#i think dai is both of their hero

[jvnart]

Kakagai Week!

Hero

Kks: gai? GAI: In here!

Kks: feeling nostalgic? Gai: ha, I suppose.

Gai: I was just wondering-

Kks: -he knows gai: .. thank you, kakashi

[mamawasatesttube]

not enough people comprehend that kon has been a canon queer ally who speaks out against homophobia since 1998 tbh

superboy and the ravers #19

[s0fter-sin]

i have an old wip of aizawa secretly bringing in someone with an illusion quirk and putting 1-A in groups of two and running a training course with them and making them think something’s gone wrong and they have to watch it kill him so he can prepare them for not only seeing someone die in the field but it also being their fault… i wish i could finish that

[hulloitsdani]

What do u think Kiran is

How do u think the order sees kiran

*slowly sits up in my chair*

I think Kiran is a very normal person. This is someone you and I have met before. Be that from the other side of grocery store cashier, waiting in the same elevator, or walking by on a crosswalk. Kiran is a civilian from our world trying to roll with the punches of being warped somewhere completely alien. And you can see it in how they conduct themselves.

I always have a lot of fun writing Kiran’s dialogue because their casual modern speech almost feels like a dialect in comparison to the more formal fantasy tone everyone else speaks with. An “ain’t” will never exit Alfonse’s mouth, you know? And there’s a difference in “Do you have gold?” vs “You got gold?” To me, this gives Kiran an air of unfamiliarity to anyone they interact with. Let’s use Grima as an example, because it doesn’t sound like this grammatical change would make much of difference until Kiran has the audacity to hit Grima with a bro mid sentence. But that’s just how they talk. And as sweet and friendly as they are, there’s always moments like that to remind that no one has the cultural context to fully understand Kiran. Except for the audience, who can realize that Kiran let the customer service voice drop to talk to Grima like he’s an actual person.

And that’s just about how they talk! This view is only emphasized by every other thing about them! They’re a lovable goof, which is normal chill person behavior in the audience’s eyes but feels REALLY ODD to the characters of FE’s medieval fantasy war setting. There is this air of unknown about them that the more socially perceptive will pick up on and will try to come to a conclusion about. Example, I imagine Soren would interpret a lot of this as a dangerous and deeply annoying lack of intelligence from someone he has the displeasure of sharing a tactics table with. Or looping back to the Grima example, he would totally think Kiran has greedy ulterior motives behind that pleasant facade. It takes a lot of work for those types to realize that the discrepancy present isn’t really any of those things. But I also wouldn’t be too surprised if Kiran doesn’t try to directly prove any of those assumptions wrong unless they have to.

Why? Well now it’s time for the implications! Oh how we love the implications.

Because the Summoner is a different story. No one has any fucking clue what that is.

I can tell you what Kiran has pieced together so far. Summoning people from across time and space is apparently not easy. It’s not some school of magical study that some mage could pull off with enough time and research. Trust, Eitri tried. It’s a lot of complex moving parts. For example, the contracts. The contracts Kiran automatically binds their summoned to don’t even compare to the ones Veronica used in book 1. They are far more intense and infinitely harder to break. The only way out of them is if Kiran wills it so. Not even death is an option, because Kiran can come in for the revive. If they had to guess, it’s an older, more completed version of the art. Something lost to time. But no matter the case, Kiran has the ability to take full control of whoever they manage to summon. From a lowly farmer to the divine. And their power only grows.

In a similar vein, if there was any character to canonically see the hud, I think it would be Kiran. It’s genuinely part of their power set. I have previously described Kiran as the party mage until Veronica shows up to be the actual mage, but it would be way more accurate to call them a mystic/seer. They see the map, everyone’s stats, and is doing a fast amount of math to give the combat forecast. Then, upon processing all this information their enemies couldn’t dream of having at their disposal, Kiran can telepathically communicate any change in plans to anyone under contract. Kiran is not inherently some great tactician the moment they touch ground in Askr; they simply can do things no one else can. They’re learning the actual tactics part on the fly. This makes them simultaneously the largest ace up the Order’s sleeve and potentially its biggest liability. If they fall, it could cause a whole system cascade. By that same token, some of the biggest threats the Order has faced are the ones who do their research and rightfully target Kiran.

Now. Thinking critically about all that. That’s downright terrifying. A ridiculous amount of power has been dropped callously into Kiran’s lap and they have to work extremely hard to be moral with it. It’s terrifyingly easy not to be. It would actively take less effort to ‘take the reins’ as it were. But in order to be able to sleep at night ever again, they go the extra mile to not invalidate the will of their summoned. To take over like that. To make a colony of worker bees out of people. Because oh dear god they just summoned a child and the fact that they could easily force them to fight and die for them, only to be revived and do it all over again, is HAUNTING. No. No the Order has an in house orphanage now. This kid is getting adopted and cared for god damnit or Kiran might just pop a blood vessel. And sure that child is going to be a child and there will never be a world where they get along with everyone else, but that’s just going to need be a problem they address when they get there and not an excuse to use Hubris; the power set. Now replace the word child with everyone they ever summoned and you have the wider philosophy they apply to the entire Order.

They’re hyper aware of the power imbalance. They hate it with every bone in their body. They work really hard to correct it in whatever way they can.

So Kiran might not jump on the opportunity to correct those who think lesser of them. It’s… oddly comforting to know someone is keeping a critical eye on them. Holding them accountable. Especially since so much of the order just thinks of them as this quirky yet well meaning host. And, really, what can they even do about that? They have gone over the contract with every hero they summon and despite that they still choose to stay. So, what, do they try to inspire more mistrust? The problem with that they would have to actually do acts that intentionally inspire mistrust. And even if that was successful they can’t just waste the extra man power because every other month there’s some new divine asshole who wants them all dead. And if they fail that means they have to start their life from square one and god they can’t do that again so—

Just breathe Kiran.

It’s fine. You’re fine. Just breathe.

You have work to do.

[driftingballoons]

Day 6: Farewell

Imagining it takes Partner a while to feel comfortable letting Hero out of their sight

@heropartnerweek

[mdrxq]

junhan!!!

[nyaskitten]

I've watched Inception and The Wild Robot for the first time today. I'm fine! No, truly, I'm fine!

[chewyhanniebug]

best thing he's ever put on 🫧 btw

[theflashjaygarrick]

Barbara Minerva/Cheetah isn't Wonder Woman's Joker. If anything she's Wonder Woman's Harvey Dent

[gibuckaroo]

achilles and patroclus; he is half of my soul as the poets say.

[original text in post: When you took Patroclus from Achilles— is this what he felt? When he saw him lifeless and pale and unmoving in another soldier's arms as they delivered the very reason he was here on earth—did he feel the ground move from under him? Did he feel time cease? Did he feel the way I do now? Out of breath, out of life, out of time, out of love. When you took his person, did he also want to dig a hell of his own?]

[maegalkarven]

I just thought of the most hilarious next protagonist of Baldur's Gate saga.

(Note what most of the outcomes used as background info here come from the characters' "good" endings. Proceed with caution.)

A child of Durge and Gortash, killed inside their parent's womb when Durge denied Bhaal, resurrected alongside them by Jergal.

A child any of The Dead Three can lay a claim on because they are:

A child of previous chosen of Bane

A child of Bhaalspawn, a bhaalspawn themselves, albeit striped of that when Bhaal took his essence from Durge, killing them instantly.

DIED before even being born, so clearly Myrkul's subject.

Resurrected by Jergal, so there's ties to that as well.

Can be compelled to follow any of The Dead Three paths, or try to play them and set them against each other, or follow Jergal, or forge their own path.

Essentially a child with no fate.

Can look either as Durge (and be any race Durge presented as) or as Gortash.

The last possibility bringing unique encounters and dialogues and character never knowing they can use being Lord Gortash's child to their advantage or ppl they meet were their father's enemies and they need to dash.

Having ties to different fractions depending on who Durge romanced or if Durge not romanced anyone.

Being raised in Underdark if their parent ended up with Minthara.

Same with unascended Astarion, + lots of acquainted spawns in the Underdark.

Being raised in Hell if their parent went to Avernus with Karlach.

Being raised either in Waterdeep if Gale is their stepfather or with Duke freaking Ravengard as a step- grandfather.

Having ties with Selunites if Shadowheart is a woman they call mother.

Being raised in the nature and having Druids call them their own if Durge and Halsin were involved.

Being raised amongst githianki revolution if Lae'zel was their parent's choice of heart. Having their mother leading a rebellion against a god.

Having lots of unique content regarding that.

Possible companions include:

Arabella

Mol

Yenna

That girl who was kidnapped and eaten by auntie Ethel.

Mayrina's child.

A child of lady Janneth and Oscar.

One or several of Jaheira's grandchildren.

[randomnameless]

I meme a lot about the latest banner and the various videos and lines it gave us but, if there is one thing it reignited about my general thoughts about Fodlan, it's frustration.

Or, why must we wait for Forging Bonds centered on dragons from other verses to have breadcrumbs about Nabateans and how they perceive their role and existence in Fodlan ?

Musings about the Seteth/Gotoh convo under the cut

Imagine if that character learnt Rhea, the seemingly random Archbishop, was actually the legendary Saint Seiros revered through Fodlan, who also lived more for more than 1 000 years?

It seems that there are some Shambhala loyalists in Nemesis's forces. As long as they're around, we can expect them to continue with their cruel experiments. Yes. We have to. It's the only way to ensure nobody else will go through what I went through. We must obliterate them in the next battle. It's the only recompense for Edelgard's death.

Nah, let's not think about it and pour a cup of earl grey tea instead !

---

All jokes aside, this?

Is peak distortion/gap that exists between Fodlan characters in Fodlan, and Fodlan characters when they are logically explored outside of Fodlan, in FEH (or even for Billy, in FE17!).

Seteth, in Fodlan, can never talk or mention his feelings, thoughts or experiences as a Nabatean walking alongside humanity in Fodlan.

The closest thing we have is Rhea's parting words in Golden Trashfire, where she laments that without Nabateans to guide them, humans are bound to repeat their mistakes of the past.

We infer Seteth agrees with her, but we never hear his version of what he thinks is his role in Fodlan... bar this FEH exclusive conversation, with a fellow dragon, Y!Gotoh.

Much like his siblings (?), Seteth finds humans fascinating - but the adapting and evolving according the "times they live in"? That's a pure FEH thing.

It's Gotoh who has to point out - using "we" - how Seteth, and Rhea and Sothis, bestow their knowledge and guide humanity, passing on their teachings.

However, given how Gharnef isn't singing Jpop songs while wearing a sailor fuku of freedom, Gotoh's guidance and teachings are never thwarted in some "pointy ears control us", so this conversation, which is all about acceptance and what dragons can bring to humans, can be held.

It's only in FEH that Seteth can talk about what he feels, as a Nabatean, and how he also perceives himself as someone who can observe, but also guide humanity, passing on Sothis' teachings.

This part about knowledge is interesting too, because Nabateans are known to have banned/slowed down knowledge (the various bans) and while Sothis shared freely hers, it led to Titanuses, giant missiles and war.

Through his interrogation about Athos' motives to teach "so many" apprentices (afaik there's only Pent? Unless he's talking about Eliwood and co?), we can guess he's making a direct parallel with Sothis' teachings being shared through the CoS, but also, in a way, his own guidance shared through the Officer's Academy.

Knowledge blooms when it is shared and put to good use...

This is a bit bittersweet coming from Athos, whose friend Nergal lost himself in the pursuit of "knowledge" and even more bittersweet when we take into account this convo is about Gotoh!

Who is Gotoh's most famous student?

Who developped Imhullu and brought the continent to ruin not once, but twice?

Since this FB is all about hope Naga had about peaceful coexistence with humans, the devs didn't want to add Gharnef to the "student-teacher" reunion that is Gotoh's last conversation lol, but that's the caveat : dragons can share their knowledge and walk alongside humanity... when humanity is supposed to use that knowledge to prosper, bring warm food or "light the world".

If humans don't use that resource properly though?

The world ends up with Gharnef, the Agarthans, CF!Billy, Fraud, etc etc.

And yet, both Gotoh, Athos and Nabateans - at least for the ones that aren't wiggling weapons - still share their wisdom with people because they hope for a better future.

In Fodlan?

Seteth could never say this, after all, someone says dragon blood is the reason why the world is irrational and broken, or reveal his identity to anyone but the player's avatar because someone says Fodlan has to become a world for humanity, and how Seteth's race isn't needed in said world.

All of the knowledge and wisdom Seteth shares is distorted through the game, by playable and non playable characters, without letting him just once chime in and saying that was not he intended, or meant, or envisaged. Seteth's role as one who guides humanity is erased, to either make place for the player's avatar, or to push a world for humanity, or in general, erased because Fodlan needs to enter a new dawn.

Seteth can never say how he finds humans fascinating - it's only something we infer since he accepted to walk with humans unlike Macuil and join Rhea in her Monastery - hell, in a way, Seteth can never be a "nabatean" in Fodlan, because this verse tries its hardest to ignore its dragon people.

And while I liked this new twist of dragon people - aka not have them only muse and talk about their role as people who guide humans and share knowledge, but as people who have their own worries and everyday lives (Seteth worrying about Flayn or being involved in Manu shenanigans or being picked on by Rhea, Macuil and Indech, etc etc) - given their different roles in Fodlan, Nabateans were never given any voice about what they feel towards humans, or what they feel their role is in Fodlan.

Only Rhea is allowed to, when she's either PTSD'ing hard, or preparing to sacrifice herself when she believes the Goddess finally returned, or when she marches to her death in Trashfire.

But for Seteth, a Nabatean who has less attachment to Sothis/Billy than Rhea has? Is he also feeling like he should act as Sothis' proxy, or is he feeling like he too, as a Nabatean who walks alongside humans, wants to guide them and help them propser in non "kill every pointy ears to gain power" way?

Fodlan cannot develop Seteth under this angle (or develop Nabateans tbf) for tea time reasons, but also, because at its core, FE16 is a game where the player's self insert + their lord of choice has to unify* the continent under their "IdEaLs" -> you can't build parasocial relationships to the extent FE Fodlan intended if there's suddenly a fourth/fifth faction that is all about wisdom and passing knowledge to help people prosper, especially if this faction has to be shat on by every party whenever possible, as Nopes demonstrated, to sell pots of tea.

And so, Nabateans can only exist outside of Fodlan, not in the Supreme sense, but whenever writers can develop and write them, without worrying about having to bend backwards to pretend the continent's writing and conflict has any shades of grey.

It's frustrating because there would have been ways to insert them, or this writing aka Seteth musing about his role as one who guides humans, in Fodlan, alas, it would lampshade how empty the writing is for some other characters who are supposed to be likeable enough to sell alts or worse, it would have ran contrary to what Kusihakara tried** to cook in the FE games he directed, aka, taking responsability for your actions is dead and you should rather direct the blame to some other party (remember when Duma is somewho responsible for Berkut Berning his fiancée or for Desaix's coup ?).

*AM's unification, aka Fraud fucking away from Fodlan to let Dimitri as the sole ruler of Fodlan, is as forced as his myopia during Gronder, and another example of KT forcing a sphere in a square shaped hole to make their point stand.

**FE15 by virtue of being a remake still had to keep the "madness lurks in dragon and human hearts" complete with writing Grima as Forneus' pet project that ultimately blew in his face, and AM has shades of it, but then everything vanishes after the "parley".

[astarlightmonbebe]

baku at the start comes across as suho's "replacement" in the narrative, but as it slowly unfolds you see how he's actually there to serve as a foil and parallel to sieun

[phosphoresccent]

introducing xephos: the hero, the villain and the spectre haunting this narrative

[vanhelsingapologist]

Strahdposting (with possible spoilers so tread lightly)

One of the worst things about Strahd in our campaign is that he's not overtly forced anyone to do anything. His underlings have, sure, but never him. He just waits for us to eliminate our options all on our own, and then presents us with his way. And of course, his way is the easiest. He'll even make it easier. We keep falling into the pit because he ensures we dig it ourselves.

We're almost past the point where he wants to bargain with us and I'm nervous about what happens when he stops being the devil we know and becomes something else altogether.

The recent reveal that there were other parties before ours has been so shattering for us, I think, because it made us all realize that our party is an amusement until it is an inconvenience, and then we'll be insects in the garden that have overstayed our welcome. And then he'll start with the force.

[zecoritheweirdone]

first art post of the new year!!! granted, i don't share my art here that much anyway, but– shhh.

hehehehhhooo,, here's something i've been working on for 'bout a month,, albeit not consecutively– took a few,, very very long breaks in between working on this,, but i managed to finish it in the end! am i satisfied with it? .......ehhhh? not completely, but if this took any longer, it might not have seen the light of day, so like. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

anyway,, made a little poster for my favorite fic, tommyinnit's services for villains, vigilantes, and various other vagabonds, by @scorpionoesit!!! it's really really good,,, and i've always wanted to make more art for it,, so i decided– poster! at least,, that's what it's mean to resemble,,, dkdmkdmdkd.

i will freely admit,, i'm... not the biggest fan of the fan-made logo i tried to design for it,, feels a bit boring, and could definitely have used a bit more pizazz, something to make feel more like the fic itself(what does that mean? you figure that out),,,, but– again, steam was running low,, dkdnksjs. graphic design is my passion. i do also have other complaints, but i'm afraid i already punched my one-use self-critique card,, oh well,,, dkdnkxjdkd.

regardless,, even with the flaws only i can really see,, this still turned out pretty okay!! hope you enjoy it, mx. scorpio and mx. alibi!!! and i hope everyone else has a wonderful new year!!!!