#that he makes the ultimate sacrifice for her to be okay again

[nat-has-two-girlfriends]

me rn

Episodes come out at 5 am for me so I will be waking up to carnage on the tl/dashboard 😗✌️

[sapphicseasapphire]

It is said that hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Goddess Hylia lost her battle against an unrelenting evil.

Okay, well, lost isn’t exactly the right word, but she definitely didn’t win- just bought herself some time. After a battle that devastated the Surface, Hylia failed to kill the Demon King but managed to seal him away. And while peace befell her sacred land, she knew it would not last. It would take thousands of years for that seal to fail- an eternity for the inhabitants of her realm, but a blink of an eye for a Goddess such as herself.

If she couldn’t kill Demise this time around, the chances of her besting him they next time they clashed were slim to none.

Gods can’t kill Gods.

Hylia knew that in order to finish the battle once and for all, she would have to utilize the great power of the Triforce. The artifact, created by her sisters, was never meant to be wielded by deities, lest its ultimate power overwhelm them. No, only mortals- mortals with a worthy spirit- can hone its power into a single wish.

If Hylia had any hope of slaying the Demon King once and for all, she’d have to sacrifice her divinity and become one of the very mortals she was tasked with protecting.

With so little time to prepare, she hid the Triforce away inside of a temple and gathered all of her people inside. She tasked them with protecting the sacred power, keeping it safe until the time came that she would use it. And then, to ensure the safety of her little Hylians and the Triforce alike, she mustered her strength for the last time and sent her temple and the surrounding earth into the sky. They’d be far out of reach of the demons and monsters below, up above the clouds where the sun would shine on their faces and the wind would ruffle their hair. They’d never have to fear again- the only threat would be falling from such a height.

But Hylia had a plan for that, as well. She split her Hylians’ souls into halves, blessing them with a permanent protector in the shape of a godly bird. These birds, bonded forever to her people, would shield them from evil and prevent them from falling from the island of floating rocks. These birds would eventually become known as Loftwings, sacred gifts from the Goddess.

Still, Hylia was not finished. For a battle against the Demon King would be ugly and devastating- Demise did not fight fair- and the Goddess had to be prepared for every counter he could make. Firstly, she covered the sky with a barrier of clouds to hide away her precious Hylians and the sacred power. She focused her power into three wellsprings so when she is reborn, all she would have to do is meditate in the clear water to regain her memories and awaken the Goddess within. She spent weeks creating a soul for her mortal vessel. She called her Zelda.

And then, Hylia created a failsafe of sorts. A plan B, in case something went wrong that Hylia herself could not fix. Alongside the soul of Zelda, she went to work creating another. One with a strong enough spirit that, with tempering, would be able to wield the full Triforce. One who she could rely on of it all went wrong.

She called him Link.

Lastly, Hylia crafted a sword with the power to defeat such an evil as Demise. The spirit inside was blessed with infinite knowledge and, once tempered, would be an asset to her Chosen. After laying the sword to rest in the heart of a statue of herself, Hylia faded. Having done all of the preparation, all that she could do now was wait.

. . .

Thousands of years later, on a peaceful island in the sky, two special souls were born. Each of them split in two, just like the others, one half creating a Hylian and the other half creating a Loftwing. They grew together, just as Hylia intended.

Link, her Chosen Hero, was oddly soft. He was kind and gentle and a little bit of a pushover. The kid spend long hours of the day either dozing or flying with his Loftwing, he was bullied and didn’t stand up for himself, he rarely spoke at all.

It would take a lot of work to make him the Hero that Hylia required.

Zelda, on the other hand, was perfect. Hylia’s spirit rested within, but no one was the wiser. She was a strong personality, bossy but kind. Her smile could light up a whole room. She was confident and empathetic: where Link lacked the capacity to stand up for himself, Zelda always spoke out. When Link slept in, Zelda woke him in time for class. When Link was lost in his thoughts, mindlessly soaring through the air, Zelda always reminded him to come home before the sun set.

Truly, the Hero came to depend on Zelda. And she loved him.

And then she was stolen away.

All was not going as planned. Immediately after Zelda was stolen from her perch above the clouds, the failsafe was activated and the spirit of the Goddess Sword awoke. Link, wielding the blade, fearlessly dove through the parted clouds in search of his dear Zelda.

Anyone would be shocked by the transformation of the child. While he remained kind and thoughtful, he hardened during his divine quest. His skill with the blade grew exponentially, his body and his mind strengthened, and he had the courage to do whatever was asked of him.

But still, as Zelda worked to recover her memories of Hylia, Link was not yet ready to fight in her stead.

In order to reach his dearest friend, he had to temper his sword along with his spirit. He did this by completing the Silent Realm trails put in place by the Golden Three. Farore’s honed his courage, Nayru’s strengthened his wisdom, and Din’s tested his power.

He completed them without complaint, desperate to see his Zelda again.

He had no idea how short their reunion would be.

Zelda, his best friend, the love of his life, the person who he risked everything for, had revealed their roles in the Gods’ divine game. That she was none other than Hylia herself. And that… that she had used him.

And still, it wasn’t over. He could not yet wield the Triforce.

There was one more Silent Realm that he had to complete: Hylia’s own. The Goddess’s Silent Realm was the hardest of all of them. Not because of its technical difficulty, but because it took Link’s home- his safe space- and warped it. Turned it against him. This Silent Realm’s purpose was not to test his virtues, but to forge the Hero’s Spirit. To make him into something more, more powerful, more courageous, more wise. It would take all the work he’d done thus far and make change his spirit permenantly.

It took him ages to complete Hylia’s final trail.

And when he did, it wasn’t just his spirit that was changed.

You see, one cannot strengthen their spirit when their soul is split in half. In order to become Hylia’s perfect weapon, Link’s soul had fused back together. He emerged from the trail with a new body, a new mind, a new him. The most notable change was the massive crimson wings sprouting from his upper back. The curled tail and fan of red feathers at his lower back. The red spots on his cheeks.

But much had changed under the surface as well. He was no longer Link. And he wasn’t Aepon either. He has all of their memories, all of their thoughts, all of them, but he was someone entirely new. He was himself, and he felt complete in a way he never had before.

As Link and as Aepon, he always felt a hollowness that he could not explain. In fact, he didn’t even realize he felt it until it was gone. After his fusion, he feels whole. There’s a fullness in his chest, a peace in his mind, that were not there before.

He was not Link. He was not Aepon.

He decided to call himself Sky.

He finished his divine quest, he made it through Sky Keep and wished upon the Triforce. He rushed to the Sealed Temple to hold Zelda when she woke. He defeated Ghirahim and his monsters and the God of Evil and Hatred when Hylia’s plan went awry.

He had finally done it; he had become Hylia’s Chosen Hero. He’s just… a little different now.

. . .

Some notes!

• When Sky is first formed, he’s so clumsy. Link had never had wings before and Aepon’s never had a human body before. So maneuvering around his very difficult. Those wings are heavy! His balance is off for days.

• Everything that Link learned, Sky knows. He’s an excellent swordsman, a musician, and an artist. He’s just as welcoming and humble and soft as Link used to be. Everything that Aepon learned, Sky knows. He grew wings and instantly already knew out to fly, he can speak to birds (when I say he can speak to birds, I mean this man chirps), and he can do those cool spiral attacks in the air. He’s just as proud and loving and fierce as Aepon used to be.

• He is NOT like Four. While he is two separate parts made whole, there are no Link thoughts. No Aepon thoughts. Just Sky thoughts. It’s very confusing in his head, trying to sort through two separate memories of the same moment, but Sky tries to focus more on the present than the past.

• Kind of bouncing off of that last one, Sky doesn’t know how to talk about himself before his fusion. He often has a hard time differentiating between the two perspectives as he tells stories, which makes things confusing for everyone. So he just… doesn’t.

• There is definitely some grief in k owing you’ve changed so much that you’re unrecognizable. The part of him that remembers being Link misses the feeling of hugging his Loftwing or- oh I don’t know- FITTING THROUGH DOORS. The part that remembers being Aepon misses the weight of his Hylian on his back, misses the freedom of the open air. Sky harbors these feelings but doesn’t quite know how to express them.

• Those first few days after his quest are all about self discovery. It makes Sky VERY uncomfortable to be called ‘Link,’ and his friends do that quite often by accident. And while Sky is trying to figure out who he is, they’re all mourning the loss of their friend.

• SO SOFT!!! He’s a hugger and his wings are SO WARM. He’s so kind and gentle but also literally killed a God so don’t cross him. (My favorite character traits)

• He can’t fit into shirts anymore- no way he’s fitting anything over his shoulders- and his Sailcloth is rendered useless now that he has wings. But he can’t bear to not use it anymore, so he wraps it around his chest to cover himself. Zelda helps him the first few times as he’s still learning coordination of his wings.

• Flying is SO important to him. I cannot stress this enough. He spends like half the day in the air.

• Shoes are a big no. It’s a huge sensory issue for his bird brain. But that’s okay because in theory, his feet barely touch the ground.

• BIRD BOY BIRD BOY BIRD BOY BIRD BOY

• He’s my favorite!! I have so much more to say about him but this is long enough so I’ll shut up for now! But there will definitely be more!

Original Character Sheets!

Wild’s Origin!

Time’s Origin!

[greenandhazy]

okay but it's the fact that CQL is in large part about what you would sacrifice for the people you love, and in almost every other instance in the show, that sacrifice is portrayed as, if not necessarily the Right decision, at the very least evidence of fundamental goodness. the Yunmeng trio, Wen Qing for her brother and Nie Mingjue for his (Fatal Journey counts 100%), Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen, they make difficult choices for love and that makes them Good even if it doesn't make them happy.

and then there's Jin Guangyao and Nie Huaisang. whose identities are so fundamentally wrapped up in being His Mother's Son and The Little Brother, respectively, and they are so singularly devoted to the legacy of their relative that they will continue to fight for it long after death. they will sacrifice others in a heartbeat. they will lie, they will scheme, they will cause others pain. they will endure humiliation after humiliation. they will put on a persona that makes their true selves unrecognizable even to the people who know them best. ultimately they will sacrifice their own morality, their own goodness, in a way that would probably horrify the people in whose names they make this sacrifice.

I am falling asleep and these are random disjointed thoughts but other things that drive me feral about them is:

the backstory CQL gives, Meng Yao being at the Unclean Realm for (?) a length of time, and allll the visual signifiers of a close, basically familial relationship between them

(I know fanon likes to talk about "the Nie braids" as a sect-wide thing but they ARE NOT. they are a HUAISANG AND MINGJUE AND MENG YAO THING. litcherally no other Nie disciple wears them, not even Nie Zonghui! that's so significant!)

CQL/FJ leaning hard into the suggestion of the brothers being more or less on their own, very little discussion of their parents, leaving room to lean into the idea of NMJ fulfilling a parental role as well as a brotherly one, and the parallel between him and Meng Shi being even stronger

the final flashback to Meng Yao and Meng Shi, and how it's framed to suggest that as coming from Huiasang--a cherished memory Meng Yao passed on to him?

I've seen this floated around on tumblr before, about how it's very likely that Jin Guangyao underestimated the depth of Huaisang's love for his brother, based on how his love manifests as overachieving. so that moment of revelation in the temple being not just "oh, you're the one who was behind this the whole time" but "oh, you and I have this same sickness, this same depth of feeling."

the character songs. I'm obsessed with them. the fact that Jin Guangyao's is a constant litany of questions, uncertainty, revolving around "How many people are willing to know your true face?", while the Nie brothers' song has their relationship as this unshakeable foundation, to the point that they're the only two characters represented by one vocalist. the Unclean Realm being unquestionably "a place of deep love" and the only uncertainty being "when will we see each other again?"

(...and that being answered in part by the title, the repeated use of farewell with connotations of permanence. Huaisang defying death, wanting his brother back in any form possible, while Jin Guangyao literally meets his doom because he is so concerned about earning his mother an easier time in her next life.)

mutual obsession over Nie Mingjue. Meng Yao keeping his head in his treasure room. there are lots of jokes about how LXC is left out of the get-along coffin, but can we talk about the fact that Huaisang sacrificed his moral compass, the reputation of his sect, the life of a troubled teenager, and 10+ years of his life all so he could free his brother's mutilated body from Jin Guangyao's clutches... and at the end of it all, Jin Guangyao is the one who will be with him for eternity?

in conclusion: I love them, your honor.

[pyrocephalus-rubinus]

I am just obsessed with the recurring themes of our lives as stories in the Junoverse.

Alessandra Strong reminding us that there are no Happy Endings in real life, only Happy Middles.

Juno being reminded that stories are a way humans have of trying to frame our lives in a way that makes sense, but real life is not that simple. In the reminder that you might want to become the villain in a story to make sense of it but maybe sometimes little kids who live in Oldtown die and no matter how much you blame yourself, it is just not that simple.

In the way Sarah Steel got her story stolen away from her. Andromeda's story, yes, but also her story. And how she couldn't deal with that.

How Juno tried to rebuild a story to survive, with him as a hero as much as he was embarrassed to admit it. And with the part of Sarah Steel pumping through his veins as the ultimate enemy. An epic of heroes and monsters. The way his life was not a simple story in which there was One Clue that would explain everything, One Answer from Ben that would make sense of it all.

The way Juno got robbed of his story by Ramses. Made all those sacrifices, those actions that felt heavy on his shoulders for a plotline that didn't exist. The plot twist was the unraveling of the story, leaving only pain and sadness behind. The way Juno was able to overcome that. To start a new story, to do with his life as he saw fit.

I also love the reminder that we do need stories like Mick's to keep us hopeful. To gather strength to face the big mean world. The acceptance of how useful and sacred the tool of "stories" is.

The way dreams - stories- like having a life of adventure among the stars with the one you love, or like having a home in a city that means death but also hope to you… that those are also necessary. But we can't live in a dream. And the dreams may pass, but it's okay that we dreamed them.

The way Juno could recognize the brutality of stealing Nureyev's story away from the thief. The cruelness of it. How he could sense it coming, looming from that door. How afraid he was for Nureyev.

The way Nureyev's only way of coping all these years has been telling himself a story over and over again. A story of martyrdom. A story of devotion… In order to keep Juno away and not succumb to the desperation to be next to someone he loves and feels like he doesn't deserve, he has been telling himself this story. This lie of how Juno would be better off away from him. How Juno would never understand the sacredness of his life's work.

All these stories, all these versions of what's going on… All these precious lives being used as little clogs of an infernal machine that does not care for stories. Only results and getting richer and richer…

Just ugh… this podcast…

[qvrcll]

I have a prompt for you, if it makes u feel inspired! Reader is human, grew up with the sully boys (like Spider) but as her life was in danger, she transfers to her own avatar. The boys (+ Kiri if you'd like!) help her adapt? With lots of physical touch stuff and pining maybe- its all up to you! Thank you!!!

𝐈 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 — (SULLY BOYS + KIRI) ʚ ɞ

✰༉ — (avatar : twow) -> drabble !

-> cw. ࿐ gn + non sully + human -> navi reader

-> auth notes. ࿐ omg tysm for this req , i really enjoyed writing this idea — i hope u enjoy ! ^^

-> characters. ࿐ neteyam , lo’ak + kiri sully (♡⃕)

-> warnings. ࿐ tiny bit of angst , might contain spoilers ! injury warning

✧    ﹒     ♡       ⁺      ៹    ﹒       ♡    ﹒       ✧      ₊ ✧    ﹒     ♡       ⁺

NETEYAM . ༉‧₊˚

` don’t be afraid, i am right behind you ` .

ଘ human form — he is agile, it is no secret. navi bodies are sinewy and cut from a general, visual audit. but neteyam is kind and slow when it comes to you — he will often curb his pace when you assay or strain your body too much. as an after-stroke, you share bodily sagacities of your own capabilities or struggles ( i.e. your inability to breathe pandora air — as a requital for the info you share, he will aid you in finding masks to breathe suitably + check in on you ) he is unconditional in his love and sacrifice for you, despite the visible difference in aspect, he makes up for it with connection and patience. upholds a lot of interest in human strength + bodily capabilities, so expect a lot of physical touch if you allow him it. he would try to shield you from harm’s way from a lot of things, take the blame for countless misgivings. i also see him as a massive sucker for your hands / feet; he’d find it adorable how soft and small they were compared to his. however, he isn’t a machine — his frustrations will come belting after a tough day, ties of “it’s hard slowing down always, okay!” and when you visibly pull away in hurt and confusion, he will seek you out and apologise. apologise first and foremost. then, if you give way, he will draw you close and exude his frustrations with his family. and when you giggle, let him know that you trust him. grab his hand. rub his knuckles till they’re warm and oozing with an amity unmatched. expect tears, love and a bond re-strengthened, twisted and woven into new.

` your tail , it’s longer . hey , you’re still smaller ! ` .

ଘ navi form — i reckon it’s due to battle wounds / misgivings that you would have to ultimately switch to navi — he’d find you in a heap between shrubs and vegetation, huddled and breathing all too loud. when the transference process occurs, this kid is all tears and fear — he is at your side at any give able moment. it is initially hard for him to deliberate on the change; as eywa twines around the small of your naked back, embosoms your body and counts you for new, he sees life being surged into a newer body. similar to his mother in the first film, he will bid farewell to your old body and render the patch of skin with love and devotion, an orison from eywa. then, after the overhaul, your similarity in nature is easily similar — your height had doubled and your hips had snapped to within a couple of inches. whilst his siblings are less altruistic with their giggles and amusement when you trip over wet, soft shrubs or aren’t accustomed with your legs, he will stunt his speed and carry you with both his hands. just as you had once been patient in fashioning a bond with the sully boy, he will shirk hours upon hours teaching you efficacious routes, how to stretch your legs past the horizon. he would be very verbal + compassionate, a constant string of “come on, let’s do it again.” due to your inexperience with your navi body , he’d be hesitant to amass the same physical touch as he did before , but when you tell him you miss him, best believe his heart is swelling and he won’t keep off you. definitely praises you when you overcome a particularly hard challenge or recuperate from an emotional defeat — ready to jump from the heights of the mountains when you do.

LO’AK ౨ৎ ࣪ . ⊹ :

` you’re short . cute . come , follow me ` .

ଘ human form — heavily influenced by his carnal interests in humans, in you — he isn’t foreign to the aspect of your body, when he is already close to spider. he understands their basic strokes and interests and motivations. how your heart beat is amassed. how your feet and hands are smaller. he’s a grabber for sure, constantly feeling your pinkies or thumbs, stroking the back of your palms, having you raw and flustered for him. on a certain occasion, he had grabbed you effortlessly and swung you onto his lean shoulders, giggling the entire time you are punting his back. he would also be very open to bring you to every inch’s worth of pandora if he was able to — for now, the forest was his heart’s domain ( he makes sure your escapades are safe and secret ). i reckon he’d love your eyes — they’re smaller and glassy, like two globes. he wasn’t always this artless — in the mere happening’s of your relationship, he was rather quiet and kept to himself. it was a certain turning point that depicted that pleasant change; helping him with chores or painlessly kicking him out of harm’s way. he’d be surprised, with your stature already lacking a far way off his, yet your heart was strong. mighty. and half of his already.

` you’re beautiful … but still cute . and smaller ` .

ଘ navi form — i would see him as less than capable of keeping still in battle — he’ll want to be here and there and do this and that, that he’d ultimately blur the line between it and your inability to perform certain things. i reckon it’d be something small, like a slip, or miscalculation in a certain route, and your mask cracks beyond relief or you twist your ankle and are barely conscious as you grit your teeth. i’d see him scooping you up and booking it for the lab — there is a redundant existence of a few avatars and he’s sweat and bones and a little boy holding all your weight, towering above your wheezing body as he plugs you in and withstands his father’s words. the only thing on his mind would be the smell of your blood and struggles, how “it’s my fault… mine…” — after the process, he’d be more than happy to support your quavery limbs and blurry vision. in the future, i’d definitely see him as a trial and error sort of individual + a lot of silent affirmation, presence to keep you grounded. loves, loves, loveeees your ears + tail, he thinks they’re true insight into your deepest wishes and the slightest twitches have him smirking. this cheeky boy would definitely do the most to keep his hand on yours at most times, heart rate hurdling. but he’d spend a life time protecting your honour and life, still that boy eagerly palming half of your heart.

KIRI ・⸝ . 𖥔

` what is a pinkie ? come , sit. tell me ` .

ଘ human form — absolutely enamoured by you. after befriending spider, she is intrigued by humans, having had a human mother. i reckon she’s incredibly inquisitive with your true nature. she doesn’t strike me as an individual to constantly remind you of the difference between you and her; the obvious dissimilarity between the two of you is squashed immediately when you pose your deepest respects for eywa and her countless creations. her verdure. her strength. her heartbeat, mighty. she finds no hesitation confiding in you of her origins or her ‘weirdness.’ she does tend to close off from you in select portions of emotions, when she too overwhelmed. but when she sees you, set apart from the countless, tall beings around you, digging your toes in the sand and painstakingly trying to blend into the noiseless background, she’ll join you. she’ll guide your hand to the heightening marshes or breathing strands of grass. her favourite part of you is definitely your personality + ability to adapt.

` your heartbeat is strong , still , like her ` .

ଘ navi form — i assume since she’s almost always subsumed in lo’ak’s escapades into the deepest inches of the forest, you would take a tumble or wander too far from her eye, whilst she’s synchronous with the life around her. it takes her several minutes to gather herself and place her tremulous hands onto your chest, feeling your heartbeat lodged deep within your bones and flesh — she knows you have more to give. your body is a vessel of energy, where is it borrowed and exchanged for when it is appropriate. so i reckon she wouldn’t find it strange at all when you transfer over to navi. she would definitely need to get used to the similarity in height + appearance, but she would be excited to show you the countless other things connected to eywa + pandora. definitely not as much of a toucher as her brothers but loves holding your hand + braiding your hair into protective styles. jealous when lo’ak or neteyam try to buy your time -> would never say it out loud but her body language is clear and booming. spends entire days teaching you + hugging you tightly when things go off radar, silent and understanding because the feeling of you always chases her.

© 2022 qvrcll ! do not repost any of my works on any platform.

[ad-hawkeye]

Alkaid: How Our Virtues Can Create Our Greatest Flaws

When you think of Alkaid, you think of the following concepts: protection, freedom, trust, and honesty.

Alkaid wants to protect those he loves. He cherishes the idea of one's freedom and autonomy. He believes in the concepts of trust and honesty.

Alkaid, at his core, is a virtuous person with good intentions. However, issues arise when his values contradict and clash with one another, or when he is too scared to trust or be honest.

As for clashing values, consider the following scenarios. Alkaid wants to protect someone, but what if protecting them comes at the cost of their autonomy and freedom? Alkaid wants to be honest, but what if being honest puts someone in danger? In these scenarios, Alkaid's morals are being pitted against each other. He values freedom. He values honesty. He values the safety of his loved ones. He has to willingly sacrifice one of his values in order to pursue another one.

And more often than not, he will always prioritize the safety of his loved ones. After all, it's better to argue with a living person than it is to grieve over a corpse.

As a result of this mindset, his virtues wind up creating his greatest flaws.

And ultimately while I think these concepts (trust, honesty, freedom, and protection) can all contradict one another, Alkaid's primary issue amongst these concepts is with trust. Trusting that being honest won't scare someone away. Trusting when they say they'll be okay, and that they don't need protection for one reason or another. Trusting that they don't want him to sacrifice himself for their well being.

It's putting his whole self into the hands of another. Losing the comforting certainty of knowing what will happen in a controlled situation.

And I think modern Alkaid is especially "flawed" because of these issues with trust. He has seen the worst in people. He has prevented family friends from being poisoned. He was convinced he was being watched as a child, but no one would be honest with him as to why. He always expects the worst and wants to protect his loved ones from it, even if it means stooping to said "worst" himself. He will do things he dislikes if it means keeping his loved ones safe.

If this means choosing one of his morals over another if the situation calls for it, then so be it.

And it is because of this that Alkaid is convinced he has a bad, "other side"... when in reality this is just normal, human nature. It's impossible to be purely ethical. It's impossible to make the right decisions all the time. It's impossible to be perfect.

Eden Alkaid is similarly flawed, and was manipulated to be distrustful and afraid of people. It's why his whole arc is one of learning to trust again.

My prediction? Trust will be a major theme in Alkaid's stories moving forward. We will also see the clashing values of honesty, freedom, and protection occur again. Alkaid has nothing but good intentions, but constantly struggles with the concept of trusting others, trusting himself, and being left with choices that contradict his own values.

And MC? She's also imperfect. She also has her own secrets. She also makes morally ambiguous decisions for a greater good.

And most importantly, she tells Alkaid that she accepts the whole him.

It's okay to trust. It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to be human.

[queerofthedagger]

I'm really curious about the Uther things you mentioned?

Ahh hey! Yeah I can talk on that a bit (for context, I think I said that I do find his character intriguing and that my opinion on him has evolved quite a bit, influenced by mostly disagreeing with what a lot of people tend to say?)

So the thing about Uther is that I feel people tend to either go "He's evil, everything he does at any given time is evil, I hate him and there is nothing more to it," or they go "Oh but he loved his children!!!" in a kind of, redeeming-quality-kind of sense. I'm somewhat hyperbolizing, of course, but I do think fandom tends to a very black and white view.

Don't get me wrong, I hate Uther. I hate Uther with a burning passion, and I love to hate him. He's terrible. But I do think the show actually did go to quite an effort to make him complex beyond a simple "tyrannical son of a bitch" (that he was) or "Oh okay but he loved Ygraine and his kids 🥺" (which he did!).

Of course he is terrible. He murdered hundreds if not thousands of people over the guilt he could not bear to live with, that was, in the first place, the consequence of his own actions. I do believe he didn't know that the price would be Ygraine's life; he was still willing to sacrifice someone's life. Which is very Uther. Yes, at the root of that lies grief, and at the root of grief lies love, but the thing (and also imo the crux of Uther's character) is that being capable of loving people doesn't somehow, magically (ha. sorry) make you less of a bad person.

Terrible people can love other people. In fact, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find people no matter how atrocious their actions, who don't have people they love. And most people don't set out to "do something evil;" Uther, in all his atrocities, always had justifications to himself.

I think it says a lot that despite the brutal war he wrought, he was by and large not considered a bad king, per se, by his people and allies. We could dismiss all those instances where the show makes a point to reiterate this as fear of speaking up - and I'm not saying that didn't play a part - but I think that's making it too easy. There is a whole other essay on propaganda and how the war on magic worked, but I'll get to that another time. My main point is that, as uncomfortable as the thought may be considering just what horrors he wrought, he wasn't a frothing, mad bag full of cartoonish evil.

That doesn't mean that he "wasn't that bad, really." Which kind of brings me to the other side of things, the way people like to throw "Well, but he loved his kids," into the mix as a kind of. I don't know, counterpoint to the "tyrannical son of a bitch" side. And like, the thing is, he did. The thing is, that doesn't change a thing.

Yeah, Uther loved both Arthur and Morgana. We see enough proof of that through the seasons, whether it's in the Excalibur Episode where he fights in Arthur's stead at any cost, or in Le Morte d'Arthur where he openly weeps, or with Morgana in various instances to a degree where some people think he loved her more (and again, yet another essay on how his love for Arthur is tangled up so much in his guilt and the hatred that caused, but I digresss), not least in how her 'betrayal' broke him.

Ultimately, though, he also put Arthur in harm's way again and again. He certainly rarely ever told him he loved him, to the point where Arthur is shocked to hear it. He puts his children in chains and locks them away and drugs them and threatens them in all manners, he lies to them and hides the truth from them (Ygraine/Morgana's parentage in the first place) to the detriment of their well-being, and so on. His love is conditional. His love demands obedience and submission. We could argue until we're blue if that's really love in the first place, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter all that much.

People can love other people, and it can be entirely inconsequential, because frankly, most parents love/"love" their kids. That doesn't mean they're automatically good parents, or even good people. In Uther's case it really isn't a redeeming quality at all. It just makes him complex and interesting and multi-dimensional as the villain/antagonist. Because it makes us grapple with the really very unfortunate but inevitable fact that even terrible people are still people. They aren't some removed monster that no one can ever relate to. They love and they laugh and grieve, and they can still turn around and burn people in their frontyard on the daily without missing a beat. They can be willing to die for their children and threaten violence and exile in the next breath.

I think with Uther, at the end of the day, for me it's really both. His atrocities started out of love, and his love is steeped, inevitably, in the violence and twisted moral framework of his character; it's not an either/or thing at all, it depends on each other. And he is a goddamn son of a bitch, of course, even if every once in a bluemoon he still sheds honest tears for his unfortunate children.

[paragonrobits]

so i was reading some complaints about how Marceline is only really present in Fionna And Cake in a brief snippet and then only in AUs, and then it occured to me: Marceline not being around in an active way is necessary for the plot to happen.

Essentially, the plot of Fionna And Cake might be summarized as 'longing the magical life, Fionna and Cake flee from a Lawful Neutral cosmic killjoy and enlist the help of Simon Petrikov who agrees to become Ice King again, but is explicitly not telling them about what this is going to do to him'. The story is essentially about Simon WANTING to become Ice King while at the same time really not wanting to do that at all, pressuring himself into losing himself once more because he thinks its the only way for him to be needed by anyone anymore.

If Marceline is around, this doesn't happen. She is Simon's biggest reason for staying; she's the happiest part of his life, the most fulfilling and rewarding part of his life. It comes up, time and time again, that in the end becoming Ice King was the best thing to happen to Simon despite all its misery, suffering and tragedy because he otherwise would never have met her; he wouldn't have survived the great mushroom war, or the horrors following it, and would have died long before ever meeting her.

And the show details how INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT Simon raising her really was. The Marceline we know was shaped, by a massive degree, by Simon; his example of self-sacrifice, him letting his mind disintegrate by inches, him going out of his way to help a complete stranger and a monstrous child horrifying by the standards of the setting, all implciitly RIGHT after Marceline's mother died and Marceline had resigned herself to being a scary monster that drives everyone away. And then here came a stranger out of the blue, and spent the next few years telling her that yes, she DID matter, she was a person, and that he cared about her so much he destroyed himself so she wouldn't get hurt... or perhaps because her only means of defending herself, ripping out the souls of others, hurts who she is.

It's not a nice kind of comfort. But it still shaped her into someone willing to be a hero in her own way.

And this goes both ways; we can see that the proverbial straw for Simon is him calling Marceline and concluding that she doesn't need him anymore. It's only after this he starts trying to contact Golbetty, with the potential doom that may befall him. If Marceline doesn't need him, he seems to think, he doesn't matter. The need to be needed runs deep in Simon's character; its what draws him to help Fionna and Cake, and the worlds they visit seem to impart a lesson to him on how he matters more than he thinks he does, both by the things he's done and what he means to others; that he's not as bad a person as he thinks he is, or that Marceline would be fine without him.

So. If Marceline talks more to Simon, ESPECIALLY after he resolves to throw his progress away and let his mind be lost all over again just so he doesn't have to hurt anymore... well, his character arc in this series is about accepting that he's actually ok, the way he is, and to gain perspective on his feelings that he doesn't belong anywhere (and the answer is that he DOES, more than he knows). Marceline doesn't inhibit that, but she WOULD make it harder for it to happen, arguably at the cost of sidelining Simon's character arc here. He would pretend that okay he doesnt want to be Ice King even if he DOES still intend to go through with it, and not in the same way as when he comes to the conclusion that he ultimately does.

If Marceline is there, he doesn't think those thoughts, and he won't come to the same conclusion.

And at the same time, despite not being there, Marceline's presence hangs over the entire show in Simon's character arc. She is the best thing in his life; his greatest success, the most purely positive and happy part of his life. It can't be understated how significant Marceline is; as miserable as Ice King was, she was someone he cared about even if he didn't understand why anymore. Ice King shows a remarkable amount of restraint in context, but it becomes a lot more obvious whenever she's involved, or in danger; a care so deep and ingrained that when Ice King was often pretty callous, whenever she was upset you could see flickers on his face, genuine distress rising up from some forgotten memory or part of who he is.

Marceline pervades Simon's character and the impact he had on the world; the idea of him being able to pull through this and come back to Ooo for her feels very evident, and the impact Simon has in her in other worlds remains extremely important in all of them, sub-textually or otherwise. Sometimes, its a hint that the Winter King is far more morally ambiguous or even malicious than he lets on (the only Marceline present being an eternal child that, from context, is just a simulcrum for him to play pretend parent with) or evidence that without Simon, Marceline grows up into the monster she always feared she was (Vampire World).

She's a presence, hanging over Simon in a good way and reminding us that not only does he have somewhere to go back to, he must understand that he does belong there. And furthermore that the world of Ooo, whimsical and ultimately a better one than most of the places he visits in the miniseries, can only exist because of him.

In Winter King, we see what he could become, without his moral choices. In Vampire World, we see what happens without Simon Petrikov. And in Marceline herself, we see the surest evidence of how important he really is, even if he can't or won't acknowledge it. In his loved ones, in the family he made, even if its not the family he thought he was supposed to have.

[raayllum]

Anyway Runaan-Callum parallels slap so let's talk about 'em (semi requested by the lovely @hoothalcyon)

Although Runaan and Callum are about as different presentation wise as they could possibly be, especially in Arc 1 - one a stoic, serious Moonshadow elf sworn to duty over family, who believes wholeheartedly in a dastardly human enemy, and the other a goofy heart-on-his-sleeve prince who always believes elves may be worth reasoning with - they do have, at their steely cores, have a fair few similarities. This is largely in their respective relationships with Ezran and Rayla.

For starters, in spite of Callum's idealism, he does have a more skeptical core (just like Runaan) both in regards to potentially listening to / trusting 'former enemies' and in trusting the people they love with possibilities they've already deemed impossible.

Runaan: No. Humans are liars. This is a trick and a trap. You're a fool, Rayla.

Rayla: Just... trust me. Callum: Right, right. That makes sense. Since we go way back. Like that one time, ten minutes ago, when you chased me through the castle trying to stab me. Haha, good times!

You have Callum and Runaan both being terse/angry at Ezran ("Ezran, you don't get it, do you? Why do you think they're sending us away? Because they're coming to kill him!") and Rayla ("Of course he was afraid, but you had a job to do! You let him live but you killed us all") for not seemingly getting the severity of the situation they've found themselves in, even though Callum told Ez that everything was okay when the younger boy expressed doubts earlier, and even though Runaan didn't listen to Ethari's cautioning that Rayla wasn't ready for this sort of mission.

Runaan and Callum are both also lied to / betrayed by people they trusted, leading ultimately to disaster once the illusion has been revealed; for Runaan, it is his adoptive daughter, and for Callum, it is his childhood friend(s) in Claudia and Soren. And both turn away from each girl in the end, leaving them staring off sadly as Runaan and Callum devote themselves to the missions they believe have to be done that Rayla and Claudia were attempting to derail.

Callum and Runaan also believe that Rayla can be better than how she's presenting herself ("Why? You know this is wrong" / "You're better than this") even if they have opposite ideas of what 'better' is. For Callum, it's Rayla embracing her compassion ("You have a big heart") and for Runaan, it's largely shutting it off ("Your heart isn't hard enough to do whatever it takes"). Which is why I think it's nice that they are both the ones who label Rayla's said compassion, initially in Callum's case, as hesitation.

And of course, in Chasing Shadows, they are the two voices inside Rayla's head, helping her retain her identity (to a degree with Runaan, who is also paralleled with RedFeather in spite of the distance and/or fraught dynamic between them, as well as being the two people to pull her out of the water from near drowning.

“An island is land,” said a voice in her head, so playful and cheeky she could almost see his smile. [...] “A hidden dagger,” Rayla understood. It was something Runaan had told her time and time again: “a defenseless enemy may keep their daggers hidden.”

I love you. I wish I could say that we will see each other again, but I don’t know if we will. I hope so. 

Callum can also be determined bordering on stubborn, like Runaan (a trait many of the main cast share, given the adversity of their circumstances; "We have to keep going, no matter what" from 1x08; "Justice will not be denied" from 1x03) but he is ultimately more willing to change. He can be stoic (in S4) if not very well, and has his own self sacrificial tendencies, particularly if that means protecting his loved ones: "We'll be stronger as five" now that Runaan knows the mission will likely require sacrifice and "I need you to kill me" now that Callum knows Aaravos has turned him into a threat. Given the trouble that magic has recently brought Callum, I wonder if we will start to see him have similar doubts as Runaan in Bloodmoon Huntress over being an assassin, of "I wonder if perhaps I shouldn't have become..."

However, as Ethari lays out in BH: "Souls like that feel called to protect everyone as fiercely as those they hold close. I've known since we met that this is Runaan's calling, that nothing will deter him from his duty." When Runaan is offered freedom and a chance to go home to Ethari - to free himself and return to his loved ones, to ease their suffering - he doesn't take it. It is the end of his episode in which he states, "I will never help you," allowed to hold fast. (Even though, if he had been freed, he possibly could've taken the coins holding Lain and Tiadrin with him as well, if through force.)

But Callum has his "I will never help you" at the beginning of his episode, so it's unsurprising from a structural standpoint that Callum's vow doesn't hold (and doubly unsurprising from a characterization standpoint) since as we all know, Callum "values those close to him more than anyone or anything."

Now, we don't know what Runaan would've done if one of his loved ones' lives had been on the line, as opposed to Viren just further threatening his own safety, but he was willing to sacrifice the lives of all of his assassins (granted that they were equally willing of the risk), so there's a little grey room. We also know that Finnegrin had to meet a challenge similar to Viren's: Callum didn't fear his own lack of freedom, torture couldn't break him, and he wasn't scare either when it seemed he was assuming he was the one going to be fed to the giant sea serpent. So Finnegrin had to find something that Callum, likewise, would "fear more / find worse than death" and he did:

Magic is very important to Callum and it's what he absolutely wants to pursue, but he's not willing to risk his life or heavily bend his morals just for his calling (2x04, 2x02, 2x08); he is willing to do those things for his loved ones, time and time again (1x01, 1x02, 2x07, 3x09, 5x08).

The fun thing is that we see this sort of language (Finnegrin's whole thing about fair prices) reflected in BH with Runaan as well, specifically with Kim'Dael holding an innocent Skywing boy hostage and using him as leverage for Runaan to sacrifice himself (which, given Callum's subsequent dark magic use, is also a level in 5x08, because he's also willing to sacrifice/risk corrupting himself further to save Rayla):

Which we could see Callum consider if there's something that requires him to do dark/dangerous magic again in S6, since in his mind, he's already 'tainted' and stained by dark magic, just as Kim'Dael taunts Runaan over it (and those sweet assassin-dark mage parallels continue to persist):

I know you're brave. The kind of brave that would sacrifice your life to save the ones you love. Let's make it simple. Give me your blood, assassin, and those two you came with walk away free. You've killed, but they haven't. They can still have long full lives.

(I do still lean towards this ultimately coming back around for Rayla first and foremost because BH basically exists to hold up a sign like "Runaan and Rayla are similar" / her paying the price motif and sacrifice, but I do think ultimately both Callum and Rayla will end up in a situation similar to Runaan's above whether in structure or in how they process it.)

Where are all these parallels going, besides Callum being the one to free Runaan and co. in S6, and Runaan possibly encouraging the "You need to kill me" idea at first? No clue! But they're fun either way.

Other fun misc. parallels:

Guiding moon (Ethari and Rayla to Runaan and Callum respectively, parallel, maybe)

And last but not least, the parallel that gave me the tag for their foils / dynamic in the first place

[lemonyinks]

thinks about how love and sacrifice are major themes of one piece thinks about how love and sacrifice are major themes of one piece thinks about how love and sacrifice are major themes of one piece thinks about how love and sacrifice are major themes of one piece

Okay, but seriously, it was something I never noticed when I was young and reading One Piece for the very first time. Back then the emotional scenes were just that, emotional scenes. I never seen the parallels or the way the themes would often reappear in different ways. Now that I'm an adult and I'm reading it once again, it has become a whole lot more apparent just how much of a reoccurring theme they both are, and how they go hand in hand together. I've also begun to realize just how much impact on the narrative these scenes have on future events.

Shank's sacrificing his arm for Luffy is literally one of the first things to happen in the manga, which he did because he obviously loved and cared for Luffy. He calls him a friend only a few pages earlier. He would gladly lose and arm if it meant Luffy would live. It was right after this event as well when Luffy finally stops asking Shank's to take him out to sea with him and vows to become a pirate on his own, just before Shanks gives him his straw hat.

And that wouldn't be the first time someone would sacrifice a limb for someone they cared about in this series. Zeff quite literally ate his own leg so that he could give all of the rations they had to Sanji, hoping that the kid would live long enough to carry out the dream that the both of them shared. The All Blue may have been the initial reason he had for saving Sanji's life, but he undoubtedly grew to love Sanji like a son and I don't doubt for a second he would make that sacrifice a million times over for him.

And then comes Bellemere an arc later. Nami and Nojiko were her reason to keep living, she dedicated her entire life to taking care of those girls and she loved them with her whole being. To her, it was an easy choice to give her own life so that her girls wouldn't have to leave the only home they'd ever known and possibly die all alone out on the sea.

Hiriluk is a bit of a different sacrifice, but a sacrifice nonetheless. His decision to commit suicide was ultimately due to him not wanting Chopper to feel guilt over his death. He loved Chopper, he knew that he was only ever trying to help and that he loved Hiriliuk in return. The doctor couldn't just let that love and desire to help turn into what caused his death. So he chose to take his own life instead so that none of the responsibility landed on Chopper's shoulders.

Once we reach Alabasta, there is of course the iconic Pell scene. He was willing to throw his life away, not only for Vivi, who he loved dearly, but also for the country he served and it's people. I know some say that this scene isn't as impactful as some of the other sacrifices since he didn't truly die in that moment, but in my opinion that doesn't matter. He did it because he loved them all. His feelings were just as strong as those who died or lost limbs, and the Vivi's reaction is equally as real as the other's reactions to the sacrifices made for them. His intentions were to save everyone, and he did just that.

In water 7/Enies Loby (an arc that is itself basically one big love letter) we are introduced to Saul, who had only know Robin for a very short amount of time before the navy showed up to kill the scholars. And yet, in that small period he grew to care about Robin and had a real desire to protect her and ensure that she would not only live, but end up happy one day. He was willing to give up his own life so that this little girl, who he barely even knew, could live on.

Thriller Bark is where we see on of the most memorable Zoro scenes. While this isn't the first time one of the protags has sacrificed themselves for their crewmates, it is one of the most notable. Zoro here takes on all of Luffy's pain, simply because he loves his captain and believes that his dream is worth living on for. He was willing to give up his health, as well as what he thought would be his life, if it meant that Luffy would be able to live longer and carry on with his journey.

And this of course leads us to Marineford, where Ace threw himself in front of Akainu's molten fist in order to save his baby brother with zero hesitation. Ace loved Luffy deeply, he would never have allowed harm to come to him. The two of them loved each other deeply and would rather die than allow the other to be hurt.

Now comes a sacrifice that really parallels Bellameres, even down to their last words to their kids and the way that the both of them died. Cora cared for Law, he really did. He couldn't stand to see a child so young talking about how they were going to die and he wanted to help him, so much so that he all but abandoned the mission he was with the Donquixote pirates for in the first place just so that he could find a cure for Law's sickness. He inevitably came to truly love and care for Law. He gives his life in the confrontation between him and his brother, even going so far as forcing himself to hold on longer in order to let Law escape silently, just so that the child he'd come to love could grow up and live his life.

While Pedro may have sacrificed himself so that the strawhats could go farther on their journey, he didn't really do it for them. He may have thought of them as friends, but in the end his sacrifice was for the people of Zou. He did it for his people, because he loved them and wanted to do everything in his power to help save them from the cruel fate they were being subjected to. He knew that the only way this would be achieved would be if the Strawhats made it out of Big Mom's territory, so he did what he thought he had to in order to help them escape.

Finally, in Wano we have Oden's sacrifice. He let himself be boiled alive in a pot of oil for an hour straight while holding up the weight of nine other people, simply because he believed it gave his retainers, his family, the people he loved, a chance to escape the same fate. But he didn't just do it for them, he gave his life so that his entire country may have the chance at a better future. To the very end, he loved his country and he loved the other samurai.

And these are just a few select examples that I could think of at the time and some of the most memorable ones to me This doesn't even account for Nami giving up her childhood and teen years to free her village, or Sanji saving Nami and Luffy from the avalanche, or Tom turning himself in so that Franky wouldn't be killer, or Robin giving herself up to cp-9 to promise the Strawhats passage, or Luffy letting himself be tortured by Porchemy to keep Sabo and Ace's secret, or the way Dadan stayed behind to fight Bluejam for Ace, or how the Whitebeards all put themselves on the line to try and save Ace, or Pound stopping Oven several times to save his daughter, or when Scarlet tried to feed her starving daughter, or Sanji freeing the crew from Bege, or Killer eating the SMILE and doing Orochi's bidding to give Kid a chance to live, or Law giving himself over to Hawkins to save Bepo, Sachi, and Penguin, or Momo giving up his childhood, or the two times Bon Clay gave themself up to give Luffy time to escape, or the Going Merry sailing on despite being in no condition to, or how the minks allowed themselves to be tortured, or how Rouge literally killed herself to bring Ace into the world. It doesn't even cover the more subtle sacrifices like Usopp lying that there was no pirates so that his village wouldn't have to be afraid, or even Luffy's hunger strike.

There are countless sacrifices within this series that I don't think I could ever really hope of covering them all, unless I were to spend several hours that I don't have on them. But one thing is certain about every single one of them; they are displays of love. I mean, who else do you make sacrifices for, if not for someone you love.

[allkordelia]

Keep Me in Your Thoughts (55)

Rhaenyra and Laenor were in Rhaelle and Daemon's chamber discussing the  arrangement they set out to do, laenor has chosen the latter to fake his death and leave to the stepstones with marrio. Rhaelle was disappointed that her brother choose to leave rather than stay, but somehow in his mind he is doing the ultimate sacrifice and allowing rhaenyra to be free and marry daemon.

Sometimes rhaelle wonders if her brother was ever on her side, he didn't even think about it and when rhaelle brought up his daughter he "assure" her that jaenara would be okay. He was okay to leave the life that corlys force upon him, as if the talk they had months ago never happen. He was once again running from his responsibilities, the idea to fake his death wasn't even necessary.

The group go over the plan on faking laenor's death, as well as making it look convincing for all who witness it. Rhaelle didn't like this she didn't like how this was going to play out, she wonder about laenor's children and how they will fare at the death of their father. She knows the boys will fare okay without their father but jaenara on the other hand, she fears the little girl would grow sadder at the devastating news and feel alone more than ever.

"It would be for the best that laenor stay behind here, while rhaelle and the  children stay at Driftmark castle as rhaenyra and I marry at the sept back at dragonstone." Rhaenyra and Laenor look at daemon at the mention of the sept.

"The seven do not condone polygamy how would–" Rhaenyra start but daemon interrupted.

"If Maegor the cruel can marry all his wife under the seven then so can I." Daemon said dull looking at his neice making rhaenyra give a eyeroll and laenor frown and look over at his sister who wore a faint smile.

"Whatever." She muttered moving from the couch over to the table to the table to pour herself some wine.

"O...kay," laenor says awkwardly as he sense the anger rolling off rhaenyra, "If we are going to pull this off, who will be the one to find my body." Laenor look to daemon.

"I would think the servant, no?" Rhaelle ask her husband, daemon look at rhaenyra who look back at him before downing her cup making daemon look at his wife.

"My thoughts were on...rhaenys and corlys." Rhaelle furrow her brows and frown unsure.

"I do not think my mother or corlys would be able to pull off a convincing act of show to their son's death." Daemon swallow as he move his hand to his wife's arm with a look that made her tilt her head.

"My love, I...I know you love your mother and i know you couldn't bear to lie to her, but..." Daemon trailed off as he struggle to get the words out, Rhaenyra set down her cup with a eyeroll as daemon stonewall.

"They can't know that laenor is alive, that's why we are not telling them." Rhaenyra says making daemon look over at her with a sharp glare, rhaenyra look at him with a blank look.

Rhaelle look between rhaenyra and daemon before stepping back making daemon look at her.

"My mother must know...she can't really believe her son is dead." Daemon gave rhaelle a empathic look as he step closer.

"Rhaelle–" Daemon reach for her only rhaelle to swap his hand away.

"No, daemon. I will not do it, I can live with corlys thinking it but my mother, I...I just can't." Rhaelle said downhearted.

"Rhaelle, you must think rational." Rhaelle look at her brother, "If mother knew that I was still alive you will just be making her more worried, if she knows that I am done she will get over it." Rhaelle sneer at her brother at his careless words.

"Get over it? She just lost a daughter and now possibly a son, and you think she just going to get over it." She resort making her brother give her a dreary look.

"We both know mother with a little time she will move pass thus." Rhaelle scorn her brother.

"Yes, as I stay here and comfort her while she grieves, you will be basking in your newfound freedom while getting bend over by marrio." Rhaelle glowered at her brother before stalking away making daemon follow her into the hall.

She pace in the hall as she wring out her hands, daemon close the door behind him before watching his wife.

"I can't. I won't do it." She said.

"It's the only way–"

"Then, let's find another way." She argued, daemon came to rhaelle stopping her with his hands on her arms.

"You know I would if we could," rhaelle look at daemon for a second before bowing her head so her forehead would touch his chest.

"I owe her so much and if I do this I know she will hate me forever, oh daemon, I do not think i can go through with this." Daemon sigh as he lean his head against his belove, he hated seeing rhaelle like this, he knows how much rhaenys has done for rhaelle and her children, but he can't see any way around the inevitable unless...

"Maybe, we could tell her once it been long enough, and if she gets angry you can blame it on me. We could say I forced you to keep quiet." Rhaelle pull back making daemon move his head to look at daemon.

"You will do that for me?" Daemon gave her a look before placing both of his hands to coddle rhaelle's face.

"In a heartbeat." Rhaelle smile before she lean up to kiss daemon making him kiss her back, they held each other in the hall away getting a moment to their selves before having to go back and talk.

—

It was close to the hour of the eel, rhaelle was in her new chamber in Driftmark castle sound asleep, it has been a week since laenor faked his death as well as comforting her mother. Rhaenys couldn't bear living in High Tide so she taken to living with rhaelle and her children leaving corlys alone, it been a hard few days having to see her mother fall apart and bury another child broke rhaelle's heart. It took everything in her not to shout that laenor was alive and well in the stepstones but she promise daemon, they wait a bit longer before telling rhaenys the truth.

The door to rhaelle's room open before shutting quietly, it took a while for daemon to sneak through the castle without going notice by guards or servants. Daemon and rhaenyra married a day after laenor left, the news of their marriage travel like wild fire throughout the crownlands, when ask about it rhaelle pretend to be just as shock as everyone else. Not long after rumors of daemon having laenor killed to have rhaenyra spread as well, rhaelle's mother believe it even if rhaelle told rhaenys that daemon wouldn't stoop so low.

But, rhaenys didn't want to hear it, she believe that rhaenyra and daemon had something to do with laenor's death making rhaelle grow worried.

Daemon haven't seen rhaelle in days, he missed her, having to hide out in dragonstone with rhaenyra was torture as his neice tried to sway him to consummate their marriage. But, daemon wouldn't not without rhaelle say so, so he spent his days in his chamber burying himself under books and self pleasures. After four days, he he couldn't take it anymore and sailed to driftmark knowing if he took his dragon they will have told the princess immediately.

He strip out of his clothes leaving him in nothing but his breeches, he climb in under the covers moving to spoon rhaelle. He bury his face in his wife's neck before inhaling her scent, he move his hand to slowly draw up rhaelle's nightgown before he move his hand between her thighs.

The feeling of faint touching made rhaelle moan low in her sleep, she press herself into the warm body behind feeling something hard against her back. Daemon move his middle finger in a circlur motion on rhaelle's sweet bud, daemon trail kisses along her neck before stopping at her soft spot. He suck and bite pulling a whine from rhaelle, the sensation that was stirring in her stomach fully woke her up. Rhaelle put her hand over daemon's hand between her thighs as he rock his hand in and out of her in a slow pace, she moan his name as she move her pelvic against his name.

Daemon shifted in bed as he move to put his arm under rhaelle so his hand could grope her breast, as he rubs his hard cock against her backside, low moan and murmurs of sweet nothings fill the room. Rhaelle gasp griping daemon's wrist as she cums all over his hand, his hand continues to move and play with rhaelle as he cum ruins his breeches, daemon shudder and groan against rhaelle's shoulder as he slide his wet hand along her pelvic before move his hand to grope her ass. Daemon lift himself up on his elbows leaning over to kiss rhaelle's cheek before flopping back onto the bed, rhaelle twist making daemon's hands move from into her nightgown as she lay on her back and turn her head to face daemon who was already watching her.

"Hello, my love." Rhaelle whisper.

"Hi." Daemon smile at her, "Sleep well? Any good dreams." Rhaelle chuckle as she grab daemon's wrist to move his arm from under her shoulder so she can rest her head on his arm.

"No dreams. What are you doing here." She ask.

"I couldn't take another day of being without you," rhaelle hide her grin in his arm, "Did you miss me?" He ask, rhaelle nod with a soft look.

"My heart was missing its other half."  Daemon move his arm that was laying under rhaelle to move some hair out of her face before trailing his fingers up and down her cheek.

"I am here now...sadly for a time, I will have to return to her soon." Rhaelle hmmm in response, "I wish you come back with me." Rhaelle laid on her side and rest her hand on daemon's chest bear his heart.

"In due time, my belove. But, now I too will have to stay here alone without you." Rhaelle's hand crawl up so she can grasp his cheek, "For now, let us make most with our little time together." Daemon hummed before moving his head to kiss her palm, rhaelle watch as daemon shift for a moment before he toss his breeches from under the covers and crawl on top of rhaelle making her grin as he brought the covers over them.

—

It been two weeks since rhaenyra and daemon been married, and two weeks since daemon and rhaelle have taken to seeing each other in the dead of night to have their late night talks or make love. Daemon thought it been long enough that it was time for rhaelle and the children to come love at Dragonstone, but rhaelle thought it was too soon. She couldn't leave her mother.

Rhaelle was laying on top of daemon as they slept, she slowly start waking up making her look around before looking at daemon peaceful face. She smile and kiss his chest before paying her head back down as she rub her eyes she notice the bright light peaking through the curtisns of her window, for a moment she didn't think much about until she realize it was morning and daemon was still here. She sat up and with her cover against her chest before starting shaking daemon, daemon moan and turn on his side making rhaelle glare at him.

"Daemon, wake up, it's morning. You have to leave." Rhaelle says hastily as she shake him, daemon groan and put the pillow from under his head over his head.

"A few more minutes, my love." Rhaelle sigh getting out of bed and taking her nightgown from the floor and put it over her head, she limp to the end of the bed and snatch the covers off him letting them fall to the floor.

Rhaelle gathered up daemon's clothes just as he sat up on his elbows to look at his belove.

"Rhae, what are you doing." Rhaelle didn't answer him as she toss his clothes on him.

"Get dress. The children will be awake soon and so will my mother, it best you hurry up." She said looking at him at the end of the bed, daemon look at rhaelle for a second before he push his clothes off him to the floor.

"I think I stay." Rhaelle gave daemon a look.

"Daemon."

"Rhaelle." He said back.

"I don't want my mother to see you, you know you aren't her biggest fan right now."

"That's nothing new." Daemon sit up on the bed before sitting on the edge before looking st his wife, "I miss you." Rhaelle walk over to daemon and sat next to him.

"I miss you too, dae. But, you can't be here not until things cslm down for you and rhaenyra." Daemon let out a low growl, he hated it being apart from her and the children he still havent talk to maekar, baelon, and gaela yet and that is something doesn't want to put off any longer.

"I can't spend another day in that place her and her children, I miss us and our little dragons." Rhaelle gave daemon a look of pity before she lean close to place a kiss on his cheek.

"Once my mother is ready to hear the truth that is when we can be together again." Daemon turn his head to lean his forehead aginst the side of rhaelle's face before frowning when she pull away, he watch her get up and go over to her wardrobe to pick out her outfit for today.

Daemon don't think he can wait however long is going to take her for his mother in law to stop grieving, daemon quickly got dress before putting on his boots when his left foot was secure in his boot he got up and went to rhaelle. They kiss each other goodbye until next time rhaelle would say, before daemon gave a small smile and press one last kiss to her head before leaving. He look up and down the hall making sure no servants were around before he made his way up the hall on his left, as he sneak through the castle he stop near the door to the dinning hall.

He peak inside to find rhaenys at the table staring some tea, thoughts of going inside and getting rhaelle and the children to come to dragonstone played in his mind but if he told rhaenys about laenor, he knows rhaelle will be angry with him for telling rhaenys out of selfishness. Rhaelle will angry but atleast she will be angry under the same roof as him.

Dae.on push the door open making it creak it took rhaenys a moment to look up expecting it was her daughter or one of her grandchildren.

"Good morrow, my love." Rhaenys wore a sweet look as she look away from her tea towards the door, when she saw daemon her face turn sour making her get up from her chair, "You. What are you doing here." Daemon didn't answer as he close the doors behind him and step further in, "Are you deaf, you fiend. What are you doing here." Daemon stood quietly waiting for rhaenys to calm down, when rhaenys didn't get answer she growl and stalk to him.

"I'm getting the guards." She walk pass him making him turn to watch.

"If you do then you won't hear what I have to say." Rhaenys scoff as she near the door, she wasn't going to listen to him and she doubt he had anything important to say to her, "Believe me, princess. You would want to hear what I have to say."

"I doubt that very much." She said opening the door.

"It's involve laenor." Rhaenys froze the idea to call for guards quickly dissolve as she turn to glower at daemon.

"What." Daemon look at her with a calm look.

"Close the door and I will tell you everything you want to know." Rhaenys look daemon up and down unsure, she didn't trust him but she wanted to know what happen to her baby boy.

Rhaenys shut the door as she kept her eyes on daemon, she held her head up with a empty look as she walk up to daemon.

"What did you do to, my son." She ask as she stood parallel to her cousin, daemon bite his cheek before confessing that laenor was still alive somewhere in the stepstones or by now essos.

The glimmer of hope filled rhaenys's heart but she couldn't show it.

"How do I know you are telling the truth, I need proof." Daemon expected her to say that and he didn't really have any proof that was kinda point.

"That's sort of defeats the purpose of faking someone's death, princess. You can't leave proof that they are still alive, so you must trust me." Rhaenys wanted to laugh in daemon's face but settle with rolling her eyes and asking why, daemon look at her confuse.

"...why did you and that...the princess take my son away from me."

"Your son had a choice. He chose to leave–"

"I'm sure he did." She said angrily, daemon could sense she didn't believe, and he came up with the perfect idea to make everyone happy.

"He did. Rhaenyra made sure of that." Rhaenys tilt her head to the side.

"Rhaenyra?" Daemon nod his head.

"This was her plan, she knew laenor wasn't meant for this life and so she gave him a way out. All of this is because of rhaenyra." Daemon watch as the princess cross her arms with balled fist, "She gave me a offer I couldn't refuse." Rhaenys narrow her eyes at daemon.

"What offer?" She ask curious.

"If i marry her. She will marry her sons to rhaena and baela. Baela will marry jacerys and rhaena to lucerys giving house velaryon what it always wanted." Rhaenys's hand move to grasp her chin in thought.

"Does rhaelle know of this...any of this." Daemon move his head from side to side in a somewhat like manner.

"She doesn't know about rhaenyra's offer, but she does about laenor I made her promise not to tell you until your grievance was over." Rhaenys huff, she couldn't believe her daughter would lie to her.

"For how long." Daemon thought about it before telling her atleast a week knowing it was better than saying the truth.

"Why are you telling me this now." Rhaenys ask, she been wondering it since he first mentioned laenor.

"I miss my wife and my children, and I want them to come live with me in dragonstone. Rhaelle wanted to tell you sooner but I forbide her not to in fear that this plan will fail." Rhaenys hum.

"So, what now." She ask making daemon bite his lip.

"You will tell rhaelle that you know, if you wish her to stay or to go is your choice. I just want to be with my family again." Rhaenys squint her eyes at daemon, she couldn't read him she wish she could know what he was really thinking, "For now, I will leave you to talk to your daughter." Daemon bow his head at his cousin before turning on his heels, rhaenys watch as daemon walk out the hall making her wonder if what he said was the truth.

@beggarsnotchoosey @cleverzonkwombatsludge @avidreader73 @green-lxght @spderm4nnnn @supermassiveblackhope @watercolorskyy @stargaryenx

[ninja-guy-yo]

I'd be more okay with Crystalized being the ending of the ninjas' time as the protagonists if it wrapped up their stories better.

Lloyd's arc about reconciling with Garmadon and unlocking his Oni Form amounted to:

Garmadon having a temper tantrum over Lloyd saying he trusts him too hesitantly ("Can we please discuss this after we defeat the Overlord??" There is no after, this is it)

Garmadon faking his death to make Lloyd go Oni out of rage and grief, only for that to fail because even after warming up to his father and realizing he's not inherently evil for being an Oni, he's still afraid of becoming anything like him

Lloyd yelling at him for faking his death and wasting his time on an arc that went nowhere and didn't contribute to the ending

Them smiling at each other as Garmadon passes him a plank of wood, as the second-to-last characters ever seen in the show

There's mixed signals after they bond in the sewers, even though they're supposed to be on good terms at the end. Is this just what their dynamic is going to be if Garmadon ever shows up again? They care about each other but they constantly argue because their personalities clash, like the movie?

(I saw a post the other day about how this was Lloyd amicably cutting Garmadon out of his life as a toxic influence and I don't.. understand how that's what they took away from this? Scenes like that final one represent the beginning of a relationship, or rebuilding one, not the end. They're literally rebuilding their home. Maybe I didn't read it right...? I wish I was watching the show that fans make it sound like in analyses. It's better than the actual thing)

I wish I had anywhere near as much to say about each of the original four ninja, but they barely had anything to do individually. As soon as Nya's back, any arc Kai and Jay could have had was done. Not because they learned to move on from their grief and overcome their differences, but because they no longer had a reason to be sad. Instead of her brother and boyfriend, Zane is the one to learn about the benefit of grief, but again, because Nya's already back he doesn't have to deal with it when he turns his emotions back on. Zane's time as the Ice Emperor was used as a gag, and him having any issues with it at all was relegated to a book. Cole

The ninja were all crystalized and none of them, technically not even Lloyd, intentionally contributed to the Overlord's final defeat. They destroyed the Golden Weapons because they thought they were about to lose anyway, and Lloyd failed to complete what his arc throughout the season was building up to. It's pure luck that the GWs and the ninjas' powers could transform into a dragon to save Lloyd and destroy the Overlord, and wasn't foreshadowed as a possibility until it happened.

Nya returns through her own willpower, which is great, because even though it undoes her sacrifice in Seabound, she had agency in it instead of the guys making the choice for her! And then she's sidelined for the rest of the season, her powers return, and any consequences from her departure are undone. She doesn't even get to participate in the final battle on the same level as the other ninja. I never wanted or expected her to be gone, but in hindsight, what was the point of her sacrifice or return if she wouldn't have a role in the ending?

Ultimately, the six ninja and Master Wu are staples of the evergreen LEGO Ninjago franchise and removing any of them permanently isn't an option, no matter how many times it's teased. They must've had no idea Crystalized would be the final season when they wrote her sacrifice, so they had to get her return out of the way as quickly as possible to get everything back to normal before the actual arc of the season began. Which just contributes to so much of the season feeling like wasted time, because the prison arc happens as a result of that..

Instead of stories that serve as the characters' and the original Ninjago's swan song, they just did whatever random shenanigans to fill up space, and then ran out of time for the stuff that actually mattered. We know they'll all still be around in Dragons Rising, but with Doc's heavy emphasis on it being a completely new show that you can start without watching Ninjago, I doubt it'll be continuing any plot thread from it, at least not for a while. It isn't like SotFS was, where it's just the old show continuing with a new name and still heavily dependent on the past decade of lore. This is a new show with a new world and new main characters, even if the old ninja are still there to some degree. It's Ninjago: Dragons Rising Season 1, not Ninjago Season 16/17: Dragons Rising

[markantonys]

I haven’t read the books but I do know what they have done with Moiraine and Siuan’s relationship is way more than it was in the books. On the one hand they developed it fully, have given them a very clear and deep 20 year relationship. And on the other hand, they also destroyed it fully by the end of season 2. Where do you think they are taking this? Will they stick to the books and give them their other relationships or will they weave them back together. It’s anyone’s guess but am interested to hear what yours is. I like the theory that their fallout was preplanned and part of the reason the episode was called daes daemar. But me liking something does not equal logic and fact to be sure

imo there's 0 chance that either of them will have their book relationships, that's just not happening and i find it a little silly when people (not you! but i've seen others doing it) immediately panic and think the show broke them up for that purpose haha of course i can understand why people are worried and upset! but it feels so SO unlikely that either character would ever have a romance with anyone but each other in the show, so that is one worry i think it's pretty safe to set aside altogether. (for time constraint reasons if nothing else; giving moiraine and/or siuan a brand-new love interest and having to develop that relationship would be far from the best use of the show's limited time. plus, i remember rafe outright called moiraine a lesbian in an interview once, so i highly doubt he's got plans for her, at least, to have a male love interest at any point.)

this got a little long so putting a read more!

personally i don't buy the preplanned fallout theory because i think the waygate scene doesn't work with it. if their goal was to make rand trust moiraine, then they accomplished that with their scene in the throne room; there was no need for siuan to chase them down to the waygate, she could've just let them leave if she was in on moiraine's plan here. the only time this theory felt plausible to me is when someone suggested they were in on it together UP UNTIL siuan saw moiraine channeling after moiraine had told her she was stilled, and so everything before that point was an act but everything after was genuine. but even then, it's tricky to explain why siuan would have even chased them to the waygate in the first place - unless she just wanted to make sure they got away successfully and/or wanted leane & co to think she made an effort to stop them, but then catching moiraine in an apparent lie made her change her mind and actually try to stop them? but yeah, imo there's no way the waygate scene was not genuine, but it's possible (but still unlikely; again imo) that the scenes before it were part of a scheme.

and to me, that's okay! to me, as a queer person myself (but ofc i'm just speaking for myself, not for All Queer People), giving queer characters and queer relationships the same narrative weight as het ones also means letting them be flawed and have conflict, rather than keeping them up on a pedestal of perfection and ultimately relegating them to the background of the story because you won't let them face obstacles or develop. i understand why others don't feel that way and were upset by the way things went down in 2x07, but that's just my personal feeling and that's why i personally wasn't bothered to see siuan and moiraine have major conflict here (especially since, unlike the Queer Traumaporn in so much media, this conflict had nothing to do with them being queer - it just felt like a natural conflict that arose from the two characters' specific personalities and life circumstances, as opposed to feeling like they were being punished by their world or by the narrative for being queer, you know?)

duty is a huge theme of WOT and here we saw how moiraine and siuan are both so committed to duty above absolutely everything else. they are both willing to sacrifice anything for what they each see as the greater good, and here, when they realize they have different ideas* about what best serves the greater good, they sacrifice even their relationship with each other because they feel they have no other choice, because they've spent 20 years training themselves to think that the greater good is more important than their personal happiness. to me it's so beautifully tragic! and to me it felt like the best kind of tragedy, one that's rooted in the specific characterization of the individuals involved and on all the previous choices they've made that built up to make the moment of tragedy an inevitable outcome.

*and both are reasonable and in-character ideas that were set up last season. we saw how in their discussion of "can the prophecies be trusted?" in 1x06 that moiraine is skeptical of tower tradition/protocol because she's been out in the world and largely cut off from the tower for 20 years, whereas siuan tends to trust tower tradition/protocol because she's been in the tower leading it for 20 years. and now in s2, from moiraine's perspective they need to break with tower protocol because the tower is too fractured and they have too many enemies within it, but from siuan's perspective they need to return to tower protocol because they tried going rogue and doing so freed the forsaken and was a huge mistake.

all this being said, i do not by any means think the relationship is 100% dead and over for good. like you say, the show put in work to make their relationship much deeper than it was in the books, and i don't think that was for nothing! i think that siuan in particular has been set up for a really meaty character development arc and that this is only the very beginning for her, and that by the end of the show we'll see the two of them reconcile and come back together. maybe i'm totally wrong and maybe it'll turn out that i shouldn't have given the benefit of the doubt, but as of now i don't feel there's reason to worry the show has completely trashed their relationship for good. but season 3 will be a make-or-break season, so by the end of that, depending on how certain book events play out, we should have a much clearer idea of their long-term plans for siuan and siuaraine!

[comradekatara]

disgustingly fandom-brained ask: in the fionna and cake au, who is betty- yue or suki? yue is very self-sacrificing, and her ultimate sacrifice grants her more autonomy through becoming a deity. suki however is a redhead, is a sort of badass historian/antiquarian like betty, and shares many of betty's non self-destructive traits. suki's exposure to jazz music makes her moves less predictable, i.e. betty. sokka is simon, toph is fionna, momo is gunter

JFC 😭😭😭 there’s so much happening here

okay first of all i think zuko is guntzie (although i am specifically referring to original gunter aka the little dino boy. master evergreen is like if ozai wanted to destroy the comet instead of harness its power for further destruction, i guess? but yeah orgalorg!gunter would be momo u right)

toph IS fionna though i hate to say it bc toph gets away with her wanton destruction bc she’s twelve so it’s charming (i love fionna but she’s terrible, muriel). but yeah they both move through the world feeling depressed and stifled until they are granted access to the “real” world and in the process realize that their insular existence is a lie, but because they have all this pent up energy and rage aren’t fully cognizant of the consequences of their callous violence (at first). and the progression between fionna&simon and toph&sokka is also paralleled as it goes from "who the hell is this loser nerd" to mutual recognition and understanding and beautiful best friendship.

sokka as simon is such a crazy connection to make bc i never would’ve thought of that but it’s literally so true. sad depressed lonely clown times. (is it just you and me in the wreckage of the world…) i’ve said before that i think sokka would also struggle with existing after the end of the war because he’s spent so long living for other people that he doesn’t actually know how to live for himself, as a person and not as a sacrifice. like if he felt like his services weren’t needed yeah he’d probably try to kill himself too. but if simon of all people can somehow learn to value himself and believe that he is worthy of existence then okay maybe sokka can too (i doubt it, but maybe that’s because simon’s acceptance felt too easy to me, so i see sokka reaching that revelation even less). neither of them is able to register the impact they have on other people because their self-esteem is too low to actually process that they mean something outside of what they can do. and no one suspects that they’re not fine because of course they’re fine they’re great in fact. (also what gene yang did to sokka in the comics IS as egregious as simon becoming ice king. to me.) yeah… im gonna be thinking about this so much now. thanks a lot

as for betty, you’re right that both suki and yue have obsessive, self-sacrificing tendencies because they are both mirrors of sokka and thus have a lot in common with him and each other (it’s about duty it’s about sacrifice it’s about eschewing selfhood and committing to a life of servitude for the good of the community) so they both have equal claim to being betty but i would say that yue is more bettycore because she literally does sacrifice herself to become a cosmic entity, and although she doesn’t do it for sokka specifically (and in fact does everything in her power to avoid sokka, which is the opposite of what betty does, although ahh does that make ice king hahn? much to think about), she does kiss sokka during her transformation. but then again suki literally chooses to stay behind in prison for sokka even though she’d already been there for months by that point. they’re both obsessed with sokka but their duties are not “saving sokka” specifically so it’s not the same as betty who throws away her whole life for simon. but yeah i think it’s yue. i mean she’s literally a princess. and she haunts sokka. and he feels responsible for her “death.” she’s both alive and not. but either way it’s crazy. you’re insane for this.

[thatcryptidinthewoods]

Commander Kido is a Dad, actually.

Tumblr has once again tried to limit me with a 30-image cap and once again, I cannot be stopped. Full version can be found here.

Okay, so hear me out.

When Kido's first introduced, it's as this cold, distant leader who hates Neighbours and is running a strictly military operation.

But for someone who really hates Neighbours, he has a weird habit of taking in all these orphaned, homeless Neighbour kids. At first it appears like Yūma is the only exception, but then there's Hyuse, Yōtarō, his sister Ruka and Cronin.

There's other agents to think about too. There's a lot of characters in Border who, when you really think about it, would not normally be accepted into that kind of organisation. For example: • Taichi; he's incredibly clumsy, which causes him to break or knock over all sorts of things - people included. • Tsuji; he can't interact with women without having a mental breakdown, which is incredibly limiting on his ability to work with other agents. • Nasu; outside of the trion body, she's disabled and it's mentioned that her health is ailing. • Chika; despite her insane trion levels, she's incredibly inexperienced - having so much power yet not knowing how to wield it can be incredibly dangerous and destructive, it's a very high risk. • Osamu; the exact opposite of Chika, his trion levels are so low he's outclassed by pretty much every other agent in Border. • Kageura; he's incredibly easy to agitate and quick to respond with physical aggression. • Hatohara; she cannot shoot people, no matter how hard she tries, and if Border was any other organisation they wouldn't have spared her a single thought.

All of these are characters who would normally be considered "problems" or "not worth it". But in Border, they're not only openly accepted, but given the environment and tools they need in order to properly grow and develop their talents.

If Kido only cared about killing the Neighbours, Border wouldn't be like this. It wouldn't be filled to the brim with a bunch of teenagers who, in one way or another, would be considered the "outcasts".

Kido is cold and distant because he's the commander, the very top of Border, and his job is to put Border first. He's the one who has to make the ultimate decision to sacrifice the one for the many, so he needs that emotional detachment. But that doesn't mean he doesn't care, or that he isn't invested in this hoard of teens he's in charge of.

This is a core part of his character, and we see it in the way he interacts with the main cast.

When Osamu is first brought before the Border Executives, he's in trouble for going against Border's rules on C-Rank trigger usage. But the reason he broke those rules was because people were in danger, and the nearest qualified Border patrol was miles away. He acted to protect people.

While the other directors discuss and argue these points, Kido sits silently and listens. He doesn't say anything until every side has spoken their piece and all variables are on the table. He lets Kinuta and Netsuki point out all the issues and flaws and he lets Shinoda defend Osamu's decision. He waits.

And then, when he does speak, he starts by acknowledging Shinoda's point about the benefits of Osamu's willingness to act. He acknowledges that yes, that is absolutely a good trait to have, especially in terms of being an agent of Border.

But Border comes first, and part of that is maintaining unity. He can't support an agent going rogue because, while it might be for the right reasons, it could cause serious complications in the future.

Yet even so, he gives Osamu one last chance to fall back in line. He gives him an easy opening for staying in Border.

Osamu could've said that no, he wouldn't do it again, and he might've been let off the hook. But he doesn't, because he's honest, and Kido sees that.

Then Jin interferes, and he provides a reason for Osamu to stay that directly benefits Border.

How does Kido respond?

He agrees without hesitation. This way, Border is benefited and Osamu can still remain an agent. He doesn't need to choose between the one or the many anymore.

Then he learns that Osamu has contacted a Neighbour. Does he revoke Osamu's status as an agent? No. He doesn't even mention it, even though he literally just witnessed Osamu lie to a senior agent about his involvement with Neighbours.

What does he actually care about?

That there's an enemy running rogue in Mikado City. That the city and its civilians could be in danger.

Which leads us to how he reacts to Yūma.

Yūma is a Neighbour. That's all Kido knows about him at this point. Yūma is a Neighbour, the Neighbours hurt people and Border's job is to stop them. So Kido must ensure that this Neighbour doesn't hurt anyone either.

The very next thing he learns about the rogue Neighbour is that he has a black trigger. That whoever he is, he is twice as dangerous as a Neighbour is normally.

(Osamu, again, gets in trouble for withholding this information. And Kido, again, waits for everyone to say their piece about it before commenting - even though it would make more sense for him to punish Osamu on the spot.)

Jin suggests they make the Neighbour with the black trigger their ally.

There is merit to this, and Kido knows that - but he hasn't met Yūma like Osamu and Jin have, knows next to nothing about him except that he's one of their enemy and in possession of an incredibly dangerous weapon. So he chooses the good of the many.

Side note: at no point does Kido claim, or even imply, that Jin was wrong to believe they could make an alliance with the Neighbour. Kido recognises that Jin's suggestion is valid, it's just that his and Jin's priorities are different, so their decisions will ultimately be different as well.

Yet he still assigns Jin to catch the Neighbour, because Jin has Fujin - despite knowing full well that Jin is taking the opposite stance to him.

Kido isn't a fool. He is a very smart, perceptive man. He knows Jin's go-to tactic is abusing loopholes, the guy's whole shtick is literally bullshitting the rules. Which is why he's the least surprised when Jin pulls an Uno Reverse and claims he can't take the orders due to Border's chain of command.

Kido respects that Jin does not want to kill the Neighbour, and so he provides an opening for Jin to turn down the order without being disrespectful. In fact, Kido only becomes confused and surprised when Rindō changes the order. At no point does he take fault with any of the agents present.

Back to Yūma.

The third thing Kido learns about the black-trigger-wielding rogue Neighbour is that he is, allegedly, Yugo Kuga's son.

Now, he has more to think about. There's more variables to consider. If it is Yugo's son, then Kido has just initiated a manhunt against the kin of his old friend. But at the same time, it's also possible that the Neighbour is lying.

So things have become more complicated, and you can see it in his expression.

To add to this, Yugo is now apparently dead. So the black-trigger-wielding rogue Neighbour is also, if he is to be believed, an orphan.

In the span of a few minutes, the situation has taken a nosedive into very delicate territory. Kido, as the commander, must make the ultimate choice. And as is his job, he chooses to put Border first.

What follows is a mad scuffle between the different factions of Border as Tamakoma aims protect Yūma while Kido aims to collect his black trigger.

Remember, Kido does not know that the trigger is what's keeping Yūma alive. At this point in the story, this is a fact that only Yūma himself knows until he shares it with Jin and Replica tells Osamu. So Kido's goal is not necessarily to harm him, it's just to retrieve the trigger. Likewise, the order he gives the A-Rank agents is "to secure the black trigger currently at the Tamakoma Branch" and "you must secure this black trigger by any means". He gives no order regarding Yūma specifically.

When this fails, the executives start infighting. The situation is rapidly deteriorating and things are getting out of hand, so Kido must be the commander again and force things back into order. And of course, he must make a choice: if he lets the black trigger go, the situation will calm back down, but then Tamakoma will have two black triggers and Border will be at a political disadvantage.

So he chooses what will result in the best outcome for Border over Tamakoma. He once again chooses to sacrifice the few for the many.

But then Jin swoops in and presents him with an alternative. He offers Fujin in exchange for Yūma's admittance as a Border agent and, after some arguing, reveals that his enlistment will be a direct benefit for Border later down the line. So not only will Border get Fujin, but letting Yūma join now will reward them with a net positive in the future.

And with minimal hesitation, Kido agrees.

After this, the tension dissipates and the dust settles. Things return to normal.

In chapter 41, Kido finally gets to meet Yūma fact to face. For the first time, he gets to see Yugo's son, the kid who caused so much drama and infighting just a few weeks ago. And what does he see?

He sees a well-meaning, genuine kid who doesn't hesitate to help. Which is why he doesn't lie when he promises Replica that Yūma will be protected under Border.

Plus, a minor but important detail here is that Replica only asked for Kido to guarantee Yūma's safety ("I would like the Border Commander to guarantee Yūma's safety in exchange for this information") yet Kido specifies that so long as Yūma is a part of Border, he will guarantee both his safety and his rights. He made the decision on his own to protect Yūma's freedom and independence.

[shesintoomanyfandoms]

It’s the summertime in Westport, Connecticut.

Elsewhere in the world, a war is being fought. The forces of good and evil collide, and unbeknownst to the woman, her son is about to die.

But no one is dying here.

Here, where plates of burnt cookies and peanut butter sandwiches in Tupperware containers and plastic cups with Kool-Aid litter the rooms. Stuffed animals of various horrendous monsters line the walkways.

May Castellan bakes cookies while her son takes his final breath.

She has no idea that he will never return home.

About a day later, in Westport, Connecticut, the air is humid and hot, but May is out and about  anyway. She’s getting ready to bake cookies. Her son’s favorite. His eyes were like his father’s, you know.

But somewhere else in the world, only about two hours away by car, another girl begins to speak. Her name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and she’s been taken over by the Oracle of Delphi. The son of Hades is finally not an outcast. Rachel becomes the first Oracle in a very, very long time.

Two hours away, a middle-aged woman collapses.

And one of two things happens in Westport, Connecticut.

May Castellan might have been baking cookies inside her home. When she collapsed, she might have hit her head against the counter on her way down, knocking her out. The cookies, left unattended, caught on fire. May might have died. The firemen, called when the neighbors noticed black smoke billowing from the residence of May Castellan, might have found her in the same place, still with a measuring spoon in her hand.

May Castellan might have woken up in a lobby in Las Vegas. She might have flexed her fingers a little, shocked and finally free of the Oracle’s curse. She might have numbly given the ferryman some cash out of her wallet. She might have appeared before the judges of the dead. They might have declared that ultimately, she had cared greatly for those around her, and had made a brave sacrifice in trying to host the Oracle. She might have been sent to Elysium.

She might have looked around at the host of other dead people, there in a paradise and very confused. A boy might have caught her eye. Barely an adult, with sandy blond hair and a scar down his face. He had blue eyes. Like his father. May Castellan might have approached carefully. She had seen her son in the face of so many people. Was this an illusion, too? She might have asked him, “Luke? Is that you?”

That might have happened.

But it didn’t.

A middle-aged woman collapses on a sidewalk in the heat of a Connecticut summer. Her neighbors call 911, scared that the crazy lady who lives nearby might have finally kicked the bucket. The ambulance arrives quickly, and the paramedics whisk May away to a nearby hospital. She finally wakes up, and begins to take solid foods again. May feels as if she is in a trance—finally without the Oracle’s curse, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. She has become the insane woman, the woman without a child or a job or friends or even an okay house. How does she go on from here?

Two hours away, a girl with fiery red hair and paint on her clothes and skin talks to a boy with pale skin and a skull ring. “She’s been freed,” the girl tells the boy. “I could sense her leaving.”

Two days later, the girl and the boy show up in May’s hospital room. They aren’t technically allowed to be there, but a little Mist goes a long way.

May looks at them suspiciously. “Who are you two?” she asks. “I don’t have any relatives other than my son, and he’s…” she lets that hang in the air for a second.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Castellan, but it’s true. Your son died a hero,” the boy says softly. The girl shoots him a look, but May needed the truth. She’s been living a lie for too long.

“We came to make sure that you were okay,” Rachel says softly. She makes eye contact with May, and a certain kind of understanding passes between them.

“You will make a wonderful Oracle,” May tells her firmly. “Do not doubt that. I was young and foolish. I made my choices. But you are stronger than I.”

“Thank you,” the girl says softly. 

“Now,” May says, “Can you two tell me more about my son?”