#she fought in the War of the Magi

[cosmicharm]

We shall reunite again. Do not fear, take my hand.

[griffinswitch]

Some headcanons for Griffin, Faragonda and Saladin

I have some headcanons about Saladin, Griffin and Faragonda. All three of them have been "cursed" (not cursed per se, I'm using the word 'curse' as a metaphor for their trauma) during the Company of Light era.

Saladin prides himself in his powerful abilities as a wizard, especially in his strength.

When the time came to face a battle between the Ancestral Witches and their minions during one of the Company of Light’s missions, one of them cursed him to age quickly, which heavily affected his height too, causing him to shrink. It took him a while to adjust to his condition, but despite his curse, he is still able to retain the potency of his magical abilities with some limitations that comes with being cursed, which Valtor in Season 3 insinuates that he is the weakest (obvs he is far from that!) among the three points of magic.

With Faragonda, being able to have better control of her powers is one of the most important things to her. For most part of her childhood up to her early teenage years, she struggled understanding herself and her powers. Growing up from a family of witches and wizards, she was born a witch and because she was unable to control her powers (thanks to the pressure from her parents), despite the help of Griffin when they were younger, she decided to transfer from Cloud Tower to Alfea to become a fairy.

When she switched schools, it had caused a slight rivalry and bitterness between her and Griffin since light magic is the more socially acceptable type of magic. By channeling positive emotions, it has helped her manage and understand her powers better. This also led to an interest in teaching herself convergence at Alfea (which she teaches in the series), particularly converging with dark magic users. With Faragonda's own research in convergence with light and dark magic to fight the forces of evil, she had hoped it would bridge the gap between fairies and witches (especially from Alfea and Cloud Tower), hoped it would bring her and Griffin together like they once were and hoped it would help the Council understand that light and dark can work in unison, and that dark magic users are important to the balance of magic. I'll expand on Faragonda's role, powers and background in my CoL fic later on. Similar to Griffin's own research in my headcanons for her.

Anyway, during Faragonda’s mission to rescue Griffin from the Ancestral Witches' lair in Obsidian, everything was going to plan when Faragonda found herself in a trap set by one of the members from the Wizards of the Black Circle, Yllidith (a character from the comics who we do not see in the show). Long story short, Yllidith plucked Faragonda’s wings in front of Griffin (who was magi-cuffed at the time, also tied to her fate, so she couldn't access her powers as she watched in horror). Hagen and Saladin both came to their rescue and fought off the wizard and other beings of evil. And with all the strength she had left, Faragonda opened a portal and teleported them back to safety despite being severely wounded. Even with the help of her Enchantix fairy dust or any fairy who was at Enchantix level, there had been no cure in growing her fairy wings back.

However, since witches don't need wings to fly, Griffin taught Faragonda to fly with a LOT of trial and error + it had taken Faragonda years to heal from losing her wings. She also had gotten a little better at channeling her negative emotions but she was still better suited as a fairy and was at her best with transmitting positive emotions despite being wingless.

Griffin’s curse is thanks to Valtor for her betrayal during their final encounter with one another. He has cursed her to never know peace. Anything she holds dear somehow gets taken away from her, even momentarily and she's in a constant state of chaos, also most likely from her PTSD from the war(s). (Faragonda helps Griffin cope with and manage her curse, they both do!)

Cloud Tower (CT) is one of the things she holds dear because it is her safe space, not only for herself or the many objects (some rare, dangerous and ancient relics) that is home to it but also for her students who she deeply care for.

The times when CT was invaded by the Trix and with them being related to the Ancestral Witches (AW), you can imagine how triggering it was for her, especially when she’s worked incredibly hard to make sure CT is a school where witches of dark magic can learn how to control their powers for good and help fight evil. She fears that, with the Trix being in control of CT, history might repeat itself and cause an army of dark magic users who uses their powers for evil causing an imbalance in magic.

And let’s not forget when Valtor took control of CT and her students, it had really caused her dearly. He even sent her to prison in her own school, a cruel way to face her punishment for betraying him all those years ago. He had hoped she'd rot in her prison cell for eternity, to be a prisoner of her own mind from her grief and guilt, the same way he did when he was trapped in the Omega Dimension. (Of course, we know what canonically happened in Season 3).

[asksythe]

Commed. Artist: Duckie Beam

I want to write a post-FGO dark romance Oberon/Ritsuka story featuring Single-Dad!Oberon and Dead-Mom!Ritsuka.

It's my third attempt at writing a dark romance story, with different interpretations of dark and the characters themselves. Out of the three attempts so far, this one seems to have excited @erimies the most. I get why. It's my most poetic so far.

I have given it a name...

Apple, Apple in the Skies

The story is styled around gothic fairy tales and dark nursery rhymes, in which Oberon effectively becomes a single dad to a flock of terrorist children, all of whom remind him of the woman he loves, who hurt him beyond anything he has ever known in his thousands of years of existence. The children are feral little gremlins born of Riri's flesh and Oberon's heart.

The plot goes something like this:

Ritsuka Fujimaru's journey ends. The world is saved and humanity is secured, but she herself dies. She dies not in battles but at the hands of the very mages she saved, who go after her to make her a subject to study and harvest.

Oberon watches it all go down, watches Ritsuka being butchered by the people she fought for. And there's not a thing he can do about it.

Centuries pass. Humanity is now stagnating, trying to break into the Age of Wills and failing. Some secret components are missing.

The mages of the future believe the key to their ascension lies with the Last Master of Humanity. Examining the impossible miracles she performed and her extraordinary link with the heroic spirits, they believe she accidentally and unknowingly created a doorway between flesh and blood humans and ether-liner existences (ala Age of Wills humans).

If only they had the still-living specimen to experiment with! But alas! The foolish, wasteful, and shortsighted mages of the past already wasted such prime research materials! They cut her up into pieces and used her body as reagents for frivolous projects. And when those projects failed, they paraded her body around as trophies. A lock of hair here. An eyeball there, pickled in primordial juice. The hand with the command codes still in tact. Pieces of skin and teeth and some pulled nails with the crusted blood still stuck to them.

The petty king of some nation boasts of having her entire preserved spleen as house decor. What wasteful, gross misconduct as magi researchers!! Now their descendants have no more of the prime original materials to work with.

But needs must. So several wars break out in order for different groups to claim the remains of Riri's preserved body.

They start experimenting with these parts. One group has a success, using the hand with the command codes, they create a genetic clone of Riri, and then use this clone as catalyst in a summoning ritual, hoping to call forth a rare extra class servant.

Oberon answers the call, and, of course, promptly massacres all the mages and steals the cloned child away. In no time at all, Oberon susses out the existence of other research cells carrying out their own attempts at cloning the original Last Master. He goes after them, hitting them guerilla style and stealing any successful clones they manage to create.

The story is propelled forward by Oberon's desperate drive to free all the little morsels of Riri and the human's efforts to corner him. The mages are fascinated with Oberon's devotion to Ritsuka even after her death and the cessation of their contract.

.

.

.

I want to examine the layers of Oberon in this scenario. He's such a fascinating and complex character. I just can't help but want to play with such a well-written and designed character. I want to see how far he will stretch and bend, see if I can break and remold him and make it convincing somehow! Ergo... why this story idea goes to such dark places.

I want to explore the trauma of having to see the one existence he loves be butchered and he himself is completely helpless, incapable of doing a single thing. Then I want to explore the whorls of his warped feelings upon hearing that impossible, familiar call all the way in the Throne of Heroes, and then rushing to answer that call only to see the flesh of the woman he loves be used to make a walking, talking facsimile of her.

How does he feel when he looks upon the cloned child bearing her eyes and her face and her hand upon which the command codes are emblazoned? What does he think when he decides to steal the child away with him into the night?

It's Ritsuka but it's not Ritsuka. It's some child who is the physical manifestation of Ritsuka's violation at the hands of the mages. But this child will grow up to look exactly like Ritsuka, and maybe one day she will look at Oberon exactly like Ritsuka did centuries ago when he first fell into this horrifying, inescapable abyss called love.

His feelings for Ritsuka would be warped too, because how can it not in the face of Oberon's suffering over the centuries after her passing? He loves her but he doesn't trust her. Because she has shown before that she can't be trusted with her own safety.

He loves her. He wants her to be happy. He doesn't trust her. He can't let her leave. He clips her wings and tells her to stay forever. Oberon as a character should be aware of his own misplaced, warped feelings. He's too internally conscious not to. But being conscious doesn't mean he can do anything about it. Like how he was in LB6, laughing at himself in the end.

Once more, Oberon chases after an ephemeral dream forever out of his reach. She is gone, and they will never meet. He doesn't even get to hold her and take her into the abyss with him in her final moment like he said he would. All of that repressed yearning and how did it end up? He's once more stuck in hell of a different kind.

My plan is that eventually, Oberon resolves to treat the clones as Ritsuka's children. He tries to teach the cloned children what he believes the original Riri should have known. He teaches them to fight, to survive, to run away, to scheme and deceive, to be ruthless. He believes this is what Riri should have done to avoid her grisly fate, but even when he talks of her in his barbed way to the children who never know her, slivers of the woman he loves come through.

The Riri clones all possess the ability to see right through Oberon, just like the original Riri.

The story becomes Sad single-dad Oberon rearing a flock of feral children as they go about terrorizing the mages and detonating all of their research facilities, stealing away more clones and any morsels of the original Riri's body.

.

.

.

The ending is fairly straightforward. Oberon is cornered by the mages. At the end of the day, a masterless servant against the totality of the mage's resources is not a fair fight. Oberon makes a production out of his own death, a fitting exit for a Fairy King / Terminal Device. But in doing so, he makes sure his flock is grown and strong and escapes the mage's eyes after the final battle.

The children take his lesson to heart. They lie. They scheme. They deceive. They are ruthless just as he wants them to. And they survive just like he wants them to. They disguise themselves and slip into the great mass of humanity. They infiltrate human governance and magi high society. They avenge their fallen father and mother.

Yep, the clones are children of Ritsuka's flesh and Oberon's heart. Imagine a flock of feral gremlins with Ritsuka's determination and insight into human hearts but with Oberon's social savvy, ruthlessness, and sheer brain power. Now imagine them all on a roaring rampage of revenge for their father and mother. Not only will they slaughter all the mages and anyone having to do with their parent's death, they will suborn the mage's great project itself.

.

.

.

The finale of the story is the scene where all the now grown-up children come together to witness the pinnacle of their achievement. Having suborned the mage's dream to propel humans toward the age of wills, they carry it out in a way they think their mother would have liked.

More than that, using their combined knowledge and the magi tech after centuries of mesing around with servant summoning and splicing human genes, they find the heroic spirit Ritsuka Fujimaru and create an interlock binding between her and the terminal device Oberon Vortigern.

No good children want to see their parents separated in such a tragedy, don't they? So of course, after avenging them, the children would make it a goal to reunite mother and father.

The children are clones of Riri, but they are not Riri. They each hold a piece of her, so they instinctively know what she would have liked and the guilt she bears, knowing what happens to Oberon once she passes away. It is a regret so strong it persists even after she dies.

.

.

.

I have 2 endings in mind:

Ending 1: the sad ending. Oberon gets his wish of 'dying together' with Ritsuka as their saint graphs are merged into one.

Ending 2: the earn your happy ending. the children incarnate Oberon and Ritsuka into 'new age-of-will human' bodies. They have a second chance at life, growing up together. Final scene of this ending would b tiny Oberon and tiny Ritsuka playing in an orchard in space and falling asleep underneath the shade of an apple tree. This is Erimies' preferred ending!

.

.

.

Some lines from reborn Oberon's perspective in the second ending.

"I want to pull your pigtails and push you on the swing, laugh at you for being clumsy, and skinning your knees while patching you up. What a crybaby you are, never leave me again."

.

.

I also wrote nursery rhymes for this story!

Apple, apple on the tree,

Whisper secrets, dark and free.

Shadows dance in moonlit night.

Lonely branches weep for thee.

Beneath the branches, children play.

In the orchard, lost their way.

Apple, apple on the tree.

Hold our childhood's reverie.

Leaves have fallen, seasons passed,

Memories of joy don't last.

Apple, apple in the skies,

Silent witness to goodbyes.

Ah, still pretty rough. They need polishing for sure. But I like some verses and how they sound.

If I ever get around to writing this, I would like to commission an HTML skin for AO3 so that readers will read the story like they are reading the pages of an old fairy tale book.

Something like this, probably.

[warlocks-and-phoenixes]

Shad & the Shadow Lord // The Gods & the Beginning

Post-War of the Magi,

the Divine Warriors have pretty much broken up. Menphia has gone back to Corsa, Kulzak & Enki have gone…somewhere, Esmound remains with Irene on their island as basically the head guard of the city, her personal knight, the headmaster of Ru’aun’s greatest guard academy, and they're both the de facto co-lords. The world is still reeling from the War.

Irene, at least from an outside view, permanently sacrificed her “humanity” (re: her emotions) as the cost for the spell that they used to banish the Shadow Lord. She spends the next decades detached, never fully present; to her friends it’s heartbreaking, to the outside world it solidifies their image of her as a deity. Inside, she is grieving.

Decades pass. Menphia dies. Enki and Kulzak die. Esmound dies.

And Irene is left there. She hasn’t aged a day since her thirtieth birthday. Hyria is there, but…but Hyria is becoming detached in her own way. They planted a forest once. None of it was enough.

Irene has had a lot of time to think. She thinks back to the times she fought Shad one-on-one. He didn’t look at her like he had for decades prior. He didn’t fight like himself. He didn’t talk like himself. He’d never ever do any of the things their enemy did.

Irene starts meditating in a cave far above the city. Her whole life, she’s had this recurring dream. A dream where she is a child sitting in a field, idly playing with the grass and flowers. Beside her sits a figure, a much larger figure. She’s never been sure if it’s because the figure is an actual giant or if it’s because she is much smaller. The figure was covered in a billowing shroud of solid white.

There was a quiet, whispered moment one night, when Irene had gotten so used to sleeping on the ground while traveling that she couldn’t sleep in the cushioned beds in O’Khasis. Shad had heard her tossing, and he’d brought his own blankets and pillows into her room, laid them out on the hard floor and offered her the place beside him—just like the way they slept on the road.

That was when she’d told him about the dream. That was when he admitted to having a similar one; except instead of grass it was sand, and the figure was cloaked in black instead of white. He admitted to her, in a voice she could barely hear even inches away, that as a child he’d pretended to himself that the figure was the father he couldn’t remember.

Irene had spent many days and nights in Enki’s study and the library he’d co-founded for the city. She found what she thought felt a little like joy when she pored over all the things he’d left behind when he and his husband set out to the world. He’d had some books on the classical gods and their favor to the Torvan people, granting many of them blessings or choosing champions, but from the state of the pages it seemed he never read much of them.

Enki had spent so many years driving himself in circles trying to understand why they were…them. Irene was pretty sure she’d made the castle guards’ hearts jump when she’d laughed—no, cackled when she figured it out. He’d had these books sitting just a few shelves away from his desk. He’d have figured it out far sooner than her if he’d only known where to try.

“I know you’re there.” She whispered to the wind and candlesmoke one day. She’d been meditating for months, but now she was confident enough to try.

The wind remained silent the first minute. Then the next. Irene said it again. Then she remembered something the books had said, and she invoked the being’s name the third time.

Irene felt her heart flutter. The candles brightened. The small dregs of life growing in the cave perked up and grew, just a small bit.

The white-veiled Goddess of Life loomed behind her.

Medica called her child. Irene asked if what she theorized was true. Medica said it was, with a few corrections which she didn’t give. Irene asked if she would ever join her friends in…the beyond. Medica said no, that was not how this worked. Irene asked if that had really been Shad.

The candles blew out. The cave dropped at least twenty degrees. The life inside shied away, and Irene shivered.

“No. It was not.” The black-shrouded God of Death answered.

Irene asked if Her Shad was still out there somewhere. The Gods said…maybe. Their vision of him had been…blurred, ever since the abomination took hold of him.

Irene asked if it was possible to find him. The Gods said maybe.

Irene asked if they could make a deal. The Gods said yes, but on conditions.

This world was going to need its warriors again. And if Irene did this, then she couldn’t come back.

They told her that they could give her until then. Until the world called her back.

The staff Irene gave to her last friend was the staff that Medica had carried. To plant this staff in the ground would be to call Irene back to it. But…to pull a soul back to the mortal world without warning, to drag it back from the Between, it had consequences. Irene likely would loose herself in the return. This was something she was willing to give up. Her soul would also be split, as with the rest of those caught in the cycle of reincarnation. Her other half would await her next self in a safe place worthy of its power over the world. This, she also understood.

She gave the staff to Hyria and told her to place it in the ground when the world needed her again.

She left the amulet Shad had given her on the pedestal of the meeting hall in the center of the Warriors’ Keep. A place that would later be mistaken as a cathedral. Then, she followed Medica and Obitus to what which lay beyond.

The Astral Sea was the first place to search. This was the realm of the Wyverns; her friends for much time now. It was the place all souls went after death and before the Aether. It was the transitional place, and if Shad had died then his soul could possibly have been lost here.

It wasn’t.

They did not bother with the Aether; Obitus knew every spirit who passed through his Gates.

There were many places in what her and Shad’s patrons called The Between. Folds between the layers, walls between the spaces. The muddled middle between the physical and the spiritual. Irene was willing to scour every part of it if it meant she could find the last thing she had left. Obitus said that, if nothing had happened, Shad was supposed to be immortal too. She’d wondered that; while her other friends aged with the decades, he hadn’t, just like her. If nothing had happened, they could’ve mourned their golden age together. They could’ve laid their friends to rest, together. They could’ve guided the world, together. They could’ve waited for the next reincarnations that Medica spoke so vaguely of, together.

Time held no bearing in the Between. An eternity felt like an instant. Medica and Obitus protected her and gave her the will to transcend the planes. Her resolve never faltered; she’d search each and every one, she would find out what really happened to him and she would—

She felt her feet land on a shore. She looked down, and saw her bare feet up to her ankles in reflective water. She looked up, and the sky was pitch black. In front of her was an island. The grass was dead, and a broken, withered tree rose up in the center. In the strange darkness, she practically glowed in her white robes and aura of Medica’s protection.

Sitting among the roots, with a black cloak hugged around him and his back against the tree trunk, was the face Irene prayed to find every time she found a new place to search.

That was the first time in decades, and then however long she’d spent in this place, that she felt something in her chest. Something with weight. Her eyes blurred with water but he didn’t go away. He stared at her with disbelief in his own eyes.

Nothing was ever said. But after a moment of staring, they both ran towards each other.

Irene made it three steps out of the water, and half-way to Shad, before she felt the gravity of a thousand suns pulled her back. In an instant she was being pulled away. Light engulfed her. She felt her body slam down against a forest floor. The breath was knocked out of her lungs. The last word she uttered was a desperate cry of his name; the last thing she heard was his voice calling for her with the same hopeful despair.

All she could see was light. A striking pain shot through her mind, and she felt herself fade from consciousness. “It is time.” She swore she heard Medica’s voice before she let the light take her.

When the woman opens her eyes, she’d see a forest and the sky of dawn. An hour after, a man in guard armor would ask for her name. She’d panic, and then for a reason she couldn’t remember, she would answer with Aphmau.

TLDR: i made thought of a way better reason in my rewriteverse for Irene’s disappearance and reemergence as Aphmau.

Medica, Obitus, and the rest of the pantheon beautifully handcrafted by @pumpkinprincess22. Rose I seriously wasn’t lying when I said this stuff solved every problem and filled every empty I space I had

Special thanks to @aph-cronch and @kurithedweeb for their enthusiasm <3 <3 @cinnamontoastcroonch I’m tagging you too just cause you fuel me so well

[solartale-officiel]

SolarTale Personnage #7 : Solar!Undyne

Backstory

Undyne est née un peu avant la guerre entre les humains et les monstres, elle avait une dizaine d'années. Elle a donc connu les horreurs de la guerre et les pertes tragiques provoquées par celle-ci comme la mort de sa famille.

Depuis petite, elle rêvait de rejoindre la garde royale et de protéger son peuple et lorsqu'elle perdit sa famille, ce désir ne fera que grandir. Undyne vivait donc seule en tentant de survivre comme elle pouvait en temps de guerre pendant quelques années.

Alors qu'elle grandit dans cet environnement misérable, elle tente plusieurs fois de rejoindre l'armée des monstres sans pour autant avoir l'autorisation. Cette obstination sera remarquée par le roi Asgore qui, en prenant conscience de sa situation, finit par la prendre sous son aile pour l'entraîner.

Undyne devient plus forte, développe sa magie et entre dans l'armée mais les monstres étaient déjà bien trop affaiblis par la guerre et il était temps de l'abandonner pour le bonheur de ceux-ci. Undyne était dépitée de ne pas avoir pu suffisamment faire ses preuves mais n'avait d'autres choix que de se plier aux décisions de son roi et de rejoindre l'Underground.

Undyne ne perd pas autant sa détermination, elle continue de s'entraîner sans relâche jusqu'à gravir les échelons de la garde royale et devenir capitaine, protégeant l'Underground des dangers.

Après plusieurs années de paix dans l'Underground, Alphys, scientifique et ingénieur, tente de contrôler l'Underground grâce à son armée de robots pour prendre la place du roi et se venger des humains. Undyne s'est battue vaillamment contre elle pour protéger tous les habitants et c'est après un long combat contre Alphys, qu'elle finit avec un oeil en moins. Néanmoins, elle réussit à la battre et l'enfermer dans une cellule.

Undyne was born around ten years before the war between humans and monsters. She has therefore experienced the horrors of war and the tragic losses it has caused, such as the death of her family.

Ever since she was a child, she had dreamed of joining the Royal Guard and protecting her people, and when she lost her family, this desire only grew stronger. So Undyne lived on her own, trying to survive as best she could in wartime for a few years.

Growing up in this miserable environment, she tried several times to join the monster army, but was not allowed to. Her stubbornness was noticed by King Asgore, who became aware of her situation and eventually took her under his wing to train her.

Undyne grew stronger, developed her magic and joined the army, but the monsters were already far too weakened by the war and it was time to abandon her for the sake of the monsters. Undyne was disappointed that she had not been able to prove herself sufficiently, but had no choice but to bow to her king's decisions and join the Underground.

Undyne did not lose her determination, however, and continued to train relentlessly until she rose through the ranks of the royal guard and became captain, protecting the Underground from danger.

After several years of peace in the Underground, Alphys, a scientist and engineer, is trying to control the Underground with his army of robots to take the place of the king and take revenge on the humans. Undyne fought valiantly against Alphys to protect all the inhabitants, and it was only after a long battle with Alphys that she ended up with one eye missing. Nevertheless, she managed to defeat her and lock her in a cell.

Capacité

Manipulation de lances : Undyne peut faire apparaître des lances où elle le souhaite, celles-ci peuvent changer de couleur ce qui change leurs effets. Cyan : Normal ; Violette : Tête chercheuse ; Orange : Explosive ; Verte : Paralyse l'adversaire ; Jaune : Change de sens à volonté. Elle peut modifier leur taille.

Force prodigieuse : Suite à ses nombreuses années d'entraînement, elle possède un corps très résistant et une grande force et endurance.

Queue puissante : Undyne possède une queue qui peut frapper très fort ses adversaires ou trancher grâce aux lames qu'elle possède aux extrémités du bout. Elle est née avec et a donc une grande aisance à l'utiliser.

Vision accrue : Undyne a une vision plus développée que la moyenne, voyant plus loin. Elle voit aussi bien dans l'eau qu'à la surface.

Maîtrise de la nage : Étant un monstre aquatique, elle possède une grande maîtrise de la nage et peut se déplacer très vite dans l'eau

Manipulation de l'eau : Elle possède une maîtrise de l'eau, bien qu'assez peu développée. Elle peut la déplacer ou former quelque chose avec tant que de l'eau se trouve à proximité. Ses lances l'aident aussi à la maîtrise de l'eau

Détection de vibration : Elle peut détecter les vibrations dans l'eau ou sur le sol, lui permettant de repérer des personnes les yeux fermés.

Spear manipulation: Undyne can make spears appear wherever she wants. They can change colour, which changes their effects. Cyan: Normal; Violet: Seeking head; Orange: Explosive; Green: Paralyses opponent; Yellow: Changes direction at will. She can change their size.

Prodigious strength: As a result of her many years of training, she has a highly resistant body and great strength and endurance.

Powerful tail: Undyne has a tail that can strike opponents hard or slice through them with the blades at the tip. She was born with it and is therefore very comfortable using it.

Enhanced vision: Undyne has better than average vision, seeing further. She can see in the water as well as on the surface.

Swimming skills: As an aquatic monster, she has great swimming skills and can move very quickly through the water.

Water handling: She can handle water, although not very well. She can move it or form something with it as long as water is nearby. Her spears also help her with waterbending.

Vibration detection: She can detect vibrations in the water or on the ground, enabling her to spot people with their eyes closed.

Caractère

Undyne est du genre à être constamment énergique et empli d'une forte détermination dans tout ce qu'elle entreprend. Grâce à cela, elle va toujours plus loin, dépassant ses limites, c'est comme cela qu'elle a eu la volonté de devenir toujours plus forte et de devenir capitaine.

Elle aime se battre et s'entraîner, ne refusant que très rarement un combat. Elle pense aussi beaucoup à son peuple, elle cherche à les protéger au péril de sa vie. Undyne pense aussi beaucoup au regard des autres, ne voulant jamais décevoir ceux qu'elle protège ainsi que son roi.

Undyne is the type of person who is constantly energetic and full of determination in everything she undertakes. That's how she always pushes herself further, pushing herself beyond her limits, and that's how she got the will to become even stronger and become captain.

She loves fighting and training, rarely turning down a fight. She also thinks a great deal about her people, seeking to protect them at the risk of her life. Undyne also thinks a lot about the way others look at her, never wanting to disappoint those she protects or her king.

Physique

Undyne est un monstre aquatique, un monstre qui possède des propriétés de poisson. Sa couleur de peau est bleu clair, ses cheveux sont rouges et assez longs, coiffés avec une queue de cheval. Ses yeux sont sombres et elle possède deux oreilles en forme de nageoire bleu avec des bords rouges. Elle a des dents blanches et pointues et un cache oeil au niveau de son oeil gauche. Undyne possède des écailles bleu foncé assez solides sur ses épaules et la surface de sa queue, elle a des branchies rouges au niveau des hanches. Sa queue est longue et tranchante sur les côtés. Elle a aussi des anneaux d'écume au cou, au poignet et au début de sa queue.

Elle porte généralement un débardeur sombre avec des espaces sans tissus au niveau des hanches pour laisser les branchies visibles et un jean. Sinon, elle porte aussi son armure lorsqu'elle travaille en garde royale

Undyne is an aquatic monster with fish-like properties. Her skin is light blue and her hair is red and quite long, styled in a ponytail. Her eyes are dark and she has two blue fin-shaped ears with red edges. She has sharp white teeth and an eye patch over her left eye. Undyne has fairly solid dark blue scales on her shoulders and the surface of her tail, and red gills on her hips. Her tail is long and sharp at the sides. She also has foam rings on her neck, wrist and at the beginning of her tail.

She usually wears a dark tank top with gaps at the hips to leave the gills visible, and jeans. Otherwise, she also wears her armour when working in the Royal Guard.

[neomedievalistbr]

BAD GAY SEX SWEEP !!!!

thank you nero, im gonna use your ask as a sacrifice. anyways, lemme tell you abt father kirei kotomine.

so in fate, theres this thing called the holy grail war, a war where 7 magi summon servants, heroic spirits of ppl who were marked down in history, and fight for the holy grail to get their wish granted. with that explained, lets talk abt kirei

kirei was "born wrong". dude could not feel happiness from anything deemed normal, and could experience genuine happiness from making others suffer. all his life he tried to ignore that part of him, even becoming a priest so he could be all righteous and marrying (ignore that priests cant get married). his wife was sick tho and ended up dying, but she tried so hard to fix kirei that in her deathbed she was happy hc she thought kirei was crying bc she was dying, when in fact he was crying bc he couldnt kill her.

anyways, some times after that, kirei joins the 4th holy grail war on fuyuki city as a combatant, despite claiming he doesnt have a wish. there he learns of a man called kiritsugu emiya, who he believes to be just like him, and kirei wants kiritsugu to fix him. he also meets servant archer, gilgamesh, who is deeply amused by kireis deal and thinks he should actually just accept his true nature. they also have a really gay thing going on, like everytime they talk gil is laying in a couch, drinking wine, shirt unbottened, trying to fuck, while kirei is trying to be a good catholic.

anyways, A Lot happens, kiritsugu and kirei fight and their fight ends up activating the grail, which was corrupted, and ended up causing a fire on fuyuki that killed 500 ppl. kiritsugu killed kirei, got cursed by the grail and set out to find someone, anyone who survived the fire, and eventually found shirou and raised him as a son, and died after some years. kirei, meanwhile, was actually not dead bc the grail managed to keep him alive without a heart. he meets gilgamesh again, and now, having fought kiritsugu, he found the answer to his problem: he will accept the side of him that he suppressed for years

while kiritsugu saved shirou, there were other kids who survived, and they were adopted by kirei! unfortunately kirei is a sick bastard, and so he put the kids in the churchs basement and used them as batteries to keep gil alive (servants, while summoned, drain a Lot of mana, that is taken from the grail and the master. theres two ways to get mana as a servant: sex with your master or killing ppl and eating their souls. gil did Not need any of these bc the grail also got him and gave him a material body)

so kirei had an orphan basement. for 10 years. later the 5th grail war happens, shirou joins as a combatant and depending on the route, learns abt the basement.

kirei kept a basement full of orphans who could not die just to mentally torture ppl, bc hes a sick bastard.

tl;dr: kirei is a very sick bastard that fully embraced doing things for the bit and just became the worst person in the world

[leagueofgardens]

The Chairwoman of Yurigaoka

This is Yuyu and Riri's Schutzengel contract, which Riri proudly shows off in Episode 3 of Assault Lily: Bouquet. I don't think any English version of Bouquet translated it. If they had, it would say this at the bottom:

Witnesses Yurigaoka Girls' Academy Chairwoman—Takamatsu Shiera Yurigaoka Girls' Academy Acting Chairman—Takamatsu Kogetsu

Who's Takamatsu Shiera?

Let's find out.

The Battle of Antarctica

First, we need to talk about the Battle of Antarctica.

Actually, we know so little about it that "Battle" may not even be the right translation. It could have been a series of battles, or an entire war (the Japanese word is ambiguous.)

What we do know is that it happened before any of the Lilies currently in their first year of high school were born, so no later than 2036 (Bouquet volunteered the information with extreme reluctance, but the current year in it is 2052.) An Ultra-class Huge was spotted in Antarctica, so several thousand people went there to fight it.

In the end, less than 10% of those people survived. Nevertheless, the Battle of Antarctica was considered the first decisive conflict against the Huge, whatever that means. It might be because they won, or it might be because some equipment still being used in the present day (like the "Anti-Huge Weapons" used by Madecs) was first jury-rigged up in the field in Antarctica.

The survivors of Antarctica are world-famous heroes and still have strong bonds with one another. They included Tazusa's parents, Miriam's parents, a number of teachers and other staff at Yurigaoka, Takamatsu Kogetsu, and Takamatsu Shiera.

Antarctica is shown in a brief flashback in episode 11 of Bouquet. This is where the screenshot above is from.

Male CHARM Users

While it's not that relevant to the topic of Shiera, the list of survivors above might make you wonder what Tazusa's dad, Miriam's dad, and Kogetsu were doing in Antarctica. The answer is "fighting alongside the Lilies there." Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that they were Lilies (though we don't know if the term was in use yet at the time.)

If you have a really good memory, you might remember a passing mention of "Skiller Values" in episode 7 of Bouquet. Skiller Values are a measurement, on a scale of 0 to 100, of how effectively a person's body can channel magie. You need a Skiller Value of at least 50 to activate a CHARM and be a Lily. Lilies' Skiller Values go up to 98, and are commonly above 85 when they're in their prime.

Men sometimes have Skiller Values of 50 (but no higher, ever), and can activate CHARMs. A handful of sources call these "male Lilies," though it's more common for them to be called "male CHARM users." Some were present at Antarctica, including Kogetsu, and Tazusa's dad. Miriam's dad has a Skiller Value of 40 and couldn't use a CHARM, so he fought with the Anti-Huge Weapons built by an Arsenal named Debora, later Debora von Gropius (after the two of them came back from Antarctica and got married.)

Male CHARM users can't fight the tougher varieties of Huge effectively, nor use the Neunwelt Tactic at all, so eventually people stopped giving men CHARMs (they're really expensive to build after all.) But there was a time, early on, when men fought the Huge too.

Takamatsu Shiera

There are were no pictures of Shiera, so have another picture of Fumi instead for no reason

Sorry for the tangent. Let's get back on topic. Though the amount I can tell you about Shiera herself is somewhat limited.

Shiera is Kogetsu's older sister. She fought in Antarctica as a Lily. She has a Rare Skill called "Amatsukami" that to our knowledge no one else does; we don't even know what it does or if she's ever used it.

After Shiera returned from Antarctica, she and quite a few of the other survivors of Antarctica became staff members at Yurigaoka Girls' Academy. Yurigaoka already existed prior to this (it's existed since the Taisho era,) but it's unknown when it transitioned from being an ordinary girls' school into a Garden. It couldn't have been that much earlier than Antarctica itself, because the Huge only appeared around the year 2000.

Currently, Shiera is in poor health, and spends most of her time convalescing. Her brother Kogetsu, as the acting chairman of Yurigaoka, has been doing her job for the most part.

Shiera is a Boosted Lily, and she hates being one. In my previous blog post, I mentioned a Boosted Lily who said "I don't want anyone else to become like me"; that's Shiera. It's because of Shiera herself that Yurigaoka is anti-GEHENA to the point of breaking Lilies out of GEHENA labs. Some sources mention that, because she fought in Antarctica together with Tazusa's father, Shiera personally arranged for Tazusa to be rescued from GEHENA.

Like most Boosted Lilies, Shiera has a Boosted Skill. I mentioned that in my previous post, too:

Nosferatu, which causes a Lily to stop visibly aging and halts the decline of her magie capacity as well. Only one Lily has ever been given this Boosted Skill successfully.

Futagawa Fumi (she has a Twitter account where she tells us a lot of stuff) claims that she's seen Shiera before. According to Fumi, she looks like she's around twenty years old and is "beautiful, but has this super intimidating aura around her."

And that's pretty much all we know. She's still very mysterious, huh?

But I hope you found all this interesting.

(If you somehow ended up reading the original version of this post, check the reblogs for an important update.)

[jainaism]

About Jaina, Theramore and it's allies from RPG, narrated by Brann Bronzebeard.

The night elves

Now, the Third War wasn’t long ago, and a lot of them remember how many of Jaina’s brave soldiers fought by their sides, and realize they may well have lost the mountain without human help. Unfortunately, the humans in the Eastern Kingdoms prove to be an entirely different beast, and one that the night elves don’t appreciate as much. True, Jaina Proudmoore was an archmage, and the night elves have held a grudge against arcane magic users for centuries, but Jaina never gave them any reason to pause and think about it. With the new knowledge that corrupted human magi were responsible for much of the power of the Scourge, and that many humans still worship demons and the Old Gods, the night elves are more suspicious of humans they can’t keep their eyes on. It’s safe to say that most night elves would rally to Theramore’s defense and give their lives to save it from Onyxia, for example, but I suspect not nearly as many would answer the call if Nefarian came knocking on the doors of Stormwind. Realizing they needed help to survive in this new world and to oppose the Horde, which chose their continent as its new home, the night elves reluctantly joined the Alliance. Commerce began between Theramore and the night elves, as the two cultures shared values and ideas. Great trade emerges between Darnassus and Theramore, and other races now walk the night elves’ streets.

The high and half elves

The high elves are in dismal shape. A few high elf lodges still stand up near the Hinterlands and suchlike, but most of them fled to Stormwind or moved west with Jaina to Theramore. Some high elves still make names for themselves. Jah’Yani Sunscorch is a diplomat in Theramore. She keeps her eyes clear and watches the tides of power in Theramore move among its races. Then there is Kin Lighteye, a warrior who has tried to turn his back on the magic of his race, but cannot fully deny the addiction in his blood.

Unfortunately, the half-elves were left in a sorry state after the war. Jaina, ever the open-hearted one, brought many half-elf refugee families into Theramore. Despite the progressing nature of people’s thoughts, it wasn’t a popular decision. Not that the city hasn’t benefited from the half-elves’ presence; they’re hard workers with a lot of skills. Some appreciate that. However, enough people keep their distance from them on the streets that many half-elves have left Theramore to wander the wilds of Kalimdor.

I think what the half-elves would really like is a piece of land to call home, a half-elven country. Jaina Proudmoore, while sympathetic, has told them that until the truce stabilizes between the Alliance and the Horde, it’s unwise for any people to try to establish a homeland. It’s good advice, but not everyone is listening. Perhaps the majority are content to wait for their dream, but the course of history is rarely steered by the contented.

Jaina's character

The Lady of Theramore is one of the most respected leaders in the world, and with good reason. She’s one of the strongest diplomats, as well as a powerful mage. She seeks to maintain and strengthen the existing relationships between the Alliance races, and also end the hostilities with the Horde, so targets like the Scourge and the Burning Legion can be destroyed once and for all. Also on her agenda is finding King Varian of Stormwind, since he was on his way to visit her when he disappeared. Although she hasn’t shown it much, Jaina is deeply hurt by the death of her father, and she blames herself for being incapable of stopping it. Likewise, she feels she should have been able to stop Arthas’ descent into madness; and when the time comes, she hopes to put an end to the Lich King �� and her nightmares — with her own power. She has sacrificed nearly everything for her people. Regardless, she proves she has the strength to keep fighting, and she will likely play a major role in the war as it continues to evolve.

Politics

Each of the seven major human cities had different traditions, and Stormwind has become a melting pot of these ideas and customs, due to the sheer number of refugees from every part of the globe who have traveled there for safe haven. Theramore is even more interesting, because they have a good lot of dwarves and elves, too, so they come up with some crazy stuff — as communities that were created through the cooperation of multiple races, both “new” Stormwind and Theramore adapt, sometimes in unusual ways. For example, when I was in Theramore, I noticed a good number of humans and dwarves joining the night elves in a brief prayer or visit to a moonwell at moonrise. On an interesting note, humans seem to naturally mediate between the different races, and organize activities that may suit them all. In Theramore, you’ll see both high elves (albeit very few of them) and night elves — which is pretty strange, considering they haven’t been on speaking terms in oh, 10,000 years or so. Humans made that possible; they’re masters of diplomacy, which is both intriguing and annoying at the same time. There are both humans who use this to make everyone live happily ever after (such as Jaina Proudmoore), and those who use their political skills to turn people against each other (like Aiden Perenolde).

Now, I’m not saying the humans are completely inept; Bolvar leads his troops well, and he’s a great boon to us when he’s out in the field. That being said, humans traditionally lead the Alliance, and as a result of Lady Prestor’s intervention, proper human leadership has become impossible. See, she doesn’t seem to think the other races are necessary — she’d get along well enough with the likes of Fandral Staghelm, if she were an elf, or he were a human. I’ll get to Fandral later, though. The point is, while Lady Jaina Proudmoore has been uniting the Alliance’s races (and then some) on Kalimdor, the humans are doing a damn fine job of undoing the Alliance in the Eastern Kingdoms. Hell, it gets worse — Katrana won’t even allow the king to send reinforcements to human lands that desperately need it, such as Duskwood and the Redridge Mountains. Every report of enemy activity on those fronts is shot down for lack of “proof” — like our dead men and women aren’t good enough for her. There’s something deeply wrong with that lass. The end result of this situation is two-fold; one, the Alliance is stronger on Kalimdor than in the Eastern Kingdoms; and two, night elves are stepping in to lead where humans traditionally have in the past. By stronger, I don’t just mean in numbers — I mean we’re actually working together on Kalimdor, and that’s a rare sight in the east. This is leading to some level of resentment on all sides of things; even the gnomes seem a bit confused on who to listen to. Unfortunately, while the night elves are leading the Alliance and keeping it together politically (with some notable help from Jaina), they don’t seem to have anyone who excels in leading on the battlefield like humans used to.

Theramore is simply amazing to me, really. I mean, it’s in the middle of a swamp, and it seems like no one even notices the smell. But more importantly, the port proves extremely successful, and somehow they’re even finding usable fish (I wouldn’t touch ‘em with a twelve-foot-long rusty halberd, mind you) in all that gook. Sure, they’re on the ocean’s edge, but there’s just something unclean about that whole general area. Well, my pet peeves aside, they’re doing an outstanding job —when you think Alliance success in Kalimdor, think Theramore. It’s quite possibly the best example.

On a final note, Theramore is damn near perfect. We should strive to follow Jaina’s example — well, without the whole living in a stinkin’ swamp part. Jaina is perhaps the strongest human leader we’ve got left, but the poor lass can’t handle everything by herself. With Onyxia threatening to huff, puff, and blow her city down, Jaina has a lot to deal with. Fortunately, she has assistants — a scary night elf girl with a big hammer and a human archmage.

[talenlee]

Story Pile: Gideon The Ninth

Story Pile: Gideon The Ninth

Here’s the pitch; it’s a sci-fantasy magi-tech murder mystery story with sword fights and a ripped up muscle lesbian who wears makeup to look like a skull and mirrored sunglasses to look like a skull wearing mirrored sunglasses. Then with that kind of approach you’re left grappling with the question, okay, but how does it pull that off?

And the answer is with bombast and aplomb, two words that I think wouldn’t rate for this book’s love of linguistic particulars.

The first and most significant thing that Gideon The Ninth needs you to meet – well, no, the firs thing it needs you to meet is its protagonist who is introduced in one of the most efficient first paragraphs I’ve ever read that wasn’t cheating – but the next most significant thing is its world. The world of Gideon The Ninth is a vast, sprawling magical world, but the magic in question is necromancy. It’s not a world of fireballs and telepathy, but instead, a world where gristle and bone and tendons form the foundations of the fantastic behaviour. Wars are fought by drop ships deploying troops of meat to fight with swords, and however practical that is or is not is entirely an exercise left to other stories.

Something I like about this depiction of a world is its emptiness. It’s a necromantic galactic empire full of ancient traditions and millenia of infrastructural weight, but it’s also stretched out thin across that space, with a population so small that an entire planet can lose two hundred children in a single year and have it be effectively, an extinction event. While on the one hand, there’s this wonderful treatment of the empire as a corpse, there’s also a very material perspective on the world as a world of corpses. People care about bones and nails and the material resources of skeletons and undeath and souls and there’s a deep consideration for all the different ways in which understanding the dead is treated in magical worlds.

It’s a very clever, well-thought out universe, that by dint of using its thematic space like this, gets to blend together a creaky oldness and a desperate neediness, a respect for death and a clinging to life, all at once, told in the very methods of how people engage with the systems of the empire as a whole. It also means that this vast story gets to be about… like… twenty people.

Those people, then, are going to hold the story on their shoulders, and it is a good thing that Gideon the Ninth, our protagonist, has such amazing shoulders. I can just imagine people reading this book being mad at how she talks, the narrative language used to describe her, and her priorities, and how fantastically I don’t care that it bothers them.

Gideon is an angry young woman stuck in a rotten living environment on the edge of an empire with a friend group consisting of zero friends and one deeply hated enemy. The story starts with her attempting to escape and moves on to the next step of her concocting a new plan to escape that just so happens to involve her pretending to be that deeply hated enemy’s bodyguard and bestie as they’re both thrown into a version of that ‘mansion on a remote island’ mystery, except the island is also on a planet and the mansion is a dilapidated, forgotten ruin that’s been still for millenia.

Gunna level with you: Names in this one were hard for me up front. I appreciate that the book starts with a glossary of names, that’s great, but I also keenly felt how hard it was to flip back to that when I was reading on my phone. It’s a really interesting little material boundary on the way that ebooks and physical books differ, and who knows, I may wind up wanting a physical copy of this book. Lords knows I think it rules. I think the main characters rule. I think the way the plot is executed rules. I think the world rules. And maybe that’s a confluence of extremely specific factors, but I don’t know how to share that engagement without just listing things in the book, lines, quotes, character dynamics.

Everyone in this book is part of a wizard-and-retainer combo pair. A bunch of them are really hot. There’s multiple twists. There’s a point where a librarian headbutts someone. There’s a discussion of different kinds of fighting styles. Tradition gets dismantled. There’s a heartfelt confession of cosmic importance told in ritual circumstances that just happen to be very sexy. There’s even a moment when a character does something incredibly cool, incredibly metal, and incredibly stupid all at once and it saves the day and it sucks and it’s great all at once.

I love the voice of this book. Particularly, I love the way this voice betrays a dialect that is not America, nor is it Britain. It’s a linguistic framework that uses tumblr memes and Homestuck references and IRC repetition jokes (like those IRC repetition jokes), and there’s a point where someone says ‘nice job, dickhead‘ and chockas with ghosts and the hand in the lollies jar and all those things are things that sound, to me, in my head, with the voice of an author from New Zealand, similar to Australia, and dashed about with forums of the 90s and then Tumblr and Homestuck and more than anything else, a voice of an author from the internet, but the New Zealand part of the Internet.

There’s also a delight in demonstrating a particular breadth in language use. There are specific terms rare in their use but deployed for their extremely specific appropriateness here – I know, I had to look a bunch of them up. This is a voice that is not ashamed of how it sounds and it is proud of what it knows, and those things work together to create a voice that I want to fight for. I want to read more books like this. I know I write like old people (I know so keenly), and I know I’m ashamed in many ways of the ways the way I talk lacks legitimacy, and reading this book is like a sweet breath of proud living.

This book is not ashamed of being from where it is.

I wish I could be half as bold, half as perfect.

Thing is, I’m in this book.

Not really, not properly, not actually.

It’s the invisible space around where the author’s notes mention writing Animorphs fanfiction. In that gasp of air around that space, there I am. There I was. For a year or two, I was part of a friend group on the internet the #Animorphs channel supported by the Chee Database that featured Tamsyn Muir. In a way that’s impossible to communicate, that person I knew then was staggeringly important to me. Important in a way that’s hard to really grapple with, because I was also a child, and I haven’t those memories preserved anywhere. Seeing her name on the lips of my friends as they talked about a book that had come out that they loved was like perfumed ice. It’s there in how I read these pages, because I can hear a voice in my head, reading these lines, delivering these lines but they are memories of a voice that has long since passed into being a memory of memory.

I have no fantasy in my mind that I, in any way, influenced or encouraged her. I remember first coming into her orbit when she commented very kindly on my quite bad Animorphs fanfiction. I remembered writing fanfiction with her. I remember her talking about her plans to become a published author, her drive to do it. That was there, and I never doubted it.

I think about how in that space, there was at least a time and a place where I got to be part of encouraging amazing people – plural – to make great things. Even if I didn’t know I was doing it or how I was doing it. There was a time and a place where by accepting someone and listening to them and encouraging them, maybe I helped something good happen, years down the line. And if that space had been more hostile to creative art, especially women’s creative art, who knows how many great books have been knocked off-course by that same impetus by people being silly or cruel or selfish.

This is just a story, of course, a story I tell myself.

It probably isn’t true.

I imagine that Muir, who is a whole adult with a life and struggles and friends and support from all sorts of other directions, would have been just fine without us in our space. Another random group of internet weirdoes would have been there. The prudish boy who didn’t realise he was just out of a cult is maybe a blip in her memory.

Who’s to say? But the lesson I can carry out of this, with these strange, tangled feelings I have of a friendship of someone amazing that I let slip away because I was bad at being a friend, is that it’s always worth it to be kind, and always worth it to encourage people to make things.

This book rules and it rules that it exists and you should check it out if sword-wielding heavy metal album cover lesbian spacefaring necromancers interest you at all.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Media #StoryPile #Animorphs #GideonTheNinth #TheLockedTomb

[fellasleepinbaltimore]

my favorite piece of lore or at least one of them from my wip is the story of Dominica who was a magi living on fairland cape, it was a pretty humble place, lucky from being close to shipping lanes and having a fertile climate, but it was never really any sort of central power, it often fell in line with other dominating polities, anyway, for magic reasons, as in bc if the attributes of magic it did become a sort of hotspot of magi, it was out of the way, energy and environment were right and overtime it just gained more magi than it likely would have warranted, eventually due to likely some like anti magi religious or social zealotry tensions over the years grew and heightened and eventually probably due to some unfortunate incident grew into a full on war, during which Dominica was something of a general, which was good for the magi bc she was probably one of the most powerful magic users in history, however, she had known of love, I think the legend would go, she had fallen in love with this women, some random mundane woman, actually maybe a high class woman or something, and as a magi, magic would lengthen her lifespan and she would inevitably outlive her lover, who due to the incompatibility of their lifestyles, her being a non magic user noble of a region engaged in warfare with the magi and Dominica a general in the war for the magi, likely would have married or allied at some point with a local regional highborn and had children for financial and political reasons as necessary anyway, her lover was like dead by the time of the final real battle of the war, in which her lovers son is said to have fought, Dominica likely gathered her loyal followers, and together they shattered the earth at the place where the two forces were to meet in battle rather than fight and kill a man who wears the love of her life's face, or maybe they were just besties idk story probably changes, anyway yeah she splits from the rest of the continent a la kyoshi fr, she and her followers die in the process as the power necessary for something like that is like way too much for a handful of magi to pull off, they likely would have turned to ash then and there, had they turned that power to the approaching army they would have won and gone on to win much of the region, as the status of the non magi aligned forces was less than ideal for a long sustained war, anyway she is credited with creating fairisle, or at least the strait of Dominica which ships now pass thru in their way to other parts of the southern and western continent, fairisle goes on to be basically the hub of magic learning and of the main order of magi as in the sort of anti magi social climate it also became a refuge for many fleeing unfortunate circumstances, idk how much if it would be true, the story would likely be changed minority in detail, but the main gist is a woman unwilling to kill the memory of one she held so dear would rather shake and crack the earth and perish and so unintentionally created one of the most influential powers in the eras thereafter.

[mudaship39]

The Original Primordial Twenty-Five Houses have existed since ancient times and have fought each other for a long time in ceaseless open and overt warfare in what would become known as the Battle of the Houses. This became the primordial stages of the Shadow War. Eventually two people High King Liam Norwood and Hugo Delacroix of the Original Primordial Twenty-Five who famously united the Twenty-Five Houses into a council and parliament. The Shadow War is still fought to this very day. In what became known as the Shadow Games. It was fought in more secret, clandestine, covert, & underground battles in public in duels and in private at masquerade balls. The only difference is the Shadow Game is now a continuous top secret, hidden, classified, secret, & underground power struggle for influence, power, control, & supremacy. Empress Victoria Delacroix a homo magi and High King Elric Norwood a magical human and Indigenous magical human fought in the first Homo Magi Empire vs Human Federation War. They would later fight in the Dark Elven Empire vs Light Elven Federation War. Victoria and Elric became known heroes and champions when they succeeded in uniting the realms together into the Coalition and Alliance of the Federation of Aehinara. Elric Norwood and Victoria Delacroix would become the heroes of the first Homo Magi Empire and Human Federation War when they defeated Emperor Lord Perceval “Percy” Presley of the Empire of the Homo Magi Empire. Perceval Presley who betrayed this Coalition of the 20 Kingdoms of Aehinara that stood for years, decades, & centuries when he fell and became a dark knight and fallen paladin. He became emperor when he expanded his kingdom into an empire by conquering the other homo magi kingdoms and declared himself as emperor of the Homo magi. Their child Lysander Jacques/Luciana Odette Norwood would become the hero of the Elven vs Human War and the Coalition vs Legion War. Lysander the Silver King/Queen he/she/they would also be the champion of the Second Human Federation vs. Homo magi Empire War when he/she/they waged it against his/her/their childhood friend and now rival the Golden Emperor Harrison Williams who is the Emperor of the Homo Magi Empire. 

[nahte123456]

"Beruka, its not that you did bad. Trust me I get the idea of hurting someone who does you wrong. But you aren't a killer anymore. Just like I'm not a soldier," Rin hugged Beruka tightly and gave her a kiss. Then looked at Peri. "If you really want a pet, Peri, maybe I can see about making you a pet wolf out of ice and lightning with my magi. Maybe"

Beruka blinked. "I am Norhian." Was her simple response. As far as she was concerned Norhian meant you were a dirty killer as needed. In fairness most of the people they fought in the war with were, after a fashion.

Peri whined. "Noooooooooo. When I pulled this one's tail it copied my voice! I got it to say 'Pulverive, Eviscerate, Ruin, Impale'! Like my name! P.E.R.I.!" She told him in absolute delight.

[idalenn]

hey hey rough draft below the cut

After crossing a walkway above a moat of luminescent fungi and shimmering golden lichen patches, she arrived before a set of arched oaken doors built into the stone. Closed, as was usual. Lillian would have been surprised to find the entry any other way. Evident in the door’s design that no draft or whisper might slip between the seals of its moving parts, the guild preferred to isolate from the extant world beyond.

Indeed, the only sounds Lillian could perceive were her heart’s beating in her ears and the drop-drip-drip of water off stalactites overhead. Stale air curved along the tunnel walls shedding layers on the door’s myriad illustrations marbling its surface: depictions of the Forgotten Age; the War of the Magi fought between the dark city Mhach, and Amdapor, the ancient city, and the devastation wrought by their Black and White magicks which ushered in the Calamity of Water and the Sixth Umbral Era. The resultant exodus and rebuilding during the Sixth Astral Era. Elementals, and the cave-dwelling ancestors of Gelmorra who discovered means of communion through conjury to seek their permission for building a haven above the ground whose present inhabitants called Gridania.

Two faces, unerringly detailed, lay extruded outward from a depression where the two doors met, one atop the other. The lower, a cross-looking adult Hyuran: Brother Jorin Pota, the first Hearer. Above him was his son, appearing no more than ten summers old with a narrow horn extending out above each ear: I-Ohok-Pota; the first Padjal – mediator between man and elemental for over two centuries.

As all had occurred, so were these events carved into the wood until a reverent tapestry formed from the portal. One few would consider knocking on let alone approach. The purple-robed Hearer observed Lillian’s without blinking as though her intentions were exactly that.

me, slapping the door to the Conjurers' Guild: This bad boy can fit so many artistic carved depictions of the War of the Magi and the subsequent Calamity of Water, the exodus of the people who would later make up Gelmorra, and their learning to commune with the elementals for their permission to build what would later be known as Gridania on it

[aboutzatanna]

Every Time John Zatara Has Come Back From The Dead

One thing that I wish DC would stop doing is bringing back John Zatara from the dead for cheap pathos.  It cheapens his original death and having all of Zatanna’s story arcs revolve around her father keeps her in his shadow.  

So here is every single time Zatara has come back from beyond the grave:

  When Zatara died, Zatanna was still a member of the JLA. Shortly, after his death in Swamp Thing #50, Zatanna was kidnapped in the main JL title by a group of cultists who wanted to replicate her Homo Magi abilities with in herself. Whilst drugged and dazed Zatanna began to hear her father’s voice speaking to her in her mind. We, the audience aren’t privy to his words, the narration boxes simply tells us that Zatanna hears him and she conveys to us what she is hearing: 

Source: Justice League of America #255

Anyway, I covered this story arc in depth here and here but  to cut a long story short: 

-Zatanna was searching for a girl she sublet her apartment in NYC. 

-Sometime during that search, her father died.  

-She tracked down the girl in the JL title but learns that she is part of a cult. 

-The cult kidnaps Zatanna, drugs her and experiments on her to replicate the powers of the Homo Magi within their leader. 

-The cult leader succeeds but he bit off on more power than he could be chew. According to Zatanna he’s made contact with the ‘Godhead’ something that few Homo Magi can achieve. He’s connected to all of creation and it’s consuming his mind. 

-Zatanna, now having managed to contact the Martian Manhunter for help goes into the cult leader named Adam’s mind to free him. The experience was a huge ordeal for every one involved. 

-At the last leg of the journey, Zatanna’s narration boxes tells us that she hears her father who tells her to surrender to the Godhead. She does and afterwards her and Adam come out changed from the experience.  They both promptly disappear in a flash of light saying they ‘need to figure out what they had just experienced’.    

The plot line is picked up in Spectre Vol 2 #7 in which the cult leader, Adam, is killed off screen, the Godhead is revealed to be an illusion created by Dr Fate villain Wotan who is a also trying to gain entry into our dimension through Zatanna’s body.  Zatara’s spirit was revealed to have been trapped in limbo confirming it really was him trying to communicate with Zatanna.  

After a bizarre  body horror story which I will give it’s own dedicated post one day,   Zatanna is freed from Wotan’s influence and got to say goodbye to her father in Spectre #8:  

He showed up briefly in Books of Magic #1 (1991) Phantom Stranger time traveled to the past while giving Tim Hunter a tour of the magical world:  

He came back as part  of Circe’s zombie army in the big WW event ‘War of the Gods’ War of the Gods #4 (1991):  

His ghost showed up in Starman #37 (1997) giving advice to Starman/Jack Knight along with other old time heroes:  

The series also revealed that he had a relationship with Starman supporting character Charity and in Starman #80 (2001) he leaves a parting gift for her during a moment of need:  

Again,  I won’t spoil it for you. You’re going to have to read Starman for that.  

He briefly got speak with Zatanna in Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #4 (2005):  

Then he appeared in the 2008 mini series Reign In Hell where we learn that his soul is trapped in hell:  

But then he is ‘killed’ again by Lobo in Reign In Hell #5 causing Zatanna to go on a rampage against the Main Man:  

But wait! It turns out his soul was rescued by Brother Night, the main villain of Zatanna’s 2010 series who tries to pit father and daughter against each other in Zatanna #1-3: 

Source: Zatanna #2 

Source Zatanna #3

She manages to free her father from Brother Night’s control and got to say goodbye to her father and that seemed to be it.  

But wait, he came back again as a zombie in 2010 Blackest Night event where black lantern resurrected the loved ones of heroes.  Zatanna fought her father’s corpse in Justice League of America  Vol 2 #39-40: 

Later: 

We’re wondering that too Zee.  

Then in Zatanna #7 from 2011, the psychic traces from Sargon’s ruby mixed with the residual magical energy of other magical heroes that briefly brought them back as a wraith trying to fight crime:  

  Which Zatanna defeats by letting her father’s spirit take control: 

(Amusing enough, this is not the first time Sargon came back either but his return isn’t as frequent as Zatara’s tend to be. If you’re curious, he returned in Swamp Thing )  

At this point, writers seem to have decided  ‘kcuf ti s’eh evila won’ because Zatanna summons his ghost for advice in Gotham City Sirens #17 written by Peter Calloway, the plot is that Talia wants Zatanna to wipe Selina’s mind of Bruce’s secret identity:   

Thankfully Zatanna doesn’t go through with it and restores Selina’s mind.  Mind wipe related plots is another thing writers need to stop cut out.  

And Paul Dini follows it up the Black Canary/Zatanna: Bloodspell OGN when Zatanna summons her fathers ghost for advice:  

Once the Nu52 hit and DC timeline was rebooted, Zatanna met her father again via time travel in Justice League Dark Vol 1 #35:  

He appeared in hell again in JLD Vol 2 with Sargon the Sorcerer and had a conversation with Wonder Woman in Justice League Dark Vol 2 #14:  

“I heard your were....close with my daughter.”

Then in Justice League Dark Vol 2 #28 wherein he, for some reason, sacrifices himself so Zatanna can reunite with her shitty ex-boyfriend:   

And with Dark Crisis in Justice League of America #75, who knows what will come next. Will Zatanna reunite and have to separate from her father again? Only time will tell.  

[chaoticgeminate]

Bloody Shores

Part of the Iridescence Fictional Universe

Precious Sea Glass Series

Pairings: Dragon!Pero Tovar x Nereid f!Reader

Series Rating: E (Minors DNI) [TW: Semi-graphic battle scenes, minor character deaths]

Word Count: 3.6K

Series Summary: After meeting the one his magic calls for Pero must fight against Immortals, Elder Fae, and magic beings alike to keep her safe by his side.

Chapter Summary: The Elder War still rages, battles are still causing destruction, and peace seems like a fleeting dream.

[AO3]

Never had the waters of the Glennrior Bay been tinted such a horrendous shade of magenta, your eyes took in the blood-stained water as you exited the churning waves and sought out the remainder of your siblings all taking refuge on the beach. None of the elder nereides remained, you were the eldest now, and your brethren looked to you for guidance as the meré corpses were steadily devoured by the sharks drawn to the carnage.

“We will fight, this is our home. We are the daughters and sons of the Ocean Lord, even so far from us our Father fights to ensure that we are safe from the Elder One the meré worship and we must show him the same respect by defending this bay.” Pelanos hurried to your side to support you, the exhaustion in your limbs heavy as you leaned more weight onto your halberd, and you shied away from his fussing.

Almost idly you looked heavenward, half expecting to see Pero descend from the clouds like a blanket of black scales, but that would not be the case for now. His involvement in protecting Gale Ennore had evidently led to other dragons calling him home to question him, back to the isles you’d visited only once before, while William had been left in charge of assisting the elven magi and the dwarf stone masons in upgrading the buildings and adding protective spells around Kvia.

“Glennrior Bay was carved out of Ostrea as a gift to our Father by the Huntress, his love and worship of her silver glow was such an honor that she created this place of solace for him to call home, it is our duty to see that it never fall into the fins of the meré and their false sea God.” The story was one that spanned thousands of years, of an Immortal so enamored with the moon that he offered her prayers and love, and the soul of the Huntress lurking within the heavenly body was so honored to have a being of such power offering her his love that she gave him a piece of her to keep.

The Bay was a perfectly shaped crescent for that reason, carved out of the land itself by silvery magic when your oldest siblings were still newly born, and the depths of the Bay had been your home and nursery ever since. Father had fought off ancient dragons, sealed a leviathan of great power deep below the ocean floor, all to protect this place and you would do whatever you had to in order to make sure the Bay was safe when he returned home to you.

“We have riders approaching from the South, waving the Flag of the Citadel!”

Hearing Khazos’ bellow made you lift your arm feebly to show him you’d heard, the Masters of the Citadel and their Necromancers had agreed to help bolster the defenses of Kvia so the Consortium could focus their magi and witches closer to the Taunmack Flats where the Immortals had called for the Elder Ones to meet them in direct combat. The sheer scope of magic power from the meadows was strong enough that anyone with a sense for it could feel the constant thrum of battle. You stood straight and nodded, glancing back over the bay waters, and Melodia pressed her hand to the back of your shoulder as you gathered your own power.

With each nereid that returned to the sea the rest of you grew stronger, absorbing the power of your siblings when they fell, so casting the necessary spells to cleanse the bay waters had become easier and easier despite the emotional toll that you took with each loss. Pero had been there with you for many of them over the past two years of the war, fighting in both shapes depending on how he was needed, but even his love couldn’t quite erase the fear or anger or sadness lurking in your heart.

Nereides were not born through intercourse, your kin were made with magic, and the ritual was one only your Father had the power to perform properly. But many of your kin that had traveled away from the bay to find their own homes and lives had abandoned the sea, choosing to tie their spirits to rivers or lakes and ponds instead, and some even choosing to live as simple water elementals.

Your family was steadily falling and until your Father was able to return to the sea the likelihood of it growing again was slipping away.

“Sister?” The clear waters no longer churned with blood, the sharks and predators dispersed now that the grotesque remains of your battle were gone, and your eyes were beginning to grow moist with tears. You were tired and you just wanted to go back to the time before the Elder Ones decided they were willing to try and change everything.

“Have the magi finished the barrier spells around the outer rim of the village?” You turned away from the water and followed the others, all five remaining brothers and sisters after nearly two years of constant war, and you felt that slight edge of resentment as you noticed Gawain proudly show off another pup. The selkie had begun vastly procreating, all women were ordered to begin bolstering the numbers of the pod, and Gawain’s harem were all heavily pregnant and unable to help defend the Bay waters.

The pod was losing bulls as fast as you had lost your siblings and yet the selkie still found reason to try and blame you and your siblings for their falling numbers.

“Oh, hello.” You paused and turned at the voice, the woman was clearly from the Citadel with a hellfire shine that sometimes broke through the darkness of her eyes, the elongated ears and aquiline nose screamed dark elf.

“Hello?” Having her attention focused on you was discomforting, your skin felt stretched as your aura bubbled up unintentionally, and when she smiled to reveal those sharpened teeth you knew your assumption of dark elf was indeed correct.

“I had not expected to see such a lovely creature in this silly little village, you are simply divine.” The sensation of her aura swelling around you was enough to make you step back, your siblings all looking on nervously with their weapons in hand ready to fight if you asked. But a sudden flare of hot magic that came from you lashed out at the woman’s energy, the rot and blight and undeath in her soul seared by dragon’s fire as Pero’s magic responded to your fear.

“I am also very much unavailable, or does your Citadel allow for you to so brazenly force your magic onto others?” It was the equivalent of molesting someone in the world of spell slingers, to do such a thing to you under the assumption you didn’t know better was far worse a crime. When you’d first met Pero it was your magic that swelled in response to his normal levels of power, a tentative flare to show him you were there and interested, but you’d not wrapped him in your very essence as this woman had tried with you.

“No, we do not. Delmaré, since I cannot trust you to behave you will be working with our casters on the front line.” The woman sneered and stalked by the man, this one very clearly human and holding what looked like a very valuable tome in his hand, and yet his presence made you more on edge.

“Master Delmaré will be properly punished for such… liberties. I am Master Beros, of the Citadel, we will do what we can to ensure Kvia’s safety.” You couldn’t find the words to answer so instead you nodded, chest tight as you looked beyond him to see the Necromancers beginning to set ghouls and reanimated skeletons to patrol the grounds beyond the village. Something about this did not sit right with you and you had no idea why.

Seeing that you weren’t going to answer Beros departed, leaving you watching as he grabbed Delmaré by the elbow to drag her away for a quiet conversation, and you sighed heavily with the added stress of the influx of casters. Marta handed you a helping of a thick fish stew as you approached where she was feeding the villagers, the hunk of herb baked bread hanging out of it was definitely your favorite and she’d given you a much larger portion than the others, but nothing soothed the worries you had being separated from Pero.

He would likely be asked to fly out toward the flats again, to bathe Pesta’s followers in dragon’s fire and deplete the number of foot soldiers the elder ones had. The past three years had been endless battles taking him great distances away, you and your siblings forced to fight below the depths for weeks on end, and the prolonged fear of losing each other. But Pero refused to fully meld his aura and yours, to take you as his mate and wife, his promise was that the moment the Elder Ones were subdued he would do so and no sooner.

You knew why, Pero had not hesitated to inform you that the moment your vows were said and everyone knew that you were his that he fully intended to spend a minimal period of three months flying you all around the world just the two of you. To explore, to have quiet time to yourselves, and for him to ravish you and claim your body without the weight of the war hanging over your heads.

Marta sat beside you and looked over at Gawain, his harem of cows all in various states of pregnancy while the smaller bulls worked to ensure they were all fed and cared for, and after a moment of just general peace her exhale made you look at her weary face.

“I wanted you to know that the pod is planning to leave the bay and Kvia, we’re going to be taking the fishing boats and sailing North toward Ash Hollow. They are… unlike the other were-kin we are not comfortable around those who would so brazenly manipulate death.” You paused eating to study her, Marta had been born and raised here in the Glennrior Bay and you could still remember the day her mother had introduced you to the newborn pup. Selkie rarely left the places of their birth, ancestry and tradition were part of what made them strong, and for them to leave it was quite a blow.

But you knew better than to try and stop them.

If the Glennrior Bay weren’t such an important place to your Father you might’ve been willing to leave too.

“Just be safe, do what you can to survive, and try to live.” Marta nodded and you set your empty bowl aside to hug the selkie as she burst into tears, the constant attempts at Gale Ennore had long since brought strife to the village and the number falling was only continuing to grow. But if Kvia fell to the hands of the Elder Ones it would try mean Gale Ennore was well and truly surrounded. The elven city was at a nexus point, right where two leylines intersected, meaning it was a font of magic; the reason many of the most powerful magi and witches lived in Gale Ennore was simply due to the natural enhancement to magic-born that lived within proximity of the city center.

At one point the Necromancers had lived within the clean marble walls until the Consortium found a secondary source of power, centered around the magic of death and blood, where the Necromancers opted to construct their Citadel.

You heard a loud, echoing, bellow from above and smiled as Pero’s large body blacked out the sun. The Necromancers all gaped as he descended, wings kicking up dust and grit, and he shifted forms to land gently on the ground. Pero’s eyes were wild until he finally saw you, brow furrowing at Marta’s distressed state, and as he walked over Marta sniffled and waved before grabbing the empty bowls and leaving you be. There wasn’t quite animosity between the selkie pod and your dragon, though the pod was still upset that you had not chosen any of their kin, but there was still discomfort when any of the bulls would be too friendly.

“Mi amor, what has happened?” Pero sat down and pulled you into his lap, tucking you in his arms and against him as tightly as possible. You told him of the Necromancer that had brazenly tried to drape her essence around you and of the selkie’s decision to leave the bay, of losing another two siblings to the meré and Pero’s little croon of comfort turned to a warning growl as he looked at something nearby. Delmaré was watching the pair of you and you felt the rising heat of his aura, a warning to the spell slinger, and she wisely ducked her head and turned away.

“My kin refuse to get involved, as we suspected they would, but they have not ordered me to step away from the war. Mi cristal marino, I told you I had a favored owed to me by the water attuned dragons, sí?” You nodded gently and he cupped you face in his hands, warm and big and soft, a reminder of his strength and his presence that you needed more and more each day.

“Ulean, one of their strongest, has agreed to come live within the bay and help with its protection to repay that debt.” You had a flood of relief smash into you, the crystal tears that began to form in your eyes solidified into shining gems that fell and sang like chimes as they landed against his armor, and Pero cradled you into his neck with another low croon to offer what little comfort he could.

Nighttime had struck when Pero was jolted awake with a snort, the sound of screams from below his dreyerie shaking away the usual cobwebs that came with such a sudden awakening. You weren’t by his side, you and your siblings were grabbing your weapons and he watched as the magic around each of you pulsed to life as you solidified the outer layer of your water form that made up your bodies into armor.

“Something happened below, Pero, we have to-“ He nodded and shifted forms, his heart did certainly leap in his chest when you simply dove toward the water but he had no reason to fear for now since the spells keeping the meré at bay were still holding. Instead he descended, seeing skeletons and ghouls attacking the people of Kvia, and the sickly green flames of the Necromancers were strengthened by the coating of miasma lurking over the buildings.

His wing beats whipped up the dark haze, lifting it as he circled and created a tornado of vile poison, and one spark set the tornado blazing before it winked out of existence. A sharp pressure against his flank drew his gaze, the Necromancers were trying -failing- to cast spells that were meant to subdue him but it was clear none of them had encountered a dragon before.

The magic hit his scales and slid away like water, his aura scorching any threats before they could truly take root, and as he rounded on the spell slingers their screams were music to his ears as he spewed a jet of flames in response and left nothing but ash. The screeching of ghouls, the rattle of bones being broken, as the ursa and selkie fought off the undead creatures and a battle cry he knew uncomfortably well practically exploded through the sound of fighting.

He shifted forms in time to watch your halberd cut one spell-slinger in two, the shocked cry cut off as Pero’s own blade cut through him in a vertical slice. The searing heat of the beskar blade, imbued with his aura, ignited the Necromancer’s remains so that he couldn’t be reanimated. You nodded at him and Pero growled, seeing you like this was something he hated and loved, you were strong and fierce and powerful all on your own and yet knowing that you were in danger set his instincts to bathe the terrain in fire up to a high gear.

“Sister!” Pelanos’ cry earned your attention, the last five siblings of yours were pinned down by several ghoulish canines and your magic flared in response, his growl cut through the air but Pero’s attention shifted to the sickly green fireball that whizzed by your arm, and his ire spiked seeing the dark elf woman staring him down.

“Once I get rid of you the little nereid will be my toy to play with, you overgrown lizard.”

Whatever the woman said to Pero had been a mistake, one moment you cutting down the ghoulish dogs surrounding your brothers and sisters and the next you were forced to ferry your siblings away from Pero as heat erupted from him. You’d seen your dragon angry before but this was different, for the first time in his human shape you witnessed the way fire escaped his mouth with each breath and the way his claws seemed to grow just a touch longer.

His beskar sword was encased in flames now and you were about to call out to him but he was on the offensive, the blade cutting through the spells hurled at him like they were nothing, and the Necromancer let out an unholy screech as he cut through her. The anger radiating off of him was clear and he turned to look at you.

“Get everyone out to the shore, now.” The order was sharply delivered and in the blink of an eye you were staring at his dragon body, the sickly hue of the green flames reflecting off the ebony scales, but you nodded and hurried with your siblings to get everyone away from the village center. It took several walls of water to delay the undead, to prevent anyone from being burned, but the moment you hit the sand Pero’s roar bellowed across the sky.

You threw up the strongest wall of water you could as a blanket of white-hot fire was breathed onto Kvia, his massive wings fanning the flames as he flew overhead, and the survivors of the attack were clinging to you as Pero turned midair and came back around for another pass. He was truly magnificent to watch but the very real sight of Kvia being burned to the ground broke your heart no matter how necessary it was.

As Pero landed on the sand you could hear the apology rumbling in his throat, even if he couldn’t express it in words, and by morning there was nothing left. Not even the enchanted stones had survived his fire, the runes and spells of protection had been broken by the Necromancers, but even the earth was scorched and dead. You looked over at your dragon as he shifted bodies, prepared to apologize to the survivors himself, but when he did Gawain simply wrapped the man in an embrace.

“You saved our lives, Pero Tovar. Do not apologize for that. When the war ends the Stone Lord will no doubt traverse Solvora and repair the damages, but thanks to you our pod will live on.” You watched as Pero and William helped load the small fishing boats, the surviving magi and stone masons doing what they could to imbue the crafts with protective spells and runes, and by mid afternoon the pod was gone.

William turned to look at you and your siblings net but you shook your head, knowing the question he planned to ask. You also knew that Pero would have to leave and head to the Flats soon, someone had to inform the Consortium that the Necromancers of the Citadel were a threat and he’d be the fastest.

“I’m not abandoning the bay, I can’t, there’s a lot of latent magic here that the meré and their Sea God cannot get access to.” William’s mouth formed a line but he nodded at your answer, glancing at Pero, and your dragon pulled you into a tight embrace with a heavy exhale. You found a grip just below the pauldrons of his armor, and held tightly, breathing in the scent of fire and smoke and musk as he shook slightly.

“Ulean will protect you in my stead, for now, mi amor. You must promise me that you will be as careful as you can, losing you-“

“You won’t lose me, Pero, just as I won’t lose you. Go, my love, the sooner you do the sooner you can return.”

He exhaled heavily and slotted his mouth to yours, the kiss was searing in how much grief and desperation sat between the two of you. It was a battle and a plea all at once and Pero’s essence blanketed you, reaffirming his intent to claim, and you did the same. It was watching him and William depart that was the hardest thing to do, your eyes finding the ursa and ogres that were now trying to steadily map out a place of their own.

Khaszos captured you in a hug and you said your goodbyes as the were-kin decided to head to Gale Ennore, promising to let the elves know that the bay was not abandoned. It would be risky, having the land open for any soldiers to try and camp on, but there were too many lost and the Citadel’s betrayal had to be made clear as soon as possible before the Necromancers were able to slay too many others.

As you dove into the water of the bay, seeing it clear and safe for now, you swam deep to the center where your family’s grotto was nestled safety and hidden; the others joined you in the space that suddenly felt too big and too empty. All you could do was try and rest for now, since there was no way to predict what would come next.

[madillhethen]

I’ll post the screenshots of Heaven’s Feel later. Since its in my ipad I have to transfer to my PC, and those two are not always together at the same time. 

Anyways, Heaven’s Feel, I really enjoyed it. 

I loved the parallels of how the Holy Grail War started, and this, how it ends. Someone pointed out that Shirou’s war is about dismantling the grail in favor of being human compared to how all the magi have the HGW as a ritual and religion but it has furthered them from humanity.

I agree with that. Heaven’s Feel is defiantly the route where it focuses a lot more on one’s own humanity and individualism. Sakura’s own inner conflict is a great representation of this. She struggles to keep Angra Mainyu at bay, but more than that she’s struggling to hold the pieces of herself together, the girl who loves the people around her, the girl who was wronged, but throughout the route we see many times that it is a great struggle between keeping this part of you and being tainted by the wrongs of people and the world. In the end, she succumbs to the evils of the world, she becomes what the world is: ‘evil, cruel, no regrets’ but the parts of who she really is, still remain and it took one act of kindness from her sister for her to regain and realize who she really was.

The route gives that Sakura has never been treated as human, she wasn’t raised like a normal girl or even a normal magus, yet the juxtaposition of the inhumane ways and how human she is amongst the three protagonists was really beautiful. If Shirou’s story is about him becoming human then Sakura’s was her trying to remain human in a world that tried to prevent her from being one. 

The other part I really loved was the foil of the 5th HGW to the beginning. The Creation of the Grail starts with Tohsaka, Einzbern, and Makiri with the sorcerer Zelrich, who creates the grail for a wish and in Zouken’s case, to eradicate all evils. This grail was made in the hopes of bettering the world, the ideals carried by like-minded individuals but then we get to the 5th War and we reverse it. Most of the servants are gone, just like how when the Grail was created, there was no servants.

You see without Saber, we return to the Einzbern (Illya), Tohsaka (Rin) and Makiri (Sakura) altogether, and rather than a great sorcerer to help create the war, we have the worst magus who is going to stop the war. If Zouken’s wish was to eradicate all evils, Shirou’s wish is to remove one evil (Zouken) not for the world, but for an individual. Zouken sacrificed his love (I’m assuming he was in love with Justeaze. The narration hinted heavily and during the movies, he looked rather sad about her sacrifice) for the world, and Shirou refused to give up Sakura for the world. Zelrich tells Rin that Tohsaka was his useless disciple but she has risen above her ancestor. And of course, Illya is the one to close the gate compared to Justeaze who opened it, but whereupon Justeaze sacrificed herself for the world, Illya sacrificed herself for one boy to live. 

The story had a lot of subplots, but in the end, it was tied together nicely and the epilogue is probably my favorite out of the three routes.

Another reason I love this route is that it gave a lot more screentime to Kirei and Illya, without reducing Shirou or Sakura’s importance. Kirei’s parts were really great. His view, his backstory, everything was really well done, he’s the villain of the story but he’s not what you can say evil for a fact. He had a wish, and he had no heart yet he was just as human as everyone else.

The fight between him and Shirou at the end, how it has them both stripped of powers and dying, that was great. Magi or not, they both were human who wanted something, and they both fought to the end.