#elysian-crow

[mercurygray]

꒰ 13 ꒱ “i say this with all the love in my heart, but you look like shit.”

꒰ N ꒱ fondness

꒰ 𓆉 ꒱ the corner bed in a hospital ward

for anyone who’s been on your mind lately!

Thanks for the prompt, Addie! I'm taking another opportunity to write more Vivian/Huston - a follow up to the piece from last week.

His affirmations were becoming harder to remember.

Your name is Adam Huston. You are a surgeon with the 96th Bomber Group and you are good at your job.

Yes, good at his job - good at patching men up and putting them back together after they came back home shredded and bleeding. But men weren't planes, and after a while there came a point where patches couldn't - wouldn't - hold. Twenty five missions, twenty eight, thirty. How could you put that man back together? Assuming, that is, that he came back at all. So many of them didn't.

He tried not to say too much in his letters to Vivian, glanced over and around it using only the lightest words. CO's turned me down for leave again - we're still shorthanded. You'll have to enjoy London without me. She wrote back about a dog they'd adopted, new recipes for dinner, the flowers in the estate garden. I'm being reassigned. I'll let you know when I have my new address. I miss you terribly. I miss you awfully. I miss you more than anything. Vivian.

Time in emergency surgery seemed like an everyday occurrence now - his nurses could suture and close as well as anyone he'd gone to medical school with. Easier to deal with them here than try to send them up the chain. In the scrub room he stripped off his gloves and his mask, consigned his bloody smock to the laundry bin. Clean hands and a cup of coffee, and then there was still the ward to check, the casualties from yesterday.

Lieutenant Harris handed him a clipboard as he shrugged into his coat, her nightingale cap and nursing whites immaculate. (Blood was best left elsewhere - in the surgery and on the landing field. White was calm - orderly. White was clean bandages and bedsheets and uniforms. A white coat meant that everything was at peace, even if the man wearing it hardly felt that way. "The new Clubmobile woman's waiting, when you have a minute," she added, when he'd found his pen and checked his appearance in the dressing room mirror. "She stopped by to introduce herself."

"Has someone not told her there's a war on?" Adam asked acidly, giving the jacket one final tweak. "I'll be with her when we're done with rounds, and not before."

His coat was like armor. Put it on and he became someone else - someone actually capable of solving the world's problems. (He'd never worn his coat at Coombe House. It had never really fit.) He worked the ward with his best bonhomie in full force, better in no time, healing wonderfully, arm's never looked better, give the cast two more weeks and you'll be fine.

He was ignoring the woman near the office - the last bed in the ward, and not before. They would all get their full due from him before he met the new woman.

Finally she spoke, and he felt something inside him plummet and fall. "I don't mean to sound disrespectful, Captain, but are you feeling well?"

Adam turned, the voice both sacred and profane and the fondness in it inescapable, and strongly resisted the urge to run and embrace her. (Harris was still on the ward, and there were the patients to think about. Doc Huston, with a girlfriend? The gossip mill would have run off of its chain in excitement.) "Vivian." And here she was - in living flesh and Red Cross Blue, smiling at her own joke. "You - you said you were being reassigned."

"And here I am."

He stared. "You're going… to be here?"

It didn't come out the way he wanted. "I thought you'd be pleased," she said, studying his face for a sign, dropping her voice lower still. "Is it going to be a problem?"

"No," he said, and it sounded like begging to say it. He moved closer, tried to match her tone, resisted the urge yet again to wrap himself around her and never let go. "No, it won't be a problem. Only if I can't get ten minutes alone with you."

"Only ten minutes?" Her tone was light and teasing. "I was hoping for at least an hour. I'm overdue, after you cancelled on London."

His mind filled in the blanks and he smiled, in spite of himself, in spite of everything. "Naughty girl."

"But are you, Adam?" She had returned to her original question - the one that had been a joke. "Feeling well?"

He took a breath and filled in his smile, feeling the weight of the coat at his shoulders. "I'm fine," he said, and almost meant it.

[dujour13]

The Lark & The Crow ❤️

Commission by the wonderful @molochka-koshka. Thank you so much Milk 🥰🥰🥰 I'm a complete puddle on the floor

[luvuwite]

new animation !!!

[cutexiora-blog]

[familyromantic]

(Submission)

"I promise — I promise that I'll show you a smile."

"Then I promise too — to be the one who'll make you smile."

Brother and Sister’s Promise – Tales of the Rays

Pairing name: Edna/Eizen or Earthcest (also アイエド or エドアイ)

Series: "Tales of"

Canon: No.

Spoilers: Lategame spoilers for Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria, as well as up to the very last chapter of Zestiria the Cross.

Eizen: “Other malakhim were born there, but I never felt like they were my family. But something—I don’t know what—was different with her. If she was sad, I’d feel sad. And if I was happy, she’d be happy, too. She can be... abrasive, but when she smiles, it’s like nothing else. I swore to myself that whatever happened, I would protect her.”

1. Introduction

Tales of Zestiria was a J-RPG released for the 20th anniversary of the Tales of series on PS3, PS4, and Steam (international exclusive). It followed the story of a fantasy world called Glenwood, which had been plunged into a nigh-incomprehensible state of chaos. The high level of malevolence was ravaging the world with mysterious illnesses and abnormal climate changes, making humanity struggle with crop deaths, famine, and starvation. This was the context in which Sorey, the protagonist of the story, found himself in. He then had the final task, as the new Shepherd, of quelling the very source of malevolence: the Lord of Calamity.

This release was later followed by Tales of Berseria a year later, signaling the end of the 20th anniversary’s celebrations and also available for PS3 (Japan exclusive), PS4, and Steam (international exclusive). The land of Desolation—the same Glenwood but with a different name—a thousand years prior to Zestiria showed to be just as chaotic. And, if Zestiria accompanied the Shepherd in his journey against the Lord of Calamity of his era, Berseria accompanied the Lord of Calamity against the Shepherd of her time: Velvet Crowe set off on a personal journey of revenge, while (not very willingly sometimes) picking up a few companions on the way.

2. The characters

2.1. Edna

Edna: “If you really wanted to take me with you, you should have just dragged me kicking and screaming. ‘Let’s go hunt legends, my lady?’ ‘My noble heart would not deceive thee?’ That went out of fashion a few hundred years ago.” – Mounting Terror (Main Story) - Tales of Zestiria

The choice of entering the world for the sake of saving her brother

If you play the games in release order, you get to meet Edna in Tales of Zestiria first, an earth seraph living by herself in Rayfalke Spiritcrest, a mountain surrounded by legends about dragons. Seraphim (also called malakhim) are beings akin to fantastic spirits with elemental affinities whose forms are determined by their souls. They can live for thousands of years and are invisible to most of the population, which means humanity has stopped believing in their existence.

During his journey, Sorey finds himself with no way to access his next destination, Marlind: the bridge has been washed away. Advised by his Prime Lord Lailah, he decides to find an earth seraph that lives close to help with its restoration.

Sorey soon realizes that Edna’s very different from other seraphim he knows: she’s not like Mikleo, who dreams of human and seraphim coexistence like he does; she’s not like Lailah, who’s been the Prime Lord of other Shepherds before him; she’s not like Uno either, who's accepted to become Ladylake’s Lord of the Land and keeps malevolence at bay with his blessing. If anything, Edna’s feelings towards humans are similar to those of the Elysian seraphim you talk to at the start of the game, when their homeland is suddenly visited by the princess knight Alisha.

Edna: “I despise earth-dwellers. Self-centered, emotional... But when they need something, it’s ‘Oh dear seraphim, heed my prayer!’ Heed this, morons.”

Edna: “And besides... I can’t leave my brother as he is right now.” – Mounting Terror (Main Story) - Tales of Zestiria

Edna has a sharp tongue and doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind, shocking people thanks to the contrast with her small and cute appearance. Bitterly, she informs them that the famous dragon from the mountain is actually her big brother and only family Eizen. This is the form that seraphim take after absorbing too much malevolence, which reduces them to mindless monsters.

Edna refuses to move away despite the danger Eizen means to her now. Sorey and Mikleo ask her about her plans, and Edna’s voice soon falters, stuttering: she wants to save her brother, but hasn’t found a way to do that yet. Hearing that, and despite being told this is impossible, Sorey promises Edna to turn Eizen back to normal with the Shepherd’s powers of purification. Edna is reluctant to believe him, asking them to leave her alone.

Eventually, and moved by Sorey’s words and actions, Edna accepts to become his Sub Lord with the condition that they find a way to cure her brother’s condition.

Edna: “Promise me something. Promise me that we’ll find some way to save Eizen. (...) Now then, take me with you. To the outside world.” – Mounting Terror (Main Story) - Tales of Zestiria

2.2. Eizen

Eizen: “Who cares? If I gave a damn about other peoples’ feelings, I wouldn’t be a pirate.” – An Angry Letter (Skit) - Tales of Berseria

To live and die as your own self

At one point in her journey, Velvet’s group is intercepted in the middle of the sea by the Van Eltia, a famous pirate ship belonging to none other than the Aifread crew.

Stopping on land and ready for battle, the group is surprised: it’s rare to see a free malak roaming around, but even more to see a malak that is also a pirate. And yet, their opponent is clearly one: he can cast malak artes.

Having taken the leadership of the Van Eltia in the absence of the captain, the malak Eizen offers Velvet and her group a deal: only by joining forces do they have a chance to pass through the Gate of Vortigern, the Sea Gate Fortress that controls the passage up ahead.

After weighing all possibilities, albeit distrustful for several reasons, Velvet accepts.

Eizen: “There’s something I should tell you first. I bring ill fortune to all those around me. The ‘Reaper’s Curse’. (...) If you join up with me, I can’t guarantee your safety.” – Sailing With The Reaper (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Edna’s dislike of humans is more than clear since the very moment you meet her in Zestiria, but she never makes an actual statement as to why: whether this attitude is related to Eizen leaving her behind to travel around with humans, to his transformation into a dragon, to a general dissatisfaction born out of having watched humanity’s wrongdoings for centuries, or to something else entirely, is unclear.

Eizen, on the other hand, openly enjoys his life among humans. By the point you meet him, he has accepted the threat they possess to his life (malakhim don’t produce the malevolence that eventually will turn him into a dragon, but humans do), as well as their differences. He navigates the seas alongside his crew with the goal of finding and rescuing their captain, who was captured by the Abbey, and creating a map of the whole world that includes the mysterious far continent.

3. Edna and Eizen’s relationship through the story

Tales of the Rays: Edna’s third skit, Time Spent Together (translation by justlol)

Velvet: “Weird sister you’ve got.”

Eizen: “You don’t know the half of it. A girl weird enough to want to live alongside the reaper... No matter the cost.” – I Am Calamity (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Due to Eizen’s transformation into a dragon, most of their relationship in Zestiria and the references to it are left to whatever Edna is willing to share, as well as a few non-verbal cues.

Certainty, at Last (Main Story) - Tales of Zestiria

According to her words, Eizen would try to bribe her and make up for his absence with souvenirs: old artifacts, ribbons, strange charms, sweets, and other various things. She’s however not always willing to speak about him, sometimes cutting the conversation short and hiding under her umbrella so no one can see her being vulnerable. At one point, another character (Zaveid) reveals to her that her brother knew he had little left and asked him to kill him once he turned into a dragon, making Edna lose her characteristic cool and stoic composure.

Edna: “Huh?”

Edna: “What does that even mean?! That’s so selfish of him!”

Edna: “Leaving on a journey without me! Becoming a dragon without telling me! Didn’t he even think about how lonely I’d be without him?!” – Siblings (Sub-Event) - Tales of Zestiria

Edna routinely leaves flowers at the small wayside shrine in the base of the mountain she lives in, a gesture in memory for those humans her brother keeps eating, though she tries to take importance off this fact. She also took on an oath sometime before the game, a type of arte that allows you to expand your powers so long as you can pay the costs, to prevent Eizen from leaving the mountain and hurting even more people.

The situation is less bleak however when it comes to Eizen’s side in Berseria, though the relationship is not without its troubles.

Edna’s existence is revealed for the first time when a major antagonist uses her illusion* against Eizen, sparking the party’s curiosity.

The Dissonance of the Wind and the Waves (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

*It didn’t make it into the final product, but this illusion of Edna would have also approached Eizen by saying “You finally broke your curse. Now we can finally be together.”

Velvet: “The umbrella girl... That illusion made Eizen hesitate.”

Velvet: “She must be really important to him.”

Magilou: “Indeed. It must be a deep, knotty relationship!”

Rokurou: “Come on, now.”

Eleanor: “Like... A wife he wants to leave but he can never let go? Or a lover from whom he can’t move on?” – The Girl With The Umbrella (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Sometime after this incident, the party finds a fancy letter written in cute stationery. Perplexed about it and not recognizing the name that signed it, they leave to find Eizen and ask him about it, who seems to be busy about something.

White Turtlez: “Nowz about getting’ that pot wrapped, I’z gotz this new sunflower print. How’z that sound?”

Eizen: “Hmm... Yeah, that one’s cute enough. Let’s go with that.”

Rokurou: “Did... Did he just say ‘cute’?” – Eizen’s Letter (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen, who recognizes the letter and only then realizes he has dropped it, quickly snatches it away. With a suspicious look, he asks them time and time again if they really, really, didn’t read it.

After this exchange, part of the group remembers the mysterious girl with the umbrella and once again assume that, due to the way Eizen is acting and his secretiveness, the recipient must be his lover.

Laphicet: “Was he sending a gift to someone? And with a letter, too...”

Rokurou: “Gotta be a ladyfriend, that’s for sure.”

Laphicet: “You think...? Either way, that letter was really polite... And did you see that penmanship?”

Rokurou: “Yeah, I didn’t know ol’ Reeps had it in him.”

Eizen: “I can hear you two, you know.” – Eizen’s Letter (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen doesn’t take kindly to being gossiped about, giving both Rokurou and Laphicet a small sample of his fists. This, however, doesn’t seem to deter any of them.

Rokurou: “It was serious stuff. Whoever it is must be important to him. A lover, maybe?”

Laphicet: “Eizen’s lover?”

Rokurou: “A child wouldn’t be happy with that pot, and a man wouldn’t want it wrapped up so pretty.”

Rokurou: “A young woman with Eizen’s tastes, then... He’d be bound to fall for a miraculous match like that, right?”

Laphicet: “I don’t know. I bet she’s that girl with the umbrella.” – Who Was The Letter For? (skit) - Tales of Berseria

It’s not until later that Eizen overhears them again and finally clears their misunderstanding up: he’s exchanging letters with his sister in a mostly one-sided conversation due to, according to him, Edna wanting to show she disapproves of his actions. It turns out that the curse he has warned the party several times in the past about is also the main reason they live apart.

Eleanor: “That insect daemon was a bit of a surprise, but I still think this ‘curse’ business is overblown.”

Eizen: “I can count on one hand how many have survived more than three years at my side. If you’re not careful, you might wind up as Corpse Number 50.” – The Dissonance of the Wind and the Waves (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen left Edna behind to travel around the world in search of a cure for his curse. However, meeting Van Aifread and the rest of the Van Eltia crew made him realize he had found his way of life instead: even if one day he happened to find a way to break the curse, he couldn’t simply return to his former secluded life in the mountain.

This ‘Reaper’s curse’ is actually Eizen’s innate blessing as a malak, much like the Lords of the Land granted their blessings to cities in Tales of Zestiria. The blessings of earth malakhim are usually about growth, life, and support; In Eizen’s case, its intended effect is supposed to be that of providing acceptable trials to incite said growth.

Unfortunately, his sister was the one who bore the brunt of it, much to Eizen’s dismay who couldn’t understand why so many unlucky things happened: terrible accidents, daemons that attacked them, dragons that tried to kidnap her,…

Eizen: “But one time when I was baking them, the oven suddenly spewed fire out and badly burned my sister.”

Eizen: “It was all my fault, and stupid, clueless me didn’t even know why at the time.”

Eizen: “Crazy thing is... after I did what I could for her burns and put her to bed, she told me she wanted to eat the palmiers I’d made.”

Eizen: “They were burned to a crisp, but she ate those pastries like nothing was wrong, then she smiled and told me to keep on making them.” – Palmier Memories (skit) - Tales of Berseria

At one point in the past Eizen finally realized that his sister wasn’t just prone to illness and injury: the cause behind her suffering had been him all along.

Velvet: “He just wanted to do something for his sister, only to be confronted by how bad his curse is...”

Laphicet: “That’d be really hard to deal with...”

Eleanor: “She must realize by now what’s going on with Eizen, right?”

Magilou: “Maybe she thought that he’d leave if she ever let on that she knew...”

Rokurou: “And he left because he thought he could spare her from learning the truth...” – Palmier Memories (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Edna: “I suppose my blessing would be ‘perfect health’”.

Rose: “You? Really? That’d be odd.”

Edna: “Not really. I've been hit by lightning on multiple occasions...”

Edna: “Tumbled off the peak of Rayfalke, gotten caught in an enormous landslide...”

Edna: “Stubbed my pinky toe on the edge of the dresser, gotten a tiny fish bone stuck in my throat...”

Edna: “And yet, here I am. Safe and sound.”

Rose: “Holy crap! Well, okay, some of that was just regular crap, but still, whoa!”

Sorey: “You really are lucky, Edna.”

Edna: “To a bizarre extent, even.”

Edna: “But it’s how I survived being near my brother even after he had turned into a dragon.” – Edna The Invincible (skit) - Tales of Zestiria

At one point during Berseria, Eizen starts receiving unsigned and quite aggressive letters: the owner of the letters, the normin Phoenix, eventually reveals himself and confronts Eizen on the prison island Titania about his relationship with Edna. After spying on her and watching what was happening, he could not help himself: he had to do something about it.

Eleanor: “A brother writing letters knowing he’ll never get a reply. And a sister waiting for a brother she knows will never come home...”

Velvet: “You two make it so damn complicated. Just talk it out face to face and make up already. It’s not that hard.”

Eizen: “......”

Velvet: “At least the person you care about is still alive!” – No Reply (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen previously claimed that Edna wouldn’t answer his letters as a way to show her disapproval, but it turns out that Edna has been sitting on mountains of unsent letters that she often cries over. It’s hinted but not confirmed that this is related to back when, shortly after Eizen left her, she sent him a letter saying that she wanted to be with him no matter how dangerous it could get that she didn’t get a favorable response to.

Phoenix: “Just what is it that you’re communicating with the superficial scrawlings and shoddy baubles you send her?”

Laphicet: “He’s trying to atone—”

Phoenix: “Don’t be absurd!”

Phoenix: “Which is the real you? The considerate brother who worries for his sister? Or the man who consorts with lowlife scum and pirates?!” –Joyful Nor Doll (Sub-Event) - Tales of Berseria

After their fight, Eizen finally sends Edna a letter with his real thoughts and feelings. He actually had written it before this event, but never could bring himself to send it.

Edna’s answer, proof of them starting to mend their relationship, quickly threatens to bring Eizen to tears.

Eizen: “Ungh...”

Rokurou: “Hey, are you okay? What does it say?”

Eizen: “I can’t read it right now... One of you do it.”

Laphicet: “O-Okay...”

Laphicet: “‘Dear brother, I got your letter. Not sure why it was so tattered.”

Laphicet: “I’m glad that you were able to tell me how you really feel, even though it was beyond obvious by now.”

Laphicet: “Your clear descriptions of the self-defense malak artes allowed me to master them quickly, despite your terrible grammar.”

Laphicet: “As weird as it feels writing this to a pirate... Good luck with your work. And I know how to keep a secret.”

Laphicet: “So please keep writing me letters. My life doesn’t revolve around them, but I do enjoy hearing from you.”

Laphicet: “I can’t see the oceans you sail from my perch here on the mountain, but I’m thinking of you and praying for your safety. And I want you to know I’m doing fine.’”

Eizen: “Ungh...”

Magilou: “Aaah, looks like she’s just as roundabout and stubborn as her brother! It must run in the family.” – Dear Brother (skit) - Tales of Berseria

4. The ship

Tales of the Rays: Joyful Nor Dolls (Event)

4.1. Trivia and Tropes

“Sibling relationships outlast marriages, survive the death of parents, resurface after quarrels that would sink any friendship. They flourish in a thousand incarnations of closeness and distance, warmth, loyalty and distrust.” –Erica E. Goode

Edna and Eizen live apart, so they don’t get to interact much directly in either Berseria or Zestiria. However, the print they have left on each other is indelible, a love and devotion expanding through space and time for centuries and even thousands of years. It’s implied that Sorey reminding Edna of her brother influences their relationship, and the same thing seems to happen with Kamoana and Laphicet for Eizen.

“No. Humans don’t have true names.”

“Hey, that’s not fair! Malakhim are so lucky.”

“Your name came into your mother’s mind the same way. ‘Kamoana’ is already your true name.”

Kamoana frowned and fell silent for a while. Eizen looked at her kindly, as if she was his own sister, and finally spoke.

“Don’t think too hard about it. As long as you remember your name ‘Kamoana,’ your mom is always with you.” –Tales of Berseria Official World Guidance Book: 'True Name' (translation by Caphi)

Rose: “Didn’t you guys live together?”

Edna: “My brother’s adventure-crazy, like a certain someone I know. He’s always been traveling around.” (...)

Rose: “I see. Was your brother like Sorey?”

Edna: “Maybe.” –Edna Talks About Her Brother (skit) - Tales of Zestiria

The most obvious argument in favor of Edna/Eizen is the context in which they are introduced. Malakhim aren’t humans, and therefore they don’t have blood families. The vast majority of them, including Edna and Eizen, are born from earthpulse points, flows of natural force that ordinary humans can’t see. But even for the very few seraphim that happen to be reincarnations from living beings, they usually don’t keep any memories of their past lives, and having been related in a past life doesn’t grant them any kind of innate and special connection in their next one.

No other pair of malakhim gets what Edna and Eizen experienced upon meeting each other. In Berseria, a mother and son with tragic deaths were reincarnated into malakhim, and neither of them felt their souls pulling towards each other, nor were their moods synchronized, nor experienced anything like what Edna and Eizen do exhibit. Even though they were reincarnated at the same time and appear side by side, they do not recognize each other.

Edna and Eizen’s meeting is an scenario often written as romantically charged in media. If Eizen didn’t say that all of these signs were telling him that Edna was his little sister, including that they somehow gifted each other hand-made matching pendants in the very same day without having said a word to the other before, it’d be very easy to interpret it as the fated meeting between two soulmates instead.

My Sister Is Off-Limits:

Edna: “Don’t try and weasel your way out of this. You said there was something you had to settle with my brother.”

Zaveid: “That’s all there is to it, really. There’s just something between us we need to settle.”

Edna: “And that ‘something’ is?”

Zaveid: “I told him ‘Please let me marry your little sister!’ and he punched me.”

Edna: “Don’t lie.”

Zaveid: “Oh come on. He’d totally do something like that!”

Edna: “Fine. Don’t tell me then.”

Zaveid: *now left alone* “No wonder he’s worried about her all the time.” – A Promise Between Men (Skit) - Tales of Zestiria

Overprotectiveness, jealousy, possessiveness,... Eizen not only keeps his relationship with Edna hidden from the party through a good part of the game, while banning the pirate crew from speaking about it: he also hates the idea of other people meeting her. Of other men meeting her, to be more exact.

Benwick: “‘Touch my sister, and I’ll kill you.’ Right? Sheesh, you say that to EVERY guy you meet.”

Velvet: “Awfully protective.”

Eizen: “Nah, just obsessed.”

Benwick: “That’s even worse!” – I Am Calamity (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

No man is spared, including Aifread whom Eizen holds in high regards, and the very young malak that accompanies them.

Finally, Benwick spoke up.

“I-I’ve just only joined the crew.” His eyes were locked on Eizen, and his voice trembled as it worked into a shout. “I want to have more adventures! So please…”

“Leave it to me.”

A flame sparked to life in the malak’s breast.

“Trust in Eizen,” Aifread said. “His only faults are an annoying attention to detail, and the fact that he won’t let me meet his cute sister.” –Tales of Berseria Special Collector’s Edition Novella: A Witch’s Tale, A World Full Of Daemons

His “awful overprotection” (or self-admitted obsession) is also sometimes used by other characters to tease him.

Eleanor: “Are you suggesting that Eizen’s sister wrote these letters? I mean, they’re certainly unusual, but...”

Eizen: “My sister wouldn’t write something like this.”

Magilou: “Then maybe it’s someone who’s spending a lot of time around her... Like, oh, a man whose shoulder she cries on?”

Eizen: “Damnation, Magilou! My sister doesn’t have any guy clinging onto her! Do you know something I don’t? Prove it! Bring him here right now!”

Eleanor: “Calm down, Eizen! No one’s saying that! – A Very Angry Letter (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Laphicet: “Is that her in the picture?”

Eizen: “Yeah... It’s a self-portrait she drew for me on the day I left home.”

Velvet: “Did you draw her a picture of yourself?”

Eizen: “No... I don’t exactly have an artistic side.”

Eleanor: “Well, I’m sure that if you looked inside her pendant, you’d find a portrait of the person who matters most to her.”

Eizen: “I hope so...”

Magilou: “Yeah, and it would be nice if it was you.”

Eizen: *staring with eyes that could kill* – Matching Charms (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Brother Complex:

Edna’s whole motivation and goal in the Zestiria game was always her brother; the Zestiria anime, however, goes a bit further with it.

The anime is a reimagination of the game’s events rather than an actual adaptation, hence why it’s not recommendable to start with it. But, for much needed context, this anime ends with Eizen’s slow recovery, being able to understand what’s happening around him and even speaking short sentences. The implication is that he will eventually return to his normal form.

With the first of the BD boxes for the anime came a Drama CD consisting of a small retelling of it, with the girls of the party having a fun time together as they talk about what has happened. At one point, Lailah asks Edna who is the one in the party that she likes. Edna answers that said person is actually her brother.

Theme Naming:

In Zestiria, if you interact with a particular Discovery Point in Aifread’s Hunting Grounds, you can trigger a skit in which Edna mentions Eizen named her after the red orchids you just saw (Edna Stamperland).

“And then, our door just swung open. A spring wind was blowing in, a warm and gentle wind.”

It was like it was calling him. He took her and walked and walked, not knowing where or how far, until finally, they emerged from a dark forest into a shimmering clearing.

“She stopped crying and smiled the sweetest, most innocent smile, and just like that, all at once, the entire field was covered in bright red flowers.”

Kamoana was smiling too. “Wow!”

Eizen nodded. “The flowers vanished soon after, but I still remember how strong and vivid their color looked, and I thought that when she grew up, she needed to wear one. And then I heard her voice in my mind. ‘I want to grow up fast.’ I thought, what a precocious little squirt. But that’s just what she was.

Hephsin Yulind — “Edna, the early bloomer.” But that name was only for Eizen to know. –Tales of Berseria Official World Guidance Book: 'True Name' (translation by Caphi)

Red orchids can be gifted as a confession of love and, in Japanese flower language, can also be read as “happiness that comes in flying” 「幸せが飛んでくる」and “true love” 「純粋な愛」; Coincidentally, when in a Zestiria the Cross bonus skit Lailah asks everyone to pick a flower, Edna chooses lily of the valley, a flower whose meaning is also “happiness will come again” 「再び幸せが訪れる」. All of them instantly understand that this happiness means that Edna will be reunited with Eizen.

Incest Subtext

Most of what Edna wears are Eizen’s gifts: the pendant hanging from her neck is handmade (the matching one she made for Eizen can be seen attached to his waistcoat), the boots and glove are hand-me-downs, the ribbons she uses are part of his souvenirs,... Even the headband seems to be his.

Tales of Zestiria - Menu

But that’s not all of it: In the Tales of Berseria Illustrations artbook, Minoru Iwamoto speaks about how he came up with the characters’ designs.

For Eizen he mentions that, for his clothes, the underlying theme is that of a wedding suit, because he had already drawn Edna’s to take on the appearance of a wedding dress and he wanted them to match. The dagger on the lapel of Eizen’s coat is thus inspired by the handkerchief grooms wear in the same place, and the ore bracelet is also inspired by a wedding ring.

Later, for the 25th anniversary of Tales of, a set of memory rings for several Tales characters were released, with Edna and Eizen being included. The rings are meant to represent the characters and their personal journeys, as well as their relationships and feelings.

Edna’s ring has motifs from her clothes such as her characteristic ribbons; Eizen’s ring has a small chain hanging from it that symbolizes the pendant Edna gifted him with once. The inner side of Edna’s ring has Rayfalke Spiritcrest engraved on it, while Eizen’s has the Van Eltia ship. Stacking Edna’s ring on top of Eizen’s forms the shape of a letter. As a small side note, the rings are also mentioned to go well as pair rings.

Relative Error

See the explanations above in the third point about the unknown woman Eizen was sending letters and gifts to, and the insistence of several characters that she and the illusion were the same woman and also Eizen’s secret lover.

Translation Mistakes

Even though Eizen was an important figure in Edna’s character arc in Zestiria, little was known about him outside of their relationship. It wasn’t until Berseria that more details about him started to get shared. That, eventually, included the reveal of his true name.

Besides the name they usually go with, all malakhim are bestowed a “true name” in the Ancient Tongue. These names are not to be shared lightly outside of pacts: in some circumstances it’s an expression of intimacy and vulnerability, a sign of trusting the other with their very lives; in others, it’s akin to a love confession. This name shows the seraphim’s raison d’être or that what makes them most themselves.

Before the American and European releases, a mistranslation of this true name was shared in social media that happened to mistake Eizen’s true name “Explorer Eizen” for “In Love Eizen”. Before it was corrected, fans quickly reacted to the news while assuming it could only be about Edna.

Roughly five years after this the next mainline entry in the series, Tales of Arise, was released. Ironically, and with Eizen available in said game as a cameo battle, a mistake in the English version that happened to turn this relationship official was again reported in different social media by several fans. It seemed to get fixed with a patch that was issued shortly after.

4.2 The appealing of the ship

Putting two fictional siblings together into an idealized, consensual romantic relationship can look strange, but the charm itself resides in that the relationship is indeed atypical from that of a classic romance.

Tales of Arise: Edna and Eizen’s cameo battle.

Though Eizen had already lived for roughly seven centuries before Edna was born, his life seems to have been unremarkable until then, having not even moved away from the place he was born; for Edna, Eizen has been a constant in her life, and she doesn’t know what it is to live without him. This is not a case of getting to know each other and going on dates, there is no classy “boy meets girl” type of story, and there’s no clean slate: they carry their previous relationship with them, knowing each other better than anyone else in the world for sometimes better and sometimes worse.

“Blood relationships are the only relationships we have where people want us exactly as we are. To a child, the daddy who affirms everything about her is her prince and the world itself. So the words, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to marry Daddy’ mean the same thing as ‘I’m going to make the whole world mine.’” –Kunihiko Ikuhara

It might not be in their blood, but it’s still seared deep within them. They don’t ever stop (can’t stop) being brother and sister, they can’t just walk away from each other and move on with their lives. Even if they happened to cut all contact, they would still be family, and this is actually quite proved through their relationship: even though Edna and Eizen spent so much of their lives physically separated, their hearts stayed together.

Tales of Crestoria, Eizen and Edna’s SSR Units.

“I learned love as taxidermy, the careful art of keeping alive a dead thing.” –Blythe Baird

Edna dedicates several centuries of her life to watch over Eizen, trying to reduce the harm he causes and never leaving the mountain until Sorey appears. Her love is unconditional, holding on and enduring despite the pain and sorrow. At one point of Berseria Eizen compares her to a cat because of how spoiled they can act, but the way Edna acts after he has become a mindless dragon is more akin to a dog: she remains loyal until the very end, waiting for him for endless centuries.

Edna: “A monster who’s devoured countless humans and seraphim alike. He’s so far gone he doesn’t even recognize me anymore.”

Edna: “But I kept holding on. I just couldn’t give up on the possibility of him turning back to the way he was.” – Siblings (Sub-Event) - Tales of Zestiria

Going by the way Edna appears in Melchior’s illusion, being pulled from Eizen’s memories, she doesn’t change a bit in over a thousand years except by her choice to wear Eizen’s boots and one of his gloves after fitting them. Seraphim can change their appearances as they desire to an extent, and this is also tied to their peak of strength, yet Edna refuses change as if wanting to hold onto her place in the world as “Eizen’s little sister”.

Working under the belief that there was nothing else he could realistically do against his fate, and as if knowing how far his sister could go, Eizen uses the remainder of his life to mitigate the effects his death will have on Edna. He asks Phoenix to watch over Edna and protect her from all kinds of danger, including himself as a dragon; He also asks Zaveid to kill him once he becomes a dragon so she won’t hurt for him.

Rose: “Oh, I get it. Edna’s brother gave Phoenix to her as a memento.”

Mikleo: “So then Eizen asked him to use his normin powers to protect Edna from all threats.”

Sorey: “Including Eizen himself.” – Phoenix (Sub-Event) - Tales of Zestiria

Zaveid: “‘When I become a dragon, kill me.’”

Zaveid: “‘I don’t want Edna to suffer for it.’” – Siblings (Sub-Event) - Tales of Zestiria

It’s also very telling that the one successful illusion against Eizen is the one made to Edna’s likeness. Eizen has an inkling that Aifread isn’t real, putting him at test and then confirming it so; He also recognizes something isn’t quite right in the fake Aball Velvet is enveloped with in a different part of the game. And yet, it’s Edna appearing in front of him what actually affects him, and it’s also only when Zaveid shoots the illusion down that he can break out of the spell.

Velvet: “Magilou… Are there artes that let the caster manipulate dreams?”

Eleanor: “Huh? Dreams? Why?”

Magilou: “There is, yes. An arte that requires a certain type of malak. It envelops you in a fog and reads your regrets, then traps you in a happy dream.” – A Fragment Of Heaven (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Magilou: “Let’s say you know your target’s innermost desires. You simply conjure the right illusion. Show them what would push their buttons in just the right way.”

Laphicet: “Ahh… If you can create an illusion of something someone really wants, you can control them.”

Magilou: “Exactly. You can force a powerful burden upon your target’s psyche… Until their spirit breaks, that is.”

Laphicet: “What happens when they break?”

Magilou: “Depends on the target. They might become an empty shell; They might go wild with desire… Eeny, teeny, spiny, crow…” – An Arte to Control Daemons (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Though they are not humans and therefore not bound to their rules, Edna and Eizen’s relationship is still incredibly star-crossed, making the small time they get to have together especially precious. In the hypothetical case that Eizen found a cure for the curse, an acceptable one that didn’t trample on his morals like eating the heart of a white-horned dragon was (or he came to understand and accept Edna staying by his side despite the danger), the world they live in can be cruel and unforgiving. If they happened to travel together rather than stay safe in the clean and free of malevolence Rayfalke, they would still be risking turning into dragons.

5. Ending thoughts

Tales of Arise: Edna and Eizen’s cameo battle

5.1. Guilt, malevolence, and will

Eizen: “As far as I’m concerned, my earth affinity and my Reaper’s Curse aren’t much different, in that they’ve both shackled me since I came into being.” – Eizen And The Sea (skit) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen already carries a lot of guilt just about physically existing close to Edna, due to hurting her with his curse whenever she’s within his domain. With guilt and shame being often the bread and butter of sibling ships, that is something that is at least guaranteed.

It’s well documented in both Zestiria and Berseria that malevolence influences not only malakhim’s bodies, but also the state of their minds and their emotions. With Eizen progressively turning into a dragon, it’s not difficult to imagine his feelings for Edna getting twisted the more malevolence gets to him.

Eizen: “My wheel is mine to hold. If I’m not the one steering the ship, then I’m not truly alive.” – Fortress Under Fire (Main Story) - Tales of Berseria

Eizen’s distaste towards the Abbey goes back, long before Aifread is kidnapped, because the way they subjugate the malakhim’s wills goes against his principles. He believes that you should always be grasping the wheel of your life, otherwise you might as well be dead. For obvious reasons, this belief is also tied to his later downfall as a dragon.

Tales of Asteria’s Fifth Arc

Eizen spends all his life and later impending death trying to gain control to compensate for his helplessness, the grief the curse has caused him and all the consequences it has had in his life. Even if in the present day he’s come to accept the curse as a part of himself that cannot be erased, a deep scarring was left by what he lost in the past: his life with his sister.

Magilou: “Physical wounds can heal. Emotional wounds never fully fade.” – Melchior’s Illussions (skit) - Tales of Berseria

You can’t help what you feel: you can only help what you do. Eizen’s self-loathing often makes itself apparent; holding very much non-familiar feelings for Edna, within this entire context, would not help matters. Even if, as mentioned earlier, by virtue of not being humans they might also not be bound to their taboos (though it is to note that Eizen spends a lot of time among humans, and might have picked up on things from them), it’s easy to see how Eizen would see it as a corruption of their bond and hate himself for it, pulling away further from Edna.

5.2. Sibling Complex

It has already been brought up earlier, but both Edna and Eizen clearly have a brother complex and a sister complex respectively. Often, characters like these get into romantic relationships yet end up finding the suitor lacking an unexplainable something, having idealized their sibling to an extent that can never be reached, which is another angle that would be interesting. That, or the partner not accepting that they have to be so close.

5.3. Perspectives

Much like back when the party discovers the self-called (and often pointed at by people as intimidating) Reaper writes letters in pretty stationery and wraps up his presents in flowery prints for his sister, or the way his voice softens when he talks about her, Edna also shows a sweeter side when she speaks to Eizen that she usually wouldn’t. There is a special vulnerability in their interactions, and it’s clear they let their guards down with each other, showing a part of them that nobody else will get to see.

Tales of Zestiria: The Cross (Finale)

It soon becomes apparent in Zestiria how miserable Edna feels because of what has happened to her brother, being extremely rare that she gets to smile and laugh from the bottom of her heart. With everything these two went through, you can’t help but cheer for them to be happily reunited, whatever form it might take.

5.4. What-ifs

Eizen: “Soon after I left, my sister wrote me a letter. She said, ‘I don’t care if it’s dangerous. I want to be with you.’”

Eizen: “Maybe the old me, once I realized there was no fixing this curse, would have gone home prepared to do everything in my power to protect her.”

Eizen: “But I’m not the old me. Haven’t been since I met Aifread and his crew.”

Eleanor: “I understand. You found your place on that ship. Even if you lifted the curse, you wouldn’t move back home...” – No Reply (skit) - Tales of Berseria

It was almost by accident that Eizen found his place in the world and the meaning of his true name. Had he never taken the Van Eltia as his vessel, he would have never met Aifread and the others, and thus would have eventually returned to Edna’s side.

In Zestiria, and before the war reaches its climax, you can find a seraphim couple in Aifread’s Hunting Grounds that asks you to leave them alone. This is the couple from the “The Lovers” Sub-Event, with one of them being a very recognizable character for Zestiria players: Tiamat.

A choice like this, rejecting everyone and everything while favoring a world for only the two of them, would mean a return to a past Edna is shown to mourn.

There’s more ship potential to talk about, some relevant information to themes in both games that I have omitted, and talk related to their appearances in crossover games. However, this is already long as it is, so it’s only right to end it here.

That said, if you got this far, thank you for reading! I hope I could catch your interest, even if it was only a little.

My thanks to @familyromantic as well, for giving me an excuse to ramble at length about these two. I have been meaning to sit down and make a decent write-up for years, but I never actually brought myself to do it. Now I did!

[latibvles]

can’t sleep it off.

yes i am aware i missed week five i’ll likely circle back and write it at the end of rewatch but!!! week six !! the prompt this week was running. heed the trigger warnings for this one: body horror, mainly (more overt than i’ve ever been on that regard), depictions of injury, and once again viv’s brain being very unkind to her. we lean into whump here, to an extent. i’ll amend my crimes with holiday prompts.

TAGLIST: @sparkedupsilver , @derry-rain , @elysian-crow , @archival-hogwash , @cetaitlaverite , @pastexistence , @saturnwisteria

—

The ground beneath her is hard, cold, and unforgiving.

Everything's cold — the air around her, the pale gray sky above her, but her body runs hot like a furnace each time her feet land against the ground. Her lungs ache and she doesn't know how long she's been running for. Just that she is, and that judging by the shouts behind her, she can't stop.

She has half a mind to toss her jacket to the wind, but that'd mean freezing to death later. Her body hurts despite the adrenaline, her tongue is dry and her eyes are stinging. To say she's never been afraid before would be a lie, but to say that she's used to this kind of panic settling in her bones would also be a lie.

Panic. She's never panicked before — not that she can remember. She's been afraid, been fearful, but never panicked.

As if she is the mouse caught in the trap, trembling in its own piss and shit as it waits to die, snagged on its tail by a rusted, metal bar.

She blinks back the tears blurring her vision, tries to shut out the sound of shouting behind her, knowing if she stops then she'll be shot or dragged away into an unknown she's too scared to face. She might throw up if she keeps running like this, but she doesn't care about that. Her body will endure because it has to, because there's no other option, because—

White-hot pain shoots up the length of her leg and a scream rips from her throat, hands gripping her thigh as she falls and hits the dirt with a thud. It blurs her vision, becoming black and spotty at the edges and she dares a look down.

She sees the blood first, pooling in the dying grass. Then the bone jutting from the jagged torn skin of her calf — the thick sheen of dark red clinging and clumping to the surface and— oh god, she might be sick.

She's spluttering and heavy, hiccuping on her own sobs as panic drags her down and she tries to prop herself up— to crawl away, to scramble, to force herself up onto one leg but to no avail.

Paralyzed in her panic, head whipping around wildly until they settle upon cold, dead, dark eyes a few feet from her — bullet-hole the size of an apple wedged between the brows of a woman she's flown with but cannot remember the name of, her blood serving as a halo around her head as she stares right through and finally bile rises in the other woman's throat, threatening to spill out.

A trapped, dumb little mouse. A dead little mouse.

She squeezes her eyes shut, unsure if the sob that wrenches from her is from the pain or panic or resignation that it's over— will be over soon enough.

People die the exact way they're born, helpless and terrified and unable to do a goddamn thing about it.

She coughs hard, swearing that her lungs are working their way up and out through her throat, body curling in on itself, hands clutching at her head and the healed over scab at the base of it and hopes this will be quick.

The steps get closer, louder, shouting in a language she doesn't understand and—

Vivian shoots up like a rocket, smacks her head on the bunk above her and bites her tongue to keep from swearing. She thinks she tastes blood, fist slamming against the mattress at the newfound pain. There's a wet cough somewhere in the room. When the throbbing in her head subsides enough, she reaches down towards her propped up leg, groping at the fabric and anticipating the feel of sticky blood and bone.

No such sensation. She shuts her eyes and takes in a shuddering breath. Her fingers immediately grope for the base of her skull to feel the healed over skin there, no longer scabbed nor bloody.

"Hey."

The voice makes her jump again, nearly whacking herself for a second time as her head snaps to the sound.

She can barely make out Bucky in the dark, only knowing that it's him because this is the place he's decided to shack up in for the time being — because she hasn't bitten his hand and he hasn't overstepped yet. So he sleeps in a chair by her bunk, because she can't be trusted to ask for help anymore, and this is the best way to keep her from falling again and making her ankle worse.

Or something like that.

He's looking at her now and she wants to squirm further into the bunk until her back is pressed against the wall and he can no longer see her. Her current position: laying flat on her back, leg propped up like this bunk is her coffin, doesn't allow for that.

"You okay?" His voice is a gruff whisper, thick with sleep, and Vivian's lips press into a line.

"Hit my head. S'fine." Her voice is more trembling than she means for it to be. Her limbs feel like jello, too weak to smack his hand away when it goes to press at her forehead.

Still tender. She flinches hard and turns her head. His fingers brush against a wet cheek and her body stiffens as he drags them across her skin for a moment before pulling his hand away.

"…you sure?"

"Uh-huh," she insists.

"What about your leg?"

Vivian swallows hard— stomaching venom, and bile, and a million things she could say in an attempt to bite his wrist and draw blood. Some days she's more reactive than others. With the panic ebbing away, she just feels exhausted and a little more resigned to his worrying— an old man in the end-stage of his life, chain-smoking cigarettes and waiting for his slow-beating heart to give out.

A dog getting ready to be put down in the backyard.

"What're you gonna do if it doesn't heal?" she asks, fisting the sheets, turning to look at him.

"That's not gonna happen." It's so immediate, reflexive, like he's been waiting to pull the trigger on that response for weeks now. Vivian's brows furrow, fisting the sheets.

"That's not what I asked."

"I'll carry you around if I have to. Piggyback or Princess style?"

"John."

A heavy silence settles over them, loud like the whistling winter wind outside. Her eyes have since adjusted to the dark; she can make out his eyes that flit along her figure, settling on her leg before dragging back up towards her eyes. She can make out the slight overgrown shape of his curls, how the width of him shields her from most other people in the room, when he's turned towards her like this and she can't help but think about how her hands know that hair, and her body knows the planes of his pressed against her.

Just like she knows that the Germans don't care that she can barely stand, hardly walk. They just don't like it when she leans on Gale during their sporadic middle-of-the-night headcounts. They'd rather her suffer the weight on her own, and that's probably the last thing she should be doing right now.

The wood creaks as Bucky leans forward to rest his chin on the thin excuse for a mattress, shutting his eyes for a moment and sighing before reopening them.

"Don't wanna think about that," he admits and she nods, swallowing hard, staring at the wood supports above her head.

"Me neither," she admits, swallowing hard to hide the way her chin wobbles a little. He doesn't say anything of that, just shifts to use his arms as a pillow.

She wishes there was something else to focus on. Because if she focuses on the fact that this is the first time he's said something like that out loud: that he doesn't want to talk about something, or think about it, then she has to think about all the things she still isn't saying. And then she's back to thinking about how terrified she actually is, and how she isn't saying that, because she'd rather die than admit to being afraid of anything, even like this.

What if she never walks again? What if her body never goes back to the way it used to be? What else would change it, scar it, bend it permanently without her wanting it to? Vivian reaches up to wipe her cheek again furiously, no longer caring to hide it in the dark, where only he can see her like this.

She doesn't know what it says about them, that they can only really see each other in the pitch black, and the worst part is now she has the time to think on it.

"It's gonna heal," Bucky says, reaching for her hand to squeeze it and saying nothing of the dampness there.

She's been trying to do better about not snapping her jaws at any hand on her. It's easier when it's fleeting touches like this. Squeeze, then let go. She chews on her lip for a moment, careful about biting too hard and making herself bleed again.

"Didn't think you could still be optimistic."

"I'm not," he mutters. "I just know it is."

"You a doctor?" Vivian asks sarcastically.

"I wish." He kisses his teeth. She raises a brow.

"Why?"

"Cause then I could've set the bone," he murmurs with a slight shrug. Vivian just nods, instead of arguing with it, looking back at her leg as he tries to get a read on her barely-visible face. She doesn't remember much of Lena setting her broken bone— just that they'd done it on the floor, that she'd bit down on a glove so hard she thought her teeth might crack and she'd shed a couple tears, contorting and wailing like a harpy. She doesn't remember if it was him holding her down or maybe another one of her girls, but the bruises on her shoulders were a small price to pay so she said nothing of them.

Always on the ground, staring up at something. Always needing to be pulled to your feet, seeking a crutch. Jesus fucking Christ Vivian, stand up for once.

That logical part of her brain reminds her that she can't. Can't stand, can't run, can't do much of anything besides lay here and think about all the things she can't do and hate herself for it, despite that sickeningly sweet earnestness that comes with every offer of help.

She doesn't find herself deserving of help from anybody, least of all him. And knowing why he so readily puts himself between her teeth doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

There is nothing admirable about her helplessness, nothing desirable to be found in all the things she can't do, and she'd understand it better if they were still at Thorpe Abbotts, and she was still funny or charming or kind. But she's not, and she doesn't think she could be, just like how she doesn't think that even if it does heal, that her body will ever be the same again.

There are some things, though, that Vivian wants to try. And if she doesn't ask now then she might never try and bring it up again in anything but hypotheticals.

"Bucky?" she asks, feeling small, half prodding to see if he's still awake. He lifts his head a little bit like a dog called to attention.

"Yeah?" Vivian feels heat creeping up her neck, a strange mix of humiliation at asking for this and endearment that he's so eager to help her. If she thinks on it too hard, she'll hide away from him entirely all over again. Hide away from everyone and growl when she's being stared at for too long.

"D'you think any of the other guys might have extra wood lying around? I wanna make a crutch or… maybe a splint. Or something." If I can't run then I at least want to walk. Or maybe even stand.

"I can try." Bucky mutters back, a quiet fire lit beneath him and if she didn't know any better she thinks he might get up and start knocking on doors now, snatching away unsuspecting prisoners' chairs and make her a perfect, polished, matching set of crutches.

"Thanks." She mutters, and he says nothing to that, probably because he doesn't think she needs to thank him at all.

[lostloveletters]

Thank you so much for tagging me @thoughpoppiesblow and @wexhappyxfew 🖤

Rules: Make a 24hr poll listing the titles of every WIP you want to work on. (It's fine if you only have one, still make a poll for the vote count). Whichever WIP title gets the most votes, write 1 sentence for every vote received.

No specifics besides the titles (though it’s obvious what chapter 18 is for lol) it’ll be a surprise🤭

No pressure tags: @frstcorinthians @6thofapril1917 @shoshiwrites @sharielle @elysian-crow @thebiggerbear (please make a new post, don’t reblog)

[i-am-a-bad-influence-writes]

ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ Games ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡

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♡ Baldur's Gate 3 ♡

The one left behind - Halsin

Not man, Nor monster - Halsin

Mortality Defined - Halsin

I'm a rabid dirty dog, and I bite This is the starting point. Parts below is how different BG3 characters react. Halsin - Gale - Astarion - ???

Books on the road to Baldur's Gate

Sunlight – A complete history of the pale elf and the hero 

The grove in Baldur's gate – About Archdruid Halsin

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♡ Hogwarts Legacy ♡

nothing yet

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♡ Red Dead Redemption 2 ♡

Dear fellow traveller

Gossip

♡Like real people do♡

Summary: Arthur Morgan doesn't quite feel like a person sometimes. Most days he's just an outlaw, a killer, a thief, a bad excuse for a good time. He's been doing this so long; he isn't even sure if he ever wanted to do anything else in life. That is until a barmaid asks him to walk her home and suddenly he gets a slice of normalcy.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4, Epilogue

♡Wherever I rest my head is home if it's with you♡

Summary: Looking for gold is a men's world in a town run by women. The amounts of violence and suffering these men go through with the hope of getting rich is insanity. Gold fever broke marriages and relationships alike until the settlement was nearly all women.  It's a small settlement, nearly a small town, next to the Elysian Pool. Most men red hot with gold fever pass through to stock up on supplies before heading down to the mines near Beaver's Hallow or Annesburg.  The settlement has only one law set in stone, as lawmen do not want to come there, and it is praised like it was one of the ten commandments. You do not harm the women.

Part 1, Luck be with you

Part 2, At first sight

Part 3, On the hunt

[More coming if I have inspiration]

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♡ Love and Deepspace ♡

♡ P*rn ☆ ♡

Summary: You have been following a spicy content creator by the name of Red Crow for some time now. Nothing could've prepared you for what would happen when he moves into the apartment next door. Sylus x Fem!Reader Also available on AO3

Warning! This story is meant for mature audiences. It contains sex, swear words, porn, smoking, intimate piercings, mentions of drugs, alcohol, and other mature themes. Do not engage if you are under 18.

Introduction

Chapter 1, A familiar stranger

Chapter 2, Moving noises?

Chapter 3, After party

Chapter 4, Raw, next question

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[xxcocoiiixx]

The Elysian Idol extract: Belladonna from different povs - Luke edition

"𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐕𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔, 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐍."

"I got it"

"If you got it, I wouldn't have to say it for the hundredth time"

Luke stood a few paces away from Bella who was gripping the sword tightly. Luke's critical eyes swept over her the smaller girl, her knees were shaking slightly, she kept shifting her white sneakers against the dirt and it was obvious that the sword was too big for her by the way she struggled to keep it balanced.

She had to learn he told himself. If not now, within the safe confines of the camp, then never. He wasn’t used to being so harsh with her. Bella wasn’t like Annabeth who dusted herself off and got back up again. Bella was fragile, used to a soft word and a kind touch. Reassurance that tomorrow would be alright or risk her world shattering into a waterfall of tears.

But reassurance couldn’t be guaranteed, that much he knew. He slowly began sick at the possibility. Of Bella being subjugated to a fate an iota worse than she deserved. And in Luke’s opinion that little girl deserved everything and more. Day by day he was plagued by the anticipation of what’s to come. So rather than being swallowed by the storm he decided to push ahead of it.

Bella wasn’t exactly receptive to that logic, or much logic usually….

"Clearly I'm trying my best Luke."

Luke sighed. As brassy as Bella was, it wasn't often that was truly frustrated, especially at others. The clipped tone she was exhibiting now caused a pang of guilt in his chest.

His voice softened this time around. "Just- swing for me one last time. Your weapon will choose you, but only if you try"

Belladonna huffed through her nose. Her delicate features scrunched up as her focus was locked onto her target, a limp and frail straw man in the distance.

Breaking into a sprint, she raised the sword and swung as hard as she could, determined to cut the head off the straw dummy.

To Bella's surprise, her movements screeched to a halt. Her arms were almost completely stretched above her head and her torso was leaved forward at an awkward angle. Bella blinked when she looked up to see when her sword was cut. The blade was lodged right in the middle of its "neck" she tried pushing it through and pulling it out the opposite way. Neither direction budged.

"I think it chose the dummy."

Luke walked up and with little effort pulled the sword out of the dummy. He returned the sword to her only for him to freeze at the sight of her familiar tearful pout. Her round eyes somehow like got even rounder and bigger and shinier like baby doll.

Uh oh.

She didn’t accept the sword. Instead she moved around him and her body plopped onto the grass that was on the sidelines of the arena. She had her back facing him with a slouched posture that would make Silena frown.

Luke made sure to lean the sword against its resting spot before taking a seat next to her on the ground. The whole thing put him in a much younger, more childlike headspace.

"It takes practice" he offered soothingly.

The young girl practically scoffed.

“I reckon it does”

"You wanna talk?”

There wasn’t an explicit yes or no from her so for a few moments they basked in silence.

“Do you know what else takes practice?” She suddenly asked.

“No.”

“Kips”

Not what he thought she was going to say. Though at this point he was used to her not always making sense. And in her defence she has become quite the acrobat

“Y’know once I learned I wanted to do tricks like that I practiced. Every day before the crow calls. And now I could do it upside down and with my eyes closed if I wanted”

He nodded. Unsure of what to do or say. 

"I'm not a fighter Lu.” Her voice was so soft, practically a whisper at that point. The finality of it all, her being ashamed to look at him in the eye, broke his heart.

"That's not true." He was eager to protest.

Belladonna stayed silent. Suddenly finding more of an interest on the dust ruining her wide legged jeans. She didn't know how to tell him that it was true. Or that the other campers reminded her and family every day that Cabin 10 was useful in anything battle or strategy related.

"You're just different. And there's no better way to prove it than in capture the flag tomorrow when we steal the blue flag together, side by side. Wouldn't that be cool?"

She moved to lean her head against Luke's arm. She told herself it was to make herself more comfortable but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she didn't want to openly show her distress.

"I can't. Silena and Clarisse sorted out an alliance yesterday. I'm team red again. I got a way you can make it up to me though”

“How?…”

Usually favours for Bella involve labour. He wanted to at least mentally prepare for whatever outrageously convoluted request she was about to ask of him.

"If we cross paths in Capture you can let me win”

That made him laugh aloud.

“And why would I do that”

And risk his shot at glory was also on the tip of him tongue. Though he, and everyone else at camp knew that kleos is worth dust to her unlike most demigods.

“As compensation. For being on a team that has lost so many times it has a pernicious effect an’ all”

“That’s….a mouthful. Where’d you hear a word like that?”

“Oh Annabeth said it” “Y’know I had to look it up myself. She surprises me everyday, that girl she’s as smart as all get out” Bella gushed

Luke couldn’t help but be doubtful either shrug didn’t fully understand the definition of “pernicious” (which was the likely option) or she truly didn’t care.

“Are you sure that you’re alright with what she said”

Bella shrugged cluelessly. “I’m fine. I’m sure she’s just stressed after carrying an entire team on her back since forever”

“Wait! No changing the subject” Luke groaned in response.

“Come on, pretty please!”

She had that look in her eye. That weird, annoyingly irresistible Bambi look in her eye but the scary part of it all was a slight glint of mischievousness in the corners. That gleam that shone, knowing she has already won the battle.

Luke had to break eye contact and rub at his temple. If this cost his team the victory and Annabeth found out, because she always does, she would lose her mind. But the corner of his lips couldn’t help but quirk upwards at the sight of her brighter mood.

“I’m not allowed to say no to you, am I?”

The little girl rung out her perfect laugh that resembles a ringing bell before looking up at him again. His brown eyes were warm with understanding and soft encouragement. He was at least trying to make her feel less like a complete failure of a demigod. Bella grinned playfully at the older boy with her nose high up in the air, like she was confident about her odds.

“Nuh uh”

He shook his head at the thought. Belladonna always got what Belladonna wanted it seems. She just had those doe like face that seemed to trick people into serving her before they had even realised what they had given up. Loving Bella was probably as easy as breathing.

But this was Belladonna. The girl in the tattered white dress and a plastic rhinestoned crown with half the gems missing. The girl he swore to protect since she was seven. Belladonna deserved more. And as her brother he would give her the world if she asked.

"Alright then, you have yourself a deal little lady"

[starsarefire824]

Chapt 3 of Lay Me Down Slow.

Suddenly, he looks up, eyes flashing with something intense. One side of his mouth turns up in a half smile.  “Remember when we were in the Upside Down with Lucas and Dustin and we were hiding in the grocery store after the demogorgon chased us and I patched the cuts on your face?”  “Yes,” Will replies, standing up straight, and liking the way Mike’s eyes follow him upwards. Dying a little bit in the way they are set ablaze with the memory. He isn’t sure how eyes so black can be so alive. So dark, you can barely discern pupils from iris. He knows to most, beauty lies in blue eyes that are clear like glass and green and gold eyes that arouse feelings of summer. But to Will, these eyes, his eyes , are the most beautiful he’s ever seen. Dark like a crow sitting in a winter tree after a snowstorm. In the gauzy light of this white bathroom he’s made up of milky light and the blackest shadows, like a charcoal drawing he might sketch out in one of his notebooks; something stolen away from the Elysian Fields. The closest Will might ever get to a place like that. It seems in his life, hell had been much more taken with him.  “Sometimes I think about it,” Mike continues softly, mouth turning up in a gentle smile. “What?” Will asks, setting the supplies on the counter and rubbing his palms nervously along his thighs. He glances down at Mike with confusion.  “You,” Mike states, his vowels a little rough around their edges and his face pleading with him.   It’s a simple statement. One word. But as Will stares down at his childhood best friend who he barely knows anymore, it feels as if a veil has been lifted from his eyes. It feels as if Mike has said one thousand I love yous. I’ve always loved you. I’m sorry it took me so long. I’m sorry for everything. It’s always been you. Love me. Hold me. Kiss me. So he does. 

[mercurygray]

i know i’m very late to the game but i just finished The Darkening Sky and oh my god, i don’t have enough words to describe how i’m feeling right now. it was an amazing story with such great writing, i’m now very excited to learn all about your mota ocs

Late? What's late? You're not late! The story is there when you need it to be there. Thank you for reading it!!! And for the really lovely comment - I really needed that this week, so that's not late, either.

I'm afraid you might be disappointed with my MOTA OCs - after 4 years of writing TDS, I tried to do something a little more...manageable with my MOTA characters, so most of what's been written for them is small, short stuff.

Some of what I've written for Cord, Fred, and Marion is on AO3, but more of it is here on tumblr.

Cord - Pavilioned In The Fields Fred - Your Best Girl Marion - Seek to Hold The Wind

Happy reading! (And writing, too, I saw that on your pinned post!)

[dujour13]

Owlcatober 25. Smooth

Fandom: Wrath of the Righteous

No spoilers in this one but it does make reference to some shenanigans in The Lark and the Crow.

Also on AO3

---

They nabbed him just as he turned the corner and hauled him up hard against the alley wall. Both arms pinned, trachea crushed by an elbow, Woljif began a choked incantation and then stopped himself as three overfed moon-like faces loomed into sight. The Brevan braggarts.

Ah. No need to panic after all. This was salvageable.

“What can I do for you gentlemen?” he wheezed. His tail snaked along the wall and hid itself behind his leg, recalling a previous incident with these same “gentlemen.”

The middle one leaned in. His breath stank like Gran’s—only instead of cheap moonshine, the top-shelf stuff. “Those potions of Mighty Prowess and Virility you sold us. They don’t work.”

“Yeah,” said the left one, popping the cork on a vial and knocking back its contents, and then staring pointedly at Woljif as nothing whatsoever ensued. “Do I look mighty and virile to you?”

“Uh. I don’t get it. What in the Nine Hells?” He managed to shrug them off him with the big innocent puppy-eyes. “Lemme try one a’ those.”

A vial was thrust at him and he downed it in one gulp. Very much exactly what he expected, because he was the one who brewed it: cheap mead mixed with beet juice.

He screwed up his face. Looked at the sky. Folded his arms over his chest.

“Huh.”

“You are gonna pay up, guttertief, one way or another.”

“Holy Inheritor and all the good gods, I been grifted!” Woljif cried, blinking up some moisture in his eyes. “I can’t believe it. Those scoundrels! And I gave ‘em every last copper I had to my name and now my ol’ Gran’s gonna go without supper, all because I was too green to see it, and with her sick and all. Oh, what have I done?”

Over the course of this performance the Brevan who had drunk the potion began to make an odd face.

If it weren’t for the subtlest hint of jasmine on the breeze Woljif would have been hoodwinked. As it was he watched with carefully suppressed glee as the Brevan puffed himself up, flexed his muscles and let out a bellow like a bull.

“It’s kickin’ in,” Woljif said helpfully while the other two Brevans looked on in wonder at their companion.

“Then how come the other potions didn’t work?” One of them turned on him and made as if to push him up against the wall again but he ducked aside.

“Must be you gotta build up a head a’ steam, a little, you know, emotion. A little rage. A little passion. To start the fire.”

The Brevans nodded, wide-eyed as their companion whooped, picked up a barrel in one fist and threw it down the alley, where it splintered spectacularly against the wall.

“I got a few more in stock,” Woljif called after them hopefully but they were already gulping potions and heading whooping back out into the city.

As soon as they were gone he started to slip away in the opposite direction but there before him out of thin air was the chief, every clashing color of the rainbow and smiling from ear to ear.

What was that weird flipping-over feeling in Woljif’s chest? He made a mental note to see Sosiel and get his heart checked.

“Anevia caught wind you might be in trouble, so I came down to make sure you were all right.”

“I had it under control,” Woljif muttered. Why did his face feel so hot? It wasn’t the “potion,” anyway, that much was for sure.

“I know,” the chief shrugged. “That was pretty smooth. I hope you don’t mind if I had a little fun with the old Elysian enchantment.”

Is he pullin’ my tail?

Not a sign of it. Nothing but a complicit gleam in his handsome hazel eye.

The shy smile that crept up on Woljif was quickly effaced. “Yeah well, I reckon I owe you one.”

“Buy me a drink?”

“Sure.” Woljif’s whole stupid body said it before his brain could catch up, and then he spent the walk to the Half Measure grappling with wild swings of humor between sourly calculating the price of Andoren wine and giddily aware of the comfortable glow of the chief at his side, and it wasn’t until he was seated at the bar at the Half Measure watching Siavash take a long, appreciative sip that he realized he wasn’t the one who’d been smooth.

[puppetdevotion]

orchid, carnation

— your god

“ orchid — how do you cope with your obsessive feelings? ”

this is relatively difficult to answer because of my mixed coping skills. i do like to be creative, express it healthily, but sometimes i just shove those feelings down until they burst out.. i think that with you, i feel safe enough to express my obsession as it is without feeling judged or like im being too overwhelming, especially since i trust you to tell you if i say or do something wrong. i can sometimes get sad or angry because of my obsessive feelings, which leads to worse coping skills like rereading things that upset me over and over or taking a burning hot shower until my skin turns red. in those moments im reckless, impulsive. i dont think so well. so! im actually incredibly thankful for the safe place i have with you, it's helpful for my progress in handling these emotions while making us both feel happy and secure (i hope)

“ carnation — who is your darling? (describe them!) ”

you, my treasured god. my puppeteer, my marionnettiste. the lullaby that soothes me to sleep, my music box. you can only be described in metaphors and similes, as the simple adjectives are just that: simple. they fall flat before you, before You. Your eyes are the ocean, Your eyes are the sky. they're the thoughts in my mind and the color of the static in my brain. Your hair is the night, Your hair is like a crow's feathers. Your skin is porcelain, like mine. its marble and effortless. each smooth expanse, each imperfection, it completes You. it perfects You. Your hands are made to hold, to create, to shape and form and write and whether they're smooth or calloused they are mine to carry. Your smile is like laughter, Your laughter is like the warm breeze of the summer. You're my seasons; my colorful fall, my retreat in a desolate winter, my rebirth in the spring, and my neverending summer. if i had to use simple words to describe You, i would use ethereal, paradisical, elysian. You are my earth, this mortal realm. the stars, the heavens, the planets. or maybe You are the creator of it all. i know that You are to me, so in my eyes, my delusions of my existence, it is true. You are God

[annon-guy2]

Indie Superstar Brawlers: Hypothetical Demo Roster Poll

[patronsaintofgirls]

hoo boy do i have albums!!!

okay starting out with a fine country-esc rock palette of a debut album that feels like a greatest hit and perfect for the season: August and Everything After by The Counting Crows

This one is simply insane to me and i love her so so so so so so so so so so- : Sleater Kinney by Sleater Kinney

Insane debut album no one should be able to get it this right first time around. i would say thsos debut is the most put together and constant with the rest of the debut albums i put here: She Hangs Brightly by Mazzy Star

Okay i am so sorry that i keep doing debuts but i just really think more bands should stick to that sound but also i just love raw music and like uncorporate sounds and that's really funny for me to say for our next album: Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin

Great we are out of the debuts for long enough for me to recommend this one by my favorite band ever: Louder Than Bombs by The Smiths

i'm sorry how mainstream some of these are i got a lot of my music taste from my dad but all of that is to say this album being very popular and a huge reflection of the scene at the time and being basically a pop album with how big it was doesn't stop it from being INSANE: In Utero by Nirvana

if you haven't listened to her start here, one of the best albums of all time: Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

shoutout to my wife. There's one main song here that makes me insane but check out the whole ass album i love it sm: Queen Of The Meadow by Elysian Fields

You've heard of them, they just got it tour with LS Dunes and are INCREDIBLE. i would go to dunes and skip out on dunes themselves if the tickets weren't so fucking expensive: Love Me Forever by Pinkshift

and to close things out

this is a punk/grunge classic and tbh one of the best album openers of all time: Frenching The Bully by The Gits

gonna start going through these today!!!