#Tyranny of dragons spoilers

[the-digicorn]

tell the world about your dnd paladin pls! the idea of a weeklong sleepover specifically for playing dnd is so amazing in my mind and I'd imagine being in that character's mindset for an extended period of time just really elevates the roleplaying and investment anyway share anything & everything about your character!! this is my favorite game

I have been working on this ask since dnd week I’m so sorry I’ve created a monster proceed at your peril.

This week has been incredible and you have no idea the Pandora’s box you have opened (also I am so excited that someone’s interested in my idiot thank you for your ask!!)

I have cried so much this week and truly felt so much love and support shared by these players, this is what dnd is about for me. This game is two years strong and this character is a part of me, and if anyone wants to hear more about Redemption the paladin, their dark past and hopeful future, see below the cut!

This campaign kicked off two summers ago while I was still at uni through a society that organised games. With a lot of my DMs help and ideas I came to my Zariel tiefling Redemption paladin, ‘Red’.

Kairon was born into the Blood Angels, a militant mercenary cult in service of Zariel, an archdevil and general of the first layer of hell, Avernus. The cult are largely a mercenary group who strive for order by any cost, who hunt demon worshippers (devils and demons are distinct in this setting and hate each other) and otherwise kill what they’re hired to kill. Kairon is the child of one order’s general, Malcar Skornhall, an oathbreaker paladin (scary and evil and powerful).

Kairon has a younger sister, Nemeia, who, when Kairon starts training as a conquest paladin on the job from 14, just wants to be included. Kairon believes that since they were born a tiefling in service of Zariel that their blood gives them no choice but to blindly follow orders and fight the fight despite their moral doubts, and pushes themselves hard to keep their dad’s attention on them to avoid Nemeia being put in the same position.

On a mission after over a decade serving Zariel and the cult, Kairon is defeated by a redemption paladin called Lady Yaphid Dryskira after refusing to spare the lives of some demon worshipping cultists they found. Lady Yaphid takes them in and convinces them that they are not bound by their blood and they can choose another path, and Kairon takes the name Redemption, Red for short, as a symbol of what they hope to become. Having broken their oath of conquest, they start anew, with a mission to put good back into the world and to give every person they encounter the chance they had to make that choice to change for the better.

This is where the campaign begins. Most of the party meet in Waterdeep and start the Lost Mine of Phandelver story. Towards the end of the arc the party return from an outing to find shit going down in the town hall and a bad guy called Nezznar is there.

A fight breaks out and Nezznar kills outright the kobold druid of the party, Nira, with a fireball, marking the first player death of the campaign. Red flies into a burning fury, and embraces the searing smite they’ve been suppressing since rejecting the cult. With support from the other party members, Red kills Nezznar in anger, breaking their new oath of redemption. They repent for their moment of weakness and carry that guilt forward, but they repair their oath.

When the party reach Mirabar later in the story, they run into Nemeia who’s been stationed there with a group of Blood Angels to clear a kobold den which is causing problems for the city. Nemeia is angry with Red for leaving and betraying the cause and seems to have taken up the place Kairon left behind.

Later in Mirabar, the party are doing some espionage and go undercover in a group of rebels who are causing problems for the council, only for Red to discover that the two figures guiding this rebel group were in fact Blood Angels in disguise. Having 6 intelligence, like myself, Red immediately reveals they’ve found them out and gets half the party killed and the rest knocked out, and the group were exiled from the city and never discovered what the Blood Angels or the rebels were really up to.

A couple of in game months later, the group head to the Feywild, a parallel plane full of funky shit, to stop a dragon god called Garyx burning it down, but due to time being wibbly wobbly in the fey, their day in the fey spans a month back home in the material plane.

In that time, Orryn, our sweet well-adjusted goblin wizard, is visiting his dad and his new stepmum, actual dragon the Axemother of Mirabar, a legendary protector of the city of Mirabar. A huge red dragon called Klauth has big beef with the axemother and attacks the city, prompting her to come out of hiding to defend it. Klauth kills her as Orryn watches in horror, followed soon after by his dad who tries to avenge her. Conveniently, the Blood Angels have gained an increasing presence in the city since we were exiled for shenanigans, and the final strands holding the council together are snapped by the attack, leaving general Malcar Skornhall of the Blood Angels to take control of the city and aid in the defeat of Klauth.

Nemeia manages to find Orryn in perfect time to save his life against the orders of General Dad, and as punishment is sent as a diplomatic escort to deliver Orryn back to the party and act as an ambassador of the Blood Angels. She and Red manage to come together despite their differences, but Nemeia isn’t ready to leave the cult.

She explains how the Blood Angels have now joined the Council of Waterdeep which is relevant to the main Tyranny of Dragons campaign plot, but that’s not super important except for showing Malcar Skornhall’s rise to power and greater control. Red believes the BA are responsible for the fall of the city in the first place and that they are behind Klauth’s attack and Orryn’s parents’ deaths and is finding it harder and harder to suppress Kairon’s rage.

The party return to Waterdeep and debrief with their council contacts. They believe Malcar is still in the city he now controls up North, but Red, Nemeia and a couple others come across him in the street and let me tell you the adrenaline that filled my limbs was nuts I love this game I love playing pretend with my friends. Red strides up to him and holds what’s left of their sword, which was made from one of the Axemother’s spines and has been slowly falling apart following her death, to his throat. Unbothered he bats it aside, shattering the blade and leaving Red holding the hilt and remaining shards. They hold this to his throat and their anger ignites them and the hilt in hellfire as they lose control of their innate Searing Smite. Their blood is on fire and Kairon speaks to their father for the first time since leaving (I sat on a train and planned this speech out while my phone was dead for an hour in case we ran into him at dnd week).

This sword's name is Lifebringer. It was forged from a spine of the Axemother, who you might remember was recently killed defending the city of Mirabar, which I hear you so conveniently stepped in to command. You may have convinced the rest of the world, but I don't believe for one second that you had nothing to do with the death of my friend.

Now here's the part you're gonna want to remember. I learned a lot under your command, chiefly, how to kill anyone who makes an enemy of me. If you hurt any one of my family again, and my family is ever growing, no devil, no god, and no oath will stop me from hunting you down, and I might just have to find my sword and myself new names.

They throw the hilt of Lifebringer to the ground and walk away until they’re out of sight, before ducking into an alley and completely falling apart, their tears sizzling as they fall.

We’ve had a few sessions since and the campaign is now on hold, and all I can think about is whether their story leads them to kill their dad and break their oath with intention this time. There are so many paths they could take, and as with this whole campaign I never know what Red is going to be feeling until I feel it myself in the moment.

Basically I love this game I love this character I love this group I love you for being interested and I love when people talk about their highly invested OC blorbos. I could keep talking about Red and their story and the parallels (THE PARALLELS) but I have to stop and it’s been months since your ask but I did I summarised and thank you for asking!

[felassan]

What kind of spirit do you think Felassan waz?

Swag

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

Some sketches of my wizard Peri as I (slowly) work my way through Act III

[rivilu]

Literally at the finale and still have not figured out an excuse for my hof not being here

[bloedewir]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

There's some post-game thoughts I can mark as spoiler ones. Read only if you finished the game.

I love the game. Really. The grand finale was magnificent, the main plot idea is painfully touching and I adore the heavy weight of sorrow I bear after I finished the game. The best kind of bittersweet grief of possible.

However it doesn't mean the game is flawless. There's some stuff I didn't get at all.

Why there's no option to ask Solas about the Forgotten Ones? Like, hello, you have an encyclopedia of elven lore in your head, can't you ask a few optional questions about weird ancient guy you've met during the journey? Nadas Dirthalen? (Or it's because da5 is going to be about new dwarven and/or qunari lore and Forgotten Ones/Executors?)

You also can't say anything about the murals.. which is kinda strange. Why didn't Rook comment those mind-blowing revelations? For Harding, at least?

Evanuris. Solas' story is beautifully written, Mythal' story was also revealed more than before (even if she's in all 4 games) so we get to know her better. But Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain? Fine, forget other evanuris.. but the spectacular duo? Spirits and demons are kinda the same, like two sides of a coin. Solas is Wisdom and Pride, Mythal is Benevolence and Retribution (as Morrigan said). Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are just.. bad? They're blighted and corrupted now but what about the past? Where's the duality of their personalities? No chance for redemption now because they don't want or need it, I get the idea, but the story itself? I wish there would be more about them. We do have something on Ghilan'nain tho, like: she created hallas but can't create them any longer and she has a full control over the Blight as if it's modeling clay (+ some Bellara' thoughts on a matter of "navigation" and "healing" and path Ghilan'nain chose for the People). But Elgar'nan? He likes tyranny. And he still had his hair. Uhm.. ┐⁠(⁠ ⁠∵⁠ ⁠)⁠┌

Romances. Can't say much because I didn't try all of them but Neve's and Lucanis'.. uhm. It doesn't feel like a written romance, y'know? Just a bonus lines so you doesn't have to feel lonely or whatever. Characters are on their own and don't have connection with Rook till the very end. There's no impact and Rook is, ironically, just an enjoyable side benefit™ but nothing more. Comparing to datv romance situation solavellan romance is hot as hell and full of content. And it says a lot.

Inquisitor. I do like how their absence was explained... yet Lavellan was robbed. I don't want to see a cringe Fade therapy session with Solas telling his tragic lovestory to a random stranger (Rook) and whining about just how much he misses his gorgeous wife (and I'm solavellan). But adding a few tiny details? The bare minimum: take the dai tarot card and place it on the wall in a music room. That already could've been much better. (mods mods mods 🤞🤞🤞).

Dialogue timing and triggers. I suspect dialogues are cool but I can't know for sure. In my first playthrough I didn't even know Davrin and Lucanis are not a big fans of each other before the Weisshaupt quest because I didn't hear it. DATV locations are much smaller than it was in DAI, so you just don't get the chance to hear those dialogues unless you find a trigger point and just stay there waiting to play all lines.

Some of that is not a tragedy and, theoretically, could be improved by magnificent people creating mods. But sometimes datv seems kinda unfinished like there's a missing puzzle pieces as if content was cut out with no replacement.

Despite some questionable moments and a bit of criticism I love this game regardless. It's dark and atmospheric, absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing. And analysis of Regret? Choices and consequences, acceptance, struggling, desperation, guilt..? The work Bioware did deserves to be highly appreciated. The final left me in tears, sobbing and grieving, and heartbroken - that's all I ever wanted of Dragon Age 💜

[selfish-cat]

Veilguard Re-imagined

Given how DAV turned out to be, I think it would've been much more interesting if it was more in line with what Trespasser was hinting at. Spoilers below:

Instead of ooo bad evil gods and bad evil people, the factions could've been so much more nuanced. And you know who would've been super involved? The elves. Elves still struggling with the truth of their Vallaslin. Elves tired of being treated like dirt. Elves who are proud of their heritage.

I'm imagining the main 3 factions would be:

Evanuris: The base of their followers would be the Dalish who have worshipped them for centuries and don their Vallaslin. Whether or not the Inquisitor spreads the news about their tyranny (and whether or not they're believed), as a people who have lost everything time and time again, why would you turn away the chance to regain the former glory your people once had? The gods wouldn't have to try very hard. They were leaders once of course they know how to sway people. Make them sympathetic! Show them mourning their friends and lovers and lost empire. Have them cast doubt over Solas' claims! They can still have their "bullies and tyrants" and their blighted dragons but they would also have the desperate and disillusioned, maybe some of whom you can still reach out to and pull back.

If you want to bring the Blight in, it would be easy enough to blight their followers under the premise of empowerment (Solas isn't the only one who can lie). Instead of throwing a billion reavers at me, give me intelligent blighted creatures who think they're reclaiming their agency, who think they're avenging themselves, their loved ones, and their ancestors by spreading the blight to cities. It would also be a good way to distinguish between the gods' followers and other factions.

You know who wouldn't be joining them? Tevinter supremacists whose Imperium past prided themselves on conquering the elves. Or the Antaam who haven't renounced their beliefs and upbringing—you don't shake off that lifelong wariness of magic unless a lot of people get real chill with a lot of things real fast. I'm not touching the Butcher part because I still don't understand it although confused, lost track of the plot, wanting to turn yourself inside out? Relatable.

Fen'Harel: Rather than being relegated to a troll in the comments, let Solas lead the army he amassed in Trespasser??? All the Dalish and the city elves who are tired of being systematically oppressed and have been for literal ages?? He clearly cares for their freedom, as established in DAI (I had feelings when he finally called the Dalish "our people" but then it was followed by EA/Bioware nonsense). Other than the one line about him breaking the chains of slaves at the beginning, his deeds are never mentioned again other than to berate Rook.

I think his forces would be smaller. More scouts and spirits that specialize in skirmishes. It would be a three-way fight between the Evanuris, Solas, and Rook (with support from the Inquisitor and different implications depending on whether you disbanded or not). I think it'd be very interesting if you established a friendship/romance with Solas' and his forces withdrew when the Inquisitor appears vs. continue fighting if you decide to burn that bridge because choices matter EA. None of the elves in his forces will have their Vallaslin.

Keep the flashbacks. Keep the lore. Keep Mythal. But also keep the character instead of teehee lied to you again why would I listen to reason uwu.

Rook: None of the party needs to change or even the order of recruitment or any of the powers at play. They're all so charming and fun and clearly written with love.

Of course Harding will be there as a rep from the Inquisition. Let her work through her struggles with the Maker and the Golden City lore. Let her explore Titan lore but in a way that doesn't end with welp guess that's that and now let's not bring it up again since there definitely won't be implications with dwarves across all of Thedas. Neve works with the Shadow Dragons and would be sympathetic to the whole situation. Keep Aelia and involve the Venatori that way—strictly in Tevinter and unrelated to the gods. I imagine their forces were severely weakened after Corypheus. They can still kill the Archon in preparation of installing one of their own in if they want because that'd be in line with their established motives.

Bellara and Davrin can help shed a light on their perspective of things. Bellara tries in DAV but given how elf involvement was basically dismissed with "nah they're steering clear of the evil gods and we defs don't have a problem with any of this" t'was rough. It would've made more sense bringing Cyrian back aligned with the gods than suddenly bringing up a Forgotten One (excellent DLC option in the Tirashan though). Davrin struggling to distance himself from his heritage and empowerment via Wardenhood and fatherhood (lol) is very interesting to explore instead of idk being a farm boy even though it'd be awfully hard to farm without a permanent settlement, which apparently was a thing but I digress. Keep the griffons and Isseya but tie her to Ghilan'nain in a sympathetic but warped way (of course Ghilan'nain loves the griffons and is sympathetic to their plight. Why not make them better? Isseya's a city elf but why would she doubt the Mother of Halla?) Also definitely keep that chat with Solas and have more of that!

Lucanis and Crow lore. Imagine debating with him about practices of kidnapping and torturing children to train them. Characters can grow and learn (look at my best boy Dorian) and when he gets promoted to First Talon, maybe he'll keep your words in mind if your bond is high enough. Taash and Emerich had more personal things to deal with which is great. Not every character arc has to be directly tied back to the Big Bads. In DAV's case, it would've made more sense if they were just standalone issues instead of trying to be like "yeahh y'know, Venatori support. Yup."

And if you play Rook as an elf, there should definitely be a city elf and Dalish option because they're different cultures EA. You can't just have options like "I'm Dalish where it counts" and say "Our Gods" and "Your People" in the same scene because what even does that mean EA. Very good posts about this stuff here and here and here

Ending: At the end of this power struggle, where the gods are inevitably taken down, instead of a uwu everyone lived happily ever after except those who died, there are! Ramifications! Those were elven gods that almost destroyed everything! Why would they just let elves be and the Dalish chill and settle in Arlathan Forest (nvm why they were allowed back in the first place given how the Dalish treat the Dales and how they expect people to react to their presence there)?

Depending on how you play all your games (or a neutral score for new players), I think this is where you see the results of your choices. Did you garner sympathy and support from leaders? What leaders did you put in place? Will things return to a tense status quo? Will there be another Exalted March where they're driven even farther away? Or will there be introspection and understanding maybe resulting in a new Halamshiral for the Dalish somewhere and more rights for city elves?

As for Solas, I think his outcome would depend on the Inquisitor's choice in Trespasser. Do you kill him, leaving any future attempts to breach the Veil a risk? Do you fade into obscurity with him to live out a peaceful life in secrecy? Or do you convince him to give Thedas as is a second chance now that the gods are gone? He can disappear, maybe he occasionally has visitors or visits those he considers friends while keeping an eye on the world and the Veil (he'll be the new Veilguard which would make that ending line make more sense)?

[sanshofox]

Ok, so after a lot of going through the lore again to remember all kinds of dragon age facts (because let’s be honest…it’s a huge and complex kinda lore with lots of details and also lots of riddles) and watching/reading lore theory stuff, I guess I kinda have my idea that is the course of events, what caused solas to create the veil. So please skip if you consider this as kind of a spoiler. I try to keep it as short as possible.

How red lyrium came to be is still unknown. If artificial or natural is a big secret, but we know that there is the abyss or void where it lingers and the forgotten gods are kept. It never came into touch with the outside world until the elvhen gods (old gods) started to meddle with it.

The elvhen gods were always described as smth pristine and sophisticated, but throughout the games you see and read stuff that predicts otherwise. Could it be that the red lyrium corrupted them over a long time and then made them hunger for more power (as described in inquisition and also a description that as an example fits i.e. for meredith and her red lyrium corruption)?

My guess that it all started with ghilannain becoming part of the pantheon through relations with andruil. She is too often mentioned in inquisition and content outside the video game series as to not be an important key part in what transpired. She is a scientist of sorts, creating all sorts of new stuff and when you read through codex entries, the book „tevinter nights“ or look at the murals in inquisition and other tidbits in DLCs it sounds more like she was a mad scientist without morals or ethics, creating various monsters and thirsting for more. Murals showing creatures and elvhen slaves in red colors being transported to what is assumed: ghilannain. What if she needed red lyrium for her experiments? There is a dwarf in the games that says that through red lyrium he created his best weapons. But did she start it or get corrupted first?

We know of a story within the games that andruil hunted for the forgotten ones in the void and came back crazier each time. Got an armor made from parts of the void (red lyrium of course) and brought plague to her lands. The other gods started to fear her, so mythal ambushed her and took her powers and knowledge where to find the void and peace came back. But did andruil enter the void just for the hunt? Or did she bring ghilannain some from one of her journeys as a gift? Doesn’t matter how but both were close to each other and it somehow transferred, driving ghilannain slowly insane.

Two other elvhen gods often mentioned outside of andruil and ghilannain are dirthamen and falondin. Dirthamen depicted with what seems to be ghilannain in some murals. Dirthamen also being the twin to falondin. So maybe a accidental chain reaction in corrupting them. Solas doesn’t speak kindly of neither of them. So we can assume that these four were involved in mythal‘s killing, as solas said „hungry for other elvhen gods‘ power“, due to red lyrium infection. But why did mythal get rid of andruil‘s power, but not ghilannain‘s then? It was mentioned that ghilannain lived far apart from other elvhen and deep underground. I guess that is how she and her corruption managed to go unnoticed for long. Killing mythal was described as smth like treachery and an order. So maybe one day ghilannain was under suspicion and she in her paranoia ordered mythal’s death (by presumably dirthamen?). Or these four corrupted elvhen gods conspired together.

Then we all know what happened: Solas acted out of revenge and created the veil. But what if solas caused the true red lyrium blight? Ancient texts and murals show elvhen and/or elvhen slaves fighting a war in times of the elvhen pantheon. If Solas alone fought with an army against the elvhen gods to be free of their tyranny he wouldn’t have a chance. So what if mythal once told him of the void and he up and used red lyrium as a weapon himself against them to have a chance(that for example could be for one why he created the red lyrium idol??)? Causing a wide field of corruption. Him realizing what is actually happening and then closing off the rest of thedas from this corrupted area by creating the veil. We have three different scenes in inquisition indicating this:

1. cole questioning solas wanting to do the right thing and not knowing and solas acknowledging this sadly like „I was young and stupid“

2. corypheus saying to the inquisitor that there was no golden city but instead only corruption and emptyness

3. solas apologizing to mythal/flemmeth saying smth of the sorts of „I slumbered for too long and now it can‘t be contained anymore“ As if he knew of the blight and wanted to wake up earlier to have more time to find a solution

My guess for it to get this far is, because of their powers it took longer for the elvhen „gods“ to be corrupted so they couldn’t and, ultimately when fully corrupted, wouldn’t realize what red lyrium entails. It was talked about more than once in dragon age lore that dragon blood cured someone from blight. But when we see corypheus‘s dragon or the archdemons it can still happen, but lower. Which also would explain why yavana protects and raises dragons (also her needing alistairs blood to raise them because maric‘s bloodline has dragon blood in it because of some historical figure. So alistair killing yavana may have fucked up the cure for the future.)

In their hubris they thought it would be just another tool to serve them. From all we know red lyrium was smth unknown in that time.

[invinciblerodent]

have you ever tried to draw a five-point Venn diagram

it is. how you say. difficult.

....anyway, this is better than my 5-minute thrown-together graph from last night, but even this isn't entirely perfect (I ended up needing multiple references lol and I didn't even put in ALL the named ones, but this is just where I'm gonna leave it, because I've been at this all last night and this morning.)

could this all be fully contradicted by Veilguard, or even just info that's already out and I've just been avoiding it to not get spoiled? possibly. If not very, very likely. (no spoilers, please.) But I've been thinking far too much about Dragon Age demons these past few days, and this is the kind of thought that needs to get out before it'd rot in my mind.

I've never seen anything like this before so I'm flying by the seat of my pants here, but I think it has already been said that Spirits (which are complex, often unique entities) fall some ways outside of this kind of classification- but I'd argue that individual Spirits can be closer, or farther away from being able to be assigned to a domain.

Demons are a fair bit simpler, more base creatures, and as of right now, the ones that we have seen can more or less be sorted kinda neatly into these categories.

I propose that, upon being corrupted by some outside force, the domain a Spirit was closest to originally, and the force that corrupted them, both could influence the kind of demon they become.

Like in my head, Love and Compassion lie a bit closer to the realm of Desire, and Command and Faith lie closer to Pride than, say, Hope or Wisdom are to any domain. But, they can all be corrupted in different, distinct ways: Love could turn to Jealousy, Hatred, and Betrayal, Compassion to Anguish, Disgust, and Resentment, Faith to things like Zealotry, Treachery, and Dismay, Command to Arrogance, Greed, and Tyranny, and all of them a bunch of other, potentially very different things, depending on their circumstances. Justice is sort of in the thereabouts of Pride, and upon being exposed to Rage and Despair for a prolonged time and in a very intimate way (though personal experiences outside of the Fade), it turned to Vengeance, while something like Hunger might have once been Joy or Curiosity.

Or something.

Idk.

This sort of helps me personally visualize things, like the demon that I have tormenting my Inquisitor at one point in my headcanon, Burden, is a pure despair demon who was attracted by the Nightmare (a pure Fear demon) and my Inquisitor's vulnerability to that due to his own anxieties (between Fear and Despair), but Purpose (the spirit I'm associating with my Rook Tristan) is a Spirit who would fall very close to the intersection between Pride and Desire. If it were to become corrupted (which it might!!), I think it would drift towards Rage, and become Obsession, as Purpose can be single-minded, all-consuming, and corruption for it would partly consist of shedding its aspect of Pride.

...... Also I don't much like how this thought could potentially imply space for the existence of a kind of super-demon embodying all aspects of all demons (shame the name Nightmare is already taken, I'm calling it YIKES for now), but I'll save that thought for another day.

[humanpurposes]

Karma is a God

Chapter 12: Harrenhal

The Dance of the Dragons begins on a lie, and Aemond owes a debt, one Lucerra will see repaid in Fire and Blood // Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Aemond x Lucerra Velaryon (fem!Lucerys)

Warnings for this chapter: spoilers for F&B and future seasons of HotD, canon divergence, descriptions of violence, death

Words: 4400

A/n: The truth comes out. Also available to read on AO3.

It is said Harrenhal is cursed. 

Harren the Black’s rule over the Riverlands was marked by tyranny and brutality, ruling from a seat built to fuel his own pride. Generations of Rivermen were taken as slaves and forced to construct the very symbol of their subjugation, a castle the size of a city, five towers of black stone looming over the God’s Eye. 

It is said blood was mixed into the mortar; Death lives within the castle’s very walls. Aemond feels its presence as he felt it back in the Red Keep, the Stranger breathing down his neck as his father decayed, as his grandfather ordered the executions of those who were loyal to the false Queen, as he spent restless night in his chambers staring at the red cloak hanging over a chair by the fireplace.

He feels it now. It has been over a century since the flames of Balerion roasted Harren Hoare and his men alive and melted the castle into the ruins it lies in today, but everywhere he goes air is thick and tastes faintly of smoke. The silence is heavy here, especially in the tower. There are no sounds of people like there are in the city, no birds or rustling trees, just the soldiers and nervous servants. No one ever raises their voice here, and if there is a short burst of laughter it is snatched back, out of fear of disturbing the ghostly quiet. 

Harwin Strong died here, less than a decade ago. He understood the loss as a boy, the sadness in Jace and Luke’s faces on the day of Laena Velaryon’s funeral, mourning an aunt they never knew and a father they could not speak of.

He has never thought to find the room. In a place scorched by fire, every room looks the same. 

It is said that every family and castellan who has held Harrenhal will meet a gruesome end. Aemond dismisses this as superstition. A gruesome end comes to most, regardless of the castles they do or don’t hold.

But then again…

“Retribution will come with fire and fury,” Alys still whispers in his ear.

Since he has had news of King’s Landing he cannot bring himself to lie with the witch. She sleeps in his bed, and he does not sleep at all. Granting himself rest would be an insult to his mother, to Helaena, to Aegon and Maelor. The only solace he has is that Daeron will be with the Hightower host. He has written to his youngest brother, instructing him to wait at Tumbleton until they can formulate a plan to retake the capital.

For now he waits. 

The wind howls against the walls of the tower. His mind tells him it is the Stranger, taunting him, or the castle’s ghosts impatient to see what his gruesome demise will be.

He watches the flames in the hearth dwindle and die. By dawn it is cold, not so much as an ember left glowing, just charred firewood.

Alys groans from the bed, telling him it is time to begin dressing. She wraps herself in a black robe and moves to the window, while he removes his shirt from the previous day and reaches for clean clothes. 

A sliver of early morning light pierces the room as Alys draws the curtain back. Aemond has his back to her as he fastens the final buckle on his jerkin.

“A dragon, my Prince.”

He feels his eye widen.

“Which dragon?” he says, though the possibilities are small. If it were one of Rhaenyra’s, they would be dead by now.

Alys says nothing.

He huffs and walks towards the window, ushering her out of his way as he drags the curtain back fully. The cobalt blue scales and bronze belly of Tessarion gleam in pale sunlight, gliding over the God’s Eye, towards the courtyard. 

He hurries down the endless spiral of steps to meet them. Alys’ footsteps echo a few paces behind him. He reaches the courtyard as Tessarion’s rider dismounts, a young man with silver curls, dressed in black and gold armour. 

He hasn’t seen Daeron since he was a thin and clumsy child, before their grandsire sent him to Oldtown. That was before Aemond himself had claimed Vhagar, while he still thrived on stubbornness rather than pride, while he still had both of his eyes. 

But any sense of hope his brother has brought with him fades when he spots the gashes in Tessarion’s hide, the marks left behind by the teeth and claws of another dragon. Daeron fares a little better. His mouth is bloodied, his skin and hair dusted with ash, his eyes red and heavy with exhaustion. He clutches his chest as he takes staggered steps towards Aemond, wincing at the effort.

Aemond finds himself rushing forwards, holding Daeron at his elbows and brings him to stand straight. “You’re hurt,” he says.

Daeron shakes his head. “I’ll be alright. We made the flight at least.”

Until now Daeron has only been a memory to Aemond, an infant he can barely recollect, a name always spoken like a question, half a lifetime of neatly written letters. And yet he is so familiar. His eyes are shaped like their mother’s, his face lean like their grandfather’s and his mouth quirks like Aegon’s does when he’s nervous. 

“What happened to you?” Aemond asks.

Daeron’s eyes trace over the scar and his sapphire eye. “Mother tried to describe what happened to you that night, in her letters,” he says, “but I could never quite picture it.”

The courtyard is starting to fill now, but the men linger as close to the walls as they can, away from the injured dragon and the Princes. Criston Cole is the only man who dares to take a few steps closer. Daeron looks around them, his gaze lingering on the woman in a black robe, beyond Aemond’s shoulder.

“Daeron,” Aemond says, tightening his grip a little more. 

His brother looks up. The colour violet shines brightly through the redness in his eyes and the spots of black and grey on his face. “We were ambushed,” he breathes, “near Cider Hall. Four dragons.”

Cole is beside them now. “What of the Hightower army–”

“Which dragons?” Aemond asks sharply.

Daeron looks to Cole, then back to his brother. He swallows thickly. “Moondancer, Seasmoke and two of the wild dragons. Sheepstealer. Grey Ghost.”

Aemond sneers in anger and disgust. “Rhaenyra sent her heathen dragonseeds to slaughter you and the Hightower host?”

Something about Daeron’s expression is unsettling. He won’t stop looking at Aemond’s scar, gazing at it in terror like a child, as though he hasn’t fought off four dragons and watched them burn an army of thousands. 

“Aemond…”

He is just tired and frightened, he must be. He is more of a child than a man. Their mother had warned against involving Daeron in this war. 

“Did you kill any of the dragonriders?” Aemond asks.

Daeron stares at him in bewilderment, like there’s something Aemond is missing and it irritates him.

“She let me go,” Daeron says.

Aemond’s fingers feel numb. “Who did?”

“She… there was a strange moment, Tessarion resisted me, I felt it. She threw me from her back and caught me as I fell. I thought I was going to die. But she let me go.”

In the corner of his eye he sees Cole turn his head to him, a look of confusion or curiosity, Aemond doesn’t spare him a glance.

“It’s been so long,” Daeron says, “but I know it was her.”

Not Baela. If it were, Daeron would say her name. Instead his eyes are darting around, between Aemond’s violet and sapphire eyes, trying to summon the courage to speak.

The numb feeling begins to spread, through his arms, coursing through his blood and creeping towards his chest like venom. “Who?”

Daeron’s mouth hangs open slightly but no sound releases.

Aemond’s throat rasps at the strain of his sudden shout. “WHO?” 

Daeron winces, hunching his shoulders and attempting to retreat into himself, but Aemond will not relent.

“TELL ME!”

The wind stings his skin and creeps under his leathers at the neck, but he does not hear it. All he hears is his own heartbeat, drumming in his head, pulsing in his chest and veins. 

Daeron’s answer plunges him into coldness, like his body has been thrown into the sea before he has a chance to take a breath. 

“Lucerra.”

His scar burns as it had done when the wound was fresh, while Luke still held the knife in her hand, her face covered in blood— her blood, his blood— the two were indistinguishable. 

His throat closes. His heart feels as though it might burst under the strain.

“Aemond,” Daeron says, trying to shuffle away from him, “let go of me.”

Then he looks at Cole. He has never seen his old swordmaster to seem afraid. What would Criston Cole have to fear while he lived within the Red Keep? Instructed to guard the Queen and her children, to guide them and recount stories of the days when he was a true soldier, the horrors he saw, the men cut down in the name of glory. His response to danger is anger, always. Now he looks up at Aemond like a child.

Some feeling finally starts to come back in his fingertips as they squeeze around Daeron’s arms, hard enough to bruise. “How…”

He searched Shipbreaker Bay for hours, and flew her further out, his vision blurred by the rain pelting down against him. He had seen a torn wing tossing about on the waves and followed it as it washed up on a beach below Storm’s End. Vhagar had grumbled at the other pieces of Arrax’s flesh, but there was nothing of Luke.

And then he saw it, a flash of red riffling in the water where the waves met the shore. The cloak was the only trace of her that remained. 

She couldn’t have survived the fall. She couldn’t have.

“How…”

“I don’t know,” Daeron says. He struggles against Aemond’s grip but not to escape it, to place his hands on his brother’s arms in return. “But it was her. I know it was.”

He cannot think past the noise in his head, but he clutches at words, memories, two little headless bodies and his sister’s screams.

“Jaehaerys and Jaehaera…”

Fire and the dying cries of a dragon, the armour melting into Aegon’s skin, the stench of burning flesh and a body charred beyond recognition.

“Rook’s Rest…”

The Gullet. Jacaerys and young Viserys. King’s Landing. His grandfather. His family left scattered. A throne fought for, paid for with so many lives. 

“We should have known,” Aemond utters into the deathly silence of the courtyard. “We had spies at Dragonstone. Larys has spies in every corner of the Kingdom…”

The icy feeling under his skin starts to burn.

Larys.

With a thrust of his arms he sends Daeron stumbling backwards. His sword sings as he draws it and marches to the ruins of the Wailing Tower, down the steps to the crypt, where two guards stand by an iron gate.

The crypt lies deep underground to accommodate the needless height of its ceiling. It was built to match the rest of the castle, a vast hall held up by pillars and arches. Like the rest of Harrenhal it is impractical, impossible to light or keep warm. 

The entirety of House Strong is huddled together on the floor.

“Open the cell,” Aemond says quietly.

The guards do not hesitate to obey. Aemond snatches a torch from its place by the stairs. Behind him he hears footsteps and murmurs of confusion. The gate clatters in its frame when he slams it shut.

Slowly, he turns to the Strongs, the flame of the torch scolding the scarred side of his face and catching in the polished edge of his blade.

The men rush forwards and the women push the children behind them, quietly begging for them to stop whimpering, stop crying. Do not fuel the simmerring rage or prompt a reaction from a Targaryen Prince.

Simon Strong fronts their group, and another man, tall with broad shoulders stands beside him. “My Prince,” he says in a defiant voice, but he falters. In all the weeks they have been prisoners, Aemond has not stepped a foot in the crypt that serves as their cell. “To what do we owe the… privilege?”

The tall man clenches his fists and widens his stance. In any other moment, Aemond might have smirked at their presumption, but he has no room for pride now, no anticipation for joy or satisfaction as he stalks towards them. 

Some of the others follow his lead, and some glance down at the ground, but there are only waterskins, slabs of stone sealed into the floor and dust— nothing that might be used as a weapon.

He can feel his right hand shaking and grips his sword tighter. Fear is a feeling Aemond is unaccustomed to and it fills him with a searing rage. The more he withholds it the more it burns. “You said you were loyal to our King,” he says.

Ser Simon cowers at the sound of his voice. “Yes, we are–”

“You said Lord Larys was loyal to our cause.”

He looks to the men standing by his sides, his sons, nephews, cousins, then back to the Prince. “I believe him to be so, yes.”

Aemond tuts. Cole used to tell him to be selective with his mercy. Some men deserve death, while others deserve a chance to redeem themselves. “We pass judgement by the guidance of the Gods,” he had told Aemond on a quiet morning in the yard in the Red Keep, “but mercy is a gamble. Leave the root of a threat and it will come back.”

He had given House Strong his mercy, and how had his kindness been repaid? With lies and deceptions…

He can hardly bear to think. A pain pulses in his head and there is so much noise.

The girl he murdered is not dead. 

She has another dragon.

She has decimated armies.

She spared Daeron.

Daemon and Rhaenyra had no mercy for Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. They had no mercy for Otto Hightower. If Aegon and Maelor are still alive, they will have no mercy for them.

But if she is alive then the bloodshed has all been for nothing. If Lucerra Velaryon is alive then this war began on a lie.

He breathes deeply through his nose, focusing on the hum of the torch in his hand and the pain searing through his head and the scar.

And suddenly his mind seems clear.

He lifts his gaze to the Strongs, his blood boiling with anger, fear and disgust. “Your family are traitors to the crown,” he says, coldly.

The tall man clenches his jaw and lunges forwards, only to be yanked back by Ser Simon. 

“No,” the old man hisses before he turns back to Aemond.

Perhaps the tall one is Ser Simon’s son. They have the same glare, evident even in the low light.

“We have done as you have asked. We did not resist you when you came to our home. We have sat in silence and in darkness, with no way to count the days but the delivery of food and water. Our house has committed no offence to you, to argue otherwise is to argue against reason.”

Aemond feels his mouth break into a sneer. “No offence?” he utters.

His scar stings at the heat of the torch and that same pain throbs deep inside his head. The pain that has haunted him for eight years, pain that came at the hands of a Strong bastard and was dismissed by his own father for her sake. A girl of their blood.

“NO OFFENCE?” he roars. “Lord Larys has lied to me! Who knows what other secrets he has been hiding? What part could he have played in the downfall of King’s Landing? In the disappearance of the King and my nephew?”

“So punish Lord Larys!” the tall man shouts, brushing off Ser Simon’s protests as he takes a step forward. “We have done nothing!”

“Ah,” Aemond breathes, “but if only it were that simple.”

He tests the weight of his sword one final time.

“No… I see now the scourge of House Strong must be rooted out in its entirety.”

He hears the collective intake of breath. They seem to understand now.

The tall man moves first and in one swing of Aemond’s sword, his head slices from his neck and thuds against the floor.

It doesn’t satiate his anger, it only feeds it.

The rest is a blur. He hears screaming and spurts of blood through the darkness. He feels the impact of his blade through flesh and one by one, he purges himself of House Strong.

None are spared. The ones who try to fight him die first. The others run to the iron gate but they have nowhere to go. Finally he picks off the children, attempting to hide in the shadows and far corners of the crypt.

And when it is done, as the cloud of anger begins to fade and he catches his breath, there is no relief. His hand releases his sword and his knees fall against the damp stone beneath him.

Blood floods the floor and the air is thick with the stench of death and dust. He chokes on it, gasping for air that seeks to poison him. He cradles his head in his hands and even still he cannot escape it. He hates himself for the hot tears that spill into his palms and recoils at their bitter taste.

He returns to his rooms. He can feel the bursts of blood lingering on his face and in his hair, it feels thick and heavy. Through the gusts of wind howling against the tower’s walls, he hears their screams ringing in the back of his mind.

Alys is standing by the foot of the bed, waiting for him, her hands clasped before her. Those once hauntingly bright eyes seem duller than they did before, the lines around her mouth and forehead set deeper.

He stalks towards her, each step he takes a challenge, a test to see what she will do.

She is unphased, stepping into him to undo the buckles on his jerkin. “Allow me to help you bathe,” she says.

He snatches her wrists in his hands, staining her pale skin and the cuffs of her sleeve red. “And wash me of the blood of your own kin?” he hisses.

She drags her hands away from him but he grabs her again, by her neck, firm enough that he can feel her heartbeat under his hold.

“Perhaps I should have you join them,” he says, numb to the feeling of her fingernails clawing at his hands. “She is alive. Lucerra is alive.”

“Not by my doing,” Alys seethes through the constriction on her throat.

Aemond leans into her with a snarl. “You knew.”

The harder she struggles and digs in her nails, the tighter his grip becomes, his thumb ghosting over the spot they both know could end her life in minutes.

“You lied to me.”

“I have told you no lies,” she says.

“But she is to be my retribution, yes? Luke will come to me, with fire and fury.”

A cruel, knowing smile spreads across her lips. 

The ghost of a dragon. It was damaged, and is rebuilding its strength through anguish.

“Answer me!” he cries.

Alys shakes her head as much as she can underneath his hold. “I believe you already know what awaits you.”

He releases her with a grunt and shouts for a guard. “Get her out of my sight,” he orders, “throw her in the crypt with the rest of her house. Leave the witch to rot.”

A servant draws him a bath and he dismisses him soon after. He scrubs the darkening blood from his skin, and keeps scrubbing until his flesh is red again. 

By some mockery of the Gods, it is the first night in days he has been able to find sleep.

He dreams of a gloomy chamber, a stone floor below him, fingers gently threading through his hair.

He tips his head back to look at her, the soft and unassuming face of his sister in her youth. Her pale blue eyes beam at him– blue, not the grey they were when he left her. She was gentle and solitary back then, and she had less to mourn.

She drags her fingers through his hair, twisting strands into braids, just as she did to him when they were children, and as she used to do with the twins.

There is so much he would say to her, regrets, apologies and the sheer noise that clouds his mind. But he says none of it.

Her hands drop from his hair but he doesn’t want her to go.

Instead her hand cups the left side of his face, her thumb brushing over the edges of his scar while her eyes are fixed on his sapphire.

She whispers to him, words he’s heard before. “Bonds of blood are so easily forgotten...”

He remembers the way she held Maelor when he returned from Storm’s End, how she turned her son away from him.

Because he was dangerous. Because she thought him a monster.

He told her he would protect them, but everything he touches turns to blood or ash. 

What would Helaena make of the bloody mass of bodies in the crypt below Harrenhal?

He whispers back to her “...never forgiven.”

He stands by the lakeshore, looking up at the castle as their army marches through the gates, each man dressed for battle. Cole leads atop a white horse at the front of the company. 

A growl rumbles through the air like thunder and every man turns his head to the sky. 

The rising sun goes black when Vhagar flies before it, circling the ruined towers of Harrenhal before she lands by the lake, the ground trembling under her.

Tessarion rises from the courtyard and lands further along the shore. She rears her head when Vhagar growls curiously, and Daeron tries to calm her, keeping a tight grip on her reins and smoothing his hand over her snout. The sheer size of Vhagar would not allow for such delicate gestures. 

Daeron dismounts and walks slowly to Aemond, his spine straight and his hands behind his back. He has recovered quickly from his injuries, as has his dragon; keen, young fighters, the pair of them. He cannot look Aemond in the eye for more than a few moments before his gaze falls to the ground.

“Will she be safe to ride?” Aemond asks. His voice has felt different these last few days, rough and visceral. 

“I am sure we will be,” Daeron mutters back. “She held firm when we were attacked.”

“You are not to engage should you encounter another dragon,” Aemond warns him. 

“I know. We will be swift and stay hidden, you have my word, brother.”

Daeron’s route south has been planned meticulously by Cole’s order. He is to avoid flying over castles and towns, especially as he flies over the Riverlands. The ageing Lord Tully has kept his banners at Riverrun, but once word of the Strongs starts to spread, he doubts they will find much support in the Riverlands. 

He is to fly to the Reach and find whatever remains of the Hightowers, and Cole and his men will follow. Ravens have been sent to Borros Baratheon and Jason Lannister. The Baratheon banners are amassing in the Stormlands, while the Lannisters will march north to the Twins, to hold off the Starks, should Lord Cregan ever make the journey south. The rest of the war will be a waiting game. 

He watches his brother mount his dragon. Tessarion leaps into the air with a flourish of her blue and bronze wings, disappearing into the clouds.

When the sound of the marching fades too, all he is left with are the waves in the water, the pulsing in his head and the hum of Vhagar behind him.

Even so far removed from the castle his stomach churns at the lingering stench of blood in his nose. He can still feel its weight on his skin and in his hair.

What place would he have with his brother, who cannot even bear to look at him. What place will he have with the Hightower host, restlessly waiting?

He has spent half of his life training for the inevitable war, he rides the largest dragon in the world, as Regent he wore the Conqueror’s ruby crown, and it means nothing. Cole was right, they should never have left King’s Landing. The stubborn and irritable blood of the dragon will not allow him to follow Daeron and Cole as they move south.

No, fate has another path for him.

The noise in his head keeps rising. The screams of his sister, his brother, the men he kills at Rook’s Rest, the Strongs as he cut them down one by one. The cries of dragons in pain and anguish. Flashes of thunder and lightning, the rain pelting down against his leathers, the sound of the sea as he stood on the shore below Storm’s End. 

It rises and rises until it splits his skull.

He unleashes it, bathing fields, forests and towns of the Riverlands in dragon fire. 

He finds no solace in the lands he leaves charred, in the lives he takes, but what difference does it make? His mother never looked at him the same after Storm’s End, nor did Helaena. If they could not forgive him, what should it matter what the rest of the world will make of him?

He is Aemond Targaryen, the Kinslayer, the one-eyed Prince; death, destruction and cruelty are written into his blood, burning through his veins like fire. 

If the Tullys will not make their loyalties known, then their people will die the deaths of traitors. Rhaenyra will either watch the Riverlands burn or send her dragonriders. Perhaps she will send her bastard dragonseeds, or perhaps he’ll hear the piercing whistle of Caraxes when Daemon comes for him.

But he thinks one dragonrider will leap at the chance to kill him.

Not a day goes by when he does not feel her or see the marks she has left on him. Perhaps they have always been fated, born to differing sides of family doomed to tear itself apart, bound by childish affections, but finally welded together with their blood on each other’s hands and faces.

Everything he is comes back to Luke, perhaps it is only right they should be each other’s demise.

Tags (comment to be added to either)

General taglist: @randomdragonfires @jamespotterismydaddy @theoneeyedprince @tsujifreya

Series taglist: @boundlessfantasy @toodlesxcuddles @starwarsslut @skikikikiikhhjuuh @arcielee

[ninjakittenarmy]

I think my main issue with the plot of Spirit of Justice, despite generally liking it, is that you didn’t really NEED to have the entire conflict with the Kura’inese government to revolve entirely around trials alone for the plot to work. Spoilers ahead naturally.

See, the plot isn’t actually THAT far fetched in concept. Manipulation of the legal system to suppress dissent is pretty much ubiquitous among dictatorships. It’s the oldest trick in the tyranny book. And the fact that regular citizens can abuse it for their own gain is a very common side effect of it’s not intended in the first place irl. And targeting attorneys that won’t play ball is part of that pretty much always.

And honestly, the idea that a faith could have a murder trial have spiritual significance for the deceased is actually pretty interesting, and the justice system being of spiritual significance or even being intertwined with the local faith isn’t particularly unusual historically. My only issue with it is just that they don’t mention what happens if someone ISN’T MURDERED. The trial is established as necessary for the spirit to move on, and that seems at least partially true (gotta wonder if the spirits believing this has something to do with it, if they make a sequel they should build on this). So what happens if there’s no trial to be had? I assume it’s only necessary for murders, I’d just like to know.

The final trial isn’t that unbelievable either. Delegitimizing a ruler in front of both their subjects and the people they count on to enforce their will is how many a tyrant has fallen, and a trial where it’s proven that their rule was acquired through illegal means or they otherwise don’t have legitimacy is a perfectly legitimate way that can happen, especially since in this case, the queen’s goons were loyal entirely because they thought she was legitimately divinely ordained (sure, her coup didn’t matter to her royal guards so long as she had the necessary powers that gives you, but she uh, didn’t).

The main issue really is just that they overdid it. The trials seem to outweigh other forms of repression a dictator would use in tandem. There would need to be other elements to the government’s tyranny and the groups resisting it. You had one assassin when these regimes have whole death squads. And attorneys alone aren’t really a big enough group to justify having them be the main enemy your dictator “needs” the power to fight. There’s gotta be more. Other ideologies, other cultures, other faiths. Maybe a bit heavy for AA but dictatorships are heavy stuff and this series is already about murder.

And there would realistically be more groups opposing them besides defense attorneys alone. They’d probably be part of it. Lawyers have been part of tons of revolutions in the past, including America’s, in fact. I can buy one being a leader in fact. But it wouldn’t be like 90% lawyers with like, three other people. You’d have partisan sympathizers, vengeful families of those wronged, members of persecuted groups. Having the Dragons be entirely composed of a crack team of guerrilla lawyers isn’t plausible, and the absurdity of it isn’t noted in the narrative like the other wacky stuff in these games. You’re meant to just accept it.

Also, I don’t buy for a SECOND. That they’re all pacifists. You made their second in command a foreign commando soldier and had them presented throughout the game as a typical partisan rebel group. You want me to believe the most feared group of rebels in this country is pacifist? Pacifism is all about discrediting that notion, it’s REALLY HARD to make them seem like the boogeymen the government says they are. And it just felt in context like a cheap way to make them not TOO rebellious lest idiots accuse them of endorsing political violence, despite the fact that political violence against a democratic government and innocent people is completely different from violence targeted specifically at a dictatorship’s rulers and enforcers. You can still portray anyone who attacks innocents “for the cause” as evil. There’s a middle ground here.

[playerkingsley]

I DID IT I VEILGUARDED. spoilers/scattered thoughts under the cut:

something right off the bat: the flavor of shadow dragon elf rook fighting for minrathous against elgar'nan as a god of tyranny was impeccable. truly a devastating combination of “same as it ever was” and “who do you think you are.” also implicit in that perspective are some of the sharp edges of the city & the setting that were sanded down in this game, but for better/worse I will inevitably get invested in my da protagonists despite the limitations of resource allocation/game development

brief caveat to say I’m not going to get deep into criticism right now because that’ll make this too long and meandering, but I am satisfied with the choices I made as presented within the game: saving minrathous, romancing neve, choosing harding and bellara to take risks in the final mission. I may, however, go back and check the trick ending vs redemption, because while I enjoyed carrying on in harding’s memory and her belief in second (and on) chances + seeing more of the inquisitor I was middling on the group intervention for a man to admit one mistake vibe. idk maybe the solavellan version is more poignant

clearly not the advertised “most romantic dragon age game ever,” but the few scenes of neve’s romance did it for me, on top of the flirting forays and bonding through shadow dragon/minrathous native dialogue. like-minded professionals going through a slow burn romance and being both swept up & inconvenienced by it is so very my thing, I’m afraid I was doomed from the start. completely enamored of rook/neve and their 48 wisp children

very little follow up at the end, which is par for the course with major events for this game—and tbh not unique to this entry to the franchise, so it is what it is. as I said there are issues but that’s for a different post, EXCEPT for one specific moment: the all-seeing and controlling illuminati secret ending did not inspire any interest in future installments nor retroactively invalidating the complexities of previous characters and their decisions made without outside compulsion. I know there have been bits and pieces about the threat across the sea throughout the lore, but reducing EVERY antagonist to that influence? awful.

anyway ULTIMATELY I did enjoy the experience. the combat was fun, the exploration not a slog, and even on a steam deck the game looked good & functioned well. I might have more thoughts later (and definitely screenshots) but I’ll leave this here for now

[the-unknown-writer-of-dreams]

How is Imu related to Nefertari D. Lili?

In One Piece Imu is a mysterious ruler of the world who sits on the empty throne and was first introduced to us in the “Reverie Arc”, shortly after the Whole Cake Island wrapped up and their powers are believed to be unparalleled.

All the countries affiliated with the world government are shown to be equal to each other through the Empty Throne, a historical seat located at the center of the world. As the name suggests the Empty Throne is supposed to remain empty to show the equivalence in power however that is certainly not the case as we can see a shadowy figure with the name Imu sitting at the top of it, making him the supreme leader.

Nefertari D. Lily was among the founders of the world government. As told by Nefertari Cobra in chapter 1084 after meeting with the five elders of the world government. Cobra introduced his request by recalling the foundation of the world government.

800 years ago, twenty kingdoms formed an alliance and successfully defeated the ancient kingdom, the rulers then came together to continue the alliance by forming the world government. To show their loyalty they created a throne that resides at the center of the world on the Mary Geoise, inside Pangea Castle, surrounding it with weapons as a vow to never sit on the throne. The rulers were later invited to stay at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, and become what is now known as “Celestial Dragons”. Although everyone agreed, the monarch of Arabasta, Queen Lily Nefertari refused to become one.

Cobra continues to ask about the real meaning of the initial D when used in the surname of many characters including his own and upon revealing that he is also a descendent of D, Imu enters the room where the five elders and Cobra are talking.

Imu, who has been listening to the conversation between the elders and Cobra from the room of flowers enters the room and much to Cobra’s shock moves ahead to sit on the empty throne and murmur the name Lily. From here we confirm that Imu is aware of the situation with Nefertari D. Lily.

According to Cobra, after Queen Lily denied the choice of living as a celestial dragon, she decided to travel back to her kingdom Arabasta but went missing without a trace shortly after says a lot about the fact that something big must have happened.

A connection was formed between Imu and the Arabasta Monarch when Imu whispers her name without the honorific of Queen hinting towards a significant level of acquaintance who lived 800 years ago.

With the current information, it is quite difficult to state the relationship between the former queen and Imu but some theories made by the fans are listed as follows:

Was Nefertari Lily the love interest Imu: in chapter 906 Imu was holding bounty posters and photographs which were either stabbed or cut apart but among those was a picture of Vivi Nefertari, which was left unharmed. It could be seen that Imu couldn’t destroy the photo of their lover’s descendent or that Vivi looked similar to Queen Lily.

Connection between Queen Lily and the Amazon Lily: Because Queen Lily was on the run it made sense that she hid herself on an island that was surrounded by the calm belt and infested by the sea kings. It is possible that she created an island that allows her to create a new state where women reign supreme and no men and no relationships are allowed.

Lily and the immortal Imu: The silhouette of Lily in the Cobra’s mind looked quite similar to that of Imu, leading fans to speculate that they might be the same person.

As shocking as it was to know that the former Queen of Arabasta might somehow be involved in the formation of the tyranny of the World Government, it could be seen as Lily herself gave up on her title and decided to sit on the empty throne. She must have seen that even with the formation of the alliance things weren’t going exactly the way it was supposed to so she secretly decided to take the reigns and put the world in order. However, she somehow became immortal and let that power get in her head, and decided to rule however she saw fit. Another theory could be that she took the throne to protect everyone from learning about what happened during the war by banning research and going as far as destroying the islands for the greater good.

Whatever the reality between Queen Lily and Imu is, we already know Oda will bring something even more fun and interesting to keep the audience engaged with it. With nothing to work on, we could also speculate that Imu has no memory of who Lily is and the reason he murmured her name was simply because he is indifferent and has no respect for anyone since it has the supreme power.

[tifaisms]

One Piece and Freedom

so, idk if ive made this post before, but fuck it, we ball, im gonna do it again. There will be spoilers ahead so be wary!

To me, even though one piece tackles many, many themes, the one at the heart of it all is freedom. The reason that characters do not die in one piece fights is because its a battle of ideals. Luffy is putting an ideal on the line, a belief, as well as his life, and his opponents do not match the life part. The winner is who has the strongest conviction (which is also why powerscaling this series is dumb - it isnt about power levels, its about what they represent).

The reason that Luffy always wins is because the battles can be boiled down to freedom vs tyranny. Luffy fights oppressers, slavers, tyrants. He is the embodiment of freedom, and always has been - he can stretch and move freely. And now we find out that he is a manifestation of a god, a liberator deity.

When Luffy defeats someone, he is freeing people. Even if it isn't necessarily freeing a country or a village, he frees people. He freed Franky from the government, but also gavve him the freedom to dream again, to BUILD again. Same with Sanji, who he did ultimately free from the shackles of his shitty biological family. He free Nami from Arlong, freed Usopp from his fear and worry and allowed him to see the world and fulfill his dreams.

The freedom that Luffy represents is the freedom to dream, and achieve those dreams. And one piece puts a lot of focus on this version of freedom. The individual freedom to do whatever you desire, to live and die as you please.

And he almost doesn't know he's doing it. He just does what he wants. His idea of the pirate king is that he is the most free person in the world. That's why Luffy IS Nika, even without the devil fruit. He IS the embodiment of freedom as an ideal. You can even see it in the way he treats some marines, like Koby.

Not all marines are bad, but they are restricted and lack freedom to do what they want as a result of the command structure. So the good marines are always ones that take freedom by the reins and say fuck you, im doing what i believe is right. Smoker, fujitora, koby, all portrayed as decent people because they defy orders. All marines are technically free to choose what they do, but it will have consequences. Of course, Luffy punches a celestial dragon despite the consequences because its the right thing to do, so any marine that follows suit is a good guy.

Im gonna cut this off here cause otherwise this will be pages upon pages, but just know that one piece is amazing with its thematic writing and it is absolutely a masterpiece worthy of "best selling manga series"

[paxesoterica]

Seriously, what the heck is wrong with Algard

(spoilers for The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady Ep. 08)

Dude claims to be concerned about the plight of the commoners, and while I don’t think he’s lying, he nonetheless literally tore out the heart of a common-born girl just to acquire her magical power, which raises questions about just how many sacrifices he’s willing to make to ‘protect’ his people.

He also claims to not be beholden to his emotions, yet he is clearly unwilling to set aside his pride and envy to ask Anisphia for her help in making positive change for the country (and arguably, Anis’s work in making magic tools that anyone can use will do far more to bring about social equality than any bloody-handed ‘benign’ tyranny that Algard might have in mind).

Also, kind of wish that Anis had called him out on the fact that, a major difference between the two is that Anis killed a dragon that was deliberately threatening a lot of people, whereas any threat Lainie posed was both accidental *and* already mitigated by the time Algard stepped in.

Honestly, the only reason I’ll be sad if he dies is because it’ll likely make Anisphia feel guilty, and she doesn’t deserve that.

[automatanura]

Theming & Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 definitely feels like one of those once in a (console) generation games that creates new heights for the medium, like Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Origins, and the original Baldur's Gates before it. I loved it, I'm on my second and a half playthrough, but in loving it I need to give my full opinion on the game's story, especially the ending.

Warning: Massive Spoilers Below. Everything is Fair Game.

As a work, Baldur's Gate 3 feels conflicted in its theming, especially the farther you get into Act 3. This is understandable, as Larian tries to connect three mostly unrelated concepts in Faerûn (the illithid / githyanki conflict, the Dead Three, and the Nine Hells) into a unified whole, sprinkling other bits of Realmslore in to bridge the thematic gaps. In a lot of ways, it works. The Steel Watchers as a product of Gortash's dealings with the Hells, for instance, is inspired, and taps into tropes of hellfire, industry, and fiendish invention, which are then tied to the necromancy and brainomancy of the other parts of the cult of the Absolute.

However, other parts feel disjointed, such as the role of Bhaal. While it makes sense as a continuation of the previous games, and within the context of the Dark Urge, the player doesn't really see a way in which the Bhaalists benefit the plan, especially since they don't show up until the conspiracy starts to fall apart in Act III. The presence of the Zhentarim in Act I lays the thematic groundwork for Bane, as the undead in Act II do for Myrkul, but anything linked to Bhaal is conspicuously absent (again, unless you're the Urge)

The biggest thing which struck to me is the tone of the "good" ending, which mismatches everything else before. I'm already not a fan of "end of the world/universe" conflicts, and prefer things much more localized, but even as you save the world and everyone cheers, what's sorely missing is the acknowledgment of loss and sacrifice present throughout the rest of the narrative. If there's one question I think the story asks, it's "How far are you willing to go to be free?"

We see this conflict in pretty much all the Origin characters, even before the slavery implied by the tadpoling. Lae'zel has to contend with Vlaakith's tyranny, losing her place in her society if she doesn't submit. Wyll is stuck in a fiendish contract, Astarion and Karlach were soldiers/toys in the grasps of their respective masters, Shadowheart is tied so tightly to Shar that she's lost most of herself, and Gale is eventually charged to end his life in the service of Mystra. The Dark Urge, for their part, is bound by both blood and psyche to their father.

And then we have the tadpole, for which the game lets you go to tremendous lengths to rid yourself, with no success.

While everyone cheered, I had:

Inserted multiple alien parasites into my brain to gain the power to survive

Read a book of forbidden knowledge which fundamentally changed me

Made a deal with hag

Killed the Nightsong (because the game doesn't really let you know that keeping her alive still ends Ketheric's immortality)

Doomed everyone at Last Light (including a hero of Baldur's Gate)

Let my lover kill her parents to avoid angering a goddess

Attempt a prison break, which left half the prisoners dead

Advised Astarion to kill thousands of people (including children) in order to avoid the even worse disaster of their liberty

Sold my body to a fiend to gain the means to my own freedom

Allowed my friend to lose her body and soul in order to defeat our enemy

And probably other things I forgot (not to mention the ways loss, sacrifice, and freedom play out among the non-party NPCs)

And so if you take the non-evil ending, the narrative feels…oblivious, to say the least, of the costs, which I expect are still there, even in an ultra-good run (which mine was not).

The game has plenty, plenty going for it (the encounters are interesting, the characters are generally well-written and expressive, and the game lets you interact with it in so many ways. I think it's because of this, that some of the disjunctions in narrative and theming feel so apparent.

[grayzeppelin281]

Number 3, 4, 5, and 7!

Alright, Righteous Flames! Now I'll answer four questions!

In case of pandoms wondering what you see a user with a cat profile popping a post. Who am I, you ask? I am GrayZeppelin, fanfiction author of my magnum opus series, Kung Fu Panda: The Mightiest Warriors.

#3 Biggest self-insert OCs?

So far, I have no self-insert OCs, which to be honest, writing a character of myself seems to be odd. So. . . I am not crazy about self-insert OCs. I read a few fics (not from KFP) that have character names of their own, the color of their hair, eyes, etc. I used to like their self-insert fics (well, I moved on from that).

#4 What kind of musics do your OCs listen to?

As I remember most kinds of music I jam with, there's plenty that involves my characters' fit in and their liking.

For instance, my boy Chen Xing has his favorite words while thrusting his six-inch punch at bandits. Compare the Dragon Warrior's shout "Skadoosh!", inspired by a song from a heavy metal band System of a Down, Xing roars "Chop Suey!"

Here's another song that matches my latest antagonist character Wang, when he was a victim of domestic abuse by his father Le (a douche) who forced his son to be more formidable. Most lyrics from the song Bohemian Rapsody from Queen fit Wang's perspective, despite being broken, loved his mother, hated his father, refused to be in sympathy, and many hated him (but his brothers from Lu Academy loved him). I don't know how I found out about his background story, but this music inspires many.

#5 What are some of your OC's biggest fears?

Very good question!

Since I have like a million OCs (not really, around 100 OCs and more) to look at their biography, I'll stick with one who has had his greatest fear ever since he fled from his old home.

Chen Xing hated fire. Not necessarily, but he reflected on a tragic event that caused the death of his parents. While carried by his grandmother Ming, sprinted into the forest, his mother was silenced by an arrow, and his father was burned alive. Xing remembers every moment that he wished to seek vengeance against his old enemy (Prince Huoju), who murdered his parents right in front of him, standing behind the fire.

But that's not all what he can prevent the other fear, he worries.

As the alpha and leader, Chen Xing makes sure none of his brothers and sisters of the Nine face jeopardies during their missions to end tyrannies. I have been thinking about making a fic that will change them before my first book A New Prophecy, what they experienced from their first mission, the Nine will never forget. (Hajin Province)

#7. What are your favorite relationships between your OCs (romantic or platonic)?

Yes! Yes!! A million times yes!

My favorite platonic relationship is between my characters Xing and his wolf sister Lotus. A brother and sister fond, raised together with their peacock brother Lao / Lord Dongji. The wolf and tiger are not together in romance, but they stick as best friends. What started their friendship, Xing and his grandmother found Lotus at Bao Gu Orphanage after their sow neighbor Mrs. Yan caught her eye on a lone cub with the caretaker.

Considering nightmares that Xing sees fire and unfortunate events in his dreams, his sister is always there to sleep with him, giving her brother much comfort as long as Xing wishes. Lotus, known as the Nine's Dancer, who craves dancing and fighting with ribbons, is a dreamcatcher. Chen Xing's soulmate.

Phew! Thank you for giving me four random questions, Flame! This is quite fun to answer!

I'll share a few links of two musics, and my fanfic/artwork pages where you can find me and check out my stories and my sketching (I am an artist who draws with pencils). I recommend Ao3, where my first book A New Prophecy starts your journey after KFP 3. My FanFiction page has a sequel there, which contains many spoilers there after the first book event unless you like to read at your own risk. Have fun listening musics, reading my novels, and my artworks!

https://youtu.be/CSvFpBOe8eY (System of a Down: Chop Suey)

https://youtu.be/fJ9rUzIMcZQ (Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody)

https://m.fanfiction.net/u/4694143/GrayZeppelin

https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrayZeppelin