PORTIMAO 2024 | Nadia Padovani hugging Marc Marquez after the race.
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Vesuvia Weekly: Smiles that Grew Rarer
Thinking about Asra’s relieved smile. The little glimmer of sunlight after the dark, a brief respite after waking up from a nightmare, a tiny laugh after a spell went wrong and frightened everyone, the teary-eyed smile when he found his apprentice was safe. Thinking about the way that relieved smile might still peek in every once in a while. But now he knows how strong his apprentice is. Now he can show all the other smiles he kept secret before: smiles of pride, of gratitude, of love. Thinking about how his relief has faded to a constant, comfortable feel of hope and peace.
Thinking about Julian’s theatrical, sinister smile. The sneer carefully created to shout: I am the villain of this story. The expression he used whenever he needed to, which became far too often far too quickly. Thinking about how he doesn’t need to play the bad guy anymore… not unless he wants to. Thinking about how nice of a change it is for Julian, to be a hero to those who love him.
Thinking about Nadia’s tightest, falsest smiles. The smile she gave whenever she was forced to pretend she knew exactly what was going on despite her lost memories. The smile that hid the building pressure of a headache that would have put anyone else out of commission, but that Nadia must push through. The smile that lied: “Why yes, I would love to continue this inane conversation.” Thinking of how whenever she gives a smile like that now, someone can reach for her hand, and the smile can grow more genuine. Thinking about how she doesn’t need to fake her knowledge or confidence anymore. She doesn’t need to pretend she knows what she’s doing… she knows, and she is going to show it.
Just thinking of smiles that have gotten more and more rare now… and how that’s a good thing.
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a lot of the characterization in the arcana is wildly wrong but perhaps the most glaringly obvious bit is that asra would be irreconcilably jealous and heartbroken that he's not the one you want to be with in every other route but especially lucio's (hates him) and julian's (still in love with both of you)
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