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griffinswitch · 1 month

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Some headcanons for Griffin, Faragonda and Saladin

I have some headcanons about Saladin, Griffin and Faragonda. All three of them have been "cursed" (not cursed per se, I'm using the word 'curse' as a metaphor for their trauma) during the Company of Light era.

Saladin prides himself in his powerful abilities as a wizard, especially in his strength.

When the time came to face a battle between the Ancestral Witches and their minions during one of the Company of Light’s missions, one of them cursed him to age quickly, which heavily affected his height too, causing him to shrink. It took him a while to adjust to his condition, but despite his curse, he is still able to retain the potency of his magical abilities with some limitations that comes with being cursed, which Valtor in Season 3 insinuates that he is the weakest (obvs he is far from that!) among the three points of magic.

With Faragonda, being able to have better control of her powers is one of the most important things to her. For most part of her childhood up to her early teenage years, she struggled understanding herself and her powers. Growing up from a family of witches and wizards, she was born a witch and because she was unable to control her powers (thanks to the pressure from her parents), despite the help of Griffin when they were younger, she decided to transfer from Cloud Tower to Alfea to become a fairy.

When she switched schools, it had caused a slight rivalry and bitterness between her and Griffin since light magic is the more socially acceptable type of magic. By channeling positive emotions, it has helped her manage and understand her powers better. This also led to an interest in teaching herself convergence at Alfea (which she teaches in the series), particularly converging with dark magic users. With Faragonda's own research in convergence with light and dark magic to fight the forces of evil, she had hoped it would bridge the gap between fairies and witches (especially from Alfea and Cloud Tower), hoped it would bring her and Griffin together like they once were and hoped it would help the Council understand that light and dark can work in unison, and that dark magic users are important to the balance of magic. I'll expand on Faragonda's role, powers and background in my CoL fic later on. Similar to Griffin's own research in my headcanons for her.

Anyway, during Faragonda’s mission to rescue Griffin from the Ancestral Witches' lair in Obsidian, everything was going to plan when Faragonda found herself in a trap set by one of the members from the Wizards of the Black Circle, Yllidith (a character from the comics who we do not see in the show). Long story short, Yllidith plucked Faragonda’s wings in front of Griffin (who was magi-cuffed at the time, also tied to her fate, so she couldn't access her powers as she watched in horror). Hagen and Saladin both came to their rescue and fought off the wizard and other beings of evil. And with all the strength she had left, Faragonda opened a portal and teleported them back to safety despite being severely wounded. Even with the help of her Enchantix fairy dust or any fairy who was at Enchantix level, there had been no cure in growing her fairy wings back.

However, since witches don't need wings to fly, Griffin taught Faragonda to fly with a LOT of trial and error + it had taken Faragonda years to heal from losing her wings. She also had gotten a little better at channeling her negative emotions but she was still better suited as a fairy and was at her best with transmitting positive emotions despite being wingless.

Griffin’s curse is thanks to Valtor for her betrayal during their final encounter with one another. He has cursed her to never know peace. Anything she holds dear somehow gets taken away from her, even momentarily and she's in a constant state of chaos, also most likely from her PTSD from the war(s). (Faragonda helps Griffin cope with and manage her curse, they both do!)

Cloud Tower (CT) is one of the things she holds dear because it is her safe space, not only for herself or the many objects (some rare, dangerous and ancient relics) that is home to it but also for her students who she deeply care for.

The times when CT was invaded by the Trix and with them being related to the Ancestral Witches (AW), you can imagine how triggering it was for her, especially when she’s worked incredibly hard to make sure CT is a school where witches of dark magic can learn how to control their powers for good and help fight evil. She fears that, with the Trix being in control of CT, history might repeat itself and cause an army of dark magic users who uses their powers for evil causing an imbalance in magic.

And let’s not forget when Valtor took control of CT and her students, it had really caused her dearly. He even sent her to prison in her own school, a cruel way to face her punishment for betraying him all those years ago. He had hoped she'd rot in her prison cell for eternity, to be a prisoner of her own mind from her grief and guilt, the same way he did when he was trapped in the Omega Dimension. (Of course, we know what canonically happened in Season 3).

#winx club #winx club headcanon #winx club griffin #winx griffin #winx club faragonda #winx faragonda #winx saladin #winx company of light #winx headcanons

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metalomagnetic · 4 months

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I *love* your answer on the house elf lore. I have a few related questions, if you don’t mind LOL…

How long ago was the initial enslavement/Helix Black? And did Helix’s grandson know why his house-elves were treated differently than other families, was he told? Are the Blacks told all of this, or do they just learn to treat their elves with affection because that’s what everyone around them does?

We know that the Blacks have astral magic and that helped in the war effort, but did other families have specialised magic that helped as well? I know Voldemort doesn’t know how the Gaunts were tied to snakes, but will we ever find out?

And finally - does magic feed itself? You say that the wizards of the past were way more powerful and they lost some of that with the death of the High Elves; is that because there is a balance that needs to be kept? Does the wizarding world have a certain biodiversity LOL?

Again, I love all of your lore. It’s such a treat to hear any of it. I devour it every time.

I am so happy you're enjoying the lore!

So, the second (and last) Elvish War lasted for about twenty years, and Tessuth was born during it, as was Helix's grandson, since they are the same age.

The war ended when they were twelve, and that's when Tessuth was enslaved. Helix only lived five more years after that, waiting for his grandson, Cetus, to reach adulthood before offing himself.

Since Tessuth was a child, both by human and elven standard, she grew up with Cetus. Helix was very intrigued with her magic, different than wizard kind, and with no need of a conduit like a wand to work. He (and other wizards) attempted to replicate it, learn it, but no wizard was ever capable. That's how he spent the last years of his life, mainly shut in with Tessuth and Cetus, teaching his grandson about family affairs, and keeping a close eye on Tessuth and her sister, making sure the curse was working and that the elves truly couldn't disobey.

Of course, Tessuth, being a child, latched onto Helix as a parental figure, and onto Cetus as a play-mate and sibling.

Tessuth, her sister and Cetus are all told that Tessuth's relatives were Evil, tried to destroy wizards, but wizards were 'merciful' and didn't kill Tessuth and the others, instead 'taking them into their homes'.

Poor Tessuth, due to her age and also because of the complex curse and charms bonding her into submission, truly does feel grateful for the Blacks eventually, for sparing her and her sister's lives, especially when she sees how awful some other families treat their elves.

Cetus grows, learns everything about the war and his mind develops, understanding the complexities of what transpired, but Tessuth never quite catches up, never quite grows as she should.

She's confused when what she saw as a fellow child, a play mate, becomes her new Master, grows old, has children of his own, and then dies, while she remains unchanged.

From all the Blacks, she loved Cetus the most, and it was heartbreaking for her to lose him. He is also the only one that treated her like a true family member. Initially, she and her sisters were not used for house labour, mostly because what remained of the Blacks didn't trust them yet with their food, neither did the elves knew how to cook human food. I think it took them some years to figure out what elves could do. Years of Tessuth learning to cook from human servants, for the Blacks to see that when she made a mess she could clean it *much* faster and efficiently than wizards, with just a snap of her fingers.

I think with each generation she became more and more of a servant, and not much else. Yet since she raised so many Blacks, loved them, played with them, took care of them, even when the children grew into adults, they still viewed her kindly; most Blacks were never cruel to her, her sister, or their own children, when those came. It is sort of a tradition- yes, their elves are their property, but since the elves are such a huge fixture in their lives, and they aren't taught to despise them, they aren't the type to physically abuse their elves. Of course, there are exceptions, some Blacks are crueler than others, some grow resentful in childhood because the elves 'snitch' on them to their parents and so forth, but most never truly develop the pure disdain Malfoys have for their elves, for example. I also think Tessuth and the first generation of house-elves are much stronger magically than the next generations, simply because they were born free, and they were allowed to develop naturally at least for the first years of their lives. Their own children never had that chance, so their magic never reaches that of their ancestors.

Blacks especially like Tessuth because she's their living history, she can tell them so many things she witnessed during the centuries, stories that were never written down, secrets of former masters that were never meant to be found out, but Tessuth tells new masters everything, since she physically cannot hold a secret from her master.

She is a huge reason why Blacks never change their ways, never lose their way, because she's literally there to raise them all as she raised Cetus' children, with the same values and antiquated notions. If Sirius would have paid her more attention, she could have told him of ways Blacks practice astral magic. But, of course, Sirius would never think to ask her about that, since she's basically like taking furniture to him, not much else.

Kreacher is also very old, 600 plus years in canon, I believe, but the children he raised, for example, are more 'modern', as opposed to those Tessuth cared for. At some point, one Black favoured Kreacher over Tessuth and replaced her as Head Elf, simply because it was Kreacher that raised him, and not his great aunt.

Sirius, while he hates Kreacher for shit in his childhood that was in no way Kreacher's fault, but Sirius as a young kid couldn't grasp that, he still prefers Kreacher over Tessuth, trusts him with little Orion, simply because it was Kreacher that was always there beside him, and not Tessuth. And at this point in the story, as Sirius matures and comes to realise Kreacher is blameless, he does allow himself to appreciate his old elf, while Tessuth remains to him the odd, crazy elf his great grandfather and than his grandfather had around.

Malfoys, for example, lost their first generation elf pretty early on, and because they always mistreat them, their elves die much younger that they should, so they always end up with new ones like Dobby, that don't have the wealth of information Tessuth or Kreacher have, nor the emotional attachments to Malfoys, that Black elves hold for the Blacks.

Yes, I think more families had special magic that belonged to their bloodline, like the Gaunts and the Blacks. But many families died off entirely, or lost members too early to ever discover the 'secret'. That, and, as I said, magic itself became weaker, as magical beings are being killed off, and muggles advancing so incredibly fast, taking over everything.

That's not to say there aren't still secrets old families hold. Black astral magic is technically a secret- there are rumours about it, but it's not a known fact anymore. And the same could be said by other families, who might be hoarding knowledge from the rest.

I do think the wizarding world has some biodiversity, and as muggles encroach more and more in their space, this diversity is dying off, little by little. Like the Elves, the centaurs I imagine are very few in numbers now, dragons that aren't allowed to roam free and multiply so muggles won't spot them, giants etc. And with every species wiped out, magic slowly dies, and will eventually give way entirely to the technological area of humanity. Of course, that will take another millennia probably, but eventually magic will die off entirely.

And, who knows, at some point, thousands of years into the future, probably humans will die off to make way for robots or god knows what else.

#my writing #it runs in the blood

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lord-of-the-prompts · 2 years

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HORROR/THRILLER/SUSPENSEFUL STORY SETTINGS AND PLOT IDEAS:

[Feel free to use any prompt that shouts out to you! I would very much appreciate a tag if you post a story that was inspired by a prompt of mine! Happy writing everyone!]

amusement park (where the ride breaks down with everyone trapped on them, and there is a killer loose in the park…)

art gallery (where paintings trap visitors inside the frame and force them relive the scene the painting was based on...)

aquarium (where the protagonist gets trapped inside one of the shark tanks...)

basement (where the basement floods, there’s no way out, and there’s something weird swimming in the water…)

blood bank (where a blood bank is run by a vampire cult…)

board game cafe (where a group of teenagers are forced to play a game of snakes and ladders in real life, with real snakes and real ladders…)

bunker (where the captor holds his victim hostage in an old bunker and convinces the girl that he is protecting her from a world apocalypse…)

car (where a taxi driver picks up the wrong person and fears he may never live to tell the tale…)

castle (where the gargoyles come to life and attack the royal family…)

circus (where everyone who is hypnotized by the magician turns into a member of his unholy cult…)

desert (where a group of travellers are swept away by a sand storm and wake up in a haunted oasis…)

dungeon (where the visitors pay to torture subjects and the subjects are paid to be tortured…)

farmhouse (where the scarecrow comes to life and attempts to create a new body for himself with the farming family’s bodies…)

forest (where a lone hiker is caught in a bear trap in the woods and unable to escape, the bear is close by…)

graveyard (where the dead buried at the local cemetery come back to life and all the living people in the town die, except for you…)

haunted house (where a house manages to kill anyone who enters it…)

hotel (where the concierge is a vampire with a thirst for his visitors’ blood…)

house (where the family home falls into a sinkhole that leads straight to hell…)

island (where a new species of insect is discovered, and when the travellers get bitten, they start mutating into bugs…)

jungle (where a group of explorers start disappearing one by one during a rescue mission deep in the jungle…)

library (where the ghost of character killed off in a series haunts anyone who reads the book…)

military base (where a group of soldiers end up face to face against their canines who have somehow turned into werewolves…)

opera house (where the killer murders the musicians with their instruments...)

operating theatre (where an unwilling subject wakes up part way through the operation and is unable to move no matter how hard they try...)

prison (where the inmates are released from their cells and the officers are locked up in their place, leaving them at the complete mercy of the prisoners…)

psychiatric ward (where patients are forced to fight to the death in padded cells…)

pyramid (where archeologists discover an ancient tomb and unleash an ancient curse…)

railroad (where a cowboy spends his final hours repenting his sins as he lays tied to a railroad track…)

research centre (where the subjects loose the ability to either see, hear, or speak…)

sewer (where a family takes cover in the sewers when a nuclear missile is headed towards the city…)

shipwreck (where divers explore an ancient shipwreck, but the pirates are very much still alive and do not take well trespassers…)

space (where there is an explosion on ship leaving the crew without enough oxygen, there are only four extra tanks left, but there are six people…)

submarine (where there's an unknown killer aboard and no way to escape the deep ocean...)

tavern (where a knight is seduced and kidnapped by a handmaid who plans on avenging he sisters murder in the most heartless of ways…)

underwater (where evil merpeople kidnap scuba divers...)

university (where a group of students engineers create an artificial intelligence that goes rogue and attempts to create a real life body out of human remains…)

virtual reality (where virtual reality becomes a true reality, and to escape, 10 players have to survive all levels of the game, but after every level, the loser dies…)

zoo (where the animals turn into zombies and attack their abusers…)

#writing prompt #writing ideas #writing tips #creative writing #writers of tumblr #writers block #writing things #writing #writing advice #prompt list #horror #thriller #suspense

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rathologic · 7 months

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P1 Saburov and Viktor are so terribly underrated and it's such a shame because their characters are immensely interesting and way more developed beyond "evil corrupt politician" and "isolated and rich single father with much children cooler than him", which is how I've seen some people halk about them. You are doing god's work

Oh deeply... I do think there's an effect where an important part of both of their arcs as rulers is that they're rendered obsolete halfway through the game, as soon as the Inquisitor shows up and overtakes their authority. from that point on only their associated healer gets to interact with them at any depth, but both of them are also planning to die (...normal reaction to being rendered obsolete) so it's harder for their dialogue to stick outside what's most vital for quests. also since nobody plays changeling route :-(

I see victor reduced to 'wifeguy' more than 'guy with important kids' more often (and enjoy it, even partake!) but he stands out to me as having the most personal, even self-centered wants in the cast- repairing his relationships with (living) family, the wish to leave and finish his university degree; in fact I'd say victor is someone who's been deprived of the things most important to him for a long time, and is in a position where he could get them back, if he only abandoned the project of leading the Town towards utopia which the kains have devoted themselves to for the past 5 years / forever. and nina's soul is present in and tied to that project, but there is some level on which only victor remembers her as a person instead of a divine instrument- and that lends itself to the ability to grieve and move on. if victor kain walked out of pathologic I think he'd ultimately be happy, and I think he's unique among the rulers for that. but the tragedy of all of the families is that they're embedded in a town and traditions that Will Not Let Them Out

whereas saburov is like. he grew up in this town, his mother would've been a Mistress herself, the town's needs and impositions as a structure are so ingrained to him that he doesn't conceive of any selfhood or duty that Doesn't involve his role as The Saburov, putting himself on the line for everything that might befall the town. and the patterns are also so ingrained to him that he starts to think he can change or at least outsmart them. come to think of it, the whole first half of changeling route is his trying to find someone responsible for the plague, and ultimately when there is no such person he takes that responsibility onto himself but He Tries so hard first... clara's presence disrupts the balance and therefore taking her in might allow him to control the balance (and per recent discussion there's a masculinity in his need for control), except the conjectures he makes don't really apply to something completely new and unknown. and to his credit saburov loves changing his mind when presented with new information and there's a lot of guilt accumulating because of it and ultimately he gives up that control to clara, being one of few characters to genuinely grow over the course of the game. But in a way that's still symbolically equivalent with death 🙂

So they're two self-abnegating people who are the "less important" member of their ruling family and become surpassed by their daughters in the town to come, but from totally perpendicular backgrounds that cross just at this point... it's very fun that they don't get along as administrators when rulerhood is the one thing they kind of share

#SALUTING_FACE. you may be able to tell that I like the rulers b/c it's cool when a place eats people.#victor kain #alexander saburov #pathologic #asks #anonymous

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ultra-creepy-fucker-things · 2 months

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One issue that's seldom talked about is the distain that Star Vs. seems to hold for monster leadership, even though the Butterfly family has been oppressing monsters for countless centuries, the morality of monster leaders depicted throughout both the series proper and the Magic Book of Spells seems to mainly depend on how close their ties are to the Butterfly family and how well they treat them. Cooperation and love for the Butterflies equates to a morally good leader, and open defiance equates to an evil one. And this isn't just during the reign of the likes of Comet, it even applies, disturbingly, to leaders who were active during the reign of the explicitly genocidal Solaria.

Batwin- Batwin exists exclusively to be the person Comet is negotiating a treaty with, but the book reveals that he inherited his position from an Avarius. Who were put in power by Cresenta Butterfly. Batwin, the only monster leader that's never been evil or cruel, is also a pathetic Butterfly stooge, outright described as "soft" by Comet herself. While he certainly seems to be meant as a good person, he also isn't afforded much respect as a leader.

Globgor- In his past, Globgor was a cannibal warlord that needed to be redeemed by the love of Eclipsa Butterfly, not only a mewmen, not only a member of the Butterfly family, but the damn daughter of the most evil character in the Star Vs. universe, we are very much supposed to consider him as having been a bad guy before he was redeemed by Eclipsa, aka, the period in his life where he was a monster leader that wasn't aligned with the Butterfly family.

Ludo- Ludo, during the time when he was a leader, was a cruel and petty one that mistreated his underlings, his redemption is tied to giving up both his position as a leader, and his pursuit of the wand and, by extension, his defiance towards the Butterfly family.

Toffee- Toffee is the first on this list with that never shows sympathy too nor receives it from the Butterfly family. His goals are vague, but seem to primarily be revenge, and the possibility that he is anything other than a cruel and vindictive man is never explored, although looking at his actions in the show, nothing implied about him is any worse than what is said outright about Globgor*, and in all scenes where he's leading as himself, and not through Ludo, he seems to be a far kinder and more respectful leader than the Avarius.

Seth- oh, poor neglected Seth, unlike all the leaders mentioned previously, we never even get to see Seth in the flesh to judge him for ourselves, everything we hear about him is second hand, and none of it is good. We can safely assume that he fought against Solaria, and, given that no other monster faction is referenced, there's a solid chance it was his septarians that killed her, and yet all we know of him is that he supposedly believed that mewmens were inferior to monsters and wished to subjugate them. As we hear this from Globgor, it is clear we are supposed to believe it.

*Hell, if you consider cannibalism as particularly evil, Globgor might even be worse

#Svtfoe #svtfoe critical #archduke batwin #globgor svtfoe #ludo svtfoe #toffee svtfoe #seth of septarsis

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reikiajakoiranruohoja · 2 months

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W5 critical: Absence is not inclusivity

Critical of Werewolf the Apocalypse 5th edition, please don't read if you like the edition.

Few weeks ago, I saw a post stating that the removal of the cultural ties from (almost) all of the tribes is a good thing, because it means anyone can now be a member of any tribe.

What this mentality misses, however, is that the absence of culture is not the same as being inclusive. Sure, everyone can be anything, but from my experience, that freedom does not result in actual diverse depiction. After all, we have data that you can be as diverse as you want in your character creation options, most players will still make a white brown-haired cismale character.

In the same vein, all of the released adventures for W5 have been set in the US. Even though anyone can be anything, we have fallen back to treating the US as the default setting. Paradox is a Swedish company and Sweden has plenty of stories that fit WtA. This is no longer the case of a US company writing for a US audience.

What is worse, now that there are no specific tribes from Turtle Island, they don't have to be included in the stories set on their own lands. Instead, all characters can be white and the ST doesn't have to consider how the native people of the land see the white characters.

Even though the Legacy books often fell on their face when it came to depicting anything not a WASP American, the presence of cultural ties had a purpose.

Garou are creatures of community, they are people who band together not out of desperation or survival but because they like to have people around them. Unlike Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse is about honesty. Garou want friends, they want allies and a family without ulterior motives.

What this means is that each tribe was not just a group selected by a specific patron. They were communities of shifter and kin who all shared a culture and had for generations. A tribe is a garou's support network, their source of history and so on.

Of course, Werewolf the Forsaken's tribes aren't culturally tied. But the difference between the W5 tribes and those of The Moon is that there are only 8 or so base tribes and even then three of those are the 'bad guys'. The tribes in Forsaken are archetypes, werewolves of similar goals. But the game has always made a point that there are cultural differences depending on the country and there are plenty of lodges that are local to a specific area.

In W5, you have 11 tribes that were originally built to have ties to certain culture or broad concepts. Now, with most of the context removed, there are multiple tribes in W5 that could be cut and the setting would not change.

More than that, the tribes of W5 (aside from Cult of Fenris for some reason) are alone. Even the Uratha in Forsaken need to have contact with their potential tribe to join one, but in W5 the tribe patrons simply choose a fitting garou with no input from others of the tribe. This loneliness is further shown in how little thought is dedicated to a pack having a patron. Unlike every other WtA book, W5 does not come with a list of patrons. Instead the book, in a sidebar, recommends picking a tribal patron among the tribes of the pack. With an added mention to do contrition to other patrons who did not get picked. Even then, each PC is still expected to follow their tribal patron's ban on top of their pack patron's.

Meanwhile, in Legacy, the ties to various real life cultures give direction and community to the garou. When the pack chooses a patron, that patron is often not from any tribal brood. The pack, in Legacy, is important.

In W5, community, pack, family and all that are not only gone but also treated as the source of the garou's evils. Better be alone, better be without roots, it says.

No person is an island, yet that is what W5 wants things to be.

#w5 #werewolf the apocalypse #werewolftheapocalypse #wta #world of darkness #wod #rambly ddw

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slavicafire · 1 year

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Dear Żmija, do you know how to remove curses from objects? I swear whenever I wear my favourite earrings the day ends with me crying.

now, there are plenty of ways to rid an object of any evil that might reside within it - either by curse or bad luck, or a variety of other reasons - as this is the subject that folk magic predominantly deals with, and then as well one of my favourites. the three ideas I will list here are based on slavic magical customs - some modified when it comes to their complexity or scale, as we are talking about a small object here instead of a house, cow, or daughter - but do bear with me, as the issue itself deserves a bit more analysis than just a two-step instruction.

I assume 'the day ends with me crying' means that something bad happens other than just causing you to cry for no apparent reason - if that's wrong, please let me know and we can look at it from a different perspective.

first, why curse? curse assumes deliberation - do you believe there is someone who would want to harm you in such a way? or are the earrings themselves, for example, inherited from a family member or bought from someone and believed to carry some sort of residual curse within them? it's worth looking into this and especially into why you believe it might be a curse. sometimes those fears reside purely within ourselves, no curses necessary, and a careful examination of your own assumptions and worries yields the best results.

second, why are they your favourite? and does the fact that they are your favourite affect the frequency of you wearing them, or the occasions you choose to wear them for? if you wear them often, the chances of something going wrong are simply statistically higher. if you wear them for very important or stressful occasions, it only makes sense that you would be more susceptible to having a harder time with any possible, related failure. perhaps it's worth putting the earrings aside and carefully, as objectively as possible, examining the events that happen even without you wearing them.

and now, at last, if you would still like to do some good old magic, even if just to calm your mind and allow for further objective examination of the first two points, here are some of my favourite methods:

find in your vicinity whichever sambucus plant is native for your region - now, in slavic magic, this would usually be either sambucus ebulus (danewort) or sambucus nigra (elder). find a young flexible branch and without tearing it off or damaging it, bend it to make a loop. then, put your earrings through that loop three times - as they pass through, any widely understood evil will pass to the tree, and through its wild sacred roots back to the soil. and soil, sweetest mother, fears no curses and eats them up just as she will eat us up one day.

another method is to leave your earrings overnight in a fistful of grain, and then the next day take that grain and scatter it outside, where no people walk. the idea is both for the grain (one of the most sacred things we have, as the foundation of our nutrition and agriculture) to take the evil away, but also for the grain itself to be an offering to spirits (good or less so, depending on your own belief and situation regarding the curse) in the form of birds. where no people walk is important in the regard that someone stepping over that grain accidentally could transfer whatever evil to themselves, and that's just an unfortunate way to ruin someone's already bad monday. crucial! research the birds of your area and choose the grain itself carefully, so that you do not cause any harm to the animals and the environment.

and finally, you can also tie your earrings - the idea is that tying a knot on an object ties the evil within it as well. one way to do it is to use red thread - tie your earrings with it, make a knot, then remove the thread without untying it (you can unclasp the earrings, slide the thread off, whichever works, it doesn't have to be tied securely at all) and then burn the thread itself. otherwise, you can put your earrings in a piece of fabric and tie that bundle, and making sure the knot doesn't get undone, pull the earrings out (by cutting a hole in the bundle, for example). bonus points for sticking a needle into the fabric before you get them out.

best of luck, dearest stranger, and might you have no reason for tears any time soon.

#slavic #folk magic #folklore

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paper-gold-theories · 9 months

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I wonder if Flug ever knew Miss Heed/ Cecilia was rich.

Yes, I theorised that Flug knows.

In Flug’s journal notes, there were some hints that Miss Heed is a rich before it was mentioned in her book trailer that she was a millionaire, who was given a credit card at the age of seven or in Chapter 10 of The Risky Heist, that she has a private yacht and a wealthy dad helped bailed her out of prison.

One day she texted me at midnight, crying, telling me she needed help. I snuck out of my dorm in area B of the Institute, managed to sneak past the night guards, and made my way to her dorm in area C. She was at a window crying and I sat down with her and we talked, after a while she told me that me being there made her feel better.

However, this began to be a recurring event, that would happen at least 3 times a week, she would text me to come over and her mood would change radically every time I did. I asked her many times why she only wanted to complain to me instead of implementing any of the solutions I suggested but she just gave me the plane*, not literally, otherwise I would have been very happy.

(*Note: "gave me the plane" (daba el avión), is a Mexican expression meaning to ignore someone.)

_____

As shown, Flug mentioned that Cecilia “gave me the plane, not literally, otherwise I would have been very happy”. The way he casually says this as if he is not surprised she afford something as expensive as a plane without making a dent her wallet. So he probably knows as Miss Heed probably told him about her family background while they were in school.

____

The second theory is a bit far fetched. Flug mentions that the are different dorm areas in the school. Flug is in Area B and Miss Heed is in Area C. Based on some of the students who enter the school from the BHO website, I theorised that there is a dorm hierarchy in the school which might hint Miss Heed is rich.

This is what I made based on the website: Area A - Children of the most infamous and worst criminals who are Black Hat Organisation Members or possible heroes and students with hero families who wants to rebel and become villains (or just villains and normal citizens) that made contracts with Black Hat which enable them to get perks such as staying in the best dorm.

Area B - Scholarship students. Students who are got into this school due to their academic and sports scholarships. (Poor Flug might have to be in the same dorm area as his bullies.)

Area C - Students with wealthy families but without academic or sport scholarships, or evil families with ties and connections. (Miss Heed probably stays here because her father is wealthy and she didn’t get an academic scholarship for evil science as it was hinted in in Flug's journal notes that she was a lazy student before Flug tutored her and helped her become second best in class. In Episode 6 she appears to let her mind controlled simps do the fighting for her and when she is seen fighting crime the villains appar to have been mind controlled before she defeated them, so those photos of her doing heroic fighting appear to be fake, so she could not have gotten a sports scholarship.)

Area D - Students without wealthy families, academic or sport scholarships, or evil families with ties and connections.

#villainous #villanos #dr flug #dr kenning flugslys #flug #villainous headcanons #villainous theory #villainous theories #villainous miss heed #villainous missheed #cecilia amanda kelly #villainous blackhat #villainous black hat #black hat organization

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skamenglishsubs · 2 years

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Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 2, Episode 5

This episode picks up the day after the Valentine's ball.

Blink and you miss it: Simon hid Wilhelm's sweater under his pillow.

Subtext: A parallel to S1E5 when Wilhelm made the exact same crispbread sandwich as breakfast for Simon.

Subtext: Meanwhile, Alexander has been stewing over what August told him, that Wilhelm was the one to throw him under the bus, so he's not exactly keen on talking to Wilhelm right now.

Blink and you miss it: As soon as Wilhelm gets the text message with the speech, he nervously starts biting his fingernails.

Subtext: Simon is wearing his purple shirt, of course this is how he's feeling.

Subtext: Sara is projecting a bit of her own storyline with August here. She knows he is the wrong person, but she still has feelings for him.

Subtext: Felice's hair has been a theme this season, she's literally been letting her hair out as a way of protesting her mom's controlling behaviour, and other traditions. She can't defy the housemistress, though, so she ties up her hair.

Blink and you miss it: As soon as Felice gets corrected, Stella ties up her own hair as well. She's also not ready to rebel just yet.

Subtext: There's going to be a parallel here in the next episode, so for now, just note how August sucks up to Jan-Olof, meekly asks to make some changes to the speech, and is shut down.

Subtext: And of course he is a stickler for titles, he doesn't care that August and Wilhelm are informal with each other, the hierarchy must be preserved at all times!

Subtext: Jan-Olof is really on a roll here, perfectly embodying the Evil System and its boring traditions.

Culture: Året med Kungafamiljen is a real show, it's a year-end retrospective containing highlights of what the royal family did during the year, and it is usually aired around Christmas time. However, it's definitely not the most-watched show in Sweden.

Subtext: Wilhelm is the last person to figure out that the obvious song is obviously about him.

Cinematography: There's some interesting composition in this scene, they're arguing, they're in the same room, they're actually pretty close to each other, but the camerawork highlights the distance between them by making sure they're never both in the shot at the same time.

Subtext: There's maybe a parallel here, Marcus said the opposite to Simon a few episodes ago.

Subtext: And what Simon says is absolutely true, in season 1, the Queen kept it a secret that she knew it was August, to get Wilhelm to deny it was him in the video, and she claimed it was to protect Wilhelm, but in reality she was just protecting the monarchy by burying all unwanted attention.

Subtext: Again, Jan-Olof never contradicts Wilhelm or argues with him. Of course one of the reasons he decided against the new school song was because of Simon, but he can't say that, so he deflects instead.

Subtext: A bit on the nose to have Wilhelm physically being suffocated by the clothes he's going to wear while holding his speech, but whatever.

Subtext: Bless their hearts for being supportive, but I don't think Rosh and Ayub really understand what they're up against if Simon reports August to the police. Wilhelm wasn't wrong, the court will obviously back August, because he's family.

Subtext: It's pretty funny how Wilhelm sees the entire court as a unit, but of course the Queen has no idea what he's talking about, she doesn't know Jan-Olof made the decision about the song earlier, so to her Wilhelm is having yet another random outburst.

Subtext: Just like Wilhelm told the truth about August and the video, revealing the stakes to Simon, she does the same to Wilhelm and reveals the stakes about the speech and about August being his spare.

Subtext: You all saw my longer explanation post of the plot point, here's the Queen spelling it out again, their plan is to introduce August as a member of the royal family, slowly, to make people get used to him.

Subtext: The way the Queen views her role leaks out a bit here. To her, royal duty is the most important thing, being queen is a job to her that she takes seriously. All the privileges is secondary to her, so she mostly sees what she did to August as burdening him with duty.

Subtext: This is going to be important for later, she tells Wilhelm to think of the repercussions of his choices first, and what he wants second.

Blink and you miss it: Fredrika proposes to Stella as a joke.

Subtext: The dark side is of course that she's been having a relationship with August in secret.

Subtext: Wilhelm is really warming up to therapy, in this session he pours coffee for both himself and Boris, and he's actively driving the discussion.

Subtext: This is how modern monarchies justify their own existence. It is inherently unfair and undemocratic that they inherit their positions, so one way they justify it to themselves is by convincing themselves that they are fit for the duty, that the can handle the job, and that they are better at the job than most others. Because if they aren't good at the job, why should the country tolerate the royals?

Subtext: Yet another callback to season 1, Erik tried teaching Wilhelm how to do the same, how to keep up a façade, a public persona, and that's what it looked like to Wilhelm because he knew the private Erik, the one the public never got to see.

Subtext: Yet another another callback to season 1. When the Queen tried to convince Wilhelm to deny it was him in the video, she said that no-one asked for this, none of them asked to be born royals.

Subtext: A recurring theme for Wilhelm is that he is never free to make his own choices, he is always bound by duty or traditions or expectations, so it's important that Boris encourages him to start making his own choices.

Subtext: August is practically holding court here, so Wilhelm gets a glimpse of what it would be like if he lets August take over for him. The choice is his, but this is one of the consequences.

Subtext: We're really on a roll here with all these choice and their consequences, so here Wilhelm lays out Simon's choices - and consequences - around reporting August to the police.

Subtext: In the end, Wilhelm chooses to accept whatever Simon decides, and if August can't be his backup any longer, he has decided to keep being the crown prince, for Erik's sake, and not for his mom's sake.

Subtext: A nice little callback to episode 1 where Simon told Wilhelm to start being honest and talking about how he felt.

Subtext: We don't know it yet, but this is where August tells his mom to sell off some of his assets, so he can buy Rosseau for Sara's sake. He refused to do this to pay for his tuition last season, but apparently this is worth more to him? How sweet, character development! Sara is changing him into a better person! Let's see how long that'll last...

Cinematography: When the show was casting people, Malte originally auditioned for the role of Simon. I thought that was ridiculous, because he's so good at being stuck up and smarmy and evil as August, how could he possibly play Simon? I don't know what they've done with the lighting and styling in this scene, but damn it if he isn't cute as fuck here! How does he do it? I could totally see Malte pull off playing Simon if he looked like this the entire time!

Subtext: I think it's interesting that Wilhelm and Simon have never ever had an interaction like this, they have never discussed their future life as royals, because neither of them really wants that kind of life. But both August and Sara want that, so they're having this discussion, they're imagining themselves as future royals.

Subtext: This entire book discussion is dripping with obvious subtext, you should all be able to pick this up without my explanations! Let's go through the highlights.

I think Henry is projecting a bit here, maybe he is the one that hasn't talked to his crush? Maybe he sent the poem to Madison? We'll never know!

Sara is definitely projecting, she's saying it's ok for her to be in love with August despite all the bad things he's done, because she thinks she can change him.

Simon is just straight up admitting that he's finally realizing all the pressure Wilhelm is under, and that it's actually not that easy for him to make the choice to live openly.

And Wilhelm straight up admits that he's been somewhat of a selfish jerk, putting himself and his royal troubles above everyone else.

Subtext: Karin Boye really did commit suicide, so let's hope that's not some kind of foreshadowing or symbolism.

Blink and you miss it: August is actually looking at Sara and smiling at her, but Simon misinterprets it as August secretly laughing at him for the sex tape.

Subtext: It's a bit late for this now, but here's one more detail on how Marcus is "perfect" for Simon, their parents apparently know each other, and both moms are so happy that their sons are dating. That Sara tries to teach her mom how to behave around the Queen is the complete opposite of that.

Cinematography: I've bitched before about how many gay-themed tv shows still use homophobia as a driver for drama, and it's just so nice to watch a show that's the opposite of that. Simon is gay, Marcus is gay, and their moms are just getting together and gushing about how cute their sons look together and how nice it is that they're dating.

Subtext: Sara is panicking here while trying to hide it, because she still hasn't told her brother that she knew it was August from the start. Bit of a dark side, eh?

Subtext: We've seen a lot of reasons for Simon making this decision, and one other reason has been somewhat of a theme in the first half of this season; we've seen Simon getting unfairly punished all the time, while the upper-class kids got away scot free. So enough is enough, it's time for August to get what he deserves.

Subtext: This episode has focused a lot on choice and consequences, but here Wilhelm decides not to burden Simon with the consequences of the choice. He's selflessly accepting it and that he now must keep being the crown prince, even though the pressure of it makes him physically ill.

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm printed out the speech and nailed to his wall so he could practice it.

Cinematography: Colour theory anyone? Simon has been bottling up his feelings for Wilhelm almost the entire season, he wore a yellow sweater this episode, hiding the purple shirt beneath, but Wilhelm took off Simon's clothes and turned the whole thing inside out so the purple shirt is now very visible, finally. Also, that is one blue room!

Subtext: Yes, they finally remembered to close the curtains. And this time the show also fades to black, we don't get to see them having sex, because we are the nosy public that has been watching all along.

#young royals #young royals analysis #young royals subtext #young royals season 2

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deconstructthesoup · 10 months

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Analyzing "The Web I Spin For You"

Okay, so... THIS FUCKING SONG is one of the most interesting and compelling songs in the Nightmare Time saga, and nobody ever talks about it---unless they're praising Mariah's voice, which is something you should be doing regardless. Outside of "The Summoning," this is the only song sung by one of the gods of the Black & White, and unlike "The Summoning," which is just vibes, villain chaos, and dealing out some Faustian bargains with the NPMD gang, this song actually provides lore. It shows us a deeper look into Webby's psyche and motivations, something that the Lords in Black have yet to be gifted. It gives us a hint as to how brothers and sister split apart... and I think it might be our very first---and so far, only---look into the parent of these eldritch beings.

Okay, let's start.

"Why do you haunt me like a ghost? / You're supposed to love me the most"

Right off the bat, we have emotional depth. Webby is singing about someone who has hurt her, someone who was supposed to love her but instead used her and continues to haunt her life. Who is this person, and what did they do?

"Got me in the spell you cast / The iris of your eye is black / Weren't you the one to watch my back / Unlike the witches you summon?"

This is where it ties into the episode, with "witches you summon." You get the clear sense that Webby is talking about a family member---maybe her brothers, but it has to be one in particular, and it doesn't really feel like she's talking about Wiggly... if nothing more than the fact that his irises are very clearly not black, at least if the doll is anything to go by.

"Have you noticed that my trust has turned / You may have taught me, but now I've learned / Gotta catch you before I'm burned / In the web I spin for you"

Now, here is where it starts to make sense. I think this song is about the father of the Lords in Black and Webby---someone who taught them how to be gods of chaos. Maybe once upon a time, Webby believed in what her father was teaching her, maybe he even kept the truth secret from her, but she grew up, saw through it, decided that she didn't want to participate in the evil, and left.

At this point in the song, the phrase "the web I spin for you" seems to refer to something Webby made for her family's benefit, and based on the lyrics, it eventually became a curse for her. I saw someone mention the theory that Webby created the split timeline... and you know what? Maybe that is the web she made. A blessing, because nothing is ever permanent and nobody ever truly dies, but a curse, because she watches her brothers succeed again and again, and even when she wins, there's no guarantee that the people she helped will be happy. In fact, the episode this comes from has the only ending in the Hatchetfield universe---nobody dies, Hannah makes it out with Miss Holloway's help, Lex and Ethan get out of jail. And honestly... it hits harder that way, because I think there's enough evidence to suggest that The Witch In The Web is in the same timeline as Nightmare Time 2. And we all know how that ended.

"You used to keep me at your side / (Have you given that up? Have you given that up? Have you given that up?) / I suppose you'd have me empathize"

The way I'm interpreting it now, this could add fuel to the fire as to why the LiB resent Webby. Maybe back when she still believed in her family, she was her father's favorite. But something happened---maybe nothing more than the fact that she was kind---that changed all that. In the very next line, she says that the person she's singing about stabbed her in the back. Maybe she was lied to, maybe she was betrayed---whatever the reason, this could be why she left.

"Have you noticed that my trust has turned / You may have taught me, but now I've learned / I'll enjoy it as I watch you squirm / In the web I spin for you"

Here is where "the web I spin for you" shifts from being something Webby made to help to something she made to trap. The web she made---maybe it's the timeline, maybe it's something else---benefits nobody, but especially not the people who hurt her. She doesn't trust them anymore, so she's turned her web into something that can hurt them back.

"What's the point of giving love and trust for / I thought it something that was worth the fight for / And now I wonder what I worked so hard for / I even thought that I could give my life for you"

God. Damn. There's so much I can say, but the first thing that comes to mind is... poor Webby. Based on these lyrics alone, she has been hurt, she's been betrayed, she's likely been lied to or mislead about the purpose of what she was doing, and it's a miracle that she's still her loving and caring self. And speaking of which...

"I was the only one that loved and cared for / Have you noticed that I have it in for / As I grew older that I have no need for / The web I spin for you"

This one is actually pretty straightforward, and it lends credence to the theory that Webby truly is the only Queen in White---the only good entity in her family. The next line could either indicate that she's grown to the point where she's too powerful for the web she made, or she's outright rejecting her family and the purpose they gave her---either way, it's still cool.

"If I'm-a trust, I'm gonna trust in me / You may have taught me, but I'm now learning / All this time, I've been untangling / The web I spin for you"

And THIS RIGHT HERE is where the "gotta take it back, take it back" refrain all throughout the song makes sense. Webby is now attempting to undo her actions, now that she knows that she can't trust her family and that she's learning on her own. She's untangling the web she made, and in doing so, turning the tide.

"No doubt that if I drop dead / You'll find me tangled up / In the web I spin for you"

Full disclosure---I always have to look up those last two lyrics to know what they are, and they're very bone-chilling. My only thought to what this might mean is that... Webby's saying that the web she made might kill her. And she's either trying to guilt the person she's singing to, or she's furious at the fact that they made her create such a thing, and... yeah. I don't know what's more hard-hitting.

ANYWAYS, this song is supremely underrated

#starkid #hatchetfield #webby hatchetfield #nightmare time #hatchetverse #the lords in black #queen in white #the web i spin for you #the witch in the web #song analysis

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irregularbillcipher · 1 year

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The best example of how Flatland is a piece of fiction where A Square, the author, literally does not know what the hell he's talking about half the time is all the stuff about the Universal Color Bill, because as it is presented the segment on the Color Bill is one of the most biased and propaganda filled things I've ever seen spouted from a narrator who claims he Knows What's Up with the world he lives in.

Like ooooh, gee, so the only reason the Universal Color Bill got so widespread was because a Mean Traitorous Circle with an Irregularity that he should have been killed for but wasn't due to Circumstances that nobody actually knows or remembers (but in A's opinion was definitely pity because we all know how CHARITABLE the Circles are) came up with it, and used his tricky cunning Irregularity mind powers to make the Bill so foolproof and amazing that if it had gone through it would have toppled all of society and allowed all the icky women and disableds and lower classes to have something close to equal rights.

(And it had to have been an Irregular Circle because yes the Irregular Circle is also icky and cunning but at least he's a Circle and any Isosceles would have simply been too brain dead to have come up with such an evil cunning Bill and THIS is why eugenics are good, so those mean old disabled people that we allow to live don't stab us in the back for our charity.)

And wow, you're really telling me that right when the more upper-class women of Flatland, those who care about their standing and who are most supportive of eugenics because of the privilege they're afforded by their marriages and lineages, started to agree that this society-destroying Color Bill was a good idea, (because it would actually give them a bit of respect, authority and safety if they were regarded as being as precious as their husbands,) the Circles just happened to hear about this poor orphaned daughter of a Polygon who was accosted by a very very real and scary and uncouth lower class Shape and tricked so thoroughly into believing he was a higher class Shape by employing the very evil colors that these poor Lines were starting to come around to?

(Not to mention that even in the story itself the Isosceles is framed as both a vile, duplicitous mastermind tricking a poor innocent upper-class girl into marrying him, but also an idiot who "accidentally" dabbled in paints from a Tradesman he'd definitely just robbed, and either painted himself or coincidentally "caused himself to be painted" with the exact same color pattern as a Dodecagon. Because for this story to work, he has to be an absolute monstrous brute, an Isosceles of the "low sort" with hardly any brains, while also being cunning, clever and cruel enough to pull off a marriage ruse and take advantage of a poor orphaned maiden. Stupid enough to be looked down upon but smart enough to come up with this plan like the perfect boogeyman.)

And man, it sure is unfortunate that this marriage, which A Square admits only happened because of a wild amount of near impossible accidents and an "almost inconceivable" lack of research on the part of the bride's remaining family, in a society where lineage is checked thoroughly before marriage, just happened to be consummated despite all the odds being stacked against it. Did he pretend to be a member of a high ranking family? Did he make up a name and family history? If nobody can decide if he even painted himself on purpose, I doubt him creating a whole persona convincing enough to fool the daughter of a Polygon and any family members would be part of the story... that would frame him as far too intelligent for an Isosceles with a brain of four degrees, and we can't have anyone thinking that sort is intelligent.

So then are we to believe that the daughter and her remaining family were stupid enough to just accept a supposed Dodecagon with no family ties or history? That seems unlikely. With no family history, his sides may not even matter-- maybe he has an Irregularity in his line. Maybe he was disowned for failing his Sight Recognition exam. No respectable girl in her right mind would marry a Dodecagon with no family history! And it's so, so convenient that this woman, who already knew this Isosceles, because he had already tried to court her in the past, never recognized him once throughout their new courtship, until the marriage was consummated.

And it's so convenient for the Circles that her reaction upon discovering what was very clearly a near astronomical feat of deception was to kill herself, in a society where we already know the Circles are really cool with killing its citizens if it helps to maintain the status quo. But there really isn't anything suspicious about that, of course, because the only way that a daughter of a Polygon would ever wed a lowly Isosceles is if she were tricked into it, even if the process of being tricked was so lengthy and complex that it would be near impossible for anyone to pull off without either the bride or the bride's family being in on the deception, and the only reaction any decent girl would have upon realizing she'd been tricked would be suicide.

And the fact that she was orphaned and this man apparently tried to court her in "former days." So how former? And who was the one rejecting the marriages? How did she feel about this attempted courtship in "former days?" As a daughter of a Polygon, she surely had no say in who she married, so her opinions on this man are completely up in the air, and the idea that she would at no point during this new proposal, recognize this man who had tried to seek her affections before is... implausible, I would say. What the Circles would want you to think, of course, is that the Isosceles tried again once she was orphaned because she was vulnerable then. That's possible, of course, but got necessarily the given that it would seem like.

But the idea that a Line and an Isosceles may have come up with a plot using color to be allowed to be married despite their class differences is Absurd, of course! They're too stupid for that! And that the Circles may have picked up on what had happened and taken the woman out of the picture and then twisted the story to suit their needs is preposterous, of course, just ignore how often they twist history and kill citizens to keep the status quo. The fact that this specific version of the story is the exact type of thing that would tug at the heartstrings of upper-class women who love eugenics and classism and their own nebulous purity more than they actually love themselves, enough to literally militarize a great number of the more reactionary ladies? A coincidence, I'm sure, but one that was oh so good for crushing the Color Bill and using those scared, privileged women to help murder Chromatistes and the rest of the rebels in a political set up.

... And of course, all those holes in the story, all that propaganda even assumes it was a real story to begin with. Because it very well may be completely fabricated.

Before telling the story, A Square straight up admits that this is the perfect type of story for someone in power to make up to scare a portion of the populace, but he absolutely refuses to actually, legitimately entertain the prospect. Instead, he just barrels ahead and tells the story of the Evil, Cunning Irregular Circle, and the Poor Orphaned Polygonal Maiden and the Brutish, Tricky Isosceles and how that Completely True and Real Tragic occurrence definitely, positively happened, and also definitely happened exactly the way all the Circles said it did. The fact that this is all completely absurd and reads like literal propaganda and was literally used as propaganda to scare upper-class women into falling back in line does not matter to A, because this was the story he was told and he Understands The World He Lives In, and the Circles are always right except for the whole Third Dimension thing.

TL;DR: A Square is a stoodge who will fall for anything the Circles tell him, no matter how absurd, and every single thing he says that is not him literally laying out laws should be taken with ten bowls of salt, because he has no critical thinking skills.

#flatland #flatland: a romance of many dimensions #edwin abbott abbott #a square will be like i am so aware of the fact that the circles have lied to me i am so smart and then spout more propaganda #it would be funny if it didn't make me wanna punt him #this is a long ass post but the color bill section makes me foam at the mouth #also there is a reason that i had bill and kryptos first connect over hearing this story and going “... what?” in my fic #because it's absolutely insane and so clearly not what Actually Happened and it drives me wild that nobody talks about it #like even if we wanna be super charitable and say like say... idk... 75% of it happened the way the circles said #that 25% still leaves some INSANE gaps and is too perfect for scaring upperclass lines

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evolutionsvoid · 6 months

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The tales speak of a horrid village deep within the haunted wood, where blasphemous arts and dark magic flow in abundance. Some say it is a nest of witches, brewing noxious concoctions, chanting forbidden words and performing vulgar acts. Others claim a cult has set themselves up within that overgrown hovel, praying to evil gods and beckoning malformed things from Beyond. No matter who lives within this hidden village of horror, the tales have them bowing before the same entity. A horrid beast, warped by an ancient curse, shaped into something profane and sickening. To many, it is an abomination, yet these heretics look to it as a king. What vile acts do they commit in its name? What do they gain from feeding it blood and souls? What ambitions lie within its blackened heart, as its horrifying howls ring out during the full moon? No one can say, for few dare venture there, lest they are gobbled up by this terrifying monstrosity. Many monster slayer have plunged into the darkened wood to claim their trophy, or to stop the strange disappearances and horrible noises that come out at night. None of them have ever returned, no doubt devoured by this bestial abomination, or sacrificed by its maddened cult. To the people outside of these horrid place, the entity and its rabid followers will forever be a mystery, but hopefully one that will never rear its head in their little town...

But if they did really want answers, they could just, ya know, ask nicely. And no, storming into the forest with blades drawn and blood lust in your heart doesn't count as "nice." Yeah, it is a scary looking place, but that is kind of the point. Meant to keep people away! But if you did delve into the dark wood with no weapons hidden in your cloak and no malice in your bones, you may actually be welcome to the odd little village within its heart. If they see that you are no foe, than perhaps you may actually meet their bestial leader: King Chimera. If you actually put in the effort to be polite and open, you would find he is a pretty decent guy! Yes, he does eat blood, but that's kind of his thing. You'll see.

It should be known that King Chimera wasn't always a monster, or beast or whatever you call him. He used to be a human, though he doesn't talk too much about his past life. From the short and simple way he explains it, it sounds like he came from a royal and prestigious family, one that was obsessed with reputation, image and legacy. From the way he tells it, it was pretty miserable, all stuffy nonsense, manners and making sure you sit just right and pick up the right fork or someone else may see and spread besmirching gossip. It was a life of following everything to the letter and doing precisely as tradition tells it, sacrificing your own self for the sake of the family's image. The only time he could cut loose while he was a human was at parties, where he took advantage of the cheery open atmosphere to be the second most drunk person there (which was important, because the number one most drunk person was the one who absorbed all the gossip and closed doors slander). Life was....not great, but he didn't know any different, and that wasn't about to change anytime soon due to his position in the family. King Chimera was said to be next in line to inherit the family's fortune, power and reputation, to sit upon noble councils and weigh in on royal affairs. He wasn't thrilled about it, but perhaps this new found power would allow him to loosen up a bit, and find more freedom up on top.

However, other members of his family were not keen on having him be the sole inheritor. Other siblings stuck behind in line wanted the fortune and power, and other relatives did not think he was fit to carry the title. In his human days, King Chimera held certain ideas and opinions that some folk didn't want tied to their family, ones that would no doubt soil their prestigious title and possibly associate them with filthy commoners. So it was decided in secret to get rid of him, before everything was dished out and he got hold of the family's future. Murder was an option, but one that would be too messy. Having him die before his inheritance would be suspicious, and other families would forever whisper and spread rumors about it. Instead, they looked to his partying ways and came up with another idea.

One night, while their family held a raucous ball, a stranger came knocking on their door. The human who would be King Chimera was the one who answered, or at least did their best attempts to due to the copious amounts of liquor already consumed. An old woman stood outside in the cold, and asked for food and shelter. Tales dress up the following interaction into something horrid and violent, of a drunken noble hurling a poor old woman off their doorstep and showering them in mockery and hate. According to King Chimera, it was more "I was pretty tipsy and got a little mouthy with her. Was a bit rude, to be honest." Regardless, the old woman who had been snubbed by this rich noble born into decadence revealed herself to be a powerful witch. For denying one in need when showered in such riches, she struck him with a terrible curse, transforming him into a terrible beast. With his body twisting, swelling and rupturing with wretched growths, he fell into a mad panic and fled into the night. The tales speak of this noble vanishing into the wilderness, eventually mutating into a massive bloodthirsty beast, cursed forever by their avarice. It is a cautionary tale, and one the rest of the family secretly enjoys, with their newfound wealth and positions. Odd that they tend to leave out the numerous drinks they pushed on him that night, and their insistence that he be the one to answer the door...

Indeed, King Chimera became this way through an old witch's curse, forced to forever be some inhuman hybrid of monstrous beasts. He found his body a patchwork of various creatures, cobbled into something grotesque. His mind felt animal instinct growing stronger in his brain, a feral side desperate to be let loose. In his days following that fateful night, he wrestled with these bestial emotions and changing body, fighting to understand what he was becoming. But eventually, he won. And eventually, he found that this was all pretty awesome.

While others may be haunted by their new inhuman form and lost life, King Chimera was thrilled by it. The shackles of his family name and tradition had finally been shed, and for the first time in his life he was free. He could go anywhere, do anything. He ran through the woods like an excited dog, scaled trees, rolled in the dirt, chased prey and feasted upon freshly caught food in the messiest ways he could find. This new life was a primal one, but he found much joy in it. For quite a few months, he lived in this simple way. In time, though, he would stumble upon an abandoned village deep in a gnarled forest, and find a couple of runaways desperately trying to hide and survive. Their plight reminded him of his old life, and how others were trapped like he once was. Some folk are born into lives they do not want, and escape seems impossible. King Chimera vowed that he would be the one to help them break free, and find a better life of their choosing.

King Chimera would build up this overgrown village and help hunt down the materials needed to make it work. He would then seek out those who wanted an escape, and whisk them way to this hidden settlement. People stuck in miserable lives would "vanish" one night, and the family would be baffled of where they went. Little did they know that a great beast had crept to their homes and carried off this starved soul. They would find a new life in this lost village, and eventually others would learn of its open doors and accepting ways and seek it out. Indeed, witches and other despised groups made their way to the village, and all came together to create this secret community. And at the head of it all was King Chimera, serving as their leader and protector.

To this day, King Chimera keeps watch over his people, ensuring they are safe and happy. Due to his position and visage, the inhabitants of the village have taken to worshiping him like a god, bringing offerings and seeking him for wisdom. Though to outsiders, this appears very much like a cult, it is honestly way more laid back and King Chimera rarely uses his position to make demands or take from his followers. In fact, he is a rather charming, relaxed, and with a love for hedonism. Due to his stifled human life, King Chimera has shaped his new path to involve as much pleasures and indulgences as possible. Drinking, smoking, drugs, partying and anything to feel good. When he isn't out hunting or helping people, he can be found lounging in a wooden throne made of gnarled branches, guzzling down blood wine or smoking various substances from his pipe. His neck of the woods is always down for a good time, and festivities are plenty. It should be noted, though, that sometimes he goes a little too hard. Eating too many mushrooms or the latest pipe full of odd herbs causing strange effects. The result is a wild animal running around the woods with reckless abandon, clawing trees, howling at the moon, and rabidly devouring the occasional livestock. Most of the time, no one gets hurt and he wakes up the next morning with a killer hangover. However, these nights of drugged out lunacy do create some scary stories for the locals, talking about the rabid monstrosity that haunts the nights.

In appearance, King Chimera is a bunch of animal parts fused into a single being. He has traits from mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish and even insects. He has the ability to alter these parts of him, picking certain traits or powering up certain appendages for a desired effect, but doing so requires fuel. And true to the legends, King Chimera's fuel is blood. The nature of his curse and his power requires him to consume blood in order to tap into his own flesh. Like mana being burned in a spell, the blood he drinks is used to fuel his shapeshifting and body enhancements, the cost growing with the complexity of the change. He can swap out limbs for that of different animals, or beef them up to boost his movement or strength. With enough blood, he can also gain powers from other beasts, like breathing dragon flame or unleashing bursts of electricity. Due to blood being the catalyst for this, his elements tend to be crimson in color. Another ability is creating bone spurs and blades, once again fueled by blood. It should be mentioned that while King Chimera has succeeded in changing his body into a variety of things and abilities, he cannot create human body parts. His curse forever prevents him from even coming close to being human (but that's just fine with him). Also, he cannot fly, but that is less the curse's fault and more so he can't figure out how to do it. No matter how much blood he guzzles down, he can never get his wings to grow to a functional size. It really frustrates him.

Due to his need for blood for power, King Chimera's diet consist largely of the crimson fluid. Despite the legends, though, he doesn't bleed people dry or suck it from his followers. Instead, his people collect it from livestock and game, or buy blood meal from nearby dryad settlements. These are then mixed into liquor, baked into cakes and puddings, and generally made into a wide variety of dishes. Blood pudding, blood sausage, blood cakes, blodpattar and such. King Chimera is sure to keep a few "blood cubes" hidden in his fur for when he needs a quick fix or boost. Sometimes his followers will give a small offering of their own blood, as human blood is more potent for him, but they never give more than they can handle. He never demands his followers to bleed themselves, and is honored whenever they give their blood to him. The only other time he partakes is when he eats monster slayers or witch hunters who threaten his home, as he does not hesitate to kill those who would harm people simply trying to live their own lives. The taste is certainly invigorating, but he must be careful in his consumption, as there is still the locked away parts of his curse that yearn to be free. Times when he snaps to instinct when startled, times when his hunger for the hunt tugs at his mind. He is indeed still cursed, but he does his best to tamp down what would rob him of control. Just don't scare him from behind, as his serpent tail is faster at reacting than he is, and he won't be able to reign it in before it sinks its fangs into someone.

The Knights of the Wrong Table wind up encountering King Chimera when they hear tales of people going missing and terrifying abductions in the night. Homes torn open and victims dragged screaming into the darkness. Legends of a horrifying winged chimera that descends upon towns and carries its prey off, never to be seen again. And from these disappearances, slayers and knights have charged into the haunted forest to slay the beast responsible, and don't return alive. The Knights of the Wrong Table show up on the scene to see if the tales are true, and to find out who is behind these disappearances...

--------------------------------------------

"King Chimera"

Hey look, new Wrong Table character! A real party beast!

#chimera #monster #creature #king #art #drawing #beast #knights of the wrong table

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mwolf0epsilon · 4 months

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Superhero AU - Palpatine's Grand Plan

The people have spoken! They want more Superhero AU! And I am willing to give the people what they want :D

So here goes! ---

Obviously things didn't go completely according to plan for old Palps. He had this whole thing set up where he was going to bestow powers upon a group of troops solely loyal to him, that he had specifically trained for the task of being his elite super-soldiers. But, of course, Emerie ended up ruining everything by accidentally unleashing the crates into the river and all that.

You'd think ending up with a group of scared and confused people (who were not only transmogrified into near-identical looking copies of what is essentially this world's Evil Superman/Boogeyman but also given extremely diverse and volatile powers) would set him back considerably in the whole 'get rid of the Jedi and dominate the world' department. Unfortunately you'd think incorrectly... Because Palpatine still seizes the opportunity and makes the best of it.

Through threats and a lot of emotional manipulation (threatening those who have family members outside of the facility they're currently trapped in, or simply pointing out the fact they have killed and hurt several innocent people because of their lack of control of their powers) he manages to dig his claws in and gain control of his new unwitting army.

And thus begins the most miserable time in everyone who's currently in this situation's lives...

The first thing that's on the list is making sure everyone learns how to control their abilities. Which is easier said than done. Not all of the trooper's powers are made equal, and some have very specific triggers.

For those like Cody, Kix and Tup who control fire, electricity and water respectively, exposure to the elements they now preside over will 'charge them' (the more they absorb the more powerful they get) and potentially lead them to crave more and go wild (if they absorb too much they will essentially be encased in a construct type body composed of the element they control).

Examples of what the elemental constructs look like, Source: Final Fantasy D20

For others like Rex, Dogma and Hardcase who's powers are tied to their emotional state (Fear and anger cause Rex to grow gigantic, fear causes Dogma to transform into his kaiju form, and any form of excitement causes Hardcase to explode) their environment and everyday stressors can trigger their abilities.

And then there's those like Jesse (super strength & resilience), Fives (super speed) and Echo (ability to create duplicates), their powers seem to be tied to muscle memory and can be accessed so easily that any kind of lack of control can prove disastrous (Jesse breaks things without meaning to, Fives runs the risk of slamming full force into things, and the more copies there are of Echo the more out of it he seems to get because his mind is being stretched thin between several Echoes)

Training is, effectively, a trial and error sort of deal to both gauge triggers, the full potential of each power, and what sort of use Palpatine might have for them. It's a very torturous experience. Especially for the first couple of months, where some of the troopers are isolated from everyone else because of just how dangerous their powers are (Dogma for example, is trapped in kaiju form for ages because he's too scared to change back, and is thus relegated to a windowless cage of a room).

In due time Palpatine has everyone's role sorted out in his mind.

There will be a group of troopers who are undoubtedly heroes. They will be the poster boys of this whole plan, gaining favour with the general public and making themselves more approachable and pro vox populi. Serving the whims of the people and being more relatable, unlike the humble Jedi who are not flashy and are still very mysterious outside of their regular people jobs (no one outside of the Jedi Order have ever seen the Monastery, and the Jedi refuse to answer questions about it or their training because there's a strict set of rules they abide to).

The other group of troopers will be the villains. A group that the common folk can scorn, hate and fear, that will elevate the heroes's reputation considerably in the eyes of the public, since they always respond to these villain's attacks before the Jedi can get to the scene (which is all part of Palp's plan to make the Jedi look inadequate).

Each group has suits designed to conceal their identities, since Palpatine also intends to have his army infiltrate the spaces the Jedi frequent. Having the same group of identical faces be too recognizable would likely make the Jedi suspicious of this whole ordeal, so Palpatine makes damn sure the suits block the Jedi from getting a read on the heroes and villain's Force signature, as well as also alter and modulate their voices appropriately (Example: the villains often have scarier/creepier voice modulation, while Tup has his voice pitched slightly lower to conceal his young age).

Here's a general idea of where each trooper gets assigned to infiltrate and slowly gain the trust of the Jedi:

Rex is enrolled in the same Uni as Anakin and becomes the rising underdog jock, that slowly but surely befriends both Anakin (who is a mechanical engineering major) and Padme (who is a political major of international relations). He feels rotten about the whole thing because he genuinely likes Anakin and doesn't want to destroy the Jedi;

Cody becomes both a substitute teacher and Obi-wan's assistant (a role he initially disliked because he couldn't stand Obi-wan, finding his flirty behavior and teasing to be mildly infuriating). In due time he starts noticing that the high school he's "working" in has a lot of issues that he starts fighting to fix, and by sheer stubbornness and genuine care for the students, he ends up becoming the new headmaster (it's after he ends up in this role that he slowly gains an appreciation for Obi-wan who serves as both a friend and trusted advisor, thus the guilt of what's truly going on sets in).

Tup and Dogma are enrolled in high school, ending up a year under Ahsoka and Barriss, and becoming new members of Cal, Caleb and Reva's class. Their role in Palpatine's plan is to try to learn as much about the Jedi as possible through gaining the trust of the younger Padawans (Dogma has always looked up to the Jedi so he is opposed to the plan and uses the numbing effects of the medication he's forced to take to keep his powers subdued as an excuse for his inactivity, while Tup is much more outgoing and compliant for fear of Palpatine having Dogma taken away again or something terrible happening to their mother).

Wolffe becomes a nightguard at the Museum that Plo Koon collaborates with. Originally he had no qualms with following the plan (since he had no real opinion of the Jedi), but after he lost an eye to a notorious artifact thief (Ventress) his tune changed considerably when Plo not only came to his aid but also paid for his eye surgery. Since then Wolffe has become fonder and fonder of the peculiar man, and really wants no part in taking down the Jedi.

Slick, CF99 are sent to infiltrate the criminal underbelly to recruit more potential assets to Palpatine's cause. They also keep tabs on the Jedi Shadows, serving as "reliable informants" for them and slowly earning their trust. While CF99 is reluctant participants because they honestly just want to be left alone, Slick is slowly becoming more willing to get rid of the Jedi because he feels like they never really did anything for him or his family (his father used to be a Jedi Shadow before he left the Order to become a part of the criminal world he used to bring to justice, and then he grew abusive and cruel which is why Slick left in the first place).

Fox and the Corries infiltrate the police force and other high security jobs to more effectively give Palpatine access to specific spaces, materials, files and other important assets he needs to keep his plan on track without attracting any suspicion. Fox, being the clever and cunning man he is, uses his position to try to anonymously fight back against Palpatine. He sabotages a lot of his plans in as subtle a manner as he can, and is working on a way to establish contact with the Jedi to try to bring the bastard's plans to light as soon as possible.

Overall the story is a massive game of tug-of-war between Palpatine and his army. And that's not even bringing to attention the fact that the trooper's families are trying to find their missing family members, or at the very least obtain some kind of answer/closure to their sudden disappearances...

But that might be a post for another day!

#star wars #the clone wars #Superhero AU #basically Palps is a dick and the lads and lasses aren't having it #well Slick isn't opposed to a Jedi free world but can you blame him? He's a jaded teenager...

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levi501ackerman · 1 month

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Steel Heart Chapter 15:

The Man in the Forest

Hange x Reader Chapter Index Masterlist

Megan's Note: For the vibe of this chapter listen to "Maleficent's Theme" by Tchaikovsky. Or look up and listen to the song "Maleficent's Evil Spell" from George Burn's adaptation for the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty. You'll know the vibe instantly. I also feel like you'll figure out when to play it LOL! Posted: 8/23/24

Word Count: 4.3k

After a filling dinner of roasted chicken, most knights were ready to go to bed. When twilight was cast over the sky, the camp called it a night and headed off to bed. The following morning, the plan was to eat, pack, bathe, and then ride to a farm owned by the Reeves family—a father-and-son company with close ties to the Royal family and the Kingdom.

Dimo and his son Flegel made their wealth by building a large company with different farms near the districts. The company handles and distributes meat and produce to markets in every district and nearby villages. The farm that Hange said they were heading to in the morning was a farm that happened to be Flegel’s main residence—a spice farm growing and distributing goods such as saffron, wasabi, and other common spices.

Levi gave you a second cup of tea with a higher dose of the sleeping pills, then packed away the empty kettle. You stayed by the fire while Levi and the knights packed up the camp. Since being in the forest, the air was cooler and the shadows of the knights were eerier. The knights walking back and forth to the horses would disappear out of sight once leaving the illumination of the fire. You could barely make out who was approaching the camp until crossing the threshold of the light. Would you have time to react if an unwanted person came from the shadows?

Hange emerged from the tent, holding a lit candle and a bag and walking to the dark abyss. They disappeared out of sight nearly instantly and made you feel alone. You looked around at the desolate campsite and decided to return to the tent. As you went further from the fire, the chill air crept onto your back and neck. The feeling that someone was watching you made the hairs on your neck stand up. You gripped your cloak and hurried into the tent. You could barely make out the silhouette of the table and chairs in the tent.

You knew Hange’s story was something they made up to scare you, but the feeling of being watched didn’t leave you. It’s something that could happen. A Marleyan Cult member hiding amongst the trees watching and waiting to take you. You carefully walked to your bedroll, removed your cloak and crawled inside. You noticed you were holding your breath and released it.

I’m safe with Hange

A light appeared in the tent and Hange returned. You noticed their shirt didn’t have the dirt stain on the front. Then you realized Hange was wearing the pale yellow collared long-sleeve shirt. You and Hange weren’t twins anymore.

“Why aren’t you wearing the matching white shirt, Hange?” You whined.

“Oh, the shirt with the dirt on it?” Hange put their free hand on their hip and raised their eyebrows skeptically.

“Duh,” Hange scoffed, then chuckled to themselves. “We aren’t twins anymore!”

“So that’s what your whining is about?” Hange grabbed the white shirt from out of a bag that was on the table. “You’re pouting about not being twins, huh?”

“UGH!”

“The Princess wants me to wear a dirty shirt just so we can twin,” Hange said, licking their thumb and wiping the stain of dirt. “It’s not coming off—I’ll wash it in the river tomorrow,” they said to themselves.

“Can you wear it? Please?!?!”

“I can’t say no to Princess Y/N,” Hange turned around and unbuttoned their pale yellow shirt. You turned over in your bedroll, giving them privacy. You wanted to peek at their body, but the thought of getting caught was embarrassing. If Hange caught you, you wouldn’t know how to explain yourself. Plus, bathing in the river makes it easier to gaze at Hange’s body. “Alright! We’re twins again!”

“GOOD!” You turned over to see Hange’s arms up, presenting themselves in the white shirt! The top three buttons were undone, pleasantly revealing their cleavage. Thank goodness you were far enough away for Hange not to be able to distinguish where you were looking. Now that you were alone again, you wanted to know Hange’s dating history. The girls' names, what they looked like, or what they were like as Hange’s girlfriend. Your heart pounded in your chest, and you were confused about why you were nervous about asking Hange. They were dismissive of your questions earlier about their dream girl. Earlier, you speculated that Hange didn’t want to share about their past relationship. Perhaps you could ask one more time and if they didn’t want to share, you wouldn’t bring it up. At least you’d try. “Hey, I was wondering something . . .”

“Oh yeah? Let me take two more bags and I’ll be all yours!” Hange held the candle in one hand and leveraged two bags in the other. As they walked out of your shared tent, you contemplated how you would approach Hange on the possibly sensitive topics. Maybe ask with a preface of only sharing what they want. Perhaps lie to Hange? Tell them you have only asked these questions to help with your future relationship with a stranger. Fairy Godmothers Christa and Ymir wouldn’t approve. Those two would slap you and tell you they didn’t raise a liar. Though they did withhold information about your life, wasn’t that a lie?

Your heart continued to pound and the anticipation of asking Hange clouded your thoughts. You stared at the side of the tent and it was like you couldn’t hear or feel anything—only think. It wasn’t a big deal just ask Hange. They were your friend. You toyed with the fabric of your bedroll, balling it between your index finger and thumb. When Hange came back into the tent, you could hear them shivering. Their shoulders were to their ears and they were holding themselves.

“It’s so cold out there,” Hange said as they walked to their bedroll and placed the small candle on the ground. The low light created an effortless glow to illuminate their pleasant features. Hange’s thick lashes behind their glasses were feminine and doe-like.

Woah.

“U-Uh . . .”

“Is something wrong, my dear?”

“I um—I was just thinking of something?”

“Care to share?” Hange turned around and began undressing themselves. You wanted to turn away from them, but truly, you were enamored. Your mouth was agape, and thoughts swirled in your head. Even though Hange was interested in girls, how could the knights around the camp pay attention with them around? Some of the knights must be crushing on Hange. Hange set their glasses down and sighed.

“I was just thinking—thinking about my marriage to Prince Marco—” You sounded unsure and with the realization you could play it off as nerves, you continued confidently. Though Hange’s naked body was right next to you, the top of the tent looked really cool. “—Thinking about how to be a good girlfriend. What do you think makes a good girlfriend?”

“You mean a wife?”

“Yeah, that.” Hange crawled into the bedroll and pulled it up to their neck. You noticed Hange was facing you and proceeded to mirror them, knowing it was safe to look. They had their eyepatch on still and you pulled the covers all the way to your neck.

“That’s a long answer, Princess,” Hange whispered as the outside camp became silent and the knights headed to bed. “I’m afraid it depends on the person, but a good baseline is being a good communicator, compatible, and respectful mostly. Arranged marriages are standard for royal families; married couples typically learn to love each other. Or at least be on a friendly level.”

“Friendly?” You whispered and Hange nodded.

“The marriages aren’t for love; it's to unite the royal families for trade or for allies.” Your heart sank at Hange’s words and the thought of your marriage being for a price other than love. It felt like a heavy, unknown cloud of responsibilities looming over you. “You’re going to be Queen and be the Ruler of the Walls.”

“What about Prince Marco?” Hange scoffed and revealed a dimple on their face from smiling. The dimple on their cheek gave Hange an added cuteness and adorable aura to their face.

“Yes, the King is important, but really, the Queen is worshiped by all. I mean, she’s growing the heir. The Queen is the one who holds the bloodline of the Royal family. A man could wander the earth not knowing they have a child with multiple women, but every woman will know if an heir is theirs.” The thought of submitting yourself to the unknown Prince Marco to conceive an heir made you feel uneasy and . . . violated. You didn’t want to do that. But maybe it was not as bad as it seems—maybe it’s something you’ll learn to enjoy, like how you’ll learn to love a stranger.

“Hange . . . what’s a good partner for you?” Their eyes darted away from you and there was a hesitance behind their voice. “You don’t have to answer I just—I just don’t want to think about making heirs with a stranger.”

“That’s quite understandable, Y/N.” There was a pause from Hange. They were gathering their thoughts, and you hoped Hange would share about their past relationships.

“I prefer a girl who is fun. They make me laugh and don’t let the weight of their problems always weigh them down. Also intelligent and have a vested interest in learning more about the world. Knowing there’s so much more we haven’t discovered! And I guess loyalty. But in the end, most relationships come down to compatibility, respect, and mutual devotion.”

“Levi told me that relationships also have to deal with going through hardships together, willingly.” Hange brought their hand from out of their bedroll and tapped your nose. You smiled fondly, knowing that they were going to do that.

“Levi was right.” The candle flame flickered and the wax droplets raced down the candle stick and gathered at the brass candle holder. “There are many types of hardships that can affect relationships. Outside forces and inner conflicts . . . I dated a girl who had a hard time accepting her attraction to girls. She finally felt confident and told her parents, but her father was unhappy. He loomed over her, being the devil on her shoulder and eventually, she ended our relationship.” Hange admitted and you looked away from them. When Hange was telling the story, they didn’t sound sad, it must have been a long time ago and they had time to heal from the pain that was brought by that girl—the girl who wasn’t willing.

“I’m so sorry, Hange . . .” You whispered.

“Don’t be. Another example of a hardship is when I lost my eye. I was dating a girl and learning to accept my new appearance. In the end, I let my insecurities get to me and I thought she wanted to be with prettier girls and so I ended it . . .” Hange rolled onto their back and closed their eye. You studied their face. The lovely features from their aquiline nose to their soft lips all complement each other to create their face—the face in oil paintings and the face you like looking at.

“Hange . . . you are really pretty, please believe me! But I also don’t care what you look like. I care more about who you are; you, Hange Zoe, are my best friend.” Hange didn’t react to your praise. It was like they were deciding to do something—to choose how to respond to you. They breathed evenly for a few moments, and then, under their breath, they spoke.

“That’s because you are a kind soul, Princess. Through the horrors you’ve seen, you remained kind. Even after the Marleyan Cultists captured you, you still don’t hate them . . . only feared them.” You didn’t know how to respond. Should you hate the Marleyan Cult? You only hated that they were hunting you. You didn’t even know of the Marleyan Cult until you escaped Shiganshina with Sir Miche Zacharius. Though you were with many knights, you wanted to learn how to defend yourself if needed. Levi and Sir Zacharius told you that all the knights would lay down their lives for you, and they have, but you still want to learn to defend yourself.

“Hange . . . I’ve been wanting to learn how to fight and I know I can’t learn to be great in just one day, but maybe some tricks on how to not be helpless?” Hange’s eye fluttered open and they craned their neck toward you. Then, their fondness grew.

“You have tackled me twice already and slapped Eren pretty hard,” then Hange started snickering to themselves.

“What?”

“I’m just imagining, little ole, you tackling some big man,” Hange amusingly giggled and their contagious nature caused you to join in. “But anyways, Levi would be a good person to ask because he has great instincts. Plus, he knows how to go against people twice his size.”

“Okay, that is a good idea. Maybe he can teach me or give me tips during downtime! The only thing I know is Sir Zacharius told me to go for the neck and kick them in the balls,” Hange burst out loudly. They couldn’t contain their laughter and their shoulders were jiggling up and down. They slapped their bedroll as they caught their breath.

“He would tell you that,” Hange reached for the brass ring along the candle holder and clutched it between their thumb and index finger. “We should go to sleep.” The tent became pitch black when Hange blew out the candle. You felt pleased that Hange opened up about some of their past relationships. Hange’s story of the girl who had trouble accepting their feelings for girls stayed with you. It confused you.

“Hange . . . ?” You whispered.

“We should sleep, Princess Y/N.”

“One more question!”

“Okaaayy, what?”

“Why did the girl have difficulty accepting she liked girls?” Hange sighed and you heard them shift in their bedroll.

“Could be because she heard her father disprove of girls dating each other all her life. Could be because she expected herself to marry a man. Could be because deep down inside, she didn’t like girls dating each other and didn’t expect to be attracted to me. Her environment. Her circumstances.” You thought about your home in the cottage with Christa and Ymir. They raised you to be accepting and kind to others. Your Fairy Godmothers were in love and together. They raised you and your only exposure to love was Christa and Ymir. Ymir made sure there were fresh flowers in the vase on the table and threw out the dead ones before Christa saw them. They enjoyed each other’s company and were a team. They were devoted to one another and helped each other. You wanted a love like that. But for some reason you didn’t want that with Prince Marco Bodt.

“Hange, how did you know you wanted to date girls?” There was a pause and the dark abyss of the tent comforted you while you waited for their reply. You held your breath, wanting to know the moment it clicked for Hange. Did they see a girl’s naked body? Did Hange have some girl save their life or give them a thoughtful gift? Perhaps Hange was just Hange. Or they met a girl that changed their life—the light in the darkness.

“When you know, you know.”

Hange’s words stayed in your mind as you tried to fall asleep. You shivered in your bedroll. You had more layers than Hange, yet you were the one freezing. In the dark, you felt around for the brass candle holder. You felt the rim of the brass saucer and moved your fingers around the edges, feeling for the circular handle. Then, you carefully moved the candle from between you and Hange to the other side of you.

While in your bedroll, you shuffled closer to Hange. You got close enough and felt the lump of their body against your side. They didn’t move away from you and you were pleased they let you snuggle next to them. Warmth radiated off of them and after a while, you felt your eyelids droop as you faded to sleep.

You didn’t expect to wake up; it was still dark out. You felt an ache between your legs and groaned when you realized you needed to use the restroom. If Levi hadn’t given you a second cup of tea, you might have been able to wait until morning to use the restroom. The wind softly blew the leaves of the trees rhythmically, and it felt colder than it had been earlier in the evening. There was a faint noise outside, sounding like a chorus.

“Hange . . . ?” You shook Hange and they groaned. “Hange! I really need to use the restroom.” You whispered and they groaned and shifted in their sleep.

“I’m naked,” Hange mumbled and was barely audible.

“I know I’m sorry, but I need to go!” You whispered desperately. Hange shifted in their sleep and then said nothing else. You rocked them, hoping they would be annoyed with your persistence. “Hange Zoe, I have to pee really bad!”

“Take the candle and have one of the knights on rotation escort you. There should be four guarding the camp!” Hange said, half asleep. “Pee behind the tent if you need to.”

Hange went still again, and their even breaths returned. You just needed to go quickly. It’ll take less than a minute, and then you could drift back to sleep next to Hange. You felt around for the brass handle of the candle holder. When your fingertips felt the saucer, you pulled it closer, and then you felt around for your boots.

With the candle in hand and your boots on, you stood up and shivered from the cold, hitting more of your body. You figured you didn’t need your cloak because you’d be quick and slowly walked toward the table. You grunted when your hip hit the table. You felt the surface of the smooth tabletop and placed the candle on the table. A small box was on the table and you opened it and dug inside for a match. You felt the head of the match with your fingers. Then you struck the head against the side of the box and fire spewed from the tip.

The candle lit up the tent faintly, and Hange was deep asleep and unbothered by the light. You carried the candle in front of you and carefully exited the tent. The camp was dark, nearly pitch black. In the distance were four specks of light—knights with their own light source. You carefully looked at the ground and walked toward the closest one.

“Hello?” You whispered into the abyss and the light in the distance shifted. As you came closer, the flame in the distance approached. When you were a few feet away from each other, you saw a man with really short hair like Connie’s and you recognized him talking to Eren, Jean, and Connie. He trained with them when they were younger.

“Your Highness? Is something wrong?” He whispered and his skinny eyebrows furrowed.

“Franz . . . right? I—uh, need to use the restroom and Hange’s asleep. They told me to have one of the guards escort me . . .” Franz Kefka blushed and stared at you. He was caught off guard by the request. “I’ll be quick. Just go with me into the forest and then give me privacy . . .”

“Right, I’ll protect you, Princess Y/N.” He said, and you both used your candles as a guiding light. You carefully walked and avoided tripping over the rocks and twigs on the ground. Chills were on your back, and you felt like you were being watched. You followed Franz into the forest. Franz drew his sword, and you looked around the dark abyss as if looking would help you see better. “We don’t need to go far since it’s dark. Just go ahead and I’ll be here if anything happens.”

“T-Thank you, Sir Kefka,” But something was holding you back from leaving Franz’s side. A foreboding feeling and the hairs standing on your neck did not help. The ache between your legs was about to burst, so you went a couple of trees in front of Franz.

When you were a few trees away from him, you set your candle on the ground. You looked over your shoulder to see Franz’s flame in the distance. You couldn’t see him, and he couldn’t see you. Behind a tree trunk, you undressed yourself. You held the small dagger inside your boot as you urinated on the ground. You felt better after releasing yourself and quietly put on your clothes. There was an odd noise in the distance and you froze.

Your heart raced and you shoved your boots on and picked up your candle. The trees stood large and tall, surrounding you. You heard it again—the noise. It sounded like a chorus. You gasped and looked around, but only the abyss of darkness was seen. You pivoted toward Franz’s light, but the sound of your name in the wind had you frozen in place.

Did I just hear . . . ?

The chorus of your name dared you to walk deeper into the forest. Chills were on your cheeks and your breath was visible before you. You could barely breathe and your shoulders tensed up.

Someone was calling your name.

The pleasant chorus called your name again, beckoning you.

Like a trance.

You held out your candle and listened to the chorus—a sinister falsetto among the trees deep within the forest. You obeyed the voice calling for you and walked further from the camp. Your hand shook as you held out your knife. There was a crunch of twigs under your boots, and you passed trees, searching for the voice.

The chorus lured you away from the camp. The twist in your stomach told you to turn around—to not follow the voice. But the temptation from the song of your name was controlling you.

Follow the voice.

Give in to the calls.

Franz’s light was invisible behind you and the melody of your name stopped. Was this where they wanted you? You followed the call obediently and you listened for another call. You swore someone was calling your name. Then you sighed and turned to go back to camp.

Your breath hitched. A few feet away, a silhouette of a man stood, his eyes glowing in the abyss.

“F-Franz?” You were shaking as you held your candle toward the glowing eyes. Your eyes went wide when your candle's flame glowed on the stranger’s face. The tall man wore a suit of armor—yet he was a man you had never seen before. His piercing gaze made your heart jolt. He held a crested sword like the Knights of the Royal King’s Guard. Something inside you screamed for you not to trust the stranger. When he stepped toward you, your stomach flipped. The stranger's blonde hair had stains of blood and there was blood on the gorget of his armor.

You shrieked and ran toward the camp. You raced away, hoping help would come. From deep inside you, you let out another guttural scream. Tears filled your eyes and your heart was in your throat.

“HELP!” You ran dodging trees and gasping for air. “FRANZ! HANGE!” Your feet pounded the ground, and you felt a pinch in your lungs. Tears were staining your face and the burn of running inflamed your throat. In the distance, you could see Franz’s flame coming toward you. The two of you rammed into each other and you screamed in his face, “THERE’S A MAN IN THE FOREST!” You cried and Franz’s mouth gaped open and his eyes went wide. The three other guards that were on rotation ran to you and Franz. You wailed and had trouble catching your breath. One of the guards told the other to alert Captain Levi and Commander Dame Hange. You wheezed as you cried and then fell to the ground on your knees.

“Princess!” Franz bent down to your feeble form. He forcefully got you on your feet as you wailed and walked you toward the camp.

“WE’RE BEING WATCHED! THERE WAS A MAN IN THE FOREST!” You bawled. The tears were blinding you. More knights came up to you and you screamed, feeling overwhelmed and like everyone was going to hurt you.

“Calm down!” You heard Levi’s commanding voice. You were struggling to breathe and felt dizzy. The darkness was tricking you and you couldn’t tell where you were. Knights came out of their tent to check on your loud sobs. Franz led you to a log that you recognized was around the campfire. You whimpered and wiped your tears as you were forced to sit on the log. A group of knights surrounded you, intently waiting for you to calm down. You felt comforting hands on your back as you caught your breath. Levi, Jean, Connie, Eren, Franz, and more knights were seen from the candlelight.

“I saw a man in the forest!” You pointed toward the abyss.

“She’s distraught,” Levi said and he turned to Franz, “What happened?”

“She needed to use the bathroom, so I escorted her. Then I gave her privacy, and she ran back screaming about seeing a man,” Franz’s voice wavered.

“Damn it! I knew Hange’s joke would spook her,” Levi said.

“NO! I saw him! There was a blonde knight with a crested sword and he was covered in blood,” You wailed. Their faces froze and you could tell they didn’t know what to say. Hange then appeared in the group and you noticed they were wearing your cloak. They held it, covering themselves and then crouched next to you. You sprung yourself on Hange, wrapping your arms around their neck. They held you as you calmed down and then they stroked your back. “We’re being watched,” you choked out.

“Levi, she said the knight was blonde and had a crested sword,” You heard Jean’s voice. “Could he have been Erwin Smith?”

next chapter Chapter 16: These Inconvenient Fireworks

chapter index masterlist

#attack on titan #hange zoe #hanji zoe #hange x reader #hange x you #hanji x reader #hange zoe x reader

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