#because rook is singled out as being important

[anotherramblingfangirl]

What if Rook de Riva was just a problematic fledgling Viago got saddled with by the previous House talon? They apparently were seen as having talent from the start, perhaps explaining why that Talon didn’t just do away with them and took a different approach.

Viago meanwhile remembers Rook as a fledgling who are children/teens and their graduation - as well as seemingly views a lot of responsibility for how they turn out, even still, including wanting them more “cultured” such on Antivan art - but isn’t quite old enough to have been the Talon in charge himself when Rook was actually recruited.

This could have been either a keep Viago busy and unproblematic to me sort of decision, or perhaps giving him responsibility over a fledgling under his wing was part of grooming him as heir to the house depending on if Viago was the intended next Talon.

It could explain the sibling/parental dynamic fans have been commenting on, especially as in-game comments make it clear this isn’t just on all in his house - he worries and is in a worse mood when Rook specifically isn’t there.

[some-lost-fox]

Overblot scars, part 2/7 Leona got kinda... long, oops?

Trigger Warnings:

Possible OOC, no beta, scars (bit of angst)

Important note: You are actively hiding scars from them!

Heartslabyul - Savanaclaw (You are here!) - Octavinelle - Scarabia - Pomefiore - Ignihyde - Diasomnia

SAVANACLAW

Leona Kingscholar

- Leona barely cared about the Herbivore that had the sheer AUDACITY to wake him up, barely a few days into the new school year

- But then you started to wear that ugly scarf, which sadly ended up catching attention. (Black and green? Like the colors from Diasomnia? Disgusting.)

- Sadly, the lion beastman started to have his eyes on you, and when lions choose their prey, it's hard to get rid of them

- His eyes would notice tiny things, capable of reading the body language, and his ears would twitch ever so slightly to changes in your tone

- The way you told your friends not to worry about the scarf ("It's just cold!") (bulls--) and always tried to change the topic of conversation the second they poked around it

- Or how you would ever so slightly flinch when you heard Riddle's voice. The overblot clearly left some mental scars on you. With all those facts, he wanted to know more...

- He doesn't remember anything from his overblot, but your body language towards him changed. Even your behavior. He's not dumb.

- You would shift your gaze whenever you two talked, and you would clutch your dominant hand. (Had... he hurt you? That's what your body language was saying... No, he surely didn't...)

- Talking to you eventually got so difficult, as well as looking out for you from respectable distance (He was NOT a stalker like Rook.) to the point he had to get Ruggie for it. (Ruggie did dig into him because of that)

- Then the whole stupid thing with the dorm happened, but that was the closest you had gotten to Leona in a while, and he was, deep inside, grateful (not like he would say it) but threatening HIS sleep? No, that wasn't happening

- Overblot fixing later, and Azul got the same jumpy treatment. Just now you were rubbing the wrist of your non-dominant hand.

- So, when he saw you talking to Azul, he decided to swoop in and grab you the wrist you were rubbing so much. He was slightly surprised when he felt a glove instead of your skin.

- After kidnapping you into an empty classroom, he decided to finally tackle this issue.

- "I'm not fidgety! You are just imagining stuff!" "I'm not blind, Herbivore."

- So with nowhere to run and him glaring at you, you finally gave up. You removed the scarf and removed the glove, showing him the two out of three scars you got.

- Leona quickly puzzled it together, and his eyes turned soft, the glare was gone. The ears lowered themselves as he reached for your hand, and his eyes met yours, asking for permission to check what he caused to you.

- You were now shaking, your heart was beating fast, but you allowed him. You had no clue why, but you did.

- He gently rolled up your sleeve, his eyes widening. (You were surprised he was being... so gentle.) His thumb gently caressed the scratch-mark-like scars. For the longest time, not a single word escaped his lips.

- "Do they still hurt?" (Yes, they burn.) "No."

- He gently pressed his lips against the back of your hand and murmured something to himself (which caused the magical scar to burn, just a little bit less)

- Once he pulled away he just stared into your eyes and sighed.

"Can you try not to get hurt? Your friends have to be worried about your ass." ("And I'm twice more." said his eyes)

🦁🦁🦁

Jack Howl

- Unlike students from Heartslabyul, Jack didn't know you from the start, but he tilted his head to the side when he saw you in that scarf, during sunny and warm weather.

- "They are just special like that," Ace said with a shrug, but Jack found it odd, but didn't say anything, your friends would know better, right?

- Being a wolf beastman, brought advantages of noticing small things, just like Leona.

- So after dealing with Leona's overblot, Jack found it odd how you would keep your hand always close to your side, and would always move around to not have anyone at that side. ("Wha? No, you are just imagining things, Jack.")

- But he didn't try to push you, at least not yet, but you would always catch him staring ("I-I wasn't staring, I was just looking your way......" he would lie while his tail would wag oh so little)

- A couple of days after Azul's overblot, he heard a soft crying, and found you, clutching your wrist outside of Ramshackle (He will never say why he was there, stop trying. He was just... passing by.)

- "Jack...!" You were startled, but he just looked at you, and... the first thing that came to his head was a memory... of you mentioning how soft he looked in his wolf form...

- "Unleash the Beast" he murmured to himself turned into his giant wolf version, and simply relaxed next to you, as a giant fluffy wolf.

- Needless to say, you hugged him and explained everything, it was easier to explain it to him by pretending he was a dog...

- Jack listened, and the next morning, he was by your side, slightly blushing, but his tail was wagging.

"D-Don't think I will repeat that... It was one time event...!" (You both knew otherwise...)

🐺🐺🐺

Ruggie Bucchi

- Oh boy, Ruggie barely knew you, and barely really cared, at the start.

- Then Leona's overblot happened, and well, he noticed you were acting odd. At least towards Leona, who sent him to investigate.

- And well, his investigation went pretty smoothly, it didn't take long for him to realize you hiding something. But he just wasn't sure what.

- Once you managed to force Leona into helping with Azul, (and dealing with his overblot) Ruggie had a theory. You got hurt and decided to treat the wounds yourself.

- Perhaps if he helped you, it would make you less... weird (scared?) towards Leona!

- Of course, the hyena beastman didn't ask like a normal person would, and simply... used his unique magic (he could get away with it!) and removed the glove from your hand! (Or well, YOU removed it.)

- As he was about to grab the proper first aid kit, he was shocked

- You were glaring at him, tears slowly appearing in your eyes.

- "Hey don't cry. Hey c'mon." Ruggie felt bad. He didn't mean to hurt you, or rather in this case, expose you.

- He sighed and explained how he simply wanted to help. He was lucky that you appriacited his caring (but you did scold him over asking for permission if anything like that ever happens)

"What if we use your newest scar on Azul, and demand emotional payback? Hey, I'm joking!" (He made you stop crying and made you laugh, win.)

🌭🌭🌭

[twistmusings]

Character Analysis of the Twisted Wonderland Dorm Rooms - Savanaclaw

Thanks so much for your input on the first post everyone! Honestly a lot of you have much sharper eyes that I do, so I'm making it a habit to add addendums when people spot things that I don't.

At any rate, here is the examination of the rooms for Savanaclaw!

Dorm Room Character Analysis Series

Heartslabyul | Savanaclaw | Octavinelle | Scarabia | Pomefiore | Ignihyde | Diasomnia

Leona Kingscholar

To start with the obvious, Leona is probably the most disorganized dorm that we've seen so far. He's noticeably left his clothes lying around the room. It's of note that he's got an empty hangar in his closet, which could mean that some of these clothes are clean and he cba to hang them up.

Leona has a chess set with three pieces displayed - what appears to be a Knight, a Rook, and a Pawn. I believe this may be a reference to the story arc of book 2, considering that Rooks are a powerful piece in chess. If we consider in terms of chess, if I had to guess, I would say the Knight is Leona (known for it's unique movement which can be used to strategize and take tactical advantage of board placement), the Rook would be Ruggie (known as one of the most powerful pieces in chess because it can move any distance in a single line so long as it doesn't jump another piece, thank you anon for correcting me on this!) because of his unique magic being the lynch pin of Leona's plan during book two, and Jack, or more generally, the rest of his dormmates, being the pawns, that are used to set a strategic defense.

Also of note, Leona has a plant in his room. Of course, it could be fake, but if it is real, it shows a nurturing aspect to Leona that is interesting given his characterization that we know of. Minor Spoiler Warning for Book 6 that has definitely been pointed out by other people, but we know that he lets Riddle rest on his lap during the book when he's knocked unconscious, so he does, indeed, seem to have aspects of a nurturer in his characterization that he tends to hide by being prickly. If I had to read further into this, I would say it's another aspect of his motif overall - Leona has the capacity to care a great deal about everything, but he doesn't because he isn't given the same opportunities as Falena, and so you see those parts of him come out in other places.

This may be a bit of a stretch, but I believe this pillow in Leona's room is intended to be a call-back to Lions and their manes. When Leona lays his head down on the pillow, the pattern would be splayed out around his head like one.

Leona, of course, has textiles in his room, which is mentioned to be important for his homeland in the Tamashina Mina/Cloudcalling event as they are handmade and the primary source of income for Sunset Savanna. This is of note because Leona is not the only one in Savanaclaw to display tapestries like this, but these tapestries are notably similar to those shown in the Tamashina Mina.

So this is going to be a very long and not particularly important sections, so feel free to skip if you CBA to read it, but I wish there was a little bit more information about the inspiration drawn for Leona's homeland because it could be particularly informative of the actual symbolism in the textiles. If we are considering what we know about his homeland, Leona mentions a few things that give us some hints as to the location.

Generally speaking, the Lion King is considered to be set in Tanzania, and this is in line with the Hibiscus and the Baobab that Leona mentions in the Cloudcalling event, however from my most definitely not expert research, a lot of textiles produced in Tanzania are wax dyed. (Mind, I am far from an expert in African Textiles.) This becomes important when Leona mentions that the tapestries and clothing in the Sunset Savanna are woven. While it's not always a rule, typically woven clothing and tapestries are dyed before they are woven, and weaving is what produces the pattern. With wax dyeing, the textiles are produced first, and then waxes are used to create layers of dye that are arranged in patterns. (This also gets called batik dyeing).

The left, above, is a Tanzinian Batik Kitenge Fabric from east Africa, while the right is a Ghanaian Woven Kente Cloth from West Africa next to Leona's Tapestry to show more of what I mean, which throws a wrench into examining this further because we are talking about two different cultures across the continent from one another.

The gist of this being, it does seem that Leona's tapestry and blankets would seem to be more in line with woven fabric as opposed to batik dyed fabric. If anyone has more information who is more versed in this subject, I would love to know more! Basically, this is the long way of me saying I can't exactly identify whether or not any of the tapestries or blankets in his room hold any particular meaning in their patterns or colors because I wouldn't know what culture it would be drawing inspiration from! To be quite honest, it is entirely possible this is a case of Twist mixing several cultures together to paint a more general picture of African culture.

To change the subject back to the room - Leona has a notable lack of study materials in his room. In fact, I don't see a single book in his room. If Riddle is the one who is the king of the little readers club, Leona was the kid who filled in all the stamps on the summer reading list to get the prizes without reading anything.

While it's not as prevalent as Cater or Trey, Leona's room features a lot of darker yellows and reds. It's possible that Leona favors these warmer colors, which is funny considering his rather gloomy outlook on a lot of things, as these colors are generally associated with happiness and passion.

The hidden mickey in his room is just below his overhead lamp.

Jack Howl

Jack, as we know, has a little cactus garden in his room. it is of note, his cacti are flowering, which is a sign that his little cacti are as happy as could be.

This might be a bit morbid, but if I had to guess, I would guess that Jack's rug is a synthetic wolf-skin rug given the jagged design on the edges. This is only a guess of course, as the bedrooms and backgrounds in twist tend to have a slightly flatter style than the rest of the game, so it's hard to tell if it's actually fur or not. Regardless, we see see a lot of the members of Savanaclaw's animals represented in small touches in their room.

Jack is pretty organized in comparison to the other freshmen! All of his books are put away, and even his weights and resistance bands are tucked away as much as they can be.

Jack seems to have soy protein, a protein shake container, and a stick of deodorant ready-to-go! Jack might be a bit extra with his workout routine, but at least he seems to be responsible about it by making sure he's getting the nutritional support he needs to build muscle and taking care not to smell rank.

Jack also has a textile on his wall. Given the Shaftlands seems to be generally inspired by Europe, I would guess that the tapestry is most similar to Nordic knitted and woven fabrics. The motif of the tapestry seems to be floral designs or snowflakes and pine trees. This seems to be a cute callback to how Jack likes to snowboard and how he comes from a snowy place.

Like the other first years, Jack doesn't seem to have decorated his bedsheets much. He does have a bedrunner in a flamestitch sort of pattern. Though the flamestitch pattern isn't commonly attributed to any one country, it is generally considered to be of European origin, adding to the European inspiration of the shaftlands.

The hidden Mickey in Jack's room is next to his tapestry.

Ruggie Bucchi

Mr. Pig. More seriously, Ruggie found it abandoned on the street and took it home. There's a meerkat version as well that Ruggie has mentioned getting in his Birthday Boy Vignette. He also mentions that it sings or lets out a happy squeal when you put coins into it.

Also, Ruggie has a framed photo on his desk, similar to Deuce. I would guess this is a photo of him and his grandmother.

Ruggie actually seems to read quite a bit! He has books in his bookshelf, as well as stacked next to his bed within easy reach to read there if he would like to. These don't seem to be textbooks, so it's an easy conclusion that Ruggie probably reads in his free time. My guess for the textbooks is that Ruggie likely downloads them online from a library resource. Or illegally. To be quite honest, good for him, textbooks are expensive for no damn reason.

Ruggie is also quite well organized - he doesn't have a lot of personal items in his room, but the ones that he does have are put away.

Following on that last point, Ruggie's lack of decorations aside from a handful of things likely lends to him being raised in poverty.

Interesting note, but Ruggie has roommates. In fact, a lot of the Twisted Wonderland cast do, but you can actually see snippets of Ruggie and Jack's roommates space in their cards. The freshmen are mentioned to have four to a room, so though I didn't include this in the first post, Ace and Deuce have two other roommates.

While it might be easy to assume that Ruggie's comforter is giraffe print at first glance, the coloration and spacing of the pattern actually leads me to believe this is meant to be the pattern of a spotted Hyena.

Ruggie's hidden mickey is on the wall next to his closet.

[b0njourbeach]

So what are your thoughts on TreyKei?

They're besties, they're worsties. They're married and have two cats (then again, Trey seems to be more of a dog-person. Maybe a dog and a cat?), they'll never be a couple. They love each other, they'll never be able to love each other.

I'm so physically ill about them and their unlimited possibilities.

There are so many thoughts in my head and knowing that you always liked my rambles, I won't try to hold back and let it all out for once haha. I can't promise that I'm being able to express it all because you can imagine my thoughts as followed: Idia, Malleus and Jade infodumping about their special interests while Kalim screams for funsies in the distance and Cater runs around as if he's on a sugar rush - All of it happening at the same time, of course.

Anyways.

You can have Friends to Lovers if you want to, you can have a slow burn, you can have a fall in love on first sight, Friends with benefits, one sided affection, Angst in every shape and Form, a million different AUs that still fits them.

I personally see them both being bisexual. I'm not sure how to explain it but if I had to give an example of a bisexual, it would be them. But here's the thing: I genuinely can't imagine Cater being able to 'love' in the classic, romantic way - I'm not sure if it's projecting onto him or a deep understanding of his personality but I just can't see him being in love as your average romance novel describes. He shows his love in other ways and I swear by hell itself, Trey is one of the main targets of that affection (in my opinion, at least).

If you ask me, he has a lot of commitment issues due to his past and the lack of stable friendships. There are also some nuances of trust issues mixed in that, due to the learned mindset of "It won't last forever" that he had acquired throughout his life. He keeps people at an arms length, possibly to protect others and himself for the, eventually coming, parting. "If I don't get attached too close, it won't hurt as bad."

We can, in fact, see Cater do this in canon - Especially with Trey because he sees through his act. I do love to point out the Wish Upon a Star event where we have a, in my opinion, very important scene and I do have to admit that I honestly got emotional at the end of it: Trey asks Cater what his wish is - Having more success on Magicam (which is one hell of a predictable answer if you ask me). Trey points out he did wish for that the past year, remembering it from the time they shared a room. Cater then wishes for his life to be "chill", and they part ways. Standing in the Heartslabyul staircase, Trey talks to himself on how one 'would think that Cater would open up a bit more by now.' Following with a (in my opinion it sounded sad/upset) 'But maybe he does already. Just not with me.' (I do recommend to watch the scene on your own to get your own impression on it. You can easily find it on YouTube).

Yet, despite the seemingly distance, they're still considered a duo that is unsurprising to any student (Lilia calls Trey Caters Partner and Rook refers to Cater as Treys "Boon Companion").

I had the HC for a long time that Cater may try to escape his issues at home by going with Trey instead and only later I found out that it's not too far from canon. Trey most likely also knows about Caters' situation at home, which is seen in multiple different situations - which, if you ask me, is already a deep trust coming from Caters side.

Overall, they know each other's strengths AND weaknesses and know how to match each other well. Whether it is Cater boosting Treys confidence about his looks or Trey pointing out Caters skills in Astrology (and many other things but I ain't gonna point every single of them out rn).

Speaking of weaknesses and strengths: Remember how Trey called Cater out after Riddles OB?

[Including the Manga panel because Boy, do I love this one]

A while ago, I've read through Caters Birthday Boy Voicelines and you know what? This guy has been gifted a "diamond-shaped quiche" from "a student". While no names dropped, we all know who made this one - Especially because Cater does seem to be quite fond of Treys general cooking and baking, if it's not sweet, of course. Not that I can blame him, spicy dishes aren't easy to make. You can fuck them up easily and if your man can cook 'em well, you better marry him.

But enough of Cater, there is too much to unpack about him to show it all. Let's move on to Trey, which is not as easy as it first sounds like. Why, you ask? Well, because he's showing even less than Cater! Both of them are chronic actors, both hiding their true, their damaged, their 'weird' faces - acting to be 'normal', to not freak people out, to not make them worry. Trey is a really good example of the 'oldest child' syndrome, which is, in return, quite bad for him - But that turns his friendship with Cater into a positive thing. Ahem, one step at a time.

Why is Trey a perfect example of the 'oldest child' syndrome? Well, he's "oh so normal", yes? Or so they say, after all. If you're the oldest child, you need to be a certain way - not only for your parents or your siblings but for your own safety. As the oldest child, you're bound to be a "test subject". No matter how good your childhood may have been, your siblings will have a seemingly, easier path - Things you weren't allowed are suddenly okay for them to do. Your siblings have an older sibling to rely on while you, as the oldest, had to fight alone. You need to protect the younger ones because it's expected but you need to keep yourself running too because no one does it for you. By being born first, you're practically forced to be in a position of a role model, a teacher and a friend.

Especially if you're having odd interests, such as oral hygiene, mustard, hats and what-not - You are forced to act normal because you will be looked at weird otherwise (I mean, he's friends with the perfect example on what happens if you express your "weirdness" out loud: Rook Hunt). I really like to put Trey on a scale when it comes to "Acts normal, is weird" because if you're weird, there are three types:

1. Rook Hunt - Expresses weirdness out loud with no shame

2. Jade Leech - Suppresses weirdness but the suppression has become weird on his own because he's weird in quiet

3. Trey Clover - Swears to be normal and is successful for the most of it, does show weirdness in little moments

All three of them have different reasons, and valid ones once you realize why they're that way, to be the way they are but in the end, they're three weird people who have learned how to "express" their oddness.

[Disclaimer: I am not using weird as an insult. This term is used to refer to socially not as accepted behavior or actions that are frowned upon. In other words: I am using society's definition of "weird" and not my own.]

Anyways, despite being the oldest child he is, Trey still shows Cater a bit of the truth: Instead of awkwardly smiling when he's uncomfortable, Trey stops smiling if he's with Cater. And in the Vignette of Treys Dorm Uniform, we can see that Cater knows a few more faces of Trey that are rarely seen otherwise - In the given example: It was Treys pettiness, deserved but it was still a rare emotion. If I recall correctly, this Vignette was the only time where we had seen Treys' pettiness, which was quite satisfying to see but that's just my two cents.

It's just so genuinely fascinating to see how similar yet so different they are, it makes both of them a tragic lovestory (if wanted) that drags me across the entire planet and I'd thank them for that.

And what I personally find almost mesmerizing is Caters actions: On one side, he seems to keep Trey not too close, yet he seems to have a lot of trust in him and I think it's unintentionally mentally messing with him because it may not be intentional. I could see that Trey might have this specific vibe that makes Cater feel comfortable and chatty about topics he wouldn't often talk about (specifically when they're both alone). Another guess of mine is that Cater might make too many jokes about certain parts of his trauma/issues and instead of his other pals, Trey actually looks behind the "jokes" because as much coping with humor may help, it's still a way to vocalize pain. But Trey doesn't strike me to be the type of actually calling Caters jokes out the moment he does them (example that I just made up: "Man, my phone died. Wish that was me lol" "Cater, those jokes aren't funny" etc etc). I think he'd have a more subtle way of showing Cater that he saw through that laughing, such as speaking up when it feels appropriate (Book 1) or just acts of service and/or quality time - Simply showing him that Cater does have someone who listens.

I've lost track at least five times and I forgot half of what I wanted to add.. Man, I hate my brain sometimes. I also often try to express my thoughts about these in my memes - In fact, the Memes with/about Cater, Trey or both of them together are possibly the posts where I'm carefully inspecting if it fits the canon and my own pov of them. I do it for all my memes, of course but I want people to deeply understand how much of a disaster those two (both, on their own and together) are because it's extremely overlooked, in my opinion (especially Trey).

Anyways, have this very neat HC of mine that I have about those two because it has been rotting away in my brain (I had intended to add more HCs but it somehow doesn't fit in the text):

Whenever Cater uses his UM 'Split Card', Trey knows which Cater is the original one. They may be identical but Trey can still tell the difference. How? He isn't really sure himself, it might be just his instinct. Cater has made it a game at some point where he wants Trey to guess and has tried many ways to lead his instinct astray but he has yet to succeed.

Edit: For more rambling about those two, do check the reblogs :)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi Raven! I just had a quick question because I was hoping to clear up some confusion for me.

In book 5, when getting ready to audition for the VDC and the actual audition, I interpreted it as us just helping and being moral support for ADeuce. However, with some of the things I’ve seen, we, the MC, might’ve auditioned? Bc I really hope not lol I have no musical talent and would be so embarrassed I know I’m a bad singer I don’t need Vil the Queen telling me

Thanks! Have a good night/day :>

Good question! I went back into the game to check and… well, it’s more complicated than you might think! Let’s go through it all.

So beginning in 5-4, you first learn about the VDC/SDC. Grim expresses his excitement: “I want in on this competition!” In Japanese, you’ll notice that Grim uses “ore-sama” which is an uppity way to refer to oneself in the singular. Here, Grim is talking about his own intent to join the competition both in English and In Japanese.

Now let’s jump ahead to 5-9. This is the part where Adeuce and Grim are practicing their dance moves on the basketball court. After witnessing how bad they are, the player is granted two dialogue options, one of which makes use of the word “we”. This could imply that Yuu is practicing dancing with Adeuce and Grim. Important to note, however, is that the Japanese version includes no such subjects and could be interpreted as not including Yuu because of this.

Also!! Jamil comments on the dancing abilities of the other boys in both EN and JP, but not on Yuu at all.

In 5-11, Jamil asks if “you” have applied for the audition yet. In JP, Jamil uses the phrase “kimi-tachi”, which is closer to “you all” (ie more than one person). He does not make specific reference to Yuu, nor does he single them out with the “you”.

Then in 5-12, Adeuce, Grim, and Yuu approach Rook to sign up for VDC/SDC auditions. Rook announces their personal details and then tells them "Since you have informed me of your intent, you do not need to fill out any paperwork". In Japanese, the subject "you" is not present, but the implication is that he's referring to at least Ace, Deuce, and Grim as a group. There's not much here to implicate that Yuu is also signing up.

When the actual audition happens in 5-16, Rook announces that Ace, Deuce, Grim and Yuu "may enter". This could imply that Yuu is there for moral support or that they, too, are auditioning.

In 5-18, a little while after the auditions, Yuu has a dialogue choice: “Did we flunk?” The use of “we” here could imply Yuu auditioned, or it could refer to their group of friends + their efforts to cheer them on. It should be noted that JP lacks pronouns in these same options, so it’s unclear whether or not Yuu is referring to themselves and/or the group.

5-20 perhaps gives us the most definitive answer. Grim gets annoyed that he was summoned despite not being accepted into the NRC Tribe. More specifically, he points out that he and Yuu were left out of the conversation. Grim then says “Why’d you call us over when we already flunked out?” Given that every other student present has been accepted, the use of “we” here HAS to refer to Grim and Yuu. In JP, Grim uses the term “ore-sama tachi”, which makes a plural or group of people. So here, both EN and JP are very clear and agree with each other; they seem to suggest Yuu auditioned and failed.

It's very easy to miss this if you aren't paying close attention! (I overlooked it myself, www) I wonder if the writing was intentionally vague or dragged its feet up to part 20 because a lot of details surrounding Yuu are left vague to allow for as much or as little player projection as they like. That way, people who have no interest in it can imagine just sitting out while the people who are interested can imagine performing their heart out. I know that there's some fan art of individual people's Yuusonas auditioning, but the majority of the fandom seems to be satisfied with Yuu fulfilling more of a support/cheerleader or managerial role for book 5.

Interestingly, Yuu failing the auditions here can support a line that Azul says in book 3 when they're negotiating the terms for a deal (in 3-10). He states that Yuu is "not gifted with a beautiful voice [...]" but doesn't remark on their dancing abilities. So... Yuu might have been mediocre at the singing part of the audition?

Ace, Deuce, and even Grim seem to have improved a bit thanks to Jamil's coaching earlier in book 5, but since Jamil did not comment on Yuu... er, maybe Yuu didn't see a little improvement and so didn't get accepted into the tribe? Not sure why Grim wasn't either, especially since Vil was convinced by Rook to go for "unpolished" gems to make himself shine even brighter; maybe cuz he's a lil' cat and would steal all the attention/j)

[theolivetree123]

Voice claim: Alhaitham - Genshin Impact (JP)

Character Details

Age: 18

Height: 181 cm

Sexuality: Bisexual (men pref)

Birthday: July 16th

Nicknames: Swordfish (Floyd), Rosé Noire (Rook)

Dominant Hand: Right/Left (Ambidextrous)

Dorm: Scarabia

Grade: Freshman (1st year)

Likes: Scented candles, gothic lamps, plants

Dislikes: Loud noises, cigarettes, dogs, alcohol

Favorite Food: Chocolate cake

Least Favorite Food: Yams

Best Subject: History of Magic

Club: Pop Music Club

Hobbies: Botany, cooking

Homeland: Briar Valley

Family: Constance (cousin), Victor (cousin), adoptive mother and father, biological mother (dead) and father (whereabouts unknown)

Twisted from: Mary Sanderson (Hocus Pocus)

Character Info

Silas is a very stoic and serious young man. He is known for being the mature and most experienced mage of the three cousins. This maturity and seriousness causes Silas to seem kind of intimating, and in his childhood, he struggled to make friends because of it. It takes a lot of work to break Silas out of his shell, but once he opens up, he's a very kind person who will always put his friends and family's safety over his own.

After his mother passed when Silas was 7 years of age, he spent the rest of his childhood with his abusive father. Silas's dad was extremely neglectful, only interacting with his son when he needed things and when Silas would clean the house. Silas's father was also a drunkard, always leaving the house to go to bars. Silas found himself being bored most days, only studying and cleaning. Only on certain days would he secretly go outside to play with cousins, Constance and Victor. Due to his father's neglect, Silas grew up to be very reserved and have major trust issues. This led him to act colder to most people and shut himself off from any social interaction with people who weren't his relatives.

As Silas and his cousin's potion business boomed, so did their reputation. In both good and bad ways. Silas quickly grew protective of his cousins, making sure they didn't get hurt by their clients. Silas grew wary of every single customer the three would have, never actually taking to any of them and just helping with potion-making. Once the three cousins became homeless, however, Silas became the somewhat "father," having to keep track of his younger cousins and make sure they were fed and healthy.

Once the three moved in with their new parents, Silas was less than thrilled. While the others appreciated the kind gesture, Silas grew wary of the couple that took them in, worrying about any ulterior motives the couple might have had. As the years went by, Silas warmed up to his new parents, but he still struggles with calling them that to this day.

Unsurprisingly, when Silas found out he would be enrolling into NRC, he was a bit wary at first. He had never really had many friends before, and even in his new hometown, he still struggled with socializing. Once Silas came to NRC, it was just like he expected. He had a lot of trouble talking to people, even teachers! But, due to Kalim's kindness, Silas slowly broke out of his shell and finally found some friends.

Relationships

Jamil - Jamil was the first friend Silas ever made at NRC. Due to their similar personalities, they hit it off right away. But, as months went by, Silas started developing more romantic feelings towards Jamil. Whether it was his calm personality or the way he looked at him, Silas started to fall head over heels for Jamil. And even if he couldn't say it, Jamil became one of the most important people to Silas.

Kalim - As the person who broke Silas out of his shell, Kalim strives himself to be Silas's friend, even if Silas doesn't agree. Kalim isn't really who Silas would normally hang out with, but he still respects Kalim both as a housewarden and a friend. Silas sometimes acts like a father towards Kalim, sometimes not letting Jamil do his job and forcing him to take a break. This is due to Silas having to take care of his own siblings. I guess Silas's maternal side just comes out sometimes.

Constance and Victor - As his cousins, Silas obviously loves Constance and Victor very much. Even if they annoy him sometimes. Silas also tends to be a bit overprotective when it comes to Constance and Victor due to their past. Silas sometimes evens goes out of his way to show his disdain for the people his cousins like. But, at the end of the day, Silas would never stop his cousins from finding true love.

Random Facts

Silas doesn't like to admit he has a sweet tooth and likes chocolate

Silas is roommates with Jamil.

Silas likes plants, but his favorite is the venus fly trap. He has a bunch of plants on his side of the dorm room.

Silas can't sleep without holding on to/hugging something.

Silas is blind in his left eye due to the deal he made with his adoptive parents. He hides it because he thinks he doesn't have a use for it anymore.

Silas was in a band before NRC and was in a polyamorous relationship with two other members of the band. They broke up before NRC, but even though Silas has moved on, the other two have not.

Silas used to be polyamorous but isn't anymore.

Character References

[ryuichirou]

what kinda underwear do you think the male cast would wear?? i like to think Jade would go without some days, so improper!! OTL Floyd with the colorful patterns, whether he actually wears them tho is a 60/40. i can see him in those cliche heart boxers very, very easily. Do you think any of the cast would keep their lovers' underwear, like a souvenir? I could see Lilia doing it. 1/3 (the rest is just horny posting for a fish)

2/3 (this is *not* an art request just me being down bad for a semi-crazy assfish) I would die to see jade leech in lingerie OTL i cant think of any scenarios where he'd wear it, but god is it a beautiful mental image. Considering his take on clothing (being a mer+weird asf) I don't think he'd have any actual hangups about it, but he still wouldn't do it under normal circumstances. i think part of the appeal for me, is that you wouldnt expect a guy like him (big, top, JADE) to wear sumn like it

3/3 in conclusion  they took away my license because of how  fast i was undressing him

Hi Anon!

This is such a great theme for hcs, and I am very sorry that it took so long, but please understand: this is a very complicated subject, I just had to do research before writing it. Well, in actuality I was just googling all kinds of underwear over and over again until the picture in my head for every single boy looked right lol We’ll get to hcs shortly, but first I’ll reply to the other things you’ve said!

Btw, this ask is from MARCH, that’s how far behind I am in replying to those.

Totally agree about Lilia stealing his lover’s undies as a souvenir. This is his trophy, and he is very proud of them. He should have a display in his room…

Floyd also has his stealing undies moments. Some of the boys he sleeps with could be smitten with him enough to try to gift him their underwear, and Floyd would go “??? Why the fuck do I need these”. But sometimes? He just steals them lol He totally stole a couple of Riddle’s undies. He doesn’t really store them well though, so they’re just lying around his and Jade’s room…

Rook. Rook would also take trophies. And he would take such good care of them it’s insane. Now this is someone who would have a display somewhere… somewhere where no one would be able to see it unless he wants them to…

I also think Ortho would do it one time just because he wanted to play out the trope of having someone else’s panties in his room, oops! He’s a weird boy.

Can’t say much about Jade in lingerie, but it really would look good, not gonna lie….

Riddle – god I want him to have cute ones with a strawberry print, but realistically he is probably wearing just some plain tighty whities…. unless they have a pretty embroidered “R” on it, which is somehow even worse. I love him so much. Wait, would he be the one to wear undies with the weekdays written on them?

Ace – just some boxer briefs, nothing crazy; he used to have very colourful ones when he was younger, with fun prints and all, but nowadays he tries to be a bit more stylish and mature about it, so a lot of times he goes for dark-red/red/black ones.

Deuce – pretty neutral, but he does have a “lucky” pair of trunks that he always wears when he has something important going on that day… He also has a pair of very good seamless running underwear (deep blue with some light blue patterns), and he kind of cherishes them because it’s an expensive gift. Just wear them and run, Deuce…

Trey – he prefers boxers, the ones that are basically just shorts and aren’t tight. They also look pretty plain, but he has some with the tartan print. Usually green or red… He would look like a Men’s Health model if he wore something less loose and more stylish, but he loves his stupid tartan boxers!

Cater – boxer briefs, but the “leg” part is somewhat shorter; he has a variety of different ones, but it’s almost always some variation of grey and orange. He buys the ones that seem cool to him, even the sillier ones are on the cooler side; he is very happy that his sisters don’t have power over what kind of underwear he wears… he thinks about it every time he looks in the mirror after taking a shower.

Leona – probably something high-end and luxury, but he also doesn’t wear them all the time. He wears something short, slick and sporty when he does anything sport-related and needs support for his balls, but other than that – nah, putting on underwear is just another annoying unnecessary extra thing to do.

Ruggie – he bought the cheapest ones available in bulk when he was like 13, and he still wears them (they were a little big for him when he first got them). His grandma said that it has to be cotton, but other than that – it doesn’t matter, and Ruggie believes it wholeheartedly. So I guess some neutral grey briefs? Nothing too fancy.

Jack – oh this boy. He doesn’t like underwear that doesn’t give him good support, so all of his options fit pretty close to his body. I guess his signature ones would be briefs in which one leg is just plain black, and the other leg has a print of half of the wolf face… what, you think it’s cringe? At least it’s not the ones where the wolf’s face is in the crotch area… Jack actually thinks those are cringe too – he got a pair of those from Ace, Deuce and Epel for his birthday (google wolf underwear)

Azul – Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss are his best friends. Very… gentlemanly. He always picks the ones that would make him feel like a successful young man. They’re not too short, but a little shorter than regular boxer briefs, and always very tight. To some maybe even uncomfortably tight, but Azul doesn’t mind it at all for some reason. He has exactly 10 pairs of grey and purple ones, exactly 10 pairs of black and purple ones and a couple of white ones.

Floyd – a big collection, kind of like with his shoes and socks. He hates plain ones, but some of his undies aren’t obnoxious – he has a couple of pretty stylish and bright ones that aren’t too crazy. But yeah, a lot of them are pretty obnoxious and bright lol He loves loose boxers, but also has some tighter ones too.

Jade – yeah he’d go commando lol But not all the time. His choice of underwear is… eclectic. Of course, he has some plain ones (a couple of those are similar to Azul’s but in a different colour and size), but also? He has some surprisingly silly ones. Of course with mushrooms and stuff, or something that too cursed even for Floyd to wear. It just tickles Jade when he has a secret…

Kalim – luxury underwear! Mostly white + yellow/golden/orange ones, but he has some black ones as well. Super high quality, super special design, super cool-looking actually. And Kalim doesn’t even know that his underwear is different from the rest of the guys, but if he ever was to try on some other type of underwear, he would immediately feel discomfort and say that it doesn’t feel right against his skin. Too rough…

Jamil – his is also pretty high quality; even though his family serves the Asims, I feel like this is exactly why Jamil can afford a good pair of underwear. It’s not even remotely near the price tag of Kalim’s though, god forbid, no one should allow to wear underwear this expensive..! Anyways, since Jamil likes to go sleeveless, he probably prefers underwear that doesn’t cover his thighs at all, so just some regular tight briefs. It’s mostly black+deep red, his favourite colour combo.

Vil – there he is, the underwear guru. He has all kinds of underwear and sometimes changes it multiple times per day depending on his activity: he wears seamless short briefs for yoga so it’s not visible through his leggings, but still gives him support, he wears longer boxer briefs for jogging so his thighs don’t rub against each other too much, he wears some other type for flying… his collection is expensive, high quality and very well organised… What was that? A thong? Of course he wears a thong sometimes, it looks hot. And lingerie too, when it’s appropriate. Come on now.

Rook – there he is, the man who used to wear underwear with holes in it and didn’t even care. Point at him, laugh at him, and then say thank you to Vil Schoenheit who took one look at this creature and said “I can fix him”. Anyways, nowadays Rook wears a pair of seamless boxer briefs that hug his body tightly but don't feel suffocating; he owns a bunch of these in different colours. He also owns a jockstrap, and finds it kind of functional, but it makes his butt too prominent, so he doesn't wear it. It’s for special occasions only...

Epel – he fought his mum for the right to buy himself some new cool underwear before coming to NRC (having colourful undies your mom bought you when you were 12 SUCKS!), but he didn’t even get to wear them much because Vil saw them and gave him a lecture about how this is the worst type of underwear he could wear (pure polyester, are you serious??), and that Epel doesn’t care about the well-being of his down-there at all. Long story short, Vil got him some red+purple boxer briefs for the regular wear (not too tight, very comfy!) + a couple of  black pairs for magift (longer ones?? Epel didn’t even know it existed). Epel was actually worried that he would get some stupid girly underwear, but wow these are… kind of nice. But he would never admit that the ones Vil got are much better!!

Idia – he usually wears the grey ones with triangles that STYX issues for its personnel. They are pretty comfy, and you can just grab a box and boom – you don’t have to think about your underwear ever again, EASY. But also Idia has some kind of childish loose boxers… with his favourite characters, of course. This isn’t just underwear, it’s also merch. Perfect for rewatching 300 episodes of your favourite anime.

Ortho – how much he wishes he could wear underwear…! But if we’re talking about real!Ortho, I think he would also like good ol’ regular loose boxers. But overall his underwear collection is less childish than Idia’s, at least because he has some Calvin Kleines.  And yes, of course it’s black and neon blue. He doesn’t really like the STYX ones because they make him sad, but he wears those from time to time because he wants to match with Idia.

Lilia – the moment he discovered funky underwear he was never the same. It’s the same thing he does with socks: he buys everything that seems fun, even if it ends up not being his size: he just gifts it away to younglings, so it’s all good! I think every Diasomnia boy has at least one pair of underwear that doesn’t match his style at all, because it was Lilia’s gift… anyways, Lilia either wears black ones with bright patterns (black + neon green+pink!), or something completely obnoxious. Nowadays he’s also thinking whether he could pull off something cute+sexy…

Silver – he wears whatever and doesn’t think about it twice, as long as it’s clean and has no holes in it. The majority of his underwear are pretty boring regular boxer briefs + just regular boxers that aren’t as tight. He also has one silly pair with blue and pink birdies… a gift from father, of course. He always smiles when he wears them.

Sebek – his default is black+green briefs; his thighs are getting too powerful, so he doesn’t like shorts-type underwear these days. But he does wear one lengthier pair – and it’s special equestrian underwear that has padding on the crotch. Sometimes the boy just wants some extra protection against rubbing okay… it’s not as much of a problem for the rest of the equestrian club boys for some reason.

Malleus – it’s clearly custom-made just for him: it’s black, made of high quality special type of silk + has beautiful lacing. Honestly, Malleus panties are a piece of art. I guess it’s like traditional Briar Valley type of design, but super extra fancy; he is the future King, after all. It’s hard to say if it’s comfy or not, but it looks quite dramatic. Malleus also has some underwear that is lengthier, almost like leggings. 

Bonus round!:

Crowley – doesn’t wear anything. Don’t tell anyone.

Crewel – a big variety, a lot of bold patterns, but his favourite pair is a part of black trunks with a white zebra print. Shocking, I know. He has some pretty sexy ones though, maybe even a thong.

Trein – granpa undies… grandpa undies.

Vargas – unfortunately, probably a jockstrap.

Sam – well wouldn’t you want to know? :)

Che’nya – he almost never wears underwear. And he flashes people. He is a very, very bad cat. He only wears underwear when he knows his pants are going to slide down because he doesn’t know how to use a belt properly, and people are going to see that he is wearing boxers with cartoon hedgehogs tickling each other in a weirdly sexual manner. Bad, bad cat.

Neige – pretty plain ones! Almost all of his underwear is either white or light blue. Some of them have silly prints, almost too cute for a guy… He gets tons of very cool expensive underwear for free as promo, but he donates the majority of them without even unpacking it. Thank you for your kindness, but people need undies more than Neige <3

Rollo – he is similar to Riddle, but I also think he would be that one kid who wears some priestly old-timey looking cotton shorts, because these are more traditional, and traditions are to be cherished. One could think that this is a part of his school’s uniform, but nah, Rollo is just a little weirdo… looks good on him though.

Fellow – I’m sorry, it’s probably kind of bad :( it used to be a decent pair of boxer briefs that he got when they suddenly got lucky enough with money, but now it’s well-worn and has some holes in it. It also used to be bright orange, but now it has a pale sort of peachy hue… he wants to get something new to wear, but whenever they get the money, clothes aren’t really a priority.

Gidel – his aren’t as bad because Fellow always wants Gidel to have something at least a little bit better than what he has, but Gidel’s pair of boxers is clearly too big for him. It’s pinned around his waist just so he doesn’t lose them… it has some guy’s name written on the butt part, and while Fellow finds it kind of depressing (maybe he remembers the guy he stole those from), Gidel thinks it’s pretty funny.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Hours in the Moonlight: Fairest Midnight - 11. Holy Water, Stakes, and Other Such Things

Summary: Lessons of vampire hunting were inevitable, though you hadn’t exactly expected for Epel to be quite so excited about what it took to take vampires when he was one himself. But at the very least you were getting to have a bit of fun out of your lessons in between your exhausting sparring session.

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ Vampire AU/ romantic/ angst/ angst with comfort/ fluff/ sfw/ platonic interactions too!

Trigger Warning: Vampire

Word Count: 1371

Hours in the Moonlight Master-List

I didn’t know what I had expected for my training. But it certainly hadn’t been actively and repeatedly having to fight one of my three vampire friends, interspersed with him listing the varying weaknesses and habits of vampires.

“Good, Trickster,” His eyes were alight as he dodged me for what felt like the thousandth time in the middle of a large room that he’d cleared of all furniture specifically for this purpose. 

Epel and Vil watched from the sidelines, being spared yet another sparring session as Rook continued his nightly lessons with me. 

I’d been waking up with sore muscles ever since I’d first asked for my friend to teach me, but I hadn’t missed a single night yet. Because, as miserable as the persistent sparring was, I also knew it was important. Especially if I was going to become the next vampire hunter.

I swung the stake-shaped pool noodle I’d been given as my practice weapon at his chest, trying to finally land a blow that would signal my success, only to get caught and gently thrown across the room. 

I landed on my feet this time before falling forward and having to catch myself on my hands. But that moment of lost balance was all he needed, and Rook zipped forward at inhuman speeds, grasping me by my forearms and lifting me from the ground with ease. 

He smiled sympathetically as he looked up at me, “And I suppose that is the end of this round.”

I drooped as I dangled in his unnaturally strong grasp, exhausted as I accepted my defeat yet again with a nod.

“T'inquiète, t'inquiète, Trickster. You are getting better every night. You almost had me three times this round,” Rook’s tone was cheery as he sat me down, brushing off my clothes affectionately before leading me over to the table where Vil and Epel sat.

Epel perked up as soon as I plopped down in the chair next to him, “You are getting better, Y/n! Just think, you won against me earlier.”

I smiled slightly at his encouraging words, even though we both knew that win had only been because he’d gotten tangled up in the carpet’s edge.

I glanced over to see Vil silently holding out a bottle of water to me and smiled slightly as I accepted the bottle, “Thanks.”

Epel watched me for another moment before twisting towards Rook, “So the main way of killing vampires is a stake?”

Rook nodded dutifully, but he’d accepted full responsibility for teaching both me and Epel about the ins and outs of vampire weaknesses, “Oui, though sunlight is probably the easiest method to destroy our kind. It is best to use stakes made from oak, ash, or hawthorn, though.”

I nodded silently, remembering the vampire Rook had killed not all that long ago when I’d first found out he was a vampire hunter. My plan before he’d shown up was to get out into the sunlight, where she wouldn’t have followed. 

Or at least she wouldn’t unless she was well and truly insane.

“Fire also works well,” Vil was quite calm in his assertion, as if we weren’t talking about the best easy to kill those of his kind. But then he did agree with Rook that sometimes killing certain vampires was a necessary evil.

“Can we be drowned?” I glanced over at Epel with raised eyebrows; it was like he was more interested in this conversation than I was. But after a brief moment, I looked over to see Rook and Vil wearing matching, thoughtful expressions.

“I suppose if you were to find a way to trap them underwater, that would work… but I’ve never actually heard of a vampire drowning,” Vil frowned as he looked towards Rook, who nodded with a rather concerning degree of fascination in his eyes.

“Yes, if you were to use weights, you could imprison them at the bottom of a body of water, but I do not know if they would drown….” He trailed off thoughtfully, only for Epel to pipe back up, a certain gleam to his blue eyes.

“What if it were holy water?” He looked almost pleased by his thought, like he’d solved a grand mystery.

“Theoretically they would eventually die a very painful death, yes, but finding that amount of holy water,” Vil shook his head with a slight grimace, and I found myself nodding in agreement with him. I’d only ever heard of holy water in vials or on church grounds. And vampires weren’t supposed to be able to go on consecrated ground anyway.

“Do garlic and mustard seeds actually work?” I eyed Vil as I spoke, noting that eating Italian before he visited had never seemed to have been an issue.

“Mustard seeds scattered on the ground must be picked up by a vampire before they can continue, but they are very fast. Garlic works as a slight deterrent, but only in large amounts,” Rook nodded with a slightly amused smile as he answered.

Vil’s eyes met mine in an almost meaningful way, “Some vampires also develop an allergy to garlic.”

Epel’s nose wrinkled slightly, “Like a skin allergy?”

Rook chuckled and nodded before Vil leaned forward with a smile, “Of course, it's also rumored that if you were to sneak garlic into a vampire’s meal, that would affect them too.”

I was barely able to keep from smiling as I continued to hold Vil’s gaze, “Sooo, eat lots of garlic before facing any vampires so that if they do bite you, you can at least get petty revenge in the form of hives?”

 I felt my eyebrows rise, but I still managed not to smile as I took a sip from my bottle. Vil, who looked like he was trying his best to suppress a smile at my words, shook his head slightly. His voice lowering to a softer, amused tone, “But you’re not supposed to be getting bitten.” 

“I’d eat Italian before hunting anyway, just to be safe,” I grinned at Epel as the young boy leaned over and whispered to me, nodding firmly as I agreed with him.

“We’ll also need to train you with an ax,” Rook's sudden assertion had me stopping in the middle of attempting to put the lid on my bottle back on.

He met my confused gaze with a cheerful smile, “Decapitation is also an effective way of killing vampires.”

Vil shrugged elegantly at his words as he sat back back in his chair, “Drastic, but effective. But then decapitation works for most creatures.” He looked my way calmly, again, somehow utterly unbothered by the topic of conversation.

“Decapitation is really only ever done when the vampire is asleep during the daytime hours, if you have been able to find where they rest,” I nodded slowly at Rook’s words. Grimacing slightly at the thought of chopping off a vampire’s head while it was asleep.

In the end, I was going to be killing vampires anyway, but somehow doing so while they were asleep just seemed worse.

“What about crosses and other holy symbols?” Epel nodded at my question, looking towards the two instructors with a slight tilt to his head.

Vil nodded slightly at my words, “Crosses typically work best as they are one of the most easily recognized holy symbols, but other symbols will work as long as the vampire recognizes them and their religious nature. Holy symbols typically do not kill, but rather serve as a means for driving them away or as a protective measure.”

Rook nodded, tilting his head slightly as he looked towards me, “We cannot touch holy symbols, we recognize and the more religious the vampire, the stronger the effect of the holy symbol. As the Roi du Poison said, holy symbols drive vampires away and can serve as a sort of shield.”

I nodded slightly, adding buying a crucifix necklace and maybe other religious jewelry to my to-do-list, amongst other things. At the very least, those would be easy to obtain. 

Holy water, stakes, and other such items would no doubt be a little more difficult. And that was even considering the fact that Rook had already begun teaching me how to make stakes for myself.

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[whitegownsandflowercrowns]

Alternate universe where Aegon dies at Rook’s Rest and Aemond becomes king and still pulls the “no, you toad” line against Larys so Larys decides that the most vulnerable member of the royal family is Helaena, and that he will manipulate her to grasp for power. She immediately sees what’s going on but hey, she’s lonely, and it’s nice to hear someone that’s not her mom say they’re sorry for what happened to her. He thinks she’s falling for it though and he starts pushing to be important in Aemond’s cabinet and so she decides that enough is enough and she tells him exactly when and how he’ll die. This freaks him the fuck out but after like three hours of existential crisis he’s like HANG ON THE DOWAGER QUEEN IS A DRAGON DREAMER AND I’M THE FIRST PERSON WHO’S FIGURED THAT OUT FUCK BEING HAND I CAN CONQUER THE WORLD (he thinks he’s Varys). So he immediately pulls back up and he’s like heyyyy helaena, any clue how this war ends? not asking for any reason. Meanwhile Alicent and the Small Council are talking about wedding her to Aemond and she doesn’t want to do that because she’s a) mad at Aemond and b) fully done being queen, so she’s like sure Larys, I’ll help you out so long as you make sure I’m not married to Aemond (and no that does not mean kill him). So anyways she supplies him with all the information (I’m unsure how Aegon dying changes the Dance) and he basically smuggles Floris Baratheon to King’s Landing so that Aemond can marry her. Option 1 is that the Dance changes enough that Team Green could be described as the winners, and Larys manages to conquer like, a castle. Option 2 is that the Dance remains largely unchanged and Larys is not so overconfident that he thinks he can cheat fate, so he tries to convince Helaena to take Jaehaera and go to Braavos. Helaena instead suggests Harrenhal because she knows they’re safe with Alys, who she’s also been psychically communicating with. There’s probably no Alys/Aemond baby in this, so they all just hang out at Harrenhal and Helaena and Jaehaera get something resembling a happy ending, while Larys is pissed that he can’t conquer Essos using the power of prophecy (he gets over it eventually). Also because this is Helaena and Larys we’re talking about they have every single conversation on opposite sides of the room at a complete whisper, yet they understand each other perfectly.

[vodkacheesefries]

Non spoilery as possible final thoughts of The Veilguard after finishing my first playthrough. Beneath the cut because it got long and I respect your dash space 😌

The Good:

Character creation was so much fun. I'm looking forward to a new playthrough so I can make another Rook.

The combat was a little tricky at first for me to get the hang off, but I got the hang of it and ended up loving it.

I played as a warrior and had a lot of fun being the hulk and smashing the ground and kicking people off ledges. I don't feel like I unlocked very many abilities, but idk if that was a me problem like with the things I chose during levelling or if that's a class problem, or if that's a game problem. I also didn't switch them out very much, so maybe it didn't matter I hadn't unlocked very many.

I loved the companions. I do have some critiques I'll get to later, but overall they were a very enjoyable cast of characters and I loved how they handled companion quests.

I didn't actually mind only having 2 companions, and I didn't mind not being able to control them. I liked not having to micromanage them.

I also didn't mind the fact that there weren't really conversations you could just have with them. I remember getting frustrated with just repeated dialogues in Inquisition, or when the companions had no new dialogue. I also liked that I didn't feel worried about making sure I paced myself through conversation trees so I didn't run through all the dialogues too fast.

I liked the soundtrack. I know a lot of people probably don't pay attention to it, but I did and I enjoyed it.

Rook was fucking funny. They were so smart but also 'no thoughts head empty' at the same time. Truly up there on my list of favorite DA protagonists.

They got the balance of doom, dread and darkness with hope and friendship just right imo.

Solas truly shone and whoever wrote him did SO good. He is a fascinating character and a really, really good antagonist and mirror to Rook. I love him. I hate him. I love to hate him.

The Okay:

The overall writing of the game was fine. I think you could tell there were parts of the stories and certain characters who maybe suffered more through the rewrites and everything it took to get the game out. I found some of the dialogue in the early game a little clunky, like whoever wrote it didn't say it out loud first, but that I do feel like that problem fixed itself eventually.

I feel like I remember them talking up the customizability of the Lighthouse, and I feel like it was there to an extent, but I wanted to be able to play with it more.

I liked the returning character cameos we got, but there were a few I feel would have really made sense to hear from or see again given certain context. (Zevran, Merrill, any Grey Warden character.)

I've seen other people say this, but it didn't really feel like a Dragon Age game. It was a different format, to be fair, and I liked that they explored new mechanics. It did feel...a little bit like a Mass Effect game. Which I didn't mind because I love Mass Effect. I think this problem could have been fixed with just a handful more of callbacks to prior games.

Like I've talked about this before and I do truly get it, we can't import every single decision ever. That's a lot of things to account for and new players wouldn't have fun trying to set that up if they'd never played the other games. BUT they could have kept it so simple; a letter from the HoF (if they survived) advising you on how to handle Blight, and how they'll take care of Ferelden for you. A codex entry about Hawke's journey to Weisshaupt after the Fade. A King Alistair sending you troops for the final battle etc and so forth.

It just needed a little more grounding to feel like it really belonged in Thedas, and that things that happened in prior games did matter to the culmination of the thread that has run through the entire series; the Blight, the Evanuris, and the Fade. That could have fixed the 'didn't feel like a Dragon Age game' problem.

The Bad:

There really wasn't much I disliked about the game. I wanted them to delve into some of the characters a little more and rely less on the ascribed stereotypes they had given them (ex: Taash being a jock who isn't necessarily in touch with their feelings or Lucanis talking about coffee all the goddamn time).

There were puzzles in certain areas of the game that gave you zero direction or incredibly vague hints and you just had to fumble through it. Maybe it's me, and I just have a low intelligence modifier, but I also did all the astrarium puzzles in Inquisition just fine so maybe they needed just a little more direction in game.

Also someone like a writer said this was the most romantic Dragon Age game and maybe it's just the romance I picked, but uh. Hard disagree. I don't care for any of the romance routes in Inquisition for my canon Inquisitor, but it's hard to beat Solas' date in the Fade or Cullen's first kiss on the battlements, or Iron Bull calling you "kadan" for the first time. This opinion might change as I play more of the routes, but for now, I was just a little disappointed with it. (I romanced Taash. I love them. So much. But there could have been so much more)

Final Verdict:

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. I will enjoy playing it again, and I think if you can go into it expecting it to be fully its own game and new and different from prior games you'll enjoy it.

[conversationswiththemoon]

I finished Dragon Age: Veilguard

I finished my first playthrough of DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD today. So what follows will be heavily spoilerific. I will talk about the ending, but not give away any big spoilers.

SPOILERS!

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THE BAD: I'm going to get the critiques out of the way.

So, this game got off to a rough start. It was in development for 10 years, during which it was restarted multiple times because of executive meddling. EA, which owns Bioware, wanted it to be a live-service MMO game, whereas the franchise has only ever been single player RPG. Because of that it, the story structure suffered, even after someone finally convinced EA that nobody would buy an MMO Dragon Age game.

There are some big departures from previous games that were glaring and hard to swallow. For one, the hallmark of Dragon Age is that major decisions you make influence your world state in the next game. For this game... virtually no details from prior games are imported, including several that were pretty major. So because of that, a lot of character interactions are really watered down, which is a disappointment. You DO get to recreate your Inquisitor (protagonist of game #3) but frankly, the interactions are pretty generic compared to similar returning characters of the past.

The other big problem I had with the game is that the writing simply refuses to let the viewer sit with discomfort. A big part of prior games is that there are choices made that have no clear right or wrong answer. They're gray and hard and morally challenging. Fans will debate endlessly over them. They enrich the world immesurably because even if you absolutely HATE a particular companion, you at least understand how they got to their particular POV. But not in Veilguard. In this game, the few-and-far-between friction points are smoothed over quickly.

In previous games, there were arcs where companions went from enemies to friends or friends to enemies over the course of events, but here they stay largely static. Friendly from the start, with quickly resolved conflicts. Banter suffers from it, making a lot of the dialogue between companions much blander than previous installations.

This bleeds over into Rook's dialogue. (Rook is the player character.) The most they can muster is some mild occasional grumpiness, even when outright hostility may be called for. I got to punch one asshole, but that's about it.

Bad guys often get kid gloves, too. I noticed that human baddies get off lightly compared to baddies of other races, and thought it was an odd choice for a game series where you used to be able to outright execute traitors and other murderers.

The politics are also pretty watered down. Major plot points in the prior games revolve around there being slavery in the places this game takes place. Particularly slavery of the elven underclass, the eradication of which is central to the motive of a major character.

We see, literally, like one slave in this whole game. When one of the factions you spend your time helping literally exists to eradicate slavery in their city but the parts of the city you see are slavery free? That's a cop out.

Other factions are similarly neutered; the Antivan Crows, a ruthless assassin's guild who we are told by a former member take in children and kill those that don't succeed... suddenly become the kinder, gentler mafia that support their fledglings.

So what I'm saying is that the world feels like its had all of its edges sanded down and smoothed over for comfort (whose? why?) and in a way, that feels like a betrayal of what a Dragon Age game should be. Dragon Age games are SUPPOSED to challenge you. They're supposed to make you think about what tactics are best to reach your goal. They're supposed to make you take into account people who have had wildly different life experiences and how you can reconcile to meet that goal. So this was a particularly bitter disappointment.

Also I took issue with writing for one companion in particular, Taash. Spoilers for Taash's arc in this paragraph. Over the course of the game, Taash, a first gen immigrant, comes out as non-binary. They're written more immaturely than other companions, but we've always had a young and kinda bratty companion in the mix so I shrugged at that. But the weird thing is that even though they're non-binary, the game forces you more than once to decide FOR them whether they're more like their parent's culture or like the culture they grew up in. You literally force them into a different binary. Like. It's a baffling hypocrisy, and frankly something I imagine would be super insulting to immigrants in general. Very tone-deaf writing from Trick Weekes, whose writing I usually like.

The romances were a pale shadow of what they have been. The one letter we get from Inquisition's romanced character had more romance in it than the entirety of the full romance in this one. I romanced Davrin. He was sweet and hot. But the fact that I couldn't strike up a conversation with him outside of preordained story beats sucked, and the romances are so back-loaded they don't get proper time to breathe.

Minor, but there isn't an epilogue where we can spend time with characters after the final fight the way we could in games past, and in that way it ends kind of abruptly.

And finally, having basically the fantasy KKK and the Evil Fascist Empire capitulate and fall in line under the banner of their traditional enemies felt way too fait accompli and handwavy. And to that end, there is not nearly enough elven outrage when they find out their Gods are, in fact, capital-E EVIL.

THE GOOD:

I had a lot of fun playing the game. The combat style is a huge departure from prior installments. It's not without its faults (ranged players have a notably difficult time with several bosses) but it was fun even if I didn't use all of the features for my class. I will try them next time.

The environments are GORGEOUS. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Just jaw-dropping. Honestly I thought I was going to hate the aesthetic of the whole game based on the early marketing, but I really ended up liking it a lot.

You get a baby griffin AND a charming skeleton manservant. I would lay down my life for either.

The Big Bad villains are well done and appropriately terrifying.

The Blight is shown in all its hideous glory and the parts that involve it are appropriately gross. (Do you like Dr. Pimple Popper? Boy howdy, have I got the game for you!)

I thought most of the companion quests were executed well, especially Emmrich's.

I liked the armor variety and crafting/improvement system. I really enjoyed how fully customizable Inquisition's system was, but as an alternative, this felt good to me, too.

After the first big main quest, the game gets noticibly better. I went from grumping all the time to actually enjoying it. By act 3, the game is in full swing, and the finale is just so so GOOD. Truly, the pacing of the finale is chef's kiss. There are ways for it to go fully wrong, but even when everything goes as well as the writing will allow, it still stings in all the right places. Mass Effect players will notice a particularly noticible Bioware hallmark in there.

OVERALL: I'll play this game again. I want to spend more time with the companions, trying different combinations and playstyles. It's a really fun game. But from a writing standpoint, it's easily the weakest Dragon Age game to date, which is a real shame. It's hard to say how much of that is the game lead / writers being afraid to show teeth and how much of it was executive fuckery. It's probably a bit of both, honestly.

[tea-the-reconstructor]

hehehehehe new TTRPG just got delivered and oh my gosh it's so pretty

Eat the Reich by Rowan, Rook and Decard is genuinely one of the most stylish looking games I've seen in a hot minute, and while I've yet to have a chance to run a game, I'm obsessed with it nonetheless! The basic premise is that it's 1943, Europe is in flames during the 2nd World War, and you are all a part of a crack squadron of vampires being sent to occupied Paris to do one thing and one thing only; Drink all of Hitler's blood. There's a full list of the stuff I got and my thoughts below the cut.

It arrived in this really cool manila folder, like just look at the detail!! like this alone would be such a neat thing to have sitting on my desk just as a prop, but this is only the beginning

The book itself is nothing short of a masterpiece, and honestly the pictures do not do it justice. The title is done with a really nice glossy finish, the cover has an amazing texture along the bottom and back to give the sensation of dried blood. the inside also folds out!! that little slit in the front is a full piece of art, and it really sells the appearance of peering into a coffin. The style of the entire book is genuinely so crunchy and good and I wanna put it in my mouth-

There's also the bookmark, coin, and patches which, once again, are so stylish and feel so high quality. I've been just stimming with the coin since I got it, the patches are so bright and look so pretty, and the bookmark is just fantastic. Pretty much everything from this is something I'd genuinely wanna get tattooed on me. There is one more thing I got, arguably the most important piece from this entire set...

WE GOT PIN-UPS BABY WOOOOOOOOOO! So the game comes with six characters you can play as (there are options to make your own), and there are associated character sheets within the book, but good golly these got me blushin' up a storm so hard that they can all smell the blood in my cheeks. From left to right, top to bottom, we have: - Cosgrave, a hackney necromancer who's on the run from the undead mafia of East London, crooked, charming, and damn lucky. - Nicole, a resistance guerrilla fighter and demolitions expert. Turned by her girlfriend and packing hella heat, she wants to meet a glorious end in battle. - Iryna, the Old Money occultist and the black sheep of her clan, who provides a significant portion of the funding to F.A.N.G. - Chuck, a whole-ass-real-ass corpse eatin' cowpoke. Genuinely a sweetheart, if you can look past that bit. He's on this mission not just to survive, but to earn freedom after eating a county sherrif and half his deputy. - Astrid, an ex-fighter pilot that was bitten by something in the frozen taiga, now bearing the soul of a wild predator within her. - Flint, the half-human half-bat, all nightmare. He's a cave-dwelling hunter who may or may not talk, possibly because he's just shy. Each of the characters have their own unique traits, abilities and stuff and I wanna kiss them all so bad it's not even funny man they're all so goddamn fine I'd let them drink me dry for just a single chance to feel the sweet nip of their lips against my skin, like being granted by a mere glimpse of heaven while still on earth simply by the hand of some foul creature who has not seen the light of God in far too long for simply doing what they must to survive, just. I need help.

Anyway uh. Eat the Reich is a goddamn beautiful game, thank you Rowan, Rook and Decard for making hot nazi-killing vampires that have not paid rent within my mind despite occupying it since like August of last year.

[writing-for-life]

I heed your call and arrive with an ask! What’s something you’re looking forward to in season 2? Are there any standalone issues from the comics that you particularly want to see adapted in the show? (For example, I am absolutely DYING to see A Parliament of Rooks…especially after someone here mentioned that Lucienne seems to be taking over some of the Eve role [being a bit more like the “Mother of Ravens” in the show]. If I see Lucienne telling the story of Adam’s third wife I think I will simply faint. 😂)

Thanks so much for the ask!

At this point, I’m just desperate to watch it—I’ll take everything they give me 🤣

I love Season of Mists, so I’m definitely looking forward to *that* slap right across the face (and I’ll be very angry if we don’t get it). Plus, I need Cluracan in my life, he’s just such a disaster I love to hate (I actually love him). I *need* him to stumble out of a castle bedroom after getting drunk-railed all night, and I’m not ashamed to admit it 🤣

I want to see what they did with AGoY, because at this point, I can only assume it will be changed a lot. I want to know if we get Thessaly, or if my aimless hunches are maybe right and she’ll be replaced with someone else (which would also tie in with the overall assumed change of the arc).

I can’t WAIT for Brief Lives, and I’m so giddy at the possibility we’ll get it sooner rather than later (and of course it’ll totally destroy me, I just like to hurt myself I guess). Delirium is my second favourite to Dream, closely followed by Desire (I know, not the usual order 🤣).

As for the standalone issues: I wonder if we’ll get A Midsummer Night’s Dream because it’s so important for the overall arc, but if I’m totally honest, I can take it or leave it (that might surprise people, but I’m really not that fussed about it, and a short reference weaved in somewhere else would be enough for me. And now people can holler at me for the sacrilege).

Fables and Reflections is just so rich, I would love every single story to be frank. And I said this about Lucienne/Eve a while back, so I’d love to see The Parliament of Rooks.

Three Septembers and a January has always been a favourite because of the sibling dynamics, and I hope we get it one way or another.

I also love Soft Places (it’s one of my favourites) and would love to see it, but I’m not sure if we’ll get it.

Then of course The Song of Orpheus (which we’ll definitely get, and we’ll definitely get Thermidor, too) and Ramadan, although I’m not sure if the latter works that well as live action.

If we count Fear of Falling as part of Fables and Reflections (it was a Vertigo Preview), I’d love that, too. I think it would make an awesome one-off, even half an episode with something else (maybe with Soft Places? I think they’d work together).

Yeah, as you can tell, I have trouble deciding 🙈

[navree]

Hey don't you think it s so frustrating that aegon conqueror never tried to get rhaenys s body like imagine if she lived didn't he think she may be raped tortured like sis deserved to die in her hometown not in desert because of aqar he wanted to win and he ended the was for a letter like honestly I hate him and can't stand him rhaenys deserved better like he didn't even try to search for her body and just assumed she died while hearing people thoughts that she may be in torture rape ...???

I'll be entirely honest, not particularly. The thing is, anything about Rhaenys in Dorne is a huge amount of conjecture after the fact. The consensus at the time, by everyone involved, was that she died when Meraxes was shot down. And honestly, if it weren't for Nymor's letter, that's the conclusion I would draw too. Surviving a fall from the sky on your dragon certainly is possible, but that's not actually known for certain until over a hundred years after Rhaenys herself had died when Aegon managed it after Rook's Rest (and even then, it's not a sure thing since Rhaenys TQWNW also died when Meleys fell from the sky, though we're not entirely sure how). It's entirely reasonable that everyone, Aegon and Visenya included, thought that Rhaenys was just completely dead, and their actions during the Dragon's Wroth clearly showcases that. If they thought she was alive and held hostage, then they'd probably do something other than completely raze every single building in Dorne (other than Sunspear) to the ground, since that wouldn't be very conducive in getting her back. Their incredibly destructive rage seems to point to a deep seated grief that only comes from thinking she's dead, especially for Aegon who was never openly emotional. The Targaryens also don't seem to hold much stock in things like bodies or resting places, they cremate their dead, and if Rhaenys had lived and been able to die a natural death, that's what would have happened to her too, not to mention that if it were my little sister who died, my primary concern would be less "getting her body back" and more "I'm gonna go burn the world down now kthanxbye". So by and large, the general idea was that she was dead, and recuperating her body just to burn it was less important than Aegon's own desire for vengeance.

And like I said, we'd probably all go on believing that Rhaenys had just died in the fall if it weren't for Nymor's letter. It's hard to tell because History Book, but it doesn't seem like there was that much in universe speculation that Rhaenys could have survived until Deria's delegation arrived and gave Aegon the letter, because of how Aegon reacted. It was the out of character steps he took, not just being openly emotional but also becoming incredibly secretive with the letter and the course of events (burning the letter, flying to Dragonstone without a word, returning the next day and immediately agreeing to peace with the Dornish) that got people guessing. This had to have been prompted by some huge news, right, and what huger news would there be than the possibility that Aegon's beloved wife that he burned down a subcontinent for wasn't actually dead, but secretly still alive. And that speculation itself led to trying to figure out how Rhaenys could be alive and the sequence of events that came afterwards still took place which is why the theory involves the Ullers torturing her, since they were a bit crazy, though I've never heard any theory that even mentioned any sort of sexual assault, just run of the mill physical abuse type of torture. But there's no actual evidence that they did, not from any sides, not from court whispers or gossip from Sunspear or even any Ullers bragging about it (which I'll admit is a bit odd to me because if they're known to be "half mad" and had a dragonriding queen in their custody, wouldn't ONE of them at least be preening about it to their friends?), and the entire thing is just people trying to explain a theory after the fact. The entire thing about Rhaenys's fate is that it is so incredibly shrouded in mystery and unresolved that you honestly veer into out and out headcanoning when trying to come up with any sort of cohesion (though, as I've said, I personally find my own theory to be solid, which is that Rhaenys survived, the Ullers then had her in custody, either torturing her or just Keeping her is currently unknown, the Martells found out and took possession of her and then sued for peace with the promise that they would be sending Rhaenys back to Dragonstone so that she could at least die there, or even be cremated there if she died en route, as a gesture of goodwill, which explains why Aegon reacted so strongly, left for Dragonstone so immediately, and was on such good terms with the Martells afterwards).

And when it comes to the idea that Rhaenys died simply for Aegon's war, I honestly take umbrage with that. Rhaenys was her own woman. She was a dragonrider in her own right, she had military victories under her belt, and she was an actively involved reigning monarch along with her siblings. Rhaenys gets a bit of a downgrade in fandom interpretations as The Girl, and that because she was engaged in more classically feminine pursuits, was younger than her siblings, was kindhearted and playful and softer than her brother or her sister, she's seen as less of a force than them. But she was a powerful figure in her own right, not just in the realm at large but also in the dynamics of her own family. If she didn't want to fight in Dorne, Hell if she hadn't wanted to fight in the Conquest, she wouldn't have. She's grown by the standards of her time, she has the second largest Targaryen dragon (and thus presumably the second oldest and the second most powerful) at her disposal, and when the war with Dorne broke out she had a child, if she didn't want to get involved in the fighting under any pretexts (I have a kid to look out for now, I'm queen and I'm important and someone needs to keep the realm stable, bro I just do not want to), she could have and she would have. Rhaenys fought because she believed in Aegon's vision as much as she did, because she believed that her family were the right people to rule Westeros as much as Aegon and Visenya did, and she had just as much reason to want Dorne under Targaryen rule and have a fully unified Seven Kingdoms as much as any of them (probably even more considering she's the one who had the most direct contact with Dorne). Rhaenys knew what it was to go in battle, to risk her life for a cause, and she alone made that choice understanding the ramifications, not to mention that she arguably had the most motivation, given that her son was going to inherit Aegon's throne. Reducing her to just a side character who was a pawn in Aegon's Conquest reduces her role in that story, in the history of Westeros, and fails to understand her as a woman in her own right. Rhaenys was more than just a sister and wife and mother, she was a queen and a warrior in her way and a good administrator and instrumental in several Targaryen victories, and she knew what she was doing when she got involved in the First Dornish War. She wanted to win it as much as anyone, and unfortunately she just wasn't able to see that done.

Nor do I bear Aegon any ill will in choosing to accept the Martells' peace offering. It's not "because of a letter", the letter was just one piece of the puzzle. The truth of it was that the war was essentially in a stalemate at this point. The Martells weren't surrendering, the Dornish people also weren't turning against them, adn the price was getting higher by the day. This war had cost Aegon his best friend and most trusted advisor after Orys was mutilated, had cost him his baby sister and the woman he loved most, had nearly cost him the lives of not just his son and his remaining sister but him as well, not to mention the losses of men in Dorne and just in general the fact that war is expensive. The First Dornish War was costly both literally and emotionally, and Aegon was a king. One of the hardest things about being in any position of government, especially a position where you are the ultimate authority like kingship, is that you have to make choices not based on what you want, but on what's good for everything. Aegon, as I've mentioned in other responses, is something who appears to have really valued doing things for the good of the whole, and even if he personally wanted to continue fighting in Dorne even just to alleviate his grief, being a king means making the choice that's good for the kingdom. So Aegon choosing to end a war that wasn't going to be good in the long run for his subjects in spite of his own personal feelings on the matter isn't out of bounds, that's just what rulers have to do (we're approaching the Ides of March so it's on my mind, do you think that either Antony or Octavian particularly wanted to be on good terms with people like Cicero in the aftermath? No, they all hated each other, but sometimes you do things you don't like for the sake of Your People). There's also the fact that, even above everything, Aegon's priorities were likely also firmly vested in the safety of his children. Aenys was not simply very young but only just starting to recover from his mental breakdown, and Maegor (despite all the issues that would arise from various different factors that would damage their relationship) was still a literal baby. It's very reasonable that Aegon, knowing that the war had already nearly cost him Aenys, and had, as mentioned before, cost him Rhaenys and Orys, decided that enough was enough and that if capitulating would keep his kids safe, especially his beloved eldest son, then that's what needed to happen. He didn't end the war "because of the letter", he knew that the war needed to end and that he and Deria's delegation were likely going to come to some sort of mutual resolution no matter what. The letter was just the Martells sweetening the pot for Aegon because they knew what he had lost (at least in my view) as well as a reason for why they were on good terms later in life.

TL;DR: I'm actually not all that bothered. It is entirely fair to presume that Rhaenys was dead given the circumstances, and in universe speculation that she lived only started after Nymor's letter and everything after that is full on guesswork and theorizing, not to mention that Rhaenys was still her own person who made her own choices and died for her own cause (and it's also entirely fair for Aegon to eventually end the fighting even after she died).

[writer1queenjaysblog]

Rescue of the princess

My oc Jada!!!

Custody battle royal! Inspired by my fav @sanyu-thewitch05 after reading her amazing work Custody war and so I decided my make my own 😁

Night Raven College vs Royal sword!!

I've been thinking about this for so long! Now I get to do it!

Ok so after Jada and Grim leave NRC after she wasn't taken care of properly so Royal sword step in and things get crazy 🤣🫶🏾.

Jada was special to everyone. But sometimes people don't always take note of small signs that someone is struggling. Ramshackle dorm was old and well...a shack with friendly ghost and no heat, no hot water, questionable color of water, no food and that caused Jada to hide it.

Grim couldn't take it much longer seeing his female human being sick from time to time due to no heating in the place. It was another day and Jada was getting over her cold but after the overblot of Ida she's been under more stress yet by the grace of the Great sevens passed her tests and exams wonderfully but it took a toll on her.

"Jada is coming to eat lunch with me!" Said Ace "We're eating lunch at the same time!" Said Deuce back.

"Guys..stop..." She said before falling back fainting Jack caught her in time Ruggie and Leona ran to her as Vil check her breathing "Rook get the nurse!" He said.

Jada's pov

It was dark. Cold..no warm it was all of sudden warm and I heard crying and talking I felt something furry on me.

I opened my eyes to see the nurse room lights and Grim on me he was crying I raise my hand to pet him he noticed me move "Guys she's awake!"

Everyone looked at me "Jada oh thank the Great sevens above your alright!"

Said her father Crowley he adopted her when she was little basically a new born baby. She gets dreams about it a man wearing a blue wizard outfit and holding her looking at her smiling, then she was in a pink room with Aurora 3 godmothers dolls above her playing a melody.

"Dad? What happened?" "You fainted at lunch and Rook got the nurse and me and we saw you on the floor."

"Are you ok? Did you hurt your head?"

Said sam worried "No Jack caught me." "Great that's great." Said Crowley as he pat him on the back for helping his daughter.

The next day no one pov

It was so cold that Jada made a fire in the fireplace after cleaning it the ghosts tell her it's not safe or good for her health but her dad wanted ramshackle to be used for once so she agreed to take it but she didn't want to she had to. her dad had dorms run and that was Incase more students show and some are filled they would go there and he could make money off it.

She repaired what she could and what she couldn't needed tools and paint that was a bit expensive so knowing her cheap dad she didn't ask him for it since he gave excuses why he couldn't get it right now.

Neige from Royal sword came by to visit and it didn't go well he visited Jada in ramshackle seeing how old and feeling how cold it was and he asked "Doesn't the head master know this needs fixing?" "Yeah but he's busy with more important things plus while he was gone I basically took over and dealt with not 1 but 6 overblots, 5 dorm leaders, 1 vice went overblot."

He looked worried for her.

"Oh and ha can't forget almost dying 4 times in a row." She laughed before her laughter turned into crying while she was still smiling "I..I tried to help my dad by helping people so they wouldn't overblot..and I made it worse!" She cried and he hugged her "I'm tired of fighting for my life every single day I wake up and dealing with the weight of this school on my shoulders alone!"

"I graduated from here already and I still feel like a overwhelmed student..well woman actually."

Neige picked up her head having her tear stained face looking at him "No lady as yourself deserves this.. no lady should have to go through this!"

He gets up and take out his phone "W-what are you doing?" "Calling for reinforcements and back up you and your cat pack your belongings."

Grim went and go his little back "Why?" She asked "Because your leaving this place and your going to be treated right."

After she packed her things and Grim did too Neige takes her hand as she and Grim walked to the entrance of Night Raven College only to be stopped "And where do you think your going with my apple blossom?!"

Said Vil drawing attention everyone stopped in their tracks realizing that a Royal Sword student was on school grounds.

"Eh? Who do you think you are coming here takin our shrimp?" Said Floyd

"I'm taking her somewhere safe and secure unlike this place!" "What are you talking about?" "She's not safe or happy here that shack she and her cat is living in isn't safe for them so I under command am taking her to Royal sword where she'd be safe!"

"And who gave you that authority!?" Said Crowley angry "I did." Said a voice is what head master Ambrose with the other students standing there and some drew out swords in defense of Neige and Jada and Grim "Back away and no one gets hurt!" They said together.

"Guys no no fighting please-!" She tipped over "Jada!" Said Neige catching her "Are you ok?!" "I.. I'm tired Grim..so hungry." "What is she talking about?" Said Crowley.

"She hasn't eaten in days weeks even she told me there was barely food and drinkable water and water to bathe in ramshackle!" "And that Crowley is why I'm here from this day forward Jada will be living in Royal Sword I'm taking my daughter back."

[tethrras]

38, 43, 46 for vittoria and noona?? (i love your ocs so much fr it's been so fun seeing u vittoriaposting 🥰)

50 questions for rook

this is so sweet anon... as with most things the second i start posting about something i care about i'm like No one cares and everyone hates me so THIS WAS VERY REASSURING

38. Did Rook have any relationships before Veilguard?

YES noona slept around a bit at weisshaupt. she definitely falls for ppl very quickly and gets Enamoured with people really easily. she definitely tried to hit on both caronel the last flight (who declined bc he was too old for her) and davrin on 3 seperate occasions (davrin literally does not remember who she is LOLL) but tldr yes! she probs had a few longer flings with wardens but i think she gets bored quickly and also gets the ick quite easily. she romanticizes people a lot. by the time veilguard rolls around she hasn't been with anyone serious for a few years bc she grew up a bit and realized she was just trying to fill a void. and then she sees davrin and starts getting AWOOGA again

with vittoria, similar to noona's sexual experience but she didn't have any long term romantic relationships. i think she is probably demi - but with that being said she HAS had sex, i think more to validate herself as someone of worth and style and appeal more than anything. it's usually with crows from other houses and she usually avoids them after that (which somehow she is good at despite being a 5'11 broad-shouldered ginger). she is very good at sex technically but there's a lack of heart + enthusiasm that makes most ppl turned off by it lol

43. Is Rook the type to gossip?

for noona, 100% and she's sooo good at it to. gets all the best goss and is really good at picking a good time to Share it so no one has ever once overheard her. she got really good at it in the alienage bc like everyone is everywhere all the time and she'd save all the hot goss for the rare moments of privacy. she loves gossip. she also really really hopes people gossip about her (positively) too LMAO

for vittoria, yes i think so.... at least with people she cares about. she does not give a single fuck about crows lower on the totem pole than her so if people are gossiping about them then she cares. but she cares a lot about gossip about the talons, about lucanis, about viago, and about the crows as a whole. even light-hearted gossip! not just important lore!

46. What does it take to earn Rook’s trust?

with noona i think it's just like. being there. for a long time she needed people who were very much like rook is in the game, very supportive and loving and caring. she likes people who are consistently reliable and conscious of the people around them. she doesn't like people who are selfish or self-involved. so literally just hanging out with noona and telling her she's cute would probably do the trick bc she trusts that you have a good heart <3

with vittoria she appreciates people who not only TRY but are GOOD at things. it doesn't even matter what things, just the THING, because she believes that effort means nothing if nothing good comes from it (this is total projection lol). the few "friends" she's had in the crows have generally tended to be the people who she considers to be better than her at something. but it's also not even about liking someone. she doesn't necessarily have to like someone to trust them and vice versa (she actually finds a lot of people pleasant but if they're not on her wavelength she puts no effort into the relationship).