#bavarian ramblings

[offiiciallybavaria]

Ohhh yes, I really like infodumping about Touhou. Get ready for a longass post.

Touhou Project is a series of Bullet Hell Games with some Fighting Games. There are 19 mainline Games (Though people don't care as much about the first five as the rest) and 13 Canon Spinoffs. There are several canon printworks, a bunch of CD's, and it's one of the most popular things in Japan. The whole thing takes place in the modern day in a place called Gensokyo, which is cut off from the Outside World to keep Youkai, certain gods, and whatnot thriving.

There are 4 "Era's" for the games; PC-98, Windows 1st Gen, Windows 2nd Gen, and Windows 3rd Gen.

PC-98 Era is where the first 5 games, Highly Responsive to Prayers to Mythic Square, fall into. This is regarded as a separate canon to the Windows Era. The only four who are both in the PC-98 and Windows Eras are Reimu, Marisa, Alice, and Yuuka, the rest in this era were left behind.

The Window's 1st Gen Era encompasses from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (The most popular game) to Shoot the Bullet. Most of the very popular characters are from this Era, including Flandre, Mokou, Cirno, Sakuya, and Youmu.

The Windows 2nd Gen Era encompasses Mountain of Faith to Hopeless Masquerade. The majority of these incidents are caused by Kanako Yasaka in some way or form. Some of the popular characters include Satori, Koishi, Utsuho, Tenshi, and Kokoro.

The Windows 3rd Gen is by far the longest spanning one, encompassing from Double Dealing Character to the most recent game, Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost. Some of the popular characters include Yuuma, Junko, Shion, Seija, and Okina.

There are 180+ unique characters in the franchise, though a chunk of them aren't seen in the games. Some characters make more appearances than others, and most of them have unique abilities.

My top 5 are Mokou, Utsuho/Rin (Tied because I just couldn't leave one without the other), Yukari, Junko, and Tenshi.

Mokou, also known in full as Fujiwara no Mokou, was an unwanted child, not allowed to go in public. Kaguya humiliated the Fujiwara Family entirely when the Father of Mokou wanted to have Kaguya's hand in marriage, to find the 5 Impossible Requests which Kaguya already had, and Mokou came to resent Kaguya after that embarrassment. Mokou eventually escaped and climbed mount Fuji, where she snuck behidnd a man named Iwakasa, who with soldiers had the Hourai Elixir, an Elixir of immortality. Iwakasa helped Mokou, and offered her to come along with him and his soldiers, and she did. When the soldiers tried to destroy the Hourai Elixir by lighting it ablaze atop mount Fuji, they were stopped, and overnight all the soldiers were killed, leaving only Mokou and Iwakasa. Mokou wanted the Elixir for herself, but she didn't want to kill Iwakasa for it, but eventually the desite for Immortality was too strong, so she killed Iwakasa and drank the elixir. Now having attained Immortality, she realized she couldn't be with normal humans any longer, and so she became a wanderer, eventually ending up in Gensokyo.

Utsuho Reiuji and Rin Kaenbyou, officially nicknamed Okuu and Orin respectively, are friends from before Hell and the Underground was split. Once that was done, The Palace of the Earth Spirits was built in what is now called Former Hell. Satori took in the Hell Ravens and Blaze Cats, Utsuho and Rin included. Rin's Job is to haul bodies away to the Hell of Blazing Fires, and Utsuho's Job is to maintain the heat of the Hell of Blazing Fires. Another important thing, Utsuho's pretty dumb. Before the events of Subterranean Animism, the 11th game in the series, Kanako Yasaka went to Utsuho in a dream, and told her to eat the Sun God, Yatagarasu. She did, gaining nuclear powers, but she misinterpreted Kanako's words as wanting to take over the Surface (Gensokyo). Rin saw this and instead of going to Satori, she drives up some of the vengeful spirits to hopefully bring some strong Youkai down, though Reimu and Marisa go instead and foil Utsuho's plan.

Junko isn't the true name, but it's the only one we know. She used to have a son who she deeply cared for, until Houyi technically killed her son. She retaliated by killing Houyi and purifying herself afterwards, now a being of pure fury. She then sets her sights on Chang'e, who is in prison in the Lunar Capital because of Drinking the Hourai Elixir, and devises a plant with Hecatia to get in there and kill her, which is technically impossible because Chang'e is now immortal. Junko and Hecatia try out the plan in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom but Reimu, Marisa, Sanae, and Reisen eventually stop Junko and Hecatia from fully doing their plan.

Yukari is a mysterious one of a kind Youkai and one of the 3 known Youkai Sages of Gensokyo. Her backstory is murky. She's kinda lazy, but will not hesitate with some things, even if she's not fully awake.

Tenshi is a Delinquent Celestial who finds Heaven boring. She ascended to Heaven with others of the Hinanawi Clan and became Celestials that way. She caused the incident in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody just so she could fight. Eventually, sometime after Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, she was EXILED from Heaven, in which I assume it was for being such a delinquent, but that may be up for speculation.

I have a Spotify Playlist of Touhou Songs that I listen to frequently, if you want to listen (if you have a Spotify Account), you can find it here. If you need English names for the songs, just say the number, and I'll tell you the English Name, I know most of them.

If you have any other questions about Touhou, feel free to launch them my way, I will happily go out of my way to try and get answers.

my brothers share special interests and my favorite thing to do is walk in a room and be like "hey guys can you tell me about the mariana trench" and then sit there for an hour while they both infodump to me about the ocean it's extremely entertaining

[mercury-lynx]

I love the idea of falin and laios growing up eatting the most DIABOLICAL looking food (based off my own childhood)

Here's some of my absolute favorites :3

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

expanding on my tags here a lil bit, I do think ml Scala is meant to take inspiration from multiple different european places but it really is very very italian to me. Like there’s the battle theme and architecture and potential symbolism yeah, but…hmm. Maybe I’m partly pulling from personal experience. I’ve visited Rome before so when I look at some of the shots in ml, mostly the nighttime ones, I just remember walking around the streets the first night I was there and how soft and warm the lighting was. It just feels the same to me somehow, which, if anything, is a testament to the amount of care and attention that was put into developing this version of Scala (from the devs themselves and in-universe ;) )

[jaina-lyn]

I have 2 days off and I'm thinking about sewing Shepard's casual pants to go with my N7 hoodie. Sewing pants is my nemesis tho. And I don't have fabric yet.

There's a thing I'd like to go to on Sunday and I could just wear one of my Jaina Solo costumes, but casual Shep would be sick. I'll need an embroidery hoop. I've made an N7 crop top for summer that's missing either a patch or an embroidery.

Decisions, decisions.

[kxmpfflieger]

almost done with the fucking j11 lineup ive been working on (would've finished it sooner but procrastination) inly thing left to do is their service uniforms. emil is giving me a hell of a hard time rn.

[ynwa4eva]

Kane in that paulaner ad genuinely scared the shit out of me.....

[the-lady-general]

Somebody somewhere said pop culture white whale and now I'm once again gnashing my teeth for Ronald D. Moore's Dragonriders of Pern and Peter Jackson's Temeraire series.

[offiiciallybavaria]

Guten Tag, hello all, Bavaria over here.

This is a side blog run by @raish-ryeson-robinson-i

I am not a Minor, but creeps need to gtfo.

Local pretzel dealer.

Tags:

#bavarian ramblings - Just my ramblings and whatnot.

#bavarian originals - Original posts made my me

#offiically bavarian reblogs - Reblogs made by me

Other shit:

There'll be some other Scheisse here sometime.

[fafayayarhen]

Any Austria headcanons?

shaking

vibrating

tumbling over

hi. yes. so. enjoy my ramblings of specific Austria | Roderich headcanons from me because my credentials include 5 - 6 years of RP experience writing, researching, writing, musing him

some canon points i took and expanded upon with prevalent historical elements that does fit what i see from the series, certain elaborations that comes from further delve into the unique entanglement of the Habsburg influence upon their claim to the imperial fief of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Duchy

Austria being a far more rowdy, feral, unrestrained youth when the Austrian Duchy absolutely flourished during the Babenberg rule by the successive lead of dukes Leopold. (Yes, dukes. All of them were named Leopold and distinguished only by the numerical order.) During Leopold III, Leopold the Illustrious reign, he was a bit of a punk that not only successfully expanded the duchy with more towns and cities, he joined the third crusade and took command of the German battalion when the previous commander died (Duke Frederick of Swabia). This is the origins of the legend where Austria's flag was created, the signature triband of red, white, red. The Duke's bloodstained uniform when he removed his belt revealed the untouched hidden stripe of white and he went with that - given the track record of these dukes and their prosperous deeds in battle, Roderich would've been that young man who eagerly joined his dukes in each and every conflict, fighting alongside them, and that bit with the bloodstained uniform would've been applied to Roderich as well.

He was a country bumpkin because of this. Had been one since he first came to be, which honestly in my years of writing him is difficult to pinpoint exactly which year given the interesting track records that offers Roman roots (the Noricum province in the then Roman empire), or the first documented use of "Marcha Orientalis" meaning the eastern march, first established by the Bavarian following the battle of Lechfeld in 955 that drove out the rest of the Magyars and fortifying the eastern front once the stronghold is built and fortified. Often I go with this latter interpretation whilst also making good of applying the possible Roman lineage given Noricum was where the land of the east would be. He was just a little country boy Bavaria found after the battle and was like ay yO I GOT A KID.

Bavaria would've spoiled the kid. Cutie. Little march. Sure it's concerning he can already wield a sword but hey you gotta do what you can do to survive! Very apt in swordsmanship and I honestly see his preferred blade of choice is the curved style of a saber, that in turn encompasses his then more outlandish nature - because in sword fighting, saber attacks are far more aggressive despite the refined, graceful look to it. Bavaria would've taught Austria all there is when it comes to fighting when the little march was growing and maturing.

Austria physically matured fast. Which lends itself to the state of his mentality as an empire being pretty fucked because he didn't get to be a child for too long, given how quickly he rose and was refined into this eminent symbol, representative, personification of this imperial fief. During his time as margraviate, he would've already looked like a 10 - 11 y/o pretty soon, then when the later Babenberg generations manage to obtain the Privilegium Minus elevating their territory into a dukedom, he would've had the appearance of a 15 - 16 y/o boy. Because this was a crucial period entering the 1200s onwards, when the succession claim for the duchy became a widely contested issue after the Babenberg line went extinct.

The Bohemian kingdom snatched it pretty quickly with Austrian nobilities actually being in favour for them to rule the duchy, but there was an issue. As imperial fief, the dietary court ruled by the prince electors was the one who called the shots of who'll get to rule the fief next. King Ottokar disregarded this and claimed the duchy for himself and he would've spoiled the Austrian duchy rotten because guess what. Ottokar was incredibly wealthy. I find it absolutely hilarious it was thanks to this man Roderich became... the pampered gemstone he is. To really contextualize how rich Ottokar was, not only was his moniker the Golden King, his earnings was ten times more than the imperial revenue itself that they do not. Want. Ottokar. As emperor. Roderich didn't mind, the former country bumpkin went from a fighter to being throw into this new lavish life where he gets to be comfortable and in prettier clothes, and introduced to Bohemian culture, way of religion, made friends with Bohemia, of course he'd be placated the same way the Austrian nobilities welcomed Ottokar!

Only for his rival, king Rudolf of Habsburg with ambitions to become emperor absolutely get in his way. It was a mess and the then still immature, teenage duchy didn't quite understand the perilous struggle over something he thought was a simple territorial claim and would later learn of the significance when Ottokar was defeated, died in battle, and was finally claimed into Habsburg possession. But it's important to note that Rudolf didn't succeed as emperor. God bless. He was a menace and Roderich would've more than kicked and screamed and tried to bite Rudolf's ear off because guess what. Rudolf was less richer than Ottokar. At least five shillings in bad coin poorer that the country bumpkin having tasted wealth looked at the new ruling figure over his land with disdain because where was the splendour? Where is his comfort?

I may get booed for this but I honestly envisioned he didn't need eyewear until after the dissolution of the empire. Listen to me, he was in good health and perfect physical condition as a rapidly growing fief, he was a good boy who ate his meals, went hunting, practiced his swordsmanship, kept fit, that any and all semblance of incapacitation wouldn't be until after the end that signifies the loss of status and power. The worsening vision thus making him require the glasses on a daily, the frailer physicality simply because in the present day he is not needed to fight, to fend, to exhaust himself tirelessly to grow as a power he no longer was, hence his more laidback habits, hobbies, and being winded easily. And there's nothing wrong with that, you know? He said he wanted to live a good, modest life from here on out and he got that. He's had his run.

Back to more history stuff, remember the bit about his country bumpkin identity? The Spanish Court Ceremonials beat every ounce of it from him. Because one, it was infamously a strict set of conduct by the Spanish constituents in court. And secondly, following the creation of the Spanish Habsburg branch when the succession of marriages into the Spanish monarchy obtaining the crowns of Castile and Aragorn through Maximilian's descendants, Philips and Charles, the Austrians eagerly adopted the customs of their Spanish in laws to foster a harmonious relationship between each other, and in turn Roderich learned the etiquette to a T that perfectly shaped him into the elegant, composed, refined imperium representative he was, finally the revered gemstone befitting the surname he wears; Edelstein. In part, acclimatizing to the Spanish identity was an attempt to better cement his and his first husband, Spain, matrimonial arrangement.

This is completely self indulgent on my part because I love the domino effect and exploring Austria's | Roderich's dynamic with the significant rulers of the dynasty. Maximilian would've been behind the machinations of Roderich's eventual marriage to Antonio. This reflects how his will to bring Spanish inheritance into Habsburg's possessions was achieved when Philip married Joana of Castile, and their heir, Charles, the next Holy Roman Emperor; legitimized the claim over much of the New Worlds and the Holy Roman Empire ... massive wealth and treasure reserves. I imagined the conversation between Maximilian quizzing Roderich on how to better secure their chances of success, thus in turn being one of the rulers that taught the Austrian better when it comes to these political schemes which becomes his weapon later on, telling Roderich to get married. Roderich would have stared and responded, "What?"

Speaking of marriages and the Habsburg being notorious for abusing the ever living daylights out of this strategy? "O'happy Austria, you marry," that saying? The full quote is, "Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube. Nam quae Mars aliis, dat tibi ragna Venus." Let others wage war, but thou, O'happy Austria, marry. For those kingdoms which Mars gives to others, Venus gives to thee. Coined by Matthias Corvinus, the then Hungarian king in the 1400s. And when did Maximilian reigned? 1459 - 1519. The king of the Romans, the most celebrated warlord with a pension for fishing (I kid you not) masterminded some couple of marriages including his own to Mary of Burgundy which brought the possessions of the Low Countries soon into his and the empire's ownership, would have been the instrumental force imparting the wisdom of marriage being the solution to every problem unto Roderich. Young, impressionable Roderich thought, you know what? He's right. Poor Austria didn't think he'd be delivered on the altar is all.

Austria is a polyglot. One, not only are languages and the arts were some of the core subjects for the monarchs, two, Roderich would have more than enough time on his hands to literally retain the fluency of multiple languages. Guess what, another historical tidbit and whom the princess would be inspired by; Emperor Charles. The man could speak an array from French, Dutch, Spanish, even Basque, and Portuguese, and having this disposition to outperform himself each time because Roderich was entangled with that drive to succeed through any and every means, this skill is not only handy but gives him a reason to flex that he can speak Latin still even if rusty from the un-use, Castilian Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Dutch, Portuguese, French, the High German in use today, and bit of Polish. Something about it gives him an advantage that if he can find anything, everything to impose himself above a person, Roderich would absolutely refine it.

He is fond of horses. He is absolutely fond of, and would own one of the original dynasty of the Lipizzaner breed. Let him have his immortal pet. Please. Horseback riding is another favourite activity of his in the past, he'd practice it still in present but not at the same capacity and intensity he once did. So a little about the Lipizanner and why they're special - a product of the Habsburgs. They wanted an agile. faster horse and the cross breeding with Spanish breeds resulted in the end product called a Lipizzan, and where it was first conceived was in a stud farm at Lipica (present day Slovenia) established by a Habsburg monarch. I forgot the dude's name but he would've been thrilled unveiling this creation to Roderich, and was gifted one. And if you're wondering, that's right, these same horses are the specially preserved breed in use for dressage at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Yet another pride and labour of love of the Habsburgs. And in turn, Roderich.

Austria | Roderich strikes me as the type who'd own two large dog breeds. A German shepherd and Dobermann. Something about this pretty looking man and the scariest dogs guarding him gives such immaculate vibes, and frankly the dogs are required to stave off unwanted attention and bite anyone untowards.

Multiple residences owned throughout the nine federal states of Austria. One, for ease of travelling for work purposes so he'd have a cozy place to stay in and two, it's such a thing that since the end of his major power days, becoming closer to and working alongside his people contributes to his growth and goal of living an honest life for himself that he gets to be an authentic person doing what he believes is the best for his people. As opposed to during his time as an empire, he was too high up and never saw for himself the subjects he ruled when he was the emblem of hegemony.

TBC. Because it's midnight and I am passing out. But. Just.

Yeah

[klein-sodor-bahn]

Two new rage forms

My dear Madame Eugénie and @winterthesudrian‘s Karl-Heinz got their rage forms >:3

Under the cut I’ll ramble a bit about the design ideas for them.

Eugénie’s Rage Form was always going to be something bird inspired. France’s national animal is the rooster. Also I wanted to give her something alluring.

In her youth her Hair was green as well. A common tactic French locos use in this form is sitting on the beams of shed roofs and jumping down and attacking them.

Karl-Heinz is a German Engine but he was built before the DRG was formed. And so he is presenting lion traits because he’s a design built for Bavaria. His brothers Kaspar and Franz don’t have the little circlet crown because they never had a Bavarian state railway number.

[betterhomesandhozie]

we’re here 😎

I know strikes are supposed to be annoying and disruptive and baby it is. it’s working

[leonsliga]

The chain on the Lederhose is called a „charivari“ which is quite traditional. I am too lazy to explain it here so just google it.

But it clearly shows how well he has adopted to the Bavarian culture (he visits the Oktoberfest every year with his friends in addition to the team visit and has always a good time)

That’s ok 💜 thank you so much for the explanation and for clarifying the terminology for us! “Charivari” is such a beautiful word for it :)

From my research (and if I got anything wrong, feel free to correct me! I’m here to learn as much as I am to ramble 🫶), the charivari originated as a talisman that men would wear to ensure a successful hunt that year. Back in the day, hunting was generally an activity reserved for the upper class, so the charivari also conveyed the wealth of its wearer. These beautiful chains could be adorned with anything from money to precious stones to animal paws. At the time, it was believed that by decorating the charivari with all sorts of hunting trophies (animal paws, teeth, etc.), the animal’s strength and skill were transferred to the person that wore them.

Apparently, charivari were once so exclusive that the only way to obtain them was to receive them as a family heirloom! These days, you can buy them, and they tend to be an accessory for men’s Lederhosen or for a woman’s Dirndl (though the variation of charivari women wear are generally referred to as Erbsketten from what I could find), carrying with them a deep cultural significance. The older the charivari, the richer the history, and therefore, the more valuable it is. But whether your charivari is a family heirloom with a storied history or a store-bought beauty, it’s important to always make sure there’s an uneven number of charms on it, as even numbers are a symbol of bad luck.

It’s so neat to see Leon wearing one, and it’s even cooler that he’s really taken to Bavarian culture 😁 I love that he doesn’t see the Oktoberfest as just a team formality and that he also goes on his own time with his friends. That’s how you know he really enjoys it. Thanks so much for sharing that detail with us! And once again, please don’t hesitate to let me know if I missed anything or got anything wrong in my research! I’ll gladly correct it <3

[thesoftestcowboy]

Do you think Bavarian counts as its own language, or just a dialect group within (High) German?

So uhh I'm not a linguist (nor am i bavarian) so this is a bit random... I am interested in languages but my areas of expertise are history and culture so, idk, i guess I can write down some thoughts? Sorry I really tried to be short and coherent but uh. well

afaik the division between dialect and language isn't set in stone and social aspects often come into play there. Also, often things evolve from official rulings and law, politics and culture can be fairly closely connected (maybe if Bavaria had become a different state centuries ago, this would be a whole different discussion?). Of course, officially, it is considered a dialect. So are (for example), Austrian German further down south and things like Platt (up north) - but not Dutch, which many northern germans can understand fairly easily.

We can't exactly base it around borders (the same language being spoken in different countries is really common, plus then it wouldn't make sense to include bavarian but not austrian, which share more vocabulary than bavarian and northern german dialects). I could also ramble for entire paragraphs here about the historical idea of having a country based on shared language, but this is already too long. If we try to base it around mutual intelligibility, it would get even more complicated - as a southern person who doesn't speak bavarian, I still think it's not too hard to understand, but some northern dialects can seem like a different language to me. I guess Bavaria and its culture is generally just... well known and has this feeling of separation (again, I'll spare you the history rant), but there's plenty of areas that have a culture (and language) of their own.

So I guess we can base it on either the official definition (yes, it's a dialect) OR just try to make it fit the context - if we're talking about regional german cultures, I'd consider bavaria and its language just one out of many. If you're a learner, I'd say treat it like a separate thing with it's own vocabulary that you probably don't have to learn or understand.

[kestintravel]

After getting out of work today, I decided on a mini-trip just to clear my head and de-stress a bit after a rough week. Nothing fancy, just went down to my local Goodwill to browse before going home.

Made it okay, hid my valuables (what little I have), and moseyed on to the store. Not a lot there, some VCRs and DVD players, nothing too exciting. I did find a largish, soft-sided Samsonite suitcase - around 1990’s vintage, I’d guess. If anyone knows from the picture, let me know~

Anyway, I got it because I’m going on a quick trip this weekend to Leavenworth, Washington. For those who don’t know, it’s a quaint little tourist town done up like a Bavarian village. I’ve been meaning to go visit there for some time (has it been ten years here already? Geez.) and this year my family invited me to go with them.

Since I had to borrow my sister’s luggage for my last trip and my suitcase is in storage, I figured it was time to get my own. Packing for several days, you find out real quick that clothes take up a bit more space than you think they do!

Anyway, I’m rolling this thing out to my car and a guy rolls up in a nice SUV, stopping me. He calls me over and starts his story, about how he has no money but they need gas.

I notice his - presumably - wife sitting beside him. And his - allegedlies - children in the backseat.

Then he pulls these knobbly gold rings off his fingers and offers them to me. “This should be enough,” he says.

I couldn’t look at his face. I said “No, thank you” as my blood began to boil and I walked away.

“Thank you sir!” He called after me as he pulled away, hopefully not to try that on someone else.

It’s the second time something like this has happened to me, but I thought it wouldn’t happen here.

I would gladly help someone in need. I filled up someone’s tank who seemed to be going through a very rough point in their life, and it was a nearly $70 fill-up. But they were clearly suffering, their car was held together with chicken wire, they looked like they hadn’t had a bath in months, and all their worldly possessions filled their backseat.

This person though, had a nice car, neat clothes, clean children, AND a pile of gold on his fingers?

No.

I didn’t believe it the first time it happened to me and I didn’t believe it the second time. I won’t believe it the third time or the fourth time.

I want to believe that there are good people out there, who have just fallen on hard times and the only thing they can offer is the few niceties they have left. I don’t like the idea of people so desperate that they will give whatever they have to someone so that they can make it just another day, but if I run into people like that I will help if I can.

But this…this is something else. To prey upon people, to take their sense of helping those less fortunate than them and weaponizing it, along with playing on their perceived sense of greed to get someone to do whatever they want you to do for them - it makes me sick.

And it makes me really sad. I want to help people. Helping others is how we help all of us achieve great things. But things like this happen, I feel my sense of helpfulness for those in need like it’s getting chipped away. Piece by piece.

I don’t understand why people do these sort of things to another human being. But I want to believe that there are good people in the world, and I know there are. It’s just hard to see them sometimes.

Anyway, I’ve rambled on enough. I have to get this thing cleaned up and ready for my trip.

Be good to each other. We’re all in this together~

[minti-tales]

9. How do they feel about Zenos?

19. What do they think of the Heavens Ward?

Boy, talk about a double whammy. I want to post that gif of John Mulaney saying "We don't have time to unpack this!," but guess what? This is an ask me. I must make time to unpack this. These. Let's a-gooooo

---

I should start by saying that these answers are likely to be me bleeding into Minti. I tend to leave fragments of myself in the characters that I write, some bigger than others. Some fragments turn into a troublesome, but lovable bunny who tries *very very hard* not be defined, who drinks my glamour potions, and spends all of my gil.

Ahem.

Zenos was never a character I liked. I think they're a well written villain and foil for the Warrior of Light, but I never said "Hey, it's Zenos!" with a smile on my face.

He reminds me too much of relationships I've had in the past, where I was, at different times, the rebound, the whipping post, the obsession, and the tryst. (I recently learned that the person who was obsessed with me in high school was stealing my parents' information to open credit card accounts, twenty years later. *Twenty. Years. Later.* If this is you, and you're reading this, grow the hell up. I moved on, so can you.) I realize as I'm writing this that the ask is in danger of turning into *Tales of Hoffman*, the German opera where a drunk poet sings about their ruined relationships in a Bavarian tavern, so let's steer this towards Minti again. I also realize not everyone is going to get this reference; I was a wannabe theater kid with a cousin who did opera and church friends who sang in the local opera theater company.

The point I'm failing to make is that Zenos is obsessed with Minti, the Warrior of Light. Zenos would, and tries, to burn the world down so that Minti's focus is entirely on him. It doesn't matter that he defeats her more than once in the MSQ; it doesn't matter that he turns into a frickin' primal, Shinryu. At the end, it's down to who Zenos decides are the superior predators: himself and Minti. The rest of the world doesn't, shouldn't, exist.

Zenos scares her; he scares her every time he shows up. This is not a "I can fix him" situation, this is "I'm with someone who can kill me, but chooses not to. I want to leave." Being left alone with him at the end of the universe is the worst possible scenario.

Later on, when we meet Zero and go through post-6.0 content, it was hard for me and for her to distinguish Zero from Zenos. In Minti's mind, they were the same person, just with a different body and name. Who knew when Zenos was going to emerge from Zero like a skinwalker and go "Did you miss me, Warrior of Light?" Which is why that kiss meme went in the direction it did - fear that Zero wasn't Zero.

"One Walks in Shadow, One Walks in Light" was an attempt for me to distinguish Zero from Zenos before the end of 6.5. I - me - needed to have a good story for them, and 6.5 provided that. Dare I even say that they're *friends*. Can you believe that? Friends. Good friends! Not friends with benefits, but good, "I got your back, you got mine" friends.

So, after all that rambling, Minti is glad Zenos is dead, may he decay at the far end of the fudging universe and not come back.

---

OH BOY OBERTO, let's talk about the Heavens' Ward. Those people. The people who killed Lady Sabbatine. Those people.

When I talk about Minti being a Ward of House Treleaux, I mean it in the way that the Warrior of Light is a Ward of House Fortemps in the MSQ. They're part of the house, but not by blood. They're under the house's protection.

House Treleaux was never in good graces with the Church, pre-Heavensward. As I've written elsewhere, they got accused to practicing witchcraft and consorting with dark powers to become knights of the Greene (Dark Knights). That reputation didn't get helped after the Calamity, when Lady Sabbatine Treleaux took control of the house, aided by her friend and contemporary gal being pal? Angélique. Sabbatine also considered the Ward to be more interested in controlling the good people of Ishgard than giving them Halone's grace.

All it took was rumors of a long-eared witch's spawn being sighted around the Jeweled Crozier for Ser Charibert to have reason to make a "house call". You can read how that went in my first DWC entry for this year, "Envoy."

She despised them when she was young, she despises them now. It was a pleasure to defeat the Knights of the Round in combat.

I hope this helps.

[ynwa4eva]

HELP I JUST SAW THAT VIDEO OF THE SCOTTISH TEAM IN BAVARIA