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accirax · 4 months

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Chessgram Theory: Who is Kotoko Breaking?

While the object Kotoko is breaking in Deep Cover’s thumbnail is still certainly up for debate, many people (including myself) are of the belief that she’s snapped a white bishop from the game of chess. Given where Kotoko’s mental state is right now and what’s implied by the lyrics of Deep Cover, I think it’s likely that this MV’s theme will depict all of the prisoners as different chess pieces. Therefore, it’s worth asking: who is that? And, in a larger sense, which prisoners could be represented by which chess pieces?

Kotoko pretty clearly sees her situation as her and Es against the rest of the prison. So, I think that the characters would be divided as Kotoko and Es on one team, and everyone from 01-09 on the other. Kotoko is wearing black and appears to be breaking a white piece, so it’s pretty safe to assume that she and Es would be represented by the black pieces. It’s an interesting choice, given that, even to a non-Western audience, black can be considered a color of evil, and white a color of purity and truth. However, if the Es/Kotoko team is “mystery and anger” and the 01-09 team is “cold demeanors and death,” it fits well enough.

And that’s ignoring the most important part: in chess, the white team always moves first. This would fit with Kotoko’s vigilante worldview that everything she does is just a retaliation against others’ wrongdoing. The other characters attack first by sinning, and Kotoko is only picking them off before they can do any real damage to Team Warden.

Anyways, as for the pieces themselves, different websites seem to have slightly different opinions on what each piece can represent, with some obvious throughlines. I’ll be pulling quotes from these three articles, color coded according to which one is being used, which you can read more of if you wish. I’m also not a chess expert, so if I’m missing anything or got something wrong, I encourage you to add any of your own thoughts!

We’ll start with the Black Team, because there are fewer characters and I think it’s pretty obvious who’s who.

Kotoko Yuzuriha

Kotoko herself will probably be the black Queen. As anyone who’s played chess should know, your Queen is the most powerful piece in your arsenal because it can move on straights or diagonals for any distance.

The queen is our impulse to fight and possibly our id. It can argue based on beliefs. It can let loose and fight like a rook. It has no reason to hold back as a knight does and will often attack to the other side of the board just because it wants to.

This hyper-violent description of the Queen reminds me a lot of Kotoko. She attacks the other prisoners because, according to her beliefs, they’re criminals who deserve to be punished. Not to mention, the “id” is actually the same thing as the “es” in psychology. After we voted her innocent in the first trial, Kotoko became our teammate. She thinks that she’s the same as Es, so seeing herself as the “id” would fit perfectly with that self-assessment. Speaking of Es…

Es (and Jackalope?)

Es is most likely going to be the black King.

The king is not as powerful as the queen, but he is considered the most important piece that needs the most protection.

Even if Kotoko has more power than Es inside the prison, Es is still the one ultimately calling the shots. They’re the important piece who actually casts the votes that Kotoko can use to exact justice. The way that Es falls asleep between trials (or, at least, they did the first time) also reminds me of how the king can only move one space per turn, and often remains in the same square until closer to the end of the game.

The meaning of the Queen in the game of chess is she is plainly the closest support to the King and is often the second biggest (tallest) piece on the board, signifying her power and importance.

Es and Kotoko being the King and Queen together also opens them up to being assessed as a pair. They start the game next to each other, far across the board from the white pieces. If Es is the tallest, most notable piece in the prison, Kotoko isn’t far behind, acting as the King’s loyal fang.

I don’t know if any of the other pieces on the black team would have any sort of particular association. Maybe Jackalope could be the pawn that starts in front of the King (I think that’s the E pawn), so that he could hop out of the way on black’s first move to allow Kotoko to escape on a diagonal?

If I’m right about this theming, I also believe it’s possible that the black team would start only with the King and Queen. This would 1) make Kotoko and Es appear as rootable underdogs by having fewer pieces, 2) show how Kotoko is doing all of the work to defend justice, and 3) give Kotoko a lot of space to move around in from the start.

Now that we’re done with the black team, it’s time for the 01-09 White Team! Given that this side has many more main characters, there are several more possibilities to discuss here. I’ve settled on an answer for each of the prisoners, but there’s certainly room to be flexible with any of them.

Haruka Sakurai

Starting with Haruka… sorry, buddy, but I think you’re a Pawn.

Look, there are only eight pieces (not pawns) for each team on the board. If there are nine prisoners on the white team, at least one of them has to be a Pawn. And, especially through Kotoko’s account of the first Trial, Haruka wasn’t doing a whole lot. He didn’t get voted guilty, so she didn’t attack him, and he didn’t try to save any of the attacked prisoners, either. All he really did was get a new fit and align himself with Mu, someone who barely avoided being voted guilty in the first place.

There is a debate about whether the pawns are the peasants who live outside of the castle walls or are the soldiers protecting the royal court behind them.

Specifically, though, I think that Haruka would be the pawn that stands in front of Mu. Depending on which piece Mu is, it doesn’t have to work like this, but if you say that Pawn Haruka’s placement is basically a “if you want to attack her, you’ll have to get through me first,” that’s quite reminiscent of the threat he presented in his second audio drama.

Haruka also makes sense as a Pawn because he has a lot of potential. For anyone who doesn’t know, in chess, if a Pawn manages to make it to the other side of the board, they can transform into any other piece. Haruka’s quiet demeanor might let him slip under the radar, but if Kotoko takes her eye off of him for too long, he could wind up becoming a threat to the King (Es).

Haruka (VD2): “If you don’t forgive Mu-san, I’m going to kill you.”

In the audio drama, Es counters this plan by pointing out that, as a prisoner, Haruka cannot attack them. However, the sentiment is still there. Even if a Pawn doesn’t really stand a chance of attacking the King when Queen Kotoko is on the loose, there’s always the possibility that he could get too close and throw a wrench into Kotoko’s plans.

Yuno Kashiki

As for Yuno… well, we all know that she’s a Queen in general, but in chess, I don’t think that argument really holds up. Yuno really just isn’t… relevant? enough? to the conflicts of the prison as a whole (at least where Kotoko is involved) to be represented by such an important piece. But, if Yuno isn’t the Queen, what would she be…?

Personally, I think she would be a Rook.

The rook is brute force. It is a disregard to beliefs.

Simply put, Yuno is a Rook because she’s a pretty straightforward person. That’s not to say that she doesn’t lie, of course– her whole t1 attitude seems to have been a bit of an act, and that one section in the middle of Tear Drop makes it pretty obvious that Yuno conceals her true feelings on order to better please her customers sometimes– but that, in the end, Yuno always does what she wants. If she wants to barge forward or cut across the entire board sideways, she’ll do it. She often keeps to herself, just like how enemy pieces wouldn’t want to get directly in front of the Rook for fear of being curb stomped.

Back to her t1 attitude, though…

The rook is the castle, the walls, the protectorate of the city, and in being so, is the only piece not representative of a living thing.

While most sources attribute the Rook’s walls to protecting the other important pieces, Yuno’s walls protect herself. Yuno’s Castle keeps her true self locked behind cold and stony walls, giving her freedom from making any attachments.

Futa Kajiyama

Futa is a Knight because… he’s, uh, literally a knight.

The knight pieces are the protective knights in the castle. The pieces are shaped like a horse because it is symbolic of what knights rode during battle.

It doesn’t always have to be that deep. (/j)

Actually, though, there are other reasons to call Futa the Knight– possibly some of the same reasons why the Milgram creative team decided to make one of his MVs themed after fantasy RPGs in the first place.

The knight represents the pure inner-warrior. If a knight starts out passive, it will always end up aggressive and vice versa. It can't move very far, but it never moves in a straight line, always preferring to be tactical and thoughtful.

Futa definitely seems to cycle between aggressive and passive. He passively lived his life as a regular guy until he unleashed his aggression and became a cyberbully. That aggression fueled him until he learned of his victim’s death, at which point he shut down and seemed to become more passive and introspective again. Arriving in Milgram triggered his aggressive tendencies, but getting voted guilty and losing an eye for it triggered his passive terror. At the time of his second audio drama, it seems like he’s returned to aggressively questioning Es again, and it remains to be seen whether he keeps that attitude into t3 or if something happens that once again makes him lose his footing (or die).

Mu Kusunoki

Much like Yuno, Mu also has an argument for being called the Queen– more so than Yuno, considering her strong Queen Bee coding in It’s Not My Fault and the titles of both of her audio dramas– but also falls short in the “being opposed to Kotoko” department. Although Haruka certainly looks to her for leadership, I can’t imagine Kotoko actually considering Mu a serious enough threat to put Mu on the same level as herself.

So again, like Yuno, I think Mu might be the other Rook. Mu also displayed a very “whatever I say goes” attitude in INMF, so she can share the same rhetoric behind Yuno being represented by that piece. The logic behind the castle aspect is slightly different, though.

Every country or medieval estate would have its royalty who were protected within the walled city or castle.

Mu is a rich, half-European girl whose dad sells real estate. Of course she would be represented by the Castle! Mu’s tactics involve consolidating her power in order to lead from a place above it all, exactly like how a castle looks over the rest of the village. Additionally, I can’t find the source of whoever pointed it out first, but I’ve seen it mentioned that the dress Mu wears in her birthday art is a reference to the one that Belle wears in Disney’s interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. It’s a fairytale with a princess (and perhaps someday, a queen), yes, but it’s specifically one where the heroine is trapped within a castle. Making Mu into a Rook would be a great way to keep up her royal theming, while leaving the Queen for a character a bit more powerful and relevant to Kotoko.

(Going back to Haruka for a moment, this would make him specifically the A or H pawn.)

Shidou Kirisaki

I really thought that Shidou might have more competition for the role of King, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that nobody fit the role quite as well as he did.

Shidou is the perfect balance of a piece who’s very problematic for Kotoko’s win condition, while also not being much of an active threat himself. There are very low odds that Shidou would ever actually try to harm Kotoko directly or get in her way to divert an attack. However, as long as he’s alive, Kotoko can’t win, because Shidou can keep attempting to heal all of the pieces Kotoko tries to eliminate. That’s not something that the King piece can actually do in a chess game, but hopefully you get my point.

Additionally, Triage let us know that Shidou is a family man. While the white Queen will obviously not be representative of Shidou’s deceased wife, and not every other prisoner would enjoy living under his reign (cough cough Amane), the optics of him being the “head of the family” are obviously there. It’s a pretty bad look if the white King starts the game by pleading with the black King to give him the death penalty, but… Well, at least Shidou changed his mind.

Mahiru Shiina

Not to answer the theory’s main question so early into the post, but… I think Mahiru is a white Bishop. Specifically, the one that Kotoko could be snapping in half in the thumbnail.

As far as I can remember, barring Undercover, Milgram’s MVs have only shown us things that have happened in the past. There are some things that could kind of hint at the future (like Shidou’s “So hey, prolong my life / I’m indispensable” in Triage) or depict prisoner’s fears of the future (like Futa potentially being afraid that Es could declare him guilty again at the end of Backdraft). But, I think that every instance of something like that happening could be explained as something that the character did or thought about in the past as well. That might be wrong, as I don’t want to take the time to write out how everything that appears like it could be in the future is actually in the past, but it sounds right to my memory.

My point being, while the snapped bishop could be indicative of Kotoko’s plans to crush someone in the future, if the chess pieces do represent characters, it makes far more sense if her smashing the white bishop is something that already happened in the past. Thus, it would probably be one of the three characters that Kotoko attacked in the past: Futa, Mahiru, or Mikoto.

Of the three options, I think Mahiru fits the role of bishop best.

The bishop is your belief structure. This is why a bishop that starts on white, will always be on white and vice versa for the black bishop.

While not a particularly religious person, Mahiru is someone who lives and dies based on her beliefs about the value of love. No matter what happens to her, she always keeps her same perspective, believing that love is the entirety of who she is and the only thing that’s worth living for. It’s how firmly she clung to those beliefs that sent her to Milgram, and her lack of awareness regarding her actions that got her voted guilty. AKA, Mahiru’s Bishop-like beliefs are exactly what sent her to be crushed in Kotoko’s palm.

To the extent that the blood in the thumbnail is the Bishop’s and not Kotoko’s, Mahiru was also the most grievously injured of the prisoners in between trials. I saw people joking that the thing Kotoko was crushing was “Mahiru’s bones,” and, like… maybe you’re not entirely wrong?

I hope that you continue reading the post to hear my thoughts on the last three prisoners. But, if you are tapping out here… uhhhh, 0610 enjoyers, go crazy with this one.

Kazui Mukuhara

When I started theorizing for this post, I really thought that I was going to make Kazui the Queen to Shidou’s King. The two of them are pretty close, so the idea of Kazui being Shidou’s guardian makes total sense. And, most importantly, Kazui was the one to actually intercept and divert Kotoko’s attack on Futa. He’s been established as the most muscular prisoner in Milgram, on par with someone like Kotoko, which is perfect for him being the Queen!

Wellllll… I changed my mind and decided to make Kazui a Knight anyway.

There are a lot of good arguments for Kazui being a knight too, okay? After Cat, it’s pretty clear that Kazui was once a police officer. Thus, being a member of the castle guard would be a good match for his choice of career. They’re also probably the most traditionally “manly” piece, representative of an armed man on a horse, and Kazui tries very hard to be manly.

Knights can also hop over other pieces, much like how Kazui jumped into the fight between Kotoko and Futa. In fact…

Never underestimate [the Knight] for its limited range. It’s known as the "Queen Killer" for a reason!

Knights are often a good piece to use to attack Queens because of their unique L-shaped movement pattern. Unlike every other piece, they can attack the Queen from a position that can’t be immediately reversed upon them. Thus, Kazui’s ability to beat Kotoko could be an indicator of this “Queen Killer” quality, instead of the innate power of being a Queen himself. (This logic applies to Futa as well: he can attack Kotoko from the unique angle of appealing to Es’ morals and own sense of justice. Kotoko can’t do the same because, unlike Futa, she has yet to outwardly acknowledge that her murder could have been anything less than righteous.)

Also… the Knight is the only piece that doesn’t move in a straight line. Get it? The Knight doesn’t move straight? And that represents Kazui? Because Kazui is–

Amane Momose

Amane is the other Bishop because… religion.

The bishop stands close to the king and queen because it represents the church which many royal courts held near and dear to their hearts.

The Bishop represents the church, an important and very powerful entity throughout history and even today if you think about it.

Again, not everything has to be a reach. (/j)

So… yeah, Amane’s beliefs– specifically religious beliefs, this time– are also a huge part of her life. Even if she’s changed what the cult’s doctrine means to her, she still confesses that she carried out her murders for the sake of what her religion considers right and wrong.

This is also considered the third most powerful piece on the chessboard because back in the day religion could influence many people, even without the help of the royal family.

Not so much for Mahiru, but this sentiment also fits Amane pretty well! Between the threats of potential conversions and potential assassinations, Amane was definitely one of the prisoners to watch heading into t2. From what I’ve heard, the main reason why her vote was so down to the wire was mostly because people were afraid of the power that Amane held.

Interestingly, this would put another prisoner who was voted guilty in contention for the piece that Kotoko is crushing. However, I still think it’s more likely that that piece would be Mahiru, because Kotoko didn’t physically attack Amane. If it were Amane, it would more likely be that her beliefs were crushed as opposed to her bones, but… I don’t really think that really happened, either. Amane would almost certainly be a bishop, though, so there’s certainly a possibility that that broken piece could be her.

Mikoto/John Kayano

With only one prisoner left to go, you may have already come to the conclusion that Mikoto is the white Queen. And… yeah, I can’t really deny that at this point. Like I said, I wanted to make Kazui the Queen, but I couldn’t otherwise figure out what Mikoto would be.

Because, there’s one main thing that makes me think that Mikoto has to be the Queen… John’s lack of restraints.

She is allowed to move in any direction and in as many squares as she wants.

Due to the whole situation with John not technically being a prisoner, when John is the alter in charge, John cannot be restrained, even when voted guilty. That makes him very powerful; no matter what he does, we can’t use a guilty vote to try to stop him, much like many people hoped to do with Haruka when voting him guilty in t2. The Queen can visit any square, no matter whether it’s black or white, upright or reversed, Mikoto or John. Choosing any other piece that was constrained to a much more limited set of movement rules just felt off for him.

Next, while Kazui was able to defeat Kotoko and save Futa, the fight between John and Kotoko was a draw. That means that they are also evenly matched– perfect for both being the same kind of piece. Mikoto isn’t as close to Shidou as Kazui is (anymore, I think?), but they were at least smoking club buddies, so calling Mikoto the Queen to Shidou’s King isn’t the most ridiculous proposition.

Finally, making Mikoto the Queen, a very feminine piece, is super interesting in the context of people discussing how Mikoto is often associated with stereotypically feminine roles and the girl prisoners (oboetemasuka | candckirby | purgemarchlockdown). I don’t have a whole lot else to say on this matter considering these weren’t points of Mikoto’s characterization I originally noticed myself, but I encourage you to read these posts to get a taste of what I’m talking about. I’m sure there were other posts discussing it too, but… it’s so hard to find things on Tumblr ;-;

Conclusion

Finally, we’ve been through every prisoner! Here’s a summary of what I decided on (left or right side doesn’t matter):

The funny thing about this theory is that it could be fully disproven wrong in, like, a week, if either 1) that wasn’t a chess piece at all, or 2) the chess pieces obviously represent something else. For instance, the chess board could fully relate to, you know, Kotoko’s actual murder and not what she got up to in between trials. We are supposed to get more actual evidence regarding that too, aren’t we…?

Still, if it turns out that the chess board does represent Milgram, I will get the full satisfaction of having called it ahead of time, even if my assignments aren’t 100% correct. No matter what, I had fun thinking about it, which is (in my opinion) the highlight of theorizing! If you have anything else to add, I encourage you to communicate your thoughts in comments, tags, or reblogs. If you don’t, then I simply thank you for reading this far!

Deep Cover… soon.

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little-monsters26 · 6 months

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Listen here

I was just thinking of the silly idea that if Romeo and Carlo/P dated, since Romeo is the King of Puppet that would make Carlo/P the Queen. But then I realised that this statement as some truth in it compared to chess : in chess the King is the most important piece in the game and if attacked you lose - it made me think of when we beat Romeo suddenly the other puppets didn't have anyone to guide them and the monster took over (aslo the King don't move often just like Romeo is practically always in the Estella Opera House) , as for the Queen she is the most powerful piece in the game and can go practically however she likes - which made me think of Carlo/P who move around the city and defeat everyone in his way. They are also some other things that make me think of this but if I go on I'm going to rumble and this will take forever to read.

I also like to see the whole story of Lies of P as a giant chessboard with two side opposing each other : one is Simon and the monster, the other is Geppetto and the puppets. With how manipulative they both are I find it interesting.

Might talk more about the other characters as chess piece and their importance in the story so tell me if you would like it.

#Lies of P #Ah and sorry for my English I'm French BTW soooo #Lies of P Carlo #Carlo #Romeo #Lies of P Romeo #Carmeo #Promeo #Geppetto #Fuck this bitch btw #There are way to many ship name for these two I'm not putting all of them #Chess?#I guess #I don't know how to qualify what I just wrote #A theory? A finding ??#Simon Magnus #Also fuck this bitch

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queen0fm0nsterz · 6 months

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Kinda random, but if the characters are supposed to abstract while the series is running, I believe Kinger or will be last, or won't and will try to protect the others.

He is a king after all, the king is the last piece to be captured in chess. I think every character kinda fits a chess piece, but I don't have enough brain power to assign everyone.

I really enjoy this idea in a vacuum, but I think that in the context of the plot as we know it now it might be a bit of a reach. We will have to wait and see. However I am very happy you compared Kinger to the actual king in chess because I think his behaviour somewhat reflects what a king in a game of chess actually does.

((For those who don't know: I'm an aspiring chess nerd, and I have been learning how to play the game to the best of my abilities. Prepare for an infodump.))

A king in chess is the most important piece of the board when it comes to protection: losing your king means checkmate, a.k.a losing the game. At the beginning of the game, the king is surrounded by the rest of the chess pieces which act as his defensors. This reminded me a bit of how Kinger tries to constantly keep himself in a pillow fort in an attempt to self preservate.

When it comes to moves, the king is a bit peculiar. In spite of being so important, the king can only move a single square per turn; however, unlike most other pieces, it can move in all directions. Ironically, it has the same mobility of a pawn, but the ability to go everywhere of the queen.

Kinger himself is a bit of a nutcase. He is wildly unpredicatble (can move on all directions), sprewing out words of genius and genuinely insightful information while also acting completely nonsensical. Two sides of a guy... but the thing here is that he rarely takes action himself. The only instance of him truly deciding to do something besides keeping his fort was when he played rock paper scissors with Gangle. He moves with... caution is not the right words as I doubt he even is able of being cautios, but that's the sentiment; he can only "move" once, so he has to make it count.

An interesting detail about the chess piece is that it usually remains unmoved until the chess game enters its endgame stage. That would be when few pieces are on the board. Looking at the members of the current gang vs the many previous players seen on the crossed out doors, we can infer that at this current moment in time in the timeline the metaphorical endgame is taking place right now. And now, according to Jax, is when Kinger decides to start spewing out information about the digital world which he had never disclosed before. We don't know for certain if it was even a conscious decision, but it's certainly peculiar.

Concluding this with a bit of a sad thought: we all know that between those who have (presumably) Abstracted, there was another chess character by the name of "Queenie".

Due to her name and appearence, many have assumed that she and Kinger were formerly in close ties with one another possibly even prior to them entering the Digital Circus.

I think this headcanon has merit: they share a theme, appearence and the title of royalty, so why not assume a relation between the two? It'd be terribly sweet and tragic considering how she ends up...

However, I must point out something here that I haven't seen anyone bring up: Queenie is the black queen. Kinger is the white king. On the chessboard, they would be enemies, playing on opposite sides. With this in mind, I remember that the creator of the series said that there won't be any canonical ships in the show; with this knowledge, let's take this a step forward... what if the reason there won't be any relationship from an in-universe stand point is because the circus itself does not allow any deep interpersonal relationships?

Even if they were together prior to getting into the circus, Kinger and Queenie can't be together -- and this is reflected on their designs: king and queen on opposing teams.

And the Queen is a very active piece on the chessboard. I have no doubt that Queenie tried to figure out a way to escape and ended up Abstracted because of it. Mh... Since the queen is usually the one who targets the opposing king due to how powerful she is in chess... I wonder if Kinger got attacked by her when she abstracted, leaving him scarred - not so much physically, but definitely mentally.

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #the amazing digital circus theory #tdac theory #tdac meta #kinger #tdac kinger #kinger tdac #queenie #tdac queenie #queenie tdac #the amazing digital circus kinger #kinger the amazing digital circus #{carols be normal about fictional characters challenge: impossible}

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xbomboi · 18 days

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thoughts about Epic Winter, & reconciling its place in Ever After High’s story as a whole

i wanna talk about epic winter because it—arguably more than any other aspect of the franchise—is definitely ever after high’s ‘ugly duckling’ piece of media, so to speak.

now obviously, a lot of it has to do with being the final big installment in eah’s main story, its premise being a side quest that sidelines the main protagonists in favor of new characters who are comparably far less compelling as the show’s actual leads, leaving the audience without any actual closure to the story which they were following.

in isolation, epic winter isn’t that terrible (though i think most would agree its better parts are the ones centered around already-established characters as opposed to the new ones), but in context it leaves a sour taste.

i entirely understand why anyone rewriting the series would either heavily rework it, only keep more important story beats such as daring’s arc & faybelle’s side plot, or completely remove the outing altogether.

in my case, however, deleting epic winter isn’t an option; my intentions are to continue where ever after high left off, and organically finish what they started. that means epic winter stays in tact, sanity be damned.

with that writing handicap, i can’t edit any pre-existing media in the ever after high animated lineup, which has forced me to brainstorm ways to recontextualize the purpose for epic winter’s place in the story and make the time spent on its story retroactively feel, at the very least, a little more worth it.

and the solution i found comes from viewing all that is introduced in the special through chehkov's gun.

(if you're unfamiliar, chehkov's gun is a narrative rule that everything introduced in a story must be done so with a purpose to serve. i.e. if you give a character a gun, they must shoot it.)

what's done is done; if we have to go on this detour following crystal winter and the top of the world, so be it. but let's pocket it like a tool that can be used later.

so here's my idea: bring crystal and the winter kingdom back into the story later down the line when the events of the story have reached a far more grandiose scale.

basically, i think the best way to use crystal would be when the story reaches a point of confronting and opposing the ruling powers in the fairytale world. having become the new snow queen, naturally, she'd be included in a gathering of the rulers of the kingdoms in the fairytale world.

i want there to be a moment in the story where the ruling powers gather together, and we see familiar faces return (including ones that we'd be introduced to after epic winter but prior to this), such as snow white, king charming, the queen of hearts, and of course, crystal.

with her outlook that would most reasonably be more aligned with the students at ever after high, she could end up being one of-if not the sole person-those present to voice opposition to whatever unfavorable verdict the rest of the rulers have made, as it would serve as direct conflict for the protagonists. she'd find herself outnumbered and ultimately her voice holding little to no power to sway the decision (especially being disregarded for her rather young age). afterwards we'd see her reflect on her frustrations with her colleagues and their rule of the system, thinking about it in terms of what kind of ruler she wants to be, before seeing her find determination towards something, though we aren’t yet shown what she actually decides to do.

the next time we'd see her would then come a little later, the conflict reaching the most dire circumstances. all hope is lost for our heroes; raven, apple, and co. would be down on their luck against odds they're unable to overcome. and that's when crystal would show up to offer her support, providing the numbers of her kingdom as allies to help better the odds. (she wouldn't be the only ally to show up, as this would be a 'getting help from all the friends we made along the way' ordeal. she would simply be one of said friends.)

crystal's help would ultimately play a part in winning the conflict. and because the audience would be familiar with crystal and the winter kingdom to a decent extent way prior to that point, the inclusion of it in the present fight at hand wouldn't feel like an ass-pull or a deus ex machina of sorts; it would make sense and feel earned for the most part.

and i think that's honestly the best thing to be made of epic winter's main adventure. we can't change it or fix it as it is, but we can create a payoff for it all later down the line. think of it like begrudgingly doing chores that lack any enjoyment factor, only to find that afterwards, you're glad you did.

so, yeah, that's my idea for how to give epic winter a genuine purpose. but i'm just spitballing.

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bluxb3rry · 10 months

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❝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦!❞↳෴੭˚ ༘♡·˚₊˚ˑ༄ؘ 💜

Hyunjin x male reader! He/him pronouns! English is not my frist language! More angst? idk ── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────

In a world were only Kings and Queens rule, the money its the most important thing. Who has it, wins and who doesn’t, dies.

Thats what his father always told him, when he was just a little boy and inocent, afraid of the oh so called "real world", he was though how to steal and act, how to make People see him with pity only to steal their bread.

-Y/N, never try to take orders from someone else, only from me even if im dead-

His father was the reason he still steals, his father was the reason of why he fought, he stold, he ran and he got hurt in his name.

So, it was only fair to blame him in this situation.

-Y/N L/N, its funny seeing you like this right now, you promised to kill every single one of us by now, remeber?-one of the guards told him, while he was in the floor with blood coming out of his mouth.

-What a piece of shit, i wonder why that prince wants you still alive, you should die by now-

-fuck you-Y/N said

Then everything turned black.

── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────

When he opened his eyes again, he felt tired and pain all over his body, looking at the ceiling and his gold details, with also a big painting of clouds in it. Already knowing where he was he just looked around, trying to find the window thats its hopefully open. He sat slowly in the bed, seeing his naked body with bandages and violet spots, when he touched them he felt more pain.

The door opened

-Y/n!-he heard an angelic voice, then he felt hands in his chest and how he was slowly being lay down to the bed again-you need to rest! stop trying to escape for once

-trying? i always escaped before you watched me again-he said smiling

-yeah well, you look worse now, you took longer to wake up-the male said, his long black hair being tied up while he looked at him.

-Hyunjin, i can't stay-

-but you can! you are safer in here, you have food, a room, warm water-he sighed-why do you always have to go and keep stealing?

Hyunjin turn away, looking for the food he brought in for him, bring in it more closer.

-my dad didn't like this style of living, you know that-he was interrupted by a biscuit in his mouth

-you say that every-fucking-time, im tired of that you know?-he started cutting the food, knowing that Y/n couldn't move his own arms-i...i miss having you here, being with you

-stop-

Hyungjin felt your hands in his own, but didn't try to look

-you know, even if you are the one with power, they would kill you the moment they see you with me, if not for the gender is gonna be for who i am-

-i told you we could escape-

-i don't want you to live like me-

-but you just said!-Hyunjin shouted, but stopped, noticing how close you both were.

-i know...but we just can't, we aren't made for each other-Y/N ate a little bit more, and then stand up.

-you don't even kiss me anymore-Hyunjin looked at him-why? you can't even do that? you can't give me that satisfaction?

-if i do it, im afraid i won't be able to go-

-Then do it-Hyunjin got closer to you-kiss me, stay here, no one has to know, it can be our secret-

-if i stay, i could love you, but you would have to be with some lady to not make it that obvious, to have that heritage your father oh so wants-you looked at him-one way or the other we can't be happy

Silence took place, Hyunjin trying to think in another way while Y/N was suprised he didn't escaped yet.

-Just for this day, please-Hyunjin pleaded, holding your hands

-if i go tomorrow, its gonna be worse for you-

-just...-he sighed-let me have this joy for one day, let me imagine that we live in a world where you didn't have to live like this for some code, a world we are not gonna be hated for our love, a world were i can wake up and have you on my side-

-it's just gonna be a dream, love-

-well, let me dream-he kissed him

and you accept it

── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────

You were both kids when you met eatch other, he escaped from his castle with tears in his eyes and you found him, you hugged him while saying that "pretty people should not cry!" and made him laugh.

You played like kids, he remebers how he got all dirty, his white clothes being a big contrast with the dirt and your own clothes, in his eyes you were a free spirit that liked to do anything, he loved that form you, didn't even care that you were a boy.

After he came back from outside (not before a kiss in the cheeck as a goodbye from you) he told everything to his parents, his dad said he was just a kid and no boys could have such feelings, that he was just confused. When he cried to his mother and while she was hugging him, she told him "love is different for everyone, if you like that boy, then i guess is okay"

He escaped almost all days from the castle to look at you, to find you, it looked like everytime he find you, you changed a little bit more.

So, after some years, when you both stopped being kids and he knew everything you did, he said everything, his feelings, his worries, everything. All under the moon and stars.

You kissed him that day, you hugged him and said the same to him, but also saying the one thing he already knew.

"in a world like this, all we can wish is just gonna be a dream Hyunjin"

"then, let me sleep and dream it"

── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────

Hyunjin woke up the next day, feeling the slight pain in his hips, and he touched his neck that was full of love marks, he smiled and then looked beside him, hoping to see you.

But the bed was to cold.

Your warmt wasn't even there, his smile dissapeard and then he looked the window, seeing it all open. He looked at the room, not seeing anytrace from you.

Then he looked at the little paper that was in the pillow beside him, were your head rested.

"i love you"

He laughed, he laughed and hide his face with his hands, slowly feeling the tears appearing and his laughs turning into sobbs while.

He just woke up from his dream after all.

── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────

#skz hyunjin #skz x male reader #skz #stray kids #stray kids x male reader #hyunjin x male reader #kpop x male reader #kpop #gay #x male reader #male reader

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weebstranglerkiwi · 9 months

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DELTARUNE: The Chess Theory v2.0

A popular theory in DELTARUNE is the "Chess Theory", the concept being that the main Dark World villains chapters 1-6 are based off of chess pieces and how they work, from highest to lowest value:

1. The Chess Theory

Infinite Value - King (Chapter 1) - Sits isolated in his castle and only attacks when provoked, has very slow movement.

9 Pawns Value - Queen (Chapter 2) - Is very mobile and goes wherever she wants. Combines the movement of a rook and a bishop, but can't imitate a Knight piece.

These are the confirmed villains, now we move on to theory territory:

3. 5 Pawns Value - Rook (Chapter 3) - Usually appears halfway through. Needs a pawn to move so it can move.

4. 3.5 Pawns Value - Bishop (Chapter 4) - Very mobile and versatile. Usually gets moved right at the start.

5. 3 Pawns Value - Knight (Chapter 5) - Very mobile and can straight-up ignore and jump over other pieces.

6. 1 Pawns Value - Pawn (Chapter 6) - Follows commands, presumably the Vessel(?)

This is the general outline of the chess theory. From here, I will expand on what it started.

First of all, something that absolutely nobody brings up, and it ticks me a lot, is that in chess, there is 1 King and Queen. But there are 2 Rooks, Bishops and Knights. I believe that Chapters 3-5 (which are releasing alongside each other) will have 2 main villains, 2 Rooks, Bishops and most importantly... Knights.

2. The Rooks

Let's start with Chapter 3. I believe that Tenna will be the main villain alongside either Mike, or someone new. A Rookie is a new recruit, an apprentice if you will. Also, "to rook" means to defraud or swindle someone. Therefore, I believe that Tenna will be a former apprentice of Mike, that has defrauded them and took their place as the star of the TV Dark World, a sort of darker version of "the apprentice bests the master". Alongside Tenna, I believe there will be another main villain, another one of Mike's Rookies, possibly a sort of "movie director/writer" character, working behind the scenes while Tenna is the public star. Mike will most probably be hiding somewhere, I believe he will be an ally to the Delta Warriors, and will help to defeat the two Rooks that defrauded him.

3. The Bishops

Continuing, Chapter 4 (which I suspect to be located in the Church) will have 2 Bishops. Now, Chapter 4 is the biggest shot in the dark here, the only information we have on it are the Light World and Castle Town sections from the Status Update. However, we KNOW that it won't be a purely Light World Chapter, because in the most recent newsletter, Toby Fox stated that Chapter 4 will be a much more normal experience gameplay-wise than Chapter 3. We have no idea what 2 Bishops could entail, possibly one being a genuine, righteous, religious Bishop that wants to stop us due to their beliefs, while the other is a lying, evil preacher. Who knows?

4. The Knights - Pawn Promotion

The most interesting part of this theory is the idea of two Knights. I will refer to these 2 Knights as the Roaring Knight, and the New Knight. What is another important thing in chess? Pawn Promotion. In the Snowgrave/Weird Route, Spamton is a pawn that gets promoted to become the Queen, taking over her mansion. I believe, that the same thing will happen in Chapter 5, the main villain will be the Roaring Knight, however, at the very end of the chapter, a New Knight will rise up, Kris Dreemurr.

Chapter 5 will conclude with Kris escaping our (the Player's) grasp, no longer being our Pawn, they will become powerful enough to be the Knight. Chapter 5 will end with us being separated from Kris, and Chapter 6 will begin with us reconnecting with the Vessel.

If you want to learn more about HOW Kris will get stronger and become the Knight, go read my Knight Theory, it should be up now!

5. The Pawn, our Vessel

With Kris breaking free, we are able to finally control our Vessel, taken away from us by an unknown interloper. This theory can branch in two ways: 1. The main villain of this chapter will be either another of many Pawns, maybe December Holiday, trapped wherever the Vessel is situated, a Bunker Dark World I presume. 2. Alternatively, WE could be the main villain of Chapter 6, the 6th Chess Piece, I lean into this more.

Both branches entail that Chapter 7 will reconnect or even reconcile us with Kris!

6. Behavior of the Villains

Both King and Queen behave very similar to their respective chess piece's movement. What would the future villains' behavior be?

The Rooks are most probably going to be preceded by a Lightner, a Pawn that is influenced/controlled by them, most probably Toriel. Rooks only start playing a major role halfway through the chess match, but are the most important pieces when it comes to the end of the match, the Checkmate. They will pack a punch I bet.

The Bishops will appear as soon as the Dark World adventure begins, and will play a vital role throughout the entirety of the Chapter, however they will probably appear less than Queen, and in more serious, noteworthy situations as well.

The Roaring Knight would most probably be very erratic, appearing at unexpected moments, ignoring what blocks their path through force of will. I believe that the Delta Warriors will confront the Knight by cornering them, much like a Knight in chess must be cornered to stop jumping around.

The Pawn will mindlessly follow orders.

5. End

This is it! Sorry if I messed something up, this is my first post on Tumblr! I'm not sure how things work around here, but if you have anything to add to the table or your own interpretation to discuss, feel free to leave a note! Alright that's it. You can scram now.

#deltarune #deltarune theory #theory #chess theory #tenna #deltarune chapter 3-5 #mike deltarune #knight deltarune #kris dreemurr #kris deltarune

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deathbirby · 4 months

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Decided the Church was the biggest threat??

You do realise she destroys TWSITD too right? But TWSITD is an organisation that isn't made of giant superpowered dragons, they just have the tools to kill a giant superpowered dragon if necessary.

She captures Rhea in most routes specifically so that she can get her help in fighting TWSITD after the war.

She also takes criticism several times. From Manuela, Lindhardt and Ferdinand and constantly changes her opinions.

She doesn't even say the Church is the biggest problem, she says Crests and Nobility are, because, if you fucking recall, the only reason TWSITD were able to kill her siblings at all was because of the nobility system and Duke Aegir!

Holy shit it's almost like she identified the root cause instead of the thing instantly in front of her, which she still ALSO DEALT WITH.

She needed Those Who Slither to capture Rhea, who she keeps free from their grasp. She is using them as best she can to defeat an eternal monarch of all of Fodlan for a millenium, before dealing with the less powerful force. She doesn't call Those Who Slither less important, but you don't win chess by killing the Queen do you? Doesn't mean she isn't the most powerful piece on the board, sometimes it's necessary to do one before the other.

Who would have thought in a tactics game a character would take the time to identify the severity of their threats.

Also Fodlan's history is legitimately twisted BY RHEA. Who's history is she going to listen to? Even Claude gets angry.

The character who most refuses to listen to anyone else's perspective, that would be a very special king man who can't see the forest for the trees. Crests are important because other places have advanced military forces, but y'know, we can't do that so forced caste system and breeding stock of women it is! The rich and poor just need to understand each other and the poor need to understand why I live in a castle and only marry women with crests.

Not only that. There's so much irony in the way that every single route ends with a unified Fodlan, without Rhea as the head of the religious state, who have all undergone reforms that serve to the betterment of the people.

Edelgard legitimately correctly identified the problem areas of Fodlan, that's why all the routes share the same outcomes.

Unification. No Rhea. No TWSITD. Political reform.

Wow!

You argue that she was wrong when she was entirely correct.

Fodlan's past doesn't even matter. It matters to Rhea and TWSITD.

What matters is nobility and crests feed into each other and Rhea is purposefully destroying technology to keep Fodlan in a state of perpetual readiness to accept the return of the goddess who she expects to *drumroll* unite Fodlan! Edelgard blames the Church for a few things they didn't do, but it scarcely matters because the Church is doing wrong things and so is TWSITD and she's getting rid of both.

She doesn't even remove the faith and keeps it running during her occupation of Garreg Mach. What more could she possibly do?

She's not interested in world domination, she never forces Brigid to fight.

She just knows that she can't reform Adrestia without the standing army that is the Knights of Seiros banging down her Empire. Or did you miss the bit where Rhea calls for the summery execution of the head of a sovereign nation without a trial or discussion. And then refuses Byleth when she tries to stop Edelgard from being executed without any form of discussion.

Look, I know people are going to be more harsh on Edelgard and more forgiving to the others because of, reasons? I guess it's kind of evil of her to support disability care where she enables others to work in environments that allow them to reach their maximum potential. Instead of, idk, believing that you're either born strong or weak and the job of the strong is to accept the weak and never try and understand how circumstances may very well be the thing that makes someone "weak."

But what do I know, it's not like there's a character with crippling anxiety that only comes out of her room in a singular route due to the support of someone who helps the "weak" find their strengths. Unlike someone in another route who baulks a being called a shut-in like that very same character. What a guy!

In the end, the history doesn't matter.

Fodlan is a misogynistic, homophobic, feudalist society, ruled by an eternal theocracy, and nobility who would rather assassinate their leaders than attempt reform.

It does not facilitate the common people, who are likely illiterate due to the suppression of the printing press by SOMEONE, and is stifling its own potential for the sake of mindless xenophobia. Which is what the officer's academy is for, by the way, to fight invaders like Dagda and Almyra, two places Rhea has coincidentally collected two people from! Don't forget how Catherine said she would have struck someone who wasn't Shamir down! Rhea did that. Super chill and peaceful. And that's not even mentioning the cover up that was Christophe... Or the treatment of the Western Church, who *checks notes* ah, yes, they eradicated over their errant beliefs over the saints and Rhea's position as archbishop. Yes. She handles dissent from sovereign people well.

The Church seems good because they can afford to appear good because Fodlan has no choice! The nobility are church backed and the church is nobility backed and the Holy Kingdom has no choice because it also church backed!

So yeah, she might have been able to swing an internal reform of her country, all while TWSITD enact their plans in the Kingdom, or she wages a shadow war against them. But, that's probably going to get her the ire of the church if her people start reading and realise their gods are all fake because Sothis is literally dead.

But that's not going to help the poor crested woman in the Kingdom who is needs to have her 10th child so this one, hopefully, maybe might be crested. Which is what Mercedes, Ingrid, Marianne, Dorothea and Bernadetta all have in store for themselves! Oh, and probably Annette and Hilda too but it's less obvious.

Sure would be kind of Edelgard to only help Bernie and Dorothea.

"That example you gave comes from Adrestia!" Yeah, I know. But do you think in the world Sylvain is so afraid of that HASN'T happened? It's unfortunate that the land of Man's Strength didn't have more female students... Unless... You don't think that's indicative of what life is like there do you? Some kind of land where the future king might forget to include one of his close female friends in his list of friends!? The very same one who lost the man she was betrothed to since birth? Surely that places values its women and wouldn't fatten their only daughter up to be breeding stock despite her personal ambitions, all because the loss of crests would destabilize their nation as a whole because the nobility would lose their power and so would the church that legitimises them as an actual nation??

Things are great there. There is no war in Ba Sing Se.

Who fucking cares why Nemesis and Seiros fought. Seiros dragged the entire continent into a war out of vengeance. That's what happened. She then neglected to look into Those Who Slither in the Dark not for one year, not for two, not for five, but for one THOUSAND years.

They're ONLY exposed because of Hubert and Edelgard. Don't fucking forget that. It was their actions that got Those Who Slither killed.

But na, Rhea is gud.

Or at least it's far more comfortable to just believe that both the women are bad and the Boi has all the answers.

"He's setting up the groundwork for a democracy" I hear people bullshit.

You know that's a bad thing right? He's not setting up any fucking schools. Duscur was a genocide. Fodlan is xenophobic. Literally any votes that happen are going to go the exact same way the Voice to Parliament did in Australia and I don't say that as a joke, it's disgusting what happened. Democracy is fucking shit for groups of people who cannot use socially equitable (publically available and suited to the individual circumstances of the user) services to attain political power to force progress.

Dimitri's entire idea isn't to raise these people up, it's to hear what they say and decide PERSONALLY if that's a good idea.

Which is going to go oh so well the first time that comes into conflict with the legitimacy of the church or crests.

Meanwhile Edelgard establishes a system that actively contests her individual judgement through the use of expert testimony filling in for various public and political sectors that are open to literally anyone who proves they are the best in their field, with an intentional retirement plan that breaks the line of succession opening the door for any commoner to rise to the position of emperor.

But yeah, I guess the person who destroys all the major corrupt institutions of Fodlan, believes in rehabilitation instead of retributive justice (she does not kill Aegir or any of the nobles responsible for her imprisonment. She even offers Rhea a chance to surrender and instead serve public reform, something she also offers Jeritza,) creates public schooling, changes her mind on the purpose of religious thinking, grants sovereignty to her vassal state, creates a workspace specifically designed to enable the disabilities of several workers while also aiding them in reaching their personal potential (even while those people could very well turn on her later), and rules the most sexually liberated nation in all of Fodlan, both with regard to gender expression and sexual preference (see Lindhardt, Caspar's less-toxic masculinity, and like, all of the gayness of all the Eagles) which she personally fall under. Yeah. That woman is the stuck up bad guy because she thinks that Nemesis and Seiros fought for the right of humanity to rule itself vs immortals. Instead of. That, ah. Other reason. That they fought.

Yeah Seiros fought Nemesis out of revenge, but did you ever stop to think that maybe Nemesis might not have wanted a dragon pope either? That he may have actually have been a good leader in the north?

Seiros is justified in wanting revenge for her family, but she didn't do Fodlan any favours. She didn't help them. Dagda is doing just fine without the Goddess. Crests may have been genetically wiped out over time if Rhea didn't put so much importance on them to the point they literally change inheritance.

I get it, Slithers bad. They killed Edelgard's family. They hurt her. But it sure must suck to not be able to see the path beyond that and how that was even made possible. Edelgard can see it. She even explains it. Everyone agrees because no one keeps Rhea in charge, including Rhea. And they all kill the Slithers. Except Dimitri who did it on accident and got very lucky it wasn't a Hydra situation... We hope.

Sure is fucked up that Three House's main character dies of screen half the time. Weird.

I also feel like I didn't mention Claude enough. Y'know, the guy who looks into Fodlan's history like crazy. Super fucking crazy and answers all of, zero questions until he asks Rhea who tells him because literally only she has that information and STILL she doesn't know shit about the Slithers.

Yeah, what was Edelgard supposed to do again?

Claude got really lucky. His reformed Fodlan would have been super bad of he didn't know the specifics of *checks notes* Rhea is a dragon and the Slithers did bad things to Fodlan.

Wait. That's the same shit Edelgard knows!

Oh, but it's different because, ah, Seteth and Flayn are still alive, no, wait, that happens in Crimson Flower too.

Seteth is allowed to be in government? The same guy who slaughtered the western church for headcanoning Cichol wrong? Wonderful.

Except, Edelgard doesn't really actually say that Seteth and Flayn can't hold government. She says they can't "rule over humanity" which is contextually different. She doesn't want them to do what Rhea did, but public office is different...

Aww beans. Looks like all she did was start a war under the entirely true pretext that Rhea was abusing her power in the here and now, and so she could break the shackles that her oppressors had over her by turning the tides on them through Byleth or a captured Rhea.

So evil. I hate it when someone comes along to criticise the religiously and politically sanctioned sexual slavery of women and then asks why the King of said kingdom isn't just surrendering to her terms despite the fact that he doesn't have any political motivation outside of:

1. Revenge

2. Occupation is bad? I think? (Wait doesn't the church occupy us-)

when surrending to those terms would actually remove them from under the church's legitimization and provide them with the means to undo the harmful social practices such as sexism and xenophobia instilled within them from the church that lead to his personal trauma in the first place.

But y'know, the name would change. He'd still be in power because Edelgard does maintain the regional leaders for a time while she puts her reforms in place, but the name would change and that's icky. Better die on this hill for some reason so the sacrifice of everyone who died in this war can be even more for nothing as we half ass the same fucking reforms off the back of Rhea's dethroning and the death of the Slithers. Oh shit, that wasn't Dimitri was it. That's Sylvain who does that. The most Eagle Lion to ever be a bisexual man repressed by the sexist and homophobic society he lives in.

Fuck off Edelgard is wrong. The history is vague because Rhea literally hid it and even then it's not actually the truth because we literally still don't know if Sothis was benevolent or not. Rhea is also trying to install a method of governance (Sothis) that already fucking failed. Most good rulers and gods don't let their nations nuke themselves to death but maybe Shamir can tell us of the time Dagda did that to themselves. And the history also doesn't matter. Who cares why Nemesis did what he did. It was bad, it's Rhea's origin story for why she doesn't let humanity advance itself. The cause is irrelevant because it literally can't happen again! Not to mention that, if the Nabateans were as bad as the Slithers, we do genocide the Slithers, but that's okay, because they're bad.

What a useless criticism to level at her. That's like saying it's unjust for me to hate the church for homophobia because I don't understand the persecution of catholics under Nero.

Bitch, who gives a shit they're doing bad fucking stuff now! Yes, I think it's also valid to overturn the government of a nation that wants me dead on sight for being gay, they're violating human rights and citing sovereignty as their excuse, fuck that, people over countries.

War is bad, yes, but y'know what's also bad? Political reforms that fail because the population is uneducated, xenophobic, and democracy is a system of privilege and popularity that gives voices to those who don't know what they're fucking talking about. Just look up Voice to Parliament in Australia, it's just racism that got it knocked back. Democracy gave a voice to racism.

Bring on the Edelgards of the world. I'm disabled as fuck and I want her meritocracy more than anything. Definitely much more than I want dumbfucks "we hear you" new world with upward mobility determined by how able bodied and willing to participate in bioessentialism I am. I think there's a word for it. Ah. Eugenics. Crests are a form of eugenics. Rhea and Dimitri both endorsed eugenics. (remember! He only pairs with crested women! And his right to rule is literally based on his possession of a crest.) Good shit.

Adrestia: Commoners can become the Emperor.

Faerghus: You can become queen if you're afab, heterosexual and have a crest. (You also need to be able to produce viable children who are also crested. It's a good thing nothing bad has ever happened to queens who failed to produce legitimate heirs to a king, that would be a worrying precedent! Henry the who-th?)

"Everyone can participate in politics!" With what fucking education? No one goes to school but the rich! It's the same shit we have irl, it's the same thing they ALREADY HAD.

Just say you're a sexist and move on.

Edelgard bad because no pebis :C

P.S. Claude is just a less effective Edelgard who prolonged the war due to his vanity. His refusal to choose a side so that he could be the ultimate victor stalled the war for several additional years racking up additional loss of life which he could have prevented by deciding that he didn't need to be the sole author of this victory and reform. Either side could have won sooner if not for his impotence. And the Roundtable is still full of crested nobles with no schooling and religious doctrine so it's still a fucking L. Die poor Leonie of the world and anyone who wants higher education. Get born rich next time?

P.P.S. You gotta feel somewhat bad for Dimitri, he can basically marry Dedue or Felix, but he can't actually marry them because he reinforced heteronormative practices that require him to take a wife instead of actually getting to be with his husband. Sure "everyone" can participate in politics, except for the bisexual king who isn't actually allowed to be himself because of all the bigotry he reinstalled in his country. Meanwhile Edelgard and F Byleth are referred to as spouses in the Japanese, exchanged rings, and the English made it homophobic so certain characters wouldn't seem to bad to the sensibilities of particular white men. How. Interesting.

LMAOOO WHY IS THIS OVER 3000 WORDS LONG??

Nahh you gotta out and touch grass my dude, there is no character worth writing a whole college thesis about.

#edelgard discourse #grey borb #bro you cant call me sexist and expect me to take you seriously #put this energy to better use than your fictional waifu #seriously go outside #this is just sad

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cloudofash · 2 months

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Kingdom Hearts is Like a Chess Game...And It Explains the Characters' Story Arcs

If you've played the series up until KH3 you should know that the story of Kingdom Hearts and the characters within our current tale are likened to pieces on a chess board an ample amount of times, especially where Eraqus and Xehanort's chess-like game are a literal re-enactment of the events of the KH3 Keyblade Graveyard war between Light and Darkness.

Despite Kingdom Hearts' chess-like game being well...chess-like and and not an exact 1:1 of chess, we know at the very least that there is a "King" piece within the Kingdom Hearts' chess game. With the introduction of Verum Rex (Verum meaning true Rex meaning King) in KH3 as well as one of the secret endings with Yozora in Re:Mind being titled "Falsus Rex" (False King) entertains the idea that our KH chess game maintains the same (or similar) chess pieces that regular chess has. That is, a King piece, Queen piece, 2 Rooks, 2 Knights, 2 Bishops and 8 Pawns.

This being said, I want to explore which Kingdom Hearts character is which chess piece.

We know there is a Verum Rex/True King and a Falsus Rex/False King. Yozora is the True King of his Quadratum Universe. The Kingdom Hearts universe is the unreality-reality mirror to Quadratum, meaning that there must be a True King in the Kingdom Hearts universe as well. The true "King" of the KH Realm is most likely Riku, the Keyblade's original and true chosen and he looks nearly identical to Yozora as opposite Kings on a chessboard would. The False King, in this particular case, would be Sora since he wasn't the Keyblade's true chosen and only obtained the power because Riku fell to darkness and his heart's light passed the Keyblade to Sora making him the replacement/fake. However, I don't believe being a False King is Sora's true role in the Kingdom Hearts game of chess. I believe that if Riku's heart never fell to darkness, Sora would be a completely different chess piece that I will get to later.

The other pieces contain a Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights and 8 Pawns, giving us a 15 pieces (16 total if you include the King). Now in the Kingdom Hearts game of chess there are only 7 (original) Light Guardians, however in the final battle there are actually 10 Total Guardians: King Mickey, Sora, Aqua, Ventus, Axel, Kairi, (and Riku) are the original 7 and then Terra, Roxas and Xion join the fight after being saved. 12 if we count Donald and Goofy and 13 if we count Riku Replica, but it doesn't stop there. Namine made an appearance as well and helped shift the tide by finding Terra's Lingering Will and connecting him to the battle, and Master Yen Sid also joined the fight in the graveyard. The final piece and final character to help in the war is the light from the past, Ephemer.

In other words, we actually have all 16 chess pieces present in the Keyblade War (on both sides if we include Demyx, Vexen and the Xehanort Replicas as the final 3 to the 13 Darknesses). If we match the pieces with the characters I believe it goes something like this based not only on their role within the War but also their importance and contribution to the overall story. Please know that some of these positions can be debated:

Terra - Rook. Terra reconnecting with his Will and Body drastically alter the events of the Graveyard. TerraNort single-handedly defeated all of the Guardians and Terra's intervention stopped them from losing and altered the timeline altogether. Plus, Terra was also carrying the Heart of Master Eraqus who ultimately ended the war by stopping Xehanort. Considering Terra's value to the War, I can't view him as any piece less than a Rook.

Ephemer - Rook. Though he plays a minimal role in the entire Keyblade Graveyard war and no role at all in the entire Xehanort Saga, his small appearance is what saves the wielders from total demise yet again to the Giant Demon Tide. Since he saved Light from expiring at the part in time where they were destined to expire he is a crucial chess piece. And for those who know chess, the Rook piece is required for a "castling" a move that saves the King (or again, the False King) which is exactly, to me, what Ephemer did.

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Namine - Bishop. Her action of calling Terra changed the tide drastically. However, I will place her position as debateable as there may be others who you could count as a Bishop.

Yen Sid - Bishop. He saves the wielders from the Heartless Army, ultimately saving Light from expiring making him a key player in the War. Without him they most likely would have lost the war or would have been severely weakened and incapable of winning the war.

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Mickey - Knight. I give Mickey Knight status due to his Last Stand where he single-handedly pushed back all of the 13 Xehanort Replicas and saved everyone. It may not be timeline altering but it is still a contribution nonetheless.

Aqua - Knight. Debateable position, however Aqua took the lead at several points in the battle and barked battle instructions, almost acting like a military general. Thus I rank her above some of the others.

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Roxas - Pawn. Originally a pawn to Org 13, although he went through an incredibly journey he ended up locked away back into Sora's heart and wasn't able to participate or contribute to the war or storyline until he received a Replica body and Sora's connection.

Xion - Pawn. She was used as the 13th Darkness until Sora connected with her and helped Axel remember her.

Ventus - Pawn. He contributed to the war as an Original of the 7 Lights, but he did not alter the timeline nor save the Lights from expiring, nor did he take any lead during the war thus can only be considered a Pawn piece. Not to mention, he took an enormous backseat as a character after being asleep for 11 years. As such he hasn't had much time to shine since his Union Cross days. That may change in the next Arc, especially since he has ties to the Lost Masters.

Axel/Lea - Pawn. A literal Pawn to Org 13 for most of his story until the end when he final joins the the Guardians of Light. In fact, Xemnas even makes a chess analogy when calling Axel a "pawn" during his fight against Isa and Xion.

Donald - Pawn (extension of Sora)

Goofy - Pawn (extension of Sora)

Riku Replica - Pawn (extension of Riku)

And I know many will not like this, but I place Kairi as a Pawn. The reason isn't to shoot the character down, but I believe within the story she is literally treated like a Pawn. Her entire story begins with Xehanort treating her like a Pawn to get to the Keyblade Wielder. Narratively she is only used to push the stories further, constantly getting kidnapped or harmed. Some of the other characters are debateable but I stand firmly in that Kairi is a Pawn piece and it explains why she feels lackluster. She is meant to be, it's simply her role in the KH Chess Game. This doesn’t mean she'll stay a Pawn, as the Lost Master's Arc is starting a "new" KH chess game and thus the roles of many of the chess pieces (sans Riku and Sora) will change. I believe she'll be a Bishop in the Lost Master's Arc but as of the Xehanort Saga Kairi is only a Pawn.

But if Kairi is not the Queen piece, as I'm sure many of you initially thought, then who is?

I'm sure you noticed I skipped a character. That's right: Sora. Sora is the Queen piece in this game. A Queen piece acting in the place of the King, a false king. If you know chess you know that the Queen piece can move in any direction she wants as many spaces which is exactly what Sora is and what he can do. Sora is ridiculously OP as a character to the point he is often considered the most powerful and it's the Queen piece that is the most powerful, not the King piece as some unfamiliar with chess may believe. Sora can move any which way he pleases, even traverse time, travels worlds through hearts and hearts through worlds and even moves between Realms to save Riku from Dark Aqua as a Queen piece would rush to the save the King piece. All of which is reminiscent of a Queen moving all around a board in any way.

Riku is the King piece which is why the battle in the Keyblade graveyard wasn't considered over until Riku was defeated or checkmate'd. After Riku was defeated by the Demon Tide Storm, Sora was instantly knocked off the board. Also again, he is a mirror of Yozora much like the White and Black Kings in chess mirror each other. And if we think about the King piece in chess, Riku makes the most sense. The King is the most important piece and often times Riku is the most important to the story (especially Dream Drop Distance and now post Re:Mind) hence his character development and getting more development than Sora in many ways. In the Keyblade Graveyard War, he IS the most important as its his sacrifice that changes the timeline altogether and saves Light from Expiring. Without his sacrifice, the 13 Darknesses would have won and Light would have remained expired. It doesn't get any more important than that. In addition, if the Crown Necklace theory is proven true and Sora acquired his crown necklace chain from Riku, that means Riku was the original bearer of the Crown and most likely descends from Ephemer's Royal Line (which is all but confirmed, he literally looks like Ephemer) making him make even more sense as the King Piece.

Sora and Riku are the only two who I believe will keep consistent Chess roles as the King and Queen pieces. That's what their relationship is to one another. The only change I can see is Riku and Sora themselves officially swapping roles, with Sora becoming the True King and Riku relinquishing his role as King to become Queen. Considering the way Riku rushes to save Sora and how he travels to all ends to do so (including traveling to an entirely new universe just to save him once more and traveling between dreams to become a Dream Eater to save Sora), it almost is like he is beginning to move all around the "board" and could very well be showing signs of becoming a Queen piece to protect Sora, who would then become the new King piece.

We will have to wait and see which way this chess game goes in KH4 and beyond to confirm or deny any of this theory.

Anyway, that's all I have I hope you all feel free to share your thoughts. If you have alternate Chess Rankings, please feel free to share!

#kingdom hearts #soriku #kh #kh chess #sora is the queen #riku is the king #kingdom hearts chess

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our-happygirl500-fan · 1 year

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Donnie gave his family chess code names for missions & even though we never hear Leo’s chess code name (we only know it started with blue) & April wasn’t on the mission where we hear the chess code names & think Donnie would have given Leo & April the codenames Rook & Queen respectively

Raph - Red King - (The King - The most important piece. The heart. Most crucial yet vulnerable. The team need his direction and he needs their defence)

April - Yellow Queen? - (The Queen - The most powerful piece. The general. Independent. In control. She takes no nonsense and gets things done)

Donnie - Purple Knight - (The Knight - The most unpredictable piece. The quick thinkers. They jump over obstacles and offer unconventional solutions)

Leo - Blue Rook? - (The Rook - The Protectors. Observe quietly. Attack directly. They are most powerful in the endgame)

Mikey - Orange Pawn - (The Pawn - The underestimated pieces. The late bloomers. In the endgame they become a decisive winning advantage)

Shelldon - Cyber Bishop - (The Bishop - The overlooked piece. They strike when least expected. Often fatal)

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles #raphael hamato #april o'neil #donatello hamato #leonardo hamato #michelangelo hamato #rise shelldon #rottmnt #tmnt

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sirenjose · 4 months

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Season 12 Essence 2 (Checkmate) Analysis

Skins: Analysis

Checkmate

What seems most important from this description is the term “castling”.

Castling is a special move in chess to protect your king and activate one of your rooks. This is the only time in chess where you can move 2 pieces in one move.

During this move, you can either perform “Kingside Castle” or “Queenside Castle”. This basically refers to which direction the King moves and which rook is involved. “Kingside” means the King moves to the right, while “Queenside” means the King moves to the left side, the side the Queen on. No matter which direction the King goes, he will King move 2 spaces to the right or left and the rook on that side will move directly to the other side of the king. Essentially establishing a “castle”, as this move is usually done with pawns on one side (facing the opposite side of the board where the opponents’ pieces are) and the Rook blocking the 1 space entrance to the King. As a result, the King is now defended from attacks from your opponent.

There are several conditions to this move. First, you can only perform castling if neither the rook (the one being used) nor the King have moved up until this point. Second, there can be no pieces in the way (between the king and the rook). The last condition has to do with being in check. You cannot perform this move when in check, into check (aka, the spot the king would move to is in the line of attack of an enemy piece, and going there would put you in check), or through check (meaning if 1 of the spaces the King has to move through is in the line of attack of one of your opponent’s pieces, even if the King isn’t going to stop in that spot).

Lastly, it is uncommon, but it is actually possible (in a game of chess) to perform castling and put your opponent in checkmate as a result.

Re-Swim

A “re-swim” is something offered to any swimmer (in competitions) who cannot compete in a race due to weather, or if the actions of an official, spectator, or another swimmer affects a swimmer’s performance. One example is in the case of a different swimmer being charged with a false start (aka, beginning before the starting signal goes off), or if the power/lights at the pool where the competition is at shut off.

En Ligne

The name “En Ligne” means “In Line”. Combined with one of the official twitter posts (https://twitter.com/GameIdentityV/status/1288777604355330048), I believe this name is referring to a fencing term called “Point-in-line”. Before we explain that, we need to establish some of the basics of fencing.

Fencing is the 2nd fastest sport at the Olympics behind rifle/marksman shooting.

The term “line” is used to describe the direction of the attack (as in high vs. low, inside vs outside, etc…).

In fencing, there are 3 styles with 3 different weapons: the foil, the épée, and the sabre. As Joseph appears to be using a sabre, I will focus on that one. Each style is slightly different from each other, for reasons such as some styles use the “Right of Way” rule, or another reason such as what counts as the “target area”.

With the sabre, the target area is anything above the waist, including arms and head. In comparison, the foil’s target area is the back and front, while the épée is the whole body. Unlike the other 2 styles, where the only allowed method of getting points is by hitting your opponent with the tip of your weapon, the sabre style is allowed to acquire points by slashing/cutting as well as thrusting. This means the edge as well as the tip of your weapon can be used.

As a result, the sabre ends up being the fastest and most aggressive of the 3 styles (and requires the quickest reactions and ability to make split-second decisions).

The sabre style is one of the 2 styles that are governed by the “Right of Way” rule (the épée is the style that doesn’t). This rule is used to decide who gets a point in fencing. Priority is given to the person who attacks first. This means that the other person has to parry or evade the attacker first, causing their attacker to lose “priority”, before they themselves can be given “priority” (and thus allowed to acquire points themselves). Any attack made when a person doesn’t have priority has their “touch” annulled by the referee (aka, it won’t count).

“Point-in-line” is an action/stance in which the fencer, generally out of attacking range, points their weapon at their opponent (at their “target area”) with their arm fully extended as straight as possible (before their opponent can establish an attack). In this stance, the fencer’s weapon continually threatens the opponent’s target area.

It is a static threat. The fencer is essentially threatening their opponent with the potential for them (the opponent) to impale themselves on the fencer’s blade if they attempt to go in for an attack or move towards the fencer. It is like a spear sticking out of the ground. If you throw yourself upon it, you only have yourself to blame.

The fencer’s arm must be straight and “in line” with his weapon, usually pointed at the opponent’s chest. This gives the fencer executing “Point in Line” the Right of Way, and they can move forward, backward, and even lunge with the line as long as they don’t twist or bend their arm. If the arm is no longer in a straight line, or if the fencer moved to parry or dodge, they are declared to no longer be in/have Point in Line (and thus no longer have priority aka Right of Way).

In this situation, the opponent must cause the fencer with Point in Line to break line (by deflecting or making the fencer move their hand out of line), causing them to break the attack (giving the opponent the chance to attack).

As an added note, I happened to notice the card/picture Joseph holds in his En Ligne skin has a 5 on one side and a 15 on the other. You only seem to get a clear shot of the 15 during his idle animation or in a game when Joseph activates the camera world (you can see it upside down while in the waiting room as well). These have to do with fencing as well and are also brought up in the Season 12 Essence 2 Design & Planning notes by the developers.

In fencing, bouts can go to 5 points or 15 points. 5 point bouts last 3 minutes, while 15 point bouts go for 9 minutes with 1 minute breaks for every 3 minute intervals. For both, if neither fencer reaches 5 or 15 points after the time limit, the fencer with the most points wins. If there’s a tie, an official will randomly determine who gets priority, and the fencers will go for 1 minute. If neither fencer gets a point in that time, then the fencer with priority (at the end I think) wins. With competitive fencing, preliminary rounds will be 5-point bouts. Direct Elimination rounds, which consists of a bracket of fencers competing against each other, will be 15-point bouts (3 periods of 3 minutes each). The 5 and 15 on Joseph’s card means that he won both his preliminary match and likely main part of the games as well.

The Final

The name is obviously referring to the last day of the competition, when the winner will be decided and victory will be awarded.

As a side note, Lucky has the numbers 6 and 8 on him, both of which are considered lucky in China (which goes along with this being “Lucky Guy” and him relating to the Finals, aka the winners of the games).

I’ll discuss the part about the “goddess of victory later”.

Critical Move

Not much to say here. The “invisible” hand is obviously related to the story, and I’ll talk about it later.

Straight Punch

The “straight punch” (also called a “cross”) is a term in boxing referring to a punch thrown in a straight line with the dominant hand (which “crosses” from the back of your body to the front). It is the 2nd most used punch after the jab, which is a good set up/lead up to the straight punch (ever heard of the classic “one-two” combo? One refers to a jab, while two refers to a straight punch). After executing the punch, the hand is retracted quickly, and the guard position is resumed.

It is one of the basic punches in boxing. It is also a power punch (the uppercut and hook are power punches too) and is best used for mid to long range. A straight punch is a quick way to reach your opponent with a power punch when you’re not on the inside. It’s easy to throw and set up, or can be thrown independently just as easily, and leaves you in a good position to follow up with other punches.

The jab, in comparison, is a shorter, quicker punch delivered from medium range. The straight punch on the other hand is a slower punch.

Colorful Lights

The game here is a Japanese one called Hanafuda, which translates to “flower cards”. It is played with a deck of 48 cards divided into 12 suits of 4 cards in each suit (they display a panorama when put together). Each suit is named after a month of the year. Each card had a picture of a seasonal Japanese flower or plant on it (that matched with month/suit that card belonged to).

The 12 suits were:

January – Matsu (pine)

February – Ume (plum blossom)

March – Sakura (cherry blossom)

April – Fuji (wisteria)

May – Ayame (iris)

June – Botan (peony)

July – Hagi (bush clover)

August – Susuki (Susuki grass) (this is the “Zebra grass” from the description)

September – Kiku (chrysanthemum)

October – Momiji (maple)

November – Yanagi (willow)

December – Kiri (paulownia)

Each suit contains a combination of regular cards and special cards, which vary from suit to suit. Special cards are assigned different point values, but this was mainly irrelevant, as what mattered were specific card combinations (and these combinations gave you points depending on what it was).

The goal of the game was to earn points by making sets as fast as you could and ending the round before your opponent. Long games consist of 12 rounds, while short games are 6 rounds. Whoever had the most points after all the rounds were over was the winner.

In most suits, the first 2 cards only showed a plain representation of the identifying flower, which were worth 1 point. The next rank in the suit added a ribbon to the card (which was a picture of a sheet of paper for poetry writing) and was worth 5 points. After that were the animal cards (which had the picture of an animal, like a bird, on it). The last rank was worth the most points, but only 5 suits had this type of rank (January/Pine, March/Cherry Blossom, August/Sasuki or Zebra grass, November/Willow, and December/Paulownia), which meant there were only 5 of this type of card.

For simplicity, the 4 types of cards found in the deck are:

Brights/Lights (20 points)

Animals (10 points)

Ribbons (5 points)

Normals/Junk (1 point)

When it came to scoring, combinations made with the 20 point cards were worth the most. These specific combinations were:

Gokō – Five Brights – 10 points

Shikō – “Dry” Four Brights – 8 points

Ame-Shikō – Rainy Four Brights – 7 points

Sankō – “Dry” Three Brights – 6 points

From the description for this skin, we know that this is the sort of combination that Michiko had. I believe it is more specifically said in the Chinese version of the name for this skin, which may be Five Lights, but Michiko seems to have gotten all 5 of the 20 point cards.

Wild Pitch

The official definition of a wild pitch in baseball is: “A pitcher is charged with a wild pitch when his pitch is so errant that the catcher is unable to control it and, as a result, baserunner(s) advance.”

For a bit more detail, here’s another entry in the official rulebook:

10.13 Wild Pitches And Passed Balls (a) The official scorer shall charge a pitcher with a wild pitch when a legally delivered ball is so high, so wide or so low that the catcher does not stop and control the ball by ordinary effort, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance. The official scorer shall charge a pitcher with a wild pitch when a legally delivered ball touches the ground or home plate before reaching the catcher and is not handled by the catcher, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance. When the third strike is a wild pitch, permitting the batter to reach first base, the official scorer shall score a strikeout and a wild pitch.

Wild pitches are considered to be the fault of the pitcher, and a pitcher is only charged with one if a runner moves up a base. They cannot be charged with one if no one is on a base, unless it allows the batter to reach 1st base on a 3rd strike.

That latter bit has to do with a rule called the Uncaught Third Strike Rule. In MLB (Major League Baseball), if a catcher drops or misses the third pitched strike, the batter becomes a runner and can attempt to reach first base before tagged out or forced out at first.

6.09 The batter becomes a runner when -- (a) He hits a fair ball; (b) The third strike called by the umpire is not caught, providing (1) first base is unoccupied, or (2) first base is occupied with two outs

This basically means a batter can make a run for 1st base if the catcher fails to catch the ball that would’ve been the batter’s 3rd strike, and only if 1st base is unoccupied or if there are 2 outs.

In baseball, when a batter gets 3 strikes (by failing to hit 3 balls), they are out. When the batting team gets 3 outs from 3 of its members each getting 3 strikes, then that half of the inning is over and the teams switch, at which point the opposite team gets to bat.

Relating this back to a wild pitch, according to the official rules again:

“When the third strike is a wild pitch, permitting the batter to reach first base, the official scorer shall score a strikeout and a wild pitch.”

This means that a pitcher can technically “strikeout” more than 3 people in an inning (when normally that shouldn’t be possible) due to the Uncaught Third Strike Rule.

Now I’d like to point out that, just because a pitcher threw a wild pitch during the 9th inning, that doesn’t mean that they (their team) necessarily lost the game.

It is possible to get a wild pitch and a (real) strikeout at the same time (as in, the other team gets 3 outs, rather than the batter being safe and so on).

First off, a batter could have gotten a 3rd strike after trying to swing at a horrible pitch (a pitch that was out of the zone, aka a wild pitch), missed, and gotten himself out. Or maybe the batter attempted to make a run for 1st base due to the Uncaught Third Strike Rule but failed when the other team managed to tag him out before he was safe.

Secondly, it’s also possible a wild pitch could hit a batter’s bat (maybe the batter tried to dodge a wild pitch but forgot to move the bat out of the way when he did so, resulting in it getting hit). At this point, if the ball falls in the foul area, it’s a strike, but if it falls in the fair area, then it’s a live ball and the batter had better run to first base fast or else he’ll get tagged out quickly (since the ball will be fairly close to him after it fell to the ground).

Looking at a different possibility regarding wild pitches (regarding possibilities of what could have happened in the game in the essence), it’s also possible a batter or someone could get injured by a wild pitch.

Point being, it is possible to win even if he threw a wild pitch.

Moving on, next is the description, which mentions “Bottom of the ninth”. These same words can also be found on one side of Norton’s hat.

Typically, baseball games (in the MLB at least) have 9 innings, with each inning split into the “top” half and the “bottom” half. If the home team is leading after the top of the ninth, the game is over and the home team wins (and the 2nd half of the inning isn’t played). If the road team is leading at the end of the ninth, the game is over and the road team wins. If the home team gains the lead during the bottom of the ninth, the game ends immediately and the home team wins. If the game is tied at the end of the ninth, the game goes into extra innings. A game in extra innings ends when the road team leads at the end of an inning, or when the home team takes the lead.

Basically, the 9th inning is really important (and decides the game). It is possible in this inning for a losing team to get lucky and turn things around for a comeback and a surprising win.

Bottom of the Ninth can also have meaning outside of baseball, as it can mean “last chance”, “final opportunity” or “there isn’t much time left to turn things around”.

Quickstep

Jose is obviously participating in Equestrian sport events. Regarding what specifically, I’m going to look at the Olympics for an idea. The 3 equestrian events that take place at the Olympics are: Dressage, Eventing, and Show jumping. Based on the name Quickstep, which sounds like a trot, I’m assuming he’s at least part of the Dressage event, but I’ll describe all 3 anyways.

Dressage tests the horse’s obedience and ability to carry its rider with ease and grace. It is often compared to ballet on horseback. During the test, you will see the horse ridden at different paces and different speeds within those paces. These speeds include the walk, trot, and canter. The horses will be asked to fluidly move in straight lines and circles. The horses will also be asked to move smoothly and obediently sideways, diagonally, and in place. You will see horses in "collection" where the horse is moving with a higher elevation of back and legs, and "extension" where the horse is reaching further with its legs while still carrying its neck and back in an elevated frame. Performance is judged on a point system from 0 to 6 points for each required gait. “General impression” is also judged, and points are deducted for performing the movements in the wrong order.

Eventing is a test of the skill, versatility, courage, and endurance of horse and rider, as well as tests the trust between horse and rider as well as their adaptability in different situations. Eventing is a 3 day competition that consists of: cross country jumping, dressage and showjumping. The cross-country phase takes place over a course of natural and man-made objects. There can be up to 40 obstacles that horses must jump or go through. The course is up to four miles long. Scores are based on refusals, coming in under or over a set time, and falls of the rider.

Show Jumping tests the agility and reaction of a horse by having them jump over a series of obstacles inside a riding ring. Courses are designed with many tricky turns and colorful obstacles challenging both the mental and physical agility of horse and rider. The horse/rider teams must finish within a set time and penalties are given for knocking down rails and other faults. Scores are based on the number of jumps knocked down, falls, touches, refusals to jump and time penalties. The rider with the fewest penalties wins. Ties are broken by jump-offs with penalties and the fastest times used to break the tie.

Gymnast

This skin seems to involve Rhythmic gymnastics, which was a women-only event where gymnasts perform on a floor with a rope, hoop, ball, clubs, or ribbon accompanied by music, in individual or group events.

Rhythmic gymnastics is different from normal gymnastics. There were no flips or tumbles, no bars or balance beams. In this type of gymnastics, the gymnast leaps, turns, contorts, and dances, all while manipulating and tossing different apparatuses to the beat of the music. A great amount of flexibility and grace was required here.

As Gymnast appears to have a ribbon at her hip, that’s what I’m going to go with.

The ribbon in these competitions must constantly be in motion. Compulsory elements for the ribbon include flicks, circles, snakes and spirals, and throws. A high degree of coordination was required to form the spirals and circles, as any knots which may accidentally form in the ribbon are penalized against the gymnast.

ACE

The mention of “tiebreaker”, combined with the skin name and relation to tennis, is a tennis term with a specific set of rules.

In tennis, you have games, sets, and matches.

To win a game, you must score four points and have a two-point lead.

To win a set, you must win six or more games and have a two-game lead.

To win the match, you must win the best of three sets or the best of five sets depending on where you’re playing.

Another thing about tennis is that there are no ties. When both sides are tied at 6 games apiece, a tiebreaker game takes place to decide the winner of a set. To win a tiebreaker, you had to be the first to score 7 points, as well as have a 2-point lead over your opponent. When one side reached 6 points, the other side had one last chance to even the score and tie the game. If both sides managed to get 6 points, this is when the 2nd rule comes in. A game won’t end when someone reaches 7 points if the other side has 6. The game would continue until one player could gain a 2-point lead over the other.

Pawn

This skin potentially brings up pawn promotion. This is another chess term for something that could happen in chess when a pawn manages to reach the other side of the board (aka, the side where your opponent started out on). If a pawn was successful in reaching the other side, that player could choose to turn that piece into a bishop, knight, rook, or queen (you can’t replace the pawn with another pawn or a king).

Normally with pawn promotion, most people promote a pawn to a queen as the queen is the most powerful piece with the highest movement ability. Promoting to any other piece than a queen is called an underpromotion. Reasons for underpromoting include when promoting to a queen would still leave your opponent in the lead, in cases of defense for something like preventing a checkmate, or sometimes to avoid situations where promoting to a queen would cause a stalemate (aka, no one wins).

The most common type of underpromotion is underpromotion to a knight, as a knight moves in a way that the queen cannot.

Story: News Articles

Also important for the story are the news articles that came with the relay race pre-event.

Story: Analysis

I’ll begin by bringing up the design notes (https://weibo.com/6140485374/JgFfWDqSv?from=page_1006066140485374_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&type=comment#_rnd1597979158845).

They state how they wanted to include more than just happiness, sunshine, and people playing a sport. They wanted the pain, losses, and injuries that can occur as well. To show this, they gave clues to what each character “regrets” in/from their sports career. They also specifically state exactly what happened to some people in their pasts.

For Galatea, they first comment on her inability to move freely (as she is stuck in a wheelchair). This could relate to the Chinese version of the description for Galatea’s Pawn skin.

“The next move... Will I become a knight? Or a sacrificial pawn?”

It mentioned possibly becoming a knight, which could relate to Galatea dreaming of once again having that freedom of movement. This dream relates to a knight due to its ability to move well is represented in how a knight piece has the image of a horse, from the idea of a medieval knight on a horse or simply someone in the calvary, as well as the knight piece’s ability to jump around unlike all the other pieces. Due to her wheelchair, that is something she’s never going to be able to do.

A quick note about this, oddly enough the English version does not bring up knights in its description. Instead, it says:

"To checkmate or to be sacrificed? That is the question."

That may be a play off of the quote “To be, or not to be, that is the question”, which comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I am not quite sure if Hamlet relates at all to this, as chess is never mentioned in the play to my knowledge (but I only did a bit of quick research, so I could be wrong. I think the play The Tempest is the only one that directly mentions chess).

This comes from when Hamlet is thinking about life and death, pondering a state of being versus a state of not being. He’s reflecting on whether it’s better to be alive or dead (not necessarily contemplating suicide). Life was burdensome and devoid of power, and in the rest of the speech he lists off several things that annoy him about life. He also goes into how even though he’s frustrated over how bad life is, no matter how bad it is we’re prevented from doing anything about it due to fear of the unknown. Dying is like crossing the border between the known and unknown, the idea is that there may be unimaginable horrors in this new land. Even if life is unfair, the alternative might be worse. Fear of the unknown after death. This is not just about killing himself, but also about his mission to avenge his father’s death. Before now, he’s made excuses for not killing his father’s murderer. Convention demands he kill him, but murder is a sin, so that’s the conflict at the core of the play. He ends by pulling himself out of this reflection, as too much thinking is what will prevent the action he has to rise to.

Back to Galatea, they describe her as a former genius chess player that became pathologically paranoid after a career-related loss. This part shows that Galatea, like the others in the games, also suffered a loss in the past that she’s trying to amend with the help of these games. Continuing on, they discuss how she had hoped to turn everyone into (chess) pieces that she could use at will to complete the game she could not in the past, which is likely why she is described as becoming a control freak.

As another bonus, her desire to turn everyone into pieces and control them can go back to her skin description. Remember how I said castling involves a king and a rook? Well rooks can possibly be derived from the word “rookie” (and vice versa). This is because rooks, like rookies, only come into play later, and they are (one of) the last to see action in a game compared to the other pieces on the board. Rooks aka “rookies” in this way could be referring to any and/or all of the participants in the games. Another interesting note about the word “rook” is that it can also be used as a verb that means “to defraud by cheating or swindling”. This sounds a bit to me like what Galatea might be doing as the “invisible hand” controlling the entirety of the games.

Her wanting to control everyone and basically turn them into pieces relates to her being a sculptor and even turning someone into a sculpture. Checkmate being someone who wants to manipulate everyone relates to what she does in her story to those around her, namely Helena in her game (as we see via the letters), and potentially Lily as well based on Lily’s backstory video.

This aspect about her being a “control freak” may also imply she is the “invisible hand” supposedly controlling the entire competition based on both the relay race news articles and the hints given from Freddy’s and Lucky’s descriptions. As to her exact goals, it says she wanted to essentially finish the game she had been unable to complete, though the specifics about what that means are unclear.

One thought regarding the specific accident mentioned in one of the chess articles, about someone being injured after one of the preliminaries even though nothing nearby could’ve caused the injury, this could relate to Galatea recreating her past. Maybe after she beat one of her opponents in a preliminary match (in a different competition, not the Sports Fest), the loser was unhappy at their loss, and as a result injured Galatea or got her involved in some accident. This could be why she is stuck in a wheelchair in this Essence’s story. This may also be a way of her getting revenge on the culprit (by her injuring someone after the preliminaries of the Sports Fest).

There’s also how many of the participants are in tough positions or hurt.

For example, Michiko has at least 4 cards, but the question is if she manages to get the 5th, as well as even if she can get a good hand in 1 round, it still depends on how well the other rounds go for her (Hanafuda does comprise of more than 1 round).

To go into the others, Re-Swim is injured, the swimming arena was “closed”, her name may indicate she had to swim twice even though she’s injured, or as swimming is like a race, there’s no guarantee she’s got a comfortable lead in front of the other swimmers.

En Ligne and Straight Punch both involve fighting (meaning not every opponent will be a pushover), and En Ligne’s broken sword and Fighting’s broken belt could indicate they were hurt or having trouble.

Quickstep, just like Re-Swim, is already mentioned to be injured (from the news articles).

Wild Pitch and Ace are both mentioned to be at a point near the end of the game where they are fighting to get in the lead over their opponents.

Galatea in the design notes is mentioned to be obsessive, paranoid, not quite in control of her emotions, and is unable to face the fact she lost or face her own regret of losing. She is also said to get energy from her fantasies (likely fantasies of her winning that one game she lost in the past) all the time. To go along with this, it’s been stated that she was the one who made the golden badge necklace thing around her neck, which is a way to show the character’s confidence and paranoia over winning. She also dressed herself up like a Queen and is sitting in a wheelchair that looks like a throne to further show this. The bird cage on her chair is another representation of her obsession, as the cage symbolizes (is made of) her obsession while Galatea would be the bird trapped inside it. Also, apparently her paranoia makes her aggressive (as proof of her at least somewhat lack of control of her emotions), so that’s another interesting note.

Then there’s how I’m pretty sure the design notes on Galatea herself by the developers mentions she’s a perfectionist. This could explain why she gets aggressive, why she’s so upset at her loss, and why she refuses to acknowledge her loss and her regret over it.

Galatea right now may not be a participant, as neither Checkmate nor Pawn have the green ribbon everyone else is wearing. This ribbon shows up in the trailer, and as Freddy and Lucky (who are more like staff for the competitions than actual participants) are wearing them too, it’s likely not a ribbon strictly for winners.

There’s also how her skin mentions castling. Maybe she is doing this as a defense against whatever caused her to lose in the past and in general against others.

If Galatea can’t accept her loss or even her own regret over it, to the point she makes a golden badge for herself to wear, dresses up like a queen, and sits on a throne, not to mention her name is Checkmate, I think that more likely means she already sees herself as being a winner. I think competing as a participant would mean accepting the fact she lost, her regret over it, and the fact she would be there to win the prize of having your regrets erased. Wanting them erased means you know you feel regret, and she is already mentioned to be unable to face that reality. All she wants is to complete the game she lost before, and she seems to be going about that by controlling the entirety of the games and thus seeing everyone as pieces on a chessboard. She’s trying to deal with her loss and regret over losing without having to acknowledge it and say she wants her regret erased. It’s like when a person needs help, but they refuse to ask for help, and try to go about doing whatever they need to do without anyone else’s aid.

It's possible, rather than her participating and trying to win herself, she’s trying to manipulate the others, have them in a position like the one she was in, but ensure they manage to win anyways, to represent her winning as well. That could match with how her b-tier is called “Pawn”.

Next I’ll bring up Joseph. The beginning of the design notes mentions that his dominant hand was damaged. There was an accident that resulted in his hand either breaking or him getting wounded with the opponent’s sword, and as a result this caused him to lose. Regarding his dominant hand, we see that Joseph is left-handed, as that’s the hand he uses his sword with even when not using his En Ligne skin. Looking at his En Ligne skin, his left side has a bit extra to it compared to his right side, specifically what looks kind of like an armlet around his wrist. This might be there after it received a bad hit, one that was strong enough to break the sword he was using, as well as injure his hand, arm, and/or wrist as a result, thus causing his loss. He may have the extra bit around his left hand/wrist because he is protecting it and keeping it from being hurt a second time.

As a random note, I think the injury to his dominant hand could possibly be why his animation in the appearance area has him holding his weapon in his right hand. Basically, he might be ambidextrous. After the injury to his left hand caused him to lose that match in the past, he sought to prevent that from happening again. One way is with the extra guard on his left hand. The other way might be that he taught himself to use his other hand almost as well as his left. That way, if his left or even his right hand were ever injured in a match again, he could easily switch to the other (possibly during an interlude or one of the breaks) and still have a chance of winning.

The design notes also mention you can see where the sword broke and where it was repaired, which is that mark in the middle of the blade (not the viney parts near the handle). This also means he’s using the sword that broke in the past, the one he referred to as a memento, so that’s interesting.

I think that the news articles from the relay race pre-event were written during the preliminary/beginner rounds of the games. This is based on the one article that mentioned the chess person getting injured after a preliminary match, from the article about Jose that mentions the horses had only just arrived, from the article about Norton which mentions gatherings and interviews (which would likely occur during breaks or at least sometime before the finals), from the article about Naib since the boxing match is stated to not have even started yet, while Joseph’s article also seems to mention the fencing match is about to start but hasn’t happened yet, and then there’s Tracy’s which sounds like it’s at least still ongoing as it mentions a “next” match.

After that, I think the skin descriptions more refer to the finals or deciding rounds for each sports competition, or at least other hints such as Joseph’s 15 refers to the score he got in the finals of the fencing competition rather than just a random match before this point (that would be kind of disappointing and would kill the suspense and/or meaning behind it, since if it’s not the finals, he could still lose in the next match up).

Finally, I’m going to assume either each separate sports competition of the games can have a winner, or there’s some large team encompassing each of the different sports (maybe like a Team Oletus, as Oletus is what the front of Norton’s baseball shirt says) and the winner is decided in a fashion similar to what people do during the Olympics when they compare who has the most medals or specifically who has the most gold medals.

There isn’t a whole lot for Tracy and Re-Swim, despite being an A-tier, though the beginning part does mention muscle strain, which is a common injury with swimming. All the arm movement involved in most swimming techniques can cause significant strain on the arm and shoulder muscles. Neck strain is primarily due to the act of having to keep the head above water or rotating it to breath (such as during the freestyle stroke). The lower part of the body can become strained as well, like the knees for example from a lot of kicking motions (such as during the breaststroke).

There isn’t a lot on the others. Michiko’s regret and thus loss seems to come from her possibly attempting to acquire the 5 20-point cards in Hanafuda but failing.

There’s nothing on Jose, but from how everyone else is, I assume he fell off his horse during a past competition which impacted his score and caused him to lose.

Naib also has nothing about what exactly caused him to lose. He is mentioned to be wearing a “broken belt” with a “hidden past”. This could be a champion’s belt, showing how he may have lost in the past and thus lost the belt. (Another wild theory is that someone attempted to injure Naib as well, but the belt protected him somehow, causing it to become “broken” as a way to show more possible foul play.)

Gymnast and Ace, like Naib, don’t really have anything. Maybe Ace ended up in a tiebreaker in the past and ended up losing it, that way his current predicament based on his skin description would parallel with his past. Gymnast may have done a leap or something bad, and hurt herself, or she got her ribbon tangled, which resulted in a loss. At least for Ace, we do see his hat has the word “Champion” on it, which could mean he was like Naib in being a former champion who lost his title at some point (after losing in the tiebreaker I mentioned, since his description does say “this time” he might win, which means “last time” he had lost).

Lastly is Norton. Just like the other participants in this essence, where they were in tough situations but managed to win in the end anyways, I think the same is true for Norton as Wild Pitch. (Maybe 5-9 is a score for a past game he lost, but he manages to win this time and reverse it.)

Based on the less than 1 sentence of him we got in the beginning section of the notes, I think we can assume Norton, in the past and now, is a pitcher, at least during the crucial moment of the game that decides his victory or loss. I’m specifically referring to the 2nd half of the ninth inning, which is mentioned in his skin description and the design notes. The notes basically mention “starting pitcher” in the 2nd half of the ninth inning.

So, what does it mean?

Let’s start with what a “starting pitcher” is. Here’s a section from the official MLB glossary:

“Starting pitchers, as the position name indicates, are the pitchers that begin each game on the mound for a team. Starters were long asked to pitch as deep into games as possible, although many clubs in modern baseball employ pitch counts and will not let starting pitchers throw many more than 100 pitches in a start. This is done in an effort to preserve pitchers' health.” “Teams in today's game typically rotate between five starting pitchers, meaning starters usually have four to five days off between trips to the mound.”

So, starting pitchers are a type of pitcher that is expected to pitch for the 1st 6 innings of the game, and will throw close to 100 pitches before wearing down and being taken out of a game. Afterwards, they get a break for about 4 or 5 days. That’s how harsh the job is on their bodies. It’s even worse if they have to wait those 4 or 5 days after a bad outing or game is stuck in their mind.

To compare, other types of pitchers other than Starters include Middle Relievers, who take over for a starting pitcher when they need to be substituted before the 8th inning, and Closers, who come in to “close out” a game in the 9th inning when their team is ahead. Also, once a pitcher has been replaced, he cannot then return to the game.

Starters and Closers are very different. Starters need to know probably at least 3 or 4 different types of pitches (such as a fastball, curveball, sinker, and cutter), while the Relievers and Closers only really need maybe a good fastball and a 2nd pitch for a change of pace and keep the hitters guessing. Then there’s how the Starting Pitcher needs far more stamina/endurance than the other types, as Starters go at least for about 5-6 (or even 5-8) innings and about 100 pitches or somewhere in the range of 90-120 pitches before his manager removes him from a game. Closers on the other hand pretty much go all-out for 1 inning, and thus Starters need more arm strength as well. As an added note, as they go mostly all out in 1 inning, they also work more often than a Starter does, possibly 3 or 4 times a week, and it’s unlikely they’ll go more than 3 straight days without work. It’s also unlikely they’ll work more than 3 days in a row. Another comparison, where a Starter is stuck thinking over a bad game for 4 or 5 days, Closers need to be able to bounce back and return tomorrow even if they did bad.

So one of the points I’m trying to make is that it’s noteworthy and rare nowadays for a pitcher to do a complete game. To further make my point about why exactly that is, here’s another detail I found:

“…nine-plus-inning starts have taken a nosedive. In fact, since the start of the Wild Card Era in 1995, MLB has seen a pitcher get an out in the 10th inning or later just 13 times (by 12 different hurlers). On Aug. 23, 2017, former Dodgers lefty Rich Hill showed just how hard it can be to get outs past the ninth. Hill carried a no-hitter into the 10th that night, only to watch the Pirates' Josh Harrison hit a walk-off homer in the first at-bat of the inning.”

Again, this is going back to how harsh it is and how much of a toll being a starter puts on the pitcher’s body, which only increases the deeper a starter goes into a game and the more innings they play in.

What am I trying to say?

I believe that the design notes are trying to say that Norton was overworked and the reason he lost in the past is because he was too worn out by the time the 2nd half of the ninth inning rolled around. I think the “5-9” on his hat is referring to the score he received in the game he lost in the past (as a result of being overworked). If this is what the 5-9 means, that would make the “bottom of the 9th” on the other side of his hat make sense. Both things on his hat serve as reminders of (to never forget) his loss as well as motivate himself to do better from now on.

It may have been in part because Norton is a workaholic, but it’s also partially the fault of whoever his manager was. There’s no way Norton hasn’t pitched 100 or 120 balls yet if it’s the 2nd half of the ninth inning, and then by the eighth his manager definitely should have taken him out already. So that basically means the loss wasn’t entirely his fault, as his manager should’ve cared more or paid more attention to how he was doing.

So, if he was overworked and worn out, that results in him not pitching as well, and thus could be where his name Wild Pitch comes from, as he could’ve thrown a bad pitch as a result of the strain on his body from pitching for so long, and thus why he could’ve thrown a wild pitch that resulted in his team losing. That might be paralleled in the current games, as he is likely the pitcher for the 2nd half of the ninth inning to match the game he lost in the past. I don’t know if he’s still a Starting pitcher, as maybe this time he could just be a Closer, but he also could be starting again as a way of recreating the past (like the other players seem to also be experiencing I think). He may throw another wild pitch, but I think this time his luck would kick in (or from Galatea’s manipulation) I think it doesn’t cause him and his team to lose, and instead they manage to win in the end (I already mentioned possible scenarios where a wild pitch could still result in a win, so I’m not going to repeat myself).

As an added note about how Wild Pitch’s manager should’ve cared more about Norton and paid more attention to him (and how he was overworking himself to way past exhaustion), relates back to Norton’s story again. Norton was a miner, and miners back in that day were pretty much treated like slaves by their employers, who didn’t care about the health and safety of their workers. All they wanted was to profit and wanted as cheap of a workforce to earn profit as was possible. That was why conditions were so unsafe and hazardous for miners, as mine owners/managers didn’t want to have to pay extra to make the mine and everything else safer.

Wild Pitch’s manager’s treatment of Norton might also relate to how Norton worked so hard to change his fate and escape poverty that it actually intimidated people, as well as later how people didn’t care or comfort him when he was in the hospital after the accident and even specifically avoided him.

Finally, Norton’s “regrets” that he might be trying to erase likely has to do with his regrets over getting the other miners killed, and all his other actions while at Golden Cave, or maybe his “regrets” might just be Norton going to Golden Cave at all, and maybe Norton wishes he had never gone there. It’s also possible that one of his regrets might be Norton not being able to get the gold in Golden Cave, but based on Norton’s backstory, and the context of “regrets” regarding this competition, I personally think the former idea (about regretting his actions and getting the other miners killed) makes more sense, especially when you think about how Norton’s S-Tier skin, Soul Catcher, which has a similar theme/meaning to it.

Before I get to the end, I’ll briefly bring up Freddy and Lucky. Even if Galatea isn’t their boss, they could still be on her side. Galatea already mentioned she’s controlling everyone, so there’s that. But to go a bit more into it, Freddy still seems to be aware of the “invisible hand”. Him simply being aware, as well as factoring it into what could affect the outcome of a match, seems to me that he knows someone’s manipulating the games but doesn’t do anything about it. I think being aware of the hand’s existence, especially when the hand is obviously involved in fishy business, is enough to call him an accomplice in a way possibly.

If this were true, I think part of the reason could be due to Freddy’s background. In his deductions, Freddy gets jealous at Leo since even though Leo was a lower class than Freddy initially, Leo managed to move up as well as have better luck and a happier life than Freddy. This could relate to how Freddy may be jealous in the same way at the other sports competitors for their ability to do everything they do in the games and might let the hand manipulate the games the same way he manipulated Leo in his deductions.

With Lucky, the way I think of why he might be helping out Galatea again relates to how he is in the game. In the game, he is just a deduction substitute. He is someone Orpheus creates and uses to figure out/imagine how the manor games work. This could parallel the essence story as Galatea may be using him for her goals just like how Orpheus uses Lucky for his own purposes. Just a thought.

Now that I’ve gone over each of the participants at least briefly, I want to bring up another curious bit in the character design notes. It specifically mentions that Joseph was “framed”. The term used for Joseph also possibly could mean backstabbed, aka he was betrayed, or just fell into a trap or was part of someone’s plan. It may also say later that his hand was injured accidently, which is likely related to when his sword broke. As a result, he ended up losing as a result.

His hand was likely injured due to the blow that broke his sword. It was likely strong enough to impact his hand as well, or maybe whatever the hit was maybe twisted it or something in a way that hurt it.

Regarding being framed, the only option that makes sense is that something happened to Joseph’s opponent and he was blamed for it. Maybe his opponent was injured and/or taken out of the match in some way for some reason. Or maybe Joseph was accused of cheating. Either way, from the wording, it sounds like he was framed during the finals of whatever competition this was for and this act of him being framed appears to happen before Joseph’s hand is injured and his sword breaks.

One issue with this is that if he were framed for something, possibly either injuring his opponent or accused of cheating, normally I’d think that’d be enough grounds to have him dropped from the competition right then. But the wording seems to say he lost as a result of his hand being injured and his sword breaking. If the “accident” refers to whatever hurt his hand and broke his sword, maybe this “accident” also happens at the same time as or is the cause of whatever Joseph is getting framed for.

The fact he was “framed” (and various other reasons) shows Joseph wasn’t actually guilty of whatever he’s being accused of. Being “framed” means someone else (other than Joseph) is the guilty party, which hints towards manipulation (of Joseph and the match itself). Whatever this person did caused Joseph’s sword to possibly hurt his opponent as well as resulted in his sword breaking and his hand being injured. Maybe this person messed with the fencing weapons or the equipment they wore (or something else about the competition such as maybe the area the match was taking place in).

Finally, there’s the part about backstabbing. This seems to imply that whoever backstabbed him was someone he trusted. The betrayal came from someone Joseph thought was on his side. The question is who exactly was this? I doubt it’s whoever Joseph’s opponent was, as it doesn’t make sense that someone would “trust” the person they’re competing against. Maybe it was whoever Joseph’s coach or manager was. I had a thought that maybe the coach possibly trained whoever the opponent was, and maybe he wanted Joseph to lose so the other person could win because maybe he cared or liked the other person better, but this doesn’t quite make sense. Joseph being “framed” implies that something likely happened to Joseph’s opponent, and I doubt the coach/manager would hurt the person he wants to win against Joseph. I mean, maybe getting Joseph disqualified would automatically give the other guy the win, but I don’t know.

To me, it sounds like whoever framed Joseph was specifically targeted, as in the goal was to get Joseph to lose, rather than the goal being to get someone else to win.

The only other idea I had, that still doesn’t quite make sense, is that Galatea was involved. Galatea was mentioned wanting to control everyone like chess pieces, as well as wanted to complete the game she couldn’t finish. So maybe this included going around to other sports competitions, got people to lose and/or get hurt, and then had them come to the games so she could manipulate things so all of them, and thus herself by extension, could win.

If Galatea got these people to lose during some competition, she’d have had to screw with them before the games started, as people only participate in these specific games to have their “regrets erased”. But it never did make a whole lot of sense why Galatea would go and manipulate everyone if she just wants to complete the (chess) game she lost as that would only have to do with chess. Maybe if it’s everyone, she might essentially be trying to recreate her own situation many times over. By “completing” each one of their games and getting them to win, this may be a way of showing both her obsession and paranoia over winning, a way of showing her denial of her own loss in an excessive way that fits her paranoia and madness (it’s kind of like saying “See? Look at me winning! Look at how many times and ways I can win! I’m a winner! I never lost! That’s not possible!”), and also a way to show her dominance and prove she can win, to fit with her whole Queen and winner theme she has going on.

Also, maybe the reward and/or the games could still have been set up by her.

Maybe she messed with and manipulated each of the participants we see in this essence. As a possible example, maybe she screwed with Michiko by messing with the deck and/or cards. Maybe with Norton she somehow either messed with his manager (get him not to pull Norton out of the game when he should have) and/or influenced Norton himself by getting or convincing him to pitch longer than he should despite his exhaustion. For Quickstep, Gymnast, and Re-Swim, maybe she either got them to perform in a certain way or use certain techniques that caused them to get hurt, or possibly she messed with their equipment (at least for Jose it could be the equipment he needs when riding the horse or the obstacles on the field, and for Margaretha it could be her ribbon, her clothes, or the area she’s dancing around in). For Ace, maybe he was manipulated and messed with in a way similar to Joseph. Maybe his racket or the ball were tampered with, or somehow she got another accident to happen.

After possibly manipulating all these people, she’s going to ensure they’re left with “regrets” (as she’s trying to essentially recreate her own game and pretend each of these people are her when she lost her chess competition). My point is that what if the “reward” of having the winner’s regrets erased is basically referring to how she hopes to erase her own regrets of losing in the chess competition? The fact she’s not an actual participant in the games is a way to erase her regrets without actually acknowledging them. To put it another way, erasing everyone else’s regrets translates to Galatea erasing her own (since she’s essentially pretending she is each of the participants and recreating her own game via their games, and getting herself to win by having each of them win).

In summary: Galatea may be the cause for each of the participants losses in the past, as well as manipulated them to show up at the games to have their regrets erased as a way of dealing with her own without admitting them.

Regarding whether or not she succeeded or what happens to her at the end, I want to bring up one last crack theory.

It involves the Chinese version of Pawn’s description which mentions a knight. I find it interesting that the official twitter also refers to Joseph as a “white knight”. We can also see on Galatea’s board in her Checkmate skin that there is a white knight on it (and one of the other pieces on the board is a black king, and I’ve already said Galatea could be and is similar to a king, even though the design notes refer to her as a Queen). From Joseph’s description, he mentions “piercing the illusion”, which could refer to the games themselves, the reward, or to Galatea as she is controlling things from the background trying not to let anyone know what she’s doing. If Galatea is the reason for Joseph’s (and everyone else’s) losses, maybe Joseph finds out somehow and gets revenge by dealing with her. Joseph describes his broken sword as a “memento”, which is something that serves to remind someone of a person, past event, etc… But it can also serve as a reminder or “warning” (one of the earliest definitions of memento was “something that serves to warn”). This “warning” could, going back to my discussion of Joseph’s past, refer to how he was framed and maybe help remind him he wants to find the person who framed him and thus caused his loss. By extension, the warning would also refer to Galatea herself, as the person who is the actual guilty party, or to the games and the reward, as erasing regrets could have been something set up by Galatea for herself as well as all their own regrets were all caused by Galatea in the first place anyways. Joseph is described as being “determined” in the articles. Maybe this could extend to his determination to find out who framed him and get revenge? Galatea might be dealt with or revealed by Joseph. Maybe the “sacrifice” mentioned by the Pawn skin is referring to this and/or her “loss”. Her loss could also be caused by her paranoia, as she is unable to accept the fact she lost in the past or accept her regret over it. Joseph may not like the idea of being manipulated (not to mention being mad someone screwed with him to cause him to lose in the past) and thus deals with her somehow.

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fluffypotatey · 2 years

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God, watched "Sins of the Father" last night and I. Just. Love. How the writers were like, "Ah, yes, let's finish out this episode with the most violent upheaval of Arthur's relationship with Uther. There is no need to mention this again."

Like, yeah, I get it, Merlin lied and stopped Arthur from killing King Cunt, but STILL. It happened. Arthur and Uther have had disagreements before, but those were small potatoes. Arthur challenged his father, the King, to a fight to the death. He was actively trying to kill his father. And that....had no effect on him? Or Uther?

Arthur doesn't always agree with Uther, and he does disobey him when he has to, but I don't think he ever would imagine himself capable of hurting his father, let alone killing him.

And Uther, being the manipulative, abusive piece of shit he is, was probably 100% certain Arthur would never turn on him, the same way any abusive parent is confident in their power over their victim.

But it happened.

And that's just........not important?

bestie.....are you sure you want the open that can of worms with me

------

NO BECAUSE LISTEN I HAVE TOO MANY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THIS

imma holler @nextstopparis because they have bombass posts and meta about exactly this

anyway

yes bestie so true, we have seen in s1 and s2 that arthur is capable of having a little rebellious streak but not enough to truly slight his father because (despite his shitty and abusive uther is) arthur still loves him. arthur has craved uther's approval since day one. all he gets from uther is stunted shoulder pats and "you're my son" kind of affection. which, you know, explains SO MUCH about why arthur is emotionally constipated, compensates his emotions into hyper-masculinity, and a grade A jock.

we know arthur seeks uther's approval and just wants uther to be proud of him. motherfucker (uther) literally in episode 2 of s1 "stops by Arthur on his way to the stands and speaks to him in a low voice" about he "trust [Arthur] will make [him] proud" like bitch???? way to stress out your child.

tips on how to emotionally abuse/keep your child wanting you love

always makes sure you pressure them into making you proud

place conditions on your love (trust = love = pride for son = no longer disappointed = no longer sees arthur as the cause of ygraine's death oop did i type that)

move them away and speak in a low threatening voice because self image matters and your child would never risk that

undermine your child's worth to exterior factors, aka things your child never had a say in (being a captain/high ranking knight at 15, being the son of your dead wife, telling them to grow up when they literally are acting their age)

enforcing patriarcal ideals such as only encouraging stoicism for arthur because feelings are for weaklings and dismissing morgana's opinions for 'outbursts'

howdy folks! welcome to the uther sucks club and why the hell did bbc just ignore arthur's very understandable anger towards uther in s2 ep8

we will not touch arthur's self loathing blame for his mother's death because i will derail from this post

what happened in s2 ep8???? i'm so glad you asked

it is revealed that uther pendragon's reason for committing genocide for over 20 years boils down to a highly dangerous spell that he forced the high priestess nimueh to cast on his wife (who wasn't aware of the spell in the first place) so she could become pregnant and grant him an heir.

uther, the caricature of the british empire himself, caused the death of his queen then turned around and blamed a whole community of innocent people because "magic is evil and shouldn't be trusted" and "when you know one sorcerer, you know them all"

arthur, daddy issues galore, is understandably pissed and enraged. why, you ask? because for years he believed it was his birth that led to his mother's death

ARTHUR I'm so sorry. YGRAINE You have nothing to be sorry for. ARTHUR It was my birth that caused you to die.

ok so we are actually gonna discuss this

FOR 20 YEARS THIS MAN BELIEVED HIS FATHER'S GRIEF WAS HIS FAULT

AND YOU KNOW WHAT

UTHER NEVER CORRECTED HIM! UTHER NEVER SAID ANYTHING TO CONTRADICT ARTHUR'S INTERNAL STRUGGLE!

WHY YOU ASK????

BECAUSE THEN ARTHUR WOULD STAY LOYAL TO HIM, BECAUSE THEN ARTHUR WOULD DO EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO PROVE THAT HE COULD 'right this old wrong' EVEN THO IT WAS NEVER HIS FAULT!

ahem

and then arthur learns the truth. arthur learns that ygraine's death was never his fault. ygraine's death was all because uther pendragon "was so desperate for an heir". that was all uther cared about.

ARTHUR This is what fuels your hatred for those who practice magic. Rather than blame yourself for what you did, you blame them.

ARTHUR How many hundreds have you condemned to death to ease your guilt?

ARTHUR You speak of honour and nobility! You're nothing but a hypocrite and a liar!

do you think....after arthur learned the truth, he remembered all of morgana's old arguments that went ignored by uther? he could hear her voice, filled with self-righteousness and selfless anger about how uther always placed the blame on others, projected fear and hatred to those who were innocent. do you wonder if arthur thought of morgana as he spewed those words to uther?

and then he is told that morgause lied to him. that the ygraine he saw was actually an illusion meant to divide camelot. arthur is told that the ygraine he saw who told him that holding him was "the most precious" moments of her life was nothing more than a lie.

so, what does mean for arthur? does that mean that it truly was his fault that ygraine died? does he go back to blaming himself?

is there still that doubt of his father's ruling that lays restless inside of him? does he watch his father more closely and how he reacts to magic crimes compared to non-magical? does he begin to confide in morgana more because she, too, understand this kind of anger he feels nestled inside of him?

but we don't get that

what we get after this is a week or maybe more of a time skip where gwen is kidnapped and the show tries to further the arwencelot love triangle (and i mean, i'm not against the love triangle, it's just...timing my dude)

it just goes ignored by the show like it wasn't a big deal that arthur was ready to commit regicide (unlike morgana), like it wasn't a big deal that merlin lied to arthur like that and didn't feel conflicted, like it wasn't a big deal that uther's Purge began because of misplaced anger.

no, instead, arthur is back as his snarky and uptight self who never again thinks back to what happened when some big plot is heading his way. and so the show never dives back into that. mentions of arthur's mother don't come back until s4 but that's with agravaine and i do not have the time for that man.

this episode really seemed like it was supposed to lead to a shift in arthur's character, and yet it didn't. it was just...never touched on again and i will never forgive them for that

#long post #excuse me while i go off #i brought receipts (transcipts)#bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #uther pendragon #anti uther #we do not stan that man in this household #not to mention that this is the ep where arthur doubts his father's views on magic bc morgause is granting him this chance to see his mom #he has already doubted his father's views on class (lancelot) & duty (going to help merlin even if his presence could cause war w/ Essetir)#and then he learns that his father LIED #uther lied about magic users for 20 fucking years and didn't care #all he cared about was that the spell didn't work the way he wanted and decided that a whole community of ppl deserved to be wiped out #arthur is devasted bc you know what that means??????#that means that when arthur raided that druid camp all those years ago as a young captain of the knights its purpose was never moral #arthur aided his father and his father LIED ABOUT IT #the sins of the father #s2 ep8 #2.08 #i'm not sorry but also i am sorry that the post is a little long #merlin meta

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zeciex · 7 months

Text

A Vow of Blood

Warnings: This fic includes noncon, dubcon, manipulation, violence and inc3st. Tags will be added as the fic goes on. This is a dark!fic. 18+ only. Read at your own discretion. Please read the warnings before continuing.

Summary: “You will be trapped by the obligations of love and duty, unable to escape the web of expectations others have woven around you,“ the witch said….

Daenera Velaryon returns to King’s Landing with the intention of bolstering her mother’s position and reminding both the Greens and nobility that Rhaenyra is the rightful heir to the throne. She has a specific goal in mind: to be a constant source of annoyance to the Greens and is willing to play the political game without hesitation.

However, what catches her off guard is the way Aemond gazes at her and seems to relish in her suffering. He openly expresses his desire to bring about her downfall, her ruination.

This situation leads to a tense game of cat and mouse, with each move escalating the already high stakes. Will their precarious situation crumble as the dragons soar above, or will fate intervene?

After all, love often demands the sacrifice of duty, just as duty can sometimes lead to the demise of love. Characters: Aemond Targaryen X OC, HOTD characters.

Chapter 11: The Words of a Scandal

AO3 - Masterlist

Daenera couldn’t help but find Alan Beesbury, the grandson of Lyman Beesbury, the Master of Coin, unbearably dull. She recognized his kindness and sweetness, acknowledging that he would make a suitable husband for some fortunate young lady in the future. However, to Daenera, he was painfully lacking in excitement and intrigue.

As they strolled along the gravel path in the garden, the pleasant fragrance of flowers danced in the breeze, momentarily masking the underlying stench of the city. It was a warm, cloudless day, and Daenera donned a light, airy dress in deep yellow and orange, perfectly suited for the heat.

“Do you know why my house sigil is a beehive?” Alan questioned, a gentle smile on his lips.

Responding with a polite smile, she entertained Alan’s question despite not being interested. “No, why?”

Alan’s eyes lit up with delight as he shared a piece of his birthplace with the princess. “We keep massive hives on our property. House Beesbury produces the sweetest honey in all of the realm. You must try it one day.”

“I would love to.”

Alan continued, eager to share his knowledge. “You see, the bees not only produce honey but also play a crucial role in pollinating our vineyards and fruit trees, like apples and cherries. Each hive houses thousands of bees, and we have multiple of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if our bees contribute to pollinating the entire Reach.”

Daenera nodded along and Alan’s smile widened.

“The interesting thing about the bees is that they follow a queen.”

“Is that so?” Daenera feigned interest, noticing the parallel he was obviously trying to draw between the bee queen and Rhaenyra as heir.

“Indeed! The queen is the most important bee in the hive. She’s the one who lays all the eggs. Without the queen, the hive would simply perish.”

If only the realm held such reverence for its future queen , Daenera thought. Then she wouldn’t have to exhaust herself in securing allies for her mother’s rightful claim to the throne.

“So the entire hive just dies?” she inquired, slightly interested.

Alan grimaced. “Well, typically, they find a suitable candidate for the queen among the larvae the only queen has laid. They condition and nurture them until a new queen arises. The new queen then kills all the other possible queens to assure her own safety.”

Daenera’s eyes narrowed. Even in nature a new rule would be marked with bloodshed to secure the rule. “Ah, so the queen is replaceable.”

“A bee queen is, but I believe a true and rightful queen is not,” Alan said in attempt to salvage the conversation.

“I should hope not,” Daenera responded, her thoughts lingering on the fragility of power and the significance of loyalty.

“The lords of Westeros have all pledged their allegiance to your mother, Viserys' chosen heir. No one can dispute that. If the lords are honorable and just, they will not abandon their oaths.”

Daenera held little faith in oaths made by men who were forced to bend the knee by a king who held no other heir at the time. It was oaths made out of uncertainty that could be easily broken by lords ruled by their own ambition.

The serene atmosphere shattered as a voice pierced through the thick rose bushes, carried by the breeze. It was a voice filled with mockery, followed by raucous laughter. Daenera strained to listen, her curiosity piqued.

“ Sweet flower. I write to you with an ache in my bones, so sweet and exquisite, and so you must forgive me for this letter ,” A voice rang out, seeping between the thick bushes, the voice seemingly carried by the breeze. The tone was mocking, as were the laughter that followed.

“You cannot be serious!” A man's voice snickered before egging another on. “Continue, continue, I want to know what this… savage writes.”

“ I write to you as a man in pain, a man maddened by longing, when I saw you dancing at the feast, wrapped in red, twirling on the dancefloor, it seemed to be set ablaze with your presence. ”

“I thought her dress was vulgar,” A female voice cut in. “I mean, it was so tight and just… obscene! It was unfit for a woman at her station.”

“ Your dress bloomed around you and I could not help but notice that you too had bloomed since I last saw you. ” The voice continued.

A suffocating heat enveloped Daenera, casting her breath to hitch and her skin to feel clammy. The air seemed to constrict around her like a tightening fist, squeezing out the comfort she had known. Her eyes blinked rapidly, as if she were desperately trying to reconcile what was unfolding before her. Laughter sliced through the bushes like sharp arrows, piercing into her fragile being.

Alan’s eyes filled with concern as he observed her face drain of color, a stark contrast to her usual vibrancy.

“‘ Bloomed ’, really? How can anyone write such words?” The incredulous voice exclaimed filled with disbelief and a touch of disgust.

The female voice chimed in, her tone one of contempt. “It is utterly embarrassing.”

“Oh, it gets worse,” the reader declared with malicious giddiness, a hum escaping his lips as he loosened his vocal cords. “ Your body moved in rhythm with the melody, a woman’s body, adorned with curves that confirm that you’re truly a woman grown. Your fair skin flushed with a captivating hue, and every breath you took seemed to steal the very air from my lungs. And when you smile, so alluringly coy, graced by your lips, it ignited a fire within me. My deepest desire is to worship you, to witness your blooming upon the sheets, to see your delicate petals unfurl exclusively for me. ”

A wave of despair engulfed Daenera as the sounds of those painfully familiar words reached her ears, words that should have remained concealed beneath a stack of letters, all bearing proposals for her hand in marriage, words that should have been fed to the flames. Her feet carried her towards the voices, skirts clutched tightly in her hands to allow her to move faster.

Alan stumbled after her, his words faltering as he struggled to keep up, his hurried footsteps causing the gravel to shift beneath his feet.

Daenera strode forward, cutting the corner of a rosebush, its thorns scraping against her arm, threatening to sink into flesh and fabric.

In one of the secluded alcoves concealed within the sprawling gardens, nestled beneath an overgrown pavilion, Aegon sat, clutching the letter meant for Daenera in his hands. His eyes darted maliciously over the page, relishing the words contained within.

“ I wonder ,” he mused, his voice taunting, “ what sounds would escape your lips? Will you embrace my tender adoration, or will the fiery passion in your veins demand a more primal and savage response? ”

“What is the meaning of this!?” Daenera’s voice seethed with anger, her eyes shifting between Aegon and his companions, Lady Cira Reyne and Ser Wyllam Lefford, the second son of Lord Humfrey Lefford.

Amidst the shadows of the pavilion, Aemond stood, his malevolent eye gleaming, a cruel smirk playing upon his lips, relishing the spectacle before him, delighting in her embarrassment.

Daenera’s focus returned to Aegon, her eyes blazing with indignation.

Aegon responded with a smug grimace, offering a half-hearted shrug. “Oh, we’re simply engaging in some light reading. You, of all people, should appreciate the importance of a well-rounded education, don’t you think?”

“I certainly hope not,” Lady Cira interjected sharply. “There’s nothing to be gained from such vulgarity.”

Ser Wyllam couldn’t help but snort, attempting to conceal his amusement behind his cup of wine. “Oh, come now, Cira, don’t be such a prude. It’s clear this fellow is pouring his heart out.”

“If I were to receive such a scandalous letter, I would promptly burn it,” Lady Cira retorted pointedly, casting a judgmental and scornful glance at Daenera from the corner of her eye.

“Before you burn it, I suggest you bring it to me so we can derive some amusement from it,” Aegon chimed in, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. His eyes snapped back to Daenera. “Purely for educational purposes, of course.”

“...How embarrassing,” Lady Cira muttered under her breath, using a red silk fan adorned with a silver lion to fan her face, acting high and mighty.

Daenera’s face flushed with humiliation. She felt utterly exposed, as though she had been stripped bare for their amusement. Something that should have remained private now laid bare for them to ridicule. It was foolish of her to have kept the letter, but it provided her with a strange sense of solace. She had intended to burn it, but had not found the resolve to do so yet. A detrimental mistake.

Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine someone… Her eyes landed on Aemond, whose smirk grew sharper, confirming her suspicions… that Aemond had rummaged through her belongings.

It felt like a violation.

It was one thing to have servants do the dirty work of prying into her letters, it was another, more volatile, thing when he had done it himself.

“Where did you find it?” Daenera managed to force out through clenched teeth, her entire body tensed like a bowstring ready to snap.

“I confiscated it from one of the maids,” Aegon lied with the same ease he swallowed his wine. He took a deep breath, putting a finger to his lips in a pretense of thought, the whole display dripping with mockery and insincerity. “Is… is it yours, perhaps? Are you the… what was it? Ah, yes, the ‘sweet flower’?”

It was undoubtedly hers, and they all knew it. That was precisely why they had the letter in their possession, because it belonged to her. Daenera’s fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white, her nails digging into the flesh of her palm, leaving small, red crescents. She struggled to swallow the anger, bitterness and embarrassment. It left a vile taste in her mouth.

“Tell me, my sweet niece, do you wish to be worshiped tenderly or savagely?” Aegon jeered, his grin widening at the fiery glare in her eyes. If looks could kill, Aegon would have died a thousand times over. But unfortunately, her glares held no lethality.

“Savagely sounds the most entertaining,” Wyllam commented, a smug smile playing on his lips as well.

“This is highly inappropriate!” Alan interjected.

“Then you’re sure to enjoy this next part,” Aegon promised, licking his lips in anticipation. He took a deep breath, but before he could continue, Daenera had rushed forward, slamming her hands onto the table with such force that everything atop it trembled.

“That is enough! Give me that!” Daenera reached for the paper, but Aegon swiftly maneuvered out of her way, rising from his chair so abruptly that it nearly toppled over. His chuckles filled the air, brimming with malicious delight.

He took that deep breath again and began reading. “ Would you taste sweet as honey, I wonder, sweet as sugar- ,”

“You fucking son of a whore!” Daenera cursed darting after Aegon, rounding the table only to find him on the other side. He was fast, and faster still when spurred on by his friends' laughter and jeer. Alan tried to step in, but Aegon threw him off with one hand, the young lordling falling to his ass on the gravel with a grunt.

“ I would worship you all night until the sun arose to bear witness, I would give you all that I have, I would condemn myself to eternal hell, for you, sweet flower, ” his laugh turned maniacal when Daenera hurled a peach at his head. He narrowly avoided it, flinging up dust as he ran the moment she did. “You’re getting worked up over nothing, sweet niece! Unless this is your letter of course.”

“Give it to her if she so wishes to have it back,” Lady Cira mused, inspecting her nails nonchalantly. “She seems quite attached to that vulgar thing. It’s certainly not fitting for a princess.”

“Oh, my apologies, Lady Cira, if you find a letter like that unsuitable for a princess,” Daenera retorted, her voice laced with venom. “I am sure we can both agree that Indigo isn’t suitable for someone at your station either.”

Lady Cira visibly paled, taking off the palate of someone ill.

One of the tailors of King’s Landing were known for their indigo fabrics adorning the walls. Daenera had heard from Tris that Cira had taken a special interest in the tailor's son, and Daenera had dispatched one of her servants to investigate. Gossip could be such a vicious weapon.

Wyllam wore a genuinely confused expression. “Indigo?”

“I have no idea what she’s talking about,” Lady Cira denied, continuing to fan herself, though with much greater haste.

“ The yearning I experience is enough to engulf me in despair. Since the moment we met, you have consumed my every thought. Your passionate presence haunts me, both in waking hours and in dreams. I starve for you, a hunger so profound it consumes me entirely. Will you relieve me of this torment, my sweet flower ?” Aegon continued, his voice growing louder as Daenera’s hands finally seized the back of his doublet, yanking him backward. The collar constricted around his throat, causing him to emit a strangled noise. Despite his discomfort, he managed to keep the letter out of her reach.

“Give it back!” Daenera seethed, her fingers clawing at Aegon’s doublet, desperately trying to pry his arm down and snatch the letter from his grip. Aegon, in turn, pushed her away, reveling in her anger and laughing like an impish child. He was a fucking menace.

“You should really put him out of his misery!” Aegon declared, narrowly evading the swipe of Daenera’s hand aimed at his face.

The scene devolved into utter chaos. Lord’s Beesbury’s son sat on his backside, observing the prince and princess engage in a childish brawl over a letter that could very well be a brawl between starving children over a piece of bread. Meanwhile, Ser Wyllam and Lady Cira lingered in the background, one attempting to extract information from the other. And amidst it all, Aemond lurked in the shadows, thoroughly entertained by the spectacle.

“It is a misery to read,” Aegon shouted, trying to push her away but almost falling in the attempt.

“Then why are you reading it?!” Daenera retorted, her voice filled with frustration.

“I told you, for educational purposes. Does this filth arouse you, niece? Does it make you bloom ? Do these words moisten you with desire? Will it entice you to spread your legs-,”

In one quick motion, Daenera broke free from Aegon’s grapes, spinning on her heels to grab the flagon of wine from the table. Without a moment’s hesitation she hurled its contents at Aegon, a crashing wave of wine drenching him, saturating his doublet, and turning strands of his pale hair purple. He blinked and sputtered, caught off guard by the sudden deluge.

Daenera all but ripped the letter from his hand. “You had no right!”

Unfazed, Aegon whipped the wine from his face, sucking at the fingers that cleared out his eyes of wine. “Tell me, princess, have you spread your legs for him yet?

“That-that is enough!” Alan intervened, finally off his ass and out of his state of shock. His backside was dusty from the gravel and his hair was rumpled. “How dare you speak to the princess in such a manner? How dare you accuse her of such a… a vile and debasing thing?”

Aegon looked sardonically at Alan, like he was a bug to be squashed, nothing more than an annoyance. “I am merely asking for assurances that my good niece’s maidenhood remains intact. It wouldn’t be proper if she had just given it away to some lowborn soldier.”

“I assure you, I remain intact,” Daenera bit at him.

“Your pride doesn't,” Aemond murmured with a sharp disinterest.

He was right. That was the worst of it. Her pride had been wounded, and felt the confines of embarrassment still wrap around her chest, as tight as the corset had been that night during the feast.

“You have no proof of any wrongdoings,” Daenera shot at him. “All you have is a letter from a soldier long gone. And you don’t even have that.”

The paper crunched as she balled it up in her fist, holding it so tight one would think it’d be dust in the wind once she finally decided to open it again. The letter would be burned immediately upon her return to her quarters.

“There’s witnesses,” Aemond pointed out, pushing off the pillar as he slowly strode to her, all arrogance and bravado.

“One witness is a drunk,” Daenera glanced at Aegon, who had found his way back to his seat, feet placed on the table, resting back in the chair while holding his half empty cup of wine. “A Lady with a secret of her own.” Lady Cira glared at Daenera, then looked away dismissively, violently fanning her face. “And another man known for drinking and whoring.”

“A prince. A lady. And a lord's son.” Aemond didn’t even glance at Alan. “And a blustering lordling.”

“All of which can be discounted.”

“Mmm, do you believe it’s as simple as that?” Aemond mused, his twisted smirk sending a shiver down her spine.

In that moment, Daenera longed to clasp her hands around his throat and squeeze until his head popped off. She knew all too well that it wasn’t that easy. It would be a minor scandal, but a scandal nonetheless. The castle’s gossip mill would spin tirelessly, spreading the news of the letter before dusk was there, and come dawn countless embellished versions would have been concocted.

“It would be mere whispers carried by the wind. Empty words,” Daenera remarked, her voice quivering with fury.

“Is that so?” Aemond challenged, his tone filled with amusement.

But no, it wasn’t so. Rumors and speculation were potent weapons, capable of inflicting wounds more insidious than that of a physical blade. They could stab you in the back, undermining your reputation and eroding perceptions. Rumors had been the tool to chase off her mother, and it was the tools, the weapon she decided to make her own. And now, he had managed to disarm her, holding the weapon of gossip against her throat. He knew he had emerged victorious in this battle, and the knowledge fueled her anger even further.

The bitter truth was that she should have known better than to keep the letter, let alone hidden in a stack of proposals. The embarrassment intensified, turning sour in her mouth.

“Go back to Dragonstone,” Aemond whispered, his words barely audible to anyone but her. Yet, they seemed to slither down her spine, coiling in the depths of her stomach, brewing a tempest of resentment.

“You once called me a spiteful little creature,” Daenera replied, an edge to her tone. “I am just that. Spiteful.”

“A creature,” Aemond jeered in amusement.

“If you ever desire to truly learn the art of pleasing a man,” Aegon interjected with a taunting tone, his head tilted back on the seat, casually not making eye contact with anyone. He held up a bunch of grapes, slowly lowering it to pluck one with his teeth. “I would be more than willing to assist. I can demonstrate how much of that letter is nothing more than fanciful fabrication.”

“I hope you choke on that grape.”

Aegon made his signature grimace, the upside down smirk, shrugging. “It is only a suggestion. I’m sure your future husband will find use of it some day.”

“Or think her a whore,” muttered Lady Cira.

“Lady Cira is fucking a tailors son,” Daenera informed unceremoniously.

The revelation hit like a gust of wind and almost knocked Ser Wyllam out of his chair, his gasp so violent he choked on his own spit and began coughing.

Aegon’s head simply propped up, a brow raised in surprise. “I’m impressed, Lady prim and proper.”

Lady Cira vehemently protested. “Lies! She would go to any length to deflect the attention from herself and avoid being embroiled in a scandal.”

Daenera’s eyes remained on Aemond, even as chaos unfolded behind him, her eyes fixed on his smug face. With a slow and deliberate growl, she retorted, “You haven’t succeeded in ruining me.”

She would play the part of a frivolous and naive girl, allowing others to underestimate her and thereby reduce the impact of the scandal. ‘She didn’t know any better’ . With careful maneuvering, she could sweep it under the rug and minimize the damage. She was the little flower princess after all.

“You can act innocent, but I know you’re anything but innocent.” Aemond’s response was laced with a hint of intimacy, his voice low as if it was a private moment between the two of them, murmured between the sheets.

If it had been just the two of them, she would have plucked his other eye from his skull.

“Do well to remember, One-eye,” Daenera threatened, punctuating her words with a tap of her finger beneath her eye, emphasizing the extent to which she would go to enforce her warning. “What happened the last time you decided to spread rumors. If you happen to have forgotten, I will happily remind you.”

It was not an empty threat, and Aemond’s eye narrowed.

In a flurry of yellow silks and dark curls, she stomped away, her mind already at work, formulating a plan. If he wanted to besmirch her reputation and humiliate her, she would make sure to return the favor in kind.

Alan, hurrying to catch up with the irritated princess who longed for solitude to plot her revenge, commented, “That was unbecoming of the princes.”

“It comes as no surprise,” Daenera muttered, her voice filled with disdain. “Aegon has always had a penchant for humiliating others, and as for Aemond…”

“No one will believe whatever they say about you,” Alan insisted.

Daenera scoffed, her expression twisting with cynicism. She knew all too well that people believe what they choose to believe. If they harbored preexisting animosity towards her, it would be effortless for them to embrace any rumors spread by Lady Cira and Ser Wyllan. On the other hand, those who held her in favor would undoubtedly refute such claims. It was nothing that a temporary disruption, a mere hiccup in her reputation.

“You are honorable and virtuous, princess,” Alan reiterated, attempting to reassure her.

“I appreciate your kind words, Ser Alan, but I find myself plagued with a throbbing headache and in need of rest,” Daenera replied, her voice strained. She didn’t need him buzzing around her with honeyed words.

With that, she spun on her heels and ascended the steps of the Keep, leaving behind a bewildered and concerned suiter.

She would give something for the court to gossip about, far more interesting than a mere letter.

#aemond targaryen #hotd #hotd aemond #aemond x reader #aemond fanfiction #aemond one eye #house of the dragon #hotd fanfic #A Vow of Blood #my fanfiction

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