Irony and foreshadowing worksheets

I combined and edited 3 Theories whoch I believe are true. It is very long (3000 Words). It is split into 3 parts. Each part is better than the previous one. Hope yall enjoy what I cooked up.
Index: 1.Axial Tilt (Pole Shift) 2.Whale Theory (What is Laugh Tale?) 3.What is the One Piece?
1.Axial Tilt (Pole Shift) This Theory was created and expanded by a popular Japanese youtuber called Drop the Pizza. I found it by watching the youtuber GrandLineReview. Their theory states that the One-piece planet will undergo an axial tilt to become 90/0/180 degrees. This has many things backing it but why would Oda sensei consider such an idea? Well, there are 2 reasons. First, it was a major plot point in the Sci-Fi series and Anime Neon Genesis Evangelion and more importantly in Haya Miyazaki’s Future Boy Kona which is a 1986 TV series which is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which magnetic weapons have torn continents apart. This is Important because Oda sensei has said Haya Miyazaki had a lot of influence in his carrier. Actually, his work has been used all over One piece but not his most relevant story. Secondly, He has said on numerous occasions that the tilt of the planet is very important. In the One- Piece Magazine Volume 9 which was released when the crew were in Log town, Oda released a world map. It is the only official map we have apart from an old east blue map. It isn’t that high quality but it does have the tilt of the one-piece planet and a compass. If an axial Tilt were to occur then the Red Line would become the equator which is relevant because the Japanese name for the equator is sekidor which translates to Red Road. We also have 4 Red Road Poneglyphs thus implying linguistically that the red line was once the Equator. The map also contains a piece of text which can only be properly read if the map itself is tilted 90 degrees. It says east blue while an arrow points towards the north blue. If an Axial shift were to happen the current north blue would be the east blue. Also, the video covers higher scientific topics which are hard to explain here. But the basic idea is that currently the area with the most concentration of water is the Grand Line/Equator but if we shift the Planet then the water has to move towards the 4 seas. This is semi confirmed by Dr.Vegapunk when he claimed that the islands would sink. We also have many other in world cases which show that the sea level would increase. Ohara’s Tree of Knowledge has a dent which is unexplained but it might reflect the sea level in the west blue during the axial tilt. Alabasta is also a great example. Wano’s borders are also an example of this phenomenon even though they didn’t work properly. You may ask why a pole shift would happen only once in history. This is because Wano’s walls were built around 900-800 years ago. This is where I believe that the red line is not natural. We know this because the island whales do not recognise the red line instead choosing to try and break them. The current theory states that the water levels in the grand line would be a bit lower during axial shifts but this is wrong with our current knowledge of the manga. So, I tweaked the Calculations without the red line and found the one-piece world would not sink if the red line is destroyed. In fact, it perfectly explains why kingdoms never had to be above ground during previous axial tilts because the red line didn’t exist yet. I think that the red line was created to submerge the entire world and it happened just before the void century. Therefore, many kingdoms were sunk with the only ones that survived were elevated in some way. Wano’s Borders were built to prevent the flood due to the red line but they forgot about rain water. Oden wanted to open Wano’s borders because the borders were built to protect Wano till Joy Boy came. I believe that this is the great cleansing mentioned by the 5 elders in chapter 908. It is by destroying the red line allowing for the entire world to not be submerged and allowing the island whales to move freely or in other words make the world into One Piece (This is very important for Part 3). This theory is a small part of the original theory but these are the points which I think are correct and are relevant to the current manga.
2.Whale Theory (What is Laugh Tale?) This theory was created and expanded by Youtuber Dak’s Sake. He connected long ring long land to laugh tale. I edited it to make it fit with my other 2 theories. He said that Laugh Tale is very much like long ring long land by using the fact that people stretch when the go there. Also, the island will only fully reveal itself only once during aqua laguna. I think that laugh tale will also only be fully revealed only once and I believe that would be during the axial tilt. That is why roger was too early because he couldn’t claim the treasure as his own because he was not alive during Joy Boy’s time. I will explain this part in more detail in Part 3. I think that laugh tale is an island which is inside a gigantic island whale, quite possibly being the biggest one. How cool would it be if Joy Boy’s ship was a gigantic whale. I think the top part resembled long ring long land and sort of looked like a crown. We can prove this theory using two things. The first thing was that only Luffy was excited when they explored long ring long land. So, we can say that only Joy Boy would be excited about such an island since it was shown that long ring long land made people free since Luffy considered stretching as being free. Second was that it was the location of the first Davy back fight we saw in the series. Davy Jones was said to be a notorious pirate who was cursed to live at the bottom of the sea. In our world there is a story about Davy Jones which is called Jonah and the whale. It appears in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It is about a Jonah refusing God’s mission instead trying to escape by ship in the opposite direction. He then encountered a huge storm and fell overboard to be swallowed by a huge whale. I believe that this is the story of Joy Boy and believe that Jonah/Jones was Joy Boy and Davy was the whale. I believe the story goes like this. Joy Boy wants to explore the world but it is said that he should not go. He then ran away quite possibly from the ancient kingdom to be caught up in a storm and was swallowed by the whale Davy. He then befriended Davy after 3 days and nights and Davy became his ship and his first mate. This also occurred to Oden when he had to hold onto the chain for 3 days and nights. I believe that this was the reason for the ancient kingdom’s downfall as Joy Boy was not present due to him going on an adventure. I think Luffy’s destiny is rebuild the ancient kingdom to fix Joy Boy’s mistake. I believe that the One Piece contains huge amounts of gold and treasure. This is because Davy Jones is said to be stealing all the gold from pirates who fall into the sea. Due to our theory, he is said to have been stealing this gold for at least 800 Years. I believe that Davy Jones was cursed to gather Gold and safeguard the One Piece to give to the next Joy Boy. I believe that the first Davy back fight was done to get back Davy Jones. I also found that the incorrect name for Laugh Tale is Raftel which can be expanded to Raft Tale. What is the name of a small boat. This might be referring to the tale of how Joy Boy/Jones had set out to sea and met Davy. It was also theorised by Dak’s Sake that the One Piece was an Afro but, I don’t fully agree with that theory. This is because the Roger pirates didn’t name it that. They even say that the world has no idea which shows a sense of irony (This will be explained in Part 3 but the one piece isn’t only one thing). I do believe that an afro is connected to the one piece is some way but it is not the one piece itself. I think that Joy Boy himself had an afro and since he was the first pirate he might have been the first person to sing Bink’s Sake. Therefore, the reason why Roger was too early was because he did not have someone who could sing Bink’s Sake and also had an afro. This might be foreshadowing by Oda Sensei since Luffy wanted a musician above all else. Brook also had a panel of him doing the Nika Pose and people smiling at him singing. This could also be Foreshadowing by Oda Sensei. I believe that Brook could have met the same fate as Joy Boy (This will be explained in Part 3). The final Piece of Evidence comes from the colour spread of chapter 471 which features a gigantic whale with a king’s crown. The name of that chapter is “My Friend”. This is also in the Thriller Bark Arc which is when we meet Brook. (This is unrelated but It also has the crew fight Oars with Luffy’s Shadow. I believe that the Old Joy Boy betrayed everyone’s trust by not stopping Imu. This might be why Joy Boy was apologising in Fishman Island. The Iron Giant may have betrayed Joy Boy in some way and that was why he was apologising. I also believe that Joy Boy was the one who cursed Zunesha and Davy to help Luffy.)
3.What is the One Piece? This theory was created and expanded by Youtuber Marshall D. Preach. This Theory is very large so we will split it into many small chunks and piece them together. First, we need to know that the treasure was named One Piece by the world and not by the Roger Pirates. They also said that we have no idea hinting that the name might be ironic. Secondly, the treasure will tell us the true history. It doesn’t show only the void century like many believe. We need to know what they meant by history. History is not the past as many believe. It is information about events occurring in a specific time. For example, if we knew an event must occur at a specific time then in one way that event already became the past when it occurs. This is proved by Oden due to him knowing that someone will free Wano and he must have known that person would be Joy Boy since he saw the True History. We will explore this part more a bit later in the theory. Now let us dig deeper and see the meaning of One Piece is. One Piece in Japanese reads as Hito-Tsunagi and has 3 possible meanings. First literally means “One Piece”. Second means “a rope linking all men”. Third meaning says “one sea at peace”. These are very important to this theory as they describe what the treasure actually is (Their Meaning will be revealed later). Now let us get back to Roger. He says “I wish I had been born in your time.”. You may wonder why he would want to live in a time when Joy Boy lost? Why would he want to live in a time when Imu and the World Government won? Why would he want to live in a time when the world was flooded? This is where I believe that the Joy Boy that Roger was referring to was Luffy. Do you remember what the Kozuki clan wrote in the Poneglyphs? They said “We are the ones who weave History…”. Roger says that Joy Boy left a great treasure. Here he is referring to the Past Joy Boy. What he meant was Joy Boy left his treasure and only the next Joy Boy will claim it for himself. When Luffy awakens Gear 5 Zunesha says that Joy Boy has returned. Not someone who resembles Joy Boy but in fact Joy Boy himself (This leads to many theories about Time Travel but I don’t think that the Past and Present Joy Boy are the same person or Luffy will time travel). Let us look at the meaning of Dawn. Toki says this as her final words “people are the moon unaware of the dawn”. Hiyori sings a song called Moon Princess. This shows us that the Moon means Wano and what Toki meant was the people of Wano were unaware of the dawn brought forth by Luffy/Joy Boy. Now let us look at that Dawn a little deeper. The people of Wano say that they have been cursed to an endless night. This curse was lifted by Luffy when he defeated Kaido and freed Wano. This means that the Dawn refers to a long curse being lifted and being free (This is very Important). Therefore, Luffy is a sort of Harbinger of Dawn. This means that Luffy’s Journey is the Dawn as wherever and whenever he travels, he brings Dawn. This is proved by the Titles of One piece when he starts his adventure the title is Romance Dawn (Romance Part will be explained in a bit). The Dawn is paused for 2 years and once again starts when Luffy enters the New World which is said in the title of Chapter 601 which is called “Romance Dawn for The New World”. Now let us look at Luffy’s dream which is to Become Pirate King. When asked why he wanted this, he said he wants to be free. This would mean that Luffy isn’t free. Deep down he must know that he is bound by the chains of fate. He wants to discover the One Piece to become free from his destiny. Now we finally ask What could the One Piece be that will free him from his destiny. Well first let us look at what Bink’s Sake reads. This first part of the song describes the Old Joy Boy referring to Dusk and his defeat. The second part of the song refers to the future Joy Boy Luffy and him defeating the World Government Or, in other words bring Dawn to the World. The Dawn here refers to Freedom from the Celestial Dragons. Now let us look at what Romance means. In Skypiea Arc in Chapter 235, We learn from Mont Blanc Cricket that Romanticism is about believing in something that may or may not exist. For him it was about believing that Sky Island truly exists. Now let us look at what Luffy Romanticises about. You may have correctly guessed that he Romanticises about Dawn. He believes that the One Piece holds the key to him achieving Dawn. He knows that the One Piece will help him escape his destiny or Checkered Fate that Law wants to know. Now we can answer what the One Piece is because we know what its purpose is. It should be a physical Object, it should be able to tell the True History, it should bring Dawn to Luffy the same way that he brings Dawn to others. I believe that the One Piece is actually 3 Things simply explained by 3 words. Wealth, Fame and Power. These are explained by the 3 different Meanings of One Piece. Let us look at the First meaning “One Piece” This is the treasure that Luffy wants and it will bring Dawn to him. I believe that this will be a record of everything that will happen. It includes what happened when the old Joy Boy was a pirate, what happened during the Void century, and the entire story of One Piece that we readers read. This means that by reading this story and completing everything that he was fated to do, he will be freed from his destiny. This also refers to the word Power since this story will give Luffy the one thing that he wants and that is the power to be free. The Second meaning of One Piece is “A rope linking all men” I believe that this is referring to all the wealth that has been accumulating inside Davy and Laugh Tale. This is because every man wants one thing and that is wealth or in a way, we are all linked by wanting more wealth I believe that this wealth also includes things that the Crew wanted in Chapter 302 named “Finale” during the Skypiea Arc. Luffy wanted a Bronze Statue, Ussop wanted 10 Cannons, Chopper wanted Books, Zoro wanted Booze (Bink’s Sake) and Sanji wanted a refrigeratoUtensils/Mouse Trap. The Third meaning is “one sea at peace” I believe that this refers to the red line being destroyed making the world into one as discussed in Part 1. We can also say that you would gain a lot of fame by becoming Joy Boy, destroying the red line, defeating the entire World Government and rebuilding the Ancient Kingdom. When you Combine them together, we get Luffy himself. The One Piece is Luffy. It is his Story, His Treasure and His World. We can prove this by 2 Things, First Luffy has an X mark in his chest like the ones on a pirate map. Second in the Logo of One Piece we see Luffy and we see ropes linking him and the entire logo. We also see a pirate skull which describes Luffy. This would be the most Goated thing that Oda Sensei can do. Also, the One Piece is History or His Story.

I hope this isn't a dumb question - I am the parent of a fourth grade girl who was diagnosed with dyslexia recently and this is all pretty new to me. I hope I'm missing something, actually, because I'm confused and pissed and sad.
This ended up being longer than my single question - I guess I am actually really pissed off and sad about the last nine months in general, and I am completely open to any feedback, advice, or ideas about what to do now and how to help my kid. This is the first time I wrote all of this down and the irony of writing a novel on a dyslexia subreddit is not lost on me.
I'm leaving it lol.
Cora has always been brilliant and weird and loud, but over the last few years, it became apparent that she was having a harder time....stopping. Stopping talking, stopping moving, stopping yelling - it was just endless and exhausting for everyone around her. (Except at school. She is and was perfectly behaved at school - she has literally never gotten so much as a note home about goofing off in class.) Cora hit a wall in third grade - the hyperactivity was finally wearing her out, too, and annoying her friends. She finally asked for some help slowing down.
She was tested for ADHD and the general host of common mental health conditions last fall, and to no one's surprise, was diagnosed with ADHD-combined type, as well as anxiety symptoms that the psychologist described as significant enough to warrant a GAD diagnosis…but that she strongly suspected were a perfectly rational reaction to the very real problems Cora’s impulsiveness caused in her life.
This was exactly my experience as someone diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. It turns out that the consequences of constantly losing my car keys, forgetting appointments, and impulsively spending money I didn’t have were making me anxious and stressed, not the other way around. I had expected similar results for Cora and I was glad this was happening now - she could skip the years of totally ineffective treatment and misdiagnoses that I went through before being diagnosed and successfully treated.
What we were not expecting at all was the additional diagnosis of "specific learning disorder with reading impairment" noted in the report. I had no idea what this meant. The psychologist did not use the word "dyslexia" in her written evaluation, a decision which resulted in another 8 months of confusion and (probably unnecessary) testing detailed below. She explained to us that Cora could have dyslexia, but that her testing wasn't granular enough to be sure - that there was a chance it was "something else" and the SLD diagnosis was an umbrella term that covered both dyslexia and conditions unknown. (I have no idea what she was referring to and the general weirdness about using the word dyslexia was something I noticed with the school, too. I am still confused by this and other interactions where I get the distinct feeling people aren’t telling me something important.)
It was almost September, so the psychologist recommended pursuing testing with the school; this seemed to be a reasonable next step. They would test Cora and determine exactly what was going on, if anything. This whole part of the report was very much characterized as an incidental finding - something to follow up on, but nothing alarming given Cora’s history of good grades.
"Maybe she was just tired after a long day of testing,” the doctor explained. “But it also seemed like she wasn't hearing certain letters correctly." Years of speech therapy had helped Cora correct all but a few minor issues - but combined with this potential reading issue, maybe an audiologist should test her again. Get her hearing tested, start medication for ADHD, and see what the school says about her reading - that was the plan, no big deal.
I wasn't worried, but I figured it couldn't hurt to see what other help was available. I learned that we have a branch of a big tutoring nonprofit in our city that offers Orton-Gillingham instruction at no charge - something I soon realized would cost hundreds of dollars per month at other centers. Free is good! I submitted Cora's application and the report from the psychologist (with the ADHD/GAD/SLD all clearly noted)….and we got a rejection letter a week later in the mail. Cora didn't qualify because the tutoring was specific to dyslexia, and the SLD with reading impairment was not the same as a formal dyslexia diagnosis. Fair enough, I thought - I figured we'd get the testing done through her school and could reapply if the result was a dyslexia diagnosis.
That....was naïve, lol. But the psychologist made it sound like a total non-issue, something schools did all the time. I sent the school psychologist and teachers the report before school even started, since surely they would want to schedule all of this right away! I didn’t hear anything for a few weeks – the start of the school year must be such a busy time, after all – but raised it again, report in hand, at a meeting with Cora’s teacher in late September.
“You….really want to try to avoid putting a label on things too quickly,” she told me, in a tone that implied there was much more that she was not saying. “She seems to be doing quite well in class. Let’s see how she does on the standardized tests we’re finishing this week and go from there.” I was definitely aware that I was missing something, but it seemed reasonable to wait for Cora’s test results if they would help inform next steps. Cora scored well above average, as usual; shortly after receiving these scores, the school psychologist emailed me to let me know that no further testing was warranted.
I still felt like I was missing something – spoiler alert, I was – but there didn’t seem to be anything else left to do. They're the experts and were totally unconcerned – only positive news - and Cora’s new ADHD meds seemed to be really helping. After that, everything did seem to be okay at school for a while. Cora liked her teachers and was doing well.
Everything was copacetic…except for the fact that Cora’s anxiety seemed to be getting worse without any tangible explanation. She complained about fourth grade being a lot harder, but again – her grades were fine, she was perfectly behaved, she liked her teachers….it was difficult to identify any problem that needed solving. Soon, Cora started getting home and isolating herself in her room for over an hour every day. She seemed stressed. Worn out. This went on for months.
And then she had her first panic attack on a Sunday night, seemingly out of nowhere. She wanted a mental health day Monday and was back in school Tuesday, seemingly her normal self.
The next Sunday, she had another panic attack, and this one was much, much worse. She lost control of her bladder. I was close to taking her to the ER. It was scary. That's when it all came out. She was DREADING school - her two hours of ELA in the mornings had become “torture.” She was white-knuckling it through the reading, writing, and spelling work, totally clueless as to why it seemed so much harder for her than for other kids, but so determined to get good grades that she had just burned. the. fuck. OUT.
She was home for days after this. The school tried to dismiss my concerns at first - it couldn't have been that bad, I was told. To be fair, my concerns were vague because I still didn’t understand the real issues or how to help Cora, either. Cora was clearly unwell and adamantly refused to return to school. I started putting everything in formal, written letters emailed to all of her teachers, the school psychologist, and everyone else who seemed potentially relevant. I told them I wasn't sending her back until they did something to try to figure out what was going on in ELA.
That was mid-February. We had a meeting before I would agree to send Cora back, where they talked about putting together the "interdisciplinary team" to conduct "extensive classroom observation.” They insisted that this process would take at least 60 days to complete. Cora reports that there have been three days where someone has essentially come to her ELA class and stared at her while she works.
We weren’t just waiting for the school, though. After the psych eval last summer, we had been slowly working through additional evaluations and appointments related to Cora’s hearing, speech, and language abilities. Basically, we were working our way from Cora's ears into different regions of her brain, trying to catch problems along the path that sound waves traveled - entering Cora's head as vibrations in her ear canals, winding into her brain as phenomes, assembling into a stream of recognizable words, converting into meaning in entirely different areas of her brain, and eventually emerging again via her speech. I had no idea so many tiny things could go wrong in that process, but they can - and we can get pretty damn granular in order to figure that shit out when there’s a potential problem. Cora had some weird results here and there - we now know that overlapping speech is basically her Kryptonite, which explains a lot of meltdowns at family gatherings over the years. But on the whole, her ears and her brain are doing fine, and she doesn't have autism, either.
We had been lucky to get hooked up with the best child development team in the area - they were wonderful, and the process of more testing and visits seemed to reassure Cora (and us, honestly) that there was more help on the horizon, more answers soon. She started low-dose Zoloft for the anxiety and seemed a little happier; her anxiety about school was starting to morph into resignation and frustration, which actually seemed healthier in a way. "It takes time," they tell us. Her breakdown was in February. They wanted to see the report from the most recent evaluations. Fair enough; although it is not lost on me that I am paying an outside team to do the school's job, at least it's getting done.
Two weeks ago, we finally got the team's report - and the written words, "developmental dyslexia." The lead psychologist is going to meet with the 504 team at her school - he is wonderful and immediately understood so many of Cora's concerns and needs. I'm not exactly optimistic, but it's at least possible that this may result in accommodations/extra help in school. Cora thinks he walks on water and is so excited that he's going to "stand up for" her.
The report is detailed and confirmed a lot of what we suspected. She's a really bright kid - IQ around 120 with sky high mathematics and nonverbal problem-solving scores. She apparently discussed "conundrums that are complex and abstract in nature" during her sessions, with a "recognition that there is not necessarily a solution" to these mysterious issues. (LMAO....this is my weird and wonderful kid.) The report describes Cora as "delightful" - funny, self aware, and highly motivated to learn.
Her reading comprehension score was in the 90th percentile, essay composition in the 70th - spelling scores came in at the 25th percentile, which was no surprise. Pseudoword decoding was poor - she's in the 14th percentile - and it got worse from there. Cora has an oral reading fluency in the 9th percentile, a basic reading score in the 7th percentile, and a word reading score in the 4th percentile.
In fact, the essay composition score was the only "average" score among dozens of measures of her reading, writing, and language abilities - comprehension was universally excellent and decoding was universally abysmal. It was hard to read. It felt like a gut punch - looking at the single-digit scores, I finally realized the insane degree of effort it must have taken to finish her work and look happy doing it.
The developmental psychologist leading the team told us that it was unusual to see that stark of a difference - that the severity of her impairments are usually associated with average comprehension scores at best. I have tried to wade through research about these instruments, but decided to take his word for it. Typically, the deficits in her basic reading skills would set off a chain reaction of lower scores down the line - but Cora had brought her grades and tests scores up from an already high start at the beginning of the year.
"It's no wonder her anxiety symptoms are increasing - she's completely exhausted," he said. "Imagine what she could achieve with the right kind of help."
I realized then why Cora's high scores and good grades, so impressive to everyone else, were such a source of consternation for her. That chain reaction was still happening, getting in the way of what she was actually capable of achieving. She knew it, even if the rest of us didn't - she could do better with the right kind of help.
I honestly feel sick thinking about it. She never told anyone she was struggling, never asked for help - not from us, not from anyone at school, heck not from her former-literacy-teacher grandma. No one had any idea. My husband and I had actually encouraged her to slow down a little in the weeks before her panic attacks, just out of a general sense that something was brewing despite her repeated insistence she was doing fine. Turn in the worksheet a day late, three sentences is plenty, relax. Unthinkable, Cora insisted, she was fine.
So she's back at school, nothing has changed other than the glacially slow 504 process of "observation" occurring in the background sometimes, but she seems to be a bit less stressed. I can't tell if getting pissed off about the situation is helping her deal with it, if the Zoloft is taking the edge off, or if she's just masking harder now. Maybe all three. 18 more days of school and Cora is counting. them. down. Her teachers and support staff seem generally bewildered by the idea she is or was ever struggling. They were caught totally off guard when I abruptly pulled her out of school until we at least got them to commit to the 504 process – but we had been blindsided too. They saw a happy kid who was thriving academically until her parents pulled her out of school and started a process that no one seems particularly committed to finishing. Sometimes I think they don't believe us at all. Maybe I would feel the same way in their shoes, I don’t know. I think they’ll listen to the doctor.
The entire point of this post, though, was to ask about Cora’s second rejection from the local tutoring program. With summer approaching and the diagnosis of dyslexia (versus maybe-dyslexia, maybe-whatever-else-could-be-included-under-the-SLD-“umbrella”, which I am still unsure is even a thing), I've been looking into all sorts of options for tutoring. Summer is a good opportunity to try to start getting Cora some meaningful help without adding yet another thing to her plate. She's excited. We can build some tools before next year - if we know what works for her, we can be better advocates from Day 1.
So I resubmitted Cora's application - I still had my original email and I just attached the shiny new report to that, explaining where to find the magic D word that I fully expected would finally open a door where Cora could get the right kind of help. This new report was more granular with reading testing, but the dyslexia diagnosis was the one really substantive change. It included Cora's ADHD and anxiety diagnoses, as did the report I submitted with our initial application, but with new information about medication and treatment for these issues - progress!
(I would like to point out at this point that ADHD and anxiety are firmly established as two of the most common comorbid diagnoses for kids with dyslexia, and that anxiety symptoms in particular can occur because of the challenges caused by dyslexia. My daughter had full-blown panic attacks at 10 years old largely because she struggles to FUCKING READ and no one was helping her. I know I am preaching to what little choir is likely left at this point in my novel. But especially as someone who was medicated/treated for depression and anxiety for 20 years before anyone agreed to test for, diagnose, and treat the ADHD symptoms that were causing me to regularly fuck up my life in really depressing and stressful ways…..this chicken and egg shit really hits a nerve.)
Anyhoo, it had taken 8 months and a lot of work, but I had finally done this one cool thing for her - Cora was going to get the right kind of help. The school year is almost over, but at least we had this one success. The obstacle that I’m still not sure was warranted in the first place – the lack of the word dyslexia in the initial evaluation – had been checked off what was now a giant list of obstacles in Cora's path.
And thanks to the generosity of people who had probably heard and experienced a lot of similar, frustrating stories, our family could focus on paying off the bills accumulated in the process of getting to this point instead of adding more to the pile. Free is always good, but sometimes free is a godsend.
Twelve hours later, Cora was denied again, this time via a brief email simply noting the GAD diagnosis in both reports. "Our tutors are not trained to work with children who are diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorders" and they "cannot meet her needs."
That was it. No further explanation. Just…fuck your anxious baby girl who is trying so hard and fuck you for trying. NEXT!
Oh, and P.S., fuck the really significant percentage of kids with dyslexia with comorbid anxiety diagnoses who are incredibly well researched and described in just…all of the fucking literature. Just all of it, honestly, for decades. Fuck those kids too.
People seem to treat the word "dyslexia" like it's the only thing that matters sometimes but also not something that should be ever said in other contexts, AND I'm pretty fucking sure that "SLD with reading impairment" is essentially equivalent to the word dyslexia because no one can explain what else might be under that "umbrella," and apparently it's nigh impossible to get meaningful help for my daughter through the public school systems anywhere in America, and giant nonprofits care about kids with dyslexia so much, but not the anxious ones, better lock the doors before those crybabies get their needs all over our tutoring center!
We will figure out how to pay for help for Cora, that’s a given.
But honest to fucking god, have you guys just been putting up with this shit the whole time? I'm so sorry.

I'm among the growing ranks of Scars fans who loved the glow-up they got in the Horus Heresy. I also love reading excerpts here, and appreciate what a cool guy Fulgrim was. So I thought I'd try my hand at analysing something that's in moderate contention: Fulgrim and Jaghatai's insults to each other.
To sum up: At the Ullanor celebration, while discussing Horus' ascension and who would win in a fight, sharp words are exchanged between Fulgrim and Jaghatai. Jaghatai's harshest insult is that Fulgrim "does strange things to his warriors". A burn which either makes you chuckle, or makes you stop and go "Wow, did you just make fun of your brother's space cancer?"
There's been some back and forth discussion on how they come across. I, however, will be trying to look at the whole scene to get a clearer picture. Though I will admit, I am a White Scars fan, so take my words with a grain of salt!
tl;dr: The criticisms of both Primarchs are accurate, but not the whole picture. My personal take: it was less about space cancer and more about his Legion culture.

Sanguinius leaned back in his throne, dangling a golden goblet casually in one hand. ‘They place wagers on which one of us would win in single combat. There are odds. I have seen them.’
Mortarion snorted. Fulgrim, the fourth of the gathering, laughed.
‘That has been settled, has it not? Our brother Horus wins them all.’
Fulgrim and the Angel looked similar in some ways. They had the same sculptural faces, the same flamboyant armour. Where Sanguinius looked as though he had been born wearing gold-rimmed pauldrons, though, the Khan had always thought Fulgrim looked to be trying a little too hard. In the end, he guessed that Sanguinius would have been happy to cast off his trappings; Fulgrim gave the impression that he would rather die.

So, here we have the opening discussion. Right off the bat, Fulgrim immediately says "Horus wins", though I think it's less from humility and more that he has such a glowing opinion of his big brother who helped take him under his wing for a time. Worth pointing out, though: Unlike his later reactions of "Fight me!", here he's genuinely happy for Horus.
We also have Jaghatai's POV, and it's important to note: These are events being remembered by him. He may be observant and detached, but there's no denying that they're his opinions.
So what do we start with? That Jaghatai thinks Fulgrim is vain. We, the reader, know the bigger picture of why he's vain, but that's what it comes down to.

‘That would seem to be our father’s view,’ said Sanguinius. ‘It won’t stop the common man making wagers.’
Mortarion shook his pale head, and the tubes running from his archaic rebreather jangled against one another. ‘Stupid.’
Fulgrim gave him an amused look. ‘Oh? Why is that?’
‘Because we were made for different fights,’ growled the Death Lord. His filtered voice never seemed to shift from a sullen register. ‘Come to Barbarus, peacock, and see how long your feathers last in the smog.’
Fulgrim’s silver eyebrows rose. ‘Perhaps I might, brother.’
‘I would not recommend it,’ said Sanguinius. ‘I have seen those chem-clouds. I suspect he would stand them longer than you, Fulgrim.’
‘Some of us had it easier than others,’ Mortarion muttered.
Fulgrim looked archly at Sanguinius. An awkward silence fell.

Here we have some of Fulgrim's responses. Mortarion brings up the "bad matchup" point, and Fulgrim's response to Morty's smacktalk is "sure, I'll 1v1 you, bro".
I'm sure that if this was a Fulgrim scene, we'd get his inner voice to flesh him out, rather than going with simply what Jaghatai sees. But I'll do my best to see how far his actions take us.
Fulgrim, from the narrative, is amused. He smiles archly, which after a quick Google check, means "in an amused way that suggests you know more about something than someone else does". Whether by the discussion or simply Mortarion giving an opinion, we don't know. But taking the scene for what it is, he's being dismissive of his brother yet is quick to accept a duel. This, to me, does not feel like the silence of someone who banters in jest and then lets it go. It feels like someone rising to a challenge to prove himself.
I will, however, bring something up in Fulgrim's defence: He is not being smugly amused purely out of ego. A very valid point to bring up is this: Fulgrim and Sanguinius both came from toxic hellplanets as well. It's easy to read this as "oh, he's smugly arrogant towards someone he sees as lesser", but I think, giving him the benefit of the doubt, there's a very real chance he was just being aware that Mortarion didn't know who he was talking to.
Jaghatai, though, doesn't give this any acknowledgement. Indeed, it's a common flaw of his: His isolation is equally of his own doing, and that means he knows his brothers as little as they know him, even if he's very observant.

‘You should not regret that,’ said the Khan. The other three turned, as if surprised that he had a voice. ‘The hardship.’
Mortarion glared at him sourly. His pallid flesh almost matched Ullanor’s overcast, humid skies. ‘I don’t regret it,’ he said. ‘I could regret that only some of us gained our father’s favour, though. I could regret that.’
Sanguinius took a sip of wine from his glass, serenely unconcerned. ‘Brother, you should be pleased for Horus.’
‘Why?’ Mortarion’s expression was pinched. ‘Because he was found first? Had the longest to work with his Legion? If it had been you on Cthonia, if it had been me, we might have been in his place, now.’
Fulgrim sniffed. ‘Speak for yourself. Being Warmaster is not the only accolade.’
Sanguinius laughed. ‘No more talk of your palatine aquila, brother. You will only make him more jealous.’
‘I’m not jealous – not of Horus, nor of you,’ scowled Mortarion, missing the humour in Sanguinius’s voice. ‘You don’t understand the problem.’
Fulgrim leaned forward, clasping his long hands together. ‘Which is?’
‘While He was leading us,’ said Mortarion, ‘we fought to gain even a glance or gesture from Him. That was acceptable, for none of us are His rival. Nothing in the galaxy is His rival. Now we will fight to gain a glance from Horus, but Horus is not the architect of this. He is just one of us. It will lead to trouble.’
Fulgrim shot a tolerant glance at Sanguinius. ‘He is jealous.’
The Khan shook his head. Fulgrim could be irritatingly stupid. ‘No, he speaks the truth. It should never have happened.’

Now we have the cracks beginning to show. The Khan throws an unexpected olive branch (in fact, more than Fulgrim's done in this moment), and Mortarion raises the point that with Big Daddy E going to the Webway Store for some milk, Big Bro-rus is in charge. But that'll only inflame rivalries and lead to conflict, because not all of them see him as THE GOAT like their dad was. I do think it's interesting that as much as Morty hated the Emperor for trivialising his struggles, he still acknowledges he was the greatest in the galaxy.
Fulgrim brings up his own awards: the Imperial Eagle only his legion is allowed to wear en masse. It's not stated or implied, but in my head canon, he never fails to bring it up in any conversation like that annoying friend who never shuts up about the thing they did years ago.
Here, from Jaghatai's perspective, we see more of Fulgrim as the Khan sees him: He is flippant. Shallow. Dismissive. Someone raises a point (one of the few he and Mortarion agree on), and he makes a joke out of it. And judging by the 'could be', it implies that he's thought that on more than one occasion whenever their paths crossed infrequently.
In fairness to Fulgrim, this could also be taken as his attempt at peacemaking: a light jest to defuse tension, with a beautiful assist from Sanguinius. However, it's equally plausible to say he was just fanning his Eagle in their faces, and it was Sanguinius hard-carrying the diplomacy that day. He is 'tolerant' of Mortarion, as in "Aww, poor baby is having a tantrum."
It's also important to repeat: This is Jaghatai's perspective. Insightful and incisive, but distant and not without its prejudices.

Sanguinius looked at the Khan thoughtfully. ‘I thought you, of all of us, would feel joy for Horus.’
The Khan shrugged. ‘He is the best of us, I begrudge him nothing, and I have told him so. But it should never have happened.’
‘So should it have been you?’ asked Fulgrim acerbically. Mortarion snorted again, but Sanguinius said nothing.
‘I wouldn’t have taken it,’ said the Khan.
‘Of course you would have,’ said Fulgrim.
The Khan shook his head. ‘I have no use for another title. My people give me enough.’

The cracks start to open. Fulgrim looks petty when he tries to second-guess Jaghatai's claim that he wouldn't want the crown, especially when it's written that he comes across as 'acerbic': sarcastic, critical.
Once again, he's treating another of his brother's claims as a joke, if not questioning their character. Ironically, though, the Khan is now renowned among fans for his unique form of dry wit, too. Maybe from Fulgrim's perspective we might see he was trying to engage the Khan, loop him into more of that good-natured demigod competition fraternity (think Russ laughing after his previously-deathly-serious-brawl with Lion). But I think even then, it leans in more towards Fulgrim's ego calling out a naysayer in a pretty personal way, rather than making it about Horus or fellowship.
However, one thing I should point out: At this point, other than ungenerous thoughts, Jaghatai's given Fulgrim no reason to be this biting towards him. Perhaps he is being insistent on his protests, kind of like a guy who replies to a joke with an earnest answer (hello, Rogal Dorn). But he hasn't actually targeted Fulgrim out loud.
All he's voiced aloud is "Maybe Mortarion has a point." So either Fulgrim takes that as a challenge from a contrarian, or he's just decided to switch on the snark. And here, it feels less like the gentle teasing Sanguinius tried to allude to and more like a cynical "Pfft, right, you're a big hypocrite".
Also recall: Even as far back as his Primarch novel when he was recently reunited with his Legion, Fulgrim didn't take criticism or challenges well. He pushed himself to complete a compliance with 7 men using a flashy decapitation strike just to make a point, and did not take kindly to the "normally contemplative", "quiet" and "humorless" Missing Primarch criticising his arrogance, thinking it was hypocritical. I can see the echoes of that in his interactions with Jaghatai, who is normally contemplative and quiet.

Sanguinius smiled. ‘My brother, I think you are the most inscrutable of us all. I know what Rogal wants, and I know what Roboute wants, but even after so long I have no idea what you want.’
‘He wants to be left alone,’ said Fulgrim. ‘To shoot off into the stars and hunt down xenos on those delightful jetbikes. They’re devilishly fast. I heard from a contact on Mars, Jaghatai, that you do strange things to your ships.’
The Khan shot him a heavy-lidded stare. ‘I heard you do strange things to your warriors.’
Fulgrim’s slender face briefly flared with anger, but Sanguinius laughed.

And here we have the infamous "sick burn". And to sum up, these are the main schools of thought:

1. It's a win for the Khan. Fulgrim had it coming, the arrogant peacock.
2. The Khan was talking about the Emperor's Children undergoing gene-surgery and chemical treatments to not die from space cancer, which is an extremely dickish thing to remark. I'm a Khan fan, but I would agree with this conclusion if that was the intent.
3. The Khan was making an anachronistic remark or foreshadowing Fulgrim's future fate as the Daemon Primarch of Slaanesh who would, indeed, do strange things to his warriors. Which is a fitting clapback for future Fulgrim, but out of place in the present; at this point, there were no signs of Slaaneshi or even Laeran excess.
4. A less prevalent view: The Khan was talking about "You guys are flamboyant and gay". Which is still dickish, but less of a 'punch down' compared to the blight in their gene seed.

I would, however, like to propose a new possibility: Jaghatai was talking about Fulgrim's new legion culture.
Consider how the Emperor's Children are seen in the 'modern' era of the Crusade: They are flamboyant, over-the-top, artistic. Experts at war, but also glory-hounds who want to be seen as the best, while also dressing themselves up in more bling than a light cruiser. The likes of Lucius and Eidolon are seen as the spoiled fruits of this era. The sort of Astartes who would (and have) jeopardise battle plans just for the sake of glory.
It got to the point that by the time of the Heresy, that was seen as the norm. And the exceptions? Saul Tarvitz. Solomon Demeter. And Ancient Freakin' Rylanor. All of which hearkened back to the Legion's glory days, back when being a paragon meant the drive for self-improvement without vainglory. Dutiful exemplars of shining character. When Garro comes to know Tarvitz, he's amazed and impressed by how much of an exceptional exception he seems.
That's how they were SEEN, of course. The truth of it was probably not as clear cut; they probably had their share of obsessive glory-hounds in the old guard, and new members in Fulgrim's time who were raised with his best values to be an exemplar who inspired others by also being a stand-up guy.
There's very little elaboration on what Jaghatai meant, of course, so this is all purely academic. But I just thought I'd throw that theory in there!
And now that we've analysed the sick burn, I'd also like to analyse what brought it up: Fulgrim's compliment.
Fulgrim is, at face value, paying Jaghatai a compliment. His jetbikes are delightful! Fast! And this is coming from arguably the second-fastest of the Legions, what with the Emperor's Children's expertise in surgical, precision tactics like they were fencing with squads. And given what we know of Fulgrim at his best, I can understand people seeing this as a genuine compliment, perhaps lightly spiced with a jest about his desires. Fulgrim's wit is not just frivolity; whenever he is reaching out to his brothers, he tries using his charm to defuse the tension.
Alas, much like Lorgar trying to engage Ferrus by asking if his hands could make anything other than instruments of war, it came across as backhanded condescension.
So, for starters, the main problem with Fulgrim's compliment within the scene is that he's speaking for Jaghatai. Assuming he knows best, like he assumes he knows Mortarion is just 'jealous'.
Additionally, while he's not entirely wrong, he's also being reductive. Fulgrim is basically reducing the Scars to "go fast, do our own thing, be left alone". And yes, those are all important to the White Scars, so it would be salty to be insulted over that. But we, the reader, know what Jaghatai does: that they're so much more than that. They have culture, philosophy, and loyalty equal to any of the Legions. And that, in turn, plays into a common hang-up of the White Scars: they were resentful of how little effort people took to know them, even though they played an equal part in that by being distant and aloof. (further irony points: they made the same mistake with the Space Wolves)
Of course, all of this is done in the span of a few sentences, so we don't get the benefit of all of this context and background in the scene.
But from what we know about these Primarchs, I think the most we can say is this: After facing some pushback from his edgy loner brothers, Fulgrim is either trying to reach out to them with tone-deaf jests, or simply just throwing barbs at them assuming they can take it. Jaghatai, while being pretty judgemental in his assessments, hasn't actually gone on the offensive until this moment. But when he does, he goes for the throat.

‘I wonder which one of you would win in a duel,’ the Angel mused. ‘I would like to see that. You both handle a blade like gods.’
‘Name the place, brother,’ Fulgrim said to the Khan. ‘I’d even travel to Chogoris, if you built a palace to keep the dust from my armour.’
The Khan felt the insult. It stabbed at him, deeply, but his expression never changed. They could never know, none of them, how much their closed fraternity rankled him.
‘You would lose,’ said the Khan.
Fulgrim grinned, but there was something fragile in it. ‘Oh?’
‘You would lose because you would treat it like a game, like you treat everything, and I would not. You would lose because you know nothing of me, and I know everything of you because you shout it from the turrets of your battle cruisers. My prowess remains unknown. You have some reputation as a swordsman, brother, but I make no boast when I tell you I would leave you choking on it.’
Fulgrim’s cheeks flushed. For a moment, he looked like he would go for his blade. As ever, Sanguinius’s calm smile soothed the moment.
‘Now I regret bringing this up,’ he sighed. ‘In the cause of peace, shall we put this stupidity behind us? We are not at war, and never likely to be, and that is truly a blessing.’

Bonus points for the mental image that Sanguinius was stirring up this beef deliberately and sipping wine while he watched, but alas, that probably wasn't it. XD
This is the immediate aftermath of the burn, and loops once again into the original topic: Who would win in a fight. And it's interesting that as isolated as the Scars were, even Jaghatai earned a reputation as an indisputably superb swordsman. In terms of sheer skill, probably spoken of in the same breath as the likes of Fulgrim or the Lion by those in the know. The Khan says, in no uncertain terms, that Fulgrim would lose because he broadcasts his triumphs and his technique, and would underestimate his foe, which the Khan would use to exploit an opening fatally.
(Basically, in terms of what they know of "the matchup", Jaghatai has access to a detailed wiki page down to Fulgrim's Early Life and a How To Play Fulgrim Walkthrough (one hour long, posted by Fulgrim), but Fulgrim has a wiki stub and a Jaghatai Khan Trailer. Personally, I think at this point it's a closer fight than either expects, but Khan takes it.)
At this point, it becomes clearer that Fulgrim's challenge is getting a lot less "witty defusing of tension" and a lot more "fighting game player's salt-talk". It's just one insult here, but it's essentially calling Chogoris a primitive dustbowl. And as much as Jaghatai loves his homeworld for its elegant simplicity, he's not into insults hurled at it.
But while we, the reader, are inclined to believe that the Khan (even steamed up) isn't bragging (actual theoretical battle aside), especially when he readily admits to Mortarion that if they fought he wouldn't know who would win, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: this would absolutely worsen Fulgrim's impression of him.
From Fulgrim's perspective, the Khan has not just cast aspersions on his sons, but his own prowess as a swordsman, claiming a semblance of false modesty yet saying he would best him easily and readily.
And from Jaghatai's perspective, Fulgrim was being flippant towards his brothers' concerns, treating sincere claims with condescending jests. And he, too, reduced his sons to a simple stereotype.
I have actually read a nice comment that Fulgrim, at his best, should actually appreciate Chogoris as a world unspoiled by rampant industry, where there was still art and beauty to be found. I can definitely get behind the take.
I think, however, that by this time, Fulgrim's got a certain idea of what art, beauty, and civilisation should look like. He lauds Imperial culture and its heights, and while he also adores various kinds of beauty (like what Sanguinius brought from Baal), I think it's just as likely that he would see less developed Feudal Worlds like Chogoris as backwater dumps, barely a step above a Feral World. Kind of like how he slid from someone who cared for common humanity to someone who looked down on most mortals and resented their interference.
It's also echoing the overall attitude non-Primarch Imperials have towards the Scars: That they're barbarians uplifted several ages technologically, and are probably clueless and primitive when it comes to 'sophisticated' warfare. Though to be fair, most of the other Primarchs didn't think it made Jaghatai a dumb hick. Just that it presented a cultural speed bump that would divide him and his sons from smoothly integrating (which turned out to be true).
So that's it! Thanks for reading this far if you've made it! And while we know Jaghatai went on to go up against Mortarion, I do think it would have been sweet to have seen this rivalry play out had Fulgrim been more dependable a leader in the Heresy.
Still, there's always hope for the future, right? After all, the Khan has already fought one Daemon Primarch beefing with him...

I want to take a moment to thank the RWBY Fandom for coming together on post www.tumblr.com/iamafanofcartoons/714857308133441536/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
And discussing why RWBY was an enjoyable show for each of them. Everyone here had a fantastic reason, and I am grateful to each of you!
Hmvw2015: For me, RWBY filled the void left behind by Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. It’s one of the few shows I’ve seen (aside from Adventure Time) that grows up with its audience. The fight scenes are so incredible! They’re lightening fast I would have to rewatch the same episode at least twice or thrice! Easily rivaling those done by Studios Gainax or TRIGGER, or Titmouse. Since every character, place, and object have connections to fairy tales, mythologies, folklore, and classic novels, it did a great job portraying them to their root inspirations. Plus, I’m always digging deep into their designs and backstories. The music is almost top tier to the music from the Disney Renaissance Era. Maybe even better than that. The songs add another layer of foreshadowing for the characters, and they’re fun to listen to~! It tackles issues like self-worth, abuse, and death. The series basically screams “Women’s Rights” and “Gay Rights” and proud of it. :D www.tumblr.com/hmvw2015/715987868852666368/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Ammy246: I've always enjoyed the characters, and I like how there are 4 badass female protagonists who are each enjoyable to watch. I also like how the villains are actually threatening, so the heroes have to put effort into earning victories unlike many works of fiction. The animation always excites me, because you never know what you're going to get. And, don't even get me started on the amazing soundtrack.
Cinnamonrollfuckhead: it tickles all the right things about me. i got in trouble for reading in classes when i finished my work early at school, it was nearly always history or mythology. i was an ancient Egypt kid. i read outside my age group. if Snapple wanted to employ me to write factoids for their caps i would take it. i was hooked on RWBY immediately despite being older than any of the main characters. i found an unlikely character to relate to in Jaune. i loved how it balanced serious and goofy themes.
Satoshi-mochida: Some stuff I like about the show is that it's pretty fun and entertaining to watch, has constantly improving writing and animation(the CRWBY recognizing ACTUAL criticism, and working on those), with smarter and deeper than some may think moments, well-done characters, great music and songs, and probably more. I even cosplayed as Jaune(and the 'HuntsMan' with a Wonder-Zwei plush)with my then-girlfriend before COVID hit and other stuff happened, and enjoyed doing that.
Haunted-meatsack: I'm waaaaay behind but I started watching for the fight choreography, music, and battle skirts. Plus I'm a sucker for small girls who kick ass with GIANT weapons. Then the story and characters kept me coming. I need to catch up.
www.tumblr.com/haunted-meatsack/715895495101497344/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Bumblebyfan: I like RWBY due to a lot of reasons, for starters, the relationships between the main characters, and how they constantly help each other, I also really like the whole fantasy setting and how funny it is at times, I also really liked how they handled Ruby’s arc during season 9, as someone who has had... intrusive thoughts
www.tumblr.com/bumblebyfan/715730749688561664/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
XLBINGO10: one thing that i particularly like about rwby is that the characters aren't dumbasses. i feel like so often in shows i watch there's an episode conflict where the characters make an obviously terrible plan that will clearly backfire horribly just for the sake of the episode plot and it's always painful to watch, so it's really nice to watch a show where that doesn't happen.
www.tumblr.com/xlbingo10/715707865708527616/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable.
Sir-Somewhat: I love the cast. I honestly can't say there is a character I am not fond of in some way and that includes the villians. I love the idea of semblances and the faunus. Also I want more faunus lore. Given the existence of the Ever After I have to wonder if the Faunus came from another world created by the Brothers.
www.tumblr.com/sir-somewhat/715323283721076736/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Ghost-of-Sparda: Rwby was a show I found in college that I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy, but as I watched it- I found myself completely enthralled in the world created by Monty Oum and his friends. It’s story has me on the edge of my seat every episode, and it’s anime vibes make it a treat to watch. It’s not perfect, I will admit that- and there have been times where I didn’t agree with a direction of story telling at first. However there hasn’t been a show that gets me as excited as RWBY does since I was a kid. If you grew up watching anime, or grew up watching anime- I’d give RWBY a go. If you are still not over the Owl House/ She-Ra/ ATLA/ LOK/ Naruto/ or any other amazing series with crazy fights and an amazing story: I recommend Rwby as your next obsession. And if you want to give anime a try, but are still dipping your toes into the medium- Rwby is a good half way point for newcomers.
www.tumblr.com/ghost-of-sparda/715237926532956160/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Aspiringwarriorlibrarian: I really like the characters and their arcs, tragic villains, the triumph of hope and healing, and the fantasy elements.
www.tumblr.com/aspiringwarriorlibrarian/715056039519830016/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Miki-13: I love how they use fairy tales and myths as inspiration but execute them in really interesting ways, as well as how human and grounded everyone feels while inside such a fantastic setting.
www.tumblr.com/miki-13/715136165044469760/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Thatringboy: For the same reasons above, I’m also in love with the complex motivations behind the antagonists. Mercury hated the world and needed an enabler, Emerald needed security, Cinder snapped after a lifetime of abuse (just like Mercury), Hazel wanted revenge, Lionhart wanted to save himself, Raven wanted to save herself, Tyrian is just insane (based), Watts wanted petty revenge, Neo wanted revenge but doesn’t know what to do afterwards, CC wants to fulfill their cruel purpose, and Salem just wants to finally die. Torchwick was a comical villain who posed a dangerous threat, the Malachite sisters were doing their jobs, Ironwood was a victim of his own paranoia, Cardin was just racist, Cordovin worships her superiors, the Fennec brothers too, Adam wanted total control over everything and everyone in his life and would stop at nothing to get it, Ilia believed in a cause, Tock was following orders, it’s all so varied and exciting!!
www.tumblr.com/thatringboy/715138435689676800/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Pyrokinetic-murder-hobo: I honestly fell in love with this project immediately back when the red trailer was first introduced to me. Though the animation for RWBY was simple and understandably a lot of people regard it as not the best. Even V1 and the original 4 trailers had a living soul to me and there was a certain charm to the characters and the animation. What kept me coming back is I find myself being unable to predict where the show will go and it honestly keeps me drawn in that my thoughts and predictions are completely circumvented. The show doesn’t follow the trajectory of really any other media and Monty navigated it masterfully. There’s so many relatable characters and the situations they are put in are approached not perfectly but in a human way as to be a human (even if you have copious amounts of power) means you’ll definitely trip up. But simply put I’ve loved this project since the beginning with the 4 trailers and could write a dissertation on why I love this show and include a long list of different things I love ranging from OST to characters to design animation. But maybe a talk for another day And it made me some awesome friends on tumblr of course too which is a major plus (you better know who you are lol)
https://www.tumblr.com/pyrokinetic-murder-hobo/715072709057478656/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
iamafanofcartoons: For me, RWBY is a change of pace. It allows for women to be shown as independent characters, just as smart and strong as male ones. It doesn’t use fanservice , you don’t have internal monologuing during fight scenes, you don’t have people screaming random attack names, and the music and designs are great. I appreciate the humor, its not toilet humor or degrading humor like a lot of anime. It also tackles difficult themes like abuse, leadership, morality, and debate. It also takes the white male savior trope so common in the fanfics that people use to promote their OCs, and takes a giant dump on that garbage. If anything, when people say “the fanfics are better than the show” you’ll see them promoting a white male savior trope above all else. Finally? Its a pro-LGBT show on many aspects, which amusingly infuriates a lot of straight shippers who defend their straight white male character who they put on a pedestal.
www.tumblr.com/iamafanofcartoons/715040015347040256/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Grimmgrinningghouls: for me RWBY is a comfort It has been for 10 years I literally would not be who I am today without this show I'd probably still be a closeted lesbian living in a conservative household with an abusive father and a mother who hated me hell I may not even be here But instead I'm living across the world from them and I'm okay As okay as I can be Its helped me through so much and its introduced me to people I have become life long friends with These funky little lesbians are part of my life and they will be till the day I die
www.tumblr.com/grimmgrinningghouls/715064091163721728/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Snowqueenofmyheart: Agreed to the above, as well as being able to enjoy a story that centers women in a way that doesn’t reduce them to simplistic tropes or fanservice. I’ve been looking for more female-centered material over the last several years, and stumbling upon RWBY turned out to be a real joy in that regard. Across the board, you have so many compelling female characters, heroes and villains alike. Not to mention two main characters being explicitly in a queer romance is a delight and a relief. www.tumblr.com/snowqueenofmyheart/715058819349233664/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Youraveragecatastrophe: well first i love fantasy so we're off to a good start between the monsters heroes and magic the characters are a very strong point of this show. they're well fleshed out (even many secondary characters including villains and despite the big cast!) and they get the opportunity to develop and evolve i love the themes! love and hope and caring about each other and all that the fights are really fun to watch especially with the unique weapons and everyone's different fighting style the story is really compelling and well written too! also gayness. can't forget the queerness really this show has everything
www.tumblr.com/youraveragecatastrophe/715058708953071616/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Foulfirerebel: The music was what first made me get interested in RWBY. The hard hitting rock that also carried quite a bit of meaning into it if you truly took a moment to listen to the lyrics. So, from there I watched V1 at a friend's house and felt it was good. It did a good job with the action scenes, and setting things up for the characters. Volume 2, however, is where I truly fell in love with the show. The appearance of Cinder, of Ironwood, the food fight, the investigation into Torchwick and the White Fang, the dance and hacking sequence! Everything pointed to something more going on. Something hidden waiting to spring forth! V1 was a great entry point, V2 convinced me to stay and hooked me, and when I finally marathoned V3 I was EAGER to watch V4 and onward. Any and all quibbles I may have had melted away when the Fall of Beacon happened. So, long story short, I love the story. I love how things are built up and come back further down the line (Jaune's issues, Ruby's issues, etc.). I love how the characters do go through a lot and need help getting back up. I love how sincere and earnest everything is without a hint of irony. I love the slow burn relationships, and that the show doesn't end with those relationships just being established. I love that, despite everything, this one little indie show has continued going past everything that's happened in a decade since it started. I love that the story is engaging, the characters are deep, the writing is great, and that I'm even feeling bad for the villains which I don't normally do. RWBY may not be the most perfect thing ever, but frankly I love that the writers do see and incorporate feedback into their work. I love that, unlike how Halo or Star Wars do things, you don't necessarily need to have read all the side content to understand things too. Most of all is I love how this show has improved on every level: animation, writing, voice acting, etc. It's just so refreshing. It's the Little Engine that Could continuing onward and getting better as it goes. And hey, being a Bumbleby shipper since V3 and being vindicated in V9? Cherry on the sundae. It's been a wild ride, and I'd love it to continue.
www.tumblr.com/foulfirerebel/714989613562904576/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Maor-Koren: RWBY is one of my favorite shows, it take a unique concept and make it very enjoyable to watch. The main and side characters are all unique in their own way and very enjoyable. The story is really good. The animation, fight scenes and the design of the characters and places are all very pleasing to the eye. And the music is phenomenal. Don’t let other people make your opinion! look at the show and see for yourself if you like it or not!
www.tumblr.com/maor-koren/714954350873788416/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
But-a-humble-goon: Rwby is, in a word, earnest. Its characters are unashamedly sincere, affectionate and vulnerable and the show understands not only that these things are not a weakness but that there can be no greater measure of strength. It’s a story overflowing with heart that categorically rejects stoicism and nihilism and never once apologises for itself. Nothing has ever hit me harder and I do mean that.
www.tumblr.com/but-a-humble-goon/714953671346176000/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
mikey-polo420: I watched RWBY Because i was drawn in by the trailers when Monty was alive and i liked the idea of cute girls fighting monsters with giant weapons, then i wanted to see their journey through beacon and now i've become invested with the Messages of hope the show presents, i love each of my precious children and want to see them achieve their happiness , i want to support RWBY to it's conclusion because that's what Monty wanted, it's what his friends wanted and they deserve to complete his Brain child.
www.tumblr.com/mikey-polo420/714951464721743872/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
mooninoir: i started watching when vol. 1 was still going, with a fansub (!) working hell and back to translate each episode as they came out. i remember waiting every week to see a new episode, and when the last episodes came, i was entirely invested in this sci-fi fantasy series with fairytale elements and wanted to know what would happen next. and, for me, it's an endearing series that i enjoy watching, even with its flaws. it's fun, but it also has a heart. i like how it didn't shy away from telling a broader story. vol. 3's gut-wrenching finale was for me what made me realize i was not there just for the amazing fights and cool soundtrack, but for the characters and how they live in this crazy world. it was amazing to watch its worldbuilding evolve to such great lengths and see the characters i like to grow and learn and evolve along with it. they are done well and don't feel misplaced in the narrative. it just flows nicely and i guess the latest volume proved that to me (the themes, the motifs, the characters' choices, and the visuals) everything comes together, y'know? and i just... like it. i like rwby. i really do.
www.tumblr.com/mooninoi714949733681102848/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Tumblingxelian: Why do you watch this show? I watch RWBY for the cool characters, interesting setting and engaging overarching story and arcs, plus some gorgeous animation, sets and awesome music. What makes it appeal to you? Women, including queer women, are center stage and given tons of dynamic personality, agency and exploration in ways I rarely see done in other series.
www.tumblr.com/tumblingxelian/714943623381303296/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
feifiefofum: look, the ad on the tin was cute girls doing violent things and looking great while doing it. that was the impetus for me to follow the show, i was there when it started with the famous red trailer to yellow trailer. the writing then wasn't bad, a bit condensed because, y'know, shoestring budget so everything was very tight time wise. but y'know, you didn't watch the four trailers and get sold on the story- which was good by the by, but it wasn't exceptional. it was by the numbers, hitting what they need to hit, but good. you didn't think it was spectacular. but then volume 3 hits you out of nowhere, and you realize, oh, the writing is phenomenal actually. rwby has deceptively good writing that on the surface is good par for the course that lulls you into complacency, and then manages to sideswipe you with incredible twists that you don't see, but on looking back, the seeds for the twist were planted from book 1 on. the world is slowly and meticulously rolled out to the viewer, the characters shine, and the action, while still spectacular, become secondary to the characters and the world. i started watching rwby, expecting cute girls doing violent things. and they deliver on that, and if you come watch rwby just for that, it delivers that. i didn't come in for hearty world building, intrigue, and lore so deep you can get lost in it. the writers write on a razor's edge, giving enough lore for a backdrop and setting the stage, but if you decide to dig at any trail, you can get lost in it. the concept of dust, the name of the world itself- frankly i think it's a masterclass in giving enough to keep the story going but having enough in the back that every new twist that they lay out can be found to have grown from a seed that was planted in an earlier volume. i dunno who traded their soul away to keep track of all that world building and lore, but that excel sheet must be something to behold. rwby throws u-turns that you don't expect at you, lulls you with a sense of 'okay, i see your tricks now' and somehow manages to turn you around again, and have it make sense. frankly, it's a little frustrating, i've been bamboozled and led by the nose. and i love it for that. i'm delighted by the ride i'm on, and i hope the show keeps going.
www.tumblr.com/feifiefofum/714920887601790976/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
aspennntree: I watch rwby for several reasons- mostly for the characters, i find some of them really relatable also i just genuinely enjoy the story and the visuals and find the show very comforting i also like the people i’ve met in this community that are kind and i like having people to share my interests with i’ve made many new friends being in this community and it’s something i’m very passionate about, i just really enjoy it genuinely
www.tumblr.com/aspennntree/714906439613906944/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Tokufan400: Even with everything, I can't bring myself to stop watching RWBY. I got back into it after talking with some friends in highschool, and I've been doing my best to keep up with it since. I have love for the characters (Weiss is the best), and I do feel a sence of amazement that a western project like this ha s grown so much. Not to mention the amount of art, comics, manga, and fanfics that have spawned from the show. Do I have problems with RWBY? Yes. I will probably never stop ranting about something the show does to tick me off. But I do the same for Star Vs and Kamen Rider Zero One, both shows I still hold a love for. Hell, I might do the same for Amphibia and Owl House down the line if I do a re watch. So yeah, still love RWBY and I want to be around to see how this story ends.
www.tumblr.com/tokufan400/714910475313446912/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Howlingday: So, I was in high school and I was watching Red VS Blue. Then I started watching Rage Quit. Then Achievement Hunter. Play Pals. Then my sister and my high school crush were like, hey, try out RWBY. I mocked them by saying "It should be Ar-Dubyoo-Bee-Why". Then I got into it and, well, I liked it the more I got into it until I was caught up to Volume 2. Then Death Battle had the Yang VS Tifa fight (PLEASE, NO REMATCH), and I was rooting for Yang. Then I saw Volume 3, and I was shocked, dismayed, and devastated at the sudden heel turn. I've been hooked ever since. So, to answer your questions. I watch RWBY because it's fun, and I want to know where the story goes. I loved the fun had at Beacon, and I want to know what happens next. The appeal comes from the desire to see these group of friends fight to save the world from the Grimm. I want to see them thrive against a world where everything is stacked against them! And I want to see them flying kick someone in the face to the sound of the most amazing butt-rock since Crush 40 Sonic (No offense MGR)! So, yeah, I love watching RWBY because it's a story to be told. And I'm going to openly sob when the story finally comes to an end.
www.tumblr.com/howlingday/714865441082851328/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Gorillageek27: i watch because, okay i was kinda turned off by it at first, just "what is this anime shit?", but i watched it and it's the most out there animated thing i can think like. Rwby is a show that somehow got me appreicating animated projects and you can tell the writers and animators have fun with it.
www.tumblr.com/gorillageek27/714864574777671680/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
lithominium: Its endearing, the lack of amazing animation in vol 1-3 is made up for in how much love was put into it. The characters are fun and loveable and the writing is goofy but unlike some other media ive watched its very good at knowing when to keep the tone consistent. Its very gay and i love gay and its got one of the greatest slow burns ive ever seen with great payoffs which always happen when they should. I like the setting and the lore and the weapons and the semblances. Its such a good show
www.tumblr.com/lithominium/714869719134535680/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Everafterfrisk: I love RWBY for a ton of reasons but to keep it short: • The Facial Expressions of the characters match really well with the tones of each scene • Amazing character designs that can just tell you so much about them before you get to know them •The animation: RWBY imo is best 3D animated series, most of the time 3D animes tend to be stiff and lifeless But RWBY gives its fights alot of finesse and creativity to go along with Like here's a few examples:
(V9) Weiss and Blake using gambol shroud's blade to propel Yang while simultaneously having Yang use Arma Gigas's Sword www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9RQnk7Oueo
(V3) Yang closing Flynt's Trumpet making his quartet backfire on him www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLu3_LKG_A8
(V4 Short) Ruby using the recoil of her weapon to bounce out of the way from a Grimm and trip him up using her Scythe catching him into a Hurricane formed by her semblance (13:54) www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivns4_clQ_c
There's even a full in depth analysis on the fight choreography from the earlier volumes to check out www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMQfm0RsY6o • Themes of Unity,Self identity,Acceptance,Loving oneself, Finding hope in the most dreadful scenarios and the list goes on • The Protagonist Ruby Rose is a breath of fresh air similar to say Deku from BNHA where both know the world isn't exactly kind but still try to help the best they can; even if it results in them destroying themselves to get there as their series's goes on •The Villains are all pretty realistic in their motivations being not afraid to fall victim to arrogance while simultaneously being victims of either the world's actions or their own °The show doesn't swindle you into thinking that just cuz they have sympathetic backgrounds that they're immediately good They have to work for it and atone for misdeeds such as Ilia,Emerald and Hazel or doesn't believe their actions are unwarranted like Salem and Cinder or has a lack of empathy for the world around them like Mercury or Tyrian or Wants to do the right thing but lets the ends justify their means(Ironwood) or Living only on the fear of your actions(Lionheart) or The world has dealt so much injustice to you that you felt giving it by ten thousand fold would remedy it ( Ilia and Adam)
▪︎ The Music is just PEAK for me The Sound design,everything just speaks volumes of the scene www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS4HvQ5BP-1gKp4Ou4PRkqdEDvnNqdTGS
www.tumblr.com/everafterfrisk/714883876389044224/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Blakistan: I think RWBY was first suggested to be me on the grounds of “lots of really cool fights” which, while not ultimately the point of the show is still a big plus! Monty was an absolute wizard when it came to fight choreography and CRWBY has done a fantastic job keeping up that legacy. Ofc that was only the thing that got me to look at the show in the first place - what made me stay was the incredibly well done character-driven story. Following along and exploring the arcs of all the different characters in the show helped me through tough times and shaped a lot of who I am as a person today - Blake and Weiss’ stories in particular did so much in helping me find hope that I could grow as a person because that what the show is: hope. So uh yeah, if you like deep, interwoven character narratives that don’t shy away from growth, change, or the ugliness that sometimes crops up along the way with those things, definitely give RWBY a watch www.tumblr.com/blakistan/714867196992585728/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable
Well....point is? There's so many reasons to love RWBY

hello! i am a first year teacher currently teaching 6th ELA at a title I school. many of my students are reading at or below a 4th grade level. this quarter was poetry and figurative language, and i have done so many things to try and get these kids to even somewhat remember the definition of the vocab words, let alone actually apply their knowledge. i have done interactive notes (TWICE!!), poetry writing with figurative language, review blookets, figurative language worksheets (made for 5th), i have looked at figurative language in encanto song lyrics to try and make it more relevant to them, matching activities, and so on.
these kids are NOT getting it. i am lucky if they remember what a simile is. today we took a quiz they were allowed to use notes on and so many kids scored below a 15/20 (what my school considers to be mastery). this is my fourth week of teaching this and i am at my wits end. any suggestions on activities or alternative methods that i can use to try and get this in their heads? i don’t even need them to be experts, i just want them to remember the definition of like 4 of the words.
as a heads up, we are focusing on simile, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, idiom, personification, irony, and hyperbole.

⁃ Relationship with the Royals 

People like to say that Alear doesn’t get much development after the events of Chapter 11. I personally disagree with this. And that’s mainly because of Veyle. Veyle is my favorite character in Fire Emblem Engage, and to me, she is one of the key players in their development as much as the Emblems are.
But before I talk about Veyle, we need to talk about the Solm arc. Because Timerra’s actions and reasons for their kingdoms way of handling things is an important factor to Alear and the Four Royals relationship with one another as a whole.
Have you heard of the Five Man Band trope? https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand
It’s basically a team consisting 5 members, each serving a character archetype consisting of:

⁃ The Hero/Leader: Alear. ⁃ The Lancer: Alfred. ⁃ The Muscle (Big Guy/Gal): Diamant. ⁃ The Brains (Smart Guy/Gal): Ivy. ⁃ The Heart (Chick): Timerra. 

So, why exactly do I bring this trope? It will makes sense later. Just know that this is one of the ways Alear foils to Veyle. And we talk about Timerra anyways for the Solm arc and how it ties the Royals into being a real team.
It’s important for Alear to understand how each of the Four Kingdom operates. Alfred, being Alear’s new best friend and guide, has to be the one to tell Alear about the Kingdoms in full detail. One of the biggest reasons for why war happens between Kingdoms I feel mainly lies in the lack of communication and trust between one another (cough* Three Houses). Real bonds with people are much stronger than just being allies of convenience (something Sombron will never understand).
In Chapter 12, the other royals explain how their “allegiance” with Solm, or lack thereof, works. Alfred and Diamant never met Solm’s Royal Family outside of the Queen. Their reasons are explained later in the next chapter. Timerra and Fogado are Sentinels who travel outside Kingdom walls to support their country and never made alliances with any Kingdoms so they don’t lose resources in their fight (especially with Fell Dragon Sombron now revived). Once Alear hears out Timerra and Fogado’s reasoning, they don’t criticize them.
In Chapter 14, Hortensia, currently at her lowest point, demands Alear and the others to hand the rings in exchange for Seforia’s life. Alear, however, refuses to bend.

• Alear: … No, Hortensia. Never. • Hortensia: I'm sorry, did I not make myself clear? Hand them over or l kill the queen. • Alear: I heard you. But I'm not doing what you ask. I'd be throwing away everything she, Timerra, Fogado, and the people of Solm have done. So no, I won't give you the rings. And I won't let you kill Queen Seforia. 

This chapter (while is mainly for Timerra and Ivy’s characters IMO) is still a good moment for Alear. Alear has already experienced Morion’s death and being unable to save a parent. Even so, Alear isn’t handing the rings out of desperation to save another parent.
Here, Alear stays calm and is not going to waste Timerra and Fogado’s hard work to protect Ike just to save the Queen because of their “must save/avenge the parent” like with Morion and the Emblems. They stay resolute. That shows that have grown a lot in a short timeframe. Alear’s resolve calms Timerra down and give her the strength and mental fortitude to not bend so easily to Hortensia’s threat.
Even in this desperate situation, however, Alear, Ivy and Seforia still understand how Hortensia is feeling right now. And Alear perfectly deconstructs her. To put it simply “why put someone through the same pain as you?” Of course Alear would know.
Hortensia is rethinking her actions, and Ivy is here to comfort her. Everything should be alright now hopefully. Unfortunately. Zephia come in to take the Queen, brainwash Hortensia into fighting.
After the fight is over, Seforia brings up Lumera, Alear was shocked at first, but expresses gratitude at the compliment. It shows how much Alear grew in comparison to the first 10 Chapters. Lumera is a really emotional sore spot for Alear. In Chapter 5, after saving Queen Evé, the latter allows Alear time to grieve in her arms. Something I’m sure they really needed.
Regardless, it’s nice for Alear to take that compliment with pride. They are doing this in honor of Lumera after all. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they have fully recovered from Lumera’s death or the events of Chapter 10 and 11 from an emotional perspective.

⁃ Veyle 

Which leads into the end of Chapter 15 and Alear’s fallout with Veyle. Alear’s relationship with Veyle is one of my favorite part about Engage’s story and why Veyle is my favorite character in the game. I probably wouldn’t have liked Alear as much if it wasn’t for her.
How would you feel if the person you saw as your friend was actually your mother’s killer all along and was working from behind the scenes to help kidnap and Corrupt Morion, revive (her father) Sombron, and take the Emblem Rings (our friends) from right under our noses, mocking for your failure all the while? I would be infuriated too.
Now we cut over to chapter 15 (at least the end of it) and Alear meets Veyle again (as in her normal, kind hearted personality). And needless to say, after everything that happened the “last time” they met. To say that Alear is displeased to see her is an understatement.

• Veyle: Oh my! We meet again, Alear. Did you defeat the monsters? • Alear (doing their best to remain calm): Yes, we did. Every last one. • Veyle: I'm glad. How have you been? I was surprised to see you out in that blizzard. I hope you found the cathedral. • Alear (losing their patience): Whatever game you’re playing, stop it. • Veyle: Huh? Are you mad about something? • Alear: Don’t act like you forgot. I can see through your lies now. • Veyle: Lies? What do you mean? I promise you, Alear, I’m not- • Alfred: Not a step closer! You stay where you are, Fell Princess. • Veyle: *shocked* How did you know?! • Diamant: Just looking at you, I feel again the shame of losing Father… • Ivy: You stolen my country from me-my father. What more do you want? • Alear: The people you killed (Morion, Hyancith, and victims of the Corrupted)… they had families. But you don’t care, do you? All that pain… You don’t even give it a second thought. • Veyle: Wait a moment. I… I killed people? Who? • Alear: Drop the act! You know what you did! How dare you show your face here. You murdered my mother and stole the rings. • Veyle (on the verge of tears): I didn’t. I didn’t. Please believe me… • Alear: Believe you? Like I believed we were friends? I won’t make that mistake again. • Veyle: … *runs away, heartbroken.” • Alfred: We’ve got to do something! • Alear: Let her go. It’s probably a trap. • Alfred: You’re right. • Timerra: Divine One, are you all right? • Alear: I’m fine. But the next time I see Veyle, I swear… 

The first thing I want to say is: Brandon McInnis and Laura Stahl’s was incredible. You could hear the Tranquil Fury in their voices. Hiro Shimono and Aya Endo also were great here.
One of my favorite aspects Alear’s character, and I will expand on this more later, is that Alear makes it very clear that they don’t hate Veyle JUST because she killed Lumera.
Alear’s hate towards Veyle is mainly attributed to all of the other lives Veyle ruined. Not just theirs. They are talking about Morion (who they got to know as a person who loved his sons and not just the warmonger Elusia sees him as), Hyanicith (despite being an enemy, Alear still sympathizes with Hortensia because know the pain of losing a parent).
Unlike with the case characters like say Dimitri, Alear doesn’t just simply attack Veyle. If they and the royals attacked Veyle unprovoked, I probably would’ve lost some sympathy for them. The simple act of disowning Veyle is more telling than just going straight for her head.
Regardless, it’s rare to see Alear wrathful. But again, as stated above, they has every reason to be furious with Veyle knowing full well that (from their perspective), the person they saw as their friend “betrayed” them, killed Lumera and hurt their friends.
And the saddest thing about all of this is, Alear’s anger and hate towards Veyle blinds Alear to the fact that Veyle not acting like her evil self. The dramatic irony in this is that WE the audience know about Veyle having two personalities, but Alear and the others don’t know that yet.
So imagine Alear’s surprise and horror when Zephia reveals the truth behind Veyle and her evil counterpart.
The look on Alear’s face and how it changes from anger to sadness when they learn the truth says it all. Alear begins to regret their behavior in Chapter 15. Even the tone in their voice changes.

• Alear: The person who killed my mother and stole our rings… It was Veyle, but… not? 

Alear goes from swearing revenge on Veyle to wanting to help her ASAP. This was EXACTLY how I felt after Chapter 17. The end of Chapter 15 showed that Alear isn’t perfect and couldn’t see the forest for the trees in the midst of her anger over Lumera’s death.
Alear and Evil!Veyle’s boss dialogue in Chapter 17 also deserves mention. EVeyle here is mocking Alear about being friends and having a falling out. Seeing how Alear has no retort to this is another showing of how Alear feels knowing that they accused Veyle wrongly.

• Evil!Veyle: "Hehehe, I'm so glad you came. Quite a backdrop, isn't it? Florra looks much prettier up in flames. I knew you'd come if I set it ablaze. And the Corrupted that frightened you so much... They're not so scary this way, are they?" • Alear: "Are you talking about King Hyacinth?" • Evil!Veyle: "Yes. I thought seeing him would make you smile. We are friends, after all! Oh, but we had a falling out, didn't we? The other Veyle must be simply heartbroken." • Alear: "..." 

Above everything thing else, however, the final nail in the coffin that would drive Alear to save Veyle is the moment the real Veyle returns Sigurd’s ring to them (the very same ring that Alear was entrusted with by Lumera before she died).

• Veyle: I know you can't forgive me...for all the things I've done. But still... You must know... I need you to know that even though our friendship was brief.. it meant everything! 

Chapter 17 ends with Alear praying for Veyle’s safety. Another thing worth noting is Alear staying focused on helping the Survivors at Firene instead of going straight for chasing after Veyle is a huge sign of their growth.

• Alear: Be safe, Veyle. 

I don’t want to talk about Sigurd’s Paralogue just yet, as I will save the Emblem Paralogues for their own individual posts on Reddit. Even still, I believe Sigurd’s Paralogue and the message it sends to Alear was made with the revelation of Veyle in mind.

⁃ Sigurd: You must learn the sorrow of the common man, Seliph, Your truth is not the reality of all. Unless you know their pain, these long years of war will have been for naught... 

From Chapter 17 onwards, saving Veyle is one of Alear’s end goals. And even though Alear isn’t fully ready to forgive Veyle (and yes, no split personality is going to change the facts), it’s clear that everything that happened changed Alear’s perspective.
In chapter 18, each of the Royals have their own perspective to give on the matter. Alfred, who was with Alear when Zephia spilled the beans, also expressed shock at the reveal of Veyle’s other personality. Alfred, with a clearer mindset, acknowledged that Veyle gave the Ring of the Holy Knight back of her own free will. As well as the fact that she was being used.
Diamant considers every angle that Veyle is still being used by the enemy. While also acknowledging Timerra’s viewpoint that Veyle was playing them and waiting for the moment they let their guards down. Ivy acknowledges that Zephia is fully intent on killing off the real Veyle.
My point here is that now Alear and the others now have a better understanding of what’s going on, they are trying think about the best way to handle Veyle going forward. Alear in particular wants to believe in Veyle they saw at the end of Chapter 17. The Veyle that knew she lost one of her only real experiences at friendship was still willing to defy her abuser to do the right thing, not expecting forgiveness all the while.
In Chapter 19, after defeating Mauvier and Marni, and even before that, Alear asks his enemies about Veyle. Mauvier, who is the only one of the Hounds who gives a single crap about Veyle, is the one to warn Alear that Zephia is planning on erasing Good Veyle’s personality. Alear’s reason for letting Mauvier go is because Alear trusts that Mauvier has Veyle’s best interests at heart. Like with Ivy, this decision would pay off in the future.
Especially since what Alear learns about themselves in Chapter 20 would play a big role in Alear understanding Veyle better. Alear and the others meet, fight and defeat Griss at Elusia castle. In doing so, we manage to get Celica back, but…

• Emblem Celica: I thank you, Alear. • Alear: Emblem Celica, it’s such a relief to have you back again. • Griss: *laughing maniacally* • Alear: … • Griss: *still laughing, but catches his breath*… Oh man. Ain’t this whole thing just a laugh-riot? Zephia, that little hunch of yours was so dead on! • Alear: I think it’s clear you’ve lost your mind. • Griss: Look at you, acting all high and mighty. “It’s clear you’ve lost your mind.” Yeah, that’s cute. The real question is, have you lost yours? You’re playing this whole thing like a you’re a god. But you’re fighting on the wrong side. Why’re you staring at me with that stupid look on your face? You’re think you’re a Divine Dragon? Lemme set ya straight. You are the child of the Fell Dragon! • Alear: *Shocked and confused* I am his child? No, but… How? 

The main complaints about this moment I hear is that Alear gets over this reveal too quickly and the reveal of being Sombron’s child is too obvious. The lesson that Alear learns here isn’t about the circumstances of birth, it’s about the person you choose to be. Everyone is following Alear because they love and trust them, and Alear earned that trust through their actions. Not just being able to summon Emblems.
And it’s also again shows how Alear and Veyle are foils to each other.
The Four Royals all grew to love and respect Alear for their characters and actions. Rather than just love them as the Deity with the ability to summon Emblems. The Four Hounds (Mauvier excluded), on the other hand, see Veyle as a pawn and/or a means to an end for their own gain.
All Zephia cares about is following Sombron. How Sombron sees Veyle and being a parent also translates into Zephia doing the thing to Veyle. Griss only cares about following Zephia because she’s the only home she has. And anything Zephia does, Griss follows suit. And Marni is in sole pursuit of praise and glory.
The reason for why I’m ok with Alear’s despair over being Sombron’s child is dealt with quickly it was more of the lesson Alear needed to save Veyle and convince her to keep fighting in Chapter 22.

• ‘I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.' - Mewtwo ◦ The characters with plot important dialogue after Chapter 20: • Vander: You remain the Divine Dragon. I will forever serve at your service…just as I always have. • Clanne: It doesn't matter whose child you actually are. I'll still protect you because...well, you're you. • Framme: You ARE a Divine Dragon to me! Even now. No, especially now! You're amazing no matter what. • Alfred: You mean a lot to us. Even if you tried to flee, I'd run after you to make sure you knew that. • Céline: Your lineage does not change that you saved me and all of Firene. I shall stand by you. • Diamant: Don't worry. We're right here beside you...and we'll help you become a true Divine Dragon. • Alcryst: Your lineage doesn't matter to me, Divine One. In my eyes, you're still someone to admire. • Ivy: You will always be the Divine Dragon to me. Please remember that-and please stay with us. • Hortensia: So what if you were born a Fell Dragon? I used to worship the Fell Dragon. Anyone can change. • Timmera: Nothing's changed as far as I'm concerned. The you that's right in front of me-that's all I need. • Fogado: The people of Solm don't care about origins. We care about the you NOW. And you are amazing. 

Chapter 20 was the turning point for Alear. The final nail in the coffin to convince them to save Veyle. Even if Veyle killed Lumera, Veyle is still their family and if Alear can change for the better, so can Veyle. Alear learned that they are Veyle’s only remaining sibling that she has been looking for. The only person to ever show her kindness. And finally, In the next chapter, Alear learns about Veyle’s backstory. All of these things are all motivations for Alear to forgive their sister.

• Mauvier: Divine Dragon. • Alear: Mauvier, it’s you. • Mauvier: I overheard your conversation about being Lord’s Sombron’s child. If that is true, then I urge you to help Lady Veyle. • Alear: What? You’re not here to stop us? • Mauvier: All this time, Lady Veyle has been sustained by a desire to meet her sibling. If she sees you, she will be saved. I know it. • Alear: I’d like to support her like my friends here have supported me. 

The moment Zephia kills Marni and Mauvier chooses to fight alongside Alear, they accept. They have the same goal of saving Veyle. With everything that has happened, Alear is no longer hesitated to save their sister.
Alear’s wrath towards EVeyle is also telling. They know who the real killer is in all of this. They have the rage and the focused mind needed to save Veyle, as opposed to being too angry or too conflicted.

• EVeyle: "Oh, how I wanted to find you. How I wanted to kill you. Queen Lumera's pet. The whimpering, pathetic worm. You are not my sibling." • Alear: "And you're not mine. Veyle is. Give her back." • EVeyle: "I am Veyle! And I'll prove it - here and now - by destroying you!" 

Alear and Veyle’s voice actors all did an incredible job in Chapter 21 with the boss dialogue. You can hear the fury in their voices.
EVeyle is defeated again thanks to Alear and friends. Veyle is freed with the Helmet Damage. And now that Veyle is willing handing the Ring of the Hero King back to us, things should be A-Ok now, right?

• Sombron: I will not allow it! • Alear: …! (Veyle turns around as she senses Sombron’s presence). • Sombron: Heed me well, O defective daughter of mine. • Veyle: Papa… • Sombron: My goal is so close I can taste it, but their kindness makes you weak. Now go, and reclaim my Emblem Rings at once! • Veyle: I won’t! • Sombron: So I see. That is a shame. Well then…there is nothing more you can do for me. And I have never been in the habit… of keeping that which has no value. • Veyle: Ah! (Sombron charges a blast breath in preparation to kill Veyle.) • Alear: Veyle! (Steps in front of the attack and is mortally wounded.) Aaah! Ngh… Ugh… • Veyle:*Veyle gasps in horror and runs to Alear and lifts their dying body in her arms* No! • Sombron: My foolish child. Twice now have I struck you down. But I promise you…no amount of sleep will bring you back from this moment. (Screen fades to black) This time…your defeat is final. 

No matter what anybody tries to say, this is saddest moment in the game for me. Regardless of Alear getting revived or not. And it’s mainly because of how Veyle reacts to Alear’s death.
Alear finally gets to apologize to Veyle for how they treated her back in Chapter 15. One of the things that makes this scene hurt is that Veyle doesn’t care about what happened then, she just doesn’t want Alear to die. Alear tries to reassure Veyle even at death’s door. It could have been because Alear truly believed they could survive, or they were just putting on a brave face.
Alas, whatever the case may be, Alear lies dead on the floor before they could reveal the truth to Veyle about being her sibling. And it gets worse from here (AGAIN). The Dragonstone that Alear gave Veyle is destroyed (symbolizing that Alear is indeed dead, as Dragonstones are tied to a Dragon’s life force in Engage). Case in point, when Nel ends her own life to save “Nil” (Rafal), her Dragonstone is destroyed.
Sombron (Alear’s murderer) reveals the truth to Veyle about Alear being their sibling. And this was the moment that broke Veyle. Never mind all of the horrible things Sombron and Zephia has done to her. Or all of the abuse and harassment she went through just for being Sombron’s daughter…
All of the abuse Veyle went through would have met something of they finally had reunited with the sibling that gave her hope. Not only does said sibling died for their sake, Alear chooses to lay down their lives for her even after everything her evil self did to them and their friends. And it was at this moment that Veyle realizes she had reunited with her sibling far too late that she breaks and loses her will to live.

• Veyle: No… But the stone shouldn’t break…the stone shouldn’t shatter unless… All that time…you were my brothesister… I found you…I finally found you! Please, don’t be gone-I need to talk you! I don’t understand why you would sacrifice yourself for me! *sobs* 

With this Sombron uses the Emblems to revive Gradlon. EVeyle returns, and Alear’s army is surrounded by Corrupted. And no one is able to summon the Emblems.
All hope is lost… but as they say; “The darkest hour is just before the dawn.” Or in this case, “The Edge of Dawn.” …
We have finally reached Chapter 22. The Climax of Alear’s story. One of the things I love about this chapter is title itself: The Fell and The Divine, it’s called Divine Dragon and Fell/Evil Dragon in Japanese (神竜と邪竜).
It has a tripe meaning that can be taken as Fell Alear’s relationship with Lumera. Alear and Veyle’s relationship. and/or Alear’s transition from a Fell Dragon to a Divine Dragon.
I don’t consider myself a master class of Japanese language and spelling (especially the latter), but even without knowing what Hiragana is, it’s easy to tell that Alear was undeveloped mentally.
All of this due to Sombron being a godawful parent. Seeing Alear staring at Sombron with emotionless eyes and murderous intent is more than enough to tell me just how broken Alear was prior to meeting Lumera.
Lumera gave Alear everything that they needed; love and kindness most of all, but also someone who could guide Alear. EVeyle represents what Alear would have been if they rejected the notions of kindness. We see Alear became a better person thanks to Lumera’s influence.
Going back to Chapter 3 for a moment, this was Alear’s last memory as their past selves. Not only were these memories unpleasant, but also, I consider that moment now to be the death of the self. I say Alear’s death in the past is more of a metaphor than anything else.
In that moment, Past Alear died and was reborn as the Divine Dragon. I consider Alear to be the Death Arcana from the Persona series. It doesn’t mean death per se (not physically at least), it’s represents change, the end of one journey and the beginning of another. This is Alear’s story in a nutshell.
Lumera’s death hits so much harder now that we know the truth. The “becoming your mother” line was subtle foreshadowing that Lumera wasn’t Alear’s birth mother.
And this right here for me, was the TRUE plot twist of Chapter 20. Alear was adopted all along.

• Lumera: Being your mother─becoming your mother─ has brought so much happiness into my life. • Alear: I know…and I’m happy to be your child, in this moment─ here and now─and a thousand years ago. I am. 

Not only does Lumera’s sacrifice allows Alear to summon Emblems with their free will, but it also saved Alear’s life. Lumera’s sacrifice wasn’t a waste.
And plus it explains Alear’s hair color. I never once hated Alear’s design, but now I love it for its symbolism alone!
Just like with Veyle, Alear comes to the realization that their dreams were realized just as they died.

• Alear: Oh… I must have died protecting Veyle. There’s no waking up this time. I had dreamed that I would awaken as a hero… Only now I realize, that did happen. But it’s too late. 

The big reason why this moment hits me hard is because the whole premise of the game was to team up with heroes of the past. Alear was growing up to be like Marth.
Alear had Marth’s ring with them for most of their time as Sombron’s child. Alear’s kinship with Marth feels similar Tiki and Marth and Soren and Ike in a way.
A kind hand who freed them from shackles of isolation.
By Engaging with Marth, Alear could become that hero, even wield their powers for a time. Alear was living the dream of being a hero just like Lumera and Marth…
But alas, Sombron always found a way to take that dream away from them. And now it seems like Alear will never be that hero again…
On the “bright” side, Alear isn’t alone in the feeling of having their dreams crushed over and over. Veyle is also with Alear in the limbo and she has had enough of life being crap for her. And honestly, who can blame her?
But Alear isn’t ready to give up just yet. Alear words towards Veyle hits really hard. But they are right. Alear may have been through hard times, but they were able to come out the other end stronger, and Veyle can do the same.
Alear has one last gambit that may help. And it’s their craziest plan yet. To become the very thing they hate: A Corrupted! Alear is pushing through his greatest fears to do what they think is right. Alear has been doing that since the very beginning, but this really shows how far Alear has come since the day they started their journey with no memories. And to the honor of all of the many allies and loved ones who helped Alear become the Divine Dragon, the time is now to help Alear see value in her life.

• Alear: Veyle, What do you live for? • Veyle: What do you mean? • Alear: My friends told me it doesn’t matter where you’re from. What’s important is how you live. ◦ Flashback to the Four Royals encouraging Alear in Chapter 20: • Alfred: Sure, first we came to you because we needed your help. But now I care about you. Fell or Divine or whatever else, we need you. So no more talk about leaving us. • Diamant: We'd never have made it this far without you. I will follow wherever you lead. If you have only half of your power, so be it. We'll make up for the other half. • Timerra: What matters to me isn't how you were born. It's what you do with the life you're given. If you choose to live as a Divine Dragon, then that's what you are! • Ivy: Conflicted as I might be, I am made resolute by the terror I feel at losing you. Because, to me, you are the Divine Dragon. Your leaving would not change that bond. ◦ Cut to present time: • Alear: How you live and what you do shapes your future. So...who do you want to become? • Veyle: I've never thought about that. But if it were possible for me to change now, I suppose... 

Veyle has finally found her dream: to become a dragon who saves the world. And it’s the very OST that plays in this cutscene, as well as the end of Chapter 11 and 20 and the Fell Xenologue.
The song fits perfectly with this scene as Hope is being restored with new found resolve. Thanks to Alear’s faith in Veyle, she’s finally free of her evil self and revives Alear as Corrupted. One of my favorite parts about this chapter is that “Engage” is playing here. Just like when Alear awakened Marth in Chapter 1. These two really are siblings.
All of Alear’s friends are fearing the worst (as in being forced to fight Corrupted Alear). Considering that they already had to fight Corrupted Morion and Hyacinth, their worries do have merit. It may not be enough to shake off their doubts in the moment, Alear reassuring his team, and using the lessons they have learned from them is enough to calm them down. Alear learned a lot in the last few chapters.
I also like how Emblem Marth smiles at Alear after awakening him. Even though he’s stuck in his mute Fell Dragon state, that smile is more than enough to know that Marth is still there. What makes this noteworthy as well is Byleth’s boss dialogue with Alear in his Paralogue (I will go more in detail when I talk about the Emblems).
Alear is forced to use Veyle’s Fell Dragon power to revive the Emblems. Alear’s intentions are still the same: to keep fighting for what is right. The Emblems witnessed the resolve in them. And that’s what makes the ending of Chapter 22 feel earned IMO.
Side note: I love how all of the units (DLC included) all of have voiced dialogue for when collecting an Emblem or storing one away.
Well now, with the chapter over, Everyone is safe, the Emblems have been summoned, Veyle is freed, and Alear is revived (albeit corrupted, and the Emblems are in their Fell state).
Everything is peaches and cream now, right?

• Alear: I’m vanishing… • Me: …huh? 

Despite Alear’s attempt to put on a brave face as they vanish for good, you can hear Alear’s voice that they are crying in despair. Props to all of Alear’s voice actors (English and Japanese).
Alear’s dream is going vanish like a flickering ember and a dying light. Alear returns to the darkness.
But as a Kingdom Hearts character once told me; deep down, there is a light that never goes out.

• Alear: Light? • ???: Dragon Child. You desire the power to fight… to the end, alongside everyone. • Alear: Marth 

All 12 Rings float to Alear’s side, as if they are delivering them a message.

• Marth: Dragon Child, you who fought bravely even after death… Would you rise once more? • Nakanishi: Alear, the protagonist that players control, grows as an individual guided by the Emblems and leads the way, working with allies to achieve a great goal • Alear: I want to fight. It can’t end here. (Alear reaches out towards the Rings) No matter how hard it may be, I have to continue until the world is safe. I must fight…like the Emblems have! • Marth: I have heard your wish. And thus, our power is yours. 

Alear’s soul plummets back into his fading Corrupted body. A new breath of life has been pumped into Alear’s body as it floats up in vertical position surrounded by blue energy. Then, a ring of a red and blue gem slides onto Alear’s finger. As it is fits on, Alear’s Red and Blue eyes and hair transforms into a completely blue hair and eye color. Alear shouts a battle cry and stances with the Libération sword in hand.
Through the power of the Miracle, courtesy of all 12 Emblems, as well as Lumera’s wish, Alear has been revived. Alear has evolved into a complete Divine Dragon as the 13th Emblem: The Fire Emblem.
There is A LOT to unpack with Alear becoming the Fire Emblem.

⁃ The Fire Emblem: 

Given that Lumera is the one who made Alear’s ring, and Sigurd was Lumera’s confidant, Lumera planned this for a long time.
Each Emblem comes from their own original worlds, and since Alear is native to Elyos, it would explain why they have a physical body.
One of the biggest complaints I hear with Alear and Veyle is that they don’t have Dragon forms. There’s a thought has crossed my mind that made me understand why we didn’t get Alear’s dragon forms.
Alear is meant to take the path of a Lord, not a Tiki Dragon archetype. While Veyle is meant to be a subversion of the Tiki archetype. There is another from an other Switch game that was never transforming into a dragon. And her name is Flayn, AKA Saint Cethleann.
I will go more into the Dragon aspect of Alear later, but let’s go back to talking about Alear’s Emblem Form.
People complain that Alear should have kept the full blue or red hair. Mainly because they hate Alear’s Red and Blue hair design that has been the source of internet jokes that aren’t even that funny. The fact the Ring of the Connector is both Red and Blue shows Lumera accepts Alear despite being born a Fell Dragon. Completely removing one side over the other defeats the purpose of accepting Alear.
Whoever Alear Engages with after becoming an Emblem gain Blue and Red hair. So even if Alear loses any traces of Red after transforming into an Emblem, the red in their allies’ Engage form(s) proves that Alear’s allies accept Alear for all that they are. Divine and Fell Dragon.
Alear’s Dragonstone was purely red, while the Ring of the Connector is Red and Blue. And as Leif said, Alear’s Emblem Ring is a substitute to the stone.
Why else would the game hint at Alear’s being able to transform but not knowing how to (in Chapter 8), only to destroy Alear’s Dragonstone upon death? To me, not showing their dragon forms was a writing decision, not an error. A decision that you free to disagree with. I did at first, but not anymore. Not wanting to transform into dragons doesn’t detract from their characters at all IMO and it shouldn’t have to.

• Leif: Your power as an Emblem dwells in the ring, just as dragons imbue their power into stones. 

Emblem Alear acts as a replacement for the Dragon transformation. Not only that, Alear can give their power to another; allowing them to Engage.
All of Emblem Alear’s skills are based on being the one who connects their allies. A power that the Dragon forms can never give.
And a final noteworthy topic; my guess on why Alear only ended up Half Fell Half Divine is because Lumera gave half of her Divine Dragon power to Alear. Which was mainly used to save them from death. However, Lumera had to put the other half of the Divine Dragon power into the Ring of the Connector. Hence why Alear can only become a complete Divine Dragon using their Emblem form.
I’m personally ok with this. It shows that Lumera wasn’t changing Alear’s entire being. Lumera doesn’t judge Alear for being a Fell Dragon.
Weebs: “But Corrin at least got a dragon form!”
Me: It’s only seen in one and half cutscene and is never acknowledged on any other route afterwards.
Corrin has Dragon Fang at least so that’s something, but still. Alear has his own way of being strong.
Back on topic however, the Miracle. Admittedly enough, I do have some gripes with it. But using the information we have in the game, this power was already foreshadowed all the way back in Chapter 3 when Lumera died. Marth wasn’t referring the 1000 year power, it was the miracle.

• Marth: Lumera. I never thought our paths would diverge so soon. • Sigurd: Nor I. And to leave a child behind. I did that in death… A bitter memory. • Sigurd: I vow to protect your offspring in your absence, Lumera. • Marth: If we could grant our power now… • Sigurd: Marth. You know that’s not possible without the other Emblems here. • Marth: Yes, yes, I know. 

The problem that I have with the Miracle is that we don’t know how the Emblems have the Miracle and why it’s a risky move. All that we know is once the Emblems used the Miracle, Alear was revived as an Emblem, and obtained the Ring of the Connector. (See? I have Criticisms too.)
When the Emblems are discussing who to use the Miracle on (Eirika suggests Lumera like Marth), Ike and Lyn disagree and say that they can’t afford to waste a power like that on one person. Especially if that power has future consequences going forward.
Future consequences in question… https://www.reddit.com/fireemblem/s/4FgWwFcSnc
It’s understandable that all of the Emblems can’t agree on how to use the miracle at first because they may have never have known that the Miracle was meant for Alear. And this based on the Emblems circumstances and as well as their own personality and experiences.
The Miracle has to be something that only Divine Dragons seem to know. Why else would the Miracle tie in with the Ring of the Connector that Lumera planned to give Alear as early as Chapter 2?
Putting my own grievances with the Miracle aside, this makes sense with what we know.
Alear’s revival wasn’t just a snap decision, when Alear summoned Marth with Fell Dragon power, Marth smiled at Alear knowing it was them.
Marth and Sigurd both knew Alear would use their powers for good. Alear built trust in the Emblems like they did their allies.
Now think back to Alear’s boss dialogue with Byleth in his Paralogue. Byleth there is teaching Alear the importance of having the heart needed to use any power for good. Alear had to use his Fell Dragon power helped by Veyle to summon the Emblems. Despite the Invocation stripping the Emblems of their free will, Alear and the others don’t see the Emblems as tools, only as their friends and allies. And this built up trust is IMO one of, if not, the main reason the Emblems decided to use the Miracle on Alear.

• Lyn: Now that you're an Emblem, we can finally reveal the truth. • Eirika: We have always been able to perform the miracle at any time. • Ike: To use it, we all had to be together and agree on who deserved the miracle. • Alear: So that means, l... • Micaiah: Yes. We all agreed we wished to fight alongside you, Alear. • Byleth: We could do this once and never again. Not in all the thousands of years ahead. • Lucina: What's more, this will be the last gift that we will ever give this world. • Corrin: This took all of our future power. It was worth it to fight alongside you now. • Marth: This is the first time we Emblems have shared the same wish-for this, for you. • Alear: Everyone, you… • Marth: This was the only way we could save you. No one returns from death. Now, being an Emblem is perhaps not what you desired. I hope we have done the right thing. • Alear: I've died twice. I didn't expect to be back again. So, thank you! My friends and I will do our best to protect this world. I'll make the most of what you've done. 

Trust is a risk, the Miracle itself was a risk, and the consequences of Alear loses will be steep. We have to keep in mind that Alear themselves was willing to take the risk of becoming Corrupted to save their friends. The moment that Elyos will have to fight its own battles will begin.
This will become important when I talk about the Endgame. To me, the Ending is a very crucial factor in why Alear had to become an Emblem.
This is what the story has been leading up to. Living up to the legacy of Lumera and all of the FE lords before them.
A few sides to get out of the way before I talk about the Emblem Paralogues: 1. Alear and Marth being reunited after 11 chapters or so.
I just felt it was a sweet moment overall. Like I said before, I headcanon Marth being Alear’s mentor and older brother figure.

• Alear: Oh, and Marth… I'm so glad to see you again. I'm sorry we were separated in Elusia. It's been so long since then... • Marth: Oh, it was barely a blink, compared to your years of slumber. It's good to see you, my fellow Emblem. • Alear: Ha! Yes, my fellow Emblem. 

The second thing I want to talk about is people wishing that Alear was stuck as an Spirit Emblem with Veyle as the new MC.
If you asking me, THAT’S 🤬ING STUPID! I don’t care! IMO, it defeats the purpose of Alear’s character and Lumera’s sacrifice.
My other reason for why I don’t buy turning Alear into a Spirit like the rest of the Emblems also takes away the unique aspect of Alear both story and gameplay wise as an Emblem.
Again, with the last chapter, I feel like Alear being an Emblem with a body is symbolic to Alear.
With that rant out of the way, the next part will be devoted to the Emblem Paralogues.
Previous Part: https://www.reddit.com/fireemblem/s/2bszLIxtHG

Horus Heresy Book 16: Age of Darkness, an anthology
More short stories. But these are some quite interesting ones including one of our favorites which we have been gushing about every week when looking forward to this book. Again this is an interesting choice to go and explore more of the world and side events, rather than continuing with the main storyline. The Heresy era, much like 40K itself, is treated somewhat akin to a setting, a backdrop to grim dark events, rather than an actual plot itself. We get large key events but most of the story is going on elsewhere. There is no theme to these stories. It is filler - some good, some bad.
“Leon climbed unsteadily to his feet. ‘When I get back,’ he husked, ‘I will tell everyone what you have done. I’ll stop you. I’ll make sure all the other worlds are warned!’
‘No, you won’t.’ Mendacs turned away. ‘You have a choice, Leon. You must swear your loyalty to Horus Lupercal and deny the Emperor’s dominion. Because by the time the Skyhook carries you down to the surface, the colony of Virger-Mos II will belong to the Warmaster. Not through force of arms, but because of the weakness of the people who live there. Because they have exchanged their fear of one thing they have never seen for the fear of another.’ He spared the youth one last look. ‘And if you do not join them, they will be the ones who kill you.”
As with our previous anthology review: the synopsis, review and score will be given for each story, with a final overall review and score at the end.
Synopsis / Review / Score “Rules of Engagement”:
Synopsis: Captain Ventanus of the Ultramarines is tasked with testing Roboute Guilliman’s great work - The Codex Astartes. A manual detailing how to respond to any tactical situation, no matter the odds, no matter the foe. But will it work against the enemy Roboute never expected to encounter - other space marines.
Ventanus battles the grinding Death Guard; the bloodthirsty World Eaters; the pyrotechnic Salamanders (wait a minute - have they turned traitor too?!); before finally holding out against Horus’s invasion of their homeworld.
It turns out that this is all conducted via an “Oculus Rift” and the Ultramarines are playing wargames to test and fine tune their tactics.The Ultramarines are big fans of larping apparently.
Review: Interesting story that tries to pull off a clever twist. I was genuinely shocked when I read the UItramarines attacking Salamanders the first time. The twist is fine - without being particularly mind blowing. This bait and switch will be used again in future short stories. It feels like the sci fi version of “it was all a dream” story trait. Above average bolter porn. We do get hints for what happened to Calth and “Know No Fear”....
Scores: 6.0/10
Synopsis / Review / Score “Liar’s due”:
Synopsis: Alpha Legion conquers a backwater little agri- planet without needing to turn up. A single Alpha Legion cultist without shooting a single bullet conquers a world. The ordinary citizens are terrified, fearing the Warmaster is coming.
The story uses the threat of fake news and lights in the sky to take over the world. It fully shows how the power of the Alpha Legion can work.
Review: Possibly my favourite short story of the Horus Heresy. The idea of a planet falling to Horus without a single marine making planetfall is great. Brilliantly written bits of subterfuge and deception and showing the fear the Heresy is striking into the ordinary citizens of the Imperium. The quote from Mendacs at the end is harrowing. This feels almost inspired by the Twilight Zone story “The Aliens are Due on Maple Street”
Score: 10/10 - A perfect story, that shows how humanity is affected by fear. No transhumans in armour, no guns, no chaos. Just fear and tricks to completely change a people’s minds. This is the best depiction of the Alpha Legion just quietly getting on with what they are best at.
Synopsis / Review / Score “Forgotten Sons”:
Synopsis: A Salamander and a Ultramarine get shot down and end up in shenigans, trying to convince a neutral world to remain part of the Imperium. Iron Warriors blow up a neutral planet as a “demonstration of a show of force” which the people will respect….What?
Review: Score: 7.0/10 - This one is a bland and mostly forgettable story that we honestly had to look through the synopsis for to fully remember. The buddy cop aspects between the mean Ultramarine and the friendly Salamander are about the best bits. The Warmaster seems to not be great at hiring ambassadors or assassins either….
Synopsis / Review / Score “The Last Remembrancer”:
Synopsis: A traitor ship enters the solar system and is captured by the Imperial Fists. A remembrancer, Solomon Voss, is discovered and taken to Titan as a prisoner. Dorn arrives to interview/interrogate his old friend. He is accompanied by Iacton Qruze. Voss explains how he has been at the side of Horus witnessing his terrible crimes. Dorn and Qruze argue over the fate of Voss. Qruze states that the Imperium must be willing to be ruthless to ensure victory, whilst Dorn clings to the old “honorable” ways. Qruze reveals that Voss was returned to Dorn by Horus as a gift, one which strikes a psychological blow against the Praetorian.
Dorn reluctantly agrees, executes Voss, and orders the body and all writings to be burned.
Review: A slow but interesting story. We can see how the Imperium will be tested to do dark things, and commit evil deeds, all in the name of “winning”. This subject will be covered later in “The Silent War” anthology. This is a psychological story, with Dorn receiving a blow without a bullet being fired. Voss tells him “ "the future is dead, Rogal Dorn. It is ashes running through our hands" and it clearly breaks something deep in Dorn. It's weird that Dorn has this reputation as a granite bastion of self-control but this is the second time he has flown off the handle. You get the feeling that Voss is one of many individuals who will mysteriously disappear across the galaxy in order for the Imperium to maintain order. It would have been good to have met him before his corruption by Chaos.
Score: 8.0/10
Synopsis / Review / Score “Rebirth”:
Synopsis: Captain Kalliston, of the Thousand Sons, is captured. After Prospero is burned by the Space Wolves he returns against his primarch orders, and second in command - Arvida. to witness the devastation. Enemy astartes are spotted in the ruins and Kalliston is knocked unconscious in the ambush. He awakes, bound, tortured and interrogated by a foe that refuses to show his face. Kalliston assumes he is one of the Space Wolves, looking to retrieve information as to the disappearance of Magnus.
Kharn of the World Eaters steps into the light. He has been sent by Horus to recover a power pendant used by Magnus to contact Horus during the temple of Davin visions.
Regaining focus and strength, Kalliston uses his psychic powers to peer into Kharn’s soul. For a fleeting moment it seems that Kalliston can reverse the damage caused by the butcher’s nails, and he offers an olive branch to heal Kharn - finally ridding him of the debilitating psychosis. The moment is lost and a wave of rage overcomes Kharn who beats Kalliston to death.
Away from Kalliston, Arvida steals away back to his ship, now commandeered by World Eaters. He executes their leader and escapes using his powers. Review: A fantastic story with a twist that you do not see coming. The brief moment where Kalliston gains the upper hand, and Kharn could be “saved” is a great moment. Then it all comes crashing down in a blurry of anger and fists. Poor Kalliston.
Score: 9.0/10
Synopsis / Review / Score “The Face of Treachery”:
Synopsis: The main plot for this story involves a World Eater’s vessel hunting down Raven Guard after the Isstvan massacre. The World Eater’s commander is desperate to stay near Isstvan with the aim of joining the rest of his legion to finish off the Raven Guard in close quarter combat. The arrival of a fleet of Raven Guard support vessels in the system gives Corax and the remaining survivors a chance to flee. Orders are given to the World Eater vessel to intercept, but the bloodthirsty commander ignores these. He is summarily executed by his second in command, an Alpha Legion agent.
The Alpha Legion discuss their future infiltration of the Raven Guard legion as they escape to Terra setting us up for “Deliverance Lost”.
Review: Alpha Legion doing Alpha Legion things, playing both sides as part of their grand plan. I would have enjoyed this more if there was a more subtle build up to the Alpha Legion pulling on all the strings. All the confused and messy bits of the story can be blamed on “Alpha Legion did it” which is not the greatest story telling technique. Gav Thorpe is building a reputation for occasionally writing nonsense. An unneeded prequel.
Score: 5.0/10
Synopsis / Review / Score “Little Horus”:
Synopsis: Little Horus Aximand gets a discount ‘face lift”. Little Horus is plagued with doubts and nightmares following Istvaan. He keeps imagining a figure dueling him. He seems to want to return everything to how it was; he tries to rebuild the Mournival but it ends up with an Abbaddon crony. He goes to fight Iron Hands on the world of Dwell and ends up getting attacked by a White Scar, who slices off his face. It gets reattached and Horus is left with a constantly sad expression.
In his dreams, the figure is revealed to be Loken, which leaves him relieved as he knows Loken is dead GEE, I HOPE THIS IS NOT DRAMATIC IRONY/FORESHADOWING
Review: It's nice to get back to the Sons of Horus and understand more about the originally set up characters who we followed for the first three books. It is quite weird to come back to them after all this time. Poor Lil’ Horus. He just wants to go back to how it used to be and does not fully understand the corruption that has fundamentally changed his legion.
Score: 8.0/10
Synopsis / Review / Score “The Iron Within”:
Synopsis: An Iron Warrior plays the greatest game and, again, blows things up. Barbaras Dantioch, a crippled Warsmith, has been left to defend a fortress. Unfortunately, Pertarabo did not send him the memo about joining Horus so he is forced to defend it against Brother Iron Warriors. This story includes an incredibly touching death of a Dreadnaught; not quite up there with the one on Istvaan III but it touches the heart strings. The ending is superb and quite possibly the most awesome thing ever done by an Iron Warrior. Seriously, go and read the ending.
Review: Score: 9.0/10 - A fantastic fun story which shows that the Iron Warriors have fanatical levels of stubbornness inherited from their Father. The upside fortress in an amazing idea. The besieging forces are deeply stupid and should have just pulled back and kept the enemy trapped. But hey, Pertarabo is a stubborn git.
Synopsis / Review / Score “Savage Weapons”:
Synopsis: The Dark Angels have battled the Night Lords on the worlds of the Aegis sector and have hit a grueling and bloody stalemate. Konrad issues a parley to the Lion. A chance to meet, agree to part ways and fight wars elsewhere. Both attend with two bodyguards, whilst their remaining fleet remain in orbit.
The two sides spar with words and insults, but it is the Lion who throws the first punch. The two primarchs duel, and if not for Corswain the Lion’s story could have come to an early end.
Review: It’s two primarchs having a fight. The idea of Konrad Curze offering a parley to the Lion is laughable. It's fine, without doing anything different or interesting. We had no idea what this conflict is; the Night Lords have done nothing so far and now they are suddenly fighting the Dark Angels. ADB fails to make the Night Lords interesting in this one - you know, the guy who made the Night Lords the poster child for interesting Chaos characters.
Score: 6.0/10
Overall Review: An interesting collection. Some are fine, others are exceptional.
Overall Score: 7.5/10 - Without “Liar’s Due”, there is no way this one would score this high. Two of these stories could be removed and it would have been much more interesting. There is a huge difference between the good and bad ones in this story.
Cover: Horus is beating an Imperial Fist, on the planet of “somewhere”. An odd choice as neither Horus or the Imperials Fists are represented in any of the short stories. Maybe its another Guilliman larp adventure that we did not get to read about?
Heresy Watch: The Night Lords and the Dark Angels are fighting now. The Ultramarines are having to deal with the aftermath of some vast destruction at Calth. The Rememberances are now gone. The Alpha Legion are out conquering worlds in the name of the Warmaster.
Legion Watch/Number of Book(s):
Dark Angels: 4
: 2
Emperor’s Children: 5
Iron Warriors: 4
White Scars: 2
Space Wolves: 4
Imperial Fists: 6
Night Lords: 3
Blood Angels: 1
Iron Hands: 3
: 2
World Eaters: 7
Ultramarines: 5
Death Guard: 3
Thousand Sons: 4
Sons of Horus: 6
Word Bearers: 7
Salamanders: 2
Raven Guard: 3
Alpha Legion: 4
The Emperor: 5
How do the Blood Angels still only have 1!?
Tropes Watch:
Are we the baddies?: 28 - “Forgotten Sons” - be loyal or we will destroy you; turn to Horus and we will destroy you. Its not much of a choice for the people of Bastion. “The Last Remembrancer” - the Imperium, in facing the threat of Chaos, will have to become full authoritarian dictatorship and Humanity will no longer fully trusts them. For the good of all, Voss has to die.
It's definitely not gay: 16 - Look I’m not saying that Dantioch loves Vastopol but he does refuse to leave him behind and wants to keep him alive long after he knows he will not live. Arcadese swears a blood oath for revenge for Heka'tan’s death - there is a lot of emotion there….
How not to parent 101: 21 - Magnus did not bother to even tell his sons about the destruction of Prospero. Pertarabo is an idiot who wastes one of his best leaders because he was wounded against the H’rud, who are time manipulating demi-gods. Barbaras fully gets his revenge on the besieging forces.
Erebus!!!: 15 - The man himself gets a mention in “Forgotten Sons” as an example of a good manipulator. Warsmith Krendl coming for Barbaras deserves at least an honorable mention. He is such a whiny little bitch who keeps putting his men in the grinder for no good purpose for a YEAR AND A DAY!
Does this remind you of anything?: 29 - The Ultramarines like playing Warhammer 40k. “Forgotten Sons” is basically “Lethal Weapon” in 40k. As previously stated, the Twilight Zone story “The Aliens are Due on Maple Street” is fully adapted for the “Liar’s Due.” Arvida’s final words “Knowledge is power” is very similar to the call of the Blood Ravens. “Savage Weapons” is essentially “my dad could beat up your dad” “yeah well my dad is absolutely insane”.

Stinkfly and Wildvine (pairing both together due to the design controversy): if you compare all of the original continuity designs of the season 1 aliens (with water hazard for overflow) you can see these being the only aliens that are not bipedal with Wildvine being the easy fix by moving his 4 legs into doc ock arms. it was the actual factor on why kids were scared of OS Stinkfly in early testing, compared to the other 9, Stinkfly looked way too off hence why they overhauled the design. Also while I haven't heard of this in a while, it's okay for both to be lepidopteran transformations called Stinkfly as the shows take place in different universes if they take place in the same omniverse at all. and what I don't get is that both aliens mostly have the same powers as their OS where Stinkfly just uses gas more than slime than Classic did and he lacks a stinger.
Four Arms: in general and no context from the events that parallel and then there 10, he's fairly accurate and not controversial. however, with that context, the glazing being done by the producers is crazy. of all the aliens that take away what makes Heatblast special its this guy?!?!
Heatblast: Speaking of this dude, he's actually pretty good overall, and glad that that most of his red body isn't overshadowed this time around unlike UAF/OV.
grey matter: okay with how more decent of a person reboot ben is as a character and how more resourceful he is, he deserved to get replaced by slap back, heck nanomech would've been more useful.
Overflow: so so over bullied and should've never left the Omnitrix despite plagiarism allegations
Upgrade: The violet gives off more separation from grey matter and the write-out twist was amazing, just give the Omnitrix eye again as he does not use the eye laser power let alone have it.
Diamond head: gigachad as usual, just that his outfit reminds me of construction somehow, moving on.
XLR8: the fact he looks younger and closer to Ben's age at this point is pretty cool especially when you see both 10 and 10,000 versions side by side on screen in classic and looking the same.
Cannonbolt: personally seeing as he's Ben's 11th obtained transformation, him being part of one of the 10 makes no sense and why do the shoulder pad thingies look like panda ears!?! It would've been fun if he got replaced by Ghostfreak in season 3 as comedic irony
Gax: even as a finale one-off he lived up to the expectations.
Shock Rock: I'm honestly surprised the whole marketing stunt didn't fail especially the gimmick based off of him.
Humongusaur: the rocky back spikes and mace tail are amazing replacements to the growing aspect
rath: the time animo temporarily transformed into rath was foreshadowing right? other than that he's pretty solid
Slap Back: with how his copies get stronger everytime he clones himself is still cool, how is he really really going to be able to change aliens if he has to hit the omnitrix to clone?
Bashmouth: of all the transformations that is kevin's signature it's the one that ISN'T a fusion? seriously why isn't he just a loboan/apoplexian hybrid
Jetray: despite he was done good and has what I believe to be better facial expressions, we can agree he was definitely a publicity stunt right?
goop: honestly pretty cool cameo in the first place, wait shouldn't we be calling him booger guy instead?
waybig: okay, now we throw away celestialsapien logic
Surge: personally I believe it's the omnitrix's recreation of the galvanic mechamorph transformation but I can see why people don't like it.
Spider monkey and buzzshock: just the designs of their of counterparts but makes sense from the screen time.
Alien X: honestly the only level 1 canon alien an evil ben could use to have the general plot in tact
Big Chill, Chromastone, ampfibian, ripjaws, and bloxx (in order): best way to re introduce the UAF transformation sequence, use him better, is he getting an ultimate? no? darn, aren't you supposed to be the smarter one gwen?, oh thank goodness no feedback!

Almost 2 years ago, I made a post on this subreddit sharing my thoughts on the first 68 episodes (mostly the first 61), and since then I've managed to watch all the episodes from 69-206, except for the filler from episodes 131-143, and wanted to share my thoughts on those.
Like my last post, I ask for people not to share spoilers from episodes beyond the 206th episode onwards. Also, It's actually been almost a year since I watched Alabasta, so some of my memories of it might be fuzzy.

"What took so long?"

Frankly, going through One Piece has been a very enjoyable experience, but I admit it shouldn't have taken me two years to finish the block of episodes I watched in that time frame. Some reasons it took me so long:

• I find it hard to watch TV shows in general, including animated ones. Frankly, sometimes I get so invested in the characters too quickly and/or the stakes ramp up too quickly that I don't want to see how the story ends, and other times the drama of the show ends up ramping up the tension too quickly that I personally can't watch it. Like, I had this issue with both Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen, both of which I hear are really good but were very difficult for me to actually watch because of my own physical problems. It's a wonderful miracle that I was able to get through so much of One Piece
  
• I had to switch anime streaming services. When I started, I was watching on VRV, but when Crunchyroll bought out VRV I had to find something different since Crunchyroll didn't seem as good. I've been watching on what's currently known as hianime (which rebranded a couple times since I started watching on it), which has intrusive ads when you start a watch on it but is otherwise wonderful because it has no ads when you let it automatically play the next episode and it shows which episodes are filler
  
• I had to switch devices. One of my family TVs had a browser app, and that app ran VRV with little difficulty, but it wouldn't run any other streaming services. Now, I have to bring my laptop down to watch One Piece, and that's a lot more effort than just using the TV
  

General thoughts

My thoughts between the Romance Dawn arc and the Alabasta arc onwards closely mirrors Sajam's thoughts on Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Sajam was talking about Jojo's in his chat after he watched part 1, and much of his chat kept saying "don't worry, it gets better later on", to which Sajam replied that he thought part 1 was pretty good, only to say that part 2 of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure was really good such that it completely blew part 1 out of the water. In the same vein, the Romance Dawn arc is pretty good, but One Piece got better later on starting in Alabasta.
I've noticed three general things that One Piece does really well, all of which have to do with Eiichiro Oda's long-form storytelling ability:

1. Oda is very good at foreshadowing. The doctor from Nami's village says that the Straw Hats need a doctor, then Chopper becomes their next permanent crew member. Don Krieg says the Grand Line is crawling with Devil Fruit users, and Alabasta alone introduces 16 Devil Fruit users (4 times as many in Romance Dawn) while the Sky Island arc only introduces 3. Drum teases both Ace and Blackbeard, who appear on the next two islands the Straw Hats land on (or at least the canon islands) and both of whom have very different reactions to Luffy. The Sky Island and G8 arcs are teasing that the next crew member is going to be a shipright and that they're going to eventually have a musician, and I'm holding One Piece to those predictions.
   
2. Oda is very good at dramatic irony, especially when it comes to splitting up the party members. Splitting up the party such that we know everything that is going on but certain characters don't because they can't communicate with each other increases a lot of the stakes of certain areas and really contributes to other areas. My two favorite examples of this is when Sanji splits from the rest of the Straw Hats on Little Garden allowing Sanji to play the role of Mr Prince to throw a cog into Crocodile's plans, and how withholding Luffy and Zoro's bounties until after the Straw Hats are ready to leave changes the entire course of Jaya and Luffy's relationship between both Blackbeard and Bellamy's crew.
   
3. Oda is very good at revealing important information at the right time for maximum effect, whether it's making characters more relatable (done very frequently with backstories for the characters) or for raising the stakes of the story (such as revealing Crocodile's plan piece by piece). My favorite instance of this was the story of Great Warrior Calgara and Nolan Montblanc, which allowed Wyper to become invested in Luffy's victory over Eneru.
   

Reverse Mountain

Unlike my previous post, I want to mostly go by location instead of by character with Alabasta since I feel like it makes more sense to talk about very specific moments I liked and/or disliked. Reverse Mountain is unexciting, but otherwise does a great job of setting up the entirety of the Grand Line with the reveal of the Log Pose as a navigation tool and the transition to Whisky Peaks.

Whisky Peaks

I think Zoro has 2 of the 3 best fights in all of the Alabasta saga, of which Zoro vs Baroque Works is one of them. The way Zoro challenges Baroque Works makes it almost feel like Zoro is the villain and not Baroque Works themselves, and I love how Zoro eventually toys with them and decides to stick to his 2-sword style to test out his new swords, and how Baroque Works incorrectly assumes that Zoro is the captain given how strong he is and how seemingly effortless it was for Zoro to take down Baroque Works. Also, this is the best fight of the Alabasta arc that doesn't take place on Alabasta itself, in my opinion.
Zoro vs Luffy is just a plain good source of dramatic irony, but the best part about this fight is how they get mad at Mr 5 and Miss Valentine for interrupting their fight. I also like how this fight plays out: Luffy knows Zoro is a skilled enough swordsman that he can't effectively fight Zoro without risking grave bodily injury, while Zoro knows that Luffy is misunderstanding why Zoro defeated the "people who gave them hospitality", and neither of them can go all-out.
I have to wonder how Igaram survived being blown up though, which I'll talk about later on.

Little Garden

I feel like Usopp gets his best fight scenes when he's not fighting one-on-one and instead is fighting 2v2 or, in Little Garden's case, 3v4. His resourcefulness gives him a lot of unique value that the other Straw Hats don't provide, and I like that in complex fights he understands the win condition(s) better than the other Straw Hats.
However, my favorite Usopp moment in all of Alabasta is when he observes Broggy and Dorry's fight for the first time. He spends much of the Romance Dawn arc wanting to become a "brave warrior of the sea", but with how hesitant he was to share that goal with the rest of the crew at the end of the Romance Dawn arc it felt like he didn't really know what that meant. This fight gave Usopp a grasp of what that meant, and I felt was a very important moment for him, and is perhaps the biggest moment of character development for the Straw Hats so far.
I also love Zoro's sense of humor here, such as calling the triceratops a fellow user of the 3-sword style and posing for Mr 3 for how he wanted to be encased in wax.
Finally, I love the whole Mr Prince sub-arc that starts in Little Garden, with Sanji posing as Mr 3 with the line "it's the damn restaurant". Being able to use Sanji in such a discrete way like this really added a whole lot to the storyline since Sanji could be a spanner in the works to Crocodile's Baroque Works that could foil Crocodile's plans in a way that could avoid direct punishment from Crocodile.
However, I really don't like Dorry's laugh. It just sounds really unnatural, like it's being forced out for one reason or another, and unlike Broggy's laugh it's not really weird in a charming way.

Drum

Before we get to Drum, I want to talk about Nami's best moment, where she manages to protect the crew from a Grand Line Cyclone that Vivi said was unpredictable, all while being sick. That's by far the second best thing Nami does, after bargaining for the ship later on during Drum.
Drum was all about Luffy and Chopper I felt like. I found Chopper's backstory heart-wrenching and his fight against Chess and Kuromarimo was quite good, but Luffy I felt was the highlight:

• Luffy learned from Vivi that violence wasn't always the answer, providing character development
  
• Luffy saving the rabbit after the avalanche buried it under the snow was an important character moment that showed his kindness, even against his enemies. This later gets repaid as the rabbits help keep Luffy and his friends safe from Wapol at the bottom of the mountain
  
• Luffy climbing the mountain with no coat on shows both his resolve and how much he cared about his friends
  
• Luffy protecting Hiriluk's flag on the top of the castle was a great moment of his philosophy on piracy, and the sacredness of the pirate flag
  

There aren't any particularly great fights in this arc, but I think the story moments that showcase Luffy's character and the cherry blossoms at the end were more than enough.
Finally, I love how Ace and Blackbeard were foreshadowed in this arc and how they appeared later on. Ace initially appears as a mysterious figure that's clearly looking for Luffy, but because we don't know Ace's relationship to Luffy we can only suspect the worst with them. By contrast, we hear about Blackbeard for the first time here, but when we're introduced to Blackbeard on Jaya he seems like an actually nice guy, even if he's a bit eccentric, only to learn about how awful he is (he doesn't seem too terrifying on Jaya, but I feel like that will change later on in the story, which was foreshadowed with Shanks wanting to talk with Whitebeard about it).

Alabasta

There's a lot to cover in Alabasta, so I'll just talk about some moments I really liked and some that I didn't.

• Zoro vs Mr 1. I think this is the best fight in the whole Alabasta arc. While there's a lot of good technical moments, the best points are the beginning and end of the fight. I love how Zoro interprets this fight as "I'm going to be able to cut steel" instead of simply giving up. Then, I love that when Zoro knows he's capable of cutting steel, he not only uses one sword, but he uses Kuina's sword as a representation of the one-sword style she used as well as a symbolic "we're learning this together" moment, especially since Zoro is reminded of a lesson her father taught him. Then, when Mr 1 is defeated, he almost looks honored to be defeated by Zoro, and shows Zoro respect that the others' opponents don't at this point in the story
  
• Luffy vs Crocodile. Luffy and Crocodile have 3 fights in this whole arc, the first of which sells Crocodile as major threat to the Straw Hats, especially as an opponent that Luffy can't simply defeat with brute force by itself, the second in which Luffy figures out Crocodile's weakness with a fair bit of humor during the Water Luffy segment, and the third of which was the second best fight in the Alabasta Saga after Zoro vs Mr 1. I love how the stakes of Crocodile vs Luffy not only relate to showcasing Luffy's resolve to fight through the poison, but also the symbolism of Luffy punching Crocodile through the ceiling of a location no one knows about to shed light on what Crocodile has done.
  
• Nami vs Miss Doublefinger. Sanji vs Bon Clay and Usopp and Chopper vs Mr 4 and Miss Merry Christmas were both quite good, but I really, really didn't like this fight. I hated how Miss Doublefinger gave Nami so much time to figure out what the clima tact actually allowed her to do and I hated how the clima tact had a built-in "I win" button that invalidated the rest of the fight. Realistically I don't know how you would otherwise handle a fight between the second strongest female individual in Baroque Works (after Nico Robin) and arguably the weakest of the Straw Hats at this point in time, but it's definitely not by giving one character obscene plot armor that made it feel like Usopp won this fight instead of Nami.
  
• Vivi's climb up the clock tower. I really liked this moment overall because it was just a cool teamwork moment with the Straw Hats where Usopp gets hit in the nuts, I really hated the voice acting on Mr 7 and Miss Father's Day, and really liked how Vivi completely destroyed the two Baroque Works agents while still having enough time to cut the fuse on the bomb.
  
• Pell's sacrifice. Needless to say, this was such a sad moment that hit really hard when it was first shown, and still hits hard when it's suggested that Pell survived. If anything, I think this might be one of, if not the most, emotional moment in the whole Alabasta saga.
  
• Igaram's survival. I see Igaram survive being in the midst of a massive chain explosion, only to see him pop back up another 3-4 dozen episodes later completely intact. The only explanation I can think of is that the hands shown when Igaram's ship blew up weren't Nico Robin blowing up the ship, but
  
• the return of Fullbody and Django. I have a lot of questions surrounding these two, but it seems that my question was answered in a manga-only cover story that I currently cannot see in animation form. It baffles me why this wasn't included because it's not only a great way to expand upon the world with CANON content, but at worst it's useful as CANON FILLER that you can use to pad out the length of the anime so it can catch up with the manga.
  

Bon Clay

I wanted a special segment for Bon Clay because I love how he influences the whole arc. His devil fruit causes the Straw Hats to come up with a solution to determine crewmate from friend throughout the entirety of the Alabasta portion of the Alabasta arc, but he's still a friend to the Straw Hats.
His fight against Sanji is a good, technical fight that manages to use his Devil Fruit in an interesting way, and I love that his values of friendship line up with those of the Straw Hats such that he's willing to sacrifice his life to let the Straw Hats escape.
I also love the gesture to Vivi at the end of this arc. The "x" on their wrists was a symbol of their friendship, and their display of those x's to Vivi at the end of the arc were a display of their friendship, but can also be interpreted as their friendship with Bon Clay since they no longer need to hide the x's anymore.
I wasn't a fan of his voice acting originally, but his voice grew on me as his character grew on me, and I hope he comes back later.
Finally, I had a question in my previous part about why Luffy could apparently flail his arms to keep his head above water long enough for Shanks to save him, and Bon Clay partially answered it here. The sea doesn't simply prevent someone from swimming, it just saps their strength so they can't swim (among other things). I'm glad that was cleared up by this point.

Nico Robin

I really liked how Nico Robin was handled throughout this whole arc. I like that her betrayal of Crocodile was foreshadowed with how she never fought the Straw Hats even once (and is the only Baroque Works agent to encounter but not fight the Straw Hats), how she didn't share pertinent information about Sanji that Baroque Works otherwise didn't have, and she even saves Luffy.
I also like how her joining the Straw Hats was both a choice she made and was a choice that was never foreshadowed. I feel like the shock factor of her joining adds a lot to the story because it's the same reaction the rest of the Straw Hats have to finding Nico Robin on the ship. I also really like how Robin manages to abuse the vices and personality quirks of the rest of the crew to gain their trust... except for Zoro. Robin and Zoro are arguably the most mature people on the Going Merry at this point in time, and the fact that Robin gathered information on the rest of the crew says a lot about her character and skillset while the fact that Robin didn't even try to gain Zoro's trust says a lot about Zoro's character.
I also like how the Sky Island arc and the G8 arc both put Robin in self-imposed information-gathering roles that didn't get a whole lot of focus because of how efficient her methods are and how boring the moment would have been to actually see. At this point, she's disproportionately powerful compared to how interesting she is as a combatant, so it's cool to see her in positions to help the crew in indirect ways.

Intermission: the filler between Alabasta and Jaya

I skipped the filler here in the interest of time: I wanted to get through the main story as quickly as possible to catch up with more recent parts of the anime.

Jaya

There were a couple really good moments here before going to Skypeia

• The Punch. So far, Bellamy is the major villain Luffy has most efficiently dealt with. Bellamy and Luffy are almost complete opposites in their views of dreams, and the fight between them felt like Luffy put so many emotions into that singular punch. I use the term 'fight' loosely here, as it was less a fight and more Luffy knocking out a dude. The moment in the bar with the Bellamy pirates and Luffy, Zoro, and Nami was also good, although more of a setup for their confrontation later and a demonstration of Luffy's character
  
• finding a South Bird. I love this arc because it demonstrates how uniquely unafraid of bugs Usopp is compared to the rest of the Straw Hats, as well as the contrast between "no one can catch a South Bird no matter how hard they tried" and "Robin catches a South Bird by doing absolutely nothing"
  
• the use of wanted posters. I love the dramatic irony of how Oda used the wanted posters to change the goals of the villainous pirates on the island. Bellamy challenged Luffy because he thought Luffy's bounty was lower than it really was when even Zoro's current bounty was higher than Bellamy's, while Blackbeard ignored Luffy because he was small fry not worth pursuing. When the bounties were updated, Luffy's bounty scared Bellamy's crew while attracting Blackbeard, turning Blackbeard into a proper villain.
  

Also, when Robin introduced Cricket Montblanc, I was of the impression that Blackbeard (who hadn't been formally introduced yet) was Cricket due to how both of them talked about dreams.

Skypeia

There are much fewer special moments in Skypeia than in the other arcs so far, so my list of favorites is much smaller.

• The survival game. I love the setup for fights this brought, as it felt like any given fight could have happened at any moment and it would have made sense in context and have been good. The standout fights from the survival game, in my opinion, are Chopper vs Gedatsu for how it influenced Chopper's character and desire to grow as a pirate like his crewmates and Robin vs Yama due to the terrain and maybe Yama's size restricting Robin's ability to fight at full strength when it sounds like Robin could have easily won anywhere else.
  
• Chopper and Gan Fall vs Shura. Shura vs Gan Fall is perhaps the only time we'll get an aerial battle for quite a while, and is a brilliant showcase of Gan Fall's skill and experience with the extra power Shura has through his mantra and ordeal. Chopper deserves to get thrown in here since he summoned Gan Fall and turned a major part of this story into "will Gan Fall arrive in time", and the sacrifice Chopper was willing to make to save Gan Fall (even if it was short-sighted) was also touching.
  
• The story of Great Warrior Calgara. This is the first time a flashback was done to showcase characters that aren't alive in the current day, and I love how it impacted the current era of One Piece, particular Wyper. Wyper put his dreams on the back of Luffy because he wanted to honor Calgara by ringing the bell for the ancestor of Calgara's friend, and the combination of that story and Robin revealing why Luffy wanted to ring the bell to Wyper added so much more depth to Wyper's character than it had before.
  
• Luffy vs Eneru. I like how the whole arc set up Eneru as this incredibly powerful being, being one of two individuals to have a devil fruit in Skypeia (the other being Pierre), having arguably one of the two most powerful mantras (alongside Aisa), and the combination of the two making him feel like an omniscient and omnipotent threat on the island. Then, their first fight set Luffy up as a savior for Skypeia, with their first fight being an amazing back-and-forth to someone that previously looked to be invincible to everyone else. However, their second fight was extremely disappointing, as it was basically just "Luffy punches the villain until they're defeated" with no back-and-forth. The bell ringing is great, but I expected more from this fight, especially since it seems like Eneru lives in the end.
  

G8

The main reason I watched this filler and not the filler before the Sky Island saga is because the anime transitioned so well between Sky Island and this arc that it felt borderline impossible to watch the next main arc before this. The whole setup was brilliant, not just putting the Straw Hats in the marine base but centering the first episode around the marines investigating the ship, determining who was on the ship, and setting traps for the Straw Hats that they inevitably fall for.
The star of this arc was, of course, Vice Admiral Jonathan. I love Jonathan's character and skillset: he's a tactical genius that understands how to maneuver his forces to capture pirates, he avoids physical violence even though you can tell he understands how to fight (and not simply because he's a high ranking marine), and I love how his passion for fishing infiltrates his traps, whether his fishing hobby gets him sight of the Going Merry when it falls out of the sky, using his fishing hook to play pranks on other marines, putting a swordfish portrait in the vault, and even using a meatball as bait to catch Luffy eating his lunch. Furthermore, I love Jonathan's integrity: when Sheppard asks for the names of the crew members that threw him in jail, Jonathan takes responsibility for their actions because he gave them the order. Then, when the crew escapes, Jonathan still manages to call it a moral victory since it boosted the morale of the troops.
I also love the relationship between Lieutenant Drake and Jonathan. Early on, Drake starts questioning Jonathan's orders, but as Jonathan repeatedly makes correct predictions about the Straw Hats and makes plans that promise success Drake stops questioning Jonathan's orders and obeys them without hesitation. The only reason the Straw Hats were able to make progress is because they had a mixture of technology Jonathan couldn't have known about, accidental help from Sheppard, and/or other unforeseen circumstances (ie hostages) that allowed them to escape.
The scenes with Dr Kobato was similarly amazing, where Chopper uses his medical expertise to help the marines, but also motivates Dr Kobato to overcome her fear of blood and help the patients that need her. It's so hard to give characters meaningful character arcs in a filler arc, yet they managed to do so with Dr. Kobato.
I have a few issues with this arc though, such as Dr. Kobato locking a medical ward with no locking mechanism on the door and Zoro going full Popeye on the marines and fighting on the bridge without using his swords. The most notable, however, was how Sanji attempted to use an impact dial with his hands, knowing that it could have very well damaged his hands if he did so. The fart-flavored flavor dial ended up working out better in the end since Sanji ended up not hurting his hands at all while still getting the desired effect, but it's still a risk he shouldn't have taken.

⁃ Relationship with the Royals 

People like to say that Alear doesn’t get much development after the events of Chapter 11. I personally disagree with this. And that’s mainly because of Veyle. Veyle is my favorite character in Fire Emblem Engage, and to me, she is one of the key players in their development as much as the Emblems are.
But before I talk about Veyle, we need to talk about the Solm arc. Because Timerra’s actions and reasons for their kingdoms way of handling things is an important factor to Alear and the Four Royals relationship with one another as a whole.
Have you heard of the Five Man Band trope? https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand
It’s basically a team consisting 5 members, each serving a character archetype consisting of:

⁃ The Hero/Leader: Alear. ⁃ The Lancer: Alfred. ⁃ The Muscle (Big Guy/Gal): Diamant. ⁃ The Brains (Smart Guy/Gal): Ivy. ⁃ The Heart (Chick): Timerra. 

So, why exactly do I bring this trope? It will makes sense later. Just know that this is one of the ways Alear foils to Veyle. And we talk about Timerra anyways for the Solm arc and how it ties the Royals into being a real team.
It’s important for Alear to understand how each of the Four Kingdom operates. Alfred, being Alear’s new best friend and guide, has to be the one to tell Alear about the Kingdoms in full detail. One of the biggest reasons for why war happens between Kingdoms I feel mainly lies in the lack of communication and trust between one another (cough* Three Houses). Real bonds with people are much stronger than just being allies of convenience (something Sombron will never understand).
In Chapter 12, the other royals explain how their “allegiance” with Solm, or lack thereof, works. Alfred and Diamant never met Solm’s Royal Family outside of the Queen. Their reasons are explained later in the next chapter. Timerra and Fogado are Sentinels who travel outside Kingdom walls to support their country and never made alliances with any Kingdoms so they don’t lose resources in their fight (especially with Fell Dragon Sombron now revived). Once Alear hears out Timerra and Fogado’s reasoning, they don’t criticize them.
In Chapter 14, Hortensia, currently at her lowest point, demands Alear and the others to hand the rings in exchange for Seforia’s life. Alear, however, refuses to bend.

• Alear: … No, Hortensia. Never. • Hortensia: I'm sorry, did I not make myself clear? Hand them over or l kill the queen. • Alear: I heard you. But I'm not doing what you ask. I'd be throwing away everything she, Timerra, Fogado, and the people of Solm have done. So no, I won't give you the rings. And I won't let you kill Queen Seforia. 

This chapter (while is mainly for Timerra and Ivy’s characters IMO) is still a good moment for Alear. Alear has already experienced Morion’s death and being unable to save a parent. Even so, Alear isn’t handing the rings out of desperation to save another parent.
Here, Alear stays calm and is not going to waste Timerra and Fogado’s hard work to protect Ike just to save the Queen because of their “must save/avenge the parent” like with Morion and the Emblems. They stay resolute. That shows that have grown a lot in a short timeframe. Alear’s resolve calms Timerra down and give her the strength and mental fortitude to not bend so easily to Hortensia’s threat.
Even in this desperate situation, however, Alear, Ivy and Seforia still understand how Hortensia is feeling right now. And Alear perfectly deconstructs her. To put it simply “why put someone through the same pain as you?” Of course Alear would know.
Hortensia is rethinking her actions, and Ivy is here to comfort her. Everything should be alright now hopefully. Unfortunately. Zephia come in to take the Queen, brainwash Hortensia into fighting.
After the fight is over, Seforia brings up Lumera, Alear was shocked at first, but expresses gratitude at the compliment. It shows how much Alear grew in comparison to the first 10 Chapters. Lumera is a really emotional sore spot for Alear. In Chapter 5, after saving Queen Evé, the latter allows Alear time to grieve in her arms. Something I’m sure they really needed.
Regardless, it’s nice for Alear to take that compliment with pride. They are doing this in honor of Lumera after all. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they have fully recovered from Lumera’s death or the events of Chapter 10 and 11 from an emotional perspective.

⁃ Veyle 

Which leads into the end of Chapter 15 and Alear’s fallout with Veyle. Alear’s relationship with Veyle is one of my favorite part about Engage’s story and why Veyle is my favorite character in the game. I probably wouldn’t have liked Alear as much if it wasn’t for her.
How would you feel if the person you saw as your friend was actually your mother’s killer all along and was working from behind the scenes to help kidnap and Corrupt Morion, revive (her father) Sombron, and take the Emblem Rings (our friends) from right under our noses, mocking for your failure all the while? I would be infuriated too.
Now we cut over to chapter 15 (at least the end of it) and Alear meets Veyle again (as in her normal, kind hearted personality). And needless to say, after everything that happened the “last time” they met. To say that Alear is displeased to see her is an understatement.

• Veyle: Oh my! We meet again, Alear. Did you defeat the monsters? • Alear (doing their best to remain calm): Yes, we did. Every last one. • Veyle: I'm glad. How have you been? I was surprised to see you out in that blizzard. I hope you found the cathedral. • Alear (losing their patience): Whatever game you’re playing, stop it. • Veyle: Huh? Are you mad about something? • Alear: Don’t act like you forgot. I can see through your lies now. • Veyle: Lies? What do you mean? I promise you, Alear, I’m not- • Alfred: Not a step closer! You stay where you are, Fell Princess. • Veyle: *shocked* How did you know?! • Diamant: Just looking at you, I feel again the shame of losing Father… • Ivy: You stolen my country from me-my father. What more do you want? • Alear: The people you killed (Morion, Hyancith, and victims of the Corrupted)… they had families. But you don’t care, do you? All that pain… You don’t even give it a second thought. • Veyle: Wait a moment. I… I killed people? Who? • Alear: Drop the act! You know what you did! How dare you show your face here. You murdered my mother and stole the rings. • Veyle (on the verge of tears): I didn’t. I didn’t. Please believe me… • Alear: Believe you? Like I believed we were friends? I won’t make that mistake again. • Veyle: … *runs away, heartbroken.” • Alfred: We’ve got to do something! • Alear: Let her go. It’s probably a trap. • Alfred: You’re right. • Timerra: Divine One, are you all right? • Alear: I’m fine. But the next time I see Veyle, I swear… 

The first thing I want to say is: Brandon McInnis and Laura Stahl’s was incredible. You could hear the Tranquil Fury in their voices. Hiro Shimono and Aya Endo also were great here.
One of my favorite aspects Alear’s character, and I will expand on this more later, is that Alear makes it very clear that they don’t hate Veyle JUST because she killed Lumera.
Alear’s hate towards Veyle is mainly attributed to all of the other lives Veyle ruined. Not just theirs. They are talking about Morion (who they got to know as a person who loved his sons and not just the warmonger Elusia sees him as), Hyanicith (despite being an enemy, Alear still sympathizes with Hortensia because know the pain of losing a parent).
Unlike with the case characters like say Dimitri, Alear doesn’t just simply attack Veyle. If they and the royals attacked Veyle unprovoked, I probably would’ve lost some sympathy for them. The simple act of disowning Veyle is more telling than just going straight for her head.
Regardless, it’s rare to see Alear wrathful. But again, as stated above, they has every reason to be furious with Veyle knowing full well that (from their perspective), the person they saw as their friend “betrayed” them, killed Lumera and hurt their friends.
And the saddest thing about all of this is, Alear’s anger and hate towards Veyle blinds Alear to the fact that Veyle not acting like her evil self. The dramatic irony in this is that WE the audience know about Veyle having two personalities, but Alear and the others don’t know that yet.
So imagine Alear’s surprise and horror when Zephia reveals the truth behind Veyle and her evil counterpart.
The look on Alear’s face and how it changes from anger to sadness when they learn the truth says it all. Alear begins to regret their behavior in Chapter 15. Even the tone in their voice changes.

• Alear: The person who killed my mother and stole our rings… It was Veyle, but… not? 

Alear goes from swearing revenge on Veyle to wanting to help her ASAP. This was EXACTLY how I felt after Chapter 17. The end of Chapter 15 showed that Alear isn’t perfect and couldn’t see the forest for the trees in the midst of her anger over Lumera’s death.
Alear and Evil!Veyle’s boss dialogue in Chapter 17 also deserves mention. EVeyle here is mocking Alear about being friends and having a falling out. Seeing how Alear has no retort to this is another showing of how Alear feels knowing that they accused Veyle wrongly.

• Evil!Veyle: "Hehehe, I'm so glad you came. Quite a backdrop, isn't it? Florra looks much prettier up in flames. I knew you'd come if I set it ablaze. And the Corrupted that frightened you so much... They're not so scary this way, are they?" • Alear: "Are you talking about King Hyacinth?" • Evil!Veyle: "Yes. I thought seeing him would make you smile. We are friends, after all! Oh, but we had a falling out, didn't we? The other Veyle must be simply heartbroken." • Alear: "..." 

Above everything thing else, however, the final nail in the coffin that would drive Alear to save Veyle is the moment the real Veyle returns Sigurd’s ring to them (the very same ring that Alear was entrusted with by Lumera before she died).

• Veyle: I know you can't forgive me...for all the things I've done. But still... You must know... I need you to know that even though our friendship was brief.. it meant everything! 

Chapter 17 ends with Alear praying for Veyle’s safety. Another thing worth noting is Alear staying focused on helping the Survivors at Firene instead of going straight for chasing after Veyle is a huge sign of their growth.

• Alear: Be safe, Veyle. 

I don’t want to talk about Sigurd’s Paralogue just yet, as I will save the Emblem Paralogues for their own individual posts on Reddit. Even still, I believe Sigurd’s Paralogue and the message it sends to Alear was made with the revelation of Veyle in mind.

⁃ Sigurd: You must learn the sorrow of the common man, Seliph, Your truth is not the reality of all. Unless you know their pain, these long years of war will have been for naught... 

From Chapter 17 onwards, saving Veyle is one of Alear’s end goals. And even though Alear isn’t fully ready to forgive Veyle (and yes, no split personality is going to change the facts), it’s clear that everything that happened changed Alear’s perspective.
In chapter 18, each of the Royals have their own perspective to give on the matter. Alfred, who was with Alear when Zephia spilled the beans, also expressed shock at the reveal of Veyle’s other personality. Alfred, with a clearer mindset, acknowledged that Veyle gave the Ring of the Holy Knight back of her own free will. As well as the fact that she was being used.
Diamant considers every angle that Veyle is still being used by the enemy. While also acknowledging Timerra’s viewpoint that Veyle was playing them and waiting for the moment they let their guards down. Ivy acknowledges that Zephia is fully intent on killing off the real Veyle.
My point here is that now Alear and the others now have a better understanding of what’s going on, they are trying think about the best way to handle Veyle going forward. Alear in particular wants to believe in Veyle they saw at the end of Chapter 17. The Veyle that knew she lost one of her only real experiences at friendship was still willing to defy her abuser to do the right thing, not expecting forgiveness all the while.
In Chapter 19, after defeating Mauvier and Marni, and even before that, Alear asks his enemies about Veyle. Mauvier, who is the only one of the Hounds who gives a single crap about Veyle, is the one to warn Alear that Zephia is planning on erasing Good Veyle’s personality. Alear’s reason for letting Mauvier go is because Alear trusts that Mauvier has Veyle’s best interests at heart. Like with Ivy, this decision would pay off in the future.
Especially since what Alear learns about themselves in Chapter 20 would play a big role in Alear understanding Veyle better. Alear and the others meet, fight and defeat Griss at Elusia castle. In doing so, we manage to get Celica back, but…

• Emblem Celica: I thank you, Alear. • Alear: Emblem Celica, it’s such a relief to have you back again. • Griss: *laughing maniacally* • Alear: … • Griss: *still laughing, but catches his breath*… Oh man. Ain’t this whole thing just a laugh-riot? Zephia, that little hunch of yours was so dead on! • Alear: I think it’s clear you’ve lost your mind. • Griss: Look at you, acting all high and mighty. “It’s clear you’ve lost your mind.” Yeah, that’s cute. The real question is, have you lost yours? You’re playing this whole thing like a you’re a god. But you’re fighting on the wrong side. Why’re you staring at me with that stupid look on your face? You’re think you’re a Divine Dragon? Lemme set ya straight. You are the child of the Fell Dragon! • Alear: *Shocked and confused* I am his child? No, but… How? 

The main complaints about this moment I hear is that Alear gets over this reveal too quickly and the reveal of being Sombron’s child is too obvious. The lesson that Alear learns here isn’t about the circumstances of birth, it’s about the person you choose to be. Everyone is following Alear because they love and trust them, and Alear earned that trust through their actions. Not just being able to summon Emblems.
And it’s also again shows how Alear and Veyle are foils to each other.
The Four Royals all grew to love and respect Alear for their characters and actions. Rather than just love them as the Deity with the ability to summon Emblems. The Four Hounds (Mauvier excluded), on the other hand, see Veyle as a pawn and/or a means to an end for their own gain.
All Zephia cares about is following Sombron. How Sombron sees Veyle and being a parent also translates into Zephia doing the thing to Veyle. Griss only cares about following Zephia because she’s the only home she has. And anything Zephia does, Griss follows suit. And Marni is in sole pursuit of praise and glory.
The reason for why I’m ok with Alear’s despair over being Sombron’s child is dealt with quickly it was more of the lesson Alear needed to save Veyle and convince her to keep fighting in Chapter 22.

• ‘I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.' - Mewtwo ◦ The characters with plot important dialogue after Chapter 20: • Vander: You remain the Divine Dragon. I will forever serve at your service…just as I always have. • Clanne: It doesn't matter whose child you actually are. I'll still protect you because...well, you're you. • Framme: You ARE a Divine Dragon to me! Even now. No, especially now! You're amazing no matter what. • Alfred: You mean a lot to us. Even if you tried to flee, I'd run after you to make sure you knew that. • Céline: Your lineage does not change that you saved me and all of Firene. I shall stand by you. • Diamant: Don't worry. We're right here beside you...and we'll help you become a true Divine Dragon. • Alcryst: Your lineage doesn't matter to me, Divine One. In my eyes, you're still someone to admire. • Ivy: You will always be the Divine Dragon to me. Please remember that-and please stay with us. • Hortensia: So what if you were born a Fell Dragon? I used to worship the Fell Dragon. Anyone can change. • Timmera: Nothing's changed as far as I'm concerned. The you that's right in front of me-that's all I need. • Fogado: The people of Solm don't care about origins. We care about the you NOW. And you are amazing. 

Chapter 20 was the turning point for Alear. The final nail in the coffin to convince them to save Veyle. Even if Veyle killed Lumera, Veyle is still their family and if Alear can change for the better, so can Veyle. Alear learned that they are Veyle’s only remaining sibling that she has been looking for. The only person to ever show her kindness. And finally, In the next chapter, Alear learns about Veyle’s backstory. All of these things are all motivations for Alear to forgive their sister.

• Mauvier: Divine Dragon. • Alear: Mauvier, it’s you. • Mauvier: I overheard your conversation about being Lord’s Sombron’s child. If that is true, then I urge you to help Lady Veyle. • Alear: What? You’re not here to stop us? • Mauvier: All this time, Lady Veyle has been sustained by a desire to meet her sibling. If she sees you, she will be saved. I know it. • Alear: I’d like to support her like my friends here have supported me. 

The moment Zephia kills Marni and Mauvier chooses to fight alongside Alear, they accept. They have the same goal of saving Veyle. With everything that has happened, Alear is no longer hesitated to save their sister.
Alear’s wrath towards EVeyle is also telling. They know who the real killer is in all of this. They have the rage and the focused mind needed to save Veyle, as opposed to being too angry or too conflicted.

• EVeyle: "Oh, how I wanted to find you. How I wanted to kill you. Queen Lumera's pet. The whimpering, pathetic worm. You are not my sibling." • Alear: "And you're not mine. Veyle is. Give her back." • EVeyle: "I am Veyle! And I'll prove it - here and now - by destroying you!" 

Alear and Veyle’s voice actors all did an incredible job in Chapter 21 with the boss dialogue. You can hear the fury in their voices.
EVeyle is defeated again thanks to Alear and friends. Veyle is freed with the Helmet Damage. And now that Veyle is willing handing the Ring of the Hero King back to us, things should be A-Ok now, right?

• Sombron: I will not allow it! • Alear: …! (Veyle turns around as she senses Sombron’s presence). • Sombron: Heed me well, O defective daughter of mine. • Veyle: Papa… • Sombron: My goal is so close I can taste it, but their kindness makes you weak. Now go, and reclaim my Emblem Rings at once! • Veyle: I won’t! • Sombron: So I see. That is a shame. Well then…there is nothing more you can do for me. And I have never been in the habit… of keeping that which has no value. • Veyle: Ah! (Sombron charges a blast breath in preparation to kill Veyle.) • Alear: Veyle! (Steps in front of the attack and is mortally wounded.) Aaah! Ngh… Ugh… • Veyle:*Veyle gasps in horror and runs to Alear and lifts their dying body in her arms* No! • Sombron: My foolish child. Twice now have I struck you down. But I promise you…no amount of sleep will bring you back from this moment. (Screen fades to black) This time…your defeat is final. 

No matter what anybody tries to say, this is saddest moment in the game for me. Regardless of Alear getting revived or not. And it’s mainly because of how Veyle reacts to Alear’s death.
Alear finally gets to apologize to Veyle for how they treated her back in Chapter 15. One of the things that makes this scene hurt is that Veyle doesn’t care about what happened then, she just doesn’t want Alear to die. Alear tries to reassure Veyle even at death’s door. It could have been because Alear truly believed they could survive, or they were just putting on a brave face.
Alas, whatever the case may be, Alear lies dead on the floor before they could reveal the truth to Veyle about being her sibling. And it gets worse from here (AGAIN). The Dragonstone that Alear gave Veyle is destroyed (symbolizing that Alear is indeed dead, as Dragonstones are tied to a Dragon’s life force in Engage). Case in point, when Nel ends her own life to save “Nil” (Rafal), her Dragonstone is destroyed.
Sombron (Alear’s murderer) reveals the truth to Veyle about Alear being their sibling. And this was the moment that broke Veyle. Never mind all of the horrible things Sombron and Zephia has done to her. Or all of the abuse and harassment she went through just for being Sombron’s daughter…
All of the abuse Veyle went through would have met something of they finally had reunited with the sibling that gave her hope. Not only does said sibling died for their sake, Alear chooses to lay down their lives for her even after everything her evil self did to them and their friends. And it was at this moment that Veyle realizes she had reunited with her sibling far too late that she breaks and loses her will to live.

• Veyle: No… But the stone shouldn’t break…the stone shouldn’t shatter unless… All that time…you were my brothesister… I found you…I finally found you! Please, don’t be gone-I need to talk you! I don’t understand why you would sacrifice yourself for me! *sobs* 

With this Sombron uses the Emblems to revive Gradlon. EVeyle returns, and Alear’s army is surrounded by Corrupted. And no one is able to summon the Emblems.
All hope is lost… but as they say; “The darkest hour is just before the dawn.” Or in this case, “The Edge of Dawn.” …
We have finally reached Chapter 22. The Climax of Alear’s story. One of the things I love about this chapter is title itself: The Fell and The Divine, it’s called Divine Dragon and Fell/Evil Dragon in Japanese (神竜と邪竜).
It has a tripe meaning that can be taken as Fell Alear’s relationship with Lumera. Alear and Veyle’s relationship. and/or Alear’s transition from a Fell Dragon to a Divine Dragon.
I don’t consider myself a master class of Japanese language and spelling (especially the latter), but even without knowing what Hiragana is, it’s easy to tell that Alear was undeveloped mentally.
All of this due to Sombron being a godawful parent. Seeing Alear staring at Sombron with emotionless eyes and murderous intent is more than enough to tell me just how broken Alear was prior to meeting Lumera.
Lumera gave Alear everything that they needed; love and kindness most of all, but also someone who could guide Alear. EVeyle represents what Alear would have been if they rejected the notions of kindness. We see Alear became a better person thanks to Lumera’s influence.
Going back to Chapter 3 for a moment, this was Alear’s last memory as their past selves. Not only were these memories unpleasant, but also, I consider that moment now to be the death of the self. I say Alear’s death in the past is more of a metaphor than anything else.
In that moment, Past Alear died and was reborn as the Divine Dragon. I consider Alear to be the Death Arcana from the Persona series. It doesn’t mean death per se (not physically at least), it’s represents change, the end of one journey and the beginning of another. This is Alear’s story in a nutshell.
Lumera’s death hits so much harder now that we know the truth. The “becoming your mother” line was subtle foreshadowing that Lumera wasn’t Alear’s birth mother.
And this right here for me, was the TRUE plot twist of Chapter 20. Alear was adopted all along.

• Lumera: Being your mother─becoming your mother─ has brought so much happiness into my life. • Alear: I know…and I’m happy to be your child, in this moment─ here and now─and a thousand years ago. I am. 

Not only does Lumera’s sacrifice allows Alear to summon Emblems with their free will, but it also saved Alear’s life. Lumera’s sacrifice wasn’t a waste.
And plus it explains Alear’s hair color. I never once hated Alear’s design, but now I love it for its symbolism alone!
Just like with Veyle, Alear comes to the realization that their dreams were realized just as they died.

• Alear: Oh… I must have died protecting Veyle. There’s no waking up this time. I had dreamed that I would awaken as a hero… Only now I realize, that did happen. But it’s too late. 

The big reason why this moment hits me hard is because the whole premise of the game was to team up with heroes of the past. Alear was growing up to be like Marth.
Alear had Marth’s ring with them for most of their time as Sombron’s child. Alear’s kinship with Marth feels similar Tiki and Marth and Soren and Ike in a way.
A kind hand who freed them from shackles of isolation.
By Engaging with Marth, Alear could become that hero, even wield their powers for a time. Alear was living the dream of being a hero just like Lumera and Marth…
But alas, Sombron always found a way to take that dream away from them. And now it seems like Alear will never be that hero again…
On the “bright” side, Alear isn’t alone in the feeling of having their dreams crushed over and over. Veyle is also with Alear in the limbo and she has had enough of life being crap for her. And honestly, who can blame her?
But Alear isn’t ready to give up just yet. Alear words towards Veyle hits really hard. But they are right. Alear may have been through hard times, but they were able to come out the other end stronger, and Veyle can do the same.
Alear has one last gambit that may help. And it’s their craziest plan yet. To become the very thing they hate: A Corrupted! Alear is pushing through his greatest fears to do what they think is right. Alear has been doing that since the very beginning, but this really shows how far Alear has come since the day they started their journey with no memories. And to the honor of all of the many allies and loved ones who helped Alear become the Divine Dragon, the time is now to help Alear see value in her life.

• Alear: Veyle, What do you live for? • Veyle: What do you mean? • Alear: My friends told me it doesn’t matter where you’re from. What’s important is how you live. ◦ Flashback to the Four Royals encouraging Alear in Chapter 20: • Alfred: Sure, first we came to you because we needed your help. But now I care about you. Fell or Divine or whatever else, we need you. So no more talk about leaving us. • Diamant: We'd never have made it this far without you. I will follow wherever you lead. If you have only half of your power, so be it. We'll make up for the other half. • Timerra: What matters to me isn't how you were born. It's what you do with the life you're given. If you choose to live as a Divine Dragon, then that's what you are! • Ivy: Conflicted as I might be, I am made resolute by the terror I feel at losing you. Because, to me, you are the Divine Dragon. Your leaving would not change that bond. ◦ Cut to present time: • Alear: How you live and what you do shapes your future. So...who do you want to become? • Veyle: I've never thought about that. But if it were possible for me to change now, I suppose... 

Veyle has finally found her dream: to become a dragon who saves the world. And it’s the very OST that plays in this cutscene, as well as the end of Chapter 11 and 20 and the Fell Xenologue.
The song fits perfectly with this scene as Hope is being restored with new found resolve. Thanks to Alear’s faith in Veyle, she’s finally free of her evil self and revives Alear as Corrupted. One of my favorite parts about this chapter is that “Engage” is playing here. Just like when Alear awakened Marth in Chapter 1. These two really are siblings.
All of Alear’s friends are fearing the worst (as in being forced to fight Corrupted Alear). Considering that they already had to fight Corrupted Morion and Hyacinth, their worries do have merit. It may not be enough to shake off their doubts in the moment, Alear reassuring his team, and using the lessons they have learned from them is enough to calm them down. Alear learned a lot in the last few chapters.
I also like how Emblem Marth smiles at Alear after awakening him. Even though he’s stuck in his mute Fell Dragon state, that smile is more than enough to know that Marth is still there. What makes this noteworthy as well is Byleth’s boss dialogue with Alear in his Paralogue (I will go more in detail when I talk about the Emblems).
Alear is forced to use Veyle’s Fell Dragon power to revive the Emblems. Alear’s intentions are still the same: to keep fighting for what is right. The Emblems witnessed the resolve in them. And that’s what makes the ending of Chapter 22 feel earned IMO.
Side note: I love how all of the units (DLC included) all of have voiced dialogue for when collecting an Emblem or storing one away.
Well now, with the chapter over, Everyone is safe, the Emblems have been summoned, Veyle is freed, and Alear is revived (albeit corrupted, and the Emblems are in their Fell state).
Everything is peaches and cream now, right?

• Alear: I’m vanishing… • Me: …huh? 

Despite Alear’s attempt to put on a brave face as they vanish for good, you can hear Alear’s voice that they are crying in despair. Props to all of Alear’s voice actors (English and Japanese).
Alear’s dream is going vanish like a flickering ember and a dying light. Alear returns to the darkness.
But as a Kingdom Hearts character once told me; deep down, there is a light that never goes out.

• Alear: Light? • ???: Dragon Child. You desire the power to fight… to the end, alongside everyone. • Alear: Marth 

All 12 Rings float to Alear’s side, as if they are delivering them a message.

• Marth: Dragon Child, you who fought bravely even after death… Would you rise once more? • Nakanishi: Alear, the protagonist that players control, grows as an individual guided by the Emblems and leads the way, working with allies to achieve a great goal • Alear: I want to fight. It can’t end here. (Alear reaches out towards the Rings) No matter how hard it may be, I have to continue until the world is safe. I must fight…like the Emblems have! • Marth: I have heard your wish. And thus, our power is yours. 

Alear’s soul plummets back into his fading Corrupted body. A new breath of life has been pumped into Alear’s body as it floats up in vertical position surrounded by blue energy. Then, a ring of a red and blue gem slides onto Alear’s finger. As it is fits on, Alear’s Red and Blue eyes and hair transforms into a completely blue hair and eye color. Alear shouts a battle cry and stances with the Libération sword in hand.
Through the power of the Miracle, courtesy of all 12 Emblems, as well as Lumera’s wish, Alear has been revived. Alear has evolved into a complete Divine Dragon as the 13th Emblem: The Fire Emblem.
There is A LOT to unpack with Alear becoming the Fire Emblem.

⁃ The Fire Emblem: 

Given that Lumera is the one who made Alear’s ring, and Sigurd was Lumera’s confidant, Lumera planned this for a long time.
Each Emblem comes from their own original worlds, and since Alear is native to Elyos, it would explain why they have a physical body.
One of the biggest complaints I hear with Alear and Veyle is that they don’t have Dragon forms. There’s a thought has crossed my mind that made me understand why we didn’t get Alear’s dragon forms.
Alear is meant to take the path of a Lord, not a Tiki Dragon archetype. While Veyle is meant to be a subversion of the Tiki archetype. There is another from an other Switch game that was never transforming into a dragon. And her name is Flayn, AKA Saint Cethleann.
I will go more into the Dragon aspect of Alear later, but let’s go back to talking about Alear’s Emblem Form.
People complain that Alear should have kept the full blue or red hair. Mainly because they hate Alear’s Red and Blue hair design that has been the source of internet jokes that aren’t even that funny. The fact the Ring of the Connector is both Red and Blue shows Lumera accepts Alear despite being born a Fell Dragon. Completely removing one side over the other defeats the purpose of accepting Alear.
Whoever Alear Engages with after becoming an Emblem gain Blue and Red hair. So even if Alear loses any traces of Red after transforming into an Emblem, the red in their allies’ Engage form(s) proves that Alear’s allies accept Alear for all that they are. Divine and Fell Dragon.
Alear’s Dragonstone was purely red, while the Ring of the Connector is Red and Blue. And as Leif said, Alear’s Emblem Ring is a substitute to the stone.
Why else would the game hint at Alear’s being able to transform but not knowing how to (in Chapter 8), only to destroy Alear’s Dragonstone upon death? To me, not showing their dragon forms was a writing decision, not an error. A decision that you free to disagree with. I did at first, but not anymore. Not wanting to transform into dragons doesn’t detract from their characters at all IMO and it shouldn’t have to.

• Leif: Your power as an Emblem dwells in the ring, just as dragons imbue their power into stones. 

Emblem Alear acts as a replacement for the Dragon transformation. Not only that, Alear can give their power to another; allowing them to Engage.
All of Emblem Alear’s skills are based on being the one who connects their allies. A power that the Dragon forms can never give.
And a final noteworthy topic; my guess on why Alear only ended up Half Fell Half Divine is because Lumera gave half of her Divine Dragon power to Alear. Which was mainly used to save them from death. However, Lumera had to put the other half of the Divine Dragon power into the Ring of the Connector. Hence why Alear can only become a complete Divine Dragon using their Emblem form.
I’m personally ok with this. It shows that Lumera wasn’t changing Alear’s entire being. Lumera doesn’t judge Alear for being a Fell Dragon.
Weebs: “But Corrin at least got a dragon form!”
Me: It’s only seen in one and half cutscene and is never acknowledged on any other route afterwards.
Corrin has Dragon Fang at least so that’s something, but still. Alear has his own way of being strong.
Back on topic however, the Miracle. Admittedly enough, I do have some gripes with it. But using the information we have in the game, this power was already foreshadowed all the way back in Chapter 3 when Lumera died. Marth wasn’t referring the 1000 year power, it was the miracle.

• Marth: Lumera. I never thought our paths would diverge so soon. • Sigurd: Nor I. And to leave a child behind. I did that in death… A bitter memory. • Sigurd: I vow to protect your offspring in your absence, Lumera. • Marth: If we could grant our power now… • Sigurd: Marth. You know that’s not possible without the other Emblems here. • Marth: Yes, yes, I know. 

The problem that I have with the Miracle is that we don’t know how the Emblems have the Miracle and why it’s a risky move. All that we know is once the Emblems used the Miracle, Alear was revived as an Emblem, and obtained the Ring of the Connector. (See? I have Criticisms too.)
When the Emblems are discussing who to use the Miracle on (Eirika suggests Lumera like Marth), Ike and Lyn disagree and say that they can’t afford to waste a power like that on one person. Especially if that power has future consequences going forward.
Future consequences in question… https://www.reddit.com/fireemblem/s/4FgWwFcSnc
It’s understandable that all of the Emblems can’t agree on how to use the miracle at first because they may have never have known that the Miracle was meant for Alear. And this based on the Emblems circumstances and as well as their own personality and experiences.
The Miracle has to be something that only Divine Dragons seem to know. Why else would the Miracle tie in with the Ring of the Connector that Lumera planned to give Alear as early as Chapter 2?
Putting my own grievances with the Miracle aside, this makes sense with what we know.
Alear’s revival wasn’t just a snap decision, when Alear summoned Marth with Fell Dragon power, Marth smiled at Alear knowing it was them.
Marth and Sigurd both knew Alear would use their powers for good. Alear built trust in the Emblems like they did their allies.
Now think back to Alear’s boss dialogue with Byleth in his Paralogue. Byleth there is teaching Alear the importance of having the heart needed to use any power for good. Alear had to use his Fell Dragon power helped by Veyle to summon the Emblems. Despite the Invocation stripping the Emblems of their free will, Alear and the others don’t see the Emblems as tools, only as their friends and allies. And this built up trust is IMO one of, if not, the main reason the Emblems decided to use the Miracle on Alear.

• Lyn: Now that you're an Emblem, we can finally reveal the truth. • Eirika: We have always been able to perform the miracle at any time. • Ike: To use it, we all had to be together and agree on who deserved the miracle. • Alear: So that means, l... • Micaiah: Yes. We all agreed we wished to fight alongside you, Alear. • Byleth: We could do this once and never again. Not in all the thousands of years ahead. • Lucina: What's more, this will be the last gift that we will ever give this world. • Corrin: This took all of our future power. It was worth it to fight alongside you now. • Marth: This is the first time we Emblems have shared the same wish-for this, for you. • Alear: Everyone, you… • Marth: This was the only way we could save you. No one returns from death. Now, being an Emblem is perhaps not what you desired. I hope we have done the right thing. • Alear: I've died twice. I didn't expect to be back again. So, thank you! My friends and I will do our best to protect this world. I'll make the most of what you've done. 

Trust is a risk, the Miracle itself was a risk, and the consequences of Alear loses will be steep. We have to keep in mind that Alear themselves was willing to take the risk of becoming Corrupted to save their friends. The moment that Elyos will have to fight its own battles will begin.
This will become important when I talk about the Endgame. To me, the Ending is a very crucial factor in why Alear had to become an Emblem.
This is what the story has been leading up to. Living up to the legacy of Lumera and all of the FE lords before them.
A few sides to get out of the way before I talk about the Emblem Paralogues: 1. Alear and Marth being reunited after 11 chapters or so.
I just felt it was a sweet moment overall. Like I said before, I headcanon Marth being Alear’s mentor and older brother figure.

• Alear: Oh, and Marth… I'm so glad to see you again. I'm sorry we were separated in Elusia. It's been so long since then... • Marth: Oh, it was barely a blink, compared to your years of slumber. It's good to see you, my fellow Emblem. • Alear: Ha! Yes, my fellow Emblem. 

The second thing I want to talk about is people wishing that Alear was stuck as an Spirit Emblem with Veyle as the new MC.
If you asking me, THAT’S 🤬ING STUPID! I don’t care! IMO, it defeats the purpose of Alear’s character and Lumera’s sacrifice.
My other reason for why I don’t buy turning Alear into a Spirit like the rest of the Emblems also takes away the unique aspect of Alear both story and gameplay wise as an Emblem.
Again, with the last chapter, I feel like Alear being an Emblem with a body is symbolic to Alear.
With that rant out of the way, the next part will be devoted to the Emblem Paralogues.
Previous Part: https://www.reddit.com/fireemblem/s/2bszLIxtHG

i gave this to my teacher to mark but she hasn’t given it back yet so… if someone could give it a mark out of 30 (& just general feedback) i’d rly appreciate it bc i want to get a 9 in lit (i want to take it for a level) but my teacher hasn’t been helpful at all :)
question: explore how far shakespeare presents juliet as a character who is determined in romeo and juliet.
Shakespeare presents Juliet as incessantly determined to regain her own autonomy and escape what society expects of her. Shakespeare deploys the role of the tragic hero through Juliet; her attempts at gaining independence and the ability to do things by her own volition the ambitions which shape her character, one born from “fatal loins”. In the end however, she is subjected to consequences far worse than simply the “death-mark’d” one as told in the prologue of the play, as her suicide would’ve seen her sent to Hell per Elizabethan belief. But arguably, that was in fact her own choice and, as a privileged and religious young girl, one she would’ve been undeniably aware of the consequences of.
When we first meet Juliet, Shakespeare presents her as submissive to her parents and restrained by society’s expectations of young girls. She speaks formally to her mother, naming her “madam” and inquires what she “will”s of her. The pronoun “madam” immediately conveys both the respect she has for her mother, but also the plosive sound “d” amongst the word creates a sense of friction between them. This displays how despite greatly understanding the role she has to play in her family, she also feels uncomfortable being so constrained and that she feels trapped in her position. This perhaps foreshadows Juliet’s rebellion later in the play, and how she will abandon the subordination expected of her as a woman.
Her first act of rebellion is her initial encounter with Romeo at the end of the first act, as it opposes both the virginal and pure expectations of a young girl, but additionally portrays her defiance as it betrays the side she is supposed to take in the family feud with the Montagues. While at the start she tries to continue embodying this ideal version of a woman as she deters Romeo’s attempts at kissing her by mentioning that “saints” have “lips they must use in prayer”. This clearly shows that she is capable of making her own decisions and the religious imagery of “saints” could be Juliet trying to present herself to Romeo as this symbol of purity, but also an attempt at reaffirming to herself that she is supposed to maintain such an image as an aristocratic female. But it inherently juxtaposes the situation, as it would be viewed as scandalous by an audience for an unwed girl to be alone with a man. Perhaps Shakespeare has chosen to do this to foreshadow how this image shown of the submissive daughter is only a façade, and that truly Juliet longs for independence. Additionally, Shakespeare utilises dramatic irony in this moment as while the audience is aware of the true identities of the lovers, the pair are not, which demonstrates that neither of the titular characters, more so Juliet, are showing their true selves yet.
Furthermore, once informed of Romeo being a “Montague” after their kiss, she remarks that she “must love a loathed enemy”. The modal verb “must” connoting that she is at an obligation to do so, which while perhaps suggesting she has no agency in such action, more importantly displays that her needs take priority over her family’s expectations of her now; Juliet taking the first step towards independence. Moreover, the juxtaposition between “love” and “enemy” when compounded with her necessity in loving him highlights that Juliet is determined to act for her love for Romeo and her own wants, no matter the conflict and pain which she may face in achieving it. Additionally, this sudden and impulsive commentary on her emotions, after only just having met Romeo, foreshadows how her impetuous nature could ultimately lead to her downfall – her hamartia in her role of the tragic hero that she takes. However, it is also important to note Juliet’s age in the play, as the emotion “love”, as she describes her feelings towards Romeo, has such powerful connotations which are unlikely for Juliet to actually be feeling as she is only thirteen. Additionally this is likely her first real experience with a man outside of what the “book”s have taught her, as she comments on how Romeo kisses “by the book”, suggesting no other source of perspective on the action. Her view is skewed by her lack of experience which makes the emotions she feels seem far more important and all-consuming than they truly would be, which perhaps makes her story even more tragic as she was in some ways a young girl blinded by this romance with Romeo. The mentioning of her “not yet” being “fourteen” may be a choice by Shakespeare to highlight that nobody can avoid their fate, no matter how pure and young you may be, and that it was her destiny as a tragic hero to die - which is consistently commented on throughout the entire play.
As we reach the final scene in Act 5, Juliet has changed massively, a complete subversion of the submissive character we see in the start. She has lied and betrayed her family, commenting on how she “does it for thee”, her determination to be with Romeo being so strong that she is willing to abandon them for him. In the extract, we see Juliet waking up from her faked death, her attention quickly turning to her “lord”, the term conveying the power that Romeo has over her as a “lord”, such as her father, had both wealth and influence. But the use of the possessive pronoun “my” evokes a sense of ownership which suggests that perhaps she permits him to have such an impact on her, highlighting the reversal of the traditional submissive female role to a girl in control of her own life and decisions. After Friar Lawrence’s departure, Juliet repeats the words “I will” conveying that she is determined to stay with her husband, through into death. She comments on how she will be “brief” in her suicide, her hamartia taking full effect in her impulsive decision of death, the adjective “brief” summarising entirely how her rash actions are what cause her downfall. Juliet then “stabs herself”, this symbolic of a final, while hurried, act of determination and passion.
This could be Shakespeare trying to warn of the consequences when young girls decide to make their own decisions, her use of free will hurting others; one of those being Romeo himself, as it was her faking her death which brought him back to Verona after “exile” and consequently led him to kill Paris, then himself, and in turn Juliet. Her determination towards gaining autonomy and freeing herself from her family having dire consequences for numerous characters, but the worst for herself and the man she’d spent such time yearning for.
This oxymoronic “happy dagger” she deals with represents the multifaceted impact of her committing suicide. In one way, it highlights her determination to be with Romeo forever, but it is also a final act of defiance against her family and society which are both what all her actions in the play have been leading up to and aiming for. This is a cathartic experience for the audience, as it is the ultimate satisfaction for her to achieve liberty as she has hoped. Furthermore, this experience is cathartic as it is the fulfilment of the ending as told in the prologue, the “star-cross’d lovers” taking their lives. Despite this however, an Elizabethan audience would still see it as a great shock and perhaps an unnecessary sacrifice as, while she would be with Romeo, she would be far in the depths of hell as suicide was regarded one of the greatest sins at the time. But this highlights just how determined Juliet is, her freely deciding to damn herself to eternal torment because it is that which allows her to get what she has wanted from the start of the play: to take back her autonomy from her parents and pursue her own desires.
In conclusion, Juliet’s determination to become independent and make her own decisions is what perhaps truly drives the play, her willingness to fight against what is expected of her – despite her youth. She refuses to let anybody control her without her permission, taking back the autonomy stripped from her by her parents and society. While the ultimate repercussions of her actions are terrible, Juliet’s unstoppable and fiercely determined attitude towards self-liberation is the greatest catharsis for the audience and what exemplifies her as the tragic hero in the play.

Please can anyone whose worked closely with examiner's or even teachers mark this essay out of 30.(I'm told not to do conclusions or introductions but if I get more marks I will) The real GCSEs are close and I feel like I cooked in this essay.
How does Priestley present selfishness and its effects in An Inspector Calls?
Priestley presents selfishness and its effects in An Inspector Calls through the juxtaposition as Eva and Gerald's relationship and Shiela and Gerald's relationship. This can be evidenced by the way Priestley presents the woman of the play to be similar as Shiela is described as " a very pretty girl in her early twenties" while Eva is described as "very pretty" and "twenty four". Both these women are taken advantage by Gerald to satisfy his two most prevent desires - lust and social stability. In Sheila, Gerald hides his true feelings and is forced by societal pressures to marry Sheila to form a public alliance between the Croft family and the Birling family. Gerald selfishly manipulates both women to reap the benefits while leaving both women negatively and permanently changed. This can be evidenced by Eva's suicide and due to his betrayal, Sheila has lost her devotion to him and their relationship is different to what it once was. Priestley does this to show how higher class men's selfishness destroys the innocence of women and conveys to the contemporary audience how upper class men selfishness affects all classes. He conveys this purposefully to highlight his overall socialist message while diminishing Capitalism as he show that high class men are allowed by society to be selfish and get away with it. This can further be reinforced by when Sheila says "wait, I must think", when Gerald's desperately trying to regain her trust and restart their marriage. This suggests Sheila is uncertain about the future of their relationship despite how all of Gerald's devious deeds were displayed to her. Contextually, we know that women of 1912 lacked rights and had to cling onto the social class of their husbands to climb the social ladder or remain at their already high class. This can be related to Sheila as Society places sole value on women ans their ability to attract the richest and highest value male, which is why Sheila understands that Gerald is of the highest upper class, born into wealth and higher than her Bourgeoisie family in status. Priestley does this to show a contemporary audience how the upper classes selfishness isn't properly punished and instead the weak and lower class pay for their selfishness like Eva smith.
Moreover Priestley presents selfishness and it's effects through Mr Birling. This can be suggested near the beginning of the play where Mr Birling says "we were having a nice little family celebration and look at the nasty mess now" Priestley artfully conveys Mr Birling as petty snd inhumane to force an audience to realise their own selfishness and he teaches them how to correct it through his mouthpiece - The Inspector. Priestley juxtaposes his pettiness with The Inspector saying he was "looking at what was left of Eva Smith" and "a nasty mess somebodies made of it". Priestley portrays The Inspector as somewhat omniscient by foreshadowing how the Birling families selfishness were at fault for Eva's death. Moreover, the brutal description of "nasty mess" is used by Priestley to highlight the severity of the families crimes. Moreover, Mr Birling says " Lower costs and higher prices". This is said in his speech and shows how he has no regard for the his hardworking employees. Furthermore, Mr Birling says "it's my duty to keep labour costs down" as a rebuttal to The Inspector questioning why he fired Eva. The use of "duty" highlights the key phrase "keep labour costs down". Priestly subtly highlights Mr Birlings selfishness in his own speech. This is because he doesn't mention the conventional "duties" of males in the 20th century like protection of family but instead he believes his responsibility is to himself and his wealth first. We know that Mr Birling is obsessed with wealth as he is symbolic of capitalism which Priestley despises. We know that Eva was fired for asking for higher pay as in 1912 women have payed a third of men, making it impossible to be self sustainable. This demonstrated how society perpetuated the suffrage of women to put men into power because due to the low wages, Eva Birling and other women had to rely on men. Moreover, as all working class men and women were played by upper class wealthy men, it shows how societies structure was inherantly bias to upper class men as they were responsible for everyone's wellbeing and the nations economic development, especially during 1912 the indutstrial revolution was in full force.
Finally, Priestley presents selfishness and it's effects by using the Inspector to convey his message in he didactic play. This can be evidenced by the quote" we are members of one body". Priestley artfully alludes to the Book of Genesis and the Holy Communion as Jesus's body was represented through bread and eaten to demonstrate togetherness and community. Priestley does this to appeal top the commonly Christian contemporary audience. Priestley does this to imply that the Inspectors is teaching the Birling family and Gerald on god;s behalf. However, The Inspector is also Priestley;s socialist mouthpiece , so Priestley relates Christianity to socialism, which forces a contemporary audience to become socialist to remain a faithful Christian. Even though eventually Sheila and Eric accept responsibility while Mr Birling says "I can't accept any responsibility" and Gerald and Mrs Birling agree, Priestley uses the Inspector to deliver a final message to suggest that every one in society should care for each other so that the "millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths" don;t suffer as a result. The repetition of "millions" highlight the Inspectors metaphor for the lower class in the phrase. Priestley does this to to convey the severity of families selfishness and to present to a contemporary audience how upper classes selfishness is very powerful. By using "millions" he is implying to the audience that upper class elite will even cause them to suffer. Moreover, The Inspector presents the effect of selfishness through the phrase" men will be taught in fire and blood and anguish". The polysyndetic listing highlights the key word's "fire", "blood" and "anguish", to convey the brutal effects of selfishness. Furthermore, the Inspector foreshadows World War One, which causes blood to be shed of the innocent but also leads to society deconstructing to work together to fight and protect England. Priestly uses dramatic Irony, so that the complementary audience realises that the selfish elite and capitalism were somewhat at fault for the suffering caused in both World War Two. This is a tactic used by Priestly to show how selfishness will lead to mass destruction and how selfishness and Capitalism are intertwined.

This was written on the connecting flight. It was intended as a substantiation for the one star review I intended posting, but having rested from the ordeal, I realise people are actually in danger. This was written as a stream of consciousness, and so goes long and really needs editing. Any backlash I receive is outweighed by the action that needs to be taken for people still trapped in the dystopia.
The events that follow occurred on the 16th, 17th and 18th of April 2024. I type the following screed on my way to FBI (it will make sense later). It is a sad take, as prior to this, Emirates service had never been anything but excellent in my experience.
As with most good yarns, there is a beginning, a middle and an end. This beginning is the part below the introduction, the middle part is filled with many incredible events, and the end is a succinct TL;DR in the last paragraph.
This story starts around August 2023, when my wife and I, quite surprisingly, discovered we turn 50 next year. Considering the sobering reality of this discovery, we decide it would be great to do a special holiday. I will skip over the reading, planning and pricing stuff and skip straight to the Emirates bit.
We set out for the Initial Return Airport (or IRA for reasons that include nothing else but wilful confusion and obfuscation) on 16 April, at 3pm, in great spirits. We arrived early, having checked in online like clever, experienced travellers. We approached the online baggage checkin at the IRA. The checkin person told us that there was a 3h delay and we should enjoy ourselves at the airport before boarding the plane.
We ran off to the airport lounge, only to find that my wife’s newfound status provided access to the upgraded lounge. The one which was what the first airport lounges were actually like. Free food and drinks, open quiet spaces and a quite undetectable feeling of being marginally better than everyone else. Except the other lounge residents, obviously.
Quite independently from the Emirates representative to whom we had spoken, face to face, not 15min ago, we saw on the news that Dubai was experiencing flooding of an historic nature. As records for this kind of thing started relatively late in Dubai compared to other places in the world, this was slightly less historic than the normal use of the word, but rather significant nonetheless. Perhaps the kind of thing a representative of a company headquartered there would feel it worth mentioning to clients it had specifically invited to visit, on their way to their Final Birthday Instance (or FBI for reasons previously discussed, but with additional menace).
Not overly concerned due to previous experience with Emirates service, we expectantly boarded the plane on our way to an historic holiday (historic in a much smaller, personal sense than the two earlier uses).
We arrived in Dubai on time (except for the 3h delay due to rain). The rain that an Emirates representative felt unnecessary to mention, but I repeat myself.) We joined the cycling pattern which was expected now, having watched some news and seen how it was not the fun ‘historic’ generational type event, but really the ‘I hope no one died’ historic event that is so opposite to the fun kind in nearly all ways. And often terribly expensive. I had not slept on the plane as I find it very difficult to sleep on a plane, despite travelling extensively in an earlier life. This will become relevant later and has some foreshadowing elements to it. If you have a clairvoyant in the family tree, then you can probably guess where this is going, just like everyone else. The journey is still worth taking though.
During the flight our landing time kept extending, until it reached 8.47am, where our connecting flight was leaving at 8.10am. Being sensible people and wanting to know what lay ahead and how to plan, I asked the steward (the gender neutral form is used here to add suspense, with no follow up, much like Emirates as we shall see). The stewards’ response should have been the first warning bell, even though a true clairvoyant could have discerned it from the representative who did not warn us about the event. This point may continue to be laboured.
The steward said that, approximately 12h after an episode of force majeur (not the fun kind), ‘idontknownooneevertellsusanythingsorry’. One could be unkind and make derogatory remarks about pretty faces and empty heads, but that completely misses the point, and is mean in a way that cannot be substantiated without a fairly good knowledge of a person’s character. The prettiness of a face is easier to judge but is objective to such an extent that it is a point with little merit. No, the real takeaway here is that Emirates, despite having hours to plan, or break their contingency plan out of storage, complete the blanks to provide useful information and distribute it to the many, many, many planes en route, chose to enjoy coffee, as a year’s worth of rain poured down in a few hours. It makes such a disconcerting noise, one can barely make the coffee. Focus. Concentration. Coffee. Job done.
We landed safely (credit where it is due) with the smoothest touch down I have ever experienced, more a melding with the tar than a touch. And then spent 90 minutes watching the queue of planes sitting on the tarmac through the fantastic nose camera that fancy new planes have, all waiting for a berth. We continued watching the news and other sources, with heartwarming pet rescue stories with heroes paddling out heroically to heroically save various furry friends from certain drowning. In boats. The floaty kind, as the other kinds had not risen with the waters.
The pilot explained how the ground staff were struggling heroically to make it to the airport so the planes could be secured in their prepared berths and disembarked. However heroically they tried, however, it was always a failure never a success. Emirates was on the job though and heroically doing everything possible to get the airport running at full capacity. Except the heroic staff where sadly unable to complete their heroic journeys, and so really Emirates was helpless, despite their vast resources in their homeland, achingly out of reach of their heroic staff.
At this point I should address the force majeur event. The rain was a force majeur event. We are unable to prevent force majeur events, hence the name and the insurance wriggle room. What we absolutely can control, however is our response to a force majeur event. Generally more wealth means more trained, experienced warm bodies and fascinating forewarning systems and response equipment of varying quality. Ingenuity always plays a role though, so it is still possible to provide significant success in relief even without substantial wealth, like one of the largest airlines at its travel hub has for instance. Where there is a will, there is so often a way. And as a species we are getting so many exciting new force majeur projects to practice and improve on! I am glad I mentioned will, because we can examine Emirates’ will in the following occurrences.
Landing in a GMT+4 zone from a GMT+2 zone (Google it) meant that I was now awake for 26h. Not a biggie, often happens in intercontinental journeys. The boards say that the flight was rescheduled for 12.45 on another concourse. Perfect. Time to get there, locate the gate, get some snacks, maybe lounge a bit and then get to the queue before the gate opens and join the queue early.
Locate gate C4 (hehehe), check. Not enough time for lounge, but Emirates sent us a lovely voucher for free food. Fast food, but we don’t have much time. Get coffee from McCafe, no only MacDonalds gives free food, go away forthrightly. Live and learn. KFC. We don’t have any food. Sure, coffee. No, forthrightly again. Ok, queues have eaten up our free time, do the snacks on board. Good old Emirates, willingly sorting out the problems.
Join queue 25min before the gate opens and patiently wait our turn when the gate opens. Bring on 12.45! 13.05 to Kolkata you say? That can’t be right. There are no persons of Indian descent here, as might reasonably be expected on a flight to India, oh and it was FBI 2 min ago! The flight departures board still says FBI at 12:45, oh no it is 13:15. There is no way you can board a plane to Kolkata in 10min and reset for another flight, or anywhere else, unless it is a mom and pop airport. No, you have to listen to their new aches and pains stories between boardings, so not there either. Some FBI passengers start moving away, but we decide to remain steadfast and make decisions on the outcome that makes sense. Perhaps the Kolkata flight usually boards here and an automated flight info loaded the Kolkata route. Oh look at that, FBI is up again, and it is still leaving at 14:00. Crap. At least it agrees with the departure board. 45min is still not enough time to relax and get back in time. May as well stick around. Are your hiking boots hurting your feet? Not wearing hiking boots. I normally wouldn’t either, but we plan on hiking and we only had a 2.5h layover. Lesson re-learned.
Going to Kolkata again are we? At least we have a handful of Indian persons here this time. They must have got bad intel too. FBI again, yup, 14:30. Does the clock have a 30min hiccup? 15:00. Mmmm. I have a good feeling about 15:00. Now they have staff at the gate. Heroes! Mutter, mutter, fuss, fuss. Calling all passengers for destination FBI. It is barely past 15.25. Passport, tickets, carry on luggage, seat! Power of positive thinking! Everyone boarded, carry on luggage stowed away. The online check in system was wrong in the part where it said wife was checked in, but that the seat was not reserved. The booking confirmation part of the same system that said the opposite was right. Nice.
Bit warm outside, rain should clear up soon, but I didn’t see much outside of the river roads, no idea what transport routes were knocked out. Heroes! The aircon is keeping the plane cool, but shouldn’t the doors be closing? Passengers are all ready. Pilot reports that sadly, while the heroic air and cabin crews managed to hero into work, the ground staffs’ heroforms’ colours ran in the rain. No one to tow the plane out. But they are on the way. Heroically. Times passes. A lot of that going around, even without force majeur. Two and a half hours later, after several cheery updates about the heroing of the ground staff, the cabin crew would now exceed the maximum shift time legally allowable en route to FBI, and so we would have to disembark. The cabin crew would of course go home, get their legally mandated rest time and be back heroically. Just not today, for us, or any of the other 200(?) flights currently in limbo. If I got some vital elements wrong here, I admit paying attention was not top of my mind here.
Gosh my feet hurt now. Take off your boots! Chemical weapons are frowned upon in airports. We should have landed in FBI now, and the boots would not be a problem. 36h sleepless.
As we were disembarking, one of the staff (possibly ground) yelled, ‘Go to gate C12 to resolve your connecting flight!’ Eh 8 gates down, even sore feet are not a hindrance here. Ah, gate C12, boarding to Istanbul.
…
I will ask the Emirates passenger facing staff at the gate. No staff at the gate? How are they board….oh postponed.
Emirates staff. Odd, they seem so conspicuous by their absence a day and a half or so after a force majeur event. No one is in bicycling distance who can’t be on the floor providing advice? Isn’t Emirates terribly sorry for the unexpected delays and working around the clock to right the ship? I have heard it so many times today, it must be true! Oh, thank goodness another passenger has caught a security guards’ attention and he seems to have some information. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way down the Gate C corridor to Gate B18. Right, strange that air or ground crew at the plane got it wrong, but they both have 1’s in them and B can sound like C if you have been stung in the mouth by a while beehive. Off we go.
Wife tells me as we are walking to B18 (heresay, but after considerable internal argument, I decide my wife can be trusted) that she was told that the reason why the C12 gate time kept moving by small increments was because they were sure that the cabin crew was almost there. The juxtaposition between drip feeding 15 to 30 minute delays to passengers, in the hope that sufficient air and cabin crew will arrive to board the passengers, contrasts sharply with the complete confidence that sufficient ground crew will materialise from the ether in the two and a half hours allowed for air crew to serve a grounded plane before the cabin crew are furloughed off for safety reasons. Of course, rendering them unable to serve on other planes until the next day is part of the larger service plan. On to B18.
I personally have never seen a block of 1500 people squeezed into a 30ish by 30ish cube before. Meters. It resembles an amorphous blob. I imagine it would rock at a concert. When it is people of many creeds and all hues who are tired, hungry, thirsty, worried, have compromised immune systems, missed meetings, birthdays, connecting flights and been travelling for anything up to 30 hours and well beyond, then we have the less fun version again. People leaving the blob say it takes 8-12 hours to reach the front of the queue. Two service people (possibly Emirates) respond to every question with a simple answer: join the queue. All answers await at the head of the queue.
A shorter 20min queue nearby at the Skywards desk responds to every question with ‘join the queue’. All answers await at the head of the queue. We now have a 13h layover if we are to catch the same flight the next day. Are hotels on offer? Queue. If it takes 12h to get to the front of the queue, we won’t need a hotel. Queue.
Skywards service person, may I tell you something so that you can pass it on to the higher ups? Sure. That is not a queue and it is not fit for purpose. It is an amorphous blob with no lines, no order and little movement. You are throwing your passengers to the wolves. People from countries who are used to dealing with large crowds are at a distinct advantage. This is great for them, but not for all the other passengers whose money you have taken. There is no guidance on offer. The only way to get any information is to fight to the front of the blob, risking physical injury (more to come) to GET A NEW TICKET FOR A TRIP YOU ALREADY PAID FOR AND HAVE ALREADY CHECKED IN FOR! (shoutiness for emphasis, not for illustration of the conversation). Service person looked suitably abashed, but the mess had nothing to with them. They sat in the booth in difficult circumstances answering questions whose only answer, by direction from on high contained ‘queue’ repeatedly.
We are now 36h into our 24h trip and decide to use aforementioned new status to access an even more upmarket lounge than at IRA. Although it had a slightly scruffier look, the atmosphere was markedly better. We washed off some of the literal and figurative dirt from our trip to date, had refreshments and just let time pass for 4h. This lounge had no beds, so as before, I could not sleep due to the genteel distractions around me. 40h no sleep, feet now painful rather than uncomfortable, but full bellies, less stressed, we go to brave The Queue.
Of course four hours later, they would have found a way to coral the horde of desperate people they dumped into a mosh pit. They wouldn’t consider their passengers fattened cattle would they? Say it together all you clairvoyants out there! Not only was there no change in the appearance of the blob, chatting to passengers around us revealed horrifying stories. One gentleman from Ghana had queued 8 hours the previous day to get his ticket (turns out I was a Johnny come lately), but that flight was also cancelled and so here he was at the back of the queue for the second day. An older Australian couple (who suffered physically, with many position changes, seating stretching etc. to relieve stressed muscles and continue standing in the queue) arrived at the front of the queue the previous day, only to be told that their flight was closing boarding and they needed to leg it to catch the flight. They caught the flight, but for similar reasons provided previously were in the queue again. I do not recall the exact details.
Now let’s do some entry level maths. If there are 1500 people in a ‘queue’ and only 7 counters to server them, and it takes 10min to serve each person, how long will it take to clear the room. For the sake of this sum, ignore people who have to queue twice (please do not let people have to queue three times! For all that is merciful!), people who give up hope and go to end it all, but return after the miasma of misery lifts as they put distance between themselves and the blob, then return to repeat the cycle, and ghosts of those who did not escape the miasma.
1500/7= 214.28 people/service counter 214.28 * 10 = 2143 min 2143/60 = 35.71h
The confirmed constant is the seven service counters. The number of passengers serviced is a laughable exaggeration. There were entire hours where no one was seen leaving. More details to come. Feel free to play with your own numbers. Another estimate that might help is that eyeballing the departure board, 20% of the scheduled flights went out. The rest include delayed, cancelled, delayed then cancelled, delayed, re-scheduled, then cancelled delayed, boarded, disembarked, cancelled, rescheduled, delayed then cancelled All cancelled tickets required rebooking via The Queue.
The above sum is of an early school standard and could be solved by a bright five year old. If the theoretical bright five year old could figure this simple arithmetic out, then one must conclude that the adult operations management at Emirates, who could not climb to this intellectual wormpile are very, very stupid. Or wilfully sadistic. Either works.
I again point to several passenger facing staff who tried hard, but were tied up in a system not designed to deal with these numbers. None of the staff are the target of my ire. The ultimate responsibility lies, as recently stated, with the management structure and executive. The lot of them should be torn out root and branch and burnt on a heap as not fit for purpose. It is hard to believe that the system would not benefit from this treatment of cancerous management. Nonetheless, there were individual staff who exemplified the Emirates management structure tremendously.
Back to our experience in The Queue. We joined around 10pm with a let’s get this over with attitude. There was some good natured banter among neighbours, a few stories swapped, but the longer you spent in the queue, the less amusing it became and the more taxing especially on the older and elderly, myself included. The hours ticked by and progress was measured in 5 and 10cm in an hour. About 2h into our stint, a security guard took it into his own initiative to extend the short queue dividers deep into queues to reduce queue jumping and crowding. I believe it was his own initiative, because he was angry it had not been done before and seemed to have to harangue his colleagues into following his lead. I do not speak the language he used with his colleagues, but exchanged a word or two with him. After several hours of gentle coaxing and forcefully extending the fabric queue dividers, the blob had turned into a relatively ordered set of queues. There was some shouting involved. It took 24h from first overflow to get this done.
During our 10pm to 5am stand in the queue (10-8 for my heroic wife. No hint of sarcasm this time) there were a handful of tempers flaring, one man who sounded like a doomprepper and one nearly physical altercation (thank you security personnel who stepped in). The doomprepper eventually seemed more put out that his shouting passed over the crowd with not a zephyr of response, than his blob ordeal. He gave up after 30 odd min. I mentioned that it was strange that we did not see anyone passing out. Oh the irony. An hour or two later a young man did collapse, probably from low blood sugar as he returned not too long after and seemed none the worse for wear. My own experience had longer lasting effects.
In a final opportunity to give the staff on the floor their due, I will point out that they targeted families with young children and elderly people with clear mobility problems. No children were heard crying, but there were still many visible older and elderly who found the queue very taxing. Various drinks and several versions of cool drinks were passed into the middle of the blob from the sides. The largest single movement in the blob were the two occasions when staff came to shout the news that the London Heathrow flight was boarding. Perhaps as much as 1or 2% of the blob cleared those times. It looked so much like managing the blob around newly departing flights was a real solution. Sadly, there is only data for the London Heathrow journey, which is not a good data set.
On Thursday morning as I reached the front 5ish m of the queue, my feet had turned to raw mince, my legs and hands were shaking and I was getting light headed. I was well hydrated, had sugar from the cool drinks, but had last eaten around 8.30pm. We had agreed that if we had not reached the front of the queue by 6am, then I would approach one of the security guards and show that our flight was boarding at 7.25 and could we be allowed to make the flight. By 5am I knew I would not make the front of the queue, and that we would not make the 7.25 boarding time.
I could not leave the blob, because my wife and I have different surnames, we did not know if they would issue my wife’s ticket, but not mine and I knew I could not fight my way back into the blob to get to the front when my wife finally did. I did not know these things, because there were no Emirates staff to answer simple queries like this. Only penetrating to the front would get answers.
At 5 am I was almost 48h without sleep and sat down again, as I had been doing every 30min to release the severe pain in my feet. I am not exactly sure what happened, but my fellow passengers kindly braced me with their own bodies and hands to steady me. They then called for me to be allowed to move to the front of the queue to get me processed and out. I only wanted to reach the guard who was 2m from the front of the queue, to ask about the FBI boarding. He asked the guard closer to the edge of the blob to check, and the second guard turned his back on him. Things are a little hazy here again, but I think I stumbled and the passengers around me insisted that I and my wife be allowed to pass to the front of the queue. I will pause here to amplify the fact that the passengers in the same miserable position I was in, showed more empathy than Emirates, who were the only people who could have successfully managed the problem out. The people in front of me (of all hues, for the slow ones in the back) sacrificed their hard won progress to assist a fellow passenger in need. That progress was won with literal sweat and possibly blood.
At the front of the queue, I knew I was going down, when I started I was again braced and the nearby guards watched unimpressed. My wife started shouting that either they get me out of the crowd or call an ambulance. A wicked insight on my wife’s part as ambulances involve paperwork. I had previously realised that moving across the top of the queue involved less pushing than running down its length. If the body of the blob was kept 2m back from the people at the service counter, then they could freely move out instead of fighting down the blob body. This is done at every airport in the world.
A confession of my own here is that I was not gentle going out, and I apologise to any passengers who were manhandled. With fading cognition, I was going to puke on them or push them out of the way. For anyone reading this and did not know what was happening, I apologise wholeheartedly and hope you can forgive me and did not suffer an injuries. I made it out of the crowd to a quiet spot where I could sit, catch my breath and restore my constitution.
If you have read this far, you surely think this is the end of they story, but incredibly incompetence, cruelty of inaction and negligence know no bounds. For the sake of your mental health, there are still at least four instances to go.
Having got me out of the queue, the guards decided I was someone else’s problem. A viciously powerful invisibility cloak first discovered by Douglas Adams. I was offered no aid, not even a drink. A medic was not called. I was left propped up against a wall. My self diagnosis is that it was fatigue, because while I did not recover entirely, I did improve. Amazingly, as my head cleared, an elderly German schoolteacher named Hans (there is a reason it is a stereotype), actually Johannes Karl collapsed in front of me. He was in the queue for the self service mini blob, which as far as I will describe of except that it is right next to actual blob. The passengers in front of and behind Hans caught him, laid him down gently and laid him next to me once he had recovered his senses. The American passenger then undertook to find Han’s’ wife, deliver the passports and act as to between where necessary, sacrificing his spot in the mini blob. I will leave the rest to your imagination, except that no guard or medic was called. Several guards walked in front of us.
And yet the tale continues. Once I was again in control of my faculties, I became concerned with my wife’s whereabouts as I knew I left her at the front of the queue and sufficient time had passed (over an hour) she surely should have finished even with snail’s pace of the blob tendrils. I messaged her and she told me that the night shift quit at about the same time as I went down, and the day shift had not arrived. I messaged my wife at 5.14 that I was doing better, and she replied at 6.10 that the day shift arrived. Ready to get stuck in they faffed around until 6.30 when they engaged reverse gear.
And now, finally we discovered why the queue moved so slowly, even after the lines were formed, which should have improved throughput, but did not. The head guard who I will identify as the only one wearing specs, and who I will call little god, had great charm and self confidence. The type which so ably assists young bulimics, by preventing the necessity of sticking a finger down your throat. With myself still incapacitated, the passengers who had pushed me forward and the newly arrived day shift in view, he called forth a young blond woman to assist her with her papers. Not to belabour the point, but the kind that so easily transports the stomach contents to a new and exciting location in out of body experience. With 1500 people desperate to get home or make their connecting flight, little god allowed the young lady to ask about renting a car, what accommodation was available and so on, for a flight that left three days hence. For 45min. The crowd was so incensed he quickly whisked her away. All the young men that had stood at the front of the queue for HOURS had simply been waiting for service. While little god got his hard on. You thought I meant lesser god I am sure.
…I would like to make light of this, but here words fail me, so I will leave it to your imagination. Please have fun.
My wife’s ticket was issued in the name of the young blond lady and it took 20min to resolve that, by which time the crowd was seething. My wife managed to get me on the flight as a medical emergency, and was then assaulted as she forced her way out of the blob. She was kicked and punched in the ribs. She arrived to me shaking violently. I thought she was having a panic attack, but it was her adrenaline rush. We will see the extent of the bruising tonight.
We joined the queue with me with priority boarding. I was not assisted, and in my weakened state, had to deal with obnoxious gold members who did not want me to board before them. The gate staff was informed of my status. Having cleared the boarding gate an obnoxious staff man told me that I could not board without my wife. I stood where directed, but started getting light headed again and so sat down on the floor. I asked the obnoxious oaf to call my wife forward, which he refused as it would inconvenience the passengers ahead of her. I asked why he felt it necessary to explain his problems to me, rather than solving mine. The lady staff member was then spurred into action to allow my wife through, with nary a peep from all those wronged passengers.
And yet, there is one last tale to tell. Once on the plane, I realised that the baggage tags affixed to the tickets from IRA were not transferred to the new tickets. I asked a steward if it was possible to find out if our bags made it on board, ‘idontknownooneevertellsusanythingsorry’. Just as I was about to give up another steward asked me if he could help. I won’t tell the call light tale, but the steward saw it was active and could he help. He was not able to find the answer, but he kept me posted on the various avenues he had tried. Landing in FBI has a lotto feel to it currently, except I don’t have a ticket. *Note: no lottery win, but considering the chaos, not surprising.
If you made it this far, consider all those people currently in actual danger due to the incredible ineptness of Emirates. They will continue to struggle all this week and certainly into next. Send this post to any aviation authority who can act immediately to intervene to stop the suffering of people whose only crime was to purchase air passage with Emirates.
TL;DR
Truly, Emirates showed that when a once in a generation disruption occurs, they know how to organise an orgy in a central location, perhaps around a campfire. A clusterfuck, if you will, while the world burns.

How does Priestley present selfishness and its effects in An Inspector Calls?
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Priestley presents selfishness and its effects in An Inspector Calls through the juxtaposition as Eva and Gerald's relationship and Shiela and Gerald's relationship. This can be evidenced by the way Priestley presents the woman of the play to be similar as Shiela is described as " a very pretty girl in her early twenties" while Eva is described as "very pretty" and "twenty four". Both these women are taken advantage by Gerald to satisfy his two most prevent desires - lust and social stability. In Sheila, Gerald hides his true feelings and is forced by societal pressures to marry Sheila to form a public alliance between the Croft family and the Birling family. Gerald selfishly manipulates both women to reap the benefits while leaving both women negatively and permanently changed. This can be evidenced by Eva's suicide and due to his betrayal, Sheila has lost her devotion to him and their relationship is different to what it once was. Priestley does this to show how higher class men's selfishness destroys the innocence of women and conveys to the contemporary audience how upper class men selfishness affects all classes. He conveys this purposefully to highlight his overall socialist message while diminishing Capitalism as he show that high class men are allowed by society to be selfish and get away with it. This can further be reinforced by when Sheila says "wait, I must think", when Gerald's desperately trying to regain her trust and restart their marriage. This suggests Sheila is uncertain about the future of their relationship despite how all of Gerald's devious deeds were displayed to her. Contextually, we know that women of 1912 lacked rights and had to cling onto the social class of their husbands to climb the social ladder or remain at their already high class. This can be related to Sheila as Society places sole value on women ans their ability to attract the richest and highest value male, which is why Sheila understands that Gerald is of the highest upper class, born into wealth and higher than her Bourgeoisie family in status. Priestley does this to show a contemporary audience how the upper classes selfishness isn't properly punished and instead the weak and lower class pay for their selfishness like Eva smith.
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Moreover Priestley presents selfishness and it's effects through Mr Birling. This can be suggested near the beginning of the play where Mr Birling says "we were having a nice little family celebration and look at the nasty mess now" Priestley artfully conveys Mr Birling as petty snd inhumane to force an audience to realise their own selfishness and he teaches them how to correct it through his mouthpiece - The Inspector. Priestley juxtaposes his pettiness with The Inspector saying he was "looking at what was left of Eva Smith" and "a nasty mess somebodies made of it". Priestley portrays The Inspector as somewhat omniscient by foreshadowing how the Birling families selfishness were at fault for Eva's death. Moreover, the brutal description of "nasty mess" is used by Priestley to highlight the severity of the families crimes. Moreover, Mr Birling says " Lower costs and higher prices". This is said in his speech and shows how he has no regard for the his hardworking employees. Furthermore, Mr Birling says "it's my duty to keep labour costs down" as a rebuttal to The Inspector questioning why he fired Eva. The use of "duty" highlights the key phrase "keep labour costs down". Priestly subtly highlights Mr Birlings selfishness in his own speech. This is because he doesn't mention the conventional "duties" of males in the 20th century like protection of family but instead he believes his responsibility is to himself and his wealth first. We know that Mr Birling is obsessed with wealth as he is symbolic of capitalism which Priestley despises. We know that Eva was fired for asking for higher pay as in 1912 women have payed a third of men, making it impossible to be self sustainable. This demonstrated how society perpetuated the suffrage of women to put men into power because due to the low wages, Eva Birling and other women had to rely on men. Moreover, as all working class men and women were played by upper class wealthy men, it shows how societies structure was inherantly bias to upper class men as they were responsible for everyone's wellbeing and the nations economic development, especially during 1912 the indutstrial revolution was in full force.
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Finally, Priestley presents selfishness and it's effects by using the Inspector to convey his message in he didactic play. This can be evidenced by the quote" we are members of one body". Priestley artfully alludes to the Book of Genesis and the Holy Communion as Jesus's body was represented through bread and eaten to demonstrate togetherness and community. Priestley does this to appeal top the commonly Christian contemporary audience. Priestley does this to imply that the Inspectors is teaching the Birling family and Gerald on god;s behalf. However, The Inspector is also Priestley;s socialist mouthpiece , so Priestley relates Christianity to socialism, which forces a contemporary audience to become socialist to remain a faithful Christian. Even though eventually Sheila and Eric accept responsibility while Mr Birling says "I can't accept any responsibility" and Gerald and Mrs Birling agree, Priestley uses the Inspector to deliver a final message to suggest that every one in society should care for each other so that the "millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths" don;t suffer as a result. The repetition of "millions" highlight the Inspectors metaphor for the lower class in the phrase. Priestley does this to to convey the severity of families selfishness and to present to a contemporary audience how upper classes selfishness is very powerful. By using "millions" he is implying to the audience that upper class elite will even cause them to suffer. Moreover, The Inspector presents the effect of selfishness through the phrase" men will be taught in fire and blood and anguish". The polysyndetic listing highlights the key word's "fire", "blood" and "anguish", to convey the brutal effects of selfishness. Furthermore, the Inspector foreshadows World War One, which causes blood to be shed of the innocent but also leads to society deconstructing to work together to fight and protect England. Priestly uses dramatic Irony, so that the complementary audience realises that the selfish elite and capitalism were somewhat at fault for the suffering caused in both World War Two. This is a tactic used by Priestly to show how selfishness will lead to mass destruction and how selfishness and Capitalism are intertwined. to your reply!

Sansa: Based on her location, I predict a meeting with Jaime and Brienne, and possibly Sandor, where they’ll take her to Lady SH. She might be a witness to Red Wedding 2 as our pov.
Longer term, I think based on the Ashford Tourney theory, it is plausible that she’ll marry Aegon, and when he inevitably loses the Dance with Dany and dies, Sansa will be pregnant with a son by him (similar to the original draft). The animosity between Sansa and Dany will play out similarly to the show but now Sansa has more reason to be at odds with her (avenging her husband and protecting her son), with LF urging her on. She’ll realize her mistake and betray LF instead, thus fulfilling the “Giant in the Snowcastle” prophecy.
I’m not sure where she’ll go from there but I do think her losing her direwolf is foreshadowing she won’t end up in the North. Maybe she’ll marry Sweetrobin or some southern lord? I’m not convinced we’ll get Sansa QITN like in the show because a) she’s been disinherited, b) she has no aptitude for ruling that we’ve seen and is explicitly said to be bad at managing a household, and c) she also doesn’t want to rule, she wants to be a consort.
Arya: Short term I think she’s meeting Jeyne Poole and Justin Massey, and leaving Braavos for the Wall. I’ve seen theories that she’ll play a part in saving the wildlings at Hardhome, which I think is a decent idea. It’s also possible she gets Dark Sister at some point. (Side note: I think Rhaegar saw a vision of Arya with Dark Sister and that’s how he got the Visenya idea.)
Longer term I do think Arya’s arc will center around being unable to forgive those who wronged her family (Theon, the Lannisters, etc.,) and holding onto those grudges even in the face of a greater threat. Jon’s line about “sewing through the winter” indicates to me that she’ll try to settle a lot of scores in TWOW. I think she’ll see that Bran has allied with Theon and Sansa with Jaime, and be unable to move past that.
She’ll either die as a result of her focus on revenge, or move past it and live. If she lives I could see her eventually marrying Gendry.
Jon Snow: He’s not staying dead. My prediction is that he’ll ride Rhaegel.
I do think Jon x Dany will happen at some point and he will kill her, not because she’s gone rabid but because she’s Nissa Nissa. Possibly (wishful thinking) there will be a Jonerys baby too (Dany has lots of pregnancy foreshadowing). Ultimately, I think he’ll become the Night King and broker a peace with humanity but he’ll need to leave forever.
Bran: unfortunately I think King Bran is happening. I think it might be framed as the magical forces (giants, Others, and CotF) returning to Westeros, putting them almost in a pre Andal age. On the human side, I like the idea of Jaime playing kingmaker for Bran: he already has the Criston Cole parallels and the irony of him crowning the boy he crippled is too good. Bran might also warg Viserion, possibly breaking Euron’s horn magic in the process.
Rickon: Least interesting answer but I think he’ll just be Lord of the North with Manderly as his regent.

I have not read the comics so I'm sure this contradicts with existing source material lore, but here's my thoughts on how Season 2 of invincible (which I found highly enjoyable, but overall a bit messy) could be refined more.
Rex joins evil Mark in the alt future - In the Ep 1 cold open, when Mark and Nolan are killing humans, a variant of Rex is by his side, helping facilitate Viltramite rule. This is not only surprising, but will set up a change going forward and tease towards the idea that the choice to fight or help the Viltramites will reach wider than just Mark.
Immortal and Kate - if the series is to place a focus on Immortal and Dupli-Kate having a love deep enough for immortal to consider retirement upon her death, I think they needed more scenes together. Given both have lived multiple lifetimes, I think that's the easy connection point, and they should have a few scenes reinforcing this in part 1 to make us feel their love. We see her tell Rex this, but I think seeing the two alone would have reinforced this.
Angstrom takes over the lizard league - Angstrom Levy is missing from the mid season episodes, so I think a great way to tie various plots together would be to have him take over the lizard league, and orchistrate the attack on the remaining GOTG. - In the fight, with Rex the last survivor, Angstrom reveals that Rex is a key ally to Mark in most universes, who needed to be removed from the board. I think this would add both irony and tragedy to the scene as Rae and Kate both die for Rex, who in this universe is not close with Mark at all. I think it can help develop Rex's character, while also foreshadowing the rounded and useful ally he will (presumably) become to Mark. The whole Lizard League side plot felt like it was built around shock deaths only, and this way not only can Angstrom be more present and mastermind-like, but this battle can also have deeper and more central consequences for the team (and Mark).
Shrinking Rae stays dead - a continuation of the last point, I'd have Rae stay dead. The fight needs consequences for everyone, and right now everyone lives. She's the least developed member of the Guardians, and I think her death would open up a slot for new characters closer to Mark or more integral for the story.
Rex remains hospitalised for a while - I think his recovery is too sudden, so I'd keep him hospitalised until the finale.
Ending on a cliffhanger, Angstrom 'wins' - I think the finale kind of fell apart, so I'd simply cut the ending somewhat short, so Mark is trapped in the other universe as a big cliffhanger. That way S3 can spend more time getting him home, interacting with the future guardians, and setting up a new status quo for the Grayson family going forward. I think this also helps viewers soak in the moment where he becomes like Nolan, leaving Mark's mental state up in the air. It also frames this as some sort of twisted victory for Angstrom, who proved Mark's true character (in his own twisted world view of 'heroism'). I'd replace the lost time with more for the side cast - Eve rejoins the team, Rex finally leaves hospital, Immortal is MIA, Rudy and Monster Girl reconnect, bulletproof finally starts seeing the team as a family etc.
The Guardians are warned of the Viltumite invasion - as Mark is gone, Kate and Rae are dead and Immortal is MIA, the weakened team is visited by Cecil, who reveals the truth of Omni Man, Annisa and the incoming invasion. This change of status quo will allow the team to focus on training for this threat going forward, and will expand Mark's main moral challenge to the rest of the team going forward. I also think it's nice to reveal this to the team when they are arguably at their weakest.

The idea of crew is one of the most prominent themes of Thriller Bark in how it relates to the Strawhats, to Brook, and to Moria himself. It’s a very appropriate time in the series to tackle as a subject matter as this is where the Strawhats finally rounded themselves out with their full line-up as we would know them pre-skip. Luffy had spent the entire series thus far gradually building up his crew little by little, and this arc would be a celebration of them all at their fullest, even culminating in a grand team fight for the first time in the series.
Moria is one of the only villains in the series who is shown having a great degree of value and care for his crew, the first since Arlong who played a similar role for the East Blue portion of the manga, and that would be his underlying motivation for most of his actions taken in the series. Whereas most of the villains we had seen so far have threatened and attacked their subordinates, Moria treats them with great care, encourages their dreams, and invites them to celebrate his big moments with him. Hogback relationship seems the least personal and more business, but he and Absalom have both put their lives on the line in attempts to rescue each other from incredibly dangerous odds, and he spoiled Perona and raised her as his own. She is quick to set out to seas with tears in her eyes when she finds out he’s still alive.
This comradery he shares with them is evident in the crews very structure. Most crews are organized in a way where the captains are elevated from the rest of the pack; Doflamingo and the three Seats, Big Mom and the three Sweet Commanders, Whitebeard and the Sixteen Division Commanders, etc… but on Thriller Bark it’s just the Mysterious Four. This title lowers Moria off his pedestal while elevating his crew for being grouped alongside him, much like the Monster Trio terminology on the Strawhats, creating a stronger sense of unity rather than superiority.
As Luffy and Moria are both the same in terms of value and dependence on their crew, the conflict instead becomes one of leadership. Luffy is a headstrong captain who leads the crew from the forefront carving a path for them to follow; Moria used to be the same, but past experiences changed his outlook to becoming someone who leads from the shadows allowing the grunts to do the dirty work.
That leads to another theme with Moria’s crew, and that is one of shadows. It would be simple enough to point out that Moria is a shadow of his former self, but the theme runs quite a bit deeper than that. In essence, Moria represents a shadow of Luffy, and likewise the Mysterious Four all represent shadows of the Strawhats. Oda often uses contrast to sell an opponent, but this arc is all about similarities. This final obstacle for them pre-skip is essentially a battle for them to overcome dark corrupted versions of themselves, the Strawhats as they would be if they did not have their morals and heart to keep them better people.
Naturally, following the theme of the Thriller Bark Pirates being shadow counterparts to the Strawhats, this would make Gecko Moria the shadow counterpart of Luffy. Moria’s very first appearance is very on the nose about this as he wakes up from a four-day sleep and is told they prepared four days’ worth of food for the meals he missed out on, which is a gag pulled straight from Luffy’s own playbook. He would also go on to pilot a literal ancient giant version of Luffy for the main arc fight with their climactic showdown aptly being titled Luffy vs Luffy.
One might assume with Moria’s philosophy of having others do the heavy lifting and his crew being known to fight more through trickery, that Moria would be a cowardly or underhanded individual who would use any means to win a fight… yet that’s not the case. Moria has an immense amount of pride in himself and what he values as making a true pirate, which even reflect that of Luffy. The only time we see Moria truly enraged during Thriller Bark came not from the Strawhats actions, but Kuma offering his assistance to take him down. Moria may be dependent on others, but we see that only applies for those within his crew and he not relying on outsiders. Kuma’s support would have made them an insurmountable obstacle for the Strawhats, but he refused to violate the sanctity of the crew vs crew fight that he picked and took it as an insult insinuating that he might not be able to handle his problems on his own.
At the end of the arc when Oars had fallen, Moria had every chance to easily win that bout by escaping or even taking half the number of shadows, but Luffy had thrown down the gauntlet, so Moria’s pride had to answer by turning it into an all or nothing ordeal between the two. His philosophy that a true pirate’s resolve doesn’t waver in the face of death is the same mantra that Luffy stated and lived by as far back as Orange Town, and Moria has shown to put that money where his mouth is in his self-destructive last stand or his willingness to war with Blackbeard over his comrade, not unlike the lengths we've see Luffy go for his crew. His pride did him in, but he didn’t compromise his values.
Where Luffy and Moria did end up clashing outside of their approach to leadership is idealism vs cynicism. Luffy is somebody who is very empathetic and uplifts those around him, where Moria has no qualms trampling over others to further his goals towards Pirate King. When Moria and Luffy meet and interact, Moria almost treats it as though he’s coaching a greenhorn who reminds himself of the young upstart he once was, seeing him as inexperienced and naïve who acts the way he does because he hasn’t been woken up to the harsh realities of the world. Whereas Luffy sees Moria as a jaded man living a nightmare he wants no part of. Moria’s words all come from his own experience of course, to the brutal loss that he experienced in his own past.
Over the course of the arc we see a lot of commentary and parallels between the two captains and how Moria used to even be as headstrong and reckless as Luffy, which leads to the question on what happened that changed him. The Moria we see may have been a very tough competitor for the crew at the time, but it’s also made incredibly clear that what we are witnessing is just a shell of the man that he used to be. Moria stands not just as a dark reflection of Luffy but of the man he once used to be in the past.
This is very apparent just visually, the Moria we see in the past has a far more intimidating physique to him, a strong jaw and athletic physique making him look like a beastly fighter. Along with this, he is held with a great reputation of being a man tough enough to compete with the Emperors and fellow Warlord Doflamingo claiming that he lost too much power over the years to retain his post as part of the organization. He looks very much like one of the bad-future variants that Oda includes in an SBS, being a stark drop-off from who he was in the past, and this was due to the loss of his original crew.
Moria is ultimately a tragic villain, the reasoning behind his actions in Thriller Bark and his self-destructive philosophies all stemmed from the PTSD of watching his loved ones killed off in a battle that he led them into. Moria spends Thriller Bark speaking of nightmares, yet he is the one who is constantly living with one and trying to project that onto others. He takes a hands off approach out of the guilt of recklessly leading his crew into a situation that they were not prepared for, and he created an army of undead soldiers just so that he would not have to experience the pain of losing his comrades again. The irony being that Moria is so afraid of loss that he has chosen to surround himself with death in order to escape from it.
When Moria breaks down and speaks of how Luffy is going to lose his crew, it’s not a speech he gives out of vindictiveness or malice, but a cautionary warning of him reflecting on his own pain and trauma from his own personal experiences. His expression is that of shellshock, he has never been able to truly move on from that trauma, because his crew was what he valued most. This theme of death in Thriller Bark would be a very important topic for this stage of the manga as the ominous warning would turn out to be a foreshadowing of the next few arcs, where we see that Moria was right on the money with his words.
Neither Luffy nor Moria are afraid of death for themselves, but the one thing they do fear is losing the people that they care about, the people that they will fight tooth and nail to protect. The arc following Thriller Bark, Luffy gets himself in over his head against an insurmountable enemy and his crew suffers a crushing defeat separating them over the seas, and not long after that he witnesses his brother die right in front of his eyes. These events drove Luffy into a suicidal frenzy where for the only time in the series he lost faith in his own power and declared he was too weak to become Pirate King, ready to give it all away and only stopping because Jinbe reminded him he still had his crew. Moria in many regards is a look at what Luffy could have easily become had his crew actually died there on Sabaody and he had no Jinbe in his corner to guide him back to the light, a man shaped by tragedy. Moria in that way is a reminder of the importance of Luffy's crew to him, the person that he risked becoming had Kuma not been there for him that day and Jinbe unable to pull him from the darkness.

I am not necessarily opposed to the Blackfyre theory, but given the recent posts about it in this sub, I thought it would be interesting to go over some arguments in favor of Aegon's legitimacy given how much we talk about the FAegon evidence. First, I will acknowledge that I do not really have counters for some of the FAegon evidence. Illyrio's involvement seems too suspicious for this whole thing to be played straight. The "Mummer's Dragon" could simply mean Varys's dragon Aegon, but then what is the lie Dany is supposed to slay? Bittersteel's skull grinning at JonCon seems like foreshadowing as well. "Black or Red, a dragon is a dragon" is semi convincing evidence. The Golden Company at one point was willing to help Dany after all. But it does seem strange at the same time.
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However, one could make the case that Varys IS a Targ loyalist, which would point to Aegon's legitimacy. If one believes in Southron Ambitions and the conspiracy for Rhaegar to take over as king, then Aerys is being fed good info from Varys. There would be two different conspiracies to take down Aerys. Is it really paranoia if everyone is planning to usurp you? Now, this is not to say that Aerys was not mad, nor that he was extremely ineffectual at countering these conspiracies, but it does indicate that perhaps Varys was trying to serve loyally. It is famously Varys who tells Aerys to keeps the gates of KL shut, while Pycelle convinces him to open it for the Lannisters. This alone isn't enough to prove Varys is a Targ loyalist, but it is the first point in a bigger picture.
Varys's discussion with Ned in the dungeons of AGOT is also interesting.

"No," Ned pleaded, his voice cracking. "Varys, gods have mercy, do as you like with me, but leave my daughter out of your schemes. Sansa's no more than a child."
"Rhaenys was a child too. Prince Rhaegar's daughter. A precious little thing, younger than your girls. She had a small black kitten she called Balerion, did you know? I always wondered what happened to him. Rhaenys liked to pretend he was the true Balerion, the Black Dread of old, but I imagine the Lannisters taught her the difference between a kitten and a dragon quick enough, the day they broke down her door." Varys gave a long weary sigh, the sigh of a man who carried all the sadness of the world in a sack upon his shoulders. "The High Septon once told me that as we sin, so do we suffer. If that's true, Lord Eddard, tell me … why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones? Ponder it, if you would, while you wait upon the queen. And spare a thought for this as well: The next visitor who calls on you could bring you bread and cheese and the milk of the poppy for your pain … or he could bring you Sansa's head.

This is interesting because this whole conversation kickstarts the 'Varys serves the realm' belief. At the same time though, Varys here seems sad over the death of Rhaenys, and he doesn't mention Aegon, which is strange. One could say that the conversation pertained to 'daughters', but if one wants to rub the irony back in Ned's face, why not rub in both children who supposedly died in KL?
Varys's supposed attempt to assassinate Dany is also offered as proof that he is not a Targ loyalist. However, one could say he sabotaged the plan by tipping off Jorah. By causing a failed assassination, he is actually pulling the Dothraki towards Westeros, which is what you would want if you want to kickstart the Targ invasion.
Varys's monologue moment at the end of Dance is also hotly debated, but here is an argument for why he is telling the truth. The killing of Pycelle and Kevan mimics the death of Rhaenys and Aegon/Pisswater Prince to such an extent, it is hard to see these killings as anything, but personal revenge for the brutal killing of the children. Pycelle, the man who convinced Aerys opened the gates, getting his head crushed is irony. Now, you could say that the motivation is more pure if Varys is avenging both the deaths of the real Aegon along with Rhaenys. You wouldn't be wrong, but consider this: Do you really think a Blackfyre would be THIS upset over the killing of Targs when Pycelle's actions really paves the way for a smoother Blackfyre takeover?
Additionally, many argue that Varys is lying to Kevan at the end of ADWD, because Littlefinger mentions earlier in the series to Sansa that we must lie even when we believe no one is listening. However, the entire plan in killing Pycelle/Kevan is to turn the Lion and the Flower against each other. If it is found that that Varys is doing the killings here, then the entire plan is basically borked. If Varys cannot trust that the FAegon plot will not be overheard, would he really take the opportunity at that point to kill Pycelle/Kevan? If he doesn't trust his littlebirds with the FAegon information, can he really trust them in regards to the murders? The people listening in excuse also poses the question on why Varys would say anything at all rather than just instantly killing Kevan. To me, it seems like Varys is a guy who wants to get his 7d chess master plan off his chest.
Finally, it is interesting that if Varys's story is true, then something very similar already happened in Westerosi history with people who have near identical names. Both Varys/Larys helped Aegon II/Aegon VI escape King's Landing when it was being taken over so they can reconquer it on a better day. If this is all leading up to the Second Dance of the Dragons, than Aegon VI being an Aegon II parallel would already be very strong. If Varys trying to poison Dany in the show was an element half taken from the books, perhaps this indicates that Varys will poison Aegon VI once he realizes that Aegon is a person he is unable to control. This would also mirror Larys poisoning Aegon II.
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Again, I can't really explain away some of the Blackfyre evidence either though. Perhaps Varys did help Aegon VI escape, but then Illyrio replaced him with his Blackfyre bastard, but that seems a bit much, and only speculation.
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One thing to note is that perhaps George himself planted seeds for both ideas, and was potentially still considering doing it either way. I know that is going to be hard for people to believe, but George himself said he doesn't enjoy writing if he already knows what he is going to write. He knows the endpoints, but wants to keep how he gets there up in the air as long as possible. This could explain why AFFC and ADWD seems like such a mess. He doesn't want to pin himself down to any specific plan. He is hoping that he can somehow pilot to the ending without seeing the runway until the last second. There was a post some time ago that George's notes for AFFC in 2003-2004 was significantly different than what we got, at least in some notable ways. https://www.reddit.com/asoiaf/comments/18519cz/spoilers_extended_grrms_20032004_outline_for_affc/
We know from gsteff's early AFFC drafts that he still did not know the Faceless Mens motivation and where exactly to go with the glass candles. In a blog post in 2022, George said he didn't know if we would ever visit Casterly Rock. I have a feeling half the problem with Winds is that George has a lot of the knots to tie together and he has no plan yet on how to do it. People talk about the Merreenese know, but that seems small beans compared to what he has to do in TWOW. If Quentyn's arrival in Merreen posed that much of a problem to George, then imagine everything he has to do in Winds. Maybe he knows which he path he will go with now, but as of publishing ADWD, still has the idea up in the air. The seeds that support the losing side's theory will eventually be seen as "fans looking too much into these points". The winning side's seeds will be seen as the obvious facts that George always planned to go with.
Anyway, I hope this post gets people talking.

RESOLVED:
So I installed 23H2 on April fools day - foreshadowing irony.
Rebooted when prompted following the installation of 23H2.
PC failed to post - not even a bios entry prompt. Powered down, powered up, and got a Gigabyte prompt to reset to factory default bios. With no other option, that's what I did.
Computer booted normally without issue and rebooted 3 times without issue.
So I went back into BIOS and redid the first 3 tweaks - custom pump and fan PWM curves, XMP profile.
No post afterward. Another bios reset.
I repeated this cycle of booting and working fine without XMP, and failing to post with XMP several times in anger.
PC would NOT boot with XMP enabled until uninstalling the KB for 23H2.
After uninstalling 23H2, XMP profile in bios works fine again, so, the damage was reversible. I'm rather disappointed in myself that I didn't write down the KB# that I uninstalled, but it was the only KB that showed as installed in the update history for the day, and now, following uninstall, I'm again prompted to install 23H2 again.
Puter has been in stable unchanging configuration for at least the 3 prior months, 23H2 was the only variable introduced other than edge/chrome updates.
Gigabyte Aorus Z790 Elite -- 13700 -- 32G DDR5 16x2 @ 6400 (w XMP)
Skipping 23H2 until 24H2 comes out.