#possibly to be named grima

[felikatze]

Grima: One Guy In Two Trenchcoats

Let‘s establish: Is Robin possessed or not? Well, I argue…. no.

There‘s a huge difference between one character being controlled by another with no agency in their actions, and someone struggling against their own conflicting nature. Personally, the latter allows for much more depth on Grima‘s part, instead of „ohhh poor Robin :(„

On that question, Robin certainly believes they‘re the same being. Future Past Robin, that is.

Welcome, to Grima apologism hours, in which i do not repent, and overanalyze how my favorite maggot is Complex, actually.

Fire Emblem Awakening‘s Future Past DLC allows a glimpse into an alternate future destroyed by Grima, one extremely similar but ever so slightly different than the one Lucina hails from.

In the „bad end“ of the DLC, achieved if any of the future children (excluding Lucina) die before defeating Grima in Future Past 3, Grima and Lucina hold an extended conversation that gives us a lot of perspective on Grima.

Wherein before Grima shrouded his vessel in shadow, those shadows have lifted and Lucina comes to slowly recognize Robin. She asks if Robin can be saved somehow if Grima is defeated, and very much believes them to be distinct beings. At this moment of Grima‘s weakness, Robin can „shine through“ and speak their own desires without Grima‘s influence, or so it seems.

Robin disagrees.

Lucina: You‘re human, aren‘t you- a person, like us? Grima is using you to-

Grima: ...I am Grima! There is nothing human about me!

Lucina: …..

Grima: ...I have always been the fell dragon… since the day I was born…

There we have it, right from the horse‘s mouth.

Lucina is convinced she is talking to Robin, and I‘d agree. Compared to Grima‘s usual behaviour, Robin is much calmer, and speaks more rationally. In addition, their text is formatted different. Grima‘s speech is peppered with bold and bright red text to highlight his wrath, whereas Robin‘s speech features many ellipses, likely to punctuate their fading strength.

And yet, the speech associated with Robin „taking back control“ has them directly admit to being the fell dragon. Previously in this scene, Robin also blames themself for the harm brought to the world.

Grima: „… I snuffed out the very Voice of the divine dragon… and I just finished killing the friends you sent for the Gemstones…“

[...]

„Don‘t you hate me? I‘m the cause for all of this.“

Robin takes responsibility in the first person. If they were truly possessed in this instance, they‘d shift the blame to Grima, but they do not.

Even Naga acknowledges that it was the fell dragon that teleported Chrom and Robin from the main game to safety, an action we‘d associate with Robin thwarting Grima‘s control to keep their friends safe.

Go King get that Dissonance!

Naga: „Hm? The fell dragon returned you here… Is everything all right?“

What do I mean by „dissonance“? Well, I‘ve said that Robin admits they and Grima are one being. There are many points where Grima doesn‘t, however. And that‘s like, weird, right. I mean, Future Past Grima does this too, when I‘ve been using Future Past Robin as proof.

I think we all remember the famous “the man who owned this body” line.

But let‘s point out when Grima does this. To taunt others. In Future Past, Grima brings up Robin‘s love for Chrom to enrage Lucina, and in the maingame, it precedes the final battle, too, though more indirectly, as Grima asks Robin to “join them.” It solidifies Grima‘s appearance as the big bad who must be killed, all typical FE antagonist trash talk, really. Gets you rearing to kill this guy!

Which might be the point.

It‘s an oddity that Grima wants Robin to be remembered fondly. And it‘s a recurring one. Remember how Grima will differentiate between themself and Robin, but Robin won‘t?

On the final map, Grima offers Robin the chance to give themself up in exchange for the Shepherd‘s lives. No matter what you choose, battle commences regardless.

But….

If Robin refuses Grima:

Robin: Do you think me a fool? You'll kill them anyway!

Grima: ...Well, of COURSE I would. I only thought you might want to leave your comrades with a heroic, selfless image. ...But so be it. Leave them with the final memory that you were their undoing!

And if Robin accepts Grima:

Robin: First, let my friends go... You promised to spare them.

Grima: Oh come now, we both knew that was never going to happen... But I am not altogether cruel... I did spare you the pain of damning them openly.

Robin: You…

Grima: In truth, I simply don't understand why you care so deeply for the creatures... No matter. Your soul is mine now; you cannot escape. Your mind will descend into the shadow of my own!

„I only thought you might want to leave your comrades with a heroic, selfless image.“ Grima is offering for Robin to martyr themself, and for Grima to be the undisputed villain of this story. It‘s the same thing that happened with Morgan. Morgan doesn‘t remember Grima, only the kind and caring Robin.

This leads me to believe that Grima‘s theatrics, the whole „I am the breath of ruin and the wings of despair“-spiel, is a mask.

In Future Past, Grima knows they need to die. Future Past Grima basically admits to being suicidal. Just look at the bad ending!

Grima: ...Don't you hate me? ...I'm the cause of all of this... ...If it weren't for me, you would never have had to take up the sword... ...You and your loved ones would be living in peace... ...I am to blame for everything... ...You must destroy me, Lucina…

And furthermore… in the Future Past 3 good ending, before Lucina strikes the final blow, Grima turns into a green unit.

For just a second. And then they‘re dead.

Grima: ...At last...I can rest... ...No one else...will suffer... ...because of me... ...Thank...you... ...I hope your lives are...filled... ...with...joy... ...... ...... ...Morgan...please forgive me... ...I put you through...so...much... ...... ......

Grima, Robin, desperately wishes they weren‘t Grima. That Robin is all there was. They wish so badly that they could just stay with the Shepherds, with the people they love. And they love so much. They still love Chrom, they still love Morgan, but Grima needs to die for the world to be saved.

But if Grima makes themself into a big bad villain with no redeeming qualities, if Grima taunts and riles up, then maybe everyone will forget that they‘re Robin, too. And everyone can remember Robin fondly. Robin is the human part of Grima, and who they wish to be.

What does it mean for Grima to follow Lucina back in time? It's as Naga said; only Grima's own power can end him for good. If Robin never awakened, Grima's power would remain in the world, sealed inside the Dragon's Table for eternity, or perhaps, until another reincarnation of Grima came along. Instead, Grima takes that power onto himself (so Robin does not, cannot),with just enough left to end it all. Grima knows that he must die.

There are some very notable moments when Grima does call himself and Robin one. However, these moments have something in common; Grima is talking to Robin.

In Invisble Ties, this is most evident. 

???: I told you. I'm Robin. The Robin that murdered you and became the fell dragon, Grima. When this "Marth" of yours decided to come back in time...I came with her.

Grima is Robin, burdened by fate, weighed down by grief and madness and a lifetime of horrible choices.

Robin has become his own murderer. To be dead is better than to be Grima.

[torchwood-99]

Elboron's Birth

Elboron is the only named child of Eowyn and Faramir, and because of that I tend to headcanon him as their only child.

I imagine Eowyn struggling a great deal with pregnancy. The limitations on her body and the hormones puts a great strain on her mental health.

Eowyn actually has a subconcious terror of death in childbirth, because as part of Wormtongue's grooming, he planted ideas and suggestions in Eowyn's head of her family being told they must choose between saving her or saving the child, and for the sake of the bloodline, they choose to save the child.

She's actually had nightmares of this exact scenario, planted there by Grima, that she doesn't recall fully in the day, but leave her with a lingering dread and distrust of those around her during her pregnancy.

Faramir would never allow such a thing (nor would Eomer or anyone else), and the standard practise in Gondor is always save the mother first, but the unspoken terror that Eowyn can't quite articulate takes its toll on her and her relationships.

Elboron's birth is difficult, with Eowyn nearly dying at one poin. She is told that it is unlikely she will ever have another child, and Eowyn thinks she's a bad person for being relieved.

Eowyn's recovery takes a long time, and she is stuck on bed rest for weeks. Even once she's allowed out of bed, her strength has diminished and it takes a long time building it back up.

She hates how even now her body still isn't her own, and finds it difficult to bond with Elboron immediately, whereas Faramir takes to fatherhood right away. This causes Eowyn a great deal of shame and further unhappiness.

Theoretically she knows Elboron is her son, and that she loves him, but she doesn't feel it. Her feelings towards motherhood are dominated by her experiences with pregnancy and childbirth, and her shame that she cannot feel an instant affection for her son.

She ends up resenting Elboron because she liked it being Faramir & Eowyn as a unit, and now suddenly there's this child taking up time and attention. And because she can't bond with him like Faramir does, she feels excluded in her own family, a sensation she's very vulnerable to.

Eomer arrives at Emyn Arnen shortly before or after the birth, and adores his new sister-son. This doesn't help, and Eowyn feels herself supplanted not only in Faramir's heart but also in Eomer's. Once more, her male kin folk have created a unit and shut her out.

Everyone is delighted with the Steward's new son and heir, and great celebrations are held, while Eowyn can barely get out of bed. More and more she feels like a vessel for the Prince of Ithilien's heirs, who can be forgotten and discarded now that she has fulfilled her purpose.

Eowyn's family can tell she is struggling. They try to cheer her up by assuring her that she will be out of bed soon, and by talking about how wonderful Elboron is. This is rather the opposite of what Eowyn needs to hear, but she can't possibly say such a thing, because what sort of mother doesn't want to talk about her own son? What sort of mother doesn't allow her whole existence to revolve around her son?

(What sort of mother regrets becoming a mother at all?)

Eowyn is slightly comforted when she tells the midwife a little of what she is feeling, who tells Eowyn that many, many mothers struggle to bond with their child right away, and that Eowyn's exhaustion and unhappiness is very common after the travails of childbirth. This eases some of Eowyn's shame, and she's able to confide in Faramir and Eomer a little more, allowing them to help her feel not quite so neglected.

Faramir is somewhat concerned at Eowyn admitting her own lack of interest in their child, remembering his own strained relationship with his father, but he abides by the midwife's instructions to allow Eowyn to bond with their child in her own time.

Once Eowyn has recovered her strength enough for her to start going about her former duties and interests, herblore, settling law and land disputes, training horses, and she is reminded of who she is beyond Elboron's mother, once she is treated as someone other than Elboron's mother, she starts to recover her own sense of self.

Eowyn and Faramir's duties have the pair working together and mixing together away from the nursery, allowing Eowyn to feel like they are a partnership again.

As Elboron grows more active and starts forming more of a personality, Eowyn takes a greater interest in him, and finds it easier to grow close to him. He's a very bold, curious child, which Eowyn finds enchanting.

According to customs of the Mark, Eowyn has him riding with her before he can even walk. Riding with him in a satchel across her chest is the first time Eowyn is really struck with that fierce, maternal love everyone had promised her. Before that moment, Elboron seemed more like a vaguely sweet and amusing child who now lived in her house. Now he felt like her son.

Eowyn is able to form her own bond with Elboron, as well as entering into a family unit with Elboron and Faramir, and retaining a partnership with Faramir, and an identity of her own through her work and her passions.

The first time Eowyn joins an orc hunt and returns with an orc head on her spear is really bloody cathartic, for sure, and she returns laughing, feeling completely herself at last.

As Elboron grows, Faramir is the more present of the two parents. His emotional intelligence and innate gentleness means he is ideal for working out the needs of a child, and in time, a young man. He takes a more active hand in arranging Elboron's upbringing, and most of the decisions made for Elboron are made by Faramir.

Eowyn is happy to let Faramir take a lead in Elboron's upbringing, but when she insists on something, or feels strongly about some decision or other, they work it out like equals. Eowyn is also very pro-active in passing down the customs of her homeland to Elboron, and Elboron grows up with a very strong sense of his identity as a child of the Mark, as well as of Gondor.

If Faramir is the parent Elboron goes to, or is sent to, when he needs to talk, then Eowyn is the one he goes to when he needs not to talk.

Sometimes if Elboron is angry, or throwing a tantrum or frustrated about something, and Faramir is struggling to talk him through it, Eowyn will say "right, stables" or "you're coming to the stillroom", and she will set him some simply, physical task, such as cleaning tack, watering plants, cleaning potion flasks or weeding a flower bed. She will work beside him, but at a distance, and give him the chance to cool off.

Eowyn knows this works because this is what Theodred did when she got into a state as a child.

Eowyn is also the one who will burst into Elboron's schoolroom and declare that he is riding with her today, or assisting her in some official business regarding the villagers, or checking out some plants growing in the forests. They always justify these adventures by telling Faramir what Elboron learned on them.

Faramir does sometimes mourn that they never gave Elboron a younger brother, or that he never had a daughter, whom he would have doted on, but he does not grieve overmuch and mostly takes joy in his family as it is. Eowyn cannot develop feelings for a child that doesn't yet exist and never will, and quite frankly she is relieved that she will never have another child. Pregnancy was a horror, and there's no guarantee she will like her next child as much as she does Elboron.

[onestevetogo]

Lord of the Abridged: Tower Power

Frodo - I miss Gandalf.

Sam - I am a packmule.

Gollum - I have somehow hunted the ring better than nine wraith assassins.

Frodo - I hate this ring.

Gollum - Gimme the ring!

Frodo - I’ll give you the Sting.

Gollum - Oh no.

Frodo - Gollum, lead us to Mordor.

Gollum - That’s a terrible idea.

Sam - That’s a terrible idea.

Frodo - This is a great idea.

Orcs - We’re taking the hobbits to Isengard!

Pippin - I want some nice crispy bacon.

Merry - I am sick.

Orcs - Here’s a homemade family recipe.

Merry - yucky.

Oruk - You’re yucky :(

Oruk - wait…

Oruk - ManFlesh!

Aragorn - They noticed my manflesh.

Gimli - This distance is physically twice for me as it is for everyone else. #DurinsFolkStruggles

Legolas - They’re taking the hobbits to Isengard!

Saruman - Nothing could possibly go wrong with the arrangement I have with my new best friend Sauron.

Sauron - I don’t know who that weird goth dude is but keep him a good ten feet from me.

Orcs - We demand rest!

Oruk - Damn unions.

Orcs - We demand good food!

Oruk - Let them eat cake.

Dave - I want to take a bite of a hobbit! A hobbite!

Oruk - Scum! *killing noises*

Dave - *getting killed noises*

Orcs - We demand Dave!

Oruk - You drive a hard bargain.

Merry - Crawly crawly.

Pippin - Sneaky sneaky.

Dave’s cousin also named Dave - I demand a hobbite!

Rohirrim - We’re a traveling play. Wanna see our act?

Orcs - *Dies*

Oruk - *Dies*

Hobbits - Cliffhanger!

Aragorn - We’ve been running all night.

Legolas - Man, I’d love to see a play.

Rohirrim - We’re a traveling play. Wanna see our act? All it needs is a dead dwarf.

Legolas - How dare you threaten the life of my best buddy in the whole wide world!

Aragorn - …

Rohirrim -…

The horses - …

Gimli -…

Aragorn - Have you seen some orcs? They’re taking the hobbits to Isengard.

Eomer - They’re dead. Dead as hell. If your kids were there, they’re dead too. We can’t tell the difference.

Aragorn - oh shit.

Legolas - oh shit.

Gimli - oh shit.

Witch king - *stubbed toe screeching*

Frodo - Oh no! It’s Mister Stabby!

Gollum - It’s cool. They suck at their jobs.

Witch king - *Screeches elsewhere*

Gollum - Don’t follow the lights.

Frodo - You’re not my mom.

Ghosts - Hey little halfling. Want some candy?

Frodo - I love candy!

Ghosts - Hahaha! It wasn’t candy at all!

Frodo - *Ghostly drowning noises*

Gollum - What did I just say?

Merry - Is Dave still chasing us?

Pippin - DAVE, ARE YOU STILL CHASING US?!?!

Merry - wtf, Pippin?

Dave - I’m still chasing you!

Treebeard - Gimme the hobbits.

Dave - *Roadkill noises*

Treebeard - I’m a tree with a beard! Guess my name!

Merry -…

Pippin - Dave?

Aragorn - Where’s the hobbits?

Gimli - I found a dead orc!

Aragorn - That’s not a hobbits!

Legolas - Ew don’t touch it.

Gandalf - I’m gonna scare the shit out of these three.

Gandalf - *Lightshow*

Aragorn - Holy shit!

Legolas - Holy shit!

Gimli - Holy shit!

Gandalf - Lmao. Let’s go to Rohan.

Theoden - mnmmnbnbmmmm.

Grima - He says he doesn’t like you.

Gandalf - Theoden? More like Theodumb.

Theodumb - bffbmmnm.

Grima - He says your shoes are raggedy and your staff looks like a pleasurable instrument.

Gandalf - wizardwhocantgetlaidsayswhat

Sarumon - What?

Gandalf - Lmao.

Saruman - PAIN!

Gandalf - PAIN!

Saruman - Egad!

Theoden - *Grasps his killing stick* I’m Theodone.

Grima - I’m Theodead.

Sarumon - If he wants pain, I’ll show him some pain.

Grima - How?

Sarumon - I’ve grown several thousand muscular, voracious hunks who will do anything I tell them.

Grima - Good for fighting?

Sarumon - …

Grima - For fighting, right?

Theoden - Let’s go to Helm’s Deep.

Aragorn - Yes, nothing could go wrong.

Gandalf - Deuces.

Gimli - I’ve had like five lines and zero agency in this movie so far.

Legolas - It’s hard being a princess. ✨✨

Aragorn - Hey you’re pretty good with that sword.

Eowyn - I will literally have your child right here in this hallway.

Legolas - :O

Gimli - :O

Sméagol - :O

Sarumon - :O

Morgoth - :O

Eru Illuvitar - :O

Tom Bombadil - :O

That one orc head on a spear - :O

Anyone with half a brain cell - :O

Aragorn - She seems nice.

Gollum - *Having a meltdown*

Gollum.exe has stopped working.

Gollum - Rebooting.

Sméagol - Sméagol.exe.

Sméagol - …

Sméagol - It’s wabbit season.

Orcs - We’re a traveling band! Wanna hear our latest single “Omnom��?

Rohan Soldiers - “Omnom”?

Wargs - Omnomnomnom!

Soldiers - *Fighting*

Eowyn - ManFlesh!

Aragorn - *To orc Uber* I will pay you to throw me off this cliff.

Orc taxi - A dollar’s a dollar!

Aragorn - *Flying king noises*

Sméagol - It’s fish season.

Gondorites - It’s little gremlin season.

Frodo - Hol up. He’s a little weird but he’s aight.

Faramir - I was going to kill you but didn’t. There’s no other information I can offer here that could improve future events.

Sméagol - *Dramatically* I’ve been betrayed!

Faramir - Tell me what I want to know.

Sméagol - Gollum.exe

Merry - Take the hobbits to Isengard!

Treebeard - No.

Merry - Aw man.

Treebeard - What’s this? Deforestation?! HRAGBLAGMIMGONNAKILLTHATLITTLESHIT!

Merry - Yay!

Treebeard - We all might die but that’s okay!

Merry - Y…yay?

Aragorn - *Dramatic Entrance*

Eowyn. - Take me right here.

Aragorn - Orcs.

Theoden - Orcs?!

Gimli - These are Uruk Hai!

Uruk - Uruk hi!

Theoden - So it begins.

It - *beginning*

Gimli - Two already!

Legolas - I’m on seventeen!

Gimli - That’s not fair fighting!

Legolas - :)

Gimli - Fighting, right?

5 days later:

Theoden - This is too much fighting!

Aragorn - Let’s fight some more.

Theoden - Sounds good bestie!

Gandalf - PAIN!

Eomer - PAAAAAAAAAAAIN!

Gandalf - Oh shit.

Orcs - Oh shit.

Treebeard - Orc mush! Mush orc!

Treesbeard - Reverse veganism!

Sarumon - Sauron pick me up I’m scared

Legolas - We’re alive!

Soldiers - We’re alive!

Eowyn - ManFlesh!

Aragorn - *hiding king noises*

Gandalf - That was close.

Frodo - Something just happened.

Faramir - Run little child thing. Be free.

Hobbits - *Scampering off*

Faramir - I feel like there’s something I forgot to do.

Later :

Gollum - I’m gonna murder these hobbits.

Credits

[kthecritter]

my lovely liittle feed deciides to put a post from JULY up on my dash from you so ii thought iit was closed untiill wednesday. iinsert facepalm

could i possibly get a mask objectkiin iidpack and maybe a phone wallpaper? (ii kiin any mask that only shows the eyes, liike thiis one -> https://pin.it/4MwSRuIe3 )

(wallpaper iis optiional iif you just don't feel liike doiing iit)

here you go, I hope you enjoy! yayy, my first official id pack (also sorry I’m super tired so no wallpaper :c)

Names/nicknames

Blank

Mask

Persona

Domino

Blanche/blanch

Thalia

Melpomene

Silhouette

Drama

Veil

Grima

Usernames

TheMaskedShadow

ComedicallyTragic

MaskedByTheVeil

Drama King/Queen/Liege

StageFolk

Muse of Tragedy/Comedy

Vibrant Vizard

MistyMasquerader

TotallyNotAGuise

Pronouns

Mask/mask/masks/masks/maskself

Masque/masque/masques/masques/masqueself

Veil/veil/veils/veils/veilself

Cloak/cloak/cloaks/cloaks/cloakself

Come (pronounced like the first two syllables of comedy)/comedy/comedy/comedies/comedies/comeself

Trage (pronounced like the first two syllables of tragedy)/tragedy/tragedies/tragedies/trageself

Silhou/silhouette/silhouettes/silhouettes/silhouself

Hide/hidden/hiddens/hiddens/hideself

Guise/guise/guises/guides/guiseself

[imustbenuts]

Reading Grima as an Abrahamic god stand-in in the world of Fire Emblem, and how that is filling in gaps in the narrative.

Preface: this is one possible interpretation out of many, and I will be talking about this pov as a person who resides in SEA.

To get to understand this worldview though, some very dry explanations need to be done, but I'll do my best.

First, an overview of Grima.

Grima in FE: Awakening's story functions as a god of annihilation/death. They are worshiped and brought back into the world by the Grimleals, an extremist religious group in Plegia, which is visually middle eastern desert-ish.

Meanwhile, their Japanese name is actually Gimlé, a reference to the Norse mythos of the place where survivors of Ragnarok (an end of the world apocalyptic event where gods duke it out way too hard) are foretold to live. It's a super pretty place, almost heavenly.

So there is some credence here to hint that Grimleals are the extremist sect, and that Grima inherently isn't good or evil, but possibly a death god closer to the likes of Anubis or Hades. This can then explain why Plegians who aren't extremists are said to be pretty chill.

Anyway, moving on, because I need to explain the next bit to really highlight how much he looks like an Abrahamic god to a someone like me.

FE's world is structurally polytheistic. Or, Shinto Buddhist.

On the surface, FE puts forth the idea of polytheism in the form of multiple Dragons, without a singular clear, definite distinction for what threshold exactly qualifies one to be a legit God vs just-a-dragon. In fact, it can be summed up as "this one is powerful enough to do things, and/or because we decided so" by the people.

So, that tracks with the belief system in place in Japan and really, the whole of Asia in general. Polytheism is the norm, rather than mono. In this view, any being which are not human all belong into the classification of supernatural, so the question of how god-like they are matters after they are able to pass a certain threshold of power or worshiping status.

A popularity contest of spirits/gods, if you want to put it that way. In fact, lots of eastern gods irl are like this. Power often doesn't factor into things, since these gods are very closely associated with nature in some form, and their popularity in history is very dependent on events.

In fact, Japan follows Shinto Buddhism, a polytheistic belief. Technically made of 2 parts.

Shinto supplies the idea that Gods (or rather, kamis) in general cannot be perceived, and that they must be loved and nurtured to gain their favor. Disregarding them brings instead disharmony and destruction. Shrines are one such places where the love and nurturing or the disregard can be seen/done. (Thebes labyrinth, anyone? 😉👌)

The other, Buddhism. Also polytheistic due to reframing gods as just other beings trying to break out of the cycle of samsara. Buddha is technically not a god, but a title, and an idol to look to to remember the teachings of how to break out of this cycle, by understanding suffering and how to end it.

In some ways, Naga, the biggest defacto "god" which is treated as the 'proper' God by the narrative, is actually more of a Buddha. Her voice lines in FEH even points to this:

Meanwhile, Libra uses the plural, gods. Frederick's famous crit quote is "Pick a god and pray."

That is what I mean by FE being structurally Shinto Buddhist.

Meanwhile, Abrahamic religion is monotheistic.

Without getting too deep into the details and scholarly debates of it, or even the multiple branches of religion, the singular God in this family does not want his followers to turn their eyes towards other false gods. One is meant to devote themself entirely to this God, follow his teachings and live a life he deems worthy to live with him in the beautiful, heavenly afterlife.

Failure to do so will mean a divine retribution of sorts, but often in the form of eternal damnation.

Another noteworthy bit, Abrahamic religion originated from the place we call the Cradle of Civilization, also known as the Middle East. Which, you know. Deserts.

And now, the pieces of Grima being a Abrahamic god stand-in starts to form. And that then explains a lot of other mundane unexplained bits too.

Basically, Grima is the patron deity of the Plegians, who reside in the harsh desert.

If we assume that normal Plegians are pretty chill despite Grima being associated with straight up annihilation, then a pretty good extrapolation would be that Grima is a watcher type deity of the afterlife for their worship. This type is typically popular as they soothe the anxiety of what happens to a person after death, explaining that there is something else other than pure emptiness, which frankly can kick many people's existential dread into overdrive.

Which, if one really thinks about it, the Abrahamic religion and their God kind of is this.

God watches a human, then judges them for their actions in life when their time is up. In some interpretations afaik, God can also be seen as a 'system' or a 'higher conscious', but the idea of being able to join with him is still the same. This is still the ultimate honor and bliss, ie, heavenly.

But in order to do so, one must wholly devote themself to him. Spread his word. Ignore all other Gods. You know how it goes.

With Grima, this bit manifests in how Grima kills Naga in the Future Past DLC. Even Tiki became a target, who wants to become the next Naga in it. (Which btw this wouldn't make sense unless one treats the word, Naga, as a title, which tracks.)

So. In conclusion.

What I'm trying to say here is that Grima is easily read as a monotheistic, or even a Christian god to many people on this side of the planet. Because there has been precedent in extremism when it comes to religion associated with Abrahamic religion, and this is how it's being expressed through the writers when they create FE.

And yet, because either the world of FE is structurally shinto buddhist, or the writers are, this is the result, and why I have interpreted Grima as this.

There are also elements of that mistreatment of a god narrative going on in FE:A that I think is worth talking about for Grima, too. I'm almost certain that the writers are not saying Grima is inherently evil, in fact, the narrative of good and evil in FE is often easily explained by characters being dreadfully flawed, and even human. And because of how Gods have this piece of humanity in them, it's possible for so many narratives to be the way they are.

And maaaybe why they decided to put Grima in a cat costume for Halloween banner with all the funny lines that comes with them. I think.

And that's about it, really. Ask is always open. Thanks for reading! 🎃🎃

[erenspussy420]

WIP Neige and Alhaitham

So I basically disappeared off the face of the earth on most of my socials. I haven't been the best of mind space in a while and adjusting myself over and over.

writing had to take a back seat for a while, but thank you for your patience.

currently writing out old asks in my inbox, an Ace and Deuce fic, the title name and some personal fanfictions of mine for my oc's.

the Al-haitham one is for a trade between me and a dear friend of mine.

Neige is an old WIP of Two Face Pretty Boy:

In the world of acting, one must always be in character to succeed. That was the first lesson.

No one really knows where Neige has come from. One day he just appeared at the orphanage alone and drowning in a sweater too big for him 

From a poor boy who cleaned homes with his seven brothers, no matter if he was human and they from dwarven blood, he worked himself to the bone washing filthy floor boards and defiling rotting gardens. His clothes were always tattered and drowning him in excess fabrics, and hunger gnawing at his belly. But as long as Grum cheeks were full, where Dominic didn't have to scurry for tape when his old glasses fell apart, or worry where Shelpie fell asleep at— whatever it took, no job was too much for him. 

Ebony hair, skin white as snow and eyes like roasted chestnuts.

The day Florian's Wonder Talent Agency recruited him was the day Neige could finally breathe. Taking him and his brothers to a clean apartment, where the fridge is full and he can sleep easier at night.

Before he gets tossed to the wolves.

"I'm gonna treat you like a whore." The sweet voice mutters. It sends sparks running down your spine as Neige sucks down on your neck , leaving his marks for anyone to see. He’s greedy, he wants everyone to know that you were his. Walking around printed on by his lips, his adoration comes covered under the night. As much as he would love your marks on him in turn, his agency would throw a fit at any blemishes on his skin.

.

.

.

..

.

Taking in the beauty of such a realm, far away from the familiar rolling hills of Sumeru. It's been months now that he found himself here in this strange kingdom. A realm, literal worlds away from home— a land where time has mingled with past, present and future. Where those of the highest of nobles, kings and queens and down to society's lowest orphans, had gathered to fight for something beyond skirmishes of land. Even the gods fight by their sides— something he could only dream of.

Side by side, as if they were equals.

Almost. He clicks his tongue behind his teeth, watching the dragons fly freely into the open skies. The glinting eyes of the dark dragon's wings cut through the thickest of clouds, the faint sunlight catches the amethyst scales that marked several eyes leering at him menacingly. Its body ate the sun briefly. The world went dark when he breathed, the dragon known as Grima, dives under the clouds and the world is painted once more. The great dragon disappears with the younger dragons chasing its tail. They dive beneath the clouds in one swoop. Al-haitham loses sight of them. 

‘A realm of possibilities,’ Al-haitham had thought of it. 

[thedivergingpaths]

Time is Not Linear

Lucina and the other children are split apart further than they could have imagined, but they still do their damnest to make a good timeline.

Lucina and Laurent are the only ones who make it - Laurent is still thrust five years prior to Chrom and Robin finding each other, ans he hides in the desert, and Lucina emerges as Marth with the Risen invasion.

But the pair begin to see traces of their friends in an already altered timeline.

Cynthia was flung far into the past, further than the rise of the Grimleal, but after Grima's released. To the current citizens of Ylisse and surrounding kingdoms, she is a fable.

Oh, she hunted for the dark dragon, to find who he was ensnaring. She never did, but she was remembered fondly through song and story, and she was a tale of hope to sleeping children.

Inigo landed in Valm a couple of decades before Lucina lands in the past. Ylisse has not invaded Plegia - this invasion is still a few years away - and Valm has not yet been re-consolidated under the conqueror Walhart.

Inigo finds his way into Walhart's inner circle, creating a Valm that is strong but not on a tenuous thread of fracturing and being blinded by the Grimleal. Inigo had Walhart's ear - Walhart knows Validar is a threat who is bringing Grima back.

The Grimleal murdered Inigo a couple years before Lucina landed. Laurent is distraught they missed him, because Laurent could have tried to find any others (and gods, his feelings get worse when they discover the fates of other comrades).

But Inigo created a Walhart willing to be an ally to Ylisse, to Chrom and Robin, in the shadow of a coming monster.

But there are more travelers, more children missing. Where have they gone?

Not all were flung far enough into the past to be on the same path as Lucina. Lucina barely made it to the right timeline, because their lives have splintered the coming future.

Owain landed in a peaceful Ylisse, where he is but a baby without dreams of heroism. He takes the name Odin, and bears the burden of prophecy.

The Grimleal start tearing apart the world with Risen and their workings to fully revive Grima, but there is a hero who knows what they want. A hero who will do anything to prevent the dark future.

His story branches on its own. He is alone. He never finds his family and comrades - and they never learn he is the past and the future. Odin is a name remembered forever when the ashes settle and flowers grow again, however.

Yarne is flung far enough back that there are other Taguel, and he has a choice. He could join them, and possibly die when his mother is a sole survivor of a genocide. It could be peaceful for a time. Or he could hide with his head in the sand, away from Taguel and people. This is a crueler time to be a Taguel, after all.

Yarne could also decide to save his people. He could be brave like his friends have encouraged him to be. He could do it - for the honor of Taguel, for his own pride, and to show his mother long gone he can be a brave rabbit boy.

Lucina and Laurent are dancing around Ylisse in preparation to fight Grima, and Valm has sworn to fight the Grimleal on Ylisse’s - Chrom and co’s - side when a small but mighty army appears made entirely of rabbit Taguel. Yarne could not save his mother’s nest, and Panne had believed she was alone in the world, but Yarne emerges a man leading an army of Taguel ready to defend the Exalt with their lives.

Yarne weeps when he sees Laurent and Lucina, and they embrace him. There is still a chance to find their other friends - they can do it together.

They can kill Grima once and for all.

Morgan appears, amnesiac and from another, darker timeline. They join the fight, and Robin begins to plan how to end Grima once and for all. Robin may also be amnesiac, but they know in their bones they are the key to Grima’s awakening and Grima’s slumber. Even if it is just one timeline, one place in the greater universe, Robin could turn the key the other way.

(In secret, Naga confirms Robin’s musings, and they begin to plot behind Chrom’s back when the fire emblem is restored to glory).

When Grima revives with the soul of a future Robin, Lucina thinks the fight is over. When the future Robin releases three thralls to keep the army grounded during Grima’s flight, Lucina knows they have lost.

Kjelle, Gerome, and Severa are bound to Grima now. Chrom and Robin, and a select entourage go to fight Grima. Lucina leads the fight against her thralled friends, even as it breaks her heart.

Severa is the first brought down by Lucina’s sword. There is a moment of lucidity. Lucina had been convincing herself that they were Risen, they were dead and gone.

But they’re not, and Lucina just killed her friend.

“Thank you,” Severa sighs as she dies. Lucina stops in the fight.

What sort of future is worth doing this?

Kjelle is taken down in a pile of Taguel, and Yarne hears her last words. She begs to remembered for her strength, for her mother to know she didn’t choose this. Yarne holds her as she dies as herself.

Gerome goes to strike down Lucina, when Laurent brings him down with wind magic. Bones crack and shatter. Gerome’s body is tangled with Minerva the wyvern’s. His last words are not heard, but his face isn’t twisted in the pain Laurent would have expected for such a violent crash.

It is not peaceful but there is almost a satisfaction there. A release.

Grima falls from the sky. Robin turns to ash on the wind. The Grimleal fall apart.

Chrom, shoulders heavy, leads the world into a new era of light.

Yarne takes his new Taguel family and disappears into the woods. His mother and her human lover follow.

Laurent and Lucina disappear from the public eye, and then the historical records.

Nah reappears generations later to make sure history remembers what they sacrificed to bring down a monster once and for all. And then she disappears again, fading into her own myth.

Brady and Noire never fall out of the time stream. They clasped hands, and they are desperately afraid to let go. It may release them back into existence, or they will be alone in the endless fall.

They fall, and fall, and fall.

--

Check out my previous post, Macedon’s Twist of Fate, if you like these “what if” scenarios

** DO NOT USE AI ON MY WORKS **

[ro-botany]

@levemetal Hope you don't mind my bringing this out to its own post - I saw your tags and wanted to try to help!

So, ripping models is going to be a different process depending on how the game was made; what console it was on, what game engine its built in... There's no one-size-fits-all process, and it's going to require some baseline tech-savvy-ness.

But given that these tags were regarding Grima; I'll tell you more or less how I get models out of Fire Emblem Awakening.

A Ramble-y Overview of Fire Emblem Awakening Model Ripping:

Step 0: Gather your Tools

There's a lot of tools floating around intended to help with 3DS model ripping. Some are very pleasant to use and others are janky, so brace yourself.

For this, you will need:

Citra emulator (for extracting game files)

Paragon (for figuring out where models you want are)

FEAT (for decompressing game files)

SPICA (for exporting models + textures to usable formats)

Blender (for actually working with the models) (or whatever 3d modelling program you like; I only know blender though)

Step 1: Get a ROM of Awakening

Legally obtain one, of course. Assuming you have the game cartridge the 3DS hacking community can help you more with that. Definitely do not download any game roms from any online websites, why, that would be piracy!

Step 2: Extract the Game Files

Open up Citra, add a game directory and tell it where your rom is.

Right click the rom and select "Dump RomFS" to get Citra to start extracting all the game files. This will take a while. Wait for it to be done.

Once its done dumping the files, you're going to want to go to File > Open Citra folder. From there, navigate into "dump", then "romfs", then click the big nonsense folder name - that nonsense is Awakening's game ID, so, this folder is Awakening's game files.

All the models you could ever wish for are in here!!! We just need to actually find them now.

Step 3: Figure out which model(s) you want.

Time to go open up Paragon. This is technically a tool for creating mods of several fire emblem games, but we're not going to mod anything, we're just going to use it to figure out what models belong to which characters.

The github page has instructions on it, but basically you want to open up Paragon and start a new project for FE13. Create some random output folder for it and direct it to that, we don't care. But the "Extracted RomFS Directory" should be the citra folder I just told you how to get to.

Once you have the project open, there will be a lot of buttons and things. Don't worry about all this. The only two you care about right now are "Asset Definitions" and "Presets".

(Ignore the font; I changed paragon's font to awakening's font because i'm a nerd)

Most of the human characters are easiest to find in "Asset Definitions"; some under their english name, others (like Chrom) under their english base class' name.

Grima, though, you can find in "Presets" by searching for "boss".

This entry specifically is the one pertaining to grima's full body model. There's a lot of info here, but the highlighted panel on the right is the information you need; this is telling you the names of the files containing Grima's models and textures!

For human characters, typically the head and body fields will be filled in, and possibly the hair for characters with long hair. some have accessories, some don't.

This complexity is why we use paragon to check instead of checking every single model file manually like fools. (it's me, i'm fools)

Keep this window open for reference at the side for the next step.

Step 4: Go Get the Models

Make a folder somewhere on your computer to keep this character's models.

Then, go back to that Citra folder we opened up earlier.

Awakening's assets are split up into several folders. The folder you want is "b", which has most of the character and weapon models and textures. (This organization scheme is Not consistent between Awakening and the other 3DS fire emblems, watch out.)

In here, find the files paragon is telling you belong to this character, and copy them into your dedicated folder for this model ripping project.

Wow, look at all those files we can't use. Time to make them usable.

Step 5: Decompress the Files

Open up FEAT. Drag all those files onto the FEAT window. It will decompress them; there will be a copy of each file without the .lz file extension. You did it! They're decompressed!

Step 6: Extract the Models and Textures

Open up SPICA.

Click the little Folder button in the top left to open a file. Navigate to this folder you have your decompressed files in. Click on one of the decompressed files.

For MODELS, as in the .m files, you are going to click the Save button. Save each model as a .dae file, and give each a name that will make it clear which model this is - the body, the head, a specific accessory, whatever. (you can choose .smd instead if you want, but you will need a blender addon for importing smd files if you do.)

For TEXTURES, which are the .t files, there is an extra step. In the panel on the right, there is a small anime eye. That is the textures tab. Click on it, and the panel will change to a list of textures that are in that file. You should export all of them by using the special texture export button. DO NOT CHANGE THE NAMES the texture names are important.

Step 7: Blender Time

Tragically this is the most annoying part, and I can't even give you very detailed instructions off the top of my head because the exact steps are so tailored to each specific character.

Open up Blender. Go to File > Import > Collada (.dae) and import the character's component models one by one.

Each individual file will come with its own armature for posing! If you want to have a functional, posable model, you are going to have to join them together yourself. Normally this means taking a component armature, positioning it properly in relation to the body, parenting the component meshes to the body armature, joining the component armature to the body armature, and then taking whatever root bone the component had and setting it's parent bone to the right bone from the body armature. If you just joined a character's head on the body, take the root bone from the head armature and set its parent to the head bone from the body armature. Stuff like that.

Some of the weight painting may be broken, so when you pose joints on the armature some things will move incorrectly. I do not know how to get SPICA not to do that, and I haven't found any other 3DS model exporter that works with awakening that doesn't do that. Try exporting as an SMD instead. If neither dae format nor smd format works right, You're going to have to go in and re-do the broken weight painting manually. There is no shortcut to this. I am sorry.

You will also notice everymodel is split up into several meshes. If you need the character to be one singular manifold mesh, you're going to have to edit it to be that way yourself, in a way that does not destroy the UV maps. There is no shortcut to this. I am sorry.

Also: If it's Grima, be aware that their model is like 3000 blender units long. You will want to scale all their armatures down to 0.1 or something, because Blender does NOT play nice with stuff that big.

Anyway, textures.

In Awakening, a texture name ending in c0 is the base colours. A texture name ending in s0 is a specular map.

If the base colour file looks mostly transparent, that's because it's channel packed; the color and alpha channels contain two different textures. In Grima's case, the color channel is their actual colors, and the alpha channel appears to be an emission map.

So, go on into the shader editor, click on each mesh to open its material, and plug the textures into the right spots on basic shader node provided. Make sure to set the Alpha mode of the channel packed textures to say "Channel Packed". And you're good to go! You can see what the character looks like now!

If parts of textures should be transparent but aren't (like grima's eyes and wing feathers) you're going to have to figure out a solution for that yourself. I manually made my own alpha map for grima's eyes and wings, and it was Annoying but it was the only solution I could find.

Congratulations, you've done it!

You have successfully ripped a model from Awakening. Now go on and modify it however you need to; make better shaders for it, clean up the mesh and unwrap its UVs again for free plushie patterns, do silly posing shenanigans with it. Whatever your heart desires.

Good luck, dear reader, for you will probably need it.

[elder-sister]

Lucas time!

In Smash Bros Chronicles, Lucas joins literally like, 5 minutes after the end of Mother 3. And he is depressed. Mostly due to Claus' suicide, things in his mind rushing "If I only took the badge off." "If I noticed sooner." "If I went with him to fight the Drago" etc.

When he gets to the tourney, he meets Pikachu, who is the Pichu from Melee. The two bond. Lucas is still very depressed, and all he has is an emotional support Pokémon. Ness knows what happened to him because Master Hand has files on every character and the original 12 are allowed to see them. He feels guilty about letting Porky escape so he just doesn't interact.

Things get better during the 4th tournament. He meets with a dragon girl named Corrin. A 20 year old who was sheltered her whole life, kidnapped, found out her siblings weren't blood related, met her blood siblings, those two sides were at war, and she chose her adoptive siblings and was forced to lead the army to conquer the nation her bio siblings are royalty of.

This resulted in her fighting her oldest bio brother, and him committing sepuku so she wouldn't kill him, and her younger bio brother being possessed and needing to put him down. And the adoptive siblings...everyone there is extremely close, as close as possible for siblings. So now she's alone, without them, suffering from separation anxiety with a male version of her who made the opposite choice being the only somewhat familiar face.

Lucas had seen her file, and can somewhat relate to the sibling death thing. Corrin and Lucas become friends. Mind you, Lucas has not yet received therapy, so he's still depressed, he just puts on a smile.

This is revealed when he has to fight MegaMan and gets a PTSD attack. Afterwards, the two become friends though. And he opens up to him and Corrin and another person Corrin befriended, Dark Pit. And later, they befriend Mii Gunner, who is extremely important to the plot. Lucas is very shy, and has a fear of getting close to people lest he lose them too.

In Adventures, this is a Claus survives AU where Lucas brought him back with the needles' power. He was depressed in Brawl still, but thats because his brother was suicidal, not because he actually did it. And Lucas was shy, scared, and didn't know what to do. And then the events of Subspace happened and he befriended Pokémon Trainer.

In the series he's friends with Female Corrin for the same reasons as before, Villager, and an Inkling Girl (who has a crush on him that he does eventually reciprocate). Claus often visits and has many friends in this world, but female Robin, who sacrificed herself to defeat Grima knowing it would kill her and that the chance of her revival is little to none, well he can kinda relate. Lucas is still very shy and sweet and kind but touch anyone he cares about ESPECIALLY Claus and oh boy you are screwed!

Ooh boy

Also I just realized would mayhem au count as a Claus survives au because he didn't survive, Lucas revived him (and may or may not regret doing that hence not reviving Hinawa)

[someobscurereference]

So this is four years about too late but I recently stumbled across your sdr2 xanlow au (barbed wire mouth) and was wondering if you would be open to talk about your ideas for this setting since you mentioned it in the endnotes? Ended up reading like all of your xanlow fics after that and you are an absolute gift, they were all such nice reads

(barbed wire mouth)

Never too late to ask questions! Though I may be delayed in answering, lol. Hope you're still interested.

The following comes straight from my notes on the document that have been sitting on my computer since I wrote it. Note that these are many years old now:

Inigo — Ultimate Feroxi Dancer (Mom was Ultimate Traditional Dancer, which encompassed a lot more dances)

Severa — ??? (she can’t remember; she's the Hajime insert but is determined to excel at everything she does) Jack of all trades, but master of none (Better than master of one)

Owain — Ultimate Roleplayer

Xander — Ultimate Knight (Ryoma in his own equivlaent virtual world = Ultimate Samurai)

Camilla — Ultimate Big Sister

Leo — Ultimate Bookworm

Niles — Ultimate Thief (Takumi is probably the Ultimate Archer with Ryoma)

Jakob — Ultimate Butler — Deceased

Oboro — Ultimate Seamstress

Orochi — Ultimate Fortune Teller

Effie — Ultimate Weightlifter — Deceased

Subaki — Ultimate Perfectionist

Saizo — Ultimate Ninja — Deceased

Arthur — Ultimate Bad Luck — Deceased

Peri — Ultimate Baker

Flora — Ultimate Maid

Note: List of deceased is only accurate through case three.

Case notes:

Case 1:

Saizo assassinates Arthur, a murder which is described as an act of Bad Luck (but is named a possible murder by Grima, the island’s version of Monokuma, so the group has to debate on whether or not it’s an accident versus a murder, though all initial signs point to it being an accident. Some tense debate over it at the trial before it’s figured out Saizo set up the assassination to look like an accident)

Saizo gets away with it because he covered his tracks near perfectly, but Severa figures out it was him at the last minute

Case 2:

Effie kills Jakob because the game machine showed him killing Elise in some sort of despair event in the past as a way to torture himself and Corrin, whom he loves so much

Owain was the first person to play the game all the way through and see the truth

He didn’t say anything about it until the trial because he didn’t want to point fingers or reveal anything bad; acts very withdrawn the day he finishes the game and dismissive of anyone who says they’re going to play it afterwards, which is strangely noted as the exact opposite attitude he had before

Also heard Leo mention his sister Elise before and didn’t want to say anything when they don’t know if that even happened

Apparently, Effie believed it though

Case 3:

Inigo, Leo, Peri, and Subaki all come down with Despair Disease

Inigo — Cruelty Disease (becomes actively mean towards everyone for unwarranted reasons)

Leo — Dependence Disease (can’t do anything by himself, wants to stay close to people he knows, wants to hold hands, touchy)

Peri — Polite Disease (very calm & collected, not at all threatening, affronted by the idea of hurting someone)

Subaki — Careless Disease (not a perfectionist, pretty lazy, doesn’t care how things turn out or if he puts effort into them, the opposite of who he is as a person)

Leo keeps wanting to cling to Xander; Inigo gets into a fight with Owain before breakfast; Peri is sitting calmly at a table, unmoving and only speaking when spoken to; Subaki shows up in shabby clothes and hair disheveled

Xander & Flora agree to watch over them and take them to the hospital

Flora comes down with a disease and she ends up remembering their true past. She kills Subaki. Peri walks in and is killed as well.

Xander blames himself for not watching over her more closely too. So grateful she didn’t kill Leo, because he definitely hadn’t seen it coming.

Notes not from my document but that I remember thinking about at the time:

I used a mixture of Nohrian and Hoshido characters because I figure that would create more tension, even if the characters don't remember having any tension between each other previously. The more of their past that is slowly discovered, the less trust there is.

I've always really liked the idea of the sdr2 cast figuring out they're in a digital reality before the full end of the game. For the fourth or fifth case, I imagine Owain would die because he's pretty perceptive and is willing to take a leap of faith to ensure the others can possibly make it out, as he's realized they're not in a real world by now. By which I mean I think he either poisons himself (die in sleep) or jumps off a cliff into the sea (ala Future Past DLC) after telling Inigo (or maybe Inigo just figuring out) his plan. Inigo doesn't want this to happen, but he admits something isn't right about their amnesia and the situation at hand, so he wasn't able to stop Owain properly.

I haven't decided, but Inigo will die either because (a) Grima (the Monokuma equivalent) considers it murder that Inigo could be aware of Owain's plan and let it happen or (b) Inigo helps Owain "get break through the virtual reality"/die, even though he's also fucked up about it.

(Inigo will admit the truth before any false murderer can be punished though; his guilt would let him do nothing less and he was holding out in hopes Owain's Virtual Reality theory is correct and the whole situation they were in would be resolved before the trial comes to a close)

Severa is the POV character and ultimate Hajime of the case, so she is completely devastated by this. However, she is encouraged by Inigo to be objective and that nothing is at all her fault. This encouragement is what ultimately leads her to point the finger at Inigo.

Because of the dwindling number of residents, Elise's murder being hinted at in the video game in Case 2, Corrin not being present, etc., Camilla and then eventually Xander will become increasingly erratic and circling each other + Leo like hawks. Leo and Niles will end up sharing a cabin most nights for protection reasons.

Camilla and/or Xander probably ends up committing a murder, perhaps in falsely perceived self-defense

Niles keeps getting accused but is always innocent. Alternatively, Niles and Leo end up in a Fuyuhiko and Peko situation.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

‘A Stormcrow arrived late last night,’ Jorunn explains. ‘Otherwise, I would have let you sleep but I thought it might be wise you attend to the matter.’ ‘Greyhame,’ Gríma spits. She shrugs. Jorunn, to Gríma’s annoyance, seems fond of the cagey nuisance of a wizard. Like a mushroom, Gríma sneered to her once, he returns again and again bringing always with him omens of death. Of and for the dead is Gandalf. She had replied, Hardly. Though he is mercurial at times and delves into worldly affairs which often deal in death. Not unlike you. ‘Stormcrow is a neat name for him,’ Gríma continues. ‘I like it. Lathspell would be mine.’ ‘Of course it would, little dragon. Granted, some would say the same for you.’

Jorunn: Grima, have you considered the fact that you and Gandalf are two signs of the Odinnic coin possibly the reason you both hate each other vehemently?

Grima: Absolutely not. I am nothing like him.

Gandalf: Seconded, except in reverse.

Jorunn: mk.

[fellincantation]

Here Be Dragons - closed starter

New faculty meant new people for Grima to become acquainted with. She wasn't exactly interested in what the new professor had to offer but something about him was strange. Flaming red hair and something in his eye were more than enough to draw Grima's curiosity. She had kept her distance for the days following his arrival but the more she passed by him in the halls the more her interest grew. A subtle miasma seemed to roll off of the professor and it was terribly familiar to Grima. It reminded her of her many years trapped in the Dragon's Table. The very same place she had consumed every last Earth Dragon to fuel her revival. Could he be of Earth Dragon descent? Somehow Grima doubted that. She wondered if his particular situation was like her own. Fell blood passed along a family line. Grima had no way of knowing for sure. She was a fairly young dragon herself and wasn't around during the time of the Earth Dragons reign. All she had to work off of was the information presented to her at her birth and the thousand years she was able to live before being sealed away. Human logs of the past were pitiful and she doubted the Divine Dragon Naga wished to speak with a horrific creature made of her blood. So this strange professor was her best bet.

Grima approached him near the end of the day. Once the rest of the students had wandered their ways back to their dorms and after school activities were taking place. She caught Arvis just as he was exiting his classroom, standing in his way in the hall.

"Professor Arvis! Are you busy? Forgive me, my name is Robin and I'm a Black Eagles student that's going to be taking your class very soon! I was hoping to discuss some things with you on some recent studies I've been undergoing." Grima said, approaching as harmlessly as possible. She was glad her vessel had such a bright eyed and easy to manipulate face. "Though I've been told these studies are... Not quite allowed."

That was one way to broach the subject of an extinct race of evil dragons, she supposed.

@valflaame

[jknerd]

MARTHA MAY

Full Name: Martha-May Hoovier

Age: Immortal

Gender: Female

Occupations: Holiday Mascot, celebrity, worker of Santa’s Toy Factory

Relatives: Ethan Grinch (eventual husband), Cindy Lou (goddaughter)

Interests: Singing, dancing, Grinch (love interest)

Character

Martha-May Hoovier is a holiday mascot/worker of Santa Claus’ Toy factory, friend of Santa’s wife Jessica, and eventually, a wife of Grinch. She is known as an attractive Christmas mascot celebrity, but also brought surprise to others when it comes to her preference of manas she was known for her gigantically romantic feelings for Grinch, the “dark fairy” of Christmas. Around him, she behaves as lovestruck school girl and her tendencies does fluster him a lot. After she married him, her affection becomes visibly obvious and constantly embarrasses or flatters her husband. A small reciprocation from Grinch is enough for her to giggle happily and gives him a suffocating hug. When asked why she chose him, Martha May reveals that she have been in love with Grinch from the first sight when he taught cruel individuals a lesson not to mess with less fortunates and when he shown fatherly side to Max or several orphans.

In Fairly Oddparents AU: Martha May is a friend of Blonda and Tooth Fairy. Gifted with singing voice, Martha May was often singing Christmas carols for everyone. When Krampus dragged Grinch into the stage as both perform, Martha May was seen squealing as lovestruck teenage girl for Grinch as Blonda wonders what does she see in the bitter man. According to Timmy, she described the couple Martha May and Grinch as inverse persona of Cosmo and Wanda (Cosmo=Martha May, Wanda=Grinch) as Martha May have a bubbly personality as Grinch seems to be tolerant of it.

In Grimm Adventures of Billie & Manny AU: As one of workers in Santa Claus’ toy factories and a secretary of his wife Jessica, Martha May was often appointed as “Employee of the Month” for her hardworking and positive demeanors. Friends with Catrina, both talked about their respective love interests (Catrina to Sado, Martha May to Grinch). When witnessing her previous life, she was saddened to learn that she was once a daughter of rich nobleman who had chased out Grinch’s orphanage family and possibly caused their death. Martha May was scared of being hated by Grinch, but Grima’s rather supportive speech get her confidence. When telling truth, Grinch was at first angry of the discovery. However, he forgives her as he sees through that she is innocent. This caused her to hastily scream out a touching marriage proposal, which surprised him but he accepted.

In Hazbin Hotel ’n Helluva Boss AU: Martha appeared when picking up her husband from Hazbin Hotel. Charlie had a brief bi-panic due to Martha May’s attractive appearance until she silently gave Grinch thumbs up, much to his confusion. Martha May has similar behavior of a certain Goetian demon, slightly perverted as she asked Grinch if they can stay over in Lust Ring, resulted in Grinch’s angry blush.

[fefuckability]

The Awakening Bracket Qualifier! Starts July 26th at 3pm EDT

Here's how it's going to work:

There are going to be 7 qualifying polls (Four for the men, three for the women)

Pick your favorite from each poll

Polls will run for one week (I'd prefer 3 days but alas Tumblr doesn't offer the option yet)

The top 16 male characters and the top 16 female characters will qualify for the men's and women's brackets.

Polls:

Qualifier 1 (Chrom, M!Robin, Virion, Frederick, Vaike, Gregor, Henry, Libra)

Qualifier 2 (Stahl, Kellam, Gaius, Lon'qu, Basilio, Walhart, Yen'fey, Priam)

Qualifier 3 (Owain, Inigo, Brady, Gerome, Yarne, Laurent)

Qualifier 4 (Validar, Cervantes, Excellus, Mustafa, Gangrel, Old Hubba, Farber)

Qualifier 5 (F!Robin, Lissa*, Emmeryn, Cherche, Sumia, Cordelia, Panne, Anna)

Qualifier 6 (Sully, Maribelle, Tharja, Miriel, Olivia, Say'ri, Tiki, Flavia, Naga)

Qualifier 7 (Lucina, Kjelle, Cynthia, Severa, Noire, Pheros, Raimi, Aversa, Phila)

Characters who are excluded from voting:

Anyone who obviously both looks and acts like a literal child. Some characters are borderline so discretion may be used

Generics

Palette swapped characters (e.g. Victor and Vincent)

Anyone who lacks either a portrait or a unique name

Characters who do not have a unique humanoid form (e.g. Grima, because they either look like a dragon or they just look like Robin)

Characters who are technically included in Awakening via Einherjar, but would fit better with another game's poll (e.g. Marth)

*Yes, I know Lissa is canonically 15 at the start of Awakening. However, there's a two year time skip and she's canonically at least 17, possibly 18 by the end of the game. Taking that into consideration I've decided to include her. Assume she's at her post-time skip age for the purposes of these polls.

[iturbide]

to talk about Pelgia being dessert got me wondering; what if this a result of the first 'war' with the first exal? Especially before the deal with Naga, in the end, we don't know how long that was going on. But the fact Naga went into a deal that bond herself to the royal family for good sounds like they didn't had many other choices left. So the destruction might had just been so bad it could never recover?

and at worse, it was Nagas doing for punishing those people worshipping Grima, if I recall correctly she wasn't exactly kind to Robin either.

OKAY SO. BEAR WITH ME HERE. CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME.

So according to Echoes, Naga was once very close with Duma and Mila: Duma, who protected Naga with his martial prowess, earned the title of Kingshield; while his sister, who blessed the dragon tribes' land with prosperity, earned the title of King's Grail. It's that last bit that I've always found most interesting -- that Mila specifically is the one credited with blessing the land and bringing it prosperity. It's something we see further enforced throughout Echoes, where Mila's half of the Valentian continent became a rich and fertile land under her guidance.

So I've always kind of had this thought: what if the desertification of Plegia is actually because Naga exiled Mila? If Mila's power was the only thing keeping the western half of Archanea green and arable, her departure across the sea would immediately begin to unravel the ecology her presence had supported. It could also explain why Naga withdrew her influence to the eastern half of the continent, which would eventually become the halidom of Ylisse: this half of the landmass was naturally fertile and didn't require Mila's blessing, making it easier to support a population (human or dragon).

Naga abandoning the western half of the continent would also explain why Grima was able to hang out for a thousand years before she decided to do something about them: she didn't have eyes on the desert because she was more focused on the "desirable" part of the continent east of the mountain range. On top of that, Grima in Awakening seems to be pretty consistently surrounded by stormclouds -- and there's always the possibility that the people who lived in the desert began their worship of Grima because they brought shade and life-giving rain with them wherever they flew. Water is a vital resource for sustaining life, and all the more in a desert where it's in such short supply.

Of course, this possibility would also mean that when Naga and the First Exalt sealed Grima away, they were -- intentionally or otherwise -- consigning the people who lived there to death. They failed, obviously, but still. That in general would be consistent with Naga's overall track record: in Genealogy's history, Naga gave her blessing and the Book of Naga to a human and then left mankind to deal with Loptyr, which...didn't exactly end well. She may have been a little more hands-on, fighting Grima alongside the First Exalt, but anything after may have been beneath her notice.

(You are right about how she treats Robin, though: she uses Robin's name when speaking with others, but the one time she speaks to Robin directly, she calls them "Fellblood" instead. That always rubbed me the wrong way, personally.)

[imustbenuts]

Sombron's Cobra Dragon Form is a call-out to Buddhist Nagas. Or: wait, are Divine and Fell Dragons really that different?

Hello! I'm back with more info dump on the Buddhism going on in Fire Emblem, whee!!

Did you know that Naga isn't just a name given to the well-known Divine Dragon goddess of FE? Did you know that cobras are the original Naga in Buddhism? There's a funny relationship here.

The word, Naga, is originally a sanskrit word for a snake deity. This class of deities are depicted to be wise serpents, and there is a specific one known as Mucalinda who sheltered Buddha from rain and storm as he meditated to attain enlightenment. Which then leads into these depictions:

Nagas can be depicted as multiheaded or single headed, rarer partial or fully humans. Notably in South and Southeast Asian depictions, they are often cobras. Note the flaps on those necks. 100% a cobra.

But as you all might be aware, the Naga we know in Fire Emblem is a western dragon. Her daughter, Tiki, also is a western dragon.

Bonus: Engage Tiki is slightly different in being feathery. This form reminds me more of a jatayu/garuda but im not going down into that rabbit hole it's a WHOLE OTHER SHIT i dont want to explain rn @_@

Lumera of course, also fits into the class of Divine Dragon with a form like this:

Not at all serpent like. Meanwhile, Sombron is a truer depiction for the Buddhist depiction of a Naga with his less eagle-y and more... cobra head. Incidentally, Grima also qualifies as a closer depiction due having no limbs (wings aside iykyk). Left: Sombron. Right: Grima.

So what does that all mean? Well, two schools of thoughts from me.

At the time of development, the original Fire Emblems were always meant for a western lens. Fell Dragons at the time did not exist conceptually, and so the idea of a divine god dragon was decided to have a western look, in order to match the setting of the games.

Currently, this might be playing with the ideas of Dragons and 'true gods'. Fell Dragons are actually a more accurate depiction of the Buddhist Nagas, and Divine Dragons aren't. Based on this, nerds like me can go 'DIVINE DRAGON CONSPIRACY! WE WORSHIP THE FALSE GODS!' while being kinda correct about it as the devs giggle at my loser ass.

For the lore nerds who might have heard of this... The First Dragons. (Link the First Dragons gallery on fireemblem.fandom.com), and the FE multi-worlds. It could be entirely possible dragons are originally some space faring beings who decided to settle down on various FE worlds, having multiple different species with wildly different looks. As time went on, certain species died out while some survived, and took up the mantle of guiding humanity or just chilling and being worshiped.

Methinks Divine Dragons and Fell Dragons are just names given to them by mortals to differentiate either by appearance or factions. Engage has basically shown us that Fell Dragons aren't inherently evil, and there has been cases of Dragons who aren't perfect either.

As a side, because Buddhism falls under the Dharmic family of religion, Nagas are also depicted in Hinduism. Again, they are cobras who can be partial or fully snake and/or human, and are here assigned the domain of the underworld. Sombron's grand upheaval of Gradlon is a major call-out to this root, as his domain can be argued to be underground for the majority of the game. (Or underwater.)

Buddhism is so widespread that it has morphed and mixed with a lot of other culture and religions, and notably it has mixed with China's. Under the Mandate of Heaven, it is said that when an emperor witnesses a Dragon, it is a sign that the heavens have given them an approval and they would turn out to be excellent rulers. Asian dragons are also serpent-like, and this idea has also appeared in Southeast Asia and more importantly spread to this one country: Japan.

At the end of the day, I don't think Engage is keen in asking 'who is the real divine dragon?' but just messing around with those who know. And now you do.

Have fun with this weird knowledge!