#not for someone who will supposedly lead a rebuild

[probayern]

i think. i might prefer keeping tuchel to bringing in rangnick

[sirenjose]

Golden Rose Theater Analysis

Here’s a short summary of the events:

In the pre-event, we learn Scrooge was the founder of the Golden Rose Theater and created the play “The Coin of Lachesis”. Lachesis was the lead actress. The theater started to go bankrupt when people lost interest, and Lachesis supposedly died in a fall during the final performance of the play. Ronald’s father was blamed for her death due to being the mechanic in charge of the lift at the time. As a result, he was imprisoned and died of a severe cold 1 year later. Scrooge chooses Bella rather than Kroto to replace Lachesis.

The Detective is called to investigate by his client DM, who had been corresponding via letter with Bella and wanted to know why she’d stopped communicating with him. Jingle Bells prevents the Detective from seeing Bella, but Ronald helps the Detective get into the theater. At this point, he meets all of the members of the theater and gathers information about everything that’s happened. He eventually learns that Kroto had been the one pretending to be Bella to send letters to DM.

When Bella is reported to have died in a fall accident, Sheriff Jose calls the Detective for help in investigating. It’s during this investigation that the Detective learns about Quivering Flower, a drug Bella had been using. He also learns that the large sum Scrooge had received to rebuild the theater had come from Lachesis’ compensation after she “fell” to her death. Eventually, the truth comes out. Bella had actually died due to poisoning from Quivering Flower use. When Scrooge discovered this, he had Kroto help him pretend Bella had instead died from a fall, in the hope he’d earn compensation from her death like after Lachesis’. In the epilogue of the event, we learn that Kroto left the theater to join a different theater group and has a script called “Kroto’s Chain”. From Scrooge, we learn he had been a beneficiary on Lachesis’ insurance policy, along with Kroto and Lachesis herself. Finally we learn Ronald became the new owner of the Golden Rose Theater, with DM recommending a person for the role of leading actress.

To start things off, let’s look at Bella, who we never get to speak to. She was a foreigner from France, beautiful, talented, and liked meeting powerful people, but she was regarded as arrogant and having odd habits. We learn later that she was mildly addicted to Quivering Flower, which was the reason Bella repeatedly missed rehearsals, as she tended to get sick from the drug’s side effects. This was also why she could occasionally be found practicing alone at midnight, due to her use of Quivering Flower, which she was trying to hide. For Bella, she apparently thought it better to die before the curtain rises if she couldn’t put on a perfect show. This is exactly what happens, as she dies from Quivering Flower poisoning. Scrooge attempts to take advantage of this by trying to make it look like she instead fell to her death. Interestingly, even after the Detective reveals the truth, the newspapers still reported Bella as having fallen to her death.

Many of the other members of the theater didn’t look well on her. Ronald thinks Kroto would be able to put on a better show than Bella, as Bella’s performances had been fluctuating lately. Commander calls her personality not likeable, and says she isn’t close to the other members. She is adored by the gentlemen in town though, who gifts her things like she was a queen. Commander also calls her a lunatic after she says she’d rather die than not deliver a flawless performance. Encore describes Kroto as having to clean up Bella’s messes whenever Bella misses rehearsals.

She does have a number of supporters. Sparrow is the most vocal who gets incredibly emotional whenever someone disrespects her. Jingle Bells is also really affected by Bella’s death, as is Phonograph, who got upset when Scrooge asks Kroto to move into the Bella’s suite immediately after Bella’s death.

Bella wasn’t someone who really blended in with everyone else. She stood out in many ways, due to her reputation, being a foreigner and the new lead actress, and her personality. Mary was a (French) queen in a foreign land that wasn’t her home country (Austria), which were contributing factors to the ill feelings about her as well as her eventual execution. Bella, like Mary, appears to have been somewhat isolated in the theater company.

Moreover, in a secret letter after her execution, it was said people would forget about her death and even her existence as a queen, instead they would take pleasure in trampling on the royal family and appointing a new king. Similarly, Bella was hailed as a popular actress by aristocrats, but ended up buried in the daily news and forgotten after being reported as a fatal accident in the newspaper, with people like DM moving on and seeking other “beautiful things”.

Finally, there’s how Mary says the Queen is the easiest piece to take. With Bella, you can replace “Queen” with “leading actress”. The Leading Actress is the easiest to lose, and thus ends up being the most replaced. She’s someone who’s celebrated when she’s on a glamourous stage but is cut down when she’s not performing well.

For Bella, the ideal she was likely aiming for was Lachesis, and she was intentionally trying to mimic her. There are several hints to this. From Bella’s accessory Perfect Marionette, the description is: “Become ‘her’, or destroy her.” The first “her” is Lachesis, while the second is Bella. Then there’s how in Act 2 Kroto mentions hearing Bella say “Lachesis, are you calling me?”. These were likely hallucinations from using Quivering Flower. There’s also how in the official “Bella Donna! Bella Donna!” video, Bella appears to express how she struggled to be the “ideal Bella” but was unsuccessful and ended up mentally trapped. All of this was in part due to how often Bella was compared to Lachesis, which obviously stressed her out.

The introduction for the story mentions “Atropos using the death of her sister, Lachesis, to assume her identity”. If Atropos is assuming Lachesis’ identity, there’s a good chance Bella was trying (and failing) to do the same. If she’d been unable to deliver this “flawless” performance (as Lachesis), that would tie in with how Bella dies before the performance begins. Exactly what Bella says (“If I can’t deliver a flawless performance, I’d rather die before the curtains are drawn”) comes true.

Speaking of the videos, the 1st trailer for the Golden Theater event (Atropos Ropes) appears to be “Bella as seen from the outside”, while the later one (where she sings “Bella Donna! Bella Donna”) is the inner Bella. Bella was the kind of person who’d do anything for a play. She was trying to make up for her inner fear that she’d fail to become her ideal, as she’d feel worthless due to all the pressure she was receiving. She’s afraid of not meeting the expectations of those around her. The pressure she felt continued to increase, leading to her addiction to Quivering Flower to worsen and thus eventually causing her death.

Regarding a possible model for Bella, she might come from La Traviata, an opera based on La Dame aux Camélias, a novel (which also became a play) by Alexandre Dumas. La Traviata means “the fallen woman” or “the one who goes astray” and refers to the main character Violetta, a courtesan.

In the novel, Dumas tells the tragic love story of a courtesan, Marguerite Gautier, who sacrificed herself for her lover, Armand Duval, a young bourgeois. In the story, when Armand's father begs her not to ruin his hope of a career and position by marrying Armand, she acquiesces and leaves her lover. However, when poverty and terminal illness overwhelm her, Marguerite discovers that Armand has not lost his love for her. By the end, she keeps hiding that she’s not well, and dies without letting anyone but her trusted friends know of her physical ailment. She eventually dies of tuberculosis. Marguerite is nicknamed la dame aux camélias or “the lady of the camellias”, because she wears a white camellia when she’s available to her lovers, and a red camellia when she is unavailable.

The detail about the red and white camellias parallels the red and white scarves used in the Golden Theater event. Since DM received a red scarf from “Bella” (who was actually Kroto), that would explain why DM stopped receiving communication from her after.

Specifically, Bella may be based on the actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was a big hit as Marguerite in La Traviata. IBella’s hairstyle is likely modeled after Sarah Bernhardt’s.

Sarah was so great she was referred to as the “golden voice”, “the most famous actress the world has ever known”, “the divine Sarah”, and “the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture” by artists of the time. Her life was also shrouded in numerous rumors. These kind of details were likely inspirations for Bella (who was also seen as being great by her admirers, but also was seen as having odd habits and likely had rumors spread about her by those who didn’t like her).

Let’s move on to Kroto. She was first shown alongside Scrooge in a newspaper reporting Lachesis’ death. She gradually became popular after Lachesis was gone. It was her dream to become a famous actress like Lachesis, but that didn’t come true as Bella became the new leading actress instead. She does replace Bella whenever she gets sick from Quivering flower, allowing Kroto to improve her acting ability. At some point, Kroto replies to one of DM’s letters intended for Bella after falsely claiming to be Bella. During this correspondence, DM gives her Quivering Flower, which she never uses. She stops responding soon after she gives DM a red scarf, which results in DM hiring Inference to investigate.

Eventually, the Detective exposes Kroto’s lie to DM via the scarf. To pacify him, Kroto got Bella to help in exchange for giving Bella more Quivering Flower. Bella uses it due to how the performances coming up and dies as a result. When Scrooge discovers Bella’s death, he has Kroto help him make it look like Bella instead died from a fall to get compensation money. When the Detective starts to figure out the truth, Scrooge tries to pin the blame on Kroto, and thus she loses trust in him. After the case has been completed, we learn Kroto left Golden Rose Theater to join with a theater. During this time, she meets up with Inference again and reveals how everything she’s done has been to present “an opening act worthy of attention and a finale worthy of praise”.

This was why, after failing to become leading actress, she sought out patronage (a stepping stone for her career) in the form of DM. That’s also why she imitated Bella and sought the things that Bella didn’t want. One of those items was the red scarf she gave to DM. If Kroto hadn’t done any of these things, the Detective wouldn’t have been asked to come and investigate. If he hadn’t come to investigate and unraveled the lies around the theater, Kroto’s lie to DM wouldn’t have been discovered. It was because her lie was revealed to DM that she gave Bella the Quivering Flower, which caused Bella’s death, which led to Scrooge having Kroto help fake Bella’s death. Inference discovers this as well, resulting in Kroto being abandoned by Scrooge when he tried to save his own hide, and thus is a contributing factor for why she leaves the theater in the end.

All these things, this “chain” of events parallels how Kroto is Clotho, the youngest of the 3 Greek Fates. She was the goddess in charge of spinning the threads that determined a person’s fate, the one who decided when a person would be born and die. The other 2 were Lachesis and Atropos. Lachesis was in charge of measuring the thread of life spun by Clotho. She decided how much life each person had. Atropos was in charge of cutting the thread, the one who decided how each person would die, and ended their lives after cutting their thread. Lachesis means “to obtain by lot, by fate, or by the will of the gods”, while Atropos translates to “inevitable” and was known as “the inflexible one”.

The leading actress who performed in “The Coin of Lachesis” was Lachesis, and she played the role of Lachesis too. Unfortunately, the shaper and allotter of the thread dies before the event begins. In this case, this could mean chaos is created due to the loss of the one responsible for correctly drawing the thread. Bella on the other hand is Atropos, even though she’s never referred to as Atropos. This could mean, in the end, Bella was unable to play the role of the one who “cuts the thread Clotho spun”. This relates to Scrooge’s skin description: “When the ropes of destiny intertwine, who would become our Atropos?”. This shows how they needed an “Atropos”, as it seems like the threads were starting to tangle now with Lachesis gone. But Bella was unable to fill that role, and she dies later. With both of them gone, the threads tangle even further.

This could be why a “tangled thread” remains at the end of the Golden Rose Theater event. Based on the newspaper at the end, we see how it doesn’t really seem to matter to the public how Bella actually died, or how Scrooge made use of Lachesis’ compensation in the past, or how they didn’t seem interested in knowing why Bella took Quivering Flower despite the risks. Put another way, this is why there are “loose ends” (aka, questions without answers), since “Atropos” wasn’t there to “cut” them.

Kroto and this tangled thread is likely what Ronald is referring to in his skin description: “It's you, the strings that weave our destiny - let it become the web that entangles us all”. The threads did indeed tangle everyone in them.

Going back to the script title “Kroto’s Chains”, chains can refer to a series of connected elements. As I mentioned earlier, Kroto caused a series of events due to her actions. Chains can also be defined as something that confines, binds, or retrains. This can also refer to bearing a burden, bondage, or lack of freedom. People in chains may feel repressed, closed off, or limited, as if there isn’t much they can do about their current situation. This mirrors Kroto. There’s Lachesis, who she wanted to be like and tried to imitate. There’s Bella, who she even pretended to be in the communications with DM, during rehearsals Bella missed, and after Bella died when she pretended to be her before making it look like Bella died in a fall. Kroto’s “chains” can refer to how Kroto aka Clotho, now that Lachesis and Atropos are gone, is left with having to do everything herself (as well as how Clotho is spinning the thread, but now everything is wrong without someone to draw and cut the thread).

Then there’s also Scrooge, who she continued to work hard for, but who never treated her well. He never let her be the lead, made her help him fake Bella’s death, and then betrays by blame her for everything. When she leaves for a different theater, this mirrors Margaretha’s fate in her deductions. After Sergei’s death and after the circus burns down, she had to make a living for herself without anyone else’s help. By the end of her story, Margaretha understands that there’s another side to freedom. This kind of ending is just like Kroto’s after she leaves the Golden Rose Theater and after she loses all the other people she’d been relying on. Now, Koroto in a way put the “chains” on herself, having to live without anyone else’s help, without imitating anyone, and bearing the burden of her past actions.

For Kroto’s model, she’s based in part on Swan Lake, especially from looking at Kroto’s music box.

This is a tragic love story of a girl named Odette and a prince (usually named Siegfried). Odette’s been turned into a swan by an evil wizard named Rothbart. The prince goes on a hunt one day and finds the swan, who becomes human and explains her predicament to him. He professes his love for her, promising to break the curse and marry her. This angers Rothbart, who devises a plan to kill Odette. This plan includes having the prince proclaim his love for Rothbart’s daughter, Odile. At a ball, Rothbart presents his daughter, who’s disguised as Odette, to the prince. Overjoyed, the prince quickly proposes to the woman. Rothbart reveals this was a trap, before taunting the prince about how he’s killed Odette. The prince runs off to find Odette and explain his actions. He finds her by the lake, broken hearted, and retells her what happened. She forgives him, but Rothbart appears and informs the prince he must marry Odile or else he and Odette will die. After fighting, the prince decides he’d rather die than marry a woman he doesn’t love, so he takes Odette’s hand and they jump into the lake (though this ending varies) breaking the spell, setting those wronged by Rothbart free. Rothbart and Odile are driven into the water, where they also drown.

Kroto, like Odile for Odette, imitates Bella and pretends to be her several times. Her pretending to be Bella when corresponding with DM, who actually had been sending letters intended for Bella, paralells how the prince actually loves Odette and promises to marry her but is tricked to instead propose to Odile. DM, like the prince, was clueless about the truth until it was revealed to him by someone else. The prince being fooled by Odile and Rothbart’s trick is like how DM and the other members of the theater all believed that Kroto was Bella (DM via letters, and the theater when Kroto pretended to be Bella under Scrooge’s direction after Bella died of poisoning). Finally, Kroto’s black costume gives off a similar feeling to Odile’s from Swan Lake, who also usually wears jet black.

To finish off the 3 characters based on the 3 Fates, let’s turn towards Lachesis. Commander calls her a mix between Kroto and Bella, and is also arrogant. She described Lachesis as not the type to fall off a stage during a performance, never missed a rehearsal, and never made a mistake. “A genius who’s deadly serious to the point of pathological”. Like Bella, Lachesis was from France, as before the last performance of “The Coin of Lachesis” she was rumored to be returning there. This never happens, as she is reported to have fallen to her death in an accident during the final performance. It is from her death that Scrooge receives compensation money that he uses to rebuild the theater, which had been on the verge of bankruptcy.

Based on various factors, there’s a good chance that Lachesis, like Bella, also died due to Quivering Flower poison.

Back then, when Lachesis was still alive, Quivering Flower wasn’t banned. From what we see of her personality, she seems to have been the kind of person who’d do anything to get on the stage, meaning meaning she’d be willing to use Quivering Flower. From the mention of her arrogance, her pride also probably led her to hiding her addiction, just like it did with Bella. Though the one person she wouldn’t have been able to hide it from would have been Fragrance Queen, who we know had to have been around back then. This might explain why she becomes wary of Inference when she smells the same scent on him, and why she gets sad when she learns Bella used it to, so much so she stops trusting Scrooge. Either because they didn’t realize how dangerous the drug was back then, or because Fragrance Queen was unable to stop her.

It’s possible Scrooge knew about Lachesis’ use of Quivering Flower as well, but didn’t stop her due to his love of Lachesis’ talent. This could explain the “twisted love” Rusty mentions, which would refer to Scrooge’s obsession with Lachesis, which was so strong he decided to hire Bella instead of Kroto as lead actress because Bella was like Lachesis more than Kroto was (Kroto was compassionate while Bella had a similar arrogance like Lachesis did, not to mention Bella was also from France like Lachesis was, as well as a few other similarities especially personality wise).

Lachesis, as well as several other elements of the Golden Rose Theater including the theater itself, was likely based on the film Moulin Rogue.

The film’s heroine is Satine, a star dancer and courtesan with a deadly secret: she’s dying from tuberculosis. Christian, the would-be writer who loves her, is unaware of this secret. He collaborates with another to write a show to spotlight Satine’s brilliance as well as “truth, beauty, freedom, and love”. To do this, they need financial support, which is where the Duke comes in. He’ll pay for the show, but only if he can court Satine. Christian and Satine fall in love, to the point they can no longer ignore it, but the Duke won’t let anyone get in his way. Eventually it gets to where, to save Christian’s life, Satine must reject him, though the truth does come out. Unfortunately, it’s right before Satine succumbs to her illness. After she dies, Christian completes his work, which is the story of his love for Satine.

If it’s not obvious yet, the Moulin Rouge was significantly influenced by La Traviata, and by extension La Dame aux Camélias, and thus follows the same basic plot. Bella’s and Kroto’s costumes also seem to be based on Moulin Rouge, what with Bella’s long dress-like outfit with pink fur, and Kroto’s outfit with silver sequins that exposes her legs. There’s also the similar colors everyone’s costumes has (compared to Moulin Rouge), the pink feather skirts, head ornaments, all the gold and silver decorations everywhere, the event being all about performances and theater, etc…

Regarding Satine, she isn’t an exact match with Lachesis (ex: Satine wasn’t an arrogant character), but there are enough parallels to make the connection anyways. There’s how Satine dies to an illness on stage after completing a production, similar to how Lachesis dies (likely of Quivering Flower poisoning) at the final performance of “The Coin of Lachesis”. Also, like Satine in her last performance, Lachesis was said to have “delivered a flawless performance” even though she died.

The Duke seems somewhat similar to DM, what with both having financial power and chasing after a girl that ends up dying. Eric Satie, a musician who works alongside Christian, seems to be the model for Rusty Penpoint’s costume, what with the signature glasses, shirt style, and colorful scarf. Eric Satie also recognizes Christian’s talent for writing just like Rusty recognizes Scrooge’s. Satine’s love for the scriptwriter Christian seems to parallel Lachesis and the possible feelings Scrooge had for her (not romantic). Like with the DeRoss family and the manor, Scrooge became attached to Lachesis and the Golden Rose Theater. This is the “twisted love” Rusty mentions. It’s referring to the obsession Scrooge has with Lachesis, which again was why he made Bella lead actress rather than Kroto, as Bella shared more similarities to Lachesis than Kroto did. Like Burke in his deductions after losing the DeRoss family to a mob, he also couldn’t get over losing Lachesis. That’s why, after seeing Bella lying dead on the stage, he described remembering Lachesis’ death as a “nightmare” and how he had “suffered” over her.

Now that we’ve finished Bella, Kroto, and Lachesis, we can move on to the other characters.

The first we’ll discuss is the Client, DM.

He is a person interested in beauty and in the “hunt” or “realistic survival games”. To the females he fell for, he was known to give them Quivering Flower (the ban the government put on the drug apparently didn’t stop him from acquiring and sending it as gifts to the women). At the beginning of the event, we learn he was currently captivated with Bella and had been sending her letters, eventually receiving a red scarf at some point before communication was cut with him. It was here he asked Inference for help, who apparently knew him as they were former comrades in arms. We learn during the event that Bella was another recipient of Quivering Flower, though she got more from Kroto, who gave it to her after the Detective reveals Kroto had pretended to be Bella when corresponding with DM in Bella’s place. Kroto had sought to pacify DM (who learned the news after the Detective revealed the truth) with Bella’s help in exchange for giving Bella the Quivering Flower DM had given Kroto.

After Bella dies, we later learn he had been attending a council meeting at the time of Bella’s (actual) death. Apparently, upon learning of her death, he had rushed to the theater and refused to allow an autopsy of Bella because he wanted her to remain “flawless” even after her death. Once the truth comes out, we find out DM had already begun looking for another “beautiful thing”, instead of being attached to Bella. DM is also the one who introduced the new candidate for lead actress at the Golden Rose Theater after Ronald takes over and Kroto leaves.

It’s obvious enough that the Client is in a position of considerable power, based on the police’s inability to go against him (when he refuses to let an autopsy be performed). That plus how he’s so high he’s not referred to by name, his uninhibited pursuit of female relationships, and love of theater could imply the Client DM may be modeled after Prince Edward VII of England, who was also the “illustrious Client” from the Sherlock Holmes series, with the Detective obviously based on Sherlock. Prince Edward VII, like DM, was a known opera buff, served in the military, and flirted with many actresses.

Regarding the Client’s obsession with perfection, this is similar to Joseph’s obsession with camera obscura and his desire to preserve things forever (including memories and people). This desire for perfection is likely why the Client gave the females he liked Quivering Flower, as it was said to make you look dignified, shimmer, appear unordinary, alluring, and invigorate women’s energy.

The Client’s skin description, “Question 1 - the joy of a hunter, does it stem from the chase or the prey?”  relates to him chasing various females and his interest in the “hunt”. This “hunt” or “survival game” can be the reason he gives Quivering Flower to the females he chases, like Bella and what happens to her. DM seemed to see Bella like a piece of art he wanted to preserve rather than as an individual. It’s also possible this description can tie to Joseph’s obsession with photography and desire to preserve things.

Then there’s Scrooge, but I feel like I’ve already discussed him pretty well already, so I’m going to move on to Fragrance Queen.

Fragrance Queen was one of the older members of the group who’s known Scrooge since before even Lachesis. She was introduced alongside Golden Scissors, meaning she was a well-known make-up artist. Ronald describes her as the “true queen of the theater” and is shown commanding the other members. Despite their long history, Scrooge lost her trust after he rebuilt the theater with the compensation from Lachesis’ death. She also becomes wary of Inference after noticing he had the same scent as DM’s letters, the smell of Quivering Flower, and is saddened Quivering Flower is how Bella died.

As discussed earlier, the reason Fragrance Queen was sad after learning Bella used Quivering Flower was likely because Fragrance Queen had experienced Lachesis dying for probably that very same reason (especially if she tried and failed to stop Lachesis from using it). This could reflect Chloe and Vera in Perfumer’s background. Chloe, once she realized what Vera’s true intentions had been some time after Chloe had already killed her, also became distraught over what she had done. It’s possible Fragrance Queen could have been similarly upset at Lachesis and her lies (about using Quivering Flower), but was gripped with regret and grief after she died.

Next is Phonograph. It’s unknown whether she was in the Golden Rose Theater company before Bella or if she joined with her. We do know she was one of Bella’s supporters and was looked down on by many of the other members for worshipping her so much. At the theater, she drove out enthusiastic fans that tried to sneak into Bella’s waiting room. At the time of Bella’s death, she was instructed by Bella to go out and buy something, so she was furious when she came back and found Scrooge already trying to have Kroto move into Bella’s suite. During the investigation, we discover that she was aware of Bella’s use of Quivering Flower, as well as how Kroto had given Bella some in return for pacifying DM, though when Inference tried to take one of the empty bottles, she became distraught and tried to hide it.

When Fragrance Queen asked if Bella used Quivering Flower, Phonograph responded that she hadn’t since it was banned. Along with this, we know from her reaction to Inference taking one of the empty bottles (as well as when she took the empty bottle from Jingle Bells) that she knew Bella had received some more from Kroto. It’s possible she may not have been initially aware how dangerous it was. Phonograph in regards to Quivering Flower may also reflect how Demi herself has drug resistance and how her brother’s “miracle drink” brought the two of them success. To Phonograph (and Demi), she might see something like Quivering Flower as a positive thing because, based on Demi, “achieving success through the use of miraculous effects” is a good thing to her. Whether or not there are side effects, she might believe that if it makes her loved ones successful and protects their pride, then it’s ok. This reflects how Phonograph worshipped Bella for her success, even with Quivering Flower, though it caused Bella to die in the end. This is similar to how Dovlin made her brother successful and proud, but it was also because of Dovlin that he left and never returned.

Regarding Phonograph’s relationship to Bella, Phonograph to Bella was like how Princess Lamballe was to Mary. Princess Lamballe was Mary’s best friend and remained so no matter what, all the way to Mary’s execution. Like Lamballe, Phonograph never stops supporting Bella, and even gets mad at Scrooge for making light of Bella’s death. It’s also like Lamballe for Phonograph to be criticized by the other members of the troupe, as this also happened to Lamballe due to her support of Mary.

Other than Phonograph, Sparrow is another supporter for Bella. He may have even potentially joined up (from another theater company) around the same time as her based on one of the rumors from the start of the event. As we can see during the event, Sparrow gets easily emotional when it comes to Bella, at which point Smarty usually has to step in to get him to calm down. For things other than Bella, he seems normal, and despite being told by Scrooge to keep quiet, he still helps with the Detective’s investigation of the stage equipment at Smarty’s intercession.

Sparrow’s blindness and lack of composure towards Bella reflect Mike’s feelings for Bernard, the head of the circus. Mike loves and believes in Bernard, despite Bernard being the same person who’s abusive to Murro. Bernard seems to have different attitudes towards the other circus members compared to the ones he liked. Mike didn’t seem to notice this other side of Bernard, or if he did, he didn’t comment on it. Bernard to Mike was Bella to Sparrow. So, Sparrow getting especially upset after Bella’s death is like the feelings he had after everyone at the circus (except Margaretha) died. Sparrow helping the Detective with his investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bella’s death is similar to how Mike himself is investigating who killed everyone at the circus.

Speaking of Smarty Pants, she unlike many of the others never talks about the actors’ performances. She never says anything for or against Bella, and doesn’t compare her to Kroto and Lachesis, which is likely why she is said to be Sparrow’s friend and why Sparrow can get along with her easily. She doesn’t seem to care if Kroto or Bella is better, and the only time she ever says anything is when Sparrow has an emotional outburst. We don’t even really get to see what her feelings are about Lachesis’ and Bella’s death. What we do know is she’s interested in stage control and preventing a repeat of the tragedy with Ronald’s father, which her feelings about are made very clear, especially with how her skin description is referring to it: “If time could be reversed like cogwheels, could the dead come back to life?”.

Smarty, along with Jingle, are described as the most responsible backstage workers. We know that she didn’t believe Ronald’s father was responsible for Lachesis’ death. After thoroughly reviewing the circumstances of Lachesis’ “fall”, she was able to exonerate Ronald’s father 10 years after the “accident”. Unfortunately, Ronald’s father had already died in prison. Her work to prove his innocence gained Ronald’s trust, as he calls her one of the only 2 “good” people, with the other being Inference.

Based on Smarty’s feeling about Ronald’s father and all her work to prove his father innocent, not to mention how an ex-worker of the Golden Rose Theater talks about Smarty, I think we can imply that Ronald’s father was likely Smarty’s senior in terms of stage control. Meaning Smarty was possibly there 10 years ago when Lachesis died and Ronald’s father was imprisoned. 

One question that gives us is why it took 10 years for Smarty to prove Ronald’s father innocent?

Besides saying it’s because it took time, it could have to do with Ronald joining the theater. That could have brought her back to reality and got her to realize that the machine operator was someone’s father. Ronald doesn’t seem to hide the fact that he’s the son of the machine operator that was accused. To parallel this, Tracy has her Cowardly trait in game: “Years of indoor work have exacerbated the Mechanic's timidity. The mechanic becomes scared when a teammate is wounded or placed on a rocket chair”. It’s only when one of her teammates gets hurt that she seems to be affected. This could imply that Smarty also wasn’t affected and didn’t realize the full reality of things until she met Ronald, the son of the mechanic who was falsely accused of Lachesis’ death. Her trying to prove Ronald’s father innocent mirrors how she tried to prove how her own father didn’t merely die in an “accident”.

Another question about Smarty is how, despite how both her and Jingle are described as responsible, Smarty is the only one Ronald refers to as a “good” person. Not Jingle Bells. Why?

At the very beginning, Jingle nearly turned Inference away until Ronald intercedes and allows him to enter the theater. Jingle thought that Inference was just another fan at first, but even when Inference tries to present the red scarf, Jingle still refuses and says it’s not actually special. During performances, he oversaw the entrance leading to the 2nd floor where officials and nobility reside. On the day of Bella’s fall, he kept track of people going to and from the 1st and 2nd floor, and found an empty bottle of Quivering Flower at the scene of her fall (though he didn’t seem to know what it was). It was the same kind of bottle DM had given Bella several times before, with Jingle apparently delivering it to her each time. He had also seen Kroto go upstairs, but never come down. Jingle shows himself to be sincere about his work, and he still appears shocked and saddened after Bella’s death.

The issue with Jingle is that he knows important information but doesn’t tell anyone. He knows things that could’ve helped stop the incident or solve it faster, yet Jingle doesn’t say any more than what he’s asked. For example, when Inference shows him the red scarf to try to meet with Bella, Jingle’s reaction to it as well as his comment about it hints that Jingle in fact knew that Bella gave away the scarf. He may have even known it had been given to Kroto by Golden Scissors. Yet, all he says is how it’s not as special as Inference thinks. Then there’s how he knew Kroto hadn’t come down from the 2nd floor. If Smarty had known this, she might have been able to figure out who had touched the elevator. There’s also how he delivered the bottles from DM to Bella. If Fragrance Queen had been aware of this, or even about the empty bottle he had found, she could have realized Bella’s was using Quivering Flower, or if she knew about the deliveries before then, maybe she could’ve stopped Bella before she got herself killed.

This relates to Victor’s deductions. Victor isn’t good at communicating with people and he is also very tight-lipped. It’s also because of this tight-lipped nature that he’s entrusted with delivery work between the “Old Man” and the other party (gangs) that can’t be made public. Jingle, like Victor, is tight-lipped and doesn’t talk about things not related to his job. Even though he has quite a bit of information based on everything he said during the event, he won’t tell it to anyone because it’s not part of his job and because no one asks him about it) The only reason he spoke as much as he did in Act 3 is likely due to Sheriff Jose’s letter. That day, it was his job to cooperate with the detective’s investigation.

This “I know but won’t tell you because it’s not relevant to my work” is likely why Ronald decided Jingle wasn’t a good person. Ronald, as well as Norton, are both smart and good at noticing. He also understands this possibly because he, like Jingle/Victor, is the same kind of person.

Since I mentioned Golden Scissors, I’ll move to talk about him next. As I mentioned earlier, he was introduced in a newspaper along with Fragrance Queen, implying he was a well-known stylist. Currently, he works exclusively as Bella’s stylist, but any work Bella didn’t like he diverted to Kroto for a fee. “If the trade is fair, I don’t mind feeding her vanity a little bit”. He also has a habit of reading newspapers in the afternoon to help inspire his work. It was 1 of these newspapers that gave Inference a hint about the similarity between Bella’s case and Lachesis’ death.

Jack, like Golden Scissors, is someone who takes pride in his work. Jack is an artist, while Golden Scissors is a stylist. However, he doesn’t mention any feelings of regret or disappointment when talking about Bella discarding the red scarf. He remains surprisingly calm. The Ripper is said to have his “own unique set of standards for his ‘guest’”. This likely relates to his actions with Kroto. Another connection between Jack and Golden Scissors’ is his mask. It’s half black, half white, with 1 half smiling and the other sad, and has a crack running through the white side. This is ties to how Jack himself is split between Jack and the Ripper, and Jack, who isn’t happy about the Ripper and what he does, is the one who seems to be fading away, which explains the crack in the white half of the mask. Jack immersing himself in his work as the only way to calm the Ripper ties to Golden Scissors’ focus on his job.

There’s also how in Act 3 he shows Inference a newspaper that leads him to suspect Scrooge, as well as causes Sparrow to explode into the conversation, which leads to a lot of information and a sudden revelation of the truth. This action doesn’t seem to personally benefit Golden Scissors. All he did was step in when Encore was at a loss for words, hand the Detective the newspaper, and watch the resulting show. He doesn’t defend anyone like Sparrow or try to see what was bothering people like Fragrance Queen. This kind of role possibly reflects the Ripper. He doesn’t seem too particularly interested in what happens to the Golden Rose Theater or what it’s future is. The action of showing the newspaper may have been an intentional one to sow the seeds of confusion, as well as allow him to watch the results of his action for the benefit of his own amusement. Him finding the confusion in Act 3 interesting to watch may have been the only thing he cared about.

From Golden Scissors we go to Encore. She, like Sparrow, came from another theater company, with her current job being as “Stand-in”, as well as her custom of telling fortunes before performances. Unlike Sparrow though, she is a friend of Kroto’s and doesn’t think much of Bella and her worshippers. She is also superstitious and believes Lachesis holds a grudge against the theater. As a result of Bella’s accidental death, memories of Lachesis and her death resurface for people and result in them calling the theater cursed, making Encore even more nervous.

The reason Encore is friends with Kroto reflects Fiona in her own deductions in regards to her mother. Fiona was desperate to meet her mother’s excessive, strict expectations, but was never able to do so, with her mom’s disappointed comment of “Why couldn’t you have been more like me” to top it all off. Kroto, like Fiona, struggled in her own way amid her unfortunate circumstances. Her efforts were also easy to understand by those around her, as theatergoers could see her hard work and effort as well as her unhappiness, such as when Kroto gradually became more popular and yet wasn’t chosen as lead actress, or when Kroto was forced to substitute for Bella whenever Bella missed rehearsals.

Encore’s skin description also reflects these same sentiments: “Whenever the chants ‘Encore! Encore!’ roar throughout the theatre, I only wish they were meant for me.”. This is likely exactly what Fiona felt with her mother, always just wishing to meet her expectations and earn that praise, but like the cheers of the theater, Fiona herself never earned that praise. Encore’s job at the theater is also similar. She, as the “stand-in” oversees the interval show, which is performed to keep the audience occupied between acts while preparations are being made for the next act. It’s an important job but isn’t always seen as such despite all the work it takes. She wants to be recognized by the audience the same way she wants her mother to see all her effort trying to meet her expectations.

As a result, it’s no wonder Encore likely felt camaraderie with Kroto. Kroto worked hard as an actress but wasn’t rewarded for all her efforts. We also see how she, like Fiona, in the end left to go somewhere else. All this would explain why Encore isn’t supportive to Bella. From Encore’s point of view, Bella came off as a selfish person who relied on her natural talents and neglected rehearsals. She was gifted and wasn’t trying, yet had so many adoring fans.

Another person who didn’t seem to have much love for Bella was Commander, the theater’s logistics manager who, along with Phonograph, kicked out enthusiastic fans that tried to sneak backstage to see Bella. Rusty comments that she knows everything. Commander acknowledges Bella’s talent for acting but says Bella’s performance had been fluctuating lately, and comments she doesn’t like her attitude. She calls Bella’s personality not likeable and seems bugged about how she wasn’t close with any of the other theater members, not to mention calls her a lunatic for saying if she couldn’t deliver a flawless performance she’d rather die. In regards to Lachesis, she refers to her as a mix between Kroto and Bella, calls her arrogant, but never slacked off, didn’t ever miss a rehearsal, never made a mistake, and states she’s a “genius who’s deadly serious to the point of pathological”.

According to the Detective, she didn’t have any interest in Lachesis (at least in Act 1), compared to all she had to say about Bella. The only hints we get is Commander seemed to become “lost in some bad memories” regarding Lachesis’ death. This may hint Commander knew the truth about Lachesis’ death and Scrooge using her compensation to rebuild the theater, and so may be suspicious of him trying to do the same with Bella. It could also explain why she made a comment about how maybe Bella could’ve fallen in an accident, what with all the slacking of she’d done, but Lachesis, who never screwed up and was always flawless, would never have fallen in some accident during a performance.

The reason Commander didn’t seem to like Bella relates to Emma’s background. Emma had to go through her family falling apart. Her mother left, and later her father turning to drinking before later burning himself up in the factory, leaving Emma all alone, without a home or family. To Commander, the theater is like her home, and the theater group is her family, so she likely doesn’t want to see it falling apart (or be left alone). One of her goals is to protect it, which is why she kicks out the enthusiastic fans trying to sneak backstage, why she tries to figure things out and thus knows so much, and why she doesn’t like Bella’s behavior and how she didn’t get along with the other members of the theater.

This could also be why she wouldn’t like Scrooge and the tactics he was using to keep the theater afloat via insurance fraud. This could parallel Emma’s background, as Leo, her home, and life, was destroyed due to financial reasons. 1 thought why Commander didn’t accuse Scrooge 10 years ago if she knew the truth may be because she didn’t want to do something that would destroy the theater.

Now let’s discuss Rusty, the assistant screenwriter. Rusty is an interesting character, as he only ever shows up in Act 1. He doesn’t even show up in Act 2 to defend himself when everyone is proving their alibis (regarding Bella’s death). Ronald ends up being the one to provide it. The first time Rusty is mentioned is in a rumor that said Ronald and Rusty were the theater’s “silver tongues”. We first see him right after the Detective gets into the theater with Ronald’s help. He’s the one that made the comment about money and twisted love corrupting Scrooge’s talent. He also opens up more when he learns the Detective was a friend of DM, which includes informing us about Lachesis’ fall at the final performance, Scrooge obtaining money of unknown origin after Lachesis’ death, and that the sequel to “The Coin of Lachesis” is being rehearsed right then. He closes up when Inference asks for more information, telling him to instead talk to Commander.

From all this, Rusty is definitely suspicious, especially due to his lack of appearances, and even more especially from not showing up to give his alibi. He, like Jingle, seems to know more than he lets on. Rusty’s skin description seems to hint towards this: “If the duty of a detective is to seek out the truth behind every mystery, no matter how ugly it is, then the duty of a playwright is to provide an ending to every story, no matter how far it deviates from the truth”. This relates to Freddy’s thinking the law isn’t a permit for “what you may do” but a provision for “what you must not do”. His desire to “provide an ending” ties in with Rusty’s feelings towards Scrooge. Originally, he had joined the theater because he wanted to learn from the director who “used to be a talented writer”. As we know from his money and twisted love comment, he seems to have lost the respect he once had for him. Rusty feels that Scrooge lost his talent because of his obsession with Lachesis (and using her death for money).

Based on this and his goal to “provide an ending”, he may be working to undermine Scrooge. With him out of the way, Rusty would be able to give the ending to the story that Scrooge has proven himself unable to write (at least not adequately enough anymore).

The reason Rusty may have clammed up and told the Detective to talk to Commander instead was possibly to prevent himself from giving too much information and becoming a suspect later on. Freddy is clever, so his plans are bound to be well-thought out. That’s why Rusty knew to not give too much away, especially to a Detective.

I think wasn’t working alone. I think he had the support of both DM and Ronald. Regarding DM, the reason Rusty opened up when he heard Inference was friends with him might’ve been because he was allied with DM. With Ronald, this comes from the number of times we see the 2 together in some way. At the beginning, Ronald drops Inference off with Rusty before going to rehearsal. There’s even before then with the rumor how Ronald and Rusty are the “silver tongues” at the theater. Later, we see it’s Ronald who provides Rusty with his alibi. Further more, there’s how Ronald somehow seemed to know the Detective was coming to the theater to investigate, despite the fact only DM should’ve known that. On top of this, Ronald apparently was coming to greet the Detective right before rehearsal. Finally, there’s how DM is the one to suggest a lead actress to Ronald when he becomes the new owner, as well as how Rusty is likely the playwright at the Golden Rose Theater under Ronald.

So, why would these 3 work together? I think it’s because of their mutual interest and shared benefit. Not to mention, this fits Freddy’s deductions and how it says it’s good to have “more than one good partner” (and Norton has a similar deduction about needing helpers). We’ve already discussed Rusty, who wants to provide an end to the story, and how he wants Scrooge out of the way to do that. DM is likely cooperating due to his interest in the “hunt” (not to mention his interest in Bella, even after she dies). Finally, we have Ronald, who wants to become owner of the Golden Rose Theater and wants revenge on Scrooge for his father’s death.

Rusty and Ronald are potentially the source of the rumors we hear about, like the rumor about Rusty and Ronald being the “silver tongues” of the theater. This was listed as “gossip” and of “unknown source”. Gossip is exactly what Rusty was doing after hearing Inference knew DM. The reason for the rumor was likely to help them gather information. The other information we learn before the event begins is the “unreliable information” from the “butler” of the theater. Both this and the previous one are deliberately worded as to make us unsure if the information is reliable. It’s possible this 2nd bit of information also came from Rusty. This would be the kind of information we could describe as a “leak”. In that case, it could imply that another “leak” we saw later during the event also came from the same source. The information I’m referring to is the newspaper Golden Scissors had that discussed the compensation Scrooge received from Lachesis’s death, which helped him escape financial difficulties. This could’ve also been leaked by Rusty and Ronald to deliberately hurt Scrooge’s reputation.

If Rusty was working behind the scenes (against Scrooge), especially to help gather information (and also leak it to people), that could explain why Rusty was missing for so long, including in Act 3. Another of Freddy’s deductions parallel this: “This is an era of change, and you need to be privy to exclusive news to be successful!”. Finally, in the end when they are successful in getting Scrooge removed, this mirrors how Freddy was successful in getting Martha from Leo and getting Leo to fall into his trap (to buy the debt ridden factory and getting Leo to “disappear”).

As a final continuation of this, the fact the newspaper continues to describe Bella as having died via a fall, and Inference mentions “that gentleman must have something to do with it”, “that gentleman” is DM. I think this could be how Rusty and Ronald can leak information. With someone as high up as DM, he could help get the information they want to hurt Scrooge into a newspaper with his influence. Though I think the reason the newspaper didn’t report the truth about Bella more has to do with what DM wants than Rusty and Ronald. I think the reason DM kept the newspapers at the end of the event that way is because he didn’t want the truth about Bella dying via Quivering Flower to become public, as otherwise it might’ve made it difficult to hand out them out as gifts to the females he chases after, or made his “hunts” harder to do.

To finish our analysis of the event, we have Ronald. To a number of people, he may not have seemed very important in this story, but that’s probably the way he wanted it to be. Like Rusty, he was being sneaky and hiding his true intentions really well, which was why they were working behind the scenes regarding most of what they really did (and wanted). Ronald is the lead actor for a reason, even though some people may have forgotten that as the event went on. He was made the lead for a reason. It shows that he is a good actor, which is something reflected in Norton’s background, especially in Norton’s letter where Benny comments on Norton having a “polarized façade”. It’s also implied due to Ronald being called a “silver tongue”, which means “persuasive” or “eloquent”. Ronald, as well as Norton, are good at talking to people, convincing them of the things they want to convince them of, as well as are good at hiding their true intentions and feelings.

As an add on, he is also described as having “acumen”, which means “keen insight” or “shrewdness” (aka, he’s sharp). This helps prove the idea of him being able to notice the truth behind Jingle and how much he really knew but didn’t say, as well as how he like Rusty is able to gather information for their mutual goal. The “greed” he’s also referred to as having here can help prove the idea that he was working with Rusty to help get rid of Scrooge, for Ronald’s personal goal of revenge and so he could become owner of the theater.

The first time we hear about Ronald is after his father dies, when he’s forced to return from his studies in France to arrange his funeral. Interestingly, after the funeral it says “But no one heard from him since”. This implies Ronald disappeared after the funeral, only reappearing 10 years later when he joins Golden Rose Theater as the “new leading actor”.

When the Detective arrives at the Theater at the beginning of the event, we learn that him and Ronald know each other from serving in the military together. Ronald helps the Detective get into the theater, as well as continues to remain cooperative through the Detective’s investigation, before and after Bella’s death. Another detail we learn is that, despite how he has a certain amount of say in the theater, he doesn’t seem to be well respected by the other members of the group. Later on, he provided alibis for himself and Rusty during Act 2, showing neither of them could’ve killed Bella. By the end, we see that Ronald became the new owner of the theater.

Ronald studying in France, as well as his passion for performing, reflects Norton himself, as in his deductions we see hints about Norton’s eagerness to learn. This comes from the letters of recommendation we see in his deductions, which mentioned he didn’t stay with any one employer for too long, showing how he was going around learning what he could, getting different experiences, and likely developing and improving his techniques (the same way Ronald would be). Which would explain why all his past employers were saddened at not being able to keep him for longer.

Ronald studying from France also connects him to Bella and Lachesis, who are both from France. The fact he was studying could mean he was trying to be like Lachesis, as Bella wasn’t lead actress at the time. And him wanting to be as good as Lachesis might possibly stem from how Lachesis was mentioned to be “flawless”, never made a mistake, and did anything for the performance.

Ronald’s intellect also goes along with how Ronald constantly helps the Detective throughout his investigations. He’s the one to help him get into the theater. He’s the one introducing the Detective to most of the theater members, and he usually includes important snippets and details about each one (the fact he knows information about each person like this could be further proof to the idea mentioned earlier, with how him and Rusty are gathering information for the end goal of getting rid of Scrooge). Ronald also helps the Detective talk to people when the Detective needs to (or when it’s hard for the Detective to talk to the person himself).

Back with Ronald’s passion for performing, this shows that his main interest is in ensuring the performance is perfect. It doesn’t matter who the leading actress is to him as long as they perform their part well. That would explain his dislike for Bella. Unlike the reasons of most others, Ronald’s only reason for disliking Bella is because of her acting. She’s been missing rehearsals, and when she does perform in front of the other cast, it hasn’t been great (it apparently had been “fluctuating” recently, nowhere near flawless). That means if Bella had been able to do her job right, Ronald wouldn’t have cared that Bella was the lead actress instead of Kroto. Ronald is just serious about his role and the performance. This is just like Norton, who is a hard worker to the point of overworking from how he was always the “first to enter the mine, and the last to leave it”. Norton’s Season 12 Essence 2 skin, Wild Pitch, also is a hint to this aspect of Norton, about how he’s a hard worker who overworks to the point of seriously hurting himself and to the point of total exhaustion. He takes mining (and his interest in ore) seriously, and he puts all his effort into it to make sure it’s done as well as it can be done. So it would make sense he’d expect at least an adequate performance from his coworkers.

Also, with how smart Ronald is implied to be, it could make sense that he may have taken notice of Scrooge’s talent and that he wasn’t writing as well as he used to (due to his obsessions and everything from Lachesis’ death). That could be part of the reason why Ronald wants to be owner instead of Scrooge, the same way he thinks it might be better for Kroto to be lead actress instead of Bella. All because Bella and Scrooge aren’t doing good enough and he wants the performances to be as great as they can be.

Alongside his goal of becoming the owner of the Golden Rose Theater, the other reason Ronald is working against Scrooge is because he wants revenge for his father’s death. It’s because of Scrooge faking Lachesis’ death as an accident via fall that his dad was falsely accused of getting Lachesis killed, due to his father being in charge of the lift, and being imprisoned led to his death via a severe cold.

I think one of the official tweets on Ronald might hint at the importance of his father’s death to him and hint at him wanting revenge for it: https://twitter.com/IdentityVJP/status/1286919130658926594. Specifically, I’m referring to how it says “in the darkness of tragedy” and “only the rose on his chest continues to shine”. “Tragedy”. The one tragedy that happened to Ronald was his dad’s death. “Darkness” refers to how Ronald felt after his father’s death, which impacted him so greatly that “only the rose on his chest continues to shine”. This last bit might mean Ronald wasn’t happy after that day, that there wasn’t really any light in his life or in him afterwards (because all his light got taken away with his father’s death). If this impacted him so greatly, this helps prove Ronald had a strong desire to get revenge on the man responsible (Scrooge). Thus, the last bit of the tweet, which asks what Ronald wanted, might be hinting at Ronald wanting revenge and his desire to take Scrooge’s position as director and owner of the theater from him.

From the picture of this incident where we see Ronald crying over his father’s body, from Ronald’s disappearance after his dad’s funeral instead of returning to France to continue his studies, and only reappearing 10 years later when he joined the Golden Rose Theater, helps prove that Ronald did indeed care about his father. Enough to want revenge for his death.

This is why Ronald explores a lot of things personally and gathers information himself. Anything that might inconvenience Scrooge he likely spreads as rumors or via newspapers (with DM’s help). It’s also likely why he works so much with the Detective. Because he wants help getting the truth to come out.

The main reason Ronald likely joined the theater was probably to look into it and get his revenge (or find the information and whatever else he needed to achieve his revenge on Scrooge), as that theater was where Scrooge was.

Another reason I think Ronald wanted to be owner of the theater had to do with Norton’s background again. It’s the part about how despite having some say in even though he was the lead actor and the amount of talent he had to have had to get that position. It parallels what we learn about Norton from his profile in the Famitsu article, which hints at how he wasn’t treated well by the people around him. Before Norton went to the 13 mines, it mentions how others were intimidated by how hard he worked. After the accident, while Norton was recovering in the hospital, it mentions how no one really comforted him and instead avoided him. Finally, Ronald wanting to become owner of the theater can mirror Norton’s desire to change his status/fate (how he wants to move up) by acquiring wealth or finding gold. Ronald wants to be owner relates to part of the reason why Norton wants to change his fate. He wants to prove himself.

Ronald, like Norton, was a hard worker and exceptional at his job, but didn’t receive the respect and treatment he deserved (despite his position and talent). This was in part because of who his parents were (his dad was a lowly miner) and also because of Norton’s parents dying early and leaving Norton all alone. As a result of this, Ronald and Norton want to “prove” themselves and show them how good he really is. For Ronald, this means becoming owner of the Golden Rose Theater (and getting rid of Scrooge). For Norton, this was changing his status and earning the wealth he needed to do so (and showing those around him that he was capable of being more than what he was currently).

Ronald being willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goal is also similar to how Norton was so desperate to change his fate. Norton was tired of just being a miner, tired of not being treated well by the other miners and his employers, and he was depressed over how, now matter how hard he worked, he was still just as poor and likely to end up like the other homeless miners in hospice. But since effort alone wasn’t enough, he decided to try something else, which came in the form of his search through 13 mines in the hope of striking gold in a get rich quick scheme. Ronald and Norton being positive no matter how bad things look and remaining hopeful mirrors one of Norton’s deductions as well as the message a number of Norton’s skins seem to provide, which was how he had to keep being positive, and he couldn’t be affected by what others around him said or did.

Basically, one of Ronald’s hopes is that, if he can become owner, that will show everyone that he’s worthy of respect.

As a bit of further proof for this that Ronald wants revenge for his father, we can look at Act 2 which was when we learn Bella died. When it’s said that Bella “died on the spot”, we get a curious response: “I wasn’t sure what came to Ronald’s mind as he sighed and said ‘At least it didn’t look like she suffered much before she died.’”. Ronald commenting about Bella not having to suffer much is an interesting parallel when you think of how Ronald’s father died. He was sent to prison and suffered from a severe illness before dying. He didn’t die instantly. He suffered greatly. He was even in prison and didn’t have any family when he died, which likely made his suffering and death all the worse for Ronald’s father. The fact Ronald sighs before saying it, not to mention him making this kind of comment at all, I think is all a way of hinting at Ronald’s feelings regarding his father and the grudge he holds against Scrooge.

Actually, when I put it that way, that reminds me of Encore mentioning Lachesis still haunting the theater because she died with a grudge. What if it’s not Lachesis’ ghost haunting the theater holding a grudge? What if the grudge is actually Ronald’s? Encore is mentioned to be superstitious, and does things like fortune telling, while Fiona herself is also spiritual, interested in the occult, and possibly could have something like a 6th sense. Based on this, I think it’s possible Encore could tell something was there and someone had a grudge (especially considering how Encore does fortune telling), but may have guessed wrong about who that grudge belonged to. She’s said to be anxious over people calling the theater cursed with memories of Lachesis’ death being brought back due to Bella’s death, so it’d make sense she’d assume that the grudge belonged to her. But the fact that, when Encore is talking about grudges, the Detective is with Ronald at this time, I think could be a hint to the truth.

Also, when Ronald makes the comment about the only good people are Smarty and the Detective, this apparently comes after the cast of the performance was finalized, with Bella being the chosen as lead actress. Yet Bella refused to rehearse, and Scrooge refused to cancel the rehearsal or change the cast. I think this might be another hint at Ronald’s annoyance with Scrooge (and his desire to get rid of him), as Scrooge refusing to change the case or cancel the rehearsal even though Bella refused to rehearse likely upsets Ronald, who wants the performance be perfect and go as well as it can which won’t if Scrooge keeps making bad decisions. It is later confirmed that this (Scrooge’s actions about the rehearsal and cast) did in fact annoy him (it said he was “ticked off”), he’s mentioned to not be surprised (which could hint at him at this point already having an opinion on Scrooge and/or knows how he is by now). It’s also said that “By that time, Kroto could take on Bella’s role convincingly, so he didn’t really care whom he was going to perform with”. This goes back to what I said about Ronald doesn’t really hate Bella personally, he just wants someone who can perform well during the performance. So even if he didn’t care too much about Scrooge’s actions, as Kroto could still replace Bella if need be, it’s still a hint towards Ronald’s actual feelings.

There’s also Ronald’s comment about Smarty and the Detective being the only good people, which can be used as further proof. Smarty is “good” because she was the only member of the group to work to prove his father’s innocence, while the Detective is a friend from the military that Ronald says he really trusts.

I also think that Scrooge could be a parallel to Benny (just like the theory how Marshall from the Western themed story of Season 10 essence 1 may also represent Benny for Norton). Scrooge had an obsession with money, which is just like Benny (and Marshall) who also has an obsession with money and finding gold. Benny’s obsession with money could also be described as a “twisted love”. Marshall never finding real gold could parallel Benny’s failure to ever find real gold himself. There’s also how Scrooge is related to Ronald’s father death.

Once Ronald actually becomes owner of the theater, it’s mentioned he acquired a vast fortune from somewhere and used it to purchase the deed to the theater. This money was likely the compensation from Bella’s death.

The reason why Scrooge made it look like Bella (and Lachesis) died in accidents is because he wanted the money from their insurance policies. Therefore, Sheriff Jose likely arrested Scrooge and thus he was removed as owner of Golden Rose Theater due to insurance fraud. As a result, I think Scrooge wouldn’t have gotten any of the compensation money. Considering Kroto is said to be listed on those insurance policies too, I think the money would’ve gone to her.

1 option is Ronald got the money from Kroto. She didn’t even want to use Bella’s suite due to thinking Lachesis cursed it. So maybe after everything that happened at the theater and everything Kroto did, she just wanted to get away from the theater and everything. That could include the compensation she received from Bella’s death. So maybe she gave it to the 1 person she knew wanted Golden Rose Theater. Kroto does say all she wants is to show she’s worthy of being the spotlight or something. It’s also possible she gave it because she liked Ronald. This comes from the comment that Kroto likes “red and covets things that don’t belong to her”. Ronald wears mostly red. There’s also how during the Golden Rose Theater trailer, Kroto has hearts in her eyes while seeming to be looking at Ronald. Ronald could be something she can’t have based on his personality, his focus on revenge for his father and replacing Scrooge, and how he mainly only cares about the performance (plus especially if Ronald stays at the theater while Kroto wants to get away from the place).

Either way, I don’t think Ronald did anything dirty or underhanded to get the money. We’ve already gone over how smart Ronald actually is. If he was willing to invite the Detective over to the theater after Ronald became the owner, especially with how well Ronald knows the Detective and he fully well knows just how smart the Detective is, especially right after the Detective’s investigations, I doubt he would’ve done something bad. Not to mention, I doubt he would’ve done something like or as bad as insurance fraud right after Scrooge was (likely) just caught and charged for that very thing. It’d be like a criminal calling the police right after he robbed a store. It doesn’t make a lot of sense (at least for a normal person, as we aren’t going to talk about some of the weird stories where this sort of thing likely happens). Not to mention, Ronald is mentioned to “really trust” the Detective. From what we’ve seen and heard from the Detective as well as Ronald, I honestly think the 2 of them are friends (the very beginning of the event has the Detective mentioning him and Ronald are friends), that they (at least somewhat on the Detective’s side) trust each other, and so wouldn’t do anything to get themselves in trouble with each other.

If anything, the 2nd option as to where Ronald got the money is maybe he got it from DM. Considering his interest in beautiful things, in the “hunt”, and how he quickly moves on after Bella’s death, he probably wants the theater to go on so he will continue to have sources of entertainment (and people to “hunt”). Also, I have discussed how Ronald and DM were working together. So it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if DM was willing to fund Ronald to become the owner.

Nearing the end now. I know some people might make some comparisons between Ronald and the Phantom from the Phantom of the Opera, but when I checked I didn’t see enough connections between them. Yes, Ronald has a mask covering part of his face, but the Phantom wears his mask to hide/cover his disfigurement, while Ronald’s mask doesn’t (it actually covers everything but the burn scar on his face). Then there’s how the Phantom is obsessed with Christine, but this love element is absent in regards to Ronald, who wants revenge on Scrooge. There’s also how the Phantom threatens the opera house to do what he says or else he’ll do something bad. Ronald never threatens anyone, and even if he might be working against Scrooge, he’s doing it secretly. Most of what he does is help the Detective with his investigations and maybe leak information to newspapers, but that isn’t the same as what the Phantom does. The Phantom in the story already seems to be in control of the theater, while Ronald in the Golden Rose Theater event is trying to work his way up to be owner of the theater.

The second to last thing is Ronald’s description and how it relates to Norton. This has been hard for me to figure out. “It's you, the strings that weave our destiny - let it become the web that entangles us all.” The first half should refer to Kroto. This is because Kroto is based on Clotho, who in Greek myth was the one to spin the thread of a person’s “destiny”. As to the 2nd half may refer to how Kroto was essentially the one to start the whole chain of events that occurred during the Golden Rose Theater event. Her being jealous of Bella, leading to her pretending to be her and talk to DM, which makes DM call Inference to go to the theater, which causes Kroto to have to give more Quivering Flower to Bella and thus lead to her death. With Bella dead, Scrooge tries to take advantage of it to acquire more money from her insurance policy, and Inference stays longer to solve that case, leading to the truth about Scrooge faking Bella’s (and Lachesis’) deaths and thus gets him arrested, which allows Ronald to finally get his revenge and replace Scrooge as owner. All in all, this would explain why Ronald would hope that the ”web” Kroto “weaves” would “entangle” everyone. This allowed him the opportunity to reach his goal and get what he wanted.

It's harder for me to determine how his description relates to Norton himself though. Maybe for his backstory, in place of Kroto it’s supposed to be Benny and the old miners. Benny was the reason Norton received an opportunity to find gold when Norton was failing to change his fate from simple hard work. Though he never got the gold in the end, he did get the meteorite magnets and was able to change his profession so he’d no longer have to be a miner (geological prospecting is actually the very sort of thing Norton would likely enjoy considering his canon interests and talents). There’s also how I still think Benny was involved in the death of Norton’s father, so by going after the gold alone and not helping Benny could be like a form of revenge for Norton’s father.

The very last thing I have is about Ronald’s name.

To set this up, the Detective mentions when he first meets Ronald that “we called him ‘Ronald of Nice’”. This is said immediately after the Detective comments how Ronald is an old friend from the army, and right before he says “we hadn’t seen each other for years”. This means it was him and his other pals from the army that called him “Ronald of Nice” and not the other members of the Golden Rose Theater.

Ronald is a name from Old Norse that is composed of “advice, counsel, decision” and “power, ruler”. “Advice” or “counsel” could relate to how Ronald was helping the Detective all throughout his investigation, introducing him to the different members and briefly explaining who they were, as well as talking to people when the Detective couldn’t, how Ronald helps the Detective figure things out, and various other ways. Regarding the “power” or “ruler” part, this could relate to how Ronald is the lead actor of the Golden Rose Theater, as well as could refer to Ronald’s desire to become owner of the Golden Rose Theater.

Regarding the last part of his name, “Nice” is a city in France. Sometimes called “Nice the Beautiful”, the city was founded by the Greeks and named after Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. The connection to the Greeks fits with how much they’re connected to the main lore of the game, while Nike and “victory” may connect to Norton’s Highway Cavalier skin, as he achieves “victory” in COA 4. Inference says that Ronald’s name reflects his personality. Therefore, maybe what he’s saying is that Ronald is someone who wants to win and works hard to achieve “victory” or success.

That’s everything I have. Hope this was a fun journey for everyone. I’m not the most knowledgeable on some of the topics I mentioned in here, so don’t be too harsh with me. I don’t mind constructive criticism though.

[ren-and-co]

BTD/TPOF Rebuilt The Past AU: A Summary for the whole thing

Giving a bit of summary here because I'm brainrotting it but cannot produce stories atm

Main character would be; Fox, Ren, and Polar (the OC I have for the MC position in BTD 2 setting)

Fox is in his peak career, his streams became popular on dark web and underground groups. Celia, Derek, and Mason are three of many regulars of his, and even law enforcement couldn't get ahold of his due to his multiple connections with many of the country's chief of police

And one day, he suddenly woke up to his hands tied up to a chair, under a familiar scenery that almost opened up his healed wound of trauma; Strade's basement

From the corner of his eyes, he could see a bundle of orange perking into his view and his eyes widened to watch as Ren holding the same collar that Strade made him wear for months

His past self then went on a rant about how he was about to take a nap, but there were a bunch of sounds in the basement and found the older fox beastkin lying on the cold floor, seemingly knocked out cold. So for safety, Ren tied him up in case he's dangerous

Of course Fox half-lied to him. He told him about how he's related to him and got separated during birth because a nurse kidnapped him when they saw his fox beastkin features to sell him on the dark web, and grew up learning and making a business out of it. He also reassured him that he came here because he wanted to meet his "biological sibling" and tracked him down (ALL OF THIS IS A LIE, HE JUST DOESN'T WANT TO PROVOKE FURTHER CONFRONTATION BECAUSE HE KNEW HIS PAST SELF IS MORE RECKLESS AND MENTALLY UNSTABLE)

Adding, Fox told Ren that he knew he wouldn't call the cops, because they'll ask why the owner of the house is missing and would get him a warrant for house search and found the body

Instead of Ren reacting, someone else showed up and pushed him behind their back, as if they wanted to protect the younger fox beastkin from further harm, with his tail curled around the taller figure

It's Polar, Fox's supposedly first victim. The key aspect that leads to his current life

Instead, she's not dead yet. She showed care and affection that Ren was craving, unlike Fox's own past. It's weird for the older man to see the way they hold the trembling figure of the younger fox beastkin with gentleness in their touch and how their eyes softened as they hummed random tunes

It's weird to see himself in a vulnerable state, being protected by someone who possibly truly loves and cares for him

And Fox wanted it. His eyes glowed as he watched the entire thing

Maybe...if he could change the past for good this time...

Fox is good at negotiating his way, and he managed to negotiate his way to get untied without getting himself harmed (blackmail is his best method, of course it'll work for people who actually have skeletons inside their closet; or this time a body in a freezer)

Without the younger folks' knowledge, Fox hatched a plan to finally put his past self into a good future that he himself yearned for, without police actively looking for him and made his good potential fully bloomed and put into good use. An empire that he'd once had, he could rebuild it with positive influence as a foundation

He called his plan; Redemptioning The Past

And he'd do whatever it takes

[lightdancer1]

Wrapped up the last book on Roman history:

From the history of Rome I now move to the history of France, for a time, and wrap things up with Ira Lapidus's history of the Muslim world. This book, all 857 pages of it, covers the full sequence of the history of the Eastern Romans from the reign of Diocletian to that of Constantine XI. In the course of that 1153 years the Byzantine state first adopted Christianity, replaced the habit of civil wars with palace putsches, and underwent a history that like that of Kanem-Bornu defies the usual conventional wisdom of the histories of states and empires neatly fitting into a rise-maturity-fall triad. The Empire underwent several major catastrophes, but only 1204 and 1453 finally proved fatal, by which point it made it all the way to the age of the gunpowder empires introduced by the Ottoman Sultans and but four decades from the cataclysmic arrival of European colonialism in the Americas.

Virtually all of the cliches that define the various narratives of the downfall of the West do not apply to the Byzantine state. Christianity was the ideological framework of a powerful state that lasted over a millennium. Overmighty generals did orchestrate palace coups and from time to time civil wars and found new dynasties, but these same men were able to restore the Empire twice in crises even when their actions worsened them. Climate change, if it supposedly toppled the West had a vacuum-sealed bubble around the East that miraculously exempted the founding Emperors and generals of the Byzantine state from the decay that took the West, so presumably Eastern Orthodoxy allows for a nullification of climate via icons. /snerk

Ultimately it is one of the deeper ironies that in a very real sense the Roman Empire not only did not entirely fall, under Justinian I it underwent a resurgence that briefly re-established Roman rule on both ends of the Mediterranean, before the civil war of Phocas and Heraclius brought the empire to near-ruin first at the hands of the Sassanian Emperor Khosroes II and then the rise of the Rashidun and Ummayyad Caliphates. Even then it underwent a second resurgence from the reign of Irene to that of Basil II Bulgaroktonos (Bulgar-Slayer, most famous for the Battle of Kleidon where in the aftermath he blinded 99 out of 100 and left the other 10 with sight in one eye to lead them back to the Tsar, who died of shock at the sight).

The successes and the wealth from these conquests produced a drifting state that in turn disintegrated into the 1204 catastrophe of civil war mixed with the opportunistic forces of the Fourth Crusade....only to regenerate again when the Despotate of Nicaea overcame its first rival in Epirus, regained the capital, and tried to restore the realm with more success than might be expected until the heirs of Ghazi Osman began to build an empire that would ultimately revive, however briefly, the borders of the Diocletian-era empire.

These are truths that worked together with all the more familiar narratives of different facets of medieval times, the Byzantines outlasted the Arab states' periods of self-rule before the Seljuk and then Ottoman Sultans replaced Arab elites with Turkic, they outlasted the glory days of the Bulgarian Khanates and then Tsardom, of Stepan Dushan's Serbia, of Kyivan Rus and the Khazar Khaganate that preceded it, of the Carolingian Empire's own bid to rebuild a Western European super-state and the glory days of medieval German culture in the pan-European power games of the Ottonians and the Staufens.

And they even managed to match the Hundred Years' War, for that matter, as their empire expired about when the conventional ending of that war's held to be. To remember that, and to look at the history of what could be either medieval Rome or medieval Greek history with equal truth to those labels, is to reappraise the past in a way that matters not least for smacking around multiple narratives with a sledgehammer wielded by someone out of a drunken Jackass tryout.

9/10.

[music-of-dragons]

"Contrary to the other answers here, Dany’s not a great ruler. She’s impulsive, inept and, though well-intentioned, has a self-righteous streak a mile wide. It’s not misogynist to point out her actions leave Astapor a hell-scape, that she uses forced labour without pay in Mereen (there’s a word to describe that, it starts with S), and that she is frequently too quick to use violence to solve problems, especially as of the end of Book 5, where she outright decides to say ‘F peace!’ and starts burning shit."

● Wrong. Daenerys has a council made up of both rich and poor whom she always takes into account when making a decision. This is a girl who let a man spit on her in court and merely had him removed from the temple. A boy lunged at her to attack her and again, only had him removed. She plants trees and beans, has irrigation canals built, and she DOES pay her men to work until the gold runs dry, she then pays them with food and shelter. They have a choice, it is not slavery, and her freedmen STILL love her despite the hardship as seen in Tyrion's Winds chapter. They are crying out for her to come back and smash the slavers once again. She trapped herself in an unhappy marriage and locked up her dragons in the name of peace. She learned her lesson from Astapor, that's the entire reason she stays in Meeren, it's not like she kept on doing the same thing after, she refuses, and Astapor haunts her throughout her chapters. Nowhere in book 5 does Dany start burning stuff down because "eff peace" NOWHERE. I read her chapters all the time, that is false.

"Dany had red flags(and she had plenty)? Book! Dany is worse. She has no qualms whatsoever with slaves being rounded up en masse because it’s Drogo doing it with the intent of earning her Westeros. She’s willing to let starving slaves sell themselves back into slavery as long as she gets a cut from the earnings."

● This is just blatantly false. Unlike the show, the reason Drogo's Khalasar attacked the Lhazareen was because ANOTHER KHAL was attacking them first. Drogo surprise attacked him to gain more respect in his Khalasar and steal his victory, as Dothraki Khals do. The moment Dany realized all of the terrible things happening she tried to convince herself to ignore it for all of 30 seconds before putting a stop to it. Her power was dependent on Drogo, she was nothing to the Khalasar without him, so she had to work within his power to protect the women she saved. Also, the slaves of Meereen were not starving, Meereen had freshly fallen and the slaves who wanted to sell themselves back into slavery were "gently born" bed slaves, scribes, and teachers, who saw a better life that way. She freed them to give them choice, she was not going to force them to remain in Meereen knowing that war was coming. Also, it was Missandei, a former slave, who suggested taxing the slavery to deincentivize it and Daenerys put that right back into Meereen's economy. She never pockets any gold, her goal in Meereen is rebuilding.

"She has a wineseller’s daughters tortured before the man’s eyes because someone murdered two of her Unsullied in his wine shop: nothing ever comes out of it. Oh, and she’s doing it because one of her favorite slaves is murdered… on the other side of the city. She’s willing to impress the slaves she supposedly liberated into working for food and water in her public works projects, and somehow not see that literally is slavery."

● Daenerys approved the use of torture *once* in the series because 2 of her Unsullied her killed brutally and there had been many more murders before that with no leads. I don't know about this "favorite slave" you are referring to. Torture falls within the accepted values of society in ASOIAF; Crow cages for villages (Catelyn wanted Theon in one), Ice Cells for the Night's Watch (also Qhorin Halfhand tortured a wildling to death), Sky Cells and an abusive inkeep for The Vale, the Black Cells and torturers for King's Landing, I could go on. Stannis tortures Theon and lets people be burned alive, The Manderlys have a torturer named Garth, the Faith utilize torture for information, even King Jaehaerys the Conciliator used torture to get information. And above all of what I just listed, Daenerys is the first and only leader in the books to openly condemn and ban the use of torture afterward. She recognizes that it is useless and cruel. Again, she paid the freedmen wages until she was besieged and the gold ran out, she pays them with what she has. She DOES NOT force anyone to work, you're using the exact argument that Xaro, an unrepentant slaver who compared slavery to rain, tried to use to convince Dany to allow slavery again. I think you're missing the point. Her freedmen still love her and want her to rule despite the hardship, NO ONE is calling Dany a slaver in the books, not even the people who hate her. They all hate her because she is a liberator.

"Hell, her whole ‘kill a city of innocents’ schtick? She’s already done that in the books.

When ordering her brand new Unsullied to sack Astapor, she ordered them:

“Slay the Good Masters, slay the soldiers, slay every man who wears a tokar or holds a whip, but harm no child under twelve, and strike the chains off every slave you see.”

A tokar is a clothing that in Astapor is uniquely worn only by the freeborn. You claim show! Daenerys went batshit: her book counterpart effectively ordered an army to kill every man in a city that wasn’t a slave or wasn’t dirt poor or a hard laborer, irrespective of whether they actually owned slaves, including children above the age of twelve, and those under that age unlucky enough to look a bit old for their age."

● A tokar can ONLY be worn by slavers. Know why? Because it takes your hands to hold it in place. Only people who do not use their hands because they have slaves to do everything for them can wear it. It is the symbol of a slaver. Also, "harm no child under 12" DOES NOT mean "kill everyone over 12". In her society, a boy is considered a man at 14, they begin training with sword and shield long before that. The youngest commander of the Night's Watch was 10 years old, the same age Barristan Selmy was when he entered his first tourney. Doubtless, young boys would try to fight the Unsullied, but she didn't want them harmed so she gave a rough age of accountability on the spot. The Unsullied do not fill in gaps in orders, which is the exact reason Jorah urged her to buy them, they will only do what is explicitly ordered. I feel like people intentionally misread this to villainize Dany even though the entire reason she wanted to free the Unsullied was to save children from torture. She is constantly contemplating her want and love for children, you have to think about these scenes in the context of her character. Dany would never want children to be slaughtered. However, I think the most important thing to acknowledge when it comes to Astapor was that Dany learned her lesson and decided to take the next city without laying a hand on them, then stayed to rule in Meereen to stabilize it.

There is no meticulously built up madness arc, at all. The point of George's key 5 are that they are the underdogs of society who defy the expectations of their world at every turn, and even though some are hated, they will be the ones to rise up and save the world from the Long Night. George is not pessimistic, he's not centrist, and he certainly believes in righteous war and violence. At its heart, ASOIAF is still a fantasy series, George just doesn't brush over the hardships and ugly truths like most fantasy novels do. Most of your evidence is easily disproven by the text, I'll whip out book quotes if you want me to.

And then they didn't respond 🤷🏻‍♀️

[mintyblueberry]

Half a Man (Chapter Two)

Sam Winchester x Male Reader

Warnings: Tiny bit of spice

Summary: (Y/n) recounts to Sam about his experience of the ghost haunting a church

A/n: I’m definitely going to add in some season one scary stuff to this. There’s more spice coming. And more of (y/n) being an amazing hunter

Word Count: 1k

“Hey.” Sam spoke above the drunken hustle and bustle of the crowded bar. It became evident as he neared the taller man that he had been drinking by his pupils and how excessively he was sweating. Whenever he was drunk, he had the remarkable ability of not slurring his words. (Y/n) smiled at Sam before motioning to the bar tender for another drink. It was in this moment that he glanced over Sam’s shoulder and saw Dean in deep conversation with a dark haired man and a younger looking man staring at them both. He nodded his head in their general direction and asked,

“Who’re they?” The bartender slid a bottle of beer across the bar.

“The dark haired one is Castiel. He’s an angel and the other one is Jack. It’s a long story.” (Y/n) shrugged his shoulders clearly not that bothered by Sam’s lack of explanation.

“So long as they’re good at hunting and won’t end up hunting me I don’t care. Although with this job even if they wanted to kill me, I’d still take their help. It’s a mess.” (Y/n) stared briefly into the distance as he thought back to the past few days.

Like Sam and Dean, he regularly read the news to find jobs. This job was in the Wichita local paper but it was plainly obvious that something wasn’t right. At first he thought it was demons. Disappearances. Murders. Or so it would seem. There had been a witness to one of the murders. They had described a cloaked figure appear out of the shadows and broke the man’s neck in an outright gruesome way. Once (y/n) had arrived, the witness had already checked himself into the local hospital after suffering a mental breakdown. The next lead was the building that the attack happened near. A church. An old looking church but after conducting research it was only 40 years old. Nevertheless, once he went there to have a look around, something almost instantly felt off about the place.

Luckily for him, the local priest was inside cleaning away the items he had been using the mass.

“Hello Father, do you have a minute? I’m a news reporting. I just wanted to ask a few questions about the murder that happened here last week.” The priest visibly whitened and refused to answer any questions about what had happened.

“Is there anything you can tell me about the church.” He was more willing to answer these questions.

“It has a dark history. The original building dated back to 1645 but it was burnt down by a group of women supposedly around 1706. It was rebuilt the same year and has been refurbished every so often before it was demolished and rebuilt about 49 years ago.”

“Why did they burn it down?” The priest sighed and sat down on the nearby pew.

“The community at the time when the church was built persecuted women. Poor souls. They weren’t always burnt either. There’s an old well nearby and most of the time they were thrown down there. Left to die. A record that was found in the vault below this building talked about how they howled in anguish for days before the well went silent again.” He looked away as he finished speaking.

“These murders. This isn’t the first time it’s happened is it?” Without looking back, the priest responded in a low, almost fearful voice,

“No. There are other records, records from the rebuilds that speak of hooded figures appearing out of the darkness and taking men. They’re rarely ever found. The man who died last week was found down the old well. Someone had ripped the wooden cover off and dropped him down there.” It was around this point that the priest ushered him out and refused to speak to him anymore.

As with any good hunter, (y/n) went back to the motel and waited for nightfall before returning to the graveyard. It was eerily silent. Every twig snapping under his boots echoed in the vast darkness. His nervous heartbeat filled his ears, his breaths became shallow. He had been a hunter for five years, fought all manner of creatures, and yet, ghosts still filled his body with fear.

A branch snapped ahead, dragging (y/n) out of his thoughts and his feet stopped on their own accord. It wasn’t long before he spotted a pair of flashlights and the two teenage boys holding them. They turned to him startled and bathed him in light. He quickly pulled a hand up to shield his eyes.

“Who are you?” They exclaimed.

“Can you lower the flashlight?” They both lowered their flashlights and that’s when he saw it.

Blood curdled screams filled the night.

“What was it?” Sam asked.

“I’ve seen some shit these past few years Sam. Ghouls, demons, stuff I can’t even remember the name of, but that ghost was fucking scary. I’m a grown ass man and I was scared. It was a woman I think. At least from how they were dressed I could tell it was a woman. Hooded cloak but it was the face. Talk about looking fucked up. No eyes, just blackness. I was stood maybe eight or nine foot away and I felt like I was being sucked in by them. Half the face was gone too. Think zombie but worse. Everything went cold too which is why I think it’s more than one. I mean the priest said multiple women were killed during the witch trials.” He grimaced as he finished filling Sam in. The Winchester had grown up fighting monsters so very little fazed him but seeing another hunter pull a face when talking about a hunt made him feel uneasy.

“You know Dean, he’ll want to research and then go again tomorrow night.” (Y/n) nodded in agreement.

“Do you guys have a room at the motel?” (Y/n) asked whilst taking a sizeable gulp from his beer. The way his Adam’s apple moved as he drank was sinful.

“One room, two doubles.” (Y/n) rolled his eyes before responding,

“God Dean’s being tight. I’ve a room, stay with me for the night.” He watched Sam carefully before giving in and smirking as he took another drink. Sam shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Dean and Castiel were still talking.

“Alright.”

(Y/n) smirk became a full grin. Sam was still looking at his brother and didn’t see the lustful smile on his friends face.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Yay! I’m so happy prompts are open again! I love your writing! How about a scenario where NMJ dies in Nightless City either due to MY’s machinations and WRH just takes the chance to execute him. Now there are 3 clans being led by young inexperienced leaders who lost their parents or parent figures in the war

ao3

It wasn’t that Jiang Cheng hadn’t liked Nie Huaisang well enough, when they were all learning together in the Cloud Recesses. Anyone who had the energy to keep up with Wei Wuxian – and just enough good sense to help veer him off the really bad ideas, even if he did keep egging him on in regards to the medium-grade bad ones – was good news in his books.

But liking him didn’t mean respecting him, and the fact that Nie Huaisang hadn’t participated much in the war – couldn’t participate much – had led Jiang Cheng to discount him more or less entirely.

That’s what made it all the more surprising when Nie Huaisang ended up being the unofficial leader of the three remaining Great Sects in opposing Jin Guangshan after the war.

Jiang Cheng would have thought it’d be Lan Xichen, who was the oldest of them. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been included in their classes, already out and about on sect business, but Jiang Cheng had always felt like Lan Xichen was a generation older than the rest of them, even though he was only three years older than they were. At worst, he’d figured it would himself, since he had the experience of rebuilding a sect from nothing and had led men to battle and war - he had experience with being forced to be the one in charge, if nothing else.

Anyone, really, except Nie Huaisang.

“He’s up to something vile again,” Nie Huaisang said without preamble, tone clipped and eyes hard as they always were these days. He settled down at Jiang Cheng’s table and picked up a cup of tea with disinterest, nodding in recognition of the fact that it had been his favorite blend when they were younger. Possibly he didn’t have favorites anymore. 

“What now?” Jiang Cheng asked.

“This Xue Yang business,” Nie Huaisang said, which wasn’t a surprise at all. “It just keeps getting worse and worse. I really don’t like it.”

“You don’t like anything, Nie-xiong,” Wei Wuxian teased, bringing over some snacks they both liked.

If it was anyone else, Jiang Cheng would have snapped at Wei Wuxian, telling his martial brother to have more respect, to call Nie Huaisang by his proper title – Sect Leader Nie, since he didn’t have a personal title – except no one called Nie Huaisang Sect Leader Nie if they could help it, not after the example he’d made of the first few who’d done it, trying to ingratiate themselves with him.

As far as Nie Huaisang was concerned, his brother – who was still in the coma he had fallen into after Yangquan, after the Nightless City, after what should have been the end of the war but wasn’t, after everything – was the one and only Sect Leader Nie.

That was also around the time he stopped smiling, and the time the rest of the world discovered that under Nie Huaisang’s smiles and tears and frills and overly indulged laziness was the same core of steel and rage that his brother was famous for.

“Are you going to keep talking nonsense or are you going to help stop it?” Nie Huaisang asked Wei Wuxian, harsh as always, and Wei Wuxian obediently sat down and shut up.

Something Jiang Cheng had yet to figure out how to get Wei Wuxian how to do. He was desperately jealous in some ways, but his normal thing about other people being better than him at anything was heavily muted by the fact that it apparently took Nie Huaisang being, well, like that in order to accomplish it.

Like he was all alone in the world, having lost the only family he had left.

For what might be the first time in his life, Jiang Cheng would prefer to be second-best if it meant he didn’t have to face the same sort of loss. It had been bad enough losing his parents, but if he lost Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian as well…

He might have, too, if Nie Huaisang hadn’t all but stormed the Lotus Pier in a rage when Jiang Cheng had failed to reject Jin Guangshan’s request to expel Wei Wuxian from his sect as quickly as Nie Huaisang would have liked. Jiang Cheng had even (secretly) been considering it, knowing that Wei Wuxian agreed with the idea, thinking that maybe distancing themselves in public and remaining close in private would be the only way -

Nie Huaisang had put a rapid end to those thoughts.

With Nie Huaisang at his side, and even Lan Wangji having arrived from who-knows-where, Jiang Cheng had had the confidence to tell Jin Guangshan that the internal affairs of his sect were none of his business and that the furthest he’d go in regards to Wei Wuxian’s actions would be to offer to pay recompense for taking the Wen sect prisoners.

Obviously the Jin sect had refused, not wanting to seem like they were pinching pennies, and in the end it had actually turned out fairly well as a political stratagem, smaller sects appreciating the way he stood up for himself and established a precedent for resisting such pressure. Jiang Cheng really wouldn’t have thought it.

(He hadn’t been allowed time to think – Jin Guangshan had been leading him around by the nose, and only Nie Huaisang’s choler had snapped him out of it before he made some very bad decisions.)

“A little nonsense isn’t so bad,” Lan Xichen said from the door, waving at them not to rise to salute him as he entered, followed closely by Lan Wangji. He smiled at Wei Wuxian in particular – they were all but brothers-in-law now, given how much time Lan Wangji had been spending at the Lotus Pier, even if the relationship wasn’t official yet. “It adds a little levity and laughter to life.”

“I promise to laugh when you finally give me Meng Yao’s head,” Nie Huaisang said, and Lan Xichen’s smile abruptly crumpled. “The way you should have back then.”

“Do you want to work together or not?” Jiang Cheng asked Nie Huaisang irritably. “Drop it.”

“Certainly I will drop it, as soon as the honorable Zewu-jun stops telling me to laugh more. He wanted someone to smile at him and he got it, and all it cost him was my brother - and supposedly his - so you’ll have to forgive me for not being full of levity and laughter.” Nie Huaisang accepted a snack pressed into his hand by Wei Wuxian. “My spies indicate that the Tingshan He Sect – about sixty or seventy in total – have disappeared. Very shortly after their young master had a dispute with Jin Guangyao, as you might recall.”

Jiang Cheng flinched. “The entire sect?”

“The entire sect.”

Wei Wuxian muttered something extremely unpleasant under his breath.  “On what excuse?” he demanded. “He nearly got me kicked out of the cultivation world over the Wen sect, fine, but Tingshan He? He Su fought in the Sunshot Campaign! What could they possible said that he did to deserve it?”

“He publicly opposed Jin Guangshan’s bid to be chief cultivator, and Jin Guangyao’s new position as his heir, isn’t that enough?” Nie Huaisang said, heavily sarcastic. “I think what you should be asking is what the children did to deserve such a fate, or the babes in arms…oh, I’m sorry, Zewu-jun. Would you prefer that I be smiling while I talk about it? I understand that’s your preference. Forgive my insufficient levity; I’m afraid I cannot match your beloved sworn brother - you have only the one, if I recall correctly? - for such talents.”

Lan Xichen looked tired.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t blame him – Nie Huaisang had a tongue as vicious as Jiang Cheng’s mother, and he didn’t say that lightly – but on the other hand, there wasn’t much he could say to get Nie Huaisang to stop, either. 

After all, it was Lan Xichen who had refused Nie Huaisang’s immediate demand for Jin Guangyao’s head in the immediate aftermath when the whole debacle at the Nightless City had been revealed, one of the Nie sect disciples having survived nearly getting murdered long enough to testify as to what had happened within the walls, and, due to Lan Xichen’s prevarication, there had been time for Jin Guangshan to adopt Jin Guangyao back into the Jin sect.

After that, he became untouchable.

And then –

Well, then a lot of things had happened.

Jin Guangshan’s overreach and ambition were clear from the start, of course, more or less from the second he realized that the other three Great Sects were being led by the untried, inexperienced younger generation. Jiang Cheng had a good reputation, but he’d been fairly hamstrung politically by his sister’s decision to marry Jin Zixuan, not wanting to risk her being mistreated by her new family – Lan Xichen was a novice sect leader and still friends of a sort of with Jin Guangyao, at least back then – the other sects were too small to do much –

No wonder Nie Huaisang had changed so much. They hadn’t left him much choice.

“Something will need to be done about it,” Lan Xichen said. “An entire sect…he’s really gone too far.”

Nie Huaisang nodded sharply. In his opinion, Jiang Cheng knew, Jin Guangshan had gone too far long ago, and the rest of them were only just starting to catch up…

A bit like Nie Mingjue had been, with Wen Ruohan.

Damnit, maybe they should just listen to the Nie sect.

“Where will it end?” Lan Wangji asked from his place next to Wei Wuxian.

“War, of course,” Nie Huaisang said, and they all flinched. “Would you prefer to roll over and give in? I’m sure Jin Guangshan would be willing to promise you leniency if you turned over his grandson, Jiang Cheng, though you might have to execute your sister for having kidnapped him in the first place – even if she didn’t know she was pregnant when she returned to the Lotus Pier.”

“We’re willing to go to war,” Wei Wuxian said, his voice hot with anger, then realized he was being presumptuous again and looked over at Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes at him – at least he was trying – and nodded. “There’s no way we’re handing Jin Ling over, much less jiejie. But don’t make it seem like we have more influence than we do. After all, now that Jin Guangyao is the official heir, they have Jin Rusong, don’t they?”

“Not for long,” Nie Huaisang said, and Jiang Cheng turned to stare at him in dismay.

“Huaisang,” Lan Xichen said, aghast. “You haven’t –”

“I appreciate your confidence in me, really,” Nie Huaisang said, and threw a letter at his face.

Lan Xichen plucked it out of the air and looked it over, his face paling as he read it.

“Your spies again?” Jiang Cheng asked Nie Huaisang. He seemed to have an endless supply of them.

Nie Huaisang shrugged. “My brother never stopped sending them out, even if he barely ever used them, and he never asked them of anything that might make them break cover. Some of them have been undercover for over ten years – they’re very good.”

Lan Xichen put the letter down. He looked sick, which meant that Jiang Cheng really did not want to see what was in that letter. 

Unfortunately, what he wanted had long ago become not especially important. He was sect leader. He had to face all the worst that people could do, the awful, the ugly, the terrible –

Wei Wuxian nudged him in the side. “Can I?”

“Go for it,” Jiang Cheng said, relieved by the reprieve. He really didn’t know what he’d do without Wei Wuxian – he didn’t know what he was thinking, that he thought he could protect his sect better without him rather than with him. Nie Huaisang’s furious and despairing rant had been extremely convincing, even if it had been more than a little traumatizing. 

Especially in regards to his predictions as to the ultimate fate of Wei Wuxian and his lost sheep once he no longer had Jiang sect protection...

Wei Wuxian picked up the letter, looked at it, and blanched, which – wow. Jiang Cheng really didn’t want to know what was in there that would make the Yiling Patriarch look like he was going to throw up. Not even the reports about Xue Yang using people’s tongues to make tea had done that.

Wei Wuxian passed Lan Wangji the letter and put his hands down onto his lap, knuckles white. “He’s going to murder his own son.”

It took Jiang Cheng a second to parse that – to understand that the ‘he’ referred to Jin Guangyao rather than Jin Guangshan, as the latter wouldn’t have been a surprise – and then he jerked as if stabbed. “Not Rusong!”

Everyone looked exceedingly grim.

“That – fucker!”

“The idea is to blame us – or anyone resisting him, really – for the death,” Nie Huaisang said. “Then exterminate us as a consequence. Do you have any more of that cake? It was good.”

Lan Wangji wordlessly passed some over.

“So, getting back on the subject: war,” Nie Huaisang continued briskly. Unperturbed, almost, by what they’d just discovered, but then again he’d known longer, or maybe it was only that it didn’t surprise him the way it did them. “One way or the other, whether it’s us starting it or them; it was always going to end in war, as I told you.”

He took a bite of the cake, swallowed it.

“Imminent war, in fact,” he added. “Regardless of what the rest of you decide, I’m not going to sit around to waste my time talking until it’s too late. I’m going to kidnap Rusong – and maybe Qin Su, who knows, I haven’t yet determined how in-the-know she is – and that’ll probably kick the war off right away. I’m here to tell you to get ready.”

He swallowed another bite of cake. “Or, well, to get ready, or get out of my way. You can pick.”

“We’ll be ready,” Jiang Cheng said.

He didn’t want another war – but surely anything had to be better than this.

Lan Xichen caught his gaze over the table. He seemed tired, but also – hopeful. Even if all he was hoping for was an end to all the uncertainty that had been torturing them.

“We’ll be there, too,” he said, and Jiang Cheng nodded encouragingly at him. “Just tell us what to do.”

“Don’t worry,” Nie Huaisang said. “I will.”

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 10 second part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Meta)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Unclean Realm

Lan Wangji has a Louis Henry Sullivan moment on seeing the Nie family home, becoming enraptured by its overwrought monumental architecture after a lifetime of restrained good taste and single-story buildings.

He approaches the fortress with the expression of delighted wonder that he usually reserves for when he’s looking at the moon or at Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian is like, yep that’s a building, all right, but he supports Lan Wangji’s kinks.  

Meng Yao tells them about the Wen Clan directive, and has what appears to be a moment of genuine, affectionate amusement at Nie Huaisang’s reaction.

Jiang Cheng kinda blames the Lans for inventing the whole “indoctrination” thing and for encouraging his brother’s disaster bi tendencies. Wei Wuxian responds by complimenting the Lan Clan, almost like someone who met his true love got some real value out of the instruction he received there.  

(more after the cut)

One of the great ironies of this story is that Wei Wuxian sort of becomes a rogue Lan disciple because of his relationship with Lan Wangji. He relies on Lan temperament techniques, uses music as a primary cultivation method, has committed all of the Lan rules to his supposedly terrible memory and cites them on multiple occasions, and is an important mentor for the younger generation Lan disciples. Because Hanguang-Jun is just that good in bed.

Xue Yang in the background of this conversation is channeling OP’s church-enduring, school-enduring inner 10-year-old.

Nie Mingjue, Chifeng-Zun, appears, and couldn’t be more different than his brother. On first watching this episode, I saw him as a grumpy, sexy, very emotional leather daddy man who is quick to anger. Rewatching, I see someone who’s struggling with a growing illness...the resentful energy kind.

Nie Mingjue’s handling of resentful energy is very different from Wei Wuxian’s straightforward interest and acceptance. NMJ has a traditional cultivator’s view of it, regarding it as evil and as something to resist, while he is literally carrying it on his back. He’s like a secret alcoholic who is preaching temperence, and can’t find a way to be reconciled with himself.  

At this point of the story, Nie Mingjue is keeping it together, but is under a hell of a lot of stress, and Baxia’s blood thirst is already maybe a problem.

The Yunmeng bros think that Nie Huaisang’s fear of his brother is hilarious, because they don’t understand the situation. They think he’s just living in a hideously toxic family dynamic like theirs, when actually he’s in a loving, sorta healthy, if parentless, family that is being crushed under a generational curse.

Compliments for the Yunmeng Bros

I’m not the first meta poster to notice how happy Jiang Cheng is to be praised by Nie Mingjue.

He never gets this at home. Jiang Yanli praises him, but in that watery “you tried your best” way that doesn’t really stick.  Nie Mingjue’s praise really means something, because he is a fearsome warrior and stern authority figure. And this is a double compliment, because Nie Mingjue says he heard it from Lan Xichen, and agrees with it.

Let’s Make Terrible Decisions

Keep Xue Yang alive, says Wei Wuxian, and Meng Yao immediately agrees, although I’m pretty sure he would have proposed that even if WWX hadn’t.

So they do, not realizing that “kill him later” is never a good plan for someone who 1. super needs killing 2. has a whole lot of death-dealing skills.

Future clan leader Jiang Cheng notices how smart and talented Meng Yao is.  Xue Yang finds it hilarious when the trio praises Meng Yao, possibly because their evil team up is already underway.

Boss’ Bed Warmer Son of a Ho

The constant insults toward Meng Yao are about his mom, but there’s another level of leering implication, that Meng Yao seems to encourage in his conversation with the soon-to-be-murdered guard captain.

Nie Mingjue elevated him way above his expectations, and he is ridiculously pretty, which has to create rumors. In the Nightless City scenes when he’s fondling Baxia and telling Nie Mingjue’s family secrets there’s definitely a sense of intimacy that’s not just “loyal retainer.”

I feel like maybe this whole exchange is a bit of theater designed to show Xue Yang something without showing it to anyone else. Meng Yao didn’t need to have this conversation in front of his prisoner.

Let’s Do Exactly What We Said We Wouldn’t

Once the younger quartet are alone with Nie Mingjue, Wei Wuxian crosses the room away from his friends and practically into Lan Wangji’s pocket, if Lan Wangji had pockets.

He has no pockets and also has no personal bubble any more, when it comes to Wei Wuxian.

We could make a weapon out of Yin Iron, Wei Wuxian says, completely forgetting his entire conversation with Lan Yi, apparently. Lan Wangji doesn’t argue with this idea.

Nie Mingjue warns Wei Wuxian not to try it.

I stabbed a man in Qinghe just to watch him die

Nie Mingjue is like the Johnny Cash of the cultivation world, carrying the weight of his poor choices and trying to steer the young folk to the path of righteousness. But--like Johnny Cash--his bad choices have made him really fucking cool, so he isn’t very good at deterring anybody.

Meng Yao Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends

Immediately after Meng Yao’s fellow Nie clan people call him “son of a whore” again, Wei Wuxian meets him, is nice to him, addresses him by his military title, bows to him, asks why he’s away from the party, and thanks him for his service.

But Meng Yao has already decided to make friends with Xue Yang, so Wei Wuxian goes onto his list of people that he doesn’t give a crap about except if they can be useful to him.  Then Meng Yao goes to make out hatch a plot with Xue Yang.

I’ll Sleep On Your Roof

Meeting SongXiao seems to have done away with the last of Lan Wangji’s resistance to his connection with Wei Wuxian.

He hears a noise on the roof and, when realizing it’s Wei Wuxian, he smiles one of his tiny reserved smiles before heading outside.

When he sees Wei Wuxian drunkenly sprawled on the roof, limbs akimbo, wine on his chin and neck, mouth full of poetry about the open road, Lan Wangji gives him the most fond look imaginable.

Then he reluctantly leaves, with his signature “say goodbye, but only when he can’t hear you” thing.

They’ve both come a really long way since their first meeting. Wei Wuxian is openly and vocally attaching himself to Lan Wangji...but is not actually entering his space or asking for anything from him; he just wants to be near him, and wants to let him know that. “I’ll sleep on your roof tonight.”

And Lan Wangji just...loves him. Wei Wuxian is drunk, embarrassing, demonstrative, eager to make a hell weapon out of yin iron, touchy feely, and absurdly sexy. And Lan Wangji is pretty okay with all of that.

I Might Have Been Drunk

Wei Wuxian carefully avoids telling Jiang Cheng where he was last night.

Even if he did get blackout drunk, he would have woken up on Lan Wangji’s roof. And I don’t think he was as drunk as that. He just knows Jiang Cheng wouldn’t like the truth.

Wen Fucking Chao, Again

Wen Chao shows up to be annoying and boring.  This leads to a pretty good fight between Nie Mingjue and Wen Zhuliu. Note that when the chips are down, Nie Huaisang stands with his Gege without any cowering. Almost as if he had hidden reserves of bravery, and is not as helpless as he lets on.

Wen Zhuliu isn’t styled to be super hot, although he’s certainly compelling, and in Dance of the Phoenix he looks good with sensitive-guy hair wispies. I wonder what actor Feng Mingjing looks like out of character?

BRB, adding a tag to my follow list

Battle Bros

When the fighting breaks out, the Yunmeng brothers are decisive and united, with Wei Wuxian giving orders to Jiang Cheng and JC following without hesitation.

I feel like if these two could have gone through a few big battles together, instead of being separated during most of the Sunshot campaign, their whole relationship would have improved. On the battlefield, they respect, trust, and understand each other.  

The Pointy End

Nie Mingjue is holding his own against Wen Zhuliu, but he gets distracted by Meng Yao hollering “Xue Yang has escaped” and then shanking the guard captain right in front of him.

Wen Zhuliu takes advantage of the distraction to aim a very slow stab at Nie Huasang, and Meng Yao jumps in front to get stabbed on his behalf.

When the Yunmeng bros show up to help NMJ, Wen Zhuliu immeiately yanks Wen Chao back behind him and points his sword at Wei Wuxian. He absolutely sees these two as a serious threat.  Considering that eventually WWX is going to kill Wen Chao while JC kills Wen Zhuliu, this concern is not misplaced.

Wei Wuxian tells Wen Chao to stop being such a jerk, and Wen Chao menaces Wei Wuxian and gloats about the burning of cloud recesses. The burning, that is, of some part of cloud recesses that doesn’t include the library, the Jingshi, the main cultivation chamber, the rabbit warren, or Lan Qiren’s house, unless the Lan Clan is really really good at rebuilding things to very exact specifications.

In a rare moment of seeing Meng Yao’s internal thoughts, he is worried about Lan Xichen when he hears about cloud recesses.

The Yelling Part

Now we have the particularly nasty breakup between Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao. It’s...got some layers. Meng Yao is cowering on the floor, but is not apologizing.

He never apologizes throughout this encounter.

孟瑤無悔  - Meng Yao (has) no regrets

This scene is amazing and excruciating to watch, even more when you know what’s ahead.

What the Fuck is Meng Yao’s Plan

On one level this is Meng Yao, manipulative sociopath, setting up a cover story for his aiding and alliance with Xue Yang.  On another, this is Meng Yao, loving subordinate, being tossed aside by his lord because he dared to stand up for himself.

He uses the same “scout’s honor” gesture we’ve seen Wei Wuxian use to swear he’s telling the truth. Wei Wuxian is always lying when he uses this gesture.

I’m...not sure exactly what Meng Yao’s plan is, with all these chess moves? By stabbing the captain in front of NHS, he created an opportunity to plant a cover story about Xue Yang’s escape. He might be hoping that Nie Mingjue will forgive him and keep him on, while Xue Yang can stay in his back pocket to be used later.

Dry eyes? Try Visene

Or he might be intending to get kicked out, given his non-apology. In any case, Nie Mingjue is weeping during this encounter, and Meng Yao...isn’t. He is signaling distress in his voice, expression, and body language, but his eyes are dry up until the last moment, and even then they just glisten a bit. In a show where every actor is an expert at crying on cue, that’s got to be a deliberate choice.

Which isn’t to say that Meng Yao is faking being full of emotion in this scene. It’s just that the emotion isn’t necessarily sorrow.

What Does Nie Mingjue’s Head Think

Flip the view and this is about Nie Mingjue being betrayed by a subordinate, who has turned out to be a self-serving murderer. And on another level it’s Nie Mingjue being betrayed by his lover, who was just using him for advancement.

I rewatched the later episode where we get the scene as Nie Mingjue’s head perceived it, and he’s particularly brokenhearted and disillusioned from his head’s POV.  In that version there is a telling addition to the conversation.

Nie Mingjue asks about the guys who were roasting Meng Yao behind his back. He asks, if I hadn’t come, would you have murdered all of them?

Um. No, dude. Of course fucking not. That’s what a patriarchal authority does. That’s the way an angry Nie Mingjue/Baxia team might solve a problem.

Meng Yao has to use subterfuge to kill his enemies. And while he super hates being called “son of a whore” it’s absolutely not enough to make him kill someone, with the risk murder brings. Likewise, being treated well isn’t enough to make him spare someone. Nie Mingjue totally doesn’t get this, because he’s been the patriarch of this clan his entire adult life.

And Here’s the Actual Problem

There is a betrayal here, but Nie Mingjue is not simply a victim.  Whether it’s a sexual relationship or a non-sexual bond of affection, there can be nothing solid in Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao’s relationship within a feudal society, because it is fundamentally unequal. Even if they love each other deeply - which I’m not convinced either of them does - every encounter they have is tainted with power dynamics.

Meng Yao has been elevated by Nie Mingjue and quite probably taken into his bed, as well as being told many family secrets, but has not been given a new surname (like, for example, Wen Zhuliu was) or independent power. More importantly, Nie Mingjue has not used his authority to remove or punish the many people who disrespect his subordinate.  Lan Qiren would have had all of those gossipy fuckers kneeling in the snow, and Wen Ruohan would feed them to his mosh pit zombies.

Meng Yao is a murderous little snake, but he is right to be angry with Nie Mingjue about some things, and his pursuit of his own agenda is understandable.

Well, That Was a Slice

Meng Yao leaves, hurt, with a dignified bow; just as he did that one time when his dad kicked him down the Carp Tower steps.

Take note, both patriarchal authorities: that is his way of saying “I’m going to murder you one day.”

Nie Mingjue sits with his broken heart, as we realize that we’ve only spent 20 minutes with this guy and we’ve gone on an entire emotional journey with him. This episode packed in a LOT.

Soundtrack: Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues

[swiftgronmasterpost]

GRYLES!!!

Rebuilding the Gryles Timeline expertly crafted here because I’m always afraid of broken links and people going private and losing data.

Not only is there a ton of great evidence that these guys were dating such as Harry leaving Nick’s place in the morning wearing the same clothes as he’d worn the night before, I’ve also got a friend who works in the UK music industry and she did tell me these guys did date.  Nick is 100% out as gay so it really does all add up.

Gryles very obviously takes place during Haylor, debunking Harry as the 1989 muse, and if it’s not Harry you do have to wonder... who with green eyes and an obsession with Alice and Wonderland was heavily featured in Taylor’s life and then disappeared before 1989 - a breakup album about someone with green eyes who seems to relate to Alice in Wonderland drops?

You get it.

Anyway here’s Gryles:

This is a little game I like to call "let's talk about Nick/Harry dates and how they line up with Harry leaving and entering the country".

06. February 5th 2012 - Harry and Nick go to a Super Bowl party together.

One Direction in Sweden February 12th - 14th. (Came home by train on the 14th.)

07. February 14, 2012 - VALENTINE'S DAY!

08. February 18, 2012 - Stella McCartney Fashion show with Nick's mom.

09. February 21, 2012 - Brit Awards!

10. February 22, 2012 - They attend a party together. (Nick might have been DJing?)

11. February 23, 2012 - Harry spotted leaving Nick Grimshaw's flat in the same outfit he was wearing the night before.

The morning of February 23rd One Direction flies to the US for their tour and doesn't return to the UK until April 24th, 2012.

This trip is supposedly where Haylor 1.0 happens.  Harry supposedly meets Taylor at the KCA’s on March 31 and they fall for one another.  Taylor supposedly goes to NYC to be with Harry (even though she spends the whole time with Dianna) during the first week of April.  Then they supposedly enter into a long distance relationship that is broken up because Harry was seen out with another girl.

All the while the last thing Harry does before he leaves the UK is spend the night with Nick and then the first thing he does is goes back to him.

Yeah, I’m not buying Haylor 1.0 it seems pretty clear to me that Taylor wanted to pin I Knew You Were Trouble on Harry as a big pop anthem to support her transition to pop.  I think it’s even possible they faked Harry being spotted out with that girl or perhaps he and Nick had some kind of agreement.  I’m not saying Gryles was always exclusive (they may have been), but regardless I don’t see Red era Taylor being cool enough to share her boyfriend with a man.

12. April 25, 2012 - Nick and Harry out together the morning after he returned.

Harry also calls into Nick's radio show on the 25th and confirms that the first thing he did upon returning on the 24th was meet up with Nick and Matt Fincham for drinks so one can theorize he probably crashed w/ Nick that night.

Harry goes to LA by himself on May 1st and returns to the UK on the 5th.

May 5th, 2012 - Harry out with Annie Mac and Nick. (Thanks to my anon for clueing me into this little gem of information.)

13. May 7th, 2012 - Harry and Nick out with friends

One Direction goes to Sweden from May 10th to May 16th.

14. May 17, 2012 - The Sun reports Harry driving Nick to work.

Also out shopping together

15. May 19, 2012 - Nick posts a picture to his instragram from the Kanye West/Jay Z show at the O2.

Who cares right? So he went to see a show. But then.

Hey guess what happened the very next day? One Direction flew to Boston on May 20th, 2012 to start their summer tour in the U.S. They're gone from the 20th to July 3rd.

16. July 5, 2012 - Nick and Harry attend the launch of Tinie Tempah's shoes line.

There's some downtime and vacation time here where Harry disappears for a week while Louis is France w/ Eleanor, Niall goes to Spain, Liam and Danielle are on vacation, etc and then One Direction goes back to work July 11th recording and doing photo shoots.

17. July 19, 2012 - Harry goes out with Nick and Aimee and tweets this.

18. August 10, 2012 - Harry attends Nick's 28th birthday party at La Bodega Negra.

Pregaming before the party!

Outside La Bodega Negra

19. August 11, 2012 - Primrose Hill picnic

20. August 20, 2012 - One Direction visit Nick at BBCR1 to announce their headlining of the BBC Radio 1 Teen Choice Awards.

21. August 25, 2012 -

Nick and Harry go to lunch. (Would also like to point out that they are switching places and that Harry is going to the driver's side of Nick's car :333)

and then to Reading Festival

then Nick accompanies Harry to Liam's party at Funky Buddha

and then they leave together and go see Rita Ora at G.A.Y.

22. August 26, 2012 - The morning after, Nick tweets a shot of his hangover breakfast from Harry's Range Rover (Nick owns a Mercedes).

then a lunch date with several people

They spend this entire day together and this is the day the pics of them in the grocery store  are taken where Nick buys Harry a banana, etc

and then Harry drops Nick off for his nighttime show and picks him up again to take him to/stay with him while Nick DJs at Wonderland nightclub.

(Although, lbr. Given what we learn from Nick's final nighttime show about how often Harry hung around the studio, he probably never left.)

Wonderland! (the only time that fucking song has any bearing on Harry and he’s off being a MLM king)

23. August 28, 2012 - Leaving Nick's flat

spotted in the studio w/ Nick at BBCR1

24. August 30, 2012 - Harry films the Breakfast Show advert for Nick's #Team Grimmy commercial and then they go to Mahiki Club that night.

25. August 31, 2012 - Harry goes with Nick to his DJ gig at Paradise

and then to karaoke afterward

The lo and behold One Direction flies to Florida the very next day to film their Pepsi commercial. They're gone until September 11th.

on September 6, 2012 Taylor has Sushi with Ed and Harry in LA supposedly signaling the start of Haylor 2.0 as if Harry is not fully boyfriends with Nick.

26. September 12, 2012 - Nick's final nighttime show. (this was a gif of them being cute and playing around but I was too lazy to bring it over, you get it they’re touchy, flirty, and playful):

Nick and Aimee go on vacation together from the 14th to the 18th.

27. September 18, 2012 - This dude says he spotted Harry Styles waiting in arrivals at the airport while waiting for his sister's flight to arrive insinuating perhaps Harry was traveling with Nick and Aimee:

28. September 20, 2012 - iTunes Festival where One Direction was interviewed by Nick and Annie Mac

29. Harry calls into Nick's first Breakfast Show on September 25, 2012. Then they meet up after to see Perks of Being a Wallflower together. I can't find the tweets from the ladies who saw them there, but Nick and Emma Watson confirm later that Harry was indeed there.

30. September 29, 2012 - Spotted at Waitrose together and then the following morning Nick regales his listeners with the tale of a Spinach pie he made for a ~friend~.

31. October 5th (or 6th?), 2012 - Preparation for Ladz FM

But also on October 5th, Taylor is on Nick’s show:

32. October 6, 2012 - Ladz FM

Supposedly on this show Nick gives Harry hell for Taylor, the Haylor timeline I like puts it this way:

“One Direction and Harry make an appearance on Nick’s show the following day, and they talk about Taylor on-air for 4 minutes straight. Nick teases Harry by saying “Ol’ Swiftyyyy” over and over again when she is brought up in the conversation.” Yup that’s right, Nick was giving his own boyfriend shit about his fake girlfriend 😭😭😭 this is why I fuck w Nick’s energy.

then they went for lunch in notting hill (no Taylor? why not Harry aren’t you so happy to be back with her and in love w her?)

33. October 7, 2012 - BBC Teen Choice Awards

One Direction doing promotion for the new album.

Paris - October 11, 2012

Ireland - October 12, 2012

Manchester - October 16, 2012

Leeds - October 17, 2012

34. October 19, 2012 - Lunch in London

October 31 - One Direction in Spain

Early November One Direction goes to the US for Ellen, X Factor USA, and The Today Show. After The Today Show Harry flies to LA while the rest of One Direction goes back to London. Harry writes a song with the lead singer of Snow Patrol and rumors start flying about him hooking up with Taylor Swift.

Harry arrives back in London on November 16, 2012.

35. November 16, 2012 - Children in Need benefit concert

November 30th One Direction goes back to the U.S. for one off shows and MSG show. Haylor happens.

Harry returns to London on December 8th via Taylor's private jet and plays the Jingle Ball with the rest of One Direction. Harry and Taylor tour the UK together until December 15th when Taylor leaves for France.  Meanwhile Dianna heads out on a mystery 14 hour long flight on December 14th.

36. December 16, 2012 - Roast Dinner!

One Direction returns to the U.S. for the X Factor USA finale. Harry stays in the U.S. and goes on a ski vacation with Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Selena Gomez.

He returns to the UK on December 24th.

37. December 25, 2012 - Late night Christmas leftovers. (Yes they’re spending Christmas together, that’s boyfriend behavior!)

Harry and Nick both leave London on the 29th (Nick for Puerto Rico and Harry for NYC) Harry spends New Years with Taylor and Nick spends New Years with Pixie, Aimee, and the rest of the hipster crew. Harry and Taylor then fly to Gorda British Virgin Islands where they are supposed to vacation until the 7th. Taylor leaves on the 4th and Harry goes to Necker Island alone. Tabloids say Harry and Taylor have broken up.

And that’s it for Haylor!

Harry arrives back in the UK on January 8th

38. January 8, 2013 - Sushi lunch date! (tweet confirming nick was also there.)

and harry with the girl who tweeted it.

39. January 10, 2013 - Tinie Tempah's GQ dinner.

The party was for people on the British GQ best dressed list (Nick was on it. Harry was not.)

Jessie J puts a picture of the table cards from her table on instagram. Harry doesn't have one which, you know. I'll just be here imagining him as Nick's + 1.

One Direction fly to Ghana on the 12th or 13th and return on the 15th. On the 16th Harry calls into Grimmy’s show to talk about how Fincham DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A MEMBER OF ONE DIRECTION. Finchy asks Harry when he’s back and Harry says “in a couple of days”. (Small side note here that I don’t think Finchy and Harry are at the level of friends where they keep track of one another’s schedules so the only way Finchy could have known that Harry was heading back out of town to Japan that very day is if Nick told him.)

One Direction in Japan from January 16th to the 20th.

I'm not going to count this as a time they were together because I have no hard evidence, but the night of January 20th Harry was spotted in a grocery store buying wine and Annie Mac mentions on her show that Nick ditched coming over for dinner that evening to have a friend round to his house instead. We assume it was Harry, but w/o actual proof I don't want to say it concretely.

40. January 21, 2013 - Baking for Radio 1! (Tweet confirming the friend was Harry.)

Nick tells this story the morning of the 22nd about how he forgot he had to bake, so he got up from bed, went to the store for supplies, and forgot eggs. So, he texted his friend who was coming over to bring eggs and then Nick baked while his friend yelled at him to add more butter.

41. January 22, 2013 - Watching Great British Bake Off

Do what you will with this one. Obviously there is not definite way to tell if this is Harry or not, but given the evidence of the amount of time they spend together that has been laid forth thus far, I feel comfortable saying those are indeed Harry's legs.

42. January 31, 2013 - Out for Harry's birthday at La Bodega Negra (the same place they celebrated Nick's birthday.)

Nick also went to Groucho Club afterward with Harry and mentioned on his show this morning that he hadn't slept at all. (He was still wearing the same outfit.)

43. February 1, 2013 - Aimee tweets about being in the car with Nick en route to play Laser Quest. (Can't imagine who they might be playing with.)

Nick tweeted this :)

Never

Getting

Over

This

February 19, 2013 - PreBrit Awards Dinner Hosted by Nick!

THEIR SMILEY LITTLE FACES. :3

Legit SHARING A TAXI ON THE WAY HOME

2/20/13 - At the Brit Awards together!

Leaving an after party!

taking a cab to Nick's house so Nick can change for work

hands hands hands

At Nick's flat

 2/21/13 - On The Breakfast show the morning after the Brits!

Harry on The Breakfast Show!

2/23/2013 - Nick attends One Direction's first show at the O2 in London

THE DROUGHT IS OVER!!!

8/21/2013 - Nick interviews Harry, Zayn, and Liam for TBS

Then Nick and Harry hook up later for dinner.

September 12, 2013

Harry gets off the plane from LAX, gets on the tube and meets Nick at an Elton John concert

Harry and Nick's dad at the concert, posted to Nick's instagram.

September 13, 2013

This person says they saw nick and Harry at Apartment 58 (members only club) together

https://twitter.com/LightbownL/status/378610145271771136

But, Sadie Frost also posted a picture of her and Nick getting ready to go out for LFW with no mention of Harry, so the tweet could be false facts.

But then! September 14, 2013

Sadie posts this picture of Nick sleeping on her sofa

Followed by this picture of Harry posing with her daughter

And then Nick and Harry went to Henry Hollands show at LFW together

Then to a pub with Gemma, Kelly Osborn and others

Then to dinner with James Corden and his wife

September 15, 2013

September 17, 2013 - Fashion Show East in London

November 9, 2013 - Breakfast with Anne and Robin at the Wolseley.

So Anne tweeted this in the morning. You can see the Wolseley logo at the top of the plate.

Then this girl got a pic with Harry at the Wolseley during his breakfast with Anne and Robin.

and she confirmed that Nick was eating with them https://twitter.com/alexandra_imper/status/400204985222193152

Then off to Selfridges to shop!

At Alexa Chung's birthday party!

November 10, 2013 - Ladz instagram and Aimee Phillips birthday party!

LADZ VIDEO!

November 30, 2013

Harry playing with Puppy at Nick's house.

Poppy Delevingne's hen party!

Leaving Groucho club.

December 1, 2013

Primrose Hill lighting ceremony!

Nick with Daisy Lowe and his dad!

Then this girl met Nick

https://twitter.com/rpcheald/status/407224559687852032/photo/1

and saw Harry

https://twitter.com/rpcheald/status/407209332858552320

Class of '92 movie premiere

Nick and his dad on the red carpet

Harry meeting Beckham!

December 4, 2013 - London Fashion Awards

February 17, 2014 - Taking a random taxi ride?????

and leaving Nick's flat

March 29, 2014

Sleepover at Harry's house!

Nick posted this on instagram

http://instagram.com/p/mHpTBdPJyt/

At the time we weren't sure it was Harry's drive but...

https://twitter.com/cuppanarryx/status/481310537817399296/photo/1

Hiya, doggie.

Also Nick's tweet from the morning after just because.

https://twitter.com/grimmers/status/449814322399940609

May 24, 2014 - Radio 1's Big Weekend

May 28, 2014 - Barry's BC London

And link to post about the other tweets x

June 8, 2014

Nick attends One Directions show at Wembley Stadium.

June 12, 2014

Harry at Nick driving around London in a Ferrari.

and another tweet about the Ferarri sighting.

https://twitter.com/ItsJustMikey/status/477133631602065408

Then later that evening Harry went to Nick's for his World Cup barbecue and fans took pics with Harry outside Nick's house.

[embraceyourdestiny]

Theory about Riku’s Darkness and His Ties to Terra

We all know Terra passed his keyblade onto Riku. But what if he didn’t pass on just his keyblade?

Riku is known for embracing the darkness, both falling to it and using it to fight for the light. The way his possession of darkness is talked about within the series is as if it’s inherent, like he has no choice in the matter and is darkness regardless of what he wants or wishes to be. They speak as if he was born with darkness, but what if he wasn’t?

Kingdom Hearts’ attitude towards darkness is confusing, vague, and complicated and is especially so in the case of Riku. Riku is hailed as a being with such powerful darkness, an undesirable “evil” within the world, that even at such a young age he was able to use it at will and control the heartless. Riku is seen as bad and wrong during this time because he uses darkness and ends up hurting people with it. But at the same time and later in the series, Riku is view as good because of how he can also control the darkness in a different way; by keeping it under wraps and using it to protect the light.

Riku, as is his identity as “the one who walks the road to dawn” is smack in the middle of light and darkness, but he is still a being of darkness. He is the only person we see who uses darkness for good and doesn’t let it control him. But, where does his darkness even come from?

Even more confusing than the the conflicting messages around the nature of darkness in Kingdom Hearts (is it good? is it bad? is it neutral? or maybe is it even something else entirely?) is the nature of light and darkness itself. We don’t know where light and darkness come from, how they work, why some people are light and some people are darkness, we know hardly anything about them at all. The nature of light and darkness is vague and shapeless in the Kingdom Hearts universe despite having so much importance. So, as a fun theory, what if similarly to how you can pass on a keyblade through a bequeathing ceremony, you can also pass on your nature, your light or darkness, to someone else, maybe even at the same time?

Children in Kingdom Hearts are told to be, for lack of a better word, True Lights. Their hearts are pure and bright and they are what helped rebuild the worlds after they fell to darkness and destruction. All children are pure and light, but if that’s the case, how does darkness even exist? How do adults possess darkness if they were light as children?

There are two possibilities: either the True Lights that rebuilt the worlds were not only made of light, or children can somehow be influenced by the darkness in possibly a variety of ways. It might honestly even be both.

Instead of children being “pure light,” I think it makes much more sense for them to be “neutral.” Children are innocent and free of evil, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are inherently light. The “middle ground” between darkness and light, night and morning, otherwise called “twilight” in the Kingdom Hearts universe, is a reoccurring and important theme in Kingdom Hearts and I think that the children who originally rebuilt the worlds were not in fact light, but neutral. Twilight. Or, there was a mix of children that were light, darkness, and somewhere in between.

It’s echoed both in Kingdom Hearts and in the real world that nothing can exist without balance. You cannot have too much light and you cannot have too much darkness. If this is the case, a law by nature, why are we led to believe the ones who “saved the worlds” didn’t have a single speckle of darkness in them? That directly conflicts with the logic of creation and would be otherwise impossible, there has to be darkness and light or whatever you try to create would belong to “unreality.” (Which is something going to be talked about in the future of KH but not here because it’s not necessary to this theory but it is still important background and something to be thought about when navigating the world of Kingdom Hearts and the real world.)

(Tangent: I also believe the reason we’re told it was “children who’s hearts were pure light” that saved the world is because it’s Kingdom Hearts own case of an ahistorical and incorrect telling of events. Kingdom Hearts resides in the Realm of Light and those of light have been in control for a long time, and they therefore have a biased perspective of things. You can see this clearly with Eraqus, a man who was supposedly wise and yet shunned the darkness, called it evil and wrong, and even inflicted this harmful message towards his own students, one of whom actively belonged to the darkness. I think the demonization of the darkness has caused so many problems within the worlds of Kingdom Hearts and this legend of the Worlds is just one example of a ripple effect that having this perspective of darkness has lead to. But this is way too deep and again unnecessary to this theory, just something to think about. Tangent/rant over lmao.)

Now, we go back to Riku. Riku as a child is shown as kind, considerate, brave, a good friend, and even morally upright. These are all told to us to be traits of someone who belongs to the light and are directly conflicting of the traits of what we see those who belong to darkness have; they’re evil, manipulative, dangerous, and they harm people and have little regard for others. Though I don’t agree that either of these lists of traits can only belong to light and darkness, that is how they are portrayed in Kingdom Hearts. So, if Riku’s darkness is inherent, why is he kind to Sora as a kid? Why does he say he’ll protect him, and why, if Riku is evil because he is inherently darknesses, does Riku want strength to protect others? If he is darkness he has no need for friends and shouldn’t want to protect anyone because why would he care about anyone else, right?

This is the attitude he is shown to have when he falls to darkness in KH1 and this is how most people who possess darkness are portrayed. Again, I don’t agree, but that’s how it is. Riku is, once again, the only character who is of darkness that is shown to be darkness and yet not be evil. (I say only because we haven’t see Terra post-Terranort using his darkness freely yet, but even if that does happen and he does embrace it, that is still an exception to the unfortunate rule Kingdom Hearts has created for the darkness.)

So, if Riku wasn’t born with darkness because he wasn’t evil as a kid, where did he get his darkness? Most people would probably say Ansem SOD, and some might even say he had “grown” his own darkness, similar to how Nobodies grew their own hearts, because of his increasingly undesirable life on Destiny Islands, and I have to say both are wrong. The latter option is definitely more correct, since Riku was only preyed on by ASOD because he already had darkness in him and was an easy target, but it’s missing some pieces to make it make sense because again, if children are pure light, how did Riku already have darkness in him/develop darkness as a child?

The most reasonable explanation is this; children are blank slates and they develop into whatever they are shown by those around them. Just like how real kids are a product of their environment, the children of Kingdom Hearts will possess the ability of whatever is shown or given to them by the world. For simplicity and since Kingdom Hearts is all about passing stuff on and less about observing and learning, we will only focus on the “given” aspect of this and disregard the “shown” part.

Riku, like all children, was neutral. He didn’t have overwhelming darkness or light in him, he was simply a kid and that’s it. He had to, at some point, stumble upon darkness or light in order to inherent one or the other, and in his case it was darkness that found him first.

Introduce Terra. Terra, a being of darkness, bequeathes his keyblade to Riku. He passes down his ability to wield the keyblade to Riku, and along with it, his darkness. Riku was still only a child and this event is shown to have significant impact on the rest of his life, so this has to be the first time he even comes into contact with anything so powerful and strong, whether it be darkness or light. Destiny Islands is an extremely relaxed and peaceful place, so though darkness and light both have to exist there, there are no threats or immense stresses that would require such large outputs of either light or darkness, unlike how meeting someone from a different world who has had those stressed would effect a child. (This is also why Sora, who was also neutral because he was a kid, ends up becoming a being of light. Like it’s said many times, Destiny Islands was boring, nothing exciting happened there, so similar to how Terra would’ve been the first time Riku ever encountered such strong darkness, Ventus was the first time Sora encountered such strong light, but back to Riku.)

Now, this doesn’t immediately make Riku “I’m gonna destroy Destiny Islands” Riku. No, that comes much latter, and with influence of someone else. Riku, after his run-in with Terra, and until he is 15 years old, is still just a regular kid, he just now has darkness in him when before he was neutral, which again, isn’t inherently bad. From Sora and Kairi’s accounts, Riku was just a regular kid until he just “changed” one day. He was still kind, he played with the other kids like he always did, after being given darkness Riku didn’t change at all because there was nothing to be changed, darkness isn’t bad so there’s no reason why suddenly Riku would be too.

Enter the other influence; Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness.

Ansem saw that Riku had darkness already in him and used it to his advantage. With proper love and care, even with having darkness in him, Riku would’ve blossomed into a wonderful person who just happened to be of darkness, but Ansem messed that up for him. Ansem, also having a strewed perception of darkness since the one he came from, Xehanort, was the same way, decided to weaken Riku. We don’t know exactly how Ansem influenced Riku but based on the insecurities Riku talks about throughout the series, being jealous of Sora, thinking “the world was too small,” (a quote directly from Xehanort himself, which Ansem he had to have said to Riku since they both say it and Riku ended up believing him and internalizing it), etc, we can tell it wasn’t any good. Ansem planted seeds of doubt in Riku’s mind and then played off the results he knew he would get; Riku pulling away from his friends and becoming bitter to a place he once called home.

So, you see, both Ansem and Terra played a hand in Riku’s darkness. Everyone acknowledges Ansem’s role and you can’t deny that Terra’s appearance affected Riku’s life down the line, but it did much more than make Riku desire strength to protect those that mattered, Terra was the one directly responsible for giving Riku darkness, and it’s very sad because neither of them had to be “evil” just because they had darkness in them. Terra and Riku were both kind, wonderful people before Xehanort interfered with their lives and that negative experience continued to perpetuate the wrong message about darkness, that it’s evil and something to expel or hide away, and that made Terra fear and hate the darkness and Riku half-way ignore a part of him that he cannot change, because even if he uses the darkness still now, he doesn’t embrace it. It is still something to be controlled and feared in both of their eyes because, “what if I hurt someone because of my darkness again?”

This was originally a theory/analysis on Riku but I can’t end this without bringing up the fact that the way darkness is portrayed in Kingdom Hearts, and almost all media honestly, is wrong. The darkness is not bad, it is a requirement to life. Yes, you can do bad things with the darkness, but the same can be said about light. Eraqus harmed three of his students and who knows who else in “the name of light,” and Sora is constantly put at odds because of his “duty” to the light, to the point of being thrown into a war as a child and not only losing all of his friends but even his own life because it’s what he was “supposed to do” as a Guardian of Light.

Neither darkness or light are good or bad, they simply are. What one does with them is what is good or bad, but darkness and light themselves are not evil or right. I hope Kingdom Hearts pushes this message more because there are inklings of it there, Riku if his character developed more, Roxas and Xion’s identity crisis in Days, and honestly the concept of Nobodies as a whole. It’s a message that deserves to see fruition and I hope it does because it would add so much to Kingdom Hearts as a whole if it did.

But to wrap this up, my theory is Riku was originally neutral, Terra bequeathed him both his keyblade and darkness, and, though not a theory, darkness and light are not good or evil, they are meant to coexist together, and hopefully one day we will see that happen in Kingdom Hearts, with Riku possibly and even preferably leading the movement himself.

[stray-tori]

Did Orpheus help with the manor attack?

I already kinda mentioned this in my last post, about the "little girl" timeline / confusion, but... with this new info from the essence trailer, assuming this at least somewhat ties into the main story symbolically, I think it's actually feasible now.

.

So new essence trailer:

[IDs: a wrecked ship, with people in the water. A young Orpheus stretches out his hand to help a man out of the water. The little girl is beside him. Later that man is seen leading an attack against their home land.]

(he's also still a kid here, which would add up with the main story.)

.

Main story:

Burke (in Guard 26's deductions, #4) mentions the following:

Test Record 4: Since he got back from his "real" parents, that brat lost various valuable items again... He tried to take full responsibility for it, but such tolerance and protection will only feed their greed.

So, assuming the one meant here is the brat who came with the staff and also that that brat IS Orpheus.

We also know Orpheus knows of and had the piccolo at some point from Novelist's BG story video:

[ID: young Orpheus playing the piccolo, this later opens the manor gate in front of him]

.

the live action trailer posted on twitter has a few animated short segments (at 1:18) that reveal that the intruders also used the piccolo to enter the manor's estate:

And went on to murder someone, which the little girl witnessed (which may be the reason why she has entered the asylum later, assuming she did so based on her response to the asylum keyword during ACT 2...)

.

Combined with the new essence trailer, I think this means that Orpheus was the one leading to his paradise being destroyed (which he has called the manor before).

My guess is that Orpheus found the manor couple dead and as he said, he "escaped reality" -- he forgot he ever had a part in it and potentially also his best friend, who ended up traumatized.

In the essence trailer, he claims that he will "rebuild paradise". I'm not certain what this means in the context of our main story. If the manor games are supposedly in favor of that goal, how does inviting people to death games and experimenting with drugs help him restore it? Is the goal to bring his parents back?

We do have a Dream Witch easter egg in Dark Woods Map, and her sacrifices are usually burnt. And the newspaper snippet from ACT 3 state that it looked like a sacrifice ritual may have taken place. Is Nightmare a DW follower? But then why go through all the effort to create the drugs/pit people against each other? To not have blood on his own hands?

Or maybe, since he experiments a lot with memory loss and reconstruction, he knows that he forgot what happened around the incident and wants to find a way to remember.

Though that doesn't answer that it seems like the manor has been well connected and doing SOMETHING for at least 100 years, assuming Joseph went to the manor as well. And that the manor couple, when they moved in, had Burke reconstruct and repair it - meaning it had been destroyed before. Along with "da capo" (= loop) and the image of an actual loop in the cutscene for the little girl's diary in ACT 2, I think there may have been things like this happening at the manor for longer...? I'm not sure at all though and that's not really what this post is about.

.

Problems with this theory of Orpheus helping them:

if Novelist and Little girl reunited later in life (as we see them together in Novelist's and Little Girl's BG story video), I wonder how this never came up in any capacity and like, led to some clarity regarding his memory.

the little girl's skin name is still "source of evil" - which confuses me.

I am growing kind of tired of this story having the same twist twice, i.e. Orpheus be like "hm whats going on in this manor? oh, it was me" and also Novelist being like "Who killed 'my' parents? >:( oh, it was me"

[and-there-were-words]

A Spider Life: Webbed Thoughts (Chapter 02)

Setting up some HCs for the future, as well as giving some insight to our favorite scientist spider.

---

Taking place during “Revenge of the Spider Queen”, pretty much at the end of it.

With the Arachnoid Base gone and the town mostly in shambles due to the massive explosion, the Spider Demons were scattered all around town. Syntax takes it upon himself to find the other two, while wandering foreign, yet familiar streets. (Wordcount: around 1800)

---

Having almost all of his Spiderbots deactivated, was a huge setback for certain. It’ll take days to reconfigure them, and who even knew if they had enough of the special venom to get back to the count they had previously. It was near impossible to draw any numbers if the extent of the destruction was still unknown to him.

At least, there were a few things that survived. For one, the Spiderbot on his back. The cool metal resting comfortable against his spine, while the robot was feeding him a constant flow of information from the remaining units. It was a soft background buzz, a reminder that he was indeed part of this clan. The other ‘survivor’ being the head of their Arachnoid Base, certainly the most complex part of the mech. Given some time and work, he was certain he could rebuild it.

Syntax’s mouth drew into a hard line, reminiscing the events of the last few hours. It looked like the Queen… no, his Queen, had everything under control. The so-called-heroes caught, powerless against her might. The scientist had redrawn himself to continue working. Just because the battle was already won, didn’t meant there were no projects to finish up and to maintain. There were victory celebrations to be had afterall, and nobody else took it up to plan those. Syntax only had noticed the earth rumble above him when everything went down, and a moment later he had to witness his Queen on the ground, defeated. He wisely decided not to become a potential target of her fury, and excused himself to immediately go back to work.

As much as he hated to admit it, he really had to find the other two. For the sole reason to move the Arachnoid Base head back underground into the lair, of course. The remaining Spiderbots were not enough to stem this feat and he did not even have a fraction of the required strength to do it by himself. He would not allow his Queen to do any of this work, even if she was more than capable of moving the apparatus. No, if he could do something against it, he will not let the lady steep any lower, she was supposed to rest.

Goliath and Huntsman.

The scientist inhaled in trough the nose and let out a mildly annoyed sigh. The very moment these two had awaken, he was able to feel their gazes constantly lingering on him. Moreso from the hunter than the strong spider. Actually, it was a little surprising that the big one was… rather gentle in a way. Goliath barely ever spoke, and seemed content to just be part of whatever was going on. Doing what he was told to do, he certainly was the more reasonable compared to the gnarly spider that was Huntsman.

The older spider had made it apparently his goal to infuriate Syntax in any way possible. Always trying to shove himself in the spotlight when the scientist wanted to inform his Queen, always throwing little nitpicks and snarky remarks here and there – and by far the most annoying thing; always wrinkling his nose when he came too close to Syntax. ‘Close’ of course being several feet away, there was no way he’d allow that pelt wearing asshole anywhere near himself. More an unconcious act while having this trail of thought, Syntax lifted his wrist to his own nose, trying to catch any scent. He couldn’t detect anything odd, just metal, cold earth and the faintly sweet fragrance of his lady’s venom. Huntsman certainly was only doing this to irritate him. And frustratingly enough, it was slowly getting to him.

The scientist scoffed, looking up to check his surroundings. He was in the middle of a street, in some part of the city that didn’t get completely leveled during the fight. Some signs and advertisement screens still flickered with life, hanging in there with all might. The occasional spark and the scuttling of a critter were all the noises he could hear otherwise. Remarkable how fast the local population was able to evacuate from their homes once the Spider Demons had attacked. Something in the back of his brain clawed to the surface, images of a giant bull stomping and blasting entire blocks away. Having to leave ‘someplace important’ to be safe. A taste of bitterness of potentially losing all ‘progress’.

Progress of what? Syntax halted in his steps for a moment, trying to make sense of this rabid influx of images and emotions that… were his? Weren’t his? He could, for the life of his, not consciously remember any of what his mind was spouting out. It didn’t take long for the buzzing of the Spiderbot and the soothing warmth of the venom to calm his nerves again. What was he thinking about again? The scientist unchlenched his teeth, uncurling his fists. There was no apparent reason to be tense. With a shake of his head, Syntax continued down the streets.

He didn’t even question it that he could navigate throughout the city without a second guess. Somewhere in the far back of his mind, there was a subtle note that any corner he passed, and any road sign he read was completely new information. Yet he could feel it in his fingertips that he had seen these places before.

...most certainly the marvel of the Spiderbots, always here to bring him up to date! At a crossroad, his gaze subconsciously wandered down to his right, the word ‘Work’ coming to his mind. But before he could delve anymore on this random fact, a red flash signaled the scientist that he was close to his target. Completely ignoring the jumbled webbing of his mind, that tried to lure him somewhere, he turned to his left and followed the call of the machines.

It didn’t take long to find the hulking figure of Goliath. The strong spider was not within the crater that was left when crashing into the concrete, but instead was sitting a little to the side. Remarkable, that the guy barely had a scratch, Syntax wasn’t sure if he could shake off such an impact as easily. Goliath was looking somewhat exhausted, and for the first time since he knew him, mildly annoyed. It was clear that the henchman was already aware what must have had happen after he got blasted into the sky, the destroyed mech could not be overlooked easily. Though when he noticed the scientist approaching, his features softened, brows slightly raised in a silent question. For someone who could easily be one of the most intimidating creatures Syntax knew about (he didn’t knew many, DBK was certainly on this list though), he surely often made an expression like a lost puppy. In a way, it was endearing, giving this giant an aura he could relax in, at least somewhat.

Syntax looked around, searching for a second crater. Without needing to raise the question, Goliath shook his head. “He ain’t here, think he fell somewhere further to the east.”, a silent groan escaped the big guy as he got up, stretching his arms a little and dusting off some dirt. “Shall we?”

The scientist just nodded, stuffing hands in pockets and following the other’s lead. Finding himself mulling over threads of thoughts again as he watched the large back of the spider demon. In a way, it was… fascinating, how different they all were. Goliath, clearly strong and powerful, didn’t seem to make much use out of venom and webs. He was capable of both, no question, but either his mastery in these skills weren’t the greatest, or he simply didn’t want to use either for whatever reason. Syntax put a pin into that, maybe a question for another day.

Now Huntsman was almost the opposite. Even if he didn’t like to admit it, Syntax had to give tribute where it was due. The older spider’s ability of web manipulation was astounding, and maybe there was more to the hunter than one would give him credit for. He obviously was a traditional kind of guy, annoyingly so, but he still had picked up on Syntax’s gadgets and tools surprisingly quick. It did not take him more than a hour to figure out the spider trackers and the communication earbuds, he even had taken an animated liking over the tech-heavy binoculars that fed him instant information about anything he looked at. Of course, he immediately claimed that he would not need any of these, that his natural skills were enough. To no one’s surprise, Syntax noticed that said gadgets had mysteriously disappeared an hour later. He was smart enough to not bring this topic up.

Now the Queen… Syntax hummed contently as the Spiderbot buzzed in approvement. She was the Queen of Spiders for obvious reasons. While Goliath and Huntsman seemed to have specialized in one thing, the lady was quite powerful in all aspects. Her webs were strong and could be enchanted with all kinds of abilities. They were able to trap the Demon Bull King, and even the supposedly all-mighty Monkey King! That alone was a feat in itself. Syntax had noted with great pleasure that his lady was quite well versed in technology too, and up-to-date with society, in opposite to the other two. The giant spider bot that was basically just an extension of her true might? Her own creation! And don’t even get him started on her powerful venom! It had endless potential as both a power source and as an ingredient for mixtures and magics yet to be discovered.

And he, Syntax himself? For a moment, the scientist stopped in his track. He had his smarts and knowledge for sure. Basically a library of all things technology within his noggin. And his Queen already made it clear that he was an important part in all of her plans. Venom, webbing, physical strength on the other hand… The claws on his back twitched slightly agitated, a sudden spike of an incoming migrain stopping all tracks of thoughts. When Syntax looked forwards again, he could see that Goliath was glancing at him with mild worry, patiently waiting to continue their way to find the gnarly spider. The scientist shook his head, reminding himself that he was part of this clan, there was no place in doubting his Queen.

In comfortable silence, the two walked down the empty streets, neither feeling any need of smalltalk. As ironic and bitter as it was, Syntax found himself in a moment of peace, just a moment he could relax his shoulders and sort the rest of his thoughts calmly. Things certainly were going to get tense again once they picked up Huntsman, that fact was clear. The Spider Demons had a lot of tasks ahead of them as well, going off by the words of the little Miss Mystery. Not something he was particularly looking forward for, but serving his Queen was his sole purpose. And nothing will distract him from that.

[mxstyassasxin]

Underworld (E, 2k)

on AO3

Hermione had been putting up with this, this feeling, for almost nine months now. Since she’d turned 18 in September, it had shifted through various levels of discomfort, from confusion to dread, to embarrassment, and now to torment.

It was bizarre that first night, lying on a camp bed in a tent in the middle of nowhere with her best friends, dreaming about the boy who had practically bullied them all through school. There hadn’t been anything particularly bad about the dream. In fact, it had all been fairly ordinary. He was nice, cordial, they’d had a pleasant conversation. Which was why the beginning only brought confusion. She couldn’t remember a time when Draco Malfoy had ever been nice to her. Indifferent, yes. But going out of his way to be cordial? No, never.

Yet that was what he was now, every night in her dreams. She began to enjoy their dream conversations, and, after a few months, she became used to them. But then, Draco had appeared in one without his shirt on and she realised that they’d been conducting their conversations sat on a mahogany bed with green sheets for a while now. After that, she began to dread what she would see when she went to sleep. No, not dread what she would see - she still looked forward to seeing Draco and talking with him - she began to dread what she would have to tell Harry and Ron. Because at some point, she would have to tell them. She knew by now that this wasn’t going away any time soon.

The embarrassment came when she did. Literally. She’d cried out in her sleep, in the tent, while Harry was on watch and he’d woken her up, worried that something bad had happened. Hermione supposed that Harry would think it was bad. But in her dreams, with Draco, it had been a natural progression, and the only thing she thought was bad about it was who had been there to wake her. Or rather, who hadn’t. It was safe to say that she always made sure to put up a silencing spell around her bed after that.

The Manor was terrible. Draco had looked right through her. When, for months, she’d seen those grey eyes looking deep into her soul, then, they had only glazed over as he looked determinedly at the wooden panelling behind her. She couldn’t understand. The dreams meant something. She could feel it. She had not been dreaming of Draco every night for no reason.

Fleur acted strangely at Shell Cottage. She kept looking between Hermione and Ron expectantly, as if trying to figure something out. Eventually, she pulled Hermione to the side and asked her to confirm that she was 18. Hermione answered in the affirmative, being thoroughly shocked by the next question.

“Who is it you see in your dreams?”

Hermione could only stare open mouthed until she began blinking erratically.

“We thought it would be Ron, but he is 18 too now, and there is nothing happening.”

“No.” Hermione coughed. “No. Umm…it’s someone we don’t see often. You won’t have seen him since the Tournament.”

“Ah. He has not yet reached 18. If he had, you would not be here without him.”

“Fleur,” the French witch was making Hermione nervous. “What is this?”

“He is yours, Hermione. And you will be his.”

Beginning that night, the dreams grew more and more torturous, the cool sheets of her bed doing nothing to sooth her scalding skin. She tried everything to find relief, to make the intensity lessen, but while she was sleeping, without him, it would never truly go away, no matter how illogical she found it.

Thankfully, the few times she’d seen him during the battle, everything around them had been so hectic that she couldn’t afford to think about the dreams of his blonde head between her legs, his long fingers teasing her nipples, the way his tongue could perform magic without uttering a single sound. Afterwards, when it was all done and Voldemort was defeated, Draco and Narcissa had managed to avoid Azkaban due to their change of allegiance, but they were still banned from leaving Britain until their respective trials could take place.

When the rebuilding of Hogwarts had started, Hermione could sense that he was close by. She could tell that he had come to the castle, to join their efforts, and she had subsequently been on tenterhooks all week. Her lower lip has been nibbled raw, her friends have been exasperated with her restlessness, but she couldn’t seem to stop her legs from bouncing when she was with them, supposedly enjoying their company. Each night increased in intensity, but still not enough to sate her, leading her to escape during the day to the bathroom in order to find her own relief.

But today, finally, she could hold herself back no longer. It had become an itch under her skin. She could sense exactly where in the castle he was, could feel the leather of every book he touched brushing her own fingertips, the ghost of a sensation. She can’t concentrate and everything within her is pushing her towards him, yet still she clenches her fists and bites her lip so hard that her nails and teeth draw blood.

She knows, logically, that this is his first day, his 18th birthday, and that he won’t even dream of her until tonight. She wonders if he’ll feel them as intensely as she does now, or would they start as they did for her, calm and innocuous before building. Hermione has always prided her ability to remain logical, but as the hours drag on and she’s approaching her third trip to the bathroom for a distraction, it is becoming harder and harder not to give into the pounding of her heart, the itch under her skin, the pulsing in her abdomen.

With her fingers hovering over the old wood of the bathroom door, she grumbles in the back of her throat, scowls at the decision she’s making, and quickly turns on her heel, marching towards the library. She can feel him tugging at her heart, her soul, and all she can do now is follow that pull, allow her feet to take her where she wants to be. As soon as she bursts through the doors of the dishevelled library, she can smell him and breathes in the peppermint mingling with parchment, allowing it to envelope her.

He sees her coming, looking up from his task as he hears her approach. Maybe he can sense her too and she wonders what she smells like to him. He stands from where he’s kneeling on the floor, surrounded by piles of books, and turns to meet her, raising his hands up in front of him to halt her approach.

“Granger,” he drawls warningly, and hearing that from the him, the real Draco, sends a fresh wave of heat to pool between her legs.

Her eyes catch on his fingers, those fingers, held up in front of him and her vision narrows so that for once, she is completely unaware of the books in the library. The dilation of her pupils must have been visible as she hears Draco’s intake of breath and she pulls her lip into her mouth, wanting to hear him breathe like that again.

She steps towards him until his palm is resting against her prominent collar bone, able to feel her pounding heart.

“Happy Birthday, Draco,” she wishes him breathlessly, raising her eyes to his, warm brown and heated black to cool grey.

“Is it you?” he breathes back, relaxing his elbow slightly, allowing her to step even closer. “Am I yours?”

Hermione lifts a hand and curls it around his forearm, his left forearm, soothing the scarred mark she can see there from his sleeves being rolled to the elbows.

“I’m yours, Draco,” she manages to gasp, fighting the urge to just go ahead and press her lips to his, holding onto the knowledge that she has had nine months head start on this.

The holds they have on each other, his on her collarbone, hers on his forearm, tighten so that she can feel his muscles twitching as well as the delicious press of his fingers into her skin, a press that she longs to feel elsewhere. In the silence that seems to stretch for an eternity, they study the emotions and truths that reside in the depths of each other’s eyes until she watches, almost in slow motion, as he drops his eye line to her lips and back up again. An unspoken question. One that she does not hesitate to answer.

Immediately it’s like someone has set her alight, the flames licking along her skin both hot and cold, but nothing compared to the feeling of Draco’s mouth on hers. She may have pressed forwards first, but he doesn’t waste time in taking over their kiss, moulding his lips to hers which have become pliant under his precise ministrations that turn her to molten lava. She vaguely feels his hands competing with the flames licking at her skin, stroking everywhere at once, everywhere that his firm body is not pressed against.

She uses the contact to walk him backwards until the nearest bookshelf halts their progress, at which point she stretches up on her toes so that she’s able to grind against the hard length she can feel through their jeans. He moans greedily into her mouth as he continues to kiss her, but moves his hands round to cup her arse, helping to lift her higher so that the friction hits the perfect spot.

Hermione throws her head back at the sensation, breaking the kiss and letting out a wanton gasp, praising his name. He moves his swollen lips to the curve of her neck, sucking and nipping and licking while she continues to moan and he holds her up with one, large hand while the other begins to undo their jeans. Once he has them unbuttoned and the flies unzipped, he lifts her to wrap her legs around his waist, kissing her deeply again as he lowers her to the floor, making room amongst the piles of books.

He pulls away from her mouth and the heat of his body leaves hers. Hermione whimpers at the loss but he just lets out a low chuckle before shoving her jumper above her breasts and tearing the thin bra from her chest. She screams as his mouth finds its new target, tongue swirling around a hard, sensitive nipple. When her back arches in pleasure and pleading, he roughly pulls her jeans down over her hips and off her legs, then kisses his way back up the insides of her thighs until his face is buried between her legs, his mouth latched around her clit, bringing her closer and closer to her peak.

Hermione finds herself begging, calling his name in an endless, breathless chant.

“Please. Please, Draco. Draco, please.”

He chuckles against her sensitive bud and the vibration coupled with the hot puff of air sends her keening over the edge.

“Oh, Hermione. That’s it, love. Come on. I’ve got you. I’ve always got you.”

When she finally opens her eyes, she sees Draco, eyes silver and sparkling, with his jeans pushed down his hips, left hand stroking his own length while his right cups her breast, thumb stroking her sensitive nipple.

“How long have you dreamed of this, love?” he asks.

“About 5 months,” she breathes in response.

“I’m sorry I missed out on them,” Draco smirks, obviously pleased that she has been finding pleasure in him for so long.

“They don’t compare,” Hermione smirks right back.

“Shall I continue to prove that?” He asks as he lowers himself over her, holding her gaze as he presses a lingering kiss to her bruised lips, and sinks his length teasingly into her.

[dark-lord-of-the-simps]

Solah; chapter 2

An Hux/sith!reader fic

Read part one here

Tw: drinking (not excessive)

□■□■□■□

Soon after that meeting you had to leave the Finalizer for a few weeks, your Master called you to the Unknown Regions. He said everything was going smoothly with the First Order and, even though the Knights of Ren weren't exactly thrilled to have a sith countering their previously unmatched power, you had the support of older officers who saw you as someone closer to the Empire and showrd you in more than one occasion that they'd rather support you than the ill-tempered Master of the Kinghts.

After a few days of training and strategical meetings your Master decided to send you back to the Finalizer. When you arrived not many questions were asked, no officer understood your sith shenanigans anyway. During your first few days back on the Finalizer you didn't see Hux at all, not even on the bridge.

One night you were going back to your quarters after training in one of the force-sensitive's training rooms and you saw Hux approaching the room, he walked slowly and seemed to be slightly slumping against the wall.

"General Hux"

He mustn't have noticed you before because when you called his name he seemed a kind of startled.

"Is there something I can help you with, General?" you asked taking a few steps in his direction.

"I.. No, nothing" he tried to straighten his back, something must've been wrong with him because he only slumped further into the wall.

"You're hurt" as you walked in his direction he took a shy step back.

"You should go to medbay, you're clearly hurt" you repeated, stopping in your steps as you felt his slight distress in the force.

"You're not my superior, you can't order me to."

"I'm not," you smirked "maybe I'm just worried."

Even in the dim light of the corridor you saw his face becoming a deep shade of red for just a feaction of second before contracting into his usual frown.

"I don't go to medbay"

You took another step to examine his face more closely, a drop of blood sat on his bottom lip.

"I have a med droid in my quarters" you offered.

"And why should you be worried about me?" he scoffed.

You took another step in his direction and, when he didn't shy away again, you brought your hand to his chin, wiping away the drop of blood.

"I can read minds, General, I know who hurt you. I think perhaps you could use my help, and I yours"

Your fingers lingered on his chin for a few more seconds before you released him, smirking at the even more furious blush on his face.

"Lead the way, then"

Your quarters were probably similar to his, a privilege you attributed to the slight fear you instilled in the Finalizer's officer tasked to prepare the ship for your arrival.

"You can sit on the sofa" you said as you called the medical droid.

In your youth you tended to injure yourself often during training and your Master gifted the droid to you for your sixteenth birthday, a rare display of something that almost felt like affection. The General obliged and the little white droid quickly approached him.

"He's a little old, you have to tell him exactly where it hurts"

The droid beeped in you direction in an offended manner and you smiled.

"I suppose we could start with my face"

You nodded and invited the droid to go ahead.

"I know it was Ren, I felt it, but I didn't want to invade your mind too much so if you want to tell me more..."

He didn't let you finish the sentence.

"No, I don't see it necessary to further this humiliation" he sneered, avoiding your gaze.

After a moment of silence you lowered yourself before him, your face at the same level as his as the droid applied bacta to one of the bruised.

"I have no intention of hurting you, General"

He didn't say anything, just looked away, one again avoiding your gaze. You attempted to squeeze his arm a little in reassurance but his face instantly contracted in pain.

"You should let the droid take a look at it, take your shirt off" you said as you rose to your feet.

As he didn't comply, you figured he may want some more privacy.

"I'll be in my office, you can come in as soon as the droid is done with you"

He didn't answer as you walked to your narrow office. He was an odd man, you though, so sure of himself in front of the whole Order yet in his mind he seemed... fragile almost scared. You were hungry for knowledge, on his past, his ambitions, him; but lurking into his mind would scare him away and he was perhaps the most valuable asset you could aquire to rebuild the Empire.

After some time you heard a knock on your door.

"Come in, General"

He slowly walked into the room and sat on the chair opposite to yours on the other side of the table. A small smile crossed your face.

"Better?"

"Yes"

You stood up to get a bottle of Corellian rum from a drawer and offered him a glass.

"So, this worrying about me thing?" he asked, taking a sip of rum.

"What about it?" you smirked.

"I take it's transactional, what do you need from me?"

"Right now I just need you to be in good shape and lead the Order to his victory, General"

"I still fail to grasp why a supposedly powerful sith lord like yourself would be interested in my well-being, you force sensitives always seem too absorbed in whatever you see in the force to care about us mortals"

A breathy laugh escaped your lips.

"It's Ren you're talking about"

He nodded slowly. "I don't know many other sith"

"Ren's not a sith, those Knights of his are something much more vile"

"Well, I'm glad, but this still doesn't answer my question"

You smiled as you poured both him and yourself another glass of rum.

"I told you, you're a valuable man, and a capable General" you moved to stand in front of him and brush your fingers on his cheek. "Besides, I found you interesting"

It took him a couple seconds to meet your gaze and when he did his eyes seemed darker than usual. Your fingers kept lightly stroking his cheek, enough to feel the heat rising on his face. He was the first to break eye contact as you retracted your fingers.

"I... I should go" he whispered, more to himself than to you.

You nodded and led him to your quarters' door. You opened the door and smiled at him one last time. As he started making his way through the corridor you called him again.

"General Hux, one last thing"

"What"

"If someone hurts you again, call to me through the force, I'll hear you"

□■□■□■□

Tag list; @trashbile @b0nnyzz @abysshaven

Comment if you want to be added to the tag list for future chapters

(I SWEAR YOU'LL GET MORE PLOT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER)

[music-of-dragons]

I know I'm not the most active on here, but I'm putting in work elsewhere 😩 Red is the idiot, my reply is in white.

"Contrary to the other answers here, Dany’s not a great ruler. She’s impulsive, inept and, though well-intentioned, has a self-righteous streak a mile wide. It’s not misogynist to point out her actions leave Astapor a hell-scape, that she uses forced labour without pay in Mereen (there’s a word to describe that, it starts with S), and that she is frequently too quick to use violence to solve problems, especially as of the end of Book 5, where she outright decides to say ‘F peace!’ and starts burning shit."

● Wrong. Daenerys has a council made up of both rich and poor whom she always takes into account when making a decision. This is a girl who let a man spit on her in court and merely had him removed from the temple. A boy lunged at her to attack her and again, only had him removed. She plants trees and beans, has irrigation canals built, and she DOES pay her men to work until the gold runs dry, she then pays them with food and shelter. They have a choice, it is not slavery, and her freedmen STILL love her despite the hardship as seen in Tyrion's Winds chapter. They are crying out for her to come back and smash the slavers once again. She trapped herself an an unhappy marriage and locked up her dragons in the name of peace. She learned her lesson from Astapor, that's the entire reason she stays in Meeren, it's not like she kept on doing the same thing after, she refuses, and Astapor haunts her throughout her chapters. Nowhere in book 5 does Dany start burning stuff down because "eff peace" NOWHERE. I read her chapters all the time, that is false.

"Dany had red flags(and she had plenty)? Book! Dany is worse. She has no qualms whatsoever with slaves being rounded up en masse because it’s Drogo doing it with the intent of earning her Westeros. She’s willing to let starving slaves sell themselves back into slavery as long as she gets a cut from the earnings."

● This is just blatantly false. Unlike the show, the reason Drogo's Khalasar attacked the Lhazareen was because ANOTHER KHAL was attacking them first, Drogo surprise attacked him to gain more respect and steal his victory. The moment Dany realized all of the terrible things happening she tried to convince herself to ignore it for all of 30 seconds before putting a stop to it. Her power was dependent on Drogo, she was nothing to the Khalasar without him, so she had to work within his power to protect the women she saved. Also, the slaves were not starving, Meereen had freshly fallen and the slaves who wanted to sell themselves back into slavery were "gently born" bed slaves, scribes, and teachers, who saw a better life that way. She freed them to give them choice, she was not going to force them to remain in Meereen knowing that war was coming. Also, it was Missandei, a former slave, who suggested taxing the slavery to deincentivize it and Daenerys put that right back into Meereen's economy. She never pockets any gold, her goal in Meereen is rebuilding.

"She has a wineseller’s daughters tortured before the man’s eyes because someone murdered two of her Unsullied in his wine shop: nothing ever comes out of it. Oh, and she’s doing it because one of her favorite slaves is murdered… on the other side of the city. She’s willing to impress the slaves she supposedly liberated into working for food and water in her public works projects, and somehow not see that literally is slavery."

● Daenerys approved the use of torture *once* in the series because 9 people, including an outspoken leader of the Yunkish freedmen, were murdered in a single night. She wasn't a "favorite slave" she was a leader on Dany's council. There had been many more murders before that and they had no leads. Torture falls within the accepted values of society in ASOIAF; Crow cages for villages (Catelyn wanted Theon in one), Ice Cells for the Night's Watch (also Qhorin Halfhand tortured a wildling to death), Sky Cells and an abusive inkeep for The Vale, the Black Cells and torturers for King's Landing, I could go on. Stannis tortures Theon and lets people be burned alive, The Manderlys have a torturer named Garth, the Faith utilize torture for information, even King Jaehaerys the Conciliator used torture to get information. And above all of what I just listed, Daenerys is the first and only leader in the books to openly condemn and ban the use of torture afterward. She recognizes that it is useless and cruel. Again, she paid them wages until she was besieged and the gold ran out, she pays them with what she has. She DOES NOT force anyone to work, you're using the exact argument that Xaro, an unrepentant slaver who compared slavery to rain, tried to use to convince Dany to allow slavery again. I think you're missing the point. Her freedmen still love her and want her to rule despite the hardship, NO ONE is calling Dany a slaver in the books, not even the people who hate her. They all hate her because she is a liberator.

"Hell, her whole ‘kill a city of innocents’ schtick? She’s already done that in the books. When ordering her brand new Unsullied to sack Astapor, she ordered them:

“Slay the Good Masters, slay the soldiers, slay every man who wears a tokar or holds a whip, but harm no child under twelve, and strike the chains off every slave you see.”

A tokar is a clothing that in Astapor is uniquely worn only by the freeborn. You claim show! Daenerys went batshit: her book counterpart effectively ordered an army to kill every man in a city that wasn’t a slave or wasn’t dirt poor or a hard laborer, irrespective of whether they actually owned slaves, including children above the age of twelve, and those under that age unlucky enough to look a bit old for their age."

● A tokar can ONLY be worn by slavers. Know why? Because it takes your hands to hold it in place, only people who do not use their hands because they have slaves to do everything for them can wear it. It is the symbol of a slaver. Also, "harm no child under 12" DOES NOT mean "kill everyone over 12". In her society, a boy is considered a man at 14, they begin training with sword and shield long before that. Doubtless, young boys would try to fight the Unsullied, but she didn't want them harmed so she gave a rough age of accountability on the spot. I feel like people intentionally misread this to villainize Dany even though the entire reason she wanted to free the Unsullied was to save children from torture. She is constantly contemplating her want and love for children, you have to think about these scenes in the context of her character, Dany would never want children to be slaughtered. However, I think the most important thing to acknowledge when it comes to Astapor was that Dany learned her lesson and decided to take the next city without laying a hand on them, then stayed to rule in Meereen to stabilize it.

There is no meticulously built up madness arc, at all. The point of George's key 5 are that they are the underdogs of society who defy the expectations of their world at every turn, and even though some are hated, they will be the ones to rise up and save the world from the Long Night. George is not pessimistic, he's not centrist, and he certainly believes in righteous war. At its heart, ASOIAF is still a fantasy series, George just doesn't brush over the hardships and ugly truths like most fantasy novels do. Most of your evidence is easily disproven by the text, I'll whip out book quotes if you want me to.

[makknays]

connection: severed

a/n: totally don’t just write about my own life as an outlet this is part 1; i wrote it a while ago and i need to figure out where i want this to go...

word count: 1.7k

genre: angst??? idk??? 

Jungkook and you had crossed paths before, just over a year ago to be precise. The two of you had matched on a dating app, not looking for anything more than attention and validation from a stranger, but ended up taking a liking to each other. Everything was going smoothly for 6 months but then both of your destructive tendencies got in the way; he stopped communicating what was wrong and you acted with your emotions instead of your brain. You hurt each other and the trust you had had now disappeared. You both had decided that it was best to stop talking to each other for a while to figure out everything you wanted and needed from each other.

In Jungkook’s defence, he had told you he wasn’t ready to be in a relationship with anyone. You had no idea why he did what he did though. Why he treated you like you were his entire world? He said that he still wanted to be friends, but you knew that was just him being polite. You knew your friends were right about him, but you didn’t want to believe it. He took your heart and tore it into pieces, yet his hoodie was still hanging in your closet after all this time. Every so often your mind would wander back to the time when he loved you back, even though he never said he did, it was evident in his actions that he did. He was always available when you were, always ready to buy you food or offer you clothes when you were cold. 

He could never see you in the state that you were in when you first tried to get over him; you hadn’t left your apartment weeks, barely making it to lectures and classes. Your friends had come around a few times to make sure that you were alive, but even they stopped checking up on you. You weren’t in the state that you were in because of him, no, you were that way because life had become a mess ever since you met him and everything had come crashing down. You no longer knew what to do and where you were going with life; you had lost yourself when you lost him and now you were left to find that girl again

Now here you were a year later, standing across from him at a college party. It was a Friday night, you’d had a long week and wanted to let steam off, so you agreed to join your friend at some party that was supposedly a big deal. He looked just as good as ever and you quietly took in all his features before quickly turning away when he noticed you. “Bea, he fucking saw me; I need to go somewhere else.” “Oh, c’mon ___, it’s been like a year, just talk to him. It’s not like you still have feelings for him, right?” “That’s not funny.” “He’s coming over now, go!” “Bea!” you shouted, but she had already left you to go talk to someone she’d probably hook up with later, at least someone was gonna get some.

“Hi stranger.” “Uh, hey, what’s up?” you plainly spoke, God, you wanted to get out of this conversation but no matter where you looked you couldn’t find an exit cue. “Already trying to find a way to avoid me?” he chuckled and you couldn’t help but notice the way he still looked down when he did. “No, it’s not that at all! I’m just, uh, wondering where my friends are.” “Sure, you don’t have to lie to me.” “I’m sorry,” you sighed “It’s just, I wasn’t really expecting to see you here, or anywhere really.” “How could you not when we go to the same college?” he laughed, you always loved his laugh, the sound of it could light up the whole world. “I don’t know, I guess, I just. I guess I just didn’t want to.” you shrugged, looking away from him, trying your hardest to avoid any eye contact. “Hey, how about we go outside and have a real conversation? Wouldn’t that be better?” he asked before holding his hand out for you; you stared at it and then at him, before sighing and grabbing it. You followed his lead into the garden and sat in the corner, away from all the noise.

“So…” “So…” “How have you been, ___?” “Uh, good, yeah. You?” “Good.” he nodded, looking away and realising just how awkward the two of you had become. “Remember when things were good between us?” he softly smiled. “Yeah, how could I forget? That was the healthiest thing I’ve had in a while.” “Did you date anyone after?” “No, didn’t really want to. You?” “Eh, kinda, but realised I didn’t want to either.” The two of you sat in silence for a moment afterwards, both thinking about how it all went wrong. “Do you want to try again?” he suddenly asked. “Jungkook, you know I can’t answer that.” “Sorry, it was a stupid question.” “Jungkook, that’s not what I mean. I just think we hurt each other a lot.” “No, it’s okay. I get it.” “How about, uh, you and I hang out sometime? Let’s catch up properly.” “Sure, are you free tomorrow?”

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“Hey, I hope it wasn’t too hard for you to get here; this is one of my favourite cafes ever.” you smiled when Jungkook approached you. “No, no, it was pretty easy actually. I don’t live too far from here. What’s so amazing about it?” “Let’s go in and I can show you.” Jungkook opened the door to the cafe, signalling for you to walk in before him and followed after you. “This is why.” you smiled, pointing at the display of cakes they had on show, as soon as you entered the cafe. Jungkook took a moment to take in the display and the rest of the cafe’s pink and natural aesthetic; there were plants in every corner and even a cat wandering around, asking for pets from customers. “I can see why this place would be your favourite, it feels very you.” he smiled, looking back at you. “Thank you, let’s order and find a seat.”

“So...how’s college going?” you asked as the two of you sat by the window. “You know, it’s okay. Kinda boring, kinda stressful, at least I’ve got baseball though. You?” “Oh yeah, I forgot you were on the team. Same for me though, you know, stressful.” you chuckled, awkwardly tucking a piece of your hair behind your right ear. “So…” “Yup…” “What are your plans for later?” “Oh, um, just hanging out with Bea, you remember her, right?” “Is she the one you live with that dated that really weird guy on the swim team?” “Yup, that’s her. I’m surprised you don’t remember her as the girl who split wine down your favourite shirt, you know, after we, uh, stopped talking.” “Oh yeah...no hard feelings.” he awkwardly chuckled. The two of you had grown a lot more distant than you had even realised and you were now wondering if being here was even worth it; was there even anything you could fix?

“I missed you, ____.” “Jungkook.” “No, hear me out.” you could feel yourself holding your breath, worried about the sudden confession. Who was he to miss you? Especially after what he put you through. You were over it, but you never received an apology and you were just disappointed that he ever did all the things that he did. “I blamed you for so much and I’m so sorry. I never admitted anything was my fault. I didn’t think it was, but looking back, I can see how my behaviour triggered your reactions. I’m sorry I lied to you, I know, it doesn’t take back anything I did or said, but I want to work on getting you to trust me again. You were my everything, ___. I was just as scared as you were, but I didn’t want to show you and I let us grow apart instead. I hate that I didn’t try to fight for us the way you did; I just gave up. I regret it so much, ___. I miss having you in my life. You are such a radiant light and your personality was so addictive; I couldn’t get enough and I find myself missing the girl that would cheer me on and woke me up to good morning texts and photos of her smiling before class.” “Jungkook.” “It’s a lot, I know.” 

“Jungkook. I’m gonna need some time to think about everything you said.” “That’s okay. Hopefully, not a year.” he chuckled, trying to keep things lighthearted. “I was really hurt when you didn’t fight for us. I was hurt when you gave up and allowed your feelings to disappear. I felt like I didn’t know who you were and the person I was talking to didn’t exist. You put me through a lot.” “I’m sorry, that’s all I can say. I want to show you that I’ve changed though.” “Just give me some time to figure stuff out, okay?”

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“He said what?” “Bea, chill out.” “I can’t believe him, after everything he put you through he’s basically asking to come back into your life like it didn’t happen?” “Bea has a point. ___, your heart is too big sometimes.” Daisy, the third part of your trio, stated. “Daisy, this wouldn’t even have happened if Bea protected me at the party but she left me to talk to him.” “Bea...” “I’m sorry! I thought he was just gonna ask her to fuck or something, you know, something she can defend!” “It doesn’t matter guys! What’s done is done. Now do I give him a chance? Maybe, as a friend? I don’t want to exactly date him anymore...those feelings are gone.” “Are they really?” Daisy teased, knowingly. “For the most part.” you pouted, dragging out ‘part’. “Okay, I got it! Don’t speak to him!” Bea said, she was being serious. “Bea, you know that won’t happen. Especially with how impulsive ___ is with these things.” “Ugh, you’re right. Okay, just be friendly? Tell him this is purely friendship.” “Yeah, that’s a good start...” Daisy laughed. 

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[11.11pm] you: hey, ive had a chance to think about what you said

[11.14pm] jungkook: oh? 

[11.15pm] you: i think it’s best for both of us if we’re just friends for now, but id like to rebuild that trust we had :)

[11.17pm] jungkook: well, thats better than not having you around :)

[11.19pm] you: are you gonna come to jimins party this saturday ?

[11.20pm] jungkook: would hate to miss it