#it’s right up there with chrobin for me

[cenpede]

The couple at the dance that doesn’t switch partners and their gestures are so sickeningly sappy that you have to look away

[todayisafridaynight]

The only right fancast options for y2 daigo are Matt Mercer or David Vincent 💀💀💀

DOES AARON PAUL MEAN NOTHING TO YOU

[dentos-wife]

Let’s talk how about Chrom and Robin’s bond evolved over time

With everyone clamoring over the new emblem I wanted to take a look back how we got here with their relationship and why I think at this point Chrobin is the intended or inferred Chrom pairing when it didn’t used to be.

In 2012 we got Fire Emblem Awakening, and as Chrom was related to Marth, his inferred pairing was Sumia a pegasus knight as a nod to Caeda, Marth’s canon wife. Granted because part of Awakening’s charm is you could pair anyone up, you didn’t have to pair Chrom up with Sumia if you didn’t wish to. But to IS she was the intended choice.

She had special scenes with Chrom and was the most likely to end up paired with him if you weren’t gunning for a specific wife for him

And you see her here in the opening with Lucina

Robin is you, the avatar, they don’t even have official art, just them with a hood

They had a canon design what we all know now but it wasn’t really used. And that should have been it as far as IS was concerned. Awakening was their last hurrah. And then FE blew up.

Robin’s canon design is now getting used, both the male and female version are now in Smash Bros. Then we have Warriors and Heroes and the Awakening cast shows up more. But not Sumia. Perhaps it’s because she’s not popular or the people flocked to Cordelia instead but she is the pegusus knight everyone loves. Sumia isn’t even in Warriors or the base FEH she gets added much later to FEH only with other less popular Awakening characters.

It’s here when FE became more maintstream I believe that IS changed their tune on Sumia being the intended wife and retconed it. I fully think Sumia was dropped and they no longer had an intended pairing for him all because she just wasn’t popular. Him and Robin were close of course they always were, obviously some would see it as friendship others would see it as something more the usual nothing really changed there.

And then 2022 ten full years after Awakening’s release...this happened

Couple things here. I fully believe the reason Chrom was paired with MRobin here instead of FRobin is for two big reasons reasons.

1) If they paired him with FRobin it canonizes a pairing so MRobin is the safer option, FEH doesn’t usually pair men and women unless they’re already a pairing. So MRobin got paired with Chrom and FRobin was on her own but she still has lines about how much Chrom meant to her.

2) MRobin is the more popular Robin as has been shown every year in CYL and he’d even win next year

So Chrom and Robin were always close it was a no brainer to make them a duo unit, they picked the male version on a very family oriented banner.

That said some of these lines...well let’s just say if a man and a woman were saying that to each other there would be no doubt here. Imagine if this Robin was the female version

Robin: There's Lissa, Emmeryn, Lucina, Frederick... I think we've got gifts for everyone. Don't we? Chrom: Well, all but one. What would you like your gift to be, Robin? Robin: What? Me? You can't just come out and ask like that, you know. There are rules! Chrom: You know I don't care about that. Just tell me what you want. Robin: Truthfully...I can't think of anything. Chrom: You don't want anything? Aw, come on. Think of the bind that puts me in. Robin: You gave my life meaning when I had nothing—not even my memory. The sense of purpose I've found at your side, working for peace in the world, is all I could ever ask for. Chrom: You're not alone in that, you know. I feel the same way. That's why I wanted to give you something nice. To show you how I feel. Robin: All right, all right. In that case, why don't you give me one of those flowers you're wearing? Chrom: It's only going to wilt. Robin: I'll press it into one of my books. That way I'll never forget this Day of Devotion.

Snippet from their duo convo. Usually when someone gives flowers it’s considered a pretty romantic gesture I’ve heard plenty of people call this alt playfully the gays and yeah this is very strong.

FRobin even comments on them in one of her lines.

“That man with Chrom is a Robin from another world, right? They get along so well, I'm almost jealous...“

There was no need for that line at all, we can tell from their lines how flipping close they are but they felt the need to have another character comment on it in base lines

I do believe MRobin was used not to canonize a pairing...at first. And then they gave up because it looked like people really liked it going even further in the next year.

In Awakening Chrom and Robin refer to themselves as two halves of the same whole which is already a loaded term. But it’s never been used after and was just part of the game

Enter the next time they pair up as the Emblem of Bonds which brought that back for the first time since 2012, in full force

Correct me if I’m wrong but no one besides them have referred to each other as their other half in Awakening

Lucina does it in Engage. For reference other half means husband, wife or partner (romantic). I think after the Valentine’s alt they decided sure why not and now they’re really going in with Robin being Chrom’s other half when they only touched the term once past Awakening in a FRobin cipher card. Other half in Engage is Robin and he pops up when engaged with Chrom to mix magic with the attack. I don’t doubt you can mean a friend with this term but when paired with everything else they say to each other, it’s pretty strong evidence it’s further than friendship.

Okay now for the the ultimate Robin is now Chrom’s intended partner view, Legendary Robin also released this year

“Tactician of Ylisse. Celebrated as Exalt Chrom's other half in the legends that followed their exploits. Appears in Fire Emblem Awakening. “

I saw some people argue exalt could mean Lucina too but no it doesn’t, it clearly means Chorm it says so and if you didn’t believe that, we got a map that was the two called Chrom and his other half. Which is Robin.

His art also references his other half status, he now wears blueish green jewelry which stands for Chrom and the brand of the exalt is on his chest plate

Finally in his damage art he once again has the symbol of the exalt formed in magic.

And a ring, some have argued it’s his clothes but usually the magic gauntlets he wears are on his middle finger and not under his gloves; pretty sure it’s a ring, it’s even on the ring finger of his left hand, where you generally put a wedding ring.

All this together is some very strong evidence, but put it with everything else they’ve done since last year and it’s clear to me, IS now is pushing Chrom and Robin as the intended pairing. Not canon like Marth and Caeda or Alm and Celica, but intended like they do with Eliwood and Ninian and some others I’m probably forgetting. And because MRobin is who they use and their “canon” sort of like FCorrin is the “canon” Corrin, IS is strongly hinting at MChrobin

Which fascinates me, we went from Chrom with a intended implied wife to scrapping it and pretended it never happened to this, Chrom with an intended husband. Him and his best friend, both two guys, very much in love. In ten years IS changed it’s mind on the intended canon pairing that isn’t even possible in the base game. They are a fate defying duo, the emblem of bonds, the exalt and his other half, two halves of the same whole and they are showing that in symbolism harder than ever. I think that’s really cool

To end this I’m aroace and see romance a little differently from the amatonormic norm Chrom and Robin could just be really good friends lord knows I also think friendship should be just as important as romance BUT if they were, it’s very clear they are each others most important person over any wife they might separately have.  But even that doesn’t follow a typical heteronormative relationship no? Chrom and Robin’s bonds are so strong they transcend the concept of romance and friendship as we know it, there is no name for the type of love they share it’s beyond us.

But what about Lucina? (and Morgan) In a world with magic, dragons, people dying and coming back to life, time travel and more the idea of two guys somehow having a child is no longer far fetched at all really, or even surrogates exist.

Also they act like kind of like dads with her and it’s really cute

Now granted IS could remake Awakening and MRobin will still not be able to marry Chrom and this whole analysis would have been for naught but I think if they do remake it they’ll add it. Look at how many people have been introduced to them just through Heroes and Engage you don’t think people are going to want to pair up the exalt and his other half in their game?

To sum it up, yes there literally is no heterosexual explanation for where IS has taken this. It wasn’t originally the intended pairing but it sure is now, I don’t think there is any room for denial anymore until we see what they do with a remake.

[isthei]

hi, i’m roo! i write and draw (mostly fanfic/fanart since they’re such potent stress relievers).

i try to keep a nice mix of my own posts and reblogs, but mostly i do whatever i want. i tag posts like i’m sorting things into boxes. also i yap a lot

about me:

he/they | 20s | se asian | multifandom artist and writer

ao3 | twitter (this is my only other fandom social)

useful tags:

my art

my headcanons

my posts

roo crows (personal posts)

current major interests:

marvel (fav: peter parker)

star wars (fav: luke skywalker)

ttrpg (d&d, city of mist) — i actually like to design these as a hobby

cyoa game development

i also rb things that i think describe the audhd and aroace experience! plus stuff that describes me in general.

non-comprehensive list of things i’m also into and reblog occasionally:

avatar the last airbender (fav: fire hazard siblings) | dc | dimension 20 (fav: misfits and magic) | disco elysium | elder scrolls | fire emblem | merlin | neon genesis evangelion | percy jackson-verse: pjo/hoo/toa/mctga | pokémon | spider-verse | star trek (mostly aos) | star wars

sideblogs, boundaries, ships etc. under the cut

sideblogs:

@istheiart — art-only sideblog. i am slowly reblogging all my art here

@istheialt — 18+ sideblog

personal boundaries:

hate groups dni. it will be unpleasant for both of us

if you know me irl pretend you do not see

if you’re a minor, please don’t follow my alt. i’m also advising you to block #nsfw. i try to keep the more adult stuff off my main blog but i don’t want to censor myself!

if you’re under 16 i’d advise you to get off social media in general but like. i’m not your dad

asks are always welcome! but i’m usually on mobile so it’s a little harder for me to remember to look in the old inbox—i might not see them right away

ships:

atla ships

zukka

kataang

azutara/kazula

aged up aang/zuko

i also like sukka but i don’t post about it as much!

disco elysium ships

harry/kim

fire emblem ships

m!chrobin

marvel ships

cablepool

petermj

punknoir

spideypool

spideytorch

merlin ships

merthur

pjo/mctga ships

percabeth

fierrochase

star trek ships

(aos) spirk

star wars ships

dinluke

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

sometimes I wonder what my life could've been if I hadn't been subjected to chrobin.

my life is falling apart. things with my husband aren't the same, I can't even look him in the eye anymore. I think the final straw was when I asked him to recreate the chrobin thoron stab with me. or maybe it was when I got drunk and let it slip that the only reason I wanted to marry him is because he looked like Chrom. I wanted so badly for him to be the chrom to my robin, maybe that's where I messed up. either way, I think it's over for us. He comes home later every night, he's been hanging out with his friend more often. his friend always reminded me of olivia....

either way, I think he's going to divorce me soon. it's all chrobin's fault. if chrobin didn't exist, maybe I could've married someone for the right reasons. maybe I could've been happy.

-🍮

what

[lemon-grey]

I really really REALLY want everyone to see my vision for shipping Lucina and Flayn. Please understand how chaotic and fun this could be and please accept this short little fic:

“Forbidden Love”

word count: 1160 | rating: E

tags: fluff, silliness, crossover ship

Flayn and Lucina have been dating for a few weeks and have finally decided to meet each other’s parents. Things get complicated.

[robin!Lucina x Flayn; m!chrobin established; Robin and Grima share a body; takes place in Askr]

.

.

“Dad! Father! I want you to meet someone.”

Lucina stood, head held high, and waited for her parents to turn their attention to her. Behind her, Flayn shuffled from one foot to the other, fidgeting with the lace of her dress bodice. The two young women had spontaneously decided today was the day to introduce each other to their families, and for Lucina’s part, she was sure everything would go perfectly.

Chrom and Robin both turned to her. Before either could say a word, she gestured toward Flayn and blurted, “This is Flayn and she’s my girlfriend!”

Chrom blinked rapidly. “Your…. what now?”

“What! Lucina!” said Robin, eyes flying wide. “How long have you been dating someone?”

“About a month,” said Lucina with a shrug.

“Hello,” said Flayn, her voice softer than the other three as she gave a little wave. “It’s lovely to meet you both.”

“Oh my god?” said Chrom, giving a little laugh as he strode over toward Flayn with a hand outstretched. “Oh my god, you’re so polite! It’s nice to meet you too—Flayn, was it?”

Flayn nodded and shook his hand as Lucina beamed at them both. A moment later, Robin finished processing this unexpected new information and rushed over to clap a hand on Flayn’s shoulder and offer a handshake as well.

Just as she had with Chrom, Flayn politely returned Robin’s handshake.

And then they both froze.

Hands still locked firmly together, eyes wide and staring, they both fell into silence. Flayn drew herself up into her full height in an uncharacteristic show of—what? Boldness? Strength? Intimidation? Whatever it was, Lucina had never seen it in her girlfriend before, and it was peculiar to say the least.

At the same time, Robin’s shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly and his nostrils flared. Lucina would never have noticed if she hadn’t been so attuned to both of her fathers’ subtle tells, but this was one she knew too well.

“Dad,” she said.

A moment later, Chrom’s voice, now stern: “Robin. Focus.”

At that, Robin dropped Flayn’s hand, shook his head roughly and said, “Hm!”

“Luci, you didn’t tell me your father is a dragon,” said Flayn. “And quite a powerful one, I think!” Her tone was one of awe, even if the tension in her posture still lingered.

“What—you can tell?” said Lucina.

“Of course I can.” Flayn turned toward her, throwing on a pouty little frown. “I told you about being a dragon first thing. Why didn’t you tell me you also have dragon blood?”

“It’s… so complicated,” said Lucina. “Incredibly complicated.”

“There isn’t anything that complicated about being a dragon,” said Flayn. “We’re just what we are.”

“I’m not sure I agree with that,” said Robin, “but in any case, it’s good to know this about you too, Flayn.” A pause; then: “Er…you’re a light dragon, aren’t you?”

“Yes!” Flayn clapped her hands together once with a smile. “I’m not experienced enough to be able to recognize specifics like that. What type of dragon are you?”

Robin stared at her with a smile and said, “No.” Beside him, Chrom opened his mouth and then closed it again.

“I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to discuss family later,” said Lucina, louder than she had meant to. “You’ve still got to introduce me to your dad!”

“Oh, right!” Flayn said, and the other three breathed a collective sigh of relief as she immediately dropped the subject. “Let’s go, I’m sure we can find him around here somewhere!”

Lucina allowed Flayn to lead her away, looking back over her shoulder at her parents with an apologetic grin as she went.

After she had gone, Chrom cleared his throat and said, “This is going to make holiday dinners…fun?”

Robin sighed. “I’ll remind Grima he isn’t invited,” he said.

—

A short time later, Lucina and Flayn located Seteth, who was reading quietly in a small corner of a grassy courtyard. When he noticed them approaching, he set his book aside and stood up with a small smile.

“Hello Father!” said Flayn, hurrying the last few paces toward him. “I’ve been looking for you!”

“Flayn,” said Seteth. “Who is your friend?”

This time, it was Lucina’s turn to fidget. Flayn had told her very little about her father other than that he was “churchy” and “stern but kind.” Now that it was time to actually meet him, she hoped the kindness would win out.

Flayn took her father’s hand and then Lucina’s, standing between them and smiling softly. “This is my girlfriend, Lucina,” she said, with a nervous little waver that didn’t stop her eyes from sparkling. “Lucina, this is my father.”

“Hello…sir,” said Lucina, suddenly keenly aware of how big and imposing Seteth seemed. “Good to meet you.”

Seteth sized her up, taking his time to pick her apart with his eyes before he finally spoke again. “You know how I feel about you dating,” he said, speaking to Flayn as if Lucina wasn’t there.

“I do know,” said Flayn. “She’s my girlfriend anyway.”

“Hm,” Seteth said, frowning even as he let go of Flayn’s hand in favor of offering a stiff handshake to Lucina. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. You do seem to be a regal young lady.”

“You could say that,” said Lucina. “One of my dads is a king.” And she shook Seteth’s hand.

The moment they touched, he withdraw his hand with a sharp little hiss and said, “Are you a dragon?”

“Shit,” said Lucina under her breath, ignoring the frown her cursing earned from Flayn. To Seteth, she said, “I guess you’re… also a dragon like Flayn, then?”

“Father is a very powerful dragon!” said Lucina, merrily, as if she were divulging some long kept secret to her girlfriend—and Lucina wondered if perhaps she was. “He’s much more powerful than I am.”

“I see—” Lucina began, but she was interrupted by Seteth.

“I’ve gotten used to being less endangered than we were back in our world,” he said, “and I can even get used to the idea of my daughter dating, in time. But honestly, Flayn… a Fell dragon? Really?”

“You’re a what?” said Flayn.

“I’m not!” said Lucina. “I just—I come from a line of descendants with Fell dragon blood—but I’m not a dragon! I can’t transform or magically recognize other dragons or any of the stuff you guys can do. And my dad doesn’t transform or anything either, now, so…give me a chance, okay?”

Seteth crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll leave this up to my daughter. She’s capable of making her own decisions,” he said, in a tone that indicated he fully believed she would side with him.

Flayn, however, gazed at Lucina as if she was the most beautiful person on the planet and said, “Forbidden love is so romantic!”

And so Lucina and Flayn cemented their blossoming relationship by vaguely horrifying their parents and complicating their family dynamics in the name of young love.

-end-

(At the next holiday meal, Chrom tried to talk to the girls about safe sex while Grima waited all of 20 seconds to force his way past Robin so he could have a loud argument with Seteth about divinity. Morgan made loud kissy noises about Lucina dating someone. Tiki probably showed up.)

[crystalelemental]

I've been mulling over how to start this one for a while now, and I think I've settled on this. I've talked a lot about watching stuff from Professor Bopper, and his Pokemon videos in particular have been fun. But one of his independent videos is about yellow paint mechanics in videogames, and he specifically calls out that gamers, as a group, are uniquely bad at games, often ignoring the function of what the game wants you to be doing in favor of what they think you should be asked to do, and getting mad when the game meets expectations. This broadly rings very true, and it's that very bias in myself that I aim to combat with a lot of my replays lately, and it's been liberating.

However. I feel like sometimes the gamers are right. Sometimes it is bad design. Sometimes they developers made a decision, and they design their game around that decision in a way that teaches the player exactly what they should be doing, but the baseline concept is just...bad. It wasn't properly thought out, and it feels, in its entirety, like it would've been better if they had made some changes. I'm sure that doesn't happen often, though. Certainly not in any big name franchises.

Anyway, I finished Let's Go Eevee.

Positives first. The game is a pretty interesting take on Pokemon as an adventure game. Eevee is wildly overpowered. It gets higher base stats, and a special 90BP move with an absolutely busted secondary effect in every one of its possible evolutionary types. The combination of Electric/Ice/Psychic/Dark perfectly answers the entire Elite Four, while also providing Dual Screens and sure-Paralysis. Ice's only flaw is a pretty middling secondary effect, compared to sure-Burn, sure-Leech Seed on a damage move, HP recovery, or curing all status. Eevee is a monster that can handle pretty much everything.

I find this interesting, because in some measure, Pokemon is always about making bonds with your Pokemon. The idea of having your Signature Partner that does everything with you is a neat approach to the usual rotation of a team. It's always been possible to steamroll the entire game with a single partner, that's most of the basis of a speedrun. But it's rare for the game to lean so heavily into it. The sheer breadth of tools given to Eevee give it a presence similar to that of the Chrobin combo of Fire Emblem Awakening. More on that later.

Because now it's time to shift steadily into the problems of this game. Difficulty in Pokemon is a big topic, and has been for a long time. Personally, I have come down strongly on the side of "I don't think any Pokemon game has ever been difficult, and there is no point in time where chasing the white whale of a difficult Pokemon game resulted in improvement in the experience." Pokemon is not fun because of challenge. It is fun because of effort, and having something to work toward. The reason older games appeal so strongly to me isn't because they are harder. RBY and GSC are kinda piss-easy. But what they are is limiting. Movepools barely exist, and a ton of a playthrough is finding ways to keep your preferred teammates relevant across various challenges, all while acknowledging you do not have access to most of their best tools yet. It's scrounging around through TMs to find a set that works, and coming up with some really creative solutions that many modern games don't push you to do. As a quick example: Larvitar. In Gen 2, it doesn't learn Earthquake naturally until 49, which balloons to 56 as Pupitar. Pupitar can evolve at 55, and if you don't stop these evolutions, Tyranitar cannot learn it until 61. This is a beast you find just before the postgame superboss at around level 15. In Gen 9, it learns Earthquake a level 31. There's just far less to actually build to, as players are given early access to most everything, and much earlier access to complete movesets.

Let's Go...kinda has this issue? But only kinda. I expected Brock to be an immediate wall for an Eevee, only to find that Eevee now learns Double Kick super early and can two-shot his Onix no sweat. Whoops! The progression of special moves also open up right at points you'd want them. You get Fire, Water, and Electric in Celadon, which answers Misty and the Rock Tunnel hikers. You learn Dark and Psychic in Celadon, which is ideal timing for all the Poison types you're about to encounter between Erika and Team Rocket, while Dark...okay, Psychic also answers Ghost but you know. Ice, Grass, and Fairy drop in Fuchsia, but I think that's because those three weren't going to hard counter anything past that point anyway. Like it gives you exactly the tools on Eevee that you'd want to answer the present threat for free, so Eevee never truly struggles with anything. It's always a clean sweep.

Which raises a big issue when it comes to the general feel of the region. I recently replayed LeafGreen, and while the postgame is rough, the main game never feels like too much to me. Even the "slower" segments are fun, because by then, I'm working with something new that's low level. It's why I never minded all the Rocket segments in Johto either. Sure there's a billion fights, but I need about that many to train this Horsea. I wound up picking up a Poliwhirl, intending to trade for Jynx, and accidentally landed a Modest nature. Blastoise was not doing so hot, and I decided fuck it, I'm rocking Poliwrath. Which meant leveling up something far behind, using those extra routs and the Silph Co section. That's great! That's as intended!

What purpose do those sections serve in a game with only one Pokemon? When you don't need a team, and have no reason to train anything else...what do they do? It's just busywork for no real reason. "But they give you three Pokeballs!" Pokeballs stopped working around level 10, my dude. This is not a reward. And there's no EVs in this game, so it's completely trivial to fight anything but the keynote bosses.

The removal of EVs was...not ideal. Instead they use Candy, which is specific to a stat. You gain candy by sending Oak copies of Pokemon, or rarely when you catch them. With a higher catch chain, where you keep catching the same beast repeatedly, you have better odds, but it's never guaranteed or even all that likely. This system is, in some ways, meant to be a controlled form of Stat EXP. You just naturally gain your stats as you accumulate candy. It's not a terrible idea, but its implementation is Extremely Bad.

Candy, as it turns out, caps at +200 in each stat. In case you're wondering how many that is, it's approximately 500 of the basic candy, 300 of the L candy, and 600 of the XL candy. For context, I tried doing a chain with Eevee on Route 17, which gives Sp Def candy. I caught enough to get a chain of 20, and upon that 20th catch, I received nothing. Just fucking nothing. The 21st catch gave me around 6 basic candy, and 2 L candy. To say this takes forever is a wild understatement. By and large this is not necessary. My wife did not do as much catching as I did, had far less candy, and still beat the League pretty much exclusively with Eevee. For main game, this is...annoying, but unobtrusive.

The instant you hit postgame it's a nightmare. Because, Red is back. And to fight him, you have to beat six Master Trainers, who will do a 1v1 mirror match with a specific Pokemon, but theirs is trained to have like +150 in three stats. Doesn't that sound fun? For context, I put all my massive candy stocks from repeated chain captures onto Eevee and hit around +80 in like two stats. My playthrough was like 20 hours.

This begins the descent into the really bad, which is that Let's Go bears two great sins: one of its birth, and one of its maker. Let's Go is, at its heart, a gacha. It was literally born from Pokemon Go, which is designed to be eternally tedious to force microtransactions, and Let's Go emulates that in its postgame perfectly, without the microtransactions. The one of its maker is that, as someone who will grind in Pokemon Crystal literally just because I find it fun to do so at certain points, this system still could've had me. Opposing trainers very clearly have sequentially boosted AP from candy application, it's not a bad system to use for difficulty curves. It's a lot steadier than BDSP's sudden "everything is maximized without warning," and I don't begrudge the idea of doing this, even going so far as to question why they don't do this with EVs in the main series. It's not a terrible idea, and in fact has some serious merit.

Unfortunately, it is blockaded by the sins of its creator. Masuda just really though it was super important that people fulfill his vision of immersion by having to throw the controller like you're catching Pokemon. Nevermind that motion controls have been known garbage since about a week after the Wii came out and no motion that resembles an actual throw gets registered by this system, we have to do some dumb flailing shit that, for no discernible reason, either goes straight on target or miles to the left despite the same arc being used. Worth noting: Pokemon will run from you if you don't catch them fast enough. Sometimes "Fast enough" is in two balls. If they run your chain breaks instantly. Are you having fun yet?

Let's Go has the honor of being the worst capture mechanics in a series with continuously terrible capture mechanics. Their decision to demand motion controls, refusing to just let it be buttons if you're using the console docked and not allowing the pro controller hookup at all, torpedoes everything positive this game has, because it renders it borderline unplayable. "But didn't you say Eevee sweeps?" Yeah, but it relies on you catching things. Not just that, but getting good at the arc. Battle EXP is truncated, you get far more from effective captures, and the biggest modifiers are "first try" and "excellent" when the circle is tiny. I'm sure someone will insist it's fine when you get used to it, but from my experience, it never gets better. It is always incomprehensible which way the ball will go. Moreover, trying to use a quick flick of the wrist motion resulted in a 100% rate of the ball immediately dropping to the ground, so I had to actually swing my whole arm, and mysteriously I have had this growing pain in my shoulder all week despite playing in shorter and shorter bursts. Add this one to the same pile as Hades, under "Games that cause me to take recoil damage" I suppose.

But, I can hear it now. Some are going to call this a skill issue. And you're right, it is. There are people much better about this than I am. However, I still think this is a problem, because as a mechanic, it fails to do what games are supposed to do for players: provide control and feedback.

Main game Pokemon games have terrible catch mechanics, but this is usually only around Legendary Pokemon and the occasional hard to catch thing like Beldum or something. That difficulty is just pure RNG, because the rate is so low. But even in those scenarios, the player has options to control how bad it really is. Knock them to low HP, inflict Sleep for best odds, catch a bunch for critical capture Gens 5+, use a Roto Power in Gen 7; there are modifiers the player can apply that are inherently beneficial. NPCs will tell you about them, but even without listening to a single one, you can actually experience the difference yourself through the gameplay. Trying to catch a Pidgey or something with full HP does mean it can break out. Trying to catch one at like 1/3rd HP almost never does. Hitting something with status seems to result in much more assured captures. The player takes actions, and the game provides feedback on whether those actions were the right call.

Let's Go's catch mechanics do not have any of this. It's so disconnected from the idea that all the NPC advice is now just "if it's a red color it's gonna be harder," which is useless because guess what, Ultra Balls don't actually change the color for things that push level 40, and Legends are glaring red no matter what you do. Throwing it dead center for an Excellent toss did not ever seem to improve my odds; I had just as many breakouts from that as I did wildly off-center barely touched the catch circle tosses. I can take no action aside from finite berries, which disappear after a single use of a ball, and do not seem to have any method of acquiring more since they don't seem to be sold in shops. I learned very early that Razz Berries are functionally worthless when I hit a Great toss on a Yellow circle and it just broke right out and was Orange again. So maybe I'm being uncharitable. It does give feedback, the feedback just tells you not to do anything but keep throwing and hope you get lucky, because nothing you do will help. What a fun system!

Unquestionably, Pokemon Let's Go is the worst Pokemon game. But I feel like that is solely based on direction. Had the catch mechanics been less awful, there is merit to the idea of a game where you have one (1) defined partner through everything. I think it would've benefited from a Legends Arceus style approach that fixated more on catching as a primary goal than battling, given how meaningless the constant trainer fights were, but maybe that's just me. Whatever the case, I feel very strongly that this is the worst Pokemon game, and that it is the poster child for upper management staying the hell away from things. The instant you let them talk about their great ideas for what the art should be like, the instant you are damning that art.

[coralhoneyrose]

As proud as I am of myself for finishing the fake dating fic, I don't think I expected how genuinely sad I would feel about the fact that it's over. Idk it feels kinda ridiculous to say this, but the aftermath of finishing has felt almost like I'm mourning something? Maybe it's just that it was such a constant in my life for so long that not having it there to think about and plan for has left behind this big old void. And naturally you would *think* the solution would be to fill that hole by writing something else! There's no sense in missing these characters when I can jump right back to exploring them in another story, right?

But along with the mourning-ish feelings, I have also been so profoundly uninspired. I think this is the first TRUE writer's block I've had since I got into chrobin, where every idea I take a stab at writing feels like it's coming out drab and just won't hold my interest or attention. It feels like all the joy I usually get from thinking about how these characters would feel and the fun of trying to pick out the right words to convey a thought or idea have just suddenly dried up.

I guess I probably just need to take some more time away and let my creative pool refill more so I have a chance to get excited about new ideas again. It's just hard because writing is also my main creative outlet and NOT writing makes me feel restless and kinda empty too dfdskfks. Like--usually it's one of the most fulfilling parts of my day and winds up being my escape from outside stress but right now it just doesn't seem able to do that, and I'm not sure what the solution is except I guess to wait and hope eventually it will pass.

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Head empty, only chrobin roleswap. please help?

I don't know what kind of roleswap you're thinking about, but I ended up thinking about my old roleswap (Robin, Heirophant of the Grimleal and Gangrel's tactician, picks up an amnesiac swordsman and brings him home with her), which then got me to thinking about a scene set in Ch 5 that I never shared the concept for. And then I wrote half of this scene as a summary and the rest as a fic, because I only wanted to actually write the back half of it, so that's all I wrote:

Gangrel sends brigands to attack a border town and takes Maribelle hostage when she intervenes. Emmeryn goes to negotiate with him and Lissa, Frederick, and the Shepherds insist on coming with her. Gangrel and Aversa, meanwhile, dragged Robin along with them. (All three of them fucking hate each other. By the way.)

Emmeryn attempts to get the story of what happened. Gangrel tells her one story and Maribelle tells her another. The negotiation goes south, fast, and even faster once Lissa accuses the Plegians of having captured or killed her brother. Robin, who had not heard that the Ylissean prince has gone missing, attempts to intervene in the conversation then and get some more information about this. She and Emmeryn manage to exchange a few civil words, Robin telling her that Plegia has had nothing to do with the prince's disappearance, before Lissa accuses Robin of lying and generally just starts screaming at her, and Gangrel says that well, such a weighty accusation certainly sounds like a declaration of war to his ears.

(If I recall correctly how this conversation is set up in-game, and what the battle map is like, Gangrel, Aversa, and Robin would be up on a cliff and then Emmeryn and the Shepherds are down below. Chrom is just kind of lurking in the back behind Robin, wearing some hooded cloak because that's how he and Robin both dress all the time. So he's not really part of the conversation, which is how none of the Ylisseans see "hey, that's our prince right there!")

So Gangrel sets the Plegian forces on the Ylisseans, tells Robin that they're under her command, and to make sure that none of the Ylisseans get away alive, before he and Aversa immediately dip. The brigands that Gangrel brought along do not take well to Robin's attempt to give orders, while the Ylisseans are pissed off by everything that's just happened, so Robin finds that, despite having every tactical advantage on paper or a game board, she's losing ground, fast. She attempts to call a retreat and gets called a coward and a traitor by her own soldiers, and with no other choice, Chrom just tries to drag Robin off the battlefield to escape before the Ylisseans can kill them, too.

Emmeryn, meanwhile, was told to stay back, but she's interested in this other Plegian commander, who seemed more willing to parley than either Gangrel or Aversa, and makes the choice to, in the midst of the chaos of the fighting, try to catch up to her.

-

“I did not catch milady’s name,” the Exalt says. She stands alone at the base of the cliff, about fifteen feet below Robin and Chrom. 

“I am Robin,” she replies. “Heirophant of the Grimleal. For what reason do you risk your life to chase after me?”

“You seemed, perhaps, more willing to parley than King Gangrel,” the Exalt says. “I would apologize for my sister’s accusations, as well; fear for her brother has led her emotions to get the better of her. I must ask you again: my brother has gone missing. Have your people anything to do with it?”

“As I said,” Robin says tersely, “Plegia knows nothing of your missing prince. If he were captured, Gangrel would have offered him to trade, rather than grab the first noblelady to pass by the border. And were he dead, he would not have been able to resist gloating.”

A Plegian wyvern wheels about in the sky, tilting to one side as it attempts to fly with an arrow in one wing. “Robin,” Chrom says. “We need to go.”

Were Gangrel here, he would kill the Exalt himself. But Robin is not Gangrel, and Chrom is just here to do what Robin asks of him. If Robin is willing to let the Exalt leave, Chrom won’t stop her. He casts a glance down at her, surprised to find that she is staring directly back at him now. Her eyes are wide. Perhaps she is afraid that this mysterious swordsman will strike at her, if Robin hasn’t yet?

“Wait,” the Exalt calls. “You do not wish for war, either. The way you spoke with your king tells me that much. If you hold such a position of honor amongst the Grimleal, then–”

“You are bold to petition me, standing on your father’s foundation of my people’s bones,” Robin snaps back. “No, I do not wish for a war that will once again send my people to their unnecessary deaths. But the way I spoke with my king may also tell you he does not hold my opinion in any regard. I cannot broker peace for you, Naga’s-blood.”

Arrows fly through the air; a wyvern falls, and then another. “Robin,” Chrom says, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her away from the cliff’s edge and the conversation with the Exalt. “I don’t think the rest of her entourage is going to be so friendly if they catch us.”

Robin relents, stepping away, but once again the Exalt’s eyes are on Chrom. She follows along the ground below, scrambling up onto the rocky base of the cliff like she’ll be able to reach them. “Swordsman,” the Exalt calls. “May I see your face?”

“What?” Chrom asks, and without any clue what she means he looks to Robin - but Robin is watching the Exalt intently now, also trying to figure out what this means. Maybe she’ll explain if he indulges her; Chrom lowers his hood. At this distance, he can make out the Exalt’s face more clearly: the shock frozen upon it, and the faint marking on her forehead. 

She says nothing, and after another moment Chrom turns away. That look on her face disturbs him, but he was the one telling Robin they needed to go; he can’t dally now. Not even if–

If–

Hours later, back firmly in Plegian lands, Chrom stands to the side and grits his teeth as Gangrel berates Robin for “her” loss against the Ylissean forces, as though it wasn’t Gangrel who set them up to fail. Robin simply takes it, as she always does; it’s impossible to tell if she’s really even listening. Aversa delivers a few snide jabs before she leaves, following the king, and then it’s just the two of them. But anyone could still be nearby to listen, and hard as it is to bite his tongue, Chrom waits until they’ve found a more secure position to pull Robin aside.

“You really don’t know anything about this missing Ylissean prince?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “What I said to the Exalt is true,” she says. “I don’t know anything, and Gangrel would let everyone know if he knew something.”

He’s known Robin a few months now. She has always been honest with him, even when she isn’t honest with Gangrel or Aversa. Chrom knows everything that she keeps from them. He’d like to think that he’s pretty good at getting an accurate measure of a person, having only known them a short time, and he’d like to think that he’s got Robin figured out. She doesn’t court war, nor did she strike down the Exalt of Ylisse when she had the opportunity. She would rather have peace and show mercy. She’s generally honest, generally not underhanded, and she doesn’t like to torment her opponents, nor does she relish in their misery.

The person he thinks he knows her to be wouldn’t curse an enemy prince with amnesia and then take him as her right-hand man in some sort of gloating power-play, and then lie to him about it.

But right now, the only thing he knows is that he doesn’t know anything.

“Right,” Chrom says. “Then I guess you don’t know why I have a mark on my shoulder that’s the same as the mark on the Exalt’s forehead.”

He hopes her shock isn’t feigned. The Robin he thinks he knows isn’t that good of a liar - but he doesn’t know what even the Robin he thinks he knows will do, now that she knows she has an enemy prince who’s fallen right into her hands.

[the-priestess-of-dawn]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗 (i love your fics and it'd be cool to see which ones you like most, but no pressure!)

This is a fair question because I have 10 bazillion fics and sometimes I do wish AO3 had like, a showcase or something, so I could usher people right to the best ones instead of them having to look at whatever happens to be most recent. So, yeah, here's the fics I would showcase if that was a real feature:

True Believers - aka the Grimleal!Chrom fic. Pretty sure this is still my magnum opus to this day, even if it does largely follow Awakening's canon plot (just altered because 1, it's original timeline-based, and 2, Chrom started worshipping Grima as a kid). It's not very heavy on Grima, because Robin only awakens at the very end, but it IS full of angsty Chrom feelings and soulful Chrobin moments and sweet, sweet dramatic irony when the god Chrom is praying to for guidance is literally right there guiding him

Find a Way - Okay so uh... sad Chrom (tfw no Robin, sacrifice ending death stuck) goes to another world to try to save Grima from despair, ends up being Grima's malewife "servant" and taking care of Morgan and Lucina. Grima tries to stay evil, but this plan obviously fails. I really like this one because it's a domestic au but it's also fucked up. Happy ending though!

eye of storm - Grima possesses Chrom (with his consent) and they go back in time to get Grima a body (because Robin died, oops. Chrom is heartbroken and Grima is really causing them both a lot of unnecessary struggles by not telling him he was Robin). Anyway, Chrom wants to change things... save Emmeryn... end the war sooner... you know. So basically it's Fire Emblem Awakening but Chrom is Lucina (he even takes a historical name, "Anri") and also he's sharing his body with the vengeful god who is secretly the love of his life :::)

the thing with feathers - "this fic is sfw but emotionally it's for the dragonfuckers okay" <- I think my tag here says it all, really. I wanted to write Chrom kissing dragon Grima's hidden human face and it took me 20k words to get it to work out.

all i want for the black parade is you - Imagine a Bad Christmas Romcom except the whole time they're baking cookies and singing carols and stuff, the love interest is awakening as an ancient dragon god... Look, it may not be the best thing I've ever written, but I'm just so enamored with the concept alone that I HAVE to include it among my favorites.

[felikatze]

chrobin is just SO GOOD narratively i love them sorry (<- specifically picked f!robin so he could marry chrom)

everything abt "chrom will be betrayed by the one he trusts most" when it's just like. his entire whole wife.

literally all his sappy speeches i love this guy. i WILL be the wind at your back and the sword at your side.

lucina hesitating to kill robin if robin's her mom cuz she doesn't want to lose her again (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

also robin immediatly forgiving lucina for all of it and hugging her and hrgrh (lucina my daughter ily)

just THE DRAMA of lucina's mom being grima. the dramaaaa the irony

how all dreams and flashbacks are said to be grima's memories and the first memory grima gives robin is chrom's name. above their own. i'm normal abt this

also how it's specifically getting the premoniton dream from grima that allowed robin to trick validar and save chrom's life

AND how grima gives robin the opportunity to die a hero to their friends despite vowing to kill everyone anyway. grima. look at me. do you still love him. i know you fucking do.

fucking everythiiiing abt how bad chrom wants to stop robin from sacrificing themself that's love babey.

literally how he doesnt care if grima rises again one day if it means robin dying. ok. i'm fine

the lucina-morgan sibling support where they argue over who has to kill a bug (you should protect your little brother! don't you like bugs? you do it!) until chrom shows up has just actually happened to me many times in real life (either i killed the bug or our mom did. callout post.)

morgan with the rightful king skill means he will trigger ignis so fucking often and become an unstoppable killing machine

[threehousing]

storm. storm what's your favorite non-chrobin pair in awakening (it's lon'qu and lissa isn't it <3) and what are they like as parents and partners 👁️👁️

(i ask bc i love the different dynamics that one could derive from all the pairings. currently side-eyeing virion and tharja. hc that virion doesn't even know he has a daughter and the guilt when he learns about her and tharja's treatment of her is immense)

it's lon'qu and lissa 😔 i've been Seen and Percieved 😘

(btw i am SOOOOO about that virion and tharja hc 👀 possibly my fave option i've heard for those two actually?? oh my god?? the juiciness??? the drama??? holding noire so gentle :( )

(okay EDIT upon finding this: oh my god WAIT coming back to this -- is this the origin of virion!noire?? is this the origin of highschoolau geromenoire half siblings)

listen. listen lon'qu and lissa and parents makes me so so so soft. Like, owain deeeeeefinitely got his personality from both his parents but like. amped up to 11. Lissa's love of a prank? Owain's commitment to the bit. Lon'qu's dramatic reactions? Owain's entire theatre-kid deal.

also i feel like, given everything that happened in the other timeline, owain took it upon himself to be the comedy relief, you know? So he dialled his natural tendency towards being a lil dramatic and loud right up.

Anyway. So Lon'qu taught Owain was taught how to use a sword, hence why they're both swordmasters. Lon'qu really does not Get his son's whole persona thing, but I think Owain isn't quite so over the top around his parents -- at least in the game timeline. He tones it down around them because, unlike in his original time, he doesn't feel like he has to make them laugh the same as he used to. Doomed-timeline Lon'qu definitely laughed at his son's antics, but game-timeline Lon'qu is mostly just confused by them, at first. He doesn't have the history or understanding behind it. All the same, once they get to know each other, Lon'qu does start to get it. He becomes increasingly like doomed-timeline Lon'qu (and doesn't that just cause so many confusing emotions for Owain). He's a lil emotionally stunted, but having a son brings it out of him a bit.

Lissa was actually the parent that Owain knew for longer, so it's weirder for him. The Lissa in the game-timeline is very different to the mother that he knew, so he feels a bit awkward at first. Also.... Owain being a dark mage in Fates... I know Lissa's a cleric BUT hc that she's the one who taght him magic. (He can also use an axe bc she taught him, but he's not as good with it. He prefers swords. They're more elegant and he thinks they look cooler.)

Also lastly... lon'qu x lissa relationship dynamics... she's just the right amount of pushy for him -- she gets him out of his comfort zone in a good way, challenges him. He keeps her steady. She soothes his anxieties and he soothes hers. They meet equally in the middle. Insert something upsetting about Lissa losing the firmest presence in her life when Emm died. Something upsetting about how Chrom couldn't be there for her, because he was caught up in his own shit, so Lissa had Maribelle and, suddenly, Lon'qu.

[windupaidoneus]

WAITTT i wanna hear abt the 3h or engage s/is if ud be willing to talk abt them !! - @dmclr

omg HI! !!! ! ! !! ! ! ! my sillies! okay i will put words under the cut teehee (trying to not pass out while typing)

unfortunate news this is gonna be a huge ramble that makes very little sense i'm a few paragraphs in & it's so... um.

so ! korn is. kornseide elfenbein eryn. note the last name. i like the multidimensional fuckery fire emblem likes to do here & there so this one's essentially a chrobin fankid that's been sent to the three houses universe as a child lmao. & he's a cat beast unit! which do not exist in three houses much to my chagrin, but this is my way of changing the facts. & no one can stop me. also yes this does imply in my version of events robin is a catboy. he's also transgender. but that's a whole other story for another time

korn was found & taken in by seteth upon landing in fodlan, like... very dramatic scenario of the terrified child running for his life from an unspecified threat & running into this guy who instantly becomes a father figure. not intentionally. seteth just suffers it bc this kid has Latched onto him hard & he has a good heart

he gets to travel a fair bit for enrichment as he grows & ends up meeting a fair few members of the cast during said travels, notably raphael (the #bestie!!!!), dorothea, ashe, & of course lorenz & claude. back at garreg mach he doesn't really get to associate with seteth too much publicly not bc seteth doesn't want people to know he adopted this kid but bc this kid did a 180° & now finds his dad whom he chose himself deeply embarrassing so he pretends he's just like... a kid who works there. hangs with the ashen wolves. finds deep kinship w constance. thinks hapi's the coolest fucking person to walk the planet. so on so forth.

back to the main topic. um! when we get to the point of the game he kind of. he doesn't enroll! he uh, can't really. seteth won't let flayn in & he certainly won't let him in either. it's fine though. he sneaks into classes constantly or pretexts really urgently needing to clean the classroom so he can listen in on what's going on & learn more about the history of the world, as well as like. combat theory. he can't really get into practice so he practices by begging raphael to fight him every so often & yes he gets his shit rocked everytime

basically he's a silly guy who makes friends pretty easily. he doesn't really think. he has no clue he's from another world. hapi gave him a beaststone once & neither of them realise that's what's making him transform into a big fuckoff kitty creature she just gave him an item that made her think of him. he also lies a lot & he does it horribly bc he's not good at lying & he doesn't like lying but he feels like he'll get in trouble if he doesn't so he does. one thing that's i have failed to mention thus far though is that he has a strong sense of right & wrong so he kinda gets harsher during the timeskip? he can still be silly & jokies & whatnot but he's also like... a lot less lenient & forgiving. very one track mind. needless to say there's a point in time where he can't help but be heavily upset with seteth

now delfin... beast unit 2! !!! admittedly i do not have a lot for him in the way of backstory aside from "yea he worked at firene castle most of his time alive" but he is so personality... something about my s/is is that they tend to be guyfailures which says a lot about Me. & yeah he is no exception. clumsy bastard man who hides a lot. he can be found cowering in horse stalls whenever he messes something up. saddest soggiest cat around

he's pretty good at handling manual labour all things considered & gets along great with the horses. he's generally pretty good with animals but horses just Get Him man. he definitely bonds with amber over their connection to animals, & thinks zelkov caring for children as much as he does is "way too cute". he wanted to be upset with hortensia for a bit when she joined the party but. he could not. lmao. yunaka & alear are such #thebestie characters for him, but louis is like. THE childhood friend. louis will peoplewatch while he's just sitting there loafing next to him glaring at everyone but actually he's zoned the hell out. chloe is like a little sister to him

he doesn't, really have much stakes in the plot aside from like, "oh this is bad we should stop it"? he's here to hang out & do his job & also yearn horribly. yunaka & louis have found him hiding in a barrel after he interacted with boucheron once.....

oh also do NOT give him an emblem ring he will treat it the way cats treat laser pointers & probably land himself in the pool with a miserable yowl

i . .. realise i have nearly entirely avoided elaborating on the selfship dynamics specifically . um . i know why (worried what i will come off as if i do that) & it's a shame but i am not fixing that .. yet

[femuirdris]

Raging Blizzard

Fire Emblem Heroes | Rating: G | Character Focus: Spring!Chrom, Halloween!F!Robin/Grima | Ship(s): F!Chrobin

Kiran sends Chrom and Robin out on a Heroes Journey, where they get trapped in an oncoming snowstorm.

Chrobin Week, Day 3: Winter

[Read on AO3!]

“I cannot believe that worm of a summoner has forsaken us with this awful journey,” Robin spat, shivering from the icy winds slapping against her mostly bare legs.

As part of the monthly scouting missions (the “Heroes Journey”), Kiran had paired up the Spring Festival Chrom and the Harvest Festival female Robin—though neither was entirely thrilled about each other’s company. Chrom was doing his best to make light of it at any opportunity, offering sunflowers, buying her dinner at a small inn they passed by, even getting their fortunes told, but nothing seemed to be winning her over.

And now they were in the frigid mountains, with cold air blowing and the sky set for an oncoming snowstorm. Chrom was busy setting up the tent (Robin insisted only a worm could know such things, even though Chrom had a feeling even the Fell Dragon could pitch a tent no problem). He did his best to at least set a sturdy enough foundation, hoping the whole thing wouldn’t blow over in the middle of the night.

“Ha! It’s f-f-finished!” Chrom proclaimed, gesturing at her to enter. “Please, ladies first.”

Robin gave a frigid growl, but quickly obliged, eager to escape the cold. He followed, securing the tent flaps down as tightly as he could.

“Well, it’s not the warmest, but it’ll keep us cozy enough for the night so we can move on tomorrow,” Chrom said, smiling towards Robin as he unfurled their bedrolls.

She scowled. “This is not my idea of cozy. I’d much rather be in the fires of Múspell.”

“Ah, well, perhaps you can discuss that with that other Chrom…” he chuckled hesitantly, a light flush of jealousy warming his face. That Chrom, after all, was the first to reach out to this Robin when she arrived at Askr. He shook his head. “For now, you’re stuck with me.”

“Fine… stupid rabbit Son of Naga…” she grumbled as she buried herself in her bedroll.

“Good night, Robin,” Chrom whispered as he peeled off his boots, leaving them in the corner, and followed suit. It wasn’t the most warm or comfortable sleeping arrangements, but he had survived Regna Ferox so surely he could survive tonight.

He was just dozing off when—

“Worm,” Robin demanded. “I demand more warmth.”

“There’s little more I can do, Robin…” Chrom replied sleepily, turning on his side to look at her. “Unless we were to…”

“Out with it, worm!”

“We c-could combine our bedrolls…” he explained, his cheeks unbearably hot compared to the rest of his body.

She groaned. “To share warmth with the Son of Naga… despicable, and yet I am left with little choice. Fine.”

“Alright then, let me er—here we go…” He remained in his bed roll, scooting right up beside her so that the flaps of their bedrolls overlapped. “Er, should we…”

Robin answered his question by pulling him impossibly close, intertwining her legs with his. “This is acceptable warmth, rabbit-worm.” She snuggled her chin into the crook of his neck. Chrom sucked in a large breath, and on the exhale firmly wrapped his arms around hers. “Much less dreadful…”

He could feel his chuckle vibrate where she rested. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Good night, Robin.”

[angstmongertina]

WIP Wednesday Results/Sentences A Day Late

Happy Thursday! I am once again late, but in my defense, I was doing research related things for most of yesterday and I have some sort of little bug (that did test negative for COVID, at least). And then my Wifi died when I tried to work on this last night, and anyway, it's here now.

I truly ended up regretting a little bit putting the option to tell me to work on my research paper because it got way more votes than I was expecting out of a pseudo-joke option. I won't be sharing THOSE accountability sentences, but rest assured that, as I hinted, I have a fair amount of theory typed up already, complete with modeling equations, and a rough draft of a slide deck for presenting to a potential collaborator on Monday? So there has been progress there! I even made slides to present at group meeting today. Work has been done on research, i promise!

Anyway, thanks for voting (even all of you bullying me to do my actual work) and onward to other progress in WIPs below the cut!

Face to Face: Nadia/Thomas (1 sentence but I cheated)

Still, despite his sudden realization, the crowds buffeted him closer, until he could see every bead sparkling in her hair, the fluttering eagerness in her fidgeting. Until he could hear the wry amusement in his aunt’s voice, a perfect lead-in to his introduction. “Lady Nadia.”

forever i'm yours, forever i do: ArtemRosa (1 sentence)

Here and now, he can ask her for reassurance, can beg for the warmth that is the only way to keep those insidious thoughts at bay.

That Which Binds Us: FEA Chrobin (3 sentences plus some smidgeon)

There was something in her expression, in the way she frowned at him, that made it clear what her stance on that belief was, and that she would have no qualms in saying so directly. That, in fact, she was fully prepared to say so directly. Instead, he sighed. “You’re right.”

Officium et Honestas: SWTOR Regency AU (7 sentences plus an exclamation)

“How marvelous!” The man’s exclamation was surely loud enough to be heard in Bath, but even so, there was naught she could do against his honest enthusiasm. “Theron said nothing of the matter to me, else I might have had an opportunity to pursue a greater acquaintance. What are your impressions, my dear? I myself found him a well-bred, intelligent sort of man, if a bit reticent.” “That is hardly a fair comparison coming from you.” Lady Malcom leaned forward, one eyebrow raised as she considered her husband. “I doubt there are half a dozen men in all of London who are as loquacious as yourself.”

Evenly Matched: Jaslen/Falon (2 sentences with a bonus question)

She frowns, recollecting herself in the motion, and reclines back into her seat, draping herself with artful elegance as she surveys him. “Are you certain? You seem rather…” she pauses, tapping her lip with one light finger and barely resisting the urge to laugh at the heat in the man’s eyes as he follows her movements, “agitated.”

Thanks for reading! <3

[melisusthewee]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you @nirikeehan and @theluckywizard for tagging me! I think I did this a couple years ago, so it's worth doing again even though I doubt my answers have likely changed... lol.

(Under a cut because it gets a bit long with formatting.)

How many works do you have on AO3? 27!

What's your total AO3 word count? 66, 314 words

What fandoms do you write for? Currently Dragon Age, beginning to consider branching into The Terror (but the latter is mainly just art for now).

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? The Tang of Liquor On His Tongue (Dragon Age; Dorian/Male Trevelyan smut) The Dreamer Sets the Rules (Dragon Age; Solas/Male Trevelyan & Solas/Fade Spirit) mala suledin nadas (Dragon Age; Solas/Male Trevelyan) Impetus (Dragon Age; Cassandra/Male Trevelyan smut) Smut Challenge 2: War Table Boogaloo (Dragon Age; Cassandra/Male Trevelyan smut)

Do you respond to comments? I try really hard to! I fell behind for a period of time and got really anxious about it and have been slowly trying to catch up starting mainly with more recent comments.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I suppose it might be Lathbora Viran since even though it's more of an implied/hinted at event instead of outright stated, the fic ends with Curiosity (the reborn spirit of Wisdom) becoming the Regret demon from Tevinter Nights.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Um... I suppose in terms of individual fic it would probably be Nothing Else Than What Is Now because the squires confess their feelings, they kiss, and if you stop there then nothing bad ever happened ever again lol.

Do you get hate on fics? No. I am far too insignificant to attract that sort of thing.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? On occasion! I don't really know how to describe the sort of smut I write. I think I tend to bring a sort of dreamy romantic quality to it? I lean very hard into even the smut that's very light on plot as being an important character or relationship study. I guess. I do think I'm a very good smut writer though! So whatever I'm doing, I'm doing it well!

Do you do crossovers? What's the craziest you've ever written? Not really. At least not in recent memory. I wrote a Harry Potter/Beatles oneshot years ago on Livejournal that was inspired by a friend's art. And around that time I also wrote a Dick Grayson/Bucky Barnes fic but that's about the extent of it.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge. If there's ever a demand for it, I'm very open to it!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Sort of. I started co-writing a Mirrorverse fic with @rosella-writes about a year ago? It never quite got off the ground though, which is a shame because I think it was a good idea and I think what we did write was very good. Maybe one day the stars will align for work on it to continue. I'm co-author on a special secret project that is wrapping up soon as well, which is very neat and exciting but I can't say much more than that right now!

What's your all-time favourite ship? All-time favourite is a pretty big thing to consider. Out of all fandoms, probably Chrom/F!Robin from Fire Emblem Awakening. I am now and forever Chrobin trash. Have I ever written it? No. Do I have an extensive art collection for it? Yes.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? My Qunari War AU. It's mainly just notes and snippets in bits and pieces and while it was definitely canon compliant when I started working on it, I don't think it is anymore. And that sort of made me mostly give up on it.

What are your writing strengths? I'd say dialogue!

What are your writing weaknesses? TRANSITIONS! I'm so bad at figuring out, "Okay, this scene is over/exhausted. Now how do I get things from here to the next one?"

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic? I think when it comes to real languages, it's probably best to avoid it. If a character is speaking another language then there are two possibilities - either the POV narrator understands the language or they don't. In the event of the former, there's then no reason to have the dialogue written in a different language than what the fic is since if the narrator understands what's being said then the reader should too. In the event of the former, it's much easier and far less prone to error if you just write that Character A was speaking in a language that Character B could not understand. With fictional languages that are usually incomplete, however, sometimes a word or an expression can be used for impact but I still think it's best to use them sparingly.

First fandom you wrote for? Technically it was Digimon Adventure. But I was 13 so we're not going to talk about that.

Favourite fic you've ever written? So far in terms of completed and published fics it is either In the Long Hours of the Night or The Many Faces of Wisdom. I think they are both evocative character pieces and if I had the money to commission art to accompany them I very much would.

That was a lot of fun and it was interesting to see that some of my stats and things had actually changed! For any other fic writers out there, I challenge you to give this a go! And I am gently nudging the following people: @ronqueesha @kiastirling @dreadfutures @bluewren @thraaaaaaaanduuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiil @unnecessaryligatures @rosella-writes @n7viper