#OWAIN GOT IT ALL FROM HER!!!

[fore-seer]

SHE’S SOOOO SILLY I LOVE HER SO MUCH

[sieglinde-freud]

ohhh i j remember i pulled arcane ophelia when she dropped and just never fuckin used her… i ALMOST gave her tome to odin to fix him up, but…. hehewgahehe laurentttttt i have some shiny new toy for youuuuu come home baby girl come HOME!

[someobscurereference]

gotta ask, whats your favourite bizarre headcanon that has zero or maybe even negative canon backing/basis. mine is that ophelia is the result of a magic accident and only has odin's genetics

THIS IS THE FUNNIEST ASK IN THE WORLD AJDJSKSD LOVE THAT HC FOR YOU

I’m trying so hard to think of what would count as bizarre. I have so many AUs and so many of them are joke-y, lol.

OH WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED my hc that Owain once propositioned Gerome purely and only because he thinks Inigo would hate that they got action before he did and he was pissed at Inigo at the time.

[queer-ragnelle]

I'm honestly kinda disgusted by the way a lot of authors just seeped their misogyny onto Guinevere to make her so horrible, lol. effectively destroyed a lot of people's view of her and she gets blamed for everything?? people keep shitting on her, saying Lancelot should be shipped with "someone better" and I'm just really annoyed because.. Guinevere is horribly characterized by these weirdos authors 💀. It does not take much to portray her as a complex character while also not making her shitty on purpose because you don't like her for her affair, lol.

I love her so much and it's disappointing how she's been treated :(( which is why I'll never be able to hate Guinevere or her ship with Lancelot

My friend it’s honestly so exhausting at this point. It’s not even limited to writing Guinevere herself as insufferable, but writing other characters behaving worse toward her than they ever were in medlit. Arthur hitting and degrading her when he cheats on her? (Warrior of the West by M. K. Hume) Lancelot using her for political gain and never loving her at all? (Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell) Owain blocking her passage as she flees danger? (Legend in Autumn by Persia Woolley) Agravaine threatening to rape her? (The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf) Gawain threatening to rape her? (Guinevere by Lavinia Collins) WHO are these characters bro you got me fucked up!!! The subtext here is that the authors hate Guinevere (read: women) so much they’re willing to warp everyone around her to treat her like garbage!!!

“Guinevere is bad because she has sex outside marriage.” Yeah so does Arthur. He fucked his own sister. In the dark. Leading her to believe he was her husband. So there’s Mordred, but there’s also Loholt and Arthur the Less etc. Arthur has many bastards from his extramarital affairs. (Vulgate and Post-Vulgate) Yet he isn’t canceled. Hm. Wonder what the difference could be? Let’s investigate. Seems authors treat Morgause and Morgan similarly to Guinevere. Gee, what is the common denominator here? Meanwhile in medlit, Morgause didn’t commit any crimes—she didn’t rape Arthur to have Mordred, she never neglected her children, she never cheated on Lot, and she didn’t prey on young men, she had ONE consistent lover who was younger than her AFTER her husband died. And she was murdered for it. (Post-Vulgate) Yet every other author writes her as a rapist (The Once and Future King by T. H. White), child grooming (The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart), pedophile (The Book of Gaheris by Kari Sperring), trying to put one of her sons on the throne (many examples). Now, Morgan is evil. But not for lewdness, for trying to murder people. In literally every source. Hello. It’s very simple. These authors are ridiculous. They care more about highlighting their opinion that fictional women having sex is BAD than writing a good story. When there are plenty of actually bad things happening in medlit they could condemn instead. You know, like the misogyny? Burning Guinevere at the stake??? You couldn’t make this up. It’s the utter disdain for the material for me. Assuming these dumbasses are even reading the material. Write something else where I can’t see it. (To be clear, I don’t even hate all the books I listed as examples, but they are unfortunately examples.)

Thankfully I haven’t encountered the blogger discourse regarding this. At least not lately. My advice to anyone who sees people shitting on something you like is to block them. Just do it. Fuck that noise. It’s not worth it.

Also I have to laugh at ship discourse about Guinevere/Lancelot. Of all pairs! It’s so unserious. They’re not some random comphet duo from the newest tumblr trending fandom. They’re mythological characters from a medieval literary tradition. Lancelot was created for her. In the 12th century. That was 900 years ago. It feels juvenile to reduce them to ship discourse. Especially because the story is fluid, it can be reshaped to fit the author’s narrative. So if Guinevere sucks, it’s because they made her that way. This is the epitome of making up a girl to be mad at.

“Oh but in Knight of the Cart—” Shh stop talking. If you’re pulling out KotC like some “gotcha” about Guinevere’s treatment of Lancelot, then you’re lost, buddy. You may be seeking entertainment in the wrong place! Guinevere and Lancelot aren’t real. Nobody was “abused” because they’re characters, narrative tools, to tell a story. Guinevere is flawed. Nobody ever said she wasn’t. If that’s too much complexity for you then I don’t know what else there is to say.

Honestly? Nobody is obligated to like Guinevere. I think it’s stupid to dislike her but the real take away is—if you dislike Guinevere so much, hate her even, why the are you writing so poorly about her? She’s as old a character as Arthur himself. Show some fucking respect or get out.

Anyway I’m going to end this with a recommendation! Today I started the third book of Sharan Newman’s Guinevere trilogy. The first two, Guinevere and The Chessboard Queen were utterly AWESOME!! Lots and lots of named women, like Guinevere’s mother Guenlain, Cador’s wife Sidna and daughter Lydia, Guinevere’s handmaiden Risa, and so on. The one downside is Morgause and Morgan are your typical modern retelling baddies, but overall it’s two thumbs up from me. Many points of view, but Guinevere is fascinating and complex and most importantly she is beloved!!!!!! Really hoping it stays enjoyable through to the end. Miss Newman is still in print, so I encourage everyone to seek these books out at your local library or from your favorite bookseller. Here’s a quote from book 2, The Chessboard Queen.

[gingersnaptaff]

(Okay, so I know I said I was gonna do marriage laws and queenship stuff in regards to welsh laws - and I will! - but here is a nice, quick round-up about BARDS

*SHREDS ON A HARP*

Okay, so this is inspired by @gawrkin 's recent posts on bards because the laws surrounding them are SUPER FUN. And Wales LOVES LOVES LOVES their bards. (Myself included.)

Right, so, without further ado, ONWARDS.

*shreds harp aggressively again*

So the 'spurious triads' the author is referring to are presumably to do with IOLO MORGANNWG *ominous thunderclap*.

I shan't go too much into him as suffice to say, we gotta keep this shit SHORT, but he was a massive forger from Glamorgan (that's what Morgannwg means. It's his bardic name. Iolo is Edward.) who made up a bunch of triads and Celtic / medieval manuscripts including some of the Welsh Triads. Also, he is the reason why the Eisteddfod has the Gorsedd of bards.

So a mixed bag, y'know.

ANYWAY. They're very high-rank on account of being the literally Yellow Pages of Celtic and medieval Welsh societies. If you had a question that needed answering you'd ask a bard. They were like Google. They would know a man's lineage (and Welsh lineages are confusing. There were men named Dafydd ap Dafydd ap Dafydd ap Dafydd. No, I'm not joking.) battles, monarchs, myths, songs, stories. Anything.

And they had to SING. And play an instrument. Namely either a harp or a crwth.

This baby is crwth! It's a little like a violin but much darker in tone. They were extinct for a while but they've undergone a revival and they are FUN!

Also, the court bard had to SING to the queen about Camlann 'in a low voice.' I've heard various reasons suggested as to why and one of them is to remind her that Gwenhwyfar's infidelity was the main reason for King Arthur's downfall, but I think it's probably because of The Slap. Idk though. I'm just guessing, buddies.

Still, it's cool that the queen got a special sing-song.

Also, the bard being 'invested with a chess board' suggests to me that the game of Gwyddbwyll that Arthur and Owain play in the Mabinogion signals that they're bards. Gwyddbwyll being the type of chess the bards would've been familiar with. Plus, we know Arthur is somewhat of an amateur bard (Culhwch and Olwen being the prime example where he sings his terrible englyn about Cai to his face. Arthur, ur a fuckin BASTARD.) so it's in keeping with his character.

Also, I think it's adorable that the harp 'always descended to the youngest son.'

If you want a story that deals with bards and their privileged position in Welsh society and also wants ur heart RIPPED OUT may I suggest 'The Assembly of the Severed Head' by Hugh Lupton. It deals with a bard in a monastery after he's almost perished in a raid and the monks writing out the Mabinogion so they can give it to Llywelyn Fawr. It deals with war, love, loss, and also stonking good historical context. Also lots of poetry!!!!

Final fact: bards in Wales weren't wiped out by Edward the First. That's a fuckin myth. Don't come round here with ur fuckin myths. Old Longshanks has done enough already. May he eat shit.

(Also, Taliesin gets all the good rep but what about my boy Aneirin?)

Okay, BYEEEEE!!!!

P.S.: have an Eisteddfod chair!

[she-of-seidhr]

I have so many thoughts about The Rings of Power S2 SDCC trailer and some of the news that came out from the SDCC panel, but I am so unwell after watching it that I don't remember it all. Here's what I recall though:

The trailer is absolutely the best we've had of all their releases going back to S1. The difference is night and day. I like that this trailer has clear direction of what the general plot is going to be instead of just a bunch of clips that makes no sense whatsoever.

The Rhunic masks looked a bit futuristic to me. It reminded me of some background race in an MCU film, can't remember if it was in Thor 3 or Ant-Man 3, but yeah it looked a bit out of place and silly.

I really am quite puzzled at their insistence in dressing Gil-galad in gold hues when we have Pharazon and/or Sauron, or even the dwarves for that. I am hoping they are saving the silver and blues for the later seasons if we're not getting it now. That would look so striking since they went with the dark hair. Remember Thranduil's silk orange robe from The Hobbit? Now make it deep blue. Ah, a girl can dream.

I know this is a trailer so there's misdirection, but I wonder if that scene where Galadriel asks Elrond to promise he will not stop who I am assuming is Sauron is an indication that she's going to put up her sword (at least in S3 onwards) to do other things, bringing her closer to the Galadriel in the books in terms of character and also what we know she was doing during the Second Age. That will give Elrond and (as it should be honestly) Gil-galad the space to be the actual main protagonists along with the other prominent Second Age characters.

I wanted more of Cirdan instead of just a hand, and I got a different shot of his hand, this time going underwater. Exciting.

Entwives!!! I'm glad to see them featured, but I'm also terribly afraid they're going to show us how they were wiped out lost.

The Siege of Eregion looks fuckin' amazing. The shot of Sauron walking away with an explosion on the background? Sign me the fuck up.

Gil-galad's banners flying amidst the elven charge scene. Fuck me sideways.

Charlie Vickers was the best actor for me in S1, I have no doubts he will serve in S2. Owain Arthur, Charles Edwards, and Peter Mullan too.

I love Gil-galad to death but to be perfectly honest I kinda don't like how Benjamin Walker portrays him. That said, it definitely is also because of how he's being written. I imagine Gil-galad to still have warmth despite the burden of his position that has a 100% mortality rate.

Pharazon better not be fuckin' stabbin' that eagle.

Daniel Weyman's line delivery sounds so Ian McKellen, but I am still hoping he is a Blue Wizard. Then again, maybe he is just taking inspiration from the most iconic wizard portrayal we've ever had (that's not up for debate).

I know I said Robert Aramayo as Elrond is ok, but for some fuckin' reason I'm convinced that those curls is going to make him better in all aspects.

I love Elrond's hesitation about the Elven Rings because it deepens the mystery of just how much of everything we know so far has been by Sauron's design.

Really curious to see what Sam Hazeldine will bring to the Adar because he's got BIG shoes to fill. Joseph Mawle was born for that role. The subtleties and the quiet menace he brought to the Adar was just incredible.

Look, I like Tom Bombadil alright? But am I ever really hyped to see an adaptation of him onscreen? Not really.

Barrow-wights. Why, but yeah cool whatever.

I like that every ring has a different design and we're going to see all of them in their full glory.

Celeborn will show up, as he should. When and where, no idea but at least there's confirmation.

Glorfindel can show up. If I talk about this any more than I already have (although it's to my family members who don't give a single fuck about any of this), I would really start losing my shit.

Lloyd Owens who plays Elendil made some eyebrow-raising remarks in the SDCC panel in regards to Elendil and Miriel's relationship, so it has me worried about them going for a romantic route between the two. Theirs could be a story of friendship, loyalty, and steadfastness in the midst of all the unrest and danger, and it honestly cheapens the last scene they shared in S1, so I really hope they don't try any funny business with them.

Somebody did ask the showrunners if there's going to be LGBTQ+ representation which one of them answered along the lines of maybe we've already seen one. Is it really necessary? Is it really proper representation? Does it serve the story? There's so many additions to this series already that it's going to be one more thing that takes away from the lore characters who really should be the focus.

I know I'm still missing some shit, but yeah this list is long enough. Lots of good, maybe a little bad, but overall I feel good about this new season and I can genuinely say I'm excited again even after the meh that's S1. August 29 can't come soon enough!

[eddyiewriting]

RO ask

RO reaction to receiving letter and poems of MC declaring their love for them every day, even when MC is away

Owain is the type of guy who puts all the letters in a single drawer and then randomly picks one of the letters at night, then he would lie down and read the poem multiple times because he got distracted. Then, he would sleep with the letter by his chest, dreaming about meeting MC again if they were away.

Cerys would probably find them lame in the beginning, but she wouldn't be able to hide her grin once she's reading the letters. Then she would keep them safely inside a box, and use them as inspiration to write even more beautiful poems to MC, probably engaging in an unofficial competition to see who loves the other the most.

Arthur can't read. But if he could, he would take one of the letters with them, keep it in his pocket, and read it every time he misses you. If MC is away, he would cry while reading the letters, wishing he could see MC again. In-game, he would have MC read the letters and poems for him, but he would secretly try and learn how to read and write, and then he'd try to write something for MC as well.

Teagan would be confused by your gesture. She won't understand why you need to write so many words to form a thought. If MC loves her, then they'll just need to tell her that. That doesn't mean she wouldn't read and re-read every sentence in the poems. It would be a nice change of pace from the long religious texts she's used to.

[sunshinemoonrx]

since you've taught me so much already. top 5 characters from historical literature (i love the guys i've heard about so far)

Helllll yeah. Okay so a lot of these are gonna be "all right here's a pretty famous guy but did you know he was originally different and weird!" Folklore time let's goooooo

Honourable mention: All of Medieval Welsh Lit

This is a catch-all I'm using to stop all 5 of these entries from being this because I gotta cover places like Turkey and Ireland. There's still a couple dw. But there's so many more like Rhiannon, world's most magical snarky part-time ponygirl; Macsen Wledic, who everyone wants to be their ancestor, or wait this is a reflection of the historical would-be Roman emperor Magnus Maximus; Mabon ap Modron, world's specialest boy who does fuck all Oh Wait this is an ancient deity who was syncretised with Apollo? Neat! Okay actual entries Go

5. Robin Hood

This is a prime case of "in the original version..." I'm actually a big fan of the earliest medieval Robin Hood ballads we have, they're very fun bouncy little adventures and the middle English is just comprehensible enough that I can alternate between reading the original text and the translation. Did you know that it took a couple centuries for Robin to be turned into an exiled lord (to make him more palatable to a noble audience when they started making plays about him, he originated in songs and performances at country fairs), and he was a commoner fucking with the king before then? And that despite how much a "modern twist" it seems, Marian (who might have started as an unrelated character with her own adventures) beating him in a fight actually pre-dates the nobleman thing!

4. Battal Gazi

The absolute lad. A pulp adventure style hero from medieval Turkish epics sourced from the Byzantine frontier. There's a real cowboy adventure vibe to these. And they got made into a series of campy adventure films in the 50s! And he defeated one HUNDRED Romans with EACH swing of his sword and EVERYONE clapped (for real I'm pretty sure he kills Charlemagne in one of these)

3. Taliesin

The secret main character of medieval Welsh literature and poetry! An actual historical poet of the 6th century who became so famous that later medieval writers would write legends about him having magic bardic powers, write poems in his voice...which makes it hard to figure out what he actually wrote! But what can be sorta confidently attributed to him mostly consists of praise poetry for the north-British king Urien Rheged, which is...maybe a little romantic? He always ends them with

"And until I fail in old age,

in the sore necessity of death,

May I not be smiling,

If I praise not Urien."

Which is nice. Urien is the sneaky other subject of this--he's also a really interesting guy halfway between history and legend, subject of a whole bunch more poetry and hegemon of his while region. His son, Owain, possibly fought in the famous battle of the Gododdin, was written as the leader of hundreds of giant magical ravens, and finally got absorbed into continental Arthurian legend as 'Yvain'

2. Cai the Fair

Speaking of Arthur! I'm a big fan of the original version based in Welsh folklore, a wandering warrior prior to his transformation into a chivalric king. Similarly, some of his knights started as companions of the original version, and my favourite is the counterpart of Sir Kay. In later and mainstream Arthuriana he's the jackass who exists to get clowned on to show how cool Lancelot or whoever is, but this is actually because he started off as Arthur's best guy, so in anime rival tradition, showing him up is an easy way to establish your cool new OC. The original Cai can grow giant, has both heat and cold powers, can survive underwater for weeks...he slays all kind of giants, fights a giant cat, and then he does one giant slaying in a slightly sneaky way and Arthur (who is sometimes called a "frivolous bard") sings a mean song about him and he swears never to help him again. Oops!

He's also a bit gay with it--he's often paired with Bedwyr (source of Sir Bedivere), they love questing together and swear by each other, Cai was heartbroken when he died...

1. Cú Chulainn

The BOY. My GUY

The central hero of most of the Ulster cycle, you may know him from Fate. But the Fate version is less weird and less anime than the medieval version!! This Cú is a weird little trans-coded twink with three-coloured hair, seven-coloured eyes, a bunch of named special moves and an epic duel to the death with his boyfriend.

He's such a fucked up little guy! He's the perfect product and also the perfect victim of the glory-obsessed warrior culture he exists in, he's driven to destroy himself and everyone around him by a constant terror of not being the best at all times, he's so...arrrrrgh. he's the guy!! He's an extremely bad person to be clear. I love him. Sometimes he gets so worked up into a warrior's frenzy he generates a flaming aura that can melt snow and has to be dunked in cold water to chill out! I have like three writing projects in the works that are basically "Cú Chulainn for lesbians". Highest honour I can bestow

[randomkposts]

I remember the starfish

I love Fire Emblem Fates. My favorite is Awakening, but Fates has a special place in my heart for all of its flaws, and plotholes I love to poke at. No malice meant, if I didn't care, I'd probably just leave it alone. Instead it takes up so much brainspace.

So I think I might want to write something a bit more themed another time, but for now I want to write some scattered thoughts.

First, If I were going to change just one thing, I would give Azura ,Kaze as a retainer. And Shura.

Why? It bugs me that she didn't have any retainers, and Corrin has 3 household staff, their teacher, a childhood best friend, and a Ninja, most of whom are willing to follow them even if they defect. That's pretty excessive, that they just have a small- personally loyal fighting force. And Kaze's just hanging around, a trained retainer not assinged to anyone. And really Mikoto, Azura is your niece, you can give her one retainer at least.

Kaze defecting to Nohr to protect his charge makes arguably more sense then his reasons for defecting to Nohr on Corrins behalf.

Azura recruiting Shura as a retainer, fits with the older of the Nohrian sibilings having a criminal retainer. They also have a personal history between them that would be intresting to explore in a support. A support with Ryoma would also be intresting, as Shura states his family used to serve the royal family until his principality was taken over by Mokushu, so learning more about that would be neat.

Speaking of retainers, Despite three Nobrian Siblings havinging a criminal as a retainer, the person with the weirdest retainers is Hinoka, for having the least retainer-like retainers in the game. And Ryoma has 2 ninjas as retainers, which perhaps says some odd things about his diplomatic choices.

Hinoka does her own chores, protects her retainers, and seems to barely know anything about Azama beforehand. Until we learn from her support with Niles in Revelations that Hinoka hired Setsuna for her skill in archery, I was almost convinced she was hired to annoy Takumi.

And yet they are the last retainers sticking around the Hoshidan royals when they are recruited in Revelations.

Hillarious. Baffling. Lends a diffrent weight to Hinokas support with Saizo in this route, not that it wasn't already weird, but there was more cause for suspicion.

Speaking of supports, Sakura takes Corrin's amnesia as a sign that Silas is cursed. Meanwhile, in Birthright Takumi gets mindwhammied and dragon posessed, and Sakura does nothing to try to help. Which to be fair, nither instance lasted long. Who knows if she could have done anything effective, but in the Conquest one she doesn't seem to take note of his dirastically changed attitude as something to worry about, yet was far quicker to diagnose Silas as "something was off. Maybe its cause Silas a stranger, and she doesn't want to see anything wrong with her closest brother, but I wonder what got her attention in the first place to draw that conclusion.

I haven't played Engage, but even without that I am pretty sure Corrin is the most watched avatar we have ever played. Their big sister Camilia and her retainers makes it 3 in a lifetime, as said by Selena/Severa.

"Selena: Lady Camilla! Sorry we got ahead of you. But you should have heard the horrible things Lord/Lady Corrin said to us. Even though we used to watch over them, they don't remember us at all. Sure, we always stuck to the shadows and never introduced ourselves... but still! I could cry right now. Really! I really could!

Beruka: All that time hovering... caring... watching... it was all for naught. They has no heart.

Camilla: Now, now, you two. I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm certain they would remember, given more time. You simply must forgive them."

No wonder Corrin is so chill with Ryoma's Ninjas and other people following them around.

A headcanon, Odin/Owain can use dragon Veins. Anankos can hide his brand, but he can't undo that he is decended from the Exalted line of Ylisse, a heritige who also formed a pact which presumably involved drinking dragons blood. (That does seem to be a series consistant for how one gets a stats edge, with consent of the dragon being pretty important in how well they control it. )

He uses it once by accident. Leo did see it, but never confronts him on it. Maybe they might be siblings, but if this is what kept him alive and he's happy with living his life, then Leo isn't going to be the one to tell anyone. One of them may as well be happy.

If I were going to change something about the Fates Kids, I would mess with Shiro. Ryoma never told him until recruitment that he was royalty. So what if Shiro, figuring Ryoma is impotant, but not connecting the dots (as in cannon) comes to the (incorrect) conclusion that he is the next Saizo. And so comes with the Ninja class, alomg with some family drama, lol.

I would also tone down Soleil's supports, and add some depths to the other kids, but ninja Shiro creating some family drama with the retainers is a concept that amuzes me

I'll end it here for now. Might write a second at some point.

[the-manor-7]

My Key to Revenge - Chapter 2

I dreamt of a better universe, one without the Bene Gesserit or the Great Houses in it. They have brought nothing but suffering to the empire, and continue to wreak havoc upon it in the name of justice and true rule. The Bene Gesserit with their scheming and stealing of young girls, and the Great Houses who give them up willingly for profit and prestige behind closed doors. 

-from the letters of the Bene Gesserit Lady Carina Fenring

Carina could hardly sleep all night. Until the early morning hours, she tossed and turned in her bed, dreadfully disturbed by what had happened the day before.

She had spent so long cultivating that one plan. Narrowing her options down into one straight, narrow way. 

Her plan had been flawless, perfect.

And he had to just go and mess it up. To lay waste to all she had worked on, to plans she had started to formulate even when she was still a participating part of the order.

The morning after was not a pleasant one either. Lady Carina was woken by the sounds of shouting and fighting outside of her dwelling. 

Sighing, she could only assume who it was and moved closer to the door to hear more clearly.

Owain’s voice boomed, “You traitor! Lady Carina showed you mercy in bringing you here after everything you have done! How could you?!”

What was he talking about?

“She did not forbid me from leaving.” Feyd’s voice sounded as disinterested and slightly playful as ever. “And you are not whom I have sworn my life to.”

He left? 

“I know this.” The voices got quieter, “But we are both bound to the same person, through all blood and pain that might be inflicted. I must think of her in all things. And right now, I know you have not done what is in her best interests.”

All one could hear was Feyd’s chuckle, before Owain let out a strained sentence, “For nearly bringing the Bene Gesserit to our doorstep, I should kill you.”

It was the Harkonnen’s turn to let out a growl, “You have no right. My life is in her hands, not yours.” 

The silence was deafening. 

He spoke again a few moments later, “Besides, you wouldn’t want to kill our Mistress’s favorite pet, now would you?”

Rolling her eyes, Carina decided that she should step in before it got more bloody than it needed to.

Slamming the door open, she was greeted by multiple pairs of surprised, rounded eyes, as well as a small crowd of her students who ran away back to their studies at her stern look. 

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Lady Carina.” Owain greeted her with a bowed head while Feyd simply looked at her.

Raising an eyebrow at the pale man, she turned her attention back to the one who had spoken to her, “What is this commotion? Right outside my door, might I add.”

Owain straightened and addressed her solemnly, “My apologies, Lady Carina. I did not mean to disturb you.” 

She repeated her question, “What happened?”

Even though he was so straightforward with Feyd before, he seemed reluctant to speak now, “Feyd…left, My Lady.”

“Yes, I know that much. You weren’t exactly speaking quietly before. But, why? And why are we shouting about it?”

“It is not the fact that he left, but with whom he met, My Lady.”

She knew he was just stalling, but right now she just wanted answers, “Out with it already. Who did he meet with?”

Feyd interjected, “I spoke to Reverend Mother Mohaim.”

All she could do was stare at him.

That just felt like a slap to the face. 

Why would he do that? He knew she was the one who had educated her. The one who tortured her for years and forcibly molded her into this vengeful spirit she was now. Why did he go and meet her?

“You spoke to whom?” Her words were forced out through clenched teeth.

Feyd just eyed her curiously, stating what he had said before much more calmly than she had ever seen him, “Reverend Mother Mohaim.”

She was feeling anything but calm at the moment though. 

She hadn’t even come to terms with the fact she couldn't use Feyd to her advantage as freely as she had before because he was now considered dead by the empire, but in not twenty-four hours he had revealed himself to her sworn enemy.

“Just whose side are you on, Harkonnen?” Carina could not even bring herself to speak his given name.

How could he do this to her?

His continued state of odd tranquility grated at her nerves and was setting her fingertips into a jittery twitching of anger.

“Yours of course, Master. As you have said before, I am sworn to you. Whatever I do now, I do for you.”

“That’s hard to believe when you have admitted to speaking to one of the people I have vowed to exact my revenge upon.”

“I’ve done it for a reason, Master.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter, approaching her and holding it out for her to take.

Exhaling a sharp breath, she snatched the parchment from his pale fingers, ripping through the seal and holding it up so she could see it. 

To the Esteemed Lady Carina Fenring, 

Is this the asset you have spoken of in your letters past? I must say, I did not know we were looking after the same specimen. Naturally, I did not think him still alive either. As a show of good faith, I will not release information of his safety, but you will owe me a favor in return. I look forward to your hasty reply.

-Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam

The all too familiar scrawl of the Reverend Mother’s handwriting almost made her sick to look at.

Roiling with a mixture of hunger, stress, anger, and past feelings and memories making themselves known, her stomach set itself to a constant cramping.

Placing a shaking hand over her mouth, she shoved the letter at Owain, who caught it midair, quickly skimming it over.

“What have you done?” She kept her hand where it was, afraid that if she moved it, she would be sick in front of all these people she was supposed to appear commanding to, “Was it really so hard for you to just stay here? Was it so difficult for you to do what I say, even just this once?”

His continued calm was pushing her past the breaking point.

“Master, you did not forbid me from leaving.”

“I didn’t think-!” She cut herself off, lowering her tone before her consciousness whirled out of control, “I didn’t think you would go and speak to my enemy, let alone let her know that you were alive.”

His head merely tilted to the side, his sharp gaze locked onto her, “The Reverend Mother already had her suspicions it was me you had your eyes on, Master. It is difficult to hide an alliance like ours, since I had sworn myself to you nearly ten years ago, especially from someone who is so adept at reading body language and discerning true intentions.”

His actions were so foolish compared to his words that the juxtaposition was making her dizzy, “Even so, what was so important that you need to go see her? Why didn’t you tell me anything before you left?”

When the Harkonnen didn’t answer her, she slapped him across the face, leaving a bright red handprint on his otherwise pale skin.

“Leave me, you imbecile. Before I decide to actually kill you this time.”

Owain finally interjected, making a small bow with his head before stepping forward and grabbing Feyd by the collar, dragging him away from her door. 

Stiffly turning around, she mechanically made her way back into her abode, closing the wooden slab behind her.

Fighting not to just drop to her knees right there on the floor, she shuffled over to the chair and let herself fall into it.

In almost a repeat of what happened last night, a soft knock rapped against the doorframe, pulling her from her swirling thoughts.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Lady Carina.”

Trying to compose herself, she smoothed out her skirts and straightened her veil, folding her hands in her lap.

“Come in, Owain.”

Her second-in-command gently opened the door, shutting it closed behind him. 

“What is it, Owain?”

He seemed to have a conversation with himself in his head, his eyes darting back and forth, before he sighed and fixed his gaze on her.

“There is something I think you need to know, Lady Carina.”

Assuming there was nothing more that could surprise her, given the whole debacle that had just occurred, she waved her hand at the always calm and composed man.

“Out with it already.”

Nodding in acquiescence, he let out a small breath before informing her, “I…know the reason why Feyd visited the Reverend Mother.”

Hoping to finally get answers, she spurred him on with a tilt of her head.

His words came out in a rush, “Reverend Mother Mohaim summoned Feyd-Rautha to inform him that a Bene Gesserit lady who seduced him not too long ago is pregnant.”

It felt like someone had just poured cold water over her head, a sensation of freezing shock washing over her.

“Who is this woman?” She spoke softly, not trusting her voice to remain steady if she spoke any louder, “Is it his child?”

“The Bene Gesserit’s name is Lady Fenring, and she is pregnant with Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen’s child.”

***

Clasping her head between her hands, she grit her teeth together to try to hold back the heaving screech of pain that threatened to leak out. 

Her brain felt like it was trying to escape the pain, through any crevice it could find. The pressure on the back of her eyes forced her to clamp her eyelids shut, and the ringing in her ears caused her to try and plug them with her confused fingers. 

She couldn't decide if she wanted to curl up into a ball or reach out with all limbs and beg for help. Her body made the decision for her and wrenched her head up to look at the ceiling, her neck muscles bulging with the effort to just keep it together. 

Only the thought of not wanting to fail kept her from uttering a single sound.

Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. 

She couldn’t even bring herself to recite the mantras, her mind and self was only focused on one thing: survival. 

While she groveled on the floor, an elder Sister sat primly on a chair in front of her, watching on as she went through the ordeal with narrowed, judging eyes. 

Even through the overwhelming sensations cascading across her senses, she could feel an emotion. One that she was not allowed to feel towards the Sisters: Rage.

What had she done to deserve being treated like this? 

No one else she knew was subjected to such trials. 

Why was she the only one?

Pursing her lips together in a last desperate attempt to gain control over her own body, the pain subsided as quickly as it had come. 

Opening her eyes, she blinked bleakly at the all-too-familiar form of the Reverend Mother. 

She knew better than to hope for assistance from the aging woman. 

She had not come to help, no. She had come to merely observe as she always did. 

When the Reverend Mother confirmed Carina was still alive and her soul still attached to her body, she merely nodded and walked away, the image of her sweeping black skirts the last thing Carina saw before she fell to the floor in a pile of cloth and flesh.

Masterlist

[laslow]

"professor laslow!"

it's hard to pinpoint when, exactly, the mood soured among them. then again, spirits were never that high to begin with. how could they be with the tragedy is still fresh in mind? and for all the effort one might take to suppress certain memories, their ragged bodies only served as a further reminder of what'd happened to them.

dorothea gently shoulders her way past the others to catch up, slowing as she reaches his side. it only takes a few seconds of scanning to realize something is off — and rightfully so, she muses, for all they ever seemed to run into was trouble and nothing more.

"i see you've got your hands on a new toy." in a bid to lighten the air, dorothea points to his newly acquired weapon and flashes a half-smile. it is but a simple iron sword, though in these trying times, everything of use serves its weight in gold. "are you the type to name your weapons? i can't seem to decide."

"Miss Dorothea!"

Laslow neatly steps off the main pathway, shoulders scraping against the wall as others continue on their journey. Most keep their heads down; he doesn't blame them. Morale may have been low when the arrived, but it was manageable. Now, days removed from the tragedy of Garreg Mach and burdened with whatever fresh defeats weigh on their shoulders, he could cut the very air with everyone's despondence.

He's too exhausted to try lifting spirits right now.

Regardless, he summons a half smile, placing one hand atop his head in a pale imitation of his usual cheery self.

"Haha, a man is nothing without a shiny new weapon by his side!" For emphasis, he taps the hilt of said blade with a fingertip.

His smile drops. A groan escapes him despite his best efforts to contain it. "No, I do not, but my best friend is adamant about naming weapons. Says they help, though I've never noticed a different. He's a damn good fighter no matter what he calls his tools."

Gods. Was Owain faring alright? Annoying someone else in some other hidden bunker?

"...I'm not upset with you, my darling, I promise. You should seek him out when....ah, well, once we're all back where we belong, he'll be ecstatic to help you out."

[sieglinde-freud]

so the way endings in awakening work is a bit off if you have the gay mod because it reads single people normally, but married people have the man’s ending read, and then his wife just. attached. and so that alters which ending you see for both of them. unfortunately, that means if i have f/f pairs, which most of them were, i dont get to see any because none of them were read. and at least with the second gen, i did almost entirely f/f pairs, which dont show up, or m/m pairs, which had nothing written, so. everyone please give it up for gerome and cynthia, the only second gen ending i got to see!

😭😭 good for them!!! anyways unorganized final thoughts under cut so i dont have to make a whole other post for it

awakening lunatic sucks! but project thabes makes it suck a little less. in all honesty i had a lot of fun, awakenings a good game to revisit, and finding a way to make it challenging while being able to use my favorite units (awakening second gen) ever was awesome. normally having all 13 (or 14 in this case, with both morgans) would break the game, but lunatic kept the enemies strong, so it didnt matter what my units had. i actually got overwhelmed a lot 😭 HUGE difficulty jump between hard and lunatic all i’m saying. and then the games like “hey now u have lunatic+ if that interests you” NOOOOO THANKS.

anyways. here are my top three guys according to the medal thingies at the end

im so proud of them :3 of all the kids really but yeah these three were huge standouts. virion actually got a change in the mod where one of his subclasses was swapped for myrmidon, so yarne got to inherit astra which was actually insane? it procced ALL THE TIME so. that was crazy. chrom!inigo and fred!cynthia are always good thats not new but they were really clutch in the last few chapters. i had them both hopping around classes for most of the game bc thabes redoes skill progression so. IT TOOK CYNTHIA SO LONG TO LEARN LUNA. ITS FROM WYVERN LORD. GOD. she went through a LOT of classes yall dont even know. also honorable mention to marc and morgan, the best rallybots ever, and dancer lucina, who was outserving everyone she was in a scene with. my girl.

like ok serving cunt on the back of the god youre about to kill? get it girl!

anyways so for second gen pairs i did: lucina/f!morgan, owain/m!morgan, inigo/laurent, yarne/brady, severa/kjelle, nah/noire, and cynthia/gerome and you know what. i think i have a great taste. a lot of these were born from being unable to do other pairings but thats ok. i liked how it turned out. though i was gonna do nah/noire anyways because they were actually like. an insane duo. honestly im surprised noire didnt get a medal thing bc i feel like her nostanking with nah backing her up got me out of so much shit. maybe its because i didnt see her ending… oh. oh wait thats probably it. well. anyways.

i think awakening is not a properly balanced game, nor are the maps made for a difficulty like this. towards the end game especially, the maps are just. flat. most of them anyways, and they just become really repetitive and bland and boring. and despite this being the game with the tactician character of all the time, they dont really allow you flexible strategies, because if youre not pair up stat stacking, you will die! and that sucks. mid game is alright, but the last arc is really weak and kinda dampered my whole experience. im glad i did it, but i wouldnt actually reccomend it to anyone unless you like to play like that (which is totally fine! its just not my thing). definitely requires some solid planning as well. all in all, not the worst fire emblem ive played but… well. im not doing it again. ok anyways heres inigo mouthing off at grima

[buffyfan145]

Got a lot of "Rings of Power" season 2 teasers/spoilers from the cast last night at their Emmys event!!! :D Some of these, like the article's title says we knew, but others we didn't. Putting it behind a cut but even more excited for this coming season. Also Bear McCreary performed some of the score at the event too and during one song Morfydd sat at the piano with him. :)

Morfydd confirmed she'll be wearing Nenya and learning more about her new powers. Also said she'll be trying to find more of the light in the darkness now.

Confirmed again about Círdan being in season 2.

More rings will be forged, likely for the dwarves first but possibly also for the men. This also goes with the spoilers we've gotten that they are doing a version of the Annatar storyline and that there's a 2nd version of Sauron. Don't know yet if Charlie is also playing this version but it's possible.

Owain talked more about what's next for Durin and his father and likely his dad being one of the dwarf ring bearers. Also confirmed he will have more scenes with Robert's Elrond.

Ismael teased a bit about Arondir's storyline and knowing Sauron is back and how this causes tension between his love story with Bronwyn and relationship with Theo and the differences between being an elf and them as men. Also teased Sauron being back affects all the couples which I thought was interesting he worded it that way.

Sophia teased more about Disa and that she will be having a big storyline too. Very curious to know what that is.

[queer-ragnelle]

📜📖🎨 :3

📜 What was your favorite Medieval story you read this year?

Answered here, but I have several. Another would be Wigalois. I read it all in one sitting while sick in bed. I'm partial to the character Gingalain already but this was way more developed as a story than the French version. I loved all the characters including his mother Florie, the lady knight Marine, and Wigalois's lady love, Larie. She's a little bit magic? It seems Tolkien himself may have taken inspiration from this? Obviously I can't be sure but Larie seems to bake Lembas bread for Wigalois which restores his strength with a single bite! (The textual reasoning is the bread of the Last Supper but elven bread is more fun.) Wigalois also wears a mail shirt which prevents his death against a dragon which reminded me of the Mithril mail that Thorin gave to Bilbo then Bilbo gave to Frodo which protected him from being crushed by the troll in Khazad-dûm. So anyway point being you would like this one haha. After Wigalois and Larie marry, she's accepted as part of the family so she calls Gawain daddy it's so cute. I love Wigalois's funky jeweled belt he got from his mommy too what a look.

📖 What was your favorite Modern retelling you read this year? (Single book)

Answered here, but another besides those two would be a tentative recommendation for Bedivere: The King's Right Hand by Wayne Wise. I really love the set up. That was 10/10 no notes. Without spoiling too much, there's a frame story similar to Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles so Bedivere is an old man writing out his life story and the perspective will switch between old man Bedi and kid Bedi. Wise does some clever things here, such as writing a history for the older generation that foreshadows what's to come. Ector was Uther's seneschal, and Bedwyr, the father of Bedivere, was with Uther in his last moments. All the older guys call Bedivere "Griflet" because Bedwyr's symbol was the griffon, so little Bedi is a little Griffon. Very sweet and clever, even if I like Griflet as his own character. Lucan is Bedivere's older brother, which surprised me because Bedivere has such older brother energy, but it works, and their mom is a character present in the village as well. Arthur is Bedivere's bestie and his characterization is wonderful, he's great. Kay's older than them both and can be a jerk but the narrative reassures the reader he's a good guy. I like all the characters in their little band of future nobles: Gawain, Agravaine, Owain, Lancelot, and Guinevere. My biggest gripe is that Guinevere is much younger than the others so it feels weird when her father talks about marrying her to one of these noble sons who are at least 5 years older, which matters when she is only 13. Ick. I also don't like any retelling which writes Arthur in love with his sister, in this case Morgan. (Morgause is still there as a separate character as wife of Lot, mother of Gawain and Agravaine, implied Gaheris and Gareth but they are off page babies.) The book was meant to be set up for a series which as of yet hasn't come to fruition, so I'm counting it as a single book. A shame really but there it is. Another one that has a really sour ending. But overall there was more good than bad.

🎨 What was your favorite Arthurian art piece made by YOU this year? (Any medium)

I didn't make much unfortunately so I have to give it to Laurel and Agravaine. The lavender marriage to raise the bar for all other lavender marriages.

[gingersnaptaff]

Poll Time 4 ☺️✨️🗡

It's time for another round of:

Myrddin - OG Merlin, he's not actually associated with Arthuriana - and the Welsh myth stuff - until much later. He's one of those who was an irl lad but got incorporated into the mythos at a later date. He was a bard gifted with the power of prophecy (as all bards were thought to be in Celtic society) and was said to have gone mad after the Battle of Arfderydd in which his king and bestie Gwenddoleu died and then he fled into the woods. This gave him the epithet 'Wyllt' or Wild cuz obviously if ur living in the woods then u ain't gonna exactly be living ur best life. He's also famous for having a sister who is-

Gwendydd: her name means 'white day' and I mean that's so pretty but ur gonna know her better as Ganieda. She's best known for the dialogue poem she has with her brother that's featured in The Red Book (or Llyfr Coch) of Hergest. It's in an englyn form (a short poem) and is basically the two of them asking about prophecies and the ensuing answers. She's also featured in two poems 'Afallennau' (apple trees) and Hoianau (The Greetings.' In Afallennau Myrddin says Now Gwenddydd loves me not, and does not greet me;/I have killed her son and her daughter.' And MYRDDIN, BABES, WHAT DID U DO?! They also love each other a lot so like eehdjdjdjd Myrddin I GOTTA KNOW

Owain - OG Yvain/Ywain/Ivain. He has TOO MANY NAMES. Owain is another irl lad who got sucked into the mythos in a kind of fuckin Alice in Wonderland thing. Best known for being the main character of 'The Lady of the Fountain' he's the twin brother of Morfudd and - if u think his mam's Modron - the brother to Mabon the Hunter. Also, his dad is Urien Rheged so like name a better family pedigree? U can't. Irl Owain is The Worst but Mab Owain is Best Boi. He has a lion. He has ravens. He is besties with Gwalchmai and Peredur. I firmly believe he and Luned have a mate's holiday every year. What's that? U don't think so? U are wrong. Iesu Grist, I love him. I think having a hug from him would fix me. He also saves Luned's life and like they ARE BESTIES.

Pwyll Pen Annwfn - Pwyll Head of Annwfn to give him his proper name. He's the one who Rhiannon marries and is an idiot and like I love him but Pwyll PLS. Also has a run-in with Arawn, Lord of Annwfn that culminates in the two of them disguising themselves as each other and Pwyll slaying Arawn's enemy, Hafgan. He's also Pryderi's dad. He dies at the end of Branch 1 and is never brought up again even tho his wife and son are literally characters in Branch 3 (and if ur Pryderi Branch 4). He's a disaster area of the highest degree.

Bedwyr - Bedwyr of the Perfect Sinew (that's what Bedrydant means) he's HOT SHIT. He's Cai's husband and he's literally one of the Best and Most Handsomest Men in Arthur's retinue. He's also one-handed and the best fighter - as Pa gur says 'They fell by the hundred / before Bedwyr of the Perfect-Sinew.' - And also I think it's imperative u know he battles with fuckin WEREWOLF (Gwrgi Garwlwyd)! Bedwyd is the voice of reason for Arthur when he talks his bud down from trying to kidnap Princess Gwladys of Brycheiniog (Breacon) after he's already been kidnapped once in what I truly imagine must have been a fuckin terrible day for her. And also he and Cai legally take custody of Goreu in Culhwch ac Olwen and ride salmon taxis together. Also, Cai says 'By the hand of my friend' as a catchphrase and it's a ref to Bedwyr. They are Husbands. I legit love him. Cai also loves him. Vote for Bedwyr to please Cai or else.

[yanderefairyangel]

It's interesting seeing all these people saying they refused to pull, because of the lead. All the other avatars are also about the same in popularity so it makes sense they're balancing them out. yeah? And yes some prefer the other gender it's normal to have a preference but they are about equal and that's why they try to treat them as such Alear as far as I know if very equal I don't know who is more popular. The girl is slightly more popular (Byleth) or the boy is slightly more popular (Robin) but it's close right? But *Corrin*? Girl is ten times more popular than the male and they will lose money if they backpack her to the male version, far more than Alear would have cost them, that one I'm very curious on what they'll do tbh will they keep the balance or go for the $$$

Well yes, see Anon the Avatars are all bound to popularity like others characters Kiran being the sole exception because they dont really have a canon appearance outside of the hood

If we take Mark for example they got only 1 alt because 1) Mark isn't really popular 2) Mark was meant to be androgynous and thus gender ambigious so designing alts for them is... well near impossible not to mention the voice actor

This is Mark in official art btw

The best we have is a sprite in the game and the alt duo with kid Lyn which speaking of

Look who's in front despite not being the lead

But that alt aside Mark never got a proper appearance and possibly won't until a long time since Kid!Mark is easier to make appear androgynous than Adult!Mark (not that IS really seems to care in regards to Kiran but still)

Then we have Kris

Since Kris isn't really popular because 1) New Mystery only came out to Japan 2) a lot of people seems to have passionate hatred for them because they weren't in the og and their inclusion's execution is lukewarm

So as a result they have taken quite some time to come back, much like Robin and Corrin despite being customizable IS prefers to use their default appearance for anything alt related

As of now they have only 1 alt, M!Kris seems to be more popular than his female counterpart and I think it's notably because of his ship with Katarina since they often appear in official material together and it's the Plegian alt

So before Robin it seems that Avatar characters weren't really popular and I mean... a good chunk of the fandom hate them and would rather have an non avatar lord but the Japanese fanbase tends to like self insert characters so I guess IS ended up trying one last time with Robin, they saw it worked and iirc they decided to make more Avatars

Anyway so the Robins

Male characters in Awakening tended to be more popular if I recall

M!Robin was third most popular male character after Chrom and Owain and before Gaius, Lonq'u and Inigo

F!Robin on the other hand was second most popular female character after Lucina and before Tharja

So the result in popularity compared reveals that they are fairly of the same popularity that being said M!Robin is more popular than his female counterpart

Male Robin has a total of 7 alts counting his legendary and brave alt, 5 if we count the seasonal/fallen/bride banner

Female Robin has 7 alts however she... well is kinda being used more than her male counterpart to promote Grima as she has 3 alts (legendary, rearmed and halloween) in her fell form while he has 2 (fallen banner and halloween)

This ... has made fans of F Robin unsatisfied because despite having a balanced number we all view Grima has a separate entity from the Robin so if we take out the grima alts this means M Robin has 5 alt whereas F Robin has ...4... and 3 seasonal... and she lost her legendary alt to Grima

So the take away is that even when the number is balanced there can be weirdness like this

Now unto the Corrin.... Oh God

Corrin is a weird case because unlike Robin who seems to be equally liked in both westerns and eastern fandom, most people in the western side seems to hate Corrin while the Japanese fandom loves them

Regarding their popularity, F Corrin was 1st place of the popularity poll while M!Corrin was...5 place after Jakob and before Ryoma

Now compared to the Robin you can see the disparity between the two

And thus Male Corrin has 6 alt whereas F Corrin has 7 alt one including her brave alt, otherwise 6 and both have 5 seasonals

So that's fairly balanced despite the huge gap in comparisons right ? Well... thing is that while in some bases such as Adrift, Ninja and Harvest they are both released at the same time, in other cases F Corrin gets an alt first and her male counterpart has to wait for quite a moment to get one, such was the case for their legendary

There isn't any Grima to hickjack the numbers but this time it's the time period that is unbalanced

Now unto the Byleths

If I recall correctly Byleth was either 4th or 5th place for the popularity poll after the lords, both of them

On the western side tho F!Byleth seems more popular but it also seems to be true as well in the east

M!Byleth has 3 alts and F! Byleth has 4 however... one of them is her brave alt so this means they have 3 alts each

What gets a bit muddy is that M Byleth like M Robin has an additional appearance in duo alt (Sothis/Byleth halloween and Chrobin valentine art) whereas F Byleth is part of the duo with Male Byleth

Now unto the Shez

Hopes was... kinda a bad sell after 3H but people tend to like Shez and they are equally popular it seems

They both have the same number of alt however F!Shez got a new one and for quite some time she was the only one with a Legendary alt

That said they both got their summer alt at the same time which... is quite a surprise from IS as every female avatar got their first seasonal to be a summer alt whereas male was either winter or new year in the case of Corrin

As for the Alear, they are rather equally popular : both got 1st place in the popularity poll which is the most popular an avatar can get

F Alear seems more popular in the west and M Alear in the east

F!Alear released first, then we got no Engage banner until the Brodian banner where Male Alear released

Then they both got their legendary but F Alear got her first

and then their seasonal but again F Alear got her summer alt first so having Male Alear being the lead make it balance

Now thta's for FEH for the outside material we have figures and amiboo : the smash release were even, all male avatars were the main and their female form was the alt

In Warriors, Male Robin and F Corrin were the main, the female and male form were to be unlocked

The female avatars got a figure first but Male Byleth recently got one that i recall ?

And finally we have the drama cds so for Robin and Corrin at least there is balance there as well but Engage didn't got one yet

In the manga's case, F Corrin is the one to be featured for the fates manga however... the protagonist is Leo... aka the most popular male character of Fates

So yeah popularity is a huuuge factor however the Avatar are more or less balanced and in the case of the Alear there is no real debate of "unfairness" or anything like that

(sorry for the long answer)