#our Archer Goddess

[toulousewayne]

A Robin’s Quarrel 🏹⚔️

Red Robin X male!reader with a male Amazon.

Summary:Your a male Amazon/Gargareans,who is sent to the Man’s world to find your father Ares and stop him from enslaving humans and killing the Amazons. You need Tim’s help in your quest to stop Ares.

—————

The island of Thalarion was home to a race of men similar to the Amazons, they’re known as Gargareans. Most of the men there are reincarnations of men who had died in battle. Zeus and the other Gods created them to be equal to the Amazons and they’ve lived here for centuries. Many of the men there trained and practiced their skills, none really craved for more than that. Except for one Gargarean, Argus.

He had heard stories of the Goddess blessing the those with gifts of children and families, he loved and would die for his brothers but he longed for something more.

Against his King’s orders he read secret documents and one night during a full harvest moon the island was in a celebration and feast. Argus ventured to a small part of the island and into a cave they long had been abandoned. He made a small offering on the alter and used his blood. He begged and asked the Goddess Artemis for a child. Many of the islands inhabited were adults and returned as such, no male child had been on the island. That night lighting struck the alter sending the man away.

On the alter was a bundle wrapped in red silk, Argus unwrapped it and found a baby boy sleeping peacefully. When he returned to his brothers it caused the festival stop and almost none of them had seen a baby. The king was furious and nearly had Argus killed but several men vouched for him and refused to allow the King to harm him or the child. From then on the child would be look after by the entire island, and the King too grow to like the boy, he was named Y/n.

———-

Y/n was a curious and cheerful boy, he loved learning from his father, watching the men train and learning with the King and his Advisers.

Y/n was trained in combat and was a skilled swordsman and archer. Argus and the King meet several times to discuss the boys futures. By the time Y/n was Eighteen it was determined that he would be the Gargarean’s champion and would go to man’s world to defeat Ares who had long become twisted on his plans of world domination. Y/n was to be sent to stop him like the Amazons had let Diana leave years prior.

“My son,Y/n brings me great join that you will be our champion but I will never be able to be okay without your presence.” Y/n teary eye hugs his father before standing before the King.

“You have brought great joy to this dull island little solider. You will bring great honor to us all and you will be sent where none of us have ever been. Do not forget your training and remember Ares will have spies you must trust your own judgment.” Before he left the king gave armor and weapons.

“This sword was once used to slay the Gorgon Medusa, the Harpe of Perseus. Shield of Achilles. Lastly, this item will be a Lasso of your own.”

“What does it do?” Y/n asked securing it to his armor. The king grinned grimly.

“I hope you never had to use it, but you must go now.” Y/n boarded a boat was pushed from the island by two of the strongest men. He waved goodbye to his father before him and the entire island was covered in smoke and was never seen again.

When he awoke it was nightfall again and he saw a land with large buildings and shining lights.

“Great Hades this place is dark and smells.” Once he touched the dock he draped himself in a cloak and wandering to the street. The people around him gave him strange looks. He wondered around until he heard a loud ringing.

He ventured around the corner until he saw a sea of red and blue light flashing in front of a pantheon like building. Drawing closer he walks inside and heard shouts and loud banging.

He turns the corner to see a man with half his face deformed firing a large gun at a boy closer to his age in red, black, green and yellow colors.

“Why do you flip around so much?” The boy turned to him with shock.

“You gotta go before he—“

The man chuckles,”Brought a friend with ya kid? Too bad the coin says you both get you die tonight.” Two-Face starts shooting at Y/n. Y/n in one swift moment shields the young hero and uses his braces on his forearm to deflect the incoming bullets. Once Two-Face’s has noticed he gets pissed.

“What kinda freak are ya?”

Y/n smiles, I believe that if anyone in this room is a freak it would be you my friend.” Before Two-Face can reply Y/n takes his shield and throws it disarming him, next he takes the lasso and wraps Two-Face up and yanking him up.

“You-“ he’s cut off by Y/n lifting him off the ground and staring up at him.

“Why are you desecrating this building.” The hero wants up and places a hand on Y/n’s braces.

“It’s okay, I can talk him from here.” Y/n looked down at the hero, he nodded before untying Two Face who collapsed to the ground and was swiftly knocked out and hand cuffed.

Red Robin turned to the boy and stopped him before he could leave.

“Thank you, but I had that under control. Who are you?” Y/n eyed him.

“I’m Y/n of Thalarion, I’ve been sent to Man’s world to find and stop Ares. Who are you colorful mortal?”

Red Robin raised a masked brow. “Red Robin,why are you in Gotham?”

Y/n shrugged. “My boat brought me here, I’m sure Ares’ not far from here.” He turns and leaves. Red Robin chases after him and he sees him already across the street pointing a sword at a taxi.

“Are you Ares’ Chariot driver, speak now and I will spare you?” Red Robin swiftly runs to him and pushes him out the road as the taxi driver swears and shouts at the pair.

“Why did you do that, he could have lead me to Ares!” Y/n is angry and it’s only now Tim notices how the young Thalarion towers over him by a foot and a half.

“Look your never gonna find him this way, I have friends. Allies who can help. If you trust me I can help you, but I need you to trust me.” The young Thalarion huffs and calms down.

“If you insist, take me to these friends of yours. My quest is too valuable to wait.” Red Robin sighs and ushers him to follow.

———

The two stand on a rooftop in Gotham City Sqaure and Y/n is taking in the city for the first time.

“Is this where you lived,thigh lights are..breath taking.” Red Robin turns to him and walks to the edge where he’s standing.

“I grew up on the outskirts of the city, but yes every once in a while I do take in the views. Unaware to him Y/n looked at Tim as he was talking and returned his gaze to the city.

“These friends of yours how will they help, do they know where Ares is?” Red Robin looks down at the ground.

“I don’t know, but I think they’ll have more for you to go on.”

“Red Robin.” The pair turn to see Batman and Wonder Woman.

“Great Hera, I didn’t even know there were still Thalarions.” Wonder Woman looked at the boy in shock.

“What is this about Ares returning?” Batman eyed the young Thalarion before.

“I’ve been sent to find him and stop him, Red Robin says you have information. After that’ll be on my way.”

Batman didn’t move and Wonder Woman was slowly regaining her composure. “Yes, and if it’s true and he’s returned they we don’t have much time to prepare.”

“Red Robin and I we will meet with you later. I’ll contact you.” Wonder Woman nodded and turned to Y/n.

“Follow me.” The two flew off Batman looked back at him.

“Where did you find him?” He turned to grapple.

“He found me,he saved me.”

“Hmmm.” Batman grappled towards the city with Red Robin not far behind him.

[breannasfluff]

Not single word but would kindly request cuddly comfort three sentence fic for a post totk wIld reuniting with the chain Main word Reunion?

Hyrule tucks himself under Legend’s arm, feet dragging. The group is exhausted after another fight without a backup archer. They head back to camp for another miserable dinner; too bland or burnt beyond recognition.

Silence lays heavy over the group; no cheerful banter and crazy ideas to break it up. No hand slips into Hyrule’s for a comforting squeeze.

In short, there’s no Wild.

The hero is still missing, called away for another adventure because the Goddesses have no mercy, sometimes. The Chain is left picking up the pieces and trying to patch themselves into a shape that no longer fits.

It’s Four who notices first. “Do you guys smell…cooking?”

There is the scent of a campfire in the air. Hyrule sniffs deeper, but the greenery covers anything further.

Twilight looks around, nose sharper. “It is cooking. From the direction of our camp.”

“Think someone found our stuff?”

“Or is using our fire pit.”

Time, up at the head, just continues plodding with slumped shoulders. “Let’s go get our stuff back. Play nice; maybe they need help.”

“Maybe we need help,” Legend grumbles to Hyrule. He can’t help but agree.

They clump together as they enter the clearing, hands subtly reaching for weapons before they freeze.

Wild gives the skillet a final stir and looks up with a smile. “Hungry?”

It takes a long time for them to calm down and for halting stories to be shared. No one leaves for watch, too intent on staying close.

Hyrule finds himself curled into Wild’s side as the other talks, Legend leaning against his legs. Twilight is on Wild’s other said, clutching a free hand. The rest of the group nestle around the champion. Time is running fingers through Wild’s long hair and the weight on his shoulders has finally lifted. Warriors lounges against Time with a soft smile as he watches.

Wind is swiping at the Purah pad while Wild explains photos. No one misses how his eyes dart to the champion every few seconds, like he might vanish before their eyes. Sky is almost asleep on Wild’s legs, and Four has been captured for cuddles.

When Wild puts his hand down from the most recent story, Hyrule can’t help but grab it and squeeze. The answering pressure is strong and firm.

Alive, alive, alive, it says.

Hyrule tucks it in his heart like a promise. Wild is back and they won’t let him go again. With a gentle sigh, the traveler settles further into his friend’s side and closes his eyes.

[tiny-wooden-robot-fics]

Magnolia - Chapter Ten

Rating: Explicit Media: Jujutsu Kaisen Pairing(s): Geto Suguru x Original Female Character, Geto Suguru x Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru x Gojo Satoru x Original Female Character Additional Tags: Vampire AU, Dark Themes, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Depression, Loneliness, Polyamory, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut

A/N: More tags will be added as chapters are updated. Please be mindful of the tags and warnings at the beginning of each chapter, as they will tell you what you need to know about the content within.

Minors, DNI.

Summary:

“Are you happy here with me?”

If Lia thinks the timing of his inquiry is odd, she doesn’t let on. She simply considers his question for a moment, her chest rising and falling under his hand, that little muscle beneath her ribs confirming with every beat that she is still alive.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” she starts slowly, thoughtfully. “That isn’t an exaggeration,” she’s quick to add. “I feel safe here with you. It’s like we’re in our own world, and I wouldn’t be upset if it stayed that way.” She looks up at him, a soft smile curling up the corners of her lips. “I can’t remember the last time I had such a long string of mornings where I woke up looking forward to the day and what it would bring.”

Suguru lifts one of her hands to his mouth, tenderly kissing the scars on her wrist. “I’m glad you’re still here,” he murmurs.

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Read on AO3

Chapter Warnings: Unprotected sex, Gojo Satoru is his own warning

Chapter Ten: Transfigured, Bathed in Your Immortal Flame

At the touch of you,  As if you were an archer with your swift hand at the bow, The arrows of delight shot through my body. You were spring, And I the edge of a cliff,  And a shining waterfall rushed over me. -Witter Byner, At the Touch of You

--

He’s watching her, his dark eyes roving up and down her body. Laid out beneath him, her head resting on his pillow and her arms stretched above her head, he thinks she looks a little like a goddess.

“You’re staring,” she mutters. She’s trying not to be bashful, but the intensity of his gaze is making it difficult. Aside from that she can feel how hard he is, heavy and warm against her. There is a need deep in the pit of her stomach… a longing for him that feels very much like a physical ache. 

“I am,” Suguru admits. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a naked woman in my bed. Can’t I enjoy the view?” 

He lifts his hands, cupping her breasts in them and thumbing at her nipples the way he did while feeding on her. It feels so much more intense now, and she pushes up into his touch, just as she did before. 

“Just feel how perfectly they fit in my hands,” he whispers, his lips ghosting over hers in what is only the approximation of a kiss. Stilling the hand over her left breast to feel her heartbeat, he meets her eyes, his gaze warm and curious. “Are you happy here with me?”

If Lia thinks the timing of his inquiry is odd, she doesn’t let on. She simply considers his question for a moment, her chest rising and falling under his hand, that little muscle beneath her ribs confirming with every beat that she is still alive.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” she starts slowly, thoughtfully. “That isn’t an exaggeration,” she’s quick to add. “I feel safe here with you. It’s like we’re in our own world, and I wouldn’t be upset if it stayed that way.” She looks up at him, a soft smile curling up the corners of her lips. “I can’t remember the last time I had such a long string of mornings where I woke up looking forward to the day and what it would bring.”

Suguru lifts one of her hands to his mouth, tenderly kissing the scars on her wrist. “I’m glad you’re still here,” he murmurs. 

She reaches up with her other arm, linking her two hands behind his neck and pulling him closer. “And for once in my life, I can actually say that I’m glad I’m still here. I think that if ever there was a time when I was truly content, this is it.”

He dips his head, claiming her mouth in a slow, deep kiss. There is nothing hurried about his movement as he shifts his body to settle more firmly between her thighs. Even though she’s so very wet, and even though he’s dribbling sticky blurts of precum onto his hand, he’s deliberately pacing himself and being as gentle as he can with her. Mindful of his size and the fact that he is the first man she’s been intimate with in years, he goes slowly. Inch by inch he pushes into her, letting her adjust to him with a shallow thrust each time he pushes more of his length into her.

When he’s fully seated inside of her, he stills his hips. It feels like a monumental effort to do so. All he wants is to pull back and slam into her, to imprint the shape of him onto her walls, to pound into her again and again and again, until all she can feel is him, until she’s absolutely ruined for anyone but him. 

“Feel okay?” He asks, her skin soft under his hand as he cups her cheek in his palm the way he has done so many times before.

“More than okay,” she answers, her face warm. “I… I like the stretch... and how full you make me feel.” She pauses. “Do you feel okay?” 

“I feel,” he starts, tracing her bottom lip with his thumb, “fucking amazing.”

He sets a leisurely pace, his strokes slow and deep. She links her ankles together behind his thighs, keeping him as close as she can and relishing the heat their bodies make together. Suguru doesn’t mind - he uses that proximity to shower her with kisses, stealing her breath away and housing it in his own lungs.

He will selfishly keep every part of her that he can, even her discarded oxygen. 

Lia knows she isn’t going to last long. With every drag of his cockhead against her walls, she lets out a shuddering breath, the sensation sending tingles to the bottom of her spine. She doesn’t know if she’s ever felt like this. None of her past partners have ever even come close to making her feel this way just by being inside of her.

“S-Suguru,” she manages, when he drops his head to mouth at her neck. He isn’t biting, but his lips and tongue are busy, adding another layer to her pleasure. “Suguru,” she gasps again. “I’m going to---”

And then she does, that intense wave of pleasure making her breath catch in her throat and cutting off the rest of her words. He groans at the way she’s clenching and fluttering around him, her body squeezing him as if to signal her reluctance to let him go. It’s better than anything he’s felt in a long time. 

He wants to hold out. He wants to savor the feeling of her, to stay exactly where he is, as he is, for as long as he can. And so he slows his pace, even as he feels the tension in his balls when they tighten up in anticipation of his own climax. Not yet, not yet. He repeats the words in his head like a mantra, but she feels too damn good and he is very close to losing his composure. 

“--ove you.” 

So deep in concentration is he that he only catches the very end of her words, spoken to him softly, timidly.

His focus is split between wondering if he’s correctly heard what she’s said and realizing that he can’t hold out any longer. He comes with a long, low groan, burying his face in her neck as his orgasm knocks the breath out of him. 

“Shit,” he pants, when enough air has returned to his lungs. Her words come back to him then, and he raises his head to look at her.

The moisture in her eyes and on her cheeks alarms him at first - his immediate thought is that he’s hurt her in some way. Before he can ask, she shakes her head. “I’m not hurt.”

Dubious, he leans back a bit to give her a once-over with his eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” she says quietly, her eyes on the ceiling. She is very obviously trying to stop crying, but her tears appear to have no intention of heeding her wishes. “I’m really sorry---”

“Hey,” he interjects, his voice low and soft. “What’s up? You can talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong - are you sure I didn’t hurt you?”

She wants to run, to hide away from him in her room, but he’s still on top of her, still inside of her. Covering her face is the best she can do. “I didn’t mean to say that,” she sobs. “I’m really sorry.”

Now he is certain of what she’d said to him, the words he’d only caught the tail end of. He pulls out of her slowly, ignoring the mess he makes as he does so and pulling her into his arms. She’s still hiding her face, still sobbing quietly into her hands, curling into herself as if she wants to disappear. 

“Lia,” he starts, keeping his tone even, “was it that you didn’t mean what you said? Or was it that you didn’t mean to say it out loud?”

Just for a moment, she considers telling him that she didn’t mean it; that it was something said in the heat of the moment when her pleasure was getting the best of her. She knows, though, that the bitter taste of that lie would make her sick. Resignedly, she lets out a breath and tries to stem the flow of her tears long enough to answer him. “I didn’t mean to say it out loud.” 

“I see. That’s---” He cuts himself off abruptly, and Lia tenses in his arms. They’ve both heard it: the slamming of the front door. There is only one other person with a key to this home, Suguru knows. The only person who, despite repeated reminders not to, has always slammed the front door that way.

“You can’t be serious,” he murmurs. He sighs, hearing the footsteps in the hall. Lia is clinging to him tightly - he can feel the fear and anxiety rolling off of her in waves. “Don’t worry,” he tries to reassure her. “It’s just---”

“Oiiiiiiiii,” Satoru calls in a singsong voice as he flings open the bedroom door. “Tadaima!”

--

He’s nothing like Suguru.

He is all loud sounds and bright colors. If Suguru is the moon - at home in the quiet and dark - then Satoru is the sun, noisy and bright and energetic. 

It scares her a little bit how open he is, how unapologetically upfront and emotive. 

“I’m Satoru,” he says, paying no mind to the fact that she and Suguru are both still very naked, not heeding the way her eyes are wet and red and puffy from crying. “I’ve heard all about you.” 

It makes her shrink further into herself.

All about me? I hope not. But she can see from his eyes - those clear, bright, amazingly blue eyes - that he does know everything. Those eyes look at her as if they know things about her that she doesn’t even know about herself. It frightens her, and makes her fidget under his gaze.

“You also have the shittiest timing,” Suguru tells him, clearly annoyed. Heedless of his own nudity, he reaches for his discarded t-shirt, handing it to Lia. Gratefully, she tugs it over her head to cover herself. “Why didn’t you call?”

“I wanted to surprise you,” Satoru shrugs. “More importantly,” he huffs, pointing at Lia, “why is she crying? What did you do to her? Hmm,” he continues, without giving anyone a chance to answer his questions. He leans forward, his eyes on the wet mess in the sheets. “I see some---”

“Out,” Suguru cuts him off, leaving the bed to steer Satoru away by his shoulders. Lia thinks he means to put Satoru out, but he follows Satoru over the threshold of the bedroom. “You can use my bathroom to freshen up,” he tells her. “Take all the time you need,” he adds softly. His eyes are as warm and kind as they always are, but for some reason now, it makes her want to burst into tears again. 

He closes the door behind him, leaving her alone in his bedroom.

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Chapter Eleven: My Love is As A Fever (Coming Soon) A/N: Not that anyone necessarily cares, but the next chapter will be posted in about two weeks - I'm going to be away from home for a bit.

[plantwriting]

Assigning. Greek gods to jrwi pcs. Because special interests go brr

(Clarification for nobody: gods that i think just like. Fit them. Their vibes. Some of these are more obvious than others in their reasonings. Some barely have any reasonings. I’m just in a fun mood.)

Gillion: poseidon would be the easy choice. But. No. Selene. The goddess of the moon. Because moon mom :)

Jay: there’s a lot of good contenders i think. But to me its definitely either artemis or apollo. Both are archers, artemis obviously has the whole huntress thing which fits with her being a ranger, while apollo has the sun thing (lets not get into that convo rn) and prophesies which obviously works with every riptide pc, honestly not sure which one i would go with

Chip: hermes!! God of travelers and thieves and all that fun stuff so perfect for our pirate boy. Also a trickster, and his job as a psycophomp works with the like. Chips connection to the hole in the sea and all that fun mystery stuff

William: the wispy boy himself… now you might be tempted to say hades or thanatos because. You know. Death. But no. Dionysus. Especially in season two. I mean hes the god of madness! The greyscale arc!! Also he’s got his whole weird rebirth thing going on with his mom dying and zeus having to carry the pregnancy to term and all that stuff (id recommend watching overly sarcastic production’s video on dionysus its very interesting)

Dakota: now running into the problem of almost none of the greek gods and goddesses being explicitly heroic. However i have found a fitting answer: Prometheus. Stealing fire for humanity and just the overall care for people? Pretty fitting i think

Vyncent: Athena is a pretty good fit i would say! Clearly capable in battle, he is actually pretty smart once you get past the whole ‘from another world and therefore has no idea how things work’ thing, and just. Idk. Vibes!

Thanatos: well. Uh. Thanatos..? But also i feel like either Zeus or Kronos could fit since they both did the whole overthrowing gods thing! Idk really

Peter: PSYCHE. So immediately psyche. A human who became a goddess, was brought back from the dead by her lover, the goddess of the human soul?? She’s perfect for peter

Rumi: working off of peter! Eros! God of love brought psyche back from the dead just wow now i kinda wanna write a fic thats just the myth of psyche and eros but its peter and rumi instead

Rolan: kinda feel like hades is a good fit. Generally just a chill guy who also just so happens to be the god of the underworld and so people just kinda. Assume hes a bad guy. Rolan is just a chill lawyer who also just so happens to be a bug monster

Kian: now sure i could go apollo because music and blah blah blah or i could go persephone to satiate my shipper brain but. Aphrodite. Goddess of beauty, love, and sexuality? Being a rockstar is just the front he puts on, but beyond that his entire thing is just love. And since eros already went to Rumi Kian gets his mom (sometimes) instead ((also im biased because kian is my fave and i worship aphrodite lol))

Rand: Rand could definitely also have Dionysus but Will already got that so instead! Demeter. Both because Rand obviously has the whole plant thing (yes its a weed plant but its still a plant) and also losing those he loves and then holing up inside and refusing to do anything until he gets them back… rand absolutely would let the entire world starve because he was upset if he had the power to do so

Now for the suckening please keep in mind that im not actually caught up on the series, im still in the like first hour of episode 11 because i am bad at listening to things. But.

Emizel: Ares! Good fighter? Check. Very aggressive? Check. Uh. Honestly idk too much about Ares. But well i still think it fits

Shilo: Persephone. Sweet pretty spring goddess? Yes. Also the queen of the underworld and definitely terrifying if you anger her? Also yes. Fits shilo’s whole ‘oh im just a small innocent boy whos never done anything wrong anyways let me shh this person so they cant scream while theyre being diseccted’

Arthur: …i somehow genuinely cant think of anything. Uh. If anyone has suggestions please tell me? My brain just stopped working

[alena209]

Maya and The Three: a general analysis

Today, I bingewatched Maya and The Three (will be shortened to Mat3 from now on), from episode 1 to 9, generally because of a good friend of mine, @rainbowcutie1789 . If not for her, than I'd probably would not even know anything about the show. And by the way, this was a part of a game of Truth or Dare that I played with her (I dared myself and her that we'd watch our favorite shows. She watches my favorite, I watch her favorite), She's watching Ren & Stimpy, by the way (she likes it quite a bit)

This post has (spoilers) for the show, but Let's start!

Plot

Mat3 is a linear show consisting of 9 episodes, and its plot is Maya going on an adventure with the three warriors (Rico - The Rooster, Chimi - The Skull and Picchu - The Puma) as a part of the true Prophesy (hence why the main group are at times called "The Prophecy Friends") to defeat Lord Mictlan (the main antagonist of the show). The show will probably take around ~4:30-5 hours for ya.

Characters

Maya - the poster girl of the series*

*a poster girl (out of "poster boy") is when a character (usually the main character, female in this case) becomes the character that the show is generally associated with and appears as the main focus in promotional material such as, well, posters.

Maya is one of the main characters of the show and (as I said) the poster girl of the series. She's half-human, half-god (so a demigod), being the biological daughter of Lady Micte, the goddess of death and King Teca (guess who he is). She's raised by King Teca and Queen Teca (her stepmother). It's basically confirmed in the show that she falls in love with Zatz, one of her former enemies, former emissiary of Lord Mictlan and the son of Camazotz.

In a nutshell, Maya's generally a brave, adventurous girl.

Great MC and poster girl, 9/10

Zatz - The Prince of Bats, poster boy of the series?

Zatz is the prince of bats, being sort of the poster boy of the series, but mostly because of his handsome design, with a generally glorious, but Gothic-like appearance, as he derives from The Underworld (hell?). As I said, he's Maya's romantic partner, that's why I put him right next to Maya in this post.

Can't say much about the guy, but he's a chill dude, 9/10

Rico - The Rooster (hehe he's like Rico from Brawl Stars)

Rico's generally my favorite character in this show because of his personality. He's just a silly talkative guy! He's a magician and he can use two types, one from his apparently sentient staff Estefan (hehe, get it?) and his more powerful and dangerous type, peasant magic. He's generally a really expressive character for me, that's why he's my favorite.

He was cowardly at first, as we learn from his backstory that

(SPOILER ALERT) when he was at his (likely first) magic talent show, he made fun at by other people when he tried to do magic and he used his Peasant magic, in turn destroying the Luna Auditorium as a whole.

He did start to embrace his magic and used his peasant magic and eventually Estefan.

I love him! Such a silly little guy! 10/10 character.

Chimi - The Skull

Chimi comes from the jungle and was raised there, as she was feared by her people for being albino (and thus, having a very pale look) (being called "Monstruo Blanco" (White Monster))

She's grown to be an excellent archer and somehow speaks perfect English, despite being raised in the jungle?

She paints her face like a skull, likely for her deceased mother, hence why Picchu calls her "Bones girl".

Cool ass character, 10/10

Picchu - The Puma (hehe, his name is like Pichu the Pokemon)

Picchu is the barbarian of the main group. Mercy is his motivation, as he thinks that it's something that he wouldn't give, but it's who he was. He also doesn't really have that much knowledge in English, so he messes up with the language quite a bit.

A Barbaric, but kind guy, 9/10

Lord Mictlan - The Main Antagonist of the show

Lord Mictlan has a badass design and I absolutely LOVE how he can just split his face in half at times. He is the main antagonist though.

10/10 design, 9/10 character.

Minor Characters

Here, I'll mention some side characters of the show

Grand Bruja - I'm only mentioning her because she has a goofy design, with her using her nose for battle once.

Grand Brujo (not to be confused with his daughter, Grand Bruja) - also has a goofy design

Ah Puch - there are three of Ah Puch, I love that.

Camazotz (Zatz' father), Vucub - They have badass designs.

Zyanya - Camazotz' wife and Zatz' mother. She has a funny name. (Not meaning to offend her)

Now, the qualities

The Qualities

The animation and visuals are absolutely amazing! There are moments in the show where the characters just pop out of the movie format and get to the borders of the 16:9 format, mostly in action scenes.

Speaking of the action scenes, they are SICK. I love them.

The animation in general is expressive and smooth, always what I like about something!

The character designs are great all around, from beautiful, to badass, to goofy. The visuals are basically movie-standard!

The voice acting is great! Not much to say more about it.

The show itself

The first 8 episodes are great, with episode 1 introducing us to the Teca and Maya herself, episodes ~2-6 introduces us to the Prophecy friends, as she's figured out, again, the true prophecy after (spoiler alert) she sees symbols on her brothers' graves, them being Rooster, Skull and Puma.

The ninth episode, The Sun and The Moon, however is the final one and is about the main group and their allies defeating Lord Mictlan. It's AMAZING, it's an episode that rivals with my favorite episode of Ren & Stimpy, "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen". Both episodes hold special places in my heart, albeit, the Yaksmen episode has a more special place but Mat3's ninth episode is close.

General rating

It's a really great show that would take you only around ~4:30-5 hours long with amazing visuals and lovable characters!

10/10 series!

[trustinsighters]

Dungeon Dialogue: Xelphatol

The Wishbone #1 (X: 4.1, Y: 16.9) - Falling Rocks #1

Alphinaud: Falling rocks to add to the danger... 　↳ House Fortemps Knight: Let us proceed with caution.

The Wishbone #2 (X: 6.0, Y: 12.6) - Falling Rocks #2

Alphinaud: It's over if we're crushed. 　↳ House Fortemps Banneret: We can't lower our guard even in battle.

First Boss, Before engaging (X: 6.6, Y: 10.8) - Nuzal Hueloc

Alphinaud: Is that a balloon on his back!? 　↳ House Fortemps Knight: Be on guard for attacks from above!

First Boss, During the fight (X: 6.6, Y: 10.8) - Nuzal Hueloc

Nuzal Hueloc: Fly from this sacred place, featherless ones will! Nuzal Hueloc: From on high, we rain down death! Nuzal Hueloc: Reach us, featherless ones cannot! Nuzal Hueloc: If you dare, here try to fly! Squawk! Nuzal Hueloc: Squaaaaaak!

First Boss, After defeating (X: 6.6, Y: 10.8) - Nuzal Hueloc

Nuzal Hueloc: Fly free, we will... Alphinaud: His tactics were unique to say the least... 　↳ House Fortemps Archer: Their mastery of the wind isn't to be scoffed at.

Tapaxoli #1 (X: 8.4, Y: 10.1) - Fortified Cave

Alphinaud: They've fortified the very cave. 　↳ House Fortemps Banneret: An impressive feat, I must allow. Retreating Xelphatol Ixal: Squaaaaaak! Featherless! Featherless

Tapaxoli #2 (X: 10.6, Y: 11.7) - Mechanized Lifts

Alphinaud: They even have mechanized lifts. 　↳ House Fortemps Archer: How did they acquire the technology?

Second Boss, Before engaging (X: 12.7, Y: 12.6) - Dotoli Ciloc

Alphinaud: Does she mean to rouse the wind with that fan!? 　↳ House Fortemps Knight: The knights of our camp have just the defense!

Second Boss, During the fight (X: 12.7, Y: 12.6) - Dotoli Ciloc

Dotoli Ciloc: Sacred winds, come forth! Dotoli Ciloc: Fury of the vortex, behold!

Second Boss, After defeating (X: 12.7, Y: 12.6) - Dotoli Ciloc

Dotoli Ciloc: One with the wind, we become... House Fortemps Banneret: <pant> Her attacks were a veritable storm... 　↳ Alphinaud: I daresay she was one of the Galeborne.

The First Mountain #1 (X: 14.8, Y: 8.8) - Troop Transport

Alphinaud: An armored troop transport! 　↳ House Fortemps Archer: A pity my arrows can't pierce them...

The First Mountain #2 (X: 16.1, Y: 4.3) - After the 2nd Tailwind Relic

Alphinaud: We're well and truly in the sky now. 　↳ House Fortemps Banneret: I can't be back on solid ground soon enough... Xelphatol Skycaller: Your grave, this spot marks!

Third Boss, Before engaging (X: 14.9, Y: 3.7) - Tozol Huatotl

Alphinaud: We can't allow this summoning!

Third Boss, During the fight (X: 14.9, Y: 3.7) - Tozol Huatotl

Tozol Huatotl: Intrude upon sacred ground, who dares!? Pay with lives, featherless ones will! Tozol Huatotl: For the eyes, go! For the eyes! Squaaak! Tozol Huatotl: Upon sliver of Her glory, we now call! Squaaawk! Squaaawk! Tozol Huatotl: From wrath of mighty Garuda, reprieve there is not! Squaaawk Garuda: THE RECKONING COMES!!! Tozol Huatotl: To the goddess, all glory! All creation, Her dominion is! Tozol Huatotl: O Lady of the Vortex! In Your name, our lives we give...

Third Boss, After defeating (X: 14.9, Y: 3.7) - Tozol HuatotlAlphinaud: Alphinaud: The Ixal fought to the very last...

Xelphatol Dungeon Dialogue Infographic

[malsfefanfics]

Linhardt and Ashe?

Let's try this.

When Ashe had agreed to stay at the Hevring manor for the upcoming festivities, he'd anticipated a lot. People coming and going with research papers needing read over. Office staff asking for signatures for funding. Hubert stopping by with "samples" needing "a look at". He even expected Caspar to come running in and out, dropping whatever was in his hands to scoop them both up in a strong bear hug before running back to whatever tasks her Majesty asked of him.

What he hadn't anticipated, however, was this.

"Um, Linhardt?" Ashe asked. "Are you sure you wouldn't be more comfortable elsewhere?"

Linhardt shrugged. “I’d rather be here.”

"I see."

The 'here' that Linhardt referred to was his lap.

Ashe had managed to find a rare copy of a knight's tale he'd only heard of second hand. It was called "Graham and the Smith of Jasmine", and it was believed to be lost to time. He'd gotten so excited to sit down and read it over. And now that the printing press was starting to be used to restore and mass produce many other texts, he'd hoped to have this one recopied so as not to lose it in the future.

And of course, once he'd settled in with a warm pot of tea and a roaring fire in the hearth, Linhardt had decided to join him on the lounge seat with the latest edition of Hanneman's book on Crestology research. One arm wrapped around his shoulders, flipping through the pages absentmindedly as he sat on Ashe's lap. His feet lay on one of the cushions, preventing anyone else from joining them.

Well, anyone other than Caspar's cat, Patton. Who now lay belly up sparawled on Linhardt's legs.

"Um...would you like some tea?" Ashe offered.

"You know, if you want me to move, you could simply ask," Linhardt sighed. "But you would upset the cat."

Ashe chuckled. "I know. It's just...I'm sure it'd be more comfortable on the sofa proper, wouldn't it? And that way we can both read our books without issue."

Linhardt snapped his shut. "I was just looking over mine briefly. I already know what's in it. I helped with the research, after all." He glanced at the book in Ashe's hands. "What's yours about?"

"Oh, this?" Ashe smiled. "It's about a knight in Loog's service. Lesser known, but well respected in his time. In this story, he supposedly met a smith who had forged a legendary weapon blessed by the Goddess. But no one knows what it is, or where it would be, if it exists."

"I see. You believe this tale to be a work of historical fact rather than fiction?"

Ashe let out a hum. "I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it. Personally, I just want to read the story to find out what it's fully about. The book's supposed to have been lost for a good two hundred years."

At that, Linhardt lightly tossed his book onto the the nearby chair and swiped Ashe's from his hands. "In that case, I'll hold the book. You read aloud."

The archer's mouth gaped wide. "Wait, you...want me to read to you?!"

"Why not?" Linhardt asked, a cadence of curiosity hanging off each word. "Loog and the Maiden of Wind bore some level of fact within its fiction. Maybe we'll discover something here." He glanced at his face, eyes staring through him intently. "Unless you'd rather I move still."

Ashe sighed, but it wasn't frustration. Rather, playful defeat. He wasn't going to win this battle, it seemed. Instead, he nodded to the teapot.

"Make me a cup so I can have something to sip between pages, and you have a deal."

[herearedragons]

There! I fixed it

once again shoutout to @solas-backpack-mug whose idea I’m copying here

[athenaareia]

another oneshot installment to my archer and the knight series, this time focusing on our queen and goddess sally instead of the perpollo. with jackson family crumbs to keep you satiated.

it's called i'll love you til my breathing stops (because that specific line gives me very sally vibes so.)

[animemocha]

Anime's Greatest Chad: The Epic of Gilgamesh (Fate)

Gilgamesh is known as mankind's first hero.

But his story isn’t limited to just the Fate series. In fact, it’s shaped our modern lives more than you could ever imagine. 

If you’re here for a historically accurate depiction of the man who tried to conquer death, don’t leave. I’ve worked really hard to make this as accurate as possible.

And if you’re here for the story of the real anime Gigachad, and how he goes from an arrogant dictator to a benevolent king.

Then grab a drink and some snacks, because this, is the tale of the Hero of Heroes.

Roots of the King

Before we jump into the Epic of Gilgamesh, it’s worth taking a second to understand the roots of this iconic character and his influence on human culture and literature.

Mesopotamia was a region in 3100 BC, now covered by Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. It had its fair share of events, from the reigns of Sumerians and Akkadians to being eventually conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.

But nestled within this timeline is a certain story that’s so profound, so raw, it's been echoing for millennia.

Now I know what you’re thinking.

"I'm here for anime, not a history lesson."

But the thing is, all evidence points to Gilgamesh actually existing 5000 years ago. And his legend is recorded in mankind’s oldest poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh.

The epic is thought to have been orally transmitted for generations before it was finally written down on clay tablets in the cuneiform script, which was one of the earliest systems of writing.

To put into context how old that is, it makes him almost 3000 years older than Jesus. 

But I wouldn’t take EVERYTHING that follows as being literal. Just know that some of the stuff is actually reported to have happened.

The Hero of Heroes

Gilgamesh is known as the King of all Heroes because every single myth that followed, every story, every legend from every culture and every religion in every country, it all borrows inspiration from mankind’s first hero.

The strongest examples of this are in the Biblical tale of Noah and the Greek myth of Hercules. And his story greatly influences modern literature too, like The Lord of the Rings and A Game of Thrones.

The story of the Epic of Gilgamesh was discovered on 12 clay tablets found among the ruins of the ancient library of Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

These tablets, inscribed with cuneiform script, are dated to around the 7th century BC but are believed to preserve much older stories that were likely first told orally and later written down.

These ancient tablets provide the most comprehensive version of the epic, but parts of the tale also appear on other scattered fragments found at different ancient sites across the Middle East.

There are actually two versions of Gilgamesh in the Fate series and they’re technically different people.

Well, they’re not, but they kind of are. 

Archer Gilgamesh

We’re in the year 2800 B.C., the Age of the Gods, where divine beings and humans walked the Earth together.

Some Gods were just, while others treated their subjects as slaves.

One day, a greater god called Sefar invaded the Earth, killing many of the Gods.

She was eventually defeated, but the damage was already done, and the rule the gods had over the humans had severely weakened.

In order to preserve their rule, the gods needed a keystone, a Wedge of Heaven that connected the rising humans to the fading gods.

That keystone was Gilgamesh.

Born from the Goddess Ninsun and the Human King Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh was two-thirds God, and one-third human, and ruled over humanity with the mission to observe and adjudicate.

The Fortress City

The city Gilgamesh ruled over was called Uruk, situated in present-day Iraq.

Yet, Uruk was far from ordinary.

It stood as a testament to human achievement, its towering walls not just architectural marvels but also echoes of the ambitions of its people.

Conceived under the watchful eye of Gilgamesh, these walls became more than mere defensive structures; they symbolised humanity's victory over nature. This audacious statement reflected Gilgamesh's own beliefs: that he stood above nature itself.

As evidence of its profound legacy, archaeologists pinpoint Uruk as one of humanity's earliest urban epicentres, with roots as deep as 4000 BCE. Its intricate temples, ziggurats, and canal systems all serve as relics of its storied past.

The Tyrannical King

This transcendence over nature, and the very walls that proclaimed it, became the lens through which Gilgamesh viewed himself.

To him, the limitations of divinity and humanity were but mere lines in the sand.

He believed that while no human could rival the gods, the gods themselves could never experience the complexities of human existence.

And since Gilgamesh was both human and God, he perceived himself not just above his subjects, but even the deities that breathed life into him.

His self-awareness was, in many ways, his crowning achievement.

Gilgamesh grew to become a cruel, arrogant, and oppressive tyrant who subjugated his people to forced labour and sexual abuse.

And just to be clear, I’m downplaying that a lot because even I don’t want to talk about some of the disgusting things he is historically reported to have done.

And it makes me wonder how he ever became a Heroic Spirit in the first place.

The Man Made of Clay

Naturally, the gods didn’t want this, but they couldn’t exactly do anything about it because, well, Gilgamesh just wouldn’t submit to them.

So instead, the King of God’s Anu, and the Goddess of Creation Aruru, created a monster out of clay called Enkidu, to punish the arrogant king.

But there was a problem.

You see, Enkidu didn’t have a soul, and so couldn’t make rational decisions.

So the gods sent a divine harlot to sleep with him. (And I’m not even joking.) 

After this, Enkidu takes human form, and his final appearance is very similar to the girl he slept with. And that’s why he has such a feminine form.

(It’s definitely not because having more hot girls leads to more sales)

Noble Phantasm's

Before we dive into what happened between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, let’s talk about Gilgamesh’s powers, or more specifically, Archer Gilgamesh’s powers.

In Fate, heroic spirits have Noble Phantasms, which are special weapons or abilities that embody the legend of that hero. For example, King Arthur’s Noble Phantasm, or rather, Artoria’s Noble Phantasm (Again, because more hot girls = more sales), is Excalibur, the sword of promised victory.

Gilgamesh has a lot of Noble Phantasms, and I mean, A LOT. It would take me a decade to cover them all, but I’ll talk about a few.

Sha Naqba Imuru:

The first is his ability Sha Naqba Imuru, or Clairvoyance, which lets him see into the future and see the truth of anything he looks at.

So in a fight, he knows exactly who his opponent is, what their abilities are, and how best to defeat them. Or if he’s playing chess, then he knows the correct move every time.

This ability is pretty OP but the thing is, Gilgamesh barely uses it.

Why?

Because he’s an arrogant prick.

He believes himself to be so powerful, that he doesn’t even need it most of the time.

And uhm… he’s kinda right...

Especially when you learn about his next Noble Phantasm.

The Gate of Babylon:

During his time as ruler of Uruk, Gilgamesh amassed every single weapon on Earth and stored them all in his treasury.

And I genuinely mean, every single weapon.

And the Gate of Babylon allows him to choose whichever weapon he wants, whenever he wants, wherever he wants. 

But that’s not how Gilgamesh uses it...

Every single weapon is fired out at a speed of Mach 10, and he has so many, that he could go his entire life firing them away without having to use a single one twice.

What makes this ability even more OP, is that these weapons aren’t just ordinary weapons. Every single one of them is a Noble Phantasm in itself. Artoria’s Excalibur, Lancer’s Gae Bolg, Hercules’ Nine Lives, Gilgamesh has all of these weapons in his treasury.

But how is that possible if these heroes came AFTER Gilgamesh?

Well. That’s because they’re prototypes. 

I mentioned earlier that almost every legend told today is in some way inspired by the Epic of Gilgamesh. And in the same way, every weapon used today has a design that is somehow based on those in his treasury.

He owns every weapon that existed and owns every weapon that is yet to exist.

And don’t get me wrong.

While they’re technically prototypes, it is said that if you compare the original weapon to Gilgamesh’s prototype, the original will look like a fake, that’s how well-made the prototype is.

Not only that, but in a fight, the prototype will beat the original every time.

Now that doesn’t mean that if Gilgamesh were to use Excalibur and fight Artoria in a 1 on 1 swordfight that he would win.

He’d probably lose.

And that’s because he’s a jack of all trades but master of none.

Gilgamesh is a brilliant swordsman. But these other heroic spirits have spent their entire lives mastering a single weapon, and thus can use them to their full potential, which Gilgamesh cannot.

That being said. Gilgamesh DOES have one weapon that only he can use, one so powerful that it defies reality itself. Buuuuut I’ll talk about that later.

The Great Battle

Enkidu eventually confronts Gilgamesh outside of the Temple of Uruk, stating that he needed to be punished for disobeying the gods.

But Gilgamesh isn’t one to let anyone talk down on him.

So he engages Enkidu in a battle that lasts days on end.

And this was pretty new to Gil. It was the first time he ever came across someone equal in strength to him, which forced him to use his Gate of Babylon.

Gilgamesh was furious that someone had caused him to waste his weapons, he was humiliated.

But eventually, he stopped caring, and he even started to enjoy himself after finally finding someone worthy to be in his presence.

This battle lasted so long and was so fearsome that Gil exhausted every single weapon in his treasury, but by this point, Enkidu was severely weakened and Gilgamesh had won.

But instead of finishing him off, Gilgamesh extended a hand to him.

He saw Enkidu as an equal, and Enkidu ended up becoming Gil’s first friend, his only friend.

Friendship

One day, Gilgamesh set his sights upon defeating the Beast of the God’s, Humbaba.

But the thing is, the God’s hadn’t told him to do this, and he wasn’t doing it for the sake of his people either, because, well… he didn’t care about them.

Gilgamesh simply saw Humbaba as something that needed to be removed from the Earth in order to see out his mission.

Gilgamesh had always disobeyed the God’s so that he could be far removed from them, and he wanted his people to hate him so that he could be far removed from them, because that was the only way he could be truly neutral, because that was the mission for which he was born.

In this sense, you could argue that the reason that Gilgamesh was such an abhorrent dictator, was because he didn’t want to get close to his subjects, so that he could remain impartial.

(I don’t know how much truth there is to that and it could simply be a result of the story being altered as it was passed from generation to generation.)

Either way, seeing Gilgamesh’s resolve, Enkidu pledges his loyalty to him, and the two go on numerous adventures together, which ends with Gilgamesh becoming the wealthiest and most powerful king on Earth.

He amassed so much power that even the gods had no choice but to acknowledge it. One Goddess in particular, Ishtar, the Goddess of Fertility, asked Gilgamesh to marry her.

The King's Loss

Marrying a Goddess was actually one of Gilgamesh’s duties as it would see the continued reign of the gods over the humans, but Gilgamesh said no.

Enraged, Ishtar went to her father Anu, and asked him to unleash the Divine Beast Gugalanna on Uruk.

This divine beast devastated the lands for 7 years before Gilgamesh and Enkidu were finally able to defeat it. But this came at a price.

Ishtar asked the gods to sentence Gilgamesh and Enkidu to their deaths. While the Gods agreed, they couldn’t do anything to Gil, but they could to Enkidu, because he was their direct creation. 

Enkidu’s clay body weakened and weakened until it would eventually return to the very Earth from which it had come.

Gilgamesh stayed by his friend's side until the very end.

While this event is not shown directly shown in the anime, it is mentioned in the original Sumerian poem from three thousand years ago, translated as follows:

“It saddens me. It saddens me, Gil. Who would understand you after I die? Who else would march by your side? My friend… when I think you will live on all alone henceforth, I can’t help but shed tears. But don’t be saddened. For I am but another of your treasures.” - Enkidu

It’s honestly a rather heartbreaking end to their friendship.

One would have thought that the arrogant and prideful King of Heroes would have had a rather stoic response. But history says otherwise:

"You do have worth. You alone have this worth. I hereby declare: In all this world, only one shall be my friend. Thus---not for all eternity shall his worth ever change." - Gilgamesh

And with this, Enkidu returned to the Earth, leaving nothing behind but Gilgamesh's thunderous cry.

And for those of you who have watched Fate Zero, you’ll know that Gilgamesh kept this promise, even thousands and thousands of years later.

The Herb

After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh realised something.

As he was one-third human, he too would one day die.

If this were to happen, he would not be able to fulfil his dream of watching over humanity until the end of time, and it also meant he would not be able to carry out his purpose as the Wedge of Heaven.

And thus, for the first time in his existence, the king of heroes felt fear.

And this brings us to the core of the ancient Sumerian poem.

Gilgamesh, wanting to beat death, set out on a journey to find the only treasure that he didn’t have in his vault—the Herb of Immortality.

What does this herb do?

Well, it’s in the name so figure it out for yourselves.

Gilgamesh wandered the Earth for several decades in search of this herb, and eventually, stumbles upon a wise sage in the underworld that guides him in the right direction.

Sure enough, Gil finds the herb and is absolutely euphoric, because he has just beaten death, and all that’s left for him to do, is return to Uruk, and see over his people until the end of time.

Before beginning his journey back home, Gil decides to wash off in a nearby spring, where he first places the herb on the ground. However, as fate would have it, a serpent stumbles upon the bathing Gilgamesh, and after seeing the herb, it eats it.

And a little fun fact. It’s thought that the Sumerians and many of the cultures that followed, believed that snakes have the ability to shed their skin because this serpent ate the herb of immortality, giving snakes the ability to be reborn.

Much like the biblical tale of Adam, Eve, and the serpent, this story serves as a stark reminder of life's impermanence and the inevitable reality of death.

By losing the herb, Gilgamesh confronts the bitter truth: immortality remains beyond human grasp.

After realising what happened, you’d think Gilgamesh would be upset, or that he would be outraged, but, he wasn’t.

He realised that death was unavoidable and that by dying, he wasn’t abandoning his duty, he was completing it, because it was the most human thing he could do.

He realised that you didn’t die because you were human, but you were human because you died. 

And with his Sha Naqba Imuru, Gilgamesh was able to see into the future, and what he saw was exactly what he loved about the humans in the first place.

He saw the continued growth of the human race, the way their knowledge developed, and the way they used their resources to reach for the stars and beyond.

With this new outlook, Gilgamesh returned to Uruk as a changed man.

Caster Gilgamesh

While Archer Gilgamesh was an arrogant tyrant that did disgusting things, Caster Gilgamesh was kind, generous, and benevolent.

He loved his people so much that he actually gave away all the swords in his treasury. 

You see, these two versions of Gilgamesh are still the same person. It’s just that Archer Gilgamesh is the version of Gilgamesh we see before Enkidu’s death, and Caster Gilgamesh is the one we see after the death of his friend.

And yes, technically, Caster Gilgamesh is weaker than Archer Gilgamesh, and the biggest reason for that is the fact that he gave away so many of his weapons, weakening his Gate of Babylon.

But Caster Gilgamesh also had a noble phantasm that Archer Gilgamesh didn’t, Melammu Dingir, or King’s Signal Cannon. 

If you’ve ever seen the movie Three Hundred, it’s a lot like that. But except for arrows, he’s firing every weapon he has at his disposal.

As I mentioned, Caster Gilgamesh was much more generous than Archer Gilgamesh, and he gave away his treasures for them to be used in cannons, should the city of Uruk need protection.

As such, this Noble Phantasm is classed as an Anti-Army ability, firing every weapon mankind had in one go.

But if you think that’s powerful, there’s one more noble phantasm I haven’t yet mentioned. But this one didn’t belong to Caster Gilgamesh, it belonged to Archer Gilgamesh. 

The Sword of Rupture

Imagine a weapon so mighty that it not only holds power beyond comprehension but also taps into the very essence of our universe's creation. 

Enter Ea, the sword of rupture.

But is it even correct to call it a sword?

Ea is the pinnacle of Noble Phantasms and is the strongest weapon in Gilgamesh’s treasury and it is unique to only him.

You might think it kind of looks like a sword, but it actually isn’t. It was designed before the concept of a “sword” even existed and so, it’s in its own class.

To even summon Ea, Gilgamesh first has to unlock the depths of his treasury with a key that only he possesses, and after that, we see the mere act of obtaining Ea disrupts reality itself.

Designed intricately, each section of Ea represents the Heaven’s, the Earth, and the Underworld, with the sections rotating in opposite directions, echoing the universe’s vast expanse.

Gilgamesh claims that the sword "knows the truth" of the world where it once existed, and by using its power, it is able to bestow its knowledge upon others.

The weapon holds memories of a time even before the planet existed, a time when life, as we understand it, couldn't have survived. The memory of our universe's raw, primordial form, a chaotic blend of scorching heat and biting cold, of molten lava and dense gas, long before life as we know it began.

This primordial memory is embedded deep within our very DNA, a distant echo from eons past, now faded from our tales and consciousness.

Yet, to those who gaze upon the sword, this deep-seated, almost forgotten knowledge comes rushing back.

To Gilgamesh, Ea is more than just a weapon.

It’s an entity.

He treats it like a person. He talks to it, respects it, and unleashes its might only against those he deems truly worthy.

This isn't just any weapon; it's a creation from even before our planet's dawn, crafted by an unknown God and was once used to split the Heavens and Earth.

It is classed as an anti-universe noble phantasm with power unlike any other and its ability is called “Enuma Elish”, and to use the ability, Gilgamesh first recites an incantation, which is as follows:

“I will tell you of the beginning. Heaven and Earth split, nothingness congratulated creation, my Sword of Rupture cleaved the world!"

"Mortar of the stars, heaven's hell is the eve of creation's celebration. Now you shall die and be silent..."

This is actually another Babylonian tale from thousands of years ago titled “The Story of Creation”, buuuuuuuut I'll cover that another time.

I know that I’ve been describing Ea as a “weapon”, but it isn’t that at all. In fact, that barely scratches the surface of its true nature.

It's not an exaggeration when I say that Enuma Elish has the power to tear the universe apart. Yet, even such an unparalleled force had its moment of surprise.

(There is one recorded instance of it being stopped, something which shocked even Gilgamesh, but that’s a story for another time...) 

Gilgamesh is only seen using this ability on two occasions, once against Rider and another against Tiamat, a primordial deity that almost destroyed the world and was so powerful, that even Gilgamesh couldn’t defeat her. Or rather, Caster Gilgamesh couldn’t. Because like I said before, Archer Gilgamesh is on an entirely different level.

Reunion

We see Gilgamesh use Ea’s full strength against Enkidu, not in their first battle, but rather, when they met again thousands of years later in Fate Strange/Fake.

Here, the world itself is sucked into the void created by the sword, and it begins tearing apart. But Enkidu has his own version of Enuma Elish and thus was able to hold the World together.

The battle is described as follows by those that observed it:

"I felt as if the World was born seven times, and destroyed seven times." - The Sacred Prostitute.

This meeting here is honestly, beautiful. And I know that’s a weird way to describe what is essentially a war to the death between mages, but that’s all I can say about it.

We know how much Gilgamesh values Ea. He is disgusted by the thought of someone unworthy even laying their eyes on it. And it’s so rare that we ever see him even using it.

But when he realises that his opponent is his first and only friend, he pulls out Ea with zero hesitation. [Say it with slight laughter]

In fact, this is the happiest we ever see Gilgamesh. He spends the entire battle laughing his heart out, and we see Enkidu, with a hand to his ears, admiring the sound of his friend's laughter as if it were a song. 

It’s a tragedy that Gilgamesh will never be able to see Enkidu again. But that’s life. As sad as it is to admit, we all have people we care about that will be gone from our lives forever.

It’s no wonder that Gilgamesh’s greatest treasure wasn’t any of his riches, any of his weapons, the holy grail, or even Ea.

It was his friendship with Enkidu.

And with that, I’ve covered a fraction of The Epic of Gilgamesh. It took a lot of work and there’s a lot I couldn’t talk cover. I’ll probably make another post dedicated to Ea and another on Enkidu, but I’ll warn you, be prepared to cry.

psst... if you liked this essay, check out the full video essay on my youtube channel!

And I don't normally add this, but if I can be a teenie bit selfish on this one occasion:

Please check out the video (if you'd so graciously lend me a few minutes of your time) because it's by far the hardest I've ever worked on a video and I wholly believe the end result is really good. You can always leave a dislike and tell me how to improve if you don't like it lol

- love ya

[luminouslumity]

Parts One and Two!

THE UNDERWORLD: JAY, YOU BASTARD!

Anyway, after Odysseus and his crew arrive in the Underworld, that not only does he see his fallen men—including one named ELPENOR (Ἐλπήνωρ), who'd actually died while at Kirke's after he'd fallen off the roof in a drunken state—as well as his mother, but many other famous mythological figures besides Teiresias as well; perhaps most notable among them is Agamemnon, who'd been killed by his own wife KLYTEMNESTRA (Κλυταιμνήστρα), Helen's sister and Penelope's cousin, as vengeance for the sacrifice of their daughter IPHIGENIA (Ἰφιγένεια) in exchange for a fair bit of wind (in some versions, she lives), which only happened either because Agamemnon had displeased the goddess ARTEMIS (Αρτεμις) in some way—be it by boasting he was more of a hunter than she after killing a stag or because that stag had been killed in her sacred grove—or because his own father ATREUS (Ατρέω) had failed to sacrifice a golden lamb to her after promising he would, so she cursed his son as punishment. In any case, Odysseus is horrified and says that both Helen and Klytemnestra have brought nothing but disaster, and Agamemnon then tells him not to treat Penelope too well, though he does praise her sensibilities.

As for Antikleia, I've mentioned before how she is a granddaughter of Hermes, and specifically, she is a granddaughter of Hermes through her father AUTOLYCOS (Αὐτόλυκος), who'd been a trickster in his own right, having had the power to change or make invisible whatever he stole. According to later sources, such as Suida's Sisyphus, the consequences of Autolycos' thievery eventually caught up with him when the titular king demanded his fellow trickster give him his daughter to bed as compensation for Autolycos having stolen his cattle. Odysseus was born not long after. Callimachus also tells us, Antikleia had once been a companion of Artemis herself.

And because I'm feeling particularly evil today:

‘My child! How did you come here through the darkness while you were still alive? This place is hard for living men to see. There are great rivers and dreadful gulfs, including the great Ocean which none can cross on foot; one needs a ship. Have you come wandering here, so far from Troy, with ship and crew? Have you not yet arrived in Ithaca, nor seen your wife at home?’

I answered, ‘Mother, I was forced to come to Hades to consult the prophet spirit, Theban Tiresias. I have not yet come near to Greece, nor reached my own home country. I have been lost and wretchedly unhappy since I first followed mighty Agamemnon to Troy, the land of horses, to make war upon the people there. But tell me, how was sad death brought upon you? By long illness? Or did the archer Artemis destroy you with gentle arrows? Tell me too about my father and the son I left behind. Are they still honored as the kings? Or has another taken over, saying I will not return? And tell me what my wife is thinking, and her plans. Does she stay with our son and focus on his care, or has the best of the Achaeans married her?’

My mother answered, ‘She stays firm. Her heart is strong. She is still in your house. And all her nights are passed in misery, and days in tears. But no one has usurped your throne. Telemachus still tends the whole estate unharmed and feasts in style, as lords should do, and he is always asked to council meetings. Your father stays out in the countryside. He will not come to town. He does not sleep on a real bed with blankets and fresh sheets. In winter he sleeps inside, by the fire, just lying in the ashes with the slaves; his clothes are rags. In summer and at harvest, the piles of fallen leaves are beds for him. He lies there grieving, full of sorrow, longing for your return. His old age is not easy. And that is why I met my fate and died. The goddess did not shoot me in my home, aiming with gentle arrows. Nor did sickness suck all the strength out from my limbs, with long and cruel wasting. No, it was missing you, Odysseus, my sunshine; your sharp mind, and your kind heart. That took sweet life from me.’

Then in my heart I wanted to embrace the spirit of my mother. She was dead, and I did not know how. Three times I tried, longing to touch her. But three times her ghost flew from my arms, like shadows or like dreams. Sharp pain pierced deeper in me as I cried, ‘No, Mother! Why do you not stay for me, and let me hold you, even here in Hades? Let us wrap loving arms around each other and find a frigid comfort in shared tears! But is this really you? Or has the Queen sent me a phantom, to increase my grief?’

She answered, ‘Oh, my child! You are the most unlucky man alive. Persephone is not deceiving you. This is the rule for mortals when we die. Our muscles cease to hold the flesh and skeleton together; as soon as life departs from our white bones, the force of blazing fire destroys the corpse. The spirit flies away and soon is gone, just like a dream. Now hurry to the light; remember all these things, so you may tell your wife in times to come.’

NO LONGER YOU: According to one myth, Teiresias of Thebes came across two snakes in the middle of mating one day and hit them both with a rod. As a result, he was changed into a woman, until she saw the same pair of snakes again years later and was then changed back into a man. Zeus and Hera then asked him which gender enjoyed intercourse more, with Zeus favoring women and Hera men; when Teiresias said that women enjoyed it more, Hera blinded him and Zeus then gave him the power of prophecy afterwards.

Teiresias would go on to become a rather notable figure in myth, but to Odysseus specifically, the prophecy is described thusly:

‘Odysseus, you think of going home as honey-sweet, but gods will make it bitter. I think Poseidon will not cease to feel incensed because you blinded his dear son. You have to suffer, but you can get home, if you control your urges and your men. Turn from the purple depths and sail your ship towards the island of Thrinacia; there you will find grazing cows and fine fat sheep, belonging to the god who sees and hears all things—the Sun God. If you leave them be, keeping your mind fixed on your journey home, you may still get to Ithaca, despite great losses. But if you hurt those cows, I see disaster for your ship and for your men. If you yourself escape, you will come home late and exhausted, in a stranger’s boat, having destroyed your men. And you will find invaders eating your supplies at home, courting your wife with gifts. Then you will match the suitors’ violence and kill them all, inside your halls, through tricks or in the open, with sharp bronze weapons. When those men are dead, you have to go away and take an oar to people with no knowledge of the sea, who do not salt their food. They never saw a ship’s red prow, nor oars, the wings of boats. I prophesy the signs of things to come. When you meet somebody, a traveler, who calls the thing you carry on your back a winnowing fan, then fix that oar in earth and make fine sacrifices to Poseidon—a bull and stud-boar. Then you will go home and offer holy hecatombs to all the deathless gods who live in heaven, each in order. Gentle death will come to you, far from the sea, of comfortable old age, your people flourishing. So it will be.’

MONSTER: I really wanted to focus on this part here:

Does a soldier use a wooden horse to kill sleeping Trojans cause he is vile? Or does he throw away his remorse and save more lives with guile?

I went over the Trojan War pretty briefly in the first post of this series, but as for the horse specifically, though Odysseus is credited as the architect, the idea—according to Dictys Cretensis—came to him from the captured Prince HELENOS (Ἕλενος) of Troy, who'd been a seer like his twin sister KASSANDRA (Κασσάνδρα). From what we currently have available of The Sack of Troy:

The Greeks then sailed in from Tenedos, and those in the wooden horse came out and fell upon their enemies, killing many and storming the city. Neoptolemus kills Priam who had fled to the altar of Zeus Herceius; Menelaus finds Helen and takes her to the ships, after killing Deiphobus; and Aias [Ajax the Younger] the son of Ileus, while trying to drag Cassandra away by force, tears away with her the image of Athena. At this the Greeks are so enraged that they determine to stone Aias, who only escapes from the danger threatening him by taking refuge at the altar of Athena. The Greeks, after burning the city, sacrifice Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles: Odysseus murders Astyanax; Neoptolemus takes Andromache as his prize, and the remaining spoils are divided. Demophon and Acamas find Aethra and take her with them. Lastly the Greeks sail away and Athena plans to destroy them on the high seas.

Afterwards, it's said that only Nestor and Diomedes returned home straightaway, but Menelaos and Helen get stranded in Egypt for years after a storm blows them off course and destroys most of their ships, Ajax the Lesser gets thrown against rocks after also being caught in a storm while accompanying Agamemnon, who gets killed immediately after returning home even despite being warned by Akhilleus, some Greeks make it to the city of Colophon, and Neoptolemus is instructed by his grandmother THETIS (Θετις) to return home, during which he even ends up reuniting with Odysseus for a brief time.

[wutheringmights]

If a book has a pretty cover, it's not allowed to be bad. Yet, that's exactly what I got from "Daughter of the Moon Goddess" by Sue Lynn Tan. It's a 1/5 for me, folks.

This was a really infuriating book to read because I didn't need it to be good. I just wanted it to be fun, and yet no element of it worked for me.

The plot was episodic at best and unfocused at worst. Plot points that could have been books within their own right were introduced and solved within the span of a couple of chapters. Think everything from adapting to court life to going on magical quests to seek out legendary dragons.

Not only that, but many plot points were solved by the biggest contrivances in the world. For example, our main character was able to spike another's drink with the petals of a flower she found in their garden WHILE on the way to trick them. This was premeditated. She did not know the flowers were there, but there would have been no way her plan could have happened without them.

Don't even get me started on how the villain's entire scheme only worked out for them by pure chance. They were about to give up when it turns out by sheer coincidence that the main character was going to get her hands on the magical plot device they had been seeking for hundreds of years.

Speaking of which, the characters were flat beyond belief. I don't mind characters being simplistic or even archetypes, but they have to at least be entertaining. None of them were. The love rivals were infuriating in how similar they were. Our main character could not stop narrating about how much she hates lying and how she was deceiving everyone, while at the same time never once thinking anything through.

How bad is she at thinking things through? Imagine it's 2010 and President Barack Obama killed your mom. You have sworn revenge. Then you meet Sasha Obama at Martha's Vineyard, and she invites you to her home: the White House. So you go to the White House, only to remember that's where Obama lives when you see him sitting in the Oval Office.

Not only is our main character dumb enough to do that, but she did do that. All of that actually happened in the story, sans two-term president Barack Obama.

The rest of the characters? Not worth mentioning. They were nothing.

The genre of the story was also very confused. There were times that the world seemed to operate on fairy tale logic and others were it was trying to be realistic. For example, the main character was immediately good at archery because her dad is a legendary archer. Alright, sure. I can get behind that. But then the villain's plot involved tricking the enemy kingdom into violating a treaty of nonaggression so that they could justifiably wage a war against them without their allies lending aid. Huh? That's their scheme? To avoid an international incident?

I'm not even getting into how the rushed plot points pushes the characters from a fairy tale to a court drama to a war story to an adventure quest without succeeding at any of them.

I guess I could call this novel a romance, but none of the romances work either because the author merely assumes you want these characters to end up together and, therefore, does not even attempt to show the characters falling in love. In general, so much character development is hidden behind strange time jumps of anywhere from a few weeks to whole years passing.

Most of all, the way this story was written drove me nuts. Yes, there is some pretty, flowery language that more or less passes as feeling old and magical. But no amount of metaphors can cover up that the story just TELLS the readers what every character is feeling. At no point does the prose SHOW.

(I have some extended thoughts about how this novel's prose made me contemplate my own craft, but it's late and I want to go to bed soon. I'll come back tomorrow with some musings, so look forward to that).

So, yeah. This is a no from me. I really tried to like it, but I mainly felt like I was wasting my time. I'll probably dump this book the next time I de-clutter my bookshelf. I'm just glad that I didn't buy the sequel when I saw it on sale.

[slifarianhawk]

Chapter 24: My Problem

"Excella is here." Steve said.

I just felt all the joy from my time with Albert drain away. As I shook my head, I could hear her shill voice from down the hallway. She would mingle her way on up to him and be all touchy feely. She was his assistant and investor.

"My dear lotus, what is with that sour face you are making? Are you perhaps worried about Excella making your life difficult or even maybe jealous?" I felt Albert smirk from behind me.

"Of course I am! I mean, look at her, Wesk!" I said, disappearing back into my room, shoving past Albert.

He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into a deep, passionate kiss and whispered, "She is naught but a fly compared to you, my goddess. We just have to play this right, and the world is ours. Just follow my lead, dear lotus."

"I trust you, Albert. I know you would never be unfaithful to me." I sighed, staring into his bright eyes.

"Good, now we must go, I will reintroduce you as my wife as soon as we go out there."

"No, I have a better idea. I'll have Archer give her the tour under the guise of Pheonix Corps wanting to have tricell as a sponsor. Yes, that is what we will do." I said, grabbing my key card.

"What is your plan, Tabitha?" Wesker asked, his smile slowly disappearing from his features.

"Bring her to my office at the end of the tour. I'll introduce myself to her as the matron of the Pheonix Corps and as your wife at the same time a double whammy. I doubt she'll cause a scene if we do it like that. She'll know we could turn her in like that if needed. Not that I would. I know you need her for your plans to be successful." I said, smirking.

Albert sighed and walked out the door as i turned and walked to my private

elevator. As I decended into the labs, I found myself worried about Chris and his mental state. I decided I'd check on him, at least from a far.

I walked to my office once the elevator stopped. The click of my combat boots echoing down the hall. I arrived at my office door punching in my pin code and slid my key through the slot.

"Access granted, welcome back, m'lady." White queens voice said as the door slid open.

"The plan is slowly coming together, White Queen. So he'll be out of Spencer's plans. I just had to skip a few steps, but more or less, I'm back on track." I said, staring out over the vehicle bay.

"That's good, but what are you  going to do about your brother Chris? He is digging, and we run the risk of being caught by both parties," the ai said, appearing in her hologram form in front of my desk.

"I gave something to Clive to help appease Chris, a special zippo lighter and USB stick with my plans against Spencer just like the one I gave Albert. In fact, let me make a call to O'Brian." I said, pulling out my phone and dialing O'Brian.

"O'Brian, here what do you need, Ms. Lancaster." Clive asked worry in his voice.

"Sigh, the jig is up, Clive. Albert's partner found out who I was and told him. I have to go quiet for a long while. Tell Chris that you lost contact and to assume  the worst. It's time you gave him those items I left with you. Play the message  file I left on your desk, the blue usb. I'm changing the plan up." I said, sitting in my office chair.

"So we have to restructure the plan on our end too then... All right,  I'll tell Chris, but just be careful. Do what you need to do and bring this bastard to justice." Clive said, hanging up.

I pulled the phone away from my face and placed it under a false bottom in my top left desk drawer. It was time to break away from conventional and be the Pheonix I know I am. I just needed to check on my little brother one more time before I cut contact. O turned on my monitors and accessed the B.S.A.A. headquarters cameras, and I saw Chris walk into O'Brians office.

(CHRIS POV)

"What do you need, O'Brian? I was just about to head out. I haven't left since T was released. So what's going on?" I asked as my boss sat down.

He sighed and buried his face in his hand. He looked pale and stressed. I knew he gave up smoking  a few months ago, but there was a cigarette in his other hand. On his desk were files on T and Wesker. He clasped his hands together and looked down at the files.

"Look, Redfield, I mean Chris, this is going to be difficult to say." He said as he  lifted my sisters file and grimaced.

"No! Please tell me this isn't about my sister Clive." I exclaimed, slamming my hands down on the false oak desk.

"I am sorry, Chris. I truly am, but as of o eight hundred hours, agent Tabitha Wesker is MIA. She was supposed to check in last night at twenty-one hundred hours. Not a peep from her, and we had an arrangement if she didn't report in by the next day at o six hundred i would declare her MIA. I am assuming that she was found out by Wesker." He said, opening her file as a sealed manilla envelope and deep royal blue USB with a black snake fell out. Being handed the manilla envelope, I rubbed it in between my hands.

I was fighting back tears. Yet again, I didn't know if my sister was dead or alive. The things Wesker was probably doing to her, the thought was sending my anxiety through the roof.

"We not going to do anything, are we huh Clive?" I asked lividly.

"No, Chris, I'm sorry, but retrieving her would be detrimental to the B.S.A.A. right now. We are still in a delicate state after Jessica betrayal. If Tabitha betrays us and joins Wesker." Clive  said before I lost it.

"SHE WOULDN'T DO THAT NOT AFTER RUSSIA! NOT AFTER HE KILLED OUR S.T.A.R.S. FAMILY! NOT AFTER KIDNAPPING STEVE! CLAIRES FIRST LOVE! I'M GOING TO FIND HER! I NEED TO SAVE HER!!!" I shouted, turning around almost bolting toward the door.

"HOLD IT REDFIELD! SHE LEFT INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS SITUATION. NOW, YOU ARE GOING TO SIT YOUR HERO COMPLEX ASS DOWN AND LISTEN TO HER ORDERS! Clive shouted right back at me.

"Fine, but if  I don't like what I hear, I'm gone. Clive, I'll  be going to find her. "

I said, plopping my my butt down in the chair square in front of O'Brian.

He picked up the Blue usb stick, sliding it into his  computer while rotating the monitor to face both of us. A black snake slithered onto the screen, coiling around an inverted color umbrella logo.

"Hello. My name is Tabitha Redfield Wesker. Agent Clive O'Brian, my dear friend and Agent Chris Redfield, my precious younger brother, if you are hearing this, I am currently either missing in action or dead. This is my chance to explain the mission I am on and the goal of Pheonix Corps. " My sisters voice played from the speakers.

"What is your plan, T?" I asked the void between me and my boss.

"It was a long and strenuous path with multiple winding forks. It started when I found out from Sergeis files where Ozwell E. Spencer's location. I quickly headed out to his location.  When I arrived, he thought I was someone else. He thought I was Albert. He called me Albert when I entered his library. When he turned and saw that it was me, he was shocked." She continued

Clive started brewing a pot of coffee as T continued to describe the tension of the conversation.

"Ahh, Ms. Tabitha, this is a shock. I thought your husband would be the first to find me. He said while clasping his hands together. I see Vladimirs experiments were quite the success. Unlike his T.A.L.O.S. failure, you stand here brilliant and strong. I knew you were the right choice for Albert. It's a shame we couldn't convince your brother and sister  to join us." Her voice wavered.

Clive handed me a cup of fresh coffee.  He shook his  head as my sister explained how she lunged at Spencer and knocked him out of his wheelchair. He looked exhausted and stressed.

"I'm only here to find Albert, Spencer. You, Marcus, and Vladimir all had your fun using us. Here is where I stand against Umbrella and their ideals. I read the files on the Wesker children. I read my files. I don't care that our relationship was manufactured to make the perfect offspring. I love him, and I'll free him one way or another. Ill undo the grip and plans you set for him." She said on the recording.

Hear T say she loved Wesker after all he did made me feel nauseous. I knew she had deep emotions towards him but love, WHY!?!

"He revealed that Wesker was last seen in Africa working with an unknown funder. That he was expecting Albert not me and  that if I waited around my dearest husband should be showing up soon. I opened the window and sat the until I transformed into my full Arch-angel form. I revealed the true horror I was to Spencer. I flew out the window, closing it as Albert kicked in the door to Spencer's library. As soon as I noticed him, I bolted.  So I went back to the Pheonix Corps and told them the plan. Capture and jail him or rehabilitation and join the Pheonix Corps. If all else falls, I'll kill him myself. So there is no need to worry if I'm no contact, that means I'm in deep and in a fragile state." She said I stood up, flipping my chair.

"OH HELL, NO! SHE DID NOT JUST SAY REHABILITATION AND JOIN PHEONIX CORPS! HE'S ALREAY STARTED TO CORRUPT HER!" I shouted.

"REDFIELD! CALM DOWN!" Clive spoke up,"it is still up for debate by the U.N. but if she gets the approval, he wouldn't be able to leave the Pheonix Corps. H.Q. he wouldn't be able to handle viruses and Pheonix Corps. would cease all dark connections as well as station B.S.A.A. on staff.".

"I DONT CARE O'BRIAN!!! THAT BASTARD DESERVES TO ROT FOR ALL HE HAS DONE!!! I'M LOSING HER AGAIN THAT'S MY PROBLEM!!!" I fell to my knees and pounded the stained carpet flooring,"I just barely got her back. Why? Why won't she trust me or forgive me?"

"Chris, listen to me." Ts voice said, snapping me out of my tantrum,"I know this will be hard for you, but I left you a couple items one that will hopefully allow you to see my side of things and the other is a gift. I had the second item special made just for you. Claire got her gift before I left because we never had much of a connection. I saw her in the Harperville outbreak. We made up, but things were still tense between us. Please, I'm asking you to trust me one last time. Will you?" Her voice cut out as O'Brian handed me the usb stick and a black and green zippo lighter.

The lighter had S.T.A.R.S. logo on one side, the other was a locket with a picture of T holding me and Claire on the couch just before she left for russia the first time. I started to tear up because this had to have been when she was pregnant with my niece. I flicked the top, slamming striker bar down and watched as a small flame grew from the spout.

"You have amazing sisters, Chris. Your problems will eventually fade. Trust in agent Tabitha, something tells me she won't let you down." Clive walking, over to his door and opening it, "Now go on home and get some rest. You deserve it."

Standing up, I headed out of the office and quickly over to my desk. I stared at the lockets picture. I set the empty coffee cup on my desk and looked at the clock on the wall. Ten hundred hours it read. I wondered what T was doing right now.

"I'm going to get stronger for you, T. For once, I'll  be your hero. Like how you are to me." I said, shutting down my computer and walking towards the time clock.

I punched out, heading towards my truck. I needed a strong stiff drink, and my friend Johnny red label  would be the perfect fit.

[kyogre-blue]

This awful nightmare month had FOUR paralogues. So tiring. And they don't even let me kill Flayn or Seteth! Or let me see Rhea murdering those two NPC imperial suckups. Disappointing all around.

To get my notes under the char limit, I'll put the part about the first paralogue here.

Immediately after Claude's death/deportation, we get invaded by Almyra. Holst "fell ill" but big doubt.jpg, since he does not show his face to either Hubert or Edelgard (Hubert can only comment that "it's said" that Holst looks and smells awful). The Alliance supposedly can't cooperate enough to muster forces to support the Locket, even though we just spent lots of time playing up how Claude maneuvered everything to go down with the least amount of damage possible and how the Alliance has been extremely peaceful and cooperative to our occupation and invasion. The Goneril soldiers book it immediately when we arrive, no green units for us. And at the end, Holst politely passes the duty of guarding the Locket to the Empire. Which is another way of saying he refused to do it anymore, possibly on account of the dead little sister. You know, just maybe.

This is hilarious in general, and you can read all kinds of funny things into it, especially since this is the route where the game lies to you all the time with a straight face, so you are free to interpret practically all things you're told as complete bullshit (and you'll be provably right at least half the time).

Personally, I think it's very funny to assume everyone who says the Alliance occupation is going oh so well is either wrong or lying. I mean, sure, Claude supposedly arranged it so things would go peacefully whether he won or lost, BUT he was wrong at least twice about his allies surrendering peaceably and his dying words are about how he misread the entire situation. Yeah, logically this is all structured to contrast how the Kingdom and the Church won't go down as peacefully, but it's funnier if the Alliance is also not peaceful about this at all.

Almyra certainly is not looking like a future friendly neighbor, despite Edie's optimistic outlook.

Live blogging:

Hubert reports that Thales has started collecting the Relics from the Alliance (cool! definitely not a problem! Hilda wasn't casually able to oneshot everyone with that awful axe!)

He also suggests that we have one of our Lions recruits pretend to be a hostage to force their family to betray the Kingdom. Lovely man, so practical.

Byleth: you're using too many Proper Nouns, I can't keep tracks :( Edelgard: don't worry about it, kitten

Nader's in good spirits, at least. The Almyran forces have a lot of wyverns, mounted archers and also giant birds.

Edelgard thinks we can befriend Almyra, she would even consider a treaty. It's not a land ruled by blind fealty to the goddess (lol), so as long as communicate openly and respect the differences between our cultures... OK. We're not gonna mention Claude at all, which is funny.

Next paralogue! Hubie is investigating Solon, Kronya and Arundel. He wants to know their identities, their origins, their numbers, their base of operations, their plans, and where they acquired their dark powers, how they disguise themselves. He calls them "those who slither in the dark."

Now, working backwards from this, it means that he doesn't know these things in early war phase (where we are now), unless we assume he got further in his investigations in other routes.

Also, as has been pointed out, although this is a descriptive name that Hubert came up with, it's also used by Rhea for some reason.

It's a shame that Arundel is just Thales, he has a pretty nice design.

Hubert calls Arundel "Regent" even now. Weird!

We're sent to help some Agarthans who were experimenting in the Sealed Forest but their demonic beast subjects ran wild. Hubert later suggests that this was all a setup to make Edie's faction feel powerless in the face of the Agarthans' experiment (because they are aware Hubert is investigating them), but it backfired because Hubie isn't intimidated at all. He's looking forward to when Edelgard finished uniting Fodlan, and then House Vestra will fight the Agarthans in the shadows. (Hilarious from a narrative standpoint.)

Incidentally, you only need to save more than half the mages to get Arrow of Indra. The "Mysterious Mages" that you save also do not have Agarthan Technology abilities unlike the shapeshifters. Ladislava is popular with the citizens of the empire. She doesn't put up airs, is talented and also beautiful. She's known as the Scarlet Warrior.

There isn't much unrest in the former Alliance territories, perhaps thanks to Caspar's dad's strength (aka keeping them in line by force).

Riegan was once a branch family of Blaiddyd, which is very mysterious given their different crests.

Ladislava's troops depart at the end of the month (February) to the western front. They have high mobility. iirc she's a wyvern rider.

It's a bit funny to get the quest for the Almyran merchant same month as the Almyra invasion paralogue.

Claude told Lysithea roughly that she shouldn't focus too much on whether they win. Unlike Judith and Hilda, she listened lol.

Hubert hanging out in the Deer classroom, thinking about Claude. Relatable. He says that Claude has a compassionate exterior, but underneath is cold and calculating. Harsh! Also, not really in line with Claude's behavior toward his allies.

Linhardt says that there's a passage from the Holy Mausoleum to the Holy Tomb, but he can't figure out the mechanism. It's not really clear where the Holy Tomb is, and I've seen the speculation that it's under the amiibo gazebo... but the Holy Mausoleum is in the cathedral, so the two being connected... it's possible both are true, but kinda weird if so.

Dorothea: They'll write operas about this... I'm sure a pretty actress will play you :) And Edie :)) Maybe they'll throw in a love story :)))) hahaha (extremely awkward laugh)

Just realized you steal Zoltan's idol from the advisory room in the cathedral. Nice.

Hubert and Edie A: He emphasizes again that he's devoted to her due to personal feelings but also that he's not loyal in the sense of following her orders. He does what he thinks is best and if Edie disagrees, or doesn't like it, or is kept in the dark for her own good, well, that's how it is. He also mentions that his devotion became personal after Edie returned from the Kingdom, which calls back to how he and Ionius treat it as some kind of malicious kidnapping.

Petra paralogue: Church is threatening Brigid :( Well, per the Empire's perspective. Catherine is here <3

Jokes aside, Petra's perspective is interesting. Brigid is trapped between the Empire and Dagda, and they don't have the ability to stand against either one. They were dragged into war with the Empire by Dagda, which they then lost, and Petra's father was even killed. So they became a vassal state of the Empire, but given the whole racism issue, they probably were not in a good position. So Petra is focused on basically proving that Brigid is a useful and valuable ally for the Empire. Which is a rather practical approach.

Leonie paralogue... Interesting details that you need recommendations to get into Officers Academy. In the Alliance this means paying nobles to get them. Raphael mentions that his family sold their business to pay for him, iirc, since he wasn't up to running it anyway. Ignatz's parents are more successful, so perhaps they could just afford it. Leonie's entire village had to chip in to buy her way in. Presumably Ashe was sent by Lonato directly (though interesting choice given that the uprising happens very early in the year, so he must have already been planning it). I think the only other commoner is Dorothea, who... well.

Linhardt brings up the crests perpetuate the nobility angle and says to take it up with the Goddess for handing them out like that. But given where Leicester crests actually came from... sigh

Linhardt read about the legend of Saint Indech, so it's free real estate for any other character to read in an AU. Very nice.

Lake Teutates... Indech is a giant turtle. Man, these "dragons" are all kinds of shapes lmao. He attacks with water spikes.

Leonie calls the Immovable One a "magic beast" which we haven't seen so far, only wild beasts and demonic beasts.

Linhardt immediately caught on that the Immovable One is Saint Indech.

Petra has been in Fodlan for 9 years as of the war phase, so she came 3 years before the Academy.

Garreg Mach can be entered from the north by following Aillel, the Valley of Torment.

The map this time is a modified version of the monastery defense map from end of Academy Phase and second battle of the other routes. Previously, I didn't realize that the right hand third is gone. Presumably, this is the gorge that Byleth fell into...

We're fighting an expeditionary force led by Alois, while Rhea and Catherine hold off the rest of our army at the Sealed Forest. Aaah, they're so cool <3 They're also set up an ambush.

OK, so the situation with Flayn and Seteth is that they just retreat when defeated, regardless of who fights them. I thought there would be some scene about specifically sparing them, but nah. They just leave on their own. You don't even have any unique dialogue with Seteth, and Flayn just talks about how she won't kill you since she owes you her life.

Rhea murdered the heck out of Ladislava and Randolph off-screen. Shame, I would have loved to see it.

We killed Alois tho! He felt that, since we betrayed Rhea, Jeralt would not have approved.

[reno-matago]

May Hestia, pure goddess and foundation of gods and men, bless you with her sacred flame. Immortal Histie, who watches over the holy dwelling of Apollo, the Lord Archer, bless those who read us this night, and may your fire be our eternal beacon. Khaire Hestia!

[thenwhokilledtheworld]

From The Light Sent Down Chapter 11. Those Who Share The Blood

The canopy over the entrance to Kara Kara Bazaar is scarlet, embroidered with golden thread, so the sandstone under their feet, Sonia’s hair, and the late afternoon sun are all cast in scarlet. Tassels on the edges of the canopy bounce and sway in the breeze blowing over the dunes. A Gerudo with the sides of her head shaved and the rest in a long braid waves a fan made of Molduga fins to cool the air under the canopy. They are waiting to be announced and let into the gate. In this time, Kara Kara Bazaar is walled in, and is nearly the size that Gerudo Town is in her own time. It’s still the one settlement in all the desert where males are permitted entrance, which is why it’s been chosen for the feast at the end of Sonia’s diplomatic tour of Hyrule. Chief Ganondorf should be letting them in at any moment.

“Some delay now,” Bronwyn grumbles through thin lips.

“I think diplomacy is the part of chieftainship he likes the least,” Sonia replies, the ghost of a laugh curling the corners of her mouth. “My little brother would rather be with his books or his soldiers than wining and dining emissaries, unfortunately. We will have to be excellent guests.”

“So no second helpings of dessert?” Asks a crestfallen Danylo.

“Oh, no, I think second helpings are almost mandatory, don’t you? It pays a compliment to our host. I would suggest thirds if you can manage it.”

Zelda hopes that Gerudo desserts will be as good in this time as they are in her own. She has not had any fruitcake at all for several months, which is entirely too long. Only the Gerudo could think of something as wonderful as sponge cake and fruit and whipped cream soaked in cactus fruit liquor. She wonders if anyone will mind if she has four slices all to herself.

A low horn blares a note that echoes over the wall. The Gerudo holding the fan bows deeply to Sonia and says, “Your Holiness. The gates will open momentarily.”

“Come, everyone,” says Sonia. The priestesses array behind her. She dusts off her dress and straightens her crown of golden leaves. Rauru has remained behind, still visiting with the other Zonai. He’ll rejoin them once they’re on their way back to the Great Plateau. Sonia had thought it unwise to have Rauru join them in the Gerudo Desert, since Ganondorf was so wary of Zonai. Sonia still wears her Secret Stone on a chain of bronze and white beads, though, a reminder to all of the power that had been given to her both by the Zonai and the Goddess. She is glowing that evening. It is not even two months before the time for the baby to be born.

On nights like these it’s easy for Link’s absence to feel like a bearable weight. She doesn’t constantly wish to be alone or have to force herself to smile. It’s easy to believe that one day, soon, her power will be enough to carry her home. She has to hope that it’s more than just a comforting feeling.

The gates swing open. Another horn blast ushers them in. They walk through a short tunnel past rows of Gerudo guards standing at attention, although not kneeling, into a large courtyard lit by dozens of burning torches and filled with long, low tables burdened with a rainbow of food and surrounded by jewel-colored cushions. Palm trees planting beneath the paving stones surround the feasting area. Servers wait in archways to the sides with more platters of choice meats and cups of wine. The heralds lower their horns. The whole feasting area is filled with a riot of people from all over Hyrule, almosts none of them Hylian: Rito and Gorons and Zora, many of whom Zelda remembers from their travels. Sefa, the Zora queen. Rondan, the Goron headman. More soldiers along the walls stand and salute when Sonia enters. The Rito elder, an old and reedy character who mainly resembles a duck, is seated on an especially large cushion and talking on and on to Leto, the chief of the Rito archers. Several Zora are reclining at table eating grapes and lemon custard. At the foot of a raised platform bearing a jeweled chair is Ganondorf himself, wearing a long scarlet robe and his hair in what seems like a hundred golden pins and clasps. It’s the first time she’s seen him not bearing his sword.

There are no Hylians besides the priestesses and Zelda. Ganondorf had asked that the feasting be limited to non-Hylians, since none of them had been warring against each other in the last few decades, and he was uncertain about how civil his own people could be toward the Faronese especially. At least, that was how Sonia had explained their conversation. Zelda is not sure, looking at the Kara Kara courtyard, that they could have even fit more people.

“Sister,” he greets Sonia. A hush falls over the already anticipating crowd. Then they bow, all of them, with Ganondorf giving Sonia a deep nod. She lifts her face skyward and lets the amber light of the setting sun shine on her electrum-colored hair. She wears the role of priestess and High Queen wonderfully well.

“The Gerudo bid you welcome.”

“I thank you, brother, for extending your hospitality to us. My priestesses are weary after so many weeks on the road. And thank you, all of you, for coming to join us this evening. It was an honor to come and visit you and Hyrule, and an additional honor that you would make the journey to the southwest for this banquet.” A Gerudo servant in a long filmy veil rushes over with a goblet of something golden and translucent. Sonia takes it from her with a polite and quiet thank you. Ganondorf has been given his own cup by another server. They lift the goblets toward each other.

“To Hyrule.”

“To Sonia.”

They each drink. The crowd erupts into applause.

Several Gerudo attendants escort Sonia to sit beside her brother. A quartet in one corner strikes up a song on drum, flute, and sithar. Several high-ranking Gerudo sitting near Ganondorf sing along to the music. No one comes to lead the priestesses to their seats. It doesn’t seem like anyone except Sonia and Ganondorf really have their own seats. A young Rito girl and two Zora children are all sitting on one cushion, scarfing down their food. The Gorons are seated with several Gerudo warriors, talking about their preferred ways of killing Lizalfos. It’s much less rigid than the Zonai banquet had been, although no less splendid.

“Shall we sit with the Gerudo? It seems only appropriate,” Zelda suggests. She is personally wondering if her ability with the Gerudo language in her own time will translate to any proficiency in this one.

“Would you mind if I sat with the Rito?” asks Chanti, who is from Faron and is nervously clutching at Ana’s sleeve.

“Yes, let’s spread out,” Ana agrees.

“I’ll come with you, Zelda,” says Danylo.

“Hmph,” says Bronwyn, who has not been enjoying the dry desert air or the harsh sun, and who goes to join several Zora elders and two older Gerudo women sitting in the shade of a date palm.

Zelda and Danylo find two cushions right beside Sonia and Ganondorf’s seats with a group of Gerudo warriors in formal uniforms and one in a white sari with an emerald at her throat.

“Are you a new priestess?” asks one of the warriors, eyeing Zelda’s mushroom-printed tunic. The look the warrior gives her is an almost-successful attempt at bland politeness that reminds Zelda exactly of Link’s response to her enjoyment of mushroom clothes. Link’s response to her coming home one day with a mushroom-printed lavender dress with enormous pockets was to hmm through thin lips and then to say, it has pockets. She had once overheard him telling Sidon that Cece was committing ‘blasphemy against perfectly good mushrooms.’ She misses him. The Secret Stone burns against her chest, her one way home. Danylo looks at her with veiled concern.

“Ah, no, actually. I’m Zelda. I’m a, a friend of her majesty. And you?”

“Iqra.”

“I’m Danylo.”

“Saira,” says another warrior.

“Farafh,” says a third.

“I am Captain Jarailu,” says the woman in the white sari. “General of the Chief’s battalions.”

Zelda notices a ceremonial but wicked-looking scimitar at Captain Jarailu’s hip, thinner but longer than Urbosa’s preferred blade.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” says Zelda.

“The honor is all ours,” Jarailu answers. Where Urbosa would have answered with a quip and an echoing laugh, Jarailu is stiff and formal, constantly sweeping her eyes across the perimeter of the courtyard. “I hope your journey wasn’t too tiring.”

“Not in the least. I’m very happy to be on solid ground again. The Zonai city was so high up,” Danylo declares. She sips at her drink.

“The view of the desert was incredible, though.” Zelda enthuses. “Queen Sonia pointed out all of the towns and the great pyramid to us. I couldn’t believe how enormous the pyramid was! We could see the steps even from the sky. And we watched the sun set over the desert. It was so beautiful.”

“The Zonai keep that view all to themselves, huh?” says Iqra. Jarailu shoots her a look of brief annoyance.

“They were very kind hosts,” Zelda replies, wishing she were a more adept politician. Sonia, a dozen feet away, gives Zelda a momentary but encouraging smile. “I’m sure they would be happy to have the Gerudo as their guests.”

“It is very high up, though,” Danylo reminds them.

“It might be nice someday,” says Saira.

“Peace does have its benefits,” says Jarailu.

“While it lasts,” says Iqra, lightly. “Oh look, cake.”

A server stands over their low table. When the server sets a plate down in front of Zelda, she can practically hear the voice of her etiquette tutor telling her to not pull faces. It’s supposed to be fruitcake. She thinks . She’s honestly not sure. It looks like burnt scrambled eggs baked in a bread tin. There is no whipped cream and no fresh fruit. Instead, the sponge is packed full of fruit, among which she can only identify bananas and raisins. Zelda hates raisins. She forks off the smallest bite possible and raises it to her mouth. There is not even any cactus liquor in it; instead it’s dry as chalk. Zelda has to chug her wine in an unladylike manner to be able to choke the miserable stuff down. First there is the dessert-less Zonai banquet and now this, an even worse outrage against dessert. Even the aftertaste is enough to make Zelda’s eyes water.

“Lady Zelda, are you well?” asks Captain Jarailu.

“Very,” Zelda croaks.

After a course of heart soup and pickled hydromelon, Zelda is able to claim when asked that she is simply too full from the other delicious food to finish her fruitcake. At the table, they make small talk of the weather and their families, and Zelda learns that Archaic Gerudo and the Gerudo she knows have almost nothing in common except for grammatical structure. Another server comes around with plates of pit-roasted tenderloin, setting one in front of Saira, Danylo, Iqra, and Jarailu, but by the time she gets to Zelda and Danylo, her platter is empty.

“My apologies,” she says, lowering her eyes. “I will see if there is more.”

Apparently there isn’t. All around the courtyard, Zelda overhears other servers giving murmured apologies to the guests. There is a plate before Queen Sefa, but not before any of her warriors. There’s one for the Rito elder and for Teba, but not for the Rito children playing by the musicians. She takes a quick look over her shoulder and sees several of the guests lifting their empty cups to servers who don’t seem to notice them. The conversations buzz and lull. Sonia leans over to Ganondorf and says,

“Is something wrong?”

“Perhaps something amiss in the kitchens.” He waves her off. “I’ll have it seen to.”

The evening wears on. The sun goes down. Additional torches are lit along with lamps set among the dishes on the tables. Zelda finds herself listening again to the words exchanged between Sonia and Ganondorf while Danylo goes on and on about something Jarailu is trying heroically to pay attention to.

“I’m sorry if this all was ill-advised,” Sonia frets. “I hope that it didn’t take you unprepared. We could have had the feast elsewhere.”

“I offered,” says Ganondorf evenly. “Now that we are not at the throats of the Hylians every spring, I’m eager to let the rest of, ah, Hyrule see some of our splendors. It’s a pity about the wine.”

“It’s lovely to see you again so soon after the coronation.”

“An honor to host the Queen of Hyrule,” Ganondorf replies. “How do you feel your efforts have been received?”

“Which of my efforts?”

“Toward maintaining the peace.”

“Yes. They’ve gone well, I think. It helps that the clans were the ones who had originally begun the meetings on the Plateau, so there is still much momentum to be had from that. Of course there’s been some violence from smaller groups, but nothing large-scale. I have a great deal of hope that it will succeed.”

“What were the opinions of the Zonai about all of it?”

Sonia laughs. “I think they were happy to hear they’d have more peaceable neighbors. I’m optimistic that there can be more trade with them now that more hands can be occupied with artisanship and farming instead of warmaking.”

“You’re becoming quite the politician.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. There’s so much that I’m sure you know that I don’t. I am becoming quite the diplomat, I think. It’s not so different than being High Priestess. People bringing their problems and needing comfort and answers. I feel I am quite prepared for it. The administrative work, on the other hand… I don’t know that I would have accepted the crown if I’d known how much meeting with advisors and reading accounts there would be.”

Ganondorf chuckles. “You know you’re allowed to have assistance with that sort of thing.”

“One day. I want to make sure I’m familiar with how it all works first. I’d be happy for any of your advice.”

Ganondorf is suddenly somber. Sonia puts her hand on his arm in concern. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s the Zonai I’m worried for,” he tells her.

“What for?”

“I don’t mean to suggest anything about their nature at all, of which I know very little.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sonia, I have commanded armies. You have lived in your Temple where no sword can be drawn since you were fifteen and I was only a boy. There are things you… things I want you to understand.”

“You can tell me what your thoughts are. I don’t want you to feel that you must hold your tongue because I am Queen if that’s what this is.”

“Nothing brings people together like a common enemy,” he says, his voice so quiet that Zelda, close to them as she is, can barely hear it at all. “When they agreed to peace and swore their fealty to you, they gained much; I won’t deny that. But their desire for a common enemy may turn elsewhere. I hope it doesn’t turn outside of Hyrule.”

“You don’t think…”

“I hope not,” he repeats.

“It would be terrible,” she whispers. “I hope it will never come to that.”

“So do I,” says Ganondorf. “I have something to show for our guests.”

He claps his hands together, and the sound is so loud that the conversation across the courtyard halts immediately. He rises from his seat, an imposing figure, still holding out his arms. He steps down from the platform.

“Before some of us retire for the evening,” he announces. “I would like to put on a bit of a demonstration for our honored guests in my sister’s honor.”

The musicians all go silent, all except for the drummer, who keeps a slow and rhythmic beat going as Ganondorf rolls up his sleeves.

He lifts his hands. Tiny glittering lines shoot up from outside the walls toward the night sky. Zelda thinks they’re fireworks at first until they swoop down into the courtyard, darting through the courtyard like fairies. They grow brighter, then there are more of them, then there are glowing spheres rising from the torches, and shadows, dancing and laughing. One of the Zora girls squeals with delight and reaches out to touch an arcing line of magic zig-zagging across the feast table. Every breastplate and earring in the whole courtyard is flashing with the reflection of Ganondorf’s magic. The drum is rejoined by the flute, then the sithar, the music gaining tempo as the magic swirls around the courtyard faster and faster, twisting together into one thread growing upward like a tree, then racing up like an arrow, until it’s just one dot, one little star. It explodes apart and rains down in a hundred streamers, like the biggest firework she’s ever seen.

Zelda does not need a mirror to know that her face is as white as ash. She looks to Sonia, who is laughing and applauding with the rest of them. It’s not the magic itself that makes her stomach turn to lead. It’s the color of the magic. It is as purple-red as the magic that took Link’s arm. It is as crimson as the magic that killed Zelda’s father.

She should have known. She had guessed, but she should have known. She had thought that Ganondorf was named after Calamity Ganon, but no— it is named after him. Perhaps in a way it even is him. Her heart is thunder in her ears. Against her chest, the stone burns like an iron. Sonia will not believe her. Maybe even Rauru will not believe her. What if she has to face this completely alone, without Link, without anyone? And is that not what he’s doing in the future— facing Ganondorf reanimated, completely alone, where she cannot help him? What could they ever do without each other? What can they do against this?

Zelda turns to hide her stricken expression and her shaking hands, but her eye catches on Jarailu, whose face is illuminated in the dying embers of Ganondorf’s display. Her face is like stone, her jaw set, her eyes narrow. The guests think this is only a show, but it’s a threat. Chief Jarailu, captain of Ganondorf’s forces, knows it’s a threat. And she seems none too pleased.

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