#pre-ts era

[biscuitboba]

Randomly thinking about karakuri castle again and i just love how zoro is so done with luffy's bs *sighing*, but of course he's still going to save his captain's a$$ (another moment of zoro saving his captain's butt in karakuri castle, here)

And luffy asking for his first mate's help while lowkey whining?? (He is the cutest indeed i love him so muchhh)

This is literally zoro and luffy throughout karakuri castle i think:

Another two examples, this one:

And this:

Like yes, his captain can be pretty handful at times.. he is a force of nature, a careless and overenthusiast ball of energy. Even zoro once called luffy a high maintenance captain, but he is also very fond of his captain... No one's making him smile and proud as much as luffy (he is whipped and already in too deep imho)

His captain is pretty 'troublesome', and a little bit of an idiot (they are both idiots) but that's his idiot! And he wouldn't change that for the world. No matter how much he grunts or complains (directly to his captain) about his captain's crazy antics

See the fond smile of a whipped man.

At the end of the day, he loves his captain veryy muchh, that no matter how many times he gets annoyed by his captain's shenanigans, his deep affection for his captain will always outweigh his annoyance (the same principle applies to most of the other strawhats and their dynamics with luffy too!)

[vomits0cutely]

“Clara Bow” by taylor swift except it’s the Potter family.

"You look like Clara Bow in this light. Remarkable. All your life, did you know, you'd be picked like a rose?”

But it’s what every generation of the Potter’s have been told.

"You look like Stevie Nicks, In '75, the hair and lips. Crowd goes wild at her fingertips. Half moonshine, a full eclipse.”

But it’s the James Potter getting told he looks like his mother.

"You look like Taylor Swift, in this light. We're loving it. You've got edge, (s)he never did. The future's bright, dazzling."

Harry Potter getting compared to his father.

[the-english-student-studyblr]

Book Recommendations (from a lit grad student)

So, as I have come to the end of my MA in world lit, I thought I should give you a list of some of the best books I've read, or learnt from. I ignore established canon and give to you recommendations from across the globe and across all genres. Books that defined their genre, or made an impact, or are just really cool and enjoyable to read. This list is not all dead white men.

I have split the list by era/year of publication primarily for easy reading. A lot of the sections are arbitrary. Some of them are not.

Note: This list is not conclusive! This is based on my own readings, and my own, personal, opinions. You have the right to your own opinions and preferences. If you have any suggestions, add them on below.

Classic lit (pre-1700)

Aristole - Poetics (c. 335 BCE)

As much as I hate it...this one is actually pretty important. I know I said 'contributions to literary canon don't matter', and here I am, immediately doing the opposite. But! Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest treatise on literary theory that has survived to the modern day. You want to know where our ideas of comedy and tragedy come from? Poetics. Three act structure? Poetics. Plot and character? Poetics. Key terms like catharsis, hubris, hamartia? Poetics. We had to read this for creative writing, and did I hate it? Yes. Am I a better writer for having read it? Also yes

Plato - The Republic (c. 375 BCE)

Plato is quite easy to read, of the classical philosophers. His works are mostly dialogues between characters, which makes them more engaging that some other dry philosophy texts. I wrote out a longer post with an explanation of Plato's Republic specifically here.

Genji Monogatari (pre-1021)

The first novel ever! Originally written in Japanese, be careful of your translations because most are of questionable quality. I've only read the first one by Suematsu and that's uhhhhh Bad™ but I think the current waterstones edition is decent?

The Völsunga saga OR The Vinland sagas (early 13th century)

Ah, how to choose just one Norse saga? These are both pretty solid examples of their style, and short (always a plus). The Völsunga saga was the inspiration behind Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (famous for the piece The Valkyrie), and most likely Tolkien's works. The Vinland sagas supposedly have an anime/manga series inspired by them, though looking at the synopsis I cannot see where the inspiration was other than time period. Norse sagas - especially the Icelandic ones such as Vinland - are actually pretty good guides to real historic events, which is very cool. I could go on for hours about this, but I'll spare you the rambling.

Thomas More - Utopia (1516)

Lovely little sarcastic book about tudor politics and human nature all wrapped up in the original 'utopian text'. Surprisingly funny for something written so long ago, and very easy to read. I wrote a longer post about it here

Aphra Behn - Oroonoko (1688)

Hated it, but the themes are interesting and wow did the author lead an interesting life. Widely considered to be the first novel written in English, deals with colonialism, slavery, and honour, and Aphra Behn was a spy? I'm sure some of you will eat that up. Be warned, very 'noble savage'-y book, but less racist than it could've been so cool, I guess?

Early Modern Drama

Christopher Marlowe - Edward II (1592)

Gay. So gay. We're not supposed to call it gay (because of a whole host of reasons that I can and will explain if anyone shows up in my askbox complaining about academics) but it is a very very queer play and Kit Marlowe was too which is even better. Also our one and only history play on this list. Anyone who already knows how Edward II died (thanks horrible histories) do not spoil the ending.

Shakespeare - Twelfth Night (1602)

As with any Shakespeare, watch a performance if you can. I highly recommend the National Theatre version that was up on youtube in 2020. Very gay, no one is cishet. Lots of singing and dancing. Prime example of Shakespeare's comedies with added gender shenanigans.

Shakespeare - Hamlet (1609)

Yes I'm basic. Yes I like Hamlet. In the same way that Twelfth Night is a great example of Shakespeare's comedies, Hamlet is a good example of his tragedies. Mostly, though, I'm recommending this because the castle it's set in in Denmark (Elsinore) a) actually exists and b) does an amazing educational programme, with live actors performing scenes all across the castle! Watching the 'to be or not to be' soliloquy in the banquet hall just adds a whole other level to the experience of reading the play.

Shakespeare - Measure for Measure OR The Tempest

Shakespeare's problem plays. I couldn't pick just one, because they're both fantastic in different ways. Measure for Measure features what can only be described as the early-modern version of an ace protagonist - Isabella - who I adore. The Tempest has a really interesting portrayal of early colonialism and slavery. The reason they are 'problem plays' is they check all the boxes for a comedy...but they're not funny. At all. And they also check some of the boxes for a tragedy. They're certainly interesting reading

Ben Jonson - The Alchemist (1610)

Just a really good, solid play. Very funny. Bunch of con artists set up an elaborate scheme to rob rich people. Also very good for showing class structures of the time. Shakespeare gets all the recognition for this era but Jonson is just as good really, and definitely as clever.

Regency and Victorian lit (1700-1900)

Jane Austen

Literally anything by Austen. She is just so funny, so witty, and I wholeheartedly believe she'd be a feminist today. Master of the female gaze in literature, but beyond that she is basically credited with the invention of free indirect discourse, which is super cool. I have only read Pride and Prejudice, but I have heard good things about most of her books, so I don't feel bad recommending all of them.

William Blake

There's one poem by Blake about a London street urchin that breaks my heart every time I read it and that is the sole reason behind this recommendation I hate Romantic poets.

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein (1818)

You knew it was coming. First sci-fi, gothic horror, teenage girl writer. Gotta love Shelley.

Frederik Douglass - Narrative of the Life of Frederik Douglass (1845)

You know those books that are horrifying because they're real? That's this book. Doesn't shy away from the horrors of slavery and for a reason. This is an autobiography. It is not fiction.

Gowongo Mohawk - Wep-ton-no-mah (1890s)

My favourite play of all time. You will need to do a trip to either the British Library or the Library of Congress to read it because there are no other copies, but I did do a whole podcast episode about it because I'm apparently the expert? You can find it here.

Bram Stoker - Dracula (1894)

I know here on tumblr we adore Dracula, and for good reason. It's horrifying, it's got a blorbo, if you haven't read it already, go with a dracula daily read-through or @re-dracula for the best experience. (Re:Dracula also has episodes where they get scholars on to talk about things like racism and gender and queer theory surrounding the text which is SO COOL as an ex-lit student I love listening to those episodes.

Post-1900

Oscar Wilde - De Profundis (1905)

We had to read a snippet of this for A-Level and I wish it had been more because wow. Most lists like this will recommend Dorian Gray because it's a novel, but De Prof is so heartfelt and beautiful and sad and deserves to be read.

Baroness Orczy - The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905)

First masked vigilante/superhero! If you like comic books or superhero media, this is where it all started (funny how all the firsts so far have been written by women 🤔)

Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)

If you only read one book in your life about WW1 make it this one! It is heartbreaking and beautifully written and makes you feel so many things. It was banned in...a lot of places for being anti-war (especially as WW2 came closer) and also because it was written by a German who was anti-war which was apparently impossible to comprehend. The prose is truly something to behold.

Modern lit (Post-war era)

George Orwell - 1984 (1948) OR Animal Farm (1945)

Which one you should read depends a lot on how long your preferred book is and how metaphorical your tastes are. Both are very good explorations of corrupt governments. Animal Farm is an easier read and shorter and is much more allegorical. 1984 is very in-your-face about how much authoritarian governments suck. Do not discount 1984 just because Winston is a terrible person. Everyone knows he's terrible. That's the whole point. He is a normal terrible person, not a cartoonishly evil terrible person, or an angelically perfect revolutionary. All the characters are realistic for their situation.

Maya Angelou - I know why the caged bird sings (1969)

Another one with some beautiful prose. She's a poet and you can tell. It's an autobiography, plus there's a lot of clever stuff going on with how it's written. You could write an essay about this. I did.

Ghassan Khanafani - Return to Haifa (1969)

A short story by a Palestinian author - we were given this by our Palestinian lecturer as an intro to the conflict and the terrible things that colonialism has done to the region. Additionally, there are notes throughout that help explain the significance of things and background and all that jazz. There is a play version that is probably easier to find because it was published more recently but it's not as good.

Ben Okri - The Famished Road (1993)

I did not read this book for uni and I think that may have influenced my opinion of it slightly but I still credit it as one of the reasons I got interested in world lit and translation. It's a really beautiful exploration of Nigerian mythological tradition and its effect on family and politics in this kind of fascinatingly weird style that's both magical realism and modernist? I hate modernism but love magical realism more so.

Carmen Maria Machado - In the Dream House (2019)

What a book oh wow. It reads like poetry. I cannot think of anything coherent to say my brain is screaming. The novel explores abuse in queer relationships, which is something people don't normally talk about, through some very interesting motifs and I love it so much. It is hard to read, but very rewarding.

[lockscreenxd]

Lockscreens 6426-29

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[peronasbeloved]

i rlly rlly wanted to draw them but i have so little energy lately so ermmmm chibis

[clumsyraccoon]

Ok, one think I didn't expect the OPLA to do to me was falling all over again for Zoro and Sanji

[remythologise]

In another universe, it’s superwhohouse

really glad it isn’t because being a fan of house m.d. is still cool fun and sexy, completely untainted by any association with bbc sherlock crossovers unlike the poor superwhos of our time

[ybcpatrick]

best form of enrichment i've found recently is daydreaming abt what songs my wrestlers would go fucking hammy and cheese to in the car

[theamazingannie]

Was all excited about potential costumes to wear to the film tonight when it was announced and now that it’s here I’m realizing I did not prepare at all and now have no idea what to wear

[t-t-p-d]

i’m literally going to cry

[biscuitboba]

Some thoughts about zolu (again)

Thinking about punk hazard and how serious zoro really was when he asked for luffy to be more careful, like he just wanted his captain to be safe:(

And luffy's reply?? The usual careless carefree luffy, choosing to take his first mate's words seriously. He even genuinely apologized (for acting rather carelessly) and assured zoro that he would not let his guard down with a pretty reassuring smile!!

Idk how to explain it, but this moment means a lot to me, like the way they interacted with each other at this particular moment? It's like when a lover (or love interest) usually scolds their beloved and asks for them not to act too recklessly.

Still thinking about zoro's words and well... after what happened in thriller bark and marineford, it's only natural that zoro would say something like that to luffy. As the first mate, compared to the other strawhats he was probably the most affected by those two events (experiencing luffy's pain and about his incapability to be there for luffy during the summit war saga)

Like, the whole thing about how zoro becoming a more serious person after the timeskip (less smiling and laughing), he may seem 'rougher' after the timeskip, but truthfully? It's obvious that he has the best interest of his captain and the SHC at heart💔

but GOD DO I MISS HIS pre-TS CAREFREE SMILE (usually caused by luffy)

Genuinely thinking about how most of his smiles from back then till now ere caused by/directed at luffy, and im sick to my stomach

[taystays13]

I miss POC selfie nights so much. Those were the highlight of my month fr. I never participated myself but it was so lovely seeing everyone celebrate one another and mutuals getting super happy and excited about getting noticed.

It just breaks my heart that we never do that anymore.

Taylor Nation reposting outfits of Swifties at tour reminded me of our selfie nights.

[lockscreenxd]

Lockscreens 6424-25

Reblog/Like if you use / save it

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[taylornation]

We don’t know what The Man’s pre-show workout routine is, but we DO know how you can get ready to see TS The Eras Tour concert film this Friday!

The Swiftie 13: 💪 Make 13 friendship bracelets  💪 Find an outfit with at least 13 jewels 💪 13 stage-length sprints (make them swift af boi) 💪 13 minutes of screaming, crying to Taylor’s songs  💪 Get 13 tickets for you and your friends 

How are you putting in the work?

[eroguron0nsense]

Late Night Luffy's Dream Theory

So I've heard a fair amount of speculation about what Luffy's dream is after he becomes Pirate King, and by extension, what Roger's dream was (recall Yamato's flashback confirming that Luffy's dream–which Ace shared with him in their long tipsy conversation/totally not a night of passion–is "the same thing the Pirate King" said.) Fan speculation about Luffy's real dream ranges from things like "host the biggest party in the world", to "go to the moon", "make a country of pirates" etc but I've always found something fundamentally unsatisfactory about these, and I'll throw my hat in the ring to narrow down the possibilities.

To recap, the information we have about Luffy's dream is as follows: -Both times the dream is alluded to, it's at the end of what I and probably a bunch of other people personally conceive of as major sagas pre and post TS that both culminate in a major battle featuring EVERYONE WE'VE SEEN AND MORE –It's something that Roger, battle-hardened and well into his 40s or 50s–shared with Oden, that was documented in Oden's journal and partially inspired Yamato's unshakeable faith in Luffy –The Straw Hats, Ace, and Sabo are all shocked to hear it and ask if he's fully serious, but several of them support it immediately and the others remain protective over it and swear they'll see Luffy's ambition through. Jinbe, Nami, and Usopp are in disbelief, Chopper and Franky are excited, Robin is stunned, but looks hopeful or contemplative rather than derisive or amused, etc. –Ace and Sabo laugh as children, but swear to themselves that they'll protect Luffy's dream and won't let anyone mock it. As he's dying, Ace tells Luffy that he truly, truly believes Luffy will pull it off, and he's only sorry he couldn't see him make that dream a reality. –Shanks found it really funny, but is repeatedly shown stating he thinks that this ridiculous fucking child he met is going to be the future of the next pirate era, implying that he has some degree of faith in this child he (likely) recognizes as the inheritor of Roger's will Luffy's dream is repeatedly referred to as "crazy", or in some cases, "a child's fantasy", but also implied to be something really pure, ambitious, and highly unlikely but theoretically possible.

When I come up with fan theories, I tend to approach them less from a "textual evidence" standpoint than a "what would pack the biggest emotional punch and tie into the message/arc/etc that we've been shown thus far" one, and that tends to inform which popular ones I buy into (e.g. I am about 50-60% convinced that Law death will be a thing because, Chekhov's gun aside, Law's been in fucking crisis and unsure of what he'll do as his own man free of Cora's legacy and tries to emulate him in Wano. And while I think there's still a good chance he'll survive to the end for other reasons, there's also potential for a LOT of bittersweet beauty in him repeating what happened to him in childhood by quite literally passing on his heart and life to someone else). Considering what would be emotionally resonant and feel anywhere near as earned as what it's been built up to over two whole fucking sagas, Luffy's dream has to be something absurdly ambitious and thematically resonant. I do not think, if Luffy's dream were something like "I want to go to the moon", that Yamato would hold faith in him through impossibly oppressive circumstances, or that the audience would care like, at all. So if the dream is tied to something at the core of Luffy's character and the underlying themes of the entire series, what does Luffy represent, and what's the point of One Piece? Luffy is, at this point in the story and honestly long before, the embodiment of this sort of radical, almost anarchic humanism pervading the entire series that seeks to bring genuine freedom, joy, and peace to people everywhere he goes. Even before any divine or joy boy associations, he's a bringer of dawn, a warrior of liberation, and a worker of miracles because he sees injustice happening around him and instantly rejects it. He tears down oppressors everywhere he goes, and he's eventually going to bring that reckoning to the World Government and Blackbeard and every other might-makes-right, brutal, thoughtless hierarchical oppressor stopping their helpless victims from living free, full, happy lives. And critically, he's the inheritor of a crazy, radical dream that'll shake the world because god knows One Piece loves to talk about inherited will/dreams/legacy.

One Piece's broadly radical leftist humanism isn't based in naïveté either; it's very clear that this liberation is preceded by endless failures. Joyboy fails to stop any of what happens and writes letters of apology, Roger dies before he can realize the dream, and all the while countless atrocities are going on with at least 3 Islands we know of and two whole races having their genocides all but done to completion. Kuma suffers immensely waiting for the Dawn, and effectively loses his life and humanity before it can come, still holding on to his belief in Nika. But none of these things will stop the coming of liberation. Every genocide and attempt to purge the politically inconvenient–Ohara, Flevance, the Lunarians, the persecution of the Buccaneers–leaves survivors or inheritors, with Law, Kuma, and Robin in particular playing central roles in saving or aiding Luffy, the bringer of Dawn. The purge of Ohara fails to destroy the records permanently. The fucking biblical infanticides at Baterilla and the end of Roger's bloodline doesn't stop Luffy from inheriting Roger's will and his brother's legacy. Luffy isn't so much a predestined messiah as he is the inheritor of a legacy of resistance and hope that cannot be killed because as long as someone lives, they will dream of the brand of hope and justice that he embodies. No matter how hard you try, or how violently you suppress people, how many legacies or bloodlines or rebels you put to death, people will survive and carry on those legacies or pick up where your victims left off because you can't kill ideas, you can't kill truth, you can't kill dreams, and you can't kill the basic human desire for joy and freedom. I think the "Child's Fantasy" thing we see associated with Luffy's dream is key to this whole mystery. Wano's the arc in which we get the closest, most explicit declarations of Luffy's ideals, in which his core motivation for defeating Kaido–besides helping Momo and his friends seek justice and overthrow an oppressor–is to make sure everyone in the country can eat their fill. It's the kind of thing you wish for as a child–an end to world hunger, world peace, homes for the homeless, an end to prejudice–before a thousand and one adults feed you the lie that it's impossible to redistribute resources, that being crushed by hierarchical oppressive power is natural, or that some people are undeserving of life or basic rights and therefore deserve to be harmed by the powers that be. Before your parents and teachers and other people lecture you on the necessity of Authority and Capitalism and Hegemony or what have you and convince you that a certain number of people simply have to suffer and die to preserve the Proper and Legitimate Hierarchy, that the powerful deserve to be where they are and that victims of these systems deserve it. It'll be something very much like his hopes for Wano in the face of the oppression of Kaidou and Orochi, or the World Government creeping up on them afterward with Ryokugyu loudly announcing that the oppression of the have-nots is the rightful and good state of the world. It'll be a simple, basic hope for good things for him and his friends and all the great people they love, something perfectly possible and right and just and joyful that people have been raised to think of as an impossibility. A place where people can eat their fill, where there's water in parched lands, where people aren't being strangled by heavenly tributes. A world where they can be free. A reality where everyone can be happy, where dreams come true.

[randomnameless]

I apologise in advance if this is going to bring you clowns on your inbox,

Her motives are pretty... all around, and that's why some people earlier theorised that her support chains, unlocking at several key moments, are basically Edel trying to manipulate Billy into siding with her.

Like you noted, there's a lack of Church mention when, if you go through her own route, it's basically the alpha and omega why the world has to be changed.

And about her dad(dy dearest?) her intel straights up counters what Hubert says about what happened regarding the experiments, and later on, connecting several dots makes her version of the story "the PM did it!" even more shaky, but in general, she (and her dad) has something against the PM who dared to rebel against the Emperor (when the Emperor was doing shit, like erase Hrym, sending mages to Ordelia and, in Hubert and Hanneman's support, trying to concentrate power on himself and remove certain privileges they had) so, in a game filled with unreliable narrators, Supreme Leader herself is one of the most biased ones out there.

Granted, her line about "the future of the empire" and of "everything" comes from her dad, who also mentions he leaves "the country, no, Fodlan" to her in her coronation scene!

Don't worry about the artificial beasts, the topic will never be brought up ever again! Which is definitely a let down from previous FE titles when similar "units" were fought, but let's say the Fodlan verse is really averse to point out, hm, things that might make her look bad.

Crestless people can indeed use Relics as weapons, but iirc Rhea mentions they cannot unleash their power or something? Anyways, the Miklan transformation issue is sort of more developed through Marianne's ancestor (in VW) or through Catherine and Linhardt's supports, revealing, more or less, that they aren't safe to use even for crested units -

- Which makes total sense considering what Relics truly are, in a way...

I was always flabbergasted by the Imperial line - you want to make me believe Ionius was the only Emperor who got 11 siblings, so with them all dead Edel is the only one left? No cousins? Uncles? There's also the general "we don't give a fuck" about the imperial line being nearly wiped out - FE had this problem already but here in Adrestia it's even more jarring, at least in FE10 Tibarn asked Naesala about how he made such a jump in the inheritence line and was picked as the next King, but for her?

As for why Billy was near her room in that support, iirc people noticed in the jp version we have a yobai joke - and the game tries to hamfist the "luf story" between Billy and Edel, so...

Finally past the Eagle Lion Battle, so we're going into the escalation slope toward White Clouds endgame.

Oof, it took me a long while to keep playing... What can I say, I do not care much about the Eagles or Edelgard. Though I will admit, her B support did make me more interested. It was very juicy.

Moving my liveblogging notes here, since otherwise Tumblr was giving me limit errors.

Edelgard B happens after the Lion-Eagle Battle, after she talks about wanting your guidance even after becoming Emperor, and how she's experienced fighting alongside others thanks to you.

Lots of interesting details here. Edelgard was born with a minor crest of Seiros, but "most" of her siblings didn't have any crest at all. They were imprisoned underground, beneath the palace, so now Edelgard sometimes longs for the feeling of the sun and the wind.

She states that the goal of the experiments was to create a "peerless emperor to rule Fodlan" which... is not likely to be what the Agarthans actually wanted and sure isn't what the prime minister and his gang would have have wanted, but it does provide some insight into Edelgard's belief she is destined to be Emperor, to reshape Fodlan, and just in general that she knows exactly what is the correct way forward, regardless of the cost.

The experiments involved "cutting open their very flesh." There were other subjects involved as well, who were "innocents" different from the siblings. Presumably, they didn't have crests at all? Or were they just not nobles? Or...?

Edelgard blames the prime minister and his "gaggle of nobles." They had the empire under their thumb and her father (heroically) tried to stop them but was ultimately powerless. This is not entirely accurate, since the start of the Insurrection was Hrym trying to LEAVE the empire, which is quite different from the implied noble cabal controlling the empire ruinously. Additionally, since Lysithea was experimented on due to Ordelia trying to help Hrym, which wouldn't align with this nobles vs emperor setup... yup, this stuff doesn't add up if you know the lore already, but it does present a certain image if you're going in blind.

Edelgard also has a second crest, a crest of flames. She again shows it via a glowing sigil in her hand, which makes me wonder what the crest analyzer is for.

Edelgard somewhat makes it sound like she has some survivor's guilt about her family and others having their lives traded for her existence (as the peerless emperor) and that she wants to make their deaths have meaning by fulfilling this purpose and then changing the world so this kind of atrocity will never happen again... but this will not align with her later actions. What she does is attack the church, which is notably absent in this entire discussion.

Note also how she continues to use artificial beasts the entire war through, which are created through human experimentation. All of them are people sacrificed in the same way her siblings were, but Edelgard keeps using them anyway.

Next section is Remire, where I'm curious to see what Flame Emperor says specifically. Like, did Edelgard not know they were going to be making artificial beasts out of people? What did she think the Agarthans were going to be doing with Flayn's blood when she "loaned" Jeritza to them? What kind of support was she expecting from them, given that they are absolutely key to giving her the power to conquer the continent?

Other live blogging notes:

Rhea directly says that the Crestless can still use Relics as weapons, so this point is not a secret.

A lot of Knights are away still dealing with the Western Church, which is why we have to go help with Miklan.

Edelgard plays up that Byleth can now take on the most elite forces of the Empire and the Church, including other Relics.

Edelgard C: We randomly hear her having a nightmare. Why are we walking around the second floor where the student rooms are in the middle of the night? AND if the walls and doors are so thin, that's... gonna be real funny, given how many people have nightmares around here. I wonder if Hilda, who is on one side of Edelgard, polite keeps her mouth shut about the moaning and shouting?

Edelgard being fully dressed here is funny.

tbh I will give them this: I do not recall what Claude's C was about. This is probably more memorable.

Edelgard says she had 10 siblings, eight older and two younger. They all became crippled by disease or lost their minds and died. Now they're all dead.

Edelgard says the nightmares are a reminder to never allow such things to happen again. But note that she specifically continues to use monsters made out of humans all through the war. "Never allow sure terrible things to happen again" but only after you've made all the sacrifices you need to change the world.

Edelgard feels the future of the empire, of "everything," depends on her.

As noted, this is gated to getting the Sword of the Creator despite not having any mention of it (or Arundel/Thales) in the support itself. So Edelgard will only open up to you after you demonstrate your potential as a world-changing powerhouse.

Hubert C: He thinks Byleth would be intimidated? By him?? lol

During Month 8 exploration, one of the knights mentioned that after being dispatched to the Western Church, they're now being dispatched to the Eastern Church in Leicester. But why? He doesn't say. I'm trying to remember, is this the month when Judith shows up to drag Claude off for a bit?

Caspar: "You know what your problem is, Edelgard? You always have to make everything about you." L M A O

Ashe was adopted by Lonato when he was 9 years old. He's 16 now. So this was seven years ago. But from what I recall, this would put it before Tragedy of Duscur, and before Christophe was executed. Hum, I hadn't realized that...

iirc, there was less emphasis on "Crests shouldn't dictate anyone's destiny, forsaken by the Goddess who now demands his execution" on VW.

Miklan has two sets of reinforcements come in, which I guess should indicate that he's smarter than he looks.

I need to psyche myself up to say no to Rhea. I don't even want the stupid lance, but I wanna see the dialogue.

Huh. The dialogue wasn't very interesting, since I have Sylvain. He just steps in immediately.

"Crests are to blame for this brutal, irrational world we live in." Hm. In what sense? It sucked for Miklan, but the only other things we've seen are related to Lonato (no Crests) and the Western Church (Relics, maybe, but no Crests).

"Their power is only granted to a select few, whom we elevate and allow to rule the world." Big hm. Brigit and Dagda attacked the Empire and they have no crests. How do we interpret that?

If we remove Crests, people will "have no choice but to rise and fall by their own merits," but hum, this seems a very isolated issue. I don't think Crest-related shenanigans even came up during VW at all. We're blaming the Church on both sides, but for very different things.

Edelgard says her power alone is insufficient, that's why she's borrowing power from the Agarthans. But if she can get Byleth instead... She wants to reach out her hand :( Still, it's very hard to take her seriously, given that there isn't really a solid foundation underneath all this vague talk.

Hubert directly says he doesn't care so much about obeying Edelgard and will just directly take care of things himself lol. Tsk, tsk, a bad retainer.

Dimitri says he searched the entire monastery already on the first week of explore. He's so diligent...

Battle with the Death Knight after Flayn's kidnapping is where the Flame Emperor first appears to the team and introduces herself. Byleth smiles for the first time after rescuing Flayn.

Jeralt mentions that strange groups have been seen around the monastery and elsewhere since the Rite of Rebirth and that knights investigating them turned up dead. These could have been Agarthans, but I don't get the impression that they travel in groups, and it seems unlikely to be Western Church remnants, since those are talked about more directly. So by elimination, it should be Edelgard's forces?

Jeralt is dispatched to the Kingdom during month 10

There's no direct path between the Empire and the monastery. The only way there is via the Alliance, over the Airmid River, and only then into the Empire. Which makes it even more puzzling what Edelgard spends two weeks doing during the invasion. Does Gloucester let her through...? Believable, given what he's like.

Sylvain's paralogue: His father ordered him to come put down the remains of Miklan's band of thieves, who have been causing trouble in Gautier territory. He was specifically told to go alone with no backup. It's interesting because it's always a bit hard to tell what the in-universe power levels are supposed to be like, separate from the game mechanics where you can do the entire game on solo.

His "hopefully things in Faerghus will get better once we get Dimitri on the throne" reads a bit weird when he's changed houses and isn't even with Dimitri anymore.

Ingrid's paralogue... feels really weird because I have literally never seen Dorothea and Ingrid interact. If they were going to lean into the yuri vibes this much, they should have gated it behind a support rank.

Gronder Field is in Caspar's family territory, and they grow a lot of grain there.

Lorenz charges off to take the central fort, with the archery installation, and the rest of the Golden Deer move to support him. Blue Lions stay put until you approach.

Edelgard jokes about the Empire and the Kingdom going to war, but Dimitri is troubled by the idea. Her overall casual tone about all this is... interesting, given that she's in the middle of arranging the outbreak of war and already tried to have the other two house leaders killed.

After the feast, Edelgard starts buttering up to Byleth, about how she enjoys and desires their guidance.

She sees becoming Emperor as her destiny and is certain that she will fulfill it.

The villagers started acting strangely already in this month, immediately after Flayn's kidnapping.

Thinking of it, the next month being called "red wolf moon" with the description that the setting sun colors the coats of the prowling wolves a foreboding red... sure is evocative. I wish the month names and the calendar in general were better integrated.