#maria I need to know your order in succession the line as well XD

[fantomette22]

Ok I'm once again asking

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE damn it

I now the big one/down left on the 2nd pic is basically Annalise...But everyone else?! They could be anyone...

I love it it's beautiful but it made me goes insert conspiracy theory meme

[cutepresea]

4-11 A Light That Pierces the Clouds: Erosion

Sorry again for the spam.

If you want to blacklist these, you can use either the tag #a light that pierces the clouds for just this event, or #xdu event scripts or #xdu scripts

Reminder that these are copied straight from XD Unlimited itself, so any grammatical weirdness, mistranslations, and/or mischaracterizations are not my doing.

Hibiki Tachibana: (My chest feels suffocated... It burns...)

Hibki Tachibana: (It hurts! Somebody help me...)

Hibiki Tachibana: (No... No one will come. No matter how close they get, they'll always leave in the end.)

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki. Come on, Hibiki..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "...Huh?"

Miku Kohinata: "It's impressive that you're eating breakfast while sleeping, but keep it up and you'll be late for class."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Class? At Lydian? Why are you wearing that uniform?"

Miku Kohinata: "Are you still half asleep? We got to school together. Of course I'm wearing my uniform."

Miku Kohinata: "Here's your bag. I put in all your textbooks. We can run to class after you finish eating."

Miku Kohinata: "Are you done eating? Then let's go."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh?! Just... another dream?"

Hibki Tachibana: (She said she was here from a parallel world. Why have I been having  these dreams since meeting her?) [1]

Hibiki Tachibana: "...What does it matter? I'm always along, anyway."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Again... What is this? A stone? It's... metal?"

Hibiki Tachibana: "......"

Hibiki Tachibana: (It feels like there's been gradually more of these things in proportion to the pain in my chest.)

Hibiki Tachibana: "......"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I can't believe there're so many Noise. I wonder if those three on the other side are all right."

Kirika Akatsuki: "We should be worried about ourselves first... Things are getting pretty rough."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Even so, we have to do this. Let's keep it up, Kiri-chan."

Kirika Akatsuki: "Of course. But if we could use X-Drive, we could clear out these Noise easily."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "No point in asking for what you can't have. We'll just have to do our best!"

Sakuya Fujitaka: "We've got more Noise signals in the vicinity!"

Aoi Tomosato: "Wielder vital signs are declining! If they carry on fighting any longer..."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Grr, fine then! We'll seal off the area and order the wielders to retreat."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I refuse to retreat!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Tsubasa?!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "There's too many Noise. If we retreat now, who knows how much damage they'll do?"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "With Tachibana as she is and Maria's group in the parallel world, our job is hold this line to the death!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "Yeah... Maria's doing everything she can."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "We were entrusted with this world, so we'll see this through to the end!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "...Fine. But don't do anything stupid! We're sending out a rescue squad right now!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Well said, you two. Now... Let's do this!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "Haah... Haah... G-Got it..."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "...I can still fight!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "That's right... Wring out whatever power's left in you!"

Kirika Akatsuki: "Haah... Haah... Haah... How's that?"

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "Did we defeat them all?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "All Noise signals in the vicinity have vanished."

Genjuro Kazanari: "That was a hard fought battle out there. Well done!"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Understood. Returning to base immediately."

Genjuro Kazanari: "No, we've sent a helicopter to get you. Stand by."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "Roger that."

Kirika Akatsuki: "Standby? I can barely walk, let alone stand."

Shirabe Tsukuyomi: "I want to lay down here and sleep..."

Tsubasa Kazanari: (That huge swarm was like something from Solomon's Cane.)

Tsubasa Kazanari: "What's going on?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "A big welcome back to the three of you."

Elfnein: "I'm glad you're all safe."

Maria: "Never mind us. How are things going here?"

Chris Yukine: "Man... I could cut the tension here with a butter knife."

Miku Kohinata: "Tsubasa-san and the others aren't here..."

Genjuro Kazanari: "They were fighting Noise for a few days straight, which exhausted them. They're recuperating now."

Miku Kohinata: "Oh, no... Are they all right?!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "No need to worry. They aren't injured, just fatigued. They'll make a full recovery after a day of rest."

Miku Kohinata: "That's good to hear."

Chris Yukine: "Yikes. We came back at just the right time, then."

Maria: "Yeah, too close for my liking."

Miku Kohinata: "So, um... How's Hibiki doing?"

Elfnein: "She sometimes has fits and becomes very restless. When it gets really bad, we put her under sedatives."

Miku Kohinata: "Oh, no..."

Miku Kohinata: "I need to go check up on her!"

Maria: "There she goes... Let's leave those two alone for now."

Maria: "So, what's going on with the Gjallarhorn alert?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "It's still active. Actually, it seems to be getting worse."

Chris Yukine: "Getting worse? But we beat two of those Karma Noise! What's going on here?!"

Maria: "Considering the situation, it could be due to a threat even more deadly than the Karma Noise."

Chris Yukine: "Guh... Then it must be that big thing."

Genjuro Kazanari: "What big thing? What happened over there?"

Maria: "I'll explain. Have you heard of the complete relic, Goliath?"

Miku Kohinata: "Hibiki? She's still sleeping."

Miku Kohinata: (She looks so thin and pale... Even more so than before I went to the other side.)

Miku Kohinata: (Her hand... A hand that's joined so many others together...)

Miku Kohinata: "I will save you. So please, just hang on a little longer..."

Genjuro Kazanari: "The complete relic, Goliath. Something like that showed up?"

Chris Yukine: "You know about it?! Tell us in layman's terms!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Sorry. This is the first I've heard of it."

Maria: "On the other side, they said that the U.S. entrusted them with it. Maybe their government is hiding it?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "It's not completely impossible, but I can't imagine they'd just reveal that information to us."

Chris Yukine: "Then it was all a waste of time..."

Elfnein: "Hold on. I think there is still a potential solution we can find from the information at our disposal."

Maria: "Elfnein?"

Elfnein: "It retreats when night falls, right? If so, how does Goliath differentiate between night and day?"

Chris Yukine: "What do you mean? It retreats when the sun goes down."

Elfnein: "Is it visually looking at the sun set?"

Maria: "You mean a change in the amount of light? I'm not sure if it has what we would call eyes."

Elfnein: "Yes, that is likely true. Which implies that its hours of hibernation and waking follow a fixed cycle."

Elfnein: "If it is determining night and day based on the amount of light, we might be able to trick it."

Maria: "That seems worth a shot."

Chris Yukine: "Sounds fun. So how do we prepare that kind of light?"

Genjuro Kazanari: "Ask Section 2 on the other side. They should be able to figure something out."

Maria: "Yeah. This just might work."

Chris Yukine: "All right! Then let's go back and mess up the big guy!"

Maria: "Wait. What about this side? We should at least wait until Tsubasa and the others fully heal."

Chris Yukine: "Oh, right..."

Genjuro Kazanari: "It'd be a big help if you wait here. Tsubasa and the others should wake up in a day or so."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "That won't be necessary..."

Maria: "Tsubasa?!"

Chris Yukine: "Are you sure you should be up?!"

Elfnein: "You must rest. Successive fights have caused your body fatigue and stress. You cannot recover this quickly."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "It's just fatigue. It's nothing compared to what Tachibana's going through."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "I will protect this world in her place."

Chris Yukine: "You may say that, but the others haven't woken up yet. As it stands--"

Tsubasa Kazanari: "No, they feel the same way, too. They're straining, but they're awake, and they're worried for Tachibana."

Tsubasa Kazanari: "If resolving the issues in the other world leads to Tachibana's recovery, then that's our top priority."

Maria: "Is she really looking that bad?"

Tsubasa: "Yes... I can't bear to look at her."

Elfnein: "Hibiki-san's fits are progressively becoming more frequent and intense."

Elfnein: "And her strength continues to weaken. If this continues, her life may be in danger."

Chris Yukine: "Are you serious?"

Maria: "I see now. We need to hurry back there."

Chris Yukine: "Yeah, you're right."

Hibiki Tachibana: "Hmph!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Raaaaaaagh!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Haah... Haah... Haah..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "This rumbling... Something's coming!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Guh..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "I don't know what the hell you are..."

Hibiki Tachibana: "But since you're here now... I'll tear you down, too!"

Aoi Tomosato: "Oh no! We're detecting a signal thought to be Goliath!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "What's going on?!"

Aoi Tomosato: "Gungnir's signal is on-site! Hibiki-chan... She's out there fighting alone!"

Genjuro Kazanari: "What?! She's mad! Where's Tsubasa?!"

Sakuya  Fujitaka: "She can't move due to the after-effects of the Superb Song."

Genjuro Kazanari: "Gah... Do as much as you can to support Hibiki-kun! Hurry!"

Sakuya Fujitaka: "U-Understood!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Guh! It's strong!"

Hibiki Tachibana: (It's way too powerful to fight head-on. If I take a clean hit, that'll probably be it for me.)

Hibiki Tachibana: (If only I had more power... more strength.)

Hibiki Tachibana: "Guh! Wh-What's going on? I feel... hot."

Hibiki Tachibana: (It's like my entire body's boiling... But!)

Hibiki Tachibana: "Hyaaaaah!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "I feel power flowing through me!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "I can fight now! I can beat it by myself!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Raaaaaaaagh! Guh... What?!"

Boy: "No! S-Somebody help me!"

Hibiki Tachibana: (He hasn't evacuated yet?! Why now?!)

Hibiki Tachibana: (Guh... I have to help him... No, I want to kill him...)

Hibiki Tachibana: "Huh? Wh-What was that?"

Hibiki Tachibana: (He's human, so I have to help him.) (Kill him! Slaughter the human!)

Hibiki Tachibana: "What... is this? Is there something inside me?"

Hibiki Tachibana: (It's like a vortex deep in my body... Spinning around and making me feel sick!)

Hibiki Tachibana: "Guh... Raaaaaaaagh!"

Hibiki Tachibana: "Get away! Run if you don't want to die!"

Boy: "A-Aaaaaaaah!"

Hibiki Tachibana: (No... I don't want to kill him... What's going on with me?)

Hibiki Tachibana: (Was it... what that Black Noise did to me?)

Hibiki Tachibana: "Oh, no! Crap!"

Hibiki Tachibana; "Ah... Gah!"

Hibiki Tachibana: (I can't move. I've taken too much damage...)

Hibiki Tachibana: "......"

Hibiki Tachibana: (Is this the end for me?)

Hibiki Tachibana: "It's gone... Why?"

Notes:

[1] There's a double space between "having" and "these"

[bellringermal]

What sort of man is Gerhman for you? (Same question as with Maria)

He is a handsome piece of trash and I love him. THE END.

Oh, if only things were that simple! :P I will try not to turn this post into the ramblings of a shameless fangirl but I promise you nothing.

What I want to clarify right here at the start is that Gehrman is, overall, a good man. Yes, he is flawed, yes he is a closet pervert and yes he never really felt guilty for the slaughter of Fishing Hamlet. But all of this is what makes him the more human and relatable character in the Soulsborne series in my opinion and what intrigued me in the first place.

So, lemme give you some juicy and 100% fanmade backstory for this bad boi :P

Gehrman’s character and personality are definitely the results of his upbringing. Born frail and sensitive, he was forced into martial training since a young age and denied to pursue what was probably his true calling in life, that of the artisan. He had to ‘grow up fast’ to help to sustain his family (Gehrman’s childhood/teenage years follow the disastrous conclusion of a war between Carim and a foreign nation) and because of that he never got the chance to assiduously attend school. When he got hired at Byrgenwerth as a handyman at the age of 16, he could barely read and write. This poorly paid job was for Gehrman a pivotal turning point, because it allowed him to escape the clutches of his overly strict father and gain access to a world of higher-cultured people such as the students and personnel of the college.

And as time went on and Gehrman proved himself a skilled and hard-working lad, he forged a long-lasting friendship with the college’s gatekeeper/janitor Edmund and the sinister but caring scholar Dores. These two, are easily the most influential people in his life beside Master Willem. Dores and Edmund encouraged him to get back to study, lending him books and laboratory equipment so that he could put his -rusty, but brilliant-  skills at use in his free time and asked Master Willem to grant him the permission to attend lessons alongside the students. Finally able to express himself without neglecting the martial training he got from his father, Gehrman quickly became essential to Byrgenwerth as a whole, serving both as a groundskeeper (and trust me, you need someone like that when your college is located in the middle of a damn forest!) and custodian. Everything that ever mattered to him, everything good that ever happened to him and that gave Gehrman some sense of pride or accomplishment was tied to Byrgenwerth and to the benevolence of Master Willem who provided him a place where to stay in exchange for his services. No wonder the soon-to-be First Hunter would become fiercely loyal to the Byrgenwerth’s cause to the point of self-detriment.

When the scholars unlocked the entrance to the Tomb of the Gods and faced the horrors of the Labyrinths for the very first time, Gehrman was right in the front line, clueless an unprepared. That first ‘hunt’, that resulted in dozens of students getting killed and our ‘hero’ crippled and scarred for life, was an experience so horrifying and traumatizing that most people would’ve just called it quits “Fuck the college, I’m outta here, I don’t get paid enough for getting my face eat by giant undead werewolves”-style. But Gehrman, somehow, probably out of fear of losing everything he ever cared about now that Willem considered him useless because of his injury, endured. He swore to himself he would find a way to fight the beasts and vanquish them and as his leg healed after the amputation he spent months researching and tinkering with weapons at his (at the time, quite small and disorganized) worktable. During that time, Willem hired several groups of mercenaries hoping that they would be able to clear at least the first floor of the Chalice but obtained no concrete results. Still bound to his wheelchair, Gehrman observed their equipment and strategies, trying to grasp what those experienced warriors were doing wrong and what he himself would do wrong in following his father’s teachings. Once able to stand on his two legs once again, Gehrman asked the captain of the mercenaries to listen to him, offering some advice and explaining what he had learned from the Pthumerian texts Dores was able to translate. The mercenary scoffed him at first, but then decided to listen to what the young man had to say and asked him for a demonstration. Impressed by the rudimental but quite efficient trick weapon (Gehrman’s first creation was the Saif, in my headcanons. Not the Burial Blade) the captain allowed Gehrman to train with his men and share his knowledge and tricks with them. The next expedition in the Chalices would be their biggest success so far and that very night Gehrman would come back to the college with a wide smile on his blood-smeared face and the severed head of a Scourge Beast as a trophy. He was 24 years old :3

But the real story begins almost 20 years later. 20 years that Gehrman spent devoting himself to the Hunt completely, perfecting his techniques, forging new weapons and taking the place of the captain of the mercenaries becoming, in fact, the Hunter Chief of the group, now composed of more than thirty members, all students of his. He came from nothing and crawled his way up to the top, taking pride in his accomplishments despite the fact that he had to put aside everything else, including his private life (which had been quite depressing and lonely since his childhood friend, Therese, married someone else) and with the constant awareness that everything he has is still just a kind concession of Master Willem and that he could lose everything in the blink of an eye. His workshop, his money, even his comfy studio filled with mechanical creations, everything belongs to Byrgenwerth.

Even now, as a grown-ass man with a reputation and devoted students of his own, Gehrman is still very much the same insecure boy he was when he joined Byrgenwerth. He still holds a grudge towards his father (it’s a mutual thing) is a walking disaster around women, is very dependable on Dores and Edmund and never questions Master Willem’s orders, not even the more despicable ones. And trust me, Willem often asked him, Dores and Edmund to do things that are, to put it simply, quite fucked up. For science, of course.

Overall, Gehrman means well. He does his best, tries to be impartial when it comes to his students and genuinely cares about their safety and well-being. He has seen many of them die in the course of his career and always blamed himself for their demise. Even if they signed up a contract knowing what they were getting into, that doesn’t make the departure of a colleague or friend any less painful for him, reason why he takes upon himself the responsibility of finishing off his students on the battlefield if there’s nothing that can be done for them. He is a really demanding teacher (which reminds him of how his father used to treat him and Gehrman kinda hates himself because of that. Yep, he definitely has daddy issues) and someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kick you out if you don’t behave, but he would do this only because he doesn’t want to see you dead.

Surprisingly, all the above also applies to Maria. No matter how much into her he is, during training, he never treated her differently than his other students. Never went easy on her because of her higher social status or the simple fact that she is a woman. (I mean, Gratia, Izzy and Henriett are women as well and they know that Gehrman doesn’t give a damn and they are glad he doesn’t.)

Speaking of which, it’s time to make this post even longer and spend a few words on Gehrman’s mania. He immediately found Maria extremely attractive since their very first encounter, and in a genuinely perverted way at that. He immediately had his mind filled with all sort of naughty thoughts while his reasonable side was there to remind him to “keep dreaming bro, that ain’t going to happen”. And at first, he was kinda okay with that. No matter how beautiful she was, Maria was a real pain in the ass at first and not someone Gehrman would’ve wanted to form any sort of relationship with. So his thoughts were, for quite some time, just thoughts. And not even particularly intrusive ones. But as time went by, the more he got to know Maria the more he realized that she was literally everything he ever looked for in a woman. That was the moment the whole drama began because at that point he became afraid of what Maria would’ve thought of him if she ever found out about his infatuation with her.

That is the point in the story when he began to hide, lie and avoid her while still dying to see her. This part is my favorite because Gehrman is very conflicted and does a bunch of dumb shit in pure cheesy Period Drama style. The worst thing he does is probably idealizing Maria beyond belief, putting her on a pedestal where no one (not even himself) can touch her while gloating about the idea that he is the one responsible for her talent. Which is relatively true, but doesn’t excuse the ‘ownership’ he claims over her skills. On a good note, he is very aware of how twisted his feelings have become and feels guilty about it, reason why he acts cold and distant towards Maria. A behavior that doesn’t fit with that of the other hunters who are now friendly and well-disposed towards her at this point in the story.

His internal turmoil is the reason why I do find Maria’s reaction to his extorted confession absolutely brilliant (props to Daisy who wrote it

Now, I could keep on rambling about these two for hours and about how the Old Blood and its effects on them (and the setting) affected the story but this post is already TOO long XD