#Wow i love to talk about the empire especially about what happened before the game

[hollowtones]

what'd you think about jade shadows?

I put it under a read-more because I don't know how to talk about this without talking about spoiler stuff. The tl;dr is "I liked it but I wish there was a little bit more."

One of the things I didn't like isn't even really part of the quest itself, but I saw a mutual bring it up a few days ago & it's been on my mind since: it feels a little odd to have a content warning before your sidequest, and then not give you any way to skip the quest if it's content you don't think you'd be able to handle. Especially given there's a whole event & rewards that only unlock afterwards!!

OK on to the contents of the quest itself. There's a lot of themes of love and connection and empathy in the face of systemic cruelty or indifference, in this game in general, and a lot of how that manifests is stories about characters fighting for self-determination and agency (the Ostrons trying to stay free of the Grineer, the Solaris trying to destroy the systems that keep them in debt & deny them bodily autonomy, Umbra, the Tenno, the Lotus, etc etc).

I think it's interesting to try and explore a tragedy where we aren't able to help someone in time, where the powers that be have brutalized someone and we as individuals aren't able to get there in the nick of time & help them claw their agency back. I think it's an interesting thematic & emotional through-line (with very strong parallels to Ordis... very smart choice to make him the event vendor / narrator, I'm feasting good on all the new dialogue LOL), and I think there have been enough well-written woman characters in the game that don't get written out or killed for the sake of some man's tragedy or growth that I don't immediately roll my eyes about them trying a So Sad The Woman Dies story.

I do also think this would have hit harder if we got more information about Jade herself!! I realize "this woman broke a law and was completely dehumanized / made into a Thing by the empire, stripping her of herself to suit their ends" is Kind Of The Point, and they make enough of a fuss about "wow there's a lot that's redacted about her history, huh!" that I assume this is a plot thread they're leaving hanging for later. But I feel like the big moment would have resonated better if they gave us a little more info to establish this character, other than "she was heterosexual" and "the Orokin were fucked up, don't forget" haha.

(I do find it funny that the storyline about Ballas, who got Divorced So Badly that he Caused Nearly All Of Today's Problems, is all wrapped up, but the story keeps going "no no, don't worry, there's still plenty of opportunity to remind you how fucked the Orokin were." Here's these two people that broke some insipid law about conceiving a child & so their bosses and leaders broke their brains and turned them into bio-weapon lapdogs as punishment. Every time they go "BTW Something Was Deeply Wrong With The Orokin & We Still Feel The Aftershock Of That Today" I clap my hands like a seal.)

Warframe Babies Are Born!!!!! This little tyke is fuckin weird. What's their problem. I think it's weird and cool. I don't really feel much about "this character is a parent now!" type of storylines. (I did pop off when Stalker got to do his shithead honourable samurai defending a child with one arm thing. I'm a sucker for that & they made it coooooool. It feels like they're setting up some kind of "Lone Wolf and Cub" situation. The scythe being juiced up with BabysPower was also funny.) The baby thing is neat to me from the perspective of, like... This is something weird and new that's never happened before in this universe. That's exciting and kind of scary! I'm interested to see where they go with that. (Presumably in a year or two. Very funny to drop this on us when a completely different major story arc is right around the corner with 1999.)

Gianni's delivery was fuckin killer. I'm excited for whatever next arc they do with Stalker if it means they're gonna pay my boy to grunt and yell and scream more. It feels very strange to be acquainted with two people who've done voice acting in "Warframe" now. Me next? ^_^

I like our new Corpus weirdo. I hope she comes back. Fun to get more stuff with the Sisters of Parvos & with Mr. Granum himself. But I liked her a lot. It got a fuckin laugh out of me to have her through all the quest excited about her big promotion that she's going to get & resolving that with "Is that a fuckin baby??? Fuuuuuck! They don't pay me enough to shoot a baby with a gatling gun!" I wish her ending scene was a little more than just stoically standing aside but literally anything else I can think of feels way too cheesy or on-the-nose.

The facial animations on the Operator were really fuckin weird. I just remembered that. I thought that was just a thing on my end but I watched someone else play & the faces looked weird for them too.

Hunhow's a good inclusion. I like him seeing the Stalker stewing in his own misery because he hates the only people that could offer him help & going "aw man, c'mon buster, don't be like me now." I like his signature that he puts in his emails. I like that he's still an emotionally constipated weirdo that hates us but is still endeared to us in some way. (They make nods to The New Strange in his ending email, which makes sense given that this also feels like a quest setting up More Weird Shit In The Future, but I do get a laugh that it also reads as "JADE WAS PREGNANT? OKAY... WELL. DON'T FORGET THAT I HAVE A WOMB TOO, KID." Thanks Grandpa. Love you too Grandpa. Thanks for the sweeties Grandpa.)

The event quest feels like a nice bow on top. I like the parallels between Jade and Ordis. Wanting to afford her the dignity in death he could never be given. Acknowledgement of Ordan Karris is fun!!! (The line about him being conflicted with the thought of Granum un-cephalon'ing him has me rubbing my hands together.) I'm excited that we're getting so much of Parvos Granum lately. What a shit head. It's funny to see him so hyped up about Ordan. "Duuuude! Your history's famous killer!! That's awesome? Do you wanna work for me? C'monnnnn we both hate the legacy of the Orokin. Wouldn't it be awesome if MY rule was the one dehumanizing you and wielding you as a weapon instead?" This is something they've been establishing as early as "Parvos and Ballas in bed with one another doing shady back-room deals over a Warframe bodyguard and specter particle research" but it's fun whenever they sow the seeds of Parvos being so much like the Orokin he hated.

I wrote more than I thought I was going to!!! I like the thematic through-line idea of this quest but I wish they executed on it better. I like the stuff this is presumably establishing for the future. I really like the event quest as... not quite an epilogue, I guess, but as an addition. Other than that I thought it was okay! I wasn't expecting anywhere near the level of Whispers in the Walls, but that quest being such a high bar makes a "pretty okay" quest stick out to me a little, haha.

[randomnameless]

@lochnessies I didn’t want to reblog your post since it was long but if you don’t mind me adding my 2 cts to the Empire and your Empire essay

honestly i’m so glad i’m not the only one who nerded about the empire

I’m totally on board with your assertion about Agarthans and the Empire, the agarthans are the one who are the masterminds behind everything wrong happening in Fodlan (Nemesis 1 to Nemesis 2) and how the Empire who started good ended up being the decadent place we’re told about in-game that disappears in 75% of the endings.

However, I have several nitpicks or additions to make.

From the interview, apparently, humans already got their hand on “relics” before Nemesis pulled his stunt. Nemesis wanted to most powerful weapon available, so he ended up tearing Sothis, the leader of the nabateans, apart.

In the fake Church-approved story, Nemesis was king of the Liberation because he got rid of invaders coming from the North. We actually don’t know why the guy styled himself as “King of Liberation”, he apparently wanted to get rid of “liars” in his info blurb in VW, but then in the same route, when Billy fights against Maurice, Maurice asks if Billy’s come to “liberate” him... From this, I’m assuming Maurice, a former Elite, thinks “Liberation” is some sort of euphemism for death or a merciful death, idk. Bar Edel’s story, there is no real clues in game, or even outside, that Nemesis wanted to get rid of “divine beings”. I personally think he wanted to be the strongest so if lizards had to die for this then so be it, but bar that? I have no ideas about his own, personal motivations (save for “Thales’n’pals asked me to do it and they seemed so nice so I did it”).

Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg being one of Nemesis’s men who was lured away by Seiros and her dragon bros is a take that is very prevalent in the fandom, but has no basis in the game.

The Adrestian Empire officially existed in 0 when Seiros crowned the guy, but Enbarr was chosen as its capital because it was the largest city. The War of Heroes “properly” started 3 decades later as Wilhelm wanted to unify the continent.

Lycaon I’s death heralds the end of the war, meaning Wilhelm died during the WoH. Apparently the Church of Seiros was created before the war, even before the Empire, by followers who were inspired by her miracles or something. 

But yes, there used to be a religion before the “Church of Seiros” given how Seteth met his wife in a church in Enbarr, still I cannot say for sure it was here before the first Agarthian war.

Word of God also said Seiros and her friends rewrote history because the Elites and Nemesis were too popular at that time and she wanted to “quell the flames of war and chaos” and keep balance. Kind of unrelated, but given how Marianne is treated in Modern!Fodlan because her ancestor was a (literal) monster, if Seiros revealed the truth about Gloucester, Daphnel and their friends maybe Lorenz and Ingrid would be persecuted and hated like Marianne is... 

I don’t have anything to add to the rest, but some tidbits regarding the Empire and what I could hc i mean interpret from them :

Apparently, in the jp version of Hanneman’s C support with Dorothea, Hanneman says in the beginning nobles were supposed to guide and protect people, but in Modern!Fodlan it’s now just a way to discriminate between nobles and non-nobles.

Maybe at its inception the Empire had this idea about what nobility meant, but with time, the notion became used as a tool and emptied of its original meaning, idk. 

We also have the “Feast of Decadence” novel, it is fiction (apparently?) but the author, writing this book, thought it was perfectly normal to have northeners being torn apart in the background. 

This novel is supposed to happen way after the WoH ended (the Emperor is Lycaon III and we know from Ferdie’s support with Edel (or was it in Feh??) that the Emperor in 100~ was a woman, so she couldn’t have been Lycaon II) but in this context it was normal to have slaughters during a feast celebrating the wedding of the new Emperor.

Given how Rhea has bad history with slaughters for “fun” (as far as she knows Nemesis had no reason to kill everyone in Zanado?) I am pretty sure that if she had been around for Wilhelm I’s wedding, this spectacle would never have happened. Same thing for Lycaon I, the two Emperor she’s sure to have met. Which signifies that either post-Rhea the Emperor thought it was fun to watch northeners suffer, which also adds another kind of discrimination between people from the North and those from the South or the author of this novel had a blood kink and thought it’d be a nice detail, or the author wrote this “decadent feast” to criticise the Empire.

Which ultimately leads to : During Lycaon III’s time, or shortly after, northeners being torn apart during the highest ceremonies were something that happened casually, or it was plausible enough that people from that time could believe it happened.

So combining Hanneman’s “at first nobility was supposed to be this but ended up twisted” and “people ate a lot of bread and fish in honour of Saint Cethleann it was wonderful and northerners were being torn apart and we all laughed” means that even before Ionius IX pulled his centralising policies in place, the Empire was heading down a dark path.

The Southern Church is banned in 1065, way after the Kingdom and the Alliance were recognised as independant nations. In some localised versions (the SP one I think?) it is explained they were banned because they led an insurrection.

So even before Ionius, we have the Empire growing intolerant to its own citizens, stopping being “nobles” in the first sense of the notion, and apparently their ally since creation leads an insurrection. Then, the agarthans happen and they wreck things. 

If I had to compare, I’d say Ionius IX and his extreme policies (destroying Hrym and sending Agarthans to Ordelia, a territory in the Alliance, because they helped the people from Hrym) were inevitable since due to the Empire’s decadence, but Edel getting the means and opportunities to start her war was brought by the Agarthans.

It’s as if the Empire is going downhill and you can either choose to let it disappear (SS/AM/VW where the Empire doesn’t exist anymore, it crumbled) or go with it to the bottom of the hill (CF).

[yutopia-eleftheria]

Ray of Hope (part 2)

Note : This story happens after Stories 2

          This story will include a character from another Capcom game, a coach from Just Dance 2021 and an Original Character of mine.

           The second part of this story will include a unique race from my AU, as well as an Hybrid Character.

Ray of Hope (part 1)

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“Don’t worry. We’ll do everything we can to help you. You can trust us...”

This was the last thing Zellard heard before losing consciousness, though he didn’t who that voice belongs to.

Locksin and Karl made a promise to Ena, Alwin and Elder Maolo : that they will do everything they could to help Zellard physically, but mostly mentally. The poor Wyverian was completely lost after everything that happened in the Forbidden Ground. All the words that Ena said while preventing him from jumping into the pit hits him pretty hard. But he had his chance to come back, possibly even better than what he was before, and he got this chance thanks to Locksin and Karl, who are bringing him to their place ; the Crystal Empire. But before arriving, they were in the darkness, they couldn’t even see what was in front of them. Both Karl and Locksin were very careful and silent, so silent that they manage to reach the Crystal Empire pretty easily. A guard was there, and he let them enter as they explained that it was the Wyverian they were talking about. When they enter, they immediately headed towards the nurse :

“Karl, you’ll need your healing too, dude, said Locksin, you just lost your arm and you almost died, but still you recklessly joined me despite me and the nurse telling you to stay in bed, his voice gets louder, so now you’ll rest without any complain, understand ?”

“Okay man, Karl did respond without complain after all, and I’ll stay with Zellard, he’ll need help, he needs someone to stay with him, to make him understand that he is not alone and we can help him no matter what, so yeah, I’ll stay by his side.”

“Wow...Karl, that’s...really nice of you, and I think you’re right. Locksin smiled back at his boyfriend. He kissed him on his forehead after he layed down near the uncounscious Wyverian. Locksin’s heart melted when he sees his boyfriend being so gentle and already protective towards the man they want to help

A few days later...

“Wait...You knew him ?... You knew Guglielmo ?! He raised you !?” Karl shouted at Zellard when he realized that he knew his ancestor, who was one of the Four Kings years ago.

“Yes, Zellard responded calmly, it’s also thanks to him that I was able to see, since I was blind at birth. He taught me how to fight, and a bit of his knowledge on weapons, armors, and other stuff he was building. I owed him a lot.” Zellard said while looking outside.

“Wow...Karl looked at him with his eyes and mouth wide open, obviously amazed about what he learned, That’s incredible ! Thanks, man ! I get to know my family and my ancestor ! That’s just amazing !”

“You’re welcome, maybe one day I can introduce you to his daughters, I’m sure they’ll be happy to see one of their descendant. Zellard grinned.”

“That’ll be great ! Wow, I still can’t believe that my ancestors were Wyverians ! The almost immortal mutated human said. Wait... Karl suddenly thought of something, since Guglielmo taught you some stuff of crafting, building and stuff, maybe you can help out, I’m sure the Crystallings will love that you help so much for our Empire ! This will be a good first step to help out, don’t you think ?”

Zellard is the type of guy that hates being useless and not doing anything, so he immediately accepted Karl’s offer. Every children love him, and that includes the Crystallings as well, especially Luna, Karl and Locksin’s adopted daughter ; Zellard always babysits her when her parents were out. He even accepted to learn their nemesis’s magic : the Umbrum’s Shadowy Dark Crystals Magic (Some of the strongest Crystallings are learning it to show the Umbrums that they are not afraid anymore and that they can be as strong as them, and even stronger since they can learn both types of magic whereas Umbrums cant). But the Crystallings knew they will need to do more than that to help Zellard out. The biggest problem was not only for him to earn people’s trust again, but also to help him mentally. After all of this, Zellard was pretty much suffering from PTSD ; he could suddenly have flashbacks, but he mostly had terrible nightmares about that one moment. 

Months goes by, Zellard felt more confident but his PTSD remained ; the Crystallings were not able to calm him down when a flashback suddenly strikes, despite their Crystal magic being the purest magic to ever exist... They slowly start to lose faith as they thought that they will not be able to help him with that. But it wasn’t over ; someone could help him, someone that Zellard needs in his life, his soulmate, his other half...

It’s in this place, in the Crystal Empire, that Zellard will meet her : Gaïana. The woman immediately caught Zellard’s eyes, as she was the only Wyverian in here (other than him of course). Being both Wyverians, they will quickly get along well and Zellard will learn more about her : she is half-Wyverian, half-Crystalling, and she has the particularity to have two distinct forms for her two races : A lineage she is really proud of, as she is for now the only Wyverian-Crystalling hybrid to be like this, probably even the only one that exists for now. They will see each other more often, and Gaïana was aways willing to help Zellard out. In the end, they fell in love, and she was able to do even more than that : Gaïana will be the only one able to help ease Zellard’s flashbacks and even nightmares when he suffers from it.

Thanks to all of this, Zellard was able to learn the Crystallings’s magic, and let’s be honest here, no one other than the Crystallings would believe that Zellard could have been able to learn and master the Crystallings’s magic, since he was once in the dark side. After learning both magic, Zellard decided to protect the people who believed in him and trusted him with all their heart and mind, by joining the Crystal Army. He asked the Empress of the Crystallings and told her about his past as a Hunter, and how he basically knows how to fight with almost all types of weapons, including a spear (the Crystallings’s main weapon). He of course joined Gaïana, as well as Amber Lily and Commander Isis to some of the fights against the Umbrums (even his friends Zacharie and Drey joined him !).

More than a year after Zellard’s arrival in the Crystal Empire...

“I can’t let them down, not after everything they did for me !”

He fought again alongside the Crystallings, but this time, it wasn’t against the Umbrums, but rather another race with mostly evil people, the Changelings, which Zacharie is partly of. They used their ability to try and take the Crystal Empire, but not only : they will try to invade every location if we let them do as they please !

Little did he know that Zellard will have to go to Lulucion to warn the inhabitants about the danger that’s coming. He will have to face the Hunters, it’s not gonna be easy since the Hunters who were manipulated by his crew despised them with a burning passion. But they will have to team up to stop it.

After defeating the bad Changelings, another threat will be on us, and let’s say that’s a pretty immeasurable one. Fighting alongside Alwin, even saving him, the young Wyverian will be able to the fruit of their efforts ; Zellard’s and the Crystallings’s combined. He’ll see it, this Ray of Hope, hope that he will finally come back home...

[laurenmm62017]

Lights on Yavin 4

This is for the Kalluzeb Reverse Bang! @kalluzebminibang

Art is by the talented @drunkenmantis! Go check out their piece~

Summary: Kallus and Garazeb finally spend some quality time together on Yavin 4 after the Battle of Atollon. Zeb gets called away for multiple missions in a row, and what does Kallus do about it?

Pine like a love-sick teenager, of course.

Kallus knew it wouldn’t be easy, openly joining the Rebellion. He had given more than a decade of his life to the Empire, and just because he was a spy for the Rebellion for a year doesn’t mean people have forgotten his origins.

The higher-ups of the Rebellion had interviewed him for any information they thought was valuable to the cause. Clearance codes, secret bases, anything he could remember. Oh, and did he mention the lie detector that they strapped to his chest? Because that was very efficient and smart of them, honestly. He was impressed, especially by their intelligence director, General Davits Draven. He was the one who strapped the machine to him, the one asking the most questions about his intel, the one pressing him more and more and more until he was ready to pull his hair out.

General Draven was… not cruel, really. Just extremely wary of him.

Which is wonderful for the Rebellion, but couldn’t they at least give him some bacta gel for his leg? They kept him in “debriefing” for a few more hours after that, and by the time he was released, he was utterly exhausted. All he wanted to do was get some bacta on his leg, some food in his stomach, and then pass out for an entire year.

As he walked out of the meeting room, ready to find the medical tent, or room, or whatever, he spotted the most unexpected person waiting for him.

Zeb stood against a stack of crates, obviously pretending to inspect his bo-rifle. As soon as the door opened, he looked up and his eyes immediately landed on him. His heart skipped a beat as Zeb walked over to him.

��Finally freeing you, eh? What do you say we head to medbay and then we can head back to the Ghost?”

“You must have read my mind, because that’s exactly what I was thinking. Lead the way?”

Zeb grabbed his hand gently (no, he is most definitely not blushing, thank you very much), and led him through the winding passages of the enormous temple that the Rebels had made their base. There were so many twists and turns, it was hard to keep track. Strategically sound, in his opinion. If anyone infiltrated the base, they would be hard pressed to find the most vulnerable people on base.

The medic who attended him was kind, but exhausted, since they were still looking over other victims of Atollon. He just asked for some bacta, but the medic brushed him off and began a full medical examination of him.

Zeb stood out of the way, but he was always in the corner of his eye as the medic poked and prodded and slathered in bacta and his leg set in a cast. Then he was told not to put too much pressure on it, come back in a few days to get it removed, and was sent off with Zeb to the Ghost.

He spent his recovery aboard the Ghost, while everyone recovered from the Battle of Atollon. Most of that time was spent in Zeb’s room, the galley, or the cockpit with Hera.

Kallus got to know the remaining members of the Spectres as well as he could in the week that he spent recovering, and in return, allowed the walls around his heart crack just a little bit.

He learned that Hera liked her caf with a splash of milk and a pound of sugar. She found and repaired Chopper herself during the Clone Wars. She liked to hum to herself while doing repairs on the Ghost. She’s not quite forgiven him for his time in the Empire, but he didn’t expect her to.

He learned that Rex, one of the few clones left in the fight against the Empire, was great at teaching. He had spent his time on Atollon running drills and such with new and old members. He was friends with, or at least knew of, everyone who came from Atollon. He spent his spare time talking with those two clones from Seelos on a secure channel.

And Zeb.

During his time as both an ISB agent and Fulcrum in the Empire, he had basically memorized Zeb’s file and could recite it backwards. But here on the Ghost, with Zeb taking care of him, he found he had known nothing about the Lasat.

Sabine may be the artist of the group, but Zeb could make a fair number of trinkets and other items. He had made custom chronometers for everyone. He made most of the silverware and utensils onboard. He had programmed their dejarik table.

Zeb was attentive to him, especially during the first few days of his recovery. He assisted with changing his bandages around his ribs and made sure he never had to walk too far.

Zeb didn’t linger on unimportant things. Sure, the obvious thing was Lasan, but like he had said on Bahryn, it was behind him, and he’s moved on. The next thing was Atollon. Zeb was just glad that Kallus was here now, and that the majority of Atollon’s personnel were now of Yavin 4.

Zeb worried a lot. Not about little things, about things that mattered. Do they have enough supplies, rations, ammo, and the other essentials? What was the Empire’s next move? Were Kanan, Ezra, and Sabine alright? They should have checked in by now.

Zeb was funny. They spent their final rest day in the common room, Kallus plunged himself into any intel that the Rebellion could throw at him before he was assigned an official position. He sat at the dejarik table while Zeb and Rex were neck deep in a game, throwing snippy remarks at each other. Kallus occasionally tuned in and chuckled along with them, causing the two to stare at him the first couple it happened. He stared intensely at his datapad, and tried his best to ignore the reaction of his laugh. But every time it happened after, Zeb grinned fiercely at him.

On Kallus’ last night aboard the Ghost, he and Zeb were in the common room, eating one last meal together before he was assigned to a section within Rebel Intelligence. Everyone else was off doing other things to prepare for their first mission off of Yavin 4, but Hera had given Zeb the night off, but they knew it was so that they could spend time together. Who knows when is the next time their schedules will sync up and they can sit like this again.

“Hey, up for a little hike?” Zeb asked, standing up after finishing up his portion.

Kallus blinked, before shoving the rest of his ration into his mouth and standing up from the table. “Of course, I am. Where to?”

Zeb grinned and motioned for him to follow him off the Ghost. The two of them disembark and Zeb walks straight into the jungle. Kallus hesitates at the edge. “Zeb?”

“What? Scared of the dark?”

Kallus smirked, thinking back to the ice cave. “Of course not. But we don’t know what lives in this jungle. It could be dangerous.”

“Kallus. Do you trust me?” Zeb comes back to the edge of the forest, and holds a hand out to him.

Kallus stares at the extended hand, takes a deep breath, and takes hold. “More than anyone else.”

Zeb leads Kallus into the darkness for a few minutes before they come to the base of a smaller, more hidden temple, similar to the one the Rebel base is now in. The pair follow the base a little bit before Zeb boosts himself up onto a ledge not far from the ground, helping Kallus climb up and together, they scale the side of the temple until they are above the treeline.

“Yer leg alright?” Zeb asked, steadying him on the last step, where it led to a platform covered in leaves and moss. It seemed like it’s been a while since anyone has been up here.

“Yes, it’s fine, I just need to sit for a bit.” Kallus replied, rubbing it a little, following Zeb over to a small rock, and settled there, before turning out to face the night sky.

“Oh wow…” He breathed in awe.

It was a completely clear night. Millions of stars sparkled behind the single ring of Yavin 4, framing a moon off in the distance perfectly. Down below, he could see the lights of the main temple, housing the largest Rebel cell currently active.

Emotion swelled in his chest. “How did you find this place?”

“Went to clear my head that first night we were here. The brass kept ya so long, I was getting antsy. So I just… wandered and found this place. Wanted ta show you before we left tomorrow.”

Kallus felt tears begin to build behind his eyes, but he refused to cry, to show weakness in front of his closest friend. “Thank you, Zeb. This is a gift I couldn’t have hoped for.”

“Any time, Kal. Any time.”

Read the rest on Ao3!

[girlofthefandom]

Tales from the smp thoughts and random quotes I enjoy (essentially delayed live blogging) Part 1

I love all these npcs already

“Hurry up camera man!”

Yes! Gladiators! I remember seeing someone say that idea

Just some joes

Porkeous the 7th. Oh no I can see the fan girls now.

Yes! Punch em off!!

“Yeah same.”

“That’s good cause I don’t” “we build a new colosseum every time”

I can’t want to see the names of everyone’s characters. Especially Philz’

Stairs everyone’s worst enemy

Tubbo... sweet child

She disappeared!! Witch craft! Burn the witch!

Tubbo=Jacky (forced off streets)

Fundy=Laggius Maximus (I love this name so much with the spinning)

Please don’t kill both the boys in this fight. But also I’m cheating for Laggius.

Subbin Empire? Subbin to Technoblade!

Go Laggius! This is not going to go well... this is really not going to go well...

No I refuse to root for Jacky. I like Laggius the bit will be funnier later.

I want to know what happened to the last camera guy! Let us know!

Vertical feeling! Heaven forbid! Also look at them insulting TikTok

I love the background music. Feels magical.

A lovely jump

Surprises... well that’s ominous. And wait the first one!

Tower! Towers are always good.

We got our popcorn. Ready to watch this fight.

Laggius is... coming... maybe...

GG Jacky... he hasn’t won yet but gg.

Lava!!!! Hooray! Love us some good lava

Poor Laggius... he was burning too early

And Laggius is still lagging

Why isn’t Jacky burning?? He won???

Knocked unconscious in the lava. What is this a Pokémon game?

GG Jacky.

Nobody needs to know the way around here.

“Almost like a video game” just break that fourth wall right down

Keeps looking at sapnaps character and talking about strong. How sweet. We love some fiancé’s.

Please don’t throw Laggius to the wolves

Jack Manifold = Bartholomew

Phil having to translate. I love it.

Watson = Phil

Good pun. Very good pun.

Nobody likes Punz. Gosh everyone’s so mean

We love Watson. Let’s go Watson.

Bartholomew with the drugs and Watson.

Crazy drunk man with fire resistance

I agree with Watson why did we come to this cousin.

Sapnap in a hole

Also I love the drinking age being 3

Let’s go Watson!!!

Where are my Pom poms? I’ve got a Watson to cheer for.

Execute those architects.

And their first Borns.

Watson! Watson! Watson!

“Welcome to the land of the living Bartholomew.”

I love the slow fight.

Come on Watson shoot em!

Oh no. Oh no. Come on Watson. You’re so close!

Noooooooooo.

Why Bartholomew???? I can’t spell that! I’ve been relying on autocorrect this whole time.

Watson would be so much easier to spell.

Still must go down the stairs.

Speed running life. That’s what I do.

No one dies. Just take them to nurse joy.

Poor Punz being so bullied

Punz=Levi

Levi? Really? Oh well I like the name. He won’t like but I like the name.

Also why does Levi have such a full backstory.

Has weapon hands with a horrible southern accent. I love it.

“Hmmm”

Who is Ol’ Sap?

Sapnap = John

And no creativity apparently.

Laggius had the best name for a gladiator. All the others are too boring.

Why are we beating up BBH

Hannah=Genevieve

Genevieve! I can spell that thanks to old Barbie movies!!

Go Genevieve! Trained her life! I love this woman!

Mostly women upstairs. I love it our fandom is so biased.

“Are you sure about that?”

Darlin? Really that’s not the right word.

Go Genevieve! I probably shouldn’t cheer for her since everyone I’ve cheered for has lost.

But still GO GENEVIEVE!!

Our empire is millions in dept

Let’s step up the battle! Let’s gooooo

“Ayyyyy!!!”

Go Genevieve! Levi hush up with your gills.

Jump in! Splish Splash!

Wait why are we listening to Mario Kart music? Wait I recognize this song.

Go Genevieve!!

YES FINALLY! I PICKED THE WINNER!

Levi hush. You done lost messed up southern boi.

Go Genevieve! I can actually spell your name!

I straight forgot Porkeous the 7ths name for a second and had to check my notes.

Stairs. Woop de doo.

“Pick the most handsome” wow

Ol’ Sap = John as I remember. And he’s sticking with it. Bold man sticking with it.

Ranboo = Ran

Just Ran and it’s just the enderman part of the skin. Haha. Very funny.

BBH = Edward

He went from strange voice to normal(ish) voice

I don’t like Edwards speech pattern. At the very least. Yucky.

John v. Edward letsa go

Go John!

Wait we renaming? This is going to get confusing.

Handsome. Can you two quit flirting (not really keeping going)

Alrighty then Ugly v. Edward

Go Ugly! (Sentence I never expected to type)

The seat thing

And saying king Julien. Sigh.

Just BRB real quick.

Thinking about buying things. Oh he meant ad.

Alright Ad 1/3 let’s go.

No I can’t even open chat to watch them instead of the ad. Boooo.

2/3 let’s get this done!

3/3

Snickers just loading for forever

Alrighty we survived.

And a crown really? Just wants his normal skin back.

Let’s go Ugly!

Bo-at battle! Let’s go!

Please don’t shoot Ugly.

Go Ugly!

“King Are you ok!”

I still hate Edwards speech pattern so much

Please. Just pretend to have a fair fight.

The rabbits???? Cant rabbits swim?

Hooray rabbits! I don’t what purpose they serve but I love them.

Edward or Edwardo? Did I miss something?

Ok it seems both.

Shooting a rabbit? Disowner on you disowner on your cow.

Killing pets reference? The references are so good.

YES UGLY!!!! Thank heavens!

I’m 2/4 for choosing the winner.

I hope ugly keeps on winning

“Colosseum Remote Control”

3 in 1 battle how did they not plan correctly for an even number

Nerds hold cameras you heard it here folks

I don’t want to hear deeper for some of these stories. All I want to see is Genevieves further story. She seems deep.

“Massive pigs growling at us. No offense”

Watson trying to clean the table.

We bringing in the Harmonika.

Harmonika fits the moment.

Yes name him handsome! Haha

Grievous is how I’m spelling that stupid sounding name. But it’s better than John and ugly.

I can’t get over the name Ran.

BE GONE LEVI!

I love Watson having to take care of Bartholomew. Translating for him and waking him up.

Phil just can’t resist playing the dad.

No no stopping just fighting.

Also I love Watson saying break it up. I wish Watson had won.

Genevieve sounds like such a lovely lady and she deserves to win.

As much as I love Grevious I want Genevieve to win.

Sapnap=Grevious good gracious this is hard to follow.

Ran is cool. I’m going to kill over listening to them just saying Ran.

Complicated backstory. Found the main character.

Ran is cool.

Wait this place is going down??? Pardon me???

Three person fight is...

Grevious v. Ran v. Bartholomew

Genevieve v. Jacky

Puns! Let’s go! And of course Levi likes Puns.

Everyone is so mean.

GO GENEVIEVE!

And Watson just babysitting Bartholomew

I’m going to get good at spelling Bartholomew. Because I was horrible at it before.

Empire of women!

Cages=Lava

“Mmm what smells good”

Battle star!!

“Boing Boing Boing”

Water dome?

Water Dome in Lava?

Well he tried zombies/bunnies

Lava in the water sphere?

Only fight at top of fishbowl got it.

GO GENEVIEVE!

Come on girl you’ve got this!

No Genevieve babe please don’t lose.

“The boats going down.” “It’s yelling timber.” “Like that song that hasn’t been made yet.”

Hurry up and die. I love it.

NO GENEVIEVE!!!!!

Do do do do

That was a longer fight. But pretty good.

To the cellars! Not to the cellars!

No! The boat is gone!

That was close.

This feels like a funky Pokémon game.

Jacky is a finalist! Good for him. I’m not cheering for him but good for him.

TRIANGLE FORMATION

Who’s missing? Oh wait it’s Bartholomew

“Intense prison cosmetic surgery”

Rabbits! We love rabbits.

Oh no faceplant mode!

What is even happening?!?!

Thinking creatively.

Just don’t die. What a game.

Cant wait to watch the thinking creatively animatic.

In a boat to avoid floating.

Attack!

Go Ran!

Oh we’re lagging.

Disable the dive mode!

The zombies are a bit much. Oh everyone’s actually fighting.

Rats why weren’t there baby zombies when Watson was going. They even made a Phil reference.

No treaties.

Go Ran! Keep on running away.

I love Ran.

GO RAN! I love Grevious. But GO RAN

Faster Zombies. Zombies go zoom.

Oh Grevious won.

Wait why does Ran have grass and why do they see him again.

Placing more dirt to clean old dirt.

Poor Grevious.

I feel sorry for him now.

Stand on da dirt.

Put the rabbits in the cages!!!!

I cheer for Grevious.

And yes there are many a loser.

Everything is so spicy. As in lava is there.

You can’t kick your fiancé’s future descendent out of the gang.

A full inventory

Watson with the backup button!

Seriously all he can do is be a dad.

OH BOY LAGGIOUS IS BACK!

And he’s here for the picture.

And Watson is (still) bullying him!

Bartholomew is pure trouble.

Ooops. The root beer was on the brain.

Watson! Come get your drunk!

Oh wait he actually did! I love this so much.

Petition for more Phil in Tales.

Only Genevieve voting for Jacky

Some people refusing to vote.

I’m sorry who asked if Laggius is ok.

He is always (not) ok

He is fine. See.

I love Laggius’ character the most.

Go winners!

Reformed kinda. If that doesn’t sum up the whole of the smp.

All the grass in the cage.

And Laggius being his slow self.

Nothing v. General

I love how it went from King to Emperor to King

And there is Laggius.

I don’t know how anyone else is spelling Laggius but I like this way and refuse to edit it if it actually spelled different.

Oh we’re getting more ads.

1/3 let’s go

[razaks-wheel]

[In her research into Imperial-funded overhaul events, Meryse contacts the Nerevarine. This probably isn't canon. Unless]

3E 432

Meryse set up a sound wall around the projection room she had booked for the afternoon. She wished she could do this somewhere more private, like her own home, but even the "modern-style" projection that many mages made use of was still a little ways beyond her current skill level, and so she was stuck using a device at her local Mages Guild.

It was a dangerous game, she knew, doing research that could be considered anti-Imperial in an Imperial-funded facility, but she was fairly confident that she knew how to take the appropriate precautions. Besides, if the rumors could be trusted, the person she was going to be talking to was at least nominally considered a friend of the Empire, and so even if the projection could be tracked, she should be safe.

In their brief exchange of letters, they had provided each other with a pointer gem, a tiny crystal infused with a small amount of magicka, to make it possible to target each other with a projection. When the designated time came, Meryse placed Ildari's pointer gem in the device's slot and powered it up with a bit of her own magicka. She sat at the desk in the rune on the floor and set her notebook down in front of her while the device whooshed to life and sent its projection to what she imagined was a fabled mushroom tower all the way in Morrowind.

A few moments later, a translucent form appeared in front of her of a Dunmer woman with hair flopped to one side of her head. She had heard that the Nerevarine had been young, but she was still surprised to see that this mer barely looked older than she. Of course, it was hard to gauge an age from a projection, especially of a mer. Maybe she was older than she looked, or maybe Meryse was really just older than she felt.

As they exchanged introductions and pleasantries, Meryse noticed a ring on Ildari's finger decorated with Azuran symbology. She had heard of that ring, Moon-and-Star, in her studies when preparing for this meeting. It was said to give Nerevar, and only Nerevar, a substantial boon in interpersonal abilities. She wondered whether Ildari was wearing it for symbolic reasons, or if she was just as nervous to be interviewed by a stranger as Meryse was to be conducting the interview. Either way, Meryse wished she had a ring like that, though preferably one that wouldn't kill her.

"So, I'm studying some of the major events that the Empire has seemed to have a hand in, as part of a larger research project, and I wanted to talk to some of the key players in those events," Meryse said. "You were employed by the Emperor himself to fulfill your Nerevarine prophecies, correct?"

"Ah...not exactly," Ildari said. "The Emperor selected me, yes, and tried to get me into his service, but I never even ended up talking to the guy the Empire wanted me to go to."

"Oh," Meryse said, her pen hovering above her notes. "Can I ask why?"

"Someone intercepted me outside the Census and Excise office and gave me a better offer if I would take the orders they'd given me to his boss instead of the Imperial contact I was told to meet. His boss was on the council of House Telvanni, which I wanted to connect with anyway, being my ancestral House, and it gave me the option not to work for the Empire, so I took him up on it."

"And the Empire was fine with you not following their orders?"

"'Fine' would be a stretch." She laughed. "Let's just say that when I visit my mom in the Imperial City these days, I stay clear of Green Emperor Way. They probably know better than to mess with me, honestly, but I also know better than to dangle myself in front of them."

Well, that was a deviation. Maybe this was more dangerous than Meryse had anticipated, if this Ildari was less of a friend of the Empire than she had previously believed. On the other hand, it might mean that her answers would be more useful than she expected, as long as any of the questions she had prepared still applied. She probed her wards to make sure they were holding up, and then glanced down at her notebook to decide where to go next.

"You were still initially set on your path by the Emperor, right? Do you know how he picked you?"

"Oh, Uriel absolutely orchestrated my involvement, even if I broke away the second I had the chance," Ildari said. "Certain entities have the ability to identify 'Heroes'—agents of prophecy. Gods can do it. I suspect Moth Priests can, too. Something about it being written in the Elder Scrolls. I assume an emperor has connections and probably makes it his business to keep tabs on any Heroes that pop up.

"Here's the thing, though: they did have to mess with my life to make it work. They killed my parents before I was old enough to remember them, because the prophecy said the Nerevarine has to have 'uncertain parents.' And they made up the charges that landed me in prison, because apparently being in prison is important to trigger the start of a prophecy, at least according to my friend Vivec. That tells me two things. First, they identified me as a Hero early on, long before the prophecies were actually set to be fulfilled. Second, they're willing to force a prophecy's conditions to be met, if it suits them."

"Wow, I...didn't realize they would go that far. Not that it's surprising, exactly. I guess I just didn't know they had the resources and the drive to act on prophecy so long before it's relevant."

She took a moment to consider the implications for her own research, and jotted a few notes down. She looked at her next question. It would sound strange, she knew, but Ildari seemed open-minded enough. Clearly, she was already aware of the implications of prophecy; she might not balk at a question about the nature of time and the aurbis.

"Did anything...strange happen while you were fulfilling your prophecies?" she asked. "I know that's broad. Anything that's hard to explain or understand, maybe relating to the flow of time?"

"That's very broad," Ildari agreed. "There was the part where I got all my memories back from my past seventeen incarnates' lives. That was strange and somewhat relates to the flow of time. But that's pretty specific to me. Probably not what you're looking for." With half a smile, she asked, "So, you're studying the Warp in the West?"

"Ah...yes," Meryse said with a nervous laugh.

"Don't buy the idea that it was a miracle from the Divines?"

"Not exactly," she said. "Not even a little bit, really. I want to figure out what really happened. Everyone sort of waves their hands around what happened, and no one seems to remember it. I do, sort of, but I was a kid, so no one believes me. I want to know what the Empire is hiding, and what else they might be hiding—who else they've hurt."

"Well, if you're looking for people the Empire has hurt, you've come to the right place," Ildari said dryly. "Be careful, though. The Empire doesn't always look kindly on its opponents, much less on people trying to uncover its secrets. I can say what I want, within reason, because quite frankly, I have power—both politically and in terms of combat ability. If you can't say the same, you should take care who you say these sorts of things to."

"Oh, I am careful, don't worry," she said. "I've got wards set up right now, I obscure my notes, and I keep my exact research questions largely to myself."

Ildari nodded. "That aside, though, you said you remember the Warp? The whole thing?"

"I remember three distinct days, when everyone talks about it being one or two. And when it was over, we were bending a knee to Uriel, and suddenly everyone was talking about the Nine like Talos had been there all along."

That seemed to interest Ildari. She paused, brow furrowed, and opened her mouth a few times as if to talk, but changing her mind each time.

After a few moments, she finally said, "I wonder if you're a Hero."

That was, somehow, not what Meryse was expecting.

"Me? I doubt it. I'm not strong or powerful or...special in any particular way, and I've never noticed the Empire messing with my life specifically, like you say they did with yours." She shrugged. "I'm just a mage, a researcher."

"So was I, before they shipped me off to Seyda Neen."

Meryse considered it for a moment longer. "I don't know. If that's all it is, it just feels like such a disappointing answer. And even if it is true, I still want to know how it happened. I guess I'll keep researching until I know better."

"Good idea. I'm sure there's plenty that the Empire is hiding; you being able to tell that they're hiding something is more of a compass than a solution," Ildari said. "Still, you might want to consider picking up some survival skills, maybe learn how to use a sword or armor, just in case you get tossed on an adventure without warning."

"Yeah, couldn't hurt," Meryse said. "Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. This has been...enlightening, really, even if not in the ways I expected." She added a small laugh at the end.

"Research is never boring, is it?" Ildari said. "I hope you find what you're looking for. And if you publish your work, I'd love to read it."

"I will be sure to send you a copy. Thanks again, Ildari." She waved awkwardly and disconnected the projection.

Once the projection device was back to its inert state and she had taken Ildari's pointer gem out of its slot, she glanced down at her notes one more time. There was not much there, but she still felt like she had learned a lot, and come out with more questions than she had entered with. Naturally.

She added one more note about picking up some new skills, and then passed an encryption spell over the page. When she was satisfied that her notes were sufficiently obscured from prying eyes, she closed her notebook, slipped it into her bag, lowered her wards, and headed back out into the Mages Guild as though her concept of the world had not just been shaken.

[iturbide]

Do you have any specific plans for how Dimitri's redemption (or at least, getting through some of his problems) would go in Kintsugi? I really enkoy fix-its and you being the one to write it means I'll absolutely love it because I love everything you write!!

Oh I have so many Dimitri thoughts for Kintsugi it’s gonna be a blast (also color me extremely flattered that you’re so looking forward to it like wow that makes me really happy ;v; ❤)

So Dimitri’s recovery arc is going to be significantly longer than the one in the game.  I understand that the game had time constraints on it, but the literal 180 after Rodrigue’s death was a little much for me.  This is not to say that I don’t appreciate them giving a mentally ill character a storyline that allows for recovery, I just wish they hadn’t compressed that down into the tiniest space possible.

Kintsugi takes a different approach, though it does maintain some familiar elements.  Dimitri still escaped Cornelia’s clutches with help from Dedue, and spent several years out in harsh wilds of the Kingdom hunting down the Empire’s scouts and patrols, which started rumors among Imperial forces about a vicious beast roaming the areas that have yet to be incorporated into the Dukedom’s territory.  Around the time that Claude reunited with Byleth, Gilbert managed to find Dimitri -- and believing this was some sign from the Goddess, he immediately went about rallying former Blue Lions under a Kingdom banner, using Dimitri as a figurehead for the Imperial opposition despite the fact that Dimitri was clearly unstable and ill-suited for true leadership.

The rumors of the beast begin to travel south with Gilbert marshaling the troops and more or less steering Dimitri’s murderous intent toward the Empire.  By the time these rumors reach Garreg Mach, the former Golden Deer have made it their base of operations -- and importantly, they reach the nearest Imperial outpost where Randolph is stationed with his little sister Fleche.  When Randolph’s troop goes out and falls in the attack on the monastery, Fleche does not witness it -- but she can only imagine that a monster could have taken her brother’s life, and swears her revenge.

By the time the Great Bridge of Myrddin falls into Alliance hands, the Kingdom troops have made their way deep into Gloucester territory, and shortly after the force from Garreg Mach heads out toward Gronder Gilbert begs leave of the Alliance troops manning the bridge to use it in their southward march.  This eventually puts all three armies on the field of the former Battle of the Eagle and Lion -- and puts Edelgard squarely in Dimitri’s sights, which is easily the most dangerous possible thing that could have happened, especially when Gilbert is the one holding the reins.

Realizing that Dimitri is not dead, as the rumors had claimed, Claude and Byleth choose to split their forces: Byleth heads out to confront Edelgard, while Claude goes to try and talk Dimitri down.  Given his current mental state, though, Dimitri’s not about to listen, and in fact considers Claude an obstacle standing between him and his goal -- which leads to Claude getting shot out of the sky by an impressively-launched spear.  He might have died then and there, no less -- but Byleth managed to force Edelgard’s retreat, and made their way back to help Claude out in the nick of time, using the Sword of the Creator’s whip-like reach to force Dimitri back while they’re still inbound.

This is the first thing that really manages to reach Dimitri.  He’s been on a single-minded quest to murder Edelgard up to this point, spurred on by the voices of those lost -- and that includes Byleth.  But seeing Byleth so suddenly, and so clearly, really unbalances him, and he tries to explain that he will claim Edelgard’s head for the deaths she’s caused, including the professor’s...and Byleth, of course, has no idea what he’s talking about.  Unlike every other hallucination, Byleth remains silent -- they spoke just like the other spirits before,  which is strange given that Byleth’s non-verbal, but honestly Dimitri wasn’t in any real state to question that -- and simply puts away their weapon and approaches with an open hand.  Dimitri tries to swat it away -- and as soon as he makes real, physical contact with what he believed was a spirit, he pretty much breaks, grabbing for Byleth’s hand and clinging tight to it like an anchor.

Which is where the battle stops: with Dimitri’s effective surrender.  Both the Alliance and Kingdom forces set up camp at Gronder, reunions are had on all sides...but Byleth ends up in a quiet place off to one side with Dimitri, who pretty well passes out as soon as the battle’s over while still clinging to Byleth’s hand.  Claude sneaks in at some point to apprise Byleth of the Kingdom situation according to Gilbert and the former Blue Lions, and discusses some options for what they could possibly do next.  Unfortunately, just reuniting with Byleth isn’t enough to stop Dimitri’s obsession with getting justice for the dead, so despite Claude’s offer of alliance, Dimitri refuses, only agreeing to travel with the Alliance troops because they’re going in the same direction.

Naturally, though, Claude and Byleth both interact with him frequently to try and make him reconsider.  This doesn’t have any obvious effects at first, but Dimitri is listening, and whether he means to or not he starts gravitating toward the both of them because unlike Gilbert -- who is mostly pushing him to restore the Kingdom -- or his fellow classmates -- whose reactions run on a spectrum from denouncing him (like Felix), wanting to “fix” him (like Ingrid), or simply following his lead (like Dedue) -- they reach out to him as he is now, with no expectations and no ulterior motives, offering him a kind of stability that he’s long been lacking.  His interactions with them are initially rather harsh, but they both take it as a good sign that he’s interacting with them of his own volition at all.

This culminates at Merceus where Dimitri is well aware that both Byleth and Claude are entering as infantry units alongside him.  They manage to chase down the Death Knight, though he escapes before they’re able to put an end to him...and that’s where the Javelins of Light come in.  Nobody has ever seen anything like this (though there are very old records of something similar happening at Ailell), but Dimitri instinctively knows that This Is Bad.  Claude is grounded, Byleth never had a mount to begin with -- so rather than cut and run, Dimitri grabs them and gets the hell out so he can be sure they escape too.

This is a turning point.  Because after Merceus’ destruction, knowing now that they’re up against something they can’t begin to understand, the Alliance troops elect to withdraw back to Myrddin and plan their next course of action.  The Kingdom forces -- who, again, have no formal alliance with Claude or Byleth -- could theoretically continue south toward Enbarr, and Gilbert in fact encourages this...but Dimitri steps up and refuses.  He makes the choice himself to ally with Claude and Byleth, merge their forces, and fight together.  This means that the Kingdom troops head back to Myrddin, too -- and from there, Claude elects to send a small force north into the Kingdom, rally the holdouts against Cornelia, and take back Fhirdiad.  After all, the Empire’s spread pretty thin between Adrestia and the “Dukedom,” so taking out portions of that army -- especially in the territory where reinforcements will be harder to come by -- will serve to weaken Edelgard’s army for when they finally come back around to marching on Enbarr.

Now, in this northward procession, they still have a small group of camp followers -- and Fleche, unbeknownst to them, is part of this force.  She still believes (incorrectly) that Dimitri is the one who killed her brother, since he’s still vicious even on a good day and his stability is questionable at best; all she needs is a clear shot...which comes when they make it to Fraldarius territory and meet up with Rodrigue.  Distracted by the reunion with an old friend, Dimitri leaves himself open for a crucial moment, and she makes her attack...but fails: she might manage to bring him down, briefly, but she doesn’t manage to kill him thanks to Claude and Byleth’s intervention; unfortunately, they’re unable to take her alive.

This doesn’t hit Dimitri so much as it hits Claude, whose whole dream revolves around bringing people together.  Every death he can’t prevent, every death he causes, is one more person he won’t be able to reach, one more person who won’t be able to see that dream realized, who won’t be able to help bring that world about because he failed to connect with them -- and Fleche was just a little girl.  She had her whole life ahead of her, and now she’s gone, and her blood is on his hands and sometimes when he looks down and thinks about the lives he’s taken he feels the weight of his grand, glorious, unattainable, impossible dream crushing down on him...and as this all comes crushing in on him that night as he charts their next plan of action, he pushes himself away from his work and goes outside to look at the stars, because that vast, endless sky always makes his dream feel a little smaller by comparison, enough that he can manage to carry it for another day.

And this is where he finds Dimitri skulking about, and they end up talking a little bit.  Claude opens up for once, and Dimitri’s struck by this sudden show of vulnerability: he always assumed that Claude’s careless, casual, carefree demeanor hid a cunning wit and dangerous schemes...but he never expected this to be hiding in there, too.  So he opens up a little bit, too, about what drives him (things he’s only ever spoken about with Byleth, and trusted would remain in confidence), the people he’s cared for who have died and who now haunt his every step, and how he lives to see their will done and vengeance claimed...

And Claude looks at him and tells him that the dead shouldn’t get a say in what he does with his life.  They’re gone.  And Dimitri just kind of stares at him because this is not the usual reaction he gets when he talks about this stuff -- fear, maybe, or pity, sometimes even encouragement...but not this.  So Claude backs up a little and comes at it from a different angle, because as he admits he’s never lost someone the way Dimitri has.  He can’t speak to that.  But he can feel the weight of the lives he’s taken during this war, and he knows that no amount of regret of spilled blood will ever bring them back: it’s just going to cause more pain and end more lives to haunt them in the dark.  All he can do is keep moving forward now, trying to reach out to people and bring them together rather than raising weapons to drive them apart.  This is the path he chose for himself, and he’ll keep struggling down it, fighting if there’s no other recourse (and gods know there hasn’t been lately), because it’s his choice.  No one else’s.  And maybe he’s out of line, but he doesn’t think Dimitri should let the ghosts decide his path for him, either: they had their lives, but what’s left now is his, and he’s the only one who can live it.

And this is another turning point.  Because Dimitri has never had someone say anything like this to him before -- heck, it flies in the face of everything he’s been told growing up.  He needs time to process it all, and Claude’s words keep coming back to him as surely as the voices of the dead do...until there comes a point where, at the end of a battle, he stumbles to a stop and looks at his spear and asks himself: what is he fighting so hard for?  So he goes back to Claude, and asks for advice on something he...could do, rather than what he should do, because he feels like he’s coming a bit untethered without vengeance to drive him.

Recovery is a slow process, basically.  It’s gradual, it’s non-linear, it tends to be fraught with backslides and stumbling blocks -- but it’s possible, with effort and with help.  And Kintsugi is all about tackling that: Dimitri will be on the road to recovery by the time they retake Fhirdiad from Cornelia (and when Claude tries to reassure Dimitri that she must have been lying about Patricia, Dimitri only hugs him silently, grateful for the attempt even though the woman’s words rang true), but even when they take Enbarr it’s still a work in progress, such that Claude purposefully positions himself between Dimitri and Edelgard in the eventual round table between the three Lords, Byleth, and Rhea (with Byleth between Edelgard and Rhea, understandably). 

It’s gonna be a trip and I’m still absolutely psyched about it.

[rhydium]

Info dumbo about the StarFinite story?

aright u asked for it anon GET READY [cracks knuckles] this is gonna be long so obligatory cut in 3, 2........

...1!

so the uh, the au! the story!! w/e yall wanna call it! full disclaimer, i only began working on this whole thing a while ago, but it's totally taken over my fukn brain. like, we're talking big hyperfixation hrs. am i cringe for being this invested in my own content? yes? cool i do not Care >:3€

i should also throw it out there real quick that i am kin w/ infinite, n this is actually one of my two canons (both of which are my own aus lmfao wow). i didn't go into it expecting it to be but sfsfsgdfs here we are ig!! for that reason it's got extra importance to me n this definitely contributes to the euphoria i get from it!! it's a lil odd writing ur own canon,,? but i kinda just go w/ the flow!

the au n, the story that i will start Eventually, revolves around infinite n starline (obvi) n it's honestly just ... the tl;dr is big healing momence n, what's this? uh oh sisters !!! they are falling in love 😳😳😳

uhhhh so infinite is an android, made by eggman. that's like, the most notable canon divergence here! super important context to have. i've got a whole big theory on the possibility of sega originally intending infinite to be an artificial being (which i explored in the works for my Other canon too), stemming from not only the scene in forces wherein infinite comments on sonic's "data", but a line of dialogue from tails in one of the last stages of the game where he Literally Says "so this is where eggman built infinite". that ... i mean. that contrasts w/ episode shadow pretty hard don't it?? would explain why that dlc was so rushed, n the comic too. ANYWAY adsfsfs um that's a seperate ramblepost. yeah!!!

they are also agender n use they/them (primarily) as well as he/him!! so i'll be refering to them w/ those pronouns!

after the war, infinite is taken in by the resistance n, instead of being dismantled, they're basically given a chance to rehabilitate themselves. it's agreed that they won't be reprogrammed, as despite the potential risks, it feels wrong to do so; like a violation of their free will, individuality n thinking. if infinite is to be a good person, it's not gonna be bc other ppl recreated their entire personality, it's gonna be bc it's what they themselves truly want. robot ethics idk man!! u can't tell me that sonic n co wouldn't offer this to infinite if they offered it to metal in IDW,,,, i am Standing By This!!!

it's, yknow, a bit rocky, at first. infinite has to really fight the urge to return to eggman (something they already tried once, before the resistance found them; they were cast out). it's a struggle against what they were built to do, against giving into unhealthy familiarity over facing a, while healthier, unfamiliarity. new faces, a new life, turning their back on their mission n creator, it's like, a lot.

they work for/with the sonic crew, rebuilding the world they tore down as deemed fitting justice, being closely monitored for a bit as a natural precaution. as it becomes apparent infinite truly no longer has any ambition to harm others (they don't have much ambition for anything, really), they're then granted more freedom, n start taking on more important missions!! it at least gives them something to do, keeps them occupied. they have issues with dissociation, unreality, whether they're truly a real person bc, well, android. feeling purposeless, n a lack of worth, especially. a need to prove themselves. heavy stuff. i'll kinda go into that a bit more in a sec. their work grounds them, if only temporarily.

n soooooo... IDW comic stuff happens. metal virus time. starline gets kicked out of the empire.

now, as the comics are ongoing, n as this is already an au, there's gonna be divergence, n i must admit i haven't planned out all that yet. there's a lot i have to consider!! infinite being w the resistance/restoration is a big game changer ... tho i Do believe that they were absent, likely on a far out mission during most of the chaos. eggman doesn't know abt them, nor does starline or anyone else other than the sonic crew; n some civilians that recognise them.

i'm not 100% sure of Exactly when it happens, but i think it's just after bad guys, that infinite is sent to locate n bring in starline. it doesn't prove too difficult. there's a whole, starline realising "oh fuck it's you???", some bickering n, the two don't hit it off right away. they're both kinda like. not mentally stable ddgddgdds,,,

so uh. starline ends up essentially going thru the same sorta shit as infinite. careful watch, rebuilding, all that jazz, making sure he can be trusted. he's like... very very lost, quite like infinite is. the world has kinda calmed down, in the meanwhile.

it's at this point i'm gonna go ahead n drop a bit of a ramble i subjected my friends to a while ago, to articulate the way i see the two, n their dynamic together!! i was considering making this it's own post a while ago!

analysing their characters a bit... let's look at starline. Like. so we have this, in bad guys, which SENT ME tbfh;

i feel like it's the moment that triggers starline onto the path he is rn canonically,,, he's clearly like. rly mad n bitter. the core of this?? he wants his work n his efforts to be acknowledged.

he's big angry. still kind of in denial at this stage. he has himself obsessed w/ the idea of making eggman see him as Worthy, that if he just tries hard enough, that'll happen. he's dependent on eggman's validation, n i mean, it's no surprise; he's followed him a Long Time by the sounds of it.

then in the recent issue, hold the fuck up, bc we got, This;

god. my god it's all comin together now homies. this???? this right here??? it is the CLASSIC "i have to do this to prove i'm strong n powerful n smart n worthy n should be respected please Give Me Acknowledgement" ..... n who else is Like That? can u see where im going w/ this?

i think most ppl are aware of infinite's character being extremely indicative of self worth/esteem issues n the need to prove themself, right?? the extreme adversity, repulsion, perhaps even fear toward the idea of being weak. the compulsion to prove otherwise, to show their strength, to become powerful, to conquer to make a point. their theme exudes this same energy as their behaviour in-game; an aggressive attitude, trying to assert themself, while if u rly listen...? the lyrics are actually really sad in places. it reeks of cover up, although composition wise, a v interesting thing to note is a lot of the more telling lyrics are prominent while some of the affirming ones are in the background. indicative of a desire to have their true feelings be heard but caught in a vicious loop?

okay okay that's yet Another different analysis. AHEM.

not to get deep on main (oh who the hell am i kidding that's the point of this entire thing) but i think starline has issues w/ his worth in a similar way to infinite. they both seem to have this need to Prove something, whether it's to others or themselves, n get caught in a toxic spiral of doing worse n worse things for Some kind of validation or acknowledgement. they'll go to really big lengths chasing that, n both of them ultimately sought validation in the wrong place n wrong way.

this is a big part of my starfinite dynamic,, n so, what happens, as they get closer n open up??? we have them BOTH realising together that they don't have to do fuck all to prove anything to anyone. they don't need to do all this to show they're strong n smart n worth something, not to anyone else OR themselves. they're enough as they are. they bond over that shared feeling that they have to do xyz, to prove themselves, n that desire to just finally be acknowledged n appreciated n help each other thru it. to help each other understand that other ppls approval, or lack thereof, doesn't define them, their strength, intelligence, and worthiness.

i feel like they have an interesting parallel between them in like... the above could be taken as a general analysis, but to go more in depth on this au specifically?? ...

starline followed eggman for presumably a long time n it no doubt left him feeling a heavy and deep regret for all that time wasted n spent on an unhealthy path. infinite kinda teaches him that what matters is what he's doing Now n also reminds him that if none of it happened, starline wouldn't have learnt a lot of the serious skills he has. n while starline still feels bad, he also realises himself that, he likely never would have crossed infinite's path if none of it happened. for that reason, he wouldn't take it back.

infinite has only been recently made, on the other hand. they haven't really existed long, yet, but so far their experiences haven't been very positive n it can be .... discouraging. starline sorta, shows infinite their limited experiences w/ the world are a very tiny fraction of what's out there, n things can absolutely change, yes, including for the better; that's the essence of life, a neverending, constant flow of change.

it's a big tale of moving on n letting go, honestly; made easier as they're doing it together. n as they heal n grow, well... these bitches gay. sfshshdgds like, ig that's putting it p bluntly but!! they start to trust each other, understand each other more. as they get to truly know who the other is, they both start developing The Feelings. they're both pretty oblivious n the reveal is totally unknown so far!! yeah, i know, bummer. i suck. boo. adafsfsds however i can say there will be lots of content in the making!! if that soothes the soul! i've got of ideas i hope to bring to life.

ofc there's still a lot of more specific things i haven't covered here so! if y'all want more juice hmu w/ more focused questions but !! this is the overview n i hope it was a decent read now that gave some uhhh! Cool Insight! yea!!! ✌

[wellhellsbelles]

to the rhythm of your wild heart, chapter 1

next chapter for y’all! it’s about as much as i have written so far, but i figured i’d post it since i had it. i’ll keep working on it, but for the meantime i have no idea when the next update will be. i’ll still work on it, though! as always, thanks to all who read my stuff :)

“And you’re sure you have your passport?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“And enough clothes for two weeks?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“And plenty of money on you? Because I wanted to make sure—”

“Dad!!!”

link for ao3 or read below

Riley

“And you’re sure you have your passport?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“And enough clothes for two weeks?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“And plenty of money on you? Because I wanted to make sure—”

“Dad!!!”

“You are being a little bit of a helicopter parent right now, honey,” Topanga interjected, patting her husband’s back sympathetically. “Riley will be just fine. Farkle will be there to watch her, won’t you Farkle?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Farkle replied, holding a hand over his heart and one up, palm-forward, “I promise.”

“And you’ll do the same thing for our Farkle, right?” Jennifer, Farkle’s mother, asked. Riley nodded her head.

“We’ll both watch out for each other, as always.”

“Good. Now, then, I believe some goodbyes are in order?” Farkle’s dad Stuart said.

Topanga and Cory pulled their daughter in for a hug at the same time Stuart and Jennifer did their son, squeezing tightly as they said their goodbyes.

“Now, you’ll call us if you need anything, right?” Topanga asked.

“Of course, Mom.”

“And you’ll listen to the chaperone?” Cory warned. Riley rolled her eyes, pointedly ignoring him.

“I love you both, and I’ll see you soon. Okay?”

“We love you, too.”

They all finished hugging and Riley and Farkle picked up their luggage, waving goodbye as they entered the airport. They scanned the crowded area for their group, only locating them once they found a sign sticking in the air that had “Abigail Adams High” scrawled neatly across it. Ms. Moretti, their Italian teacher for the last few years, was at the center, directing students sporadically.

“Alright, settle down! I need to start taking attendance to make sure everyone is here! When I call your name, please say ‘Here.’ Abelson, Karri?”

“Here.”

“Bradford, Missy?”

“Here.”

“Missy is here?!” Riley huffed under her breath to Farkle. Farkle just shrugged, unaffected. Missy Bradford had it out for Riley since middle school when Riley won over Lucas, and even though Riley and Lucas had broken up a long while ago, it had since been as if it was her God-given right to make Riley’s life miserable.

“It can’t get any worse, at least,” Farkle offered, but he couldn’t be more wrong.

“Gardener, Charlie?”

“Here!”

“Merde,” Riley cursed, her brow furrowed.

“I believe it’s ‘merda’ in Italian,” Farkle told her, and Riley shot him a look of disdain. “Sorry.”

“Whatever. It can’t be too bad. Besides, Charlie’s let up quite a bit since we’ve been in high school. Isn’t he dating Rebecca?” she asked quietly. Farkle shook his head.

“I heard they broke up before graduation.”

“Matthews, Riley?”

“Oh, come on!” Riley exclaimed loudly, much to Ms. Moretti’s chagrin. She looked at Riley pointedly before carrying on to Farkle and then the remainder of the list. Farkle patted her back.

“There, there. We’ll get through this. It’s only two weeks, after all.”

“I bet there’s a lot of terrible things in history that lasted ‘only two weeks’,” Riley grunted.

After Ms. Moretti finished the roster, they waited for the final two students to appear, then moved toward the bag check together. The wait for the bag check line was about fifteen minutes, and once they dropped off their big bags, they headed straight for the security check line. Riley wanted to groan from the amount of waiting they had to do for each part of the airport, but luckily Farkle was there to entertain her the whole time, and it was almost enough for her to forget about the process altogether.

The security check was quicker than Riley thought it was going to be, and as soon as she was through, she and Farkle left to find their gate. Riley had her ticket out, searching for gate ‘G’ as Farkle flipped through his Italian history book he’d brought along, reading aloud the “interesting” facts about Rome that Riley honestly couldn’t give a single flip about.

“Did you know that by the early fourth century, the Romans had built a network of roads 53,000 miles throughout the entire Roman empire? It’s where we get the phrase “All roads lead to Rome”. Pretty cool stuff, huh?”

“No offense, Farkle, but I do not care. Where is gate G even at?” she asked, frustrated. Farkle pointed ahead of them.

“Right there, Ms. Buzzkill,” he deadpanned. Riley narrowed her eyes at him and Farkle returned the favor, sticking his tongue out at her before guiding them towards their gate. They joined the rest of their classmates, sitting on the floor beside them since there were no open seats around.

“Guys, we’re going to the land where they invented spaghetti!” Yogi shouted as they joined them.

“And concrete!” Farkle added, but no one seemed to be as excited about that fact as he was.

“You tried,” Riley offered sympathetically when he noticeably deflated, “They’re intellectual heathens.” Farkle looked at her amusedly for a moment as the rest of the group carried on conversation, talking about all the food they’d encounter in Rome.

“Okay, there’s one thing I didn’t cover,” Farkle initiated conversation a second later.

“Shoot,” Riley said, preparing herself for another Farkle speech on ancient Rome. Instead, he said,

“Who gets the window seat?” Riley smirked.

“Oh, me for sure.”

“Uh, definitely not, Matthews. I am definitely going to have the window seat. In fact, I call “shotgun” on the window seat,” Farkle grinned, determined.

“Shotgun on a window seat? Does that even work?”

“It does now.”

Riley shook her head.

“I don’t think so, Minkus. Let’s settle this with a classic game of rock, paper, scissors, and the best two out of three wins. Sound fair?”

Farkle wasn’t as sold on the idea, but he knew it was the only way they were going to settle the affair. So rock, paper, scissors it was.

Too bad he was never good at games of chance.

“Ha. I win the window seat!” Riley celebrated. Farkle pouted.

“Fine. But I get it on the way back, you cheater.”

“I didn’t cheat! You’re just a sore loser,” Riley wrinkled her nose.

Right as Farkle was preparing his rebuttal, their gate was called for boarding. Their whole group lined up in their designated location and patiently waited until they began scanning the tickets, allowing the passengers to pass through. Riley and Farkle were at the tail end of their line, speeding off to catch up with their group as soon as they were given the okay-go.

As they climbed aboard the plane, a silent pact was made between the two of them to sit towards the back, not too close to the wing of the plane, but not too close to the last row of seats. Riley took the window seat as was her reward and Farkle settled next to her, buckling his seatbelt as she buckled hers. His leg bobbed up and down in excitement while the rest of the passengers boarded, and Riley echoed the sentiment in her rapidly beating heart.

They were going to Italy. Italy! This was their big trip before heading to college in August, and she couldn’t believe it was all happening so fast. It felt like it was only just yesterday that her, Farkle, Maya, Lucas, Zay, and Smackle were graduating, only yesterday that Maya and she made a pact to have the greatest summer ever, that they went on the road trip to end all road trips. Now it felt like she had blinked and everything was about to end.

It was sort of hard to come to terms with that.

Things were changing regardless of whether or not Riley liked it. She really never was one for change, but she was going to have to accept that she was growing up, and life wasn’t going to be the same as it was in middle school or high school. She was going to encounter new experiences, new changes in her life.

But for now?

She’d rather just focus on Italy and what it had to offer her.

“Italy, here we come,” Riley breathed as they sat back, ready to take off.

 //

  Farkle

  Farkle woke up to the sun cascading on his face as it set, a heavy weight on his shoulder. He blinked groggily, yawning as he began to shift around in his seat, realizing once his eyes fully opened that the weight was Riley peacefully asleep against him. He tried to resist moving around more as to not disturb her, and he could hardly deny that it was cute and he didn’t want to disrupt that, either.

He’d keep his secrets to himself.

He cast his gaze out the window, trying best to see the view outside. Much to his surprise, land was in sight, and he could only conclude that they were close to their destination. Farkle moved his shoulder a touch, nudging Riley awake so she wouldn’t miss out on the breathtaking landscape below.

“Huh?” she muttered as she awoke, lifting her head at once. Farkle ignored the twang of hurt that rung in his chest from her absence, instead pointing out the window.

“Look,” he told her. She sat up even more in her seat, peering out beyond the glass.

“Wow,” she gasped, awestruck, “It’s beautiful.”

“I thought you might not want to miss it, especially since you cheated me out of the window seat,” Farkle jibed.

“Hey! Not true!” she exclaimed, ignoring Ms. Moretti’s pointed look from behind them. It was the morning after all, but Farkle knew Riley didn’t care. Besides, they were about to land soon, anyway.

Silence fell between them a moment as they continued to stare at the scenery below, and Riley was the first one to break it.

“Do you think two weeks is going to be long enough?” she asked, her voice quiet all of a sudden.

“Long enough for what?” he raised his brow at her.

“We’re going to be headed off for college so soon after. It just feels like everything is slipping by so quickly. I just want to be able to enjoy what little time we have left,” she explained with a sigh. Farkle reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it a couple of times.

“Riley Matthews, I make this promise to you: we will have the best time ever, and this week we will use every minute we are given for adventure. We’ll make it last as long as we can.” Riley smiled at him, squeezing his hand right back.

“Thank you, Farkle.”

“Alright everyone, if you could, please buckle up as we prepare for landing,” the person over the intercom announced. Farkle released his grip on Riley’s hand and did as told, with Riley following suit.

This was it. Italy.

 //

 Everyone boarded off the plane once they were allowed, heading for baggage claim to grab their belongings. Ms. Moretti was barely heard over the chatter, shouting at them to group up once they had their things, but then getting drowned out by the excitement of everyone being in Rome.

After they found their suitcases, they met with Ms. Moretti and she led them towards the entrance of the airport, a bus already waiting for them. They all loaded onto it, and once everyone was in place, it headed toward the inner part of the city where their hotel was. And as it took off away from the airport, their mouths all drooped open in awe as the sights around took their breath away, a whole different scenery from the plane.

“Ooooh, Farkle! Look, look!” Riley kept pointing sporadically. Farkle smirked, leaning over to look out the window with her. Although he didn’t express it aloud, he was just as excited to see everything around.

They definitely weren’t in New York anymore, that was for sure.

Everything was modern and yet not. The architecture was gorgeous, still upholding a sort of ancient Rome feel. The setting sun allowed the lights of the city to become more noticeable, sparkling vividly like the stars on the clearest of nights.

“I wish we could start exploring already!” Riley bounced jubilantly.

“Me too, but I’m glad we have the night to settle in. I don’t think I could keep myself awake,” Farkle yawned. Riley puckered her lips.

“Didn’t you sleep all the way over here in the plane?”

Farkle shrugged.

“What can I say? I like my rest. Besides, someone snored in my ear half of the time, so I didn’t really get much sleep.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, crossing her arms.

“Whatever.”

Their eyes remained trained outside the window for the rest of the ride, getting a taste of all that they’d be exploring for the next couple of weeks to come. The bus slowed down once they were outside their hotel and everyone grabbed their belongings, rolling suitcases inside the concrete arches adorned by the archway to the building.

Ms. Moretti went to the desk to retrieve the keys for the hotel rooms while everyone stood idly by. She then returned, keys in one arm and clipboard in the other, gesturing for everyone to gather around.

“Alright, alright! Quiet down! I’m going to give you your room assignments. When I call your name, come grab your keys and then stand next to your roommate!”

Farkle and Riley waited patiently as the names were announced, tapping their feet gently on the ground while listening out for their names. Riley was called first before Farkle, but not before her partner’s name was called.

“Missy Bradford,” Ms. Moretti said, “You’ll be rooming with Riley Matthews.”

Riley perked up immediately at that, casting a horrified look at Farkle. He felt bad for her as he watched her step up to get her key to her room and then shuffle off to the side with Missy, her face looking like she had met the end of the world.

Farkle had to admit, it was a little funny, though.

His amusement passed as soon as it arrived when Ms. Moretti called out his name in junction with Charlie Gardner’s. A guttural noise escaped his throat as he walked to grab his key, mouth puckered in dismay at Riley and his terrible luck.

“End me,” Farkle whispered as he sidled up next to Riley.

“Remember earlier, when you said it ‘can’t get any worse’ and then Charlie ended up being a part of our group?” Riley whispered back. Farkle nodded his head. “Well, this is worse than that.”

Farkle threw his arms up in the air, exasperated, but didn’t complain any further. He was going to have to deal with a whole two weeks of Charlie Gardner, so he had to tamper it down and just let it all out when the trip was over.

Ugh. Two freaking weeks!

Ms. Moretti finished giving out keys to the group and instructed them to drop their stuff off in their rooms first, and then they’d be allowed to wander around the hotel for a bit before curfew at midnight. Farkle and Riley made a silent pact to meet up with each other once they were finished, heading up the stairs with their belongings after to find their rooms. Charlie made small talk with Farkle as they looked for their room (which Farkle didn’t mind), but it ended abruptly once they found and were inside their room, right when the door closed behind Farkle.

“So, Riley—” Charlie started, and Farkle threw his head back with a groan.

“No, we are not doing this.”

“I just want to see if you can get her to talk to me!” Charlie exclaimed. Farkle shot him a look of disdain.

“Absolutely not. She’s not interested.”

“How do you know?” Charlie asked. Farkle crossed his arms, rolling his eyes.

“She’s my best friend, Charlie. I know. Trust me on this.”

Charlie stared back at him, unconvinced.

“Are you saying that because you’re interested?”

Farkle gawked at him.

“What?!”

Charlie shrugged.

“You heard me. Is that why you’re being so protective of her? Because you like her?”

Farkle breathed, disgruntled at his situation. He wondered if Riley was faring any better with Missy. She probably was, considering Missy most definitely wasn’t talking to her.

“Alright, here’s the deal. One, Riley’s not interested in your advances, and I know that because I’m her best friend. And two, maybe instead you can try to be her friend? That’s usually a good first step. Now do you mind? I’ve got places to be.”

Farkle left the room without waiting for Charlie’s response, desperate to just get away.

Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t the first time any guy had approached him about his girl friends. On multiple occasions has he been flagged down to see if Maya, Riley, and Smackle were free, and Farkle managed each time to slip away, tired of having to face stupid teenage boys and their advances on his friends.

Farkle made his way back down the stairs, hopeful that Riley had escaped her room so that the two of them could just hang out on their first night in Rome. Of course, part of his wanting to be around her was due solely to his social anxiety, but the other part was truly because he wanted as much time to hang out with his best friend before their time together waned for the near future.

“Oh, Farkle. Thank god,” Riley sighed with relief once he was back in the lobby, “You have no idea what five minutes of hell I’ve been through.”

“I think I definitely have some clue,” Farkle said. “Can you believe Charlie wants to see if you’ll go out with him?”

Riley buried her head in her hands.

“I think he’s built me up on a pedestal. I’m not that good of a person.”

Farkle tugged on a lock of her hair, smiling.

“I beg to differ.”

Riley chuckled.

“Your opinion is null. You’re biased because you’re my friend.” 

“Are you saying that’s a bad thing?” he raised his brow. She shook her head, linking arms with him.

“Nope, not at all. Now, Mr. Minkus, care to explore the hotel with me?”

“I thought you’d never ask, Ms. Matthews,” he smirked, allowing her to lead the way.

 Together, Riley and Farkle ventured every nook and cranny of the hotel, disturbing some of the guests in the process who had already gone to bed. Farkle felt a little bad, but he didn’t regret the laughter that erupted from within him from spending time with Riley. Also, it was hard to deny that it was funny when an adult stepped out and shot them a nasty look, only for Farkle and Riley to apologize and then make fun of them as soon as they shut the door.

Being in Italy was like being a kid again. It felt kind of cathartic in a way, feeling no pressures of school and being completely unattached to the world around him. Spending time alone with his best friend while the world was theirs to conquer.

Farkle missed those days terribly.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, Farkley?” Riley prodded him after his laughter died down, leaving them in a bout of silence.

“I was just thinking that this is like when we were younger. Remember when me, you, and Maya would spend every summer day at the park and your mom had to practically drag us away from the monkey bars? You were so determined to make it across,” he chuckled, recalling the memory fondly.

“I did do it once. I wasn’t going to give up on that, especially since Sarah had teased me about it each year.”

“And when you finally did figure it out, your mom was really impressed. I think that was when she realized that you got a lot from her, too.”

“I’m still every bit as much Cory’s daughter. It makes him proud, like he has his own little mini-me or something,” Riley joked before stopping dead in her tracks. “Ooh, let’s check this out!”

Riley pulled Farkle onto what appeared to be a large stretch of balcony off the fourth floor of the hotel. A slight breeze danced through the air, the city below them illuminated by the light of the moon.

“Wow,” Farkle said, sucking in a breath of fresh air, “Every time I think Rome can’t get any more beautiful, I’m proven wrong. I’m so glad we went on this trip.”

Farkle walked closer to the concrete railing guarding them from the drop below, watching intently as everyone moved around below by the dim of the streetlights. Riley joined him, beaming.

“And glad that I forced you to take Italian with me the past couple of years?”

Farkle snorted.

“That, too. Though, I already knew a few languages and my options were limited, but I would’ve chosen it, anyway. You’re my friend. That’s already enough to get me to do things.”

Riley looked away from Farkle bashfully, her cheeks dusting a light pink that was noticeable enough by the moonlight.

“Sometimes, I think you’re too much of a pushover for your own good, Farkle Minkus,” Riley told him, leaning her head upon his shoulder. He hummed, not denying that fact one bit.

They stood there for a long while, letting a comfortable silence fall between them as they continued gazing at the wonderful city below them. Then, Farkle said something so quiet that almost he didn’t quite hear it, but the words were still there.

“I’d do anything for you, Riley Matthews.”

Even he could barely grasp the depths to which he cared for her, maybe a little more than he could understand at that very moment, but he knew he was fond of her. Nothing could change that, not even growing up.

His heart would forever remain hers to some degree, and Farkle thought to himself that he could live with that.

It always was and always would be—no amount of distance could change that fact, either.

[taglist for this fic: @hisanas]

[anyone else who wants to be on the taglist for this fic, let me know! :) ]

[faroreswinds]

So the data mining of the Flame Emperor from FEH is complete and I got to say... Damn, despite my ramblings last night she sounds kind of evil. I’m not going to look at all the little quotes like leveling up or whatever, but some of these are interesting. 

Summoning

You are in the presence of the Flame Emperor. I am yours to command, if you prove capable.

This aligns well with what we know of Edelgard. If you are strong and capable, she will be interested in you.

Castle

"Hero"? The word sticks in my throat. But it is fitting, I suppose.

Wow, not very humble is she? But this is some insight into Edelgard’s mind: She does see herself as a hero in some way, freeing the world on its chains as it were.

Better war than a peace built on suffering.

I’m not sure how peace built on war is any better, but... ok.

Strangers, everyone. You fight for the unknown alongside unknowns.

This is interesting, because based on this Edelgard doesn’t like to deal with unknowns. Which makes sense; she wants to know both her allies and her enemies, no matter how good they are unless you are Byleth then she will suddenly spill her guts to you once she realizes you can use the SotC.

Tell me of your world. Perhaps I can offer advice...

Advice about our world how? Hm...

May I have a moment? I must remove this mask. It is sweltering underneath. But it wouldn't do for you to see...

Well, this confirms that mask is uncomfortable!

Friend Greeting

As if I were a common courier, I come bearing greetings from [Friend].

This aligns with Edelgard pretty well actually. She makes comments of her status quite a bit (being surprised someone would talk back to her because she’s emperor, etc etc), so this is pretty fitting that she would be irritated about doing something above her station.

5* LV40 Conversation

I am burdened with great purpose. My path, the path I must follow, stretches out before me... By every right, I should seek to free myself of this childish struggle... And yet, something about you... Tell me, would you ever consider using your tactical skill in service of my empire? ...Only after your work here is done, I imagine. Then I will stay. And perhaps the time will come when I no longer have need to don this mask before you...

Here we are. The big quote, and a lot to unpack here. Let’s start with the beginning. Edelgard feels as if she has a great purpose. Honestly, goes well with what she feels in the game. I’m not sure about the “childish struggle”, but it’s pretty... forward of her to admit she has a “great purpose”. Then, of course, she goes for the “avatar love” and wants your tactical skill for her empire, just like she does for Byleth. She will stay until your work is done, and then maybe, just maybe, she can take off her mask in front of you...

Gee, Edelgard, even the avatar love transcends games!

Special Trigger

Perish.

Ready yourself.

The end comes.

Feed them to the maggots.

Whoa, “Perish” and “Feed them to the maggots” is especially... gruesome, damn Edelgard. I like to think that since Edelgard feels safe behind a mask, she isn’t hiding her true feelings, and she certainly doesn’t pull any punches here. 

Status Page

Hmph.

Nothing much to say here, just a typical irritation sound. 

You see what I choose to show you.

This makes sense. She’s always hiding herself, reserved and guarded. You see what she wants you to see. 

Your foolishness will be your end.

I’m not sure which foolishness she is referring to, but eh, nothing too special here either. 

Terrible power has its uses...and use it I will.

There were go, there is the Edelgard we know and love! This aligns well with the game too; she will use any power, no matter how terrible, to achieve her goals, even if she must take it.

Behold the power of the Flame Emperor!

Nothing too special here as well, simply a “look how powerful I am!” line. 

Fódlan's history has been distorted for over a millennium...

This has been cited to be one of Edelgard’s biggest issues with the Church. She’s angry that Foldan’s history has been distorted (which is what happens naturally with history, Edelgard, but ok.) 

Beasts hiding in the light. Monsters slithering in the dark. I will destroy them all.

Well, if there is any doubt about Edelgard’s feelings towards Nabateans, I hope this will at least show that yes, she does indeed want to destroy them. She calls them “Beasts” while TWSITD is the “monsters slithering in the dark”. She wants them both gone, purged so the world can belong to humanity. 

Say the word, and all will be burned away..

Edelgard willing to destroy anything. Yup, I can see that. 

All in all, I’m surprised. They didn’t hold back any punches in her quotes. I’m not sure how you can say “destroy beasts and burn everything away” and “feed your body to maggots” and be considered a “good person” there, SHARENA, but just like everything else surrounding Edelgard, IS continues to be confused about their flagship TH character.

[the-nut-queen]

I Have a lot of thoughts on beyond light so I’m going to share them

spoilers for beyond light obvs

The Nut Queen’s thoughts on Beyond Light/SotH:

Campaign:

·       Pretty much went how I expected, i.e. nothing unpredictable or particularly interesting/mould breaking

·       That being said, I liked it! And had a lot of fun

·       Good to see Variks again, good to see the Stranger.

·       Eramis was a pretty decent villain, but pretty much had the same motives as every other Eliksni enemy before her (Skolas, Aksis, Siviks, etc.)

o   Very much felt like Rise of Iron… 2! With the Eliksni taking a new power that they didn’t fully understand to wreck shit, and also, it’s Clovis’ fault again

·       The boss fights felt a little dull. Getting to the end and just spamming stasis got old pretty quickly. I think having that for the first time work, then being able to use stasis as a subclass going forward would have been better (instead of getting the subclass at the very end of the campaign, I haven’t even started upgrading it with shit yet)

·       Liked the ghost lines and voices lines that would happen as you travelled to places

·       The progression felt very smooth, I hardly noticed when the game switched from “story mission” to “kill some adds for some stuff to progress” which was nice.

·       Liked the likewise smooth integration of the empire hunts to the main story line (good source of repeatable content for the future) although I was a little confused when I got a triumph for empire hunts since I literally hadn’t heard House of Salvation call themselves an Empire before

·       Ghost being super concerned with you using the darkness then the guardian just not fucking saying anything is kinda dumb lol but that’s pretty standard

·       It was pretty dumb when at the final boss fight Eramis freezes your ghost and shatters your splinter and freezes you then the stranger’s voice over is like “look within” and you can just suddenly use stasis because why not lol

o   Would have been cool to have a “guardians make their own fate” reference here instead

·       WHAT IS THE POINT OF FIRETEAM “E” (Elsie/Stranger, Eli/Drifter, Eris) Don’t get me wrong, I love them! and I love that 1 solitary cutscene where they’re brawling and using stasis, but they literally serve no purpose to the story? Especially dumb how mara and the nine were like “ooh only 3 have transcended their design ooh they are so special” and then they just stand around a campfire while you do all the work lol

o   Sidenote, the Stranger’s little floaty thing: what is it? And what is the point of it besides looking cute in one cutscene??

·       Also really annoyed that the BOSS for the Glassway Strike is just another boring fucking hydra, like wtf. You introduced a fucking sick new Vex type!!! (wyvern) and you DIDN’T use it as a BOSS for the NEW VEX strike. The boss fight was so boring too, it was literally just a hydra but with lots of health and sometimes it disappeared, come on bungie

 New Light:

·       Pretty cool! Shaw Han is boring though. Bungie you need more women characters and more GHOST characters (also like any non-binary characters)

o   It’d be funny to see a guardian/ghost duo NPC where the guardian doesn’t talk and the ghost does! Like with literally every npc except Osiris/Sagira their ghosts just don’t fucking say anything . (I get that it is more money to hire more voice actors and to write more lines etc. etc. etc. but its getting a bit old. GHOSTS HAVE OPINIONS!

o   Maybe even an npc who is just a solo ghost! They haven’t found their guardian or their guardian was slain by the hive or something that would be cool

·       Where is Shiro-4?

·       Where is Misraaks/House Light?

·       Navota: also boring. Just a hive wizard. You may as well have just had Omnigul come back. Or her nightmare (though I understand that that was dealt with on the moon in the nightmare hunts but still)

o   Disgraced strike: also boring. And the boss fight is also boring and takes forever?

·       Cosmodrome: Cool to be back, was fun to get annihilated by an immune hive night in skyshock as is tradition

o   Annoyed there doesn’t appear to be any Rise of Iron continuity with the landscape, the splicers fuck some shit up in the divide and outside the wall

o   Also, is the path to the Rasputin bunker just gone?

o   Yeah I just checked, the path to the grottos area (from D1) from the forgotten shore has just disappeared in D2 they just put more cliff there

o   Wtf why

o   Also the D1 location maps are so awful lol (wow, we really used to live like that huh)

·       Cosmo lost sectors: nice. Hive labyrinth was fun. Sad they didn’t reuse like the Rasputin bunker but that’s chill

 Season of the Hunt:

·       I’m keen to see my BOYS Pulled Pork and Crow

·       SPIDER DON’T HURT CROW ISTG

·       Not sure what the seasonal content has in store

·       I hope it isn’t as boring as season of undying that sucked asss (obvs I have this worry since they spent the majority of the time developing Beyond Light/Europa, (I assume))

·       It looks like a combo of nightmare hunts and other seasonal public-style events

·       Maybe an escalation protocol/blind well style thing? Idk we’ll find out

 Overall:

·       BUGS! So many fucking bugs

o   you fucked up a perfectly good game, look at it, it has anxiety

o   omg bungie please help us

o   girl help, I’m trapped under the prison of elders grav lift thingo

o   girl help I’ve been launched into the wall at mach speed

·       GAMBIT:

o   You fucked up gambit too. You took all the cool shit out of Prime then mixed it with the lame shit from regular gambit to make gambit whatever the opposite of “prime” is

o   My idea for a better gambit TM:

o   Each class gets one (1) class item

o   They look like the prime class items except not coloured/glowy

o   There are 4 mods you can slot in the “combat style” mod slot ie the last slot

o   They’re like, idk 6 energy to slot

o   And they give you the gambit prime role! And the class item glows in the respective colour and you get an aura too

o   you get all the fun prime perks without having to grind r*ckoning and also have a full set of amour equipped, so you got freedom with your gear

o   it would be GOOD

o   sigh

o   gambit is the worst now

o   it’s like just as hard as prime was too but you don’t get good perks so you just eat shit

o   gambit rant over, moving on to planet rant:

·       YOU CAN’T SAY THAT FOUR CELESTIAL BODIES HAVE “DISAPPEARED” CANONICALLY ONLY LEAVING AN “ANOMOLY” (AS DESCRIBED BY WEBLORE) AND THEN

·       AND THEN fucking have CRUCIBLE AND GAMBIT MATCHES ON THE DISAPPEARED PLANETS

o   I totally get that for time, resources, crunch, and hell even desire would mean throwing out a heap of crucible matches would be not ideal because then there would be like 3 left

o   But

o   WHAT THE FUCK. Maybe if you said idk the vanguard has quarantined the four legacy planets due to the giant fucking darkness pyramids looming there so you’re not allowed to go there any more (as like an in game/lore reason for the planets being vaulted)

o   Cus like yeah you can’t patrol there anymore but drifter doesn’t care about vanguard sanctions so he can just ignore it for the gambit maps

o   And shaxx

o   Could like come up with a reason? Idk

o   It’s just really

o   Really

o   Stupid

·       I like the move towards being chill with gender (changing “male” and “female” to “Masculine” and “feminine” however I would like to see this go further. Ability to change your pronouns whenever you want, ability to change your characters gender presentation whenever you want, ability to be “androgynous” and use “they/them” pronouns

o   Like really, we’re space wizards in the far far future and some of us are even robots. there’s no doubt there would be trans guardians

Final thoughts:

I love this game, I love bungie, I am keen for what the future has to offer

But

I can’t help but feel like this is just another “beginning”

Like shadowkeep was supposed to kick off the era of darkness with the discovery of the first pyramid ship then we just had two random seasons after it that just felt like Curse of Osiris and Warmind Redux

Then arrivals was a phenomenal season

But yeah I was expecting things to be more high stakes I guess? The beyond light campaign didn’t feel very high stakes and it kinda just felt like “oh look you can use the darkness now”

in short, bungie hire me for good ideas and more queer characters

[autumnslance]

If you're still up to the character thoughts asks, then... *hands you Estinien, Nero and Lyse in pink ribbons* Take a pick or have them all, as you wish ^^

This took awhile!

Let’s start with Grumpy Dragoon Bro

First Impression: “Ah, here’s the thief? Cool armor, really arrogant. Going out of his way to be unlikable isn’t he? What a drama queen.”

I started FFXIV as a Lancer/Dragoon in an attempt at Something Different–I had healed and tanked all through WoW, but wanted to see if another game be conducive to attempting DPS, and melee at that (for the record, No; it was rough when I began playing in early HW–And it was early enough that I needed to get some Marauder levels before Alberic would talk to me).

So my first impression of Estinien is actually from the ARR Dragoon quests–and it’s not meant to be a good one, especially given how those quests end. When we next see Estinien in the late patches when he joins MSQ, a DRG WoL is startled to see him and ready for a fight for Reasons. What happens to him at the end of 3.0’s MSQ shouldn’t be as huge a shock to a DRG player.

It actually took me a couple years to finish ARR and catch up, but I really wanted to do it as DRG once I realized how integral Estinien, the Eyes of Nidhogg, and everything from the ARR DRG quests were to HW’s plotline. Given how rough I had it in the Coerthas stretches of ARR’s MSQ, the DRG story was the only thing keeping me interested in Ishgard and the overarching story of HW!

Impression Now: He’s still a drama queen, but that’s just how it is in Ishgard. Grumpy brother character. Fun to drag, but I see a few elements of “traumatized war vet who doesn’t really know what to do with himself now,” particularly in his short story for Shadowbringers. Also just needs to CALL HIS DAD.

Seriously, every time you go visit Alberic, he makes a comment about Estinien never coming around. There are, again, Reasons going back to the end of ARR, but at this point, that water’s so far past the bridge it’s dumped out into the Rhotano.

Favorite Moment: That “I dunno man, just go with it” shrug he gives Haurchefant when you and Estinien roll back into Ishgard alongside Lady Iceheart herself is always a favorite. Growling at King Moglin. His angry potty mouth optional dialogue in the scene post-Vault. The Stormblood short story explaining how he got his armor and a new purpose from Hraesvelgr (and what he named his suit). How relaxed and happy he seemed in the DRG 70 quest. The cannon dive. Getting outfoxed by Tataru and Krile.

I just seem to really enjoy when Estinien shows up to grump all over the place.

Idea for a Story: I do kind of want to write more on that idea of how he’s coping (or not) with life post-Dragonsong. Maybe more of his adventures in the empire.

Unpopular Opinion: That as fun as he is to drag on, Estinien has some serious traumatic issues, from childhood to training to time as Azure Dragoon to what happened in HW that he hasn’t really processed in healthy ways, and really does give that vibe of a damaged war vet barely getting by–his Shadowbringers short story, much as it delighted me in some ways, also really hit that chord for me in a lot of ways.

Favorite Relationship: Oof. This is a tough one. Estinien actually gets a decent number of connections on screen. His foster father/son dynamic with Alberic; his battle buddies/besties friendship with Aymeric; the surrogate brother relationship with Alphinaud; the brief unhealthy and doomed/tragic romance angle with Ysayle (I ship it, don’t @ me; and even non-romantically, she was incredibly important to his development); Orn Khai gets a nod, as do our lovely Scion ladies, and even his “our goals align so let’s work together” relationship with Gaius.

In the end, though, I give it to his relationship with Alberic, and would love to see that revisited and expanded further.

Favorite Headcanon: I am all for the “Estinien is a tired, grungy man who never had the time or care for detailed hygiene even before getting soaked in Nidhogg’s blood and then never cleaning/changing his armor after” camp. Some of it is just not caring overmuch about appearances, being too busy to take time or care, and some is definitely related to his depression and trauma but he likely doesn’t realize it and so just waves it off as nonsense concerns and a lack of time keeping him to maybe one full shower a week, and not a lack of motivation because his brain is stressed out.

Nero

First Impression: “Our bad guys’ intro…ah, there’s the ruthless second in command, killing dudes. Meant to be dangerous, taking off his helm unlike the others. Going on about a Garlond? I think that’s a name I’m supposed to know. Is this guy a Starscream? He strikes me as a Starscream.”

Again, it took me so long to finish ARR, I forgot that initial scene of Gaius and his crew for a time, but when I was rewatching cutscenes near the end of ARR (Because I realized how much I had forgotten), it all came back, and I was all “ah, yeah, this freakin’ guy…”

Impression Now: He is one of my favorites. He’s snarky and witty, but it’s definitely hiding a lot of insecurities and a nicer disposition than he likes to let on, or was able to show as an Imperial officer.

He’s managed to Karma Houdini his way out of a lot of crap he was responsible for, though.

Favorite Moment: Just randomly showing up and walking into an Alliance Council meeting. How the heck did he make it that far? Confidence really does get you everywhere, and Nero can pull off the military officer schtick well enough to intimidate the rank and file.

Idea for a Story: Anything to do with the Ironworks should include Nero, but I haven’t any lately. I may consider more from the Omega series, or even going back to Crystal Tower. Maybe something current. Or maybe, even…see below.

Unpopular Opinion: I want to see where he got some sort of censure for the things he did do–mainly to the Sylphs. What reparations did he have to make for repairing (and improving upon) the Ultima Weapon? As an Imperial Tribunus at all? Nero’s a loveable dork and a great foil for Cid, but he’s got a lot more than that to offer, and can be more dangerous than many people remember.

Also, who’s to say he actually is in exile and not spying for the Empire, given his intro scene?

And just who IS feeding Gaius all that information he already so handily had when he met Estinien?

Favorite Relationship: His rivalmance with Cid feels like cheating. But it IS the best example we have. I would also submit for consideration, though, his friendship with G’raha, Doga, and Unei in the Crystal Tower.

Having replayed through that recently on C’oretta, I noticed just how Nero reacted to their compliments and praise–given earnestly, honestly, and with no strings or expectations. After dealing with Gaius’ manipulations and Imperial politicking and the sniping and threats of even his peers like Livia, he was startled by the folks who had no knowledge or experience with his past and so genuinely reacted favorably to him. It seemed novel and strange to him–which is honestly a little sad.

Favorite Headcanon: Honestly anything Swilly comes up with is amazing, and I generally tend to agree with many. Especially the really silly ones. ;) @the-actual-for-real-nero-scaeva

I do think Nero comes and goes from the Ironworks workshops as he chooses. Comes in to harass Cid, drops some plans, helps out others projects under the guise of telling them what they’re doing wrong, and ambles out again after reporting to Jessie to fulfill contractual obligations.

Lyse

First Impression: If we’re talking in ARR when she was “Yda”, she was just the excitable companion to grumpy little Papalymo (Going back over those old dialogues and cutscenes, though, she’s not a total airhead as is often characterized).

Impression Now: She has come a long way. She learned quite a bit over Stormblood, including where she was and wasn’t ready, and where she’s best at. She prefers being a second in command to being in charge herself, and is pretty much filling the role of Raubahn’s Marshall for the Resistance. It works well for her.

Favorite Moment: Giving Gyodo the boot is pretty great. Her talk with the Mol kids about home and what it means. The spar on the palm of Rhalgr’s statue.

Also there’s something about her being the first Scion to decide “you guys go, I’ll hold them here” as they ran from the Banquet.

Idea for a Story: Maybe some on her younger days and her own Sharlayan connections. Maybe some on her recovery from what happened in 4.5. I would love to see where she (and Hien and Yugiri!) are now, and hope they show up again soon.

Unpopular Opinion: I love Lyse. I do think SE’s decision on how to handle the Yda/Lyse thing was weird and awkward, but really, grief does weird things to people. And Lyse did learn, grow, change through Stormblood–she wasn’t just “handed” things as some claim (though Conrad did throw her into command for the symbolism and family name and Lyse did a decent job, but really does prefer being Raubahn’s XO). She had a decent arc in StB, even if it was rough in spots and weirdly implemented at the start.

Also much of her “airheadedness” as Yda was obfuscating stupidity/pretending to be how she thought Yda was–lighthearted and fun, but not necessarily trying to be dumb. If she was much younger than Yda, which all conversations indicate, that might be her child’s perspective on the much older sister she admired but didn’t fully understand.

Also, she really did just follow Papalymo’s lead and let him do the thinking most of the time, so didn’t really have much of consequence to be concerned with–though I think it’s interesting he let her take the lead on the Sylphs and Moogles and present her ideas to the others and it was a correct assessment. Lyse isn’t as booksmart as the other Scions, but she has a lot of emotional intelligence that really works when dealing with other people.

Favorite Relationship: I really like the friendship she and Alisaie had throughout the Stormblood roadtrips in the Far East. Also her friendship with M’naago, that I’m sure has to be more given she drops the tribal ID…

Favorite Headcanon: She has a Thing going with M’naago on the downlow. Also she’s far more educated than most folks give her credit for; I mean, she grew up in and around Sharlayan and had to spend years pretending to be an Archon. It’s more her attitude that comes across as “airheaded” but she’s really not, as her growth in StB shows. She’s not as booksmart as her Scion colleagues, but she’s probably got far more education than the average Ala Mhigan, or most other Eorzeans, given Sharlayan’s emphasis and her time as a Scion.

Also her and Thancred have a sibling-ish relationship too; let’s face it, Lyse is his “type”–a younger girl who can use a big brother–and they would get into all sorts of trouble together, half of it just to annoy Papalymo and Y’shtola, and half of it just to honestly blow off steam and have fun in those years before the Banquet changed everything. I think, with that emotional intelligence too, that Lyse would have been among the first to notice Thancred overworking himself, but not really know how to handle it or convince him to back down.

[atopearth]

Xenogears Part 1 - Fei’s Experiences & New Meetings

The classic 90s anime style is really beautiful! I wonder what happened though, something contaminated a ship and it caused all the controls to go out of control, forcing the captain to self destruct it since it even killed all the evacuees?😣 And then some lady rose from the wreckage? It's kinda crazy how the Kislev Empire and Aveh country could fight for so long that they don't even know what the initial reason for war was anymore. So, Gears are the gigantic humanoid robots that both countries excavated from ruins and used their newly developed technology "Ethos" to repair and use these ancient Gears that are really useful for war since it reduces the need for man to man combat. Hmm so our MC Fei has lost his memories and had been taken to Lahan by a black hooded guy... I thought Dan was being crazy to suggest that Fei take his sister Alice away from Timothy (since they're getting married tomorrow) but it seems like there's more merit to it than I thought... Since even Alice thinks that if only Fei was born in this village and that if they had met earlier, then maybe things will be different... I wonder if Timothy knows, he seems like a nice guy too... Omggg, I feel so bad for taking the bird egg lmao, especially since the bird pecks you to give it back... And now Yui is cooking it!! Ahh, I feel bad loll.

Well, I expected Timothy to die but I didn't think that Alice, the chief and many other people ended up dying because the Gear Fei knew how to use went out of control... That's pretty saddening. To be fair, it wasn't exactly his fault since Lahan was getting attacked by Gears, but I guess if he listened to Citan and didn't fight, everyone would have been able to evacuate properly.. you can't blame Dan for hating him. I think his confrontation with Elly was pretty telling though, shows how much he's given up on life after losing everyone and having others hate him... Okay, the jumps/platforming in this game kills me, I'm so bad at it that I want to quit lmao. Anyway, Fei's outburst on Elly trying to blame the Gears for the destruction of the village was saddening to watch, like it was obviously their fault but it was also his, but he couldn't accept that it was he who killed everyone important to him. It was pretty heartbreaking. It was obvious that Elly was a part of the Gears who ended up emergency landing at Lahan and caused this all to happen, but it seems like the words she shouted at Fei were also directed at herself. She seems to have been unable to accept that she needs to take responsibility over other people's deaths in her past too? Well, all we know now is that somehow Fei knew her name before she even said it, so they must know each other in the back of their minds, especially since Fei knows how to pilot a Gear, but Citan is also important in this since he seems to know what or who Fei is to an extent? I guess Fei's fate is doomed to be surrounded by the Gears no matter what, since he had to use it again to save Elly. It was pretty saddening that Fei told Citan to shoot him if he were to go out of control again though. Citan was really perceptive to realise who Elly was, and it was kind of him to tell her to go back before she gets into trouble and causes pain to Fei. It was nice of Elly to want to apologise to Fei after realising how terrible she was for trying to shift the blame to Fei when she was the one who caused the tragedy. I didn't really realise what was the difference between surface dwellers etc, but I guess people like Elly are rulers of people like Timothy and them?

It honestly took Fei a while to realise that leaving Weltall (the Gear) around would endanger Lahan since both Kislev and Aveh obviously want it lol. But it's nice that Citan finally explained to him properly that they need to fix it and move it away as far as they can to protect the rest of the people. Took a while for Aveh to get them, but I wonder why Grahf wants Fei to "awaken"? Obviously no one cares about razing Lahan, so doing it to awaken Fei was no problem for them, but why do they have to go through this trouble? Lol at Bart the pirate guy, so rash and silly. Getting stuck underground due to quicksand does not sound fun... But to think that Citan knows the guy on the pirate ship, and his name is Hyuga? Hmm. Ohh so the thing Grahf said about killing God wasn't too insane, since apparently humans and god got along in Paradise until humans ate the forbidden fruit for knowledge and got kicked out, so then humans went to get revenge and somehow made god injured enough to go into sleep? But right before god went to sleep, god made right hearted humans and that's their ancestors... Hmm, so then Grahf is from the humans before? If Balthazar called Weltall a slayer of god, maybe it's one of the Gears back then?

Ohh, so Bart is really some form of royalty! It's a good idea for him to try and create a new power aside from Aveh and Kislev to make things more balanced, since right now, all they continue to do is try to one up each other until the other can't anymore. But it seems that Aveh's Prime Minister Shakhan has captured Bart's cousin because she has half of the puzzle to some sort of treasure? Lmao at the cups floating instead of being picked up by the pixel characters hahahaha. Also, it's nice to know why they're pirates, since it's true that considering their manpower, money etc, they would never be able to excavate ruins at the same rate as the other countries, so they've gotta steal it instead. Surprisingly, Bart was much more mature than I thought. His exchange with Fei after Fei got mad and ran off was really...understandable. I think I really liked the part where Fei said that Bart likes to fight, but Bart says that no one really likes to fight, it's because they all have reasons to fight that makes them have no choice but to fight. I also agree with Bart that the best way to "help" the children from Lahan now is to end this war. I like this part though, Fei may seem annoying but he's just really lost and confused right now, so it's nice to see everyone try not to force him but tell him their perspective. I'm amazed at how proactive Citan is and how responsible he is though. I'm glad he's got his own Gear now! So Shakhan killed Bart's father right before Kislev and Aveh could come to some sort of a truce? That's terrible... Glad to know that Margie/Marguerite seems to be doing well though. Kinda crazy to go into a random house and there's a guy saying he wants miners without families so that if they die, he doesn't need to pay compensation to them...like, wow. Omgg at the thieving kids though! We have to give them 1000G right now to get stuff later on😭 I'm so poor after getting ripped off at the restaurant and the inn, sighh. I thought the inn was 40G for the whole party but it was per person!! Insane!! And then the food!! The food was 300G! Even more expensive than the stay at the inn!! Sigh. This place is so cool though! I can run around with a balloon and a kid laughs at Fei for having a balloon even though he's an adult lmao. Also, loll if you drink the alcohol from a shop, the screen goes wonky because Fei is a bit tipsy or drunk hahaha.

The moment I heard about a tournament, I knew Fei would have to enter. It's funny though that guards would slack off from their post and watch the tournament, so that's the best opportunity to get Bart to go through the sewers and save Margie. Dragon slaying slacker or beloved slacker sounds like a great anonymous name to use in the tournament though hahahah. I'm shocked that Dan is in the tournament, like wow, he's beating adults?! Dang. Anyway, it was pretty depressing to see him bash up Fei for revenge but still not being able to satisfy his hatred, it's understandable though... I wonder who that Mysterious guy was, but honestly, whether it be Ramsus or this guy, they all seem to know Fei. Ramsus was an okay boss though, combos are pretty cool now that I know how to use them lol, never realised you could save your AP by not using it all up when you attack. I didn't think Elly was here though, it was nice of her to save Fei and them, but it was also kind of Fei to tell her to escape with them. As expected though, she's definitely got her own reasons for staying, and it would probably be really bad if she deserted Gebler. I think it was really nice to see that Margie is really faithful to Bart and wants to help him as much as she can, but she feels bad that instead of helping him out, she seems to cause trouble for him instead, which is saddening... But, I think her being safe is a form of support for Bart so I hope she stays safe... I have to admit though, that Chu-Chu stuffed doll she took with her actually being alive and in love with Fei was so random lmaoo, now Fei has a weird fan?

Sending Margie back to Nisan was more emotional than I thought. It was nice to see the variety of reactions towards it, such as the Sisters being so happy to welcome her back, whilst other townspeople are having an important meeting to talk about what they should do if Shakhan were to retaliate etc because Bart kinda "stole" her back. I think the symbolism of the one winged angels in the cathedral was pretty cool, the whole idea of God being able to create perfect beings but choosing not to so that humans would rely on each other was kinda nice; just like how these angels need the other's wing in order to fly. Oh wow, the portrait of Mother Sophia really does look like Elly... I wonder if Citan saying the brush technique of the painting being similar to Fei's means that he painted it or something... It makes me wonder if Elly and Fei are modified humans or something so their life spans are long🤣 Sophia is the founding mother of Nisan huh? 500 years ago...hmm, I wonder if it's related to the legend of the "old humans" and the "new humans". Maybe the "old humans" created by the God back then are people like Fei who don't grow old or die or something haha. 

Ohh, both Citan and Sigurd are actually from Solaris (where Gebler is from) and they call foreigners "Lambs", people who are used as slave labour, and they left because they disliked Solaris' doings... Hmm, I wonder if that means the Emperor that Citan thought about in his memories or something is the Solaris Emperor, and he's actually a spy from there coming here to find a way for them to invade or something. That would be pretty crazy, especially since he made a family (Yui and Midori) here... Oh okay, I'm glad they're expanding on what exactly the Solaris Empire is because I've been a bit confused. I never thought that the capital of Solaris was actually in the skies above though!! No wonder why they look down on "surface dwellers", it's like as if they're their own gods since they're in command of distortion fields called "Gates" that allow only them to tread through to the capital. Ohh, Sigurd is actually a "lamb" and was used as a test subject and then escaped by airship (so I guess you can leave and go to Solaris by airship huh?), wheras Citan was actually born in Solaris! Whaaat! Pure Solarians are rare, so they just steal surface dwellers to like have children?! Crazy, absolutely crazy. I didn't think the place Ramsus and Elly came from would be too crazy compared to Aveh and Shakhan but omg, I think they're more insane now lol. I'm not sure what or how bad Ramsus is exactly, but if Citan and Sigurd both revered his ideals and followed him willingly because of his dreams and visions to change the system in Solaris and kinda make test subjects and lower citizens like them have more equal standing and opportunities, I wonder if he lied or did he kinda like brainwash them and take advantage of them due to their weaknesses? Hmm, so the higher up Sigurd and Citan went, they found out that Solaris uses people as human guinea pigs to test out drugs that change people's personalities and make them more aggressive and draw out their latent abilities, which I assume would be beneficial for war? I wonder if that means that the reason why Elly couldn't leave with Fei and them is because she's been affected by drugs like "Drive" and the other variations, and she might die or have withdrawal symptoms that she can't control if she were to leave? I see, so Citan realised that Ramsus was the same as all the others, instead of prioritising rank, he just prioritised skill, in the end, his methods and everything didn't hope to change people's lives for the better, he just put in his own way of ranking them instead.

Hmm, with Gebler on Shakhan's side, it will definitely be troublesome trying to get Fatima Castle/Royal Capital Bledavik back considering the difference in their forces. Ohh, that's a good idea! To use the Kislev Gears they have to lure the smaller Western Guards to think that Kislev is invading! Interesting to know that Vanderkaum was demoted and will be easy to deal with because he's a simple guy and doesn't know how to deal with Gears LOL. Anyway, executing the plan tomorrow is so quick!! It's kinda interesting that Fei will be leading some Gears to cause a diversion with the main unit at the Kislev border so that it'll be easier for the others to infiltrate the capital. Aww it's so cute how Sister Agnes talked about how Margie should prepare herself to be the future queen alongside Bart. Honestly, I think the connection between Bart and Margie is undeniably deep and loving, so I'm all for it! On the other hand, it was nice to see Bart being doubtful whether he's really suitable to be king, since it's normal to think like that, but it was really sweet to see that Sigurd's desire to come home was what gave him motivation to save himself from his kidnapping + brainwashing in Solaris, so it should be natural for Bart to want to go home to his kingdom too. 

Miang and Ramsus are a thing?! Anyway, she seems dodgy...I thought she was going to be an unimportant character, but it seems that she actually has her own objectives. Omggg those rocks with the running jumps, so frustrating!! Lol, I wanted to throw my controller loll. Anyway, I feel bad for Elly... She was forced into using 'Drive' to protect her team, but it changes her personality drastically, and it makes her unable to control herself... I'm glad Fei helped her come to her senses but I worry for her since she doesn't feel like she has anywhere to go aside from staying in Solaris, even though they just really want to use her as a weapon due to her potential. Loll at Maison coming to the rescue for Bart using his crab looking robot that can fly, but then the motor died or something so they had to jump away lol. Miang seems much more vicious than she looked in the beginning though, she literally called Shakhan a puppet and said she didn't care who was the puppet as long as they were obedient to Gebler. It's really saddening how wrong everything went though... What was that OP gear that Ramsus wanted to destroy? And did it really kill everyone on the Yggdrasil..? Maison and Sigurd are such good people though... It's kind of nice that Ramsus actually treats Sigurd as an old friend that he trusted back in Solaris, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. I feel so sad though, not only did the guys on Yggdrasil sacrifice themselves to protect Bart, but even Maitreya and them who went with Fei on the mission sacrificed themselves for Fei. Why are they so kind and faithful?

Anyway, I'm quite enjoying Xenogears, I think the journey and adventure is actually really fun, but also very emotional. Right now, Elly and Fei's interactions are probably my favourite because of how similar they are to each other, yet they make the other realise things about themselves that they could not find within them. They bounce off each other nicely to show their feelings, their guilt and their sadness really well. I also really love how active and strong Bart is. Initially, I thought he was rash, but really, he's actually quite level minded, and very kind. You can see it in how much the others respect him and believe in him. Citan is still more of a mystery for now, but he is a helpful guide for everyone. But yeah, I love the variety of everything, whether it be the tournament, playing mini games etc. The only thing I hate is all the platforming lolll. Battle system isn't the most interesting either, but I'm just kinda here for the story anyway so it's all good for now lol. (edit: I’ve taken a break from playing Xenogears for a while because it’s so clunky and tedious but I’ll see when I go back to it haha XD)

[m00nslippers]

Jason is actually in-character in RHATO Issue #35!?

Wow, we got so much about the All-Caste in this issue. On the one hand, it kind of feels like it was pulled out of Lobdell’s ass, but on the other hand it’s badass and cool and the visuals are beautiful so I don’t even give a shit. Also like, there is just so much of Jason being Jason in the best and most pure way possible in this issue that it’s crazy? Let’s jump into the review and you’ll see what I mean.

We open on Jason in the midst of some kind of charity fundraiser with Isabel. Jason is looking awesome in his suit. The shoulder pads are toned down in most scenes finally, and he doesn’t look like he’s cosplaying Jafar anymore thank goodness.

First off, Jason doing a charity gala for Gotham’s poor is freaking canon now and I love that. Despite his new money and his fame, it doesn’t go to his head, he sees himself as separate from the rich people who didn’t have his experiences living poor on the streets. He still remembers that desperation and wants to help people. He’s a truly giving person that cares about others, always has and always will. Second of all, Jason is hanging out on the balcony being broody which is just Classic Jason™. He’s a loner, an introvert, he doesn’t like crowds. Especially crowds of rich kiss-asses. And he dislikes rich people. It’s so great when characters are written in-character, isn’t it?

And third of all, I love Isabel’s dress. It’s so classy, cream lace on black with a bow at the neck? Nice. You got style, girl.

So Jason opens up to Isabel and is unusually vocal about his thoughts regarding his negative feelings about Gotham and the rich and his father(s). It’s interesting to me because she’s the only person he’s ever really opened up to and spoken about this with. He’s not sharing his plans or involving her with his machinations, but he’s definitely sharing his thoughts, complaining even. This is unusually healthy behavior from Jason, to be honest. He usually bottles it all up and doesn’t say more than a few snide words out loud. Any insight into his feelings are usually given in thoughts, not dialogue. That said, it really shows how much Jason trusts Isabel with his emotions unlike anyone else, maybe even Roy.

The more I read with Isabel, the less I think she’s going to turn on Jason. I never believed that idea to begin with and I still don’t see it. She seems genuinely kind and loving. The only problem is that Jason isn’t as out of the game as he pretends to be and she’s going to be pretty upset with him when she finds out he lied, so I can’t see them lasting. I also still have a bet on that she’s going to die. I’m less confident in that prediction as I was before, but we’ll just have to see what happens.

So Isabel leaves the party because she has to work the next morning and we catch back up with Jason after the gala, getting into his fancy car with James/Wingman as his driver. We get the slightest little bit more of James identity reveal--more like clarification really. Wingman’s name isn’t James, or probably isn’t James, and Jason doesn’t know or care who he really is. Jason tells James that it doesn’t matter, that if he betrays him Jason will just kill him. And again this is just so reflective of Jason��s kind of apathetic view about how others think of him. He really just assumes people are thinking the worst of him, are going to betray him, so there’s no point getting worked up about it--if Wingman turns on him, Jason will be ready, it’s as simple as that. Jason has had too many people betray his trust for him to even care about trust at this point.

Now when it comes to Wingman, I am more and more convinced that James is Jason’s dad in a different body. I am like eighty percent certain now. James knows who Jason is and is loyal to him out of nowhere. James is concealing his true identity. James talks with a rougher accent and calls himself ‘a dope’, suggesting he’s just an average Gotham street thug. He hedges on his belief that Jason should have returned to Gotham, as if sympathetic to how much it bothers Jason to stay there. It just fits, in my opinion. I believe that in the experiments that Jason's dad was a part of when he was in prison, the same ones that created Solitary and mixed up his consciousness and memories with other inmates, Willis's mind was either fully or partially transferred to a different body as well and that is James. Wingman is either Willis’s mind in a different body, or a different person who got Jason’s dad’s memories. I also feel Jason’s Dad’s bat tattoo is going to come into play again somehow. We can only wait and see though.

So James drops Jason off at the docks where he has a freaking yacht ready too take him to the Iceburg Lounge. Suzie meets him there because she heard the Euro-Bloc 'coincidentally' got hit when Jason was in Paris, last issue. Remember that these guys were investors in Penguin’s criminal empire and the casino. Suzie seems to be on to Jason and expresses her concern once again about Jason getting her family involved in something shady that's going to screw them over when this whole thing was supposed to be them going straight. Jason promises her family is going to be okay, which is just inviting trouble. She says for some reason she trusts him, which just goes to show how much Jason inspires trust in people, even his former enemies. He gets on the yacht, and speeds off.

Okay, I know that Suzie had done some really messed up stuff in the past but like...I really like her and I hope her family doesn't get screwed by what is obviously going to happen with Penguin? I didn't like her character’s actions in the New 52 version of RHATO but I've really warmed to her and her sisters here. I really hope her relationship with Jason doesn't become soured after everything goes down, but it seems inevitable.

On the yacht, Jay does some reflection. I love how in-character Jason’s internal monologue is. I know that is an odd thing to be happy about, but sometimes I honestly wonder if the Jason I love is something I made up in my head and the canon doesn't actually support how I and many fans envision him--but it does! It does so much! This is all just so very right, how Jason understands himself but when an issue is painful, when it hurts to think about and he doesn't want to consider it, he just puts it out of his mind. He focuses on action and denies his his pain. Also, Jason acknowledging his growing friendships with his new teammates shows Jason's caring nature as well as his introverted and anxious side. He never means to adopt these people he finds himself with, but he just cannot help empathizing with them and coming to see them as 'his' people, no matter how much he tries to be distant. And yet he's afraid of them being hurt, or them hurting him. I love when Jason's personality is shown off like this!

On the way to the casino Jason is confronted by Essence, who wants to stop Jason from committing ‘petty revenge’ and falling to the dark side...or something. It's very vague what the hell her problem is. I guess she thinks Jason is just running around playing crime boss and that is inherently against the All-Caste code or something and she wants him to give it up but of course Jason doesn’t do what people want him to.

As they are talking, we get a little bit of a flashback showing their relationship, just a scene of them under a tree in All-Caste outfits when Jason was young and they kiss. It seems to me that she was the one who was into him for the most part and it’s both cute and sad that young Jason seemed so surprised by her affections. She still seems into him now, saying she doesn’t know whether she should kiss or kill him but Jason makes it clear he doesn’t have feelings for her anymore, not least of all because of the events in New 52 RHATO when Essence lied to and used Jason to instigate a confrontation with the Untitled which broke their truce so they could be destroyed. Remember that?

Basically they gear up to fight and Essence draws her freaking badass red swords and Jason draws his crowbar and katana and they face off in THE FUCKING ASTRAL DIMENSION, WHAT?! 

We get just...so much about the All-Caste here.

Essence was the heir to the All-Caste but she didn't want the job, she wanted to be a warrior, not a peaceful leader.

'All' refers to the ability to see the past, present and future. Ducra, it’s leader, is omniscient.

Jason is the only human to have ever learned their techniques and not gone insane.

When Jason met Ducra, she saw his past, present and future and hoped he could overcome his destiny.

Jason and Essence seem pretty evenly matched, despite her being an immortal empowered by the Well of Sins. So yeah, Jason is a badass.

In the Astral Plane at least, Essence’s sword can make a three-eyed demon oni-looking construct thing and they can both do crazy energy blasts and flames.

So...if omniscience is part of the All-Caste arts/abilities, does this mean Jason can see the future/past if he wants?! I mean maybe he doesn’t use it because he doesn’t want to go crazy, but still that’s freaking cool. Also, this could be another explanation to hand-wave various points when Jason was acting crazy and out of character in certain preboot issues. Previously the explanation was ‘Lazarus Pit madness’, but now we have yet another thing that could make Jason go mad. Like...Jason is really just doomed to be crazy from all sides, isn’t he?

And since when the hell can Jason go into the Astral Plane?! That's it, Jason needs to do more magic stuff! I need a team up with Constantine and Zatanna, stat! No, that terrible arc in Trinity when Jason got possessed by a demon doesn't count. It doesn't even make sense with this new information, and Bizzaro still had backwards-speak like before the reboot and was really irritating, instead his of cute baby-talk. Like clearly the writer of that issue never even read RHATO.

But anyway, the two continue their fight, Jason with his kickass glowing swords and Essence with her red ones in the crystalline Astral Plane. There are crystal looking formations everywhere and asian-style clouds and they float on nothing, it’s pretty cool. The colorist does an amazing job as always, and the art is awesome in this issue, much better than it has been in my opinion. Essence seems to have the upper hand when she suddenly stabs Jason through the chest! 

Is this the end for our hero?! Yeah naw.

It's revealed that Essence's sword is called the 'Blood Blade' and works kind of like Katana's cursed sword, it absorbs the soul of evil people it stabs--but if you stab someone innocent (or just not evil) your soul gets sucked in instead. And that is exactly what happens.

I don't think any of us were fooled into thinking Jason was actually going to die for even a moment. As it turned out Jason was playing her, pretending to be rusty at swordplay and the All-Caste magic and mad with revenge on Penguin (that last he didn't do the best job of being convincing, but she already thought the worst of him so it didn't really need much selling I guess.) He just wanted her to stab him with the blade so she would get sucked into it. I like that Jason's strategic ability is being shown off here, but I feel like stabbing him was her plan to begin with so I don't get why Jason needed to fight back at all? Eh, maybe she would have been suspicious if he just stood there and let her stab him.

So Essence is sucked into the sword because Jason isn't evil--surprise! Or not, I think it was pretty obvious Jason isn’t evil. He organized a charity in the first page of the issue for godssake!

Jason explains to Essence as she gets sucked into her sword that he isn't good or bad, he's “just practical as hell.” Which is just so freaking validating. Jason isn't evil, he isn't a bad person, in fact he is a good person with good intentions but you can't make the world a better place on good intentions alone. Sometimes you have to walk the line to get results and Jason draws that line further out than most, further out than Bruce, but his methods are necessary and they work and that's more than most can say.

I still don't know what the heck Essence's problem with Jason was, I guess she shares Bruce's terrible viewpoint, always believing the worst of our Jay, maybe she just had a grudge over Jason leaving the All-Caste, but at least this means my feelings from the beginning were probably intentional and not bad writing--those feelings being confusion as to what reason anyone could have to object to Jason's actions, because he wasn't doing anything wrong! All he did was lock up Penguin, when if he had been arrested for his crimes and not wiggled out of them with all his money, he would have been locked up anyway! His safe room was probably way nicer than a jail cell, to be honest.

So Jason takes Essence's sword and locks it up in his safe back at the Iceberg Lounge when who should appear but Penguin, back in black after having been released by Miguel last issue! It seems like Cobblpot has won Miguel to his side, probably by spinning some sob story that conveniently leaves out that he is a crime lord that uses his money to stay out of jail and oh, also he framed Jason's dad and tried to have Jason murdered and sent goons after him and was trafficking illegal weapons. Yeah, I bet he didn’t mention that part. Miguel is getting played, the poor kid. He’s too innocent.

Oh man, I really enjoyed this issue, there were so many parts when I was just like, "Yes! That is exactly what Jason would do!" and I'm not sure why I am so surprised when he acts in character, but I just am and pleasantly so. The art was also really great, I love with All-Caste stuff shows up because their aesthetic is just cool, and Pete Woods, the artist stepped it up. The fights were great, Jason’s faces looked a lot better than they have, he actually looks like a good looking twenty-something adult and not a snakey thug in most of the panels. Hopefully that trend continues. Also the colorist, I love this colorist, he does such a good job, kudos to Rex Lokus who really brought out Dexter Soy’s art too. I think his consistently really does help tie the run together even with the artist change.

Well, that’s it I'm excited to see the confrontation with Penguin and Miguel next issue and see where it goes! I think we get the Annual later this month? Or next month, that will also be awesome, and I’ll be here for it.

[rasoir-national]

This was bound to happen : I’m talking about immigration law

@ghostplantss i don't know v much about french immigration law would you tell me about it? i'm v curious?

Oh wow. First tea, and now this ? Either you are my secret Santa, or my enabler.

So let me tell you about the passion of my life, Immigration and refugee law, and the fuckery this country has made of it.

The way a city, community, country treats the “other” is one of the oldest legal questions in the History of Humanity. From Antique Greek cities to the Jus Gentium of the Roman Empire, laws concerning foreigners might be the first form of international law known to man. In many ways, it’s by acknowledging the existence of “others”, by giving and restricting their rights, that a social group both truly asserts itself as a “political community”, yet acknowledges the transcending quality of “humanity” of the outsider.

Nowadays, this question is as politically charged as ever : the way a country regards foreigners, welcomes them, rejects them, is one of the most interesting ways you can define the country, one of the ways the country sees itself. By the way we treat the one who is not “us”, we highlight which rights we consider to be inherent to humanity in and of itself, as well as which ones we consider intrinsically rooted in our identity as “citizen”.

And all this proud History, all this contemporary tension, makes Immigration law fascinating to FUCKING NO ONE.

Look, one thing you have to know about lawyers is how much they love intellectual wankery. A nicer way to put it would be to say lawyers love systems. And theory. And generalisation. And categorizing. They like to look at a set of rules and see a pattern, a logic, a paradigm. They like to be able to neatly present it in two titles, each divided in two subtitles, each divided in two sections, and repeat that until they run out of microsoft font points.

And Immigration law... It’s not that. It’s not that at all. It’s the opposite of that. It’s a law that’s almost entirely dictated by conjoncture, by what a government needs it to say, by whichever concept they’re going to twist then to suit their needs. Whatever few theoritical concepts Immigration law might have been based on have been destroyed by years of either haphazardous or plainly malignant reforms, often both.

And not only does that mean that this at this point is an intensely, punitively complex law, it has also become - if it hasn’t always been - illogical and incoherent. The only “logic” behind it anymore is how much it can be weaponized against its subjects - foreigners. Because that’s the only thing that politicians care about, and because lawyers and especially academics have pretty much given up on it, leaving the terrain free for the former. You have to realize, in terms of pure numbers, Immigration law is the most practiced law in the country. It represents almost a third of all disputes. Yet it is taught in NO university in France. Not a single one. There are no courses, no grad school, no thesis program about immigration law in all of France. There is no money in Immigration law : almost all involved subjects are destitute. There is no intellectual curiosity, because the discipline, from a theoretical point of view, is pretty uninteresting. There isn’t even public interest, because deceptively, the general public hears so much about immigration from either ignorant or ill-intentioned people, that getting through the complexity of the topic is immensely complicated and unrewarding.

Lawyers, for the most part, have deserted the topic for selfish reasons, despite the fact that this is perhaps where they were most needed to make sure fundamental rules were enforced, that politics didn’t come in the way of good justice. They abandoned the most vulnerable subjects of law to the whims of lawmakers and political interests. That’s unforgiveable.

So as a result, Immigration law today mostly resembles a cat-and-mouse game where the law sets up as many traps as possible for the immigrant to fall into, with dozens of obstacles to navigate to finally, finally be able to legally settle in a country you might be have been living in for several decades. There are specific stay rules for retirees. That’s a thing. Every rule is meant to exclude as many people as possible. As a result, immigrants must get increasingly creative or even downright shifty in order to qualify for a stay. And in turn, public opinion will yell and say they are manipulating the system - well, duh. We’ve made a system in which it’s impossible to win fair and square and then we criticize immigrants for trying to game it.

Let’s have just one example : demands of admission because of sickness. French law categorizes different reasons for an immigrant to be admitted to live on french soil for a little while : study, work, family matters, and health. France has a very good health system compared to the worldwide standard, so many people come here to receive treatment they might not be able to benefit from in their country of origin for various reasons. Some people already don’t think that’s a reason for welcoming them, but fuck those people. Anyway, there are many, many people who will ask for permission to stay on the grounds of an “invisible” illness : depression, PTSD, personality disorder... all of which are very difficult to prove. Before 2017, the prefect had to decide based on the opinion of a doctor from the regional authority after they’d met with the author of the request. But the administration quickly realized that doctors tend to have that pesky thing called deontology or even - perish the thought ! - empathy. So there was a reform, and now the way it works is the ill immigrant goes to a doctor who writes a report, then mails it to the person’s lawyer, who then mails it to a doctor that will do a second report based on that report, and will send that second report to a group of 3 doctors who, on the sole basis of that document, will advise the prefect on whether or not the person is ill, and whether or not they could have access to treatment in their country. And when I say advise, I mean they mail a form with boxes checked. That’s it. No text. So we have a prefect, who’s not a doctor, making a decision about the health situation of a person based on a box-based form filled by doctors who have never met the person, who themselves are judging based on the report of another doctor who has no met the person either, this last doctor writing based on the report of another doctor who might have met the person once. And all of this can take up to a year. That’s time during which the immigrant cannot work, or receive benefits. And then, if the prefect decides against letting the immigrant stay, then they have only 2 months to challenge that decision, otherwise after those 2 months have passed, they can be arrested, incarcerated and deported at any time.

So given all that, is it any wonder that immigrants tend to “discover” illness after illness and constantly ask for stays based on that ? This system is so random and unfair, that all you can really do is try and try again hoping something will eventually stick. So now you have people complaining that immigrants are faking mental illness in mass, causing prejudice to the “real” mentally ill immigrants. And yes, that’s the effect. But make no mistake : the cause is how difficult it is for an immigrant to have their illness acknowledged when it’s not something “extreme” enough to have you cross the border on a gurney. Because it’s not enough to google “availability of x medication in x country” to make sure the person can actually access treatment in their country of origin.

So that’s the hypocrisy infusing (haha, tea joke) the whole system. And on top of that, the procedure is getting more complicated with every reform : miss one deadline, fill out one form wrong, and you’re out. And please remember we’re dealing with people who for the vast majority do not speak french (the ONLY language allowed in administrative matters according to the Constitution) and know nothing of our administrative system. It’s up to the person’s lawyer to basically map out the life of each of their client. And because there is no money in immigration law - you only get paid in judicial aid from the state - there aren’t many immigration lawyers. You have to do this out of conviction, cuz you’re certainly not doing it for the money or career opportunities. In the practice I interned at last year, each lawyer would at all times manage on average 50 to 80 active cases. And let’s be clear, a lot of them are assholes, because lawyers in general tend to be assholes. But the work they do in downright heroic.

So that’s where I come in to fix it all, right ? Yeah, no. This entire system is fucked, and given what the world looks like right now, it might be for a while. I’m under no delusion that I can do anything to change that. My goal is to help the way I can : I want to become an administrative judge, the ones who are in charge of examining administrative decisions regarding immigrants. This type of challenge represents roughly 50% of the activity of any administrative tribunal : every chamber, no matter their specialty, has to do a little of it, otherwise the system is so backed up it would collapse. Some of those judges do amazing work, and are some of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met. Some of them are not. Most of them are plain bored by this type of claim, because they’re repetitive, not really technical from a legal standpoint and always depressing. And a handful of them have ties to the far-right and are there just to expel as many immigrants as possible. So yeah, if all goes well I’ll be a judge in a few years, and I’ll be one of the only ones who came to the job because of immigration law, not in spite of it. It’s not bragging on my part, it’s just a sad fact. Judges at the tribunal where I’ve worked had a schedule for who was supposed to be in charge of new immigration claims arriving, and some judges would hide from court reporters in order not to get attributed cases that arrived right before their shift was over. So yeah, if I can be a small drop in the bucket and be someone who actually looks at these cases with the explicit intent of finding a reason to approve the claim, that’ll be good enough for me. Because Immigration law, or at least what we’ve made of it, might not be “interesting” but it’s goddamn important, and people should pay attention to it.

[semi-imaginary-place]

fe3h blogging 2 because the post got too long

Edelgard Claude foiling. Both see that the world is wrong and that motivates them to make it better. Claude listens to people, Edelgard listens to herself. Claude reflects and introspects, Edelgard doesn’t.

I was going to write more but I realized I was just bashing Edelgard so I stopped. Anyways, the Gatekeeper has a backstory??? a younger twin brother and they’re from the empire?? Also wow Edelgard is REALLY into you (the light in the darkness pft)

I also want to comment how the Church of Seiros unlike some other fantasy religions really is like real life historical (and current) religious organizations. There’s a mix of people from the non believers but there to help, to those that believe this is the best way to help people, to those looking for power, to the people who are there because its a way to make a living. I want to make clear though that Sothis/The Goddess is dead and she can only act a little bit through Byleth. Before the game The Goddess has NO influence on Fodlan. Anyone praying is doing nothing in terms of reaching The Goddess.

Hilda: Tell me what I’m thinking about right now.

Ferdinand: Hmm... You want a snack.

Hilda: I DO want a snacc ;) ;) ;)

supports: Ashe Dedue, Sylvain Felix, Ingrid Dimitri, Hubert Ferdinand, Petra Claude, Marianne Ignatz

3h totally fooled me with the hair colors. I’m too use to JRPGs have rainbow haircolors so I think nothing of it but in this game the white/green hair are plot significant.

Somehow related to dragon shenanigans(white/green): Sothis, Lysithea, Flayn, Edelgard, Byleth, Rhea, Seteth

Plausibly a normal color with weird undertones: Ignatz, Shamir, Petra, Felix, Lindhardt,

That inexplicably JRPG colored hair: Bernadetta, Hilda, Caspar, Marianne, Ashe, Lorenz

Ch14 of Crimson Flowers has made me unfathomably sad. Claude hold himself so tightly, closed off with high walls. He always has a face on, doesn’t break composure. But in ch 14 in the face of losing his dream you can see the cracks in walls. And Claude may be closed off but he is in no way cold hearted or uncaring, he cares so much and you see that as the Empire gains ground. That battle is one of the few glimpses of Claude. Whether he is killed or spared, both are sad. The cut scene after Claude is spared is seemingly lighthearted and a tonal contrast to the serious battle right before it. Without knowing Claude better it seems like a breather before more plot happens, but knowing Claude that scene really breaks my heart. In contrast with the moments of honesty during the battle, Claude’s social mask has snapped right back into place, hiding all of his pain. Claude’s dream meant all to him, being able to walk side by side with his friends in a new world, and that dream just took a devastating blow. Claude is by no means dishonest during that scene, but knowing how devastated he is on the inside yet forcing himself to hold it all together... He’s sad and now I’m sad.

The Insurrection of the Seven is fascinating to me. Just because people keep saying different things about it. Was the Emperor seeking to consolidate power for the throne and the nobles stopped him or where the nobles always seeking to turn the Emperor into a puppet ruler? To my limited knowledge I think for a while Emperors had been losing power. Enough so that the experiments on Edelgard and her siblings could not be stopped. He then tried to expand his power and was crushed.

Crimson Flower is quite interesting. Edelgard and Hubert are walking a fine line balancing the church and the Agarthans. The Empire appears unified but its a shell for the Agarthans and Edelgard is betting on the appearance of that shell.

Wow Dimitri is surprisingly sane and not feral in CF. Does the purple clouds in Dimitri’s death CG remind anyone else of the S support CGs?

Lysithea and Edelgard can bond over shared childhood experiences and being short

Can you imagine Claude, Hilda, and Sylvain as a squad. They would radiate such chaotic energies just standing next to each other that Nemesis would leap out of his cyberpunk containment pod and start dancing to leek spin

How is Dimitri clean shaven post timeskip?? Most people in the grips find it hard to be functional and do basic tasks and your telling me he meticulously shaves everyday? I'm calling it. Dimitri is trans and can't grow a whisker

So the brits (and w europe really) went mad for tea and got it through colonization of india. Where does fodlan get its tea?? Its mostly too cold unless you want to convince me theres an extensive breeding program for hardy cultivars somewhere. Dagda?? We know coffee is imported. hot take: the empire started a war to get more tea

I dont talk about dorothea enough. I almost chose BE just for her. She hates nobles and its great. The voice acting is top notch too. Dorothea-Ferdinand c support is memorable to me because of the voice acting. The line delivery was so good. Especially the  " I hate you " from Dorothea. She's so savage. She was the only one I considered S supporting after intsys robbed me of claude. Didn't go through with it though. It always feels wierd romancing fictional characters.I remember how P3 forced me on the harem route and wow that was uncomfortable. Dorothea is kind. I like kind people. She's so full of love (Manuela is the other character overflowing with love), and her compassion extends to everyone. She understands the grief of war. Contrast that to local manlet Caspar. Once he's decided someone is an "enemy" he stops caring. Oh Caspar... All of Dorothea's supports are so good too... Dorothea's backstory can get a little disturbing. She's 18 at the beginning of the game. She began singing with the company at 10 and gained fame at 13. What troubles me his how she talks about how after every show she was innundated with marriage proposals and such. The way she talks about it, it went on for a while, and while sure the letters and stuff could have been from other teenagers, that she was getting all this as a teenager is creepy. In addition, then she talks about the nobles fawning over her and it made my skin crawl. But the worst was  that a noble possibly her father was coming on to her . Like Dorothea, I'm with you. Let's burn down the world.  Despite the justifiable anger though, dorothea is so full of love. Until the last her heart never turns cold.

Thinking about claude and edelgard. On one hand their personalities, ideals, and ambitions complement each other. On the other hand Edelgard doesn't understand how people work and Claude is a manipulator, guarded, he never lets any one in(edited)Claude can totally read her, but Edelgard reacts poorly to criticism and dissent.... Claude has no faith. Not in his dreams and not in himself. With out a push, he's not proactive. Edelgard charges straight ahead while Claude takes the circuitous path. "Defensive" thats the word for edelgard, she so easily thinks people are out for her. Whereas claude deflects. Both are fuelled by a sense of justice.  Edelgard thinks in terms of eliminating enemies, claude thinks in terms of recruiting allies.  The point is the the tragedy that they would make great friends! But thats not happening in this universe! Because edelgard's bull headed and claude wont open up!

Watching s supports and anyone notice theres 3 variations on the ring.  There 2 silver and green ones. At first I thought small green stone was from people with common origins and big stone from noble. But I just saw saw one with a gold ring.It could be that the character is just that extra. And yeah it is gold is from Ferdinand and Lorenz.

Ferdinand  was so obnoxious at first. But hes such a good boy. He does his best. He's trying very hard. Also, existential angst is my jam.

I just remembered theres only 5 saints in the Church of Seiros and does that mean the tome of comely saints has erotica of... like... cihol??? And cethaleann????? Uuuuuuhhhhhh...I dont like my brain sometimes.

so that whole fuss that byleth's mom was rhea's daughter was because tons of "gamers" chose BE first and misinterpreted Edelgard's speculation. When in reality Jeralt was the one who Rhea gifted her crest (seiros) to, extending his lifespan. Rhea then cut out baby Byleth's heart and then replaced it with Sothis's crest stone hoping that Sothis would posses byleth. All we know of the mom is that she was a nun and died young. Flames crest stone joined to Byleth's heart (CF ending cutscene). Rhea placed Sothis' heart in baby Byleth to revive Sothis (VW ch 22 opener). She has done human experimentation on people to revive Sothis before (implication). Seiros/Rhea did so so that Sothis would posses the body (Rhea dialog consistently referring to Byleth as "Mother" or hoping that Sothis will poke through).

The only time Claude’s anger breaks through his composure is with Rhea. This is significant as Claude almost never loses his composure, and this highlights how Rhea in the only person Claude hates. Claude doesn’t hate Edelgard or Dimitri or any of the other people that may kill him, just Rhea.

question about the Black Eagles/Crimson Flower ending:  why does Byleth collapse and then Sothis' crest stone break? I mean I will give it a break since its symbolic and thematically significant and all and it was a excellent touch that Sothis' heart and Byleth's heart have literally weaved together. Is reviving Byleth Sothis' last act?? Why did Byleth have to die to begin with though? ... well maybe Byleth didn't die since they didn't have a heartbeat to begin with. So far the writing in 3H has been pretty good though there have been weak spots. I think that CF final scene was put in more because it "felt right" than because it was logical. it fits with edelgard's goals and what the route's been about. its just if you really think about it. It doesn't make sense based on what is already known. I mean crest stones could have other powers but I haven't seen that anywhere else in the game. As for the story as a whole, the main acting forces in the game are Edelgard+Empire, those who slither in the dark, and Rhea+Church. Claude also has his own ambitions, but those 3 are more deeply entwined. Each faction has its own goals and past and a good chunk of the game is figuring out what those are. Its also ironic that GD despite how Claude is not enmeshed in ... that other mess, sheds so much light on the other factions. 

The main theme is probably about Rhea since it plays a lot during Rhea scenes and the church is a central focus of the story.

the "M-metal gear?!?!?!" moment will always be hilarious for me. On par with dollar store Hitler

Why is it Jeralt's voice on the map even after he dies?

God Shattering Star:  How Many Times Do We Have to Teach You This Lesson, Old Man?  

Dawn is a recurring motif in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. “the dawn of a new age” is or such is

Claude, a child loved and lonely

i think blue lions was written first. 1 the two monthly missions that have to do with students’ families are both in BL (Ashe and Sylvain). 2 two fairly important side characters at the monastery are related to BL students (Annette and Mercedes). Chapter 3 actually provides a intro for all the lords in their respective routes. Edelgard’s scene is serious but not especially sad, instead you can feel te fire burning within Edlegard and the scene shows how she’s willing to sacrifice the lives of those under her if she believes she is doing the right thing. Claude’s is actually quite light hearted in tone after the first few lines and it highlights the mystery surrounding him and makes him seem very sketchy. Chapter 3 in Blue Lions though is really sad. Ashe my baby boy. Here there is a sense of tragedy in the post battle scene

oh there is another Claude loses his temper. Its when a bunch of thieves (badly) impersonate Almyrans and Claude is so offended they didn’t put enough effort into the act and that they’re weak.

Major Player Goals

Rhea: revive Mother

Edelgard: take down the Church and crest system

Agartha: vengeance on the Nabateans

Claude: usher in a new age of tolerance and prosperity for humanity

Dimirti: keep afloat???

CHURCH SKETCH AF. Rhea always raised the hair on the back on my neck.  I mean even in ch3 the first real mission. We're being used as a personal assassination squad because Lonato threatens Rhea's power.  and then she's like. This is a public execution to give an example of what happens when you defy the church.  and I was like !!!!!!! let's mentally/emotionally scar a bunch of teenagers into fearing the wrath of the church.  Rhea: prosecutor, defense, jury, judge

I remember ranting about revolution and society in fire emblem games before having played this one, and wow intsys made a game for me

Ignatz and Raphael. I must protect both of them. sweet sweet boys. Raphael has the biggest heart and Ignatz just wants to help. Team Protect Raphael's Heart. Raphs is pretty emotionally mature too. he gives warm fuzzy vibes. Ignatz takes on so many burdens and clams up about his own pain. He doesn't place any importance on himself. Let my boy be an artist! Raphael certainly has pain, but he doesn't want a life where that pain rules over all else. Raphael is a force of GOOD I would have love to meet Lorenz's dad. I don't have high expectations of him, but I'm curious.  we've heard so many different things about him. And he's one of the major actors of the story. But we also know so little about him.

o both Mercedes and Emile have the Lamine crest. If that came from their shared mother, why did House Martritz fall since she was heir? Possible answer sexism or finances. The other option is that both Bartels and Martritz have the Lamine bloodline. Also, Jeritza is younger than I thought he was Modern Advances in Missile System Engineering Wade and Kruger 7e 2XXX

Schöner, Alexa, and ZaiCheng Jun.  "Applications of Dymanic Systems Theory in Autonomous Bipedal Assault Units". Journal of Robotics 18.4 (2XXX): 157-170.

I think I'm hilarious. heh. Imagine though, While digging around Shambhala Claude finds these and everyone is just confused because it looks like their language???? and yet the words! they dont make sense!

I didn’t really care when hubert died in VW, but edelgard's death hit me you know. Because both claude and edelgards ambitions are to tear down the old system. and seeing edelgard in that armor. Its like the timeskip all over again. Part 2 begins and you relize how much all the characters have grown. And while you werent looking edelgard has been going through her own journey. When you fight her shes wearing armor with elements from both the flame emperor and her part 2 outfit  yeah edelgard is yikes. i agree with her goals but her disregard for yhe lives under her concerns me. And between her tendency to brute force solutions, those who slither in the dark, and the empires situation, I think she was doomed to fail from the start

When Claude ... half jokes??? that Hilda can grasp his throat, is that connected to how Fodlan's Locket (in Fodlan's Throat) is under house Goneril control?