#he hasnt been getting any attention in both of these arcs and it makes me sad | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wiremotherenergy · 11 months

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i think kevin and veronica have a lot in common in terms of being addicted to relationships - in this way they are both pathologically searching for ways to feel opressed: in veronicas case the role of kevins (mostly imagined - except when enacted by other gay people) homophobic societal constraints is filled by Hiram. i could easily imagine a scene of veronica in fox forest yelling at betty that she doesnt understand her strife - Your dad never tried to recruit manipulate or murder any of YOUR boyfriends! The difference is though that while veronica suffers from chronic venus in cancer disease and can only feel self actualised and fulfilled by caring for and devoting herself to a boy (thats why her cognitive dissonance girlbossing is so fascinating. ask me about veggie), kevin is a coward and instead of searching for ways to fiercely defy the patriarchy through embracing the patriarchy he is searching for ways to become a young adult dystopian romance protagonist through manufacturing narrative conflict and tension to make sense of and give purpose to his otherwise boring existence (see also: cult member proclivities). his presumed but untouched on mommy issues may or may not play a role in this - there is no other possible justification for these levels of attention seeking behavior but momma keller is mentioned circa 3 times in the whole series so i kind of doubt this. he seems to have no conflict with his cop #ally dad and i bet that pisses him off SO MUCH. in contrast to poor veronica who is constantly given zero credit for her own craziness # noteverythingishiramsfault! how do i know veronicas existence is NOT defined and made absolute by her father? because thats why we have her amazing sexy sister hermosa - SHES here to show us what that actually looks like. (and still she is not the preferred child - aks me about hermosa). veronicas issue is that she wants to have it both ways (her character a never ending conundrum of feminism as the unstoppable force and being a daddys girl as the immovable object) while kevins issue is the same one i had when choosing a major - nobody actually wants or expects anything from me and i am free to do whatever i want and i hate it so i create my own mental saw traps in my head. i love his arc in s6 and his relationship with percival and the whole lord of the flies thing. not necessarily a 100% true observation but definitely the most narrative structure kevin has ever been allowed to have. him and betty work great as besties bc they are both victims of intense internalised homophobia and hate each other btw. why is kevin always in some random bland unimportant boring relationship with a nothing guy whos only personality trait is being gay (only half pertains to fangs - he does have other stuff going on but only ever one at a time and during his kangs era it is being kevins gay bf*). because kevin is choosing gayness to be his own only personality trait to trap himself and give his life meaning. only it consistently fails to provide the drama he thinks it should have (again - excluding that thing with mooses homophobic gay dad. i love that the only homophobic characters in riverdale are all - at least semi canonically - gay). veronica also consistently has near nothing in common with her boyfriends** but at least she is getting the returns that kevin is denied. maybe because she is a better businesswoman. ultimately she is the loser though because while someone in the writers room for s6 has probably said she should be freed from the boyfriend vs daddy dichotomy on account of that being kinda misoginystic and therefore hasnt had anything to do at all in the plot since - kevin will always have either an unremarkable boyfriend or a stupidity induced allegiance with a villain or both ( THANK YOU for this percival. please come back.)

#*prior to kangs era its playing rosencrantz to sweet peas guildenstern and after that its tonis blue collar family man malewife #ask me about fangs...#**ASK me about veggie #to be clear i love kevin but not more than i love to hate him and i do suffer from academic bias on account of desiring veronica carnally.#rvd #etxt

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n-ugg · 3 years

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When Sam accepted this job, he thought it'll be fine. It'll finally be a challenge with his building and engineering. The pay will be so helpful too with wanting to make sure that one of his sons will have enough armor and weapons for a while without needing to go out and search for the supplies.

It would've been a good trade off.

So why is this back firing on him so badly?

When the prison was completed, Sam reported to Dream and asked for a higher pay. Dream immediately complies, gives him an extra three stacks of diamond block. Sam didn't question it.

Why would he? This will help him out so much and he wont need to worry about getting supplies for weeks. Months even!

Dream speaks up after the transaction, about how Sam knows who it is and it should be easy to get him in. Sam didn't pay much attention to what he said. He was too blinded by the pay to even ask who is going to be in.

The night was spent with Sam breaking apart the blocks to form into multiple full suits of armor and multiple swords. He even went the extra mile to head over to Punz to place in extra enchantments to make sure his son won't hurt himself as much.

He did all of this to make sure that his son won't get hurt. So why is he currently being ordered to put his son in the cell?

Sam was frozen in the prison. Seeing his son. Seeing Quackity calling out to him. Begging him for an answer on why did he make this prison for him. Why was he working against him this entire time.

Sam's voice was lost. He can't speak. He cant move. He's stuck between both of Dream and Quackity's yelling match, yet Sam can't hear either of them.

He felt his body move on his own the moment he noticed a shine from the corner of his eye coming from Dream.

Sam was standing in front of Quackity with his shield raised up with an axe at his side to push back Quackity. The sound hits him all at once as he hears the netherite axe hit the wooden surface.

"Sam!" He looks past the shield to make eye contact with Dream. His face was hidden, but you can tell behind the smile the rage continues to rise. "You agreed to a job and you need to complete it." His voice was back to his normal tone but you can tell theres a venom being held back.

Quackity raised his voice behind Sam. Please don't continue, Sam doesn't want to go forth with this. "I didn't do shit Dream! You're being a tyrant that you claim to never be! I don't deserve to be locked up by my own damn-" he cut himself off. Please stop, Sam still cares and views him as a son. "locked up by Sam." His tone noticeably gotten lower when he conpleted the sentence.

Sam felt the guilt in his stomach grow as the grip on the shield and axe gotten tighter. He just wanted to help. This was never supposed to happen.

"Quackity! You're a threat!" Dream's voice rose again. Why can't this yelling match just end? "You bombed Eret, who is neutral! And planned an army against Technoblade! What else are you planning to do?! You're a ticking time bomb! I need to put you away to protect the others!"

"Oh yeah?" You can hear a smile from Quackity's end. Why is he smiling in a time like this? "I only went against Eret because he fucking killed Karl! You're upset because I was able to see the king as a puppet! And Techno literally tried to kill us all by spawning withers! Why is he still running around?"

"Because he hasnt done anything to make himself known or done any harm yet! I can't just thr-"

"Shut up! Both of you." Sam finally spoke up. He just wanted it to end, so he'll need to listen. Sam did a final side glare at Dream before turning to back. "Quackity." Sam takes a pause to let out a deep breath he's been holding. "Please walk in the prison."

"I already told you Sam, Im not going in." Quackity stated with the smile off of his face as he refuses to look at Sam in the eyes and keep his contact with Dream, definitely noticing the grip on the axe tighten.

Sam can feel the murder behind Dream's eyes and what might happen if Quackity continues to protest. "Please, I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want to do this" Sam was pratically begging but he still kept his composer.

Quackity's smirk returned. "Yeah, like getting tossed in a inescapable cell by my own 'dad'-" those air quotes managed to do so much internal damage towards Sam. "-isn't hurtful enough. Heh, I thought I was able to trust you, man." The smirk faded away as Quackity started to focus on Sam. "Never would I ever thought that you'll backstab me like this by working with my biggest enemy. To fucking lock me away like that."

Sam took in another deep breath before letting it out. "I'm so sorry." Before Quackity was able to make a comment, Sam grabbed him and dragged him into the prison. It was easy due to the massive height difference. Quackity was trying to break away and make a run for it, but made absolute no progress.

Sam threw Quackity in and locked the doors. Quackity ran to the door and started to bang on it while screaming to be let out. Sam kept his own walls up to not break at the sight of seeing his son. The person he built the prison, to just get a generous pay for he can make the armor and weapons for, curse at him to let him out as he bangs on the walls while being on his knees.

Dream walked behind Sam and placed his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Good work, make sure he doesn't get out and you dont help. You know exactly what will happen." Sam simply nodded as he feels Dream's hand lift from his shoulder and hears him walk out of the prison.

Quackity was already away from the walls as he observed his new home. Sam wanted to look away, but he can't. He is completely unable to look away from the mess he's made. Sam tried to speak up, but felt his throat dry up the moment his mouth opened.

Quackity started to let out a laugh as his hand trailed along the wall. "You really made this inescapable, huh?" Sam didn't respond, just nodded as he took a couple of steps forward. Quackity let out another laugh as he walked towards to where Sam was at.

Sam was confused and cleared his throat before speaking. "Why are you laughing?" His voice was raspy. His throat still felt tight and dry.

"Because I trusted you! And then you backstabbed me by helping my biggest enemy!" Another cackle filled the cell. Sam cringed at the sound, not liking how his son has already broken down in the cell. "You need to help me with something. As a way-"

"Im not breaking you out." Sam's voice was stern as he tries to push down the thought of Quackity getting killed by Dream to the back of his head. "You'll get hurt. Badly."

Quackity shoke his head, "Not that." He stuffed his hands in his pocket and his posture straighted out.

"With what then?"

Quackity raised his hand over his beanie and pushed it back to reveal small horns, already having a small curve forming. "Remember the Frankenstein's monster arc?" Sam was taken a back seeing the horns, he also notices how Quackity basically had sharper nails then before and his eyes containing a really faint yellowish glow in the dark cell. "Want to finish it for me?"

So many thoughts rush into Sam's head. This could mean that all of the crimes that Quackity has been accused of can be forgiven since it isn't him. It was just Schlatt the entire time.

If he brings him back, he'll let go of Quackity.

He can have his son back.

He doesn't need to keep him locked up.

Sam quickly nods his head as a smile forms. "Anything for you."

#mcyt #dream smp #dreamwastaken #quackity #awesamdude #possessed quackity #jschlatt #if you squint #I know how unlikely this is #so I need to fill the void and lack of content with this scenario before canon completely take it away from me #my writing #i have edited to fix it #i was sleep deprived while writing this at first #but now fix

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indigopurple · 4 years

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Basically a review of OP episode 503 ig

Currently rewatching post-war arc (in the dub so I don't have any screenshots for u guys sry) and theres a few things id like to point out.

During a conversation Dadan once had with Garp, they were talking about Roger. Garp said that even if they were facing powerful enemies, he would never run away because he wouldnt dare leaving his comrads behind; it wasnt an option for him. Obviously we see this in Ace. But ALSO, isnt this what he did with Katakuri? It was a little different cuz of the setting mostly, but he separated himself from his crew to fight off katakuri, and lied to them about being okay so they didn't worry (he was already getting his ass kicked by then, so he just made that stupid smile and told them not to worry (or smth like that, I can remember the exact line) (that smile was so gross and fake cuz he fucking sucks at lying). Also he said roger destroyed a buncha soldiers cuz they mouthed off his men. That's what Ace tried to do but instead he died. :(

"The pain he went through just made him hold on tighter to the ones he loved" -Garp, about Roger. "Despite his flaws and his bad reputation, his crew still trusted him completely." -also Garp, about Roger. These both sound a lot like Luffy AND Ace.

When Dogra got home and told everyone about Sabo's ship being shit down and him dying (which we all know didnt happen, thank fuck), (by the way the absolutely lost looks on Ace's and Luffy's faces with the sudden silence hurt like a bitch), Luffy started crying and said "WE SHOULDNT'A LET HIM GO, IT'S ALL OUR FAULT". Which fucking says something about him (thinking of episodes 913-915 when he goes fucking berserk, but before that he learns that Kaido probably killed Tama and he says "I should've escorted them..!" (*ugly cries*)). Ace also reacted pretty similarly-- "Sabo...why didn't we go back into town and bring him back here?! We're so stupid!" And he gets mad and asks where he could find the bastard that killed him (obviously not getting a good answer since it was a fucking celestial dragon ugh). That is what Luffy does, in present time. He results to anger first, not sadness. Not sure when he learned to do that but I'm 99 percent sure it was from Ace. Also the blaming himself thing? High chance thats ALSO from Ace. Who else would teach him that self hating behaviour?!

Dadan pins Ace down to stop him from going after the Celestial Dragon to calm him down, telling him he cant do anything, he's not big or strong enough to do anything and he'll be killed as soon as he tries anything, especially since it was the whole country -the whole WORLD- that killed Sabo. He can't do anything. And then they tied him to a tree outside to let him cool off. Oh yeah then he also told luffy to stop crying like a little girl or else he'll- (and he didn't finish the sentence). ...Ok maybe thats why luffy started being more angry than sad.

This is where things get a little more :( . Ace reads the letter Sabo sent them before he died. As he reads, he walks to the end of the forest, to a cliff overlooking the ocean. And starts fucking bawling (btw the voice actor who had Ace's childhood part did not do a very good job, no where near as in character and real as Coleen Clickenberg did with all of Luffy's crying scenes. She was spot on.) ...do you see where im going with that? He isolated himself before letting himself feel sad. It was all rage and then calm beforehand. Y-you see where im going with that. Dont make me say it.

"How's Luffy doing, is he any better?" "Well...he hasnt been eating much, but he still eats twice as much as we do". Oh look, That's what happened after Ace died too. There's a behavioral pattern that hasnt gone away. Not sure why it wouldve tho.

Luffy is mopeing, lying on the ground in a similar setting ace was at when he cried. Hes thinking about some of the things Sabo said, like how theyre gonna sail the seas together, and he clenches his hands into tight, shaking fists. After Ace shows up and hits him, and talking abt some other stuff I don't feel like relaying, Luffy tightens his grip on the straw hat and tells ace, whimpering, he wants to get stronger (and stronger, and stronger, and stronger and stronger and....) And he wants to be the strongest in the world. "And then, I'll protect everyone. I won't lose anyone I care about". He gets stronger mainly to protect the people he loves. And then he asks ace to promise he won't die. To which he hits Luffy again and tells him he should be more worried about himself dying first. And then the famous line that hurts like a bitch- "I'm NEVER going to DIE!" And then this hopeful music comes on (fucking damnit funimation, u gotta do this? Really??) Also he says he wont die as long as he has a wussy little brother to protect. ...FUCK. Ok, the fist clenching is a thing he does all the fucking time, usually when he gets mad. This was different because he wasnt mad, he was sad. He clenched his fist because thinking about it hurt. Which, huh, sounds a lot like his whole episode after waking up from his 2 week coma on the polar tang. To try and stop the mental pain of those horrendous memories, he resulted to physically pain. He hurt himself. So, He clenches his fists in times like these to fight off the mental pain and the urge to cause himself physical pain. Guys, our boy is bad at emotions, help him. ....ok this paragraph is longer than I anticipated so ill dumb down the rest of it ig. Next part, him asking ace to promise he wont die. The music, the body language, the over change in mood- this comforts him. He stopped hiding his face and silently sobbing after ace said this. OH YEAH! didn't he tell jinbe not to die when they parted ways in Totto Land? And then, hes missing still in Wano and we see Luffy is worried....but convinced Jinbe will show up. Again, this comforts him. Hes nervous cuz someone KOFF KOFF ACE broke that promise once. But jinbe is his crew mate so he trusts him, thank god.

"-But whoever did it, they must be opposed to freedom." The whole freedom thing? That runs through Luffy's blood and spirit.His brothers fought for it, his dad is the man who strives to give everyone freedom basically, and Luffy himself has seen enough of the OPPOSITE of freedom to be so, so much more than just against it. Hence why he of course was so eager to free the slaves in Sabaody, the kids in punk hazard, the toys in dressrosa, the country of Wano from Kaido's tyrany. The apple doesnt fall far from the tree huh.

I dont think Luffy would remember his promise with Shanks if it werent for his brothers putting feul to his dream. It was a stupid bet at first; he just wanted to beat Shanks, right then. But after meeting Sabo and Ace, he found the opposite of freedom and human rights. And then he wanted, REALLY wanted, to become the free-est man in the world; the pirate king.

Last one i promise ok? This one is less connected to whats going on in the episode at this point, but something I noticed (its so obvious everyone has seen this ok) was when luffy cries, his posture is always open. He doesn't curl in on himself like many people would do (I know I would, lol). He doesnt hug himself, protect himself. He's just, opened up to whoever is watching, literally. This has a little more to do with something I haven't talked about much in this post yet; his self-destruction issues. I said he tried to hurt himself when he felt mental pain, which is definitely similar. But he cries and doesnt try to protect or comfort himself, like he doesn't have that programmed into his mind. Reminder that he only wants to live because of his dream, and if he doesnt have his dream, he wants to die. (Whoa.). Ok, so no self preservation mechanism at all rlly. Hes basically ride or die. So, when things hurt so much that he cries, he has no hope left. He just kinda...dies inside. So this was mildly different after sabo died. Yes we saw him just standing there, sobbing. But the next day he's still crying, and instead he's laying on the ground. I saw that and the voice in the back of my head told me he wanted to be a part of that lifeless dirt beneath him. Then, Ace walked over. And his words made him feel the hope that I told you about earlier, and he sat up into a sitting position. And HUGGED HIS LEGS TO HIS CHEST. There's some self preservation! Some hope! Some will to exist, to live! Something we saw none of as he sat in front of his brothers corpse, shutting down. He sat there, open to his enemies, incapable of protecting himself. Practically anyone couldve killed him right then and there. I think he mightve liked that, at that moment. Like thank god he has that stupidly good luck cuz if he didn't I swear someone couldve thrown and axe or FUCKING ANYTHING AT THAT MOMENT and hed be dead becuase he never physically or mentally prepared himself. On purpose.

Our poor boy needs some fucking attention and therapists. (Insert my rant post about how jinbe is on the crew primarily for anger management and therapy, not just being a helmsman.) Ugh, smh ugly cries

Aaaaand thats about the end of the episode. Theres so many little tics and peesonality traits that you notive thru this episode, and I only noticed them cuz im rewatching this part of the show for like the third time. I don't react as much as the first time of course but some things are definitely sadder after knowing what's going on and what will happen later on.

Moral of the story (post)? I think luffy is almost equally as alike -if not, more similar to roger as ace is. Also, high key genuinely think Luffy met like NO ONE but Garp before he met Shanks and his crew. What the fuck was his first like 5 years of being alive like? (He wantd to be a pirate cuz Garp didnt want that. Rebellious baby asshole. And then shanks made things worse, in a good way for luffy. And then ace and sabo made that worse thing worse for a good reason. Luffy lives...for those influences. And that is fucking it. Why.

Oh thanks tumblr for moving my picture to the bottom of the post u fucking idiot

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formerlyrunephoenix6769 · 5 years

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Catra: Journey to Redemption.

(Long post and spoilers for Season 1 SPOP)

In the run up to the release of ‘She-Ra: Princesses of Power.’ season 2 on April 26th 2019, I have been seeing lots of posts about our resident, ‘misguided; villain and all around badass who knows damn well how to rock a suit.

Yes, of course, I am talking about Catra!

The nature of the posts I have been seeing have all had a similar vein or sentiment.

“Give Catra her redemption arc.” or “Start Catra’s redemption arc.”

I am just as hopeful as the the next person for Catra to have a redemption arc, if that is in fact what Noelle Stevenson and the rest of the team have planned for the character. But one thing I will say, is ‘patience’ and a small warning to be prepared,

Catra is going to get much worse before she can even begin to get better!

Catra could not possibly even begin to start on a path of redemption by the end of S2 because at the end of S1, she hasnt even begun to explore the full depths of her villainy. (Being we dont know exactly how many seasons are planned, or what the overall narrative end goal is when it comes to the final conflict and Good triumphing over Evil, much of this is speculative.

We can however use Avatar Last Airbender and the industry standard of best Redemption Arc ever, in all mediums, Zuko, and their timeline, which I think Noelle Stevenson said in an interview that if a redemption arc was to occur, that they would like to do something that could stand next to Zuko’s redemption arc.

I will also be using Joseph Campbell’s Hero With a Thousand Faces, and his hero’s journey map as a resource but try implement it for villains)

If you would like to take a look at my thoughts on redemption arcs in general the feel free to check out the link below.

https://formerlyrunephoenix6769.tumblr.com/post/182640410231/are-all-villains-redeemable

I’ll be covering similar sentiments here.

Ok first.

TIMELINE:.

ATLAB is only 3 BOOKs long, however the number of episodes, 61 over all, containing 20 minimum in each Book is far more than SPOP’s standard 13, meaning that technically Zuko’s redemption arc played out over just under 6 SPOP seasons, meaning that Zuko’s penultimate episodes, detrimental to his redemption arc, ‘Blue Spirit’ episode 13 in Book 1 and ‘Zuko Alone’ Episode 7 of Book 2, didnt technically take place until till the end of season 1 and half way through season 3 ... going off an SPOP standard time.

Meaning there was over a season and a half between Zuko doing something right for the wrong reasons and also then moving off to really begin the start of his redemption arc in earnest, which he continues to struggle with right the way into Book 3 ( season 5/6)

The difference here, I would also like to point out is that Zuko at the very beginning of ATLAB is already technically way ahead of Catra due to him being physically away from his ‘abuser’ and direct control of the life long indoctrination. He also has one up on Catra at this point as he has a ‘Mentor/Guide’ helping to facilitate the transition and help him see the error of his ways.

Technically, this puts Zuko’s character development on the road to redemption (OTRTR) at least ONE season ahead of Catra. Meaning that his moment of ‘doing something right for the wrong reasons’ in ‘Zuko Alone.’ does not take place until at least the end of season 2, SPOP standard time!

In other words...

It's going to take some time for a pussy riot to manifest.

Taking this into account.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES.

We can not continue without addressing the fact that there are many similarities and differences between the supposed ‘villains’.

Both were the Scape Goat to a favoured Golden Child yet their interactions with the ‘Gold Child’ are vastly different.

For Zuko, Azula was an antagonist. For Catra, Adora was an ally.

Both suffered abuse from their primary caregiver, both were belittled and chastised for supposedly being ‘lesser’. However the fundamental difference is their reactions, Zuko continued to attempt to receive his Father’s favour, whilst Catra, on the surface didn't care, resulting in acting rebelliously.

Both have issues surrounding self worth and how they express it is vastly different.

Zuko is hugely unaware of his ‘Empire’s’ indoctrination and the imperialistic rule, believing the propaganda he was raised with.

Whilst Catra is fully aware of the Horde and its intentions.

And I think this is worthy of note!

Their ‘villainy’ and motivations are seated in entirely different places.

Zuko starts out wishing to ‘reclaim his honour’, prove his worth in his father’s eyes, and reclaim his birthright as the heir to the Fire Nation throne, in the words of his sister,

It is only as he travels over the next SPOP SDT, 4 seasons that he realises his true purpose.

Catra, is aware the Horde is evil, is given an opportunity to leave, but chooses not to, instead she willingly sets herself on a dark path to gain power and prove her self worth to everyone around her, esp her abuser, step mom of the year, Shadow Weaver,

Thus setting up the whole shenanigans of SPOP season 1.

CONFLICT.

As I covered in my previous post in the link above, a redemption arc cannot occur without showing that the ‘villain’ is conflicted.

A redemption should be a slow burn, from starting point of why/how they are villains, also showing the seeds of discontent, inner conflict, conflict of their actions, conflict of their ideals, whether indoctrinated/learned/or their own misguided musings, then later a larger amount of focus should be placed on how they have overcome that villainy and change of perspective culminating with coming full circle.

What makes Zuko’s particular redemption arc so good is the work that goes into showing this. The time, the attention to detail, not being shied away from by the writers, that intentionally trickles down and infuses with the character’s essence of being.

Yes, Catra is conflicted about her relationship with Adora and what Adora means to her.

This conflict about her and Adora’s relationship was partially resolved with Catra taking Adora’s motivations the wrong way, due to her own issues surrounding her self worth.

This ‘resolution’ only serves to push Catra further down the a dark path.

But we have yet to see Catra conflicted about her actions and dont expect to see that happen until after we see her fully embrace her villainy, which by the end of S1, she was nowhere near close to doing. (See Triggers and Turning points)

Meaning that “Catra Alone” might not even occur until midway S3 and actual beginnings of feeling conflicted about her actions, until S4.

TRIGGER A TURNING POINT.

So we have discussed conflict. Conflict about ones actions can come about in many different forms, but it must be triggered by something that is enough to shake the core foundations of a villains motivations.

In order for it to be believable and carry weight, a villain cannot suddenly overnight go,

And the protagonists accept it at face value, as the audience wont.

A redemption should be a slow burn, from starting point of why/how they are villains and most importantly, focus on how they have struggled to overcome that villainy and change their perspective.

The link below is to a previous post, with an avenue of thought of what could trigger Catra on ONRTR.

https://formerlyrunephoenix6769.tumblr.com/post/182601000156/catra-could-she-be-a-lost-princess-and-if-so

Another avenue of thought is that Adora is gravely injured. I am not normally one for such an easy and over done trope but in this instance it is highly possible, because as it stands now, Catra has never nastily physically injured Adora, only She-Ra!

(When she raked her darn claws down She-Ra’s back. Showing that Catra see’s a difference between to two personalities and isn't as of yet willing to cross that line... Maybe crossing that line will be a stepping stone to embracing her chosen darker path?)

In fact, Catra has gone out of her way to avoid just that, much preferring to go after Adora emotionally.

FALLING INTO OLD PATTERNS:

Even after ‘Zuko Alone’ and the Ba Sing Say arc, Zuko begins on a false start redemption by bonding with Katara but by the next episode falls back into old patterns by choosing to side with Azula as the ties that bind and the potential to reclaim his birthright is too hard to ignore.

Which is totally normal for a teenager.

This adds so much depth to his inner conflict, a catalyst that later cements his realisation at his true purpose, ushering him through the gates of his redemption arc, towards trying to make amends with the protagonists before they can accept him.

Catra strikes me as someone who will never be wholly ‘good’, in the sense of the word when it is applied to Bow, Glimmer or Adora, but rather someone who will make super dark comments and morally grey suggestions of how to deal with an issue, which is what we have been shown of her from the very beginning.

It is hard to say is Catra will ever have this step in a redemption arc due to her already morally grey nature, this could very well be skipped over entirely.

Narratively speaking and characterization wise, this particular part of an arc could present itself not as a ‘false start’ but could come from ‘Subterfuge and infiltration’ , whereby Catra pretends to come to their side only for her to betray them later, for her own ends.

OR,

We could very well have a ‘false start’, where she is trapped with any of the protagonists and they need to work together to escape, similar to the aptly named ATLAB ep 40 ‘The Crossroads of Destiny’ and SPOPS s1e9 ‘Promise’, which would be a nice mirror, from a narrative standpoint, only for her to run off and return to the Horde once free.

Again note, that this false start occured for Zuko the very end of S3 SPOP SDT.

CONCLUSIONS.

Before Catra’s Redemption arc can come to fruition , we need her to go on her journey. Something akin to this, but for villains.

On this map, if Resurrection is Catra being genuinely accepted by the protagonists as being changed and truly on their side. I would see Catra as in between Meeting of Mentor (Hordak) and Crossing the Threshold into full blown villany

So, we need to see her,

1) Become a true villain.

2) 1st Trigger.

3) baby Conflict

4)False start, falling into old patterns

5) 2nd Trigger

6)Conflict and Realisation/ (Seizing the Treasure)

7) Through the Gates

8) Trial of Proof.

9) Acceptance/Resurrection.

We could be waiting for some time for a Catra redemption arc to kick in, and please dont be disappointed or frothing at the mouth if we dont see it starting in Season 2... No matter how much you want it out of the way so that ‘other’ things can occur..

Please keep in mind..

A good Redemption Arc has to be earned! And doing it well takes time!

MEANWHILE ...

There is ALL OF THIS....

I dont even know where to begin starting to unwrap all this tension and awkwardness.,

Think I’m going to leave that for a an entirely different post.

#spop #redemption arc analysis #character analysis #avatar last airbender #catadora #catra #adora #glimmer #bow #zuko #atlab #prince zuko #catra redemption arc #formerlyrunephoenix spop analysis #long post

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francesderwent · 5 years

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I’m not one to pay attention to ‘ships, but I’m curious who you actually ship Lydia with since, as you said in your tags, you’ve queued contradictory posts one after another.

*hyperventilating*

gosh, you know, I really think I might have to watch the whole show over again at a more reasonable pace before I can actually have a firm answer to this question? both for you and for myself haha.

basically, I found the scenes with Lydia and Jordan way more fun to watch. they have a great playful, teasing chemistry, and then behind that their story is kind of classic high romance - they’re thrown together by fate, their supernatural identities and fates are inextricably intertwined, he’s often in a white-knight protector role, she’s (I think) the only person to ever use his first name (!!). also, Lydia’s history with the rest of the main cast is kind of fraught - first they’re lying to her about the supernatural, then they kind of think she’s crazy, then they’re constantly pushing her to psychically find things out for them. don’t get me wrong, she wants to help the group, and her wanting that is a really satisfying part of her character arc. but since she’d spent so long being so isolated, it was just really good to see her find in Jordan someone whose priority was her, who was utterly delighted and charmed by her, and who respected her and took her seriously from day one. the only problem: all this foundational work that I’ve described? never goes anywhere. they have a bunch of really great scenes, and then their arc together is completely and utterly dropped.

then, with Lydia and Stiles, what we have is a very impressively well-executed one-sided-pining to friends to lovers arc, which is something that’s very difficult to pull off! and what they especially do well is the one-sided-pining to friends bit. the Lydia/Stiles friendship is definitely one of my favorite parts of the show: they support each other, they fight for each other, they trust each other, all the while being adorably, constantly frustrated with each other. most of the best moments of them together are little moments of companionship, teamwork, and comfort, and I live for those things. so when they finally made the push for a romantic relationship in season 6, what I was struck by was how real and true it felt that they loved each other - the show had done the work so that I could hear a character who’s a senior in high school tell a girl that he loves her, and have me take that completely seriously. Stiles didn’t have to say anything more than “I love you,” because even though it had never been voiced before, it had been quietly understood for years/seasons, and growing deeper and more mature all the time. they do love each other. we as the audience already knew that, and it was good to see it voiced! and then the twist with Lydia towards the end of 6a was basically brilliant - it’s just a good bit of characterization! so at this point I got very sucked into the stydia ship and queued a bunch of content, which all you lovely people now have to deal with. HOWEVER - after Stiles and Lydia are triumphantly reunited in the 6a finale…there hasn’t been any more content of them together?? I haven’t completely finished 6b yet because I hate it, and Dylan O’Brian hasn’t been in any scenes with the main cast at all, and so it’s obviously literally impossible for there to have been content of them together as a couple, but it just makes me wonder - are they a good couple? or are they just really good friends? I know they love each other, and I’ll even concede that they have a kind of epic romantic friendship, but the show hasn’t done anything so far to really convince me that their love is specifically romantic, that they’re good together in that way. I could totally imagine Stiles and Lydia dating for six months or so and then amicably agreeing that they were really better together the way things were. or they could work out! but the show never actually gives us them together, and that’s a major cop out.

all that said, the best seasons of teen wolf are the ones where all ships really take a backseat to personal arcs and plots. seasons 1-3, I did not have a single shippy feeling, I was just enjoying the leadership and virtue meta. and I maintain that Scott McCall, as an individual character with a semi-self-contained arc, is way more interesting than any ship that ever appeared in this ridiculous show.

#asks #meta whine and rant #thank you for asking!#I know my teen wolf blogging has been a whirlwind of contradictions #5 #teen wolf

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ask-shakespearehigh · 5 years

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Q&A post with the Mods!!!!

This is going to be a long one oh boy

How strict is the delineation of creative control vis-a-vis characters/plays between the mods? (@pedanticlecturer)

We generally have the plays split up along lines of “what we know”— we have a list at the very beginning of the blog. Sometimes we’ll draw the others’ characters (mostly me drawing some of Star’s…) but even then the final say on characterization is up to the “main” mod for that play — mod aster

what aster said -- mod star

What is your favorite play? What is your favorite character in terms of how they were written in the source material? (@pedanticlecturer)

I think my favorite play overall is Macbeth, just because I like the vibes (and the fact that I too could kill Macbeth), the fact that you don’t say it’s name in theatres, and the fact that it’s a play I did a full read through and analysis of in class. Favorite character? Puck from Midsummer. — mod aster

uhhhh,, hmm. ive always had a soft spot for midsummer since i saw it with aster esp bc of how fun the costumes were. of the comedies it has the largest potential to be the most visually pleasing bc of the concept of fairies,,,and im gay and dramatic so i love that. id die if i got to costume design for midsummer,,,or be in it,,,yeah. fav character. hmm. probably mercutio?? i recently saw a version of romeo and juliet where mercutio was played by a woman and oh my god it was amazing!!! not to mention mercutio’s portrayal in baz luhrmann's INCREDIBLE version of r n j!!! (I based my mercutio design on him) he just spends the entire time making dick jokes. love that. -- mod star

How do you answer asks so fast? I mean it's great but I'm impressed 😂 (Anon)

Personally, it’s a mix of: notifications on, quick drawing speed, and using the blog to avoid my class work — mod aster

aster is fast and (as you can see from all of my answers) im lazey -- mod star

Are there any elements/characters of the plays you're covering that you would have liked to work into this blog's plot, but couldn't due to the constraints of the setting or the synthetic nature of the blog? (@pedanticlecturer)

I wanted to make everyone gay but unfortunately due to plot constraints we have to have some hets but that wont stop me from making it lgbt as possible. -- mod star

I did want to make The Tempest more of a central play, but it just didn’t translate well. Similarly, other supernatural elements like the witches in Macbeth. This isn’t so much a constraint mentioned, but my own time/energy means that I want to show the Macbeth backstory, in a specific format, but I can’t right now— mod aster

Is there a hierarchy of import when it comes to each play's individualized impact on shakespeare high's general arc? If so, what plays are crucial to the foundation of the story? Which ones did you do mostly for shits and giggles? (@pedanticlecturer)

This is phrased like an ACT question and i might not answer it right so sorry in advance but: mod aster and i only selected a few plays for each of us to do given we dont know all of shakespeare’s works, but we tend to put more emphasis on the the more well known. But it also comes down to 1. How much we have plotted out for each play and 2. What the followers ask about most. Our two most popular are hamlet and macbeth bc people are familiar w those but around march caesar always becomes relevant again. I didnt even have designs for some of the characters until someone asked about them. -- mod star

I would say the same as star— it generally comes down to what people ask about. I will say that the overall plot is sort of separated into “has happened” and “is happening”. Like, the human potion of Midsummer, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth are all in the “aftermath” portion, while Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet, among others, are happening. We’re trying to incorporate as much as we can, and I don’t think any of them were really put in without some thought.— mod aster

What personal significance does shakespeare hold in ur guys' lives? (@pedanticlecturer)

I go to a theater school rn and so ive dealt w shakespeare (although not all of them) it also helps that i was in loves labours lost last year as moth and that i read hamlet and r n j. Theres also a theater in my state that always does One Big Shakespeare per season and they always do them super well!!! My love for shakespeare probably started w seeing midsummer at that theater w mod aster!!! So. Theater kid rights!! -- mod star

To be honest, I got back into Shakespeare Because of the blog. I’ve been friends with some people that got really Pretentious about Shakespeare, and it kinda put me off of it. I did have a book of abridged plays (the plays’ plots written out in prose, basically) that I read as a kid, which is what got me into not only the plots of a lot of the plays, but also the idea of having them illustrated. And, same as star, the theater in state does the One Big Shakespeare— and they tend to do some really cool things with the costumes, setting them in diff time periods. I haven’t been able to see any lately since I’ve moved, but they still slap. — mod aster

🥰😘💙🥰🥰💜💟🥰I 😍💗💚😍😍LOVE🖤🖤 YALL ♥️♥️🧡💛💚💝❣️💕💘💖💗💓💞💝❤️💛💜 okay now i have a question i swear— how long have the two of you been doing art??? and what were your first shakespeare plays??? (@hellaghosts)

Uhh i started drawing when i was like idk 12 and i have the giant boxes of sketchbooks to prove it!!! I moved to digital art at abt 14-15 but mostly stayed traditional until this yr when i got a Neat New Tablet so some of my sketchbooks are sitting abandoned rip. My first shakespeare was either romeo and juliet or midsummer nights dream and i love both of them v much!!! I have a very old piece of art that i did for r n j for my freshman class assignment on it and it hasnt aged well alsdjfjafd circa 2016 i think??? -- mod star

Oh man. I started drawing when I was about 10, but it was Bad. I don’t think I got much into drawing again until I was about 14? Sometime around the end of middle school/beginning of high school. I would say I started getting into drawing as more than doodling/coloring edits sometime around 2015-16? I would draw on my iPad with my finger, then I got a tablet for my computer, and now I pretty much stick to my iPad with an Apple Pencil. My first Shakespeare play was….. uh…… probably Midsummer???? I have No idea. We would go to plays when I was little, so I honestly don’t remember if I saw others before. It may have been Romeo and Juliet— I had that book where it was the original and the “modernized” with the little dog that explained things— which, if you know it makes sense, but if you don’t is probably a bonkers answer. — mod aster

Do you think this blog has like? An overarching thesis (be it b/c intentionally or simply b/c ur own take on the world has bled thru to the point where u believe it’s central to the piece at this point)? (@pedanticlecturer)

Not gonna lie, I had to read that like three times AND dm you to figure out what you were asking from us and all I have is “be gay, respect women, write your own happy endings”. — mod aster

This blog started with an ides of march shitpost and you think we have enough brain energy to write a whole thesis? I projected feelings of found family onto my half of the blog but idk if that counts. Be gay do crime 420 69 -- mod star

What’s the nature/rough dynamic of ur relationship? How do y’all know each other? (@pedanticlecturer)

Met mod aster when i was like 4 and even tho we didnt live close we became like, best friends although the Best part didnt start until we were like 13-ish and eventually we talked like non stop (about anime and homestuck. Yknow. 13 year old kid things) and we didnt see each other a lot bc of Distance and now its even worse bc aster is in colleg.,e but we consider each other siblings regardless of family bc we’re adopted into our own respective families so that bled over into our friendship and it would feel weird calling him anything other than my brother now. We’ve seen each other at our best and worst and if you really want a good insight on what we’re like as siblings watch griffin and justin mcelroy’s overview video of catlateral damage wherein i am griffin and he is the long suffering justin. -- mod star

Star is basically my long distance sibling and functionally the only cousin I recognize bc like their parents are basically an aunt and uncle and like our dads look enough alike that we’ve both accidentally gotten the wrong dad for a hug or similar so like. Anyways yeah Star is the Griffin to my Justin, complete with our absent middle brother who we love dearly— mod aster

Dubiously relevant q but what kind of music do y’all listen to when u do art (if that is indeed a habit either of u partake in) (@pedanticlecturer)

It can depend on the piece? I was working on some (unrelated) oc prints that were song-focused, and for those I just listened to said song on loop. Sometimes I have playlists. Sometimes I’ll just be in a Mood and throw a song on loop. But a lot of time for the blog, I’ll listen to The Adventure Zone for the billionth time, because I have Too Much Attention. I’ve also, on request from Star, linked the most recent “loop song”.— mod aster

I tend to obsess over the same like 3 songs every few weeks so those get listened to on repeat but it also depends on the tone of what im drawing or who im drawing i might genre switch bc of that. If im drawing ophelia i stick to lana del rey and if im drawing hamlet its the neighborhood, horatio is sufjan stevens etc. i have categorized,. Most of the characters i draw into different songs/genres/energies of music but not like i ever follow that. Sometimes i just pull up a really long nonsense video and forget to draw. Essentially: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -- mod star

How’d y’all come up with ur pseudonyms? (@pedanticlecturer)

I love space so much and my main blog is starryeydsailor space gay rights!! Im also tiny and full of energy and bright so basically i;m star -- mod star

Uhhhh i was like “hey i want to do uhhhhhh flower?” And then I google searched flower names until I found one I liked —- mod aster

How did you end up deciding the rough timeline of events in canon? (@pedanticlecturer)

It’s mostly determined by like. How we choose per story? If that makes sense. Like, we just take story by story, and decide “is it happening, has it happened, and when?” And then we fit them together in relation to each other just by dint of. All existing at once. Like, I knew I wanted Macbeth to be in aftermath, because like, even though there’s no murder, the way I’ve translated it to the AU is still kinda heavy, and it’s something that I don’t know that I could do properly if it were happening right now. Also, it’s more interesting IMO to have them at different times. Tl;dr we wing it per story and slot them together— mod aster (mod star agrees I just can word better, in theory)

If you could tell the story of shakespeare high in a different format than an ask blog, would you? Obviously y'all are making very good use of the format, but would you want to write this as a animated series or like? a comic book? or is the form inseparable from the story? (@pedanticlecturer)

I kinda wanted to do a webcomic or maybe to plot develop through like, animatics but the element of surprise comes from the asks we get and really makes us think so the blog is a good start. We didnt think we’d get this far -- mod star

Pretty much what Star said— there are certain elements where it’d be neat to do as a comic or as an animatic. Like, the fantasy dream is like, an anthology webcomic of each story, where you can like, see other characters in the background and stuff. But to be honest, we develop a lot by what we’re asked— there was a post about developing worldbuilding by being asked questions and then pretending you’ve thought about the answer, and it’s not far off. Personally, it’s hard to just lay out a story, because I have a whole WORLD and what’s relevant? What are people interested in? It’s by getting questions that I can then focus in on an area to develop. And yeah, we Super didn’t think we’d get this far lmao — mod aster

Any headcanons about your characters that you don't think will ever come up on the blog through asks or plot posts? (@pedanticlecturer)

I could make a whole separate post for this!!!!! Mostly its voice headcanons (and by mostly i mean like 1 or 2) or relationship hcs!!!! -- mod star

Honestly same. I don’t think I have voice headcanons for mine, though I bet I could find some. I’ve got a bunch of miscellaneous headcanons that just kinda float around, but like they’re scattered, too numerous for this post, and also not always things I’m sure are canon yet.— mod aster

#mod post #mod aster #mod star #q and a #birthday #we cant seem to read more AND tag so like brb gonna go kill god

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ingloriousbi · 6 years

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thoughts on sylvanas’ short, they’re long, ignore me im ranting and really wish blizzard would give half as much of a fuck as I did about their stupid fucking game and had any more than 0.1% understanding of their characters

im pretty sure that whoever is/are in charge of writing world building premises for world of warcraft are not the same people writing the actual character motivations and dialogue for the characters enacting stuff. i get it. the dude who writes “sylvanas burns teldrassil” is not the same guy as the person who wrote for sylvanas’ warbringer short, and that might also be a team of writers who share motivations, dialogue, and storyboard

but minor irritations aside (sylvanas dies in a mission called “the fall of silvermoon” but its the sunwell map, where kelthuzad is resurrected, and the mission BEFORE that is the mission that attacks ghostlands/eversong altho presumably not silvermoon, and at the time the sunwell wasn’t on quel’danas yet so i GUESS the geography changed, which is fine since its been almost 2 decades since wc3, but the short should’ve more accurately reflected sylvanas’ place of death since she died at the very end of the elves’ bitter campaign and no where near the beginning, which the short implies since she dies outside of the city with the golden fields and a civilian outside, and i know im a die-hard syvlanas stan and lore purist but imo what this short reflects a severe mis- and under-representation of sylvanas’ death, especially since she becomes a named banshee unit that participates in killing the last of her people and what remains of her kingdom)

this was bad writing. which ever fucker said “sylvanas burns teldrassil” that couldve been written in many ways, without making the alliance responsible (even tho they lowkey are and should be), that doesn’t portray... this. whoever wrote this dialogue+motivations wasn’t just someone who knows nothing about WC3, it was someone who hasn’t paid attention to ANY of sylvanas’ dialogue over the years; not her click speech, her quest dialogue, her part during the Northrend campaign such as the Horde halls of reflection or the battle for the undercity. its hard to swallow ‘sylvanas is evil/misunderstood/warmongering’ but its not like theyre trying to make it easy to swallow or a worthwhile, interesting story put already in canon

sylvanas wants to kill the concept of hope? sylvanas EMBODIES the concept of bitter, bitter hope. she literally freed herself from arthas and continued to bide her time to hunt him, even during the halls of reflection she maintained determination, patience, and desire of vengeance. this desire for vengeance EMBODIES hope lmao. it was the only thing driving the forsaken - it wasn’t a ‘positve’ hope that we typically associate with the word, but the desire for vengeance in not only arthas’ demise, but through rebuilding a society (both pre and post cata these were the forsaken’s motivations) embodies a level of ‘hope’ that isn’t really seen anywhere else except in MAYBE thrall, pre-cata jaina and pre-legion anduin (honestly, even post legion anduin; i dont play alliance and can only judge from his dialogue at varian’s funeral)

the idea that sylvanas wants to kill all the living is not only antithetical to her modus operandi for the last 16 years; its an incredible misunderstanding of her character on a fundamental level. even if that wants/needs to change we can argue and argue and argue for a potential lore reason/character development behind that (which would probably boil down to “old gods” but w/e) and we argue post-wotlk sylvanas changes significantly from pre-arthas’ fall BECAUSE of arthas fall through char development and lore we never saw becuase blizzard hates women and they want to put that out NOW, FINE

but “wants to kill hope”? ... oke

look one misunderstanding? from blizzard? onto their female characters? dissapointing but not surprising. but wow fans have for a very long time been actively ignoring canon or twisting lore to have it make some sort of sense, because a lot of people very deeply care about this game and its story and its characters, and a lot of lore/timelines/character motivations have been twisted over the years and have been dissapointing but can arguably make sense within what semblance of lore we have (im not a fan of new jaina, but theres definitely enough lore+character building to have it become plausible for her to be who she is now, even if i dislike it, that fundamental change in her values didnt come out of nowhere even if it was horrifically orchestrated because blizzard wanted to see her suffer and portray her like this lmao) but sylvanas’ character is being utterly decimated on a level that even jaina hasnt experienced, and to be frank im fucking furious and genuinely hurt

say what you want abt chris metzen but of all his dumb shit he wouldn’t have pulled this. at least he KNEW sylvanas, even if that meant he never used her or wrote for her a ton.

in the quest dialogue, sylvanas says that the campaign starts as a preemptive defensive strike against the alliance re:azerite in silithus, and while i disagree/think thats kind of questionable we know that garrosh’s unwillingness towards preemtive strikes led to death of a lot of innocent tauren in the barrens, and led to the bombing of theramore as a reactionary result, and sylvanas has canonically been known to be bitter, practical to a fault, and morally “grey” so saying “burn this tree down lmao, we’re gonna have to do it anyway, at least now we prevent innocents dying first and we get the lumber in ashenvale, hope the warsong are happy” is... alright. acceptable to a degree within the confines of the narrative they’ve forced upon me, even if the narrative itself is shit. but this? kill all the living? kill “hope”? this fundamental misunderstanding of her character. her lack of remorse at the ranger, these were moments that could’ve significantly foreshadowed a redemption arc but ten bucks on a fucking reworked siege of orgrimmar =)

anyway fuck blizzard

#personal #warcraft

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darkgreiga · 5 years

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Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 31

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Pico, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur, Margaret, Forte Summary: She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev | next>> Author’s notes: The first chapter of the last arc is here!

Chapter 31 – Calm after the Storm

-Lest’s POV-

After the battle, Kane managed to find us in the castle after he had gone to the cave to escort the Guardians out safely. Frey explained everything to us, about how the Guardian’s corruption could affect even Venti, and we also told everyone about our relation to Ethelberd and Halwell. The news was a surprise to them as much as it was a surprise to me. After all, we don’t even look like the Sechs emperors by the outside and inside.

Two weeks have passed since that day. I can’t tell whether the corruption is completely gone or not, but all I can tell is that Venti is doing a lot better than when the corruption was still at large. Frey isn’t staying in the castle with us anymore, but she still visits us at least once every two days. She still has duties to attend back in the capital, so she can’t stay longer than a few hours.

I’m starting to feel that she is a close sister to me, but on the other side I can still tell that she’s not telling us everything. None of the Guardians or Kane actually paid attention to Frey’s wound back then, expect for Dolly and Pico. She looked like she was aware of something about Frey, but for some reason, she’s keeping it from me. I can’t actually force her to talk about it, but the fact that she’s hiding something from me is bothering me somehow. Why can’t you just talk to me about it if it’s actually bothering you?

-Third Person POV-

“Sweetie, will you stop staring at me?” the sound of his wife snapped Lest out of his trains of thought, realizing that Dolce was standing in front of him.

“Oh, sorry,” Lest shook his head to make sure that he was completely awake before putting his hoe over his shoulder, “Well, I’ll be working in the fields for the time being so let Frey know when she drops by to visit.”

“I will,” Dolce nodded before giving him a peck on the cheek, “Work hard, okay?”

Dolce watched as Lest left for the fields before Pico popped in front of her, “Are you sure about this, Dolly? Shouldn’t you say something about it to him?”

“No,” Pico followed Dolce closely as the two of them headed for the kitchen, “I need to be certain about the facts first. What we’re thinking now is just the conclusion we come into after we looked at her wound.”

“You’re scared, aren’t you milady?” Pico’s words made the Guardian stop her activity, “You know how it feels to lose a family… well, both of us do.”

Dolce let out a sigh as she turned to Pico with a frown, “He’ll know the truth sooner or later. I don’t want him to think that I’m hiding everything from him.”

Pico let out a sigh and smiled, “I think you’re worrying too much, Dolly. A bit more than usual, I guess,” Pico watched her friend working in the kitchen, “I guess I can see how much your love for Lest had changed my Dolly!”

A blush appeared on the Guardian’s face as she continued cooking, “S-Shut up!”

Lest let out a tired sigh before he admired his handiwork on the field, which was completely clean of garbage from the storm two weeks earlier. Crop seeds were planted on the tilled field and they had already been watered. His job on the field was finished and it was time for him to do his work in town.

Just as Lest was putting down his tools at the edge of the field, a scroll fell out from his pocket. He picked up the fallen scroll and the emblem of the Sechs Empire was visible on the scroll’s paper. A frown came to his face as he remembered the scroll’s contents when it was first given to him.

-Flashback-

“So…” Lest spoke up to Arthur and Kane as the three of them were in Arthur’s office, “The empire is requesting me to be the acting emperor?”

“Yes,” Kane nodded as he rolled the scroll he was holding and handed it over to Lest, “Lord Halwell still hasn’t awakened after a week of recovery even after getting help from the best doctors.”

Arthur turned to Lest, “It would be sad to see you go, but I will not force you to go if you wish to stay.”

Lest turned back to Kane, but stared at him for a moment before speaking up, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“No, I understand,” Kane responded with a smile, “The higher ups only requested for you because of your relation to Lord Ethelberd, but they never forced me to take you back.”

“Speaking of which,” Arthur interrupted, getting Kane’s attention, “How is the empire doing currently?”

“Much better than when everyone was corrupted, that’s for sure,” Kane replied with a shrug, “Everyone remembers what happened, but they don’t really know why it happened. Other than that, the corruption in the empire seems to have disappeared without a trace.”

“I see,” Arthur nodded in understanding, “If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.”

“Of course,” Kane nodded, “My main purpose for coming here is to deliver the scroll, but I’ll tell the higher ups that you can’t take Lord Halwell’s place.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” Lest waved the soldier goodbye as he left the office.

-End of Flashback-

“The acting emperor?” Ventuswill asked as Lest showed her the scroll in the dragon room, “Hey, I guess I’m right about you being royalty after all!”

Lest let out a laugh, “Don’t be too proud on it, Venti. You need to remember who my father was.”

“I know,” Ventuswill paused for a moment as she stared at the wall, “Speaking of Ethelberd, I think I recall hearing something when I was still in the forest. I know that I recognize that voice, now I remember that it was him.”

“Wait,” Lest looked at the dragon god in surprise, “You met him in the Forest of Beginnings?”

“Not exactly meeting in person, though,” Ventuswill put her claw under her jaw as she tried recalling the encounter, “I can only hear his voice saying that he won’t surrender until all Earthmates perish.”

“Can he still be alive in there? And corrupting people into doing things they shouldn’t do?” Lest asked.

“No, that won’t be possible,” Ventuswill shook her head, “Humans can’t stay and live in there for a long period of time. If a person stays there for longer than they should have, their body will soon break into runes. Even so, the soul would still remain in there forever unless there’s a special case that they’re resurrected.”

“Just like what happened to you,” Lest added, “But if his soul is still there, can he do any harm to the world?”

“Hm…” Ventuswill went back to her thoughts, but nothing came into her mind, “I’m not sure, but I think it’s very unlikely.”

“I hope so…” Lest let out a sigh, “This corruption thing just happens to come and go without a reason and a trace. I just wish that there’s a clue somewhere so that we can prevent it in the future…”

“And then, he ran around the house in panic while yelling that there was a deadly scorpion in the house!” Frey and Pico broke out into laughter while Dolce simply chuckled as she sipped on her tea.

The three girls were hanging around at the castle’s balcony with Frey telling stories about the siblings’ daily lives in the past. Two plates of flan were sitting on the table untouched as the three were busy talking. Pico was completely taken into the conversation, but Dolce had noticed that her guest hadn’t touched either her tea or her flan.

There was a single question she had been meaning to ask Frey and her observation prompted her to pop the question right away, “Before we hear more of those stories, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Sure, we can talk while you have your flan,” Frey responded as she simply looked at her share of flan.

“Okay,” Dolce took her share of flan, but the scent of her favorite meal suddenly made her feel weird in the stomach, “Ugh…”

“Are you okay Dolly?” Pico saw as Dolce put a hand on her mouth before shaking her head.

“I’m fine…” Dolce uncovered her mouth before taking a spoonful of flan, only have the weird feeling on her stomach come back, “Not again…”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Frey asked worriedly as she took the flan from Dolce’s hands, “You look kind of pale.”

“I’m… okay… ugh…” Dolce quickly rose from her seat and ran inside, heading straight towards the bathroom.

“Is she sick or something?” Frey turned to Pico.

“That would be my best guess…” Pico turned to the barely touched desserts, “Dolly really loves sweets like flan and cakes, but she’s been avoiding them for the past week for some reason.”

“Hm…” Frey tapped her chin as she was thinking, “I don’t think she’s suddenly become bored of eating her favorite dishes…”

“That’s impossible. There’s no way she’s going to give up on her all-you-can-eat cake routine every-” Pico was silenced with a single talisman landing over her mouth.

“You’re saying too much,” Dolce had just returned from the bathroom, but her face told the other two that she wasn’t feeling that much different than before, “Sorry for that interruption.”

“I don’t mind, but I don’t think you look well at all,” Frey replied worriedly, “I’ll tell Lest about your condition when I see him, so why don’t you two just stay home until he gets back?”

Dolce let out a defeated sigh, “That… might be the best…”

Lest let out a tired sigh as he pushed the castle door open while carrying an extra paper bag with him. With Dolce taking her temporary leave from her evening shift, he decided that it might be best for them to eat dinner at home to let her rest at home. With the ingredients in the paper bag put in the kitchen, Lest left for his room to check on Dolce.

Lest had expected the female Guardian to be asleep with Pico watching over her, the scene he saw was Dolce knitting on the bed with a terrified Pico at the edge of the bed, “I’m… home…?”

“Oh, welcome back Sweetie,” Dolce put her knitting aside and greeted Lest with a smile as she approached her, “How was work today?”

“More or less the usual, I guess…” Lest’s attention was focused on Pico as he let Dolce took his backpack off him, “More importantly, what happened to Pico?”

“Just a simple argument between us,” Dolce replied, completely ignoring the fact that Pico was still in the room, “Are you going to prepare dinner tonight?”

“Yeah,” Lest nodded, “I was planning to make your favorite cake today, so-”

“I want… something else, if that’s okay…” the attention of the other two in the room shifted to her, “I want… some fried veggies…”

The room became completely silent with Pico hovering in front of her with the look of disbelief, “Did I hear that right? Dolly, you never liked eating any kind of vegetables!”

“I’m kind of surprised too,” Lest added, “But if that’s what you want, I guess I need to head out to buy the missing ingredients…”

“Alright,” Dolce nodded, “Sorry for the trouble.”

The two watched as Lest left before Pico turned back to Dolce, “Are you sure you’re fine milady? Do you need Jones to check your condition?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Dolce let out a sigh before she went back to her knitting, “You’re being a lot more stubborn today. Do you want to be wrapped in talismans again?”

“N-No, please don’t do that again to me!”

#rune factory 4 #rf4 #fanfiction #fanfic #adventure #hurt/comfort #rf4 lest #rf4 dolce #rf4 pico #rf4 ventuswill #rf4 arthur #rf4 frey #rf4 ethelberd #original character #rf4 lest x dolce

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