#its the two of them against the world

[lizavet]

@heropartnerweek - Day 5: Favourite Scene | Betrayal | Dreams/Nightmares

Guilt was a really gross feeling.

Tuft kept their head down as they and Poppy walked home from school, their snout almost dragging against the dirt road. They really messed things up.

Things were going great at first! When Mr. Farfetched had told the class that they were taking a field trip into a nearby dungeon, Tuft was ecstatic! Even more so when they got paired up with Poppy. Having Goomy in their team too was nice… at first. The three of them were working well together.

But it turned out that Goomy couldn’t keep up with how amazing Tuft and Poppy were. He got tired and fell behind. And yeah, Tuft noticed that. They weren’t completely oblivious. But they didn’t really think it was that big a deal. Goomy was tough, he could handle himself. But he was a part of their team. Tuft was considering going back for him… but then Espurr had used her telepathy and told them that they were close to the goal and ahead of Pancham’s team.

They didn’t give Goomy a passing thought after that.

The rush of winning the race died off pretty quick once the lecturing started. Deerling was absolutely relentless, tearing into Tuft and Poppy about how irresponsible and useless they were, before storming off, yelling that she was going to look for Goomy. Mr. Farfetched gave them another lecture about teamwork, though his was much kinder than Deerling’s. Somehow that made it feel worse.

And throughout the entire thing, Poppy didn’t say a word. She just stared forward, her eyes narrowed and lip twisted into a frown. Tuft couldn’t tell what she was thinking, they weren’t good at reading expressions. Was she angry? She never smiled, but she usually didn’t look so… frowny. Was she upset at them? Tired of getting yelled at? Bored? Tuft couldn’t tell, and it was starting to make their skin itch.

Even after class ended for the day, Poppy remained completely silent. She packed up her things and looked over at Tuft, waiting for them so they could leave together like they always did. That was a good sign, right? If she was really angry, she would have just left without them. But if she wanted to walk home with them, that meant things were okay, right?

But if things were okay, then surely Poppy would’ve said something! She wasn’t exactly the most talkative mon around, but she had to know how awkward the silence felt. And she still had that look on her face. Tuft really wished they could read her mind. Was that something they could do? They had some psychic powers, maybe mind reading was something they could learn to do! Then they could know what other people were thinking whenever they wanted!

…on second thought, maybe they didn’t want that.

Poppy continued saying nothing, her eyes never leaving the path ahead of them. The silence was killing Tuft. It was literally killing them. They would drop to the ground and die if no one said anything! Their heart would explode. They needed someone to say something, anything!

Oh, wait… they were someone!

“I’m sorry,” they said, cringing when their voice came out as little more than a whisper.

Poppy, finally, glanced over at Tuft, giving them a weird look. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time,” Poppy said while rolling her eyes. “Got no idea what you’re apologising for though.”

“It’s my fault we got in trouble,” Tuft sighed. “I knew we lost Slimy, but I really wanted to win the race. So I didn’t say anything. So, I’m sorry.”

Tuft ripped their eyes away from the ground to try and gauge Poppy’s reaction, their throat tightening. They needed her to forgive them. They couldn’t have her be angry at them. It didn’t matter if Deerling or Mr. Farfetched or their Pops were mad, they were used to it. But not Poppy. Never Poppy.

After what felt like forever, Poppy scoffed, looking away and crossing her arms. “Whatever,” she muttered, sending Tuft’s heart into their stomach. Oh man, she was so angry. She hated them, she hated them and it was all their fault.

Awkward silence wrapped around them as they continued walking down the path. Was the road back to Serene Village longer than it usually was? They should have been home by now. They had been walking for ages! It had to have been hours, days even!

(It hadn’t been more than a few minutes, but it certainly felt like longer.)

Tuft sighed, screwing their eyes shut. They had really messed things up this time. They had finally managed to make a friend, someone who liked being around them (maybe? it was hard to tell), and they had given her the perfect reason to hate them. There was no way she didn’t. Everyone else in the village disliked them for way stupider reasons, like singing too loudly or breaking their windows cuz they wanted to know how big a rock you needed to shatter glass.

But… maybe she didn’t? She didn’t say she hated them. Most other pokemon were pretty vocal about not liking them, but Poppy hadn’t said anything yet. Maybe that meant they had a chance! But Poppy was also pretty quiet. Maybe she just didn’t say anything ‘cuz she didn’t want to talk? If Tuft asked, what would she say?

‘You already know what she’d say. Everyone thinks you’re a pain. A nuisance. Annoying. Why would she think any different?’

Once the thoughts entered their mind, they wouldn’t leave, no matter how much Tuft shook their head to try and make the thoughts fall out of their brain through their ears.

“What are you doing?”

Tuft let out a surprised yip, their fur standing on edge. Poppy had stopped a couple of feet back, one hand on her hip as she gave Tuft a confused and annoyed look. Right, she could probably see them shaking their head like crazy.

“Nothing,” they lied. “Just, ya’know…”

“…no, I don’t know.”

“Ya’know, stuff. Things.”

Poppy’s deadpan stare could’ve made a Dragonite turn to mush. “Riiiiiiight,” she drawled. “Well how ‘bout you save your… stuff for after I’m gone.”

“Yeah, sure.” Tuft pawed at the ground, unable to meet Poppy’s eye, the question still burning at the back of their skull. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“If it’ll get you to stop being so weird, sure.”

‘Hear that? She thinks you’re weird. Stupid. Annoying. She hates you.’

Tuft resisted the urge to shake their head, taking a breath. “Do you think I’m annoying?” they asked. “Pancham and-”

“Yeah, obviously.”

A knife pierced through Tuft’s chest at Poppy’s dismissive tone, ripping the air from their lungs. They looked up at her, seeing her staring back at them with a bored expression.

“I literally told you you’re annoying when we first met,” Poppy continued with a roll of her eyes. “It’s kinda your thing.”

“…oh.”

Of course. Of course Poppy thought they were annoying. Of course she hated them too. Why wouldn’t she? All Tuft ever did was cause problems. They were stupid to think things were any different this time. That was just how the world worked. Grass was green, the sky was blue, and no one liked Tuft.

Hot tears pricked at their eyes. No no no, absolutely not! They would not let her see them cry. They wouldn’t let her figure out that it bothered them. They had done such a good job making sure no one knew how much their words hurt. They couldn’t give anyone that power. Especially not Poppy.

If she knew how much she could hurt them, she would break them.

“…like I really care, I’m not exactly the most-”

She was still talking. She was still telling them how much she hated them, how worthless they were, how annoying they were. No, they couldn’t listen. If they heard another word they’d die on the spot. They had to get out of there.

“I’m sorry!” Tuft blurted out, yelling as loud as they could to drown out anything Poppy was saying. “I’m sorry that I’m such a pain, I’m sorry for ruining everything!” They sniffed, the tears threatening to spill out. They had to get out of there, they couldn’t let her see. “I’ll get out of your way.”

“Wait, Tuft-”

They didn’t give her another second, taking off down the path in a full sprint before she could see them cry. They wouldn’t give her the chance to break their heart any more than she already had.

If they spent the rest of the night in their room crying, then that was for them and them alone to know.

Poppy didn’t care.

She didn’t. Really, she didn’t. Tuft asked her a question, and she answered honestly. Yeah, Tuft was annoying. What was she supposed to do, lie just to make them feel better? No, that would be dumb. It wasn’t her fault they didn’t like her answer, or that they didn’t stick around long enough to hear everything she had to say. If Tuft wanted to throw a temper tantrum, fine. It wasn’t her problem.

She didn’t care.

It didn’t matter that she had been late to class every day for the past week because she kept waiting for Tuft outside her door so they could walk to school together, only to give up at the last minute and rush to get to class, barely getting there before the bell, only to see that Tuft was already there. It didn’t matter that she could see Tuft’s heart break every time she managed to catch their eye. It didn’t matter that they refused to talk to her, running off every time she tried to say a word to them. It didn’t matter that the village had been unnaturally quiet as Tuft hid away in their home every afternoon instead of causing chaos. None of it mattered.

She didn’t care. She wouldn’t care. It didn’t bother her. She was fine.

Poppy absolutely didn’t flinch when she heard Mr. Watchog announce that they were going on another field trip, thinking about how the last one caused all of this. Her heart didn’t painfully clench in her chest when Tuft let out a sigh of relief after hearing they were on separate teams. She didn’t spend the entire trip wishing that they were there instead of Deerling and Espurr.

It didn’t bother her. It didn’t. It didn’t it didn’t it didn’t it didn’t. She didn’t care.

She didn’t care…

She…

…

…she missed them.

It was stupid. She never even wanted to be Tuft’s friend! They basically forced her to be their friend because they wouldn’t leave her alone. She had spent so long thinking about how annoying Tuft was, groaning when they dragged her into trouble, wishing they’d leave her alone. Well, now she got what she wanted. Tuft was leaving her alone. She should have been thrilled!

She had never been more miserable.

The only good part of the day was the fact that Poppy could vent some of her frustration on the ferals of Glittering Mountain, which she did with glee while pointedly ignoring the worried stares that Deerling and Espurr were giving her.

At least she wasn’t paired up with Pancham or Shelmet. Just the thought of those two had her blood boiling as she slammed her tail against a feral machop, sending it flying into a nearby boulder. The two bullies had picked up on the fact that Poppy and Tuft weren’t on speaking terms pretty quickly, and decided that meant that they had free reign to mess with Tuft as much as possible.

The past week had been nothing but a constant barrage of harassment. Between every class and whenever the teachers weren’t looking, Pancham and Shelmet picked a fight with Tuft, belittling them for being annoying or useless, or for leaving Goomy behind, mocking their dreams of joining the Expedition Society. Tuft, bless their heart, seemed to be handling themselves fine, fighting back however they could, but Poppy could tell they were reaching their limit.

But what was she supposed to do about it? Tuft obviously wanted nothing to do with her. They ignored her at every given opportunity. What, was she supposed to stand up for someone that didn’t want her around? It wasn’t her problem. If Tuft wanted to deal with the idiot duo on their own, then fine, Poppy would stay out of it. She wouldn’t get involved. No matter how much hearing Tuft get picked on made her want to scream.

She ducked underneath a dive-bombing spearow, firing a Dragon Breath to chase after it, burning it out of the sky with violet flames.

No matter how much her classmates turned a blind eye, she wouldn’t get involved. Even if none of them would stand up for Tuft, if they’d do nothing more than give the fennekin a pitying look, Poppy wouldn’t get involved.

A scrafty kicked her in the gut, sending her crashing to the ground. It tried to stomp down on her again, only for her to roll out of the way before throwing herself onto it, grabbing its face and draining it’s life-force with an anger fueled Absorb.

Even when that pathetic excuse for a vice-principal not only let the bullies continue on Tuft, but joined in, calling them a trouble-maker and a good-for-nothing screw-up, Poppy did nothing. She wasn’t wanted. Tuft didn’t want her around. They didn’t want her help.

They didn’t want her.

They didn’t need her.

They left her behind.

She was alone again.

“Hey, I think we’re at the peak!”

Poppy snapped out of her rage and looked forward, seeing the path ahead of them flatten out. She noticed Espurr giving her a strange look out of the corner of her eye and gave her a quick death glare. She looked completely unphased, as usual. ‘Stupid psychic cat,’ she bitterly thought.

Deerling trotted ahead, saying something about the flags they found stabbed into the ground, but Poppy wasn’t listening. Great, they cleared the dungeon, super, who cared? It wasn’t like this was anything novel. It was a school field trip. The ferals here weren’t even strong enough to hurt a baby. It wasn’t a challenge. It wasn’t fun. Maybe it would have been more fun if she were on a team with-

‘They don’t want you. They were happy to be on the other team. Even if that meant being with Pancham. They prefer that entitled brat over you.’

Poppy’s hands tightened into fists, the looplet wrapped around her wrist feeling too tight, blood thrumming through her veins to the hammering beat of her heart.

The trip back down the mountain passed by in a blur, Deerling and Espurr’s voices sounding muffled and far away. God, she was so done with today. The second school was finished, she was either going to go home and sleep for the next three years or find a nice looking tree and punch it until her knuckles bled or the tree fell, whichever came first.

Poppy barely noticed that they had made it back to class, the only indication being vice-principal Watchog’s annoying voice grating at her ears as he congratulated them on doing such a good job getting to the top of the world’s easiest mystery dungeon. Whoopty freaking doo.

“Why is everything always my fault!?”

Tuft’s voice cut through the fog in an instant, Poppy’s mind immediately dragging her back to the present. She looked over to see Tuft and Pancham up in each other’s space, their noses practically touching as they glared, baring their teeth.

“Because you’re so annoying!” Pancham yelled. “I can barely think when you’re screaming and running around like an idiot!”

‘As if you ever think anyways,’ Poppy thought as she grit her teeth.

“Plus you’re always rushing ahead and putting us in danger!” Pancham continued. “Would it kill you to just listen when I tell you to do something?”

“If I listened to you, we’d never get anything done!” Tuft yelled back. “Besides, I’m not rushing ahead, you’re just too slow! It’s not my fault you can’t keep up like-”

They cut themself off suddenly, biting their tongue and shrinking back. Pancham’s face broke into a sadistic grin that made Poppy want to shove his face into the dirt. “What, like Treecko?” he asked mockingly. “Oh yeah, because she’s you’re best friend, isn’t she? Oh wait, that’s right, she got sick of you too! Just like everyone else.”

Poppy glared at Pancham, waiting for Tuft to defend themself, but they said nothing, only tearing their eyes away, their legs shaking like wild as Pamcham continued to laugh and mock them. Poppy ground her teeth together, cutting her gaze over to Watchog who was watching the entire scene play out with an annoyed look on his face.

“Shouldn’t you be doing something?” Poppy snarled. “Ya’know, like stopping Pancham from bullying Tuft again?”

Watchog crossed his arms and rolled his eyes dismissively. “Oh please, if anything I should be dealing with Fennekin,” he scoffed, raising his voice enough that Tuft could definitely hear him. “I shouldn’t be surprised that good for nothing troublemaker is picking another fight.” He shook his head. “Honestly, when will they learn?”

Poppy felt her entire body shaking, a fire burning through her veins. Not only was he purposefully twisting the knife, but he couldn’t even be bothered to use their name? One that she was sure he knew. “Are you KIDDING ME? Pancham is the one whose mocking Tuft! How about you actually do your job and stop him?”

Watchog narrowed his eyes at Poppy, standing up a bit straighter to try and look intimidating. “I don’t care for your tone young lady. I suggest you mind your own business. I’ll deal with the troublemaker later.” Poppy dug her fingers into her palms, missing the feeling of nails on her skin from when she was human, glaring at Watchog. Was he serious? Did he really hate Tuft so much that he’d let the other’s pick on them?

Of course he did. Everyone did. No one wanted to help them. Watchog thought they were nothing but trouble and was probably happy to see them miserable. Deerling and Espurr stood by and said nothing, just looking sad about the entire affair. Shelmet egged Pancham on as he continued mocking Tuft, grinning every time Tuft flinched. Goomy sat in the corner like a coward and did nothing. No one was going to help Tuft. No one was on their side.

…they were alone too.

Poppy was moving before she even realized it, storming across the clearing, her furious gaze on the back of Pancham’s head, hands pressed into fists tight enough to turn coal to diamonds. She vaguely registered someone calling her name and saying something, but her entire focus was on the brat ahead of her.

Tuft seemed to notice Poppy getting closer, their eyes going wide as they caught her eye. Pancham noticed them getting distracted, turning around to see what they were looking at just in time for Poppy to rear her fist back with a yell.

*CRACK

Pancham flew back a few feet as Poppy smashed her fist into his face, taking delight at the sickening crunch she heard behind his pained scream. The class erupted into chaos as everyone gasped and yelled, demanding to know what Poppy was thinking. She could barely hear them with how loud the blood roaring in her ears was, her eyes still firmly locked on Pancham, watching him pull his sorry backside off the ground, a paw finding his face, hiding his definitely broken nose from any further assault.

“Agh, what is WRONG with you?” he screamed, flinching in pain as his yelling tweaked his nose. Poppy smirked, finding way too much joy in wiping the stupid grin off his ugly face. God that felt good!

“Treecko! What has gotten into you!”

Oh right, he was still here. Poppy turned her head just enough that she could see Watchog stomping towards her with a furious scowl, completely unphased by his anger. If anything, it just made her want to run over to Pancham and smack him again.

“This is completely unacceptable!” Watchog yelled. “I would expect this kind of violent and disruptive behaviour from someone like Fennekin, but you? What do you think Mr. Nuzleaf will say when he hears about this!”

Poppy’s face twisted into a snarl, the corner of her lips twitching in anger. Was he serious? Even when he was scolding her, he couldn’t help but drag Tuft down! What the hell was his problem?

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

Poppy closed her eyes and took a deep, deep breath, desperately fighting to calm herself enough that she could get her words out. When she opened her eyes again, she made sure to look Watchog directly in the eye, giving him the most disinterested face she could manage.

“What can I say?” she drawled. “Guess I’m just a troublemaker too.”

Tuft let out a shuddery gasp behind her. Poppy wished she could see their face, know what they were thinking, but she couldn’t afford to look away from Watchog. She needed to stand her ground, show him she was serious. That it didn’t matter if he wouldn’t protect Tuft. Because she would. Even if she wasn’t wanted, she would protect her friend. She would always be on their side.

“I’ve heard quite enough out of you!” Watchog seethed. “Principal’s office, NOW!” Poppy scoffed and rolled her eyes, but turned around and started walking, happy to get as far away from the pathetic rodent as she could.

She knew she was in huge trouble, but couldn’t really find it in herself to care. She didn’t regret a thing. If anything, she regretted not doing that sooner. Words couldn’t describe how good that felt.

She probably wasn’t going to feel like that for long though. Dad Mr. Nuzleaf was going to yell her ear off later. Poppy was already a handful to deal with on a good day, but getting in a fight at school? Yeah, she was in so much trouble.

Feeling someone’s eyes on her, Poppy looked over her shoulder to see Tuft staring at her, their eyes wide and shimmering with wonder. They looked at her as if she had hung the stars in the sky, a small, sad smile on their face.

’…worth it.’

[ratatatastic]

Complete Chaos: The Cats pick their band members 🎸

matthew: finns (good music taste but the best energy)

kuli: sasha (dj), maffhew (singer to which he refutes and insist hes a hype man), and himself as director/manager because hes bad rhythmically

ekky: maffhew (hype man/lead singer), benny and reino (guitar and drums), forsy (pure eyecandy quite literally just there to take his shirt off 😭😭)

swaggy and benny: sasha (dj), swaggy (singer/guitarist), benny (guitarist), ekky and gadjo (no other role than to look like "bandguys")

reino: also finns lmao (popular choice)

sasha: himself as dj, and swaggy (singer, his karaoke insistence proceeds him)

roddy: forsy (guitar), benny (drums), himself (no role whatsoever lol), reino (second guitar) and sasha (cymbals, girl what kinda band 😭)

mikksy: sasha (dj) just sasha no one else just him actually :)

BONUS: sasha finally revealed his dj name to which last time he staunchly refused to do so and its DJ Layz!!!!

[ruporas]

soft (and some bittersweet)

[letsjam-art]

kiba wolfsrain and johnny are two very similar people and i had to draw about it. both incredibly prideful/soulful individuals with singular devotion to their ideals often at a cost, both 'leaders' in a sense that start out not caring at all for their followers, that become much more tempered and changed through an experience with death. theres also the song 'could you bite the hand' from the wolfs rain ost that is literally something johnny couldve written word for word, and the op stray fits well for both of these characters. i think its cool to muse on how these are both kinda anachronistic characters or characters that stick out and fight against the current of urban despair and decay in their respective worlds

anyways old art that i needed to get it over with

[vinestaff]

day 7 memory (free day)

alt version coz of the streak of light lol :3

[overtake]

admitting ur a larrie and saying it brought you to your current ship is such a brave personal choice. this comment should be an official diagnosis in the dsm-5.

[akannuoli-aatteet]

Gravity Falls is THE sibling show

[tim-drake-scholar]

not to be controversial but i think Dick Grayson, Nightwing, the first Robin, should always be portrayed with long shaggy hair that is shorter in the front and longer in the back, and hair that curls when its long enough to reach the nape of his neck and brush against his shoulders

[kyouka-supremacy]

Well.

[dykespence]

Just thinking incredibly hard abt whenever carla hugs lisa it's so. Like She just melts into her each time

it's literally I never want to let you go.let me hold you forever , never let this moment end. I want to love you like you've hung the moon and the stars for me and i will never let you leave my embrace for i will love you so fiercely.

Pure devotion. Pure admiration. Completely and utterly in love

[wonder-worker]

people really do not know what they're talking about when it comes to Elizabeth Woodville's social status, huh?

[dairyfreenugget]

I could count the amount of original stories of mine that don't have horror elements on one hand and idk what that says about me

[randomnameless]

Drankengard done (land 2!)

A lot of nice things in this part, so far it feels like the most FE-like land, and some characters from this land are really interesting!

l firstly love how the plot starts with "we have to rescue this midget prince from 100k soldiers" in one of the few defend maps of this game with various catapults and other engines to attack/defend against a cluster of loldiers coming at you - that was nice compared to the nigh useless ballistas and other engines in FE.

Granted, Gilbert's defining moment after being revealed is basically protecting his vassal from a gotoh-like character who's twice his size and more or less recruiting her for the defend map -

(localisation thingie : no "kisama" for eng/fr script Gilbert, sure it's kind of complicated to put it in words - like an agressive "you" - and yet it gives some nice characterisation, after Amalia rekts Leah and while Gilbert is standing seconds before being surrounded by 100k peons in front of someone who's basically stronger than anyone else around, he is still angry and pissed for his friend's sake) -

Just before being upset at asking our party - aka a foreign nation who was at war with his for the last few decades and revealing that his dad only granted asylum to the princess of said foreign nation to marry her to his heir to conquer it later on - for help.

Hopefully for him his game is no Triangle Strategy, so no one will actually tell him to eat shit because he wasn't the one who liberated the land even if he participed to instead worship the "foreign" person who led the liberation army.

Hell, idk what kind of PR campaign Gilbert and his few loyal soldiers pulled out, but some NPCs are really acting as if he liberated his kingdom single handedly lol

His relationship with his elder brother was sort of developed in the main plot - but more in the equivalent of the support convos - but as I said in another post, I really loved that part where he feels like he's still a second prince, and if his older brother returns, older brother should get the crown even if older brother feels like dirt for failing his country and his father, and became a wandering... mercenary who's busy saving priestresses from jails (and leaving them in the middle of battlefields).

Ultimately, they reunite and more or less solve their issues, and Ludwig manages to tell him that he wouldn't be half the king Gilbert is, because Gilbert is the one who led a rebellion and ultimately led Drakengard free, is loved by this people etc etc.

TBH, while it was short, this was a nice character arc -

(complete with the support/rapport convo just after the final map I unlocked where Gilbert, wanting to know how the common people live in his kingdom, gets plastered with the a random worthless bandit/merc who's freaking out from the entire situation lol)

The other major character from Drakengard is Virginia, the MC's older cousin!

We first see her being kind of pushy and overbearing, sometimes taking the initiative to do rather extreme stuff (wanting to fetch her axe instead of recruiting the earlier worthless bandit/merc), but she's still deferring to the MC, save for a certain mission - because, and kuddos to the game for going there, while Virginia's story is basically a tragic Marth's, aka, when her kingdom was invaded she had to run away to a foreign state for asylum but without any Jeigan, she believed for 10 years and never stopped believing that she was the only one who survived, and thus it was her role and duty to restore the Cornian line on the throne and take back the country from the evil Empire.

And... MC pops up, as the rightful - aka the son of the late queen as opposed to her mere niece - heir thus Virginia's hopes of becoming the Queen and the one to restore her nation vanish.

So kuddos for the game to basically have Virginia tell her cousin that while she was happy to see him and learn he was alive after all those years... she also felt jealous, because the 10 last years she spent having this dream and hope to be the one to restore the country... vanished in 10 minutes lol.

She's not going to challenge Alain's claim to the throne and instead will support him.

Granted, this moment becomes ten times more interesting if you do her own mission before - aka the one where she zerg rushes against the dude who slaughtered her retinue against the advice of Jeigan Joseph and becomes a dreaded green unit (who loses her promotion somehow???), running in a battlefield full of catapults to have her vengeance.

Remember when I said one of her first defining moments is when she asks to be handed her axe to get rid of a worthless merc instead of recruiting him? Well, her words back then were something like "your men died for you, so you can't beg for your life" or something like that, we learn in her own mission that she was basically talking about herself.

Basically, kid!Virginia was supposed to have her Jeigans and Cain/Abel/Draugs and they were supposed to escape and run away together to Drakengard... but they were slaughtered by some general of the evil empire who thought bringing her head would make a good offering to the evil emperor, so the Jeigans, Cains, Abel, Draugs etc etc laid down their lives to allow her to escape - we have a voiced FB with a few images and a battle cinematic, where the knights basically say they will die to make sure she'll be able to escape, and will slow down the evil general with their corpses if needed.

The entire platoon of knights died, and Virginia has been carrying this trauma for ten years, dreaming of having her revenge but never once confiding in anyone from Drakengard about it - not even in her (Gilbert's) vassal Leah who she seemed to be close too earlier.

Short story, the general holds a fort and is supposed to be called back to the evil empire's capital for some reason, and instead of waiting for his departure to recapture the fort, Virginia storms at the general to have her revenge (accompanied by the knights who were just squires when she had to leave, and thus couldn't be there when their senior knights were slaughtered and want revenge as much as she does!).

You have to send Joseph to talk to her to have her turn blue again (and promoted again thank gods) and the re-recruitment scene is cool for 2 things :

1/it's Joseph, not Alain who talks to her because her beef and the one who talked to her and the one whose plan is ignored is Joseph - I love it when the MC isn't at the center of everyone's universe

2/Virginia during this convo notices her friends/knights are injured (they have the injured sprite) and realises she was going to send to their death the last remaining members of that platoon, chastises herself and her next battle lines are something like "I won't let them die/bleed anymore" or something and it's fucking powerful because hey, besides some "vengeance is empty" that she will get later on herself, part of what makes her see reason is the realisation that her allies are injured and were going to die in her quest, and she can't have that anymore (nice ludonarration moment here, Virginia is a tank, if her allies are injured, it's because she wasn't tanking well enough!).

"Vengeance is empty" moment : the evil general who slaughtered her former knights doesn't even remember the people he slaughtered, or the mission where he hunted her, aka, she's been obsessing for 10 years over something her so called "nemesis" forgot.

End of the map, the realisation that her vengeance was nothing + she put her close allies' lives in danger (+ the little bit of salt when she mentions that Alain is the Cornian Royal people should follow because he is royalty) make her want to leave the army as fitting punishment - which, you know, coming from a series where some lord basically goes 1VS1 against the guy who killed his dad and who was followed by his kid sister who put herself in mortal danger but only receives a scold from his not-mom and slap on the wrist just makes me side-eye FE Tellius' writing even more.

Anyways, while I read on redshit that some people were pissed because "wah wah Virginia is a character who does foolish things and there are consequences about it she should be exiled forever or something", she obviously doesn't leave the army because, all of her close allies ask her to stay. Hell, Alain only gives one or two sentences that are dispassionate compared to the other 4 - again to show that MC privileges aren't everything at least plot wise - but the main voice is Leah's - aka her (well) Drakengard retainer!

When earlier Virginia told her that this story and her choice had nothing to do with Drakengard - because it's about Cornian knights who died during her flight from Cornia - Leah now reminds her that she became someone important for Drakengard too, and you know, the 10 years she spent here ? It's not just only background to give some fluff for a teatime line, no, it has more implication, if not only to have this moment where Leah says that Virginia's pride, bravery and hope to restore her country also influenced and inspired people (Gilbert, the second son who had to assume the role of the King when no one else was left!) around her and made the people of Drakengard also hope to liberate their country - if she leaves now, the named character from Cornia will miss her, but also "Drakengard" in general.

To cement her words, after this map we can talk to some Drakengard NPC who's all "wow Princess Virginia is so cool she defeated the bastard in charge of this fortress!" and while idk if Leah's speech + that NPC were added to make the ending where she becomes the queen of Drakengard (save for Alain marrying his cousin) more plausible, but it was a really nice addition.

Adding to that the fact that Virginia is the one who's basically telling Alain (and informing the player) about various map hazards like geysers around the land, giving some backstory about the desert along with Leah and also the one who tells the party about a sort of shortcut/secret passage and yes, we get it that she lived for 10 years in that land and knows it enough to act as a guide, but also that the people around know her.

I mean compare with a game where some dude apparently went to a school in a foreign capital but when he marches on said foreign capital or talks to people who also attended that school he never mentions it - it's like night and day.

Final "daw" moment that is both tied to her character but also, another example that Alain isn't the center of the universe... Virgnia is the one who tells Alain to talk to Aramis (the eldest prince who became a merc!) and ask him to talk to Gilbert to put his worries aside about the throne and the succession and ust, to reunite with his younger brother.

The characters concerned (Gilbert and Aramis) thank Alain for giving them the occasion and push to talk to each other - not knowing this was something Virginia planned, because while hers and Gilbert's issues are sort of similar (the not "legitimate" heir who took the mantle of restoring their country to glory and believed it so for the last decade, only for the legitimate one to return), she has a good enough read on Gilbert to know that he needs to talk to his brother to put his doubts and questions about his legitimacy aside and accept that he is the King.

Coming from a series with "avatar scissors", the bonds and links between the characters was really something I enjoyed, Alain will not pop up and tell Gilbert that he is a good king and should get over/or deal with his doubts about his brother, Alain isn't the one who gives the most meaningful speech about why Virginia is important to Drakengard and hell, we don't even see the exchange we know he had with Aramis to convince him to talk to Gilbert, because the most important scene here isn't the Alain-Aramis dialogue, but the Aramis-Gilbert one. Gilbert doesn't want to free his Kingdom because he envies Alain or Alain told him to do so, it's something he wants to do being inspired by Virginia.

In a nutshell, Drakengard's major characters were a good surprise and their stories and quests were cool.

More minor character wise...

We get the Drakengard version of the same plague we saw in Cornia, but instead of having "clerics" perform experiments on infected people to find a cure, the accent here is put on a wyvern knight who was to enforce a lockdown, to prevent the plague from spreading and well... no fines in this setting, instead she runs them through with her spear.

IDK how that game would have been received just after Covid lol

All jokes asides, just like the Cornian version of this plot heavily suggested, the plague was devised by the evil empire to cut down the forces of the rebellion and make sure this land would be able to be conquered easily.

Why are the imperials killing people? Well, it might have to do something with the fact that the totes-not-gharnef old sorcerer guy is a necromancer...

Leah's quest explored a little more the background info that "Drakengard and Cornia used to be at war" thingie, with random green units also mounting a liberation army but refusing our help, and we know how this ends with green units, we basically have to save them.

Map ends with some Drakengardians - who swore allegeance to the evil Empire? - still willing to fight us, and Alain asking Leah to please ask them, as a Drakengardian (?) to surrender because if someone from Cornia asks them they will refuse.

Also it's a bit of a character exploration, for once the usually demure + always in the back behind Virginia asks the Liberation Army to do something and insists even if people refuse, straight up saying that in that case (if they refuse) she's going to help the green NPCs herself since she's strong enough to do so and it's cool because I think at one moment Virginia sighs/laughs, but not in a derogatory way, but more in some "damn she's becoming like me" way - which is alluded to in ther rapport conversation, Leah seeks to emulate her bold and fearless (being a green unit) behaviour.

I haven't seen a lot of convos with the desert people we recruit - thank goodness we're far from Hyzante's clichés even if the "people in the desert are bandits and former prisoners" trope is still here, but given how the ones who attack us were brainwashed by the evil Empire, it's not as aggravating as, well, Nopes or Hyzante.

Gameplay wise :

Damn if promoting your units cost medals, but it's so worth it to have more than one action (at least) per turn ! It also means we can use entire new strategies because now the turns are at least longer than one round each!

Drakengard fills the Jugdral quota with the group of units coming all at once at you sometimes lol, but I loved the aesthetic difference that ultimately became gameplay difference between this area and Cornia, basically we have more mountains to less space to manoeuver the non flying units, the enemies use AoE engines to ruin you or at times, AoE map abilities from their own units to deal some annoying amount of damage.

The cities are larger so instead of fighting in a meadow with one or two small buildings here and there, at times the fight takes place in an entire city, so again, it means reduced mobility and of course, desert sucks because, just like FE, you can't move well in the sand.

Lolcalisation wise :

Virginia "I have never been fond of court formalities" says a desert full of bandit isn't a place for "royalty like us"? When the "us" is both her and her cousin reknown for their martial abilities?

What the fuck does it mean ?

At least in FR it's "a lot of people avoid this place" and not just "royalty like us" - which doubles as ridiculous because in the "people avoid this place" it's again the trend of Virginia being a tour guide of Drankengard, telling Alain that people from Drakengard think about the desert, eluding this part is also, in part, eluding part of the knowledge Virginia has about Drakengard.

I think the localisation took the "royal pride" that defines her and exaggerated it to "royal arrogance".

IDK if the meaning is the same in english, cretin is an insult like in french, but damn if you say to someone the are a "crétin" they will feel offended and insulted because that's way more rude than calling someone an idiot!

:/

And I also have a bone against whoever thought it was a good idea to throw "pseudo elvish" words in the localised script (sadly we followed this :'() when the japanese audio doesn't use them at all, was it to pretend the evles from Fevrith have a different language because Tolkien shall be universal, or what?

Elf land doesn't see that interesting plot wise compared to Drakengard, and I'm not saying this because of my Alcina bias lol but I'll just have to wait and see!

(poor hodrick is being slaughtered by those pesky pointy ears and their hybrid attacks, tfw armor not withstanding magic is universal, I'll have to promote Miriam asap to protect him or just bench him :/)

[thats-sir-dyke-to-you]

When it comes to hygiene tasks and self care with disability and chronic illness, its pretty much a constant case of: don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.

Basically: it's better to do something, than to do nothing at all.

TLDR: Just because you can't do something "properly" doesn't mean you shouldn't do it at all. Do it half-way. Do it shitty. Do it barely. Do it on a technicality. But do what you can. Just try, because doing something will help you.

If you don't have the energy to scrub your body with a sponge, just rub soap over your skin with your hands.

If you don't have the energy to wash your whole body with soap, just hit the places where sweat accumulates, or where you're smelliest.

If you don't have the energy to wash with soap AT ALL, just sitting in water is better than nothing. It will wash away dirt and oils.

If you can't bathe or shower at all, a warm wash cloth is your new best friend. If that's too much, then try bath wipes. They're a bit bigger than regular wet wipes, and a bit more heavy duty. They're designed to help keep bed ridden patients clean in hospitals.

If you don't have the energy to dry yourself after a bath or a shower, just put on a bathrobe and get into bed. If you don't have the energy to get dressed afterwards, just don't. It can wait until you can.

If you don't have energy to brush your teeth for two minutes, honestly, just a cursory scrub is better than not doing anything.

If you can't brush your teeth twice a day, brush in the evenings. It will help take away the build up of food from the day.

If you don't have the energy to brush AT ALL, honestly, just take a cloth and wipe the plaque off your teeth. Rinse with mouth wash after if you'd like. Something is always better than nothing.

If you can't floss twice a day. Try once. If that's too much, try a few times a week. If that's too much, try setting aside a day once a week as a goal. If you can't keep a schedule, do it when you're able to. Hell, I keep some floss next to my bed so that if I forget and don't have the energy to go get it, I can just reach over.

If you can't iron your clothes, don't bother. Wrinkles are fine. Wear jumpers over wrinkly t-shirts. No one will know, and honestly, most people won't even care. If it's really wrinkly and it's A Big Deal And It Needs To Be Ironed, here's my life hack. Step 1: take a spray bottle, and spritz the item of clothing (while you're wearing it is easiest) until it's lightly damp. Step 2: use a hair-dryer on the clothes until they're dry. It gets rid of creases like nobody's business, it's easier than lugging out the iron and ironing board, and you get to have nice toasty warm clothes afterwards.

If you can't fold your clothes, try just hanging them up. It's less commitment. It's quicker to do. Granted, you need to have the space in order to do this, but it is also good at helping you downsize, and lets you visualise exactly what you have.

If you can't put your clothes away, invest in a couple of laundry baskets, and then just keep your clean clothes in the baskets. You can then separate washed clothes into underwear, pants, and shirts baskets. You can just leave them like that. I'm giving you permission to never fold your laundry again if you can't. Just leave it unfolded. Who's going to care? Something is better than nothing. If you can, try to put those baskets into your closet so that you can keep the clutter out of sight, and give yourself a more restful environment.

If you can't separate your clothing out into different categories and wash them "properly" (whites, warm tones, cool tones, darks, delicates / switching between hot & cold washes / paying attention to laundry instructions on the label) then just don't worry about it. If you cold wash your clothes, colours won't bleed. Maybe gradually over the course of dozens of washes there'll be some changes in hue, but it's really not as high stakes as the One Red Sock In The Whites Turns Them Pink trope makes it out to be.

I've pretty much come to the point in my life where if a piece of clothing can't survive the washer and dryer, then it's just not meant to be. I colour separate my clothes, and if I have the energy/remember I'll take my bras and jumpers out of the washing machine to drip dry. But otherwise, I leave it to the universe.

If you can't separate out your recycling, then don't. If you have a large amount of rubbish you need to get rid of but the idea of separating it out properly is stopping you from doing so, then just don't worry about it. I know it's not ideal, but if you have garbage in your room/house and you need to get rid of it, please just get rid of it. Don't let the problem get bigger and harder to deal with. Don't let "doing something properly" get in the way of keeping your living spaces clean. Please. Give yourself understanding.

If you can't wash your dishes, get paper plates. Obviously, it's not ideal, but it is better that you eat food than skipping meals. It is better that you have a clean kitchen, rather than having dishes piling up and making it harder to look after yourself.

If you can't prepare meals for yourself keep making the tasks easier and easier. If you can't do recipes, then simplify. Use pasta sauce from the jar instead of making it. Eat canned soup. Buy food you can just stick in the oven. If you eat fish fingers and microwave veggies every night, it's better than not eating anything at all. It's better than having to fork out money on take-out. If you need ready-made meals, then get them. If you're literally just eating a raw cauliflower for dinner; 1) I see you, 2) me too, sis, 3) something is better than nothing.

These are the basic things you need to do every day to function as a person. They are your activities of daily living. Brushing your teeth. Bathing or showering. Using the bathroom. Getting dressed. Eating. Drinking. Sleeping. Keeping your environment clean. You don't need to do these things perfectly, but they need to happen in order for you to have a decent quality of life.

And it breaks my heart, because I know that so many disabled people can't do these things every day. I'm not saying this to guilt or judge, I'm saying that these are basic needs; you deserve these things. These things bring dignity. If a disabled person is unable to do these things, it diminishes their quality of life. It robs them of dignity.

If you need help to do these things, Its okay to ask for help. It's okay to need help. But if you can't get that help and you have to do these things by yourself -- or you just plain want to be independent and do it without help-- then don't hold yourself to standards you can't meet.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. Doing something is always better than doing nothing. Even if it's not perfect. Even if it's not done well. Do what you can.

[kelluinox]

One day I will draw a venn diagram between Russian vatniks and pro hamas supporters

[cheddertm]

ok i get that Chip gets a tattoo to represent his friends and that's already great and makes me wanna explode- JAY N GILLIAN SHOULD GET TATTOOS LIKE THAT TOO SO THEY ALL HAVE MATCHING ONES!1!!!!!

LIKE JAY GETS THE CORAL CROWN WRAPPED IN A BANDANA AND GILLIAN GETS A BLUEJAY WITH A BANDANA ON IT LIKE DO YOU SEE MY VISION AND I JUST THINK THEYRE SO NEAT