#i totally forgot the ouroboros can be a dragon

[lucifersus]

Hi! I was wondering, what are your thoughts regarding the Shizaya (April Fools prank) fic written by Narita?

Mmm I’m not going to put too much stock into it since it was meant to be an April Fools’ joke. But then again, Pokemon Go was an April Fools’ joke so who knows? And for Tsukiuta, the April Fools joke this year was an RPG where the mission was to defeat the Demon King Shun because he was heartbroken from King Hajime rejecting his love and his heartbrokeness affected the world. Which is pretty much how it is in canon save the heartbroken part. And they called him a lady in love lol ~ April Fools aside they were basically confirming his (unrequited) passionate love for Hajime is romantic.So I don’t have many thoughts…but it does make Shizaya more canon in a sense. Like yeah it was April Fools but they did have sex in canon material lol lol lol. And the Valentines’ Day special was about Shizuo chasing Izaya on Valentines’ Day…sure, it may be because they’re the most popular, but yeah. 

Could Durarara be like Pokemon Go, wanting to test fans’ reactions in an April Fools joke? With Narita’s author note it doesn’t seem so, but he was complaining about having to rewrite the sex scene, not about BL. And he gave an interesting analogy -

The Ouroboros is the spirit of the universe. It is said to stand for thefusion of opposites in this world, of which Shizuo and Izaya were now becomingthe new improved symbol.

It’s Erika’s imagination as it shows at the end of course (but Narita’s writing lol) but I found this interesting because the Ouroboros is a snake or dragon eating its own tail. And Izaya has been compared to a snake by Shiki. And I’ve talked about how he’s the Dragon to Shizuo’s Tiger. And SH says at the beginning -

But even so, we cannot forget.That if the forelegs of the serpent were toevolve into arms, and if it were to have ‘hands’ that were to take hold ofeverything -Sometimes a snake can become a dragon.

And I’ve talked enough about how Izaya became a Dragon to match up to Shizuo, but here’s the part where Shiki said he’s a snake anyway

Without showing any sign of fear under the pressure, Izaya maintained his usual composure as he quipped, “Shouldn’t it be the cat, Shiki-san?”“In the West they say cats have nine lives…but snakes are symbols of rejuvenation and immortality, aren’t they? …Just like you. You keep shedding your old skin and coming back to life no matter how badly you’re beaten up or stabbed with a knife…”- Durarara Volume 9

(Beaten up and stabbed with a knife - Shizuo beat Izaya up and Vorona stabbed him with a knife. Rejuvenation and immortality also represent the Phoenix. Like the Ouroboros, it can also represent life, death, rebirth and the eternal)

Eternal return, re-creation, creation and destruction, wholeness and infinity. The Ouroboros, a snake or dragon devouring its own tail, represents that, ‘of which Shizuo and Izaya were now becoming the new improved symbol’ Comparing Shizuo and Izaya’s…intimate intertwining (or just Shizuo and Izaya together) to the Ouroboros could be implying something…like how their relationship is being recreated now that they’re away from each other, and how it’s infinite, perhaps how they’ll always return to each other in the end, just like a snake or dragon devouring its own tail. 

Or maybe, since Izaya has been compared to a snake and could be the (former) Dragon, that he’s being re-created in his time away from Shizuo, but he’ll always return to Shizuo and his unrequited love for him; devouring his own tail. And if Shizuo is going to become the new Dragon, perhaps he too will destroy himself and be re-created as well. And since it’s Shizuo who destroyed himself on purpose when he was young, it’ll continue as he destroys himself repeatedly (devouring his own tail) until Izaya returns.There’s lots of possibilities really. And of course it started off with saying hate and love are two sides of the same coin. 

Heiwajima Shizuo and Orihara Izaya.Hatred and love are two sides of the same coin - a wise someone has once said.To take this one step further - love and hate actually merge into each other ona Möbius strip lost in the realm of ambivalence.

- Just like the way their bodies intertwined right now.

‘love and hate actually merge into each other’. Love and hate. Merge into each other. Izaya and Shizuo merge into each other. Izaya’s (unrequited) love and Shizuo’s hate. Since it’s love and hate merging into each other one of them has to be loving the other, right? In other words, Izaya and his love for Shizuo.

(And this is kind of random but I just remembered the red camellia means ‘You’re a flame in my heart’. And if Izaya is going to become the Phoenix perhaps it’s his love for Shizuo which will revive him since the Phoenix is a symbol of rebirth and immortality. It’s the flame of love in his heart which could revive him as the bird of fire, the Phoenix to Shizuo’s Dragon)

But yes Shizuo and Izaya should become ‘the new improved symbol’ of the Ouroboros already. 

[notspoondere]

The Mechanical Flavor of the World Legacy Characters

[This blog post discusses “flavor” with respect to the card design in Yu-Gi-Oh!. If you’re not already familiar with this term, it’s captured pretty well in this article by Mark Rosewater. Just keep in mind that flavor may also describe card effects.

Also, all of the images embedded in this post can be viewed full-size here.]

With the printing of Girsu, the Mekk-Knight Orcust in Eternity Code and the full spoiler of Rise of the Duelist, it is looking more and more likely that we’ve reached the end of the World Legacy storyline. It’s possible that new story-focused cards for these archetypes will be printed in the future, but it’s probably going to take a backseat to functional legacy support, similar to what happened with the Duel Terminal archetypes that received support in the Link VRAINS sets. As a result, I figure this is a good time to talk about their overall design and point out what I feel is its biggest success over Duel Terminal: flavorful designs.

To illustrate this difference, let’s consider a pretty key player in the Duel Terminal storyline and keep track of his effects as he changes forms throughout the story. (Consult the translations for Master Guide 4 if you’d like evidence that the first three monsters all portray the same character.)

We can see a pretty linear increase in stats from Sentinel to Roach, and he has a theme of caring about level 5 or higher monsters. This gets a pretty nice followup, becoming a Vanity’s Fiend for lv5 or higher monsters in... Evilswarm Ophion, which is a totally different card not present on this chart, because the powers of the Sacred Tree let him nuke the field instead!!

He then inherits the powers of Sophia and ends up weaker because Exciton got banned. Bravo. (It’s worth mentioning that the original form of Ophion, Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, has a completely unrelated effect of discarding cards to destroy cards, and Evilswarm Bahamut steals monsters instead of bouncing cards like Brionac, but Evilswarm Ouroboros at least tries to approximate Trishula.)

Can you see the problem? I was going to make another image showing this off until I realized that following Gem Knight Lazuli all the way through Construct’s various forms would take way too much horizontal space, but feel free to construct an explanation in your head for why combining Apoqliphort Towers (the real one) with El Shaddoll Construct (foolish a Shaddoll/Catastor eff) makes Shekhinaga (Divine Wrath on a fusion) or why adding in Infernoid Devyaty (wipes backrow, also tributes to negate a monster) and some ice turns that combo into Anoyatyllis (Konami said fuck Nekroz). It’s because these cards are either not designed for flavor, or are designed around the flavor of their archetypes rather than that of their characters, so the characters in general have a pretty weak identity.

You could maybe say that’s because Duel Terminal is a grand-scale war story, so none of the characters are meant to stick out. That would make sense, sort of, so what about stories with fewer characters that change forms multiple times? The Dracoslayer lore did that.

I’m not typing out all of what Master Peace 2 does, but in case you weren’t around from May 2017-2018, you can read that here. He’s a Wyrm because all the True Dracos are, except his previous form wasn’t, except all of them probably could have been without hurting their chances of seeing play (until we got Guardragons Elpy and Agarpain).

The sole thing that ties all of these cards together is that they supposedly feature the same character, and all have effects that destroy cards. They have about twice as many differences. Master and Luster are both Pendulums, while the other two aren’t. Master Peace 1 is a Special Summon by Tributing, but Master Peace 2 requires a Tribute Summon to gain effects. Master Peace 1 has a negate, for some reason, even though none of the other forms have it, so if he gained it from the Dracoverlord tributed for his summon (these are his enemies, by the way), then he apparently forgot it by the time he reappeared in the story. Speaking of which...

In the lore, he essentially aids three tribes (Majespecter/Dinomist/Igknight) trying to fight off the Amorphages, and the Extra Deck Dracoslayers represent their powers combined. True Dracos exist because, in a totally different world, three completely different tribes (Zoodiac/Crystron/Metalfoes) are being assailed by the True Kings. They form a summoning circle (Dragonic Diagram) to summon him for help, and he accepts the power of the other True Dracos or something. The other True Dracos (who are also based off of the first three archetypes, like the Dracoslayer extra deck... for some reason) are disciples of Mariamne, the True Dracophoenix, who mechanically is a True King and shares minimal synergy with any of these cards, and the one who seemingly gets things done is Metaltron XII, the True Dracocombatant, who probably is just the three tribes’ power combined. Who also gets protection from effects by being Tribute Summoned and also floats into anything from the Extra Deck that isn’t LIGHT/DARK. And Konami says he’s a Zefra now. And who the fuck is Dreiath III supposed to be? He’s not even good?

I have many problems with True Draco. Anyways, let’s get to the point. (Nin/Long/Din)Girsu’s character arc, as shown through monster cards in the World Legacy story, is much more internally consistent.

Let’s assume that Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight is a de-powered form from after the battle inside the World Gears (presumably he lent this power to Avramax, though this isn’t shown in the artwork; also, he has Ib’s ribbon on his arm). It’s understandable why the maindeck cards and extra deck cards should do something different, and the first maindeck monster is a vanilla anyways, so I wouldn’t consider it that bad of a break. No idea why he’s a Mekk-Knight though.

These effects form a pretty clear pattern. Girsu here sends things to the GY without targeting them and eventually gains protection effects as he grows in power. His ultimate form is the only one that lets him protect other cards, which is maybe a statement on his goals given how long he spent trying to revive his dead sister, and if that holds water, Mekk-Knight Orcust Girsu is evidence of his eventual success. After all, this card by itself can summon every single one of Ib’s forms except her vanilla and Knightmare incarnations.

That is to say, we gain a bit of understanding of Girsu’s abilities, goals, and bond with his sister through the mechanics of his cards, and if you don’t think that’s the tightest shit, well, I just made you read nearly 1k words on why it is. Better yet, there’s more:

Auram’s extra deck incarnations all have ATK-boosting effects, and his World Chalice form translates him getting more powerful with the World Legacies. Both Blademaster and Crusadia Equimax activate effects by tributing monsters they point to, suggesting how he calls upon his allies for help--there’s a reason Ningirsu went off and ended up with a bunch of brass instruments as his only company while Avram wandered the world with his best friend (who is a fucking dragon) and scored himself a choice elf harem. They call him King because he wears the crown, you see?

On the topic of Crusadia, let’s take a closer look at how Equimax is typically summoned. Typically you’ll try to get a Normal Summon on board, hope it sticks to make Magius, summon again to search Draco, and build your way up with Crusadia monsters to make Equimax. Afterwards you’ll want to boost his damage with the effect of Maximus, summon a large monster to one of his zones, or buff him with the spell you searched off of Regulex. Any two Crusadia monsters with different names can do most/all of this, so think of it as an “all your powers combined” thing a-la Metaltron XII, except executed much better.

(Sidebar: If you’re willing to entertain a bit of theory, the Crusadia maindeck is the epitome of a successful flavorful archetype design. Pretty much every Crusadia list maxes out on every monster in the main because they’re all interchangeable, even though they all have different effects. You could argue that Draco and Reclusia are way better monsters than Leonis, but fundamentally it doesn’t matter; you need two of them and it doesn’t matter which two. This lends them a sense of uniformity without erasing their uniqueness, which suggests that the Crusadia are an army of equals and Maximus may be the leader “de facto”. I highlight this because World Chalice tried to do the same thing, except that deck eventually cut its normal monsters down to a single copy of Chosen, and nobody ever played Crowned.)

Meanwhile, Avramax sports his ultimate ATK-boosting effect, protects other monsters from attacks, is immune to targeting (these two might seem out of line, but they’re upgrades of the protection effects that the previous two Mekk-Knight Link Monsters have), and non-target shuffles a card if he dies.

This is where I’d like to shift the direction of this discussion towards power levels and, implicitly, gameplay balance. Yes, I’m about to get into a powerlevel discussion about fictional characters portrayed on Yu-Gi-Oh! cards which have actual power levels, but hear me out.

Based on their original incarnations, Auram is ostensibly the main character, but strictly weaker than Girsu. Both have 0 DEF as Normal Monsters and Girsu has an extra Level and 200 ATK over him. With the power of the Chalice, Auram can revive allies and potentially gain more ATK than Girsu, but there were hardly even 5 World Legacy cards in the game at that point, and Ningirsu actually has removal. Later on, World Legacy’s Nightmare shows Girsu holding his own versus all of the Knightmares, but when it comes down to the climax of that arc, Avram inherits the power of Mekk-Knight Blue Sky and promptly gets overpowered by Iblee anyways, leading to Ib’s death and the scattering of the party (He is also still weaker than Ningirsu here). Auram and Girsu end up at odds several years later as Crusadia Equimax and Longirsu, the Orcust Orchestrator. If you look at the way these two cards might interact as enemies, it tells us a lot about this matchup: Equimax doesn’t start with enough ATK to hit over Longirsu, and Longirsu seems to have the upper hand thanks to removal, but with the power of friendship, Equimax can safely negate Longirsu’s effect and even swing over him. Finally, as Dingirsu and Avramax, Dingirsu loses or goes even at best: Dingirsu sends Avramax to GY, Avramax spins Dingirsu when he dies, both parties end up with nothing. Keep in mind that Avramax no longer needs support from allies to do this and Dingirsu absolutely cannot swing over Avramax at any point in time, so if the resource game isn’t in consideration, these cards will either trade or Avramax will always win.

That’s a cool interaction, but why did I bring up card balance? This interaction was only uncommon in tournament play because Orcust was an insanely popular deck. Playing Salamangreat, I’d regularly make Avramax versus Sky Striker and expect it to stick for a while, but versus Orcust? That boy would be gone in a second, and I’d rather not commit a link-4 worth of material to have a monster die and only get to spin a card. Keep in mind that going card-for-card is maybe not always favorable for the player.

What I mean to say is, Avramax would be a pretty insane card in a format without Nin/Long/Dingirsu’s non targeting removal. Consider the following scenario: Girsu’s extra deck forms do not exist. You are going second versus old Danger! Thunder playing the Trishula fusion. They half combo you, ending on something like Colossus + Avramax made with I:P Masquerena, and in doing so, banish the Borreload out of your extra. Do you even play a card that can out an Avramax otherwise? Probably not. Avramax could have put us into another Dark Destroyer format where targeting sucks, but Girsu kept us safe.

If anything, I hope R&D puts this level of thought into their flavor moving forward. World Legacy was a pretty big success on most fronts and I’d like to see what they do going foward in the next OCG series.

Thanks for reading. This is my first time writing about the game from a non-competitive perspective, so let me know how I did.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

👑🏰⚔️🐲🗡 DMODT 82 full

Days slipped by before Eren realised, on the rare day he even managed to escape princely duties in their entirety, but for the most part, he was just as married to his paperwork as when it'd all been first delivered. The letters and correspondence from Europe was still frustratingly irregular. He'd given up asking for anything, and now had a plan of his own. He wasn't going to let a stomach bug or people across the world get in his way any longer. Heading up to the sunroom, Levi was on Armin duty. Mikasa's squad was on extended wilderness training with new recruits, leaving the alpha to play bodyguard for the blond beta who'd thought a lack of Mikasa would mean a lack of duties. Levi was almost merciless, threatening to bill Armin for his wasted time. Letting himself into the room, Armin was grumbling as he jotted down something that seemed to be whatever Levi was saying. Creeping across to his mate, Armin ruined the surprise "Eren! Help me, he's making me work harder than Mikasa does" Looking back over his shoulder, Levi's face lit up. Viren on his shoulder, beginning to babble at the sight of him. Swooping in, Eren swept Viren out of Levi's arms, pressing kisses to his son's tiny hand "Hello, my baby. Has daddy been working Uncle Armin hard?" Viren babbled on, squealing as Eren blew a raspberry against his cheek "I have not" "Eren, he was literally boring me to death. I don't know why we have to have a ball. I don't want to have a ball. He keeps telling me about aristocrats. I know them all! And he mentions the same ones..." "I do not" Turning back to Armin, Levi crossed his arms. Eren hadn't mentioned Levi's memory problems to anyone else, and now it seemed like it had struck again "You..." Eren held his finger to his lip, telling Armin to be quite as he tried to express the same thing with his expression. If Levi knew, he'd worry "Never mind. It must be the ball stressing me out. Did you need something, Eren?" "I wanted to borrow Levi for a moment, if that's ok?" "Yes! I mean, yes. Please. No more papers" Correcting his enthusiasm, Armin's eyes shone with relief. Reaching his hand out, Levi turned to take it "Not that isn't a pleasant surprise, but it's too early for lunch" "We're not going to lunch. It won't take very long, then you'll be back to telling him all about that royal protocol of yours" Scrunching his face up, Armin covered his ears "If you two are having a quickie, I don't need to know. Keep him as long as you need" Laughing Armin off, Eren pulled Levi along with him. The alpha happy to follow despite not knowing what was happening. Realising they were near the royal library, Levi pulled him to a stop. The alpha gently pushing him up against the wall. Both hands travelling to Eren's waist as Levi nipped at his neck, carefully minding Viren as he did "If you wanted my help, why didn't you just say so?" "Because maybe I wanted to drag you off and have my way with you?" "Not in front of the baby" Said baby grabbed for his daddy's hair, pulling firmly towards his mouth "That's daddy. You can't eat daddy" Extracting Levi's hair for him, Levi eyed the wet locks with a sigh "He's lucky he's adorable" "He looks just like you" Viren's hair was just as black as Levi's, the green in his green-grey eyes now faded. Not quite Levi's shade, but more Levi's than Eren's. his lips though, they were all Eren's "Poor kid" "Hey, I like the way you look. Anyway, this shouldn't take long" "Then how about that quickie?" "Maybe. It depends how you're feeling" Raising an eyebrow, Eren shook his head "You have to wait and see" Nicollo looked unimpressed. Apparently he and Levi were late, while Moblit was overly enthusiastic as the pair met them just inside the library doors. Passing Viren over to Moblit, Eren squatted down to kiss Luca on the forehead. His son having the most important role in what was coming. Levi was plain confused as to what was going "Eren, care to explain?" "Oh. Yeah, about that. We're getting married right now" "Yeah. Right. What's going on here?" Rolling his eyes, Eren stood, speaking slowly for Levi once he was facing him "We are getting married. Nicollo and Moblit are our witnesses. Europe hasn't signed off by I'm sick to death of waiting on them all the time. I want to marry you, so here we are" Blinking at him, Levi still seemed doubtful "It's true. Eren came and brought us here without an explanation, said we had to wait for you to arrive because he needed witnesses and someone to let the minister in. He couldn't simply ask his friends like a normal person" "We're getting married? Here? Like this?" "Yep. It's fine. The papers are all drawn up" "I thought. What? You wanted a big wedding... what is... what?" Wrapping his arms around Levi, Eren smiled down at his poor confused mate "I want to marry you. Do you want to marry me?" "I do. But what about the chapel? And all the people you wanted to invite, and you're not... there's no flowers. You're not even wearing a robe. I'm not dressed..." Eren couldn't stand the castle chapel. That had been a big fat nope when he'd talked to the minister about all of this. It wasn't the same man who'd presided over his wedding to Zeke, but he'd heard the castle rumours of how his wedding night had gone with the man, and was sympathetic over the fact he wasn't actually supposed to marry. Given Eren wasn't making a huge deal over it all, he'd signed off on it. After that, he'd enlisted outside help to have rings made for him and Levi, now tied around Luca's neck by a red ribbon. His son having been forced to listen to his rambling plans to marry, and thankfully Luca could keep a secret "Levi, we can have another wedding at a later time. I want to marry you. I'm sick to death of waiting for permission. We're practically married anyway" "We don't have rings" "We have rings and witnesses. Europe was probably leaving me hanging as a jab after speaking my mind, and I'm sick of them" "So we're getting married. Are you sure?" "I'm completely and totally sure" "You picked a time when Mikasa wasn't here on purpose, didn't you?" "That's just an added bonus" Mikasa would attempt to mother him. She'd want everything perfect and make a fuss out everything. She'd probably turn into some kind of scary monster who'd yell over even the slightest thing going wrong, or tell him that he had his whole life to think of "You won't regret this?" "Levi, I could never love another alpha like I love you. You're my mate. You're the most amazing father to our boys. And you're the one I want to sort all my shit out with. I want my shit to be your shit, and your shit to be mine, and I want to work all this shit out with my husband by my side. Plus, the sex is great" Levi snorted at him, his smile wide as he realised that Eren was completely serious over all of this "The sex is pretty great" "I know right. I want to wake up with you. I want to fight and make up with you. I want to spend every damn day loving you, even if we're fighting and I secretly want to turn you into a frog. I want to lay on the grass and draw stupid flying eyebrows with you. Make you laugh and hold you when you're upset. Build a home and family with you, then grow fat, old, and lazy and know you're legally stuck with me. I want it all" "You're too fucking much. I want it to. I want everything you'll give me. So give me all of you? Let me be your husband, and I promise I'll be there for you. When you cry. When you're driving me insane. When you get so excited that you talk way too fast and I can barely understand you. When you get fat. When we're up all night with the kids. I'll be with you for all of it" "You guys do realised the minister is supposed to lead this ceremony, don't you? Idiots" Laughing at Nicollo's bad mood, Eren nodded at his mate "We have a lot to still sort out, but yes. Yes. I do. I, Eren Yeager, take you to by my lawfully wedded husband. Through whatever happens. Always and forever" "And I, Levi Ackerman, take you to be my lawfully wedded husband. Through whatever happens. Always and forever, brat. I do" Leaning up to kiss him, Levi's lips were soft against his. The kiss long and languid, turning Eren weak at the knees. Sharing the kiss for several long moments, the moment was ruined by the minister clearing his throat "He is right. I am supposed to proceed over the ceremony, but I suppose all the important things have been said. I pronounce you "Husband and Husband", you may resume kissing your husband as your witnesses sign the marriage certificate" Nicollo muttered something about "finally", while Luca trilled at him. His son standing up with his feet on Eren's hip in order to headbutt his arm "Fuck. The rings. Thank you, baby boy" Releasing Levi, Eren untied the ribbon around Luca neck. High on happiness, he started giggling as he slipped the two bands into his hand "You're such a good boy. Your mother forgot the most important bit" "The minister forgot them too" Defending himself, the man sounded slightly ruffled "It's not exactly a conventional wedding" "It's fine. Thank you. Levi, stick your hand out for me" "So romantic" "I am" Holding his hand out, Eren slid the golden band onto Levi's ring finger. Both bands were a thin gold dragon in the form of an ouroboros with its tail in its mouth. He'd thought about something more complicated, but given he wanted to live a simple and normal life, he chose something simple and something that the jewellers could pull off in a relatively short time. Taking the second ring, Levi slid it into Eren's ring finger, before taking his hand and raising it to his lips "Always..." Kissing Eren's hand, Eren finished the sentence, his hand husband was taking his breath away all over again with the love radiating across his face "and forever. I love you" "I love you. God. I have no words for how much I love you" "If you two are done, you need to sign this. I refuse to bare witness to the consummation of your marriage" "Thank you, Nicollo" Waving him off, Nicollo strode from the library to leave Moblit standing on his own looking awkward "Don't worry, Moblit. I'll take Viren back once the paper is signed. I'm sure we don't need to have the marriage consummation witnessed" "I... thank god. No offence" Playfully growling, Levi hefted Luca off Eren so he was sitting in front of them "You've already seen him naked. Are you trying to say something is wrong with my omega? That he isn't attractive enough for you?" Poor Moblit turned beet red, stuttering as he waved his free hand "No! No. No. I've seen more than I needed to. I also don't want to die right now" "Levi won't kill you. He's joking. Seriously, thank you for this. I knew I could count on you" A smile tugged on Moblit's lips, snuffed out a moment later when Levi growled again "Who says I won't kill him?" "Me. Who's gonna look after Hanji if Moblit's gone?" "Good point. You've dodged a bullet for now" "Levi, stop picking on him. I'm sorry Moblit. He goes a bit silly when he's happy" Moving towards where the minister was standing with the marriage certificate, Moblit moved with him. He wanted to smile. Eren knew he wanted to smile, but Levi could be scary and alpha's pheromones had taken on an air of warning "R-right" "Who says I go silly?" "I do. Now sign the paper" Having signed the certificate, the minister promised to file it away where it would be "found" in a few months time. Once Eren's 6 months of hell had passed. There were 3 months left. 3 months too many. Taking Viren off his shoulder, Moblit finally relaxed "Congratulations. To both of you. I'm really happy for you" "Thank you. And thanks for everything Moblit. Thank you for being here, and for... just everything. I wouldn't have Viren if you hadn't helped Levi. I wouldn't have survived those bandits if not for you. You're a really good guy. I hope you and Hanji are next to be wed" Flushing red again, Moblit was quick to awkwardly flee the room, the minister following and leaving the four of them alone "So... we're married now" "We are. You have to put up me for life" Slipping his hands around him, Levi ground up against him "You make it sound like a bad thing. I can't believe you hid all of this from me" "I wanted to make sure everything was organised before my heat. I didn't want to get your hopes up, then have to cancel it all" "I think you deserve some kind of punishment for your deception" "Mmm... that sounds amazing, buuuut the kids are watching" Levi was more than in the mood, and all Eren could think of was being bent over and fucked into oblivion by his husband "Think Armin will babysit?" "I think Armin will babysit if it means getting out of paperwork for the spring ball" Luca whined at the pair of them, Eren giggling as he looked down at him "I'm sorry baby. Your father is a romantic idiot and your mother is just as bad. Do you want to come see Uncle Armin? I bet he misses you" Luca seemed to frown at him "You don't want to see Uncle Armin? Then what do you want baby? Do you want to play with your brother? Or do you want something to eat?" Nodding at the last option, Eren supposed he should have figured as much. Luca was basically a bottomless pit "Ok, baby boy. Why don't we have lunch, then we can see Uncle Armin. I bet he'll be up for playing" Nodding again, Luca "lu'd" at Levi "He wants you to cuddle him. You haven't told him he did a good boy" Levi released him, though his fingers lingered for an extra moment before lifting Luca up, cradling their son so he could rest his head on his shoulder "He did so good. I'm so proud to be your father" Nuzzling into Levi's neck, Levi kissed Luca's temple. The dragon was longer than the alpha was tall now, not that that stopped Luca from loving cuddles "We'll see Uncle Armin, then I need to borrow mummy for a bit" "Only a bit?" "You'll be bit" Bumping Levi with his hip, Eren walked off in front of him "I'll believe it when I see it" "We've only been married for minutes and you're already impossible" Giving a non-committal hum. Eren wanted to scream it from the rooftops, instead he'd have to just settle for screaming Levi's name when they finally fell between the sheets. * Having a secret husband was nice. Levi hadn't forgotten the wedding a fortnight ago, so that was nice, and their friends thought they'd simply picked their rings up in Europe. On the other side of things, the happiness of having a secret husband was affected by Viren cutting his first tooth. Feverish and pained, his son was miserable. Eren was miserable from being unable to help him. Cutting a tooth was natural, his magic didn't seem to think it worth healing the space. Or it couldn't heal the space until the tooth was actually through. Holding his boy, Eren hushed him as he cried. The ball was tonight, leaving him looking after the children so Levi was available to help with the final preparations. Isabel and Farlan had already arrived, stopping by to surprise them, then taking Levi, and Luca, off his hands so Eren could focus on Viren. He'd tried herbal relief for his son, but what Viren had thrown it back up it'd turned his own stomach so hard that Eren had thrown up too. Levi ordering him straight to bed where he'd had to wait until Viren was cleaned up again for extra cuddles. Thinking at first his sickness was stress related. Eren realised he was an idiot. Viren was six months and his heat hadn't come. Viren was six months, his heat hadn't come, and he was throwing up over certain things and certain smells. Viren was six months old, his heat hadn't come, but his libido was sky high. Sometimes for no damn reason at all. Oh look, Levi breathed, better pop a boner right there. Between that and not being sick all the time... it was enough for him to be worried when he did the maths. Add an increased libido, small swell, and a two and bit week late heat... he knew. He didn't know how exactly to explain what he felt, but he knew. The heat he'd hadn't thought a heat at the loss or Obsydin had been a real heat. He'd also fashioned himself a pregnancy test in the bathroom, based on the same principles as the compatibility test as he'd figured if he was carrying Levi's pup again than there should be some of their pup's blood in his own. It took a bit of him and a bit of Levi to make a baby after all. After placing the few drops of his blood in the bowl, he'd been too chicken shit to look. He probably could have just gone to the castle healers for confirmation, yet... he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Feeling the slightest of fevers lingering in his pup, Eren glanced at the bathroom door. He was supposed to be shower, but the test was in there... God. He couldn't avoid it. If Levi checked the bathroom when he returned, he'd want to know what was going on. He had to face what was waiting. The results of the test were confusing. A big drop then lines radiating off it. Pouring the mess down the sink, Eren didn't know what to think. He was fairly sure he was... the keyword being fairly, but with the ball preparations taking up everyone else's time, he didn't want to call Levi away to discuss the matter. His mate hadn't even noticed they'd missed his heat, which stung. Sure, they'd been through a whole shit storm and a half, but this was his heat. His "first" heat since giving birth. He'd been nervous as hell over falling pregnant during it, stocking up on his contraceptive herb mix, only for Levi not to notice when it passed by. Not that he wanted Mikasa and Armin keeping track of his heat, but they'd failed to do to the math too, his omega's nose put out of joint that none of them seemed to care Viren was now 6 months. Catching Viren's hand as he grabbed from the taps, Eren pressed a kiss to his soft black hair "That's mummy's mess. You Mister, you're having a shower with mummy before daddy and Luca come back. Heaven only knows what I'm going to tell your father about all of this" Starting to cry again, Eren sighed to himself, kissing Viren's cheek then remembering it was the sore side when his boy let out a wail. The joys of parenthood. Still in the shower when Levi returned, the alpha wandered into the bathroom with a smile on his lips. Not quite what Eren had expected given Levi was busy brushing up on his own days of being a prince with Armin and Mikasa. Leaning back against the bathroom counter, his alpha waved at Viren "Hello, baby. How is my handsome man doing?" Bouncing Viren against him, the boy had his hand in his mouth as he drooled "He's not happy. Mummy was an idiot and kissed his sore cheek" "Aw, my poor man. Herbs still not helping?" "I don't want to risk overdosing him. He likes the shower, so he's quietened down a bit since we got in" Pressing kisses to Viren's hair, Eren didn't want to ever let him go "The ballroom is decorated. We're sitting next to Armin at dinner, the advisors keep insisted you need to be announced as Prince Eren" "They can stick their "insestions" where the sun doesn't shine" "I'm pretty sure that's not a word" "I don't care. I'm not a prince" "And yet, here we are. Do you want me to take him?" "Not really. Mummy is enjoying his cuddles" Levi grabbed a towel off the counter "Mummy needs to finish getting ready, or daddy might have to do something about this" "Ha. Ha. Ha. No. I don't mind holding Viren a little longer" "It's fine. I'll get him ready while you focus on you. Those damn robes have far too many ties" Eren frowned at his mate. His outfit had been sitting over the back of the same dining chair for days now. Not a robe in sight. He was sick of robes. He was wearing pants and Armin could such his dick if he thought otherwise. Well, not really suck his dick. That was Levi's job, and only Levi's job "I'm not wearing my robes" "Armin seemed to think you were" Fucking Armin. If he wants robes, he could wear them him damn self. Reaching out, Levi took Viren from his hold. Bundling the boy up, Levi looked smitten by their drooly son "You really should get dressed soon. You smell good enough to eat" "You've been telling I smell good since we got home" "You do... I haven't been able to keep my hands off you" Months... Well... fuck. Levi's nose had picked the changes in his scent before he did. So much for his dragon senses... "Eren?" "Sorry, thinking about tonight. I'll wash my hair and be right out" "Ok, Sweet Boy. Luca is with Armin, Armin insisted. Though I think that was to distract Mikasa" "And I thought you'd be with Isabel and Farlan..." "They're with Armin too. Armin needs to be measured up for his new fur cloaks" Then Mikasa should have nothing to worry about. Their wilderness training was cut short by Connie rolling his ankle. They'd returned a few days after the wedding with Connie on fashioned crutches, a few of the new recruits suffering blisters and bruising from their armour. Mikasa insisted they didn't need to take a healer... she really should have known better. The female alpha quick to pass the recruits onto someone else, with the word "hopeless" thrown around more than once. Running his hands down his body, they came to rest on his stomach. If he pushed lightly he could feel a small firm mass, hidden visibly by the tiny amount of stomach left from carrying Viren. At first it upset him, but with the way Levi would lavish attention on the spot during sex, he'd gradually come to accept it to, maybe even be a little proud because Levi was right. It was proof of carrying their pup. Their Viren. The precious son he never thought he'd get to birth, and the pup that Luca absolutely adored "Everything alright?" He'd forgotten Levi was there. He definitely hadn't moved to wash his hair like he'd said "Yeah. I was thinking of how much I love Viren, now go get him dressed. It takes effort to look this beautiful all the time" "Liar. Alright, I'll see you in our room" Padding out into their room, Viren was laying on their bed naked, both of them hated having in nappies too long, but he'd thought Levi was going to dress him. Sitting at the dining table, Levi was wiping down his old sword. Having been left alone with his own thoughts for too long, his fears had started to go get to him in the shower. There were going to be far too many people in the ballroom. People watching and whispering... they always did, but with emotions a mess over being pregnant, he wasn't sure he could deal with everyone. What if someone noticed? What if they noticed he wasn't drinking? He couldn't drink as he was breastfeeding anyway... but what if some knew. Levi kept mentioning his scent, and in a room full of all sorts of dynamics, someone could easily pick up the changes in his scent. Or maybe even by making a joke over his heat, Levi might figure it out for himself in front of everyone. Wiping at his eyes, he stumbled over to Levi, his alpha barely pushing his chair back to greet him before Eren was in his lap "L-Levi" Pulling him close, Eren buried his face against Levi's neck, trying to inhale as much of Levi's scent as he could. His alpha worried over whatever this was "Hey, what's wrong?" "I love you... I love you so much" "I love you too. What's with the tears?" "I... think I'm pregnant" Sliding his hands up, Levi took his face in his hands. His thumbs rubbing at Eren's scales as Eren worried his lip and searched Levi's eyes for any kind of answer "You're pregnant? Are you sure? That's... that's... wow" "I think so... I'm sorry" "No! No... no. Wow... another pup" Breaking down to sobs, he sank forward in Levi's hands. Crying hard enough for his body to shake, Eren waited for Levi's words of comfort "Shhhh. You're ok. Whatever it is, you can tell me" Eren let out a miserable sob, verging on a wail. Levi had forgotten. He'd sounded happy... ish? And then he'd forgotten... he needed to remember "I'm pregnant. I think" "Y-you are?" Surging up, Levi sat him on the dining table, tugging the towel around his waist down. Placing both hands on Eren's stomach, the alpha smiled "You're getting fat" Snorting out a less than sexy snot bubbly, Eren pouted "I'm not fat" "No. Not yet. In a year or two we'll have another pup..." Leaning forward Levi kissed his inner thighs "You smell so amazing... sprawled out like this... god" Gone were the hands on his stomach, sliding across to grip his hips. Eren starting to slick under his mate's lusty stare "It's going to be hard not knocking you up, when your heat comes. You're so fucking perfect for me" And there went Eren's heart again. Twice in a row Levi had forgotten. His hands literally on the small swell. Whimpering, he covered his face "What's wrong?" Shaking his head, he wasn't up to repeating the words again. Levi releasing his hips in favour of taking his face again "Are you worried over tonight?" Worried was an understatement. Worried about the pregnancy. Worried about everyone around them. Worried tonight would go horrible wrong like his birthday, but above all, worried Levi forgot such big news twice. He felt like he was going to vomit. Holding his hand over his mouth, he shook his head. Swallowing what he'd thrown up into his mouth tasted revolted, his throat burning, but it all went unnoticed "It'll be ok. Armin had Nicollo make a huge cake to celebrate Luca's birthday, even though it's passed and there's some gifts. It was supposed to be a surprise for us both" Luca's birthday. God. He'd been trying so hard to spend as much time with him as possible, yet it'd never make up for not having a real and proper celebration on the day "Ok... I'm sorry. My nerves... are all over the place" "I can see that. But I'm here, you're not going through all of this alone" He'd forgotten twice in a row Eren had told him he thought he was pregnant, and now Levi was telling him he wasn't going through this alone... it should have been comforting and felt true... now he felt hollow. All he wanted to do was climb into bed with Viren, and cuddle away all his son's pain... but if there was some kind of celebration for Luca, there was no way he was going to miss that. Dressed in a tunic and pants rather than a robe, Eren had Viren on his shoulder and Levi's holding his free hand as they entered the dining room. Announced as Prince Eren of Marley, his royal consort Levi, and their first born Viren, Eren mentally cursed the advisor. Everyone there knew exactly who he was, they didn't need to tear at open wounds. The moment the dining room door opened it was a smack in the face. The scent of the food laid out in as worse than the smell of everyone in the room, Eren nearly throwing up on his feet as he led Levi into the room. When he thought about his symptoms they'd been right in front of his face. Starting with the day he'd thrown up thinking it was from dehydration and stress. He'd thrown up three times during the last week alone, evidently not because his son was suffering. With a smile plastered on his face, Eren played the perfect prince as nodded like he was supposed to during dinner, offering witty comments like the weight of the world wasn't on his shoulders. Seeing Luca the highlight of the night, his son "dressed" in a soft, fur lined vest that Isabel had to be responsible, and on his very best behaviour. With a careful claw he picked neatly at his dinner, then laid his head in Eren's lap while everyone talked. Each time Viren started to grizzle, the dragon would nuzzle into the boy's stomach, ignoring the tiny hand gripping his horn nub. How was he supposed to juggle three children, when Viren still needed him so much? Barely surviving dinner without a breakdown, Levi took Viren into his arms to proudly show their son off. The alpha knew something was wrong, whispering at him to take a break if he felt he needed to. Left without his safety shield, Eren knelt down to gather Luca up, only for Luca to shake his head at him. His son holding himself proudly as he stared up at his mother, loving all the attention he was receiving. Armin was already doing the rounds with Mikasa by his side, stumbling through politely trying to reject the man now shoving his daughter at him. The whole night would pass in such a manner. Rubbing the top of Luca's head he told his son to behave and to be careful, before picking himself back up. Play the prince until they cut Luca's grand looking cake on the far side of the ballroom, then he could retreat to their quarters. And above all, don't throw up and repeat the announcement of his first pregnancy. Casting a gaze across the room, his heart started to beat harder, for a moment his mind muddling the castle with Marley. That night... the awful feeling of not being able to breathe. Zeke sweeping him off his feet to rush him out to a carriage and safety. Not caring about his public image as he and Yelena removed the awful corset and dress enough for him to breathe. He... simply couldn't do this. He needed air. There were too smells. Too many people. Air. As gracefully as he could be under the circumstances, Eren turned to escape, only to crash right into Jean with a plateful of food. The smashing of the plate silenced the room. Squatting down, Eren rushed to try and clean the mess up, tears forming in his eyes as Jean complained about the mess, he too moving to clean. As his hand brushed over Eren's, it was like a jolt of wrongness. Eren jerking his hand back as he met Jean's eyes. It was shameful to show the alpha such a sad expression. Blurting out he was sorry, Eren strode from the room as the party resumed. His skin still felt it was tingling from Jean's touch. Making his way to the first bathroom he found, Eren shut himself in. Running the water a tad too hot, he scrubbed at where Jean had touched him by accident. He'd fucked all of it up. Levi was going to want to know what was wrong, provided he hadn't been arrested for murdering Jean over the accident. Everyone saw was a freak he was. And his nerves... Fuck... Trying to stop himself from vomiting into the shallow sink, he threw up through his nose. Fucking carrot. "Eren? Its Armin, are you in there?" Knocking lightly on the bathroom door, Armin had to know full well he was in there. Having sunk to sit with his back to the door, his scent was more than likely leaking out under the gap "No?" "Open up" "Try again later" "I'll get Levi and Mikasa if you don't open up" The blond wanker would too. Pushing himself up the door, he opened it enough to let Armin in. His friend immediately gathering him into a firm hug "What happened? Did Jean say something?" "No... I panicked. At all the people. I panicked and needed a moment" "You needed more than moment. You're shaking" "It's cold" "Eren, what's going on with you? I know we've both been busy, but we're still best friends aren't we?" "Yeah... Armin, I don't know what to do anymore" Crying on Armin's shoulder hadn't been in his plans, Armin taking the full brunt of his weight as he did "Should I get Levi?" "No... let him enjoy this night" "Alright. Ok. I won't get Levi, but what's going on?" He needed this. Someone he could confine in. His stupid mouth seemed to need the attention even more "Viren's 6 months old..." "You're crying because he's growing up?" For a smart person, Armin was stupid "Armin... Viren is 6 months old" "You said that" "He's 6 months old and my heat never came" "Oh! Oh... didn't you... you know, have a heat in Europe?" Eren sniffled, embarrassed to be talking about his bodily functions "It was barely a real heat. It... I hate having heats, but Levi makes them bareable. Heats with him... they're amazing. He takes such good care of me. It wasn't like that" "Have you confirmed it?" "I tried... but the test didn't work properly" "Have you told Levi?" Sinking down towards the floor, Armin guided him down so they were kneeling "He didn't take the news well?" "He... forgot! I told him twice and he forgot!" Wailing in his friend's ear, Armin hushed him "I... I noticed he seems to, um, forget things. Did you know?" "Yes. He's been forgetting more and more. I don't think he knows, and he didn't forget getting married, but how could he... twice" "Married?! You got married!? When was this?" "A few weeks ago. Europe never gave me an answer... I suppose they thought Levi would go after the crown. I don't know... I just wanted to marry him before my heat came... and it never came. I don't know what to do. We were going to wait. We... were going to wait" "Should I ask a healer? We can get it confirmed? Or should I go get Levi? I don't know what to do. Does he know he's forgetting things?" "I don't think so... I'm scared Armin. What if he forgets we're married? What if he forgets who I am? Who Viren and Luca are? Obsydin was helping with the damage to his mind, and now he'd gone and Levi keeps forgetting things. I don't know what to do..." Gagging, Armin pulled him up and over to the sink, Eren throwing up as his friend rubbed at his back "I'm sorry. What do I do?" "St-stay? Just for a little while? I panicked... I... it was like when I was back in Marley. That night, when..." "When Zeke brought you home and you found out you were pregnant?" Nodding, Eren vomited miserably "I thought your nerves had been getting better now we were back. I didn't notice anything different. I should have noticed you weren't ok" "No. No... I've been better. With Viren teething, it went out of my mind. Then... I'm so stupid" "You aren't stupid" "I feel pretty stupid" "I should have known when your heat was. I'm your best friend... you're my brother" Rinsing his mouth, Eren then nuzzled into Armin's shoulder "You're the best brother I could have. God. I'm exhausted" "Do you want to go back to your quarters?" "No. I want to be there for Luca's cake" "And now we can announce you're married to" "We can't... Europe didn't say yes... people weren't supposed to know. I don't want them to know" "You could have told me" "I didn't want to make a big deal about it... you know what Mikasa would have been like" Armin groaned "She would have been worse than you. I can see it. But how did I not know? You told me it wasn't what I thought when it was exactly what I thought" "Nicollo and Moblit were our witnesses... and the minister hid the paperwork. We did intend to have a big wedding, but only once this whole prince thing was over" "Levi told me you want to move out near where the orphanage is. He got this dreamy look in his eyes and everything" At least his alpha remembered that... "Yeah... I can use my magic to help with the crops, and Levi can train the kids to ride horses... I'm tired of waiting, Armin. I love you guys, and it's not personal, but I want space. I want to start my life with Levi and..." "You don't need to explain to me. Mikasa on the other hand..." "She keeps acting like my mother. I love her but she's smothering me. How am I supposed to grow up?" "I think you're plenty grown up... you're married, you've got a mate and two kids... and now another on the way. I don't know what else classes you as a grown up" "Thanks, Armin... Fuck... we should go back to the party. Mikasa's going to be coming to find us" "Let her. I'll take her on" Snorting, Eren couldn't even picture that happen "As kind as that is, I don't want a fuss" "You don't think I could take her?" "Do you?" Armin laughed, giving him a tight squeeze before releasing him "No. Not in the slightest. Here, stay by me when we go back in" "Alright. You won't tell anyone, will you?" "No. Maybe... after you tell Levi" "Armin!" "I can't help it! You got married and you're pregnant! I'm getting a new niece or nephew! I'm allowed to be excited!" "Well try to keep it in. I don't want Levi to know anythings wrong. Not tonight" "Fiiiiine. But I expect to be the favourite uncle" "You're already the favourite uncle. Luca adores you" "Viren cried when I held him" "He's getting his teeth. My magic isn't any help. I don't want to give him too many herbs in case I accidentally drug him. He's not happy" "Stupid teeth" "Pretty much. With Luca, he was born with his teeth. So we didn't have these problems" "If he had his teeth from the beginning, how do baby dragons feed? His teeth are like needles" "They grow sharper as they get older. Dragons can also tolerate cows milk, unlike human babies" "See, I always wondered that but never remembered to ask" "Now you know" Returning to the party, Levi was by his side in moments. Passing Viren to Armin, Armin tried to protest as Levi pulled Eren from his side. Leading him a short distance away from everyone "What's wrong?" "Nothing" "Your eyes are red and I can feel your pain. Did something happen with that horseface? Did he hurt you?" "Wha- no. Jean simply bumped into me" "Than what's wrong?" "Nerves. Anxieties. We don't have a great track record with public events" "You're hiding something from me" He was hiding a lot of things from his husband... reaching up, Levi brushed his sweaty bangs back from his forehead "You also threw up. I can smell it on your breath" "I... panicked. There... it reminded me of a night in Marley and then... my stupid mind decided we were there for a moment. I'm ok. Armin came after me and we talked a little" "We sure did. You're both in the shit" Levi growled at Armin, but Armin brushed it off by passing Viren to Eren. Quick to take his boy, things felt better with Viren's solid weight in his hold "Armin knows we got married. He's not going to tell anyone about it" "Do I want to know how he worked that out?" "I told him. I ended up blurting everything out to him... are you mad?" "No. As long as he didn't bully you into telling him" "He didn't. But maybe we could talk later?" "Later or now? You look exhausted" "I'll be alright. Armin helped me through things, and we're going to do Luca's cake soon" "We are?! I mean, yes, we are. Now I need to borrow Eren to protect me" "He's my mate" "He's my best friend. Us royalty people need to stick together" "Armin..." "Sorry! Sorry, but it's just sooo cool. You. Me. Historia..." Armin was hopeless. Utterly hopeless. Eren feared for his friends intelligence "Let's finish doing the rounds before the cake" "Fine, I'm staying with you both" "You don't need to. Isabel and Farlan..." "Don't look as if they're about to burst into tears at the slightest incident" "I'm fine. You worry too much" Levi scowled at him, Eren feeling as if is stomach was in the bottom of his boots "We're talking about this when we get back to our quarters" There was no wiggling out of that one "Fine" Hovering by his side, Levi insisted on doing everything for him. Retrieving drinks, a plate of food, holding his hand and taking Viren when tripped ever so slightly over his own feet. It was barely a trip. Luca had done the rounds on his own, proud of himself for stealing food then hiding under the cake table to eat his hoard. It was sorely tempting to climb under there and join his boy, yet, as it was, Eren had to coax him out so that Luca's three teared cake could be cut by Nicollo. A tuff bribe with all the goodies Luca had amassed down there over the night. Finally resorting to pulling him out by the front two legs, his boy perked up when informed the cake was in his honour. Eren careful not to say "it was all for him" else no one would get a slice. Nicollo had outdone himself with each layer patterned around the edges with white dragons dusted on, Luca's name printed neatly on the middle layer with edible flowers beneath it. Trilling over all the attention, Luca stood on his back feet to supervise as the first piece was cut for him. His eyes widened as people sung and congratulated him. It was the kind of celebration his oh had deserved all along. Settling him down to sit on Armin's throne, Eren helped his son break the cake into bite sized pieces, proud as all hell that the little dragon was his son. Trilling his happiness as he ate, Eren stroked the top of his head, praising his boy for being so good. Whatever happened under the tablecloth stayed under the tablecloth until the maids had to clean in the morning, but other than that small blip, Luca had done so well. Carrying Viren and a plate with two slices of cake over to the pair of them, Levi smiled. Armin having temporarily abandoned him in favour for his own cake "How are my two boys?" "Luca's happy and I'm happy that he's happy" "Nicollo did well with the cake" "He did. Luca loves it" "I know I said I'd wait, but what happened? Did I do something?" Sitting himself down on the arm of the throne, Levi balanced the plate on his knee "It's complicated" "I feel like I've done something wrong and don't know what it is" "It wasn't on purpose. I'll get over it" "I don't like the idea of hurting you. From your pain, it must have been something much larger than what you're letting on" "I'll be fine. Now isn't the time to discuss it" "You'll talk to me, won't you?" "Of course I will..." He'd already tried to, so that had to count... right? "That's all I ask. That and I was wondering if you'd like to dance?" Eren gaped. He didn't mean to... but dancing wasn't Levi's forte "Don't give me that look. We never had our first dance after our marriage. Unless you count the horizontal tango in the sheets" Groaning at him, Eren shook his head "I'm surprised that's all. And if you dance like you fuck, it's going to be messy" Running his fingers through his hair, Eren was sure Levi knew what it was doing his groin "You're supposed to say "it's going to be good"" "There's that too. I'd like too" "Luca, will you watch your little brother so I can dance with your mother?" Luca was sniffing at the extra slices of cake, his neck craning as he tried to make his enthusiasm look more casual "You've already had a slice. These are ours" "I'll split a slice with him. It's a celebration for him. Let him enjoy himself" "Remember that when he vomits on your side of the bed" "Why does it have to be my side?" "Because you're the one giving him sugar" "But I'm his mother, aren't I my handsome man. Look at his little vest. He looks so grown up" "They're both growing up too fast" "You're still upset that Viren's first word was "ma"" Levi had been holding Viren for his first babbled word of "ma", "da" not following until a few days of Levi persisting with "da" "I'm holding out for his first real word" "I see. I wouldn't be surprised if its some variation of Luca. He adores him" "There's a lot to adore" Three small bites of cake was enough to churn his stomach. Luca happy to finish the slice, Armin taking up Levi's hovering duties as Levi finished his piece of cake. Mikasa hovering on his otherside, scolding him for not finishing his piece, which was made awkward when Armin started to tell her that "Eren was pregnant", then took a left turn to "Eren is sick". Taking Levi's hand before the alpha went into worry mode, Eren led his husband to the dance floor, concentrating on his mate rather than the crowd "Do you know how to waltz?" "Do you?" Erwin had forced him to listen and learn when he was simply Levi's lover. Or rather, made him watch from the sidelines during lessons. It really couldn't be that hard "Follow my lead" "Your lead? I'm the prince" Stepping back as Levi stepped forward, the alpha's eyes softened "You've got your smile back" "I didn't lose it" "You temporarily misplaced it" "That's what happens... and that was my foot" "I didn't step on your toes" "You did too" "I would know if I stepped on your toes" "Would you?" "What does that mean?" "Never mind" "No, what do you mean?" "Let's just enjoy this dance" "Eren" "Levi" "What do you mean?" "It means you've stepped on my toes twice now" "You're distracting me" "You're distracting" "You're beautiful. I can't keep my eyes off of you" Eren blushed, looking away "Don't look away from me" "Where am I supposed to look?" "At your husband" "You said I was beautiful. Doesn't that mean distracting" "A beautiful distraction, here, come up here" The song is wasn't a slow song, Levi not caring as he moved his hands to Eren's hips, Eren slinging his over his mate's shoulders "How's this?" "My toes thank you" "I didn't step on your toes" "You did too" "Is our first dance everything you wanted?" "Smooth transition there. And more than everything I wanted. I never thought you'd ask" "Mmm, dancing with my beautiful husband..." "I don't feel very beautiful" "You are. Even exhausted" "Oh, are you trying to say I don't look well" "I wasn't trying to say anything. I am worried, I feel like I've forgotten something important" "Because you have" The words slipped out before he could stop them. His omega was such a drama queen "I have? What? I must... say, I feel like... never mind. It can wait" "No. What is it?" "I'll tell you later. I believe you're the one with something on your mind" "I'm... worried" "That's nothing new" "Levi, Viren is six months now" "It's hard to believe" We're all the people he knew stupid? Or simply incapable of maths "Levi, Viren is 6 months. He's over 6 months technically" "I know. He's my boy" "God. You're dense. No. I can't decide if your sense or forgetful" "I've forgotten something haven't I? I... didn't want to admit it..." "Levi, my heat hasn't come" Levi's memory issues... his alpha had realised. The worry bleeding through his tone "Your heat?" "Is late" "How late?" "Two, nearly three, weeks late" "Oh... are you sure?" "Viren is over 6 months now. And... I think... I think I'm pregnant again" Levi stopped midsway "You what?" Burying his face against Levi's neck, Eren's tears rushed back "I think I'm pregnant. I'm sorry. I... I told you twice and you forgot. You... forgot" "Shit. Shit. Shhh, I'm sorry" "You forgot, Levi. I've been... I've been trying to keep an eye on your memory. I've been trying to... but even Armin knows" "You told me?" "This afternoon" "When you were crying. I'm so sorry. Shhh, this is on me" "I didn't mean to... I didn't..." "Hey, no. A pup is great news. A little sooner than we thought, but great news" "I didn't think that heat was real heat" "We were both out of our minds with the loss of our mate. I'm sorry I missed it. You're my mate. I should know these things" "We've been distracted with Viren" "That's no excuse. Is that, what upset you before?" "I was thinking of the night in Marley when I found out I was pregnant with Viren. Zeke, Yelena and I were at some socialite party. I ended up throwing up everywhere. Zeke went into panic mode, Yelena cut my corset and dress off... it was a spectacular mess. When I saw all the people..." "You panicked" "I nearly threw up on Armin" "I think that's allowed" "A pup... it's a lot" "We'll get through it. Have you had it confirmed?" "No. There's... symptoms. I tried to throw together a test, but the reading was weird" "You and something weird, that's the normal isn't it?" "Rude. God. This is a mess" "A mess we'll get through together. Only few more months and we'll be out of here" "Armin said you told him" "He can't keep his mouth closed, can he?" "No... I'm sorry I told him" "You tried to tell me first, it's not your fault" "I keep thinking that if..." "Whatever it is, no. You're not to blame. It takes two to make a baby" "I still feel responsible" "I know. It's because you care far too much" "You're my world. You, Luca, Viren and now this... little one... oh god... what if it's a clutch..." "Then we'll love them all" "Levi. The boys don't get enough of my time as it is. Viren is teething. This is just the start of it" "I had look in his mouth, he's got a second tooth coming through" "He does? I didn't notice" "Pixis dabbed it with some scotch. He said he did it with all his children, and nothing ever went wrong" "Great. The day has come where we are taking parenting advice from Pixis" "It seemed to help" "I don't want to use alcohol. I don't want to even use herbs in case something goes wrong..." "Eren, you have more knowledge on herbs than anyone else in the whole castle. You know your stuff" "I suck at healing magic. It's not my thing... but what's the point of having magic if I can't help him" "You're not some all knowing, all powerful god. You don't need to be. Parents get through teething all the time without the help of magic" "I hate seeing him cry" "I hate seeing you cry" Dipping him suddenly, Eren giggled, before clamping a hand on his mouth as Levi straightened him back up, Eren's hand moving to rest on Levi's shoulder as they continued to dance "Too much?" He'd silenced himself because he'd giggled, not because he needed to vomit "No. No. But can we go to bed?" "Bed?" "I'm drained, and want to curl up with my husband" "If you weren't pregnant, I'd throw you over my shoulder and whisk you away" "We have kids you idiot. We need to put the boys to bed" "Minor detail" "Major detail. There's going to be another one" "Armin could watch them" "Unless Armin has developed breasts and milk, that isn't going to work" "Minor details" "I'm going to smack you" "Spousal abuse" "I'm your husband. You agreed when we wed" "I don't remember that in our vows" "You're impossible" "You're impossible"

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist: Episodes 50-51

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 50: "Death"

As zeppelins rain bombs upon London during World War I, Edward and Hohenheim flee the city. As they watch the attack from a distance, Hohenheim explains that in this world, on the other side of the gate, the science of physics has developed instead of alchemy but, because Edward's soul was transferred over without his body, the Gate of Truth within himself can be used to return to Amestris. Meanwhile, with Hawkeye's help, Mustang has sneaked into the Führer's mansion to confront him and avenge Hughes. Gluttony, moping over Lust's death, is forced by Envy to begin gradually eating Alphonse's armored body to complete the Philosopher's Stone within him so Dante can use the stone to switch bodies with Rosé. Annoyed with Gluttony still mourning the loss of Lust, Dante alchemically destroys his mind so he can be nothing but an eating machine just as he begins gradually eating Alphonse. Wrath, still moping over Sloth's death, tries to intervene by using alchemy so he can use Alphonse to revive Sloth, but Dante has Edward's original limbs removed from Wrath's body so he can no longer perform alchemy in doing so. After repairing his relationship with Hohenheim, Edward returns to Amestris and tries to stop Dante's plans and set Alphonse and Rosé free, only to be distracted by Envy, who begins tormenting him in battle. When Edward angrily demands to see Envy's true form, Envy gleefully obliges, transforming into Hohenheim and Dante's deceased son, causing Edward to hesitate in sorrow. Dante reveals that Envy was the first ever homunculus, created when Hohenheim attempted human transmutation to revive his son who died of mercury poisoning. As Envy admits this is the reason why he hates Hohenheim for abandoning him to start a new family, the homunculus instantly transforms his arm into a blade and heartlessly kills Edward by piercing him through the heart while a horrified Alphonse, Rosé and Wrath watch.

Hm, I forgot he transferred to WWI London. I thought Amestris was equivalent to Nazi Germany.

Ed is impressed by zeppelins and airplanes. Hohenheim says their mechanical engineering is better than in their world, but Amestris has pretty sophisticated manufacturing too. Trains are apparently about a century old, which is about on par with our timeline. I guess you could presume that technology hit a plateau as people figured alchemy was better for more advanced applications.

Bradley keeps his remains in his house. He's read the Evil Overlord List! Selim saw the safe, so Bradley entrusts him with the key. That's pretty smart, since it's unlikely Mustang will think the kid is relevant.

Riza has dispatched Bradley's guards and is at his door. I presume this is a diversion, because we cut to Mustang sneaking in by… jumping over the wall? I'll presume that was alchemy-assisted.

Archer is still not dead.

We cut to Ed and Hohenheim and get my other favorite scene. Hohenheim explains conservation of energy, explicitly drawing a comparison to our very first example: Al fixing the broken radio. The souls of the dead from Earth pass into their world and provide the fuel for alchemy. This makes perfect sense: we already know the Philosopher's Stone, which amplifies alchemy, is powered by souls, so it's only logical that regular alchemy work the same.

Hohenheim explains he really did love Trisha, but left because he didn't want them to see the rot. I think this is a flawed but reasonable explanation. The rot represents more than just itself: it's a mark of his sin, a reminder that this body is not his own and that he's committed atrocities to obtain it. I see this more as him being unable to bear the answer to the inevitable question, "Why are you rotting, Dad?" It's horribly selfish and cowardly of him, but at the same time, it's understandable. Humanity is flawed.

Back in Amestris, Dante needs Gluttony to eat Al to complete the Philosopher's Stone. Apparently Dante designed him to refine red water. However, Gluttony is still BSODing over Lust, so Dante destroys his mind by removing his ouroboros tattoo.

Hohenheim confirms that Dante can't create a Philosopher's Stone on her own.

Hohenheim leaves us with the bright side of Dante's philosophy: you can gain something for nothing too. When a parent loves their child, he says, there need be no cost or reward.

But Ed still clings to equivalent exchange, admitting his only argument is that he doesn't want to believe a sacrifice could go unrewarded. He believes he just has to keep trying.

And then a zeppelin falls on him! He returns through the Gate just in time, but the poor boy he was inhabiting is still certainly dead.

Back in Central, Riza tells Bradley Mustang is after him… why? To get his family out of the way? Bradley goes into the wine cellar to fight Mustang, and the door is alchemically sealed behind him.

Bradley gives basically the same speech as Dante, saying really he's helping people by keeping the Philosopher's Stones from them.

Bradley explicitly says Mustang's fireballs will be less effective in an enclosed space. Thank you!

The Gate takes Wrath's arm and leg, but not the rest of him.

Ah. Ed realizes he used Earth!Ed's life to make the jump.

And now we get confirmation Gluttony killed Marcoh way back then.

Envy has a lot of fun running through forms to taunt Ed.

Alchemy can't be used because the activation of the Philosopher's Stone makes it too reactive. What does "activating" it really mean, though? We haven't seen alchemists need to do anything special to use it before.

Seeing Envy's true form stuns Ed, but… it doesn't look that recognizable? Ed says it looks like Hohenheim, but Hohenheim had a beard, and we just established he was willing to punch his mom's face. I remembered it as him looking like Ed, which would have made more sense. Still, it's a neat reveal. I've heard Brotherhood fans say it's a worse motivation than the one he has in Brotherhood, but, eh, his Brotherhood motivation was clever in theory but felt totally contrived and out of left field. Daddy issues might be cliché, but it's fitting for the more human homunculi, and it makes for a powerful parallel with Ed – further emphasized by them both being his children. I still think it'd have been stronger if we didn't learn it earlier, though.

Also, I do like that Envy violates talking-is-a-free-action to shank Ed while he's distracted.

Dante says Envy was the first homunculus ever created, so I guess Dante and Hohenheim were the first alchemists?

Rose appears to break out of her trance upon seeing Ed die.

Let's update our homunculi list real quick before the last episode:

Greed is wasted.

Lust defects, and is killed out of vengeance for a loved one.

Sloth is paralyzed.

Gluttony refuses to eat, and is made a slave to base desires.

This one is actual irony. He's spent the whole series only caring about eating things, but now, when he's actually ordered to, his human emotions get in the way. He's killed by an absence of gluttony, and becomes the embodiment of gluttony – a slave to base instincts. I find that a lot more clever than "Gluttony is eaten" – that is just so utterly trite and banal, you don't get points for that.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 51: "Laws and Promises"

Alphonse breaks free and attempts human transmutation as he sacrifices himself - using what's left of his Philosopher's Stone within him to revive his brother. Envy appears at the Gate of Truth, having failed to stop Alphonse, and encounters Edward's soul. Learning that Hohenheim is still alive on the other side, Envy gleefully decides to head through to kill him against Edward's advice, disappearing into the distance as a green, serpentine dragon. Edward reawakens to see his body fully healed as well as his right arm and left leg are now flesh and blood. However, Alphonse has been taken by the Gate of Truth as a consequence. After having Rosé take an injured Wrath with her and flee to Resembool, Edward attempts human transmutation, offering his own life, allowing Alphonse to return to his body, albeit his memory is recalled up to when the brothers tried to resurrect their mother. Meanwhile, Mustang successfully kills Führer Bradley with the help of his son Selim, who unintentionally weakens his adoptive father by bringing him the remains of the human from which the Führer was originally based. The Führer responsively strangles his son to death out of anger before Mustang takes his advantage. As he takes Selim's body and leaves the mansion, Mustang is confronted by Archer, who apparently shoots him in the left eye. Hawkeye arrives in time to save Mustang's life and kills Archer. Dante escapes into an elevator to find the Führer to help her exact vengeance, only to be devoured by Gluttony, who fails to recognize her. Alphonse is back in Amestris now and Edward is pulled through the Gate of Truth and is currently in Munich. The brothers both resolve to reunite again someday.

Dante snarks that maybe Ed just didn't pay enough to deserve survival – "We always come just a little short of the price."

We actually see Mustang drawing the transmutation circle with his blood. So much cooler than him doing it offscreen!

Al destroys Gluttony's jaw. Gruesome.

Mustang successfully destroys Pride. Since he didn’t use a sealing circle, I’m guessing he really did exhaust all of Pride’s lives. See, that’s acceptable to do once as a climactic cool moment. Notice also that we skipped straight to the end instead of watching him use fireballs for two minutes straight.

Riza saves Mustang by being the only person smart enough to shoot at Archer's human half.

Envy jumps into the Gate in pursuit of Hohenheim, and even manages to shake off the souls trying to eat him. Hardcore.

After the scene with Dante and Gluttony, we see the elevator open to an empty chamber. Creepy.

Ed's lost limbs are restored when he's resurrected, but it costs all of Al's Philosopher's Stone.

Sheska says Amestris is no longer a military dictatorship, but the current wars will still continue. However, they've become more tolerant towards Ishbalans.

Roy has an eyepatch. Just like Bradley! Riza said her outing him and then doubling back was part of the plan, but I'm not sure how or why.

How did Hohenheim get to Germany? The year is 1921, so he somehow survived 7 years even though his body looked to be at its limit.

Ed thinks Einstein's theories are bunk. Heh.

Ed says he planned to offer his life as the price for restoring Al. The fact that he didn't makes him wonder if he got something for nothing.

The ending spiel is a twist on the standard opening spiel: Al recognizes that equivalent exchange is not the law of the world, but he still hopes that hard work will pay off, and that one day they'll be reunited: a promise, not a law.

Conclusion

I think this is a good finale. The cutting around is a bit disorienting – it perhaps might have been better to resolve Mustang's side of things earlier? – but not uncalled for. I like how Mustang is actually challenged and injured in his fight scene instead of just effortlessly coasting his way to victory; he's cool without being overpowered. The final boss fight with Envy is a bit meh, but huge fight scenes were never what I was watching for in the first place (and Mustang vs. Pride kind of has us covered on that front). In terms of how this interacted with and resolved the story's major themes and questions, I think it was excellent. We learn what is behind the Gate, we learn the truth behind alchemy, we get discussion on the theme of equivalent exchange, and the protagonists' driving motive, the restoration of their bodies, is resolved. It's an open-ended finale, but not an unsatisfying one. The villains are defeated, the characters have learned important lessons, and they're going to keep on living.

Mustang's side is probably the weakest part here – Cyborg Archer is really weird and random and seemingly just there to add more tension and battles. His fight with Pride feels a bit truncated since we keep cutting away from it. I'm still not totally clear what his plan was or if it made sense, and it was very dumb of Ed not to tell him how to fight homunculi. I do like that Riza saves him in the end, though.

Ultimately, this is again the rare OG arc that I feel could have been better spread out over more episodes. Getting all the characters into position is rather rushed and relies on a bit of contrivance, and the finale itself feels like it's trying to say more things than it really has time for. But I'm still happy with what we got.

Now, this is more subjective, but I find the dual sacrifices way more emotionally meaningful here. I plan to do an ending comparison post where I will discuss this further, but for now, I think it's very powerful that Al finally has his moment of triumph. He's spent the whole story as a damsel in distress, even getting literally turned into a MacGuffin for this finale, only ever watching helplessly as people make horrific sacrifices for him while he can do nothing to save them. So here and now, he says screw it, for once he has the power and he's going to use it to save the person he loves more than anything in the world. It's so strong that it's an absolute mirror of what Ed did for him, and extremely meaningful that in a series that started with and revolved around the impossibility of resurrection we end with a true one.

But Ed, stupid, stupid Ed, can't be content with what Al gave him and refuses to learn his lesson, so he puts them back where they started. I'm not sure how I feel about that – it makes him into a very stagnant and stubborn character who refuses to learn the narrative's lessons even when they've been so firmly pounded into his skull. The point of Dante's speech, to me, was that you cannot keep throwing good lives after bad – Ed has hurt himself and so many others on this journey, justifying it to himself with sunk cost fallacy. The correct option is to cut his losses and go home, to be happy with what he still has instead of throwing away even more. Even the very fact he planned to kill himself to bring Al back shows he's still ignoring him – Al has said over and over again he doesn't want Ed to do that. Are these brothers doomed to be trapped in an endless spiral of self-sacrifice for the other? But… I gotta say, Al staying dead would have been too much of a downer. They've been through so much that they do deserve a miracle. (There's that stories-as-just-worlds striking again!)

I actually have never seen the movie, so maybe it resolves some of these things! I shall see. But for now, let's complete our list…

Greed is wasted.

Lust defects, and is killed out of vengeance for a loved one.

Sloth is paralyzed.

Gluttony refuses to eat, and is made a slave to base desires.

Envy kills himself out of jealousy.

Pride is killed by his son.

Wrath outlives them all.

An ironic pride death is easy – hoist them by their own petard. This show takes it a step further, and has Pride undone by his namesake. I'm pretty sure it is said somewhere that Selim is his biological child in this continuity, and that the capacity to sire children was one of Pride's human traits. That makes it deeply ironic that the son is the reason he dies.

I never bought Wrath's Brotherhood death as "irony". Wrath being killed by wrath… I don't even know if that's poetic, it just kind of… is. We say those who live by the sword will die by the sword, and for good reason. Wrath dying to wrath isn't unexpected or at all clever. The volatile, self-destructive sin being the only one to live, though? That's irony.

And oh my god you guys Brotherhood!Envy kills himself out of PRIDE not jealousy, he could not have been more explicit about it! Know your sins if you're gonna be smug about what deep symbolism they are!! This one is still a bit of a reach – wrath is a closer fit – but there is a case to be made that he is doing this out of a desire for the connection and satisfaction that other children have yet was denied to him.

Lastly, I think you could make a case that Dante embodies all the sins and is undone by all of them simultaneously. She believes herself above humanity, yet she is easily frustrated, slothful in her attitude towards the homunculi, envious of others' bodies, and greedy, lustful, and gluttonous for life and power. Wiping Gluttony is an act of impatience, frustration, greed, and arrogance in the assumption she could still control him.

Even aside from that, though, this is such a fitting end for her. She's spent her whole life plotting in the shadows, never allowing herself into a position of personal harm, and just as she tries to slink away to do it again she's undone by her own tangled web. Work behind the scenes, die behind the scenes.

[wavering-eyes]

Test Port 1

[This blog post discusses “flavor” with respect to the card design in Yu-Gi-Oh!. If you’re not already familiar with this term, it’s captured pretty well in this article by Mark Rosewater. Just keep in mind that flavor may also describe card effects.

Also, all of the images embedded in this post can be viewed full-size here.]

[Originally posted on notspoondere.tumblr.com. I am the original author.]

With the printing of Girsu, the Mekk-Knight Orcust in Eternity Code and the full spoiler of Rise of the Duelist, it is looking more and more likely that we’ve reached the end of the World Legacy storyline. It’s possible that new story-focused cards for these archetypes will be printed in the future, but it’s probably going to take a backseat to functional legacy support, similar to what happened with the Duel Terminal archetypes that received support in the Link VRAINS sets. As a result, I figure this is a good time to talk about their overall design and point out what I feel is its biggest success over Duel Terminal: flavorful designs.

To illustrate this difference, let’s consider a pretty key player in the Duel Terminal storyline and keep track of his effects as he changes forms throughout the story. (Consult the translations for Master Guide 4 if you’d like evidence that the first three monsters all portray the same character.)

We can see a pretty linear increase in stats from Sentinel to Roach, and he has a theme of caring about level 5 or higher monsters. This gets a pretty nice followup, becoming a Vanity’s Fiend for lv5 or higher monsters in... Evilswarm Ophion, which is a totally different card not present on this chart, because the powers of the Sacred Tree let him nuke the field instead!!

He then inherits the powers of Sophia and ends up weaker because Exciton got banned. Bravo. (It’s worth mentioning that the original form of Ophion, Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, has a completely unrelated effect of discarding cards to destroy cards, and Evilswarm Bahamut steals monsters instead of bouncing cards like Brionac, but Evilswarm Ouroboros at least tries to approximate Trishula.)

Can you see the problem? I was going to make another image showing this off until I realized that following Gem Knight Lazuli all the way through Construct’s various forms would take way too much horizontal space, but feel free to construct an explanation in your head for why combining Apoqliphort Towers (the real one) with El Shaddoll Construct (foolish a Shaddoll/Catastor eff) makes Shekhinaga (Divine Wrath on a fusion) or why adding in Infernoid Devyaty (wipes backrow, also tributes to negate a monster) and some ice turns that combo into Anoyatyllis (Konami said fuck Nekroz). It’s because these cards are either not designed for flavor, or are designed around the flavor of their archetypes rather than that of their characters, so the characters in general have a pretty weak identity.

You could maybe say that’s because Duel Terminal is a grand-scale war story, so none of the characters are meant to stick out. That would make sense, sort of, so what about stories with fewer characters that change forms multiple times? The Dracoslayer lore did that.

I’m not typing out all of what Master Peace 2 does, but in case you weren’t around from May 2017-2018, you can read that here. He’s a Wyrm because all the True Dracos are, except his previous form wasn’t, except all of them probably could have been without hurting their chances of seeing play (until we got Guardragons Elpy and Agarpain).

The sole thing that ties all of these cards together is that they supposedly feature the same character, and all have effects that destroy cards. They have about twice as many differences. Master and Luster are both Pendulums, while the other two aren’t. Master Peace 1 is a Special Summon by Tributing, but Master Peace 2 requires a Tribute Summon to gain effects. Master Peace 1 has a negate, for some reason, even though none of the other forms have it, so if he gained it from the Dracoverlord tributed for his summon (these are his enemies, by the way), then he apparently forgot it by the time he reappeared in the story. Speaking of which...

In the lore, he essentially aids three tribes (Majespecter/Dinomist/Igknight) trying to fight off the Amorphages, and the Extra Deck Dracoslayers represent their powers combined. True Dracos exist because, in a totally different world, three completely different tribes (Zoodiac/Crystron/Metalfoes) are being assailed by the True Kings. They form a summoning circle (Dragonic Diagram) to summon him for help, and he accepts the power of the other True Dracos or something. The other True Dracos (who are also based off of the first three archetypes, like the Dracoslayer extra deck... for some reason) are disciples of Mariamne, the True Dracophoenix, who mechanically is a True King and shares minimal synergy with any of these cards, and the one who seemingly gets things done is Metaltron XII, the True Dracocombatant, who probably is just the three tribes’ power combined. Who also gets protection from effects by being Tribute Summoned and also floats into anything from the Extra Deck that isn’t LIGHT/DARK. And Konami says he’s a Zefra now. And who the fuck is Dreiath III supposed to be? He’s not even good?

I have many problems with True Draco. Anyways, let’s get to the point. (Nin/Long/Din)Girsu’s character arc, as shown through monster cards in the World Legacy story, is much more internally consistent.

Let’s assume that Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight is a de-powered form from after the battle inside the World Gears (presumably he lent this power to Avramax, though this isn’t shown in the artwork; also, he has Ib’s ribbon on his arm). It’s understandable why the maindeck cards and extra deck cards should do something different, and the first maindeck monster is a vanilla anyways, so I wouldn’t consider it that bad of a break. No idea why he’s a Mekk-Knight though.

These effects form a pretty clear pattern. Girsu here sends things to the GY without targeting them and eventually gains protection effects as he grows in power. His ultimate form is the only one that lets him protect other cards, which is maybe a statement on his goals given how long he spent trying to revive his dead sister, and if that holds water, Mekk-Knight Orcust Girsu is evidence of his eventual success. After all, this card by itself can summon every single one of Ib’s forms except her vanilla and Knightmare incarnations.

That is to say, we gain a bit of understanding of Girsu’s abilities, goals, and bond with his sister through the mechanics of his cards, and if you don’t think that’s the tightest shit, well, I just made you read nearly 1k words on why it is. Better yet, there’s more:

Auram’s extra deck incarnations all have ATK-boosting effects, and his World Chalice form translates him getting more powerful with the World Legacies. Both Blademaster and Crusadia Equimax activate effects by tributing monsters they point to, suggesting how he calls upon his allies for help--there’s a reason Ningirsu went off and ended up with a bunch of brass instruments as his only company while Avram wandered the world with his best friend (who is a fucking dragon) and scored himself a choice elf harem. They call him King because he wears the crown, you see?

On the topic of Crusadia, let’s take a closer look at how Equimax is typically summoned. Typically you’ll try to get a Normal Summon on board, hope it sticks to make Magius, summon again to search Draco, and build your way up with Crusadia monsters to make Equimax. Afterwards you’ll want to boost his damage with the effect of Maximus, summon a large monster to one of his zones, or buff him with the spell you searched off of Regulex. Any two Crusadia monsters with different names can do most/all of this, so think of it as an “all your powers combined” thing a-la Metaltron XII, except executed much better.

(Sidebar: If you’re willing to entertain a bit of theory, the Crusadia maindeck is the epitome of a successful flavorful archetype design. Pretty much every Crusadia list maxes out on every monster in the main because they’re all interchangeable, even though they all have different effects. You could argue that Draco and Reclusia are way better monsters than Leonis, but fundamentally it doesn’t matter; you need two of them and it doesn’t matter which two. This lends them a sense of uniformity without erasing their uniqueness, which suggests that the Crusadia are an army of equals and Maximus may be the leader “de facto”. I highlight this because World Chalice tried to do the same thing, except that deck eventually cut its normal monsters down to a single copy of Chosen, and nobody ever played Crowned.)

Meanwhile, Avramax sports his ultimate ATK-boosting effect, protects other monsters from attacks, is immune to targeting (these two might seem out of line, but they’re upgrades of the protection effects that the previous two Mekk-Knight Link Monsters have), and non-target shuffles a card if he dies.

This is where I’d like to shift the direction of this discussion towards power levels and, implicitly, gameplay balance. Yes, I’m about to get into a powerlevel discussion about fictional characters portrayed on Yu-Gi-Oh! cards which have actual power levels, but hear me out.

Based on their original incarnations, Auram is ostensibly the main character, but strictly weaker than Girsu. Both have 0 DEF as Normal Monsters and Girsu has an extra Level and 200 ATK over him. With the power of the Chalice, Auram can revive allies and potentially gain more ATK than Girsu, but there were hardly even 5 World Legacy cards in the game at that point, and Ningirsu actually has removal. Later on, World Legacy’s Nightmare shows Girsu holding his own versus all of the Knightmares, but when it comes down to the climax of that arc, Avram inherits the power of Mekk-Knight Blue Sky and promptly gets overpowered by Iblee anyways, leading to Ib’s death and the scattering of the party (He is also still weaker than Ningirsu here). Auram and Girsu end up at odds several years later as Crusadia Equimax and Longirsu, the Orcust Orchestrator. If you look at the way these two cards might interact as enemies, it tells us a lot about this matchup: Equimax doesn’t start with enough ATK to hit over Longirsu, and Longirsu seems to have the upper hand thanks to removal, but with the power of friendship, Equimax can safely negate Longirsu’s effect and even swing over him. Finally, as Dingirsu and Avramax, Dingirsu loses or goes even at best: Dingirsu sends Avramax to GY, Avramax spins Dingirsu when he dies, both parties end up with nothing. Keep in mind that Avramax no longer needs support from allies to do this and Dingirsu absolutely cannot swing over Avramax at any point in time, so if the resource game isn’t in consideration, these cards will either trade or Avramax will always win.

That’s a cool interaction, but why did I bring up card balance? This interaction was only uncommon in tournament play because Orcust was an insanely popular deck. Playing Salamangreat, I’d regularly make Avramax versus Sky Striker and expect it to stick for a while, but versus Orcust? That boy would be gone in a second, and I’d rather not commit a link-4 worth of material to have a monster die and only get to spin a card. Keep in mind that going card-for-card is maybe not always favorable for the player.

What I mean to say is, Avramax would be a pretty insane card in a format without Nin/Long/Dingirsu’s non targeting removal. Consider the following scenario: Girsu’s extra deck forms do not exist. You are going second versus old Danger! Thunder playing the Trishula fusion. They half combo you, ending on something like Colossus + Avramax made with I:P Masquerena, and in doing so, banish the Borreload out of your extra. Do you even play a card that can out an Avramax otherwise? Probably not. Avramax could have put us into another Dark Destroyer format where targeting sucks, but Girsu kept us safe.

If anything, I hope R&D puts this level of thought into their flavor moving forward. World Legacy was a pretty big success on most fronts and I’d like to see what they do going foward in the next OCG series.

Thanks for reading. This is my first time writing about the game from a non-competitive perspective, so let me know how I did.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

👑🏰⚔️🐲🐲 DMODT 82 update

Days slipped by before Eren realised, on the rare day he even managed to escape princely duties in their entirety, but for the most part, he was just as married to his paperwork as when it'd all been first delivered. The letters and correspondence from Europe was still frustratingly irregular. He'd given up asking for anything, and now had a plan of his own. He wasn't going to let a stomach bug or people across the world get in his way any longer. Heading up to the sunroom, Levi was on Armin duty. Mikasa's squad was on extended wilderness training with new recruits, leaving the alpha to play bodyguard for the blond beta who'd thought a lack of Mikasa would mean a lack of duties. Levi was almost merciless, threatening to bill Armin for his wasted time. Letting himself into the room, Armin was grumbling as he jotted down something that seemed to be whatever Levi was saying. Creeping across to his mate, Armin ruined the surprise "Eren! Help me, he's making me work harder than Mikasa does" Looking back over his shoulder, Levi's face lit up. Viren on his shoulder, beginning to babble at the sight of him. Swooping in, Eren swept Viren out of Levi's arms, pressing kisses to his son's tiny hand "Hello, my baby. Has daddy been working Uncle Armin hard?" Viren babbled on, squealing as Eren blew a raspberry against his cheek "I have not" "Eren, he was literally boring me to death. I don't know why we have to have a ball. I don't want to have a ball. He keeps telling me about aristocrats. I know them all! And he mentions the same ones..." "I do not" Turning back to Armin, Levi crossed his arms. Eren hadn't mentioned Levi's memory problems to anyone else, and now it seemed like it had struck again "You..." Eren held his finger to his lip, telling Armin to be quite as he tried to express the same thing with his expression. If Levi knew, he'd worry "Never mind. It must be the ball stressing me out. Did you need something, Eren?" "I wanted to borrow Levi for a moment, if that's ok?" "Yes! I mean, yes. Please. No more papers" Correcting his enthusiasm, Armin's eyes shone with relief. Reaching his hand out, Levi turned to take it "Not that isn't a pleasant surprise, but it's too early for lunch" "We're not going to lunch. It won't take very long, then you'll be back to telling him all about that royal protocol of yours" Scrunching his face up, Armin covered his ears "If you two are having a quickie, I don't need to know. Keep him as long as you need" Laughing Armin off, Eren pulled Levi along with him. The alpha happy to follow despite not knowing what was happening. Realising they were near the royal library, Levi pulled him to a stop. The alpha gently pushing him up against the wall. Both hands travelling to Eren's waist as Levi nipped at his neck, carefully minding Viren as he did "If you wanted my help, why didn't you just say so?" "Because maybe I wanted to drag you off and have my way with you?" "Not in front of the baby" Said baby grabbed for his daddy's hair, pulling firmly towards his mouth "That's daddy. You can't eat daddy" Extracting Levi's hair for him, Levi eyed the wet locks with a sigh "He's lucky he's adorable" "He looks just like you" Viren's hair was just as black as Levi's, the green in his green-grey eyes now faded. Not quite Levi's shade, but more Levi's than Eren's. his lips though, they were all Eren's "Poor kid" "Hey, I like the way you look. Anyway, this shouldn't take long" "Then how about that quickie?" "Maybe. It depends how you're feeling" Raising an eyebrow, Eren shook his head "You have to wait and see" Nicollo looked unimpressed. Apparently he and Levi were late, while Moblit was overly enthusiastic as the pair met them just inside the library doors. Passing Viren over to Moblit, Eren squatted down to kiss Luca on the forehead. His son having the most important role in what was coming. Levi was plain confused as to what was going "Eren, care to explain?" "Oh. Yeah, about that. We're getting married right now" "Yeah. Right. What's going on here?" Rolling his eyes, Eren stood, speaking slowly for Levi once he was facing him "We are getting married. Nicollo and Moblit are our witnesses. Europe hasn't signed off by I'm sick to death of waiting on them all the time. I want to marry you, so here we are" Blinking at him, Levi still seemed doubtful "It's true. Eren came and brought us here without an explanation, said we had to wait for you to arrive because he needed witnesses and someone to let the minister in. He couldn't simply ask his friends like a normal person" "We're getting married? Here? Like this?" "Yep. It's fine. The papers are all drawn up" "I thought. What? You wanted a big wedding... what is... what?" Wrapping his arms around Levi, Eren smiled down at his poor confused mate "I want to marry you. Do you want to marry me?" "I do. But what about the chapel? And all the people you wanted to invite, and you're not... there's no flowers. You're not even wearing a robe. I'm not dressed..." Eren couldn't stand the castle chapel. That had been a big fat nope when he'd talked to the minister about all of this. It wasn't the same man who'd presided over his wedding to Zeke, but he'd heard the castle rumours of how his wedding night had gone with the man, and was sympathetic over the fact he wasn't actually supposed to marry. Given Eren wasn't making a huge deal over it all, he'd signed off on it. After that, he'd enlisted outside help to have rings made for him and Levi, now tied around Luca's neck by a red ribbon. His son having been forced to listen to his rambling plans to marry, and thankfully Luca could keep a secret "Levi, we can have another wedding at a later time. I want to marry you. I'm sick to death of waiting for permission. We're practically married anyway" "We don't have rings" "We have rings and witnesses. Europe was probably leaving me hanging as a jab after speaking my mind, and I'm sick of them" "So we're getting married. Are you sure?" "I'm completely and totally sure" "You picked a time when Mikasa wasn't here on purpose, didn't you?" "That's just an added bonus" Mikasa would attempt to mother him. She'd want everything perfect and make a fuss out everything. She'd probably turn into some kind of scary monster who'd yell over even the slightest thing going wrong, or tell him that he had his whole life to think of "You won't regret this?" "Levi, I could never love another alpha like I love you. You're my mate. You're the most amazing father to our boys. And you're the one I want to sort all my shit out with. I want my shit to be your shit, and your shit to be mine, and I want to work all this shit out with my husband by my side. Plus, the sex is great" Levi snorted at him, his smile wide as he realised that Eren was completely serious over all of this "The sex is pretty great" "I know right. I want to wake up with you. I want to fight and make up with you. I want to spend every damn day loving you, even if we're fighting and I secretly want to turn you into a frog. I want to lay on the grass and draw stupid flying eyebrows with you. Make you laugh and hold you when you're upset. Build a home and family with you, then grow fat, old, and lazy and know you're legally stuck with me. I want it all" "You're too fucking much. I want it to. I want everything you'll give me. So give me all of you? Let me be your husband, and I promise I'll be there for you. When you cry. When you're driving me insane. When you get so excited that you talk way too fast and I can barely understand you. When you get fat. When we're up all night with the kids. I'll be with you for all of it" "You guys do realised the minister is supposed to lead this ceremony, don't you? Idiots" Laughing at Nicollo's bad mood, Eren nodded at his mate "We have a lot to still sort out, but yes. Yes. I do. I, Eren Yeager, take you to by my lawfully wedded husband. Through whatever happens. Always and forever" "And I, Levi Ackerman, take you to be my lawfully wedded husband. Through whatever happens. Always and forever, brat. I do" Leaning up to kiss him, Levi's lips were soft against his. The kiss long and languid, turning Eren weak at the knees. Sharing the kiss for several long moments, the moment was ruined by the minister clearing his throat "He is right. I am supposed to proceed over the ceremony, but I suppose all the important things have been said. I pronounce you "Husband and Husband", you may resume kissing your husband as your witnesses sign the marriage certificate" Nicollo muttered something about "finally", while Luca trilled at him. His son standing up with his feet on Eren's hip in order to headbutt his arm "Fuck. The rings. Thank you, baby boy" Releasing Levi, Eren untied the ribbon around Luca neck. High on happiness, he started giggling as he slipped the two bands into his hand "You're such a good boy. Your mother forgot the most important bit" "The minister forgot them too" Defending himself, the man sounded slightly ruffled "It's not exactly a conventional wedding" "It's fine. Thank you. Levi, stick your hand out for me" "So romantic" "I am" Holding his hand out, Eren slid the golden band onto Levi's ring finger. Both bands were a thin gold dragon in the form of an ouroboros with its tail in its mouth. He'd thought about something more complicated, but given he wanted to live a simple and normal life, he chose something simple and something that the jewellers could pull off in a relatively short time. Taking the second ring, Levi slid it into Eren's ring finger, before taking his hand and raising it to his lips "Always..." Kissing Eren's hand, Eren finished the sentence, his hand husband was taking his breath away all over again with the love radiating across his face "and forever. I love you" "I love you. God. I have no words for how much I love you" "If you two are done, you need to sign this. I refuse to bare witness to the consummation of your marriage" "Thank you, Nicollo" Waving him off, Nicollo strode from the library to leave Moblit standing on his own looking awkward "Don't worry, Moblit. I'll take Viren back once the paper is signed. I'm sure we don't need to have the marriage consummation witnessed" "I... thank god. No offence" Playfully growling, Levi hefted Luca off Eren so he was sitting in front of them "You've already seen him naked. Are you trying to say something is wrong with my omega? That he isn't attractive enough for you?" Poor Moblit turned beet red, stuttering as he waved his free hand "No! No. No. I've seen more than I needed to. I also don't want to die right now" "Levi won't kill you. He's joking. Seriously, thank you for this. I knew I could count on you" A smile tugged on Moblit's lips, snuffed out a moment later when Levi growled again "Who says I won't kill him?" "Me. Who's gonna look after Hanji if Moblit's gone?" "Good point. You've dodged a bullet for now" "Levi, stop picking on him. I'm sorry Moblit. He goes a bit silly when he's happy" Moving towards where the minister was standing with the marriage certificate, Moblit moved with him. He wanted to smile. Eren knew he wanted to smile, but Levi could be scary and alpha's pheromones had taken on an air of warning "R-right" "Who says I go silly?" "I do. Now sign the paper" Having signed the certificate, the minister promised to file it away where it would be "found" in a few months time. Once Eren's 6 months of hell had passed. There were 3 months left. 3 months too many. Taking Viren off his shoulder, Moblit finally relaxed "Congratulations. To both of you. I'm really happy for you" "Thank you. And thanks for everything Moblit. Thank you for being here, and for... just everything. I wouldn't have Viren if you hadn't helped Levi. I wouldn't have survived those bandits if not for you. You're a really good guy. I hope you and Hanji are next to be wed" Flushing red again, Moblit was quick to awkwardly flee the room, the minister following and leaving the four of them alone "So... we're married now" "We are. You have to put up me for life" Slipping his hands around him, Levi ground up against him "You make it sound like a bad thing. I can't believe you hid all of this from me" "I wanted to make sure everything was organised before my heat. I didn't want to get your hopes up, then have to cancel it all" "I think you deserve some kind of punishment for your deception" "Mmm... that sounds amazing, buuuut the kids are watching" Levi was more than in the mood, and all Eren could think of was being bent over and fucked into oblivion by his husband "Think Armin will babysit?" "I think Armin will babysit if it means getting out of paperwork for the spring ball" Luca whined at the pair of them, Eren giggling as he looked down at him "I'm sorry baby. Your father is a romantic idiot and your mother is just as bad. Do you want to come see Uncle Armin? I bet he misses you" Luca seemed to frown at him "You don't want to see Uncle Armin? Then what do you want baby? Do you want to play with your brother? Or do you want something to eat?" Nodding at the last option, Eren supposed he should have figured as much. Luca was basically a bottomless pit "Ok, baby boy. Why don't we have lunch, then we can see Uncle Armin. I bet he'll be up for playing" Nodding again, Luca "lu'd" at Levi "He wants you to cuddle him. You haven't told him he did a good boy" Levi released him, though his fingers lingered for an extra moment before lifting Luca up, cradling their son so he could rest his head on his shoulder "He did so good. I'm so proud to be your father" Nuzzling into Levi's neck, Levi kissed Luca's temple. The dragon was longer than the alpha was tall now, not that that stopped Luca from loving cuddles "We'll see Uncle Armin, then I need to borrow mummy for a bit" "Only a bit?" "You'll be bit" Bumping Levi with his hip, Eren walked off in front of him "I'll believe it when I see it" "We've only been married for minutes and you're already impossible" Giving a non-committal hum. Eren wanted to scream it from the rooftops, instead he'd have to just settle for screaming Levi's name when they finally fell between the sheets. * Having a secret husband was nice. Levi hadn't forgotten the wedding a fortnight ago, so that was nice, and their friends thought they'd simply picked their rings up in Europe. On the other side of things, the happiness of having a secret husband was affected by Viren cutting his first tooth. Feverish and pained, his son was miserable. Eren was miserable from being unable to help him. Cutting a tooth was natural, his magic didn't seem to think it worth healing the space. Or it couldn't heal the space until the tooth was actually through. Holding his boy, Eren hushed him as he cried. The ball was tonight, leaving him looking after the children so Levi was available to help with the final preparations. Isabel and Farlan had already arrived, stopping by to surprise them, then taking Levi, and Luca, off his hands so Eren could focus on Viren. He'd tried herbal relief for his son, but what Viren had thrown it back up it'd turned his own stomach so hard that Eren had thrown up too. Levi ordering him straight to bed where he'd had to wait until Viren was cleaned up again for extra cuddles. Thinking at first his sickness was stress related. Eren realised he was an idiot. Viren was six months and his heat hadn't come. Viren was six months, his heat hadn't come, and he was throwing up over certain things and certain smells. Viren was six months old, his heat hadn't come, but his libido was sky high. Sometimes for no damn reason at all. Oh look, Levi breathed, better pop a boner right there. Between that and not being sick all the time... it was enough for him to be worried when he did the maths. Add an increased libido, small swell, and a two and bit week late heat... he knew. He didn't know how exactly to explain what he felt, but he knew. The heat he'd hadn't thought a heat at the loss or Obsydin had been a real heat. He'd also fashioned himself a pregnancy test in the bathroom, based on the same principles as the compatibility test as he'd figured if he was carrying Levi's pup again than there should be some of their pup's blood in his own. It took a bit of him and a bit of Levi to make a baby after all. After placing the few drops of his blood in the bowl, he'd been too chicken shit to look. He probably could have just gone to the castle healers for confirmation, yet... he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Feeling the slightest of fevers lingering in his pup, Eren glanced at the bathroom door. He was supposed to be shower, but the test was in there... God. He couldn't avoid it. If Levi checked the bathroom when he returned, he'd want to know what was going on. He had to face what was waiting. The results of the test were confusing. A big drop then lines radiating off it. Pouring the mess down the sink, Eren didn't know what to think. He was fairly sure he was... the keyword being fairly, but with the ball preparations taking up everyone else's time, he didn't want to call Levi away to discuss the matter. His mate hadn't even noticed they'd missed his heat, which stung. Sure, they'd been through a whole shit storm and a half, but this was his heat. His "first" heat since giving birth. He'd been nervous as hell over falling pregnant during it, stocking up on his contraceptive herb mix, only for Levi not to notice when it passed by. Not that he wanted Mikasa and Armin keeping track of his heat, but they'd failed to do to the math too, his omega's nose put out of joint that none of them seemed to care Viren was now 6 months. Catching Viren's hand as he grabbed from the taps, Eren pressed a kiss to his soft black hair "That's mummy's mess. You Mister, you're having a shower with mummy before daddy and Luca come back. Heaven only knows what I'm going to tell your father about all of this" Starting to cry again, Eren sighed to himself, kissing Viren's cheek then remembering it was the sore side when his boy let out a wail. The joys of parenthood. Still in the shower when Levi returned, the alpha wandered into the bathroom with a smile on his lips. Not quite what Eren had expected given Levi was busy brushing up on his own days of being a prince with Armin and Mikasa. Leaning back against the bathroom counter, his alpha waved at Viren "Hello, baby. How is my handsome man doing?" Bouncing Viren against him, the boy had his hand in his mouth as he drooled "He's not happy. Mummy was an idiot and kissed his sore cheek" "Aw, my poor man. Herbs still not helping?" "I don't want to risk overdosing him. He likes the shower, so he's quietened down a bit since we got in" Pressing kisses to Viren's hair, Eren didn't want to ever let him go "The ballroom is decorated. We're sitting next to Armin at dinner, the advisors keep insisted you need to be announced as Prince Eren" "They can stick their "insestions" where the sun doesn't shine" "I'm pretty sure that's not a word" "I don't care. I'm not a prince" "And yet, here we are. Do you want me to take him?" "Not really. Mummy is enjoying his cuddles" Levi grabbed a towel off the counter "Mummy needs to finish getting ready, or daddy might have to do something about this" "Ha. Ha. Ha. No. I don't mind holding Viren a little longer" "It's fine. I'll get him ready while you focus on you. Those damn robes have far too many ties" Eren frowned at his mate. His outfit had been sitting over the back of the same dining chair for days now. Not a robe in sight. He was sick of robes. He was wearing pants and Armin could such his dick if he thought otherwise. Well, not really suck his dick. That was Levi's job, and only Levi's job "I'm not wearing my robes" "Armin seemed to think you were" Fucking Armin. If he wants robes, he could wear them him damn self. Reaching out, Levi took Viren from his hold. Bundling the boy up, Levi looked smitten by their drooly son "You really should get dressed soon. You smell good enough to eat" "You've been telling I smell good since we got home" "You do... I haven't been able to keep my hands off you" Months... Well... fuck. Levi's nose had picked the changes in his scent before he did. So much for his dragon senses... "Eren?" "Sorry, thinking about tonight. I'll wash my hair and be right out" "Ok, Sweet Boy. Luca is with Armin, Armin insisted. Though I think that was to distract Mikasa" "And I thought you'd be with Isabel and Farlan..." "They're with Armin too. Armin needs to be measured up for his new fur cloaks" Then Mikasa should have nothing to worry about. Their wilderness training was cut short by Connie rolling his ankle. They'd returned a few days after the wedding with Connie on fashioned crutches, a few of the new recruits suffering blisters and bruising from their armour. Mikasa insisted they didn't need to take a healer... she really should have known better. The female alpha quick to pass the recruits onto someone else, with the word "hopeless" thrown around more than once. Running his hands down his body, they came to rest on his stomach. If he pushed lightly he could feel a small firm mass, hidden visibly by the tiny amount of stomach left from carrying Viren. At first it upset him, but with the way Levi would lavish attention on the spot during sex, he'd gradually come to accept it to, maybe even be a little proud because Levi was right. It was proof of carrying their pup. Their Viren. The precious son he never thought he'd get to birth, and the pup that Luca absolutely adored "Everything alright?" He'd forgotten Levi was there. He definitely hadn't moved to wash his hair like he'd said "Yeah. I was thinking of how much I love Viren, now go get him dressed. It takes effort to look this beautiful all the time" "Liar. Alright, I'll see you in our room" Padding out into their room, Viren was laying on their bed naked, both of them hated having in nappies too long, but he'd thought Levi was going to dress him. Sitting at the dining table, Levi was wiping down his old sword. Having been left alone with his own thoughts for too long, his fears had started to go get to him in the shower. There were going to be far too many people in the ballroom. People watching and whispering... they always did, but with emotions a mess over being pregnant, he wasn't sure he could deal with everyone. What if someone noticed? What if they noticed he wasn't drinking? He couldn't drink as he was breastfeeding anyway... but what if some knew. Levi kept mentioning his scent, and in a room full of all sorts of dynamics, someone could easily pick up the changes in his scent. Or maybe even by making a joke over his heat, Levi might figure it out for himself in front of everyone. Wiping at his eyes, he stumbled over to Levi, his alpha barely pushing his chair back to greet him before Eren was in his lap "L-Levi" Pulling him close, Eren buried his face against Levi's neck, trying to inhale as much of Levi's scent as he could. His alpha worried over whatever this was "Hey, what's wrong?" "I love you... I love you so much" "I love you too. What's with the tears?" "I... think I'm pregnant" Sliding his hands up, Levi took his face in his hands. His thumbs rubbing at Eren's scales as Eren worried his lip and searched Levi's eyes for any kind of answer "You're pregnant? Are you sure? That's... that's... wow" "I think so... I'm sorry" "No! No... no. Wow... another pup" Breaking down to sobs, he sank forward in Levi's hands. Crying hard enough for his body to shake, Eren waited for Levi's words of comfort "Shhhh. You're ok. Whatever it is, you can tell me" Eren let out a miserable sob, verging on a wail. Levi had forgotten. He'd sounded happy... ish? And then he'd forgotten... he needed to remember "I'm pregnant. I think" "Y-you are?" Surging up, Levi sat him on the dining table, tugging the towel around his waist down. Placing both hands on Eren's stomach, the alpha smiled "You're getting fat" Snorting out a less than sexy snot bubbly, Eren pouted "I'm not fat" "No. Not yet. In a year or two we'll have another pup..." Leaning forward Levi kissed his inner thighs "You smell so amazing... sprawled out like this... god" Gone were the hands on his stomach, sliding across to grip his hips. Eren starting to slick under his mate's lusty stare "It's going to be hard not knocking you up, when your heat comes. You're so fucking perfect for me" And there went Eren's heart again. Twice in a row Levi had forgotten. His hands literally on the small swell. Whimpering, he covered his face "What's wrong?" Shaking his head, he wasn't up to repeating the words again. Levi releasing his hips in favour of taking his face again "Are you worried over tonight?" Worried was an understatement. Worried about the pregnancy. Worried about everyone around them. Worried tonight would go horrible wrong like his birthday, but above all, worried Levi forgot such big news twice. He felt like he was going to vomit. Holding his hand over his mouth, he shook his head. Swallowing what he'd thrown up into his mouth tasted revolted, his throat burning, but it all went unnoticed "It'll be ok. Armin had Nicollo make a huge cake to celebrate Luca's birthday, even though it's passed and there's some gifts. It was supposed to be a surprise for us both" Luca's birthday. God. He'd been trying so hard to spend as much time with him as possible, yet it'd never make up for not having a real and proper celebration on the day "Ok... I'm sorry. My nerves... are all over the place" "I can see that. But I'm here, you're not going through all of this alone" He'd forgotten twice in a row Eren had told him he thought he was pregnant, and now Levi was telling him he wasn't going through this alone... it should have been comforting and felt true... now he felt hollow. All he wanted to do was climb into bed with Viren, and cuddle away all his son's pain... but if there was some kind of celebration for Luca, there was no way he was going to miss that. Dressed in a tunic and pants rather than a robe, Eren had Viren on his shoulder and Levi's holding his free hand as they entered the dining room. Announced as Prince Eren of Marley, his royal consort Levi, and their first born Viren, Eren mentally cursed the advisor. Everyone there knew exactly who he was, they didn't need to tear at open wounds. The moment the dining room door opened it was a smack in the face. The scent of the food laid out in as worse than the smell of everyone in the room, Eren nearly throwing up on his feet as he led Levi into the room. When he thought about his symptoms they'd been right in front of his face. Starting with the day he'd thrown up thinking it was from dehydration and stress. He'd thrown up three times during the last week alone, evidently not because his son was suffering. With a smile plastered on his face, Eren played the perfect prince as nodded like he was supposed to during dinner, offering witty comments like the weight of the world wasn't on his shoulders. Seeing Luca the highlight of the night, his son "dressed" in a soft, fur lined vest that Isabel had to be responsible, and on his very best behaviour. With a careful claw he picked neatly at his dinner, then laid his head in Eren's lap while everyone talked. Each time Viren started to grizzle, the dragon would nuzzle into the boy's stomach, ignoring the tiny hand gripping his horn nub. How was he supposed to juggle three children, when Viren still needed him so much? Barely surviving dinner without a breakdown, Levi took Viren into his arms to proudly show their son off. The alpha knew something was wrong, whispering at him to take a break if he felt he needed to. Left without his safety shield, Eren knelt down to gather Luca up, only for Luca to shake his head at him. His son holding himself proudly as he stared up at his mother, loving all the attention he was receiving. Armin was already doing the rounds with Mikasa by his side, stumbling through politely trying to reject the man now shoving his daughter at him. The whole night would pass in such a manner. Rubbing the top of Luca's head he told his son to behave and to be careful, before picking himself back up. Play the prince until they cut Luca's grand looking cake on the far side of the ballroom, then he could retreat to their quarters. And above all, don't throw up and repeat the announcement of his first pregnancy. Casting a gaze across the room, his heart started to beat harder, for a moment his mind muddling the castle with Marley. That night... the awful feeling of not being able to breathe. Zeke sweeping him off his feet to rush him out to a carriage and safety. Not caring about his public image as he and Yelena removed the awful corset and dress enough for him to breathe. He... simply couldn't do this. He needed air. There were too smells. Too many people. Air. As gracefully as he could be under the circumstances, Eren turned to escape, only to crash right into Jean with a plateful of food. The smashing of the plate silenced the room. Squatting down, Eren rushed to try and clean the mess up, tears forming in his eyes as Jean complained about the mess, he too moving to clean. As his hand brushed over Eren's, it was like a jolt of wrongness. Eren jerking his hand back as he met Jean's eyes. It was shameful to show the alpha such a sad expression. Blurting out he was sorry, Eren strode from the room as the party resumed. His skin still felt it was tingling from Jean's touch. Making his way to the first bathroom he found, Eren shut himself in. Running the water a tad too hot, he scrubbed at where Jean had touched him by accident. He'd fucked all of it up. Levi was going to want to know what was wrong, provided he hadn't been arrested for murdering Jean over the accident. Everyone saw was a freak he was. And his nerves... Fuck... Trying to stop himself from vomiting into the shallow sink, he threw up through his nose. Fucking carrot. "Eren? Its Armin, are you in there?" Knocking lightly on the bathroom door, Armin had to know full well he was in there. Having sunk to sit with his back to the door, his scent was more than likely leaking out under the gap "No?" "Open up" "Try again later" "I'll get Levi and Mikasa if you don't open up" The blond wanker would too. Pushing himself up the door, he opened it enough to let Armin in. His friend immediately gathering him into a firm hug "What happened? Did Jean say something?" "No... I panicked. At all the people. I panicked and needed a moment" "You needed more than moment. You're shaking" "It's cold" "Eren, what's going on with you? I know we've both been busy, but we're still best friends aren't we?" "Yeah... Armin, I don't know what to do anymore" Crying on Armin's shoulder hadn't been in his plans, Armin taking the full brunt of his weight as he did "Should I get Levi?" "No... let him enjoy this night" "Alright. Ok. I won't get Levi, but what's going on?" He needed this. Someone he could confine in. His stupid mouth seemed to need the attention even more "Viren's 6 months old..." "You're crying because he's growing up?" "Armin... Viren is 6 months old" "You said that" "He's 6 months old and my heat never came"