#his name is leif and he has a shady past

[trashbinbackyard]

Arvid: the librarian may be mute but he can shush in a way that puts the fear of god in you

[thesnivy123]

Original Not-Dead Leif related hot take (call that a cold take lmao):

Long post.

I genuinely, absolutely, do NOT think that pre-death/original/Not-Cordyceps Leif would hate cordy!Leif. I've seen this take here and there, and while i will admit that it's valid and an interesting concept, it's not something I can really agree with.

My first point is that... Leif's a huge fucking nerd. Seriously- Assuming that the current Leif has roughly the same personality as the original, which would make sense... Sure, he can be petty, but he's never struck me as particularly spiteful. This is a guy who's canonically either considered or downright tried to pet and/or steal almost every cute enemy in the game. This is a guy who takes a card game COMICALLY seriously. I don't know how else to put it, Leif's a dork, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Secondly, and related to the first point- Despite everything, Leif's... a fairly normal person. Like, yeah, he's a hundred year old zombie wizard. That's definitely a thing. But before he died? He had a house, a wife, a kid on the way, absolutely no combat skills, all that fun stuff. All things considered, he very well could have been even more of a dork back then, yknow, BEFORE he was an ancient mushroom ice wizard explorer.

Thiiiirdly, mm..not gonna keep up the essay format just gonna wordvomit at this point. Leif's canonically kind of a dork, he lived a fairly normal life, all that. You're here for the fungus angst, though, and I'm about to get to that.

I feel like if... idk, if somehow the original leif "woke up" or something? I don't think he'd be pissed. He'd be freaked out, sure, there's literally a zombie parasite in his dead body living his life for him, that's kind of fucked up. I can't imagine him actually hating said zombie parasite as a person, though. I mean... He would've died in that cave with or without fungal interference, and all things considered? They've done a damn good job at being Leif. He saved the kingdom, got knighted, he's got some good friends, hell, he's literally on a first name basis with god herself. All while still doing almost exactly what the original Leif would have done in these situations. He wouldn't be mad.

No, no. If anything, he'd be a bit jealous. I mean, a mushroom did a better job at being Leif than Leif did. A mushroom took everything that made leif Leif, and used it to become one of the coolest people in Bugaria. AND it's not like he's up to anything shady- This guy was genuinely just living as Leif, no Cordyceps Motives involved. He’s just as much of Just A Guy as he's always been.

So, in conclusion? Angst is fun, yeah, but have you considered "ghost of your past self comes back to haunt you, ends up being confused, mildly disturbed and a bit jealous of you, though otherwise agreeable despite the incredibly awkward situation"?

(Sidenote: I also don't think the original Leif would have any right to forcefully take back control of the body. Like... yeah, that's his body, but he died. He's dead. The cordyceps has been using it for the last century. The cordyceps is the one who saved the kingdom with badass ice magic and got knighted and won a spy cards tournament. The original Leif would not only be clueless as to what he's been up to lately, but would be so jarringly incompetent that he could easily fuck things up for the both of 'em and make it painfully obvious that there's some cordyceps shenanigans going on.)

[semper-legens]

66. Leif and Thorn: Creeping Vines, by Erin Ptah

Owned: Yes Page count: 185 My summary: Thorn finds out he’s in for more trouble than he anticipated when he’s tasked with guarding the ambassador at a performance of Leachtric. Vines attack, a sort-of friend reveals a dangerous secret, and Leif watches from the sidelines, making plans of his own. My rating: 5/5 My commentary: 

Volume three of  Leif and Thorn, and guess what? Still my fave. This one collects storylines up to Observation Dex, mostly the Leachtric arcs. I’m not sure that I actually have a lot to say in this intro other than ‘I love this webcomic’, so let’s dive straight back into it, shall we?

Thorn continues to be an excellent character. The meat of this one is his relationship with Kale, someone he keeps running into who has a shady past. Thorn is...it always feels like a backhanded compliment to say he’s a nice, decent guy, but I really do feel like I don’t see a lot of characters in fiction who are both inherently nice people and still have conflicts and struggles and emotional outbursts and stuff. He’s a well-rounded character, but his inherent decency doesn’t make him annoying or a dull character; on the contrast, he’s really engaging! I really love Thorn, is the thing.

Leif doesn’t really have much of a role in this one, it’s very Thorn-centric, plus the other supporting characters. I do briefly want to touch on his one moment here where he shows his smarts, when he plans with fellow indentured servant Elisa to get her the money to pay off her debt. He does this despite the fact that it’s technically against his bosses, and goes about proposing it in all the wrong ways - but he’s still willing to work against his country in this small way, something he might earlier have considered to be unthinkable. It’s a nice character beat for him, showing he’s not completely brainwashed, just that he finds it hard to act in defiance to his country because of the way he has been taught.

Kale. Kaaaaaaaale. What to say about Kale? He’s been a recurring character in the previous volumes, and the nature of his true identity is revealed in this one. I’d called it a long time before (by this point I was caught up and reading live updates) but it was still a satisfying reveal because of the interpersonal drama between him and Thorn. There’s real tension here! Thorn wanting to see the best in people, Kale thinking the worst of himself at all times, and the truth perhaps lying something in the middle. Kale’s psychological issues are shown sympathetically, and while we don’t yet get Kale’s view of his backstory, we know enough to tell that the official tale isn’t quite the whole story. I love Kale so much.

There are so many other stories in here, so many other characters that I don’t really have time to go over. Every side character is a strong character in their own right - Holly, teen mage, got a lot of focus in this one, and she’s very fun as a character - and I don’t think there’s a single one of them who isn’t interesting to watch. For all this cast list is huge, each of the characters are distinct people in their own right, and have a lot of identifiable character and personality. Literally the only ones whose names I always forget are the Embassy guards, and that’s because they’re all basically identical.

Everything else is pretty great, too. At the back, there’s a bunch of AUs, exposition and worldbuilding for the universe, and other miscellaneous fun content. It’s pretty great - the worldbuilding is always interesting, the AUs are a fresh take on the characters despite following the main story loosely, and the rest of the world is pretty interesting! There’s some book-exclusive stuff here too that’s well worth the price.

That’s all I got to say here - join me next time for a trip down the rabbit hole!

[sireneia-a]

me realizing there’s twenty-one playable child units in fe4 second gen and thus exactly enough to assign each one an arcana in a persona au. you know what this means kids

it’s all under the cut with attempts at explanations. i know this isn’t rlly the most relevant thing to this blog, but i’ve written metas on characters that aren’t actually muses so i’m letting it slide. fe4 spoilers will be briefly touched upon for a few characters. the explanations are specifically for how the arcana are represented in persona, but please keep in mind i’m a persona scrub kdhfkdhfdfkfd so if it ends up being only specific to character arcs from p3, my bad. i’m also sticking to the standard cards and avoiding special ones like aeon. welcome to super self-indulgent hell

i did the order by recruitment order, but here’s a link to just the order of all the characters ( sans explanations ) by the actual tarot in case you just want to see that and be done with it

Seliph: The Fool

Obligatory protagonist role getting this arcana, but the Fool is generally based around one being influenced by others. Considering how Seliph is placed in a role as a liberator as thrust upon him by the people’s expectations due to his lineage, I thought it was fitting. 

Lana: Priestess

Who I imagine would be the party’s initial navigator. Regardless, getting away from the strictly Persona gameplay aspects, the Priestess is an arcana given to quieter characters who have untapped potential. I generally just think Lana has the vibe for this as opposed to an actual reason.

Larcei: Temperance

This is one of the leftover ones admittedly. Temperance deals with an inability to balance one’s various life aspects. Larcei tends to be portrayed in adaptations as struggling between her combat as well as her love life, and she’s typically unlucky in the latter.

Ulster: Star

I love you Ulster, but he ended up also being one of the leftover ones as well. The Star is associated with hope and joy. There’s actually a pretty cool quote about this one in terms of bestowing help to others in their time of need but eventually being doomed to fall. Ulster is depicted as being protective of the others ( namely in Seliph’s childhood friend squad ) and is compassionate as well as a big brother type, thus I thought he matched up enough with the idea of bestowing help unto others.

Diarmuid: Strength

The Strength arcana in the Persona universe typically explores characters who have a strength of heart in order to keep going past hardships. Though almost everyone in gen 2 experiences tragedy and tries to overcome it, Diarmuid’s separation from his mother and then his consequent journey through Yied to reunite with his family stuck out to me. Additionally, he always seemed to have a good head on his shoulders even when given bad news in fe5 should you let Nanna fall in battle before he joins Leif’s party.

Lester: Sun

The Sun arcana directly deals with happiness, typically revolving around characters who are faced with miserable situations yet still try and be optimistic; alternatively, the character has lost their initial happiness. A really cool arcana in terms of character arcs, and Lester got it not because I thought it fit him, but because he was literally my last option and I thought the Sun arcana would fit him more than some other remaining ones, and a lot of the characters at this point I was dead set on keeping them locked in to the ones I chose for them. I initially gave this arcana to Lene. 

I’d love to meet someone whose fav is Lester sdkhkddf I feel so bad that I don’t have a lot in terms of analysis on him.

Julia: Fortune

The one I knew I’d want the most for this arcana right away: the Fortune arcana revolves entirely around fate. The characters usually have to make a large decision and strive to seize their own destiny. Julia and Julius both have their births completely orchestrated for the sole purpose of furthering the Lopt Sect’s goals, their fates determined by their bloodlines. Julia rises up from what originally seemed like a helpless situation to being the one to restore peace to Jugdral herself. I literally can’t imagine anybody else, sans Julius, who could fit this arcana better out of the second gen cast.

Fee: Chariot

The Chariot arcana places an emphasis on striving towards a goal, holding a determined and willful spirit. Fee is another character I knew I instantly wanted for a specific arcana, as she’s fixated on finding her missing father-- especially when you take FE5 canon into mind and make her father Lewyn. She embodies both the arc ( willing to accomplish her goal no matter what ) but also the personality associated with the arcana.

Arthur: Magician

For starters, giving this arcana to an actual mage is so satisfying. In any case, the arcana is associated with somebody who takes more of a secondary role to the protagonist but still has their own ego. Additionally, great tragedy befalls and motivates the character-- though typically it’s romance-related in terms of arcs, but I ended up omitting that for this. Arthur is a character who exudes confidence, something that Fee suspects might not be well-deserved when they bicker, and his call to action revolves around his desire to reunite with his family. He’s aware terrible things befell his mother and sister and is terribly protective of his sister as a result. Tine honestly might get the shortest end of the stick out of the second gen cast in terms of horrible fates.

The LI manga adaptation also depicts Arthur as a shameless flirt that is a bit of a pervert, which also helps just strengthen the tie between him and the typical archetype for the Magician arcana character in the Persona series.

Iuchar: Moon

Even though you can’t recruit both of the Neir brothers in one run, I’m giving them different arcanas since I personally think that their character arcs in-game are different enough to warrant it and it gets me up to my perfect twenty-one number.

The Moon arcana revolves around illusions and typically involves a character seeing reality not as how it is, some going so far as to blame themself for something that isn’t true. My analysis on Iuchar touches upon the idea that he’s putting up his carefree personality as an act to be able to more easily show kindness upon Isaachians without arousing suspicion from his family; additionally, it talks about the idea that Iuchar blames himself for everything his family has done under the Empire and asks for forgiveness sincerely, not understanding how Seliph sees that Iuchar is blameless and that even if he wasn’t, the people love him already. Iuchar simply can’t see that reality. Though him being the actual canonically flirty character is a good argument to assign him the Magician arcana, I ultimately personally see the Moon arcana as more fitting for him.

Iucharba: Death

The Death arcana is about life cycles and predominantly characters undergoing a great change. Iucharba is a character I personally note for not really being taken seriously by his family as noted in this meta and he undergoes a great transformation throughout the events of Genealogy should you recruit him as a result. He begins as a young man allied with the Empire, a man sorely underestimated plenty, and he ends up developing into this character that suddenly is the heir to the Neir bloodline and consequently is now actually in a position of power within Grannvale-- a position he was nowhere near getting before defecting. Also not really necessary for this arcana, but the fact that you can only recruit him at the cost of killing his brother helps put a literal death association.

Patty: Devil

I actually originally had Patty assigned to the Lovers arcana, but I think this is fitting enough too. The Devil arcana typically deals with characters who commit immoral actions and have difficulty telling that what they’re doing is wrong. They’re led by impulse and temptation but they are also typically dedicated to a cause. Patty is a thief who steals to procure funds for the orphans her and her brother look after. Her compassion is her commitment and though she’s aware what she’s doing is shady, she still believes herself to be partly in the right because those she steals from are terrible people as well. She’s a more mature Dew in a sense. She’s not a perfect fit for the Devil arcana, but she fits it the most out of all the second gen.

Leif: Justice

Leif honestly probably could’ve fit a few, but I decided the Justice arcana is most suitable; the characters associated with this arcana typically are concerned with fairness and can be pretty stoic. Leif’s obsessed with enacting vengeance-- a theme that is just a breath away from justice. He’s the character I think of most in Jugdral that cares the most about karma and seeing people get what they deserve. Additionally, he fits the personality trend in how he attempts ( keyword: attempt ) to suppress his feelings.

Nanna: Empress

The Empress arcana is given to elegant women in high positions of authority. They’re typically a little on the cold side but hold compassion ( perhaps in a sort of motherly fashion ) for others underneath all of that. The second gen are almost all royalty or nobility of some degree, but Nanna especially came off as a princess to me the most out of all the characters. Additionally, God her JP voice actress really nails that refined aura. Nanna’s personality in my opinion also matches the trend in how she can be a little curt ( namely to Finn should he be her father as well as to Homer in his recruitment conversation ) but she ultimately is heralded for being kind and supportive by Leif. 

Also gameplay-wise, the Empress personas typically end up having healing skills, and Nanna’s class as troubadour plays into this too. 

Ares: Hierophant

Another character I was certain of what arcana I wished to assign them from the start, though I feel like a lot of people would think of different cards than I did. The Hierophant characters typically are fixated on the past and need to learn how to move on from that. Ares’s arc literally revolves around how he’s obsessed with killing Seliph to enact revenge for ( what he believes to be ) Sigurd killing Eldigan. Even Lene attempts to get Ares to stop being tied down to the past and to accept the present and the future. 

Lene: Lovers

I went into this really wanting Lene to be assigned to the Sun as mentioned previously but ended up changing her to the Lovers which works out too. The Lovers character is usually someone who is popular and they’re tied between two conflicting aspects of themself. Lene is friendly and charismatic both due to her personality as well as her line of work, and her character explores her maturity as Ares’s confidant in opposition to how she’s fixated on finding her mother no matter what-- something that can be interpreted as a childish fantasy that’s hopeless considering how little of information she has to go on. Additionally, the Lovers personas gameplay-wise are usually healers and associated with wind magic, and though that doesn’t quite fit Lene, it coincides with it enough what with her being a support unit primarily and also both her cipher and her heroes art associating breezes with her.

Tine: Judgement

Judgement arcs explore characters realizing their true calling and gaining absolution and acceptance. Tine is initially allied under the Empire due to her connection to the Friege family, and she lived a very stifling existence until she defects. She’s uncertain exactly what she’s doing as well as who’s “right” at the time that she takes to the battlefield but she comes to realize that Seliph’s liberation army has good intentions. The truth that seemed so muddied before becomes so much clearer by the end. She also is another character who asks for forgiveness from Seliph and ends up being wholly surprised by how easily he gives her it. I feel like this implies that desire for absolution her entire life and it’s over the course of the war that she’s able to feel comfortable in her own skin and voice out her own wishes.

Febail: Tower

Ah, yes, the Edge Lord card. Regardless, the Tower arcana deals with bad omens and doom and destruction. The characters associated with this card are typically characters who have fallen from grace. Febail is unknowingly the prince of Jungby, one of the few playable second gen units guaranteed major holy blood, but he lives his life struggling in an orphanage and as a mercenary who will take any job so long as it gives him the money to provide for the other orphans. He loses sight of his own morality, needing to be reprimanded by his sister that his attempt to slay Seliph isn’t actually going to end in his goal of prosperity for the kids. Though all the kids have taken a tumble in life, I genuinely think Febail captures this concept the best.

Ced: Emperor

If there’s literally any character I think could actually translate super well into a Persona verse more seriously beyond just me assigning arcanas, I honestly think it’d be Ced. Anyhow, the Emperor arcana holds characters who desire to control their environment even if fate gives them trouble in attempting to do so, and the characters typically are suffering from a personal issue that they do not know how to tackle. Ced is a mage who goes out of his way to find his father and along the way, brought on by his own conviction, establishes the Magi Squad to try and help the people suffering in Manster from oppression underneath the Empire. That active role reflects the arcana very well in my eyes, and Ced’s personal conflict with Lewyn as a neglectful father as per FE5′s canon seals the deal.

Coirpre: Hermit

Hermit wasn’t my first pick for Coirpre as an individual character, but I gave him it pretty quickly after I thought about the entire second gen cast collectively as opposed to just standalone cases. I think Coirpre would most likely end up as the second, more powerful navigator character to recruit especially with his ties to the Bragi bloodline and the canonical Bragi connection to prophetic truth.

Coirpre doesn’t have the strongest connection to his arcana, but the Hermit arcana characters typically put themselves in situations where they are hiding away from the spotlight and others. As such, these characters are usually more in background or supportive roles in life. Coirpre is a healer in an extremely militant country, a larger anomaly considering the fact that his father is the Shield of Thracia-- a famed general. Coirpre, upon being locked away as a hostage, adamantly requests to be let go because he doesn’t wish for his father to be forced to fight; he seeks a more discreet way to solve the issue befitting of the arcana and ultimately sought out a calmer solution. Judging by his minor involvement in FE5, he also is more neutral typically in terms of alignment, not caring much for whether or not Leif was a runaway prince but also not offering to join him unlike the other FE4 characters who show up in the midquel. Coirpre keeps himself on the down low until he’s freed by the liberation army and realizes his father and he need to take a stance against the Empire more actively.

Altena: Hanged Man

The Hanged Man arcana explores characters who undergo arcs where they are caught between two extremes or two parties in their life. Altena encompasses this idea best in how she is troubled by her loyalty to southern Thracia due to being raised as its princess and her true lineage as Leonster’s princess. She is at odds due to this conflict, what with both parties being at opposite ends of the battlefield from one another and she’s forced to make a choice between her adopted brother and her blood brother.

[ramblingrybo]

On the Verge of Orchids (and nappies)

My expertise in wildflower identification lies at the approximate level which is why three weeks ago we had to rely upon the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust to sort out a difference of opinion regarding some orchids we had found. We were in Wickenby Woods. 

‘Early purple?’

‘No, I don’t think so. Could be pyramidal.’

‘Pyramidal? You’ve got to be kidding. Ah, what about heath spotted orchid?’

‘Heath spotted orchid? What are you on?’

‘Don’t be so rude.’

That was when we called in the adjudicator or rather sent a message and a photograph to the nice woman at L.W.T. who got back to us a few days later. 

‘Oh, that’s what they were.’

‘What?’

‘Those orchids.’

‘The ones in Wickenby Woods?’

‘Yes. They were common spotted orchids.’

‘Well, I never.’

There you are. Isn’t life full of pleasant surprises? But getting back to Wickenby Woods. We hadn’t been there for ages. We had chosen it as a place to meet our daughter, Alice, and grand-daughter, Athena, for a socially distanced picnic. Before they arrived, we had a quick recce of the different trails. They were empty of people but home to swathes of ragged robin and water avens. I have always liked water avens. It is a delicate plant with nodding, bell-shaped flowers in soft, pastel shades of purple, pink and orange. It is also known as Billy’s button, chocolate root or cure-all. In the past, people used to boil the root and add it to milk and sugar to produce a remedy for diarrhoea.

However, we soon forgot about wildflowers and stomach complaints when the others arrived, ecstatic at seeing them in the flesh for the first time in twelve weeks. It was a hot day and we ate our picnic in a shady clearing on picnic blankets, mesmerised by the simple sight of Athena eating her sandwiches, crisps and hard-boiled egg. It was while we were stretched out, waiting for our food to digest that I remembered that in the dim and distant past we used to visit Wickenby Woods to seek out a rare plant, herb-Paris. If I handled this properly, this could be turned into an adventure.

‘Heh, who’s up for some intrepid exploring?’

Athena took the bait.

‘I am. What are we looking for?’

‘It’s a rare plant called the true-lover’s knot. And guess what? It’s highly poisonous and it used to be used to ward off witches.’

Perhaps ‘highly’ was a bit of an exaggeration but the rest was true. It is a strange-looking plant. Above a crown of broad, green pointed leaves, a whorl of smaller yellowish leaves at the top of the plant hold a flower which looks like a black leather coat button. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t find it but we did spend a happy forty minutes scaring each other, avoiding anything which looked vaguely wicked like a gnarled tree trunk or an oddly shaped bush. Let us hope it is somewhere within the woods and that on a further visit it might reveal itself. 

Someone who was luckier than us was Paul Evans, naturalist and author of ‘Herbaceous’ whose ‘Country diary’ in today’s paper describes his recent discovery of herb-Paris on Wenlock Edge in Shropshire. He was clearly excited to have found it in an old limestone quarry, referring to it as the elusive ‘trewelove herb’, a relic of ancient woodland. 

Another wood which we have visited twice in recent weeks is Swinn Wood near Aby. It is a small wood but teeming with a variety of wild flowers along its woodland rides and around its ponds. 

On our first visit, we were amazed at the number of bugle plants on show along with cuckoo flower, ragged robin, yellow rattle, bristly oxtongue, yellow pimpernel and silverweed. Silverweed is a low, spreading plant which has glossy, silvery leaves and small, rose-like yellow flowers. In the past, herbalists used the roots of the silverweed to treat sore throats and mouth ulcers. On our second visit, three weeks later, we were thrilled to discover that the bugle plants had been replaced by an array of common spotted orchids.

Finally, we come to the verge at Worlaby which we visited last week. It is the one we look after for the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. We couldn’t have been more excited because this time the grass was dotted with pyramidal orchids, between eighty to a hundred of them. This orchid is what Leif Bersweden calls ‘a glorious pink beacon’ in his book, ‘The Orchid Hunter’, referring to the densely packed, pyramid-shaped spike of pink flowers on the tall, unbranched stem. It is the county flower of the Isle of Wight and its tuber when dried and ground produces a sweet, white powder called salep which makes a very nutritious drink and has been used medicinally as a restorative for convalescents. 

As well as the pyramidal orchids, we also found yellow rattle, hedge woundwort, crosswort, tufted vetch, wild oregano, herb robert, hogweed, greater knapweed, self heal, birds foot trefoil, speedwell, tail-of-dog grass and common restharrow. Restharrow is a small, attractive plant. It is low-growing with hairy stems, greasy leaves and pink and white pea-like flowers. It gets its name from its thick roots which spread in a dense network underground and which could stop or arrest a harrow in the days of horse-drawn cultivation. 

On the down side, we also found a fair bit of litter which had been thrown out of passing cars including crisp packets, pizza boxes, cans, polystyrene trays and, would you believe it, a used nappy. What possesses someone to pollute a roadside nature reserve with a used nappy beggars belief. It is irresponsible. If only we and the pyramidal orchids could get our own back. I imagine pouring the contents of our bin-liner into the culprit’s car and shouting, ‘How do you like it, eh?’

Actually, wayside rubbish is one of the subjects Clare Balding deals with in her book, ‘Walking Home’, which I have just finished reading. In a chapter entitled, ‘Walking Rubbish’, she describes a day spent with the author and comedian, David Sedaris, who by his own admission is obsessed with litter. ‘I live for litter’, he says to her. He picks bags of it daily in Pulborough, West Sussex, using the activity as a form of exercise and therapy. Having told Clare of some of the things he has found, like a half-full bottle of vodka, a twenty pound note and a rear-view mirror, he confesses that the one thing he would really like to find is a dead body. 

I have to say that this is not something on our wish-list. I think we’ll stick to the wildflowers and the occasional crisp packet. 

Next time: ‘In the Right Gear.’