#{ ultimate assassin | ic }

[litnerdwrites]

Rhys being the 'most powerful hl' ultimately hinders the story. If SJM wanted the nc to be underdogs, it should've been the smallest, most unstable court.

Historically, objectively bad or unmoral people can sometimes be the best rulers while objectively good or moral people can be terrible rulers. Take advantage of this.

Make Rhysand need to wear the mask of the cruel, ruthless high lord in order to prevent the CON and Illyria from rebelling. Make both of those places have a certain amount of political and militaristic power over him that would explain why he can't just force them to do as he pleases.

Have the NC be the court with the highest crime rates, and poverty rates and Rhysand be considered a ruthless ruler. One who 'lets' amren out on the prowl to steal wealth (preferably from greedy rich nobles) but they don't know that it's redistributed into running the NC, and looking after the people.

Have Mor actually help woman but drinking and visiting the con or other cities under the guise going there to flex her power and act tyranicle, but secretly leave money, medical supplies, tickets to boats/carriages, etc. Or even instructions to their library where sa survivors heal (maybe not in the how, but somewhere else, hidden or warded).

Have Azriel and Cassian push the limits of the Illyrians, not enough to incite war, but to keep them in line. If men clip wings, have Azriel either assassinate them or Cassian publicly punish or beat them but not reveal the reason why, so it comes off as tyranny.

Make them act like villains for a damn reason, and actually accomplish things in the process, even if it's small. Perhaps even have the land itself be dying (like the dusk court centuries ago), making food harder to come by too.

Maybe even have the concept of Velaris be a legend, of the Night Court's former glory, but in the current story, be a shell of itself. This would give the so-called court of dreams something to dream about and work towards.

Have the previous rulers of the nc be objectively moral people, that were bad at ruling and created the unstable political climate Rhysand needs to navigate, while Feyre gives him new perspective. Have Elain and Nesta come in later, and help teach Feyre about politics based on what they knew from their mortal lives. Give them dreams and aspirations of their own.

Give each of the Archeron Sisters something in the NC that would cement it as their home, if that's what you want to do. Have Feyre speak with the Illyrian women, teach them to hunt, learn of their issues, etc. Have her repair her relationship with Nesta over helping them, with Nesta using the training of her childhood to help the Illyrian women overthrow the corrupt lords that insist on treating them as lesser than.

Give Feyre and Nesta a chance to learn about each other, their childhood, how neglected Feyre felt and how abused Nesta was, before coming together to reach a common goal. Then, Nesta could become a diplomat that helped the nc repair their foreign relations, giving her the chance to travel that she always wanted.

Make the humans have innovative methods of agriculture, given they don't have magic. Have Elain want to help the people of downtrodden villages and towns, teaching them about those innovative methods, to help rejuvenate the land. Still let her have trauma, but let them have their own reasons to want to stay in the nc or not stay in the nc.

Making Rhysand 'the most powerful hl' doesn't make him unique or interesting. It makes it too easy to wonder why he won't do something when he sits in a seat of power and privilege, to do it. So, take away that power. Give him something to earn. Give the entire IC a dream/vision for what the NC could be and work to it, throughout the books, instead of handing it to them on a silver platter. Make them work for it.

[fandomzwriterk]

I need you to write the lin kuei brothers with a little sister 🙏

A/N: you got it!👍 Also sorry I’ve been dead I’m kinda learning to play a game competitively for the first time and I kinda forgot to write for a little while 😅😅 I might be a little more creative with these since I’m the youngest child🤣🤣🤣🤣

Bi Han

-> Of course being the most stubborn man out of all of them, Bi Han really didn’t want anything to do with you when you were born

-> Often left Kuai to take care of you, since at that point Tomas hadn’t been adopted yet

-> Wanted a brother more than a sister

-> Took him a year to get him to care about you

-> Lowkey kinda bullied you as kids

-> Didn’t really understand having a sister but ultimately he understood

-> He let you cry on his shoulder after your mother passed

-> He felt guilty at first for causing you pain

-> Pretends to be annoyed sometimes but actually cared about you after that

-> He hoped having Tomas around as well would make you happier

-> Actually might be the kind of brother who would beat the shit out of your bullies

-> You, him, Kuai, and Tomas would often wrestle together when you were all younger

-> He was mostly likely 5 when you were born, and Kuai was 3

-> He let you be the only female in the Lin Kuei until he met Frost

-> You eventually became the only reason his heart could ever be good despite the things he’d done

-> He learned to love you in his own way

-> Will not hesitate to kill somebody for you

-> You’ve had him be your personal ice pack on hot days, along with Kuai and Tomas

-> Won’t let anyone touch his baby sister

Kuai Liang

-> Over the moon to have you be his little sister

-> Very protective of you after you were able to walk, making sure you were never alone or getting hurt

-> He thinks he’s the favorite brother

-> He gets Bi Han to join him in showing you something he learned

-> Quickly discovered to never let you near him during training

-> He accidentally cut your arm with his kama

-> He always feels guilty about it

-> Often helps to keep you warm on cold days when you were little

-> Knows to never let boys near you when you all start getting older

-> Yeah he’s THAT kind of brother

-> Lowkey him and Tomas fight for sibling bonding time with you

-> Seems like the brother to often watch you from the roofs of buildings, ya know being an assassin and all

-> He has many ways to show he cares about his baby sister

-> He knows he’s had his ass beat by you for being a pain in the ass

-> Could never do anything to hurt you or your feelings

-> It breaks his heart if he does

Tomas

-> Excited to have a sister again, having lost his own sister and mom

-> Absolutely lets you get away with anything you do growing up

-> He’s a year older than you are

-> You copy each other, but he does it more

-> Practically your twin

-> He’s the one who joins Kuai on “stalking” you whenever you’re away from the Shirai Ryu

-> You help heal his heart after his family died

-> Also thinks he’s the favorite

-> You and him are the closest out of all your siblings, since you two are the closest in age

-> You take his smoke bombs every now and then to prank all your brothers

-> You, him, and Kuai often still wrestle each other like you’re still kids

-> Tomas wins every time, mostly cause he’s faster

-> Always has your back when you’re at your lowest

-> Does absolutely anything to cheer you up

-> Only he and Kuai often take turns watching you sleep from A) either hurting yourself or B) someone hurt you

-> Actually the most vengeful of all the brothers

-> Will not let Bi Han be mean to you

-> Not afraid to do anything for you

-> He’s absolutely overprotective of you

A/N: hope you enjoyed!!! Lots of these I came up from observing the characters and their manners.

[raayllum]

I have a lot of thoughts about how the show actually successfully, Seriously uses the ship as a metaphor for Rayla and Callum's dynamic (which I'll talk more about when I make my way through to the end of this ep) but as always I have fun looking at microcosms.

Here, we have Rayla once again volunteering to do something dangerous alone (shocking), Callum wanting to switch places with her because he's the one with the issue / 'messed up', the wedge of ice literally dividing them, and Rayla assuring him it's okay and she'll be okay, she can do this for him.

We see time and time again across the course of the series that Rayla is ultimately a very forgiving person — she can see the potential good in Claudia in early S2 even if she doesn't trust her, she forgives Amaya and Soren for attacking her largely without a second thought, on her assassination mission even with so much personally and politically at stake she fumbles because she sees a stranger as 'too much' of a person and seeing that he's scared of her causes her to spare his life.

She's arguably worse at staying mad at Callum (1x04, 1x05, 1x06) than he is at her. When Callum does dark magic in S2, she's angry for maybe a day but is still tending to him and taking care of him. Outside of initial hurt and confusion, she's never mad about him wanting space or not wanting her around in S4 and continually puts the ball in his court in subsequent seasons (S5, S6) for pacing their relationship. It's kinda like how even when the boys 'mess up' with the Plan in 1x08, Rayla assures them it's okay or wasn't their fault, a grace she never extends herself.

That's one of the reasons, I think, it's been so rewarding to see Callum extend that same kind of grace to her—"I trust her, unconditionally" for ex—in arc 2, because she's the one who messed things up. She's the one who got lost, and left.

But Rayla doesn't let him go into the ship by himself just bc it's 'his fault', so Callum doesn't let her take all the blame for their lack of relationship repair, either. And I like it

[deadpresidents]

I’m curious about the friendship between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter (and presidential friendships in general,) I’d like to know what that looked like for them. Would they go and do things together or was it just a few phone calls a year?

Their relationship is really interesting because during the 1976 campaign and in the years right afterward, Ford and Carter genuinely did not like each other. It wasn't a normal, opponent vs. opponent rivalry, either. They straight-up disliked one another, and that was extremely unusual for Gerald Ford, who got along with practically everybody he met throughout his life, rarely had bad things to say about other people, and was almost physically incapable of being unkind to others, no matter what side of the political spectrum they belonged to.

What changed was when President Reagan sent all the living former Presidents -- Nixon, Ford, and Carter -- to Cairo in 1981 to attend Anwar Sadat's funeral following Sadat's assassination. The three former Presidents all flew together on one of the planes normally used as Air Force One, and there was some tension at the beginning, but the person who broke the ice, oddly enough, ended up being Richard Nixon. Ford then suggested that the former Presidents should drop all formalities and just refer to one another as Dick, Jerry, and Jimmy. As Ford remembered, "I guess we figured we were gonna be in a plane together forty hours, more or less, and in order to be pleasant, it was a good idea to just wipe the slate clean, which we did." Ford and Carter eventually started bonding, partly over the fact that Ronald Reagan was a major reason why each of them ultimately lost their respective bids for re-election.

At the time, Carter was having trouble building his Presidential Library, and he asked Ford for some advice since Ford had just recently opened his library. When Carter mentioned he was having some issues raising money for the library, Ford offered to come down and appear at fundraisers for him, and asked Carter to return the favor and visit the Ford Library for an event.

As Thomas M. DeFrank writes in his 2007 book, Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations With Gerald R. Ford (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO):

"Carter accepted, triggering a Jimmy-Jerry tag team match extending over several years. These back-scratching appearances didn't convert them into friends, but the relationship was notably friendlier. They began staying in regular contact, talking on the phone, and exchanging birthday greetings. Their contacts were sufficiently public that some of Ford's closest political allies grumbled that he was spending altogether too much time with Carter -- not unlike similar complaints from [George H.W.] Bush 41 partisans today that he hangs around Bill Clinton too much. Ford brushed off the complaints. Beyond their shared practical interests in Presidential Libraries, another unifying bond was at play. Both ex-Presidents had strong reasons not to like Ronald Reagan, which helped cement their ties even though neither one would ever admit it publicly. To one old Ford friend, the calculation was simple: 'Once you did something for his library or museum, you were a friend for life.'"

As they got older, Ford and Carter would sometimes make joint appearances at Presidential Libraries or universities, or events for important causes, and they even wrote a joint op-ed during the Monica Lewinsky scandal urging Congress to censure President Clinton instead of impeaching him. They felt it was a bad precedent (which it has clearly turned out to be) and would be bad for the country. Unlike Ford, Jimmy Carter wasn't very easy-going or personable, so there were times when their friendship would get a little frayed. Ford once told a friend, "Well, you know Jimmy. He can be a real pain in the ass, but we get along."

Eventually, they promised one another that they would deliver the eulogy if the other former President died first. President Ford died first, on December 26, 2006, and Carter attended every event during the several days of ceremonies, from Ford's lying in state at the U.S. Capitol, to the national funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, and traveled with Ford's family and the former President's remains to Ford's hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. At the church service in Grand Rapids, Carter delivered his eulogy, and also attended the private interment service when Ford was buried as at his Presidential Library. In his eulogy, Carter repeated the gracious first words he had said when delivering his Inaugural Address on the day he took over the White House from Ford in 1977, "For myself and for my nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land." It was a remarkable relationship between two former Presidents who, again, genuinely disliked one another for quite some time.

[xinfinityl0ve17]

KÖZI (g)

Q. Favorite food

A. Curry, my mother's home cooking

Q. Least favorite food

A. Sea urchin

Q. Favorite drink

A. Tea, Red Eye (a beer and tomato juice cocktail)

Q. Least favorite drink

A. Liquid Cabbage (a stomach relief drink)

Q. Favorite scent

A. It's difficult to put into words

Q. Least favorite scent

A. Various bad smells

Q. Favorite scenery

A. The sea just before dawn

Q. You can cry three times in your life. The first time is when you are born. What about the other two?

A. Ore wa nanno namida mo nagasanai. Da-da-da! ("I won't shed any tears. Da-da-da!")

Q. If you could ride a time machine, when and where would you go, and what would you do? (Past or future is okay)

A. Into chaos. I'd want to see the Big Bang (the beginning of everything).

Q. If you were an assassin, what weapon would you use and why?

A. My hand blade. If you touch it carelessly, you'll get cut!

Q. Unlimited funding is provided. If you were to direct a movie, what kind of movie would it be?

A. Title: Manyan. Tagline: "A city possessed by an evil 'something' where strange phenomena occur one after another. A mysterious fake nose. A terrifying blend of comedy and psycho-suspense horror."

Q. What is the best "moment" for you?

A. Drinking an ice-cold beer after doing good work.

YU~KI (b)

Q. Favorite food

A. Sweet things

Q. Least favorite food

A. Bitter things

Q. Favorite drink

A. Sweet things

Q. Least favorite drink

A. Bitter things

Q. Favorite scent

A. Sweet things

Q. Least favorite scent

A. Bitter things

Q. Favorite scenery

A. A school on a red clay hill

Q. You can cry three times in your life. The first time is when you are born. What about the other two?

A. Tears of emotion and sadness

Q. If you could ride a time machine, when and where would you go, and what would you do? (Past or future is okay)

A. I'd want to see what I look like at the very end of my life.

Q. If you were an assassin, what weapon would you use and why?

A. Fangs to the neck (so I could watch their face as they die experiencing ultimate pleasure).

Q. Unlimited funding is provided. If you were to direct a movie, what kind of movie would it be?

A. A romance film, without worrying about fame.

Q. What is the best "moment" for you?

A. When I'm enveloped in white light.

MANA (g)

Q. Favorite food

A. Of course, Orukubekki's curry

Q. Least favorite food

A. None

Q. Favorite drink

A. Tomato juice

Q. Least favorite drink

A. None in particular

Q. Favorite scent

A. Sweet fruits

Q. Least favorite scent

A. Strong perfume worn by women at night

Q. Favorite scenery

A. White sky and blue sea

Q. You can cry three times in your life. The first time is when you are born. What about the other two?

A. I can't decide something like that.

Q. If you could ride a time machine, when and where would you go, and what would you do? (Past or future is okay)

A. I don't want to think about it since time machines don't exist.

Q. If you were an assassin, what weapon would you use and why?

A. A whip. I'm used to using it.

Q. Unlimited funding is provided. If you were to direct a movie, what kind of movie would it be?

A. The life of a phantom chef.

Q. What is the best "moment" for you?

A. The time when I can sleep when I'm sleepy.

ARENA 37°C (アリーナサーティーセブン) Vol.181 1997年10月

[agentrouka-blog]

What do you think about the newest BNF theory that Valyrians were first the slaves of the Great Empire of the Dawn and later revoltet against their masters?

Also the supposed theory that the reason why did Aenar escaped Valyria with his family was beacuse he wanted to end a slavery there and Make a deal with a faceless man?

Um.

I think as theories they are both ultimately irrelevant? 🤷🏻‍♀️

If the Valyrians had been slaves before they became slavers... well, that's fairly straight-forward and another example of how having been a victim doesn't translate to being incapable of victimizing others. We have lots of examples of that in the main series too.

As for Aenar... well, what's the point? It's not needed to explain anything, and it seems unclear what deal the Faceless Men would provide to the specialest slaver with the purest heart and the least oppressive dragons? They are... assassins? Did they cause the Doom and give Daenys psychic powers on top? Did Aenar require them as movers to get out of there twelve years ahead of the Doom? And if Aenar was so (out of nowhere) alienated from his culture and its focus on domination, why didn't he pass that on to his kids?

Because it sure seems like they kept all the Valyrian Values, and then his descendents made sure to recreate them in Westeros with the Iron Throne.

The Targaryens were of pure Valyrian blood, dragonlords of ancient lineage. Twelve years before the Doom of Valyria (114 BC), Aenar Targaryen sold his holdings in the Freehold and the Lands of the Long Summer and moved with all his wives, wealth, slaves, dragons, siblings, kin, and children to Dragonstone, a bleak island citadel beneath a smoking mountain in the narrow sea. At its apex Valyria was the greatest city in the known world, the center of civilization. Within its shining walls, twoscore rival houses vied for power and glory in court and council, rising and falling in an endless, subtle, oftsavage struggle for dominance. (The World of Ice and Fire - The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest)

His "goodness" would have zero impact and therefore be pointless and therefore irrelevant and therefore.... why?

Oh, is it to whitewash the Targaryens again?

[waterfire1848]

Au. Where azula didn't only just focus on bending, but also to everything (combat, weaponry, chi, meditation, and being a assassin/ninja, and learned that lightning redirection in just 5 minutes) and mastered and remastered them all.... And that azula is not that blind (and know she's starting to get insane but realize why should she care about them?) and after ozai tells her that she's not coming and stays in FN and be fire lord, azula challenge him to agni Kai (azula not blind enough to realize she's far more stronger and powerful than ozai, blinded because of her fear) and wins, who makes the fight for ozai super long and hella painful.

Hello, @lala-ann-11 !!!

1. When Azula is a child, she’s brought up as a soldier but Ozai knows that if he plans to use her in the field then she needs to be a master of other things aside from firebending. Along with her bending, he makes her study weapons and combat and everything else under the sun. When Ty Lee shows off chi blocked, Ozai has Azula constantly learning from her until she has it down. He basically wants to make sure he has the ultimate weapon. And, by the time she’s fourteen, that’s what Azula becomes.

2. Ozai also makes sure Azula is educated and sends her to school as early as possible. Not only does this help her learn strategies but it gives her access to books from before the war. In all honesty, Azula started off reading just with the intent to learn more and please her father but as she began to read she saw more and more what things really used to be like (since these books would be untouched by FN propaganda). She’s not 100% against the war now (because she’s still a child and believes that her father is right) but she is starting to see that maybe he got some things wrong or maybe the world wasn’t as horrible as he told her. (I swear this won’t become a Tangled AU)

3. Azula is sent out into the field after the Avatar and does somewhat struggle (mostly because she’s on brand new ground and fighting enemies she’s never encountered before) but it’s very similar to the show where any set back she suffers is for a minute, if that, and then she’s back in the game. Only now, Azula also has her knowledge of the world before the war and gets to see how the EK is faring from it. Again, she’s not 100% against the war but her teaching of FN propaganda is starting to break. While fighting, she also gets a moment to speak with Aang which only furthers her belief that maybe things aren’t that perfect (Aang: You know, before I went into the ice, the Fire Nation and Air Nomads had a yearly celebration together where we brought food, played games and at the very end used firebending and airbending to create different pictures in the sky. Some of the teenagers used their bending to try and fly around. Azula: That sounds really fun…I wish I could have seen it. Aang:…Maybe one day it’ll come back).

4. When Azula starts suffering from her mental breakdown, it goes a little different. In canon, she had time to form a bond with Ty Lee and Mai so their leaving really hurt her, but here? She doesn’t have that same bond with them, so them leaving, while upsetting, doesn’t completely break her. She does grow a bit paranoid and become more agitated but doesn’t get to the point of hallucinating. And her agitation actually works to her benefit because it gives her the push she needs to fight against Ozai. (Azula: Shouldn’t have spent all that time making me the ultimate weapon). Let’s just say Azula has A LOT of pent up anger towards her father (Fire Sage: Princess! Princess, you won! Azula: In a minute! He still has some unbroken bones!)

5. Zuko and Katara arrive to face Azula but find her already crowned and telling them that they don’t have to worry about the Fire Nation anymore. She tells them that she called off the airships. (Zuko: And where’s father. Azula: I don’t know. Bleeding somewhere. Zuko: *Shrug* Okay) Aang, Sokka, Suki and Toph return to the palace where they all have a long talk with Azula about what should happen next. Much to their surprise, she gives the crown to Zuko, saying that she wants to have the chance to be free for a while and explore. (Azula: But I’m coming back at some point. Zuko: Maybe we could be co-Firelord’s when you return. Azula: I’ll think about it.) Azula leaves right after Zuko’s coronation and heads off to finally be free of her ultimate weapon title.

[meenawrites]

Alchemy of Souls rambles

Spoiler for part 1 of the show if yall haven't watched but I need to vent some disorganized thoughts because I haven't stopped thinking about it for the whole day.

Jang Uk and Mudeok form a bond out of desperation early in the show, that's how their whole relationship begins. What I love about it though is that from the getgo of the establishment of this relationship, it's almost like they have a secret agreement to be completely themselves around each other. They don't have to. Just because they depend on each other doesn't mean that they have to be truthful or vulnerable with each other. And yet they consistently show their vulnerabilities to the other, open from the beginning, hurt and bleeding in front of one another and patching each other up that speaks to a trust between them that neither of them acknowledge out loud for a while. It's just so beautiful.

I love that Jang Uk is like.. a real person. They could have made him out to be this perfect guy who charms the assassin out of her life of violence, but he's nothing like that. He's a bit spoiled, a picky eater, can be petty and even lash out at times when he's upset. He's also confident in his own charms and funny and self-assured in the way that he doesn't care what many think of him, or at least acts like he doesn't. He's unafraid to get into a massive amount of trouble for the people he cares about and may seem childish at times, but also has a sense of responsibility that continues to grow throughout the show until his ultimate sacrifice of the energy he'd worked so hard to cultivate to the ice stone, all for the protection of Mudeok, his friends, and the greater good. He's an amazing character, protagonist, and male lead, and I love seeing all his facets.

All the characters are really fleshed out and as a writer, I am DROOLING at how they managed to represent the desires and motivations of each character and interwove it with the narrative. I started out disliking Park Jin for always being so harsh with Uk, but then we find out why, and really how desperate he is to protect Jang Uk in what he thinks is the only way, especially being in a position of great authority - balancing his love of Uk, his desire to keep him safe, and his duties to the people of Daeho. Just lovely.

I have a lot more thoughts but it feels good to get that down. I have to go study freaking math BUT I SHALL RETURN!

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

Star Rail mechanics for beginners

Characters have two attributes:

Their Path

Their element

Characters can equip two sorts of items:

Lightcones

Relics

Characters can upgrade three things:

Their level

Their upgradeable abilities (basic attack, skill, ult, talent)

Their Traces (extra skills + extra damage multipliers ability tree)

This is all you really need to keep track of.

FAQ

Q: Can you dodge?

A: No. Shield up and/or use a healer. Shields are really good.

Q: Can you assassinate enemies?

A: No, but attacking them first does damage them when the fight starts.

Q: Is the turn-based combat fun?

A: I found it fun, it’s not so complex that it’s hard to understand, it’s pretty and it’s relatively dynamic. Try it out~

Further details below.

Path

Acts both as a weapon class and an analog for a dnd class style battle role. Preservation characters have Tank like abilities and so on.

Element

The damage type your character does, as off launch thats one of seven:

Physical

Ice

Fire

Lightning

Wind

Imaginary

Quantum

Each enemy has multiple weaknesses among these. Enemy with a weakness to an element usually resists it less and their Toughness bar gets damaged every time they’re hit by their weakness. (It’s like a second white HP bar.)

Once the Toughness bar is empty, they suffer from an element-specific effect (Frozen if you broke it with ice, Burn with fire, etc), their action is delayed, and they’re stunned for a turn.

Lightcones

A character can equip up to one, and their level can be upgraded. They add extra stats to any character and each have a Path assigned. Only a corresponding Path will activate the extra effect a Lightcone has.

Example:

A Hunt character with a Hunt lightcone will activate the extra effect (ex: Basic attack damage 20%), but this will not happen if the Hunt character equips a Preservation lightcone. However, the Hunt character will benefit from the extra stats in both cases. (ex: HP +300, ATK + 200, DEF + 400) .

Lightcones are primarily gained in gacha but there’s a few other ways to obtain them, like level up rewards or shops. They come in 3*, 4*, and 5*.

Identical lightcones can be fused up to four times (for a total of five levels), which increases their extra effect.

Relics

They’re equippable items that have stats and set bonuses with extra effects. Set bonuses in CBT3 were at 2 and 4 relics of the same set.

They come in 2*, 3*, 4*, and 5*. The maximum level of a relic changes with its rarity. As off CBT3, none of the Relic set were rarity locked, so you’ll be able to upgrade any of them by swapping out for rarer pieces.

A character can equip up to six relics, split into two subtypes of relics: sets with 4 relics and sets with 2 relics. You don’t need to worry about this. Just know they add stats to your character and give extra bonuses when in a set. Easy.

These are NOT gacha-locked, they’re fully farmable. Farming can be automated and you can borrow a friend’s character for it too, so it’s not too tedious and also an opportunity to experiment~

Level

Characters are leveled up with exp materials and other materials you find or fight for. User level locked due to materials becoming accessible over time.

Upgradeable Abilities

There’s four abilities you can upgrade (and one you can’t, Technique).

Upgrading an ability makes its multipliers go up, but doesn’t change how it works.

It takes material and money for each, all of which, to my knowledge, can be obtained just by playing the game normally (I think one of the rarest ones is in the free battle pass though).

These upgradable abilities are:

Basic attack

Skill

Ultimate

Talent

Upgrade them to make them better. That’s really all there is to it.

Regarding how they’re used:

During your turn, you may consume a skill point to use a skill, or use a basic attack and gain a skill point.

Skill points are shared by the whole team.

Attacking and getting hit gives your character energy. When energy is full, Ultimates become available. These can be used at any time, even during the enemy’s turn.

Talents activate without your input whenever their conditions are fulfilled but may have use limits.

Traces

Traces are skill trees with two sorts of bonuses you can unlock:

Stat bonuses (ex: HP +4%)

New abilities

You can upgrade Traces over time with materials and money. Each unlocked node of the Trace only needs to be bought once, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on whether you can buy a nice one.

(As a word of personal advice, unlock at least one, preferably two ways to remove debuffs from allies before chapter 2, it’ll make your life easier during a certain boss fight… March 7th and Natasha have cheap Traces that let you do so.)

For character information and cost calculation you can use this website, but beware of spoilers as it’s a database.

[redelliavalentinos]

? AU: I dunno. Ancient Greece? Or Rome? Whatever. Didn't get that far. But the hairpiece was fun. I figure he's an escapee from the underworld, let's say Vlad is Hades, so, Greece it is, then. And Vlad is pissed off that someone got away.

Assassin AU: I guess, an assassin for the crown that was ultimately betrayed by the crown. And now he's a killer for hire. And blind in one eye. Meh. Honestly, I put more work into the getup than the AU. Really. I erased the color panel twice. By the time I was done, I was just thrilled I was done. Open to interpretation here, do your own thing. I never played the Creed games anyway.

King AU: I don't think Danny would adjust well to being king. I imagine he'd be very miserable actually, especially cooped up in the castle. Maybe tiny morsels of Dan might slip through, like the flaming hair. Maybe instead of a crown of fire, just a crown of crystal. And the constant isolation/denial of his human form means he'd become far colder towards everyone around him and thus he's more ice based. Much more likely to rage and throw a fit, maybe even toss members of the court out of the castle himself. Maybe sit on his throne and brood quietly for hours or years on end until he finally goes insane? Tapping his fingers against the armrest until he scrapes the wood. I think a good chunk of the ghost zone would be bitter cold.

[triptychgrip]

A non-exhaustive list of things Yuuri and Viktor would write fanfiction about

Viktor would write a “fix-it” fic* to make up for his “Oops! Watch the nosebleed!” failure to catch Yuuri at the Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu regionals. He’d do so not only because of his own guilt around prioritizing his designer suit (which he’d throw away in shame), but also b/c Yuuri’s fans would never let him live that moment down, lol. I think Phichit would create a calendar appt set to repeat every September 25th (until the end of time), to remind Viktor of how he heartlessly let Yuuri fall to the floor, complete w/ exaggerated GIFs and memes. Kenjirou would probably join in

Because he is just as extra as his fiance (and feels bad for not remembering it), Yuuri would get Christophe/Yurio/Mila’s help to write a fic in which he DID remember the Sochi banquet. In this iteration, not only does he thrash Yurio in a dance-off and sweep Viktor off of his feet, but he — very shyly and very awkwardly — knocks on Viktor’s hotel room door the next morning, carrying an assortment of Japanese hangover remedies

After about a month goes by with no word from Yuuri post-Sochi, Viktor would take any breaks he can afford when not training for Europeans or Worlds to write the most extremely fanciful fanfic as an outlet for his pining/heartbreak, because…well, duh. Each of these stories would include extremely plausible reasons for why Yuuri just couldn’t contact him (none of which, obviously, involve the fact that he was trashed beyond belief). His favorite one includes the fact that Yuuri is actually a highly trained assassin working for the Japanese govt, who decides not to get in contact with Viktor because he doesn’t want his enemies to put a target on Viktor’s back. Oh, the gallantry!

As Viktor approaches his 30th birthday, Yuuri would note his increasing reluctance to acknowledge the milestone. Taking Georgi’s predictably dramatic advice, he’d surprise Viktor with a time travel fanfic*, one that is admittedly a bit trite in its “I’ll love you no matter what age you are, Vitya” theme, but that delights Viktor, nonetheless…especially when he notes that Yuuri only has eyes for him, even though his younger, 18 year old self is outrageously flirty with his fiancé. (Georgi, failing to note that this isn’t supposed to be an angst fic, would beg Yuuri to up the ante on the crying)

When Viktor tears his meniscus during the 2011 off-season, Yuuri writes a fic in which they meet by way of Viktor being sent to a famed healing/rehabilitation clinic in Fukuoka. In this fic, Yuuri actually would decide to go home to Hasetsu in the off-season, meaning he would not only get to know Viktor, but also reunite with his sweet poodle 😭

Seeing how anxious Yuuri is during the planning of their wedding, Viktor — in a very sweet but misguided way — decides to write him a crack-y fanfic in which just about everything that can go wrong on the day of, does go wrong. This is sort of meant to be a “see, Yuuri?! Even with all of that terrible stuff happening, the day still turned out perfect, because I got to marry you!” kind of thing, and even though Yuuri nearly has a panic attack while reading it, he ultimately does derive comfort from it (and he also triple checks that Otabek as their DJ does not actually intend to play any risqué music at the reception that will send his elderly relatives into states of catatonic shock, as happens in the fic)

Bonus: After losing some kind of drunken bet, Yurio writes a fic that he then forces Yuuri and Viktor to role-play. In it, all of Viktor’s hair falls off the day after Onsen on Ice. Ashamed to be seen like this by Yuuri, Viktor hightails it back to St. Petersburg and grovels at Yurio’s feet for forgiveness

If you’ve read my “fic-ception” series in which Yuuri and Viktor jointly write (and publish) a sappy/smutty friends-to-lovers and role-reversal story starring their fictional selves, you probably aren’t surprised to hear that this very meta concept has completely taken over my brain.

While writing Put It In Reverse For Thirst, I couldn’t help but ideate around the kinds of things Yuuri and Viktor might explore in the wondrous world of fanfiction, both before they got together, and afterwards.

Above are just a few of the ideas that came to mind…I’ll probably make a part 2! What else do you think they’d write fanfic about? I think the possibilities are endless.

*these are ideas I have in the works for potential stories. My WIPs folder is a disaster

[stray-tori]

"Mastermind" Thoughts

hmm i think this finally broke the "this episode is the new best episode!" streak that S2 has had thus far.

Critic points:

Ice Boy's plan was weird - what would he get from Blitz being executed? He should have ensured Stolas would show up, his original plan made no sense considering his goal? I understand he didn't want Stolas to be there during the testimonies but he should have definitely arranged to have him show up, right???

(more of a question) How does Stella know so much about Stolas?? Why does she know about the book deal, and why does she know they had a fight?? HUH (but ig Verosika knew abt Full Moon too somehow so. WHO KNOWS. maybe Stolas is in all the magazines)

A little bit rushed. Was hoping for things to be subdued a bit before we go back into Stolitz territory, but I trust that this will not magically fix them.

I think this episode would have benefited a lot from having a break between releases with shorts releasing. Even though the shorts we have were kind of ret-conned by Blitz moping around post-apology-tour and apology tour being the next day from full moon so they can't have happened there either; I still think this needed some time to breathe. Some time for Blitz to function again (we do have the hint that he has been functioning) and to show them existing on their own.

I know that Blitz was under stress but Stolas did say "less than legally" irt their deal, so I kind of thought Blitz knew that it was somewhat illegal -- I'm surprised he didn't try to go "Why would I steal the book, I have a crystal bro". This episode feels written as if the crystal didn't exist - they could have used it to escape to the mortal realm, and Blitz could have at least attempted to "hide" the book usage. It's likely that Ozzie has records on when his crystals were officially handed out and it probably would have been refuted, but idk... feels weird that it didn't come up.

Why did they believe the assassin's testimony just like that, come on now.

Also I'm GENUINELY surprised the angelic weapon they got from Striker in S1 didn't come up here. I was like, super convinced they'd show it during the hiding segment or it would come up here as sort of evidence that Blitz was plotting to kill Stolas?

But also why was this needed, wouldn't it have been enough to be like "yeah. i gave him the book, it was illegal" - like why make your crime seem unnecessarily big? This feels more like a plot thread towards pilot Stolas, who was using Blitz to enact power moves on earth, seemingly.

Generally it just feels like there's some missed potential to bring together various plot threads here and it makes me a bit sad. (Maybe I just missed what happened to it)

edit: IMO the easy fix here would be to just have Andrealphus ENSURE that Stolas shows up by sending him a messenger or something of the sort.

If I was to give my own pitch, I think you can still hit a lot of the same plot beats by doing the reverse. Stolas being accused of lending his book out and Blitz trying to take the fall for him by saying he stole it, he forced Stolas, etc. (i.e. trying to STOP him ruining Stolas' life even more than he already has in his eyes) - but ultimately failing and then Stolas gets banished just like in the episode proper.

Loved:

Blitz screaming for Stolas, ugh the DESPAIR!!! My beloved

Stolas being a dramatic lil bitch

IMP found family :((((( Blitz would take the fall for them every time!!!

Domestic/Hurt-Comfort Stolitz despite my gripes is very cute, i can't be too bitter. It still feels weird seeing it happen, because I've seen this a lot in fan-works and I'm simply not used to a work actually being this fanfic-y (and I mean this in the best way possible).

STOLAS SAW THE PICTURES WITH BLITZ' FACE SCRIBBLED, i doubt this season has space for this but PLEASE S3,,,,

And a joke I did during the watch that I thought was funny:

"get ready for a life on the run gang" (Blitz crashes the car)

Me: "Well it's a life on the RUN, not a life on the DRIVE"

[rhyclgn]

Parallels between D. Pedro I of Portugal, "The Cruel" and Rhaenyra Targaryen "The Cruel".

As we know... Rhaenyra Targaryen, a character from George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, and D. Pedro I of Portugal, a historical figure, share some parallels which i find extremely interesting!

Loss of their loved ones :

Rhaenyra Targaryen and D. Pedro I of Portugal experienced heart-wrenching losses that led to civil wars against their own family.

Rhaenyra Targaryen : Rhaenyra lost her son, Prince Lucerys Velaryon, by her half-brother Aegon II's supporters. These tragedie fueled Rhaenyra's determination to claim the Iron Throne, leading to the devastating civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, where she fought against her half-brother and his supporters for control of the Seven Kingdoms. D. Pedro I of Portugal : Pedro's love for his mistress, Inês de Castro, led to a tragic turn of events. His father, King Afonso IV of Portugal, disapproved of Pedro's relationship with Inês and ordered her assassination in 1355. This brutal act led Pedro to rebel against his father, sparking a civil war known as the Crisis of 1383–1385. Pedro sought vengeance for Inês's murder and contested his father's authority, ultimately leading to the overthrow of the Portuguese monarchy and the establishment of Pedro as King D. Pedro I of Portugal. Both Rhaenyra and D. Pedro I's civil wars were deeply personal, fueled by love, loss, and a desire for justice or vengeance against their own family members. These conflicts underscored the complexities of power struggles within ruling families and the lengths individuals would go to in order to protect their loved ones and assert their rightful claims.

Struggles for Succession :

Both Rhaenyra and D. Pedro I faced challenges regarding succession.

Rhaenyra Targaryen : she fought to claim the Iron Throne of Westeros, facing opposition from her half-brother, Aegon II.

D. Pedro I of Portugal : was involved in a struggle for succession in Portugal, particularly against his father, King D. João VI, and his father's supporters.

Family Conflicts :

Both figures were embroiled in familial conflicts.

Rhaenyra Targaryen : Rhaenyra's claim to the throne sparked a civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, pitting different branches of House Targaryen against each other.

D. Pedro I of Portugal : Pedro faced tensions within his own family, including conflicts with his father, as well as disputes with his wife, Infanta Carlota Joaquina.

Assertive Actions :

Rhaenyra and D. Pedro I both took assertive actions to secure their positions.

Rhaenyra Targaryen : Rhaenyra actively sought allies and military support to strengthen her claim to the throne.

D. Pedro I of Portugal : D. Pedro I engaged in strategic maneuvers and military actions to consolidate his power and assert his authority, notably during the Liberal Wars in Portugal.

Controversial Reigns :

Both figures had controversial reigns marked by conflict and instability.

Rhaenyra Targaryen : Rhaenyra's reign as queen was short-lived and tumultuous, characterized by the civil war that erupted over her claim to the throne.

D. Pedro I of Portugal : D. Pedro I's reign in Portugal was also marked by political unrest and conflict, including his involvement in the Liberal Wars and the struggle to establish a stable government.

The title "The Cruel" :

"The Cruel" as been associated with both Rhaenyra Targaryen and D. Pedro I of Portugal, though in different contexts.

Rhaenyra Targaryen : In George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, Rhaenyra Targaryen is sometimes referred to as "Rhaenyra the Cruel." This epithet reflects her actions during the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, where she displayed ruthlessness and brutality in her pursuit of power.

D. Pedro I of Portugal : Pedro I of Portugal is also known by the epithet "Pedro the Cruel" or "Pedro the Just." This title stems from his actions during the Crisis of 1383–1385, particularly his ruthless pursuit of vengeance for the murder of his beloved Inês de Castro. Pedro's actions during this time, including the execution of political opponents and enemies, earned him a reputation for cruelty among some contemporaries.

While Rhaenyra Targaryen is a fictional character and D. Pedro I of Portugal was a historical figure, their stories share intriguing parallels in terms of their struggles for power, familial conflicts, and controversial reigns.

I found this quite interesting, I hope you found it interesting too. 😁

[lyriquette]

So we bashed up Chicken Little, the Human, and discover a Dragon! 8D

Yeaaaah, about that Grius...

We won. Mostly because of Tarukaja-enhanced Ice attacks from Cheeeeeen (protagonist). And I learned to guard with Grius who was Seeker and weak to Fire. Got a cool sword out of it for Strohl.

---

We escape the Mines and set up Camp where Grius tells his tales of the Prince's attempted assassination and how the Prince ended up cursed. We also get a young Hulkenberg too in the flashback. xD

---

We make it to the City, and we head to the Honeybee Inn. AND GRIUS HAS FAMILY AND A KID???

The warning bells are going off here for Grius's final fate.

Grius, pal. I'm liking this plan even less and less. :(

----

The day of the Royal Funeral. We get Louis crashing the party and dropping the corpse of a Human onto the Funeral grounds with his fancy warship.

I think the animation here for the entire Funeral was really well done - and with all the twists that came with it.

Ultimately, the King invokes a royal magic that essentially allows the citizenry to vote for the next King, which unfortunately includes his murderer Louis.

Grius goes to try and kill Louis before things proceed further, but...

The Royal Magic protects Louis from his assassination and then...

----

Louis leaves. A Necromancer blocks Chen's and company's path from entering the Cathedral. And our next Deadline is set to reach the top of the Cathedral and prevent Necromancer and Louis from getting the Royal Scepter on 6/21. Hulkenberg joins us at this time.

We try ascending to the top of the Cathedral only for the entrance to get blocked. And apparently, the only other entrance is the Mausoleum - which probably isn't the best idea given Necromancer, but we go anyway.

Another barrier. Annnnd.

Zombie Grius. 8(. Who is perfectly capable of kicking all our asses alone.

Hulkenberg has a close-call and then has her awakening too.

Badass Knight. Aaaaaah. Has an aggro-generating effect on itself.

And we obtain a Synergy effect with the Archetypes too. 8D. Spammed the Synergy "Jump Thrust" to lower Grius's defense while I spammed Light magic with Chen who's now a Cleric to fulfill one of More's crest.

So long Grius. ;_;.

[superectojazzmage]

Sure it’s been said, but the real bread and butter of SpyXFamily imo is how Yor and Loid have polar opposite but equally batshit stupid and insane approaches to the whole “spies pretending to be a normal family” thing that lead to the same result of them functionally becoming their cover identities.

Loid has some weird denial complex from his life as a spy where he views everything he does as part of some kind of 5D mental chess game that he’s playing against some nebulous threat and approaches his cover identity accordingly, effectively being the “haha I was only pretending to be retarded” meme but with being a husband and father instead of internet trolling. Every interaction he has with his wife and daughter is accompanied by a machiavellian internal monologue about how this is all an elaborate scheme to further the mission. He could be taking Anya out for ice cream and be internally thinking “yes, now that I’ve given my daughter a delicious frozen treat, Westalis shall achieve ultimate victory!!!”. He could be dicking down Yor and he’d spend the entire time thinking about how his wife’s orgasm will bring about the fall of Ostania. He is so obsessed with being a fake husband that when he becomes a real husband, he just smirks and goes “all according to keikaku” while taking his family out to the zoo or helping Anya with her homework. And when the slightest problem for his family arises — like thinking Yor is mad at him or that somebody is being mean to Anya — he totally fucking melts down about it in a way that makes no sense for a detached spy, but he still goes through the effort of trying to frame his freak out as a problem for the mission; he’s not having a panic attack about his wife being mad at him because he loves her, he swears, he’s just worried about the mission!

And meanwhile Yor is just… all fucking in. She’s a method actor to the most unhinged extreme imaginable. She heard “you have to pretend to be a housewife to avoid drawing suspicion” and decided that meant she had to literally become a housewife. She’s the Daniel Day-Lewis of assassins. She throws her whole body and soul into every single thing she does, completely immerses herself in the “role” to the point that it isn’t a role anymore, it’s just her life. Within seconds of meeting Anya she’s like “guess I’m a mom now!!!!”, within seconds of Loid proposing she’s like “yep I love my husband!!!!”. She still has all her assassin instincts and training, but they’re all warped to fit her new life as a milf because that’s what she is now; she’ll brutalize or kill anybody who even looks at her family the wrong way, she approaches every situation from the perspective of “how can I eliminate this problem?”. And like any good method actor, she obsesses over whether her behavior is “correct” to the role. She is determined to be indistinguishable from a normal housewife to a point that you wonder how she has time to be an assassin anymore when all she seems to really care about is trying to win at being Totally Normal and/or being a good wife and mother.

And then in the middle of it all, you’ve got telepathic Anya just listening in on it and doing or saying the weirdest shit imaginable because she’s a kid and has no comprehension of why this situation is completely bizarre, this is just her mom and dad being cool spies.

It’s S-Tier stuff.

[sonicstorybook]

The King's Champion

A SatBK AU where Shadow is the one sent to Camelot and Sonic is the doppelgänger- the one and only King Arthur!

Part: 4/4

Summary: Arthur the Hedgehog pulled the legendary sword Caliburn from the stone, and he became King Arthur, the ruler of Camelot. Shadow the Hedgehog appears in a flash of magic in the middle of his banquet hall, and he becomes Arthur’s problem. As the sun rises over the kingdom, a pre-dawn conversation between both hedgehogs also helps them reach... well, not quite a mutual understanding, but progress is progress!

(Shadow doesn’t know where he is, what’s going on, or why he’s there- but it doesn’t matter. He’s Shadow the Hedgehog, the world’s ultimate life form, and he’s going to play this weird game by his rules.)

Contains: Pre-relationship/platonic Arthadow (Arthur the Hedgehog x Shadow the Hedgehog)! Lamorak (Jet the Hawk) and Percival (Blaze the Cat) are siblings! Gawain (Knuckles the Echidna) and Gareth (Mighty the Armadillo) are siblings! Gawain and Gareth are Yvain’s (Ray the Flying Squirrel) cousins! Kay (Scourge the Hedgehog) is Arthur’s adopted brother!

Rating: G

Word count: 2,252

Note: The close of the first chapter of Shadow’s stay in Camelot! C: Will there be more? Yes, because I have no self-control. C,:

Reminder of characters: Sir Kay is Scourge the Hedgehog! Sir Gareth is Mighty the Armadillo!  Sir Yvain is Ray the (Flying?) Squirrel! Percy is Percival the Squire, aka Blaze the Cat! 

All chatter ends and the courtyard is deathly quiet as everyone collectively holds their breath, certain they must have misheard Shadow just now… but the black hedgehog doubles down.

“You heard me,” Shadow repeats, turning to face Gawain with a challenging arch of his brow, “Lancelot can keep his Queen- I’ll take the King.”

“What!?“ Half a dozen voices cry out at once. Arthur barely manages to contain his own surprise, whipping his head to look at Shadow so quickly he almost flings the circlet off his head. 

Shadow does not flinch under the heavy weight of the stares, cool and determined with a haughty hand on his hip.

“Shadow,” Arthur wishes he had a moment with Shadow alone to explain what the black hedgehog was getting himself into, tenting his hands in front of his face thoughtfully, “Once again, I am asking you to reconsider this request. That is no light commitment or task. Are you sure this is what you truly want?”

“I’m going to prove that I am superior to this Lancelot in every possible way,” Although Shadow says Lancelot’s name, the challenging glare he levels in Arthur’s direction indicates that Camelot’s king is included as well, “By the end of it, all of you will be comparing Lancelot to me.”

“You are completely mad if you think the king will accept such outlandish demands!” Gawain is so worked up he throws his hand out, hitting the unfortunate Sir Yvain in the chest with his barbed knuckles. The yellow squirrel is knocked off his feet and into Sir Gareth behind him, who barely manages to keep them both upright, “Who are you?! What are your designs on our king?! Are you a spy or assassin?!”

“I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the world’s ultimate life form,” Shadow is arrogantly self-assured as he literally turns his nose up at Gawain, “Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t care about you or this kingdom. And if I wanted your King dead, there’s nothing you could do to stop me!”

“You churl-!”

It’s very clear that Shadow and Gawain are about to start slinging hotheaded boasts, vicious insults, and blows again. But before Arthur can try to restore order, aid comes from an unexpected source.

“Hah! You are a saucy one!” Sir Lamorak’s squawk of laughter shatters the tension like ice, pushing past Gawain to stand directly in front of Shadow. 

“Brother!” A small purple cat darts out from the crowd, grabbing onto the hawk’s hand and giving him a stern shake, “Do not be foolish!”

“I know what I’m doing, squire,” Lamorak hisses at her, low enough only those nearby can hear him, shaking himself free and pushing the child behind him, “Watch and learn, Percy!”

‘Percy’ gives a loud, annoyed groan as she stomps her foot irritably, sulkily crossing her arms and watching her brother with an incredibly unimpressed expression. Who was this girl, again? Lamorak had asked if he could bring his sister in as his squire, but that had been only a few days ago and she wouldn’t have been able to make the journey so quickly, could she? She also seemed a little too young to be a squire… 

Lamorak flips his visor up with one hand as he looks down on Shadow with a condescending grin, “Do you have any idea what you are asking for? Do you really think an untried knave without any weapon or armor of his own has a chance?”

Shadow is coolly defiant, eyes boring into Lamorak ferociously, “I don’t need anything but my bare hands to beat you.“

Lamorak’s grin falls immediately, and his hand reaches to the scabbards where his twin swords are sheathed on his back-

“Enough!” Arthur steps in before Shadow manages to make more enemies, putting himself between his combative guest and his strongest knights, “Shadow is new to the realm and not familiar with its customs, and yet you treat him with great hostility! Where is your courtesy? Your patience? This is a most inhospitable way to treat my personal guest!”

Arthur hates having to use his authority like this, he really does, but Shadow is going to wind up as unpopular as Kay at this rate. 

The stunned silence lasts only a moment. 

“Your guest!” Gawain sputters indignantly, gesturing at Shadow like he doesn’t know what else to say, “Your guest!!”

“My lord,” Gareth puts his hand on Gawain’s shoulder, choosing his words carefully, “It is most unusual to have someone enter the kingdom with the visage of one of the round table’s most illustrious and well-regarded knights-”

Kay blows a dismissive raspberry, smiling when the armadillo gives him an annoyed side eye. Gawain leans over his brother’s shoulder to give the green hedgehog a full on glare.

“And it would be imprudent to rush into something like this without considering all potential factors and viewpoints,” Gareth finishes primly, bowing his head respectfully as he meets Shadow’s eyes, “While still giving Sir Shadow the same opportunities we would extend to every other child of Camelot.”

“You cannot be serious!” Gawain turns to his brother incredulously, “He disguised himself as Lancelot!”

“I have no need to disguise myself as anyone!” Shadow’s eyes narrow as he takes a step toward Gawain.

“Enough, enough!” Arthur massages his forehead as he glances up at the sky, knowing that this argument will cost him the rest of the morning. He will be struggling to meet all his daily obligations at this rate, and will likely be working late into the night... “I will hear your arguments in the great hall at the round table- after we break our fast.”

Before anyone can say anything else, Arthur turns to his guest, “Come, Shadow the Hedgehog, bringer of chaos! Before you end up creating blood feuds with the entire round table!”

Shadow doesn’t look the least bit chastised, incredulous and amused as he gives a flippant shrug, “Fine by me.”

“With these jests, it sounds like you’re better suited to the role of court jester!” Lamorak laughs boisterously, arms crossed over his chest as he grins mockingly. His squire stands behind him, less than enthused at her knight’s actions, but doesn’t say anything. She simply grips onto his tail feathers and digs her feet into the ground below, trying to physically keep him out of the range of Shadow’s fists. 

“Have you any more?” Lamorak jeers, obviously trying to get back at Shadow for that earlier insult. (Even though the brash hawk brought it on himself. Again.)

The air around Shadow turns positively murderous, and he flexes the fingers of his right hand as he brings it up mid-chest, “How about a magic trick?

Sparks crackle around his fingertips as he looks at Lamorak over his shoulder, eyes narrowing like he’s honing in on a target.

“I can make you disappear-“ Shadow starts to say, bringing his hand down in a vicious arc-

That Arthur jumps in to stop with his hands. The strange energy spreads through Shadow’s fingers and into his own, leaving behind a tingling sensation that seems to seep into his skin and to his very bones. Arthur lets go quickly, but it travels up the length of his arm and into his shoulder before radiating through his entire body.

“My Lord!” Half a dozen voices cry out at the same time in dismay.

“It’s nothing!” Arthur doesn’t have any time to dwell on any of this, even as his body seems to buzz with the energy. He wants to shake his hand out, but he knows that will just worry his knights, “I said this will wait until after breakfast! Be still, all of you!” 

He grabs Shadow’s hand tightly as he ushers his taciturn companion forward, as if afraid the black hedgehog is going to run off and punch someone else in the face. (Which seems very likely at this point.)

 “Come along!” Arthur’s hand buzzes where it touches Shadow, even through the fabric of his glove. He half expects the dark hedgehog to push him away, and is surprised when Shadow’s hand squeezes him. But painfully so, like this is a challenge he can win while making sure Arthur doesn’t let go. The king glances back as Shadow, curious to see why the prickly hedgehog would touch him without a clear purpose- when it becomes clear this is a calculated power play.

Shadow is staring Gawain down, using this simple gesture to establish himself in the king’s entourage, annoy the echidna and the other knights who regard him with suspicion, and show his clear disregard for hierarchy of the court. For some reason, Arthur is disappointed… but he pushes that feeling aside immediately. Shadow would be a fool if he did not use the king’s political and social position to his advantage.

Arthur pulls Shadow towards the now doorless archway, whispering as he discreetly elbows the black hedgehog, “What are you doing? I don’t know how it works in your world, but you’ll accomplish more with friends in Camelot’s walls rather than enemies!”

“I don’t need friends,” Shadow gives Arthur a flat look, answering loudly as he glowers back at Lamorak, “And if you want to keep yours in one piece, they shouldn’t start what they can’t finish. I don’t like leaving loose ends.”

Arthur rolls his eyes in exasperation as he hurries through the corridor, ear swiveling backwards to pick up on the disgruntled chatter that is naturally amplified by the stone hallways. Shadow’s combative attitude and abrasive demeanor are certainly not doing much to endear him to anyone.

“You don’t seem to like casual conversation or friendly advice either,” Arthur quips back, shaking his head, “And certainly not comfortable beds. What of mead and bread? Do you like that?”

“You're starting to irritate me, hedgehog-” Shadow answers back automatically, annoyed, before blinking rapidly. He gives Arthur that look again, like he’s seeing him in a completely different light, “You are going to drink mead for breakfast?”

Arthur finds Shadow’s baffled confusion amusing, quietly chuckling to himself, “Would my new champion prefer wine instead?”

“Sure, why not,” Shadow lets Arthur open the door to the chamber himself, purposefully ignoring Gawain’s outrage and rubbing it in by refusing to let go of the king’s hand the entire time, making Arthur do it one handed. Arthur can’t remember the last time he’s opened a door for himself, let alone another person. It’s strangely thrilling, “Where does the echidna sit?”

“I sit in the red velvet siege,” Arthur nods at the plush seat with the crown carved into the wood above it, “And ‘Wain sits to my left-”

“Good,” Shadow doesn’t wait for Arthur to finish explaining or sit down, plopping himself in the seat to Arthur’s right like it belongs to him. It belongs to Sir Kay, who seems less than amused- but, in a rare move of self preservation, also doesn’t seem very keen to attract Shadow’s ire on himself directly. Arthur shrugs to his brother apologetically, making motions to an attendant by the door to bring another chair.

In fact, Shadow goes out of his way to make himself look as comfortable as possible, throwing his crossed legs over one arm rest and propping his elbow on the other, resting his chin on his fist. Incredibly bold… Arthur sits down quickly himself, hiding a smile behind a sip of his cup.

“MY KING!” Gawain yanks his chair out from the table so violently the wood cracks under his grip, splinters falling to the floor as he sits in it heavily and unhappily, “THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!”

Shadow stares at Gawain with a bored expression as he filches a piece of cheese from Arthur’s plate, popping it into his mouth as the echidna slams his hands back down on the table. 

Well, this is certainly turning out to be a very different and complicated day! When Arthur first rose this morning, he didn’t think he’d end up having breakfast with Shadow the Hedgehog sitting on his right hand side after causing a feud with almost half the round table. Or to have Gawain, one of his most powerful and influential knights, squabbling with the black hedgehog like a petulant child.

One of the many large and small problems he needs to solve... Arthur nibbles on a roll absentmindedly as he listens to Gareth’s argument from the other side of the table, pretending he doesn’t notice Shadow flick a piece of apple at the side of Gawain’s head.

He needs to nip the budding tension between Lamorak and Shadow before it leads to bloodshed… Lamorak is very pointedly glaring daggers at the hedgehog until his sister kicks him in the shin when he doesn’t pass her the jam quickly enough, and that quickly devolves to the hawk arguing with a literal child. 

Arthur needs to make Shadow’s self-appointed position as his champion palatable to the majority of his knights and advisors, many of whom are regarding Shadow with guarded suspicion over the rim of their mugs. 

He needs to find and check on Lancelot, whose absence in the siege at Gawain’s right is painfully obvious. And Arthur needs to soothe Kay’s wounded pride before his brother does something reckless and foolish that causes them all unnecessary grief. (Especially Kay himself.)

It was exactly as Sir Ector had warned- the secret wish of excitement in his heart had been answered in the most unexpected way. But Arthur has no regrets. 

Despite it all, he is eager to see how this new adventure unfolds.