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dent-de-leon · 3 years

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Do you think we all (cast included) misunderstood Lucien's plans and intentions (and a few of his actions) as surely evil because of our impression of Molly? The closer we get to the city the more I think it's less of a world ending emergency and more of a conman's dreams and delusions, twisted by a hive mind entity. I can't say he's just a victim but I have my doubts on where he actually stands without Nonagon. Any thoughts on...everything...? I love reading you talk about all of them!

Oh, this is definitely a tricky question. I think it’s hard to pin down what Lucien wants exactly--especially since he, that shard of Molly, and the Somnovum have all bled together. But we do get some interesting clues to try and piece together where he’s going in terms of the big picture. And I think you’re very much right about Lucien’s original intentions being misguided by the Somnovum.

I think Caleb is able to express a very intuitive understanding of what ultimately drives Lucien. When he’s explaining everything to Essek, Caleb says, “Our understanding of this is rudimentary at best, but these Tomb Takers--this purple one we have mentioned--believes that he can achieve all his dreams if he brings this city of dreamers back into the world, we think.” At his core, I think that’s what Lucien really wants. And during the last episode, he echoes this again and again:

Lucien: “Long ago, there was a group of people who had an idea to get away from oppressive minds, and pursue their dreams. And when destruction came out of their making, they were ready, or so they thought. And they shunted their people across the planes to safety, in the Astral Plane, where they knew they could make their dreams a reality...And there’s so much that they could do, but they just lack the guidance. It’s a waste of potential. But, I think I could show em. And, maybe if you decide to be more friend than foe, when all is done, I could make your dreams come true as well.”

It’s reminiscent of when Lucien asked each of the Nein if they had an imagination, and what they’d do if they could have any wish of theirs granted. He’s a dreamer. He believes he has some grand plan for the City that will bring clarity to them, change the course of their doomed fate. He’s doing this for himself, certainly. But bizarrely enough, he sees himself as a kind of misguided savior, as someone who simply knows better. Who, given the chance and power, could salvage the remnants of the City and break them free of their living nightmare.

“I’m their savior as they were mine. I will save them from their pain. From their wasteful existence.” I mean, he calls himself a king so we know he has a nice seat on the throne lined up for him when this all goes down. But still. He seems to think he’ll be a good king for these people, someone who can save them. And that’s....certainly interesting. It suggests there’s a kind of misconstrued sense of supposed nobility to his intentions.

Of course, it’s important to remember that Lucien wasn’t always this way. He’s not someone like Vess, who started off seeking this kind of otherworldly power, who set out to rule the world. He was scared of the book, once. When he first saw the Eyes of Nine, he admits to Jester that he was horrified. “But, then the dreams started coming. Something was spilling into them. And it wanted my help.” At a certain point, Lucien himself and what he originally wanted began to fade. “So at that point, Luicen became more of a--more of a costume. The Nonagon became more of a presence.” His wants and dreams became one with the City, and he was powerless to resist.

Lucien is quite literally the perfect candidate for the Nonagon, because he’s exactly like all those denizens of the Cognoza ward. Lucien describes everyone in that city as having their souls shattered and slowly reforged by the Somnovum, put together until they became one with the Eyes of Nine, entirely driven by this world of dreams, the fanatical belief that they could make all their desires a reality.

Lucien: “Unfortunately, they didn’t account for was this terrible psychic storm that awaited them, that wracked every mind and spirit and shattered them until they became one with their own city. Death would have been a mercy. But instead, thousands of people, and the Somnovum that guided them, were broken. And overtime slowly reformed. Powerful. The instinct of their dreams guiding them, in the place where they could will their dreams to be--were their will not so fragmented.”

Sound familiar? It’s exactly what happened to Lucien after Vess broke his spirit and scattered all the broken pieces into the Astral Sea.

Lucien: “Imagine if you will, you, the very idea of you, your singular conscience and every thought you had, was accompanied by a hundred screaming thoughts fighting for attention...That was the prison I was sent to. My spirit broken and blown across the Astral winds. But it took the Somnovum following my scent, much like I followed hers, to find all my pieces and put them back together again.”

Lucien was himself destroyed, his sense of identity obliterated. He is whatever shape the Somnovum have made them, a patchwork of their ceaseless chorus of screaming voices in the endless dream. Lucien expresses gratitude to the Somnovum for saving him, painstakingly piecing him back together. And he seems to genuinely believe he can save them in turn. But they undoubtably did so in a deliberate design, with their own path for him in mind. He is of their own making, and I think that shows in his all consuming desire to rejoin them in their world.

But I think he does believe, in his own misguided way, under the thrall of the Somnovum, that he can change this City for the better. Make both their dreams and his--even the Nein’s--a reality. I don’t think that was just him baiting the Nein. Molly’s fondness for his friends still holds some sway over Luicen, even if he can’t quite understand it. “Because try as I might, a part of me still likes them.” Molly seems to be waking, bit by bit, and I think his wants and impulses are now bleeding into Lucien. It’s why he can’t seem to bring himself to kill them.

So yeah, I don’t think Lucien wants to bring about an end to the world, or some large scale destruction. I think he wants a new start for himself and Cognoza. A rebirth. Lucien may not have been “good,” but certainly some part of him was. Or was at least capable of it, as we’ve seen through the softer heart of Mollymauk. But I don’t think Lucien was ever really evil either. I think he’s more complicated than that, and his intentions reflect that.

“And you plan to go there and stay there? Or bring something back, and make this world better than how you found it?” I think there’s a reason why Lucien was able to look at Caleb and say “Yes” so easily, so genuinely. I think some part of him really does believe it. But those wants and dreams are also tangled up in that shard of Molly’s desire to keep the Nein close and grant their dreams as well, and both of them are caught up in the web spun by the Somnovum. It’s messy.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #mollymauk #lucien #thanks! and sorry this got so long lmao

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teaveetamer · 4 years

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Looking at Edelgards wiki page, and aside from all the spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and horrible sentence structure, dear LORD is it filled with such vague, unspecific language to make her look better. Saying in "some endings" she passes on the role of Emperor to someone else while in others she "rules for an unspecified time" to support she steps down after the war, completely ignoring Lysitheas ending where she rules for the rest of her life and not clarifying the specific (1/3)

numbers of endings where she retires (I counted, its two, and even then only in her later years). Crimson Flower apparently ends "much faster" than the other routes instead of directly stating its three months faster. Saying she only spoke so harshly to Dimitri before executing him to allow him to "hate her" until the end (how compassionate of her /s, also I cannot find any proof of this in the script so either I'm missing something or the editor is just posting headcanons). (2/3)

All in all, Edelgards entire personality wiki section is a complete joke. The person that wrote it should have their editing priviledges removed. (3/3)

I mean we know who is making all of those edits. It’s our resident contrarian that people were sending a dozen asks about yesterday. It just comes off as another of many poorly thought out arguments, since they keep pointing to specific supports or text in the game when that’s... Not really necessary. We all played the game, you only do that shit when you’re trying to win an argument.

Honestly if I were in control of the page it’d look more like this:

Edelgard holds herself with a dignified air, but full of melancholy and solemn wistfulness. which can make her appear outwardly cold. As heir of the Adrestian Empire, she is an exemplary student and a natural leader. She keeps a modest stoic front. rarely cutting loose and maintains formality. She rarely cuts loose and maintains formality at all times. Her colleagues classmates (who the fuck calls the people they went to school with “colleagues”?) express great surprise whenever she does relax. While She is generally a private person, she does recognize the importance of her duties and expresses confidence and faith in the abilities of her allies. and she is rarely shown opening up to other people.(the previous line did not make sense, her recognizing the importance of duty has no relationship to being a private person).

She is a capable dancer, having taught Dimitri at a young age and has a talent for drawing portraits, though she is embarrassed to show them to others. (These really belong in a separate “skills” section but whatever the wiki doesn’t appear to have that category for this game). She has a personal nickname, El, of whom which she only allows very close individuals, namely her family, to call her.

Though she tries to keep it a secret, Edelgard is deathly afraid of rats, as they remind her of a past she is uncomfortable with. Edelgard is deathly afraid of rats since they remind her of a past she is uncomfortable with, though she tries to keep this fact a secret. She is also fears afraid of the ocean since because she cannot swim.

Edelgard is far more complex than she initially appears, as she had been scheming to dismantle the corrupt systems of Fódlan, namely the influence of the Church of Seiros, the oppression of the Crest systems, and the hidden machinations of the Agarthans. Driven by her desire to remove these influences, she is willing to sacrifice both her life and reputation as she believes that the only means of achieving her goals is through war and sometimes underhanded tactics. (Such unnecessary fluff). Edelgard will use whatever it takes to achieve her goals, using all three of the aforementioned systems begrudgingly as they are the current means for her to amass any sort of power and influence in order to instigate meaningful change in them. Edelgard is extremely driven, and she is willing to use whatever it takes to achieve her goals. This is evidenced by her willingness to work with Those Who Slither in the Dark, as she believes they are the only ones who can help her amass enough power to achieve her ends.

Edelgard strongly believes that the ends will justify the means if she were to win the war, as she despises the structure of Fódlan society and believes it has to be replaced by a more just system under which humanity can flourish. In the Azure Moon route she states she went to war after weighing all options and determined that it would be much faster with far fewer casualties than to continue on in the continent's current state. This is reflected through the Crimson Flower route that ends much sooner than the other two, albeit a later war is impending against the remaining Agarthians, where she manages to wipe them all out, compared to the other routes where the Agarthans survive to return at a later time. As a result, she does realize the gravity of her orders but chooses to remain steadfast in her belief in improving society for everyone. She also does not desire to remain Emperor for too long as according to a tea time conversation with her, Edelgard states she has no intention of handing the throne to any children she might have, instead planning to pass it on to someone brilliant and kind, which a few endings do, while others she rules for an unspecified time. (Literally this entire paragraph is unnecessary fluff.)

Dimitri has had a significant impact on her life as the two are step-siblings when her mother Anselma married King Lambert under the name "Patricia." In their childhood, neither were aware of their relationship to each other, but they were close nonetheless, with Dimitri affectionately calling her "El" which only those particularly close to her are allowed to call her. Dimitri gifted her a dagger which she held well into the present, which was symbolically meant to tell her to carve out her own ideals and face the numerous hardships she had to endure up until the present. If met at the Goddess Tower during the Academy Phase, she admits that her first love was a Faerghus noble who she cannot recall, implied to be Dimitri. Despite her past feelings towards him, it is heavily implied for most of the game that Edelgard no longer remembers Dimitri nor that he gifted her the dagger, possibly as a result of her trauma from the experiments. In the Azure Moon route, she accepts Dimitri's invitation to parley on a whim. Despite failing to come to an understanding with one another to end the war peacefully, she is nonetheless able to express her gratitude to him for the dagger and the strength it provided her when he reminds her that it was a parting gift from him. (Everything in this paragraph would really be more at home in a separate “relationships” subcategory, which this wiki also does not feature.)

Edelgard's personality and ambitions are a result of tragedies that painted her view of the world. The traumatic imprisonment of her siblings and herself due to the experiments of Those Who Slither in the Dark created her hatred of Crests. Edelgard’s personality and ambitions are a direct result of the suffering she faced at the hands of TWSITD. Her imprisonment and the subsequent experimentation on herself and her family were a key factor in her disillusionment with Fódlan and the Church of Seiros. (Don’t ask me how she got to that conclusion. Also take a shot for every time this dude uses the word “tragic”.) She also despises most nobility, especially the Adrestian Nobles, as they are partially responsible for the circumstances leading to said experiments, but also due to the fact that Crests are used as societal leverage by most nobles as a sign of their prestige. She even shows sympathy and pity to Miklan, whom she praises for becoming a leader despite being disowned and leading a group of bandits, calling his death "a waste". One of her main goals is to dismantle the current nobility system and having the people earn their position by merit rather than birthright, which she achieves in her ending in the Crimson Flower path. (More fluff.)

Edelgard has a complex view of the current Church of Seiros as her tragic history with the Insurrection of the Seven along with the knowledge given by her father regarding the truth of the War of Heroes paints her radical opinion. She bears a large distrust of Rhea due to her withholding of knowledge and context behind the history of the church, even pointing out some of the Church's hypocrisy of remaining neutral across Fódlan, yet allowing the Crest system to flourish that Edelgard despises. She does not fully dismiss the concept of faith however, even allowing it to continue to exist in her rule, though heavily monitored by the Empire. (Oh hey Edelstan is acknowledging her state run religion at least) She even tries to learn more about it from Manuela but does not plan on ever becoming a devout follower by any means. When as an enemy, however, she will cause those who are faithful to be afraid for their lives and flee the Empire. However, during Crimson Flower, several Knights of Seiros that have become unnerved by Rhea flee to the Empire, while those involved with the Church in the Empire flee for the Eastern, but then flee to Faerghus due to lack of a military. (Fluff.)

Despite this, Edelgard expresses fear and anxiety over the consequences of her actions her chosen path should Byleth side with her in Crimson Flower, as she understands that she would be her actions make her responsible for the deaths loss of countless lives. (lmao “the deaths of countless lives”) This is proven further when Randolph and Ladislava die defending Garreg Mach from the Church, and how she laments that another life is lost in the war because of her choices. She mourned Dimitri's death, letting herself be hated by Dimitri to the end by speaking harshly to him to let his perception of her remain, lamenting how she could not save him from Thales's manipulation. (wut) Dimitri's death struck her to the point that Byleth questioned if Edelgard was crying, which she denied, claiming that the Edelgard who cried had perished years ago.

Edelgard's relationship with Byleth greatly affects her personality and fate in the war. Edelgard admits in her support that she feared expresses fear that she would have become "a harsh ruler with a heart of ice" if she had to walk her path alone. In the other routes where she is not taught by them or where Byleth sides with the church against her, this becomes a reality and ultimately leads to her early demise. This is likely expressed in the conversation with Dimitri, where, in the Japanese version, she retorts Dimitri's statement over the lessons he learned with his friends and Byleth with her stating that he can understand that because he has what she lacks, referencing how Edelgard felt Byleth was the only one she could consider an equal that is not bound by status but simply as Edelgard. As her enemy, Edelgard will express regret that the two did not walk the same path and even find some semblance of closure falling to Byleth's sword in the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind paths. Should they choose to support her, she has a far easier time expressing kindness and regret over her actions over the course of the game herself. She will opt to force her enemies to surrender instead of wiping them out, where she even offered to spare Rhea and the Church followers if they surrendered, while the former was willing to sacrifice the city the final battle takes place in. (This doesn’t even make sense, she never forced Rhea to surrender she just half heartedly gave her the option of surrender). She also has several fleeting moments of peace and happiness, such as when she takes to drawing portraits of Byleth, which she is self conscious about due to their lack of quality in her eyes.

That attachment towards Byleth is even perhaps stronger than that of the other house leaders. When they teach the Black Eagles, she makes several attempts to get Byleth to understand her world view, even though Hubert advised her it would not be wise and personally invited Byleth to her coronation. In the Crimson Flower route, Dorothea notes that among the Black Eagles, Edelgard was the most emotionally affected by Byleth's disappearance. Edelgard's fondness for Byleth goes so far as to encourage Byleth to call her El and even let Byleth give her orders on the battlefield despite her dislike of not being in control. Despite her earlier statement that she does not cry, she openly cries at the end of the Crimson Flower route when Byleth supposedly dies after slaying Rhea, but is overjoyed when they are revived. Edelgard's bond with Byleth can ultimately result in the marriage of the two, regardless of their gender. It is in her proposal to them at this level where she asks that they stay close to her and that she will need them for the rest of her life. Regardless of her relationship status with Byleth, in the Crimson Flower route, it is through their influence that she ultimately achieves her goals and is remembered far more kindly than in the other routes where she perishes. (Again, would be more at home in a separate relationships section since it says almost nothing about Edelgard as an individual. You could maybe keep the bit about her disliking not being in control, but I’d combine it with an earlier paragraph since it doesn’t make much sense as its own thing.)

#Anonymous

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esausrpmemes · 5 years

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(Originally posted by galacticrpmemes who has since deactivated. Now available again without having to reblog from private users)

ᴅʀᴀɢᴏɴ ᴀɢᴇ II ꜱᴇɴᴛᴇɴᴄᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀꜱ

change genders as needed!

“I was hoping we could talk.”

“I could create such desires if I wished, but it is far easier to nurture those which already exist.”

“You’ll hardly find my services “standard”.“

“That’s right. Once you’re numb, you’ll do anything I ask.”

“We’ve lost it all. Everything your father and I built.”

“Those elves you’re friends with, they’re… Rather strange, aren’t they?”

“My little boy/little girl has grown so strong. I love you. You’ve always made me proud.”

“The people fear what we can do, but to use that fear to bludgeon us into submission is wrong! And they do it with our blessing!”

“I have made this place a sanctum of healing and salvation! Why do you threaten it?”

“Since when is Justice happy? Justice is righteous. Justice is hard.”

“The oppression of us stems from the fears of men. Not the will of the Maker.”

“I will not stand by and watch you treat us like criminals, while those who would lead us bow to their jailors!”

“I haven’t been on the surface very long, I keep thinking I’ll fall up into that sky any minute.”

“Killing my former brothers-in-arms is oddly satisfying.”

“I’d rather him alive and furious than dead and buried.“

“You should all be grateful!”

"Your kind think selfishness and want are normal. This city, all of it, leaves a bad taste.”

“Friend and enemy blend together in this sea of filth. I can barely discern one group from another.”

“Their actions are merely symptoms. Your society is the disease.”

“I have seen every vice and weakness of your kind, how few of you take responsibility.”

“We’re not killers or slavers. Anything short of that, however, is fair game.”

“I intend to take what you owe––––with interest.”

“A dangerous thing, taking sides. I avoid it wherever possible.”

“Ah my little _____, predictable as always.”

“ Do I detect a note of jealousy? It’s not surprising. The lad is rather skilled, isn’t he?”

“You weren’t always this way, _____. Once upon a time you had affection for me. I remember it fondly.

“What do I care what shield they carry? If they challenge us, the dead themselves will meet the call!”

"Zealots are bravest where their lies can’t be argued: behind closed doors.”

“I’m preparing for the worst. The very worst. This may require absorbent linens.”

“There are other ways to see the world.“

“If I offend, well—some people try very hard to be offended.”

“Shameful, isn’t it? How I don’t mindlessly repeat the mistakes of my father?”

“Death is never justice.”

“Eternity is long enough that we need not rush to meet it.”

“I cannot take sides.“

"I saw something nasty in the woodshed.”

“You smell like cinnamon buns.“

“Can I have some Salamanders, please?“

“One day the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide.“

“They know what I am. Let them come, if they find the courage.”

"What has magic touched that it doesn’t spoil?”

“Now the battle awaits us. Na via lerno victoria. ‘Only the living know victory.’ Fight well.”

“Am I supposed to forgive, no matter how many times they hunt me down? Am I supposed to forget all the things they’ve done to me?”

“You realize this is a cause you can’t hope to win.“

“Everything was fine until today!“

“I have… dreams. There are voices in the dreams. They ask me to come, to give shape to the Void around them.”

“Hurtled into the chaos, you fight… and the world will shake before you.”

“Is it fate or chance? I can never decide.”

“Regret is something I know well. Take care not to cling to it, to hold it so close that it poisons your soul.”

“We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment… and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly.”

“There is always a catch. Life is a catch! I suggest you catch it while you can.”

“It’s the only way…to hear the music.”

“I did not think any of us would leave those caverns alive.”

“You’re very brave. Take this, with my blessings. You remind me of someone…I hold dear, though I never had the courage to say that to her.”

“Felicitate me!”

“There are men who struggle against destiny, and yet achieve only an early grave. There are men who flee destiny, only to have it swallow them whole. And there are men who embrace destiny, and do not show their fear. These are the ones that change the world forever.”

“I’m sure someone thought far too long about my name.”

“When in doubt, run away, and let me handle it.”

“Something else I can help with?”

“Onward! There’s much to be done.”

“Next time, could we hunt something small and cuddly? Maybe vegetarian?”

“We do a lot of walking, don’t we?”

“I have an excellent sense of dramatic timing. And good hair.”

“They say your life flashes in front of your eyes before you die. Any helpful flashes yet?”

“Seems to me, the last man standing gets final say on who is right or wrong.”

“Anyone who leaves, is a deserter. And we all know what happens to deserters…”

“You better have a good reason for bothering me.”

“I don’t like it when people interrupt my thoughts.”

“Other people always took the risks to keep me free.”

“Maker’s breath! Can’t you do this when I’m not around?”

“You’re a far better representative of the family than I would have been.”

“It seems I am again in your debt… and shadow.”

“You soulless bastard!”

“If you have a problem with my brother/sister, you have a problem with me.”

“A hundred ways to run, and we choose backward.“

“I’d prefer to stay in this world as long as possible. And if I can make it an ordered place without looking like a zealot, all the better.”

“The world is a big place, but the faces are the same. We do right here, we make a difference.”

“There’s no escaping you, it seems.”

“I am a visionary. I’ve seen our destiny.“

“Our mistakes make us who we are.”

“Sailing is like sex. Do it wrong, and it’ll make you sick. But do it right, and there’s no feeling in the world like it.

"When you get right down to it, we’re not responsible for anyone but ourselves. You can choose to be free, or you can choose to be saddled with all the world’s problems.”

“I like big boats, I cannot lie.”

“Don’t bet anything you’re not prepared to lose.”

“You see, sweetness, men are only good for one thing. Women are good for six.”

“Shit. What have you gotten yourself into this time, _____?”

“Justice… answers to nobody!”

“Leave! This does not concern you!”

“Do not say his name! He will hear you! Do not wake him!”

“Me and my boys will get our money’s worth, bitch.”

“Need a little special something for that special someone?”

“Did you say something? I didn’t hear you. And clumsy me, I seem to have dropped a coin purse in your hand.”

“I’ll try not to hit anyone. On our side, I mean. I’m babbling again. Let’s go.”

“If anyone is to do any slaying, it will be me.”

“Would you hurry it up? I haven’t eaten all day…”

“We tried to be good! We did everything we were told!“

“You deny us our freedom so that you may sleep better at night, but I say it is a restless and undeserved slumber.”

“You push us into desperate acts, and then use that as justification to press ever further!”

“Start talking, _____. They tell me you’re good at it.”

“Bullshit! That’s not what really happened!”

“I’m not interested in stories. I came to hear the truth.”

“What makes you think I know the truth?”

“I hope you live a long life, _____, because your judgment before the Maker will be harsh.”

“We all have our strengths to exploit, mine is finding like-minded people.“

“I found her eyes, her skin, her delicate fingers… and at last, her face. Oh, this beautiful face.”

“I have chosen my path.”

“Your words did not fall on deaf ears.”

"How about ‘the smart-mouthed _____ gets slapped across the face’?”

“Oh, don’t be jealous, sweetie.“

“Let’s get you some experience, sweetie!”

“Why is this taking so long? Can ones so evil truly be so powerful? Maker, guide your humble servant! Please tell me what I must do! What if… I’m not doing the right thing? What if this is all madness? No! I must remain vigilant!”

“How does it feel, _____, to know I hold the life of one you love in my hands?”

“The job’s simple: break up the meeting and kill every one of those bastards.”

“There are few things in this world more powerful than a promise kept. Remember that.”

“There’s truth in your face. A rare thing in a human.”

“There is a light in your heart, human. Don’t let it go out. You will need it.”

“It has been a long, hard journey to this place. And it’s far from over.”

“Do you ever feel like you’re part of a story that someone’s telling? Maker, I wish whoever was telling the story had made me more handsome.

"When was the last time you were with a woman?”

“'I don’t like this’? That’s right up there with, 'What could possibly go wrong?’”

“There’s a recipe to a good hero, _____. It’s like alchemy. One part down-to-earth, one part selfless nobility, two parts crazy, and you season liberally with wild falsehoods. You let that percolate through a good audience for a while, and when it’s done, you’ve got your hero.”

“Once more I am falsely accused of whatever it is that I am accused of. Falsely.”

“_____, I’m a businessman. Now and then, I shoot people.”

“You should know by now that I love the sound of my own voice, _____.”

“What a mess of mud and blood. No resale value at all.”

“Protect what matters with everything you have, or you’ll have nothing, and deserve it.”

“They will not have you…not while I breathe.”

“Shout if you need me, _____. I’ll always be there for you. Just… knock first.”

“Honey, I could write volumes on the things I know.”

#meme #rp meme #dragon age meme #sentence starters #rp prompts #galacticrpmemes

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spidersmiceandeverythingnice · 5 years

Text

I’m starting a new job soon and have a lot of free time on my hands so you bet your ass I made an entire Servant profile for a Saber Lafayette concept.

Name: Lafayette

Alignment: Lawful Good

Attribute: Star

Rank: 4*

Class: Saber

Class Skills: Riding (A)

Traits: Human / Servant / Brynhildr’s Beloved

Active Skills: Charisma (B) - Increase the attack of all allies for three turns. / Golden Rule (A) - Greatly increase NP gain for three turns. / Unshakable Ideals (A+) Apply invincible and self-heal for three turns.

Character Information:

Gilbert du Moutier, Marquis de Lafayette - young revolutionary of the enlightenment era, a French nobleman who became a hero for the United States when he was just nineteen years old. His Noble Phantasm recreates the Battle of Yorktown, when the British finally surrendered to the Continental Army.

Bond 1: “Lafayette is normally a member of the Rider class. However, due to the strength of his ideals, he is also capable of this manifestation.”

Bond 2: “Volunteered to fight in the American War for Independence when he was a teenager. Due to his nobility in France, he was quickly given a high rank and distinguished himself in battle. The sword he wields is a gift commissioned by the Continental Congress to thank him for his services after the war.”

Bond 3: “CHARISMA - He seemed to the Americans ‘a knight in shining armor,’ proof that the ideals enshrined in the revolution were possible and supported by European allies. He was able to successfully rally and command troops even when he had been injured.

GOLDEN RULE - One of the richest nobles in France, at a time when French nobles were among the richest people on Earth. However, he famously endured the hardships of winter at Valley Forge along with the American troops.”

Bond 4: “UNSHAKABLE IDEALS - Lafayette’s personal skill, which affects his manifestation in a way similar to Marie Antoinette’s Beautiful Princess. A student of the liberal enlightenment era, an opponent of bigotry and oppression in all forms. When the War for Independence ended, Lafayette declared, ‘Humanity’s battle is won - liberty now has a country!’ because he genuinely believed that the United States would become a nation exemplifying the best of human freedom and equality.”

Bond 5: “It’s possible that his idealism is not simply naivety. He was given great responsibilities at a young age due to his family situation, and endured hardships during and after in the war. He greatly missed his wife and children while fighting. However, he simply believed that fighting in the revolution was the right thing to do, for the sake of all humankind. For his contributions to the fight for freedom, he was made an honorary citizen of the United States and is known as ‘the Hero of Two Worlds.’”

EXTRA: “After returning to France, Lafayette took a leadership position and continued to practice politics, hoping to bring democracy and human rights to his country. When the revolution came to France, his ideals were shaken and challenged in many more complex ways due to the different circumstances, and as a result of his actions there, his reputation at home is very different from his reputation in the United States. In the Saber class, he becomes the ‘heroic’ Lafayette, who represents the founding dream of the American nation, a dream where all humans are created as equals and are able to freely express their rights. It is not possible to summon this Lafayette in France.”

BONUS CHARACTER INTERACTION IDEAS!

Marie Antoinette: “Your Majesty! I don’t know if you would remember me... Oh, so you do remember? Ahaha, well, in that case, if you’ll excuse me...”

Thomas Edison: “Presi-King? What does that even mean!? It doesn’t make any sense! Pick one or the other!”

Napoleon: “Listen, it’s fine now since we’re all here, working together for the benefit of all mankind. But please don’t ask me to try and get along with him. It’s not that I hate him. It’s just the principle of the thing.”

Billy the Kid: “You know what’s funny? Many of my old friends said that the revolution began as an act of treason against the British Empire. So it seems to me that maybe being an outlaw is an American tradition!”

Jeanne d’Arc: “The patron saint of my country! You’re just as I imagined you!”

MY NOTES:

So, I feel like the profile is pretty self-explanatory... He’s deliberately designed in a way that I’m sure would’ve gotten him ripped to shreds in the first five minutes of Fate/Zero because we ALL remember how that one turned out. But I think, looking at the members of the Saber class, qualifying requires a bit of idealism or perfectionism. Think Saber!Diarmuid personifying chivalry and the purity of honorable battle; Nero becoming uncomplicated and charismatic due to her own narcissistic belief that she was a superb and generous leader; even Lancelot, who openly believes that his natural class is Berserker due to his flawed personality, represents “King Arthur’s ideal knight” as a Saber. Personally, I really like the symbolism in parts of what I imagine Lafayette’s character kit to be like - a Noble Phantasm that acts as a sort of Reality Marble that recreates the final great battle of the Revolution, an act which Lafayette believed would seal the deal on the first step to a more enlightened and free world; his Star attribute, his third skill that explicitly compares him to FGO’s idealized Marie Antoinette; he uses a sword that was meant to be ornamental as a weapon; etc.

Basically I think that FGO isn’t going to add a lot of American revolutionary heroes because a) that doesn’t suit their primary target audience, which is not made up of Americans or even nerds who like the Enlightenment or learning about the ideas in the French Revolution; b) they basically opted out of it already by giving “the power of American presidents” to Thomas Edison as a “Mystic Code that represents America.” But I also L O V E Lafayette and think he’d make an excellent Heroic Spirit/addition to the game just in general, so I want them to find an excuse for him to be added.

However, I would also argue that BECAUSE Thomas Edison’s character is being used to represent “American leadership,” or even “the American Dream (of hard work and success paying off)”, then Saber!Lafayette should be added because he represents “American idealism.” He’d play that role a LOT better than anyone else in the pantheon of “potential American heroic spirits,” and especially when you consider the other major figures of the Revolutionary War; and he also fits in with the 18th Century French gang that Chaldea’s already got going on; AND they added Napoleon as a Star-attribute Heroic Spirit when Napoleon was like, objectively a worse person than Lafayette even when Lafayette was making the most problematic and complex decisions of his life. (Not to mention, like, everything about Marie Antoinette - who to be fair, I really like as a character in FGO! But we can’t pretend that she counts among Least Historically Accurate personalities.)

Anywho, I just really like Lafayette. He was good and I love him.

#fate grand order #fgo #servant oc #servant profile #fate servants

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tsunderin · 5 years

Note

My heart tells me 13 or 18 for Aubrey and Itr, if you're up for either.

((Sorry this took so long! I ended up needing to re-write the whole thing, so the prompt kind of became irrelevant, haha))

Youth was a time for making as many mistakes as possible so one wouldn’t repeat them in their older age. So if the four teens were to get into trouble, well, that was to be expected even given their position. (Perhaps especially because of their position: nobility could be so restricting.) Trouble Itr could accept. Sacrilege on the other hand…

The cool air within the temple clung to every hair follicle, every lingering drop of sweat that remained on her body. It made the space feel otherworldly–moreso than normal. Just outside of the gaping stone mouth of an entryway stood the city of Bomé, whose walls still vibrated with the buzz of commerce and conversation. Even that wasn’t as it usually was, however. The oasis of a city had been subjected to a sweltering summer this year drawing the city’s buzz to more of a hum. And now in this cold? If Itr didn’t know better, she would have thought she had stepped through a portal to a completely different place. She couldn’t ignore the small part of her that wished that she had.

Just as she couldn’t ignore her wounded pride, her embarrassment sparking within that it had been the heat’s fault in the first place. If it hadn’t been so oppressively hot, if she didn’t have to play host to a couple of boys whose family reacted as though taking off their heavy velvet overcoats was a transgression against them personally, surely they wouldn’t have committed this transgression.

The spark caught no flame, however. There was no fuel for it to feed upon; there only remained the lingering heat of Itr’s own shame.

Is there something you want to tell me. The woman, leathered with age and sun, had asked. And Itr had the nerve to tell her ‘no’. The words could have come easily. The four of them–not that Zumurrd would admit it–snuck into the ritual pool long after the sun had set. They had enjoyed the cool, non-alligator infested waters, taken refuge in the privacy granted by the sanctuary, and in their revelry had accidentally knocked the offering urn from its altar, cracking it. It was a simple explanation, so easy, and yet Itr decided that things would be much better if she’d just… not tell S’ehs’eh Razeen?

Her knees tingled with oncoming numbness, pressed into the stone tiled floor as she knelt, the carving in front of her lit only by the dull flickering group of candles she’d brought. She couldn’t ask for forgiveness here–forgiveness ran through the blood of those you had wronged, and Bẹjẹ had spread their blood among all of them. But she could take responsibility.

From within the bronze bowl sat beneath the carving, she retrieved a dagger, sharpened to the point where even a reflection felt as though it may slice through skin. It felt right, the weight in her hands. She raised it, eyes shut in thought, and then…

“Wait!”

The familiar voice echoed off the rounded walls, granting it more presence than was perhaps intended. Mixed in with it was Itr’s unintentional yelp of surprise, creating something akin to a cacophony.

She swiveled around, not knowing exactly what to feel when her guess was proven to be right. “Aubrey?!” Smile and scolding fought for dominance on her face, leaving her with an awkward half-grimace. “What are you doing here,” she whispered, fully aware that the acoustics of the room ruined any chance of the whispers actually being anything close to ‘quiet’ or ‘subtle’. “You should be in bed.”

He seemed to deflate a little under the puncturing of her question, but took a moment to straighten himself back up. “I’m not going back without you.” The line was entirely too over-dramatic for the situation from where Itr stood, but there was something about it… Suddenly, she was thankful for the low lighting and how it was unable to show off the color rising to her cheeks. Was this her punishment for doing this so late at night? When her emotions weren’t so easily controlled? “And it’s not like I can…” he paused, reframing his words. “What are you doing with that knife, anyway?”

She remained silent while he walked closer, his footsteps light, but still purposeful. “It’s not a knife, it’s a dagger.” As he took a seat next to her, Itr looked him over, letting out a puff of air. “This is entirely unfair. You don’t look cold at all.”

Aubrey let out a chuckle, nerves still hanging on, then tugged at the hem of his outerwear, offering it to her.

“Ah,” she declined, “it is probably better if… I don’t.”

More intrigued by her comment then worried Itr watched as he began to take in his surroundings. While his eyes swept across the intricately carved stonework and the paraphernalia, Itr couldn’t help but wonder where his thoughts were taking him. They’d never really spoken about the spiritual beliefs of her people outside of short, off-handed comments of oh, that’s just a religious thing. Was he interested? Was he scared? She’d heard some tales of what others thought of their practices, and hoped that Aubrey didn’t think they were quite so barbaric. After a moment, he seemed to comment to himself. “It’s cleaner than I’d thought…”

Itr squinted, looking down into the bowl that had had his attention last. “Why would it be dirty?”

He seemed to realize he’d actually said that out loud to another person. “Oh, uh, you know.” He fumbled, bashfulness spreading through his entire body as he realized that she didn’t ‘know’. “The… blood, and all that.”

“The… blood…” she repeated, keeping her eyes on him. Then, it hit her. “Aubrey. You realize we don’t do blood offerings, right?”

The progression of emotion that journeyed across his face made his intrusion worth it. From shock, to embarrassment, to a stiff look that threatened to tell her about the customs of her own people, Aubrey eventually settled on confusion as his eyes remained focused on the dagger in her hand. “That’s… it’s what the “Bloodless One” wants, though. Isn’t it?”

Itr couldn’t help it, a laugh exploded out of her. “You read too many stories!” At that, he seemed to take offense, but she couldn’t help that it was true. “It would be a pretty stupid name, then. Why wouldn’t they be called the Bloody One, or the Bloodseeker if that’s all they wanted?” Consternation set deeper into his expression causing her to tone down her jabs. It was obvious to her, of course, but Banteve was… ignorant? They were very set in their ways, in any case. And if Aubrey were to become her husband in the future, it wouldn’t do either of them any good if she laughed him out of a desire to understand.

“I am not sure what exactly you have been told, but blood isn’t really a part–” She could feel him keeping his eyes from looking back at the space where the cracked urn was, the image of blood and the scent of the rotting meat within still fresh in both their minds. That would have to wait; she needed to keep it simple for the time being. “There’s only two times when blood is important in our lives,” she counted them out on her fingers, “When we are born and when we die.”

“It is a cycle: Bẹjẹ reclaims the blood that is lost when we die and gives it to us when we are born. That is why some of us can remember our past lives.” Not that she, herself, was entirely convinced that was something that could legitimately happen, or something to be happy about, but she couldn’t discount the swarths of her people who believed in it. “To spill blood frivolously at other times is an insult.” She backpedaled, “Well, it’s not like Bẹjẹ is going to be angry if you get a cut or something like that, but you know what I mean.”

Itr swallowed back the compulsion to keep rambling, letting a quiet fall between them as Aubrey nodded along. Was it a process, she wondered. Was him nodding a subtle act of accepting that what the scholars and such of his land had been wrong? Or was he just processing the information that she’d admittedly forced on him?

“So,” he began again in a tone she couldn’t immediately place, “what’s the knife, er, dagger for, then?”

A fair question that she’d been avoiding, and somehow she figured he knew she’d been avoiding, too. “Um, I suppose you were not entirely wrong about the sacrifice part. Good job.” She wanted more time to think about how to explain it without sacrificing any more of her pride, but the alarm that filled him pressed her to continue with no plan. “It’s not– I’m not going to be hurt,” she tried to calm him, but the words only seemed to concern him further.

Without a conscious thought, her free hand found a way to his leg, resting there as if it always belonged there holding back his anxieties. “Okay, so.” But why couldn’t she sound cool and in control when she wanted to the most? “Yes, as you probably guessed breaking that thing was… bad. I do not want your family, “ to be cursed? That was a bad way to put that, right? That would just make him more nervous. “To be looked upon poorly by the, uh, seers. And I, too, need to take responsibility for what I have done.”

“You weren’t the one who knocked it over,” Aubrey argued, knowing that Jocelyn had taken that clandestined stumble.

“But I was the one who brought you all here. I should have been more careful.” Itr smiled gently at him, “And it serves no one to force the blame onto someone else when I am here to accept it openly.” She sighed, removing her hand from him and picking up the blade once more. “I will miss it…”

“Wait!” He called out again the moment she slipped the blade behind her head. She paused, stilling the what now that rested behind her lips. “You’re… you’re just cutting off your hair, then?”

She didn’t understand why he sounded so perplexed. Him, the one that was expecting her to carve her own flesh as if that was a normal thing people did. “Yes?”

“Let me do it, then.” He offered, resolute. “Please.”

Slowly, she removed the blade from beneath her waves of dark brown hair. Her eyes focused on him, pressing the no longer chilled metal into his palm. “Why?”

He held her gaze; a reminder that soon they would no longer be children and the leniency of youth would be beyond their reach. “I bear responsibility, too, for what happened. So I can’t stand for you to shoulder this burden alone.”

Curse him.

Curse him for sounding like the king he should be. The king he would be one day if Itr had anything to say about it, even if she wasn’t the queen he chose.

Caging the butterflies fluttering around in her chest, she smirked. “Is this your way of saying you like my hair long?” He faltered, sputtering at her cheekiness which even after all this time he never seemed prepared for. She patted his cheek. “Don’t worry. It will grow back soon.”

Letting her fingers linger as she drew them from his face Itr turned around, facing the carving once more. There was probably some rule that defined this as another sacreligious action, but as a more purposeful silence fell around them once more she couldn’t find this anything less than a holy experience. His fingers were gentle, making sure not to pull at the unexplored curls as he gathered them in his hand. One by one, strands of hair separated from her head. Each severing serving not to prove the weight of what had been done, but freeing her from the weight of her own judgment. Like her hair, she could grow. She could learn. She could be better. She could restart the process as many times as it took. And as she clasped Aubrey’s hands in her own, leading them over to the copper bowl to deposit the hair into, she knew she wanted to have no one but him see how it was done. Only he could cut her hair, and then they could watch together as it burned as they both started the next step on their journey.

With the dagger back in its proper place and the candles extinguished, the embers of her hair were all that remained to light their way back into the city. “If it is all the same to you, I would appreciate it if we did not break anymore religious items while you were here.” Itr wrinkled her nose, the scent of burning hair much more unpleasant than what she was expecting.

Aubrey laughed, his hand resting against her now exposed neck, shielding it from the elements as best he could. “I think we can handle that.”

#Rin's Magenta Prose #timidkoala #OC Parade #The Dungeoning

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pokemaniacal · 6 years

Note

Something that’s been on my mind for a bit that your professional word may be able to help with. Would you happen to know how ethnically diverse the Greek and Roman empires were?

very

next question please

…

…what, you want more? Oh, fine, but for the record this is not the sort of thing people just “happen to know.”

Okay so I’m assuming by “Greek empire” (remember, kids: there was never a politically autonomous and unified state called “Greece” or “Hellas” until 1822) you mean Alexander’s empire (320s BC) and the Hellenistic successor kingdoms (323 BC – 31 BC), and by “Roman empire” you mean Rome starting from the time it becomes a major interregional power (say, following the second Punic War, which ended in 201 BC) rather than just Rome in the time of the Emperors. You could spend like most of a book on each of these just corralling the data that might let us answer this question, but whatevs.

Lesson one: the ancient Greeks and Romans did not think about ethnicity in the same way as we do. In particular, they were not super hung up on the colour of people’s skin – skin colour in ancient art is more often a signifier of gender than race, because women are expected to spend less time outside and therefore have lighter skin (which is another whole thing that we shouldn’t even get into because this is an aristocratic ideal of female beauty and of course lots of Greek and Roman women would have worked outside). Arguably the most important signifier of ethnicity to the Greeks and Romans was actually language, with everyone who didn’t speak Greek or Latin being a “barbarian” (traditionally this word is supposed to come from the Greeks thinking that all foreign languages sounded like “bar bar bar,” although I’ve also heard a convincing argument that it comes from the Old Persian word for taxpayer, barabara, and originally signified all subjects of the Persian king).

In the modern world we have designations of ethnicity that are super broad and grow in large part out of early and long-since-debunked anthropological theory that divided humanity into three biologically distinct races, Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Negroid, and don’t really reflect a lot of important components of ethnicity. The thing is, as the internet will happily tell you ad nauseam, race is a social construct. Like, yes, designations of race describe real physical characteristics that arise from variation within human genetics, but the way we choose to bundle those characteristics is arbitrary, and where we choose to draw the lines is arbitrary (like, for a long time in the US, Greeks and Italians weren’t considered “white,” but today they definitely are, even though nothing changed about their genetics). If we today were brought face to face with a bunch of ancient Greeks and Romans, we would probably be pretty comfortable with assigning a majority of them to the big pan-European tent of modern “whiteness,” but if you had asked them about it, they certainly would not have felt any kinship with the pale-skinned people of northern and western Europe from whom most English-speaking white people today are descended. Those people were every bit as barbarian (and every bit as fair game for enslavement, for that matter) as the darker-skinned folk of the Middle East and North Africa. Ancient Greeks and Italians also had loads of internal ethnic divisions – like, the Latins (the central Italian ethnic group to which the Romans belonged) were a different thing from the Umbrians to their east, the Etruscans to the north and the Oscans to the south. In Greece, you had Dorians in the Peloponnese, Ionians in Attica and Asia Minor, Boeotians and Thessalians in central Greece, Epirotes in western Greece, and DON’T EVEN ASK about the Macedonians, because boyyyyyyyyy HOWDY you are NOT ready for that $#!tstorm. The point is, race and ethnicity can be basically anything that you think makes you different from the people in another community.

So yeah, Alexander’s empire. Alexander the Great conquered Persia, which was already the largest empire the world had ever seen at the time and incorporated dozens of ethnically distinct peoples (including many Greeks of Asia Minor, some of whom willingly fought against Alexander) through a philosophy of loose regional governance and broad religious tolerance. Now, here’s the thing: Alexander had no idea how to run an empire of that scale. No Greek did. No one alive in the world did – except for the Persians. Alexander didn’t have anything to replace the Persian systems of governance or bureaucracy, so… he didn’t. Individual Persian governors were usually given the opportunity to swear loyalty to him and keep their posts; vacant posts were filled with Macedonians, but the hierarchy was basically untouched. Alexander himself married a princess from Bactria (approximately what is now Afghanistan), Roxana, and had a kid with her, and encouraged other Macedonian nobles to take Persian wives as well, to help unify the empire. Unfortunately Alexander, of course, had to go and bloody die less than two years after he’d finished conquering everything, and tradition holds that on his deathbed he told his friends that the empire should go “to the strongest,” which was an incredibly dumb thing to say and caused literally decades of war, which we are not even going to talk about because it is the most Game of Thrones bull$#!t in the history of history. All you need to know is that when the dust settled there were basically three major Greco-Macedonian dynastic powers: the Antigonids in Greece, the Ptolemies in Egypt, and the Seleucids in Persia.

In terms of ethnic makeup the Antigonid kingdom is in principle the most straightforward because they’re basically still running the same Greece that Alexander’s father had conquered. Even then, you should bear in mind that a) most Greek cities had legal provisions for allowing foreigners to live there under certain conditions (“foreigners” often meant Greeks from other cities, but in principle could be anyone), and b) the Greeks had a lot of slaves (many of whom were, again, Greeks from other cities, because that’s fine in ancient Greek morality, but a lot of them would have come from all over the place), and even though the Greeks didn’t count slaves as “people” or consider them a real part of a city’s ethnic composition, WE SHOULD. The Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt seems to have had a relatively small Greco-Macedonian upper class ruling over a native Egyptian, Libyan and Nubian peasant majority. Members of that ruling class seem to have been kind of snobbish about any mixing between the two – only the very last Ptolemaic ruler, Cleopatra VII (yes, that Cleopatra), even bothered to learn the Egyptian language. However, the Ptolemaic rulers did make some important cultural gestures of goodwill towards the Egyptians. They took the native title of Pharaoh, which previous foreign rulers of Egypt hadn’t, and adopted a lot of traditional Pharaonic iconography like the double crown. They also worshipped some of the most important Egyptian gods, most notably Isis, and may have kind of… deliberately created a new Greco-Egyptian god, Serapis, by blending together Osiris and Dionysus (Serapis actually becomes super important in the Roman period and is widely worshipped even outside Egypt). And then there’s the Seleucids, an empire that did nothing but slowly collapse from the moment it was established. They have a rough time of it because they have the largest land area to cover and dozens of distinct ethnic groups to bring together, and it doesn’t help that they kinda keep doing the Game of Thrones thing for about two hundred fµ¢&ing years. They often get a bad rap in history and have a reputation for oppressing the non-Greek populations of their empire, but that’s probably at least partly because some of our most important sources for the Seleucids are Jewish, and the Seleucid kings’ relationship with the Jews broke down in a fairly spectacular fashion during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175-164 BC). It’s not clear whether that’s representative of the Seleucids’ normal relationship with their subject peoples, or a worst case scenario. Also, the Seleucids tend to get painted as villains in the historical record by both the other Greek powers and the Romans, and never really get much of a chance to defend themselves because we don’t have Seleucid histories. What is clear is that they inherited all the ethnic and religious diversity of the Persian Empire, and most of their rulers were half-Persian because they followed Alexander’s example by marrying into the Persian nobility. After an initial period of conflict they also seem to have maintained cordial relations with the Mauryan Empire of India, their neighbour to the east, for several decades, and contemporary Indian sources talk about sending Buddhist missionaries into Seleucid lands, so… like, there might have been a bunch of Greek Buddhists running around the empire; that’s a thing.

Whew. Okay, so that is a criminally brief answer to-

OH CHRIST YOU ASKED ABOUT THE ROMANS AS WELL

WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE WANT FROM ME

Right. Romans. One of the major schools of thought on how the Romans were able to create such an enormous and long-lasting empire in the first place is that their openness to accepting foreigners into their community gave them an enormous manpower advantage over every other ancient Mediterranean state. Greek politics generally operates on the level of cities; even in the age of Alexander, individual cities have quite a lot of legislative autonomy. Citizenship is also something that works on the level of cities: you aren’t a citizen of, say, the Seleucid Empire; you’re a citizen of Antioch, or Tyre, or Babylon, or whatever. But then the Romans happen. The Romans are weird, because they will sometimes just declare that all the people of an allied city are now also citizens of Rome. In the early period of Rome’s expansion in the central Mediterranean, this meant (or so the theory goes) that they could draw upon larger citizen armies and sustain more casualties than their rivals. This is how they beat Pyrrhus, the Greek king of Epirus (r. 297-272 BC), when he invaded Italy in response to disputes between Rome and the Greek colony of Tarentum; this is how they beat Hannibal, the legendary Carthaginian general, even after he annihilated the largest army the Romans had ever fielded at Cannae during the second Punic War (218-201 BC). Now, at this point they are basically still just bringing in Italians, which we might consider ethnically homogenous even if they didn’t, but there’s more.

Once they really start to get going, the Romans enfranchise entire provinces at a time, like when the emperor Claudius (r. AD 41-54) decided to make everyone in Gaul (modern France, more or less) a Roman citizen. The really interesting thing about this particular decision is that we actually have a copy of the speech he made to the Senate in Rome at the time, so we can examine his rationale. Claudius’ argument is basically that being inclusive has always been what has made Rome stronger than its rivals, going right back to their mythological past, when Romulus populated his city with disenfranchised criminals from other communities (and, uh… women that they kidnapped from the next town over). The Romans believed that everything great about their civilisation had originally been learned or borrowed from someone else – metalworking and irrigation from the Etruscans, infantry combat from the Greeks, shipbuilding from the Carthaginians, etc – so it wasn’t a huge stretch for them to believe that all these people should eventually become part of Rome as citizens (well… the ones who weren’t killed or enslaved in the conquest, anyway – no one ever said the Romans were saints).

The reason Claudius feels he needs to justify all this to the Senate is that citizenship (rather than any of the forms of semi-citizen rights that Romans would sometimes grant to their allies) will make rich Gauls eligible to become Senators themselves, and occupy other high-level posts like provincial governorships. The decision affects the ethnic composition of the Senate, so even though he doesn’t actually need their permission to do it, he asks as a courtesy (the emperors’ relationship with the Senate is a weird and complicated thing). Even without being a citizen, you could actually do a great deal in the Roman government in Claudius’ time. Many of the most important jobs in the empire were ones that had existed during the age of the Republic, when Rome was theoretically a democracy, and all of those were restricted to citizens even after they stopped being elected positions – but there was also an imperial bureaucracy that answered directly to the emperor and his aides, and he was free to choose literally anyone to fill those positions. As a result, a lot of emperors deliberately picked slaves and former slaves for loads of senior positions, specifically because their lack of citizen rights meant that they could never be political rivals, and because they were a useful counterbalance to the power of the blue-blooded Roman aristocracy. And, again, slaves can be from basically anywhere. A lot of these administrative slaves were Greeks, because Greek education provided useful skills for running the imperial bureaucracy that the Romans themselves often didn’t have, but emperors could and did commission literally anyone for these positions.

Eventually the emperor Caracalla (r. AD 211-217) just decided it wasn’t worth keeping track anymore and declared that every freeborn person in the entire empire, which by that point stretched from northern England to Morocco to Romania to Jordan, was now a Roman citizen. All of these people are now “Romans,” regardless of their language or culture or religion; the only criterion is that they not be slaves or former slaves (and even if they’re former slaves, their children will be Roman citizens). And these people can move, in ways that were never possible before the Empire existed, because Rome is the first – and so far the last – political entity ever to unite the entire Mediterranean region, which allows them to wipe out piracy almost completely and jump-start trade and travel in ways that would never happen again for over a thousand years. My own research on Roman glass has led me to encounter glassblowers with Syrian or Jewish names working in northern Italy – people who were probably integral to spreading the technology of glassblowing to western Europe. The Roman army also moves people around – like, a lot. You might enlist in your home town in Syria, then serve on Hadrian’s wall and retire in northern England – in fact, we know that this happened because we’ve found stuff like inscriptions in the Aramaic language in Roman Britain.

Also Rome had, like… a whole dynasty of African emperors one time. Septimius Severus (r. AD 193-211) and his successors were part Italian, part Punic (of Carthaginian descent – ultimately Middle Eastern, since the Carthaginians were originally a Phoenician colony) and part Berber (native North African), and Severus grew up in what is now Tunisia. And that wasn’t really a big deal for the Romans, 1) because Severus’ Italian ancestry made him a Roman citizen, which trumps all other signifiers of ethnicity, and 2) Rome had already had a couple of emperors of Iberian (= Spanish) descent by this point who were considered some of the best ever, and the Iberians are just as “barbarian” as the Berbers as far as Rome is concerned. Other Roman emperors of varied ethnicities include Philip (Arabian), Diocletian (Illyrian), the three Gordians (probably Cappadocian), and Elagabalus (Syrian, and incidentally the gayest Roman of all time; like, normally I would warn you to be super cautious about using modern labels like “straight” and “gay” for Romans because they just didn’t think about sexual orientation in those terms, but I make an exception here because Elagabalus was super gay).

Oh, and just because someone will definitely bring it up if I don’t, there was a big fuss in the news a few years back because someone discovered the skeletons of what they claimed were Chinese people living in, of all places, Roman Britain. And to me, one Chinese family in Britain in the first century AD is not particularly a dramatic stretch of plausibility (a handful of people could easily slip through the historical record and just never be mentioned), but the evidence in this particular case falls some way short of “proof.” There’s chemical data that suggests these individuals grew up somewhere far away from Britain, which is well and good, but the thing that points specifically to China is not the isotopic analysis but a study of bone morphology, and trying to determine someone’s ethnicity on the basis of what their bones look like, on the universal scale of things that are sketchy, ranks “sketchy as all fµ¢&.” Again, I’m happy to believe that they exist, because China (Seres in Latin) and Rome (Dà-Qín in Chinese) definitely knew about each other, and we occasionally find Roman artefacts and coins in eastern Asia, or Chinese artefacts in the eastern Roman Empire, but the specific evidence for these individuals isn’t there, in my opinion.

…that was a brief answer. Let it stand as a warning to others.

#QandA #not pokemon

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petergrantkavinsky · 6 years

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Victoria Aveyard talks WAR STORM at the BookCon 2018

“The really amazing moments, the thing that keeps taking me by surprise every single time, are how many people are showing up to events and how many people are saying ‘This is the book that got me into reading’ because it makes me think about the books that got me into reading and how much they meant to me, and just to know that I mean like that in some small ways to somebody else is so insane. It’s also been really cool to have people ask ‘What are you doing next?,’ so I know that not too many people are hurt or angry by the end of the series, and they’re willing to come with me to the next sandbox.”

Q: Is this really the end?

VA: I would say that the main plot of the RED QUEEN series, that arc is closed. That is done. Next year I’m hoping to have a few short stories set in the world, basically surrounding the characters who made it out of WAR STORM alive. I’m also gonna be doing some extra world content, probably prevalence of Julian’s historical novels and texts because I really enjoy writing that kind of stuff. And I’m hoping to do a few more maps as well. So just more information about events before and events after, and hopefully, some of our more familiar characters.

Q: Did you know when you started the series, did you know exactly how it was gonna end?

VA: No. When I first started, I didn’t know exactly how I was gonna make it all end. I had an idea what I wanted on emotional standpoint for the main character, but I didn’t figure out how I was going to do that and what the actual ending of the plot would be until the middle of GLASS SWORD, the second book. At that point, it was still in my brain a trilogy, so I was expecting to finish it up in a third book. And then I started outlining that third book, and I was like ‘Oh no, I cannot get to that place in one more book.’ It would be this big, it would be horrible, and no one would buy it, and everyone would just have a really bad time reading it. My poor, poor editor would have a really hard time editing it. And luckily, when I went back to my publisher and said ‘I think I’m gonna need one more,’ they’re like ‘Of course, we will publish one more book.’ And now I’m on tour for that last one.

Q: Were any of the characters in the RED QUEEN series based on any people you know in real life?

VA: The most specific one was Farley. Farley is based on my best friend. My best friend’s middle name is actually Farley. And she’s also quite hostile. Her character is somewhat the same. One of the reasons Farley’s head keeps getting shaved is because my best friend has beautiful long blonde princess hair, and she lives in my house, and I gotta deal with seeing that hair every day and competing with bad hair every time we go out. So she’ll be reading and be like ‘You shaved my head again.’

Q: Will we be seeing books with similar themes to RED QUEEN? Or will you be releasing any works of the other genres too?

VA: I think talking about division of people, oppression, and war between classes and war between different countries, I’m always gonna have something of that. I’m also always kind of attracted to stories about royalty, nobility, and what it means to be in that stand. So yeah, I think something will be similar-ish. Probably a different format of story. And then for genre, so far, I’ve been sticking with fantasy. I think I’m gonna be going more high fantasy.

Q: When is the RED QUEEN movie coming?

VA: That’s a great question that I don’t know the answer to. We’re still in the process. That is the most that I can say, that I’m allowed to say. We’re still in the process, and they’ve been very inclusive of me, which is great. I know stories from other people who were kind of edged out of their work, and it’s nice that when they need me, I’m ready, and I know when I don’t wanna be involved and when I’ll just be in the way.

Q: Do you love Maven?

VA: I loved writing Maven. I love writing all my characters. I love all my children equally. Definitely, writing Maven is really fun for me, interesting and challenging. He’s the hardest character for me to write. He makes me be better, which I enjoy.

Q: What’s some interesting things that happened on tour?

VA: This is definitely the biggest so far in terms of turnout, which is quite stunning to see. Something besides the other stuff you mentioned that I really enjoy are people who are coming up to me and saying ‘I’ve just started. I’ve been waiting for the series to finish, so I can read,’ and then on the one hand I’m like ‘Awesome! You don’t have to wait for any books. That’s great! I’m so glad you’re coming with me on this journey. I hope you enjoy.’ But I’m also like ‘Don’t do that in the future. Please buy the books as they’re coming out. This is how series can get cancelled. I’m so glad you’re here now, but my God, don’t do that to me again.’ (laughs)

Q: What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about writing?

VA: My favorite thing about writing, I guess in every recesses, is the feeling you get after you’ve written it. That’s such an amazing, fulfilling feeling down to my bone marrow, which is why I keep doing it. The worst thing about writing is writing, and the best thing about writing is writing. That moment of creativity is so fantastic, but sometimes it’s like pulling blood from a stone, it’s awful. Imposter syndrome is pretty bad. You get caught up in your own head, and you start thinking you’re someone who’s made a mistake, ‘I should not be here. This has all been a lie.’ I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I used to say like ‘I’m in a coma, and this my resonation of who I am in a vegetative state.’ And I hope that’s not true. I gotta pinch myself a lot.

Q: What was the hardest scene to write for you?

VA: In the whole series? There’s a scene at the end of the fourth book that was difficult. It was a combination of a long character arc, and a lot of decisions were already made, and I knew what was gonna happen; having it happened in a certain way and giving everyone their doom was difficult. I had to really thread a needle. I’m trying to avoid any spoilers. The people are more than talking about, if you know what I’m talking about.

Transcript by me Watch the full interview here.

#war storm #red queen #victoria aveyard #book con 2018 #text

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sheisrysn · 6 years

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Allrianne Radio - finals edition

(Mistborn AU where Elend made a University)

This is for all you lovely ones heading into finals! I am way way out of school, which means I have time to send you love & encouragement! You got this!

***

ALLRIANE: Hey hey hey you’re listening to Allrianne Radio! Allrianne, All The Time. We’re coming up on finals here in Scadrial - now that our new king or whatever has democratized education, I bet a bunch of you cuties are hitting the books and sweating over turn papers--

ELEND: TERM papers

ALLRIANE: Sure, whatever! So we’re very excited to welcome the king himself onto the show, as well as the woman he is lucky to be married to and who you’ll probably forget is here because she hasn’t said a word since they arrived and is only here because someone might try to assassinate Elend on air, Vin Venture!

[Sound effect: “Hail to the Chief”]

[overheard off mic under sound cue: ELEND: Can you please call me your majesty? ALLRIANNE: You got it honey- Your MAJESTY ELEND: thank you.]

ELEND: Thanks for having us.

[Sound effect: Applause]

ALLRIANNE: So! Your MAJESTY. You’re really big on books and stuff --

ELEND: That’s right! We’re witnessing the end of the first academic year in Luthadel and I’m very proud of all our students and faculty, especially the skaa students who have had to make a big...cultural adjustment

VIN: You mean all the nobles treat them like shit.

ELEND: Vin, please!

VIN: Actually we are very adjusted to that.

ELEND: We’re extremely proud of ALL our students’ accomplishments so far, and I know that final exams can be a very stressful time, so Allrianne was gracious enough to have me on her show to offer some encouragement --

ALLRIANNE: Yeah you got this, guys! Whatever it is you’re examming! ...What even ARE they examming?

ELEND: Oh, we have students in literature, history, architecture, math, we have a department dedicated to skaa studies

ALLRIANNE: Skaa studies? What, like they just look at each other and write down what they see?

[overheard off mic: snort from Vin]

ELEND: No, not at all! If a people is historically oppressed, their history is often fragmented and poorly recorded due to lack of education, lack of resources, and outright erasure by their oppressors. Our understanding of history came firmly through the nobility’s lens for centuries, so it has been a chief goal of the new university program to empower our skaa citizens to study their history and culture, to make clear that we value that aspect of our history just as much as the rise and fall of the great houses. Maybe more, since every great house was built on skaa labor. We—

ALLRIANNE: Awww, your MAJESTY! You really care about this stuff, that is just so precious. Isn’t he the most precious, Vin?

[Sound effect: Crickets]

ALLRIANNE: Anyway, that was super interesting but we’re just about out of time-

ELEND: Wait, wait, can I just

ALLRIANNE: Sure honey - your MAJESTY. The airwaves are yours.

ELEND: I just wanted to say to our students - I know that this time of year can be very, very difficult. You’re under a lot of pressure, and it may seem like you have an impossible amount of work ahead of you. Maybe you do, but it’s just as possible that you can get it all done, and I believe you will.

The world is in a time of deep crisis, and it might seem like studying for a test or writing a paper is the least important thing you could be doing right now, but knowledge is how we will keep this world whole, I just know it. Understanding of our world, of our history, curiosity about why the mist falls, learning the mistakes of our ancestors and refusing to repeat them, these are the glowing hearts that will light our way to the future.

As your king, I will do everything in my power to keep this society standing. And I am trusting you to make it thrive when you’re ready.

[Sound effect: slow clap turning into big claps]

VIN: But if it’s a dumb test don’t waste your time

ELEND: Vin?

VIN: They’ll know what i mean.

ALLRIANNE: And you must of course get your beauty rest. That’s probably the most important thing. And it always feels like a bigger deal but a shower can take just 5 minutes. Not that mine ever do!

HAM [way off mic, not even sure where he came from]: Pewter drag is real!

ELEND: All we mean is, we are excited for you and proud of you, and while we look forward to all your achievements and discoveries, we value your personal health and encourage you to find time for the things that give you joy, even when you’re stressed out of your mind. Thanks for being brave enough to--

[Sound Effect: School Bell]

ALLRIANNE: Welp, looks like we’re out of time! Thanks for tuning in to Allrianne Radio - Allrianne, All the Time. Tune in next time for a sit-down with hat expert Wayne! He doesn’t have a last name! What’s that about? Until then...I am the thing you can never kill. I am gossip! BYEEEE

#you got this #mistborn #allrianne all the time #cosmere #imagine if sazed had research assistants

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bubonickitten · 6 years

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Til now I hadn't played DA:O all the way through endgame since my first character, so I don't know if this just my worldstate but WTF. In the end summary it says Cullen murdered 3 people?!?!?! It's vaguely mentioned in Witch Hunt in ambient dialogue that's more about how he's still obsessed with Surana. WTF. Is he hauled off for murder in every worldstate? It never comes up again, does it? It's written like he's biggest victim of Kinloch Hold and that completely excuses LITERALLY ANYTHING

You get that summary during the ending if you insist on helping the mages at Kinloch Hold, iirc. Which I always do, so I’ve always gotten that slide.

[Cullen hate under the cut]

Bioware actually ended up retconning that -- iirc the in-universe explanation was “oh, that was just a rumor but it didn’t actually happen”? -- but yeah, it was fucked up. I mean, I was annoyed with it in the first place because Dragon Age has enough ableist tropes without the addition of “let’s have this guy become a spree murderer and say it’s because of his post-traumatic stress”. I hate Cullen and I would still think he’s a terrible person regardless of whether that ending got retconned or not (he’s done equally bad things that haven’t been retconned), but I would’ve hated that ending slide regardless of what character it involved.

But yeah, even though that slide got retconned, Cullen still goes on to become Meredith’s right-hand man and actively and enthusiastically participates in mass abuse, torture, and murder of mages in the Gallows. And Bioware thought it was a good idea to handwave his actions in World of Thedas Vol. 2. And even in DA:I he’s still defending Meredith, and all of his stated regrets are regarding what happened to the Templar Order, not what the Order has done to mages. Any time he has a positive interaction with a mage, it reads to me as “well, you’re not like those other mages.” His DA:I arc is a personal recovery arc, but by no means is it a redemption arc, because he doesn’t actually show remorse or accountability regarding what he’s done to mages throughout his career, and he has the same attitude toward mages as a class as he did in DA:O: “Mages are inherently dangerous and need to be forcibly suppressed and controlled by any means possible.” He justifies the treatment of mages by saying that they could burn a city down in a fit of pique if they wanted, but you don’t see him advocating the same treatment for nobility like Empress Celene, who actually did burn a city down (though Bioware didn’t feel the need to mention that in DA:I), and it’s not like she needed magic to do that.

As a side note, I’m all for well-written redemption arcs, e.g. Zuko from A:TLA, but Cullen’s DA:I character development was about personal recovery, not redemption or personal accountability. Admittedly, I don’t know if anything could redeem Cullen in my eyes, but even if I did like him, I’d still think it wasn’t a redemption arc. To be honest, I think if Bioware was insistent upon having a templar redemption arc for whatever reason, a character like Thrask from DA2 would have been a better choice, if they hadn’t killed him off just to rehash the same tired “blood magic is evil!! mages can’t be trusted and shouldn’t be shown any sympathy!!” plotline yet again.

I mean, nothing would excuse the fact that Thrask was still actively involved in the persecution of mages, and he only really started feeling sympathy for mages when his daughter turned out to be a mage, and he still seemed to think that the Circle and Templar Order just needed to change but not be entirely abolished (whereas in reality there’s no salvaging that institution), but out of all the templars that Bioware tried to make us feel sympathy for, he seemed to be the closest thing to someone who felt some degree of remorse and accountability and critical thinking. If he had lived in DA2, and showed up in DA:I as someone who turned his back on the Order for the right reasons and worked hard to be an ally to mages from here on out and showed genuine remorse for his past actions and came to the conclusion that the Templar Order and the Circle were oppressive institutions regardless of how fairly they pretended to treat mages, it actually would’ve been believable character development to me. I probably still wouldn’t like him, but if I had to pick a templar to get a redemption arc, he’d be most realistic to me.

So, yeah, I’m still pretty bitter about Bioware continually bringing Cullen back and downplaying (and sometimes retconning) his actions and acting like that’s redemption/character development, while they simultaneously don’t give marginalized characters the same amount of empathetic treatment. (Don’t even get me started on how Fiona is treated in DA:I.) I mean, I hated that the entire premise of DA:I was “hey, we’re going to force you to be the leader of an Inquisition”, and that the writers basically dropped the entire mage-templar conflict that DA2 had (albeit in a clumsy way) been building up to, and that they continued with the usual “maybe both sides... are equally bad!!” shit. Cullen’s reappearance in yet another game and how his past was yet again glossed over was just shitty icing on the shitty cake.

Honestly, my disappointment in DA:I pretty much extinguished my interest in any new Dragon Age content. At this point I’m more interested in DA:O and DA2 and fan-created content, and I have trouble getting excited about where the series is going from here.

#Anonymous #ask #/#//#///#dragon age #cullen hate #cullen critical

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tentoriwrites · 6 years

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Choose Your Own Adventure Prologue: Lord Endo Naotsune

The day I was to leave, I waited outside for my Father to arrive. It wasn’t quite as hot being early summer, but the humidity still made it feel rather oppressive outside. Yuzuke leaned against the wall idly, with his hands crossed. “You here to escort the Asakura?” He said randomly, and I looked up. Much to my surprise, I was met by a young man I didn’t recognize. He halted his horse before me and looked down at me with a bit of surprise.

“Are you in need of assistance, Milord?” I asked cordially with a bow, suspecting he needed directions at first.

“You’re asking about the Asakura needing an escort…” He looked at me a bit awestruck. “It’s you…” He whispered with a clear tone of shock before dismounting his horse. He stared at me, as if transfixed by something I couldn’t see on my face.

“Yes, last time I checked… I am me…” I replied looking around to make sure he was actually talking to me. His expression twisted into a smile as the shock melted from his face. “You seem familiar. We’ve met before, but I apologize, I cannot quite place you.”

“Oh! Of course! I should introduce myself!” He blushed and quickly bowed. “I am Endo Naotsune. I’m a chief retainer of Lord Nagamasa.” He introduced himself in a nervous rush which was quite endearing. “I was in the Capital on business and he asked I escort you to Odani.” He added trying to come off as calm.

“You were one of the retainers with Lord Nagamasa and Lady Oichi when they came to the teahouse.” I went on with a smile as I finally realized where I had seen his face before. Speaking of that, it lit up for a moment and he nodded. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Milord.”

“Oh no! The pleasure is all mine! I… I wasn’t aware you were the person I was to escort…” He stammered and quickly looked away. “So, let’s get your things loaded and we’ll be on our way.”

“My Father had my things taken yesterday so all you have is me.” I was looking forward to making the trip to Odani with someone like him rather than my Father. He looked around awkwardly for a moment.

“I didn’t know I would be escorting a Lady of your stature…” He seemed clearly embarrassed as his eyes darted around.

“My… Stature? I think you’re confusing me for someone else. I’m not nobility…” I replied laughing lightly.

“N… no. But you are a well-regarded and famous entertainer. You should be treated as such!” He replied firmly. I just cocked an eyebrow at him. “Do you really not know?” He asked utterly shocked. I just shook my head no. What was there to know? I was only able to move around a very small part of Kyoto… “Milord Nagamasa and Milady Oichi had heard about you from a retainer in Odani. They had business in the Capital and came specifically to see you once it was finished. You have quite the reputation spreading across the country.” My brows were pulling together the more he spoke, but I honestly had no idea I had a reputation outside the Capital. Regardless, I shook all that off with the motion of my head.

“Although that may be the case, I much prefer riding a horse to being toted around like a piece of luggage.” I interjected between his string of tales and hearsay gossip about me. “I don’t suppose my Father would have toted me around in palanquin, so I came prepared!” I mused tugging on my hakama. He looked down at me surprised, as if he were realizing for the first time I was wearing hakama at all.

“Oh… But still! My honor as a samurai will not permit me to…” He started to protest.

“Milord, if it is your honor as a samurai you are concerned about, it would be a great honor to me if you would not make more of this than necessary.” I replied with a light smile. “I humbly request that my fair escort treat me as no more than any other person. It would honor me greatly if you would oblige this request.” He seemed completely taken off guard by this comment.

“If… if that is what Milady requests…” He cleared his throat and motioned for a horse to be brought forward for me.

“Thank you, Milord.” I bowed to him deeply before mounting the horse, although I allowed him to help me.

The weather was beautiful as we made our way out of the city. As the road opened up to the countryside I spotted Lake Biwa in all its glory. I stopped my horse and looked at it long and hard for a few minutes as it finally sank in. I was out of the Capital… I was out of the Capital without my Father or my warden. It all felt bizarre, surreal… A pleasant dream I didn’t want to wake up from. I closed my eyes and let the heat of the sun soak into me. After holding in a deep breath, I let it out in a contented sigh.

“Seems Milady doesn’t get out much.” One of the retainers commented jovially as he plodded by on his horse.

“It has been quite some time since I have been out of the city. My Lord does not permit me to travel much.” I replied opening my eyes and urging my horse onward again.

“That so?” The retainer questioned. “When’s the last time?” I thought for a moment before replying.

“About seven or eight years ago.” The retainer seemed utterly shocked by this declaration. He stopped his horse and stared at me, mouth agape as I rode by. After that there was silence save for the clopping of horse hooves. Lord Naotsune broke the pleasant silence as he looked at me.

“So… Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?” He said with a congenial smile.

“There’s not much to tell. I am the second child of a middle rank samurai family in the Asakura clan.” I replied with an equally congenial smile. He laughed bitterly a moment.

“That’s not very detailed…” He scowled playfully. “I don’t mind listening to someone talk if they are as pleasant on the ears as you.” I looked at him surprised as I thought about what Mistress Yuki had said a few days earlier.

“Well in that case…” I went on donning a smile as I took a deep breath. “How honest do you like your stories?” His face contorted to confusion

“I… prefer utmost honesty.” His reply was pensive at best. I nodded slowly, my smile belying how melancholy I really felt.

“I am the second child of a middle rank samurai family in the Asakura clan. I am the only daughter out of four children. From a very early age I took a keen interest in studying and sparring with my brothers. My Father deemed both behaviors unacceptable for a proper lady. He did everything in his power, with little success, to keep me from both. That is until I went with him to a family gathering and one of the family aristocrats heard me sing. He immediately insisted I work for him at his teahouse. My Father seized the opportunity immediately, knowing I could be trained to be a proper lady there. It was only part-time to start with but when my Father came home and saw me sparring with my younger brothers, it became permanent. So, there I work and reside.” That was as much truth as I was willing to dispense with at this moment.

“That was a much more detailed story!” He beamed happily. “I never would have suspected you would be a scholar or interested in learning swordplay…” He added thoughtfully. “You carried yourself so eloquently… You’d make a fine addition to Lady Oichi’s court with how you behaved.” I sighed inwardly knowing this was going exactly where every other conversation I had with a man had gone. Maybe Mistress Yuki was on to something with only keeping woman as her confidantes… At least she knew me without the makeup on.

“That said, I must say I find it far more interesting that you fancy learning.” He cut into my stewing thoughts with the most unexpected declaration.

“Oh?” I blurted out, genuinely intrigued.

“It means there are quite a few things we could talk about. And that means I’d get to hear that lovely voice of yours more…” He had the cheesiest of grins as he looked at me. “I think court ladies are by far too shallow for my tastes. I’ve not married because of it…” He went on in a more serious tone.

We made small talk about the weather and how beautiful the lake was. What our favorite foods were, and the like before falling into silence for a while. It seemed as if he genuinely wanted to know more about me. Or, maybe he really was just in love with my voice. “Have you ever thought about marriage?” He asked suddenly, still looking ahead. I was silent a moment, struck by the randomness of his question.

“The whole point in my working at the teahouse was to marry me off. I’m sure it will happen one day, but I have no expectations for when or what it will be like.” I replied honestly, he cringed. “You said you liked honesty.” I added with a dry laugh.

“That I did…” He sighed smiling again. “I take it your Father intends to marry you off at this gathering.”

“That is part of the appeal, I’m sure.” I sighed not really wanting to think about being put up like a piece of livestock at market.

“What if someone beat him to it?” Lord Naotsune’s question hung in the air a moment as I tried to fathom what he was implying. “What exactly is he looking for in a husband for you?”

“I’ve not the faintest idea, Milord…” I replied glancing over at him. He seemed deep in thought. “As long as it improves his position, he wouldn’t care if the man locked me up in a room for the rest of my life.” I added with melancholy as I faced forward again. He cringed again. “However, I would like to think… If I should be wed to someone like you… It wouldn’t be so bad.” I added and his face twisted to bewilderment immediately, a light blush coming to his cheeks. He coughed, pretending to clear his throat, and fidgeted in his saddle.

“Certainly is hot out here…” He went on tugging at his collar a bit. “Maybe we should stop and let you rest.” He added as the retainers around him chuckled. His boyish display caused me to laugh right along with them. That was certainly not the reaction I expected to get out of my lie. Maybe… just maybe… marrying a man like Lord Naotsune wouldn’t be so bad after all. It would get me out of the teahouse and away from that insufferable bastard.

We sat along the side of the road, the clacking of horse hooves on the busy road gave a rhythm to bustle. Around us his retainers talked merrily but Lord Naotsune was quiet, pensive. “Say…” He interrupted my thoughts while we ate a light lunch. “You said your Father tried to keep you from sparring. How exactly did he do that before the teahouse? I mean to say… Who did you spar with if not him?” He broached the question lightly, an apprehensive look on his face. “Was it your brothers then?”

“Yes. My oldest brother, Shintaro, and the brother just younger than I to be specific. My youngest brother was just starting to seriously learn swordmanship just before I was sent off for good.” Although I tried to answer in a neutral tone, fond nostalgia filled every memory of Shintaro and Kentaro. Always looking out for me, pushing me, supporting me. The more I thought about it the more I couldn’t help but smile.

“You miss them, don’t you?” He asked with a smile of this own.

“I haven’t seen Kentaro in some months and Shintaro disappeared a few years ago. He got into a fight with my Father, though I know not why. He just… never came back.” I answered shaking away the tangling webs of the past to look at him in the present.

“Is that your Father’s doing? Keep all of you apart?” I tried to piece together why he was asking me these things before responding.

“Yes.” I looked at him rather intensely. “Why exactly are you so interested?”

“There are stories about a singing ghost in that teahouse. People say you can hear her singing songs to the moon late at night. I didn’t believe them until I heard it for myself. I was passing by on the way to the inn we were staying at. Then the next day, I heard you sing with Lord Nagamasa and Lady Oichi.” He explained, his voice quiet. I looked at him in utter shock. I never once imagined anyone heard me when I sat on the rooftop at night, save for maybe Mistress Yuki. “I wondered what would make someone so sad, so lonely… But after what you told me earlier, I understand. Maybe only a little bit… But…” He started to look quite bashful as he finally faced me.

“Lord… Naotsune…”

“Your smile is something very precious for its beauty. I wouldn’t mind working hard to see it every day.” He sighed and shook his head. “I mean… Oh what am I trying to say exactly?!” He moaned as he buried his face in his heads, a peek of a blush poking through. He raked both hands through his hair and stared at the ground. “You must hear stuff like that all the time. Hollow promises of love and marriage.”

“I do…” I replied with a self-deprecating smile.

“But…” He looked up at me slowly. “They don’t really know you, do they?” The intensity of his gaze startled me. His eyes were so clear and earnest I wondered if they could ever really hide anything.

“They know the painted doll with the pretty voice… For that is all I am.” I replied quietly, averting my eyes from his piercing gaze that seemed to go right through me. “A doll who paints a different face on every day to make them fall in love.”

“What face have you painted on now?” He seemed saddened by the response.

“The face of a doll who is cautiously optimistic.” I replied with a slight smile. He smiled slightly in return.

“I’ll take cautiously optimistic.” Though he smiled at me warmly, my heart was not hopeful. It was too good to be true. What did he really want?

“Well we made it!” Lord Naotsune beamed as we passed through the gates of Odani. We arrived just before nightfall and it was getting cool out. Relieved of my horse, I followed Lord Naotsune into the castle proper. We ventured to the main hall where we were told more of the Asakura and Azai clans were meeting for dinner, some of those meant to attend had not arrived yet. I let out a long sigh and looked down at myself disparagingly. If I showed up to the main hall like this, and my Father saw me, it would be a lecture for sure.

“You’ll want to take a bath before presenting yourself to the Lord and Lady.” A maid interjected cheerily as she started pulling me away.

“Oh umm…” I glanced back at Lord Naotsune but he just smiled and shrugged.

“Don’t worry, we’ve been expecting you! Lady Oichi gave us very explicit instructions! You are to be treated as her most honored guest!” The maid explained as another one joined in pulling me down the hall.

“Surely this is a bit… much…” I managed to free myself and followed them down the hall to the baths. My idea of a bit much and Lady Oichi’s idea of just right fall on completely opposite ends of the spectrum… After the most luxurious bath I had ever taken, I was shown to my room where my clothes were already being unpacked. Hanging, waiting to be put on was a gorgeous kimono I knew was not mine. It was even fancier than the kind I wore to entertain our most honored guests at the teahouse. No, this was something noblewomen wore.

“Come along, milady.” The maid tugged me towards the garment.

“Oh no. I couldn’t…” She just smiled.

“Lady Oichi insists that you look presentable. She picked this out for you.” Eyes wide as teacups and mouth agape I looked at the maid like she had just turned into a ghost. An equal measure of horror and disbelief.

“Really?” I finally found words again as she pulled my mindless body over to dress me. She giggled while she nodded. “Why…”

“Didn’t anyone tell you? Lady Oichi intends to make you a part of the conditions under which the Azai will stand with the Asakura against the Oda.”

“WHAT?!” She almost dropped the garment in her hand after I scared her half to death.

“Th… that is what she said.” The maid answered timidly.

“Can she even do that?” I asked skeptically as I pushed my arms through the sleeves.

“Lord Nagamasa is quite taken with her. He would do most anything she asked of him.” There was no small measure of disdain veiled under those words. It was clear Lady Oichi wasn’t very well liked here.

After the arduous task of getting fully clothed and made up I finally made my way to meet Lady Oichi. She looked just as stunning as ever as she approached from the other end of the short hall. When she saw me, her face positively beamed.

“Mejiro!” She cheered as she approached me with small, quick steps. “Oh I’m so glad you could come!”

“It is an honor to be here.” I replied with a deep bow. “Thank you for your more than gracious hospitality.”

“Oh, enough with such formalities.” She turned to go towards the main hall and I followed her. “There is something I want to discuss with you before we get to the main hall.” Her light voice took on a serious edge.

“Yes, milady?”

“Do you actually like working in that teahouse?” Her blunt question made me stop dead in place. “You can be honest with me here. Your lord has no power here.”

“No…” A small voice I barely recognized as my own answered her.

“I thought as much.” Her gorgeous features took on a troubled smile. “That’s why you won’t be going back.”

“Milady, I couldn’t possibly trouble you with something like that.” I finally started moving to catch up with her.

“I understand full well your position. Nagamasa explained it to me.” She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “We are often nothing more than pawns in a man’s game. That’s why when we can do for each other, we should.” Her words were so profound they shook me to my core. The only real friend and ally I ever had was Yuki and she was rarely around anymore. Suddenly, Lady Oichi wanted to be on my side? It was enough to bring tears to my eyes but, I fought them back like a true lady. Still, she noticed and gave me the most earnest smile.

“Well, let’s not keep them waiting.” She gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “Do be sure to follow me as my attendant.” She added absently right before the doors to the main hall opened for us. So, I did and I couldn’t help but notice all the strange looks from both clans as I settled myself in my place. None more noticeable than Lord Naotsune’s look of pure awe. Lord Nagamasa poked light-hearted fun at him.

“Naotsune if you have something to say, perhaps you should say it.” Lord Naotsune cleared his throat as he got to his feet. He approached the dais and bowed deeply.

“The double cherry trees, which grew/ At Nara in past days,/ Now beautify this Palace, and/ Their blossoms all ablaze/ Perfume the royal ways.” He said and my eyes grew wide as all the room fell on me. He smiled knowingly at me. “Perhaps I should be more straightforward? AH! why does love distract my thoughts,/ Disordering my will!/ I'm like the pattern on the cloth/ Of Michinoku hill,—/All in confusion still.” My cheeks started to burn in the face of the earnest look he was giving me. Surely this was some kind of jest but, this was a game I knew how to play.

“What is your reply, Mejiro?” Lord Nagamasa asked after me gently.

“If we could meet in privacy,/ Where no one else could see,/ Softly I'd whisper in thy ear/ This little word from me—/ 'I'm dying, Love, for thee.'” Clearly, no one expected that tanka as my response. My own father almost choking on the sake he was trying to swallow. Lord Naotsune was blushing a bright red and I could hear Lady Oichi giggling behind a fan she snapped open. Lord Nagamasa just laughed heartily.

“You always were one to get straight to the point even if you did so with a poem, Mejiro.” He got to his feet and addressed my father. “About what we discussed earlier, Kamitaro, I believe Naotsune made the process easier.”

“Milord?” Even Lord Naotsune was confused.

“Lord Kamitaro is looking to make a bride of Mejiro. What say you, Naotsune?” Lord Nagamasa seemed pleased to be making the announcement but Lord Naotsune seemed… troubled. He turned and looked at me with a pained smile.

“That’s not my decision to make.” My brows furrowed in confusion before I could stop them. “Please allow me the honor of proving to you why I would make an excellent husband.”

“Lord Endo, I have had many men broach the topic of marriage.” I began and his expression faltered ever so slightly. “None have ever struck my heart as earnestly as you have.” His lips started to quirk in an excited smile. “I look forward to getting to know you better in the days to come.”

Continue?

Yes

#slbp #choose your own adventure #fanfic #fanfiction

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keepyourpantsongohan · 7 years

Text

Ayesha Liveblogs Magi: Kingdom of Magic

It’s been like a minute and already this show has escalated so much more than it’s predecessor good lord

What kind of an ominous note to start this peppy intro song on

“Tonight we shall celebrate that triumph” Sinbad loves any excuse for a feast

Lmao @ Jafar just lurking around waiting to let Ka Kaboun have it

“Jafar, have I become devious?” said Sinbad, after doing a series of devious things all in succession

Oh my god Alibaba gave Kogyoku a flower crown that’s adorable

“I never thought anyone would make a move on a woman before me. Aladdin, you are a true Magi” SINBAD PLS

Take a shot every time someone pauses to relive tragic memories

I don’t want to accuse Sinbad of doing this on purpose but I kinda think he exposed Dunya to the dark magic on purpose

OH MY GOD THEY’RE HAVING A SLEEPOVER I LOVE IT

I deeply appreciate Alibaba’s sleepwear and that he removes his earrings

“My, what a charming sight you are” Kogyoku’s a little crazy but I dig it

Poor Jafar he is very concerned about Sinbad and I share the concern tbh

Oh no is Dunya dying iS THAT WHAT DAY OF DEPARTURE MEANS

“I wanted you to know all about it, about my true feelings” is this tragic backstory exchange also a romantic confession?

“I really envy you,” said Morgiana, immediately after Hakuryu told her that his entire family had been murdered

I don’t care who gets together with whom but I want one of these youths to take advantage of these romantic sunsets and flowers and fall in love like give me something to hope for in this society of imminent sadness

Oh shit they’re both royals of low birth I love it!!! Bond my peeps

“You must become my friend forever” I LOVE KOGYOKU AND ALIBABA

Yamuraiha is Aladdin’s mom now sorry I don’t make the rules

OH MY GOD HAKURYU’S GOT PINK RUKH CAUSE HE’S IN LOVE!!!

Lmao @ Aladdin outing Hakuryu’s crush to everyone around them

“I pray that you’ll have a good and safe journey” “Who are you?” Poor Spartos getting called out for his lack of screen time

IS ALIBABA GOING TO STOW AWAY I BET HE’S A STOWAWAY

Update from 10 seconds later: I KNEW IT

Poor Alibaba he was so set for his dramatic reveal but he fucked up

“But now that I’ve known him for a long time, there are a few odd things that I’ve noticed about him” Lmao they know he’s listening

Alibaba do you really think they can’t hear you shouting in the room beside them

I think Hakuyru and Alibaba are going to become romantic/battle rivals

“Next time I’ll do my part!” “Can you handle it?” boys pls

Who is this twelve year old magical pirate with a cyclops baby

Pretty unfair to refer to the people who own the ship as “intruders”

Guess these punk ass kids chose the wrong ship to attack

“I’m a mother to all of the miserable children in this world” I bet she’s eating them or smth

As soon as they mentioned the cliffs I knew Morgiana would be tossing her boys into the air khgdjhjkdhgk

I fucking love when Morgiana goes wild and destroys everything

Hard for Hakuryu to relate to all these parental memories when he grew up without any

Ohm Madura’s magical power: inducing mommy issues

“That means that though physically they’re children, mentally they’re actually mature” poverty, slavery and abandonment will do that

Omg does this mean that Hakuryu is actually the least mature of all of these children poor guy

Update from next episode: “That one seems to be the only one among them that’s still a child” oh Hakuryu

Well I guess that answers the question of whether Hakuryu can djinn equip

Judging purely on the theme song Hakuryu is not going to become a main character and that makes me sad because I’ve grown attached to him

MY GOD HAKURYU CHILL THE FUCK OUT YOU JUST MURDERED A WOMAN IN FRONT OF A BUNCH OF CHILDREN

“My mission is to kill my own mother” what a trope reversal instead of a Dead Mom he’s got a Murder Mom

“There’s no reason to grieve... after all none of you were ever loved in the first place” damn Hakuryu quit taking your issues out on the children

I did not think this romantic confession was coming on so quickly oh my

“That’s why I want to marry you” you’re like seventeen get it together

Lmao @ Morgiana and Hakuryu kissing with their eyes wide open

Take a shot every time Alibaba cries for his enemies I love him so much it’s like his philosophy is ‘if the mood is vengeful burst into tears’

“You’re different than King Sinbad... in what way I’m not sure” why do they keep alluding to Evil!Sinbad I’m not about this

“Isn’t there any way to put your vengeance behind you and finally be free?” Damn so he’s not just Arabian Zuko he’s also Arabian Sasuke

I want for Hakuryu to be happy but I can only imagine Morgiana is going to end up with Alibaba which isn’t bad it’s just sad for him

“Stamina is your only redeeming quality” how rude, Alibaba

Sfhkdjhgfkjghfdkhg these flashes showing that Hakuryu is loyal af and Alibaba is a hoe are hilarious

Alibaba has no idea how to coordinate jewelry lmao

Why is everyone from the Kou empire so goddamn crazy good lord

Take a shot every time someone under the age of 15 witnesses a murder

“I want you to mess me up too” Kinkshame Kouha’s consorts

Me @ Aladdin collapsing after a single pull-up: .... same

Sphinctus: Pay! Attention! To! Me!

ALADDIN FELL ASLEEP DURING SOMEONE’S TRAGIC BACKSTORY... TWICE

“Thank you... Instructor’s Boobs” what on earth is this show honestly

“When you guys first got here, you were just a bunch of ignorant losers. But not anymore... Today, you guys are self-aware losers” ..... same

Alibaba just fucking ends up passed out in the streets when left to his own devices my darling disaster

This fight is lit I love my boy battling in the middle of a casino lmao

Is this meant to imply that Cassim bestowed his magoi onto Alibaba as he died like what kind of loyalty does this boy inspire 10/10 world’s Best Boy

Why are all these people so messed up there’s a death chant like every few episodes

“Are you alright?” he said, after watching Alibaba almost die several times and not doing a damn thing

I can’t wait for Alibaba to take back Balbaad

Morgianna should really have more questions about the mysterious all-knowing stranger in the cave willing to take her on a one-way trip across the void

So I take it that these past six months have not gone well for Hakuryu

“there can only be one ruler, not just for this country, but for the world” like a minute of screen time and Kouen’s already talking world domination

“From father to son just like that” this family circle is way too close these kids are siblings and also cousins now the mom seems to be hitting on her son it’s all very yikes

Is Hakuyru seriously supporting his mom’s bid for the throne just so he can depose her what a mess

I’m loving all of Hakuryu’s dramatic actions being accompanied by lightning

This dude looks almost exactly like Sheherazade how many magi are at this school exactly

“[...] Will be granted the honour of second-class citizenship” oh Aladdin

“You and I are cut from the same cloth that’s a very special thing” okay Anime Malfoy I wonder how this exchange with the equality-minded protagonist is going to go

“I thought for sure you were a girl under there” I’ll admit it, that’s not how I thought this exchange was going to go

Whoops I guess when you’re dependent on a thin piece of cloth to hide your biggest secret things might not go in your favour during battles

“One of the four magis who is not supposed to exist” wait what homie

“The magi and I have reached an accord” Titus has known Aladdin’s secret for one (1) night and already he’s dropping it in casual conversation

“Back home the engine that drives industry is the accepted use of forced labour” these call-outs are near constant

Titus highkey adores cats and babies and I appreciate it

Omg Titus just called his employer just to tell her about his amazing day meowing at cats I love him

Damn I should’ve known something like this would be going on I was sort of just expecting run of the mill corruption and abuse not using-people’s-lifeforce-to-power-their-lifestyles

“Oh yes, yes it would” Titus has known this girl for five minutes and he’s already ready to adopt her

Titus decided to liberate 200,000 people from enslavement even though his mission is to study them bless him

“You came here to study, not be a freedom fighter” but he wants 2 do both

Aladdin’s ready to fight at the slightest provocation and like same

Your narrative of overthrowing oppression is really undermined by referring to the masses in the same way you claim that other nobility referred to you

“The breed possessing sharper intelligence and higher reasoning should control those who don’t” so it’s not only a fascist state it’s also proposing eugenics we’ve reached full on wizard nazis

“I’m so happy for you Titus” why does Mogamett ruin every happy moment by being gross

How is Titus planning on continuing his studies while he raises a six-year-old full-time are there nannies in this school

“We will be together forever, I give you my promise” well now I’m worried that Marga’s gonna die

I’m guessing Titus is some kind of copy of Sheherazade not meant to be permanent so that’s why he’s not meant to last

“I don’t want my life to end yet” I’m guessing Titus is about to make a mistake

“No matter who he is, no human must ever be granted the powers of a king” now would be a good time to cut to Alibaba

[Donald T/rump voice] Make the Empire Magic Again

Call me crazy but I’m guessing the handsome one is the person they’re going to focus on as a potential king

Things have escalated really quickly like four episodes ago they were having fun times in the market and now they’re at war

I’m guessing the ominous prologue is about to come to fruition

“Ours is not a society built on oppression,” he said, while literally standing on ground built above the bodies of indentured labourers

Sheherazade is defeating her enemies through science what a plot twist

Are these two just having an ongoing magical phone call while their armies attack each other

Don’t get me wrong I want to know where this plot goes but I also want to see Alibaba’s training montage and see what Morgiana decided

“You’re an abomination that should never have been born in the first place” Mu is defeating Titus by blows to the self-esteem

Aladdin’s trying to stop a war single-handedly bless his heart

“I never thought about just asking them nicely” Aladdin <333333333

Why is Mu’s djinn equip the only one which changes the user’s ethnicity

“He’s my friend, my best friend” ALIBABA MY LOVE IS HERE AND MY BABIES ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR BOND

What a weird tone for these armistice talks. On a boat during a beautiful sunset with a bunch of teenage boys

Is Sheherazade the only Magi that can reproduce because she’s a lady

I LOVE THIS TROPE OF GIVING A HEAD BOP EVERY TIME SOMEONE TRIES TO STUBBORNLY TAKE ON ALL THEIR OWN BURDENS

“I acted as if you were a just a toy for me to play with, but I knew no other way to express my love for you” that’s no excuse for bad parenting Sheherazade

Mogamett needs to chill the fuck out good lord

“My fall into depravity is guaranteed” I mean same but calm down

Alibaba during literally every battle: How can I make this about Cassim

“I’ve had my fill of heartbreakers” Slutshame metal vessel users

Look at my fancy boy with his pants on fire good for Alibaba

I think this is the first time Alibaba has referred to himself as a Prince of Balbaad since its fall

“She is much more of an adult than I will ever be” TITUS DON’T DO IT

“Mr. Director, sir, you shall always have my respect,” said Titus, while speaking to a man who is operating a weapon of mass destruction against hundreds of thousands of people using human lives

OH NO TITUS WHY HE DOESN’T DESERVE THAT I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE WHERE HE WAS UNTIL I SAW HIS EARRING

EVERYTHING HAPPENS SO MUCH HOW ARE THEY GOING TO RESOLVE ALL OF THIS IN ONE EPISODE

“Just like Sinbad... I have a feeling he’s someone else that I shouldn’t be secrets to” has Sinbad really done anything yet other than give people the heebie jeebies

“YOU GIVE ME BACK MY SON” ME TOO SHEHERAZADE

I fucking love this “Alibaba dear” my royal buddies Kogyoku and Alibaba

Sidenote: In Japanese she calls him “Alibaba-chan” which is for friends/babies/lovers and Alibaba is all three tbh

I deeply relate to Kouen’s lack of impulse control/regard for his own life

“Die you wastes of space”... maybe not

“What he’s saying now is, ‘The way things are now, I’m unable to have my way with those wards. And so, as you also own a fire djinn, Lord Alibaba, I’d like you to please lend me a hand.’ Those are the exact words Lord Kouen just spoke to him.” HAKUEI PLEASE HE’S STOMPING ALIBABA INTO A VOLCANO

I already love Kouen and Alibaba’s relationship like combo attacks are my shit

Kouen’s concerned about his djinn equip even though he’s clearly lost a few layers of flesh where are your priorities my dude

I love these crazy ass siblings dedicated to saving the world together

“Why isn’t Hakuryu here?” he’s probably doing something devious

“I too was there, and served [King Solomon] as well”.... WHAT

If she’s a being of only thought how did she have like ten kids

Sinbad coming in with the cavalry ayyyyyyyyyyyy how’s it going my mysterious friend

Morgiana comes to the rescue my gal and

“However, if you’re an uninvited guest forcing yourself upon our world, we’ll eliminate you” Sinbad always says such honourable things it’s very confusing with all the devious coding he’s been getting

Sheherzade coming to perform some deus ex magica

There’s Hakuyru come to fuck up his life he’s got like half an an episode to make a mess let’s see how much he can accomplish in that time

“This man, he kidnapped me from the royal palace and raised me as his own [...] but I was never anything but happy” even the nice things that Mogamett does are sort of evil lmao

Why doesn’t poor Titus even get a line in all this peace-making

Knowing from my friend that Hakuryu is going to do something after all this plot resolution is making me real tense

“Now that their common enemy is gone” IS HAKURYU GOING TO BECOME THEIR COMMON ENEMY

“The alliance will spare no effort towards the rebuilding Magnoshuttat” Sinbad’s deviousness is finally coming to fruition

OH MY GOD TITUS IS BACK AND HE’S A MAGI I LOVE IT

“I have chosen to forever turn my back on you” why are you like this Hakuryu

Alibaba’s ‘my friends are idiots’ senses are tingling but I guess it’s not time for him to go full Naruto to Hakuryu’s full Sasuke yet

#ayesha liveblogs magi #ayesha talks anime #liveblogging

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spacemomalex · 7 years

Note

So... Sera being unpopular is sexist, but you admitted you don't like her either... so are you calling yourself a sexist then?

Alrighty I hope you’re sitting down because boy howdy do I have a rant for you!

Why I dislike Sera as a person, not a character

As a writer (like many on here) I have an interesting relationship when it comes to my feelings for a story, it’s characters, and my own morality. That means, I am perfectly capable of being incredibly approving of, fascinated by, or even adore a character who’s morality is very different from my own.

This is very true for Sera. As a character, Sera is a complex thought provoking creature.

As an elf, one would expect her to have an understanding of why racism against elves is such a terrible thing, but she doesn’t. Instead of caring about elves and the struggles they face, she ignores and dismisses them as simply being “too elfy”. Which is a throw back to the people in our world today who are the ones effected by racism, but deny that it exists for “points” with their oppressors/to avoid being oppressed/don’t want to admit how oppression affects them.

She of course brings to our attention racial stereotypes, (her conversation about how most elves can’t actually shoot a bow), but again doesn’t seem to realize that those stereotypes can be harmful to other elves. (Say, an elf who can’t shoot worth a damn is brought along and given a bow and told to fight. Despite their protests that they can’t shoot one, they are dismissed and as a result people get hurt and killed and the elf is blamed for not helping. Even though they made it clear that they could not shoot, the fact that the stereotype was so reinforced in everyone else’s mind, they ignored that fact and it would be their fault people were hurt. Not the fault of the elf who couldn’t shoot in the first place and tried to prevent this from happening.)

This applies to when talking about the Dalish. Sera constantly refuses to understand them or their ways, or why city elves try to follow the old customs. Writing them off as simply ‘old’ and therefore not worth her time to learn or apply to her own life. She simply refuses to see how human oppression of elves truly affects elves and firmly believes that the only problem is the nobility and pride.

Even when supplied with firm proof that the elves have every reason to be “elfy”- as shown with the scroll about Red Crossing and the temple of mythal- she is steadfast in her denial of elven culture.

This makes her fascinating. It makes her a commentary that we should look into and ponder over our own actions and thought processes regarding race and oppression. I love her as a character because we get to see this young girl, hurt by a parental figure be allowed to grow into a young woman who still feels the affects of that. We get to see this young woman who is not shamed for her past and allowed to make mistakes because of it.

As a person though? Sera is a willfully ignorant prideful little shit who doesn’t want to admit that things are more complex than what she wants to believe. Why? Because she doesn’t want to admit she was ever wrong. I can understand why she feels this way, having been raised by an abusive human, but I was also raised by abusive racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic assholes and I will always fight for the rights of the oppressed groups these things hurt. Because I know better about how my privileges and the parts of me people are trying to oppress. Sera never learns how to be a better person and understand her own race better.

This mindset is one in the world today that we are all watching destroy our freedoms. I dislike Sera as a person because she is the exact kind of close-minded person that allows racism and other oppression to roam free, and at times even contribute to it, that I try to fight against.

Why Sera is Horrible LGBTA+ Representation

As I said on the confessions, Sera should not be considered good representation of a lesbian relationship. Why? Because she’s childish and manipulative and close minded.

That really should be enough, but let me go into explicit detail.

On the childishness of Sera, let’s talk about her prank pulling. I will say this, her prank pulling and hatred of the extreme magical bullshit going on was refreshing. It was so nice to see a character who was just an every day person getting caught up in things far beyond the natural world. Even more nice to see a gut busting girl who didn’t care what others thought of her and was solely herself and enjoyed bringing stuffy folk down to a more human level. The problem with this however? It plays into her utter denial of the elven gods and culture and to things outside of the “norm”- such as Cole. It plays into her prank pulling actually being cruel at times because of her lack of awareness for the suffering of others.

When she spoke to Cole, she referred to him as a ‘thing’. She never considered the possibility that someone so different from herself deserves recognition as a person- and that’s a shitty fucking thing to do. Cole may not have started out human, but he tried so hard to be kind and to help others, she, as somebody who was not normal herself and had faced dehumanizing treatment, should have known better. After Cole had proven time and time again that he did not deserve the awful treatment, she never changed from that hateful dismissing stance about him. (not that I saw anyway)

(Note; I also realize that Vivienne and Blackwall were not the nicest to Cole either, but I could write a ten page book on why Vivienne is a boss anyway because, at least, she avoided Cole and had some fucking class. Blackwall I just despise in general and I will always hate that creep)

When she pulled her pranks, she never considered the potential harm they could do. For example, making Cullen’s desk wobble? Amusing, definitely, had Cullen been a normal man. But Cullen is a recovering drug addict and a survivor of some rather extreme trauma, it’s obvious he suffers from severe PTSD. I’m positive that any “controlling” behavior he had towards his own personal desk space did stem from a need to control his surroundings after the terrible events he suffered. Her making the desk wobble could potentially cause a minor break for Cullen if it was a bad day for him. But she doesn’t take that into consideration, she only blows off Cullen as “too uptight” without seeming to understand. Like, there’s plenty of pranks you can pull on somebody that won’t have a negative effect on them. And what about the water bucket on Josie? Granted meeting with nobles is boring and annoying, but the Inquisition NEEDED their support. The Inquisition needed important allies so that they wouldn’t be attacked or turned against. She could have turned away potential allies just because she wanted to humiliate Josie. And Josie didn’t even deserve that! Josie (and Cullen!) worked so hard to keep the Inquisition from going under so that they could save the world. I didn’t see Sera consider these consequences and that bothers me to no end. Pranks are fun, but there is a time and place for the, and a way to do them. Sera didn’t do any of that. (She also put lizards in Solas bedroll- what if one bit him and it was poisonous? Would she have cared?)

And! She doesn’t take her relationship with the Inquisitor seriously at all at first! She writes off the Inquisitor’s interest and says she only wants fun. Somebody who’s only looking for a fling and basically says they do not want to have a relationship with you is not somebody who is ready for a relationship. Especially since later she basically tells the Inquisitor that they do have a relationship and that the Inquisitor can either choose to keep Sera by saying her entire culture is a lie, or lose Sera. What a terrible thing to ask somebody to do.

If someone who was barely a christian demanded that I give up my gods just because they didn’t believe in them, I would tell them to take a fucking hike off a cliff. A god you don’t even really believe is not more important than the gods I have devoted myself to. What you want and you believe should not matter more than what I want and believe. If you cannot respect my beliefs, then I have no respect for you and you clearly do not love me enough if you cannot respect my love for them. And, if you ask me to give up my gods for you, then what else will you ask of me? What else will I have to lose to satisfy you? This is the logic I apply to any and all relationships.

Again, while this makes for an interesting story and dynamic between the inquisitor and Sera- what does love mean between the two of them. In my rather hefty experience in the dating world, it sets up a platform for abuse and manipulation.

So let’s review; Sera doesn’t consider the consequences of her actions in relation to the thoughts, feelings, and needs of those she says she loves. Is that somebody we really want representing lesbians? As a (genderfluid/demi) girl who wants a relationship with a woman, Sera is not someone I want people to look at and think ‘oh, so that’s what women who like women are like’.

Especially when compared to literally ANY of the other women available for a lesbian romance. Or are they simple not up for considering because they’re bi in many cases? Are bi women who love women somehow less important to you? Think on that before you consider Sera as a good representation of a gay relationship please and thank you.

Character Critique VS Sexism

And now onto the main point you are so backwardly trying to be clever about.

When it comes right down to it, you can dislike a female character without it being sexist. For example, I dislike Sera, as a person, because, again, I find her childish, arrogant, and borderline abusive.

The reason such characters like Sera are generally unpopular does have a lot to do with sexism I will not deny that. And it has to do with having so few genuinely interesting female characters, that many will take whatever they can get. But not enough of them will. Many are still stuck in how wonderful and amazing the male characters are, that many females characters fall to the wayside. Sera is no exception. Because she is not an attractive male that they can ship with another attractive male, Sera is simply not going to have as many supporters as say, Dorian (whom I have an entire rant on why he’s good gay representation, but also cliched). That means they are going to be more critical of her flaws and failings, without taking into account why she is such a good character because sexism in the offline reality is so critical of women in the first place.

Sweeping statements of Sera being annoying “like all women” or writing her off as only childish without understanding her own problems with accepting herself because of her foster mother’s abuse, is sexist. I am capable of feeling sorry for Sera and wanting the best for her, while also understanding that she is not the only representation of all lesbians. Not everyone is capable of doing that yet. People, especially men, brain washed women, and younger folk, simply do not have the tools at their disposal (nor want them) to understand that Sera is simply one kind of woman and should be thought about more deeply.

And that doesn’t take into account how Sera is not a dynamic character. She just barely changes throughout the story line. She (along with others, and I have some major words to share with Bioware about the lack of character growth in their stories) remains the same childish, mildly manipulative, arrogant, brain washed racist and does learn any lessons from her time with the Inquisition. Her character, and her story line, I chalk up to male writers just, being honestly not very good writing female characters in general. She could have been an amazing character, a really amazing person, but all in all I feel she just falls flat on the things that truly matter to me as a person.

I could go on, but I would be repeating myself on this particular section.

So, TLDR; Your reach is not clever. If you had bothered to actually read my post you would have seen that I brought up legitimate points of criticism of Sera’s character- such as her deep set racism born of self loathing and brain washing, her manipulative and childish behavior and her lack of change through the story line. I’m not impressed by your salty attempt to make me look bad because you don’t like what I had to say about Sera.

#dragon age inquisition #Sera #dai #I see your snide shitand raise you #don't even fucking try that with me #again #Sera is an interesting character #but she's also A Bitch #and not in a way that I personally can get behind

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