#even with things like this where i as the player already know it from hector's run

[blackjackkent]

It's interesting - I did get to pick Rakha's name during character creation and her name is on the save file, but the game doesn't actually seem to care? In the dialogue logs, combat logs, combat overlay, and Rakha's own opportunities to introduce herself, it still says The Dark Urge.

I'm not sure if the intention here is that Rakha ONLY knows the name The Dark Urge and her file being named Rakha is only for my own benefit, or if the game is bugging out, or what.

Anyway. Had another quick chat with Zevlor. He informed Rakha that the settlement they've arrived at is a druid grove - not belonging to the tieflings as Rakha assumed - and that the tieflings themselves are about to be kicked out; the druids blame them for the recent spate of goblin attacks.

The tieflings are refugees from a place called Elturel which recently suffered something called the Descent. Rakha, of course, has no memory of what that could possibly mean - and does take the time to ask, as she never misses the chance to add to her limited store of knowledge about the world.

The story is brief and brutal. A city dragged to the Hells due to the bargaining of a corrupt official with devils. Its tiefling population shunned after their safe return to the material plane. A desperate flight through the wilderness.

Rakha listens impassively and does not overmuch feel that this is her problem. She has her own business and her own threats to attend to, her own story of being pulled into chaos without her will or understanding. The fate of the tieflings only concerns her insofar as the one named Zorru is here somewhere and she must learn what he has to say before he is gone.

(They will go out on the road, murmurs the beast gleefully in her head. They will go out on the road and they will die and there will be corpses upon corpses, all laid out in blood...)

Zevlor does, however, tell her that there is a healer here who might be of use. That's a lead worth following up on, if Lae'zel's plans regarding the creche don't work out.

[changethecircumstances]

HoA vs. TDIM: Antagonists

I've been trying to figure out why I don't like The Devil In Me as much as House of Ashes, especially when I like both main casts pretty equally and I actually like the set up of The Devil In Me more. What I believe it comes down to is the antagonists of each game and the fact that The Devil In Me gives us WAY too much information

What I mean by that is House of Ashes doesn't explain who the ancient alien race were. It doesn't go deep into their culture or where they came from or if they created the parasite, were using it, or had just recently discovered it. The game simply gives you enough information to understand that the 'vampires' you're fighting used to be intelligent beings capable of space travel. They had a language. Created art. They were light years ahead of humanity before the parasite destroyed them and led to the ship crashing (and did the parasite just destroy that ship or did the parasite destroy their whole culture?)

Again, you don't know. You're given just enough information to get your brain working, to get questions flowing, but the discovery of the alien race doesn't over shadow the main plot and neither is so much information thrown at you that it starts contradicting itself and fuddles everything up

The Devil In Me has the opposite problem. It's trying to make Hector Munday the new Norman Bates, Michael Myers, Hannibal Lecter, John Kramer, and even throws in some Hot Fuzz hints while they're at it. He comes from a broken home and has a twisted relationship with his mother. He can't let the past rest. At the same time, he's a genius in murder devices like Jigsaw, but technically worse as none of the traps are winnable or meant to make the people in them learn anything. He's also Michael Myers though. The boogeyman who can't be killed. Who never speaks. Who never has to run. Who technically doesn't abide by our rules. But he's also Hannibal Lecter. A man spurred to create 'art'. Or he might not even be Hector Munday. Or just Hector Munday. Maybe he's a group rather than a singular person "No luck catching them killers then"

Because all this information is thrown at the players though, you don't know how to feel about Munday. He goes from scary to just confusing to you never knowing what rules he's technically abiding by when it comes to horror slashers. It weighs down an overall solid story and rather than making the endings (both good and bad) satisfying, it just leaves you with too many unanswered questions

I liked the buildup to realizing Hector Munday is the killer. That he was a cop from a broken home, abused by his mother, put under stressful situations without proper care. It was set up well and realistic and the realization that Sherman wasn't the main killer but Munday's catalyst was really interesting. However, by being unable to decide if they wanted more of a supernatural killer or an artistic killer or a broken, every day man kind of killer, it kept the story from becoming great like it could have been

I don't even mind that he didn't die at the end! I wouldn't have minded a Michael Myers boogeyman style slasher villain. But they just don't commit too that and are trying to put too many things into the one character

The aliens and parasite in House of Ashes don't overstay their welcome. They are kept vague enough that they don't overshadow the story already established and don't give us so many facts and ideas that they start contradicting others. Unfortunately, Hector Munday suffers from all those issues

[somewhereinthepines]

have any outlook on theory about a devil possessed hector munday? 🤔

if we are speaking in a strict canon outline of the game, i’d say, that it’s possible. mostly, bc we literally saw du’met breaking his neck, and then just getting up, like nothing happened. later on, we saw him getting impaled by the hook & supposedly getting shredded to pieces, but he clearly survived this too lol. 

it’s pretty normal thing to find all these instances odd, bc while the final ‘death’ is kinda a typical slasher movie cliche, the broken neck bit was less so, since it literally looked like a few of du’met’s bones twisted into wrong angles upon the fall. then, it was also established, that hector staged his own death, but for all, that we knew, he might have actually died, since the curator has his name crossed out. and then, mmm. speaking of the curator, he was frustrated with the fact, that du’met didn’t die, and we saw smth trying to get into the room right after that. all hissy and threatening. as if clawing to get in, and do smth to the curator, perhaps? like whatever it was, the thing clearly isn’t his biggest fan, haha. 

then, there is a part, where du’met pretty often looks like he’s not all there. in most scenes, he posses that somewhat non-present, dazed look inside his eyes. and interestingly enough, he rarely even looks at his victims, unless it’s the moment of their very death. the only person, who he always stared directly at was charlie lol. it could have been intentional, but could have been not, since well, there is a plenty of uncanny moments, when the characters supposed to look at one another, but it seems like they’re staring into the wall instead lol. i mean, making games with realistic features is hard, no doubt. so part of it can be more connecting with technical issues, than anything else. still, i do love to reflect on it as a possible ‘clue’. 

and i’ve talked about it before, but while there were clear (for my brain at least) parallels between john & dar’s roles in their companions narrative ( andrew / salim), it’s almost the same here with charlie & du’met. but this time, du’met can influence how the rest of the crew would see charlie. he can manipulate them, which would lead to charlie’s death, if they’d choose to abandon him. with john and dar it was the opposite, as the ones, who were driven to a murder (due to their words) were andrew & salim. but i honestly think, that it’s mostly bc charlie is incapable of killing, haha. he just won’t do it. either way, the point here is that du’met’s character model is already known for being a ‘misleading companion’. a caretaker/side-kick, that as helpful as they’re deadly, if you’ll listen to everything that they say. du’met is neither of those things canonically wise, but just like john / dar, he’s is the one, who startkicks everything, and who has a power to shape the narrative (to an extent). and he’s the one, who just like john, who lead andrew (anthony) away from the bus/cops, just like dar, who dragged salim into the temple…just like them, du’met whisks charlie away from the safety, plunging him into a nightmare. *hums* when you look at it, he’s role was oddly specific time after time, no? as well as the fact that there is always a boy-toy, who he sort of pulls along i’ve joked to my bestie, that they will totally make john’s character model the ‘devil’ in the next game, and what do you know? this role fits him like a glove. 

but welp, since we as the players are shown as entities of some sort, almost like the curator himself, who said that there can’t be a third party? perhaps someone or smth, that just like us, who at times control the characters, there can’t be another force, that controls say, the antagonists/murders/threats? in the man of meh — ah, sorry, medan, you have pirates, who are driven insane by the gas. who is erratic and chases you no matter what. in LH, you have the ‘actual’ demons, and macabre themes. you even have a demon-looking creature in the opening scene. in hofa, you have alien parasites, who puppet bodies of the dead like a meat doll. and they even have a lil horns and everything, haha. but in tdim, it’s even more on the nose, almost. bc du’met will go after the characters, no matter what. he will chase them down with an odd level of seemingly mindless determination. like he has to do it. 

now, the first time, when we see john’s character model, he’s the victim, and then the main character. afterwards, we ‘met’ dar, who’s technically an antagonist, but also a compadre in one go (if playing as salim). he’s out of our control tho. he just does his own war dog things, haha. and finally, there is du’met, who might be controlled, just not by us lol. well, in terms of this theory, at least. 

i must say, i love this 4th wall breaking kind of ‘deeper plot’ tbh. like in the undertale for example. it’s so creepy and disturbing, once you think about it. esp from the point of view, of a person, who is being controlled and actually aware of it. like damn. everything will be absolutely meaningless, the second you realize smth like this. and if you picture, that the curator can only influence this much, and has to watch us do cruel things on purpose (depending on how you play), and then also see, that maybe someone else wants to play with us too now…knowing, how that someone might construct these tales for us, bc they’re just as bored as we are, and wants entertainment….it’s pretty dark concept, haha. esp bc we have a chance to be just as awful as whatever, that other force might be. everyone, even the curator, the death itself is powerless to stop our cruel hand. 

i think, it is possible, that there could have been some kind of possession in tdim, but there also might be smth else. personally, i like this theory, but just as that, a theory. it’s very unlikely for me to do smth with it, creative wise, haha. at least, not in a term of a literal ‘the devil made him do it’. 

i have more ship based theories too, but i won’t put it past the creators to sort of shove a possibility of ‘deeper’ conection between all the dark pictures. either way, it’s fun to think about. 

[magicaththedemigod]

an extensive analysis of “the song of achilles” by madeline miller

Or: things I noticed and couldn't keep to myself.

Because I just finished reading it and have many feelings about it, I've decided to compile all of them into a very lengthy Tumblr post.

This will be broken up into three parts:

1. Foreshadowing

2. Dramatic (and regular) Irony

3. Fatal Flaws

1. Foreshadowing

Miller does such a delightful job with foreshadowing. The number of quotes I could be spitting at you right now... but I digress. The main job of foreshadowing, especially in a tragedy like "The Song of Achilles," is to set the characters up for their tragedy.

What I like most about how Miller goes about it in this book is that she doesn't attempt to pull a shocking twist out of nowhere; instead, she takes an approach which allows the reader to fully marinate in their despair.

For example, this quote:

Achilles shook his head, impatiently. "But this was a greater punishment for her. It was not fair of them." "There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles," Chiron said. "And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think?"

Let's take a moment and unpack some of this. For context, this is a conversation between Patroclus, Achilles, and their mentor Chiron. They're discussing the tale of Heracles, who's driven to madness and ends up killing his own wife and kids.

From reading the book, (SPOILER ALERT) you know that Achilles' own pride and honor end up forcing Patroclus to impersonate him in order to save the Greek army, and in doing so is killed by Hector. The fact that Chiron directs this question, "And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think?" to Achilles, who is left behind after Patroclus' death is such delightful foreshadowing that I almost threw the book across the room when I first read it.

Achilles slumps into such a depression after Patroclus dies (really, after he kills Patroclus with his own fatal flaw), that he even loses the ability to care about his fame or honor anymore. He feels the greater grief, so to speak.

Even after he dies, Patroclus is left behind, unable to rest properly because they never put his name on the tomb. In that sense, Patroclus is then the one left behind, experiencing loneliness and grief.

The book is full of little hints like this, and that's part of why it's almost torture to read as someone who knows how the Iliad goes. As I said before: the foreshadowing in this book is meant to have the reader in pain from the beginning because you know nothing is going to work out in the end.

2. Dramatic (and regular) Irony

Yes, that's right. I'm about to rip into your soul.

Probably one of the biggest parts of classical Greek myths is dramatic irony (the audience knowing something the characters don't). In plays, the ending is almost always announced before the play begins. In fact, the audience most likely already knows the story from previous tellings or just general knowledge. It makes sense that it would be one of the biggest players in "The Song of Achilles."

As usual, let's start with a quote:

His eyes opened. "Name one hero who was happy." I considered. Heracles went mad and killed his family; Theseus lost his bride and father; Jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; Bellerophon killed the Chimera but was crippled by the fall from Pegasus' back. "You can't." He was sitting up now, leaning forward. "I can't." "I know. They never let you be famous and happy." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'll tell you a secret." "Tell me." I loved it when he was like this. "I'm going to be the first." He took my palm and held it to his. "Swear it." "Why me?" "Because you're the reason. Swear it." "I swear it," I said, lost in the high color of his cheeks, the flame in his eyes. "I swear it," he echoed. We sat like that a moment, hands touching. He grinned. "I feel like I could eat the world raw."

First of all: cute. Second of all: wow, so much pain.

As you know, Achilles is the opposite of happy at the end of the book (well, maybe after they die, but we'll get to that later). Though he swears it here with Patroclus, the two of them make decisions that ultimately lead to their downfall: Achilles decides to abandon the Greeks after they slighted his honor, Patroclus decides to help them even if it means risking his life, and Achilles lets him do it.

So let's talk about dramatic irony. The irony here is that you know, maybe just from this exchange alone, that Achilles isn't going to be the first happy hero. You know there is a war coming, know that Achilles and his famous heel will get himself killed. You might also know at this point that Patroclus will die first and send Achilles spiraling into grief before that happens.

It's painful, truly. Achilles spends his last days in utter agony, wanting to die but unable to kill himself, and Patroclus can only watch on as a ghost (spirit?). Even when Achilles does die and his ashes are put into their urn (seriously, how did any scholar ever think they weren't lovers?), they still have to wait to be reunited.

But there's still more. Consider these lines:

Hector's eyes are wide, but he will run no longer. He says, "Grant me this. Give my body to my family, when you have killed me." Achilles makes a sound like choking. "There are no bargains between lions and men. I will kill you and eat you raw."

Sound familiar? That's right: "I will kill you and eat you raw" sounds an awful lot like "I feel like I could eat the world raw," doesn't it? Another parallel from Miller: one from a time of happiness, the other from a time of extreme grief. However painful it is, I really live for connections like that.

And I've got one more for you:

Achilles shook his head. "Never. He is brave and strong, but that is all. He would break against Hector like water on a rock. So. It is me, or no one." "You will not do it." I tried not to let it sound like begging. "No." He was quiet a moment. "But I can see it. That's the strange thing. Like in a dream. I can see myself throwing the spear, see him fall. I walk up to the body and stand over it." Dread rose in my chest. I took a breath, forced it away. "And then what?" "That's the strangest of all. I look down at his blood and know my death is coming. But in the dream I do not mind. What I feel, most of all, is relief." "Do you think it can be prophecy?" The questions seemed to make him self-conscious. He shook his head. "No. I think it is nothing at all. A daydream." I forced my voice to match his in lightness. "I'm sure you're right. After all, Hector hasn't done anything to you."

See where I'm going with this? I don't think I need to explain this one.

3. Fatal Flaws

That's right, one of the most essential pieces for a tragedy: hamartia. For those who might not know, hamartia is the fatal flaw that ultimately leads to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. In every single piece of classical greek writing, if the story is a tragedy, the main character will have a fatal flaw that makes it so.

Take Achilles:

I looked at the stone of his face, and despaired. “If you love me-”

“No!” His face was stiff with tension. “I cannot! If I yield, Agamemnon can dishonor me whenever he wishes. The kings will not respect me, nor the men!” He was breathless, as though he had run far. “Do you think I wish them all to die? But I cannot. I cannot! I will not let them take this from me!”

You probably already know what his fatal flaw is: pride. He needs the fame, needs the glorious memory of his deeds to live on forever, so badly that he is willing to sacrifice his life and what might’ve been a fulfilling and long life with Patroclus out of the limelight. His fatal flaw is what spurs each of his actions in the later half of the book, including the moment where he decides to leave the Greeks to their deaths for slandering him.

Even Patroclus has a fatal flaw: his love for Achilles.

That night I lay in bed beside Achilles. His face is innocent, sleep-smoothed and sweetly boyish. I love to see it. This is his truest self, earnest and guileless, full of mischief but without malice. He is lost in Agamemnon and Odysseus’ wily double meanings, their lies and games of power. They have confounded him, tied him to a stake and baited him. I stroke the soft skin of his forehead. I would untie him if I could. If he would let me.

Though riding into the center of the fighting, especially dressed as Achilles, will make Patroclus the prime target, he decides to do it anyway. And not out of fear for Achilles’s life; he knows how important his pride and reputation is to him, and out of desperation will do anything to keep Achilles from being devastated when it doesn’t work out for him.

(Honestly, this is the part where I start to hate Achilles for doing this to Patroclus... it’s like he doesn’t even consider Patroclus his equal and does everything without consulting him.)

Of course, Agamemnon has a fatal flaw as well. He is like the mirror image of Achilles, so proud and stubborn, righteous and arrogant. However, he is the darker image, the one that revels in taking things by force and, of course, raping women like Briseis. He serves as a poignant foil for Achilles, highlighting all the ways the traits they share can easily become corrupted. It’s part of why this novel works so well.

I hope you all enjoyed this book as much as I did. Truthfully, I did have a few problems with it, but I wanted to trying picking it apart anyway. And if you haven’t read the song of achilles... what are you doing reading these spoilers?? 

[fantasyinvader]

Beat Binding Blade tonight

So, right off the bat I'm going to admit. I abused the arena and save states. This is a really, really hard game. And while I enjoyed it, I'm going to give three things I didn't like about it.

1)Enemy reinforcements arrive at the end of the player phase, and can attack during the enemy phase. That is unfair, especially when I assume that parking a unit on the spawn point will prevent them (It doesn't) or my healer just happens to be in the area. I like difficult games, but when I fail at something in those I want to feel like it's my fault for doing so. When I die in Bloodborne or lose a unit in Fates Conquest, I'm willing to accept it because I felt it was fair (plus I'll just restart the chapter in Conquest anyway). I could have not died if I had played a little better. This game was not fair when it did that.

2)The supports. A lot of the stuff about the characters is locked away in their supports, since this is one of the old Fire Emblems where it throws units your way because it's assuming you didn't reset the game when one died. They don't get cutscenes to be important, and with only five supports per character (barring if one dies, then any unit that had supports with gets those supports back). And even then, getting an A rank doesn't pair up any units except for Roy. So you don't get to play love doctor here, it's only really there for the stat boosts. But in the case of my boy, he needs those supports in order for his character to fully come through.

3)I can take 8 units into the final battle, and they're the only ones who get full ending cards. Everyone else just gets a single line. Kinda weak if I use someone like Fir for most of the game, but bench her at the end to give Rutget Durandal.

Even with my cheating, I still enjoyed this game. Mostly for the story. When Fire Emblem first appeared in Smash Brothers Melee, as a kid it instantly caught my attention. Roy and Marth just looked so cool with their swords and armor (true fact: My favorite design for Link is the Skyward Sword design, simply because it has chainmail under the tunic. I get it, the tunic is iconic but SS's Link just looks practical), and I preferred Roy because I though his fully-charged shield breaker hurting him was cool. I even keep a Cipher card of his in my wallet for good luck. I wanted to know what Fire Emblem was, what kind of game it was. My friend showed me a screenshot of the upcoming GBA game in Nintendo power, which I got for the following Christmas (sadly, I didn't get Sacred Stones as I got a PS2 the following year). I loved that game, but the idea that I was playing as Roy's father always was a bit of a sour point for me. It's because of that game when I got a 2DS a decade later, because I wanted to game but kept getting pulled away from my console, I eventually went back to Fire Emblem.

And, I'm going to admit, Binding Blade hurt me because I played Blazing Blade first. It really did. I mean, Hector dies early on, Lyn is presumably dead hell a lot of my old comrades probably died in this war, Eliwood's wife dies shortly after they are married while Eliwood is more useless than ever, the kid I saved in Bern becomes a genocidal maniac, and the fact that the characters of Blazing Blade kinda caused this to happen by releasing the seals on the Legendary Weapons in their own quest... It kinda bugs me that the Legendary Weapons I used in Blazing Blade are in their trap filled storage places. Like, who returned them there? And if I have characters from that game returning in Binding, I find it strange they don't comment on needing them again. But this is a case of the game trying to be a prequel to a story that wasn't written with it in mind.

But at the end of the day, one thing just kept popping up in my mind. Binding Blade is the antithesis of the Crimson Flower route from Three Houses. I know they said Genealogy of the Holy War was an inspiration, but I can't help it. I've seen so many people try to praise that said route as some sort of denouncement of the rest of the franchise. That it's about putting power in the hands of the people (it's not) instead of having some Lord be the good king. Granted, the Mandate of Heaven seems like it's a running theme of the series, so without understanding what that is I can understand why people don't grasp what that part of the message. But Binding Blade, it just hit so many things on the nose that I needed to say something.

So without further adieu, I'm just going to bring up a few points.

With Regards to Humanity

It's interesting how both Zephiel and Edelgard come at this from different angles. Sure, they both lead wars of conquest across the entire continent, and I'm guessing Zeph didn't tell his troops what he was planning on doing once he won so there's likely a level of deception going on there as well. He really doesn't care for his fellow man, and the game goes out of it's way to show us why. Hatred, greed, or even selling out your people in the name of self-preservation. The game doesn't shy away from showing us any of this, saying that it's wrong and thus why Roy has to kick some guy's arse. Zephiel knows this, but in Edelgard's case? She's out there fighting for absolute power, destroying anyone who won't bend the knee to her while those who do out of self-preservation like House Gloucester are rewarded for it.

In essence, Edelgard is everything Zephiel saw wrong with the human race, she is why he felt we needed to go extinct. The very things he condemns humanity for are the things she reward. Zephiel would have actually handed over power to those he felt deserved it if he had won, whereas Edelgard is demonstrably shown to hold onto power until near the end of her life. One wants humanity dead, the other wants all the dragons. They even oppose each other in their classes. Edelgard is based on the red emperor archetype, she wears red, her class is the heavily-armored Emperor and her weapon of choice is an axe. Zephiel is a king, armoed but wearing purple and he uses a sword in battle.

Even if they both have screwed up history with their family's due to their father's inability to keep it in his pants, they're both presented as villains despite being ideologically opposed which goes to show with Fire Emblem the method IS the message.

Ancient Wars, Super Powered Weapons and Lies.

War of Heroes vs. The Scouring. The former is an event where the full details are shrouded in mystery, up to the player to piece together the clues and figure out the truth for themselves...or in Crimson Flower's case, ignore the truth and act out in your ignorance.With Binding Blade though, when the truth starts coming out, it hits hard. I mean, right from the beginning of the game we're told man was the one who broke the peace by attacking the dragons, but then we learn that those legendary weapons messed up the environment, resulting in dragons needing to use human forms only to be slaughtered by man. Dragons were blamed for the environment, the people who used those weapons were revered as heroes. We don't know why mankind launched their attack, but we do know that they weren't able to slay the Demon Dragon, one who had her soul destroyed in order to control her, because the Heroes felt sorry for her. It's making dragons out to be the victims here, much like the dragons in Three Houses. But Crimson Flower only serves to demonize them, acting like they can't understand humanity when the dragons in that game are a lot closer to humans emotionally than the ancient dragons in Elibe.

The Elites in comparison weren't heroes, and that lie has been confirmed as Rhea trying to make peace.

The good ending for Binding Blade is being able to save the dragon whose soul was destroyed, whereas Crimson Flower ends with slaying a dragon after you've spent the entire game triggering her (and is the ending that leads to oppressive rule under Edelgard, in addition to the only ending without sunlight. What? You thought you'd get the good ending when her final boss theme was playing on the last stage?). Also, you need all the Legendary weapons in order to unlock the final stages, which all play into the big mystery. Crimson Flower requires the player to not understand that the world-building was done to support fighting against Edelgard instead.

Merits of a leader

Let's not beat around the bush here, Roy will not carry you through Binding Blade. His bases are low, and while he has good growths he is unable to promote until the very end of the game. Even then, you need to save the Binding Blade's usage to ensure you get the good ending. Roy is also very unsure of himself, thrust into a position of leadership despite his young age. But look at what happens when he succeeds, he manages to overcome the odds and take down the mightiest army on the continent. At the end of the game, he's shown himself as more than capable of leading. Not to mention, he also believes that humans and dragons can live together, even seeing this in Acadia (and if Ninian was his mother, he's unknowingly proof of this as he is 1/4 dragon himself. May explain his poor bases). If he marries Liliana, he even becomes a King for likely much of the same reason Byleth does in SS/VW (most leaders are dead following the war, plus combining his territory with Ostia which had already taken over Lyn's land after she abdicated/married Hector). Roy learns the truth as already established.

Compare this to Crimson Flower Byleth. Byleth leads the Black Eagle Strike Force, but credit for it goes to Edelgard. Byleth never gets any recognition for this, no position of authority despite proving themselves, instead that goes to Caspar Jenkins of all people, and ends the war continuing to fight TWSITD from the shadows to support Edelgard's regime. And if you read between the lines, Edelgard is NOT a good leader, resorting to bribes, threats, cronyism, secret police, propaganda, and even TWSITD's support and later stolen tech in order to maintain her rule. Byleth lost whatever emotional development they got from White Clouds during this route, once again becoming the Ashen Demon, and is even willing to let themselves die if they can't keep their “humanity” in check showing a distaste for their own draconic heritage (showing humans and dragons can't live together in this timeline). They didn't grow into being a leader, they devolved into being Edelgard's unthinking muscle. Byleth never learns the truth in this route, falling for Edelgard's manipulations resulting in them losing Enlightened One/Nirvana status.

Not to mention, Heroes Relics have really low weapon levels. In theory, they can be used by anyone but only safely by those with Crests and most fully with a matching Crest. Legendary Weapons, on the other hand, can be used by anyone with an S rank in their type. Your characters have to EARN the right to use those things and you'll need them to deal with all the Manaketes during the final level, whereas Relics aren't exactly that level of broken.

Honestly, seeing the ending of Binding Blade and Idunn recovering put at least one tear in my eye. Crimson Flower's just made me feel like the game was calling me an idiot (which considering the Nirvana/Enlightenment thing, it kinda was). I would love if Binding Blade got the Echoes treatment, or even if they just did a GBA collection for the Switch. But after all these years, one thing is as certain now as it was when I was a kid.

In this house, ROY'S OUR BOY!

[srhlsx]

* implied nsfw at the end

master | CHAPTER 1 | chapter 2

Fiddling with the keys in one hand, you shrugged your bag higher up on your shoulders while trying not to drop the pieces of toast in your other hand. When you’d gotten to the ground floor of your apartment complex and walked out to the main road of your neighborhood, the sun beat down and warmed your face.

You breathed in the morning air with a small smile and began your walk towards the bus stop a few blocks away. At first it took some time to get used to breathing in the combination of smoke and greasy foods, compared to the fresh cool air of where you had previously lived. Over the months of living in San Juan, the smell of the area you lived in became comforting and familiar. 

The bus didn’t stop directly at the arena, but instead a few blocks away, so you were able to enjoy the sun and open air a little more before entering work for the next few hours. You entered through the employee entrance, stopping in the small space designated as your office to drop off your things. After slipping out of your sandals and into the clean athletic sneakers you always kept at the arena, you grabbed your binder of player information and notes and began your way through the facility halls.

Saying hello to a few of the other team workers, you made your way into the strength and conditioning room that seemed like your second home in this city. You could hear the sound of deep voices yelling, grunting, and laughing along with the sound of numerous weight machines banging together after being used. The deep bass of the music blasted through speakers and rattled your chest as you walked through the doors, a chorus of cheers and greetings also met your ears. Some were in languages you knew, a few slipped into their own native tongues but you understood the meaning.

You greeted one of your coworkers, a middle aged man who was the lead strength and conditioning coach for the team and your direct superior. He handed you a clipboard with a small stack of papers that held player information important to your role.

You’d only been on the job for about four months at this point, but you felt that you had gotten a good hold on things. You struck gold right out of your master’s program, applying on a wing and a prayer for the job as assistant conditioning coach and head nutritionist for a professional volleyball team in Argentina. You remembered the day they had called you saying they wanted to fly you out and get started right away, having found living arrangements and everything for you already. You accepted without hesitation, packed your things, and said goodbye to your parents only a few weeks after graduation.

Now, here you were. Surrounded by a team of athletes who adored you and a professional staff who took you seriously. 

Calling out to a few players, you instructed them to follow you for their own conditioning set. Being that there were more players than trainers available you and the other coach usually had them break off into smaller groups for specific needs to accomplish more in the time you had available before they needed to start their actual practice.

“(Y/n), I think you've gotten prettier since yesterday.” You rolled your eyes with a grin at the tall blonde who had spoke to you with a broken accent. He grinned back at you playfully, taking a seat at the weight machine that you motioned towards.

“Flattery will not lighten the load of work I have for you,” You swatted at him with the clipboard in your hands and told him to get going on his reps. He grunted out a reply and did as he was told, giving a joking but knowing look to his teammates as well.

“You’re not her type,” One of the other players said as he came up behind to support the weight should his teammate need assistance. “Too old.”

You had to laugh a little behind your clipboard as the weights were noisily dropped back into the resting place as he sat up quickly. “Old?” He cried out. “I’m younger than you!”

“Hey!” You called out, catching their attention right away. “Focus more on your training than my love life or I’m placing both of you on double cardio for a week.”

“You wouldn’t…” They both looked at you skeptically, their faces having matching expressions of skepticism as they waited to see if you were serious.

You glanced down at the papers in your hands and flipped through them dramatically. You clicked the pen you held and pretended to write copious notes with a flourish, making an emphasis on your finishing mark and then looking up at them. 

You sent them a flat, closed lip smile. “Done.”

-

“Hey,” You looked up from where you had been scribbling some notes on a player’s conditioning log in your office. A few had passed by already, done with their practice for the day and peeked in to say their goodbyes as they almost always did. Your eyes fell on a welcoming sight, the tall frame of one of the younger players on the team greeted you at your door. “We still on for tonight?”

The way he spoke, like there was a secret shared only between the two of you, made you smile as you leaned back in your chair. Well, it was a secret for the most part, the organization you worked for wouldn't necessarily mind, but it wouldn’t be the best for either of your careers should something bad ever happen. 

You nodded your head, “Yes, but you have to promise to not distract me, we missed two episodes last time.”

“I’ll do my best,” He flashed an award-winning, shit-eating grin in your direction, bracing his hands on either side of the doorway and leaning forward as he winked at you. You had to roll your eyes at his playfulness, biting the inside of your cheek as you eyed him with a glint in your own eyes as you thought back to when all this had even started.

“(Y/n)! Hey~”

You were still unpacking a few random items around your office, you hadn’t been expecting a space of your own when you accepted the job so setting things up was still taking time. You turned around to greet whoever was knocking at your opened door, pushing your hair over one shoulder and stretching out your back as you came up to your full height.

“Hey Tooru,” You smiled at the figure in your doorway. He stood cooly opposite you, leaning against the doorframe without a care in the world. “Sorry, uh Oikawa. What’s up?”

“Tooru is fine. Well, I was seeing what you were up to tonight?” He asked, flashing you a dazzling smile that you’d been subject to a few times from a distance since starting your job with the volleyball club about a month earlier. “Maybe dinner? It’s nice finally having someone my age around, I’ve been the kid for too long.”

You squinted your eyes at him as you crossed your arms across your chest and leaned back against your desk. “Hector from marketing is our age,” You smirked, having an inkling of an idea where he was going with things but wanting to get him to actually say it out loud. “Why don’t you ask him to hang out?”

“Because I don’t want to get dinner with Hector from marketing.” He stated bluntly, lifting an eyebrow with an expression that read ‘You know what I mean’. 

And did you ever.

“You bastard,” You mumbled against the pair of lips that were pressed against your own. They moved down to your neck, biting and sucking as they traveled which caused you to let out a moan in pleasure when he finally reached that spot below your ear. “You pr-promised not to-”

Your own gasp cut off your voice as Oikawa rolled his hips against yours, pressing you more firmly into his bed. Feeling his lips form into a smirk against your skin, you pulled a hand away from tugging at his hair and swatted the back of his head, making him laugh. 

“I never promised,” He said, leaning back on his knees. His hands slowly dragged up your thighs and grabbed at the pair of cotton shorts you had worn over to his place that night. Playing with the hem and tickling the skin at your hip, making you squirm, he continued to smirk down at you. 

You wiggled to lift your hips so he could tug the clothing down your legs, his head bending forward to press feather light kisses to the skin of your thighs as his fingers trailed along. The feeling of his touch left goosebumps in its wake, making the breath in your lungs shudder with anticipation. Your arms lifted behind you in a much needed cat stretch, your back arching and legs unwrapping themselves from around his hips as he began to slide further down the bed. His fingers gripped at the skin of your legs, getting a firm grasp on them as he lowered his head between them and nipped a trail of small bites up and down.

You hummed in satisfaction, very much enjoying where things were going until you felt Oikawa stop his caressing and prop his chin up on your stomach right below your belly button. “Yes?” You pulled your head up, reaching down to cradle his cheek with your hand.

“I’m just not sure this is within my diet,” He joked, looking up at you with a playful expression.

“I think I can make an exception,” You stated bluntly and pushed against his face. Oikawa laughed and gave your hand a light peck on the palm before dipping lower. 

Your fingers wound their way into his hair and tugged. The sound of the two of your moans filled the space of the small apartment bedroom and carried on into the rest of the night.

TAGS: @akasuns​

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged!

[alexajanecollins]

2 Héctor pls

N°2. Rumours have it that the trainers daughter is “back in town” and one player in practicular is desperate to see her (again). 

Sorry if certain things don’t make sense, I have never written for Héctor before but I tried my best. Hope you like it! x

“Apparently, your girlfriend is back in London.” Daniel said making Héctor turn to look at him for a second; an extremely confused look on his face. “Girlfriend? What are you talking about?” Héctor asked confused; Daniel looking at him with a smirk. “You know, the trainer’s daughter.” He shrugged. “You have slept with her, didn’t you?” He asked even though he pretty much knew the answer already. “That doesn’t make her my girlfriend.” He protested not answering his specific question.

The rumours were true, you did were back in London after spending a couple of months abroad at your mother’s place. Your mother and father had been divorced when you were still a little girl; your mother living in a whole different country since that day. Your mother had a whole new life build abroad and so had your father, but he stayed in London.

You were used to the constant travel between the countries ever since you were a teenager but had decided to start college in London itself. Being in your last year, you did have more time to study on your own, not having to follow all the classes. Also, a chance of an abroad intern was amazing since you had decided to do your intern in the country your mother lived.

The days spend at your mother’s place during your intern had been amazing. But before you even realised you had packed your bags again, ready to leave back to London. Your father being over the moon to finally see you again after all those weeks.

Your father had been extremely busy with his job. The new season had started, and he was spending most of his days at the club. Having send you an access badge for the training complex the day you’d arrive. The place being on the way from the airport to the house, which made more sense to let the taxi drive you there instead of straight home since no one would be in the house anyway.

Héctor was clearly distracted during training today, the words Daniel had said to him earlier continuously replaying in his mind. What if it was true? That you were indeed back? He thought by himself. Would you be willing to meet up with him? He was thinking too much, but ever since you two had shared a night together he couldn’t keep you off his mind. The boy clearly had fallen hard for you, but he never told you because of your decision to move abroad for your intern. The boy not wanting to distract you with something tis important for your future.

As you walked through the building towards your dad’s office, you looked through the window that showed a sight of the training field, a smile on your face as you spotted Héctor from afar. You had to honest, you had missed the boy yourself, the text messages and the short facetime calls not being exactly enough for your liking. But starting something more than a friendship when both people aren’t even close together wasn’t the best idea in your opinion.

“Here she is.” You father smiled as he spotted you walking down the field, a quick hug shared between you both. “Well hello.” You smiled looking at the boys training on the field for a second. “See, I told you.” Daniel smiled pushing Héctor against the shoulder when he spotted you talking with your father. “Can you stop.” Hector sighed looking at you for a second. “Someone is in looovee.” Daniel laughed kicking the ball towards the boy who shook his head, the ball quickly kicked towards the goalkeeper.

The training came to an end pretty soon after you arrived. You were looking down at your phone while walking behind the people back inside of the building. “I thought you were never coming back.” Héctor smiled while walking next to you all of a sudden. “I missed London waaaay too much.” You said with a smile, your eyes meeting his for a second. “And I have other reasons I am back.” You shrugged and he nodded.

“Oh really?” He smiled and you nodded. “Can I talk to you when you are changed?” You asked when you arrive at the changing rooms. “Yes, sure.” He nods with a small smile. “I will be quick.” He added before leaving behind the door, a sigh of relief coming from him.

After you put your suitcases inside of your dad’s car, you waited outside for Héctor, the boy almost being the last one to leave the building. “Sorry, I didn’t want the boys to see us.” He said walking your way. “Ohh.” You nodded and he smiled. “Don’t worry, I am not embarrassed, just, the boys have been teasing me ever since they found out you were back home.” He explained. 

“Oh really? Why would they do that?” You asked surprised while walking towards his car. “You know.” He shrugged. “Actually I don’t.” You teased him a little, the boy shaking his head. “Lets get out of here shall wee?” He asked and you nodded, getting in his car already. “Where..” Héctor wanted to ask you where to go, but got interrupted by your actions. Your lips met his in a very soft kiss, the boy smiling, his hand resting on your thigh. 

“Sorry. I just. I have wanted to do this ever since I left. And I have been thinking about you. I have missed you.” You quickly excused yourself, your cheeks turned red from embarrassment. “We are on the same page then.” Héctor answered, a small smile on your face as he kissed you this time. “Welcome back.” He said starting the car, the smile on his face never leaving for the remaining of the day. 

[theauthoressdefiant]

okay, so, fresh off of the westworld season 3 finale and i feel the need to get my thoughts off my chest.

i was really, really disappointed this season. 

*spoilers ahead*

i really think it was a tactical error on the writers and directors parts to take us basically entirely out of the parks and delos. firstly, the aesthetic of the wild west mixing with that of sleek sci-fi underneath was lovely and something that set the show apart from other sci-fi shows. secondly, i think they bit off a little more than they could chew with having to introduce us to an entirely new world, characters, and villains in only eight episodes. 

when i first saw the trailers, i was really disenchanted with the thought of caleb’s character. he did grow on me a little, mostly thanks to aaron paul just being a good actor, but ultimately, caleb added nothing to the story. he was just a white guy getting told he was going to save the world, which felt tride and overdone--and most of the time, even once he learned about the data and everything, it felt like he was a pawn in everyone’s game. it never felt like he had a true drive of his own and thus there was no reason for me to care about him at all. if it had been clearer that he really did care about the fate of humanity, or that he really did care for dolores (he did seem to love her but it wasn’t explored; not that i really wanted it to be but at least they would have done Something), then maybe he would have felt more essential. in my mind, he could be cut altogether and it would hardly make a difference to me.

i was also so disappointed with how they took maeve this season. she’s one of my favorite characters. for her to have worked so hard to find her daughter, for her to be one of the strongest and smartest hosts in the park, to be one of the first to wake up, and then just make her be controlled again? one of the best things about maeve has always been her autonomy; her right to choose for herself what she cares for and what she does. it’s absolute bullshit to just blackmail her into being muscle for this new villain we don’t even know. i understand, on some level, her desire to reunite with her daughter, but we all know that if serac hadn’t had that button to control her, she would have killed him and found a way herself. it confused me that at the end of season 2, they imply that the boys are gonna take care of her and make sure she gets back into a park, but then she gets taken from the parks by serac; we got moments of her in a park, but those were all just in her head. it  could have been a good jumping off point, but they dilly-dallied there for multiple episodes when overall, it didn’t even matter and she just needed to get out into the real world. 

another thing that frustrated me was the copies of dolores; while it does make sense that the only person she would trust was herself, it didn’t totally make sense who she picked as her vessels, in terms of other host from the parks. those cameos, as well as the ones of clementine and hanaryo, felt shoehorned in, like a nudge nudge wink wink of “you remember these guys, right? aren’t they cool? isn’t it cool they’re here?” when really it made little sense for dolores to even bother with those vessels. as for clementine and hanaryo, they are my BABIES who deserve the world, but they were brought in as “backup” and we got one cool scene where they kill a dolores double, and then nothing else. they have no desires of their own? they don’t even show up in the background in any other scenes? it feels like a cheap way to get some hype from people who cared about those characters. (also what they did to hector was fucked up and useless. like why would halores just do that? i understand to like, eliminate maeve’s allies or whatever but she could have just taken his core? she didn’t have to squish him? what was the REASON it was CHEAP and BORING is the reason)

speaking of halores, at first i found her arc really interesting--was this the good, loving side of dolores coming out, or charlotte? why was she pulling apart at the seams? this never really even got explained, just that she cared and something was “wrong” with her. i lOVE tessa thompson but once again, she was just a pawn, and i wish she had gotten autonomy and started making her own choices earlier in the season. that being said, i thought it was kind of cheap she just became an angry, vengeful husk at the end, emotionless and all, when the whole problem she’d had was that she had compassion. it would have been much more powerful for her to embrace her compassionate side. however, it seems like she’s gonna be a player next season, so i guess we’ll see how that goes. 

honestly, i think one of my biggest issues this season was pacing. there was so much filler. episodes 1-6 could have been condensed into 3, maybe four episodes, and then the stuff in episodes 7 and 8 could have been developed better in the remaining four episodes, instead of all squashed into one. 

bernard and stubbs were bumbling around the whole time; i could never really figure out what they were trying to do other than a vague “stop dolores”, and they never came close enough. if bernard’s role to play was to recieve the key, why didn’t that come earlier in the season? 

the stuff with william came at a point where i was already done with the season, and seemed kind of stupid from my perspective, but he was still more interesting to me than a lot of the things going on, i think his assholeness is just easy to enjoy. but once again, his whole arc could have been done a lot earlier so that he had his goal of “save the world/kill all the hosts” earlier on and more could have been done. not to mention he gets killed by host!william in the post credits scene anyway so its not like anything he did mattered?

and, dolores. look, i love evan rachel wood. dolores being a badass is so, so hot, i know. but the fact that most of the storyline this season just follows dolores along, with minimal stumbles for her in her plan, i think takes away a lot of the interestingness she held. i wish there had been either a little more mystery to her, or that she at times showed a little of her compassion that we finally got at the end. i felt kind of blindsided by her “there is beauty in this world” stuff; it felt more like a “gotcha!” than a natural progression for her as a character. if we had seen her start to care about humans, seen her clearly caring for caleb, something to show that maybe her views had changed, it might have made more sense. at the same time, i love murder-all-humans dolores and kind of wish the writers had just committed to her. 

so, yeah, i finished this season feeling pretty frustrated. westworld season one was impeccable, season two was pretty good, but season three really lost its spark. there was so much potential for a really interesting season, but instead we got a meandering mess. i honestly think the writers didn’t know quite what they wanted and settled for middling mediocrity instead of making any bold statements. 

the intro and music still slap tho

[lewlthea]

The Actual Thing Going On With Edelgard Von Hresvelg.

 Spoilers: It’s not fascism, nor racism (at least not in the way people think). Also, actual spoilers for the game.

If there has been a controversial character in Fire Emblem Three Houses, it’s Edelgard Von Hresvelg, one of the game’s main three lords, the house leader of the Black Eagles, the princess and sole heir of the Adrestian Empire, and an antagonist in every single route but hers. She has been a polarizing figure within the community: Some people think she’s an irredeemable monster, others think she’s a misunderstood leader. When it comes to Edelgard, theres hardly a grey opinion towards her; She’s either black or white. Today, I wanna talk about Edelgard’s actions towards the 4 routes, what they actually portray, and how and why the entire discourse towards her was caused deliberately by Intelligent System’s incredible mishandling and mistreatment of the character.

I remember Nintendo’s 2018 E3 conference quite well. I was at with a group of friends, watching at one of them’s house because he had a bigger TV. I remember making jokes about how “there was going to be a new Fire Emblem” because loving Fire Emblem when Intelligent Systems is Like That is a living nightmare.

And then this happens.

Words could not express the joy I felt when the trailer was over. It wasn’t just a new Fire Emblem game: We were going to have another lady lord, and an axe-wielding one at that - something the fanbase had been desperately craving since the recent surge in Hector’s popularity - and for once, it was like when I first found out that there would be a new female character in Shadows Of Valentia with Faye, and it was the tipping point for me to finally buy a Nintendo Switch.

Of course, just like Faye, things weren’t that simple.

Because some months before E3 2019, which promised to reveal more info on Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Reddit exploded. All because of someone who goes by the username Thanibomb, who claimed to have leaked info on the game, saying a lot of information about all the characters, some of them very questionable (With things such as Lysithea would die due to her crest complications, and it would cause the major 5-year war, and other things like Claude being the one who shot Dimitri’s eye off), while other info being oddly specific. A part of it that made me particularly chuckle was when such user said that Dimitri would have lost an eye, and would cover it with an eyepatch. I found it so silly and, along with some friends, claimed it to be fake and carried on.

And then E3 2019 happened.

And Dimitri had an eyepatch. 

And still, even after Thanibomb, things remained optimistic. All lords looked nice, they seemed to have their own ideals, their own paths, and no fights were breaking out within the fanbase yet. But then early copies were sent to reviewers. And then 4chan got a hold of one of those. And then the main leaks started. And by the time the game got released, it was too late. The amount of hate comments towards the character was so overwhelming; some calling Edelgard a fascist, others claiming that she was racist, others even saying that she gives racist remarks towards Claude ingame (a blatant lie). A personal favorite comment of mine was how Hubert and Edelgard looked like the perfect alt-right couple. 

(Should I remark that these kinds of comments stopped as soon as they found out that Hubert could A-support Ferdinand, and most of them moved on to fetishize the relationship between the two of them instead. Ironically, before that happened people despised Hubert in general solely because of his unusual appearance and shady behavior, but that was soon seen as ‘nuanced’ the moment he could be paired off with another man.)

And so, a fight between the fanbase begun: (Mostly) Blue Lion fans bashing Edelgard’s character, Black Eagle fans defending her vehemently, and Golden Deer fans between either on any of those sides or just making memes for Joe Zieja’s rally campaign for the GD. Mostly the latter. But that’s beside the point.

A (Kinda) Brief Summary of Edelgard’s Presence In Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, And Silver Snow.

Throughout the game’s second part, unless you’re playing the Crimson Flower Route, Edelgard will always be an antagonist who cannot be spared, and she cannot survive unless it’s in her own route. However, the way she is percieved changes depending on each route you are making, with each route leaving small fragments depicting Edelgard’s past and shaping her character in full scale. 

In Verdant Wind/Silver Snow, Edelgard isn’t the final boss. She is one of the bosses before the big fight. (Nemesis in Claude’s case, Rhea in Seteth’s). She’s one of the obstacles, but not the main one, therefore there is not much insight on her character; However, there is still one element present in those routes that is curiously omitted from Azure Moon that is the reason why she doesn’t really have too much focus, that being Hubert’s final letter.

In both routes, Hubert seems to highly respect Seteth/Claude’s prowess in the war and their cunning mind. (Especially Claude; Throughout both Verdant Wind and Crimson Flower, he commends Claude’s tactics and strategies multiple times). In the letter, he gives the location of where Rhea is confined and asks them to eliminate Those Who Slither in the Dark, the game’s true villains and the ones behind most, if not all the game’s tragic events. Even more curiously, though, is the fact that the letter does exist on the Crimson Flower route, and can be seen briefly on Hubert’s B support with Ferdinand, being the reason of their argument throughout the conversation. Not a single mention of the letter exists in the Azure Moon Route. (Of course it would not make sense for it to exist gameplay-wise due to the player having already murdered Arundel/Thales earlier in the game but. It’s still something to be accounted for).

Speaking of Azure Moon, this is a much more trickier route to talk about. Not only due to the fact that Edelgard is this route’s final boss, but also because all of the things we discover about Edelgard within it are never mentioned in any other route, only brief mentions about the time she spent in the Kingdom; nothing more. 

In here, her time spent on the Kingdom is expanded: Both Edelgard, her mom Patricia and Arundel were sent off to Faerghus due to exile, with Patricia being set off to marry King Lambert. There, she meets Dimitri, and they both become fast friends. By the time she has to leave, Dimitri gifts her with a dagger (Which, in Faeghus, are important gifts that mean ‘to cut a path towards a better future’), and she returns to Adrestia. Some time after she leaves the Tragedy of Duscurr happens, caused by Those Who Slither in the Dark. However, due to a misunderstanding caused by eavesdropping on a conversation between Thales and the Flame Emperor, Dimitri mistakenly believes that the Flame Emperor was behind it all, and once the Flame Emperor’s identity is finally revealed to be Edelgard, she is instantly demonized and called a ‘witch’, even though she openly declares how she had nothing to do with it. This goes on until Rodrigue’s death and Cornelia’s reveal that Patricia was the one behind the Duscurr Tragedy so she could return to the Empire and “reunite with her daughter”. (We never find out about what happened to her and she is not mentioned during the Crimson Flower). Dimitri tries to talk Edelgard off their final confrontation, but Edelgard insists that it is far too late for her to back down for their ideals are far too different, and she refuses to live in a world where the Church of Seiros exists. Dimitri then hands back her dagger (Which she accidentally dropped before the timeskip), and they both retreat to prepare for the final battle.

This route’s final boss is an Edelgard who was absorbed direct power from Those Who Slither in the Dark, and adquires a grotesque, corrupted form. No other character in the canon possess such a thing, and only Edelgard can assume such form. Once she is defeated, Dimitri tries once again to spare her, only for Edelgard to stab him with the dagger, making Dimitri realize that she would never give up on her dream, and finally kills her.

An Even More Brief Explanation of What Does All of This Means.

Okay, all of that info was nice, fun, good, yadda yadda. What does this mean and why was it needed.

Well, for starters, let’s ask ourselves a question: After reading the summary, can you say that you know what drives her to seek out the destruction of the church?

What is her reasoning behind the unification of Fodlan?

Do we get anything out of her other than “Scary dictator” or “An obstacle that had to be sadly removed” or “Under better circumstances... We could’ve been Allies (tm)”?

We don’t. Because Intelligent Systems did not bother to show Edelgard’s motivations, despite her being the villain in almost all the routes.

During Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, Edelgard herself does not matter: she’s solely important because she is threatening the church, she is your scary big bad dictator that you have to beat in order to rescue Rhea, only to find out that in reality she was just a stepping stone to the real villains, Those Who Slither in the Dark. (In game it is said that Hubert came up with this name. In my humble opinion Hubert can go fuck himself because this is the shittiest name I have ever seen and I am tired of having to type this five word long thing every paragraph or so). As soon as you read the letter, suddenly Edelgard, the Empire, and all the questions you had as to why she Did It dissappear because now you have another objective, another goal. 

This is even more offensive during Azure Moon because she is the focus, the final boss, but it doesn’t matter why she did all of this nor what her ideals actually are despite them being the reason why she cannot be spared. The game would rather focus on getting reactions out of the player when the intimidating big meanie does something that makes Dimitri go angry than actually focusing on the clashing of Dimitri and Edelgard’s ideals, why they cannot go back to what it once was, what happened to her to change this way, why did ‘El’ actually die. All you have is a dictator in red which does things for no reason other than “I will destroy the Church and unify Fodlan so I can govern over all of it”. Nothing more, nothing less.

....Of course, you do realize that I have avoided to talk about a certain thing.

So, About That Crimson Flower Route...

If there is a way to truly understand a villain, one must walk on such person’s footsteps. Most people criticizing Edelgard were the ones who hadn’t played her route yet, or had only played Azure Moon and was led to believe that all of Edelgard’s actions are unwarranted or pure nonsense. 

There is a reason why people sing their tune differently as soon as they experience the Crimson Flower.

For starters, to be able to fight for Edelgard, you have to first have her support up to C+, go with her to Enbarr once she asks of you, and then defend her from Rhea at the Holy Tomb. The reasoning behind that is so that you fully understand what Edelgard has gone through and the reason why she cannot agree with the existence of the Church.

The Azure Moon route tells you of Edelgard before she returned to the Empire.

It never tells you what caused her to change after she went back.

Edelgard was part of the crest experimentations caused by Those Who Slither in the Dark, alongside all her siblings. Her father, the emperor, was unable to do anything about it, as the real people in control of the Empire were Arundel/Thales and Duke Aegir. Being the sole survivor of such things to return to society and see how everything is defined by whether you have a crest or not and finding out that the Church, who instead of breaking down such system to favor equality would rather turn the creatures who run it into figures to be worshipped is. Something.

There’s another reason for Edelgard’s sudden betrayal, a more sinister one, and why she feels like everything needs to be done in a quick pace. In her C+ you find out she has a second crest, The Crest of Flames, just like the player. People who bear two crests have a shortened lifespam, however.

When Edelgard declares war against the Church, and to unite Fódlan, it’s not solely because ‘Church bad’: She declares war against the unfair crest system, against the hypocrisy of Rhea’s dragon entourage, and of course, to destroy Those Who Slither in the Dark later on the road.

  However.

Just because Edelgard’s behavior is justified, does not mean she is 100% in the right. She herself admits that the path she follows is one drenched in blood. But there are several times in the game that makes you stop and think for a second that she can still make bad decisions, and that sometimes her decisions might have horrible consequences. One of them is for example to never take away Brigid’s status as a vassal to the Empire and return it back to it’s former glory as an actual country, which shows how the entire Brigid kerfuffle is something akin to colonization. We should also point out that when she unifies Fodlan, in some endings she remains the Emperor, completely missing the point of what she fought for.

Another case that shows one of Edelgard’s biggest flaws is with the Silver Maiden incident.

Edelgard had just conquered Arianrhod, the Silver Maiden, and due to murdering Cornelia, enrages Ariandel/Thales, whom causes the situation above out of a show of power. She knows it was Those Who Slither in the Dark, but she needs to give explanations fast and she can’t reveal their identity or else they would slip away and it would be impossible to locate them and destroy them. So what does she do?

She says it was Rhea who did it, actively lying to her closest allies, one of them being the Prime Minister of the Empire.

For Edelgard, the ends justifies the means, and as long as she gets the results she wants, she will do what it takes. Even by alienation. And that’s a dangerous way to go on.

...So, where do I want to go from here? Who is to blame for the hatefest Edelgard is receiving?

Intelligent Systems Kind of Didn’t Know What To Do With Edelgard.

Now hold on. That sounds a bit too harsh, don’t you think? She was the first lord shown in the E3 2018 trailer, they have placed a very big emphasis on Edelgard everywhere hell the game’s main theme is about her, why would you claim that??

Well, first and foremost, I should start by saying that Crimson Flower is the game’s shortest route, with the total of 18 chapters. From those 18 chapters, there is only one cutscene, with most of the route’s major events being shown with either the game’s basic models or still images.

For comparison, Verdant Wind has the total of 8 cutscenes, counting the final one before the timeskip, with 3 of them being unique to its route.

Azure Moon has the total of 5 cutscenes, 3 of them being unique to its route. 

Silver Snow has 4 cutscenes, having 2 unique ones to its route.

The other two main lords have several support options with people outside of their respective houses; Edelgard only has one.

Remember when I said that one of Edelgard’s main enemies are Those Who Slither in the Dark? The game never lets her deal with them personally. You never truly fight them during Crimson Flower.

In a way, the game feels as if while Edelgard is the focus, you shouldn’t side with her. It really makes it feel as if someone at Intelligent Systems just snickered and said ‘Hey wouldn’t it be cool if we could let our players side with/date our villain?’ without even considering or respecting such villain’s motivations, her ideals, and what truly makes a character unique.

In the end, all they truly cared for was if Edelgard was romanceable enough for the player, not if she made sense or was appealing as a character, whether as a villain or a savior.

And considering how the fanbase is behaving towards Edelgard, they succeeded. 

[backupthere]

Sometimes foreshadowing happens by accident.

In this instance, however, I’ve had the primary storyline of the new story in mind for quite some time, and so the hints I wove into And the sand runs down were very much deliberate.

The original plan was that this was going to be the Cobras’ turn in the spotlight. I hadn’t planned on the realisation that I needed another storyline for counterbalance.

I hadn’t planned to end up picking up almost every storyline that I’d had on the backburner, all of the ideas that weren’t quite big enough to stand on their own, and weaving them together into one huge piece.

But I did plan to write the Cobras storyline, and so I knew that in the timeline where And the sand runs down and Hector’s Boys are happening, the season before the events of the new story, things had to already be in motion in the background...

***

And the sand runs down, chapter 8

The Cobras’ bus is already parked outside when David gets to the rink. It’s the longest journey in the league, Wakefield to Tonbridge, and it looks like the Cobras have chosen to travel early and give themselves some time to spare at this end of the road.

A couple of their bench staff are organising sticks and water bottles, but it looks like all of the players are involved in the football game that’s taking place at the far side of the car park.

Well. Most of the players. Stone’s stretching in the corridor between the locker rooms, using a foam roller and wearing a pair of enormous noise-cancelling headphones. There’s a kid David doesn’t know hovering awkwardly in the doorway to the away locker room - although to be fair he doesn’t know most of the younger guys in this league. The kid glances nervously at David as he passes, and Stone pushes his headphones down to hang round his neck.

“What is it, Billy?” He looks right past David as if he’s not there, and David doesn’t slow down.

“Um. Can I get my phone out of your bag?”

Stone sighes. “Yeah. Just make sure you put it back when you’re finished, don’t leave it lying around.”

David doesn’t hear any more, because the Tornadoes locker room door opens and the sound of the rookies chirping spills out into the corridor.

**

Chapter 14

Andrew’s not a big fan of chatting during warm-up. His own guys generally leave him alone, because everybody tends to take their cues on interacting with goalies from the goalie in question - if he started a conversation, they’d chat, but since he prefers to retreat into his own head they leave him be.

Woody does his stretches by the red line, gazing out at the opposition’s end of the ice, his thousand-yard-stare enough to rattle anybody who happens to look at his eyes.

Andrew takes the other end of the red line, following the habit they’ve fallen into, and concentrates on his hamstrings.

Both of the Cobras’ goalies settle in near Andrew. Stone’s a little further away, not too close to either the red line or the boards, and Hewett’s tucked in the corner behind him. It’s almost like Stone’s protecting his rookie, except that he’s open to any Tornadoes who might swoop up to their own side of the red line.

Woody’s starting tonight, so Andrew’s not so far into his own head that he misses it when Bastian Pinault loops too close to Stone and Stone honest-to-god growls at him.

Andrew’s done his share of odd things to help perpetuate the goalies are weird myth, he can relate.

Warm-up carries on like usual. Woody goes first in the drills, because the starter always does, and then once the formal part is over and the older guys start to leave the ice Woody and Andrew both drift back to the centre line. Woody folds himself into one of those stretches that’s not technically anatomically possible, especially with pads on, and fixes his blank stare on the Cobras net. (Andrew’s not jealous. He’s got longer limbs, of course they don’t bend the same way.)

The Cobras are actually getting louder the less of them there are. The older guys have mostly gone through to the locker room, and only the younger kids are left. Two of them are still in face cages, and they’re laughing as they set up shots.

“Billy! Billy, get in here!” One of them waves Hewett in, and he glances over his shoulder to Stone as if he’s asking permission. Stone gestures to him to go on, and settles into his own stretches.

Andrew leaves them to it and goes to see if the remaining Tornadoes want to shoot at him before he retires to the bench for the evening.

[blackjackkent]

As planned, letting Karlach take the lead on pretending to be a devil in disguise and bawling out the Archivist.

"A guest? Are you a client of the master, or a visitor from elsewhere in the Hells? I do not believe you were invited. One moment - I shall consult the visitor's schedule."

-----

He closes his eyes and mimes pawing through an invisible record book. "Hm. HMMM. Most irregular." He opens his eyes and stares at Karlach keenly. "The schedule is all but clear. And yet you are here."

Karlach's whole bearing has shifted. Her head is up her, her stance wide-set, her eyes narrowed imperiously in her best imitation of the cruel bastards that ran things in Zariel's employ. [DECEPTION] "I am Verillius Receptor," she growls. "Zariel's High Inquisitor."(*)

At once the Archivist's whole tone shifts, becomes wheedling and ingratiating. "A thousand apologies, oh majestic magistrate of the infernal court! Your mortal guise is so vile, I found it perfectly convincing." He inclines his head, wincing a little at the movement. "I would prostrate myself before you and kiss your calluses, but my spine is ruptured in a thousand places... You do know how Raphael likes to play..."

Hector can see an expression of disgust flash briefly through Karlach's eyes.

"As always, the Archive is yours to peruse," the Archivist goes on hastily. "You'll find everything accounted for, and I can present documents of procurement if necessary."

"I'd like to see the Hammer, please," Karlach says, coolly disdainful. It's a tone so unusual for her that it makes Hector shift uncomfortably at her side.

The Archivist smiles. "An exquisite and most unique artifact. Crafted with materials hewn from the depths of the Hells by Raphael's merregon labor force. As it was created by Raphael himself, we have no documents of procurement, nor do we require any. But if you wish to examine the artifact itself, you are more than welcome. As part of the special collection, that item is guarded by a masterword that even I do not know. I suggest you wait until Raphael returns, and you can discuss the matter with him. You are welcome to relax in the boudoir until then."

He hands her a curled scroll of paper wrapped in an ornate bow - an invitation. "It is where Raphael conducts his most private matters of business and pleasure. You will need this to gain access. The resident of the boudoir will wish to explore every inch of your new form." His smile curdles slightly. "And I'm sure you would be happy to share."

(A/N: OK, so this would have been another route into the boudoir to get the passphrase that leads to the hammer. Luckily we're already set on that score.)

----

He wanders away. Jaheira laughs softly under her breath.

"Well done, young one," she says in an undertone. "A deceit worthy of a Harper."

Karlach shudders. "Ugh. I feel dirty," she mutters. "Even putting their airs on for a moment feels like shit. Let's just get a look around here and get a move on. What's the plan, Hec? Grab everything we can carry?"

Hector grunts. "Carefully, if we can. I'd prefer to draw no attention until we're ready to snatch the Hammer and run. But there's got to be more in here that would do better in our hands than Raphael's."

----

* Any lines by a voiced NPC when they are the controlled character in the party are not voiced on lines the player selected, but I think we can all imagine Karlach busting out her most intimidating hell voice here.

[bluejaytaco]

More DND with Jay

(Because Jay has a problem)

After the “Death” of Ticket Master, his sword popped out a new god; Task Master. He’s basically a really whiny Mr. Poopybutthole and is super jazzed to be promoted into this position. Apparently, it’s the position he wanted.

Because of the situation we were in, he marked us all with a bracelet so he could keep track of all of us. With the exception of Koejin, who was able to move in time to keep the bracelet off her. When Koejin refused to put it on, Hennessy was able to convince him that Koejin would be a loyal follower. Task Master kinda shrugged it off and just stated he would be able to see through her eyes when she lied anyway.

Task Master then opened up two portals back to the mortal world; one from where we left off and the second to where we were heading. Where we were heading was being demolished by a giant worm (General Purple) and Mrs. Red.

But there was still unfinished business in the tunnels. Wreybar’s entire family was down there and so was Art’s sister. We ended up splitting the party.

Hennessy, who went into the tunnels with us, wasn’t happy when he found out (he headed through first)

Hennessy: (angry sputtering)

Art: Hennessy, it’s okay. Just... stay calm. We’ll see them when we get out of here.

Art’s hand: (Forms a mouth and speaks in Ticket Master’s voice) Yes, Hennessy, stay calm.

Art: (Stares at his hand) The fuck?! How?! What?!?!

Ticket Master: Well, I needed a way to communicate with you. So, I accessed your hand as it... what’s that?

Art: What’s what?

Ticket Master: That! On your wrist! Take it off!

Art: (Tries to take off the bracelet only to have it stay right where it was) yeah, no can do, bud.

Ticket Master: No, you have to remove it! Hennessy! Do something! Use magic! Get rid of it!

Hennessy: uhhh...(studies the bracelet for a moment) um...(pulls out a cloth and ties it around Art’s hand, gagging Ticket Master)

Ticket Master: Mmmphh!

Art: (fake innocent look at the hand) Is that better?

Hennessy: I just... don’t have the energy to deal with him right now....

-

(Later, further in the dungeon)

DM: So you guys come to a door that’s slightly ajar.

Me: Okay, I peak my head in all stealthy-like. (Pretty high Stealth roll)

DM: Alright, Art. So you look in and see a large, dim room with a chest in the center. Sitting on top is a goblin who hasn’t noticed you yet. On the far side is a glass room with another opening only big enough for Wreybar.

Me: Is the room bright enough for Hennessy to see?

DM: Yeah, no need for darkvision.

Art: (Relays this info to the rest of the group.)

Everyone: (Walks in and alerts the goblin to their presence.)

Goblin: (Starts shouting at them. Only Hennessy understands him)

Hennessy starts talking to the goblin and finds out his name is Robert Lin. He’s sitting on the chest because something in it tried to bite his hand off. Hector was the reason for him being stuck there. (Hector’s been trying to lead us into situations that would kill us for a while now.)

Art: Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if there was a little mimic inside the chest?

Alabaster: Seems rather redundant.

Art: Just saying it be funny.

Wreybar goes into the room and finds a book of monsters. Hennessy looks inside it and finds some pages are worn, along side a bookmark that says “this is what is in the chest.” We come down to three different creatures. Blue slime, tiny blue dragons, and water.

Chest: (speaking draconic)

Everyone: Yep, dragons. Definitely dragons...

Hector: We could just leave him here and keep going. You know, there’s a really cool statue in the other room with glowing red eyes. We should check it out. Any takers?

Everyone: (Silently glaring at him)

Hector: Guess not.

Hennessy: Maybe you should tell us about why you left our friend here on a chest and we might consider listening to you.

Hector: I don’t need to tell you anything. You don’t have that skeleton with you anymore. (Note: Skelly went with the other team.)

Art, fed up and pissed off now: Alright, look. You have managed to piss off everyone here in one way or another. Now, what you’re going to do is shut your mouth until we speak to you and answer all of our questions, or I’m going to make you wish it was Skelly here!

Hector: (Begins to do a mocking impression of Art)

Art: (Rolls extremely high on intimidation)

DM:  Art, as you’re shouting at Hector, the air around you begins to heat up and crackle. You begin to glow a little and, as Hector looks up at you, he is struck by fear. The black eyed glare, the horns, the heat, it’s all a perfect terrifying picture. He’s so scared, in fact, that he passes out from fear.

Art:....shit. (smacks him a few times in attempt to wake him up. he doesn’t move.) uhhh, whoops.... hm...

(Art then proceeds to move Hector to safe places and make sure he doesn’t die. After that, he agrees to the idea of their new goblin buddy dragging him around with a rope. No one else cares about whether Hector lives or dies. Art’s motives and mind confuse even me sometimes...)

-

(Next room has an old mining type rail with a curtain leading into a long, dark, void-like hallway. The void is described to be something very Ticket Master-y.)

Art: (takes the wrapping off his hand.)

Ticket Master: Bleh! Ugh! Hennessy! What is that, your dirty laundry?! Ugh... Hello...

Art: Hey, uh, just a quick question. Do you know anything about this room?

Ticket Master:..... I’ll need to have a better look. Put your hand out.

Art: (does that)

Ticket Master: ....Okay, now bring me back.

Art: (does that too.)

Ticket Master: Art, do you see any eyes here?! I have no idea what fucking room you’re talking about!

(DM: Ticket Master isn’t at all his cool self. You can hear the frustration in his tone which is completely new to you.

Me: Yeah. Honestly it’s kinda nice.)

Art, sighing: Okay. It’s a room with a mining rail. Ring any bells? Figured you’d know considering you were down here before us.

Ticket Master: Oh you figured as much? Well, I still have no idea....

Art: Ah, okay. It was worth a shot. So on goes the gag again.

Ticket Master: No, wait! (Art reapplies the cloth) Mrrrph!

- 

(We go down the rails and see that it’s a presentation talking about the generals, all of it hosted by Mrs. Red. It fast forwards at certain points, but then stops towards the end to play about Purple.)

Red: And then we have my good friend, Purple. He can turn into literally anything and use its abilities to his full advantage. He’s unstoppable. So, my suggestion to you? Jump into the void. There, you can be brought back to your lives with no memories of this. Simple, easy, quick.

Hennessy: Clearly, this is some pre-recorded message.

Art: Has to be.

Red: Oh, Hennessy, is it so clear? And it ‘has to be,’ Art?

Alabaster: How is this possible? We saw you on the back of the giant worm in Althori!

Hennessy: After being stabbed by Eltbalm.

DM: Hennessy, (After rolling Arcana) you remember reading about this type of magic. It’s a projection of a person’s mind. So, that really is Red in front of you.

Red: Yes, thank you for that. Speaking of which, could you tell me how that’s possible?

Art: We could.

Red:.... (impatiently waiting for an explanation Art won’t deliver. ((Art is soooo dead when she gets her hands on him.)))

Alabaster: ....It was a gift.... for you...

Hennessy: Either way, we must move on, for now. Time to continue on our quest to stop you. (climbs out of the car.)

Art: See you soon, Red. (follows after Hennessy and Alabaster)

Red: One more thing. Tell that tentacle monstrosity you call Ticket Master that I’m coming for him. And I’ll take great pleasure in killing him.

Art: Yeah... good luck with that one... 

(Everyone heads out of the room.)

-

(We all head into a new room with a new puzzle having to do with statues of Mrs. Red. But then, a large projection plays on the wall and shows Koejin looking at us in confusion. On her end, it’s a random floating rock. A homebrew move Alabaster has is Pelor Message. It works like Message but with no distance limit. However, he can only message poeple who are either followers of Pelor or supporters of the belief. Koejin’s a supporter.)

Alabaster: Hello, Koejin! We seem to be able to see you!

Koejin: Wait. Are you guys in the floating rock?! (pokes it)

Art: Hey, do me a favor and yell at her for poking strange magical objects. (for context: Koejin has stopped Art from poking at magical items about three times already. She’s literally kept him alive in most cases.)

Alabaster: Art would like to chasitise you for touching unknown magical artifacts.

Koejin: Psh, it’s fiiiiiine. But, Alabaster! Look who we ran into! (Koejin pulls an elf over into view and points at him. It’s Alabaster’s brother.)

Alabaster: (overjoyed rambling)

Art, leaning over to Hennessy: Not to be racist but.... doesn’t that guy look an awful lot like Alabaster? (Koejin’s player: That’s what I said!!)

Ticket Master: Mrph frph! 

Art: (taking off the cloth again) Yeah, what’s up?

Ticket Master: Ugh, that thing’s disgusting!

Art:...Did you just want to be able to speak?

Ticket Master: Is that such a crime?

Alabaster:... Oh, yes... A new development; Ticket Master is also still around. Art’s hand has formed a mouth.

Koejin: Ugh.... really?

(It was around here that our side ran out of time and we transitioned into what was going on with the giant worm destroying the town. Also had to end early because my connection kept fucking up....)

[bxstiae]

Drops all my urls in here late as fuck :3c

[ @rejectgods / —– 🇸 🇪 🇳 🇩   🇦    🇺 🇷 🇱 ]           🇬​🇱​🇦​🇩​🇱​🇾​ 🇦​🇨​🇨​🇪​🇵​🇹​🇮​🇳​🇬​ 🇦​🇱​🇱​﹗

I cannot believe you are doing this to me Jorm. I love you man but. alright. I’m gonna do this differently than I would if it was just one URL. You have what… 5 blogs that I follow? Though I heard you were making another one. Anyway… On this post alone, I’ll give one paragraph per muse ( that I have seen you interact/post on ). That being said, when I get the chance, I will make a google doc for your muses and get a better in depth thing per muse. I’ll probably start on it when I wake up, but you gotta give me a bit okay.

Know this: I’m doing this because I appreciate you a lot. and you deserve to know how much I do. That and well holy hell, you cannot expect me not to say no to you like that when you say ‘drops all my urls.’

You KNOW that I will take that as a challenge & do it cause you said.

BTW: you weren’t late. You sent me that the same day that I posted it.

Lets start with Accelerator since you asked me on them –

Opinion on;

CHARACTER IN GENERAL: An asshole tbh. An Overpowered little shit. Okay. Really though, from what I’ve gotten though in the little stuff I’ve watched with you? THEY!!! ( honestly forgive me if I say he. I naturally tend to lean towards those pronouns even for nonbinary characters ) Anyway they are honestly a mood tbh. Just not giving a damn but also defending theose they care about. Definitely psychotic, but its okay, I suppose they are allowed to. Then again, we barely scraped the surface with ToAru so maybe I’ll wait until I know more.

HOW THEY PLAY THEM: I’ve only see a little bit of Accel, but from what I know? It’s really good! Then again, your prose in general is something I absolutely love. There is big of edge to Accel that’s different than the other muses too. Like I’m not saying they’re edgy - they just has something very specific to them that I like.  

Read more now cause I wrote an Essay for you.

Lets go with Lif first, cause that was the first blog I followed @ultaegrr –

CHARACTER: Cold, ruthless, unforgiving, spiteful.. Like honestly I feel like there are a lot of words to describe Lif, and yet, none of them really describe him. He’s a very complex character. Like VERY complex. I could give you my aspect of him but honestly, that can wait for the doc. Nonetheless, he is actually a character that I would get my grubby paws on to RP as. I probably won’t for the sake of my sanity but I do really have my own portrayal of him that I would want to try out.

YOUR PORTRAYAL: Given that your Lif is canon-exclded and not the Lif from the games, I can go into a rabbit hole with this one. I will not ( again, we will save for that doc ). I will only brush up on a few things. He’s by far my favourite out of your muses. Like of all of your muses, I would pick Lif as your best one. Your prose on him is my favourite from all your muses and I would be content with just following him ( and Kiran ). That being said, you know I would follow you anywhere anyway cause you’re my friend and I support your brand. Anyway, sorry but I’ll elaborate some other time.

Kiran is next cause honestly… Kiran @breidabllk

CHARACTER: I can’t really go into depth with them as they are like an OC? They aren’t really but its the player  of FEH. Each kiran is unique to the player. So don’t have much to say.

PORTRAYAL: honestly when I think of Kiran, I think of you. This is a loaded statement too, cause it can be meant in different ways. One way: I literally think of the summoner as your Kiran. Granted do I have my own crack Kiran? Yea, you know that. But honestly, the first thing I think of when I see the name is… yours. Like if somebody were to say who should I follow for the summoner, you would be the first person to come to mind. I have others as well but you’re the main one. The second way?: Kiran is you. You are Kiran. to a degree. Like??? I know they’re not. but at the same time, there are so many things about you two that are similar. But that’s why I think I love your Kiran so much. They’re so realistic. Like there is a part of you in them. It’s not just a character. They feel so tangible compared to other characters and I can’t describe it but it’s so… authentic.

Alfonse now because he’s a boi @valhoil—

CHARACTER: Honestly? Sorry to punch ya gut but. I didn’t like him. This was something different than me and Hector. Cause I didn’t CARE for hector. But Alfonse? I had experince with him already from playing FEH. and I just…. didn’t like him. I don’t know why. I think it was cause for me he was a bit of a child? But that’s not really it either. Something about him didn’t rub me the right way so I kinda just… ignored him a bit. I mean I didn’t completely ignore him cause he’s important to the story in B3 & B4. but you know what I mean. I just… was meh about him.

PORTRAYAL: Now this is where I go, yea you made me change my mind about Alfonse cause DAMN, I stan him now. I.. Really do. I will go on more into depth with him as well but again, we will refer to the doc on this one. I don’t want to sound like I’m repeating myself. I do have to say that the inner turmoil on him though is something that I support for character development. Definitely the main thing that I love about him. But more to come later.

I almost forgot about Grima.. cursed. but Grima @rotdivinity –

CHARACTER: FUCK YOU GRIMA. honestly though. I hate him as a character. I want nothing more from him than to die. Him/Her/them, whatever. That’s all you need to know for now. Grima needs to die.

PORTRAYAL: dear lord, I forgot about him but he’s definitely a favourite. From what we have discussed and talked about, you actually make me feel bad for him? Well that and your Grima is the reason why I made Emmeryn in the first place! Honestly though.. Your Grima is the only Grima I would ever want to follow and a part of me also wants to make a Naga cause of what we discussed. But you know I’d probably never make a Naga cause I don’t support her – at least from our discussions about Grima, I’ve come to despise Naga really. Lol cause I love Emm, and she loves Naga.

Okay, last one. Marth @exaltblade –

CHARACTER: I have a love/hate relationship with this tiara wearing bitch of a princess. There, that’s all you need to know.  

PORTRAYAL: can’t tell you cause you haven’t really done much with him yet. But from what I know, I am actually…. very VERY excited for him! I know you’ll do great.  

Now that I did those, let me finish the rest. I probably will elaborate more in the doc for you as well, but… you know.

The Mun: Jorm, I honestly…. don’t know where to start with you. We’ve known each other for what? 2 months? I mean I suppose longer, but we didn’t officially start talking until recently. But as you already know, I would do anything for you. We are so close to each other too! Like really?? I have never vibed so well with somebody so hard and fast. But with you I’m just like damn, I will absolutely do anything for you. I don’t know why? I really don’t but honest to the gods, I truly do care about you a lot. I love talking to you on the phone. I worry for you when you are being quiet. I know that I can be a bit too much sometimes, and I’m sorry for that, but you know that when I see your name, its like when I see Core’s name. I get excited and it makes my day. I hope you know that. And if you didn’t, well I am tell you now. :)

Do I:

RP with Them: Yea I do. Well I’d say I do, but you know Chrom is put on hold at the moment. That being said, we’ve done a LOT of plotting and discussion on a lot of things and on just about every muse too. So you may not always see the RPs but we do.

Want to RP with Them: Of course! Honestly, I don’t care for speed. We could never RP in our lives, but we talk about our muses all the time okay? and that alone makes me happy. But also yea I do want to RP. and I do, in fact, want to RP with Link. I just dont know how with Accel…  

What is my;

Overall Opinion: 

**NOTE: Mun’s answer are all to be completely honest. Don’t send url if you don’t want brutal honesty

[virtualfindingsdocumented]

The long waited Ultimate Fix It AU

(I talked a lot about it and promised a few times to post the outline but I was super anxious - to bw honest I still am - so I postponed it again and again.

Back when I first thought of this, I hadn’t seen anything starting with this concept. In asoue fix-its there is always one guardian surviving and making things right, but I never saw these guardians surviving with the exception of the “Beatrice lived” theory which I dislike a lot. I was inspired by the exact things that bother me in the theory and also by the rp I’m in, in which they did survive but it somehow made things worse. I wanted it to be a AU where things get better, but I didn’t want to abandon canon too and make a “happily ever after” scenario without justifying it. The end result is, well... if you are looking for stories in which Good triumphs against Evil, you are in the wrong place.

Ever since I started this idea, I started seeing other people exploring the possibilities of their survival, which is amazing! It gave me some anxiety too because I am most comfortable writing stuff no one else thought of before, but each person has an unique voice and ideas and so I hope my story still has something new and unique to it. Anyway shoutout to unfortunate-stranger-losers who has an amazing Bertrand Lives AU and snicketstrange who has a theory (not fic) about Beatrice Surviving so twisted and tragic and in my humble opinion much better than the previous possibilities I had seen; also DrowningRedInk on ffnet who has a very cool fic dealing with a survivor which stuck to my head like crazy, and last but not least a big shoutout to the players present and past of the Baudelaire family in the dumpster fire rp, because even though this interpretation of the characters has little to do with theirs, this wouldn’t exist without them.)

The Ultimate Fix-It AU

Everything is the same until V, K and Q arrive in the headquarters. V and K start calling for their parents, and after a moment of dramatic silence, two figures in masks and heavy coats come from the shadows.

It’s their parents. There is a moment of happy reunion and teary hugs, no one asking questions. V and K tell them about Sunny. B and B assure them that they will find a way to rescue her.

Quigley takes off his mask and introduces himself, asks if B and B know about his siblings. One of the Bs remarks on how much he looks like their parents. They don’t know about I and D, but V and K do.

V and K ask their parents how they survived and they vaguely mention a friend who is gonna meet with them soon (L). They also ask why they didn’t go after them, but before B and B can answer, there is green smoke in the sky.

They guess it’s worth it to have a look. Violet and Beatrice think together of the forks, but when it’s time to go B and B insist the children stay because it is too dangerous. V and K are scared of being away from their parents again, as if they would disappear forever, but they end up staying with Quigley.

Quigley says their parents are cool, V and K agree but inside they have their doubts because everything is happening too fast and they feel their parents are hiding something, and they can’t help but still feel bad that they let all those bad things happen.

B and B have a moment as they rest during the climb to talk about how proud they are of their children, then get to the top and find Sunny. They overhear the villains talking, villains they know well, and somehow figure their plan. They convince Sunny to go with them since they know about the last sanctuary. Happy reunion time.

Bertrand wants to prevent the villains from kidnapping the snow scouts, while Beatrice just wants to get away from them. They don’t get to an agreement. The group goes after a cavern to spend the night and Beatrice sends a bat with a message to L with updates.

L arrives the next morning, apologizes for being late as his vehicle was stolen. He is on Beatrice’s side. Bertrand doesn’t like it. L talks to Quigley and says his sister is trying to contact Hector. They end up not interfering with the villains’ plans but decide to warn other volunteers so they can rescue the children.

The group follows the river so they can meet with K. L wants to then go to the last sanctuary but B and B don’t like the idea. The children don’t know what to think. B and B are also not over their fight. Beatrice and L take a walk alone while B makes food or something. Violet goes after her mother and sees she venting to L, and then kissing him. She gets shocked and runs out, then finds her father with the intention of telling him. B shows no big reaction to the information, which makes V think for a moment that her parents “divorced”. But then B explains about how he first started dating B she was already with L and that she would have married him if he had not “died”, and the three love each other a lot, and V gets it.

B tells B and L about the talk with V and they decide to come out to the rest of the children. V realizes that her parents were injured in the fire, and they confirm it when she asks. They finally reveal the extention of their injuries, which was what prevented them from going after their children before. L rescued them and took them to the already abandoned headquarters so they could recover in safety.

The group meets with Kit near the sea. Kit and Quigley leave to try to contact Hector, but before they go Lemony has a talk with Kit in which he says that he will be right there in case anything goes wrong. Kit also want the Baudelaires to go to the meeting in the last safe place.

B and B tell their children what is supposed to happen at the Hotel and how they are afraid of things going wrong there. After a lot of arguing they decide not to go. They take Kit’s taxi to go somewhere else, while L goes to the Hotel so he can finish his part of the plan. [The End]

[Epilogue of sorts]Kit manages to send a telegram or message to the sub about the plan for the sugar bowl, which results on them never going to the Gorgonian Grotto nor taking the Mycelium. They also escape from Olaf with success.

The trial at the Hotel fails, but with someone who knows more of what is going on than the Baudelaire children dealing with the stuff, Carmelita never gets the harpoon gun. Dewey doesn’t die. Without the sugar bowl or the Mycelium, Olaf has no advantages and ends up running away from there.

Kit and Quigley get into Hector’s balloon but it ends up falling. Down in the sea Widdershins waited to rescue them but the crash happens. Except Kit understood what Lemony tried to tell her, so when the Great Unknown shows up she knows it’s safe.

As they get back to the City, either Kit or Lemony end up revealing to Fiona that her brother is alive. She has a big fight with her stepfather and decide to continue on her own and look after him.

The Quagmires, reunited and safe, are adopted by Kit and Dewey and have access to a great archive of news, poetry and maps in his library.

[True ending] The Baudelaire family is living in some distant city under fake names, following from afar the news of the trial. Lemony meets up with them. The six run away together.

[slusheeduck]

The Way You Keep Me Guessing: Coco Teacher!AU

Because I couldn’t stop thinking about @scribblrhob‘s Teacher!AU and @upperstories‘s art for said Teacher!AU, I ended up writing something that’s probably a mess to read because I want to end 2017 crying about Hector and Miguel.

Update: Uncontrollable crying turned into a collaboration between me and @im-fairly-whitty!! Be sure to keep tuning in to both our blogs for updates!

Part 1: Unexpected Responsibility

               Dios mio. I can’t take care of a kid.

               The thought strikes Héctor on the drive back from Santa Cecilia, with the kid in question buckled in to the passenger’s seat. It’s a bit late to opt out now, considering he’d already agreed to take care of him while the family figured out what to do with Luisa and Enrique gone. Everything had been so sudden, he’d just gone on autopilot—went to the funeral, listened to Tía Elena’s instructions, helped pack up the kid—Miguel, his name was Miguel—and his things, and gotten back on the road to Capula without even thinking about the fact that he, Héctor Rivera, was now responsible for the health and well-being of a young child when he could barely take care of himself.

               Well. It was just for a few months. Surely he could keep the kid alive that long?

               He glances over at the boy beside him, hiding beneath the hood of his too-big sweatshirt and keeping his eyes firmly out the window. Héctor swallows, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

               “So, ah…you’re eight?” he tries weakly. Ave María Purísma, he should be better at this. He is a teacher. But Miguel gives a short nod, and he sees an in. “Eight’s a good year, you know. I’m sure you’ll love…” Ohhh, he’s already messed this up. He clears his throat, looking back at the road before glancing at Miguel again. “Ah…you mind if I turn on the radio?”

               Miguel shakes his head mutely, and Héctor wastes no time in switching the radio on. He groans at the terrible static that greets them. The way Chicharrón made him promise to take care of his precious car on the trip, he’d expected some beautiful, sleek vintage number, not a rattling camioneta that couldn’t even get the tiniest bit of signal.

               He glances over as Miguel finally moves, leaning over to adjust the knobs expertly. After a few barely perceptible tweaks and turns, music finally bursts through the static. The quality’s still not great, but now there’s a definite song playing. Héctor gives a small smile.

               “Pretty impressive, chamaco, considering this radio’s at least as old as Tía Elena.”

               Miguel shrugs. “Papá’s radio is the same way,” he says before once again curling up in his seat and staring out the window.

               “Must’ve taken a while to figure out how to do that,” Héctor says, desperate to keep a hold of some sort of conversation with the kid. “Most kids aren’t that patient. You must like music an awful lot.”

               Miguel glances back at Héctor, just for the shortest moment, then shrugs before looking back to the window. Well, it wasn’t much, but it was something. And Héctor could work with that.

~

               They come into Capula just as the sun’s starting to set. Miguel’s stayed silent throughout the trip, despite Héctor’s few attempts to coax out some form of conversation. Maybe the kid’s just quiet. That terrifies him more that he’d like to admit. He’s always liked the kids that are ready to talk the best; one-on-one meetings with quiet kids—where trying to get any sort of reply or reaction was like pulling teeth—were his absolute least favorite. He couldn’t imagine having to do that every day.

               “Ah, mira, mira! There’s the school,” he said, pointing at the large buildings as they passed. “You’ll be in the primaria when the term starts, and I’m right next door in the secundaria.” He smiles at Miguel. “And you only have to call me Profe when you’re in the secundaria. Héctor’s fine anywhere else.”

               Miguel looks up at him curiously. “Abuelita told me to call you Tío Héctor.”

               “Well, sure. Tía’s always been old-fashioned. Not me, though.” He reaches into one of the cupholders and pulls out his sunglasses, putting them on despite the fact it’s nearly dark out. “I’m a cool tío. And cool tíos just go by their names.” He conveniently doesn’t mention that he was in no way fit to have the title of “tío” on him just yet.

               He glances up at Miguel over his glasses and, just barely, he thought he could catch a ghost of a smile cross the boy’s face. There we go. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

~

               The car’s parked in front of the apartment complex, and Miguel’s already pulled out his suitcase when Héctor yelps out a half-finished curse (Swearing in front of children is not good, he reminds himself, because then they’ll never stop repeating it. He’s learned this from several parent meetings and even more not-very-happy discussions with la directora.). When Miguel sends him a curious look, he tries to play it off coolly.

               “Haa, funny thing, Miguelito! I, ah…with everything that happened, I…left my keys…in the apartment. But it’s all under control! I just…” He presses his lips together, then snaps. “But you know what? I’m lucky. I left a spare key with my neighbor for this exact situation.” Well, not this exact situation. It was much more along the lines of “Come and visit any time” (not that she did), but that was not something the angelito querido cielito needed to know just yet. He lopes back to the fire escape, calling for Miguel to stay put and that this would only take a minute, and starts the climb up to the apartment window he’s looking for—the muffled sounds of “La Llorona” being interrupted tell him he’d knocked on the right one. He puts on his most charming grin as the window opens, and he’s greeted by a long-suffering sigh and crossed arms.

               “Rivera,” is beautiful, serious Imelda’s greeting.

               “Diosa, am I glad you’re home. Wouldn’t you know, I’ve locked myself out of my apartment. Qué rollo, eh? I was…”

               “If this is your way of trying to spend the night, I swear I have a boot right here...”

               “No! No, not this time.” As lovely and romantic as flirting with Imelda on the fire escape is, he doesn’t like the idea of going back to Miguel with a boot imprint on his face. “I just wanted to know if you still have that spare key I gave you?” As she rolls her eyes, he adds, “Look, ordinarily I’d talk with the casero in the morning, but…the little chamaco down there is staying with me for the next…for a while, and he needs to get to bed as soon as possible.”

               Imelda frowns curiously, and she sticks her head out the window to see if he’s lying. Héctor watches her face soften as she catches sight of Miguel down below. She chews at her lower lip, then looks up to the heavens before going back into the apartment. Héctor holds his breath, staying very still, then lets it out in a disbelieving laugh as Imelda returns with the key in her hand.

               “And if you say a single word about me keeping this…”

               “It goes with me straight to the grave, diosa.” He takes the key and sends her a big grin. “So I’ll see you before term starts, right, directora?”

               “Go home, Héctor.” Imelda shuts the window sharply enough to nearly take off his nose, but the quick glance she gives over her shoulder makes it entirely worth it. He takes a moment to sigh dreamily, but remembers that there is, in fact, a child waiting for him down below, and that there will be plenty of time to moon over la directora in the staff meetings they’d be having in a few weeks. He lightly swings down the fire escape, then holds up the key triumphantly as he walks back to Miguel. The boy’s giving him a slightly worried look.

               “Does that lady hate you?”

               “Hate me? Oh, no, chamaco, she likes me a lot.”

               The worry quickly turns to disgust. “Is she your girlfriend?”

               “She…you know, this sort of thing’s pretty complicated and I bet you’re dead on your feet.” He picks up the suitcase and nods for Miguel to follow him. “Let’s get you set up in Casa Rivera, hm?”

~

               He’s not sure if it’s nervous energy from being in a new place or a hint of what Miguel’s like when he’s not…in his current position, but the kid wastes no time in walking around the little apartment, looking at everything. Héctor lets him wander, setting the suitcase down for a moment.

“I’ve got that room over there set up for you. My roommate won’t mind…” He stops and lets out a little laugh as Miguel makes a bee-line for the record player, eyes wide, and Héctor can tell he’s itching to look through the records stacked beside it.

               “Go ahead, take a look,” he assures. As he walks by, he chances giving the top of Miguel’s head a rub; the boy quickly ducks away, and Héctor carries on as if nothing happened. “The good ones are mine, the bad ones are Ernesto’s.”

               Miguel, holding one of the records, looks at Héctor dubiously. “How am I supposed to know which ones are good and which ones are bad?”

               “Well, that’s an easy answer, chamaco.” He returns to Miguel’s side and takes the record, flipping it once before lightly setting it in the player. “You gotta listen to it.” He sets the needle down, then switches the player on. They wait a few moments, both staring at the player, and Héctor sends Miguel a grin as the bright sound of guitars filled the apartment. “Hey, bastante buena, sí? This must be one of mine.”

               A little smile makes its way across Miguel’s face, just enough to make the tiniest dent in one cheek, and he returns his focus to the music…at least, until he notices the guitar case in the corner of his eye. “Is that yours?”

               “Mm-hm.” Héctor’s since made his way into the apartment’s teeny little kitchen, trying to figure out what he could possibly make for two people with three stale tortillas and rice that may or may not have been in the cupboard since he’d moved in.

               “Can you play?”

               “No, I just like the way it looks.” At Miguel’s offended expression, Héctor gives a little eyeroll. “Of course I can play. Ernesto and I wouldn’t be able to go on tours if I couldn’t.”

               “No manches! Aren’t you a teacher?” Miguel argues.

               “You think teachers hibernate during the summer? That’s when we get to have our fun.” He pulls out one of the tortillas and waves it; it holds its shape like a frisbee. Hm. “The plan was to be in Guadalajara this week, so Ernesto should be playing in one of the smaller clubs about now. Normally I go with him, but this year…” Well, it’s obvious why he isn’t on the summer tour. He doesn’t need to bring that up. He tosses the tortilla aside, noting how well it flies, and shrugs with a smile. “Well, it’s the reason you get your own room this summer instead of bunking with me!”

All at once, he sets his hands on Miguel’s shoulders and guides him toward the door, ignoring his little noise of protest. “Now, Señora Olguin lives downstairs, and she lives for feeding boys she thinks are too skinny. Why don’t we go down and make her night, hm?”

~

               Héctor can’t sleep that night, and he knows it’s Miguel’s fault.

               Even without being in the same room, Héctor can feel the anxiety radiating from the boy. And who could blame him? Losing his parents, being sent off with a tío he hadn’t met—he possibly hadn’t even heard of—and having to prepare himself for a new home, a new school, a new life for even a few months…it was entirely too much for any kid to have to endure. And that would be assuming that said tío wasn’t constantly dancing on the edge of disaster and a general danger to anything he tried to take care of. Moving in with Héctor? Miguel’d be lucky if he could survive this without being committed.

               Héctor spends several hours tossing and turning, but there was no way he can sleep with the way things are. So he decides to stop this and try a new plan. He slips out of bed, throwing on the first wrinkled sweatshirt he can grab, and quietly makes his way back to the main room. He grabs his guitar case, then hesitates in front of Miguel’s door. He waits a moment, then another, then sucks in a breath and gives two quiet knocks.

               “You still awake, Miguelito?”

               “No.” Miguel’s voice is thick, and the sniffle that escapes through the door makes Héctor’s stomach twist. Maybe he should leave him. It’d probably be good for him to get all this out. And yet…

               “Qué pena. I was gonna head to the roof, and I thought you might think that was cool.”

               There’s a pause, and Héctor considers dropping it. But then he hears some movement on the other end of the door, and then another sniffle, and then a very quiet “Why are you going to the roof?”

               “Sometimes staying inside’s a pain. Too many thoughts get trapped in here, you know? It’s nice to go somewhere where they can all just escape.” He shrugs. “But you’re asleep, so I don’t want to bother you.”

               Héctor takes two steps back from the door, then waits. A moment later, the door creaks open. Miguel’s nose is still red, and he gives his eyes a quick wipe, but he’s pulled on his hoodie and shoved his feet into his shoes.

               “Can I come to the roof with you, Héctor?” he asks quietly. Héctor smiles and ruffles Miguel’s hair—this time Miguel doesn’t duck away.

               “Of course, chamaco. Just stay quiet; we don’t want to get complaints from going up the stairs too loudly.”

               Technically, the roof “isn’t accessible”. But that didn’t stop Héctor from finding the service stairs when he’d moved in, and it doesn’t stop him from guiding Miguel up them now, making sure the boy keeps clear of any electrical wires or vents. They pick their way to Héctor’s favorite spot, one large enough for two people—perfect for a night of tequila and song writing, or sneaking the odd kiss while discussing next year’s curriculum, or to air out the worries and grief that’s been bottled up since Tía Elena said, “This is your Tío Héctor, Miguelito. You’ll be staying with him for a little while.”

               Miguel watches with wide eyes as Héctor opens up the case, pulling out the gleaming white guitar. His mouth turns up as he catches the little skull grinning at him from the headboard as Héctor tunes it, then his jaw promptly drops as Héctor gives a grin and plays, near perfectly, the song they’d listened to on the record player.

               “Nada mal, hm?” Héctor asks with a little laugh as he catches Miguel’s shocked face. “No one ever thinks that teachers do anything besides teach.” He gives Miguel a grin and a wink as he slows the song down. “Hope you learned something from that.”

               Miguel doesn’t answer, instead moving up onto his knees and getting closer to Héctor, eyes fixed on the way his fingers danced over the frets.

               “How can you play like that?” he asks when Héctor switches to a different song.

               “About double your lifetime’s worth of practice and a good ear.”

               “So will I be able to play like that if I practice? Without sheet music or anything?”

For the first time, Héctor feels like he’s getting a glimpse of the real Miguel, the Miguel that was around before the accident, before the move. His eyes are bright as he watches Héctor play, and he’s smiling enough to show off his dimple fully.

               “I’m sure you will. In fact…” He stops playing and flips the guitar around, holding it out to Miguel. “Why don’t you show me what you know now?”

               Miguel’s eyes widen, and he looks down in shock at the guitar as Héctor sets it in his lap. “I…I just started taking lessons. I can’t…”

               “You’re a Rivera, though. We’ve got music in our bones.” He nods and waves a hand. “So show me whatever you think is the best you can do.”

               Miguel looks up at Héctor with wide eyes, and his tongue pokes out, just a bit, as he adjusts the guitar in his lap. It’s too big for him, and he struggles to reach his hand around as he plucks out the sorriest “Estrellita” Héctor’s ever heard. He stops the boy quickly, shaking his head.

               “No, no no no. That’s not right at all.”

               “But I can’t reach!”

               “That’s not what I’m talking about. Your whole attitude’s all wrong.” Miguel’s expression darkens, but Héctor snaps his fingers before he can say the obvious. “You need to perform. And the first step to that is loosening up.”

               Miguel’s expression…doesn’t lighten, but it shifts to curiosity. He watches as Héctor shakes out his long limbs in precisely the way that got a guaranteed laugh from his students, then half-heartedly gives his arms a shake when prompted to copy him. Héctor crosses his arms with a little frown and shakes his head.

               “Definitely not enough. I think we need to pull out el grito.” He looks at Miguel with raised eyebrows. “So come on, give me your best grito.”

               “My best grito?”

               “Every musician can do it, muchacho. So come on!” Before Miguel can say anything, Héctor is up on his feet, letting out a loud shout that echoed through the quiet, dark neighborhood. He looks down at Miguel, one eyebrow raised, and grins as the boy stands up and opens his mouth…to let out the tiniest squeak. He shakes his head.

               “One more time. You just gotta yell.” He lets out another grito, this whoop prompting a few lights from neighboring buildings to turn on. He ignores them, watching as Miguel sucks in a breath, opens his mouth…

               And lets out a shout loud enough to rival Héctor’s.

               “That’s it, Miguelito! One more!” He crows out again and again, the shouts blending with Miguel’s trills and laughs. Miguel shouts a couple more times, then sucks in a deep breath to let out the loudest grito he can. But all at once, he chokes on the sound, and a loud sob escapes from him instead.

               Héctor immediately pulls the boy toward him, paying no mind as Miguel drops the guitar to clutch him as the grief and stress from the day finally erupts out of him. He rests a hand on Miguel’s head as he hugs the boy to him.

               “Está bien, está bien, Miguel,” he murmurs, keeping still as Miguel weeps against him. “You’re okay. Take as long as you need.”

               He’s not really sure how long they stand there, but he makes no movement aside from a back rub or hair ruffle as Miguel continues to cry. He needs this; more than anything today, Miguel needs this moment. Eventually, he does gradually start to wind down, sobs fading to tears fading to hiccups and sniffles. He goes limp against Héctor, exhaustion winning out over anything else. Héctor finally pulls himself away from Miguel, looking at him for a long moment before turning and stooping down.

               “Come on, hop up.”

               Miguel doesn’t argue as he climbs up on Héctor’s back, burying his face into his shoulder. As they start walking, he hoarsely says, “But your guitar. I…”

               “It’ll be here when I get back,” Héctor assures lightly as he makes his way back to the service stairs. Miguel lets out a breath as he nods, head falling back to Héctor’s shoulder. He stays quiet the entire way back to the apartment; Héctor’s fairly certain he’s fast asleep. He’s very careful to keep quiet as he makes his way back to Miguel’s room, and he’s extremely careful as he sets Miguel in the bed. He throws the blankets over the boy—he’d never figured out what tucking someone in entailed, so this will have to do—and half-smiles as he stands back up.

               Well. One day down. Maybe they both could survive this.

               He just starts to turn when he hears a very quiet voice ask, “Héctor?”

               He turns back around—it looks as though Miguel’s fast asleep—but he kneels down beside the bed all the same. “Sí? What is it, chamaco?”

               Miguel shifts, and suddenly two arms are wrapped tightly around Héctor’s neck.

               “Thank you, Tío Héctor.”

               That’s all he says before pulling back and turning over to fall asleep. Héctor, meanwhile, stays put, eyes wide. With some difficulty, he swallows the lump in his throat and stands up, giving Miguel’s hair one last ruffle before he steps out of the room.

               It hits him, now, that the trouble might not be Miguel staying with him. It’s only been one day, but he’s already keenly aware that saying goodbye to the little chamaco might be the hardest thing he’ll ever have to do.

[Part 2: La Directora] [Part 3: Skipping Class] [Part 4: An Unannounced Visit] [Part 5: The Roommate] [Part 6: Día de Muertos (Pt. 1)] [Part 6: Día de Muertos (Pt. 2)] [Part 7: A Birthday Livestream]

(Also Wit came up with the titles because she’s awesome and I was too preoccupied with crying about  Tío Héctor to come up with titles.)

[kpopchangedme]

Capture the Flag: The Trade

Two teams, a lot of snow & a simple common goal. The only problem is that you’re on a losing streak and Jaebum, your nemesis, is way too good at this game...

GOT7 Masterlist

Protagonists: Im Jaebum & you

Word Count: 3.6k

Genre: SFW - Fluff - Enemies to Lovers - Highschool!AU - Inspiré par La Guerre Des Tuques

Lys’ note: Part of my VDay’ Collab for the @kpoptrashnetwork! Read @greasygyeom Yugyeom’s One Shot Capture The Flag: The Absconding!

In the middle of the white field of snow stands your old friend, Youngjae. His face is scrunched, whipped by the cold wind of the winter, if there were price to pay for not choosing a side it’d be that one; freezing to death. There’s absolutely no shelter from the bad weather in the neutral zone, the small flat ground separating the two enemy bases. Youngjae is still waiting to talk, trying to gather the attention of everybody across the playground, even though he’ll fail like always. You wiggle expectedly from one foot to the other, partly to not let your toes freeze, but also because you’re especially anxious today.

Nobody really knows how this all started, only that it’s been a school tradition between students for years; two teams, two elected Captains, a referee, a list of rules and two flags. Both teams spend weeks of winter building a snow stronghold, working on their strategies and praying for the weather to be on their side. Then comes the final week of the game; four evenings after school without adult supervision where the two teams face off with everything they’ve got.

“Captain Im is still staring at you, y/n.” Mark leans closer, nudging you with his elbow. “Try to not move around so much, perhaps he won’t notice how nervous you–”

“It’s freaking -15ºC, Tuan. Maybe if you thought harder about your strategies instead of studying where Jaebum is looking, you’d be able to beat Jinyoung at it for once!”

“Ouch, I’m hurt.” Mark touches his coat where his heart hides under, chuckling. “I don’t think my strategies are what’s causing our losing streak you know… I’m starting to believe your heart isn’t really in it!”

Gasping at the implication, you feel your cheeks heat behind the secrecy of your scarf. “Shut up!” You scowl and Mark laughs, only amused by your perpetual anger. He’s been bringing this up a lot these days, always teasing you about your rival. “As if, Jaebum’s the enemy and he’s an assh–”

“No fight within the teams!” Youngjae points to you both, raising his voice so everybody can hear. Your eyes catch a smile on Jaebum’s face at the other side of the playground and you curse him under your breath.

Today is the day you win; you’ll wipe that smug off his perfect face.

Im Jaebum. Your nemesis, the Captain of the Blue team. If he were Achilles, you’d be Hector and tonight; the battle of your life.

“Is everybody already here?” Youngjae clears his throat and both teams purposefully ignore him as always. “Great! Before beginning, let me remind you all one last time; no weapons are allowed on site!” There’s a collective groan from the two small crowds. “No fireworks this time! Snow and your open hands are your only tools, did you hear me Bambam?!” Youngjae sighs, discouraged. “That being said; we’ll proceed as always. You have to wear your hat from your team’s colour at all time! Each team will go back to its castle and its flag and you’ll only be allowed to leave when you hear my siren... If I see somebody trying to cross the neutral zone bef–”

“We get it! Everyday’s the same!”

“Thanks for the unnecessary intervention Jackson, but there’s no interrupting the referee!” Youngjae shakes his head, like his role is unbearable and you roll your eyes at his lack of authority. “Anyway, after the siren, you are free to leave your castle to invade the other team’s. The first team to successfully secure the other’s flag and bring it back to its own castle wins the battle! For the last fight of the year, the score is…” Youngjae pauses dramatically and you clench your teeth, annoyed. “3 – 0 for the Blue Team!”

There’s an uproar on the enemy’s side of the field while Red team stays quiet behind you. You stare at Jaebum’s silhouette as he proudly raises both arms under a thunder of claps, muffled by mittens. Show-off.

“Red team”, you growl, “I don’t care what it takes to defeat those jerks. Tonight, they’ll see RED!” There’s a loud racket of approval accompanying your words. Your teammates even begin to energetically jump, the sound of their boots on the solid snow reverberating through the air. Across the field, the smug on Jaebum’s lips straightens, usual arrogance cooled a bit by the high spirits of your troops. That’s right Im, you’d better prepare for a damn war. Your lips curl upwards, a new confidence warming your body; Red team would never go down without a mighty fight.

You barely avoid a chunk of ice flying near you by rolling on the ground and let out an angry hiss through your clench teeth. Ice is supposed to be prohibited, but amid a fight with snow flying all over the place, it’s hard to prove the throw was voluntary. Plus, you’re attacking the north facade of the Blue’s snow fort and Youngjae is monitoring the neutral zone where most people usually fight, which is south from here. The north facade isn’t usually guarded since it’s near the end of the playground, on the outskirts of the woods, and all entries to the Blue stronghold are facing the neutral zone. Still, a few enemies followed your troop there, probably suspicious you were on a special mission or something. They are right, but it’s part of Mark’s scheme. Around you, boys from all ages are fighting, pushing and throwing; your teammates are doing a great job creating a diversion.

The enemies don’t even give you a second glance; the girl attempting to climb the 7 feet ice wall. You usually go unnoticed, that’s partly why you were chosen for the special mission. In an almost all boys’ competition, you’d think they would give the only two girls playing a little attention, but they ignore you both and let you do what you want. Except Jaebum, that jerk is always picking a fight with you. For once, he’s probably fighting someone else at your own castle at this very moment.

As for the only other girl, she’s from Blue Team and a complete mystery to you. She’s a real danger though, they say she has a mind of her own and is a total badass. So far today, she’s nowhere to be seen, it’s worrisome but you can’t think about her. Right now, all your efforts are put in the endeavor that is the escalade of the ridiculously high fortification of the Blue fort. Seriously, how did they even successfully build that thing? No wonder the Red haven’t got a single win yet! Their stronghold is almost impenetrable this year. Jinyoung, their strategist, probably worked on the plans all Fall, he’s way too invested in the game, even more than you or Jaebum. The climb would be a nearly impossible challenge for anyone else, that’s why their walls aren’t guarded, but you aren’t anyone. Only Mark knew you spent all your summers climbing mountains all over the country with your father. That’s the other reason why you were chosen for the invasion today, put your skills to good use.

When you finally reach the edge of the fort, you throw both legs inside, not bothering to look to see if there’s an opponent. Down on the ground of the Blue’s castle, you lower your scarf under your chin to make your breathing easier and recover. You’re already all wet from the physical effort. There’s three openings in the huge fort, but they’re heavily guarded. They’ve been keeping the same defense strategy all week; four guys by each door while every other player is on the field. The whole point of your mission is to sneak in without a physical fight, Red has been failing all aggressive invading attempts these past days. You reach the center of the fort without any encounters, just like Mark predicted, the enemies are all out attacking your own castle.

You must hurry to grab their flag and go back before they succeed in stealing yours. You believe in your teammates back at the fort, but they can only push the Blue invaders back for so long before someone slips in and catch it. Mark is with most of your team, taking care of the defense of your Red banner. While Jaebum team’s usually opting for many strong attacks, yours voted for a defensive strategy with a single attacking troop for the last game; you and the diversion guys causing chaos outside. Tonight, things are looking great, the hard part is done, you’re now in the center of the rival stronghold, completely alone. Getting out with the banner will be easy since they won’t be expecting the enemy to come from inside their castle.

Wait a second, where’s the Blue flag? You freeze, looking at the empty lonely pole in the middle of the circular ice room. It’s not here. The flag is to never leave its original fort expect for the capture, it’s one of the rules! There’s no way someone from your team already stole it, the plan–

“Not on the defense duty today?” A boy you hadn’t spotted earlier walks out of one of the corridor in front of you, leisurely, almost teasing. He’s around 16 years old with sharp eyes and wears a blue hat pushed so far down you can barely see his eyebrows.

“Jaebum”, you groan, irritated. “Looks like we actually switched roles.” He nods, taking a step to the right and you mirror him. You’re both used to meeting like this, since Jaebum’s his own strongest attacker while you usually assume the defense of your flag. The situation appears to be reversed for the last game, maybe it’s something like faith. You’re destined to fight each other, only tonight; you’ll win. Find his weakness – Achilles heel – make sure his arrogance is his own undoing.

“Well”, he cocks his head contemptuously and you just know he’s smirking under his scarf, “I’m glad, I was a bit sad when I thought about not seeing your pretty face today…”

“Shut up”, you’re both slowly tracing circles in the room, walking around the pole in the center. “Where’s the flag, dickhead?” Jaebum laughs at your insult, the sound making your skin crawl.

“Dickhead? Tst!” He takes a step forward and you back up by reflex, colliding with the ice wall. “The flag hasn’t leave my fort –” Jaebum throws his hands to the sides, gesturing the whole empty place. “You know I love to live by the rules…”

Grimacing, you study him anew; he’s wearing a simple black coat with snow pants of the same color and a scarf is covering most of his face. There’s only one place he would hide it; under his clothes. It’s nothing new, the Blue Team used that technique very often last year, back when Chansung was still in school and their elected chief.

“I guess I’ll have to come get it then.” Jaebum frowns at your confidence, uncertainty passing on his features for the second time today.

“I know you, y/n! You wouldn’t da–” He never gets to finish this sentence, because in no time, you’re jumping on him. The boy lets out a muffled grunt when the air is expelled out of his lungs and you both fall on the cold ground. “Are you nuts?”

Right now, you don’t care what it looks like. The Red team needs a win, you won’t go down in school’s history as the first female Captain with absolutely no win for your first winter. You’re sitting on top of him, trying to shove his zipper down while Jaebum’s wiggling, panicking under you. His reaction’s off; if he hid it under his coat, he should have expected somebody would try to steal it. The struggle is draining; there’s nothing quite as exhausting as wrestling in snowsuits. You’re almost thankful when Jaebum shifts his weight to flip you both and cages you between his knees.

“God, you’re heavy!” He fails to avoid your elbow flying to his head and you accidentally shove his scarf down, uncovering his face. “Hey! That’s an illega– humpf” Jaebum winces when your fist finds his stomach, although the hit is mostly absorbed by his layers of clothing.

“I’m not heavy, you asshole!” You’re about to hit him again, but he grabs both of your hands, pining them above your head.

“I know you want a win...” Jaebum pants, tired from the struggle. “But if you hit me again, girl… I swear, I won’t hold b–”

Without warning, you jump, pushing your hips away from the ground and trying to make him fall off you. You successfully destabilize him, but instead of using the opportunity to wiggle away, you’re completely frozen still. Jaebum may not have been expecting your hip thrust, but you definitely weren’t expecting his sudden proximity. To keep the upper hand and his balance, he lowered himself on you. He’s so close that you can feel his breath on your cheek and see every single one of his dark eyelashes perfectly.

“What are you doing?” You wiggle, uncomfortable and trying to free your hands from his. If he were a gentleman, he’d let you go, but instead he holds the position, staring at you with his eyelids lazily half closed.

“Holding you down with my body.” His voice is hushed, so low it feels like he’s telling a secret. “Enjoy every second of this honey, you made me do it.” Your original confusion turns to anger at the pet name and you glare at him threateningly.

“Get off!” For a second, you still and he hesitates, seemingly pondering.

“I thought you wanted my flag.” Jaebum chuckles and hot air brushes your face. Despite yourself and the freezing weather, you shudder treacherously, body catching fire and cheeks tinting red.

“Well, there’s no way you’re giving me that…” You hate yourself for it, but when you murmur, without really meaning to, you glance at his mouth.

You’ve never been this close to a boy, let alone actually kiss one. Even if you’re fighting, this feels somewhat intimate. Jaebum lips seem so close, soft and intriguing. Blushing, you blink, trying to erase your thoughts and he shifts his weight, pressing you down on the cold ground even more. Jaebum exhales slowly, taking a moment to look around the empty room like he’s searching for somebody.

You can hear the screams mixed with laugher from the game raging on outside the fort. It’s only a question of time before one of his teammates comes in and finds you both like that. It’d be horribly humiliating, people would misread the whole situation. Jaebum has quite a heartbreaker reputation in school, he’d brush it off and laugh, but you couldn’t. You’re the one who’s the best at everything she tries, the one who intimidates the boys, you’re the first girl to be elected Captain of the Red Team; you don’t lose to anyone. Not even freaking Im Jaebum. That’s why this week of games has been hellish and you’re probably just losing your mind because of this arrogant jerk.

“I-I don’t know... I might.” When Jaebum looks back at you, you stop breathing.

“W-what?” You gulp and he chuckles again, glancing at your parted lips.

“We both have something the other wants”, he clears his throat, taking a more formal tone, “I’m proposing a secret trade.” You raise a brow with skepticism; you have absolutely nothing that Jaebum would need. “Captain to Captain.” He adds, lips curling upwards.

“Anything.” You breathe out and his expression flickers between shock and incredibility for a moment. He hadn’t realized you’d take the deal. “I really need that flag.” You need more than the Blue flag; you need to bring it back to your fort too. You need the Red Team to score one point, just one. Blue Team would still win this year’s games, but Red’s reputation would be saved. Now it’s a question of honor.

“Anything?” There’s a new longing to his voice and you hold his gaze, anxiety and perhaps something foreign growing in your stomach. You nod slowly, barely able to move as Jaebum licks his lips and glances at yours again, eyes feverish.

Maybe you’re not the only one losing your mind.

Is Im Jaebum about to kiss me? Why would he trade something as precious as a flag for that? The school heartthrob and you; it makes absolutely no sense. It’s supposed to be Red versus Blue, not Red making out with Blue. You’re both sworn enemies, this is wrong. Mark would never let you live if he found out you had your very first kiss with the infamous Im Jaebum. Still, against all better judgement, you close your eyes, waiting for something to happen. You hope you didn’t misunderstand him, you’d looked so foolish right now. Jaebum’s breath seems to creep on your cheek forever before his lips brush yours.

Right there, on the floor of the enemy’s castle, nothing so wrong has ever felt more right.

His kiss is delicate, gentle and short. He pulls back, but you stay still, eyes shut and toes curled tight, too timid to act. Jaebum chuckles lowly before leaning into you again, this time releasing your hands to rest on his elbows more comfortably.

The second kiss quickly evolves in something else, dangerous; annihilating space and time. You move too, molding into him in response and you both seem to forget yourselves. This is why people kiss so much, you think as you begin to question reality; this sensation is both blissful and alarming. Jaebum’s lips part, tongue testing your mouth. You allow him access, without really knowing how, but craving the taste of him. He explores you as you wrap yourself tighter around him, losing it.

You want more. Your tongue finds his, gently fighting and teasing it until a sound dawns in Jaebum’s chest. It’s another new discovery, an instinctive vibration that reverberates to your bones, something rough but delightful, savage but formidable. Another wrong that’s nothing but exquisitely right. You feel him smirk his usual stupid grin in your mouth, but for once you don’t mind. You want to hear him make that sound again, want to reexperience that vibration in him on your chest, without layers of clothing between your bodies.

Unfortunately, Jaebum pulls back panting like when you wrestled earlier. Fighting in snowsuit might be arduous but making out is even harder. He sits back in awe, finally getting off and releasing you. As you stand up too, still shaken up, you find the lack of him even worse than being trapped. Avoiding your gaze, he opens his coat and reaches under his sweater. He retrieves the folded precious navy flag and hands it to you with both hands, almost ceremoniously. You blush taking it, if you weren’t wearing giant gloves, you’d probably feel the warmth of his body lingering on it.

Jaebum clears his throat. “Remember that the trade must absolutely stay secret.” His words, spoken candidly, almost knock the air out of your chest. Of course, he’s ashamed he kissed you, he’s Jaebum and you’re y/n! Still, he’s the one who initiated the trade; the flag for a kiss. It wasn’t your idea.

“You think I’d boast about making a pact with the Devil? Trading a kiss for a win?” His face falls and he narrows his eyes. Already, you’re regretting your words. You don’t know much to relationships, but you’re pretty sure you shouldn’t let something fake, like this whole competition, taint something that felt as real as that kiss.

“Wow, who’s acting like an asshole now?” Jaebum frowns and you open your mouth to apologize, but he goes on: “I just meant that we’d get into trouble if people found out. Youngjae might not be a scary arbiter, but I assure you Jinyoung is terrifying. He’d never leave me alone if he knew I gave you this.”

“I’m sorry…” You nod, thinking about Mark and the rest of your Red teammates. They didn’t elect you Captain to make out with the enemy. You blush, embarrassed by your actions.

“But since you brought it up, we haven’t determined clearly what I get from this trade…” He closes the space between you, pushing until you’re trapped between the ice wall and his body. “You say I’m the Devil…”  You swallow when he leans in slowly, chills spreading on your whole body but not from the cold. He licks his lips again and you shut your eyes, expecting him to kiss you. Instead, Jaebum wet lips brush your ear, right where your red hat ends, and he blows softly, making you shiver. “Then I’ll be back to claim your soul next time.”

Your eyes shot open when he bursts out laughing, backing away. You smile, watching his eyes crease cutely. You get his reputation now; the Captain of Blue Team is deliciously handsome when he’s smiling and not being a jerk. After all, even Achilles was famous for his charming ways. A sudden profusion of loud screams outside catch your attention back and Jaebum groans, annoyed. Seems like your diversion is still ongoing.

“I believe that’s your cue; shouldn’t you make a run for it?”

You nod, looking around to plan your getaway. You’re conscious the deal was to give you the flag – not to ease your escape – but still, he points to one of the three ice corridors leading to an exit. You don’t even hesitate for second before deciding on this route, choosing to trust your occasional sworn enemy. You smile at Jaebum one last time, finally turning away and running to flee his fort. You just know you’re going to grin all the way to the Red Team’s ice fortress.

Perhaps you really traded your soul for a win after all.

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