#her A-support with Raphael was actually really good

[slxthserenade]

Lysithea: Everyone deserves to be helped sometimes ! We each have our strengths and weaknesses that we should appreciate in earnest. We shouldn’t hesitate to ask others for help.

Lysithea: Not me though lol stay safe out there everyone

[lesbianleonardo]

read the michaelanglo macro issue and ohhh my fucking god ojhhhhh my god

anyway. this page was really cute

[tellius-to-fodlan]

Fódlan dress theories:

Underwear

They must wear underwear, but the silhouettes and exposed skin show that it's not the underwear of an equivalent period of earth history, but I doubt they have the materials for modern underwear, with its rubber elastic and foam. So, what would they wear?

We can see on Raphael that the closest garment to the skin for men (at least in the officers academy) is a shirt fastened with buttons:

Shirts of an equivalent time in Europe wouldn't open in the front, but that's not really relevant. I imagine the shirt is made of linen for easy laundering.

As for the bottom, I assume that men and women alike wear linen braies. They can probably be omitted by people wearing long skirts and not riding horses in favor of bare pussy for ease of toilet access when wearing an outfit that makes taking off underpants difficult/time consuming. They're probably short and close fitting, making tight pants easier to wear without obvious panty lines. My evidence besides history:

Look at those little shorts.

As for the apparent leggings some of the girls wear

I bet those are woolen hose, which fasten to the braies.

What about bust support, though? Well, the lifted silhouette is more like a modern push-up bra than anything else, but since I'm assuming they don't have the elastic and foam those are made of, my next guess is regency style short stays

They give considerable lift to the bust without giving a particularly distinctive silhouette like a longer support garment would.

Now, we get one mention of underwear in the game, and that's Dorothea's lost piece of cloth, which was unrecognizable as clothing to Caspar, so I'm assuming it's an unshaped rectangle. My hypothesis on the purpose of this cloth, which I have no historical evidence for, is that it wraps around the torso under the stays to serve at a buffer between the tough, but difficult to launder stays, and the sweaty, sensitive skin. We see no evidence of a chemise or shirt over Dorothea's ample bust, while a wrapped rectangle could be positioned directly at the stay line for total concealment, held on solely by the stays, would have a plenty of wiggle room for weight gain, and only requires hemming, making it a solid skin layer option for a lady on a tight budget who wants to show off her assets. Although given the lack of obvious voluminous chemises on any of the ladies, this could be a common choice across social classes.

Then..... There are the people who don't seem to have underwear on their torsos at all.

I'd guess that Judith is relying on clever tailoring for support, Dorothea's armored girdle does the job for her, and Manuela actually has something really interesting going on, with her bodice being laced close under the bust, and then the breast cups suspended from her neckband for lift. I want to try making that dress.

However, the pre-automatic washing machine laundress in me is screaming at the good fabric right next to the skin. I want to believe that these garments have removable linen linings where they touch skin. Maybe that's what's tied across the back of Dorothea's shoulders.

[niphredil-14]

ROTTMNT With a Witch! S/o

Just a quick reminder that requests are open!

Leonardo:

- we all know that Leo is a magic nerd, though he may have a slight preference for stage magic over the actual, less show-y magick.

-i feel like Leo would love to have a witch as a partner, and would probably get into some basic, low energy types of spells as a result. He would be your biggest fan, and would want to help with most of your spells.

-he will be devastated if you say no, but sometimes it's just easier without this tease-prone ball of energy inside of the circle, you know?

-will BEG for you to do spells for him!! even for the smallest issue, he would be kneeling at your feet giving them the biggest puppy eyes with a matching pout.

-i can see him getting into glamour magick as a primary form of magick for him.

-all the magick-themed pick up lines. anytime you do anything he just tells you how you've enchanted him and how he's completely under your spell, how he's convinced that he must have drank a love potion, etc.

Donatello:

-not a fan for a good long while. will go on about his "science is fa superior to your little dumdum magic!!" until you hit him with the "magick's success and cause and effect has stood the test of time, people would not use it if it did not work. and btw magick is just science that we don't yet have the technology to understand."

-after that he would be like "okay challenge accepted!" and would probably conduct a ton of experiments on the movement and manipulation of subtle energies, and how the placebo affect effects spellwork, etc.

-i feel like he wouldn't participate in any spellwork outside of his experiments, at least not until he got his ninpo, at which point he would do a ton of studying about the occult.

-he'll warm up to it eventually, but i don't think it would ever be something that he ever really found a passion in.

-i could see him combine some of his chemistry knowledge with your occult knowledge to help you with potions though!

-he might like tech magick, or adding spells/sigils in with his tech, but i don't think you'd ever find him doing any more than that unless you get him to.

Michaelangelo:

-IS ENTRANCED

-loves magick, loves mystics, loves you

-would take any and every oppurtunity to engage with/ help with your magick! He wants you to teach him everything you know, and I feel like he would learn a whole lot on his own, and the two of you would just bounce ideas off of each other.

-we all know that Mikey becomes a super powerful mystic, so with you by his side?? power couple!! (everyone is afraid of the two of you.)

Raphael:

-supportive but does not understand. like at all.

-will bring you every crystal he sees, every rock, every branch, every flower, and (if you're a vulture culture kinda witch) every bone.

-he likes to watch you do magick if you're comfortable with it, but wouldn't dare try to participate in the spell. he's just a big ol' fanboy.

-i feel like he would love protection magic, it's very important as someone with a job as dangerous as his. if you were to make him some kind of protection amulet, he would probably cry. He's the oldest, he's used to having to protect everyone else, he's not used to anyone trying to protect him. He would never take it off, and if it ever did it's job as much as it could, and finally broke, he would cry, please make him another.

-he would probably crochet some blank poppets for you, that could easily be customized.

April:

-SO FUCKIN INTO IT

-(please help her make fun and flashy assignments that won't backfire like Donnie's tech does!)

-I think she would love to help out in your spells as much as you'll let her, but knows better than to overstep. This is your thing, she understands that you're the boss when it comes to mystic stuff, and just enjoys being along for the ride.

-would pay you to do spells for her, she isn't a fuckin freeloader (like LEO), she knows that it's a craft, and that the hard work you do deserves to be compensated, and if you don't let her paay you for spells because you love her, then she'll just insist on paying for your next date, or buying you that trinket you've had your eye on for a while. you can't stop her.

Cassandra:

-she only cares if you can do spells to help her conquer the world (and if you can hex her enemies c:<)

-no but forreal i think she would love to have a witch lover, and would want to participate, she'd be the BEST at raising energy for spellwork and ritual!

-i think she'd actually make a super powerful practitioner once she learned how to direct her energy

-she would 100% collect bones, so if you're the type of witch to like that, then she may just give you a few from her collection.

-bitch would SLAY at baneful magick

Casey Jr.:

-an alt boy and his witchy partner, is there a better combo than that?

-seriously though, I feel like he would love to just sit around while you were doing magick, he likes to watch, and likes it even more if you teach him anything.

-i feel like he would really only ever use magick for others though. Like if he was struggling, the thought of doing a spell to help himself doesn't even cross his mind, but one of his friends or family members has even the slightest issues and he's jumping for his athame (he would def mainly use an athame, a pretty basic and minimalistic one though).

-another one who just brings you anything he can find that's even slightly related to your craft, and brags about how amazing you are to everyone, all the time.

-please teach him how to use tarot, he wants to commune with the spirits. he'll be responsible, he swears c:

[fabuloustrash05]

10 Donatello Headcanons

He’s fluent in the most languages out of his brothers. He knows Japanese (Leo is more fluent than him tho), French, Latin, knows Morse code, sign language and can read lips.

He has secret storage areas and safes hidden around the lair to keep personal things away from his brothers such as sweet treats and snacks, rare collector items and spare cash.

He helps make his family money by working part time as a hotline for IT support, helping people fix their computers and other tech items through a phone call.

He is the one everyone trusts the most with personal matters. Oftentimes his brothers or friends will visit him in the lair while he’s working and rant to him about their day/problems. Everyone says he’s “such a good listener” because he doesn’t judge or interpret you. He just agrees and nods along as they talk. Turns out (and unknown to everyone), he isn’t actually paying attention or even listening. He’s too focused on his work to realize someone is using him as a free therapist.

He has written hundreds of love letters/poems confessing his feelings for April, but she hasn’t read a single one of them. He never had the courage to give her any of them, thinking they weren't good enough, so Donnie stores and hidden them in one of his many secret safes he has hidden around the lair.

He loves peanut butter. His favorite types of snacks or treats have peanut butter in them. Reese's peanut butter cups, PB&Js, apple slices dipped in peanut butter, you name it!

He’s terrified of large needles and getting shots. He also has a slight fear of bees/wasps/hornets, specifically because of their stingers. But unlike Raph, he is better at hiding this little phobia.

The gap in his tooth was caused because he was a thumb sucker as a baby. Though Splinter tried his best to stop this bad habit while Donnie was growing up, Donnie didn't stop sucking his thumb till he was 4 years old, resulting in the gap teeth. So he really needs braces.

He loves romantic comedies. They are his guilty pleasure.

Despite everyone's assumptions, the debate of science vs magic does not bother him. He's experienced magic and paranormal things before so to him there’s no point in arguing about it. What truly gets under his skin is stupid over the top conspiracy theories such as "gravity is not real", "moon landing was fake", "the earth is flat", etc. Shinigami is the one who likes to mess with him the most on this subject since she knows the magic vs science discussion wont make him snap.

Michelangelo Headcanons | Raphael Headcanons | Leonardo Headcanons

[graysparrowao3]

Baldur's Gate 3 Fic Masterlist

Last updated Dec 24th 2024

Hi there, I'm Gray (or Sparrow!)! I didn't really want the 'ao3' to be always at the end of my name, but I got the username and title mixed up when I was making the account, and here we are lol.

I really enjoy writing Baldur's Gate 3 fanfic, especially based on Rolan, Cal, and Lia but most anyone really, especially NPCs (and, apparently, an unexpected redemption series featuring Rugan and Aradin that broke me).

I've loved finding so many friends and talented folks in the fandom, please feel welcome to connect 💛

[Fic list under cut]

Multi-Chapter fics - Mature & Explicit

What if Rolan was a Companion. Complete. Mature Follows the game with Rolan as a companion and gn!Tav. Good ending.

What if Rolan was a Companion... and Everything Went Wrong. In progress, we're back baby! Companion piece to the above. The game with Rolan, angst, and pain. Bad ending.

The Elturian Prodigy - Currently In progress, Explicit due to violence. A story of Rolan, Cal, and Lia, or 'What Baldur's Gate 3 looks like in my head'.

What if Kanon Lived. In progress, not published. An alternate timeline of the game in which, you guessed it, Kanon lived.

Rolan, Cal, & Lia One shots - General/Teen

A Perfectly Reasonable Exchange. General. Rolan and gn!Tav go on a romantic walk, then Cal and Lia ask how it went.

The Bet. General. Cal and Lia try to keep romantic liaisons secret from Rolan.

Distraction. General. Lia must distract Rolan and Cal so her lover can sneak away.

Our Turn. Teen and Up. Cal and Lia take care of Rolan after he defeats Lorroakan. Emotional hurt. Inspired by this art by @dreaminginpencil.

The Northern Bastards - Aradin & Rugan - Explicit

How To Keep a Man and Lose a Devil. In progress. Explicit sexual content. Aradin makes a deal with Raphael. Concept and title credit to @crowwolf. Spin off fic, follows Parts 1 - 10 (One Night Stand to Ten Out of Ten).

What if Aradin pushed Zevlor too far. Explicit sexual content, dubious consent. ZevlorxAradin. Aradin is a piece of shit. Zevlor puts him in his place. Secret Santa.

A One Night Stand at The Blushing Mermaid. Explicit sexual content, dubious consent. RuganxAradin. Rugan finds a way to shut Aradin up.

A Second Night Stand at The ElfSong Tavern. Explicit sexual content, dubious consent. Aradin hasn't learned his lesson. In appreciation for @benicemurphy.

A Third Night Stand Under the Stars. Explicit sexual content, dubious consent. Aradin hits rock bottom. Rugan reluctantly tries to help him get his shit together. In appreciation for Merdyr.

Fourth Time's A Charm. Explicit sexual content. Rugan is tasked by the Zhent to kill Aradin. It doesn't quite go to plan. Requested by @fangbanger3000

Five Times Too Many. Explicit sexual content. Rugan and Aradin would've been best if they never met again. But they did. In appreciation for @lizziemajestic.

Six Times to Say Goodbye. Explicit sexual content. Rugan and Aradin meet for last time (lies). They've a few things to get sorted out. In appreciation of everyone's support.

Seven Times at Night, Once in the Morning. Explicit sexual content. Rugan and Aradin reconnect with actual mature conversation and sex. Rugan catches feels. In appreciation of Octoberskyies.

Eight Times to Get It Right. Explicit sexual content. There's a lot unsaid and unresolved. Time to say it and resolve it. In appreciation of @faerieologymajor and @vera-king-hrfl. Inspired by ideas from @fangbanger3000, @benicemurphy, and @lizziemajestic.

Nine Times to a Confession. Explicit sexual content. Time for love and making love. In appreciation of @forget-me-maybe and bepisfan69.

Ten Out of Ten. A Perfect Score / Too Good to Be True. Explicit sexual content, Major character death, Graphic depictions of violence. The End. In appreciation for @lemonsrosesandlavender, @theycallmeratt, and rolypoly.

At The Eleventh Hour. Explicit sexual content. Bonus mini chapter. Declarations of love. Finally. Inspired by @benicemurphy.

A Twelfth Night. Explicit sexual content. Aradin uses Speak With Dead.

Lucky Number Thirteen. Explicit sexual content. A Happy Ending.

Love Confession Character Analysis (not explicit)

Brew, love? Rugan and Aradin drink some tea. Fluff, slice of life.

Oneshots with Other People's Tavs - Various Ratings

The Night at Last Light Inn. Explicit sexual content, Rolan and M!Tav, Nox, share a passionate night, belonging to and in collaboration with @bihanny.

Memories of Clover. Explicit sexual content, drama & romance with @azrielsbbg's F!Tav, Clover, winner of a Rolan fic giveaway.

Touch of The Tempest. Mature. Rolan tries to teach f!Tav, Nuelith, to control her magic, and triggers a terrifying loss of control. For Mandi.

A Wizard Keeps His Word. Mature. Atop the Elder Brain, Gale sacrifices himself for his lovers f!tav, Kira, and Astarion. For @callmesimplyflo.

Happily Ever After. General, Astarion and Ghost (m!Tav), in domestic bliss. Secret Santa for Eddie.

Despair. Deliberation. Defiance. Mature. The Dark Urge is confronted and comforted by Jay, f!Tav, after slaying a tiefling bard. For jayofthenorth.

Rolan Lore / Head Canon - General

Rolan romantic line suggestion

Descent into Avernus / BG3 theme

Player-is-evil Rolan ending suggestion

Letters from Rolan

Auntie Ethel Vicious Mockery 1

Auntie Ethel Vicious Mockery 2

Rolan, Cal, and Lia react to Ramazith's Tower bathroom

Environment in Ramazith's Tower post-game

Ramazith's Tower post-game part 2

Rolan 'dating service video script'

Rolan's Hair

Cal's Hair

Cal post-game

Other Oneshots - Various Ratings

What if Lorroakan was Named Larry Pickle. Mature, Comedy with a lot of silliness and 4th wall breaks.

In Memory of Kanon. General, Kanon, no!

Commissioned and Gifted Art

Commissioned art for The Elturian Prodigy by Alvin Asiaten.

A beautiful three panel sexually explicit comic based on the intimate scene in Chapter 35 of the 'What if' fic by Lexindre.

A favourite scene from the 'What if' fic, Lexindre drew this incredible piece from Chapter 36 as a birthday gift.

[pumpkinpie59]

oh hey i’m here to remind y’all that 87 actually wrote its female characters pretty well compared to the other shows uwu

april might be known as the damsel in distress, but she has a life outside of the turtles. she is constantly busy with her own goals, deals with two sexist coworkers, supports her girl best friend despite not always agreeing with her choices, and willingly puts herself in danger to get a story when no one else will. even in the red sky seasons when she gets fired, she works her butt off to find evidence to clear the turtles’ name and to get a new job. she’s a powerhouse.

irma is one of the only characters with a noticeable character development, going from an insecure boy-crazy young lady who worries about diets and struggles with clumsiness, and slowly becomes a more independent young woman, following april’s example in taking risks to get results. and even before then, she always snarked back at vernon, her sexist coworker, with no hesitation. her last episode she literally handles a blaster so,,,, queen.

april’s aunt, agatha, is canonically one of the most op characters in the show. she doesn’t usually fight but she has several skills to get the job done without it. but she can still fight; she’s a skilled fencer. she’s a master inspector and always solves the mysteries she comes across. the turtles look up to her and she always steals the show in every episode she’s in.

shredder’s mom is more competent than him and kicks someone’s butt in her first scene. she’s a senior.

tempestra and shreeka are both really fun villainesses who stay memorable despite being in limited episodes.

kala is equal with her two guy friends, zak and dask, and despite being anti war, is brave enough to stand up to krang.

buffy, despite being a brat, was able to escape being kidnapped by the shredder almost entirely by herself and managed to outsmart him several times. she also takes care of her grandfather’s company herself.

mona lisa only has one episode, but it’s entirely her story. she is the one who kicks off the plot, the one who solves the problem, and the one with a backstory and goal. raphael’s just along for the ride.

lotus blossom remains undefeated in combat, able to defeat shredder, bebop, and rocksteady. all at once. she’s treated as leonardo’s equal in combat and earns his respect immediately, despite her cheating to win. in her second episode, we learn her insecurities and some of her background. she has depth and emotions and we see her learn about herself and move forward in her life, all while having good chemistry with leonardo.

obviously there are still flaws in the treatment of women in 87, but considering how women are treated in a majority of tmnt content, 87 did pretty well in general.

[tellmeallaboutit]

Three operas Raphael would take you to (and three operas you would hit back at him with)

Theater, opera and ballet kids, I received a wonderful comment from AO3 user CuddlesWithCats and thought I cannot let it go to waste.

This is the comment (quoted here as received):

Operas I would take Real World Raphael to: (1) Tosca: The rather terrifying, lawful evil Bad Guy gets stabbed to death by the heroine just after he's made a bargain with the her. This is THE most satisfying moment in all of opera. Of course she and her part of the bargain die soon after. (2) Gounod's Faust, specifically the David McVicar 2004 production revived at ROH: There's a dark orgy ballet, which Mephistopheles observes in drag. Seems like it'd be a "wtf" experience. Unless dear daddy actually is into that sort of thing as has made him watch it on loop. (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/10746526/Faust-Royal-Opera-House-review.html) (3) Gianni Schicchi: Lighthearted farce about greedy relatives wanting to forge a will to replace an everything-to-charity one. The "lovable scamp" forger takes advantage of the opportunity to make himself the inheritor of the major assets (because of a background love story). Ends with him asking the audience if it really was wrong (no!), and to forgive his condemned-to-hell soul. Law stuff + likeable doomed soul -stuff. If only Il Tabarro could be the last feature, in stead of the usual first, so the evening could end in a good old-fashioned murder in stead of this admittedly tooth-rotting fluff.

Operas Real World Raphael would take me to:

(1) Gonoud's Faust: A devil (in spite of the name he's just a generic devil, the name isn't even mentioned IIRC, the part is just named that) on stage making a deal for a soul, singing a badass villain aria, having fun and toying with people, one-upping everyone until the last few minutes, and even then it's for just one "extra" soul on top of the deal. (2) Lulu: Twelve-tone serialism should count as torture for us plebes, so that's one. The sexy title character lives The Good Life with little ups and downs (such as the deaths of her two husbands), being adored and rich and famous. After losing the stepfather/lover/benefactor/target of her obsession, who has supported her so far, her life becomes a downward spiral ending as a dead streetwalker. So that's two. Not a threat or reminder at all. (3) Götterdammerung: I mean, there has to be some Wagner here. I think he'd find the ultimate hero getting killed because of an amnesia potion hilarious, and Gods perishing because they had made a bad deal and tried repeatedly to cheat their way out of the consequences, delightful. Plus, almost 6 hours of Wagner would be torture to most people, but ha! I am not most people, it would just mean *two* intermissions for scandalous acts.

[blackjackkent]

OK, off to the Flophouse, our last stop before everything goes Completely To Shit in camp.

Rakha is, at this point, very emotionally drained; she's still wrestling with Gortash's reveal about her history with the cult and the struggle it evoked inside her own mind, AND the showdown with the Harper doppelgangers AND the mind flayer attack AND the "moment of ecstasy" AND Raphael.

(And Naaber, I suppose.)

So she's feeling like a bit of a punching bag. She's also definitely not excited about the Flophouse; the reason they're even interested in it is because of a key they found on the bodies of some of Orin's victims. And while Rakha knows intellectually that they need to find Orin and kill her, she is not looking forward to the moment when they actually come face to face again (by which I mean she is terrified).

No one else in the party is really doing that well either tbh - Wyll is simultaneously mourning his father and desperate to save him, Lae'zel is disillusioned by Rakha turning down Raphael's offer, and Jaheira is running on fumes and mentally taking on responsibility for the lives of this pack of feral cats she now has to herd.

(Minthara, to be honest, is probably in a pretty good mood, comparatively - she slurped the worm so she's feeling powerful, and she supported the alliance with Gortash. She too, though, is definitely low-key scared about the upcoming confrontation with Orin.)

Anyway - in we go.

There are a few people hanging out in the Flophouse lobby (merchants and adventurers trying to get into the city proper), but Rakha's attention immediately homes in on the short fellow in red in the corner.

"I'm looking for a killer," she growls down at him. "A dwarf. Dressed in red. Just like you."

"How dare you! Accusing an upstanding citizen like me!"

"Of being a dwarf! I'm a halfling, you oaf!"

(A/N: Lmao they just stared at each other for a full five seconds or so and then the conversation ended. XD )

[aureliaen]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who was like yeah nah on that info graphic post. I've had it drilled into me how to conduct research because I have a masters in a psych field. The whole thing is doing that "ice cream sales and crime both go up in summer, so it must be that ice cream causes crime" thing. That's not so say there's not an issue with sexism in fandom, but the people who are writing fanfics about people who they relate to more are not the problem here.

It's good to hear from someone who has actual experience with research! I'm not an expert by any means, just casually interested in statistics/debate/rhetoric, with some undergrad experience.

But yeah, exactly. I definitely believe sexism is a problem in some parts of the fandom (and the game itself), but what are fanfic writers supposed to do about any of that? More than that, no one is actually hurt by Mizora having fewer fanfics written about her than Raphael. It's a non-issue.

But that's not even the most annoying thing lol. I really hate it when people cherry-pick data to support their existing claims, and try to sneak glaring inconsistencies in logic under the guise of fair comparisons. The worst part is that it really works - people don't think about it critically, they just hit reblog and start ranting in the tags about how the fandom sucks and how we're all misogynists bc Nere has a dozen more fanfics than Z'rell. Like. Ok.

Not to mention, even if they did prove female characters in similar settings are consistently not written about as often (which they didn't), it's still a long way to proving the reason for that is misogyny.

It shouldn't set me off as much as it did, but it's like every other day I go into Gortash's tag and see people complaining that he's popular. Wish the fandom would get a grip lmao. And stop posting hate in the character's tag.

[glubby-guppiez]

*I MADE A TMNT AU [WIP]

*cw: typing quirk

*Oroku family info

*Basic synopsis

*Turtles are from a zoo in Guatemala

*The turtles are Central American Snapping Turtles

*They were stolen and mutated by Baxter Stockman

*Baxter Stockman is the main villain and the turtles work to stop him because he is too far gone and has hurt so many people and creatures in his quest for vast knowledge and is completely apathetic

*)(amato + Foot clan does not affect the story

*The turtles + Splinter lived in Guatemala until they met April and then they moved to New York to go after Stockman

*The turtles start off as regular mutant turtles, but early on during the events of the AU, get mutated further into dragons (friends idea)

*Character Info

*Shared info about the turtles

*Central American Snapping Turtles *All were originally named by the zoo *When they are mutated into dragons, their heights increased *The mutation process was very painful *Wings grew out of their backs and broke their shells at the top where the wings grew *Knows/speaks/writes in Spanish and English *Keeps their original weapons *Learned ninjitsu and self defense similarly to Mutant Mayhem and Bayverse via books and videos but also by watching humans at the dojo that is right above where they live

*Michelangelo

*)(e/)(im Cis male *5'11" (Pre-Dragon) *7'2" (Post-Dragon) *Very muscular build *Lost one of his right toes *Wears cheap gym shorts and an orange sweater around his shoulders that soon turns into his mask after he mutates into a dragon (tears off a sleeve) *Nunchaku on belt *Stickers on shell, including an anime sticker Raphael put on as a joke that won't come off *Old mask had the iconic Mikey short tails *Gay *The Leader *Optimist *Actually good at strategizing *Tries to stay energetic and joyful even when it's inappropriate *A little bit insensitive tbh *Not entirely on purpose he just doesn't understand why everyone isn't happy-go-lucky and constantly optimistic like he is *#1 Cheerleader *Tries to keep good relationships with his family *Very loving and supportive of them *Learning empathy is part of his character development *Mondo Gecko becomes a love interest for him later on

*Madonna (Donatello)

*She/)(er Transfem changed name *6'4" (Pre-Dragon) *7'6" (Post-Dragon) *Largest and most muscular turtle because of her Bo training and mechanical handling *Wears skirts and an apron with lots of storage, including a large tool belt *Steal's Raph's clothes even though they are small on her *Paint splats on shell *Braided mask tails *When everyone's masks broke because of the second mutation, she made everyone but Mikey new ones (Mikey immediately tore up his sweater and made a new mask) *Straight *Group inventor *Not very good at organizing her thoughts and explaining her inventions, and tech is always very messy and hard to follow *Personality is like Rise!Donnie but toned down *Doesn't really get mad but sulky *Very bad grammar *Often butts heads with 'Nardo *)(as a large bo collection and only uses her least favorites and never the ones she really likes unless she has to *Small crush on CJ in the beginning (purely one-sided and goes away after a while)

Leonardo

*)(e/)(im Cis male *5'8" (Pre-Dragon) *6'7" (Post-Dragon) *More scrawny and lanky than the rest of the group *Was effected the most by the second mutation out of the group appearance wise *Wears comfortable loose clothes like hoodies and sweatpants *Plain, long tail mask *Wore glasses before second mutation *)(as a dragon carved onto his lower shell (he begged asked Madonna to do it) *AroAce *Main intel of the group *Very observant *Non verbal and writes everything that comes to mind in these journals called: "Big Book of 'Nardo Thoughts" and hopes to publish them one day. *Thinks he should've been the leader *Geography nerd *Otaku

Raphael

*She/)(er Cis female *5'4" (Pre-Dragon) *7'4" (Post-Dragon) *Muscular but chubby build *Wears feminine clothing mainly jeans and crop tops but also skirts and dresses *Mask tied into a nice bow *Madonna put nail polish drawings on her shell *Paints hers and Mikey's nails *Lesbian *Sassy like 1987 Raphael *Very girly and feminine *Very protective of her family *Does have rage strength *A voice of wisdom/reason *Still kind of childish *)(angs out with Splinter a lot *Gets a girlfriend named Marilyn

Splinter

*)(e/)(im Cis male *5'6" *47 *Bushy-tailed Woodrat *Wears a dirty ass expensive silk bathrobe that he stole from a human that he WILL NOT take off *Raph likes to style his fur *Straight ally *Only knows Spanish *Reads a lot and taught the turtles how to read *Great cook *Mediocre dad *Was taken from his own parents at an early age so he has no clue how to parent outside of instinct and books *He's trying he goes to the PTA meetings he goes to them/ref *Brought home a whole bunch of girl books for Madonna when she came out to him *Praises Mikey for his optimism *Adores 'Nardo's writing *Wants a wife so bad

Baxter Stockman

*TW FOR MENTIONS OF ABUSE *)(e/)(im Cis Male *5'5" (Pre mutation) *6'4" (Post mutation) *56 *Black and Brazilian *Buzz cut (Pre mutation) *Skinny build (Pre mutation) *Becomes a fly mutant *Much more muscular post mutation *)(air grows out *Kind of looks like Super Fly *Wears stereotypical lab gear *Questioning AroAce *Very devoted to his work *Abused and neglected his wife (April's mom) and daughter (April O'Neil) *Made the turtles, Shredder, Splinter, and other mutants *Everyone )(ATES him *Rightfully so *)(e uses mech suits to fight like 2012 him in season 1 *CJ is his pupil early on *Kind of a bitch to CJ *Sadistic *This man gets very uncomfortable to be around after he's mutated *Like bro wanting disect and study every living thing he comes across after the mutation *Throws a fit when he's wrong about something *Has a deep desire to be all knowing

April O'Neil

*She/They/It Demigirl *5'8" *19 *Afro Latina *She has dark brown hair styled in afro puffs *Skinny but athletic build *Sports a black and yellow track suit with a white undershirt *Bisexual *Daughter of Baxter Stockman *Tech whiz *Madonna's best friend *Big sister figure to the turtles *Grew up in Guatemala and moved to New York with the turtles and Splinter shortly after meeting them *)(er dad's #1 hater *Fluent in Spanish *Knows English, but it's rough *Uses a gun *Dating Karai

Casey Jones (CJ)

*They/)(e/It Nonbinary (fine with gender neutral or masculine terms) *5'2" *17 *White *)(as that 2000's mid length emo boy haircut *Wears Jeans + Band tee and a lab coat *Main inspo from 2012 Casey design wise *Omniromantic (pref for men) Asexual *Kind of wimpy and doesn't fight *Mainly uses mousers and other robots *Stockman's pupil until he joins up with the turtles *Works alongside 'Nardo and Madonna *Genuinely scared of Mikey *Grew up in New York *Failed Art Class and will have to repeat highschool they are so salty about this it is not even *Geek loser *Main personality inspo from '87 and 2012 Stockman

*I will write about more characters later and more lore but rn this is all you get. If you wanna see specific characters or if you have any questions, feel free to ask me my ask box is open!

[unreadpoppy]

Must like dogs

Raphael x Fem!Tav; Modern AU

Summary: Raphael meets Tav's dogs

Read on AO3

A/N: I thought if I'm going to come back to writing, it needs to be something near and dear to my heart. And what's nearest and dearest then my dogs? This is very self indulgent, very self inserty and possibly a bit OOC. Also, the dogs used here are my IRL dogs, because I love them.

After three months of talking and going on various dates with each other, Raphael and Tav had officially begun dating. During a monthly get together, Tav broke the news to her friends. While some of them did question the age gap between the two, overall, everyone had been supportive.

The night went on as usual, and Tav couldn’t be happier. She was finally in a relationship with someone she really liked and that she could see a future with. Tav was texting Raphael about people’s reactions when Karlach approached her. 

“You know, I never struck Raphael as a dog person.” She said, while drinking some beer. 

Tav put the phone down and frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“Oh, you know, cause you have three dogs.” Karlach took another sip. “And since you guys are dating, he has met them, right?” 

Tav’s eyes widened. “Uhm, not…exactly.” In their short time together, while she had visited - and slept - in his place numerous times, Raphael had never actually set foot inside Tav’s home. Tav could feel herself descend into anxiety. “I-I-I never brought him to my house because I didn’t mention my dogs to him, ‘cause you know, some people are put off by that.” She grabbed the tieflings biceps. “Karlach, what if he doesn’t like dogs and breaks up with me?”

The tiefling woman chuckled. “Wow, soldier, breathe.” She said. “I don’t know him very well, but I doubt he would end things because of a few dogs.” Karlach put a hand on Tav’s shoulder. “Besides, who doesn’t like dogs?”

Tav gulped and nodded. “You’re right. I’ll talk with him about it.” She hugged Karlach. “Thank you.” 

She put a hand on Tav’s head and ruffled her hair. “No trouble, soldier. And if anything goes wrong, you know who to call.” 

Tav nodded, and excused herself, saying she needed to use the bathroom. She locked the door and called Raphael’s number. He quickly picked it up. 

“Hello?” 

“Raphael? It’s me, Tav.” 

“Hello, dear.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “In need of something?”

“No…actually, yes. I need to ask you something very important.” Tav cleared her throat. “In fact, it might be the most important thing I’ve ever asked you.” 

“...go on.” Raphael briefly hesitated. 

“What’s your opinion on dogs?” 

There was a pause. “Why do you ask?” 

“Just answer the question.” 

She heard Raphael sigh. “I am not particularly fond of how energetic and loud dogs can get. I much prefer cats.” 

Tav sighed and then groaned, placing a hand on her forehead. That was not good at all. 

“Tav? What is wrong?” He asked. 

“It’s just…I may or may not have three dogs.” She spoke fast but he was able to understand it. 

“What? How come you never told me about them?” 

“Well, I just thought I would say it if you ever came to my house but you never did so I…I never talked about them.” She heard him sigh. “Please, don’t break up with me.” 

Hearing the way Tav said that, Raphael said that. “I would not do that, dear.” He cleared his voice. “However, if we are to continue this relationship, I will have to go over to your house eventually.” 

“Yeah…” Tav said. She took a deep breath. “We should get this over quickly.”

“I agree. I’ll go to your house tomorrow, around 5 pm-”

“No! That’s the time they eat and they will be very frisky. It’s better if you come earlier, like 2 pm.” 

“...Alright, then I’ll be there at 2 pm. Until then, Tav.”

“Until then. Love you.” She said and turned the call off. She sighed. She would have to have a very serious conversation once she got home. 

…

Raphael didn’t know how he felt. It was not nervousness, as he would never be afraid of meeting some dogs. But he couldn’t help but..worry? He never spent too much time around these animals and so, he didn’t know what to expect. The possibility of things getting out of control made him antsy. On one side, Raphael needed to trust Tav and her competence in keeping her pets in check. On the other, these creatures were unpredictable. 

Reaching his destination, Raphael parked the car outside the building. Tav lived in an apartment, and although he had dropped her off there time and time again, he never entered the building. 

Earlier, Tav had texted him what the number of her apartment was and as he made his way towards her door, Raphael could hear her voice from the other side. 

“You all have to be nice and behave, okay? I really like this guy so don’t blow it for me.” 

Raphael wondered. ‘Was she talking to the dogs?’ He shook his head. ‘No, Tav wouldn’t do this type of thing.’ 

He pressed the doorbell and there was the noise of barking from the other side, followed by Tav saying “Shuuu” to all of them. Raphael took a deep breath.

It would be an interesting afternoon. 

Tav opened the door. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt that barely covered her tights, though he could see that she had shorts on as well. Alongside her, three dogs passed through the door, one barking at him, quickly shushed by Tav. The others sniffed at him. Raphael scrunched his face as he looked at them. 

There was a small one and two medium sized dogs. The smallest has big dark eyes, with gray, white and brown fur and was the first to walk away from him. The one that barked had white and black fur and seemed to be the most agitated. Lastly, the third one had somewhat long black fur, and as soon as Raphael took a step forwards, the black one moved back. 

Tav took his hand. “Come, get inside and I can properly introduce you all.” She brought him to the couch, letting him sit. As soon as he did, the black and white dog walked towards him. 

“That’s Malta, she’s the only girl. Come here.” Tav motioned for her to come near them. Tav grabbed one of Raphael’s hands. “You gotta let her sniff you first. Then, give her a little pet on the head.” 

Raphael looked down at the dog and did not like the way she looked at him. Malta huffed at him. Tav turned to him and said “You have to relax or else they’ll act up.” 

“I am perfectly calm.” Raphael said, prompting Tav to raise a brow at him. His lips formed a thin line. Almost as if to prove a point, he put his hand forwards, allowing Malta to sniff it. Then, he lightly grazed his fingers on the top of her head. 

“Gods, you really are bad at this.” Tav said and chuckled. Raphael raised a brow. “You call that petting?” 

She swatted his hand away and properly gave Malta some love, putting both hands on the dog’s head and scratching her. Then, she kissed her head. Malta’s brown eyes almost turned black with how dilated her pupils were as she looked at her owner. “Good girl! Sit here.” Tav motioned to the spot on the couch next to her that was free, and the dog jumped there, laying down and placing a head on Tav’s lap. 

Raphael couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy, until he reminded himself: It’s just some dog.

During this interaction, Raphael noticed how the small dog and the black dog had laid far away from them on the floor. “Okay, now it’s time to meet the others. Billy, come here!”

The black dog stood up and slowly walked towards Raphael, sniffing his boots. As he did so, Tav caressed his backside. “Billy is the youngest and filled with energy, but he gets a bit shy around strangers. If you give him some scratches, he’ll get back to his normal self.” 

Raphael followed the same motion as Tav, petting his fur. Billy’s tail wagged and he place his front paws in between Raphael’s legs on the couch, getting closer to his face and putting his tongue out to lick his face. Immediately, the man turned his head. “Ugh.” 

Tav chuckled. “I forgot to say. Billy really likes giving kisses.” She put his head towards the dog and he licked her chin. Raphael’s face scrunched. Tav then put a hand on Billy’s chest, where there was a tuft of white fur, and made him get back down. Quickly, the dog settled on the man’s feet, to his dismay. 

Finally, the small dog walked towards them, in a funny way. “That’s Garu. He’s the oldest, at fourteen years old. And he’s the only one that I know the breed of, shih tzu.” 

Garu barely sniffed Raphael and then walked away to somewhere near the couch. Moving his head, Raphael saw a small dog bed on which he laid on. “Garu doesn’t really like hanging around with people. Nowadays, he practically only sleeps.” 

“I see.” A lazy dog. How…charming. 

“So, that was all of them! What’d you think?” If he was honest, he did not like dogs. But, looking at Tav’s face, how she loved these little creatures and how they obeyed her, he could not bring himself to be so harsh. 

Instead, he said. “I could get used to them.” 

Tav gave him the brightest of smiles and kissed his cheek. “Great! Now, let’s watch something.” Tav grabbed the tv controller and turned it on, putting on some cheesy romantic comedy. 

The dogs had behaved throughout the rest of the day, and while Raphael still thought the idea of a loyal dog was boring, if tolerating them would make him look better in Tav’s eyes and allow him to enter her home, he could at least put some effort in. 

[another-lost-mc]

Oh no. The situational portal idea makes what happened to Lilith even more sad, because after a certain point of altitude a portal probably opens leading straight to hell (literally).

So you fall just a tad too far, and end up falling for real.

I have a lot of disjointed thoughts about what I think the actual "fall" looks like (described in AxM), and I had to try and apply those ideas to the Celestial War and what happened to Lilith and her brothers since that situation was very different and a bit more complicated.

The confusing part about Lucifer's rebellion is that they make it sound like this epic battle, but the only angels that fall afterwards (that we interact with) are Lucifer and his brothers. If Lucifer had other supporters that were also banished, we don't really hear much about them because they're not the main characters/LIs of this story. I mean, I get it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. It makes the world and history feel small and incomplete when there's gaping holes in the narrative and what we see in the game doesn't line up with what we're told (or what biblical stories describe).

I've always treated angels and demons as fantasy races rather than religious ones anyway, which is why I don't write them as good or bad, but simply two different species whose actions are the result of their unique biology and their society's guiding principles. While they might be inspired by religious figures or stories, I don't really focus on it in my own writing.

In order to talk about what I picture Lucifer's rebellion/Lilith's demise looked like, I should probably explain what I think typically happens when an angel is suspected of corruption or disobedience that requires some sort of punishment.

Assuming they try other methods that fail, the angel is summoned before the Seraphs who deliberate how to address it. Even though Toodles is who-knows-where, I think it's expected that the angels carry out his wishes. Michael has a stronger connection to him than most other angels, is attuned to his will and knows what sort of resolution is expected even though he's just some omnipresent being at this point. Michael can relay these wishes to the other Seraphs who also feel an inkling of Father's expectations, but there is usually some leeway. The accused angel can speak their case if they're remorseful and the Seraphs basically discuss the options and vote to determine the path forward.

For OM's purposes, I imagine the line up of Seraphs includes: Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Metatron, and Simeon. Seven votes, majority rules if needed but I think most of them can usually agree on things. There's always the chance there's more Seraphs than that, but I do picture some sort of council-like system for discussion/debate as each Seraph has their own insights and potential solutions to share. The Seraphs might change over time as some bounce from the realm (Lucifer) or are demoted (Simeon) and are probably replaced with new angels that earn that ascension.

Anyway, if the accused angel is sentenced (or wishes) to be cast out, the portal that expels them from the Celestial Realm and into the Devildom opens at their feet and they literally fall through the planes of existence until they reach the bottom. I don't imagine it's a painless journey either - burned feathers, broken wings, injuries sustained from impact. But eventually they do reach the ground, and by then the grace bestowed upon them by Father has fled their bodies and is replaced by demonic sin instead.

I'm not sure what determines whether a fallen angel keeps their wings or loses them and gains a demon-like tail instead. Part of me wonders if it has to do with their former rank as an angel. Higher-ranking angels might retain their wings, where lower-ranking angels may lose them since they weren't as close to Father. I have no idea. My only support for that particular theory is that Lucifer (Seraph), Mammon (Throne), and Beel (Cherub) have their wings and were in the first sphere (the highest ranked) angels. Asmo has his wings, but I don't think we're ever told what his rank was - I guess we could speculate his role based on this theory. (I think Satan has a tail vs. wings because he was born as a demon from Lucifer's wings instead, and it's another way to highlight how similar yet different they are from each other.)

Anyway, back to Lucifer's rebellion. I think Lilith's condemnation happened the same way any other angel's punishment would: the Seraphs meet and deliberate the accusation and interpret Father's will and then carry out whatever is decided. Lucifer and his siblings understand the process and plan accordingly to try and derail Lilith's punishment and help her escape, since I don't think Michael and the other Seraphs would've been swayed by his request for mercy. Even if some of them Simeon Meta didn't believe Lilith deserved such a harsh sentence, I think it was something ordered by Father and passed down by Michael to the other Seraphs.

I'm going out on a limb here by saying that I think Father is very fickle and inconsistent, but also exceedingly stubborn and quick to judgement when angels defy him.

For simplicity's sake, I treat Lucifer's rebellion as a prison break gone terribly wrong rather than a full-out war that involved ??? number of rebellious angels and resulted in ??? fallen angels ending up in the Devildom. I think their goal was to simply get Lilith out of the Celestial Realm and evade Father's punishment that way. Maybe they thought they could live in exile in the human world. Maybe Lucifer hoped that they could find sanctuary in the Devildom with his prior connections to Diavolo and the prince's interest in him. I have no idea. I just don't think armed rebellion was going to end any other way than it did, but Lilith was still wounded from Michael's forces trying to prevent their escape. Plans for her original execution were botched by that point and everyone assumed she was going to die from her injuries regardless.

Remember in OG Season 2 when Lucifer and the others were trying to smuggle MC out of the Devildom? Just like the parts of hell outside the Devildom metropolis where it's a bit of a no-man's land and it's less hospitable and far more dangerous to travel, I think there's some murky areas near the Celestial Realm borders that are the same. Lilith's injury led to a free fall where she ended up landing in the Devildom, and her brothers who were formally cast out for their defiance, fell shortly after. I believe the location where fallen angels land can be a bit unpredictable, so in the time it took for Diavolo's forces to find Lucifer's brothers, he had already found Lucifer and Lilith and they were able to make their little agreement without the others knowing the truth about Lilith's fate.

[idkhow-but-im-here]

OK OK OK OK OK

I finally finished Good Omens season 2 and I have so many fucking thoughts which I will list in no particular order:

The Doctor Who references are always golden. (somewhat related: that part when Crowley was bullshitting about war regulations in front of Shax & co in the bookshop? super reminiscent of Ten’s speedy sci-fi jargon)

The music, as always, fucking slaps, especially at the end of each episode when the theme is played in a related style I love it so much

Nina and Maggie!!! I do really like them as a ship (coffee shop + record shop? that’s a built-in au fic) but I also like how they’re not actually together at the end. I love how they’re so healthy in how they go about their potential relationship, both acknowledging how messed up it was for Aziraphale/Crowley to meddle with their lives and how dumb it would be to rush into something headfirst regardless of all the shit they had been through both togther and as individuals. Also Fuck Lindsay all my homies hate Lindsay, as much as I liked what they did with visualising her shitty messages (the blackboard and crumpled notepad sheets? because of coffee shop reasons and how Nina’s work and love life was suffocatingly forced together by the incessant behest of Lindsay)

<The dancing/ball/Jane Austen vibes3

Beezelbub and Gabriel!?!? When I first came across this ship on ao3 I thought this ship made somewhat sense but would stay in the realms of fanon yet here I am disproven and I can’t lie… they’re kinda cute together. I was caught off guard (like every other character) but fair dues to them. Their parallels with the ineffable husbands are just ughh *chef’s kiss*

^alpha centauri!!!^

Peter Davison and Ty Tennant??? Their appearances did make me giggle for meta’s sake. Perhaps a Georgia Tennant appearance in season 3? (if they make it please please please say they’ll make it)

WAS CROWLEY ACTUALLY RAPHAEL??? I thought it was just a headcanon/fan theory (which I did fall in love with after watching this beautiful animatic years ago) but Crowley having access to classified files and the Metatron mentioning that an archangel being cast out has happened before??? it’s becoming more and more plausible.

AND JUST PRE-FALL CROWLEY IN GENERAL HE LOOKS SO HAPPY all he ever did was ask valid questions goddamnit (literally). nebulae are very pretty I would also be indignant if they weren’t gonna stick around for long. AND THE PARALLEL TO THE FIRST EPISODE WITH THE WINGSSS

Crowley just being a good nice decent person all throughout time (the goats, children, helping out elspeth, ect) it makes me happy

ANDD Aziraphale’s reactions (both positive and negative) to aforementioned deeds create a great moral foil to Crowley and perfectly builds up to what we see at the end (I’ll probably write about s2 Aziraphale in a different post because man I have so many thoughts)

Crowley’s callbacks to the date lunch at the Ritz!! Him talking to Nina and Maggie about taking Aziraphale to the Ritz again to him pointing out the lack of a nightingale (idk if that was leaning into meta a little but it didn’t bother me) just HURT so damn much

“Emotional damage support angel” you’re damn right he is/was

The battery-powered candles lmfaooo and literally any reference to the fire, including the absurd number of fire extinguishers, had me giggling

Muriel is a goddamned (or not so in some sense) treasure, a little ray of sunshine with a heart of gold and dumb of ass. I adore her and found Aziraphale and Crowley humouring her hilarious.

THE SECOND COMING??? I’m sorry wHAT WE ALREADY HAD THE ANTICHRIST NOW WE’RE DEALING WITH CHRIST CHRIST? YOU CAN’T LEAVE US WITH JUST THAT MR. GAIMAN

and of course the bloody

K I S S

THAT WHOLE SEQUENCE OF CROWLEY FINALLY FINALLY OPENING UP AND JUST BEING WHOLEHEARTEDLY HONEST (going against his predisposition and entire NATURE to lie/omit or walk around the truth)

CONFESSING HIS TRUE FEELING AFTER COUNTLESS MILLENNIA OF PINING EVEN AFTER AZIRAPHALE DROPPED THAT BOMBSHELL

AND HALF STORMING OFF BEFORE GOING BACK TO KISS THE SHIT OUT OF HIM AND THEN FULLY STORMING OFF

with aziraphale clearly unsure of how to react BUT STILL TOUCHES HIS LIPS IN SHOCK AS HE WATCHES CROWLEY LEAVE

That shit had me fully standing up on the sofa, arms in brace position, gasping, screaming, close to tears, indignantly repeating “NEIL GAIMAN!” every couple of seconds

Truly a brilliant scene and a brilliant season overall.

As always the cast, the writers, the set designers, the effects artists, the costumers, the camera crew, everyone who had a part in creating go2 was fucking fantastic.

[gascon-en-exil]

Awakening has so many "nothing characters" besides Priam, remember Chrom's father? I still find it funny one of the "Rhea bad" arguments said * Like this isn’t the “good guy blue country” we typically see in a FE game. This is Chrom’s father’s Ylisse. Which I find really hilarious to this day given how much that plot poitn was forgotten with the game entirely vindicating the prejudice against Grima worshippers and even when it was brought up, it was to talk about how Ylisse was the true victim of the crusade.

I'll be honest; I barely remember Chrom's father, or anything he did. FE13's story is already impossible to take seriously in between all the fanservice and time travel silliness and how it's all a clumsily stitched-together riff on the first three games on the series in sequence. Asking me to care about the actions of a character who never so much as appears onscreen (or even has a name?) in a game like that is entirely too much.

Of course, that does play into the broader point about FE's character writing. Like I said in response to the Bernadetta ask earlier today, gimmick character writing is inevitable in games like these, which sit awkwardly between party-based RPGs and large-scale tactical games where most/all of your units are generics. Every FE has a handful of one-note playable characters, and NPCs - or characters only ever represented as generics - are naturally going to be deemed less important by players because that's how the developers are treating them. Conservation of detail: if the author doesn't put time and effort into fleshing out a character/nation/whatever, then it logically follows that that element is not intended to be very important. The hierarchy in FE is mostly clear-cut:

Avatars > other playable characters with plot armor and/or plot relevance > non-plot-relevant PCs > named, unique NPCs who appear onscreen > NPCs who lack one or more of those traits

There's a bit of wiggle room in the middle, if you were, for example, to compare an undeveloped filler unit to the main villain. Apart from though it's a good rule to follow when handling what one might expect from a particular character. Rhea is actually a good example of how this works. Both Fódlan games treat her as more of a multipurpose tool to be brought out whenever necessary than as the impactful major character that she allegedly is. This is in large part because she's an NPC, and doesn't need to be developed in the same way (full support list and multiple endings, battle lines/interactions, activity dialogue) as even goofy bit players like Raphael or Alois. There's a whole bunch of telling and not showing when it comes to Rhea, just like with Chrom's father I suppose.

A corollary to all this is that it's the natural role of transformative fandom to expand underdeveloped and overlooked elements of canon, often in ways that the original writers never conceived or intended. However, as I noted in my discourse video, everyone in transformative fandom has their own priorities when it comes to which parts of canon they believe deserve to be expanded upon - and discourse frequently arises when contradictory desires in fandom spaces come into conflict with one another.

[themattress]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Continued from my last post.

First, thoughts on the rest of the Part 1 Paralogues.

Tales of the Red Canyon - I fucking love Sothis. This Paralogue shows that even if she's the reincarnation of an ancient grown-up goddess, Sothis is still her own being now and very much a child. She may possess more wisdom and power than most children, but she has the same fear, curiosity, excitability and vulnerability as any child does. She's just so endearing.

An Ocean View - And I also fucking love Seteth and Flayn. This Paralogue is important for them as it's where the game reveals the truth that makes everything about their dynamic make far more sense in retrospect: they are father and daughter, not brother and sister. I genuinely did not see that coming on my first playthrough, so I must tip my hat to them.

Sword and Shield of Seiros - This Paralogue doesn't really hold any weight unless you're playing it in the Golden Deer route, something it has in common with another Paralogue later down the list. Claude coming along, and his reaction to the pirates disguising as Almyrans, makes all the difference. If you didn't realize his true ethnicity before, you should now.

Oil and Water - Pure filler. Nothing is really gained from this. It's just showcasing Hanemann and Manuela's love-hate relationship without actually developing it any. Highly skippable.

Falling Short of Heaven - Yawn. I don't really care about either Catherine or Ashe, so nothing engaged me here. It doesn't even show what Ashe supposedly found out at the end, and the fact that I feel no need to discover what it was reflects my utter disinterest in Ashe.

True Chivalry - This uses the same map as "The Forgotten", but it's way more enjoyable due to Rodrigue's presence and seeing more of what Felix's strained relationship with him is like. And yeah, I am 100% on Felix's side here! Rodrigue's knightly ideals are all well and good on their own, but he has let maintaining them consume his fundamental humanity much like his colleague Gilbert's failure to live up to them consumed his. Behaving as though his fealty to a dead king matters more than civilian lives and as though his older son dying for that same fealty makes his death commendable rather than tragic is ridiculous, and Felix has every right to call him out on it. Surrounded by that attitude for all his life, no wonder Felix is how he is!

Death Toll - While we got the story of how Raphael's parents died and how Ignatz' parents were connected to it in their Support conversations, this Paralogue ends up deepening that story by revealing that their death was a casualty of political strife between the Alliance's nobility. My God, just when I thought Count Gloucester couldn't be more of a piece of shit! But in the end, Raphael again shows just what a pure soul he is - he's focused on doing good in the present instead of grieving for the past, and he's not going to let Count Gloucester's involvement make him think any less of Lorenz just like how he refuses to think any less of Ignatz. He's far from the sharpest tool in the shed mentally, but he has a powerful heart.

Dividing the World - Yet again, we get a Paralogue that's only effective on the Golden Deer route. It's a good accompaniment to Hilda and Cyril, where Hilda showcases her innocent racism - as in, prejudice shaped by ignorance and what she's heard rather than hatred and malice - and Cyril showcases his internalized racism - the way Fodlan looks upon his kind and the better position he's in now in Foldan compared to Almyra has caused him to resent his birthplace and its culture. Throw Claude in there too and it's a very interesting combo.

A Cursed Relic - Another super-hard DLC map. Myson, one of the Agarthans, is the enemy here, as we see him experimenting on creating Demonic Beasts, presumably on Solon's behest. Constance steals the show here, with the contrast between her regular personality when out of sunlight and her affected personality when in sunlight being vividly displayed with her attitude toward Duke Gerth, yet it still somehow meshes together to form a complete, interesting character. Her regular personality is her as she wishes to be, while her affected personality lays all her true insecurities and responses to her past trauma bare for all to see.

The Secret Merchant - This Paralogue is in Part 2 on the Black Eagles route, and only on the Crimson Flower branch, but in Part 1 for the other two. Aside from getting to see Pallardo before his turn to banditry, it doesn't have much to offer story-wise and can be skipped.

Now then, on to Chapters 8 and 9.

- We have great lead-in scenes to the Remire Village mission in all routes. On the Black Eagles route, the foreshadowing of Edelgard being the Flame Emperor becomes way more blatant while setting up the choice Byleth may end up faced with as a result. On the Blue Lions route, we are formally introduced to Lord Arundel while Dimitri finally reveals his and Edelgard's familial relationship. And on the Golden Deer route, Claude finds a book showing the Immaculate One which Seteth promptly confiscates, exposing that the Church is involved in a cover-up that Byleth may be involved in somehow, while also establishing that Tomas has gone missing. No matter which route, you can palpably sense that the plot is thickening.

- There are two red herrings concerning the Flame Emperor presented here. Given that the chapter is called "The Flame in the Darkness", it's easy to think they're responsible for the Remire Village tragedy that Tomas (actually the Agarthan scientist Solon) initiates, and that their denial of being so is a lie. In actuality, they're telling the truth: they haven't been in the loop as to what the Agarthans are doing since they lent them the Death Knight. The other is that your confrontation with the Flame Emperor always ends with your route's Lord's vassal (Hubert, Dedue and Hilda respectively) asking where their Lord is, causing a distraction that allows the Flame Emperor's escape. Given that Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude have all been acting shady on occasion and that they haven't been in the same area as the Flame Emperor yet, there's reason to suspect any one of them. In actuality, Edelgard is the Flame Emperor on all routes, meaning that only on the Black Eagles route is the suspicion truly justified.

- I have a problem with the post-mission scene on the Blue Lions route. While it effectively showcases Dimitri's trauma from the Tragedy of Duscur and also reveals his motive of seeking revenge for it, it always starts out under the assumption that you failed to save villagers in the mission. When you do, Dimitri snaps and screams "I will cut you to shreds!" But if you save all the villagers, this never happens, and yet Dimitri still opens the scene up apologizing for showing you "that side of him" during the battle, rendering it incoherent.

- A much bigger problem, though, is the scene with Dimitri during the ball. No other route has an equivalent scene, so it once again feels like foreshadowing how Dimitri's personal plot will become a tumor in Azure Moon. Also, if you picked Dimitri for the Goddess Tower encounter as female Byleth, then it will feel like this same scene dragging out longer than it needs to.

- The scene where you come upon Rhea looking out at the night sky and singing the song that Sothis sang to her is extremely eerie, and yet at the same time there's something extremely sad about it that you can't quite place at this moment. Later on, of course, you can place it: at her core, beneath all the illusions of dignity and grace, despite all the centuries of living, Rhea is still a sad, lonely child. The bond she had with her mother was deeper than any of her siblings', and she truly believes that she can never feel at peace in life, that the world itself will have no peace, unless her mother is there. It's just so incredibly tragic.

- Jeralt's death....really, what is there to say? It's devastating, and that's all you need to know. There's more to talk about regarding the fall-out of his death, but I'll save that for next time.