#please is not another awakening/fates banner

[childofaura]

So with Chapter 13 rolling around the corner and all that, I’m going to predict that Awakening is going to be one of the main focus of New Heroes banner. (Well, it’s manifestation but oh well)

Although, something tells me that Archanea is going to be the main focus again. Or maybe Fates, or another Engage banner but this time featuring the Elusia characters.

I don’t know but this book has been a wild ride and despite the recent New Heroes not being a New Heroes banner, I’m at least holding out hope that they at least don’t deny the New Heroes with that many Rearmed or Ascended alts.

Still think it was shitty decision to include Attuned Peony and Attuned Triandra together.

I feel like we're gonna be getting Fates in November, since it's been a while since we had the Fates release. And since the last release was the kids, this time I'm hoping they'll focus on the Corrinsexuals; Fuga's out because I doubt they're gonna add base Fuga after he just got an alt. Which leaves Yukimura (I bet they'll make him an extremely broken cavalry unit), Shura, Izana (Whom I bet will be a re-armed Colorless tome), Scarlet, and Reina. And something tells me we'll get Ascended Camilla or something... Then again, we might also get Mozu instead (which I won't complain).

If it's NOT Fates and it's Awakening (since Awakening was last year in November; I remember this because the banner came out when I was at the Lightbox convention), the only units we really have left are Kellam, Vaike, Laurent (fucking PLEASE IS, stop leaving that kid behind), and Noire. Plus everyone's been waiting forever for Validar. Though personally I wouldn't mind if they added Pheros as a GHB.

(Also yes with Triandra and Plumeria, but I understand why they did it. They're trying to stretch out the Valentia banners as long as they can, but it'd be better if they just gave Valentia a damn spotlight seasonal).

[lady-cuteness]

Decided to post something. I’ve been doing sketches to try a new style, and in a whatsapp chat we decided that this characters would be the ideal fire emblem summer banner. The characters are Sonya, Genny, Kliff and Alm, all from Fire emblem Echoes.

Why did we chose these characters? Well, we needed a fanservice character that wasn’t Camilla/Kagero/Tharja, so we decided on Sonya. Genny because she is the cute little girl that is being a trend in this banner lately. Kliff because he is a fan favorite who people are pleading for IS to put in the game for some time now. Alm because he is one of the fan favorite without an alt.

I decided to give Sonya a trikini instead of the usual bikini because for me, Sonya is not only a really sexy character, but also quite elegant in her manners and all the times she’s draw. So I wanted to represent those two concepts.

I know this won’t happen, but a girl can dream

...

...

[vina-writes]

Ten Favorite Drarry Fic Recs

I’ve reached a bit of a follower milestone, and I thought, why not celebrate? I’m happy! This is an incredible feeling that I honestly can’t fully articulate in writing. Knowing someone enjoyed my work and presence enough that they’d want to be notified if I posted again just makes me squeal and want to hug everyone from joy!! Thank you to anyone who has ever left me kudos, a comment, a tag, a note, an emoji, a tag emoji!! I am endlessly grateful to you all for this support and kindness.

Now, since it’s party time, I’ve compiled a personal list of my ten favorite Drarry fics to share the love. This is by no means a stamp of quality (as there are thousands of brilliant fics out there) and neither is it a guarantee that these are everyone’s cup of tea. But they are certainly my cup of tea— my whole buffet honestly.

I chose fics that made me feel deeply. Fics that made me cry, laugh, throw my phone, squeal and wiggle and dance at the end. These (mostly) weren’t fics which answered deep philosophical questions. They were fics which instead showed me love and adventure, joys and betrayals, misunderstandings and occasionally unbelievable (but appreciated) levels of smut (you know who you are). These are stories I read to be entertained, entranced, delighted, and happy. These are stories that made me feel in love.

In honor of that (and of my Canva addiction) I’ve made little banners for each. I hope they do some justice to these works. I’ve tried to capture the feeling of each fic in just one image. Without further ado, read on to find out exactly what my guilty pleasure (as if Drarry isn’t enough) is:

The Songbirds of Avebury Manor by Tessa Crowley [E, 18k] 

Summary: Harry Potter presents as alpha at fifteen, and it is supposed to change his life for the better. Instead, it leads him to a beautiful noble omega he cannot have, a political plot he cannot escape, and a threat on his life.

This story. Oh my stars, this story. What can I even say to properly express how I feel about it? This is the Romeo and Juliet, the Pride and Prejudice, the Hades and Persephone of Drarry. Reading this made me feel like an unwedded Victorian lass waiting for her Prince Charming. It’s a wonderful Historical AU that throws around power dynamics and questions of who is worthy of love, freedom, and respect despite them. This is a brilliant portrait of deep romantic love. Harry’s dedication to Draco is all-encompassing, beautiful, intense, intimate— earth shattering, really. The way they fall in love despite class and situation made me want to cry and write poetry. This is a true fairytale romance.

The Pirate and the Prince by @nerdherderette​, maniacani [E, 49k]

Summary: Draco can't believe that fate and circumstance have made him a stowaway on the Master of Death's ship. He doesn't know what's worse: the dread pirate's legendary vendetta against the aristocracy, or the fact that his captor is the most infuriating yet irrefutably fascinating man Draco has ever met.

The moment I started this story I knew it was going to be an instant favorite. It’s swashbuckling, debonair yet disheveled, dangerous, fun, adventurous— everything you could desire from a romance on the high seas! Though they come from very different backgrounds, this Draco and Harry are a power couple to the core. Their romance is once again beautiful, intense, and dedicated, but this time it’s mixed with a healthy dose of self-exploration and mutual acceptance. But apart from romance this fic holds delicious secrecy and identity issues, an astounding knowledge of sailing ships, plenty of piratey shenanigans, some heart-wrenching found family dynamics, a cursing parrot, and a glorious angst with a happy ending finale! 

Soup-pocalypse and the Great Curry Cataclysm by SquadOfCats [E, 104k]

Summary: Eleven years after the war, Draco Malfoy leads a quiet, boring, and perfectly respectable life, thanks very much. Or, at least he does, until a sudden and very unexpected veela awakening causes him to throw soup all over Harry Potter in the middle of the Ministry cafeteria.

What can I say about Soup-pocalypse? It will lure you in with tales of Veelas and romance, and then it will kidnap you and throw you in cooking class and therapy. You’ll come out wondering what just happened and how two days have passed. There will, of course, be Veelas and romance aplenty, but it will be a caring romance, a familial romance, a supportive and kind and nurturing romance. This story feels like family, good cooking, sunny days, the deep heartbreak of change, and through all of it, the truth of a real and solid partnership. This is the humorous yet angst-ridden tale of two idiots learning to love as adults, and then in turn learning to face the world together.

you’ve got the antidote for me by Kandakickass [M, 20k]

Summary: When Harry Potter unintentionally severs their soulbond before it can fully form, Draco Malfoy resigns himself to a slow death and decides not to burden Harry with a soulmate he's made it very clear he doesn't want.

He's never been selfless before, but for Harry, he can try.

Right then. On to the angstiest story I’ve ever read and truly enjoyed. Not just enjoyed, adored! Worshipped! Come back to time and again whenever I needed a good cry! Here is the beauty of it: this fic is deeply painful and heartbreaking, yet it steers clear of emotions like disgust and discomfort. Never once was it disturbing— only sorrowful, in the purest and most heart-wrenching way. Yet despite the pain strung throughout the majority of it, this fic left me feeling relieved and rejuvenated, the way one feels after crying their heart out over something simple. It’s an emotional release that does not leave you broken.

On the Last Day of Our World by Sansa [E, 84k]

Summary: During a detention, Harry and Draco get locked in a strange room together overnight. When they escape the next morning, they discover they are alone. Love, angst and adventure abound as they struggle to survive in an empty world.

Truly one of my favorite takes on canon divergence. Truly. This is an exploration of isolation and the joys and comforts that come with it. It is the power couple Drarry to rule them all— a Draco and Harry so strongly connected, in love, and attuned to one another that the world could fall at their feet. This story leaves you on the edge of your seat until the very bitter end— one of those where the second things are briefly peaceful the world goes up in a new set of flames. Those of you who daydream about a partnership that needs no others, two souls who are each other’s family, friend, and future, and would gladly abandon everything to spend eternity alone together: this is for you.

The Arc of the Pendulum by brummel [E, 30k]

Summary: After his father casts a mysterious curse on Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy is forced to try to make things right.

Yes. YES. YES!!! The Beauty and the Beast take you didn’t know you needed! Still canon-compliant to an extent, this is realistic and raw and incredible. Draco makes the choice to help Harry here, and the vulnerability of their interactions while Harry struggles with the curse is everything you could hope it to be. There’s a distinct fairytale atmosphere in this fic— both of them confined together, finding support and comfort in one another while struggling through the effects of the curse, and falling in love along the way. I could write sonnets about the ending using my tears for ink, but they shan’t be revealed here.

Picking Up Pieces by Tessa Crowley [E, 43k]

Summary of Part One: Fifteen years after the War, Draco is a social recluse and award winning author. Harry is an auror who works too hard, ensuring his old war wounds never heal. They meet at a masque ball, unaware of each other's identities. In another situation, it would have been love at first sight. But for them, it would never be so simple.

Picking Up Pieces deserves no introduction, but if you haven’t read it yet, please find a blanket, and cup of tea, and a quiet place to read, cry, and recover. I sobbed my little heart out through the entire second half— the tears were really never ending. How does it end up on a reclist by a fluff lover like me? The answer is similar to Antidote— though this story broke me apart, it was never twisted nor ugly, never disturbing. It was an incredibly touching tale of redemption, forgiveness, human nature, and recompense. The writing does put you through the emotional wringer, but it leaves you relieved and whole. I would lay down my life for this Draco. He truly needs to be protected and loved at all costs. Even though I’m usually careful when recommending heavy stories, I would encourage everyone to read this— it made me feel new, it made me feel like I’d spent an hour crying in the shower, but most of all, it really did make me happy.

Two Trees by LakeWitch [E, 36k]

Summary (shortened): In his Eighth year at Hogwarts, part of Draco Malfoy's probation is to see a Mind Healer once a week. Another part, unfortunately, is having to take Muggle Studies.

It wouldn't be so bad, really, if it weren't for the mandatory outing—a 'field trip'—booked at a Muggle lakeside retreat for the better part of five days. [...] Draco is determined to get it all over with as painlessly as possible. He'll keep his head down, and stay out of everyone's way. That is, until Pansy tells him—at the very last moment—that she's schemed to have Draco stay in the same room with Potter for the whole trip.

Just the two of them... in one room.

This is the comfort fic of all comfort fics. It feels like camping, like sitting by a lake in the sun, like marshmallows over a fire and sparks against a starry sky, and cool, feather-soft hotel sheets. Draco is dealing with several different anxieties here, but the brilliant setting and easy plot turn them into a cathartic read. This is a fic about young love and the ability to build bonds on trips. It made me remember my first crushes and the feeling of getting breakfast in a hotel lobby. There’s cuddling, there’s love, there’s some highly emo Draco (both warranted and unwarranted), and there’s a truckload of nature. Go read it!

Your Place Or Mine? by @l0vegl0wsinthedark​ [E, 26k]

Summary: "This person is so much harder to hate. And I’m supposed to hate Malfoy. How the fuck else am I supposed to limit this to just sex?" 

At first I was like, “Damn, Harry,” but then I was all, “Damn Harry!” but then I went, “DAMN Harry!” (interspersed with a lot of whistling and cursing). I could have slapped him, and you will want to. This is another Draco that deserves endless love and hot chocolate, with a Harry that deserves a good smack. I think about this fic weekly, and not just because it’s endlessly hot— although it is scorching hot, like how do you even write something that hot type of hot. Draco’s pining and Harry’s stupidity makes for the angstiest yet most satisfying friends-with-benefits-but-really-there’s-more combination, and the climax (pun intended) and resulting spill of emotions is everything anyone could hope for. Ten out of ten.

The Courting by the Pureblood Who Only Has Five Milligrams of Romantic Intelligence and Thinks He’s Real Smooth by @cibeewastaken​ [T, 19k]

Summary (shortened): Draco could grab Potter and shove him into a stall before proceeding to suck his soul out of his dick, but secretly, deep down, in the part of Draco that he will never admit to anyone, he is (everyone pauses to shudder) a romantic. Potter is not someone Draco wants a one-off with. Potter is — Draco’s beloved!

So Draco decides to boldly go where no one has gone before: to put himself through scrutiny; their friends’ teasing and pranks; unsound romantic advice from a house-elf; wearing pretty clothes; all to try and win Potter’s heart through courtship...

This thing of beauty is exactly as hilarious as it sounds. However, it is so much more than the endless laughs (although there are many). It is sweet, tender, touching, and filled with glorious pining and misunderstandings. Inside you’ll find extravagant (the word was literally invented for Cibee’s Draco) outfits, confusing customs, a blanket that brought me to tears, one badass house-elf, one very confused beloved, absolutely no fornication (wink), and one hopelessly smitten pureblood. Be warned, this fic is actually three “What the fuck, Draco?”s in a trenchcoat. I read it when I want to laugh, facepalm, and submerge myself in the adorable stupidity that is Draco Malfoy in love. It is well worth your time and is sure to bring a smile to your face.

With this final fic we conclude my list on a happy note! It’s long, it’s tedious, and I had a spanking good time writing it. I hope these bring some joy or happy tears to your day.

Love, Vina 

[dark-chibidragoness]

Alright, Here’s my Ballot in it’s entirety. All 7 votes and 7 Characters that I voted for who I like. 

1-Hrid: Okay, I love Hrid and I’m sad that we’ve haven’t seen any version of him since the second NY’s Banner with him on it. And his sister’s have gotten alts after that! (Bride!Fjorm, Summer!Gunnthra and Summer! Ylgr.) And even the Muspell sisters have gotten alt’s since then, too! They have summer versions and Laevatein just got a Ninja alt! WTH.  

I hate it. I want more Hrid. I want another Helbindi. Give my boys more alts than just one!(Not counting their base forms as alts)

He hasn’t even been in any Forging bonds or ANYTHING and his sisters have been in them. Well, Fjorm and Ylgr at least I don’t know about Gunnthra.

And i’m not hating on the girl characters, I like Fjorm and Ylgr and all them I just wish IS would give the guys more love instead of focusing on giving the girls all of the alts. 

They’re all Simps. That’s what they are. SIMPS.  

I have a lot I want to say about Hrid but this will be VERY long and I don’t want it to be longer than It’s going to be. So..moving on for now...

2-Marth: Really, The only reason I voted for marth is because he’s been down in 3rd for the past few years and I really want to see him get his Brave Alt finally.

And then he’ll be out of the Options for Brave units and there can be a lot of other choices.  

And as much as I love Gatekeeper I don’t want him to get in, but  if he does gets in then he won’t be able to come back next year and the slot will be open for someone else.  

If Gatekeeper somehow doesn’t hold second place then people are just going to vote for him next year. 

Well, Back to Marth..I did diverge a bit...I haven’t played the games Marth is from but I know him from Smash, Although that being said I do like Marth and I actually have all versions of him. Normal, Groom, Legendary and Winter Marth. I HAVE THEM ALL. 

I don’t have Resplendant Marth but I probably never will because I don’t pay for this game. F2P Dangit.

Anyway, I really just want to vote marth not just because I want to but because he deserves a Brave alt and he’s gotten robbed of it the last few times we had CYL.

Moving on to my third and I’m probably the only one who voted for him-

3-Ryoma: I love Ryoma. I’ve married him in both Birthright and Revelations, but when I got to the dreaded chapter 25 of Conquest, I probably cried harder than my in-game character did. 

I played Birthright before playing Conquest and I can say if it weren’t for Ryoma’s existence I probably would’ve gone Conquest first. I did buy Conquest first and played through the first few chapters before the split, but when It came to the split I stopped when I realized I couldn’t choose the Hoshido side, and that was one of the things I didn’t like about the game. 

I did eventually finish Conquest, but that’s only after I played through Birthright and...I actually liked the route a lot. Now, Originally I wasn’t going to go with Ryoma, I was actually originally going to marry Kaden or Kaze, but ended up with Ryoma because of his Honor and the way of the Bushido.

I don’t know what it is about characters that have the Honor and Bushido trait, but..I guess that’s my type?? Which is probably why I like 2003′s TMNT Leo a lot.  

Alright again I could go on and on but I don’t want to make this a too long of a post so moving on-

4-Alfonse: Okay, Alright..This one could be long too but I’m going to restrain myself. 

 Well, I’ll say it. I like Alfonse. Especially in book 3 when he stood up to Hel. That was amazing! I hope he does that as well in this Book with Fafnir or..Otr? I guess whichever one. (I did like Otr when he was first shown but now I’m not so sure...)

I really want either a Legendary or Brave Alfonse, and I would love to see what they would do with him.

And this will probably never happen but a Duo alt with Hrid would make me very happy. (Like a Summer Beach Volleyball alt with Alfonse holding a beach-ball and Hrid holding Ice-cream to cool themselves off. Oooo I’d draw that but I’m not a good artist, sooo.)

Okay Okay, I said I would restrain myself and I am. I’m moving on before I rant about Alfonse some more.

And the next vote goes too...OH. The other character I could rant all day about.

5-Grima: Yes, GRIMA. Not the Female Robin Version but Male Robin. 

This is another type I like but It’s nice character’s who’ve been possessed by evil beings, or give themselves to darkness? (Like Jesse/Johan from Yugioh GX?? Or Riku from Kingdom Hearts?!)

Although I actually like the actual Dragon form of Grima more than the Robins and would like him to have his own human form instead of possessing Robin, but i’ve never played Awakening and don’t know if there’s a reason for that.

Having them come out with a Halloween Alt for the Female version makes me a bit hopeful for a Male alt but not a lot because apparently IS just likes to make all the alts for girls and not guys?? Like please I want more of my favorite guy characters with alts. How am I supposed to Simp for my favorite boys when the don’t even give them alts?? Like Hello?? There aren’t just guys in the world who play FEH there’s girls, too??

But let’s be honest, Even if we get another Male Grima will he even have the exposed Tid? I don’t know and that scares me. 

Once again, Just give me my boys, IS!

6-Scarlet: Hoooo Boy Scarlet. So I was a bit jealous of Scarlet in Revelations when she was talking about Ryoma, and then I felt bad a few scenes earlier. 

Which made me wish I had completed her bonding events in Birthright, I only ever got up to C rank.

Uhh, So I voted for Scarlet because I realized I’ve just been voting all guys and even though Eirika and Byleth are in the lead I’m still voting for the characters that I want. 

And scarlet is one of them. I know it wouldn’t be enough to get a brave alt but I wouldn’t mind if IS gave us normal Scarlet or a certain other Alt that comes later in the year but before Brides and Summer that I won’t talk about. 

I did like Scarlet in Birthright and in...Revelations...and after what happened in Revelations I felt really really bad for her? 

I hope she gets in at some point. I would actually summon for Scarlet if they put her in. However she gets in. 

And the final vote iiis(I don’t know why I’m doing this I have the whole battle ballot screenshot shown, so everyone can already see who I voted for)

7-Orochi: Orochi. Needs. To. Be. In. The Game.

Out of all the fates Characters we have, I’m surprised we still don’t have Orochi. I don’t remember well but I think she’s one of Mikoto’s retainers?? It’s been a very long time since I played fates so I don’t know. 

Umm...That’s pretty much the only reason I voted for her. I love Orochi and I’m sad she’s still not in the game yet. 

This is one of the few times I want IS to give me a female character, the other would be Scarlet and probably Nyx if I had another vote. But..well...Hmm..

Okay, That’s all the votes and the rough and hopefully short enough explanation of why I voted for each character. 

I’m tired of writing, my hand’s getting cramped so if there’s something I need to add I’ll do it later. Gotta rest my hands for now and probably watch people try and Summon for Seiros. 

(Who I did not get but I got Legendary Dimitri so I’m happy)

[crystalelemental]

Speculation on the next new hero and special hero banner.

I’m guessing Echoes.  It’s Echoes or Sacred Stones most likely, and I’m guessing Echoes on the grounds that it’s the more popular one of the two.  Either could work though.  I’m expecting it to be a three-person banner, with the fourth being the new free unit, like they did with Peony.  Ideally, it’s Tatiana, Zeke, and Luthier.  Let me live.  I’d expect Nuibaba or Jedah to be the free unit.  We’re running out of antagonists.  I guess it could be Slayde, though.  Or uh...that guy.  You know.  Desaix!  That one.  Or they could make base Rudolf.  I guess we’re not running out of antagonists.

The next Special Heroes are winter alts.  And we’re due a Harmonic, rather than a Duo.  Which has some serious implications.  Harmonics have to be good in Resonant Battles to be worth a damn, which means they have to do two things: (1) have range, and (2) net doubles reliably.  There are two ways this could go.

Being winter, it’s always been armor units.  So very likely, armor again.  But that hurts the range thing.  You can’t rely on Armor March, and I don’t actually think Armored Stride would work out that well either, since you wouldn’t have it turn 1.  It’s possible we could get another armor specific C-skill that’s focused on mobility, and may be more ridiculous than the others.  At this point, I’d hope it was dragon exclusive, as a middle finger to Armored Stride.  The other is, we might finally break the armor curse, and see a non-armored Winter alt.  Imagine, a cav or flying alt in winter.  Insanity.  I guess it could be infantry with Even Tempest, but I don’t want to think about that right now.  Either way, we’re looking at either ridiculous speed, or slow as hell but with guaranteed follow-up attacks.  One or the other.

There’s virtually no way to tell who will be on the winter banner, but thus far, they tend to run with a specific game as the centerpiece, and don’t duplicate for that game.  So Awakening, Sacred Stones, and Blazing Blade are all out as possibilities.  It could be Three Houses.  We are still in their era, and many popular options haven’t gotten in at all (Felix, Marianne, Rhea).  So that’s distinctly possible.  That said, Male Byleth will definitely be there, because that’s the pattern.  Female gets a beach alt as horny bait, the male alt gets a winter or new years alt because those look nice and IS has a bias.  Since F!Byleth got a duo, I wouldn’t put it past them to make M!Byleth the frontrunner of a Harmonic. It would make more sense to have him be on a Duo in New Years though...  That said...oh god it’d be Jeralt.  Oh fucking Christ it would be Jeralt.  Okay, wait, this is an opportunity for me.  The backup unit is considered as being in the game, this is my opportunity to have Jeralt perpetually locked as a backup, ignored for all time.  Duo Byleth and Jeralt for New Years, please.

In fact, fuck this winter Three Houses shit.  New Years it is.  Marianne and Felix in those outfits would be amazing.  Ashe as a demote, because let’s be honest, they would do that to him.  Leonie as the free unit.  Duo Male Byleth and Jeralt.  God, it brings me such joy just thinking about it.  And it’s right before CYL5, it’s perfect.  Don’t fuck this up IS.

Anyway, winter.  Awakening, Sacred Stones, and Blazing Blade are out because they’ve been the focus of winter before.  Binding Blade is out because recency.  Echoes and Genealogy are out because they have an exclusive seasonal banner this year already.  That leaves Archanea, Thracia, Tellius, Fates, TMS, and Heroes.

Heroes is unlikely, but not impossible.  It’d just have to dig into Book 3, because the Book 4 fairies were too recent for all of them to be there.

TMS is legitimately possible, but I feel like my ideal scenario is that late January is just marked as their time.  We just don’t get a “seasonal” banner then, but a TMS banner that adds them to the regular pool but functions like a paralogue.  That would be my ideal.

Fates and Tellius are legitimately possible, but honestly there is so much representation from those games in seasonal alts I never want to see them again.  Please.  Just this once.

Archanea would be possible, but the Harmonic would definitely be for a different game.  Last year’s winter Duo was Archanea, and we have Harmonic Tiki from as the last one introduced.  More on that in a minute.

Thracia is my ideal.  Please give me Eyvel, and Sara, and Miranda, and honestly just anything you want as long as it’s not fucking Reinhardt.  I know this won’t happen, IS hates Thracia, but please?  We have two seasonal alts for this game and they’re fucking Reinhardt and Ishtar.  Come on.

Hoping Thracia, Archanea with the assassins would be amazing, but expecting Fates or Tellius because I think this year has served as proof that god is dead.

Now, that Harmonic.  So far, we have Radiant Dawn, Awakening, Fates, Heroes, Blazing Blade, and Archanea represented.  Meaning Valentia, Genealogy, Thracia, Binding Blade, Path of Radiance, Three Houses, and TMS are up for grabs as possibilities.  Frankly, I feel like this spread lends a LOT of credibility to us finally getting Thracia alts, because it’s the only game that works for a game theme, and works for the Harmonic.  That said, I also feel like any Harmonic with a Thracia unit, will have that unit as a backup.  So here are my guesses.

Seliph and Leif.  They’re listed as different games, this counts as Harmonic!  I would be perfectly okay with this as a pair.

Julia and Sara.  I’d be mad about Sara being an exclusively backup unit, but let’s not pretend I won’t shit myself over this.

Maybe like...Celica and Linoan?  I don’t know why, Linoan seems exactly like the type of character to get relegated as a backup unit and never seen again, just like Marth’s sister.

I’m trying to think of a good young character to partner with Eyvel, because best mom.  I want to say Delthea, because I feel like they’d get along really well.

I don’t know shit about TMS, but I could see one of them and Lara if it’s a dancer focused thing.  I don’t know why it would be, but you never know what their game plan is.

Honestly I have no idea.  Guessing Harmonics is hard.  I think I just want Thracia.  And if Sara gets relegated to backup, it better be for a damn fucking good partner, that’s all I’m saying.

[darth-salem-emperor-of-earth]

Darth-Salem-Emperor-of-Earth’s Writing Commissions

When I have some more time (and reinstall my old Adobe Photoshop software to either my desktop computer or laptop), I’ll create an actual banner or header for my commissions post. Until then, it’ll just be in text.

As I alluded to a previous post of mine, I decided to start taking on writing commissions and see how I do. I’m going to start off slow and take on only two commission slots because I’m not sure how long it will take me to write each piece. 

1. Open

2. Open

My options right now:

500 words = $15.00 

Extra 200 words (+$3.00)

1000 words = $25.00

Extra 500 words (+$10.00)

Fandoms I am most comfortable in writing about: Fire Emblem (Blazing Sword, the Sacred Stones, Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses), Harry Potter, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Naruto, KOTOR/SWTOR/Star Wars, Van Helsing, the Witcher (I am more familiar with the games than the books but I can do my research for any specifically book orientated), Once Upon a Time, the Tudors (both for history and the TV show), A Song of Ice and Fire, the Fable games, Marvel (movie-verse), and certain otome games or visual art novels (ex: Voltage games, When the Night Comes, The Arcana) that I have played before and have some knowledge of the story. I am also familiar with Fullmetal Alchemist, Boku no Hero Academia, and FFXIV but I haven’t written in those fandoms before and I’m not quite caught up with the current events in BNHA (even though I have read some spoilers, I might not know all the full details). For FFXIV, I'm in the middle of Shadowbringers. If you don’t see the fandom you want me to write on this list, you can always double-check with me to see if the fandom is doable for me. 

What I’ll need from you: References, images, descriptions of your character(s)/OCs, and their relationship with other characters, canon or another OC. If you have a story or setting in mind, please give me some idea in what you have in mine for the fanfic. AUs, Universe Altered, canon divergence, etc are all fine with me, I’ll just need some extra details about this non-canon universe so I can capture what you’re looking for.

Contact: You can either PM me or send me an ask on my tumblr, or email me at dsp0929@comcast.net to save a slot and tell me which commission you want along with the references, ideas, character descriptions, and your PayPal email so I can send you invoice. 

I have the right to turn down any commission. If you have any questions, feel free to send me and ask or PM. 

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[starl1ght-child]

Enthralled

Rezyl Azzir x F!Non-Guardian OC

Chapter 9 : Six Fronts [ WC 2.7K (bro wtf lol) ]

masterlist  (also to understand a bit of this chapter, please read the lil headcanon I have for the battle of six fronts.)

Rezyl woke early the next morning to a distant rumble that gently shook their apartment.  The Titan was instantly on alert and sliding out of bed.  He immediately started to dress and put on his armor when the second rumble came and shook the small collection of his partner’s books off their shelves, which sent her into a startled awakening.

“Rezyl,” his Ghost chirped urgently,  “there’s been a message issued out by the Vanguard, the Fallen are mounting an attack on the Wall.”

“How many fronts?” Rezyl asked as he secured the straps of his chest plate.  

“So far, four, but they say there’s more coming on the horizon.”

“Rilea, get up,”  Rezyl urged as he came around to her side of the bed and pulled her up by her arms.  Maker, she was trembling.  “C’mon, get up, we’ve gotta move.”

“Rezyl, what’s going on?”

“The Fallen are attacking the Walls.”  He slipped his hands into his gauntlets and fastened the armor plating on his forearms.  “Your sensor grid may have given us an upper hand and alerted us, but I need you to get to the safety bunkers, find any citizens along the way, and stay there.”

“Rezyl, I can help—”  She started to protest as she got herself moving and dressed.

“No, paramour,”  he said firmly as he grabbed his Inferno and strapped it to his back.  He grabbed his ever reliable Rose and slid the cannon into the holster on his hip.  “Get to the bunker and take as many as you can with you.  I’ll come find you.”  His hand gently held her jaw and lifted her face to him.  There was no fear in her eyes as the initial wave of shock had already come and gone.  Only that fierce bravery he saw when they first met.  “But you do not leave that bunker until I come and get you.  These fights are way too much for you to handle now.  Please, don’t try to be a hero today, you’ve already nearly died once.  Understood?”

She reached up and placed her hand on the back of his, and gently leaned her face into his palm.  Coming from him now, it was an order.  Not a request.  “Understood, Rezyl,” she murmured with a resigned sigh, just as a third temor, this time much closer, shook the Last City.  His hands caught her waist as she stumbled and grabbed onto his shoulders for support.  “Go.  Just promise me you’ll come get me.”

“I promise.”  

He leaned down and kissed her before he left, hard and fervid, because every time he left her he feared it was for the last time.  He had seen many Guardians die at the hands of pirates.  But he was a Titan.  He was always stronger than the scavengers that threatened their borders.  Always.

“This is Commander Rezyl Azzir reporting in, I’ve received your transmission,”  he said over comms, Ghost open in his palm, as he left their house.  “I’m going to join up with the rest of the Order, Commander Zavala.  Where are they positioned?”

He was out of her earshot before she could hear where he was going.  Rilea didn’t hesitate to arm herself.  She slid her sidearm into it’s holster on her thigh and slid the gauntlet that held her compact shield onto her forearm.  She left her rifle on the shelf as another tremor shook the apartment.  She grabbed onto a chair to keep from falling.

When she broke out into the streets, people were filling them, terrified cries and anxious murmurs leaving all of their lips.  For a moment, Rilea was frozen among them.  They lived close enough to the Wall to see faint silhouettes of Titans taking up their posts.  And for a brief moment, she looked at the Traveler above them.

She was never the religious type—her only belief was in fate—but for the first time, she prayed.  She prayed the Rezyl would be alright.  She prayed that they would hold their position and not falter.  She prayed that their Traveler would watch over them.

Rilea climbed up onto a crate and cupped her hands around her mouth.  “Everyone!” She shouted, grabbing the attention of the horrified people.  “We need to get to the bunkers!  Quickly!”

People started to snap out of their trances and started to move closer towards the center of the city.  But as usual, terrified people tend to lose sight of reason, and there was shouting and screaming as people tried to push through to get their first.  There were plenty of bunkers scattered through each sector, but Maker, fear is a terrifying beast.  Rilea stayed towards the back of the crowd to help and stragglers and anyone who had fallen down in the commotion.  There were some Guardians among them, mostly warlocks, that tried to keep people calm and reassured that everything would be alright.  They helped funnel people to different bunkers and control the spread of panic.  

Rilea was about to go down into the bunker when she heard crying.  Her head shot up and she looked around, coming back up a couple of stairs she had gone down.  The warlock by her side must have heard it too.

“Where’s that coming from?”  The Warlock asked.

“I-I don’t know,”  Rilea said as she started to look around.  “It sounds like a child.”

“I’ll go high and you go low?”

Rilea looked at the Warlock in surprise.  Usually in times of crisis, the Guardians told her to hide with the rest of the civilians.  This one was different.  The woman nodded and the two of them immediately did a sweep of the block.  

“I found him!”  Rilea shouted as she saw the kid hiding underneath the porch stairs of one of the buildings, tiny hands covering his ears.  “Hey, kiddo,”  she soothed as she outstretched her arms.  “My name’s Rilea.”  Slowly the child crawled out from under the porch and into her arms.  “Where’s your mum?”  

“Something’s wrong with mama,” he cried as he clung onto the woman.  “She won’t move.”

The warlock jumped down to her.  “What’s wrong?”

“His mother… Where is she, kiddo?  Where’s mama?” He pointed a shaking hand to a woman who was knocked unconscious a couple of houses down; hidden by a banner that had fallen from it’s strings.  Just as warning sirens started to blare.  

The Fallen were on the Wall.

Rilea placed a hand on the back of the boy’s head and hid his gaze.  The Warlock rushed over to the woman and pressed two fingers to her neck.  “She’s alive,” he said as he started to pick her up.  “She needs medical treatment and fast.”  

The two of them ran towards the sector’s hospital, the entire time Rilea kept the boy’s face hidden in her shoulder so he couldn’t see the Wall.  The Warlock took the boy from her when the mother was taken away for treatment.  “Get back to the bunkers,” they told her.  “I’ve got it here.”

“Thank you.”  Rilea nodded to them and left the hospital in a hurry.  Rezyl told her to stay at the bunkers because it was safer.  He said he would come find her.  And she promised him she wouldn’t try to be a hero today.  She saved a kid and his mother, that was enough heroism for her without risking getting hurt.

— — — — — 

The battle waged for hours.  Rezyl was fighting alongside an Iron Lord, a fellow commander, and the rest of the Firebreak Order.  Magazines were running dry faster than they could be replaced, the Titans alongside him were a wall of metal that never moved, not even when Fallen managed to get up to the top of the Wall.  They would die within seconds: ether masks crushed by fists, necks snapped and broken, or by bullets straight through their chests; then their corpses were thrown right back down to the rest.  But they never lost ground.  

It must have been close to six or seven hours before they heard a deafening battle cry and the Fallen started to pull back.  They had called a retreat, their ranks broken from the amount of bloodshed.  All six fronts pulled away from the wall and back into the wilderness where they came from.

There was an order to pull back.  The Fallen had retreated.  The day was theirs.  The City was safe.  But what about the ground the pirates had gained?  There was hesitance among the Firebreak Order.  They were waiting for orders from their commanders.

How “safe” was safe?

“Azzir!”  Rezyl looked up at the Iron Lord that approached him, his fellow commander, Lord Radegast.  “Gather your men.  We’re not pulling back now.”

Rezyl Azzir grinned beneath his helm and nodded.  He turned back to the Titans by his side, all reloading empty magazines, pauldrons splattered with blood, but fierce resolve on their shoulders.  He loaded more lead into his Rose and snapped the chamber shut with a flick of his wrist.  He and the Iron Lord met up again at the edge of the wall, staring down at the scorched land below.

“Firebreak!”  Radegast’s voice boomed over their command and everyone was at attention.  “Into formation!”

“How far do you think we can get before sundown?”  Rezyl asked.  “We’ve got about four hours.”

“A few miles, maybe.  We’ll reclaim as much as we can.”

The Striker chuckled.  “Let’s aim for five.”

“Well, then,”  The Iron Lord and Rezyl Azzir raised an arm.  “Let’s get moving.”  They simultaneously dropped their arms and pointed forward, shouting the orders to march forward and reclaim the land the Fallen had stolen from them.  As their fellow Titans started to descend down the Wall, the two Commanders exchanged a look, nodded, and followed them down.

— — — — — 

When citizens started to rejoice that the battle was over, Rilea was frozen.  The battle was over.  It was over.  So where was he?

Every hour, every minute that passed where he didn’t turn up, was a reason for fear.  She asked any Titan she saw returning if they knew where he was.  No one ever had any answers.

The sky burned red and violet as the sun began to set and the air was getting chilly with the autumn wind.  Winter was just around the corner.  She was still sitting on a crate outside the bunker, freezing and shivering, but refusing to move.  The warlock she had run into that morning had heard she was still there, so he brought her a blanket and draped it around her shoulders.

“Do you know what order he was with?”  the man asked her quietly.

“No… he never told me.”  She didn’t even look up at him.  She had chosen to focus on small detailed repairs on her shield.  It didn’t need to be fixed, but ever since the first attack on the City where it was broken, it wasn’t as responsive to her hand’s movements.  

“Well… the Firebreak Order never returned after everyone was told to pull back when the Fallen retreated.  There’s a chance—”

“Look, I don’t mean any offense, but…”  She finished screwing on the cover panel on her forearm.  ��Please just… leave me be.”

The Warlock didn’t say another word, but he heeded her request and left her alone where she sat.  Daylight was slipping away every minute.  Hope was slipping through her fingers like sand in an hourglass.

She didn’t even look up when a pair of greaves appeared in front of her.  She had listened to enough people today telling her to have faith.  When she did look over at them, she recognized the etchings that embroidered them with gold.  Her hands were shaking at this point, a combination from the cold, the relief, and the slight bit of anger she felt that he didn’t tell her he was going to be gone for so long after the battle had ended.  

Rezyl sighed softly and knelt down on one knee in front of her.  He took the small screwdriver out of her hands and replaced it with his own.  He gently kissed the back of her hand and tilted his head a bit to the side, trying to catch her gaze.  “I’m sorry I’m late,” he apologized quietly, tilting his head again when he saw her lashes flick upwards a bit.  “We were ordered to fall back after they retreated, yes, but we decided to push them back as far as we could.”

“How far did you get?”  Rilea asked, her voice small and choked.

“Five miles.”

He watched her shoulders sink as a sigh left her lips.  He felt relief when she finally met his gaze.  A shaking hand reached up and touched his face as if to make sure he was real.   “I thought you were dead,” she whispered quietly.

“I would never leave you like that,” he assured.  “It takes a lot more than some scavengers to kill me.”

She let out a small laugh, a beautiful sound that filled his heart.  “Yes, I suppose that’s true.  You’re too stubborn to die.”

Now he was laughing.  “I thought you were the stubborn one.”  He reached up and brushed the hair off her face.  Her hair was getting longer, but it gave him more reason to touch her and brush her hair out of her eyes.  “Let’s go home, paramour.”

As she stood by his side and they walked home, Rezyl’s Ghost appeared on his shoulder.  “Lord Radegast is dealing with the Consensus for you two disobeying orders.  He said to let him worry about it.”  His Ghost swirled around Rilea’s head and she laughed.

“Why?  Does he know?  About us?”

“I think he suspects,”  Rezyl admitted.  “But he’s not the kind of man to ask too many questions.”  He noticed that his love’s eyes were on his Ghost, mystified and marveling at the small AI.  He gently reached down and grabbed the back of her hand, and flipped it palm up.  His Ghost settled in her palm and she froze, eyes wide as she looked up at him.  He tilted his head a bit with a smile.  “I trust you,” he murmured.  “I call him Amit.  I always just call him Ghost around other people, but you can be trusted with his name.”

Rilea held the Ghost in her hands carefully, like if she held too tight he would crumble.  “Amit…” she mumbled softly, her eyes softening as her lips curled in a gentle smile.  He floated up to her eye level with a twirl.  Her smile grew brighter and she gently kissed the top of his shell.  Rezyl laughed as Amit made a series of beeps and chirps in embarrassment, seeming to forget about his words.  

When they stood on their doorstep, night had fallen and covered the City in darkness, the only light coming from street lamps and from lit windows.  Rilea walked inside without hesitation, but Rezyl lingered for a beat, his eyes on Luna, his hand a tight grip around the railing.

“Rezyl?”  Rilea’s voice cut through his train of thought and he immediately relaxed his posture as he looked over at her.  Her face was written with concern as she stepped back out onto the steps.  She gently placed a hand on his arm.  “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah…”  He hummed with a small tilt of his head as he reached over and placed his hand on top of hers.  “Everything’s fine.  Now get you pretty little butt inside, it’s getting cold at night and you—” he reached over and gently pulled on the collar of her thin shirt “—are not dressed for it.”

Her cheeks flushed and she looked at him with raised brows, softly biting on her bottom lip through a grin.  Fuck, he cursed to himself as his thoughts started to turn darker, greedier.  She’s doing it again. 

“Fine,” she purred.  “I’ll go back inside...”  She reached over and brushed her hand over the fur in his collar “...but only if you come with me and get all this armor off.”

Now Rezyl was giving her an eager smile as he quickly picked her up by her waist and pulled her against his chest.  Her legs swung around his hips as a gleeful laugh left her lips.  He pushed the door open with his foot and chuckled as he pressed his face into her neck.

“Is that supposed to be a threat, paramour?”  He asked as he shut the door behind them.

Tag List : @mail-me-a-snail 

a/n:  Not gonna lie, I had a little too much fun writing this one 

[growingstronglikeahighgardenrose]

A Fiery Wish

ASOIAF AU fic: A Fiery Wish

Jeyne Poole runs into the Brotherwood Without Banners on her way to the Boltons. Taking a leap of faith, she begs them for help upon seeing who she had once considered to be the most handsome man she’d ever seen: Beric Dondarrion. She is helped, but there’s a price to kindness. However, it’s one she’s willing to pay. 

Beric Dondarrion x Jeyne Poole

For @asoiafrarepairs​ “A weekend in the Stormlands”

Just like all girls with big dreams, Jeyne Poole had been told to be careful what she wished for.

Yet, having been raised on the same steady diet of fairy tales and courtly lessons as Sansa Stark, even though Jeyne was only a steward’s daughter, she couldn’t help but dream about a romantic future with a dashing lord.

But now, standing in front of a ditchfire some distance removed from a gnarled old Weirwood tree, Jeyne belatedly understood the lesson they had tried to instil upon her.

‘Now comes Jeyne of House Poole, a woman grown and flowered, of noble blood and birth.’

There was no one to give her away. But it was preferable to being given away by one of the guards Lord Baelish had sent with her, their deaths were the best wedding gift she could have hoped for in this bleak new world.

Poor papa, she mourned, I had always expected you to give me away and have a first dance with me on my wedding day. She comforted herself with the knowledge that her mama and papa would not want to witness this moment anyway.

‘Who comes forth to claim this woman?’ the red priest in the faded red robes asked.

‘I do, Lord Beric of House Dondarrion.’ She could see him coming to stand next to her from her peripheral vision. In the dark he was even more of a ghost, his whole body swallowed by the faded and torn black cloak with stars. The stars gleamed ever so slightly in the light of the fire.

Once upon a time, nothing would have delighted her more than to marry him. She’d professed her fiery desire to Sansa.

But that had been in summer, it was autumn now.

 x.X.x

Life was like the songs, Jeyne thought.

For a lovely couple of months, she’d been nothing short of happy. True, she was sad to miss Robb’s lovely face and gorgeous curls gleaming a dark red in the sunlight. But then in King’s Landing she’d gotten proper replacement in the form of Beric Dondarrion. Taller and older than Robb, and with hair an even brighter shade of red. In the sunlight, it reminded her of a flaming fire, and her girlish passions were quickly shifted towards the Lord of Blackhaven.

Now there was a real man awakening all kinds of female feelings within her.

‘Oh Jeyne he is handsome for sure, but I heard he is betrothed to Lady Dayne since a couple of years. Is there no unattached squire you would consider, or someone who’s part of an entourage?’ Sansa had asked her with all hesitancy and gentleness becoming of sweet friend. Jeyne had known the true meaning of her words though.

Yes, Beric Dondarrion was betrothed to another, but Sansa meant that Jeyne had set her sights too high. She didn’t mind though, she was young and in an exciting capitol she’d never even dreamed of visiting, she was fine with just dreaming about him.

The pink bubble of childhood had shattered with the prick of a needle, or rather a sword, a sword to Lord Eddard’s neck and another one in her father’s belly.

Life was not like a song, in the songs, the heroes win.

She’d paid dearly for those summer months and her own naivety with the blood of her father and her own dignity as Lord Baelish sent her to a brothel once all northernmen had been slaughtered. She saw things she never had expected to see. And did things she never wanted to do. Her cheeks had been stained with tears as she did them, but she had done them, until she did them well enough that Lord Baelish decided her education was complete. Her education was complete, but she felt dirty.

She didn’t feel like one of the princesses in the songs anymore. They had been good and pure and sweet. She was ruined, wary and weary.

He assigned her two men to return her to Winterfell. Sometimes she played the part of their sister, sometimes one’s wife, and sometimes their child. She didn’t look forward to returning home, news travelled fast on the Kingsroad. She’d heard about Robb and Catelyn activities in the Riverlands, Arya’s disappearance in Kings Landing and the deaths of the youngest Starks. They’d been no more than small boys when she left, she’d cursed Theon when she first heard about it. Sansa had never trusted them since Catelyn had never trusted him, and she in turn had never trusted the youth either.

She’d spent days thinking of ways to kill him, she’d seen enough death to know a couple of ways. She couldn’t even bemoan the loss of her sweetness and innocence, she’d lost it all so rapidly, and instead had come hate, fear and resignation. What home would she return to? There was none, she reasoned. She doubted Lord Baelish was bringing her home for her own sake, she hadn’t a lot of experience or knowledge, but she knew this much. There was only one reason why she’d been taught the things she was in a brothel before being sent to Lord Bolton. Baelish had a plan for her, and it didn’t include growing older until the war was over and her kin found a match for her.

Jeyne liked to believe she was no fool, she didn’t deny reality, but on the other hand there was no use to dwell on it, so oftentimes while on the road, she retreated to the realm of dreams, the only place where her life wasn’t miserable. In those dreams she dreamt of being saved on her way to the North by Lord Beric Dondarrion. She’d heard of his attacks on foraging parties in the woods. While on the road, she’d also heard of his deaths. She’d heard he’d been impaled by the Mountain, smashed with a mace, hanged by Ser Lorch, stabbed in the face by the Mountain and killed by Vargo Hoat. Each couple of weeks brought a new story of his death. She reasoned that the stories of his deaths had to be false, otherwise how could someone else claim to have killed him? On the other hand, reports were known to conflict, perhaps there’d been a battle in the woods somewhere, and everyone wanted to take credit for killing the hero who’d so bravely ended so many foraging parties. It didn’t matter to her, in her daydreams she created happy endings for the both of them.

So, on her trip to an uncertain destiny, expecting nothing but misery, she’d been shocked when their group was halted halfway through the woods by a band of criminals. They had to be criminals, she reasoned, they looked poor and dirty. The second they stopped, weapons were drawn by all. Her party was hopelessly outnumbered.

This was her death, she reasoned, she couldn’t even be very surprised or emotional about it.

That had been until a man slowly walked onto the middle of the road, previously hidden in shadows.

She recognized him immediately, even though he looked nothing like she remembered, time had removed every blemish and imperfection he had ever had from her memory, making the present version of him look all the more jarring.

His hair had grown to his shoulders, and the clothes which had without a doubt once looked magnificent were now worn through and stained with blood and dirt. He still wore his black shield and breastplate, though both carried holes.

How could they have holes of that size when he was standing there? Nothing could have pierced them without injuring him. He must have grown a lot better at fighting, if he managed to be attacked in such ways and walk away alive.

He had never been a broad man by any means, but was now a scarecrow. He must have been hungry often, she thought as he came to a standstill.

‘Have no fear, good people, we shall not harm you, we only seek money for our cause. Surely, you have some to spare. I swear it will go to food for the poor smallfolk, and the orphans we are housing’, he announced good-naturedly.

There was no recognition in his eye. The other was covered by dirty cloth. She remembered a story of how the Mountain had pierced it.

So that had been true, she noted. Upon consideration, did not the hole in his breastplate resemble the damage a lance would have made? He had fought the Mountain, but he’d survived. Jeyne remembered how he’d been unhorsed twice at the Tourney. A man who was unhorsed that easily would be knocked out by the Mountain in a minute.

He must have learned a lot while on the road, she mused. Before he had been but a young untried youth, experience had aged him, but the time had brought him experience and skill if he could now hold himself against the Mountain.

He might not remember me, but surely if he still defends the smallfolk and helps orphans, he will help me as well, she reasoned.

That minute she decided placing her fate in his hands was preferable to continuing her way to Winterfell. Perhaps she risked dying, but there were no guarantees awaiting her at Winterfell either.

‘Lord Beric’, she brought out. ‘I am pleased to see you alive, my lord.’

Confusion clouded his face, and she could feel her guards tensing. She had chosen wrong, but she could not go back now. She had chosen her fate.

‘Who speaks?’ asked a low voice before a man joined Lord Beric. He was skinnier than she remembered, and now had a thick grey beard, but he too wore some clothes she remembered.

‘Ser Thoros’, she greeted.

‘I remember your face,’ he admitted, a shine coming into his eyes, ‘but I cannot recall where I met you’, the red priest answered honestly.

‘My name is Jeyne Poole, I was in Kings Landing together with Lord Stark and his daughters.’

‘And finally on your way home. Kings Landing has turned traitorous, no doubt you will be glad to go home. Although, your entourage looks rather small, were the Northerners not with more?’

The men accompanying her could not hide the absence of Northern banners, and the lack of people could not be explained either. She knew he had already concluded something was up.

‘Actually, Ser, this is all that’s left of us. It is only me, the others, including my father, were killed. Luckily Lord Baelish was so kind as to send me back home with some of his fine men. Since I am their prisoner I cannot decide about giving you money, but perhaps if you ask them, they would not mind giving you some.’

The situation turned quickly. She could feel the press of a blade against her throat. The men closest to the carriage froze.

‘Let us go, or we will kill her’, her guard threatened.

They wouldn’t, she knew, because if they did not deliver her to the Boltons, Lord Baelish would see to it that they were adequately punished.

From between the trees, an arrow rushed past, and she could feel the impact through the blade and arms around her, before the grip of the guard slackened. He dropped dead. The other didn’t even have time to draw his sword before he was pulled from the cart by a tall burly man with a yellow cloak. The sickening wet crunch of an axe followed mere seconds after.

‘Thank you, my Lord, you are too kind, you can have as much of the money as you want’, she quickly said.

‘We help those in need, and we do not take kindly to pawns being played by the ruthless schemers of King’s Landing. However, my lady, this now leaves you without protectors while the roads to the North are treasonous’, the once handsome lord said.

‘There’s nothing for me in the North. I only wish to be safe. I cannot expect you to help me, but I would be forever in your debt if someone could bring me to a house loyal to the Starks. I will manage from there onwards, and I will sent money to you if I can.’

‘We are flattered by your kindness, my lady. If you don’t mind, we could take you to the Crossroads Inn to discuss your options.’

Having little choice, Jeyne nodded, and after the arms and clothes of her guards were distributed amongst what she was now introduced to as the Brotherhood without Banners, she followed them hither and was surprised to see it was the Bellringer Inn where she’d stayed on her way to King’s Landing. Just like they’d told, the inn was the home to many orphans who were being looked after by the innkeeper and his family.

Jeyne and Willow Heddle had grown a lot since she last saw them, and were now quite protective of the children. Despite her future being uncertain, she felt at ease for the first time in months during the two hours she spent there talking to the girls and playing with the small children. But then Thoros and Beric had come to her with an unexpected offer.

‘Here is the thing, my lady, you could do us a great service. Though admittedly it is a lot we ask of you. But we see ourselves forced to ask’, Thoros had announced. What followed was the most incredible conversation of Jeyne’s life.

They explained what they had been doing ever since Lord Stark had sent them on that mission about a year ago. They told her how they had been so preoccupied with their task, they had not thought about the future until recently. It had been decided that if possible, Lord Dondarrion had to marry quickly, to no matter which fertile lady of noble birth would be willing, since he was the only male Dondarrion. He had been promised years ago, but he could not go home to marry, and his present lifestyle did not guarantee he would live long enough to father children and continue his line.

Jeyne understood where the conversation was going, and reasoned that by taking his cloak, she would get the protection of his name, and would have a home in Blackhaven.

He was no longer the young dashing knight she’d dreamt of. Time had not been kind to him, but his hair was still red, his eye still blue, his nose straight, his manner dignified and courtly, she could do so much worse.

But as soon as she agreed, strong spirits were called for, and she was instructed to take two glasses with them before the conversation continued. But no spirits could have prepared her for the story that followed, as the red priest explained how children were by no means a certainty, even though that was the whole intention of the marriage.

And that’s when the last devasting blow came: Lord Beric had been mortally wounded five times, but had been revived by a magical kiss of the red priest each time. They did not know how the magic worked, they only knew he kept on coming back, though each time he seemed to lose a bit more of himself.

No wonder he did not recognize me, Jeyne thought, if he cannot even remember his betrothed or his home. She would marry to the corpse of the man who had filled her dreams. She took the third offered drink, and the fourth, before she concluded that it mattered not. Although no one, not even he himself knew how much of a man he still was, he was still more of a man than most.

They were married in a small local sept, and wedding certificates were signed by Jeyne, Lord Beric, the local septon, Ser Thoros and Edric Dayne who served as witnesses. The certificates were decorated with a wax seal Lord Beric had stamped his signet ring onto. Copies were sent to Winterfell, King’s Landing and Blackhaven, and another copy was kept in the sept. All would know the wedding had Dinner place.

Supper was had in the inn, before the party went out into the woods, where they knew there to be a Weirwood tree to honour Jeyne’s gods. While honouring her religion, the couple would partake in the wedding ceremony of the God of Light, as he had saved Lord Beric many times, it was deemed as necessary, lest they anger him.

 x.X.x

‘Lord Beric,’ asked Thoros, ‘will you share your fire with Jeyne, and warm her when the night is dark and full of terrors?’

Jeyne looked to him for a second. In the dark, from the side she was standing on, he still looked normal. He had bathed, and his hair looked soft and glowing. The gauntness of his face was shielded by his beard. The expression in his eye was gentle.

‘I swear it’, he promised with a comforting smile aimed at Jeyne. ‘I swear by the red god’s flames, I shall warm her all her days.’

She bit her lip. She doubted the statement. If he carried on like he had before, he would die again soon. How many deaths would it take him to forget her? After how many deaths would there be nothing to bring back?

‘Lady Jeyne, do you swear to share your fire with Beric, and warm him when the night is dark and full of terrors?’

‘Until his blood is boiling’, she promised, her hands nervously clutching her old cloak. She wondered whether she would have to work hard on making his blood boil to prepare him for their union.

Thoros nodded.

‘Very well. Then come to me and be as one.’

Lord Beric took her hand.

‘Are you ready, my lady?’

He turned to her fully, the scarred side of his face now in plain view, all unevenness highlighted by the unflattering light of the flames. She tried to smile, and strengthened her hold on his hand.

There were fates worse than this.

Side by side they leapt over the ditch.

‘Two went into the flames, one emerges. What fire joins, none may put asunder.’

She took his cloak as the brotherhood cheered. She wondered if their cheers were honest, or if they merely encouraged the awkward newlyweds out of tradition.

They returned from the woods, and were given one of the cosiest and warmest rooms on the third level of the inn. A decanter filled with white wine awaited her as she prepared for bed. She downed a couple of glassed as she recalled her experiences in the brothel.  They would serve her well. Her hands searched through the clothes Lord Baelish had sent with her. She didn’t know whose whore he had intended her to play, but the translucent shifts he’d given her would serve the purpose no matter whose wife she had become.

 x.X.x

  The marcherlord looked awkward as he entered their room. A piece of fabric had been tied around his eye and the pinpricks the mace had left on his head were covered by his hair. She didn’t even see the scar anymore.

‘Welcome, my lord.’

His eyes travelled to her as she sat upon the bed, hands stroking the soft sheets. They weren’t as soft as the ones in King’s Landing, but they were softer than the other ones she’d had on the road.

‘I haven’t slept in a bed for a long while’, he admitted. It sounded sad. She wondered if he could even remember it.

‘Well, I am afraid to inform you that I shall not sleep on the floor to accommodate your habits’, she decided with a smile before standing up to take his hand. It felt warm enough, and this heartened her.

‘Come and try for yourself, my lord. I believe myself to be familiar enough with beds to confidently give this one my seal of approval. It is quite soft, and does not appear to be plagued with fleas.’

He smiled at that, and allowed her to drag him to the bed.

‘I shall trust your judgement, my lady.’

‘Do you… Wish to…’ She didn’t know how to continue, and was struck with fear again.

‘I do not recall whether I’ve done this before.’

‘Perhaps… We could talk first?’ she offered. ‘So we are strangers no more.’

He agreed, and took off his boots before they laid down on the bed together, she sharing stories about what happened after Lord Stark’s death, and he sharing stories about his present life. After some time, she decided it was time to try and push them towards a union.

‘You know, I was quite attracted to you before’, she admitted with no little amount of blushing.

‘Were you?’ he asked in amazement.

She nodded, taking his hands. They were normal hands. She could see a faint scar running over his left, but they were warm and otherwise unmarred.

‘When I first saw you at the Tourney of the Hand, I believed myself to be quite in love with you already.’

‘I was betrothed back then.’

‘As you were hours ago, yet we married.’

He smiled sadly at that.

‘Your betrothal did not make you any less dashing. I heard many ladies whispering about you’, she continued. No man, not even one like him, could be anything but amused by such a notion, and Lord Beric appeared to be impressed that he once held such sway, as he recalled but little.

‘I sound like quite a heartbreaker.’

‘Oh you were,’ she admitted with a smile, ‘and you were quite cocky too. I once heard someone say that when a guard asked you whether you would participate in the tourney, you announced you had come to win it.’

‘Ah, as arrogant as I was handsome once’, he smirked.

She lifted his hands to her chest. Her heart was beating wildly. She shut down her thoughts when they started wondering about the state of his.

‘Oh quite. But you do not strike me as particularly arrogant now’, she complimented.

His eyes wandered to where his hands pressed against her breast. She could feel the air growing charged.

‘Perhaps one of the few, if not the only, upside to what I’ve been through. I’ve not bothered to look in a mirror lately,’ he confessed before pulling back his hands, ‘but I think I am still as handsome as I am arrogant. Am I not, my lady?’

‘Jeyne’, she breathed as she pushed herself up to her knees.

‘I know that Joffrey was as beautiful as he was arrogant, and he ordered to have all Northerners killed. I know Ser Loras is handsome but his courtesy is cold and his arrogance is great. Beauty is a great deal less important than character. And if the price of beauty is arrogance, I could live with a little less beauty. Even so, as you said yourself, you do not know what you look like. Perhaps I could tell you, Beric?’ she offered as she pulled him upright.

She would rather sleep with him while he had his clothes on. She didn’t want to see whatever his clothes hid from her after months of fighting and dying. Yet she knew she must disrobe him. And she must seduce him while undressing him, without looking horrified lest she ruin the mood.

You wanted to marry him, now you have him, you’ve even dreamt of this exact moment, she told herself, just pretend he is like you imagined him.

At the sound of his name, he came alive and sat upright. He was as hungry for knowledge about his previous life as he was scared of it. She knew she had to tread carefully.

‘When I first saw you at the Tourney of the hand, your hair was red like fire, with strokes of orange where the sun had lightened it’, she explained as she let her finger slip through his hair to hold a strand in front of his face. ‘it’s still the exact same colour. It was just a bit muted because you hadn’t washed it in so long’, she smiled.

‘Your frame was quite slim, as it is now’, she explained as she undid the belt from which a dagger hung.

‘You’re just a bit slimmer since you’ve lost weight travelling without resting or eating properly. Just like Ser Thoros.’

She unbuttoned his jerkin and pushed it over his shoulders.

‘You didn’t have a beard yet, it’s new, but it suits you. It’s quite befitting of a rugged man saving fair maidens in the woods. Like Ser Robin in the tales of yore’, she encouraged while stroking his beard. She pushed forward and hesitantly brushed her lips against his.

He was unresponsive for a couple of seconds, before he mimicked the movement of her lips. It felt weird and mechanical, but she wouldn’t allow that to stop her.

She moved her hands to his hair, pulling him towards her before she slung a leg over his to straddle him.

‘You’ve got your injuries, but I doubt many men will come out of these wars unscathed.’ She pressed her lips against his throat, rocking her hips slowly.

‘Out on the roads, I dreamt that a courteous knight would come to my rescue.’

‘I doubt I’m much like the knights in those tales.’

‘Are you not? You saved me from an uncertain fate, and you are constantly putting your life on the line for the smallfolk. You rescue children orphaned by war. You are still chivalrous, and you will not even ask for an annulment if we do not accomplish what we set out to do. While everyone out there is fighting for some grand lord, you are defending those who cannot defend themselves, and punishing those who deserve to be punished. They should make a song or two about you’, she complimented him. She meant it too.

‘I’ll let you in on a secret. I dreamt you would come to my rescue.’

His smile faltered as her hands hesitated to lift his tunic.

‘I don’t know how much of a man I still am, Jeyne.’

‘And I don’t know how much of a lady I still am, Lord Baelish stole a large chunk of my innocence. The war stole our lives, but if we lose our hopes, dreams and ourselves, the war will have won. I won’t let the war take who I am on the inside, and I won’t let it steal my dreams, not when it has already taken so much’, she proclaimed full of conviction.

She took his face between her hands, taking in every detail of his face, and committing it to her memory, pushing away all perfect memories. This would have to be her dream. This was the Lord Beric she’d gotten. The old Lord Beric would never have been hers. Her dreams had been broken, she had been broken, it was only fair she allowed him to be a bit broken too.

‘Let us pretend, within the walls of this chamber, our dreams were granted to us, and we both got our happy ending. You can be a man with me, I will always see you as one. I don’t know your betrothed, and I know I am not much, but I promise I shall try and be a good wife to you.’

‘My lady Jeyne… Jeyne, you are not little. You are one of the most beautiful young ladies I have seen that I can remember. You are brave, honest, sweet and true. I know any man would be glad to have you.’

She did not have to pretend so much when she kissed him then. She pressed her body against his, and let her hands roam over his clothes.

She tried to mimic what she’d seen other  women do to men, rocking their bodies against them and getting them roused by the touch of their hands.

Lord Beric finally stopped fighting, and put away his conflicted emotions regarding himself. He tried to answer her touches as well as she could, and she in turn responded to his actions as encouragingly as possible.

She didn’t know when it happened, only that by the time it did, she had grown near desperate, but she finally felt a twitch in his lap. She wasted no time pulling him down and under the covers with her.

She pulled at his final clothing pieces, and shoved her hand down to encourage what had started to grow.

Please, she begged, please work.

She did not know, even if they managed to complete the act, if they could get pregnant. But she tried not to dwell on it. Instead, her imagination tried to envision a small child with blazing red hair and piercing blue eyes. She clung to it, and noted with satisfaction they were close to perhaps finding out if that was a viable dream.

She guided him on top of her then, and gave him an encouraging smile.

He was warm against her, his arms solid. She took all the comfort from it she could. She hadn’t been held in a long time. And no one had been kind to her in a long time either.

Just one child, that’s all I ask for, a son. She prayed to the old gods that her wish was heard.

She tried to put all her feelings into her thrusts, all her wishes for children, her wishes for a loving marriage, her fiery wishes for him.

He’d been brought back to life by fire, and was then given to her, her burning desire answered.

She gasped for breath when she felt his hand travel south.

‘I… I remember’, he rasped. ‘Shouldn’t I?’

A lady shouldn’t answer, yet she did and begged him to continue. She’d never before found her own release, but now felt her belly burning, and she could even feel her own heartbeat down there.

A strangled moan escaped her lips before she could silence it. A wave of heat flowed through her, reaching every fingertip. She could feel her heartbeat throbbing everywhere now, as waves of pleasure wracked through her body.

The candles were dying one by one, and the light was burning low. The only thing she could see was the gleam of copper in his hair, the only thing she could hear the sound of his breathing, and the only thing she could feel was his body. There was no world outside, and for a while, her dream was real and tangible as she placed her hands on his back.

A sharp intake of breath awakened her, and her eyes zoomed in on his face before she felt it, the pulsing sensation between her legs.

It had happened. She’d tried to believe it would happen, but she was surprised all the same.

She wrapped her arms and legs around him, keeping him inside of her.

‘See, we can be normal’, she whispered as unshed tears burned her eyes.

She could feel his lips against his cheek and felt some wetness there, the tears had already escaped.

‘I wish I would forever remember this.’

‘You can,’ she said passionately, ‘you lose memories when you die. You can still fight for the cause while practicing more care… And by staying away from men ten times your size and strength. Please, think of me. Think of me often, and return to me as much as you can, as long as you can.’

‘I’ll try’, he agreed.

 x.X.x

They decided they would not wait to see whether their effort had paid off, and upon Jeyne waking up in the middle of the night and finding her husband awake, they started again, and once more in the morning.

He was slow to rise, as if his body had to remember it was in fact human and belonging to a man, but they managed to rouse his member three times, and successfully reached his climax twice before they left their chamber.

Thoros decided it was a goal well worth a few days, and so Lord Beric remained near the inn for two weeks, with him helping to rebuild houses for the smallfolk and Jeyne trying to teach the children to read and write during the day, and going to their chamber together at night. He was still awkward and stiff, though never anything but gallant. One day the red priest took her apart to enquire after her marriage, when she assured him she was perfectly satisfied, and hopeful, he confided in her that not too long ago, Beric Dondarrion had admitted to being resurrected so many times that he could not even remember his favourite food or the man who knighted him and being weary of it all. Jeyne had seen that weariness many times by then, as if he was still surprised to find himself alive each day, but she saw him smiling more often towards the end of their second week of marriage.

Perhaps he’d been so focussed on living for a goal, he’d forgotten to live for himself, Jeyne thought.

After two weeks, whatever fairy-tale Jeyne had been living in had ended, and goodbyes were in order. She didn’t allow herself to cry, but she presented him with a bouquet of forget-me-nots and an embroidered eye-patch with his coat of arms on it, ‘lest you forget’, she’d smiled. He’d given her a last kiss then, and departed. He made her no promises, and she did not get her hopes up on seeing him again. His lifestyle did not allow him to promise his own survival, and nobody knew how great the red magician’s fire magic was.

She kept herself useful and occupied, so useful she did not even notice the flurry in the courtyard when a couple of men of the brotherhood arrived until Young Jeyne called her. She quickly rushed downstairs with her to receive the news that her husband had bumped into a scrawny young kid and the hound. They would have taken them to a certain cave somewhere in the woods, but Lord Beric had decided to see his wife again, and wondered whether she could verify the identity of the kid. The men had travelled in advance to make sure there were no Lannister men currently residing in the inn before Lord Beric arrived with the Hound and the kid. Satisfied with the negative answer, they left again, and arrived not long after.

The man was the hound, undeniably, and she was shocked to see the “kid” Jack-Be-Lucky had been talking about. Her hair was short and shielded the round youthfulness of her face and the tell-tale grey eyes of House Stark, but one who grew up with her could easily see the girl was Arya Stark. She promptly forgot all the cruelness and hard feelings that had grown naturally between young girls with clashing characters having to live together, and cried out her name, running towards her and throwing her arms around her tiny figure.

She reeked and was so filthy she would need at least two baths before her skin became visible through the layers of caked dirt, but Jeyne’s joy could not and would not be reigned in. Arya, long believed missing, was alive and well.

‘Jeyne?’ Arya peeped, eyes warily taking in the older girl. She nodded with a smile.

‘That settles it then, your claims have been true Clegane’, Lord Beric decided as he dismounted his horse.

‘Told you’, the hound rasped. The look he threw her and Arya made her shiver, but she didn’t budge.

‘I take it you would both like a good meal’, Lord Beric offered.

‘Perhaps a bath first’, Jeyne supplied.

Both new guests sputtered, but begrudgingly agreed in the end.

She noticed Ser Thoros kept his eyes firmly fixed upon her that evening, and right as she was about to go to her rooms, he called for her.

‘Can you do your duty tonight?’ he asked gently.

Her cheeks burned red as she asked why she wouldn’t be able to.

‘Only that it would be natural for you to bleed perhaps, if you haven’t already.’

Jeyne froze and counted. And counted again. She’d had her flow a week before meeting the brotherhood without banners. She should have had them already. Should have had them weeks ago. She battled against the smile fighting its way to her face.

‘I still have to carry it to term, ser. Let us not celebrate. Many pregnancies are lost the first few moons. And I may yet lose my life before the nineth moon rises.’

‘Yet it is a good sign we even got this far, my lady. Perhaps you should tell your lord husband tonight.’

She did, and even though his face lost all symmetry as the wounded side tried to smile along with the good side, she could not but bring herself to feel joy at seeing him. A part of his face still made her fear, but she put those foolish fears aside. She made him swear to return to her, when he told her he would be going to the Twins.

‘No foolishness. No danger, no stupid sacrificing of your own life, understood? I rather want you to run than be slain. Your life is useful. If you run away you can help hundreds of others still, and be there for me.’

Months passed, and the fourth moon after her marriage, she could finally show him the signs of their successful union when he returned to the inn. Their reunion was not joyful though, as he brought the news of Lady Starks and King Robb’s deaths. They told her how they’d fished Lady Stark out of the river, and how Lord Beric had pleaded with Thoros to give her the kiss of life. But the man had refused, saying it had been too long. Beric had been mad with rage then, but gave the Lady the funeral the Tully’s had always given their own.

That had been the night she finally felt bold enough to lift his tunic, though she wished she hadn’t, because she could never have her ignorance back. Three deaths had been visible, although the second was always shielded by his hair and the bruises around his neck had been ignorable. But a lost eye was an average wound, and his thinness she could very well deal with, but the large ugly purple stitches where he’d been impaled by a lance and struck by a blade did look too awful to survive. It had been the starkest evidence that he should not have been alive.

She’d had nightmares that evening, wondering what effect his deaths and magical revivals would have and how it would affect their child.

‘I just… I always try to tell myself that all will be well, if I pray enough… but I can’t. I worry. I worry so much. I worry for you, for me, our child, my family, the world. I don’t know what powers there are in this world, all I know is that I do not underestimate the powers of the lord of light, but I fear. And I can’t help but fear. I dare not make plans, I dare not look at the future. But it’s so hard to live in an eternal present, when there’s a future within you’, she hiccupped as her hands cradled her belly.

‘I cannot promise you anything, nor shall I comfort you when I know all comforting words will be lies. But I promised to be there for you when the night is dark and full of terrors. I’ve seen those terrors, and I understand your fears. But let us pray, let us pray, that there is a merciful god out there’, he told her, cradling her belly with his own hands.

‘Please be safe. I want you to be safe.’

‘I want that too. I want to be in the future this little one is preparing for’, he admitted softly.

The lands became more quiet once the Starks were dead and Edmure Tully had been handed over to the Lannisters. The war seemed to move to the Crownlands. Although the Riverlands were still scorched and ruined, with bandits lurking everywhere, it was preferable to how it used to be. It also meant that her husband, who had died every two to three months before meeting her, had not died in the nine months he’d been with her.

But winter was coming, and a week after the first snow had fallen, she was placed on a boat.

‘I’ve never sailed before’, she admitted to her lord husband, who had been quietly watching her as she saw the shore growing smaller.

‘I can’t remember sailing either’, he admitted.

‘You’ll finally be home again.’

‘An image to attach to the name’, he nodded. ‘Blackhaven.’

‘You will like it, my lord’, Edric Dayne said.

‘It is a beautiful castle.’

‘As long as it proves to be a safe one’, he answered morosely.

Edric Dayne nodded.

‘You could keep it safe?’ Jeyne suggested softly, her gloved hand connecting with the cold one of her husband. He did not mind the cold. Did not even notice it.

‘You know I cannot. I have a duty. To the realm.’

‘No one else appears to have a duty to it’, Jeyne answered bitterly.

Life was not like a song, there were no real heroes, and justice did not win.

She had given up on her girlish fantasies, she now only wished to keep the few small dreams she had alive.

They were not much. She only wished to survive with Lord Beric, and deliver their child safely.

A dream of spring. A season in which all suffering and hardships became a thing of the past.

‘All the more reason for me to return. It is not that I do not care for you, my love. But we are but three, and they are many. It is selfish to only care for the three of us, if I can keep you two safe and take care of hundreds of others at the same time as well.’

He pressed a soft kiss on her cheek, and offered her as much love as he could during their trip.

Kisses, touches, she treasured them all. And wrote everything down in a diary she had started on the day the boat had left the harbour.

She wrote down everything he said and everything he did. All the ways he was damaged, and all the ways he was not. She tried sketching him, not that she was very good.

She knew that he risked dying. She knew the odds of him surviving were almost non-existent, they had been since before they married.

Wedged between the Red Mountains stood a castle with black basalt walls. Around the castle ran a moat. She could not see the bottom of it. It was a black abyss. But as bottomless as the moat appeared to be, so limited was the castle. There were two rows of protective walls, in which the staff of the castle lived, unperturbed by the war.

In the middle stood a small castle, nowhere near as grand or beautiful as the castle of King’s Landing. It also didn’t feel as ancient or look as architecturally stunning as Winterfell. But it was cosy, its rooms warm, even despite the winter cold. The castle had been built to keep all elements out, not only the heat, and all rooms had great hearths.

It felt like a home, she reasoned.

When Beric first entered the room that had once been his, Jeyne had wept in his stead. The sheets were unchanged, only covered up by a white blanket to ward off the dust. On the desk in his solar lay the letters he had left behind, having intended only to stay for the Tourney of the Hand all those years ago.

His clothes were large on him now, but the fresh set of clothes his size and befitting of his station were more than welcome. And the sheets, where they had lain on top of eachother, still held the perfume he’d last worn years ago, he’d recognized it, despite not even knowing he had once worn it.

In the room where he had once dined with his parents hung a portrait of him, and on another a mirror, the starkest reminder of who he had once been, and who he was now.

He had not been born amongst the ashes of the battlefield, he had been borne there, amidst solid stone, and had been raised by good parents.

It did not feel like a home to him, but it did to her. He was reminded of what he had forgotten, she saw what the castle had once been and could be again; a home to a noble family.

On the fifth day, once he had ensured all residents and the surrounding folk he lived, was married and had only received some scars, he left.

Life was like a song, Jeyne reasoned.

The fair maiden was rescued.

Evil lost.

The good side won.

And heroes died bravely while defending those who couldn’t protect themselves.

That’s where the stories ended.

Right after the good part.

Jeyne had the good part. Then came the rest of her life.

Twins with bright red hair.

No coffin to burry her husband, all the dead had been buried.

And the Spring she had wished for, in which her children could grow up safe.

[muffinrecord]

Tips on making your support more attractive to potential followers

Sup nerds! I’ve been wanting to write a list like this for a bit. I’m not going to say that I’m a super expert at getting supports or anything like that, but these are just common mistakes I often see, and hopefully this can help give you a boost! Feel free to offer your own suggestions (or corrections), and I’ll add them here. This is going to be a long post, so I apologize ahead of time.

Important: you don’t need to be a whale to get followers. For example, my alt account that spends no money whatsoever has around 70. You also don’t need the best four stars in the game either. In fact, the most important factor for followers is: memoria slots, and event memoria. But more on that later. 

Tip: What girls to use

Remember that followers are like you, who want girls to help carry them in content. When choosing what girls to use, try to think of what you yourself would prefer.

It goes without saying, but make sure your support list is fully leveled and fully awakened if possible. You’re better off having an empty spot than putting a low level girl there in your support. If your only fire girl is a level 23 Manaka, don’t stick her there. Just leave the spot empty.

A really important factor here are memoria slots. A Tsuruno with three memoria slots is probably going to be better than a Kyoko than one. Memoria is powerful and can vastly upgrade a girl-- more on what memoria to use later.

Speaking of Tsuruno, she and Yachiyo are the best girls possible if you’re not spending money. It’s easy to give them memoria slots, they have doppel challenges that reward you for working on them, and they’re decent units that people will want to use. Hinano is less so, but she’s still a decent pick if you have a good number of memoria slots on her and no other girls to choose from.

With this in mind, keep track of what girls will be getting uncapped in the future. This includes: Homura (Glasses), Felicia, Kaede, Oriko, Asuka, Nanaka, Hitagi (not in the game yet), Iroha, Sana, Tsukasa, Kako, and Meiyui so far.

If you’re still unsure who’s good to use, take a look at guides like this, in particular the four star tier list and the five star one. Online guides aren’t always reliable or updated on time, but they can tell you about how the community feels towards certain girls and what you should be aiming for. Personally, I find the previous guides very helpful.

Lastly, in this vein, do pay attention to how the community views girls. Momoko, despite her charge gorilla status, is actually pretty good and well worth choosing... but community perception of her as a useless Meme Spook will mean people won’t use her often.

Tip: Further tips to maximize the potential of your girls

These tips more apply to if you have multiple girls you could choose from.

Structure your girls according to the events. Ideally, you should be editing your support list once an event. For an event like Cross Connection, where you want to finish the turns as tightly as possible, a blast gorilla is much more favorable than accele. However, for something like Mitama’s Training where you might need to build accele for the challenge modes, accele might beat out blast. For example, I might use Darc instead of Madoka for my light spot during Cross Connection, but Madoka instead of Darc during Mitama’s Training.

A character who specializes in damage is better than tanks in terms of support. This isn’t to say that tanks are bad-- far from it. But when choosing a support, players are going to want the unit that can carry them best... which, sadly, probably isn’t going to be Mito or Kirika. You’re not going to need a tank if a good offensive unit can just kill everything for you instead. So, when choosing girls, try to skip the tanks.

There is one exception to offense > everything else, and that would be Madoka. This segues into my next point-- keep in mind common strategies, such as Double Madoka or Double Mami. If you’re lucky enough to have one of these girls, go ahead and slap them in the support slot. People are going to want to use them regardless. 

Tip: The “All” Spot

The All spot for your support list is the most important factor here. You want to stick your power powerful girl who has the most memoria slots in it. Of course, other factors in choosing a girl include if you have a replacement for whatever element you’re sticking in there, but generally the All spot is where people look to first for event memoria in events. 

Take a look next you can and compare the “All” spot to other ones. You’ll see this is where most of the Darcs and Fates can be found, as opposed to the Light spot. This is because the All spot is where the powerful girls go, so follow suit.

Tip: Event Memoria

Ideally, within the first day you want to slap event memoria on your “All” support. It should be the first thing you do once you get any event memoria at all-- even before you put the event memo on your own girl. To be honest, you don’t even need to put event memoria on anyone but the girl in the All spot.

This is because folks will be looking for event memoria as soon as it starts, and this is probably the fastest and most reliable way of getting people to use your girls. In fact, the most growth for your follower list will be from events.

With that in mind, rolling for more powerful event memo in that event’s gacha will further entice followers to use your girls. Of course, this isn’t always possible. Out of my first one hundred rolls for Suzune (RIP) I didn’t get a single event memo drop. Additionally, the rolls you do on limited banners don’t carry over, so this tip might not be reliable unless you have the stones to spend.

A better tip is to please remember to adjust event memo to events. Don’t keep old, crappy event memoria on a character. This is literally the best tip I can provide for you. Some of the event memoria is good enough to use all year round, but a lot of it can be crap that just holds back your girls. Memoria is the best way to make a good girl better, and it really matters what ones you choose.

What does especially good memoria look like? Well...

Tip: Picking Memoria

Take a look at this memoria tier list, in particular to the “I Made Friends” tier. These are the best memoria in the game, and if you have them, you’ll want to put them on your girls as soon as possible. In general, attack up > damage up.

Use memoria to help shape what a girl will be better at-- Tsuruno is magia-focused, but with some blast up memo she can be as good as a Kyoko. A Mami will MP-building memoria will be excellent for murdering with magia, and a Mami with a focus on AttackUp memoria will just murder with attacks. Try to coordinate the best possible combination for your support.

However, also pick memoria that makes sense for that girl. Momoko should not have a blast-up active memoria and Yachiyo should not have charge-up memoria. Ideally, tanks should have taunt memoria, and squishy girls should not have taunt memoria. 

A real pet peeve of mine is when people have a one-slot girl and put an active memoria on her instead of a passive one. DON’T DO THIS, FOR THE LOVE OF MADOKAMI. Passive Memoria > Active Memoria (the exception is if a piece of event memo is active memoria). Passive memoria isn’t just useful the whole time the girl is active, but it also increases her attack stat along with her HP. Active memoria will increase HP and Defense, but not her attack stat. Please, for the star’s sake, make sure you prioritize passive over active.

Of course, there is another exception to this. Some girls have very good active personal memoria-- this ranges from Madoka, with accele draw, to Nanaka with blast draw. I still think that passive > active, even in this case, but if you have two slots it’s more acceptable to use their personal memoria here. But in general remember that passive >>>>> active.

Another one that I see (that makes me rage against the heavens) is to LEVEL YOUR DAMN MEMORIA. Yeah, you might have IMF but it’s level 1 and your girl’s stats are crap. More powerful memoria equals more powerful girls. Please, do this for not only your followers but also yourself. 

Tip: Advertise yourself!

This is a more obvious way of getting followers, but it can take some work: advertising! This can include: 

- Use the MagiReco discord and advertise yourself (in the appropriate channel). Don’t spam. (Please do not go into the discord and spam. One post is fine. Fifteen in a row is not.) - Advertise yourself in the monthly reddit support thread. The subreddit can be found here. The next monthly thread should be soon! - Advertise how much +bonus you give with your support during events with event memoria through your name! You ever see someone with a name like “Name+4″? This is them saying how much event memo they have. It can be very helpful! - This is the most difficult one, but reach out and connect with people. It can be through reddit or tumblr even-- I’ve made a lot of good friends so far just by asking. And if you swap info and become mutual followers in game, try to prioritize and make sure you use their supports so they can get the daily bonus. Every little bit helps, and we’re all in this together!

Tips: Last Thoughts

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: ideally you should be looking at your lineup once an event. Pay attention to what people are asking for or needing help on. For example, during Kazumi’s event there was a mission where you had to finish three rounds in three turns. This was very difficult, even with a blast gorilla like Kyoko, and many folks were unsure of how to beat it. However, a Nanaka with blast draw or a Kirika with counter could solve the issue. Pay attention to what people are struggling with and try to be the answer to their problem.

The last tip from me will be to try and log on once a day, even if you’re burnt out. You don’t even need to do anything. This is so folks won’t see you as being gone from the game for a week. Since you have a very limited amount of follows, people will be fast to drop you if you’re not on often.

Closing

I hope this all helps! Again, do keep in mind I am not some follower expert. I only have around two hundred myself. But, hopefully these tips and tricks can help make you more useful to potential followers. Feel free to leave comments on your own advice, or criticism of something I’ve said. 

[childofaura]

Man, I hate to make this post because I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to stir shit up or be malicious, I just want an honest and civil conversation. I tried asking someone else to get a convo going, but it never went anywhere. So here it is:

So our last Awakening banner in Fire Emblem Heroes was last year, which means I don’t think we’ll get another one for a while. But when we do, there’s a chance that one of those banners will have Basilio.

Now for those of you who aren’t familiar, when Fire Emblem Awakening came out in 2013, Basilio was played by Patrick Seitz (Endeavor, Dio, Scorpion, Hector, etc). FEH usually tries its best to maintain the same actors from their original roles (barring union issues and such). I’ve been mulling it over since last year but... What do you guys think will happen when Basilio gets added to FEH? Will he reprise his role or is he gonna step down?

Personal opinion, PERSONAL OPINION: I’m always staunchly of the belief that a voice actor can play anyone, regardless of race, sex, age, etc, so long as their voice fits the role and they do a good job. I believe that from ALL angles. I’d usually prefer if casting directors can do their best to cast black actors for black characters, but if they find what they’re looking for in someone else, that’s their right to that decision. However... this case with Basilio and Patrick is a little funky. The defense “Well Patrick is just doing what the voice directors want!” doesn’t really apply here because Patrick WAS the voice director for Awakening from what I remember; I don’t know what the voice acting field looked like in 2013 or if black actor like Imari Williams (Benny and Fuga in Fates) was available during that time, but it does feel weird. Personally I will roll with whatever choice they make.

I genuinely want to know what you guys think will happen, but KEEP IT CIVIL AND THOUGHTFUL PLEASE. If people get too hostile on this post, I will start blocking.

[askharmonia]

Harmonia, Octavo & The Silver Mage Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Here We Are In The Future!

Three months after Cadence returned to her own world, peace has been restored to Hyrule (more or less) and the Music Festival is fast approaching. So of course Harmonia, Octavo and his champions would be helping out in preparation for the festivities! But things take a turn for the weird and cuccos get involved.

‘Here we are in the future. Here we are in the future and it’s bright. Nothing to fear, no one to fight. I can’t believe we’ve come so far. Happily ever after, Here we are!’

 Three months ago, a sorcerer of music named Octavo came to Hyrule. Upon learning of Hyrule’s fall at the hand of Ganon 25 years into the future, he took fate into his own hands. He bewitched the king of Hyrule and tried to steal the Triforce, splitting it into three in the process. He used the Triforce of Power, alongside the Threads of Power, Wisdom and Courage, to enchant his lute, turning it into a magical Golden Lute. With this power, he sealed Hyrule Castle, forced the people of Hyrule to follow a rhythm, summoned an army of monsters, and forced Princess of Hyrule, Zelda, and Hero of Hyrule, Link into a deep slumber. He also placed various Instruments deep within the dungeons of Hyrule to prepare Four Champions who could combat Ganon upon his arrival in the future. But when all seemed lost, two new lights shone in the darkness. Cadence, daughter of a famous treasure hunter, was summoned from another world by the Triforce. Alongside her arrived Dark Princess Harmonia, heiress to the throne of Symphonyxia and Octavo’s childhood friend and sweetheart, who had come searching for the sorcerer after being forbidden from seeing him again by her mother, Queen Soloria. The two banded together to awaken Zelda and Link, and with the help of a friendly Deku Scrub named Yves, the five heroes defeated Octavo and his champions before travelling to the future to defeat Ganon, ensuring peace and harmony for the kingdom. After returning Cadence to her world with the power of the now restored Triforce, Octavo, who had been defeated by Ganon prior, approached Link, Zelda and Harmonia. He apologised for his actions, now realising the error of his ways and how he could now see he could have never defeated Ganon alone and promised to make up for his deeds by aiding in the restoration of Hyrule back in the present. Zelda accepted Octavo’s apology and Harmonia offered to assist Octavo in repairing Hyrule. Peace was restored to the kingdom…but not for long. For when one story ends, another begins…

 “Just a little higher, Wizzroboe!”

“*Toot-toot!*”

The sun was shining down on the kingdom of Hyrule. Bunting and banners among other decorations could be found in every corner of the land as the Music Festival quickly approached. Harmonia was being held in the air by Wizzroboe, one of Octavo’s champions, as she hung up bunting outside of Hyrule Castle, “Aaaaand…got it!” Wizzroboe floated back down to the ground and gently set the princess on the ground. “Thanks, buddy!” Harmonia gave Wizzroboe’s feathers a friendly ruffle. Wizzroboe let out a series of happy toots in response.

“ROAR!!! *TING, TING, TING, TING!!!*”

”LOOK OUT! I’M SORRY! GYAH! SLOW DOWN!!!”

Harmonia and Wizzroboe jumped in surprise as they saw a small mouse go scurrying by, followed by Octavo helplessly holding onto Gleeokenspiel as they went bounding after it. “Not again…” Harmonia sighed before letting out a whistle, getting Gleeokenspiel’s attention, as she summoned four rubber balls, “C’mere you four!”

Tail happily banging on the tiles of their back, Gleeokenspiel bounded towards Harmonia before skidding to a halt, causing Octavo to go flying off. Harmonia caught him with relative ease as Gleeokenspiel began playing with the rubber balls, “I always said I’d never let you down, Tavo.”

“Ha-ha.” Octavo rolled his eyes playfully as Harmonia set him down, “How come they always listen to you, but never me? I was the one who created them.”

“With the magic baton I made and gave you.” Harmonia added with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“Touché.”

The two shared a laugh before Harmonia spoke up, “Anyway, I’m finished setting up the decorations here, so wanna take a break?”

“Yes please. I’ve had enough excitement for one day already.” Octavo sighed before turning to Gleeokenspiel, “No causing trouble you four. And keep your heads on! I don’t want to have to go all over Hyrule on a wild Gleeokenspiel chase.”

Gleeokenspiel let out a series of purrs and dings in response as they watched the two Symphonyxians head off.

 ———————————————————————

 “Ah~ Much better!”

Harmonia sighed as she plopped herself down on a log in Hyrule Forest, Octavo following suit. “It’s almost odd being able to walk through here without having to worry about any monsters roaming about.” Octavo smiled, “I’m glad things turned out for the better.”

The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Harmonia piped up, “Huh…?”

“Is something the matter, Harmonia?”

“Do you hear something?”

“No…wait, yes. What is that?”

The two heard fast-paced footsteps coming their way. They turned around to see a figure running towards them. The figure had lavender skin, and dark purple and plum hair. They also wore purple and plum robes with matching shoes and black leggings. The figure came to a brief halt in front of the two musicians with an expression that screamed ‘I messed up! I messed up bad!!!’. Harmonia and Octavo could make out more details of the figure now. The figure was female and had bright sliver eyes with four-pointed-star-shaped pupils, a silver diamond shape on her forehead, pointed ears, and a silver scar over her left eye. She was quite out of breath, but managed to get out, “If anyone asks, we were doing anything EXCEPT angering vicious birds, ok? Ok! Now run!!!” and took off running again.

“What…?”

Before Octavo could finish his sentence, the two heard the sound of angry clucking from where the figure had come from. Harmonia and Octavo’s eyes went wide when they saw what she had been running from.

“CUCCOS!!!”

A flock of extremely agitated cuccos were flocking in their direction. Harmonia and Octavo took off running in the same direction as the mysterious figure before being suddenly pulled into a nearby cave. “Shh!” They heard the voice of the figure hush as the cuccos when flying past. A few moments after the cuccos went by and everything was silent again, the figure burst out laughing. “Hahahaha!!! Oh Goddesses, that was not the result I was expecting!” she laughed, “Note-to-self: Never ‘Mass-Multiply’ a cucco! It will not end well!” The figure turned to Octavo and Harmonia after recovering from her laughing fit, “Sorry you had to be dragged into that! I honestly thought that cucco would’ve liked having more buddies, but I guess I spooked ‘em. You guys aren’t hurt, are you?”

Octavo shook his head, “A little surprised, but not hurt.”

“Ah, good!” she sighed in relief. Harmonia squinted at the figure before her eyes went wide, “Are you…who I think you are?”

“Well, I’m not sure!” she grinned, “I know a bunch of spells, but I’m still working on mind-reading. But hey, I’ll give it a shot! You think…I’m the Silver Mage, right?”

Harmonia gasped in awe, “You are, aren’t you?! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!”

“Am I missing something? Because I’m lost.” Octavo raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Allow me to introduce myself.” The figure smiled, doing a small curtsy,

“I am the Silver Mage of Gemonykai, Krystalite Ginmaho. But you can call me Krys.”

[fire-emblem-supports]

Upcoming banner predictions

None of these are super wildly creative, but I’m going to throw them out anyway lol.

Obviously the banner being announced tonight is the first swimsuit banner, and the one coming on the 9th is the second. I’m sure we’ll get another festival banner in August.

The Awakening kids banner we just got is pretty clearly to go with Naga, so apparently Alm and Duma were the exceptions, not the rule, and they are still releasing Legendaries and Mythicals to go with recent banners.

I doubt the upcoming Legendary hero will be from Awakening since it was a kids banner; we already have Legendary Lucina and I don’t think Legendary Chrom would come with the kids. Plus, we’ve yet to get a Legendary and a Mythical from the same game in close proximity; otherwise, we would have gotten Legendary Micaiah when we got Alm and Alm could have been released closer to Duma.

However, the next time we get a non-special banner will be late July, so I doubt the Legendary will tie to that, either. So, going by that, I would say this Legendary will probably be Fallen Male Corrin, to go with the Fallen banner. We’ve always gotten both genders of Robin and Corrin in fairly close proximity together (Summer Robin/Corrin came with Christmas Robin/New Year’s Corrin, we got Legendary Female Robin right after Fallen Male Robin, and the Adrift Corrins were on the same banner) and he, of course, also goes with Legendary Female Robin.

I’m betting the new heroes banner in late July will be our first Three Houses banner. Banners tend to come somewhere around the 21st, so that puts it within a couple of days of the launch date. It will probably be one of the Byleths and the younger versions of Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude, with the other Byleth being a Grand Hero Battle (alternatively, if Dimitri is as much of a Camus as people have predicted, then both Byleths could be on the banner with him as a Grand Hero Battle). Then July’s Mythical could end up being the Goddess from Three Houses. We’ll probably get a second Three Houses banner with side characters sometime shortly after that (like the Alm’s Army/Celica’s Army Shadows of Valentia banners), so an older Edelgard could be the Legendary then. Possibly as early as August? The festival banner would probably come in between, and although that does go against my earlier statement that they’ve never had a Legendary and a Mythical from the same game in close proximity, it wouldn’t surprise me if they made an exception for this, since it is a brand new game. If it’s not until September/October, then I’m not sure what we’ll get in August because it could be literally any game. Obviously I would hope for Shadows of Valentia (Silque please) or Fates (Rinkah please), but I don’t have anything to go by to actually make a prediction.

I expect they’ll introduce another new special banner for September to come between the festival banner and the Halloween banner. We seem to be set up to get one special banner (with a paralogue) and one new heroes banner (with a new story chapter) a month from now until Book IV -- that puts Chapter 13 of Book III in November, just in time for Book IV to start in December. It’s not the same gap we’ve had in the past, but we’re definitely not getting to the end of Book III by September (that would require them to not release a Festival banner), so this makes the next most sense. I would love to see an autumnal banner with heroes in sweaters, but with how left-field the hot springs and picnic banners were, I have no idea what to expect.

So, to sum up:

June: First swimsuit banner, Legendary Male Corrin

July: Second swimsuit banner, Three Houses lords banner, Three Houses Mythical

August: Festival/dancer banner, Three Houses side characters banner or other new heroes banner, Legendary Edelgard or corresponding Legendary

September: Autumn banner, other new heroes banner or Three Houses side characters banner, corresponding Mythical

October: Halloween banner, other new heroes banner, corresponding Legendary or Legendary Edelgard

[manga-b]

Pokemon x Fire Emblem

So, I had an idea I for a Fire Emblem/Pokemon crossover and wrote out the plot. I'm going to post it here, but we warned, it's a long read!

You and your best friend are practitioners of Poké-Jutsu, the art of fighting side-by-side with your Pokémon in combat. The Insys region is the origin of the of this unusual martial style, and currently they are holding a celebration in honour of 1000 years of unification. You and your partner Pokémon have been invite to demonstrate your skills as part of the festivities.

You and your friend decide to kill time and check out the capital, with your Rotom Phone as your guide. While at the Insys Cultural History Museum, your Rotom tells you of Insys’ tragic history of constant war and conflict, and how the cycle of bloodshed was finally ended five hundred years ago by the King of Insys. However, as you start to leave the Museum, the city suddenly falls chaos all around you, with people and Pokémon turning on and attacking each other, and you are separated from your best friend. As you are about to be attacked by a rampaging Pokémon, time seems to freeze. You hear a mysterious voice in voice in your head, pleading with you to ‘restore the flow of time to it’s true course’. You soon black out.

When you are woken up by your Rotom Phone and partner, you find yourself on a path through a forest. Your best friend is nowhere in sight, and your Rotom tells you there is no phone reception available. You notice some people dressed in old-fashioned clothes nearby and decide to ask them for help, but they seem confused by your Rotom and can’t seem to answer your questions to your satisfaction. Your conversation is interrupted when another strangely dressed fellow comes up asking for help. The group runs off with you following, and you arrive at what looks to be a Medieval village being attacked by bandits. The group mobilizes to stop them, fighting the bandits alongside their own Pokémon. You feel bad just hanging back and doing nothing, so you and your partner join in to help and together you capture the bandit leader. The leader of the group is impressed by your combat skill and invites you to join them, which your Rotom suggests you accept since it’s better than aimlessly wandering the unfamiliar countryside looking for your friend on your own. The leader tells you his name, which your Rotom recognises as being the same as the eldest son of the King of Insys.

You arrive with the group at an old Medieval castle city, at which point your Rotom pulls you aside, having figured the whole thing out – somehow you’ve gone back in time! You have come to Insys as it was 1000 years ago, not long after the King of Insys ended the period of constant war and brought an era of peace to the realm. However, the leader of your group, the King’s son, receives the worrying news that the King has been missing for quite some time. Rotom is confused, as there’s nothing in its files about the King’s disappearance. You are more concerned about the whereabouts of your best friend, however your Rotom reasons that since you were already separated, it’s highly unlikely that your friend has been brought back in time and that you should just focus on trying to find a way back.

As you continue to help the group out, trying to locate the King and a path back to the future, as well as dealing with various problems around Insys, Rotom notices more and more inconsistencies in the historical record. The people of Insys are slowly falling back into fighting amongst each, and many of the enemies you face have Pokémon with them shouldn’t even exist at this point in history. Rotom hits upon the troubling theory that perhaps you aren’t the only time travellers and that someone is deliberately altering history for their own sinister ends. If the King isn’t found soon, Insys may remain trapped in an endless cycle of war, which could very well explain the sudden chaos back in your own time. You remember the voice in your head – is this what they meant by restoring time to its true course? Time and time again you come up against a sinister, mysterious group, whose ground troops are lead by a Masked Knight . Rotom suggests this group may very well be connected to the whole ugly plot. The Masked Knight not only commands a suspiciously familiar partner Pokémon, he is also wielding a sword which looks exactly like the missing King’s. This leads to rumours that the King himself is the one causing the trouble in Insys, as only the Royal bloodline is supposed to be able to wield the sword.

You and your group slowly fight your way closer to the truth. Along the way you are regularly visited by the mysterious voice giving you clues on where to go next. The King’s Son takes the group to a sacred grove to seek the help of its guardian, Celebi, but you are attacked by the Masked Knight and his goons who seek to capture the guardian. During the battle, the Knight is unmasked, and it’s your best friend! They don’t seem to know you, or remember anything about their life from the future. You manage to defeat the army and they retreat, and you can finally speak with Celebi.

Celebi reveals itself to be the source of the mysterious voice that has been guiding you. It explains that your true enemy is indeed someone from the future seeking to manipulate the flow of time, abducting Insys’ King as part of their plan. Celebi brought you to the past so you could use your knowledge of the future to guide the King’s Son to set things right. It explains that your friend has been brainwashed by the enemy and doesn’t remember who he really is. Your friend is a distant descendant of the Royal family of Insys, which is why he was made to wield the King’s sword against the people of Insys when the King proved resistant to mind-control. Celebi tells you that your enemy lives and breathes by the idiom ‘might is right’, and believes that the weak don’t deserve to live. To them, Insys’ era of peace is simply an era of weakness, and a world of constant war is ideal as it favours the strong and eliminates the weak. They even plan to awaken an ancient evil being which they believe will erase all weakness in the world. However, if you can unify the Seven Noble Houses of Insys, it will lead to the creation of a powerful artefact known as the Fire Emblem, which can defeat the evil being.

The King’s Son represents the first House, Beast, so you and the others travel to recruit the other Houses – Fire, Lightning, Water, Wood, Earth and Mind – to join your cause. The enemy tries to exploit animosity between the Houses to sabotage your efforts, but you persevere, managing to recruit all but the Houses of Earth and Mind. The Houses of Earth declare they will not join you if you accept an alliance with the House of Mind, and the House of Earth declares likewise. You are forced to pick one House, and the remaining House allies itself with the enemy.

You learn that the enemy is preparing to summon the Evil Being. Hoping to prevent the summoning outright, you fight your way through hoping to prevent them, but despite your victories in battle, the Evil Being is ultimately summoned. The Evil Being declares it will only obey the strongest, but when the enemy tries to gain control, the Evil Being declares them to be weak, and therefore unworthy, and proceeds to wipe the floor with them. You intervene and rescue your enemies’ sorry ass. Most of the enemy are left despondent at being declared unworthy and refuse to help you in your quest. Your best friend, however, is now free of his mind control, and you have also managed to rescue the King, and both join your army. The Houses of Earth and Mind settle their differences and the one who did not join you previously now join with you as well.

It is a long, hard battle, but with the Seven Houses of Insys united under one banner, the King’s Son can use the Fire Emblem to defeat the Evil Being. The Evil Being acknowledges that the united peoples of Insys are far stronger that it will ever be alone and submits to the King’s Son. So, despite a rather lengthy detour, you have succeeded on your quest to restore history on its correct path, and Celebi can return you to your own time. So, after saying goodbye to your allies, Celebi takes you and the other time travellers back to the present.

In the present, you, your best friend, your partner Pokémon and Phone Rotom are pleased to see Insys’ capitol back to it’s peaceful state. Your enemy however is utterly miserable and puts up no resistance as the Global Police arrive to arrest him for the theft of the Time-Travel technology that allowed him to cause so much trouble in the past. You learn of the changes made to history and the fates of your friends in the past. A street parade begins in celebration of 1000 years of peace in the Insys region, and you and your friends watch the festivities as the end credits role.

Thus ends the story Pokémon Fire Emblem.

What do you guys think?

[jahaanofmenaphos]

Art by the awesome @tommieglenn!

Of Gods and Men Summary:

When the gods returned to Gielinor, their minds were only on one thing: the Stone of Jas, a powerful elder artefact in the hands of Sliske, a devious Mahjarrat who stole it for his own ends and entertainment. He claims to want to incite another god wars, but are his ulterior motives more sinister than that? And can the World Guardian, Jahaan, escape from under Sliske’s shadow?

Read the full work here:

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QUEST 06: FATE OF THE GODS

QUEST SUMMARY:

The gods have returned to Gielinor, but something is preventing the arrival of Zaros. Jahaan is enlisted by Azzanadra to help bring his god back to their world, a task that would send him into the harshities of the Mahjarrat homeworld: Freneskae…

CHAPTER 4: ZAROSIAN REPRISE

When Jahaan materialised back onto firm ground, he was back beside the World Gate, the earthquakes from Mah’s nightmares only a faint tremble this far out. Trying to calm his erratic heartbeat, Jahaan doubled over, clutching his knees and panting with all the built up adrenaline.

Zaros, naturally, did not seem phased at all. “Mah awakens,” was all he said.

“Yeah,” Jahaan replied within gasps. “Shouldn’t we be getting out of here?”

“Not yet. We are safe for now, and I have something I wish to say before I return to Gielinor.”

Due to Zaros’ nature, he didn’t walk. Instead, he hovered, a few inches above the ground, his robes grazing the rocks beneath him. He glided slightly closer to Jahaan, towering over the man by a good two feet. Yet, Jahaan was not scared, and Zaros could sense this. It pleased him.

“When I was inside your mind,” Zaros began, “I could not lie to you, nor could you to me. I saw Sliske’s poison. I wanted to thank you for not letting his corruption influence you.”

Internally, Jahaan winced. “Then by that logic, you also knew I’d decided to hear him out.”

“I did, as is your right,” Zaros confirmed, but there was no hint of anger or disappointment in his monotonous voice. “I did not want to compel your fealty. I wanted to earn your support. While I do not condone Sliske’s insidious words, I am grateful you saw through them. You may come to learn something about me, that I… compel loyalty within others.”

Jahaan crinkled his brow. “Against their will?”

“It is not something I have control of,” Zaros explained, calmly. “It is something bestowed upon me by Mah. I am unable to rid myself of this... ability... but I must live with it. Do not be concerned - it does not affect you, World Guardian.”

Jahaan noted the concern, almost shame, in Zaros’ voice. It was hard to gauge the diety’s emotions - his voice was hardly expressive - but Jahaan could sense it nonetheless. “But it affects your followers?”

“Yes. It is one of the reasons I chose to withdraw from my own empire,” he admitted. “I find the idea of coercing another mind to be... distasteful. But it only affects those in my presence, and the effect dissipates with time. This is how I know that those still loyal to me are truly loyal. They have not been under its effects for many centuries, yet still heed my call. I wished for you to know this from me, so that you could understand it. Now you know this of me, might I ask one question of you?”

Jahaan nodded, so Zaros continued, “You could have left me behind, or wounded me with a light simulacrum. I was dependent on you, and you assisted me with little benefit to yourself. Why?”

Jahaan thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “Because you were genuine. Honest. Your intentions seem honourable. I might not be waving a banner with your emblem on it, but I don’t want to make an enemy out of you either. You convinced me to hear you out. I heard you out. And believe me, I like what you’re saying a lot more than some of the other gods prancing around.”

“Thank you, World Guardian,” Zaros replied, softly. “Come now. I wish to greet my loyal followers.”

When Jahaan emerged back through the World Gate, the site of Gielinor filled him with so much glee and relief that he felt like kissing the ground. The sun, the sun! It was near blinding, but he didn’t want to look away. And the breeze, the cool wind that danced around him, tickling his skin.

The company surrounding the World Gate had doubled since he’d entered; Azzanadra and Sliske remained, the former as eager to see his lord as a child is for the arrival of Christmas. Next to him, two of Zaros’ most formidable followers had joined the Mahjarrat to see Zaros’ return, both of whom Jahaan had the unfortunate pleasure of having dalliances with before, back in Guthix’s cave. The first, a fire enchantress in the service of Zaros by the name of ‘Char’. A dancer, brown-skinned and with hair that undulated like a blanket of fire. The other, a nihil (of which Jahaan had officially had enough of today) by the name of ‘Nex’, a creature that even the gods fear.

“My lord! You are returned!” Azzanadra exclaimed, sounding like he was about to burst into tears of joy. “You are exactly as I remember.”

“We have the World Guardian to thank for that,” Zaros commended. “And I shall reward him in due course. But first, something requires my attention. Sliske.”

Zaros spun around to face Mahjarrat who was hunched over like a silk-draped vulture. Sliske’s smile was thin, his eyes unreadable as he stated, “I am yours to command. Just say the word.”

“No more.”

Sliske blinked. “What did you say?”

Jahaan took a small step backwards, slightly behind Azzanadra, as Zaros repeated, “No. More.”

Sliske cottoned on at this point. “But... no! I... I am loyal! Have I not always been loyal?” to hear Sliske’s wavered tone, a cocktail of hurt and disbelief, baffled Jahaan to no end. It also slightly scared him as, the more Sliske spoke, the angrier he became. “Have I not done everything you've always asked of me? As the empire fell, did I not keep safe those things necessary for your return? Was I not pivotal in the liberation of all those who stand before?” he was practically shouting at this point. “Did I not kill a god for you?! You cannot turn me away! Not now, Zaros, please!”

Jahaan couldn’t keep his eyes off the seething Mahjarrat. Surely Sliske would have known that something like this would occur. His hesitation to allow Zaros’ return was evident enough of that. But his reaction, so volatile, so desperate, to hear him plead… what was his angle? Was this one of his charades, or was he finally showing some raw, genuine emotion?

“Sliske, stop,” was all Zaros replied.

There was a long, drawn out pause while Sliske locked eyes with the deity. Finally, he broke into laughter. A hollow, mirthless ghost of a laugh. That might have been the most terrifying thing of all.

His light, empty chuckle remained as he said, “Very well. I guess I'm not quite the actor I thought. What gave me away?”

Jahaan was still on edge, confused about the tonal shift. There was something not quite right about the way he spoke, his mannerisms. More so than usual, that is.

There was something not quite right, and Jahaan couldn’t put his finger on it.

Zaros did not falter. “You betray yourself... though, in truth, I have never trusted you. And your words of betrayal to the World Guardian cannot be ignored.”

“Betrayal?” Sliske spat the word like it was poison. “They could have just walked away, left you to rot! I was just convincing them to hear you out. It was down to you to convince them of your worth!”

“Whatever your intent, no longer can I turn a blind eye to your disobedience, nor condone your methods.”

“Are you sure it's not just because me killing Guthix puts me beyond your control?” Sliske’s eyes flashed with fire, a hint of smugness lighting the edges.

Zaros exhaled deeply, providing no comment.

The smugness in Sliske’s smile grew, a victory assured. “Fine, don't answer. So, what's next? An intervention? Family counselling? Maybe some trust exercises?”

“Excommunication,” Zaros declared, the word reverberating like a gunshot. “You will have no further association with us. You are on your own.”

Sliske sniffed a lone, humourless laugh. His smile returned, the curve a little crueler and less self-satisfied. “Oh, I've always been alone. But I guess this means you'll have to find someone else to do your dirty work. Your new World Guardian pet, perhaps?”

“Leave us. Never return,” Zaros demanded. Nex and Char looked as if they were fit to burn the forest down with Sliske inside. Azzanadra, for his part, looked just as disappointed as he did furious, the betrayal cutting slightly deeper to him.

“As you command... my lord,” Sliske mocked with a faint bow. He then turned his attention to Jahaan; meeting the Mahjarrat’s fiery gaze made Jahaan want to back away, but he held himself firm. “But don't think this is over, World Guardian. I'm just getting started with you.”

He took a step forward. Azzanadra moved to intercept, but Zaros motioned for him to stand down.

Sliske’s eyes practically burned with yellow fire, staring Jahaan down like a predator. “Where I'm concerned, Zaros' protection of you no longer applies. Between you and me, all bets are off. Be seeing you.”

With that, he teleported away in a flurry of shadows.

Finally, Jahaan released the breath he’d been holding for far too long. To Zaros, he asked, “What did Sliske mean by ‘protection’?”

“You are important,” Zaros simply replied. “You must be kept safe.”

“Well, no offense,” Jahaan began, somewhat tetchily, “But a little more protection would have been nice when Sliske had his hands around my throat last night.”

Azzanadra blinked. “What was that?”

“When you gave him the task of delivering your letter,” Jahaan didn’t want to make eye contact with the Mahjarrat; he was already regretting mentioning the incident, and the memory was making him angry. “It doesn’t matter. Forget I said anything.”

Shaking his head with confusion, Azzanadra started, “I do not understand why he-”

“Azzanadra, it’s okay,” Jahaan interrupted, his tone softer now. “I handled it. It’s fine. Alright?”

Sighing, Azzanadra replied, “If you insist. I apologise for bringing him to you. If it’s any consolation,” he stepped slightly closer to Jahaan, scrunching his face up in a way that Jahaan assumed was his attempt at reassurance, but he didn’t have the features for it. “Sliske’s mood has always changed like the weather. He is angry now, but I don’t believe it will last long. But if he approaches you again, find me. I will deal with him personally.”

Smiling weakly, Jahaan said, “Thanks, Azzanadra.”

Having listened to the conversation mutely, retaining all but adding nothing, Zaros finally spoke up, “Sliske is an unknown quantity, and a dangerous enemy.”

Turning around to face Char, he instructed, “Char, keep an eye on Sliske. It gives me pause that he holds both the Siphon and the Catalyst. I do not want him thinking he can follow in Zamorak's footsteps. He is angry, and may attempt something rash. Inform me if he leads you to the location of either artefact. None of the young gods should have free access to such tools. Especially the Catalyst – the dragonkin cannot grow too strong before we are placed to deal with them.”

“As you command,” Char bowed slowly, fire dancing on her lips. “I am heartened to see you returned.”

After she teleported away, Zaros then turned his attention to Nex. “Nex, I task you with keeping Sliske's little game in check - watch the young gods. Try to contain their destruction as much as possible, but do not get drawn into open conflict. There may come a time that I need you to step in to ensure nothing interferes with my plans.”

“At once, my lord,” Nex hissed, teleporting away in a myriad of black and purple electric pulses.

Next, his attention returned to Azzanadra. “And to Azzanadra, my most loyal servant. Together we must prepare to rouse the elder gods. Zamorak's desperation at the end of the last God Wars scattered this planet's anima mundi, but even that was not enough to wake them - only Guthix.”

Azzanadra hesitated, a brief flash of worry in his eyes. “Y-You wish to create a greater level of destruction?”

“Not greater; more targeted,” Zaros assured, echos in his bellowing yet measured voice. “I require you to seek out Gielinor's own Elder Halls. If disturbed, the elder gods will have no choice but to respond.”

“It will be done, my lord,” Azzanadra vowed, crossing his arms over his chest and whisking himself away.

Finally, Zaros approached Jahaan; silence surrounded the entire landscape, save for the low hum from the World Gate and the brisk breeze fluttering through the trees. “Now has come the time for us to part, World Guardian. Reflect on all you have witnessed this day. Gielinor's reckoning is coming, but there is still time for us to avert it. Until I call on you again, do as you otherwise would, had we not met. Pax tecum.”

With a nod of his head, Jahaan simply replied, “Farewell.”

Zaros left his side, transporting the World Gate away with him, like it was never there at all.

Jahaan was alone once again.

But he wasn’t alone for long…

DISCLAIMER:

As Of Gods and Men is a reimagining, retelling and reworking of the Sixth Age, a LOT of dialogue/characters/plotlines/etc. are pulled right from the game itself, and this belongs to Jagex.

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[elusetta]

singing to the choir

aka the one single time i ever let jey be happy and it isn’t even canon

“You- You really think I look okay?” Jey asked for what had to be the tenth time that day. “Are you sure? You’re not just-”

“For fuck’s sake, you look fine,” her partner growled, adjusting something in her hair.

Jey fell into a puppy-eyed silence, and Jess sighed deeply, looking her in the face. “You look beautiful, okay, Jey? Is that what you want to hear?”

Jey beamed. “Yes.”

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ. You’re a handful, you know that?”

“It’s my wedding day, Jess. I’m supposed to be a handful.” Jey gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror. She hadn’t wanted to go so extensively all-out, but when you came from old money in the South, there was only so much your parents would compromise on. For Jey, those brownie points had been more than spent on the fact that she was getting married to a woman. Pretty much everything else had to conform to her parents in some way or another. That wasn’t to say that she didn’t enjoy it. No, she was used to splendor, and she’d never hoped for more- but honestly? It was all about the woman she’d be meeting down the aisle.

Jey smoothed out the perfect white skirts of her gown- a custom-made designer piece that, according to Jess, made her look like “some kind of fuckin’ princess”, and touched up the makeup on her face for the thousandth time. “When does the ceremony start again?” Jess made a half-irritated, half-amused sound.

“It just feels like it’s forever,” Jey sighed. “We’ve just been through so much, you know? I…” Tears started to well up in her eyes of their own volition. “I just want the rest of my life to start right now. With her.”

“You really like her, huh?” Jess teased.

Jey grinned, wiping away the wetness on her cheeks. “Yeah, Jess. That’s kind of why I asked her to marry me.”

A tap came on the door of the room, the familiar voice of Mary May following not long after. “You ready in there?”

“Sure, if Bride Number One quits crying,” Jess yelled back. “I think she’s got cold feet.” Jey fired a swift punch into Jess’s arm. “Hey!” She turned to the door, still wiping at her face to rid it of any evidence that she had, in fact, been crying. “I’m fine, Mary May. We’ll be right out.”

She shot Jess an accusatory glare before putting the final touch-ups on her makeup and walking out the door.

The church was magnificent, all arching ceilings and Sistine Chapel frescoes, marble floors and Roman pillars with garlands of roses twining up them. Gilded walls, ivory supports, perfect oaken pews; it was all right out of a fairytale, and Jey knew that she looked the part of the princess, her lace train fanning out behind her as she glided down the aisle. The string quartet in the back of the room began a soft, enchanted melody.

(Her mother had taught her how to walk the bridal walk, to look as though she was floating, when she was three years old.)

From the front row, she could hear her father sniffling, and knew that, although she was always composed, her mother was most likely dabbing at her own eyes with a lace handkerchief.

Jey’s eyes fell upon the arch, and the woman underneath it, and her heart stopped in its tracks.

The world converged upon her, upon Faith, upon that focal point of fate and luck and beauty that was here. And hers. Would be hers- would be Jey’s- once this ceremony was over.

In the eyes of the law, that was. In reality, Faith had belonged to Jey since the day she had chosen to join her.

Jey had belonged to Faith for longer than that.

Her dress was floral, as she’d expected it to be. Embroidered roses curled up the sides of the modest, slender skirt, reaching the bottom of the bodice. Faith’s dress was only marginally less luxurious than Jey’s. They had Jey’s mother to thank for that. Admittedly, she hadn’t been entirely open to seeing her only daughter marry another woman at first, but once she’d gotten to know Faith, the idea of preparing two brides at once had awakened some kind of maternal supercharge that had resulted in all of this.

Faith hadn’t minded. If anything, Jey saw some form of vulnerability in her eyes, some closeness to tears, when she watched Jey’s mother make alterations and ask her a thousand questions about what she wanted, what she thought.

After all, the Siren had never really had a mother, had she?

Jey reached the arch, and assumed her place under it, meeting Faith’s eyes with a bright grin. “Hey.”

Faith returned it, her smile only slightly less open than her fiancee’s. “Hey, you.”

“Come here often? What’s your sign?” It was almost like being in a firefight, this thrill.

The priest shushed them, but Jey’s grin only grew.

“Friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness the union of two souls, in the eyes of God, of law, and of the United States of America.” The priest cleared his throat. “I believe you prepared your own vows?”

He gestured to Jey, and she nodded. “I… oh, jeez.” Once again, she felt the prick of tears behind her eyes. “I, uh… I didn’t really think this day would ever come. Faith, during all the crazy, wild adventures that Hope County brought with it, you were the only thing that I dreamed about. Our circumstances weren’t great- not at first, that is- but you put up with me, and when the stars aligned, you came to me. You’re the bravest, most resilient, most beautiful woman that I think I’ve ever met, and… and I…” The tears were coming in earnest now. “I love you. I love you a lot. And I don’t think I can express how happy I am that this is finally happening.”

Faith barely waited for the priest to gesture to her before she started with her own, her smile growing bolder. “I… I know I did a lot of bad things before you came along. My life has been one rejection, after another, after another… I’ve never had a family, I’ve barely even had friends. So when you were willing to forgive me… even despite everything that I’ve done, everything that I’ve been… I can barely even understand it. You gave me hope. You gave me a new life, and… a family unlike anything I could’ve imagined.” Faith’s smile brought a glow to her face. “I love you, Jey. And I can’t wait to be your family.”

“The rings, please,” the priest said.

Jey whistled, and from his position obediently sitting at the door, Boomer picked up the tiny basket where their rings rested, trotting down the aisle to them. He sat perfectly between them, and after Faith and Jey exchanged their rings (had anything ever felt so joyful as this moment?) he sat down at Jey’s side. She sneaked him a scratch behind the ears.

“If anyone has an objection to this couple, or a reason for which they should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

The room was silent, other than the delicate sobs of Jey’s mother, who had apparently broken composure just this once.

“I now pronounce you woman and wife,” the priest announced, stepping slightly back to give the brides more room. “You may kiss the bride!”

Faith was the one who initiated- just as she had all those months ago, in the world of the Bliss- and Jey reciprocated as passionately as she could in front of such a crowd, tangling her hands in Faith’s golden hair.

When the cheers had died down, they broke apart. Jey looked around the crowd.

Jess, in the front row, looking as cheerful as she ever did. Mary May, arms folded, smile fond. Jey’s parents, eyes wrinkled with radiant smiles. John, Faith’s only family outside of- outside of her, Jey realized with a start- smiling through a pained expression, obviously trying to hide tears of his own.

Then Jey looked back, to her wife. Her Faith. The one that she belonged to.

And she smiled more widely, more brilliantly, under banners of white and ceilings of gold, in a moment where her whole life had come to rest, than she ever had before.

[kenzieam]

Surrender to the Call - Chapter Four (Bucky X Lev)

Rating: M (language, violence, mentions of torture and abuse, eventual smut, angst)

Genre: Drama/Angst

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**Potential Triggers, please read with caution**

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Bucky and Shuri work to bring Lev back but, when she wakes up, can she deal with all the bad shit she did as HYDRA’s pawn?

*******************************************************************************************

Shuri glanced up as Bucky entered the room and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. If front of her, frozen and unconscious, was Levi, face twisted in a final rictus of terror, her scar standing out a harsh purple against her pale skin. A large holographic display hovered in the air in front of the princess and she frowned at the intricate web before her, playing with her bottom lip.  

Bucky had awakened not long ago, compelled to check Shuri’s progress even though it twisted an agonizing knife through his heart to see Lev, especially with her ghastly final expression, her plea of ‘please’ still fresh in his ears.  

“Sleep well?” Shuri asked, concentrating on the image of Lev’s mind and consciousness in front of her.

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck. “How long was I out?”

“Almost 2 days.” Shuri flicked a look at him. “You obviously needed the rest.”

There was no use denying it and, even if he did, Shuri was too smart to be fooled, and too good a friend. “It’s been rough.”

Shuri nodded, turning her eyes back to the display. She knew the whole story. 

“It is deeper this time.” Shuri murmured and Bucky moved closer to look. “The tendrils of influence, they’re deeper and stronger. Parts of her brain have been altered, the impulse control centre shrunk, the area of aggression nurtured and grown. I read the full report from Dr. Banner. He believes they used cognitive subversion and I must agree.”

“What does that mean?”

“If I had to guess, she was restrained and made to watch multiple images of violence and depravity, and pumped full of steroids and adrenaline at the same time, essentially rewiring her brain. I’ve read reports of this type of torture, it’s quite effective, and devastating to the subject.”

“Can you fix it?”

Shuri paused. “I don’t know.”

Bucky swallowed hard and moved to turn away to hide his sudden tears but Shuri gently rested her hand on his shoulder. “I will try my best.”

Bucky nodded, not able to speak.  

“Is it possible to obtain records of her treatment?” Shuri asked hesitantly, biting her bottom lip as Bucky turned back to look at her incredulously. “I have no desire to learn the degree of misery Levi suffered, but if I knew exactly how and what they did, I may be more successful at reversing it.”

It made sense but Bucky had no desire to read the reports himself, it would be his final undoing to know the details; the end result was enough to break his heart. “I’ll see if Bruce or the team can get them.”

“They are trying to take down HYDRA now?”

“Yes. When we recovered Lev, the government team managed to grab an agent too. I don’t know what they did to him, but they seem to think his information’s credible.”

“Perhaps,” Shuri offered tentatively. “If this results in HYDRA’s fall, Lev’s capture and corruption will have had some value.”

Bucky wiped at his eyes. “I’d rather have Lev whole and with me, even if it meant HYDRA was still out there.”

Shuri nodded silently. After a moment her hand rested gently on Bucky’s forearm, his skin hot, the muscles beneath rock-hard. “This will take time, go out and clear your head, Lev will need you when she wakes.”

********************************************************************************************* The warm sun on his face was indeed relaxing and, as Bucky leaned back against the rock behind him, he did feel his mind beginning to clear. It hurt, the way your hand will ache if you’ve been gripping something hard for a long time then released it; his very being hurt right now. Bucky hadn’t felt this way in a long time, not since he’d first begun to reawaken and remember, relive the horrors HYDRA put him through and the lives he took.  

Lev would be in similar agony... if she woke up. Shuri didn’t sound very confident

Maybe, even if they were taken down, HYDRA did win after all.  

The tears came hot and sudden, feeling like blood as they streamed down his face. He’d given his entire heart and soul over to Lev, she owned him, she had the power to break him. He should have stayed away, stayed unattached, preserved himself; not fallen so desperately in love; for what was life, except for suffering, at least for Bucky? He should have known this wasn’t his life to have, fate would snatch it away sooner or later.  

For a time, his anguish took hold, and the sun had moved across the sky before he was in control again, slumped back against the rock, weak with exertion and emotion.  

He couldn’t leave. No matter what happened. Even through the worst of his agony, when he could hardly draw breath between sobs, that thought had glowed bright in the back of his mind. Lev needed him, regardless of his pain, regardless of his regrets, Lev needed him to be there when she woke up. His words to Steve came back to him, how he‘d wished Lev were dead to save her from the sorrow and pain that awaited her when she awoke, and he knew he hadn’t truly meant them. He was too selfish, too attached, too fused to Lev to separate. He would help her crawl through her hell, be there for her on the other side because that the only option. It was too painful to leave her.

A fresh ache started low in his abdomen. His body craved release, craved the warmth of Lev against him, the feel of him inside her. Once they’d begun being intimate, they’d never stopped. Both were serum-enhanced and insatiable, it was not unusual for one to take the hand of the other when they were home in the Tower, and tug them quietly to their quarters, ignoring the hooting and laughing of their teammates behind them, the teasing that ‘this is the third time today!’. The first few days after a mission were always shot to hell, neither one emerging from their room except to grab food, then back inside. It made the others roll their eyes and tease Bucky and Lev about their ‘sex den’, but they couldn’t help it; they were addicts, each other’s favourite drug.  

Yet, despite his anxious need, there would be no relief. Taking care of himself in the shower barely took the edge off and, even if he wasn’t completely abhorred at the thought of being with another, his body failed to respond to anyone else but Levi.    

Groaning, Bucky scrubbed his hands over his eyes, then pushed to his feet. He needed to exercise, go for a run, hard and fast, exhaust his body to try and temper his mind, then maybe he’d be strong enough to check on Lev again.  

*******************************************************************************************

Shuri was indeed as good as her word to Steve, and had devoted her entire time to Lev, barely taking time out to rest or eat. She ignored both T’Challa and Bucky when they tried to pull her away, flapping her hand dismissively at them, stubbornly focusing on the display of Lev’s brain. She’d ran infinite scenarios, trying to figure out the best way to untangle HYDRA’s corruption, but so far, every simulation resulted in something vital to Lev’s personality being stripped as well.  

Shuri was getting frustrated. As one of the most brilliant people on the planet, she wasn’t used to being unsuccessful at a task she was putting her full attentions to and that in turn made her even more stubborn.  

At both royal sibling’s urging, Bucky was reclaiming himself, taking time to decompress and relax, reflect and think on everything like he had when Shuri had first helped him, and later when Lev had been brought here as a scared, reflexively violent girl, damaged by HYDRA’s mistakes and left to fade away and die in Siberia.

She’d awakened a woman, able to shrug off those chains and grow into a valuable member of the team. No one else, not even Bucky, could get Steve to laugh the way Lev could, no one else could tease the same delighted grin from Bucky or shut Sam down so effectively that even he enjoyed it.

Bucky missed her. He wanted her back.

There had been nothing but radio silence from the team so far, eight days of nothing. Even Bucky’s relay 0f Shuri’s request had been unanswered, and while this unnerved Bucky, he knew the team was too busy to drop a line. They needed to be successful this time; Bucky, Lev, the whole team couldn’t continue on with the spectre of HYDRA still out there, waiting to swoop in and steal Lev or even him, away again; HYDRA needed to be put down like the rabid dog it was.  

A loud rush in the sky grabbed his attention and Bucky looked up from the rodent family he’d been sitting with. He and Lev had sat out here often before, befriending the gerbil-like critters and the little buggers seemed to have remembered him, tentatively sniffing at his large fingers before allowing him to stroke their tiny backs, scurrying along his legs and up his shoulders to tug at his hair and sniff along his jaw.                                                                        

With a jolt, Bucky recognized the quinjet as it hissed past and he stood, gently disentangling and setting down the little creatures before turning and sprinting back towards the palace. It had to be Steve, returning with word of the mission, hopefully with files that could help Shuri with Lev.  

It was indeed the blond captain, talking with T’Challa when Bucky sprinted up, the sweat gleaming on his skin more from anxiety over what Steve was about to say then from the exertion of the run and stopped short when he saw his friend.  

Steve looked like he’d been put through the ringer. Fading bruises and cuts marred his face and the tense way he held his shoulder spoke to an injury his enhanced body hadn’t yet been able to heal fully. Regardless, upon seeing Bucky, Steve strode towards him and pulled his oldest friend into a crushing bear hug. Pulling away slightly, he slapped his hands onto Bucky’s shoulders.  

“We did it.”

Bucky let out a breath he didn’t realized he’d been holding. “HYDRA?”

“All but dead. We cut off the head, Buck. We did it. What’s left is just crumbs.”

Bucky’s heart jolted painfully. This seemed like a dream. “Everyone okay?”

Now Steve’s eyes darkened. “Mostly.”

“Who?”

“Wanda, Sam.... Clint. They’re not dead but Bruce is going to be busy in the medical lab for a while. Tony got busted up pretty bad but his suit took most of the force, he’s walking around like he just got in a car wreck, but at least he’s walking. Nat’s far from 100 % but her, Bruce and Tony are holding down the fort okay.”

“What about the government guys?”

Steve winced. “Not so lucky. What’s left of the teams are being organized to track and kill the last few HYDRA hold-outs.”

“So... it’s really over?”

Steve shrugged, looking exhausted. “I really hope so, but who knows? HYDRA was huge and they lasted so long because they were secret. But we definitely dealt them a critical blow.” He jumped slightly, as if remembering something, and slapped his hands against his chest, resembling a man looking for his missing pack of smokes. Triumphantly, he dug into his front breast pocket and brandished a small thumb drive, holding it out towards the two men. Bucky backed away instinctively, having a pretty good idea what it was.  

T’Challa reached out and accepted it.

“I got your request.” Steve glanced at Bucky before looking back at the King. “That’s what we found regarding Lev. I couldn’t look at it, but Bruce glanced at it and said it all fits his theories.” His voice darkened with grief and sadness.  

Bucky felt his gorge rising and swallowed hard.  

“There’s more.” Steve looked hesitant.

“Just say it, punk.”

“There’s some old files on there. Either we missed them the first time or they weren’t there but....” He took a deep breath. “It looks like Lev wasn’t meant to be your hunter if you went rogue. She was to be your replacement.”

Bucky jerked in shock. What?

“I’m guessing if her cryofreeze hadn’t gone wrong she would have become HYDRA’s new Winter Soldier.”

This was unexpected. Would HYDRA have just left him in cryofreeze to eventually fade away, like Lev? Or would they have released him one last time, just for Lev to track and kill?  

T’Challa spoke up, breaking the gloomy silence. “Come, you must be exhausted, Captain. There is a room ready for you.”  

Steve hesitated, but accepted at Bucky’s slight nod. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

Bucky held out his hand. “I’ll take the drive to Shuri, if you want.”

T’Challa nodded, handing over the drive then turning to Steve, gesturing him to follow.  

Bucky watched them leave, then strode away.

Shuri glanced up from the table she was slumped at and rubbed her eyes. Her expression brightened as her gaze fell on the drive in Bucky’s hand. She yanked a small laptop towards her and held out her hand. Bucky hesitated after giving it to her.  

“Are you staying?” Shuri asked, sounding surprised.

It was morbid, it would be heartbreaking, but Bucky felt compelled to stay and witness at least part of Levi’s torment; she’d lived it, his pain would never compare to hers, it seemed the least he could do. He nodded and Shuri seemed to understand.

The first parts that came up on the screen were written reports and Shuri scanned them quickly, nodding and mumbling to herself, making notes on a small tablet beside her.  

“Just like we speculated, cognitive subversion.” She continued to read and make notes. “I’ve been talking with Dr. Banner and, based on what we were assuming was done, were going to try a direct reversal, in essence, a cognitive affirmation. Show Lev clips of calming, peaceful footage and inject endorphin stimulants, other ‘feel good’ hormones, try to reverse the damage; shrink her overgrown aggression centre, grow the impulse control area again. These reports only confirm that is the best way to try.” Her fingers hovered over the touch pad, a video file had appeared and was waiting to play. After a pause, she tapped the pad.  

A grainy video came up but Bucky had no problem recognizing Lev and his breath hitched in his throat. Lev was twisting in a chair as much as her restraints allowed, the memory suppressor attached to her head. Her devastated, garbled scream came through the speakers and stabbed straight into his heart.    

“Bucky! Buc-” Lev cried, her voice breaking.  

Shuri closed the video, sniffling. A second video came up and her fingers shook slightly as she tapped the pad again.  

Lev was unmoving and blank faced now, secured in perhaps the same chair. Her head was strapped tightly and strange, painful looking devices held her eyes open a la Clockwork Orange. At least four IV lines ran into the crooks of her bruised arms, pumping the steroids and adrenaline into her veins. Her hair had already been shaved, the scar through her eye still bleeding fresh. Screams and bangs sounded over the speakers, light playing over Lev’s cadaverous face. A monotonous voice droned in Russian and Bucky’s fists clenched unconsciously as he listened.  

“What is he saying?” Shuri whispered.

“You belong to HYDRA. Your mind is HYDRA. You are death and pain. You live only to kill and maim...” he broke off with a trembling exhale, fighting to keep his voice steady. “Kill or be killed. No mercy, no pity. You will slaughter all who stand in your way. You are alone, there is no one to save you. You are death, you are death, you are death. And then it just repeats.”  

“Oh, Lev.” Shuri’s voice held near bottomless sorrow. She wiped at her eyes before hitting the pad and pulling the drive free. She tossed it aside with a shudder.    

Bucky took a deep breath, fighting with everything he had to not break down. Shuri’s hand rested briefly on his, then pulled away. She stood suddenly, channeling her horror into action.  

“I will reverse this.” She vowed. Seemingly renewed with fresh energy, she turned away and almost leapt from her chair.  

Bucky watched for a few moments but Shuri was completely focused on her work and he slunk away quietly. He found himself wandering outside again but, rather than returning to the rock formation and gerbil family, he decided to collapse not far from the palace. A convenient rock provided a seat back and for the longest time, Bucky had no energy or drive to do anything. The sun moved across the sky, shadows playing across his face, voices and laughter of Wakandian’s nearby drifted on the wind to his ears, but he stayed motionless, mind churning, trying to chew the newest information about Lev’s treatment into swallowable chunks, but they would never be palatable.  

He was encouraged by Shuri’s newfound confidence, and if there was anyone smart enough on Earth to help Lev, it would be her, but the footage of Lev’s torture played across his mind’s eye on a devastating loop. Eyes forced open, face bleeding, while death and chaos played out in front of her; the disembodied Russian voice, hooking it’s claws deep into her mind.  

No doubt the President will want to see the footage for herself, but it would definitely clear Lev of any guilt for her actions. There was no way she could be held accountable for what she did now. As hard as the footage was to see, and the reports to read, they would guarantee Lev’s clemency.                                    

But, what then?

Shuri reversed the damage, removed HYDRA’s corruption and Levi woke up, then what happened? Lev’s guilt at her actions, involuntary as they were, would still eat away at her. Nearly a thousand people dead, millions more disrupted as their country burned and staggered, how did you recover from that? Bucky would do all he could to help, would love and support her unflinchingly, but how much was too much? Maybe it would be better, for Lev at least, if she simply-

“Buck?”

Bucky startled, muscles creaking and popping after hours of immobility. Steve stood a few feet away, looking tired but still much more refreshed than before. He sat at Bucky’s side with a groan.  

“T’Challa says you’ve been out here for hours.”

Bucky nodded, not looking towards Steve. He cleared his throat. “Shuri and I, we.... reviewed some of that drive you brought.”  

“Bucky, you shouldn’t have-”

“I needed to.” Bucky interrupted, voice strengthening. “Levi lived that; the least I could do was witness it.”

“Was it as bad as we thought?”

“Worse. I don’t know if you can come back from that.”

“Lev can.”

“She’s not bulletproof, punk. She’s only human.”

“And she’s strong, and she has you, and me, and the whole team behind her.”

“Will that be enough?”

“It has to be.” Steve replied quietly. “You’re not the only one who misses her, who wants her back. She’s like a sister to me. Shit, we’re a family, she is my sister.”

Bucky was silent for long moment. “I don’t know, if Shuri removes all that... shit from her mind, what Levi will want. If she’ll stay here for a while, go back to the Tower-”

“Hide out in Bucharest and try to buy plums?” Steve teased gently.

Bucky smirked wryly, reaching over to punch the punk’s shoulder. “Wherever she goes though, I’ll be with her and... if she decides to leave the team, I won’t be staying either.”

Steve nodded silently. In truth, he’d been expecting this. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if Lev just dropped everything and disappeared, started living completely off the grid and away from civilization. The brief image of a small cabin, wood smoke trailing from the chimney and Lev emerging from the front door, holding a tin cup of steaming coffee as the sun glittered through the trees hit him then.  

Whatever Levi decided, she deserved peace and tranquility after all this. And Bucky deserved it too.  

The men went quiet and reflective then, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Steve cleared his throat and broke the silence. “I’ve got to head back. Bruce and Nat need help. I just came to bring the drive and check in.”

Bucky nodded absently, his attention still elsewhere when Steve stood, despite himself reflexively standing as well. Only Steve’s hand slapping his shoulder pulled him fully out of his own head.  

“Get some sleep, jerk.”  

*******************************************************************************************

Shuri’s message had been cautiously optimistic and Bucky’s heart pounded in his chest as he entered the lab. Shuri looked up and smiled widely.

“I was just about to bring her out of freeze. T’Challa’s on his way too.” Even as she spoke, the King entered, Okoye silent at his side.  

“Did it work?” Bucky asked hesitantly, hating the faint quiver in his voice. Shuri had been working non-stop for the last ten days, stopping only to sleep and eat.  

“I’ve removed all traces of HYDRA’s indoctrination and managed to restore Lev’s brain to her pre-corruption state. But... I can’t do anything about how she’ll feel when she wakes up. I’ve just taken away her killer attitude.” Shuri’s confident tone faltered slightly. T’Challa rested his hand on her shoulder.

“You have done well, better than anyone else could. It is up to Levka now.”

Shuri bit her lip, eyes flicking to Bucky’s as her fingers flew over the controls. With a whoosh of air, the cryofreeze was reversed and the containment cylinder retracted.  

Lev blinked, her twisted expression jerking, her teeth clacked together. Her eyes fell closed again and she sagged against the restraints. Bucky leapt towards her, catching her upper arms and T’Challa was there as well when the restraints retracted, helping Bucky catch Lev’s limp body. Okoye watched on high alert as they guided Lev towards the nearby gurney and laid her down. Shuri was there instantly with a thick blanket, pulling it up to Lev’s chin as her teeth started to reflexively chatter with residual cold. The siblings stepped back, giving Bucky some privacy, but Okoye stayed alert and T’Challa was tensed to react as well if Lev woke up swinging, literally or figuratively.  

“Levi?” Bucky murmured, leaning close. His fingertips burned as they stroked along her cheek, jolts shooting up his arm. It had been so long since he’d touched her. “Baby, are you there?”

Her eyelids fluttered, and Bucky caught the faintest whisper from her chapped lips. “Bucky?”

“I’m here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

Her lids fluttered again and Bucky finally got to see her beautiful amethyst eyes, unfocused for a breath before locking on Bucky’s. Gone was the hard, razor’s edge of violence darkening her iris's to bruises, left was confusion and the beginnings of relief.  

“Bucky.” Her voice was stronger and her hands lifted weakly, brushing against his broad shoulders. Bucky wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and she half-crumpled, half-snuggled against him, her body beginning to shudder. Bucky’s body trembled in answer and tears started to course down his cheeks.

“I missed you baby, so much.” He choked. His lips brushed her forehead, groaning at the sensation. Lev whimpered and clawed weakly closer, nuzzling into his throat. Bucky closed his eyes in bliss, a bone-deep peace coiling through him, fuck, he’d missed this, he’d missed her.

“Bucky, I...” Lev stuttered and Bucky felt her go rigid in his arms. “Oh god, Bucky. What have I done?”