#Hubert Stone

[petsincollections]

Caption: "Hubert Stone and his club pig. Shelby Co." August 15, 1927.

Alabama Cooperative Extension Service Photographs

Auburn University Digital Library

[stergeon]

> OTHER: Contrive some sort of SCHEME.

Oh, yes, this is very exciting. You love a good SCHEME, and it is marvelous to get to concoct one so early in the day. This bodes very well for how the rest of your day will progress.

Now it is time to play your favorite game:

“What could possibly happen?”

This is a very fun game where you attempt to devise every single possible series of events that could occur in the course of enacting your SCHEME. You play all of these scenarios out to their logical end and then some in order to guarantee that your plan goes flawlessly and that you have accounted for any potential risks. As you know, you are very good at thinking, and knowing things keeps your heartbeat regular and makes you not nauseous, so this game is one of your favorite activities.

You open up your JOURNAL and begin to take notes on your SCHEME. Since you are pressed for time, you do not delve as deeply into the potential scenarios as you usually would; although this unnerves you, you believe you have drafted sufficient options as to determine several effective courses of action. You wager you can exploit FERDINAND'S weaknesses for TEA and PHYSICAL AFFECTION to make him see reason and agree to attend BREAKFAST with you, ensuring he vacates your QUARTERS in a timely manner.

#008 | << | <- | -> | JOURNAL | HOW TO PLAY | ALL POSTS

[thesobsister]

Robert Frank, "NYC (Exile on Main Street)" (1958)

As seen on the cover of The Rolling Stones' album Exile on Main Street.

[midnight-rice]

Petition to bring back the archaic word "fere" as a gender neutral* term for a companion/mate/spouse. It has roots from the Old English word "gefera" roughly meaning "one who goes with another" and is pronounced "feer" which sounds like "Dear" which is already a term of endearment and is homophonous with "fear" so you can sound like an oxymoronic gay vampire or smth ("Hello my Fere >:)")

*the word "fere" was gender-neutral in English but has evolved into male-gendered words like "fuhrer" and "frere" in German and French respectively

[toc-battlequotes]

[A Pirate's Pride]

[Cunning Tactician]

[Twinshot Dualbladeist]

[chainreh]

they raised ferdinand death flags and then killed off edelgard instead wtf is this game

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Fallen || CL16

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x fem!devil!reader Summary: When a young driver wants to make a deal with the devil to get his greatest desire you find yourself forgetting what side of Heaven and Hell you are on. Warnings: supernatural themes, mention of deaths (Jules, Hervé & Hubert), angst, fluff WC: 5k

F1 Masterlist || Bonus Scene

16th October 2013 The kid had no business standing at the crossroads. What could a boy need so desperately that he was willing to part with his soul for it? But it wasn’t your place to question, merely to answer. 

The boy murmured to himself as he knelt on the gravel and started to dig with a pink trowel he had borrowed from his mothers gardening tools. The quiet mutterings brought you amusement as you thought of the surprise he would get when his doubt was proven wrong and you appeared.

He carefully followed the instructions inked on the page that had been torn from a very old book. He reached up to his dark hair with a small pocket knife and cut away a small patch before laying it in the hole he had made. Turning the knife on himself, he whined as he pricked the tip of his finger and squeezed it until three thick blood drops fell onto the strands of his hair.

You would usually laugh at the poor attempt of the incantation to call upon you but instead you sighed as you grew tired of the theatrics. 

“What do you want, kid?”

A small shriek filled the night as he fell back on his ass. “But…but…you…but…”

“Shit, you’re not even old enough to talk properly,” you said as you knelt down to his height. “Go home.”

His mouth snapped closed before scrambling to his feet and wiping the dust that covered his jeans. “Sorry, you gave me a fright. I was expecting…” he looked around and frowned, “never mind. Do you need help?”

“No, do you?” 

He looked genuinely concerned as he searched the dark road and you tipped your head to the side before you remembered that to a human you looked like a 21 year old. It didn’t matter that you had roamed the world for a thousand years, your physical form remained the same.

“I guess not,” he sighed as his shoulders slumped and he kicked his vans at the loose stones as he whispered, “it didn’t work anyway.”

“It was your pronunciation, Latin is a tough language. I’ll let you in on a secret, you can say the incantation in any language and it will work.” You leaned in closer and chuckled darkly. “The devil just enjoys torturing people.” 

“But…but…”

“Great, we’re back to that, are we?” You rolled your eyes and opened your palm, a ball of fire erupting into the night and the scent of sulphur lingering after the flame burned out. “What did you expect when you called me?”

“You…you’re the…dev…”

“Devil,” you offered as his face paled and he stumbled backwards. “Say it with me. De-vil.”

“You’re the devil? But you look like an angel.”

“More or less, there’s actually a lot of us.” You clapped him on the back and grinned when he jumped. “So what can I do for you, kid?”

“I heard you could grant wishes.”

“I’m not a genie, I’m a dealer,” you said with a shake of your head. “You tell me your dream and I make it happen, for a price.”

He chewed on his lip, his conscience trying to warn him it was a bad idea. “What price?”

You flicked your hand out and the piece of paper on the ground flew into your fingers. “You know the price. How old are you anyway, kid?”

“I’m sixteen, today actually.” 

“Congratulations!” You frowned as it didn’t sound quite right and he did the same. “Wait, it’s happy birthday, isn’t it? We don’t exactly have them since we are fallen, not born.”

“That's really sad.”

“Hell help me, you are an emotional one.” You pinched the bridge of your nose as you felt the waves of empathy rolling off the teenager. “Listen, I’m all up for taking souls, it’s my job and I’m pretty good at it, but you seem like a nice guy so I’ll help you out pro bono as long as you don’t cry.”

“Really?” His excitement was almost as infectious as his smile as he grinned at your offer and you could tell that with a few more years of growth and maturity he would be as handsome as those goody-good angels.

“Really. So what’s your dream? And don’t go all ‘Disneyland’ and that shit, make it big.”

“I want to be a Formula One World Champion.”

“Fuck, okay, I said big not gigantic,” you said as you cracked your neck and then your knuckles before rolling your shoulders. “That will take some time to pull off, but we got this, kid.”

“Charles, my name is Charles Leclerc,” he said as he held his hand out. “Do devils have names?”

“Of course we have names, but names have power and I don’t know you well enough to share mine with you.” You shook his hand and he jumped a little at the heat difference since the hellfire made you run hotter than humans. That same heat flickered up your spine as you felt another calling at a crossroad half a world away and so you stepped away. “I’ll check in once a year to see your progress.”

“Wait, that’s it?”

You laughed darkly as thick smoke began to gather at your feet where the earth was opening to your home realm. The teen yelped as a lick of flame encircled his wrist but the scar that appeared just as quickly healed so no one would know he had been marked by the devil.  “Goodbye, Charles.”

16th October 2014 “I wasn’t sure you would actually come, I thought you were a figment of my imagination.”

You stepped out of the shadows and looked around the modest home that should have been full of his friends celebrating his 17th birthday. The air was thick with grief and it made your back ache from the weight of it bearing down on you as you watched the teenager stand with his back to you at a bookcase.

“Maybe I am,” you murmured as you walked over to him and saw his eyes fixated on a photo. 

Placing the photo back carefully on the shelf he turned and you saw the difference a year had made. “I want to make a deal. My soul, take it.”

“Woah, slow down, Birthday Boy, you don’t know what you are offering.”

“I don’t care, I just need him to be alright.” Tears were swimming in his eyes as he grabbed your hand and squeezed tightly. “Fix Jules, please.”

Unable to resist, you reached out and touched the tear that ran down his cheek. Pain obliterated your chest, crushing your insides as waves of memories flooded your senses until you knew Jules just as well as he did.

For the first time since your fall a thousand years ago, you were envious of the angel you had been. You wanted to be the cause of his hope, but that wasn’t something you could give and you tugged your hand from his hold before they could blister his skin. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Bullshit! You are a dealer, you said so yourself.”

“That’s not how it works, Charles, I’m a devil. Don’t you see? The deals I make are selfish, the things people want for themselves. You want a miracle,” you sighed and felt the familiar ache where your wings once were, “I can’t do those anymore.”

“You got me into Formula Renault.”

“You got yourself there, kid,” you said as you stepped away. “I just whispered a few suggestions to people I knew would listen.”

It was a little more threatening involved but you weren’t going to let him know that. You hadn’t needed to do anything other than get someone to give him a chance since he had the talent to win all on his own.

“There has to be something you can do,” he pleaded, his green eyes swimming with tears.

You sighed as you stepped away, rubbing your temple as if you could actually get a migraine like a human could. “I can’t make any promises, but…let me see what I can do.”

You faded from the room before you could see the hope that filled his face and followed the memory of his visit to Jules, finding yourself in the shadows of a hospital room. The room was empty except for the young man laying on the bed, wires and tubes keeping his breathing steady. You were struck by the pain you felt and knew it wasn’t real but the lingering effects of sharing Charles’ memory of him, but that knowledge still didn’t ease the ache.

“Azrael, come down here.”

It only took a second for the angel to appear and she didn’t look pleased at being called away from her duties.

“You’re not an archangel anymore, you can’t just snap your fingers at me.”

“Obviously I can since you showed,” you pointed out. “I need a favour.”

“You don’t do favours,” she said as she narrowed her eyes.

“I do now. I need you to leave him alone.”

Azrael looked at the comatose man before reaching forward and touching his forehead and shaking her head. “He’s one of ours, he has to come with me soon.”

“You have no sense of time, whatsoever. Soon could be 50 years from now.” You crossed your arms and stared the death angel down. “I’ll deny three souls in exchange for his life.”

“You’d turn down three deals for Jules? Who is he to you?”

“No one, but he means everything to someone else. Do we have a deal?”

“Deal, he has until I next come back down, no more.”

You nodded in agreement hoping her sporadic trips to earth erred on a lengthier time away this round. Unfurling her wings, you felt a pang of jealousy arise as you watched her fade away only to hear the strong beats of her wings carry her higher.

You aparated back to Charles and found him slumped in a leather reading chair, an album of photos open on his lap. Droplets splattered on plastic sleeves, only to smear into streaks as he wiped them away at your arrival.

“I bought him some time,” you said softly as you fell into the seat opposite him. “I can’t say how long because I don’t know but for now he will live.”

Charles dropped the book as he fell to his knees and clutched your hand tightly, the gesture making you uncomfortable. “Thank you,” he choked as his tears hit your knee through the rip in your skinny jeans and turned to steam. He didn’t seem to be affected by the heat radiating off you, he didn’t seem to feel it at all as he closed his eyes and rested his head on your joined hands. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet, kid,” you said ruefully, pulling your hand back from the touch. “Healing was never my gift. He will have to do that on his own.”

“He will, I know he will,” Charles said with certainty as he rose to his feet. “He’s the strongest man that I know.”

You stood up with a nod and realised this year he was the same height as you, seeing eye to eye after his latest growth spurt.

“I hope you are right,” you said, feeling the floor start to give way beneath you as you willed yourself home. “Until next year, Birthday Boy.”

Charles’ nose wrinkled at the smell of sulphur filling the room and he stepped back at the sight of the black plume swirling around your boots. “You don’t have to wait a year, you can visit anytime.”

“Have you forgotten who I am?” you laughed as the smoke climbed higher.

“Just because you’re the devil, it doesn’t make you bad,” he said with a shy shrug. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me.”

He was right in the fact you had been kind, something no one else would say about you. You couldn’t explain why you were different with him, why you couldn’t treat him like any other advantageous young man wanting to get ahead. There would surely be hell to pay if word ever got out about it.

The smoke reached your throat and pulled you down. “Maybe I made a mistake.”

16th October 2015 Charles would never know it but you had visited him throughout the year. You had kept to the shadows, watching from afar as he graduated to Formula 3 and came one step closer to reaching his dream. You were there by his side when he received the phone call that had devastated him, you had felt Azrael’s presence on the mortal plane and immediately went to him. You didn’t reveal yourself, not when the gut wrenching sound he made had you hate having fallen. You could offer him nothing so you remained hidden, torturing yourself with the knowledge of what could have been.

It was a little before midnight when you arrived at the busy nightclub. You should have just apparated into a bathroom stall but instead you had to produce a fake ID so the bouncer would let you in.

“Guess I can’t call you kid anymore,” you said as you found Charles in the VIP area and took a seat beside him. “Happy Birthday.”

“Who’s this angel, Charles?” his friend asked with a confident grin.

You tipped your head back with a laugh before you recovered enough to say, “You’re barking up the wrong tree there, but you call me D.”

Charles nearly choked on his drink at the snort he gave. “What are you doing here, D? I don’t remember inviting you.”

You leaned closer to see his cheeks flushed pink with the alcohol he was now legally allowed to imbibe in and whispered, “There’s only one place I need an invitation, and despite the name on the door outside - this isn’t Heaven.”

With a huff of annoyance he stood up and made his way out of the VIP area to the packed dance floor. Knowing everyone was completely inebriated you didn’t bother to follow him, instead you suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Leave me alone,” Charles growled as he turned his back, but everywhere he went you were in front of him.

Finally he gave up escaping and you shoved a hand on your hip as you asked, “What’s your problem?” 

“My problem? You lied to me, that’s what!” The drink in his hand spilled over the rim of the glass with the angry shaking overtaking his body. “Jules died…and you weren’t even there. You never visited me and…I needed you. I needed to know why!”

You took the glass from him and tipped the liquid back, relishing the burn of the alcohol down your throat as he stared daggers at you. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, mortal.”

“Well, we never made a deal, so there’s no need for you to be here, devil.”

The words hurt more than you cared to admit and the glass shattered in your hand, ichor flowing from the wounds before they could heal as quickly as they came. Charles' eyes widened at the dark liquid coating your palm and he almost looked worried for you but you weren’t looking at him. Your eyes were fixed on your heels, the shoes uncomfortable compared to the boots you normally wore but you had wanted to fit in. For him.

“You’re right,” you muttered as you freed your hair from the constricting hair tie and kicked the shoes off. There was nothing to be done about the tight red dress until you were home, but you would be there soon enough. “Goodbye, Charles.”

16th October 2016 Try as you might, you couldn’t stay away. Unbeknownst to Charles, you regularly checked in to see what his latest accomplishments were. As it was, he was leading the Formula 3 Championship and was a sure graduate to Formula 2. He raced like he had the devil breathing down his neck, pushing the boundaries to the brink of disaster.

Maybe he knew you hadn’t abandoned him, or maybe he just didn’t care. You knew you definitely shouldn’t have cared but still you watched him grow into a man and mature as his career evolved.

16th October 2017 You had nearly started another war the day Azrael came for Charles’ father. For three days you stood ready to fight the angel of death for Charles’ biggest supporter while he visited the hospital to say his goodbyes. He had lied to his father, telling Hervé that he had signed to a Formula 1 team for the next year and you promised to make it happen - with or without a soul to bargain.

It wasn’t a difficult task to achieve, a small incident with Pascal Wehrlein making a seat available in Sauber. All Charles had to do was keep his head in the game and go fast like he always did.

When you watched him celebrate his birthday his eyes had glanced around the room and you wondered if it was you he was looking for. It was only when those green eyes landed on a family photo you pushed the silly thought away, he was just missing his father.

16th October 2018 “How long have you been there?” Charles asked the empty room.

How he sensed your presence, you didn’t know, but since you no longer needed to hide it you let the shadows fall away. Turning away from where he had been styling his hair in the mirror, he leaned against the dresser and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

His room hadn’t changed all that much, Ferrari posters still covered the majority of the walls but they were also joined by some models posing on hoods of cars. The twin bed had been upgraded to a double and was covered in a red and yellow bedspread that clashed with your trademark black outfit as you lay across it.

“How often do you do that?”

“Do what?” you asked innocently as you stared at his ceiling and not his narrowed eyes.

He waved a hand over your leisurely state. “This.”

You got off the bed and stalked across the room to the Formula 1 racer and found you had to look up at him even with the heels on your boots. “Don’t mortals leave home by now? I thought the 21st birthday was some big right of passage.”

You reached for the tub of hair product and sniffed at the vanilla scent before it was swiped from your hand. It smelled edible and there was another scent that was just as good but you weren’t sure what it was or where it was coming from until you leaned closer to him and inhaled.

“I just bought an apartment but it’s not ready for me to move into for a few more weeks. Will you stop that?”

“What is that smell?” Your head was swimming as if you were high but that wasn’t possible. “My head…”

You could barely stand upright as you felt drunk all of a sudden and Charles caught you as you stumbled back. “Sit down,” he said softly as he guided you to the edge of his bed. “Why did you come back?”

Your head lolled onto his shoulder and the room spun as the truth tumbled from your lips. “I never left you,” you admitted, your words slurring as the intoxicating smell left you dazed. “Not when Jules died…or your father, never…”

Charles frowned as your eyes closed and you fell back on his bed. He had spent so long blaming you, being angry at you, believing you had abandoned him when he needed you most but as you murmured in your strange state he realised he had it all wrong. 

“D?” he called out as he shook your shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

You tried to open your eyes but they were too heavy and you curled into a ball as your stomach churned. “Because I shouldn’t care. You’re just a human.”

“But you do care,” he surmised as he grabbed the blanket and draped it over your shivering body. 

“Devils don’t care.” You could hardly talk through your chattering teeth, the blanket doing nothing to warm the ice that had seeped into your being.

Charles curled himself up against your back and tightened his arms around the blanket as he tried to warm you. Nothing seemed to work until his voice spoke softly in your ear, “Then maybe you’re not like the others.” 

The silence grew and he thought you had passed out when you muttered, “I had nowhere else to go.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was a war…couldn’t choose a side…threw me out.” A yawn silenced your words and you snuggled into his arms, your nose finding that delicious scent strongest on his neck where you nuzzled deeper.

“My cologne,” Charles whispered and you realised you had asked aloud what it was. “You’re like a cat high on catnip.”

“Haven’t been high since I had wings.” You giggled, a sound so unlike you, but it turned to a sad sigh. “I miss my wings.”

Charles brushed your hair back from your face but you didn’t have the strength to open your eyes. “What colour were they?”

“There isn’t a colour to describe them. But you can see it at dawn…look to the east…the last star in the morning sky.”

“The Morningstar?” Charles looked down to see your lips parted with a soft snore and reached into his pocket for his phone. There was no way he was going to leave you in the state you were in, not even for his own birthday party.

16th October 2019 You had thought Azrael had forgotten the deal you made but she made sure to remind you of it when she crossed paths with you at the Belgium GP. Charles’ head had snapped your way the moment he heard the crash and you shook your head sadly. The only reassurance you could give him was that the young driver’s soul was at peace. 

Before leaving with her precious cargo, Azrael had given you two months to keep your end of the bargain and you didn’t want to test her patience. The crossroads had been quiet and it took nearly the whole time to find three souls worthy of denying a deal, most people who offered their souls for their greatest desires deserved the eternal damnation in return.

As soon as your task was fulfilled you returned to Charles, to the only place you felt at home. After waking in his arms a year ago you had struggled with the duties expected of you, finding more and more excuses for the downturn in deals. After waking in his arms, you wanted to be more than what you were. You wanted to believe you could be more, like he believed in you. 

“D,” Pierre greeted as he joined you at the bar. “Still looking as lovely as ever.”

“Still the charmer.” 

His attempt to shift closer to your side was blocked by the heat radiating from you and he pulled back with a frown, brushing the oddity off in his tipsy state. “Where have you been?”

“Here, there, everywhere,” you answered absentmindedly as you felt Charles’ presence before you spotted him. “I travel for work.”

“Let me guess - modelling?”

“Dealing.”

“No way!” His eyebrow shot up and he leaned in to whisper, “Drugs?”

“Not quite,” you said with a laugh. “Something far more lucrative.”

Charles’ hand came to rest on the small of your back and his lips brushed your cheek. “Sorry I’m late, ma diablesse. What are you drinking?”

“I could do with a-” your voice trailed off as a fissure ran through the air and you turned to see what had just walked in the door. “Hold that thought.”

“What’s wrong?” Charles asked but you were already weaving your way through the crowd. 

Waves of power rolled off the beast but no one would see the tusks spearing out of its face or the black soulless eyes, they would merely see a mountain of a man and a vibe that warned them to move aside. 

“This is a bit out of your territory, Fowler. What are you doing topside?”

The demon looked over your shoulder and smirked. “Heard some interesting rumours.”

“And what rumours were those?”

“That some darling angel was caught up with a mortal, helping out for free. You know the rules. No soul, no deal.” Fowler’s hand snapped out and caught your throat, his claws threatening to tear it out. “Don’t forget who took you in when your family threw you out.”

“Fuck you, I’ve more than paid my debt,” you spat as you grabbed his wrist and seared his skin with the lick of your flames. “Don’t come and threaten me.”

“I don’t have to threaten you,” he chuckled as he cradled his hand to his chest and looked past you to where Charles was pushing his way to your side. “Mortals are so weak, a little accident is all it takes.”

There was no way you could let Fowler return to Hell with the information he had, your weakness, so you did the only thing you could to protect Charles. You rushed the demon as the ground opened, disappearing into the pit with him before Charles could follow. You called all of your power and funnelled it into your fire, pouring it down the demon's throat until he was smothered by the flames and a smoking husk that turned to ash as you crashed to the ground. 

“Morningstar, what is the meaning of this?” 

You bowed to Beelzebub before kicking away the ash that had settled on your boot and painted a dark smile onto your face. “He interrupted a deal, I couldn’t let that grievance go unpunished. Or did you want me to forgive him?” You challenged him with an arch of your brow until he huffed a sigh and waved the question away with the whip of his tail. 

“So where is the contract for the soul?”

“Did you miss the part where I said he interrupted the deal?”

“I’m not sure if I liked you less as an angel or not,” he uttered from his throne of skulls. 

“I have that effect.” You started to leave the way you came but a chain snared around your ankle and locked into place before you could escape. 

“Not so fast.” You were thrown onto your ass as he yanked the chain and dragged you to the foot of his throne. “I find myself short of an enforcer,” he said as he looked pointedly at the pile of ash you had created.

“So find another,” you growled as you tried to melt the chain but it merely absorbed the heat you poured onto it, “there’s no shortage of brainless fools ready to serve you.”

“But look how that ended,” he laughed. “How about a deal? Ten years as my enforcer for your freedom.”

Freedom. Ten years was nothing, just a blip to an immortal, but you weren’t thinking of yourself. You were thinking what ten years would be for Charles. Would he have a wife and kids? Would he have won his world championship? Would he remember you?

“Two,” you countered.

“Five.”

“Deal, but on one condition.” You stopped fighting the chain and rose to your knees. “I want a soul.”

16th October 2024 You were beyond exhausted when you stumbled into the bedroom, using the last of your strength to find your way back to him. The last five years had been brutal and it was a miracle that you had survived to complete your end of the deal, much to Beelzebub’s chagrin. The bastard had thrown every impossible task your way but you had something he could never understand, hope. And it kept you fighting to the bitter end. 

You crashed onto the bed as your legs gave out and he leapt up at the intrusion, the bedside lamp lighting up and illuminating his silhouette as he stared at you wide eyed. “Ma diablesse? You came back…”

“Always, Birthday Boy.” You reached for him, needing to feel him with your own two hands after missing him for five years. It was his face that had kept you alive and you cupped his jaw to pull him closer only to freeze at what you felt. “Charles?”

“What? What is it?” he asked with panic as he placed his hands over yours, holding them tight to his cheeks.

“You have a beard,” you whispered, turning his face to the side to see the styled hair on his jaw. “When did that happen?”

Charles laughed and pulled you into his arms, burying his face in your neck as he crushed you against his chest. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

“I would have been back sooner but I made a deal with the devil.” You reached into your pocket and pulled out an unassuming medallion. “A soul, my soul.”

Charles frowned in confusion as he trailed a finger over the symbols of an ancient language long forgotten. “What do you mean?”

“No more devil deals, if you’ll have me, I would be human.”

Shock rippled through his features. “You would give up immortality for me?”

“Hell is an eternity without you,” you said before you pressed your forehead to his, sharing his breath of life. “And if I never make it back to Heaven at least I will have had a moment of it here with you.”

Bonus scene here.

[banhthitheo]

Ferdibert week on twt: AU.

FF7 AU Hubert is an agent of The Knights, the special ops bureau of the Seiros Inc, Fodlan's biggest energy company, assigned to hunt down rouge SOLDIER Edelgard.

Unknown to Seiros, Hubert is a double agent. He works with Edelgard to retrieve the Black Crest Stone so she can destroy Seiros's reign.

One day Hubert falls down the roof of an abandoned church and meets that annoying flower peddler who decides to become his bodyguard.

Byleth is Cloud but Hubert got to Ferdie first :)

[crows-of-buckets]

Edelgard was 18.

Edelgard was 18 and held the entirety of her future in her hands. She was 18 and alone, 18 and scared, 18 and angry.

Edelgard was 18 sitting at a desk. Her desk. The walls of her room at the officers academy felt just as much protection as they did a cage at that moment. The wooden floors creaked under the weight of her chair.

Tomorrow things would change. Her and Hubert would walk alone, and together they would face down former friends turned foes as they carved their bloody path.

They would face the professor.

Edelgard leaned back, tears blurring her vision. She was doing her homework. Why was she doing her homework? Tomorrow in the holy tomb she would plunge Fodlan into a war the likes of which no one had seen in centuries. Homework was the least of her concerns.

She would have to face the professor.

Byleth, the stone faced mercenary who threw herself in front of Edelgard with no hesitation. Byleth, who spent hours carefully guiding her students to their fullest potential. Byleth, who sometimes got pale in battle after a particularly rough fight. Not because she feared her own safety, but because she feared that any of her students had received more than a scratch. Byleth, who patiently let Edelgard explain her nightmares. Byleth, who watched her be crowned Emperor of Adrestia.

The first person in a long time that Edelgard truly cared about.

She had tried so hard to avoid harboring any affection for her professor - for any of the residents at garreg mach. And yet the ashen demon had carved a place into her heart, dragging her students to reside there alongside her. Edelgard felt her throat tighten at the thought of raising her blade at Dorothea- at Ferdinand, at Caspar, at Linhardt, at Bernadetta, at Petra. Over the past few months their antics had grown on her, and now guilt lumped in her throat. She would turn her blades onto them, her kind and slightly stupid classmates. They would follow Byleth, and Byleth would follow the Church.

It made her feel sick.

Long past the point of caring about her homework, Edelgard walked over to her dresser. Flowers- mostly from the professor- were starting to shrivel in their vases. How poetic, she thought that they too shall die the last night I am an ally to those I hold dear. She plucked a flower from the vase- a single rose- and sat on the bed.

There was no point in trying to sleep. Anticipation and anxiety coursed through her. Tomorrow she would have to be a different woman. No longer Edelgard, the imperial princess of Adrestia. No longer Edelgard, the flame emperor, or Edelgard, house leader of the black eagles.

Tomorrow, she would be Edelgard, Emperor of Adrestia, the woman who tore the land from it's fragile peace for the sake of her own ideals.

She pulled her legs up, laying her head on her knees.

There would be no sleep tonight. For Edelgard was 18, and she had a world to change.

Whether it be by herself, or with allies at her back, the Emperor of Adrestia had work to do.

[malsfefanfics]

FERDIBERT

Again? Okay, but it's some hurt. and no comfort.

Sand. Metal. Bile. As his body swayed over the floor, Hubert felt the blistering dryness of his tongue swollen in his throat. The cuffs around his wrists burned into his skin any time he attempted a spell. After the first three days, he'd given up trying to focus on his surroundings. They were the same. Mold growing on rotting vines curling around and up the stone walls. The metal grate of the cell was rusted, but still thick and study. You would need to be rather bulky to rip them off the hinges. Or just know a decent incantation to cause an explosion.

But such an explosion wasn't possible. Not with the guards around him. Not with these damned cuffs. He looked over at the guards, one of them showing off the blood stained dagger in his hand. It was the one from Hubert's boot. The very same one that had given him a lovely souvenir on his side just moments ago.

He'd been there for weeks, not long after a failed mission where his target somehow managed to get the better of him. And he'd come to the conclusion not long after, that he would probably die in here.

Still, better he than her Majesty, he figured. Better he than....

Closing his eyes, he imagined warm, honey gold eyes watching him from across the table. A vibrant smile as they laughed over tea. The shine of the sunset on those long, silken locks. As his mind faded to slumber, all he could hear the final words they'd said to each other.

"Return home swiftly and safely, Hubert. Promise me."

"I will certainly try."

"No. You must promise. Otherwise, you may not step out of this room. Or warp away. Promise me you will return home."

"....Very well. I promise."

He'd lost count of how many days he'd been locked away. He should have been home already. No doubt they were beginning to worry. He was probably sick with it. Knowing him, Ferdinand would be trying to rally a search party by now. A fruitless endeavor, to be sure.

I'm sorry, Hubert thought. I'm sorry for lying to you.

[howhow326]

RING THE ALARM

Miraculous Ladybug: season 4 Alya sugar fic (based on the Alya exposes Lila's secrets prompt that I made)

Alya pov

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"... Anansi has been rigging her wrestling matches! It's the only reason why she's made it as far as she has." was the only thing Alya needed to hear to send off alarm bells throughout her whole body. Why would Lila say something that wasn't true? Alya tried to correct her friend, thinking it had to be some type of mistake. At first, Lila was surpised her latest gossip target had a sister, but held fast to the truthfulness of her 'sources'. Alya tried to correct her again, and Lila got defensive over her friend 'attacking' her. Alya tried to fact check Lila one last time, then the green eyed monster finnally retaliated. All she had to claim was Alya harassing her and Kim, Nino, and Ms. Bustier swiftly came to her defence.

Within the blink of an eye, Alya landed in detention. Alone in her punishment, but togather with Marinette who had been a recent victim of the lying new girl. As her real friend comforted her, Alya finnaly realized her real mistake... how could Lila be friends with Maribug if she met her the same time as me? Alya finnaly gleaned the truth that Marinette had been warnning her for so long, and despite Marinette's affirmations of her being guiltless, Alya couldn't help but feel that this whole mess was her fault. What kind of journalist am I to be fooled by a school girl...

That's when a Light bulb appeared above her head. Alya is exactly the kind of journalist to solve this mess, and she will if it's the last thing she does. As soon as she got home, Alya began scowering the internet for every and any truth of Lila's claims. As she took more and more notes, she began to learn Lila's real specialty: half truths. All the photos she wowed the class of her meeting with Jagged Stone and traveling the world were real, but the "special connections" she claimed to have were all as fake as her hair. That was the real reason why Lila asked everyone to keep some of the things she said between classmates, it stopped anyone from reaching the truth. As Alya started getting ready for bed, Trixx whispered a devious plan into her ear. Normally, Alya would never agree to using the miraculous to spread a falsehood, but this mirage might be just what she needs to reveal the truth...

The next day at school was much the same; Ms. Bustier was forcing the class to write an eassy analyzing the theme of love in the popular children's book series, Hubert Porter, written by JC Bowling. Because of some of the research Alya did last night, she knew that Bustier and Bowling were the same person. She gussed that it isn't a crime to teach a class based on a book you wrote, but it was starting to get suspicious when Bustier did it three times in a row and ended each class by giving extra credit to the students who donated to the charity of her choice, a conservative group located in Florida of U.S.A.

"... and just the other day, Jagged Stone asked me to come with him on his latest tour! He got so sad when I had to tell him no!" Lila lied. Alya was almost impressed with how good the Italian was at doing it; Jagged went on tour just three days ago, but Alya was sure that he never asked Lila to come with him. Now's the time, Alya thought to herself. She go out of her seat and confronted Lila.

"Do you have any proof that Jagged Stone asked you to come with him on his tour" Alya flatly asked. Marinette got up to reel her back, but Alya gave her a look that said she has everything under control. Of course, Lila pulled her usual: she claimed that Alya was bullying her and that she just wanted to be friends. Kim jumped to her defence, as Lila filled the void that Chloe left when she went on extended vacation with her grandmother. That void being "evil chick that he can make googoo eyes at". Nino, who had started to hang out with Lila more then he was around Alya by the day, also jumped to the Italian's defense. He lectured Alya on all the ways he was "disappointed in her" and the like. Just as Ms. Bustier was about to send Alya to detention, she pulled out her trump card. "Lila's lying, and she admitted to it here!" Alta pulled out a voice recorder and pressed play. "If course I'm lying, and you can't do anything about it!" Lila's voice vindictively said.

And just like that, the class erupted into chaos. Nino got re-akumatized into Rocketear and targeted Lila for "breaking my heart". When it was over, the class all sang their swan songs to Marinette and Alya for believing some new girl over them. Except Nino, who seemed to think he was entitled to his girlfriend's forgiveness. Yeah no, their relationship is on hold and Alya is going to be too busy to come to the phone rifht now, but Nino was welcomed to leave a message. And he did. Like a lot. Alya regretted even making that suggestion. As usual, Ms. Bustier was the last person to get the hint and tried to punish Alya for (???) but this time Marinette came prepared. She discovered their lovesick teacher had fled Britain from a little too many taxes, and that was all that was needed to get her fired. After Alya learned that her choice of charity was a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist organization, she considered it good riddance.

And as for Lila, she quitely disappeared like she usually did with no sign of coming back. Good, Alya thought to herself, no one messes with my friends and gets away with it. To make sure no one forgot, Alya posted her experience onto the Ladyblog, where the truth would be known for years to come.

I challenged myself to use less dialogue in this fic and I hope you enjoy it!

[ghostclangen]

This would be much easier if Fireflash actually knew his way around the inner parts of the Cavern. He’d been out there a few times, sure, but there’s not much reason to be very far back, and his surroundings get less and less familiar as he goes. What if he gets lost? What if nobody finds him? What if ���

He shakes his head to dispel the worries, knowing they’re just forced distractions from the matter at hand—completely irrational ones at that. He needs to work. Now, where would someone put a dead body …? “Where are you, Waterfur?” he murmurs. 

Countless gems jut out from the ground, making crevasses against the wall, and Fireflash hesitantly pads over to one to peer inside. No, nothing there. Well, it’s not like he was expecting it to be easy, but it certainly would have been nice. Not allowing himself to feel defeated, he darts over to the next one, then the next and the next and the next until his legs begin to ache. His pace falls to a trot, cursing the feline lack of stamina—where’s Hubert when you need her? She was almost freakishly good at it. 

After a while, the shock seeps out of Fireflash’s body, though not out of his mind. Perhaps it had been gone for a long time, actually, but he only notices when he feels a sharp pang of hunger from his stomach. Ah, right—he hadn’t eaten since the day before; no wonder he’s slowing down so quickly. Fireflash curses his traitorous body and sighs. “I’ll bet you anything there’s no prey in here,” he says to nobody in particular.

As if on cue, there comes a soft slapping on the stone floor, and Fireflash looks up to see a rabbit hopping across the clearing in front of him. He frowns, baffled. Since when do rabbits live in caves? Is he hallucinating from hunger? Still, an imaginary rabbit is better than no rabbit at all, and it’s not as if he’s an expert on caves. 

Fireflash drops into a crouch, moving further into the shadows to hide himself, then creeps forward. He catches flashes of the rabbit between the gems, and notices with a frown that its pelt seems particularly … sparkly. The light in the Cavern is different from anywhere else he’s ever seen, though, lit exclusively by the blue gleam of the crystals, so it’s probably just that, he figures. When he gets close enough to pounce on it, he slides out of the shadows and slowly slinks toward the rabbit and begins to wiggle his body in preparation.

The rabbit, of course, evades his grasp, hopping just out of reach as his paws touch the ground. Fireflash’s heart sinks for a moment, but his disappointment turns to intrigue as the rabbit just … doesn’t run. He falls back into a crouch and takes a step forward to match it, and just as he does, the rabbit begins to move again … But still not into a run. It simply hops forward. How odd.

As Fireflash presses onward after it, the rabbit matches him pace for pace, hopping just out of reach with every pawstep. Eventually, Fireflash straightens up into a normal walk, more curious than hungry now. He shouldn’t be letting himself get distracted, but as he continues, he finds himself more and more obsessed with whatever’s going on with this weirdly oblivious rabbit. Maybe he’s hallucinating and delirious.

The rabbit continues a straight path back into the Cavern for a while, but makes a sudden left turn just in front of a wide stream that flows through the middle into a pool. Fireflash takes a moment to admire the beauty of the shimmering water before he continues after the rabbit. It sneaks into a crevasse between two gems, and the two of them come out on the other side onto a trail leading upward, hidden behind a bend in the cave. The path curves around the side of a cliff that juts out above the stream ahead of them—the cause, Fireflash realizes, of the sound of a waterfall that had been growing stronger in the background of his senses. With a smirk, he imagines the rabbit simply wanting to take a look at what’s sure to be a gorgeous view. 

And it is: as he reaches the peak and pads to the edge of the cliff, Fireflash’s curiosity turns to awe at the sight. The water flows magnificently down the front edge into the stream below, the foam sparkling like shards of diamond in the gems’ silver-blue glow. He finds himself unable to keep back a gasp. He turns to the rabbit, who’d stopped beside him, to give it a joking ‘thank you’, but frowns; it seems to have disappeared. He looks around, confused. The sound of the waterfall must have drowned out the quick pawsteps as it retreated; still, where did it go?

As he surveys the area, an odd feeling grows in the pit of his stomach—hot the hunger, but something else. It takes him a moment to identify it, but he eventually realizes: something is magnetic here—not literally but figuratively. Something is drawing him somewhere in particular. As he tries to focus on listening to his gut, Fireflash finally figures out where exactly his attention is being drawn: an unassuming blue gem about fifty feet away. 

He walks toward it, then starts to trot, then to run. He pauses in front of it, then, his suspicions growing, pads slowly around to the other side and gasps.

In front of him lies the yellowed skeleton of a cat.

“Do we really have to bury her with the others?”

Marshlily claws at the soil of the burial ground, side by side with Fireflash, but stops when he speaks up. “What do you mean?”

“It just feels wrong. I mean, these cats are our clanmates, and Waterfur …” Fireflash looks to the pile of bones placed a few pawsteps away. “She’s the reason some of them are dead. She’s the reason my sister is dead, Marshlily.” 

Marshlily follows his gaze, her eyes taking in the nooks and crannies of the skeleton. The bones had crumbled a bit when they transported them, and they’re frail and yellowed; she can’t bring herself to be afraid of them, even knowing the deadly power they’d once held over her. Right now, Waterfur is just … pitiful. Saddening. “I don’t think she even meant it,” she says. “Nettledawn said she was hardly even a cat, just a wild bundle of emotions.”

“Those emotions killed Cobaltshine!” Fireflash says, glaring at her. “And they killed Charredtail.”

Marshlily winces at the reminder. That’s true, but … “I’m just- I’m finding it hard to blame her,” she says, choosing her words carefully. “I know I should be mad, but nobody would ever want that for themself, right? I don’t know much about ghosts, but surely that’s true.”

Fireflash wags the stump of his tail in frustration, but says nothing more, though his paws move halfheartedly, letting Marshlily do almost all the work. 

Though it takes a long while, the grave finally gets carved out of the frozen ground, and Marshlily sighs in relief. As she carries the bones over to it, though, cradling a femur gently between her teeth, a feeling of uncertainty begins to curl into her stomach. This can’t be the end of it, right? All those years of torment, wrapped up in one afternoon? It’s just too good to be true.

“Are you getting a bad feeling about this too?” she asks hesitantly as Fireflash places the last bone in the grave. “Not that we did something wrong, but that this isn’t the end?”

Fireflash looks to her, then back at the grave. “Well,” he says slowly, “I wasn’t until now.”

Marshlily shakes her head rapidly, kicking herself for speaking up. She’s just being neurotic. What else would there be to do? “No, no, it’s fine, I’m being silly,” she says quickly. “Now, let’s get this over with. And after that …”

“After that?”

“It’s time for you to be leader.”

[randomnameless]

My husband came up with this idea that made me see Ionius in a slightly different way: Edelgard mentions that the Empire "demands many heirs" in her Goddess Tower support w/ Byleth, hence why Ionius had a load of kids by different women. Normally I'd think "wow that's stupid, way to invite a power struggle after you're dead" but what if it's actually an Empire tradition? Like, Ionius maybe is the first Emperor in a while to try to consolidate power but maybe only one of many to have a ton of kids, AND the reason is not only to have a kid with a Crest, but that the Slitherers practice Crest experimentation on each generation of heirs with the hope of creating a two-crested Nemesis clone to help them kill off the Nabateans. Ionius just happened to be the survivor of his batch of siblings. Maybe having 10-11 kids is to make sure that some of them will live long enough to be the next Emperor, and that's why the "Empire demands many heirs."

Oh!

FWIW, the Index of Imperial Nobility mentions how House Vestra is supposed to "coordinate things such as Imperial Consorts", adding to that how House Vestra has been at the Hresevelgs' back since the danw of the Empire, yeah, we can make a pretty good case that Adrestia has a long standing tradition of, uh, imperial consorts and all.

It can be seen as dumb because it invites power struggles, but it avoids the issue that could very well have happened with the Kingdom, aka Dimitri ded = the King's direct line is dead and it's chaos because one of the first duties of a King/Emperor/Leader under those kinds of hereditary systems is, well, to secure a heir - the lineage cannot be broken!

(that's where we usually have sekrit heirs popping up from nowhere in some kinds of stories, or bastard children !)

Having multiple Consorts - thus a large number of heirs - makes it sure that the line will not be broken as easily as, idk, a baby choking on a pretzel or a serious flu.

However, as Hanneman mentions in Hubert's support, having dozens of consorts means creating dozens of families who suddenly have to get some privileges bcs the Emperor is figging their daughters - and depending on how powerful those families are, if the Emperor obviously favors one kid over the others (or pisses on one over the others) one of those families might not be happy and start shit in the Empire - taking more and more consorts means shaving little by little the power of the Emperor in Adrestia!

(and guesses who spearheads the insurrection? Arundel, one of those "consort kin"!)

The topic of Ionius' 11 children is sadly forgotten by the plot - but iirc Word of God said the Ordelias (Lysithea) were experimented upon as a test, and when the Agarthans had, uhhh, conclusive results, they experimented on the Hresvelgs.

Given who was in charge when Ordelia was ran over by Adrestia - even if no character mentions the consequences or make a link because you have tea bags to sell - imo it would totally make sense that Ionius killed two birds with one stone : flexing his underdeveloped muscles at peons who helped people who dared to betray him, and getting guinea pigs for his plans to get the strongest Emperor ever.

Bear in mind that the Ordelia fuckery was done before the Insurrection aka, Ionius had this plan before Ludwig'n'co decided to depose him!

(Was Vestra aware of what was going on? Who were the Agarthans working with Ionius? Is it a situation à la Manfroy'n'Arvis, people disapproving of the Emperor listening at shady people?)

The Ordelia experiments leads me to believe the plan to become "super strong with dual crests" was hatched and developed during the Ionius era, but again, the game is so crappy at lore building that we don't even know if Ionius had 10 (legitimate) sibs, or only 5, and what they are doing when Supreme Leader is running the show, or did when Ionius was defanged.

Granted, we don't know since when Agarthans are slithering in Adrestia - if we believe the "Willy's sekrit history" was tampered with and assume Supreme Leader was telling the truth, that it was passed down in generations, maybe Agarthans were slowly manipulating Adrestian Emperor to get their revenge on Nabateans (in Nopes, a book about the rebellion of the Southern Church mentions how the Emperor wanted to cut ties with the Central Church anyways since a long time, but doesn't explain why).

And so, maybe Agarthans devised several plans, that all failed, to make the Hresvelgs turn against the Church and be strong enough to be flattened in 5 seconds, and it only worked during Ionius' era ?

We will never know, but it's still fun to think and headcanon about!

To bounce back on the "Adrestia demands many heirs" thing, given how I am fond of a certain AU, what if

This came up as a reaction to the entire Lycaon debacle?

Wilhelm 1 picked a heir, his heir died "to a mysterious illness" and instead of assuming rulership or helping another heir to rule - like he did for Lycaon - Wilhelm bailed out of Adrestia.

It could be explained by Lycaon being the golden child and favourite kid of his dad, so if he's not the one ruling, Dad doesn't give a fuck anymore about his Empire... or -

What if Lycaon was Willy's only child, and the subsequent Hresvelgs are "cousins" or members of a branch family?

In that case, it wouldn't be Willy playing favourites, but bailing out because his own son "suddenly fell ill and died" and he wouldn't be as involved as he was in helping his own kid, if now we're talking about helping a great grand-nephew or someone else.

(Rhea would have had to give a transfusion to the subsequent Emperor - i name her by convenience Hildegarde bcs no imagination and it's faster to type than "the female emperor who succeeded Lycaon and dueled against Ferdie's ancestor who wanted the throne" - to make people believe there is a direct continuity between Wilhelm, Lycaon, Hildegarde and her future heirs).

In that "only kid" scenario, it would also justify why House Hresvelg became so obsessed with taking Consorts and having a lot of heirs - Adrestia was nearly left Emperor-less after Lycaon's death because they had no other heirs to pick a successor from...

[fantasyinvader]

The Japanese version really make sense of what happened to Byleth at the end of Flower.

Sothis's Creststone didn't just disappear, it is said to have shattered as the result of killing Rhea. Not in a physical sense, but an emotional one as it served as her actual heart alongside her various incarnations as Rhea tried to resurrect her. If he take it shattering as it being in pieces, it also makes it out that it left the incarnation of Sothis that knew Byleth behind, as according to the devs the gremlin isn't the Sothis that was.

This would also mean that Sitri didn't approve of Byleth helping murder Rhea.

Since being fused with Sothis is what allowed Byleth to access the Nirvana/Enlightened One class, the disappearance means that Byleth lost access to them, and since the Crest Stone is needed to use the Sword of the Creator, Byleth lost access to that as well resulting in them using the Sword of Seiros as seen in the Jeritza ending while the Empire lies about losing those powers due to an injury and Byleth continuing to use “their” sword to fight the Agarthans.

But there's another aspect of this, the Japanese name is Sword of the Emperor of Heaven, a reference to the mandate of heaven. The Emperor of Heaven oversees those who rule earth, deciding if they are worthy (oudou) or should be removed from power (hadou). In her S support, Edelgard says that she has walked the path of hadou, indicating that Byleth supported her hadou and as a result lost the ability to use that sword. The naming indicates that Byleth should instead have stood against Edelgard in order to uphold the Mandate.

Killing Rhea and replacing the values that Sothis taught with ideals that are implied to have been implanted by the Agarthans as part of their plot to get Edelgard to declare war on Rhea, and possibly doing so while presenting them as the teachings of Sothis considering Edelgard puts the Church under her control? Yeah, Sothis isn't going to like that. And if we look at the Agarthan text and the route specific endings for Flower, it gives an idea of what's going to happen in the future.

Byleth lost access to Nirvana, failing to break the cycle. As such, history repeats.

Endings where Caspar takes over the Imperial Army indicate that the army begins conducting expeditions (Dorothea's specifically calls it that), or to put it another way they begun undertaking missions in other countries, where they are either “sometimes reckless” (ENG) or “often out of control” (JPN). This would align with Edelgard telling Arundel she'll do all she can towards a world under Imperial control in Flower, and Azure Moon where she says there can be only one ruler of the world. Considering that the Imperial Army's motto under Edelgard (as spelled out by Hopes) is surrender or die, take no prisoners, that “often out of control” is worrying. But this would align with the Agarthan's own narrative that they spilled too much blood of their neighbors. Making matters worse is how that Petra's supports reveal that the Imperial nobility treated her like an animal, a parallel to how the Agarthans viewed non-Agarthans as “beasts.”

Speaking of Petra, she enters into an agreement of Edelgard allowing her country to be “independent,” though Flower exclusive endings reveal she moves to Nuvelle as a one-sided display of friendship between the two nations. Her Hubert support makes it clear that the Empire would crush Brigid if they were to ever raise their flag against Edelgard, so these endings point to Petra surrendering herself as a prisoner to keep her people in line as they really don't support the Empire, having locked up Imperial soldiers that Petra freed in her paralogue.

Meanwhile, in Fodlan, Hubert begins a secret war against the Agarthans while also putting down anyone deemed to be a threat to Edelgard, with the English text mentioning rebellions against her. He does it because, as mentioned, the Imperial Army is visiting it's neighbours. The Constance/Byleth ending indicates that through the long battle against the Agarthans, the Empire comes into possession of their technology, weapons, and blood magic which are all used to support Edelgard's reign.

It's possible that Edelgard begins using Javelins of Light on places that resist her rule, making them like the Valley of Torment. And we know that these weapons previously destroyed the world. All on top of an “often out of control/sometimes reckless” army slaughtering anyone who resists her like animals.

As previously mentioned, Bernie/Lin and Hanneman/Manuela show that Edelgard takes control of the Church, using it as a tool to spread her ideals of people relying on their own strength in order to become strong. She replaces the teachings of the Goddess with her own beliefs, aligning with the Agarthans viewing themselves as gods. And, of course, Edelgard is spreading her dogma to the nations she conquers, forcing her beliefs on them.

Going back to the using of Agarthan tech and blood magic, Edelgard appoints a successor then simply disappears from history. Considering that she wants the world her way, and likely has access to the means Agarthans used to jump from one body to the next in order to avoid death, Edelgard's successor is likely just her new body. The fact she doesn't put her own kids into power indicates at least some morals on her part.

The Agarthan texts indicate that Sothis has returned before, indicating she will again, Edelgard will turn her weapons against the Goddess, only to find them ineffective like Thales before her. As a result, their damage will destroy the world necessitating Sothis flooding the land in order to heal it. Meanwhile, Edelgard and her loyalists go into hiding, blaming the Goddess for what happened. Sothis heals the land, creates new Nabateans, spreading her teachings and goes to sleep again after exhausting her power.

Edelgard sends an assassin, and the waltz begins anew. The cycle of the world remains the same, unbroken.

[revelale]

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together. Credits to Neffi.

Name: lilly!

Pronouns: they/them.

Birthday (no year): april 4th.

Where are you from? What is your time zone? pst (gmt-8).

How long is your roleplay experience? well, i started when i was eight, so twenty? years now? embarrassing for me.

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? neopets, LMFAO.

How were you introduced to TOA? i'd just finished up the gd route for 3h when chuu, an old member, posted about a fe group on twitter. so, i dmed her and then asked about it and then delusionally manifested a blog and url in like roughly 8 hours. fun fact: prior to that, i'd only ever played one canon, lol!

Do you have any pets? yes, my awful little dog.

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) wiiiiinter. it rains the most and i can just get jackets to be warm if it's too cold.

What is your IRL occupation? used to be a journalist, now i'm? in product development for stationery, lol.

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? mostly handicraft stuff? i like building lego sets, assembling dioramas, doing puzzles. i started learning how to crochet yesterday! i'm very bad at it!

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? mostly jrpgs, but lots of puzzle-y indie games. i started playing sea of stars reeeecently, but haven't gotten very far on it. a metric ton of otomes, lmao.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: dragon, and dragonite! close runners up are bewear and ludicolo, lmfao.

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! i jokingly mumble "i'm thinking miku miku oo ee oo" when i'm struggling, but so my brother took that as "i really like hatsune miku" and now i have four figurines of miku just spread out in my room. i fear every time he goes to round one because i will just have another one.

How did you get into Fire Emblem? an old friend of mine told me to give awakening a try because she thought i'd like that i could date people, lmfao. it worked. NJKLRENGJKLRGR.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? eeeeverything post-awakening, short of three hopes. i also gave sacred stones a try and then got intensely mad when tana kept dying, so i stopped.

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: awakening, then rrrr. i haven't touched one in a while, so i actually couldn't really say.

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! inigo, fogado, hubert (toa pilled)—this is where i admit i don't actually have any favorites in game, but i do in toa, lmao.

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! sobbing, i don't have any. I'M A SHAM.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 naur, but i one day wish to experience chasing the high everyone else does.

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: chrom by curse, but olivia. - Fates: inigo. PARDON ME, LAZZY. tttheeen, idk. kaze. lmao. - Three Houses: claude...... and sylvain now. i love a man that's all red flags. it's a parade, not a warning! - Engage: pandreo................. still pandreo.

Favorite Fire Emblem class? PEGAKNIGHT SUPREMACY.

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? in my greatest delusions, i'd be an armored tank unit, but the reality is i'm probably the villager hiding in their house after you swung by to let me know something was coming to murk me/us.

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? golden deer, lmao. i just like their vibe.

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? wwww, i actually started doing archery recently and i'm not bad at it, so i think probably something in that vein for a boon ....... i'm also weirdly strong, so maybe gauntlets? lmfao. everything else is what i'd be bad at, rifp. an athletic creature i am not.

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? probably firene. it'd make sense for my name to be lilly, eh.

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔t-o-a, lmao.

Current TOA muses: shiro & pandreo!

Past TOA muses? cynthia, shigure, lon-qu, constance, bylad, kiragi, kinu—i forget all the other ones if any, oops.

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? cynthia! and maybe? lmao, she's evolved so much past her baseline in my head that i think it'd actually be quite difficult to pick her up again, but she also has such incredible capacity for interesting relationships.

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? clown, usually with depression.

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? oooof, really calculating and intellectual types! i'm not very good at it and my style of writing doesn't super lend itself to that because i tend to spell out their every thought, lmao. the only reason i could write constance is because she was simultaneously the smartest and stupidest person in the room at any given time.

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? oh, i'm a comedy relief writer first and foremost. any situation where i can put people into a yes-and context is fun for me. but, i am realizing i do really enjoy dramatic scenes too for character study and exploration.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? nnnnnot right now. i find that most of the spiciest moments i recall are ones that just happen by circumstance instead of planning.

Favorite TOA-related memories? on chapril, i got the mods and everyone else to change to chad icons when a new member abruptly showed up and i died laughing.

Present or past tense? present! past? i do both. king of tense changes that make no sense.

Normal size text, small text, no preference? no preference. i just use small text because i like lookin' at it.

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 if i entertain it for even a second, i will have to make the blog right now and i don't have time for that but god i want to.

[fireemblems24]

Scarlet Blaze Ch 12

Spoilers below for all Hopes routes up to Ch 12.

MAIN STORY

More backtracking.

I had Shez say we shouldn't return because I'm sick of backtracking. Hubert got mad at me. Ugh.

I also don't get why TWSITD wouldn't want Edelgard do take over. Isn't that like their plan? She does all the hard work then they kill her? Isn't Rhea's death #1 on TWSITD's Christmas list??

SIDE MAPS/CAMP

Ashe is still miserable, but no special words for Annette. I hope Mercedes does.

Marianne is actually motivated to fight this time. She actively dislikes fighting the Kingdom though. (Dimimari still alive)

Lamo, Linhardt doesn't give two shits about Edelgard's war, he just wants to go back to Enbarr and take a nap.

Petra also seems relieved she's fighting rioters and not Kingdom soldiers.

Everyone else - there riots, hung. This one random dude - so there's this dance competition

Mercedes wants to be left alone and pray for Annette. She should've known though that the Empire's actions are sentencing a sizable portion of Faerghus to death, right? I have less sympathy for her than Ashe, who was just following Dimitri's direct orders.

Hubert looks like such a try-hard with this new design. Sometimes I forget.

Hubert doesn't trust Shez. This is such a stark contract to AG, because Hubert thinks Shez will lose control and kill Edelgard and is threatening to kill Shez.

So there's another cut scene where they say TWSITD doesn't want Fodlan unified, but don't they in 3 Houses? Isn't the whole point of the experiments on Edelgard so she's strong enough to kill Rhea and take over Fodlan? Like, I get why they'd be mad that Edelgard kicked them out, but if they were smart they'd let her do all the dirty work and then just take her out and then profit without losing anyone. This whole, "TWSITD doesn't want us to unify!" really smells like bullshit bc of the backlash Edelgard got for siding with them in Houses. Now they're retconning it into "oh, no no, they don't want her to succeed!" Uh, yes, they do, that's what they spent years planning on. Makes no sense.

SHEZ & CASPAR B SUPPORT

They talk about training and how Caspar wants to surpass Shez in fighting ability.

Really the only thing of note is Caspar's persistence.

SHEZ & LINHARDT B SUPPORT

Linhardt is still investigating Shez's power, who has mixed feelings about it.

The problem is the power woke up when Shez was facing death, making it hard to recreate. So Linhardt just commits to studying Shez on the battlefield.

Linhardt is stone cold. After realizing he may not be able to study Shez's power he says he'll need to revaluate the value of their relationship.

SHEZ & BERNADETTA A SUPPORT

Their plans to help Bernadetta is not going well. Everything ends in chaos.

There's moments Bernie's anxiety is treated seriously in this support at the very least.

It ends with Bernie realizing Shez doesn't scare her anymore and that the way not to be nervous around people is spending time with them.

SHEZ & PETRA A SUPPORT

Petra tells Shez he can come to Brigid once it's over.

She hopes to increase trade once the war is over and thinks having Shez around will help.

It's pretty fucked up that Petra thinks the best way for Brigid to stand out is to comply with their oppressors until they "earn" their power or whatever. Recruited Petra is always better.

Shez tells Petra she's "every bit the leader the Fodlan ones are" like fuck off, we know that. Petra just owns it though. She's like, "no, I'm Brigid's queen." We love that for her.

I'm having Shez be as much of a dick as I can though right now (fuck this route for making me kill Annette, Gustave, Rodrigue, and Ingrid - the Black Eagles deserve worse), and this was the first time I felt bad.

HUBERT & MONICA A SUPPORT

The battle of the simps.

I really wonder what the writers were thinking. Oh, I know what the Black Eagles needs, another mage and another character who wants to suck Edelgard's toes! We don't have enough of either yet.

Monica insulted Edelgard's painting without knowing it was Edelgard's. This is probably the hardest trial she's ever faced (yes, it's probably worse than kidnapping and imprisonment for her)

Edelgard got offended. That girl can't take any criticism.

Monica aspires to be Edelgard's servant and is happy that the war she's causing may make that possible. Question is, does Edelgard want to put up with a stalker?

FERDINAND & DOROTHEA A SUPPORT

Dorothea has realized that she owes Ferdinand an apology. Finally.

Ferdinand really rides that line between cringe and endearing and right now I don't know what side of the fence he's on right now. He's shouting at Dorothea so he can keep a distance and giving her the chance to laugh at him if she wants.

Dorothea's embarrassed because everyone is overhearing this lamo. And people are assuming they're dating.

Poor Ferdinand is like Dorothea's still annoyed with me. Then Dorothea tells him he doesn't need to apologize, which makes him think she'll never forgive him, but it's actually because she has too.

They both get embarrassed when she tells him what's going on.

Honestly this is a WAY cuter version of the same story and a lesson in how much execution matters. I was all team Petra/Dorothea (and Ferdinand I didn't really ship with anyone), but now I like Ferdie/Doro too.

While I'm kind of bummed we basically got the same conversation, a rewrite really helped in this case so I get why they went that route.

MONICA & DOROTHEA C SUPPORT

Why did they have to do my girl Dorothea like this? Wasting one of her supports on Monica.

Monica is upset she didn't realize Dorothea was the songstress sooner.

So, Monica is a fan of Dorothea too.

Also Dorothea finds Monica unsettling. Same.

But hey at least Monica got through a conversation without saying Edelgard.

LINHARDT & CONSTANCE C

So is this about Constance being mad that Linhardt doesn't care about his noble status or about him investigating her condition?

Linhardt calls her for siding with the church over the Empire for a bit, but it was only for survival.

Man, Constance just makes no sense fighting for Edelgard. She wants to glory of nobility so awkward.

These two aren't having the same conversation. Linhardt is curious about her crest situation and Constance is going off about wanting to revive her house.

He just walks off after getting annoyed by her lol.

JERITZA & EDELGARD A SUPPORT

Jetiza likes the war because without it he'd be killing someone "less deserving" because Fuck You random Faerghus citizen. I guess they "deserve it"

Also, holy shit, dude acts like it's just inevitable that he murders

At least he wants to get arrested. Edelgard doesn't want him to get arrested.

My question is, did Jeritza go around killing willy nilly or just House Bartels? Because he makes it sound like he can't resist killing and just went and ganked whoever was unlucky.

Or was it that Edelgard recruited him right away and made him her personal guard dog?

MAIN BATTLE

Hanneman and Leonie, not who I expected.

I love how we only see mothers crying over their dead kids when it's TWSITD's attack that does it and not Edelgard's.

Edelgard says no more innocent lives lost today, which may actually be true since we're attacking TWSITD and not commoners from Faerghus.

Is there anything you can do about Leonie? She died of poison, but since it's related to Jeralt stuff, I'm guessing it's because I didn't recruit him? If I did, would she have gotten recruited?

Solon retreated. Annoying.

Hubert, who was a dark knight the whole battle, claims he doesn't know the magic TWSITD uses.

I forget how anime magic girl Edelgard's design is in this game. It's kind of weird.

I keep earning reknown, but I don't know what it does.

Duke Aegir and co seized a fortress. Time for Ferdinand to do something cool?

Caspar's brother is a prisoner.

Does this mean I get to put off fighting innocent citizens of Faerghus for another level? Because I prefer SB bored out of my mind than upset that I had to kill Ingrid, Rodrigue, Gustave, and Annette.

Leonie's dead too now. Geeze, SB is a bloodbath.

xxx