#now why would i do that i love tressa ....

[butchlifeguard]

FINISHED TRESSAS CH4 💃💃💃

[bilightningwhumper]

Bilightningwhumper's AI-Less Whumptober 2024 Collection

*Now Completed!*

Excerpts using prompts from @ailesswhumptober for my planned "Shadow of a Shield" (MCU fic collection), "The New Eden Institution" (dystopian fairy tale retelling fic collection), and "Temptations of Fate" (Romeo and Juliet Angels/Demons AU variation fic). So, warnings for spoilers ahead, but I'm doing my best to keep them minimal. Short and sweet. Well, short and whumpy, lol.

"Shadow of a Shield" chapters will be labeled with "SoaS" in the title

"The New Eden Institution" ones with "TNEI"

"Temptations of Fate" with "ToF"

Hope you enjoy!

Day 1- Torture Tuesday- SoaS

Public torture/public use, stress position, “If you cry, we’ll go easy on you.”

Fic: Plight of the Canary (Mare's story) PoV: Mare- Bucky and Nat's daughter Summary: Mare wakes up to a nightmare

Day 2- Whumperless Wednesday- SoaS

Unfortunate fall, car accident, “Don’t move. You’ll be okay.”

Fic: Shadow of a Shield (Jamie's story) PoV: Jamie- Steve and Peggy's daughter Summary: An attack on the Starks has old memories flooding back to Jamie

Day 3- Trauma Thursday- SoaS

Shared trauma, survivor’s guilt, “It’s not your fault.”

Fic: Plight of the Canary (Mare's story) PoV: Mare- Bucky and Natasha's daughter, Will's twin Summary: Becca comforts Mare after they get Jamie home

Day 4- Fright/Freaky Friday- SoaS

Painful transformation, non-consensual body modifications, “You’re a monster.”

Fic: When an Angel Falls... (Becca's story) PoV: Becca- Steve and Bucky's daughter Summary: Becca is changed... forever

Day 5- Sensory Saturday- SoaS

Overstimulation, migraines, “I can’t take this anymore.”

Fic: Shadow of a Shield (Jamie's story) PoV: Jamie- Steve and Peggy's daughter Summary: Jamie has a sensory overload away from home in the midst of high school drama

Day 6- Surprise Sunday- ToF

Multiple whumpees, self sacrifice, “I’m the only one who can do this.”

Fic: Temptations of Fate (Romeo and Juliet Angels/Demons AU retelling) PoV: Morgan- Romeo Summary: The mission ends, but not the way anyone planned... or wanted

Day 7- Medical Monday- TNEI

Field medicine, running out of supplies, “Hold on, we’re going to have to improvise.”

Fic: Just Right (Goldilocks retelling) PoV: Tressa- Goldilocks Summary: Practical first aid used on Tressa when she's discovered after breaking into a stranger's home

Day 8- Torture Tuesday- TNEI

Rope burns, gagged, “You’re so much prettier this way.”

Fic: Forever Prey (Red Riding Hood retelling) PoV: Sienna- Red Riding Hood Summary: After her punishment for disobedience, Director Wolf comes to free Sienna

Day 9- Whumperless Wednesday- SoaS

Hypothermia, heatstroke, “You look pretty pale.”

Fic: When an Angel Falls... (Becca's story) PoV: Bucky Barnes Summary: Bucky meets someone... new?

Day 10- Trauma Thursday- SoaS

Self worth issues, pushing away a loved one, “You don't need to earn this.”

Fic: Flight of the Reaper (Will's story) PoV: Will- Bucky and Natasha's son, Mare's twin Summary: Will wants to be left alone but his mother is as stubborn as he is

Day 11- Fright/Freaky Friday- TNEI

Hallucinations, truth serum, “Why would you even say that?”

Fic: Hollow Mirror (Alice in Wonderland reteling) PoV: Natalie- Alice Summary: After Natalie drinks some tea, she starts having weird experiences

Day 12- Sensory Saturday- TNEI

Isolation, sensory deprivation, “Can you feel me? I’m right here, whumpee.”

Fic: Picture Perfect (Rapunzel + Hansel and Gretel combo retelling) PoV: Leslie- Rapunzel Summary: Leslie attempts a reunion with Josh after the first one didn't go so well

Day 13- Surprise Sunday- SoaS

Whumpee using themself as bait, defiance, “Take me instead.”

Fic: "When an Angel Falls..." (Becca's story) PoV: Becca- Steve and Bucky's daughter Summary: Mariya comes for Becca, but she's too sick

Day 14- Medical Monday- TNEI

Seizures, concussion, “See if you can follow my finger with your eyes.”

Fic: "Just Right" (Goldilocks retelling) PoV: Tressa- Goldilocks Summary: Tressa has a trip to the doctor

Day 15- Torture Tuesday- SoaS

Waterboarding, removing body parts, “Don’t break down on me yet.”

Fic: "Flight of the Reaper" (Will's story) PoV: Will- Bucky and Natasha's son, Mare's twin Summary: Waking up after an attack, Will has an unpleasant surprise

Day 16- Whumperless Wednesday- TNEI

Drowning, hostile environment, “I don’t know how anybody could survive that.”

Fic: "Final Piece" (The Last Unicorn retelling) PoV: Galen/Ame- Unicorn Summary: Galen and Esme attempt to escape notice of the search party after running from the Asylum

Day 17- Trauma Thursday- SoaS

Abandonment, misunderstanding, “Why did I even think you cared?”

Fic: "Shadow of a Shield" (Jamie's story) PoV: Jamie- Steve and Peggy's daughter Summary: The Halloween Dance has Jamie making new discoveries...

Day 18- Fright/Freaky Friday- SoaS

Mind control, possession, “Everybody will end up despising you.”

Fic: "Plight of the Canary" (Mare's story) PoV: Mare- Bucky and Natasha's daughter, Will's twin Summary: Mare has ghosts of memory haunting her

Day 19- Sensory Saturday- SoaS

Disassociation, losing a sense, “I wish I could get you back.”

Fic: "Shadow of a Shield" (Jamie's story) PoV: Ana- Jamie's best friend Summary: An unexpected encounter brings up unpleasant memories for Ana

Day 20- Surprise Sunday- SoaS

Enemy/Stranger to caretaker, accidental de-aging, “I’m absolutely not qualified for this shit.”

Fic: "Plight of the Canary" (Mare's story) PoV: Natasha Romanoff Summary: Parenthood isn't easy for a former assassin and spy

Day 21- Medical Monday- SoaS

Drugged, ambulance ride, “This will make you feel better, okay?”

Fic: "Plight of the Canary" (Mare's story) PoV: Mare- Bucky and Natasha's daughter, Will's twin Summary: An unexpected reunion for a pair of twins

Day 22- Torture Tuesday- TNEI

Forced (to kneel/watch/hurt somebody else), whipped, “Do not look away.”

Fic: "Bruised Apple" (Snow White retelling) PoV: Darcy- Snow White Summary: Darcy receives a gift from her stepmother

Day 23- Whumperless Wednesday- TNEI

Fever, passing out, “Hey?! Stay with me, okay?!”

Fic: "Bruised Apple" (Snow White retelling) PoV: Darcy- Snow White Summary: Cleaning doesn't go well for Darcy

Day 24- Trauma Thursday- SoaS

Deconditioning, relapse, “It’s normal that you need more time.”

Fic: "Plight of the Canary" (Mare's story) PoV: Mare- Bucky and Natasha's daughter, Will's twin Summary: Mare and Steve have a heart-to-heart

Day 25- Fright/Freaky Friday- TNEI

Humiliation, betrayal, “How could you?!”

Fic: "Hollow Mirror" (Alice in Wonderland retelling) PoV: Reid- Red Knave Summary: Reid has a realization meeting his parents' new "pet"

Day 26- Sensory Saturday- SoaS

Electrocution, burning, “This is going to sting.”

Fic: "Shadow of a Shield" (Jamie's story) PoV: Jamie- Steve and Peggy's daughter Summary: Training between Jamie and Ana doesn't go well

Day 27- Surprise Sunday- TNEI

Before vs after, Alternate universe, “Well, there’s a first for everything.”

Fic: "Just Right" (Goldilocks retelling) PoV: Tressa- Goldilocks Summary: Tressa thinks back to before and compares it to now

Day 28- Medical Monday- TNEI

Internal bleeding, needles and stitches, “I didn’t think the wound was that bad…”

Fic: "Weary Rest" (Sleeping Beauty retelling) PoV: Fion- Prince Summary: Petal comes to visit while Fion gets first aid

Day 29- Torture Tuesday- TNEI

Ownership, branding, “Everybody will know that you’re mine.”

Fic: "Royal Makeover" (Frog Prince retelling) PoV: Wayland- Frog Prince Summary: Lorainne lays her claim on Wayland, permanently

Day 30- Whumperless Wednesday- SoaS

Poison, delirium, “You’re not making sense.”

Fic: "Shadow of a Shield" (Jamie's story) PoV: Jamie- Steve and Peggy's daughter Summary: Pre-heat starting at school isn't fun

Day 31- Trauma Thursday- ToF

Panic attack, facing a phobia, “You need to get out of here!”

Fic: "Temptations of Fate" (Romeo and Juliet Angels/Demons AU retelling) PoV: Morgan- Romeo Summary: Demon memories can be tangible compared to a human's

Full collection on Ao3 (or will be at the end of October, lol) here:

[body-diversity-for-solista]

Hi, I just found your blog and got a little overexcited about the possibilities. Sorry if this is a lot, I just like going on about ideas I have and I don't expect you to do all of them, if anything please just think of these as suggestions / inspiration for if you want to draw any of them. :)

Younger characters (i.e. Tressa, Agnea, Crick) with acne? (Or older characters too, I just would like to see more characters in fiction with acne because it feels like they're always drawn with perfect skin.)

Alfyn with scarring on his face/hands (Castti has scarring from the poison rain, why not have Alfyn have scarring from the illness he had as a kid)?

Therion with a wheelchair/cane/other means of helping him get around? I find it a little hard to believe that he has NO lasting damage from that fall, I imagine it's not impossible for his legs to have gotten messed up or for him to have been partially paralysed.

Ort if he had to leave the Sanctum Knights post-story (even temporarily) due to injuries -- scarred maybe, and/or using a cane or wheelchair? It bothers me that he was the only survivor and was hit full force near the end there, and the game didn't go back to him after the fight, you just find out later if you go to the cathedral that "oh actually he's fine now."

Thank you so much for the requests! I don’t remember exactly what symptoms Alfyn’s disease was said to cause besides coughing blood, so I just made up some marks I thought looked cool.

I 100% agree with your point about Therion, it makes sense that he would have been permanently injured in some way from his fall. But also Ort absolutely deserved a recovery period or at least acknowledgement of his injuries. (I love how before the boss fight Temenos is all “😱! I’ll come back for you, just stay alive until then!” and then the chapter just ends. like oh yeah. totally forgot about that guy.)

[d1mm1ns1n]

Okay I feel like rambling and since I had a good chunk of reasons as to why which octopath character's story was my favorite so here is the list with, more reasons now:

Castti. Why? I cried that's why. When I first started her story I had absolutely no interest in it but then at chapter 3 I realized™️ and now I love it. 10/10 no notes she is such a strong woman and I strive to be like her I will defend her with my life.

Hikari. I am a sucker for "Hikari"'s existence which is the main reason why it's higher up here. Also I know he's all "the power of friendship" throughout most of the story but hey I like friends.

Partitio. I like that his story was one of the "breath of fresh air" stories and he ended up giving me two new stims (which is saying "Mr. Alrond" or "Mr. Roque" in his accent).

Throné. She was my protagonist so I'm biased, and I just find it funny that her story is "then everyone died the end". I just wish Claude was more THERE instead of just popping up at the end. But hey I guess that's what father's do ":3

Agnea. Her position would probably change if you ask me the same question like a month from now honestly. Basically to me though her story is very relatable, as I, too, am a person from the yeehaw country who wants to make people happy.

Ochette. Though her story, at least when I first think about it, feels like it follows the "you, child, save the world" type of story, I like how hers is just a bit more personalized due to being able to pick Akala or Mahina. And the final battle really hit in the feels.

Temenos. Despite him being like, one of my absolute favorites if someone had to make me choose, honestly when I think of his story for the most part I draw a blank. I like how it's more connected to the Moonshade Order and everything but it's just eh, maybe this is because the gap between me playing his second and third chapter is like, a year apart.

Osvald. I love this man, I promise you, and I feel so bad for him, but family doesn't really resonate with me. I also just feel like his final boss could have been at least a bit better, I know this is about story but fighting Harvey felt a little anticlimactic (I am scratching the fact that Castti saved my life because everyone was dead and somehow she killed Harvey before he could do any more damage, once again why Castti is at the top here ":3).

I am giving the other half of the octopath their own sort of list since I don't have enough experience with them and there is a lot less here:

Therion. All because he is my protagonist.

Tressa. As of where I am here story is just "let's go on an adventure!!" But I just, really like Tressa. She's so goofy. "The winds of fortune are howling".

Alfyn. Because of him I say "Alrighty" like my life depends on it.

Cyrus. I think he does the whole "detective" think better, I like that I actually have to pay attention for the most part, at least for the first chapter since that's all I remember.

Primrose. I have faith in the rest of her story so that's why I'm putting it higher up.

H'annit. Don't really have much here, just that she ended up making me use old english for like, two months.

Olberic. Once again nothing to truly note here, sorry.

Ophelia. Once again, nothing.

[charmixpower]

Season 5 wrap up. Season 5 and 4 comparison

As you all probably know by now I like s5 more than s4, for pretty obvious reasons if you've read my s4 thoughts

Things season 5 did better than season 4:

Sirenix and Harmonix make more logical sense than Believix. Forms from outside sources have not been done before and having be given by a higher power makes more sense than suddenly forms can be influenced by how much people on a particular planet believe in magic. It makes even more sense once you remember that Earth is in the Magical fucking Dimension and that Earth not having magic is a fluke

No seriously who the fuck discovered Believix in the magical dimension and HOW?

Lack of love and pet and other stupid jobs

The romance drama was less stupid. Like yes it's VERY stupid and I hate it, but Stella being mad because she thought Brandon was insulting her fashion design makes marginally more sense than what ever the fuck was going on with Mitzi. It's like that for all of them except Skloom, like it's marginally less stupid and brain numbing

Musa is snarky again!!!! God bless!!!! And Riven is acting like a natural continuation of his s2 self, extreme stupidity and inability to read social ques and all!! My babies are back!

Completely irrelevant plot central characters did not happen. At least fucking Krystal tried to heal Sky, that more that I can say about Andy's bitch ass

Does Roy count? I can remember like three scenes he was in, he is a minor character

Tritannus has an actual personality and with some minor tweaks could be genuinely compelling, I cannot say the same for the Wizards of no personality

No secondary antagonists that are objectively better than the main ones and make me want to tear my hair out because I want to see more of them, but it does forget that Diana exists during the lilo so there's that

The civilian outfits were better. There still bad but there not s4's civilian outfits sooo

The Selkies are plot relevant unlike some pets I can't be bothered to remember

The tone of the season was FAR more consistent. Like s4 fucking was so childish than nose dived into Nabu's death, but everything in s5 didn't feel like tonal whiplash

Less transformations. Two is still annoying but it's BETTER THAN FUCKING THREE

At least they had to fucking earn the extra transformations and there's no hand out faries

All the girls got something to do in s5, they all at least got one plotline or big moment. Name either of those things for s4 Flora. You can't because they don't exist

Is not still on fucking earth. Yes very earth centered but we get to see a bunch of fun new locations

The girls and specialists do not act like units with hiveminds

Season 5 actually expanded on how magic on earth would look and that's neat

Tritannus's powers are stupid but at least there explained

The relationship between Tritannus and Icy is more believable than anything between the Wizards of the Black circle, I'm so sorry

Actually let's the next form come without shitting on the previous one

Things season 4 did better than season 5:

NO YOU SONS OF BITCHES LET THEM BE ADULTS!!!!

At least s4 had the decency to say Nabu was just sleeping

No fairy on fairy violence :'((, those girlies in the rainbow mantel ep didn't even get to transform

The earth faries were majorly compelling and have a really interesting motivation, none of the s5 villains are like that

Icy has less stage presence than the FUCKING WIZARDS OF THE BLACK CIRCLE THIS IS FUCKING CRIME

Oh dear god why is Diaspro here why is the continuity in FLAMES

Convergence can do anything, part 2, but worst this time

Letting magical women be queens, Nereus < Tressa

The pendant thing is objectively stupider Sky's Andy drama in s4, it's less stupid than Rivusa nonsense in s4 tho

Diaspro was fucking ridiculous tho

I fully believe that s4 would give mutant main characters different character models

Why does s5 have so many filler episodes. The lilo AND a magic Christmas are you kidding me??

Flora's "no don't hurt it!" Thing has gotten so much worse

They literally made Stella a child I'm so furious

There are more completely meaningless side plots

Things they both fucked up on:

THEY MENTION THE ROXY BLOOM PARALLEL FUCKING AGAIN AND STILL DO JACK SHIT WITH IT

More mind control??? Really????? Really???? Are we being serious????

Extremely childish compared to previous seasons

Soft boy Helia

[beantothemax]

I hate him.

The first feelings Therion had towards Alfyn Greengrass were hatred and bitterness.

How could this yokel country boy have so much optimism about everything? Even that kid, Tressa, knew that not everything was fine and dandy in the world, and she had dreams of becoming a merchant, of all things.

But this overly-generous grass-stained bumpkin insisted on being grossly positive about everything, even going so far as to refuse payment for his services.

It was infuriating.

Yet, as the days passed, that overly cheerful demeanour began to grow on him.

Alfyn's smiles and bad jokes were commonplace, and eventually a welcome thing in the group. Even H'aanit joined in the joking. If the stoic, righteous do-good hunter could appreciate Alfyn's humour, why the hell couldn’t he?

Then something shifted. Therion couldn’t even pinpoint when.

Maybe it was when he gave Alfyn his shawl in Stillsnow. At the time, Therion had brushed off the tender moment as him trying to keep the resident Medicine Man alive since he seemed incapable of self-preservation.

But had that really been true...?

Therion remembered their time in Wellspring, when the heat grew unbearable and he’d had to take his shawl and scarf off. Until that time, he had kept them on stubbornly, even in Sunshade when they found Primrose. Now, he knew he had to take them off lest he die of overheating.

He had heard enough horror stories (and complaints about his choice of garment) from the local apothecary in Boulderfall to know that overheating meant a slow, painful death was guaranteed. So, he (albeit reluctantly) took off his precious purple shawl and scarf, and tied them both around his waist.

Therion remembered the look Alfyn had given him. Automatically assessing all the scars that littered his forearms and neck, and furrowing his brow when he saw the more gnarly ones, the frustrating ones that hadn’t healed right or had gone untreated after an infection. It was really a miracle Therion hadn’t died yet, in all honesty.

Therion would never forget the way Alfyn had sat down in their room at the inn and asked if he had any injuries that needed tending to. He would never forget the feeling of Alfyn’s surprisingly gentle fingers working at a cut he’d sustained from a Ratking. He’d nevee forget the warmth that bloomed in the cold pit of his chest for the first time since-

....Green was starting to change for him.

What had really changed Therion’s view of Alfyn, though, was after the fight with Darius in Northreach. The thief was shivering from the cold and his own tears freezing on his cheeks, when he felt an added warmth on his shoulders, and smelled a familiar scent. Grass and herbs.

Therion looked up from the ground at Alfyn’s face, concern and kindness etched deep into his eyes.

“...Really...? You’re giving a thief your mantle, a symbol of trust?” He’d asked.

Without missing a beat, Alfyn had replied with: “I trust you.”

“...Oh.”

Oh.

That night, Alfyn had held him close and let him sob until he could cry no longer, Alfyn had messed up his hair and traced the scar on his face and kissed it and suddenly Therion knew exactly what that warmth was in his chest.

Love. Love, love, love, love. He loved Alfyn. Aeber help him, he had fallen in love with Alfyn and Alfyn loved him too.

And now here they were, years and months later, back in Alfyn’s little town of Clearbrooke. Therion wore green and had the Riverlands' drawl and clipped his hair out of his face while he concoted tinctures and salves with the man he loved so dearly. Now here he was, with sleeves rolled up to reveal gnarly scars long since healed, however incorrectly.

Now here he was, not quite a faded scar, but healed in all the right ways.

And all the thoughts and emotions Therion had towards Alfyn were as different as he himself was from the beginning of his journey.

I love him.

MAV YOU CAN’T JUST HIT ME WITH THE FIRST AND LAST SENTENCE CONTRAST!!!!!!!!!!! GAH!!!!!!!!!

[coeursetcolores]

Tressa, the Merchant: Chapter 2

WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Chapter 2 of Tressa’s story in Octopath Traveler! 

Okay, time to get down to business! Literally!

We’re lookin’ for gold! ...Or anything else that could sell! Not picky! Our girl Tressa can sell anything!

Following the diary, we ended up in Quarrycrest, a mining town going through a gold rush. Instead of gold, however, we found ourselves a rival. Who needs to think of a different nickname. Don’t get upset Tress, your hat is way better than his.

Aaaaaaand there’s a rich person, so we know who the bad guy is.

It’s really cool to watch Tressa work outside of path actions. Watching her set up shop and sell her stock really shows off how good she is at her job. Knowing she’s only going to get better really gives me something to look forward to.

For my thoughts on Quarrycrest, refer to the previous review.

I also appreciate the rivalry between Tressa and Ali: it’s good-natured and neither one of them do anything really bad to the other to get ahead. Ali doesn’t really do anything uncommon in the marketing world and just understands how to get people to buy things better than Tressa does right now. He’s manipulative, but in a way that’s just basic sales tactic. Sorry honey, this is the world of business. You gotta be ready to go up against sweet talkers who work against your prices.

Ali’s a pretty good rival character: teasing, but not too arrogant. Him and Tressa have a common ground and can hold a civil conversation outside of work. And they share an appreciation for their customers and want to help save them from getting swindled. Unfortunately, if you’re all talk, you’re not gonna last long.

Ali can sell, but Tressa can fight and sell. Point to her. Thankfully she’s nice enough to rescue him (You’d think an experienced traveler in a world populated by monsters and evil scumbags would bring some kind of a weapon). 

And time for the true enemy of this game...big business. 

I know I’ll probably fight some sort of interdimensional, larval, sexual, tentacled, appeared-out-of-nowhere deity thing at the end, but this seems like the bigger threat to the people here.

What kind of mercenary looks over their employer’s leaf supply? Is Omar getting paid to do that too?

And why did they take Ali with them? They weren’t thinking about selling him before they grabbed him, so why did they need to kidnap him to give him a job offer? They could have just left him or run him out of town, what was the point of taking him hostage? I don’t think kidnapping is a good way to convince people to work for you.

Morlock is everything you expect in a rich villain: greedy, underpays people and loves kicking the dog. He does have a point though: he does own the land. Of course, if he ran the original owner out instead of buying it fairly...

Man, monopolies are evil.

And he didn’t even have the decency to fight me himself. At least he paid to give Omar backup (stupid summon bosses).

Then the coward just folds. Pathetic. Kinda satisfying to see a rich old man and his beefy bodyguard whimpering at the feet of a college-age girl (probably fulfilled a lot of frustrated millennials’ fantasies).

Wait, is the town really just going to let Tressa pick the mayor? I get that she threw Morlock and Omar out, but she’s basically been there for a few hours, I don’t know if she’s qualified to make that kind of decision.

This chapter really sets up what the rest of Tressa’s story’s going to be like. She’s going to learn that while she has her code, others have different ones and she’s going to have to do her best to compete. Honesty is a great policy, but you have to find a way to stand out and make people want to buy from you.

Now let’s see how our other adventurers viewed the cutthroat world of the marketplace.

H’aanit: Local entrepreneur explains capitalism to environmental preservationist, more at 11:00. I’m glad Tressa was able to explain her view of mercantilism to H’aanit so well, I don’t think our fair lady cares that much for people only in it for money.

Cyrus: He is just so good at praising people, I see why he was such a popular teacher! And he’s interested in watching her work, which is perfectly in character for someone who just loves to learn. Even if it’s not his field of interest, he wants to see her process and recognizes she’s a prodigy that deserves his attention.

Primrose: Aww, Big Sister Prim! These two are on complete opposites of the spectrum when it comes to story tone, but they still get along just fine. And I guess if anyone can talk about determination, it’s the woman who’s devoted what’s probably over ten years of her life to avenging her father. Get back on your feet, Tress!

Ophilia: Come on Phili, help her out! It’s just a little pretend! And don’t let him get to you so much, Tressa! Ophilia’s still supporting you! You’ve got the power of the Flame and anime on your side!

Olberic: Did you really think he was gonna stop you? No! Team Dad’s got your back! He just doesn’t want you to go without backup! Let’s go take down a rich guy!

Therion: Dang boy, cold-blooded! And Tressa, don’t insult the entire profession! Thieves are just as capable of being good people as merchants are capable of being bad. Not all of them have your ethics, remember the boss for this chapter? Glad Theri didn’t take it personally, he even gave her a compliment...not that he’ll tell her. Tsunderes.

Alfyn: Oh Alfyn, you simple country boy and your homegrown wisdom...I don’t think you’ll be convincing her anytime soon. Just let her stew a bit, she’ll come around. Maybe if Ali tones down the teasing there might be a chance.

And we’ve got a concluding point for our journey, The Merchant’s Fair! But to get there, we have to find something to sell! Probably wouldn’t look good to try and find something when we get there.

Wonder what we’ll find in Victor’s Hollow? Old championship belt? Antique weapons? More skystones?

Guess we better get to work!

[iamsweden]

WE GET POSSESSED? | Ghost Hunting with Friends! Pt. 2 FIRST FLOOR

Summary: Tressa meets a spirit, but not the one she's looking for.

Read on AO3 here!

Read Pt. 1 Before the hunt here!

The Old Royal Academy looks a lot like the (new) Royal Academy, but without the furniture and upholstery and functioning electricity. The main entrance opens into an expansive open foyer. Directly ahead rests a massive staircase that splits into the upper east and west wings. If the layout is exactly the same, then it’d be cool to find the room where Cyrus’s office would be. She’s never stepped foot in his office when it isn’t cluttered floor-to-ceiling with books and papers. That’s something to look forward to on the second floor.

For now, they’ve got a whole ground floor to cover!

“Here we are, folks, at the Old Royal Academy in Atlasdam! Purported to be one of the most haunted locations in the Flatlands, the Old Royal Academy has a lot of history and a ton of character! Just check out these long hallways,” she says, zooming her camera down the first floor east wing, “and the view of the courtyard from here!”

On either side of the central staircase is a large window. The glass is fogged and dirty around the panes, but she’s still able to capture a nice view of the sprawling, overgrown courtyard. Back in the day there used to be a gazebo and pathing and other nice landscaping details, but the 1960’s remodel didn’t include the grounds. There’s probably nothing to see out there except skittering critters.

“Luckily, I won’t be exploring the academy alone tonight. I’m joined by a bunch of friends!”

Tressa pans the camera over her friends, busy fiddling with their own cameras or setting up some equipment. “Their socials will be down in the description box below–be sure to check them out and send some love!”

With that intro out of the way, she carefully sets her camera on a tripod set up in the middle of the foyer. She’s going to keep this baby rolling all night long. If anything goes wrong or when she inevitably needs to change out the batteries, Tressa has a second camera at the ready to take its place.

The floor groans and wheezes like a dying man under their steps, but Cyrus assured them the building is structurally sound. Tressa trusts his judgment but she won’t be running and jumping around either. Safety isn’t at the forefront of her mind right now, though. Mostly she’s worried about the racket they’re going to make while exploring the place. It’s gonna kill the audio quality. And what if all of her gear only picks up their sounds instead something unknown she can pass off as paranormal? Man, this ghost hunting thing is harder than it looks.

Then again, this is exactly why she pays Noa the big bucks as an editor. This video will be great, regardless of what happens here tonight. Tressa is sure of it.

They each take turns filming intro videos, introducing each other to the viewers again and again. Ophilia won’t be making a video about this–her content is more about giving advice and answering questions from viewers–but she still records on her phone for posterity’s sake.

Honestly, Tressa is a little surprised Ophilia accepted the invite to come out tonight. She doesn’t believe in ghosts at all, and has expressed her opinion that this sort of thing borders on disrespecting the dead. But it has been a long time since they all got together like this. Even if the Old Royal Academy has a tragic backstory, it’s not like they’re tramping through an old hospital or the site of a grizzly murder. They asked for and received permission to be here tonight. They’re not doing any harm–just hanging out!

…and making a buck in the process.

“I’m gonna go set up some cameras,” Alfyn announces, hoisting said cameras high. “I’m really bankin’ on seein’ a ghost tonight! Me and Zeph made a bet ’fore we flew out here.”

Well, some of them will be making bank off of this. Alfyn is seemingly cursed to lose every bet he makes. Tressa would abuse the heck out of his losing streak, except she’s a good person and Alfyn is always broke anyway.

“We’re setting up cameras,” Therion corrects, falling into step with him. “Tressa already fell into a wormhole or something outside. No one’s going off on their own unless they want a demon to eat them.”

Tressa sticks her tongue out at him. “Just admit you’re a big baby!”

He flips her off, then spins on his heel to follow Alfyn into the dark.

H’aanit sighs, crossing her arms. “He maketh a fine pointe. We shouldst not splitten up.”

“There have been no reports of demonic activity on the premises,” Cyrus says, as if that’s the reason why the buddy system is so important. As soon as everyone takes their eyes off of the good professor, he’s going to wander off somewhere and it’s going to take some real Scooby Doo shenanigans to find him again. “Ghost sightings, however, are purportedly frequent. I’ve also heard students mention tales of a figure called ‘The Hat Man?’”

“Oh, the Hat Man’s real,” Tressa says. “One time when I was sick, I took a bunch of Benadryl and he popped up in the corner of my room.”

If Tressa wasn’t so sleepy, she would have tried to fight him, too. 

Primrose wearily rubs her forehead. “...Let’s just look around a bit, shall we?”

Yeah, okay, she’s probably right. The Academy is really big and no one’s going to want this to turn into an all-nighter. Tressa doesn’t have energy drinks to go around, and Alfyn always lectures her about how bad they are anyway.

Tressa snatches her camera and takes the lead, heading down the opposite hallway from Alfyn and Therion. Both wings should be more or less identical. Classrooms comprise most of the first floor, with the dining hall at the opposite side of the building where the east and west wings connect again across the courtyard, sort of like a hollowed out rectangle shape.

The hallway stretches endlessly. Doors on either side mirror the other perfectly, almost hypnotic in their repetition. Tressa thinks it would drive her crazy if she had been a student here. How would you ever find the right classroom? Actually. How does Cyrus deal with working in a place like this? Well, not exactly this of course, but the (new) Royal Academy, from what Tressa has seen of it in-person and in pictures, is a near copy of the old one. Maybe it looks better in the light of day, when there are more people about?

She pokes her head into one of the classrooms, slowly panning across the empty space. Even knowing the entire building is empty, a part of her still expected to see some desks or a chalkboard. That’s how abandoned schools look in the movies. But no, there’s really… nothing.

Tressa ignores the itch of fear bouncing around in her head and pulls away, softly shutting the door.

It doesn’t take long for them to reach the anterior of the building. Distantly, Alfyn and Therion’s chatter ricochets to meet them. Tressa realizes all at once that she can only hear them so clearly because their group is so quiet. She knows she’s not alone, of course she’s not alone, but a nagging thought cranes her neck, making her look over her shoulder to make sure her friends didn’t disappear behind her back.

She breathes a quiet sigh of relief to find them scattered a few feet away, filming the elegant detail of the imposing dining hall doors. Then, as if he just noticed the uncomfortable silence as well, Cyrus launches into another ramble: “It is a common misconception that the fire that ravaged the academy originated here, somewhere in the kitchens, but the true origin of the flame was never determined. The fire destroyed so much of the building that pawing through the rubble for evidence was simply untenable.”

“Could it have been an act of arson, I wonder?” Olberic asks.

“The work of an aggrieved student?” Primrose adds.

Cyrus shrugs. “Who knows? There exist so few definitive records of the event. We only know the approximate time of the incendiary event and the identities of the victims. Other than that… next to nothing.”

Right, they know next to nothing. But if ghosts are real, then it stands to reason there’s at least a couple spirits hanging around here, right? Maybe they can ask the spirits for their side of the story. Maybe they know something that could reopen the case!

Tressa can barely contain her grin as she dives into her duffel bag, rummaging around for their ghost hunting device of the night: the spirit box.

“I have an idea!” Tressa announces. She switches on the spirit box and a loud, chuggy static fills the air. Ophilia scrunches her nose at the grating noise and H’aanit winces. Tressa quickly turns it down and explains, “I want to try this thing called the Estes Method. We’re going to ask the spirits if they can give us their recollection of the fire!”

As part of her research for this adventure, Tressa watched other ghost hunting videos on youtube and… okay, so that was the extent of her research. But why would she do more, when Cyrus is here to keep them covered on the rest of it?

Just as she expected, Cyrus lights up, ready to put his wikipedia deep dive to use. “The Estes Method! Yes, it’s truly fascinating! One person will don noise canceling headphones plugged into a radio constantly shuffling through different stations at a rapid rate. Supposedly, they will hear ghostly voices communicating through the static. This communication, in theory, will coincide with our spoken questions!”

“I also brought a sleep mask so no one can say you’re just reading lips,” Tressa says, retrieving. 

Of course, wearing the sleep mask with the noise canceling headphones creates a horror in and of itself: if anything happens while she’s under, she’ll be blind and deaf to it, completely defenseless.

Psh, as if. Again, this place is empty except for the eight of them. The Old Royal Academy is home only to spiders, maybe a couple city raccoons, and a whole lot of dust now. Tressa has nothing to worry about. Except maybe a prank from Therion, but with everyone else around, it won’t be anything too crazy. Especially after last time.

Ugh. Sometimes she can still feel the slime.

“Are you sure?” Ophilia asks. She rubs her arms as if fighting off a chill. “I thought… well, to be honest, I thought you weren’t very serious about trying to contact the deceased.”

“I mean, I don’t totally think ghosts are real. Just that if there’s a chance they are, we could do something to try and help them. That’s okay, right?” Tressa asks.

Ophilia doesn’t look too convinced, but even if it really bothered her, she wouldn’t make a big deal about it. She just won’t involve herself in the investigation, and that’s totally fine! Tressa won’t make her do anything she’s uncomfortable with.

“What was that racket?” Therion calls. He and Alfyn finally rejoin them. Unfortunately, it appears he was not eaten by a demon or sucked into a wormhole.

“Spirit box!” Alfyn answers for her, making a beeline towards the little radio. “Hey, this is exactly what they use on TV! Does it really work?”

Tressa grins. “We’re about to find out. Let’s set up in the cafeteria!”

—

So here’s the deal: each of the group will ask a question about the Incident (except Ophilia, who volunteered to film the ordeal) while Tressa sits in the middle of the room and becomes a conduit for the dead.

Tressa figures it’s only polite to let the spirits in on their plan first. “Spirits!” she begins in a very serious and grandiose voice. “My name is Tressa, and I would like to speak with you! We’ve heard about what happened here and we want to know the truth!”

“If there are any spirits who want to communicate with us, please give us a sign,” Primrose asks in her normal voice, kind of killing the theatrical vibe Tressa has going on.

Alfyn brandishes one of their recording devices. Ophilia slowly pans the camera around the vast space.

The cafeteria remains deathly silent.

“Welp,” Tressa says, sliding on the sleep mask. She settles onto the floor, sitting on her balled up vest. “Let’s see if we get a sign with the spirit box.”

As soon as she slips on the headphones, her entire world becomes a monolith of static. Just to make sure she can’t overhear their questions, Tressa turns the spirit box up a little louder. The noise drills deep in her ears. It’s uncomfortable and more than a little annoying, but she takes a deep breath and focuses. She’s willing to give this thing a chance, so that means she needs to take this seriously.

She lets the static wash over her.

Then, she hears a word.

“Holly,” Tressa repeats.

Seconds later, she hears a choppy phrase in between the static: Greener on the other side.

Flood insurance.

No no no.

Spaghetti.

(Are the ghosts hungry? Tressa is a little hungry. She should have brought snacks and–she needs to focus!)

Outback. Holly. Move over. Dawn. Done. Patty cake. Piano recital. No no no. Greener–

Someone shakes Tressa’s shoulder before she can finish the phrase. She slips off the headphones and tugs the mask off her eyes. While she was under, her eyes adjusted to the dark a little better. Tressa can just make out the outline of seven figures. Ophilia is the only one illuminated by the light of the camera.

“We should move on,” Alfyn says. He clicks on a flashlight. Bright, aching light puddles on the dusty tiled floor. His voice falls flat.

What, did they hear something weird? See something weird? Tressa stands, awkwardly cradling the spirit box and headphones in her arm. It still rings with static. Though she can’t hear it clearly, she thinks it’s still spitting disjointed words. “Why? Didn’t sound like we made any progress. Did any of that answer our questions?”

No one jumps to answer. Tressa switches off the spirit box. A heavy curtain of unease drapes across her shoulders in spite of the light illuminating the space. “...Did it?”

“My mom’s name is Holly,” Alfyn eventually answers. “‘Grass is greener on the other side.’ That’s what you were hearing, right? And flood insurance.”

His mom. She died a couple years ago, before Alfyn and Tressa met. Alfyn doesn’t talk about her much. Not with Tressa, at least. She doesn’t think she ever knew his mom’s name until now.

But she knows how Holly Greengrass died. They all do. It’s why Alfyn is scared of floods.

“Oh,” Tressa quietly says. Then, because she doesn’t know what else to do with this revelation, she apologizes: “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was saying. I just… just repeated what I thought I heard–”

“There’s another staircase to the second floor outside, right?” Therion interjects with too much nonchalance. “I want to poke around the offices. Maybe throw the teddy bear in there, see if we pick up any ghost gossip about the students.”

Yeah, it’s probably better if they change the subject. Tressa fits the spirit box back in her bag and hefts it back up on her shoulder.

What she heard and said probably doesn’t mean anything. What’s that idea called again? Confirmation bias, or whatever? Alfyn probably heard those phrases and connected dots where there were none. This session in no way confirmed the existence of ghosts. Besides… Holly Greengrass died in the Riverlands, on the other side of the country. Why would her spirit be hanging around in Atlasdam?

…Tressa doesn’t want to think about it. It feels disrespectful. The victims of the fire were once people too, but Tressa doesn’t know their names. They don’t have any connection to her friends. They don’t seem… quite as real.

She takes a deep breath, blowing out all the anxiety welling inside her, and follows her friends up to the second floor.

[shix13o]

Synopsis: Tressa’s preparing for an upcoming competition, with her rival Trey. The two always matched in cooking and Tressa was not letting NRC win, she just had to prove RSA was better. Until one night her ex shows up at her door.

Contents: First hand embarrassment, Tressa x Trey, Lilia’s cooking (literally just poison), stalker

Authors Note: Shipping fuel because why would Trey NOT protect Tressa? Like come on, they have so much in common it would actually shock me. Also, this isn’t that long— I might make this a series. Also, thanks to @cafekitsune for the beautiful dividers!

Tags: @liviavanrouge, @394091238483

Word Count: 541 (short lol)

❤︎ « next story

At 3:00am in the morning, Tressa would be getting a visit she did NOT want to be getting, and that was saying something, she loved getting visits and was quite social. In fact, a lot of people loved her, one of those people was not Trey. He hated how her and his cooking level matched, however he always said he has “interest in her” whatever that meant. Meaning that his interest was probably against her, she was from RSA after all. It made no sense for them to be anywhere close to each other…

At most, Tressa and him were rivals when it came to cooking. Contradicting? Yeah. However, he still loved her cooking. The visit she was getting was from her ex however. Who had totally humiliated her!

Beai: Look at this stupid picture of my gf

Friend1: She’s an idiot.

Friend2: What is she even doing??

It might not seem like much, but when she found out he sent personal pictures of her being stupid, she knew she had to break up with him. She told him to NOT share the pictures with anyone. And was mad at him for even taking pictures.

So Tressa was not impressed when he turned up at her door, 3 years later with a bouquet and crocodile tears, saying,

“Oh my, I am so sorry! Please forgive me!” Beai says with crocodile tears, he looked down to hide his stupid grin, expecting her to forgive him as quick as they had broken up, but what she said was shocking.

“No.” He went quiet, did she just say no? But why? Wasn’t he all she needed? How could she reject him? After all he’s done? After— well, he actually was upset that she rejected him because he couldn’t take all of her amazing cooking for granted. Tressa knew this now, so she wasn’t gonna fall for him.

Eventually, her stupid ex left, feeling defeated. Tressa felt good about herself for turning down someone she used to love so much, and for a while, at school her life was good until she felt like someone was watching her from the shadows. That someone was following her every move.

Tressa, feeling defeated and also uncomfortable, decides to do the only thing she can think of as the day of the competition grows closer, she texts Trey.

Tressa: Trey! Can you help me for a second?

Trey: No.

Tressa: Please?? It has nothing to do with the competition.

Trey: Why would I believe you?

Tressa: I think I’m being stalked.

Trey: Excuse me?

Tressa: Look help me if you want to prove that NRC has actual worth.

Trey: Fine…

This isn’t a good idea, is it? Tressa thought to herself as she called Trey. He picks up.

“What is it?”

“Trey— thanks for picking up, recently I’ve been feeling off lately. I brought it up to all the others and they said I was being paranoid! Which for the record I am NOT! You’re the only other person that I knew and maybe you’d believe me?” Tressa was hoping he would, even if he wasn’t a friend at least he had a heart right?

“Fine. What do you want me to do?” Tressa sighed. She thanked him.

© pekoetiikapu ❤︎ These stories are originally created by the original poster (me). Please do not steal or plagiarize my stories and do not steal their ideas. Do not repost the stories in or out of the app, please and thank you.

[roaldseth]

If I may, considering this was too long to put in a reply, I recently came off of original Octopath and recently wrote for such a crossover, so it's fresh in my mind. I can offer an assortment of thoughts to further your own fun or just make more questions.

FarEast Amusement Research (FEAR) had their hand in the creation of Orsterra and scenarios according to Octopath's Complete Guide, and they do TTRPGs. I myself do not roll the click-clack rocks, however being friends with GMs, I feel this makes a lot of sense and is reflective of how Orsterra's lore/history is presented, and Triangle Strategy does a very similar thing (like how the War Chronicles are its version of weird NPC side stories/interactions. Their present worlds are also very much influenced by their past worlds). Granted, TriStrat proceeds Octopath, so why not take from it when there was such a service. I did not take too much time to try and google if FEAR also helped with TriStrat, but if they did, it surely would be a helpful case. If the Triangle Strategy Complete Guide is available, it might say in there, but probably not and is mainly only somewhat available in my case because an Octopath TTRPG does exists.

Unfortunately, I don't play Champions of the Continent at current, however I have heard that a lot of extra lore is put into the mobile gacha game. The following is just a baseline.

Orsterra is overtly a compass or a wheel (Solistia's compass/wheel working slightly to the left) to denote "the eight paths." I cannot recall the actual Chinese/Japanese phrase at the moment. My most recent discussion of this was because Hellagur Arknights ("Octopath Illusion" skin) so maybe it can be back tracked that way at a later time. Osterra also comes from "Orsa" and "terra" (or you could say "Orsa's earth," Orsa being the mother deity). I myself don't know if there is etymology to "-alia" in locations, but it could answer why such purpose of orientation/navigation with "Norzelia" and "Centralia."

For flora: Benedict's character story about the snowbells is just Ogen's side story. Arguably, in general Benedict is kind of Ogen again but now we get more because Benedict is a conviction rep. But, the snowbell blossom is just Norzelia's version of a mind-me-always narratively. In fictional flower language, these two flowers mean different things, but they have the same usage and fate within their respective games. These flowers are decreasing and someone cannot access them to adorn a dead loved one('s grave).

To find out more for certain about the snowbells, I would have to look at the original Japanese for Octopath, because I've heard that in Triangle Strategy, the snowbell has also been translated as a snowdrop in non-English/Japanese script(s) ("snowbell" is quite literal in Japanese and also an orchid, which is not what a snowdrop is). Snowdrops are a separate real flower, but the notable thing is snowdrops are of knowledge in Orsterra. A snowdrop dress was up for auction in Tressa's story, and it was noted as being an exotic, hard to get thing.

With the headcanon mentioned of the deities of old being the Osterran gods, here's some more fuel for that fire. I know Kelbunny mentioned this in the past: the Scales of Conviction are said to have been blessed by the gods. Note, the war counsel is of 8 (7 votes) and "wouldn't it be funny if they were meant to represent a deity."* Granted, Orsterra has 13 gods, but main eight for the sake of narrative relevancy.

In very shallow, vague perspective, you could slot the war council into the main eight. However, this is also where my lack of CotC knowledge doesn't work in my favor, because I know there's more to these guys (the gods) now that there's more content, but it also might not have been in design in time for Triangle Strategy. Chronology like that is out of my scope.

Carrying over aesthetics comes with influences and inspiration of real life and such, however the Wolffort demesne and the Woodlands is slightly suspiciously, not wholly because of the woodworking or roof fixtures, but the Darkwood/Greenwood clans have a kid every once in a while that can conveniently "commune" with animals, and there is that Wolffort origin story about them being lead by a hawk to where they are currently located (Castle Wolffort). Two seemingly unrelated things. But, that is a big red string.

-

*Clarifying for if curiosity strikes, I break down the war council as such:

Serenoa as Aelfric | Benedict as Alephan | Frederica as Sealticge | Geela as Dohter | Roland as Bifelgan | Hughette as Draefendi | Erador as Brand | Anna as Aeber

Aelfric goes without token from being "chief" or "lord," and could be represented by the Scales itself.

The fact that Octopath 1 and TriStrat have the same script definitely raises and reraises theories and questions and old theories about the connection between Orsterra and Norzelia. Even moreso when you take into account the name Aelfric.

That or it was just used for sake of convenience and I'm looking too deep into things haha.

YEAH!!! definitely raises questions at least haha. I'm not as familiar with Octopath lore, but given that they both seem to be happening in their own unique continent and don't talk a lot about what's going on elsewhere on the planet, it totally seems like it could be the same world. The fact that they're visually pretty similar always makes me want to imagine they're in the same universe anyways hahaha.

And the whole Aelfric thing was something I hadn't thought about!! I'll have to dig a little more into Octopath stuff sometime and see what connections there might be there. Would definitely be super cool if there were some crossover in the lore/worldbuilding of the two series

[humanity-curse]

List of my favorite party members in every single RPG ive ever played as of now

“now” being January 9th 2023.

Pokemon not included because that would just be a list of my favorite pokemon in each generation.

Maybe cheating, but i really liked the cleric from dragon quest 3. Yes you do CREATE the party members, but the class is really good!

ninten be goated. im sorry

Princess Alena is just so based okay. okay? she kicks ass. shes russian. “in soviet Zamoksva, Princess save YOU!”

Jeff has damage output AND a boyfriend? based.

I love Sundown Kid (Live a Live) because i love cowboys

Frog chrono trigger my beloved. hes a cool medieval knight. hes a cute frog. hes a good battler and healer. truly a party member for the ages.

Geno is based as hell.

Who doesnt love Citan Uzuki from Xenogears (classic game)

i love goombas. hes a cute one. goombario is cool.

I may have only played xenosaga 1, but i can PROMISE you that KOS-MOS will be first place for the entire series.

I played a lot of FE Blazing Blade as a kid. Lyn was always my favorite. Still my favorite protag.

Love me a good goomba

Boney mother 3 is simply. a little guy.

Persona 3.... has a dog...... and im easy to please

dumbass tough guys are cool (Beat, The World Ends With You)

RIKI THE HEROPON!!!! (Xenoblade Chronicles 1)

Love me a weird interdimensional/eternal merchant girl! (Fire Emblem awakening specifically)

BE TRANSGENDER. BEE TRAANSGENDERR  (Naoto Shirogane Persona 4)

is... is this cheating?

She slays and Slays. (sexy and also MURDER.) Jade Dragon Quest 11

I liked Genny Fire Emblem Shadows of Valentia. I do not remember why.

I do not remember a lot but shes epic

I do not like this game nor did i finish it. Tressa is so autism though. (Octopath Traveler)

This bitch ass cat is a banging healer fr fr (persona 5)

Cute green girl. I liked a lot of characters in 3 Houses actually but i like. always used her. No idea why. Green? (Flayn)

*slaps roof* look at how much trauma i can fit in this bug (Leif Bug Fables)

OKAY so i tried to avoid smt since it is a lot like pokemon in terms of party members. But i kept this beast in my party until the FINAL BOSS. his name is Cirronup. he was in SMT V btw. Love him. i beefed him up with every stat boost item i found.

Mage is one of, if not, the best class in miitopia. kinda cheating, but, idc. 

she is everything to me

SHES THE GIRL WITH THE GALL! (Sena Xenoblade Chronicles 3)

I love robot girls! (Poppi Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

Jodie Caldwell, Super Lesbian Animal RPG

Whats this? a COWBOY? (Xenoblade 2 Torna, Minoth)

Queen Roger RUNS the based Department. (Lisa the Painful) If i think of any more i will update. 

[confusions-shed-of-ideas]

Ranking Octopath Traveler character themes based on how likely they are to make me cry

(This is for fun and also my personal opinion. Also tbh I don't cry listening to music I might cry based on the thoughts they give me tho. I don't cry very often unless certain things happen so there's that)

Starting from the bottom of the list because yes

8) Primrose, the Dancer

Ngl reminds me of something I danced along to when I was in 2nd grade taking ballet classes. The violin melody is very nice and I feel like I'd have a really hard time attempting to play it because I absolutely cannot do vibrato. Very beautiful but not to the point that it'd make me cry. I'd probably just vibe along to it because my goodness what a masterpiece.

7) Cyrus, the Scholar

Gives me Howl's Moving Castle vibes ngl and I don't cry to Howl's Moving Castle music. Very scholarly and professional sounding, and very fitting with the time signature. Reminds me of the ever growing library of knowledge that exists in this world. How fitting. The reason why it's above Primrose's theme is because the scholarly-ness and nature of the piece reminds me how even though I'm in my school's extended math class I feel as if everyone else is so much better and smarter than me and that makes me sad. Oh the woes of the ever growing need for intelligence and knowledge.

6) Olberic, the Warrior

The horns in this piece! THE HORNS! It brings back the feeling of nostalgia (not in my own experiences, just a feeling of nostalgia and thinking about the past in general). It wouldn't make me cry but it would probably make me feel regal and powerful which I really appreciate. Until I realise that I'm not regal and powerful. And then I get sad. But I also really love this piece because of the modulation holy crap that was so unexpected but so good and it sounds beautiful. This piece makes me ascend to another realm entirely.

5) Therion, the Thief

Something about this piece speaks out to me. It feels unique, and has a sense of longing and loneliness to it. I love how the instruments are able to work together to bring out this feeling, and the main melody really brings out its uniqueness. Due to the longing and loneliness vibe it gives me I feel like it'd make me cry but only when I'm feeling alone and isolated from others, and in a bad way. I do like to sit in solitude sometimes after all.

4) Ophilia, the Cleric

Now we're actually getting into the more-than-50%-would-cry-listening-to-this half of the list. If I came to an ethereal paradise this would be the background music playing there. The flute melody is so beautiful and very touching. There's a soft and gentle touch to this piece that kind of caresses me when I listen to it. It gives me the feeling of winter, not the cold harsh aspect of it, but the warming aspect, and how many holidays in winter encourage spending time with friends and family. It makes me feel like I'm not alone, and that has a chance to make ya girl shed a tear.

3) Tressa, the Merchant

Contrary to Ophilia's theme, this one gives me summery vibes. I'm not too much of a summer enjoyer because it's hot and sticky, but this music brings me to a coastal town much like Tressa's. Its tunes brings me a sense of humility. It reminds me to appreciate the small things in life that I need to learn to love. Knowing that the piece gives me warm vibes brings ne knowledge that I'm not too hated in this world. People care for me. They don't hate me. I belong. It brings me peace and awakens love within me for my community, my family and friends, the people around me, and reminds me to spread love to even people I may not know too well. If you see this, you're valid and I appreciate you.

2) H'aanit, the Hunter

I did not expect H'aanit's theme to sound like this. It sounds like something I'd hear playing in a hotel lobby while eating at a buffet. It's just... beautiful. It reminds me of a woodland paradise. Like Therion's, I feel alone when listening to it, but not in a bad way. It's the solitude the piece brings that hits hard. The solitude in this piece reminds me that even though I may not be who I want to be, I should still love myself, just as H'aanit's theme was different from my expectations, but still so beautiful. This song brings the "it's so beautiful that I could cry" kind of vibes. Also, F major is such a fitting key for the vibes this piece brings. Just... gorgeous.

1) Alfyn, the Apothecary

I heard one note of this piece and immediately felt like crying on the inside. Can I just say, the strings and the saxophone work so well together?? How?? I did not expect that but it's great and I love it. Alfyn's theme reminds me of family. Nowadays I often feel like I take family for granted. I spend less time with them because I'm always on this stupid phone. This piece reminds me of the home, how much I love my family, and how much I'd pay to be with them forever. Alfyn's theme takes the number one spot on this list for the feels and the message it brings me. Also because it's a beautiful theme and I love it.

So there's that lol anyways the music in this game is top tier

[gingerale2017]

Exhausted

The dress didn't look right on Cinder. It was a deep shade of blue, like navy, and reached to her feet with silk straps on her shoulders. She was glad there wasn't much of a neckline since there wasn't anything to show. The front was riddled with dark blue gems. Overall, the dress was very comfortable and flexible, but it didn't look right when she stared at it from the mirror. Iko said it looked wonderful, Tressa agreed, and Kai said she looked stunning. But still, something was not right. Maybe it was because she hated wearing dresses.

An automated voice asked for permission to enter. Cinder accepted and began to pick up her mess.

"Hey Cinder, it's time for jewelry!" Iko singsonged while walking in, bringing a chair.

"Can you put it on quick this time? I'm going to be late," Cinder replied, reluctantly sitting down in the chair Iko brought.

"The later the better. If you come late, all the attention will be on you and you will be the star of the ball. All eyes on you, what a dream," Iko pulled a drawer open near the sink and pulled out a gold necklace with a small sapphire gem, "Oh isn't it beautiful? I was going to give it to you for your next birthday, but I couldn't wait that long."

"Iko, do you have the ring?" the android nodded and pulled out Cinder's engagement ring from her pocket, "Thanks."

She stared at Cinder accusingly for a little bit, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"You look like something terrible is going to happen tonight- oh wait, I know!" she smiled wickedly, "You're nervous."

"I am a little bit. Because this time I'm being announced as Kai's fiancee instead of personal guest or Queen of Luna slash girlfriend," Cinder fiddled with her gown.

"You've done this twice already, how is this one going to be any worse? C'mon! We're late!" Iko grabbed her arm and paraded out of the door, "I really wish that you and Kai were introduced together like last time."

"Weren't you the one who wanted us to have glorious introductions?"

"Yeah... But it would have been so cute with you guys together, the Emperor and his future Empress! Wait, do people call you 'Your Future Majesty'" Iko made air quotes on the last line.

"Don't give them ideas."

"Ooooh, we're here! Me first!" her eccentric blue-haired friend paraded behind the line of other special guests waiting to be introduced. Cinder was surprised to hear Scarlet's name be called; she thought Scarlet left early for the ball. She must have been sidetracked or something.

When Iko was introduced, Cinder felt a rush of butterflies fly through her stomach in waves. This was the most nervous she'd been, and that's including the time she was a drenched mess trying to save Kai from a fatal marriage.

She was the last of the long line, just how Iko wanted. She forced herself to take a breath as they called out her title.

Cinder found it a bit annoying that everyone who rushed to greet her still called her by 'Your Majesty'. She was growing tired of correcting them. Her friends rushed to be with her and catch up on things. Overall she had fun and had no idea why she was nervous. Kai and Cinder danced for three songs before Iko came to steal her for a quick makeup fix. She then danced with Thorne, Wolf, and Jacin. It was really nice.

At the end of the night, after the Annual Peace Ball was finished, she felt like collapsing on her bed. Of course, that was exactly what she did before Iko came once again to put away the dress. The android didn't want it to wrinkle.

Cinder lazily put on a shirt and sweats that were sleep worthy and made her way to Kai's room. This time when she collapsed, no one interrupted her.

"Long day, love?" Kai asked.

"Hmph" she muffled under the pillow. She heard him move towards her to hold her.

"Yeah, me too. Next time let's not stay up all might discussing whether you should wear socks to bed."

She chuckled and raised her head to speak, "Next time don't wear socks to bed, it's so weird," Cinder noticed the bags under his eyes. Kai honestly looked more exhausted than she was.

"You look so bad," she shifted so that her head was turned on the pillow and looked at Kai, "Did you do anything tiring today?"

He considered while closing his eyes. Cinder swore that he was falling asleep, "Kai?" she poked him with her toe.

"Mmm, I haven't been sleeping well, to be honest," he peeled open his eyes and she was mesmerized by the copper-brown.

"Then I should let you sleep instead of running my mouth."

"No, no, I want to hear you talk and to cuddle with you," he words came out very slow like it was hard to say each syllable.

"No, Kai, you're very tired, you need to rest. You can barely keep your eyes open. Here," Cinder pulled her own aching body up and got out the bed. Kai whined when she left his grasp. She opened the sheets as far as she could and pointed at it, "climb in so you can be more comfortable. I'll help you."

"I'm not that tired, love."

"Trust me, you are. Now get it in so we can both sleep," she argued softly.

"Ok," he crawled into the sheets and settled down. Cinder climbed in until he was holding her in his arms and placed her head comfortably on his chest.

"Yeah, I am very tired," admitted Kai. She chuckled. Time passed by just them enjoying each others warmth and presence. It wasn't until his breaths became more relaxed she realized that he fell asleep.

Cinder laughed silently. He was always the first one to sleep out of the two and she found it somewhat hilarious. For no particular reason. She then found herself falling out of consciousness, and she let herself dive into the depths of sleep. Excited that she'll wake up in his arms and have another full day with the love of her life.

Okay, half of this was not even kaider but its ok. I just wanted a reason for Cinder to be tired (that's why she didn't feel right). Please comment and vote and if you have any prompts/requests never be afraid to ask! Have a good day and be safe!

-Angie

[jaeminscoffee]

Ineffable.

Ineffable - Too great to be expressed in words.

Pairing - Lee Taeyong x reader

Genre- Pure fluff!

Word count- 2.58k

Warnings- None but please let me know if THIS amount of fluff is cringe or not kselkkd. Also, I'm sorry if this story's dissapointing, my health hasn't been the best so if the storylines not good, let me know :)

Summary- All it took was a couple of smack on his head, water splashed onto his face and being called friend on the first date for him to step out of his comfort zone and confess to you.

You and Taeyong had a really complicated relationship. If you could call it one. 

You're neither friends, nor enemies, neither were you dating. You wish you were but no. 

But still at the end, the two of you always end up paired together, be it projects, going for business trips, being promoted together, you'd basically seen him all day. So it was obvious the two of you spoke. 

Well, you spoke, he'd listen, giggle at your talks, and then say a sentence or two max. You guys would be what people other than your friend group called acquaintances.

Anyone with eyesight would know immediately that you're head over heels for the lad. You made it a little too obvious. Always talking frantically around him, your heart flutters when you hear him laugh, his presence in all just made you giddy. And so you'd always been happy when he'd be paired up with you in everything. 

Your friends basically divided themselves into two groups. One that supported you and pushed you to go confess your love for him, the other being one who ridiculed you for loving a guy that they thought would never like you back. 

On the other hand, Taeyong was just shy. 

Your bubbly persona overwhelmed him. Of course he liked you too, he just needed one smack at the back of his head. Or not because his friends have done it way too many times, yet here he is, just daydreaming scenarios of what he'd do for you if the two of you dated resulting in him not talking much. 

So when Yuta, his friend, poured the tiniest amount of water onto his face and yelled 'BOOMER' at him, he thought it's finally time to make a move. 

A hangout. Exactly what the two of you needed. 

Break time had come to an end, you were walking with Luna to your cabin, when you crossed paths with Taeyong, who was indulged in a conversation with Johnny, another one of his friends from the same department as the two of you. 

"Oh boy, here we go again" Luna spoke from beside you. You look at her, confusion spread all over your face. "huh?" she let out a chuckle, shaking her head, "You've been staring at him long enough for him to look back at you-" she pointed at the direction where Taeyong and Johnny stood with her head, as you turn around to look at him "-but you were so busy devouring his existence to realize that", He waved at you, which you did back but then turned back at Luna, flustered. 

She looked behind you gesturing something to either Johnny or Taeyong, then turned you around and pushed you towards where the boys were, Johnny doing the same with Taeyong as both your bodies collided, gently, but hard enough to send the two of you stumbling back a few steps. 

You hear the other two laugh and walk away, you turn back to send a glare at your friend, but ended up landing on Johnny who winked to that. 

You face your crush, "Hey" you tuck a stray piece of hair behind your ears. He sent you a smile and nodded his head, greeting back. 

"How's your day so far?" you ask him, raising an eyebrow in anticipation. "It's been good, tiring but doable" he ended the answer. Your shoulder slouch down as his answer again ended in a sentence. "What about you? How's yours going" you look up, caught off guard, since this was the first time he's ever asked a question back. 

Okay that's an exaggeration, he did ask questions, but that was a rare occasion. 

"It's good! Tressa spilled her coffee over her documents which got Mr.Kim extremely mad, i finished the final task just a few minutes before break, i was just going to gather my things and head out" you smile radiantly. He smiled at your excitement of finally getting off of work.

There was a second of silence, this time Taeyong being the one breaking it. 

"Could you wait for just a little while? I'm almost done too, so we can head out together" he asked, fidgeting with his hands, a habit he has that comes out of nervousness "If that's too much of a hassle you could go now that's fine too!-" he quickly added after seeing your eyes widen. 

You interrupt, waving your hands in the air in quick motions, shaking your head," No no! It isn't, i could wait" you smile at him, which he returned back with equal enthusiasm. 

-

No longer than 10 minutes later, you and Taeyong made your way towards the elevator, him initiating small talks every now and then, asking questions about you, to which you gave long answers for. 

"-and then Lisa just threw up on him because of how much booze was in her system" you end your story from last Saturday, Taeyong let out a hearty laugh at the ending, sending warmth streaming all through your nerves. 

The door opened at the basement, where his car was parked, "Oh? I took the bus today,I sent my car for servicing yesterday " you say, stepping out. "That's fine! I could drive you" he offered. 

"No no! That'll be a trouble for you! I could just take the bus-" "Please. I'll kidnap you if I have to, if that means you'll ride with me" Taeyong said, smiling widely at you. You giggle at his words, feeling heat rush up your cheeks, as you cup your face to reduce the heat. 

"Alright no need to involve kidnapping here" you say making your way towards his car alongside him. 

Okay Okay Taeyong, be outgoing. Fun to be around. Ask questions. This your chance. 

"Welcome aboard" He said, the second you stepped into the passenger's seat, you laughed at his antics, reaching out to fasten the seat belt. Taeyong beat you to it, reaching over across your body, tugging at the seat belt and fastening it. 

The proximity had blood rush up your cheeks once again, damn it. 

"Safety first!" he said wearing his own seatbelt, starting the car, pulling out of his parking space and out of the basement. 

Once you were away from the building of your work space, you turn to the side looking at Taeyong's side profile, admiring the way the street lights shone upon his face,highlighting the scar on the right side of his face, he's perfect, no doubt. But this slight scar proved he was too, nothing more than just a human. The grip he had on the steering wheel made the veins on his hands more prominent. "So Tae-" "-Y/n" you start at the same time, "Oh you go first" you say quickly, knowing that if you'd stay there admiring Taeyong he'd probably ask you to go first. 

"There's this really good restaurant by the corner in just two minutes and it's really late, so, wanna go grab dinner together?" he said in a breath, looking at you for a split second before turning his focus back onto the road. 

"Oh sure! If though, either you let me pay or we share the bill" you reply excitedly, smiling at the fact that you'd get to spend more time with him. 

"No? Come on, let me pay for the first date-" he stopped abruptly as you look at him with wide eyes, "date.. I like the sound of that" you let out a chuckle as you see him gulp down.

The rest of the car ride, you spoke back and forth, Taeyong replied much better than how he'd used to, you two even jammed to some of the radio music together, eventually pulling over in front of the restaurant Taeyong wanted to take you to.

"Korean barbecue? How did you know I was craving it?" you say, removing the belt and turning towards the driver's seat, to see no Taeyong. 

You jump when the door of your side opens, Taeyong standing there with his hands out, offering it to you. You hit his palm at the extremely cliché action, then held it and stepped out of the car. "Because it's Saturday and everyone craves it on the weekends, now let's go!" he pulled you out of the seat, slamming the door shut and jogging towards the restaurant as you laughed at his sudden bubbliness.

The two of you went and took a seat at the end of the restaurant, it wasn't anything too posh, but it wasn't not too plain either, it was cozy. Taeyong removed his coat and hung it on his chair. And then hurried over to your side and pulled your chair out, you smack his shoulder, to which he grinned and made his way back to his seat. 

"What do you want to eat?" he asked, looking at the menu. 

"The classic, wouldn't want to add any other flavor to the classic" you reply back, looking at the names of different delicacies written on the card, not noticing Taeyong look at you. It's when you set the menu card down that you notice his gaze. You feel yourself starting to blush for the nth time that night. This is the impact Lee Taeyong has on you. One gaze is all it takes and you're completely melted. 

The waiter came in minutes later, took your orders and went back, you just waited, having common talks with the boy in front of you, sometimes drifting into your subspace, maybe fangirling over him way too much from time to time.

"Oh oh I got another one, do you know why Hershey chocolate closed down?" he asked. 

One thing you found out about him is that he's a sucker for pick up lines. "because I'm too sweet?" you giggle as you see a frown forming up on his features "come on, yong, that's a classic try again." 

"Unfair! Even if you know the answer you shouldn't say it!" he whined out, messing his hair, you laughed out loud at how cute he looked and sounded, drawing a few eyes onto the table, which neither of you paid attention to, Taeyong joining along with you with his tiny giggles. 

The food arrived, and you dig in immediately, earning a chuckle from Taeyong as you stuff your cheeks. 

You looked cute.

"Alright this is a tough one, are you my appendix?" he asked, gulping down a decent amount of food. 

"clearly not? why?" you reply, voice coming out muffled. 

"because i have a funny feeling in my stomach that makes me feel like i should take you out" he said, looking at you intently. You start choking due to his reply, to which Taeyong laughed out loud, calming himself, leaning forward to pat the top of your head and pushing your water glass at you.

"Taeyong what in the name of heaven even!" you ask, now you lean forward to hit him as he started laughing again. 

"Hey admit it, that was a good one!" he said, looking at you with his eyes wide as you kept hitting him. 

"Whatever. Eat" You chuckle and turn back to your food, the blood most probably clot on your cheeks through the entirety of the night. 

The both of you finish, getting up from your seats as Taeyong gestured you to wait for him by the entrance. 

He paid for the food, and made his way back to you, with two fruit Popsicles in his hand. 

He handed one over to you, and started walking the opposite direction from where his car was parked. "Yong, it's this way-" you say, standing in the same place. "I know" he simply replied, stopping and turning back around to look at you. "Come on hurry, follow me!" he said and started walking again. You jog to catch up with him. 

You walk in silence for ten minutes, eating the Popsicle he'd bought, shoulder's sometimes brushing past each other. 

"We're here!" he said excitedly, you look up from your feet and stare at whatever Taeyong was looking at, eyes immediately lighting up as you see the calm waters of the river in front of you. 

"Beautiful, right?" he asked, smiling at you as your eyes stayed fixed at the scenery in front of you. 

You hum in agreement, walking towards the railing to get a closer look, Taeyong following suit. 

"Thank you" you said, all of a sudden. 

"Hm? For?" he asked, confused. "Today, it was fun! I guess we can call ourselves friends now right??" you ask, taking your eyes off the river and turning to look at the boy. 

Come on Taeyong, this is your chance. 

"Y/n." he started, you look at him with your eyebrows raised. 

"Friend's is so far off from what you really are to me, Y/n" he said, letting out a sigh and turning to face the river. 

"What do you mean?" you knew exactly what he meant. You felt your heart flutter, beating a little faster than normal, if he would back out now, you'll take a step forward. 

"Oh god how do i do this, I- just.. Okay listen, i like you okay? I really really like you" he said fast, turning to look at you this time. "I thought I made it obvious? How didn't you get even the slightest of hints if my feelings for you?" he said, his eyes furrowed.

"Because, honey you never made it obvious, if anything, you looked like you had no interest in talking to me" you said, laughing and stepping forward, feeling your stomach churn in weird ways, the muscles of your face, starting to hurt from how widely you were smiling. 

"don't mind that! I'm just-just usually like that around everyone-"

"I like you too" you cut him off, stepping forward to get a little closer to the boy.

"-and i felt like, wait what?" he stopped, looking at you with wide eyes. 

"i said i like you too! I think, in fact, I'm in love with you. A little too much" you add, seeing a red hue take over Taeyong's face, as he temporarily looked down, and back at you the shocked expression replaced by an extremely wide smile. 

You two just stared at each other, Taeyong stepping forward with a questioning look on his face.

"Can i kiss you?" he asked, his voice tiny. You laugh in content, and instead of answering him, you walk closer to him, standing on your toes, placing a soft peck on his lips. 

Taeyong let out a chain of giggles, leaning forwards and capturing your lips again, hands going around your waist, yours finding its way around his neck as the two of you smile into the kiss. 

He pulled away first, looking at you with a loving look.

"So i can call you mine from today right?" he asked, his eyes shimmering in the twilight. 

"Only if you tell me one of the best pick up lines you've got" you reply, crossing your arms over your chest watching Taeyong mumble out a 'you know it' and step back, looking you up and down, placing a hand under his chin. 

"I-...damn, I'm sorry you're so beautiful you made me forget my pick up line" he said, looking straight into your eyes.

"Ew Tae, you are such a cheesy man" you say, taking large steps towards him. He reached out to you, snaking his hands around your waist placing another soft kiss on your lips.

"I'm your cheesy man"

[gascon-en-exil]

Dark Deity Pre-Release Character Opinions

This isn't actually a tier list, but someone helpfully created a template for this game and it's as good a way as any to do a little visual showcase for this cast. Characters are listed by their class sets, which are fixed but offer a nice variety in terms of promotion options. My opinions on each are as follows, from left to right in each row. Most characters have introductory profiles written up on the DD subreddit, if you'd like to check them out yourself.

Warriors

Alexa

You know those buff female blacksmiths in Echoes and Three Houses that some people wish were playable characters? That's pretty much Alexa. Can't say I'm too hyped about her myself, but warrior + tomboyish female character will do that for me...or not do it, I suppose.

Benji

Seems to have been written to become a meme, and I still can't decide whether that's clever or stupid. Kind of like Raphael only with a bigger emphasis on training than on eating, and with brotherly devotion replaced with brotherly angst that might theoretically go somewhere if the character isn't reduced to being a goofy joke all the time.

Fenton

Doesn't have a character profile, so as far as I know he's just a generic dwarf because DD swaps out its inspiration's loli dragons and other vaguely fetishistic shapeshifters for the two most cliché non-human races in Western fantasy. I wonder whether his VA will voice him with a Scottish accent, to go all in on the (ironic?) laziness. There are a handful of elves in the playable cast, but Fenton is the only dwarf so for better or worse he's representing.

Helena

She's the embodiment of the FE exotic swordswoman archetype, but curiously DD seems to have turned that broad ethnic brush inward. Helena's last name is apparently a Japanese verb, her art shows her with a spear (as in the association of the naginata with women), and she studied and trained in a monastery that seems to blend elements of Buddhism and Shintoism. Not sure how all that fits into the larger setting yet, but at this point she's still got more background development than Petra.

Irving

Our Hero, the one front and center on the cover art. He sounds a bit on the blander side as far as lords or lord equivalents go, with his most promising hook for me being his established friendship with Garrick (see the ranger section). At best I can hope for a bit of a romantic friendship dynamic, although they sound a bit rougher overall as they're military academy schoolmates I wonder why DD went with that instead of lordlings of different territories.

Rogues

Brooke

Looks like Camilla; has a backstory like Niles. Cleavage aside though the sexual element of both is toned down here, and there might be some sapphic bodyguard shenanigans to be had as her current employers are a pair of highborn sisters further down this list.

Cia

For some reason she reminds me of Tressa from Octopath Traveler, only bustier and a bartender rather than a merchant. She's still just a small town girl with big city dreams, and this being a tactical war game following those dreams will inevitably involve stabbing people.

Corvan

Hard to judge him at the moment, as his profile was only the second written and so isn't terribly detailed. He's a moon elf with scholarly interests, apparently. Still, as of right now he's the only rogue who doesn't slot loosely into either a ninja/assassin or pirate aesthetic, so that's kind of neat. Also, he's one of several characters to have FEH-esque beach fanart made of them already, so clearly someone's into elf twinks.

Ford

A former officer at the military academy Irving attends and a smuggler who dotes on his niece, Ford has major dad energy. Per developer reveals he's also bi, and as I mentioned before I'm totally fine with that. More bear sex, please - but what guy in this cast would hop in the sack with Ford? Only time will tell. His personal skill makes him extra dodgy, which combined with the mug of booze in his art makes me think of WoW brewmasters who dodge-tank through the power of being wasted.

Wren

Like Brooke, he's an assassin from a foreign nation - in his case the same one as Helena so presumably he's a not!Japanese ninja. I'm not really feeling him at the moment. What is it about Hao'Fen (the city/territory he and Helena come from) and massive families? That comes up in both their backstories.

Rangers

Caius

I feel like this is the third or fourth character to grow up in some slum or other; at least they've all been in different towns so far. The relative rarity of noble characters is certainly different from FE, but it reduces the political stakes which leaves me wondering a bit about the story. Anyway, Caius is a small town desert hunter who learned how to make arrows out of animal bones. How aerodynamic is bone, I wonder?

Garrick

Irving's BFF and seemingly the Hector to Irving's Eliwood, only with more flirting (his intro doesn't specify that Garrick is flirting with women, but I'm not going so far as to say that indicates anything). He's the academy headmaster's son, with a strained relationship with his father for some of that hotheaded lead tension. Notably, his VA is the one I'm most familiar with in this cast, as he's the voice of Revali from Breath of the Wild as well as love interests in two different erotic gay dating sims I've played. In other words, I know what this guy sounds like making awkwardly simulated sex noises...and I have no idea what to do with that information.

Maeve

She's a half-elf with a very storied background, so much so that it's all rather hard to follow her exploits when little of what's being described has been fully revealed yet. I'm expecting her to be a mid/lategame recruit, unless she's dropped in early on to reveal that (sun) elves exist or something.

Rose

Imagine if Bernadetta were a commoner, although we can only hope they'll be less screaming. Alternatively, Neimi without an obvious boyfriend. She won the beach contest so now she has official swimsuit art, which I guess makes her a top-tier waifu in the eyes of players who care about such things.

Sophia

A ranger in the "has animal companions" sense, although whether that will come into play mechanically aside from her personal skill - Butter the ferret can attack with her! - remains to be seen. Her preference for the company of animals is explained by a lack of social graces, so prepare for klutz-related humor. Of note to those interested in F/F is that her introduction specifically brings up her connection with Sloane (see the mage section) and how close the two of them are.

Clerics

Faust

Doesn't have a profile yet, so not much to go off other than his decidedly unhinged look. The cleric class set does feature some darker-flavored options, so presumably he's more naturally aligned with those. His VA was announced to be the YouTuber behind So This is Basically Fire Emblem and other similar videos, so I'm picturing a kooky and somewhat demented Henry type.

Lincoln

Also lacks a profile at time of writing...clerics get so little love. The Discord has identified him a bland blond paladin sort, but as we know from the likes of Perceval and especially Dimitri that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be boring (or not gay).

Maren

The soft-spoken healer type, and also a childhood friend of Garrick although her intro sibling-zones him but then this game is inspired by FE so who knows if that'll stick. She may have some interesting thoughts on the theology of the setting, as there seem to be several faiths and she's said to have a complicated relationship with her own. I will be utterly shocked if she's not either Irving or Garrick's eventual love interest.

Samara

One of two princesses of the country of Aramor, which appears to be loosely inspired by the Middle East. Heaven help us if the Khalidstans ever get wind of this game. Unfortunately aside from her bond with her older sister (in the mage section) and the knowledge that Brooke has been hired as their bodyguard there's not much to Samara at the moment. Hopefully the clerics all do some comparative theology in their bond conversations, and this isn't like Sacred Stones where none of the clergy characters from different countries ever compare notes. The succession crisis involving Samara and her sister vs. their less-loved cousin the king's son might be a major plot hook? It's still too early to tell.

Vesta

Much like Maeve her backstory has entirely too much going on to really follow at the moment. Basically she's a human who grew up in a sun elf city because Reasons (seriously, I don't know what they are) and was called to a clerical vocation and also something about taking a journey. Has an unfortunate case of silly boob armor, which unlike a certain other character probably won't be rectified this close to release.

Mages

Alden

Maren's precocious younger brother, also basically Ricken up to and including the comically oversized hat. As a unit he follows the tradition of Donnel, Mozu, and Cyril of having a personal skill that buffs his stat gains, so it's safe to say he's a growth unit. At least he'll probably join early.

Liberty

Comes with dead brother angst and a connection to the "aspects" system that will hopefully make more sense once I've played the game and know how it functions both mechanically and from a storytelling perspective. Otherwise she looks to be a busty older - as in, not a teenage - mage in the vein of Calill.

Monroe

Got the first ever character profile, so it's really short. He's the son of a duke and sounds like a bit of a snob, albeit one that can make explosions happen to back up his haughtiness. He's got some scarring around his eye that surely must come with a story. Someone also made featured fanart of him in Heroes summer banner style, so I guess he's got somebody horny already.

Sara

Samara's half-sister, with comparable fantasy Middle Eastern flavoring. Has an interest in discovering magical artifacts and being a just ruler in the event she winds up on the throne (so, almost definitely), and she and Samara travel around with the assassin Brooke as their bodyguard. There's maybe some lesbian possibilities there? Either way, Sara has enough development where I could see her as a major supporting character.

Sloane

Comes with a genuinely fascinating backstory involving manipulative double-crossing parents, an education in the cruelties and deceptions of social life (reflected in her personal skill), and disinheritance - and yet it's all likely to be overshadowed because she may go down as DD's equivalent to Fates's face-touching. Her initial art is even more revealing than Camilla's, and while the developers later gave her a more modest redesign after negative feedback I get the feeling that this controversy may live on. Her introduction mentions her hunting for both heirs and heiresses and she's now been linked to Sophia, so safe to say she's another confirmed bi character.

Adepts

While the other class sets are standard fantasy fare adepts require a bit more explanation. They have innate magical abilities and appear to be feared and distrusted most places in the setting. Functionally they remind me of adepts from the Golden Sun series, if anyone is familiar with those games. The classes in the adept group tend more toward physical/magical hybridization than those of other sets, so that will probably be their mechanical niche. Oh, and their default weapon type is lances, which is a plus in my book.

Aurima

Along with Caius and the royal sisters, he's another one from the desert nation of Aramor. An arena fighter who got touched by a god in what I assume was a non-sexual way and came out of it with a new appearance and adept powers. Also, he's confirmed to be over 40 - how often do you see that in games like this?

Bianca

Looks like a more carefree Mathilda from Echoes. She's a ranking officer in the Delian army which sounds like it'd sit uneasily with her adept powers. Her profile describes Lincoln as her close friend, which is still about the most we know about him at this point.

Elias

This guy's writing plays more into the fairly standard coding that comes with adept powers, as we know they manifested shortly before he was going to confess his feelings to a male paramour and afterwards he was forced to flee his homeland and wander the world. He also spent time among dwarves, so insert short bear jokes here? In the present he's attached to Cia in what seems to be a platonic way; maybe she's a fruit fly, or maybe she just likes having a friend who can light drunken assholes on fire? Elias is definitely into guys, but I would still be a little surprised if he turned out to be totally gay as that's such a rarity in these sorts of things.

Iris

Oof, another lengthy and rough backstory. Iris had better parents than Sloane, but she also had to deal with permanent facial scarring (hence the mask) after a bandit kidnapping and the stigma of manifesting as an adept pretty much eliminating the prospects of her making a good political marriage. Also, she and Elias both come from Neullais, which is prominently featured on the continental map on the DD subreddit but doesn't seem to come up all too often in backstories. I think it's a not!France? Hard to tell.

Thae'lanel

A World of Warcraft blood elf, flowing anime hair and apostrophe'd name and all. I like WoW so that's not terribly grating, but as he has no profile yet there's little else I can say. Thae'lanel is mentioned in Maeve's introduction as a member of a sun elf group called the Exiled, which I'm guessing is tied to his adept status in some way. He and Maeve form yet another adventurer/bodyguard duo.

[charmixpower]

Thinking about Stella's princess ball and wondering if that's a Solaria only thing or a custom adopted by all the royals in the magical dimension to keep certain things cohesive as to when people enter "high society" officially

And if it's the second one, Aisha's and Bloom's ball???

I have a few ideas

Aisha 1

For Aisha's I imagine that there was one set up for Aisha in season 3, so she would be officially eligible for marriage, and she just didn't go

Aisha has made it super clear though out the show that the whole pretty part, small talk, courtly behavior shit gets on her nerves. So when her parents inevitably set up the most "sit still and look pretty" "don't talk to anyone we don't say you can talk to" and "put on this seven layer dress" party possible she just....doesn't show up

Everyone sees it on Tv and Aisha just ignores it lol

Since she never technically enters high society, she can't be entered into political marriage, which is essentially her flipping off her parents by refusing to play by any of their rules

Anyways I think it would be fun if Crown Princess Tressa of Oceania was like "we should do our Princess Ball together!! Since you didn't have one :)" and this is after she was awarded the role of Supreme Guardian of Andros by Oceania, so her debut into high society is like "This is Aisha!! She spent weeks upon weeks on Andros helping deal with the Valtor crisis!! She fought tirelessly!! She's Andros hero!! Her official Noble Title is now *insert knight title that's equal in rank to the king bc she's like official protector of everything Andros now*!"

Aisha would be SO amused by this, bc she'd have a title higher than crown princess, so like??? Who's gonna tell her to sit quietly in a corset now??? She's equal rank with her dad, she wins essentially

Aisha 2

Aisha still doesn't go to her first princess ball because it's everything she hates in parties, but after the Valtor situation and Aisha putting her foot down about her not getting married, her parents back down

Anyways when Stella gets her do-over princess ball (that she desperately deserves) Stella is like "what if we do a DOUBLE!!! PRINCESS BALL!!!!!"

I feel like Stella would be super over having the day to herself, and just want someone who genuinely cares for her to be there with her after what Radius did

And Aisha is like??? Yes??? That would make these parties so much more tolerable??? I love you???

Anyways they have their Princess Ball in a third location (not on Andros or Solaria. Maybe Noctilucae) so there no political strife about why do the Princesses go there and not here, and they have a grand ol time together and they get to introduce eachother and it's really cute and they both take something that was ruined for them and makes it into something fun for them

Bloom

Bloom gets her princess ball in s5 bc Domino thinks this would be the best way to reintroduce Domino into high society. Bloom is a very safe choice for the face of Domino because she's unimaginably popular with political people for the whole stopping Valtor thing

Bloom?? Is so??? Unhappy and unprepared??? She's never been in this kind of situation and she hates attention like this with a burning passion and everything fucking sucks

I feel like Stella, Aisha, Sky, and Diaspro would all have different reactions to Bloom's discomfort that ties into their own feelings as royals

Diaspro would tell her to suck it up. Domino needs this to get back on it's feet, and she can't just turn her back on her people

Fresh off his parents commiting crimes against human rights against him "for the sake of Eraklyon", Sky goes in the exact opposite direction than Diaspro, with telling her she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to

Stella would try to encourage her to take her place as a princess, and just enjoy the party

And Aisha "I'll die for Andros" would tell Bloom to try to negotiate about her party with her parents to make herself as comfortable as possible and help Domino at the same time

Bonus Diaspro

Dia already had a princess ball in Eraklyon, which currently has a royal family in jail and who's empire is completely crumbling much to Diaspro's delight, but unsurprisingly she wants a new one. On her planet, as their princess, with her people. This probably happens in s4???? Everyone's invited. Idk how that would fit in but it would make a cool first introduction for Roxy to the Magical Dimension

Omg I just realized bc Roxy is technically the future queen of the Earth fairies she'd also get one....fnnsjdkd

That would be a cute plot point for the spin off show she deserves but never got