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raayllum · 10 months

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Now, don't get me wrong, by all accounts, Rayla isn't a particularly 'good' assassin. She fails to follow mission orders when she's actually given them (1x01, 1x02) and outright defies them (1x03). A lot of this is because of her own sense of morality and compassion, which is exactly what Runaan criticizes her for and what Ethari worried about.

R: Your heart isn't hard enough to do whatever it takes.

E: I told Runaan you were too good hearted for the work of an assassin, so I know you did not betray them out of malice.

However...

There is still a reason that Runaan thought she would be a good assassin. Part of that is because he's a lot like Claudia, his love for his family obscuring a more objective reality. The other part is that, other than her 'too soft' heart, Rayla has what she needs to be an assassin in terms of the skill set (her blades were at Marcos' throat) and because she doesn't always listen to said 'soft heart'. In fact, she often tries very very hard not to (see a lot of early S1 in particular).

“Of course. For…” she chewed her lip and counted on her fingers. “Hrm, maybe fifteen years now. Anyway, you can call me Redfeather.” [...] Rayla felt her heart turn soft in her chest in just the way she hated. She wanted to know more, had to know more. “What did you do?”

Now, we see that in S4 Rayla is a lot better at well, not listening to that soft squishy part of herself, and that Soren was less good at appealing to her about it than Ezran. Some of this is probably because he pivoted away from the dragon and went after it from an identity standpoint — which, not only does Rayla have a pretty malleable sense of self in her own head, she does not believe that any part of whatever identity is there is particularly good / does not think she's a 'Good' person quote unquote — but this was absolutely doomed to fail post-return. Spending two years alone, trying to singularly hunt down a man and murder him, and knowing all the while that you hurt the people you love the most and have nothing to show for it... Yeah, no one's gonna be in the best head space for that, or be overly inclined to trust their own judgement or capacity to save people.

Like most characters in the show, Rayla struggles with always knowing what the right thing to do is, and what served her well in the past — trusting her gut, taking on things alone, laying herself down in the line of fire, removing her hesitation, and going to save Phyrrah in 2x07 — may not always serve her well in every scenario. She thought she was right to do all the same things when she went after Viren, didn't she? So she errs on the side of inaction, of not wanting to make another mistake by acting with her heart rather her head (again), and inadvertently waltzes into another mistake (Soren being captured and going missing).

Rayla will do the right thing, and hate herself for it, and will stubbornly ignore the signs screaming at her when she isn't doing the right thing (and she'll hate herself for that, too.)

[ Sidenote: bonus post about how Arc 2 increasingly treats more and more character traits and decisions as circumstantial rather than inherently good or bad ]

As she says to Ezran:

R: I let him go. I don't know why. E: Because you felt for him. R: But he was a human — my enemy! E: Yeah, but then you saw he was scared. And you knew he was a person, just like you. R: That shouldn't have mattered. I had a job to do.

I think we can read this in two ways. The first is that to be an assassin, you have to be able to dehumanize others on a fundamental level because you're 1) murdering strangers 2) on someone else's orders. Although Runaan preaches about balance in Bloodmoon Huntress (when you kill someone, you remove their capacity for love and change) we have all of Arc 1 talking about why that mindset is flawed and isn't good enough, especially because it culminates in Harrow's death when he still had plenty of things to love, like his children, and so much he wanted to change, and it would've led to Ezran's death as well. This is one of the reasons why assassination and dark magic, conceptually, often go hand in hand for the characters and their explorations of personhood and the right thing to do, etc etc.

The second way is that Rayla, by ignoring her own wants and personhood — her own heart — is also dehumanizing herself. It shouldn't matter that she's a person with wants and weaknesses; she had a job to do. We see this reflected in a lot of her behaviour ("Don't worry about my hand. The egg is all that matters now" —> "It's agonizing. But I know our mission comes first: the world is in danger, and you can trust me to stay focused") and in Runaan's / Moonshadow elves infamous "I am already dead" thing.

(There is also the factor that, because her and Callum mutually informed the construction of each other's new senses of identity to an absurd degree, if Callum doesn't want her then she doesn't know / doesn't have a firm footing on who she is anymore without him, but that's a codependent post for another day.)

All of this is a very long winded way of saying there, much like Viren and Claudia, are two consistently contradicting aspects to Rayla's personality that she is catapulting between, and the Assassin Rayla and Protector Rayla are, as of S5, still equal parts of her as she finds her way. Both have good and bad qualities of her, even if the Assassin Rayla side is — let's say more negative — and far more worrisome given what Callum has asked her to do if he is possessed again, and how it seems like S6 will be going full steam ahead in exploring that plotline.

In a lot of ways, Assassin Rayla and Protector Rayla have the exact same set of traits — selfless, protective, strong, willing to sever close bonds or divert from the mission to do the Right Thing — but instead describe the circumstances she's making those choices in. Protector Rayla is the one who stands against Runaan on the battlements; Assassin Rayla is the one who refuses to prioritize her parents even when she absolutely could (or at least, more than she is).

Assassin Rayla causes her to forget her own needs and put the world above everything else. Assassin Rayla causes her to ignore other people's needs, either not helping them (although iirc 4x05 is the only real example of it) or by leaving / keeping secrets.

The part of her we don't want her to listen to, the part she listens to when she's Scared — the one that walks away from the drake in 4x05, that tries to walk away in 1x09, and what led to her leaving, in a lot of ways, in TTM (both out of love, trauma, and a desperate need for control) — and how S4 reaffirms those qualities is precisely what may lead her to hurting Callum (again) in S6.

Because Callum is asking her to become an Assassin, Aaravos marks her as a failed one, and Rayla still — deep down — wants to ultimately be a Protector. We'll just have to see what side she answers to (and why).

More thoughts on Rayla, identity, and murder to follow lmao

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dimiclaudeblaigan · 7 months

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Are people who think Shinon is racist but still like him safe from your wrath? :0 I do not wish to be smitten by the wrath of JD!

Of course! The difference is that the plain ol' haters are the ones who see nothing but "he's racist". They don't consider all the other aspect of him and don't care to. He IS racist, and primarily at the beginning of PoR. My issue is when people refuse to acknowledge he gets better about it even if he's never perfect about it.

There are people who won't even acknowledge his development and act like he's nothing but a racist jerk with zero actual character or consider why he acts like an asshole. I see comments like "he's just a racist asshole" and that's extremely misleading for anyone getting into these games not already knowing who he is. It paints a certain expectation over him that people are more likely to feed into because it's the first thing they heard, which is also super unfortunate that people don't think for themselves, but sadly as we know, media literacy is dead... and with Shinon, it always has been.

I've known people who don't like him but are able to recognize that "he's racist" is not the only trait he has. Soren is racist too, but imagine if I went around saying it's the only trait he has aside from being an asshole? Because frankly, yes, Soren is a racist asshole. I love him and he's one of my favorites in Tellius, but Soren is inarguably worse about it than Shinon is because he only tries to be more polite toward laguz for someone else (i.e. Ike, not even a laguz) rather than getting better through his own relationships with laguz or just in general growing as a person.

And look how beloved he is by the fandom. The same fandom that will smite Shinon for the same issue. And you know why? Because he doesn't like Ike. Because he's not queer coded enough. Because he's not the "gay twink" in love with another male. Soren only gets past it and people overlook it because he's mlm representation, whereas Shinon's mlm representation needs a magnifier (and even then he's not a standard macho straight man in any regard).

Soren gets away with it and gets away with actually having almost attacked Mordecai (not even Lethe, and even I was pissed off by Lethe in that scene lol but no way in hell could ever condone attacking Mordecai). Shinon doesn't... ever actually raise a weapon to his allies. Him and Janaff quite mutually threaten to whack each other and then both stand down.

Shinon and Janaff are extremely similar, including that Janaff was and still kind of is racist at that time in PoR, but since he's a laguz and racist toward the big bad humans, he gets away with it (same reason Reyson, Tibarn and Ulki never get called out for it in the fandom! And because they're uwu cool characters "who got better". Yeah, you know what I'm about to say to that).

My problem is when people just look at him and reduce him to a horrible trait and refuse to acknowledge he's... really not that bad, because a really bad person would not want to get better. They would not want to acknowledge they're wrong in any capacity. Shinon struggles, but he improves. His racism is based on ignorance (and from not meeting a laguz properly prior and not having laguz allies), and once that ignorance is proven wrong, he starts to get better (and that's why I clamor on and on about how important his supports with Janaff are).

Most people who leave hateful comments abt him (especially in tags about him) are the ones who base his entire character on racism alone and nothing else. If you did that to the gay twink Soren, the fandom would beat you down for it and probably call you homophobic to boot!

Also, a bit of a side tangent, but...

I also hate the Bitch Ass Stupid meme of Claude and Shinon, with the whole CEO of ending racism and CEO of racism, because actually no, I think they'd have very interesting interactions. I think Claude would want to understand where this perception comes from and work to improve it, because Shinon is very loving and very much a protector parent type (between both Rolf and the GMs as a whole).

To see someone like that have so much hate for a race he doesn't even know or understand would probably be confusing to Claude and even be personal to him. I think he'd want to understand the problem and try to help improve it both for the laguz and for Shinon. I do not at all think he'd hate Shinon if he actually knew Shinon. I think he'd see an ally in him who could be even more amazing if he could get past those bad habits and that ignorance.

Claude's whole character arc is to try to get good people to understand other races, not to hate those people and turn them away (or he would've left Fodlan a long time ago when he realized how fucking racist Leicester as a whole was, regardless of "whose fault" it is, which is another discussion in itself). I think the two of them would have a lot to talk about and a lot of introspection together.

So yeah, tl;dr, if you recognize Shinon is written as a person with flaws and not just one bad trait while willfully ignoring every single blatant positive aspect of him, you're fine lol. It's the people who purposely wall themselves off from seeing anything else about his character and hating him not for who he is, but because of one single trait that plenty of other characters either exhibit at some point in the story (Naesala is a big one, but he's another fandom beloved so he gets away with it, and he's not a big bad human), with one of them being Soren himself.

And yes, I recognize Soren has trauma. That's another discussion for another post, but fact is, even despite knowing good people and knowing Ike's perception, he does not in fact ever get that much better. Shinon gets past him in that regard if you've seen all his content, which I've written about in depth. Soren uses the term "laguz" for Ike's sake, because need I remind you, he refers to them as "sub-humans" before Ike actually knows about them. He does not bother correcting Shinon in the forest in chapter six because he does not want to - because he agrees with it (he refers to them as laguz one time in that conv iirc as the "it's the more neutral/proper term", but not as the "this is my preference" term). He only begins to correct himself when Ike gets pissed off at him. That's not growth - that's a selfish and personal reason to do it and one he felt forced to have to do to keep Ike happy and not angry at him.

And would you look at that, Soren has an entire character outside of that.

Well I'll be.

GUESS SHINON MUST TOO.

tl;dr you're safe bby.

I'm not even read more-ing this. For reasons you all already know.

#DCB Ask #reneethegreatandpowerful #also you can refer to me as Shi now bc that is actually what I go by!#and yes that nickname came off my actual nickname for Shinon... and I am the triumph emoji about it

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fandomsandflyingstingrays · 2 years

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I wanted so badly to do a fic for all of the wonderful prompts of @dragonprinceweek but didn’t quite get there. Still, I offer a quick story for Day 7: Flying Lesson!

Most of the time, Callum had trouble imagining Zym as a king. Sure, he had magic, and flight, and a regal sort of look to him, but his teeth were tiny and his wings were tiny and his magic, at the moment, consisted of little zaps that did nothing more than make your hair stand on end. However, there was one kingly quality in the baby dragon Callum could no longer deny: he was unquestionably and unendingly stubborn.

Every morning, tired of tossing and turning in the suite he now had all to himself, Callum had come up to the walls of the castle to watch the horizon— and every morning, no matter which corner of the castle he emerged from, the baby dragon had been waiting for him, cocking his head and flapping his wings with all the impassioned determination Callum could recall from his stepfather’s speeches. It was sort of admirable. Also: extremely irritating.

Every day, Callum had waved him off with the same words: maybe tomorrow. He opened his mouth to say them again as Zym grabbed the edge of his tunic, pulling him towards the edge of the wall, only to snap it shut again. If Zym hadn’t realized those words were a lie by now, he would today. There was no maybe tomorrow— tomorrow, Zym and Zubeia were returning to Xadia.

Callum heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry, buddy. I just… I don’t think I can anymore.”

Zym let go of his tunic and cocked his head, confused. Understandably so. Zym didn’t have wings that relied on willpower or incantations. Zym didn’t understand why Callum had stopped coming with him on the flights they used to take together whenever one or the other couldn’t sleep, whenever they needed an hour of freedom from the responsibilities of the High Mage and the dragon prince. As annoying as the pestering had been, it wasn’t Zym’s fault. He didn’t know any better.

Maybe Callum owed him an explanation.

“Look,” he said, sliding down the wall, his back against the hard stone. “I’m sure you’ve noticed you haven’t seen Rayla around.”

Zym sat back on his haunches and nodded.

“Well. The first time I managed to turn these—“ he pulled up his sleeves, gesturing to the now-permanent tattoos on his arm— “into wings, it was because of her. Because—“

Because I love you, Rayla, his own voice, a little younger, so much happier, echoed in his mind.

“Because I cared about her so much, I was willing to take the leap. I was willing to do anything to keep her safe, keep her with me. So all the fear I had, all the doubt, it was buried under that feeling. But now it’s back, and all I can think when I try the spell is about how I never would have been able to do it without her, how much I miss her, and I get swallowed by all that fear and doubt.” Callum shrugged. “It’s just the way it is.”

He didn’t know how much of that Zym understood, but it seemed to be enough, as he made a sad, low sound in his throat and rested his head on Callum’s lap. Callum leaned his own head back against the wall, closing his eyes.

“I don’t think that’s true.”

Callum startled, smacking his head on the stones as his eyes snapped open. “What’s not true?” He asked Ezran, trying to keep his voice even as he rubbed his scalp.

“That you learned the spell because of Rayla.” Ezran closed the tower door behind him and came to crouch beside Callum and Zym. “If it had been me dropping from the Storm Spire, or Soren, or Zym— not that he would, because he can fly, but if he couldn’t for some reason— you would have done the same thing. You didn’t learn to fly because you loved Rayla. You just learned to fly because you loved. Because your capacity for love is bigger than your capacity for fear.”

Callum blinked at his little brother. When had he started like talking like such a king? Had he always spoken this well and Callum had just never thought to notice it?

“Maybe,” he said. “But I’m starting to think that wasn’t such a good thing. It’s because I love Rayla so much that I can’t fly now. That it hurts so much every time I try.”

“I’m not trying to say it’s not painful,” Ezran began. “But… you love Zym too, right? Not in the same way, and maybe not as much, but—”

“Of course I do.”

“Then fly for him,” Ezran said simply. “What you feel for Rayla, that’ll always be a part of you, I think. But you’re still a whole person without her. You’re still a mage, and a brother, and a friend. Losing Rayla has hurt you enough. Do you really want to lose this incredible part of your magic, too? Do you really want to lose this time with Zym?”

The answer was obviously no. Callum wanted to fly, for himself. For his brother. For Zym. He just wasn’t sure if he could see past the pain to find the will to do it.

But he wanted to.

So wasn’t it worth a try?

“Manus,” he said, standing up. “Pluma. Volantis.”

Ezran stood, too, folding his arms. “You weren’t even trying,” he said.

Callum took a deep breath. “Manus. Pluma! Volantis!”

“Come on, Callum.” Ezran framed Zym’s cheeks in his hands. “Look at this face.”

Zym made puppy dog eyes so wide and sparkling Callum laughed in spite of himself. He looked from Zym to Ezran, both of them looking at him with so much hope, both of them lighting up just to hear him laugh. They still saw a whole person. A mage, a brother, a friend. Brokenhearted, but still whole. Still powerful.

“Manus! Pluma! Volantis!”

Energy shot through Callum’s arms and hands as rich brown feathers spring from them, growing and spreading until they no longer covered arms and hands but enormous, powerful wings.

Zym let out a gleeful yip and leapt off the wall, flapping in the air as he waited for Callum to join him. Laughing delightedly, Ezran gently pushed him towards the edge. “Go on!”

Callum sucked in a deep breath and leapt after Zym, wind rushing through his feathers and hair as he cut easily through the air. It hurt, in his skull and his stomach and deep in his chest, to know the person who had taught him this magic was beyond his reach. It ached in every part of him to wonder if he would always fly without her.

But he flew anyway.

#the dragon prince #tdp #tdpgenweek2023 #tdp callum #tdp zym #tdp ezran #tdp rayla #rayllum #ray rambles

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sorenthestoryteller · 4 years

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February 8th, 2021 – In Which Soren Runs a Fever and Decides Now is a Great Time as Any to Start Kicking Over Money Changer Tables Being Operated by Arm Band Wearing Elephants

“what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

You have made them

a little lower than the angels

and crowned them

with glory and honor.”

-Psalm 8:4-5

In Milton’s “Paradise Lost” everything you need to know about the fall of Lucifer is summed up in the quote, “It is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.”

Over the years I have had many conversations about the Fall in general and in specific with Lucifer being the instigator of this whole mess. C.S. Lewis, Frank Peretti, and a few other names that slip my mind have helped to formulate some thoughts on the nature of darkness and evil, but the chief characteristic of Evil and Heresy is Pride.

I truthfully cannot grasp the level on which angels operate. Beings of pure spirit and intellect that are not limited by having to use physical processing powers. My best guess is that their thoughts, recall, and experiences are all hyper-aware.

What do you think the angels thought of God’s plan for creating something beyond them? Creatures that were weaker than angels yet somehow deemed worthy of love, honor, and glory?

After Adam and Eve are created what do the angels see? Furless monkeys with no tails that make noises when you talk to them. Maybe in Lucifer’s mind, he thought Jesus just made a bunch of pets he could train to pick up tools and make things.

I cannot imagine the response of these beings when the Trinity keeps going on with creation and take the time to create this bizarre mixture of spirit and animal. Lewis’ “Screwtape Letters” has the title demon refer to us humans as being amphibians:

“Humans are amphibians...half spirit and half animal...as spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time, means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation--the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks.”

- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Those who have the misfortune to sit under my teaching for too long will recall that I often refer to the human experience as being a series of paradoxes. This quote from C.S. Lewis is the root of that claim. We exist in two realms at the same time, which is of course a paradox in and of itself. In a sense we are all Schrödinger’s Cat, waiting for the transition of the box being opened and our reality being redefined by what the Eternal is and is not.

Bearing in mind how much nonsense and insanity is produced by even the most well-meaning humans among us, multiple that by a few billion, and that is a typical day for God.

Infinite as the Trinity is, I cannot grasp the love it takes to take care of me, much less the capacity to feel an emotion and intimately know the name of billions of humans going through various stages of pain, elation, terror, love, and wonder.

That experience, that Loving Madness of our Lord is what drove Lucifer to the point of rage and quitting. Was it first child syndrome, a group of angels being angry that God continued creating after making a series of intricate and beautiful beings so intense Scripture often calls them stars (you know those giant glowy things in the night sky we take for granted? That are an endless series of self-perpetuating nuclear explosions? Those are the angel metaphors.)?

If humans were the ones creating, we never would have created ourselves, we would have been content with making beings of a spiritual nature and creatures to inhabit the earth.

However, the Trinity rolled up their collective sleeves and said to the archangels, “Hey fellas, checks this out.”

And what does that mean?

What does it mean to be created to be just a little lower than the angels?

What does it mean to be found worthy by God? To be chosen to be His sons and daughters? For God to decide each of us is worthy of love not because we could perform or do something, but because we simply are?

“You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve," said Aslan. "And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”

― C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian

At this point I would like to bring this to the practical and meaningful point, there is much sickness in how we hate and isolate others by naming and grouping people as “sinners”. Fellow miracles of life, beings who are as equally of a mad paradox as us, and somehow we think we have the right to judge them.

This is pride, this is the root sin of Lucifer, and it is the cause of most of our current misery and the threat of a revised version of Nazism becoming ever more popular here in America.

For too long people in the Church have existed on this prideful notion that to be Christian means to live in judgment of those we deem our inferiors. Jesus does not care about our fake attempts at piety when it comes to extending love to those who are broken. Jesus is not concerned with how noble we think we are when we hold our nose and associate with those, we later judge and murder with our thoughts.

Evangelicalism is on the verge of plunging to its death and we who chose to be judgmental in Jesus’ name due to politics are the ones who have done this. We brought the entirety of this church culture to the altar of conservative politicians and sacrificed it to receive Donald Trump.

Evangelicals will never be able to remove the disgusting stain of the association of Trump and the horrific human rights abuses of the Republican party.

Why is this such an important point?

Because the people the Church is supposed to deliberately minister to are hated and despised by those who have conservative politics. It is a prideful human who decides those who are addicted to drugs, those who are disabled, and the poor are all worthless. It is their politics that dictate a person’s value is whatever they can contribute to further capitalism. Whatever is not explicitly stated in the Republican party is sure as Hellfire lived out in action.

That action says those who look different, speak a different language, have a different culture, and have a different religion are subhuman.

The only thing Christians should not tolerate is intolerance.

If we are not willing to open our arms to all of those, we deem unworthy of Love, then we are not Christians. Instead, we merely belong to a social club that likes to get together to talk about how great we are while judging those we think lesser of.

Like Lucifer did.

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sandeepmaheshwaritips-blog · 4 years

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Best Motivational Quotes to Overcome Anxiety and Depression

Moving statements and motivational quotes to overcome anxiety and depression have a stunning capacity to change the manner in which we feel about existence. This is the reason I find them so intriguing and significant on our ways to progress.

So what's their mystery?

The manner in which you contemplate yourself, including your convictions and assumptions regarding what is workable for you, decides everything that transpires.

To be successful, you have to use each day as an opportunity to grow, to find purpose in life, to be better, to get a little bit closer to your goals. It might sound like an impossible thing or a lot of work—and with a busy schedule, next to impractical. But the best part is, the more you get the results, the more you’ll want to work hard, the higher you’ll want to reach. So as long as you have the hunger for success, you will always have the power within you to achieve it.

You have full oversight over just a single thing known to mankind — your reasoning – and that is the place inspirational statements come in!

Everybody needs a little motivation now and again.

Regardless of whether you're experiencing a separation, you've recently lost your employment, or you just woke up feeling a little shaky toward the beginning of today—we've all had nowadays.

I've assembled a rundown of probably the best-overcome anxiety and depression quotes so you can begin the year by assuming responsibility for your considerations, thinking emphatically and defining new objectives.

Dont Forget to read the best Dalai Lama Quotes and Sayings to bring a positive change in your life.

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Suess

Motivational and Inspirational Quotes

“I think being in love with life is a key to eternal youth.” —Doug Hutchison

"I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.” – Abraham Lincoln

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” — Dalai Lama

“Feelings don’t try to kill you, even the painful ones. Anxiety is a feeling grown too large. A feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You’re responsible for its consequences, you’re responsible for treating it. But…you’re not responsible for causing it. You’re not morally at fault for it. No more than you would be for a tumor.” ― Patrick Ness, The Rest of Us Just Live Here

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” — Stephen King

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” — Mae West

“Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.” — Seneca

“If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“How can a person deal with anxiety? You might try what one fellow did. He worried so much that he decided to hire someone to do his worrying for him. He found a man who agreed to be his hired worrier for a salary of $200,000 per year. After the man accepted the job, his first question to his boss was, “Where are you going to get $200,000 per year?” To which the man responded, “That’s your worry.” ― Max Lucado

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” —Dolly Parton

“Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as you can.” — Hillary Clinton

“Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something.” — Ashton Kutcher

“Everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to do the work. I live by that. You grind hard so you can play hard. At the end of the day, you put all the work in, and eventually it’ll pay off. It could be in a year, it could be in 30 years. Eventually, your hard work will pay off.” — Kevin Hart

“Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.” — Kobe Bryant

“I like criticism. It makes you strong.” — LeBron James

“You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak.” ― George Clooney

“Life imposes things on you that you can’t control, but you still have the choice of how you’re going to live through this.” — Celine Dion

“Life is never easy. There is work to be done and obligations to be met – obligations to truth, to justice, and to liberty.” — John F. Kennedy

“Live for each second without hesitation.” — Elton John

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein

“Life is really simple, but men insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius

“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” — Helen Keller

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” — Steve Jobs

“My mama always said, life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” — Forrest Gump

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”— Lao-Tze

“When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life or the life of another.” — Helen Keller

“The healthiest response to life is joy.” — Deepak Chopra

“Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.” — Lillian Dickson

“The best portion of a good man’s life is his little nameless, unencumbered acts of kindness and of love.” — Wordsworth

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” ― Robert Frost

“Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” — Charles Swindoll

“Keep calm and carry on.” — Winston Churchill

“Maybe that’s what life is… a wink of the eye and winking stars.” — Jack Kerouac

“Life is a flower of which love is the honey.” — Victor Hugo

“Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” — Marilyn Monroe

“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.” — Buddha

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” — Dr. Seuss

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” — Mark Twain

“Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” — Stephen Hawking

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The greatest pleasure of life is love.” — Euripides

“Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” — Grandma Moses

“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” — Benjamin Franklin

“Life is about making an impact, not making an income.” — Kevin Kruse

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth

“I’ve spent most of my life and most of my friendships holding my breath and hoping that when people get close enough they won’t leave, and fearing that it’s a matter of time before they figure me out and go.” ― Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown

“The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.”– Henry Ford

“In order to write about life first you must live it.”– Ernest Hemingway

“The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.”– Frank Sinatra

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”– Thomas A. Edison

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”– Albert Einstein

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”– Babe Ruth

“Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.” — Will Smith

“Sing like no one’s listening, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching, and live like it’s heaven on earth.” – (Attributed to various sources)

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” – Leo Burnett

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”– Soren Kierkegaard

“To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one’s self…. And to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one’s self.” ― Søren Kierkegaard

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” — Socrates

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey

“The more you pray, the less you’ll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry. You’ll feel more patient and less pressured.” ― Rick Warren, The Purpose of Christmas

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” – Steve Jobs

Thank you for giving your time to read these beautiful inspirational and motivational quotes about anxiety and depression. Stay connected for more.

Source: Best Motivational Quotes to Overcome Anxiety and Depression

#quotes #motivational quotes #inspirational quotes #anxiety quotes #depression quotes

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kuno-chan · 5 years

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Love Amongst the Dragons: Gales of Yesterday - Ch. 3, The Tempest

Summary: In a sentence, Prince Callum doesn't care for dragons. He has his reasons for not being a fan, but the Dragon Ban has expired and now his life is full of them as the Dragon Keep has finished and everyone around him is preoccupied in making sure everything is ready for the Xadians arriving so the dragon rider's training program may succeed. Now, Callum is up to his neck in everything that has to do with dragons as he does his best to satiate some dangerous curiosities, wrestle sorrowful memories and support his stepfather, King Harrow, in this time of redemption.

Rating: G

Please consider reading and reviewing on AO3

The human kingdoms were a strange place. There was very little magic. In fact, there was basically no magic anywhere.

Rayla found it rather bizarre,honestly. She said as much to Runaan.

“Humans were not born with magic,” he told her, concealing a knife in his boot. He instructed her to do the same. This entire diplomatic mission was supposed to be peaceful, but it wasn’t as if the humans were completely trustworthy. Runaan’s chief fear was what might happen if things went wrong; if they suddenly found themselves surrounded by human guards with no way out. They had their dragons, but now, so did the humans. “We can’t expect their lands to have any, either. Otherwise, they would have figured out a way to harness it.”

“They have dark magic,” Rayla said.

“What they call magic. Dark magic is not true magic.”

Rayla nodded. She agreed wholeheartedly.

“Are Luna and Athena secure?” he asked.

“In the stables. They’re resting, I’m sure. It was a pretty long trip for them. Luna was getting a bit cranky after a few days.”

Runaan raised his brows at her in question. “Is Luna secure?”

“... she was when I left her,” Rayla said, grinning nervously. “I swear.”

“And we must keep it that way. Dragons are new for most of these humans and Luna will spook them if she simply shows up.”

“She’ll probably just steal their kitchen utensils.”

“And I imagine they value their kitchen utensils.”

Rayla shrugged, though she shared a knowing smile. “Oh, I suppose. I’ll make sure she knows she can’t play with the whisks around here.”

“Good. Now, come.” Runaan beckoned. “I want you to be there when I speak with the King. You should know how to navigate these situations. Diplomacy is a skill you might learn.”

Rayla followed Runaan to a more private room than she was expecting. It was small, not even half the size of the throne room, more intimately decorated with paintings and items that she assumed the king held dear. A drawing of him and the boy she saw upon arriving at the castle hung on the wall.

“Please, both of you,” King Harrow gestured. “Sit. I appreciate you being available despite how tired you must be.”

Runaan nodded. “It’s what we came to do. We ought to start with a conversation.”

Rayla sat quietly, as ordered, but also impressed. Humans were not Runaan’s favorite people in the entire world. So, when he showed no qualms about leading the diplomatic party into the human kingdoms, Rayla was surprised... and not. On one hand, Runaan didn’t care for humans for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, he would perform his duty without complaint. Without fail.

So, Rayla did as expected, she sat quietly and observed the situation. She even debated sitting or standing in the corner. But she took a seat and Runaan gave her no indication that he disapproved.

“I agree. So, first, let me open with a question: What are your main concerns? I want to address those before we move on to other things. I realize the need for transparency if there is to be any trust between Xadia and Katolis.”

Runaan nodded. “The treaty has expired, but Xadia is concerned about the humans using the dragons solely as war machines. Yes, in battle they are invaluable, but to raise and use dragons with that purpose and that purpose alone is to foster a culture where they are nothing more than tools. And, that, is a dangerous sentiment to breed. Especially considering the use of… other magics among humans.”

“I absolutely agree,” King Harrow said. “And you have my word that I am doing everything in my power to make sure those in charge of the dragons’ training understand this. These are creatures who deserve respect if we are to gain their allegiance, should we even call it that. There must be respect and trust between dragon and rider.”

Rayla almost raised her brows. She hadn’t expected that answer.

“Then, we are in agreement,” Runaan said. “As long as that ideal shines through there shouldn’t be a problem. As for the Dragon Keep, who oversees it?”

“I’ve put Lord Viren in charge of the Dragon Keep. He is my closest advisor and I would trust him with my life.” The king stood said.

“The high mage.”

A pause. The king nodded.

Runaan said nothing.

The king broke the long silence that followed. “Lord Viren is my responsibility and I will see to it that nothing, and I mean nothing, atrocious happens to those dragons. Contrary to what you may believe, I do not always agree with him and his… methods.”

“I will hold you accountable then.”

King Harrow sat back but said nothing. He only nodded.

Rayla sat in silence the entire time as the king and Runaan discussed the conditions of which Xadia would allow the humans use of their dragons for military power without risk of transgression.

All the while, Rayla examined the king. This was the man who drove their kingdoms to war. The man who had a part, however big or small, in killing Thunder. They never even recovered his egg. Some part of her wanted to hate him. Wanted to blame him for the situations that plagued her life. But she couldn’t quite bring herself to hate him for all the sincerity in his eyes. Runaan could see the conflict written on her face once they finished an hour later.

“You’re troubled,” he said.

“He’s… not what I expected.”

“I imagine he’s not. What do you make of him?” he asked.

“... He regrets.”

“As he should. Many people died in his war. Human or not, those decisions weigh on him.”

“What do you think of him?”

“I can respect a man who realizes his mistakes, but it doesn’t make the mistakes go away. The people who died won’t come back. Regardless if he knows what he did was wrong, those who laid down their lives or suffered in the shadow of his decisions gain no reprieve.”

“Sorry isn’t enough.” It was more of a statement than a clarification.

“I will hold judgement. Your judgement is your own. I expect you on your best behavior, regardless.”

Rayla rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. You don’t have to keep telling me, you know.”

Runaan only made a noise that told her more than enough about his expectations.

-:-:-:-

In the morning Callum saw his brother for all of ten minutes before Ezran found somewhere else to be. He was starting to wonder if he upset his little brother somehow, but that usually wasn’t the case when Ezran left to go exploring. Callum wondered, but he supposed it was something else.

Either way, it left him somewhat alone for the day. Claudia and Soren both had other obligations and different things to do under the orders of their father. Soren and Varius were busy with the new dragon riders and Claudia was doing research for her father on some aspect of dragon behavior.

Even his stepfather was entertaining and making sure the Xadians were comfortable. They were planning to visit the Dragon Keep soon.

Every day was about dragons, really. Every day Callum woke up, the dragons were a part of their lives in some capacity. He hadn’t expected it. Not like this.

He still tensed up when he woke in the morning. It took him ten minutes or so just to get himself prepared for the day, even if nothing was inherently wrong. His stepfather always told him he didn’t have to be involved and, initially, Callum had completely prepared himself to do just that. No dragons, no way.

Then, the Dragon Keep went up. Then, dragons started being brought in. Soren got Varius. Claudia began looking more into it. His stepfather talked about it more. They assigned Lord Viren to the project.

Suddenly, everywhere he turned… dragons, dragons, dragons.

It used to be thirty minutes in the morning. Thirty minutes before he could get up and face his new reality.

It made him sick, having to look at it all.

All of it just reminded him of his mother.

Her breath rattled in her chest.

It stopped.

Callum’s chest tightened. The thoughts threatened to overwhelm him when he thought about it too much. When he thought about it all, sometimes.

With Ezran busy for the day, apparently off on his own shenanigans, Callum took his sketchbook and, against his better judgement, found his way to the Dragon Keep.

At first, that was how it started and why he ended up going there at all. As long as he stayed on the wall and far from the actual creatures, he could sketch them to his heart’s content. He would sketch one dragon, then go home. It gradually became two or more. Now, he didn’t really have a limit. Just whenever he felt finished for the day.

He still stayed high on the wall though. He never ventured close to them. Not once. Not on his life.

When he got to the keep, however, Soren and his dragon riding recruits were using the wall he normally occupied. Whatever they were doing, he didn’t want to disturb them. Step-prince or not, occasionally, it distracted people that he was a prince and was the adopted son of the king. Those who weren’t around him as often sometimes felt like they had to pay him mind. It made Callum uncomfortable.

So, he looked around.

Sketching would have to wait, he supposed.

It probably wasn’t the wisest of ideas, but he started poking around. Frankly, he felt like Ezran, just wanting to know what was around the corners, going to places he most likely wasn’t supposed to.

He walked near Lord Viren’s office at the keep, past it and down the hall he’d never bothered going down. The halls were simple but decorated, red rugs, tapestries and weapons hung in traditional Katolis fashion. The hall widened and simplified at the very end. To the right, Callum knew was the arena. To the left, a darker tunnel, but otherwise open. Airy. Breezy, even? Drafty, perhaps was the right word.

Callum knew better, but he took the left anyway. He wanted to know where the breeze came from. Was it another way out? An escape route should this place go up in flames?

What he found was a simple room. The breeze came from the open windows, letting in light and the smell of fresh air; it gave the room a less scary quality than Callum expected. It would have been a perfect place to spend a private moment, were it not for the cage in the center of the room.

And the dragon in the cage.

Blue slitted eyes trained on him. Callum froze.

The Tempest looked at him, eyes focused on his every move. Callum didn’t budge. He and the Tempest stared each other down. Rather, the Tempest stared him down.

Callum just stared.

He stared and prayed.

Could it shoot fire at him from this distance?

Did it shoot fire?

Was it poisonous?

He recalled Soren’s words about Chaos class dragons and realized he’d already made a mistake by praying and not running first. It was too late now though. He was as good as dragon lunch if he moved even one muscle and --

The Tempest’s eyes flickered. It looked him over, then snorted. It went back to laying down.

Callum was almost disappointed. Relieved, but almost disappointed. He wasn’t even worth a dragon’s time.

“Thanks, I guess,” Callum said. “Didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll just be--”

There was a muffled string of familiar voices coming from down the hall. The trainers.

And Lord Viren.

Callum closed the door to the room and ducked away from the entrance. If Lord Viren found him down here, he’d be furious and that was not something he wanted to face so close to his office. It was just… an unsettling office. Especially if Lord Viren thought he might have stolen something. No, thank you.

The Tempest went back to staring at him.

“I’m sorry. I’ll leave in a minute, okay? I just need to wait until he’s gone,” Callum hissed.

What was he doing? Why was he apologizing to the dragon? The Tempest probably didn’t care one way or another what Callum did so long as he didn’t come and bother him. He didn’t have to worry about that. Callum couldn’t have been tighter against the wall if he tried.

He wasn’t sure which one was worse: Lord Viren or the dragons.

Apparently, Callum had decided Lord Viren right at this moment.

The Tempest groaned and turned over. Fair enough. It didn’t seem to care what Callum did. It had its own problems.

This is what he got for being nosy, he supposed. He’d kept coming to the keep just to draw the dragons for the sake of art and curiosity, knowing what it would make him feel. He went to sleep at night, nowadays, feeling a little more anxious knowing that tomorrow he’d go back. But it was a point of pride for him. This was going to be his life, right? Surrounded by dragons. He ought to face his fears and deal with it.

At least, that’s what he told himself when his heart was beating in his chest so hard it hurt.

He wasn’t good at anything that didn’t have to do with lines on paper.

At the very least, he could face this… issue haunting him.

Every time he saw a dragon, he saw his mother’s dying face.

Callum looked back at the Tempest. A groan escaped the dragon’s mouth and his belly rose and fell. He frowned at the dragon’s breathing. The Tempest seemed… exhausted?

Lord Viren was just outside the door. Callum could hear him, probably making his way to his office.

“... no food, no water. Understood? Make an example out of them if need be. These beasts need to know who’s in charge around here. If they go out of control, we may all end up burned alive.”

The trainer shuddered, then agreed to obey.

In the cell, the Tempest rolled over just barely, lethargic and breathing somewhat labored. Restless, even. He opened and closed his mouth, his tongue lolling out slightly. He wasn’t hurt -- not that Callum would see any bruises with a hide as thick as a dragons, but…

“You’re starving,” Callum said softly.

The Tempest trained a blue eye on him. There was some animosity that kept Callum from getting any closer to him. Humans were not his favorite people in the world. And he had a feeling an elf would not be in his good graces either.

Outside, the door to Lord Viren’s office slammed shut.

Callum didn’t leave right away, but the Tempest looked away from him, curling into a ball as if to protect himself from anymore visitors.

It took a moment for Callum to leave, observing the Tempest before his hands and feet finally found the door, then a whisper.

“I’m sorry.”

-:-:-:-

“Prince Callum.”

Callum froze, tensing from Lord Viren’s stern and not so pleased tone of voice. He turned on his heel.

“Lord Viren, I was just, uh, exploring.”

“Were you now?” Lord Viren closed the door to his office. “Exploring the very cell down the hall from my office? How coincidental.”

“Yep, it is pretty strange how we met down here, but I really should be going now--”

“Do you take me for a fool?”

His tone cut like ice.

Callum tried to act like nothing was wrong. “No, sir, I--”

“Then, why don’t you and I remain honest with each other, hm? I know you were down here spying on whatever you think I have hidden away, but I assure you there’s nothing. So, I suggest you run along and not do it again.”

Callum frowned. “If there’s nothing down here then why do you have a dragon in the cell you know I was just in?”

“That dragon is in confinement for poor behavior. There is nothing down there. Nothing that concerns you, at least.”

“You’re starving him.”

“I’m teaching him to listen to his masters. He will be fed and kept alive, but at my discretion.” Viren tapped his staff on the ground. “These are wild beasts, boy. Not humans. And you’re a fool if you truly believe that we shouldn’t protect ourselves from their wrath. If the dragon doesn’t make it that is its own fault for not cooperating.”

“Right now, the king’s wrath is the only one you should worry about.” Callum turned to leave. “When he finds out about this, he’s going to be furious.”

Lord Viren said nothing.

Nothing dismayed him more than the king’s disapproval.

But in a chilling tone Lord Viren said, “He will be… worried.” Callum stopped. “Yes, very worried. This Xadian diplomacy mission is very important to him. Why, if he thought it might fail on account of me, I’m not sure he would even sleep at night. But, I suppose you’re right. The stress of his anger is something I fear. For all our sakes.”

Callum turned to glare at Viren, but the man was already walking away, his cane tapping the ground the only sound between them.

-:-:-:-

No, Lord Viren was…

He was right.

Yes, he was right.

But so was his decision.

Callum couldn’t just let that Tempest starve to death. No, that was wrong in every way and he couldn’t just let it happen.

On the other hand, Lord Viren wasn’t entirely wrong either. His least favorite person right now, but not entirely wrong. Callum thought about it all the way back to the castle and it wasn’t until he ran into Ezran once he got back to their joined rooms.

“Where have you been?” Callum raised a brow at Ezran.

Ezran looked up from where he was playing with Bait. “Callum! Oh, uh… nowhere?”

Callum frowned. “Were you sneaking into the baker’s again?”

Ezran grinned. “Oh, uh, yeah! You caught me.”

Callum snorted and shook his head. “Well, you’ll never guess what happened to me today.”

Callum told him all of it. About the Tempest he found, wanting to tell the king and his conversation with Lord Viren.

“So, are you going to tell dad?”

“Well, yeah. It’s the right thing to do…” Callum said. “... right?”

Ezran smiled a little. “Of course. We should go tell him right now.”

The king sat in his room, the desk piled high with papers that probably had to do with the arrival of the Xadian diplomats. After all, their safety fell on his shoulders. A heavy responsibility considering everything.

“I’m sorry, boys. I know I was pretty busy all day.”

Callum shook his head. “No, it’s okay. We know you’re busy.”

“Yeah,” Ezran said. “Dad, you don’t have to apologize.”

Harrow sighed and stood from his chair. He paced the room with his hands behind his back. “This diplomatic mission with the Xadians and the Dragon Keep… it all needs to go well. “

“Your Majesty,” Callum started. Harrow looked back at him with a sad smile. Callum cleared his throat. “You know… everybody can see you trying to make up for everything.”

Harrow chuckled a little, a crestfallen tone somewhere in it. “It is very hard to make up for a war you helped start. Believe me, Callum. As it is, I don’t care about my reputation. No. After the things I saw and realizing my part in those horrors? This is my duty. For the sake of peace between our two kingdoms, it is my duty to ensure that this goes well. That Xadia and Katolis -- all the human kingdoms -- can have a chance at real peace and cooperation between all our peoples. Do you boys understand?”

Callum and Ezran looked at each other, then nodded at their father.

“We understand,” Callum said.

Harrow approached them and got down on one knee, coming to eye level with Ezran specifically. “Ezran, one day you will also need to make decisions like this. As king, there will be… a heavy burden on your shoulders. One that I will always be sorry fell on your shoulders. But it’s important that you take this duty seriously. People will look to you for guidance. But to learn how to lead you must learn how to follow and learning to follow means listening. And, right now, as a prince, this is the best time to do just that. I was young when I became king. And perhaps I didn’t listen as a prince as well as I should have. Do you understand why I’m telling you all this?”

Ezran nodded. He even smiled and put Bait down for just a moment. “If I can be half as good a king as you are, then I’ll do great, Dad.”

Ezran hugged him and, a moment later, Callum joined. He felt King Harrow put his arms around them. “Thank you, boys.” When they pulled back, he put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Now, it’s getting late. You boys should go and rest. Tomorrow I’m sure will be another long day.”

“Actually, Dad, we--”

“Really should be getting that sleep,” Callum said quickly. He grinned and nodded. “Yup. It’s time to sleep. Just like you said.”

Harrow laughed a little as he rose to his feet. “Very well. You two run along, then. There are other ways for you to get some sleep than to help me with my paperwork.”

They left the king to his dreaded paperwork and Ezran frowned at Callum. “Why didn’t you tell him about the dragon, Callum?”

Bait croaked. Callum sighed. “You saw him, Ez. He’s got enough to deal with right now with the Xadians here. I’ll just have to figure something out on my own.”

“Well, what are we going to do?”

Callum shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out. No matter what happens, I’ll make sure that dragon has a fighting chance.”

#the dragon prince #tdp #rayllum #rayla #callum

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nadziejastar · 5 years

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I think a big obstacle that I don't see acknowledged to Lea and Isa becoming romantically involved is that Japanese culture is even more conservative regarding LGBT issues than Western culture is. SE has only had a few LGBT characters in their entire history, and they're all relatively minor. I hope that Isa and Lea can break the mold and I think that them being both supporting characters and adults makes it more likely, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I definitely don’t have my hopes up either. I think KH3 did everything it could to intentionally eliminate all the intimacy between Lea and Isa. Skuld seemed to be thrown into the mix for that purpose. Even if they hadn’t sabotaged it in KH3, I still think the relationship would have been more implied that outright stated. Because like you said, Japan is even more conservative than the West regarding such depictions. I can compare the situation with Lea and Isa to a few other pairings and how they were handled.

There’s Yosuke and the main character (Yu) from Persona 4. Yosuke was going to be a romance option. Voiced dialogue still exists in the files (including dubbed!), but the option was completely removed by the time of release. The fact that even a more niche series (well, at the time) like Persona felt too afraid to put an optional romance between two guys in, shows how taboo this topic is, especially in Japan. And KH3 was much higher profile and had a much bigger budget than P4. So, it was not that surprising to me to see how Lea and Isa got treated. It was like déjà vu. Doesn’t make me less annoyed by it, though.

I also think they heavily altered Yosuke’s personality in the final game to cover up any suggestion of same-sex attraction. In the final game he mostly acts like a frat boy stereotype. Constantly hitting on any girl, and making sexist and homophobic remarks. They were really overcompensating. It was very annoying actually. And it only made him seem more closeted. In his Social Link, the dialogue was incredibly well-written and I loved his personality. This pairing was handled so similarly to Lea and Isa. Here’s why I think so:

Yosuke: Oh yeah, I’m Yosuke Hanamura! I’m his friend. His partner, y'know.

Marie: …Partner? You mean like a close friend?

Yosuke: Heheh, that about sums it up. Er, what’s your name?

They’re very close. Yosuke constantly refers to himself as Yu’s “partner”.

Yosuke: I haven’t changed addresses since before we moved to Inaba. I mean, I might get a text from someone. …It’s hard to call, y'know? If I called people just to tell them my number changed, they’d get annoyed. And some of them never planned to text me anyway…Oh but hey, don’t look at me like I don’t have any friends! ……Though to tell you the truth, I don’t remember what we all used to talk about. Can’t really call ‘em friends…

He did not feel close to any of his old friends.

Yosuke: It’s only with you guys that I talk seriously like this. I dunno why, but I feel like I don’t have to lie…Especially with you. You’ve already seen the worst of me and all. But well… thinking about it now, if someone had to see that, I’m glad it was you.

He opens up to you in a way he doesn’t with anyone else.

Yosuke: So, you ever invited a girl in here?

“I haven’t.”

Yosuke: Haha, maybe you’re more of a man’s man than I thought.

> Yosuke seems happy…

He’s happy that you are a “man’s man”.

“I will soon.”

Yosuke: Seriously!? That mean you’re working on someone!?

> Yosuke is keyed up…

He gets anxious if you say you’re bringing a girl over.

Yosuke: M-Man, kids sure are mature these days…Well, my first love was in first grade, too! I’ve always been ahead of my time. But, well… I don’t really need that in my life right now. It’s just not the time…I have something I need to do before that can happen…

He said that he was not interested in dating right now. He’s working on sorting out his feelings, since the girl he liked before was murdered. Yet in the rest of the game, they have him constantly hit on every girl and act desperate to get a girlfriend. It was so weird. It felt like deflection, in the same way Skuld was with Lea and Isa.

Yosuke: When the murders started, I got excited…I thought there was finally a point to me being in Inaba…I thought I could forget Senpai was gone… and the fact that I was such a loser…I jumped at the murders and never once thought about what I was doing…I… didn’t even take the first step…I’m sorry…Saki-senpai. I’m sorry… Yu.

He starts crying after opening up to you. There’s an option to hug him. Around the waist too. He says it’s for girls, but still accepts it. That was what he needed. You are the one who helps him sort out his feelings.

Yosuke: This town I hated so much? Now, I love it. There’s still nothing here, but I have family and friends… and you. The important things are never far off… They’re all around you.

He mentions family and friends, hesitates, then mentions you separately. Does that mean you’re more special to him than a friend?

I just did what I thought was the best thing at the time. For Roxas, for Xion, for the Organization—and for Isa. But most of all for me.

It reminded me of this. Axel mentions everyone else, hesitates, then mentions Isa separately. Not Saïx, Isa. Was Isa special to him?

Yosuke: I always wanted to be “special.” I thought my life’d finally have meaning if I was “special” to someone. That’s why I was really excited when got my Persona. But I really didn’t need it… It’s not what you have or what you can do…Just being born, living your life… Before you know it, you’re already special to someone.

“You’re right.”

Yosuke: Yeah… Like you… You’re special to me, you know?

Yep. Yosuke wants to be special to someone, and he says you’re special to him.

“That’s not true.”

Yosuke: You just don’t realize it yet. You’re already special… to Chie, Yukiko… and me.

When Yosuke said “special” it stood out to me. This was before I found out that the romance option was taken out. I don’t pick up romantic vibes between male characters that often. I don’t wear shipping goggles. Their relationship simply seemed romantic to me. “Special” is not a word guys will use with each other very often.

Because it is very intimate. If the writers have a character say that another character is “special” to them, it almost always will seem romantic. Especially between two guys. And I did get those vibes. When I found out he was supposed to be a romance option, I wasn’t surprised. So, after all this intimate bonding, how does their arc end?

Yosuke: I didn’t realize it…When I called you “special,” I thought some more about it. I think of everyone, I wanted to be acknowledged by you the most…So…I want you to hit me! Give me a good one. Knock out all this crap inside of me. I want to be equal with you. I want us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder. So c'mon…

By…getting in a fist fight? Two guys were getting just a bit too close and intimate with each other. Yosuke used a taboo word. “Special”. Now he has to be beaten up for it. Otherwise it’s just too GAY, ya know? And that’s NOT okay. The message is if a guy is too intimate with another guy, he needs to “man up” and get some sense knocked into him. Sad, really. In the deleted dialogue, there was a romantic confession. Yosuke says he likes you. The Japanese word for “like” is the one specifically used romantically. To me this is the ultimate display of the writers chickening out.

And that’s how Lea and Isa’s arc felt to me, too. There was all of this dialogue suggesting there was something very intimate and special between them. Then in KH3, we get a girl shoehorned in out of nowhere. Apparently Saïx was doing “everything for” her, despite having zero emotional capacity. And Lea also wants to “clobber” Isa now, not free his heart. It felt so contrived in order to create emotional distance between them, so any hints of romance would be gone, gone, gone. It felt like the writers were panicking and going “No Homo!” They were so desperate that they wouldn’t even let the real Isa get saved from being a vessel. That’s how afraid they were of Lea and Isa’s natural chemistry and special intimacy together. Pathetic.

Then there’s Ike and Soren from the Fire Emblem series. Lea and Isa reminded me of them. You have the more confident, “masculine” one in Ike and Lea. And then you have the calm, quiet, “feminine” one in Soren and Isa. They have a hard time opening up to anyone else. I think Isa even kinda looks like Soren. They both have that penetrating stare, indicating high intelligence. And they have soft, delicate features, indicating vulnerability underneath the surface.

They both act cold outwardly, but Soren is described as a very empathetic young man. And I think Isa was, too. I love this ship. I think this is the direction they were originally trying to take Lea and Isa’s relationship. This pairing is HEAVILY implied by the story. But it’s never made explicit. Why do I think it’s romantic?

Soren: Curse you! Why won’t you let it go?! I have no one to rely on but you! If I tell you and you turn on me… I… I… I could no longer live.

Ike: That’s why you have to tell me, Soren. You wouldn’t open your heart to anyone else. So if I didn’t so something about it, you’d probably be in pain forever.

Soren is totally emotionally dependent on Ike. And Ike is tender and soft with him in a way he isn’t with anybody else. There’s just a level of trust and intimacy that is unique to them.

Soren: When the sage died, no one would help me. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find food. I was dying. You were the only one who helped. You and your father. That’s why you’re my friend. My…only friend.

This is the localized text. Even in the first game, the they tried to remove any romantic intimations. They added a reference to Ike’s dad for no reason. And plenty of people still choose to see Soren and Ike as just friends. I think it’s more than obvious the writers intended for them to be more than that. But many people don’t want to see it. And it was kept ambiguous for that very reason.

Soren: When the sage died, no one would help me. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t find food. I was dying. Only you held your hand out to me. That’s why…only you are special to me…

This is a translation of the original Japanese dialogue. There’s that word again. “Special”. This word cannot be overstated. It conveys a VERY different message than “friend”. That’s why they thought it needed to be changed.

Soren: “There’s only one place for me to be, Ike… and it’s by your side.”

Soren is described as “the boy always at Ike’s side” by other characters. The story demonstrates again and again that they are inseparable. If Ike and Soren achieve A-level support, there is a paired ending. Ike has this with no female character, and Soren has this with no other character.

Axel: I think you can be inseparable even if you’re apart. It’s like, if you feel really close to each other. Like best friends.

Lea and Isa were inseparable, too.

Ike: Listen, lady. This is a shop, and I’m a customer. What’s so sweet about that?

Aimee: Oh, such cold words… My hero plays hard to get! You’re only making me more interested.

Ike: Will you let go of my hand? Please?

There’s a running joke about Ike avoiding a persistent female admirer that Soren has to save him from.

Gatrie: Not those flowers… THOSE flowers!

Ike: …Gatrie, we’re inside. There’s nothing here but the temple handmaidens.

Gatrie: Exactly! It’s like a whole new species of girl lives in Begnion! Everyone in this palace is drop-dead gorgeous!

Ike: …

Gatrie: You know what I mean, Ike? Tee hee! Say, which one strikes your fancy? That buxom lass with the chestnut hair is… Hey, Ike? Ike?

He has no interest in admiring pretty women.

“Hey, Redhead over there!” Axel turned at the sound of the voice, scratching his head.

“What, Larxene. I’m Axel. Got it memorised?”

“I can’t just remember over ten names all of a sudden, can I?”

“Yeah, I guess not.” Axel watched as Larxene ran up to him.

“How is it? Does the coat suit me?” Larxene did a twirl in front of him. The coat always changed to fit the wearer. It was a perfect tight fit, as expected.

“It’s fine, I guess.”

This feels like it was put in for the same reason Ike’s scenes were. Sure, Aimee is clingy and obsessive. And Larxene is a bitch. It doesn’t prove they’re disinterested in women or that they’re in love with their best friend. But in addition to everything else, it presents a strong argument. Axel isn’t interested in admiring pretty women.

Soren—An officer in the Greil Mercenaries. A cool-headed realist who has deep trust in Ike, but will rarely open up to any other beorc or laguz.

Isa—A quiet and cool-headed youth. Though he does come out of his shell when talking to his best friend Lea, toward others he is distant and untalkative.

Like Soren, Isa is described in terms of his relationship to Lea. He only comes out of his shell for him. There’s a level of intensity to their friendship that is unique. I am sure Isa was dependent on Lea emotionally, like Soren was with Ike.

Soren: Ike? Ike! This can’t… It can’t… What am I… If you’re not here, what am I to do?

If Ike dies in the first game, Soren has a special reaction.

Soren: “Ike… Please live… Even if all the cities burn, and the seas swallow Tellius… You mustn’t die… Not you…”

And another in the second game. He cannot bear to lose Ike. Sounds like some Shakespearean sonnet, too. That just doesn’t sound like something you’d say about someone unless you were in love with them.

Micaiah: Your heart is frozen, but I feel a warm core trying to melt through that ice. I see… You have someone you cherish very much. Someone you rely on.

Soren: Do not presume to understand me, you ridiculous girl. You have no idea who I am and what I can do. None at all.

His heart was frozen, but Ike was able to melt through the ice. Soren cherishes him and relies on him. He doesn’t appreciate hearing it from others, because Ike is his weakness. Soren’s entire character arc revolved around Ike.

Saïx:Do you know what happens to those who lose their true purpose? Inevitably, they destroy themselves.

Much like how Saïx says he lost his true purpose as soon as Axel left Organization XIII.

Ike: Soren, don’t cry.

Soren: Cry…? I’m … crying?

Ike: You’re so smart, and yet you’re completely hopeless at normal stuff. Look, come here.

Soren: P-please don’t treat me like a child. I’m not that…

Ike: Come on.

Soren: …

Ike: Sheesh, you’re such a pain. I’ll come over there.

Soren: [breaks out crying]

Another scene that involves hugging a crying person. A very intimate act. Soren opens up about his dark past. He pushes Ike away when he tries to hug him, saying not to treat him like a child. But he accepts it, too. It’s exactly what he needed and wanted. This scene is referred to in the official fan book as “the moment where their two hearts become one”. I think a scene like this is what they were absolutely terrified of happening in KH3.

Axel: Hey, I’m not about to tell you ALL my dark secrets. Got it memorized?

It all comes down to the degree of intimacy. Axel doesn’t express his deepest feelings to Roxas, Xion, or anyone else. And he doesn’t want to. He’s more than happy to avoid heavy issues like his past. He’d prefer to keep things light and fun, just enjoying their company.

Axel: As long as we remember each other, we’ll never be apart.

Roxas: Ha ha, wow, Axel. That sounded ridiculous.

Axel: What? I thought it was pretty deep.

When Axel made his comment, the other two thought it was awkward. Roxas laughs and says he sounded he sounded ridiculous.

Xion: Don’t worry, Axel–we got your hokey speech memorized.

Axel: Just checking.

And Xion said his remark was hokey. And I don’t think either of them were out of line with their comments. I completely understand why they teased him. It was because his statement contained a lot of intimacy. It sounded like something you’d say to, well…a lover. To them Axel’s remark came out of nowhere. And it kind of did. Because for the most part, his comment wasn’t really directed at them. Sure, he never wants to forget them. But he had someone else on his mind before he said it. He only spoke his thoughts out loud to cheer them up. But even they could recognize that the comment didn’t feel appropriate for them.

Day 118: You Changed, Not Me

Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It’s a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don’t feel like it anymore. It’s strange, but I’m content with just missing what’s gone. I’m not the one who changed. You did.

Roxas and Xion remind him of his past. But unlike with them, Axel DOES want to share his memories with Saïx. Badly. He wants to connect emotionally with him. But Saïx has no interest in having an emotional relationship. Because of this, interacting with him is incredibly painful for Axel. So painful that he’s more content with just missing what’s gone rather than subjecting himself to continual rejection. Saïx is the only character Axel acts like this towards.

Axel: So you don’t need a heart to have something that you can’t bear to lose then. If that’s true, then I guess the closest thing that we Nobodies have would be memories of our past. It’s the memories that create the things that we don’t want to lose.

Even though Saïx rejects him, Axel is always careful not to open up to anyone else about his past. He never does, even in KH3. And yet, memories of his past were the one thing he felt like he couldn’t bear to lose. The same memories that he longed to share with Saïx. Axel desires intimacy with Saïx and nobody else. He can’t bear to lose his memories of the past—of Isa.

Axel: Love is what happens if there’s something really special between two people.

Roxas: You mean, like, if they’re best friends? Inseparable?

Axel: Well, you can care about your friends, I guess, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

There’s that word again. “Special”. And again, it conveys a VERY different message than “friend”. It’s a very taboo word when used by men towards other men. If men can’t be special to each other in a video game about hearts, light, friendship, magic, love, and Disney Princesses, then they’re pretty much out of luck I guess.

#anti-kh3 #kh axel #kh lea #kh saïx #kh isalea #leaisa #akusai #kingdom hearts meta

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princessofgayskull · 6 years

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some thoughts on tdp

I'm starting to see some anti Claudia and Soren posts and arguments around amongst the heavy amount of discourse and even like I feel like the discourse is so loud but there's something I wanted to say

They didn't do good things. They purposely went out their way to hurt people. Soren set a town on fire to prove something. Claudia kept using dark magic to point where she was flat out reckless. But I'm not ready to scrap my love for the siblings and I'm not ready to give on them just yet.

I understand the argument that nothing their father says or does, no way he treats them, could justify what they did and how they did it. But to me it's not a justification, it's just an explanation. They are on their own without their father for the first time, and it's disastrous. They really really struggle.

Soren struggled his whole life to make Viren proud and nothing was ever enough ever.

Claudia never had to face the idea that there would be no answer because her father handed her the shortcut at such a young age that she built her entire identity around it.

Could you imagine never having an adult who loved you unconditionally? I know a lot of you can. An adult who stopped you from doing something instead of merely rolling their eyes at your antics? A parent who let you fail and explained moral implications of why something that hurts people is wrong? That's not something everyone is born knowing; it's imperative an adult step in at an early age and guide a child into developing a moral compass

You know, like Harrow and Sarai did. Hot take but those boys aren't magically more moral by nature, they just had supremely loving parents who wanted to do the right thing and passed that wish onto their children. Viren was too busy being shady and their mom pulled a firelady ursa.

As for Claudia 'healing' Soren and how that was over the line... Look I have two sisters. If I found out what one them was suddenly paralyzed from the neck down it would be devastating! There is no way I would be acting rationally. No matter how they rationalized or spun. Aside from that, I speak from experience when I say that being disabled in any capacity is not fun! It's not easy to get used to and it's not easy to accept your stuck how you are. And losing so much of your autonomy over night? He's gonna need a fucking therapist because no amount of 'dad can't make me do bad things any more' is gonna fix the fact that his entire identity surrounded his peak physical condition. You grieve for a long time when you lose parts of you like that. And you sure as hell don't heal on your own. He was lucky that Claudia cared, who knows if viren is too far gone to even be bothered?

Of course Claudia was distraught. It's her brother! All her life she's been able to fix things and to get what she wanted with little consequence but now their actions had consequence. Claudia and Soren were supposed to look over each other and she failed. It wasn't right for her to take the deer's life, but I can understand why she felt so pressed to help Soren. If it was my sisters I'd be searching for a miracle too. And there's nothing I wouldn't give up, no price I wouldn't pay, to help my siblings.

Not to mention, there wasn't a single adult to sit her down and help her! (Claudia and Soren are like Zuko without an uncle iroh- and Zuko did some pretty stupid stuff on his own) No one to help her process her emotions or to help her even calm down. Ezran was there, but he's ten. And was struggling with news of his father's death so I don't blame him for not being the most perceptive.

Everything about Claudia's development felt backwards this season. I get that that may for potential development later. But still, if we're throwing in complaints even with the writers right there to reassure us...

I'm still hanging on to Soren and Claudia. I want to see them end the cycle of abuse and villainy, and not become casualties of it.

#the dragon prince #the dragon prince spoilers #also how come callum's 'consequence for using dark magic' is just a fever dream #where he unlocks the secret?#while claudia has to suffer the physical and mental consequences because her father is an idiot #im not digging that dynamic #not she ra

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leisurelypanda · 6 years

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Fic Year in Review 2018

This is only looking at works posted in AO3 (mostly because that’s the only platform I use). I found this meme through @thors-soft-cheeks and I’m gonna tag @duelingnebulas and @sergeantscarlett.

Total Word Count: 578,663

Total Fics Written: 17

Fandoms Written In: Fire Emblem, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tales of Berseria, Final Fantasy XV, and Rune Factory 4

Chronological List (by date completed):

February:

The Radiant Family 23.7k, E, Ike x Soren, modern au, mpreg, WIP

June:

What Happens in Asgard... 5k, E, Stucky, post Infinity War, a/b/o, woke up mated

Cast Your Cares Aside 4.8k, E, Thundershield, Daddy Kink, written for Father’s Day, dom/sub

July:

Patriotic Duty 4.8k, E, Stucky, Happy Birthday Steve Rogers, dom/sub

Time to Pay Up 8.7k, E, Stucky, Lost a Bet, Friends to Lovers, Steve dressing up as a French Maid

Seasons of Love 11.5k, T, Thundershield, College AU, Teaching Assistant Thor x Student Steve

Offering of Praise 13.6k, E, Thor x Steve x Bucky (Winterthundershield, College AU, Thundering Heart Series, kink, dom/sub

A Port in a Storm 5.6k, E, Zaveid x Eizen, Hurt/Comfort Sex, Drinking, Semi-Platonic

August:

A Prince’s Burden 7.6k, E, Gladnoct, Daddy Kink, No Powers AU, dom/sub

September:

Ballad of the Thundering Heart 239k, M, Thor x Steve x Bucky (Winterthundershield), High School AU, no one is underage, trauma recovery, polyamory, slow burn

Callused Hands, Gentle Melodies 12.6k, E, Dylas x Frey, WIP, first time

October:

Getting Pegged 4k, E, Steve x Peggy, Pegging, Moving In Together

December:

Baby, It’s Cold Outside 9k, E, Stucky, Shrinkyclinks, There Was Only One Bed, Friends to Lovers, Snowed In, dom/sub

Hail to the King 42.2k, E, Thundershield, Winterfrost, Consort AU, dom/sub, kinky, WIP, Porn Without Plot

Holiday Blues 6.8k, E, Thor x Steve x Bucky (Winterthundershield), lingerie, hurt/comfort, polyamory, Christmas fic, Thundering Heart Series

Who Says You Can Never Go Home Again? 102k, Stucky, a/b/o, sequel to What Happens in Asgard..., mpreg

Storm over Still Waters 32.5k, M, Thundershield, WIP, a/b/o, Steve saved from sex trafficking, kid!Bucky, Police Officer!Thor, trauma recovery

Did you write more fic this year than you thought you would, less, or about what you’d predicted?

Way, way more! Seriously, I had no idea I could write this much before this year!

What’s your own favorite story of this year?

Definitely Ballad of the Thundering Heart. I loved it from the very beginning. Everything was just so amazing and felt so natural. I was able to explore so much, from beginning relationships, to past abuse, to paganism, and (unexpectedly) polyamory. It was so much fun to write, too!

Did you take any writing risks this year?

Yes! Writing a story that suddenly turned polyamorous was kinda scary, not gonna lie. Also, writing a/b/o, a trope that I’ve enjoyed for a long time, but never really thought to try until this year. Both turned out pretty well, honestly.

Do you have any fanfic goals for this year?

Yes! I’m wanna write a Stucky Werewolf AU fic, a Thundershield Merman AU fic, a MCU/Assassin’s Creed crossover story, finish my current WIPs, and write a shrinkyclinks sugar daddy story. I have many, many goals. We’ll see if I manage to achieve them all.

What was...

My best story of the year:

Definitely Ballad of the Thundering Heart. Nothing since then has had quite the same feel of it. I’m definitely biased, though.

My most popular story of the year:

Again, Ballad of the Thundering Heart, if we’re going by kudos, though Who Says You Can Never Go Home Again? got way more comments and a lot of traffic overall.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe (in my opinion):

I’m definitely going to have to say A Prince’s Burden. That entire ship is under-appreciated, though. I thought it was good and sweet and kinky and I wish the Final Fantasy XV fandom appreciated Gladnoct more.

Most fun story to write:

Ballad of the Thundering Heart. Honestly, I really have no idea how I’m ever going to top that story.

Hardest story to write:

I’m definitely going to have to say Who Says You Can Never Go Home Again? Pregnancy is weird and hard and being someone who will never have to go through it makes the whole writing it aspect both interesting and really difficult.

Biggest Disappointment:

I was really disappointed by the very small amount of reaction that Holiday Blues received. I think it deserves more love.

Favorite Opening Lines:

The throne room of Asgard was large and ornate. Vaulting pillars held up a mosaic ceiling depicting the history of their world. Sunlight streamed in through large arches that led out to the balconies overlooking the city. It was easily more beautiful than any official court on earth. Steve had gaped at it all every time he entered the room for days. Now, with conscious effort, he was able to avoid looking like a tourist.

Which was especially important, today of all days. Odin had died about 2 months ago. Now Thor was to be crowned King-Regnant of Asgard. Steve hadn’t seen him in about a week and so hadn’t seen Thor in his coronation garments. The only thing Steve has heard about it from Frigga and Loki was that they will be stunning.

If the throne room is anything to go by, that’s probably an understatement, Steve thought. The throne room was filled with people standing and milling around the sides of the room. All of them were dressed in plumage and regalia that put any human sovereign to shame. If they were humans, Steve would have thought of them as a flock of peacocks trying desperately to attract the attention of those with power and prestige.

They still might be, Steve mused. After all, he knew nothing of Asgardian politics. He’d never asked and Thor never brought it up.

Well, that wasn’t, strictly speaking, accurate. Steve did know one thing. His own outfit marked him as new king’s official consort. Not husband, for reasons of future inheritance, but it still labelled Steve as Thor’s lover and the one who was favored by Thor. Thor explained that even should he marry in the future, all the court would know that Steve was the one who was the recipient of Thor’s affections. It was, effectively, one of the most powerful positions in Thor’s court. Not that Steve cared about such things. He just wanted Thor in whatever capacity he could have him.

-from Hail to the King

Favorite closing lines:

“How’d I do?” Steve asked.

“I thought you did great,” Bucky said. “That last guy was way out of line.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Honestly, I’m glad Sam’s becoming Cap, but especially because people like that guy will have to get used to saying referring to a black beta man as ‘Captain America’.”

“If I knew you were so eager to rock the boat, I woulda suggested this a long time ago,” Sam said with a grin. “I make this shield look good.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and flipped Sam off. Sam just laughed softly so as to not wake the babies who seemed to enjoy the sound of tv. At least, it got them to sleep for a bit. If it got them to sleep at night, Bucky would buy them the biggest, fanciest tv out there.

“So what now?” Bucky asked. Steve wrapped his free arm around Bucky’s waist and pulled him close.

“Now, we go home,” he said.

-from Who Says You Can Never Go Home Again?

#fanfic #writing meme #jesus #this was long #a year in review

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luthienliveblogslately-blog · 6 years

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Milestone write-up!

Since the story seems to be closing one story-arc and moving on to another, I feel this is a good place to take stock, summarize what we know and make some more or less educated guesses at what might happen in future. It got a bit away from me (”a bit” lol), so here’s a read more for your convenience.

Players on the board

Last we left off, shit had decidedly hit the fan. We got painful confirmation that the elves successfully assassinated King Harrow, but they in turn had a painful price to pay. From what we can tell, Runaan is the only survivor, and he has been captured by Soren and Claudia. Claudia thinks he might come in “useful”, whatever that may mean. Might be they’ll interrogate him for information about Xadia, might be that Claudia has some more nefarious, magical things planned. She might ask him about Rayla and the egg, but it’s not like he can tell her anything that she doesn’t already know, aka Rayla and the boys have the egg and they plan to return it and use it to restore peace. Maybe, if they keep talking for long enough, he might actually get her to see that the egg really is just a yet to hatch baby dragon and therefore a sentient being in need of protection, and not just a powerful magical weapon to be used by whoever sees fit. If Runaan manages to escape or communicate with other elves, our heroes will have some real problems. He clearly sees Rayla as a traitor and seeks to punish her for the perceived crimes she committed, and there’s still that pesky magical bounty on Ezrans’s head…

It’s hard to say what Claudia and Soren will do next. I think it depends very much on if Viren is sticking around the castle or not, and what his plans are. As to what his plans might be… god knows. Just how much does he want the egg back? Is he willing to go after it himself, or will he maybe send Soren? How much does Soren know about all this anyway? Five bucks says he had no idea about anything tbh. You know what still hasn’t been opened yet btw? The fucking letter. It’s still in Viren’s study. If it really has a contingency plan like “Callum becomes prince regent until Ezran is old enough to rule” I get the feeling Viren might pull some GoT-style shenanigans and try to put himself on the throne. At this point there isn’t really anything I wouldn’t put past him. In any case though the kingdom might be thrown into serious chaos for a while. After all: the King is Dead, long live the…. wait, who now? The crown prince is missing? The step-prince is missing, too? Well, guess it’s time for some good old-fashioned power grabbing!

And then there’s our three four protagonists. We don’t know where the kingdom of Katolis is exactly, but in any case they have a long journey ahead. They will have to stick to the woods for most of it and avoid towns I think. Rayla can’t be seen by humans, the egg can’t be seen either, and Viren might try and put a bounty on all of them anyway, so the boys might not be save either. I trust Rayla will be able to get the foods from the woods though, so that should be alright. And then eventually they’ll reach the Breach and have to make their away across it and around however many standing armies manning the border from both sides. Yikes. Though we have no idea how far they’ll go in three remaining episodes. There are after all at least 5 more potential seasons in store for us, so there’s a good chance they won’t even remotely come close to the Breach in this one. What I’m really worried about is Rayla keeping the truth about Harrow from the boys. While it breaks my heart just thinking about them having to mourn their dad, I’m worried about Callum lashing out at Rayla in his grief. We already had a scene when he found out about the assassination plot and subsequently flipped out at Ez out of fear, and Ez hadn’t even really done anything. How much worse will that reaction be if she’s been lying to them for several days, even if it was just to spare them the pain? It might damage his trust in her, Callum might even try and make them split up and continue without her. Sounds like a really bad idea, but people do stupid things when they’re angry and sad.

Other unresolved plot points

WHAT DOES THE FUCKING LETTER SAY

What’s up with the Mirror? For that matter, why is the mirror fishy enough to be covered up but not fishy enough to be hidden in the Lair of Dead Things?

What’s with the picture Harrow looked at last time we saw him alive? It’s gotta be something, right? Why would they make the camera zoom in on it lying face down on the bed otherwise? Just have Harrow put it away and then forget it exists, don’t give it an extra shot!

Pip! Is he still alive? D:

Callum still has the Storm Stone, but he might have to get his hands on a book or find himself a teacher to learn some new spells probably?

WHAT DO THE BLACK EYES DO? DO THEY EVEN DO ANYTHING OR ARE THEY JUST FOR CREEPY EFFECT?

Viren’s staff! Just cool historical artifact or actually relevant to the plot?

Shameless Tin-hatting aka Foreshadowing Fucking Everywhere aka Miscellaneous Shit I Noticed While re-watching ep 1-3

Callum’s drawing of a Dragon roasting a Marshmallow Monster -> this show’s version of the Cookie Cat jingle? Possibly depicting Viren’s inevitable demise?

Not foreshadowing, but I realized when the Narrator says “on the eve of last Winter’s Turn” in the opening what is meant with “last” is just most recent, as in “last month” or “last Christmas”. So it probably was some solstice type date after all. Makes sense with it now being spring.

People keep pointing out how shit Bait is at hiding. I’m afraid at some point they’ll have to hide from something REALLY BAD and Bait will get them found. :/ Really, Bait being called Bait just seems super unfortunate in general.

You know how Rayla says “My Heart for Xadia” during the ritual? Yeah, I’m getting the feeling Rayla will be instrumental in getting Ezran out of the magical contract, possibly in a super heroic way by just doing what her heart tells her to and saving the day, or possibly just… by dying in his stead. Oh god I feel like I jinxed her. :(

You know how Callum was like “You’re so lucky, you get to learn magic!” and Claudia was like “You get to learn sword fighting!” and then Callum was like “I’d switch places in a second!”? Well, he’s doing magic now, so…. the little disaster bi that is myself is praying for Claudia in armor with a big-ass sword being a BAMF. ´

Anybody else who really wants to know what is under that OTHER, BIGGER tarp in the Lair of Dead Things? Because I really wanna know. I bet Ezran knows already.

Harrow said about the letter that “[Callum will] understand in time.” What makes me think there’s more in there than just his last will, possibly it’s also his last confession. What terrible shit has he done over the years of his reign, how much of it did Viren have his fingers in and how much of it can Viren use against him post-mortem? And how will the boys react when they get confronted with their dad’s uglier side, possibly via what the elves or even some direct victims have to say about him?

I’d really like to have a look at that book Callum is carrying everywhere. I figure it’s his sketch book and not relevant to anything, but it might still be fun to get to see some pages anyway.

Stuff that I got spoilered on because there’s too many tags to block :(

I saw some pics of the Dragon Prince after hatching! D: I’m sorry, it feels like I robbed myself of an awesome surprise and you of a genuine reaction. :( I didn’t look very closely, I just saw that he was adorable and had roughly the same color scheme as his dad. Which leads me to some more tin hatting: What with Thunder being called that and also breathing lightning, I’d like to propose that the Storm Stone still has a big role to play after all, other than just providing Callum with a magical source he can carry around.

I saw General Amaya of the Standing Battalion being name dropped in a text post. I scrolled too fast to see any context, but considering who she is I guess we’ll get her as an upcoming character in some capacity.

I know that the elf making the MAGIC TREES amulets gets another ending slide at some point, and that people are theorizing he and Runaan are a Thing. I’m not a super big fan of Runaan at this moment in time so I couldn’t give less of a shit about his love life tbh, and as much as I like to ship things I usually need a bit more than literally two pictures to get me going, so. I dunno, don’t expect much from me on that front until more material comes out in later seasons I guess. Like… if there isn’t enough for people to make emotional gif sets out of, can you even really call it a ship?

Netflix tried to push Chapter 4 on me when I went to re-watch the others. I got it shut down quickly enough, but I still saw the title. I think it was… Bloodthirsty? Bloodlust? Either way I think either Runaan is gonna have a REALLY bad time very soonish or our protagonists will have to run REALLY fast from people trying to catch them. Maybe both.

#the dragon prince #tdp liveblog #drapri liveblog #rambling review

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raayllum · 2 years

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I finally read TTM and wow, Rayla and Callum are so cute and pure but also, Callum set himself up so hard with the "white lies are illusions" line 😭😭 he lied to Allen (and I'm guessing everyone else except Rayla) so that he would help them and at the end got absolutely Karma'd by Rayla lying to him. No wonder our boy hates lies now 💀

On the subject of lies, do you think that's gonna be a major block for Callum learning the Moon arcanum? That he's gonna have to work through his feelings towards Rayla leaving him behind and find a way to reconcile his obsession with truth with Lujanne's words in order to master it?

So Callum is an interesting character when it comes to like, his relationship with lying in a way? Within the first four episodes of S1 he lies at least... four times? Once to Ezran ("Everything's going to be fine, I'm sure of it"), then to the guard who comes to get him ( "But he could've been both [me and Ezran] if he wanted to!"), Rayla ("I am Prince Ezran") and most overtly to Aunt Amaya in 1x04. He holds very little ill will towards Soren for lying in 2x02-2x03 (which given the fucked up nature of the lie, says a lot) and while Rayla is the mastermind behind the illusion trick, she's not tricking anyone that she actually trusts or considers a friend, but Callum is by virtue of going along with her plan.

We see this pop up in TTM when he and Rayla have not only differing perspectives on lying to Lujanne, but also their motivations. Callum is totally fine lying to Lujanne, even though his main priority is hopefully giving Rayla some emotional peace. Rayla has reservations over lying, even if seeing her parents is her secondary motivation, and her primary is checking to make sure Viren is dead in order to make sure he can't threaten the world. Which is - quite a difference in priority and response, to put it mildly

So I don't think Callum quite hates lies or looks down on lying as it is that he doesn't like secrets/surprises now after she's left, and more than that, he does not like anything that puts his loved ones (top of that list being Ezran and Rayla simultaneously) in danger and pops off accordingly when lying happens to do so. AKA saltier tone that I usually aim for but still think this meta addresses it well

Basically: I think Callum always has a great sense of self-awareness (knowing Claudia would have the capacity to trick him; knowing Rayla is hiding something in early S1) that his quote of "What if I'm on a path of darkness?" shows that, like usual, he's aware of the risk. He just also has a tendency of recklessly playing with fire

I think ultimately connecting to the Moon arcanum will have to be two fold of seeing through Aaravos' deceptions (and maybe Rayla's lingering ones, if she's come back to protect him for a specific reason she doesn't tell him at first for fear of escalating the situation, or something) as well as how Callum is lying to himself and denying / deflecting from his feelings, at least in 4x01: "You still love her don't you?" "I don't even know if she's alive."

One of the nice things about Lujanne's words of "Real trust is accepting even the dark parts we will never know" is that Callum kind of already put it into practice when he trusted Rayla with the egg in 1x06. He didn't know what her binding meant nor what she was hiding from him, he just decided it didn't matter anymore, because he believed in who he thought and knew she was, and staked his claim on that

That being said: more thoughts on Callum connecting to the moon arcanum here

#through the moon #tdp callum #snake boi callum #thanks for asking #ezransshades #rayllum #moon arcanum theory #mini meta #requests #parallels #personal fave

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aldmerii-blog · 6 years

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ALL THE NUMBERS for oran

ORAN!! MY BELOVED,,,,,thank u..,

1. Their physical weak spots

she’s not hugely strong. like, she’s kind of willowy? she’s very very dexterous so she’s a very very good fighter but pub brawls? not her thing. she can’t really take a lot of hits because she’s very good at not getting hit.

2. Their emotional/moral weak spots

she very much believes in people who are capable of taking care of themselves...fucking doing that. like she’d probably be that dick who tells a homeless person to get a job (okay, she might not say it, but she’d think it). except children and old folks. people who aren’t capable of taking care of themselves. grandmas who did everything right but war took their children and grandchildren and now there’s no one left to take care of her. children whose deadbeat parents left them to starve. she’s a hardass but not always.

3. Scars or painful spots

lossa scars. she covers them up with tattoos, except the ones on her face (they make her look more intimidating, you know?)

4. Best places to kiss on their body

oran usually uh. does the kissing. but i think she’d be a neck kisses kinda lady.

5. Guilty pleasures

music!!! she loves how moving it is, how it forges such oddly strong bonds between folks.

6. Their vices (physical or emotional)

she drinks, like, a lot. public intoxication is so frowned upon in alinor that it’s a big social faux pas to have more than, like, two glasses of wine outside your home. most places won’t even serve you more than two. so the first time she was in skyrim and saw some big ol nord woman get shitfaced she was like “i gotta get in on that” and she still frequently gets in on that.

also she gets jealous/possessive easily.

7. Their tickle spots

not ticklish, don’t try it if you value your fingers.

8. Bad memories/experiences

as a dominion soldier, she saw a lot of people die, a lot of villages razed, heard a lot of screams choked with blood. she ordered a lot of them. she’s got enough bad memories to fill a book.

9. Humiliating memories

do you know how much privacy there is on a ship. not a fucking lot. especially not when you’re just a sailor who sleeps in the bunks with dozens of other sailors. there’s nowhere to take pretty girls that you won’t be walked in on.

10. Fears/phobias

she really shrinks from fire magic. ice and lightning don’t spread; fire does. it’s uncontrollable.

11. Bad or petty habits

like, beyond the drinking and gambling? she talks too loud sometimes and can get vicious, both in action and word.

12. Grudges and vendettas

some fucking merchant in wayrest. she doesn’t even know if he’s still alive (how long do humans live again?) and she’ll almost certainly never see him again. but he stole from her and her brother when they literally had barely enough to feed themselves and she’d probably kill him in an instant if she could.

13. What gets them flustered

it’s really sort of random. she’s usually unflappable, but some days she’s not and gets overwhelmed really easily.

14. Ingrained habits/forces of habit

she’s not exactly zealous about mannish inferiority but sometimes those thoughts creep back in. like especially when she’s antagonized by a human. she’s working on it. it takes a while to unlearn that shit.

15. What it takes to make them cry

oran can’t remember the last time she cried. it’s just not something she does. when she gets overwhelmed she gets angry. she might if someone she really loved died, but that’s it.

16. Dark secrets/’skeletons in the closet’

she really tries to downplay her dominion ties. like she knows that everyone she meets has probably lost a relative to the great war, to an order she or someone she knows gave.

17. Regrets

sometimes she regrets deserting. because right now she lives her whole life in hedonism, constantly looking over her shoulder because if the thalmor caught her they would execute her. and sometimes squashing the guilt and questions and following blindly is a lot easier, especially when you’re on what looks to be the winning side.

18. Things they’ll never admit

nord mead tastes better than summerset wine.

19. People they’ve hurt or indirectly killed, and how it affected them

oh hohoh yeah. i’ve already touched on this a bit. especially as she comes to see humans as... intelligent beings with the same emotions and mental capacity as her? as she thinks of all the innocents she’s indirectly slaughtered? she feels guilty. she’s not interested in atoning because she knows she can’t, so she just. pushes it down.

20. What-ifs/Alternate Timelines

she could be the commander of the entire thalmor navy at this point if she’d stayed. she could have so much.

21. Turning points in their life

she and her brother were on leave together in skywatch and they were having dinner and one of the servers dropped a platter and soren just. burst into tears. like the noise was just too much for him. and she pulled him out (that kind of a public display of emotion is so shameful) and they sat up in the city’s gardens (abandoned so late at night) and he told her about how he always feels like he can’t breathe and how he always feels like his hands are dripping blood and how he has nightmares every night and how he just wants to go so they. left. that night they just stole a small ship and left.

22. People who’ve influenced them greatly

her father, who was also her commanding officer. she really kind of grew up on deck, taking order from him even before she was a sailor.

#the more i write about oran the gayer i get for her #carly's ocs #oc: oran #carly tells tales #henantier

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system-architect · 6 years

Note

50 Q for Vax... please, I need it

OH BOY vax... i’ve been rping him a lot lately but he still remains a bit of an enigma!! lets see..

Personal

1) Age? 23! he acts older than his age i think

2) Gender? like all my other ocs bc i’m very self indulgent, he is a trans guy!

3) Romantic/Sexual Orientation? vax can think boys are cute, but he’s never been a very romantically active person. he doesn’t lack a capacity for affection, he’s just always... busy with other stuff? it’s not something he thinks about often. if he’s buzzy around someone it’s probably bc he adores their cybernetics/etc work

4) Height? probably smth like 3′9″

5) Race? asura (+ cyborg??)

6) What do they look like? (i.e, hair color, eye color, etc). i’m gonna link The Vax Draw, i’m undecided about whether his hair is naturally full black or if the white stripes are weird pigment loss... PS he has a ton of moles all over, not just on his face :D

7) Any disabilities? hokay this is a Vax Secret but he has some sort of muscular and/or skeletal disorder i need to research into/get specifics on but the general idea is that he can get very weak and achey and have trouble moving sometimes! he deals with this via another Vax Secret i might talk about sometime

8) Is there a meaning to their name? in asuran ?? idk i dont think their names have meanings, but irl its a shortened asurafied version of ‘vaccine’ bc i thought it sounded cool

9) What makes them, them? Odd Question but he’s very shaped by his childhood experiences studying his father’s work and looking up to his dad and he’s very defined by his innate drive to bulldoze towards goals he has and wants to research... he’s a very stubborn and determined person who’s very much an agent For Himself

10) What do they want to be when they grow up/what do they want to do with their lives? he is Growed Up but he really wants to keep chasing revolutions in prosthetics/augments/cybernetics.. he wants to help people in ways they couldn’t otherwise be helped (atypical inquest huh)

Family

11) Do they have parents? What are they like and how do they act with their child(ren)? yes one parent, a single dad! ppl who’ve been watchin my hell rp server stuff will know his name is akka and he’s one of the top prosthetics smiths in the industry and was very private about his work but had a very cutting edge philosophy towards artificial parts and lead some really revolutionary work... dr. akka is a very kind and patient man with a good soul who is a tad weary from the world but he loved his son very much! he and vax had a great bond and vax was always eager to learn about his dad’s life work and his dad was always eager to teach him.. akka is an overall pretty amazing man, it’s a shame he joined the inquest for some reason and now we don’t know his current whereabouts......

12) Do they have siblings? How do they interact with them? If not, do they wish they had siblings? he technically has a sibling! maybe more? but he’s never met them... vax is perfectly pleased with being an only child, we’ll have to see how he reacts if he ever meets this one. it’s actually a character y’all are already familiar with.......

13) Extended family? Do they see them often? nope and nope

14) Do they like where they live? (Is it a safe place?) vax essentially lives out of his workshop within the sigma-5 prime division laboratory space which is Not a safe place no....... but he loves it... he technically has an apartment somewhere in soren draa that is as much of a junk pile as his workshop whoops (vax is very much a ‘i know where everything is in this chaos. don’t move it’ person...)

15) Where do they live? Are they wealthy? Poor? Middle-Class? i semi-answered this above but he has enough funding via the inquest to do his research projects as well as have a place for himself! i wouldn’t call him upper class probably just kinda middle ish, he keeps himself afloat alright

16) Do they have a lot of expectations/pressure on them from family to do great? despite vax’s attachment to akka’s work and vice versa, akka is a very chill guy who never expected vax to live up to it or anything like that.. he just thought it was great vax had the interest in it

17) Do they have pets? alas, no.... if he did i could see him owning smth more atypical like a ferret and fuck i kinda like that idea now i’ll have to meditate on it

18) Who do they look up to the most/are the closest to in their family? take one guess

19) This there anything special about their family? his dad being a renowned prosthetics doctors is pretty special yeah

20) Do they wish they lived in a different family/household? absolutely not

Friends

21) Best Friend(s)? alas vax is... very very much a lone wolf! this section is gonna be hard to answer and i’m probably gonna have to cross out some stuff because vax purposefully doesn’t really get close to anyone and he’s exceedingly unperturbed about this.. i meant it when i said he’s very self-driven! he’s not ultra egotistic and he doesn’t hate other people, nor is he unempathetic (i’d say he has a good degree of empathy actually), he’s just kind of... uninterested? he won’t hate you or be nasty to you for no reason, he’s just not interested in befriending/being around you as an aspect of his life

22) Who was their first friend? probably some of the other progeny tried to befriend him in precollege he he was Smart which is Cool but they quickly learned that vax’s idea of friendship is he will give you a quick synopsis of what he’s currently on and then go silent as he continues to work on it

23) What is their friend group like? there are a lot of inquest underlings who try to suck up to him because he’s their boss and also a shining star virtuoso with his work................. vax remains oblivious and unpeturbed

24) Do they have a love/hate relationship with any of them? yes. specifically plex. who is his best tech ops drone but plex is a... sort of pushy person wrt trying to Befriend vax and he has a very obvious crush on vax and vax is mostly oblivious to it but sometimes feels weird about plex’s sudden ‘random’ bursts of being super buddy-buddy with him. in plex’s defense a bit, plex doesn’t know how to interact with people either

25) Do they consider any of their friends to be like siblings?

26) Have they ever hurt a friend or lost one? he’s probably unintentionally driven off people by coming across as super cold... i think he feels bad if he accidentally upsets people with his demeanor but he’s not quite sure what to do about it bc he doesn’t really want to upset people but he also doesn’t want to force himself to be MegaFriendly anyway esp considering his trials with social interaction are kind of a hardwired brain thing (he’s got like... vague assorted ADHD-autistic spectrum traits)

27) Do they have a crush on any of their friends?

28) Do they share classes with good friends?

29) Whom do they go to the most when they need a shoulder to cry on? vax internalizes all his problems and works through them privately khgjdf he’s a weird mixture of stable and mature but sometimes unhealthy

30) What would this person do without their friends in their lives? [img of vax doing vague shrugging motions here] as aloof as he is he probably at the very least appreciates that other people have interest in his work! so would be a bit sad if he didn’t have that

School

31) What grade are they in? If they aren’t in school, how come? he has graduated college! he was top of the class his year at dynamics

32) Do/Did they like their teachers? Was there a good one? Bad one? i’m sure he’s had a Variety of teachers but most of his teachers probably liked him a good bit since he’s smart and yknow, Asura Be Like That... i’m sure he’s conversely had a few who butted heads with him over his philosophy on cybernetics because he has a much more open ended approach that’s a bit focused on the idea that prosthetics are body parts and people with prosthetics are Whole People not People With Additional Bits Slapped On/In and he’s very ginger with prosthetics/augments he handles and treats them like they’re the same as fleshy body parts and deserve the same delicate care despite being metal, and overall he has more of a focus on the actual people he’s working with i think, and i can see some more hardass/uptight teachers in particular not liking this because it’s kinda unasuran to more traditionalist types to have such a.. humane view on work rather than being enthused solely with your numbers and research results

33) Do/Did they listen to their teachers or are/where they goofing off a lot? vax is very headstrong and if you have useful advice then its useful advice but if you dont then fuck off and let him do his work how he’s determined to do it... he doesn’t goof off but he has no respect for authority if authority gives bad commentary

34) Are/Where they a good student grade wise? top marks except for in classes where he was abrasive with the teachers who’s work ethics clashed with his but what can you do

35) Do/Did they need extra help? nope... he probably ended up tutoring a few people actually (which probably was due to a nudge from a teacher and not.. vax’s sole volition of wanting to tutor people)

36) What is/was their school like?

37) Do/Did they have bullies in school? i’m sure he Didn’t Get Along With some others bc he’s Weird

38) Have they ever gotten into a fight at school? yes he’s absolutely metaphorically gone for someone’s throat because they had the audacity to challenge him on something that they were both wrong about and not as passionate about as him

39) Have they ever done something stupid/embarrassing at school? i’m sure he has but i can’t rlly think of anything (boring answer srry)

40) How far do they plan to go with school? If they dropped out, do they want to go back?

Other

41) Are they dating anyone? Do they want to date? Are the married? Divorced? i already kinda answered this but he’s not partic romantically involved... however i think if he found someone he was In Sync With and who understood his mannerisms then he’d be very content with them... i think he would need a stable easygoing relationship based on shared interests and just casually fitting together and supporting each other rather than anything passionately heated or overly focused on traditional displays of affection

42) What is their favorite hobby? Do they keep it a secret? he’s a big nerd who collects various prosthetics/augment models and he absolutely doesn’t keep it a secret...................... 75% of the RP i’m in with him rn has been him geeking out over augs. the other 25% was me describing the facility.

43) If they could have one thing in life, what would it be? i think he’s more overall focused on the idea of a continuous stream of improvement over a few static goals? he’s constantly laying out new traintracks in front of himself to steam ahead on... he’d like to be happy and successful at what he does, ultimately, and really attain super advanced inventions

44) Do they work? If so, what is it? If not, are they looking for one or even want one? despite everything i’ve said here about him being a good empathetic guy, he is Inquest........ the inquest funds his research he does at their labs and they pay him for being the sigma-five supervisor

45) Do they use social media? i can’t see him using social media much tbh... he might be into podcasts and asuran youtube a bit

46) Have they ever been in the hospital? due to his strength issues and some stuff that happened as a very small child he has been quite a bit yes

47) Do they believe in the supernatural, that there is more than the eye can see? this is a weird question in the context of gw2 which has canon ghosts whoops.. im gonna interpret it as ‘are they superstitious’... vax isnt superstitious and i think he’d be very brave facing questionably supernatural forces but in a sort of logical way uh... he would Not be the first to die in a horror movie.... he’s a skeptic of non-scientific magic things with i think some lingering internal paranoia.. he’s a very logical person

48) What do they do when they get angry, stressed, or upset? broods in private probably....... depending on what he’s heated about he might go sit by himself for awhile or he’s gonna take his anger out while working on a project

49) Would they consider themselves as a good person, bad person, or morally grey? i think he tries to be a good person but he’s skeptical of that Status a lot and worries over it a good bit... again, typical inquest!

50) Does this OC have any part of you in them? (I.e, personality traits, similar background, etc) all of my ocs have parts of me in them to some degree, i think vax carries some things related to my disabilities, interpersonal and moralistic struggles, and the nerdy passion over my special interests

#oc talk #ask memes #tHIS TOOK SO LONG IM SO SORRY #vax

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peacekeeper-xiv · 7 years

Text

Honest Q&A: Round 5! Table

Glad to see you all here. Let’s jump right in then. It’s been a while and our reader’s will surely be itching to learn more about Eorzea’s adventurous types.

If you were ruler of your own country what would be the first law you would introduce?

Lloire: “Tch. I would introduce a law that changed our system of government to one more akin to Ishgard’s House of Commons system so that whatever fools put me in charge stood a better chance.”

K’risa: “Um, doesn’t the fact that you wanna do that make you a good choice for a ruler? Anyways, I would introduce laws that were in place to severely punish anyone found tempered or assisting with tempering.”

Beta: “No, no, miss Mau. He’s right. A leader’s gotta be willing to be willing to NOT be sacrificial. The General has to know when –they- have to withdraw from the field, and Lloire just wouldn’t ever be able to do that. For me though, I’d put strict regulations on Magitek use to coincide with the increased production.”

Chadrick: “The feck? Tha three o’ ye can actually think o’ this shyte? Nay lads, Ah’m nay rulin’ anyone. Ah suppose me first an’ only law would be t’ abolish tha government so each man was free.”

Aasifa: “Aasifa is banning slaves or people who are being worked ;like slaves for little gil.”

Benedict: “I consider myself a man of the gods. It would be improper for me to rule over others. My beliefs would unfairly cloud my judgment.”

Chance: “A merc country? Heh, a king who fights his own battles. Would be a sight, yea?”

Felix: “Only fools rule. A ruler is always a puppet. A puppet to those with coin, to the popular opinion, to blackmail, or any number of other things. Why rule when you can manipulate from the shadows? I’d never get suckered into being any country’s ruler.”

What's the longest you've gone without sleep (and why)?

Lloire: “A week. …People I cared about were trapped within the void. I spent a week fighting to free them and only finally slept when Soren drugged me.”

K’risa: “A week? How are you not dead? No. I don’t wanna know. Longest I went was still less than a day. What? Girl needs her rest!”

Beta: “Um, well… crankshafts… I think it was three days? I was building something important.”

Chadrick: “T’was bout twenty-four ‘ours. Was travelin’ through some rough territory. Could nay afford t’ sleep, so, we pushed through.”

Aasifa: “Aasifa is sleeping every day. It is only way to stay strong, yes?”

Benedict: “I am in agreement with Master Taqalid. Proper rest is important for the body and mind.”

Chance: “Three days. Dravonians had us pinned down.”

Felix: “I didn’t count, but I recall it was several weeks. I had an experiment that required my undivided attention and well, with the right potions you can forgo sleep. Albeit at a slight degradation of your capacities.”

Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without?

Lloire: “A book to read.”

K’risa: “My blankets! What, it’s all your fault. Talking about not sleeping made me sleepy!”

Beta: “Coffee!”

Chadrick: “Seein’ a beautiful lass smile. Nary a soul should e’er do without.”

Aasifa: “Aasifa has been without, yes? So, there is nothing he is needing so much he cannot be without.”

Benedict: “Prayer. I only bring it up as a non-necessity because so many others live without it. I could not.”

Chance: “A knife. You should always have a knife.”

Felix: “I think I will agree with dark and broody over there. Constantly learn. You should read every day.”

Which of the five senses would you say is your strongest?

Lloire: “Smell, strange as might seem. I guess I honed it over the years learning to cook. Taste is important and all, but you smell the food well before you ever taste it… and the smell lingers long after the food is gone.”

K’risa: “I unno, hearing I guess?”

Beta: “Sight for sure. Picking things apart and remembering exactly what I saw and where a screw or bolt was… Yea, definitely sight.”

Chadrick: “O’ now, this is an easy one. Touch. Easy. ‘ands down.”

Aasifa: “Friend Chadrick, Aasifa worries you are meaning hands down skirts with way you are saying this. For Aasifa, it is hearing like friend K’risa. He is training whole childhood to be hearing intruders.”

Benedict: “I would have to say taste. Mine is overly strong, so I prefer more ‘bland’ flavors.”

Chance: “Smell for me too. Different uses though.”

Felix: “My sixth. Next question.”

Which of the five senses would you give up if you had to lose one?

Lloire: “Given previous… injuries, sight. I’ve already started training to be without it. I’d miss it for sure, but I would miss the others more.”

K’risa: “Really? You’d go blind before not being able to cook? You’re a strange one. For me, it’d be smell.”

Beta: “I’m kinda with miss K’risa Lloire. It’s crazy to go blind instead of not being able to smell. You’d get yourself ki--…. Oh… Nevermind, it all makes sense.”

Chadrick: “Well, Ah mean… Ah’d lose me sight before me sense o’ touch… but alas, Ah must agree with tha others… Smell can go first.”

Aasifa: “Hmm, Aasifa is thinking touch. If he is not feeling, there is no pain, he is greater fighter, yes?”

Benedict: “I’m not certain that would be wise Master Taqalid. Pain is a warning so we know how far to push ourselves. I am with the others. Perhaps a lost sense of smell might even out my sense of taste.”

Chance: “Sound I guess. Wouldn’t have to hear as much whining from people at least.”

Felix: “An interesting question… though I have to agree with the majority. Smell is the least useful sense in the lives we live.”

How would your friends describe you?

Lloire: “Depends on the friend I imagine. Soren’d tell you I’m a stubborn ass who always thinks he’s right. Siben’d tell you I try to hard and am quick to temper. Most everyone would likely agree that I’m injury prone I suppose.”

K’risa: “Um, I guess they’d say I was a hard worker.”

Beta: “Injury prone? That’s how you describe it? It’s not like you slipped and fell on a knife yanno. Um, most’a my friends would probably say I’m a workaholic and I’m bad at multitasking and should eat more.”

Chadrick: “Well, shyte. Ah’m nay sure. A few’d probably say Ah was a cocky bloke.”

Aasifa: “Friends have said before, describing Aasifa is difficult thing. But most are saying he like like the wind.”

Benedict: “I would hope they’d describe me as warm and caring. Protective.”

Chance: “And big Benny. As for me, ain’t too many I call friend and fewer still I’d give a fuck what they said.”

Felix: “As the guy you call when shits gone to hell and you need a way out.”

What did you want to be when you were small?

Lloire: “An archmage. Someone like Louisoix or Shatotto.”

K’risa: “I wanted what every girl in our tribe wanted. To be a huntress.”

Beta: “You just… I swear, you don’t own a mirror do you? Ugh. I wanted to be the world’s best engineer. Well, okay, want to be…”

Chadrick: “Ah was goin’ t’ say lad… ye are still a wee one. As fer me, Ah’ve always dreamed o’ bein’ a ‘ero. E’er since Ah too was a wee lad.”

Aasifa: “Free, yes?”

Benedict: “When I was young, I simply wished to please the family that took me in.”

Chance: “A merc. It was all I’d known.”

Felix: “Alchemy has been an interest of mine since I first heard of it.”

What's the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of love?

Lloire: “Pretty sure I have to say ‘Stab myself in the chest’ or Beta will call me out on it.”

K’risa: “Yea, he will. How did you—I’d rather not know. I uh, left my tribe and everyone I knew.”

Beta: “Yea, next time you go falling for a girl, maybe just roses and chocolates, ‘kay? For me, it was raid a castrum and take over all their reapers.”

Chadrick: “Ah di’nay know tha’ Ah’d call it fer love… but tha craziest thing Ah did fer romance was date wha’ amounted t’ a princess. Di’nay hiss K’risa… she ne’er did a thing t’ ye.””

Aasifa: “Aasifa is not understanding question. Everything done for love is crazy, yes? Otherwise… is not love?”

Benedict: “I fear I am going to have to abstain from answering. I have not been in love and as such have not done anything foolish.”

Chance: “Tried to play at hero.”

Felix: “Hmm… pretty much everything I did from the age nineteen to twenty-three.”

Do you collect anything? If so, what?

Lloire: “Books.”

K’risa: “I don’t think it counts that I collect fabrics, considering that’s my job.”

Beta: “Mostly Garlean scrap. Wha? It’s not ‘technically’ my job. Also, Lloire, I’m pretty sure you collect scars.”

Chadrick: “Ah’ve a giant collection o’ tha things Ah kept from each o’ me missions. Aislyn an’ Ah make it a point t’ keep one thing from each job.”

Aasifa: “Aasifa is not one for ‘things’, yes? You cannot take with you. No matter what some people might think.”

Benedict: “Yes, I have a collection of different totems, rosaries, wards, from various beliefs. I enjoy learning about other people’s beliefs.”

Chance: “…no. The fuck am I gonna do with all that extra weight?”

Felix: “Like Scars, I have a collection of tomes as well as a collection of rare metals and gems.”

Who was your first crush?

Lloire: “A woman named Stanzie. ”

K’risa: “A pretty boy hero who doesn’t know how to sit still.”

Beta: “Um, I guess Ikara? I mean, I didn’t really get the whole dating thing before I met her.”

Chadrick: “There was this lass named Cathleen when Ah was growin’ up. Me da dealt with ‘ers kind o’ regularly. Otherwise, Ah’d ‘ave t’ say Sinomen.”

Aasifa: “Bliss. Let us speak on something new, yes?”

Benedict: “Again, I will need to bow… what is that mister Tamisier? Oh, well.. I suppose… very well. There was a young Elezen girl when I was much much younger… but that was highly inappropriate. Her name? Oh… It’s been so many years. Killie… Kyliean… I fear I do not recall anymore.”

Chance: “Right… sure you don’t Benny. There was a fellow merc when I was starting out. Becca. That’s all ya need to know.”

Felix: “I suppose my betrothed when I was young would have been my first crush. Her name was Alison.”

Do you or your family have a “motto” – spoken or unspoken?

Lloire: “No. Not really. Maybe if I start one someday I’ll come up with one.”

K’risa: “Oh, like I’d forget what I hear time and time again. ‘One struggle, one people, one destiny.’”

Beta: “Noooope.”

Chadrick: “Ah’ll go with me ma’s. ‘Fortune favours tha bold.’”

Aasifa: “If Aasifa is having one… he is not knowing it, yes?”

Benedict: “As with miss Mau, I could not forget it if I tried. ‘Honour is the reward of virtue.’”

Chance: “No.”

Felix: “Hahaha. Yea, no.”

What do you do to keep fit?

Lloire: “Every morning is a fairly standard routine. Pushups, crunches, squats, a run… plus all the training and fighting.”

K’risa: “Keep fit? Do you all have to try to stay fit?”

Beta: “I guess all my time at the forge keeps me pretty fit. I mean, hammering stuff all day and working on magitek… it can be hard work.”

Chadrick: “Blitzball’s a pretty full body workout ye know. Outside o’ tha’… Ah find Ah di’nay need much else, aye?”

Aasifa: “Aasifa and Lloire are similar here. Aasifa wakes and does morning exercises. It is ingrained in him since time first remembered.”

Benedict: “I am not so sure I am as fit as say Master Peace or Master Taqalid.”

Chance: “Work. Don’t need anything else.”

Felix: “Aya started me on a training regimen some many many years ago. I’ve stuck with it since.”

If you could live somewhere else from where you live now, where would it be?

Lloire: “Yanxia. It’s beautiful there.”

K’risa: “I’ve heard there is a land to the south that sounds amazing.”

Beta: “Idyllshire for sure. I wish I could now!”

Chadrick: “E’erywhere. Ah cannay imagine settlin’ down t’ any one spot.”

Aasifa: “Aasifa is with friend Chadrick. The winds blow everywhere. So does Aasifa”

Benedict: “I… have not given that thought. There is still much of the world for me to see to rightly say. Lady Sayo has spoken much of the east and I’ve heard the Steepe is beautiful.”

Chance: “Where I live doesn’t matter. Where doesn’t make it home.”

Felix: “Hah. And packs like to keep on the move, right wolfboy? Dravania if I had to pick.”

If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

Lloire: “Danger of death, high voltage.”

K’risa: “Shocking.” *snickers* “Um Cat crossing? I don’t know. I’m not all that dangerous.”

Beta: “I unno, something like Warning, explosion hazards I guess?”

Chadrick: “Caution, ‘ot. Tha rest o’ ye are too damned serious.”

Aasifa: “Umm… This is strange question… Aasifa’s would say, warning… anger Aasifa and he will cut of your head. Is good warning, yes?”

Benedict: “I… I think that may be a bit on the nose Master Taqalid. I suppose mine would say Contents under pressure.”

Chance: “Wolf advisory in effect.”

Felix: “Seek shelter.”

How do you sleep? With clothes, fitfully or peacefully, lots of pillows?

Lloire: “Odd question… I have night clothes… a single pillow, and I imagine a bit more fitfully than many others.”

K’risa: “You poor thing. I um, have a nightgown. That’s all I’m telling!”

Beta: “Rarely and usually where I fall.”

Chadrick: “Godsdamn lad… Yer too young fer all o’ tha’. Get yer rest. Lots o’ pillows and quite peacefully.”

Aasifa: “Aasifa has bed made of cushions. He sleeps well. You should try it. Very comfortable.”

Benedict: “I spend most nights in inn rooms. They are comfortable enough.”

Chance: “Bedrolls more often than not. I sleep fine.”

Felix: “You don’t want to know… trust me. Suffice it to say… in velvet.”

Real quick, before you all leave. It was recently Valentione’s Day here is Eorzea. How did you feel about that holiday?

Lloire: “Tch… None of your business. My Shield Sister loves it though.”

K’risa: “I love it! I sold all kinds of cute lingerie!”

Beta: “Ikara and I always go out and enjoy the festivities. So I like it.”

Chadrick: “It’s a celebration o’ love, aye? Wha’s nay t’ like unless you’re tha’ gloomy type. Nay dating fer ye eh Lloire? Cut inta tha broodin’ time?”

Aasifa: “This festival was fun time! Aasifa and companion Rahya scared many moogles and then got chairs for our efforts, yes?”

Benedict: “I’m afraid I did not participate, though the decorations and festivities made Sunny quite happy.”

Chance: “…Yea, Lloire… I still owe you an asswhooping for that. She’s still laughing at me… ass.”

Felix: “The pink hurts my eyes… Heh, pinkeye. Hmm… maybe next year I’ll… huh? Oh, we’re done. Great.”

As always, thank you all for answering our readers’ questions. I think next round we’ll have another theme. Until then!

Tagged by: Uh, I made this one. So @me?

Tagging: @wicked-virtue @yutikyis@waitingrose @susukosuko@hedgearcher @hana-xiv @devil-you-know @nebula1984 and anyone I might have left off or forgotten.

#lloire peace #beta imito #chadrick tamisier #k'risa mau #aasifa taqalid #chance ashton #felix mordenson #benedict granger #ffxiv rp

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seylennotes · 7 years

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Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

Sheryl husband's Dave died suddenly because of cardiac arrest during their holiday. Noone is prepared for death, and there she was grief striken for life loss of her dear husband. As much as this is a story of sadness, it is also her way of healing. This book is her honest struggle and lesson learnt we all can get lessons from. some quotes from the book: 1. Breathing Again -"The question is: when these things happen, what do we do next?" -"Hundred of studies have shown that children and adults recover more quickly when they realize that hardships aren't entirely their fault, don't affect every aspect of thier lives, and won't follow them everywhere forever." -"When they don't take rejections personally and remembered that they could approach new prospects tomorrow, they sold more than twice s much and stayed in the job twice as long as their colleagues." -"By blaming myself I was delaying my recovery, whnich also meant I was delaying my kids' discovery." -"In my first meeting. why on earth does this even matter?" -"The fear of forever without Dave was paralysing." -"That we tend to overestimate how long negative events will affect us." -"write down a belief that is causing you anguish and then follow it with proof that the belief is false." -"People need to know that they are not alone" -"Part of the misery is the fact that you don't merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer." -"When I stopped fighting those moments, they passed more quicly." -"during the early days..try to think about how much worse things could be." -"Counting blessings can actually increase happiness and health by reminding us of the good things in life." 2. Kcking the Elephant Out of The Room -"And it doesn't matter, because none of it will be dicussed with The Non-Question-Asking friend, who never, ever, ever asks you anything about your life. Sometimes these friends are self-absorbed. Sometiems they're just uncomfortable having intimate conversations." -"Still people hesitate to ask questions out of concern that probing will dredge up trauma." -"Our child dies a second time when no one speaks their name." -"Even though option A was gone for so many of us, we were not alone." -"Instead of making assumptions about whether or not someone wants to talk, it's best offer an opening and see if they take it." -"Death is not the only kind of adversity that summons the elephant. Anything that reminds us of the possibility of loss can leave us at a loss for words." -"The most powerful thing you can do is acknowledge. To litterally say the words: I acknowledge your pain. I'm here with you." -"We put off calling or offering help until we feel guilty that we didn't do it sooner..and then it feels too late." -"Simply showing up for a friend can make a huge difference." -"I learned that at times, caring means that when someone is hurting, you cannot imagine being anywhere else." -"Specific acts help becasue instead of trying to fix the problem, they address the damage caused by the problem." -"God: why when I needed you the most, have you not been there for me? and god replies: the years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child are when I carried you." 4. Self-Compassion and Self-confidence -"Self-compassion is different from self-pity and self-indulgence." -"Blaming our actions rather than our character allows us to feel guilt instead of shame...Guilt keeps us striving to improve. People become motivated to repair the wrongs of their past and make better choices in the future." -"We are all broken by something. We have all hurt someone." -"Self-confidence is critical to happiness and success. When we lack it, we dwell on our flaws." -"We don't muster the courage to ask for a first date, and the future love of our life becomes the one who got away." -"What would you do if you weren't afraid? I'd take one turn then another". -"..he went on to say that neither he nor anyone else expected me to be able to hold it together all the time." -"Soren KIerkegaard: life can only be understood backward but it must be lived forward." -"Write down what you have done well." 5. Bouncing forward -"It is the irony of all ironies to experience tradgedy and come out of it feeling more grateful." -"To hold on to gratitude.. to reminds herself regularly of what she could have lost." -"That's the only thing about faith...it helps you know that sooner or later this too shall pass." 6. Taking back joy 7. Raising resilient kids -"Tim followed his dad's advice and learned to resoond to embarrassment with humor." -"You become stronger as you seek solution to seeming roadblocks or dead ends." -"Helping children developing four core beliefs: 1. they have some control over their lives. 2. They can learn from failure. 3. They matter as human beings. 4. They have real strengths to rely on and share. " -"Even in the worst moments of thier lives, my kids had the capacity to think of others. And that gave me hope." -"Nostalgia is literally the suffering that we feel when we yearn for the past to come back to us, yet psychologists find that it is mostly a pleasant state." -"Setting aside time for family to have fun together such as cooking or playing board game." -"Mom, they probably have things they cry about too, so you should just be yourself." -"But people can build hope together. By creating a shared identity, individuals can forms a group that has a past and a brighter future." -"Collective resilience requires more than just shared hope-- it is also fueled by shared experiences, shared narratives and shared power." -"It's actually a kind of strength to recognize when you don't have the skills to do something and reach out for help." -"Let no man pull you so low as to hate him." 9. Failing and Learning at Work -"He asked the students to write anonymous feedbacks and he emails the wholeset of comments to the entire class." -"Accepting feedback is easier when you don't take it personally." -"Even when you get an F for the situation itself, you can still earn an A+ for how you deal with it." 10. To Love and Laugh Again -"You don't need to justify your actions". -"They took responsibility for their problems and found ways to compromise. They sent signals that even though tey were fighting, at a deeper level, they were okay."

#option B by sheryle sandberg #best seller book #New York time best seller #Sheryl Sandberg #Option B #quotes #favorite book

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