#and yes Bragi will lose | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

blairsanne · 7 months ago

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I think the personality we saw him with at the beginning of season one was a huge defense mechanism. “No one really cares about me, so I’ll just not care back.”

Yes, this exactly! Agreed!

I'm not saying Mike and Michelle should get back together, but I would want to see Michelle open up more to Anders if they stayed together. I could see their relationship being one of the season-long plots; trying to figure out what each other wants, etc.. It would be really cute if they could soften up a bit. I don't have much of an opinion on Hannah as far as her compatibility with Mike, but I did like her in general.

Honestly Loki stressed me the heck out basically every time he showed up. He was the one character that I was always "afraid" of what he'd do to the others. XD I question how the whole "the Johnsons will always beat losers like you" thing works if Ullr is in Asgard...

I didn't mind Helen herself, but once she got with Anders, she went off the deep end, just like Eva did with Ty. I think it's interesting how, in the examples we are given in the canon, it seems like when god-spouses get together, the mortals lose more of their free will and behave in ways that they wouldn't normally. I'm thinking of Eva and Ty (both), Anders and Helen, Anders and Gaia, and also Hannah's discussion of why she had to choose Axl over Mike (some of which is deleted content iirc). Helen acts pretty normal with Ty, but starts getting really obsessed with power, and how much better the gods are than mortals when she's with Anders. Hannah says that the goddess always wins. Eva talks about there being another her inside her that makes her act the way she does in S2 (in the scene where she's crying in bed and tells Ty she wants a baby).

Gaia references "this thing inside" her that's bigger than her, forcing her to be with Anders. Anders talks about dissociating while he's with Gaia and even thinking about how messed up it is as it's happening, saying it was like he was watching himself do it.

To that end, I personally don't think Anders and Gaia (the mortals) had any particular interest in each other, and I believe both of them when they repeatedly say how much they didn't want to do that -both generally, and because they both love Axl so much.

I do find it irritating that Gaia seemingly gets a pass and is often acknowledged as a victim of the gods in the scenario (by the characters in the show), but Anders is blamed and expected to have single-handedly stopped it (despite telling Mike and later Axl that he tried as hard as he could to do so, and wasn't able to).

Unfortunately, Anders is the way he is, so he makes stupid and insensitive remarks while defensive, and that's read as him "not caring" or "enjoying" what happened, but when he's alone I don't think you could say he seems to be carefree and enjoying himself. He looks very stressed/serious and introspective, which I interpret as him trying to deal with the internal conflict of fighting Bragi's will. (Which he fails at.)

I would argue he is also somewhat swayed by Bragi's will when it comes to Helen, because despite them being a lot more compatible, there's tension in their relationship when Helen starts redecorating his apartment, sits in his chair in the office, tells him how to use his powers at the restaurant, and (worst) how Helen sees Dawn as a threat. Anders's decision to send Dawn away can be interpreted as him trying to protect her, and/or him choosing Idun over her.

It is surprising to me, then, that he's able to break up with Helen and decide to bring Dawn back (and he seems relieved to get to claim it was Ty's idea, imo). Considering the way Anders doesn't seem to know anything about Helen after she's died, I get the impression that Anders and Helen (the mortals) weren't all that close either, despite Bragi and Idun being so into each other. (They basically just slept together a lot and tried to make money?) It's such a weird and crunchy idea that I wish we could have seen more examples of.

Ty and Eva, as the main other example (since we don't see that much of Hannah) also painted Eva as the evil one in the relationship, as though she was personally doing something to Ty, when it was Hel and Hod that were both influencing them.

The Eva we meet in S1 is not the person she is by the time she is killed, and the cause of that change is Hel meeting Hod. She's blamed for the behaviour changes in Ty, and who can blame the characters (and in many ways the audience) for thinking that when we have known Ty so much longer and better -- but I would say that if you really pay attention, and especially with the other examples as context, Eva is just as much of a victim as Ty in the scenario (well, more, since she does get murdered, but not the point I'm getting at). Something Ty himself seems to feel in some scenes. Despite being in love with Dawn, Ty is loyal to Eva and I think that's as much Ty being a sweetheart as it is Hod exerting his will.

Olaf said that it always ends badly for Idun, but I tend to wonder if it doesn't just always end badly for all parties when the god spouses meet.

Man, this show is just so interesting!

I just finished my first rewatch of taj. This time around, I noticed more than the first time I watched. I was actually paying more attention to the storyline instead of just watching Dean in every scene and how good he looked lol.

I felt bad for Anders and how everyone treated him, even up until the last episode. Yeah there were times when he acted like a prick but hey that’s his character and I understand him putting up a wall and acting the way he does because if how others treat him. Still loved Ty. Yeah at times it was a little creepy with his approach to Dawn but I love the ending how it all turned out for them. Still cried. Mike, still can’t stand him. I think this time around I found him even more annoying. I almost got to the point where I had to wither mute when he was talking or just outright skip it lol. Axl was better this time around. First time I found him really annoying but this time he was better. Love Zeb, hilarious! Love all the goddesses still, except Gaia. Don’t even get me started on her! Especially the storyline with her and Anders. Nope hated that part, couldn’t watch it this time.

I loved it even more this time around! Since finishing it, it got me thinking about it they did go ahead with a season 4 and what would play out. I would’ve loved to see how each of them adapted to their life now without their god powers and who would embrace the new change, who would struggle the most, would they change anything about their life or try and keep it steady? Who knows!? And then what about Axl moving back in with Zeb, do you think he’d eventually start telling him everything or just leave that all in the past and build a new friendship? What are your thoughts on if they did another season and what they would tackle?

Yay, talking about TAJ is one of my favourite things!!

I fully agree re: Anders. I often feel sad for him when people who watch the show accept his brothers' opinions of him as fact, despite Anders himself repeatedly trying to tell them that he does the right thing often, that he's trying to protect them, etc. -- and the audience even being shown that effort on his part multiple times. It grinds my gears that other characters thinking Anders is a shallow jerk is taken as a statement of fact from the writers and not, y'know, the character's opinion.

Anders may not have the same set of ethics as Mike, but he clearly has his own set of ethics (which he brings up in S2 when he's uncomfortable with Helen's ideas for his powers, in S3 with Colin's ideas for his powers, etc...) and doesn't see his own actions the way his brothers interpret them, and I think it's a very uncharitable reading of his character to think of him as flat and selfish, instead of the very complex character that was actually written into the show, with flaws and good points and complicated family dynamics where mostly there's a lot of misunderstanding of each other going on. I could probably ramble on about that forever, but I'll refrain.

Mainly I wish that viewers would take Anders word for it what his own motivations are, because he does outright state them at multiple points, right from the first season where he explains that the thing that got him BANISHED FROM HIS FAMILY was done in an attempt to protect Mike.

I really disliked Mike my first viewing, because I felt like he caused a lot of strife for other characters by being inflexible and believing he knew best. As I've rewatched, I've come to better appreciate his character and the immense burden he bears. I think his attempt at controlling his family is his own way of trying to protect them, and that this was caused by the events surrounding both the toxic relationship of his parents and that he was forced to be the head of the family at age 21. (I still get annoyed with him during the S3 Odin contest stuff but I also headcanon that it was a "fate" thing to force Odin and Frigg together.) I try to remind myself that every character on the show thinks they are in the right, and why that might be.

I have a theory about Gaia, but that's a whole other essay lmao.

My answers to your questions re: S4 will be somewhat colored by the deleted scene from the final episode, which reveals what Colin was doing tossing a red gem on the ground before the Ga.

In the deleted scene (which they filmed in case they got renewed for S4), Loki comes out of the gem, and we were left with Loki and Colin standing in the woods, apparently about to cause some problems.

With that in mind, I have to assume that the Johnsons would discover Loki was in Midgard and try to do soemthing about it. I further assume that at least some of the other characters would have god spirits inhabit them again (mainly because that's more interesting than them coming back to Earth on their own and interacting with mortal Johnsons).

I think it would be REALLY interesting if they didn't necessarily get the gods they had the first time around. Maybe Odin doesn't want to leave Asgard, so Axl becomes another god. Maybe Freki, just for the lols. Maybe they find some new McGuffin that allows other mortals (liek Zeb and Dawn) to take on god spirits!

Re: Zeb and Axl living together, given how long their friendship was, I headcanon that - much like Dawn - Zeb would eventually start to remember Axl, and maybe everything. Alternatively, maybe part of the season is Axl finding a way to make Zeb remember!

Just re: the Johnsons being mortal in general, I have a bit of a hc where, since Mike's career wasn't based on his powers, he'd go back to construction (maybe rebuild the bar to sell it), and Axl would work for him. Anders (who I assume does know how to do his job, despite no longer being able to just Bragi his clients) might even do promo for the construction business. Ty could still be a courier, and as the only one to actually live as a mortal since turning 21, I think he'd have the easiest time of it, especially with Dawn remembering him and all.

I think initially there would be a lot of razzing Mike by challenging him to games and beating him, but overall I think Mike might actually feel really happy to get to be included in those games again after so long. I think losing Ullr would really help Mike chill out. Or, at least, I hope that for him.

I don't really see Michele and Anders working out long term unless Michele started to take Anders seriously. She didn't really seem to understand him very well even in S3. I did feel like Anders seemed to want a more serious relationship (not necessarily that he wanted what Ty or Mike would want, but just that he seemed to be looking for emotional connection in S3, and not only physical, perhaps because of the whole Idun plot?) so I could see with not having Bragi anymore that he might settle down a bit and get a gf. I've always sort of thought maybe mortal women didn't seem like suitable gf material to him because they couldn't know about everything going on (like he saw how being with Val was complicated for Mike) and that's why they're always little flings. We do see him treat Michele and Helen pretty well imo (not cheating on them, taking them seriously as people, etc.), so I thought maybe he would do better with a goddess gf. (See Lofn fic lmao)

Ahhh that was a lot of rambling, but I'm always happy to talk more about TAJ!! Thanks for the ask :)

#the almighty johnsons

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ulirblood · 2 years ago

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edain priestess meta

hi fellas, it’s mental illness hour.

so this meta post is really going to be focused on the priestess aspect of edain’s character. while she does follow a lot of the stereotypes of a healer that fire emblem tends to have — graceful pretty holy woman who also happens to be a pacifist is not a one time type for the series — i do think she is still a very unique and strong character. there’s a reason that i muse her and not any other fire emblem healer here in toa.

with the premise of this meta post set up, let’s get started!

the most interesting thing to me about edain is her background with her family, and how that drives her to become a priestess. one of the first things you learn about her after/when you recruit her is that she initially started out training as a knight. then in the same conversation you learn that she became a priestess in order to find her sister.

( from Chapter 1 — Girl of The Spirit Forest / Sigurd & Edain )

Edain:

“No, I’m staying. There’s bound to be more injuries further along. I want to help others in the service of the Lord.”

Sigurd:

“Edain… Didn’t you leave the knighthood to become a nun? I think it suits you perfectly. I’d do well to learn a thing or two from you myself.”

Edain:

“Actually, the sole reason I joined the nunnery is… Well, it’s to aid the chances of finding my sister.”

i’m not going to post the whole conversation here, but i think this is a pretty good telling of edain’s character. it’s not much substance but it’s enough that you can infer a decent amount about her personality and what not. she is somewhat of a holy woman yes, but to me i don’t think she was like that before she joined the nunnery. the game doesn’t tell us how long edain was in knighthood but i honestly don’t think it was for very long.

why? well it’s obvious that edain became a nun because she wanted to find her sister no matter what. (i promise this is relevant)—

( from Chapter 3 — Eldigan, The Lionheart / Brigid & Edain)

Edain:

“Yes! I’m your twin sister! You were taken by pirates when you were just 5 years old! I’ve been looking for you for such a long time.”

they’re twin sisters, so we can obviously gleam from this that edain lost her sister when she was five herself. keeping that in mind… i imagine that, from a young age she expressed interest in becoming a knight because of the stories told to her about them. it was probably a pretty high honor to be a knight of house yngvi, and edain wasn’t set to inherit her father’s position thanks to her minor holy blood— brigid was. i also imagine that she thinks she would be able to protect her family as a knight of house yngvi.

however, she would lose that hope of protecting her family as a knight after losing her sister to the sea. her training to be a knight (as little as she had at age five, i’m sure she didn’t do much beyond some reading) would all be for nothing. i think she still goes at knighthood for a while longer while keeping hope that brigid was still out there… but as hope of her sister still being alive is slowly lost in others i think she starts to turn to nunnery.

so, here’s a little timeline to get my thoughts together

Age 4: starts expressing interest in becoming a knight

Age 5: loses her sister to the sea, same year that she starts actually learning anything about knighthood (mostly just reading lessons)

Age 6 — 12: formal physical training. edain could probably wield a bow if she needed to thanks to these years in knighthood.

Age 13: quits knighthood, joins the nunnery instead.

to me, she continues training to knighthood up until her father starts to give up on brigid being alive. she doesn’t think she can do anything as a knight and refuses to lose hope that brigid is still alive and out there somewhere, so she becomes a nun instead.

now, i don’t think she’s your typical nun. while she does say she wants to help others in the service of the lord… i don’t think she necessarily has that much of an attachment to bragi. she really doesn’t mention bragi at all within the script, so i think her attachment to nunnery is more towards being able to help others. obviously bragi is The Religion in grannvale so perhaps she believes her healing powers are thanks to the lord (bragi) but in my mind her prayers are really dedicated to the crusader ullr and her loved ones. she has hope in others and so she prays based on that.

during her time in the nunnery, she really learns to embrace the role of a healer— a caretaker. i imagine that house yngvi put lots of emphasis on how impressive true knighthood was so she never thought about how she might be able to protect her loved ones with healing instead of fighting.

and here’s where her pacifism comes in baby! edain really hates seeing people get hurt, and i don’t think she realized what being a Proper knight would be like until after she leaves knighthood. it hurts to see other people in harm’s way, and she doesn’t enjoy hurting other people either. the nunnery helps her realize that she doesn’t have to hurt others to help them, to protect them.

so even after she finds brigid, the sole reason she had joined the nunnery in the first place, she doesn’t go back to knighthood. she finds that she doesn’t need to, because she much more appreciates the capability to rid her loved ones of her wounds than she does appreciate the capability to kill others in order to protect them.

#{ headcanons. }#{ edain in my fucking brain. help }

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shardweavers · 4 years ago

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Chapter Four - Pray Return to the First

"I implore you: allow me to join you beyond the rift!"

"G'raha," came the response; hesitant and caring, "It's very dangerous. We can't promise you'll be safe. Why would you risk such a journey with us?"

"I have something I wish to find. An answer," he trailed off as he reached up to his right eye; its ruby color perfectly matched his hair. "Truthfully... the more I learn of the Crystal Tower, the less I am myself. I feel consumed with remembering... something. Something ancient, but ever so important. A-And I know... somehow... my answers will be in there; with Unei and Doga."

"We'll certainly rescue them, along with Nero."

"I know you will," the Sharlayan Miqo'te smiled, then flicked his tail. "I've only known you all a short time, but you've inspired a great change in me. I've seen it in others too," he fidgeted slightly, then crossed his arms over his chest. "I just want to finish what's been started. I must learn the truth that history hides from me. I would see this journey--our journey--through to the very end with mine own two eyes. I shan't cause you any worry in the World of Darkness."

"We'll protect you, G'raha," the response was warm, and caring, "We'll make sure you find whatever it is that you need to find, and make it home with us."

He smiled at their words, then wiggled his ears and flicked his tail as he put a hand on his hip triumphantly; as confident and prideful as he was, their words always managed to stir something within him. He believed everything they said to him, and knew he could entrust them with just about anything.

THUD!

The Crystal Exarch jumped, his ears perked straight up and his tail fluffed beneath his robes. His ruby eyes opened wide, then looked around for the source of the sudden noise.

"Ah! My Lord, I'm terribly sorry," Lyna jumped, her long ears twitched slightly as she quickly saluted.

"L-Lyna, what are," the Exarch trailed off, then shook his head. He saw the pile of books that had fallen over from his desk; the Viis must have bumped them when she leaned over to check on him.

"I came to check on you, and saw you were asleep at your desk. It's nearly mid-day," she explained, but got no further. The Exarch stood up swiftly at her last words, then spoke quickly.

"Mid-day?! I slept too long, I still have preparations to make," the Miqo'te turned to grab his staff from its resting place against the wall. "Lyna, notify the Master of Suites that our Warriors of Darkness will be staying with us again," he put his staff on his back, then paused. "Where is Beq Lugg? They were reading with me when I fell asleep," his expression was slightly embarrassed, but he looked to the Viis Captain expectantly.

She had saluted at his order, then paused to think, "I didn't see them when I came in, perhaps they went to market for something?" She tilted her head slightly. He looked thoughtful at her suggestion. After a moment of silence, she spoke up once more, "My Lord, is there aught else?"

"Do you think they would prefer sandwiches or pastries with tea this afternoon...?" The Exarch stared off to the side, at the few tomes still on his desk. Lyna blinked, then chuckled. He blushed slightly, then stepped around the desk, "Forgive me, Lyna, I'd like to ask you to pick up the tomes a bit. I must gather what I can for our meeting once they've arrived," he smiled at the Viis.

She nodded to his request, then smiled back, "Go, My Lord, make ready for their arrival. I will pick up the books I knocked over, then relay your message to the Manager."

"Ah, thank you, Lyna," his ears perked straight up, then he turned to hurry off to the Markets. She was left alone quickly, and sighed towards the door.

"You don't hide your excitement very well," she smiled as she knelt down to pick up the books, "I've been rather happy seeing you like this, though." She placed some of the books on the desk, then reached for the last few. One was open beside the desk. It looked to be fresh ink on the page, as some of it had been smudged in the fall to the floor. The Viis recognized the Exarch's handwriting, and realized that she could read the strange script it was written in. He'd taught her how to read through his books; most of which were written in various scripts; this looked like what he had called 'Eorzean', the most common script in his books. Lyna picked up the book carefully, then began to read before she had a thought that perhaps she shouldn't.

Observer's Log

The Scions of the Seventh Dawn remain trapped here on the First. Despite my best efforts, I have hit another wall. The Warriors have once more returned to the Source. Beq Lugg and I have been scouring through Allagan history and research in the Tower Library. There have been some promising discoveries.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying this just a little, despite the reason for it. It has been quite a long time since I have done this sort of research. Not since I was granted the title of Archon have I felt so involved in my work. I can recall the first days I had access to the forbidden tomes. I got lost reading as much as I could. I wonder if I feared losing access as I spent days alone in there, and had to be dragged back to my room. When I awoke, I was quite harshly scolded by Krile.

Enough of the past. What Beq Lugg and I have come to agree upon is that my Allagan heritage may be the key to returning the Scions home safely. We believe if we can successfully infuse the white auracite vessels with my blood, it may allow the safe transference of soul and mind back to their bodies on the Source.

I am happy we prevented the 8th Umbral Calamity that claimed the lives of the Warriors of Light, and necessitated my awakening to undo... but I would also be lying if I said I did not wish to go with them at all. Ever since I once more laid my eyes upon them, my heart has ached to pass through the portal beside them whenever they leave.

Perhaps, when the time comes, I might infuse a 6th vessel. I worry, though, is it okay for me to feel this selfish...? It's almost as if my very soul aches to return home, in a way I have never felt before. I must think on this, for the only way to do so would be to entrust everything to the Warriors my friends once again.

There was an ink smudge at the bottom, perhaps from where he'd fallen asleep while writing. Lyna felt sad as she realized what this said. She flipped only a single page back to find his notes on seeking out Beq Lugg in the Grand Cosmos, and how he was "nervous, but excited to join them in their adventures again, even for a brief time". He never spoke of his own thoughts and desires, but he had been writing them down. She carefully put this book back on the desk, then saluted the empty chair.

"Perhaps it may be best if I pull back from you, My Lord. This means enough to you to be selfish for even a moment." She smiled sadly, then turned away from the desk, "Though I would miss you terribly if you were to leave. It... is not my place... to ask you to stay."

* * * 'Ah, Beq Lugg was right, I may have been overdoing it lately.' It had been days since he last left the Tower, and he felt it in his back as he paused on the stairs from the Quadrivium. He composed himself, and looked over to the nearby stalls thoughtfully. It gave him a moment's rest, but he realized he still hadn't decided which sort of treat to serve with tea. He enjoyed sweets, as did his friends, but perhaps a sandwich with tea would be a nice lunch.

"My Lord?"

"Ah! Yes, Bragi?" He turned to the Ronso that stood beside him. He'd been slightly startled by the sudden voice, but usually managed to keep himself fairly well-composed outside of the Tower.

Bragi gestured welcomingly, "You seemed lost in thought this afternoon. Is there aught I might assist with?" The Exarch looked a bit more thoughtful at that. The Ronso tilted his head a little.

"Actually, perhaps you could," he flicked his ears slightly, then explained, "Our Warriors of Darkness will be returning this afternoon. I was of a mind to discuss things over tea when they did, but I have been stuck on sweets or sandwiches as the proper accompaniment." He put his crystal hand to his chin; his expression gave a weight to such a trivial decision that Bragi felt unsure how to immediately respond. He did, however, come up with a suggestion, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Perhaps a basket of various baked goods might be a good compromise...?"

"A basket," the Miqo'te trailed off, then looked up at the Ronso. His gaze drifted off to the side, to Hanji-Fae's bakery stall. His expression lightened, and he gave Bragi a thankful smile. "Ah! Of course! Thank you, Bragi." He fidgeted slightly, "Perhaps it was a bit silly of me to get stuck on such a decision."

"Nonsense, My Lord," the Ronso interrupted, "We, all of us, are grateful to them for the return of the night sky." He looked up to the blue crystal canopy, the clear blue sky was visible around the edges of it, but most of the city was protected from weather. "Even now, many of us worry over what we can offer them while they are here, and if it will be good enough." Bragi smiled reassuringly to the worried Exarch, "We were also extremely grateful to see you return safely with them."

A pang of guilt tightened his chest, "I was... grateful to return... with them."

"I admit, I hadn't expected a Mystel under that hood," Bragi took a breath to continue, but was interrupted by an Elven female's voice.

"Aha~! I've finally found you!"

The Exarch stiffened slightly, his ears stood up straight at the sudden voice from behind. He turned quickly, and barely suppressed a wince at the sudden movement.

"Katliss, why were you looking for me...?"

"Have you an answer for me yet, Lord?"

"Pray forgive me," the Exarch smiled apologetically, "I have been quite busy lately." Katliss sighed with a half smile, then shook her head.

"The Artisans of the Mean have completed some designs for the commemoration of the night sky's return, but you haven't given us an answer." The Elf smirked, then put a hand out to the side as if holding something, "Would you prefer to be on coin," she put her other hand out to the other side, "or an automaton?"

The Exarch sighed, then frowned a little, "It would hardly be fair to take that sort of credit for such a feat. I sincerely appreciate your intentions, but I would prefer neither option." He smiled reassuringly, "Perhaps you should prepare to help the Warriors of Darkness this evening. They shall be returning anon, and I really must gather something for them to eat when they arrive."

"They're coming back so soon? Of course we'll prepare anything they should require," Katliss smiled, despite being sad at the repeated rejection from the Exarch. "That's only the third time you've said no, though. I'm certain one of the designs will change your mind, My Lord." She gave a small wave, then hurried off to head back to the Crystalline Mean.

Bragi nodded after she left, "I'll spread the word through the Markets for you as well. Let them know if they need anything at all, they can browse and stock up here whenever they are able," he crossed his arms, "After all, it seems like you'll be speaking with them for a while if you're buying food for their return."

"A-Ah," the red-eyed Miqo'te nodded, then gave as reassuring a smile as he could after Katliss' fluster. He hurried off towards the Culinarian's shop, his back feeling slightly better than when he left. "My desk is not the most comfortable place for a nap... which just means I need to finish my research that much faster." He mumbled to himself, then smiled as he stopped in front of the counter. He decided on half and half, as per Bragi's suggestion, and added a box of tea he could brew back at the Tower. He had just the kettle for the perfect brew, one which he often used.

* * * Ice was the first to arrive through the portal in the Ocular; immediately behind him was his husband, Angel. The Warrior looked around at the empty room, noting how brilliantly the crystal walls shone. He smiled, then turned to make sure his husband had made it through okay. Angel had stepped through, then immediately moved aside to clear the way. The White Mage curled his tail a bit, happy at the thought of seeing their friend G'raha again after their time away from the First. He did frown a little at the empty Ocular, then turned his ears a bit to listen for a voice or familiar sound.

"Ah, we seem to be the first to arrive, he looked around the room a little, "Do you think we're a bit too early?" The tip of his tail flicked back and forth, thoughtfully, "Or did we miss them at Mor Dhona?"

Ice looked thoughtful in response, but didn't get a chance to respond, as Shoto stepped through the portal a moment later. Angel's ears perked, and he smiled at her arrival. Yuki, then Sumire, followed immediately after her; the three of them took in the surroundings of the Ocular for a moment. The female Miqo'te's eyes fell upon the two Keepers nearby. She immediately waved with so much energy that it brought her on her the tips of her toes; a moment later, she bounded over to them in excitement.

"Angel! Ice! I'm glad to see you both!" The female Seeker jumped and threw her arms around the dark-haired Keeper's shoulders. Angel's ears briefly pinned back in surprise, but he smiled and returned Shoto's hug a moment later. Ice just shook his head, "I see how it is. No love for me." He chuckled to himself as his tail wagged playfully behind him, "I'm just glad to see you are doing well."

"I am too, Shoto," Angel added. "We've been worried about you, but you seem to be feeling a bit better now."

Yuki couldn't hold back a smirk while she shook her head at the sight of their leader bounding off in such a way. "Well, it seems like she is in bright spirits at least," she said to Sumire, who was still at her side.

The purple-haired Miqo'te grinned at the Viera in response, "What's this? You showing concern over another person's well being in front of other people?" He teased, his tail flicked slightly.

"Come now!" Yuki immediately crossed her arms defensively in a pout, "I'm not that heartless. Is it so hard to believe that I would show concern for our friend?" Sumire just smiled, then patted her gently on the arm, "I jest! Mostly. C'mon, let's join the others." The two made their way over to the group as they all awaited the Exarch's arrival to the Ocular.

They would only wait another few moments before the doors to the Ocular swung open. The Exarch returned with Lyna. She carefully guided a small cart into the room with her. The red-haired Miqo'te smiled at his friends, though he said nothing just yet. Lyna stopped in the middle of the group, then made sure the cart was settled. On the top was the basket of half and half baked goods. The scent of sweets immediately drew Angel's attention to the basket. Lyna saluted, as the Exarch raised a hand.

"Thank you for the help, Lyna, I may have overdone it a little..."

"Nonsense, My Lord, it is my pleasure to assist. Though... the wonderful smell has made me want to go pick up something as well after my shift," she smiled to the Warriors, then saluted them as well. "Welcome back. We've missed you all. Pray call on me should you need anything." The Viis turned to hurry out. The Exarch watched as she closed the doors behind her. He didn't turn around immediately.

"I most certainly did overdo it," he glanced back over his shoulder, "I got delayed several times in the course of the day. I sincerely apologize that I was not here to greet you all." His ears flicked, and his guard relaxed slightly. A smile crossed his face as he turned further to gesture to the cart, "I wanted to make sure there was something to eat when you arrived. I wasn't... sure what might be best, but I thought the cart could serve as a table while we spoke." He stood, then fidgeted slightly, his tail fluffed a bit more than usual... though, that was really only noticeable to him against his own leg. It wasn't that he didn't have a topic to discuss; after all, he had asked Feo Ul to contact them about returning; it was more that there were a few topics to discuss, and he was trying to sort out a good starting point.

Ice simply smiled at the Exarch in response. It felt like it hadn't been that long ago when they ventured to the Grand Cosmos to meet Beq Lugg. There had been nothing much for it but to leave the Nu Mou and the Miqo'te to research on the soul; ways of preserving and transporting it, along with their memories.

"It's quite alright," the Warrior spoke to break the thoughtful silence that had fallen over the room. "I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we appreciate it." The Exarch blinked; the words helped to reset his train of thought, as well as relax him a little. He smiled back, then put a finger to his chin.

"First, I believe tea and snacks are in order. Please, take what you would like," he gestured to the cart. Yuki nodded to the suggestion, then tugged at Sumire's sleeve. The Seeker stood from his seat on the steps that he had just taken, and reluctantly followed the Viera over to the cart.

The Exarch pulled cups from the shelf below, and handed her one at a time as she poured tea for whoever would like some. She handed the filled cups to Sumire so she didn't have to turn around. Shoto happily accepted one, along with a danish, then moved back to be beside Angel. The White Mage sniffed at the sweet smell of her treat, then flicked his ears thoughtfully. Ice reached up to pat his husband's head, then headed over to the cart to pick something for them both.

Though everyone anticipated the Exarch's words, Yuki spoke first, "Any updates on our friends' return?"

Shoto paused, then looked up from her tea cup to hear the response. She had recently checked in with Tataru and Krile, and learned their bodies were still stable; for the moment; but the link between their souls and bodies was beginning to grow notably weaker.

"Yes," the Exarch nodded, "Beq Lugg and I are presently studying the principles underpinning memory transference and, I believe, nearing the requisite level of understanding, thanks to the Tower Library. Urianger and Y'shtola have also given input and clarity when the words began to blur from staring bells too long at the same pages," he flicked an ear, then tilted his head a bit. "It will definitely require my Allagan heritage if this is to stand a chance of being successful. The result will be a crystal vessel imbued with my essence."

"That sounds complicated," Sumire frowned as he held a second cup of tea for Ice to take. The Exarch nodded in response.

"It has proven... frustrating, to put it mildly. Practical trials of transference methods suited for use with the vessel," he thought for a moment, then finished his sentence, "have yet to yield... satisfactory results..." He found himself forcefully handed a cup of tea from Yuki. He blinked again, then gratefully took the tea, and smiled, "Though it may take some time yet, we are well on our way to a solution," he looked down to the tea in his cup, "And I swear that I shall not rest until one is found."

* * * Elsewhere in the Crystarium, far from this happy scene, a weakened shoebill flapped its wings as it came to a rest atop a high railing on the outer walls, its chest heaving for breath… An all-too-familiar shoebill, whose avian form was but a mask.

Hades felt like he was growing weaker by the second, but, at least in this smaller, bestial form, he could still fly. Though it was exhausting. By Zodiark, he hoped he was right, that they weren't already gone somehow, returned to the Source and lost to him forever. No, no, they were a sentimental lot, they must still be hanging around...

He mustered all the strength left in his wings for a short upward flight, and this time came to rest much closer to the Crystal Tower itself... good, a perfect vantage point, one which let him see most of the Crystarium without much effort.

A pity that, unless his vision were failing him (how weak would he become, severed from his wholeness as he was?!), he could spy neither hide nor hair of them in the city's wide expanse. Cursing mentally, the bird then turned his attention towards the Tower itself, towards some method of egress... squinting, he spied one of many small air shafts higher up on the tower. And here was one he could easily get through…! Perfect.

The bird's eyes narrowed as he opened his wings once more, rising into the air, then once he was in position, angled himself for a slow dive, and drifted almost indolently downward towards and into the air shaft, emerging inside the tower proper, into the presence of the blue and gold spiral staircase that snaked its way through the entire tower.

It felt like forever since he had visited here, but still, the layout was familiar enough. He spotted another ventilation shaft as he flew over the stairs. If he remembered everything correctly, it should lead to the Ocular.

Yes. Perhaps if he spied on the Exarch, he could find the adventurers he sought.

The Shoebill flapped hard and dove into this second shaft, but fumbled on his landing near the end of it, wobbling as he came to a full rest and ruffling his feathers. He waddled slowly towards the sharp drop off that led into the Ocular. Stopping at the edge, he looked down through the beams of the chandelier, taking in the sight of several familiar figures gathered below...

They were all standing near each other, save for the red and white-haired Miqo'te in his ridiculous robes, still wearing that great, ornamented staff. The Allagan-blooded fool they called the Crystal Exarch; "G'raha Tia", the adventurers had named him...? Oh, he recalled that one well enough...his power over the Crystal Tower and his enigmatic nature had been the most vexing mystery the former Ascian had had for a time.

Now the shoebill turned his attention to the others standing around the Exarch. His eyes moved over to the two near the cart. A white haired Viera and a purple haired Miqo'te; if he recalled correctly, they went by the names Yuki and Sumire. He recognized the two male Miqo'te Keepers as well; he watched as Ice walked over to Angel with tea cups. They had all been present towards the journey to slay the Lightwardens. However, it was the one enjoying her tea beside Angel that had the most familiar presence; the one who'd bedeviled him from the beginning. The one who'd always made him feel at odds with himself, always made him question the works of his own hands.

The one who had dealt the final blow, pierced through his heart and struck him down amidst the ruins of Amaurot.

The one that had ended his... suffering.

Shoto.

She was the one whose shard was so damnably close to...

The shoebill, knowing the darkness of the ceiling and its shadows would hide him, remained silent, watching them all.

Waiting...

* * * 'What was that...?'

Before the conversation could continue, the Exarch paused, then looked to the door. He could tell someone or something had entered the Ocular, as he and Beq Lugg had made a Ward to protect their research, and the vessels, within the Umbilicus. His ruby eyes focused, then quickly scanned the room; he could find nothing amiss. He put his finger to his chin and sat his half-drank cup of tea down on the cart.

'That's odd... I was certain...'

"G'raha?" Angel's worried voice broke the silence. He had noticed the Exarch's distraction, "Is everything okay?"

The distracted Miqo'te's ear flicked at his name, spoken by his friend. He nodded as he quickly turned his attention back to the group.

"Everything's fine," he smiled to reassure them; in fact, to make a point of it being fine, he picked his cup up again, then drank a bit more. Once he placed the cup back on the saucer he gestured slightly, "In fact, I would ask a favor of you. There is still much to be done here on the First since the return of the night sky. This world still needs help to get back on track."

Ice beamed as he refilled Angel's cup; he made sure to stir in extra sugar, then took it and a glazed donut back to his husband. Angel nodded happily, as he took the refilled tea and the donut. Ice looked back to the Exarch.

"You know you can count us in!" Angel simply nodded along with a soft smile as he agreed, then nipped some of his donut.

Sumire chimed in as well, "You have my lance too, G'raha!" He smiled as he sat his empty cup down. Yuki immediately tugged his ear at his informal tone. "Er. Right, I forgot," he rubbed his ear, blushed, then looked to the Viera, apologetically. The Exarch blinked, confused; he didn't mind so much when they were alone here, but also didn't want to be too picky with what his friends could call him. Unlike the others, however, Sumire tended to forget where he was, and had confused quite a few people along the way by referring to the Exarch by his name. He had agreed to try to stay consistent with 'Exarch' so he wouldn't confuse anyone... of course, that was mainly between himself and Yuki for now.

"What he means is that you have our support as well." Yuki nodded, then crossed her arms over her chest; one hand still holding her tea cup. The Exarch brought up a hand to conceal a chuckle at the interaction between the two.

He smiled, then nodded, "I appreciate the gesture." "I see I'm the last to get a say in," Shoto folded her arms, then smiled at the Exarch, "but you know that I am also in full support wherever I'm needed."

"Despite knowing that you would help, it nevertheless heartens me to hear your reassurances," the Exarch smiled, a bit of relief crossed his face. "Thank you, my friends. Let us begin, then." He looked to each of them and took a breath to settle his thoughts. "As you are all aware, the Scions have not been idle either. Alphinaud has been helping Chai-Nuzz in Eulmore. Urianger and Y'shtola have been off doing some research of their own and sending me reports on what they've found interesting. Thancred and Ryne have mostly been helping to monitor and maintain Eden since you restored the elements to The Empty." He looked to the Miqo'te couple, "Angel, Ice, I'd like you two to travel to Amh Araeng." The two nodded in response. The Exarch continued his assignment, "First, check-in with our contact in Mord Souq to see if there are any new developments. Thancred, Ryne, and Gaia may also be around if there have been. If they aren't there, then rendezvous with Alisaie at Journey's End to see how things are progressing. Alisaie has been working with Beq Lugg to administer treatments to those affected by the Sin Eaters," he blinked and stopped, then flicked his ears back slightly as he realized what he'd just said, "Ah! That's right. They were going to check in on Alisaie's progress today. That must be where they went..."

There was a brief moment of silence before Shoto spoke, "Exarch?"

"Ah! Right," he looked over to the female Miqo'te after she drew his attention, "Shoto, I would like for you, Yuki, and Sumire to travel to Eulmore and rendezvous with Alphinaud. Once you've checked in with him, I'd like for you to head onward to the Tempest and check in with our Ondo friends regarding Emet-Selch's recreation of Amaurot."

"Is something happening to it?" Yuki asked, as she put aside her empty cup. The red-haired Miqo'te shook his head slightly, a concerned look crossed his face.

"No, and that's what concerns me."

"I don't get it," Sumire tilted his head.

The Exarch crossed his arms, "With Emet-Selch's defeat, we assumed that the magicks used to keep it around would begin to fade. Yet, upon a recent scrying, I noticed there was no sign of change. The area shows no sign of weakening as expected, though, for a blessing, it does not seem to be gaining in aetheric density nor expanding. I'd like you to see if the Ondo have noticed anything strange in the area as of late."

Yuki nodded, "Understood," the Viera shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Shoto's hands curled tighter around her teacup as she continued to listen to the discussion and began to think on the Exarch's words. That strange ache in her chest returned at the mention of Emet-Selch. Her eyes focused on the swirl of liquid in her tea cup. Things had been different, ever since Ardbert's soul had rejoined with her. She'd noticed strange things... yet she hadn't wanted to tell anyone else; it felt silly. They reminded her of things they had learned about in Amaurot from the shades; Creation Magic.

Angel seemed similarly focused on the remaining part of his donut; almost to the exclusion of all else. Ice and Sumire both seemed equally thoughtful, yet not as intensely so as Shoto and Angel were. Yuki looked around to the others as she thought about everything so far. She turned back to the Exarch and broke the thoughtful silence first.

"Have you asked Urianger or Y'shtola their opinions?"

"I have," he nodded, "I contacted Y'shtola to ask for her advice on the matter, and she believes she may have new information from some recently rediscovered Ronkan ruins, but would like a bit more time to speak with Urianger and interpret what she and the Viis of Rak'tika found." He looked to the mirror on the back wall, "While she was here, she mentioned that she could see another presence of Amaurotine ruins; they were similar to the ruins that make up the Ondo Cups. It was farther into the depths; farther even than recreation of Amaurot." He fidgeted slightly, then flicked one ear, "While I am able to see a general view of the area, I have yet to be able to focus under the water, and I'm afraid that it's too far from the Tower for me to investigate. It was only due to Y'shtola's vision that we found it at all."

"New ruins...?" Ice's eyes went wide at the mention of more ruins, farther out than Amaurot. He shifted to step forward excitedly, and broke Angel's focus on his donut, "Do you think they might lead to more information on the Ancients like the shades and what we learned in Akadaemia Anyder?"

Angel looked up to his husband with a confused blink. Ice's question snapped Shoto's attention back from her thoughts; perhaps, this would be a good chance to learn more? Maybe she could even find some answers to her own questions.

The Exarch nodded to Ice in return, "It's distinctly possible. Y'shtola has plans to arrive in Eulmore as well, as she is quite interested in these new ruins herself. Once there, you can all journey forth together." He paused, then looked among the group a bit sadly, "Would that I could join you in exploring, alas, I must continue my trials here if we are to send everyone home safely."

* * * The shoebill had been straining to listen to the group below, moving from foot to foot impatiently. Yes, yes, all kinds of assignments and adventures for the intrepid Warriors of Light and Darkness, and their companions. This shard dearly needed "repairs", perhaps more than most others; none of this was new or particularly interesting, and none of it provided a moment he might dramatically emerge and demand information in.

Though... Amaurot. That mention struck a chord, all too sharply, and kept his gaze focused on Shoto. Kept it so focused on Shoto that he almost didn't notice that the image of her blurred with his waning consciousness. Damn it all. Even though he had taken on this smaller form, his strength continued to leave him; the injuries he'd sustained now caused him pain even as a bird. He struggled to remain standing... and he definitely wasn't going to keep his balance on this ledge.

Not now, he thought, but it was no use--he teetered over as he made a small squawk! noise. A rush of wind moved against his feathers. He was falling... falling down to the floor below.

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four-loose-screws · 5 years ago

Text

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 9 Part 2

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———————————

Chapter 9 - And So, the Door of Fate Opens...

Part 2

Sigurd thought over the meaning of his father’s words as he traveled back the way he came, and made it back to camp just as the sun began to rise.

Oifey caught sight of him, and rushed up to him. “We couldn’t find you! We were so worried! Where did you go?”

“Huh? Oh. ...I just needed some time to think.”

“You look very tired. Please take some time to rest…”

“I can’t. We must defeat Lombard today.”

“But you should rest for a bit! We can storm the castle in the afternoon.”

“No, we must go after him now.”

“But the soldiers haven’t even eaten yet!”

“Then I’ll go by myself.” Sigurd said, sounding very much like a spoiled child.

“Understood. I'll prepare the vanguard. Please try to wait until they are ready.”

Sigurd nodded in acknowledgement, so Oifey started running around, gathering up their best soldiers.

“What are you up to, Sigurd? Are you going to launch one of your famous surprise attacks?” Lewyn looked at him and said in a slightly joking tone.

“Yes. Please blow down the castle gate with your magic. I’ll rush in after that.”

“You’re really enthusiastic about this fight. Did something happen?”

“Not really. Lombard is my father’s murderer. So I’m going to kill him with this sword.”

“Whoa, that’s a nice blade. Did you just get it?”

“Yes. It’s the Holy Blade, Tyrfing.”

“So you’ve finally inherited it! Excited to see how well it cuts?” Lewyn walked up to the castle gate, then raised his right hand.

The surrounding air gathered in his palm, then he threw it.

The ball of Forseti’s magic flew forward, and pulverized the gate on impact.

Without saying another word, Sigurd unsheathed Tyrfing, mounted Farron, and charged towards the castle.

A few moments later, the other soldiers all followed after him.

There was one line of enemies already guarding the castle, waiting for their attack.

Sigurd rushed towards them, cut down the soldiers on his left and right, then kept going towards the main building.

Lombard was standing at the top of the stairs. “Well well well, if it isn’t Byron’s brat.”

“You murdered not only Prince Kurt, but also my father! Now accept your punishment!”

“You sure can talk big. But do you really think you can match my Holy Axe, Helswath!?”

“Don’t you remember this blade, Lombard?”

“What!? Tyrfing!? H-How did you get that…?”

“I’ll pave your way to hell!”

Farron climbed the stairs in one smooth jump.

Lombard swung Helswath at Farron’s eyes. The horse turned his head, just barely dodging the attack. At the same time, Sigurd swung Tyrfing, and sliced Lombard’s head clean off his body.

Sigurd jumped off Farron, picked up Lombard’s head, held it high in the air, and yelled, “Lombard is dead! The battle is over!”

With the castle conquered, Sigurd ordered his army to gather in the courtyard.

The soldiers all started to travel through the castle gate, surprised to learn that their army had already taken the castle.

Once everyone had arrived, Sigurd stood at the top of the stairs, where he’d defeated Lombard.

When they saw his face, everyone was even more surprised. No one had ever seen him tired, ever.

“The war for Silesse is over! I thank you all so much for your hard work. However, this still doesn’t mean that we are done fighting yet. We can’t leave Grannvale as it is now. We must continue fighting until one side is defeated, be it us or them. Our army will now cross the Isaachian deserts, and march towards Grannvale, to defeat them once and for all!”

Everyone cheered in response.

Sigurd raised a hand to quiet them, then continued his speech.

“We march towards victory. However, from now until the very end, we will be fighting a proper army. We must remember that every fight will be long and hard. Some battles may become chaotic. Horrors we never thought possible might become a reality. I only want those who continue fighting to be those who understand the true meaning of what is about to happen. I also want any children who are not yet old enough to fight, pregnant women, and injured people, to stay here. If you do not wish to stay here, then please return to your homes, or at the very least, find a safe place unaffected by the war. I plan to keep my son Seliph far away from the battlefield from now on as well.”

Commotions broke out throughout the crowd.

Seliph was almost two years old now. He always walked up to everyone and started smiling and babbling, so he’d become the mascot for the army. Until this point, it had been unthinkable that he’d ever stay behind.

With that decision made, everyone had to think twice about just how difficult the remaining battles would be.

“Those who will stay behind may go their own separate ways when they are ready. I know it will be difficult to say goodbye to the allies you fought together with. But I still want you to understand my feelings on this matter. That is all. Sorry to disrupt your breakfast.” Sigurd returned to his room and called for Oifey.

Oifey came in right away, with Shanan following after him.

Sigurd glanced over at Shanan, then turned to Oifey and said, “Oifey, if you travel northeast from here, you’ll end up in Isaachian territory. I heard that Lombard’s eldest son Danan has been stationed there ever since Isaach lost the war with Grannvale, but his influence probably hasn’t reached the countryside yet. So I want you to…”

“Wait, you’re asking me to flee? I won’t! I will be by your side until the very end, Lord Sigurd!”

“Oifey, I know you might think I’m being selfish, but please understand. I don’t want Seliph to be lost. He’s not even two yet. I wouldn’t be able to fight if I had such a young child with me. ...Please, Oifey. I want you to protect Seliph. You’re the only one I can count on to do this.”

“Lord Sigurd… Do you really mean that? …Okay. I’ll do as you say. I will guard Lord Seliph with my life. But in return, please promise me, that when this war is finally over, you’ll come back for him. ...If you don’t, then I can’t leave.”

“Yes. I promise. I will come for him.”

“I trust you.”

“Wait!” Shanan cut in. “It’s my duty to protect Seliph. I told both you and Deirdre that I would. Don’t give him to Oifey until Deirdre says to.”

“Shanan, I know you’re still guilty about what happened to Deirdre, but it’s okay. You don’t have to be any longer.”

“No! I’ll protect Seliph! The people of Isaach hate Grannvale. So Oifey can’t go alone and protect him there. But I am a prince of Isaach, so I can. And I made a promise to Deirdre…”

“Lord Sigurd, I strongly agree with him. You might be thinking that you don’t want to get him involved, but he’s already turning out to be a fine warrior. We need Shanan’s power to gain the cooperation of the Isaachian people.”

“You’re right. ...I’m sorry, Shanan. I’ll entrust Seliph to you. Please protect him.”

“I will! You can trust me with him! I’ll keep getting stronger, and keep him safe. Then maybe one day… He will forgive me for what happened to Deirdre…”

And so, Oifey and Seliph went to Isaach to keep Seliph safe. Ayra’s twins Ulster and Larcei, Aideen’s son Lester, and Lachesis’ son Diarmuid also went with them.

Brigid’s son Faval and Tailtiu’s son Arthur were kept in Silesse.

Sigurd suggested all women who may be pregnant stay in Silese, and they all swore that they weren’t.

However, the truth was that Aideen, Lachesis, Brigid, and Tailtiu were all carrying their second child. Erinys was also pregnant with her first.

Sigurd also told Claud that Silvia should stay in Silesse because she wasn’t a fighter. After taking time to think about it, he agreed, and went to tell Silvia.

“Silvia, please stay in Silesse with Lene.”

“I won’t! Do you really think there’s an idiot alive who would leave a real man once she’s found him!?”

“Then I have something to tell you. I never intended to speak about this to anyone, but you’re my wife, so I’ll tell you. Please don’t say a word about this to anyone else.”

“What could possibly be that big a deal…?”

“Listen, we’re going to lose this war. Everyone central to the fight is going to die.”

“No…”

“I prayed to the Valkyrie Staff at the Bragi Tower, and the gem showed me what’s going to happen.”

“I… I can’t believe that. It must be a lie! You’re just trying to play a trick me, right? C’mon, please. Tell me it’s all a lie!”

“No, unfortunately, it’s not.”

“Then why are you going?”

“The staff hid something from me. It is my duty to witness it with my own eyes.”

“That can’t be… Then I’ll go too! If you’re going to die, then I’ll die with you!”

“Listen, Silvia. Our lives don’t always end entirely when we die. It is inevitable that all living things will die and lose their physical forms, but it is not all for naught. We will change, and take on an even more perfect form.

“Even if I die, I’ll be born again. There is already another life growing inside of you… They may be the next me. That is why you must live, Silvia. For me... For us.”

“Are you saying you’ll live on inside of me, Claud?”

“And Lene, right? And the child you’re carrying now, right? You possess an extraordinary power. That is why you can live on without me. I’m the one who can’t live without you. Over the past year, you’ve shared that power with me, and changed me so much. Because of you, I can calmly face my own death. Thank you for everything. You’ve taught me how much joy and happiness there is in this life.”

“Oh, Claud…” Silvia hugged him tight, and started crying.

“I’ll live. I’ll raise our children. Lene will be just like me. And if our next child is a boy, he’ll be just like you…”

Ten days after the war in Silesse ended… Sigurd’s army prepared for the next battle, and left Luveck.

Those who continued on, and those who stayed behind, each kept their memories close to their hearts, and started down their new paths.

#fire emblem #fe #fe4 #genealogy of the holy war #nintendo #super nintendo #snes #famicom #super famicom #japan #japanese #translation #novelization #light novel #fe4 suzuki novelization translation

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aboutnorsemythology · 6 years ago

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Loki`s truths

Ægir, who was also called Gymir, had prepared ale for the gods, after he had got the mighty kettle, as now has been told. To this feast came Othin and Frigg, his wife. Thor came not, as he was on a journey in the East. Sif,

Thor's wife, was there, and Brag, with Ithun, his wife. Tyr, who had but one hand, was there; the wolf Fenrir had bitten off his other hand when they had bound him. There were Njorth and Skathi his wife, Freyr and Freyja, and Vithar, the son of Othin. Loki was there, and Freyr's servants Byggvir and Beyla. Many were there of the gods and elves

Ægir had two serving-men, Fimafeng and Eldir. Glittering gold they had in place of firelight; the ale came in of itself; and great was the peace. The guests praised much the ability of Ægir's serving-men. Loki might not endure that, and he slew Fimafeng. Then the gods shook their shields and howled at Loki and drove him away to the forest, and thereafter set to drinking again. Loki turned back, and outside he met Eldir. Loki spoke to him:

1. "Speak now, Eldir, | for not one step Farther shalt thou fare; What ale-talk here | do they have within, The sons of the glorious gods?"

Eldir spake: 2. "Of their weapons they talk, | and their might in war, The sons of the glorious gods; From the gods and elves | who are gathered here No friend in words shalt thou find."

Loki spake: 3. "In shall I go | into Ægir's hall, For the feast I fain would see;

Bale and hatred | I bring to the gods, And their mead with venom I mix."

Eldir spake: 4. "If in thou goest | to Ægir's hall, And fain the feast wouldst see, And with slander and spite | wouldst sprinkle the gods, Think well lest they wipe it on thee."

Loki spake: 5. "Bethink thee, Eldir, | if thou and I Shall strive with spiteful speech; Richer I grow | in ready words If thou speakest too much to me."

Then Loki went into the hall, but when they who were there saw who had entered, they were all silent.

Loki spake: 6. "Thirsty I come | into this thine hall, I, Lopt,(1) from a journey long, To ask of the gods | that one should give Fair mead for a drink to me.

7. "Why sit ye silent, | swollen with pride, Ye gods, and no answer give?

(1)Lopt: like Lothur (cf. Voluspo, 18) another name for Loki

At your feast a place | and a seat prepare me, Or bid me forth to fare."

Bragi spake: 8. "A place and a seat | will the gods prepare No more in their midst for thee; For the gods know well | what men they wish To find at their mighty feasts."

Loki spake: 9. "Remember, Othin, | in olden days That we both our blood have mixed; (2) Then didst thou promise | no ale to pour, Unless it were brought for us both."

Othin spake: 10. "Stand forth then, Vithar, | and let the wolf's father Find a seat at our feast;

(2) Loki speaks of an oath of blood but never mentions a brotherhood, this was erroneously interpreted and perhaps it makes reference to verse Volusp, 18 that refers to the creation of men.

Lest evil should Loki | speak aloud Here within Ægir's hall."

Then Vithar arose and poured drink for Loki; but before he drank he spoke to the gods:

11. "Hail to you, gods! | ye goddesses, hail! Hail to the holy throng! Save for the god | who yonder sits, Bragi there on the bench."

Bragi spake: 12. "A horse and a sword | from my hoard will I give, And a ring gives Bragi to boot, That hatred thou makst not | among the gods; So rouse not the great ones to wrath."

Loki spake: 13. "In horses and rings | thou shalt never be rich, Bragi, but both shalt thou lack; Of the gods and elves | here together met Least brave in battle art thou, (And shyest thou art of the shot.)"

Bragi spake: 14. "Now were I without | as I am within,

And here in Ægir's hall, Thine head would I bear | in mine hands away, And pay thee the price of thy lies."

Loki spake: 15. "In thy seat art thou bold, | not so are thy deeds, Bragi, adorner of benches! Go out and fight | if angered thou feelest, No hero such forethought has."

Ithun spake: 16. "Well, prithee, Bragi, | his kinship weigh, Since chosen as wish-son he was; And speak not to Loki | such words of spite Here within Ægir's hall."

Loki spake: 17. "Be silent, Ithun! | thou art, I say,

Of women most lustful in love, Since thou thy washed-bright | arms didst wind About thy brother's slayer."

Ithun spake: 18. "To Loki I speak not | with spiteful words Here within Ægir's hall; And Bragi I calm, | who is hot with beer, For I wish not that fierce they should fight."

Gefjun spake: 19. "Why, ye gods twain, | with bitter tongues Raise hate among us here? Loki is famed | for his mockery foul, And the dwellers in heaven he hates."

Loki spake: 20. "Be silent, Gefjun! | for now shall I say Who led thee to evil life; The boy so fair | gave a necklace bright, And about him thy leg was laid."

Othin spake: 21. "Mad art thou, Loki, | and little of wit, The wrath of Gefjun to rouse; For the fate that is set | for all she sees, Even as I, methinks."

Loki spake: 22. "Be silent, Othin! | not justly thou settest The fate of the fight among men; Oft gavst thou to him | who deserved not the gift, To the baser, the battle's prize."

Othin spake: 23. "Though I gave to him | who deserved not the gift, To the baser, the battle's prize; Winters eight | wast thou under the earth, Milking the cows as a maid, (Ay, and babes didst thou bear; Unmanly thy soul must seem.)"

23. There is no other reference to Loki's having spent eight years underground, or to his cow-milking. On one occasion, however, he did bear offspring. A giant had undertaken to build the gods a fortress, his reward being Freyja and the sun and moon, provided the work was done by a given time. His sole helper was his horse, Svathilfari. The work being nearly done, and the gods fearing to lose Freyja and the sun and moon, Loki turned himself into a mare, and so effectually distracted Svathilfari from his task that shortly afterwards Loki gave birth to Othin's eight-legged horse, Sleipnir. In such contests of abuse a man was not infrequently taunted with having borne children.

Loki spake: 24. "They say that with spells | in Samsey once Like witches with charms didst thou work; And in witch's guise | among men didst thou go; Unmanly thy soul must seem."

Frigg spake: 25. "Of the deeds ye two | of old have done Ye should make no speech among men; Whate'er ye have done | in days gone by, Old tales should ne'er be told."

Loki spake: 26. "Be silent, Frigg! | thou art Fjorgyn's wife, But ever lustful in love; For Vili and Ve, | thou wife of Vithrir, Frigg spake: 27. "If a son like Baldr | were by me now, Here within Ægir's hall, From the sons of the gods | thou shouldst go not forth Till thy fierceness in fight were tried."

Loki spake: 28. "Thou wilt then, Frigg, | that further I tell Of the ill that now I know; Mine is the blame | that Baldr no more Thou seest ride home to the hall."

Freyja spake: 29. "Mad art thou, Loki, | that known thou makest The wrong and shame thou hast wrought; The fate of all | does Frigg know well, Though herself she says it not."

Loki spake: 30. "Be silent, Freyja! | for fully I know thee, Sinless thou art not thyself;

Both in thy bosom have lain."

Of the gods and elves | who are gathered here, Each one as thy lover has lain."

Freyja spake: 31. "False is thy tongue, | and soon shalt thou find That it sings thee an evil song; The gods are wroth, | and the goddesses all, And in grief shalt thou homeward go."

Loki spake: 32. "Be silent, Freyja! | thou foulest witch, And steeped full sore in sin; In the arms of thy brother | the bright gods caught thee When Freyja her wind set free."

Njorth spake: 33. "Small ill does it work | though a woman may have A lord or a lover or both; But a wonder it is | that this womanish god Comes hither, though babes he has borne."

Loki spake: 34. "Be silent, Njorth; | thou wast eastward sent, To the gods as a hostage given; And the daughters of Hymir | their privy had When use did they make of thy mouth."

Njorth spake: 35. "Great was my gain, | though long was I gone, To the gods as a hostage given; The son did I have | whom no man hates, And foremost of gods is found."

Loki spake: 36. "Give heed now, Njorth, | nor boast too high, No longer I hold it hid; With thy sister hadst thou | so fair a son, Thus hadst thou no worse a hope."

Tyr spake: 37. "Of the heroes brave | is Freyr the best Here in the home of the gods;

He harms not maids | nor the wives of men, And the bound from their fetters he frees."

Loki spake: 38. "Be silent, Tyr! | for between two men Friendship thou ne'er couldst fashion; Fain would I tell | how Fenrir once Thy right hand rent from thee."

Tyr spake: 39. "My hand do I lack, | but Hrothvitnir thou, And the loss brings longing to both; Ill fares the wolf | who shall ever await In fetters the fall of the gods."

Loki spake: 40. "Be silent, Tyr! | for a son with me Thy wife once chanced to win; Not a penny, methinks, | wast thou paid for the wrong, Nor wast righted an inch, poor wretch."

Freyr spake: 41. "By the mouth of the river | the wolf remains

Till the gods to destruction go; Thou too shalt soon, | if thy tongue is not stilled, Be fettered, thou forger of ill."

Loki spake: 42. "The daughter of Gymir | with gold didst thou buy, And sold thy sword to boot; But when Muspell's sons | through Myrkwood ride, Thou shalt weaponless wait, poor wretch."

Byggvir spake: 43. "Had I birth so famous | as Ingunar-Freyr, And sat in so lofty a seat,

I would crush to marrow | this croaker of ill, And beat all his body to bits."

Loki spake: 44. "What little creature | goes crawling there, Snuffling and snapping about? At Freyr's ears ever | wilt thou be found, Or muttering hard at the mill."

Byggvir spake: 45. "Byggvir my name, | and nimble am I, As gods and men do grant; And here am I proud | that the children of Hropt Together all drink ale."

Loki spake: 46. "Be silent, Byggvir! | thou never couldst set Their shares of the meat for men; Hid in straw on the floor, | they found thee not When heroes were fain to fight."

Heimdall spake: 47. "Drunk art thou, Loki, | and mad are thy deeds, Why, Loki, leavst thou this not?

For drink beyond measure | will lead all men No thought of their tongues to take."

Loki spake: 48. "Be silent, Heimdall! | in days long since Was an evil fate for thee fixed; With back held stiff | must thou ever stand, As warder of heaven to watch."

Skathi spake: 49. "Light art thou, Loki, | but longer thou mayst not In freedom flourish thy tail; On the rocks the gods bind thee | with bowels torn Forth from thy frost-cold son."

Loki spake: 50. "Though on rocks the gods bind me | with bowels torn Forth from my frost-cold son,

49. Skathi: the wife of Njorth, and daughter of the giant Thjazi, concerning whose death cf. Harbarthsljoth, Bowels, etc.: according to the prose note at the end of the Lokasenna, the gods bound Loki with the bowels of his son Vali, and changed his other son, Narfi, into a wolf. Snorri turns the story about Vali being the wolf, who tears his brother to pieces, the gods then using Narfi's intestines to bind Loki. Narfi--and presumably Vali--were the sons of Loki and his wife, Sigyn. They appear only in this episode, though Narfi (or Nari) is named by Snorri in his list of Loki's children

I was first and last | at the deadly fight There where Thjazi we caught."

Skathi spake: 51. "Wert thou first and last | at the deadly fight There where Thjazi was caught, From my dwellings and fields | shall ever come forth A counsel cold for thee."

Loki spake: 52. "More lightly thou spakest | with Laufey's son, (3) When thou badst me come to thy bed; Such things must be known | if now we two Shall seek our sins to tell."

(3) Loki Laufeyjarson post

Then Sif came forward and poured mead for Loki in a crystal cup, and said:

53. "Hail too thee, Loki, | and take thou here The crystal cup of old mead; For me at least, | alone of the gods, Blameless thou knowest to be."

He took the horn, and drank therefrom:

54. "Alone thou wert | if truly thou wouldst All men so shyly shun; But one do I know | full well, methinks, Who had thee from Hlorrithi's arms,-- (Loki the crafty in lies.)"

Beyla spake: 55. "The mountains shake, | and surely I think From his home comes Hlorrithi now; He will silence the man | who is slandering here Together both gods and men."

Loki spake: 56. "Be silent, Beyla! | thou art Byggvir's wife, And deep art thou steeped in sin; A greater shame | to the gods came ne'er, Befouled thou art with thy filth."

Then came Thor forth, and spake:

57. "Unmanly one, cease, | or the mighty hammer, Mjollnir, shall close thy mouth;

Thy shoulder-cliff | shall I cleave from thy neck, And so shall thy life be lost."

Loki spake: 58. "Lo, in has come | the son of Earth: Why threaten so loudly, Thor? Less fierce thou shalt go | to fight with the wolf When he swallows Sigfather up."

Thor spake: 59. "Unmanly one, cease, | or the mighty hammer, Mjollnir, shall close thy mouth; I shall hurl thee up | and out in the East, Where men shall see thee no more."

Loki spake: 60. "That thou hast fared | on the East-road forth To men shouldst thou say no more;

In the thumb of a glove | didst thou hide, thou great one, And there forgot thou wast Thor."

Thor spake: 61. "Unmanly one, cease, | or the mighty hammer, Mjollnir, shall close thy mouth; My right hand shall smite thee | with Hrungnir's slayer, Till all thy bones are broken."

Loki spake: 62. "Along time still | do I think to live, Though thou threatenest thus with thy hammer; Rough seemed the straps | of Skrymir's wallet, When thy meat thou mightest not get, (And faint from hunger didst feel.)"

Thor spake: 63. "Unmanly one, cease, | or the mighty hammer, Mjollnir, shall close thy mouth;

62- Thor`s journey to the Land of the Giants

The slayer of Hrungnir | shall send thee to hell, And down to the gate of death."

Loki spake: 64. "'1 have said to the gods | and the sons of the god, The things that whetted my thoughts; But before thee alone | do I now go forth, For thou fightest well, I ween.

65. "Ale hast thou brewed, | but, Ægir, now Such feasts shalt thou make no more; O'er all that thou hast | which is here within Shall play the flickering flames, (And thy back shall be burnt with fire.)"

And after that Loki hid himself in Franang's waterfall in the guise of a salmon, and there the gods took him. He was bound with the bowels of his son Vali, but his son Narfi was changed to a wolf. Skathi took a poison-snake and fastened it up over Loki's face, and the poison dropped thereon. Sigyn, Loki's wife, sat there and held a shell under the poison, but when the shell was full she bore away the poison, and meanwhile the poison dropped on Loki. Then he struggled so hard that the whole earth shook therewith; and now that is called an earthquake.

Complete analysis in process

#loki #lokasenna #About Norse Mithology

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afteriwake · 6 years ago

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An Idea For An “Infinity War”/”Endgame” Rewrite

- from someone who has seen neither movie but been spoiled to hell already.

So I just got in a lengthy conversation with @strangelock221b about how, while I haven’t seen either “Infinity War” or “Endgame,” I could write better movies. So this is my idea created from the knowledge Death was supposed to be in “Thor Ragnarok,” a healthy knowledge of Norse mythology and a bit of knowledge about Marvel comics canon (if anyone wants to bring it to life, feel free to credit me with the idea and run with it):

I mean, hell, just think: Hela is trapped in some interdimensional limbo after Surter destroys Asgard. Stephen and the other magic users are aware of her but Thanos has managed to stay out of their view. He attacks Thor's ship; Loki sneaks off the ship with the Tesseract to get it away, the ship is mangled but landable to the closest landmass, which is Earth. Bruce still lands in the Sanctum Santorum with the "Thanos is coming" warning, and that requires Tony. That part can still happen.

But like...the Asgardians make it to Norway, Thor and Brunhilde are with them. He finds a way to keep his people safe and then goes looking for the Avengers with Brunhilde. They find out about the Accords and the rift between Tony and Steve so they track down Steve and the others in hiding. They convince them it's in the Earth's best interest to set aside differences and work with Tony and the others.

Meanwhile, Bruce is explaining stuff, they get attacked, Stephen realizes they've been worrying about the wrong alien the entire time, and Tony gets the damn cell and calls Steve, but hey, they're not in NYC. No worry, Stephen says: portal opens, they see Tony on one side, looking at Steve on the other, Steve and company walk through, and they go to town on whatever minion they were all dealing with. Bruce can't hulk out but he manages to get somewhere safe and call Pepper and say they need backup.

Eventually, Thanos’s minion is defeated but then whatever happens to get them on the ship happens, except it's all the Avengers, and Pepper and Stephen managed to get Bruce into the Hulkbuster Armor.

So all the Avengers, plus Brunhilde and Spidey are on the ship in space. Guardian of the Galaxy plotline in IW goes pretty much the same, except Gamore doesn't die the way she did (because FUCK THAT). She dies in a way that's useless to Thanos and so he retreats to plot another way of getting the stone she held.

Peter Q. and Nebula want revenge and then they find out a ship launched from earth and there was a humanoid on the side from an anonymous messenger (turns out to be Carol, but we don't know that till Endgame) and they need to make sure to follow it and help the people inside. And that's how they all garner their forces in the same place.

Thanos figured out Vision is on the planet and he figures hey, Neb's there, she may get me the Soul Stone, kill two people get two stones. All out fight starts, Vision dies, and then he goes for Nebula but something I haven't decided yet happens and he gets the Soul Stone another way (could be somehow Gamora gave it to someone else) and boom, he does the snap. Same people disintegrate and the remaining Guardians say "We got a ship, you got a plan?"

And then the end credits scene, aside from the Fury paging Carol bit, is this inky black void that seems liquid but just barely touched on the sides with flames. And then a figure emerges from the inky black, still completely black, and slowly turning green and black as Hela's armor was. Except half her body is dusted grey with ash, and half her face is skeletal. And then...eyes open, and lips curl into a smile. Hela is alive with the great sacrifice Thanos has given her, but she wants MORE. But first, she must give her thanks to Thanos in Nifelheim.

So then Endgame is them going back to Earth, mourning the lost ones and Wong saying he needs to study the texts to find out why Thanos made the sacrifice, which he said was "for love." Who does the Mad God love? So he does that and the remaining Avengers wait for more from him while making contingency plans and helping the governments reestablish control and settle the Asgardian refugees in Norway.

Meanwhile, Loki has realized the Tesseract he had was a fake and has been in Norway with the Asgardians, ruling in Thor's stead. Thor is proud of his brother, and Loki has fewer airs than he did before, and so he gets the choice of staying to lead or helping to fix things. And Loki decides to help when Heimdall says he will take care of the Asgardians. Then Heimdall's the one who brings up Thanos's single-minded love for Death from a poem from Bragi and the brothers go to the archives the refugees managed to smuggle aboard (I'm imagining it was some database on their ship which is still functional) and they share the news with Wong, who consults the magic users and finds out that when Hela was released at Odin's death, she usurped Death from her place in the universe. Thanos was in love with Death, not Hela, but he's going to meet Hela, who's more powerful, and the way to solve everything is to free Death...wherever she is.

So the rest of the movie divides the team. Having their own infinity gauntlet is still considered a viable solution, so a team stays on Earth to do that (think Tony, Bruce, Wong, Heimdall from Norway and maybe a few other characters). The rest go into space on Starlord’s ship with Nebula and Rocket and try and find Death. Captain Marvel can be on her way back to Earth and they intercept her and tell her what the hell happened, and she gives them hints to find Death she’s picked up from other worlds before heading to Earth to help keep it safe. I can see Okoye insisting on the team going into space including her to get answers for the Kingdom of Wakanda, so that’s where she’s at. Eventually, Scott gets out of the Quantum Realm and joins the ones working on the gauntlet.

And the whole idea is in the Soul Stone, and with time travel, Stephen can coordinate things with Wong so that things can be arranged and knowledge can be shared. So when there's the battle, same Endgame idea happens, except now you have Loki as well. And dammit, Nebula gets to kill Thanos. So when there's the battle, same Endgame idea happens, except now you have Loki as well. And dammit, Nebula gets to kill Thanos and since the Hulk won’t let Bruce die, he just loses an arm when he puts on the gauntlet. We can kill a couple of people if we absolutely HAVE to, but not the ones who died in Endgame. We can bring Vision back and kill him again for all I care, but this time with his consciousness being saved somehow to put in another body.

Or you can kill Groot and he can grow back again, you know? Then the Asgardians of the Galaxy idea for a spin-off can have Thor go off with them and deal with baby/teenage Groot again, and Loki can get what he always wanted: respectability and leadership. Brunhilde can stay with Loki, same as Heimdall, or she can travel with the Guardians as they search for the time-displaced version of Gamora.

Then Tony gets his family, gets to retire and make cameos in the other Avengers lives, Natasha gets to live and head up the Avengers, and if we go with the Multiverse idea of things, when Steve goes back to deliver the various stones to different points in time, he goes back to have his dance with Peggy but she refuses to stay in the past without him again so she goes to the future. Sharon is related to her as her grandniece, so that means a brother had to give birth to her mother so she’s safe.

Then we can have spin-offs after this if one is so inclined. Something with Peggy and Steve rebuilding SHIELD with Coulson’s team’s help, if you’re an Agents of SHIELD fan. Nat heading up an all-new Avengers line-up. Tony helping Peter become Iron Spider. You can still have Falcon and Winter Soldier, but now they have Steve to give them shit as part-time members of SHIELD and Nat give them shit as part-time Avengers.

So yes. These are my thoughts but I’m so swamped with stuff I can’t tackle something like this. If you want to write up any or all of this, just give a shoutout to @noregretsnotearsnoanxieties here or afteriwake on AO3 (please please please gift me anything you come up with for this AU on AO3, I will love you forever).

#marvel cinematic universe #mcu #avengers endgame #infinity war #AU Ideas #my thoughts #avengers endgame spoilers

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thundergirl007 · 5 years ago

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I remember you saying that you had a persona 5 + tag au and I'm so sorry for getting back to you do so late but I'm so goddamn down for that like tell me everything... their personas.... their arcana..... e v e r y t h i n g

ALRIGHT BUCKLE UP GUYS I PUT TOO MUCH EFFORT INTO THIS

Full disclosure here, but like, I created an OC to be the Wildcard Character. For the sake of simplicity, let’s just pretend they aren’t a thing. I also couldn’t decide to make their personas based on Egyptian or Norse mythology, so let’s roll with both.

ANYWAY ON TO THE GOOD STUFF (feat. terrible edits. No really, some of them are AWFUL).

Scott is of the Emperor Arcana, specialising in physical skills, because Big Bro would absolutely fight anyone and anything head first.

His initial persona is Heimdall, (Norse Mythology, Guardian) and his Second Awakening would be Horus (Egyptian Mythology, war/sky/falcons). Wanting to protect the others but also taking the lead, the hotheaded leader and everything, doing what they have to do for their dad.

I had the idea that his social link would be based on needing to take the reigns after their father’s disappearance, which he sometimes doesn’t really feel like he is living up to very well.

John is of the Hermit Arcana, and he is the navigator of the group.. (I mean, EOS could be his Persona but when I thought of this I set it in the boy’s school days, so EOS wasn’t a thing in context). It should be obvious why I made John the navigator in this little Persona crossover.

His initial persona is Bragi (Norse Mythology, poetry and eloquence) and his Second Awakening would be Thoth (Egyptian Mythology, knowledge and wisdom). Just, the Hermit Arcana absolutely ties into him being up away from the action but watching on to help from the sidelines.

I had the idea that his social link would be based on coming out of his shell a little more in the real world (Futaba SLink much??) even though he is great as a navigator when he is in his element.

Virgil is of the Strength Arcana, specialising in Zio skills as well as the group’s main healer. He is the Big Strong One and that’s why he’s the Strength Arcana, because he is very much the rock that helps them up when they fall down.

His initial persona is Geb (Egyptian Mythology, Earth) and his Second Awakening would be Thor (Norse Mythology, lightning god). Being the healer of the group but also a powerful attacker is a beautiful image in my head.

I had the idea that his social link would be based on embracing his creative side a bit more openly and not being worried about what others think of it. Idk, I struggled for this one.

Gordon is of the Magician Arcana, specialising in Bufu skills (IT’S CLOSEST TO WATER OK). Of course he’s Magician Arcana. The happy-go-lucky prankster with some sad tragic backstory (aka. Hydrofoil accident?) is just GREAT to think about.

His initial persona is Hapi, (Egyptian Mythology, Nile) and his Second Awakening would be Aegir (Norse Mythology, the sea). I had to make his personas water based I’m sorry it would be an insult to the Fish Boy to do any other!

I had the idea that his social link would be based on putting down his facade of a happy-go-lucky person when he needs to. Maybe people don’t always take him seriously because he is insanely smart but a bit of a smartass, and he needs to learn to maybe focus on the task at hand where something serious is at stake.

Alan is of the Star Arcana, specialising in Hama, Mudo and Almighty skills. He’s the little spot of happiness that helps keep them together, just being total raw almighty potential wrapped up in a smol body???? Yes.

His initial persona is Balder, (Norse Mythology, love and light) and his Second Awakening would be Ra (Egyptian Mythology, King of Gods).

I had the idea that his social link would be based on wanting to be treated like a full member of the team and not asked to stand back and let the others handle situations, but also needing to know that they love and care about him and just don’t want to lose him too.

Kayo is of the Hanged Man Arcana, specialising in Garu skills. Honestly I don’t think I need to say more about her Arcana other than Nyx’s quote “in the face of disaster lies the opportunity for renewal...” just because of her connection to the Hood, and the way she tries to hide it.

Her initial persona is Serket (Egyptian Mythology, cures sickness) and her Second Awakening would be Syn (Norse Mythology, defence, truth, “refusal”). Syn’s meaning is basically what I envisioned her with from the start, need I say more?

I had the idea that her social link would be based on proving that she is not the same person as her uncle. She can’t choose her blood family, but she chose her found family and that it is better this way. (Just assume that the fact that the Hood is her uncle is not revealed until partway through the link).

Penelope is of the Empress Arcana, specialising in survivability skills and buffs (with a touch of Psi). She’s literally a Lady. Empress. I don’t think I need to elaborate here. She needs to be the headstrong young woman that she is, taking the lead where it matters of course.

Her initial persona is Hel, (Norse Mythology, pure nature, afterlife) and her Second Awakening would be Isis (Egyptian Mythology, healed the sick). Ngl I struggled with her personas here, but

I had the idea that her social link would be based on keeping up a high profile lifestyle, attending charity functions and the like, but also needing to learn to relax and unwind from time to time.

And because we need a villain, The Hood has either Seth (Egyptian Mythology, god of chaos) or Vali (Norse Mythology, vengeance) as his Persona. I don’t have an edit for him, sorry.

---

When I initially thought this through, I did it true Persona style where it’s set during their school days, so their SLinks were based around that one or two times (*cough* Gordon *cough*).

I thought that their supernatural world would be something entered naturally (like in P3, but not with technology like in P4 or P5), like behind a waterfall (on either Tracy Island or in their hometown, whichever way you’d imagine it to be). A dark and dying world where people needed saving from bad things that someone kept causing (sort of like P4 in a way??).

I also couldn’t decide on how their Personas would be summoned. Definitely not with an Evoker, maybe in P4 style with the tarot cards, but I sort of like the idea that they have a little chain when they awaken their persona, a chain that symbolises their bond to one another, that they have to open to summon their Persona (sort of like P5)

TOO. MANY. SPECIFICS. I’M SORRY.

I think that’s everything???

This is a long post. Sorry.

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sadfruittheatre-rp · 1 year ago

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Bragi's so wrapped up in the idea of never losing anyone again that he doesn't even notice Celeron wince. Better yet for the Saiyan, the question interrupts his train of thought entirely.

"...Ah, yes, that is something that occurs, albeit very rarely. It's a little more common among the Kais, since that's more of a voluntary position, at least as far as entering your name into the selection lottery goes. Supreme Kais, on the other hand, are often quite literally born into the position, with a few notable exceptions, and remain there their entire lives, or at least until they're very, very old. And even if they find a successor, they're often still there in a 'backseat' role, providing guidance to them. True retirement is not an easy thing compared to other occupations, I imagine. Of course, I've never retired from anything, so I wouldn't know for sure."

He winced a little at the mention of accidents out in the field, remembering something that happened with his niece Kassava awhile back.

"Yes... Barring an accident one can theoretically do this forever. Though in my '20' years of service I've seen 4 people retire from the patrol. Every now and then I check on them and they seem to be happy. But that's usually how retirement goes I suppose. Do Kai's retire?"

#celeronandco #((lmao he's super easy to distract))#((an opportunity to infodump? sign him up lmao))

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flameontheotherside · 6 years ago

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Dumb Dumb Dumb...

I know making fun of myself or putting my self down is unhealthy but I’m feeling extremely stupid. I might be getting Bragi (George) and Set (Matthew) incarnates messed up. It’s really getting to the point I’m starting to realize God is testing me. I know “preach” a lot about how knowing the future is wrong and bullshit and not good. My shitty excuse in my case is real and authentic anxiety. I don’t want to be put through mud again. I just want my independence for a little bit. Yes, I know my illnesses might prevent me from doing it but it doesn’t mean I can’t try. I WANNA TRY! Autism/Bi-polar didn’t stop people from doing what they want. I have a business I want to make full-time once I get a disability check!

Fuck it! I’m telling God he’s right and I messed up. Knowing the future is bullshit. I should “practice what you preach” and just forget about all of it. I know I’m in the right track. However the mix-up and confusion is giving me a hard time on top of the move and everything else going on with my complicated and twisted life.

I’m just going to follow what I’ve been saying all along and just ride the wave.

Ugh! It’s just so hard because my anxiety is getting worse. I’m worried about leaving my friends behind, not having my cat, Vince ruining my life, the new place I’m moving in to, all the packing I have to do, the adjustment to new rules and regulations regarding the half-way house situation, ect. For me, it’s a lot of shit on my plate and I hate to sound like a whiny little bitch but I can’t take anymore shits right now. It’s not healthy and I get it. I get what God is trying to say.

He wants me to stop worrying about my future.

Fine, whatever, I get it. Like live “in the now” and all the crap we spiritualist like to preach all day long. It’s hard. It’s incredibly hard especially when you have an anxiety/panic disorder with everything going on. I’m having to stop more meltdown from over-thinking. How does one stop freaking out over this shit? I’m terrified. I’m scared. I’m completely confused and borderline depressed to the point of just getting myself baker-acted.

Eriks TENTH death anniversary and birthday is right around the corner. I’m going to be a complete mess. Will I have my friends or family for support? Will I even be able to be coherent for two months? Can I even discern my “abilities” or lose my psychic-ness, go completely insane in the membrane?...Fuuuuuck! I’m just going to take a walk or something.

😘💕❤️ Yall stay chill!

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enter-fandom · 6 years ago

Text

Deeper Breaths 2

Fandom: The Almighty Johnsons

Pairing: Anders x Reader

Rating: Lemon

Warnings: Mild BDSM, angst, referenced panic attack, aftermath of panic attack, abusive language

Theme: N/A

Request: N/A

Words: 1915

Status: ???

Notes: A continuation of Deeper Breaths - AU where the Reader becomes Idun, not Gaia

Olaf’s words still echoed in Ty’s head in the weeks following Anders introducing you into the fold. Mike still wasn’t overly pleased - after what happened to Helen, he was certain something was going to happen to you, and Ty could correct him, but with the history, how things always ended badly for Idun, how could he? You seemed to be doing fine, however, settling into life in Auckland fairly easily, and into life as a Goddess fairly quickly as well. Anders was almost always all smiles when he talked about you, and to be honest, things seemed to be looking up.

He was having lunch with Anders and Dawn when the text came, startling Anders from his story of staying over at your flat the other night and having to deal with your cats, and the frown that creased his brother’s face worried him, “Everything alright, Anders?”

Dawn had her own worried frown, despite not being able to see the message, and it only increased when Anders stood, “Hold down the fort for me, will you Dawn? I won’t be a moment.” He grabbed his jacket from over his desk chair, pulling it on as he headed out the door, texting as he went. The other two occupants of the office shared a look, but continued on with lunch, waiting until Anders was out of the office to speculate just what had come up. He might have Bragi’d his way into the back room when he got to the store you worked at, ignoring the questioning looks he got from several other employees as he moved with purpose behind the manager who led him to where you sat, curled on the break room couch with your feet tucked under you, still trembling, but at least the tears had stopped. Your phone sat in your hand, the semi-reliable heart rate monitor app open, keeping tabs on just how elevated you were as you came down.

Kneeling before you, he smiled up, “Hey, sunshine.” You looked at him and tried to smile, but inside, you just felt hollow. Even Idun was quiet, despite the presence of Bragi that was nearly overwhelming coming off of him. He reached out and took your free hand, squeezing gently, “I know you don’t like talking about it immediately, so we’ll talk later, yeah? Let’s just get you out of here.” You could only nod, and he helped you stand, draping his jacket over you for comfort as he led you back out to his car.

Once inside, he hesitated, glancing at you, “I’d like to take you back to the office, if that’s okay. That way I’m near if you need me, but is there anything you need from home?”

You laughed softly at the question, “One of the cats?”

You didn’t expect him to take you seriously, so it was a shock when he said, “Jade. She’s calmer and won’t break anything.” He pulled out of the parking lot, handing you his phone with a soft smile, allowing you to put on music that would help with the fallout. When he pulled up to your apartment, he kissed your cheek and took your keys, coming back out a few moments later with a bundle of orange and white floof attached to a red leash. Settling the cat into your lap, he set off for the office again, chattering idly beside you, voice soft and soothing as the creature you held headbutted against you, purring a mile a minute.

When you reached the office, he went first, ushering you in behind him and quickly wrapping his arm around you, Ty and Dawn, still seated at the conference table, stood, talking over one another when they saw you.

“Anders, is she alright? What happened?”

“Is that a cat?”

“Yes, it’s a cat, and she will be. She had an issue at work, is all,” he replied, giving Ty a pointed look, and the younger God stepped back some, nodding. He remembered what Anders had told him, and was smart enough to put two and two together. Reaching back to the table, he snagged one of the cupcakes from the platter, holding it out with a questioning glance.

You carefully let Jade down, taking the cupcake with a small smile, before going to settle on the couch near Anders’ desk, “Thanks, Ty.”

“No problem. I uh, I gotta get back to work, but Anders, we’ll catch up later, yeah?”

Anders nodded, giving his brother a small smile before he turned back to his work, humming to himself. The rest of the day dragged on, you trying to relax, rabbit holing down videos on your phone and occasionally sharing the best ones with Anders and Dawn. At a quarter past five, Dawn poked her head into the back, knocking on the wall, “I’m going to head out, Anders. Don’t forget to lock up.”

He smiled at her, as always, and you wondered, briefly, if it hadn’t been for you, and Ty, if they would have worked, but then he laughed and your heart felt like it clicked into place, “Ta, Dawn. Have a good evening.” Once she was gone, he moved over to you, smoothing your hair back from your forehead and pressing a kiss there, “Let’s get going, yeah? We can pick up dinner on the way.”

With a nod, you stood, lifting Jade from where she slept on the couch beside you, and headed out to the car, settling in with a much lighter mind than hours earlier, though you were still feeling a little off. You hated how things lingered so much, but hadn’t really found a cure yet, short of just sleeping it off.

He picked up the take away and then parked in front of your apartment, glancing over with a small smile, “If you’d like to come back to my place…”

You could feel the itch of Idun returning just under your skin, and you nodded, “I’ll just take her inside, and change.” Heading inside, you freed the Queen of Floof from the leash and hung it at the door, checking food and water dishes before changing and heading back out to Anders, giving the pair of felines a pointed look and a quick, “Be good,” before locking up.

Once settled, you reached out, taking Anders's hand, squeezing softly, “The guy asked where something was, and when I told him I wasn't sure, that I was still learning the layout he got aggressive.” You squeezed tighter at the memory, and he squeezed back, prompting you to continue, “He started yelling. Calling me a liar, a bitch and a whore.”

When his grip tightened this time, it was out of anger just as much as comfort, and you were silently glad he hadn't been present. Anders was gifted with gab, not physical prowess. He was clever, more espionage than thrown fists, but he would have tried. You knew he would.

He parked and led you into his apartment, both of you feeling the draw of your divinity under your skin, Anders the man holding back only because of the trauma that had been brought to the forefront of your mind earlier in the day. You pressed a hand to his chest, leaning up to kiss him softly, “It's okay.”

Sometimes, he wasn't sure where his interests ended and Bragi's began. “I don't want to be gentle,” he admitted, the backs of his fingers moving over your cheek.

“So, don't be.”

He groaned, before becoming a flurry of motion, tugging at your clothes and his own, kissing you with soul deep hunger and guiding you into the bedroom. You met him with quiet surrender, losing yourself in your goddess, and the man who had cared for you despite her. He pushed you to the bed with a glint in his eyes, tugging the cuffs from the box under the bed and raising a brow. You nodded, and he shook his head, “Tell me.”

“Please, it's okay.”

He was on you again in seconds, endlessly careful despite practically manhandling you how he wanted, lips sliding over your jaw, “Mine.”

Your breath came as a soft sigh, nodding, “Yours.” You tested the cuffs, the way they were anchored keeping your wrists together over your head, and you shuddered, completely at his mercy. And that was exactly what he wanted, what Anders wanted. Still uncertain where God ended and Man began, you watched as he sat back on his heels, straddling you, taking you in. His hands soothed down over your skin, and you arched into the touch, shuddering.

He took his time with you, sliding his hands over every inch of you like worship, his lips, teeth, and tongue following their path, skirting the places you truly yearned for his touch, intent on making you lose yourself to his ministrations. When he finally drew your legs apart, he hesitated, looking up at you, voice low, “I know you’ve expressed not being overly fond of it, but I’m going to taste you now.”

You blushed, nodding at him slowly. It wasn’t that the act reminded you of the past, but that you simply got very little from it. You didn’t necessarily mind your partners doing so, if they truly wanted, but you were more than drenched, and a mouth on you was just more wet, and usually not much sensation - not the way a firm press of fingers could be. He lowered himself, hooking your legs over his shoulders, shifting to get comfortable before settling into his task, contenting himself with the taste of you, before seeking to give you what pleasure he could.

He teased at your clit with his tongue, before sucking sharply, earning a low groan that was followed by a chuckle, before his hand slipped to join his questing tongue, two fingers slipping easily inside you, teasing and tormenting. You wondered how far he’d take you tonight, before he pulled up and away, sliding over you with an almost predatory look in his eyes. Shifting positions again, he flipped you to your stomach, tugging you up onto your knees.

You keened when he finally entered you, losing yourself more completely to the brutal pace he set, his hands still moving over your skin, lips murmuring praises against your shoulder, almost drowned out by your own cries and guiding you to your fall. Your back arched as you clenched around him, surrendering to him and he didn’t stop, driving you to greater heights.

You fell twice more before he reached his own completion, holding you still and tight as he pumped into you, before resting his head to your shoulder, panting. Easing away, he undid the cuffs, pulling you tight to his chest as you shivered. “Easy, Y/N. I’ve got you.” You nuzzled into his chest, soothed now by the gentle caress over your arm, eyes heavy. “I know you want to sleep, but we need to eat,” he prompted, and you sighed, nodding, starting to get up before he pushed you back down into the bed, “I’ll be back.”

Despite his urging, you pulled on a pair of sweats you’d left at his apartment, and one of his shirts, trailing behind him and curling up on the couch. He gave a mildly exasperated sigh, but his smile was fond as he joined you. “Fair enough.” You already had the remote, flipping channels before finding something mindless to watch, curling against him and taking your plate.

“Thank you.”

“Any time.”

#The Almighty Johnsons #anders x reader #anders johnson #angst #lemon #reader insert #taj #female reader

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atomic-taco-muffin · 2 years ago

Note

Kingdom hearts vampire au:

Bragi: *sits up* there's only one way to be sure

Myra: oh how so?

Bragi: I noticed a familiar birthmark on your arm *pulls his sleeve up and he had the same birthmark*

Myra: !?!? No fucking way...

Bragi: yes way

Hana: *pacing* I can’t lose him. I can’t lose Fen

Kou: hey c’mere *hugs her* it’s gonna be okay

0 notes

lostinaseaoffictionalbliss · 6 years ago

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First Hunt As A Couple

A/N: we only have one part to go. I hope you all have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it

Summary: Dean and Rae finally go on a hunt together. All seems to end well, but does It?

Pairing: Dean X Reader

Warnings: language

Word Count:1336

So far things had been going great with Dean and I; this whole dating thing was nice. While he was gone on a case and I was at home working on a commission or a local hunt we would text each other. And when he and his brother didn't have a case they would both swing by and stay with me for a few days. I managed to click with the tall hunter over our love for history and books, but most the time I was with Dean. We would watch Netflix together or play with Bragi, sometimes he would help me out in the kitchen. The way we moved around getting things done without getting in each other's way you would think we had been doing it for years and not just a few months. But everytime we did it I felt a burst of joy fill me.

No matter how many times we talked on the phone or just sat around doing nothing I always got this tingle down my spine, and butterflies in my stomach. I wasn't sure what it all meant, but I was loving every bit of these new feelings and wasn't going to question it.

“Your dog is named after a Norse god?” Dean asked as we watched The Almighty Johnsons together. It was the first time he had watched it so he hadn't realized where the name came from until now.

“Yes he is. Dean O’Gorman is an awesome actor and I love Anders, but I didn't think that was a good name for a dog,” I explained. And so the god spirit that Anders had became my dog's name instead.

Just as Dean was about to reply Sam came in carrying his laptop. I sighed knowing what that meant. “What did you find Jolly Green?” I asked. Sam sent me a bitch face and I smirked. He may not like the name, but he was so much bigger than I was so the nickname wasn't going anywhere. “A couple of people went missing in the woods. Tents destroyed, blood found, but no sign of the bodies,” he explained as he turned his laptop letting us look at the photos. I pulled the laptop closer and narrowed my eyes. Something about the crime scenes seemed fishy.

Soon enough we were all packed up and heading down the road to North Dakota. It was a long drive and I spent most of it ‘racing’ Dean. It was a way to pass the time and it was quite amusing to have Heart up against Baby. When we finally got to the motel I was ready to crash, but I knew we had research to do. But first I had something else to do. I climbed out of my car and rubbed her hood affectionately. “I knew you could beat him girl. You're just too good to lose.” I looked up at Dean.

“She smoked Baby.”

Dean frowned. “What no I let you win. No one can't beat Baby.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself so you can sleep at night.” I winked at him and headed toward the motel room.

“Hey look at this. There's this abandoned cabin not far from where the vics went missing.” I showed Sam and Dean the pictures. They both looked at it and then Sam began rustling through the files he had. “It was owned by a Marietta Roberts back in 1980 supposedly she died in a car fire. The body was burned so bad they couldn't identify the remains.” He handed the file over. I read through it and looked at the photos of the woman. There was a strange symbol tattooed on her shoulder; a black rose with a snake wrapped around it biting into a heart. I grabbed the pictures of the crime scenes and looked over them.

“Is this the same symbol drawn here in the dirt next to that tent?” I pointed at what I was talking about.

Dean looked at it with narrowed eyes. “Yeah I think it is.”

While Sam looked over the police records I looked through the crime scene photos and looked into the area where the victims went missing. It was nothing, but forest except a small cabin about seven miles into the woods.

“Looks like we're dealing with a witch.” Sam had found more photos of Marietta and despite the fact she should have been in her fifties she still looked like she was in her early twenties. Obviously she was a witch.

Dean took a sip of beer before letting out a groan. “Man I fucking hate witches. They're so skeevy,” he complained. “Well remind me not to introduce you to my wiccan sisters.” I teased as I leaned back in my chair and propped my feet up on the table. Dean's eyes went wind and he look absolutely terrified. He licked his lips nervously and sat his beer bottle down. I could see the wheels turning in his head; he was worried he was dating a witch. Sam looked over catching my eyes and he could clearly see the mirth in them. He had obviously caught on to what I was doing.

“Wiccan sisters?” Dean asked.

“Yep three of them. We normally get together on Fridays.”

Sam's shoulders were shaking and laughter danced in his eyes. Dean looked at him completely confused. He didn't think this was a laughing matter in the least bit.

“It's a joke Dean. I'm not a witch, I'm not friends with any either. Calm down.” I shook my head at the fact he didn't catch on.

“Oh ha ha. Let's get serious so we can track down this witch and kill her,” he grumbled. The green-eyed hunter stayed in a pissy mood for some time. Through the whole car ride and walk through the woods he didn't say a word to me. I shrugged my shoulders and didn't let it get to me. If he wanted to act like a pouty baby over a joke then I would let him. It didn't bother me any.

As we made our way toward the cabin I made sure to have my pistol, with witch killing bullets ready. As soon as we got inside I could hear chanting of some kind. I waved my hand to get Sam and Dean's attention. They looked to me and I pointed to where I heard the voice coming from. They nodded their heads and we each went a different direction to take care of the witch. As I snuck through a door behind her I noticed that the victims she had kidnapped, two young men were still alive. They were strapped to a table and the witch was muttering in what sounded like Latin over them. But what surprised me was the fact Marietta didn't look any older than she had in the photo from the 80s which meant she was sacrificing the young men and women to retain her youth.

I moved closer, but a floorboard creaked catching her attention. She spun facing me with her hands out and I raised my pistol to fire at her, but she ducked just as I pulled the trigger and I missed. “Fuck.” I went to aim again, but Dean and Sam came in and I no longer had a safe shot. I didn't want to hit either one of them should she dodge or the bullet ricochet. I lowered my gun and stared the witch down. Which apparently was a big mistake. I heard her mutter something in some odd language and then throw her hands to me. A glowing blue light hit my body and I fell backwards just as I heard a gunshot.

Opening my eyes I looked up into worried hazel and green eyes. “You alright Rae?” Sam asked.

“Yeah I feel fine. Don't guess the spell did anything other than knock me down.” I shrugged and took Dean's offered hand getting up.

“Let's hope that's all it did,” he grumbled.

Tags:

@mirandaaustin93 @thatfanficstuff

#supernatural #dean winchester #supernatural fanfiction #dean winchester x oc #dean x oc #supernatural fandom #dean #spn fandom

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moczothe1st · 7 years ago

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Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 10: Yarrrrrrrr!

Part 9

Welcome back to FEIV! I was originally not planning to update this week, since my appendix ruptured last weekend and that’s actually pretty incredibly awful to experience. I figured I earned a week off. However, I did not consider one thing: when you’re basically required to keep yourself in bed for 90% of the day, you have a lot of time to kill. After the first four or so days of pain and eating very little, I started playing Genealogy because frankly why not. I did have to wait until I got off the IV, mind you, because industrial painkillers and strategy do not mix. Not unless you want to get all your units beaten to death by pirates.

Speaking of.

I feel like I should just point out that last week they were worried about me coming up north to attack them, and yet they willingly start a fight here, even opening up a bridge for me to reach them.

Given that our army has, at this point, defeated two entire countries, I think we can handle a bunch of pissed-off sailors, thanks. Though the first members of the group actually take their shots by going northwest after Bridget.

This exact same battle happens three more times. Bridget is awesome.

The rest of the pirates do go South, but Dew is holding the bridge and they literally can’t hit him. They’re axe men and his dodging is amazing. So they don’t even try, just walk to him and stop.

Sometimes smart AI is really annoying. When our phase starts up, some familiar faces come with it.

Taillte: Just look around! There’ll be pirates all over us if we don’t get moving!

Claude: Be at peace, Taillte. This was quite the fruitful journey! Lord Bragi has answered my prayers and revealed to me the truth. It is precisely as I had thought. Not to mention, I even found House Edda’s long-lost sacred heirloom within the tower: the staff of Valkyria.

Taillte: What, that grubby little cane?

Claude: … Taillte, please. Try to mind your manners. This is a legendary magical staff with the power to restore life to the deceased. It is usable by only the direct descendants of Saint Bragi. That is to say, me alone.

Taillte: Huh. So what you’re saying is, with this rod you could bring my sweet old grandma back to life?

Claude: Alas, most likely not. Valkyria is limited in many particular ways, and so cannot be used on just any lost soul. You see, all mankind is born bearing a life force called quintessence, which-

Taillte: Yaaaaawn… er, what’s that? You lost me. Why are you still talking about this anyway? We’ve gotta get outta here!

Well. This will be interesting, at least. Now, before we show off our new characters, there is a conversation to be held. Ethlyn, you haven’t made me angry in awhile: take it away!

Ethlyn: Here. Take this.

Quan: A spear? …. What?! I-isn’t this Gae Bolg?! Why do you-

(Yes, Ethlyn. Why do you.)

Ethlyn: Your lord father entrusted it to me, Quan. He thought it prudent for you to have it at hand in case our battles grew too fierce.

Quan: Even just holding it, I’ve never felt so strong! Why did you wait until now, though?

(YES, ETHLYN. WHY DID YOU?)

Ethlyn: With the spear, your lord father also passed onto me its tale… I’m so sorry…

Quan: … Ah. Gae Bolg bears the baggage of a truly sad legend. But that is all it is: a legend.

Ethlyn: But-

Quan: Ethlyn, trust me. Triumph is within our grasp this day. I’ll not fall victim to an old myth. I’ll not let it stop me from returning home. Our dear little Altena still awaits us, and I’ll not allow some fairy tale to disappoint her.

Ethlyn: Yes… Quan, no matter what happens… we’ll never lose each other. Right?

Quan: Ah, you’re concerned about Deirdre, aren’t you? There’s nothing to worry about. It won’t be long until we find her.

Ethlyn: Yes…. I want to believe she’ll be okay, too. I wish I could. But…

Quan: Ethlyn? Come now, dry your tears. Do you truly feel so bad about this?

(… Okay, I’m still angry at Ethlyn over her withholding the Omni-Spear from me the whole game, but she kind of has a point here. Her sister-in-law has vanished. It would be kind of weird if she wasn’t worried, Quan.)

Ethlyn: Yes… knowing th-that Sigurd and Deirdre may never meet again… they love each other so much… why, Quan? Why did this happen to them?!

Quan: Ethlyn…

Deep breath

Okay, let’s look at our new stuff. Simplest first.

Quan now has the Gae Bolg, his Holy Weapon, like Eldigan’s Mystletain and Claude’s above-mentioned Valkyria. It gives him +10 boosts to Strength, Skill, and Defense while holding it; he was already a nigh-unbreakable juggernaut, so take that ‘nigh’ off and you get the idea. It also does ten more points of damage per shot than the Silver Lance even without the strength boost, while weighing only slightly more.

So. You know.

THANKS FOR KEEPING THAT IN YOUR POCKET THIS WHOLE TIME, ETHLYN. YOU BITCH.

Now, the new characters.

Claude of Edda is basically Aideen: Part 2. Same class, similar growths; his Major Bragi Blood (+20% HP growth, +20% Magic Growth, +20% Luck growth, +40% Resistance growth) push his in a better direction for their class, but she’s leveled up so great she’s basically his equal anyway, and he has fewer levels left than her to take advantage of them. He’s also promoted, so he can use offensive magic in addition to staves… but he didn’t bring any, so that’s not much of a comfort.

And his gear at the moment is just plain not great for the situation, i.e. alone with a teenager fighting pirates. The Fortify Staff is the best healing staff in the game, giving a huge amount of health back to not a specific target, but to everyvunit within 10 spaces of Claude. Amazing… but it only has ten charges. The Valkyria staff, meanwhile, is basically a one-use get out of jail free card if someone dies: Claude can use it in the main castle to revive them, at which point it will break and require a stupid amount of money to repair for one more use. So it’s nice to have as a fallback, but if you rely on it you’re going to end up bankrupting yourself in short order.

Taillte is… a unique character. On paper, she’s quite good; her growths are solid, bolstered by Minor Tordo holy blood (+20% HP, +30% skill). She can only use Thunder magic, but that’s okay, because it’s the second-best kind of magic and she can use it up to A-rank, and even comes with the A-rank Thoron tome, meaning she joins us with the equivalent of a Silver weapon in her chosen weaponry class. And she also has a very nice personal skill, Wrath, which turns all her attacks into guaranteed criticals if her health is below half, basically taking her already ‘glass cannon’ status and allowing her to upgrade to a much bigger cannon if she’s willing to take some extra glass on board. And her stats are quite good for her level!

Which is to say, for level 3. When the rest of the army is in their late teens at the lowest.

So, we clearly need to get someone over there to help those two, because Taillte is most definitely not going to be able to hold off all the pirates in her area alone, and Claude can only heal her ten times. But whooooo is nearby to go saaaaaave them?

sniff

Oh, Bridget you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind, Hey Bridget. She’s also a little underleveled, being only 12, but she’s a pre-promote like Sigurd so if anything her stats are a little higher than most of the army; in particular, she actually has the third highest Strength stat of anyone in the army, after Quan and Lex. And a low level actually gives her more levels to gain bolstered by her Major Ullur Blood (+40% HP, +60% luck). She’s gonna be surprisingly durable for an archer class, with luck making her dodgy and plenty of hit points, on top of Strength, Speed, and Skill which are already enough to carry her the whole game. The only skill she has is Pursuit, but if you’ve been paying attention that’s the most important one for an offensive unit to have anyway, soooooo.

Let’s do this shit.

Bridget immediately begins moving west along the peninsula towards Taillte and Claude, who move toward the pirates around them to start working on things. Neither is, unfortunately, close enough to any enemies to make an attack… well, Bridget is, but she can’t run and shoot at the same time, and even the best Archer of all time can’t fight at melee. If she gets surrounded, even she’ll be in trouble. Everyone else, in turn, begins to move towards the units holding the bridge, while they themselves defend with all they’ve got.

Yeah, no, the bridge is going to fall. Horribly. The Orgahil pirates are so pitiful in comparison to Agustria that we might as well ignore them and go knit. The rest of the level is going to be entirely about Taillte and Claude’s survival. End turn!

Continues knitting

And over with Claude, Taillte takes a single hit, but survives. This leaves her in a somewhat dangerous situation because she’s fragile and will die at any slight brush now, but Wrath is now enabled and she one-shots her attacker in reply.

The rest of the pirates in her area are out at sea and will be coming ashore slowly, letting her engage them one at a time on her own terms, so. Picture that sequence of the Death Star getting ready to fire, and you have an idea what I’m about to do with Taillte. Bridget continues to move toward them as well, the edge of her movement range leaving an enemy in her sights.

Get used to screens like this.

For the bridge team, I actually don’t do any fighting this turn, because Dew is a perfect blocker, and he isn’t going to take a shot at anyone. Rather: Aideen is broke and his money is maxed, so he can’t rob any of these guys! I have her move forward to stand next to him reassuringly, and he in turn gives her 49,000 gold. I wish I had more friends like Dew.

Much better. Killing off all these idiots would have cost me so much money if I hadn’t done that. Dew will likely be right back to max money by the end of the map. The pirates, in addition, can move very slowly on water squares and some of them do go around Dew to reach other units.

Their next of kin will be reminded of the dangers of swimming. On our turn, it’s mostly movement. Quan and Ethlyn move toward our home castle, everyone else moves toward these dorks again. The dorks in question, mind you, are doing very well. I actually have Lewyn run back towards a castle because I don’t need him to hold these dorks, and his Elwind is about to break from overkilling. Instead, Jamke moves up to take a shot in his place.

For the pirates, this is kind of like saying ‘I send the killer bear home because his stomach is full, and replace him with the killer lion.’ Dew moves forward, continues robbing shit, and levels.

You know, he needs defense so badly I will take this. I have Ayra move up to back him up and soften the newly poor pirate up with her weaker Bolt Sword…

… and of course she uses Astra and kills it. I would have really liked Dew to get more kills, Ayra, he’s about to promote. Please try to be caring of me. Taillte also reaches her first victim.

“You may fire when ready, Commander.” End turn!

Dew… took a hit. From these idiots. How… why! You little jackass, your ability to make me money and your ability to dodge are your only good points right now! You better proc Sol next turn and get some of that health back, quicksmart, or I will be furious. More furious.

I also almost lose Taillte because I didn’t realize she was in range of the enemy, but unlike SOME PEOPLE she pulls off the dodge and destroys her enemy with extreme prejudice, gaining her first level. Not great, but she at least got Speed and since she certainly can’t take a hit, making her better at avoiding them is helpful.

Our turn takes over and Bridget continues to run towards the Dynamic Duo, her rage steadily building. Dew and Ayra team up to take out the first pirate in line…

And since I’m bored, I have Holyn run into this new empty space in the line and smack the guy behind it.

sigh

Holyn, I’m taking a fucking risk by putting you on the front lines. You could at least try. But on the bright side, this does open another new spot in the line for Jamke to move up and take a shot at the enemy commander.

Okay. Teach. Jamke, you ready to learn?

Yup, Jamke has totally learned fear.

Jamke also gets his personal little trinket, the Leg Ring, improving how far he can move each turn by 3 spaces. Jamke doesn’t get a horse, so he’s not a terrible choice for this, but I’m not totally sure if he’ll be keeping it or not. It’s definitely in high demand by units all over.

Erin, off on her own doing her own thing, stops at another of the villages.

Stranger with Candy: Don’t be shy. Drink up! Well, how about it? Feel the might swellin’ in yer muscles! Oughta make yer work out there so much easier.

Erin gains +3 to her Strength, another boost she sorely needed. You’re also probably realizing why I ignored most of the villages on the map; there are a lot of little gifts to be gotten on this one, and I wanted them to go to specific people. There’s still one left meant for Claude, in fact.

On the enemy phase, Jamke provides an assisted suicide and reminds me that all levels these people gain will be either flawless or the worst.

sigh No other combat happens other than some pirates missing Holyn with hand axes, and our turn begins. First, to the home base… Ethlyn, care to not disappoint me for once?

The first magic she’s gained all game! I also send Quan right into the top tier at the Arena, using his new toy. Let’s see how it goes.

Holy Weapons are the best.

Back up at the real war, I continue to break the pirates a little.

Nothing super impressive, but at least the bridge is now mine, so that battle is over and this team can start moving to flank the jerks chasing Bridget. Bridget herself has also reached Claude and Taillte; the general idea now is that she will be their tank, dodging 90% of all melee attacks and slaughtering the occasional archer while Taillte stands behind her doing her best death ray impersonation. End turn!

… I think the pirates are losing hope, you guys, this one definitely had targets to go after who wouldn’t have killed him as terribly as Holyn. Come on, pirates don’t give up! You can’t go out like Agustria!

Our turn begins, and the team that took Silvail begins to reach the pirate fight, turning it from a one-sided fight to a one-sided fight. Lachesis also gains a healing level.

I… really should have given her that Paragon band. At least Dew won’t need it much longer.

He gained a level from this battle, but I missed the stats. +1HP, +1STR, +1SPD, solid enough I won’t have to scream at his face. Aideen also levels from healing him.

… Kind of bad, but she’s gotten so many great levels on this map I don’t really care. End Turn!

… Nothing happens! A sword guy misses Bridget and an axe guy misses Beowulf.

On our turn, Lachesis gets home, and I send her into the Arena with her new Earth Sword to see if it helps her a little.

cue beating

Nope! But the fun part is that now there’s nothing to stop me from just having Ethlyn heal her and trying again next turn, so I’ll let you know if RNG turns her favor at any point.

Over to the west, my two little nukes begin their blasting away at the crowd pressing against Bridget.

Those two sword guys are the most dangerous; they’re not very strong, but are accurate enough to regularly hit Bridget. Most turns Bridget won’t actually be attacking, but I want those two dead ASAP. End turn!

WHERE THE FUCK DID HE COME FROM?! DEEP BREATH Well that scared the shit out of me. I had no idea there was a ranged enemy close enough to reach Taillte. If she hadn’t dodged I’d be up a reset. But, on the plus side, fine level! On the next turn, they both take their shots…

… For the second time this update I missed the stat screen. Bridget gained a level. It was +1HP. I would be furious if she wasn’t already basically endgame quality without any stat gains at all. Taillte is doing okay, though! And then Claude heals ‘em up.

There we go! And better yet, he instantly gains 85 experience from this; Fortify is a pretty rockin’ staff. I start moving the others toward them again; Erin is now close enough to help out next turn, and the others should arriving to reinforce soon.

Though they don’t need it, really, Taillte is dodging everything and its mom. Our turn begins again, and… slaughter?

Yup, slaughter. The enemy phase is basically just Taillte and Bridget continuing their brutal ascent to dominance.

Welp, there goes the enemy’s archer brigade. At this point the rest of the army is basically only heading their direction because I’d like Bridget and Taillte to get some trophy husbands. On our turn, Sigurd and a few others test the defenses of Orgahil itself.

It is not a test they pass well.

The western team continues their just… rampant slaughter, it’s almost humiliating…

You know, barring the horrible level. What is with you this run, Erin?! You started off so perfectly, too! Well, on the plus side, I also realize I completely forgot Ethlyn had Arena levels to challenge too, and she’s a Paladin now. Let’s see how this rolls out.

Ethlyn: Up to seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP

……………… I hate you so much, Ethlyn.

You fucking guys!

……. I want to leave Agustria.

Okay, I’m frustrated so I’m going to take Orgahill now. The boss is nothing special beyond holding the Strength Ring; I’m gonna try to give it to Sigurd, actually, since his Strength stat is actually somewhat on the low end for how high his level is. Luckily he’s a sword dude fighting an axe moron, so it shouldn’t be hard to arrange.

Yeah, this will be over quickly. End turn, and Duvall once again seeks to destroy us with all his skill and power.

See how much he needs that Strength? Duvall should definitely be dead by now. On our turn, it’s… basically… just kind of a pitiful slaughter again, you know the drill.

And Sigurd finishes off Duvall, ending his 27-minute reign as cap’n and gaining himself a sweet +5 to strength.

Welp, might as well end the turn here. Good times. The few remaining pirates all take swings at Bridget and… all hit? How the… no. No. Not engaging. Her defense is good enough it doesn’t matter, and they…

Will not be taking any more swings. One more turn of the same and the enemy army is gone forever, with Erin leveling.

If I had another Pegasus Knight to use she would be so fucking benched right now.

Anyway, there are no more enemies on the map, so from here it’s a matter of just cleaning stuff up. Like this village of ungrateful bitches!

Bitch: Why are you even here? We’ve absolutely nothin’ to do with Agustria or Grannvale! If you’ve really gotta fight, take it somewhere else, you thoughtless sod.

Take a close look at her village in that image. A section is burned, meaning we literally ran in and saved it from being slaughtered by pirates. Next time, we won’t.

More importantly, Aideen finally meets Bridget. Were yooooooooooou paying attention…?

(D’aaaaaaaaaaaaw. Yup, Aideen mentioned her sister Bridget way back in Verdane, and we finally reunited them. Heart: Melted.)

Aideen: Surely you recall me?

Bridget: What? How do you know my name? Hang on… you look just like me! Aideen, huh… it sounds kinda familiar. But where from…?

Aideen: Bridget, listen well. I am your twin sister! We lost you to pirates years ago, when you were just five years old. I’ve searched for you for years. I never lost hope we would meet again!

(D’aaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!)

Bridget: This is all so sudden… no. Weird feelings aren’t enough. I need proof!

Aideen: Proof, you say? Here. Draw this bow.

Bridget: Huh? Okay, a nice bow and all, but what’s it gotta do with anything? Well, I’ll humor you. So I draw it, and… Whoa! Wh-what’s going on?! The hell is this? This… weird feeling boiling within me… are these memories? Ah, my heart is on fire… Aideen? Yes… you’re Aideen... my sister...

Aideen: Oh, thank the gods! You remember! That bow is your birthright, Bridget. It is Yewfelle, the sacred bow of Jungby. Legends tell that the exalted weapons of this land, such as this one, can only be wielded by a single heir per generation. For House Jungby and Yewfelle, that rightful heir is you, Bridget.

Bridget: Oh, Aideen, come here… Let me get a good look at you. How is our father doing? And our brother… Andre, right?

Aideen: I’ve so much to tell you, too… Bridget. My sister.

Well. That was adorable. And Bridget also gets a hold of Yewfelle, which gives her a +10 to Strength and Speed, along with the natural ability Renewal to heal her a small amount per-turn. Not quite as great as Gae Bolg, but frankly Bridget doesn’t need much help to start with so this turns her from unbreakable to super unbreakable. From here it’s mostly last-second healing and warping around, to get Claude to the one village he still needs to get his holy butt to, and to have everyone else start moving the new dudes toward the arena.

Though Aideen does hit 20! Probably won’t promote her this chapter, though, I have no way to get her home quickly. And next, I trigger the secret event by moving Dew over to the sacred tower… no, once again, no hint to do this…

Dew: Mmm… nope, nothin’ over here. Over there, maybe? Aw man! What a boring little dump.

Strange Voice: Who… are you…

Dew: Huh?!

Strange Voice: … State your business…

Dew: Heh, maybe if I pretend I can’t hear it…

Strange Voice: How dare you… defile this sacred ground… BEGONE!

Dew: Kyaaa! S-sorry! Please don’t hurt me! Hah… hah… what just happened?! Hang on… a sword? What’s it doin’ sitting around a place like this? Eh, who cares? Guess I’m getting’ something outta this after all!

Dew gets the Wind Sword, a magic blade like Ayra’s bolt sword and Ethlyn’s light brand, and it will be put to good use over time. Also he’s an awful person. I kind of wish the event had been the ghost eating his soul and joining our army instead.

Over on the other side of the map, Claude grabs the final village:

Cool Old Dude: We can’t thank you enough, but mayhap this magic staff will help. They call it a Restore staff. If yer allies’ve been put t’sleep or silenced, one cast of this staff’ll get ‘em back on their feet.

See, village of northern bitches? This is how you thank the people who stopped your home from burning down.

Now, the last two things. First arena runs:

Bridget: 7 wins, Gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Strength, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Finn: Up to 7 wins, did not gain a level.

Erin: Up to 7 wins, gained one level: +1 Speed, +1 Defense

Dew: Up to 4 wins, did not gain a level. I shouldn’t have used him.

Taillte: 7 wins, Gained three levels: +2 HP, +3 Skill, +2 Luck, +1 Resistance

In addition, a few of the new recruits have conversations with Sigurd.

Claude: I’m glad Taillte was close at hand. We may not have survived, if not for her magic. More importantly, Lord Sigurd, my prayers to Saint Bragi were answered.

Sigurd: You have the trust of all this, then?

Claude: That I do. As I thought, Duke Reptor is behind all of this. On his orders, it was Duke Langbalt who killed Prince Kurth. The two then framed your father, Lord Byron, for the crime.

(Noooooooooooooooooooo, ya don’t saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.)

Sigurd: As we thought…

Claude: The pair’s treachery runs deeper still. The murder of Isaach’s King Mananan was also the handiwork of Duke Reptor. He feared a peaceful end to the war would end the sole excuse for the conquest of Isaach, so he had the king assassinated.

Sigurd: Is that so… Reptor’s filthy hands are all over this mess…

Claude: Not entirely. In the shade of his avarice, there’s something else at work. Something unsettling and terrifying. Not even Lord Bragi could scry this evil presence, obscured as it was by its great power.

Sigurd: An evil presence? Could it be that dark priesthood? … Wait! What of my father, Claude?

Claude: Lord Byron yet lives, but he is weak. I fear he is not long for this world…

Sigurd: Father… this can’t be happening…

Claude: I’ll hasten back to the capital. His Majesty needs to hear the truth. Lord Sigurd, for the time being, stay here and restrain yourself from rash action.

Sigurd: Understood. I can’t thank you enough, Father Claude. I beg of you, do everything you can to save my father and clear his name.

Sigurd: The villages told me of a woman who leads the pirates of Orgahil, and of her devotion to aiding the poor and weak. That would be you, correct?

(“Also you’re identical to my childhood next-door-neighbor, who has an identical twin named Bridget, so…”)

Bridget: You must be that Grannvale man… Sigurd, right? Guess this is it. Come on. Just get it over with.

Sigurd: Oh, no, you’re mistaken! I’m certainly not here to kill you. I just want to talk. I’d like you to ally with you. We’d love to add your strength to our own, to help us better fight the pirates. What say you?

Bridget: Wait. You really want me, of all people?

Sigurd: Certainly! You’d be a tremendous asset.

Bridget: You’re a strange little man, Sigurd…

Oh, Bridget, You have no idea. Let’s get the Hell out of Agustria!

Sigurd: Oifey, would you please gather our troops here? Now that this is all over, I’d like to ensure that everyone’s alright.

Oifey: At once, sire.

Langbalt: Seize these vile allies of Byron, accomplices to his murder of Kurth and his bid to take over our kingdom! It is the will of His Majesty! No mercy for enemies of the state!

Reptor: To think, he personally put an end to that miserable prince and nearly killed Byron as well… I’ve never seen such a bold ploy! And with Arvis using His Majesty’s trust, it all worked flawlessly! Convincing the king of anything is hardly a challenge, but to succeed with a tale of this scale takes quite the storyteller… and here we are, with the entirety of House Chalphy framed for the crime! Heh heh… our victory is all but assured. The throne of Grannvale shall be mine, one way or another. I’ll leave no pest who dares interfere with me alive…

(……. I’m going to assume Langbalt is loudly shouting to the army and Reptor is just thinking to himself. Otherwise, I got some questions.)

Sigurd: What in the blazes is this?! I’ve been declared a traitor and a Grannvale legion waits at our doorstep to arrest me?!

Oifey: Sire… and to think, the war here was over at long last, and you were about to go search for Deirdre.

(“YES, OIFEY, THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME”)

Sigurd: Gah… how could His Majesty believe Reptor’s lies? That my father, of all people, would kill Prince Kurth?! If only Father Claude had reached the capitol before they struck… Why?! Why is this happening?! I fought a pointless war! I let Eldigan die! And now this! What have I been fighting for all along?!

(The one and only time it will be a relief to see neutral units.)

Mahyna: Queen Rahna bade my corps and I to come and retrieve you. We invite you and your subordinates to retreat with us to Silesse, until your good name has been cleared in Grannvale.

(Lewyn’s mom! Finally, our habit of collecting lost royalty has paid off!)

Sigurd: … Queen Rahna of Silesse, you say? Why is Silesse willing to give aid to an alleged traitor like me?

Mahyna: Please, sir. Time is of the essence. The Grannvale assault is sure to begin at any moment now. My Pegasus knights will escort you across the sea to safety in Silesse.

And there we go! Grannvale, our ambiguously evil home, has outright turned against us. Reptor and Langbalt are in control, and the king thinks we killed his son. The only option remaining is to flee across the sea and regroup.

… We probably coulda solved the issue by having Lewyn stand near the enemy, but this is more dramatic.

Anyway, see you next week in the shining northern lands of Silesse, where I’m sure nothing will go wrong!

Part 11

#let's play fire emblem #Let's play fire emblem IV #Let's play genealogy of the holy war #fire emblem 4 #Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War #FEIV #LP #my writing

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