#maybe even that trope of the king obviously having more political power than his queen but respecting her opinion and agency to the point

[sneakydraws]

@dennorweek day 4: royalty

let's not kid ourselves this is a very tedious connection but i took it as an excuse to word dump a bit about the kind of dynamic i sometimes like to imagine with historical canonverse dennor. poorly backed up musings under the cut

based on like .05 seconds of research i did at some point i got the impression that historically, even when they formed a united country, d.enmark had more power over n.orway (or at the very least, more power than n.orway) than vice versa, and it got me thinking about power dynamics. this is just my own headcanon but i could see it like... nor knows full well that their relationship is unequal and den could at any point mistreat him with little repercussion but at the same time nor knows he never would. cocky and arrogant and power hungry though he may be, the affection or even love den has for nor is genuine and he would never think of treating nor with anything less than full respect. then again, a situation where one person has considerable power over the other is no foundation for a fully comfortable and normally functional relationship, and their weird romance has that undercurrent of instability built in. although i think for countries this kind of messed up relationship is kind of the norm since at any given time there's usually some kind of power imbalance going on, not to mention inherently clashing political interests... anyway, dubiously historically accurate musings aside, i couldn't resist putting them in vaguely viking era clothes even though the situation i was going for could be slightly more believably connected to their 16th century union ahahaaaa

[jihyuncompass]

Hello :) I asked for a matchup and I loved it so much so I thought I would take advantage of your requests being open too. Idk if you would make this like a headcannon thing or what but either way I smell potential. A royalty AU! Like Seven is MCs knight, Jumin and Jaehee are royal advisors, Zen the royal musician??? Idk what everyone would be lol but what if Saeran was attacking MC to give Rika the thrown?? OMG the DRAMA! Anyway I think it's a fun idea but it might be little long so no pressure

I’m glad you liked your matchup! Okay so I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I love this idea a lot! I’m just gonna kinda throw ideas out because I couldn’t think of anything super structured at the moment. 

OKAY so- 

In this AU I kind of imagine it like this, basically how the RFA is structured is kinda just transferred over to a royal setting.

V is definitely the King here. I think he’d be a pretty good ruler, he’d be the kind of king who genuinely cares about his subjects. I think maybe he wouldn’t be the best at some aspects of running a Kingdom but hey that’s why he has advisors. 

Speaking of advisors Jumin is absolutely his head royal advisor. He and V grew up together and so they have this unbreakable trust in each other. Jumin is very good at his job and would arguably be a better king than V when it comes to the political aspects.

Jaehee I think would either be a royal advisor like Jumin or she would still work as Jumin’s assistant. I think either position would work but either way Jumin is definitely the top advisor.  

For Yoosung I think that he’d be from a noble family, he definitely has some role in the royal court. I could possibly see him as a knight in training? He’s also related to the Queen in this scenario so that helps.

Zen is absolutely royal musician, every time they have diplomats or royal guests they always have Zen perform during great feasts. He may not be a big fan of royal advisor Jumin but he greatly respects the King so he never hesitates to perform. 

Okay, now here’s where I get into the twins, MC, and Rika because that’s where all of my favorite ideas are. 

Starting with Rika, she used to be the Queen and was pretty well loved by the Kingdom. Everyone thought that Queen Rika and King V’s relationship was perfect. Both kind and gentle. 

However their relationship was much more complicated, behind the scenes their relationship was extremely broken and unhealthy. 

More on that in a bit though.

One day the King and Queen came across a kid who had snuck into the palace while on a walk. He had a bag he had filled with food and some valuables. 

While the normal course of action for something like this would obviously lead to imprisonment, but he was just a kid so they decided to take mercy on him. 

Also turns out this kid is pretty smart for being able to sneak into the palace and get away with taking that much stuff before getting caught just by chance. 

Turns out the reason that he tried to steal from the palace is to be able to help his brother who got sick a lot of the time. He got food to feed him with and valuables to sell to take care of him. 

They decide to have this kid get trained to become a royal spy. By doing this not only do they give him a good chance of survival but also promise protection and care for his brother too. Unfortunately the kid has to keep his distance in order to keep up his role as a spy. 

The kid, once Saeyoung takes on a new name of Luciel to represent his new start at life. 

Okay fast forward a bit now. 

The relationship between the King and Queen was deteriorating, and deteriorating fast. 

Pretty much no one knows this though, the two of them are pretty good at hiding it. Not even Jumin is really aware of what is going on.

But then the Queen disappears, they search for her but they never find her so she ends up being presumed dead. Because of her death V basically goes into a deep depression, Jumin ends up making most of the decisions around the kingdom. 

Then one day a commoner ends up in the palace after getting a strange message summoning them there for a vague reason. 

The whole thing ends up becoming a whole conspiracy within the palace. So a plan is enacted. 

They set up a story that the commoner, MC was royalty from a distant kingdom, the reason for their presence in the kingdom is vague but there’s a rumor that they might be summoned for a possible arranged political marriage. 

And arriving with this mysterious royal? Their personal Knight Seven who’s been tasked to protect them. 

The only people who know MC’s true identity are the royal spy Luciel who’s pretending to be a Knight, Top advisors Jumin and Jaehee, Knight in training Yoosung, King V, and Royal musician Zen. 

They decide to hold up this false narrative until they can figure out for sure who brought MC to the palace and for what reason. 

While all of this is going on MC starts receiving letters from the same person who brought them to the palace. These letters start telling them about the various members of the royal court. Especially about her “Knight” and the King. 

Through investigation it’s discovered that not only is the Queen alive, but she was the one who brought MC to the palace, her plan being to try and take down the King so she could take back the power without V around. 

Working with her is Saeran, Luciel’s brother who he hasn’t seen in years and who was the one sending letters to MC

How this situation is solved is varied, the cool thing about this idea is that it’s pretty open, there’s lots of different directions for things to go. 

Same with the romance options here, MC matches with pretty much everyone here and it would be good.

The bodyguard trope with Seven and MC? Incredible

MC falling for one of the royal advisors? Outstanding. 

Yoosung stepping up to also be MC’s knight after falling for them? Nice.

MC falling for the handsome royal bard with the singing voice of an angel after watching him perform? It’s like a movie scene!

MC falling for the King who is still coping with the loss of the Queen? That could be an iconic combination of an arranged marriage and fake dating trope all bundled into one. 

MC falling in love with the mysterious stranger who keeps sending them letters? Super compelling!

This AU presents a lot of different options and I really love that about this idea. It can still follow a lot of the plot and ideas of the game while also being open to a whole lot of other concepts.

I could go on but I think I’m gonna leave it here but if you want me to talk more on this I totally can. I could definitely talk about different “routes” this AU could take but this was really fun to think about!

[daturanerium]

i’m finally all caught up with @thepenumbrapodcast​ ‘s juno steel stories! here are my discordant thoughts on the story and the characters.

(i did this with the magnus archives season one, too! check it out here.)

SPOILERS FOR JUNO STEEL from s1e1 to s3ep2

general plot stuff:

this show. THIS SHOW. is written so well. the characterization is top-notch. the characters are fleshed out and interesting and engaging and they all grow and change and are affected by people and environments and time and events. they’re not static in the slightest.

i haven’t come across a story that deals with depression and suicidal idealization so well. i’m thoroughly impressed with how the writers both portrayed them and how well they have (so far) portrayed the healing process. wowowow.

THE LGBT REPRESENTATION IS OFF THE CHARTS. QUEERS LISTEN TO THIS SHOW. they have a nonbinary politician?? mlm romance and kiss in the first episode???? main character is nb with he/him pronouns??? SO MANY BADASS SAPPHIC SPY/MAFIA COUPLES.....IT TUGS AT MY HEART. the big strong guy is asexual??? i could go on for days but spoilers! just know that genuinely, you will not be disappointed.

this show has two main focuses/themes: trust and the future. it’s been so fantastic to see how juno and the other characters view both themes and how they changed themselves and/or others while encountering those themes in their everyday life.

ramses o’flaherty and the entire plotline that came with him was absolutely top-notch. it blew me away. ramses is a true complicated character, a grey area that makes you question everything you believe in. the storyline tackles politics, morals, and values while keeping it exciting and entertaining. it’s definitely one of my favorite storylines ever.

the writers are truly incredible. i’m really in awe. they inspire me!  i wish i had the energy right now to give them the praise essay that they deserve but i’m really tired and i want to get this posted. someday!

the worldbuilding is the perfect balance between two extremes that a lot of scifi authors really struggle with. juno explains how a (sort of) functioning mars city works in a way that feels natural and easy to understand, and the world he describes is both familiar and fascinating. although the environment is different, the audience is all too familiar with corruption and capitalism and classism. they keep the world relatable while giving it some really new and funky details (do i want a cat with six eyes and a stinger? of course! do i want to step outside for more than five hours and get radiation poisoning? that’s up for interpretation). they also chose a great route in making this story take place in the aftermath of (what seems to be) a galactic war instead of taking the traditional Save The World, End The War scifi route. it’s refreshing, and again, relatable (especially to me: i was born after 9/11 and have lived through the entirety of the war in afghanistan so the underlining feeling that hyperion city has that Something is Going To Go Wrong....i feel that).

there is so much more i want to say but this has been sitting in my drafts for weeks and i want to get it posted!

tl;dr: juno steel is really a fantastic work of art. it’s engaging and relatable and teaches valuable lessons about healing, trusting, and moving on in ways i have never seen another piece of media do so successfully. please give it a listen if you have a chance!

some character/character arc thoughts under the cut :)

juno:

god so dumb. just so fucking stupid. i love him.

i’m going to be honest. s1 and the beginning of s2 Juno was really hard for me to listen to. the way he treated others obviously was, to put it lightly, not the best (the monitor incident with rita comes to mind; i really hated that). it almost got repetitive, and since i’m already not a big fan of the depressed-asshole trope i was kind of hanging by a thread by the time ramses came around.

god am i glad i stuck around. his character growth and maturity within the second half of season two and the beginning of season three has been so satisfying! it hasn’t been perfect, but that’s part of the reason why it’s so good--it’s realistic and believable. he’s realized where his faults lie and is making a physical and mental effort to better himself. he’s even doing it verbally, explaining to people he trusts (rita) that he’s trying to be better and then actually acting on it. too often we see the depressed-asshole say the “i’m trying to be better!” line but don’t see any actions following it that signify that effort--that was my fear going into this. but that’s really, truly not the case here, and it’s such a breath of fresh air. plus, in-canon-wise, i’m so happy for juno he’s come so far!

okay nonbinary king i see you

GET THIS LADY A CAT PLEASE.

that moment during the end of s2 when he found that baby rabbit in the sewers.....god.

juno appreciate rita challenge (accepted!)

his voice......is so soothing. except when he yells but he’s better now we’ve established that

i LOVE how as soon as he figures out that he likes you he sticks to you like glue. that’s super funny and cute and also fits him perfectly

miss dahlia rose if you’re out there.....

his complicated relationship with ramses was so fascinating and important. i loved listening to that storyline.

juno: “there’s no way in hell i’m doing this, fuck off” juno, five minutes later: [is doing it]

that’s pretty much the beginning plot of every episode lol ur so valid juno we love u

he’s ability to make the dumbest decisions continues to astound me. he likes to talk about how mick is always getting himself in trouble but god juno you’re really not one to talk

the fact that, in a world that literally runs on tech, he has no idea how a coms works. that’s so fucking funny. if you ignore the backstory that comes behind it.

did juno ever tell alessandra that he made it out of the desert alive or is she just out there in hyperion city somewhere mourning him with her wife?

i already sort of wrote on juno’s backstory but it’s so good. so good.

he’s so fucking soft. he loves so much!!!! and that scares him!!!! but he’s working on it!!!!!

rita:

is she the love of my life or do i just relate heavily to her? who knows

actually no we’re gonna talk about this

rita penumbrapodcast, queen of adhd. queen of oversharing. queen of tangents. queen of love. queen of excitement. queen of caring for her friends more than herself. queen of incredible intelligence shown in an unconventional way. queen of being underappreciated.

s1 and the beginning of s2 really stung me because i’ve been in rita’s positon--used as a punching bag by someone i care deeply about because it’s better me than someone else, because i’m willing to sacrifice my own health and safety for the sake of giving them an outlet. we put it under the guise of “helping”, but we don’t realize until later that it’s really not; we’re just letting them get away with hurting themselves and hurting us. the monitor incident comes to mind again. i actually had to pause and take a step away after hearing juno yell and the glass break--although my abusive friendships thankfully never got violent, that kind of unbridled anger was all too familiar and i was begging out loud for her to leave. she handles it like a champ, and i honestly can’t say whether or not that’s a good or bad thing: good because she knows he doesn’t mean it or bad because she’s used to it? because it’s later revealed that juno’s treated her poorly from the first day they met. i was really worried that their relationship was going to end up being static, “depressed-asshole bullies quirky female sidekick and she never fights back because she loves him” trope. but, thankfully, they’re not!

towards the end of s2 and the beginning of s3 we didn’t just see growth in juno, we saw growth in rita. she confronts juno through a thetabot down in the sewers, calling him out on his self-destructive tendencies and his habit of doing important things without anyone else’s help (in this case, disappearing for weeks without telling her where he was). she points out that maybe the only way for him to appreciate her is for her to do the same thing--disappear for weeks, forcing him to realize just how much he needs her. thankfully, this is after juno’s Big Realization, and he sincerely apologizes for his treatment of her and assures her that he’s trying to be better. (and, side note, but that apology was a good one. a really good one. he verbally acknowledges his many mistakes, including the one rita specifically mentioned, acknowledges that he does not deserve her forgiveness, tells her what he’s trying to do to be better, and then apologizes and asks for her help. that’s good. take notes, people.) later that season, she takes initiative for what seems to be the first time, coming up with a solid, well-thought-out plan, enacting it on her own, and saving both an entire city and her boss. you could probably hear my cheers from wherever you are on earth, because they were there and they were loud! rita saving the day mixed with juno breaking through the mind control with his overwhelming love and appreciation for her.....god. good stuff.

rita buying juno’s office as a surprise for him.......i Will cry

literally she’s just so wonderful i love her so much

every time she talks i’m like [one billion heart emojis mixed with like forty crying emojis]

RITA SPINOFF WHEN. i come from the critical role community so yall know for a fact i’ll back it on kickstarter

once her and juno’s relationship reaches a healthy balance (and they’re already well on their way which i’m so happy about!) they’re going to be so good together. so powerful. the Ultimate cheery vs broody relationship (although juno is less broody at this point and more....gentle asshole. we love growth). they were unstoppable before, but now? god help the galaxy lol

the fact that rita can just casually hack into literally any system in the galaxy is so.......impressive? hot? yeah.

please get this woman a girlfriend and a cat

rita x franny xoxo

RITA BACKSTORY WHEN. PLEASE KEVIN AND SOPHIE PLEASE AS A RITA STAN I AM POLITELY BEGGING YOU.

rita is now in space, which is an interesting development. i just.....”rita in space” is not something i would have ever guessed at a week ago

wait oh my god.

i was sitting here thinking rita has some sort of trust fund/is secretly rich and that’s how she bought juno’s office and kept it afloat, but with the most recent episode’s developments it’s probably equally if not more likely that she either hacked into the nearest bank to give herself the creds needed or hacked the person she was buying it from to make it seem like she had made the payments. i literally adore her whoops

the little rita episodes make me so happy and i hope we get more of them!

tldr: i love her and she deserves the world and more, i’m glad her relationship with juno has changed into something a lot healthier with juno’s Realization mid-season-two, i hope she realizes the hero she already is in season three

peter:

.........oh how the turntables.

peter, season one: juno come with me so we can be together forever and travel the galaxy! i think i love you! juno: aw babe i wish i could but i’m sad and the city needs me :( peter, season three, when handed the opportunity to travel with a healing juno through the galaxy on a silver platter: actually fuck this lol i have One Job and it is to Only Think About My Current Assignment. this is smart and healthy.

this man.....this man right here officer. stole my fucking heart.

i don’t really have an essay for him because we haven’t seen enough of him to really gauge his character development beyond an obsession with debts and his aging. i’m guessing that will change this season though

the debts....what are they

can rita hack in and pay them off

god wouldn’t that be so funny. he spends his entire life trying to pay off these impossible debts and it’s stressing him out to the point where he feels he can’t focus on anything else. and one day he comes to the fam and explains everything and rita’s like “oh shit that’s easy i’ll take care of that right now!!! why didn’t you say something sooner” and hes like “what” and she’s like “yeah!” and he’s like “holy shit” and then he gets married to juno and they live happily ever after the end.

no but real talk

these debts. there’s a lot about them and the way he talks about them that really worries me. i feel like having them be simple money debt would be too easy, so maybe it’s something medical? that would explain both his obsession with his aging and his uncharacteristically excited reaction to the healing mother prime (i think that’s what it was whoops).

he also mentioned someone else before juno, someone that had some pretty strong romantic undertones. maybe they’re sick? but peter doesn’t seem like the type to throw away a relationship like that so quickly, so it doesn’t really match up that he would have someone sick and waiting for him but he’d still go after juno in season one. hmmm.

this one’s a real mystery lads. you think you have something figured out about peter nureyev but it just gives you more questions.

peter is the one mystery juno can’t solve. god, that’s good.

his voice is so good. i don’t remember who his voice actor is but they’re doing a fantastic job thank you!!!!

i actually don’t picture peter like how he’s portrayed in the official art and fanart? i wish i was an artist so i could draw him the way i see him but alas. (i still really like his official design tho!)

listen. you give me a mysterious thief that doesn’t exist and i am Forced to love him. i have a type.

thankfully peter seemed to come around during the most recent episode (s3e2 the man in glass) so i don’t think we’re going to get a repeat of season one. these debts, whatever they are, are definitely going to cause problems. i can’t wait to see what the writers do with this.

(my only fear is that it will end up fitting the “gay character has a sickness parallel to aids and it is incurable” trope. although the writers have so far done a fantastic job of writing queer characters and worlds as well as turning tropes on their heads, so even if it may seem like that’s the case in the beginning, i’ll most likely stick through it to see where they take it. i trust them).

peter i know you’ve never had a family in your life but. im gonna tell you a secret here. found family is cool and good and you’ll like it if you give it a chance.

i love him and as soon as i cut my hair short i’m gonna cosplay him. fashion king

peter nureyev makes me want to fall in love

watching (listening) to juno grow and mature was already fantastic, but to see it through the eyes of someone who respects him, cares for him, and loves him deeply? good lord.

the way peter talks about juno.....yeah.

and peter as an individual....WOW. master thief, yes wow impressive! but his growth is already focusing so much on trust and it’s been written so well. i can’t wait to see how much he continues to grow and learn to trust this season!!!

i would love to see him continue to narrate s3. i think it’s a really strong change of pace and it also puts some extra emphasis on juno’s growth while focusing on peter’s motivations and inner thoughts. i’m genuinely fine either way tho!

tl;dr: i love u emo boy i love u i love u