Kratos Aurion (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
simulsimul) wrote2016-11-02 07:40 pm
simulsimul) wrote2016-11-02 07:40 pm
a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance
canon
breached
confessed
dadly
future
grigori
mercenary
MEover
origin
reversal
titans
scenario list
canon: Kratos needs to stop running off
confessed: wing reflex
confessed: actual wingpull
confessed: turning Renegade
confessed: son meets father
dadliness: confrontation
dadliness: awakening
dadliness: illness
dadliness: a fundamental lack of understanding on the word 'abducted'
dadliness: updating parameters
dadliness: assassination assignation
mercenary: hiding in the library
mercenary: aftermath of librarian saviour
reversal: oracle destroyed
titans: storming the tower
titans: safety in the canyon
titans: night horrors
canon
- combo of Kratos and Zelos ending
- Zelos does the stupid thing, but not so far as his death, and is still the eighth member of the party to Derris-Kharlan.
scenarios
scenario one: Yuan tracks Kratos down at Dirk's.
breached
- canon right up until after Botta’s death
- no one uses Yuan’s name around Mithos so Mithos walks right into the Triet base with them
- cue an epic OH SHIT in which Yuan gets a lil bit beat up while covering the evacuation of the rest of the base
- until Kratos appears to intervene and have the Chosen group get Yuan out of there
- Mithos gets Kratos tho and he’s a bit mad cos, yanno, traitor and all
- time to be locked up and punished and need to be rescued
- kind of puts a crimp in the creation of the Eternal Ring plans
- mostly cos Mithos turns Kratos lifeless, with some armour to regulate his mana so he remains a seraph. can't have the seal becoming less powerful, yo
- it does mean he can only obey orders tho
- the first rescue fails miserably but at least no one dies and they know they need to reforge his key-crest
- the second rescue attempt (circumstances of canon-point under percolation) goes a little better, though Yuan almost gets killed by Kratos trying to attach the key-crest
- luckily that and the first telepathy in a while gets through and Kratos manages to break out a la Colette, and heal Yuan enough for Raine to get there
- after which, angreh father-son beatdown on Mithos.
scenarios
None yet.
confessed
- almost successful assassination lands Kratos as an injured stranger in Iselia (1-2 years pre-canon)
- recuperation leads to accidental-on-purpose 'holiday' in Iselia
- doubts result in a request for Dirk to make a key-crest like Kratos' own
- oracle room undergoes some stealth sabotage
- regeneration journey is slightly delayed, prompted by Genis and Lloyd being discovered at the ranch
- Triet is awkward. so very awkward. for the Renegades -- whose side is Kratos even on these days and why was he vanished for two years?
- initial overall journey similar to canon, save that Kratos is a bit less circumspect about advising Colette on how to cope with angel transformations
- there are more overt Dun Wanna Feelings
- then Luin, wherein things happen and the group is in town during the Desian attack. the others naturally want to fight but tis a mite difficult against an army and building-destroying magitech. luckily, angel on their side. unluckily, wingpulls in order to muster the power to cover the townspeoples' retreat
- questions and confessions ensue
- Colette rejects the key crest (for the moment) so there's still hopefully maybe ambiguity about Kratos's position re the last seal
- it wouldn't fit anyway, it's modelled for the hand like Kratos's is because he was a derp and did not specify otherwise, so Lloyd needs to make a thing to make it fit
- slow protective retreat toward Asgard.
scenarios
scenario one: Kratos confesses before Salvation; Raine wants to follow up.
scenario two: Raine's examination of an angel; and also Kratos realises how far he's put his foot in it.
scenario three: Kratos goes to taunt Yuan a little, and also ask for his help.
scenario four: in which Raine makes Kratos tell the children all the things, and Yuan takes too much amusement from it.
dadliness
- Kratos retires in Iselia under the name Irving to raise Lloyd after the death of his wife
- no exsphere. ageing occurs! so does a beard and a braid
- teaches Lloyd swordplay, but on the sly, to avoid the other villagers noticing. his daytime job is weaving
- Lloyd finds the box of their exspheres and wants details. after some prodding by Dirk, Kratos explains how exspheres are made and that one is Anna's life. Lloyd is too young yet, but when Lloyd comes of age (~15) Kratos lets him make his own decision re wearing it
- Lloyd chooses not to wear the exsphere
- Genis befriends Marble and Lloyd meets her, as in canon; this happens before the journey begins, with the fallout
- difference being that Colette is still in the village so they can't be too horrible, so they just demand Lloyd be turned over for a flogging
- Kratos stands in his stead because natch. luckily, they're only mooks and don't recognise the bearded weaver as anyone important
- gives Lloyd his guilt complex early tho
- the oracle happens much the same way except Botta doesn't quite recognise the weirdly familiar bearded swordsman
- he does when he's reporting to Yuan tho
'there was an exceptionally skilled human'
/brief physical description/
/did x other faintly recognizable thing/
and both he and Yuan are aware that Kratos has been awol for a while, so there's a moment of pure silence and dawning 'no, it couldn't be'
- but then obviously one of them has to go make sure
- cue an interruption just out of Triet.
scenarios
scenario one: Yuan feels the need to investigate; this results in Kratos injured and abducted.
scenario two: Yuan realises he can't kill Kratos with his own two hands; Kratos gets mothered.
scenario three: Kratos gets sick on the heels of his recovery. Yuan mothers him some more. Botta disapproves.
scenario four: Kratos recovers and makes an escape attempt. Sort-of.
scenario five: Kratos recovers more and talks to Botta, when not needling Yuan about his lack of preparedness.
scenario six: Sheena's contract takes a slight shift into undercover instead of assassination work.
future
- Aselia is Earth ~10,000 years in the past
- all is peachy-keen except the tree is now underground and the elvens/half-elves/some humans are in hiding in the centre of the planet, hidden thanks to the summon spirits
- Colette is working with humanitarian aid in various impoverished nations
- Zelos is a diplomat in West Asia / Middle East trying to keep the peace
- Yuan is a crotchety lecturer at Cambridge who's also HUGE into environmentalism
- Lloyd and Kratos are having family time in space
- occasionally the trio on Earth meet reincarnations of people they used to know
- but rarely at the same time and almost never in a position where they meet
- but then they start meeting them
- lots of them
- all in the same span of years
- they're starting to think something's hinky
- until the space-elves attack
- and then they know something is hinky.
scenarios
None yet.
grigori
- at some point significantly before canon, Kratos actually calls it quits
- the Church's institution calls him a fallen angel of vengeance
- really he's just going around trying to help people and avoiding being taken back to Cruxis
- assigns himself to the Chosen parties whenever he can, up to Colette
- ????? idk some kind of profit somewhere
scenarios
None yet.
mercenary
- when Yuan visits Kratos at the beach when Lloyd is 3 months old, he does not manage to escape before Anna and Lloyd return
- accidental attachment to this kidlet who likes pulling his hair
- three years later, Yuan can't stand to hold back while Kratos fights Kvar, so he throws caution to the wind to help
- Anna is still killed but they rescue Lloyd and Noishe and both are branded as traitors
- Lloyd is raised as a Renegade with Dad, Uncle Yuan and the extremely reticent Uncle Botta (how dare)
- meanwhile in Tethe'alla Yuan infiltrates the castle as the library archivist
- stays out of sight, mostly, but has a good ear around the politics thanks to recruiting Princess Hilda
- also happens to stumble on Zelos hiding in the library right after his mother's death
- look he's got a 'nephew' he can't just do nothing (even if all he meant was to recommend a book)
- unwittingly accidentally 'adopts' the Tethe'allan Chosen by virtue of being the only one who doesn't treat him like the Chosen
- sometimes Kratos brings Lloyd to visit and basically they're all separate pairs of exasperated bros
- by canon Lloyd and Kratos are wandering mercenaries, helping people on the sly while gathering intel to send back to the Renegades
- Yuan and Zelos are actively building resistance to the Church using inside knowledge
- the ninja are all Renegades
- Colette is escorted by Raine and by the priests
- yes the 'chain up the Chosen and drag her to every seal if necessary' priests
- she meets Lloyd randomly in Triet but Lloyd doesn't know her as the Chosen. they're a bit out of touch on the Journey of Regen timeline
- stuff happens and they keep missing each other up until Palmacosta, which is a warzone between the Desians (and Dorr as their figurehead) and the Renegades (with Neil as their leader)
- Colette wants to help; priests say no
- out come the chains
- Raine objects, but she has no exsphere so what can she do
- btw Genis got caught in the Iselian ranch and tossed in as a traitor to be made a host
- he gets sent to the Palmacosta ranch
- right after Neil manages to take the city, after Colette and Raine leave it, Botta takes the Palmacosta ranch and rescues Genis, among others
- Genis becomes his little shadow and is much preferable to Lloyd, in Botta's opinion
- Lloyd and Kratos are still trying to catch up to Colette to rescue her when they drop by
- Genis hears what they're trying to do and insists on coming along.
scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan accidentally adopts a Chosen instead of a book from a library.
scenario two: in which Yuan is accidentally-deliberately adopted by the Meltokio Castle Knights.
MEover
- Mass Effect crossover someplace in the realm of 15,000 years after TOS canon
- except started before then, cos elves are really from Feros, planet of the cranky telepathic plant
- got decimated by the protheans trying to assimilate them into their empire
- elves objected, got killed a lot, fled Feros and got stuck in Aselia's orbit
- kinda forgot a few things but planted a seed from the Ferosian mother plant on Aselia
- Origin hasn't forgotten tho, kinda has a grudge against grumblegrumbleprotheansgrumble
- the entirety of TOS happened, and then some
- Kratos, Yuan, Lloyd, Colette and Zelos are the only ones left, but tis okay, they have each other
- somethingsomething natural space disaster, Aselia is destroyed but they manage to move Yggdrasill onto Derris-Kharlan and do a quarian by becoming a roaming ship
- mana is a variant of eezo lbr
- Derris-Kharlan's too big to use the mass relays, but c'mon it generates its own mass effect field so they develop tech to do hops on their own
- they're in no hurry tho, i mean lbr primarily angelic, elf and half-elf population
- so they're just bumming around their local clusters doing thorough investigations on all the things
- so much eezo on their ship
- so much
- suddenly the Normandy running from a reapers comes along to hide behind them
- reapers start shooting
- everyone on Derris-Kharlan objects
- JUDGEMENT IN SPACE
- so much profit and judging of reapers.
scenarios
None yet.
origin
- Kratos tells Lloyd the dad thing in Triet
- dad and son feelings ensue
- they culminate at the Tower of Salvation in Kratos stabbing Yggdrasill in the back
- unfortunately he does not quite die but impales Kratos against a wall and goes berserk on the Chosen party to the point of Yuan stepping in to help
- that is, by threatening to stab Kratos in the back while he's vulnerable (with Kratos's permission)
- Yggdrasill calls his bluff and fails, and Yuan does the thing
- while Yggdrasill is distracted the Chosen's group nail him but good and he retreats
- luckily while heart-stabbing happened, Kratos's cruxis crystal is still intact, and between Raine's healing and Yuan's mana transfusion he survives long enough to be taken to the Triet base and a refresher
- stuff happens in some fashion or other up until opening Origin's seal
- as it turns out, the mana tranfusion has fused the lock, so to speak, and Kratos can't unlock the seal even voluntarily
- only way to get Origin out at this point is to let him fuse with Kratos, so Kratos becomes Origin
- stipulation of this: Kratos refuses to let go of his humanity
- luckily Yuan already has a literal bond with him thanks to the mana transfusion, so with him as his summoner Kratos can keep his humanity, and only use Origin's powers when Yuan summons them
- commitment like woah for a literal eternity
- but hey, they messed up but good and it's the only way they can reunite the worlds.
scenarios
none yet.
reversal
~ 2000 years in, Kratos and Yuan conspire to kill Mithos and succeed, sorta
- he's stuck inside his exsphere, possessing people
- but he manages to survive and while Kratos and Yuan claim Derris-Kharlan for their base, he takes most of the angels as 'fallen', as well as the Eternal Sword
- most of his bases are hidden behind dimensional slips created by the sword - Iselia included
- Origin refuses to trust either Kratos or Yuan with the job, anyhow, and they don't have a summoner
- instead they're forced to fight Cruxis, embroiling the worlds in an angelic war between Cruxis and the new organisation of Chayim
- the Chosen bloodlines are more important to Cruxis than Chayim, but Mithos seals the seals so only the Chosen bloodline can flip the mana switch. Kratos and Yuan need someone to do that until they can reunite them, so the Journey remains an institution, just without compulsory death at the end
- there is angelification tho, if only so Chayim gets more soldiers and so the Chosen can defend themselves against Cruxis
- Kratos sends Anna and Lloyd to Iselia, because even though enemy territory, it's the safest place there is for them
- Anna get word to Kratos that the Desians are using Iselia as a long-term cruxis crystal cultivation location, and that the sword is held there
- her spy succeeds but is intercepted, and Mithos locks down the dimensional slip to prevent exit and access by angels for ~15 years
- Lloyd grows up in a town with a heavy half-elf population and believing he's training to help the good guys
- he has his own cruxis crystal as a host, but doesn't tell his mother due to the faith-based propaganda encouraging hosts not to bring it up or risk the powers not taking
- he wants to help though, so he steals a key-crest to ensure he can fight
- Yuan and Kratos plan to assault the town and shrine but Mithos uses the sword to interrupt travel between worlds, keeping Yuan in Tethe'alla and forcing Kratos to attack Iselia alone.
scenarios
scenario one: Iselia is attacked by Chayim to claim the sword, with the sword already gone
titans
- Yggdrasill captures Kratos before Kvar finds Anna and Lloyd, but after Kratos makes an Eternal Ring
- Yuan figures hell no and raises the Renegades to try and take Derris-Kharlan, rescue Kratos and solve the split-world problem
- the attack fails. a lot.
- Renegades are wiped out, Kratos is still in Cruxis's hands, but Yuan manages to escape with the Eternal Ring
- Cruxis follows him to Triet base, which gets destroyed and the few remaining Renegades scatter
- Botta is still around tho, helping out how he can
- mostly Yuan just goes searching for Lloyd and Anna
- doesn't manage to find them before Kvar does tho, and Kratos hears from Yggdrasill that they're dead
- this is slightly inaccurate, cos Lloyd still winds up rescued by Dirk in Iselia
- where Yuan eventually finds him, not knowing that he's 'supposed' to be dead
- so Yuan settles in Iselia for a bit to watch Lloyd and the Chosen
- cuts and dyes his hair, the whole shebang
- learns how to carpentry, invents a new use of magic
- winds up being Genis's role model just because scholar and magic-user and half-elf who can pass but also takes no shit from people
- is one of Colette's companions on the Journey when it starts
- he's been challenging their understanding of the Church's institution this whole time lbr
- Sheena is still a thing because the ninja have taken over the Tethe'allan base, which has survived, somewhat
- a grilling ensues
- sometime just after the Asgard Ranch Yuan does have to drop the bombshell
- about how the Journey is just a front, he and his bestie are angels, btw his bestie is Lloyd's dad
- how they're out to topple the institution of religion
- forget sacrificing Colette for the Regeneration, when they get to the seal they can do that without anyone dying
- and then move straight on to rescuing Kratos in Derris-Kharlan
- then they get to the Tower and realise Yggdrasill has Kratos under a Prometheusesque punishment a la 'impaled on the Eternal Sword to suffer the Seed's pain and watch the Chosen get murdered'
- luckily this does not happen, as they manage to rescue him and escape Yggdrasill instead, barely
- retreat to Botta's hiding-place in Asgard so Kratos can recover
- and also find out that Lloyd is actually alive
- the Chosen group goes around to make as many pacts as they can while in Sylvarant
- they get up to Aska when Yggdrasill sends his angels to attack Asgard
- cue Yuan and Kratos being unstoppable battle gods together
scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan leads the Chosen's party to the Tower of Salvation to dismantle all the traditions ever, and find Kratos waiting for them in serious need of a rescue.
scenario two: in which being in safety reveals that Kratos is not precisely unscathed, but he's doing his best.
scenario three: in which Kratos is emphatically not okay, but with Yuan's help, could be.
no subject
Hm. Well, why don't we change it to someone more palatable. Is there anyone else in the village -- aside from Raine -- with a similar kind of authority?
[There's a moment of silence, and then Lloyd glances at Colette and grins.]
Well, there's Colette's dad, Frank. He mixes the gels and attends a lot of people who gets sick, or women who are pregnant. He was the nearest thing to a healer we had before Raine arrived. And he's the guardian of the Chosen, of course. Everyone listens to Frank. Everyone likes him, too.
[Kratos smiles. It's good to hear the Chosen had a good family to depend on, at least, especially since -- his smile falters, and he refocusses on Lloyd's slate so he doesn't have to consider how closely related Colette might be to the last Chosen he'd known in any capacity.]
Alright; a good choice. A doctor makes difficult decisions which affect everyone in the village. How to distribute gels, how to tend the ill, who gets priority. The subject is the same way; in a sentence, a subject performs an action which affects everything else in the sentence. Where is the subject in this one, Lloyd?
[Lloyd looks at his slate with an interest he hadn't held even at the beginning of the lesson.]
Well, that'd be the fox, right? It's doing something that affects the only other person in the sentence, the dog. So that'd make 'jumped' the action-word, right? That's called a verb?
no subject
[Genis is more curious now about the shift in choices of people than the sentence structures specifically.]
Uncle Yuan told you about him just now, didn't he.
[It's the only reason he can think of, anyway, though Lloyd's grumbling might have been enough of a cue.]
Genis, focus.
[Not so much a reprimand from Raine as an effort to keep everyone on track, since she knows too well that one distraction is likely to cause more and she'd rather not lose control of the 'classroom' right now, when Kratos is the one explicitly teaching.]
[Yuan, too, is not considering the rest of Colette's family.]
[For her part Raine looks more than pleased by Lloyd's remembering this much at least, and she nods to the two of them with a bright smile, encouraging them to go on.]
no subject
Yes. I'd rather the association be to someone Lloyd likes.
[Colette beams.]
My father is pretty amazing.
[In a roundabout way, this hurts -- now that the thought has occurred for Kratos to wonder where Colette places since the last Chosen he'd known. Best to get back to it, or else he might stall. Luckily, either Lloyd realises that -- or he's just eager to get on with things, now he seems to vaguely understand them.]
Okay! So if the fox is Frank, and the jump is Frank's decisions, what about the rest of these things down here?
[Kratos hands him the chalk and points to 'object'.]
The object is another person. If the subject is the one who makes decisions which affect the whole village, then the object is the people who are most directly affected by it, like patients, or children -- or even immaterial items. Sometimes they aren't immediately apparent -- that is, a sentence may not always have an object -- but when they are, they are always the target of the action. In this case, that would be?
The dog!
[Grinning, Lloyd attaches the two with a line.]
no subject
[With that word of encouragement Raine settles, sitting down instead of the leaning against the table she's been doing. Far be it from her to interrupt a lesson, after all.]
[She doesn't even say anything about Lloyd's form. The concept is the most important thing here, after all, and if he can understand that much she'll be happy.]
What about the adjectives?
[For Sheena's part, she's asking out of impulsive curiosity before reservation can get the better of her. Genis is quieter now, not doodling but making careful geometric diagrams.]
no subject
Well, imagine that the adjective are traits which people wear -- the manner which they show to the world. They can help you distinguish between subjects and objects which are alike.
[Lloyd frowns down at the slate, pointing.]
But they're different. This one's a colour, and this one's a skill.
That doesn't matter. Pretend a colour is clothing, and speed as the result of an exsphere. Either way, it's something which can be worn. Sometimes it isn't necessary to the sentence, like with the 'brown' dog; knowing its colour doesn't necessarily contribute much to the sentence at first glance.
[He rubs that out with his thumb and looks up at Lloyd, but Lloyd's furrowed brow indicates impending confusion.]
So if they're not necessary, why bother having them?
[Kratos hums, glancing up at Colette, whose own homework is forgotten in favour of watching and listening.]
Take Colette. Do you think of her simply as 'the girl'?
[He can practically feel Lloyd bristle beside him, and has to wonder at the strength of that reaction. Hm.]
Of course not! She's Colette! She has a name.
You won't always know the name of a thing. That's what nouns are -- they identify the most basic identity of the being or object. In this case, that's 'fox' and 'dog' -- or 'girl'. Colette's name is a pronoun, which encapsulates everything she is, but if you didn't know her name, you would need some other means of identifying her. If you identified her as 'the girl', then you would also need to distinguish her from Sheena, who is also a girl. That is what adjectives are for.
no subject
[How odd that Yuan should be the steadier of them.]
[Let me know if you need them distracted.]
Adjectives don't always go in the same place, though.
[Sheena tilts her head at her own slate. Mizuho's language makes so much more sense.]
I get what you're saying, but when it comes to the diagrams... hmhm.
[She settles down to sketch something out, at least half of which is not the writing everyone else is used to, and temporarily subsides. Genis peers over at her now, still curious, and Sheena shakes her head at him.]
no subject
Don't think about positioning. You're right; the order of the words will change depending on the language, and sometimes even depending on the dialect. Right now, as far as Lloyd is concerned, where they go and why is less important than their purpose.
[Lloyd grimaces.]
Yeah, I think right now I'll just be happy if I get what they all mean. I mean, I know which order they go in, or I wouldn't be able to write. I just don't know why.
That can come later. Master the building blocks of the sentence before you start thinking about how to fit them together.
[Lloyd laughs suddenly, but before Kratos can feel any doubt about it Lloyd grins up at him.]
You sound like Dad -- my other dad, I mean. When he was teaching me how to make things, he never let me start carving until I knew about all the tools and all about the wood I wanted to use.
no subject
[Perhaps Kratos will be willing to sit in more often. Despite the monumental nature of the tasks awaiting them.]
[Meanwhile, Sheena is tugging her slate away from Genis with mild crossness. She'd like to see them try this diagramming business with Mizuho's language, only that would require teaching it, and that's an entirely different problem.]
...Yeah, you're right. One thing at a time.
[She hadn't even been thinking about dialects. There aren't all that many separate ones she knows of, but even the thought is enough to get Sheena to make a face.]
It's a swordsman's philosophy, in many ways.
[Yuan puts this in at least partially to draw some attention back away from Kratos. He's done talking to Botta for now, anyway, and his second is somewhat more solemn-faced as Yuan steps away from him. He joins the others at the table, electing to settle near Genis to allow Lloyd and Kratos some little space to themselves yet.]
*when i said pronoun before pls pretend i said proper noun because that's what i meant
[This is from Colette, turning toward Yuan with fascination. She's heard Yuan and Lloyd discuss swords, but still doesn't know much about the style, save from watching them fight -- and their styles are very different.
[With Genis and Sheena sniping and Colette thus occupied, Kratos leans in a little.]
Alright. Review for me?
Uhh ... well, we've got the subject, which makes choices or takes actions affecting the rest of the village. And the object, which is everything affected by the choice, but sometimes isn't really there. The verb is the choice or action affecting the whole village. And the adjectives are what traits the subject and object wear which make them unique, right? And you said something about nouns ...
[At this Lloyd squints down at the slate, but Kratos is nodding.]
Nouns are like titles. 'Girl', or 'fox', or 'dog'. A proper noun is a noun with unique definable attributes, like 'Colette'; they don't usually need to have adjectives applied, because all that they are is inherent in the proper noun. There are also pronouns, but I think that's getting a bit complicated for just now.
[At that, Lloyd looks relieved, the furrow in his brow smoothing.]
Yeah, okay. What about this other one, then? Add-verbials? Huh. Are they kind of like choices too?
[Kratos notes that. So, Lloyd isn't oblivious to patterns; but he does seem to see patterns in ways less academic than Raine might be familiar with.]
In a manner of speaking. An adverbial describes how, when or where a choice is made. In this case, it tells us the fox jumped over the dog -- as opposed to around or on top of it.
that's definitely what you said there
Swordsmanship rests on any number of invisible building blocks. The sword itself, of course -- each individual weapon is different, and balances differently, and requires a different approach from the wielder. The stances, which must be repeated again and again until it's instinctive. Good footwork can and will save a person's life if it's second nature. Deep knowledge of every tool you use is required for mastery.
You know exactly how your chakrams will fly, don't you?
[It may be more instinctive than conscious, for her, but she does know them; she catches the blades out of the air with easy precision despite how clumsy she can be in her everyday life.]
[Raine looks like she's about to say something about prepositions, but checks herself, instead slanting her gaze to whatever Genis and Sheena are doing, which is by now starting to look more like math than language arts. In this case, she supposes she can let it slide.]
exactly
Of course! It's all in the balance. It's like throwing a frisbee for a puppy -- a really good frisbee-thrower will know exactly how high and far to throw it depending on the size and age of the dog. And you need to know when and how you use your hips, or the frisbee won't go as far, or be nearly as controlled.
[Lloyd, meanwhile, is concentrating hard on the slate, mouthing to himself.]
Okay. So adverbials are the style of a technique -- like how Uncle Yuan's sword is really different from mine, so he has to use different patterns. But then what are the the ... z? Things? They're just kind of ... there.
[Kratos pauses for a moment. Lloyd's right, of course, for all that those words are part of the sentence, it's easy to skip over them. It says well of Lloyd that he does notice they were left out.]
When you're in the village, is there anything which is 'just there'? Something which has always been there, so you no longer notice it?
Uh ... yeah, probably.
That's what those are. They're called 'determiners'. You can write that down with the others.
[Lloyd does that, then looks expectantly up at Kratos. The expression puts an abrupt and fierce tightness in Kratos's chest; it takes away the breath he intended to use for his explanation, so it comes slightly delayed.]
Think of them as the buildings in your village; they provide structure and layout to the village, but when you are accustomed to them, they are merely part of the scenery. There are a great many kinds of determiners, and they all work in different ways. These ones are the most common, and are necessary to the construction of a sentence, just like some buildings are necessary to the autonomy of a village.
[Lloyd scribbles a note to add to the others flanking the terms. 'Buildings' joins 'Frank', 'choice', 'clothes', 'villagers', 'titles' and 'craftmanship'.]
Okay. What kind of buildings are they?
no subject
Exactly. Someone who's hardly studied it might only see the chakrams -- the frisbees -- and forget that a consideration of hip movement is even at all necessary. But every part of the technique is vital.
[They're not swords, but in many ways chakrams are more finicky. Unpredictable. And Colette manages them with uncommon grace. Even when she trips, the injuries aren't usually because of the blades.]
It's much the same with language. Vocabulary, or sentence structure, or how to conjugate a verb-- each is only one piece. Together, they create a greater whole.
[Again Raine almost jumps in instinctively, opens her mouth to say something about definite versus indefinite articles, but she stops herself just as rapidly. Not only because Lloyd should get his head around this piece first, but because of the looks that pass between Lloyd and Kratos. No; Raine would not interrupt that unless she absolutely had to. She stays silent instead, resting her chin in her hands and returning herself to watching alone. This is, she is sure, more than only a lesson.]
[And besides, if Lloyd is learning this way, she'll need to be able to pick up the same threads.]
no subject
[It honestly is fascinating, from Colette's perspective, though has perhaps unintentionally distracted her from working on her own sentence diagrams. At any rate, across the table Kratos is delayed in answering Lloyd's question, owing to that expectant look Lloyd keeps showing him. It's very nearly a trusting look, and it disarms Kratos every time.]
Uh -- these are a specific building. A landmark, if you will; something you can identify as specific to the circumstances and location. Compare to 'a' or 'an', for instance, which are inspecific --
[Kratos thumbs out 'the' in the sentence and replaces them so the sentence reads: A quick fox jumped over a brown dog. Lloyd tips his head at them.]
Huh. You're right; now I can't tell which dog got jumped over. Hey, Colette? How many brown dogs are there in Iselia?
[Colette turns from Yuan to answer with a bright smile.]
Three! Happy, Larry, and Butch.
But how would you be able to tell which one it is, if they're all brown?
[This is Kratos, seizing an opportunity, and Lloyd grins at him.]
That's what the clothes are for, right? And if it's a quick fox then probably he isn't going to get eaten, but it'd help if the dog isn't quick either. So we can do this, right?
[Lloyd scrawls 'lazy' before 'brown', and Kratos finds himself smiling as he points out:]
But what if more than one of them is lazy?
Hm. Good point. Hey, Colette? Which one's the laziest?
Definitely Happy.
[Kratos has a vague sense that this lesson might have gotten away from him, but his chest feels unexpectedly light as he watches Lloyd scratch out 'a lazy brown dog' and replace it with 'Happy'. The sentence reads 'A quick fox jumped over Happy'. Colette peers over to read the slate upside-down, and giggles.]
Now it sounds like we've got a lot of foxes in Iselia Forest and Happy's too lazy to chase any of them!
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[Raine reaches forward, but touches only the table; all she's doing is trying to get Kratos's attention.]
You've done this before, haven't you?
In any case, would you mind joining us for lessons again in the future? As astray as we've gone, I think it's been useful.
[She's not too proud to admit that Kratos is reaching Lloyd in ways she's failed. Perhaps it's because he's Lloyd's father, and perhaps it's different experience with teaching; whatever the case, it works.]
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I -- yes, of course. If you don't feel it's too much of a disruption.
[He can't remember the last time someone felt the need to point out that he's done this before. He'd been a knight; of course he'd also been a teacher. Kratos hesitates, glancing sidelong at Yuan. He isn't entirely sure how much Yuan has told them about their ancient history, and the era from which they'd both come.]
I have done this before. When I was a youth, I tutored my half-siblings. And when I became a knight, I taught knights-in-training, and my own apprentices.
[Apprentices. Plural. The plural feels like a punch in the gut, but after the fact; a blow he doesn't see coming, because it slips off his tongue before he thinks to stop it. The distant rumble of the worlds clashing, for a moment, seems very close; and overlaid on Mithos's laughter. Kratos doesn't realise it, but his face tightens.]
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While I might like to coordinate in the future, you've already demonstrated an ability to re-frame knowledge for maximum effect. That's more valuable.
[For his part Yuan may not even realize he's passing some of that contentment to Kratos; it's been too long since he's both had the ability and someone who he doesn't have to make a significant effort to send to. He leans back until the word apprentices; all unconsciously, his expression narrows, and Yuan straightens.]
[It's no reflection on Kratos, really. Just their failures.]
[Yuan gets up again, as though to go somewhere, and he does cross behind Kratos; but it's only to set a hand on his shoulder.]
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Hey -- Dad -- can you give me some more sentences to look at?
[He pushes the slate toward Kratos, his expression hopeful and worried at once. It's a strange combination, and yet Kratos feels a rush of gratitude that his son is apparently observant enough to know when not to ask.
[If that's your doing, thank you.]
Alright.
[Far more relaxed than only moments ago, Kratos pulls the slate closer and writes some simple sentences in the space remaining, very like the one with which he'd begun. 'The red-haired girl picked the blue flower.' 'The crow flew into the building window.' 'The half-elf's hair was blue.' 'A puppy gamboled around the meadow.'
[Then he pushes it back.]
There. Label all the words you can in each of these sentences. Let me know if you're unsure.
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[I've tried. Your son naturally prefers to charge ahead, but he's learned something of restraint anyway. It does make Yuan wonder if Kratos was ever like this, before they met.]
I'm trying to decode Sheena's language.
[Genis explains this very matter-of-factly when Yuan prods gently for an explanation of what they've gotten them into. Sheena huffs.]
And I keep telling him, there are rules about who's allowed to learn it.
It's not a very good ninja code if a twelve-year-old can decode it.
[Although Genis sounds reasonable, this devolves within a moment or two. All the same, Yuan isn't sorry he asked.]
[Raine is just happy they're occupied... well, not fruitfully, but enough that she can continue to focus on what Lloyd and Kratos are doing. She nods approvingly at Kratos's initiative with examples, though she's wondering how to tell him gamboled may be slightly advanced vocabulary.]
[Yuan adds, absently, from across the table:]
Don't think I don't see that.
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[This is a bland, deadpan response to Yuan, contrast to the faint amusement Kratos sends his way. After all, all of them know he's a half-elf and his hair is blue. Beneath that, a degree of extra-amused certainty that Lloyd surely mustn't have learned that restraint from Yuan, in that case.
[Lloyd takes back the slate and bends over it with significantly more confidence and zest than he had before, though nearly at once he frowns.]
What's 'gamboled'? I thought it was like a bet.
[Oh. Hm. Kratos considers for a moment.]
What does it seem like to you, in context?
[Lloyd looks nonplussed, but then he rallies and, very tentatively, puts forth his best short.]
Uh ... well, it's a ... a movement? Like. Uh. I -- I don't know.
[Kratos uses his thumb to pull Lloyd's gaze back to the word.]
Have another look. Does 'gambol', to you, seem happy? Sad? Say it aloud -- don't forget to stress the last syllable.
[Lloyd mouths it first, looking sidelong at Kratos as though he really isn't sure about this, but then he says it aloud, a few times.]
I ... I guess it feels kind of ... bouncy. Kinda like how when Colette's playing with the dogs and they all jump around her.
[Kratos nods.]
That's a gambol. It's a kind of playful romp.
Ohhhhhh.
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[Lloyd isn't the only one who's learned a few things over the last fifteen or so years.]
[Yuan keeps his eyes on Genis and Sheena, ensuring nothing gets too far out of hand. Raine, meanwhile, is still utterly fascinated by Kratos teaching. Making Lloyd think is working. Maybe it's some measure of Lloyd wanting to engage with his father, but she's still reasonably sure there's something to Kratos's methods as well.]
I'm impressed.
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[It's murmured, absent, very nearly dismissive; or would be, to anyone who can't feel the tinge of amusement broadcast between them. Which is most of the room, really. In any case, Kratos's focus is on helping Lloyd, and Lloyd's attention is on his slate with uncommon intent.
[Raine's comment does make Kratos look up and head-tip, however.]
Impressed?
[Kratos is impressed by Lloyd, by Lloyd's tenacity, but he's fairly sure Raine is not talking about Lloyd, if only because of the exasperation when she spoke of him earlier.]
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[Raine in her turn isn't initially sure why Kratos is surprised, but after a moment she smooths her expression out and explains, her voice low and even in an effort to avoid disturbing Lloyd's intent.]
You've figured out how to get him interested in a very short span of time. I'm beginning to wonder if his difficulties are at all related to class size-- I teach every child in Iselia. Taught.
[She amends herself for precision's sake.]
Frankly, this is more engagement than I usually manage to get out of him. Lloyd is a bright young man, and there are some topics he instinctively comprehends, but I have difficulty getting him to apply himself.
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Ah.
[Kratos has to pause to try and remember the last time anyone thought he was impressive. He does not count any time he's wingpulled in front of someone who didn't realise what he was; that isn't being impressed so much as being fearful. It's been a long time since he's considered whether the word applies to him.]
That's very likely. Some people have a learning style which is benefited from one-on-one tuition more than group interaction. And sometimes it helps to have something quantifiable to relate the subject to.
[Like Iselia, for Lloyd. For Kratos's siblings -- bastard siblings, like himself -- it had been their future in the knighthood.]
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[Raine waits for Kratos's pause to have something else made evident about it, and when he explains further she nods.]
That was difficult to manage before, but in the time we have here, perhaps...
[She absently calculates how much time they can afford to spend on the more academic studies while they're also in the middle of effectively attempting to reshape the worlds. There should still be some. Raine nods to herself.]
--Yes. I'd still like your assistance when possible.
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[It's a strange feeling, to be wanted for something other than wielding his sword at something. He doesn't even have a sword anymore. But Kratos realises he's smiling, and the thought does make him feel a bit more centred.]
Hah!
[Lloyd scribbles one last thing with a flourish of his chalk, and pushes the slate toward Raine, grinning.]
How's that, Professor?
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~finis