#bright samurai soul spoilers

[warriorofdragons]

Some thoughts on Bright: Samurai Soul Spoilers Below...

So does everyone have pointed ears in Bright except humans? Are humans the odd man out on getting pointed ears? I get the goblins having pointed ears, but the centaurs and the dwarves too? I at least thought the dwarves would be our round-eared cousins, bummer.

I feel like the whole Inferni vs. Shield of Light thing is like the whole Knights Templar thing, at least inspired by it. 

When did that dude get an octopus arm??? I kind of would have liked to have seen how the fuck that happened. And how did he lose his hand in the first place it was a little unclear, I presume the High Courtesan did it with magic but???

Elves or humans with elf blood!! YES!!! Half-elves confirmed!

There were a few aesthetic things that bothered me and one of them being no super pointy teeth for elves!?!? That’s one of the things I loved about them in Bright only their canines seem to be pointy in this. It would make sense if they all weren’t full elf, but the Inferni definitely seemed to be and still no pointy teeth.

WTF Was That thing in that room!? Is THAT the Dark Lord? Are we ever gonna get an explanation about what is up with that? And if it’s related to Inferni shit then why did Larika (Elf in Wall in Bright movie) become that shape what’s so important about it, I thought that just happened because  her and Tikka were fighting over it and it was a raw surge of magic. 

I think the centaur was wearing pants for his horse legs lol

The goblins and orcs get scars in a darker green color, neat.

So they killed both the orc and the human in this one, did they have to sort of reattach Raiden’s leg first before bringing him back?

Is Vykwarus the only magic word they were given in the whole writing process? I guess they weren’t allowed to make new ones or they couldn’t  get someone to make new ones.

So the healing/resurrection happened automatically and didn’t require a ritualistic incantation like what Tikka did? It makes sense for her an Inferni, which is basically a necromantic cult, to be taught a ritual for bringing back the dead but there would be no canon reason Sonya would need to know it, so they made it automatic instead?

It was cool to see Elf Twins lol

Why didn’t the elves seem to have a good sense of smell? Wouldn’t Sonya be able to know Chihaya was an elf before the reveal if she has a good sense of smell too? It doesn’t have to be blood hound like with the orcs and if elves don’t have super smell then WHY did Kandomere smell Larika??? What was he smelling if couldn’t smell that Leilah had been there.

[demonslayedher]

Dream Analysis of Mugen Ressha

Spoilers for the movie, while it does not depart from the plot of the manga, they made adaptational choices which I may refer to within.

While Enmu has control over what kind of dream his victims see, ultimately, he would have no way of knowing all of the details of his victims' lives, so we can assume that he is prompting his victims to fill in a lot of the details themselves. These are the worlds they surround themselves with consciously, but their untouchable unconscious spaces say just as much.

I've said some of this before, but these dream sequences give us so much to say about Inosuke, Zenitsu, Kyojuro, and Tanjiro.

Into the dream: Did that "Rengoku-aniki" thing really happen???? It's animated like a fever dream (or drawn like a typical Gotouge-being-Gotouge panel), but both the movie and the manga leave this inconclusive. It can be interpreted two ways: 1. The two other demons were there all along as decoys, set to appear only when Enmu's blood technique slowly started to take effect so that they'd let their guard down. In this way, we'd know that the boys had a true way of witnessing Kyojuro's prowess and a true bonding moment, thereby making his death hit all the harder later. This would also mean that one of the cars was totally unusable for passengers, and many of the passengers were already thoroughly spooked before falling into sleep. It would also imply that they were all super excited, thoroughly relieved, returned to their seats, and then just passed out.

2. The moment the tickets were clipped, Enmu's very, very, very realistic dreams took immediate effect, but he still needed time before it took effect enough that their guards would go down. If this is the case, then it implies the following: 1. Enmu's illusions can be shared 2. Everyone syncs extremely well together to have all been sucked in by the same illusion (it's possible it was only Tanjiro's, but since we get in everyone's heads a little in this part, I believe they all experienced the same thing). Reacting in ways so true to how they would in waking like, they learned as much about each other as truthfully as they would have if they were fighting while awake. 3. The "Rengoku-aniki" thing is the moment they're falling into a deeper stage of sleep, when any bizarre thing will make sense. They've lost any sense of holding back and are embracing the emotions as they hit them. Even if that was all a dream, the bond formed was very real. But then, as they fall deep, they fall into their own headspaces. Inosuke: I love how bombastic this dream is. It moves at a very fast pace, and everything revolves around Inosuke. He is physically much larger than Ponjiro, Chuuitsu, and Pyonko, who clearly follow him as their leader, the most powerful person in this cave exploring world full of wonder and excitement. True to life, these underlings can at times be frustrating or stupid, but there is no one else Inosuke would rather have at his side to take on a hugely impressive foe. It's a relatively simplistic world, what Inosuke really cares about is his place in it, and who is there.

Taking it a step deeper, he should not be able to manifest in his self-conscious space, but Gotouge attributes his and Zenitsu's ability to do this and protect their cores from intruders to their strong senses of self. What's telling is that his subconscious space is practically identical to his conscious dream space; like there is no breakage between one stage of reality and the next. In its Zen-like simplicity Inosuke's mind is never at odds with itself, its interpretation of reality is fluid and seamless. However, being at this deeper state brings us to a deeper state of self actualization, with Inosuke manifesting closer to the ideal beast he views himself as.

Now, with Inosuke being so fully invested in what he sees as reality, he's still got a carry-over effect from dream after waking up, which one could interpret as not having fully shaken the effects of Enmu's blood technique. After all, Zenitsu simply never broke out of it, Tanjiro had to kill himself in his dreams each time to fully snap out of it, and Kyojuro was the only one powerful enough to have broken through its effects through his own willpower. When Tanjiro says the train is a demon, he buzzes with "I was right!" (a conviction that only got stronger in his dream), and Inosuke's declarations of being the boss and Tanjiro being his underling are indignantly plentiful and he fully believes what he is saying every time he brings it up, even if he's aware that he's no longer in the cave exploring dream. But, given that Inosuke is so at peace with his own version of reality, it's also just as likely that his conviction of being The Boss was also only compounded by the dream, and all that dream did was give him a more fun setting in which to play around in. But, what was so fun about the dream, what made him sleep-giggle with pleasure, was that everyone else was finally getting with the program and recognizing him as the boss, as they should. Finally. It's so frustrating in real life that he has to keep reminding them to get it right. Get it, Santaro?? GOOD. Zenitsu: What I love here is the contrast between subconscious and conscious space. Both of them have the same theme melody, but played in very, very different ways. They also both play with the same core desire in very different ways as well. Is it so much to ask that he can just spend some time alone with the girl he loves?? If we jump straight to the pitch black unconscious space, he specifies to the intruder that only Nezuko is allowed there. Not just girls in general, not a close friend like Tanjiro, only the one girl he loves, and even then, you'd have to love someone a lot to invite them into the deepest, darkest corners of your soul. And it is a very, very, very, very dark corner. Zenitsu's spent most of his life building that dark, pessimistic personality, compounded by the treatment he's always received throughout his life and what he believes about himself at his core. He's ugly and depraved there, and very defensive. Because he holds himself in such darkness, that makes him desire the bright, happy, completely idealistic world of his conscious dream world. It's rich with detail and warm and he knows it well, that places is the first place he ever felt someone have hope for him; it's Jiichan's home, that sunny place with delicious peaches and full of clovers and lush greenery and a charming stream. Of course he'd want to show it all to Nezuko, she deserves to see such a happy, pretty place! And, while the world is idealized and happy, Nezuko is e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y cute and actually wants to hang out with him too. She's willing no hold his hand, none of the girls who dated (read: used) Zenitsu in the past were ever willing to hold his hand. He even gets to show her that he can be cool, and she likes it!! She looks him in the eyes and is totally honest about enjoying his company!!

He just wants someone to want him back. He wants to belong in the sunshine too. So, even if he had it in him to wake up from Enmu's blood technique, who can blame him for staying there? (You know, besides Tanjiro, who has been desperately screaming for them all to wake up and help him protect the passengers. Zzzzz, five more minutes, Tanjiro, zzzzzzz----) Kyojuro: This... isn't really a happy dream. Kyojuro has accepted a lot of sad parts of his reality so wholeheartedly that he doesn't seek the comfort of a dream in which his mother is still alive, or a dream in which his father is proud of him. Instead, what Kyojuro was looking for was the chance to go back and say more to Senjuro. This implies that on the real day he knelt in that room, while his father faced away and read the book* while Kyojuro told him all about how he defeated Lower Moon Two and became a Pillar, and was met with his father's heartbreakingly unenthusiastic reply, he later went outside and...

...didn't say any words of comfort to Senjuro.

This regret, that he didn't do more for his brother whom he knew was hurting in his own silent ways this whole time, was what sat most bothersomely in Kyojuro's otherwise peacefully self-assured psyche (or fired-up psyche, if you go by his subconscious space) . It makes sense that in his dying wishes, the first thing he requests is that Tanjiro do this in his stead. *Speaking of that book, Kyojuro had forgotten about it until his memories pulled together to create the details of the dream, which was why he thought to mention it to Tanjiro later. This shows that Enmu is not an architect of people's dreams, he only sets them in motion. How believable they are depends on each victim. (Totally unrelated, I love the design of the Rengoku estate's garden??? It's primarily evergreen and unflowering trees, meaning it stays relatively steadfast throughout the year, a garden designed in samurai villa taste. Plus the details of the house also fit really well, I think??? Would need to review research of buke-yashiki architecture to say more.) Tanjiro: ...*deep breath* This boy really, really wants to go home. Like, the climax of the movie is amazing and all, but it's the scenes with Tanjiro's family that make me cry. Ugh, where do I start. Enmu probably just grabs on to whatever thread of a desire a person has, and then he just tugs on it and says "this way, let's go really far in this direction, show me where it goes, hmm, okay, nice, lovely. Have fun here, I've now seen enough to write my own angsty version for later." So... so I'm just going to work backwards a moment. Enmu screwed up here, thinking he could really read the depth of Tanjiro's family and his feelings for them. He thought he could make a convincing version of these "characters" cry and shove Tanjiro around and speak meanly to him and make him feel shame. And the cut to that dream, OH MY GOSH, truly horrific sound and color change. But Tanjiro's sees through it so fast that he wakes up immediately and uses that anger at how Enmu wrote them to cut off his "head." You screwed up, Enmu, you blew it, maybe other people would very so blown down by the shock that they wouldn't question how unreal that dream sequence is, but Tanjiro has honed his fighting spirit so much that it's been nagging him even throughout his happy dream. And he really, really, really wants to stay in that happy dream. Like, even though he's on guard at the beginning, so much so that he only focuses on the familiar feeling of a demon being around and does not notice the familiar landscape AT ALL. But the moment Hanako and Shigeru step in, convincingly made from Tanjiro's memories and unedited by Enmu, Tanjiro throws that all away in an instant. As he says when he's trying, after trying and trying and trying to rip himself away from the dream, he was never even supposed to had left this world. He was never supposed to had touched anything like a sword, they were all supposed to stay there together, living their simple life. If things hadn't gone wrong that one night. Tanjiro cares deeply about his mission, he's adopted his training deeply, he has serious desire to improve, which is why his subconsciously keeps trying to call himself back to reality, but it's so hard, because this is where he wants to be, and it's even harder because it feels so real. It's a little peeve of mine when families with lots of little siblings are written to be too angelic and idealistic, and there is some of that with the "let's make sembei, yaaaay" scene, but... but that's actually pretty true. I'm giving myself away with how close this hits to home, but it's a dynamic in a lot of large families, especially large families pretty happy to stay to themselves and people who live the same sort of conservative, traditional lifestyle, to foster in the older siblings some pride in taking care of the little ones and helping create that happy world for them, even if taking care of little kids can be rough. It's not to say that things are always happy and fluffy, they're not, and that's not to say even

happy kids don't resent being in a large family sometimes. But there's plenty of moments in daily life, especially in the presence of small children, that you get swept up into a sillier, happy, caretaker side of yourself, and since you all grow up with these silly moments together, you're going to naturally fall into into some silly, scripted-feeling moments of "then I'll be in charge of eating the sembei!" "no faaaaair!". So, I'll give the sembei scene a pass because that IS a moment that happens in years of moments with the same posse of kiddos around you all the time. But it's also so striking to me how each of Tanjiro's siblings, however idealized, has their own personality. The traits are so subtle but consistent and Tanjiro knows all of them. They pick up on things about each other, they grow realistically annoyed and surprised and concerned and scared like they would if they were real instead of only Tanjiro's memories of them. Those kids feel so real to me, even if they are annoyingly overidealized in some parts as Tanjiro is letting himself get swept away. And just when he's managing to part from it to go face reality, Enmu makes more attack: he brings in Nezuko, trying to make it feel like there's no point in Tanjiro running at all. She's fine. There's nothing left for him to fight for. Everything's fine. And all over again, Tanjiro just stops. He KNOWS it's not real, but he's hurting so much to hear her voice again that he just sto-o-o-o-ps. And his desire to stay with the others catches up to him all over again, and he's tempted all over again to stay, EVEN KNOWING IT'S NOT REAL and there are very, very, very pressing matters to attend to. Even if it was all a little happy and idealized, more than anything, it felt like life always did. It's telling that when Tanjiro finally, FINALLY pulls away from that that time, he doesn't look back, and the family stops chasing him. This is Tanjiro accepting reality, however much it hurts. He's already had a couple years to accept this, but it was all overwhelming to get such a vivid taste of it again.

Tanjiro wants to do well to his organization and honor Urokodaki's training and avenge the fallen and prevent anyone else from being hurt and see an end to Kibutsuji Muzan and make Nezuko human again, but more than anything, he wants that simple life. And it's so, so heartwarming that at the end of the manga, he gets it.

It's not the same. It'll never be the same.

He never wanted a life with a sword, but he's been working so hard at it anyway.

[elfyourmother]

Gisele Surana: Warrior Sorceress of Light Masterpost (WIP)

Intro:

For all her life, Gisele Surana, apprentice of Ferelden’s Circle of Magi, believed the mysterious entity who guided her in the healing arts was a Spirit of Love from the Fade. Then came the Fifth Blight, and she became a Grey Warden, leading the desperate fight to save her homeland from the horrors of the darkspawn horde. At last, when Gisele stood atop Fort Drakon at the fateful Battle of Denerim, and laid down her life and her very soul to destroy the Archdemon and save all she loved, that gentle Spirit of Love revealed Herself as none other than Hydaelyn: the eternal Mothercrystal of the distant world which bore Her name. Instead of the oblivion she was promised, Gisele’s soul was ushered through the Lifestream, to Hydaelyn, thus reborn to a new life in the land of Eorzea, and an even greater purpose.

tl;dr:

What happens when The Warden from Dragon Age: Origins dies in the Ultimate Sacrifice ending, but their soul gets yeeted by Hydaelyn to become the Warrior of Light in Final Fantasy XIV?

That said, Gisele’s profile is under the cut, along with a collection of relevant links.

(warning: contains spoilers for various FFXIV expansions. It’s also Very Long.)

(5.0 - 5.3)

Full Name: Lady Gisele Surana Varlineau des Fortemps et Borel (as of 5.4)

Age: 29 (As of ARR)

Gender/Pronouns: Femme, she/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Race: Wildwood Elezen/Rava Viera (she was transformed when pulled through the Rift to the First; reverted back post 5.3)

Home City: Ul’dah (ARR) / The Republic of Ishgard (HW onward)

Grand Company / Rank: The Immortal Flames / Flame Captain

Guardian Deity: Halone, the Fury

Nameday: 13th Sun of the 3rd Astral Moon

Jobs:

Gisele is an omnidisciplinary mage, though her signature Jobs are Red Mage and Astrologian, which she helped to popularize. She learned the Samurai arts from Lord Hien and Gosetsu; her Samurai crystal belonged to Lord Kaien, and Hien gifted it to her as a lover’s token.

Main - Red Mage / Astrologian / Dancer

Secondary - Black Mage / White Mage / Summoner / Scholar / Sage

Melee - Dark Knight / Samurai / Paladin / Reaper

DoL - Botanist / Miner

DoH - Weaver / Goldsmith / Leatherworker / Alchemist / Culinarian

Ships/Catpiles/???:

FYI: I write everyone as polyamorous and bisexual unless otherwise stated

[In Depth Shipping Meta!]

Primary:

Gisele/Haurchefant/Aymeric/Estinien (ot4: heavensent) /Ysayle (ot5: saints and sinners) /Stephanivien

Gisele/Haurchefant (otp: silver dove)

Gisele/Estinien (otp: for the sky)

Gisele/Aymeric (otp: promises kept)

Gisele/Ysayle (otp: a rose in winter)

Gisele/Stephanivien

Gisele/Emet-Selch (otp: rose and pomegranates) /Hythlodaeus

Secondary:

Gisele/Thancred

Gisele/Urianger (otp: writ in the stars)

Gisele/Thancred/Urianger/Y’shtola (archon ot4)

Gisele/Hien/ (otp: silk and steel)/ Haurchefant (ot3: steel blossoms)

Gisele/Minfilia (otp: daughters of hydaelyn)/Thancred

Gisele/Ysayle/Y’shtola (ot3: dark is bright as fire)

Gisele/Ysayle/Vrtra

Gisele/Zenos (otp: wild hunt)

Non-WoL:

Thancred/Minfilia W.

Ysayle/Y’shtola

Lyse/Y’shtola

Thancred/Urianger/Y’shtola

Ryne/Gaia

Francel/Haurchefant

Aymeric/Estinien (otp: forged in fire)

Lucia/Hilda

Hien/Aymeric

Pipin/Nanamo

Sadu/Cirina

Krile/Tataru

Azem/Venat

Azem/Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus

Denial City, Party of Me:

Gisele/Gaius (no tag)

Eorzean Bio (Cliffs Notes, detailed pages to come):

ARR:

- Gisele stabbed Urthemiel at the precise moment Bahamut was unleashed at Carteneau Flats. Hydaelyn used Louisoix’s summoning spell to “piggyback” so to speak and draw Gisele’s soul through the Lifestream to Her.

- “Here, think, feel” happened. Gisele awakened a full adult Elezen in Thanalan with no memory of her past, only her name. She meets Brendt at Black Brush Station and takes his wagon to Ul’dah, seeking out the Thamaturges’ Guild to learn magic from them. She gets the idea to join the Adventurers’ Guild, having no other form of income, besides doing odd jobs for the Order of Nald’Thal.

- Momodi assumed she was one of the many shell-shocked veterans of Carteneau who to turned to adventuring as a means to support themselves, and Gisele had no reason not to believe her. This is what everyone believes for a long, long time.

- Eventually, she met Thancred and he recruited her to the Scions. They become serious lovers.

- She joins the Immortal Flames around this time, and silently nurses a crush on Raubahn while developing an unlikely and close friendship with Nanamo. She goes to the other city states and joins the various guilds and slowly starts the process of becoming an omnidisciplinary mage, with her natural aptitude for magic and insane work ethic.

- Every time she got a crystal, she got back a few more of her memories, but everything was jumbled. Minfilia helped her to piece together what happened, through the power of the Echo

- At the Praetorum, when Gisele was fighting Ultima Weapon, all her memories came flooding back as a result of Hydaelyn giving her the power boost.

- As of the Seventh Astral Era, only the Scion inner circle knows Gisele’s true history and identity. This is also when she meets X’rhun Tia and becomes a Red Mage, which will become known as her signature discipline. They become fast comrades. “Sorceress of the Red” is the epithet he gives her, and it sticks as much as Warrior of Light.

- The Bloody Banquet almost destroyed Gisele emotionally. Haurchefant helped her pick up the pieces, when she and her surviving friends fled to Coerthas, and their long simmering UST came to a head and resolved itself in pretty spectacular fashion. By the time Gisele goes to Ishgard, she is known to everyone in Camp Dragonhead as Lord Haurchefant’s lover. He’s also the first person outside of the Scions she’s told about her real past.

HW:

- In Ishgard, she begins study of Sharlayan astrology under Leveva and Jannequinard, and at some point discovers her Dark Knight crystal to begin learning that discipline.

- On the Great Dravanian Road trip, Gisele falls for Estinien and Ysayle. Things are awkward to say the least, with Gisele caught in the middle of their feuding and playing mediator.

- Gisele and Estinien hook up the night before the fateful parley with Hraevelgr, and quarreled afterwards because Gisele insisted on staying to console Ysayle.

- She did go with him to the Aery though, and fought at his side against Nidhogg.

- Gisele saved Haurchefant at the Vault using Astrologian trickery. This was a major turning point for “Gisele and the lads” as I like to call them, and during Haurchefant’s long convalescence at the Congregation’s infirmary, Aymeric and Estinien (who have been long term lovers for years before the game events) become a triad with him. This goes a long way to keeping Estinien safe from the Eye’s influence.

- Similarly, Gisele saved Ysayle at Azys Lla with an unknowing assist from Minfilia; Midgardsormr’s deal with Hydaelyn notably didn’t extend to Minfilia, and she exploited that loophole in the geis on Gisele to give her just enough of a power boost to shield Shiva from the Garlean dreadnought’s hail of fire.

- While Gisele et al hunted down Pope Asshole and the Douchebags of the Round, Cid ferried Ysayle back to Ishgard, and Aymeric took her under his direct protection, placing her under the care of the Hospitaliers. (This had reprecussions later on, during the True Brothers of the Faith storyline.)

- Afterwards, the Scions unanimously voted to make Gisele the new Antecedent, though it’s largely a ceremonial/figurehead type of honor. They all still basically do their own thing. But they wanted to acknowledge just what she meant to them, and Thancred in particular believed Minfilia would have wanted it given her feelings for Gisele.

- The True Brothers of the Faith began as a cadre of Concerned Priests who found out that Ysayle was being treated at the Congregation thanks to a sympathetic mole in the Hospitaliers, and petitioned Aymeric as Acting Archbishop to try her for heresy. When he refused, citing her near-fatal injury and lingering ill health, that was the impetus for the assassination attempt. To the fundie wingnuts, this “softness on heresy” was proof positive that Aymeric had conspired with the Dravanians (and House Fortemps) in a coup against his father, and that the “peace” he sought was a sham to sell Ishgard down the river for sate his ambition for power.

- (The going conspiracy theory was that Ysayle and Gisele were heretical harlots who seduced Aymeric with their ~witchy wiles~ into doing the bidding of the dragons.)

- It was on Gisele and Alphinaud’s return journey to Dravania to beg Hraesvelgr’s intervention once again, this time with Aymeric, that Gisele and Aymeric’s long simmering UST boiled over and they finally gave in to their feelings and made their confessions (ironically, at the same camp site near Zenith).

- Ysayle and Haurchefant (who was mostly recovered by now) were physically present to help Gisele and Alphinaud pry the Eyes of Nidhogg from Estinien’s armor, thus saving his life after the battle on the Steps of Faith.

- Not too long after that, Ysayle was arrested by the Inquisition on the charge of Heresy Most High, over the bitter objections of Aymeric. It’s a long story that I plan to fic out eventually, but due to some crafty politicking, the Tribunal dismissed the charges against her and remanded her to Temple Knight custody. She was put on trial instead by Parliament. It was the trial of the century to put it mildly, the first real test of the Republic, and it ended with Ysayle’s acquittal on the charge of treason after an impassioned speech by Gisele on the floor of Parliament. But she was found guilty of conspiracy and sabotage, for the destruction of Daniffen’s Collar. 

- Instead of death, which Aymeric successfully argued would jeopardize Ishgard’s new fledgling peace with the Dravanians, Aymeric agreed to release Ysayle to the custody of the Scions, who claimed authority in the matter since Ysayle has the Echo and the Blessing of Light. As penance, she begged to join the order, and Parliament agreed to allow it as a form of restitution. So that’s how Ysayle ends up a Scion.

- Job-wise, Ysayle is a Black Mage and a legitimate Allagan-style Summoner.

- Haurchefant begged to join as well, and did. He’s a Paladin (Ishgard has had its own Paladin tradition for a thousand years that has nothing to do with the Sultansworn). His Holy/Light-based powers are entirely the result of permanent disruption to his aether from Zephirin’s lance of light. Gisele mentors him and teaches him how to heal, and he uses his modest gifts quite well. Worth noting: Haurche is a spoonie, who deals with lingering chronic pain as a result of his near-deadly injury, and has not let that stop him from being a complete and utter badass.

- After the war, Gisele started a fashion house in the Jeweled Crozier named Atelier Surana, started with seed money from her adventuring and recompense from Teledji Adeleji’s estate. Ready to wear items are created by her apprentices--retainers of House Fortemps--to her incredibly exacting standards. Those who want her specific services pay outrageous sums for one of a kind bespoke couture. It’s a very exclusive list of clients, and Gisele only takes commissions once in a blue moon.

- Aymeric begins to formally court her around this time, also. The dinner was the start. (They had sex for the first time that night; the Fortemps Knight’s interruption came when they were in the afterglow.)

SB:

- Gisele et al were joined by Haurche on the journey to the Far East. But the night before they left, Gisele and the lads secretly got married, pretty much on a whim, with the quiet ceremony taking place in the little chapel atop the Congregation and performed by “Little” Mother Sephrenia de Vanion, the long time and much beloved Temple Knight chaplain.

- Gisele and Haurche purchased a small home in Shirogane shortly after arriving that serves as their home base away from Hancock and his weeb nonsense. Haurche dubbed it The Floating Lotus. (Ah, to be a filthy rich Ishgardian nobleman)

- Yes, Haurche got the Kojin’s blessing. Yes, he does exactly what you think with it.

- Gisele begins mentoring Alisaie in Red Magic on this trip, and Alisaie develops a crush on Gisele much the way her brother did in Dravania, much to Gisele’s consternation. (Haurche thinks it’s hilarious.)

- OTOH, he AND Gisele fell madly in love with Hien, and none of them especially felt the need to hide the relationship they had together. Even after SB they’re known in the Steppe and Doma alike as “Lord Hien’s lovers”. Everyone ships it.

- Hien gave Gisele his father’s Samurai crystal, and trained her in the Rijin School, along with Gosetsu.

- The Buduga tried to claim Haurche when the Oronir captured them all. Oil wrestling happened and Haurche lost for obvious reasons (bisexual stupidity). Gisele pulled rank and they relented, but they wrote a rather bawdy battle song in his honor about the “white haired warrior from the snows who’s hung like a dzo” and sung it as loudly as possible when they fought in the Nadaam.

- They absolutely sung that shit in Ala Mhigo too, btw.

- Ysayle was finally well enough for field work by the time the Qalyana Ananta summoned Lakshmi, and she helped Gisele defeat the Primal. Lesbian Sex Magic was involved.

- Fordola was killed in battle in Ala Mhigo by Gisele. Ysayle takes her place during the battle against Lakshmi in the throne room during the first patch.

- Gisele starts having weird sex dreams about Zenos after she kills him. She’s deeply disturbed by them.

- Not long after the Battle of Ala Mhigo, Gisele and the lads were officially married at Saint Reymanaud’s Cathedral in Ishgard. It was a suitably grand affair and was as much a celebration of Ishgard’s new beginnings as it was the love of her most cherished champions. (Yes, polyamorous marriage is legal in Ishgard.)

- Artoirel de Fortemps’ first official act as Count of House Fortemps was his wedding gift to Haurchefant, a final peace offering: the use of the family name. Haurche still keeps the “Greystone” as a matter of pride and honor, so after the wedding his legal name is Lord Haurchefant Greystone des Fortemps et Borel.

- Artoirel also made Estinien a Knight of House Fortemps, much to the latter’s flabbergasted consternation.

- Gisele saved Yotsuyu after defeating her as the Primal Tsukuyomi, and Hien agreed to let the world to think she died there at the Castrum. She lives at the Rising Stones and works for the Scions on a contract basis, helping Tataru with the bookkeeping.

- Ysayle was in Dravania meeting with Vidofnir when she collapsed, roughly around the time Y’shtola and Urianger did.

- Haurchefant was the last of the Scions to be summoned to the First, collapsing just after Alisaie did following the battle vs the Eredar Twins Varis’ bodyguards at the Ghimlyt Dark.

- Gisele joined Troupe Falsiam while biding her time, and this is when she became a Dancer.

ShB:

- Gisele found herself a Viera when she was called through the Rift and deposited in Lakeland.

- Haurche was on the First for a year by the time Gisele showed up. He stayed in Lakeland since everyone else was elsewhere, and for the Scions he was “mission command” so to speak, keeping tabs on everyone else. But he took Lakeland as his purview, and with the Exarch’s permission, trained the Crystarium guard in Ishgardian fighting techniques, war strategy and siege tactics, saving a ton of lives as a result, and basically turned Fort Jobb into another Camp Dragonhead.

- Haurche was admittedly extremely pissed off at the Exarch for the Scion-nappings and needed to get away from the Crystarium before he said something he really regretted. Jobb was close enough that he could coordinate with Lyna as needed, and still get correspondence/updates from his friends.

- Gisele reunites with him inside Holminster Switch during the Sin Eater attack on the town. Funny enough they kept just missing each other before then.

- Haurche’s extreme Light-attunement as a result of the old injury makes him light up like a Starlight tree to Sin Eaters, and they’re drawn to him like moths to a flame as a result. One of the reasons he became so respected by the guard even before he began to train them is because he’s so good at hunting Eaters.

- Ysayle, meanwhile, was on the First for five years, and took off on her own to fight the Sin Eaters after falling out with the others re: their plan to have Gisele to take down the Lightwardens. Her beef was that it ought to be her, because she also had the Blessing of Light and could do it instead (not out of pride, but to save Gisele yet another burden, because she loved her). Urianger bluntly said she wasn’t as strong in the Blessing and it was too dangerous and everyone sided with him.

- He was right, for the record. It really would have turned her into a Lightwarden the first time she tried it.

- She ended up in the Greatwood, running afoul of the Viis of Fanow, and barely escaped with her life to Slitherbough. She was with Y’shtola and the Night’s Blessed after that, and they knew her as Lady Vidofnir.

- Ysayle’s role was ultimately quite similar as to Haurche’s to the Crystarium guard, and she trained the Night’s Blessed in guerilla tactics that helped them a great deal in skirmishes with not only Sin Eaters but the Children of Darkness (and later, the Eulmoran soldiers).

- Ysayle and Y’shtola resolved a bucketload of UST and became lovers during this time.

- Gisele does not reunite with her until she reaches the Greatwood, and they have a handfasting conducted by Runar after the Qitana Ravel events. It’s the gayest most granola thing ever. Haurche cried more than anyone.

- Gisele tried to use Emet-Selch’s willingness to find common ground to sway him to the Scions’ cause, and in the process fell in love with him; it was greatly returned, though it ended rather badly at Mt. Gulg when she couldn’t contain the Light.

- Gisele and Thancred finally reconciled after their long awkward romantic separation following the events of Amh Araeng when Ryne assumed Minfilia’s powers as Oracle.

- She retrieved a shard of Hades’ auracite after the battle in Amaurot and crafted it into a gorgeous pendant that she wears over her heart. It’s her way of keeping the promise.

- Estinien joined the Scions following his return from Garlemald, because of Gisele.

- At some point during 5.3, Gisele turned back into an Elezen with Beq Lugg’s help. For the final battle vs. Elidibus, she used the Azem crystal to summon her old Thedosian crew to help her fight him: Alistair, Leliana, Zevran, Morrigan, Loghain, Sten, and Wynne.

- Emet-Selch returned and joined the Scions after they all came back from the First, not long after they woke G’raha Tia up. (It’s a full house at the Stones.) He currently goes by Hades d’Amaurot and as far as the world knows, he’s just a Garlean defector.

- Ysayle spends a lot of her time doing everything possible to aid in the reconstruction of the Firmament, and Francel’s vouching for her goes a long way toward softening people towards her.

- A certain Architect is also surreptitiously helping.

EW: (WIP)

- Upon the Scions’ arrival to Sharlayan, the extra Scions were introduced thusly:

Lord Haurchefant Greystone des Fortemps et Borel, Dauphin of House Fortemps. As an Ishgardian aristocrat and heir to one of the High Houses, he is using the vast wealth at his disposal to finance the rebuilding of the Students of Baldesion, and is personally offering his martial prowess as well.

Lady Ysayle Surana Dangoulain de Fortemps, priestess of Saint Shiva, and Ishgardian ambassador to Dravania. Retained by the Students of Baldesion due to her vast knowledge of Dravanian folklore.

Lord Hades d’Amaurot, Garlean scholar and historian hired by the Students as a consultant.

- When the Scions split up near the start, Haurchefant and Ysayle were part of the group that went to Thavnair; Hades remained in Sharlayan.

(TBC)

Thedas Background:

Pre-Blight Biography

Ships (anything post-DA:O doesn’t happen here, for obvious reasons)

Other Related Tags/Posts:

House Tour: (WIP)

Warden of Light AU (not really updated anymore but here for posterity’s sake, older posts might be outdated; probably where more crossover cosmology stuff will go)

AO3 Collection (longer fics in this universe)

Other Fics (short form fic, drabbles, challenge and prompt fills, etc. this is my general writing tag so you will see other fandoms in here if you go back enough)

FAQs:

Okay, but Why?

Because I started playing FFXIV during Stormblood and didn’t want to get too Involved, so I purposefully just rerolled my favorite OC as my PC, to try to trick my brain (I normally can’t do AUs because of how my brain works with these games). But then I got Involved, and decided to make it an AU of her canon DA story. I prefer it now, tbh.

Yes, it became pretty damn hilarious when Shadowbringers came out.

Note: this is not a crack ‘verse, this is my actual canon FFXIV ‘verse. Everything I write takes place in the same continuity.

Any NOTPs?

WoL/Exarch is really the only ones. You do you, it’s just not my cuppa for various reasons.

Are you/Gisele available for RP?

No. Please don’t take it personally, but I’ve had very uncomfortable experiences in the past RPing on MMOs, and prefer to write fic and meta about Gisele on my own. Occasionally I collab with my irl gf @dandelionofthanatos but that’s it.

Can I ask you stuff about her?

YES PLEASE, OF COURSE! I would prefer asks stick to her post-rebirth period though, unless it’s crossover cosmology/worldbuilding stuff with an emphasis on how DA fits into FFXIV here (eg: “What are the Ascians doing in Thedas?” vs. “What’s [insert DA character here] doing after she died?”). Reason being is my present love/hate relationship with Dragon Age has veered more into hate. I vastly prefer Final Fantasy XIV at this point and would much rather talk about it than the former.

Do you take fic prompts?

Always! If I don’t answer right away it’s likely because of lacking spoons or being busy/preoccupied. Rest assured I see them though and hold onto them if I don’t. Sometimes it takes me a while to write them!

[janumun]

He Sees [A Letter to You and Our Child Series]

Fandom: Samurai Love Ballad: PARTY

Rated: General

Characters: Sanada Yukimura, Sanada Nobuyuki and Kirigakure Saizo

Tags: Angst, Flashbacks, Character Death, Motherly Affection, Familial Bonds

Words: 2186

A/N:  Set in the same universe as "The Warrior In Scarlet", the only other part of this series

SPOILERS AHEAD (YUKIMURA’S ACT 2 DESTINY ENDING)

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This fic depicts Yukkins as he was in his final moments when he's left mortally wounded and forced to rest his tired body against his final resting place near a shrine. If you are not comfortable with reading of a character in his very last moments, you can forgo reading this entirely for your own comfort. For those of you who stick around, I hope you like it!

Summary:  Yukimura as he looks back on fond memories, one last time, followed by one final visit to people most precious.

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Yukimura sees her reach out, pulling his younger self into an embrace.  He feels her fingers - soothing and motherly - card through his hair as she sings to him in a low voice, a sound that could make even the most desolate of souls feel ensnared by swathes of unexplained happiness.  It’s a song his mother sings to him often and Yukimura – the present him, bigger, stronger and yet still a child in the presence of this woman - sits beside his mother, listening to her singing to her little boy, with eyes so bright and blue, filled with adoration of the purest sort. This is the face of a child who loves his mother more than anything, who wants to bring her smiles and comfort, hugs and flowers; all the good things young him associates with happiness.

Older Yukimura turns sideways to gaze upon his mother’s face as she sits beside him and in that moment, he knows the child’s affection pales in comparison to what he sees on her face.  It’s the face of a parent,  a mother who wants to protect;  just that - protect her family with those two seemingly fragile arms which to Yukimura,  in that moment seem like the strongest he has ever seen, even on the best of warriors, a strength lent to her by the desire to preserve what is her world to her. 

“Benmaru.” Yukimura sits up straighter when he hears his mother's name for him. The child Yukimura lifts up his face from her lap just as she reaches around him to tie a red headband to his forehead. Yukimura vaguely recognizes the gesture from his memories.

Stubby fingers immediately reach overhead to paw at the headband, eyes shining brightly as he realizes what it is. “Mother! With this, with your blessings, I’ll become the best warrior the Sanada have ever known.  I’ll train so hard; you will see, Mother! I will make you and Father proud!’’

His mother gazes at him with much affection, her quiet smile tinged with just the slightest hints of sorrow. She cups her child’s cheeks with careful hands, the latter immediately nuzzling into her palm, flushing with unbridled joy. “I wish it wasn’t your fate to hold ours in your tiny hands, Benmaru. I wish I could keep you with me always and protect you but…”

She trails off then and Yukimura, clad in his scarlet gear beside her, feels his throat close up as she takes Benmaru into her arms, hugging him close, wordlessly.

“Mother?” Benmaru inquires innocently.

She doesn’t reply, choosing only to tighten her embrace around him, her lips moving soundlessly across the top of his head as she offers up prayers of protection for the child who would one day, burn bright and large across battlefields, razing any and all enemies in his path – like the brilliance of a falling star right before it blinks out of existence.

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The midday sun shines bright above his head and Yukimura squints against its blinding light, lifting a hand to shield his vision. He takes in his surroundings with a quizzical eye.

He’s back home, he thinks to himself. But it’s slightly different from how he remembers it.

He can hear birds chirping off in the distance, the merry sound regularly being drowned out by shouts and cheers as the retainers take part in their afternoon regime.

He spots a young boy running toward the cherry tree in their gardens, not far off from where he stands, a white rectangle tucked close . He stops at the base of it, pulling out a rock from his pocket, as he places the white shape securely beneath it.

Yukimura realizes with some surprise that it is a letter and the boy is him as he was as a child.

Young Benmaru surreptitiously glances around as if meaning to catch someone off guard with his not so stealthy behavior. Yukimura chuckles at the fond memory. This place is important to him. It is where he used to exchange letters with his pen pal, or more accurately, his brother, but he did not know that at the time.

Benmaru rushes back inside, the wind at his heels as if he is afraid of being caught skipping on training – the only time he ever did was to sneak letters to his friend.

He hears a tired sigh from somewhere above him and turns his head to spot Saizo – much younger, a teenage version – lounging lazily on the roof of one of the houses. He cracks an eye open, staring right down at where Yukimura stands and he wonders for a moment whether Saizo with all his sharp ninja senses can in fact see him, even without his physical presence. But Saizo doesn’t seem to find anything amiss as his gaze roves right over Yukimura and toward the cherry tree where the letter still lies.

He sees Saizo gaze in that direction for a while before dropping his head back on folded arms and going right back to sleep.

“As lazy as he ever was,” Yukimura remarks brightly, a fond look on his face. He turns toward the cherry tree again. The letter is gone.

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After Benmaru’s – Yukimura’s - coming of age ceremony, he is presented with a gift from his brother, his very own custom made haori.

“Brother, this is beautiful!” And indeed it is, with an intricate scattering of small white doves across vivid amber, stitched in an artist’s hand. Yukimura’s eyes shine in obvious delight as he traces the delicate stitching in the cloth, done with such care and precision, he feels his brother’s love and pride from the gift he has been allowed to receive.

“It is an honor to have you sew something this personal for me, Brother, truly, I- I am speechless.”

“Haha, your face says it all Genjirou.” Nobuyuki is nothing but kind and gentle as he beams at his brother, happy at how enthusiastically his gift has been received.

There is little else that matters to Nobuyuki besides his brother’s happiness.

Older Yukimura as he gazes at this gay memory knows it, as he squats down to run his own fingers over the now, too small for him, haori. As expected, his hand passes straight through it without touching anything and yet, he swears he feels the warmth of the cloth and the soft texture of it.

Perhaps strong familial love, like what he and his brother shared, can transcend the boundaries of even time and space.

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“Hyah! I have you now, Saizo!!” He brings down his wooden sword with such insane agility, it is hard to follow with the naked eye, and yet, its target is no longer there to receive the potentially lethal blow.

“Stop following me, little lord.” Saizo sounds exasperated beyond belief and yet he has the energy to make fun of the much shorter younger boy.

 Elder Yukimura chuckles as he remembers how he used to chase Saizo around with his sword, always trying to inflict even the slightest damage to his silver haired friend’s impenetrable defenses.

Truly, Kirigakure Saizo was of the strongest men he knew in his life, giving even Yukimura a proper run for his money.

Older Yukimura mock punches teen Saizo’s shoulder repeatedly, as he laughs to himself. “I’m hitting you plenty now and there’s nothing you can do about it, can you now short Saizo?”

“Yukimura.”

An older voice. A deeper voice.

Yukimura turns around to see Saizo, much older – as he knows him now – his best friend, his closest confidante, his brother-in-arms .

Yukimura grins at him as he lifts a hand in greeting. “Hey, Saizo.”

“Aren’t you coming back? You promised.” Saizo’s face is as impassive as ever.

“Hm? I did?”

A tired exhale. “We possess quite the selective memory, don’t we?”

“Where do we go from here, Saizo?”

“Not we, little lord, it’s you who is trying to go away.”

“Me?”

“You promised.” He repeats. “You would live to see me survive.”

Saizo was being unusually talkative. Something was wrong.

“So then, why are you the one who is – “

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He woke up with a jerk, coughing up bitter, metallic tasting liquid. Ugh, his mouth tasted of bile as well.

“Yukimura!” An urgent voice, imbued with an emotion he had never heard in it before.

His limbs were so cold, he couldn’t even feel them anymore. His chest however, was hot, burning up. Nothing hurt though. He was just… lying there in this mess of… of…

He tried to lift his arm. It wouldn’t move. Instead, he felt more fluid trickle out from underneath him, sticky and nauseating.

“Stop trying to move, you fool!”

“S-Saizo…” Yukimura’s voice sounded so unlike his, weak and hoarse.

“You’re an idiot, little lord.” Saizo’s voice was flat, seemingly emotionless but Yukimura caught on to that undercurrent of anger running within. Saizo was actually mad at him.

They sat in silence for a while after that, Yukimura breathing in the air surrounding them – previously fresh, now stagnant with the strong scent of blood. He didn’t need to ask to know the source of it.

“I… I’m dying, aren’t I, Saizo?”

Silence.

“You’re not going to talk to me?” He chuckled weakly. “I don’t think I have that much time left, judging from the way I can’t feel half of my body anymore.”

“Shut your mouth before I do it for you.” The same flat, enraged voice. That was unusually savage for Saizo. He never let his emotions show this easy. That further ingrained the fact of his impending death in Yukimura’s mind.

He was lying under a tree, barely sitting upright purely on support of its trunk by the side of this abandoned shrine.

Saizo knelt next to him, not saying anything, just watching over him - always watching over him.

“Man, I’m so thirsty…” Immediately, there was a container of water against his lips urging him to drink.

“Mm, thanks, Saizo. I know…hah… I can always count on you.” He flashed him the best smile he could muster up at the moment, though he knew it wasn’t much more than a slight twitch of the mouth.

He was losing sensation in his face fast. His mind was getting hazy as well. He wanted to sleep so bad.

“Did… did you… find out…?

“I did.”

“Are they….”

“They’re well, she’s doing well, little lord.”

Yukimura’s heart relaxed, thinking of the family he had left behind. “…Wish… could have lifted Momo… one more time before I...”

“Sleepy, little lord?” There was a tiny upward pull to Saizo’s previously taut mouth as he smiled at him. He stroked Yukimura’s hair once, voice low and soothing. “Go to sleep then. It’s alright.”

Yukimura didn’t want to go to sleep just yet but Saizo’s voice was so alluring, beckoning him to let go of that one final hold he had on this painful– but also, so joyful – life, he couldn’t hold back any more.

“…zo…. See you later…?” His eyelids finally fell shut over fading cerulean, eternal sleep taking him into her embrace.

“…Who can say?” Saizo smiled at his best friend, now, as he slept, so relaxed and peaceful, even as he lay there slathered in blood, so much of it his own and also, not.

 Lowering his head to Yukimura’s shoulder, Saizo closed his eyes, allowing those few errant tears to finally escape.

“What an utter idiot we were, till the very end, Sanada Genjirou Yukimura.”

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He was home. Back at Ueda. He rushed inside, eager to see them. She wasn’t in her chambers, so he made his way over to the kitchens and stopped short.

There she was. She looked as lovely as the first time he had ever laid eyes upon her smiling face; she put a blush to his cheeks just as much in the same way.

He loved her. So much.

He moved toward her, arm extended to reach for her but she never noticed, turning her attention to another pot cooking over the fire.

He was slightly disappointed when he realized she couldn’t see him.

Just then, his eyes spotted someone scuttling around her feet, trying their best to get in her way.

“Momo!” He cried out with unabated joy at seeing her cute little face. His daughter was indisputably the most precious, adorable girl in all the lands and he couldn’t be any prouder to see her healthy and thriving.

She had barely started crawling when he had left her but now, oh Gods, look at her; she was walking – running around – on her own two feet.

At his call, as if she had heard him, Momo turned around and called for him, just as enthusiastically. “Daddy!”

His face broke into the biggest, adoring grin ever as he knelt in front of her, taking her sweet round face in his hands. She had the cutest pudgy cheeks! Something gave way in his heart and then he was crying, as his arms that lacked any physical form, wrapped around her tiny frame.

Here was someone who saw him after all.

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End Notes:  For those of you who do not know, the memory of Yukimura's pen-pal is a nod to an actual past event in the game. I loved that story event and knew that I wanted to incorporate that scene into this fic. Thank you for reading this series!

[cultho]

Dororo Epilogue/Post-ending Standalone episode

*WARNING: SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!!*

So I watched the ending and I had a lot of feelings about it, and I came up with a few ideas for a standalone post-episode to explore some concepts I would like to see from the show. Fyi, the pronouns I use for Dororo vary by situation, with a preference for he/him (my headcanon is Dororo is pretty genderfluid!).

About a year after Hyakkimaru went to find himself, aka end of the series (but before the timeskip where Dororo’s hair is long), the episode opens with opens with Hyakkimaru, feeling more at peace with himself, returning to the village Dororo was developing via dad's Harry Potter level of inheritance.

Dororo, who now basically rules this village despite being a literal 9 year old, hears word from his fellow villagers that a wandering stranger with a sword was spotted helping one of the rice farmers because their horse got caught in a ditch (or anything else of that nature). Of course, Dororo immediately comes running, and barrels straight into Hyakkimaru for the sibling reunion hug we deserve.

Then Dororo punches Hyakki on the arm and gives him a hard time for leaving for a whole year without even a ‘goodbye,’ asks 'So what made you decide to come back after a whole year, huh, punk?’

In response, Hyakki pulls out a small, worn, pouch and Dororo says 'woah - Mio’s rice seeds? I thought you would’ve planted them by now already.’

With a little smile, Hyakki goes 'I thought about doing that, but then I remembered you were close with her too, so you have as much of a right to these seeds… so I decided to wait until we could plant them together.’ 

The rest follows as one expects it to -  Dororo teases him for becoming an even bigger softie, and they set off back to the village to grab some farm tools who Hyakki the place, as the camera pans up until the brilliant blue sky fills the frame. That chapter of their lives ends the same way it began, with Hyakkimaru and Dororo - the latter chatting up a storm while the former quietly appreciates - side by side, wandering where they must. 

Then the camera pans back down, and where before there was bare paddy, the field is now golden and thriving (same as it was in the show's ending). After a half decade timeskip, Dororo is 15-16 to Hyakki’s 21-22, and the rest of the episode follows them dealing with a demon terrorizing their village, who turns out to be Daigo’s butthurt evil spirit. I don’t have a specific plot, but here are concepts that I’d love to see explored.

First, Grown up badass Dororo running her town, being like her own Alexander Hamilton, except not only does this Alexander Hamilton know finances, how to run a sovereign state, how to outsmart any opponent, rouse even the most downtrodden souls to action with just a few words, she also kicks major butt from training with her big bro. Shoutout to that one post that inspired the idea that her dad's Big Boy genes kicked in during puberty so she’s actually like... as tall as Hyakki. Maybe even an inch taller. She says to anyone who asks that her bro can 'die mad about it’ but they both know that he’s just happy she grew up big and strong. 

She totally runs the town and everyone adores/massively respects her; her city takes in the refugees, the poor, the women and children, the diseased, etc, because, in her words, screw samurai and screw their wars. They absorbed Daigo’a old land after offering food, shelter, and jobs to the survivors, thus their town became a pretty respectably sized settlement.

Now, the key to all this - since they don't want to rely on samurai for their power - is the money, right? So Dororo’s power is her knowledge of the treasures secret location (and all the other badass things about her, but I digress). Imagine at some point a small gang of newer villaghers got the bright idea to try and stalk her during one of her mysterious night trips out (she calls them a way to satisfy her wanderlust, but they’re a cover for her sailing to the treasure's location to grab some cash), and they only get as far as spying her enter the docks before their plan goes to heck when they get accosted by Dororo's more loyal villagers who saw them sneaking. ‘Oh sh*t,’ they’re thinking, Dororo sauntering over to them, ‘Oh sh*t, shes got a big sword, oh man oh sh*t this is the end for me - '

But Dororo’s been there before, at the end of her rope and desperate for any edge to survive, she understands how these guys think, and if there’s one thing she’s stubborn to death about it’s that she does NOT run her town like the samurai. Instead, she talks them out of their misdoing and helps them find an honest living, Tales of Ba Sing Se Uncle Iroh style, (except with more volume and verbal threats).

Another concept with Dororo is when Dororo dresses to look like a guy when he and Hyakki take a couple horses and venture into a nearby city (for whatever plot reason), similar to how he did when he was a lot younger.

It’s not fully a secret, but only the older residents of her city know about Dororo’s 'crossdressing' habit, and are accepting of it.

Dororo mentions that while he’s in no way ashamed of presenting female, it often feels more freeing to present male, especially when they're out adventuring - less questions and stares from strangers, etc. Dororo also just likes presenting as male! This way, he identifies with both genders at different times. (It goes without saying Hyakki does his best to use the right pronouns, he never had a strict concept of gender - re: Jukai is the best mom, so it never struck him as odd.)

As for the actual villain of the episode, when she first hears of the Jerk Dad Demon attacking the farms on the outskirts of the village, she only thinks ‘it's just another demon, time to gather the crew and kill this thing-’

It doesn’t go so easily, as the demon’s exceptional strength proves to draw out the confrontation, and it even ends up escaping the first time.

The first to figure it out was Hyakki - he’s most familiar with Daigo’s wrath and the foul creature reeks of the old man. However, everything happened so fast and he sort of… neglected to inform Dororo. When she does find out, they have a short confrontation about it in classic Bickering Siblings Style. It’s understandable that she’s slightly miffed the demonic incarnation of his own awful dad, yes that one, is who they’re fighting and he didn’t bother letting her know.

Hyakki, who, even after a decade of having his voice back, isn't that great at communication/vocalizing his more complex thoughts and working through conflicts with words and thus often comes off as awkward or silently stoic: 'You were busy... and I thought you figured by yourself already?’

Things escalate when the other villagers overhear, and they almost start a riot; angry shouts accusing him of being the reason the demon attacks their settlement from the all the tired men and women, haggard from fending off attacks of not only the demon but also rival bandits and clans who want to take advantage of the city’s time of hardship. Of course, Dororo gets everyone back in lineright before the crowd got to deciding to sacrifice Hyakkimaru, reminding them to focus on the real enemy instead of turning on eachother - but the situation was incredibly bleak. With everyone on edge partially, it was easy to use Hyakki as a scapegoat due to his pacifist tendencies and his stoic nature coming across as almost cowardice.

He taught Dororo how to fight and that's pretty much all the fighting he's done since he came back to plant Mio’s rice, he’s reluctant to pick up the blade again. But the moment a demon shows up he runs off on his own, risking life and limb to confront it head on. Combined with his character’s less than stellar communication skills, it frustrates Dororo in the 'he leaves for a year and doesnt even text me when he's going’ kinda way’ - she's frustrated when he continually refuses to understand that they're family, and at the end of they day theyre kind of all the other has left. So he needs to get it together better and tell her when he’s about to go off and do reckless nonsense. His behavior also presents an interesting dichotomy as Hyakki also struggles with trying to be emotionally detached (lose worldly desires, etc.) and pacifist in the face of attacks from both demon and humans, so he needs to reconcile fighting with the others against attacking clans and risking a redescent into the demon like madness of his teenage years or standing by non violent means of supporting his comrades while facing expectations that he should do more. He wants to atone for his past sins badly and help those who are still living best he can - but how? 

(And also make friends other than literally just Dororo.)

Dororo's arc is about her struggles to do the right thing as a leader - it is a lot, to run a whole city. Recent events have caused more deaths amidst her city than ever before, and moral questions about what to do with captured enemy survivors feed doubt into her mind if one day she’ll turn out as bad as the samurai, and how to continue on after having led people in battles that resulted in their deaths.

P.s. I also entertained the idea of Hyakki’s journey to find himself taking much longer, and so the first time Dororo sees him again ever since he got his eyes back is when she's 20, there's rain pouring from the dark sky as her men are carrying lamps around, accounting for the dead and defeated in a latest skirmish with a small rival band that was trying to access her city the non-peaceful way.

At first her men bring her hyakkimaru, thinking he was with the enemy (he happened to be in the wrong place, wrong time. He simply heard of a group heading to a big place that sounded an awful lot like somewhere he would find Dororo - and followed them).

And from the business end of her sword he's on his knees looking up when she goes 'nah. I know him. This bastard's got hell to answer for, but he's not our enemy.’

Events are more or less the same from there, but filled with way more tension and drama here since Hyakki basically dropped off the face of the earth for 10 ish years and Do’s mad about that because, again, he didn't even say 'bye'. So much has changed, but what hasn't changed is Dororo’s anikki's inability to grasp that if one day he went off without telling her and then died, she would have literally no idea where/when/how that was, she would never know if he was alive or dead, and the idea of living in that limbo would terrify anyone. The story being about them learning to come together again, only at the end do they plant Mio’s rice field together.

I ended up trying to flesh the first idea out more because Do & Hyakki’s relationship is all about the things that don't need to be said; that these two will always be there for the other without needing to be asked. The backbone of their relationship was built up as one that didn’t need explicit affirmation because it was already so ingrained to their characters it would be a disservice to them and a waste of time to contrive an entire plot trying to create unnecessary drama between them.

But then again... drama = satisfying character growth, so perhaps it could go either way! Let me know what you think! 

Thank you for reading all this way :) I also posted second part to this of other thoughts I had while pondering why I felt the need to write a standalone epilogue.

Bonus: these gems I had in the rough draft that unfortunately had to get cut:

“But it’s harder to kill bc jerk dad demon is a jerk”

“Dororo's like 'u mean to tell me ur punk bitch biological male progenitor's demonized soul is attacking our fields??? “

“they take down the big bad dad dude daigo”

“Dororo: - pshffyeahh, ur pissy pissfaced pissbaby dad”

[brightlilies-a]

   cracks knuckles. i’ve long put off rewriting this one, if not because it’s not an easy or concise subject matter to discuss, so bear with me. . . ! spoilers for dnc & 5.0 msq (though the latter is lighter, so i can expand on it later with a broader scope).

   headcanon, re: purpose.    * partially rewritten from my old blog & otherwise including new stuff.

   what’s your purpose?

   if you had asked him that question during a realm reborn and heavensward, he’d wholeheartedly answer that all he wants to do is have the strength to protect others. the funny thing is that it’s a purpose that was given to him——not because he’s the warrior of light or because people are relying upon his continued success, but because it was something his older brother, albi’a, said near constantly prior to the calamity. they were to use their strength to ensure the safety of the tribe, and when they would eventually be outcast, that strength would become something to protect others with. power was meant to protect——that was all it ever meant to albi’to.

   ‘course, after albi’a’s death at carteneau and his mother pushing him to become an adventurer seemingly on a whim, albi’to ultimately ended up parroting that sentiment for a good chunk of time. if someone asked why he was an adventurer, it was always to gain the power to protect, with no deeper thought to it. he believed his would-be mantra, sure (if he hadn’t, he would have never approached the gladiator’s guild, nor walked the path of a paladin), but the words were never something that were his. they were the remnants of a promise left unfulfilled, acting as a buoy for a young man with little else to cling to in the vast, churning ocean of heroics and intrigue that was swiftly becoming his life.

   putting it like that and only looking at it from that perspective, however, makes it seem insincere——and it’s not. albi genuinely wants to protect people. he’s kind and compassionate to others because he’s had a rough go at life and he doesn’t want anyone to go through what he did. he lost his home and much of what he considered his family only to be shuffled into a place that didn’t even want him all at once, and yet, he keeps his optimism (even if at times, he didn’t think he could.). so he often sympathizes, even with people he possibly shouldn’t, and wants to keep them safe.

   but, then again, stormblood happens. namely, in crimson it began happens, as all things inevitably return to zenos. zenos, who is so uncaring to things that don’t interest him, set against albi, who feels so much toward everything and everyone. and yet, the power albi had obtained to protect others wasn’t enough. the conviction he’d allowed to guide him through combating ultima weapon and the whole of the dragonsong war fell short suddenly. the scar on his shoulder is an ugly reminder of his loss, but his shattered shield, like haurchefant’s, reinforces a reality that, for a while, he’s afraid of: he can’t protect everyone.

   so he shifts jobs to samurai, thinking if he gets stronger he can brute force his way through it. he can still protect people, but maybe he doesn’t need a shield to do it. maybe all he needs is a stronger sword that will stop threats in their tracks. but the foundation of his (brother’s) belief that the strong will always be able to protect the weak is cracked, and patches 4.4 onward really reinforce that. for much of stormblood though, there isn’t any time to waver, so the problem only rears its head once the scions start getting called away and he’s helpless to do anything to stop it. yet again, he can’t stop what’s happening, not to the people he cares so much for, and no amount of power is going to help him.

   albi doesn’t do well on his own, as he’s never really had to face who he is and process his own identity. he tends to ensure other people are near him, hiding most of his insecurities through being overly social and directing conversation away from himself. so much of the time between 4.5 part 1 and 4.5 part 2 is very, very rough on him, because he’s holding on so tightly to the image of the warrior of light people want and expect from him, punishing himself for not being able to help the people he’s losing, and ignoring those who are still around’s concerns for him. part 2 of the patch helps, as aymeric reminds him that he isn’t alone, and tataru opens his eyes to the fact he can’t keep bottling everything up and trying to handle these things on his own anymore, which are both things he desperately, desperately needs to hear at that point.

   so while they’re out looking for the crystal tower beacon… he’s not alone, and he’s doing better to include the others in what he’s doing so they can help, but it’s not perfect. it’s hard when he isn’t the same bright-eyed kid that walked into the waking sands at thancred’s behest. he’s still loud and energetic, but he’s begun to mellow out somewhat from everything he’s been through and witnessed.

   above all else, though, he’s come to terms with the truth he once feared: he can’t protect everyone; sometimes, he can’t even protect himself. which brings us back to that initial question of purpose.

   if he cannot protect with his shield and if his blade alone cannot wield enough power, then what’s left to guide him on his way? he’s relied on the scions’ support for so long, and while he’s always done what’s expected of him, he’s never really had much to offer outside of being the eikon slayer or the muscle. but while he’s not allowed to help search for the beacon himself, it gives him plenty of time to find another answer for himself, which he does on a wayward trip to limsa lominsa to visit his sister.

   “ put another way, bringing joy and succor to the scorned and the suffering is no less than our calling in life. ” - nashmeira, a soirée in the sultanate.

   while he’s never offered much besides being a weapon, albi has always had a naturally charismatic personality. he likes people, enjoys their company, delights in bringing them together and building them up. which, in some ways, goes hand in hand with being the warrior of light——sowing hope where despair otherwise reigns is simply part of being the realm’s champion, even if he isn’t fond of the title himself. so the thought of supporting the people around him is one that is more secondhand nature than parroting what his brother said while he was alive, and one that comes more naturally to him.

   natural affinity for and history of dance aside (because this isn’t about that), it’s a job that suits him infinitely better than swinging a sword around. and not because he’s simply good at dancing, but because being a dancer is about supporting the people around oneself, lifting their spirits and unburdening hearts, leaving a bit of joy and happiness in his wake. it isn’t something done alone; it requires a partner or an audience.

   and traveling with troupe falsiam, brief as it might’ve been, truly assured him that he wanted to do nothing more with his life. fighting the absolutely horrible monsters born out of the sorrow in people’s hearts, seeing their burdens manifest like that, it hurt, sure. but he had the ability to help those people, so he would. and he will, because in the end it’s what he wants to do. mistress nashmeira’s words ring true in a way he wholly agrees with——his purpose isn’t to protect people or to fight their battles, but to bring joy and help the helpless. to do as much as he can as kindly as he can, but not promise any form of salvation.

   because he’s not a god, nor is he infallible, and twelve does he know that.

   “ in a place like this, you learn to take what little moments of happiness you can get. “ - tesleen, the time left to us.

   of course, norvrandt puts this new purpose to its test swiftly. most people don’t have much of a reason to be happy, what with the end of the world being nigh. the people’s hearts are filled with doubts, shadows of disdain for the lot they’ve been given, and even by the time he goes to amh araeng to meet with alisaie (which he does first, given how things ended at ghimlyt dark), albi is keenly aware of the general condition. moreover, that it isn’t anything he can fix immediately, because as long as the main problem exists, people will continue to suffer after the fact.

   worse, having gone through what he did alongside troupe falsiam tends to make the events in norvrandt pull on his heartstrings uncomfortably. meeting f’lhaminn once more before seeing thancred struggle to let go of minfilia, dealing with the fuath wanting to make him theirs to perform again and again in endless fights on their drowned stage, watching the carers at journey’s head struggle to find even an ilm of kindness to share with the afflicted... not to mention eulmore in its entirety engorging itself on false happiness, there’s a lot that makes him hesitate. lightwardens, and knowing they were once people, make him sad, but he tries to view it as tesleen put it: the warrior of darkness comes to care for souls at their dying moment, to bring them somewhere hopefully better than where they are currently.

   not a promise of salvation, but a measure of kindness he can deliver to them. something that keenly fits along with the purpose he’s decided for himself, that isn’t asking him to be something or someone he isn’t.

[cooncel]

Bright: Samurai Soul Ending Explained [SPOILER!]

Bright: Samurai Soul Ending Explained [SPOILER!]

SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later! (more…)

[whymustmyfavalwaysdie]

Anime recs!

Animes I’ve (more or less) recently watched and loved:

Yuri on ice; 12 episodes; for the story, the character development, the music

Orange; 13 episodes; the story (#heartbreaking), the drawing and the characters are beautiful

Spirit pact / soul contract; 10 episodes (or 20 if you watch the Chinese version); i like the world of it (ghosts, demons,.) and the “funny” moments/reactions of some characters

Sword art online; 25 episodes, i liked the idea of being in a video game’s world and the drawing are really pretty, most of the characters are developed (in my memory)

Hakuoki; 3 seasons of 10 to 12 episodes each; samurai!!! (I haven’t find the time to watch the third season tbh, but the first two are really great!)

Guilty crown; 22 episodes; I’ve learned that this anime is really controverted as some people, like me, really liked it and some didn’t at all but well it’s up to you! the world the characters evolves in, its development and the one of the characters and their personalities are the things i really liked about this anime!

Alderamin on the sky; again, another anime i really enjoyed and i guess the drawings (the drawings means a lot for me as you may have guessed already XD) and the bunch of characters we follow is the thing i like about this anime

Okay Alderamin on sky, Orange, Yuri on ice, Spirit pact are from 2016 and the others are pretty recent as well but the three that are about to come are from the 1980’s and i absolutely adore them! I rewatched them a lot already in the past years and they mean a lot to me! i wasn’t born in the 1980’s but they were diffused again when i was younger and i just love them so much

The mysterious cities of gold, I. LOVE. THIS. SERIES.SO. MUCH SO SO SO MUCH! (I’m kind of pissed right now because i had written a nearly essay for this but i clicked on something wrong and then poof! gone so I’ll try to make this second draft as good as the first one) in those 39 episodes we follow the adventures of Esteban, Tao and Zia and their friends throughout the New World (it’s during the 16th century so we’re talking about the American continent here) as they are looking for the cities of gold. I cannot tell much because SPOILERS but yeah i love this story!! i know the theme songs, the speech intro that’s before the opening song, the plot of the episodes, EVERYTHING by heart! and I JUST LOVE IT SO SO SO MUCH! It means so much to me and i cannot even put words on this because it’s just my childhood, and moments I’ve spend with people and and I LOVE IT OKAY? everything about this story is just great, the themes, the friendship, the story, the drawings, the feelings, EVERYTHING! maybe my point of view is a little biased but let me tell you that the box set holding the DVDs at home is more damaged than Walt Disney’s one SO YEAH! this is an argument don’t judge me! so i hope this make you want to Watch this because i really want more people to know more about this series. it’s a French one so i don’t know how well the dub version is but please please please please Watch it if you can! AND BY ALL POINT! try to not Watch the sequel they try to made back two or three years ago, because #destructionoftheoriginalfeels #childhoodtornapart the story is good i guess, maybe it’s just my strong feelings for the original 80′s series but this “second season” as they like to call it doesn’t make up to it to me! LAST THING! PICHU IS THE BEST PARROT EVER I WANT HIM IN MY LIFE

Ulysses 31, the odyssey BUT IN SPACE! AND NONO IS THE BEST YOU CAN’T TELL ME OTHERWISE! BEST BUDDY AWARD! I used to Watch it with my bro when we were younger and we were so sad when we miss an episode!

Candy Candy, this one i have no Watch during my childhood but i love it anyway, we follow Candy a Young girl who will get through a lot in her life and will always try to keep her big bright smile! her development, the story, the themes, the characters, everything is so Worth it! (again, another series you want to keep tissues with you. I’m not an easy cry but gosh. this one at some point is just too powerful. you will cry of laughter too though)

The rose of Versailles, I’ve Watch this one last year i think, or maybe already two years ago, times goes by so quickly, and it takes place during the French revolution. We follow a girl who has been raised as a boy by her father as he already had many daughters and he wanted/needed a boy more than anything (that’s why the name of the anime is also Lady Oscar), I can’t tell you a lot about the story except it’s really great, that the characters are amazing and that the end of the anime killed me.

Here it is @randomhiccup24! okay i didn’t think at first that it would turn out so long but i got carried away for my love for these four animes I’ve talked about AND NOW I WANT TO WATCH THEM ALL OVER AGAIN!! whyyyyyy

PS: i’ve poured all my heart into this! hope you’ll like it!

@cmarthad1 @ionica01 @mariandanime @paperrabbit13 @ladyasheofkirkwall @thedragneellucy @karla4103

[warriorofdragons]

One last Bright Samurai Soul Spoiler.

Me when they keep using Vykwarus.

[warriorofdragons]

Kind of some warnings on the child abuse Sonya suffers in this movie, Bright Samurai Soul Spoilers Obviously.

So first off Sonya gets SOLD to A Brothel by a creepy drunk man, and put in a cage.

Then she gets hit or thrown around a lot.

She eventually gets kidnapped and taken to an Inferni guy’s mansion and is lying on a bed wearing Different clothes, and even she is alarmed by this.

Then the same Inferni guy drugs her tea he gives her.

She doesn’t appear to be harmed other than these things while unconscious they just carry her to like a carriage to take her somewhere else, and in the brothel the High Courtesan almost immediately takes her out of the cell they put her in and takes her under her wing.

Just wanted to give people some heads up.