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qqueenofhades · 3 years

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The Green Knight and Medieval Metatextuality: An Essay

Right, so. Finally watched it last night, and I’ve been thinking about it literally ever since, except for the part where I was asleep. As I said to fellow medievalist and admirer of Dev Patel @oldshrewsburyian, it’s possibly the most fascinating piece of medieval-inspired media that I’ve seen in ages, and how refreshing to have something in this genre that actually rewards critical thought and deep analysis, rather than me just fulminating fruitlessly about how popular media thinks that slapping blood, filth, and misogyny onto some swords and castles is “historically accurate.” I read a review of TGK somewhere that described it as the anti-Game of Thrones, and I’m inclined to think that’s accurate. I didn’t agree with all of the film’s tonal, thematic, or interpretative choices, but I found them consistently stylish, compelling, and subversive in ways both small and large, and I’m gonna have to write about it or I’ll go crazy. So. Brace yourselves.

(Note: My PhD is in medieval history, not medieval literature, and I haven’t worked on SGGK specifically, but I am familiar with it, its general cultural context, and the historical influences, images, and debates that both the poem and the film referenced and drew upon, so that’s where this meta is coming from.)

First, obviously, while the film is not a straight-up text-to-screen version of the poem (though it is by and large relatively faithful), it is a multi-layered meta-text that comments on the original Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the archetypes of chivalric literature as a whole, modern expectations for medieval films, the hero’s journey, the requirements of being an “honorable knight,” and the nature of death, fate, magic, and religion, just to name a few. Given that the Arthurian legendarium, otherwise known as the Matter of Britain, was written and rewritten over several centuries by countless authors, drawing on and changing and hybridizing interpretations that sometimes challenged or outright contradicted earlier versions, it makes sense for the film to chart its own path and make its own adaptational decisions as part of this multivalent, multivocal literary canon. Sir Gawain himself is a canonically and textually inconsistent figure; in the movie, the characters merrily pronounce his name in several different ways, most notably as Sean Harris/King Arthur’s somewhat inexplicable “Garr-win.” He might be a man without a consistent identity, but that’s pointed out within the film itself. What has he done to define himself, aside from being the king’s nephew? Is his quixotic quest for the Green Knight actually going to resolve the question of his identity and his honor – and if so, is it even going to matter, given that successful completion of the “game” seemingly equates with death?

Likewise, as the anti-Game of Thrones, the film is deliberately and sometimes maddeningly non-commercial. For an adaptation coming from a studio known primarily for horror, it almost completely eschews the cliché that gory bloodshed equals authentic medievalism; the only graphic scene is the Green Knight’s original beheading. The violence is only hinted at, subtextual, suspenseful; it is kept out of sight, around the corner, never entirely played out or resolved. In other words, if anyone came in thinking that they were going to watch Dev Patel luridly swashbuckle his way through some CGI monsters like bad Beowulf adaptations of yore, they were swiftly disappointed. In fact, he seems to spend most of his time being wet, sad, and failing to meet the moment at hand (with a few important exceptions).

The film unhurriedly evokes a medieval setting that is both surreal and defiantly non-historical. We travel (in roughly chronological order) from Anglo-Saxon huts to Romanesque halls to high-Gothic cathedrals to Tudor villages and half-timbered houses, culminating in the eerie neo-Renaissance splendor of the Lord and Lady’s hall, before returning to the ancient trees of the Green Chapel and its immortal occupant: everything that has come before has now returned to dust. We have been removed even from imagined time and place and into a moment where it ceases to function altogether. We move forward, backward, and sideways, as Gawain experiences past, present, and future in unison. He is dislocated from his own sense of himself, just as we, the viewers, are dislocated from our sense of what is the “true” reality or filmic narrative; what we think is real turns out not to be the case at all. If, of course, such a thing even exists at all.

This visual evocation of the entire medieval era also creates a setting that, unlike GOT, takes pride in rejecting absolutely all political context or Machiavellian maneuvering. The film acknowledges its own cultural ubiquity and the question of whether we really need yet another King Arthur adaptation: none of the characters aside from Gawain himself are credited by name. We all know it’s Arthur, but he’s listed only as “king.” We know the spooky druid-like old man with the white beard is Merlin, but it’s never required to spell it out. The film gestures at our pre-existing understanding; it relies on us to fill in the gaps, cuing us to collaboratively produce the story with it, positioning us as listeners as if we were gathered to hear the original poem. Just like fanfiction, it knows that it doesn’t need to waste time introducing every single character or filling in ultimately unnecessary background knowledge, when the audience can be relied upon to bring their own.

As for that, the film explicitly frames itself as a “filmed adaptation of the chivalric romance” in its opening credits, and continues to play with textual referents and cues throughout: telling us where we are, what’s happening, or what’s coming next, rather like the rubrics or headings within a medieval manuscript. As noted, its historical/architectural references span the entire medieval European world, as does its costume design. I was particularly struck by the fact that Arthur and Guinevere’s crowns resemble those from illuminated monastic manuscripts or Eastern Orthodox iconography: they are both crown and halo, they confer an air of both secular kingship and religious sanctity. The question in the film’s imagined epilogue thus becomes one familiar to Shakespeare’s Henry V: heavy is the head that wears the crown. Does Gawain want to earn his uncle’s crown, take over his place as king, bear the fate of Camelot, become a great ruler, a husband and father in ways that even Arthur never did, only to see it all brought to dust by his cowardice, his reliance on unscrupulous sorcery, and his unfulfilled promise to the Green Knight? Is it better to have that entire life and then lose it, or to make the right choice now, even if it means death?

Likewise, Arthur’s kingly mantle is Byzantine in inspiration, as is the icon of the Virgin Mary-as-Theotokos painted on Gawain’s shield (which we see broken apart during the attack by the scavengers). The film only glances at its religious themes rather than harping on them explicitly; we do have the cliché scene of the male churchmen praying for Gawain’s safety, opposite Gawain’s mother and her female attendants working witchcraft to protect him. (When oh when will I get my film that treats medieval magic and medieval religion as the complementary and co-existing epistemological systems that they were, rather than portraying them as diametrically binary and disparagingly gendered opposites?) But despite the interim setbacks borne from the failure of Christian icons, the overall resolution of the film could serve as the culmination of a medieval Christian morality tale: Gawain can buy himself a great future in the short term if he relies on the protection of the enchanted green belt to avoid the Green Knight’s killing stroke, but then he will have to watch it all crumble until he is sitting alone in his own hall, his children dead and his kingdom destroyed, as a headless corpse who only now has been brave enough to accept his proper fate. By removing the belt from his person in the film’s Inception-like final scene, he relinquishes the taint of black magic and regains his religious honor, even at the likely cost of death. That, the medieval Christian morality tale would agree, is the correct course of action.

Gawain’s encounter with St. Winifred likewise presents a more subtle vision of medieval Christianity. Winifred was an eighth-century Welsh saint known for being beheaded, after which (by the power of another saint) her head was miraculously restored to her body and she went on to live a long and holy life. It doesn’t quite work that way in TGK. (St Winifred’s Well is mentioned in the original SGGK, but as far as I recall, Gawain doesn’t meet the saint in person.) In the film, Gawain encounters Winifred’s lifelike apparition, who begs him to dive into the mere and retrieve her head (despite appearances, she warns him, it is not attached to her body). This fits into the pattern of medieval ghost stories, where the dead often return to entreat the living to help them finish their business; they must be heeded, but when they are encountered in places they shouldn’t be, they must be put back into their proper physical space and reminded of their real fate. Gawain doesn’t follow William of Newburgh’s practical recommendation to just fetch some brawny young men with shovels to beat the wandering corpse back into its grave. Instead, in one of his few moments of unqualified heroism, he dives into the dark water and retrieves Winifred’s skull from the bottom of the lake. Then when he returns to the house, he finds the rest of her skeleton lying in the bed where he was earlier sleeping, and carefully reunites the skull with its body, finally allowing it to rest in peace.

However, Gawain’s involvement with Winifred doesn’t end there. The fox that he sees on the bank after emerging with her skull, who then accompanies him for the rest of the film, is strongly implied to be her spirit, or at least a companion that she has sent for him. Gawain has handled a saint’s holy bones; her relics, which were well known to grant protection in the medieval world. He has done the saint a service, and in return, she extends her favor to him. At the end of the film, the fox finally speaks in a human voice, warning him not to proceed to the fateful final encounter with the Green Knight; it will mean his death. The symbolism of having a beheaded saint serve as Gawain’s guide and protector is obvious, since it is the fate that may or may not lie in store for him. As I said, the ending is Inception-like in that it steadfastly refuses to tell you if the hero is alive (or will live) or dead (or will die). In the original SGGK, of course, the Green Knight and the Lord turn out to be the same person, Gawain survives, it was all just a test of chivalric will and honor, and a trap put together by Morgan Le Fay in an attempt to frighten Guinevere. It’s essentially able to be laughed off: a game, an adventure, not real. TGK takes this paradigm and flips it (to speak…) on its head.

Gawain’s rescue of Winifred’s head also rewards him in more immediate terms: his/the Green Knight’s axe, stolen by the scavengers, is miraculously restored to him in her cottage, immediately and concretely demonstrating the virtue of his actions. This is one of the points where the film most stubbornly resists modern storytelling conventions: it simply refuses to add in any kind of “rational” or “empirical” explanation of how else it got there, aside from the grace and intercession of the saint. This is indeed how it works in medieval hagiography: things simply reappear, are returned, reattached, repaired, made whole again, and Gawain’s lost weapon is thus restored, symbolizing that he has passed the test and is worthy to continue with the quest. The film’s narrative is not modernizing its underlying medieval logic here, and it doesn’t particularly care if a modern audience finds it “convincing” or not. As noted, the film never makes any attempt to temporalize or localize itself; it exists in a determinedly surrealist and ahistorical landscape, where naked female giants who look suspiciously like Tilda Swinton roam across the wild with no necessary explanation. While this might be frustrating for some people, I actually found it a huge relief that a clearly fantastic and fictional literary adaptation was not acting like it was qualified to teach “real history” to its audience. Nobody would come out of TGK thinking that they had seen the “actual” medieval world, and since we have enough of a problem with that sort of thing thanks to GOT, I for one welcome the creation of a medieval imaginative space that embraces its eccentric and unrealistic elements, rather than trying to fit them into the Real Life box.

This plays into the fact that the film, like a reused medieval manuscript containing more than one text, is a palimpsest: for one, it audaciously rewrites the entire Arthurian canon in the wordless vision of Gawain’s life after escaping the Green Knight (I could write another meta on that dream-epilogue alone). It moves fluidly through time and creates alternate universes in at least two major points: one, the scene where Gawain is tied up and abandoned by the scavengers and that long circling shot reveals his skeletal corpse rotting on the sward, only to return to our original universe as Gawain decides that he doesn’t want that fate, and two, Gawain as King. In this alternate ending, Arthur doesn’t die in battle with Mordred, but peaceably in bed, having anointed his worthy nephew as his heir. Gawain becomes king, has children, gets married, governs Camelot, becomes a ruler surpassing even Arthur, but then watches his son get killed in battle, his subjects turn on him, and his family vanish into the dust of his broken hall before he himself, in despair, pulls the enchanted scarf out of his clothing and succumbs to his fate.

In this version, Gawain takes on the responsibility for the fall of Camelot, not Arthur. This is the hero’s burden, but he’s obtained it dishonorably, by cheating. It is a vivid but mimetic future which Gawain (to all appearances) ultimately rejects, returning the film to the realm of traditional Arthurian canon – but not quite. After all, if Gawain does get beheaded after that final fade to black, it would represent a significant alteration from the poem and the character’s usual arc. Are we back in traditional canon or aren’t we? Did Gawain reject that future or didn’t he? Do all these alterities still exist within the visual medium of the meta-text, and have any of them been definitely foreclosed?

Furthermore, the film interrogates itself and its own tropes in explicit and overt ways. In Gawain’s conversation with the Lord, the Lord poses the question that many members of the audience might have: is Gawain going to carry out this potentially pointless and suicidal quest and then be an honorable hero, just like that? What is he actually getting by staggering through assorted Irish bogs and seeming to reject, rather than embrace, the paradigms of a proper quest and that of an honorable knight? He lies about being a knight to the scavengers, clearly out of fear, and ends up cravenly bound and robbed rather than fighting back. He denies knowing anything about love to the Lady (played by Alicia Vikander, who also plays his lover at the start of the film with a decidedly ropey Yorkshire accent, sorry to say). He seems to shrink from the responsibility thrust on him, rather than rise to meet it (his only honorable act, retrieving Winifred’s head, is discussed above) and yet here he still is, plugging away. Why is he doing this? What does he really stand to gain, other than accepting a choice and its consequences (somewhat?) The film raises these questions, but it has no plans to answer them. It’s going to leave you to think about them for yourself, and it isn’t going to spoon-feed you any ultimate moral or neat resolution. In this interchange, it’s easy to see both the echoes of a formal dialogue between two speakers (a favored medieval didactic tactic) and the broader purpose of chivalric literature: to interrogate what it actually means to be a knight, how personal honor is generated, acquired, and increased, and whether engaging in these pointless and bloody “war games” is actually any kind of real path to lasting glory.

The film’s treatment of race, gender, and queerness obviously also merits comment. By casting Dev Patel, an Indian-born actor, as an Arthurian hero, the film is… actually being quite accurate to the original legends, doubtless much to the disappointment of assorted internet racists. The thirteenth-century Arthurian romance Parzival (Percival) by the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach notably features the character of Percival’s mixed-race half-brother, Feirefiz, son of their father by his first marriage to a Muslim princess. Feirefiz is just as heroic as Percival (Gawaine, for the record, also plays a major role in the story) and assists in the quest for the Holy Grail, though it takes his conversion to Christianity for him to properly behold it.

By introducing Patel (and Sarita Chowdhury as Morgause) to the visual representation of Arthuriana, the film quietly does away with the “white Middle Ages” cliché that I have complained about ad nauseam; we see background Asian and black members of Camelot, who just exist there without having to conjure up some complicated rationale to explain their presence. The Lady also uses a camera obscura to make Gawain’s portrait. Contrary to those who might howl about anachronism, this technique was known in China as early as the fourth century BCE and the tenth/eleventh century Islamic scholar Ibn al-Haytham was probably the best-known medieval authority to write on it extensively; Latin translations of his work inspired European scientists from Roger Bacon to Leonardo da Vinci. Aside from the symbolism of an upside-down Gawain (and when he sees the portrait again during the ‘fall of Camelot’, it is right-side-up, representing that Gawain himself is in an upside-down world), this presents a subtle challenge to the prevailing Eurocentric imagination of the medieval world, and draws on other global influences.

As for gender, we have briefly touched on it above; in the original SGGK, Gawain’s entire journey is revealed to be just a cruel trick of Morgan Le Fay, simply trying to destabilize Arthur’s court and upset his queen. (Morgan is the old blindfolded woman who appears in the Lord and Lady’s castle and briefly approaches Gawain, but her identity is never explicitly spelled out.) This is, obviously, an implicitly misogynistic setup: an evil woman plays a trick on honorable men for the purpose of upsetting another woman, the honorable men overcome it, the hero survives, and everyone presumably lives happily ever after (at least until Mordred arrives).

Instead, by plunging the outcome into doubt and the hero into a much darker and more fallible moral universe, TGK shifts the blame for Gawain’s adventure and ultimate fate from Morgan to Gawain himself. Likewise, Guinevere is not the passive recipient of an evil deception but in a way, the catalyst for the whole thing. She breaks the seal on the Green Knight’s message with a weighty snap; she becomes the oracle who reads it out, she is alarming rather than alarmed, she disrupts the complacency of the court and silently shows up all the other knights who refuse to step forward and answer the Green Knight’s challenge. Gawain is not given the ontological reassurance that it’s just a practical joke and he’s going to be fine (and thanks to the unresolved ending, neither are we). The film instead takes the concept at face value in order to push the envelope and ask the simple question: if a man was going to be actually-for-real beheaded in a year, why would he set out on a suicidal quest? Would you, in Gawain’s place, make the same decision to cast aside the enchanted belt and accept your fate? Has he made his name, will he be remembered well? What is his legacy?

Indeed, if there is any hint of feminine connivance and manipulation, it arrives in the form of the implication that Gawain’s mother has deliberately summoned the Green Knight to test her son, prove his worth, and position him as his childless uncle’s heir; she gives him the protective belt to make sure he won’t actually die, and her intention all along was for the future shown in the epilogue to truly play out (minus the collapse of Camelot). Only Gawain loses the belt thanks to his cowardice in the encounter with the scavengers, regains it in a somewhat underhanded and morally questionable way when the Lady is attempting to seduce him, and by ultimately rejecting it altogether and submitting to his uncertain fate, totally mucks up his mother’s painstaking dynastic plans for his future. In this reading, Gawain could be king, and his mother’s efforts are meant to achieve that goal, rather than thwart it. He is thus required to shoulder his own responsibility for this outcome, rather than conveniently pawning it off on an “evil woman,” and by extension, the film asks the question: What would the world be like if men, especially those who make war on others as a way of life, were actually forced to face the consequences of their reckless and violent actions? Is it actually a “game” in any sense of the word, especially when chivalric literature is constantly preoccupied with the question of how much glorious violence is too much glorious violence? If you structure social prestige for the king and the noble male elite entirely around winning battles and existing in a state of perpetual war, when does that begin to backfire and devour the knightly class – and the rest of society – instead?

This leads into the central theme of Gawain’s relationships with the Lord and Lady, and how they’re treated in the film. The poem has been repeatedly studied in terms of its latent (and sometimes… less than latent) queer subtext: when the Lord asks Gawain to pay back to him whatever he should receive from his wife, does he already know what this involves; i.e. a physical and romantic encounter? When the Lady gives kisses to Gawain, which he is then obliged to return to the Lord as a condition of the agreement, is this all part of a dastardly plot to seduce him into a kinky green-themed threesome with a probably-not-human married couple looking to spice up their sex life? Why do we read the Lady’s kisses to Gawain as romantic but Gawain’s kisses to the Lord as filial, fraternal, or the standard “kiss of peace” exchanged between a liege lord and his vassal? Is Gawain simply being a dutiful guest by honoring the bargain with his host, actually just kissing the Lady again via the proxy of her husband, or somewhat more into this whole thing with the Lord than he (or the poet) would like to admit? Is the homosocial turning homoerotic, and how is Gawain going to navigate this tension and temptation?

If the question is never resolved: well, welcome to one of the central medieval anxieties about chivalry, knighthood, and male bonds! As I have written about before, medieval society needed to simultaneously exalt this as the most honored and noble form of love, and make sure it didn’t accidentally turn sexual (once again: how much male love is too much male love?). Does the poem raise the possibility of serious disruption to the dominant heteronormative paradigm, only to solve the problem by interpreting the Gawain/Lady male/female kisses as romantic and sexual and the Gawain/Lord male/male kisses as chaste and formal? In other words, acknowledging the underlying anxiety of possible homoeroticism but ultimately reasserting the heterosexual norm? The answer: Probably?!?! Maybe?!?! Hell if we know??! To say the least, this has been argued over to no end, and if you locked a lot of medieval history/literature scholars into a room and told them that they couldn’t come out until they decided on one clear answer, they would be in there for a very long time. The poem seemingly invokes the possibility of a queer reading only to reject it – but once again, as in the question of which canon we end up in at the film’s end, does it?

In some lights, the film’s treatment of this potential queer reading comes off like a cop-out: there is only one kiss between Gawain and the Lord, and it is something that the Lord has to initiate after Gawain has already fled the hall. Gawain himself appears to reject it; he tells the Lord to let go of him and runs off into the wilderness, rather than deal with or accept whatever has been suggested to him. However, this fits with film!Gawain’s pattern of rejecting that which fundamentally makes him who he is; like Peter in the Bible, he has now denied the truth three times. With the scavengers he denies being a knight; with the Lady he denies knowing about courtly love; with the Lord he denies the central bond of brotherhood with his fellows, whether homosocial or homoerotic in nature. I would go so far as to argue that if Gawain does die at the end of the film, it is this rejected kiss which truly seals his fate. In the poem, the Lord and the Green Knight are revealed to be the same person; in the film, it’s not clear if that’s the case, or they are separate characters, even if thematically interrelated. If we assume, however, that the Lord is in fact still the human form of the Green Knight, then Gawain has rejected both his kiss of peace (the standard gesture of protection offered from lord to vassal) and any deeper emotional bond that it can be read to signify. The Green Knight could decide to spare Gawain in recognition of the courage he has shown in relinquishing the enchanted belt – or he could just as easily decide to kill him, which he is legally free to do since Gawain has symbolically rejected the offer of brotherhood, vassalage, or knight-bonding by his unwise denial of the Lord’s freely given kiss. Once again, the film raises the overall thematic and moral question and then doesn’t give one straight (ahem) answer. As with the medieval anxieties and chivalric texts that it is based on, it invokes the specter of queerness and then doesn’t neatly resolve it. As a modern audience, we find this unsatisfying, but once again, the film is refusing to conform to our expectations.

As has been said before, there is so much kissing between men in medieval contexts, both ceremonial and otherwise, that we’re left to wonder: “is it gay or is it feudalism?” Is there an overtly erotic element in Gawain and the Green Knight’s mutual “beheading” of each other (especially since in the original version, this frees the Lord from his curse, functioning like a true love’s kiss in a fairytale). While it is certainly possible to argue that the film has “straightwashed” its subject material by removing the entire sequence of kisses between Gawain and the Lord and the unresolved motives for their existence, it is a fairly accurate, if condensed, representation of the anxieties around medieval knightly bonds and whether, as Carolyn Dinshaw put it, a (male/male) “kiss is just a kiss.” After all, the kiss between Gawain and the Lady is uncomplicatedly read as sexual/romantic, and that context doesn’t go away when Gawain is kissing the Lord instead. Just as with its multiple futurities, the film leaves the question open-ended. Is it that third and final denial that seals Gawain’s fate, and if so, is it asking us to reflect on why, specifically, he does so?

The film could play with both this question and its overall tone quite a bit more: it sometimes comes off as a grim, wooden, over-directed Shakespearean tragedy, rather than incorporating the lively and irreverent tone that the poem often takes. It’s almost totally devoid of humor, which is unfortunate, and the Grim Middle Ages aesthetic is in definite evidence. Nonetheless, because of the comprehensive de-historicizing and the obvious lack of effort to claim the film as any sort of authentic representation of the medieval past, it works. We are not meant to understand this as a historical document, and so we have to treat it on its terms, by its own logic, and by its own frames of reference. In some ways, its consistent opacity and its refusal to abide by modern rules and common narrative conventions is deliberately meant to challenge us: as before, when we recognize Arthur, Merlin, the Round Table, and the other stock characters because we know them already and not because the film tells us so, we have to fill in the gaps ourselves. We are watching the film not because it tells us a simple adventure story – there is, as noted, shockingly little action overall – but because we have to piece together the metatext independently and ponder the philosophical questions that it leaves us with. What conclusion do we reach? What canon do we settle in? What future or resolution is ultimately made real? That, the film says, it can’t decide for us. As ever, it is up to future generations to carry on the story, and decide how, if at all, it is going to survive.

(And to close, I desperately want them to make my much-coveted Bisclavret adaptation now in more or less the same style, albeit with some tweaks. Please.)

Further Reading

Ailes, Marianne J. ‘The Medieval Male Couple and the Language of Homosociality’, in Masculinity in Medieval Europe, ed. by Dawn M. Hadley (Harlow: Longman, 1999), pp. 214–37.

Ashton, Gail. ‘The Perverse Dynamics of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, Arthuriana 15 (2005), 51–74.

Boyd, David L. ‘Sodomy, Misogyny, and Displacement: Occluding Queer Desire in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, Arthuriana 8 (1998), 77–113.

Busse, Peter. ‘The Poet as Spouse of his Patron: Homoerotic Love in Medieval Welsh and Irish Poetry?’, Studi Celtici 2 (2003), 175–92.

Dinshaw, Carolyn. ‘A Kiss Is Just a Kiss: Heterosexuality and Its Consolations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, Diacritics 24 (1994), 205–226.

Kocher, Suzanne. ‘Gay Knights in Medieval French Fiction: Constructs of Queerness and Non-Transgression’, Mediaevalia 29 (2008), 51–66.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. ‘Knighthood, Compulsory Heterosexuality, and Sodomy’ in The Boswell Thesis: Essays on Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, ed. Matthew Kuefler (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), pp. 273–86.

Kuefler, Matthew. ‘Male Friendship and the Suspicion of Sodomy in Twelfth-Century France’, in The Boswell Thesis: Essays on Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, ed. Matthew Kuefler (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), pp. 179–214.

McVitty, E. Amanda, ‘False Knights and True Men: Contesting Chivalric Masculinity in English Treason Trials, 1388–1415,’ Journal of Medieval History 40 (2014), 458–77.

Mieszkowski, Gretchen. ‘The Prose Lancelot's Galehot, Malory's Lavain, and the Queering of Late Medieval Literature’, Arthuriana 5 (1995), 21–51.

Moss, Rachel E. ‘ “And much more I am soryat for my good knyghts’ ”: Fainting, Homosociality, and Elite Male Culture in Middle English Romance’, Historical Reflections / Réflexions historiques 42 (2016), 101–13.

Zeikowitz, Richard E. ‘Befriending the Medieval Queer: A Pedagogy for Literature Classes’, College English 65 (2002), 67–80.

#the green knight #the green knight meta #sir gawain and the green knight #medieval literature #medieval history #this meta is goddamn 5.2k words #and has its own reading list #i uh #said i had a lot of thoughts?

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kachuuyaa · 3 years

Text

— MAPLE LEAVES AND BLACKOUT DREAMS.

11072021 ; g.i oneshot , gn!reader , bsd!reader .. again

genre ; fluff

includes ; spoilers for the latest archon quest... ig... one mention of fyodor, gods and heavenly powers, INAZUMA ..a...a.... kazuha is intrigued by you go you go! subtle flirting probably

characters ; kazuha, beidou, paimon (platonic), aether (platonic)

synopsis ; Only one human could make another feel safe in this world of faux bliss. (In which you meet the wandering samurai from Inazuma.)

author's notes ; so sorry if you're tired of my bsd!reader content but it won't stopYaba dasabadaba yoobabababa (blow!) Moosay Abalaba dooba, cadoosay (cadoosay) Metamorphosis aporphis of morkle laborth laba gorbalib (laboratory)

It has not been long since the reunion between the twins, and Aether seemed melancholic throughout your journey back to Liyue. It was to be expected, really. You knew it all along, yet you didn’t bother to tell him. It was quite easy to figure out, actually, yet you do not want to add on to the suspicion brought upon you. You don’t bother to confront him after that, not wanting to make any mistakes during your conversation with him. Completely blocking Paimon and Aether’s discussions, your eyes fixated themselves on the sleeping Chuuya on your shoulder.

He has been sleeping a lot, you realized, wiggling a bit on your shoulder, he rested his small head on your neck. You smiled to yourself, he was quite cute. You did not want to venture into Liyue Harbor for multiple reasons, if you were on the watchlist of the Knights, there is no doubt you are on the watchlist of the Millelith. “Hey, [Name],” Paimon’s voice entered your ears, getting your attention. You turned your head carefully so as to not wake the sleeping Chuuya on your shoulder, bored eyes staring at Paimon. “Ah-” she stuttered, “do you… possibly know how to get to Inazuma?” she asked meekly, nervousness coating her features-- she was still afraid of you. Well, after the meeting between the twins, how could she not? You were certainly at the top of her “Do Not Piss Off” list.

Inazuma. A beautiful nation shrouded with darkness and all things far from heavenly. You have heard of the nation, never being able to step inside, so you resort to the wind; it gives you information on anything and everything. The rumors of you and the ballads of the ancient traverse through the winds you depend on for information, and it has not let you down. Chuuya would also eavesdrop on others for information, his short stature giving an advantage. He would keep the information for himself, for angry squeaks are the only thing that leaves his tiny mouth.

So, no, you do not know how to get there. You may hold the fate of the world in your hands, able to make even the strongest of archons bow at your feet by a simple wave of your hand. Veins pumping with the blood of another world, and another world is where you reign and have died. This world is merely but a fleeting one, you assumed, and while you may have unimaginable battle prowess and an equally indestructible and flawless ability, you simply do not care. Who are you to care about a world which has no meaning to you? You belong here, yet you don’t have an obligation to protect it. Even the archons-- the so-called “protectors” of Teyvat, had destroyed a nation made by mortal hands.

The gods here were as selfish as the ones you have read before you’ve ever come here. Your life was held in another, chained, captive in another's hands. And even though you were free by being released-- reincarnated in another world (you can’t say another life; you know it’s a continuation of your previous one, how stupid), you know you were bound to experience the selfishness of the gods, those replicating what you have seen in mortals. “No, I don’t.” You sighed, looking back at the sea. The sea has always been a peaceful place, an abyss with numerous undiscovered creatures residing in it. “There must be someone you know..” You trailed off, still focusing on the scenery before you. Unsurprisingly, Paimon snapped Aether out of his reverie and called out his name. “Oh. Let me try and think of someone…” Aether began to think, but Paimon interrupted his train of thought before he could form a name. “Paimon’s thought of someone already -- Atsuko, in Liyue Harbor! She’s from Inazuma!” Paimon exclaimed, waving her tiny arms in the air, ushering both you and Aether to Liyue Harbor, yet you were quick to decline her offer. Dismissing her invitation, you waved your hand, and said, “No, No. People wouldn’t want to see someone like me venturing with the bigshot of Teyvat.” You said, a slight tease coated in your tone.

The traveling duo had to think about your words, you were right-- in a sense, yet they did not want to leave you alone. (they were completely disregarding the existence of a Chuuya-fied wisp sleeping soundly on your shoulder.) “Aww!” Paimon whined, “Paimon wanted [Name] to come with us!” Aether simply laughed, and nodded his head, standing up. “Well, if we find a way to get there, you will join us, alright?” He asked you, but it didn’t seem like a question, it was a demand, really. Deadpanning, you nodded your head, assuring that you will, in fact, travel with them after consulting Atsuko.

You lowered your presence before venturing to the foot of Liyue, trying to conceal yourself from wandering eyes. Aether and Paimon were barely in your peripheral vision and trying to hear their conversation with the Inazuma citizen was even harder. As if on cue, Chuuya squeaked, trying to get your attention, and you faced the tiny wisp who twirled around the air, orange particles following suit. “Ah, you want to eavesdrop?” you questioned, trying to understand his body movements. A little nod with a squeak of approval was what you received in return, and you allowed him to do so. You may not understand his body movements most of the time-- but hey, you try. The wisp navigates its way to where Paimon and Aether were, making sure that he was unseen and unnoticed by the passerby. Thankfully, though, he was.

After a bit of eavesdropping, he returned back to you, and you ultimately did not get what he meant, until he gestured-- with his head-- the direction of Guyun Stone Forest. You could only assume that much. Shortly after, Paimon and Aether returned to you both, and you turned to face them, awaiting their statement. “Uh- alright,” Paimon started, unable to look you in the eye. You found her nervousness quite hilarious, your mouth forming a smirk in amusement. Despite being small, yet wasn’t hesitant to voice out anything on her mind, was afraid of a mere human like you. “Atsuko told us that we must meet with the .. Crux.” The Crux, you have heard tell of their captain and their victories. How could you not? The strange relationship between the Tianquan and the captain was being spread throughout Liyue, including their many stories in the sea. The reputation The Crux has gotten for their many bone-chilling and jaw-dropping experiences was enough to make you interested. “Continue,” You replied, eyes analytical, boring into poor Paimon’s eyes. She shrieked, and silently pleaded to Aether to continue where she left off.

Chuuya, on the other hand, was snickering mentally, not only because of Paimon’s cowardice but also because of Aether’s hesitance to respond. He opted to let out squeaks that resembled laughter. Paimon jerked her head to the wisp, comical steam escaping her ears. “Stop laughing, you orange dwarf!” She stomped her legs, and you had to hold back your laughter. Aether cleared his throat, and Paimon halted her actions. “We must find Captain Beidou, the leader of the Crux.” He said calmly, and you nodded your head. Chuuya was sulking on your shoulder, forming a little ball. How cute, you think, and stood up to follow Paimon and Aether to their destination.

Guyun Stone Forest. An infamous landmark created by the spears of the Lord of Geo, known to hold an ancient god, Osial, one you were most familiar with after the battle that forced him to retreat yet again. Guyun Stone Forest was known to house the Hypostasis that you severely resented, as well as other monsters of each variety. It was a place created by a god, and it houses an ancient one-- waiting to awaken yet again. Some say that if you come by at night, you would experience the bloodshed and the defeat of Osial vividly, memories of the god experiencing his demise would flash through your head like a slideshow.

Soon enough, you both were able to board the Crux without unnecessary mishaps, you trailing behind Aether and Paimon, your presence still unnoticed by the rest of the crew. Chuuya was settled atop your head, seldomly wiggling to find a place to relax. He was still awake, though, that was enough. Aether’s footsteps alerted Beidou, who was currently talking to an unknown stranger you have never seen before, and it seems like Aether was unfamiliar with him, too.

“Hmm? Who’ve we got here…” Beidou turned to face Aether, and you moved to the side, out of Beidou’s peripheral vision. A flash of realization took over the captain’s features, and said, “Wait, I know you. You’re that traveler, Aether, aren’t you?” She questioned, “The one who fought against the Fatui and Osial, right?” She added. Aether blinked, processing her words. Yeah, he did all those, and it should be a given that his achievements were recognized, but a look of confusion would tell you otherwise. “Have we met?” He asked in response. He was a busy man, accepting commissions from complete strangers in both nations without hesitation, and they might remember him, but do not expect this man to remember you-- at all. He chooses not to remember irrelevant people.

Their conversation was not yours to mind, instead, looking out to sea. It was far more interesting than what you’re hearing, all too familiar with what they’re talking about. Feeling a pair of eyes on you, you shrugged it off, too immersed in the beauty of the sea in front of you. Beidou’s loud voice boomed, entering your ears, which snapped you out of your thoughts. “Judging by the clothes on your back and this floating thing-- and you! Another companion, perhaps?” Before Paimon could talk back to the captain, her eyes followed Beidou’s finger, which was pointing to you.

You stared back at them, your eyes swirling with amusement and recognition. “Hi.” you greeted, you were not one for formal greetings. “[Name], traveling partner--” Beidou’s voice interrupted you before you could finish, “aren’t you the suspicious fellow the Millelith was to keep track of?” Ah. So she knows. Who wouldn’t, really? Your supposed title along with Aether’s name being spread throughout Teyvat, one outshining the other. You were feared, unlike Aether, who was respected throughout the continent, yet you were one who they would want to avoid-- to show you who you need to respect. Although that didn’t bother you, it certainly irritated Paimon and Aether.

“They’re my traveling companion-- my friend.” Aether emphasized the word ‘friend’, making you smile fondly at the boy. Paimon nodded vigorously, and Beidou let it slide, albeit hesitant in doing so. “I’ll let it slide, for now.” She monotonously said, eyeing you and Aether, “but if you do something sketchy, I won’t hesitate to do something to you.” She threatened, making Paimon yelp and hide behind Aether, while you smirked in amusement. “A deal’s a deal, captain.” You muttered, turning your back on her to face the scenery you were focusing on. “And by the way, Paimon’s not ‘floating thing,’ it’s Paimon!” She said, shouting each vowel of her name.

“Paimon… hmm..” Those words that belonged to a foreign voice caught everyone’s attention-- excluding Chuuya’s, who was too entertained by the floating particles around his body-- to turn to said man. “What a fascinating being. You two give off not only the essence of wind and earth,” He paused, “but also of… yes… the stars…” He concluded. You blinked, “Eh? The fragrance of what now?” Paimon questioned, confusion lacing her tone, “That’s the weirdest compliment Paimon’s ever heard.” She muttered, and the mysterious man turned to you. “But you… you give off the essence of the stars, and the aura of the divine.” He stated, while you turned to him, and said, “Is that an insult?” You voiced out, while he merely chuckled and shook his head. “Pay it no heed… I mean only to say I am certain… that it is by fate, not chance alone, that we should meet… and that gives our encounter meaning.”

You couldn’t bother to listen to their conversation, for you were not included. Yet you managed to catch his name, Kaedehara Kazuha. Upon studying his appearance more, you realized that he was not local. The frame around his vision confirmed your assumptions, and you could only wonder what that frame came from. Where he came from, exactly. There was an oddly calming and melancholic aura emanating from the man behind you, and it may look like he was aware of it, too. The group exchanged words relating to something about a Crux Clash, something you have never heard of before. Leaning forward to the railings, you let Chuuya sit on your shoulder while nuzzling his face on your neck. Sleepy, he was, all the time. Though that didn’t bother you, really.

“Does your friend over there have some experience in fighting?” I think they do, considering their unusually suspicious yet powerful aura, Beidou wanted to add, yet she refused those words to slip past her tongue. Aether knew you never wanted to be put in the spotlight, to be the center of attraction even for a few minutes, all of those things irked you. Even though you were the center of attraction back in your past life-- for all the right reasons, you don’t want it to happen again. Tranquility is what you desire. You were offered the curse of the gods and the blessing of death, yet tranquility is what truly made you feel human amidst everything else.

Everything passes, tranquility doesn’t. “They would probably decline if you asked them.” He said, it was the truth, really. “They’re not one for formal events,” He trailed off, running out of reasons for vouching for you. You were a mysterious individual, and while you have been their traveling companion for quite some time, you still left lingering questions on your trail. Curiosity swirling in his eyes whenever he manages to take a good look at you, wondering what you are-- who exactly you were. Perhaps being mysterious came with good looks. “Oh? Is that so?” She quirked an eyebrow and glanced at your figure before tearing her gaze back to the traveler. “Yeah, they're a tough one!” Paimon exclaimed, “They don’t fight unless necessary!” Paimon then added, recalling your previous statements to the pixie. You were ruthless and merciless in battle, cunning in strategy, resorting to being the brains between the duo. That doesn’t excuse your methodical and malicious way of swerving through the situation, however.

“I’m not interested.” Your sharp voice cuts through the conversation, dismissing every thought the wandering samurai and the captain may have had. Still facing the sea, elbows on the railings of the ship. “You, too, are not interested in the masterless vision?” Kazuha asked, and you nodded. “I am only interested in following Aether.” You uttered nonchalantly, and a blush rose to Aether’s cheeks, quickly faltering. “Well, it seems like the traveler will only be partaking in the event. Let’s get you signed up, yeah?” she questioned, “Head to the tournament arena in Guyun Stone Forest. Kazuha and I will be over soon.” She smiled, clasping her hands together. Before anyone could say anything else, you disappeared. (poof! You’re gone, and honestly, it’s a surprise that no one noticed Chuuya, at all.)

Beidou turned to look at you, yet you were gone. All that was left was a little wisp with orange particles surrounding its body. It seemed to be looking around frantically, beady eyes locking with ruby-colored ones. It blinked, and it disappeared as soon as they made eye contact. Was that [Name]? The captain blinked and shrugged her shoulders. It would be an understatement to say that both of them were confused, they genuinely thought that you turned into a wisp. Kazuha’s face remained neutral, yet there was a lingering swirl of amusement in those vermillion hues of his. “Well, well. It seems like it will only be a matter of time before the answer is revealed.” (AWOOOOAOAOAOAO WOOOF WOOF. anyway.)

You didn’t want to be noticed by the Liyue participants, having been popular on the list of suspicious individuals. You knew that if they saw you, even if it was just a glimpse, they would panic. So, what was the best option? Well-- hide, obviously. You were sat atop one of the spears, right above the reception area. The endless praises coming from the other competitors soon reached your ears, but that didn’t make you interested. They have only witnessed him in his power, but were they able to walk alongside him? You didn’t think so, besides, they’re but mere specks of dust in his house of memories. You crossed your legs, blocking out any sounds entering your ears. That is until a familiar squeak is what you heard. Looking to your left, you saw a visibly furious wisp. When you landed your eyes on him, he started smacking your head as if he was scolding you-- well, he was. In his tiny little head, he was cursing you out, and he had embarrassed himself in front of two complete strangers. You laughed, not quite loud, and gently encased your hands on his tiny body. He slept after that.

You only watched some of Aether’s matches before you appeared-- out of nowhere-- behind Beidou and Kazuha. The samurai noticed your peculiar presence the second you got there, really, you had a very, very unique scent. He would describe it as flowers-- laid out in a field, wilting ever so slowly. An enigma that presents itself as a gentle soul, malicious in movement and methodical if necessary. You had eyes that resembled that of a certain archon he grew to despise, yet he failed to sense any correlation between the two of you. If he had, though, he would be utterly speechless that you haven’t stolen him away, yet. You presented yourself as swift in movement and uninterested in talking, although he noticed a playful side that you only revealed to Aether. He now realized that you weren’t the wisp that disappeared after a few double takes, situated on your shoulder. Even that small wisp radiated the same aura that you did.

Just who were you? Kazuha couldn’t decipher you that much, he thinks he has only so little information about you, and he was right. You were a black and white canvas, one who presents themselves as plain, quiet, yet you were familiar with all emotions at once. The ability to be stoic and to have separate personalities were one of your most prominent features, being able to lure your target into a seemingly well-made trap. Your eyes were closed, listening to the waves meeting the sand, oh, how you missed that sound.

The waves crashing never failed to land a small smile on your face, unnoticed by many, tranquility was the only word you would describe the sounds the oceans make. Calming, it was. Beidou’s laugh entered your ears, “I knew I wouldn’t regret choosing you as the favourite!” You opened your eyes slightly, directing your sharp eyes to Aether and Paimon. “So what do you think, Kazuha? [Name]? He totally dominated that guy, and did it with style, too!” She said, visible pride laced within her words. To be fair, you were proud of Aether as well, but your pride was overshadowed by nonchalance. “Impressive,” Kazuha praised, “But I also observed our favorite exercise some restraint, as if to protect the opponent from harm.” He added, and paused, turning to look at you. “Ah,” you uttered, “Good work, Aether.” you were simple, Aether knew that, yet you never praised him verbally, resorting to ruffling his hair. It did not fail to make him smile, though. Paimon smiled brightly, for that was the first time she heard those words slip past your lips. You smiled gently, genuinely, and whispered, “I know you will win.”

Paimon was ready to cry then and there. Comical tears run down her face, hugging you from the neck, “Paimon didn’t know you could be so nice!” Her voice was shaky, yet you laughed in faux offense and Aether smiled, and whispered a ‘thank you', in response. Beidou laughed heartily, and Kazuha crossed his arms with a small smirk. So not only were you playful, you had a soft spot for Aether! Lovers, perhaps? Softly chuckling, you leaned back to the stone behind you, letting your eyelids rest. As the wind kissed your face you were vaguely reminded of the man beside you, yet you made no intent to look at him. You were only brought back to reality when Beidou told Aether that he would be put in the semi-finals, and you nodded in agreement. Aether smiled, his eyes forming crescents, and sent you a thumbs up in return.

After quite a long wait, it was time for the semi-finals. After some words from Kazuha and the announcement from Beidou, you patted Aether’s back gently and gave him a look that said ‘you can do this’. Well, needless to say, he was quite hyped after that exchange. Chuuya squeaked from beside you, and you let him start floating on your shoulder. This attracted Kazuha’s attention, “What’s that?” He asked, the words spilling out of his mouth before he could ever give it a thought. Chuuya and you side-eyed him, and said, “ah. This little guy?” You pointed to Chuuya, and it seemed angered at your comment. “This guy’s Nakahara. A… memoir of a... friend, in short.” Said wisp halted its actions, although it didn’t go unnoticed by both of you. “Hm, fascinating. You two carry the same aura.” You remained silent for the most part, yet a simple sigh escaped your lips. “Hm, do we?” You muttered, softly patting the wisp’s head with your pointer finger. It seemed delighted, unconsciously leaning to your touch. “Perhaps we do,” you whispered, knowing the truth behind this small wisp below your finger. “Do you… perhaps… have some history with this creature?” He asked, curiosity and attentiveness evident in his wine-colored eyes. You paused for a moment, thinking of your words. “Well, if you phrase it like that, then… sort of, yeah.” He nodded after your confirmation, yet your answers only made him insatiable; there were still so many questions he’d want to ask you, yet he knows you won’t provide for the insatiable. You never do.

After the match, you observed Aether ask other people for information about his final opponent. You weren’t bothered to watch the matches that didn’t involve him, however, entertaining Chuuya in the process whenever he wasn’t on the battlefield. But from the observations of Beidou and Kazuha, you were able to identify that seemingly suspicious man. Your intuition was never wrong, of course. He was described to be agile, swift, and seemingly formidable in battle. Well, you would be lying if he doesn’t remind you of someone you were previously acquainted with. “Wah! Paimon is starting to think that [Name] here is our final opponent!” You blinked, dismissing Paimon’s words. “Eh? No, no, no.” You shook your head, “what makes you think that?” you asked, and Paimon scratched her head, “eh… you are fast as well! Fast on your feet! Strong too! You and our opponent are far too similar!” Paimon complained, stomping her feet in the air like a child. “Now that’s just… insulting.” You muttered, and Kazuha chuckled. “Oh? How so?” He queried. You shook your head, “I would prefer to keep my prideful remarks to myself.” and Chuuya shook his head vigorously, denouncing your statement, squeaking in retaliation. Beidou’s voice cut through your conversation, stirring the topic into the final battle.

You, again, did not bother to listen, closing your eyes until someone catches your attention. Words were exchanged between the 3 elemental wielders, and the voice that snaps you out of your reverie was none other than Aether’s, “Can [Name] come too?” You snapped your eyes open, staring at Aether, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, you spoke up, “Where, exactly?” Paimon cut through the discussion, “With Kazuha!” and a flash of realization flooded her features, “Wait, Aether, why do you want them to come exactly?” Her voice was laced with a slight tease, and a sly smile formed on her lips, making Aether pinch her cheeks and stick his tongue out when he heard her whine. Beidou did not want to interrupt, but you know what kind of thoughts are forming on the captain’s mind. Something about “are they together?” Well, something like that. Kazuha, on the other hand, never once failed to show amusement during their exchanges, especially when the topic is about you. “Well, that’s settled, come with me. Some post-match entertainment is in order.”

What you didn’t expect is that he’d completely focus on Aether in the secluded place he led you both to. “Now that we’re alone, let me cut to the heart of the matter.” He began, he eyed Aether, then to your still, peaceful figure. Seemed like Chuuya was sleeping, once again. “Traveler, you are skilled in manipulating the elements.” He began, and that is when you snapped your eyes to Kazuha, fully invested in the conversation as if you weren’t resting your eyes ten seconds ago. Kazuha brushed off your intense gaze on him, and continued, “And not just a single element, but multiple, is that correct?” You weren’t shocked, no. You witnessed it firsthand, and all the subtle attempts to cover up Aether’s otherworldly ability were futile when it came to you. Besides, you were capable of revealing even the smallest details.

“Although I cannot make sure of [Name], while yours were not as subtle as you presume, they give me an unfamiliar aura. One I cannot discern,” He uttered, turning to face and making eye contact with you. “Now, then, may I be so bold to inquire just what power you hold?” Despite the soft tone he presented you with, you still denied it. “I do not have such power as you may think I do.” You shut down his question, “I may hold the aura of the gods, but I do not have any affiliation with them.” You said sternly, hoping that he would dismiss this subject, and swallow up your lies. If anyone knew about your ability and the status you had compared to the gods above, including Chuuya’s, everyone would be against you. The sheer power you hold in your body surpasses that of bygone gods and wandering travelers. You were an unstable yet powerful force, never truly revealing your plans, and never using the ability you were cursed to use again. You never used it to spite the gods who have cursed you in the world you know you will never fit in. You were anything but human in this world of selfish souls, well, you know who would agree with you. (you know Fyodor would have a field day if he was here.)

Although you remained composed and stoic, you silently wished Kazuha would let you slip past his questions. He was, obviously, completely oblivious to your thoughts. Kazuha wasn’t oblivious about your power, though, you knew he knew that you have one. After that exchange, you completely retracted yourself from the conversation, simply observing the two who discussed Aether’s powers and skills. You didn’t miss the slight concern that Paimon held towards you, though. You didn’t like talking; to strangers, especially. Save for your interrogation victims back in the day, in meetings, you usually butt in when necessary, or riling up the boss and Chuuya whenever you felt like doing so. The only relevant thing to come out of the conversation you listened to was everything relating to Inazuma. Ah, so that’s where he came from. No wonder the frame encasing his vision looked foreign to you. You briefly made eye contact with Kazuha, and you recognized that look in his eyes. As if he was still wary of you, and your motives.

Truth is, he was completely intrigued because of you. Still wary-- yet enamored. He knows you are observant, calculating, and seemingly notorious due to all of these traits, including your intimidating appearance. You carry yourself with utmost royalty, independent in all situations, and overpowering most of your enemies with ease. He could tell by your scent that you were one to be avoided, and one who is more powerful than most vision wielders-- scratch that, maybe all. Although that would be an overstatement to some, he just has this feeling that you are stronger than you present yourself as. That was true, obviously. What is a mysterious person without their secrets? He secretly hoped he did not give you a bad impression, for you were a mysterious one who attracts even the wisest of men. He’ll make sure to ask Aether about you, even if it’s just the simplest of information. He was certain that he hears all things in nature, yet you were one who grew in a field of foreign flowers. That, he cannot decipher.

2021 © kachuuyaa. do not steal or claim my work as your own.

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skiitter · 3 years

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OK prompt for wotr, Lann when the commander got collered in the abyss. Since nobody except The Hand said anything in my game either (and I love the gold guy, even tho he keeps talking about iomedae when, as anevia said, I look like desna had her wicked way with me, and Regill, even if my chaotic ass is forever disappointing him)

wait omg Regill said something to you about getting collared??? i'm so jealous. daeran was the only one and omg he was so adorable and bad at pretending he doesn't care. okay anyway, prompt time:

Lann had been a hunter for most of his life. He knew the merits of patience and fully understood how timing is everything, especially in matters of personal relationships. He'd given the Commander space ever since they'd been royally banished to Alushinyrra, accepting without complaint that there would be a time and a place for the two of them to sit down and discuss whatever fragile thing that had blossomed between them. The Worldwound, the hoard of demon armies, and the fate of Mendev had to come first. He could wait. He could be patient.

And then she was taken.

On the road, and in every encounter, Lann took pride in having the Commander's back. He kept his sharp eye out for trouble, especially with the dangers that tended to lurk in the shadows and had often dispatched them to Pharasma without ever alerting her to their existence. At the Battlebliss Arena, though, he faltered and it nearly cost them all something they could never replace.

In total, she was only in Zeklex' clutches for less than two days, but it was the longest two days of Lann's extremely short life. Even Regill, who was as rigid as glass and twice as sharp, was visibly unsettled. Seelah immediately began organizing a party to storm the Arena, while Ember did her best to console Daeran who was, to Lann's utter discomfort, genuinely upset at the Commander's kidnapping.

It was Arue, in the end, that got them back into the Arena. She pulled whatever strings she still had tethered to this wretched plane and got them in, just in time to see the Commander march, proud and fearless, into the ring.

From there it was a blur of violence; the electric charge of her spells licking at his human flesh. Arrow after razer sharp arrow struck true with expert precision and soon, the Commander had claimed the title of champion. There was some nonsense with Zeklex and his employer and who was supposed to succeed who. Lann didn't care. He was one word from the Commander away from burying a quiver-full of arrows into his chest.

She let him go, of course, and Lann was forced to swallow his anger. A lifetime of managing his emotions, continuously striking that balance of easygoing and pragmatic and it all vanished the second the stepped off the arena.

The Commander made straight for the exit, the tremor in her left hand visible only to those who knew to look for it, and fielded off the concern that Arue and Ember sent her way. Lann fell back to the edge of the party, allowing their friends a moment to swarm her. The second that Regill stepped away, his cold yellow eyes a shade softer for her--be it in respect or genuine affection Lann could never tell--the mongrel reached for her.

"Commander," he said, cringing at the slight tremor in his own voice.

"Lann, are you hurt?" She meant it, sincerely, and he was still just as baffled at her capacity for concern as he had been since the beginning.

"Just a little pesky emotion is all. Are you hurt?"

She glanced away, for only a second, but it said all he needed to hear. "I'm free and that's what matters." She laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood. "How was it, while I was gone? No bloodshed among my favorite companions, I hope."

Lann scoffed. "Honestly? Nothing brings a group of ragtag assholes together like a mutual cause. Truly, I didn't know we had it in us to work so well together."

"Hmm, good to know. Maybe I'll get kidnapped and thrown into servitude more often."

"No!" It was too much, too loud, and the shock on her face made him cringe yet again. "I mean, that's a bad idea, probably. Obviously. Of course, you're joking, but sometimes with you it's hard to tell. I think you pushed Regill's bleaching back several decades with the introduction of worry into his life. Even Woljif, with all his immaturity, was concerned. Really, everyone was--"

"Even you?" Her eyes searched his, roaming the expanse of his dual-skinned face and Lann turned the human side away from her to hide the blush.

"I--I was a little worried."

"Only a little?"

"Come on, we both know what a monster you are in battle. That asshole never stood a chance." Lann broke his cardinal rules about affection to briefly run his finger down her cheek. "You're a force of nature, Commander," he said it softly, more emotional than he'd meant to be.

Her features shifted and the smile she gave him was as brilliant as the stars of Elysium. "Thank you for coming to rescue me. You're quite the night in shining armor."

"I don't wear armor."

"Before the night is through, hopefully you won't be wearing much else." Her grin was cheeky, the suggestive tone of her words more for show than substance, but beneath it all, there was that look in her eye. There was no privacy now, not since their camp became a veritable orphanage for all the slaves she'd freed, and not for the first time, Lann cursed her and her glorious purpose.

He was a man, a simple man, and sometimes all he wanted was for her to be a simple woman. Because, if she was, then perhaps the fates and the powers that be wouldn't be trying so hard to kill them and he could steal her away for the rest of his short life. The Commander was made for greatness, glory itself ran through her blood, but Lann loved her because she snuck Aivu cookies whenever she could and she let Ember braid her hair whenever she wanted. He loved her because she was still a mortal, despite her mythic calling, and her every action towards their group of miscreants spoke to that.

Lann loved her because...he loved her. And that was a revelation unto itself.

"Ah, but the sun doesn't rise here so this night will never end," he pointed out.

"All the more reason to leave then, isn't it?" She stopped, glanced back at where their companions were standing, and threw her arms around him. The weight of her, the physical evidence of her safety, was the only home he'd known since stepping out into the big, wide world. "I missed you, Lann," she whispered.

"Please don't get kidnapped again, my ugly mongrel heart can't take it." He knew the weight of what he said, but he said it anyway.

"Well, you don't need to worry about your ugly mongrel heart anymore." She let go of him, but did not back away. "It's mine now, and I take excellent care of my things."

It was and she did.

#Pathfinder: wrath of the righteous #wrath of the righteous #act 4 spoilers #lann #GOD writing fic for WotR is so fun #thank u anon im love u #skitterfics

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n1kolaiz · 3 years

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"You want to know what death is? I'll tell you. Death is the loss of life. Despite everything doctors like me attempt... a patient's life can still fall through our fingers. You think death lies in the apex of science? Anyone with such little regard for life will die by my hand."

Character Analysis: Yosano Akiko

Age: 25 || Ability: Thou Shalt Not Die

BSD CHAPTER CHAPTER 65-66 SPOILERS

table of contents:

1. Author counterpart.

2. Yosano's history.

3. 'Angel of Death' defined.

4. Yosano and Atsushi.

YOSANO BRAINROT!*(#&!*@#($

1. Author counterpart.

Having been given the “Sho Ho” at birth, Yosano Akiko’s counterpart—the real-life author—was known for her zealous take on both feminism and pacifism.

Side note: Once again, to avoid confusion, I will use the name Sho Ho in reference to the real-life author, and Yosano in reference to the BSD character.

Sho Ho's writings were pretty much out-of-the-ordinary in her time, and despite being suppressed by the social norms of gender hierarchy, she sought to reform society’s view on the cultural perspectives of women and their sexuality (She expressed her love for a woman in one of her poems, but many still argued on whether she identified herself as queer or not.)

"Thou Shalt Not Die," Yosano's ability, is actually named after one of Sho Ho's most famous, controversial poems. She wrote it for her brother, who was a soldier in the war between Russia and Japan (1904-1905). In her poem, she expressed her general distaste for war and how her brother was a part of it.

O my young brother, I cry for you Don't you understand you must not die! You who were born the last of all Command a special store of parents' love

Would parents place a blade in children's hands

Teaching them to murder other men Teaching them to kill and then to die? Have you so learned and grown to twenty-four?

- excerpt from Sho Ho's poem, "Kimi Shinitamou Koto Nakare"

Her words were blunt enough to inflict guilt on her brother's conscience, as she wasn't afraid to express her disapproval over how her brother took part in the typical violent bloodshed and manslaughter of war. Such opinions perturbed the authorities, and her work was eventually banned from the public for a period of time. Later on, it was used as an anti-war statement.

2. Yosano's history.

Now, as for the character in BSD, Yosano is seen to be generally strong-willed, and later on, we see that she is terrifyingly compassionately ambitious in the way she treats her patients. She treasured life itself, and hated the thought of losing a patient.

Yosano had developed her relations with Mori Ougai back in the Great War, when she was just 11 years old. Her ability was a great benefactor in saving lives. Realistically speaking, she was used for her ability to heal injured soldiers and diminish the effect of any casualty acquired.

Initially, she wasn't aware of this, until one of her close friends pointed it out by subtly accusing Mori of manipulating her to participate in the War under the close-to false pretence of 'saving lives.'

As much as her ability did save lives, it also forced soldiers to return to the frontlines and suffer injuries over and over again. The soldiers were never given the opportunity to return to their families because of her ability. This obliged them to carry on in the war without any excuse, inserting them into a vicious cycle they had no escape out of.

Metaphorically speaking, Yosano's hatred for Mori sort of mirrors Sho Ho's disdain for war and fighting, don't you think? The way Kafka materialised Yosano's past was quite interesting because he used chapters 65 and 66 to explain Yosano's dislike for Mori, reflecting how Sho Ho used her poem to explain why she condemned the idea of war and how her brother was part of it.

Before the effect of her ability was fully understood, however, every soldier praised and thanked her for what an angel she was. One of the soldiers she had befriended and gotten close to even kept a tally of the number of times she had saved him. He was the one who gifted her the butterfly hairpin she wore all the time.

The weight of the truth that her ability was a curse rather than a blessing fully dawned on her when her soldier friend ultimately committed suicide, because the fact of being indefinitely trapped in the throes of war agonised him until his spirit gave out. This drove Yosano to loathe her ability, or rather, how it was used.

In the time she participated in the War, Yosano was given the alias 'angel of death' due to the control she retained over the battlefield, but I thought that perhaps Kafka had a reason behind giving her this title, so I did my research.

3. 'Angel of Death' defined.

Side note: I wouldn't want to disrespect any culture or religion, so if my citations are inaccurate and/or disrespectful, do feel free to correct me/let me know! I did research out of pure curiosity, and I don't intend to twist the significance of any of the interpretations.

I had to grow up learning about the basics of religious stuff, so it's kind of nice to study something out of the box, and very much against my father's rigid belief system :D

ARCHANGEL ARIEL

(archangel: an angel of higher rank)

I came across the few characteristics of angels/goddesses and their roles, and the one which really caught my attention was the female archangel, Ariel, the angel of nature.

[ source ]

In Hebrew, the name Ariel means 'altar' or 'lioness of God,' and her role is to heal. In addition to that, she is also recognised as a helper to another one of the seven main archangels, Raphael, whose role is to provide physical and emotional healing, too.

She is the protecter of the environment and the animals therein, and is bestowed with the duty to oversee the order of heavenly bodies as well as earth's natural resources. She assures the sustenance of food, water, shelter, and supplies of human beings, much like how a nurse is to a patient I suppose.

In relation to Yosano, I think this part is pretty self-explanatory, or perhaps this is blown out of proportion HA, so take this as a suggestion rather than a fact, because I'd like to believe that Kafka had a reason for giving Yosano a title as such.

In the past, I've come across the angel of death only to perceive it as a female grim reaper of some sort, so it was pretty cool to find that the word 'angel' and 'death' made up a title of a someone like Ariel, one of the purest forms of humility and compassion.

GREEK GODDESS PANAKEIA

For my beloved (wannabe/or not) students of Greek mythology (much like myself, let's make a cult!), you've probably heard of Panakeia, the goddess of healing. Medicine finds most of its vital significance in Greek history, and in its mythology, Panakeia is actually known for her ability to heal any kind of sickness.

[ source ]

Her name means 'panacea,' which is actually defined as a remedy for all diseases. Terminal diseases and injuries lead to death, right? This would bring us back to Yosano's ability to nullify any injury's effects on a person, keeping them from death itself.

Now, we know that in order for Yosano's ability to work, her patient, or victim, has to be in a near-death condition in order for her treatment to take effect. This can't exactly fit into the description of resurrection, but it can be described as some sort of rebirth.

GREEK GODDESS PERSEPHONE

So another goddess which reminds me of Sho Ho/Yosano, is Persephone, the goddess of spring and rebirth. Before Hades, the god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone to take her to live with him, Persephone lived a happy life.

Hades, with his nature of darkness and the like, was captivated by how pure Persephone was, and stole her away from her former life to live in an environment which differed sharply from her natural aura of purity.

[ source ]

Remember when Yosano's friend left a note behind before he killed himself? The note said nothing except for, "You are too righteous." Take that as you will, but figuratively speaking, you could say Mori takes the role of Hades in the story, while Yosano can be portrayed as Persephone.

Sho Ho can also be a parallel of Persephone, in that she had to adapt to the realities of war and disharmony, while Persephone had to adapt to the raw darkness of the underworld with Hades.

Sho Ho stood against society's norms and decided to reform it, making her one of the most well-known feministic pacifist in history, while Persephone managed to escape from the underworld to return to her former position, earning the title the 'Bringer of Life,' or the 'Destroyer of Death.'

Furthermore, the way Sho Ho's anti-war poem took its effect later on, reflects the way Persephone restored balance in the world after returning from the underworld.

4. Yosano and Atsushi.

chapter 66; Yosano: "It's my fault that those close to me died... Is there some place where it's okay for me to live?"

chapter 8; Atsushi: "If I have any chance of saving them all, of returning them home safely, would that mean it's okay for me to keep on living?"

I couldn't help but think of Dazai and Atsushi back when I was reading through these panels. Ranpo (my beloved), along with Fukuzawa, accepted Yosano as she was, despite how her ability was a cause of despair and misfortune.

Ranpo looked past her mistakes and the entirety of how dark her past was to welcome her into the Armed Detective Agency. Dazai, on the other hand, knew who Atsushi was and what his ability had made him do before anyone else, and still decided to provide a safe place for Atsushi to find his sense of belonging, journeying with him as he learned to use his ability properly.

For more info about Dazai and Atsushi's dynamic, you can check out the analysis I did for Dazai :D

Atsushi desired to save people to prove his right to live, while Yosano made her wish to achieve the recovery of all her patients the reason for her existence.

Others would prefer to accuse both Yosano and Atsushi of having a saviour complex, but the reason why they pursued to save people with utmost dedication, stems from the nature of what their past was like. You know the saying 'from broken to beautiful?' Yeah, it's something like that.

The way their pasts were written out gave them a desire to change, which was, I daresay, initiated by the people who took them in: Ranpo and Dazai. Their abilities were demonised because of how they were used, but once they broke from their abilities' effect over their lives, they honed their skills to control them for the right cause instead.

In a less cynical point of view, I believe both Yosano and Atsushi stood for what was right, and wanted nothing but to achieve peace and harmony in whatever way they could, even if it meant risking their own lives to save others.

So yeah, that's it for my rants today. Thank you for reading, and if you have anything to add, go ahead! I'm open to discussions ;)

#bsd #bsd atsushi #bsd yosano #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd characters #bsd analysis #literature analysis #bsd abilities #bsd anime #bsd manga #bungo stray dogs atsushi #bungou stray dogs atsushi #bungou stray dogs yosano #bsd dazai #bsd mori #bsd ranpo #character analysis #.daydreams

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the-knight-of-the-stars · 3 years

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Fictober Day 4: Arranged Marriage - Uma/Ben

Help

When Uma came down the stairs, and the scandalized crowd looked at her between whispers, she couldn't help feeling a lump in her throat, she froze for a moment. But she remembered the words she had said to her crew when she had left them behind, doubt and fear throbbing in her chest. "We will be free, whatever it takes."

So Uma took a breath and raised her head, taking pride in what she did, taking pride at this moment as she would have done in the face of a battle fought and won. Because that's what it was. It was a victorious night, of rejoicing. At least that was what Ben had told her when she had released him from his imprisonment and he had agreed to stay and talk. Until Mal had arrived to rescue him from a problem for which he had already found a way out, without the need for swords and blood, only with his words and his kindness.

From that moment Uma had realized how different Ben was from Mal, how powerful he could be despite being a mere human that at first glance did not seem to stand out in any way. He was good with words. Uma respected that quality, but at the same time, she feared it. The Island was full of silver tongue masters, and the sweetness of their mouths was always revealed as rotten lies.

But Ben had given her more than words, he had given her time, he had entrusted her with his life. Uma found herself surprised by the courage of this skinny and seemingly naive boy, who would rather die than commit a dishonorable act, rather than fail his people. The same could not be said of his father, who Uma knew, would never have deigned to set foot on the Island.

And much less, King Adam would never have returned a second time, without coercion, without backup, just him and his goodwill, to offer Uma the opportunity she had always asked for. The opportunity to change things. Returning to ask her to come by his hand to the land of the opulent and become one of the ladies of his court. Asking her to accept the political power he offered her so that the guilty would be punished and the innocent would be free.

But Uma hadn't really been able to believe his words until that moment. There, in shells and tulle dress, illuminated by the glow of the chandeliers, staring into the face of all the people she had waited all her life to face. And as she went downstairs, Uma realized that Ben and only Ben looked her in the eye, with respect, with dignity. So Uma dared to take his hand, relying on her own goodness, her own strength, daring to believe that happy endings existed even for people like her.

She dared to see the light beyond the horizon, she was tired of the dark. She had spent her life drowning in anger. Uma had grown up to take pride in calling herself a villain, in embracing all the darkness in her world and transforming it into her own power. She would be the villain if that's what it would take to get out of that prison to which she and her peers had been condemned. She would burn Auradon to the ground, bring the mighty to their knees if need be. Because even her anger wasn't enough. Because she could do better because she deserved better.

Uma was tired of anger, of hopelessness. So he took Ben's hand. And allowed herself to be young for one night, allowed herself to smile when he kissed her hand and announced her to everyone as his lady. She allowed herself to forget about Mal, about revenge, about the misery that had been her life. And she allowed herself to celebrate because while she accepted her place as one of the daughters of Atlantica in that court, the royal knights were ordered to prepare the new royal decree: Liberty, for all the villain kids, all the children of the Island.

The decree, stamped with the king's ring, signed in his own handwriting, was carried to its dusty glass case outside the castle, displayed for Auradon to know as soon as the sun rose. And the councilors would protest, and the nobles would try to stop it, and the old kings would refuse to allow it. This fight was not over yet, but there was no going back. The decree had been issued, there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

So Uma danced to the beat of the violins, looking into Ben's eyes, her heart moved, recognizing in the boy the same longing for happiness, for greatness, to do whatever was necessary. The same stolen youth, the same tired struggle. And she realized that he too had spent his life waiting for someone to take the necessary step to change things. Uma recognized him, and it was like seeing herself in a mirror.

And when the day came the obstacles came, and they could feel that something in the world had already changed. And they had changed it. The static shock of the people, the scandal of the nobles. People who came screaming and protesting to the boardroom, where Ben had to shut himself up to calm things down for hours. And Uma had to restrain herself, listening behind the door, not to enter to strangle the arrogant councilors who called the inhabitants of the Island hopelessly ignorant villains.

The ancient King Adam, in particular, found no graces in the decree. He saw it as a challenge. For him, for his kingdom, for everything he had built. But it didn't take long for him to realize that manipulative words and half-truths no longer had an effect on Ben, now he was out of their reach. He had underestimated the true power of his son. And now, face to face with his mistake, he wanted to find an alternative. After all, he was not the type to give up power so easily.

He knew his own vague and pliable laws, he had made them that way, and now he planned again to use them to his advantage. If Uma, the instigator of this ridiculous mission, turned into a lady, he would make sure to see a benefit. And it was not difficult to find it, after all, the girl had only achieved it thanks to her ancestry. Triton's court.

By the time the second dawn arrived, King Triton had already been summoned to answer for his niece, and at the instigation of King Adam, he arrived with a stern hand. As part of his court, Uma now had to answer to him.

And so she did, with her head held high, while bearing the gaze of the King of the Seas, and holding her ground, defending her position as she had done all her life. But Triton, in his already known intolerance, called her to answer for her mother's crimes. Thanks to Adam's advice, now he could do it within the fuzzy limits of Auradon's law. His plan to bring order seemed perfect.

But Adam, in his human arrogance, had forgotten that even the great Triton must respond to a greater power.

Uma was ready to break free and return to the fight when the sirens arrived to chain and condemn her. And Ben was ready to let her do it, even if it cost him his throne. But they did not even get the chance. Triton retracted, to the surprise of those present, much to Adam's disbelief, who saw his strongest ally bow his head and solemnly proclaim that the matter was beyond his power. And then he understood.

Olympus had taken matters into their own hands.

The Great Lord of the Seas, Poseidon himself, had ordered to have Uma under his wing, recognizing in her the anger and power that all his other granddaughters and grandsons lacked, the strength forged by metal and blood. A worthy heir to the gods. Poseidon looked at the earth and saw that this kingdom was the least he could offer her, it was what she needed to rule like the mighty. Oh yes, The God of the Sea had plans for Uma, and there were nothing mortals could do at the will of a god.

Uma heard him call her from the waves of the sea, the echo of his great power manifesting itself in that invisible ghost, who stroked her hair and offered her power over human affairs if she agreed to become the queen of Auradon and leave the name of the sea forever embodied in the history of the kingdom. In his own words, the perfect union between men and gods. This was how the world had to change, that was his command.

Ben heard it from other ears and realized that he also had no power in the matter, after all, he had always known that his marriage was hardly a matter of the heart. He couldn't risk his people to the fury of the gods, he had no choice. Ben had given up the right to choose love when he had put on the crown. Now more than ever he understood that.

There was no need for Uma to say a word when they finally sat down to talk. It was only enough to see her in the eyes to know that she carried a similar duty on her shoulders. They had been born with power and had decided to use it. Now they had to bear the consequences. Uma looked at Ben, understanding and resigned, and remembered that hope was not yet over. She could still do it. They could still do it. No more fighting, no more bloodshed.

"We will be free, whatever it takes"

#buma #ben x uma #uma x ben #uma daughter of ursula #uma descendants #ben florian #king ben

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thr-333 · 4 years

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Just Another Class Trip :) Part 8

News gets out and everyone handles it calmly and respectfully.

First< Previous >Next

--------------------------

“Hi Tom, Sabine, how are you,” Selina gives a fake smile, not waiting for them to answer, “So Marinette's in town,”

“Yes is something wrong?” Tom asks worriedly.

“No nothing is wrong,” If you didn’t count the villain attacking the pool yesterday as wrong, “It’s just um, you know how I never told you who her father was?”

“Yes,”

“Well, apparently Gotham didn’t need the help and figured it out pretty much immediately,”

“So does that mean we finally get to be in the loop?” Tom’s eyes sparkle, he had always bothered her for the identity of his adopted daughter's father.

“Oh no one special, you probably haven’t heard of him,” They most certainly have, “Bruce Wayne?”

“... You dated Bruce Wayne?” The man who had become like a brother to her asks.

“I’m actually engaged to him now,” that already sounded so complicated and it wasn't even the tip of the iceberg. How did her life become so complicated? Well, at least she had managed to keep Marinette from it, well at least for a while.

“Congratulations!” He booms, “Oh what's the theme? We'll make you a cake! Wait no we cant send it by plane… what am I talking about! We’ll come to Gotham to make it! Unless it’s a destination wedding? A beach might be hard but I’m always up for a challenge,”

“Tom, Tom, it’s exciting I know,” Where did Marinette fall on the nature vs nurture scale? Because these two reacted exactly the same way, “But we have bigger problems right now!”

“What's the matter, Selina?” Sabine asks with motherly concern, much better than Selina could ever hope to manage.

“People figured it out… pretty much the second she stepped into Gotham at that,” Selina sighs, “The press is going crazy with theories, paparazzi basically stalking Marinette, Bruce is trying to talk to her about it … and he saw me with her, he knows somethings up,”

“Do you think it’s time we spilled the beans?” Tom asks, calming down from his wedding excitement, “Marinette's always known she was adopted but…”

“Not that I’m her mother? Yeah,” Silence hangs in the air for a while, the screen being the only source of light in her dark safe house, “You know I can try and work through this, no one has to know,”

“Hm…. if you think it’s best,” Sabine nods, before looking to her husband, “But if you want or need to tell people this would be the time,”

“Is… is that alright with you?”

“We love Marinette, and we know she’ll still love us no matter what, if our little family wants to grow then we should let it!” Tom exclaims, she should have known they would be fine with it, always so accepting that's one of the reasons she chose them to take care of her daughter.

“I’ll think about it,” She promises, cutting off the call to be alone with her thoughts.

Apparently her biggest hurdle was actually plucking up the courage to tell everyone. She thought she should at least tell Marinette, but lo and behold here they were in the Wayne manor waiting to hold a meeting about how to handle the rumor and Marinette is still in the dark. Well, she has no other choice but to commit now, try and get Marinette through her trip and out of the city without anyone being the wiser. Hell, she had kept the world's greatest detective from knowing for all these years surely this would be no more trouble.

Despite that, she ran into a little bitty problem while Bruce was explaining to Marinette how to handle the press; her conscience. It had been this annoying thing that started growing more and more as she spent time around Bruce. And now that they were engaged it decided to be a royal pain in her neck trying to convince her to be honest and tell the truth, how was that going to help with their marriage!

Surely this would be the worst possible place to admit it. Not only was Marinette and Bruce here, but the entire damn Batfamily to boot, sans Jason. If she were to tell now there would no doubt be bloodshed. No, the best way, if she was going to tell them, would be later in private, she could get Bruce to drive them back to the hotel and take a detour along the way, then she could tell them and bam! They would both know and her conscience would leave her alone, that was certainly the best plan of action-

And then Marinette smiled at him and Bruce smiled back, she didn’t even know what was said but goddammit-

“Marinette's our daughter!”

Everything in the room stops. Even those happy to mill about their conversation on the other size pause, a glass drops, she doesn't even wait for it to shatter before continuing. Floodgates are open now, no going back.

“Seventeen years ago, took her to Paris, pretended to be her Aunt, let Tom and Sabine raise her!” She stood up, bolting from the room, not stopping until she was far from Wayne manor.

Yep, I think I handled that well.

They all stood frozen, staring at the door Aunt, no Selina, her Mother had just run out. Everything was silent, for about two seconds before incomprehensible screeching. Or at least that's what it sounded like to her as everyone started shouting over each other.

“Did you know!?”

“No! How would I know?!”

“How could you not know! Everyone else did!”

“You didn’t!”

“That's because he said it wasn't true!”

“How the fuck-”

“Bruce why ,”

“By god how reckless can you be!?”

“This is… wow,”

Marinette didn’t stick around to hear the rest, slipping out the door Selina had disappeared through, like mother like daughter she guessed. Speaking of, she needed to call her Maman and Papa first, had the known all along? She was meant to just be an average girl… who’s a superhero… and vigilante…. And famous fashion designer…. And guardian- ok maybe she hadn't done a great job at the whole ‘ordinary girl’ thing, be she had liked to think she was normal at least once in her life… apparently not.

“Marinette sweetie!” Her Papa’s voice boomed over the call, “How are you?”

“Aunt Selina- not- how- I-”

“Oh, she told you?” Her Maman spoke more quietly than her Papa, calm voice calming her down.

“Me, and everyone else,” Marinette sat down at the steps to Wayne Manor, looking out at the front gardens without really seeing anything.

“Yes we thought she might, are you ok sweetie?”

“I’m shocked,”

“Yes well knowing her she didn’t handle it too well,” Papa spoke knowingly.

“She bolted now I’m stuck at Wayne Manor,” Marinette supplies, not that she really had a better place to be.

“Yes, that's like her,” She can hear her Maman laugh a little, “How are you feeling?”

“A little confused,” A lot confused.

“When she was pregnant with you she came to us, she and Bruce apparently didn’t have a very stable relationship back then and didn’t think either of them could take care of you,” Maman explains, “So she came to us, asking for just to raise you, she wasn't going to be a part of your life but I think she loved you more than expected because she kept coming back and eventually became your Auntie Selina,”

“Thats… wow,”

“Need some time?”

“Yeah,”

“Take all the time you need,” Papa encouraged, “We’re always here for you, and we love you,”

“I love you too,” Marinette smiles, letting the call drop staring off into nothingness.

The Kwamis came out of hiding to cuddle close but left her to her thoughts which Marinette appreciated. They sat in silence for a long time, Marinette worked out that she didn’t mind so much. Sure it was a shock, but it didn’t change how much she loved her parents, and it meant her family had just gotten a little bigger, or a lot bigger as Bruce had introduced her to a lot of people. The only thing left to worry about was the others, they didn’t seem very happy at the news.

Before Marinette can let the dread of that fester too long the front door opens, catching her attention as Bruce steps through. He seemed tired, and was that bruise a punch mark!?- no nevermind she wasn't going to ask. He comes to sit down next to her, neither talking for a while as they both stare out at the garden.

“... So Selina left?” He asks eventually.

“Yep, and I don’t think she’s coming back any time soon,”

“Of course not,” She shakes his head, a little amused, “Did she tell you?”

“No, but my parents knew- wait I didn’t mean!-”

“It’s fine,” He assures, settling her panic, “I just found out, I can hardly be considered a parent,”

“Guess not… What about the others?”

“Oh they’re a little shocked,” Bruce puts it lightly, his bruise being a dead give away, “I think they expected me to adopt you long before suspecting we were already related,”

“Just how many siblings do I have,” Marinette half mutters to herself, “wait- are they my siblings?”

“Depends who you ask, Dick? Yes, I think he already left to find decorations for your room,”

“I have a room?”

“If Dick has anything to say about it, also I suspect Alfred already set you up one, although I couldn't tell you when,”

“Of course he did,” That man seemed to know more than all of them combined, “So does that mean I can stay over some time?”

“Certainly, although I might suggest waiting a day or two,” He looks back at the mansion, light-catching his bruise.

“I might give it three, just to be sure,” She smiles, still wondering what happened there.

They start talking, catching up on each other's lives. Marinette skirts around anything that doesn't pertain to her identity as Marinette, Ladybug, MDC, Starling the whole gang. They are only interrupted by Marinette's phone buzzing, she picks it up, Adrien was the one to call but both Chloe and Kagami are there with him.

“Marinette,” Adrien says urgently, “Remember Cuppy?”

------------

Taglist (sorry put the taglist for another fic before fixed it now)

@smolplantmum @flufflepuffle296 @dawnwave16 @caffeinetheory @g-arya @Maribat-2k20 @ladybug-182 @Actual-disaster-human @fusser90 @messrs-weasley @soap-lady @paintedhope7 @zeneralla @mochegato @random-nerd-3 @clumsy-owl-4178 @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @too0bsessedformyowngood @certifiedbidisaster @Purplegeekypanda @awkward0ghostfan @theymakeupfairies @tikki-marinette @insane-fangirl-of-everything @elmokingkong @inarachi02 @slytherinhquinn @moongoddesskiana @dast218 @buginetye @redscarlet95 @biodad-bruce-month @hansa-12 @waiting247 @toodaloo-kangaroo @how-to-fuction-properly @trippingovermyfeet @greekmythgal @whatthefox22 @the-alice-of-hearts @bigpicklebananatree @indecisive-mess-named-me @nalu-ismyjam @deepestobservationwombat @salamonka

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prismadog · 3 years

Note

I kinda had a suggestion for your au,

So if you don't want to read it, this is your time to delete this ask,

But yeah, maybe Xornoth hasn't been completely corrupted when Scott's people sends them to the nether

As in like, he is definitely very corrupted and evil, but it's not too late for him to become human again

And then [insert something involving Shrub] happens and he is presented the choice of becoming human again and unlocking all the power of exor, at the cost of turning away from his humanity forever

why wouldn't I want to read a suggestion? I love talking to people! and I'd love to hear any feedback, comments, or suggestions!

ooh...I love this idea so much already!

I haven't thought too much about the end game yet but I have thought a bit about pre-exile Xornoth and it's pretty much what you said: maybe they're not fully corrupted and there's a chance for him to return to his former self.

EDIT: this is a quick message from after typing out the below post. I somehow ended up coming up with an end game, idk how that happened but it did. it's not exactly like you suggested but I hope it satisfies well enough. I really loved your ask btw.

also, this is fairly long so I'm putting a "keep reading line below". I think I might have also sort of written a story here? like, I meant for this to be just a little response but...it's not. it's practically a story for how things will go down. obviously, it'll need work, but it's a start!

pre-exile chance

my thoughts: there was one moment when Xornoth really questioned their actions, questioned their blind faith to Exor, questioned how they became a monster when all they wanted was to be the beloved hero that their brother Alinar is.

that moment, it was when they were banished from their home, but before they were exiled to the Nether. the people wanted them gone and they turned to their brother for help, they wanted Alinar to keep the people from banishing them. the moment where Xornoth questioned everything was when Alinar turned his back on them.

they moved to the caves and questioned every single little thing they've ever done - where had they gone wrong? why wasn't Alinar proud of him? maybe...maybe everything they were doing wasn't so good after all.

I believe that if when Alinar had found his brother again, if he had asked Aeor for aid in saving his brother instead of banishing them for good, there would have been a chance for Xornoth to return to his former self. but no, Alinar had to go and remove that chance entirely from the equation and exile his brother in the Nether.

* I'm using the Clash of the Great Stags as reference for that part above. I'm leaving Conal & Alinar's canon story as history for the AU versions, though, there might be a tweak or two in the future, who knows?

but. after reading your suggestion and having a good long think about this...maybe there is still a chance, even after Alinar turned his back on his brother.

so...I'ma gonna hash things out here.

hash out chance

we the fans know that there's going to be some form of "final battle" between the rulers and Xornoth - the same will be true for the AU as well. it'll be Xornoth, Sausage, Joey, and Shrub against everyone else - though, for Shrub, she doesn't want to fight, she doesn't want to see anyone get hurt, she just wants everyone to get along. but she knows that no matter what she does, everyone will end up at the final battle, ready for war.

but before that, there's a lot of moments where, like in canon, everyone is trying to find a cure for the corruption plaguing their lands. Shrub is no different, except, she pushes more towards a cure for people, for the demon themself.

Katherine, Scott, and Gem are more than willing to help her find a cure - they don't really know why Shrub is so insistent on curing the demon, she only ever vaguely tells them her reasons, but they're still going to help her because they're her friends.

during this, Scott will talk to Aeor, wondering if there is a way to cure the corruption at its source - the demon - without shedding any more blood.

Aeor, I know he's supposed to be a good god, believing in peace and equality - and he is a good god, but...I don't think he would want to resolve things between him and Exor peacefully. in the story I linked, he pretty much jumped right into a fight with Exor without hesitation

so, that being said, I don't think things would be any different even if his champion was looking for peaceful solutions. I believe Aeor would want Scott to take up arms against Xornoth and fight for him, to end the corruption once and for all.

Scott would be reluctant of course, torn between his god's wishes and helping his friends. so, maybe he does both - he'll try to help his friends find a cure for the demon but he'll also prepare for the inevitable final battle.

Shrub and her friends work tirelessly trying to find a cure, making several different potions, and each one Shrub takes home with her and gives them to Xornoth. they're reluctant to take the potions but they'll do anything for their gnome, even if it means turning their back on their god and giving up all the power Exor gifted them.

so, Xornoth tries every different potion given to them, even though not a single one has any effect on them, until all options are completely eliminated and the rulers run out of ideas. at that point in time, there is no other choice except war - war between the gods, between their champions, between people who were all once friends but are now on opposing sides.

maybe this is where Shrub breaks completely, at the moment when the others give up. maybe she begs them to keep trying - just one more potion, that's all we need, the next one will be the right one, I just know it, please keep trying, please don't give up yet, we have to keeping trying.

they'll question her on why she wants the demon cured so badly, they'll question despite knowing that she's only going to dodge every question asked.

but this time. this time Shrub doesn't dodge. this time, she stops giving vague answers and she stops telling lies that leave her with a pit in her stomach. this time, she breaks. this time, she tells them the truth. this time, she tells them the story of her life, her connection to the demon and how Xornoth is like a father to her - tending to her injuries, telling her stories, teaching her so many things, but most of all, loving her unconditionally.

she begs their forgiveness for lying to them for so long, begs them to help her find a cure for the only family she's ever known, begs them to not give up yet.

the other rulers would obviously be shocked, some might walk away feeling hurt and betrayed, some might come to Shrub and accept her as the child of the monster that plagues their lands. those that do accept her, they comfort her and she comforts them. they might all keep trying to make a cure, despite how hopeless it seems - they've already failed so many times, what more can they do?

Xornoth would have the same thoughts - what more can the rulers do? everything they tried, every potion made, has failed and it's just going to be more of the same. so, they make a decision, the demon seals their fate, the demon makes the call for war.

they go into the final battle reluctantly, knowing that there's only one true way to cure them and wishing that it didn't have to be with their death. they go into that battle hoping their little Shrub - their sweet, kind girl who showed them a better way of living - will be okay when they're gone. they know that her friends will be there for her so she should be okay, she can survive.

the two sides face off. no one wants to fight. Shrub, though she stands on the side of the rulers, is torn between her friends and her family. everyone there knows that the speeches given by the rulers of the Overworld are a poor attempt at staving off the inevitable.

Xornoth wants to be the one to throw the first punch, to get the ball rolling, get this fight done and over with, but they see their gnome, their beloved child, staring at them from across the battlefield, and she's crying. the battle hasn't even started and yet, she's mourning their death.

they don't attack. they stay their hand. they stand down. they move forward, hands up and open, free of any weapon, and walk gladly towards their demise. no one moves, all are still as the demon approaches, the usual sinister grin replaced by a grimace of heartache.

the demon stops before them, before their little Shrub and before the elf that looks so much like the brother they lost. Xornoth kneels at their feet, they say their parting words of love to their gnome, then they bow their head and tell Aeor's Champion to make it a quick death and please, if you could do me one favor, please don't let Shrub watch, please don't let her be here.

Shrub tries to go to her father's side, tries to beg them not to do this - there's still time, we can still find a way, please don't do this, please don't give up. Katherine and Gem hold her, embrace her in a way that her eyes are shielded from the bloodshed that's soon to come. they look to Scott, he's the one with the powers of a god that can rival the demon's darkness.

Scott is shaking where he stands but it's not from fear. he stands before the demon, above the monster that's terrorized his friends, and in his hands is the weapon that will strike the final blow and end everything. he had thought for a long time that Alinar was right in his actions, following the path Aeor laid out before him, banishing the only family he had to another world.

but standing here, knowing what he knows now about his friend Shrub, what he knows about himself as Aeor's Champion and about his past life as Alinar - he knows that Alinar made the wrong choice, he knows that there is a better way.

Scott, knowing that his next action is going to displease his god, drops the blessed weapon given to him and says - No. he kneels before the monster and says - You will not die today. he embraces the brother he never knew and says - We will find a cure.

this is where Aeor has a choice to make - enact justice on the crimes committed by Exor - or forgive his sins.

the Stag God follows his Champion's lead and chooses forgiveness. he stands before his own brother and chooses to end the war they've fought for eons.

with this, the corruption dies around them and Conal is freed. the demon melts away and an elf emerges from its remains. Conal embraces their brother come back to life and relishes in the life he's been gifted.

Shrub breaks free from her friends and practically crushes her family - both her father and Scott - with an embrace of her own. she cries enough tears for the both of them, though, Conal comes pretty close to out-crying their child.

and with that, the war is over, the demon is defeated, and the Overworld can live in peace once again.

#empires smp #found family au #xornoth adopts child!shubble au #xornoth #shubble #scott smajor #katherine elizabeth #geminitay #aeor #exor #the great stag gods #this took both of my braincells to write but boy was it worth tiring them out #i've never felt so creative!

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caesthetix · 3 years

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A LITTLE FEAR — Ep. Prime Real Estate

↪Jean Kirstein mini-series

↪content; canon universe, description of violence, season 4 spoiler, forbidden love, marleyan!reader, scouts!jean, chapter 139 spoiler

You stopped whatever you were doing in an instant, both hands freezing midair as a flock of birds suddenly landed beside you. That was strange, you never saw this type of bird flying around your house before. Those birds had silky white feathers and beady black eyes, some had their gaze fixated on you.

But then again, perhaps you shouldn't have been surprised that you never saw them before.

It was not like you have been living here for years, no. For the last three years, you were here as a new citizen in a world where the fear of titans finally gone. Everything was at peace for years as this newborn country strengthened its military — under the command of the Queen.

Yes, the Queen, Historia Reiss. Never once you ever thought you would be living here of all places in the world, tending flower beds and watering plants. A Marleyan like you, the mortal enemy of those Eldians somehow slipped inside the society and even lived inside the innermost part of the country.

You lived in prime real estate located in the countryside; a medium-sized house with huge land, different compared to those gigantic and majestic buildings in the downtown area. The atmosphere was unique and you preferred this kind of house instead of the luxurious, blinding one. For you, this is home, and you couldn't wait to share it with your lover.

"(Y/n)! Don't stay too long in the garden!"

A familiar shout rang through the open area, making you turn your head to face them. She stood there with her comfortable white dress, maroon-coloured apron draped in front of her figure to make sure that any specks of dirt didn't smear her dress while her brown hair sticking out from her tight ponytail.

"I will be there in a few minutes, Ma!"

You shouted back at the top of your lungs, knowing full well that her hearing was not as sharp as yours. She just shook her head in amusement at your answer since she could predict already that your few minutes could turn to an hour or even more. Just a habit of yours, though she wouldn't force you to stop since it took your mind off things.

Just as she did by cooking some omelette and comfort foods as she too — waiting for someone to come back.

She had a separate house near the Queen's residence, assigned there by her majesty herself. But ever since you knocked on her front door and introduced yourself to her, she decided that it would be better if she lived with you for a while, at least until her son came back. Until your love came back to your arms once again.

There were letters after letters being shared despite how out of reach he was from you. You lived every day in hope that his mission to make peace with the outside world resulted in success. Lots of prayers have been sung to whatever deity existed in this world, never once stopped for every day you woke up.

And today was just like any other day as you waited for him by occupying yourself with daily chores and a new hobby. You used to wake up to strategize the next move and train in the military, being a normal citizen was still a little bit bizarre for you.

Though you already told the Queen that if in case she needed assistance regarding the air force, you would be ready to be called.

Yet three years had passed ever since your arrival, and never once she called you to the military. You had a gut feeling that your lover might have something to do with it, so you could only hope he didn't try to pull any strings behind your back and become the reason why you were never once interrupted.

Well, it was not like you didn't want this. When you finally wake up without fear, without being afraid that you had to see another bloodshed, without being afraid to love whoever you wanted to love. This was the world that you have been dreaming of, so maybe, it's fine to just enjoy it as long as you can.

Your fingers used to be covered with blood, now only covered with dirt and soil. Sometimes you couldn't believe it yourself as you were afraid to go to sleep, not wanting to wake up and realise all of this was just a dream.

But it was not a dream.

It was all real — ever since that day.

Your whole body felt so numb as you stared into the distance, back leaning to the old building behind you, not understanding what actually unfurled in front of your eyes right now.

Everything was still replayed so vividly in your mind. His ash-brown strands dishevelled from the war he had been partaking of, chocolate orbs that filled with love and regret as he took another look at you, his voice — oh his deep, comforting voice that sung like a lullaby every time he spoke.

And then bright yellow light blinded your vision.

The impact of the explosion threw you off, back arching as your body hit a concrete wall. Your vision blurred, your head pounding from the impact. But you could still see the gigantic feet right in front of you — gigantic feet that belong to a titan, replacing where your lover once stood.

You saw it, the long, familiar strands of hair that you loved to caress, those eyes that now turned into the darkest shade of brown stared at you with an emotion that you couldn't fathom. Then he jerked his head to the other side, jumping off the cliff with the other titans like a puppet whose strings were pulled.

There goes your love, that is what you already believe. Everyone knew about how once someone turned into a mindless titan, there was no way for them to change back as a human except if they ate the nine titan inheritor. And you didn't put any hope over that, just slumping your body and surrendering yourself to the situation.

You didn't know since when you drifted off somewhere as black filled your vision. But in your mind, you see him standing in front of you as he reaches out his hand for you to take. In your dream, you saw him playing around the backyard with a little kid that looked so familiar with him. In perhaps a distant future, you welcomed him home after a day full of hard work.

Then you opened up your eyes, disappointed as it was the same as what you saw before. The blistering heat attacked whoever was unfortunate enough to be outside right now, dealing with the monstrous creature as the fate of the world was in their hands.

But it was silent now, the roar of those mindless titans, booming footsteps that rumbling the ground, two enormous titans who fought each other before — it all stopped and gone as the only thing that welcomed you was a quiet, somewhat peaceful atmosphere.

With your legs still wobbling from the impact before, you looked around as you wondered what happened now. Finding no one in sight, not even from the Marleyan Military made you raise your eyebrows in confusion. Was it all done? The war between Eren Yeager and the alliance of Paradis and Marley? What happened now and where are they?

There were so many questions popping in your head as you forced yourself to check out the land near Fort Salta, finding some of your troops pointing all of their guns to the Eldians that somehow — turned back into a human.

That was the only thing you needed before you ran to where they were, ignoring the pain that surged your body for every movement that you made. You were fine, this couldn't stop you from knowing the truth, this would never stop you from reaching out to the Eldian, to someone that introduced you to what it felt like to love someone.

Surely the Marleyan was just bluffing, you knew that all of the guns were already shot towards the sky before. But there was a possibility that they had another, and you couldn't bear to see another bloodshed, not when you felt like there was no need to continue this war if the main enemy was already gone.

"If we did still have the power of the titans, wouldn't we be using it to resist you?" Ah, was it true? That titan power was already gone for good from this world? "But the fact that we continue to be powerless even as you point your guns at us is the greatest possible proof of our humanity."

He made sense, even as you stopped a few steps behind the Marleyan Military, you could hear the sincerity from his words. Yet somehow, your race still couldn't accept the fact, not daring to lower their gun just yet. You couldn't really blame them for doing so, knowing how much terror that they have seen just for the last couple of hours.

So you stood forward, dragging your feet as you ignored the surprised gasp from your troops.

"Everyone, drop your guns to the ground." You still couldn't hear any movement as you said so, and you clicked your tongue over that. "Now!"

Then one by one, you heard how the metal weapon fell to the ground like a symbol of peace. There were around twenty troops behind you, the survivors of the explosion before, the only people who lived from Marleyan Military after such a horrendous event. And they obeyed your command, believing in you that you would make the right choice.

You turned to look at your troops, giving them a reassuring gaze one by one that from now on, everything would be alright. Some of them were crying, some of them fell to the ground as they screamed out, out of frustration or relief for being alive, you couldn't differentiate it anymore, maybe a bit of both.

Your job was done, for now, so you had to know what happened. You needed to know who was the man who stood in front of you now as his ocean blue eyes gazing at you with respect and gratitude. He gave you a firm nod, and you followed after as you straightened your posture.

"Then, who are you?"

"I am Armin Arlert, an Eldian from the island of Paradis. The man who killed Eren Yeager, the attack titan."

The way he said it was absolute. Certainty was there and somehow you wanted to just let your sore body fall to the ground as relief started to fill your heart. But not yet, you had to be the commander of the air force unit, probably the only higher-ups left in the military here.

"Greetings then, Armin Arlert." You started, giving him a Marleyan salute as he answered it by balling his right hand into a fist, resting it right in front of his heart after that. "I am the commander of the air force unit of Marleyan Military, my troops and I would do anything we could do to assist everyone here."

For the next few hours, everyone who was healthy enough was assigned to take care of those who had injuries or any other casualties. You as the commander, trying to call and inform the military base in the capital. Solace flooded over you once again when you received the news that more than a half part of Marley was still intact.

You immediately called for backup, informing them to tell the whole world what happened in Fort Salta. This needed to be distributed now, that they didn't have to worry anymore, that the world was finally free from titans. You told them all the little details about those who fought in the battle, you told them that it was thanks to the Eldians themselves that the rumbling stopped.

"It's..." You trailed off as the chief on the other line asked you the name of the war that shook the world just now. "It's the battle of heaven and earth."

Today marked the three years of the world's victory against titans. Eldians finally freed from the curse and lived a normal life like humanity in the rest of the world. Though, of course, doubt and fear still lingered in the heart of the people. That was why those soldiers who directly fought with the attack titan became the ambassador of peace, travelling around the world to tell their stories.

They were the ones who lived, the heroes who chose to fight humanity who always treated their race like an insect. They were those who chose humanity over their own life, the ones who cast their feelings aside and killed their best friend because that was the right thing to do.

And your lover was one of them, he was an Eldian, a soldier who was ready to sacrifice his life in war.

Jean Kirstein, the man that you met in a bar back then in Marley, the only person who could make you feel so bare as he painted you with affection.

The person who you would wait a thousand years if you had to, so long so you could be together.

You subconsciously touched your left fingers, tracing your coarse skin as you absentmindedly remembered the reunion that you had with him. Not the one where he shouted at you to stay back, not the one where it filled with painful tears as you saw him transformed into a titan in front of your eyes.

But it was the one that made you feel so full. After calling the capital and making sure the Eldian would be treated fairly, you finally could take a breather and sit just outside the tower in Fort Salta. The sun slowly turned into an orange hue that time, your body was all aching as the adrenaline from before started to wear off.

You didn't turn your face away from the horizon as you felt someone sat beside you on the ground, not saying anything for the next couple of minutes as you and the mysterious figure just basked yourself on the peaceful atmosphere, something that was never there with how war and violence always filled the ground.

The orange hue slowly reddened as the sun hid behind the mountain, letting the moon take over with thousands of stars adorned the night sky.

There were no words being spoken as two bodies decided to scoot closer to each other as if there were strings that bound them together. You dropped your head on his shoulder, letting out a long sigh as the realisation finally sank in.

"I am back, (Y/n)." His voice was still filled with disbelief. "Just like what I promised you." But it sounds the same as how it used to, lingering with something that you knew as love.

You lifted your head a little, wanting to take a look at him and scrutinizing his face. He was here, Jean Kirstein in a flesh. He was not a titan anymore, he was just an Eldian from the island of Paradis, a normal human, just like you.

There was a dingling sound as he fetched something from his pocket, your eyes never left his as you felt a warm metal slipped on your palm. He closed your hand after that, wanting you to know that he was real, that he finally could give back the silver key that he brought with him ever since in Marley.

You felt like you wanted to burst at the moment. You wanted to cry, screaming at him for fighting the attack titan despite being a mere soldier who didn't even inherit the nine titans, you wanted to ask how he felt right now and what actually happened, there was so much that you wanted to say, so many words that you wanted to tell him.

But there would be a time for that, you were certain that you would have a lot of time after all of these were done.

So you just curled your lips into a smile, orbs glistening with tears as it shone with adoration, palm gripping the key a little tighter with his hand on top of yours.

"Welcome back, Jean."

You patted the excess of the dirt in your hand on your black apron, finally done repotting some of the plants. When your eyes fleeted to the side, you tilted your head in confusion as the bird from before was still there, so loyal as it accompanied you for the last hour.

This one was different compared to the others. The birds that you saw before only had one solid colour, but this one that stayed with you had brown feathers on some of their features.

The bird just looked at you with wonder, tilting their head to the side as they jumped from the flower bed and landed beside you. Your lips immediately shaped into a smile, wondering why the bird decided to stay with you when the others left already.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

You cooed at the bird, careful not to move your body too abruptly, afraid that they would fly again. Of course, you didn't expect them to chirp, but maybe you could talk to them a little. And you could write it down in the letter that you sent for Jean later on.

"I don't know why you are here, but don't you think you should go back though?"

Those beady black orbs fell upon your face as if they understood your words. "You must have a family, right? Perhaps maybe a lover?" So you decided to keep on talking, throwing some random questions, conversing with them like an old friend. "Bet your lover is so beautiful like you, and they must be waiting for you, you know?"

"Like you wait for me?"

Silence. On the first second, the bird was in front of you. But now, they flapped their wings and flew, leaving you there with both pupils widened as a familiar voice rang through your ear. You didn't understand why they suddenly left, but maybe, maybe it was because of the fact that you were not alone anymore.

That maybe because they knew your lover came back.

And so they would do the same and flew to where their lover was.

"Jean?"

No, he was not supposed to be here. From the letters that you got last week, he was supposed to be in Marley right now with the others. He told you that through the words that he scribbled down on the old paper, and you remembered how he would come back next month.

But of course, your eyes wouldn't deceive you, of course, your ear could never catch the exact voice that belonged to him if he was not really here.

He stood around five feet apart from you with a cheeky smile that made you want to just slap it away from his beautiful face. His ash-brown locks slightly got longer, looking neat despite the wind that swayed some strands of his hair, and you wondered how many times he combed his hair to make it look like that.

Though you didn't care about it, you didn't care about how he was here right now when you were certain he should have been somewhere else. You didn't care that you stumbled on some of the gardening tools as you ran towards him. You didn't care if your apron could leave some dirt on his expensive suit.

What you cared right now as your feet brought you closer to him — was to feel his embrace once more.

You jumped right into his arms, chin resting on his shoulder as you wrapped your arms around his neck, not wanting to let go. Right now, you just wanted to shout and announce to the world that you wanted him for yourself, at least for just a few minutes, at least for a moment.

Everyone could call you selfish at this point you didn't care anymore. For all your life you never wanted anything but a world without fear. And now as you achieved it, the only matter that could complete it was to spend it all with the one that somehow had half of your heart anywhere he goes.

You have waited for him for far too long. You always waited for him afraid that he wouldn't come back to your apartment, you always waited for him with distress lingering at the back of your mind that he was not alive anymore when he was there on the other side of the sea.

But now as you felt the warmth within his touch, now as you felt his smile as his lips planted on the side of your face, you finally knew how it feels to live in a world without fear since from now on, you were free to love him.

He was too — free to love you as his real self, an Eldian, a war hero, Jean Kirstein from the island of Paradis.

"I am home."

And as the two bodies basked in the warmth of a loved one, hand intertwined that clashed a silver metal band next to each other, they both knew that from now on — they were going to wake up every single morning and live their dream.

In a world where there was no fear, spending it in prime real estate with a significant other.

Earning the right to live a happy life for hopefully, a long time.

"Welcome home, Jean."

↪Back to Wall Maria

↪Citizen; @yumaryko @may-machin @cuteissei

↪Send an ask if you want to be a citizen of Paradis (taglist)!

#Jean Kirschstein #jean kirschtien #jean kirstein #jean kirstein x reader #jean kirschtein x reader #jean kirschtein x you #jean kirschtein fluff #jean kirschtein fanfiction #aot imagines #aot x reader #AoT #snk #snk x reader #snk imagines

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cosmicjoke · 3 years

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Okay, onto chapter 128 of SnK. There’s some really huge thematic payoff in this chapter which I want to talk a little about!

The big theme that really comes full circle here is the theme of violence, and how it’s intrinsically linked to the human condition. That’s obviously a huge theme throughout this entire series, but in a lot of ways it culminates in this chapter.

I first really noticed it in a big way, in terms of having a big impact on the characters, way back in chapter 50 something, during the Uprising arc, in that scene where Jean, Connie, Sasha, Mikasa and Armin are waiting around, and they start talking about Levi and how repulsed they feel by what they perceive to be his unnecessary violence. They flatly condemn him for it, even going so far as to say there’s something wrong with him, and making bold statements about how they would never kill another person, no matter the circumstances. This statement of course comes back to bite them not long after, when Armin is forced to kill one of Kenny’s squad in order to save Jean, and Jean begins to understand the impossibility and even selfishness that can be inherent to holding without compromise to one’s moral values.

That theme comes back in a huge way in chapter 128, and it’s really interesting to see Reiner try to step in and take on the role of martyr by telling the members of the 104th that they don’t need to fight, trying to save them from the moral dilemma of killing their own comrades. What I found really interesting here was how Jean, Connie, Mikasa and Armin don’t answer at first, and you can see this is a huge struggle for them, the scenario presented before them one which clearly goes against everything they want to believe they’re fighting for. Connie even says that they’re supposed to be saving people, not murdering their friends, etc... But it’s impossible to ignore how it’s Hange who steps in and dashes any possibility of them sitting this fight out against the rocks. They say they aren’t interested in being a spectator, and reminds everyone there that humanity doesn’t have any time left for them to be debating their morality. This ties back in perfectly with what Levi had spoken to his squad about way back in the Uprising Arc, again, when he told them he doesn’t know what’s right or wrong, and that all any of them can do in any given situation is act in the way they think is best, both for themselves and those they care for, and for humanity as a whole. We’ve seen Hange come to terms with this blunt and often brutal reality well before this, during the battle for Shingashina, for example. Hange really began to separate whatever moral qualms they might have had, any emotion they might have had about killing other people, during this arc, and coming to really understand and accept that sometimes morality was something that had to be sacrificed for the greater good. Here in chapter 128, Hange isn’t interested in or willing to indulge in preserving either their, or anyone else’ moral purity at the expense of the Marlyean group. They’re in this together, and Hange understands fully that to accept Reiner’s offer of sitting back and watching while he, Annie and Pieck take on the Yeagerists would be the height of selfishness and a prime example of placing one’s own moral purity over the well being of others. I always think it’s brilliant the way AoT explores these issues, of how an uncompromising loyalty to one’s idea of morality can, in fact, lead to total disaster for others, can in fact worsen the lives of others. How if one has a moral code they are absolutely, under no circumstances, willing to break, that person often is the one who is most self-serving and self-centered, more concerned with keeping their own hands clean than with helping anyone else. SnK doesn’t condemn violence, but instead makes very strong arguments for why it is sometimes not only an option, but the ONLY option, and that’s incredibly bold, and incredibly true to reality.

Armin, as usual, is the first to understand this, after Hange reminds them all. Armin was also the first, back during the Uprising Arc, to extend understanding towards Levi and his violence, and why he had to at times resort to it. Armin flat out says here “I refuse to stand by with clean hands”. He’s acknowledging the selfishness inherent in an uncompromising moral code, and refuses to place himself above the rest of humanity, even if it means once more getting his hands dirty with the blood of other people. He still comes up with a plan to try and avoid any bloodshed, but you can see Armin is willing and ready in this moment to do whatever is necessary, which he does when he and Connie get into the situation they do with Daz and Samuel. Armin is the one who tackles Samuel, which is what gives Connie the chance to shoot him.

There’s this huge moment with Levi I want to talk about, after everything goes to shit and Armin’s plan falls apart, where Yelena says “You can’t separate humanity from violence.” And then she says to Levi “Right, Captain?”, and we get a look at Levi’s face, and once again, he just looks filled with naked despair. I think these two panels are incredibly important in understanding Levi’s own psychology during this entire final arc. Yelena is right, for once, when she says you can’t separate humanity from violence. It’s a part of the human condition. And she asks Levi specifically about it, because if anyone understands this, it’s Levi, who grew up in a world where violence was often the ONLY option, if one wanted to survive, or protect those they cared for. But Levi’s saddened expression in the following panel really speaks to his feelings regarding the undeniable truth of Yelena’s words. Levi knows it’s true, but he wishes desperately that it wasn’t. I’ve called Levi an idealist over and over, and it’s because Levi is someone who understands the way of the world, and understands human nature, with more clarity and compassion than probably any other character in the series, he understands that violence, pain, poverty, desperation, fear, death, are all a part of life, and especially a part of the human condition, and yet, even with that understanding and acceptance, Levi is also someone who strives towards something better, towards a world in which these things AREN’T necessary, aren’t inevitable. Levi has been fighting this whole time in order to try and create a world in which people can live in genuine peace and prosperity, without fear, or violence or inequality. But every bit of Levi’s life experience tells him and reminds him, day in and day out, of the impossibility of that ideal. The impossibility of creating a world in which these things don’t exist. Nothing in Levi’s life would ever lead him to believe true peace and prosperity for all is an attainable dream, nothing in his life which would ever give him real hope in that dream becoming reality. But still, he fights for it. This is part of what makes Levi so remarkable. It’s the very fact that he STRUGGLES to believe in the possibility of a better world, and yet still gives everything of himself to make it a reality, that makes Levi such a hero. In fact, Levi doesn’t really believe that it’s possible, I don’t think, his life having been too hard and too desperate to fully embrace such an ideal notion. But, once again, even as he’s riddled with doubt as to it’s attainability, he sacrifices everything he has for the possibility, no matter how slim. Levi’s naked despair in the panel following Yelena’s question is because he’s being reminded once again of the impossibility of that dream. Once again, he’s being shown that humanity is incapable of achieving true peace within itself, he’s being shown once again that people are by nature violent and warlike, and that everything he’s fought for seems more and more like a distant and hopeless dream. Yelena sits in stark contrast to Levi here. She’s bitterly accepting of the ugly reality, unmoved and unemotional. She doesn’t care. She thinks humanity is a worthless mess, unsalvageable and unworthy of salvation. To Yelena, this is the inevitable result of humanity’s very existence, and to fight for something that unrealistically idealistic is a fools errand. Indeed, Yelena seems almost to revel in it, the violence serving as affirmation of her beliefs, giving her a sense of validation. But Levi, beside her, is deeply affected, his pain and sadness openly expressed in his face, his disappointment and heartbreak plain to see. Levi is HURT by the violence, by seeing it unfold. Levi, despite knowing the truth of Yelena’s words, despite knowing from the most first-hand experience the brutal and violent nature of human beings, and the improbability of humanity ever achieving true peace, still believes with his whole heart that humanity is WORTH fighting for. Levi, despite how hard it is for him to believe in actually achieving a better world, still believes that FIGHT is worth an attempt. And that’s really one of the most vital philosophical difference between Levi and people like Yelena, or Zeke. Despite knowing and understanding better than anyone the brutal and harsh reality of the world and humanity, to Levi, it’s still something that’s worth fighting to protect, and worth sacrificing for. Even against his own, weary doubts as to its possibility. And that just shows a strength of character that is immense. To be so burdened by doubt, but still to fight with every last ounce of your strength, to give to your very last breath. That’s Levi. That strength of character, that unwavering conviction in giving his all to a cause he isn’t at all sure is even possible, is never more apparent than in this final arc, when Levi is in the most literal sense at deaths door, physically wrecked and barely able to even stand, and yet still he fights with everything he has. That truly is remarkable. That truly is heroic.

Just one more note. Floch really exposes himself in this chapter for what he actually is, which is a power freak. He’s been spouting off this whole time about the Empire of Eldia and saving the island and the people on the island and blah, blah, blah, but during his conversation with Kiyomi, he admits that he doesn’t really believe that the island will be safe, even if Eren wipes out all of humanity, that people will still continue to kill each other, and then he starts in about how what’s important now is for people to “know their place”, as he holds a gun to Kiyomi’s head. Floch is a power freak, he wants to control other people, wants to dictate to them, wants to hold power over them. He exposes that about himself here. He doesn’t actually care about Paradis, or the people on it. He’s simply getting off on being able to push other people around and make them do what he tells them to. He’s such a bitch. It was hilarious when Kiyomi took his ass down and messed his arm up.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #hange zöe #Levi Ackerman #snk 128 #meta #thoughts

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valcalico · 3 years

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Athena and Ares

(Just my thoughts on them and their relationship)

I have a lot of feelings about these two. They have a very complex dynamic, where they don’t really like each other, but they can’t work without each other either.

Athena provides rationality to the cruelty of war. She is the strategy and logic behind it. The objective. One might say she represents the generals, and the politicians and the main heroes. Basically the big players.

And Ares? He’s the opposite. He represents the emotion associated with war. He is the bloodlust and the desperate fight. Where the battle is thickest, where there is no room for thought, and when its pure survival instinct that drives you, that’s Ares. He represents the worst parts: the blood and the violence and the cruelty. He is accompanied by fear and terror (Phobos and Deimos). One might say he is the god of soldiers.

So they need each other. If they actually worked together, they’d be one of the dangerous forces ever, even in god circles. But they don’t. Not only because of how differently they view the world, but also because of deeper nuances in their relationship.

Athena is beloved. She is Zeus’ favourite child and his right hand goddess. The people love her. She is the patron of one of the most powerful, influential cities, Athens. She is highly respected everywhere else too. A protector of heroes and a friend to humanity.

Ares, on the other hand, is disliked by many. Zeus says he is “the most hateful of all gods” and says he would have thrown him into Tartarus if he wasn’t his and Hera’s son. (Its in the Iliad) (This part always makes me sad poor ares) He is highly respected in Thrace and Sparta. But Athens dislikes him and worships him out of necessity only.

Even in modern times, Athena is considered a feminist icon and badass lady, while Ares is labelled a brute.

Most people know this. So why did I just type out all that? Cause context is important when delving into the myths.

So first of all, let’s debunk that last point I made. In the ancient myths (and I’ll try not to include romans esp. Ovid), it didn’t work that way at all. Of course it’s important to keep in mind that ancient Greece was very misogynistic. But still, Athena was not feminist at all. Her being a “masculine” woman (mostly) was what made her so acceptable to Athens and she was regularly used to shut down other women. Also:

(The actual translation of this scene was circulated a while back. So you’re probably familiar with this. Also I’m not saying this to offend any worshippers of Athena or anyone who admires her. There are a lot of bad things in greek mythology and Athena’s internal and external misogyny is probably the least of my concerns. Plus if the greek gods did exist, i believe they change with the society, so they will no longer be Like That in the present day.)

Ares, on the other hand, was incredibly feminist, especially for that time. He surrounded himself with women he loved and respected. (Aphrodite, Eris, Enyo, etc). His lovers were often famously women who challenged the status quo (Otrera, Cyrene). He was regularly show to be a good father to all his daughters, immortal and mortal. (Harmonia, Hippolyta, Penthesilia, Alkippe). Also:

If that isn’t the coolest thing EVER-

Anyway, I won’t delve deep into that (well, any more than I’ve already rambled about it).

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, we can get to the hypotheticals.

I headcanon that despite ALL the evidence to the contrary, they maybe don’t despise each other completely. I see them having more of a love-hate relationship.

The thing is, gods are very contrary creatures. Zeus and Hera’s fights shake the world one moment, and in the next, they are as loving as any. Apollo is smiling and singing in one moment and skinning a satyr alive in the next. This complexity should be given this relationship too.

Like I said above, they need each other. Both general and soldier are equally important in war. And I don’t think you can completely truly need someone and hate their existence at the same time. (There are exceptions)

This scene in the Iliad really got me thinking:

If you take the scene at face value, this is probably not something to think too much about. Its Athena going to Ares, insulting him a bit, and taking him away from the war.

But its more than that. First off, Athena goes upto Ares and can calmly convince him to listen to her. Second, look how she frames the question. She says “shall we” which i think is pretty important. Athena doesn’t need to worry about Zeus’ anger or his rules, as she shows later on in the Iliad, and before, during the Rebellion. Both Athena and Ares knows this well. So why does she also need to withdraw? She can make the point without adding herself to the equation. She can also fairly easily run him off the battlefield like she does later. But she doesn’t. And there isnt any hostility from Ares.

Instead, they go together, away from the battlefield and...sit down near a river bank? Basically relax as much as they can? That doesn’t sound like a hateful relationship.

There is also the fact that Ares was going to join sides with the greeks (aka on Athena and Hera’s side) until Aphrodite convinced him to join her instead.

Its clear from this that Ares doesn’t really have much of a stake in this fight. He doesn’t care much about the greater objectives of the war. The only thing that can convince him to take a side is the people one the sides. He fights for the people he cares about, not for any greater good. He easily changes his loyalty because of his love for Aphrodite. He frequently gets into fights to save his children. He goes against Diomedes partly because of how he wounded Aphrodite. All of this means that he cares for Athena too. (And for Hera ofc). Maybe he doesn’t care for her as much as he cares for Aphrodite, but its not really fair to expect him to.

I like to think they genuinely do care for each other a great deal, they just kinda suck at showing it. Maybe that changes as time passes. I can see Athena being quietly protective of Ares (maybe she makes up an excuse to send him away during the Rebellion because she knows he will be in danger otherwise). I definitely think she felt a little guilt (guilt, not regret) at stabbing Ares, seeing as it wasn’t really fair. Ares didn’t know she was there.

I also think that Ares, who spends a lot of time with awesome women and is very fierce in standing up for them if the need arises, will be the one who calls her out a lot of the time on her misogyny or hypocrisy. Athena also has a habit of suppressing any “vulnerable” emotion. She likes to keep all her guilt, sadness, fear, hurt, and regret all locked up tight. I feel like Ares is one of the few people she lets a few of those emotions out around, even if she still tries not to. And in the lighter moments, in private, maybe they joke around a bit and laugh, too.

Okay, now for the heavier bit. While i do think they care for each other, there is also a lot of resentment there. A lot of it, unfortunately, comes from how they are treated by their peers and elders. They like different people, they are liked by different people and they are liked to different degrees. Let’s talk about 3 of the main players.

1) Zeus. Does this surprise you?

I do think Zeus loves all his kids. He doesn’t like some of them, but he does love all of them. And he isn’t as bad of a father as everyone thinks. People have discussed that better so I’ll not rant about it here.

All that aside, he definitely has favourites. Athena is his favourite child (Apollo, I think, being his second). And this favouritism is SUPER OBVIOUS. Its like none of the rules apply to Athena, which is weird considering Zeus isn’t forgiving of those who defy his authority (did someone say Prometheus?)

Ares, on the other hand, is on the other side of the spectrum. The one Zeus dislikes the most.

We can see how this affects them in several instances. The most notable is probably in the Iliad, after Athena deceitfully stabs Ares and forces him to flee to Olympus, injured.

Ares calls Zeus out on his favouritism. He says that gods weren’t allowed to fight each other and if it were anyone else, they would have been punished. He says Zeus always does this, always lets Athena get away with everything, and that he needs to start getting his daughter under control.

Zeus doesnt like this too much and basically tells Ares to stop whining and that he isn’t much better when it comes to destruction. He says Ares is the most hateful of all gods and loves bloodshed. He says he would have gotten rid of him if he weren’t his son, but seeing as he was, Zeus cannot bear to see Ares in pain. He then gets Ares healed.

I can definitely see how this kind of blatant favouritism from someone who should be better to Ares would affect him. Ares is the firstborn son of Zeus and Hera. He should be getting a lot of respect, as per ancient standards but instead, he is overtaken by his virgin half sister from Zeus’ previous marriage, and many bastard half siblings.

Athena being able to break rules left and right, and Ares having to be nervous about even toeing the line will cause distance between them.

This in addition to his position as a god of civil order is a reason that i think he wouldn’t want to break any rule until he deems it absolutely necessary, like if someone he cared about were in danger.

I can totally see a situation where both of them try to help a hero but Zeus orders them not to. Athena then wants to break the rules, but Ares is very hesitant about doing so. Athena convinces him, either by taunting or by calmly urging him, to go along with it. They get caught but only Ares gets punished. Ares can then truly show Athena the difference between her and everyone else.

Remember when i headcanoned earlier that Athena sends Ares away during the Rebellion? That ties into this. She knows that if they get caught, ares could get into trouble whether or not he did anything. I expect Ares will be furious about it when he returns and finds out what happened though, thinking it was just to get him out of the way, until its revealed why she did it. Then he’ll probably be super awkward.

2) Poseidon

The equal and opposite force to Zeus.

Well, maybe not equal, but quite close.

Lets start with the canon. Poseidon HATES Athena, despises her completely, and he frequently clashes with her father too. They worked together one (1) time and as a result, Athena wasnt punished while Poseidon was enslaved for years. Then there is the fight for Athens, the whole epic of the Odyssey, and so on.

Meanwhile he and Ares are actually shown to be close. Other than the Halirhothius incident, they are pretty chill. Poseidon is the one who vouched for him after the Net Thing With Hephaestus. Poseidon is also pretty cool with Aphrodite and they work together occasionally.

I think Poseidon thinks of Athena as this bratty kid of his brother, who is constantly working against him. You know that one annoying cousin you have who you try to avoid during family reunions because you KNOW you will clash? This is that, but a thousand times worse.

Meanwhile Poseidon really cares for Ares, and Ares takes fatherly affection from anywhere he can get it. Poseidon maintains a good relationship with both Aphrodite and Ares. He is closer with Aphrodite and doesnt love Ares quite as much as Zeus loves Athena, but he still cares a lot.

3) Aphrodite

It is no secret that Athena hates Aphrodite. Even when Athena warns Diomedes not to harm any god, she says Aphrodite is the exception. Athena, along with many of the other Olympians, see her as nothing but a silly, flighty, hysterical goddess.

On the other hand, Aphrodite and Ares are known for their intense love for each other, from even before her arranged marriage. They have a lot of kids together, and are shown to be close with all of them. They each have like one story of jealousy/one story where they are at odds with each other, which is pretty good for such a high-profile couple (Aphrodite curses Eos and Ares kills Adonis). They are there for each other, like in the trojan war, when Aphrodite was wounded and Ares gave her his chariot to go back to Olympus. He also changed sides very soon, just because Aphrodite asked. Athena complains about this too.

I think I wouldn’t be far off in saying that Athena is definitely resentful of how close they are, and how much sway Aphrodite has over her brother.

While Athena definitely doesn’t see eye to eye with Ares, and disagrees with his domain, she still sees him as a War God. One of her kind. And she just doesn’t see how a War God can go for someone like Aphrodite. Basically, she doesn’t think Aphrodite is, for lack of a better term, good enough for Ares, seeing as she is a Love Goddess.

Ares, on the other hand, does not want to hear anything like this. He is fiercely defensive of Aphrodite. He defends her warlike aspect (Aphrodite Areia), while everyone else tells her that she has no place in the battlefield. He sees Aphrodite as more than what people have labelled her to be. Which is why I believe (other than Eos and Adonis), they have one of the healthiest open relationships in greek mythology.

This can definitely cause animosity between Athena and Ares, because of Athena’s scorn and Ares’ temper. It can also increase the conflict between Athena and Aphrodite.

Maybe as time goes on, Athena can start seeing Aphrodite as having more depth. I certainly hope so. While they wouldn’t be best friends, I don’t see why they can’t learn to get along. This could also strengthen Athena and Ares’ bond. As long as people don’t insult her or lay their claim on her domain of Love and Beauty, Aphrodite is often very supportive. I truly think Aphrodite can help Athena overcome her misogyny, with Ares.

In conclusion, Athena and Ares have a very complex relationship. They do not simply hate each other, and neither do they have the most loving relationship. But they do care for each other. But strain can often be put on their relationship from their relationship to other people as well. Hopefully as time passes, they can overcome that, and have a healthier relationship, instead of sharing a good moment and then proceeding to fight each other for the next 500 years.

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thelullabyer12 · 3 years

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DSMP as Gods AU prompt paragraphs

Dream: chaos / control

Fear him. He will sow the seeds of chaos until he is in control. He uses this control to plant weeds of distrust and fear. He turns people against each other, a puppet master with his obedient toys. A strong fighter as well, he wishes to control his strength. He was never used to being powerless. He does not intend to learn.

George: sleep / isolation

He does care, in a sterile sort of way. Detached. He would protect those he wants to so be on guard when he wakes. His apathy would scare some and intrigue others. Just remember, he wears those goggles for a reason. You will learn why he is the God of Sleep if you try to see what’s under them.

Sapnap: fire / fighting

Fire is associated with a raging inferno, a blaze out of control. People forget how fire helped them in the past, warded off the cold, protected them from the dangers of the night. Never fight fire with fire, you will need it one day and it will never forget.

Quackity: adaptability / opportunity

Quackity was never the strongest God. He knew he was in danger but he was nothing if not adaptable. He was smart, charismatic too. Underestimated but he would shrewdly take every opportunity he could. If he sees what he wants, he will doggedly pursue it. If he could no longer climb the ladder to the top, he would use others to pave his way.

Karl: time / sense of self

Karl was a time traveler, he loved to explore and see the way the world developed. He saw mountains rise and erode away, rivers leave lasting scars on the land, forests bloom from a single sapling. The cost was him. He never remembered who he was. If you were at the right place at the right time, you might see a man begging to be told who he is.

Techno: bloodshed / strategy

Techno is well versed in the art of war. Strategies, carnage, it was all child’s play. No one could beat him in a fair fight, hell, many couldn’t even beat him while cheating. Strange though, that the God of Blood is so hesitant to lose a life.

Phil: death / life

Philza was an intimidating figure. Fluttering green robes, black wings mangled beyond repair, near unkillable. It was common knowledge that, despite being a god, Philza was never gifted two extra lives. It was whispered that he did not need them. He was alive much longer than the others, outliving even the Older Ones and the Myths. When fighting him, you can feel judgement day approaching. Perhaps that was just his sword, glinting as it tore through its next victim.

Wilbur: music / brotherly love

Wilbur loved music. He loved the way the notes rang in the air, the way lyrics rolled off his tongue. He loved his brothers too. He collected siblings like one would shiny objects or books or rocks. Of course, once the luster of a new toy wore off, he would discard it. He always struggled to confront his faults, instead he drowned out voices with music, judgement was cut with guitar strings. Wilbur struggled to face the music.

Tommy: sentimentality / loyalty / freedom

He couldn’t help but care. He loved his pets, his friends, his items. He doesn’t have the strength to protect what he loves but perhaps that’s what makes him so brave. The ability to love despite knowing that you can’t protect it is a strength few of his friends have. Values freedom but loyal to a fault. Never try to have him choose between his friends or his values, he will do both. He’s strong in his own way, he wouldn’t be a god if he wasn’t.

Tubbo: nature / determination

He was determined, you had to give him that. Always grinding, always trying to better himself. He kept getting knocked down again and again, he got his items stolen or destroyed but he kept gathering resources. Gathering from the land was his strength. Nature itself seemed to have a fondness for the young god, animals flocked to him and the forests would offer its finest to the boy. He knew of the laws of nature, he was well versed in them. The strong survive but the smart prosper.

Ranboo: choice / sacrifice

Have you ever heard of Janus? They were the God of passages, transitions, past and present. Ranboo guides those who need to make choices, those who need to choose what is more valuable. He earned his extra lives when he learnt to make his own choices, when he stopped being a puppet to those he cared for. He lost those relations, yes, but it was a sacrifice he needed to make. If only he remembered what happened to his parents. If only he remembered what he did.

Bad: fatherly protection / acceptance

Bad learnt to accept the flaws of others. His friends aren’t exactly what he wanted but they are what he needs. He would protect any of them, lay down his life if he had to. He learnt his strengths and he rolled with them. And, in a way, who cares? If his friends are fighting, why must he pick a side? He’s not rejecting the ideas of his friends, he’s paving his own way. Yeah, of course that’s it. He’s doing everything to protect his friends, that’s it. He accepts what comes to him. He’s not ignoring the voices whispering in his ear. He wouldn’t. He’s doing this to protect his friends.

Sam: authority protection / harmful self sacrifice

Sam was used to giving up himself for his cause. He protected others, he ignored the bags under his eyes, the way his heart clenched when he heard the begs. People looked to him for help, for protection. He was a good fighter, a worthy opponent, an easy pawn. Despite everything, he was an open book. It was so easy to push his buttons. It was pathetic, he sacrificed his everything to a cause that would never serve him back.

Niki: vengeance / hidden strength

There is strength in the underestimated. They may be quiet but they see. They analyze your weaknesses, what makes you tick, how to hurt you without even being near you. She was strong, even if it was hard to see at first. Firm in her beliefs, vocal with her thoughts. Never underestimate the Goddess of Vengeance.

Fundy: tricksters / self acceptance

Not many would accept the Trickster with open arms. He was a tad jaded, he wouldn’t trust easily, but he did love. He played pranks, he grinned, he cared in his own way. If others rejected him for his flaws, he would find solace in himself. He was betrayed, he was tossed aside, he was abandoned. He knows himself and he sure as hell knows his own worth. It’s not his fault if no one else can see it.

Eret: service / acceptance of others

Eret did truly want to help others. Their past mistakes would haunt him to the end of his days. The betrayal she inflicted on others would never loosen their grip on her life. They accepted it, just as she would accept anyone who came to beg help. Be careful, they know their limits. Never try to take advantage of him. You don’t want blank, white eyes and a glimmering gold crown to be the last thing you see.

Schlatt: corruption / poisonous pleasure

Schlatt, despite his downfall, respected the rules. He was a god because he made himself one. He was a leader, if only for a short while, because the people chose him. He could never refuse feeling good, though. He only cared for the here and now, he knew he was driving others to hating him. He knew his time was coming but he felt so good. Why stop it if it made him feel like a god? He was one, after all.

~~~

Masterlist

https://www.tumblr.com/edit/thelullabyer12/648636590455996416

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Amphiba: True Colors Review or FINALLY THE FINALE

We’re finally here all you happy people! Ten Months, 36 episodes, 20 half hours, a lot of gay subtext, a lot of bloodshed, and a lot of build up have lead us all here! One absolutely STUFFED finale: A trust is betrayed, a rebllion is had, a conquerer rises and NOTHING will ever be the same.. and yes htat’s thrown around a lot but this is one of those times where NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME. This is that kind of finale folks.

But before I can get into all the juicy stuff you’ve been waiting for there’s a few things to discuss.. and the first is obviously the fact we had to wait three goddamn extra weeks to get here after spending all season leading up to this.

You all know the story by now. Hell I even angirly ranted about it when it happened and rightfully so. But frankly the colossal delay is going to be such an integral and permeant part of this episode and this show’s history that not talking about it in this review would do it a diservice: So to recap: The finale was posted to air May 1st, a weak after “The Dinner/Battle of the Bands”. I had it set in my schedule, it showed up in that month’s press release of Disney Channel Episodes, We were all ready to go with all the tight and intense build up leading up to this.

Then the worst happened and Disney aburbtly, and with a funny face image trying to play it off as a joke annoucned via it’s animation twitter the episode would be delayed. Now in fairness to the twitter person there, they were PROBABLY trying to help massage a blow... but seriously dude, read the room next time. Thankfully creator Matt Braly stepped in and explained it was technical delays. After what happened the next day I ASSUMED he was just trying to cover for them as it would turn out the episode was finished.. turns out, and I had to edit the review to reflect this the truth was somewhere in the middle. Edits were more discussed, likely due to the episodes very violent nature, and the episode was given a content warning. Given what happens.. I can’t blame Disney for wanting one or for thinking of editing it.. but canblamehtem for the “Things that could’ve been brought to my attention YESTERDAY’ nature of the edist and the insuing delay.

I can also blame them for leaking the episode on ITUNES. Yeah if they were REALLY concenred abotu content then they would’ve held off longer and not brought this up five minutes before it aired, delaying the episode for many. Hell I DEFENEDED them in the original version of this, but they had MONTHS of this episode being in production to fucking say something. WHy do this five mintues before it’s finished?

It just smacks of laziness and overly panicy stuff. A content warning would’ve been FINE. You ahve it for racisim on Disney Plus, just put one here and call it a day. You haven’t objected to the horrifying content in the series up to this point why start NOW. And they STILL never apologized. For any of this. For the leak, for the delay, never properly explaining the delay (Matt didn’t either.. but given how twitchy comapnies can be about what their creators say, I can’t blame him for not wanting to clarify it was a post credit’s thing till closer to airtime), just in general not giving a shit abotu the kids or adults watching this. Just because kids watch thiis dosen’t me older kids don’t have social media, and it dosen’t mean teens don’t. If you want to pretend us adults watching this don’t exist.. fine. It sucks but I can’t do anything. But do not do this shit to kids and then not go to them. And again Matt could’ve.. but it’s not his fucking job. His job is to make a show, help make sure it gets to air and be a sweeheart. YOURS is to make sure things run smoothly and when their is a hickup,get your house in order.

Matt shoudln’t of HAD to beg people not to watch it. Various va’s for the show shoudln’t of HAD to record funny messages.. it was appricated but it’s not thier job to prevent this from spreading. It’s yours. It’s yours to open your damn eyes and see adults and older teens watch this stuff too and to head that shit off. This incident is going to stick in my craw for god knows how long and ALMOST convinced me not to cover Owl House weekly (I still woud’ve likely done a review on each half of the season). I ended up renegeing on that and will be starting regular coverage of that in June and continuing coverage of this show whenever it returns.. but it was close.

And it’s ultimately YOU GUYS that kept me hanging in there. It was thanks to a Disney show this blog exists in the first place, and contiunes to get the bulk of it’s viewers. It’s how I got my patreon, biggest fan and bfinacial backer Kev. I’ts why I can do what I love, talking about and analyzing stuff I enjoy and ocasionally loathe. You guys came back week after week for my ducktales reviews and stayed for Amphibia. I”m sure i’ll get even more for Owl House. It’s thanks to all of you I can keep going despite the hardships, the lack of patreons, the long nights, the weird sleep schedules. I wouldn’t of made it through 20 weeks of awesome tv without you. So for you, and for myself, i’ll hang in there but I expect better Disney. And i’m damn well gonna get it. So join me under the cut as the world turns upside down.. and there are a LOT of spoilers. Seriously if you want to wait for the tv airing do not go under the cut

So we open with a flashback to 8 months ago, the day all this began: Marcy was working in the library on her cram classes, getting texts from both Sasha, who was excited about Anne’s birthday, and her own father who wants her to come home right away as there’s something important they need to discuss.

But before she can a book about the strange and what not naturally slips out and Mar-Mar can’t help but thumb through it.. and as you were no doubt dreading.. finds the box which is said in a large tv friendly caption to lead to other worlds.

Naturally Marcie is intrigued and snaps a pick and heads home... and we cut to the END of that conversation as she tearfully runs out of the house , refusing to accept what they’ve told her and her dad coming off hella unsympathetic with his overly harsh tone, especially since we DO find out what he told her... and it’s a lot to put on her and a lot to just say “accept because I helped make you for all of two unsatisfying minutes. “

So while running away she passes the box.. and sets the events from both the show’s opening and the flashback from the last finale in motion. Marcy sent them here on purpose.

Yeah needless to say I DIDN’T see this coming. And it seems obvious in hindsight: Marcy being the one most desperate to keep thier friendship together, as we’ll see at it’s worst through this episode, her barely mentioning going home, and most tellingly the only things she talks about from earth were Anne, Sasha and her dorky intrests. All the things closest to the heart and that she’s most likely to make out with.. but while Anne brings up earth stuff every so often even after getting more screen time in Season 2b... Marcy NEVER talks about that kind of stuff. She has her girlfriends and a real life fantasy novel right here... but she DOSEN’T miss her parents or earth itself. And given her life was already shown to be as an outcast with only two people carring about her, three with her mom now we know, who never REALLY fit in and whose on friends very clearly didn’t share her intrests.. it probably made it all the more tempting: a real adventure, an escape from her problems, and a way to start over: become who she always PLAYED and not who she was. Everything just.. snaps into place with this revelation and makes Marcy an all the more heartbreaking character... even more so soon enough when we find out what her overall plan was.

But that’s half an episode away: for now our party returns on Joe to Newtopia.. though clumsly. Marcy admits that they probably can’t fit more people on him. But with this our heroes are ready to finish this story and with a plan since obviously they can’t just walk into town with two wanted crminals: Marcy will present the box and THEN sasha and grime, who will cloak themselves to avoid attracting attentions, with literal cloaks Marcy hasn’t made a cloaking device yet, so hopefully they’ll get a pardon.

Inside Sprig and Anne talk, with Sprig admitnig he’s sad this is the last adventure.. but Anne has hope. After all they have a way home now and that portal goes both ways. She can hop back any time and vice versa. This sin’t goodbye.. it’s just goodbye for now. And i’ts something I genuinely didn’t think of.. and not just because Andrias’ shady actions and Sasha and Grime’s machinations meant this was NEVER going to end well.

Speaking of Sasha and Grime’s machinations those come to a head: As our heroes enter the castle, greeted by Lady Olivia, and we get our typical end of the RPG speech from the “Good” king.... Sasha swipes the box and Grime uses the hammer to knock everyone off ballance. The coup the two have been cooking up has come to pass.

Anne and Marcy’s reactions.. are telling: Anne is utterly pissed at the betryal and done with Sasha and Marcy is begging both sides to stop as this was not how it was supposed to end. Sasha tries to use a box as a baranging chip, and plans to destroy it if Andrias dosen’t surrender despite destroying her way home. Given it’s implied her home life isn’t great either and she gets to rule an empire instead of a school, it’s easy to see why.

Grime stops him from calling her bluff though by wacking him in the shins and then hodling him at hammer point to get the military of Newtopia to stand down while his covert Toad agents reveal themselves and runamuck. Grime has won.

Anne meanwhile is livid, with Sasha not quite getting why MAYBE Anne would once again feel betrayed that once again Sasha is trying to do everything her way and once again lied to her and harmed innocent people. Anne breaks off their friendship which deeply uspets Marcy.. who weirldy. ISN’T trying to talk Sasha out of this. After all she gets what she wanted anyway. She IS upset when Sasha tries to send them home for defiance.. but the box dosen’t work for her and she simply has the guards escort our heroes and Olivia out till she can figure this out.

Naturally though Anne, being pissed, heartbroken and pissed, and yes that was indeed intentional, HEADBUTTS the nearest guard and breaks them out, with the planatrs starting to fight back. Their still outnumbered.. but help arrives

Or rather the Amphibia equilvent as both wolverines are busy with prep for the Hellfire Gala. Yes it’s General Yunan, who Lady Olivia cuts off probably not for the first time. Your lucky that’s one of her turn on’s lady.

So our heroes sneak out and head to Sals, while the Toads wreck up the town. Marcy... is of course desperate to fix things, but figures it’s easy. All they have to do is free the king, stop the rest of the army from arriving, their an hour away, and cementing grime’s foothold, get her girlfriends to reconcile and fix the inherent power imbalance so a rebellion doesn’t’ happen again.

But Anne rouses them: They may be a goofus, a quick witted kid, an out of touch old man, a literal baby, am etaphorical baby, and a nerd.. but their a BADASS Goofus, kid, old man, babies and nerd... and two other ladies the toads actually know and respect. They’ve fought worse: Canibals, princess bride references, theater bandits, chicken elder gods, Poly’s addiction to angry mobs and paste pot pete and come back stronger each time. They can do this. They might only be 8 strangers, but together they can fuck up this shit. or to have a previously mentioned buddy of mine sum it up

So with that it’s time to split up gang: Marcy, Hop Pop and Olivia will go free the king using Hop Pop’s acting skills...which actually works despite Olvia’s doubts. Polly, Yunan and Frobo will put the hammer down and give them hell, taking out the toads in the city and drawing all of them away from the gate where Spriganne will trigger it thus saving the day.

Meanwhile Sasha is feeling discontent. She got everything she wanted.. but she didn’t think about what to DO with all that power. At home she could do all sorts of things ruling a school but now she’s lost one of the loves of her life. Without Anne and Marcy i’ts just empty. Even Grime’s utterly heartfelt gift of an emerald sword, he knew she always wanted to duel wield that has a heron on it, a sign of how they met and a truly sweet gesture can’t cheer her up. So Grime suggests redecorating and the first thing to go is a sappy mural of Andrias and his subjects. What they find UNDER it though is horrifying.. and i’ts surprisingly not a bunch of spiders like you’d expect.. but a mural of Andrius as some sort of horrible king with an army of robot frogs like Frobo, with a LOT of frog, toad and newt skeletons piled up. Sasha and Grime are glad they dodged that bullet.. only to find Anne scaling the tower with Sprig, the two naturally going to stop them.

The two try and turn the wheel, but can’t as there’s a doorstop... one they DEFINTELY saw earlier when looking out the window of Sal’s.

Regardless they send Polly for that.. and the rematch begins. Sasha TRIES talking to Anne.. but given she stabbed her in the back AGAIN for incredbly petty reasons, that’s not going to work and the two get one hell of a fight. Beautifully animated and rife with emotion as the two clash with Sasha DESPERATLY trying to get Anne to stop for a second and listen and Anne rightly refusing, while we watching know our hero winning will spell DOOM for this world despite her trying to do the right thing. Anna and Brenda’s acting here is just TOP notch. In any other episode this would be the best part of it.. but we’re only getting warmed up.

While they fight, we get a surprising and awesome bout I did not see coming: Sprig Vs Grime. And it gives me Spider-Man vs Kingpin vibes really: A rotund but still far more powerful opponent versus a smaller but quicker one. And that’s how even more shockingly, Sprig comes out the WINNER. While Grime has the hammer and more strength and skill... Sprig has speed and thus gets Grime to whack himself with it. Granted he can’t use the thing and comically spins around afterword.. but it proves Grime’s racist thoughts about frogs wrong and leaves Anne free to turn the wheel once she beats Sasha. The invasion is thwarted.

But naturally given the ooky spooky mural and the other hints of ominous shit like the watcher with a thousand eyes, this isn’t the end. Back at the throne room, with Sasha and Grime as prisoners Anne gives Andrias the box despite sasha begging her not to. But rather than send her home right away.. he has a history lesson for her first. And nothing good ever starts with someone delaying helping you to give a sinister history lesson let me tell you.

We find out the while truth: Amphibia was once a technological empire powered by the box, and prosperity SEEMINGLY reigned, and Andrias, much like our heroines, had two close friends, a toad and a frog. But one day they betrayed him, abandoning him and seemingly stealing the box , leaving his mechanical marvels powerless and Andrias bitter and angry. Hence the whole revenge ploy.

In an unsurprising and invincible-esque twist, he reveals his ancestors were not explorers but CONQUERERS and he intends to finish their work, placing the box on a pedestal that turns his castle into a flying fortress glowing blue. It only gets worse from there: the castle’s awakening also activates factories around Amphibia similar to the one we saw back in “Fort in the Road” that gave us Frobo and it turns out their dark purpose.. is to create armies of unstoppable soldiers to secure his dominon.... and spread it to the other worlds. The reason he didn’t send the girls home is he figures correctly Anne and the others will try and stop him from TAKING it.

So yeah Anne’s reaction is very naturally...

And despite being outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered and outplanned she plans to make an all out stand. She realizes that her own fight with Sasha only allowed something FAR WORSE to take hold. She’s not WRONG for fighting her, Sasha was being a shithead taking over and did so for flimsy and selfish reasons and she had no reason to listen to her.. but had she at least thought over giving him the box and not simply given it to him to spite her none of this would be happening. So she and the plantars get ready for round 2, with Sasha having her back this time, and Grime having Sasha’s. It’s a really sweet moment, showing Sasha has realized just how much her own greedy and controlling ambitions have cost her and that she’s brought about something far worse thorugh them, and is ready to make amends and Grime as always ready to stand by the only true family he has.

But before the carnage can begin.. Marcy stops them... and then tearfully turns to Andrias “This wasn’t our deal!”. Andrias, now not having to play nice, dosen’t care and cruelly points out of course he did: He would’ve said whatever it took to get her to fill the box and she did it. He also hints at Marcy’s dark secret, with both girls wondering what the hell he’s on about.. but clearly starting to piece it together, with Andrias cruelly toying with Marcy to tell them before he does.. and barely gives her any time before going ahead with it anyway, knowing she’d be unable to. And with this we get the best line of the episode and Keith david’s best delivery.. and given he makes a fucking seven course meal of the entire second act, yeah that’s a high bar.

"Did it ever occur to you — Anne, Sasha — that one of you knew more than she was letting on? That one of you might've gotten you stranded in Amphibia... on purpose?"

The line itself hits like a sledgehammer. We knew for the full episode she did this on purpose.. but we also knew at some point it was clearly going to come out and hurt them both.. and to see someone Marcy clearly saw as a better replacement dad, someone she thought cared about her and was offering her her dreams for no gain on his end cruelly tell them clearly for his own amusment as he dosen’t remotely see them as a threat.. it’s utterly chilling as it is heartbreakiing and horrifying.

Naturally Anne and Sasha are upset, Sasha a bit baffled and Anne just utterly broken by this: She’d already been betrayed TWICE by the other love of her life.. now MARCY had betrayed her.. and WORSE?

And it only gets worse as Marcy heartbreakingly reveals her motivation and what this was really all about: Her dad announced he got a new job and they were moving a state away.. and like I said he’s a prick. Not for moving, that happens and it sucks but for having no freaking empathy about it. Maybe if he took a parenting class earth wouldn’t be on the cusp of a robot invasion. Marcy was about to loose her girls and was desperate.... so naturally Andrias claimed to simply want to take them all with him on his journeys, obviously leading out the conquest and likely genocide part, so they could go on and on FOREVER. And this whole thing gave Anne the plantars so it’s not all bad right? Right? But it’s clear she’s trying to desperatly lie to herself this was all okay as she’s been doing ever since she started this all 8 months ago and Anne pointing out she misses her family, something Marcy never considered given her own reasons for leaving and how Sasha likely dosen’t have a happy family life herself.

This.. this is Haley Tju’s finest hour. She’s done good voice work before, especially in this series but here, with Marcy’s anguish, desperation and guilt all leaking out as she tries to get her girlfriend not to turn away from her. it’s all just amazing heartbreaking stuff and I salute her and the animation does her fine acting a service and shows every bit of pain in the poor girls face.

Anne naturally does turn away a bit and Marcy cries.. but Anne quickly recovers... while she obviously isn’t entirely ready to forgive Marcy JUST yet, it’s clear she wasn’t thinking straight and did all of this out of desperation... and that the hulking dickbag who betrayed them all and is gloating about all of this manipulated her, preying on her desperation and anguish to finish his plan. Marcy fucked up big time, no question.. but ANDRIAS is the true monster here, and if he’s not stopped this world she’s grown to love and the one she left behind will BURN. Anne may be many things: impulsive, kinda weird, easy to anger.. but she is over all that a HERO. And there’s a villian to stop

Andrias, while not seeing them as remotely a threat, does admit this will probably be fun and the fight begins, with our heroes, including Marcy, easily besting the Obsdian Swarm.. as i’m calling them now. It’s a cools equence.. but ultimately futile. Andrias is FAR more powerful than he’s let on with the box. And shows it off by destroying toad tower before coming at them with a fire sowrd, easily swatting them aside like flies. They try their best to fight back but it’s not much use, and Andrias NEARLY crushes polly to death under his fist. Yes a fucking child. What a dick.

Frobo saves him... and sadly this is the end for our new friend as Andrias is mildly amused that one of his creations glitched.. then smashes him into robotic paste. Polly rightfully calls him a monster and his response is as chilling as it is wonderfully dickish: “Don’t worry, your next”.

Thankfully though she got out of the way.. because she has LEGS now. It’s also why I keep saying 8 months, though it’s likely more like 9 given it took a month to get to newtopia:

The prophecy has come true! And while she stumbles for a second Polly quickly proves she can really move, she has an attitude and she’s the fastest thing alive by grabbing the box seemingly winning.. except Andrias has sprig in his fist and is going to crush or drop him ulness she stops. And despite Sprig BEGGING his sister to let him go for the sake of everyone else, like any good hero she naturally puts the box back.

Anne begs for him to let Sprig go since he got what he wanted and he’s her best friend in this or any world... but all this does is insprie Andrias to DROP HIM OUT A WINDOW, bitter over his own past and eager to torture her some more. This really shows off who Andrias REALLY is now the mask is off; a sadistic tyrannical bully who relishes in making his victims really squirm, revels in malevolence and is just so damn gleeful about it: Not to say BIll Cipher levels more of a cold, cruel enjoyment of things.

As I said earlier Keith David makes a motherfucking Seven Course Meal out of the second half of this episode, utterly stealing the show now he can play Andrias as he truly is: not skulng in the shadows with ominus hints he’s evil or pretending to be nice, but instead as a sadistic brute who delights in suffering and wants nothing less than everything under his boothill. in short he’s an AWESOME antagonist and while Keith David has played TREMENDOUS villains before, this one will easily be his best if the writing holds. Andrias is Keith David at his fucking best and proves the Disney legend has EVEYRTHING left in the tank even as he approaches 70′s. Jesus I fucking love this man.

So this causes anne to retreat into herself, leaving us in a black void as Anne remembers all the good times.. and goes MOTHERFUCKING SUPER SAYIAN. Well more accurately super sayian god super sayian, or blueper sayian if you will, but still i’ts a n utterly striking sequence and a clear direct shout out with Anne getting her powers the same way Goku did: loosing someone to an utterly cruel bastard. Same with Gohan’s upgrade to super sayian 2. It’s just a truly striking sequence as she powers up in a FULL rage, DEMANDNIG he give him back.

Andrais is stunned, clearly knowing this was something she was capable of but thought she could no longer do as the box shoudlv’e drained her of the ablility, while Hop Pop and Grime wonder if this is a human thing.

So Anne WAILS on the fucker, easily besting a shocked andrias despite his best attempts.. but she tires out and he swats her aside, gleefully noting she dosen’t know how to control it. Sprig turns out to be okay though. Marcy went and saved him while Anne was rippig Andrias asunder.. and then activates the box. Sasha and Grime hold him off while Anne makes a run for it with the plantars while Andrias gives out your standard villian big no. Anne and Fam make it... but Marcy is taking a sec.. and that second gets her GUTTED. Not an exageration or me being a smart ass like usual.. Andrias RAN HER THROUGH WITH HIS SWORD.

His only response is “Look what you made me too and Anne and crew are warped away, unable to save her.

So we end with our heroes landing somewhere and Sprig wondering where they are... where they are is on the top of a car on a busy Los Angeles Freeway... and in front of two very weirded out humans. Anne is home.

So now for the part that wasn’t in the original release apparently: The teaser.. aka THE MOTHERFUCKING SEASON 3 OPENING.

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Hell. Yes. Just a few quick personal notes before we hit the wrap up: I love how the season will be on earth, a nice change of pace, how the Boonchuy’s have very clearly warmly welcomed the plantars, the expanded cast at the title card, and how Disney just let them go ALL out for this one. They’ve clearly stopped being cheap assholes when it comes to letting intro’s change or at the very least got this was the very end of the series and thus important enough to gussie up. But yes the end is nigh.. and probably not till late this year if this year AT ALL And I will return for it. Well return to doing this show anyway, i’m not going anywhere. They’ll have to pry this blog from my cold dead hands.

Final Thoughts:

This episode is the series best so far. My only honest complaint is the Toad Invasion comes and goes really quickly and I question why it was crammed into half the episode. Don’t get me wrong, Andrias’ rise needed the full 10 minutes, but I question why we dind’t get an episode before this settingit up and THEN have it happen over half an episode, epsecially since we spent an entire episode on getting the other toad barons involved only for ONE of them to show up for all of five minutes.

Otherwise though? Yeah no notes. The cast is at the top of their damn game, with Brenda Song, Hailey Tju and Keith Motherfucking David as the standouts, the animatoin is likewise, and it pays off a thing or two you wouldn’t expect like the acting episode. This is a truly outstanding finale, one that has now joined other all time faviorite season finales such as “You’re In Control”, “Reunited”, “The Crossroads of Destiny”, and “Moonvasion”. I will be watching this again when it comes to Disney Plus. Masterful stuff.

As for the season as a whole.. this was a great season. While it did start a bit rocky with the road trip arc, which I’m still not a huge fan of as I feel it mostly wasted an awesome idea of them going on a world spanning roadtrip with some fairly weak episodes, with the exception of standouts “Truckstop Polly” and “Wax Museum”.

But once we got to Netwopia it got better, with better spotlight episodes, the pacing picking up and Marcy joining our merry crew. And it hit it’s peak with the second half of the season: the return to wartwood effortlessly combined slice of life with the compelling temple episodes. It was also a nice break before the utter hell that arrived in the finale, but still nicely lead up to said finale. This season may of STARTED bumpy but it finished at it’s highest point and with one epic finale to go it’s only going to get better from here.

As for this blog the same holds true: Review wise next week i’ll be taking a break from normal reviews to do a week’s worth of Goofy based content in time for his birthday, from shorts, to goof troop, to hosue of mouse, to an obscure special, all leading up to the Disney Classic A Goofy Movie. So stick around.

And if that dosen’t do it for you I have an ongoing retrospective on the story arcs of ducktales season 2, i’m nearing the end of one on Scott Pilgrim and in the middle of one of The Life and Times of Scrogoe McDuck. and if you prefer weekly reviews, as I mentioned earlier offhandidly i’ll be covering the Owl House! LIke Amphibia i’m starting with Season 2, but just like with this show i’m excited as all hell and hope you’ll join me. And if you need even more I have a patreon, patreon.com/popculturebuffet, where I have exclusive reviews if you choose to back me as well as exciting stretch goals, one of which down the line is reviewing season one of this very show. So join it and if not that’s okay too, either way.. it’s been a pleasure.

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #true colors #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #sasha waybright #grimothy #captain grime #sprig plantar #andrias leviathan #keith david #hopidah plantar #polly plantar #frobo #genera yunan #lady olivia #disney channel #disney now

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worryinglyinnocent · 3 years

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Fic: Haven (31/50)

Summary: They say Resembool is a haven, and they’re right. Lush pastures, quaint country town, farmers’ markets on Saturdays: a bucolic paradise.

But it’s more than that. Resembool is a haven for the runaways, the deserters, the people who don’t want to be found…

The Resembool community knows there’s something odd about Hohenheim, but they’re not going to let that stop them helping him out. This is Resembool after all, a place where no one has to hide and neighbours help neighbours, be they building a fence, chasing a sheep, or trying to save the country from an evil they inadvertently helped release centuries ago…

Or: A series of slices of life in an AU in which Hohenheim never leaves, and several broken state alchemists find hope and home in Resembool.

Rated: T

Haven

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [AO3]

Summary: Resembool’s resident alchemists hold an inaugural meeting.

Characters: Hohenheim, Roy, Alex Armstrong, Marcoh, Sherman (OC)

Ab’s honestly a bit surprised that it took them this long to all get together in one place. Well, that’s not strictly true. She, Tim, Alex and Roy have all been in the same place for quite a while, all of them ending up living together as a stopgap that they never really left.

But this is the first time that the four of them have all met up with Hohenheim and decided to pool their resources.

Over the time that they have been in Resembool, they have slowly been accepted into the village’s confidence and have learned about Hohenheim’s immortality and the circumstances that led to it. They’ve learned about what’s going on in the wider world of Amestris, a plan that’s been four hundred years in the making that Hohenheim and the rest of Resembool have spent the past few years trying to work against.

It had made Ab’s stomach turn when she had found out exactly what the war in Ishval was for, just another point of bloodshed on a larger map that’s been built up over so long. Even though she knows that there was nothing that any of them could have done to prevent it, that the powers that be are being manipulated by something far greater with practically limitless power and alchemic ability, it still makes her feel slightly sick. It makes her even more glad that the four of them managed to get out whilst they could. Tim is the one to take the news the hardest. He’s seen first hand the damage that Philosophers’ Stones can do in the wrong hands. He knows how they’re made; he’s performed the human sacrifice that goes into them. Knowing that they’re all at the potential heart of one is a sobering thought. Ab wants to warn the entire population but a mass exodus to Xing would be a bit too obvious.

Having been part of that bloodshed and carved the blood crest into the earth to create the point on the circle that encapsulates the country, Ab wants nothing more than to try and work against it now. When Alex had made the suggestion that the four of them join forces with Hohenheim as five heads are better than one, she had jumped at the notion.

Hohenheim was more reluctant. It’s a fight he’s been having alone for so long that accepting help with it does not come naturally. Not when the stakes involved are so high. But Hohenheim was the first person to really accept and befriend Ab when she first arrived, and she will repay that if she can. The entire Elric family has been so good to all of them, and it’s clear to Ab that it’s going to take more than one alchemist to do what they’re attempting to do, no matter how skilled Hohenheim is.

(She doesn’t want to think about how much knowledge he’s picked up over the centuries, the scope of it is mind-blowing and her brain can’t wrap itself around it.)

“Well,” Tim says, as they’re all sitting around the kitchen table with tea and Trisha’s carrot cake. “I have to say that this is definitely the strangest club I’ve ever been part of.”

“We need a name.” Roy gives a snort of laughter. “Alchemists Anonymous.”

“Roy…” Ab just shakes her head, but says nothing more. They need whatever humour they can get after everything that they’ve seen and everything that they’ve just been brought up to speed on.

“So… What’s the plan?” Alex asks. “Other than somehow finding a way to defeat Hohenheim’s strange evil twin?”

“Can we please not call him my evil twin?” Hohenheim sounds pained.

“I don’t think that there is much more to the plan than that,” Tim points out. “If we can do that, hopefully everything will be put to rights.”

It won’t, not really. Ab doesn’t think that anything will ever truly be put to rights considering that the very foundation of the country is built on a lie, puppeted by someone else pulling the strings right from the off, planning another Xerxes on a huge scale from the moment the original fell. But if they can get rid of the homunculus with no further bloodshed, then at least they have more of a chance of starting to right the wrongs of the past.

“For the last few years my research has primarily been focussed on preventing what happened in Xerxes from happening again,” Hohenheim begins. “Finding some method whereby I can stop the souls being taken in the first place, or, if it comes down to it, release them back to their bodies if the worst comes to the worst and they are taken. The problem is that everything comes down to a single point of failure.”

“You’ve got us now,” Alex says. “That’s four more points of failure.”

Hohenheim shakes his head. “It won’t be enough. If we’re all inside the circle when the time comes - and I find it hard to imagine that we won’t be - then we’ll be affected just the same as everyone else in the country unless we can pinpoint dead centre and make sure we’re there in order to activate whatever it is we need to activate. It’s got to be something that can work independently of me; of all of us.”

The group falls into silence. They’re into areas of alchemy that none of them have any kind of expertise in. Ab held her state licence for over twenty years and she never had any fear that her research wouldn’t be up to snuff whenever she presented for her annual review, the same goes for Tim, but even with two decades of involvement in the alchemical field, she’s never dealt with anything as theoretical as what they’re working with now.

“I’ve got it.”

Hohenheim rushes out of the room, leaving the other four looking at each other with confusion but a little bit of hope. He returns with a long scroll of paper that he unfurls over the table and begins to scour.

Tim leans in to take a look. “Erm, Hohenheim, I’m sure it’s great, but it’s in Xingese.”

“It’s a solar-lunar calendar.” Roy, half-Xingese and with a working knowledge if not fluency, suddenly sounds excited. “What are you looking for?”

“Total solar eclipses covering Amestris.” Hohenheim continues to scan the tightly packed text with Roy’s help. “The Xerxian Promised Day took place during an eclipse. I’m sure the Amestrian one will too.”

Ab, Tim and Alex all look at each other, helpless to assist.

It takes close to an hour of Roy and Hohenheim comparing solar and lunar positions and eliminating moon phases, but they find out when the next eclipse will be - a total solar eclipse that will envelop all of Amestris in its umbra.

An umbra creating a perfect circle that will move into place of its own accord, without any of them needing to draw it or put their hands to it in order to activate it.

Just like that, they have an end point, and they have a definitive goal that they can work towards, together.

Despite the somewhat poor taste, the name ‘Alchemists Anonymous’ sticks.

#FMA: Brotherhood #FMA Fanfiction #Van Hohenheim #Roy Mustang #Alchemists Anonymous is now a tag #Fic: Haven

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