#and will offer her a choice

[sparklecryptid]

We've had Noctis going back in time, chocobros, Ardyn, royal bastards in their various incarnations, Cor-

But I don't think I've ever seen Regis be the one to get sent back in time. Like, can you imagine it? Regis, who just killed Noctis (his son his child his), waking up as a teenager over 40 years in the past. And deciding to Fuck the Prophecy and Bahamut too, he's not doing any of that again (please don't make him do that again he can't).

Regis goes on to completely demolish the timeline, with Clarus and Wesk trailing behind and making concerned noises. (understandable, Regis kind of changed overnight)

For bonus points, his original timeline was one with a royal bastard, maybe even more than one. Except this time, Regis actually keeps track of his exes so he finds out about them pretty soon.

(If you want maximum angst, it was the one where Luche kills him)

Regis dies. It is a swift death. A mercy given to him by the hands of his daughter.

(His daughter that he never knew. His daughter that must have suffered for it to have ended this way. His daughter. A traitor. But still his daughter.)

Regis dies, and when he wakes he finds himself younger. He finds himself nineteen years old and untested by the hardships of the coming years.

Regis dies with blood in his mouth.

He wakes up with the memory of cold arms lowering him to the ground and frost curling across a pale cheek. Is his daughter alive yet? Regis doesn't believe so but he can't know for sure.

He knows Noctis isn't alive. Regis knows that at least his son will be safe. But Luche? Regis doesn't know.

Something in him aches.

-

There is something off about Clarus' Prince. The only King that will ever have his loyalty, the only person Clarus will die for that isn't his wife. There has been something off about Clarus' Prince for years now. Ever since Regis woke up on his nineteenth birthday something has been off about him.

Regis dives into whatever work is assigned to him. He plays politics like he's an old hand at it and seems to know what schemes his father is up to before they happen. Regis is different, it's shown in the frantic but careful way he directs resources into areas he thinks will need them most and ignore the nobles that grumble and whine only to be shocked that Regis was right about diverting their forces from around Insomnia to near Galahd.

It is as if Regis has grown the ability to see the future and Regis laughs at Clarus when he suggests it. For a moment it looks like he's about to make a joke but his face freezes as if he's remembering something.

"Clarus," Regis says slowly, "What was the name of the woman my father sent me on my eighteenth birthday?"

"Why do you ask?" Regis plotting something, this much Clarus can tell. But it's been six years since then and Clarus still can't tell exactly what Regis wants with this information.

"I need to know," Regis says, "I think she has something of mine."

-

Her name is Tita Lazarus.

Lazarus. It isn't a common enough name for Regis to ignore the possibility that this woman is the mother of his child.

Regis remembers her dazed gaze a she looked at him through their night together. He remembers how she was cold even when he tried to warm her with his magic. Most of all, Regis remembers when frost started to coat her fingertips after they had finished.

He hadn't thought of the woman much in his life before, he thought her another manipulation by his father to get him to behave. But if she hadn't told Mors about her child then where did her loyalty lie?

For Luche's sake, Regis hopes it's with him.

-

The ones who meet them at the docks of Galahd's biggest - and only - port are a mix of those from Clan Khara and Clan Bellum. They watch as Regis jumps off the ship and makes his way toward them.

Their body language is relaxed, but there is a tension in the air that tells Regis that although he is welcomed he better not try anything.

"Greetings, Son of Crystal," The leader of the Khara delegation speaks, "May we inquire as to the nature of your visit?"

"I'm looking for a Lazarus," Regis says and the air goes still. Ah. They are hiding something. Regis knew it. "Her name was Tita. I believe she has a child."

The tension doesn't ease with Regis' words but it changes.

"And if she does?"

Regis smiles. It's all teeth.

"I would like to meet my daughter."

-

Here is the thing: Regis refuses to let his mistakes bleed into this life. He refuses to let his daughter suffer and he refuses to let his son sacrifice himself like a karakul on an altar.

That being said, he doesn't expect the reaction he gets when his daughter meets them on the way to her own house.

"You're not supposed to be here." Tiny fists clutch at Regis' pants and glowing blue eyes peer up at him. Her face is scrunched up in terror as if the world had suddenly changed. Beside him the Khara and Furia accompanying him and Clarus are quiet. "You're not supposed to be here! The path has changed the trees face backward. You're not-" She stumbles over her words and tears well up in her eyes and freeze.

"Why now?" Luche's voice trembles, "Why this path? Why this journey? Why this me? Why not the others? Don't you know how they - how we - suffered? Why am I enough but they aren't? Why-" Frost curls over her cheekbones and Regis reaches out-

The Furia swings into action before Regis can scoop his daughter into his arms and soothe her. Lottie - the Furia - drags Luche away from Regis and Regis bites back a snarl even if he can't help the way his magic sharpens the air.

There is so much he doesn't know about his daughter. It infuriates him others know more than he does.

He has time to learn.

It doesn't make up for what happened in the past.

"Stop your wandering," Lottie gently scolds Luche, "The trees are the same, the path is solid. There is no use wandering on what-ifs and could-bes. Come back to the greener grass and the song the winds sing."

Luche stares at Lottie, her eyes slowly focusing on the figure in front of her. She blinks once. Twice.

Luche spins to look at Regis.

"Why are you here?" She demands and this time Regis can notice the buzzing of his ancestral magic under her skin.

"I'm here for you," Regis says, "And your mother."

"You don't want her," Luche warns, "She's gone too far."

"Do you want her?"

Luche pauses.

Regis smiles.

"Think about it," he says, "On the way to your home - tell me about yourself."

[divorcedwife]

it's not even like i want RPGs to offer a billion different choices, most of the games i like are pretty linear and set up a very clear past for the main character. like the exile in kotor 2, the watcher's past in pillars, the dark urge in bg3, the warden has many origins but they all restrict your ability to write your character's past somewhat. and that's fine because they're very cool pasts and also all these games give you a lot of room to react to events and express thoughts about them naturally, and that's how my warden amell can be so different from someone else's, even though we start out at the same point

all of that is really what made me feel disengaged from datv the most. sure, they leave your character's past pretty vague so you can write whatever you want, but i can already do that in my head for free. and if i could at least develop my character in interactions with the world, that would be nice, but the dialogue wheel when talking to companions is pretty much always three different ways of saying the same thing, so no. if i could just choose from at least three actual different options like in da2, it would already be way better

[infinite-infinite-stars]

What if... Who Killed Markiplier... but it's Ace Attorney Investigations...

"Ace District Attorney Investigations", if you will.

(Everything you see here was drawn by me, with some backgrounds/that one evidence photo being either screenshots from the show, or edits of official photographs of Mythea Castle, where WKM was filmed)

[rocker-socks]

I see your Bruce adopts Billy au and raise you Diana adopts Billy while Bruce hovers on the sidelines playing godfather who has the adoption papers ready if something bad happens. Jon also gets this treatment.

[wavebiders]

The thing that really gets me about Wyll and Karlach is just how their bond is allowed to have the importance in their narratives that it has

I mean, in games like these the cast is always going to be centered around the pc. Sure, the relationships between other companions can be developed through party banter, commentary, or even cinematics, but at the end of the day everyone's most significant relationship is always going to be the player. That's the person who most affects them and where their story is going

With these two, it's not even that Tav isn't vitally important to them both, but it's meeting Karlach that changes Wyll's life one way or another. It's Wyll that's the first person to stick out his neck for Karlach, and sends her reeling. Their bond alone is enough to convince Karlach to go to Avernus and stay alive

It's a very bold choice to risk limiting the player's importance in order to drive home the connection between two characters, and I really appreciate Larian for going there

[hieropedia]

something thats always been on my mind about the eah destiny system is that a lot of the time i dont think the book actually needs to play a factor ... especially w regards to briar — sure she can opt out, can say No Thank you to the curse but i dont see how that stops anything ? the original sleeping beauty didnt consent to be cursed to sleep , we know the stories change and just have to keep the essense of the fairytale ? so whats actually stopping faybelle cursing her anyway . . . just trust ? hope ??

[waywardsoul-s]

I watched the remedial chaos theory episode of community for the first time and I'll never get over abeds and annies friendship.

[sometinybees]

I'm going to scream at some arcane season 2 takes I've seen on TikTok the purity mindset is a curse

Like NO ONE is a morally perfect/good person in this show!!!!! They've all made awful decisions that have hurt people!!!!! That's the point!!! And it's okay and so very normal to like a character even if they've done some really bad shit. The amount of "man they want me to like THAT person after what they did?" Type takes are making me want to pull my hair out like YES! BECAUSE THEY ARE INTERESTING AND NUANCED CHARACTERS YOU CAN BOTH ENJOY WATCHING THEM AND ALSO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS FUCKED!!!!!! WHY IS THIS SO HARD

[novelconcepts]

Do you ever just lay awake at night, turning over in your head the stark difference in delivery between Hewson's Van saying--steadily, unshakably--"it's just something that's happening to you...happening to us" and Cypress' Taissa saying--imploringly, whiningly--"this was not just my dream, this was our dream"?

Do you ever just turn it over and over, how often Tai tried to scare Van away, and how it only made Van set her feet more firmly? How Taissa's first love was this person who saw a problem fall into Taissa's lap, a problem that was quite literally trapped inside Taissa's body, and decided unflinchingly: No, that's an us problem now? How she refused point-blank to walk away even with blood in her mouth, how she flatly informed Tai "I'm never gonna be scared of you", and promptly turned a moment of pain into a declaration of love? And how this would etch itself into Taissa for the rest of her life? How she'd take these things that worked with Van--with the person Van was, with the bond they shared--and try so hard to run through an identical script with Simone?

Except Simone is her own person. A completely different kind of person. A person who hasn't been offered any of the context, any of the realities going on inside Taissa. So: naturally she doesn't respond the way Van did at eighteen--and will go on to do all over again in her forties. Naturally, she hears our dream as the excuse it is, not as a plea for connection. Naturally, she is scared away when Taissa pushes, and shouts, and begs. Because there isn't blood in her mouth, not yet, but there will be. And they have a son to worry about. And she isn't eighteen and a special kind of immortal, a special kind of romanticized. She's a grown woman with responsibilities, with priorities, with an understanding that you can't fix someone just because you love them. And Tai can't just perform a revival of the play she and Van had memorized twenty-five years later with a whole new performer in the works, and expect it to shake out the same.

Of course it doesn't work. But look at Taissa trying it. Look at Taissa trying to reframe her first love through a new lens. Trying to recast it. Trying to play it through again. Van taught her love was sticking out the blood, shaking off the pain, making a you problem into an us problem. Does it ever just eat at you, how tragic it is, watching Taissa try to shape her marriage around a woman who isn't even wearing a ring?

[warningsine]

[lala-blahblah]

I will never make this because it would be for an audience of one (me) but ever since reading "If we Were Villains" (story about serious drama kids in college who perform shakespeare and deal with a murder) I have been entertaining the thought of a crack fic crossover with High School Musical The Musical The Series where the staff decides they will no longer put on shakespeare after the tragic accident that happened at Thanksgiving, because Shakespeare plays would only increase the tension and drama. So they hire Ms. Jen who decides their spring play will actually be High School Musical (which exists in the 90s in this universe) and it ruins the vibe so much that everyone gives up on being dark and mysterious because they're universally pissed at Ms Jen for making them learn choreoraphed basketball dancing.

[liquidstar]

I'd also be remiss not to mention the ending tease for round 6!!! It's Ivan VS Till time

What's interesting is that Till is clearly staring at the Mizi VS Luka match, but the picture he punches is his own. Maybe he blames himself for not saving her, maybe he's angry at himself... Does he still want to win? Is he more determined than ever, or is he giving up? I need to know his mindset

And Ivan too, I mean, I'm sure he's all sorts of messed up about the fact that he's going to have to compete against the guy he's in love with... Again I wonder what his mindset is. Does he intend to lose anyway? Or maybe he's also plotting, given that one promo image of him Skeptically looking at Mizi's missing picture. Maybe he expects something to happen anyway, or maybe he's inspired to finally do something himself.

But the thing that made Ivan fall in love with Till was his rebelliousness, it reminded him of the freedom he saw in the falling stars, a light that broke through his hopelessness (his black sorrrowwww). If Till IS giving in to some sort of despair then would Ivan seek to reignite that flame at his own expense? Or if Till is fully determined, is Ivan happy to just watch that spark burn as he sings with him for the last time? Or maybe he doesn't intend to lose despite everything, but I can't see Ivan putting himself in front of Till at all... But I can see him finally being inspired to act on his own, for once, his own rebellion.

At the end of the day though I'm just talking about their mindsets going into it, thinking it'll be to the death. Because we know as the audience that Mizi and Hyuna are on their way to fuck shit up and hopefully free them (maybe the world that Ivan and Till saw on that one night under the meteors can finally open up to them, now that Mizi is out too)

And I also wonder if Mizi wanted to go specifically because those are her friends. The girl that she loved with all her heart, the one she called her universe and her God, is already dead. We saw her grief in MiziSua and we see her resolve now. Beyond getting any sort of revenge on Luka or Alien Stage itself, I think Mizi wants to keep the friends she has left alive.

[salty-an-disco]

“Maybe there’s a key somewhere here…” [Look through the trash in the basement.]

“Maybe. I wouldn’t know.”

The Princess glances at the objects surrounding her; most out of reach.

Voice of the Hero: Maybe someone forgot the key here. Or maybe we can find something that can help us lockpick the chain.

Like a paper clip. Or a thin enough pen. Office workers are known for their fondness for paper clips and pens.

You search through the rubber, the Princess’ curious gaze on your back as you move. There’s something of a wait on the air; an anticipation. Despite her stoic outside, the Princess can’t help but clench her fingers around her dress in hopefulness.

Voice of the Hero: Aww.

Ahem.

Voice of the Hero: Sorry, sorry… Continue with your narration.

Thank you.

It isn’t long before you find a torn paperclip amidst a pile of crumpled up paper. Several, in fact—office workers really like their paper clips.

You take a handful, not sure which one is best fitting for the art of lockpicking. As you turn, the Princess perks her head up, wide unblinking eyes looking directly at you as you approach.

You show her the clips, then, taking her wrist in your hands, turn the shackle in search for the keyhole. Hm.

Voice of the Hero: What?

[Sound of rifling through paper.]

There isn’t any mention of a keyhole…

Voice of the Hero: There should have a keyhole, though, how else did they trap her in here?

Yes, yes, of course. The keyhole is definitely implied but there isn’t a mention of what happens once– [more rifling through paper] Oh, screw it. This script is so barebones anyway, might as well improvise a bit.

After finding the keyhole, you select a particularly thin clip and insert it into the opening.

Voice of the Hero: I think you need two of those to lockpick…

“Here.”

The Princess selects another clip, and inserts it alongside yours.

It takes a few stumbles, but together, the two of you manage to manipulate the mechanisms in the lock. And with a clack, the Princess is free.

“Huh.” She rubs her wrist. “You really did it. I didn’t doubt you, but, it’s still surprising that the first person I ever met also decides to free me. Right after saying you’re here to kill me, no less.”

Voice of the Hero: It was the right thing to do.

[edwinisms]

see I can’t accept charles’ comic background and socioeconomic status as canon for the show because if I did that would mean the whole group would be a bunch of rich kids and that’s a horrifying concept

[winepresswrath]

Every character on this show struggles with feeling unlovable because they're somehow broken or dirty or just put together wrong but for my money the real winners in this terrible competition are Claudia and Armand. There are, I think, a lot of echos between them especially in showverse- parental abandonment, abuse, being rescued and remade by vampires. Armand was one year older than Claudia when a vampire found him in a terrible situation and brought him home. So naturally just as Claudia finds someone she thinks could really love and know all of her Armand is going to kill her in the desperate hope of keeping someone who might love and know all of him.

[dirtytransmasc]

Yes, she decided. The moment she continued to go in his chamber, she could advice him to wed laena instead of trying to have a relationship with him, she could have remember him of his duty. She had a choice as everyone has

clearly logic is something that will not reach you no matter what I say but let's try again shall we.

first off, Viserys married for pleasure, not power or political gain. he knew his duties he knew what was best and had no interest. he married Alicent because that's what he wanted. it would be insanely inappropriate for a girl to advise a king on political matters AND it should not be the job of a 14 year old child to tell a king what he should be doing.

second off, she had a father to please, cause again, to reiterate, she was his daughter and she had a duty to him and her house. this was not a duty she wanted, but she didn't have a choice. she was young but se wasn't stupid she knew what her father expected of her, and if word got back from Viserys that she was actively advising him to marry someone else, she would then not only bring disobeying her father but going against him.

thirdly, and more minorly, "she should have pushed him to marry laena" isn't the gotcha you think it is. laena was even younger than her, and even if it was politically expected of him, still fucking gross.

lastly, cause I apparently can't stress this enough, SHE DIDNT HAVE A CHOICE, plain and simple. she had no agency, she had no power, she had no out, she was at the mercy of her father, she had to obey him, she had to do what he said, even if it meant walking herself to slaughter. once she met with the king, he took a liking to her and DEMANDED her presence, he the DEMANDED her hand. again, there was no point she could have said no. she couldn't say no to her father, she couldn't advise the king (he barely tolerated it when she was literally the queen, let alone if she had just been some girl entertaining him in his chambers), she couldn't deny the king of anything, she didn't have a choice.

she was 14 and scared, 14 and trying to survive, 14 and trying to please her father, 14 and sent to a man 3 times her age's chambers, 14 and lusted after by the king, 14 and knowing of her place in the world and what was expected of her. like every other woman in their history, she couldn't escape, she couldn't, there's no plainer way to say it. she faced her duty with poise and a stiff lip, cause that's what you had to do, but she was just a child.

you can't expect her to have been some radical icon, there were none, women who went against their station in life were punished or killed or put into god awful betrothals to lessen the shame brought to her family. she was a nobleman's daughter, she had a house to bring honor to. she did the heartbreaking thing of giving up, for the benefit of her father and house, doesn't mean she wanted it, doesn't mean it was ok, doesn't mean she isn't deserving of pity. giving in to your duty =/= wanting it.

"she had a choice as everyone has" she had a choice every woman has; accept it with grace, be forced into it, or damn herself to a fate much worse (and that's being generous, most didn't even have that many choices). it's the men who had choices, Otto offered his daughter up, he didn't have to, he had no obligation and nothing to lose if he didn't. Viserys had every choice, he could have married whoever he wanted, he could have denied her the second she entered his chambers. the men in her life had every choice to change her fate, yet they didn't take it, and you would rather blame her over them?

and listen, I know your set in your mindset of victim blaming a child bride who was raped until her husband didn't have the health or stamina to keep it up, and that you'll choose to blame her over the men in her life who damned her to such a fate. nothing I say will ever convince you, cause you clearly hate her past where logic will reach. you can keep sending asks with your terrible takes that have no backing or logic and actively ignore the political and societal state of the times and what it means for her as a young noble girl, and I'll keep answering them cause I have nothing better to do and I'll defend my girl to the grave.