#so he also knows what it's like to have no automony

[the-girl-with-too-many-ideas]

Unpopular opinion, If the story was told from Shen Jiu's perspective, svsss would be a horror and Shen Yuan the villain.

I mean, you're talking about someone who had little to no automony their entire childhood. Who was a slave and suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of his master to the point of developing a fear of men. Who knows what it is like to have no control over your body or what happens to it.

So, to be not only kicked out of his body, but forced to watch as someone else occupies and uses it (arguably doing and becoming everything he was rumored to have been and done) would be viscerally horrific.

(This is why I firmly believe that YQY would take the Shen Yuan revelation badly. He was a slave too, and without a doubt, knows how much Shen Jiu valued his freedom and autonomy above everything else. He would be so horrified and devastated to learn that his Xiao Jiu was stripped of both again while he stood by and did nothing again.)

[junegirl06]

A more literal interpretation of Jevil's "freedom" (also some rambling)

The last post I did on Jevil- I talked about how his "freedom" could be like a sort of "inner freedom." He is trapped physically, but free from the contraints of responsibility, society, morality, etc. Now, I think that mindset is exactly the thing that led him to do whatever he did to get imprisoned, but the freedom he talks about in game might be a different thing entirely.

The thing that got me thinking about that is a video by halfbreadchaos. (I forgot the specific video but check them out- they make great stuff) They led me to notice the fact that Jevils prison is very oddly positioned, and the entire "???" floor area as a whole is really strange as well.

The room itself looks eerily similar to that first area we wake up in on chapter 1. The creepy atmosphere, the color of the floors (kinda), and the torches are literally the same as the ones found in that pre-castle town area. The entire place looks so incredibly different from the rest of the card castle. The walls and surrounding area don't even seem to be like... there. Like it's some sort of abyss. Like the entire room is out of bounds of something.

Jevil's cell/room shares a very similar vibe in that aspect as well. On the outside, the bars just seem to lead into nothing. And even on the inside, It just looks... wrong. The spinning carousel thing is so different from anything else in the game. I mean, toby said it's made out of 2D parts, but it's obviously supposed to look kinda 3D. The characters aren't even standing on the thing properly. Even behind the carousel, it's just more nothingness.

____

Now, let's look at Jevils dialogue directly.

"BUT I'M FAST, FAST, CLEVER, CLEVER." "THEY LOST THE CHASE, AND LOCKED UP THEIR ENTIRE RACE." "BUILDING A PRISON AROUND THE WHOLE WORLD. NOW I'M THE ONLY FREE ONE." Ralsei: "But you're clearly the one behind bars..." "THINGS DON'T SEEM SUCH FROM HERE LIGHTNERS!"

Looking at this completely literally, this is what we can gather: The guards and/or Seam chased him around, but he was too fast and clever for them. They somehow decided to build a prison around the dark world and trapped everyone behind bars, making Jevil the only free one. This is obviously not the case. If we try to fit this interpretation into what we know about the dark world and Jevil's situation... it uh, kinda looks like he's joking about how it looks like everybody is trapped because he's looking at them through bars.

But that answer is pretty boring, isn't it? There is obviously a lot more we can read into the dialogue. Jevil is shown to speak with a certain bit of abstractness. This analysis is supposed to be a more literal interpretation, but it's clear we need to look a little more deeper than that.

____

Let's take what I brought up before the dialogue, along with some other points.

Jevil's prison is very clearly separated from the rest of the dark world. Hell, maybe even the rest of the game with how odd it is.

Jevil talks about how everybody else is trapped, and he is the only "free" one.

This freedom doesn't exactly seem to be "inner freedom," as he directly connects his prison with this "freedom" by inviting us "outside" when we use the key on the door.

They way he doesn't elaborate any further when we do enter his room, and because the characters don't seem to have like, any sudden revelations or something inside of the room, leads me to believe that it's that inherent oddness, that separation from the "normal" part of the game that Jevil is finding freedom in.

Nobody in the world of Deltarune technically has automony over their choices. Every single choice, every event, is because of the plot. All of these people are characters in a video game, able to be manipulated by higher forces on a whim. Gaster/the mysterious entity made Jevil realize this and drove him insane with the knowledge.

Now, Jevil doesn't actively dispise that fact like Spamton does. He might almost relish in it- as he did go on that "NOTHING MATTERS EVERYTHING IS A SIMULATION! UEEHEEHEE!!!" rampage that caused so much chaos.

But then he faced the consequences of his actions. His own coworker/quite possibily a good friend locked him up in this dark, creepy place far, far below where the regular prisoners are supposed to go. And it all felt quite... stupid.

"Look at all those little people, obediently following the rules of this worthless world. They don't realize, don't they? They've simply placed another peice in the great game being set up by the higher beings. They're just walking themselves closer and closer into their eventual end. It's almost as if... they're trapping themselves. Building a prison around all of them, allowing themselves to be puppeteered by the people who control the world.

Hah! I'm quite clever, aren't I? Thanks to what I've done, I've been relagated as even lesser than a side character, sitting in a little haven tucked away from the influences of the outside world... No, I'm the one looking from the outside this time. I'm the only one here who truly understands, aren't I? But it's not my job to enlighten such fools. I'll be content watching from the backseat as the chaos unfolds..."

___

I, uh... didn't mean to write a fanfic- but I'm pretty sure that's Jevil's mindset. He fully accepts this messed up world he's inside, but he defnitely wouldn't mind if he was granted a little more freedom. And somehow... that's what he got. As a secret boss, he's... basically fully separated from the main story, but his presence is still enough to make it clear he exists in the world.

He's "free" in a much more literal sense than I intially thought. After all, isn't being that pedestrian on the streets who (hopefully) doesn't get caught in the crossfire of the MC's the best freedom any story could give?

[borderlineomniverse]

If You Don't Know About Project 2025, You Need To.

For the uninformed, Project 2025 is a plan drafted by a conservative alt-right think tank that would turn America into an autocratic dystopia in the event that Trump wins the 2024 election. The plan would begin execution IMMEDIATELY upon Trump's innaguration, and includes actions such as the following:

Trump would recieve near-unlimited powers as president and would essentially become a fascist dictator.

Using this power, he would invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to mobilize military forces and hunt down anyone he deems to be his enemies (the plan specifically states "deep state politicians", but who he regards as his enemies could expand to generally anyone who opposes him).

Project 2025 pretty much spells the end for LGBTQIA+ rights, with the removal of protections against discrimination and healthcare as the beginning of the plan, but would eventually include the criminalization of anyone who "appears" gender-nonconforming or doesn't fit a heterosexual stereotype. Transgender individuals would be forced to detransition, or at the very least, present themselves as their gender assigned at birth, and any non-heterosexual couples would have their marriages annulled (at the very best), or may even be imprisoned. There's so much more that would occur along the lines of destroying LGBTQIA+ rights, but these are some major points I wanted to highlight.

On the topic of diversity rights, the document has evidence that Trump could begin deporting non-white individuals (mostly Latinx people, but anyone is fair game) and as a whole, rights for any non-white individuals would go by the wayside.

Furthermore, women's rights would also be abolished, with discrimination against women in the workplace returning and reproductive rights being thrown out. Abortion would become criminalized under this new policy, and women would lose automony over their bodies and decisions.

Most of the current administrative branch would be demolished, with current departments like the Department of Education, Department of Justice, and FBI being shut down, and others having their power either significantly limited or replaced with Trump's own conservative infiltrators.

Speaking of which, while this project doesn't technically go into effect until Trump's potential election, the steps are already being made. Alt-right individuals and supporters can sign up on Project 2025's Website to officially join certain jobs and become apart of the project's officially sanctioned militia that could execute Trump's bidding.

If all of this seems very scary, it should be. If Trump gets elected, we would see the end of American democracy and freedom, and the country would transform into a fascist dystopia. If you think this only affects Americans, think again! Other alt-right parties in other countries can and will take example from Trump's power and push for the abolishment of freedom in other countries as well.

So. What can you do?

I hope this doesn't need to be said, but if it does, then VOTE. If you were planning to not vote, then by taking that inaction you are effectively making an action that could spell the destruction of our nation. If you are voting age, you MUST cast your vote against Trump to ensure that Project 2025 will not go into effect.

You can also spread the word to friends, whether that be in person or online. Reblog this post, or make your own posts. Make sure that this information is circulated in your online circles and encourage others to share more information wherever you can. Talk about it on all of your social media profiles and get all of your mutuals talking about it as well. Unfortunately, there's a huge subset of the internet that just isn't aware about Project 2025, but if we get the word out and encourage as many people as we can to take action against this manifesto, then we may be able to save our nation. Again, even if you're not American, this policy could impact you in the future, and you can share information for your own online audience and inform your American followers about the issue. It's very important that we get as many people talking about this as possible.

I hope this post motivates you to take action and begin sharing information about Project 2025, and if you would like more resources I've linked articles and resources for you below.

Analysis from PBS Newshour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsoGfOesEEA

For those of you hesitant to vote for Biden: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwpYeNx/

[zutaraxkorrasami]

I like Zutara too but how was Aang a terrible person wtf

From the shows beginning to end Aang was a childish and selfish person. When it comes to Katara he was particularly awful but it doesn’t mean he was great with others. 

Kissing Katara without her consent, getting jealous and possessive over her when there was NOTHING romantic between them at that point. They were not together and he nods along to the play quoting she was his girl. That is shitty. It shows he thinks of her as a possession and not someone with the automony to make her own decisions.

In The Southern Raiders he practically calls her a murderer and refuses to let her go deal with her mother’s killer without imparting his “wisdom” on her which is basically Air Nomad beliefs. He compares his grief to hers when he could never understand the loss of a parent. He had no right to ever compare his griefs to hers. And to compare a pet to a parent. As much as I love Appa he is Aang’s pet, not his family.

Those are late show stuff. We could talk about how he treats her in the comics, too, but not everyone has read those so...

The early show stuff, he burned her, he called her jealous when she was making a valid point about him getting too comfortable with all the attention from the young girls, and he hid a letter from her father.

Mid show... does anyone remember what happened in The Desert? 

Then you have the way he treated Toph specifically. How he yelled at her twice over Appa when the first time Toph was right and the second time Toph did her damn best to save everyone, but she was “just one kid” as he quoted in S1 finale. And she was blind!

He lashes out at all his friends in the finale and wouldn’t listen to any of them. He left Sokka in the hole and wouldn’t get Toph and complained to his friend who was stuck in the ground!

He ran away when things got tough and refused to accept when he couldn’t do things his way. This happened before the war started, which resulted in his people getting killed and the world being without an Avatar for 100 years. Then he ran away from Guru Pathik when he was trying to help him control the Avatar State to “save” Katara when really he didn’t like being told to let her go. He runs away again at the start of s3 and then the finale... we all know what happened there, when the going got tough.

Another point on the finale is his refusal to listen to advice he doesn’t like.

He only changes his opinion when it’s something that effects him. Like the comics.

All of this leads to him being the worst Avatar we have met, and that is a huge flaw on him personally too, at least in my eyes. He was weak and selfish in his Avatar duties which impacted everything. 

If we’re going into LOK... He was a shitty father who ignored two of his kids and put the weight of the world on the third one. He also left Korra with so much shit to deal with and it caused her to be given no childhood.

So yeah, Aang is an awful person who is disguised as a good person but it’s not always clear to see why but I have always hated him and disliked his personality.

[health-is-in-you]

From Enough 14.

Social rebel, counterfeiter, bandit, modern Robin Hood – the list of titles with which our anarchist comrade Lucio Urtubia was honoured is long. His life, which sounds like an adventure novel, is a mirror of the revolutionary movements in Europe in the second half of the 20th century. Lucio Urtuba passed away today (18 July, 2020). Rest In Power Lucio!

Lucio Urtubia was born in 1931 in a small village in Navarre and grew up in poor conditions. When he was called up for military service, he deserted to France shortly afterwards, where he worked as a bricklayer from then on. He came into contact with anarchist groups and met his political foster father: the legendary Sabaté, who organized the armed resistance against the Franco dictatorship from France. Forging documents, hiding underground fighters and illegal fundraising activities play a major role in his life from then on. Numerous resistance organisations, which have a base of operations in France or are looking for a place to retreat, benefit from his skills: Black Panthers, Tupamaros, European guerrillas. Lucio’s solidarity is with every act of revolt aimed at a more just social order.

In 1962, he proposed to Che Guevara, then head of the National Bank of Cuba, to flood the world market with counterfeit dollar bills in order to destabilize the US economy. The proposal meets little approval on the Cuban side, but the idea remains alive in Lucio. In 1980 he succeeds in his greatest coup: by printing traveller’s cheques from Citibank with a value of several million dollars he brings the then most powerful bank in the world on its knees.

But the list of his activities is not completed. Lucio is also a master of conspiracy, however, who manages to spend only a few months in prison in his not exactly law-abiding life. He breaks the silence at the age of well over 70. There is a book and also a movie (Watch here) about Lucio Urtubia.

Lucio, The Good Bandit: Reflections of an Anarchist Marie Trigona, Toward Freedom (05/06/2008)

Outspoken and charismatic, Lucio speaks like a true anarchist. When asked what it means to be an anarchist, Lucio refutes the misperception of the terrorist, “The anarchist is a person who is good at heart, responsible.” Yet he makes no apologies for the need to destroy the current social order, “it’s good to destroy certain things, because you build things to replace them.”

Lucio has old friends in the Southern Cone. Funds from the forgery operatives helped hundreds from revolutionary organizations exile and finance clandestine actions against the bloody dictatorships which disappeared ten thousands of activists, students and workers during the 1970’s throughout Latin America. In Uruguay, funds from falsified Citibank travelers’ checks funded the guerilla group Tupamaros, in the US the Black Panthers and other revolutionary groups throughout Europe.

During his recent visit to South America, Lucio stayed at the worker run BAUEN Hotel in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires. He was astounded by the accomplishments of the workers without bosses. At the BAUEN hotel, workers are putting into practice workers autogestíon or self-management. Self-management has been a mainstay of anarchist thought since the birth of capitalism. Rather than authority – obey relationship between capitalists and workers, self-management implies that workers put into practice an egalitarian system in which people collectively decide, produce and control their own destinies for the benefit of the community. But for such a system to work, participants have to be hard working and responsible, one of the most important attributes a man or woman should have according to Lucio. “The anarchist movement was built by workers. Without work we can’t talk about self-management, to put self-management into practice we need to know how to do things, to work. It’s easy to be bohemian.”

Lucio explains that his anarchism is based in his poor childhood in fascist Spain. “My anarchist origins are rooted in my experience growing up in a poor family. My father was leftist, had gone to jail because he wanted the automony of the Basque country. For me that’s not revolution, I’m not nationalist. With nationalism humanity has committed a lot of mistakes. When my father got out of jail he became a socialist. We suffered a lot. I went to look for bread and the baker wouldn’t give it to me, because we didn’t have money. For me poverty enriched me, I didn’t have to make any effort to lose respect for the establishment, the Church, private property and the State.”

In Spain, fascism persevered 30 years after the end of World War II. Hundreds were placed in jail for resisting the Franco dictatorship. Anthropologists have estimated that from the onset of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936 to Franco’s death in November 1975, Franco’s Nationalists killed between 75,000 and 150,000 supporters of the Republic.

Lucio exiled to France where he discovered anarchism. He had deserted the nationalist army and escaped to France. Paris in the 1960’s was a bourgeoning city for anarchist intellectuals, organizers and guerillas in exile. It was there that Lucio met members from the anarcho-syndicalist trade union, Confederación Nacional de Trabajo (CNT). He was anxious to participate.

During his early years in France, Lucio met Francisco Sabate, the legendary anarchist and guerilla extraordinaire. At this time Sabate, otherwise known by his nickname “El Quico” was the most sought after anarchist by the Franco regime. French police were also looking for Sabate, who led resistance against Franquismo. “When I met Quico, I was participating in the Juventud Libertarias. They asked me if I could help Sabate, me an ignorant, I didn’t know who he was.” Sabate used Lucio’s house as a hide out. The young Lucio, listened to Sabate’s tales of direct action and absorbed whatever wisdom he had to offer, like methods for sniffing out infiltrators. “I met guerillas that put me on the road to direct action and expropriations. Sabate taught me to lose respect for private property.”

It was then that Lucio began participating in bank robberies. “There are no bigger crooks than the banks,” says Lucio in the defense of expropriation. “[This was the] only means the anarchist had, without funding from industry or government representatives to fund them. The money was sent to those suffering from Franco’s regime.” Student organizations and worker organizations received the funds to carry out grass roots organizing. In other cases the money was used for the guerilla actions against Franco’s regime, such as campaigns for the release of political prisoners in the nationalist jails.

To save the lives of exiles, Lucio thought of a master plan to falsify passports so Spanish nationals could travel. “Passports for a refugee means being able to escape the country and lead safe lives elsewhere,” he explains. Not only in Europe but in the US and South America, dissidents used false ID’s to lead their lives and direct actions.

In 1977, Lucio’s group began forging checks as a direct form to finance resistance. Lucio was essentially the “boss” of the operation-he made, distributed and cashed the checks. The checks were harder to falsify than counterfeit bills. Lucio thought they should target the largest banking institution in the world, National City Bank. The distribution of the checks went to different subversive groups who used the funds to finance solidarity actions. Lucio explains that “no one got rich” from the checks. Most of the funds went to the cause. All over Europe, these checks with the same code number were cashed at the same time.

Lucio’s master plan cost City Bank tens of millions of dollars in forged travelers’ checks. But many say a much larger sum was expropriated. City Bank was at the mercy of the forger, who had cost so much that the bank had to suspend travelers checks, ruining the holiday for thousands of tourists. At the time, people did not use check cards or credit cards. Lucio was arrested in 1980 and found with a suitcase full of the forged checks. In the meantime during Lucio’s arrest, Citibank continued to receive false travelers’ checks.

Citbank became worried. Representatives from the bank agreed to negotiate. Lucio would be released if he handed over the printing plates for the forged checks. The exchange was made, and Lucio became a legend for his mastermind plan. Although his life as a forger ended at 50-years-of-age, his life as an anarchist continued.

Lucio had always worked as a bricklayer. “What’s helped me the most is my work, Anarchists were always workers.” Lucio-bricklayer, anarchist, forger and expropriator has left a legacy like his predecessors. “People like Loise Michel, Sabate, Durruti, all the expropriators taught me how to expropriate, but not for personal gain, but how to use those riches for change.” At 76-years-of-age he does not apologize for his actions. “I’ve expropriated, which according to the Christian religion is a sin. For me expropriations are necessary. As the revolutionaries say, robbing and expropriation is a revolutionary act as long as one doesn’t benefit from it.”

[ardenttheories]

1. Love the new url, it sounds great! 2. If you want to, what are your thoughts on the extent of the knight class’ exploitation abilities? Like, how Dave needs some ability to See timelines in order to be able to exploit them, and how Karkat sees himself as a master of interpersonal relations, though I’m less sure about how that influences his role as a Knight of Blood. Where does the justification “in order to allow for exploitation” end? Dave can travel through time but why? Seems like an heir

Ran out of characters. Where does it end? Dave can travel through time like an heir would, and then wield weapons that pause time like Aradia can, and then travel instantaneously—again, like an heir, and have a sense of which is the alpha timeline, like some sort of knowledge class. And then that’s not even mentioning his awareness of the narrative. Where does it end? Dothe ends justify the means and you can look sburb dead in the eye and say “I need this to exploit my aspect” that’s ok?

Sorry for pestering you so much, I have a habit of not being able to stop my train of thought once it gets going. Last bit: we haven’t really seen much of what happens in a fully realized page in homestuck (Id argue that Steven Universe at the end of his movie is a pretty good example of a fully realized page of heart) but I’m curious how you think the page being exploitational actually manifests in the page’s powers. Sorry this got so long, I’m just curious if you’ve got any thoughts on this

I’m glad you like it! It’s taking a bit of getting used to tbh - I keep going to naturally type sburbtheory instead of ardenttheories. Oops!

I think, in some ways, it’s as important to look at HOW Dave uses his powers as it is to look at WHAT powers he has. 

Dave can travel through Time, much like Aradia can. That’s true! But the way Dave uses his Timetravel is quite different to hers. 

Whereas she tends to use it to set up things for the longhaul future, to escape danger, to allow for the continuity of the timeline - and thereby follows exactly what she dictates Time to be - Dave is very much restricted to doing only what Time allows him to do. 

His Exploitation of Time works because he spends a week in the game in the course of about three hours. He Exploits the Timeloops to make sure that they can get everything done in their very restricted amount of Time before the Reckoning - something even Aradia may not have been able to do. She doesn���t tend to use her Time abilities a whole lot, especially after a certain point (e.g. when she starts spending more time in the Dream Bubbles), whereas for Dave, Exploiting Time to give them more Time is one of his key moves. 

In the same way, he Exploits Time to give them more Boonbucks and more Grist so that they can get everything they need extremely quick. Making loops upon loops upon loops of Daves doing things and then becoming those Daves ensures that everyone is able to survive even when the game seems to be actively working against them. 

That’s also another thing to consider, I think. Dave’s Exploitations of Time are completely stable. Every single Dave that we see in the second part of Act 5 - which is especially prominent in the panel where Jade tries to focus in on Dave through her compugoggles, which comes up showing 12 different Daves in the timeline at once - is the exact same Dave.

It’s Dave going back and forth through time, seeing his past selves and future selves and then eventually becoming or having been those selves, rather than a bunch of different Daves from different timelines (such as we see with Aradiabot, for instance). 

If Dave sees himself and hasn’t been there yet, he knows that it’s something he has to do in the future - otherwise he’ll end up as a Doomed Dave. And Doomed Daves are Dead Daves, which is something he tries his best to actively avoid. 

So, in other words, he can travel through Time because he’s Exploiting how Time works for a purpose; to give themselves MORE Time in a session that has almost no Time at all. It oddly works, because he’s still having to exist within the rules of Time, he’s just… pushing them a little bit.

Heirs of Time, on the other hand, tend to have Time bend to their whim. It does whatever they want it to do, and might even push a bit harder at the rules than a Knight can. 

They can become Time itself, do more jumps than Knights can (such as jumping through Timelines without becoming a Doomed Self like Dave would), can have Time flow differently around them (which Dave can’t; he has to create stable Timeloops, whereas the Heir could likely just make everything very slow or even stop around them while they kept going at a more natural pace). 

In some ways, a Heir of Time might even be able to slow down their own ageing! We know for a fact that Dave’s grasp on Time isn’t that firm; he can’t Control time, just work within its grasp a bit. 

I think, honestly, Dave knows what the Alpha Timeline is because he’d be dead if he was wrong. Which is a pretty simple answer? But all Daves that don’t follow the Alpha Timeline tend to end up dead pretty quick, and if he’s not meant to do it, he’ll die as a consequence of trying. 

We know he doesn’t really know what makes the Alpha Timeline because there are instances where he just can’t explain things - when Jade tells him to just “do what feels natural” when he asks about his copy of the SBURB Beta (which somehow ends up with her); when he blatantly ignores Rose trying to leave him behind on the Green Sun suicide mission, which turns out to be the right course of action but isn’t something he thought actually NEEDED to happen - and I would therefore have to assume that his knowledge of what is and isn’t the Alpha Timeline stems pretty significantly from an innate sense that “if I do this I will fucking die”. Or, like, he’s just seem a dead self and knows that’s a bad choice. 

His awareness of the narrative, from what I can understand, stems predominantly from exposure to Bro (the alternate form of Dirk). I went over that a bit ago, but it seems that Dirk has a habit of imprinting some of his abilities onto Dave, without actually giving him the full access to his powers (such as how Dave is kind of awake on Derse, but not fully; it’s a reflection of Dirk’s ability to be awake on Derse and Earth at the same time, but because it’s not actually HIS power it doesn’t work quite right). 

There was more. You can find that specific post here! There’s also a few other posts in the discussion around that time, too. 

Essentially, the narrative awareness thing isn’t totally a Time thing, nor is it anything really to do with his position as a Knight - so we don’t really have to worry about that. 

So, to make a long post a bit shorter, there’s actually a lot Dave can’t do. He has to work firmly within the realm of Time, and he can’t do anything that would actively break its laws. A lot of Knights are going to work like this; trying to break the rules will make them face colossal punishment, and really all they can do is use what little wiggle room exists in the Aspect to their advantage.

If it would break how the Aspect works, the Knight can’t do it (Dave can’t have Doomed Selves exist in the same timeline because there can only be one Dave per timeline) - but if it can be justified, then the Exploit works (Davesprite isn’t actually Dave, the Player, so it’s accepted by SBURB). 

We unfortunately don’t get to see a whole lot of Page Exploitation, which is frustrating, and also tends to be why I focus more on the description of Protecting for both Classes. However, to give it a pretty simple go…

Pages use their Aspect to Protect themselves. It’s actually a fairly selfish sort of Class - a bit like the Thief - and they have to work up to Protecting other people with it.

As such, when they Exploit it, it tends to be for their own gain - and isn’t usually that flashy at first. 

Jake Exploits Hope by enabling people to Believe whatever the hell they want about him so they almost always dismiss him as a threat. He manages to talk Jane round in circles when it comes to her feelings for him so he doesn’t have to give her a firm yes or no, and it’s accepted because he’s “a bit of a dunce”, even though, like John, he can actually be fairly smart. 

We can also say that he Exploits how goddamn vague Hope is as a concept. Some of the things he does are based solely around his own Belief in them - and that means he’s actually Exploiting his Belief into ensuring that these weird and wonderful things happen. 

If we’d seen more of him in actual Hopey combat, we might have seen even more amazing spectacles like the Giant Hope Explosion. If he’d believed in it, he could have Exploited his Belief (or that of others) to make things Real that never should have been real - like Brain Ghost Dirk!

BGD was never actually a real Dirk or a real Splinter of Dirk, but because Jake Believed that he was, he managed to become Real. He gained all of Dirk’s powers even though he strictly speaking shouldn’t have, and almost managed to defeat Aranea single-handedly. And we know he was almost Real because he managed to stay in one place with some form of automony while Jake ran away. 

So, that’s an Exploit x2; Exploiting Jake’s Belief in Dirk to actually make BGD in the first place, and then Exploiting Jake’s Belief in BGD’s existence to make him Real enough to actually Protect Jake (and again, this does come back to Protection, because that’s partly what BGD is for). 

Like, it’s not technically stretching the definition and abilities of Hope too far, but it’s definitely getting closer to that line than a Knight would be allowed, and it’s very much more personal than a Knight tends to do.

In a way, you can say that Tavros Exploits Freedom and Options by gathering the entire Ghost Army. There’s an unknown number of Ghosts out there that he can use to his own gain, and plenty of Options to choose from with how the Dreambubbles work. Plus, to find Freedom by beating an unbeatable game, using all the dead souls who were never actually MEANT to be around in the first place seems like a pretty good Exploit to me. 

Of course, I say both of those with a HUGE pinch of salt. Tavros’ for sure doesn’t really work when you think about how Knights Exploit, and that can be a bit… tricky. Although a lot of that could be because Hope and Breath are very non-physical Aspects that don’t have exact rules? Whereas Time is very distinct and firm, and there’s definite rules you have to obey.

I’ve seen people use Support instead, but I still think Protect works best. In either case,

They’d still have to obey the same rules as Knights, but I think they’d probably find even more wiggle room. They might be able to find the same sort of footing as a Heir, although it won’t come to them as naturally; the Page of Breath, for instance, might not be able to literally turn into the Wind, but they sure as hell could just mysteriously escape every confinement you try to force them into.

How do they keep escaping? Nobody really knows. But they probably can’t escape things that are sealed 100% tight - such as if they were teleported inside a concrete cube - and they probably rely on using the Breeze more than being the Breeze.

E.g. the Breeze can be used to steal back keys. It can also be used to throw rocks at keypads with perfect precision and oh look, the door’s open, lets go. 

They might also be able to phase through things, but not actually turn into the wind - so they’re just corporeal enough to get dragged back through if they’re caught. 

It might also just be the difference between what they can Exploit. For instance, a Page of Time might not be able to do the same Timeloops that a Knight can because that ability is focused a lot more on helping other people. They might, however, be able to send other things back and forth through time, like a personal Appearifier/Sendificator, because that’s technically not cheating so long as they remember to send the thing back to just a few seconds after they took it in the first place. 

That’d be Exploiting how Time works as a fundamental thing, and just how far you can go before you start screwing up the Timeline. In that sense, I think Pages probably have to be VERY careful.  

They might also have a better time at Exploiting Time on much more finite scales - such as by reverting time around a specific object because they’re technically not interfereing with the Timeline. 

Pages’ powers tend to be more finetuned and a little more dubious without really stepping over into Heir or Witch territory. That’s as best as I can think to explain it, admittedly. 

So, while the Heir of Hope could literally become Good Vibes and Positive Feelings, or literally become an angel, the Page of Hope can only spread those feelings if they already feel them, or could just summon an angel/take on its shape - the difference between Spontaneous Positivity and Shared Positivity, or Actually Being and Pretending To Be.

I think that probably makes sense. It might do! Pages are weird, if I’m completely honest, and the best way to understand them might just be to look at what an Heir can do and think, “okay, if that’s how far you can go when you’re actually becoming a thing, how far can you go when you’re not the thing without breaking the rules?” 

[thechocobros]

“SEE LUNA SAFE TO ALTISSIA” - part 9

Pair: Nyx Ulric / Lunafreya Nox Fleuret

Previously: Message me if you wanna know, liks don’t work on tumblr ;)

Words: 5074

Plot: Libertus warned Nyx about Glauca being Drautos, so Luna and Nyx didn’t fell in the Empire’s trap, Nyx didn’t had to use the ring and he survived. What would have happened if Nyx really had the chance to ‘see Luna safe to Altissia’, like he promised to Regis? Chapter 9: Nyx and Luna arrived in Tenebrae, where they meet Ravus. 

Personal Comment:  This chapter is the end of the fluff. Brace yourself for some angst now, It was time. Special thanks to my dear @loveiscosmicsin , the best beta reader I could ever have <3

In the hall of the royal castle of Tenebrae a deafening silence thickened the air and nothing was audible if not the breath of Nyx, Maria, and the Fleuret siblings.

Even if Nyx protectively tried to conceal Luna behind his back, the princess stepped ahead, filling the distance between her and Ravus. 

“I somehow expected your return, Lunafreya,” the High Commander said with a wistful smile on his face.“The call of home was far too enticing to ignore.”

“Though I sought comfort within these familiar walls, I did not stop pursuing my goal, brother. But this time, I’m the Empire’s captive no longer. I’ve regained my freedom after the fall of Insomnia, so please, don’t sever my automony. Don’t tell the Empire I’m here.”

While the two siblings were sharing one of the most intense moment in their relationship, Nyx took a minute to observe the new High Commander of the Imperial army. He saw him briefly in the chaos of the takeover, but Ravus Nox Fleuret appeared to be a different person now. The Glaive could joke that he couldn’t recognize the noble without being surrounded by flames. Metal casing had been grafted upon the injured arm. He really was different. His hair were whiter, like he suddenly aged in that short amount of time, but at the same time his facial features rejuvenated, stronger but seemingly sickly. The Glaive also noticed something underneath the permanent crease of his eyebrows: his eyes were glowing in two different colors, one blue like his sister’s, the other purple, heterochromia. The controversy between good and evil got more remarkable in him when he didn’t answer at his sister’s plea.

In fact, Ravus tightened his jaw and closed his eyes, struggling with an answer which couldn’t come out. He just stepped ahead, reaching out with the metallic arm and gently touched Luna’s shoulder. Even as he sensed that the elder sibling would do no harm, not jumping to intervene took Nyx’s willpower.

Brother and sister look each other straight in the eyes, an unspoken conversation took place that only siblings could decipher. There was sadness and regret on their expressions, aversity but also affection and all these emotions disappeared at once when Ravus directed his attention to Nyx.

“Why does he have the Ring?” he asked, his sneerheld no love for the outsider and his eyes held contempt for the man’s presence.

Nyx boggled, wondering how he could have noticed it since the Ring was well hidden under the shirt. Could the man somehow sense the Ring’s power?

Luna’s voice – mingled with determination and strength – moved to avert the crisis. “Don’t you dare, Ravus.”

The Glaive didn’t dare to react and just stood firm, lifting up his chin to face the former Prince of Tenebrae, watching him hesitate and grinned at the commander’s frustration.

Luna sensed his brother’s uncontrolled rage and her only concern was that Nyx wouldn’t be able to face him without his magic, so she decided to intervene on Nyx’s defense and simply took him away, hoping to have a better opportunity to speak with Ravus under calmer circumstances. She hoped that her brother wouldn’t have fight her in front of Maria and other servants but she couldn’t have the confirmation of it until she took Nyx’s arm and pulled him away. As they headed to her chambers, Luna kept glancing at Ravus, who tore his gaze away from the retreat.

The High Commander sighed, furrowing his brow and looking numb. In the end, he couldn’t do anything else, but ordered to Maria to follow them and help them to settle down.

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 “I have a bad feeling about that guy.” Nyx commented as they reached the corridors where they wouldn’t be heard by anyone. Luna didn’t stop walking, but she was clearly tormented with the sudden family reunion. “Do you trust him enough that he wouldn’t rat you out on your arrival?”

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“It depends on what options are weighing on his mind to secure my well-being. This could cause problems in whether I’m permitted leave or we’re prisoners.”

That sentence impressed Nyx for some reason. For the first the possibility that under the grudge of the High Commander could be found a caring brother worried about his little sister. Yet, since he didn’t knew the details of the situation, he couldn’t tell for sure, so he decided to keep mum and follow the princess around the castle for a tour.

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

 Nyx was impressed by the elegant and stunning architecture of the castle. He was used to the primitive style of Galahd. Between his homeland’s small but comfortable houses built in wood and stones, or to the majestic buildings of Insomnia, with its metropolitan and chaotic life, Tenebrae was a total different level of greatness.

White was the prominent color, but the details were in pastel like blue, purple, green, pink and that made every piece of the landscape a pure piece of magical art. Talking about art, that could be found everywhere: the statues of deities at the corners of the corridors, the paintings on the wall, the mosaics on the floor. All that was assembled in the finest elegant way and the result was a fairy talesurrounding, weirdly coming from a fantasy book.

Luna took Nyx to her room, she didn’t even know why. She just wanted him to know where it was.

The smell of flowers gave precedence to the presence to dozens of bouquets in all corners. The light filtrated through the high windows, painting in blue and yellow, the shining floor.

Nyx stepped in the room with a reverential respect, like he was entering in a holy temple but stopped to allow to Luna to wander in it first. The princess was clearly getting emotional in coming back to the chambers where she had so many fond memories, but at the same time she tried to hide it, maybe fearing to be judged for her sensibility. She was wrong, of course. Nyx would have never judge her for being nostalgic of her happy times, on the contrary. He was a big fan of her showing emotions and he proved it by asking:

“Is it weird to come back here? After what happened?”

Luna took a minute to explore the room, to check if everything was as she left it. She answered only when she delicately touched the curtains of the window and looked outside. “Yes, it is. In this room I spent the most beautiful part of my childhood with Noctis but at the same time… I was hardly able to leave at my leisure. I developed my sense for white magic here. I cultivated dreams and hopes here. And now, I come back after seeing Insomnia falling, King Regis dying and people suffering. This room makes me ponder on the past more than I should and helps me to remember what I left home for.”

Nyx nodded and then started to walk around, hands behind his back, studying every detail with curiosity.He stopped in front of a mannequin with a beautiful white dress on it. Though he was used to see Lunafreya dressed in white, he could tell by the special attention reserved to it that that gown was different from all the others. 

“…Your wedding dress, huh?” he murmured, his voice imperceptibly breaking.

Luna turned around and noticed what he was looking at. Her forehead frowned in sorrow, remembering her lost hopes and dreams. When she tried the dress months before, she knew she wouldn’t ever actually used it, not even for Noctis. Even so, being a bride was one of the things she always dreamt of being. That’s why she chose it so carefully. 

“Yes.”

Nyx tightened his jaw and forced himself to not reply. The feelings he was feeling were disturbing and he didn’t like them. He didn’t know what Luna was thinking right now, but what he did know was that the former Princess of Tenebrae Lunafreya Nox Fleuret would have married the Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum of Lucis, because it was literally included in the armistice King Regis agreed to. Yes, he always knew that. But now that he got the chance to know that specific princess - now that she wasn’t just a promised symbol of the peace anymore - and stood by her side every moment in the last weeks. Now, mentioning the royal wedding felt different.

Nyx didn’t like to admit he was jealous because that would have been pathetic and reductive. Jealousy was not the right definition for his feelings. It was something more layered, somehow complicated, and he still didn’t understand what exactly. He would have figured by the beginning of the next day. For now, all he knew was that imagining the princess in front of a mirror, trying the long white gown she would have wore for her dream wedding with another man suddenly started to hurt him.

“I bet you look beautiful in it.”

Luna watched carefully at him, pondering the trail of his thoughts. She wanted to say something but she couldn’t and maybe she shouldn’t have either. She laced her fingers, tightening the grip between the gaps like she wanted to wring them. 

Suddenly, a familiar bark surprised them both.

Luna raised her chin to watch at two beautiful dogs running to her.  “Pryna! Umbra!” She kneeled down, extending her arms for them. Both dogs started to happily lick her face and neck.

Nyx turned and observed the scene with a smile. “A message from Prince Noctis again?” he asked, again,jealousy in his tone.

Luna shook her head and sighed, understanding why the dogs came and feeling touched by that unexpected help. “No, this time they came for me. They must’ve known how much I needed them.”

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

 Nyx understood immediately that his job as bodyguard there in Tenebrae would have consisted in letting Luna enjoying her time alone. She didn’t need to tell, he was acute enough to notice. So he just positioned himself next to the door, watching over her without interfere in her private space. 

As a matter of fact, Luna’s intention was just to spend some time in solitude, this time without the Empire monitoring her movements. 

After the first moments spent thinking about Ravus’ intentions, she decided to think to something more pleasant and opened her wardrobe, caressing the material of her beautiful clothes, admiring the accessories she had and that nobody took away from her. She explored the library, opened her favorite books, examined some notes she took who knows how long ago. Sometimes, she felt like thinking out loud, explaining to Nyx what was this or that object, why she got it, what it reminds her of. Most of times, the Glaive didn’t answer. He knew how to be the perfect ghost to talk to and she needed nothing else but that: falling back in the nostalgic dream of her childhood where she found closure.

That’s all she wanted: saying goodbye to the child inside her, the girl she was before and to step forth as the woman she had become now.

“Lady Lunafreya?” That call woke Luna up from her ministrations. It was Maria, the old nanny. “Dinner will be served soon. Where do you prefer to be served? I can take some food here or prepare the table downstairs in the dining room.”

The princess thought about it and then smiled. “Downstairs, so I will have the opportunity to wear one of my dresses again.”

Maria seemed enchanted by the idea and made a short bow before she happily went to finish the preparations.

Luna glanced at Nyx with a renewed and glowing smile.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said.

“Like what?”

“Like you want to ask me to give you fashion advice. Not my area of expertise.”

“I was not going to ask you that.” She objected, then raised an eyebrow. “I was just wondering what color you prefer.”

Nyx snorted. “Not white.”

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

 Easier said than done. More than half of the clothes in the princess’s wardrobe were white and angelic, so Luna took the chance to explain that weirdness:

“Ravus and I - as heirs of the Fleuret lineage - are tasked to dress in white. I do like other colors, but I can’t actually wear them if not in informal occasions. That’s the protocol.” That was just another evidence which showed how much the princess was forced to hide her true preference in order to respect other people’s decisions. Nyx merely grunted and chose not to comment on it.

He just stepped out of the room when Luna was changing, but after fifteen minutes, he heard Luna’s voice calling for him:

“Nyx, could you please come in?”

He entered back again, thinking to find her all dressed and ready for dinner but stopped when he saw her in front of the screen mirror, with a long stunning emerald dress loosen in the back. “Would you mind…?” she asked, pointing at her beautiful pale and naked shoulders.

Nyx squeezed his eyes, mouth opened.

“Princess, you’re not helping me to stay cool.” Even if he was complaining, he was already approaching her, actually eager to help her out especially in that very specific situation.

“It’s just a dress, hero.”

“…I’m not talking about the dress.” He was talking about what the dress didn’t cover. He slowly reached out for the zip, taking all the time he needed to admire how smooth it looked her uncovered skin, the perfect form of her visage. It frustrated him that she just wasn’t conscious how sensual she looked right now. Not able to resist, when he zipped up the dress Nyx casually let his fingers slip through until he touched her spine, making her shiver. Even if those little actions were new for Luna, she was already getting addicted to them and had no intention of stopping the encouragement. That’s why she didn’t shrink back, on the contrary, indulged on it. It was like years and years of self-control disappeared every time Nyx got closer.

“Will you come to eat with me?” Luna asked when she felt sure not to stutter. She adjusted the necklace in the moon’s form on her neckline and glanced at him in the mirror.

Nyx sighed, screwed by every single move she made. “It depends. Will your brother be there too?” he asked, pretending not to take her invite seriously.

“Does it really matter?” she replied, grabbing his arm and elegantly walking out of the room with him. Nyx was surprised to see her audacity, but at the same time he welcomed it gladly.

They went downstairs through the huge hall, descending the stairs like they were both royalty and the Glaive joked about it:

“I’m not dressed properly for such an event, but… I have to admit I always wanted to do this.” He whispered at her ear and then lifted his chin very dramatically. Luna giggled and shook her head.

When they arrived in the majestic dining room, they found out they would have been alone. Ravus was not coming. Maria couldn’t say why. “I just couldn’t find him anywhere.” She had explained.

This worried both Luna and Nyx, which sharing a glance stood there in silence for a minute. Maria tried to not look to concerned, even if she was: “I suppose I’ll save a plate for Lord Ravus in the meantime. We should serve you the dinner anyway, Lady Lunafreya. Have a seat.”

Nyx moved a big chair in white wood so that Lunafreya could seat, then he stepped back. Even if he was a member of the Kingsglaive, he knew the protocol of the Crownsguard, too, which wouldn’t allow to him to sit down with her.

But Luna didn’t care. She grabbed his arm and said, “I was serious about my invitation before, Nyx. We could eat together.”

The Glaive hesitated, looking around to all the servants standing there. “Princess, I don’t know if…” Even if they shared more intimate moments than a simple dinner, for the first time Nyx felt like he shouldn’t have dared that much. After all, he was only a soldier. A bodyguard. In the hierarchy, he was not really different from Maria or the servants next to her.

“Would you really let me eat here all alone?” Her eyes were so sad that Nyx’s heart melted. With a big sigh, he took a chair and sat next to her.

“Fine. Let’s have it your way, as always.”

Luna looked extremely pleased but the servants were surprised - even shocked - by the decision. They served a lot of people at the Fleuret’s table but nobody of them was a commoner, an informally-dressed immigrant bodyguard at that. Etiquette didn’t translate. Anyway, they didn’t have other choice but to start to serve the appetizers, which Nyx accepted with a really comical expression.

“I’m sure it tastes amazing… For a small appetizer,” he whispered, not wanting to be heard.

“You can’t blame the cooks of a royal palace to prepare elegantly small dishes. That’s the way it works.”

“Isn’t there a Kenny Crowe restaurant in the neighborhood?” Luna giggled, drinking wine from a very expensive crystal glass.

They continued on that line for almost all the evening: Nyx lightly mocked the aristocratic way of eating and Luna tried not to laugh (with poor results) to not offend the chefs.

When they finished with dinner, they tried to have a relaxing stroll in the garden - at that hour surrounded by glowing lights and colors, which made the atmosphere extremely romantic - but that was quickly interrupted by Maria: “Lady Lunafreya, I need to discuss with you in… choosing the color of the curtains.”

“Excuse me?” Luna asked, legitimately puzzled for the request.

“Yes, and also it’s starting to be cold here in the garden. You better come inside.”

“I’m not cold." Luna said, her tone getting even more surprised.

“But milady, none of us wish you to catch your death of cold before the wedding with Prince Noctis.”

That was when they understood. Maria was clearly acting weird but that sentence put her true reasons under the spotlight. Both Luna and Nyx felt the embarrassment sneaking in for some reasons and they realized they were going too far for the general opinion of the world. They bowed heads and bit their lips.

“Very well.” Luna finally answered, not lightly. She was sincerely enjoying the Glaive’s company but - thinking on cold mind - she couldn’t disagree with Maria: things slipped out of control and maybe she dared too much with Nyx. Eating and having romantic strolls with the her attractive bodyguard instead than her future husband wasn’t exactly what people expected from a chaste bride-to-be. Especially if that bride was the Princess of Tenebrae and the Oracle of Eos.

Luna reluctantly followed Maria inside, looking for Nyx’s eyes to say sorry, but the Glaive preferred to avoid her glance.

He would have rejoined with her later, probably finding her sleeping already in her soft bed, hugging Umbra and Pryna. He would have watched over her, true to his duty as always. Maybe he would have also smiled looking at how beautiful she was before going in his own room to spend the night. 

But for now, all he wanted to do was to be alone in the garden, asking himself how could a mere Glaive with no magic and no title could possibly earn the right to cherish her.

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

 Sleeping in her own bed made Luna feel like a child again, young and carefree. On the other hand, when she woke up and realized where she was, she remembered about her duty and what was about to happen.

Umbra was not there anymore, but Pryna lifted her ears and started to wag her tail. Luna caressed her head for a couple of minutes then went to the toilet, taking the nightgown off and checking the scars on her stomach. They were not dark black, just light grey, but they were stable now. That was the sign the changes on her body were starting to get permanent. She could thank the Stars they were not visible on her arms and legs at least. She wore her usual lace dress, which had been accurately washed by Maria. After that, she immediately thought about her brother’s disappearance and wondered if he returned.

She couldn’t deny that meeting him after all that had happened made her feel uneasy and even scared, but in the deep of her heart, she knew how much Ravus still cared for her. She questioned the weight of that love so many times. For example, when he tried to trap her in the room and dragged her to the Empire’s side just to keep her close to devastingly wounding Commander Ulldor’s dominant hand so he may never face combat nor raise a weapon toward Luna ever again. She couldn’t blame his motivations, just his methods, but even so she couldn’t forgive him for what he did to Regis. Her unwillingness to forgive frightened Luna because she loved her brother before Insomnia’s fall. But now the situation was creating a chasm between them that couldn’t be possibly be filled. She didn’t know if she could trust him again.

There was just a way to make amends. She would have to speak with Ravus. The day before she ran away from him just because she wanted to avoid a fight between him and Nyx, but now she would have look for him, and question him about his true intentions. After all, he still was her brother and deserved at least an honest conversation.

Thinking about all this, she found herself in the hall where Maria and some others servants were waiting.

“Have you seen my brother?”

Maria bowed. “No, milady. We couldn’t find him and…”

This was not good. It was potentially dangerous, actually. Lunafreya entwined her fingers and started to think with a very worried expression on her face.

“Maybe I know where to find him,” she said, her big blue eyes almost wet, and then quickly walked away.

“Wait, Lady Lunafreya! It’s not good for you to leave without protection! The Empire’s troops could see you and–”

But Luna was already out of the huge door, running towards the rising dawn.

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

 She had to walk for a very long while until the castle became just a small construction in the background. Beyond the gazebo surrounded by roses and beyond the flourishing garden, there was a large field that nobody took care of where sylleblossoms grew wild. Luna always thought she was bonded to that place because of Noctis, but if she had to speak the truth, before him, that was a special place for her and Ravus. It was Ravus the one who took her there for the first time and it quickly became the only safe refuge where they would run to when they needed to stay alone.

Luna thought she would have find him there, and even if she wasn’t excited to face him she knew that confrontation was an inevitable consequence. Things needed to be settled… Before her departure for Altissia.

Lunafreya slowed down when she left the garden’s gates to arrive in the field. At every step she took, her heart sunk deeper in her chest. The light of the dawn was shining through the disappearing fog, painting things in yellow and green. There she saw her brother, sitting on the grass, occupied with a profound meditation, surrounded by the blue flowers she liked so much.

Luna took a deep breath, imagining already how painful how this conversation would end up being and how much it would be if it was delayed any further. She called for him anyway.

“Ravus!”

Her brother lifted his chin and looked over his shoulder. Even if he was unfazed by her intiative to seek him out, Luna understood he was surprised to see her. The princess got slowly closer, her knees trembling.

“I thought you did not wish to see me. Had I erred in my deduction?”

“Was that why you disappeared yesterday?”

“I do not know why you are present in Tenebrae now.” Ravus stood up to face her, tone apparently calm and balanced. “Your sole plea for me was not to reveal your presence to the Empire. But I am the High Commander of the Niflheim Empire, sister. To respect your request, I had to keep my distance and make it so that no other eyes could follow you.”

Lunafreya narrowed eyes, puzzled by the sentence.“What have you become?” Ravus looked down, not able to answer his sister. “Brother, what has the Empire done to you?”

“You are well-aware that the Empire is currently posulating dominance it does not possess. Know that our ‘masters’ are merely puppets in a much larger scheme, exactly as we both are resigned to our roles. You for a reason, I for another.”

“I know.”

“Yet, you desire to participate in it.” Ravus’s voice was broken in confirming the act and it broke Luna’s heart to hear this unexpected vulnerability.

“Yes. Just as you have.”

“However, our paths are different, our similarities end right there. You care for the sake of the entire world and I sought to protect you from your recklessness. Our objectives leave a glaring quandary that neither of us could ignore.” Luna was anxious because of his honesty, feeling that for the first time in his whole life he was admitting his affection. “I do not fancy your death, sister. I could not bear losing another relative. Not again.”

“Is that why you’ve sworn your allegiance? That’s why you raise your blade for the glory of conquestand vaulted order? Just to have the chance to save me? Even in doing so, you doom Eos?”

“The price the deities are asking you was just too high.“ His voice started to get higher, revealing the depth of his anger. Not only did he want to save Luna, Ravus also sought to unmask the cruelty of the system they were subjected to. "Gods are no gods if our prayers are not met with mercy and guidance we deserve in exchange. They are undeserving of our worship if all solutions came with senseless martyrdom in the end.”

But Luna had arguments for that, she was prepared to face those objections since she was a little girl. “They’re the only ones that can give their blessing to Noctis. With the blessings and the power of the kings, Noctis will reclaim his throne and banish the darkness from our world. It is equivalent exchange to me. My life is a scant thing compared to all this.”

What she wasn’t ready for was what Ravus replied next:

“Have you informed him of this? Have you told Noctis that his life is nothing compared to the Astrals’ and Old Kings’ will as well? Ignorance shrouds his eyes. He could not possibly know that his life, too, must be offered in order to complete his destiny. And how many people perished because of him? Insomnia fell in a single night because Regis relinquished the lives of innocents, bystanders of this prophecy, to save his only son. The endless cycle of death and despair could not be possibly worth that. It is utter nonsense and you should not encourage it! Do not be another victim in this game.”

Luna closed the eyes hearing that, words stabbed at her like a knife in the stomach. She came to terms about her own sacrifice, but thinking about Noctis - the only friend she ever had during her childhood - broke her heart in thousand pieces.

"And furthermore,” he continued, balling his hands into fists. “You have people caring for you in this world. You are a source of inspiration for all Eos. The Empire gave you certain freedom during the years because they knew how much people love you. What will they do when you will be gone? Who will give them hope? You can’t trust them to go on their behalf once the darkness arrived.” She covered her lips with both hands, moving away and turning her back to Ravus.

She repeated what she already said once, suddenly her arguments were weak as they have never been before: “I have faith in Noctis. He will accept his fate as I did. He will reclaim the throne and he will be the one giving people hope.“

“And then he will die too because he simply doesn’t have a choice, does he? You will be dead by then because the Six extinguished your life! Tell me, Lunafreya, do you have signs of fatigue, signs that unveil the truth of how close you are to death? You are paying the ultimate price. Day by day, your very life slips through your fingers like sand! Cast away the disillusion and glamour that has caged you all your life!”

Luna stopped walking and looked down at the flowers, seeking comfort. But she couldn’t find it, and that made her realizing how valid Ravus objections were. Anyway she was strong enough to add in a firm tone: “I trust in Noctis.” She believed in the True King and her cherished friend and meant it, the Oracle would repeat her belief endlessly regardless of her brother’s arguments. “He is our King.” She didn’t know what else she could say. The Noctis’ card was literally the only ace in the sleeve she had.

Ravus had to walk towards her, his diatribe continued. Her elder sibling always had a fiery temper and the next he opened his mouth he couldn’t help but scream, “Sister, cease this madness! That boy will never be king!”

“Noctis is chosen. It is ordained. You of all people should know.” The last remark was uttered merely to spite Ravus, knowing that he had been rejected and to end the conversation. It proved uneffective.

“I know that you’re throwing your life away!”

“That may be! But it’s my choice!” she screamed her grief until she realized her throat was raw, turning around to face him again. But when Luna did, she noticed Nyx some steps away from Ravus, totally shocked, his eyebrows narrowed, the fists closed. She couldn’t discern how long he had been there, but one thing was sure: he heard everything.

And facing him would have been far worse than facing her brother’s desperation.

[bewarethewolfarmy]

babyeffigy replied to your post “(Okay so apparently the Thor’s Hammer scene is what my friend meant?...”

what you did here was just name the terrible things he did and then say “but i love him anyway!!” he has never tried to better himself from these things, which if they were “mishaps” he would

(I am like 100% too tired for this.

Tony Stark has never tried to better himself? I don’t know what series of films you’ve been watching, but that’s basically what ALL the heroes in Marvel are constantly trying to do, including Tony. And of the “terrible” things he’s done, the only really truly problematic one is the rape joke, which as I said I don’t agree with, and I don’t think is okay. His shocking of Bruce was probably half-Tony-style-stupidity (when Tony was still a newbie hero who had never had to actually work with others) and half-scientific-curiosity-and-self-preservation; I have already discussed my thoughts on it in another post but to summarize it, Tony knew about the events of the Incredible Hulk but there’s no evidence that he knew much of what Banner himself had been doing (and years as it might have been, it’s also noted as there being some time between Bruce’s initial experiment and the beginning of that movie). He’s a idiot scientist with the mentality of a four year old: “Must touch the stove so I’ll understand it’s hot” or in this case “Must shock the nice scientist so I’ll know if that will get us all smashed”.

Look, I do not spend nearly enough time watching these movies and I don’t have Tony Stark trivia downloaded into my brain. You wanna talk Strange, then I can talk your fucking ear off and eat it for breakfast, but Tony? I like Tony; I like him because he’s an idiot and sometimes he makes mistakes but he’s constantly bettering himself. He tries and a lot of the time he doesn’t do better, not because he doesn’t want to, but because Tony doesn’t really know how to. He doesn’t understand how to communicate with others well because he was raised mostly by his butler while his father ignored him and then died; he had to learn to trust the Avengers because the man he trusted the most Obediah literally sold his life to the Ten Rings. He’s an alcoholic playboy with an ego and severe PTSD who constantly is getting beaten to the ground because every time he tries to do something good in the Marvel universe, every time he tries to be a better person, he’s fucking messed up, fucked up, kicked, tortured, and ends up making things harder. People talk of Parker luck, how about MCU!Stark luck? The man’s a disaster zone but he ALWAYS tries to better himself. Whether it’s by almost destroying his own company by stopping weapons production or trying to be self-sacrificing by taking a nuke into fucking space or making an AI in hopes of helping protect the world better or giving a young kid the power to better protect himself so he can be a better person than he is or trying to give up his own automony, Tony fucking “I don’t play nice with others” Stark, willingly signing the Accords because he recognized THEY FUCKED UP AND THEY HAVE TO OWN THAT, he has to own that. Tony has always tried to better himself; if you don’t think he has, then obviously you have not been watching the same movies as the rest of us.”