#overall I love beast wars

[abeee-0]

Did some doodles while watching Beastwars.

I love this show

[cherryplasmids]

so that was the end of beast wars... i can't articulate my thoughts coherently so i'm just gonna ramble in the tags

[morallysuperiorlips]

12 Traits to Give Your FMC That Are GUARANTEED to Make Her More Interesting!

She has an unlikely set of skills: Stick her with a set of skills or talents that might not pair well with her occupation or personality. Maybe she's a hellish warrior who's a beast at knitting. Maybe she's a wallflower with a four-octave singing voice. The combinations are really endless, and this is a great and easy way to inject some extra charm into her.

She doesn't exactly conform to societal norm views: And I mean this more than just not adhering to traditional gender roles. Maybe, in the scope of your world, she has a set of views that many might consider unorthodox, or maybe she's just a little more "off the wall" with her opinions than the other characters around her.

Identity crisis, identity crisis, identity crisis: Have her balance different roles that seem like they have no business mixing together. Have her face a trial that makes her question everything. Have her wrestle with the skeletons in her closet (literally or figuratively, whatever you think fits her situation better). Not only will this help make her more relatable, but its a great way to give her some internal strife.

She doesn't know who to support: Is she stuck in between two warring families? Or, maybe the will of her superior vs. the will of her beloved? Whatever the struggle is, giving her a sense of uncertainty around who to support can go a long way in terms of her own conflict and keeping reader interest.

A strong sense of justice goes a long way: I LOVE a girl who has a strong moral compass. Give us the girl who's up in arms about serving justice in the way she believe is right. Bonus points if she will do absolutely anything and everything to defend her ideals. Extra bonus points if her sense of justice doesn't exactly seem "kosher" on paper...

...or maybe it's ever changing: But, on the flip side of that, a more flimsy sense of justice--one that almost appears to change with the tide or time of day--can also pique some interest. This is more than just plain grey morality; this is morality that can flip for any reason.

Traits that don't seem to match up: Like the skills suggestion, this encompasses general personality traits rather than skills. Give us the fiercely independent woman that absolutely craves human touch, or the high IQ genius who has no sense of emotional intelligence, or the fearless leader who wants nothing more than to fall to the background. You can really go nuts here, too!

She's obsessed with SOMETHING: Whether its an obsession or an addiction, this is something I feel like I don't see a lot of in female characters. It could be a substance, or a person, or even a concept. Bonus points if she compromises whatever she might be doing to touch on this obsession. Drive it home for us, writer.

Double life, maybe?: Whether its metaphorical or totally literal, this trait is a great way to dig down to her depths and tack on some intrigue with her character. Is she really hiding a secret identity? Or is she trying to reconcile two contrasting parts of herself?

She's confident in her femininity: Look, I love me a woman who defies gender norms and goes against the grain of femininity, but in that regard, I feel like there isn't enough writing about characters who embrace it. That doesn't always have to be falling into gender roles, but maybe she's really in tune with her nurturing side. Maybe she's the picture of grace. Maybe she just really likes dolling herself up and looking pretty. There's nothing wrong having any of these traits, so having her be confident in them could be a breath of fresh air!

She knows her tastes and she knows them well: Is she goth? Is she coquette? Is she all glam? However she rolls, she knows how she wants to look, and she sure as shit embraces it in her overall aesthetic.

She's a leader...and an imperfect one at that: Yes, this is a dig at the classic "Strong Female Lead." The fact of the matter is that even the best leaders are imperfect, so if your FMC finds herself at the front of a rebellion or an organization, really emphasizing her imperfections can give her some nuance that doesn't make her seem totally and completely untouchable.

As always, gooooooooooooo fucking write something today <3

(If you like my guides, prompts, writing, or art, consider supporting the blog today! All donations help me keep this thing up and running and all are appreciated <3)

[ladydelena]

Tamlin: N-SFW Alphabet

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Doting. Teasing. Lazily caressing your abdomen. Stroking your hair, giving you time to breathe but not fully come down from a high before he’s taunting you with trailed kisses, stealing your breath with his touch and intimate words… he knows what he's doing. When you're finally spent, he takes the time to make sure you're clean and comfortable before drifting off to sleep together.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Tam is proud of his overall physique and he likes to keep his body well honed. It’s an instrument of war and pleasure, and he’s good at both. A single body part though? His hands. He likes his skills with his sword, fiddle, and you, and his hands have mastered them all. 

On you? Your curves. The softness of your body, the plush of your arms, your breasts, your belly, hips, and thighs, he melts internally at the sight of you and he always wants to hold you and be held by you because of it. Now a single thing? It has to be your cute face and cheeks. The way they dimple a bit unevenly when you smile, and flush when you get cold easily, or get flustered… 

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

No apprehension, no shame, you both end up a mess when you share in each other. You’re filled with him, all you can taste is each other, you’re both panting hot messes. Noone knows what happened but it was great. 100/10. Would do it again.

Also, see below in dirty secret.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

It’s not dirty, but also not common knowledge, Tam really doesn’t have too many sexual barriers, ever more so than normal fae. Not only is he open to any gender, he’s not closed off from receiving any pleasure as well. He likes knowing how to please in return so he’s shifted into different genders and species and explored everything there is to explore and he knows how to provide. 

He likes when you play with him in his beastie body too. You like when beastie Tam finishes all over you.

I have no shame.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Extremely experienced. And not just in the number of partners, but in being able to learn what they like and put it to good use. It's not just physical, it’s mental and emotional experience too.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

I want to say good old traditional missionary because I have a feeling he likes relentlessly driving into you while still being able to look deep into your soul… he’s kind of intense like that, buuuuut-

Doggy. Standing, kneeling, bent over the table, let me just say he shows his affection and love for you all the time, but in this? He really, reallllllyyyy loves claiming you, breeding you, making you his, just absolutely burying himself in you.

(And you like taking it like the submissive breedable good pet that you are…)

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

In general he's not goofy, but a lot of the time he’s a bit rakish and mischievous with how he teases you. He knows how to make you a whimpering mess and it gives him a great big, shit-eatting-grin to see how well he can make you putty in his hands. The Bastard. Love him though. 

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He keeps it trimmed down there, nothing too neat or too crazy, but the rest of him? Well he’s a little furry beast after all. The male has soft pillowy chest hair, arm hair, and a little happy trail that is slightly darker than the sun-kissed blonde the rest of the world sees. As I seem to recall, he's rather fond of you taking a trip down that very trail… the path less traveled, I suppose, though you frequent it often, I’m sure.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

How do I say this… Tamlin has a certain way of always spiking a bit of adrenaline in you. He has the butterflies in your stomach going wild with anticipation. In the morning before the sun fully rises, at night when the bed beacons to both of you, in the moonlit courtyard or glowing yellow fields of his court, he makes it feel like you are newly together with his desire for you. He has beastly tendencies that make you shudder with anticipation but at the same time he is so gentle with his touches and kisses, so loving with his words , and he's not scared of intimacy.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

He’s not shy about his sexual appetite but once he has a partner he loves, he doesn't really need solo time that often. He has a fairly active sex life with you and had no shortage of lovers before. That being said, if you're tired or not in the mood and he is, he’s not pressuring you. Once he makes sure you're attended to and well taken care of he doesn't mind taking care of his needs and doesn't make you feel guilty about it at all.  

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Ho boy. Our beastly princely High Lord. Tamlin was not written for the modest mind. The Calanmai firenight fae orgy doesn't begin to cover what he's capable of or into. And while he doesn’t mind an audience, I’d say that Tamlin’s insatiable appetite is laser focused on you. He's not bound by human morals or constructs. Hell, he's not even bound by the physical limitations of his (well-endowed) male body. He thoroughly enjoys being a pleasure dom- and that coupled with his beastly aura, his endless fae stamina, and the unlimited forms he can take as a shapeshifter? Ho boy. He can match your freak. Dare I say surpass what you thought possible as well.

Additional thought here- he likes the fluidity of his shifting. I think he might be a bit restrained at first with a partner, but when comfortable, he sort of exists somewhere between fae and beast. His senses are heightened, his pleasure and need to breed and please you in return is more primal. He likes biting and nipping, he likes running his claws down you and mixing aches with pleasure.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Though your sleeping chambers see the most frequent use, Tamlin is a son of Spring, and he truly sees to it that you, ahem, blossom, out in the open air, in the fields and forests of his court. Honorable mention to the many closet doors and hidden rooms that had been willing third parties in your lust driven frenzied moments between meetings and courtly duties.

(not sure if this should be under kink, but he likes to hunt you through his forests and claim you when he finally gets his hands… or paws… on you. Like I said, not made for modest minds.)

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

He doesn't dress up often, and mostly exists in his practical clothing, but seeing you dressed up (or dressed down), and radiant, it really does something to him. He loves that you feel safe and comfortable enough to be free; a soft flowing dress that hints at your curves, your hair unbound and cheeks flushed from the brisk spring air, he goes feral over your softness and warmth. It's the same at night or when you're dressed down to do things like read a book or craft. He has the instinct of a provider, and seeing you comfortable and relaxed, seeing you happy and warm and inviting, it makes him feel not only emotionally secure, but physically makes him want to hold you, care for you, love you. (And well, you know where that tends to lead with our Tam.) 

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Degradation. He’s definitely into mixing pain and pleasure, but when it comes to how he speaks to you, putting you down or degrading you is a hard no. He doesn’t like being spoken to that way either. Teasing and taunting? Sure. But he prefers a relationship void of this at all.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

This. Male. Lives. Between. Thighs. 

He needs the taste of you like he needs to breathe.

It’s not performative. He genuinely craves you, and he’s not squeamish or shy about any of the body’s natural scents or functions. 

Tamlin likes when you take time to pleasure him as well, and it's normally when you both are having a lazy day where nothing is rushed, but he is a giver, and he doesn't rush your pleasure. He knows how to draw you to your edge, how to leave you wanting, how to make your body sing and push you over the edge again and again. He doesn’t care when or where, anytime is fair game when it comes to laying you down and moving your skirts out of the way so he can feast.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Everything. He’s everything. But in general, there's a feral edge that drives him to go at a medium but brutal pace. He’s making sure you feel him in every nerve of your body, each thrust threatening to push you over the edge and leave you breathless.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He’s not against them. 

He prefers to have enough time for you two to fully enjoy each other, but with how busy courtly duties can be for both of you, quickies are not uncommon. It’s quite common actually to find yourself being pounded against a closet door, a hand twined in your hair, or bent over a private lunch table, a hand muffling your mouth as you try your hardest to not disturb the manors staff with your heated moments. He’s not the only insatiable beast in this relationship.

Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Yes. As long as your overall safety is not at risk, all else is fair game. Tam is definitely open to trying new things, he’s not much for traditional boundaries when it comes to how you two experience and share pleasure.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Multiple rounds. He takes his time and lasts quite a while before finding his release, often making sure you're thoroughly sated before joining in on the fun. Sometimes it's only a breath before you continue, sometimes it can be an hour of loving caresses and being content in each other's presence before continuing, but he can go all night. And trust me when i say, he’s got stamina.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Toys are not entirely common especially in the beginning, but Tam is definitely open to them. The reason that you guys don't exactly have them until later on in the relationship is just because Tams magic itself and shapeshifting are both very present when you two are together. Who needs leather straps when vines have you bound and displayed like a piece of art? 

(I’m sorry to say my mind is filthy but who needs a helping hand… or appendage… when he can literally dual wield himself by shapeshifting??)

It would be unfair to compare his purring to a vib… anyways.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He is EXTREMELY unfair sometimes, but he delivers in the end. He doesn't bring you to the edge just to not help you over. But he has centuries of experience in honing his love of pleasure, this male knows when you’re urgently needy, and if he’s in a particularly roguish mood? Everything is slow, and teasing, and lazily sensual until you’re aching with need and he still wants to hear you panting and babbling before he delivers your release.

Would you put yourself through the torture again? duh.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Oh boy, he's a growly one. He’s not shy about his sounds and it’s great. The deep husky command in his voice, the panting as your bodies move as one, the growls of desire and dominance, the whimpers of pleasure when he surrenders control, the hurried words of praise and love, and even the hoarse moans- he’s not shy about his sounds. It drives you mad with how much you want to hear more.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He likes to be babied and cared for. Like being a beastie boy is all good, but he truly likes to be pet and brushed when he's in his other form. He likes being held and snuggled. In his fae form he loves when you sit in his lap in a non sexual way and have your face buried in his neck. He loves the intimacy you share, just holding each other and reading or watching the sun rise under the open sky. 

If the wild card is a sexual thing, it might be surprising , but he truly has an artistic soul, even when it comes to intimacy. The way he weaves your bodies together and makes you feel, he has the heart and soul of an artist despite his role in his court  and you feel it in every moment you share with him.

*I think he likes when you take control sometimes too. Ride him like your life depends on it and tell him he’s a good boy when he’s close okay? He’s a good boy!* 

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Lord. High Lord that is. He’s sinfully, lustfully crafted by the mother herself. Even in his fae form, there's a primal buzz to the air about him. His hard toned body that even a glimpse at when he's fully dressed has you thinking of the feel of him pressed against you… yeah.

Tamlin is one of the bigger males you’ve seen, he has that rakish glint in his eye that is at odds with his respectful presence. A princely air about him that is at odds with the animalistic tilt of his head and gate of his step. That damn soft mouth of his that often pulls on the pointed edge of his canines…

I need air.

Tamlin has these masculine but elegant hands, they’re large and rough from his fighting and swordsmanship, but elegantly shaped and veined, and artistic as well. And his body? It doesn't matter how long you’ve been with him, any glimpse sends your blood boiling.

If we’re talking about certain parts, though, he's thick. Long enough to please you, but thick enough to have you buzzing with anticipation- Every. Time. and that's before the shapeshifting games begin. How many different species are there in Prythian? That's a whole lot of schlongs to have fun with. 

(I’m sorry. no I’m not)

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

His sex drive is high. Multiple times throughout the day, and it’s never lacking, he always shows up both emotionally and physically. Sometimes though, it catches you off guard. A gentle touch, a lingering stare, and you can feel the heat building in your cheeks, the shallowness of your breath. You drive him mad with need, and the effect he has on you is unparalleled. You yearn for him deeply and thoroughly as well. 

It’s nice, by the way, he finally feels loved and chosen by you, and you feel the same- wanted by him. 

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Pretty quickly. Tamlin is actually a relatively light, sometimes restless sleeper and will wake at the smallest sound, though it's hard to gauge when he’s actually awake or asleep. He’s good at checking in through the night to monitor your surroundings but he never moves or makes sounds in an effort to not wake you up. 

He’s better than he used to be, though the restlessness from his past hardships still sometimes trouble him. Since meeting you though, his nights have been more peaceful and he can often get through the entire night without waking, thanks to the conversations and real tough realities you've worked through with him- it was a non-negotiable on your end in order for you to accept his courtship, and he was willing to face his demons for a chance to be yours.

_________

Edit: honorable mention that I could see him being in a bite-y mood and just….

[blasphemousclaw]

ok I think I’ve played enough of the dlc where I feel like I can talk about it now and lift my spoilers embargo… overall I had SO much fun!! there’s so much to love about it and only a few things I didn’t like! more detailed thoughts under the cut:

Gameplay-wise, I thought almost every single boss was fun and rewarding to fight… my faves were Divine Beast Dancing Lion (best ost in the entire game by miles), Rellana, and Messmer. I also really loved the exploration?? My favorite kind of games are the ones where you have to sniff out every corner of the map in order to find hidden paths forward… the fact that you have to really poke around to find huge areas of the map, and how the traversal is so layered and non-linear, was THRILLING to me!! so much more interesting than the base game!!

Story-wise, what spoke to me the most was everything about the Hornsent… Belurat was my first legacy dungeon, and I was so wowed by the gorgeous unique architecture and the sheer desolation of the place that it really stayed with me. Both the environment and the Hornsent NPCs do such a great job of conveying the pain and tragedy of what happened to them, while at the same time, not simplifying them into some kind of faultless utopia… their society was proud and harsh and cruel (not just to others, but to their own people), but it was also bursting with art and culture, and it was home to everyday people who made delicious stew for their loved ones:

“Scorpion simmered in a black soup. Traditional meal of the hornsent. Once made with love by a certain elderly woman for the family table. Having long gone cold, this soup gives off a rank, sour smell.”

Some of my very favorite NPCS were the Hornsent Grandam and Hornsent (the guy); I thought their quests told such poignant stories about loss and the meaning of justice and revenge (I especially think Hornsent’s quest complements Marika’s story so well!!). The way they portrayed this civilization’s downfall was so beautiful and tragic!

Also the fact that the NPCs talk during combat is SO GOOD??? At first I was kind of annoyed that I had to summon Hornsent for Messmer’s boss fight to do his quest, but in the end I was so glad I did because his dialogue during and after the fight is incredible!! plus the NPCs talking to EACH OTHER during the Leda invasions?? and need I mention IGON… this is the real best new addition they made to the game

Now for the one big fat thing I didn’t like….

so I had actually heard about the leaks before playing the game and was like ok. if this is true theyre gonna have to really justify this to me because my initial impression is uhhh. lol??? And now that I can confidently say that I’ve combed the game top to bottom for pieces of this story, I really dont think the game succeeds at justifying Radahn’s appearance?

What I mean by “justify” is that, in my opinion, if you’re gonna bring back a fan-favorite character who was previously dead, and not have it come off as cheap fanservice, it needs to feel like this character’s presence matters — that they have the necessary buildup, that their appearance has a significant weight to it, and that their screentime fleshes them out as a person in a meaningful way. I don’t think the dlc achieves this at all with Radahn. Yes, his appearance is directly foreshadowed if you do Freyja and Ansbach’s quests, but it isn’t enough to just state in advance that he’ll show up… my problem is that, even with these NPCs’ dialogue, Radahn feels like a total non-person. We hear almost nothing about what his thoughts or feelings about this situation might’ve been (just Freyja’s assertion that he would have approved of “endless war, to invigorate the soul”). We get plenty of insight into Miquella’s character because there’s so much material about him, but there just isn’t the same investment into Radahn’s character, which makes his triumphant return fall really flat for me.

I think for me what would’ve appropriately justified Radahn returning is if Freyja gave us more details about who Radahn was as a commander during the Shattering… like, some jumping-off point to really get a sense of what his motivations might’ve been… OR, they could’ve even added another Redmane NPC with views on Radahn that conflict with Freyja’s (there is literally a minor boss, the Red Bear, who was stated to have been a Redmane!!!)… what’s still a mystery is why Malenia tried to kill Radahn, and why he resisted, and the DLC doesn’t give us any concrete information about Radahn’s actions or goals during the Shattering that would have caused this. They don’t have to spell it out for us!! I just needed SOME attempt to engage with Radahn’s character in the DLC material if they’re literally gonna bring him back from the dead!! Because as it stands, he shows up and fights us without a word or even an expression, like a glorified action figure!!! it’s LAME!!!!!

totally loved the DLC except for that part. anyway stan Elder Inquisitor Jori

[crazyintheeast]

I adore how Nimona and The Sea Beast explored different aspects of fighting against bigotry and hatred through the power of the deranged child and noble himbo dynamic In Nimona we got to see an overall benevolent society that sabotages itself through it's ignorance and the extreme irrational hatred that stems from this .It's about the everyday bigotry that fill our society. This is most obviously seen in the Director. She doesn't want power, she is just so terrified of the "others" threatening her way of life that she is willing to do anything including destroying her own society. Ballister is an incredible asset to the Kingdom but he is not part of her traditional views and this he represents a threat that she mus destroy at all costs. It's the same mentality we see with crazy bigots who's favorite logic " if we allow this(aka minority) then what's next(ridiclous scenario)" This is further escalated at the end where she is literally willing to destroy half the kingdom if it means killing Nimona. In the Sea Beast we have a slightly different perspective. The "other" is not some unknown quantity. Here they are in a constant war with the "others". Both of the main characters have suffered immense loss as the "others" killed their family . And we have the main characters uncovering that this cycle of violence wasn't started by the others but from them. It was their rulers who started the war, who spread false propaganda and incited hatred just to increase their own power. Something extremely common especially lately in our world as we get a ton of politicians inciting hatred and presenting others as a threat. It's all about the systematic spread of fear and ahtred by those in power And that's where the brilliance of both movies iconic lines comes . "I see you Nimona" because both Ballister and the people of the Kingdom for the first time truly see Nimona for who she is and accept her. While in The Sea Beast it's “You can be a hero and still be wrong.” because people realize that you can be in he wrong even if you thought you were doing the right thing and that the real enemy are not the other but greedy Imperialistic political scum who is spreading fear and hatred so they can expand their own power I love these movies so much

[goldfades]

✮ 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐯𝐞, jump then fall au

au masterlist! masterlist!

♡ ─ word count | 2.7k

♡ ─ summary | cece has been working for adam for a month, forming a bond with paloma. she comforts paloma during a tantrum and later helps adam when paloma won't stop crying, late into the night. they discover the meaning of paloma's name as they bond over it.

♡ ─ warnings | toddler tantrums, sleep-deprivation LMAO, um nothing else (i think)

♡ ─ taglist | @literatureluster @itsnotgray @valluvsu (fill in form in my navigation in you are interested!)

♡ ─ ev's notes | after weeks of writer's block, we GOT OVER IT. war is overrrrr, finally. we survived the great war. anyways, this chapter is so sweet and i love it so much. i also realized my love for adam is very much eternal and undying, i will love him more than anyone else 4ever and idc. should i start a go-fund-me so i could get his jersey?? help a broke college student get her fav hockey player's jersey✊🏼✊🏼 also happy spooky seasonnnnn!!!

also if anyone has au thoughts please send them in for my entertainment, i love love LOVE asks.

It had been a month since Cece had started working for Adam and she has loved every second of it.

Well, maybe not every second but Paloma was the sweetest girl she's ever worked for. She was funny and easy to work with, unlike some of the other kids she's worked with. Cece had quickly adapted to the rhythm of the new job, finding ways to connect with Paloma and make their time together enjoyable and overall fun. She had become an big part of Adam and Paloma's daily routine, and it was clear to everyone that Paloma adored Cece.

Cece was sitting comfortably on the floor next to Paloma, watching her favorite movie, "Beauty and the Beast" for the fifth time she couldn't help but smile at the toddler's enthusiasm. Paloma's eyes were glued to the screen, and she occasionally mimicked the characters' actions or lines with her limited vocabulary, making Cece laugh in the process. She was adorable, her heart melted with every little word she mimicked.

As Belle and the Beast danced in the iconic ballroom scene, Paloma attempted to mimic their graceful movements, stumbling slightly in her excitement. Cece chuckled and gently held Paloma's hand, helping her "dance" along with the characters.

She laughed as Paloma kept her dance up, "You're doing good, sweetheart!"

Paloma beamed happily at Cece's words of encouragement. Her tiny feet shuffled clumsily on the floor as she continued to "dance" with Belle and the Beast. It was a sweet sight, and Cece couldn't help but feel a deep affection for the little girl.

Right as the dance ended, the apartment door had opened. "I'm home!" Adam's voice rung out through the entire apartment. As he walked into the living room, he smiled at the scene in front of him.

"Hey," Cece greeted him with an equally bright smile as him, still sitting on the floor next to Paloma, who had now shifted her attention from the movie to her dad's arrival.

Adam bent down and scooped Paloma up into his arms, eliciting giggles from the toddler. "Did you have a fun day with Cece, sweetheart?"

It was sight she had grown used to now, Adam and Cece had become a staple in her life even if it only has been a month. She couldn't help but feel like she was a part of the family, somehow, even if she wasn't exactly blood-related.

Paloma nodded enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Daddy, dance!" she exclaimed, her arms moving in an attempt to recreate the dance moves she had just seen on the screen.

Adam laughed, sharing an amused look with Cece. "You've been dancing, huh?"

Cece nodded, her smile warm. "She was quite the dancer, just like Belle."

Adam chuckled as he watched Paloma's attempts at dancing. "I see that. Thanks for keeping her entertained, Cece."

"No problem," Cece replied, a light tint of blush coming onto her cheeks. Adam continued to play with Paloma, making her giggle and laugh. Cece watched the father-daughter duo with a fond smile, her heart warmed by the sweet scene before her.

After a quick lunch, Adam had to go back for a team meeting so Cece had to stay with Paloma a bit more, which usually wouldn't have been a problem ─ except now, Paloma had suddenly decided to have a tantrum because of her father leaving.

Cece tried her best to soothe Paloma as Adam prepared to leave for his meeting. She understood how difficult it could be for a toddler when their parent had to leave, especially when they were as attached as Paloma wa.

As Adam headed towards the door, Paloma's cries grew louder, and she reached out for him, tears streaming down her cheeks. Cece held Paloma close, trying to comfort her. "It's okay, sweetie. Daddy will be back soon."

Adam paused at the door, his heart aching as he looked back at his daughter. He wanted to stay and comfort her, but he also knew he had responsibilities. "I'll be back soon, sweetheart," he reassured her, his voice filled with love. "Cece will take care of you."

Cece nodded at that and gave him a quick nod, gesturing for him to leave. He sighed and nodded, exiting the apartment as Paloma's cries continued for a while. Cece did her best to distract her with toys and games, hoping to ease her distress until Adam returned.

They played with her building blocks, read some of her favorite books, and even had a little tea party with her stuffed animals. Slowly but surely, Paloma's tears began to subside, replaced by the occasional hiccup.

Cece kept a watchful eye on the time, knowing that Adam would return from his meeting soon. She didn't want Paloma to be too upset when he got back. As they continued to play, she whispered comforting words to Paloma. "Daddy will be back before you know it, sweetheart. He loves you very much."

Paloma, still a bit sniffly, looked up at Cece with her big blue, teary eyes and nodded. Cece couldn't help but smile at the toddler's resilience. Paloma gave her a whine and gave reached out her arms towards her, gesturing for her to pick her up.

Cece gladly picked Paloma up and held her close, cradling her gently in her arms. Paloma's sniffles gradually turned into contented sighs as she rested against Cece's shoulder.

──

Cece awoke with a jolt as she felt Paloma being carried from her arms and Cece almost screamed until she realized it was just Adam. Relief washed over her as she blinked away the remnants of sleep, "Shit, you scared me."

"Sorry," Adam laughed softly, his voice filled with warmth as he held Paloma against his chest. "I'm back. How was my little princess while I was gone?"

"She was, um... she was good." Cece yawned, her eyes watering at that. Sudden embarrassment washed over her as she realized that she fell asleep on the job but before she had the chance to apologize, it seemed he had read her mind.

"Don't apologize, I get it." Adam offered Cece a reassuring smile as she nodded, gratefully.

"Thank you," she laughed softly as she got up from the sofa, standing in front of him. She never really realized just how tall he was but suddenly, she felt like he was towering over her. Sudden butterflies emerged in her stomach as she looked up at him and they gazed at one another.

"Well─"

"I─"

They both spoke in union before they paused, looking at one another for a second until they laughed. God, they were so in sync. "You, um, you go first," Adam smiled down at her, Paloma looking very pleased with the scene before her.

"I was just gonna say, I have a Chem test tomorrow and I haven't studied for it," she explained groggily, exhaustion clear in her face.

Adam couldn't help but feel disappointment building in his stomach as he heard those words come out of her mouth. "Oh, yeah of course. Go, don't worry, I'll take of our Paloma." It had come out so naturally he almost didn't catch it. Our Paloma. It sounded so... perfect and Adam could feel himself getting used to staying it, our Paloma, our girl.

Luca's words kept repeating in his mind as he waited for her response, "No girls." But as he stared into her eyes, her big, beautiful, deep─

"Yeah, our Paloma," she repeated softly, a warm smile spreading across her face. "Thank you, Adam."

"Of course, no problem. Um, get home safe and good luck on your test tomorrow."

As soon as she reached the door, Paloma whined. You looked back at Adam knowingly as Paloma started reaching for Cece.

"Hey, hey." Adam started trying to distract Paloma which did nothing but make it worse, somehow. "Princess, it's alright, she's coming tomorrow."

Paloma's whines grew louder as she continued to reach for Cece, her little arms outstretched. Adam didn't know what to do; she usually stopped crying after he comforted her, but this time, it seemed she only wanted Cece.

Cece hesitated at the door, torn between her responsibilities and the adorable toddler who clearly didn't want her to go. She looked at Adam with a questioning expression, silently asking for his help.

"It's fine, Cece. I can deal with her." Adam's voice was gentle, and he tried to hide any disappointment he felt about the situation. He walked closer to Cece, giving her an understanding smile. "You should get some rest and study for your test. I've got this."

Cece sighed in relief at Adam's understanding. She bent down and gently placed a kiss on Paloma's forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow, sweetheart," she whispered softly to the toddler before reluctantly stepping out of the apartment.

Adam watched her go, feeling a mixture of gratitude and disappointment. He knew that Cece needed to focus on her studies, but a part of him wished she could stay. He turned his attention back to Paloma, who was still crying in his arms.

"It's just you and me, kiddo," he said with a soft smile, carrying the crying Paloma back to the living room. He was determined to make the evening as comforting (as he could) for his daughter.

As the night wore on, Adam did his best to comfort Paloma. He played with her, read her a bedtime story, and even sang her a lullaby, but nothing seemed to calm her down completely. The toddler's cries continued, growing more tired and desperate as the hours passed.

He felt like he didn't know Paloma anymore, he spent less time with her than he had done in the past. Was he being a terrible dad by prioritizing his career over Paloma? He didn't know, he felt truly helpless as his ears began to sore from the constant crying from his daughter.

It was around 1 am when Adam realized he was at his wit's end. Paloma had been crying for hours, and he was exhausted and frustrated. He felt like he was going to go insane, especially because none of his family was here to give him a break. That was until he remembered: Cece.

He pulled out his phone and sent a text message to Cece, his fingers typing quickly.

Adam: Hey, sorry to bother you, but Paloma won't stop crying, and I don't know what to do.

He felt guilty for even asking, knowing Cece probably has her own worries and problems. But he truly had no one else to turn to, his body sore from practice and he was fatigued from all the crying, on top of everything.

His phone started buzzed almost immediately and he looked at the caller ID: Cece was calling him. He slid to answer,

"Cece, I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No, I've been up." Cece laughed through the speaker. But Adam could hear the exhaustion in her laugh, as much as she tried to hide it.

The guiltiness hit him like a truck when he heard her voice. He almost wanted to cry, "I'm sorry, Cece. I just had... no one else to call who I trusted."

That statement made Cece's heart swell. He trusted her? "Oh, Adam don't apologize. That's what I'm here for. Do you want me to come?"

"No, no. It's too late and I don't want anything to happen."

Another soft laugh escaped her before she started hearing some crying from his side. She was almost concerned, thinking it was him until it registered in her sleep-deprived mind that it was just Paloma. "I'm a big girl Adam, I'll be there in 10."

Before he could protest, she hung up and Adam let out an exhausted sigh before he turned to Paloma, who was still crying. How much tears could one little girl have? Adam thought to himself.

Cece arrived at Adam's apartment right on time, her heart heavy with worry for both him and Paloma. She had come as quickly as she could, not wanting to leave Adam to handle the situation alone any longer. There wasn't any traffic because it was 1 in the morning, the only real plus of this whole thing.

When she entered the apartment, she found Adam sitting on the couch, looking utterly exhausted, with Paloma crying in his arms. She had never seen him so tired, his hair messy and his eyebags visible. Without hesitation, Cece went over and gently took Paloma into her arms.

"Hey there, princess," she cooed softly, rocking Paloma gently. "It's okay, I'm here now. Shhh, it's alright."

Paloma's cries gradually began to subside as Cece worked her magic. Adam watched in awe as the two of them seemed to have an unspoken connection. Cece had gotten Paloma to quiet down after four hours of nonstop crying but Adam was too tired to feel anything but exhaustion. He had been at his wit's end, unable to calm his daughter down, and seeing Cece work her magic with such ease was nothing short of amazing.

"Thank you, Cece," Adam whispered, relief washing over him as Paloma finally began to calm down. He felt a deep sense of gratitude for the young woman who had come to their rescue once again.

Cece smiled warmly at him, despite her feeling just as (if not more) exhausted than him. "No need to thank me, Adam. I'm always here to help." She looked down at Paloma, who was now resting peacefully in her arms. "Besides, I think I've started to become quite attached to her."

Adam couldn't help but chuckle softly at that. He appreciated Cece more than he could express in words. As he looked at her, holding the most precious thing in his world like she was also the most important thing in hers too, he felt his heart do a little loop-di-loop and he couldn't stop it even if he tried.

"Thank you, Cece," he repeated, this time with a warmth and admiration that went beyond words.

"You know, Adam," Cece began softly, her voice barely above a whisper, "I'm here not just for Paloma. I'm here for you too."

Adam's heart skipped a beat at her words. It didn't feel like some grand confession, it felt like just a simple fact. And now, as he gazed back at Cece, he no longer questioned if she was responsible or sweet enough for his daughter, he knew it for a fact.

"I know," Adam's voice sounded even more exhausted than before, smiling back at her.

As Paloma fell asleep in her arms, Cece took a seat next to Adam on the couch. They both knew she wasn't going anywhere for at least a couple hours until Paloma is fully asleep, so she got comfortable.

As Paloma fell asleep in Cece's arms, a sense of calm settled over the room. The exhaustion and tension from earlier seemed to fade away, replaced by a peaceful stillness. Adam and Cece sat side by side on the couch, watching over Paloma as she slept.

In the quiet of the room, they didn't need to say much. Their presence was enough, and it felt strangely comforting. It was as if, in that moment, they were a small, makeshift family brought together by circumstances.

Cece was the first to speak up, her voice tired. "Do you know what Paloma means?"

Adam was too tired to say anything but shake his head as she continued, "It means Dove, I looked it up earlier. Isn't that cute?"

Adam had named her after his great-aunt (per request of his mother) but had always liked the sound of it. He had never thought of looking up the meaning but now that he knows, it's perfect. Dove, Paloma, it was just perfect.

Adam smiled at that. "That's so cute. Our little dove." His head fell on Cece's shoulder as he yawned, his eyes feeling heavy. "Dove, that's a cute nickname."

"We should start calling her that." Cece's eyes suddenly felt heavy too as she yawned along with Adam, nodding.

"Dove," Adam repeated softly, a smile playing at his lips. "I like it. Our little Dove."

Cece nodded in agreement, her voice barely above a whisper. "It suits her."

The exhaustion of the long night finally caught up with them both, and they began to drift into a comfortable silence. Adam rested his head on Cece's shoulder, and she gently leaned into him, their shared warmth and the sense of family they had formed providing a profound a great sense of comfort.

-> make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated! <-

thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

[reunionatdawn]

My Analysis of Felix's Relationship With Dimitri

Dimitri: A beast craving blood, am I? I assume you're speaking of the events two years ago. Last time we met outside the academy? Felix: I am. The way you suppressed that rebellion… It was ruthless slaughter and you loved every second. I remember the way you killed your victims. How you watched them suffer. And your face…that expression. All the world's evil packed into it. That was our first battle. I remember it vividly.

In Greek mythology, Ares was the god of war. He specifically represented the physical and destructive nature of war, embodying the bloodshed and rage that come with it. His sacred animals include the vulture, the dog, and (whaddaya know) the boar. Athena, on the other hand, represented the more intellectual and disciplined side of war. Her warfare was guided by strategy, planning, and intelligence, emphasizing the importance of foresight and wisdom in conflict.

Despite their shared domain of warfare, Ares and Athena are often depicted as rivals. Their differing approaches to warfare and conflicting personalities led to tension between them. Athena was connected to peace, as she sought to resolve conflicts through wisdom and negotiation rather than brute force. She was often portrayed as a protector and a planner, who preferred to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. If Boar!Dimitri was meant to be symbolically aligned with Ares, then Felix was almost certainly meant to be aligned with Athena, who was the wielder of the Aegis Shield.

(Japanese Translation) Felix: If you were ordered to commit needless slaughter? Dedue: I would kill. Felix: Even if the target were defenseless children or elderly people… even if they were once your fellow countrymen?

Felix also refers to Dedue in a dehumanizing way. "Dog" was a dig at his blind obedience. In English Felix asked if Dedue would attack his own comrades. That could mean anyone. The other kids from Garreg Mach or maybe Church soldiers. But in Japanese, it was clearer that he was actually referring to the Duscur people. It implied that Felix was revolted with Faerghus's genocide and did not condone it.

Felix didn't know anything about the relationship between Dimitri and Dedue. But considering his misunderstanding, it explained why he was so disgusted with Dedue initially. And it showed his fear of becoming a knight. He was afraid that he'd be used as Dimitri's attack dog, sent out to kill whoever he wanted revenge against, possibly innocent Duscur people. And since he was king, he'd have no choice but to obey. And I don't think his fear was irrational or unfounded. Felix would have been an outlier for not supporting the genocide.

AM's story was, in many ways, a critique of patriarchal societies and values. Patriarchal societies often glorify aggression and dominance as masculine ideals. The "King of Liberation" Nemesis was named after the Greek goddess of divine retribution. Overall, Nemesis embodied the concept of "righteous anger" in Greek mythology, ensuring that mortals, especially those who defied the natural order or ethical standards, faced consequences for their actions. And Nemesis was the true "goddess" of Faerghus, not Sothis.

Dimitri: The first time I led on the battlefield, I was sent to quell a rebellion in the west. It was not a difficult fight. The enemy was not well-trained and their morale was low. A swing of the lance, and your opponent falls. A flash of your blade, and a path opens up. That's the sort of battle it was. Easy…right?

The storyline of 3H was also a criticism of feudalism. Peasants and serfs had very limited personal freedoms and were often subject to the will of their lords. In feudal times, there were instances where peasants took up arms in various uprisings and rebellions due to coercion or threats from local lords. Unlike knights, peasants typically lacked formal training and proper equipment for warfare.

(Japanese Translation) Dimitri: But at that moment, I realized that those we had deemed as enemies and cut down without hesitation…are human beings, living just like us. Of course, we can't just let those who commit reckless acts of violence run rampant, but…We are imposing our own sense of justice, and in doing so, we are taking away someone's family or comrades. Even though I've come to terms with it, there are still times when my legs tremble at the gravity of my actions... Byleth: That's what it means to be a normal human being.

It was heavily implied that most of the soldiers Dimitri and Felix fought during the rebellion were mere peasants acting at the behest of their lord and had little agency in the overall conflict over the throne. Because of this, I could understand why Felix saw Dimitri's unnecessary brutality during that battle as evil. And Felix was not portrayed as wrong for his criticisms, either. Dimitri himself admitted that he had crossed a moral boundary and violated his own ideals.

Dimitri: If we could just accept each other and make mutual concessions, one step at a time… Perhaps… Who knows if that's even possible. Everyone has something that is unacceptable within them. I certainly do, and I'd wager you do as well. I wonder which is best, Professor… To cut away that which is unacceptable, or to find a way to accept it anyway…

Dimitri's actions were unacceptable. And Felix had to decide whether to cut away the unacceptable or find a way to accept it anyway. And that conflict of cutting off vs. acceptance extended to his relationship with his father, his other friends, and even himself as well.

Dimitri: Well now! He never said any of that to me. Ingrid: Well, he was Felix's brother. That family's not big on displays of affection. Dimitri: That is true. We spent about as much time arguing as we did training.

In Japanese, Ingrid said that Glenn wasn't "素直" (sunao). It describes someone who is honest, genuine, and open with one's feelings, which was how Ingrid meant it. And it also has connotations of the person having an obedient disposition. "Sunao" implies someone who avoids being overly assertive or aggressive and behaves in a soft or gentle manner. Dimitri added that Glenn was not "sunao" in that sense, either, as he was always picking fights with him.

Sylvain: I remember it more like you always following me around. Whenever there was something wrong—like you lost to your brother or you fought with Dimitri— you'd come crying to me. You were so meek and pure back then, cute even… like a baby brother.

Felix had the exact opposite personality of his brother. Sylvain said that Felix was "sunao". He also described how clingy Felix acted towards him as a child. And the Japanese word usually carries a negative connotation. It suggests that the level of attachment or dependence is seen as excessive or problematic, leading to discomfort or frustration for the person on the receiving end. And while Sylvain didn't seem to feel that way, I think Dimitri did.

Felix: For years, the boar prince and I were inseparable.

In Chapter 2, Felix referred to their relationship as "腐れ縁" (kusareen) or "rotten bond". It is defined as "a relationship where, even if one tries to separate, they cannot." But it does not mean "inseparable" the way the English word indicates. "Inseparable" emphasizes closeness and mutual affection. "Kusareen" describes a bond that persists even though it's undesirable, troublesome, or "rotten." The relationship endures out of circumstance, habit, or obligation, rather than affection or choice. It is often used with a sense of resignation, frustration, or even humor, acknowledging a bond that's hard to break off but not particularly wanted.

Dimitri: You used to whine unless you could do everything with me…

I got the impression that, as kids, Dimitri was the one who viewed his relationship with Felix as "kusareen". He naturally got along better with Glenn than he did with Felix. Glenn was someone Dimitri enjoyed spending time with, even when they butt heads. And Felix was the annoying crybaby little brother who was too clingy. And some of Felix's discomfort around Dimitri was probably due to this history of feeling inferior to his more popular brother.

Felix: But without a blade to cut down your enemies, you cannot win. Those who are weak lose everything, and they die. Those who are strong win, and live on. I understand why you balk at bloodshed, but you must know that it has a purpose. Flayn: And what purpose might that be? Felix: A purpose. Let's just leave it at that. I'm not in the mood to debate you.

In his B-Support with Flayn, Felix debated the philosophical purpose of a sword and what its purpose is.

Dimitri: In Faerghus, we've long considered blades as tools of destiny. As a way to cut a path to a better future. She was being dragged all over, unable to live the life she wanted. I thought the dagger could help her cut a path to the future she dreamed of.

And I'm sure that he was raised with the same philosophy as Dimitri.

Felix: I've been preparing to take this path. My own path—not my old man's, and not the boar's.

In my Sylvix analysis, I argued that Felix wanted to be with Sylvain and that was what he wished for at the Goddess Tower. Sylvain hated Crests and Edelgard even sympathized with the plight of his brother Miklan. He also didn't want to get married. Thematically, both he and Felix are stronger recruits for CF than the other non-AM routes. I can see them sympathizing with Edelgard's ideals and running away from Faerghus, especially if it meant that they got to be together.

Felix: They used to call my father the "Shield of Faerghus." Now he's gone, and Arianrhod has fallen. Yet the Knights of Seiros remain. As does the boar. What terrifies me most is his stubbornness. He'll keep on fighting to the last man. He's a monster. I've seen it firsthand.

CF!Felix dehumanized Dimitri so that he could justify cutting him down. He didn't hate him or want him to die. He was just in the way of the future he wanted, so he had to cut him down. If Felix uses his sword to cut his own path, he can never realize his ideal future. He betrays his own ideals and sacrifices his humanity, and his paired ending with Sylvain is the most tragic one in the whole game. He has a much happier outcome in AM where he stays in Faerghus.

Felix: Hello. I have a request concerning that…creature. I can hardly look at the thing in the state it's in. Do something about it. Byleth: I'll see what I can do. Felix: Please do. We tracked the boar for five years. I thought he was dead. In the state he's in, he might as well be. He's gotten better at killing people, and in exchange, surrendered what little humanity he had.

Felix did have compassion for Dimitri and urged Byleth to comfort him. But after Dimitri tortured Randolph, Felix became snarky. His criticisms were valid. But they were not solely rooted in objectivity. He harbored a sense of spiteful pettiness towards Dimitri as well.

Rodrigue: When I heard you'd been executed, I rushed there as fast as I could, blind with fury. When I got there, I was fed some garbage about not being able to see your body. The next thing I knew, I was gripping my blade and... Gilbert, you have done well to locate His Highness. I am truly grateful. And you… I have you to thank, as well. Byleth: We were all fortunate. Rodrigue: Well, we are in your debt. I will repay you for this someday, I swear it. And you, Felix… You have also done well to bring His Highness here. Felix: Hmph.

When Glenn died, Felix was the replacement knight. But to Felix, Dimitri must have felt more like the replacement son. So, it wasn't hard to see why Felix's and Dimitri's relationship was so rotten. Dimitri's life was always considered inherently more valuable than his.

Felix: Just kill them from behind. As long as you don't see their faces, you won't know if you know them. Dimitri: We won't know unless we see their face… Yes, I suppose that is true.

In the Sealed Forest, Dimitri was hesitant because he thought the enemy might be someone they knew. The moment he found the dagger in the Flame Emperor's possession, he suspected Edelgard was involved in the Tragedy of Duscur. Felix offered the advice to kill them from behind. This was probably something he had to do for himself to make cutting down other humans bearable.

(Japanese Translation) Dimitri: …If you don't want to cut down someone you know, then just cut them down without looking at their face. Isn't that right? Felix: Tch… Yeah, I suppose so.

When the army planned to go to the Great Bridge, the localization changed the dialogue, so Dimitri made a comment about tarrying over the corpses of the dead. In Japanese, he was actually throwing Felix's old advice from the Sealed Forest back at him, probably to spite him for the earlier comment he made. One of Felix's worst fears about becoming a knight was now coming true. Having to obey the orders of the king and being used as a tool for his personal revenge.

Felix: Revenge can't bring the dead back to life. Unfortunately such a thing isn't possible. Hanging onto your anger, like the boar here, is futile.

Byleth tried talking Dimitri out of his vengeance softly, but it didn't work. With Rodrigue unwilling to scold him, Felix felt the need to do so in his place.

Felix: Remember, Professor. It's not compassion for this fool that has brought our army so far. There are those of us who despise the Empire, and those who side with the church. If we keep running down this path, it's only a matter of time before the ground beneath us collapses.

While Felix was harsh, he was still absolutely right from an objective standpoint. This was something that needed to be said. It was not fair to everyone else in the army to prioritize revenge. It was not even fair to Dimitri to be leading an army in his unstable condition.

(Japanese Translation) Rodrigue: Hey, cut the useless chatter, foolish son. Felix: ...Tch. You really are annoying...

Rodrigue admitted to Byleth that Dimitri was behaving foolishly, but he could not scold him. However, he had no problem scolding Felix for his entirely legitimate points. In this instance, I'm sure that Felix felt like the black sheep while Dimitri was the golden child.

(Japanese Translation) Felix: When I was a child, I hit my father only once. Now, looking back, he might have been struggling in his own way. I want to apologize, but…it's too late.

After Rodrigue died, Felix spent the next chapter in his room mourning. His note to the advice box showed that he wanted to apologize to his father. If he had gotten to apologize, would their relationship have been healthy? Well, we actually got to see them apologize to each other in Hopes.

Rodrigue: And you, Felix? What would your choice have been? Would you have abandoned His Majesty to save yourself? Or would you have chosen to fight until death claimed you? I myself would've safeguarded His Majesty at all costs. I know that it wasn't in Glenn's nature to flee either. Felix: It's always about courage or cowardice with you. I wouldn't have chosen anything.

And I thought their relationship was still very dysfunctional. Rodrigue always made his acceptance of Felix conditional upon whether he was willing to prioritize Dimitri's life over his own. He was willing to compromise because Felix said he would find a way for both of them to live. Still, there was never an option for Felix to choose a path other than knighthood. But even if their relationship had aspects that were unacceptable, Felix still loved his father and didn't want him to be cut down. He wished he had compromised and met him halfway.

Felix: I have a question for you. Answer quickly before my hand slips and I cut you in half. Dimitri: Always so ominous. Well? What is it, Felix? Felix: Sometimes you have an animal's face, contorted with anger and bloodlust. At other times, a man's, with a friendly smile. Which is your true face?

In their A-Support, Felix threatened to cut Dimitri down. He was not truly going to do it. But it showed that there may have been a part of him that still wanted to. He still considered Boar!Dimitri's actions unacceptable and held a lot of resentment towards him for abusing his authority as king and indirectly getting his father killed.

Dimitri: If I do not shoulder the anguish and regret they must have felt, who will? Felix: Hah. So, that's how you justify your atrocities. Dimitri: What do you mean?

Before the battle at Gronder, Felix was standing outside the classrooms, presumably remembering the students from the other houses. So, his anger makes even more sense when you consider that the Gronder Field battle was written as a bloodbath. Assuming you didn't recruit everyone, the Blue Lions had to kill not only their old classmates from the Empire, but also the students from the Alliance. Because of Dimitri's vendetta, the BLs might have been forced to pointlessly kill Raphael, Ignatz, Leonie, and Lysithea. Or else they would have been killed themselves.

Felix never changed his beliefs, nor did he suddenly embrace Rodrigue's ideals of chivalry. He simply did his best to live up to his own ideals. He chose to prioritize humanity over ideology. He attempted to acknowledge Dimitri's sorrow, like he did with Ashe when he was grieving for Lonato. He knew he'd regret it if he never got the chance, like he did with his father.

Felix: "I will fulfill my duty to the late king." My old man used to say that over and over, like a mantra. How nauseating. No one seems to understand. The dead won't acknowledge your loyalty. They don't care. What a load of bunk it is, pretending to serve a corpse. You're serving your own ego. [...] The dead are dead, the living are living. You have to respect that boundary. If you keep stringing gravestones around your neck, you'll snap. Dimitri: Even still… I cannot forget them, nor can I let them go. Felix: Then keep those thoughts to yourself. If you're too weak to do that, abandon your throne. Become a grave keeper.

In Japanese, Felix used a phrase which translates to "suck it up". He was very harsh on Dimitri. But he felt like his father loved Dimitri more than him. And to be fair, he probably did. Rodrigue died caressing Dimitri's face and told him to live for himself. Felix was told to die for Dimitri. And yet, Felix was still reaching out to comfort Dimitri over his father's death. He was remarkably compassionate.

Felix: I'll bear this pain until the day I die, but I refuse to wallow in it. I have more important things to do than blubber for my whole life. Dimitri: …

In English, Felix accused Dimitri of being a crybaby. In Japanese, Felix called him "甘ったれた" (amattareta). It means they are spoiled, overly dependent, or immature in their behavior. They act in a way that expects indulgence or leniency from others—often displaying a needy, childlike dependency. I got the impression that maybe Dimitri had called Felix that a long time ago. And I think Dimitri probably got a huge kick out of that particular insult due to the irony. It's why he will begin to tease Felix about his clinginess and his laziness in their dining hall and chore dialogue after they reach A-Support.

Dimitri: Heh. You know, Felix, you really are growing more and more like your brother. Always so sarcastic, and constantly looking for a fight. But deep inside, more than anyone, you— Felix: What are you getting at? Dimitri: Oh… It's nothing. But allow me to thank you. Your perspective has opened my eyes. Felix: Hmph. Not my intention. I couldn't stand the pathetic look on your face. That's all. Dimitri: I see. If you say so, then we will leave it at that.

Dimitri finally was able to acknowledge Felix's true strength, even if Felix didn't like to acknowledge that softer side of himself. This Support doesn't cleanly eliminate all the tension between them. But that's okay. Dimitri was willing to compromise and leave it at that.

Edelgard: When humanity stands strong and people reach out for each other…there's no need for gods.

In the Japanese version of the prologue, the correct answer to Sothis's question is not "a mortal" but "a human being". 3H is a game that asks the player what it truly mean to be human. Edelgard had good intentions and was dedicated to the cause of placing leadership of Fódlan back in humanity's hands. But I would argue that in her ruthless pursuit of that goal, she lost sight of her humanity.

The route's name "Azure Moon" is significant. In many cultures, the moon has been personified as a goddess or a divine feminine figure. Sothis drew strong inspiration from Gaia, the Greek goddess of the Earth and the and primordial mother of all life. The Titan Rhea was Gaia's daughter. Rhea was also the mother of Demeter, the Greek mother goddess of agriculture, grain, and the nurturing of life. And the name "Dimitri" literally means "follower of Demeter".

Felix: He intends to speak to the emperor? She's his stepsister, I know, but this seems risky. Byleth: You're against it? Felix: No, I'm not. I'm sure he's thought it through. If the two can settle this diplomatically, that would be the best way out of this mess. No more bloodshed. Let's just hope he doesn't become so overwhelmed with emotion that he's unable to strike her down… should the need arise.

The Renaissance ushered in more secular values by promoting humanism. The humanist movement did not attempt to abolish the Church with violence. Instead, humanists sought to reform the Church through intellectual discourse. Felix was Dimitri's biggest critic as a ruler due to the lack of humanity he showed towards his enemies. But he is the one recruitable student who cannot have a happy ending if he leaves the AM route. And it was due to the fact that he was never able to stop seeing the humanity in Dimitri.

(Normal) Felix: The path to the emperor is open. Fulfill your duty as our king. (Dimitri & Felix support level C reached) Felix: Go and win. Be the boar that you are, and don't you dare look back.

I don't think Felix needed to follow in his father or brother's footsteps and become a knight or Dimitri's right-hand man. Ultimately, I don't even think they needed to be friends. Their A-Support offered a sense of acceptance and closure. Even if you interpret it as more of a divergence of paths, there was a sense of compromise and mutual concession. But achieving A-Support still wasn't even necessary.

Felix completes his character arc even if he never achieves any Support level with Dimitri. He made peace with his father by meeting him halfway and helping Dimitri ascend the throne. But not necessarily anything more than that. The most important thing was not whether they cut off their relationship. It was for Felix to stay true to his ideals and not cut Dimitri down literally.

(Japanese Translation) Felix: Keep that intense thirst for revenge locked in your heart. It's something only I need to know. Dimitri: So essentially, you're saying if I'm going to pour my heart out, do it only in front of you? Felix: Ugh… Dimitri: …I can resist becoming a beast because you accept it. Just as Kyphon was to Loog, and Rodrigue was to Father… Please continue to stand by my side as my right hand, Felix. Felix: …Your right hand, huh? Well, that doesn't sound too bad.

Felix was the one person who had seen Dimitri at his worst. In AG, he filled in for Byleth by acting as Dimitri's confidante. He didn't really want to. But Dimitri said Felix accepted him and that allowed him to retain his humanity. That's when he agreed. And for the first time, he actually felt happy about the idea of being the right-hand man.

[ruinparadox]

First day in Guild Wars 2 was fun. I like the gameplay and the character designs are cool. I like how the Charr are allowed to be beastly in both their animations and modeling.

Granted, I'm not a fan of the whole "beast slouch" posture, but I suppose I'm used to it at this point. I also appreciate that the female Charr aren't just watered down versions of the male Charr, another pet peeve in beast design for me.

My only gripe is the whole, "having to upgrade your limited inventory" but that's admittedly a very minor thing out of all the stuff I like.

Overall, I'm loving this game and I can't wait to play more.

[thisischaostragic]

chaostragic AO3 agathario links 🖤

here's a list of my agathario fics! i'll prob make an overall list sometime soon, too. pls feel free to send asks if you want hehe

in another life, they were arsonists | Explicit | AU Cemetery groundskeeper and toxic plant enthusiast Rio Vidal meets local arsonist, libelous blogger, and general chaos criminal Agatha Harkness. It's love at first knife fight.

dead little bird (i was young enough, i still believed in war) | Mature | canon-divergent On the night of Agatha's execution, Rio took a knife to her own chest and carved out her heart. The bloody thing soaked into the soil as Rio cried, pleading with nature itself to give Agatha more time. It was an easy trade, in theory: in exchange for Rio's eternal devotion to carrying out the duties of Death, Agatha's magic would claim the souls of anyone who attacked her.

Rio did not have any regrets about this barter until the day it killed their son.

angel of small death | Explicit | pre-canon Loosely interconnected pre-canon smut scenes, somewhat heavy on the angst.

if you could only see the beast you've made of me | Explicit | post-canon Rio tricks Wanda into showing up to fight Death. Agatha watches. Agatha x Rio marathon sex afterward. (Wanda doesn't participate; sorry and/or you're welcome LOL)

if you love me right, then who knows? | Explicit | smut outtakes from dead little bird Agatha gets Rio pregnant. Murder is involved.

[txttletale]

(Other than the really weird bit about "Male presenting Doctor") what were your thoughts about the specials?

pretty mixed bag, pretty messy, but good overall. i think they were very obviously a nostalgia trip for people around my age lol and it worked! i loved seeing tennant and tate back onscreen together, their chemistry hasn't aged a bit, and honestly just watching doctor who that wasn't written by chris chibnall was a breath of fresh air. they weren't boring, like seasons 11 and 12 were, and they didn't go too far off the other end into nonsense like flux did. characters want things again! the show can let itself just be silly! i was literally cheering out loud when donna and the doctor were just saying random scifi gobbledegook at each other for like a solid several minutes during the star beast.

the structure of the specials kind of baffles me. i love wild blue yonder--i think it's definitively the best of the specials as a standalone, it's absolutely fantastic, creepy and atmospheric and bringing things around to RTD's strength, which is well-written characters interacting with each other and letting good actors just act. but at the same time i dont understand why it exists? it feels like...idk. imagine if you watched the star wars original trilogy but instead of the empire strikes back the middle film was just a feature length film about luke and han surviving on an ice planet with no reference to anything that happens in the last film except the two characters' relationship. and then the next film was still return of the jedi, unchanged. it felt like that

i liked all the weird campy silliness of the star beast and the giggle, and they were both very fun! neil patrick harris gave a fantastic performance, there are a lot of very memorable sequences from the giggle, but it's very very all over the place. so many threads get kind of picked up and go nowhere. the toymaker's haunted house dimension goes nowhere. RTD's eyerolling social media commetnary goes nowhere (thank god tbh but yknow im illustrating something here). even the toymaker kind of goes nowhere, after ncuti gatwa shows up he's bascially an afterthought who loses by dropping a ball. obvious parallels to david tennant's first episode with that ball scene could be made, but just... aren't. it feels like load-bearing sectikons of the plot and themes were cut out to make room for a backdoor pilot for the stupid fucking UNIT spinoff

oh and it goes without saying i fucking hate all the UNIT wank in the star beast and the giggle. i hope space nine eleven 2 happens to their stupid fucking avengers tower i cannot stand kate stewart who is constantly a murderous bonehead (in the giggle alone she gets two pepole killed by not listening to the doctor and assuming that this teleporting godlike entity could be restrainted by Two Guys) who is both in and out of universe just a boring nepo baby with no merit of her own

um. i still dont know what happened with the regeneration. i think the implication is that when david tennant dies hell time travel back to become ncuti gatwa inside himself--at least the rehab dialogue seems to make that implication. but it's not really explained or explored? baffling. i do think that fourteen getting to settle down and live a peaceful life with his friends is cute.

oh yeah and the ask said other than that but goddd there was some good stuff in the star beast and honestly with the state of the UK media i will take any perspective on trans people that includes baseline human erespect but some of those lines made me cringe so bad. anyway overall i am cautiously optimistic for the future of the show--oh ncuti was fucking great did i mention that i instantly bnought him as the doctor he owned the scene, the moment he was there it was clear he was the protagonist, and i liked the church on ruby road well enough too--i am cautiously optimistic but i worry that a big UNIT-shaped tumor will devour huge chunks of it and it'll be annoying. also russel t davies is like 60 and i just dont want to hear what he has to say about twitter so im not looking forward to dot and bubble

[lamialamia]

We have a problem: why am I watching this sex scene again?

Ah. Sex scenes. You wild wild beast. The crossroad of many discourses and analyses and opinions and essays and now, here I am, a mere casual ww2 rpf fan, throwing my own hat to the ring. In this blog post I'm going to talk once more about sex scenes -- two in particular -- and why the eff one of them matters, making the ww2 rpf more compelling and the other did not.

Disclaimer: Whether or not sex scenes are needed in media in general or the right way to implement them across the vast spectrum of art is not part of this discussion. Please keep in mind I'm trying to complain about the writing decision in the small scope of the HBO War shows.

I have discussed the problem with the Crosby/Sandra plot line in a previous analysis here. But I think the problem with it requires another (and maybe a third) write-up. Here, I want to talk about why the tiny sex scene between Crosby and Sandra in episode 7 is a waste of screen time.

So, we have the sex scene in MOTA episode 7. It is somewhat explicit and it was clear it is consensual and that the people who are fucking is very into it. In comparison to other sex scenes in HBO War fandom, it doesn't exactly stands out to me with just the imagery of the act (of course this is a personal opinion, whether or not I find a sex scene hot or bad or corny or lovely or [insert adjective here] is not universal).

However, my problem with this sex scene between Crosby and Sandra is that it doesn't matter to the story.

After getting it on with Sandra, and then after she left him, Crosby never talked about this affair in anyway. Not over the narration, expressing some kind of sentiment over it, not with Rosie or any other guy, so me, the audience, have no idea what he think about it or how he might be affected about it. We didn't know what Sandra think or feel about it either because her scenes are about her spy works and that's it.

You might say: well he doesn't have to tell us how he feel if the show can demonstrate to us the same thing.

Yet, MOTA never did that. Furthermore, the show never portray the sex between them matters to the characters beyond getting their rocks off. And then, the sex doesn't matter to the theme of the episode nor the overall theme of the show either. It's just something that happened.

(Sad to say that maybe this sub-plot distracts me from the rest of episode 7 and 8)

This might be consider 'realistic'. In real life, people can have sex just for the joy of it. Which is true, but in a drama mini-series, the choices to include or exclude details must take in consideration whether what is on screen is valuable to the story the show is trying to tell. Why are they including this sex scene instead of the hundred other real life details that don't make the cut? We don't have a training montage for the pilots, we never learn how Quinn and Bailey get back to base from Germany, we never have the D-Day invasion sequence,...

Let's have a comparison to another sex scene.

In The Pacific episode 3, Sidney Phillips met Gwen in Melbourne and started a romance with her that ended in them having sex before he got shipped back to Pavuvu. Personally for me, it wasn't an awesome sex scene either. Both Gwen and Sidney were awkward, they kissed and the entire thing ended with him kissing her bare shoulder.

But what truly matter happened latter. When Eugene arrived in Pavuvu and reunited with Sidney, he asked Sidney about what combat was like. And to answer this, Sidney mentioned him sleeping with Gwen not to brag about his sexual conquest but to make a comparison with the brutal battles he survived.

Despite the fact that the two of them grew up together, in just a small amount of times, Sidney have been through things and done things Eugene hadn't. All of that (both combat and his brief romance with Gwen) had changed Sidney to the point that Eugene could not longer connect with him. There was now a chasm between them. Eugene looked at his friend and tried to understand him but couldn't. There were things that must be experienced to be understood.

And then, Eugene himself went through life-changing events. The war changed him so much that when he returned to Mobile, he once again couldn't connect with Sidney

Or his brother (who was in the Army and was in the euro theatre) -- another person who had gone through the war himself.

Both Sidney and Eugene's older brother had returned home before him while Eugene had just came back, fresh off the board with his mental wounds, and it showed the chasm had formed between him and these two men who supposed to shared this brutal experience with Eugene.

In fact his brother specifically mentioned how Eugene is still a virgin, which highlight further how he was 'missing out' on that particular experience that both these men have.

And this all started when we were still following H company and witnessed Sidney and Gwen having sex. That small thing compounded over time. It snowballed into all these differences and distance that Sidney would have with Eugene, and then Eugene would be having against his own hometown, his brother, his family, and his best friend. It served to show how war had did its number on Eugene in many ways.

The sex scene between Sidney and Gwen mattered to the story, it served a narrative purpose eventually.

Crosby and Sandra's sex scene did not. And to include it meant there would be less screen time for any other story line, leaving not just the sub-plot of Crosby's arc weaker, but the other ones as well. Overall, this creative decision left MOTA a weaker show in term of its writing.

[whinlatter]

author's note | chapters 13 & 14: the moult & the vulture

now the dust has settled... thank you for reading chapters 13 and 14 of beasts! thank you also to the askbox angels who asked for the author’s note (it is still mad to me someone reads these). now, it's inquiry time, baby - and boy are the gloves coming off, and the secrets spilling out. the wait was long; so were the chapters. sorry, again, about that. so - kindly read on for discussion of some major themes and plot points, a little on song choices, and some juicy deets and a sneak peek of chapter 15... and 16…

✨ spoilers for this chapter below the cut  ✨

writing notes and headcanons

first - a disclaimer: am going to talk about that cliffhanger in a separate post up shortly (i rambled on too long). it will be up shortly!

second - a thank you! the reaction to these chapters has me in absolute bits. i'm a soppy sentimental shit at heart and this really did make me the happiest little girl in the world. so thank you forever and ever for that.

third - an acknowledgement, as ever, to @saintsenara, whom i bounce all the inane details off of, whose takes absolutely slap and who i hope will forgive me for making her boy rookwood such a flop.

divide and conquer/accidentally wrote two chapters again: what am i like! the trouble is - life-stuff aside - i was excited about these chapters (and the reveals), but also put far too much pressure on them to do a huge amount of heavy lifting, and to get the story to a place it wasn’t yet at and needed to get to quick. the writing challenge for these chapters was that i needed a series of plots to hit a rolling boil so we can get to the flashbacks to ginny’s war and all the reveals. and it took fucking ages to work how to structure and serve them as each needs at this point in the fic, and try to find a set of themes/devices to tie those plots together into something cohesive (especially because writing fic is much more like dropping tv show episodes in structure rather than actually sharing a novel, in part because you drop them one at a time at intervals, and i think the more successful ones can stand alone while also serving the overall body of work). i have - i confess - knitted, in my time, and you know when you have really thick wool and thick needles and you’re trying to slowly eek off one stitch onto the other needle and it actually really starts to hurt? it felt like that :) 

two inquiries, both alike in dignity: god, i love an inquiry. the truth being dragged out kicking and screaming by  the state, buffeted by political winds and a rapacious press? inject it. at last, the past is getting properly dredged up, and all sorts of buried secrets are getting unearthed in the process. so: in the present, the hogwarts inquiry is under way, and the wizengamot has assembled to hear what exactly has been going down in that cursed drafty old castle. in the past, though, we have flashbacks to a separate inquiry, into the events of 1992-1993, after the chamber of secrets was opened, where it wasn’t hogwarts on trial, but ginny herself (in a way). the events of ginny’s first year have haunted her in diffuse, quiet, private ways in the flashbacks throughout this fic so far, but we’re moving into the part of the fic where we see just how much they changed the course of her life and who she is as a person. in canon, ofc, we only see harry’s view of the aftermath of ginny’s ordeal in the chamber - dumbledore is reinstated, lucius gets kicked off the governors, ginny weasley is ‘perfectly happy again’... but would that *really* be the end of it? doesn’t it seem perfectly plausible the ministry would investigate given the scale of publicity and threat to student lives, given (as discussed previously) the ministry canonically holds inquiries of varying scales for all sorts of things in canon? wouldn't they hold one for this?

ginny's guilt: in CoS, young harry never blames ginny for any of it: she was hoodwinked, he recognises, and not at all culpable. it’s very harry, and it’s a compassionate read of the situation. but given how little we know dumbledore tells anyone about what the diary actually was (even lucius didn’t know), wouldn’t ginny expect to face at least some questions about her own involvement and culpability, even if she was clearly to some extent also a victim? (the nod to colin’s mum is there as a reminder that there were real victims of the basilisk attacks: ginny could easily have been responsible for the deaths of several children, including her own friends, and if it were my child i think i’d want to ask at least a question or two). what i wanted to show with these flashbacks was this very formative experience for young ginny grappling with her own guilt and her place between two wars, having to face difficult questions about her own complicity in dark magic and attempted murder; for there to be echoes of ginny’s experiences in the experiences of young death eaters during the second wizarding war, and to start to properly draw these themes about choices, moral agency and grey areas, about children’s radicalisation and wars fought both by and through them, and, in particular, where ginny weasley sat within them. what i wanted to show was how ginny’s political and moral worldview was shaped in those pivotal years: her guilt, her sense of her own failings and inadequacies, how discontent she was to be a victim, how obsessed she is with being an agent and a soldier, how much she feels she has to prove. i might bash out a proper meta on this but i think it’s so telling how ginny talks about her second year later on in canon - how haunted she is by the forgetting (in OotP), and how much she sees it as having ‘[taken] orders’ (in HBP), rather than thinking of her possession as just playing host to another entity. here, it’s dumbledore who points out the key traits that led ginny into riddle’s path: her loneliness and isolation, her many insecurities that made her so vulnerable, her fear, a certain desire for self-preservation. even though we know most hogwarts students don’t seem to really know what happened in CoS, and certainly not ginny’s part in it (terry boot in OotP is like ‘lol did you kill a basilisk with a sword!’ which seems to be the extent of the student body’s knowledge of what went down). but i like the idea of there being a record of ginny’s darkest moment in her file, ink and paper proof of this most formative experience in her life, dumbledore dancing around her defence but keeping his cards close to his chest - and also there to pursue if anyone planning a hogwarts takeover was interested in finding someone close to the order of the phoenix who might be a weak link in the chain and be persuaded to flip…

dumbledore: dumbledore appears here only in flashbacks - he’s still absent from his portrait in the present - but it was sooo fun (re)introducing him as a character for the fic for the first time. what i liked about writing dumbledore’s dialogue (though it’s actually much harder than i expected, and i don’t feel that great about some of the lines) was that it was a chance to get a bit meta with the dumbledore bashing tropes that circle around fandom - you work through child soldiers, you monster etc - and try and do something a bit more interesting with them, or at least ask some questions (child soldiers or human shields? can children fight for what they believe in? how you fight a fair fight when the other side sees children as fair game - do you confine children to victimhood, or do you acknowledge, or even encourage, their own moral agency and desire to fight back?) dumbledore is walking a very difficult moral line here: defending ginny, but declining to disclose information that might conclusively exonerate her - eg. the existence of voldemort’s horcruxes - in the name of his most favourite thing, the greater good. in dumbledore’s mind, ginny deserves a defence, but not the whole truth, because that’s too important and bound up in a much bigger picture. dumbledore is always playing 3D chess while everyone else plays chequers. should dumbledore have revealed the horcruxes to conclusively exonerate ginny here? no, right? and yet. one day ginny will name her middle son after this man, and we might start to think about why. is it just loyalty to harry? or something else? i wanted us to see ginny’s political worldview being built, and her view of war and a soldier’s role in it, all themes that will be super important as we go back in time to see her war as she lived it in future chapters.

the intellectuals: one of the least developed but most interesting parts of the wizarding world in canon are the ideas and the people who have em. the series has a lot of important characters that are supposed to be eminent thinkers, but it doesn’t ever really linger on ideology, in the end settling on a kind of boilerplate liberal universalist good vs evil message which is fiiine but much less interesting than actually playing around with the concept of political thinkers and political thought in wizarding culture. it’s why i find the department of mysteries so interesting and so ripe with potential; the idea of a space of intellectual inquiry and investigation, but also a place where the staff’s moral allegiance is kind of a question mark. i loved introducing rookwood here and playing with a different kind of death eater, especially juxtaposed with dumbledore’s reflections in the flashback testimony. rookwood isn’t a bruising thug for fire, or a self-serving machiavellian real politik type or a coward acting out of fear, but someone who really believes in magical supremacy and has built a robust political worldview around it. there’s something really chilling about that. we’ll be seeing him again and i unfortunately am now so rookwood-pilled i worry i will never recover. i knew i’d get hegel in there somewhere! and they said it couldn’t be done! ariana carl schmidt what are you doing here!

kingsley vs minnie: delicious to reignite the minnie discourse, especially to come out to try and beat the minnie-bashing allegations that have jovially dogged me thus far. so far in this fic, kingsley has been an unrelenting goodie, someone who came to ginny to get her endorsement of the inquiry and framed that approach as the righting of a moral wrong in letting the victims of a death eater-run hogwarts have their day in court. minnie, on the other hand, seemed like ginny’s opp, defending a toxic status quo and making wild suggestions like ‘do your homework’ ‘don’t play quidditch when you might die’, like some kind of fucking idiot. in the series ministers of magic are canonically not to be trusted - harry certainly never meets a minister who doesn’t try to put the squeeze on him - and it’s extremely fun to sow these seeds of doubts about kingsley’s motivations here, especially when using ginny the protagonist as canon harry’s mirror (ie. a narrator who is frequently a dumb bitch). what’s kingsley up to? answers on a postcard. but i’ll die on the kingsley is a slytherin hill i’m so sorry! and speaking of minnie…

mother figures (or: the pitfalls of shipping your mum out to the dominions): look i bummed myself out with this one. i have had that the mrs granger knife crime incident scene written for SOoooooo long let me tell you. i’ve written elsewhere about how much this fic is really so much about the girls, and - especially - the girls and their mums, or the people they make mother figures out of. one of the least satisfying of the ‘all was well’ aspect of the series was that actually, at the end of DH, you have a whole host of people who were probably never going to be well again, and i very much see hermione’s parents in that camp. the world and his wife has an opinion on hermione’s decision vis-à-vis her parents. hermione’s stans see it as her deepest personal self-sacrifice; her haters take it as yet more proof of her monstrousness. even if you imagine the grangers were totally mentally well after having their muggle brains messed around with by powerful magic, it is hard to imagine how their relationship with their daughter could ever really be the same again after hermione played god with their minds. but also - as ron says - hermione was motivated by a desperate desire to protect two people who would never really be able to wrap their heads around the peril (such was their distance from her life in the magical world), and who conceivably did need to be yeeted halfway across the world to get them out of harm’s way. the choices made in war - the inglorious, imperfect decisions not of purist heroes but of soldiers in the grimmest of circumstances - are so interesting to play with writing post-war fic, and i have found it so interesting and so sad to play with; especially the idea of girls coming of age and learning to see their mothers clearly, and - in the case of both hermione but also ginny - having to wrap their heads around the possibility that they may never really be ok again, and asking what that means for them, their daughters.

(also hermione brawling at ballet is a tribute to a very dear friend of mine who was in fact asked to leave our ballet lessons for pulling another girl’s hair in a fight over the barre in a pre-primary exam. monstrous competitive precocious stroppy madams unite!) 

hinny: i’ll answer some of the Qs i’ve had about this in a separate little from the postbag post shortly, but i do want to say: the thing with these chapters is that it was really important they happened after harry and ginny have had some breakthrough in the preceding chapter, where ginny has agreed to be honest and harry has asked her to let him help her and not to protect him from the truth. i always wanted harry and ginny to write these letters each other and promise to be honest to work on bridging the gaps between them and overcoming their own failings to work to do better by each other, and for those letters to now look like contracts they have to hold each other to. how will harry take it? they’ve made a commitment to each other. now they’re testing that commitment, and that’s going to take a lot of work, especially on harry’s part. (also ofc he had to find out at shell cottage, the official place of harry realising stuff. he’s going to start declining bill and fleur’s dinner invitations fr.)

ron weasley is our king: this whole fic is just ron apologism and i will never apologise for it. helping his girlfriend's traumatised mentally scarred mother with a bit of tlc and a spot of gardening! rescuing neighbour's children from trees! you will never be able to convince me ron weasley wouldn't be a great fucking boyfriend to one ms hermione granger. do not ever try!

last thing - sodding quidditch: fucking hate writing it!!! hate it with my whole heart!!! i see why everyone writes hermione now. you don’t have to give a shit about those stupid balls if granger's your gal. the mystery of what’s going on with ginny on her broom continues, with ginny’s apparent ability to seek (just about) but not chase throwing up more questions than answers. what was fun about writing this bit was getting to write ginny the captain and the team player, taking on great risk for the team - of injury, of humiliation -  and also place her in this surround that the trio never really operate in: a character who is canonically very popular and liked by her peers, who has played the thoroughly selfless and unrewarding role of backup seeker and potter understudy for years for her house, and who will saddle up at enormous personal expense not just because she is brave, or inherently self-sacrificing, but because she wants to make the people around her happy - her gryffindor family, but also the hogwarts student body at large. the trio are much less motivated by the well-being of the other children around them - they have higher-minded self-sacrificing tendencies about a more abstract moral good. neville and luna, the other two members of the silver trio, are goodies but unpopular oddities. it’s an underplayed part of the series that harry and the trio turn around in their sixth year and clock that somehow ginny turned out to be very liked and respected by the popular and unpopular of hogwarts alike, admired for being a) a laugh and b) someone who cares about other people and wants to get on with them. (makes you realise how often protagonists are removed from their peers in a slightly lofty they don’t understand me or being popular is beneath me vein.) this isn’t just a Nice Thing: i think it’s important for who ginny is as a character, and will be important for thinking about her wartime motivations, too.

reading list:

not done one of these in a while! but most things should come with a reading list, and these chapters are no different.

on ministry bureaucracy and the state (actually read this after these chapters were done but desperately wish i had read it before ffs):

Subluxation by @saintsenara

on hermione's mum/parents:

alone now by Kyra Along the Way by ElizabethCulmer you were broken-hearted and the world was, too by celaenos

on post-war justice and difficult questions:

what you're not to do by irnan

on the potters and the sea (more vibes than subject matter - this is next gen - but this one is gorgeous, and really got me thinking about harry and ginny's family by the sea):

Eyes like Sea Glass by @clerical3rror

songs from the playlist for these chapters:

for chapter 13 i went all moody, building dread, bit of a throwback to michael corner calling ginny a tryer with the taylor swift choice (i've never been a natural/all i do is try, try, try). that kate bush song basically got this chapter written i swear to god:

she is like the swallow by karan casey | waking the witch (2018 remaster) by kate bush | house of the rising sun by joni mitchell | bane by alt-j | afraid of everyone by the national | mirrorball - the long pond studio sessions by taylor swift | what if the birds aren't singing they're screaming by aldous harding

for chapter 14, much more abstract, a bit more instrumental, and out to sea (watershed moment; the tide is rolling in, kids). tortured poets is a deeply flawed deeply uneven album by a deeply un-self-aware artist convinced she knows herself well but but i'm afraid the albatross is very good (so is guilty as sin but it wasn't the moment for a matty healy wank anthem now was it):

the opportunity passed in less than a minute by roy montgomery | the albatross by taylor swift | first of the tide by erland cooper and benge | wash by bon iver | escapism by a. blomqvist

about chapter 15 (and 16…)

the next chapters are ginny's war. they're (almost) all flashback, and i am sooooooo excited about them (and desperately hope you will like them jfc). i am in the unusual position of now picking up great enormous pieces that i wrote over a year ago and dusting them off and sorting them out and rewriting bits and writing new bits around them. there's probably two chapters in it, so am currently expecting chapter 15 and 16 to drop at the same time (that might change, but for now, that feels right to me). i'm tip-tapping as fast as my little fingers can carry me. here's the least spoilery sneak peek i could rustle up!

'I'm not smugglin' in nuthin", says Hagrid. He raises a large muddy finger at her. 'I want yeh to listen to me, for once in yer life. Keep yer head down. Go to yer classes, have yer dinner, put up, and shut up. They're lookin' fer a reason to go after yer family. Reckon the best thing yeh can do for the Order is to keep to verself and stay out o' trouble. Reckon that's what yer mum wants yeh to do. Reckon that's what Harry wants, too.'

[prismaticpichu]

as someone who has only played part 1 of the 7 remake, can u briefly explain why sephiroth is considered "good" by the fandom? im curious!!

Oh no… you’ve awakened the beast within! 😂❤️

Just kidding!! I’d be honored to answer, my friendo! ��

~

In short, Sephiroth was technically always good once upon a time, even back in the og game. A huge staple of this man’s origins (as found out through a flashback) is the fact that he wasn’t born evil, wasn’t raised evil, but was rather a revered war hero who descended into madness—all of which is captured in a tragedy dubbed “The Nibelheim Incident.” (Aka a fiery massacre Sephiroth commits upon learning about his half-alien anatomy and 7 days of sleep deprivation). It’s made pretty clear (at least imo) that these circumstances turned Seph into a monster, and that the real Sephiroth was someone who died amid those 7 days. This is also corroborated by a very famous line by Zack (Cloud’s bff) that goes “You’re not the Sephiroth I used to know!” (Because the Sephiroth he used to know, the hero, is not the person standing at the end of his blade.)

So… there is that! But while OG FF7 does give us this foundation, and people absolutely enjoyed the little bits of sane!Seph that were fed to us through this flashback, it wasn’t until another game—a prequel—called “Crisis Core” that really took Sephiroth’s “pre-Nibelheim” self (the “war hero” part) and ran with it. Explored it, more like, and stretched it out to an incredible degree. It was in this game that we were really introduced to a Sephiroth who wasn’t evil; a Sephiroth who had two best friends; a Sephiroth who cared about his comrades and really wanted nothing more than to protect them. And it’s here that fans (myself included lmaoooo) absolutely love to HOARD these kind!Seph moments like precious gems.

A few noteworthy acts that contribute to Seph’s good heart:

• Saving Zack from a blast of fire

• Training Zack when his mentor deserts

• Offering to donate his blood upon accidentally injuring his best friend, Genesis

• Refusing to kill his best friends when they turn against the company he’s loyal to

• Goes out of his way to check in on Zack and allows him to return to Aerith (his gf) when her home is threatened.

• Overall just has a caring and patient aura about him.

I’d say this is where a majority of the “good” Seph fandom love comes from <333 Again, it’s always been a part of Seph’s origins that he was once a good fellow, but it was this game in particular that really expanded it—really fleshed out the human side of his DNA, really made him more empathetic than he ever was. And boy did it make his downfall hurt all the more in Crisis Core’s version of Nibelheim.

(Also worthy to note that, in regard to his fiery rampage, there is a lot of evidence pointing towards him being possessed. Nothing is confirmed, but it does cushion some of the initial fall. Absolutely not a justification—not an excuse—but it really just goes to show how this man was not himself when he crossed that threshold into villainy. He wasn’t the Sephiroth people knew.)

There is also Ever Crisis wherein teenage Seph is seen guiding some SOLDIERs around before the events of Crisis Core (the likes of whom he wants desperately to protect). But i’ma refrain from saying too much about that one bc we don’t have the full story of that one yet! ;3 💕

[darkdemeter]

Hi! Hope you're doing well! I have a request for Darksiders.

War finally introduces his animal loving girlfriend to Ruin.

Thank you! I absolutely adore Darksiders and War is most definitely my favorite.

A STEED OF LOYAL FIRE

◤✘DARKSIDERS REQUESTS | CATALOGUE War x Female Reader

NOTES ↳ Hello dear anon, I am doing very well thank you! I hope you enjoy my take on the request -- Ruin is such a good boy once you get to know him. WARNINGS❕ ↳ Some loving affection given to Ruin — just general fluffy content — War gets a little flustered... just a little bit — I think that's it

✎ 1.3k ────────────────────────

You’ve heard tales of the red rider’s horse. A beast of endless stamina, a raging war-engine that carries upon his saddle the swift justice of pain and chaos. He is a fearsome hoofed stallion of the fabled apocalypse. Any unfortunate soul would be unlucky to witness such a sight barrelling towards them. But not you.

War came to learn quickly that other than your overall genuine and compassionate nature, you have a particular fondness for animals. In the bounds of New Haven, tucked in its luscious and serene gardens and pastures where humans — under the careful watch of Makers and Horsemen — thrive to rebuild a society lost. 

And where War leads you far enough away from prying eyes to finally share with you that he considers the extension of himself, other than his giant blade Chaoseater that can cleave a demon’s torso in one fell sweep. 

Answering the telepathic call of his rider, a wave of heat scorches the rolling grass into deadened patches. You leap back from the way your skin almost burns under such a hot gust of pressure. 

Hooves resound with unbridled haste seemingly out of nowhere before a magnificent form sheds through the fabric of realms and time, summoned by War’s will to manifest him. Four limbs lead a galloping stomp of crackling, molten fire, marching forward with a haughty whine teetering gruffly in the steed’s gullet. Your eyes grow wide and your mouth falls open, stricken by an overwhelming sense of awe. Ruin’s large chest vibrates heavily as ashes bellow from two burning nostrils that glow dully with the internal, phantom fire that writhes within and hardens his body like rock. 

The horse is sternly excitable, almost unhinged you could guess, stirred with unrivalled wish to sprint a burning trail in his wake. War’s position moves forward as if he means to protect you. His hand raises to glide and pat the war horse’s neck.

“Ruin,” War says firmly with complete control in his voice, uttering something in a dialect you cannot understand nor place its earthly origin. “Calm. This is my love, be gentle with her.”

Ruin’s large nose flexes and he snorts a flaring breath of understanding that appears to rumble through him entirely. When he finds that his trusted companion won’t charge at you, he turns to you expectantly, fingers curling in indication for you to step forward.

Your awe is clear as day upon your face, widening your eyes beyond that which War has ever seen on your face — or perhaps he’s seen it once, the reminder blooming a crimson blush to dust his cheeks. 

You take a step forward, cautious and slow to not spook Ruin but he remains undisturbed by your presence. Much like War, he keeps a consistent line of eye contact, neighing lowly whenever your eyes fall to break it. 

“War, he’s—” Where to even begin, your voice stumbles slightly. “He’s beautiful.”

An ashen brow kinks up. It’s a compliment he wouldn’t expect from a human, not with the adorable fluffy animals Earth once had. But Ruin appears to enjoy the positive attention, his posture standing higher and he cocks a front leg forward like he were posing for you. 

You giggle and War’s ears ring delightfully at the sound. You come closer under your lover’s guidance and his hand finds yours to bring it against Ruin’s neck. 

You can feel the thrumming beat of breath, his strong heartbeat that ripples through his ebony hide, and your entire body is consumed whole by fire; what you imagine fire would feel like if it didn’t sear and burn and char your flesh.

Your other hand follows suit and your palms run along Ruin’s coat. His large head flicks back, the motion pushing his thick mane in waves that mimic the hungering reach of flames. More ash pushes from his nostrils, ears attentive and pricking in many directions, mostly when your voice softly coos adoring praises, nails applying a soothing scratch that almost makes Ruin purr with a deep rumble like thunder. 

“Who’s a good horse for War? You are, yes you’re such a good horse.”

Emboldened on both parts, Ruin curls his head around and pushes his snout into your stomach and you stumble for a moment under the sheer force of it. What would have been a feathery caress against War’s palm, you’re almost knocked flat on your arse. 

War placed his hand along Ruin’s mane but you quickly assure your dear nephilim with a charming smile.

“I’m okay, he’s okay.”

In seeing you persevere and continue lavishing Ruin with love and affection uniquely set to humans, War cannot help but admire you. How gentle you are and the way you pay very close attention to Ruin’s body language, understanding what he likes and doesn’t and respecting his boundaries. 

When War had found you, you were a closed off and skittish thing that often flinched whenever he so much as spared a concerned, furrowed glare your way. But as time passed and trust was earned, you flourished into this amazing and wonderful personality, your soul shimmering as a bright beacon amidst the dark and gloomy storm that he alone was fighting. He fondly remembers every step you took together from thereon in. How much you looked out for him, cared about him when he got hurt. Your destinies intertwined for the better. He could not see it for the worst. 

Ruin whickers, lips loosely rubbing and pouting together as his head towers over you and he presses his snout into your hairline, blowing heavy gusts of heat over you in showering waves. You laugh loudly and lovingly while you move your hands to pat along his long nose. Again he rumbles a deep-noted sound that calms your fears and worries. Being around animals all your life often made you feel at home, no matter where you found yourself. Before the apocalypse, you would volunteer for animal rescues, you would walk packs of dogs on your free days for less money than you should have earnt from the task; but being in their company was enough for you. You’d look after pets for family, friends and the kind, elderly neighbours across the way. 

With each stroke down the powerful steed’s side, touch hindered by the blackened leather and metal carvings of the saddle, you sigh with a heave of contentment. Everything that could possibly be wrong in your life vanishes when your eyes meet the blazing flare of Ruin’s.

“He’s taken a liking to you, my love,” War says fondly, the shyest of smiles tugging at the corner of his scarred lips. 

“I’m glad for it.” Your grin as you take your eyes off of Ruin to look at War. His eyes remain on you, studying you and you just know he’s in his head. 

“Does this mean we can go for rides together?” You had meant it to be cheeky for the most part. However, War is enchanted by the way your face morphs into a pure state of surprise and gladness when he offers a leaned bow of his head.

“Ruin isn’t opposed to… the idea.” Ruin huffs loudly, head moving back and forth with a wild buck, stirred into a state of unrest. Your teeth peek through the stretch of your smile and eagerly, you accept War’s aid in helping you into the saddle. With some assistance on Ruin’s part as he stoops his front half lower, your leg kicks over and dangle at his sides. Once you’re seated, War takes up the remainder of the saddle behind you and grasps at the reins, you doing much the same. 

Between your legs, each breath that Ruin takes is powerful. War’s grip tightens and his chest physically firms against your back and with a heavy boot kicking into his side, Ruin is sent into a gallop. A roar of a neigh drowns all sound out as wind suddenly sweeps through your hair and you’re off on an adventure across New Haven with your beloved red rider and the best steed there ever was in these lands.

[wiihtigo]

Your g1->es starbee is so funnie and awesome In your mind how do uou think they got together in g1. Is it pre war. Cross faction romance. I want to go to the world of your transformers fanon

thank youuu^_^ the ES starbee 89 parter is somthn actually cooked up with my friend shayan so i cant took full credit for the vision. but i can take. half credit:)

basically they get together DURING THE WAR for some cross faction drama cuz theyre STUPID theyre so STUPID

(images included for visual aid)

so they start this romeo and juliet sort of relationship where they keep having to meet in secret to hang out

we didnt dwell too much on how this actually came to be bcuz we were thinking of this as like a real episode script for a 3 parter that would never exist and was thinking their g1 relationship would only be shown in flashbacks while it was already well underway BUT in the back of my mind i always thought it was something like: starscream makes the odd offhanded battleground sarcastic sort of flirty comment at bee and bee is like "??" and internally is like Wow thats crazy i never noticed before that starscream isnt just a huge ugly disgusting hideous mean ugly shambling beast, hes all that but also....interested in me?

i think what draws bee to starscream is that hes treated basically as the baby of the autobots, but going along with my favorite bee characterizations (g1 and the g1 mini novel story 'Joyride' where he kidnaps some delinquents and reenacts Christine and is overall really delightfully evil, ES and idw) hes kind of a jackass sometimes and not just the "sweet little bumblebee, friend to all" that everyone sees him as. I think bee finds his relationship with starscream gratifying because its rebellious and forbidden and also starscream treats him so differently from all the autobots. I also think he gets some sick pleasure from feeling morally superior to him and being able to tease and banter with him and having it always be ok no matter how far he goes because its STARSCREAM its impossible to feel sorry for him.

as for what starscream gets out of it: a scheme. clearly. LOL! I think when they first met up it was just out of curiosity and he planned to kidnap him maybe but for some reason didnt. so they kept seeing each other....and starscream was like "ok this is fine, if i build up trust with this scout maybe i can SEDUCE HIM TO OUR SIDE or take him in him as a hostage and get some brownie points w megs or take him apart and use him as scrap metal or SOMETHING"

i think a point of tension in all their little meetups is them simultaneously thinking "hes so easy to manipulate/I CAN CHANGE HIM"

I think starscream tries to pull a "i was born with glass bones and paper skin" on bee every so often but bee is too smart to fall for it lol. (basically what he did to hashtag in ES- he never learns!) but every once in a while during their talks theres..a tiiiiiny glimmer of honesty...something deeper inside past the lies and fakeass traumadumping that keeps bringing bumblebee back for more....

every time bee broaches the topic of joining the autobots it gets shot down and everytime starscream mentions him joining them bee is like "Are you out of your ever loving mind"

eventually things fall apart, as lazerbeak follows starscream out on one of their secret dates and soundwave confronts him at their spot threatens to snitch. Star is like "Wait i was just using him this entire time i actually dont feel anything for him at all but im sooo close to getting him to trust me enough that i can put on a convincing 'i wanna join the autobots' gambit pleeease dont tell megatron"............and then (dramatic sting) bumblebee was there the whole time...and heard the whole thing...........he givse ss a chance ....starscream digs his heels in and is like gah soundwave you just wasted months of work and soundwave is like ok lets just capture him. (lowkey he knows they were serious abt eachother and is using this as a way to make him choose between this bug or the decepticons) so starscream attacks bee and they capture him and in typical g1 fashion the autobots save him before 20 minutes are up but at that point all trust is LOST starbee is OVER theyre BROKEN UP AND STARSCREAM AND BUMBLEBEE HATE EACH OTHER NOW!!!!!!!!! (i think before optimus and crew showed up to the brig to bust him out starscream tried to come and talk to him when no one was looking but they got into a fight and starscream got genuinely angry that bee didnt believe this couldve TOTALLYYY BEEN AN INTENTIONAL GAMBIT...YOU SHOULDVE TRUSTED ME, so he digs his heels in even deeper and is like ITS TRUE I HATE YOU STUPID AUTOBRAT)

the war goes on. fast forward a million years. and they still havent talked extendedly since then. LOL

theres like a million things that happen in the ES portion but i feel like this ask response is long enough and also its not relevant to what you asked