Finally Just To Vote For Cecil '23

BloodyMary comic based on "It's Worth It" by HulkJanitor (me) on Ao3.

Marianne being the heir suddenly subject to sexism that she can’t fight without fear of losing the acceptance of her gender. Roland’s pursuit being appealing not just for his charms but for what it represents. He is a handsome straight man courting her as a girl and a princess and for that she folds, not gladly, but enthusiastically into the role, pursuing skills she’s not talented at or interested in over her own desires in order to suit the picture she must have desired in transition. Only to find it all a lie. Discarding the aspects of womanhood forced upon her in favor of being herself, truly herself, and not the idea of a princess that lives in her father’s head. Willing to be the villain and the outcast now when she wasn’t before, because playing by the rules set for her was an endless source of frustration and grief for a promise of love and fidelity unfulfilled. Meeting Bog who reads her at her most honest, so far from her pitiful attempts at a wedding boutonnière for an overbearing, unfaithful fiancé, and grins and challenges back and calls her Tough Girl, description and affirmation all in one.

“What a waste. I fought with [Odin] over who comes next, whose dawn it is and which son gets the sunset and we’ll never live to see it. Look at you. I loved you more than [Odin] and it’s cost me everything”

“What do you want?” “I want us back the way we were.”

“I love you.” “You love nothing, you’re incomplete. The human parts of you are missing. You’re as dead as you are deadly.”

“Remember how I taught you numbers? And the lute and poetry? See, you do remember, I taught you dancing too, and languages and all the music that I knew and how to love what’s beautiful. The sun was warmer then, and we were every day together.”

“It’s not hard, try saying after me: ‘[Thor] Wins, I lose.” “And what if [Thor] died?”

“Well, Mummy, if you want me, here I am. “[Thor’s] lost his chancellor, has he?” “And you’ve gained one.” “It’s a bitter thing, your mummy has to say.”

“She doesn’t trust me.” “You must know [Odin] isn’t through with [Thor]. He’ll keep [Mjolnir] until the moon grows blue from cold and as for [Your Coronation], we’ll see [Ragnarok] first, the needlework alone could last for years.” “I know. You know I know. You know I know that you know. We know [Odin] knows. And [Odin] knows we know it. We’re a knowledgeable family.”

[Loki]: [to Thor] If you're a prince, there's hope for every ape in Africa.

[Loki]: And what of the nothing [Loki] gets?

[Odin]: [Loki]: there's a masterpiece. He isn't flesh: he's a device. He's wheels and gears. And [Thor]: was his latest treason your idea? I've caught him lying, and I've said, "he's young." I've found him cheating, and I've said, "he's just a boy." I've watched him steal and whore and whip his servants, and he's not a child - he's the man we made him. [Frigga]: Don't share [Thor] with me. He's your accomplishment.

The whole point is that even if you fail it matters that you TRIED. Humanity's desire to keep fighting through impossible, hopeless situations, not just for your own life but for the lives of others, is BEAUTIFUL.

Then later, when talking to the Speaker, he says: I never told you my name.

And she says: yes, you did.

"...I didn't know it was radioactive." (A little comment on the radiation theme under the read more)