#i just wish GW would give me something

[ghostinthegallery]

Time to overthink another necron guy!

Anrakyr the Traveler! Overlord of Pyrrhia (Pyrhhia? I never get it right, hang on...okay it's Pyrrhia). Blue guy who's good with machines and drew the short stick when it came to necron nicknames (Silent King! Stormlord! Diviner! Infinite! Traveler...sorry it just doesn't have a same vibes)

To get a little meta right off the bat, when I'm analyzing a character (a thing I just do for fun in my spare time because I'm a normal person), I generally start with the question most authors are going to frame that character's story around: what does this person want and why? Sometimes that's easy. An author (or multiple authors) has already written that character in a way that clearly outlines their goal+motivation so I just start there and let my thoughts run wild. Trazyn wants to collect things for his museum because he is a kleptomaniac gremlin believes in the inherent value of culture and history. Szarekh wants to reverse biotransference because it sucks and its his fault. That is the seed from whence all rambling blooms for me.

Anrakyr...does not have that clarity.

We do know what he wants! To awaken and unite all the sleeping necron dynasties. That's where his name comes from: traveling the galaxy, seeking out tombworlds to bring them up to speed on the state of this messed up galaxy we call home. Okay cool. Why does he want to do this? Uh...

Even in-universe, this question doesn't have a clear answer. To some, he's incredibly noble. He left behind his homeworld, sacrificing his throne, to help his people adjust to a tumultuous new era. A lot of these tombworlds are waking up damaged, or occupied by hostile alien species that didn't exist when they went to sleep. Maybe their planet is in a different part of space. It sure would be nice to have someone explain everything before an ork eats your face.

The opening paragraphs of Devourer refer to Anrakyr as "would-be overlord of the necrons." Does that just refer to the dynastic rank of overlord (if so, why add on the "would-be" since he literally is an overlord?) or does that line hint at higher ambitions? Is he trying to unite the dynasties under him? That's certainly possible! Ambition is not exactly unusual for necron nobility. It explains his suspicion towards the triarch prateorians who follow him around (put a pin in them). He thinks of them as spies, servants of a rival...and that rival is The Silent King. That's one hell of an enemy to choose.

Cool, right? Except there's another side to Anrakyr. Because he doesn't just go around helping other tombworlds, he demands a price: weapons, legions, other tributes. To some, who have just woken up and had lifesaving information dangled in front of them only to have it ripped away if they don't pay up? That doesn't seem strictly altruistic.

Anrakyr is fine killing his own subordinates for failure (see the Carnac campaign where he sets up his own general to die for the crime of not killing space elves with suitable efficiency). Of course, given that most of Anrakyr's armies are tributes, most of his forces aren't loyal to him per se. Aside from the immortals that left Pyrrhia with him. But overall he's in an awkward spot within his own army.

Except if Anrakyr wants to rule...why leave behind Pyhrria, the planet he literally ruled?

You see my problem here?

Okay then, where does that leave us? A goal with a bunch of conflicting motivation, actions, and no clear answers. And I admit, I was stuck here with Anrakyr for a while! I kind of wrote him off as "The Stormlord we have at home" and moved on.

Until I started writing for him myself. At which point "this dude is an inconsistent mess" doesn't really cut it.

The thing about people (and by extension characters) is that people change. Especially when a bunch of different unconnected writers major, violent events happen across millennia. So what if both versions of Anrakyr are true? What if the well-intentioned savior and the would-be conqueror are each aspects of the same person.

Going back to those three triarch praetorians.

For those unaware, Anrakyr has the joy of hosting three emissaries from the triarchy. Three praetorians whose names he does not know, so he literally just named them the necron equivalent of A, B, and C. He assumes they are spies for Szarekh, to whom he has no interest in pledging service, but he still keeps them around. They are mysterious, they literally hang random trinkets from their head pieces like Christmas ornaments, and they give cryptic advice.

What the heck are these three doing here?

I guess they could be spies, but why the heck would Szarekh send three praetorians to keep an eye on Anrakyr who really is not that important in the grand scheme of necron politics? Don't get me wrong, he's not a nobody, but...he's got a ragtag army, a planet he doesn't visit, and some Blood Angels he teamed up with one time. This is not someone the Silent King desperately needs to watch out for.

But hey, speaking of Blood Angels, remember The Word of the Silent King? The one short story where Szarekh has an active presence. Guess who else is in that story?

Anrakyr the Traveler.

He's in the first line! The necron half of the story is being told to him by one of the praetorians. Why draw such an intentional parallel between these two characters? Sure, sets up Anrakyr's involvement in the Devastation of Baal lead up (ngl I don't know the order these stories were published it could be the other way around, either way GW is tying up their lore in a bright little bow) but narrative continuity is a BORING answer for CHUMPS so LET'S GO DEEPER!

What might three weird little triarch praetorians see in Anrakyr that they also see in Szarekh?

Tragedy.

Szarekh's entire character is defined by tragedy (see my ramble about him for details). What if Anrakyr is in a similar position? What if he started his journey with all those good intentions? The desire to save his people, free them from alien invaders? And overtime those intentions got corrupted, turning him into the harsh, suspicious, bitter person we see in Devourer? The Anrakyr in that story doesn't care about the tombworld he's supposedly saving. He hates organic life, he needs the reinforcements from that world...but never does he truly express concern about it. Or sorrow when he finds it consumed by the flayer virus. But consider how many tombworlds he's seen fall to the flayer virus? Or infighting, or madness, or aeldar, or orks, or humans, or a random supernova or a million other things? Imagine how many worlds he found but could not save? This is a person who has lost the plot.

But the person who inspired those stories of nobility still exists. He still organized a massive campaign of different dynasties to save the tombworld of Carnac. He still defended necron tombworlds against the Silver Skulls (who are a real space marine chapter and not just a Trazyn goof!). He still fought Tyranids alongside the Blood Angels and the Mephrit.

Anrakyr's praetorian buddies have told him the Silent King won't speak to him. Yet. But Szarekh will if Anrakyr proves worthy. Anrakyr probably doesn't care either way, but for a praetorian to say this about their king is huge. To me it shows that they believe Anrakyr could be worthy, one day. They think he's worth watching. Not as a ruthless crusader, but as another person who suffered for their good intentions and came through it with a renewed purpose.

[divineerdrick]

Warhammer 40,000 Balance Update for October 16, 2024 - Munitorum Field Manual and Errata for Xenos Factions

After writing, I decided to split this document up into the super factions for ease of use. I've also changed how I format rules changes. Let me know what you think! Is this more readable, would you prefer a single post, or should I do a post for each faction?

Edit: The color coding for points changes breaks every time I edit it. To fix it, I have to go into the HTML and correct where it's marking things. I just don't have the spoons for manually correcting that much text.

Aeldari

Form their lofty perch, Aeldari have gotten to a point where they could use some love. While their win rate is near spot on, they're having trouble making it to top tables. And the players that are, usually run Ynnari. But will GW give them much of anything or let them ride until their Codex comes out?

Here we run into another issue. The changes are being made directly to the Index. This is good. GW should definitely do this. But do they tell us what's changed anywhere? Answer, they've put it in the document for the Index Cards. It's important they put it somewhere, but I really wish they had it spelled out somewhere where the changes are listed.

So what's changed? The standard Autarch now has the basic Captain ability as detailed in the last Balance Dataslate. That's an important change to have listed finally. For FAQ, we get another common sense answer for Wraith Guard and clarification on how to properly position a jumping Yncarne.

All Corsairs: -2 pts/model Falcon: -10 pts Fire Prism: -10 pts Shining Spears: -10 pts/3 models Warlock Conclave: -5 pts/2 models Warlock Skyrunner Conclave: -5 pts/model Wave Serpent: -10 pts Wraithblades (5 models): -10 pts Wraithguard (5 models): -10 pts Wraithknight: -15 pts

As for the points, it's all good news! GW really is getting much better at understanding what's going on in the game! The important stuff here are the buffs to vehicles and Wraith constructs. I don't know if this brings Wraithknights back to the table, but small groups of Wraithguard might be worth taking again. I'm not sure these changes will convince anyone to bring a Conclave on foot though. All of this is good news for Eldar players!

Drukhari

The article warned that nerfs are incoming. Still I hope they only get a love tap. Their rankings are greatly bolstered by skilled faction specialists. No one is currently running out and buying up Drukhari models because the faction is good. Granted if GW successfully brings down the factions above them, there might be an issue. But I hope they don't go beyond a love tap.

For Errata, the Archon is specified as having its own ability, not Lord of Deceit. I don't think there's anything Drukhari can take to stack with it, so that shouldn't be an issue. My guess is the team is considering changing Lord of Deceit in some way. It is really strong. So this makes sure that change doesn't affect Archons. They also get a couple more clarifications for Pain Parasite, but there's nothing unusual here.

Archon: +10 pts Beastmaster: +15 pts Court of the Archon: +10 pts Drazhar +10 pts Hellions: -2 pts/model Incubi: +2 pts/model Lelith Hesperax: +10 pts Mandrakes (5 models): +5 pts Reavers (3 models): +5 pts

Yeah there's a lot there. I think that's a whole unit gone from many Drukhari lists. We also see that GW is continuing to recognize that some MSU spam is just really good. This really is a good thing, and may be slowly turning me around on purchasing units in bricks. But it sucks when you're already really nerfing an army.

Drukhari could be hurting.

Genestealer Cults

I'm about to say something that might shock some of you. I honestly don't think GSC is doing that badly. They've actually got solid numbers, though this come from the fact they're a niche faction with skilled specialists. But I think that's okay. I think it's okay for some factions to be there for the fans and require a little skill to play. It's very obvious that while GSC can struggle in match ups, you can get results with them. What they mostly need is internal balance, and I think that will come to rules.

For errata and FAQ we get a revision that makes sure you take a GSC model as your Warlord in the Brood Brothers detachment. We get a common play clarification for Tunnel Crawlers, but a very interesting clarification for Brood Brother Kasrkin. Despite not having the Voice of Command Army Rule, Kasrkin can still give themselves orders. That makes them a much more powerful and versatile unit in the Brood Brothers detachment. Still not sure that's enough to make that detachment even close to good, but it's interesting at least.

Abberants (5 models): -15 pts All Acolyte Hybrids: -1 pts/model Acolyte Iconward: -10 pts Atalan Jackals: -2 pts/model Benefictus: -10 pts Jackal Alphus: -5 pts Neophyte Hybrids: -5 pts/10 models Patriarch: -10 pts Primus: -10 pts Outlander Claw: - Serpentine Tactics: -5 pts

Oh boy! Christmas just came early for my cults! Still, I'm actually going to say these aren't the best changes. A lot of these changes benefit Outlander Claw, the Mad Max style detachment. And that is currently the best GSC detachment and my personal favorite. While the other detachments will love these changes too, I'm worried that Outlander is going to become the only way to play GSC. There's already a Wolf Jail like list running around the scene, and no one likes dealing with that list. The only good news is I doubt this is going to bring a huge flood of players to the faction spamming toxic bike lists. So while GSC isn't going to become a problem, it's only going to be a rare problem list that will frustrate players now and then.

Leagues of Votann

The Kin are another force that looks good from win rates but is actually struggling quite a bit. Like Death Guard, the Leagues struggle to secure the points they need at mid boards and up. This will hopefully get better if GW continues to get them new units, as their roster is still quite small. But for now, points aren't really the answer here.

FAQ wise we only get a timing clarification for Grudge tokens. And points don't have much either.

Einhyr Hearthguard (5 models): -10 pts Hernkyn Yaegirs: +10 pts

Okay. Yaegirs probably did need to go up, but I'm not sure this was the time for it. With so many other factions that are performing better getting all buffs, this is bad news for the Kin.

Necrons

After a brief stint as our metal overlords, Necrons have shifted to a pretty good spot. The main thing they need is some internal balance for their Detachments, and I don't think points will do that. Hypercrypt is just such a strong way to play the faction. Nerfing the models in the Hypercrypt builds threatens to drop Necrons too low. I think maybe only the Monolith can take a nerf without too much interference.

For Errata we start out with some Keyword fixes. Obeisance now benefits all Nobles and not just Overlords. And the Silent King is now officially part of the Triarch! However Plasmancers have had their ability to target Lone Operatives removed. So it's not all good news there. The FAQs are just common play clarifications too.

Annihilation Barge: -10 pts Catacomb Command Barge: -10 pts Deathmarks: +1 pts/model Doomsday Arc: -10 pts Lokhust Destroyers (1 model): +5 pts Lokhust Heavy Destroyers: +5 pts/model Monolith: +25 pts Obelisk: -25 pts Tesseract Vault: +25 pts Triarch Praetorians: -4 pts/model Triarch Stalker: -15 pts

That's a lot of shifting things around, and it's going to take me a moment to dissect it. As predicted, they bumped up the Monolith and Tesseract Vault with it, though I don't think many players were taking the latter or that it could be used as substitute. The dropped the cost on the Obelisk, but I don't think anyone's gonna try it out. Points aren't the problem there. My biggest problem here is Destroyers. While Hypercrypt did often take them, so did all the struggling detachments as well. And while faction specialists are going to experiment, I don't think these changes are enough to make Obeisance Phalanx really viable.

Things could be getting bumpy again for the Necrons.

Orks

As was said earlier, Orks are not in a good spot. While the nerfs they took didn't seem all that severe, they turned out to be nerfs to pillars that were holding the faction up. Since then, Orks have fallen hard and are the worst faction that has actual rules or isn't competing for its own players. And they're likely going to need a lot to rise back up.

The first big change is a clarification change to many rules that might help with some timing issues and future proofing. All or most rules active when you call the Waaagh now read they are active while the Waaagh is active for your army. This means if they change the timing on calling the Waaagh, as many Ork players would like, you wouldn't lose these buffs during your opponent's turn if you went second. While this looks like it might be nerf to Bully Boyz, the FAQ specifies that their abilities still work. We also get an FAQ the clarifies that when Snikrot uses Kunnin' Infiltrator, he doesn't count as moving for the purpose of Fire Overwatch. Though, he does still count as being setup on the board when he comes back down for the same stratagem.

Beast Snagga Boyz: -1 pts/model All Big Meks: -10 pts Boyz: -5 pts/10 models Deff Dread: -10 pts Deff Koptas: -10 pts/3 Gorkanaut: -15 pts Hunta Rig: -15 pts Kill Rig: -15 pts Kommandos: -15 pts Meganobz: -5 pts/model Morkanaut: -15 pts Tankbustas: -20 pts

And that is a lot of green, and a lot more green you can put on your table! As expected, Meganobz got some of their nerf rolled back. But a lot of boyz, including the popular Beast Snaggas, got buffs. Also, at some point the Gorkanaut and Morkanaut have to become playable as just a pile of wounds and guns on the table.

This is not going to make Orks into one of the top factions, but it should go a long way to getting them back where they should be.

T'au Empire

Tau are in what I'd call an okay spot. They're not where they need to be, but they're not doing that bad. They're performing just slightly above par, and only one of their detachments is struggling. They're what I would consider a textbook example of an army that shouldn't be receiving any external balance passes, so that they can rise up to where they should be when the meta changes. Internally, Kroot need help. But I'm not sure points can fix that.

The big fix here is to the Puretide Engram, which I think has been broken since the Codex came out? It now does something, letting you get a CP back on 4+ when you target the bearer's unit with a Stratagem. The new FAQs start by clarifiying that Crisis Suits always have a Pivot of 0" regardless of how you model them. Then we get two clarifications that, while they are how the rules work, are doubtless going to feel bad to Kroot players.

Commander Farsight: -10 pts Kroot Carnivores: -1 pts/model All Kroot Shaper: -10 pts/model Kroot Rampagers: -5 pts/model Krootox Rider (1 model): +5 pts Piranhas: +5 pts/model Riptide Battlesuit: +10pts

It looks like they're trying to do some internal balance, and at least help Kroot somewhat. But I don't think this is anything close to enough to make them viable. I don't think the other changes are going to affect Tau much, though we might see Farsight a bit more.

Tyranids

My beloved bugs have really turned it around with the Pariah Nexus changes. Despite losing Spore Mines, the changes to Synapse and Shadow in the Warp means we can actually get some damage now. That means we aren't always on the losing end of trading games. Neurotyrant with Zoanthropes also make for a fun and interesting tech piece. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them take nerfs, as well as the Swarmlord. Unnending Swarm could use some love though.

For errata, Surprise Assault gets some cleanup for timing and targeting. The Swarmlord gets the same treatment as Cypher, the Archon, and Ventris got, meaning it will keep its version of Lord of Deceit. Unseen Lurkers has been updated to the rules changes on Stratagems preventing your units from being targeted. Hunting Grounds, and all rules that trigger when a unit arrives from reserves, are clarified to trigger when a unit didn't go to reserves but was set back up on the battlefield. Rules that say "cannot arrive" on the battlefield during a turn take precedent over units that "must arrive" on that turn. While it doesn't specify, I do believe they can still arrive the next turn under normal Strategic Reserve rules. All the rest I believe are common play, though I was initially confused by the Neurogaunt/Neuroloid answer. But Neurogaunts specifically say that they have to be within range of a friendly model.

Carnifexes: -10 pts/model Lictor: +5 pts Old One Eye: +10 pts Pyrovores (1 model): +5 pts Von Ryan's Leapers: -5 pts/3 models Winged Hive Tyrant: -10 pts

This all seems fair to me. Carnifixes on their own got cheaper while Old One Eye got more expensive. The full unit still dropped in cost though. Pyrovores continues a trend as to how much GW wants you to pay for a single unit. And the Lictor has honestly been under-costed for a while.

I'm happy with this. I think we'll be just fine.

Final Thoughts

And with that, we have our balance changes for October! Space Marine players of all stripes aren't going to be too happy. Even Dark Angels, who initially thought would do well, will hate the base points changes in the Codex. Only Space Wolves . . . you know . . . THE ARMY THAT NEEDED NERFED THE MOST!!! . . . will be fine with these changes. Dedicated Ultramarines players will likely get something to work though, now that their Primarch is back in play. Sisters and Thousand Sons are in for a drop. Sisters probably won't drop too far, but, and I know I said this last time, I'm worried about KSons. Drukhari are really going to be hurting, though I'm sure Archon Skari will still find a way to win. I'm also worried about Leagues of Votann, Necrons, and World Eaters too.

Orks are looking like they'll start to rise again, but I don't think they're a top faction. CSM and GSC might be in a position to fight for the top spot. Wolf Jail is dead! Long live Jackal Jail! I also think Aeldari might have a reversal of fortunes too. The rest of us will only shift by percentage points, which is exactly what you want when the balance is this tight.

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam Ch 7

Man . . . my "only use one unit" thing is really going to make this . . . interesting. . . .

STORY

Man, I use Dimitri, Rodrigue, and Dedue. And now all 3 are gone. Nooo. Whyyyyy. That's ok. I'll just grind Ingrid, Sylvain, and Felix up a few levels if I can't catch them up bc Dimitri's MIA. If I can just give them a few levels, we'll be good lol.

So Sreng caused trouble, but not as much as it sounded like. Relief that Sylvain's dad is ok.

Yeah, they're luring Dimitri into something, aren't they? Cornelia? Is this why Dimitri's MIA? Story stuff.

Shez is like let's go Felix. I agree.

Unless this soldier is a liar.

Love seeing Felix get to call shots for real though.

Sylvain's like we have to get to Dimitri. Felix says Dimitri manages to give him a headache when he's not even around, lamo. Accurate. The Dimilix is strong in this one and I'm not angry about it.

MAP/SIDE BATTLE

Yep, like I thought, Rodrigue, Dedue, and Dimitri are gone. But I CAN level anyone up to 30 where Dimitri is, so I'm fine. I'll just give Shez and co a little boost. Plus, it's a good excuse to use Felix, Ingrid, and Sylvain a bit. Mercedes too.

"King Awakens" is the chapter name. Looking forward to this. Something is obviously about to go down. I'm worried though. This is obviously a parallel to the AM chapter where Dimitri retakes Fhirdiad in AM, so what happens this time then?

Kinda torn about this. Some of me wants it to be another "Dimitri the good king" kinda moment, like a big positive growth thing going on for him. But another part of me wants Dimitri's proper villain arc. But I just don't see that happening unless they killed off Dedue and Rodrigue, but if that happened, I would've gotten more comments. Either way, I'm stoked about this.

Petra's thoughts on Sreng is interesting, esp since she called it peace between Brigid and the Empire despite her not willingly being there.

Man, I feel there is just so much more going on in this route than the other two, with Miklain, the mystery of what's happened to Dimitri, drama with Sreng and the Empire that's a consistent threat (and not like what just happened in GW).

Duke Ifan sounds like a badass, people are like "no way she'd let someone invade." I wish we'd get to see her, but since she's a woman she won't get a unique face, that's reserved for Dads only.

Felix's dialogue was interesting. It starts like he's repeating one of Dimitri's lines about the dead and ends with him understanding and sympathizing with Dimitri more now that he knows what it's like to lead.

I'm really interested to see where this leads for those two. I'm so happy Felix is getting all this attention. Man, my Dimilix heart is loving AG so far.

Of course it's Cornelia and the Western lords. They're the reason we haven't heard from Dimitri :(

So that bitch threatened the people and Dimitri surrendered to protect them 😭😭😭😭😭 Of course he did.

But if they haven't heard from Rodrigue or Dedue, that means they got away. Gilbert is probably ok too.

Will Dimitri still have two eyes after this? Or is he going to get one taken out again 😭😭😭

Shez is so worried 😭😭😭

Felix called him "our fearless leader" that's not the first time I don't think. You know, I'll take that over boar.

So we'll be doing the prison break this time. Cornelia better not have hurt him unlike last time. Or that this doesn't cause him to "snap," because this is like the only route that's different so far. I love that story line, but I want something new.

Oh, Dimitri. I wish he would just behead Cornelia. He could crush her head with his hands probably. You know the only reason he's not is to protect his people 😭😭😭😭😭

Rodrigue and Dedue are trying 😭😭 Don't worry, Felix, Shez, and everyone are coming.

She's boasting that she'll hang Dimitri in front of all of them. God, I can't wait to kill her. And get Dedue, Rodrigue, and Dimitri back.

I reallllly am dying to see this reunion. Felix is going to let Dimitri hear it lamo.

Lamo, Dimitri's like "I almost appreciate such bald faced sadism." Cornelia's like "such flirting."

She's also like "you deserve this for reforming things." What a bitch.

You know Dimitri is probably blaming himself for this. For pissing off the Western lords, who are unquestionably awful. Someone get in there before he gets too far into his own head 😭😭 Well, someone other than Cornelia, who sure loves to gloat. She's so evil. I love it.

Dimitri gets all the best villains Cornelia (hammy fun villain) and Edelgard (interesting, personal, complex villain) are wayyyy more cool than "exists" Nemesis and CF!Rhea (Rhea is awesome, but my God they made her one-dimensional in CF). Not gonna lie, though, it would be nice for Dimitri to get to punch TWSITD as a whole out on purpose and hoping this game will let him.

Catherine just mentioned Shamir. Is her girlfriend showing up soon? Please tell me they have supports in this game.

Poor Ashe's like "our King is suicidal." Poor dude can't catch a break this game.

Sylvain's ready to lecture Dimitri about his recklessness. Good.

SYLVAIN & MERCEDES B SUPPORT

This is their only one. I'm bummed.

The boys and girls are flirting!!

Mercedes is engaged? To someone from Gautier? It's just her father again.

Mercedes has no interest in this guy. It would've been pretty funny if she got engaged to some random guy lol.

Mercedes is a confirmed heart breaker, getting tons of proposals.

Sylvain just proposed to Mercedes lamo. He's offering to marry her just to block anyone else so Mercedes can live how she wants. 😭

HOW THE FUCK IS THAT THEIR ONLY SUPPORT 😭😭😭😭😭

They had, 1, 1 support, and it was a better romance story than most novels. 😭😭😭

The background music was so romantic too.

Guys, I propose all the Blue Lions just enter a poly marriage together, then I won't have to ever sort out all my ships.

SHEZ & INGRID B SUPPORT

So far just talking about some mercenary crew. Shez's old captain used to be in there.

This merc was super loyal to a noble and would help out with even farming and building stuff. Wonder where this is going.

Shez's whole point to this was telling Ingrid no one is tied to their role and can do what they want. The whole Ingrid struggling with being a noble and knight.

Oh, cool! Ingrid's grandmother knew Tobias. Nice tie in.

SYLVAIN & INGRID B SUPPORT

Oh, this is their first one!!!

Sylvain brought up someone acting up and Ingrid suspects Sylvain is talking about himself lamo. He's not.

Ingrid is just satisfied as fuck, because Sylvain now has to deal with someone like she used to have to deal with him, lamo.

Sylvain feels pressure to feel like the mature one of the group. Ah, that's cannon!!! Everyone always suspected he felt like he had to be the older brother to everyone.

Ingrid is just soaking this in. Queen deserves it.

Awww, Ingrid said she would've just abandoned him if she was really miserable and actually seemed to enjoy covering for Sylvain, on some level.

Basically the whole "we aren't kida nymore. We've grown up, hunh." Stuff. I love it. This is why you end up loving all of the Faerghus Four. Because they all build off each other soooo much.

HAPI & BERNADETTA C SUPPORT

Bernie's bug hunting. And when Hapi talks to her assumes Hapi's trying to kill her for no reason. So typical. Bernie is this close to being a good character is the game took her seriously.

They both enjoy carnivorous plants. I think Hapi just likes eating them though lamo.

Yep these two are not having the same conversation.

SHEZ & MERCEDES B SUPPORT

They worked together, and now are having a tea party together. Shez wanted to go out to eat. But Mercie is a lady of class and wants tea.

Mercie likes her sweets.

Ohhhh, Shez's mom incoming. The treats reminds Shez of something her mom used to make.

Sounds like Shez's mom lived the #cottagecore life, picking food from trees to make and living in a forest.

I think Mercie wants to live in the past days. She asks if Shez wants to and seems like she misses living with her mom 😭😭😭

Mercie. No. Why do all your supports get the sad face?

SHEZ & SYLVAIN B SUPPORT

Sylvain's studying magic hardcore. Probably to try and fix the Crest only gets access to super weapon thing.

Also gets to be the Sylvain is actually smart support.

Oh, classic fantasy trope, learning how to weaponize fireworks. Mat Cauthon says hi, Sylvain.

Sylvain's out here about to invent guns to Crests are useless. Empire, you guys are up shit creek if Sylvain invents guns, lamo.

I want guns, AG only route where everyone gets guns and this game ends realllllll fast.

Miklain and Sylvain have different moms?

Sylvain admires Sreng. Good. That's promising for the future.

Oh, Shez is actually smart! Recognizing that when the king shows power (lends Sylvain's family soldiers), then everyone else loses power.

Sylvain loves the Kingdom 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 he's like "he's a half-frozen stretch of dirt, but it's MY half-frozen stretch of dirt. And only home I've got."

Eat shit every "Sylvain makes so much sense in CF" person.

SHEZ & ASHE B SUPPORT

More Shez's mom talk. She thinks her mom was weird and mysterious.

Mystery mom was really smart, knew a lot, and knew magic.

I'm glad some of these are actually about Shez. Helps flesh her out so much. I actually really like Shez.

Awww, Ashe is going to help Shez investigate. Because he knows how it feels. Poor baby looked for info on his parents and couldn't find much. 😭😭😭

Blue Lions need a "sadness incoming" warning on all their supports, ISTG. Or maybe I'm just way too attached lamo.

Ashe is willing to visit the village with Shez in the future to help her find her mom.

This was so fucking wholesome, guys. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

SETETH & FLAYN B SUPPORT

I cannot believe they don't have an A support. Whyyyyy?

Seteth is like "Flayn, you're making yourself useful! How dare you!"

Man, it's weird hearing her call him brother.

Ok, I'll cut Seteth some slack. He's terrified Flayn will fall into an endless sleep again. Poor dude. Right when he lost his wife too.

This support would be so confusing to someone who didn't play Houses.

😭😭😭😭😭😭 Flayn is afraid of sleeping because of this. Poor, baby.

Oh, finally! She called him father 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Poor baby Flayn just wants peace.

They're also so scared of what will happen if they lose the war. Oh, God, I can't keep playing Edelgard's route.

"If I lost you, I'd love the very meaning of my life." - Seteth to Flayn.

Flayn's like I'll eventually grow up, dad. lol. But she won't leave him all alone.

Don't worry, Seteth. I will literally never leave you supportless.

MAIN BATTLE/STORY

Hyped for this one, guys.

I don't want to deal with Cornelia's weapons, ugh.

RODRIGUE AND GUSTAVE ARE OK 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Ifan is alright too. She sounds badass.

But what about Dedue? And Dimitri?

Man, Rodrigue is such a badass.

Western Lords aren't alone. Let me guess, TWSITD? And those two are creating a diversion?

Annette told Felix off, lamo. Saying they need to go help them out. But Felix just wants to rescue Dimitri.

But they know Dimitri won't leave the prison until the people are safe.

Ashe mentioning Dedue. All the points. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

See Felix take command like that does things to me.

Dedue and Rodrigue!!! They're back 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Cut scene in the middle of a battle.

Dimitri's like why did you show up. Idiot. He won't leave though 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 He's too worried about the people. Plus, he's Dimitri, so.

He's like Idk if I die. Dedue is like shut the fuck up, Dimitri. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 "I will not allow it." (is what he actually said and holy hell in a deep, badass voice) Dedue just told Dimitri off. Good. So now we know that Dedue can and will push Dimitri around if need be.

And then hand holding a spear. Because that's not suggestive.

Oh, badass Dimitri in the cut scene. And Dedue got a moment.

OMG. Guys, is that fanservice? I think I just got fanserviced.

They somehow made it Dimilix and Dimidue in the same scene.

Ok, but this game has been serving Dimilix, but can we note Dimitri didn't take Felix's hand? Dedue had to like storm in and put his hand over Dimitri's and force him to pick up the weapon? And it was DEDUE who made Dimitri change his mind? Felix got to lead the mission. Both getting the spotlight.

Guys, like, I need to rewatch that like a thousand times. Because we also can't skip the Dimitri and Dedue being complete badasses afterwards shots.

DIMITRI'S BACK. I CAN USE HIM AGAIN. Ohmygod I forgot how strong he is. 37 strength. WTF Dimitri.

Margrave Gautier just showed up. Holy hell this is epic.

Wait, Cornelia just talked about tearing Dimitri's eyes out. Does this confirm that bitch took his eye in Houses?

Dimitri finished her off with Atrocity. Seems fitting.

Cornelia's like don't kill me! Or the truth will never be known. Dimitri's like ofc, bitch.

So Cornelia arranged most of the pieces of the Duscur. So glad Dimitri's finally getting to ask all these questions 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Edelgard knows what happened to Patricia? Or is Cornelia blowing smoke?

This bitch is about to warp, ugh. Though, that means I get to kill her again, so not too upset.

Man, is AG really going to focus on Dimitri discovering the truth about Duscur and fighting TWSITD because if that's the whole plot . . . I'm so happy 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

But like, why does Dimitri get the whole new plot? Edelgard and Claude are getting crumbs. Oh well.

Dimitri, Rodrigue, and Dedue have rejoined you. Helllll yesss.

Dimitri ready to go after Cornelia. But Felix saying to chill.

Ohhhh Felix got words for Dimitri this time. He's yelling at Dimitri for taking on too much by himself. Calling Dimitri out for not listening.

Ingrid's like, Felix stop. Felix isn't listening.

Dimitri just called killing Rufus "murder." Like stawp. Dimitri, it's self-defense at that point. I swear to God Dimitri would find a way to blame himself for cancer 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

He didn't choose any of this 😭😭😭😭😭😭

He wants to take all the guilt for Edelgard's and Rufus's and TWSITD's actions. Baby, no. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Felix is telling everyone else to tell Dimitri to knock it off lol.

OMG, I'm so glad for this scene. They're all telling Dimitri not to shoulder everything alone. 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Guys, this is the missing scene from AM that I was desperate for.

Guys, this route is like 10000000x better than the other two.

I need to write some kind of hybrid AG/AM route.

Cornelia's in pain. Good. She's getting the Western lords whipped into a frenzy lamo.

And you know what, no Byleth or Jeralt! I'm so fucking tired of them showing up every. single. battle. Good on AG to knock that off for at least 1 chapter. It gets fucking old.

God, this chapter. I'm going to be thinking about this for a long time.

Man, I really am tempted to just drop the other two routes and only play AG. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

xxx

[lablakelystress]

Vent no.13 (Update really)

So my parents want me to be at 115lbs ,which I despise obviously, but it���s not just that because they are doing everything in their power in order to get me there right when I was starting to reach my gw. It’s so infuriating and I wish I could do something about it. I try to exercise but they are aware that I do this so they keep their eyes on me to make sure I don’t. I am trying to not pvrge anymore because everyone says it’s bad for you and when I try to purge I never get any food out, it’s mostly just water…

I don’t know what to do at this point because my dad has gotten to the point where he’s literally taking me out of school during my lunch period to give me food and watch me eat. I’m think I’ll just quickly gain 5lbs because I’m at 110 right now (terrible I know and I hate the thought of doing this) but hopefully he will get off of my back about weight for a bit so that I can start to go down again in time for the end of the year. Plus, he also said that once I got to 115, he would personally drive me to a homeless shelter so that I could see if it is something that I want to commit to. Is this a crazy idea, yes but drastic times call for drastic measures.It’s gonna be very hard, but it’s the only thing I can think of because if I stay trying to kind of lose weight and exercising (which doesn’t do much for me) then my parents are going to increase my c@l0ries which will only lead to me staying stagnant in my weight and in us both losing and being unhappy. Idk, I could be wrong but it’s likely for the best.

Sorry to go in detail about my plan that no one besides me cares about, but hey, venting… anyways, please don’t end up like me, I wish you all good luck on your journeys especially those who are in a similar situation with loved ones who want them to recover, but regardless, have a very happy b1nge-free (or whatever your goals are this month) May! ☀️💐

[kokikokisstuff]

Posted on 02. November 23.

Firstly - don’t start. I am pro recovery all day everyday. Please, please get help. There are so many people who are willing to help and it will get better. Whatever you think you can prove or fix or destroy by starving yourself is not worth it. It’s not. You deserve to be fed, you deserve to be healthy. I am looking for help all the time and I want to get better so badly. Please no minors.

23 yo

175 cm / 5’9”

CW: 59kg / 130lbs

GW: 49 kg / 108lbs

I don’t really have a start weight. I have been anorexic since I was 12. It started because I was sick for a week and lost some weight. I wanted to loose more, I was searching for a sense of belonging. My life was unbearable and I was living in an abusive household ever since I was born. In school my classmates bullied me which made me feel very lonely. I had no one who supported me so I was looking for something that would support me. I fell into the dark hole that eating disorders are and learned to love the voice inside my head that told me to starve myself until someone - anyone - saw the pain I was carrying inside of me. Within six months I lost 19kg/41lbs. I went from 63kg/139lbs to 44kg/97lbs. Once my mother caught onto it she forced me to eat. I was crying, screaming, begging not to eat the food she put in front of me. I was terrified. I wanted to vanish into thin air. One day I couldn’t take the verbal and mental abuse anymore and started binging away.

I never got treated for my eating disorder. I was so ashamed of the fact that my family, especially my own mother, didn’t help me fight this illness. I made up a lie and told everyone I got treatment. I couldn’t possibly say that my family doesn’t give a f*k. If someone would have helped me and got me into therapy - maybe I wouldn’t be here, 10 years later, still suffering.

The past 10 years were a horrible up and down and I was never able to shut the voice inside my head up. My highest weight has been 67kg/147lbs, my lowest weight during this time was 51kg/112lbs. I binged and starved and binged and starved some more. I am tired.

So 10 years ago all this mess started, I hate this illness more than anything else however - she’s my best friend. Never leaves my side, ever. I have so many stories about my life with anorexia, I could write multiple books. I wish I’d have never started…

I was diagnosed with bipolar 1 this year and about two years ago with bpd. Due to therapy I was able to treat almost all of my bpd symptoms, so I’m not struggling with it as much as before. Bipolar I is a different thing tho. I’m on medication since may this year, it has helped immensely. I still struggle with mania especially and depression symptoms. They’re just not as strong as before, luckily!

For two months now I have been back on this bullsh full time and I already lost 7kg/16lbs. Seeing the number drop lower and lower is a feeling I have never experienced before or ever again with anything else. So I will keep on starving myself until I binge eat myself all the way back to before. Or until I reach my GW. I just want to see how far I can push myself. How much weight can I lose until I’ll lose life?

I went vegan in 2019 due to health reasons and I am still vegan today. I am not the purging type, I am the starving type. I also hardly do any sporty activities but I want to get more into it again because I am good at sports.

If you have any questions please ask away! I’m happy to be part of a community, whichever one that might be. :-)

[fadebolt]

Personal room rankings:

1 - Glacial Wasteland: B08 (9/10) 2 - Metropolis: S06 (8/10) 3 - Chimney Canopy: A15 (8/10) 4 - Metropolis: crash (7/10) 5 - Rubicon: B03 (6/10) 6 - Looks to the Moon: LAB7 (6/10) 7 - Glacial Wasteland: C05 (5/10) 8 - Looks to the Moon: S04 (4/10) 9 - The Rot: LAB11 (4/10) 10 - Sky Islands: SAINTINTRO (2/10)

Extra comment: Well, what can I say, it feels nice to have a round where other folks love my favorites too. SAINTINTRO is the only somewhat highly voted one that I don't, but there are still 4 rooms that performed better than it, so that one is still qite niche, from the looks of things (though I still don't get why it was kept around when the Gourmand intro rooms were removed for the non-Gourmand Slugcats, but I digress).

When it comes to the list, it only has 1 room that's present on this poll, which is crash. And that one is alright. I'd say the idea of it is definitely cooler than the experience it has to offer. However, I do have to give it credit for being unique, but also for reminding us that, yeah, this city has actually been abandoned for an insanely long time, which will naturally result in some deterioration, especially with the situation Five Pebbles is in (it also makes us wonder what the hell happened to this specific building on the right, for it to end up in such a state, and I always like it when rooms make me curious). The room also doesn't really do anything wrong, which is also a plus.

And with the bonus ones, we're moving onto the Saint timeline again, starting with:

B03 from Glacial Wasteland! As you could probably guess, this is not as good as either of the two GW rooms present here (which is fair, after all, this one failed, whereas those didn't). At best, you just quickly run through this thing within a few seconds, potentially eat some Bubble Fruits, and then never thing of this place again. And at worst, you get super unlucky with the Leeches or Vultures, causing you to either die, or just wait for an annoyingly long time. You won't be having fun in this room, and its unique gimmick with the semi-hidden underwater shortcuts/passageways is something that gets used once in a blue moon. It's not horrid, so a 4/10 is still probably deserved, but I definitely wouldn't call this good.

The other bonus room that we'll be covering today is IN1 from, you guessed it, Rubicon. This also just so happens to be a Guardian room, like the one that appeared on this very poll, and if you were to ask me which of the two has a higher chance to be successful, I would indeed most likely say B03. This is not really because IN1 is badly designed, but more so due to the fact that B03 just has a lot more stuff going on. It's way more complex, and the player has a higher number of potential strategies and approaches, leading to the challenge feeling much more interesting and memorable. I really don't know why this one was made to be so basic, since players will already learn the new Guardian mechanics from AP01. But the fact that every path funnels into this room, yet people still didn't care about it, shows just how unmemorable it is. It's not badly designed, and I'd still give it a 5 or 6/10, I just wish it had at least a little more to it.

Pick Your Favorite Rain World Room, Day 219 R2

This is not single elimination! Every room with at least 15.0% vote will move on to the next round.

There is a hidden slugcat in one of the rooms (they can be in any color). If u can see it comment or reblog with where they are and if u are first, u get a cookie!

Credit for game screenshots goes to: Rain World Interactive Map, Rain World Wiki and me

Congratulations for day 218 winners!

[crowned-clown-rising]

A young girl watches BBC Merlin for the first time in 2022 and shares her thoughts for your entertainment.

This time season 3

Enjoy watching me lose my sanity I guess.

Season 1 | Season 2

• This show in never going to let me know peace ever again, is it?

• I kind of want to see Merlin snap back at Arthur more, because if he doesn't the servant-master trope becomes a nono for me. Like, if they fuck with each other, it sort of brings them to the same level, but if it's only Arthur treating Merling like shit, well... idk doesn't sit right

• Morgana my baby look at you how much you've grown. Yes honey play them all slayy

• About her reunions... 1) this Morgwen divorce is really feeling like a slap in the face they were sO CLOSE AND :c 2) How was Merlin so gullible lol xd 3) Arthur's... I'm really sad for them. I really feel bad for Arthur when he finds out and ugh tHEY COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT TOGETHER

• Is that Lucifer

• Wasn't Morgana super good with the sword how is Merlin even facing her with it?

• The goblin episode is the best one so far I'm laughing sO MUCH. Morgana thinking that Gaius knows about her secret and that Merlin stole her bracelet and in reality it's just a random goblin messing around and slapping the king's head after making him bald.

• OMG I JUST NOTICED HAHAHA in the throne room there is a shield hanged and said shield is one that belongs to my homeplace, Castilla y León, in Spain. And his fact it's even better when you know that in my hometown there is a pub called Camelot

• Is that the woman from Balto AND the herbalist teacher from Harry Potter

• Morgana using Gwen and putting her at risk to kill Arthur just broke my heart. I cannot- Not them. They were in love, your honor 😭

• Arthur: I have to do this alone. No help.

Merlin: Sorry I couldn't hear you. My ears suddenly fell off. Anyway I'm going to check every tabern in this realm in search for even more unrequested help. Ok I just miss Gwaine.

• Why doesn't Merlin tell Gwaine about his magic. He would keep the secret even just out of spite lol and probably high five the boy.

• This is not fair I already love Gwaine so fucking much 🤡 I really hate it here.

• Gwaine bi king??? How can I not stan.

• I need you guys to tell me the exact episode I need to skip so that Gwaine simply stops appearing in scenes and there is no other reason for it, we'll just say he went explore something.

• Is that the timelord from Doctor who

• Is that Queen Victoria from Doctor who

• I can't help it I'm pretty sad that Arthur not only has no idea of everything Merlin does, but he instead thinks he was doing something completely false and irresponsible and– like going to get drunk the day Gwen is getting burnt at the stake. It's SO SAD BC I WOULD BE SO DISSAPPOINTED AT MERLIN FOR NOT HELPING OUT AND Merlin must feel SO bad for not beeing seen and auhdfjalf

• Listen you don't understand just how much I wish Morgana had left Gwen out of their plots. It doesn't even make sense, she loved her so much and Gwen did nothing to her how could she be so eager to see her dead?? I hate it here. Imagine if Morgana was conflicted bc of Gwen? like, she would pursue her path but would try at least not to hurt Gwen, doesn't that make much more sense??

• Arthur and Gwen don't make my little heart flick as much, but they are pretty cute I have to admit it. And Merlin honestly seems happy that the people he loves are happy together.

• Is that Dudley Dursley

• This ep before the finale make me feel good about Merlin and Arthur. Not as a couple, but in reflection of character development and all. And they are awarded by their choices like yes finally.

• Unrelated but the 4 second scene where Merlin is doing chores for Arthur and Arthur is just there vibing and asking for advise/ranting gives such a homey comfy ambient between them that it's so sweet.

• I'm so grateful for Lance to know about Merlin's powers. Like yes finally an ally and a friend who sees him and can confide in 😭🥺 I just wish Gwaine knew too. That man is everything but a snitch.

• Gwaine con el uniforme de caballero guApooo El barrio entero para tii la reina del martes santoo el niño de nUestroS OjoS!

[arachnaesghost]

Greywaren spoilers!! Finally putting to words my feelings about it.

I'm just kind of sad and vaguely disappointed about greywaren. I don't want anyone to feel swayed by this tho! Idk like I did enjoy it and there's nothing in particular that I dislike, but I'm let down a bit nonetheless. I'm sure this is partially because it was so so so hyped up in my mind, and also at the end of the day the raven cycle was always more my thing that the dreamer trilogy. But idk. I saw someone say something like mstief must have had a word limit or something put in GW that caused her to cut a lot out of the book. I hope this is true because it would explain a lot. It just feels a little hollow. Things kind of just get wrapped up neat but too neat? Idk the words to describe what I mean. I do really love a lot about the book. I love the extra background it gives to the lynch family and to Ronan specifically of course. I love Niall and the new fenian no surprise there. (boy-o!) I love Matthews scenes. I am Soo grateful it ended happily even if it felt a lil hollow to get there. I can work with that. And I'm happy it didn't negatively alter the way I view trc because that would suck. But yeah. I think a lot of Carmen's story doesn't work for me. I think how she dates ppl is weak and weird? I think a lot of the series was devoted to her story but I kinda wish it hadn't been. I also reallllllyyyy wanna scream about the bit with gansey and the fist bump feeling like another language or whatever. It makes me think that for some reason they hadn't seen each other much in those 4 years leading up to the epilogue and I dislike that. I suppose they were all probs busy though but still. Sigh. Idk.

[mercedesvonnuvelle]

I’m pretty sure Hopes Claude is way more in-character than his Houses counterpart. This has nothing to do with the white people he’s influenced by. He didn’t really do much in Houses, we never really saw many of the schemes he always talked about. In Hopes, they’re on full display, and he knows he has the smallest army in the war, so he really has to do some different things to have a chance. He definitely makes some mistakes, like with the Randolph/Catherine chapter in GW. But that adds SO much to his character and made me appreciate him so much more. They finally made him morally grey and interesting like most of the other characters. It can be boring to have someone so perfect as a main character. He was still enjoyable in Houses bc they made him super silly and wacky compared to the other route leaders. Anyway, even from Houses, we know that he agrees with Edelgard’s way of fixing things way more than Dimitri’s. He is doubtful of the church through the whole game. And they go into that even more in Hopes, with him actively doing something about the status quo with the church. He does not want Rhea to remain in power at all. It was a bit jarring to see him wanting to full-on kill Rhea rather than capture her or just remove her from power after defeating her, which is what Edelgard was trying to do. But she ends up having to kill her too in SB, and Crimson Flower in Houses as well, bc Rhea would never give up like that. Claude is just kinda over it at that point in GW I suppose, and he just wants to end the bloodshed, so I guess it would make a lot more sense in that aspect. I do wish they would’ve went more into his war with Almyra, too, though. After Shahid dies, it just kinda magically resolves itself

i don't get Hopes fans' insistence that Claude was fixed by a white woman/man (Byleth) and that he’s better when he's used as a prop for a separate white woman (smellygard). Like they of course don't put it like that but that's deadass what they're saying when they attribute all of Claude’s positive character traits to Byleth and when they cheer so hard for Claude ruining his dreams in the service of a violent imperialist.

Claude and Byleth are better (and straight up GREAT) as equals who help each other grow closer to others and not "well Claude was completely evil until Byleth made him good" and he's DEFINITELY better as an antagonistic force against smellygard than a dumb yesman. like sorry to the Claude "fans" that want him to just be a dumb violent brown boy who only gets fixed by the good white characters but he's an amazing and good person all by himself 🚶

as a disclaimer, as a white woman i won't put words in the mouths of fans of color who like hopes!claude—and many do! but many also don't, at least in part for the reasons you mention, and anything i have to say on the topic will be echoing them. (@butwhatifidothis, for example, who's talked a lot about this specifically from this angle.)

i can understand the argument that byleth influenced claude to grow emotionally closer to people and his trust in her allowed him to break down the walls he would have kept up otherwise. but i think it's more than a little bit silly to attribute hopes!claude's behavior entirely to the absence of byleth. because we have canon proof of what claude looks like without byleth, and it's called "fire emblem three houses", a game in which claude a) doesn't try to take over anything even when given some good opportunities to do so and b) never even considers siding with edelgard. even "well claude didn't have the year at garreg mach" still falls flat when you consider that claude was already a clever and curious person before garreg mach, traits that are, by all accounts, largely absent in his motivations in three hopes.

hopes!claude only works as a tragedy, and even then i find it hard to believe. (and of course, having the series' first POC lord be the Tragic One in a fanservice game, compared to his two white counterparts who make off like kings by comparison, is pretty gross no matter how you slice it.) of the many traits canon claude has, "stupid enough to believe he can help edelgard conquer a continent and then starscream her" is not one of them. it's literally just edelgard's (equally stupid, but at least in-character) canon alliance with the slithers, believing she can turn around and destroy them after depleting her own resources bringing any potential allies she might have had to ruin, but with a golden deer coat of paint. i think that, as a golden deer fan, i can be forgiven for not finding that very appealing, even as an AU, and i'm certainly not paying sixty bucks for it.

seriously, Warriors + three houses could easily have just been another fanservice-y romp like the original, where the 3h characters get to interact with past canon characters and they're all friends and go on adventures together, yay!! but they didn't. they went the most financially foolish route possible and it's not at all surprising that fans weren't interested.

[outrunningthedark]

In regards to Eddie, I really don’t get why they’d give him the “perfect” woman in Ana just for her to be wrong for him and turn around and give him another woman love interest. What exactly would be the point?

See, this is what intrigues me about how long Tim & his staff are going to delay canon!Buddie. They hire GW. She's pretty. She passes as a Latina. (Did they assume she actually was Latina at first? That's the question.) The problem is, beyond what a "good looking couple" they make... the chemistry is nonexistent. This had to be obvious to those on set and yet she kept her job because...what other option was there, I guess? So. We sit through Jinx. Here comes A*a. She's successful. She's cute. She isn't afraid to flirt. Fandom ate it up. ("I'm excited to see where this goes." // "I wish she would date me!") Then, 4x07 has no mention of her. O-kay. 4x08 starts with fake sex noises and teacher!kink... which confused the hell out of a lot of us, and in the same episode where A*a finally gets to meet Christopher as Eddie's new girlfriend, Christopher runs to Buck for reassurance that Buck is never leaving him behind. Already we're being shown that A*a will have no influence/impact on Buck's role in the Diaz family. 911 social media team posts a fancam to hype up the love story between EddieA*a only to reduce their scene to fifteen seconds as part of the closing montage in 4x10. 4x11 & 4x12 were written as if A*a didn't exist. 4x13 brought her back so Carla could make the observation that Eddie was doing what he thinks is best for Christopher, not himself (thereby setting the stage for a possible breakup). And we all know what happened in the finale, don't we? A*a is by Eddie's bedside, but who's got Christopher? Oh, right. It's Buck. We don't see Eddie awake post-surgery until Buck runs to him, A*a backing away so they have their reunion 👀 A*a is at the welcome home party, but we are still recovering from the guardianship decision that's been finalized FOR A YEAR! Eddie is dating another woman and never thought to alter his will to accommodate her! This relationship is doomed! The writers put ZERO effort into making EddieA*a look like endgame and we're headed for another (half/nearly full) season of single dad!Eddie while Buck tries to move on with T*ylor. Tim is saying "We don't know what we're doing yet" (because he knows how to get under everyone's skin), but his writers are saying something else. They were never committed to making GW a permanent fixture on the show. She was/is just a detour on the road to Eddie finding his true happiness with Buck. I don't know how the casting directors can bring in another female love interest for Eddie after this only to have them break up as well while still spewing their "We don't know what's going to happen with Buddie" bullshit. They know what's going to happen. What they don't know is how it will.

[divineerdrick]

Warhammer Preview Online: Las Vegas Open 2024

I feel awful, and I wasn't able to do this last night when it aired live. But I've tried to avoid spoilers, failed for a couple, and now I'm going to try and get some reactions out to this.

Alright! We're starting with new sculpts for Drukhari Mandrakes. Like many elite units lately, GW is apparently releasing these for Kill Team. I'm personally a fan of this, as I'm a fan of Kill Team. But by the same token, this almost always means they'll be in some kind of combo box that means you have to buy two Kill Teams at once. This is something not everyone likes for obvious reasons.

Also . . . I'm not really all that impressed honestly? They're good sculpts, and what they're trying to do with them they're doing well. I'm just not a fan of what they're trying to do I guess. They feel pretty generically dark elf, and lack a certain 40K or Drukhari feel. I could easily see these in AOS or Old World. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it gives you some fun conversion potential. But it definitely makes them feel less special.

And there's the conformation. This is a another Kill Team season box with Night Lords and Mandrakes. The Night Lords here are still so awesome! As I said in the last preview, I'm very fond of these. But yeah, the Mandrakes just feel a little underwhelming.

They're even talking about how this unit has different models in it. But other than the Shadoweaver and what looks like a caster of some kind, I don't really see it. Like which one of theses is supposed to be the Night Fiend? Is it the one in the bottom center? Like, there's really not much separating these models from each other . . .

This new terrain piece, the Generatorium, looks pretty cool though. From looking at the display they have, I do kinda wish it was a little larger. But it looks like it might be a good piece for Kill Team. I also think it would be great for Boarding Actions.

Oh! I see Night Haunt! Oo~ Night Haunt in Warcry. Yes please~ Looks like a full new box set for the game. Lumineth verses Night Haunt. This diorama looks really cool as usual. I'm not particularly impressed by the Lumineth, but Night Haunt are awesome as always.

I do have to say, the posing of the Lumineth here have a lot of fluid action in them. While I'm not impressed with their design, I'm absolutely loving the feel of motion they've captured here.

This is another pretty cool scenery piece here too, but it doesn't have a lot of flat surfaces for positioning. It does have some, so you can still use it, but this would be much harder to use in another game like AoS.

Onto the next preview, and it's a Kroot! Finally getting some new Kroot sculpts! While I still feel Eldar need more in the way of full refreshes, I know a lot of Kroot models are only available in Finecast, and Tau players have been chomping at the bit on this for a while now. And I'm not sure, but I think this might be all of the models Kroot needed!

And we also get our first look at the new Tau Codex! So this looks like this is the 10th Edition Tau release, potentially in full. I don't see Kroot Hounds though. Are they in plastic yet? Let me check . . .

Looks like they are, but they're also online only. So that's not awesome.

And it looks like Tau might be getting all of these in an initial big box. Good way to get started on the Kroot side of your forces, if you don't mind FOMO boxes.

Okay, it's only some of the new Kroot. So new Kroot Hounds might be on the way too.

These new sculpts are pretty awesome too. They feel very lithe and nimble, giving the impressions of very agile hunters.

Looks like we're getting new characters for leading Kroot too. This might help give reasons to have Kroot on the table, instead of your normal Tau units.

I love these new Krootox units too. They look really cool and give a nice sense of monstrous shock assault. If they're designed well, they could make a great counter punch unit. While they're talking about them shifting units off objectives, I honestly can't imagine them being betters than a Crisis brick.

Looks like the standard Krootox is getting some options. Most of these appear to be cosmetic, but there will be new weapon options.

And yeah, depending on price, this will be a great way to start Kroot. And as expected, the new Tau book will have a Kroot focused detachment. We'll have to wait and see if it's any good.

On to Age of Sigmar, with only the barest of teasers before the title drop. Oh~ Who are you? Is this a new Dark Elf model? Possibly Malerion himself? Those are Khinerai with them. Maybe this is just a Daughters of Khaine model! Yep! This all new Daughters of Khaine stuff! Krethusa's Cronehost, I don't remember hearing about her. Interestingly, although we saw her alongside Khinerai and Witches in the trailer, this box set appears to be Sisters of Slaughter and Warlocks.

So this is new unit representing the original Daughters of Khaine and their worship of Khaine, refusing to just buy into Morathi's BS. Interesting! This makes a good way to diversify the faction and come up with a way to do more interesting things there. Still got that malignant, Daughters of Khaine feel too.

Got lots of cool now characters here! Interesting way to add new units and expand on the AOS story. I'm hoping these characters will be fun additions to their respective armies.

Gryphon! Look at the beautiful beast! Creepy cute kitty too! I love these so much! Very nice character minis. I hope we get some Warcry and even Warhammer Quest rules too!

The eye position on Lisa is creeping me out though. Looks a little too high on the head in this image.

Balthus! Gryph hound puppy has name~ Good gryph hound~

They mentioned Cursed City! Please give us rules!

Onto Underworlds, and we have zombies! Some really cool looking undead here. I really like the strange bat, cat beast in this. Interesting Lady Hawk like story here, where this necromancer has had her love cursed into the beast there. Interesting little story added into this warband.

And now we're on to what I had spoiled. It's Horus Heresy, and it's new plastic Solar Auxilia. We knew it was coming, but this is still awesome! And it's a plastic Malcador! Hell yes! And this all looks freaking awesome. Honestly, if I were to play Heresy, I'd probably play Custodes or Auxilia.

I wonder if they have rules for combined arms armies in Heresy?

I just love how bulky and boxy the Aethon is! Gives me kind of that classic 40K walker feel! Absolutely love it! I also love the feel of the Dracosan. It definitely has that older style track feel to it that you can easily see carried through most Imperial vehicles. And we get a new Leman Russ too with some nice new, or I guess old, options.

And again, we're getting a new box to introduce all these new minis with. If you don't mind these FOMO boxes, this is a potentially good start. If you're planning on going full Auxilia though, you'll probably want more than one of these.

We're also getting a second Leman Russ variant. Not a fan here with them not making all of these available in one kit. I'm sure they'd say the extra sprues would make it too expensive, but I honestly still believe that every model should have all its options.

And here we're getting some cool elite Auxilia. We've got some lower level power armour to beef them up. While they don't show it, apparently you can field this as a melee unit too.

And here's the Malcador. Still a really cool looking tank. I don't think these are going to stay available in 40K, but they are nice looking. Got lots of nice options on here too. Hopefully this time it's all of them . . . and the tank has a bottom . . .

And that's our reveals!

Started out a little weak in my mind, but there's definitely some really cool stuff here. I think I'm most excited about the new Kroot and Auxilia. I also really like the new Underworlds warband and those new AoS characters. I'm not sure about the new Daughters of Khaine box. I probably won't be able to pick it up, because I still have a lot of financial responsibilities going on, so I might be going sour grapes here. But while the new character looks really cool, its a weird mix of units to me. Also, I'm very fond of Morathi as a character and villain, so I'm not likely to go deep on any faction of Daughters that exclude her.

All and all some nice reveals. I'd say more, but I'm really not feeling well, and I don't want to push myself. I'm tempted to not go hunting for the images, but it's really not much to copy the links from WarCom.

[oh-for-merlins-sake]

CRUMBS ‘N’ CRUMPETS | gw

summary: ever since y/n opened a bakery across from weasleys’ wizard wheezes, george hasn’t stopped thinking about her. he hopes that holiday cheer, a blanket of snowfall, and one chocolatey recipe will give him the courage he needs to make his christmas wish come true.

pairing: george weasley x fem!reader

word count: 1.6k

warnings: several mentions of food, gets a lil steamy, alcohol

a/n: ok so i was feeling HELLA COZY and wanted to write a comfy christmas fic hehehehe. enjoy! and happy holidays!!! 💛

taglist: @iliveiloveiwrite @andromedaa-tonks @pansydaisy​ @a-little-too-much @slytherinsunrise @marvelettesassemble @msmarklee1213​ @letsgotothehop @finnishslytherin @starlightweasley @witch-and-a-half​ (message/ask to be added/removed, loves!)

The twinkle of shimmering white lights danced across your vision as George twirled you in a sloppy circle, keeping time with the vibrations of familiar Christmas songs that rattled your feet.

“I’m going to need to sit after this!” You laughed.

“Can’t keep up, darling?” George teased, a mischievous smirk tugging at his lips.

You gripped his arms, slowing him to a halt. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself, Weasley.”

He raked a hand through his disheveled ginger locks. “I don’t have to — you do plenty of it for me.”

George shot you a wink, but the only response you could muster was a dramatic scoff. Just as he opened his mouth to quip further, someone toppled into you, resulting in a heaping dose of eggnog poured directly down your front.

You gasped from the sudden, thick chill and glared at George, who was stifling a raucous laugh.

“‘M sorry, Y/N,” she mumbled.

“It’s all right, Eleanor, you didn’t mean to,” you assured as you propped her back up.

You passed her back to her seemingly sober friend who apologized profusely on her behalf. She tugged Eleanor out of the shop, and you heard a boisterous laugh erupt from behind you. You spun on your heel to find George with his head on the nearest display case, trembling from how hard he was laughing.

You feigned anger, “George!”

“Honestly, Y/N, I think eggnog suits you!”

You swiped your wand across your body to instantly launder your bright red blouse. George protested, “Oh, c’mon, at least save me some!”

You rolled your eyes and playfully shoved his shoulder.

The stuffiness of the shop began to settle on your sweaty skin as clusters of people roved around you. A gust of icy air blew in as another horde of people clamored through the door. The chill was inviting.

Your eyes fluttered shut as you tossed your head back, exposing your sticky neck as you relished in the fleeting cold. George bit his lip, averting his gaze, knowing all too well how he longed to taste your salty skin.

“I could really use some fresh air,” you sighed, opening your eyes. “Care to join me?”

“It’s getting a touch hot for me as well,” George nodded in agreement, absentmindedly loosening his tie.

You gulped at the sight and quickly pivoted to lead him towards the door. He followed achingly close behind, and you resisted the overwhelming urge to spin and close the gap.

You were grateful to reach the wintry air.

“You sure know how to throw a Christmas party, Weasley,” you said as you tamed your tousled hair.

George chuckled and shook his head. “Every year, we think it’s going to be a hell of a lot smaller than it ever is.”

“Well, it gets my official stamp of approval!” You curtsied before mimicking a grandiose stamping motion. “Of course, only if the new girl’s opinion even matters.”

George laughed. “‘Course the new girl’s opinion matters!” He pointed sternly. “Some may say it’s the most important one.”

Only a few months had passed since you opened Crumbs ‘N’ Crumpets, your bakery across the street, but it felt like you’d known George for years. Like clockwork, he’d stop in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, sampling the daily special and shoving a few bills into the tip jar; and every Saturday morning, you’d leave a steaming cup of coffee with a warm chocolate chip muffin on the doorstep to Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes; and after a bustling day of business, when the shops all closed and the keepers turned in, you’d both walk down the alley, admiring the colorful Christmas lights that strung above the streets.

Neither of you dared to discuss it, and neither of you would admit that the routine meant more than you ever led on, but as he watched you giggle and admire the twinkling lights above your head yet again, he knew that he was careening down a treacherous path.

“Fancy a snack, George?” You asked suddenly. “I’m starving!”

The firewhisky you downed earlier created a cavern in your stomach; and the same was true of George. “What can I get you?” He asked, turning back towards the party.

You stopped him and nodded towards the bakery. “I was thinking we could make something of our own,” you challenged.

A faint blush sprawled across his freckled face as you dragged him by the hand. “Are you sure you want my help? I was banned from the kitchen as a child — blew up far too many things with my brother.”

You giggled as you unlocked the door to the bakery, pushing it with your shoulder and causing the silver bell overhead to chime. Guided by the moonlight that crept through the storefront, you led George to the back before flipping a switch to illuminate the messy kitchen.

A doughy mixing bowl sat unwashed in the sink, patches of flour blotted the countertops, and a few holly-patterned pot warmers sat on the cool, linoleum floor.

“Neat as a pin,” George teased, nudging his hip against yours.

“Do you want a snack, or don’t you?”

George chuckled as you pulled a delicate recipe box from a nearby shelf and flipped through the cards within. Eventually, you withdrew an old-time favorite: your mother’s homemade, melt-in-your-mouth, triple chocolate cookies. George was eager to learn how to concoct such an extraordinary confection — or rather, pretend to learn.

Honestly, George couldn’t comprehend much when he was around you. You raptured every ounce of his attention and always managed to short-circuit his brain and send his stomach into an endless bout of somersaults. Focusing on anything but you was a fruitless task.

His heart fluttered as you danced around the kitchen, spinning dough, sprinkling flour, and sampling chocolate. You were completely in your element. It seemed an intimate blessing to be standing there, rolling globs of sticky dough between his palms beside of you.

“I shattered my ulna when I was eight, and these cookies were the only thing to get me through those bloody buckets of Skele-Gro,” you recalled, slapping the last ball of dough onto the aluminum cookie sheet.

George grimaced. He was all too familiar with the sensation that accompanied a hearty helping of Skele-Gro. “These must be pretty wicked cookies then!”

You laughed and slid the tray into the toasty oven. “You’re in for a real treat, Weasley!”

George’s mouth was practically drooling at the delicious chocolate aroma that wafted through the air as he scrubbed colorful measuring cups and wooden spoons in the sink. Each time he passed you a dish to dry, your hand would gently graze his, which sent him into a complete and utter tizzy.

As soon as the timer chimed, George practically raced you to the oven.

You laughed as you stood between him and the oven, turning off the timer and placing your hand against his chest. “You’ve got to let them cool, Georgie!”

He peered down at you, suddenly overwhelmed by how little distance separated the two of you. “Sorry,” he muttered. The faintest trace of a smirk lined his lips. “I can be a bit... impatient.”

You gazed up at him, stammering as you attempted to craft some sort of coherent response. You were well aware of the fact that merely standing on your tiptoes at this point would close the minute gap between your lips and his; how the scent of chocolate evaporated as you inhaled his musky cologne and the notes of cinnamon that escaped his breath; how you’d been standing in silence for probably longer than what was socially acceptable — perhaps you should say something, you thought.

“That makes two of us,” you whispered. You were doused with a sudden wave of courage before swiftly tugging George to your lips by his evergreen tie, worried that if you waited another second, that courage may dissipate into another missed opportunity.

His lips melted into yours as he pressed you against the balmy glass of the stacked ovens behind you. You sighed into the kiss and tugged the ends of his ginger hair as his large hands swept underneath your blouse to rake at the small of your back. You gently tossed your head back, giving George’s mouth free rein to finally dance across your neck. A soft moan escaped your lips as you hooked your fingers through his belt loops to pull him completely against you.

You were perfectly content to continue indulging in your finally realized fantasies until a faint, burning odor infiltrated the kitchen.

You gasped and pushed George off of you, flinging the oven door open to reveal greatly crisped, blackened cookies.

“Blimey, I’m sorry, Y/N!” George exclaimed.

You safely extracted the sheet of cookies and set it on the counter before turning off the oven. You couldn’t help but laugh at how carried away you’d gotten.

“Bet they’re still bloody delicious,” George assured, reaching for a scorched cookie.

You giggled as he audibly crunched on the sweet, doing his best to hide the grimace that threatened to surface. “Well,” he muttered, “Guess that means we’ll have to try again another day!”

The two of you tossed the charred sweets in the bin, both flushed and bashful about the events that had just transpired. Neither of you mentioned it as you locked the bakery once more or as you migrated back to the Christmas party across the street. You wondered when either of you would bring it up, if at all; if either of you would ever muster the courage to do such a thing again.

As you both maneuvered to settle against a wall, George chirped, “Oh, look!” He pointed above your heads. “Mistletoe.”

He smirked as you rolled your eyes.

Well that didn’t take long.

[beril66]

First thank you for answering. And I THINK I understand what you are trying to say. Flayer curse started as the last petty vengence of a C'tan who was the embodiment of hunger (which can be interorited in VERIETY of ways) itself. Those who caught it started craving for the most literal definition of it...flesh and blood. But those ALSO sembolises LIFE AND WARMTH. I realized that warmth plays a big deal with necrons. They don't really FEEL physical sensations besides general feeling lf cold...its miserable when you think about it. And considering Necrontyr lost everything that made them alive craving the raw manifestation of it make sense. But they also crave for different things as well; love , stability , safety , power (to live without danger or to some sadistic fucks to feel good about themselves) etc. These obsessions can stave of the Flayer virus OR exasserbate its infection. Do I make any sense?

As you said necrons have NEVER been free. They still aren't even our characters. Trazyn without his collecting and spats with Orikan , Orikan without his drive for godhood and Trazyn would have lost their minds long ago. Zhandrekh arguably already did but ONE thing he cherishes more than anything is still with him. Obyron. Same goes for Obyron too. They are still tightly bound by their obsessions. Something flayer virus might release them and even enhance certain aspects of their inter relationships (Obyron and Zhandrekh can love each other freely in all their bloody glory who would care about hierarchy at that point , Trazyn and Orikan...who know they might FINALLY listen to each other for once to understand one another) at least thats how I started to see Flayer Virus now with your interpritation...is it a curse? No more than being a necron is. Honest talk here I sooner become a chaos worshipper , a slave , Drukhari or an Ork before I ever wish to be a necron. I LOVE music , listening and singing or writing stories. Having the ability taken from me...not being able to feel as deeply as I do for music now...it would be a faith worse than death. I'd either become a flayed one or a destroyer no doubt for example. I think this is why I semphatize with Djoseras so much too. He lost EVERYTHING. His brother was the hardest blow but I think his inability to compose might be the final nail in the coffin for his mental health.

I think that instictual disdain for flesh and organic is hard coded by the C'tan. Easier to control people that way. I also think the reason none of them ever seem to think about children , babies is both C'tan memory fuckery and their minds trying to protect itself. I noticed in TIATD during the festival where children running around the way it was destribed was...not dismissive even by Trazyn but as if their minds weren't even seeing them...this might also explain why Trazyn give Cadian commander's coat back to his daughter (I forgot his name). Can we just...talk about THAT horrific implications for a second? Its kind of obvious all young children regardless fo caste ended up as warriors...who MIGHT not be as automotan as we would hope to believe but what happened to the newborns? Pregnant women? Toddlers??? GW needs to write a horrificly tragic tale about this.

I hope at the end of 40k I hope Necron will either get their souls (or new souls) and their..or some bodies back. Poor bastards deserve it.

Hi! I saw you post about the meta funny deathmark and wanted to ask; do you think Ithakas and the one dynasty with the 'Mother Of Oblivion' for a Pharakh who killed that C'tan can ever be cured of the Flayer virus? I know Oltyx and co accepted who and what they are and found some type of twisted sort of piece but...they are still cursed 😅 do you think flayer virus can ever be cured?

And what do you think the Destroyer curse is? I have always interprited as 'envy turned hatred towards life'.

This is a good question, albeit a tricky one. I have a lot of thoughts about this, but to keep it brief: I think it depends on what you define 'cured' to be. If one's definition of 'cured' is 'physically freed from disease', as in 'the flayers stop craving flesh and revert back into their unmutated necron forms' - then no, I don't think the Flayer Virus is curable. Yenekh will never look like he did when he was uncursed again, nor will he gain his pre-biotransference body back. The Flayed Ones will always want to feed. By the end of The Twice-Dead King, their condition is written into the laws of reality, and I think it's neither possible nor in the Bone Kingdom's interests to reverse that. You'd have to kill another C'tan to do that, probably, and that's more trouble than it's worth.

But 'cured', as in just... 'healing'? 'Relief from torment'? Were the necrons all that healthy before, don't they usually despise their metal prisons? ... IDK, I feel like in some ways it's necronhood that's the disease, and the Flayer Virus is the cure. I interpret the Flayer Virus as less of a godly curse, and more a psychosomatic manifestation of a mindset. Returning to what Yenekh says:

'[...] It is hunger, Oltyx. Nothing more. Hunger for what is lost. For what could yet be. Hunger that knows no reason. Hunger for the bodies… we threw away… in Szarekh’s war.’ ‘That is the dysphorakh, then, which Mentep told me of?’ ‘Yes. In the end, only… flesh will feed it. But we all find other… substitutes… to stave it off. We find obsessions… to keep it at bay. Compulsions. Discipline, tradition, power. Violence. Recklessness.’ (Reign, Chapter 21)

Fundamentally, the Flayer Virus is want. Multi-directional, irrational want, unbound by time. Yenekh is quite clear that it's not purely a desire to return to their past (they want 'what could yet be') - what he means by 'what is lost', I think, is potential, from when their kind were not bound to metal and undeath and the slow winding decay that awaits them now. The Flayers are like that because they want to live.

The vast majority of necrons are not free. They weren't free back when they were necrontyr, but they were capable of having their own thoughts, being loved, having families and friendships and close relationships that helped them through their short painful lives. Now they don't die so quickly, but they are more slavish than ever, literally incapable of having a personality or an individual thought; almost everything that defined the necrontyr as necrontyr are gone. This is made worse by the fact that most necrons have an inbuilt disgust of organic life, which draws them further away from the lives they used to have.

I believe the Flayers are the ones who have overcome this disgust. As gory and horrific their outer appearances are, they are the ones who are capable of breaking their bodies' limits, of seizing even the faintest shadow of what the C'tan stole from them. Most necron characters who try to change their fate are exactly that, characters, individuals who work largely for their own purpose - Orikan, who wishes to be a god, Szarekh, who claims to want atonement and maybe reverse biotransference somehow - but the Flayed Ones are an entire community of interdynastic and inter-hierarchical individuals who're capable of doing this. In a very real way they represent the necron future, providing no great cosmic relevations about biotransference occur, and whatever future they bring will not cling to outdated traditions. So no, they will probably not be cured, and I doubt they want or need that. They're exactly where they need to be.

As for the Destroyers' curse, I think that is on the opposite side of the same coin. If the Flayer Virus is the psychosomatic manifestation of the urge to live and be free, the Destroyer curse is the manifestation of the death-drive. (I don't like Freud's work or Freudian analysis at all, but the concepts of libido and destrudo may serve as a good analogue.) The fundamental difference between them is that living is close to impossible for necrons, but they are extremely good at killing, and killing has a well-defined place in their hierarchy; between the Flayers and the Destroyers, the latter is given more recognition, and I think that must be the reason why.

As for why necrons become Destroyers, that seems to be a variety of reasons, too. Envy and hatred would be the strongest contenders - these are Zozar's reasons for becoming a Destroyer, and since he's the most compelling part of Indomitus, we can understand why a man who lost everything would want to descend to anti-life nihilism. But I don't know if that's the only reason, because I'm not sure if Borakka has ever meaningfully felt anything. Before biotransference he was a cruel and violent executioner, but the text is clear that he did not do it for glory; it may be that he was just a psychopath who enjoyed killing things, but I don't read glee in what he does, only indifference. For whatever reason that dude's a huge gaping void of entropy, and he will always trend towards nil, until he himself is destroyed.

[loverdrew]

Just A Little Longer | s.r

(not my gif)

Synopsis: A day out on the field doesn’t go as planned, and Y/N is thrown into am ambulance to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital before anyone can help. 

A Grey’s Anatomy x Criminal Minds crossover.

Warnings: none (?)

There was a ringing in the air louder than the one you hear everyday. I felt my breathing hinder. My eyes can only open so wide, enough to see the light, but once by my side, could see only a dark substance quickly oozing out of my body. As I came to, I could tell it was getting harder and harder to breathe, a sharp pain with every inhale and exhale. Upon instinct, I checked my fingers for mobility, feeling that they could move slightly. At least this means I am not paralyzed in my upper body. There was no other noise for a few more minutes, just a slight rustling of trees and the dirt road beneath me. I don’t even remember the initial shot being taken, whether it was from me or him. All I remember is instantly falling to the floor once I arrived on the scene. I just laid in my own blood, the realization that no one may be coming for me.

“Y/N! Y/N! Wake up!” I could faintly hear from what felt like a mile away. My brain perked at the voice, definitively Morgan, but my body would not react. I tried with every might to move my limbs once again but alas, nothing. It was if my brain was screaming and sending pulses to my muscles but it just refused to move. I started to feel hands all over me, lifting me and placing me on what I could imagine was a gurney, as it moved. My sense of hearing coming in full force, beginning to hear people talking and shuffling. Hotch and Morgan were asking where I was being transported to and Emily and JJ consoling someone else who I could hear was practically sobbing. 

“They’re going to take care of her, c’mon let’s just go follow them now!” Emily yelled to everyone. But that distressed someone fought back.

“No! She’s not even moving! They’re intubating her! Emily she’s dying!” 

Spencer....? 

“Reid, you want to help her? Get out of here and go to the hospital.” Hotch firmly said, I could even tell he probably put his hands on Reid, as the sound of prominent footsteps were halted. And the next thing I heard was doors closing, and the sirens blaring.

Once we had arrived at the hospital, I heard a woman’s voice that sounded very strong, like she was in charge.

“What do we got?” She asked.

“GW to the left ribcage, she’s lost a lot of blood, almost 2 pints. We’ve been intubating her since we got to the scene but Bailey, it doesn’t look too good. Possible head contusion when she hit the floor as well.” The EMT stated.

“Alright I’ll page Shepard and Hunt immediately. Out of the way everybody! FBI agent coming through!” And my gurney started moving even faster, winding down a short hallway into a room where I could hear many doctors coming to look at my wounds. I felt absolutely helpless, not being able to communicate what hurts for me. What if they miss something? What if they can’t help me in time? The EMT said I lost a lot of blood, what if it’s too much to come back from?

“Hang 2 units of O neg now!” A man with a deep voice yelled out. I could feel big, callus hands turning me on my back, and the next thing I knew a needle was being shoved in my arm and a warm sensation filling my arm. 

“Owen she needs to go up to CT now or she’s not going to make it.” A woman with a softer voice spoke next to the man.

“Amelia she needs this wound patched first or she’ll bleed out and then she won’t even have a chance in CT.” He raised his voice at her, kind of like how Hotch can be sometimes.

“Let me see, I can patch quickly if everyone gives me space. Looks like the bullet left through the back as well.” This time it was another man with a softer voice than the first, and instantly felt his delicate hands holding onto my ribs, feeling a metal substance touching my skin. By my analysis, he’s most likely a plastics surgeon. Only a man in plastics has such delicate touch.

“Well hurry Jackson she’s got about 10 minutes before that brain contusion completely debilitates her and she’ll be in a coma.”

“Yea I got it.” He said nonchalant.

The sounds of beeping and shuffling were quickly interrupted by deep screams, of which belonged to the lanky pretty boy. My heart rate instantly got faster the second his voice entered the room.

“Sir, sir who are you?” The plastics guy asked urgently.

“I-I’m her, her uh- I’m just a friend, please let me be next to her.” He pleaded, rasp in his voice. I can tell he had been crying the whole ride over.

“Okay, sir you’re gonna have to wait with everybody else, she’s in a lot of distress and she’s lost a lot of blood. We’re doing everything we can for her.” Almost on cue, my heart monitor started spazzing. The loud beeping indicating I’m going into cardiac failure. 

“She’s in V-fib, get the defibrillator now!” The man with the lower voice yelled. I felt the clothing on my body being ripped open, a few buttons popping and flying off. The patches were on and in a few seconds, I felt the shock and I could feel it vibrate every vessel inside me. They cleared a second a time, my heart rate returning to normal.

“Okay Jackson you’re gonna have to finish her later she needs a head scan now.” The women voiced, and immediately I could feel the gurney being whisked and into an elevator, going up to the CT room.

Being in the big machine and hearing the slight “ZZZ” sound felt like the first time of peace since my brain fully woke up. For a few hours now I was being poked and prodded, not even getting a chance to hear my own thoughts. This was the only time I got to really savor whatever life I had left, to really hear and feel the people I love around me, and to prepare for what could happen. It felt inevitable to try and escape death, it was a part of my job. And the one regret I’d have is not being the real me with the person I loved most in this world. That tall, pretty, incredible genius was the love of my life for the past 3 years I’ve been with the BAU, and he was everything and more I could’ve ever dreamed of and better. I could physically feel my heart aching at the way his voice cracked yelling for me. I wished nothing more than to look him straight in the eye and hold his hands, telling him I’ll be okay. The way he stuttered when he said friend, so unsure. We had kissed just a few days ago, after a long day of work he came by my hotel room and finally expressed his feelings after so long. The fireworks we shared were something out of a book. The way his hands fit around my face, holding me so close and so softly as if I were glass and he was afraid to break it. We hadn’t talked about it since, but we figured we had more time. But now I realize time is never guaranteed. 

Within 30 minutes I was in a regular room, the plastics man working on sowing back up my wounds. “You, Ms.Y/N are one of the luckiest gunshot victims I’ve seen; no severe tears. Which means this just needs a quick stitch and you’ll be all set.” He said softly to me, I could feel a smile on his face as he spoke.

I heard another person walk into the room, footsteps almost so quiet. 

“H-How, how is she Dr.?” He was shaking.

“The CT showed some swelling but no internal bleeding. We’re going to keep her here overnight but I’m sorry, I don’t know if and when she’ll wake up. That’s all up to her.” The women sadly spoke, unsure of even her own diagnosis.

I heard Spencer start to cry again, a loud puff coming from deep in his chest.

“Dr. Reid, could you please sit with me.” The two of them stepped to sit in the 2 seats next to my bed.

“I know what it feels like to be in a field of study where, you know everything there is to know. And I also know what it feels like to be completely out of control in that field, when you know what to do, but you can’t even do it.” She sighed. “I am one of the best neurosurgeons in the country, I know almost everything...but yet I had a brother who died of a brain injury. I could’ve been there to help him but I couldn’t do a damn thing. I know what this feels like.” Reid started crying harder, his cries muffled by his own hands. He was trying so hard not to let the sounds leak from the room, but it did and it made my bones stand still.

“I had a mentor who was in a coma, and even though I’m in plastics”- (told y’all) -”there was still nothing I could do for him. We just had to wait. He was one of my greatest friends, one of the best people you’d ever meet, so loved. The love of his life died in front of his eyes and I think most of us knew he’d be going next, to be with her. Life was too painful without her. Do you love this girl right here?” Spencers respond came almost immediately.

“More than anybody or anything.”

“Then wait, just a little longer. If she loves you like you love her she’s going to fight to wake up and be alive.” Both of the doctors walked out, leaving me and my lover boy.

His veiny hands grabbed onto mine, rubbing softly at my knuckles.

“I’m gonna do what he said, just wait a little longer. But please Y/N, if you can hear me, come back to me.” He cried into my hand, the tears coating it.

As if the Gods granted it themselves, I moved my eyelids open. Very slowly, and it hurt to do so, but they opened. Spencer sensed movement, and his head instantly came up holding on tighter to my hand. A weak smile placed on my face as my tired eyes loving locked with his.

“Waiting for me?” 

[meggie-stardust]

Fanfic ask!

🥺

🤯

✨

Thanks, friend <3

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Hmmm. I feel like I don't get as emotionally hit by the things I write because I'm writing it... so it feels more clinical. I will say I tend to like to end things when characters finally feel like they can be themselves, or they aren't lonely, or they feel really seen for the first time, so I guess that does it for me.

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

Casefic/mission fic. God, I wish I had the brain power to come up with some elaborate plot that I would then slowly unravel via my characters. I read so many good casefics when I was reading a lot of Sherlock fic back in the day, and it's spolit me for a good casefic.

When I was writing my huge GW fic last year, I "Kevin Smithed" the action, as I liked to call it... this is reference to something he said at one of the "Evening With Kevin Smith" events, I think, but he said something like, if he ever directed a superhero movie, it would be just two dudes standing outside talking about something else while all the action happened off screen. So, when I needed a mission for that fic, I sort of set up the bare minimum, and then had the rest of the action take place off screen. I think it worked well enough.

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Aww thanks for this one. I think I'm funny. I think I write good, funny, realistic dialogue between my characters. And when I go back and read my work, I'm like, yeah, this is good; I would read this even if I didn't write this. And that's the best I can hope for, really.

[randomnameless]

yay!

I love how they dress up "kill everyone who resists until the Empire Imperializes Fodlan" as "unite Fodlan"

Remember, they need to do so because, uh... reasons. Rhea BaD, or bringing reforms, or idk.

They suggest retaking the monastery. Not a bad idea. Rhea also thinks this could flip some Alliance lords

Poor Rhea :'(

She thinks Alliance Lords can be counted upon, or that she can have allies in this verse :(

Well, if the Empire starts to lose, maybe some opportunistic asses will turn against them?

Haha, the "bad guys" are going to kill Bernadetta's awful father. They think by doing this, it'll inspire the faithful to unite against Edelgard's war

Given what AG says, anyone who was remotely close to the teachings of the CoS was already against this war. Granted, GW tells us the faithful in the Alliance dgaf about the CoS or Rhea herself, and, well, aren't really following anything so...

I can cope and hc that they're talking about the faithful living in Adrestia, you know, the ones who "haven't been heard of" after the 5 years gap lol

It's funny how the only lord that doesn't use tricks and strategy is . . . Edelgard.

There was a line a friend and I joked about for months regarding Bergliez Sr, who basically says other people can use petty things like strategy and tricks, but his house doesn't use that, instead, he uses brute force instead.

And this is the head of the Military lol

Raphael and the Deers imo bring the worst of the tonal dissonance in this (and both?) games.

Hubert just insulted me. Seems the right time to declare my love for him with the merc whistle, lol.

A true love story!

Add more to Caspar being a complete psychopath in this route - he's happy his brothe failed because now he could potentially rule his family's territory and make Edelgard's vision come to life (oh, yes, how amazing, passing it from one noble male to . . . the male noble's brother, viva la revolution! /s)

Caspar? Ruling??

But you don't understand, he demonstrated his merit lol

There's something similar in his paralogue, where he gets a sacred weapon. Did you unlock it?

Claude talking to Byleth and being like, if I had you around, I'd probably be a decent person!

Player pandering to its finest - but tbh, even with Billy around, I can't see how he would have been a better person in this verse...

I had to fight Cyril :(

Don't worry, no one gives a fuck about him. Not even the devs, who thought he wasn't "essential" enough to be playable, unlike Raphael or a secret character you might unlock who is for some reason very loved.

It sucks that, once again, Hubert and Edelgard's relationship is reduced to Edeleth bait

The jokes write themselves lol.

To Supreme Leader, her relationship with Hubert is nothing more than gossiping about Billy rofl

Idk, there's something about magic influencing people to like each other that takes away from the romance of the relationship

Now we know why Supreme Leader kept Rhea in a cell for 5 years lol

More seriously, I also hate it because bar AUs where Ferdie's dad and Caspar's dad had a heated relationship years ago, due to their mutual attraction brought by their crest of Cichol, it removes agency and everything from a relationship.

Hubert is happy with the role groomed into him. To Edelgard's credit, she wishes things would reverse sometimes

Well, given how she goes to him to gush about her newest crush, idk if her wishing roles would be reversed is anything serious - like her wanting to support Hubert's goals and doing even 1% of the things he does for her - or just wanting to have Hubert spell out his secrets and be more "friendly", like their support in FE16.

They know what diaphragms are in Fodlan

B-But Rhea banned autopsies, how can they know what is a diaphragm???

He's more surprised that a queen would use a tactic than thinking it's a bad one

Have you seen his liege? She only had one supply route lol, no wonders he's surprised a Queen use tactics, when an Emperor doesn't!

Hubert admits it has its uses though. But dislikes it.

Those are the things that make me starved for more Adrestian worldbuilding and lore - would Hubert, the Hubert, really think laying his life down for his liege is a bad thing? Or is he automatically linking chivalry to Faerghus, and as an Adrestian, he hates them?

But then Hubert's like you could just kill me right now if you wanted too! Which, is kind of weird. And Ferdinand's like, stop being weird.

But this is the Hubert way of flirting! Don't kink shame him /s

Hubert admits that Ferdinand's matured. Ferdinand admires Hubert's obsession with Edelgard

By maturing he means killing his father and becoming a Supreme Leader sycophant ? Given how Ferdie admires this trait in him, well...

In Brigid, they fight over thrones and lovers, but not land, like in Fodlan

And yet Petra's dad died in a war where they allied with Dagda to invade Adrestia - what part of that wasn't "fighting for land"???

Does this mean women get accosted in the market in broad daylight in the Empire???

At this point I'm wondering if the gross allusions to "comfort women" in the Doro/Manu paralogue weren't just sad coincidences, but supposed to tell us something about the state of life in Adrestia...

Hahaha, Dorothea tells Petra that her skin is silky smooth and asks her to feel.

Remember the tonal dissonance?

Dorothea says her father treated her mother like an item too. So more Empire men treating women like possessions

Adrestian sexism at its finest! But somehow, this wasn't tackled by the "reforms" Supreme Leader led before starting her war against the evil lizard cabal, because unifying Fodlan is more important, somehow.

Ferdinand asks for some compassion from Edelgard about killing his father, but then says that's just pity and tells Edelgard to just give him the order she wants

It's exactly what she tells Byleth in Houses lol

And because he's not from Faerghus, that's a good thing because dying for Edelgard = good, dying for Dimitri = bad

You got it! Adrestia = GoOd, the rest of the world = BaD!

Edelgard is like "wow, that's such a great attitude that I wouldn't even need to start a war if they all thought like you."

"If everyone wanted to die for me and wait for my next orders, I wouldn't have needed to start this war!"

Beautiful!

Ferdinand argues for the existence of the nobility and the structure they build, that she can't throw it away. She says that's not her plan.

At this rate, we're all wondering what is even her plan !

And this game makes it obvious that it never occurred to her that poor people can't just automatically compete with nobles.

Yep. Dimitri and Yuri talk about it, but somehow, to her, no one ever told her that people need to eat first before going to school to emulate nobles - or, in Adrestia specifically, women also have rights and would maybe like to do something else than be objectified and groped/abused by randoms in the streets.

Ohh, Shamir wound up in the abyss after the war. Then ran into trouble with the church. And Rhea hired her

The random who she apparently ran in trouble with is heavily implied to be Aelfric, the dude who wanted to sacrifice children to resurrect Billy's mom and hates Rhea.

That pagan is actually from Dagda. One of their deities. Cool lore. It's apparently their god of fate. They both wonder why it's there. Good question

B-but Rhea and the CoS force their faith on people and forbid them from praying to other deities???? Why is there a statue of a pagan god in a Church ran place then? Could it be that Claude and his lackeys are wrong about everything??? Nah.

Rhea BaD.

Edelgard says being kind to people doesn't help people recover from pain.

It's really interesting how she views kindness as something useless - and while the game will never explore it because the results would, imo, be stacked against her, I find this to be a nice parallel to Rhea herself ! Rhea offers kindness to people who suffer, and it helps them (she lits saves people) - but on another hand, Rhea, despite all the suffering she is faced with (the Red canyon, etc etc) still shows kindness to people around (as long as they don't try to kill her). Did it help her recover from her own pain? Well, that answer would need the writers to give a fuck about her.

So . . . Caspar doesn't care that he hurt the Empire's war efforts by killing spies rather than capturing them, nor that he got his men hurt by his rash actions, because he "proved himself in battle to gain status."

Remember Randolph in FE16? And how he dies, because he doesn't want to retreat but to prove himself to gain status?

This is the meritocracy we're supposed to support, kill trying to prove your status, and if you die, well, it means you didn't have enough merit to begin with. Very revolutionary.

Waaaaiiiitttt, is Claude . . . turning against the Empire? He's like, we only agreed to pair with Edelgard under duress and bc the other option is the Kingdom protecting Rhea - who invented racism, who is the only reason hierarchies exist, and who made Claude stub his toe this morning.

Rhea is so BaD that she forced Claude to ally with the Empire!!

Ok, so siding with the Empire is stupid, but thinking the Alliance can fight the Empire, Kingdom, and Church is maybe the stupidest move yet

Can you tell they didn't know what to do with him?

Edelgard's like "time to prove the Empire's supremacy!" and "anyone who stands in our way must be cut down!" But see, this is why I like her so much better in SB. It's just more honest and tries less to twist things around to make her into a typical princess type, instead of owning (at least a little more) the red emperor type she is

TBH, it wasn't much the game itself that tried to ignore her actions in FE16, but some of her fans that really wanted to put the "MAGA" card away when discoursing about her for, around, 4 years now? 5?

Of course, even if she says she wants to conquere the world, the Fodlan writing will still have anyone praise her, and put the blame of deaths and whatever her conquest entails on the people being conquered, because you cannot spell Fodlan without spelling victim blaming.

She's healing people, not attacking, but I still have to take her out. If it was a side mission, I'd ignore it. Hubert mocks her like "is this the second coming of Saint Cethleann" - well, about that . . . .

They really scrubbed away the "their ears are pointy so they need to die" aspect of the conquest in this game, but Hubert and Supreme Leader definitely know Flayn is a Nabatean.

Dimitri sounded so upset. I really feel the like the villain. It's by far the route with the highest named character count killed (Rodrigue, Ingrid, Annette, Gilbert, Sylvain) AND my main goal is to kill Flayn because she's . . . healing people.

But you see, it's her fault if the war continues because she heals people who will , in turn, return to fight, instead of letting them die!

Lamo, Edelgard was like, go back to your people! Stop protecting the church - like, as if her plan isn't to take over Faerghus regardless? Dimitri smelled her bullshit at least.

We stan a king here - even if the game and its cast never reacts to his words :(

Edelgard is worried because Rhea and the knights weren't seen (or most of them), she's also under the impression Rhea would love a battle like this, but Rhea's never seen bloodthirsty? Vengeful, but not battle loving

Rhea BaD - maybe she loves battles because she has no regards for human life, being a digusting creature masquerading as a human? Wait- we're supposed to forget about that.

Ohhhhh, Byleth the final boss? Sothis has possessed Byleth though. But he seems along for the ride bc Byleth's pissed we killed Jeralt

Oooh here we are. Prepare for a world of salt lol

So...

Yep, Sothis takes over Billy (who's okay with this) to avenge Jeralt, but at the end, Billy tries to retake control and Barney kills them both (even if we know Sothis will eventually return, one day).

In AG, if you didn't recruit them, Sothis - through Billy - kills a certain someone, but also comments on the relics Dimitri and Felix are wielding, and even appears to be mourning for the dead Nabateans who were used to craft them (she gives their names!!).

Of course, she still is pissed at the AG cast because, Shez killed Jeralt - but bar this small moment, she is never pissed at humans (and Shez, whom she sort of knows has ties to Agartha) for slaughtering her children. Sothis can take over Byleth to avenge Byleth's father, but she can't take over Byleth to avenge her dead children.

Which is something FEH (thankfully!) retconned : Fallen!Byleth is an unit who is supposedly possessed by a Sothis who is really pissed, but the Heroes team retconned the reason why she is pissed, in FE Heroes, she is pissed because her children where massacred.

Now, back to FE 3 Nopes... since Sothis name dropped the Nabateans who were relics, you'd expect that she takes over Byleth, like she does against Shez, when Byleth is fielded in GW and SB's finales, right?

Right?

:)

:')

Scarlet Blaze Ch 14

So close to completing this.

MAIN STORY

How many chapters is this game? 15, right?

Typical Caspar excited to murder. God, he's awful in this route.

Dorothea breaking the 4th wall. She says she can't deal with any more doubling back lol.

I love how they dress up "kill everyone who resists until the Empire Imperializes Fodlan" as "unite Fodlan" lamo.

Felix, Sylvain, and Dimitri discussing strategy. Seteth and Rhea joining it.

They suggest retaking the monastery. Not a bad idea. Rhea also thinks this could flip some Alliance lords.

Haha, the "bad guys" are going to kill Bernadetta's awful father.

They think by doing this, it'll inspire the faithful to unite against Edelgard's war.

Dimitri says to keep quiet to keep Empire defenses down. Dimitri suggests tricking the enemy. It's funny how the only lord that doesn't use tricks and strategy is . . . Edelgard.

Ugh, so many side battles again.

MAP/SIDE QUESTS

See, this is what's so annoying. I talked to Raphael who wants to fight Dimitri because he's so legendarily strong (this game hypes Dimitri so hard, and I am here for it). Anyways, that's not my problem. My problem is that Raphael can't wait to ask Dimitri about his training routine after the war is over. Like, I get it's Rapaheal who isn't the deepest thinker, but this attitude is everywhere - like war is no different than play fighting and like, after going to war against someone, not only will they definitely survive, but will get chatty with you about training - not.

Dorothea, Ashe, and Yuri are the only characters who seem to realize they're about to go kill innocent people, lamo.

Hubert just insulted me. Seems the right time to declare my love for him with the merc whistle, lol. He earned it doing almost all the work this playthrough. (it's even funnier bc an NPC just asked if I had a special person, and Shez picked Hubert).

Add more to Caspar being a complete psychopath in this route - he's happy his brothe failed because now he could potentially rule his family's territory and make Edelgard's vision come to life (oh, yes, how amazing, passing it from one noble male to . . . the male noble's brother, viva la revolution! /s)

Shoutout to the NPC who's pissing himself over the idea of having to fight Dimitri, Dedue, and Felix.

Add Mercedes to the list of people who realize they're going to kill other people.

Claude talking to Byleth and being like, if I had you around, I'd probably be a decent person!

I had to fight Cyril :(

SHEZ & FERDINAND A

Ferdinand is pulling a Dimitri and working until tired. Unlike Dimitri, though, Ferdinand listens.

This support is shipping Ferdibert because it's Hubert who sent Shez, and apparently worried about Ferdinand.

It was kind of short.

EDELGARD & HUBERT A

God, I hope this is better than their final Houses support.

Haha, she's asking about Byleth. Wishing she could've recruited Byleth, lamo. I bet this goes differently if you're a better gamer.

It sucks that, once again, Hubert and Edelgard's relationship is reduced to Edeleth bait rather than being about Hubert.

And so, once again, Hubert's not going to be any credit for being the Eagles' single braincell.

Wait....... did they just confirm the Crest connection between Edelgard and Byleth?

God, I would HATE it if they did that to Dimileth. Idk, there's something about magic influencing people to like each other that takes away from the romance of the relationship.

How did Edeleth fans react to this?

Oh, we're actually talking about Hubert now.

Hubert is happy with the role groomed into him. To Edelgard's credit, she wishes things would reverse sometimes.

I love how different all the lord-retainer relationships are in this game. They made 3 distinct, interesting ones. No points if you guess my favorite of them.

LINHARDT & PETRA B

These two have so little in common. Also, I'm going to need to grind to get their A.

They know what diaphragms are in Fodlan.

Petra needs help with a letter. It's written in archaic language. I forget that poor Petra only gets a language teacher ones, and it's Blue Lions locked. Dedue for the win.

It's a love letter, lamo.

I headcannon it's from Dorothea.

Welp, headcannon squashed. She says she has no knowledge of the writer, and is rife with mistakes.

Linhardt finds the letter sacrilegious, but Petra's impressed.

PETRA & HUBERT A

One of the worst pairings in Houses.

An assassin goes after Hubert, but Petra shoots her.

Hubert's annoyed bc he can't question her, but grateful.

Hubert critiques the tactics that Petra uses to save him. Only Hubert.

He's more surprised that a queen would use a tactic than thinking it's a bad one.

Hubert's hating on chivalry and knights.

Petra doesn't understand their thoughts, and Hubert tries to explain it.

"It's peace we are wishing for." Uh, no. People who start wars don't wish for peace.

Hubert admits it has its uses though. But dislikes it.

Hey, at least this wasn't a support revolving around Hubert gurdingly accepting Petra as an "inferior" Edelgard.

HUBERT & FERDINAND A

Hubert calls Ferdinand the ultimate noble, not sure if that's a compliment or not.

Ferdinand's like don't sneak up on me while I'm training, dumbass.

But then Hubert's like you could just kill me right now if you wanted too! Which, is kind of weird. And Ferdinand's like, stop being weird. agreed.

Ferdinand doesn't see his father as the man who raised him.

Hubert admits that Ferdinand's matured. Ferdinand admires Hubert's obsession with Edelgard.

Ferdinand asks to stand alongside both of them as Edelgard's two jewels of the Empire.

And Hubert laughs at him.

And then it ends.

Ok, so why is this such a big ship again?

DOROTHEA & PETRA A

Bummed they only have 1 support. This is my favorite ship for both of them.

They go on a date in the marketplace and are happy to get away from all the death they're causing.

Petra is surprised to see it so upbeat, considering the war. Dorothea says life goes on for commoners regardless of what nobles are doing, but get upset when family dies.

Petra claims in Brigid, everyone is family. Dorothea says Fodlan's not like that.

In Brigid, they fight over thrones and lovers, but not land, like in Fodlan (like in Scarlet Blaze, lamo). Dorothea wants the tea.

They get accosted by random dudes, but Petra fights them off. Dorothea helps, I think.

Does this mean women get accosted in the market in broad daylight in the Empire???

Hahaha, Dorothea tells Petra that her skin is silky smooth and asks her to feel. Sadly, Dorothea doesn't act on that.

Petra calls Dorothea important to her, and to watch out, that she'll keep Dorothea safe. Dorothea promises the same.

My shipping heart is happy with this, though the random attack was a bit odd.

PETRA & RAPHAEL A

I could have seen this already in GW, though it's unlikely?

Raphael is howling to catch a wolf, but it keeps getting louder, so he's upset. Petra disagrees that he's not getting better.

They've made a team up, where Raphael scares the animals, and Petra hides and kills them all. So they make a good team.

Raphael is acting as a hound, he's upset that he isn't a wolf.

Petra thinks Raphael would fit in in Brigid. He agrees and plans to visit.

I honestly have no idea if I've seen this before.

DOROTHEA & BERNADETTA B

This is their highest support.

Dorothea sees her talking to someone. And the little bit on screen looked a lot like Yuri? Dorothea confirms that it's a man.

Don't Bernadetta and Yuri have a history? Dorothea thinks it's romantic.

Yep, it's Yuri. Bernadetta talks about the commoner friend she had once, which is Yuri.

Dorothea thinks this is the makings of a good opera. Bernie insists it's not love; Dorothea says that's how an opera would work.

Honestly, though, Yuri and Bernie may be one of the least compatible pairings possible in this game.

I've heard about this. Yuri's support retcons Bernie's father's abuse into "protecting." Which is such bullshit. Imagine excusing abuse as "I'm protecting you." It's really gross.

Bernie thankfully gets to set it straight in this game. Saying her father didn't love or protect her, but just a valuable item that he owns. SOOOOO glad Hopes took the opportunity to fix that awful implication the Yuri-Bernie support added.

Dorothea says her father treated her mother like an item too.

So more Empire men treating women like possessions.

Even in the Kingdom and Alliance when characters feels pressured to perform (Slyvain, Ingrid, Hilda, Lorenz, etc . . .) - no one talks about it being so bad they're dehumanized. This really seems like an Empire-exclusive, sexism thing. (also notice that, without thinking, I came up with male and female examples of both the Kingdom and the Alliance).

LINHARDT & BERNADETTA C

I feel like I did a much better job unlocking Blue Lions supports than the other houses and I don't know why since I paid close attention to all of them.

Bernie is messing around and the weeds, and Linhardt asks why.

It's to avoid a man and a woman going on a secret date, according to Bernie at least. She thinks they'll get mad at her for interrupting their date. Linhardt says she's no more significant than a pebble on the road to them.

Honestly, Bernie thinking everyone will blow up at her is a self-centered, isn't it?

Lin's like, they're lost in their own little world. And gets a bit romantic for appreciating them for sharing love when they could die on the battlefield tomorrow. Bernie argues that in fiction, they'd get together. Then Lin's like, that's fiction, not reality. Then Bernie argues fiction that's more realistic. And Lin's like, yeah, those stories exist bc people relate to it. And they go a bit in a circle.

Then Lin just falls asleep right there.

FERDINAND & EDELGARD A

Ferdinand asks for some compassion from Edelgard about killing his father, but then says that's just pity and tells Edelgard to just give him the order she wants.

Edelgard says she's not here bc she wants something, she just wants his typical effort.

Ferdinand can't die here or history won't remember him well.

Edelgard then says imagine what history will say about me if I lose?

Then Ferdinand says he'll gladly die to further Edelgard's goals because her life matters more.

And because he's not from Faerghus, that's a good thing because dying for Edelgard = good, dying for Dimitri = bad. Or Edelgard can't recognize her own hypocrisy (Claude, at least, thinks "dying for Claude = bad" per his "wtf, Hilda" in CF).

I know Edelgard approves of Ferdinand's attitude (which is the EXACT SAME as Sylvain, Ingrid, etc . . .) because she says he's such a great noble she wouldn't have to get rid of them if they were like him.

So, unlike Dimitri, who hates it whenever Ashe or Ingrid or whoever says "I'll die for you in battle bc your life means more!" and tells them not too, Edelgard is like "wow, that's such a great attitude that I wouldn't even need to start a war if they all thought like you." Yet, somehow, this game wants me to think the Faerghus fighting back against this idea is worse than the Empire glorifying it, lamo (since Monica has the same attitude in her Edelgard support, which isn't portrayed as a negative).

Ferdinand argues for the existence of the nobility and the structure they build, that she can't throw it away. She says that's not her plan. (so, has she like, not even told him her plans??? What happens if she dies?? Would anyone have a single clue what her plan was???)

Then it goes back to their CF support, where he argues for education. And this game makes it obvious that it never occurred to her that poor people can't just automatically compete with nobles. That this dodo bird has killed hundreds of thousands without considering the gap between the poor and rich, lamo. Hopes is gold for confirming she never thought of this, only Ferdinand did.

I know Yuri does the same for Dimitri, but Dimitri already had the right idea of knowing the poor needed their basic needs meant before they can advance (and familiarizing himself with how they live unlike her staying in her ivory tower), and he also, you know, didn't go killing everyone who won't bow their heads to him bc he thinks his plans are so brilliant.

SHAMIR & HAPI C

Shamir is in a church. Hapi is confused, until Shamir says she's looking for some peace and quiet.

Hapi's "not the praying type" either. But she also just wanted quiet.

Shamir doesn't seem annoyed with Hapi's nickname, which is why Shamir is never annoying. She's edgy, yeah, but not in an annoying way.

She's talking about some pagan statue in the abyss. I honestly don't remember that.

Ohh, Shamir wound up in the abyss after the war. Then ran into trouble with the church. And Rhea hired her.

That pagan is actually from Dagda. One of their deities. Cool lore. It's apparently their god of fate.

They both wonder why it's there. Good question.

SHEZ & DOROTHEA A

Dorothea is singing for Shez. Who's like, yeah, it's good.

She's disappointed with the lack of response, because Shez isn't very cultural lol.

He says it made him warm, like his mother growing up. So he actually does get it because Dorothea was singing a lullaby.

It's a lost song though, and Dorothea doesn't know the words (only sang lalala, you cowards, give us lyrics like Annette gets!) But the song got researched and her melody is a guess.

Shez tells Dorothea that her voice touches people even if they don't understand high-art, like himself.

Dorothea lost her passion while working while singing, but she's getting her passion back now, thanks in part to Shez.

Shez thinks Dorothea speaks beautifully and can reach people's hearts, and credits her training, so it wasn't worthless. Unlike Shez who can't string a sentence together.

Dorothea says that Shez isn't back with words. And that he was actually pretty smooth and flirty.

Honestly, super cute support at the end.

EDELGARD & BERNADETTA A

Edelgard lists her worries at night; Bernie walks in on her. It's one of the places Bernie goes to be alone.

Bernie asks if Edelgard is alright after hearing the list, and offers to listen, which seems a bit OOC for Bernie.

Edelgard appreciates it, but says Bernie would get tired of it.

Bernie thinks the curse eating away at her is the same as the one eating away at Edelgard. Edelgard is impressed with Bernie's insight because she guesses right.

Edelgard is upset that TWSITD is still around after thinking she's already beaten him.

Edelgard says being kind to people doesn't help people recover from pain. Consistent with her characterization, but I HATE "feminine" things like compassion are weak instead you gotta just man your way through it (bc it's toxic to your mental health) and the game mostly proves her wrong though.

HUBERT & CASPAR B

This is their only support.

Hubert gets a report that Caspar located enemies scouting the base. He attacked, no enemies survived, and he got hurt.

Hubert's questions were all hopeful that at least one survived, but because Caspar's an idiot no one should trust with command of an army, of course they're missing intel now.

Caspar brags about it to Hubert, lamo. What an idiot. Caspar's inability to read people is also not a good thing for a commander.

Hubert is unimpressed. Actually sees it as bad.

Caspar counters that Hubert is impressed with Berligtz does it, but Hubert's like "those were reinforcements, also, he's competent."

This is why Hubert is best boy in the Black Eagles. (he or Dorothea are by far my favorite Eagles)

Caspar is like well my gut said attack, so I went, not caring at all like the smartest guy in the army thinks his plot was stupid.

Hubert keeps lecturing him. Saying he'll get people killed.

Caspar's like "if you wanna make a name for yourself, you gotta risk death!"

So . . . Caspar doesn't care that he hurt the Empire's war efforts by killing spies rather than capturing them, nor that he got his men hurt by his rash actions, because he "proved himself in battle to gain status."

Caspar is just really awful in this game. Hubert, though, is gold in this support, as usual. Even when he's a dick, he's an entertaining dick (and usually supposed to be seen as wrong lol)

Caspar learned exactly 0 things in that support.

LINHARDT & CASPAR A

Caspar wakes Linhardt up, who's slept into midday.

Caspar claims he found something amazing. Linhardt is like usually you're wrong about that.

Caspar wants to show off a huge bear someone took down. Linhardt is grossed out by the gore. Caspar really has 0 ability to see any POV but his own and understand who he's talking too.

Caspar wants to hunt it. Linhardt's like, ok, then go. Lamo.

Caspar wants to fight a bare bare-handed.

Linhardt bring up when Caspar's dad took down a bare when he was younger than Caspar. Caspar still insists he'll do it, and used to drag Lin along while bear hunting. This is how he learned healing.

I think Caspar got really dumbed down in Hopes.

Lin's like, let's focus on the war, not bears, ok? Caspar at least agrees to this.

LINHARDT & EDELGARD B

Their only support.

Edelgard plays with a cat, only after making sure no one can see her. Then Linhardt walks in, and she's thrown off.

Edelgard pretends she doesn't know the cat. Lin calls her out.

Lin likes cats. I don't know why Edelgard is surprised. Lin is basically a human cat.

Edelgard likes cats because of how they help humans (get rid of rodents, etc . . .)

Lin keeps arguing that cats are awesome because they trick people into waiting on them hand and foot.

Edelgard asks if he's owned a cat. Lin's like, seriously, that's too much work.

She's being so difficult because she didn't want Lin to own the cat.

Edelgard made a funny, accusing Lin of aspiring to be a cat.

This gap moe Edelgard stuff works wayyyy better than the stuff in Houses, imo.

SHEZ & CASPAR A

Haha, Shez is like, "Oh Caspar, there you are," and Caspar assumes that he wants to practice, Shez is like, yeah, but with your dad.

This game really dunks on Caspar, everyone just talks about how much better his dad is lamo.

Caspar is like, you're too ordinary to spare with my dad.

Apparently Count Bersraser whatever his name is really hurts people when they train, and Caspar tells Shez to cancel his plans.

After the sparing, Shez is exhausted, but Shez did better than anyone else ever did.

MAIN BATTLE

I don't remember who I'm fighting this chapter.

Why does Claude get a picture in SB? Will I see it in GW too?

Waaaaiiiitttt, is Claude . . . turning against the Empire?

He's like, we only agreed to pair with Edelgard under duress and bc the other option is the Kingdom protecting Rhea - who invented racism, who is the only reason hierarchies exist, and who made Claude stub his toe this morning.

Ok, so siding with the Empire is stupid, but thinking the Alliance can fight the Empire, Kingdom, and Church is maybe the stupidest move yet, lamo.

He thinks Dimitri will "shackle us to their outdated customs" because, you know, Dimitri is all about ruling the Empire and Alliance and not improving the Kingdom at all or anything. Projection much?

This is so funny, and dumb. Not like the writing has ever cared about making Claude look like he has the intelligence to surpass a toddler in this game.

Yep, Claude turned against the Empire, lamo.

Cut scene time! They're just marching and talking about the battle.

Dimitri's here too. And Dedue's right beside him. Of course.

Claude too, and he's like "too bad we can't do something more civilized" - like, my dude, you are part of the problem.

Seteth coming in on a dragon looking badass. He's begging Flayn to retreat. But she won't. Please don't make me kill her :(

Edelgard's like "time to prove the Empire's supremacy!" and "anyone who stands in our way must be cut down!" But see, this is why I like her so much better in SB. It's just more honest and tries less to twist things around to make her into a typical princess type, instead of owning (at least a little more) the red emperor type she is.

Fuck, I have to defeat Flayn. She's healing people, not attacking, but I still have to take her out. If it was a side mission, I'd ignore it. Hubert mocks her like "is this the second coming of Saint Cethleann" - well, about that . . . .

Now Felix appeared :( It's also a main mission I can't ignore. At least it looks like he's retreating.

Only for Sylvain to show up, which isn't any better :( Fuck, he's claiming he's avenging Ingrid :(

OH FUCK. He actually died. Begging for forgiveness from Dimitri. SB is really the most bloody path :(

Dimitri sounded so upset. I really feel the like the villain. It's by far the route with the highest named character count killed (Rodrigue, Ingrid, Annette, Gilbert, Sylvain) AND my main goal is to kill Flayn because she's . . . healing people.

At least Flayn retreats. She makes Seteth promise to do the same :( (If I have to kill Seteth too, I swear to GOD).

Please let Dedue retreat :((((((

I also have to defeat Hilda :( Sad, but not big sad.

THANK FUCK. Dedue retreated. Dimitri sounded near tears.

Now I have to defeat Seteth too :( Thank God, he retreated. I think Hilda did too?

Now I have to defeat Dimitri and Claude. I am considerably more upset about the former. I wonder if they live or die.

I'm letting the other units fight Dimitri. I'm tired of killing him. I'll go kill Claude, which doesn't upset me much.

Lamo, Edelgard was like, go back to your people! Stop protecting the church - like, as if her plan isn't to take over Faerghus regardless? Dimitri smelled her bullshit at least.

If Claude retreated, does that mean Dimitri does too?

Ok, he retreated at least. Still Sylvain :(((

Ohhhhh, Byleth the final boss? Sothis has possessed Byleth though. But he seems along for the ride bc Byleth's pissed we killed Jeralt.

Shez vs Byleth cut scene again, except unlike in AG, Byleth is Sothis possessed and Shez is Shez, but then Shez goes demon mode too.

Shez is worn down, but wins bc Byleth stops glowing, so I think Byleth dies?

NARRATION

Yep, we killed Byleth. Shez feels empty about it though. And talks about this being a horrible mistake and wishes there was another way to solve this.

Funny how he only cares about Byleth and not all the other people who died (Sylvain, and tons and tons of people).

Arval feels freed though, from an old quest, and major relief, and starts crying.

So you have to either choose between Byleth dies, but Shez and Arval are on good terms, or Byleth lives and Arval and Shez aren't happy (I think, since he took Shez over in the special chapter, but I haven't played that in AG yet).

Ok, so this battle took me 26 minutes. AG took me 4, because Dimitri is just that absurd. He kills bosses so fast. Like before the dialogue finishes. It's just so absurd.

Edelgard is worried because Rhea and the knights weren't seen (or most of them), she's also under the impression Rhea would love a battle like this, but Rhea's never seen bloodthirsty? Vengeful, but not battle loving.

The main force will proceed with occupying Galatea :((((( That small bit of dialogue - knife to my heart.

No one even mentioned Sylvain :(

xxx