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annabethisterrified · 4 years

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Book Review: THE TOWER OF NERO (The Trials of Apollo #5)

***No spoilers until you go under the cut!***

After months in the human form of Lester Papadopoulos, the former god Apollo is nearing the end of his trials alongside the young Meg McCaffrey. All their adventures and misfortunes have landed them back in the place it started-- New York. Meg and Apollo must defeat the final, most powerful emperor of the Triumvirate, who also happens to be Meg’s manipulative stepfather. Meanwhile, Nico, Will, and Rachel have important roles to play as the final battle looms. Even if they can defeat Nero, a more terrible enemy awaits in the form of Python, Apollo’s nemesis. Still, if they can succeed, Apollo will finally be restored to godhood. But after everything he’s been through, going back to the way things were doesn’t sound so great anymore. Apollo and his friends will have to find a new way to make all the sacrifices and pain they’ve experienced and witnessed worth it. That is, if they can survive their final trial.

As both the culmination of The Trials of Apollo series and the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, The Tower of Nero excels at bringing the complicated, moving themes of the saga into final, meaningful reckonings. Nero proves to be a chilling and impressive enemy who forces Apollo and Meg to put everything they’ve learned through their journey together to the ultimate test. New and old characters combine to see the story to its end, and long-time readers are rewarded with actualized development and a bittersweet farewell. The Tower of Nero is a fitting and robust conclusion that shines with all the heart, humor, and growth that makes this saga a worthy frontrunner in children’s literature.

SPOILER SECTIONS BELOW

Welcome!!!!!!!!! Y’all. Y’ALL. I am REELING. If you’ve been around here a while, you probably know I’ve been online here since 2012 (?????!!!!!) where I subjected by followers to weird takes and frantic excitement about the upcoming installments of Heroes of Olympus, then Trials of Apollo. Since I was ten years old, this story has been such a huge part of my life. Now I’m 22 (?????!!!!). So. How am I feeling? I’m feeling like I need to flip over every piece of furniture in my house. In a good way. Look. I gotta break this down into three parts because I’m the worst!

I. TRIALS & TRIBULATION

The Trials of Apollo, to me, felt like the inevitable conclusion to Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Heroes of Olympus. We went through two series where we intimately followed the lives of young demigods growing up through two brutal wars, dangerous quests, and personal reckonings. Gods certainly made appearances, and some were more helpful than others, but the message was always clear-- the demigods were on their own. Two wars fought, two wars won, and at what cost? For what change?

Bringing a god down to earth (both literally and metaphorically) is really the only way a story like this could be rounded out. Especially when the god in question is Apollo. He’s the son of Zeus, who punishes him by turning him mortal. This family set-up already has enormous implications in reference to the previous chain of mythological events: Zeus killed his father Kronos, Kronos killed his father Ouranos, etc.

Prophecy is also the scaffolding of this entire saga. Everything is dictated by it-- every quest relies on it, most of the demigods we meet are led by it, and the whole Greek/Roman world seems to build their lives around it. My point is, Apollo was a great character to use as the mouthpiece of this last series. He’s been present throughout the previous two series, and he’s relatively unaffected by the Greek/Roman divide. The enemy, the Triumvirate, is also an exciting antagonist-- they’ve fueled and funded the previous two wars, and their obsession with becoming “gods” is loaded with implications as Apollo races to return to his own status as a god.

Apollo himself is also a completely terrible being. From the first pages through his perspective, there’s certainly little sympathy or commiseration with our narrator. Apollo is many things: spoiled, petulant, selfish, and arrogant. He is not good, and now, he is no longer a god. Still, his voice and struggle remained compelling and engaging throughout the series.

His bond with Meg McCaffrey is, without a doubt, the emotional heart of the whole series. I think they both see aspects of themselves in each other, and it was a genius move to make her the stepdaughter of the enemy. Nero literally sent Meg to be Apollo’s controller and thought that she would easily bring him down; the fact that both these very troubled people cling to each other in the face of such manipulation and frightening circumstances-- and then repeatedly choose to fight their ways back to each other time and again-- is really what makes this series work so well.

With Meg and Apollo at the forefront, after The Hidden Oracle the series takes on something of a “tour” format. We discover new places and revisit old characters across the country, which was definitely exciting for long-time readers to see familiar faces undergo even more development. (This might just be me, but I don’t think ToA can really stand on its own without the worldbuilding/establishment of the first two series-- that’s not a knock on it, but so much of it picks up where the previous series left off, which might make it a disorienting read for someone new to the world.)

Of course, the obvious midpoint reversal of the series is the death of Jason Grace in The Burning Maze. A flip switches completely-- not just for Apollo, but for the whole cast. This is not an incident that just “happens” and is swept aside. In the final two installments, Jason is threaded throughout the story, showing how grief is never truly over. But his sacrifice saved everyone he loved, and had profound impacts on everyone he knew. As brutal as it was, I appreciated how Jason really changed everything through his choice.

By the time Apollo and Meg return to New York in The Tower of Nero, they are better, stronger versions of themselves. The things they once wanted-- godhood restored, or a father’s approval-- are no longer appealing. Their development (both individually and as friends) is utterly believable and hard-won. We see characters from The Hidden Oracle return changed, too. Losing Jason has dredged up dark feelings within Nico, Rachel is warding off the influence of Python in her mind, and Will’s healer heart is put to the test in yet another final battle. (Listen, this kid played instrumental roles in The Last Olympian, The Blood of Olympus, AND The Tower of Nero. The fate of the world really is in his capable, glow-in-the-dark hands.)

Together, Apollo and team venture into Manhattan for a very intense, exciting, and profound final reckoning with Nero. (CHAPTER 20, ANYONE????) Both Apollo and Meg, once and for all, come into their own and reclaim their power and independence. The pay-off is immaculate, and it’s jarring to remember the Apollo we once knew-- the easygoing one from The Titan’s Curse, the snobbish one from The Blood of Olympus, and the self-pitying one from The Hidden Oracle. His development throughout ToA is seamless and incredibly moving, and we’re left with a protagonist that we can truly, unequivocally root for and love.

II. HAVE YOU LEARNED?

When Nero is defeated, the real enemy still lurks. Apollo’s age-old nemesis, Python, has long haunted him. Their final reckoning is one-on-one, and after everything Apollo’s learned and been through, he goes into his last battle not necessarily caring whether he lives or dies-- he just knows Python must be defeated, no matter the cost. Don’t get me STARTED on his last conversation with Meg!!!!?????? (”Just come back to me, dummy.” I LOVE THEM)

So, yeah, I’m already crying at that point. Apollo (slowly regaining his godhood) goes into this completely by himself, assuming all risk and responsibility. He’s forced to sacrifice the Arrow of Dodona, and eventually chooses to sacrifice himself by flinging them both down to Tartarus. But we don’t stop there! Oh, no, we go all the way down to Chaos. The primordial soup of all the pantheons, all of existence. Python crumbles, and Apollo clings to the edge-- he clings to life.

This is it. This is the literal rock-bottom moment of the saga, and I’m completely unsure of how he’s getting out of this one. Who’s going to rescue him? What can he even do at this point? Genuinely, I had no idea where this was going-- and I never would have guessed that it would be the goddess Styx who shows up. She’s played an important, but also very minor, role in ToA. I was baffled at first-- I thought, what does she have to do with any of this? But then it ended up playing out in like the most breathtaking, moving way possible. It’s one of the most defining scenes of the entire 15 books to me.

She only asks him: “Have you learned?”

This is the goddess of promises and oaths. Since The Lightning Thief, we’ve seen how oaths are tossed around like confetti. Percy’s very existence (not to mention Thalia and Jason’s) is because of a broken promise. An oath to keep with a final breath is one of the revisited elements throughout the Heroes of Olympus series. Apollo makes willy-nilly promises in The Hidden Oracle, which he later regrets.

Then, at the end of everything, Styx only asks Apollo if he’s learned. All the talk of promises and oaths in this story doesn’t actually have anything to do with “keeping promises”-- certainly, so many promises are broken we can’t keep track. It all boils down to whether we learn from what we experience and use that to become better people moving forward. It’s about making sure we mean what we say and what we do. It’s about commitment and devotion to the people we love and the things we care about. Promises don’t matter. Only action does.

I can’t understate how thoroughly pleased I was that this was the final reckoning of the saga. It was an unexpected and completely profound moment, and such an important scene to use as the emotional climax of the book.

III. WHERE WE GO FROM HERE

After 15 years and 15 books, The Tower of Nero had to find a way to bring the saga to a close without nailing the coffin shut. More standalone novels are surely on the horizon (I’m looking at you, Nico and Will), but as a whole, this saga did need to come to a satisfying end.

Let’s pick up after Apollo is restored to godhood. He wakes up to his sister Artemis, and the very first thing he does? After finally returning to his true form, the thing he’s relentlessly yearned for the whole series? He just breaks down sobbing. He’s miserable. There’s no relief or joy in the realization that he’s once again an Olympian.

I’m always a sucker for the trope of “Character does everything possible to reach Goal only to realize that Goal isn’t actually what they want or need at all”, so of course, I was moved to see Apollo learn that he doesn’t actually care much about whether he’s a god or a human anymore. (In fact, he later remarks that he envies Lu’s new ability to grow old and age alongside Meg and her foster siblings.)

I was doubly-moved that Apollo’s restoration to godhood was not an action on Zeus’s part. From what little context we get (a lot happens “off screen” and even Apollo isn’t sure), it appears that Apollo either reclaimed his own godhood through sheer force of will to return from Chaos and reunite with his friends, and/or Styx aided him. But it seems obvious Zeus wasn’t involved, which has HUGE implications for the power structure of the Olympians moving forward.

A lot of us, myself included, had certain expectations for how Apollo’s inevitable reunion with Zeus and the rest of the Olympians would go. I, for one, was excited to see Apollo either tell off his father, or possibly assume a position as the new Camp Half-Blood director or New Rome’s pontifex maximus. Instead, we got a somewhat quiet, but incredibly tense interaction between all the Olympians. The closest thing to an outburst is actually between Hera and Zeus, as she tells him off for not mourning his son Jason, as Apollo did. (Dare I say....I liked Hera for a moment?) (ALSO, I’m fully on-board with the theory that Zeus did not intervene in Jason’s death as a punishment for Jason publicly calling him “unwise” in The Blood of Olympus.)

The whole scene reads as a powder keg. Already, it’s established that Apollo, Artemis, and Dionysus (and possibly even Athena and Hera) have no illusions of Zeus’s grandeur. They do not view him as family, or even as a leader. He’s simply just the one with enough power to punish the rest of them when they get “out of line”.

Apollo began naming Zeus as his abuser fairly early on in the series. Perhaps witnessing the way Meg thinks and speaks about her stepfather Nero made this clear for him. In either case, he begins to explicitly mirror the very same advice he gives Meg in dealing with her abuser: distance yourself from the abusive person/situation, and accept that tyrants do not change and it is not your responsibility to attempt to make them “see the light”. Thus, Apollo makes no appeal or argument to Zeus– he understands by then that it’d be fruitless. Instead, he’s concentrating his energy on doing everything he can do with what he has; he’s committed to being a protector and friend of demigods, and he sees that other gods are beginning to (if not already) see Zeus’s wrongness. (More on this here.)

Was it what I expected going into the book? Nope. But I have to admit that it was really exciting to see Zeus try to hide the very real fear of realizing that his son Apollo is no longer afraid of him, and is quite possibly more powerful than him, too. Apollo switches gears entirely away from Zeus, and focuses his energy back on the friends he’s made and the children he has. It’s a refreshing reminder that it’s often more productive to concentrate on helping others instead of harming those who harm us.

That being said, I would have liked a few paragraphs or pages discussing what practical differences there will be for the lives of young demigods in the wake of this change. I understand that might not have worked given the very condensed timeline post-returning-to-godhood (the story ends literally the same day or day after), but I do hope and believe that Apollo’s transformation is going to change the way demigods perceive gods-- and what they will expect of gods in the future. Just look at how Apollo is received by the campers at CHB. They’re ecstatic to see him. They think of him as a hero. Apollo is coming back just to help and spend time with his kids, his friends, and the campers, and he’s going to keep coming back. The other gods are certainly going to feel some pressure to follow suit.

Speaking of Apollo’s reunions...shall we?

I loved that we got to see all the main-players one last time. Mimicking the “tour format” of the series, we get to watch Apollo catch up with his loved ones, who helped him learn how to be a better person throughout his trials.

It was sad, but reassuring, to watch Nico come to terms with Jason’s death. I like how he outlined the differences between Hazel’s and Jason’s deaths, and why he isn’t interfering out of respect for Jason. Watching Jason appear to Apollo (ambiguously as a ghost or as a figment of Apollo’s dream-imagination) was another moving reminder of the stark differences in the ways that different demigods prioritize and think about what it is to be a hero. Jason’s idea and Percy’s idea, for instance, are super different because of the way they were raised. Percy would put anything on the line for his family and friends; so would Jason, of course, but he also has a much broader view of what’s worth sacrificing your life for...which is admirable in ways, but also painfully sad, since a lot has to change in order for Jason’s death to carry weight. Over the course of the last two books, I think it’s very safe to say Jason’s death did change just about everything for the people who knew and loved him, and even those who didn’t.

Whew. Okay, back to Camp Half-Blood. Nico and Will are clearly now very comfortable with each other, and it’s refreshing to see how they both watch out for each other and bring out the best in one another. I’m excited for their inevitable solo book, but regardless, it’s good to see Nico getting the help he needs (from his own experiences, from Dionysus, Will, etc), and for Rachel to get some distance from her terrible parents by living out her art student dreams in Paris.

Then, we drop by the Waystation. I simply cannot get over the fact that Calypso is at BAND CAMP. Anyway, it’s unsurprising to find out that she and Leo are still “complicated”, but I’m glad she’s experiencing the highs and lows of mortal life, and that Leo is working on helping out vulnerable youth (and has two mom figures in his life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Glad we get to see Thalia and Reyna both happy and healthy, too.

Next up, Camp Jupiter and New Rome. LOVE that Hazel and Frank have both reclaimed the curses that haunted them since The Son of Neptune. They really both did just...like...basically die to bring down the Big Bad and then come back better than ever. (Side note: I still obviously have issues with the fact that Hazel is SO YOUNG! There was no reason for her not to be 15/16 like the rest of the Argo 2 crew! Ugh.)

Anyway, then we say goodbye to Percy and Annabeth. Except for the annoying continuity error in terms of the timeline of them learning about Jason, I really really really loved this parting moment with them. I know some readers wanted Percy and Annabeth to stay in New York, but it always felt very natural and meaningful for me that they’d want to relocate to New Rome. That was always the Big Dream for most of Heroes of Olympus, and it makes sense to me that they’d choose to live somewhere designed for demigods to actually live and grow old and raise families. Besides, I’m quite certain they’ll frequently be visiting New York. I digress.

It was super bittersweet to see these two finally off on their own (and basically living together, as Apollo teasingly implies) going to college! Definitely a huge sigh of relief and satisfaction after following all their exploits since they were twelve. I’m so glad we get to see them (all things considered) happy and excited for their new life together. They certainly stepped back in this series, as they deserved. But they still lose Jason, and that’s something that weighs heavily on them and likely always will. Apollo calls Jason “the best of us”, and I don’t think that use of “us” is lost on Percy, Annabeth, or anyone-- Apollo’s identity and alignment is with them now, which will hopefully lead to positive change.

Then, simultaneously the saddest and happiest (?) reunion-- with Piper. This was obviously really heavy, since the last time Apollo sees her is in the wake of Jason’s death. For me, I’m very proud and excited by the fact that Piper is the only character who basically forges a whole new life (outside of the sphere of the Olympians) for herself. She’s far from other demigods and gods, and is committed to reconnecting with her mortal family and making a beautiful life. She has a new friend, too, which is absolutely awesome. (I mean, we all KNEW, right? But it’s really great to see this confirmed on-page.) When Piper told Apollo that he did right by Jason, I definitely lost it. And I also just really loved the final beat with her-- Apollo’s stammering a goodbye, but Piper’s already turned around to walk back to her new friend and her new life.

The final farewell, of course, went to Meg McCaffrey. She’s reclaimed Aeithales, and is now foster-sibling-extraordinaire by rescuing Nero’s other adopted demigods and giving them a new chance. Meg’s really matured and grown into such a kind and strong leader, but it was super bittersweet to see how much she still values Apollo. Their reunion just about broke me. They share a bond that no one else will ever understand, and they brought each other out of darkness that nearly ended them both. I literally can’t think of a better final dialogue than what they share:

You’ll come back?

Always. The sun always comes back.

I’m fine!!!

Anyway, this brings me to the closing lines of the story. Just as Percy opens The Lightning Thief by directly addressing the reader, Apollo closes The Tower of Nero by bidding farewell to us.

Call on me. I will be there for you.

On so many levels, this line works really well as the ending. For me, and I imagine for you too if you’re reading this, these 15 books are a pillar of our childhoods. We grew up alongside these characters, and found enormous excitement and identity and magic in these pages. The story may have come to a close, but it lives on within us-- it’s something we can return to time and again for enjoyment and understanding.

More than anything, this story pulled off something I didn’t really know was possible: it makes me feel genuinely and enthusiastically glad to be human, no matter how strange or hard it gets.

____________

My fifth-grade teacher assigned The Lightning Thief as mandatory reading when I was ten years old. I picked it up reluctantly, but from the first lines, I just completely fell into this story. Twelve years since that assignment, I’m now a traditionally-published author myself...writing about what else but mythology, of course. These books saw me from elementary school all the way to post-college life. It’s hard to imagine where I’d be without them-- certainly, I’d never have achieved my lifelong dream of becoming an author, nor would I have found such an incredible online community like the one I’ve found here. I consider myself extremely lucky to have grown up alongside these characters and their incredible story.

I know we’ve likely got more standalones in this world to come, but this is still the end of the saga. I’m sad to see it come to a close, but I’m so ecstatic with the send-off we got, and I’m excited to let the story settle and become a part of me-- something that will always affect how I see the world, something that reminds me of why I write, and something that’s always there to welcome me home.

#review #tower of nero #trials of apollo #the tower of nero #the trials of apollo

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theanimeview · 3 years

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Hazbin Hotel's Double Plot: Charlie and Angel Dust - Or - Why Charlie and Angel Dust are Both Main Characters (And I love one more than the other)

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @peggyseditorial

Welcome to Storytelling Class, everyone. Now, who remembered to brush up on their Shakespeare? No one? Not to worry, Prof. Peggy (not official... yet) is going to explain it all anyway with a bunch of unnecessary questions she plans to answer for you. Ready?

Here's a question: What is a double plot?

It's a more common occurrence in storytelling than you may think and is sometimes mistaken for subplot though the two are not the same. Shakespeare used double plots in several of his works, though King Lear is the most common example. We generally call a double plot structure that which takes two stories with combined plotlines. The two stories could stand alone but are purposefully combined to depict complex situations mirroring each other, often to comment upon or reinterpret events that transpire in other dramatic situations. "Often this takes the form of relatively minor characters and plotlines doubling events and situations from the 'main' dramatic narrative" (Reinke 1, LINK). The main characters of the "second" plot are often supporting characters in the "main" story and vice-versa, meaning that the main characters in the "main" story may act as supporting characters in the "second" plot.

Subplots have entirely different focuses that ultimately guide the main plot, such as on a hero's quest, the hero's party must split into groups to find different items for a magical spell. Following the group that went away from the party in different chapters is an example of a subplot, as this is a subordinate "plots" that serve the progression of the main one. A good indicator of a double plot instead of a subplot is figuring out whether or not the two plots could stand alone.

John Lithgow, far left, with Clarke Peters in the Shakespeare in the Park production of "King Lear" at the Delacorte Theater. Credit: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Using King Lear as an example, our "main" plot features King Lear as the main character of his tragedy, and the "second" plot features Lord Gloucester in a tragedy mirroring King Lear's story. In both plots, the main characters suffer from their past choices. A more modern example would be that of Netflix's Russian Doll, in which we follow two distinctive main characters suffering from, and traversing, a similar path. We can define them as double plots because splitting the two stories in each work to create separate works with connected characters would still work. (Essentially, the two stories of each work can stand alone--we don't need to know what is happening to Lord Gloucester to get what is going on in King Lear's story. It helps to know that Lord Gloucester's story, but it is not required to understand Lear's story since what will be important to Lear’s plot will be revealed to Lear’s character later on.)

Another example of a double plot structure in a modern work would be that of Hazbin Hotel--let's discuss.

We often define a plot by three things. First, the main character; second, the question that said character needs to answer; and, third, the problem(s) that led them to seek an answer to the asked question. In a double plot, you have to answer the first and third questions twice, which we can easily do with Hazbin Hotel.

Let's start with Question 1. Who is/are the main character(s)? I've stated that it is Charlie and Angel Dust, but why? Two reasons. The first is how each character is introduced, and the second is that they are both asking the same question, though with different reasons behind it.

In the Prologue/Chapter 1 of the Hazbin Hotel comic, the first character we are introduced to is Angel Dust. He is our introduction into this fictional world, and his story follows the hero's journey narrative making him one of the main characters and defining his story as at least one, if not the main, plot in our double plot structure. Charlie is one of the two main characters for the same reasons. She also appears in that first chapter near the end (just like King Lear, who comes in after Lord Gloucester's introduction), and is beginning a hero's journey of her own. Both their stories ask the same question but have different reasons for seeking the answer.

Beginning with Angel Dust, we see that his story starts in a comfort zone--that zone being a criminal lifestyle shown with him trying to make a deal with some demonic mafioso-looking dudes. We soon find out that he's actually acting out despite appearing comfortable in this kind of situation because he what? Wants something, that's right (I knew you were a smart cookie).

When the deal with the mafia-demons doesn't go so well, we see him thrown into a familiar though much worse situation with his abuser and pimp, Valentino. This is our introduction to the main problems in Angel's current life, the issues that are making him want something outside of his comfort zone. To get what he wants, Angel must enter an unfamiliar, perhaps dangerous, territory and adapt to it until he achieves the goal or fails trying, and the person that provides the opportunity for entering the unfamiliar world, the Hazbin Hotel, is Charlie.

With Charlie's introduction at the end of chapter one, we begin seeing her hero's journey unfold. At present (her meeting Angel Dust), she is seen in her comfort zone. She's in a chauffeured limo with her bodyguard girlfriend, comfortably giving money to Angel Dust and acting as a somewhat naive and rather hopeful princess you might find in any fairytale story. She wants something but has yet to enter the unfamiliar situation (at least until episode 1, where Alistar steps in but that's not important right now). This closes the comic, but perfectly sets up the double plot narrative moving forward, thus helping to identify our two main characters.

What fully defines them as the main characters, my second reason for claiming both Angel Dust and Charlie to be one, is that second question we have for defining plot (the question that the main character needs to answer).

Charlie says that the goal, or question she seeks to answer, is whether or not a sinner can be redeemed once they find themselves in Hell; however, I would argue that the real question is whether or not salvation (preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss) is possible for Hell's population. Charlie's "redemption" is instead a method to seek the answer to the question rather than the question itself.

I argue this because that seems to be the end-goal Charlie is seeking for the citizens of Hell--salvation from being slaughtered on an annual basis. It is also the goal of Angel Dust, who seeks to be saved from his current life through his own hands or by someone else (though he doesn't seem to believe that someone else would help him without costing him something in return). For those of you wondering, Angel seems to be seeking an escape from many things, such as needing to trade sexual favors to his landlord because Valentino doesn't pay him well, an escape from hunger, and potentially other physical dangers.

The two are both seeking answers to this question but going about it in somewhat different ways.

In a recent video by Diregentleman, Why Angel Dust Should Be The Protagonist In Hazbin Hotel (it's brilliant, btw--a highly recommended watch if you have the time because most all his points are great), he argues that because Angel's story is more compelling and interesting, he should be the main character and while I agree that Angel's story is more compelling to myself as a viewer (just as I felt Lord Gloucester's story was far better than King Lear's parts), I still think Charlie's story worth the focus it is given in tandem with Angel Dust's.

WITH THAT CONCLUDED, I want to talk about my favorite character, Angel Dust! The lesson is over--let's nerd out.

I have been thinking about this A LOT since Episode 1 came out, and when "Addict" dropped, I was pumped. In October of last year, I uploaded the first draft for the review into the Google file our team shares but had been writing said draft for a long while already, and watching Diregentleman's video pushed me over the edge to scrap the planned post that should have gone up at 7 AM this morning and instead re-write and post this. Because as much as I loath spiders--I LOVE Angel Dust.

Gosh, where do I begin….

Angel has been beaten down to the point that his character is a tad bit all over the place. Is he the villain? Sort of? At least, he comes off as one since he's not working very hard to fulfill his end of the bargain with Charlie and since he is a demon--but he also has qualities that are very much fitting the "redemption" Charlie is aiming for without any prompting. In fact, it's what made him so likable to me before the music video release of "Addict"--which just made me love him more. What do I mean?

Well, in the first episode, we see him just coming back from prostituting himself--a job he appears to be forced to do by Valentino (one of the big-bads of Viziepop's Hell):

Valentino: Did you get my money, Angie Baby?

Angle: I'm wittha John now [sic]. I don't get why this needed to happen so soon after the extermination tho, Boss

Valentino: Just do it. No sass k sugar.

Angle: yes Val

He then buys drugs, which get stolen only to see a large piece of a building fall onto the would-be thief. Is he worried about the thief? No. Angel is only concerned with the drugs. Immediately after that, he joins a turf war with a friend of his, Cherri Bomb, and participates in wrecking what remains of the city from the previous night's purging (when Angels descend upon Hell and kill off a bunch of Hell's populous).

Cherri is his friend, and it is at this moment, we see his first redeeming quality in the animated pilot--a self-sacrificing protective nature for a friend. How? You may ask, well, Angel is shown saving Cherri. It happens when Angel sees a weapon pointed at them, something that Cherri doesn't notice. He pushes her out of the way, unsure of what may happen, thereby allowing himself to be captured (or potentially injured) instead of her.

That's self-sacrificing and is generally considered a "righteous" quality.

It's not like she could be killed--they're already dead and, from what we've learned, the already dead demons of Hell can only be killed by weapons the angels use or that which is made of the material angels use during the culling period that just ended the night before. The egg creature is not using one of these weapons at this moment, meaning that Cherri is not in danger of death, only injury.

Despite knowing that Cherri would ultimately be fine, Angel pushes her out of the way and takes the injury risk. (If he suspected that the weapon might kill her, then even more kudos to him here as that means he threw his life before his friend's.) This moment shows that Angel does value life outside of himself, which doesn't immediately come across when we meet him given the crushed thief moment we had prior.

This act of self-sacrificing, which is generally considered a virtue, shows that he has potential to change.

Expanding from this, we see him empathizing with Charlie and expressing a moment of guilt. The scene happens after Angel, Charlie, and Vaggy return to the hotel. Angel is presented with the opportunity to "change" (offer an apology to Charlie that he actually means), an opportunity he doesn't take, but the fact that he's considering it when he previously felt no guilt for his actions shows that he is capable of it.

Once Alistar comes into play, we see more of Angel's potential to change. For example, Angel is shown holding Vaggy back from attacking Alistar, which could be read in two ways. Either he holds her back because he doesn't want Alistar to leave (unlikely that Alistar would leave over Vaggy's attack), or Angel is preventing Vaggy from running at Alistar and potentially getting hurt, a very strong possibility that we learn through Vaggy's comment about how powerful the Radio Demon is and how he's grappled bigger demons on a larger scale to take over parts of the underworld.

If we're to believe the story elements pictured in the music video of "Addict," then Angel is in a horrible spot. He's being abused and treated like a working slave to Valentino with little hope of escape on his own and few options to reach out to for help (if one can even ask for help openly in Hell given the place and the people).

While Charlie is nice, shown by her giving Angel money and helping him avoid having to sell himself on the street that night for Valentino in the Prologue/Chapter 1 of the comic, she too has expectations for him or does it with an ulterior motive in mind. He's a big name in Hell, and she wants him for her program. While it may not be intentional, Charlie asking him to try the program in exchange for money sends the same message Angel points out during the offer: Nothing is free--even kindness, particularly from the Princess of Hell. No matter how cute and lovable she appears...

Charlie's story is less compelling, and it's not simply because she comes from a place of privilege, as I've heard some say. I mean, I love lots of stories with the rich and powerful, and if the many seasons of Dynasty can stand as an example--so do a lot of over people. Charlie's story is less compelling because we can't relate to her choices given the situation we see her in or the problems she's facing. For example, she has great political power that goes completely unused. She's a princess of hell, obviously not struggling too much since she's chauffeured around and seen atop a tall--safe--tower overlooking the purged city below in Episode 1. She isn't in a bad situation, from what we can tell, not the same way Angel Dust is, at least. Her problems are more like a passion project from what we've seen so far, and we don't know why she is motivated to make this redemption program work outside of wanting to help her people. But if she wants to help people, why the hotel?

She has power as a princess that she could use to help correct injustices in her kingdom, such as attempting to put an end to the turf-wards since it seems that the demons fighting for territory still follow and respect the royals and nobility to some degree. But, instead, she's created a program to change people into what she thinks is Heaven's ideal--a thing that may stop the culling by allowing demons to transition out into what? Angels? Spirits? Who knows. Regardless, it's a small-scale venture that doesn't attempt to use the influence she's been given to make sincere changes in the kingdom. Instead, she uses it to get publicity on a news station, and even that is a weak attempt. I mean, if she was doing this right, that new-caster shouldn't have been able to make a single nasty comment towards her during the whole process. I mean, I doubt the newscast would have said a thing had her parents been up there, which shows that she's walked all over and that she's let it happen.

My point is that Charlie's story doesn't yet make sense. It's harder for us, the audience, to put ourselves in her shoes than it is with Angel Dust, and that's why I love him more than other characters, and certainly more than his double plot counterpart, Charlie.

I look forward to seeing more of this series going forward and hope that Episode 2 comes out soon!

#angel dust #charlie #hazbin hotel #king lear #lord gloucester #shakespeare #double plot #hero journey #hero's journey #hero #protagonist #lit #literature lesson #literature #storytelling #angel #analysis

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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5 underrated Richard Donner movies you need to see

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Richard Donner will forever be remembered as the filmmaker who created the blueprint for the modern superhero blockbuster with 1978’s Superman starring Christopher Reeve.

Yet that doesn’t tell even half the story of the Bronx-born filmmaker’s brilliant filmography.

Donner was in his late 40s by the time Superman came along, having made a name for himself in Hollywood two years earlier, with 1976’s suitably terrifying The Omen.

Prior to that, he was a budding director making the transition from the small screen to the world of cinema. Donner worked on everything from Gilligan’s Island to The Twilight Zone. Even then, it was clear he was destined for bigger things though, as anyone who saw “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”, the iconic episode of The Twilight Zone he directed, starring William Shatner, can attest.

While a disagreement with producers ultimately saw him walk away from Superman II, the 1980s saw Donner establish himself as an incredibly versatile big budget director capable of handling everything from the epic family adventure fun of The Goonies to the balancing act of action and comedy found within the buddy cop antics of Lethal Weapon.

It was a skillset that drew admiration from the very best in the movie industry, including Steven Spielberg who was among the first to pay tribute to Donner after learning he had passed away, aged 91.

“Dick had such a powerful command of his movies, and was so gifted across so many genres,” Spielberg, who worked with Donner on The Goonies, said.

“Being in his circle was akin to hanging out with your favourite coach, smartest professor, fiercest motivator, most endearing friend, staunchest ally, and – of course – the greatest Goonie of all.”

Donner may not have had the same impact in the 1990s and early 2000s but he still enjoyed major success with the Lethal Weapon franchise and as a producer with movies like Free Willy and X-Men.

More importantly, the other films he made during that period and in the years between some of his biggest hits remain well worth revisiting or seeking out for the first time – starting with these five.

Ladyhawke

Coming hot on the heels of The Goonies and two years prior to Lethal Weapon, Ladyhawke represented another major departure for Donner. A dark medieval fantasy, it centred on Rutger Hauer’s mysterious Captain Etienne Navarre and his female companion Lady Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer), a pair of star-crossed lovers on the run from a vengeful bishop who has placed a demonic curse on their heads. While Navarre transforms into a wolf by night, Isabeau exists as a Hawk by day. Teaming up with petty thief Philippe Gaston (Matthew Broderick) they embark on a quest to overthrow the evil bishop and break the spell.

Something of a passion project, Donner had attempted to get Ladyhawke off the ground several times before finally getting the green light from Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox in the mid ’80s. The film then suffered another setback when Kurt Russell, originally cast as Navarre, dropped out during rehearsals.

That ultimately proved a blessing in disguise with Hauer going on to deliver arguably his best performance since Blade Runner. Not everything about Ladyhawke works – Broderick’s character feels a little too close to Ferris Bueller while the runtime could be trimmed down – but it remains a beautifully realised fantasy epic, full of memorable action set pieces, stunning cinematography and a spellbinding turn from Pfeiffer.

A box office bomb upon release, Ladyhawke has stood the test of time too, garnering a cult following as an authentic and fresh take on the sword and sorcery formula.

Maverick

Maverick is the film Will Smith must have hoped Wild Wild West would be; a funny, clever action comedy based on a classic TV show. Coming in an era when most westerns were deadly serious, Donner’s film also felt like a breath of fresh air and benefited hugely from a masterful William Goldman script that was both witty and unpredictable.

The latest in a series of films featuring Donner’s muse-of-sorts, Mel Gibson, this time out Mel plays Bret Maverick, a brilliant card player and equally impressive con artist trying to collect enough money to earn a seat at a high-stakes poker game. Along the way he is forced to contend with a fellow scammer in the form of Jodie Foster’s Annabelle Bransford as well as lawman Marshal Zane Cooper, played by James Garner, who starred in the original TV series.

While the glut of cameos from country music stars and the likes of Danny Glover can be a little distracting, there’s something wonderfully charming about Maverick with Gibson, Foster and Garner all on top form and boasting an undeniable chemistry that helps keep things entertaining.

The climactic poker game which sees Maverick face off against Alfred Molina’s psychopathic Angel is also expertly handled by Donner, who cranks up the tension as Maverick reveals his final, decisive, hand with a slow-motion toss of the final card towards the camera. A critical and financial success, Maverick has been largely lost in the shuffle since its release but should be sought out.

Conspiracy Theory

There’s something strangely prescient about Conspiracy Theory given the current predilection for such thinking on the internet at large. One of Donner’s most inventive and intelligent outings alongside Gibson, this time out Mel plays Jerry Fletcher, a New York City cab driver with a penchant for paranoid conspiracy theories.

Jerry’s life takes a turn for the strange when he finds himself being targeted by a set of shady government goons led by Patrick Stewart’s Dr Jonas. He quickly realises one of the conspiracies he has been promoting in his weekly newsletter (this was the ‘90s) is based more in reality than he thought. The question is: which one?

An engrossing thriller featuring Donner’s trademark dashes of witty humour, Conspiracy Theory is bolstered significantly by the presence of the ever-reliable Julia Roberts as a government lawyer with a soft spot for Jerry. Despite a lengthy run time, Donner also keeps the action moving along at an engaging pace while Gibson’s performance is just the right side of manic to keep you rooting for him.

A first foray into the kind of deep state conspiracy thrillers that were commonplace in Hollywood at the time, the film also boasts some genuinely striking moments, not least the sequence where Jerry undergoes “psychotic testing” at the hands of Dr Jonas, which wouldn’t have looked out of place in A Clockwork Orange.

Though it was a hit with audiences, Conspiracy Theory earned mixed reviews but appears increasingly worthy of reappraisal.

Timeline

Some movies are big, dumb but lots of fun. Timeline sits firmly in that category despite what many naysayers would have you believe. It’s a brash, simplistic sci-fi flick to rival the likes of The Core and Geostorm and thoroughly entertaining to boot.

The fact that it features Gerard Butler, as well as the late, great, Paul Walker only adds to that sentiment.

Walker plays Chris Johnston who, along with Butler’s Andre Marek and a team of fellow archaeologists travel back in time through a wormhole to 14th century France to rescue their professor, Dr Edward Johnston (Billy Connolly), who just happens to be Walker’s character’s dad too.

Based on a book by Michael Crichton, Donner had been in the running to direct Jurassic Park a decade earlier and jumped at the chance to adapt Timeline for the big screen. While filming went off without a hitch, Donner repeatedly clashed with Paramount Pictures in post-production and was forced to re-cut the film three times in a development that saw the release date pushed by nearly a year. The resulting edit did not sit well with Crichton either, who disliked it so intensely he stopped licensing his work for a few years after.

Whether Donner’s original cut would have earned better reviews or Crichton’s approval remains to be seen but what remains of Timeline is still a well shot, enjoyable sci-fi yarn with some neat medieval action flourishes.

16 Blocks

Donner’s final film also ranks among his most unappreciated. On the surface, 16 Blocks sounds like the perfect fodder for a game of buddy cop movie bingo.

It stars Bruce Willis as Jack Mosley, a worn-out NYPD Detective with a drinking problem tasked with transporting Mos Def’s trial witness Eddie Bunker to court. Problems arise when some of Jack’s fellow officers arrive to kill Eddie and prevent him from testifying. Eager for redemption, Jack decides to take the would-be assassins on and get Eddie to court on time.

A formulaic enough premise, 16 Blocks is emboldened by the fact it plays out in real-time with Eddie required at the courthouse by no later than 10am. In this sense, Donner found himself in new territory with an action thriller that thrives on a unique sense of urgency.

While the filmmaker is no stranger to the action formula, this setup sees him imbue events with a renewed sense of chaos, as Jack and Eddie fight their way through armed adversaries, busy crowds and bustling traffic, all against a cacophony of shouts, car horns and gun blasts.

Ostensibly a chase movie on foot rather than four wheels, the action traverses 16 blocks in 118 minutes and rarely lets up for a second with Donner proving a dab hand at balancing the action with the engaging back-and-forth between Willis and Def who are both understated yet effective throughout.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Throw in the ever-watchable David Morse as the leader of the shady cops baying for Eddie’s blood and you have arguably one of the most underrated action thrillers of the early 2000s

The post 5 underrated Richard Donner movies you need to see appeared first on Den of Geek.

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moved-to-void-kissed · 3 years

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= my selfship AUs =

Although I don’t talk about them too much, I do have a number of different AUs for each of my selfships! This post gives a little overview of each of them in turn, sorted by the selfship that they concern, as well as some of the “overarching AUs” which are the ones where all of my romantic selfship are canon at once. ..Not all of them have very much to them, but hopefully that’s okay.

The actual list is under the readmore because otherwise this post would be about five miles long, but hopefully all this works well! If anyone has any questions or wants to ask me anything about any of these AUs, you’re always more than welcome to do that! ^-^

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overarching AUs:

mythical AU - a generic fantasy universe where all of my F/Os and their corresponding self-inserts exist as different mythical creatures, and all of my romantic selfships exist in tandem (apart from my one with Anti-Aqua - she only exists if Aqua doesn’t). The specific information regarding what sort of creature everyone is is written in the section for ecah individual selfship.

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void-kissed (Luna/Adriana) AUs:

void spirit AU - Luna is lost to the Void at the end of Episode 18, instead of escaping with Adriana. She is able to carry on existing in the world as a spirit, but only Anna is left able to properly perceive her, with Adriana needing to wear one of Reborn’s four seals in order to be able to see her.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Luna is a ghost tied to the Emerald Brooch while Adriana is a witch who is able to communicate with and summon her. She goes on a journey to try and save Luna from being destroyed when Elias and the rest of Team Meteor try to acquire all four of the seals.

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survivors of the dark (Aqua/Aria) AUs:

vampire AU - Aria is a powerful vampire (one of those classic “rich and alone and lives in a mansion and has dark powers”-types), whereas Aqua is a vampire hunter sent to destroy her. However, a rival vampire faction (i.e. Xehanort and his allies) attacks Aria’s mansion while she is hosting a ball, and Aqua ends up having to fight alongside her to both stay alive and rescue her fellow vampire hunters Terra and Ven, who had been turned and captured respectively by the rival vampires.

PAFL AU - the selfship is set in the world of Parties Are For Losers, a series created by the Vocaloid producer Ferry. Aqua and Terra live as siblings with Eraqus, who adopted them both; Terra wants to become a stalker of the Zone and Aqua is trying to stop him because it’s such a dangerous career path. Aria is a mutant who escapes the Zone facility when KT and Dima do, bringing fellow mutant Ventus with her, and the two of them end up running into the Wayfinders.

dual wayfinder AU - instead of going into the realm of darkness, Aria is transported into the future alongside Ventus, losing her memories of her true nature in the process. They both become Master Xehanort’s apprentices, and he tries to use Ven’s light and Aria’s darkness to forge the X-Blade, but it doesn’t work so he sends them off to Eraqus. Vanitas and Ves are then split from Ventus and Aria at Terra and Aqua’s Mark of Mastery exams, prompting a world-spanning chase to find answers.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Aqua is an angel whereas Aria is a vampire. I don’t have any story for it yet, though.

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to our own Elysium (Pyra/Sapphire) AUs:

driver Sapphire AU - Sapphire takes Rex’s place as Pyra’s Driver - she is a wanderer from Gormott who was hired by Torna to open the door on the already-raised Ancient Ship (which in this AU needs a light-element Blade to open instead of a Leftherian, and Sapphire was already Avalon’s Driver which is why they needed someone like her). Rex appears as Vandham’s biological son from canon who didn’t die, but he doesn’t join the party.

DQIX AU - essentially the story of Dragon Quest IX but told using the XC2 characters. Mythra is a Celestrian and acts as the Guardian of the volcanic town of Upover, but falls down to the Protectorate in the form of a mortal armamentalist called Pyra when the Observatory is attacked. Pyra enlists the help of Sapphire and her father Vandham (who are residents of Upover) to travel across the world and regain her divine abilities. The Indoline Praetorium replace the Gittish Empire, except Torna are the Triumgorate who betray them, and Malos replaces Corvus.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Pyra is a dragon stuck in a mostly human form (unlike her siblings Mythra and Malos, who are also dragons except they can choose to take human form if they wish to), while Sapphire is a werecat who ends up stumbling across Pyra in the forest and tries to help her get her powers back.

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love, trust and diamond dust (Perun/Sapphire) AUs:

driver Sapphire AU - Perun resonates with Sapphire to become one of her Blades during the story, taking Pyra’s place as Sapphire’s main damage dealer during most of Chapter 7. She is also good friends with Avalon, who is alive in this AU.

DQIX AU - Perun is a paladin from Gleeba who ends up joining Sapphire, Vandham and Pyra on their quest across the Protectorate because she wants to help protect justice and figures that aiding a Celestrian is the best way to do that. Her weapon is a spear, and in battle she tends to intercept attacks meant for the others a lot.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Perun is a yet-to-be-determined creature who had initially set out to slay the Aegis dragons, whereas Sapphire is a werecat who tries to dissuade her from doing so because their presence is important for the world’s balance.

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dark hearts corrupted (Anti-Aqua/Aria) AUs:

fallen light AU - all normal content of my selfship with Anti-Aqua technically takes place within the context of this AU. It’s an alternate version of events in KH where Aqua ends up falling to darkness shortly after BBS as a result of her light fading and her anguish at being abandoned by the light. Anti-Aqua and Aria become rulers of the realm of darkness, wishing to get revenge on the light for abandoning them both (Aqua also wants revenge on Xehanort, whereas Aria seeks to reach the Final World).

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, Anti-Aqua is a fallen angel and Aria is the vampire that corrupted her. I don’t have any story for it yet, though.

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a dance of endeavours (Camellia/Telanthera) AUs:

mythical AU - I haven’t put this selfship in the mythical AU yet, but I do intend to - I’m just having trouble thinking of mythical creatures that fit the characters.

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our own kind of heroes (N/Noire) AUs:

reversed heroes AU - the “reverse AU” for this selfship. N is a kind Unovan Pokémon Ranger with the inborn ability to communicate with Pokémon, whereas Noire is the cold sheltered princess of Team Plasma who hates humanity for mistreating Pokémon. She is chosen by Zekrom for her belief in her misguided ideals for separating people and Pokémon, whereas N is chosen by Reshiram for his ability to understand the truth of how Pokémon are and wish to be.

mythical AU - in the mythical AU, N is a forest spirit and guardian of twin dragons Reshiram and Zekrom, who are sealed away within his forest. Noire is a fire elemental who was originally summoned by malevolent humans to help destroy the forest that N protects in order to reach and wake up the dragons, only to promptly decide “no thanks” and go off to do her own thing. which incidentally led to her learning to appreciate nature and helping N.

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a farmer and a thief (Skye/Emily) AUs:

Elsewhere University AU - Emily is a biology student studying at Elsewhere University (created by charminglyantiquated on Tumblr) who uses Mimi as a safe name, and Skye is a mischevious changeling known on campus as the Phantom Prince who ends up becoming infatuated with her quite by accident.

mythical AU - I haven’t put this selfship in the mythical AU yet, but I do intend to - I’m just having trouble thinking of mythical creatures that fit the characters.

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under a bloodcursed sun (Serana/Cansen) AUs:

Dawnguard AU - the “reverse AU” for this selfship. Serana is the daughter of Harkon, leader of the Dawnguard, a renowned group of vampire hunters. He seeks to use the Tyranny of the Sun prophecy to create a relentless eternal day and destroy all vampires, not realising how disruptive this would be to the natural order of the world. Camille is a scholar from the First Era who was sealed away with an Elder Scroll containing part of this prophecy, which stopped her aging, while Isran and the rest of the normal Dawnguard make up the Volkihar vampire clan. After Serana accidentally frees Camille from where she was sealed away, the two of them go on a quest to complete the prophecy, so that Harkon or Isran’s vampires don’t get to it first.

mythical AU - I haven’t put this selfship in the mythical AU yet, but I do intend to - I’m just having trouble thinking of mythical creatures that fit the characters.

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#a call from the void #selfship #selfshipping #everyone is here!#selfship AUs #something to keep track of #I can't help but feel like I had more than this. but these are all the ones that were on my carrd back when I kept them on there #this very much feels like an instance of ''spot the main romantic F/Os'' haha #albeit perhaps not in this case since I don't have that many for my selfship with luna. maybe that's something to do with reborn's obscurity #since I have friends I talk about KH to. I have friends I talk about XC2 to. I don't have anyone I can talk about reborn to.#because nobody else has played it =P #but anyway here this'll go out at midnight on the 1st probably #waiting in the wings #AU april 2021 #selfship events #sort of

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twentiethcenturymoviesandtv · 4 years

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Ladyhawke: The Characters

The problem with putting a fairytale on screen is that the characters are usually the least interesting part of the story.

In most legends, the focus of the story isn’t really on the characters. It’s on the plot, and what the characters do. When you come right down to it, the point of most fairytales isn’t really about character growth, it’s about good vs. evil, heroic deeds against acts of villainy. The characters tend to be archetypes, with the side of good led by the Hero, the Champion, the Dragonslayer, and the side of evil led by the Ruler, or the Classic Villain. There are damsels in distress, mentor figures, and sometimes sidekicks along the way, but when it comes to fairy tales, there isn’t a huge amount of variety or development in the people involved. The characters exist to champion a side, to move the plot forward, to give us someone to root for.

In a story so reminiscent of a fairy-tale, Ladyhawke could be forgiven for using these archetypes as a way to advance its plot. The thing is, it doesn’t.

Instead of marching out the clichés of standard sword and sorcery characters, Ladyhawke does something different: it plays on subversions of simple archetypes, developing them in different ways that adds to the distinctive style of the film. Today, we’re going to be taking a closer look at these characters and the unique way they are used, beginning, of course, with our protagonist. (Spoilers below!)

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, the most interesting thing about our main character is that he really has no business in this story.

In any other fantasy story, Phillipe Gaston would be a smaller character, perhaps a comedic sidekick or a helpful rogue, taking up his own part of the narrative without changing too much or growing as a character. He is an Action Survivor, a shrewd thief that possesses both boyish charm and wry cynicism. He’s smart, but impulsive, lies often, but is honest about himself. He avoids battle at all costs, and wavers back and forth between arrogance and apprehension depending on the scenario at hand. In short: Phillipe is by no means a fantasy hero, and really doesn’t belong at the forefront of this conflict. Even more interestingly, he knows it.

Again, as I’ve mentioned earlier, Phillipe seems very disconnected with events around him. He is only involved in the plot simply because he is the only person who has ever escaped from the place Navarre is trying to get into. He is involved because of his skills, not his importance to the plot. Phillipe has no connection with anyone, not Navarre, Isabeau, the monk Imperius, or even the villain, the Bishop. With no connection, he has no investment in the characters, no reason to help. On top of that, he doesn’t really have any of the traits befitting traditional fantasy heroes.

Putting it like that, Phillipe really seems like a terrible choice for a protagonist.

Now for our next question.

Does Phillipe as a main character work anyway?

Actually, yeah.

Now, wait a minute, you might say. You just told me why he doesn’t work as a main character, and now you decide that, going against all good characterization of main leads, it works anyway? Isn’t that going against the laws of film critiquing?

Here’s the thing.

Sometimes, characters who seem like bad ideas in theory turn out to be good ones in practice. In my opinion, Phillipe Gaston is one of those characters.

In my last film review, I talked about what made Dorothy Gale such a good protagonist for The Wizard of Oz, and one thing that I mentioned was that every protagonist needs a problem, particularly a problem pertaining to the plot. At first, it seems like this is fuel for the argument that Navarre should have been the protagonist and not Phillipe, a closer look perhaps proves otherwise.

At the beginning of the story, Phillipe’s problem would appear to be not only simple, but being taken care of: he’s in prison. More specifically, when the story picks up, he’s escaping prison, trying to stay ahead of the Bishop’s guards. He doesn’t want anything except to get away. Nothing drives him. He has no goal except that of escaping pursuit, which, while not being a traditional fantasy hero’s goal, is extremely understandable, and relatable to the audience.

I want to draw your attention to that fact, because that’s extremely important to both Phillipe’s character, and his role within the story.

Throughout the entire film, Phillipe responds to everything in a reasonably realistic manner, one that is relatable to the audience. He learns things at the same rate that we do, and as a result, Phillipe ends up being the audience surrogate, hence his aforementioned ‘outsider’ viewpoint on the story. As mentioned in the ‘story’ segment earlier, it is an inversion of the ‘Hero’s Journey’: an unheroic hero being forcibly drug along on a quest that is not his own.

This is part of what makes the character of Phillipe work so well for the first half of the film, and here is where things get tricky.

You see, if Phillipe had remained this type of character throughout the entire film, he really wouldn’t have worked as a protagonist at all. For a main character to work, they have to change, and in the case of characters whose goals don’t fit with the story, the goals have to change as well.

In Phillipe’s case, it’s moving from a selfish goal to a selfless one.

Like I said, Phillipe’s objective at the beginning of the story is to escape. His concern is for his own skin, as it remains even after being hauled along into Navarre’s quest. However, something happens during the story that affects a change in his plans, and in the process, his character.

After Isabeau’s injury, while Imperius is explaining the curse and the history of the lovers to Phillipe, his focus shifts from himself to Navarre and Isabeau. Due to growing friendship with the couple (Notably Navarre), Phillipe decides to do the right thing and help them, to the point where he is attempting to convince Navarre of the way to end the curse.

That change is where the magic (forgive the pun) happens. Phillipe’s introduction into the grander scale of what’s going on is the realization that jolts him into being a more active part of the story, putting him firmly in the actual main conflict. The second half of the story is where the ‘protagonist’ part of his character comes in: when his goals begin to match up with the story. He is the catalyst, the thing that prevents the other characters from total despair, and it is because of him that the curse is broken. It is Phillipe that causes the other characters to regain their hope, and as a result, reach their own happy endings.

If that’s so, you might say. If Phillipe grows into being the main hero, then why isn’t he a bigger part of the climax? Where’s his ‘hero’ moment?

That’s a fair question. With character arcs, we like to see them end, satisfactorily. How does his arc cumulate?

Like Dorothy, Phillipe’s ‘hero’ moment isn’t a dragon slaying moment, and unlike Dorothy, his hour of bravery isn’t even at the climax. It comes earlier.

As I pointed out in the ‘story’ segment, Phillipe’s ‘hero’ moment arrives when Navarre, in wolf form, is falling through the ice over the water. This is the scene where, for the first time, Phillipe puts himself in harm’s way for someone else. Going in after Navarre allows him to fully switch from selfishness to selflessness, or, in other words, from petty thief to hero.

In short? Phillipe Gaston, while seemingly out of place in both personality and role, somehow manages to be a compelling, if unusual, supporting protagonist.

But of course, the main draw of a fantasy movie is the Knight in Shining Armor, right?

At first glance, Etienne Navarre seems like the perfect fantasy hero. He is stern, quiet, an expert swordsman and great warrior. He’s decked out in black armor, possesses an ancestral sword, a horse, and, of course, the secret of his curse. Navarre is the one with the quest for this story, and as a result, has a connection with every other character in the movie. He is an active character, driving the plot with his own goal.

Remember what I said earlier about the character subversions?

It is Navarre’s goal that receives the subversive treatment.

In many fantasy stories, the hero’s quest is a great moral battle, a good and evil, right vs. wrong. Luke Skywalker wants to overthrow the Empire. Harry Potter wants to stop Voldermort. Frodo Baggins wants to destroy the Ring of Power to stop Sauron. These are all larger-than-life stories about defeating an evil for the good of the world.

Following this pattern, you’d think Navarre’s quest would be to break the curse and overthrow the Bishop for his tyrannical rule, whether by consulting a wizard or raising a rebellion, or going on a great journey to find a way, but it’s not. Navarre is cursed, and he knows it, and in a world with magic so infrequently used, his mission is that of revenge.

Navarre wants nothing else but to kill the Bishop at the start of the film, and that is where we get our subversion.

This decision is not to indicate that Navarre is a bad person, or an antihero in any way. Like I said earlier, the characters in this film respond to things with startling amounts of realism. Most of us wouldn’t search for a magical cure, most of us would immediately think to the ‘realistic’ way of dealing with it: revenge.

So it is with calm, cold precision that Navarre waits for two years for a sign to attack, and the sign comes in the form of the escape of Phillipe Gaston from the Bishop’s prison, causing their paths to cross. Navarre’s plan is smart and simple: use Phillipe to get in, and murder the Bishop with the sword of his ancestors, completing his mission.

What’s interesting about Navarre is that he too experiences a goal change, albeit a little later than Phillipe does.

See, at the point where the film begins, Navarre (and Isabeau) have lost hope, if they had any to begin with. They are worn down with the effect of the curse, and Navarre’s anger at the situation comes out in this revenge plot. It is to the point that, when Phillipe experiences his own goal change, realizing he wants to help the couple, Navarre refuses to believe in a way to break the curse, and commands Phillipe not to tell Isabeau.

At first, this seems kind of selfish on his part; it almost seems like he’s putting his revenge plan over an actual way to save them both, and he doesn’t even give Isabeau a say in the matter. The thing is, once again, it’s a realistic answer. Not believing in the miraculous would seem like a good way to not be let down easily. On top of that, the curse breaking isn’t plainly worded, and seemingly impossible to fulfill. For both their sakes, Navarre refuses to believe in what he sees as a foolish hope.

What changed?

Phillipe.

It is his change of character, his dive into the water after Navarre, and the following day’s realization that Phillipe had rescued him at personal risk, (with the scars to prove it) that makes Navarre decide to give the breaking curse a chance. By the same token, he does remain practical, and changes his plans back to revenge when there seems to be no sign of a ‘day without a night’.

In the end, of course, Imperius and Phillipe are right, and the curse is broken, reuniting Navarre and Isabeau, giving them their happy ending. And in the end, Navarre is also changed, becoming a more hopeful person after the proof that sometimes, miracles do happen.

But what of the other half of the couple?

Let’s talk about the titular Ladyhawke: Isabeau d'Anjou.

The interesting thing about Isabeau is, once again, tied to her utter practicality and realism. Neither a helpless damsel nor a great warrior, Isabeau is a subversion of most female fantasy archetypes, being very simply a woman with a problem. It’s just that the problem is a little more fantastic than most.

We don’t really know a lot about Isabeau’s character, since she doesn’t appear a lot within the movie itself. Human by night, she carries with her an air of sadness and mystery, gentle and warm, but with a heart of steel underneath. Isabeau is an incredibly strong person, living out her days by night, never seeing the man she loves except for at twilight and dawn, and having to fend for herself each night for survival. Time and time again, she displays incredible strength of character, rushing out into the wolf-trap-littered woods to save Navarre, and, during the curse-breaking, takes the hawk jesses and coldly throws them at the Bishop’s feet in her own show of victory.

By the time of the story’s opening, Isabeau too has lost hope. After two years of living like this, separated from all she knows, she is despondent, with no discernable way out.

Once again, it’s Phillipe to the rescue.

It is his intervention on the couple’s lives that brings them to the point of hope. Without him, there is no catalyst for the plot, there is no knowledge of a way to break the curse. And at the end, when Isabeau stands with Navarre, fully human, she is finally joyful, full of hope for the future.

But there would have been no curse-breaking if not for the monk, Imperius.

Imperius is an ex-priest, living as a monk as penance for his accidental betrayal of the couple. Being the one person confided in about the relationship, Imperius, while drunk, accidently informs the Bishop of it, leading to the curse in the first place.

Horrified and distraught, Imperius becomes a monk, desperately seeking the answer to this curse to seek redemption. His growth comes in that redemption.

Rejected by Navarre, he is encouraged to follow them by Phillipe, proving his worth as he assists them in both the rescue of Navarre and the breaking of the curse. It is this man’s desire to make things right that allows the happy ending in the first place, giving him peace and granting him forgiveness from what he inadvertently caused.

Although, let’s not lay excess blame at his door. After all, the Bishop is our big baddie here.

The Bishop (no name given) serves as the main villain of this film, and once again, is a subversion of the traditional fantasy villains. He’s not an emperor, a warlord, a king, or a leader of a band of orcs or goblins. He is a selfish, controlling, old man who is driven by his lust and jealousy. (Think a version of Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.)

The curse, as mentioned previously, is his fault. After his pursuit of Isabeau is rejected, his anger causes him to lash out at both her, and the person she is in love with. This curse, an unnatural thing called up with considerable effort from a darker realm beyond ours, causes the animal transformations that prevent the couple from ever being together. What’s notable about this is that the curse does not only affect Navarre, but intentionally Isabeau too. The Bishop’s line of thinking is even said out loud: “If I can’t have her, no man shall.”

The Bishop is not extremely powerful in a traditional sense. He is the leader of the church, which gives him power over the people there in an influential way, and uses this power unjustly. He has no armies other than a band of guards (which Navarre dispatches) and himself is no match for the fury of a trained warrior. In fact, it is because of this that the curse needs to be broken the way that it is.

The curse is not broken by killing him.

In many fantasy films, all curses are undone by killing the curser. Not so here. Against a villain with no physical power, what better way to pose a problem for the protagonists by making the answer one of non-violence?

To break the curse, Navarre and Isabeau must confront him together, as humans, demonstrating that he has no power over them. The curse is broken in a way that demonstrates direct defiance of his jealous and lustful nature, the couple reunited and human, despite his best efforts. Sure, he dies anyway, but the principle of it is that show of boldness against him.

Another interesting thing about him is how he relates to the realm of villains in general. In many cases, villains have personal ties with the main hero, or a symbolic connection, something in common or in contrast with the main character that draws some kind of connection.

Harking back to what I said earlier, the Bishop has no ties with Phillipe whatsoever besides being the one whose jail he escaped from. The main conflict in this story is between the Bishop and Navarre, again, nailing home that final point of what I’ve mentioned earlier: Phillipe is an audience surrogate character slowly turned into a protagonist, not a heroic fantasy character. The Bishop is Navarre and Isabeau’s enemy, not Phillipe’s.

So how does this make him work as a villain?

Surprisingly well.

He has elements that very much make him seem like a real-world villain. He has no magical abilities of his own, he has no armies, no physical abilities. He is a man placed in power who chooses to abuse it. He is selfish, controlling, jealous and hateful, like any rejected suitor who tries to use his power for his own gain. His curse is not of his own, but the result of much searching to intentionally make the couple’s lives utterly miserable because of his denial. Once again, the key to his characterization is the utter realism in which his motivation and execution is rooted.

He is thoroughly believable, and thus, the audience rejoices over his defeat and death.

The beauty of all of these characters is the total reality in which they are grounded. These are very real people, stuck in fantastic circumstances, dealing with it the best they know how. The characters are relatable to the audience, whether it’s the cold anger of Navarre, the sad sincerity of Isabeau, or the bewildered but witty reactions of Phillipe. You feel their emotions, and you understand where every character is coming from because of the realistic way they are portrayed, and the lifelike ways in which they react to the events around them. No one is superhuman, nor unrealistically incapable, they exist as people that we can easily see existing.

Ladyhawke’s characters work as subversions of traditional ‘fairy-tale’ stories because it plays the ‘fairy-tale’ aspect straight, while playing around with the character archetypes. There is a romance, a curse, and true love conquers all, but the way in which it is done, and the way in which characters go about acting out the fairy-tale turns it from a bright children’s story to a familiar-feeling, simple, but emotional story about people the audience, no matter what age, can relate to.

As with The Wizard of Oz, these characters are not overly complex, but in this case, they are not simple, either. They serve their purpose, which is to relate to each other and make us care about what happens to them, and this film definitely succeeds in that. In a film much more grounded than contemporaries such as Labyrinth, the characters and their struggles hit that much closer to home, and we feel the sincerity of what’s going on. Even in the unbelievable aspects, such as the effects of the curse, Isabeau and Navarre’s pain is tangible, and the audience isn’t immune to that.

The characters in Ladyhawke leave a strong, unique impact in an equally unique film, a film that really does deserve a higher place in the history of fantasy films, if for nothing else it’s courage to combine the tried-and-true and the innovative ways of conveying story and characterization. These people make the plot compelling, and they make us care about them, and in the end, that’s the point of characters. With that in mind, Ladyhawke certainly does its job, memorably so.

Thank you guys so much for reading! If you enjoyed it, stick around for more, since we’re not done talking about the elements that make up Ladyhawke. If you have something you’d like to add or say, don’t forget that the ask box is always open! I hope to see you all in the next article.

#Ladyhawke #Ladyhawke 1985 #1985 #80s #Film #Movies #Fantasy #Adventure #PG-13 #Rutger Hauer #Michelle Pfeiffer #Matthew Broderick #Leo McKern #John Wood #Richard Donner

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piermanwalter · 3 years

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Thief’s Apprentice: Popular Fiction in Surenia

As many revenants no longer have the mental faculty to keep track of stories and reality at the same time, these stories are mostly for the living to rationalise their plague-ridden surroundings. Common themes of the oldest and most well-known stories are escaping the plague and love that lasts after death. These stories usually follow someone as they travel across Surenia, and serve as escapist fantasy for bedridden plaguebearers as they look forward to all the travelling they can do as revenants and wait to die.

CURE QUEST

Hearing of the revenant plague spreading to their kingdom, instead of hoarding food and barricading themselves in fortresses like neighboring kingdoms, Prince Orto and his mother Queen Mavia set out to investigate the cause of the plague and find a cure with their court mage Ovid. The story is allegedly the writings of Ovid himself as he recorded their adventures, but Cure Quest is so fantastic and implausible that most people now believe it’s complete fiction.

The basic story structure of Cure Quest is Ovid receiving cryptic messages from the Gods to guide the Prince and the Queen, then they encounter a weird guy in the wilderness that Prince Orto fights and/or befriends, then they rescue a town from some disaster and are allowed to rest there in thanks, and then Ovid finds some town specialty herb or potion that alleviates the plague a bit, but doesn’t totally cure it, so they have to keep going, and then they get captured by another kingdom or mage or giant gryphon that is too strong for them to beat, then Queen Mavia sings their captors to sleep or distracts them while Ovid comes up with an escape plan. By doing this many times, they eventually build up a huge procession.

There are many versions of Cure Quest, but they all feature Prince Orto making friends with wandering knights with extremely specific superpowers, such as a knight who can eat mountains of food, a knight who can steal anything that can fit in the palm of his hand, a knight who draws blood every time his sword is unsheathed, a knight who can turn into a flock of sparrows, etc. Most versions of Cure Quest are also known for huge epic battles between the royal knights and hordes of insane revenants, knights of rival kingdoms, monsters, and evil mages.

However, there are also Cure Quest versions that address how a plague-ridden land can’t realistically support full-scale wars all the time, so the problems are instead solved with cunning tricks, political leverage, and magic.

In all versions of Cure Quest, the royal procession follows Ovid to The Fountain of Life, which can cure any disease or injury, but the Gods have led them to the end of The World. It turns out The Fountain of Life is on a separate land mass floating off the edge of The World, and while everyone is deciding how to get there, Prince Orto becomes impatient and jumps off the edge, but he misses and falls through space for all eternity. The rest of the procession builds a bridge to The Fountain, but as soon as they all cross, The World flies away.

It’s widely believed that Cure Quest originated from Beringians in Surenia, since knights and dedicated soldier classes in general don’t exist in local cultures, and the effects of plague described in the story are hilariously wrong. Some people believe Cure Quest must have been first spun in the early years of the plague when people didn’t know exactly how it worked and genuinely had no idea revenants could be sane and articulate. Since different locations in Surenia are mentioned in many versions of Cure Quest, there is much literary debate over which city produced the earliest version of Cure Quest.

This story is the most popular among the living and not very well liked among revenants because all of the named characters are alive and all revenants are mindless shambling wrecks. However, the continued popularity of Cure Quest comes from there being a version anyone can enjoy. Children are told the version where Prince Orto is their age and Mavia is a beautiful young queen, and everyone aside from Orto, who was too impatient, got to live on an amazing new World. Once they outgrow that story, they can find another version where Prince Orto is a callous Machiavellian adult and Queen Mavia is wise and elderly, and they finally accept the plague has no cure, so they kill themselves to become the revenants they once so reviled. And if there’s no version to you liking, you can always make your own.

Most Surenians see leaving The World as a metaphor for death, and Prince Orto missing The Fountain as a metaphor for those who die before their time and go mad.

Muireland has coopted Cure Quest as an embellished retelling of their own kingdom’s founding and claims jumping off the edge of The World is a metaphor for establishing a new homeland on the edge of sea cliffs, and their own royal family is descended from Queen Mavia.

Despite getting blown up and occupied by Gehennans, many Veilheimers are still struck by, “Wow! Real Prince! Real knights! This is just like Cure Quest!”

WANDERING GONOT

He wakes his shirt covered in dirt and thinks, “How rude to pitch dirt upon a sleeping man! Dare they do this to I, the... I... know not mine own name.” A wooden signpost reads GO NOT. PLAGUE LAINS HERE. “Lo! My name. Gonot... Plague... Lainshere. I do not like the middle part! Bolfred Miller be called Bolfred Cheating Miller, but his name be not Cheating though he be cheating. A fool’s title on us both. My name is Gonot Lainshere.”

Gonot stands and leaves and sees a milkmaid. “Holla maid! There be dirt on my shirt, but not on my heart. Knows you the-” The maid cries like a hawk and runs. Dirt on a shirt be so vile? Gonot bends to clean and Horror! Skin is flaying off his legs! Nails torn from his fingers, but not a drop of blood! Bowels spilling from his belly! Gonot is dead! He is walking and speaking but he is dead!

Gonot is chased out of town with torches and pitchforks and wanders aimlessly around Surenia, getting into shenanigans and witnessing all sorts of interesting things. Wandering Gonot is a very relatable story about one of the first sane revenants figuring out basic things that every modern revenant knows, like seeing through solid objects, eating, or kitbashing your own metal prosthetics.

Unlike Cure Quest, there is only one version of Wandering Gonot written over 600 years ago. Some attempts were made by other writers to add to the story, but the syntax and style of the original writer are so distinct that imitations are easy to detect. Wandering Gonot is historically important because it’s set when Surenians were most afraid of the plague, now that symptoms and epidemiology were better understood, but revenants were not. Earlier stories in Cure Quest had knights charging fearlessly into combat with supernaturally strong revenants that caused crushing bruises with the slightest touch, but by the time this story was written, it was known that massive inexplicable bruises were the first sign of plague infection, so Gonot empties towns and ends battles just by showing up. This time period is also significant because there was once so many people that Gonot could find a new town after one day of walking, but now revenants could wander for months and not encounter anything but thousands of miles of wasteland.

After wandering Surenia, barely holding himself together, trying to make friends, and killing thousands by accident, Gonot gets hit by a mudslide and sinks to the bottom of a lake, which dries up and traps him underground, so Gonot decides to Lainshere until the lake floods again. The story ends with a plea for the listeners to make their communities kinder and more peaceful so when Gonot wanders again, he won’t have to suffer.

Gonot probably never existed, since he is written as too preoccupied and destitute to record his own travels or tell them all to someone else. It’s believed that another early sane revenant wrote Wandering Gonot as a compilation of real events that happened to many different sane revenants in attempt to prove their sanity and humanise them to the hostile and suspicious living. It worked, because the story has been preserved for all this time, and the living like the story because it makes revenants funny and understandable, and revenants like it because many of Gonot’s struggles match their own. Most city dwellers, living and dead, are grateful because they don’t suffer from lack of basic understanding like the characters in Wandering Gonot do.

Although Wandering Gonot is meant to be funny, many stories have an undercurrent of inescapable loneliness, such as “Priest of Harus” where Gonot meets another sane revenant but he’s a High Priest of a different God than he prayed to, so they could never be friends, and “Bone Mare” where Gonot finds a horse revenant and tries to catch it, but no matter what it always runs faster than he can so it slowly gets smaller and smaller in the distance until it disappears, except for one extremely divisive story that has since spun off into its own separate thing.

MERCIFUL DEATH

Gonot is hanging out in an orchard after harvest, because it’s a nostalgic place close to civilization, but nobody is there because all the remaining fruit is rotten. He sees a living maiden in a tree and tries to leave before she sees him and raises the alarm, but she isn’t afraid, introducing herself like he was any normal person. Gonot climbs the tree and has the first conversation with a living person he can remember. Goblinder asks how he was able to stay sane, then asks Gonot to strangle her. It is her town custom for plague bearers to do penance by starvation, and once they know she has the plague, they will wall her into a room. Goblinder would rather die quickly at the hands of a stranger than slowly by the hands of her friends.

Gonot doesn’t want to strangle her, so he pulls an arrow out of his back and stabs her in the heart with it. After Goblinder dies, Gonot climbs down and thinks about how plaguebearers are like rotten fruit because nobody wants them, and sane revenants are like good wine because it is a rare state that not all rotten fruit can reach.

20 stories later, Gonot encounters a sane revenant with an arrow sticking out of her chest. It’s Goblinder.

Although the original story wasn’t explicitly romantic, a lot of motifs from it, such as a heart pierced by arrows, fruit wine, and being in a tree with someone, became symbols of romance. There have been several rewrites and expansions of Merciful Death, usually with Goblinder deciding to travel with Gonot after either their first or second meeting. The archetype of a revenant killing someone begging for death and later falling in love with them was used for countless other stories. One Merciful Death subgenre exploded in popularity 300-400 years ago, because this was the time Veilheim was finally prosperous enough to support fine art and literature, and also relationships between the dead and the living weren’t taboo yet.

One Merciful Death rewrite in this subgenre became so popular that it superseded the original and when people talk about Merciful Death, it’s usually in reference to this one. In this version, Gonot is a Gore Mage royal doctor and Goblinder is a Princess, and instead of everything being over and done in a single conversation, Gonot agonises over whether or not to kill Goblinder and what it means for her kingdom to lose their last heir while trying not to think about what she means to him, and Goblinder tries to live what remains of her life by taking scented baths, suffering elegantly from plague, hunting, and throwing huge parties while screaming inside because she truly doesn’t want to die. Whenever they meet, Gonot tries to stay professional while Goblinder tries to act resolute. After several emotional breakdowns and dramatic confessions, Goblinder finally loves Gonot enough to trust him to kill her. What tragic heartbreak! If Goblinder didn’t love him, she could yet live! Gonot uses Gore Magic to pull all of Goblinder’s blood out of a few small cuts so she can die painlessly.

Gonot is depressed and wandering aimlessly outside for medicinal herbs to avoid the royal palace as much as possible and suddenly gets shot in the chest with an arrow. A hunter runs up and apologises for mistaking him for a wild animal. It’s Goblinder.

Detractors hate this version of Merciful Death because the original was about two ordinary people calmly choosing to kill and die because this was the only way to survive in a world that feared them, and Merciful Death is basically set in Veilheim. Gonot and Goblinder are rich assholes wasting everyone’s time and money on interpersonal drama and killing and dying out of laziness and cowardice. This story is also hated for public health reasons now that romance between the dead and living is taboo, and also how it’s creepy to kill someone right as they are most in love, forcing them to stay in love forever.

Enthusiasts love this version of Merciful Death because it portrays the wild and opulent zeitgeist of Veilheim 400 years ago, and regardless of how it’s seen now, there really were romantic scandals between revenants and the living at that time, and Gonot would surely rather be a rich educated Gore Mage doctor in a kingdom where revenants are accepted than a terrified and confused peasant where almost everyone is trying to kill him. The whole point is that society has finally become kind and peaceful enough that outrageous luxury and interpersonal drama are the driving forces of people’s lives instead of survival.

Merciful Death Enthusiasts and Detractors are basically political parties. The Mayor of Veilheim stays neutral because he is a foreigner and wouldn’t have as much knowledge and attachment of Merciful Death as a born and raised Veilheimer.

Master Courtesan is a huge public Merciful Death stan because it’s expected of her, but her dark secret is that she doesn’t think it’s very good. Also she killed the author centuries ago for entirely different reasons.

Tax Collector has the political leanings of a Merciful Death stan but is a Merciful Death hater, because his job involves stabbing and being stabbed and he’s sick of people seeing it in a romantic context.

THAES

Unlike the huge rambling epics above, Thaes doesn’t exist in a specific story and instead serves as a mouthpiece for social commentary. Thaes is witty enough to make interesting observations, but is also oblivious enough to say them out loud. Thaes blunders her way to success via blind luck and coincidence, or she could just be resourceful. Depending on the story, she may be living or dead, anywhere on The World, set in any time. In a more contemporary setting, if Thaes is dead, she is instead called Careless Weaver. If you don’t want to reveal where you got information, you can say, “I heard it from Thaes.” Naming your children Gonot and Goblinder is universally seen as cringe, but Thaes is always a popular name for girls.

Thaes got the plague and had to leave the living district. She sees a stubborn donkey, refusing to take a single step and braying so loudly no one else can speak. “Good morning, The Mayor! How brightly Veilheim shines under your rule!” Thaes sees a towering lumbering ox, pulling ten times its own weight but moving as slowly as a snail. “Good morning, Noble Porter! Any important deliveries today?” Thaes sees a wild ass, kicking high and menacing its handlers with its horns. “Good morning, Tax Collector! Surely not everyone owes you money!”

Thaes is deciding which prosthetics to save for before she dies. She visits Noble Engineer and he says, “Your carpometacarpal and distal phalanges are gone! Do you want 32-2 cobalt steel? Do you want 56-1 lead steel? Do you-” Thaes interrupts, “You speak too quickly and I don’t understand what you are asking! I will ask someone else.” Thaes visits a Principian and he says, “I won’t let the Veilheimers make a carcass out of you. Why don’t you become a bronze statue like me?” Thaes says, “I may not look like a carcass in a statue, but it’s so heavy! I will feel like a carcass.” Thaes visits a Cyrenean and he says, “Don’t get prosthetics. Let yourself fall to pieces.”

Careless Weaver stands in the market with her wares, yelling, “Tubes! Get your metal tubes! Use them for anything you want! Water pipes! Prosthetics! Augers! Opium cooling!”. A guard asks, “Say, Careless Weaver. You are not an Industrial Mage. Where did you get these metal tubes?” Thaes says, “We got new spring-powered looms put into the textile factory. We revenants had a go, and now look at them. Post-hole diggers! Pastry stamps! Rolling pins!”

Although Thaes stories are mostly told in person, and their format ensures a ton of them are extremely horrible, there are some written compilations of them, and Thaes will probably become a character in the distant future the same way Gonot is a character now.

ROSANGELA AND BENDANIEL

In a world where the plague is a fact of life, it’s fitting that the most popular horror story portrays being plague-free as alienating and unnatural. As the plague reaches the western shore of Surenia, the royal family escaped by sea to Sidra, but burned all the ships they left behind. Rosangela and her husband Bendaniel are imploring a powerful mage to save them and their children, and before he leaves to Sidra, he gives them a book of instructions for a magic ritual that allows them to be plague-free while they are conducting it and live forever, free from revenants once it’s finished.

By the end of the month, the plague has hit the coastline, and both of them have been bitten by plaguebearing animals with no ill effects. But the steps of the ritual are steadily getting more difficult, rubbing human ashes on themselves and eating nothing. Fortunately, the ritual also protects their children, who are growing up and looking more and more like their parents. The ritual worsens, and by the time it’s finished, their whole town is empty except for them and insane revenants. Rosangela and Bendaniel starve to death in a pit of human ashes.

Their children are now identical to them, take their parents’ names, and have children of their own. Rosangela and Bendaniel and Rosangela and Bendaniel live like ghosts, unable to be touched by anything aside from their own family. When Rosangela and Bendaniel die, Rosangela and Bendaniel take their place as the heads of the family, and Rosangela and Bendaniel have to take on new responsibilities.

Rosangela and Bendaniel and Rosangela and Bendaniel live in a little house together, with a pit of corpses on one side for Rosangela and Rosangela and another pit on the other side for Bendaniel and Bendaniel.

Unlike the other stories, the city of Alhambra claims these people actually exist and are still alive. They are studied by the mages there, although it might be a lie to maintain Alhambra’s elite magic reputation. Rosangela and Bendaniel reportedly regret performing the ritual and refuse to share it, but it is known that it involves huge amounts of mugwort.

Most people believe Rosangela and Bendaniel don’t exist, and the story is a cautionary tale about extreme measures taken to avoid the plague being worse than getting the plague, which makes a lot of sense given that the most plague-free regions are filled with inbreeding, cannibalism, and/or violent xenophobia.

Some people believe that this story is about how life itself is bad, plague or no plague, since Rosangela and Bendaniel suffer every way the living can suffer before dying and compelling their children to replace them, and becoming a revenant is the only escape from going extinct or having someone take your place and continue to suffer.

#thief's apprentice #cure quest #wandering gonot #merciful death #thaes #rosangela and bendaniel #graphic injuries

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mediaeval-muse · 3 years

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Video Game Review: Assassin’s Creed Unity (Ubisoft, 2014)

Genres: action-adventure, third person, open world

Premise: Blaming himself for the death of his adoptive father, Frenchman Arno Dorian joins the Assassins during the French Revolution in order to seek redemption. Learning that his adoptive father was a Templar Grandmaster looking to promote peace between the Templars and Assassins, and that his birth father was an Assassin (killed by Shay in Rogue), Arno must investigate the Grandmaster’s death and contend with a changing Templar Order, while also sorting out his romantic feelings for Elise, the Grandmaster’s daughter. In the present, the Assassins contact the unnamed Absergo employee and recruit them to their cause, using Arno’s memories to find the body of a sage, which may contain traces of First Civilization DNA.

Platform Played On: PC (Windows)

Rating: 3/5 stars

***Full review under the cut.***

I am evaluating this game based on four key aspects: story, characters, gameplay, and visuals. I will also be evaluating the Dead Kings DLC.

Content Warnings: violence, blood, body horror

Story: Assassin’s Creed Unity primarily follows Arno Dorian, an Assassin operating during the French Revolution in 18th century Paris. Following the death of his biological father, Arno is adopted by Templar Grand Master de Laserre, who keeps Arno in the dark about the Templar-Assassin conflict. Thirteen years later, de Laserre is murdered following Arno’s failure to deliver a message in time. Arno joins the Assassins to seek redemption and learns that de Laserre was trying to make peace between the Assassins and Templars, but many did not share his vision. Arno must therefore track down de Laserre’s murderer with the help of his Assassin mentor, Pierre, and Elise, de Laserre’s daughter with whom Arno is in love.

There were several elements to the main story I liked: the idea of star-crossed lovers dropped in the middle of a murder mystery during the French Revolution was intriguing, and I liked that the crux of the conflict was a reigniting of the centuries-old Assassin-Templar conflict. However, none of the “crumbs” of the mystery felt particularly engaging; Arno would track down figures which were introduced then eliminated, and even the bigger characters (Robespierre, Germain, etc) didn’t have enough charisma to carry the plot forward. Given the premise, I would have liked to see more emphasis placed on Arno’s emotional journey, since his guilt and romantic turmoil seemed to be more fruitful areas to explore than the larger mystery. I would have liked to see more flashbacks to his memories with his adopted father (like Edward’s flashbacks in Black Flag) to make the mystery feel more personal, and I would have also liked to see more tension between Arno’s Assassin loyalties and Elise’s Templar leanings. The closest we got, in my opinion, to some satisfying interiority were some ghostly figures whenever Arno visited Versailles (good, but infrequent) and a really nice trippy sequence when Arno first joins the Assassins.

I also think this plot felt different from the previous Assassin’s Creed games because there wasn’t a lot of focus on the First Civilization. Arno encounters a Sage - a figure we were introduced to in Black Flag - but there isn’t a lot of focus on First Civilization artifacts or power. It’s not an unwelcome change, but it was different.

The French Revolution was a wonderful choice for a historical backdrop, though I wish Ubisoft had done more (narratively) to make Arno feel entangled with the world. As the game stands, the French Revolution feels more like a set piece - the background is there, and Arno interacts with some historical figures, but the plot itself doesn’t necessarily need to be set during the French Revolution. I would have liked to see the setting be integrated into the main plot more, perhaps by having the Assassins and Templars be more involved with historical events.

The present-day plot which usually serves as the frame in Assassins Creed games is almost non-existent, which made it feel like a distraction rather than an integral part of the story. Most of the modern stuff was just voice-over, with an anonymous Assassin guiding the faceless and voiceless “Initiate” to comb through Arno’s memories in search of a Sage. Periodically, the voice would alert the Initiate that Abstergo was onto them, and the player would have to take Arno through a series of rifts which featured anachronistic obstacles. Personally, I found these parts more annoying than anything, and they didn’t really come together to form a plot of their own, like in previous installments.

The Dead Kings plot was pretty basic. Arno was tasked with finding a manuscript in exchange for passage out of the city. Along the way, he discovers that Napoleon Bonaparte’s subordinate is trying to find an artifact of the First Civilization, which is hidden in a temple under the church. There wasn’t a lot to set this plot apart - it did the job, and I enjoyed myself, but it wasn’t particularly memorable.

Overall, I think Unity’s plot is mainly hurt by its open world setting. The world is so expansive and full of stuff that it detracts from the main narrative; because players can pick up or put down the mystery of de Laserre’s death, it’s easy to forget about it, making it feel less consequential (or, at least, not very urgent).

Characters: Arno Dorian, the PC character, is a charming protagonist with a lot of likeable qualities. He isn’t really a fan of how the Parisian Assassins are more like a cult than a brotherhood, and he’s witty and sassy while also holding onto admirable ideals. I wish Ubisoft had given him a better plot, though I did like that they didn’t overwhelm him with grief and guilt to the point where he was broody. He mostly had a light outlook on life without downplaying the seriousness of the conflicts around him, which made him a fun character to control.

Elise, Arno’s love interest, had a lot of potential. She was independent and highly competent, and I liked that Ubisoft didn’t make her into someone in need of saving. I wish she and Arno got to work more together and that they had had more scenes where they talked about their pasts, but I guess that would have been too sappy for the target audience. Without spoiling anything, I do have mixed feelings about how her story ended. On the one hand, I think it demonstrated a real character flaw that Elise struggled with throughout the game (I like characters to have actual flaws); on the other hand, she didn’t deserve that.

Other characters were a mixed bag. Pierre, Arno’s mentor, was pretty gruff and grumpy, and I didn’t get the sense that the two were particularly close. I wish more was done to cultivate that relationship, especially given Pierre’s arc. Other Assassins were too uptight to be interesting, and the bad guys weren’t charismatic enough to be intriguing. I did like the Marquis de Sade, but that’s because he’s Extra in fun ways. Leon, a child thief in Dead Kings, was also fun, mainly because he played off Arno well.

Gameplay: Unity differs a bit from its predecessors. While the core doesn’t change - players still need to use a combination of stealth and combat to navigate an open world and achieve goals - Unity introduces skill trees and upgradable weapons/equipment. To improve Arno’s abilities, weapons, and gear, players must collect money, earn “Creed points” (awarded for doing impressive things like ledge assassinations or perfect parries), and gain “sync points” (awarded for completing missions). In addition to collecting money from chests, Arno can upgrade his base at the Cafe Theatre to gain a steady income, though there aren’t any widespread economic mechanics, such as the forts/strongholds in Assassin’s Creed 2 or Black Flag/Rogue.

Unity also infamously introduces “helix credits,” a type of currency that players can acquire by paying real, out-of-game money for. Helix credits unlock abilities and upgrades faster (or else just access exclusive content from the online store). I hate this concept just based on principle, so I spent a lot of time exploring the map and unlocking every chest until I built up enough money to purchase legendary equipment.

Weapons themselves were easy to pick up and use, with familiar things such as the hidden blade, one-handed swords, two-handed weapons, pistols, berserk darts, smoke bombs, poison gas bombs, and the like. New weapons included the phantom blade (a silent projectile), the guillotine gun (a gun/blade hybrid gained in Dead Kings), and the introduction of long-arms (such as halberds). I found most of these weapons easy to use, though I did have to get used to the fact that the hidden blade is not selectable as a primary weapon - Arno uses it automatically when doing a stealth kill, but draws his sword or other weapon whenever the player engages in combat.

In terms of movement and stealth, I liked that Arno’s animations were more inspired by real parkour, but I did find it harder to move precisely in this game for whatever reason. I often got stuck on a ledge or wasn’t able to change direction very fast, all of which caused me to fail missions or get killed fairly quickly. I also didn’t like that Ubisoft removed the ability to whistle and draw enemies to a hiding spot; while there were haystacks and structures to hide behind or in, enemies wouldn’t walk by them very often, making them difficult to use for ambushes or stealth kills.

Side quests/activities included a range of things, from “Paris Stories” (quirky missions where Arno had to go kill someone or steal something), to Murder Mysteries (in which Arno had to search for clues and arrest the correct culprit to achieve unique weapons and armor), to “Nostradamus Enigmas” (riddles which led to different landmarks and rewarded Arno with keys to the legendary armor beneath his base). I personally found these fun, even if a lot of them weren’t memorable. They did their job and provided some entertaining little narratives, so I can’t complain too much.

Unity also introduces a lot of coop multiplayer missions, which can be completed with other players or on your own. Players can form or join “social clubs,” which are mainly just teams of gamers, or search the internet and complete missions with strangers. While I liked that the coop missions were able to be completed alone (they were harder, but not impossible) and I was able to play some missions with a friend, I did not like that most of them required players to replay them 3 times in order to get all collectibles and rewards. For a completist, the coop missions will be repetitive, and at times frustrating if there’s a locked door you can’t access without upgrading your skills.

In terms of collectibles, Unity primarily has money chests, cockades (which unlock color schemes for Arno’s outfits), newspapers, artifacts, and nomad points (which can be used in the companion app). Other than the money, I didn’t find the collectibles very rewarding - I didn’t have the companion app, and I didn’t much care for new color schemes or armor/equipment.

Dead Kings introduces tricorns as collectibles while also inserting a few “Franciade Stories,” Murder Mysteries, and “Suger Enigmas,” all of which resemble their counterparts in the base game. The enigmas in Dead Kings were a bit harder than those in the base game because the answers weren’t necessarily in or around landmarks; players have to really pay attention to the map instead of relying on the database for historical clues. I also found it annoying that players could get accidentally stuck in Dead Kings; if you start the DLC unintentionally, you can’t return to the base game until after you complete the first mission. It really sucks if you’re underpowered or just want to experience the narratives in order.

Visuals: Unity is a visually stunning game, with a lot of beautifully-rendered environments, character designs, and the like. The streets of Paris feel like they are inundated with chaos, with crowds of shouting people moving past walls papered with posters and defaced by graffiti, while the interiors are detailed according to the social class of the inhabitants. Arno can wander into a poor person’s home, empty save for the basics, or a rich person’s, decorated with gold and elegant paneling. I very much enjoyed exploring the world and seeing landmarks such as Notre Dame overlooking a rich, vibrant world.

I also really liked Arno’s outfits, all of which captured an 18th century aesthetic. Arno can wear a number of coats, hoods, pants, belts, and bracers, all of which feature a blue, white, and red color scheme by default. I liked that the color scheme wasn’t based around white, as in previous games, as it made Arno feel more part of his world.

In terms of animation, Unity is really buggy, even years after release. Characters would float in the air or get stuck in odd places, but even so, I didn’t find it difficult to complete the game. I did really like that Arno’s combat animations were inspired by fencing, and his kills were fluid and elegant, almost like a dance.

Final Verdict: Although Assassin’s Creed Unity attempts to bring a new kind of gameplay to the franchise and includes some charming protagonists, the difficult controls, lack of engaging plot, and introduction of microtransactions make it merely an average installment in the series.

#video game review

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writingdeskstories · 6 years

Text

The Princess and the Blade

Setting - A Ray Of Light Unto The World (Ray City)

Genre: Fantasy

Tone: Surreal

Population: Scared

Place: City

State: Abandoned

Ray city was found and colonised decades ago, it was quiet for a long time as people inserted themselves into the curiously empty streets, all named and dormant waiting for them. However in recent months magical events have started popping off spontaneously. People are terrified and unsure what to do as the city around them buzzes with magical activity.

Hero - Harriet Hammerhawk - Power 3

Type: Fighter

Motivation: Protection

Nature: Charming

Strength: Empathic

Flaw: Greed

Look: Outsider

A dashing treasure hunter/blademaster from lands afar, Harriet ventured to Ray City looking to make a name for herself as a bodyguard and defender of those who need protection. She's genuinely motivated by the desire to help others, but can't help being swayed by a chance to show off. Her unfamiliar bulky leather attire is off putting to the citizens, especially with its asymmetrical slant. But her silver tongue and magnetic presence ingratiate her easily to people.

Introduction: Being mentored

Harriet bellows out a laugh as she flips her attacker over her head onto his back on the floor, "I'm sorry, but you did make me do it again. You'll stop now, right?" She brushes her long red hair out of her face. It often goes a bit wild in a fight. "I-" the thief on the floor begins, but he feels her knee on his back, "Y-yes yes." She lifts the wiry man to his feet, "And you'll apologise to your victim?" He's shaky on his feet as he mumbles an apology to a young man who's more focused on his saviour standing over him. "Good! You're happy with that, right cutie?" she asks the young man staring at her. He can only muster a nod in response as he blushes violently. Harriet releases the thief who immediately bolts, and then tussles the young man's hair before heading back to her table.

"Can't resist gobbling up some spotlight, huh?" her hooded companion asks as she rejoins him at the table, "You know that'll get you in trouble one of these days." Harriet just shrugs, "It's fine, I'm just helping people. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

Quest

Objective: Deliver [object/person] to [place]

Quest Giver: Sage

Potential doom: Antagonist controls [thing/place]

Complication: The population resists

A princess needs safe passage to the centre of Ray, otherwise the Antagonist will take her and force her into an unwanted marriage. Her aging mother, a queen in hiding, requests this of Harriet. But she also warns that there will be a bounty on the Princess's head and anyone out for profit will be after her.

Antagonist - Lily Warrose - Power 4

Type: Dragon

Motivation: Family

Nature: Sly

Strength: Force

Flaw: Pride

Look: Fashionista

A stunning humanoid dragon, Lily is a force to be reckoned with as a local noble who stands out in her regalia and decadent dresses. Her family led the colonisation of Ray in the hope that they could regain their fortune by ruling the new city, but it hasn't panned out. She fiercely scours the city's underground for opportunities to put her family back on top even if she has to use her teeth, claws and scorching breath to get there. Yet she has failed to consider that perhaps her family doesn't deserve an ivory throne.

Quest Given: Advice

Suddenly, another figure joins them sitting in their third seat. A tall gaunt woman wearing ill fitting clothes keeping her gaze on the table, "Hello, you are Lady Hammerhawk, is that correct?" Harriet smiles back and offers her hand, "Just miss, not a lady. But you can call me Harry. My friend here is Cyril Petalblue, but just Cyril is fine for him. So who are you hiding from, miss...?" Harriet tries to lean in and see her guest's face. "Ahm, miss Nona, and it's my daughter more than me," she now meets Harriet's gaze, "Some people are trying to force her into an arrangement, and I need her safely taken to Tower Built of Brick and Notions, in the centre of town, discretely," she glances towards Cyril. Cyril exchanges looks with Harriet, both of them knowing she must be a noble worried about a forced marriage. Harriet answers, "I'm sure you've heard I'll protect anyone in need," she takes Nona's hand to shake, "So where is she now?" "I can take you to her, but please do be careful as there is a bounty on her head." Cyril tries to give an even more alarmed look to Harriet now, but she's already up and following Nona out of the pub.

Ally - Cyril Petalblue - Power 1

Type: Book

Source: Recently acquired

Strength: Force

Weakness: Ethereal

Cyril is what remains of a guardian, long since assigned to Harriet as a protector. It was intended to be a short assignment, but she takes very good care of herself and he has so far only been needed twice. Once when she was rescuing people from a burning building and once when she nearly choked on very hard bread. Both were valuable lessons. Cyril is a powerful protector that will stop any force, but his presence has grown very tenuous, and he wouldn't survive much.

Recruit Ally: Ally's Need

Cyril whispers in a hushed tone to Harriet as they follow Nona, "This is a baaad idea." "Oh you-" "No, I don't 'always say that', just when the ideas are bad," as they step out of the dark pub, he carefully eyes the people milling past them in the busy street. Cyril pulls his loose cloak tighter around his face, "Just be careful if they really are royals," he hisses, "I'd rather you not die, or worse, force me to actually protect you." "Aw, you'd miss me if your contract was finished?" she asks, blowing him a kiss. Thankfully Cyril can't blush, because his flustered and frustrated reaction was obvious enough, "Yes, you know that's true." "Ahem, we're here," Nona says, slipping into an innocuous doorway on the Road of Lost Faith and Forged Promises. "Try not to be too embarrassing in front of our clients sweety," Harriet says as she follows in. Cyril just sighs as he enters, wondering why he and everyone else let her get away with this.

Preparation Choice

Depart for the Quest

Train a Hero/Ally

Recruit a new Ally [CHOSEN]

Ally - Princess Sybillia - Power 1

Type: Book

Source: Recently acquired

Strength: Force

Weakness: Ethereal

A projection of the Princess given a quasi physical form, this is not the actual Princess though she is in control of the form and it can touch and interact with the world. The Princess's living body is dormant in the city as her psychic powers instead project her this form which knows where she is and can lead people to her inert body to help. This proxy can use Sybillia's fierce magic attacks to repel anyone who'd try to capture it.

Recruit Ally: Ally's Code

Nona leads them inside to a dusty, empty house. She knocks on the floor, rapping in a strange pattern. Just as Harriet raises an eyebrow, the ethereal figure of a young woman rises from the floor and becomes tangible in front of them. She's exceedingly nauseated by this experience, as she leans against the wall and gags. "Ahem, presenting my daughter, Sybillia," Nona says, awkwardly covering for the recovering girl. "She's a ghost?" asks Cyril as Harriet steps forward to offer a hand to her. "No, a material psychic projection," Sybillia explains, recovering and taking Harriet's hand, "I'm very much alive, my real body's just not here right now." Harriet shakes her hand, "A pleasure it is to aid a fine lady like yourself, I've not yet met a princess," Sybillia looks to her mother, panicked, "There's no use denying it, you just confirmed it for me. I support your right to freely marry who you want." "It's more about not marrying," she shakes her head, pulling her hand back, "Regardless, will you take me where I need to go?" Harriet smiles in response, already pleased with where this is going.

Preparation Choice

Depart for the Quest [CHOSEN]

The Quest Begins

The Hero must now step out from the status quo to start on their journey to tackle the Quest.

Quest Departure: First steps into unfamiliar territory

"How well do you know the way?" Nona asks them. Harriet smiles confidently in return. "Not at all," she replies, "We're quite new in town." Nona sighs as Sybillia asks, "Mother, are you sure?" Nona nods in response, "They will protect you." "Well I know the streets well, thankfully. I shall guide, and you protect," Sybillia declares. Cyril nods under his cloak, "Yes, your highness." Harriet sees Sybillia wince at that and elbows Cyril, "We do understand your need for discretion." "No it's not that, just... Please call me Sybillia." Harriet nods, "Shall we be off?" Nona puts her hand on Sybillia's shoulder, "I'd like to say goodbye to my daughter before you go." "You're not com-" Cyril can't finish before he's yanked out the door by Harriet, leaving mother and daughter for a private goodbye.

Obstacle - The Council - Power 1

Type: Undead

Cause: Enchantment

Strength: Force

Weakness: Pride

A non living body, reanimated and given a collection of consciousnesses. They altogether are a formidable force, but bickering and in fighting can hamstring their efforts.

Encounter: Hero's Weakness

Waiting outside, Cyril leans in close to Harriet, "You didn't even ask for payment." She shrugs in response, "I've got clothes and food, I don't need their money. I'm content just to help them." Cyril laughs, going back to leaning against the wall, "You don't want money but I know you're not just content. There's something else you want, I've been around plenty of time to see that." Harriet scoffs in response, but doesn't answer. And it's not long before they hear a cry for help from around the corner. Harriet looks to Cyril, "No Harriet, you can save them later!" But he's just yelling at her back as she dashes in to save the day again.

Conflict between Harriet Hammerhawk and The Council

Hero: Harriet Hammerhawk Flips

TAILS

HEADS

TAILS

Obstacle: The Council Flips

TAILS

The Council loses power and has been retired! Harriet Hammerhawk won!

Obstacle Conclusion: Their Weaknesses

"Don't worry, I'm here to save you," Harriet punctuates with a hair flick ask as she turns the corner, stepping into a dead end, spying someone's arm. But as she approaches, there's no sign of a person attached. At the last moment, she steps aside, pressing her whole body into the wall as a large mass of people falls to the ground, failing to tackle her. She immediately leans her foot on the strangely shaped figure's back, "Ah, so this is what passes for a trap these days?" "I told you it was a bad plan!” “Hey, my part worked, it was the tackling that didn't.” “If your part had worked we could have tackled her fine," the figure in the floor argues with itself, as Harriet leans over to see their face. Or faces, it turns out. They appear to be a manufactured body, made of parts from different people put together. Five heads on three joined torsos, with limbs made of multiple others bound together. "Excuse me, who am I defeating here?" Harriet asks, amused. They turn their attention back to her, "We're the Council.” “Don't tell her!” “Don't admit that she defeated us.” “We'll it's pretty obvious.” “And you just did anyway." "Ahem, right. And you were trying to do what exactly?" There's finally silence, as all of them avert their gazes, when Harriet presses her foot down harder and there's a chorus of wails, one answers, "We were meant to kidnap you so the Princess would be an easy mark." She shakes her head, "Word travels fast. Well you better give it up and tell others to do the same, or else next time I'll take away a handful of your limbs." The collection of people called the Council begin jabbering their apologies as Harriet gets up to return to her ward.

+1 coins: For winning a conflict with an Obstacle.

+2 coins: For retiring an Obstacle.

Overcome Obstacle: Quest Relationship

Standing on a far away street corner, the Council tells other bounty hunters of their defeat and the fearsome fighter that just barely escaped. A shadow falls on them as Lily Warrose flies down to land behind them with a graceful thud. She stands 8 feet tall with wings that fold in to fit in the street. Her deep purple scale mail and gauntlets glisten with a rainbow shine that contrast her pitch black skin. And a delicate silver tiara sits upon her head with a single blood red ruby embedded in it. The Council does not turn but can feel her breath on their back. "So, you're saying you failed to fetch my bride?" she picks up the Council and turns them to face her, "And you waste these people's time with your bluster." "I'm sorr-" one begins an apology but she breathes a hot fire and scorches the stone behind. "At least tell me where they went?" The Council meekly points silently, as Lily turns her attention and takes to the air.

Interval Choice

Uneventful Downtime

Training Break [CHOSEN]

Restore Lost Power

Warming Up: Method

Harriet turns the corner just as she sees Sybillia emerge from the doorway, looking around for her. "Alright miss Sybillia, how much exercise do you normally get?" "Exercise?" she asks, furrowing her brow. Harriet takes her hand firmly, "Ok well it's time to practice something. You ever dream about dashing across rooftops like a thief in the night?"

Attempt 1 Flips

TAILS [X]

Attempt 2 Flips

TAILS [X]

Attempt 3 Flips

TAILS [X]

Failure... Didn't raise Princess Sybillia's Power.

Training: Collateral

Cyril runs ahead as Harriet tries to lead Sybillia, but mostly drags her across the erratically shaped and sloped rooves of the city. Sybillia is already out of breath and struggling, when they come to a gap. Cyril leaps across effortlessly, but Harriet and Sybillia pause. "Think you can make it?" asks Harriet, eyeing her. "No!" she exclaims, taking her hand back, "Why are we even doing this, no-one is chasing us." Harriet shakes her head, "No, just no-one we can see. Look, I can get you across, if you trust me," she reaches out a hand offering it. Sybillia hesitates, before taking it. Harriet immediately lifts her into her arms and steps up to the ledge. "What, are you serious," Sybillia looks up at her, expecting a cheeky grin but instead she can see Harriet looking concerned and sincere. "Sorry, we have to. Hold on tight please," Harriet prepares herself. After giving Sybillia a moment, she dashes up to leap across the gap, landing with a roll on the other side.l next to Cyril with his head in his hands. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Sybillia shakily gets to her feet, barely able to stay up, "No, it wasn't. Thank you, this projection is just... Not quite like my real body." "We can go a little slower, now we've made some distance," Harriet walks up to support Sybillia's weight as they move on.

Obstacle - Grennet - Power 2

Type: Huge monster

Cause: Sent by antagonist

Strength: Relentless

Weakness: Ethereal

A creature that snaps from the shadows, he's hard to pin down because of how quickly he can retreat temporarily, but he will doggedly pursue his prey. Spread out over the city, it is easy for him to surprise anyone and drag them into the dark.

Encounter: Quest Progress

"It's nicer up here, isn't it," Harriet asks Sybillia as they make slow progress across the rooves, "Plus we can see how close we are." Sybillia looks up and sees the tower ahead of them, "Yes, it's far but it feels within reach. Though, I'm surprised how late it's gotten already," she frowns. "Late?" asks Harriet, "But it's the middle of the day." Sybillia's eyes go wide and she drags Harriet and Cyril off that roof onto another, "Look at the shadows, something is here." Suddenly they can all see how an unnatural layer of shadow covers the rooftops all over, and the roof tiles under the feet vibrate as someone speaks, "Now now Princess, I have a name. I am Grennet, pleasure to meet you all," a figure materialises from the shadow, doing a slight bow, "But I'm afraid now I'm discovered I'll have to take you back to my Lady Lily." The shadow disappears into the ground and Harriet panics, "Cyril, are you ready?"

Conflict between Harriet Hammerhawk and Grennet With Ally Cyril Petalblue assisting.

Hero: Harriet Hammerhawk Flips

TAILS

HEADS

[Cyril Petalblue] TAILS

Obstacle: Grennet Flips

TAILS

HEADS

Harriet Hammerhawk loses power. Grennet loses power. Cyril Petalblue loses power and has been retired! Harriet Hammerhawk and Grennet tied!

Obstacle Conclusion: Inflicted Wounds

Cyril leaps into the air, discarding his cloak to reveal the form underneath. A short, scrawny body lifts into the air as his wide feathered wings flap, keeping him above them all, looking down upon Grennet. "What is he..." Sybillia asks. Harriet steps in front of her, she always enjoyed when she got to see Cyril really use his power, but she was always afraid, knowing this was exactly when he'd be vulnerable. "What's this?" Grennet asks, with a smirking face appearing in the shadow. But the concern under the surface is clear as Cyril lifts his hands revealing a glowing halo over his head. A light burns from the halo, cutting into all the shadows around, especially Grennet. Panicking, Grennet stretches many long shadowy arms up to wrap around Cyril's legs and yank him down. Cyril flaps his wings hard, with a dozen shadowy appendages pulling on him. The shadows are being eaten away, and Harriet rushes in with a thin glimmering sword to slash at the ones that try to persist. Cracks start appearing in Cyril's midsection before the shadows retreat before they can be wholly consumed.

-1 coins: For having an Ally retired.

Losing Ally: Soured

Just as Grennet flees, Cyril finally starts to fall from the sky. Harriet rushes forward, catching him with a crunch. The cracks around his midsection spread even further. "Cyril... No," Harriet looks down knowing this is it. "Hey Harry, you've been my best assignment," he smiles as the cracks start to separate, "Come look me up when you die and arrive up there." Harriet playfully punches his shoulder, "You dummy, you already told me that's not how it works." Cyril splits in two, his legs falling away and shattering on the ground as Harriet holds his torso to her. Tears stream down Cyril's face as he says his last words, "Well, see you in another world." With that, he completely falls apart into shards. Harriet tries to pick one up, only to have it turn to dust in her hand, before she slumps down quietly.

Interval Choice

Uneventful Downtime [CHOSEN]

Training Break

Restore Lost Power

Downtime: Resting

Sybillia sits by Harriet, in silence for a while as she gives her space but eventually asking, "How long were you travelling together?" "Six years now," Harriet sighs, looking up at the late evening sky, "He was assigned to be my guardian because of a particularly dangerous quest a god gave me. He was so cocky," she smiles, "He thought I'd be dead in no time without him, but he hadn't seen me in action before. The way his assignment worked, he was bound to me until he was felled while defending me. We've had close scrapes before but now..." Sybillia hesitates before asking, "Is he... Dead, or..." Harriet shakes her head, "No just gone. They'll set him up with a new assignment likely, but he has no control over whether we'll get to cross paths. Apparently being an angel isn't that great a gig." Sybillia rests a hand upon Harriet's bare upper arm, "I have access to my magic even with this projection, I could... Give you something to remember him by." Harriet looks at her not quite understanding but nodding silently. Sybillia's hand glows a deep dark red for a moment before she lifts it to reveal a tattoo of Cyril flying into the air. Harriet climbs to her feet and offers a hand back to Sybillia, "Thank you." Sybillia takes Harriet’s hand and feels her squeeze it as they continue on.

Obstacle - Paladin Valencia - Power 2

Type: Construct

Cause: Sent by antagonist

Strength: Holy

Weakness: Brittle

A shining suit of gold mixed with steel, they are a paladin of the Thyssian draconic faith. They take on principles and goals, seeking to fulfill needs of their religion and parishioners. But as constructs they have their own will and judgement. Lily requested Valencia's help, but Valencia themself deems it a fitting quest to pursue for their kingdom.

Encounter: Hero's Intention

Sybillia and Harriet are moving at a slow pace when they come upon a suit of steel armor streaked with gold, standing stock still in the middle of an open space upon the roof. "A paladin," Sybillia whispers with fear and awe, as she squeezes Harriet's arm tighter. Harriet steps forward. "Release your prisoner," states the armor with a metallic echo. Harriet laughs and shakes her head, "I'm Harriet, what's your name?" "I am Paladin Valencia of the Thyssian faith, bearer of light, claw of the dragons and outstretched arm of Goddess Syl." "Valencia, I lost a dear friend of mine today. Can we please do this without more loss?" "Yes, return her to us and you will save countless dragon lives." Harriet turns her gaze to look at Sybillia curious, but not unconvinced. Valencia moves her arm and withdraws a long sharp chain, "I'm afraid that if you hesitate then your life is forfeit for my people's need."

Conflict between Harriet Hammerhawk and Paladin Valencia

Hero: Harriet Hammerhawk Flips

HEADS

TAILS

Obstacle: Paladin Valencia Flips

HEADS

TAILS

Harriet Hammerhawk loses power. Paladin Valencia loses power. Harriet Hammerhawk and Paladin Valencia tied!

Obstacle Conclusion: Inflicted Wounds

In a small way, seeing the weapon come out gives Harriet a momentary smile as she draws her own long thin sword and dagger. Both are simple unassuming blades but sharpened to a glistening point, "Stay back Sybillia," she calls out as she rushes Valencia, catching the chain around her sword to deflect its trajectory. Valencia moves minimally, only performing exactly the motions needed to control the whip, even creating a flick in the tail as Harriet tries to entangle it. The flick draws a long gash along Harriet's stomach but she holds steady. With the chain and sword entangled at arms length she rushes with her dagger to pry at pieces of the armor. "Get out of there," the echo quivers a little as Valencia drops the chain and wraps her arms around Harriet instead to crush her. Harriet finally pops off the chest plate, reaching inside the armor to grab at the ebony tooth that hovers inside the armor. But before she can yank it away, Valencia throws her to the ground and backs up. Her core is completely exposed showing a dull glowing tooth. "Y-you are not safe yet," she stammers, picking up her armor and now moving with a little more frantic energy. Harriet gets up from the ground, masking her cracked rib as Sybillia helps her slink away from the panicked Paladin trying to reattach armor.

-1 coins: For having an Ally retired.

Interval Choice

Uneventful Downtime

Training Break

Restore Lost Power [CHOSEN]

A New Ally

Restored 1 Power to Harriet Hammerhawk, up to 2

Recovery: Party Care

Nestled in an alcove of a building covered in sloping twisting surfaces, Sybillia assesses the damage with a frown, "Can you even walk?" Harriet nods and lies, "I can make it, we're not even that far." Sybillia sighs then chants under her breath, pulling a long stick from her palm. "Is that some kind of magic staff?" Harriet laughs, holding her rib. "No dummy, it's a stick for you to walk with," Sybillia replies and begins conjuring a bandage, "My magic can't heal bodies but it can still do something," she bandages up Harriet's wounds, "I'm sorry you've lost so much just for me..." Harriet puts a hand on hers, "Me and Cyril knew what we were getting into and your freedom was a worthy cause." Sybillia smiles back with guilt and warmth, "It is about more than that you know. There's kingdoms involved, and a dormant city ready to be reawoken by a returning monarch," she gestures dismissively to the city around them. Harriet shrugs, "All I know is, none of that is why I'm here." Sybillia softens a little, and slowly continues bandaging. It's a long process, and she's slower than she needs to be, enjoying their quiet respite.

Facing the Antagonist

The journey is almost over, but first the Antagonist needs to be dealt with.

Showdown Start

After their short rest, Harriet stretches. Feeling a little better as she gets to her feet, but still not 100%, "We're close too, I bet we'll get there by sunrise." "Excellent, then I can get there even faster," a stoic voice says, as they both look up to see Lily Warrose perched on the roof above them, she jumps down to land by them, "End this foolishness Sybillia before you force me to kill your protector." "Everything you've done, has just made me more scared to go with you. Just let me live my life," Sybillia pleads. Lily hammers her fist into the wall, "You don't care how many people die, do you? Your protectors and my people, just for your stubbornness." "My magic won't save you, you can't be fooled by stories." Harriet steps forward, "Forget it, she won't listen to you Sybillia." Lily sighs, "Fine if you insist we do this, but know it's on your head."

Conflict between Harriet Hammerhawk and Lily Warrose With Ally Princess Sybillia assisting.

Hero: Harriet Hammerhawk Flips

HEADS

[Princess Sybillia] TAILS

Antagonist: Lily Warrose Flips

TAILS

Lily Warrose loses power. Princess Sybillia loses power and has been retired! Harriet Hammerhawk won!

Showdown End

Lily leaps forward, flapping her wings to accelerate as she targets Harriet. But Harriet drops into a roll, moving spryly despite her injuries. Seeing she's missed, Lily lands to pivot, but a searing pain is in her wing, and she can see Harriet already stabbed her. "You might have been watching me with your other goons, but you haven't seen a real fight yet," she drags her dagger down Lily's wing, causing her to scream. Lily swipes a clawed hand at Harriet, but she deflects with her sword and leans in to stab at her chest with another knife. Lily pants raggedly, "I did watch," she wraps her arms around Harriet and lifts her up, painfully flapping her wings as one leaks blood, "You've gotta mind your range." Sybillia steps forward, her hands sparkling with a blue light as she charges a spell and stretches her arms up to blast Lily's good wing with a freezing cold that ceases its flapping instantly. Suddenly the bulky dragon falls to the ground with her hostage, landing right onto Sybillia with a crack as Harriet tumbles out of her grasp. Immediately on her feet, Harriet rolls away the Dragon to see Sybillia, choking on her last breaths. She reaches out her hand to Harriet, who takes it. Lily stands up behind Harriet and sees her target is about to fade and sighs dejected. Battered and bruised, she slinks away quietly.

+2 coins: For winning the showdown against the Antagonist.

Losing Ally

"Sybillia... I’m sorry I failed you,” Harriet says, on her knees by Sybillia’s side. “It’s ok,” Sybillia breathes slowly, her projection slowly deflating a little more with each breath. She reaches out for Harriet’s hand and grips it surprisingly firmly, “You did enough.” Harriet shakes her head, “No, no I could’ve done more.” Sybillia smiles, her legs now completely flat. Her whole body has a soft white glow, that then dissipates out towards the hand that grips Harriet’s. “Well, yes. You will do more, but you’ve also done enough,” she smiles, letting go as the project falls completely flat, leaving a bewildered Harriet.

It's Over

The Hero is about to try resolve the Quest, how will their story end?

Now to determine if Harriet Hammerhawk can complete their goal...

Coin Pool Modifiers:

+2 coins: Starting pool equal to Harriet Hammerhawk's Power.

+1 coins: For winning a conflict with an Obstacle.

+2 coins: For retiring an Obstacle.

-1 coins: For having an Ally retired.

+2 coins: For winning the showdown against the Antagonist.

Resolution Flips

HEADS

TAILS

HEADS

TAILS

Harriet Hammerhawk has accomplished their goal competently.

Quest Complete

Harriet looks at her hand, seeing a mark burned into her palm by Sybillia's projection, "A compass?" she mutters confused, as she looks at the mark. She tilts her head and brings her hand closer, but the compass on her hand moves as she does. Looking up, she realises it's pointing towards the tower, directing her. Harriet takes off in a hurry. No longer accosted she makes her way to the tower easily. The compass directs her in through a third floor window, around a spiral staircase and into a small room with just an armchair and a fireplace. Harriet looks around, frustrated at the seeming dead end, until she notices the compass pointing into the fireplace. She bends down to look through and sees only darkness. Getting down onto the floor, she crawls through and finds herself in a hidden dark room. She feels around blindly, finding a bed, and a person lying stock still on the bed. "Sybillia? Sybillia is that you?" she asks, her hands seeking out the person's face. She panics feeling the cold skin. But as her hand finds Sybillia's cheek, the compass mark begins to glow softly, just like Sybillia’s projection did. It’s still enough light for Harriet to make out Sybillia and Harriet breaks out in a wide smile. Sybillia looks up and weakly replies, "You found me."

Conclusion: The future of the antagonist

Leaning on each other, the two unsteadily walk down the steps of the tower, "So you're sure no-one followed you?" asks a wary Sybillia. Harriet nods, "The dragon thought you were a lost cause." Sybillia lets out a long sigh, "Maybe I really can get away from here, and just live my life." "You're... not worried she'll keep looking for you?" asks Harriet gingerly, but Sybillia shakes her head. "Marrying me to forge an alliance, reawaken this royal city and take advantage of my magic. It was all a half baked idea. I was never the solution to the Dragons' problems, and I'm sure they'll find some new way to try prop up their deflating empire." She leans against the wall as they approach a door out of the tower. "I don't think I can settle for that answer I'm afraid," Harriet shakes her head, and offers her hand "I strongly recommend you take a protector for safety. Who knows what could happen." Sybillia pushes her hand away, "I don't need any protector," She leans in to plant a peck on her cheek, "But I could use a companion to see the world with." She opens the door to the sun outside and dashes out, "Come on Harry!"

The End

Epilogue for Lily Warrose

Lily returned to her people, and the dragons continued in unrest. Though she sought more solutions, none worked. Nothing could prevent the dam bursting. The dragons as a people continued to roam and spread all over, no longer a concentrated power house. The Dragon Kingdom became an old story, but the people thrived far and wide. Lily never understood this. She continue to call herself duchess, and live alone in the stories of old.

Epilogue for Cyril Petalblue

Cyril ascended and was reassigned a new ward to protect. Some plucky young boy unfortunately targeted by some malevolent rulers with notions. He always had the memories of the good times with Harriet, and though he’d always deny it, he’d adopted a little of her bravado for himself.

Epilogue for Princess Sybillia

Sybillia was able to slip through the cracks, and not be a ruler any more. She met back up with her mother and they lived a simple life in another city as normal people rather than nobles. They were always curious about the news from the city they abdicated. It took a while for Sybillia to figure out what she wanted to do, but eventually she realised it was travel, and seeing the world she never could have seen if she were still shackled to a throne.

Epilogue for Harriet Hammerhawk

Harriet lifts herself up over a mound, finally at the peak of the mountain and takes a deep breath in, before turning to look the way she came, "Hurry up slow poke," She reaches down to offer a hand and lifts Sybillia up. "This... Was... Harder..." she says out of breath. Harriet slaps her on the back, "Well it was your idea. You could use the exercise after being stuck in that bed for so long." Sybillia lays down a blanket and takes out sandwiches for them as they both sit down together. Harriet looks out over the view below them, and Sybillia pauses watching her. "Do you miss it?" she asks, but Harriet just looks at her quizzically, "the excitement, the adventuring?" Harriet shakes her head and takes Sybillia's hand, "Every day is and adventure with you dear." Sybillia, groaning, tries to shove her away ineffectually, but Harriet doesn't budge and leans in laughing, "Sorry, I had to. I do miss Cyril, and the other companions I've travelled with. But I always adventured because I wanted to be a beloved hero. I don't need that any more." They squeeze each others hands, and Sybillia leans in for a kiss.

#story #fiction #fantasy #adventure

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retro-friki · 7 years

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New Utena manga: recap + analysis

(Our favorite gal-pals are back! Although we don’t see much of them)

First things first: Yes, there’s a new Utena manga and the escalation is available thanks to the people from Ohtori.nu. You can check it out here: (X)

Second important thing: In this post I’ll be writing about the plot in general and trying to analyze what’s going on there, if you don’t like spoilers I recommend reading the manga first and then maybe skipping to the analysis part of this writing.

Without further ado let’s recap this surrealist little story I like to call:

“Touga and Saionji’s Weird Gay Adventure”

It’s been 20 years and now Touga and Saionji are rival art dealers. It seems like Touga never really grew past his playboy phase and Saionji keeps suffering for his unrequited love towards his childhood friend.

(Just watch how salty he is)

One day they receive a mysterious leter urging them to go to their old school in order to gain “The Revolution”. Turns out “The Revolution” is a painting made by their former chairman (Akio) who committed suicide 20 years ago, however, a great amount of art pieces supposedly belonging to Akio had been discovered recently and are already being confiscated for taxation purposes, so Touga and Saionji decide to sneak in Ohtori to get “The Revolution” before anyone else.

Both men make a truce and team up to look for the painting, the problem is that neither of them haven’t seen “The Revolution” before, they only know that it’s a portrait of the chairman’s younger sister (Anthy). While talking about that, the ghost of Akio appears and asks them to protect the painting because someone’s trying to take it away from him. In exchange he’ll give them a will stipulating that Touga and Saionji are the legal heirs of all his possessions (I don’t think a will signed by a ghost has any legal validation, but whatever). Before Akio can disclose the thief’s identity he gets impaled by a sword that comes out of nowhere.

And it’s awesome.

The rose in the sword’s hilt looks familiar to Touga, but before he can remember anything, he and Saionji are whisked away into a strange dream/memory. They are taken back to that fateful day of their childhood where both of them witnessed a catastrophe that took many lives. That same day, they found a little girl lying on a coffin who had lost her parents in that event (Utena). At first she tells them that life is unreliable, Touga agrees with her. However, she suddenly changes her mind and decides to keep up living and become a prince in order to rescue another girl who is also suffering.

(preciousbabyutena.jpg)

The dream/memory ends and the two men get back to Ohtori and realize that they had the same visions. Saionji looks at Touga’s phone and finds out that his friend is still buying paintings from a man that has been repeatedly proven to be a pedophile. Saionji being a decent human being calls out Touga on that, but Touga really doesn’t care about “morality” because beautiful art is eternal and therefore more important that human lives.

They start fighting with swords and get transported to the Dueling Arena, where they conclude that they have no choice but to keep fighting,ok...

Look, I get the impression that they want to put Touga like some kind of tragic antihero that was deeply affected by the catastrophe but I can’t really buy it. Specially considering that in this timeline Utena and Saionji went through the exact same thing and reached different conclusions.

Anyway, Touga’s being all cynic and gothic until Utena is prompted to literally descend from the skies to stop this nonsense. It’s then revealed that she was the one that called them back to Ohtori. She grants Touga the power to revolutionize the world under the form of her ring and sword. Why would she do that to Touga of all people? She probably thought he was the most noble man on Earth after listening that he’s not even sorry for the things he has done. Sure. (/sarcasm) (there’s actually an explanation, but more on that later).

Touga and Saionji get back to Ohtori and use Utena’s sword to open an entrance to Akio’s secret room where they finally find “The Revolution” (a nude painting of Anthy because the universe is unfair). Akio appears once again and tries to attack Touga but Saionji takes the hit. Touga asks Utena to grant him some of her princely power and manages to kill Akio with the sword.

I will never get tired of watching Akio getting stabbed repeatedly.

Once the danger is gone, the two men notice that the painting has changed and now it shows Utena and Anthy together. The painting vanishes and Touga explains that they may have indirectly helped Utena in her quest to rescue Anthy. As they walk away arm in arm, Touga and Saionji discover that maybe, the real treasure was the friendship they regained along the way (or maybe something more than friendship).

II Ok, So What’s Really Going On Here?

As happens with anything concerning to “Utena” this story also gives more questions than answers and it’s open to many interpretations. So far I’ve come to three different conclusions in order to answer all the questions raised by the story in a more or less satisfactory manner (for me, at least). These are the following:

1. This manga is an AU and it’s not related to the original anime

2. It’s all a quick reinterpretation of the events of the anime from Touga and Akio's P.O.V

3. The story is actually about how Touga got the power to revolutionize the world

Allow me to explain myself:

1. This manga is an AU

Seeing this manga as a story of its own that’s meant to be read without comparing it directly to the anime will help us avoid lots of frustrating questions like: Why is Akio a painter if that only happened in the movie (which can also be seen as an AU)? Why doesn’t Touga show any signs of the maturity that he seemed to be about to gain at the end of the anime? (in other words: Why is he still such a huge jerk?) Why is Utena a ghost, a prince or supernatural being now? Where’s everybody else? And most importantly: Since when Saionji’s been interested in art? Reading the story as an alternate universe where things went differently for the characters makes more sense. Besides there’s evidence that this might be the case.

Although it’s true that Touga and Saionji were Student Council members and everything implies that they also dueled on this continuity theirs and Utena’s backstory is completely different. Let’s remember that when the two boys met Utena for the first time in the anime, her parents had died in an accident, there wasn’t any catastrophe that killed lots of people. Besides, this manga seems to imply that Nanami died too, which might be the reason why this version of Touga is disillusioned with life.

2. The story is a quick reinterpretation of Utena’s story from Touga and Akio's P.O.V

In this manga we see Utena deciding to become a prince to save Anthy and ultimately achieving her goal. One might think that there was no need for Touga and Saionji to be there. In fact I don’t understand why did Utena need their help unless she couldn’t do anything once she became a prince and she needed to pass her powers to a human or maybe she was using them to distract Akio while she performed the theft of the century (could this be a case of “Utena’s Malice”?)

Another interpretation can be that nothing that Touga and Saionji saw that night was actually “real”, maybe Akio’s ghost is constantly reliving the events that led to him losing Anthy. The “Anthy” and “Utena” that Touga and Saionji encounter are merely shadows that remained in Ohtori while the real Utena and Anthy are actually free in the Real World.

After defeating Akio, Touga may have remembered what happened 20 years ago and he interpreted it as Utena becoming a prince and saving Anthy. Since he was closer to the events than Saionji he immediately understood what happened while Saionji could not. This interpretation can be applied wether you see this manga as an AU or as a sequel to the anime. However, this isn’t really a story about Utena, because this manga mainly focuses on Touga’s story.

3. Touga Kiryuu and the Power to Revolutionize the World

Touga is the main protagonist of this manga, there’s no doubt about it, therefore the story centers on his development (or lack of, depending of how you read it). In all iterations of “Utena” the Power to Revolutionize the World refers to a change, but this transformation is on a more intimate level in which the people that are benefited by the Revolution make a substantial change in the ways they have led their life.

Touga faces a disjunctive and has to chose between two options: becoming Akio’s heir or revolutionizing the world. Although the manga never shows Akio abusing his sister one can infer that this may be the case, specially since he treats her as an object and even Utena realized that Anthy was suffering. Akio is no different from the pedophile painter that Touga is financing. Becoming Akio’s heir meant that Touga would continue with his cynical attitude and more sooner than later he would also become a monster and lose his only friend. When Touga receives the Power to Revolutionize the World he gets the possibility to change, but he had to chose change by himself.

At the end, he decides to destroy Akio and he’s able to do this because he met someone that inspired him. Utena is someone that Touga feels identified with since she suffered like him and even came to the same conclusions about life. However, she changed in order to achieve a noble goal and that ultimately showed Touga that he could make a positive change in his life. So yeah, my interpretation is that after this story, Touga will finally become a better person and revolutionize the world.

Finally, I think the manga is mostly ok. This is a great Touga and Saionji story, however it does a disservice to Utena and Anthy’s arc and this is mainly because Anthy isn’t a character in this story. The problem here is that even if Utena was the only one that didn’t see Anthy as an object and manages to rescue her, Anthy doesn’t have any say in all this. It seems like the victims don’t really matter unless they serve as a motivation for other characters. On the other hand Anthy’s lack of involvement can be explained by concluding that this is Touga , Akio and Saionji’s POV and they never saw Anthy as a human being to begin with. The other explanation is that the author really didn’t care about Anthy…

Anyway, this was the 20th anniversary manga, let’s see what the next story has in store for us. If you have any corrections or alternative interpretations of this manga I’ll be happy to read them.

#revolutionary girl utena #shoujo kakumei utena #touga kiryuu #Kyouichi Saionji #utena manga #meta

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tumblunni · 7 years

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I had a weird cool dream!

It was like some kind of mmorpg, and the intro was kinda like that bus from the third harry potter movie? Everyone started on a long several days bus trip from their various back story tutorial areas to the main town, and the quirky cast of bus staff would give you more tutorials on the more optional features and guilds and stuff. I remember I got one free costume dye thing, and I thought that was a great idea! Everyone's newbie clothes would look more distinct and you'd feel more customized! And it'd be a good preview of an ability you wouldn't be able to use again for ages.

Anyway the main bus NPC was a Cool Gay Grandma who I think maybe was married to the tailor shop grandma so that's why you got the free clothes? Probably you could see more of the tailor grandma later and get attached to her as she talks about missing her adventurer wife who drives all over the world in her magic bus, and then maybe there could be a side quest or something to deliver a love letter between them and you'd have to disguise yourself as a poor newbie in need to catch the bus again...

Man I'm going offtopic lol! Anyway I remember that bus grandma had big red goggles like xerosic and she was super tiny and super nice but also A SPEED DEMON. Her bus was like the monster truck of buses, it was like a whole moving apartment block with giant exhausts/chimneys and then it would blaze across the continents so fast you could make any journey in 3 days. And similar to the bus from harry potter it was like invisible and imtangeable to anyone she didn't choose to allow on as a passenger. But like it felt less like an impossible natural magical occurance and more like one really crazy awesome lady who spent her life finding ways to defy physics just to help everyone everywhere with monster truck power~! Also apparently in this universe it was some sort of stereotype that gay grandmas have dogs cos she was like 'well I guess you guessed cos of the dog toys' and that was like.. The only incoherent part of the dream. She just pointed to some insane unknowable dream object that was apparently a dog toy. It looked like a skateboard made out of those rubber hotdogs?? Also I think she probably either had a tiny Cerberus puppy or a giant sized regular dog. Something monstery! I think it was what fueled the engine with its fire breath, but I didn't get to see it during the dream.

And then the race I picked in this game was demon, and I was like some sort of adorable lalafell-ish one? Like, you could actually select character age, not just one race of kid lookin charries. The vast majority of other demon players were all buff or sexualized or emo teens or whatever and I was just like 'hello, tiny shonen protagonist here!' (Cos it was more like a ten year old than like.. Whatever lalafells are. Five? That would be more messed up if it was an actual five year old being attacked by monsters rather than just a magic fairy who looks younger than they really are.)

Oh and there was like a preview of.. I think guildmasters? Some sort of characters that would be bigger important roles during your journey. But when you met em here it was just like 'hey some odd but nice random customers on the bus.' They'd appear at random every day and sometimes chat with you or join in to help your tutorials and stuff. (Apparently bus grandma is so badass she can boss around the government officials of the demon capital and they'll react like frightened school kids! "If you want a free ride, you'll do some work, Sonny Jim!" "Can't I just pay you?" "NO." *points to sign: free since 96*)

So yeah after your few days journey tutorialy you'd get off the bus and realise HOLY SHIT I WAS TALKING TO IMPORTANT GUYS. I don't remember much about what any of em looked like tho or what guilds they led. Like was it a political thing or were they like the job class masters? But I do remember that they were all demons and I think you'd get a whole different cast of them depending on which race you picked and which starting city was at the end of the line. And I just remember one of them was a cool lady with like the cliche samurai ponytail and then really eye-catching thin elaborately patterned horns that looked the colour of molten metal. She was possibly the swordmaster teacher? And she was all seriously and she had like a.. Friend or brother maybe? There was another character who was always hanging out with her and being all huggy and jokey and she had a general attitude of 'if this was anyone else I would have killed them for that'. Like total opposite chilled out Hau-esque personality and somehow bffs with serious lady. I think he had curly afro hair and blue ram horns that looked kinda like seashells? And might have worn a striped scarf. They were like opposites but I think possibly she also had a scarf and it was like some super serious tattered one that's seen a thousand battles and flows behind her like a sentai hero. And he's just like "LOOK WE MATCH!" *the cutest thing he could find* "sigh.. Yes brother..."

And I think possibly it was some funny dynamic like they were the heads of rival job classes and all their students hate each other and then its like 'hey sis mom packed you a lunch' *hugs* *then straight back to battling* But I got the sense that hugs bro wasn't really into the rivalry, he was just comically oblivious that his team all hate the sword team, and they kept tricking him into stuff like 'yeah let's compete against them in the worldwide tournement, that'd be a full friendship activity!' *stands there blankly as everyone tries to kill each other* 'boy my sister sure does love and respect me' *currently in a headlock by her*

Oh and I think you could choose different back stories for your character? Im not entirely sure what mine was but it involved someone recognising me from a royal ball or something? So maybe I was a runaway prince masquerading as a commoner? Or maybe I was a commoner who broke into that ball and almost got caught? Maybe I was even a phantom thief???

And then the weirdest part of the dream is that I DREAMED A GLITCH IN THE GAME?? On the last day of the bus tutorial it suddenly lagged out from too many players disembarking at once. I think it was something like the whole side quest was a solo instance until the last minute, but they kinda planned it badly and the bus couldn't handle the sheer volume of newbies all taking the quest at the same time. So I literally couldn't get through the door from so many people, and then the lag glitches me out and flew me forward several days in game time. (Cos of the sidequest's gimmick of having multiple days pass with different events) it was like a two week long session of redoing the same tutorials, and then cos the tailor shop preview was time limited all my equipment had vanished by the time I finally got out.

I think the developers said the intention was that you could 'get your first sight of multiplayer' and hopefully make friends with other newbies, but they planned it poorly. So in later patches everything on the bus was singleplayer and then they added sort of a lobby area for newbies only chat and stuff before you got into the main game. And limited it to only showing players in randomly selected blocks of fifty, but with a mailbox NPC that could teleport your friends to the same version of the room if you had a name to go on. (But then it had more glitches with people who'd summon 100 friends to a place with a capacity of 50, but it was generally considered 'well that's your own fault')

So weirdly developed! I think I was playing a real game from another dimension!

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ineverhadmyinternetphase · 7 years

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Steal My Heart (steal my whole heart too) 6/24

Genre: Chaptered, fantasy AU, Prince!Phil, Thief!Dan, romance, enemies to lovers, angst and fluff, slow burn (like serious slow burn)

Warnings: some violence, mentions of death (no main characters), dark magic, descriptions of wounds/blood, some hints of sexual scenes (but no actual smut), murder, dangerous situations, stealing/thievery

Summary: Captain of the Royal Guard and Prince of Morellia, Philip Lester has never been given the chance to find love. Instead, he’s run from a system that works to end class differences and improve equality for its citizens. Happy as he is to make the world a better place, Phil can’t help feeling bitter towards his ancestors for making it impossible for him to find someone who will actually love him for more than just his title, and strives instead for a life of justice and doing good - only to meet his match in the King of Thieves, a man who will change everything he once thought he knew in life. Together, they must depart on a quest to save the kingdom, and, in the process, destroy their differences and find their own form of love.

Word count: 240,000+

Updates: Sunday

Thanks so much to @phansdick for betaing this giant monster, as she’s been super helpful and encouraging with her little comments and endless excitement. We couldn’t have done it without you <3

Disclaimer: In no way do I claim that this is real or cast aspersions on Dan or Phil

For reference, @insanityplaysfics is Phil, @ineverhadmyinternetphase is Dan

(Masterlist) (AO3)

Chapter Six

Dan made it all the way back to his base in the city before he realised that he'd left his three daggers behind.

He cursed softly to himself, glaring at the empty place in his boot. That made four of his favourite daggers he'd lost because of Phil now. Much to Dan's distaste, that meant he couldn't risk staying in the city - even he wasn't foolish enough to attempt a night on the streets unarmed - so, despite the hunger crawling in his belly, Dan forced himself to move, exiting the city by the Southern gate to head back to his desert hideout.

By the time he made it there, Dan was exhausted and frustrated with himself, completely unable to take his mind off of Phil. The way Phil's eyes had glittered with something close to hope when Dan had leaned into him, the sound he’d made, as if he wanted Dan, as if he actually liked Dan...

But it was impossible. With all of Dan's teasing, he wasn't foolish enough to think that he could make a moral Prince fall for him, and Dan certainly would not return those feelings.

And yet, the way Phil had melted against him just before Dan had fled...

Dan shook away the thoughts with a frustrated growl. Instead, he went to wash the worst of the soot and sweat from his body, then hunted amongst his treasures until he found his stash of stolen daggers, grimacing a bit when he saw the collection. He had plenty, but none of them were as well broken in as the three he'd lost today. Phil was most likely keeping hold of them - Dan would have to persuade him to give them back, somehow.

Thoughts of exactly what persuasion techniques he could use led Dan's thoughts down a dangerous track. He ignored them with another growl and settled in to choose the best of his remaining daggers to go hunting with. There were only two that were even vaguely sharp, which disgruntled him a lot. Dan made a mental note to demand them back from Phil as soon as he possibly could.

And it would give him an excuse to see his Prince again.

Once he had a decent meal inside of him, Dan settled into his cave, once again reading the fairy tales by firelight. It had become nightly tradition for him to curl up in the company of his raven and the bugs and scorpions that roamed the desert at night, parchment open in front of him. The fairy tales calmed him, and he slept peacefully.

Dreams of intense blue eyes haunted him, and Dan woke with the thought of his Prince on his mind again.

Dan wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, he knew it was a terrible idea. Getting tangled up with a Prince could only end badly for both of them, and Dan shouldn't take the risk for the sake of a simple fling he could get in any of the city taverns he regularly frequented. There was nothing to gain from his endless thoughts of Phil.

Only ... Dan wasn't so sure that Phil would only be a fling. The strange way Dan's stomach flipped whenever they were near, coupled with the strange desire to protect Phil, to make him happy, and to make him solely Dan's - those desires were new, and Dan didn't quite know what to do with them.

So, for now, he ignored them.

In the morning, Dan sent another raven off to the Palace, chewing his lip over the wording until he had it exactly right.

Phil,

You seem to have some things of mine. Careful, they're sharp - don't accidentally stab yourself.

Leave them somewhere safe until I can get to the city to collect them. I expect to be there around noon. Send my raven back to me with the place.

-- Dan

Dan then set about collecting a stash of food and essentials he could bring into the city with him. If Dan wanted to get as much of Phil's attention as he could, then he needed to be in the city, as risky as that may be when he'd come so close to being caught.

But, well, Phil was always there to get him out of a tight spot if need be.

By the time Phil had returned home, the royal's his family had been entertaining were long gone, retired to the bed chambers that had been set aside for them, and both Martyn and the King were waiting up for Phil, their mother having disappeared to rest for the night. Slightly suspicious, Phil wandered into the den with them with brows drawn high, having caught sight of them on his way back down from his rooms in search of a warm meal.

The armour of his station had been replaced with bed clothes and a robe, and his arms crossed protectively over his body out of some strange sense of suspicious necessity, as his father smiled at him and Martyn waved him in, looking far too pleased with himself. Phil was unsure how to take the expression of triumphant lit there, when for the past few days, Martyn hadn’t even been able to look at Phil or their father after what they’d discussed at dinner the other night.

"We heard the guards talking. Have you finally caught your King of Thieves, then?" his father asked, motioning to another arm chair for Phil to settle into once he’d closed the door of the den behind him. Phil accepted the seat, careful as he took in the strange mix of emotion between his father and his brother, and trying not to let the excitement and affection he was currently feeling after tonight’s events fade through his exhausted countenance.

"No, it wasn't him. It wasn't exactly a guard in training either, though, it was some idiot who thought he could convince another one of my men to set him free before taking off. I took him in, but he most definitely wasn't the King of Thieves. I doubt he'd be caught that easily regardless," Phil explained with a put upon sigh, resting his head back and closing his eyes.

Beside him, Martyn chuckled, and Phil did his best not to react in any way.

"Right, but you took off running for him anyway. Are you sure you don't have a crush, Philip?" Martyn teased. “Are you sure you didn’t want to make the courtship official, yet?” he added, voice full of scorn.

Opening his eyes once more, Phil turned to glare at his brother, gritting his teeth and finally taking note of the angry glint in his brother eyes that told him everything he needed to know. This was meant to be some kind of intervention, some kind of forced turn around on Phil’s supposed obsession with the King of Thieves, and he would not be having it.

"Fuck off. I don't. It's a matter of pride, taking him down. One day, I will catch him,” Phil claimed, narrowing his gaze at his overly gleeful brother.

The double entendre from earlier came back to Phil's mind, then, and he had to bite back a smile as he ducked his head.

Yes, Phil most definitely desired to catch his thief, but not for the reasons he liked to proclaim - and that was where the trouble came in, because Phil was anything but a fool. He was falling for his thief, a man who was everything Phil stood against, but whose witty tongue and mischievous demeanor was everything Phil was missing in his life; not to mention Phil’s father had well and truly skewed every thought Phil had ever had of his thief until he was unsure whether or not Dan was truly an immoral man or not.

After the strange conversation they’d all had at the dinner table the other night, when his father had talked about the difference between what was truly the right thing to do, and what society considered that to be, Phil had done a lot of digging into what his father could have possibly meant. It hadn’t taken much for Phil to learn everything he could about the so called “black market” he’d mentioned, which was indeed an underground place of trade thought of as horribly immoral by those with riches aplenty, but which, while run by criminals who often cheated people of their spoils, was a genuinely good place for the orphans and the poor Phil’s family and the royals of their society had long since flung out to their death. What Dan did by selling his spoils to this so called “black market,” was anything but immoral, regardless of what their society said, and it had well and truly shocked Phil to the core.

Every last inch of vengeance and every last cry for justice Phil heard calling towards him to take down the King of Thieves was in shambles, now, because what justice would Phil truly be doing by taking Dan off the streets? What Dan was doing… was merely making it so those with no chance to live, could live.

It really wasn’t helping matters that with each passing day, each passing meeting with Dan, his thief made Phil feel more and more special, until he wanted nothing more than to give up everything and just… be, with him.

Be with the King of Thieves, of all people. Phil would be better off ripping his heart out right there and then.

He had to keep reminding himself that Dan had tried to use him, that Dan would continue to try and use him, no better than the girls and boys who’d come to his bedchambers at the end of every night, hoping to get in with him, and wanting nothing more than to be able to call themselves a prince or princess. But every time Phil tried to remind himself of this, he remembered the way that Dan had apologized to him the second that Phil had said no, and how Dan had respected him from then on out.

It was far too difficult, far too late now, for Phil to ever fall - to ever fall out of whatever he was feeling now towards his King of Thieves. He was already a goner.

He just knew he had to be careful. Dan had told him once if Phil wasn't careful, he'd lead Phil to hell, and Phil believed those words. He also believed that if Phil followed Dan far enough, Dan would be the one capturing him instead of the other way around.

“Are you sure that’s what you truly want, Philip?” the King asked him then, jostling Phil out of his thoughts so thoroughly that Phil’s eyes went almost dramatically wide. It was as if his father had been reading his thoughts, because no, that was not what Phil truly wanted at all.

He pushed himself out of the arm chair they’d convinced him to rest in, and stood, only to glare at his father.

“Of course it’s what I want, father,” Phil insisted, his heart beating heavy and hard in his chest. He could not be found out like this, he could not. “He is our greatest enemy. He stole your father's crown,” he tried to remind them both, desperate to convince them both that he did not have any feelings for his thief, that this so called intervention was unnecessary.

But the King merely rolled his eyes at Phil’s denial’s.

“A mere family heirloom that was never going to be touched again, let alone admired, Philip? Do you truly think I value a crown over the good of our people? Over my own son’s happiness? His chance at love?”

That, at the very least, shut Phil up, and he stood staring, confused, between his father and his brother, whose expression seemed to finally be crashing, his eyes furrowed in abject horror as he, too, stared at their father.

“Wait. You cannot be serious, father? I thought, surely, we were on the same page, here. You can’t truly think -”

“I think nothing, Martyn. Merely that your brother’s thief may not be so bad as we all think.”

Phil didn’t think his eyes could get any wider, and he stared, mouth suddenly dry, between his brother and his father, wondering what in the world was happening here.

“You’re the one - you said - you said, father, that if Philip had finally captured the King of Thieves then - !”

“Then, what, Martyn?” Phil interrupted, his brows growing furrowed all over again, anger pulsing hot and heavy through his veins. “Then what, you’d get your way?” he snapped, taking a harsh step forwards, exhaustion completely forgotten in the wake of the sudden adrenaline rush. “That the King of Thieves would be murdered, at your hand, as all other criminals before him?” he hissed. “Did we, or did we not, do away with the death penalty, Martyn? When are you going to let this one go?”

Martyn’s eyes narrowed as well, and he crossed burly arms over chest, nearly as burly as Phil’s own. Phil could still take him in a fight any day.

“I merely meant that he would pay for his crimes, and I merely meant to protect you. I will not have my foolhardy brother falling for a criminal, Philip, let alone accepting a courtship with him.”

Phil’s fingers crushed into fists at his sides as he glared at his brother, taking another menacing step forward. For the first time in all of their lives, Martyn stepped back from him, his face crumpling into one of surprised fear. Phil wondered, in that moment, what his own expression must look like.

“It is none of your concern who I fall for, brother, let alone who I accept a courtship from, even if it is the King of Thieves,” he spat, and realized, belatedly, that he had drawn the dagger always on his person, and was holding it deftly between him and his brother.

His heart was racing, and he was in protective mode, desperate to keep Dan from harm, but never, ever had he drawn a dagger on his own brother before.

Phil hid it back in his trousers quickly enough, taking a deep breath, and stepped away from Martyn. With a hooded, shamed gaze, Phil turned his expression to his feet and muttered a quick apology.

“Sorry, father. Martyn. I merely - there is nothing going on between me and the King of Thieves. He is nothing more than my enemy.”

When Phil turned to leave, he caught one last look of his father’s expression, and wished that he had not.

“I do not care who has your heart, Philip… merely that you do not lose yourself to them,” he said, and Phil could do nothing more but walk away.

Phil slept fitfully that night, consumed with fear at the way he was falling for Dan and how closely he'd come to giving into him fully that night had Dan not walked away from him when he had. The giddy feeling in his stomach had not yet faded, but there was panic there too, and it made his dreams far more troubled than he’d wanted them to be. There was a constant mash of confused emotion swirling through him, and Phil had no idea what he should do. He seemed to have his father’s blessing, if nothing else, and he was aware, now, that Dan was far from the horrible criminal of Phil’s dreams, but… could he really trust his heart with a thief?

By morning, Phil was exhausted, and no better off than he had been last night. His brother was refusing to look at him again, let alone speak to him despite the preparations for the wedding that currently kept them forcefully in each other’s company, and his father kept tossing him understanding smiles that only confused Phil more. How could everybody know how he was feeling better than himself, and how could his father be so okay with Phil’s desperate desire to be courted by the King of Thieves, of all people? Phil had expected so much worse than he was getting, something that would shock him into doing what was right, rather than following his heart, but now that that was not happening, Phil didn’t know what to do with himself.

Due to that, the moment he was given the chance to take a breather from suit tailoring and food testing, Phil escaped to the palace gardens for a breather and a chance to clear his thoughts.

The palace was currently overrun with royals - dukes and duchesses, lords and ladys, the works, all of whom had eyes only for Phillip Lester, brother of Crown Prince Martyn who was about to be taken off the market for good. His betrothed, Cornelia Frila, and him had been courting practically since they were children, and no one dared to break up the soon-to-be-marriage now, but Phil? Phil was open season, and it was hard enough these days to get away from all the looks and the flirtatious smiles, so the moment he was able, he snuck away, praying that no lady or lad came to find him and ask him for his hand in courtship.

It was hard enough trying to deal with the King of Thieves and his own flirtations, let alone the mishmash of royals Phil knew wanted nothing more from him than his last name. It didn’t help that every time a smile had been tossed his way that morning, Phil had been unable to think of anything other the King of Thieves and how he’d requested that Phil find no other but him while he was stuck under the eaves of the castle.

Phil had told him not to worry, that there was no room for love in the captain's life, but that, it turned out, was not entirely true. The only room for love Phil had left… was for Dan, and that was not something he could allow himself to have.

Was it?

Phil had only been in the gardens for about a quarter of an hour when a familiar raven descended from the sky and landed on his shoulder once more, offering its leg to Phil the same it had every other day it had arrived.

Instantly, Phil knew who the letter was from, and as he detached the old parchment from the raven’s foot, he could think of nothing but the daggers he kept hidden safely away in his chambers, and his desperate desire to see his thief again.

Dan

South Gardens, Royal Palace. We'll be waiting.

-- Phil

The southern gardens were Phil's favorite place to frequent. They had the prettiest flowers, the least amount of guards, and… something special Phil fully intended on sharing with Dan. Maybe it was stupid and Dan wouldn't appreciate any of it the way Phil did, but… it didn't matter. Besides, it felt good to finally have someone to share special things with, and it felt like an invitation of trust to invite Dan into the palace walls themselves in the first place.

Phil wanted this so much.

He knew it was dumb, that Dan was dangerous, a criminal who was never going to give up his life of crime, and yet he couldn't help himself. Dan had admitted he flirted with near everyone, and so Phil had no reason to feel special, and yet he did.

He wanted to feel special.

If nothing else, he wanted this spark he felt with Dan to be real, to have a chance, to know that, if nothing else, this one person in Phil’s life actually wanted him, and not his title, or his prestige, or even his riches. Phil would give it all just to have a chance…

He hoped, maybe, today, he could poke and prod, see if he meant as much to Dan as Dan meant to him, see if maybe, just maybe, they could work together to create something better for this world, and if Dan never wanted to give up his life of thievery… well, Phil was coming to learn that Dan’s actions were not so terrible after all. What he did was not for the benefit of himself, nor was it for the desire to hurt the rich. It was merely the same balancing act that Phil performed, attempting to unite the lower classes with the upper classes and restore a balance that currently did not exist, and that maybe never would if people like Phil, like Dan did not exist.

Sometimes, one had to do the wrong thing in order to do the right.

Phil sighed. He just hoped he wasn’t wrong in this. After all, Dan had already proclaimed his hatred of the upper classes in great deal before, spit on Phil for being a highborn himself, and despite what Phil had done to make things better, he had no real reason to believe that Dan would ever, ever want to romance a Prince, let alone Phil. On that same note, nothing was stopping Dan from romancing Phil merely for his prestige, for his riches, and while Phil did not want to think that of his thief… he knew he had to be careful. It was just difficult when, for the first time in his life, Phil wanted nothing more than follow his heart.

Dan had just about managed to stash all his belongings safely away into a backpack when his raven came flying back to him, carrying a new message from Phil. Dan smiled upon seeing the writing - the Prince's hand was much smoother and neater than Dan's own. Dan supposed that was what a palace education got you, as opposed to a rough teaching on the streets. It fit Phil well, though - proud and upright, just like the Prince himself.

Dan's brows shot up when he read the message, though. The Palace gardens? Phil was inviting him into the Palace itself? Already, Dan could feel his fingers twitching, the thought of all the riches of the Palace right at his fingertips. Even if he couldn't steal right then in front of Phil, he could at least scope out the area to find a decent way in.

Only - the thought of stealing from Phil soured Dan's stomach. Stealing from the Crown Prince, or the King or Queen, that he could do, but from Phil? It felt - wrong somehow.

And that right there was when Dan knew he was in too deep. He'd never once felt bad about stealing from anyone, until now.

And yet, Dan was powerless to his feelings. As much as his iron self control steeled himself, Dan knew he'd never be able to treat Phil as a victim again. They were equals - enemies, perhaps, but equals with a begrudging mutual respect. Besides, Phil had Dan's daggers. He had to see him again to get them back.

His heart stuttered at the thought of seeing those intense blue eyes again.

Dan gave his head a final shake, shouldered his bag, and pulled his hood low, heading into the city.

Dan arrived around noon, just as he'd expected to. He made sure to stop off and drop his things into his base, leaving only with his black cloak lined with riches and a different three daggers concealed about his person. Hopefully, he'd be able to replace them with his favourites once he got to Phil.

With the sun high in the sky, the heat was almost unbearable, and Dan wiped the sweat away from his forehead, but couldn't risk lowering his hood. Especially not with where he was going. He stuck to the shadows, avoiding eye contact, and felt more and more conspicuous the closer he got to the Palace. He slipped around the back, the tall imposing walls leering high above him. Dan had spent many hours staring wistfully at them so he knew exactly where the Southern Gardens were. He just had to find a way in.

Once Dan reached the right place, he slipped into a small back-street and pressed his eye up against the wall. There were no guards looking from this angle, so as long as Dan was quick and there was no one in the garden other than Phil, he should be safe.

A quick glance through the crack in the wall showed Dan that Phil was indeed alone, wandering among the pretty gardens. He wasn't in his armour, but neither was he in his thief's outfit for the streets - this was the first time Dan had seen him dressed casually, for home.

It stole Dan's breath away.

Dan shook away the thought, plastered a smirk onto his face, and without any further warning, scaled the wall and dropped down right in front of where Phil was pacing.

"Well, hello, my Prince." Dan dusted himself off casually. "Fancy seeing you here?"

Just as Phil was glancing at the sun, wondering if he should have found a way to dismiss the guards to help Dan get in, his thief appeared behind him.

Phil whirled, smiling immediately upon seeing Dan behaving so casually as he wiped himself off, always the perfectionist.

"Fancy seeing you here, indeed,” Phil replied, simple, easy. “Walk with me?" he requested, going for the flirty feel, and feeling his heart beginning to race already, ready and waiting for the rejection. His eyes went wide, like a deer in headlights, and before he could stop himself, he was blurting out the truth - “I’ll take you to your daggers.”

Dan couldn't help but return the expression when Phil smiled at him. Phil's smile was full of warmth and gentleness, and seeing him again, right here in front of Dan where he belonged, was almost too much. Dan felt his heart tear a little.

When Phil asked him to walk, Dan's eyes widened a little, surprise covering his expression for the most fleeting of moments. Before he could answer, though - and he was going to say yes, was completely powerless to say anything but yes when Phil was smiling at him like that - Phil blurted out that he was taking him to his daggers, and then looked away, red-faced and bashful.

Dan's smile grew wider. His Prince really was too precious for words.

Dan couldn't resist the opportunity to tease him. Without answering, Dan slipped up to Phil's side, and, without warning, removed his black cloak to sling it over his arm instead, revealing a simple brown outfit underneath.

It seemed Dan was full of nothing but surprises. Phil had looked away in shy embarrassment after asking Dan to take a walk with him, and by the time he'd worked up the courage to look back, his thief was doing something Phil had never thought he'd see him do - taking off his cloak.

There was something vulnerable and intimate in that act, in Dan revealing himself to Phil like that, trusting him enough to feel that he could remove his most protective layer, the thing that hid him from the world and kept him safe. He'd said before only certain people ever got to see his face, but how many people got to see him open like this? Standing in front of Phil in nothing but his common garb - a simple brown outfit that complimented his figure. It was nothing, surely, and yet it was everything; just from looking at it, Phil knew that Dan both loved the simple life, and the best of the best.

Phil couldn't stop staring.

Then, Dan took Phil's hand in his own.

"Lead the way, then," Dan said, leaning down to speak into Phil's ear, resisting a chuckle at the way Phil shuddered.

Phil inhaled sharply, unable to do anything but stare down at the way Dan's fingers looked entangled within his own, impossibly thick with a palm much larger than Phil's own. Phil's hand was dwarfed by Dan's, and yet… the fit was perfect.

Dan was so warm.

Phil's heart was racing, something buzzing under his skin, and it took Dan leaning down low to speak into his ear for Phil to regain any physical control over his body - and even then, he could do nothing other than shudder at the way it felt to feel and hear Dan's smooth voice whispering so low and intimately to him.

"Right," Phil replied hoarsely, and was he sweating? Please don't let him be sweating all over Dan. "Ah - uhm, this way, then," he stuttered, and took a deep breath as he began to pull Dan along beside him.

If he was smiling bigger than he ever had before, no one but Dan ever had to know.

This time, Dan couldn't hold in his slight chuckle. The way it felt to have Phil's fingers tremble slightly in Dan's grip, the way his voice was hoarse and cracked slightly before he led Dan on his way - it was all impossibly endearing. If he didn't know better, Dan would have thought this was Phil's first experience of anything vaguely romantic.

...Or was it possible that this was Phil's first time doing something romantic? He'd already admitted to Dan that love wasn't something he saw for himself - a thought that made Dan's stomach flare with anger. The idea that Phil should have to give up his own happiness for people who wanted nothing more than to use him - well, that was unthinkable.

Dan gave a small start when he realised that he used to be one of those very people.

Not any more, though. Dan knew this -whatever it was- between them couldn't last, but for the short amount of time that Dan was allowed to be in Phil's life, he planned to make the best of it. He'd show Phil exactly how good romance could be, so Phil would know not to settle for any less.

And Dan knew he was the best.

This way, Phil would truly be his.

Was it normal to feel dizzy when you were holding another person’s hand? Phil didn't know, but he certainly felt anxious and hyped up, giddy beyond belief with a smile on his face that felt fit to bursting, doing his best to hide the expression from Dan, and using his training to the best of his ability to keep his gaze forward but also on Dan all at the same time.

He was desperate to read Dan, to guess at what he might be thinking right then. Why had he taken Phil’s hand? Why had he taken off his cloak? Phil had been the one planning to flirt here, desperate to test Dan, to poke and prod at him and find out if maybe, just maybe, he could have what his heart wanted for once, but he’d chickened out at the last moment, and now Dan had taken over, but to what ends?

Was this all truly just another game to Dan, or did Phil actually mean something to him? Perhaps Dan was used to games like these, using people, flirting with them, touching them to make them relax, only to turn on them at the last minute. Phil tried to remain guarded, but his heart was quickly melting, because this was Dan, his thief, the man Phil had fallen for, and it was just too late.

Whatever Dan’s reasons, Phil had decided they didn’t matter in that moment. He was just going to take advantage of every last second he was given in his thief’s company, regardless of what that time entailed - and if he was acting like a child with their first crush, sue him. He'd never had a modicum of actual romance ever in his life.

Dan tightened his grip around Phil's fingers and leaned into his side, enjoying the way Phil's gaze kept getting caught on Dan.

"Where are you taking me then, my Prince? I trust you've looked after my possessions well."

When Dan leaned into him, Phil stood up taller.

"To my favorite place in the gardens. And I promise I've treated them like the priceless objects they are. I'm sure you'll find they've been treated well," Phil replied, clearing his throat to get rid of any last vestiges of his overwhelmingly obvious discomfort and nerves. He wondered if Dan would guess that Phil had never been treated like this before.

"Your favourite place, hm?" Dan kept his voice low and secretive, a playful smile at his lips. He was fascinated by watching Phil's face - the way his smile made his entire face brighten, and those bright blue eyes that said so much. Dan thought he'd spend hours studying that face, if only he could.

As it was, he was enjoying far too much the feeling of being pressed against Phil's side. He fancied himself showing Phil off as his greatest treasure, his most spectacular conquest yet. Dan had slipped into the Royal Palace and made away with one of its most prized possessions - the Prince himself.

Only trouble was, that same Prince seemed to have caught Dan entirely under his spell, too.

"My favorite place," Phil repeated with a slow nod, titling his head gently at Dan, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Dan would read into where Phil was taking him.

Dan pressed in closer still, body warm and soft as he practically nuzzled Phil's side. Their hips touched as they walked, sending little sparks of electricity down Phil's spine. He was trembling as Dan tightened his fingers around Phil's.

Dan couldn't resist tracking each and every one of Phil's reactions, doing everything he could to draw more of them out. He nestled against Phil's side, body warm, and murmured, "I am being spoiled. Will I be treated just as well as my possessions, if I let you keep me for a bit?"

There was another hitch in Phil's breathing, his heart skipping a beat, and he turned to look at Dan again, eyes searching that calculatedly closed off gaze.

Dan was still leaning into him, ever so slightly taller than Phil himself, and his voice was low and conspiratorial, like he knew he could be louder but wanted to keep the atmosphere between them something more special. Closing his eyes for just a second, Phil turned his gaze to Dan's, surprised by how close they were, but craving the intimacy of it all.

His voice was so sweet, gentle, small but not unsure. Phil's heart was racing for an entirely different reason, now.

How was he meant to answer that question without giving himself away completely? Without risking everything on a less than note one percent chance that Dan actually wanted Phil for him, and not for some nefarious plot or for some chance to gloat over the fact that he'd stolen a prince's heart?

Gulping, hard, Phil came to a stop in front of the sacred water fountain he’d been searching for, his favorite place, gaze never once leaving Dan's.

"We're here," he whispered, rather than answering Dan’s question at all, his words reluctant and afraid. His eyes flickered to the ground, and then back up, and he pulled his hand from Dan's grip reluctantly, taking a step back.

He closed his eyes, tried not to let the regret show, and then plastered on another fake smile.

Not yet. Phil couldn't risk his heart just yet.

"I've always loved this place. It's...quite calming on the soul, and so rarely does anyone visit it," Phil explained, turning to his fountain and clasping his hands behind his back, desperate to change the subject even as his throat burned with the lump of emotion residing there.

Dan's heart gave an odd little tug when Phil pulled away from him, so much so that he didn't bother to look at his surroundings straight away. Instead, he kept his gaze on Phil, studying the way Phil's eyes seemed to close off, his expression becoming more guarded.

Wise Prince. He still didn't trust Dan completely, then. Dan couldn't blame him.

Dan also couldn't explain why that thought hurt him so much.

Shaking himself out of his ridiculous thoughts, Dan turned to face the fountain, drawing in a slow breath when he took in its beauty. This place was calm and tranquil and felt like its own world, but more than that, the water running was so clean - far cleaner than the tiny oasis Dan had in the desert, or the dirtied water of the city streets.

So many riches here. It was a different world, Phil's world, and no matter how good of a man Phil was, Dan knew he had no place in it.

But, for the short time Dan was a guest here, he was going to make the most of his time with Phil.

"It's gorgeous," Dan murmured truthfully, not risking another glance at Phil just then. Instead, he remained captivated by the trickling water. "Truly. I can see why it's your favourite place. I think - maybe I would love it too, if I could."

There were many things Dan would love, if he could. But he couldn't. The risk was too great, and it would never work anyway.

The walls around Dan's heart had to remain firmly in place.

Those words hurt more than they maybe should. Phil was well aware that there were more riches and pleasures here in the palace than anywhere else in Morellia, and he knew it wasn't fair. He knew he was lucky to have such beauty to gaze upon, lucky because, to a certain degree, he got to keep it all to himself, but it hurt hearing that from Dan. Hearing his thief say how he could love this place too if that were an option for him.

It could be, Phil thought, and bit his tongue. It could be, if you lived here with me.

Phil no longer had eyes for his fountain, however. He only had eyes for Dan, and as he watched his thief take in the tranquil beauty of the streaming fountain the same Phil had since he was a child, he suddenly realized that maybe this was a mistake, because Phil would never be able to see this place quite the same way again.

It held new meaning now, and it currently held Dan, and when Dan was gone from this place...well, Dan would never truly be gone from this place, and that was the problem.

Missing their earlier closeness, Phil bit his lip and reached out for Dan. His fingers curled softly over a proud shoulder, and he waited until Dan turned to look at him.

"Sit with me. The view from here is amazing."

Dan jerked a little when Phil touched his shoulder, feather-light and gentle, like he feared Dan would disappear if he held too tight. Maybe that was true - Dan did have to disappear. Eventually. As much as he wanted to, he had no way to stay here forever.

That scared Dan. The idea that he'd stay anywhere if it meant he could stay with Phil.

Dan thought about saying no. He thought about demanding his daggers back and disappearing over the wall, back to his own world where everything made sense. Only he couldn't. There was a physical pull to Phil that Dan found it impossible to deny.

So he let himself sink into hell, and followed to sit by Phil.

Turning on his heel, Phil led Dan off to the right of his fountain, where a small, beautiful white bench sat, and settled down, watching Dan with the tiniest of smiles as his thief followed him.

The view might be amazing, but Dan was too captivated by his Prince. Phil was small and comfortable against him, and Dan couldn't resist wrapping an arm around his shoulders, pulling Phil as far into his chest as he could. Dan closed his eyes and placed his chin atop Phil's head. Later, Dan could convince himself that this had all been part of his act, part of his honey trap to draw Phil in. Truthfully, though, Dan was holding Phil because he wanted to.

And that was most terrifying of all.

Their legs were touching, the feeling sending a zing through Phil, and he turned his gaze outwards, moving to point out at his garden, to show Dan the view, when his thief suddenly moved to draw them ever closer still.

Dan met no resistance. His arm settled soft around Phil's shoulders, causing him to tense from nerves and the fear that if he reacted in anyway, Dan would run away again, and then, just as suddenly as Dan was wrapping an arm around Phil, he was drawing Phil in.

Just that tad bit shorter than Dan, Dan was still able to pull Phil close until Phil's head was nearly resting against his chest. Dan moved to prop his head on top of Phil's while Phil remained frozen and tense in place, and then he was murmuring soft, gentle words that still somehow managed to be heartbreaking.

"You have great taste in places," Dan murmured into Phil's hair. "Wish I could say the same for your taste in people. Why did you choose me to take on your first romantic walk?"

Relaxing backwards, choosing to trust his thief - at least just then - Phil closed his eyes. He didn't need the garden view when Dan was practically holding him in his arms like this.

"How do you know this was my first romantic walk?" Phil replied, edging around the question. Cautiously, hands splayed out in his own lap, Phil inched his fingers along until he found Dan's other hand resting on his leg, and then he bound their fingers together once again, heart racing like never before in his chest.

What are we doing?/ he asked himself. We're meant to be mortal enemies, and yet we're cuddling on a bench.

"Please," Dan chuckled in answer to Phil's question, keeping his eyes closed for as long as he could. "You're blushing like a schoolgirl, and I see the way you keep staring at me. I'm good, but I'm not that good. Not unless you've got no experience."

Or not unless you actually want me, Dan completed in his head, and felt his heart shudder inside him. This was why Dan never let anyone close. It only hurt more when they inevitably left him.

Dan was a loner, and he was better off that way.

But then a warm grip captured Dan's free hand, and his eyes flew open, glancing down to see that his Prince had indeed taken hold of Dan's hand. Phil was so warm against Dan's chest, so temptingly close, that it was all Dan could do not to hold him tighter, to claim him thoroughly as belonging to Dan.

But he couldn't. No matter what his heart was screaming at him to do.

Instead, Dan steeled himself, and gripped Phil's fingers in return. He looked up with a heavy sigh that got stuck in his throat the minute he saw the view Phil had wanted to show him.

The Royal gardens spread out around them, full to bursting with coloured flowers and beautiful bushes. The sight stole Dan's breath away. Almost prettier than his own collection of treasures inside his cave, and far more green, this place teemed with life in a way Dan had never seen before.

He couldn't stop himself from releasing a quiet gasp.

Just like that, Phil was blushing all over again, feeling it as his cheeks went hot and red. He twitched in Dan's hold, wanting to pull back so badly and glare at his thief, but he didn't want to ruin the moment they'd embroiled themselves in, so held himself back. He'd tensed at Dan's comment, at his laughter, but now Phil relaxed again.

He tried not to let it sting when Dan said he knew he was good, just not that good, and chose not to answer at all. He didn't want to destroy the magic he found himself in, didn't want to give up the feelings he'd only just found. He would pretend, just for a little while longer, that Dan might actually want him.

There would likely never be another chance where Phil would get to feel small and safe like this with a partner. Men were meant to be the ones who took control and dominated. Phil had heard enough bullshit lectures from his brother to know that women expected that kind of thing. While same-sex relationships weren't frowned upon, they weren't often fully encouraged in royal families either, as an heir was needed, and Phil had never really explored his own sexuality enough to know where he'd fall. Until now.

He wanted to feel small and protected as he did with Dan, only he knew he couldn't really have that. He didn't know if he would ever be able to trust anyone fully with his heart, and so he was soaking up this attention for as long as he could.

When Dan gasped, Phil opened his eyes with a lazy grin.

"Just noticed the view, did you? I knew I was distracting, but I didn't know I was that distracting," Phil teased, for once reveling in the upper hand he had on his thief.

Dan felt another momentary stab of surprise when Phil used his own teasing against him. He should be used to his Prince surprising him by now, and yet, there he went again, catching Dan completely off guard.

Teasing, though, Dan could do.

He drew back a tiny amount from Phil, just enough to send him a petulant glare. "Distracted, pah. No one distracts the great Thief King. No one keeps his daggers for long, either."

Dan allowed himself another wink, and, because he hated himself, he lifted the hand that was clasped with Phil's to gently trace a finger down Phil's cheek. "If anyone were to distract me, though, I think it would be you."

Dan held the moment, staring into Phil's eyes, and he could feel himself softening. His guarded nature was coming undone beneath Phil's gentle touch, his cautious manner, the way he looked at Dan as if begging him not to disappear.

Dan didn't want to, but at the same time, he knew he had no choice. No Prince could ever truly love a thief, and especially not someone who proclaimed himself their King.

Dan didn't, and couldn't, belong here.

When Dan pulled away, Phil found himself tensing once again. Had he ruined the moment, destroyed the gentle atmosphere they'd found themselves in? But no, Dan was looking at Phil, having pulled back just enough that Phil had to turn his head to look at him, and he was teasing Phil, winking at him, and making his heart do that stupid fluttery thing he'd never thought he'd feel.

Gently, Dan moved their clasped hands upwards until he could trace a finger down Phil's face, and Phil inhaled sharply. More than anything else in that moment, Phil just wanted Dan to not ever leave.

"Dan," he whispered softly, so softly, wanting so badly to give in, wanting so badly to believe that this could be okay, his eyes flickering back and forth between Dan’s. He swallowed thickly, the sound loud in the quiet of the gardens.

Phil had never felt so vulnerable in all of his life. Usually able to pretend confidence, he'd seemed to soften under his thief's hold.

And if he wasn't mistaken, his thief was softening under his hold as well.

The way Phil said Dan's name, and the way those intense eyes of his stayed trained on Dan's face ... Dan could feel himself slipping. He was slipping, right on the edge of falling and doing something very stupid, something like grabbing both of Phil's cheeks and pressing their lips together.

The sound of a loud shout followed by distracted laughter destroyed the moment then, and Phil yanked away, standing quickly as he dropped Dan's hands once again. Eyes wide and terrified, Phil glanced around his gardens, but despite his height, couldn't quite locate where the sound had stemmed from.

Turning back to Dan once more, Phil watched as his thief stood calmly, his face passive and shut off once again, dusting away at his clothes as if he were the royal here instead of Phil.

Phil gulped, cursed allowed, shook his head, and then marched right on over to the other thing he'd wanted to show Dan.

"Come here," he demanded, his voice almost a growl. He was frustrated, he couldn't deny that, now that their moment had been disturbed. Phil waited just long enough for Dan to join him at the edge of the fountain, and then, after one last quick look around, Phil dropped to his knees and pulled away a loose stone.

The moment was spoiled by loud laughter, and Dan both hated and was relieved by the interruption.

As it was, he tried to remain casual, falling easily back into his pretence. Phil, it seemed, was more on edge, carefully glancing around before leading Dan over to a small rock under the fountain.

Hidden behind it was a large crevice, just big enough to hold three small daggers, perhaps a large bag.

Motioning inside of it, Phil encouraged Dan to retrieve his daggers, for which he did.

"I want you to know this is here. If you...wanted to leave something for me, or vice versa..." Phil trailed off, suddenly feeling dumb, and ran an aggressive hand through his hair. "It's dumb. But I'm the only one who know's it's there," Phil continued, frustrated with himself.

Another loud shout and more giggles, closer this time, made Phil curse again, and he turned back to his thief.

"Off with you, then, before someone sees you. There's a Royal Wedding happening, we've got far more guests than normal. Don't be a stranger, my thief, and stay out of trouble."

The hiding place was intelligent. Dan found himself nodding with approval, and his eyes brightened as soon as he saw his daggers. He was bending down to retrieve them within seconds, testing their sharpness, feeling their familiar weight in his hand.

He stashed them away in his cloak, carefully, wrapping them up in protective linen, and then pulled his cloak back on around his shoulders, every inch the King of Thieves again.

But he would never forget the soft moment he had shared with Phil.

To prove it, Dan clasped Phil's wrist before he could move away, speaking quickly and low into Phil's ear in case the people laughing nearby happened to come their way. "I'll be sure to contact you, my Prince. Don't forget me."

Dan paused a second longer, just enough to reach inside his cloak and pull out a small band of gold, a bracelet stolen from a different city, inlaid with silver. It was reminiscent of the Lester crown Dan had stolen from Phil, and was the second best Dan could come up with without giving the crown straight back.

He pressed the bracelet into Phil's hand without explanation, stepped back quickly, and, with one final nod of his head, disappeared back over the wall, black cloak flaring behind him.

The bracelet had been the last thing Phil was expecting. Dan moved so fast Phil couldn't even protest, and he stared after the man and his dark cloak in total surprise, fingers clasped loosely around a piece of metal that would be Phil's first gift from a romantic interest. It hardly mattered, just then, whether Dan was just screwing with Phil or not - he'd given Phil a gift, something meant to make Phil remember him, with parting words that implied the same.

Finally glancing down at the thin metal in his hands, Phil moved to admire it, fingers tracing over beautiful patterns of thin gold and silver woven together expertly.

It was no doubt an expensive item most likely stolen by the thief himself, and yet Phil couldn't bring himself to care, to complain.

Almost against his better judgement, Phil slipped the piece of metal over his wrist, and let it press against his wrist bones as a constant reminder of the moment he'd shared with Dan.

He had no way of explaining it to his brother and father, obvious a courtship gift as it was, but Phil didn't care about that either. He was floating, and whether anything more ever happened, ever could happen between him and Dan, it didn't matter, because Phil would treasure this moment, this bracelet, forever. It would have to be enough for him.

He didn't believe he'd ever have another person in his life like this again.

Taking one last admiring look at the way the stolen bracelet framed Phil's wrist, he sighed, straightened up, and began heading back to the Castle. No doubt his parents would be looking for him once again.

The Royal Wedding was in six days, and there was much yet to do.

#phanfiction #insanityplaysfics #iwritephanthings #phan fantasy au #phan angst #phan fluff

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