#post- awakening btw

[ad-hawkeye]

Words: 1,187 Rating: G Alkaid McGrath/Little Painter (MC) Post-Awakening, Main Story Spoilers

He wasn’t actually an agent, but some days he sure felt like one.

Alkaid had trouble sleeping that night.

It was odd. He was comfortable in his bed, but not comfortable enough to actually fall asleep.

Even Sparkles knew to steer clear; the ragdoll was in the living room. Alkaid’s erratic flipping and turning was enough to shoo the feline off his bed and onto the couch. With a drop of his head, Alkaid pressed his face into the warm, cotton pillow below. Sparkles’ departure was probably for the best. His fur coat and body heat would have just made the two of them miserable; that was the last thing either of them needed.

Alkaid closed his eyes, squeezing them shut. And then the clock on his wall continued to tick.

Louder, and louder, and louder. It was maddening… Just utterly insistent.

With a groan, Alkaid flipped over yet again, this time choosing to fix his gaze on the ceiling. He couldn’t see much of anything at night, and he wondered if that was why his mind kept wandering. It was impossible to stop thinking about the stars in space, thousands of light years away. Or about his girlfriend, her eyes tired and face pale.

He kept hearing the screams. The confused ramblings of those who were long gone. The banging on the walls.

Would he ever be able to forget what he saw? What he heard? A private cinema with technology he had never seen before, capable of digging into the deepest recesses of one’s mind. Something so… alien in nature. Something that could handcraft a prison of his deepest fears, with detailing so intricate even he couldn’t deny its legitimacy. And ultimately, something that could create a “movie” that managed to make his girlfriend so utterly distraught in a way he had never seen her before.

While the two of them vowed to be honest with each other, sometimes their communication wasn’t through words, but through actions.

And her actions were loud. Her hands were shaking. Her expression was grim. Any words she offered were laced with distress, and it utterly broke his heart.

She told him she didn’t like that kind of story. That she didn’t like seeing Alkaid sacrifice everything about himself, just for her.

He could remember their long talk following White Day. Hushed voices and open hearts as they chose to be honest with one another, leaving no stone unturned... Well, most stones. He could still remember her eyes dimming in the lamp light as she spoke.

…

“Alkaid,” she started, staring down at her tea. “The nature of… all of this. I know more. I know things that are too dangerous. Things that could change your life forever.”

The two of them had been talking for well over an hour. Alkaid’s conscience had never felt more light than it did in that moment; no secrets weighed his soul down. He felt free of every lie, of every deflection… And now? He was learning more about her. And it was more complicated than he could have ever imagined.

Alkaid furrowed his brows. “Dangerous?”

“Dangerous to you. And your life.”

He remained quiet, letting her continue.

This was concerning to hear. His girlfriend was a Traveler. Someone who could travel between worlds… through space, through time. The very thought of it all made his head spin. Just how many worlds were out there? And then another thought hit him. Just how much did she know?

“I want to tell you everything so… so bad. To let everything out,” she continued, shaking her head with a bitter smile. “You deserve that. But, it’s kinda like telling someone... I dunno. The truth of the universe, I guess? Sometimes, knowing too much about everything... or about yourself. It glues you in place. It happened to me. I don’t want that to happen to you, Alkaid.”

His breath hitched in his throat. She cared about him enough to cherish his free will. And as much as curiosity gnawed at his chest, he respected her decision more than anything else.

"But... Alkaid. If you do ever want to know, I can..."

"No," he suddenly said, voice firm but empathetic. "It's okay. You don't have to."

He wasn’t about to plead with her. No, he understood.

“Okay. But, no matter what..." she continued. A small smile graced her lips. "I’ll be as honest as I can. I’ll never hide what I’m feeling. And I will never lie to you.”

And it was his job to pick up on her cues.

…

And here they were again. She was being honest. She wasn't hiding what she was feeling. And she wasn't lying.

The sheer sincerity in her voice scared him. His suspicions must have been right. This was no mere movie; it was something else. Something… supernatural. Was it truly a vision of the future? Was that two-faced, duplicitous snake really him? Was that really someone he could become?

The very thought rattled Alkaid to his core.

No, it was a movie. Just a movie, right?

… Right?

His head spun. Mere months ago he would have brushed this off as a fantasy. Or as an unfounded anxiety. But, upon seeing what his little painter was capable of, he knew this wasn’t just likely, it was real. It was as real as the ceiling above him. As real as his sweaty palms below. What was one supposed to do when presented with the very worst coming true? Maybe not in the present, but somewhere out there, in the future?

He swore to her that he would do everything in his power to overcome that fate. To embrace the Gentleman Agent, but to be as sincere and honest as the Rose Elf. But, if he was being honest with himself, he was terrified. He thought he had laid this issue to rest on White Day. When she accepted him, secrets and all. When she learned the truth about him, and didn’t leave.

Honesty was the key to any good relationship, and that was what drove him forward. But, was that all for naught? Was being two-faced in his nature? Was he doomed to become a smiling mannequin, someone who interrogated sick, indoctrinated prisoners behind closed doors? Away from his own girlfriend? Against her own wishes?

Alkaid flipped in his bed again. He could hear the screams again. The ticking in his room grew louder, and not even hiding beneath his pillow case could drown it out.

He loved his mother. He truly did. But some days he swore he saw her in the mirror instead of himself.

Full of secrets. Living life under one big facade.

No, he wasn’t his mother. He was worse than her. She never lost her humanity. But him… that Alkaid in the future… he did. He sacrificed everything about himself for a lost cause, and for what? A sweet lie?

He wasn’t actually an agent, but some days he sure felt like one.

The clock in Alkaid’s bedroom continued to tick. He would have to go to class in a few hours. He would have to pretend that everything was alright. And he would have to do it with a smile.

[maigetheplatypus57]

between finnster and tommyinnit I just need rtgame to come out as bisexual and that should pretty much cover most of the "straight" ccs that I actively follow at this point.

[sieglinde-freud]

let it be known that i love prince inigo with my whole soul. however sometimes it is SO much fun to think about owain and his two most loyal-est knights you ever seen: worst guy in the world #1 and worst guy in the world #2. i love retainer inigo and severa so much. retainers who bully you and make fun of you and trash on you but they’d leave behind everyone and everything they ever knew to follow you and protect you in a whole new universe. they love you so much that they’d swear allegiance to total strangers but that loyalty pales in comparison to what they’d do for you. and they were all lovers!!!!!!!

[vickyt-mv]

quick lon'qu for his birthday 🗡️🗡️

[chemzee]

‼️Happy Pride Month‼️

For the occasion, I shall bring back these edits I did last year, before the game even came out lol. Epic times.

[jaimeski]

Ooh, when you were young / You put all your make-up on / Sang a song of Solomon

[lena-cant]

I started replaying fire emblem: path of radiance earlier this week after recently really only playing modern (awakening onward) FE for the past 5 years and it's really hitting home for me how much of modern fe's script is taken up by useless minutiae. camp conversations in por are the thing really hitting it for me. In more recent fe games, there's a lot of little bits of dialogue in the between-level hub but it rarely ever adds to our understanding of a character or interact with the story. It's just there because the characters are in the hub and therefore they need a sentence or two to say to the protag.

meanwhile path of radiance has these wonderful little conversations in the camp. they're not all like, peak fiction or anything but they almost always deliver on short nuggets of story that let you know how specific characters are reacting to what's going on in the story, or otherwise just something about them. I can count on my hands the amount of moments in three houses and engage where characters outside of the "main cast" of those games actually react to story events but they're doing it left and right in path of radiance.

this, along with the fact that most characters only have 3-5 supports means that the characters all feel sharper, more present, and like they're a part of the story. I'm not gonna pretend that every character in por is a masterful study or anything but even the weak characters in por feel less annoying than some of the strongest characters in three houses or engage because they're just inserted into the world more elegantly.

so much of the dialogue in the newer games just feels superfluous by comparison. xander doesn't have checks notes 12 romantic supports because the devs/writers felt that he as a character needed that much fleshing out. he has them because they needed him to have that many girls to kiss for the eugenics mechanics to work! part of the reason why characters in the newer games feel significantly more one note in comparison is that they're stretched thin. there's so much pointless shit they have to say, decided by quota before the writers even got their hands on the characters and it all builds up into a weaker end product

anyway this has been one elitist whinging about the new games that I like less

[coern]

If you will stay here with me, I could just keep you from leaving / you could be saved by this feeling noone else knows

alt versions under the cut!!

(in case you were wondering, the difference between the four is that two are blonde and the other two have pink gradients in the hair)

also if you're down here. reblogs are appreciated over likes..!

[jrtroopa]

Happy 10th birthday to the world’s gayest straight dating sim

[appleebees]

goofy ass hero of fereldan sketchpage

[deuynndoodles]

[id: a painted, digital illustration. it is a bright and sunny day and casts the ocean into beautiful colors. marin from links awakening stands barefoot in the shallows, the water rising just above her ankles. she tucks her hair behind her hair, escaping in the gentle breeze. her necklace reflects the suns light. the sun rises just above marins head, framing her. end id]

did a fun lil painting! was feeling bored w my current art so i wanted to try something new lol

[headaching]

never before has a man looked so beautiful on my tv screen

[sieglinde-freud]

missing the maribelle/tharja family unit today. i think maribelle would be elated to have a daughter. she meets noire for the first time and she goes “do you play chess? violin? ride? drink tea?” and noire goes “no but im really good at throwing up in a bucket” and maribelles like “oh!!!! okay!!!!” i think she finds noire’s talisman persona charming. chrom is like “um maribelle can you please go get your daughter… she’s terrorizing the camp” and she goes “shes harmless! why do you hate women?” and he never speaks on it again. i think tharja needs a kid that will beef with her and i think brady is 100% the guy to do it. i think she looks at him and goes “what is your problem” and he flips her off. she tries to curse him but he spins his staff ninja style deflecting them back at her. he serves tea to his moms but he spits in tharjas and she knows it. and then she drinks it because it pisses him off. brady could come to love her at some point but it will not be easy and it will not come without a lot of work and a lot of arguing and i think i need some more parent/child conflict in this game. awakening gets one f bomb and its hidden in the random tharja brady PC support where he just goes “FUCK YOU” Tharja and Brady attained support level B.

[hyrulescarlet]

Day 2 of @rebornofstars's Sepfember! Today's girl was Marin with the prompt "Wash"!

[sun1seeker]

i’m sorry but thinking about james potter in a platonic way is actually impossible

[mayordea]

well ive contractually obligated myself to make a purple robin drawing every month so here is it for dember. happy new year

the posing is based on the volume 10 cover of jojolion :3 it’s so cool…..