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neroushalvaus · 4 years ago

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Top 10 favourite characters from any fandom

I was tagged by @limalepakko , thank you! Since I have recently listed male characters here (or you know, in August, but we all know time hasn't been a thing for many moons), I took the liberty to list characters in general this time. I also went with which characters feel right at the moment, so does not show all my favourites. I also try to keep these short. (edit: okay so these are not remotely short, I will post a list first and have the explanations be under the cut, read if you want to hear my ramblings c': )

1. Fantine, Les Misérables 2. Javert / Jean Valjean, Les Misérables (yes i am cheating) 3. Carrie "Big Boo" Black, Orange Is the New Black 4. Jane Marple, Agatha Christie's Marple 5. Aunt Lydia, The Handmaid's Tale 6. Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones books & movies 7. Rock Lee, Naruto 8. Sarah O'Brien, Downton Abbey 9. Marilla Cuthbert, Anne of Green Gables / Anne with an E 10. Sister Monica Joan, Call the Midwife

1. Fantine, Les Misérables

I love Fantine with all my heart. I remember reading Les Mis for the first time and her story sending chills down my spine. Her character development makes me so sad, from a girl who falls hard and fast and won't deny anything from her lover, to a woman who is so beaten down by society that she can't do anything but laugh at her fate. But I love how she doesn't lose her pride or her fighting spirit and how she still has the guts to spit in Valjean's face when she sees him after being arrested. And I love how all she does is for her daughter and how despite selling "the gold on her head and the pearls in her mouth" she is content, because all that matters to her is that Cosette will live.

2. Javert & Jean Valjean, Les Misérables

I was really trying to limit this list to one character per fandom, but alas, I am but a weak little person. Thus, I am cheating already. The thing is that when it comes to Les Mis characters, Fantine, Javert and Valjean are the eternal top 3 for me, but I'm never quite able to say who I love the most. Last time I picked Javert for the male character meme because I love the symbolism and critique of society his character embodies, but let it be known that Jean Valjean is the best character in all of literature and I will fight you on this. The original soft on crime icon (aside from Jesus Christ but they're the same and you know it). Valjean's character journey is such a complicated one from an ordinary man (no worse than any man) to a person, who had been shaped by society and criminal justice system to be a very dangerous man, to someone you could compare to a saint if you wanted to... To an ordinary man, who would do anything for his daughter. He has so many character-defining moments, the biggest ones being in my opinion the trial of Champmathieu and letting Javert go instead of killing him. I just love Jean Valjean so much and could speak about him for hours.

3. Carrie "Big Boo" Black, Orange Is the New Black

Hopping away from the Les Mis hole and into a OITNB hole. I was debating on whether I'd put Boo or Pennsatucky on this list since I love them both so much, but I've been feeling so much love for my angry butch king that it had to be her. First of all, I'm just so happy to see butch lesbian representation where the butch identity is not just a joke. I know OITNB sometimes uses Boo questionably, but in general she is a nuanced character and one of the most interesting ones in the series in my opinion. I'm so sad they forgot all about her on the last seasons. I love everything about her, how she has trouble with feelings besides anger and often deflects serious stuff through humor, how fiercely protective she is of those she loves (boosatucky otp forever fucking fight me), how proud she is of her butch identity ("i refuse to be invisible")... Also, not to express attraction, but... Mama I'm in love with a criminal. And not to be a slut for how characters view religion/spirituality/God, but the relieved smile she has in one of her flashbacks when she says "there's no God... there's nothing", like you can't just do stuff like that and expect me not to love the character to bits.

4. Jane Marple, Agatha Christie's Marple

Last time I listed Poirot and was a bit frustrated I couldn't list Marple, but now it's time to right that wrong! I love this little old lady so much. I love Agatha Christie so much for just going "you know who is the person who knows everything that's going on in a community, and thus would make the perfect detective for a detective story? the nosy old woman". As she is introduced in The Murder at the Vicarage: "Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner — Miss Weatherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two Miss Marple is much more dangerous." She is so likable and witty, you can't help but love her. My favourite portrayal of her is by Geraldine McEwan, she looks so gentle but has such a sharp gaze. I would spill all my secrets to her any day. I also am compelled to tell you that when I was a child we had a costume party at my school and I dressed up as Marple and learned some old lady things in English (it was before third grade so I didn't know much English back then) just for the occasion (such as "thank you, my dear", "what a lovely necklace you are wearing" or "there has been a murder"). Teacher might have thought me rather morbid but I remember that day being quite good.

5. Aunt Lydia, The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale is such a great series and a book and Aunt Lydia is such a great character. The way she's capable of being absolutely cruel and vicious, but how she is also protective and caring in her own way. One of my favourite scenes in this series is when Serena Joy (my other favourite, can you tell) tells Lydia to "remove the damaged ones" from a line of handmaids and Lydia tries to argue with her. Sure, she is responsible for some of the punishments these women are now "damaged" by, but she truly believes those punishments were for a greater good and now the handmaids deserve their place with the others as much as anyone else. It is chilling and the character is such a dark shade of morally gray, but I can't get enough of it. The actress who plays her, Ann Dowd, has so interesting thoughts about her, like here. I just love this character so much I could scream.

6. Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones books & movies

I'm mostly talking about the movies here because Renée Zellweger's performance is iconic. Plus the movies are what made me love this character first. But I'll give it to the books, they're one of the few books I've laughed out loud while reading. Anyway, how do you even begin explaining the love I have for Bridget Jones... I love how she is a character so many people can relate but who would be a comic relief side character in some other story. Yes, yes, it is really bad that she is constantly described as fat when she really is not, but when I was growing up she gave me hope that people who are viewed as fat and/or unattractive by other people can be admired and appreciated, and they don't have to be super talented at everything and highly intelligent and some kind of a super smooth social butterfly to "make up" for what they "lack". And also that they can have standards (i once dodged a bullet by rejecting someone by pretty much subconsciously quoting Bridget Jones so..). I also love how the comedic tone of everything does not dismiss Bridget's feelings. For example in some other movie we maybe would concentrate on how "stupid" Bridget was to trust that Daniel was in love with her, but in Bridget Jones we concentrate on how Bridget was hurt by Daniel cheating on her, how he is the one who did wrong. Idk I just love Bridget Jones so very much can you tell.

7. Rock Lee, Naruto

Aka the boy who would have kicked Madara in the balls if Kishimoto had any sense of drama and good storytelling. I think I robbed Lee by not putting him on the fav male characters list. You know that post that goes like "gays be like 'these are my comfort characters', 1 literal ray of sunshine, 2 war criminal" etc? This child is the sunshine. I've been reading and watching Naruto again ( @hapanmaitogai is my sideblog for that nonsense) and I'm so ready to adopt Lee and/or Gai. Rock Lee is just such an earnest character, he has a goal he will give anything to achieve and he's the one true underdog in this manga. I love how he's so kind and polite (it's not so clear in English but in the Finnish translation he speaks as formally as he does in Japanese, he uses singular polite "you", calls Sakura "Sakura-neiti" = "Miss Sakura" etc... i love one polite boy). Also, he has the best fights in the series. Like Lee vs Gaara is a Classic, but we simply can't forget that time Lee absolutely crushed Sasuke in just a few minutes, or that time he politely asked Kimimaro not to kill him while he drinks his medicine. The best boy. I love that boy so much.

8. Sarah O'Brien, Downton Abbey

Last time it was Thomas' turn, so now I must talk about the snakiest snake, the queen of weaponized handmaidenry, Miss O'Brien. She is such a great character especially in the first two seasons (I obviously love her on season three as well but Julian Fellowes really tried to make it hard by not explaining her actions at all, didn't he. Well, luckily I am ready to stuff the gaps with my headcanons). She has some of the best comebacks in the series and brings some needed realism in some conversations. I also love how she uses her position as a lady's maid for her advantage and how she is proud of her profession despite being highly aware of the power structures in the Abbey. And then there is the soap. That is such a good character moment, because for a character who always plans ahead, who is ruthless and cunning and intelligent... I don't think O'Brien thought about the soap thing at all before she left the room ("Sarah O'Brien, this is not who you are" hit me like a train). Just once she did something with nothing but anger motivating her and that became one of the defining moments of her character. And one of the defining things of the future relationship between her and Cora. That's why I find the Sarah/Cora ship so interesting, because there will always be the undercurrent of bitter regret. Also Sarah O'Brien and Thomas Barrow are the greatest brotp and Fellowes was a coward for driving the smoking scheming gay best friends apart, and

9. Marilla Cuthbert, Anne of Green Gables / Anne with an E

I'm not saying L.M. Montgomery is entirely responsible for me having a fondness for strict, older women who first act unkind but have a heart of gold, but she most certainly did not help. Between characters like Marilla Cuthbert and Elizabeth Murray, how can you not fall in love with the type? It's been a while since I read the Anne series, but I really love how Marilla's character has been adapted into the Anne with an E tv series. Geraldine James looks like she was born to play her, she has me in tears so often. She has the ability to portray someone like Marilla, who is a very hard and stern person but feels deeply for her loved ones. I was watching the episode that dealt with Matthew's heart attack and Marilla berating her brother while hugging herself like she was trying so hard to hold herself together absolutely destroyed my heart.

10. Sister Monica Joan, Call the Midwife

It was a tough choice between her and Sister Evangelina. I just love these nuns very much. Sister Monica Joan is such a lovable and wise character. She is so knowledgeable of many subjects, from the Bible to astrology, and I feel like her unspecified memory problems and confusion are handled very tastefully. I also love how she's such an important part of her community despite not working as a midwife anymore. She is such a kind woman and gets visibly upset when others are treated poorly. And how could I not mention her saying "I do not believe in weeds. A weed is simply a flower that someone decides is in the wrong place", like... I love her so so much.

I won't tag anyone, but if you read this and you want to do this, consider yourself tagged and you're no allowed to mark me as the one who tagged you!

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nobodyfamousposts · 5 years ago

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Miraculous Kwami Swap

I’ve seen it done before where circumstances result in a different pair of heroes in Origins, but I’ve yet to see it fully expanded on just how wide-ranging the effects would be.

Imagine we have Alya and Nino get the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous.

For one, it would be better on principle because of the idea behind this change is that the perspective and focus would ultimately be more spread out among the characters rather than central on two. This is in part because neither Alya or Nino would have the direct tie to the central plot other than by being chosen as the heroes. This means no tie to the villain or to the guardian.

Furthermore, there would be much different dynamics—not only with each other, but with their families and civilian lives. Marinette and Adrien had it easy in a sense as each of them was an only child. Compare that with Nino, who has a younger brother and Alya, who has two younger sisters to watch out for as well as one older one who is rather dead-set on protecting her from the akumas she has to go out and fight.

On the plus side, this means Nino wouldn’t need Marinette’s help to beat Nora at arm wrestling. On the other plus side, Nora would strike me as the type to catch on to Alya’s secret and try to help her…through training her to fight.

Alya: I can never use my arms again!

On the same note, this means very different positions for Alya and Nino as the Ladybug and Black Cat.

Alya was shown to be very big on the idea of superheroes in Origins, so she would be pretty psyched about being one, in a manner rather similar to Adrien. She’d have to learn that the life of a superhero is actually much more difficult than expected with secrets and juggling responsibilities—something she may “know” about from comics, but not something she would understand until she actually has to live it—much like in Sapotis where she initially said she’d tell Marinette her identity at the start of the episode only to back out of doing so by the end.

She’s also pretty reckless in canon, meaning that any instances of Chat!Nino rescuing her would be more of a response to her not fully thinking things through than him needlessly jumping in the way. This would allow for more growth potential for Alya as she is forced to take a serious look at her actions and possible consequences.

There would also be more difficulty with the Lucky Charm. Alya isn’t shown to be one for thinking things through, and that is something the Ladybug position would require and force her to do. This ultimately forces Alya to slow down and consider things before acting—both in regards to jumping to conclusions, but also in leaping before she looks. There’s also the bonus that this would result in Chat!Nino being able to step in to help direct her at points and allow him more of a role and say in battles.

On the other end, Nino is shown to be laid back in canon, but he is shown to be pretty good at thinking on his feet and planning things out. Even as an akuma, it took quite a bit of planning and set up to arrange Adrien’s birthday party. There’s also the other party from Party Crasher where Nino plotted out everything from what excuses to give the girls to how to get into the mansion. Sure, it was a horrible plan for various reasons, but it was a well plotted out one. His level of planning actually seemed to be about on par with Marinette though without the universe as a whole working against him most of the time.

Nino would admittedly do well with the Ladybug Miraculous. He’s smart, he’s a quick thinker, and he’s good at planning. But he’s not quite so good with leadership. We saw during Horrificator how he was acting—changing the script without telling everyone or consulting Alya when it was HER script, being harsh on Mylene, replacing her too quickly without considering her feelings. These were things the show didn’t call him out for, but they were still issues that should have been noted and addressed.

Nino is noted to be more of a follower, perhaps even codependent to a degree. In two separate instances, he pretty much gave up once Alya was down even though he could have continued and helped the heroes turn things around. First during Zombizou when Alya was kissed by the zombies in the elevator, he chose to stay behind with her and let himself be kissed once she was converted. It was sweet, sure, but there was no real reason for that if he knew Ladybug could restore things and that he could help her do so and save Alya. The second time was during Heroes Day when Alya was hit by the hate arrow and akumatized, he was so dismayed by it that he let himself be taken down as well. Ignoring again that this wasn’t the end and there was something he could do. Furthermore, whatever decisions he made or sides he chose to take seemed mostly dependent on other people and what they wanted from him at the time rather than using his own judgement.

A cat should be able to stand and act alone when needed, and that’s something he could gain from the Black Cat miraculous. Not to mention that there’s also the matter of the kwamis and how these pairings would interact.

Of the possible options for human and kwami teams, the most gain and interesting interactions seems to be with Alya and Tikki and with Nino and Plagg. Tikki would be encouraging Alya’s better traits but also helping to rein her in when she jumps to conclusions or acts without thinking. She’d also push Alya to consider how other people feel. Plagg, on the other hand, is particularly ornery and would be the one encouraging Nino to act rather than sit back, even if the “acts” he’s encouraging would be less than particularly noble. I’d also see Plagg having less concerns about acting out and Nino having to act more as the responsible one and trying to keep Plagg in line. Since he doesn’t have to worry about Nino being locked up and isolated the way commonly threatened with Adrien, Plagg would have less reason to need to behave. And since Nino likely couldn’t afford massive amounts of Camembert, he’d have less incentive to behave either.

This would also change the dynamic of the love square. Alya would probably consider her partner as a love interest since they’re both heroes and partners and that’s generally how it goes in the comics. It’s not about putting him on a pedestal, it’s about falling into expectations and it would be another aspect of heroism that Alya would need a lesson on. Furthermore, Nino still starts out with the crush on Marinette.

So we’d have Alya and Nino juggling their hero duties, school, families, and friendships. But what about those friendships?

Adrien is still the son of the big bad, but he doesn’t know it. Furthermore, he knows nothing about the Miraculous either. Being Chat Noir had no real impact on a number of aspects of his civilian life, so he would still have the initial circumstances of his first day of school, would still be friends with Chloe, would still be accused of putting gum on Marinette’s seat, and would still end up making things right with her by the end of the day. So he’s still friends with Nino an is still the center of a lot of people’s affections: Marinette, Chloe, Lila, and Wayhem.

Without Chat Noir, Adrien wouldn’t have an outlet for all the energy and freedom-seeking, so we’d be seeing a more vocal and dare I say rebellious version of Adrien than the one we get in canon. So not only would we have more Adrien and Gabriel interaction and conflict, but that also means Adrien manages to have more free time to hang out with his friends.

Ultimately, when the main duo are allowed to start asking others for help, Adrien would be high on Nino’s list. Nino would give Adrien the fox because of the illusion that Adrien tends to maintain. He knows that Adrien hides himself behind a mask and so would give him a chance to show his true self. The fact that it would be later revealed that Adrien is the son of their arch enemy would hit them pretty hard. Especially if things happen that result in Adrien switching sides to help his father.

Also, since Adrien isn’t Chat, that means he never inspired or got a front row seat to Ladybug’s speech and never fell for her. So no love square. That means he’s able to explore possible feelings for any of the people interested in him. In particular, Marinette.

Now that she’s brought up, what role does Marinette play in this? Imagine if she gets drawn into the whole thing by accident?

Given Alya’s nature, she strikes me as a proactive hero—to the point where she would be trying to seek out Hawk Moth in her downtime. So she starts going over possible suspects, looking for clues to where the akuma are coming from, what all Hawk Moth would need for his lair, etc. And one of the people on the list is none other than Adrien Agreste.

Think about it! Monsters start attacking only after he first starts showing up. Their class have almost all been turned into akumas by this point. It’s like Hawk Moth is targeting them specifically. And Adrien is never around during an akuma fight (because he’s hiding like any sensible person)! And Adrien is one of the few people in class who hasn’t been akumatized! it can’t be coincidence!

So Alya pulls Marinette into her scheme to check out the Agreste mansion for clues. And they would find nothing since as it turns out, Adrien actually is innocent.

Except Nooroo in this version of events isn’t nearly as passive as his canon counterpart. The heroes are struggling and Gabriel is even more of an ass to his son and to Nooroo himself. Needless to say, he’s somewhat spiteful and feeling particularly passive aggressive.

So when a random school friend of Adrien’s just happens to visit (read: scope out the mansion for clues), Nooroo uses butterfly effect—which he IS the master and creator of thank you very much—to get the Peacock Miraculous into her bag in hopes that she can help in some way. Inform the heroes, get the Miraculous to Fu somehow, help Dusuu, just something more than the Peacock Miraculous staying trapped in the safe where Gabriel can use it.

So Marinette gets home unknowingly carrying a magical item in her bag. Later on, she discovers she now has a strange broach. And an even stranger creature attached.

Marinette: AH! IT’S A GIANT BIRD! A MOUSE! A-A BIRD-MOUSE!

Marinette is still pretty smart. She would figure out at some point that Alya is the Ladybug hero and want to help. But the Miraculous is damage and using it would cause her harm. So Marinette tries to avoid using the Peacock Miraculous while also trying to either find the Guardian or figure out some way to fix the broken magical artifact…to…some limited success.

Ultimately, Marinette is trying to help in her own way, but with the volatile situation, she tries to avoid transforming unless the heroes really need her to. Unfortunately, given the difficulty Alya and Nino are having as the heroes, as well as the changes with Adrien that are forcing Gabriel to push matters more quickly, Marinette ends up having to transform and help out on several occasions. And as she does, she gets weaker as the damaged Miraculous is taking its toll on her.

So let’s review:

We have Ladybug!Alya. Quick to action and struggling with thinking things through, with a Miraculous and kwami that are pushing her to become more of a leader and plan things out.

Black Cat!Nino. A follower and possible codependent, with a Miraculous and kwami that are prone to trouble and pushing him to act.

Fox!Adrien. More rebellious and passive aggressive. With a super villain father and much less inclined to simply sit by and let people hang on him or infringe upon him.

Peacock!Marinette. More shy but less anxious or overwhelmed due to not having the responsibility of Ladybug. Still creative and intelligent, enough to know who at least one of the superheroes is, and by pure happenstance ends up with the Peacock Miraculous.

This can only go well!

#ml au #kwami swap #kwami swap au #ladybug alya #black cat nino #fox adrien #peacock marinette #how can this go wrong

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isakwon · 6 years ago

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MALEVO 2

Pairing: Reader x Got7′s Kim Yugyeom

Genre: Angst

Warning: Violence and swearing

Word Count: 3K

MALEVO 1

Thank goodness the dark curtains provided with the dormitory shuts the sunlight out from blinding the heck out of your slumber. You adored waking up being completely wrapped with puffy blankets laying softly over the pillows and judging from the silence around you, your roommate must’ve left for work. It all a dream; the last things you remember from that night terror had been your loved ones going missing, getting mysteriously threatened with notes, and the paranoia that stayed behind waking up. Once fear eased down out your stomach, you don’t hear noise come around outside the walls, meaning you are home alone. Being home alone weekend mornings gives the opportunity to do whatever you want and the idea has you excited. Your roommate must’ve gained enough energy after finishing her late night shift and decided cleaning the entire house while you were sleeping, leaving everything looking spotless with the exception of some dirty dishes. You blindly turned the television on before walking straight toward the small kitchen preparing breakfast. Without watching the screen, the news anchormen discuss over the most recent morning topics.

“Our Country Police Department have track down several drug victims using the brand new strategy called “Operation Hammer”. Both Police and the FBI are using Battering Ram Tanks to tear down houses that has been accused of drug possession in order to stop this devastatingly fast growing rate of crack, cocaine and marijuana. Last night, three houses have been demolished and only one containing bags of what looks like cocaine within every wall, beds, the floor and even the inclusion of illegal weapons.” One female reporter said from the screen.

“All four owners were arrested with one currently in the hospital due to spinal damage from getting rammed.”

You sink down the chair eating your prepared breakfast in front the T.V. displaying the hood streets where police search half demolished homes surrounded with victims dressed in their bathrobes and pajamas, holding children much younger than six years old. One interviewed woman describes her perspective how she was sleeping next to her husband and grand baby, next thing she knew the sounds of big wheels draw closer and closer until suddenly they are left with half a home. A majority of victims face mistaken identity and now shockingly the victims are put with blame. Unfortunately half the victims become unjustified and lose their own case against the police especially when somebody gotten seriously injured and it was so obviously clear the police are at fault.

“We were scared and it’s just horrible because those kids were in these houses, they could’ve been killed.”

You stiffen your vision toward the screen that showed police exiting the torn house with little to no expression on them, including the President’s wife escorted by them . Four actual drug abusers are imprisoned and rehabilitate while nothing else will be known about the mistaken victims roaming around the front yard wearily, hugging wailing children. Wondering helplessly what’s gonna happen to them and where they’re going to stay, how their children can get dressed now that their uniforms are covered with dust. You fold your arms across your chest while exhale heavily, shaking you head. Damn was the most you thought to yourself as the reporters moved on to the following morning topic. All scenes similar are the first and last time the victims will be heard from. It was like the justice supreme liked thinking themselves as if their job was all a game of messed up chess, considering themselves as Kings, Queens and Bishops and Knights trying to eliminate pawns that never moved

Many cops knew how their job should be done and how suspects should be treated firstly during interrogation. Others who did whatever they wanted assault on the innocent or for just for any other senseless reason.

Once breakfast was over you cleaned yourself and dressed into simple shirt and pants, not really having desires to go anywhere today since your roommate left and later tonight you are going out with a date that you haven’t had in forever. Men during junior and high school approached you confessed their past feelings and admitted they were afraid that there was something more grew with your feelings towards Yugyeom. Your thumb presses the delete contact button under Yugyeom’s contact that now was useless for keeping old messages and dated back call logs. You would stand in the middle of the living room, gripping the phone with your fingers, and planting your feet down facing the door, not wanting to move.

...

“I can’t date anybody cause they feel jealous of you.”

You grip the steering wheel with both hands on opposite direction, attempting jokes but at the same time being serious toward Yugyeom who keeps eating his boxed food.

“It’s not that their jealous, your lovers are afraid about what will happen if they make you cry.” He says, bringing the forkful food to his mouth. “Plus they don’t need to worry about us together.”

He picks something stuck in his teeth as you stare at the red dot over your heads. And you purse your lips together breathing through your nostrils. “Yugyeom, do you think someday we’ll stop being best friends?” You ask.

Yugyeom stares onto the side of your face, wide eyed. “How can you think that?”

“I mean once we’re married, our partners wouldn’t favor friends like us hanging out as much as we do. Even if we bring our time together to a minimum, I’ll be worried your future wife won’t accept me.”

Your fingers fall down the steering wheel as your heart twists in your chest. Remembering folded surprise notes hidden in your bag. Every note had malicious comments demanding you to find a new best friend. One day returning from being sick, Yugyeom found a paper tack in your change of shoes with the needle facing up the air. You were shocked knowing how someone could do such things to you just because you were close friends with a male this person has a crush on. He grabs your shoulder, rubbing his hand over and you turn your eyes toward Yugyeom.

“Y/N, if our future spouses don’t want to spend time together then they might as well have each other. There’s no healthy relationship if there isn’t any trust.”

Trust was Yugyeom’s best traits, and his trust sometimes amazed you. He never shared secrets and he never let anyone down. Anytime you needed help finishing an essay, he’d help you with research and anytime you thought you would get grounded for something you knew was wrong.

“Trust me, no matter what happens I promise we’ll be friends forever. You’re like my sister, if anybody breaks your heart, they better pray for themself.” He says getting an amused scoff from you in response. That promise was sealed with a handshake and hug Yugyeom would cover for you. All that Yugyeom has done for you, you would do for him. One day there would be knocking coming from the door and his figure outline visible from the otherside, waiting for you to open. You press the cancel option below the delete contact option. Yugyeom should’ve been deleted but you just never had the heart to, like removing him from your life.

His contact still under your thumb following the call button, keeping your thumb hovered and moving back and forth, staring. You waited something from him like a call saying he’s okay, if his family’s okay. You been urging to dial him for so long, without realizing your fingers fumble over the screen, feeling the phone vibrate, just thinking purely about Yugyeom. “Hello?”

“Hey Y/N, how are ya?” Your boss called, “Say can you come in a little early today?”

He asks you to cover some coworker’s daylight shift. A quiet moan immersed deep down the bottom of your throat just so your boss could not hear- you were just enjoying the morning all to yourself. You had not stayed at home for countless weeks and dearly missed for lounging before you went out. But your boss was such a sweetheart and fun person.

“Thank you. Have a wonderful day.” Your shift comes closer towards the end.

Upon your arrival he instantly greets and thanks you making your face grow red overhearing his compliments. So far things run smoothly without being too busy, customers seemed to be in a good mood. Half the customers telling you how pretty your smile is and some new coworkers asking advice how to become a better employee. You knew since today is a good day, your date tonight might succeed.

You greeted and smiled every single customer while wiping tables and chairs. Good thing arriving early provided being released early, giving you enough time to shower, get dressed, redo your hair and apply make up on yourself. The sky blended baby and mid-dark blue turning into one of the most beautiful sapphire blues you had ever seen.

Probably because he wore a jacket of the same color. His car that you rode was painted the same color. Maybe because you thought the color suits him best. Maybe the color has nothing to do with remembering Yugyeom. Maybe it was the customer sitting down on the patio with a familiar back profile. Whoever the person really was, you can’t help try examining.

The shoulders were wider by two inches comparing yours, his bowl-cut hair was fluffy and a single loop earring and although the legs are bent and covered with loose jeans, they look swollen. Yugyeom’s legs were slim the last time he was seen. You realize you’re several steps closer toward the customer trying usual questions you ask customers eating at the restaurant and a small part trying to find out the person is Yugyeom.

….

“We can’t go to Haeundae this year.”

Yugyeom said and you adjust the phone over your ear. “What,how come?”

Before, Yugyeom’s disappearance talked about visiting some relatives. For six summer vacations, Yugyeom’s parents always invited you on a road trip to swim at Haeundae Beach usually lasting two weeks on vacation as long as your parents agreed- and they obviously would.

Now, his parents grew worried and more wary about safety since that drive-by assassination that happened before your eyes. Crime like such seemed incredibly rare happening in such an innocent neighborhood that’s becoming more alert. Since that elder woman mentioned her nearing death, familiar street names appeared on evening news. Reported kidnapping, folks never returning home, and hit and runs. More parents cautiously watched their children and the dog population grew rapidly.

“How long will you be away?”

Yugyeom sounded really gloomy through the speaker, he sounded like he was crying. “I don’t know.”

He tells you grab a pen and napkin and write down a new phone number. He inhales deeply, making sure that you can’t suspect him tearing up but his voice croaked.

Why is he suddenly getting sentimental ?

“Trust me, everything will be okay. I love and will miss you, loser.” His relieved huff released one out through you, assuring he’ll be okay. He promises that you’d be friends forever.

“Y/N come on, you gotta clock out.” Your boss waves his hand forward and you gather leftover plates before heading inside the building without even looking back the drive-thru lane and drove all the way home to make in time for your date.

Nobody could oppose how wearing black looked wonderfully on others. You owned a dozen black dresses and the target aim tonight was another most favorite dress with lace elbow sleeves with soft black percale fabric outlining your figure. You wore over overall natural makeup with brown matte lipgloss and your hair framing your jaw structure. Since today was great so far this date was going really good too. Your date became the center of attention for the night without trying.

He was cute especially wearing red polo shirt that exposes his chest through glimpses each time he moved while turning his head toward the waiter. Once the conversation passed the usual introduction and profile you went ahead on ordering drinks.

Jinyoung is the first time having a date with after a long period and he was being a gentleman from the start, pulling out the chair, gifting lavenders between you and hasn’t stopped complimenting you. As hours passed Jinyoung’s eyes trot over head down your arms. Your sensual voice flowing pleasantly through his ears and asking to hear your giggle again. His knuckles press into his cheek squishing his eye. He was admiring you with his half smile once you raised your head and smiled shyly. “Yes?”

“You just look beautiful.” Jinyoung responds. He unfolds his fist, flattening his hand against his cheek.

“How can someone like you be single for so long?”

Heat rushes up your cheeks quickly as your eyelids fall and you curl strands of hair. It was better keeping that question unanswered, not because that’s the ‘date thing’ also because the past men who shared interest always ended. You were just sick over the lacking trust and jealousy living through the relationship with whoever.

The waiter brought two glasses of iced teas, sweetened for you and unsweet for Jinyoung. After ordering appetizers, you excuse yourself to use the washroom. Jinyoung nods, watching you rise until you disappear around the corner. A smile plasters your face with heated cheek buds until someone dressed entirely in denim, wearing a black ski mask exits the men’s room. That person pauses in his tracks and zipps quickly away as you look back behind him entering the restroom. Water droplets float over little frizzy parts of your hair. While silently hoping that this night continues going good, the phone screen brightens with a new message.

[From] Unknown:

Do not drink the tea.

Your brows knit upward your forehead and you immediately frown. Such a strange message especially from an unknown number. You thought to yourself, “The fu-?”

But the message mentions the beverages you and Jinyoung ordered, how the hell did Unknown number know that the drinks were teas?

Your thumbs begin punching over the keyboard and then another message appears.

[From] Unknown:

Please do not drink the tea.

Water drips from the faucet and all you do is reread the two messages saying the same thing. Maybe these messages really are for you, but how does this person know what you’re drinking. Also why. Who is this person texting you, how did they know your number? Are they sitting somewhere in the same restaurant, they had to to know where you are this evening.

So does that mean you’re being followed?

The bathroom door opens again another woman entering as you turn the screen off. You still are fazed the same way you felt earlier in the morning, unable how to think nor when to move. Jinyoung already waited waited more than five minutes, probably, and the food already served without you. Could he be the one warning you about the drink? He did have your number first and knew you were drinking tea and he is sitting in the same restaurant with you.

You throw a bit more water onto your hair streaming down your temples past your ears, taking a deep breath. This whole day was going fine, you think to yourself, everything will be okay hopefully. You excuse yourself to Jinyoung sitting back down.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

You nodded, trying to wear off loads of paranoia heaved upon your mind and shoulders.

“Yes, I’m fine. Let’s eat.”

Jinyoung talked about his interests of gothic architecture and popular narrow alley staircases like one called El Callejon De Beso. It interested him because supposedly when couples kiss standing on the red stone where one lovers blood stained, their love would last eternally. Another thing was discovered about your date when he kept cracking wise jokes-and each made you laugh.

Several more minutes passed talking between eating and Jinyoung drinking between eating. As much as you desired washing food down with something, you didn’t grab for the tea for anything. Those anonymous warning just wouldn’t stop whirling behind your skull, debating if ordering another drink was better. The waiter still hasn’t walked by the table to check nor offer refills yet, not even offering refills for water. Your parents have said when you were younger when you were watching the movies with them where there was a bar scene. When that ended, they told you buy your own drink never let other people buy them however they were alcoholic, something your taste buds cannot stand. Alcoholic drinks tastes super heavy and super light yet all that can taste is the burning liquid, even when their drinks fused with fruit flavors that dissolving sedates have no flavor. Emptiness fills you wholly, glancing at corners all around, suddenly losing interest doing anything and movement in your limbs and your eyes are alert. You could’ve responded with wrong number or just simply turn the phone off, but the pleading from the last message really sounded genuine.

You fling your sight back on Jinyoung gently holding your hand and watching you with concerned eyes. Now that you realized, you hardly remember anything that the conversation was about. You don’t even know if you have said anything, now making you seem rude.

“Are you alright Y/N?”

Jinyoung furrows his brows onto his forehead, changing his frown into a tiny smile that brings another similar from you as deep sighs huff from your nose. Other things occupied the mind too much that attention was taken away and you shook your head and saying that you were okay now. Your dress pocket vibrates against your thigh, most likely another message from the unknown number again, however your mind was elsewhere. Jinyoung lowers his brows relaxed and revealing teeth soon as you envelope touched fingers, using nervousness for makeup paranoia and worry.

“Everything’s fine, this has been a first for me this evening.”

Jinyoung pouts, “Mine too.”

His light chuckle follows afterward slowly releasing your hand, taking gulps of tea where his adams apple bobs up and down.

....

Yugyeom intensely watches his Lord use the other hand for counting the stash bill by bill. His legs tremble from the knees down for his life since the morning from jumping rooftops and smashing windows and from what his lord would say about his short payment. Drug Dealers have similar tasks like every job that makes the sale and receive money which leaves with their boss and in return the ones who succeeded earn minimum wage. Except for dealeing payments are secretive usually exchanged behind the corner store or beside the closest bridge. Sometimes when sales end in fail, the fault was on the customer or the salesperson.

“You did good this time Kim, running away out that dope house that got fucked up. Even if you got caught, that doesn’t mean much shit to me because they got away without paying again.”

He tapped the stash on the table and Yugyeom looks over his shoulders, peering his eyes making them open slits on his face. “Next time, we’ll take care of those people after paying the little strawberry a visit.”

“Anything in it for me?” Yugyeom asked.

Yugyeom never turned short money for his lord because he knew simple ways getting the money. He remembers how cold the device felt in his palms and how far away the paper hung from the other side of the room. In movies and tv shows, actors made things look simple however entertainment intends for scenes to look realistic. Yugyeom stared at the wall and pointed in the same direction the people around him were whining and raising their voices. Calling him too ‘sissy’ to even turn the safety gear off until the material gets snatched from him. He remembers shuttering to the banging sounds inches away from him.

The Lord calls after him. “Hey Yugyeom!”

The sounds of glass breaking startle Yugyeom for the first time in forever. For the first time in forever Yugyeom feels worried as he straps the gun beneath his belt.

“Shit, she drank it!”

46 notes · View notes

moczothe1st · 6 years ago

Text

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 30: Man, oh Man, oh Manfroy

Part 29

Welcome back to Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War. Last week, we fought off like six armies all at once, and it was miserable, but on the plus side Hilda died. I think every game would be better if Hilda died. This week, we finish taking her castle and… *sigh* And we regret it, probably. This week, we start off mid-turn, so after moving most of my southern front up north toward the action, I end my turn and let the remainder of Hilda’s dorks take their shot.

… Why couldn’t they have gone down that easy last week, huh?!

Now, on our turn, the enemy is down to four dark mages with staves, and one dark bishop with a siege tome in the castle. I have Fee cut down one of the former…

And have Larcei and Seliph talk about love, because honestly I’m actually in no big hurry to finish this castle.

Larcei: I’m coming with you on this one!

Seliph: Of course you’re welcome to… but why?

Larcei: It’s odd… I’m actually a little scared…

Seliph: Odd indeed! If there’s one thing you’ve never been known for, it’s fear.

Larcei: It’s… I just…

Seliph: Shhh. I understand. Now come! After all, what could ever inspire courage quite like having you at my side.

(… Damn, Seliph, smooth like silk. You win a little more of my respect, bro.)

Larcei: Seliph…

This conversation gives Seliph +1 to his Strength; it was apparently supposed to be +3, but he was actually only one point away from his (oddly low) cap. Apparently Seliph only has a natural 25 strength cap! That seems weird considering his descent from Sigurd the Humungous.

And… sigh. Guess I should kill the stupid boss.

All right. Nothing left but sleep staves, and they can’t really hurt us. I have Fee and Altena purge them.

And now we have the problem dealt with. A little jumping around before I set off the next story segment; I have Finn zapped home, where he repairs and sells his Brave Lance. I’m going to have Fee buy it after we take Freege. Sorry, Finn, but you’re kind of just not holding up; you lasted longer than I expected you too, but despite being decent on offense you’re just kind of fragile. Oifey will also be benched here, I think, he can stay to defend Freege castle after we take it. Thankfully…

… The game is polite enough to tell us where the next part of the chapter will be coming from. So I do spend a turn or two moving the kids up to this gate and ready to rock. Seliph?

Seliph: But I can’t help but wonder… are the children at Belhalla still unharmed? I pray they are…

Lewyn: Funny you should say that!

(That’s not really the appropriate response to dying children.)

Lewyn: We’ve got a visitor who’s got a bit of news on that front, Seliph.

(“I’ve seen… terrible things. Thank the gods I have no sister, for I fear I would never be able to look her in the eyes again.”)

Felipe: On secret orders from His Majesty, the abducted children were moved here to Freege for safe-keeping.

(Orders so secret that we never actually got to see Arvis give them in that whole scene where he was desperately trying to save all the children at Chalphy and failing, being immediately caught, and then getting cowed into submission by a man infinitely less powerful than himself. STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME FEEL BAD FOR ARVIS, GAME.)

Felipe: Rest easy, sire. They’re all hiding in the city’s abbey, and they’re all in good health.

Seliph: And all under Hilda’s nose, at that! That you’ve kept every last child safe in Hilda’s own city… color me impressed!

Felipe: Actually, sire… Princess Ishtar deserves your thanks. Without her generous aid given in secret, we could never have done this. No Imperial soldiers dared come even close to the abbey, on pain of the princess’s wrath.

Seliph: Princess Ishtar?! But why… why would she-

Felipe: Few people in this land are as kind and caring as Princess Ishtar.

FEW PEOPLE IN THIS LAND ARE AS KIND AND CARING AS PRINCESS ISHTAR.

YEAH SHE’S A FUCKIN’ TREASURE.

Felipe: All along, the princess has toiled behind the scenes to aid our cause. It was Princess Ishtar herself who ensured that every last child escaped from the bowels of Belhalla.

(“Then… how comes she’s… you know… literally banging the Devil?” “Technically he’s a ghost dragon.”)

Seliph: I see… at any rate, thank the gods for their safety. I’m certain everyone will be glad to know the children are in good hands. You have my deepest thanks, Lord Felipe.

Lewyn: Well, Seliph, that’s one job done. Good to see we’re finally getting results out of this mess.

(Hey, screw you man, I’ve conquered three quarters of the country.)

Seliph: And yet, Julia still eluds us… where could she possibly be?

Lewyn: The only options left now are Belhalla and Velthomer. It’s got to be one of those two.

Seliph: And Belhalla is where Julius awaits…

Lewyn: Yeah. We’ll need to find Julia first if we want to go anywhere near Belhalla. Without Julia’s power on our side, we won’t have a hope in hell against Julius.

(Again, not technically true, but you really should listen to him on this one.)

Seliph: But no matter what’s happened, Julius is still her brother. Will she even want to fight him…

Lewyn: … You’ll have to convince her.

(I mean, you’ve met Julius. It won’t be super hard.)

Ishtar: This will require that I leave your side, even for a while. I beg your forgiveness.

Julius: Feh.

Julius: Why the rush to get out there so suddenly, Ishtar? All the soldiers they could ever throw at us could never so much as scratch me. Why even bother with those maggots?

Ishtar: Yes, I know… but for me, there is no greater pride than being one of Freege’s great mages.

(“Saving all those children? Doesn’t even compare.”)

Ishtar: My parents and brother lie dead, and I cannot stand to leave their murderers to run amok… please. All I ask is a chance for vengeance.

Julius: It sounds as if what you really want is to following your family to death on a rebel’s blade! Are you so desperate to escape me, Ishtar?

Ishtar: No… nothing like that, Lord Julius. I love you. Nothing will ever change that.

Julius: Hmhmhmhmhm… I know.

Julius: Very well! Fight if you must. I won’t stop you.

Ishtar: Thank you… now, I beg your pardon. Meng! Bleg! Mabel! We sortie at once.

(Oh god, we are really scraping the bottom of the name barrel this time. ‘Meng’? ‘Bleg’?)

Julius: Now, then. I think it’s time we put an end to this sorry show. Deadlords, move out! And order Arion’s unit to attack!

(… wait, what?)

So. You may recall I told you to remember this moment.

It was important for two reasons.

First: This is the moment the war becomes winnable. You see, Manfroy is not… really all that into Loptyr. Oh, he worships him, but it’s not really about loyalty so much as sadism. Manfroy hates the world, and every single human being in it. His overall goal in life is nothing more or less than to make humanity suffer as much as possible. But he’s generally pragmatic about it. He knew the best way to hurt humanity was to revive Loptyr, who possesses incredible powers and views humans as little better than food to eat and pets to abuse. This moment, right here, is the moment that Manfroy, flush with overconfidence in the presence of his god on earth and having enjoyed a long decade and a half tormenting the entire continent, finally makes a mistake. He lets his sadism overpower his common sense for the first time. And in so doing, he gives us a real shot.

Second: Because he’s still Manfroy, he’s a total fuckwad about it.

Remember Ayra? Waaaaaaaaay back in Verdane, remember how we recruited Ayra. How we had to get to a castle to turn her non-hostile to us, only she was between the army and the castle and she was trying to kill us the whole time?

Yeah, that’s happening again. Only it’s Julia, our lil’ atomic vampire gatling gun trying to kill us. Of course she’s just as strong as she was when she was on our side, why would you even ask. Oh, and just for fun…

Here’s the map of what we need to achieve. The blue X is where we are. The red X is where we need to get to save Julia. The ravenous piranha is Ishtar’s army, waiting to pounce upon us and tear us limb from bloody limb. And to her right, marked by the douche, is Julius. You don’t have to fight him, and you in fact definitely should not because getting anywhere near him will also draw the Deadlords out to fight you, but of course has a siege tome now and will cheerfully wreck the shit of anyone who gets anywhere near him, therefore heavily limiting the space we have to move.

And of course, Julia will be trying to kill us the whole time, and we can’t fight back and risk killing her.

And hahaha, yeah, Arion will be showing up soon.

This is not going to be any fun, is what I’m getting at here.

First thing’s first, let’s take a look at our piranha.

Ishtar has taken yet another level in badass; her magic has gone up two points, skill by three, luck by 2, defense by eight, and resistance by one. And this time, she’s got an actual army with her instead of fighting us alone; three Snipers, three Heroes, three Sages, three High Priests with Fortify (of course) staves, and of course…. *snerk*…. Bleg, Meng, and Mabel.

They’re three identical Falcon Knights, both in picture and stats, so I’ll only be showing one of them. Despite the intensely crappy names, they honestly three ridiculously dangerous units. They all have Earth Swords, meaning any hit they land is going to heal them, and they’ll be hitting often what with that maxed-out Speed and solid 23 skill. And to make things worse, they all have the Nihil ability to prevent us from just shooting them down with arrows or relying on Astra to solve our problems.

So! This is going to suck. A lot. But thanks to Ced being awesome, there’s an option I can take to make this a lot more manageable. Lana sells her Silence staff, and he buys it…

And with his 35 fucking magic he can overpower Ishtar’s 32 Resistance to Silence her up to three times, basically removing Mjolnir from the equation for this battle. And Mjolnir is like… half of this battle’s equation.

I literally cannot believe I’ve never tried this before. From here, the army moves forward, Seliph leading the way; he’ll be attacked by quite a lot of people here, but he’s a living iron wall of destruction, and the more of these people I can lure away from the main melee, the better. So. End turn!

(*sigh* Must you, now?)

Arion: Chalphy’s fall to our blades shall be the first step to winning back our fatherland. Now, move in! Show these liberators one final defiance from the drackoknights of Thracia!

A solid enough start! We hurt one Falcon Knight, and didn’t take much damage in return. And now that Ishtar is in range…

Oh, that is delicious. Now, my first goal here is to kill at least one of these three annoyingly fast pega-bitches, but I also have to get Altena (and yes it has to be her, of course it has to be her) down to the castle to intercept Arion. I hate everything forever.

One down! Let’s keep this train rolling and clear out some more jerks.

Two out of three ain’t bad!

Okay, I think that’s about all the damage I’m going to get done this turn. And not bad at all, frankly, so I’m happy. I have Lene dance Altena, and warp her home with Lana.

Ignore the pentagram. It’s a good pentagram. Down at the bottom, Altena equips Gae Bolg and flies to just outside Arion’s range. The rest of his buddies don’t matter at all, but I don’t want her to fight him. There’s a reason for this, of course. It’s unsatisfying, but it makes her happy.

The things I do for my kids, I swear.

End turn.

… Huh. They don’t attack her? Or maybe they can’t damage her. I honestly am not sure.

*sniff*

I remember the last time I played this map.

I died five times on this battle alone.

And now it’s going better than the fight against the fucking Beige Knights.

I don’t understand what’s going on.

Altena: How could you be so craven?! How dare you place your vanity and pride over what truly matters!

(You tell him, honey!)

Arion: What do you want from me, then?

(God, don’t ask her that. This LP is not rated Adults Only.)

Altena: Take a good, hard look at Prince Seliph! Ask yourself, this: why is he still fighting? For whom is he out here day after day, setting his own suffering to the side?

Arion: So Seliph fights for justice, and I somehow do not? Is that what you’re trying to say?

(…. YES!)

Altena: Very well, Arion… if you won’t see reason, so be it. Come on. Kill me. End this. My… my life is in your hands. I die with no regrets.

Arion: A-Altena… very well. You can rest easy now. I get it. I was wrong… my mercenary days are at an end, and my final task is with Seliph. Wait… no. With you. I now fight for you, Altena.

Altena: Arion…

Yeah, it would have been neat if you’d done this a few maps ago, jackass, but Arion is on our side now. Or, well, sorta. He doesn’t join the army, but his unit becomes neutral and are programmed to stay close to Altena and be hostile to any Belhalla units that get near them. I know we all sort of wanted to kill him, but he still has Gungnir and I really just didn’t want to risk a screwup when things are going so well. I mean, I’m not even gonna use him. At this point, letting him get near the enemy would likely result in him rushing Julius and dying, which sorta defeats the point. Let’s just end this; time to wipe out the remains of Ishtar’s unit.

And now, a special treat. Since Ishtar can’t fight, we get to see a conversation that even I have never actually seen.

(…. ‘Nothing but kind’.)

(Just sayin’.)

Ishtar: … I may be in the wrong. But I can’t turn back now. Forgive me, Tinni… please….

And thus passes Princess Ishtar of Freege. She died as she lived: getting nuked by her cousins. And without her leadership stars…

All right. Now, the rest of the army is going to stay right where they fucking are. Julia cannot be trusted to not kill herself, or more troublesome to not kill me. The only people going forward are Seliph and Ares, who are going to go north across the forest, out of Julius’s range, and try to lure Julia into following them. Their resistance is tremendous, and they’re both on horses. Ideally she’ll try to kill them, fail, and be following them and unable to catch up until I can free her. This will take a few turns of nothing but movement because I will not be going anywhere near Julius.

Trust me.

She seeeeeeeeeees uuuuuuuuuuussssss…

Okay. There’s two things that could happen here. She’s either going to go east and cut us off, in which case we’ll be dodging vampire lasers the rest of the map, or she’s going to go north through the forest and we basically win the game. Let’s see!

…. Bitch. Okay, straight west you guys! Hide on the healing church, you beautiful bastards. God, haven’t used one of those in awhile, with those fifty healers in the army lining up to zap everyone with staves.

Dammit, Loptyrians, I am trying to flee in terror from a small woman.

Okay. We can do this. Ares heals up, and all we have to do is clear out those priests and kill Manfroy. Go get ‘em, boys!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Are you fucking kidding me.

Of all the.

That.

You.

HOW.

What the!

NO.

………………

Well. You know all those times when I was questioning my good fortune? The moments where I was like ‘oh, man, I don’t trust how generous the game is being, bet it’s gonna screw me later!’ Well, that just happened.

*sigh*

End turn. If I survive this, I will be genuinely stunned.

Oh hey it’s as though the Hel tome is really easy to dodge and you should have dodged it all along. But here we go…

(How do you know that’s Manfroy? You’ve never met him…)

Manfroy: So I did. And so long as I live, my puppet she shall remain! Hehehehehe! She’s every bit as helpless before my magic as her mother was…

Seliph: I should have known. If not for you, Mother… Gah! All of this misery… all these agonizing years… It was all your doing from the outset!

Manfroy: Heh… of course. Everything I’ve done has led to this moment: the revival of my lord Loptyr. And at last, it is so! Loptyr’s advent in the form of Prince Julius is complete, and darkness shall soon engulf the world. You cannot prevent it. Nobody can…

Seliph: Manfroy, you… Father’s grief… Mother’s despair… if not for you and your foul ambitions, none of this would have ever happened… Damn you, Manfroy! I cannot allow you to win! I will not! You’ll NEVER know mercy for your crimes!

Yeah, not the dramatic win I was hoping for after that great speech. But I guess I saw that coming. Reset! I start off a little differently; Seliph and Ares park themselves on trees. With the 20% dodge bonus, they should have no chance of being hit by Hel, and very little of being hit by Julia. We need to clear out these Dark Mages before we go for Manfroy.

Better! This repeats for all of them; one actually dies because they’re forced to attack at close-range thanks to being blocked off by their own buddies, which is great.

Yeah, yeah.

He only does one damage. Seliph could have survived him with no problem in any other situation. I hate this game sometimes. On our turn, I have Ares and Seliph each clear out a mage…

Then immediately go hide in the woods again. I am playing this as cautious as humanly possible, honestly. Better to spend three turns killing mages than let the reset counter jump up above the number of updates.

The enemy misses again on their turn, because they literally can’t not miss. Two more deaths…

All right! That’s that for dark mages. On the next turn, Ares is going to park his butt on the healing church forever, and Seliph goes to fight Manfroy.

You stay out of this.

Now then. It’s time. It’s time to face Manfroy himself. In direct combat. The enemy behind it all! The dark schemer who has given over our kingdom to the dark god. And he…

Is a loser. I mean, he’s not the worst enemy in the game. He’s okay. But he’s definitely no match for Arvis, or Ishtar, or… anyone with a holy weapon, really. Which fits, really; his danger is his skill and intellect, not his power. But considering he’s basically the final boss, it’s a little sad, still.

Seliph. Teach him some manners, bro.

And with two shots, he’s down to six HP. End turn.

I miss the days when I was the one with the Julia Beams.

*sniff*

God. That is just cathartic to do. Now. With Manfroy off to Hell, where I’m assuming he will meet Hilda and strike up a whirlwind love affair, Seliph can take the castle.

Lewyn: That’s right, isn’t it Felipe?

Felipe: My liege concealed the key within his most treasured memento…. The circlet once worn by Empress Deirdre.

(HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!)

Felipe: If we can find that circlet, sir, the Book of Naga is yours.

Lewyn: Deirdre’s circlet…

And that’s that! Ares runs toward the castle, with intent to lure Julia toward us. Of course she’s still hostile, why are you even asking? She has to talk to Seliph to get back to our side. Tee-hee, Fire Emblem hates you.

God, you are just like your mother. Seliph, go fix this please.

Seliph: It was Manfroy’s dark arts. He brainwashed you into his service.

Julia: Manfroy… that’s right, he caught me…

Seliph: Thank goodness you’re safe.

Julia: Lord Seliph, I…

Seliph: It’s fine, Julia. I know. Lewyn told me everything. I’m sorry… I failed to protect you.

Julia: No… it’s fine. Don’t worry, Seliph. I finally know why I’ve survived for all these years. I know my fate… I’m fated to fight. I’ll never run away again!

Seliph: You’re right… This is the will of fate, tragic as it is. None can afford to cower or flee now. Until the bitter end, we must march on.

And with that, Julia rejoins the team. She’s just as strong as ever, barring one fact; she’s picked up Deirdre’s circlet, adding Renewal and Miracle to her list of abilities, which is a heck of an upgrade.

But not as good as the one she gets from reaching Velthomer.

Lewyn: It worked… it really worked! And there it is, the Book of Naga! It’s yours for the taking, Julia!

Julia: … Oh! How strange… it feels so warm. It’s almost as if I’ve known this book all my life…

And now, the game is over. See, here’s the thing… Julius is just as dangerous as before, if not slightly moreso. His stats are slightly lower than his first appearance where you are very clearly not meant to fight him, but he still has Loptyr’s game-breaking effect, and his ability list is now Wrath, Pursuit, Nihil, and Accost. So he can double most of our army, null critical hits and combat abilities, and gets a huge critical boost when his health drops below half. And of course, he’s on a castle and gets the defense bonus and health regeneration that gives. Basically, he’s borderline invincible. The only real option if you lose Julia is to have Seliph fight him, and poor Seliph can only do about 15 damage per turn (if he hits) some of which will then be healed. While getting blasted in the face repeatedly, so you’ll need to get someone in to heal him between rounds, and they’ll very probably die to having Meteors dropped on their head unless you’re very lucky. And then there’s the Deadlords, who are just a pain.

But if you do have Julia…

Yeah.

YEEEEEEEEEAH.

Naga is the best weapon in the game. +20 each to Skill, Speed, Defense, and Resistance, instantly turns Julia into a hyper-fast, hyper-accurate, hyper-durable killing machine. And as a light magic tome, it has no disadvantage to any kind of weapon. And, of course, it negates Loptyr’s half-damage effect. Your reward for the most annoying recruitment in the game is the weapon that ends the game. Big time.

So.

It’s time to lay back and let Big J play us out, I think. I have her do the Arena, just for old times sake. Nothing even touches her.

Julia: Seven wins, gained two levels. +2 HP, +1 Speed.

About as good as can be expected at this point, honestly. And it…. Doesn’t really matter, you know? She heads to Belhalla, and Julius has no chance to hit her with Meteor, so he doesn’t even try. The Twelve Deadlords rush up to meet her, of course…

They’re going to regret this. The Deadlords are named for the animals of the Chinese Zodiac, and each one has a different class and some very good weapons and abilities. They’re a dangerous group! Usually.

One down, eleven to go. End turn.

And then there were nine.

Sorry, seven.

Six of one, half-dozen of the other.

Fun fact, ‘Lepus’ means ‘Rabbit’. And ‘Dead’.

Well I’ll be! Someone landed a hit! Too bad Julia did too. Four to go.

I’m so bad at counting! It’s actually three. Congrats to Equus the Bishop on surviving a round with The Julinator. But with that, none of the remaining Deadlords will actually take a shot at Julia anymore, so I’m just going to ignore them. It’s time for a family reunion.

(He isn’t wrong.)

Yes, that was a single round of combat. Julius procced his Accost skill and made the fight last an extra round. This… was not helpful to him.

Julius vanishes, the spirit of the dragon arising from the castle as the entire map shakes…

But it’s just bluster. Naga’s power has destroyed Loptyr’s vessel, and with its bloodline finally ended the dragon’s grip on this world is gone. Loptyr returns to whatever void it came from, and with the power that animated them gone, the few surviving Deadlords vanish.

I’m going to cut out here, but no sense waiting a week, huh? So see you tomorrow for the epilogue, kids. I think we earned it.

Final Reset Total: 30. Y... yay.

Epilogue

#Let's Play #let's play fire emblem IV #let's play fire emblem #Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War #fire emblem #fire emblem 4 #my writing #lp #long post

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flatsuke · 8 years ago

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Just for fun: The 2nd Generation Bidders

Ok, so I know the substories with the bidders and their children were released already, but I’ve had these kids in my head waaaay before the stories came out lmfao

A continuation of this post.

This is pretty self-indulgent so lol

edit: I added Inui’s and Samejima’s kids!!

@alolan-lillie you said you were interested in my ocs :^D

Eisuke:

Kazuma (19)

Eisuke’s son and Naoko’s twin brother. Tatsuya’s best friend.

Personality: Just like his father, he’s overbearing and self-assured. He’s also meticulous to a fault. When it comes to the people he cares about, he gets overprotective, almost unbearably so. He tries to act as the big brother figure for the rest of the group, but most of them see him as the resident Mom Friend™ because of his anal-retentive personality. He has a childish competitive side.

Background: He’s the next heir to the Ichinomiya Group, but he secretly doesn’t want to be next in line. He’s only doing it so Naoko won’t have to worry about anything. Deep down, he’s actually insecure about being the successor, but he tries to hide it. Though he respects Eisuke as a businessman, he somewhat resents him for not being the best father and husband.

Likes: Being organized, iced coffee, soap operas, cooking

Dislikes: Being compared to his father, bad smells, spicy food, animals that shed fur

Naoko (19)

Eisuke’s daughter and Kazuma’s twin sister. Ema’s best friend.

Personality: She’s serious to a fault, so much that she takes jokes too literally sometimes. Between her and Kazuma, she’s the more levelheaded and altruistic one. She often serves as his damage control and voice of reason when he does something dangerous or rash. She’s the type to solve conflicts by negotiating instead of outwardly fighting.

Background: Being the youngest in the family, Kazuma is naturally overprotective of her. Although she appreciates his concern, she believes he’s being too paranoid. Deep down, she does not like her position as the youngest female; she feels powerless both in the family and in the Ichinomiya Group. She’s somewhat afraid of Eisuke and views him as an authority figure rather than a father, much to his dismay.

Likes: Reading, black coffee, stuffed animals, ribbons

Dislikes: Being looked down on, flying cockroaches, green peas, hot weather

Soryu:

Tatsuya (19)

Soryu’s only son. Kazuma’s best friend.

Personality: He’s hot-blooded and stubborn to a fault. Also, he has a hard time articulating what he really wants to say without making it sound brusque. Though he has a gruff exterior, he actually has a very strong sense of justice. Despite coming from a line of mobsters, he does not like violence at all. He actively tries to avoid fights, but because of his rough demeanor, he gets dragged into them unwittingly.

Background: Soryu is somewhat reluctant about letting him inherit the Ice Dragons because of his earnest nature. Tatsuya, no matter how much he tries to put on a brave face, is too honest for his own good, and Soryu knows the mafia isn’t the best place for someone as truthful as him. Because of that, Tatsuya feels a bit ashamed for not being the best mobster candidate, so he always tries to make himself seem more fearless than he actually is. He has a secret crush on Naoko, but he’d never admit it out loud because Eisuke and Kazuma would skin him alive if they found out.

Likes: Cold weather, green tea, exercise, action cartoons

Dislikes: Being told how he’ll never compare to his father, flat pillows, wet socks, bell peppers

Baba:

Setsuna (18)

Baba’s only daughter. Yuu’s best friend.

Personality: Among the group, she has the most playful demeanor and serves as the instigator of trouble most of the time. More often than not, she drags everyone into her antics, much to their dismay. She has no inhibitions when it comes to anything, and she rarely gets embarrassed, even when she changes clothes in front of people. She can talk to just about anybody without feeling shy or uneasy at all. However, she’s the scariest when pissed.

Background: She openly shows interest at her father’s line of work, but he tries to dissuade her, knowing that his daughter shouldn’t take any part in any thievery. Despite her father’s wishes, she secretly has an identity as the ‘Red Robin Hood’, a vigilante masked thief. The only other person who knows about her side job is Kazuma; he caught her trying to steal something from his office one time, and since then, she had to swear him to absolute secrecy.

Likes: Cute boys and girls, magic tricks, strawberry cheesecake, traveling

Dislikes: Quiet places, being restrained, conferences, accidentally biting her tongue

Ota:

Yuu (17)

Ota’s only son. Setsuna’s best friend.

Personality: He shares the same ‘two-faced’ attribute Ota has, thought it isn’t as malicious as his father’s. In the limelight, he’d act friendly and cute. When no one’s looking, he’d let loose and act a bit more impish. He and Setsuna get along very well because of their shared love for fun and trouble. It’s easy for him to pull the wool over people’s eyes and get away with a lot of things. Only Ryoko isn’t fooled by his ruse.

Background: Although he didn’t inherit his father’s talent in visual arts, he was blessed in the performing arts instead. He’s an idol, and quite a famous one at that. That being the case, he didn’t want people thinking he was famous just because of the Kisaki name. He uses ‘Yuuki’ as a stage name. (Yuu + Kisaki) Despite being part of a highly commercialized industry, he always strives to retain his artistic integrity. He writes and composes his own songs without any outside help.

Likes: Singing, dancing, dogs, milk tea

Dislikes: People plagiarizing his music, bugs, taking tests, getting bored

Mamoru:

Ryoko (18)

Mamoru’s only daughter.

Personality: Ryoko, just like Mamoru, basically exudes an aura of calm and quiet. She’s the most easygoing one in the group, and she is almost never seen stressing about anything. More often than not, people mistake her for being apathetic, when in reality, she just underreacts to everything. Her carefree lifestyle made her develop imperviousness to sarcasm. Yuu usually tries to provoke her, but Ryoko reacts the same way she always has—with a lopsided smile.

Background: Mamoru is genuinely worried for her because she doesn’t seem to be interested in anything at all. She doesn’t show any worry or anticipation for the future, rather, it seems she usually lives for the present. People like Naoko and Tatsuya confuse her because they take things so seriously. She thinks they should just kick back and enjoy what life has to offer, or else they’d grow old too fast with regrets. Though if she had to be honest, she’s secretly a big fan of photography…

Likes: Photography, exercise, bomber jackets, instant noodles

Dislikes: People asking her what she wants to do in the future, career survey forms, peanut butter, stubbed toes

Shuichi:

Junya (20)

Shuichi’s only son. Hayato’s best friend.

Personality: He’s normally cool and collected, but it’s surprisingly easy to annoy him (just ask Hayato or Kazuma). He may look organized on the outside, but he’s actually the messiest person there is, much to everyone’s amusement. He has a sharp tongue, which often leads to people misinterpreting what he says. However, to anyone who knows him well, he’s just not good at expressing himself. Honestly, he tries to give off an aloof persona, but he’s willing to help anyone if they ask him.

Background: Junya’s torn between following Shuichi’s footsteps in politics, or actually doing what he wants to do — writing. He has a double-life as a famous internet author under an almost painfully-obvious pseudonym, “Jun.” Only Hayato knows his secret identity. He doesn’t really get along with Kazuma, similar to his father’s rivalry with Eisuke, but he does respect Kazuma’s sense in business — not that he’ll ever say it out loud.

Likes: Writing, long car rides, ambient music, melon soda

Dislikes: People telling him to clean his room, iced coffee, dried fish, writer’s block

Luke:

Ema (17)

Luke’s only daughter. Naoko’s best friend.

Personality: On the outside, she seems really cold and inexpressive, but she’s actually just painfully shy. She tries to act like she isn’t affected by everything, but deep down, she has a hard time making friends because she’s not good at socializing, and she’s secretly afraid of what people think of her because of her, ahem, unique interests. On the other hand, she’s fiercely devoted to the people she cares about. For that reason, she’s extremely attached to Naoko.

Background: Her fascination with the human anatomy led to her wanting to pursue a career as a surgeon, to which Luke was more than happy to acquaint her with. However, the combination of her eccentric interests, plus her introverted personality left her with a crippling fear of socialization. Eventually, her social anxiety became so bad that she wouldn’t leave the house for days on end. Luke, in his worry, decided to introduce her to his close friend’s children—namely, Kazuma and Naoko —in hopes that they would somehow get along. Fortunately, the twins, Naoko especially, managed to coax her out of her shell and befriend her. Now, they’re practically siblings.

Likes: Anatomy textbooks, tea, kittens, rainy days

Dislikes: Crowds, going out, roller coasters, greasy food

Hikaru:

Hayato (20)

Hikaru’s only son. Junya’s best friend.

Personality: He’s a bit of a trickster who likes to mess with people just to see their reactions. It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking because he always has the same enigmatic smile on his face. He especially likes to tease the serious types, namely, Junya, Naoko, and Tatsuya. According to him, they have the best responses. However, to anyone who knew him well, he’s actually a pretty loyal person amidst all the teasing. He’s the type to bail someone out if they’re in a pinch, or come up with an elaborate revenge scheme if someone messed with his a friend of his.

Background: He’s the most skilled hacker in the group. He likes to label himself as an “informant”, mostly because he can find out anything and everything with his elaborate information network. He and Hikaru get along pretty well despite their personalities, and the latter taught him everything he could about hacking, thus Hayato’s interest in computer science. He’s been friends with Junya for as long as he can remember, but he honestly thinks Junya’s too high-strung sometimes; Hayato always tries to get him to relax.

Likes: Computers, fast food, hoodies, rpg games

Dislikes: People who try to “figure him out”, milk, wearing formal attire, running out of battery

Samejima:

Daiki (17)

Samejima’s only son. Amane’s frenemy/rival/boyfriend.

Personality: He seems like a serious guy, but he’s actually a casual dude who likes to joke with a straight face. Like his father before him, he’s extremely loyal and devoted to Tatsuya (though Tatsuya wants Daiki to treat him normally). Despite being in a relationship with Amane, he constantly competes with her for everything (eating contests, grades, Tatsuya’s praise, etc.). He’s pretty relaxed and friendly with everyone except Amane. With her, he immediately becomes snarky and competitive.

Background: He’s a swimmer, and a very good one – so much so that his teammates on his swim team nicknamed him “The Shark” because of his aggressive swimming style. If he’s not hanging around Tatsuya or Amane, he can usually be found doing laps at the pool. He’s aware of his father’s involvement in the mafia, and he fully understands the responsibilities that comes with it. In fact, he’s long accepted the fact that he’d one day take his father’s place in the Ice Dragons, serving as a shield for Tatsuya. Both he and Amane are in the same position, and underneath their constant rivalry is a nigh unbreakable relationship.

Likes: Swimming, sharks, spicy food, beating Amane

Dislikes: Oversleeping, sour food, clothes that don’t fit, people questioning his decisions

Inui:

Amane (17)

Inui’s only daughter. Daiki’s frenemy/rival/girlfriend.

Personality: She’s a very energetic person, rivaling only Setsuna in that department. Like her father, she’s earnest, cheerful, and painfully optimistic. She’s also extremely loyal and protective of Tatsuya, who wants nothing more than to be treated like a normal friend. Currently, she’s dating her childhood friend and longtime rival, Daiki. Despite dating him, they still bicker like an old married couple over everything. She may be the very essence of sunshine around most people, but around Daiki, her blood boils.

Background: Much to Inui’s dismay, her love of dogs has her working part-time at an animal care shelter (to which Samejima finds hilariously ironic). If she’s not around Tatsuya or Daiki, then she’s at the shelter helping out or walking dogs around a park. She knows what he father does in the mafia, and while she disapproves of what they do, she eventually comes to accept her future role as Tatsuya’s shield. She and Daiki are on the same boat, and have an inseparable bond amidst their constant bickering and competing.

Likes: Dogs, bright colors, fruit shakes, beating Daiki

Dislikes: Stormy days, mushrooms, scraped knees, people who abuse the weak

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