#mage hole on the tl

[maguneedsalife]

documenting last night's day 1 dungeon experience for posterity.

this was a first for me

tl;dr i got matched with some of the least competent players ive ever been in a party with and we got down to 8 minutes on the instance clock before we accepted it wasn't happening

(post contains dungeon spoilers under the cut)

(first of all, if any of the people who were in my party are reading this: im not mad at you, and i am not posting this to be mean spirited about the adventure we had. you guys kept a good attitude throughout the hour and a half we were in there and there's a lot to be said for that. but i also hope this was a learning experience for you, from a gameplay perspective.)

queued in for the new dungeon as a white mage. the other people in my party were a pld, sam, and brd. the pld stood around for a while before starting the first pull, then stayed put and didn't go for a double. After 2 single pulls I told him he could go bigger if he wanted, and he replied that he never wants to assume. (very kind of him).

I notice fairly quickly, as we pick up the second set of packs, that something is off. damage is going very, very slowly. I notice the tank seems to be using his single target rotation. I'm not hearing the sounds of bard or samurai aoe moves either. Me and my Holy casts are the only ones hitting multiple enemies.

To reiterate. this is the newest max level dungeon. unless they level skipped, these are presumably not new players.

We get to the first boss. The samurai struggles with the speed of its aoes. The boss summons adds: it's going to charge them up, and we have to kill them before they finish charging. We do not. the ones we miss explode and we wipe. Luckily, now that we've figured out what it wanted us to do, we manage to kill the adds in time and beat the boss on the 2nd try. Onward and upward.

Paladin resumes single pulling. The homies are still not aoe-ing. By this time I've determined that the three of them seem to be friends by the way they banter back and forth. I notice that I have consistently been second in aggro. the samurai has been last. Ian glances over my shoulder and remarks, "Why does that samurai have less health than you?"

the second boss has a mechanic with fast-moving aoes that you have to dodge. every time he does the mechanic again, the aoes get faster. in normal circumstances you'd probably only see it two or three times, maybe not enough to notice the aoes are getting faster. We saw it quite a few times. the aoes got very fast. This boss also has temporary misdirection, which was for sure the cause of our wipe here. we managed to get through on the second try.

between the 2nd and 3rd bosses the bard starts having connection issues and has to restart, so we wait for her to come back. on the way to the final boss the tank has trouble avoiding aoes and dies to mobs, and then i die to mobs after raising him bc im still second in aggro.

eventually we made it to the final boss. "how bad could it be, it's just one bunny?"

we proceeded to wipe to this boss 7 times. part of the issue was that our damage output was so low that the boss was exhausting its earlier mechanics and then looping the ones that were supposed to be its big scary finale - starting around 60% health. it creates an open pit and you're supposed to run around the edges to avoid falling in the hole, dodging various mechanics. we all fell in the hole at least once. anytime i died it was an instant wipe bc there was no way the rest of the party could sustain through the end of the fight by themselves.

the minutes dragged on. we got the "30 minutes left to complete' warning and kept on fighting. we began getting tilted and making more mistakes, wiping on earlier mechanics we'd previously done fine with. our positive "we'll get him this time!" attitude quickly turned into "oh i hate this guy."

with 8 minutes left on the instance clock - nearly an hour and a half of elapsed time since the start of the dungeon - it finally sunk in that despite our best ("best") efforts, this wasn't happening. i bade my comrades farewell and voted to abandon. they accepted. i was free at last. i decided not to blacklist them because they were good sports, and also because to my knowledge blacklisting doesn't prevent you from being matched with the person again, which is the functionality i actually need from it in this instance

anyway after that harrowing experience i recruited ian and some friends to help guarantee i could progress msq. we were in and out of that same dungeon in 20 minutes. watching bosses that my previous group had struggled mightily with go down within a few minutes felt so good

[hardearnedwisdom]

I am Profoundly excited for Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd.

TL;DR—Dragon Age: The Veilgaurd coming out is very big for me personally, and this is why.

I remember the first time I played a Dragon Age game. The year was 2014, I was obsessed with The Sims 4, and my dad was helping me set something up on my computer. He insisted that we check in Origin, EA’s infamous game launcher, had any free games. That day, the free game was Dragon Age: Origins. Now, when I first played Dragon Age: Origins, I was nine years old and never made it past the Dalish Rouge backstory and tutorial.

That same year, my dad got his prized PlayStation 4. I remember holding the sleek black controller, controlling the second player avatar for Knack, and feeling the haptic feedback for the first time. I was astounded that this was something that was possible with gaming. I felt like I was a part of the world.

At some point, my dad got Dragon Age: Inquisition. I remember him telling me about the hole in the sky that you needed to close, and how that was just the beginning of your story. I was instantly intrigued. I made my first inquisitor, a Dalish Elf Rouge named Lyme, and never got past the tutorial.

Flash forward a couple of years to December of 2018. I’m fourteen, it’s winter break, and three weeks prior I had been dumped. I didn’t know what to do with myself, and so I decided to pick up the PlayStation remote and take on the world I had been thinking about for years but had never had the time—or skill—to explore. That December, I spent hours exploring the Hinterlands, battling dragons on the storm coast, and making alliances. After my first heartbreak, I found solace in Solas, the kind elf who liked my inquisitor—and by extension, me—for my wit and intelligence. January came too soon, and I had to put down the controller and return to the frightening world of middle school.

I changed schools for High School, and the world shut down the spring of my freshman year. I found myself coming back to gaming and fantasy RPG’s to escape the world around me and connect with friends and family. I started playing World of Warcraft with my dad and my friends, and I came back to Inquisition. I moved from the PlayStation to the PC, and I had to start the game over again, but I didn’t mind. It just gave me an excuse to stay in Thedas for longer. My inquisitor, Elvera Levellan, embodied the strength, grit, and intelligence that I needed to channel during such a difficult and confusing time. I found myself falling again for the quiet elf, siding with the mages, and immersing myself in the intrigue of the conflict occurring around me.

Solas was everything I wanted from a boyfriend when I was younger. He was kind, flirted with his wit, kissed passionately, he took things slow, and danced with me at the ball. I was gutted when he left my inquisitor. Years prior I had projected my heartbreak onto him, naively thinking that there was no way this nerdy elf would break my heart. Boy was I wrong.

I finished the base game after one hundred and twenty hours of playtime, and I saved the DLC for hard moments in my life when I needed to return to Thedas. The last time I was in Thedas was in the spring of 2021 when I finished Trespasser. I don’t recall the decisions I made regarding the fate of the Inquisition or who became the divine, but I remember Iron Bull's betrayal, and how my heartache and need to find Solas through the Elluvians mirrored that of my inquisitor. We both needed answers. We both wanted closure. I was angry and hurt and mad at an egg for gods sake.

In my life's most challenging moments, I have looked to Elvera--my inquisitor—for strength to borrow. From getting molds taken of my mouth at the orthodontist (an experience which I hate) to comforting a friend on their deathbed, she has been a source of strength, a suit of armor to don in my most vulnerable moments when I cannot falter. That strength looks different in a dentist's chair and on a deathbed, but It is strength nonetheless.

Needless to say, I am so excited to return to Thedas in thirty days. Every week for the past several years, I had done a quick Google search for “Dragon Age 4”, desperate for news of the next installment. I always felt a pang of disappointment each time I found that there was no news, but I never gave up hope. I delayed travel plans this summer so that I could watch the first gameplay demo with my dad this summer.

The Dragon Age series, and Inquisition in particular hold such a special place in my heart. They were part of my introduction to gaming, and you never forget your first games. They brought me comfort and an escape from the world when I felt as if a hole had been blown in our sky. The characters have lent me strength when I have needed it most.

I cannot wait to create my Rook and explore Tevinter. I can only hope that my inquisitor can finally get the closure that we both need. I am excited to fall in love with Dragon Age and Thedas all over again.

[paper-beats-writers-block]

Having very many thoughts about Simon Snow today. Tl;dr only some of Simon’s magic was his but altogether it was too much for him to hold by himself: an essay. (Things we as a fandom know about his magic but I just wanted to write it all out comprehensively)

The main reason I think Simon was so bad at magic was because he couldn’t let go of it little by little. We know from the rest of the series that spells use up magic, and it takes the caster a little while to recharge from big spells or lots of spells. And it would make sense that the only way Simon could really let go of his magic was going off. I don’t think he was conscious of it, but he was more focused on holding everything in and not going off, which made casting his spells harder, and it makes sense why his successful spells were bigger. The closest metaphor I can think of is like a balloon without a knot will only release as much air as your own pinched fingers let it, and Simon was so scared to let the balloon go off (lose all the air at once and fly all over the room) that he didn’t even let a little of the air out, so it just built up and built up continually. Like in the beginning of the book when he casts “out, out damned spot” to get the blood off his pants and it doesn’t work (because he’s “rusty” and not letting enough of his magic go to make the spell work) but “into thin air” does—for the most part, but again it’s a successful spell that works bigger than he meant it to because it made the whole road disappear. But he’s also frustrated his first spells didn’t work and that anger probably let more air out of the balloon than he meant it to hence the road disappearing completely. 

Which is also why at the end of the book he can cast without words and make things happen (magickally fabricating his wings and tail, and making himself warmer midair on the flight to the Bunces’ from Baz’s).  He’s intentionally releasing so much magic into the atmosphere at once he doesn’t need the words. This is also why the magic sharing works so well with Baz, because all Simon is doing is letting the magic go. He’s not controlling it; Baz is. 

And the whole concept of the humdrum is brilliant. Because here’s this kid that has more magic than anyone, but only because he was conceived magickally and connected to the magickal atmosphere with a series of rituals and spells. Literally in chapter 58, the mage (the fuckwad may he rest in pain) gives us a line from his Greatest Mage research saying “a magician that draws his power from the centre of the earth”. And Simon does that. That’s why the Humdrum Holes appear. The weird magickal sex ritual or whatever the hell the Mage did (and Lucy participated in) on the autumnal equinox 1996 in the tower of the White Chapel (chapter 79) literally linked their fetus to the power and magic of the earth. And Lucy gives us a line “like there’s something inside of me, and it isn’t just eating me, it’s eating everything” (Chapter 84). And it did consume her. That’s why she died after giving birth. Because it ate her magic first (she mentions not having the energy to cast anything), and then it started to consume her humanity. But it wasn’t Simon (at least imo) it was the sucking hungriness inside of him that the ritual put there from the very beginning. The humdrum was a part of Simon until Simon was powerful enough to separate himself from it, aka, the first time he went off in the care home at eleven. There were small holes that were probably from tantrums he’d had over the years, but the grotty jeans and ratted tshirt with “that infernal red ball” impression that the humdrum is personified as in the book was what came of his Nothingness metasizing when Simon came into his power. 

Final thing (sorry this got long). Chapter 82 when Simon does the magic sharing with the humdrum and gives up all his power, he feels the same control over his power as he does when he shares with Baz, but only at the beginning. Once the river flows into the humdrum and he starts to fade, Simon notices the switch from his power flowing into the humdrum to the humdrum sucking his power out. And I think the magic that flowed was the excess power trapped inside him that he was drawing from the centre of the earth, whereas the magic being sucked and pulled out of him at the end was his own; the natural power that he would have been born with if he hadn’t been conceived with a ritualistic spell. Because he still would have had a TON of power because the mage and Lucy were both powerhouses as well. 

Man I wish someone could have explained all of this to Simon before shit hit the fan. Kiddo deserved better than that. (Fuck the mage)

Thanks for sticking with me this whole time :D 

[definesanity]

How many categories of magic item does your world have?

Technically, Magic no longer exists by the time the 'main' story comes around, but I digress:

It all comes under the banner of Arcane, and the branches all intertwine someway or another. Wind, fire, ice, water, earth, ect.

However, there is one above them all: Void.

The main goal is to, quote from Siegfried Wriothesley Darian Tomo, The Mage of Misfortune, "Silence the Call of The Void." in which she means, to make sure you don't go mad from the power it gives you.

There had been many people who fell to the temptation, but to explain how it works: Void magic can also be seen as Antimatter and Black Hole magic. The main goal is complete annihilation.

When Llizel returned the magic back to Antiquitus, that should have been the end. Of course, only a single line, the Tomo family, had a semblance of it. Through Alchemy.

TL;DR: Three, and from weak to strongest (objective): Alchemy, Arcane, and Void.

If you need any more information, let me know :D

[kurizeria]

I came up with an OC who's a dark mage who lost one of his legs in the most ironic way possible, but I don't have a name for him yet? Any ideas? Also, how did you get the inspiration for your OC Ateris?

Hmmm that's somewhat difficult since the only characters from Evenere we have for naming reference is Fareeda and Ponmalar. From just those two though, it seems like it isn't particularly strict or specific! I don't know the story of his missing leg, but maybe you could seek out some kind of name that has a meaning akin to "(in pursuit of) greatness" since I get the impression that he faces quite a bit of challenges along the way? Although if he doesn't have many aspirations, that name might also be a bit of irony since he probably wouldn't really be an achiever, hrmmm... In any case, quite a few canon characters have names with meanings that are significant to them, their personality, their story, and/or their future in some way, so maybe there are a few things you could figure out on a deeper level as the creator of the character. Personally I enjoy using this site to find names since you can search for name meanings as well! I saw the picture of your OC that you tagged me in and he looks really cool!! I don't know if you plan to do anything with this info, but Evenere is coincidentally known for beautifully crafted prostheses, so he's in the right place!

For Ateris, I based him largely on one of my other comfort OCs from a different fandom (Ateris' human form would probably be a near spitting image of him tbh lmaoo), so even now he still has heavy roots there albeit with his own unique qualities. Also, I loved the idea of a startouch elf based on a black hole or dying star who would ultimately endure or has endured many hardships. Early on in the TDP OC fandom space, it seemed like in general making startouch elves based on specific kinds of stars (black hole, white dwarf, red giant, etc) was a phase and yes I miss seeing more of them cries-- Since he had dark elements to him, I also was originally tying in a spider aesthetic to him to add to the more unsettling vibe despite his beauty. His original design shows it a little bit, but in the end the only thing that remains in his current design are the diamonds on his face that somewhat appear as if they are extra eyes. Likewise, despite the initial edge I went with him, he gradually the much gentler entity he is today through a very big overhaul of his character over the years. But for the TL;DR, I really liked the edgy black hole aesthetic and the rest of his character came later. I'm a very "appearance first, story later" kind of oc maker heehoo

[travellingarmy]

║Kaeya║Goodbye Kiss

Gender-neutral.

Angst.

Word count: 1.7k

---

It is time..

He had fulfilled his duties as a spy and so, it was time for the rightful heir to the throne to return to his home, Khaenri'ah. However, he guilts the thought of going back. In the beginning, he only had one reason of lingering around Mondstadt for a while but now that that he was done, there was really nothing left holding him back to return. So, why is he wavering?

His eyes- both visible- stare at the oh so familiar ceiling of your home. He had grown to love the sight of it over the years. His eyes seemed to sparkle in the night, a hand behind his head. Those eyes if his had always been unique and mysterious apropos to others one would meet along the way. It held a secret that makes one so interested in the soon-to-be former Cavalry Captain, but they could never unveil the truth behind them-- not even you.

Not even you who lay beside him bare and snuggled against him, a hand on his chest. Not even you who was most closest to the knight. If you couldn't do that, who could?

You made a sound during your sleep, gaining the attention of the man. His eyes glistened upon landing sight on you. His heart raced at everything you do. He was happy with you, but he also bitterly blames you for being the reason he was hesitating. Why did you go make such a man fall for you? No, what was it about him that made you fall into his arms? Surely, you could see just how scary those eyes of his, right?

Honestly, you were the first to approach him knowing the darkness that he had carried since young. You dare not question what his past was or where he came from. You openly loved him, but he was going to be your heartache.

If only, he thought, if only he didn't fall into the hole you had made, he would leave Mondstadt all behind without looking back. When did he trip? Was it the first glance of you? There was really something about your eyes that intrigued the male.. Yeah, that was probably it. Something in your eyes shone something he had not seen in himself. Your eyes were free of hidden motives and your quick-witted actions proved that.

Maybe, he was interested because he felt jealous of you. Jealous that you didn't have to carry a burden of a task since young. Maybe he had gotten close to you to take that glimmer in your eyes. After all, he was a man with ulterior motives, no?

Ah, that did no good to Kaeya. He tried to convince himself over and over that there was something he wanted to take from you but as you lay bare beside him, he felt himself at a loss.

You mumbled in your sleep, once more making sounds to gain the attention of the male. Whatever you were dreaming about, it obviously was a pleasant one. He chuckles lowly and put his free hand behind the back of your head, moving you closer to his lips so he could place a kiss on the crown of your head.

"I love you."

-

The clacking of hurried heels and boots greet you upon entering the headquarters. It was early in the morning but everyone was jolted awake and masked with a stern look, brows furrowing as they rush past you.

You knew what was happening. Otherwise, you would still be lazily getting out of bed. "Acting Grand Master," you greet the blonde whose back was facing you. The call of her title brought her attention from another knight to you. "(Y/N), I'm so glad you're here. Have you seen Kaeya?"

Indeed, you have seen Kaeya. Hoewever, it was just a glimpse before your tired eyes fluttered shut for another hour. "No, I haven't." Jean sighs but did not dwell on the thought of the captain. "Well, we'll just pray to Barbatos that he comes soon. We need all the hands to protect the city from the Abyss."

Something inside you churned. Something was calling out to you that you failed to listen. What is it? Why was dread washing over you at the thought of Kaeya? Surely, he would be fine to take on a couple Abyss mages and hilichurls, right? Well, it doesn't matter. Even if he can take down a whole army, you should still be by his side, fighting with him.

Not waiting for orders from the Acting Grand Master, you made a bolt towards the gate. Jean shouted your name but you ignored it as that churning feeling grew inside you. "Kaeya.."

The entirety of Mondstadt was surrounded at all fronts. All sorts of Abyss mages and hilichurls attacked like savages, using this chance to take down the city while the rest of the troops were still coming their way.

Your eyes darted around, hoping to see the Cavalry Captain somewhere amongst the many men who were trying to by more time for backup to come.

You bit your lips, drawing out the blood to trickle down. Where in Teyvat is Kaeya when you needed him most? It wasn't the time for him to go drinking in a bar, getting wasted.

Not wanting to waste more time dwelling on the thought, you took the lead, running past the other knights and heading deeper into the battle. "Captain!" A knight had called your title but you dare not turn around. Something was telling you that Kaeya was further in, and you were going tl follow it. Knowing Kaeya, it does sound like him for him to rush before anybody else. "Please, Kaeya.. Please be okay."

Clearing any enemies in your way, you felt your heart become lighter at the sight a his familiar back, but you dare not break into a smile. It would just make you lose your focus on the fight.

"Kaeya!" You called, but that failed to reach his ears amongst the chaos around. You were drawing near, noticing that the army started to grow thin in the back.

You were about to call him a second time but the words got stuck in your throat, seeing that the male was talking to an Abyss mage. It confused you. Why is the Abyss mage bowing to Kaeya? Why isn't it attacking Kaeya?

The mage looks up, eyes looking past Kaeya and onto you. "Your highness, behind you," the mage gestures him to look behind. Wait, did the mage call him 'your highness'?

Kaeya turned around to look at you, revealing you both of his eyes that held no warmth as usual when they laid upon you. You were stoned into the spot, mouth feeling dry. What were you supposed to say at this point? Your head dizzied, wanting to collapse on the ground for support.

When your silence was prolonging further activities, his eyes narrowed coldly and his mouth drew a wider frown of displeasure. "(Y/N), what are you doing here?" His voice was montoned and no longer spoke in a flirtatious manner.

The mystery behind his eyes were revealed to you; the mystery that all of Mondstadt wanted to know yet could not get close enough to know.

You gulped back the lump that grew. Surely, there is some misunderstanding, right? Kaeya just wanted to toy with the mage before he killed it, right? Yeah, that has to be it. "K, Kaeya, Acting Grand Master wants you back and help protect Mondstadt.." Your eyes slightly widen in desperation, searching for the truth.

"Oh? Does she now?" A smirk tug his lips yet his eyes stayed the same. He turns his full body to face you and rested his knuckle on his hip. He was toying with you. "Y, yeah.. You better get back before she gets mad at you."

Kaeya chuckles at the look in your eyes, knowing that look all too well. "Why should I go back? I'm not from here so I have no reason to protect it." He shakes his head, all the while smiling. "(Y/N), I'm sure you already know that I am not from here, yes?"

"Where are you going with this, Kaeya? Please stop playing around and come back," you spoke with a shaky voice.

His smile drops. Were you seriously trying to convince yourself that he was a good man? He sighs and walks close to you, grabbing your chin in his hands. "Oh, (Y/N), you could be so cute at times. It almost makes me want to take you with me," his words were sincere. "But the land of sinners is not a place to call home for someone like you. So, be good and listen to when I say to stay." A flick of sorrow failed to catch your eyes.

Kaeya had not slept that night, waiting for the sun to shine through the curtains to tell him that it was time. As much as he wanted to stay with you, he was a sinner who ruled a land abandoned by the gods. He had no place in Mondstadt- with you- knowing his origins.

A tear slipped from the corner of your eyes, but Kaeya did not dare to wipe it away in fear that his heart would waver.

"Be good.. Protect Mondstadt.." He shows you one last genuine smile that you loved. His eyes allowed itself to show you his true feelings for you once more as well which just made your heart squeeze itself.

He brings your face, your lips, close to his. He was giving you one last kiss. A kiss that you would miss for as long as you lived. A goodbye kiss.

Tears left your eyes as he deepened the cherishing kiss.

He soon pulls away, watching your tears fall silently onto the ground. He smiles and turns on his heels to walk away, the Abyss mage following close behind him.

Your legs gave in and fell onto the ground as you watch the man you loved walk away from you-- never to return to Mondstadt-- to you.

Kaeya dares not to look behind. If he did, he had a feeling that he'll run up and hug you to stop those tears of yours. This was goodbye.

"Forget me and find someone else, lest you will be broken."

---

[kagrenacs]

Explaining the Iceberg #4

I covered most things in this, but not everything. Every previous post I’ve made describing the tes iceberg I found on google image search can be found here x

Lorkhan’s purposeful failure: Lorkhan was the first spirit to go beyond the universe to see the tower, but didn’t achieve CHIM. He likely did this on purpose to show others how not to do it, and to demonstrate that it was difficult for et’ada to achieve this state because they simply don’t have the boundaries (such as death) that mortals do.

The World-Egg: The universe and the 12 previous Kalpas, everything within existence

The Khajiit Tower: this reddit thread https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/3oh7wf/the_khajiit_tower/ for everyone’s sake i’ll spare you the details of Jungian psychology, TL;DR the khajiit are a ‘tower’ made to hold up the universe and aspects of this

The Grabbers: Mentioned in the 36 lessons, a race of people in Lyg who are said to ‘have never built a city of their own’ there are theories that these are in fact Magne-Ge, due to their connection to Lyg by Mehrunes Dagon

AE: ‘is’ in ehlnofex, can be interpreted as a state of being

Shezzar became Akatosh: The only solid reference i could find was this thread, that immediately discusses how this is probably incorrect http://www.gamesas.com/could-lorkhan-have-jyggalag-t74581-25.html

The Monkey-Truth: Markuth’s teachings, also a website of tes fanfiction writers and roleplayers 

Red Moment: The potential Dragon Break at Red Mountain

The Provisional House: Mentioned in the 36 Lessons, called ‘a space that is not a space’ that Vivec observes the events of Nirn from. It may possibly protect Vivec from dangers associated with this.

Alandro Sul: The Shield-Companion to Nerevar. Sometimes called ‘the immortal-son of Azura’. After being blinded by Wulfharth, he went to live with the Ashlanders of Vvardenfell and is credited with spreading the idea that the Tribunal killed Nerevar

CHIM: To put simply, the process and state where a person realizes their place within the universe and is able to manipulate the laws of the universe as they see fit. Often associated with the concept of ‘Love’

Skaal Secrets: Discussed in the Dragonborn DLC, it’s unknown what their secrets are, but the Skaal report that they’ve kept them a secret from Hermaeus Mora for generations

The World’s Teeth: Mentioned in the 36 lessons of Vivec, sermon 17. Vivec takes Nerevar to the edge of the world, where they see ‘the bottom row of the world’s teeth’ as Vivec states. This may possibly reference a glitch in Redguard. (as a side note: The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, a game that’s confirmed to have taken inspiration from the Elder Scrolls, has an area on the map, near the edge of the world with a row of spikes similar to what’s described here. This might be just coincidence, but I sure enjoy it)

Dagoth Ur’s Endgame: Speculation on what Dagoth Ur’s final plans actually are. He speaks of his desire to remove the Empire from Morrowind, and unite the Dunmer under the 6th House, but beyond that there’s little to go off of.  Ultimately this is just speculation and theories, mostly on what he plans to do with the Anumidium, and how that could possibly have adverse affects on reality.

Pelinal Cyborg from the Future: Another bit of obscure MK lore that’s not implemented in-game. This derives from the description of Pelinal having a ‘left hand made of a killing light’  ‘PELIN-EL [which is] "The Star-Made Knight" [and he] was arrayed in armor [from the future time].’ and his survival of being decapitated. While the text directly states he is from the future, there’s no ingame canon text stating he is a cyborg.

Reymon Ebonarm is Reman: The thought that Ebonarm, a God of War is the same person as Reman, emperor of Cyrodiil. There’s several theories dedicated to this, with different variants on the specifics.

The Enantiomorph: Directly tied to the concept of mantling and the Fourth Walking Way. Put simply, there are three participants in this. Two combatants who are very much alike and trying to become the ‘Ruling King’ and an observer who determines who wins, this observer usually becomes maimed as a result of this. 

The Third Moon: Two different things, a metaphorical or literal secret moon important to the Khajiit that only appears when Masser and Secunda are aligned, preceding the birth of a Mane. The second option is the Necromancer’s Moon, the godly form of Mannimarco.

The Walkabout: A concept in Yokudan religion. The process of spirits surviving one Kalpa to the next, facilitated by Tall Papa

White-Gold Doomsday device: I remember reading this theory a few years back, unfortunately I cannot find the exact page for the life of me. The Tl;DR on this is the White-Gold Tower is a weapon of mass destruction, either literally or in metaphysical terms (being connected to Akatosh and it’s status as a Tower). The closest thing I can find to it is this thread which describes the motives of Umbra in the novels, and how it could potentially take over Tamriel using the White-Gold Tower http://www.gamesas.com/doomsday-scenario-t69430.html

Jiub was the Nerevarine: Self explanatory, headcanon that Jiub was the Nerevarine, similar to a headcanon on tumblr that stated Teldryn Sero was the Nerevarine

House Dwemer: Mentioned as a House within The War of the First Council (which is written by an Imperial for Western Scholars) and The Lost Prophecy (written by a Dunmer) This could be interpreted in a couple different ways. A) The first book was certainly written for western readers, while there is no evidence for this being the case for the latter, it can’t be ruled out. ‘House’ is used as a simplification B) The Dwemer were considered a house, but perhaps not in the way we would initially think (being on the Great House Council)  They were grouped into a singular entity, rather than distinct clans within a cultural group (either during the First Council or posthumously) 

When Dead Gods Dream: https://www.imperial-library.info/content/when-dead-gods-dream referencing this thread. Discusses the mechanisms of Dagoth Ur’s godhood, the thread explains it better than I can here, TL;DR Dagoth Ur is not alive, but he is within the realms of gods and therefor is able to ‘project’ himself onto Tamriel and the minds of his followers.

Khajiit ended the Metheric Era: Nothing found for this

Parabolic Kalpa: A parabola is a symmetrical U-shaped curve. This theory essentially tries to explain why Skyrim is so low magic, compared to it’s history or even ESO. The thought is that as time goes on, the world becomes less connected to Divinity. Towers are destroyed and the gods are gone, but eventually things will begin to kick off again, and there will be a rise in magic, technology and the connection to these beings. Essentially tries to explain why C0da and Loveletter from the 5th era are more high magic compared to the actual games. 

Sithis: Secret Lesson from Vivec: Connects the both Sithis with the 36 lessons by terminology (The Sharmat, false dreamer ect.) and proposes Vivec may have written the book

Bendu Olo: Colovian King, may have been related to Olaj Olo, nordic demigod of mead. Also used as a placeholder name for the player character in Oblivion and the name of the dev’s test character in Skyrim

Trinimac still lives: An ESO lorebook states the Ashpit, realm of Malacath, extends into Aetherius. Some orcs also believe Malacath is nothing more than a demon presenting himself as the remnants of Trinimac. A r/teslore theory states that Malacath wears two faces. While I assume this is the Iceberg author’s sole reference, I propose this could (should) refer to another theory. (Another theory is similar to this on teslore, proposed around the same time, but this one connects the dots)  https://boethiah.tumblr.com/post/621058598373588993/tsun-is-the-shield-brother-of-shor-and-trinimac 

The Aedra are Dead: Seemingly a common topic on teslore. A basic concept in tes, the Aedra gave most of their powers to Mundus to stabilize it.  Their bodies remain as planets, and they can only have limited interactions with Nirn. 

Divayth Fyr was the Hero of Battlespire: An old theory that looks at artifacts in Divayth Fyr’s possession and ties them back to the tes spinoff Battlespire. There are holes in this theory (Divayth Fyr was a seasoned mage at the time the hero was an apprentice)

Three Talin’s: The default name given to the Eternal Champion is Talin, a character creation scenario proposes that their father was also named Talin, and finally Uriel Septim VII’s general was named Talin Warhaft.

Pelagius I was killed by the Underking: The Arcturian Heresy states that the Underking appeared as an advisor to Pelagius I, who was assassinated by the Dark Brotherhood. This theory is a possibility considering the amminosity between Tiber Septim and both components of the Underking. 

Tsaesci Goa’uld: Goa’uld are a species from Stargate that are parasites towards humans. This theory proposes that the Tsaesci are similar, explaining the inconsistencies of their appearance within the lore.

Lunar currency: The thought that the Aedra and Daedra use mortal souls like currency

Historic Star Inconsistencies: Possibly referring to the variations of the number of days within the year in Arena, not sure about this one

Mnemoli/Star Orphans:Mnemoli is either a specific Magne-Ge (spirits that fled the creation of Mundus after Magnus), or a group of them that only appears during a Dragon Break (often nicknamed the ‘Blue Star’) MK states that they’re the writers and distributors of the physical Elder Scrolls (however this contradicts ingame books, so take it with a grain of salt). Star Orphans may or may not refer to Magne-Ge as a whole. Vehk’s book of hours state's them as a ‘group or tribe’ regardless, Mnemoli falls under this secondary classification (along with Merid-Nuda and Xero-Lyg, I have my own thoughts on this which would be better explained in another post) 

Bosmer Hircine worship: Seemingly referring to a thread on 4pleb, I will not be summarizing this theory here because I’m smart and not going onto 4pleb of all places. But from canon content, Bosmer do not worship Hircine, and consider him a force that goes against Y’ffre and wants to return everything to it’s original state of chaos before the earthbones (Y’ffre being among them) stabilized things 

Septimus Signus Zero Sum: The theory that the aforementioned zero-summed at the end of Discerning the Transmundane in Skyrim. Essentially Septimus is in a fragile state, delving into the secrets of the universe and is being pushed by Hermaeus Mora, who may see him as a lab rat, into discovering things he isn’t meant to handle as a mortal, and consequently Zero-Sums. There’s holes in this, namely Zero-Summing supposedly removes all trace of existence. 

The Soft Doctrines of Magnus Invisible: A very obscure text by Douglas Goodall, discusses the binding of various gods

Abnegaurbic creed: An overly fancy word basically meaning religious beliefs, seen in Nu-Hattia Exerpt 

Dunmereth: A Nordic term for the area of Morrowind, during their occupation of it

Fifteen-and-One Golden Tones: A Dwemer term, possibly referring to the spheres of the Daedra, counting Sheo/Jyggalag as a singular entity. Also, the Dwemer swear by these 

Ideal Masters are God of Worms remnants: As Mannimarco is often said to be the first Lich, the existence of the ideal masters seems to contradict this (similar story with Azidal) this tries to rectify this by proposing that the Soul Carin is the Necromancer’s Moon, and the ideal masters are remnants of Mannimarco. This theory doesn’t hold up when examined, but is cool nonetheless. 

Sermon 37: Found in ESO, an extra sermon to the 36 lessons, ties in concepts present in c0da like amaranth. (interestingly on this list Sermon Zero is never mentioned, despite it being older and more interesting imo, but to discuss that would require lots of work)

Flying Whales: Mentioned in Aldudagga. A now extinct species. The bone bridge of Sovngarde could potentially be a reference to this.

Joy-Snow: It’s cocaine 

Mankar=Tharn: A theory that Mankar Cameron is Jagar Tharn, doesn’t hold much weight and relies mostly on the connection of Mehrunes Dagon

Sharmat: A term used to describe Dagoth Ur, an opposite to the Hortator, a force uniting people for evil. Implied to mean or be associated with ‘the False Dreamer’ a person whose view of the universe is similar to someone whose achieved CHIM, but sees themself as the center of it all, rather than a droplet in the ocean of the universe.

Pankratosword: A forbidden Yokudan sword technique that could ‘cut atoms’ similar to our modern day Nuclear Fission. A bit of etymology here, ‘Pankrato’ seems to refer to the word ‘Pankrator’ meaning all-powerful or almighty. 

Landfall: A concept from MK, a future event where Nirn is destroyed by the Numidium, and the people remaining relocate to the moons. 

Cylarne: The oldest ruin in the Shivering Isles, rumored to be the original capital. Home to the Cold Flame of Agnon

[inexplicifics]

So I work on Phase I clinical trials, and I've been assuming that at some point the witchers/Triss/Yen will start doing something similar with the Grasses. It's called for IMO, because from what I've seen mages in the Witcher universe really do not seem to have much concern about establishing the safety profiles of the things they create, plus their observations often seem really... haphazard. No real system or organization or experimental plan, more of "Let's try this and see what happens!"

There are also a bunch of modifications they could try in order to reduce the adverse effects of the Grasses, which I get the vibe wasn't really done before due to the old mages just not viewing it as part of their research goals. Reducing the dose level and increasing the total time over which the Grasses are administered, etc.

I mean, I can easily imagine that these mages didn't even bother to establish a minimum effective dose for these things - no shade to Triss, but if she was able to create the testing potion in a few months, I'm pretty confident that there are a lot of gaping holes in what the old mages even bothered to do with establishing safety profiles, minimizing side effects, etc. Tl;dr I think the old mages were probably crap research scientists in addition to being devoid of ethics.

It would make a lot of sense if the old mages were completely uninterested in trying to reduce the adverse effects, but Triss has Strong Opinions about that and had already made some strides in lessening the overall nastiness of the Grasses.

[bookwormonastringsblog]

Ruinsong by Julia Ember

Hi everyone! I finished reading Ruinsong by Julia Ember last night and I have some THOUGHTS. As always, if you can, please just click on my blog and give the post a like if you wouldn't mind (https://livaug11.wixsite.com/book-review). Spoilers ahead, but there is a TL;DR at the bottom.

Ruinsong by Julia Ember is a story about a mage named Cadence with a magical voice who is forced by the queen to use it for evil and a noble girl named Remi who hates the queen and wants to bring her down. Given that this is a sapphic story, we know that they are in love with each other - Cadence and Remi knew each other when they were younger and Remi is explicitly stated to only be attracted to women.

As far as plots go? 5/5. Excellent idea, sapphic friends to enemies to lovers, French Revolution feel, magical voices. All great.

However, I have a bunch of problems with this book. The first is that it is VERY white. I mean there is not one person in the book who is explicitly stated to be a POC. Cadence and the queen are both described as having pale skin and based on the cover art, Remi is also white. Most of the other named characters don’t have a skin color stated, so techinically Ember could claim that there were POC but it irritates me that she didn’t state it explicitly when she did so for Cadence and the queen.

Additionally, the plot resolves with one of my LEAST favorite tropes: killing the henchman while leaving the boss alive. After killing the queen’s biggest helper Ren, Cadence chooses to cut the queen’s (who is also a mage) vocal cords, stripping her of her power rather than kill her. But this leaves a bit of a plot hole in my opinion because it is stated earlier (I’m 90% sure about this) that even mages who lose their voice don’t lose their magic, so Cadence actually didn’t strip her of her powers and has definitely left the door wide open for an epic comeback by the queen, which just feels like lazy writing to me. Like, girl you could have solved all your problems by just killing her and you didn’t? It’s not like Cadence has never killed anybody before either, in case you were thinking “well that seems mean - killing is wrong and you shouldn’t force her to kill. She was being benevolent!” Like I said before, Cadence kills Ren, the henchman who made her life terrible, but she also has an outburst about halfway through the book that ends up leaving a bunch of guards and a high ranking official dead for literally no other reason than she had a temper tantrum. This was another source of irritation for me. At the same time that Cadence was having temper tantrums and being rebellious against the queen by sneaking out to heal a rebel at a hospital nearby she was claiming that she couldn’t fight back against the powerful queen because the queen would make her life a living hell. Girl you just blew up her guards and you’re secretly learning defensive magic! If she didn’t kill you for all the little outbursts you’ve had so far then you’re probably good! This doesn’t really fly with Remi, who takes no shit and just fucking stabs the queen with a poisoned hatpin to incapacitate her, which was honestly very badass.

Furthermore, there was definitely something that felt a little off about overthrowing a queen that had overthrown a corrupt monarchy? The people doing the overthrowing are the nobles who, in all fairness, had been very much assholes to the commoners and the mages, but at the same time that just feels incorrect?? And I fully understand that they ended up installing a democracy at the end and that the queen was bad, and it’s even acknowledged that she was worse for the peasants too, but it felt a lot like “look at us, the noble, highly educated people, saving the poor stupid peasants who don’t know what they’re doing!” There’s not necessarily anything wrong with it per se but it definitely didn’t feel right.

While I think this was relevant to the plot, I didn’t enjoy reading the descriptions of Cadence boiling a boy alive from the inside out and I REALLY hated reading about her dog, Nip, dying. Nip felt like the one bright spot in her life/in the book and he died in like the first four chapters, which kinda sucked.

Anyway, Cadence’s wishy-washyness bothered me a lot, I didn’t like how white the book was, the dog died which always sucks, and don’t try and act like you’re so morally superior to the queen who killed the previous queen by leaving her alive when you’ve already killed a shit ton of people for literally no good reason and there’s absolutely no advantage to you leaving her alive because you’re not suddenly morally redeemable for not killing the boss and all she’s gonna do is cause more problems for you because taking her voice doesn’t take her power and you know this!!! What the fuck Cadence!!

TL;DR: romance gets a 3/5, plot gets a 5/5, execution gets a 3/5.

3.5 stars

Ad meliora,

Livia

Faber est suae quisque fortunae.

Every man is the artisan of his own fortune.

[dafukdidiwatch]

Chapter 9 and 10 End

Got to go, running late on things. Will do recap later

TL;DR: I’m screaming, parent issues are are abundant as abusive and manipulation, and I have a new ship going on.

Edit: Ok I am back and I have new theories on everything going on because Fuck I’m down the rabbit hole here. Where or where do I fucking begin.

Really this session just hammers down the different type of abuse that poor Lucy is going through. It’s even color coded and everything. Blue being cold, isolation, physical and emotional neglect from Thierry. Vs the Red of warm, attentiive, possessive and emotional manipulation that is Fidelia.

I don’t doubt that Fidelia cares for Lucy. But it obviously is really twisted if like only one day in Fidelia is already trying to run Lucy’s life how she thinks it should be. Honestly Seiji nailed it when he pointed out the outfit change was more for Fidelia’s taste instead of Lucys’s.

And this chapter is nothing more than family secrets revealed to Sylas isn’t it? Like, how far do you have to break the boy he’s already hurt enough. His dad literally hating his eldest and lawful child, hates his mother, 100% willing to have an affair and have more children and being told flat to his face he is nothing but a tool. It hurt to learn he was there just as a ploy for Fidelia to keep Lucy to herself, but I loved how he still cared for his half siblings. He wasn’t angry at Emilia’s existence, but how Fidelia had seemed to cast her to the wolves that is their father. He wanted to learn more about Lucy as a person, as his sibling, and was happy that it sounded like they wanted to connect too. But of course he couldn’t because Fidelia made sure to try and nuke that chance before it could bloom. Leaving them both just as lonely as ever.

Ugh it sucks so much because Lucy left from one form of isolation abuse to another!

And a minor note, Peony is probably another bastard child of Fidelia and Dubois. Her and Emilia are probably twins than Dubois didn’t want to take care of both of them so he found a way to ditch one into the streets. I mean, it’s the fucking nose people! The timeline merges and fit to one complicated mess that wouldn’t have happened if two people didn’t decide to bone down.

God I want to know what January will think of this, hearing that the anomaly they were supposed to hunt down is now Fidelia’s pet favorite. Actually, now that Lucy is here, will Fidelia even care for January as much? Or will she still try since this is her way of manipulating the council.

Rin is apparently living her best life as a wolf monster of not giving a fuck and about to do some dirty backdoor dealings with Fidelia. That is Not going to bode well.

And finally, Seiji. Wow did that Bastard Man manage to change my perception of him. You bastard, how dare you make me like you. Fucking Twerp. But god, he is trying to get it through to Sylas that he should go after someone who Likes Him. Which, puts Sylas first as part of his feelings, but also can be flipped on to himself because if Sylas is straight, then Seiji should go after someone who likes him. And that hurts.

And then when he talked to Lucy, like first time ever talked to Lucy, it was cute. It was dramatic. It felt like a normal conversation where they aren’t putting on airs with each other and just trying to figure shit out. And it was, really cute. He has this fucking “devil-may-care” rogue persona that he defaults to when he feels cornered, hence the kiss to piss people off. But, having that be your first form of romantic interest after being in isolation for 5 years, I can see why Lucy may be smitten.

Of Course....it sucks that Seiji only managed to put 2 and 2 together on Lucy and Cylas AFTER he dipped. But he got there eventually. The disaster bastard man.

I think I have a thing where I can only approve of ships if I see some in-canon connection/plausibility first. And it wasn’t a pair I would see dating. But I honestly hope there could be some feelings that sprout between the two. Some emotional development that doesn’t center around emotional abuse since Seiji knows what’s up with Fidelia and calls her out on that.

And since this post couldn’t possibly get any longer: underneath are my theories and just what is up with Morgan and Thierry.

This is what happens when I get caught up on comics, I have IDEAS.

Let’s start off somewhere simple here: Timeline.

Fidelia and Dubois have affair. Multiple times. And it resulted in Morgan. Something Something happened and they pushed Morgan into hiding so it has no connection to them. I’m also thinking that because of how Morgan has no connection to them, since Fidelia lost touch with her kid, she made sure/blackmail the Dubois to raise their next kid as his own to make sure they are taken care of. Hence Emilia’s life.

Anyway Morgan was sick, went to the care of Joe Rothart and Dr. Malliet, where a sudden Husk attack killed Morgan and Dr. Malliet 5 years ago. Where Thierry took them to be raised as “Lucien” under his care.

Thierry “gave up everything” for the kid, meaning he thought it was in his best interest to take Morgan.

The reason Joe has a soft spot for Husks is probably because Dr. Malliet was his significant other/partner. Tobi asked if they “broke up” so it implies they were dating. See here I was thinking that Morgan was like, Joe’s brother or something, way older at the very least. But Morgan was the sickly kid, the patient, and Malliet was the other Husk Expert trying to help.

Basically what I’m saying is that Thierry and Joe were lovers. Thierry Rothart is really Dr. Thierry Malliet. While trying to help Morgan, he used his own magic to maybe siphoned the illness away or something and ended up turning into a Husk himself. So when he squirreled away with Morgan (Lucy) he took the last name of Rothart as a momento of their past relationship/ what could have been and as a way of hiding himself.

Also, Ivy isn’t his cat.

We fucking saw what happened with Captain Yiff of the Wolf Brigard. She turned into wolf mode like Jade did. However!!! Thierry became the bird man of Alcatraz and sprouted feathers. AND! Husks are people who literally reabsorb their magic familiars back into themselves. Meaning that Thierry can’t have absorbed his Peacock Bird familiar AND have Ivy the CAT be his active familiar.

The only way I can think this was any way possible to have a “have your cake and eat it too” moment is because of Su. Su never had magic to begin with, and how she’s a Goat Husk, implying if she did have access to magic her familiar would be a goat. The same could have happened to Lucy.

It was stated that for a Husk the magic comes from the eyes, and eyes are the windows of the soul. Trying to heal Morgan resulted in draining the magic from their eye and that magic latched itself into Thierry, turning him into a peacock man.

....why he wants to have his house be a shrine of peacocks of what he did instead of his own fucking cat, I will never know.

Regardless, I’m thinking that after Thierry did manage to cure Morgan, since he took their eye (again, part of the soul) it probably resulted in memory loss too. I’m thinking that the eyepatch is just covering a hole or dark powers because if Lucy has like one-eye in husk mode that would be really stupid.

It also better explains Ivy helping out Thierry’s Husk mode. Familiars are conduits of magic that allows the Mages/Magicians to safely use their magic without overloading. That’s why when the magic is reabsorbed into the person the magic is out of control and fluctuates on emotion. The animals are safeguards. So Ivy, as Thierry’s familiar, is able to drain away the magic in his emotional states. But that also backfires because draining away magic that wasn’t necessarily his means it was also draining away his memory, hence his behavior issues with Lucy.

Which can also explain Lucy’s own “magic draining powers” is because they is out of balance. They aren’t like  non-magic people where they aren’t able to access their magic. They aren’t like regular magicians where an animal familiar is there to help manage magic. And they aren’t like Husks where all the magic is fully absorbed into their body. Because they don’t have access to their original magic source (Thanks Thierry) their body is trying to balance itself out by siphoning the magic of others. Fill in the gap as it were. Which only works if they are in close physical contact with a magic source. But because it isn’t their original magic, it doesn’t last long. That’s why even though Ana was drained completely of magic, Lucy is unable to use it anymore, or at the very least can’t access it as easily.

The only other thing I could think of is how the hell does Fidelia connect with Thierry. Because Ivy was scared shitless of her or the thought of her. She probably threatened them both as Dr. Malliet to do “whatever it takes” to cure Morgan, and we all know how possessive she is with her children.

Long story short, Dr. Thierry Malliet did some experimental treatment which resulted in his husk form and Morgan’s cure/memory loss/magic issues. To protect themselves from being hunted, he fake their deaths and hid away as a recluse and raising Morgan as Lucy so the city’s magic leaders won’t hunt them down.

[remember-no-more]

Hey ho ho ho!! Santa most extreme here! - Throws snow dust all over the place and dances- How are you today, my little amazing friends! I had a lot of fun reading yesterday's story! Dnd can certainly be amazing like that! When i take off the hat, maybe i can tell you some of my crazy shenanigans! But for today... Let's get spicy~ Who was Mimi's first love? Who was her last?? Is she currently in love? Share the spice with this Santa!

// Hey Snowdown buddy! It’s always so nice to hear from you ♥ I do hope we’ll remain in touch after the event ends! And of course, you must tell me about your own DnD adventures when you get the chance, I’m very curious about those~

I just hope you’ll forgive me for answering walls of text to every ask you send, but you have no idea of how excited I get to receive from you quq Thanks for making this Snowdown so special!  (I’ll put a TL;DR at the end, I’m really sorry!)

Things are proceeding calmly here. Long threads are mostly on hold on the blog but I returned to have some nice quick fun with fun-fact-asks and stuff, you might have seen some on the dash cx 

About me, welp, I kinda caught a cold, whoopsie! It’s not exactly fun to cough and have all the eyes on you, but I checked things and it’s not the virus, it’s just me being an irresponsible kid when it comes to clothing. I usually avoid taking medicine when I can, but I guess it’s time to start curing it before I get closed up in a room and the key gets thrown away! (Ahahah, jk. I don’t want others to worry for nothing.)

But enough about that, let’s give a little premise before answering the questions uvu

---VERY LONG ASS STORY

Mimi has a hella long story that was revolutioned by the canon lore updates. Most of what happened before that became nonsensical, especially after Noxus turned out to actually value mages a lot and Veigar never being imprisoned. The only way to not start over with her completely and not throw to the fire years of roleplay and character building was to actually consider the lore changes like an event that happened at some point in the timeline - see it like the movie Return to the Future :o something happens at some point and the future changes radically. 

The catch is that she is actually aware that she’s missing certain puzzle pieces about her past, many memories just disappeared or feel somehow wrong but there’s no way to solve the mystery without causing another paradox/reaching a dead end and a consequent reset of her timeline. However, there’s a reason if she’s not searching for answers anymore... and all of this deals with her first and last loves. Now we get to the juicy details~

Her first love was the Master of Evil himself. After fleeing Noxus when she was little more than a child, she learnt how to survive and took years to develop her magical skills on her own, then she tracked down the mage and offered him her unconditional support. She needed a guide and she wanted him to be it: old lore Veigar inspired her to act because he evaded from the prisons of Noxus, which were a far worse deal than just running away from home, and her idea of him was all she had left to hold onto when the rest was left behind. She was ready to do anything to achieve that, and none of the ones I roleplayed with rejected a free pawn. 

What happened with the one I ended up choosing as Mimi’s canon Veigar (the-primordialbust) was developed through years of roleplay. She earned his trust, he began to teach her things, he took her under her wing and eventually opened up to her, and she couldn’t be more happy about that. He even gifted her a soulstone to enhance her power at some point, the same kind of jewel he had on his staff - the one that justified the AP growth in-game according to his headcanons. At that point, she was so in love with him that she didn’t care about the price she had to pay to obtain it.

Then the changes happened, Veigar-mun actually abandoned the blog, so I reinvented Mimi to keep her alive. She still had the stone, she had no idea about how she got it or about what she did after she ran away from Noxus, and even the reasons that made her decide for that first life-changing event don’t feel exactly right according to history.

She began looking for answers. On the way, she met an ex Noxian soldier, a mercenary, and they spent a year knowing each other, fighting together and so on. He was one of the few that got to know her full name and see her actual human form after she polymorphed into a yordle for so long (something that, again, she kept doing because of unmotivated habit). They became friends with benefits, but he never knew she actually had feelings for him (and the mun actually found out just a few weeks ago, hah). 

When he found out about her quest to find out about a past that gave more and more hints about how dark it was and realized what the stone she kept actually was, he offered her his help to destroy the stone and free her from this burden, so that she could move on and live freely. She wouldn’t have accepted if it wasn’t him asking. 

Succeeding was risky and they both had to pay a toll for it. He sacrificed his runic attunement while her own spirit was lost in the process, but they both survived. About her, she’s still surviving without her own soul because undoing the tie to black magic allowed her runic attunement to flourish, especially making her able to dab the power of Life itself. Taking away her magic would turn her into a husk. This also makes her life expectancy on Runeterra much longer than she can imagine, but she has no idea about that yet. The downside of this is that her fate when she finally leaves this world is actually very unsure - she cannot exactly get to the Spirit World without an actual spirit, can she? 

But let’s return to love affairs!... he left right after they fixed this. She hasn’t forgotten him yet, but she is getting to know more people now. We shall see how things evolve~

---TL;DR

Canon lore changes messed everything up, so Mimi doesn’t remember about her first love being Veigar from the old lore universe! She abandoned the nation and her previous life to follow him after he escaped from the Noxian prisons, they bonded over the years, then everything went poof because suddenly Veigar never set foot in modern days Noxus! (And modern day Noxus doesn’t look down on mages anymore, but oh well *shrug*)

Her last love was a Noxian mercenary that helped her to get rid of the soulstone Veigar gifted her before the lore changes! He never realized she was in love with him and he left after he convinced her to abandon her memory holes/dark past and move on with life.

[thebookworm0001]

Okay I have to ask because o see it EVERYWHERE and it looks like something of be interested in, but what is Dragon Age?

Strap in darling you just asked the question that will unlock hours of nonsensical ramblings. I will try to make it coherent.

Dragon age is an rpg developed by video game company BioWare (owned by EA). The game is set in a losely-European fantasy setting be sent by all manner of troubles mundane and magical. The first game, Dragon Age: Origins, was released in 2009 and focuses on what amounts to a magic zombie disease attacking the surface population known as The Blight. Blights kill and infect everything and are generally bad for business. You, The Warden, are brought from your home where it falls upon you to end said Blight.

The big draw of this game is the Origin. You choose a gender, race, and background, and get to know your character through an Inciting Event that leads you to become the Warden. This mechanic went away in Dragon Age 2, in part due to a rushed development cycle. You play as Hawke, a human fleeing the Blight with their family. You live as a refugee in a city called Kirkwall and seek to keep yourself and your family safe. In Inquisition, the mechanic returns, though with less impact. There is no intial origin-specific quest. Instead, the sky explodes and you have to fix the hole in it. You become the Inquisitor, leader of a religious movement to fix the Breach and have a weird ass magic mark on your hand. Which is good because it lets you fix those aforementioned sky holes. None of the games require the knowledge of the others to play, but it is helpful. You can jump straight into Inquisition if you like, but I suggest starting with Origins and working your way through all three games. They give you insight you otherwise wouldn’t have and can enhance plots in ways you might not have felt as attached to otherwise.

There a number of races in the game - Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Qunari. Origins allows you to play as the initial three. Inquisition lets you plays as a Qunari. Humans are… humans. Life can be great or shitty, but they are the most numerous race and the dominant religion is led by them. Elves once had an empire that spanned the entire world, then humans arrived and everything came crashing down. Tevinter, a country led by mages - powerful magic users - destroyed their empire and took what they wanted. Including the elves. They were enslaved, until they joined a rebellion led by Andraste. This rebellion started the Chantry, see: Catholicism led by women. Andraste is like if Jesus was God’s wife instead of his son. Andraste, Bride of the Maker, has her life similarly cut short by betrayal and went to the Maker’s side to be his bride and petition on behalf of his creation because he’s an absentee father. The elves were given a large amount of land, called the Dales, and life was cool for a while. Until the Chantry decided they sucked and should be Andrastians and held an Exalted March (see: Crusade) to wipe them out. Those who fled the dales became the Dalish, who refuse to submit to human rule, and the city elves, who generally live in poverty in slums called Alienages. Elves, like humans, can be mages. Mages outside the Tevinter Imperium’s aristocracy (called the Magisterium) have various degrees of sucky lives. Most mages are taken to Circles, “schools” where they can learn their magic in safety and away from other people. By and large, they function more like prisons. Templars, the Chantry’s soldiers, possess talents that allow them to combat magic. Ideally, they protect mages from themselves and others, and protect others from mages. Many times, they are glorified jailers, and that comes with a significant potential for abuse. Mages outside circles are called apostates, and the Chantry calls for the death of apostates. “Magic is meant to serve man, not rule over him” is something Andraste said and it has a number of different interpretations. Magic is accessed through the Fade, the place mortals go to dream and the realm of spirits. Mages are susceptible to demons, who wish to enter the world of the living, and becoming possessed often results in an abomination - a creature of immense power who wreaks havoc and death upon the waking world. Then there are the Dwarves. Dwarves cannot dream and therefore cannot be mages. Why can’t they dream? Unsure. However, they do not have an organized religion, instead venerating their ancestors and returning to the stone from which they came. They posses a ‘Stone sense’ which allows them to navigate below the surface. Their society is highly structured, containing castes which cannot be traversed with little exception. At the top of the list is the nobles who rule Orzammar, one of the few thaigs (cities) that were not destroyed by the Darkspawn - the creatures that dwell below ground and who carry the Blight. At the bottom are the casteless, who are not even considered dwarves by society at large. Then there are the qunari. It’s technically the name of the followers of the Qun, a highly structured religion, but the race is often synonymous. They are giants, often possessing horns, and have grey-toned skin. They can be mages, as they dreams, by within the Qun they are shackled, their mouths sewn shut, and their actions controlled by another Qunari.

There is a shit ton of lore, and the stories are incredibly compelling. Each game (Origins, 2, and Inquisition) follows a different protagonist with different goals and companions. The companions can be romanced, with various amounts of fluff and heartbreak. A fourth game was “announced” last year at the Game Awards and the fandom has been frothing at the mouth for new content since Inquisition’s release in 2014.

Tl;dr, if you like fantasy role playing games where stuff can get dark (and I mean implied rape dark) and there is a lot of gore (seriously the gore mechanic in DA:O is a lot) but the stories are compelling, the characters are rich, and you don’t mind screaming into the void because a bald elf gave you Feelings, play it. It’s a seriously wonderful series, even with its faults, and the fandom is pretty awesome too.

If you want more specifics PLEASE ask. I love talking about the series and I can and will speak until I lose my voice. Or… type until my fingers fall off, I guess.

[langwrites]

Lang Plays Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I’m playing them in this order: Blue Lions, Black Eagles, Church of Seiros, and then Golden Deer. (I organized them by how likely it is to have a true final boss who is actually as relevant to the lore as the opening cutscene. And also because I thoroughly spoiled myself about that.)

So, after sinking what the game tells me was eighty hours into a single playthrough, here’s my thoughts on the first thing I tackled.

Spoilers below the cut.

Very Early Game (Blue Lions):

It’s the Fire Emblem Dad! (I played Path of Radiance. I’ve seen this dude before.)

Hi Claude. Sorry, I’m gonna steal every single one of your peers I can catch. Same to you, Edelgard.

Dimitri is so awkward it’s almost palpable.

Aww, Ashe and Annette are adorable. Mercedes has that dead anime mom hairstyle that sets my teeth on edge, but she’s super nice. It’ll take me longer to warm up to the boys, I think.

Felix is the token “I MUST BECOME STRONGER” myrmidon character. Gotta have at least one per game, apparently.

Sylvain = Sain. Token womanizer cavalier. His support list is pretty odd, though.

Dedue = the guy who done punch things. And he *has* to punch things, because he’s slow as hell and his speed growth isn’t great.

What the fuck is that strength growth, Dimitri. What the fuck is that Charm growth.

I was so close to making him my team’s designated Dancer unit, you guys.

Beleth is gonna be their teacher and somehow I don’t imagine this going super well.

Pre-Timeskip School Life:

Once again, I regret not being able to support with characters who’ve firmly attached themselves to the other two houses. (Which is only like three people in my “gotta catch ‘em all” playthrough, but whatever.)

But I can support all the recruitables, which is...something that took me a long while to do.

The first person I stole for the Blue Lions was Caspar. The first person who straight-up joined was Flayn. Yay, auxiliary punchers and auxiliary-auxiliary healers!

Ashe, your adoptive father really didn’t need to die. You were right. It was all bad all the way down.

Flayn gets kidnapped and I fuck around for a month raising everyone else’s supports and realizing Seteth’s too distraught to train my Lance level. Dangit.

I missed the opportunity to support with Leonie entirely because her personality put me off for the first few in-game months, and it turns out you can only start her support chain while Jeralt is alive.

Dammit. Now I’ve gotta train with lances.

What’s-his-fuck over at the village sure did do a thing, didn’t he. And if he hadn’t dropped his disguise just then he could have gotten away with it.

Their scheme would’ve failed faster if anybody around this fucking monastery could apply logic to shapeshifter shenanigans.

Seriously, no one should have trusted Monica.

You vanish over the course of a year, and come back with your personality totally inverted.

Tomas/Solon had just demonstrated what it looks like when these dickbags drop cover, and then everyone subsequently failed to make the correct deduction. If they hadn’t, Jeralt would’ve lived.

Dad-stabbing: A theme of Fire Emblem games. Seriously. Check out the huge list of dead dads (which goes all the way back to the first game in the series.)

Also dead moms, but for some reason moms are less prominent in the series as a whole.

For the purposes of this analysis, we are also including every single boss who had kids. Which isn’t most of them, but god damn there are still a lot of dead dads.

Dorotheaaaaaa be my frieeeeeeend

Yoinked Linhardt after finally showering him in enough gifts to get his sleepy ass to sign transfer papers.

Swiped Marianne, Bernadetta, Petra, Ignatz, Alois (kinda), Shamir (sorta), Manuela (iffy), Hanneman (yoink), Catherine (see previous), Hilda (how), Lorenz (woop woop), and Leonie (sigh).

The Death Knight remains, for the moment, unpillaged for his Dark Seal drops. This time it was an accident: I killed everyone else in the room except for him and a priest/mage, but then that last dude squared up with Felix and died.

All the points I poured into their associated skills and their supports, however, left one big gap:

DAMMIT FERDINAND, I’M TRYING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE. WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH ABOUT HEAVY ARMOR. RAPHAEL JOINED UP DESPITE THAT.

(I got a B-rank support with him and he popped into my office to say he was transferring, nbd. Ferdinand’s B-rank is locked until after the timeskip.)

tl;dr: The only recruitable character I missed was Ferdinand.

Seteth and Gilbert don’t do shit until post-timeskip and Rhea isn’t playable, so w/e.

As soon as I say that, Seteth and Flayn have a paralogue. It’s a beach level. I hate beach levels and desert levels. Seteth gets to be MVP because he’s the only jerk who can fly.

They have a little speech after the paralogue level that reveals that they’re actually father and daughter, not siblings. And the whole story of this little subplot basically confirms that they’re dragons.

Neither of them transform over the course of the game, and that’s okay.

Ruh-roh, Raggy. Let’s see who’s really under the Flame Emperor’s mask--

“AND I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT TOO, IF NOT FOR--oh wait teleportation exists. BYE!”

Dimitri proceeds to thoroughly lose any chill he ever pretended to have, and I’m 99% sure the villain in question isn’t actually old enough to have caused the Tragedy of Duscur. Unless the biographies in the notes were lying.

Now, the backup dancers over there sure as shit are, but logical reasoning has its time and place.

Whatever. Time for stabbing.

WE ALREADY KNOW THESE PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF MAKING THEMSELVES LOOK LIKE ANYONE, MASKS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY. THE VICTIM ONLY HAS TO DISAPPEAR FOR A WHILE.

WHY AREN’T WE CHECKING THAT AS A BASIC PRECAUTION.

THERE HAVE BEEN THREE OF THESE CREEPS ALREADY.

Their name is too long and I should call them Morlocks.

But seriously, check for infiltrators.

What passes for strategy around here: Take Paladin Dimitri, plunk his overleveled ass down on a corner where all the enemies’ targeting reticles converge, and wait five minutes for all the counterkill animations to play out.

If I wanna try the same with Sylvain, he needs to be backed up by at least Annette and probably Felix. Maybe even Mercedes if she’s not already busy slinging Physics around.

Dimitri’s fine with just sitting around with a forged Steel Lance and poking holes in everything.

Beleth can do the same, but is much more reliant on dodging and not just facetanking axes.

The little “no damage!” sound effect is still very satisfying. Yes, game, my Defense/Resistance has escaped the bounds of your damage curve.

Dorothea became my Dancer unit, because despite Dimitri having twenty-eight Charm to her nineteen, he begged me not to and also is better sitting on a corner and killing everything.

Huh, the monastery is sure being invad--you know, Edelgard, if it wasn’t already really obvious that your faction is basically the “villain route” in Samurai Warriors parlance, using giant mop-headed demonic beasts as shock troops would probably give it away to observers. If they weren’t already running away in abject terror.

The principle from How to Train Your Dragon still applies: A downed dragon is a dead dragon. If Rhea didn’t want to basically get mobbed, she should’ve stayed in the air and acted as flying artillery for the Knights of Seiros with her mouth laser. She could’ve sat on top of a wall and fired with relative impunity.

Sure, some demonic beasts can fly, but there weren’t any in that cutscene and the flying ones have, mechanically, one less health meter than the landbound ones.

Also, they’re pushovers.

And there’s the washed-out creep brigade! They look like the Grimleal, but with more feathers and less of a tan.

...And there goes Beleth, off to have a five-year nap.

Welp.

Post Timeskip:

Oh good, it’s been five years. Beleth, I hate to break it to you, but you’re probably at least slightly dragon at this point. Check your ears if you have a chance.

Tiki canonically napped for like 99% of her three thousand years in Awakening, ironically enough, so it’s not like dragon-people are exactly early risers.

Poor rando gets asked “what year is it” like that question is ever used outside of fiction. Beleth doesn’t read time travel books, I take it.

“oh you probably shouldn’t go to the monastery, it’s like super haunted and shit”

“sorry what was that i couldn’t hear you over the sound of me climbing up to the monastery”

Eyyyy, it’s a lance-wielding pirate.

...Hi, Dimitri. Where’d your macaroni hair go.

You know, it’s not surprising that Dimitri would think Beleth was a hallucination. He spent a lot of time yelling at his inner demons even pre-timeskip, after taking a couple of severe psychological shocks.

But he absolutely should have walked into her and been surprised when he knocked them both on their asses.

He’s been spending the last five years stabbing people, hasn’t he.

Yep.

He looks like he fell out of Game of Thrones.

Blue Lions! Rah rah something team chant. Rah rah Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen~

None of you people trained any of your skills. In five years. Dimitri you were a paladin. Did you eat your horse.

You are all getting sent to boot camp.

Hi, Gilbert. Why are you playable now all of a sudden. Why is your speed a fucking two.

THIS IS WHY MIKLAN HANDED YOU YOUR ASS.

Once again, the “plunk Dimitri’s overleveled ass down on a corner and watch people die” plan is still a valid strategy. I still don’t know where he gets all this strength (and charm). Like, goddamn.

Annette got cornered for like five turns because I was too cowardly to put her in range of a Brawler.

Then she killed him with a critical Fire.

So, I guess Felix’s remarks about Dimitri’s issues make some sense now, but he should still stop making them. I know he’s a tsundere par excellence, but still.

STop TalKing AboUT KilLing PeoPle

Warning: Sympathetic Boss Approaching.

Look, most “sympathetic” bosses in Fire Emblem kinda fall flat. The better ones are placed in the way of the player characters while they’re in the middle of a low point in the emotional arc and get utterly wrecked in a flurry of misdirected fury. Sometimes the characters even feel bad about it afterward. The worst ones are the ones who are just utterly devoted to someone who’s earned everyone’s ire by being a utter fucking asshole.

Good: Mustafa from Awakening and Shiharam from Path of Radiance. Good people forced into bad situations. Or just cornered. Henry talked up the former long after he got a Chrom to the face, and the latter was probably the best-written of the “aw, I wish I didn’t have to kill him” bosses I’ve run across.

Bad: Levail from Radiant Dawn. There is no getting around the fact that General Zelgius was a bad dude. Levail holding him up as a paragon of knightliness and swearing to serve him out of sheer admiration did not make him even marginally better.

We sure did kill Caspar’s uncle, didn’t we. I’m sure that won’t come back to bite us square in the ass. Not after he had that “this guy is a person who cares about stuff” cutscene to remind us of his pixel humanity.

I’m sure it’s fine.

Bwoop, bwoop, everyone say hello to Ferdinand and Lorenz! And say goodbye to Ferdinand, because he didn’t allow himself to be recruited pre-timeskip, isn’t recruitable post-timeskip, and then I had Felix kill him with Thoron.

Lorenz can rejoin us, though. He doesn’t count as an enemy commander once he’s been smacked down to 0 hp.

HI, DEDUE. WHY ARE YOU ONLY LEVEL TWENTY. GET IN THE BACKLINES AND DON’T TALK TO ME UNTIL YOU CAN ACTUALLY DAMAGE ANYTHING.

(Seriously, tho, I was waiting for Dedue to come back for two reasons. One: I did that paralogue of his way back in Part One and he did not get to die after all that. Two: Part of Dimitri’s epic slide into “spear-wielding mountain man who runs around killing people with his bare hands” had to do with Dedue “dying” during the timeskip. That jackass cracked a smile for the first time in ingame years thanks to the world’s punchiest bodyguard coming back alive.)

(Fortress Knight is still the worst class.)

I totally didn’t pay any attention to what, if anything, actually separated Master classes from Advanced classes other than my inability to get my hands on Master Seals. So Ashe is a Bow Knight now, while Felix made it to Mortal Savant (wtf is that name and why is the class model basically a samurai) and I spent a very long time level-grinding Sylvain’s Reason skill to make him a Dark Knight. I aimed for Gremory with all my spellcaster girls, but I admit to not really paying attention to specifics.

(I ended up with five Gremories: Annette, Flayn, Mercedes, Lysithea, and Dorothea. Bernadetta became a Bow Knight and Marianne promoted eventually to a Holy Knight. Dorothea also ended up taking Mortal Savant, which she didn’t ever use.)

(Seteth became a Wyvern Lord and Dedue eventually made it to Warrior.)

(Byleth qualified for Mortal Savant and used it precisely no times.)

(It became pretty clear that I just threw Master Seals at people whenever the possibility of promoting them came up.)

(Certification is a weird system.)

I stopped paying a ton of attention to supports around the time I realized that Ferdinand wasn’t going to be recruited no matter what I did in the final month before Shit Went Down.

Then I started paying attention again like two chapters from endgame, because I remembered some A-ranked supports meant that the characters could get paired endings.

I also stopped ignoring Cyril and started using him as an adjutant, though his stats never quite caught up to Seteth (also known as the only instructor unit I ever consistently used).

Cornelia is absolutely a Morlock plant. That is a face she just made, even in flashback.

I wish we could've seen Dimitri’s now-dead uncle, if only because I’m curious. Also, what did Edelgard’s mom/Dimitri’s stepmom look like?

Why is there always a fire level. I saw it earlier thanks to doing Ingrid and Dorothea’s paralogue, but it’s a Fire Emblem stock level type and I hate it.

Okay, yeah, this area totally got nuked. Magitech nukes, but still. It’s still on fire centuries later? Why??

Felix’s dad is a Holy Knight. Why do I have to keep his ass alive on a field when half the enemies are barely Advanced classes, never mind Master classes.

Oh right, because I want the exp for myself.

Rodrigue is possibly the single person here who can make Dimitri’s murder-bender change direction even slightly. He also gets along with his actual son so much worse than that. He’s like Annette’s dad, but with actual verbal confrontations.

There’s Caspar’s not-exactly-forgotten aunt, here to “secretly” avenge her dead brother. Dude, could you say something about that?

Three levels later: I thought we were done with the dad-stabbing. 

Felix has officially lost Too Many People in pursuit of keeping Dimitri alive. As has everyone else, frankly.

In other routes, Dimitri absolutely runs his campaign off a cliff.

Here, he turns his life around. More or less. Gotta make the choice to get better.

Time to take back the Kingdom’s capital, like we’ve not been doing for four chapters now. Finally.

Cornelia is absolutely a Morlock plant. This is like the fourth character who supposedly did a complete characterization 180 after a period of being actually useful to other people. Goodbye, civil engineer we never knew.

I think the only infiltrator who did things properly was Solon, but he still dropped his disguise for no good reason early in the game. That operatic level of drama is not a trait that helps him survive a month later. Just goes to show that the Morlocks don’t have more than one type of good judgment at a time, I guess.

I know I’m supposed to avoid the giant doom robots, but...

No, it turns out I can just have Dimitri and Beleth stand in the middle of the killzone and destroy them for fun and profit.

Ding dong the witch is dead.

Welp, time to go save the Alliance, which is getting schooled by the Empire.

HI CLAUDE.

I MISSED YOU AND YOUR FAITH IN HUMANITY. And specifically in Dimitri, for some reason? I think he kinda stabbed your soldiers a lot the last time you two met, but feel free to keep being the Best Character.

Your bodyguards are top-notch, man. One of them got hit with anything over the course of the entire battle.

Your general Judith, however, necessitates Flayn using ALL of her Rescue spells just to keep her alive.

I still had to send Ashe to keep a Falcon Knight off you, but no big.

And also had to send Hilda and Petra to kill the Asshole Reinforcements to nick their stuff.

Dimitri sat there and dodge-tanked all of Arundel’s attempts to kill him until the team killed everybody else. Then Dimitri poked him and he died. Dimitri OHKOs everything except monsters now, and that’s only because they have multiple health meters.

And then Claude fucks off to become king somewhere else. Okay then. It was a nice speech, though.

Killing the Death Knight for fun and profit and now Mercedes is crying. Shit.

Doesn’t this place get vaporized in every other route?

Did killing so many Morlocks by accident lock us out of seeing an intercontinental ballistic missile?

(And it is by accident, because this route is like the only one where the Morlocks are incidentals instead of the main problem, partly due to Dimitri’s tunnel vision and partly just because they don’t drop their disguises upon death.)

Well, I guess it’s time to confront Edelgard.

It’s completely valid of her to look at the guy who was threatening to rip her head off with his bare hands and hang it from the gates of the Empire’s capital a little while ago, and then go “Yeah, diplomacy’s shot.” That Dimitri stopped being quite so all-consumingly homicidal a bit ago is not actually reason to try throwing herself on anyone’s mercy. I feel kinda bad for her, since she’s been pushed into this corner and her ace-in-the-hole allies are basically decapitated, and I stole all her potential friends back during the school phase of the game.

Also, sunk cost fallacy.

Still walloped the entire roster of the second-to-last level, down to killing Hubert with Lysithea. Hilda and Cyril killed all the bird demons.

On the final level, which starts immediately after the previous one, three characters got totally destroyed by the sheer number of mages floating around: Dimitri (whose Avoid finally failed him four times in a row), Hilda (same), and Dedue (thirded). Seteth miraculously survived taking 68 points of damage from a single attack, and then later went on to take Edelgard’s last health bar off with a crit.

Weirdly, Beleth’s Avoid was just fine. Finally let her use the Sublime Sword of the Creator and she killed most of the Gremories that took out Dimitri and Hilda.

And everybody we could save per plot constraints got to live! (Except Ferdinand.)

I’m willing to save him on subsequent routes because killing him made Dorothea sad.

Next time: Lang plays the route that screws over most of these people in service of killing the God-Pope.

[avaquet]

Ev’s Family

Well, here is Evelyn Lavellan and how she looks before the Conclave is destroyed. But, I talk a lot about her, so why not her family? Especially since her father makes an appearance in my long-fic, and will play a big role later.

Sometimes it helps to know more about the author before delving into these things, don’t worry, you won’t get my life story, far from that. But, I know how things might look, especially here on tumblr and I’m Paranoid.

TL;DR - I am the first one from my father’s side to be born on the mainland. My father, who’s Hawaiian, does have darker skin than both my mother and I. My mother is basically transparent. I came out looking like a copy of my mother because genetics are really fehking weird. Ev’s family line exhibits similar features in that regard, as in Ev looks quite similar to her own mother, which y’all will see shortly.

Also! Fair warning, there are mentions of abuse (because for some sadistic reason I can’t let my OCs have a normal happy childhood)

Here is Evelyn’s mother; Valonna Lavellan. Valonna came from the Kirkwall alienage in search of a better life. She changed her last name and got her vallaslin soon after Clan Lavellan accepted her as part of the family. Valonna has skills in duel-wielding daggers and knows how to keep them hidden from prying eyes, her own parents taught her how to do that. She escaped from the alienage with the help of a human named Evelyn, which inspired her to name her own child down the line.

Valonna found peace in Lavellan, she was good at helping trade with the humans that often came by. Sometimes dwarves. But, she was excellent at bargaining and got to work closely with other members of the clan in doing so. Valonna found herself getting attached to someone who checked in frequently, not a trader himself, but the First of clan Lavellan in training, Taelhen. They became close friends after a while, sharing stories about childhood or the troubles they got into, well Valonna was more of a rebellious child then Taelhen.

Soon, that friendship blossomed another seed in the pot of their relationship. Attraction and romance. They were a cute couple, and many deemed their romance as successful and beautiful. And it was. They shared many laughs and many stories, and were together for about half a decade before finally becoming bond mates. Valonna felt amazing that day, she thought the tradition was beautiful, poetic, symbolic. It was probably the happiest day in her life.

(WARNING)Later, well, Evelyn was born. Though, there was a shift in dynamic. Valonna became more easily irritated, and though Evelyn was planned, it was like Valonna didn’t want to be a mother anymore. She missed Ev’s first steps, first words, first book, first...everything pretty much. And most seconds, too. Valonna focused more and more on her work within the clan as if to escape from home. She became less and less patient and more and more annoyed with her own child. Of course Taelhen had to work, he was First to the clan and had an extremely symbolic and vital role. But he still put more time into raising Ev and caring for her than Valonna did when she was supposed to be watching Ev.

(W)It started off small. The first few months when Ev was an infant, Valonna seemed so much different than what she grew into. She was so happy to be a mother. But then, she started dreading the responsibility. She became irritated, grouchy, angry when Ev cried, though she would still do the responsibility, just not in a kind way. Then she began to ignore Ev for periods of time. Then she left the house more and more. Then came the emotional quips and jabs. Then when Evelyn was about five years old, Valonna got physical. But only once, as Taelhen walked in the moment Valonna struck Ev, and from that moment on Valonna was not welcome around either Ev or Taelhen and later on the Keeper exiled her. Though, Valonna found another clan, even if they were reluctant to accept her.

(W)She does regret what she did, she didn’t realize how far she had fallen. But the damage she caused, was unforgivable to Taelhen, and would drastically affect Evelyn down the line. With one hit, Valonna caused much physical damage but a shit ton more emotional. It was a backhanded swing in the form of a fist, over something so small as Ev accidentally looking in a sweets jar. Ev was betrayed, severely hurt and afraid, bleeding from the lip and back of her head as the force of the blow caused her head to knock a corner. A bruised jawbone, a black eye, welts, and a concussion. Not to mention the absolute hole in Ev’s heart, where Ev said to Taelhen, “Paba, my heart is crying.”

Valonna was never seen by Clan Lavellan again. Or heard from. Though, she does live in another clan far, far away.

And here is Evelyn’s father, Taelhen Lavellan. A direct descendant of Lavellan themselves. A mage, the First to clan Lavellan when he came of age. He is the child of Lavellan and an island clan, bringing the two clans closer together and sharing more of traditions. The two clans visited each other quite often as well. As one may notice three prominent features of Taelhen, he has vitiligo, heterochromia, and a Mallen streak in his hair. (A/N: this was photoshopped, I am unaware of any mods that allow these, also that dark spot in his ear I just noticed and might’ve been an accident during the photoshop process)

See, now we must go into Clan history. (HC) Before Taelhen was of age, or old enough to remember, his father was the Keeper of the clan. Father, came from Lavellan, while the mother came from the island clan (A/N: I’m still trying to figure out a name for the clan please be patient with me). Though, his father wasn’t a very good leader to say the least, and after a while realized this and left the clan without a trace. Which was irresponsible to say the least. Taelhen’s mother was not a mage, but a clan hunter, and so Deshanna as she was First, became Keeper. When Taelhen got older, his magical prowess became more and more defined. He also had an eagerness to learn, and is extremely patient. Meditative one might say. So, when he came of age, he was announced as First. His mother, sadly, passed away during a hunting accident about a year after Ev was born.

His demeanor is calm and sympathetic. He is in love with life and the world and he can find beauty in the smallest of creatures, like an ant. He is also in gratitude of said creatures and plants. He’s nurturing, caring, and also powerful. Because of his collectiveness, he doesn’t often panic, but he does think fast. His patience rewarded him as he reached the pinnacle of his magical power, being as strong as his personal connection to the Fade allows. In battle, he seems to show no emotion, but being hit by his magic would be akin to a dragon falling on your face. Of course, his judgment, despite thinking fast, might not be the best at times. Especially when he has to think fast.

He fell in love with Valonna after spending much time together, as he caught himself gazing into her eyes and internal thoughts being just how wonderful of a person she is. He would describe it as a fairy-tale. Though, Valonna was the one the initiated the relationship because he can be quite shy. They got bonded and he would say that it was one of the happiest days in his life.

the happiest day of his life was when he held Ev for the first time in his arms. He did his best to be there for her when Valonna refused to. Taelhen was so concerned with Ev, that he didn’t quite see what was happening to Valonna. Though, after a while he did seem to fall out of love with Valonna due to her not helping and distance. It was the most stressful time of his life, juggling parenthood and his role in the clan. The only reason he kept Valonna around was for the minuscule help she did give, though he didn’t know exactly what she was doing. He had a gut feeling. And he followed that gut feeling which led him to walking in on Valonna striking Ev.

He was filled with rage and was actually about to strike Valonna down, but his concern for Ev was much more. Taelhen forced Valonna out of the house and went straight to work on caring for Ev. Using magic to bring potions and poultices, bandages and ointments from around the home. Using magic to heat and cool the wet rag he offered. Using magic to make Ev laugh. Consoling her, calming her down. Talking to her and repeating over and over again, “It’s not your fault, Ev.” Though, he would feel guilty for not seeing things sooner for a long time.

He needed help raising Ev because of how demanding things could be, but Ev was getting older now so she actually accompanied him when he was doing his work. Which got Ev close to Deshanna and she became more of a mother to her. They got to help and watch her grow, they got to witness her magic. They even got to see her Dreamer abilities come out, which surprised both of them because Dreamers are exceptionally rare. Ev’s magic grew and grew over the years, and she had an affinity to learning, puzzles, and adventure. Ev loved nature, and art, and general romanticism. Which, sounded familiar. Though, she had a stronger connection to the Fade and could be more powerful than pretty much everyone else in the clan. That’s when both Taelhen and Deshanna decided that Ev would be First, Taelhen had happily accepted the position of Second. Though, when Ev joined the Inquisition, he would return to his position as First. A lot of jumbling happened.

Well, that’s Ev’s family! Blood family anyways, tis quite small as she’s an only child and never really got to meet her grandparents. But her chosen family and Clan Family well...is quite large. I like to HC that Lavellan is over 100 strong with over 50 mages. And despite the trauma she had when she was five, she did end up living a pretty wonderful childhood. Though, the trauma still bleeds into her daily life, just not as bad as when she was younger. Ev is recovering! And she was loved and supported in her clan just as much as she gave love and support to them.

[asagamifujiino]

((There’s something about Fujino I have yet to go into, and it’s something critically important to her character:

The full powers of her Mystic Eyes of Distortion.

From what I’ve heard, aside from Touko’s comment in Remaining Sense of Pain about how if Fujino received training, she would be one of the most powerful humans on earth, I’ve heard that in interviews Nasu backed this up by saying she’s the most powerful telekinetic user on earth. So that should say how scary she is. But the lack of training really hampers her potential. I found a translation last night of the one KnK chapter that didn’t get animated, and while skimming through it, I found a line that said Fujino actually hurts herself by using her mystic eyes. And this is after the fight on the Broad Bridge. I attribute this to both a damaged and weak body and no training. (said chapter also mentions at one point she can’t even walk without crutches but that may need context.)

So basically, what can she do if she got training?

If she got training, she’d be absolutely terrifying.

With the help of a strong mage, (Touko in her default KNK verses, Patchouli in her Touhou verse) she now no longer thinks there is nothing she cannot bend. This includes time, space, and magecraft.

She can’t outright destroy spells like Shiki, but she can bend and twist them until they’re either so mangled they can’t work properly, or that they just snap from the pressure. What’s even scarier though is what she can do with space and time. With time, while she can’t control it on the level of Aoko Aozaki and the Fifth Magic, she can still twist time so much that it can become dilated in areas she chooses, hampering enemy movement and making them easy targets. And with space.... Anyone who plays FGO on JP may have heard Fujino’s line about Abigail where she wonders if she can create holes like Abigal can with her keys. Well, she can, in her own way. If she distorts space enough, she can create ACTUAL MINIATURE BLACK HOLES that suck in anything around them. She keeps them small in scale to not destroy everything, and so that once she’s gotten her target, she can either bend or collapse them herself to prevent more damage. So in essence they aren’t black holes by definition, but achieve the same results.

TL,DR: Fujino with training is one of the most terrifying people in the nasuverse.

[superthatguy62]

FFIII Facts of the Whenever: Plenty of Protags edition

Most Final Fantasies are story-heavy enough that they generally have a standard cast. Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy III are not story-heavy. and while Squeenix seems hellbent on turning FFI into the RPG equivalent of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (where there is no canon, only suggestions), they kinda already did it with III. So let’s look at each version’s protagonists and compare and contrast.

MC 1: The Onion Knights

These four kids are the OG Light Warriors. They fell down a hole while playing and were blessed by the crystal to become the Warriors of Light. In spite of primarily being known as the Onion Knights/Kids, they don’t stay in the class for long before getting jobs and ditching their starting class (though, if they reach the early 90s levels, they can get massive stat boosts if they go back).

The Onion Knights are in an odd place. They aren’t mute slates like their FFI counterparts, but they also don’t have personalities like even the FFII protags. They didn’t even have names as, according to the JP FFwiki, the names used in screenshots of the game varied. Even so, their job went on to become a recurring job in the series, so they have that much going for them.

MC 2: The Manga Heroes

Final Fantasy 3 got a manga adaptation years ago and was the first time the four Light Warriors got set identities. Details about these four are scarce because the manga is JP only and data seems to be scarce even there. Based on JPFFwiki, here there are from top to bottom:

Muuchi: A 15 year old. Described as having a “Bright and Tough” personality. Uses the Fighter job (and even seems based on it), but also apparently gains summon magic?

Doug: A 14 year old. The youngest of the group and also, seemingly, the comic relief/trickster. Doesn’t use magic and fights with a knife (Thief Job)? Also has the best name.

Melfi: A 16 year old. The White Mage of the group. Apparently was the daughter of a landlord who died in the earthquake and by the end basically (has the potential to?) surpasses Unei.

J. Bowie: 17 Years old and thus the oldest.  The Black Mage of the group. Calm and cool. Becomes Doga’s successor at the end.

Outside of the manga, these four have never (to my knowledge) appeared in any other FF media. In some circles, people do use Muuchi’s name for Dissidia’s Onion Knight though. That said, one must wonder if it’s coincidence that the DS heroes follow a similar team structure (though with different jobs).

MC 3: The Remake Heroes

When Final Fantasy III managed to get a remake for the Nintendo DS, a lot of things got overhauled in the process. This included giving the Light Warriors clear identities before cutting out 90% of the scenes featuring these new identities. I’ve already talked a lot about these guys so I’ll just give very quick synopsis and basically say what their jobs are.

Luneth: Unknown age. Based loosely on the original Famicom warriors, including being the only one to keep the full backstory, and very loosely designwise on the Aonuma Artwork Warrior. Consistently a Warrior in all of his appearances, but gained/used the Evoker class in a scrapped Castle Hein sequence.

Arc: 14 years old. Based very loosely on an NPC in Kazus. The only one aside from Luneth to keep the “adopted by Toppapa” part of the backstory. Usually a Black Mage, but was suggested to be a Scholar by Refia in a scrapped Castle Hein sequence and was interested in becoming a summoner in a scrapped Replito sequence.

Refia: 15 years old. The only one of the four to not be based on an existing Famicom character. Usually a White Mage, though she did have a minor subplot with a bard in a series of scrapped Duster sequences. Also, the only one as of this writing to be voiced (World of Final Fantasy)

Ingus: Unknown age. Based on a Knight in Castle Sasune. Usually a Red Mage, but is heavily implicated by both Doga and his own memories to be descended from a Dark Blade wielder (Ninja/Dark Knight) in scrapped sequences for the Cave of Time and Falgabard. As a bonus fun fact, he’s the only one to shift names during development, almost being called “Freyr”, though “Ingus” is technically the same/similar name due to the way runes work or something.

These four are generally the canon main characters in terms of FFIII itself, to the point where even Famicom screenshots/videos post-remake use their names. However they’ve made scarce appearances outside of material related directly to their game.

MC 4: Onion Knight MK2

For Dissidia Final Fantasy, the representative for III was an unnamed Onion Knight. In general, he is an amalgamation of designs, based on the sprite and Aonuma artwork and taking cues from the remake for the helmet. In spite of being based on the original 4 Onion Knights, he’s considered very different, to the point where he has a different name than the job usually does ( 玉葱剣士 is the job, オニオンナイト  is the character). In essence, he is basically the III equivalent of I’s Warrior of Light by being the physical embodiment of the Famicom version of III. This is most likely for nostalgia purposes as he is based on the three strongest jobs of the Famicom version (Ninja, Sage and Onion Knight) whereas if they went with one of the DS characters, their EX Bursts would be based on the classes listed above (which aren’t exclusive to III). In spite of being somewhat divorced from the Famicom Knights, he does act as the general III representative and even heavily influenced Record Keeper’s portrayal of the Onion Knight.

Onion Knight has never been given a concrete identity. Whilst people speculate/claim that he’s Luneth or Ingus, there are various factors that disprove it; Onion Knight’s personality is, at best, an amalgam of the DS characters and at worst totally unique. He doesn’t act a whole lot like Luneth and his “Luneth” skin in Japan is actually called “Luneth-style” which is pretty damning. Meanwhile, some may argue that it’s Ingus, but Onion Knight still has the OG kids/Luneth’s backstory and is implied to be rather young whereas Ingus is implied to be the oldest member of the quartet. Finally, while some people might peg him as Muuchi as it’s claimed that the manga character names are the closest to official names, bear in mind that people barely know anything about the manga and of what there IS on it according to JPFFWiki is... pretty different to say the least (Saronia is sunken for one).

TL;DR: He’s Onion Knight and not (as far as we know) much else.

MC 4: Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Game (And Friends)

This guy is the guy used in the early Famicom FFIII promotional material. As the title suggests, he does not appear in the actual game (though his party, seen on the bottom, has it even worse as that image is the only one in which they appear). It’s theorized that his appearance loosely (here meaning “they took note of his general hair-color/style”) inspired Luneth’s. At the very least, Onion Knight can dress up as him so maybe it is him (which, admittedly, just adds to the FFI!WOL comparisons...).

Now, this sort of thing isn’t that out there. As earlier mentioned FFI also has a ton of protagonists (Compare the actual game to Dissidia to the manga to Mobius to the Light Novel to whatever new and exciting ways Square decides to complicate it). But III’s case is still a rather interesting case, especially since the odds of any of these protags meeting each other is slim to none. The DS characters’ only interaction with Dissidia’s Onion Knight is through Record Keeper and that was mainly using recycled dialogue. Will that ever change in the future? Who knows.... but most likely not. For the manga characters/Famicom characters/Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Game, most certainly not.