go, but I think I want Nemma to be confused as she takes in the situation, the blond man who she'd positively identify as a threat to her husband, then set aside her confusion to look at Ganondorf & ask, "what do you need?" Her eyes full of support & a readiness to help him however he needs her to within reason.

In that moment, she'd decide to fight at her husband's side. She doesn't need to know who Link is, just that her husband needs her. And Ganondorf would love her all the more for it, the relief unfurling in his chest almost enough to make him begin sobbing into her, but he restrains himself, recognizing that he needed to be strong for her.

Touched, he hands her Namikaze no Odori, which she then uses to cut her hair at around hip length (because her hair had continued growing all those years dormant), & the battle is intense. Their synergy is unmatched as they work in unison, aided by their dance lessons. And as they complement & support each other without words, everything suddenly clicks for Ganondorf. It feels right to fight side by side with this woman. It's then that he realizes that she is the person that he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

Like, he knew that he wanted to rule Hyrule with her as his queen, but it didn't really hit him until this exact moment that he wanted to grow old with her. He wanted to be weak & frail with her, having lived their lives together.

And, finally, if he must die, then he wanted it to be with her.

Which, he'd always expected to eventually begin using his black magic to make sacrifices of children (which the thought of sent shivers of revulsion down his spine) & remain alive for centuries more, but... he knew that she'd never be okay with what it'd entail. Knew he wouldn't be able to convince her to go through with it. It was her one line.

(The torture & sacrifice of children is generally how the wicked witch archetype remains alive for so long. It is also how previous Twinrovas have remained alive for so long. This Gdorf would've only done so once as a young teen & hadn't done so again since as he was still considered to be in his prime. However, remaining alive passed what was normal would require periodic child sacrifices of torture proceeded by consuming their blood. The first time hadn't required such as it'd merely been a way to seal his pact with the dark being his vàman worshiped, but he knew & had even seen them do so with his own eyes & the images haunt him still. The idea of doing that himself had always chilled him to the bone, but his mothers' teachings had allowed him to subdue those feelings & Ganondorf had determined himself to do such to make them proud. However, after Nemma & seeing how highly she valued children, he likewise began to value them thusly. And now, he'd be unable to do it. He would be lying if he said that there wasn't deep-seated relief at the fact that he'd no longer need to go through with the ritual.)

So... one life would just have to do, he supposed.

Anyway, there are 4 different endings here. The first where Ganondorf & Nemma lose & Ganondorf decides against swallowing the Secret Stone, another where they win & kill Link, another where they win, but Nemma manages to convince him to spare Link & take him as their prisoner of war, & one where they lose, but Ganondorf decides to swallow it anyway. I'll talk about these other timelines in a different post. For now, let's focus on the one where they lose, but Ganondorf decides against swallowing the stone as I consider that to be the best outcome & the "canon" one.

If you're curious about the others, visit my MOM Alternate Timelines post.

In the first timeline mentioned, when it comes time for Ganondorf to swallow the stone, he pauses, realizing what he's getting ready to do & looks at his beloved wife.

She threads her fingers with his & her expression says that she'll support & love him whatever he chooses. She's ride or die for him.

And the Demon King realizes that she doesn't know what will happen to him if he does this. She doesn't realize that she'd lose him just as he'd lose both himself & her. And that's when it hit him, if he did this, he'd be leaving her entirely alone 10,000 years from the time she knew. With everyone she'd ever cared for or even known, all gone. She likely didn't even realize that she'd been sealed away for so long.

She'd be totally & completely isolated.

So, he had to choose in that moment. Victory & his lifelong dream of conquering Hyrule... or the love of his life & the future they could have together.

And he... he just... he couldn't do that to her... it wasn't worth it...

Ganondorf dropped the key to his victory & promptly crushed it beneath his foot, his expression boneweary. Not even noticing how his more wretched features began to flake away & drift off before disappearing. Leaving his old self behind, but his skin slightly less green & slightly more brown.

"I... I just want to go home... Let's just go home, Qamàhnï..." (My Beautiful Moon.)

---

At some point, I want Ganondorf to pull something folded into a cloth from his haori sleeve. He unveiled it to reveal the brow ornament that Nemma had gifted him. With a smile, he turned it around & returned it to his forehead.

... He liked it better than the regicidal spoils that he'd obtained from Sonia. It felt... more right. It felt earned.

___

Anyway, once they're alone, he turns to her, holding her face in his hands & looks into her blue-violet gaze, eyes having erubessed as she proceeded with obtaining her tribe's birthright.

When he looked into her eyes in that moment, for the first time, he could see his future unfolding before him in a way he never had before.

The Gerudo King says, "A'nï màtushàq'so..." (I love you passionately or I adore you.) It is a very emotionally charged expression, full of deep-seated vulnerability.

In response, she smiles that utterly rare blindingly beautiful smile that Ganondorf knows is just for those she loves, eyes warm with affection, & repeats him.

And then we get the heartwarming music as they kiss & live happily ever after. Credits roll.

But wait! There's still the epilogue!

---

As a peace offering, Link will give Ganondorf the Giant Horse obviously descended from Mira & Jawàrik. As well as the Giant White Stallion. Who, Ganondorf will be rediculously entertained by the fact that the Gerudo Horse had apparently been bred by a descendant of one of Rauru's prized white stallions. Possibly even a direct descendant of Mira & Old Cabrón.

That gift he gave Nemma just kept paying for itself in dividends!

---

As for Ayamay, she had the Sheikah who created the Sheikah Slate 100 years later record her messages for Nemma & Ganondorf. Which, I'm making it so that the Purah Pad had a lot of the information from the Sheikah Slate downloaded onto it, a few of those files having been the encrypted message from Ayamay.

She needed to tell Nemma that she was so, so proud of her & her grandpa had always been just as proud.

That she was the best granddaughter that she could ever have hoped for.

She also needed to tell Ganondorf that even though he brought Nemma's disappearance upon them (which would cause the man to deflate a bit in shame), he'd also taken responsibility for it & did everything in his power to make it right. That that was a large part of being a man; taking responsibility for one's mistakes & taking care of their loved ones. It'd been the sort of man that Takka was & she was glad to report that it was also the type of man that Ganondorf had become.

And in the end, he succeeded. He got her grandbaby back, safe & sound, just like he said he would.

He did that.

She was proud to call him her grandson-in-heart. Because he was just so good to her grandbaby & she knew in her heart that he'd be good to her great grandbabies too.

And it'll be the first time anyone had ever said they were proud of Ganondorf in his entire life. At least, in regard to he himself rather than what he could do for them. It'd actually been one of his driving motivations before Nemma, to make his adï'vàman (adoptive mothers) proud of him, but as he'd learned, they'd only be proud of him as long as he did what they told him to.

Which, finally having a mother's approval will just cause his heart to break at the knowledge of her death. It'll be an odd mix of joy, grief, & self-pride that'd fill his chest. She'd been something of a Shïchï'vàma to him, or "Spirit Mother." Which is sort of like a godmother, but it's something that the individual parts of the relationship choose for themselves.

There will not be a single dry eye in the room.

Anyway, before the recording ends, Ayamay will leave them a map to a location where she hid a small library full of journals (all infused to never fade) detailing everything that'd happened to her & their friends & their descendants from what she knew. As well as an infused chest filled with letters from Tïsàla & Nīra, as well as the Hōchō-Kaku that Ganondorf made for Nemma. The existence of Nemma's half-brothers will eventually lead to her learning of Koko, Clotta, Suma, & Mura as her living relatives through them. Even learning the fate of her father, though knowing that he died alone & miserable only caused a blip of remorse in Nemma.

Though, Nemma would take heart in the fact that her family's smithing line had continued, even if they had lost their techniques. As such, Nemma would request of her husband that they remain in Kakariko until she had imparted her family's legacy upon Suma & Mura.

She's actually very impressed with how much the family had figured out via trial & error, but because her O-baachan had been the Sayashi (scabbard-maker), she could only teach that, so they did not learn the Masamuna family's secret forging techniques. Luckily, it was mostly just her correcting some things. Though she did also decide to teach them her personal smithing techniques, but that'd have to wait till later.

She also taught them everything that Mapū had taught her about the ancient & forgotten spiritual aspects of swords. Thus reintroducing Shadow & Twilight magic, Sheishin Fūinjutsu, the Ken-e no Sain (Signing of the Sword) Ceremony, & Sheikaku-no-Mikoto to the Sheikah culture. Or, at least touching upon them before needing to leave.

Nemma also took whatever time she could to teach Koko all the old Sheikah recipes she knew (luckily, her cooking journal wasn't taken from her before she was sealed). And during that time, Clotta even seemed to begin to idolize her ancient aunt to the point where she swore to become a Sheikah Warrior just like her. Which led to Nemma teaching the young girl a few things.

It took Nemma a month to impart enough that she felt comfortable leaving with her husband. She would need to teach Suma & Mura the family secrets themselves the coming October, when they were permitted to visit for Ghost Month. (IRL, Ghost Month is between July & August, but I'm changing it a bit here.)

Then, she'd use the subsequent years to teach them the Toketa Hōseki Shita-Kitae (Molten Gem-Folding) & Kaijū-Hone Yakin (Monster-Bone Metallurgy) techniques some other time. After settling down into a new home because the Queen Zelda & her King-Husband seemed to be getting uneasy the longer Nemma & Ganondorf remained within Hyrule's borders.

---

If nothing else, I believe that Tïsàla would've moved in with her boyfriend, who was from Lurelin, which I hc as not having been part of Hyrule at the time of Rauru's rule.

And it will be accompanied by a message from one of the Sheikah researchers informing Nemma that Ayamay had been buried beside her husband.

Which would lead to Nemma & Ganondorf paying their respects to the pair before going on their journey to find their new home.

Though, not until after Nemma had forged new weapons for herself as other than the Namikaze no Odori, her weapons were all lost to time. 2 being a pair of weapons that she devised that resemble a fusion of a scimitar & a Sheikatō, while the others were a pair of simple Kodachi, a Jōhyō Han Kote, & a bow. (Which, in itself, reintroduced the Jōhyō Han Kote to the Sheikah culture.)

She actually modified her design for the Namikaze no Odori's hilt to fit more with modern Hylian-style longswords as she found that she quite liked the use of a pommel. Not only is it useful as a makeshift bashing weapon, but it makes throw thrusting easier. It has an Aquamarine embedded in it.

---

Something interesting to focus on would be Nemma & Ganondorf reacting to how not only the world at large, but specifically the Sheikah & Gerudo have changed.

In Nemma's case, sorrow at the loss of her grandmother, new Gerudo friends, & all her pets, but at least being thankful that she knew what'd happened to them.

As well as the fact that her fears were, indeed, founded as Kakariko has become little more than a sleepy little farming village with the most ambitious of them being more focused on technology than fighting. And the only warriors left being either long retired & too old to still fight or swiftly getting there. It'd break her heart. Like, she doesn't mind farmers & thinks they're very important for the stability of a country or kingdom, but it's tragic that her tribe has lost their warrior traditions.

In Ganondorf's case, the mixed reality that there are only 3 Gerudo settlements left (2 of which being Ealiyah Town & Talthïrï Village) whereas before there were multiple (of which he'd conquered & thus likely caused their destabilization himself, which he'll eventually have to face), but that the ones still around are strangely prosperous, their cultures thriving, & were still warriors. It felt good to see that the foundation that he'd left behind had been utilized well.

Now, they had a true home with houses & businesses & a constant source of water.

In a lot of ways, I think he'd be proud of them, though he might be a bit miffed that they were considered Hyrule's allies. (I never said that he wasn't racist.)

At the same time, he might feel betrayed at the fact that they'd turned it into a vaidina (a sexually segregated town where men are not allowed, which Gdorf would get the inkling that it might've been, at least partially, his fault) & that even he wouldn't be allowed in, but the little hero was. These were his people! Why was he barred entry while that little twink could come & go as he pleased?? He really effing hated that little bastard!

It was lucky that Nemma convinced him to try to build a new home with her elsewhere. After all, why would he want subjects who wouldn't follow him? They'd be likely to betray him as Sàvàrï (Ancient Lightning Sage) did.

Honestly, Nemma is just internally ecstatic that the Gerudo are at a point where they don't need to rape men anymore.

At one point, Nemma visited the Gerudo Palace & discovered that the footprints of polish memorializing the first steps she took into her new home as Ganondorf's wife, had been removed. This caused a deep melancholy in the couple.

Nemma will have also purchased many seeds from all over Hyrule so that when they found this new home, they'd be able to provide for themselves. She actually didn't know much about farming, but she was a damn good gardener & was more than willing to learn & so was Ganondorf, though he's a bit nervous as he'd never been much for creating or nurturing things (& some distant part of him in the back of his mind worries that so many years being groomed into a destroyer might result in dooming them). Either way, Nemma was determined to find out which ones would grow in the desert.

(FYI: There are actually several crops that can easily grow in the desert, such as tomatoes, pumpkins, carrots, onions, radishes, wheat, grapes, beans, eggplants, squash, figs, dates, lettuce, yams, watermelons, ect. Many of the ones listed already having canon Hyrule equivalents. Ie. Hylian Tomatoes, Fortified & Sun Pumpkins, Swift & Endura Carrots, Stambulbs, Hearty & Big Hearty Radishes, Tabantha Wheat, &, of course, Hydromelons. Not to mention all the stuff that are canonically native to the desert or grow there well, including Voltfruit, Shock Fruit, Dazzlefruit, Spicy Peppers, Warm & Electric Safflina, Zapshrooms, & even Wildberries. That isn't even taking into account the things that grow in the nearby canyon, such as Swift Violets, Rushrooms, Ice Fruit, Splash Fruit, Fire Fruit, Sunshrooms, & so on, which would be pretty easy to gather. Hell, the Satori Tree there even has a naturally growing Endura Carrot, so the Gerudo have no excuse not to figure out a way to cultivate them! In fact, you could even argue that Sun Pumpkins might actually be more suited to a desert environment than Hateno as the description says that it grows with lovely sunlight. Sorry, tangent over.)

Ganondorf will never meet his possible sister, but he may well learn about her ancestors.

Also, knowing what'd happened to her loved ones will bring Nemma a measure of contentment, but I really don't think she'd care that much what'd happened to her father, more just being curious. And even if she ever, by some miracle, learned that he eventually regretted his actions, I get the feeling that her thoughts would be something along the lines of "too little, too late."

Nemma will likely go back to wearing more practical clothes after this.

Typically Sheikah in style with Gerudo influence in the patterns & colors.

She'll mainly wear a pair of sirwàl with sand boots, a burnùs, shemàgh with mesh sewn in to cover her eyes, & a wool haori.

Though, now that I think of it, Nemma will need a new Keaton instructor… Methinks Ageda.

I'll think of that later.

—

Side-Note: The Yiga worship Nemma as "the Queen of Darkness" & the patron Goddess of the Yiga. The Yiga style of spellwork is actually modeled after her more traditional style of Sheikah spellwork. However, when Nemma finds out, she'll absolutely hate it. She just isn't an egotistical person by nature & will be very uncomfortable with the idea of being worshiped.

Though, Ganondorf would argue that they both deserve to be recognized in such a way, thus showing that he considers his wife to be his equal. Therefore, if he is worthy of worship (which, he believes that he is) then it's only logical in his mind, that so is she.

Funnily enough, in this au, a bunch of the Yiga tend to be hard-core romantics.

One of the stories that the Yiga recruiters use to tell to bring in new blood was generally the story of how the "wicked" King of Hyrule kidnapped the Demon King's beloved Queen & was sealed away with the help of a traitor to his people. It usually finished off on how the Demon King waited, "sealed away even now," to one day break free to find & save his bride, then to punish Hyrule for its sins against their love & the bigotry vommitted against the Yiga's ancestors.

It's basically the Hyrule equivalent of Romeo & Juliet if it ended on a cliffhanger.

"Only you can help us bring them back together again!" And all that.

---

Anyway, Ayamay has been reborn as a Gerudo woman from Ealiyah Town, Àrta, now old & with an elderly Non-Pointed human farmer for a husband, Aagnan. Who may or may not be Takka reborn too. He was from the Gerudo home continent of Baydaan, but more so from a Hindu-South Korean-like country that had been more lush with life & had spent the last several years learning how best to farm in the desert. He didn't have access to many seeds, but he was sure that with these nice young folks' help, they could nail down what all would thrive in such a harsh environment.

They will be a pair that Nemma & Ganondorf meet as they try to find a new home to build a new life for themselves & the elderly couple will offer them to stay a while, their children having long since left & had families of their own far away.

Either way, it'd be during their stay that Nemma & Ganondorf would discover that she was pregnant (with Jaqàrasïm from the ultimate angsty alternate timeline, being the next Centennial King. Also, since Gdorf is still alive here, the Myriennial Tyrant would not need to be reborn. To see what happens in those alternate timelines, go here.)

Anyway, it will be Àrta who'd bring this to the pair's attention, as she was both a skilled maternity doctor & midwife. The old lady would then offer her services after having talked it over with her husband.

The reaction of the ex-king & queen to the news will be very sweet. Full of both excitement & worry. Just a warning, Ganondorf will make an absolute menace of himself doting on Nemma & being extra protective. He'll often annoy the tiny woman quite a bit. But she won't be able to bring herself to be angry at him because she knows that it's all from a place of love.

The elderly couple will be amongst the first members of the ex-Gerudo king & queen's new kingdom.

Said kingdom will likely be somewhere along the Gerudo Highland range, just further west than the map of BotW or TotK shows.

This would give them access to stone as well as the high quality metals of both the Highlands & the desert. Though, it'd also have to be somewhere where there was a consistent source of water, which might be difficult to find.

They would likely also come across Tïsàla & Nīra's reincarnation & their families as well, though I'm not sure about them. Either way, one of their husbands will probably be a shepherd who cares for Bighorn Sheep. Perhaps Tïsàla's reincarnation could be a builder/carpenter or stone mason?

Also, Àrta being skilled at sewing (being from Ealiyah, they tend to have a very strong textile culture with traditions surrounding such) will also take up teaching Nemma, who's main sewing knowledge involves mending & suturing. Which, while before, she didn't have much use for learning more, with no longer having a clothing shop or tailer to frequent, she figures that she'll need to be able to adjust clothes & make new ones on her own when the old ones get too old to just be mended. And with the baby coming, she wants to make their clothes with her own 2 hands.

Interestingly, she'll find that she has a talent for embroidery.

Ganondorf will eventually find that he quite enjoys farming.

Of course, he doesn't seem to have any real talent in it, but it is something that he gets a strange fulfillment from even though he seems to have to work a bit harder than others to get the same results.

The hard work helps him to sort out his thoughts.

(It's also possible that the Yiga would follow Gdorf & Nemma in an attempt to become their loyal subjects.)

Anyway, the Ganemma Family will actually visit Kakariko every Fall for Sheikioku. They'll remain there the whole season & during that time, Nemma will teach the Sheikah about their ancient culture, which will infuse them more with that old fighting spirit.

Which will eventually lead to the reinstatement of the Shadow Warrior lifestyle & the reconstruction of the Kasuto Bieldcamp in Eldin.

---

In the end, I don't want Ganondorf to be a good person or a hero. I just want to explore him as an actual person with actual feelings. A person raised into his role & never given the chance to choose for himself.

Like, he's still the bad guy, but whereas before, there were very few lines he wasn't willing to cross (except for pedophilia, necrophilia, beastiality, those were always gross-nasty to him), now he had very clear things that he just would not do. So, still ultimately the villain, just not as much of one as he was before. Though, at the same time, he's still not a Saturday morning cartoon villain either. So... maybe more of a Family Values Villain? And when he & Nemma have kids, he'll qualify as Bad Guys Want Good Kids. Just look them up on TV Tropes.

Anyway, I want him to question if any of his beliefs were even his own to begin with. Question if he even actually believes any of it.

Then, when he's at his most desperate, for him to actively make the best decision for both him & his wife regardless of how badly he hated & wanted to kill Link.

So, very much not reformed.

He will likely also continue as a conqueror even after finding this new home, because that's just who he is & how he was raised.

That isn't to say that Nemma is a pushover, so much as she just sees it as the way the world has always been. However, she will absolutely put her foot down on certain things & Ganondorf knows that she's stubborn about things she feels strongly for.

As such, in specific situations, they occasionally butt heads. But they always manage to find a compromise.

And, while I don't want this Gdorf to be redeemed, I do eventually want his soul itself to be redeemed.

I see this life as his first step towards that eventual redemption. Of one day casting off those chains & being truly rid of Demise' influence forever.

LoZ My Fanfic Masterlist

#loz #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #totk #ganondorf #yandere ganondorf #fem!oc #sheikah!oc #ganondorf x fem!oc #meeting one's match

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