#and shes cool. and cool people get married

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 86 (Family Drama)

The next evening, before Heather and Conrad left for their date, her youngest sister, Hazel, arrived in Brindleton Bay to watch her niece and nephew.

Ash excitedly called to her from the computer as soon as she walked in the door. "Aunt Hazel, Aunt Hazel, come check out my new game!"

"Thanks for driving out here so Conrad and I can have a night out," Heather said. "The security cameras are working and Conrad's getting the kids fed before we go, so just get them to bed at a decent hour and no horror movies."

"It's just food colouring," she protested, but with Heather's stern glance she nodded obediently. "Sorry, Ashy. No Moonlight Massacre tonight, after all."

Heather changed the subject before Ash could complain. "I'm sad you won't be in town when we're in Henford this weekend to meet River and Cass' new baby boy. Dad says you don't call home enough."

Hazel laughed. "Dad tells me you don't call enough! None of us could ever call home enough. River still lives there and Dad probably thinks he doesn't get to see enough of him, either."

"Missing out on Dad guilt tripping us to visit for a political conference in San Myshuno's pretty cool, though. Ash, that's enough game time. Conrad's almost finished making your dinner."

Ash moaned, but he turned off the computer and headed for the kitchen as Hazel picked up her niece for a cuddle in her unicorn onesie. "I'm kind of glad to be out of Henford for the night to get in time with Ashy and Lava. Has that weird old dude been a problem lately?"

Heather made sure Ash was out of earshot. "Not since the restraining order," she said, the relief on her face more than evident. "And you're stuck on those nicknames, huh? I thought nicknames were too corny for you."

"It's not my fault your kids are just as cool as volcanoes, big sis."

Heather grinned. Hazel, the baby of their family, could get away with anything and dripped charm to spare, but Heather could tell something was weighing on her mind. "Are you doing okay?"

Hazel took a deep breath, setting Lavender down before she moved to the sofa. "What made you realize you wanted to be single when we were in high school?"

Heather laughed. "It was just easier than having feelings. It's still easier than having feelings, but finding the right person is better. What's wrong?"

She frowned. "What if Nicola and I got married too young? We're different people than we were as teens. When her dad died of a heart attack a few months ago, it felt like I wasn't married to the same person anymore. I know she's grieving, but what if we didn't wait long enough into young adulthood to figure it all out?"

Heather could empathize with her sister's confusion over love and relationships. Not too long ago, Heather would have found it unthinkable to offer her siblings, of all people, relationship advice, but Conrad had shown her what great love could be.

"You know I've never been very flirty or romantic, and I held on to my relationship with Malcolm too long because I didn't think I deserved any better. I'd never recommend it, but I also know Nicola's not Malcolm Landgraab. If you trust her, you can tell her the truth."

Hazel nodded. "No, she's definitely not like Malcolm."

"If you're truly unhappy, don't force it because you think you're supposed to. But if you're asking me, I think it means there's still some fight in you to keep it together."

(Lovestruck's new relationship and chemistry features went after Hazel and her new wife, and I'm rolling with it to see what happens. I cheated their relationship back up a bit - as if what Heather said encouraged her to fight a little more - and we'll see how it goes with them.

The way I said that probably gave away what might happen but pfft you don't know!)

Grateful for her eldest sister's advice, Hazel turned her attention back to Lavender, while Heather joined Ash and Conrad in the kitchen.

"Tomorrow night we'll pack some things into your backpack for your weekend at your dad's," Heather said to her son. "He'll pick you up after school on Friday and take you to his place for the weekend."

"He'll probably send their driver like usual," he shrugged. "But Ray's cool."

"What do you mean, 'like usual?'"

Ash looked at her with confusion etched on his face. "Daddy's reporting til seven on the news every weeknight, Mommy!"

Heather stared at Conrad, wide-eyed. "He told me he does those hits pre-recorded."

"He always sends Ray, and Ray always takes me to get ice cream before we get to Daddy's penthouse. Why do you look pretend happy, Mommy? I love ice cream!"

"Your mom just hasn't met Ray, buddy."

"But Mommy, he's not a stranger. He's Ray!"

Heather plastered a smile, and Conrad reached under the table to caress her clenched fist. "I'll be at school on Friday afternoon when Ray's there to pick you up at three," she said. "If he's as nice as you say, I don't want him to be a stranger to me."

Ash smiled. "Okay, Mommy, that's a good a idea."

Heather felt constantly undermined by the Landgraabs. But there was little she could say without disappointing her son, and she didn't want bitterness to affect her night with Conrad. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

NOTE: Their date continues Monday but tomorrow there will be a bonus post inspired by @purplesimmer455! 👀

NOTE 2: Also noting, since this is an episode where nothing much seems to be happening, there are a few subtle hints in here, too, about how Conrad is on a pedestal, especially when Heather compares him to Malcolm, even though we all know he's keeping this massive secret from her, too.

[lilac-hecox]

honestly just more damangela would be amazing, but if you do hurt/comfort type fics could you do one about anxiety around going public about their relationship maybe? i need a really well written one like that for my soul

also i think it’s so cool you’re doing this. voting is important!

Damien/Angela - Hard Launch

--

“So, is it awful?” Angela asks, peeking at Damien through her fingers.

The nerves are swarming inside her, making Angela feel like she’s shaking even though her body is perfectly still. This is sort of how she felt when she first started performing. Her first few times on stage were fun, exhilarating, but she shook with nerves the entire time.

Before Damien answers, his hand finds hers. He covers the hand she has spread out on the table with his own. Damien’s hand is warm, a comforting weight. Angela lets out a nervous little sigh.

“It’s social media. It’s a mixed bag, as usual.”

Angela groans softly and hides her face. Damien’s thumb rubs over the back of her hand.

“Hey, I mean I see lots of support, but also people saying they knew it, and people assuming we’re pulling a prank.”

“I’m gonna kill Shayne and Courtney,” Angela mutters. “They’ve ruined the art of a hard launch.”

Damien laughs.

“So, no one is mad?”

“Not really. Not at us, at least. More so they’re fighting with each other. Which is common in fandoms.”

Angela finally lets her hand drop from her face and she watches as Damien locks his phone, setting it down on the top of the cafeteria table they are sitting at. It’s a break between shoots and the cast and crew roams the building. They don’t really need to be careful here because Smosh has known about them, has been aware. Angela is pretty sure Nate wanted to cry when she and Damien let him know they were in a relationship. Ian had kept a tally board on his office’s whiteboard attached to the wall until Anthony told him it was probably a bad idea to even jokingly track their employees who have started dating or got married.

“No regrets?” Damien asks, his voice is smooth and calm, but when Angela looks at him, she can see where his features flicker with the hint of nerves. His eyes watch her face, searching for a cue, something he admittedly already struggles with.

Angela takes Damien’s free hand -the one he had been using to hold the phone- in her own. Her palm set in his and her fingers curling around his wrist.

“None. I’m nervous, but I don’t regret it. I don’t like the idea of hiding us.”

“Think of it more like we were keeping us safe, guarding something precious, like a jewel or something, you know?”

Angela smiles fondly at Damien. “More nerd shit.”

“Hey, you’ve been my girlfriend for a year now. You know I like my nerd shit.”

“Yeah,” she says, “and I like that about you. I like a lot about you.”

Damien brings her hand to his mouth and presses a kiss to the back of it.

Angela lets out a laugh, even as her cheeks flush just a little.

She’s happy. He makes her happy. Damien is sweet, kind, hilarious. They are both so busy that neither of them ends up feeling neglected because in ways they are both workaholics. Smosh brings them together, anchoring them back to each other, and the fact of how busy they are, when they’re together, it’s even more special, the time feeling all the more meaningful.

“Even if stuff gets bad for whatever reason,” Damien says, “I’m here for you. I always will be.”

Angela gets up, walks around the table and crouches close to Damien. She leans in quickly, pressing a kiss to his cheek, then his mouth. Damien hums happily, smoothing a hand over the back of her hair affectionately.

“I know that” Angela says, “And I’m right here for you too.”

[stonathandreamer]

Married!Stonathan with a daughter headcanons to brighten your day ✨

🔸 Masterlist

🔹 You can read part 1 here | part 2 here | part 3 here | part 4 here

A/N: I have unanimously decided that Saturdays are "Married!Stonathan with a Daughter" days, so here's another set of headcanons!

--------------------------✨✨--------------------------

✨ If you haven't read part 1 of "Married Stonathan! with a Daughter Headcanons," you can read it here, and then come back 😘!

✨ Steve's the type of dad who gets distracted watching a kid's show with Elizabeth, so when Jonathan comes to check in on them, he finds Steve sitting on the floor watching Rugrats and Elizabeth nowhere in sight;

— "What are you doing, Steve?"

— "Watching Rugrats with Lizzie, babe."

— "Uh-huh... And where is Lizzie...?"

— "What do you mean where is she? She's right... Ah, shit, not again..."

✨ Steve's also the type of dad who thinks it's funny to scare their baby daughter, but one time, he inadvertently made her cry, which resulted in him sleeping on the couch for a week;

✨ He's also the type of dad who thinks it's funny when their kids curse. Oh, 4-year-old Elizabeth said "fuck"? Steve's laughing his ass off while Jonathan's fighting the urge to strangle him - because Steve's lack of a baby filter is the cause of this;

✨ Steve thinks of himself as "the cool dad" and Jonathan as "the not-so-cool dad," but, in reality, he's way stricter with Elizabeth than Jonathan is because Steve is aware of what stupid teenagers do. After all, he was a stupid teenager himself - and a pretty stupid one at that;

✨ Jonathan is not as strict as Steve because he trusts his daughter and knows she's nowhere as stupid as he or Steve were in their teenage years;

✨ Steve babyproofed the whole house;

✨ Elizabeth is responsible like her dad Jonathan, and protective like her dad Steve - the best of both worlds!

✨ Also inherited the sarcasm and snarkiness of her Byers dad and irritability of her Harrington dad - the worst of both worlds;

✨ Very domestic Steve & Jonathan! Doing house chores together, like cooking (Steve's not allowed to cook by himself, though), doing laundry, washing the cars, and stuff - which leads to Elizabeth calling them "disgustingly sweet," much to their amusement;

✨ Steve is the type of dad who freaks out over the tiniest things. Like, 7-year-old Elizabeth fell off her bike and scraped her knee? Immediately scoops her up in his arms and runs inside the house while asking her if she's alright, then proceeds to interrogate her and ask if Elizabeth was being reckless and threatening to confiscate her bike;

✨ While Jonathan's just there, smiling at Steve freaking out before telling him to calm down;

✨ Elizabeth gets embarrassed by Steve whenever they go out together because he thinks he looks good on anything, and then proceeds to go out looking like this:

✨ Yeah, he has "the dad style";

✨ Jonathan is the one responsible for teaching Elizabeth how to drive because Steve yelled too much during their 15-minute lesson;

✨ Elizabeth threatens people with the fact that her dad's a cop despite Steve constantly telling her not to do it, otherwise he'll get in trouble at work but Elizabeth reassures him it's fine because her grandpa's the Chief of Police - and the thought of getting into trouble with Hopper makes Steve PANIC;

✨ She's fiercely protective of her dads - no one's allowed to send weird looks at them;

✨ They have dozens of pictures of Elizabeth in their wallets - all taken by Jonathan;

✨ Steve's the bad cop, and Jonathan's the good one;

✨ Though Jonathan is not afraid to be strict if he needs to, and no human being in the entire world is foolish enough to not listen to Jonathan Byers when he's being strict;

✨ Jonathan's a master of saying "I'm not mad, just disappointed," and that's so much worse than all the yelling, shouting, and scolding Steve has available in his arsenal;

✨ Constantly asks Elizabeth about boyfriends - or girlfriends;

✨ Feign shock and disappointment when their daughter informs them she's straight;

— "So, any boys, Lizzie?"

— "Or girls."

— "Dads, I'm straight."

— [dramatic gasps accompanied by putting a hand over their hearts.]

✨ Robin mocks Steve when he starts acting like an overprotective dad. Also calls him "dad dingus" now, much to his annoyance;

✨ Jonathan often asks Joyce for advice, and despite her constantly telling him he and Steve are doing everything right, he can't help but feel a bit insecure and also fearful of turning into Lonnie;

✨ Steve, meanwhile, fears being too much like his grade-A asshole dad;

✨ Elizabeth's D&D character is a Sorcerer - courtesy of her Uncle Will and Uncle Mike, who always played with D&D with Elizabeth when babysitting her for Steve and Jonathan;

✨ Proudest dads in the world who have a whole section of their living room dedicated to Elizabeth's achievements;

✨ Jokingly accuse each other of their daughter's bad behavior;

— "She has your temper, Steve!"

— "Oh, yeah? Well, she has your sarcasm, Jon!"

✨ Both agree that Robin, Nancy, and Dustin are bad influences on their daughter and should not leave her alone with them unsupervised;

✨ Elizabeth has the best parents in her group of friends, but will never admit it out loud because teenagers think it's cringe to say their parents are cool;

✨ Regarding where the Harrington-Byers family lives, I know Jonathan's plan is to leave Hawkins behind and go study photography at NYU (and in my headcanons, he is a photojournalist and a damn good one at that), but let's not forget Jonathan's a teenager and teenagers have all sorts of dreams. Just like Jonathan, when I was 17, my plan was to leave my small town behind and go to the big city to attend college, which I did and then returned to my small town one year after graduating from law school because here's where my family lives and I didn't want to be away from them, primarily because of some family issues. And I think Jonathan would do the same. He wouldn't leave Joyce and Will behind - he'd either bring them along if he could or return to stay with them. The fact Jonathan doesn't want to go to college with that girlfriend of his and instead wants to attend community college to be near his mom and brother is proof of that. So, because of that, I headcanon Jonathan, Steve, and their daughter live with Hawkins, near their friends, family, and other loved ones.

[ariesbloodstone]

I know buck was weirded out by the fact that tommy and abby was engaged. I mean who wouldnt? That's a crazy twist. But I got a feeling that buck was bothered by it because tommy had hurt abby. Almost like he still care about her and feel protective over her and angry at tommy for hurting her. I know he loved her and maybe still care about her, but that just seem weird to me. At the restaurant scene when tommy said he was engaged and almost married a women, buck looked surprised seems understanding about it. When tommy said abby took a himbo half her age, buck just responded by saying she maybe did that to get tommy out of her system. He didnt even mad at tommy and seems to be on his side. But when tommy said it was abby clark and buck realised who it was, he got shocked which is understable. And then he told maddie. And said that tommy led abby on and hurt her. And buck thought he knew tommy and never thought tommy would be that cruel. But he only feel that way when he found out the women was abby. So I wonder if he would react the same way if the women wasnt abby? Based on his reaction before tommy mention her name he doesnt seem to care about it. I dont know. To me it looks like he still care about abby which is ok but like he cares more about her than tommy when he is actually dating tommy in the present. I dont know maybe I'm wrong but I just feel weird about it. Actually all the scenes was weird in this episode.

I really dont like buck flirting with that women in the restaurant. I mean tommy was there and watching. Its so rude. And then the convo about women and abby. And then the scene with maddie and josh. Another thing thats weird to me. Why buck was so suprised and hurt on abby's behave for what tommy did? I know what tommy did is not right, but tommy used to be a closeted gay men when he was younger. We all know that and so does buck. He was probably spend most of his life being in the closet than out. Which means he probably had girlfriends in the past and hook up with guys in secret. Like most all closeted gays do at the time?. I mean I know this is 2024 but buck is not a teenager. He's young but not that young. He's what, 30, 33? I'm 30 and even I know how hard it was for the gays in the past. A lot of them hiding in the closet meaning they maybe had girlfriends and even wife. Even I know and understand why they had to do that. And buck doesnt and got angry about it? And what the hell about that speech about post glee stuff. I know a lot of people like it but its not my favourite. It just seems cheezy and frankly unnecesarry because a man at buck's age should've known all that stuff already.

It seems like buck had build up a perfect image of tommy in his mind. His first impression of tommy is that he's so cool and feel threatened by him which turn out to be a crush. And he look up to tommy and admired him which is cute and all. But then he saw this flaw of tommy and he got dissapointed. I think he should know that not everyone is perfect not even tommy. But its not good to have that kind of high expectation to anyone, even your own partner. They gonna have flaws and weakness.

Making buck asking tommy to move in after all that knowledge about abby and gay history is another weird move. How come he got that idea after all that. Another thing to blame the writers about. Not to mention making tommy feels like that is the end of their relationship. He could have just said it was too soon which it is. It is too soon and clearly tommy is not ready for it. A lot of couple survive through that. Its not a marriage proposal. Most doesnt work out after a rejection of proposal but this is not it. They could've work it out. Its like the writers in ep 5 is totally different from ep 6. I have read a lot of fanfiction that are a lot better than this mess of storyline.

[ohanthonytomallamadingdong]

While I totally agree with this, and there’s definitely a double standard there, I think there’s a lot more than the age gap bothering people.

Personally, I don’t like her actions or beliefs against Jean nor do I appreciate her loyalty to the ravens even in the face of the obvious abuse Jean and Kevin suffered, especially after they try to tell her about it all. She threatens Jean into talking to her about the ravens, accuses him of basically sleeping around to get his perfect court number, and (please correct me if I’m wrong) but doesn’t she continue to minimize Kevin’s experiences in the nest even into their later adulthood and marriage?

That being said…

We have to recognize that Thea herself is a product of the abuse and manipulation of the nest. She believes the lies she was told about the ravens, about Riko, about Jean, and that affects the way she reacts to information about them even post-graduation. However, her insistence on belittling and minimizing the trauma Kevin and Jean went through is something I still can’t quite get over, especially if it lasted long after they all got out. If she and Kevin get married, there has to be a mutual understanding of the fact that they were both abused/manipulated and progress in light of that. But I haven’t heard of any evidence of that.

I love the idea of who Thea could’ve been or could be. Her experiences and attitude make her a really cool character and her development could be really interesting to see. Unfortunately, her position as a side character (and a minor side character at that) leaves little room for her development through the narrative and any development she does get is connected to her relationships with Kevin and Jean and Riko rather than her as a character in her own right. That means a lot of people take her at face value and see only what we’ve been told. It causes so much discourse because she, despite being a minor character, is in a relationship with one of the biggest major characters of the series.

Ultimately, I understand those who like her and I understand those who don’t. And though I often find myself more on the side of those who don’t like her, I do like the discourse and the fanon development of her and her story.

(also side-eyeing the Katelyn x Thea movement started by the social media AU of the magnificent @codename-adler)

Remembered that Renee turned 24 in September in Neil's first year. I have never seen any hate towards her for her age gap with Jean (5 yrs) Especially with us finding out Jean's age in tsc this year.

Hmmm same age gap with Kevin and Thea

Don't feel like starting fights over my girl Thea again but I wanted to point this out anyway

[unpersoniverse]

Skén:nen sá:sewh

as promised, here's Precious boy™ getting kissed by Precious wife™ because he deserves all the love in the world :cc

translation: Get home safe

[cadere-art]

Sébastie Jayde is the foundator of Pigeon Aéropostale, an upstart entreprise trying to establish the first postal airlines.

Sébastie is the mixed-race, illegitimate daughter of the pulp and paper baron Josse Quesqueraux, born of his affair with Adénie Jayde, his secretary. When it became obvious that Adénie was pregnant, Josse, unwilling to end the affair, moved her to the office of one of his mills in Urterre, where Sébastie was born. By Iscean law, when the genitor of the child can be found the putative father of an illegitimate child must provide support for that child. Initially, Josse did only that which he must do, but as Sébastie grew and Josse got to know her on his visite to Urterre, he became increasingly attached to his natural child. Eventually, he had Adénie and Sébastie moved back to Saint-Loegaire, where he enlisted Sébastie in the kind of private school where nobles and bourgeois who are not very rich send their children, and very rich ones send their bastards.

Sébastie grew with the benefits of a full education and her father's name as a boon and a burden, never fully part of the society in which she moved. As she grew older, she became increasingly interested in machinery: the great static ones like the ones at the mill where she grew up, but moreso the moving ones: the steamboats, the trains, these new motorized carts... The first time Sébastie saw a airplane, an ugly lumbering prototype at a technology fair to which her father had brought her, was a revelation of almost divine proportions.

With Judoc's financial support, Sébastie founded a workshop where she began to build her own stuttering, lumbering flying machines, amassing expertise and experience where she could find it. She would eventually earn her name when she became the first pilot to fly an aircraft across the straight seperating Iscea and Urterre. For her, this was the beginning of aeronautics as more than a hobby, and soon after, Pigeon Aéropostale was born.

[worstloki]

sigyn that married loki like ages ago so when it comes out he's jotun she's like. 'well it's a bit late to do anything about that'

[prismsofmystery]

absolutely fucking disgusting

Not only is Mia fucking ENGAGED to him for a reason, but doing all that just to ship her shitty ass OC with a married woman is crazy.

I remember her saying something like "it doesn't matter because they aren't married yet, only engaged" that's when I decided to block her ass.

i would not be surprised if "Phylot" was just another way to get Mia and Afton broken up or something. One thing I hate is when people break up MARRIED couples and ship them with someone else (unless it's polyamory and they're still together)

Doing all of this just to ship Max x Mia is vile.. What tf does she mean by "unreasonable"? if your OC out of everyone else's is getting this much hate then I think it is reasonable. I usually don't mind OC x Canon but making Afton abusive just to make Max seem like a better option is pathetic.

Also the fact that everyone acted like Hasana was the second coming of Christ the moment she started posting fetish art of a basic ass ship is fucking crazy. I cannot even count how much fanart this woman has gotten for doing almost nothing at all but posting yaoi and making an AU based around said yaoi.

Max is a homewrecker point blank. Even the nightmare version of Max (cool design btw, wish it was made by a better person) STILL has a crush on Mia's counterpart somehow.

so yeah those are my thoughts sorry for yapping. I need to start finding other people who support her/have drawn fanart for her and block them too. This is ridiculous, but thank you for bringing more to my attention lmao.

I had a whole rant that Tumblr purged that I don't feel like rewriting, but I'm just gonna say this

If you know what Hasana did/does (ships abusive!Afton × Mia, fetishes yaoi, frequently posts borderline nsfw and shares nsfw au facts, depicts females as homophobic just to have an enemy for said yaoi fetish, blames others for her own fucking stupidity in her au, skinnifies fat people (Zoth), makes r@pe art as a fetish, AND supports proshippers) and you STILL like her?

Get the fuck off my blog

I hate her, and if you know about what she did and still like her? I hate you too

Also, she will never be allowed in the community I admin for, so don't bother asking [STEVEN🌸]

[bitegore]

ok this isnt meant to be a dig or anything but it's always really funny to me when people like just cracking 30 are like "omg you're in your early twenties, you're a babyyyyyy"

babe you're like barely 30, you're a baby too. You're a blink and a half older than me. I spend too much time around people over 50, the difference between 23 and 33 is a few years at a job and a little more distance from living in your parents' house but it's like, nothing. the gap closes every time you breathe and every time i move. the difference between you and me is like one-fifteenth the difference between you and my dad's friend Joe or whatever. don't worry you'll get to live more life too, but don't kid yourself.

and this is doubled when it's coming from a 25-year-old currently experiencing a crisis of age because they're soooo old, they're 25, the horror! You are twenty-five. We have an age difference of three years. Your concern over this is embarrassing for you and highly entertaining for me. But like don't kid yourself here. You are 25. You are a like a fucking baby to me.

[vampyroteuthid]

yesterday my straight married friend was like "marriage isn't a walk in the park i wouldn't recommend it" and it made me sad. why don't you guys marry people you like....

[randomnameless]

Drankengard done (land 2!)

A lot of nice things in this part, so far it feels like the most FE-like land, and some characters from this land are really interesting!

l firstly love how the plot starts with "we have to rescue this midget prince from 100k soldiers" in one of the few defend maps of this game with various catapults and other engines to attack/defend against a cluster of loldiers coming at you - that was nice compared to the nigh useless ballistas and other engines in FE.

Granted, Gilbert's defining moment after being revealed is basically protecting his vassal from a gotoh-like character who's twice his size and more or less recruiting her for the defend map -

(localisation thingie : no "kisama" for eng/fr script Gilbert, sure it's kind of complicated to put it in words - like an agressive "you" - and yet it gives some nice characterisation, after Amalia rekts Leah and while Gilbert is standing seconds before being surrounded by 100k peons in front of someone who's basically stronger than anyone else around, he is still angry and pissed for his friend's sake) -

Just before being upset at asking our party - aka a foreign nation who was at war with his for the last few decades and revealing that his dad only granted asylum to the princess of said foreign nation to marry her to his heir to conquer it later on - for help.

Hopefully for him his game is no Triangle Strategy, so no one will actually tell him to eat shit because he wasn't the one who liberated the land even if he participed to instead worship the "foreign" person who led the liberation army.

Hell, idk what kind of PR campaign Gilbert and his few loyal soldiers pulled out, but some NPCs are really acting as if he liberated his kingdom single handedly lol

His relationship with his elder brother was sort of developed in the main plot - but more in the equivalent of the support convos - but as I said in another post, I really loved that part where he feels like he's still a second prince, and if his older brother returns, older brother should get the crown even if older brother feels like dirt for failing his country and his father, and became a wandering... mercenary who's busy saving priestresses from jails (and leaving them in the middle of battlefields).

Ultimately, they reunite and more or less solve their issues, and Ludwig manages to tell him that he wouldn't be half the king Gilbert is, because Gilbert is the one who led a rebellion and ultimately led Drakengard free, is loved by this people etc etc.

TBH, while it was short, this was a nice character arc -

(complete with the support/rapport convo just after the final map I unlocked where Gilbert, wanting to know how the common people live in his kingdom, gets plastered with the a random worthless bandit/merc who's freaking out from the entire situation lol)

The other major character from Drakengard is Virginia, the MC's older cousin!

We first see her being kind of pushy and overbearing, sometimes taking the initiative to do rather extreme stuff (wanting to fetch her axe instead of recruiting the earlier worthless bandit/merc), but she's still deferring to the MC, save for a certain mission - because, and kuddos to the game for going there, while Virginia's story is basically a tragic Marth's, aka, when her kingdom was invaded she had to run away to a foreign state for asylum but without any Jeigan, she believed for 10 years and never stopped believing that she was the only one who survived, and thus it was her role and duty to restore the Cornian line on the throne and take back the country from the evil Empire.

And... MC pops up, as the rightful - aka the son of the late queen as opposed to her mere niece - heir thus Virginia's hopes of becoming the Queen and the one to restore her nation vanish.

So kuddos for the game to basically have Virginia tell her cousin that while she was happy to see him and learn he was alive after all those years... she also felt jealous, because the 10 last years she spent having this dream and hope to be the one to restore the country... vanished in 10 minutes lol.

She's not going to challenge Alain's claim to the throne and instead will support him.

Granted, this moment becomes ten times more interesting if you do her own mission before - aka the one where she zerg rushes against the dude who slaughtered her retinue against the advice of Jeigan Joseph and becomes a dreaded green unit (who loses her promotion somehow???), running in a battlefield full of catapults to have her vengeance.

Remember when I said one of her first defining moments is when she asks to be handed her axe to get rid of a worthless merc instead of recruiting him? Well, her words back then were something like "your men died for you, so you can't beg for your life" or something like that, we learn in her own mission that she was basically talking about herself.

Basically, kid!Virginia was supposed to have her Jeigans and Cain/Abel/Draugs and they were supposed to escape and run away together to Drakengard... but they were slaughtered by some general of the evil empire who thought bringing her head would make a good offering to the evil emperor, so the Jeigans, Cains, Abel, Draugs etc etc laid down their lives to allow her to escape - we have a voiced FB with a few images and a battle cinematic, where the knights basically say they will die to make sure she'll be able to escape, and will slow down the evil general with their corpses if needed.

The entire platoon of knights died, and Virginia has been carrying this trauma for ten years, dreaming of having her revenge but never once confiding in anyone from Drakengard about it - not even in her (Gilbert's) vassal Leah who she seemed to be close too earlier.

Short story, the general holds a fort and is supposed to be called back to the evil empire's capital for some reason, and instead of waiting for his departure to recapture the fort, Virginia storms at the general to have her revenge (accompanied by the knights who were just squires when she had to leave, and thus couldn't be there when their senior knights were slaughtered and want revenge as much as she does!).

You have to send Joseph to talk to her to have her turn blue again (and promoted again thank gods) and the re-recruitment scene is cool for 2 things :

1/it's Joseph, not Alain who talks to her because her beef and the one who talked to her and the one whose plan is ignored is Joseph - I love it when the MC isn't at the center of everyone's universe

2/Virginia during this convo notices her friends/knights are injured (they have the injured sprite) and realises she was going to send to their death the last remaining members of that platoon, chastises herself and her next battle lines are something like "I won't let them die/bleed anymore" or something and it's fucking powerful because hey, besides some "vengeance is empty" that she will get later on herself, part of what makes her see reason is the realisation that her allies are injured and were going to die in her quest, and she can't have that anymore (nice ludonarration moment here, Virginia is a tank, if her allies are injured, it's because she wasn't tanking well enough!).

"Vengeance is empty" moment : the evil general who slaughtered her former knights doesn't even remember the people he slaughtered, or the mission where he hunted her, aka, she's been obsessing for 10 years over something her so called "nemesis" forgot.

End of the map, the realisation that her vengeance was nothing + she put her close allies' lives in danger (+ the little bit of salt when she mentions that Alain is the Cornian Royal people should follow because he is royalty) make her want to leave the army as fitting punishment - which, you know, coming from a series where some lord basically goes 1VS1 against the guy who killed his dad and who was followed by his kid sister who put herself in mortal danger but only receives a scold from his not-mom and slap on the wrist just makes me side-eye FE Tellius' writing even more.

Anyways, while I read on redshit that some people were pissed because "wah wah Virginia is a character who does foolish things and there are consequences about it she should be exiled forever or something", she obviously doesn't leave the army because, all of her close allies ask her to stay. Hell, Alain only gives one or two sentences that are dispassionate compared to the other 4 - again to show that MC privileges aren't everything at least plot wise - but the main voice is Leah's - aka her (well) Drakengard retainer!

When earlier Virginia told her that this story and her choice had nothing to do with Drakengard - because it's about Cornian knights who died during her flight from Cornia - Leah now reminds her that she became someone important for Drakengard too, and you know, the 10 years she spent here ? It's not just only background to give some fluff for a teatime line, no, it has more implication, if not only to have this moment where Leah says that Virginia's pride, bravery and hope to restore her country also influenced and inspired people (Gilbert, the second son who had to assume the role of the King when no one else was left!) around her and made the people of Drakengard also hope to liberate their country - if she leaves now, the named character from Cornia will miss her, but also "Drakengard" in general.

To cement her words, after this map we can talk to some Drakengard NPC who's all "wow Princess Virginia is so cool she defeated the bastard in charge of this fortress!" and while idk if Leah's speech + that NPC were added to make the ending where she becomes the queen of Drakengard (save for Alain marrying his cousin) more plausible, but it was a really nice addition.

Adding to that the fact that Virginia is the one who's basically telling Alain (and informing the player) about various map hazards like geysers around the land, giving some backstory about the desert along with Leah and also the one who tells the party about a sort of shortcut/secret passage and yes, we get it that she lived for 10 years in that land and knows it enough to act as a guide, but also that the people around know her.

I mean compare with a game where some dude apparently went to a school in a foreign capital but when he marches on said foreign capital or talks to people who also attended that school he never mentions it - it's like night and day.

Final "daw" moment that is both tied to her character but also, another example that Alain isn't the center of the universe... Virgnia is the one who tells Alain to talk to Aramis (the eldest prince who became a merc!) and ask him to talk to Gilbert to put his worries aside about the throne and the succession and ust, to reunite with his younger brother.

The characters concerned (Gilbert and Aramis) thank Alain for giving them the occasion and push to talk to each other - not knowing this was something Virginia planned, because while hers and Gilbert's issues are sort of similar (the not "legitimate" heir who took the mantle of restoring their country to glory and believed it so for the last decade, only for the legitimate one to return), she has a good enough read on Gilbert to know that he needs to talk to his brother to put his doubts and questions about his legitimacy aside and accept that he is the King.

Coming from a series with "avatar scissors", the bonds and links between the characters was really something I enjoyed, Alain will not pop up and tell Gilbert that he is a good king and should get over/or deal with his doubts about his brother, Alain isn't the one who gives the most meaningful speech about why Virginia is important to Drakengard and hell, we don't even see the exchange we know he had with Aramis to convince him to talk to Gilbert, because the most important scene here isn't the Alain-Aramis dialogue, but the Aramis-Gilbert one. Gilbert doesn't want to free his Kingdom because he envies Alain or Alain told him to do so, it's something he wants to do being inspired by Virginia.

In a nutshell, Drakengard's major characters were a good surprise and their stories and quests were cool.

More minor character wise...

We get the Drakengard version of the same plague we saw in Cornia, but instead of having "clerics" perform experiments on infected people to find a cure, the accent here is put on a wyvern knight who was to enforce a lockdown, to prevent the plague from spreading and well... no fines in this setting, instead she runs them through with her spear.

IDK how that game would have been received just after Covid lol

All jokes asides, just like the Cornian version of this plot heavily suggested, the plague was devised by the evil empire to cut down the forces of the rebellion and make sure this land would be able to be conquered easily.

Why are the imperials killing people? Well, it might have to do something with the fact that the totes-not-gharnef old sorcerer guy is a necromancer...

Leah's quest explored a little more the background info that "Drakengard and Cornia used to be at war" thingie, with random green units also mounting a liberation army but refusing our help, and we know how this ends with green units, we basically have to save them.

Map ends with some Drakengardians - who swore allegeance to the evil Empire? - still willing to fight us, and Alain asking Leah to please ask them, as a Drakengardian (?) to surrender because if someone from Cornia asks them they will refuse.

Also it's a bit of a character exploration, for once the usually demure + always in the back behind Virginia asks the Liberation Army to do something and insists even if people refuse, straight up saying that in that case (if they refuse) she's going to help the green NPCs herself since she's strong enough to do so and it's cool because I think at one moment Virginia sighs/laughs, but not in a derogatory way, but more in some "damn she's becoming like me" way - which is alluded to in ther rapport conversation, Leah seeks to emulate her bold and fearless (being a green unit) behaviour.

I haven't seen a lot of convos with the desert people we recruit - thank goodness we're far from Hyzante's clichés even if the "people in the desert are bandits and former prisoners" trope is still here, but given how the ones who attack us were brainwashed by the evil Empire, it's not as aggravating as, well, Nopes or Hyzante.

Gameplay wise :

Damn if promoting your units cost medals, but it's so worth it to have more than one action (at least) per turn ! It also means we can use entire new strategies because now the turns are at least longer than one round each!

Drakengard fills the Jugdral quota with the group of units coming all at once at you sometimes lol, but I loved the aesthetic difference that ultimately became gameplay difference between this area and Cornia, basically we have more mountains to less space to manoeuver the non flying units, the enemies use AoE engines to ruin you or at times, AoE map abilities from their own units to deal some annoying amount of damage.

The cities are larger so instead of fighting in a meadow with one or two small buildings here and there, at times the fight takes place in an entire city, so again, it means reduced mobility and of course, desert sucks because, just like FE, you can't move well in the sand.

Lolcalisation wise :

Virginia "I have never been fond of court formalities" says a desert full of bandit isn't a place for "royalty like us"? When the "us" is both her and her cousin reknown for their martial abilities?

What the fuck does it mean ?

At least in FR it's "a lot of people avoid this place" and not just "royalty like us" - which doubles as ridiculous because in the "people avoid this place" it's again the trend of Virginia being a tour guide of Drankengard, telling Alain that people from Drakengard think about the desert, eluding this part is also, in part, eluding part of the knowledge Virginia has about Drakengard.

I think the localisation took the "royal pride" that defines her and exaggerated it to "royal arrogance".

IDK if the meaning is the same in english, cretin is an insult like in french, but damn if you say to someone the are a "crétin" they will feel offended and insulted because that's way more rude than calling someone an idiot!

:/

And I also have a bone against whoever thought it was a good idea to throw "pseudo elvish" words in the localised script (sadly we followed this :'() when the japanese audio doesn't use them at all, was it to pretend the evles from Fevrith have a different language because Tolkien shall be universal, or what?

Elf land doesn't see that interesting plot wise compared to Drakengard, and I'm not saying this because of my Alcina bias lol but I'll just have to wait and see!

(poor hodrick is being slaughtered by those pesky pointy ears and their hybrid attacks, tfw armor not withstanding magic is universal, I'll have to promote Miriam asap to protect him or just bench him :/)

[marsixm]

i also think the fact that i had such a stunted and isolated upbringing and now that im an adult all my friends are on atypical life paths (and honestly even my friends as a kid were like this too) means i find things that are usually very common life stages really interesting. like knowing someone who has a house and a wife and 2 kids (with that wife) and a job with a salary feels like meeting fucking paul bunyun to me. or hearing the kids i work with talk about graduating high school and going to college and being on a real path with that stuff is neat? or even sometimes knowing cis/het people who are like going thru that coming of age stuff that i never really experienced the way you see it in the movies bc of transness/queerness/neurodivergence. its like woah they said the name of the thing in the thing. do u know what i mean???

[p2iimon]

idk if theres anything in fnaf that implies that william was a shitty abusive husband besides that if youre a shitty abusive father (and a murder) youre probably a shitty abusive husband. but i like to imagine he and his wife just have like a good normal relationship at least for a while. its kinda funny

[deus-ex-mona]

no one:

absolutely no one:

jptwt reactions to the hiyomv:

[anto-pops]

So I've just had a thought. Humor me if you would. I want to know what you'd think about this.

As we all know, in muggle world, the men are, in General, stronger and bigger than women and thus always used their biological advantages over women to control them, right.

But in the wizarding world, witches have the same magic capabilities as the men, hindering them from strong-arming women into being subservient. With magic being like an equalizer, dont you think females in the wizarding world are more liberated than muggle women? I mean obviously it's still not perfect, with arranged marriages and other such issues, but the men are victims of that too in the wizarding world.

This is a super interesting concept to consider ! I agree, I think women and men in the wizarding world are fairly equal in terms of abilities and all that, but I can imagine that time period offered its own trials and tribulations for witches and wizards alike. It was probably a bit restrictive for everyone involved— especially women— but muggle women undoubtedly would have it rough.

There was a feminist movement that took place in the 1850s that focused on equality in education/work/electoral rights and all that, but Queen Victoria actually didn’t support it in any way. Her official take on the whole thing was to call feminism a ‘wicked folly’ and she claimed that ‘men and women were created differently— so they should remain each in their own position’. I’m sure muggle women struggled to get a leg up in society as a result, whereas (from what we’ve seen in game) witches in the wizarding world were able to work, own their own businesses, and a slew of other things that probably don’t fit our idea of what was considered ‘normal’ during that time.

So tldr; yeah, I think women in the wizarding world had a degree more freedom than muggle ladies. They certainly had their own struggles and hurdles to overcome, but I don’t think it was anything like what non-magical women had to deal with