#she is the one vanea is talking to

[void-kissed]

For that writing thoughts thing, the "taken life, given soul," do you have any thoughts you'd line to share about that? :D I loved it a lot! (dragonsmooch)

Ah yes, my most recent piece of writing!! I can definitely come up with some stuff to talk about from that one for you, friend!~

(source: this post by void-kissed - hey, that's me!)

Name a piece of writing that I’ve posted, and I’ll give you some thoughts and analysis of it! - Alright, let's see what comes to mind! This might get long because I'm not very good at being succinct, so I'll put it all under a readmore if that's alright.

The main thing about this piece is that it's essentially from Vanea's perspective more than anything, and it isn't always as easy to write my F/Os' perspectives compared to my self-inserts' (since, well.. my self-inserts are me, so that makes it easier). It also didn't help that I'm a lot less familiar with the overarching details of the first Xenoblade Chronicles game than I am with XC2 (which, as an aside, is not the second Xenoblade Chronicles game - X should never go unremembered!). But I tried to make it work!

For example, in the opening paragraphs to set the scene, I tried to portray the background events in the sort of way the Machina might be thinking of it, as opposed to the Homs and other residents of Bionis (for example, describing the attack on Colony 9 as "provid[ing] the Mechon with some valuable resources", not really detailing the fact that those resources largely consisted of human beings.)

I also tried to draw attention to the fact that Vanea is, at heart, a scientist, when you think about it! Hence her making sure to keep close tabs on all the parameters, and initially referring to Citri as an "anomaly" in the experiment, and the fact she took an interest in the memories she saw of Citri being a nerd and doing research and stuff with Shulk.

The other girl who got captured and brought to Vanea at the same time as Citri was Fiora, who is actually the one present for the cutscene my writing replaces in the game (although you don't find that out in-game for a while). She's also a childhood friend of Shulk, hence why she was picked out as a potential vessel for Meyneth.

The wound she had sustained was based on when Metal Face stabs her in the game, hence specifically using the phrase "clawed at her clavicle" because Metal Face's weapons are long sword-like claws. Him hitting Fiora's clavicle specifically was partially to provide some nice alliteration, but it also explained why she couldn't have worked as Meyneth's vessel here, because the soul component goes on the pilot's chest.

The section where Face Nemesis is actually assembled, and Vanea is saying lots of short sentences that are all on different lines, was mostly directly copied over from the in-game cutscene my writing replaces. This is how it actually goes, if you were curious:

In terms of differences from the in-game cutscene, I didn't really know how to add in Vanea spotting the damage dealt to Metal Face, so I sort of half-worked it into the "worrying news about a new wielder of the Monado arising" at the start. You can also argue that taking that bit out and moving the interruption about Egil to later on is because Vanea was distracted by how things went with Citri (because she was expecting Lady Meyneth to awaken, not Citri herself).

Another difference is that Vanea's dialogue is slightly expanded, and this is actually because this isn't the first time I've portrayed this scene. The extra lines added in are from the caption I put on a render I made last year showing Citri as Nemesis' pilot!

In the writing, the mechanical hands that Citri should have been fitted with weren't able to be properly fixed, which is why Vanea decides to risk keeping her biological ones instead. This is actually based on something that happened out-of-story - namely, the fact that the mechanical hands that were meant to go on Citri's reference model wouldn't fit typical MMD bone structures properly, so I ended up keeping her base hands instead. So they did quite literally break both in and out of the game, haha! But I like to think it works out, because the fact that the only "organic" parts of Citri left are her head and her hands gives moments like holding hands with Vanea much more significance ^-^

Overall, I also kind of tried to convey the fact that all of this interaction that Vanea ends up having with Citri was not supposed to have happened, at least not according to Vanea's calculations. This is why I made such a thing of Vanea being surprised she remembered Citri's name - she's not supposed to have ever gotten to speak with her, really, yet she finds herself wanting to know more about her anyway. And she does, with time! And that eventually leads its way into the beginnings of a romantic relationship! Because I love Vanea! ^-^

Okay, this is about all I can think of for the moment. Please take a picture of Face Nemesis itself from the game for your troubles, and thank you very very much again for giving me this opportunity, friend ^-^

(For context to give a sense of scale: Citri fits in the torso part of Nemesis, sitting down! So.. yeah, it's pretty enormous.)

[moved-to-void-kissed]

"Face Nemesis. Your frame is complete. As is the integration of your pilot.

This Homs.. She holds memories of the Heir of the Monado. She appears to have seen him as a friend. ..I wonder what she would have been like to know. But, that is not important here. It only means that her body will be an able vessel for you, my Lady. All that remains is the soul transfer.."

Okay! There's a lot to unpack here and I am more than happy to do so when it is not half past two in the morning if anyone wants me to (and if anyone does want me to then you are more than welcome to send an ask about it). However, long story short.. this is Citri, my new self-insert for the first Xenoblade Chronicles game! I will be using her to selfship with Vanea from now on; my previous self-insert, Mera, is not going to be a thing anymore.

Her role in the story may be evident to those who know her outfit, but to give a bit of information anyway.. Citri is a childhood friend of Shulk, having grown up in Colony 9 alongside him and his other friends. However, she was captured by the Mechon during their attack on the colony, and gets turned into the Face core unit for piloting Face Nemesis. She is made the vessel for Lady Meyneth, whom she promptly takes a massive shine to because Lady Meyneth is lovely, and slowly gets to know Vanea over time as well. Overall, not at all as angsty as you might expect, you'll be glad to know.

(Comments on and reblogs of my work are always okay and appreciated, but are never required!)

[lemonade-sky]

blorbo skrunkly eeby deeby post thing u rbd for xenoblade

[the post]

blorbo: ian would tell you melia or alvis but i also think about shulk lichrally all the time so it's any or all of those 3

scrunkly: this is hard uhhh honestly the post's def of scrunkly doesnt really match mine. mine is more like. kiki of kiki and bouba. i mean the most Shaped chars of xenoblade are the nopon so I guess riki.

scrimblo bimblo: sharla is def the most underappreciated of the main party she's really not that bad! i wish the gadolt thing was written better and they didn't. treat her and reyn's relationship like gadolt 2.0 but you know. that's not sharla's fault it's the writing. but overall I'd say vanea for this because oh my goddddd vanea SHOULD have been a party member the fact that she's not is so criminal

glup shitto: look the only one im really thinking of is fucking bestest who isn't really obscure in the fandom because it's bestest but definitely obscure in the game because they don't even have a name and have one damn line. so

poor little meow meow: egil. i've said enough

horse plinko: zanza I Want That Lemon Twink Obliterated i think it'd be funny. also lorithia because fuck her and mumkhar because he's annoying and shulk should've let dunban kill him

eeby deeby: well this depends if we're talking superhell (derogatory) obviously that lemon bitch but if we're talking superhell (affectionate) im sending shulk and alvis for shalvis crimes (crime of living in my brain)

[childrenofmeyneth]

Mother Dearest

Oydis sits back, a smile on her face as she turns to Miqol. “Well, they’re ready for life, now.”

“Indeed,” Miqol chuckles in reply, running his hand through the hair of the children. “What shall we name them, then? They’re going to need names if they’re to have life.”

“True,” Oydis hums, placing the wrench she was holding down on a nearby bench. “How about Egil and Vanea? I’ve thought about this a lot, and I think those are my favorites.”

“Those are wonderful names,” Miqol nods. “I’m sure Lady Meyneth would agree.”

Fic written about what if Egil and Vanea had a Mama. Note the tags for Major Character Death and Graphic Depictions of Violence

Ao3 Link

Oydis sits back, a smile on her face as she turns to Miqol. “Well, they’re ready for life, now.”

“Indeed,” Miqol chuckles in reply, running his hand through the hair of the children. “What shall we name them, then? They’re going to need names if they’re to have life.”

“True,” Oydis hums, placing the wrench she was holding down on a nearby bench. “How about Egil and Vanea? I’ve thought about this a lot, and I think those are my favorites.”

“Those are wonderful names,” Miqol nods. “I’m sure Lady Meyneth would agree.”

“Indeed,” Oydis leans a bit closer to Miqol. “But no need to butter me up. I already agreed to use my old parts to help build you some children, Miqol!”

“Well, they’re your children too,” he points out.

“You’re dodging my statement, Miqol.” She accuses, poking him uselessly in the side.

Miqol lets out a hearty laugh. “Some may say dodging statements and questions is what I do best.”

“Let’s hope our kids don’t pick up on that from you, then,” she makes a face. “I want my children to be honest and forward.”

“I want that, too, that’s why you’re the mother,” Miqol replies. “Gives them a chance to take after you.”

“Once again trying to butter me up,” she clicks her tongue, putting each child’s pod under her arms. “Come on, enough of that. We have children to welcome to the world.”

--

“Egil won’t stop crying,” Oydis holds him on her lap, frowning. “Any idea what’s wrong?”

Miqol is currently holding Vanea, trying to stop her little wails that started in reply to her brother’s. “Not a clue, I’m afraid. Too bad he’s not old enough to talk yet, he could just tell us.”

“Babies don’t work that way and you know that,” Oydis clicks her tongue and bounces him a bit. “Do we have any Spicy Banana? It might be teething.”

“How would Spicy Banana help with that?” Miqol asks, brow furrowing.

“Shyves used to lather that on Linada’s gums and she’d calm down,” Oydis explains. “Doesn’t hurt to try, right?”

Miqol nods. “I suppose not, let me go see. Come on then, Vanea.”

Miqol moves his chair towards their supplies and looks through the cupboards. Spicy Banana… They should have a few, right? Every family on Mechonis kept a supply of any naturally occurring fruit or flower, in case they needed it for a medication or a ritual…

But then it hits Miqol. Isn’t Egil a little young to be teething already? He knows he started early as well, but that was how he ended up like this. Growing too fast and unable to stop, even when he should have. Becoming large enough his Growth Module had to be outright removed or he wouldn’t have been able to support his own internal systems.

Egil’s may have been malfunctioning in the same way his had. He didn’t like the idea, but he supposes that’s something to bring up to Oydis later. Maybe ask Meyneth for guidance on what to do… Maybe an early removal of the module, before he’s more than a young adult? Maybe an assurance it’s not as bad as Miqol’s had been…

Aha, Spicy Banana! Miqol pulls it from the cupboard and moves back towards Oydis. “One should be enough, yes?”

“Plenty,” Oydis takes it from him and places it on the nearby table, smashing it with one fist brought down upon it.

She takes some on her finger and gently spreads it across Egil’s gums, the baby still wailing and sobbing in her arms. Soon enough, it's in place, and shortly after that Egil lulls himself to sleep with coos. Looks like it was indeed his gums, then.

Good to know what it was, not-so-fun to know he may have inherited Miqol’s growth malfunction.

Vanea calms down too, no longer upset by the sounds of her brother’s crying. She falls asleep in her father’s arms and soon the parents are placing them back in their pods, closing them gently.

“Good,” Oydis smiles a bit. “I was worried we’d be up all night.”

“We’ve had plenty of sleepless nights because of these children already, hm?” Miqol chuckles as he and Oydis take the children back to their room. “They’re quite the handful.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she smiles. “Lady Meyneth says struggle helps make success all the sweeter.”

“I suppose she’s right, as she often is,” Miqol nods in agreement. “Let’s just hope they can start telling us what’s wrong, soon.”

“We’ve still got a hundred years or so before that, Miqol, don’t get your hopes up.”

--

Vanea is six hundred when her mother takes her out of her pod to brush her hair. It feels nice, as it's starting to get longer and gets so tangled in her pod, but… She cannot help but feel so awkward. She loves her mother, she really does, but the attention is so weird to her.

“Your hair is so nice, Vanea,” Mother says. “We should do things like this more often.”

“Why?” Vanea asks, a bit confused. “Father is always so busy, how are you not?”

Mother works at the Shrine, she speaks to Lady Meyneth often. She’s even taken Egil and Vanea before, and Vanea noticed she had a lot to do. More than a lot, actually, if you ask Vanea. Speaking directly to their Lady was a lot of work!

But here she is, taking the time to take Vanea out of her pod to brush her hair. Hair that almost no one would see, given the fact she’s always in that pod. Vanea just doesn’t get it --Father never does that. He’s honest about how busy he is.

“I have an important job, but my kids are even more important,” Mother replies with a hum. “Your father… he leads us, so maybe he can’t take as much time off as I do, but that’s okay, right?”

“Mmm,” she nods as Mother continues to brush out her hair. She still doesn’t quite get it, but she guesses it’s because she’s so young.

(She just wishes Father would make time too, if Mother wasn’t lying about children being more important than work).

“Relax, dear,” Mother speaks again with a laugh. “I have plenty of time to spend time with you and your brother! I’m not ignoring work to do this, I promise.”

“I believe you,” Vanea says, lying a bit.

“Good,” Mother places a kiss on her cheek. “You’re always such a good girl!”

“Thank you,” she says softly, wishing she felt like she had actually done something to earn the praise.

--

“An important part of being a disciple of Lady Meyneth is understanding not only her words but also what we can do for her,” Mother speaks to Egil as he kneels next to her at the shrine. “She tells us what she will do and what she needs from us, but we must understand there is more than what she says that we can do.”

Egil nods, having just recently moved from his pod, earlier than most. Mother is teaching him the basics of what is expected of an adult, which is more than he could ever expect. He listens and nods, a bit surprised.

Lady Meyneth, the soul of their Titan and the goddess of them all… Sometimes, there were things the Machina could do for her, things she did not even guide them to do? It leaves him a bit in awe, realizing there was more he could do.

“Wow,” he manages to breathe out. “Disciples of Lady Meyneth are amazing, Mother… You’re amazing.”

She laughs a bit and pinches his cheek. “Trying to soften us up to get into the group, are you?”

“No!” Egil responds, his cheeks flushing a deep grey. “I really think that.”

“I know,” she pulls her hand away. “I was just trying to tease you, darling.”

He rubs his cheek. “How does Father let you get away with that?”

Probably had something to do with what a doormat his father could be, but… He wouldn’t say that. He knew Mother would be disappointed in him if he did, and would insist they should try and get along. Egil just didn’t feel like they could, though. They were like oil and water, no matter how hard they tried.

Vanea enjoyed her time with Father, anyway, wasn’t that enough? The two of them were basically two halves of one child, so it was fine if only one of them liked him.

Though Vanea herself may not agree with that. It seemed the ladies in his family were both the type to nag him about his relationship (or lack thereof) with his father. What was with that, anyway?

“Your father teases just as much,” she points out with a smile. “That’s part of what you don’t like about him.”

“It’s annoying,” he weakly defends, looking up at the shrine. “I prefer things like this, anyway…”

--

Egil could see the blood, see the innards of his people spread out around him. He could see the beasts, Telethia Arglas once called them, swooping down and destroying them. Sucking the ether from them.

He could see the way they fall, the way their heads are snapped off without an issue. The way the claws tear into their sturdy chests as if they are made of Bionis flesh.Could see as their cores are torn out.

He could see the oily blood on his hand as he pressed his hand to his mother’s side. As he tried to keep her organs from spilling out of the wound a Telethia had left on her. Tried to keep her in one piece as her side gaps open.

“Egil,” her voice is weak as she reaches out. “I’ve always been so proud of you. You and Vanea.”

“Mother,” his voice shakes. “Don’t talk like that. Lady Meyneth will save us, and then… then Linada can patch you up. It’s going to be fine…”

Her hand touches the side of his face and she smiles. She smiles and her breath rattles out in a way it shouldn’t . It’s full of pain and struggle, and Egil wants to beg her to save her energy. If she doesn’t. If she doesn’t…

She’ll die.

“Mother, please…” His voice cracks as she gives him one last smile.

“I love you, Egil. You’ll always be my little boy…”

Her hand drops from his face and hits the floor of the building with a thud. He stares, things not registering. She couldn’t be dead… No, she couldn’t be… He refuses to believe it. He just needs to put the blood back, and she’ll be fine.

Put it back… put it back…

“Egil,” Vanea’s footsteps and voice break him from his daze as she comes to a stop next to him, kneeling. “Mother…!”

She lets out a sob, hand covering her mouth. It hits him fully then, when his little sister sees the truth. Sees that their mother died in this attack, died to Zanza and his plans. Died to someone Egil thought he could trust.

His hands are covered in her blood as he lets out a wail that mixes with the screams of his people.

--

Vanea’s hands shake as she goes through Egil’s belongings, knowing how wrong it is. She shouldn’t be doing this… Anything he’s stored away, he’s done so for a reason, hadn’t he? She has no reason to dig things up…

But he’s been changing so much, he’d let everyone leave him. Everyone but her… She would never, could never, do that to him. She couldn’t imagine it, especially not after what happened during the attack.

She pulls away so many things from life before. Things that once brought him so much happiness… How had things changed so much, she wonders? How can all this hurt him now? She wishes she understood.

Finally, she gets to the last item… She picks it up and feels herself just about crying. Of all the things he could no longer look at, she had not thought of the image of their family she hadn’t seen in years.

There they are, before either had finished their headpieces. They were smiling, arms around each other’s shoulders and grins on their faces. Father looks so happy and proud, likely in the middle of a laugh. And Mother… Mother looked so alive, just as proud as Father.

Tears prick at her eyes as she places it back, unable to look at it any longer. She supposes that is her answer. How these things can hurt him, how they can bring no happiness anymore.

Sometimes, she realizes, the past is better left in the past.

She just wishes Egil had left more of it behind.

[moonvalecrossing]

Hot Probably Unpopular Opinion on Xenoblade Chronicles

Just reached the post mechonis core of Xenoblade Chronicles storyline. Imma rant a bit so I’ll put read more to help people avoid spoilers but holy shit, I hope the rest of the game makes up for what I’ve played so far.

tl;dr or to avoid spoilers: I hate the plot so far. Characters are problematic. Please for the love of god I hope that the rest of this game makes up for what I hope was the first 75% of it. I’m not gonna read replies to this until I finish the game though because I don’t want spoilers. Unless you wanna non-spoiler tell me it does get better. Because god this game’s become a chore to get over with already.

Man this story went to shit around Prison Island. I really wish Fiora had died and we got a Machina party member instead. She’s literally nothing more than a plot device with tits. She is important to the plot solely because of Shulk she has no agency of her own just BE WAIFU FOR SHULK YES and that’s fucking WHY she was chosen to be the only female (AND ONLY SURVIVING AS WELL- THAT’S RIGHT ALL THE MALE ONES GET KILLED OFF FOR PLOT HURR) face so she could be Meyneth’s body avatar. I swear I might go insane if I hear Shulk yell “FIORA” one more goddamn time.

All the non-party characters I’ve really liked so far? Fucking killed off because CRAZY MACHINATIONS OF ZANZA. The fact that there were so many High Entia of pure blood that could turn into telethia is FUCKING STUPID AS SHIT like what in the ever loving fuck? I get it, racist elves gonna be racist and not breed with the homs or whatever. But the fact the fucking emperors had two wives one of which had to be a high entia just proves they’re all dumb as shit because THEY KNOW THEY TURN INTO TELETHIA, as the awesome prince guy reveals right before he blows himself up to let the party survive. (Like Face-Gadolt did. Both my favorite non-party main npcs died in teh same damn way).

My other favorite NPC so far turned out to be evil. Should have known they wouldn’t name someone Dickson without the dick part being important. I swear to every fucking god if Alvis is also evil in the end I will never touch this game again after I beat it. He’s literally the only one left. All the other main npcs are insufferable asshole military men, or Juju, the fat machina dude I can’t remember the name of, or Mayor Nopon man.

And don’t get me started on the female characters. They could be likeable, but literally every single female character (save Linada but she doesn’t do much more than be doctor lady making her another tired female character staple: HEALER) has main motivations tied to a fucking man. Even the party characters. Fiora’s entire existence is Shulk. That’s literally all her character. The first control you get of her is TAKE LUNCH TO MAH MAN hurrrr. Sharla’s is briefly Juju and once he’s no longer holding the idiot danger ball its Gadolt, and once she joins the continued journey, its avenging Gadolt while also hinting her and Reyn will hook up. Then Gadolt’s back again and she picks up the idiot wife ball until he blows himself up again. Can’t wait for her to get back on the ‘gonna end up with reyn’ path. /s And Melia. Poor Melia. She could be great. Unfortunately the designed her with the unlucky pining for the hero idiot ball. When not sad she’s not gonna get to date shulk she’s angry her father died. And now her brother blew himself up to, so now all her strong male role models are currently out of comission until Shulk wakes from his plot coma.

The only other female NPC of any merit that isn’t a villainess and evil is sexy so far, Vanea, screams ‘brother’ when she’s not being a plot information dump. I swear you could change her from being Egil’s sister to his lover and there would be absolutely no change in her character. God damnit, Japan. Also damnit translators. Any of you girls out there with a male sibling? Start calling him ‘brother’ and see how long it takes to feel awkward. People don’t talk like that stop writing characters to talk like that especially female ones.

Why all the female characters have to be chained emotionally to a male one. Also why the fuck is almost every one of Sharla’s armor’s designed to show off her tits or ass. Also the design of fucking Meyneth has a goddamn hold in the dress so you can see the crotch area of her panties. EVEN THE GODDESS GOTTA SHOW OFF DAT SHE GOT THE PUSS HURRRRRRR.

I liked the world building. Then the gods got into the plot. And it all went downhill from there. Zanza’s a bullshit character. He’s up there with Aizen from Bleach with all this one step ahead bullshit. If this were an anime I’d have dropped it at this point. Funnily enough just like I did bleach when Aizen became the badguy. It’s almost as if always winning chess masters are bullshit writing.

[xenoblademisadventures]

I'm sorry to engage in fights that probably annoy my followers, but these responses are legitimately funny to read.

1. The fact that Naked Dunban is legit just makes the whole thing funnier. You have this super dignant dodge-tank samurai and then the party's like "oh shit, oh no" then Dunban with a completely serious setting up to be badass face says "don't worry, I've got this." Then he proceeds to take off his pants.

2. I'm one person and I avoid complaining on my blogs because it's not a very interesting thing to look at.

3. I don't know how to link to another Tumblr post in mobile, but I do have a fairly long post a year or so ago talking about the issues with the fan service throughout the series. Pyra, Speed Gear Fiora, TF Elma, and a few others were discussed there. I don't feel like repeating myself. That said with Sharla, it's generic anime bullshit, her fanservice is bad but I don't have anything interesting to say about it. Compared to other instances that are exceptionally bad. Meyneth was on screen for a total of 3 seconds and all 3 of them were a close up of her face, so forgive me for not noticing her jiggle physics. With Vanea, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I kinda like how her metal armor molds with her metal boobs since as someone not paying attention on my first Playthrough, I did not even notice that she had a boob window and assumed it was part of her clothing.

I love how your accusation of the characters not being "literally naked" are the lack of an animated vagina. Buddy, that shit's INSIDE the body. I get it if you've never seen a naked feminine body, but at LEAST understand the different between a vagina and a penis.

I don't use Reddit, that post has zero association with me. Any complaints on this blog revolving around a similar topic were jokes because character designs usually shouldn't get to the point where drawing nipples, pubic hair, and genitalia are necessary, and if you somehow reach that point, you're a coward for not including basic human anatomy.

Fiora Boobs vs Perun Boobs vs Pyra or Mythra Boobs.

Responses to the Xenoblade subreddit complaint responses

Oh I am dearie don’t worry about it

1. FALSE. Naked Dunban strategy is a legitimate strat and something Monolith completely intended to be in the game. Why else would his skill tree have two of the most broken stat boosts when you’re not wearing anything? Slap a couple of Agility gems and you’re good until the end too.

2. If you do, I haven’t seen much. My point still stands.

3. Again, FALSE. Fiora has more exposed skin than Pyra (Mechon Fiora has more exposed ASS and CLEAVAGE than Pyra) but I don’t hear you complaining about character contradiction. Sharla, Vanea, and Meyneth have THE SAME boob jiggle as Newt and Dahlia but you don’t count that for some magical reason. Nostalgia, perhaps?

Also, funny you say “literally naked” but no genitalia were shown. But you’re okay with Dunban and Reyn being “literally naked” in the subreddit? Tumblr is all about equality and I don’t see you exercising that here.

Remember this, from a year ago?

Yeah. Remember this when the game comes out and Fiora’s boobs are bouncing all over the place.

[machinavillage]

what i mean on that last post especially is that a lot of the male blades are like. non human. im talking like dromarch and roc. malos’s blade in the beginning (sever?). we got the fucker from big hero six too. you cant even sexualize those unless you tried really fucking hard. but then a lot of the blades are girls. most of them are girls and they’re sexualised like 95% of the time. 

i mean, we got finch? i guess thats like one of the few non sexualized girls and she’s non-human. but yeah if that trend isn’t annoying to you then i guess you’re blind. 

also “ xenoblade chronicles had jiggle physics ” don’t pretend its even on the same level. i think it was mostly sharla’s first scene and vanea’s first scene where it was noticeable the most. and its not constantly distracting through the whole game. and even then, almost every fanservicey outfit was optional. 

[moved-to-void-kissed]

🌟for Fiora and Citri? Or maybe Egil and Citri?

Why not both?~

(source: this post by cloudymemes)

Send a 🌟 + name and I’ll talk about my self-insert’s bond to that character! - Alright, so:

Citri with Fiora: Citri and Fiora don't actually have an especially close bond, although they are both from Colony 9 so they have known each other for a long time. It's a bit of a rivalry stemming mainly from Fiora's side, since Citri is also close with Shulk and the others but shares more of Shulk's interest in technology and the sciences so she naturally probably ends up a slightly closer friend to him. I haven't quite established how Fiora's place in the story changes with Citri in the picture yet, since she does kind of take over most of Fiora's role later in the game, but one idea I had was for Fiora to still also get taken and turned into a Face pilot - she just pilots a different Faced Mechon that isn't Face Nemesis in my version of events. In that instance, we could bond more over being in the same situation and reflect on how it has affected us, though there would possibly still be some disparity over the whole "Citri had the soul of a goddess put into her body and is somehow inexplicably getting on really well with her" thing.

Citri with Egil: Citri initially shows great disdain for Egil, which is perhaps understandable considering that his attacks on the Bionis using the Mechon are the reason why there are so few Homs colonies remaining, and the reason why she was captured and taken away from her home. However, as things progress, she does come to understand his reasoning more after spending time on the Mechonis and hearing Vanea talk more about him and how he used to be. She definitely respects the fact he is willing to agree to a truce with Shulk at the Mechonis Core, and understands that he was essentially lashing out to protect himself/his people and the Mechonis as a whole, rather than being an aggressor. In an AU situation where he was able to stay alive, I think we would eventually end up fairly amicable (all things considered), especially since - with Citri being Vanea's partner and Egil being Vanea's sister - we would probably interact quite a lot, initially through both being so linked to Vanea but then eventually more of our own accord. I definitely do quite like Egil as a character myself, so I'd like to have at least some form of a bond with him somehow~

I hope that both of those answers were alright! Thank you very much again for sending in the questions, and I hope you are having a great day ^-^

[childrenofmeyneth]

Light Within Each and Every Person Ch 1

Chapter 1 of a new small fic! Check the Ao3 link to see art by @bionisinterior for it!

Meyneth’s Monado is no longer in her hands, Meyneth is pulling away from her body. Meyneth is going to die. She’s going to die and all Fiora can do is stare up and beg her not to do it.

She feels like her life is flashing before her eyes.

Meeting Shulk when they were both so young, fighting Reyn and running away when she began to lose, making the choice to get into the mobile artillery.

Attacking Metal Face (it had been Mumkhar, how had she not realized it was Mumkhar), being stabbed through and the darkness that followed, being torn to shreds by Mechon.

Waking up and unable to control her body (watching Meyneth, not knowing it was Meyneth, using her body), begging Meyneth to save Shulk and everyone else, falling so far -- down to the endless sea.

Finally waking up to see Shulk -- so relieved she was back, sitting in Linada’s medbay as she realizes her body can’t survive for long, looking up at Mechonis and feeling a connection she didn’t used to have.

Seeing Vanea and remembering her from when she first woke up unable to use her new body, seeing the fate of the Machina as Meyneth used her body, begging Egil to see he was loved.

Falling and surviving as Gadolt dies, Vanea telling her she’s sure Meyneth was happy to meet her, watching as the Monado nearly tore Shulk’s arm to shreds.

Watching Shulk resist Zanza only to be shot in the back.

“No!” The word tears from her throat as she jumps up and finds herself suspended in the air, in front of Meyneth. “I won’t let you!”

“Fiora, you’ll be killed!” Meyneth’s voice is painful. “Get back!”

Fiora doesn’t listen, she holds out her hands, ready to take the hit for her. Ready to die for the woman who gave her a second chance at life. And then her chest begins to feel warm.

There are blades in her hands now, and she has no time to wonder where they came from. She hears Meyneth fall to the ground, her Monado clattering to the ground next to her. Fiora stands her ground, deflects the attack with the blades in her hand.

“I see,” Zanza sneers as he reaches out a hand, Meyneth’s Monado quickly joining into one blade and settling there. “Troublesome, but nothing my disciples couldn’t handle. Dickson, it’s time to go.”

Without another word, Zanza was gone.

Fiora falls, suddenly feeling weak as she places the blades at her side. Meyneth catches her, holds her carefully with a frown on her face. She looks so worried as she holds tightly to the girl.

“You could have died,” she says.

“You would’ve died if I did nothing,” Fiora replies with a weak smile. “Little ol’ me or you… the answer seemed obvious.”

Meyneth says nothing then, just hugs her and sobs. Fiora returns the hug as she recovers, the Mechonis rumbling around them.

“We need to go!” Dunban yells, watching Vanea run down to where Egil lays. “The Mechonis could fall apart at any moment!”

Fiora nods and pulls away from Meyneth. “You’re right… What about Vanea and Egil, though?”

“Let me talk to them,” Meyneth says, already heading the way Vanea had gone, “we will meet up with you shortly.”

Fiora pauses for a moment, but nods. There’s no one she trusts more than Meyneth, not at this moment.

“Reyn,” Fiora turns to her friend. “Grab Shulk! Melia, Riki, you stay close to me!”

Reyn gently lifts Shulk’s motionless body into his arms. Melia and Riki are at her side in no time, and Dunban and Sharla prepare to follow just a bit behind, providing back cover. She glances back for a second, towards the bottom of Mechonis Core, and she prays those three will join them shortly.

--

“Vanea, I’m sorry…” Egil coughs, weak from the attack Zanza had struck him with. “I was so blind…”

“None of that, not right now,” Vanea shakes her head, crying into his chest. “I’m just so glad that you came to your senses… We can talk about everything else later.”

Egil frowns, heaves a heavy breath. “Vanea, I cannot go with you. There is still much that can be done.”

“No!” Vanea shakes her head. “I can’t leave you here!”

“Vanea,” Egil shakes his head. “It is too late for me.”

“No it’s not, Egil, don’t you speak like that.” Vanea’s head snaps up and she turns, seeing Lady Meyneth behind them. “There is no reason for you to stay here, we can leave. I… I can do what is needed.”

“I will not let you die…!” Egil forces himself to sit up. “Lady Meyneth--”

“I will not die, and even if I did,” Meyneth looks away for a second. “It would lead to the world we both want. A world with no need for gods.”

“Lady Meyneth…” Vanea’s lower lip trembles. “Please, no. I cannot lose either of you, I cannot…!”

“Do not worry, Vanea.” Meyneth kisses her forehead with a gentleness exclusive to a mother goddess. “We will all survive.”

Egil grunts, and Vanea watches as he stands, the chords connecting him to Yaldabaoth break and snap. He can barely stand and Vanea moves to match him, letting him lean against her. She pats his chest gently, pulling him out of Yaldabaoth.

Meyneth takes his other side, humming gently as if to calm them both. “Come on then, Fiora and the others must be waiting for us.”

--

Meyneth lets out a scream as she falls to the ground, feeling her vessel, the Mechonis, be split in two. Fiora is at her side quickly, hands on her shoulders and frown on her face.

“Are you alright?” Fiora asks, rubbing her shoulders gently.

“I’m fine, just… in pain…” Meyneth lets out a sigh. “That is… all I will be able to do, to help you.”

Fiora nods, “that’s okay. You’ve done enough.”

Fiora sighs, thinking of everything that’s been happening. From Dickson shooting Shulk to Meyneth nearly dying to these strange blades… She closes her eyes, just as yells alert her to problems on the deck of Junks.

She runs out, leaving Meyneth behind with Miqol (and Shulk and Egil, lying unconscious in Med Bay beds-- no, she can’t think about that now). There’s Dickson, and more Telethia than she thought possible.

(It reminds her of Meyneth’s memories of the attack on Agniratha she thinks with a shiver).

“Dickson!” Fiora calls out, a frown on her face. “Why are you doing this?”

“This isn’t like you,” Sharla adds. “Snap out of it, Dickson!”

“How could you do this, Dickson?!” Dunban shakes his head. “Shulk adored you, looked up to you!

“ You can quit your bellyaching! I'm in total control,” Dickson laughs. “I've always been like this! Ever since long before any of you lot were born!”

“Before we were born?!” Dunban furrows his brow, but Fiora can see where this is going.

“Now you get it! It's just like Egil said,” Fiora bites her lip as he continues. “I'm Lord Zanza's disciple. Dickson of the Trinity!”

Before much can be said, a Telethia comes down, and there’s no choice but to fight. Fiora pulls the strange blades from her side and prepares for it, Melia and Riki coming to her side.

Reyn, Dunban, and Sharla stand a bit further back, but they’re all there, too. All of them, except for Shulk. Fiora reminds herself of that when she lunges. She lets the beams of the blades tear into the Telethia and it screams out.

Melia’s summoning elementals to her, enough that Fiora feels faster than she ever has before. She runs around it, watching as Riki spits poison onto the thing. Dunban digs his own blade into its side as Reyn draws its attention and Sharla shoots it straight in the head.

It begins to use Soul Read, Melia’s told her about this. That the only way to stop it is when she’s overflowing with Ether or when Shulk is using the Monado… Shulk… She grits her teeth and lets power in her chest build.

“Let’s see how you like this,” she hisses out, knowing Final Cross does not miss. Beams of Ether attack the beast and it falls to the ground, but not for long. It seems like there’s no stopping it… No matter what they do.

Dickson jumps on the back of the Telethia, a grin on his face as he looks at the group. “Look at all of you wastes of space! None of you are that tough without Shulk, eh?”

He shoots at Fiora and Dunban, the two barely dodging out of the way. “Stupid beast and a little girl who’s only good for cheering Shulk on! You should all be grateful, really. Not everyone has a war buddy, or a man who just happens to be able to guide you through the Marsh.”

“Dickson…!” Reyn grits his teeth. “You…!”

“It’s too bad, too, that Shulk didn’t listen. I told him someone would die if he didn’t end Egil,” Dickson turns his gaze to Fiora. “Someone just had to fill his mind with ideas of peace. If you had just laid down and let him do what Lord Zanza had planned, maybe he’d take it easy on you all.”

“I’d rather die fighting you than live as a slave of Zanza!” Fiora snaps back, pointing one of her blades at him.

“Then die!” The Telethia is starting to rear up and Fiora prepares… Only for an attack to hit their enemies, making Dickson fumble. “What?! Who was that? Show yourself!”

“Melia, are you alright?” Dickson hops off of the Telethia as Kallian approaches.

Fiora notes that he seems quite strong, but kind all the same (reminds her a bit of Dunban, really). She’s never seen him before, just listened to Melia talk about him with quite the adoration. And now he’s here to save them… maybe she’ll talk about him the same way in the future because of that.

“Brother!” Melia runs up next to Fiora, hands on her arm.

“Kallian!” Reyn is quick to speak up. “Dickson! He works for the Bionis like those Bionite blokes! He shot Shulk in the back!”

Kallian’s eyes widen and he looks at the girls. “Is this true?!”

They nod, and things start to go too fast for Fiora to keep up. Kallian swears to stop Dickson, and says the Harves can stop them… And then the woman, Lorithia, reveals herself to work with Dickson and Zanza too.

The High Entia are Telethia, when the right amount of Ether is concentrated. The Havres become part of them, even. Fiora feels sick, sicker than she feels looking at other Faces. Melia screams, but she can’t make out what she’s screaming.

All she can make out is Reyn pulling her back as Kallian rams into Lorithia and they explode.

--

“Your brother seemed kind,” Vanea’s words are awkward as she sits next to Melia, who cries in the corridor as they head for Colony 6. “He loved you.”

“I wish he did not,” Melia replies. “If he did not, he would not have done that to save me.”

“Oh, Melia…” Vanea frowns and reaches out to touch her shoulder. “You should not think like that. The love of a sibling is a wonderful thing. You may not realize it, but… not having that love hurts more than anything.”

“Like you and Egil?” Melia asks, looking up at her. “When he said those things to you in Agniratha… did that hurt?”

“More than anything else I had experienced,” Vanea admits. “He… he was willing to die, back in the Core. If Lady Meyneth had not been there, he would have. If he died, it would hurt… But I could at least find peace knowing he loved me again, at the end.”

“Vanea…” Melia looks down again, eyes glued to her feet. “I am sorry, it was selfish of me to wish like that.”

“It is alright to be selfish sometimes,” Vanea replies. “It is just important to remember the love he had for you. Even if that may be hard right now.”

“You’re right,” Melia wipes tears from her eyes. “I… I did not realize my father loved me until he died. It was different with Kallian, though. I knew he loved me, from a very young age I understood he cared for me. It makes losing him… so different.”

“It will take time to register it completely, Melia,” Vanea squeezes her shoulder gently. “Allow yourself that time. Just know he died to let you live, and that you have the chance to carry on his wishes.”

Melia nods. “That is… a wonderful way to look at it. My people are bound to be displaced now, and I am to be their hope. For their sake, and for Kallian, I must be strong.”

“Even one who is the hope of their people can ask for help, though,” Vanea reminds. “Please do not hesitate, I am sure everyone would be willing to assist.”

Melia looks at Vanea, a smile finally coming to her lips. “Thank you, Vanea.”

[childrenofmeyneth]

On Junks

Word Count: 761

Characters: Menyx, Egil, Vanea (Shulk, Linada, Meyneth Miqol mentioned)

Time period: Post-Mechonis Core, Pre-Zanza Fight. Canon Divergent.

tyvm to my boyfriend for proofreading this before I posted!!! :>

Egil’s eyes open and he finds himself in the dark of a Recharging Hangar, a hum of engines telling him this must be a ship. He’s hooked into the charging station on the wall, laying on the bed. He can’t sit up, there’s a weight at his side… a child?

He is in a bed for a family, he realizes. Plugged in next to a child curled up next to him. There’s another body, too… Vanea? He frowns, idly running a hand through the child’s hair as he speaks, voice barely above a whisper.

“Vanea,” his voice scratches against his throat.

She jumps up, alert as soon as she hears his voice. “Egil, you’re finally awake…!”

He frowns, trying to remember how he ended up here. Trying to remember what came before this. He remembers staying behind in the Mechonis, remembers the way the ether of Zanza tore through him… Remembers the Mechonis sinking…

He remembers a hand (Meyneth’s? Someone else’s?) reaching out for him. He remembers taking it… And that’s it. He does not remember more than that and does not wish to.

“How did I end up here?” He asks, anyway.

“Shulk, he had a vision,” Vanea begins, refusing to look him in the eye. “He begged us to return to what remained of the Mechonis, and we found you there.”

“And you put me in a room to sleep it all off?”

“We took you to Linada first,” Vanea offers weakly. “She did what she could, and eventually all you needed was rest. That’s when she helped me bring you here and we plugged you in for a rest.”

“And the child?” He asks. “Why allow them to sleep next to a monster such as me.”

Vanea frowns deeply and turns her head away. “Menyx begged me to let them sleep next to you.”

“And why did you say yes?”

She wrings her hands together. “When our people left for the Arm… Father decided they needed hope, a reason to believe Meyneth was still with them.”

Egil furrows his brow. “Vanea--”

“Menyx is our sibling,” Vanea weakly interrupts. “They aren’t even one thousand yet, and don’t know the full extent of what you’ve done.”

“Miqol made a child, when you were so few in people and resources?!” His voice finally raises and the child next to him jostles away. “And no one stopped him?!”

“Egil--”

“Sorry,” the voice of the child was meek. “I-I try and be a good kid, so I’m not a waste of the resources, promise…!”

Egil looks down at Menyx and frowns, running his hand through their hair once again. “It is not your fault you were made like this, child. My anger is not for you.”

“Don’t be mad at Papa…” Menyx shakes their head. “He wanted to help people, so please don’t be mad…!”

Egil sighs, and looks back at Vanea. “Why did you not tell me?”

“I was… afraid,” Vanea leans forward and pulls Menyx away from Egil, onto her lap. “You were so deep into your thoughts of revenge, I was afraid you would see this child as Father replacing you. That was not a burden I wanted to place on the shoulders of either of you.”

“...Are they that, then? A replacement for me.”

Vanea shakes her head, “no--”

“Maybe,” Menyx interrupts, frowning. “But everyone loves you so much, Egil. They say you were so kind and smart… I can never be that.”

“I see,” Egil frowns. “I’ll have to speak with Miqol, then, and see if that was his intention.”

“I don’t think it was,” Vanea’s voice is soft and sad. “It was… just an unfortunate after-effect of you being so loved, and so uninvolved in Menyx’s life at the same time. Had you been here when they were made…”

“Do not try to blame this on me,” Egil forces out. “There is already so much I must answer for, Vanea.”

“I didn't mean to,” she shakes her head. “I simply… think it was unfortunate circumstance that led to Menyx thinking as they do, that’s all.”

Egil nods, looking at Menyx, watching the way they cling to Vanea. They are afraid of him now that they have seen him, or maybe afraid of his feelings towards them? He wants to laugh… he would not blame a child for being forced into a world for such a selfish reason.

He sighs and begins to unplug himself from the recharging station. “We will talk more later, Menyx. I want to get to know you better… after my reunion with Miqol.”

[childrenofmeyneth]

Light Within Each and Every Person Ch 2

Second chapter of this AU! You can read it on Ao3, too!

Melia finds Fiora outside easily enough, but words are a bit harder to find. Fiora stands there, staring out at the sky, her weapons at her side. Those strange weapons, something no one had bothered to give a name yet.

She supposes that it doesn't matter at the moment, though.

“Fiora,” she begins. “Are you all right?”

“I guess I wasn’t hiding it well,” Fiora runs a hand through her hair as she looks towards Melia. “I didn’t want to worry anyone.”

Melia walks down the steps, coming to stop next to her, and thinks. There’s so much she wants to say, but nothing feels quite right. She wrings her hands together, trying to find anything  to keep the conversation going. The last thing either of them need is an awkward silence right now.

“It must be difficult, living with that body,” she finally settles on.

"I'm getting more and more used to it. But people still look at me funny,” She holds up her hands when Melia gives her a worried look. “Ah, it's not that bad. It feels pretty comfortable actually… I don't need to worry about food or anything like that.”

Melia nods, still feeling… quite unsettled. “I see.”

Fiora sighs and looks at the sky again, a somewhat distant look in her eyes. “This body… The energy from the chest component made it work. It turned out to be a Monado. Such a strange feeling.”

“A Monado?” Melia spends a moment mulling this over, and things begin to click. She had not seen much of the weapon Fiora had wielded for some time while facing Zanza, but… It had the same shape as the chest component. She pales. “Was that the Monado that Zanza took from Meyneth?!”

Fiora nods, shame coloring her features.

Melia reaches out, grasping Fiora’s hands. “Will your body cease to function?!”

“I'll be fine for now,” Fiora pulls her hands away and gives Melia a somewhat reassuring smile. “There's still some stored energy left.”

Melia furrows her brow, her voice quieting. “But then what?”

“I’m not sure,” Fiora turns away from her, pulling the blades from her side. “It feels like as long as I have these, I’ll be fine.”

Melia frowns, arms crossing. “You truly mean that?”

“Mmhmm,” Fiora nods. “...Melia, can I tell you something crazy?”

“Oh,” Melia blinks. “Of course, Fiora, you can tell me anything.”

“Do you remember when we were in Agniratha? When Vanea told us what Meyneth taught the Monado to be,” Fiora begins, voice uncertain. “It is the light within each and every person in this world. I wonder, is this my Monado?”

“It is the light of life, the will to survive no matter what,” Melia repeats the words Vanea had said. “...I don’t know anyone with a greater will to live than you, someone who has already died once.”

“Thanks, but… I don’t know,” Fiora shakes her head. “If you think about it, aren’t I dead already? Since the Mechon attack, really. It’s this body that gave me a chance to live! I guess I just want to make the most of it.”

“Fiora…” Melia nods. “Will you be telling the others?”

“No, Dunban and Shulk will just worry if they hear, and Sharla would probably strap me to a sick bed!” Fiora makes a face. “I want to be there, with all of you, until the end.”

“I understand,” Melia nods. “Your secret is safe with me… I… I admire your strength, to keep moving forward despite all you face.”

Fiora smiles at her. “Maybe I’ll tell them later, but not now. Not when we need to deal with Zanza… Thank you, Melia.”

“Shall we return to the others now?” Melia asks, unable to acknowledge what a large thing she was hiding.

Fiora nods and opens her mouth to speak, only for the siren to go off. It seems Zanza’s hordes have come down upon them.

--

Vanea’s legs and arms burn as she tries to stave off the Telethia, anger burning in her chest. They had been so close to peace, so close to stopping Zanza… and now this. She grits her teeth, back to back with Reyn.

“These things just don’t get up!”

“They won’t stop until everyone is dead or has gone into hiding,” Vanea replies with gritted teeth. “That is the way of Zanza…”

“Vanea have no scary! Riki here this time, Riki never lose!” The Nopon bashed a Telethia on the head, puffing out his chest. “Riki protect Colony 6!”

“I lost my home once before, I won’t lose it again,” Sharla adds, shooting a Telethia between the antennae. “We can’t let them get any farther!”

“You know the drill!” Dunban calls out. “Take them down!”

Vanea lashes out with her whip again as they all continue fighting. Riki shows quite the prowess, able to dodge around their attacks after hitting them. Fiora takes out more than a few with her drones, and Melia is able to provide support as Fiora recovers.

Dunban slices the antennae off of one cleanly, and Sharla uses the chance to shoot it from the right, her brother doing the same from the left. Reyn takes a hit from a Telethia coming right for her, and she takes the chance to knock it off balance.

But there’s no end to them, Vanea is almost impressed by how many High Entia there must have been. So many people to use as his weapons, for a moment it makes her wonder if Egil was right to try and fight fire with fire.

“If only Shulk were here,” Juju whimpers. “We’re dead meat without the Monado!”

“We don’t need Zanza’s Monado, or Meyneth’s!” Fiora yells out as she throws one of the Telethia away from the boy.

“Yeah!” Reyn nods. “The more space between us and Zanza the better!”

“If Reyn is sounding off, we must be okay!” Sharla calls, shooting another Telethia as Vanea drives her heel into its head.

“Reyn is correct,” Dunban pulls his sword from the body of one of the beasts. “Perhaps we relied too much on the Monado and Shulk!”

“Right!” Fiora nods, the fire in her eyes reminding Vanea of Lady Meyneth. “We’ve chosen to fight the Bionis, we have to fight on our own! With our own wills to survive!”

Dickson lets out a cruel laugh from above them all. “Now I get it; why Lord Zanza wanted me to deal with you!”

Fiora glares up at him and things click in Vanea’s mind quickly. “Fiora… those blades… they are your Monado…!”

Fiora’s face is grim as she nods. “Zanza isn’t so special now, is he, Dickson? If a dead girl like me can have a Monado, he’s not that impressive!”

“Your Monado ain’t anything compared to Lord Zanza’s!” Dickson shakes his head. “You couldn’t even stop him from awakening!”

“I stopped him from killing Meyneth,” Fiora replies. “And Shulk stopped himself from killing Egil. We can resist and fight back better than you think!”

Dickson sneers at her. “I’ve had enough of you!”

Vanea moves without thinking when she sees a Telethia diving towards Fiora. Fiora, who holds the hope of their goddess in her heart. Who holds the future in her hands, whether Dickson would admit it or not. She cannot let Fiora fall, not here.

The Telethia’s claws connect with her back and she yells out in pain.

--

Shulk stumbles down the stairs in Junks and comes face to face with Egil. He remembers only bits of what had happened in Mechonis Core after he was shot, but he had thought… He had thought that Egil hadn’t made it out, after all the attacks Zanza had laid on him.

“Egil,” he breathes. “You’re here.”

Egil holds out a weapon, something akin to a bulkier Monado. Shulk blinks a few times and waits for Egil to say something, but he doesn’t. After a moment, he takes it and finds the handle fits nicely into his hands.

There are tears prickling at the side of his eyes. He opens his mouth, a small smile on his face. “Thank you, I’m… I’m so glad you’re--”

Egil looks away, cutting him off with a raised hand. “Now isn’t the time for that. The others, your friends… they need you.”

“And this weapon,” Shulk looks down at it. “It’s…?”

“A replica Monado,” Egil replies. “I made it for you, it’s a simple design, but it should mimic the real thing closely enough.”

Shulk furrows his brow. “But you hate the Monado.”

“I do,” Egil nods. “But if I can take any of that power away from Zanza, simplify the ether control of the sword to science… I will. Especially for the man who broke the curse of Zanza.”

Shulk looks at Egil, a smile growing across his face. “Thank you.”

“Just use it to protect us all,” Egil still won’t meet his eyes. “Fiora and the others are out there fighting, you know. You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

Shulk is quick to run off and Egil watches as he goes, sighing a bit to himself. Talking to Shulk after all that had happened was about as hard as he had expected. It almost makes him wish he had died. There’s no awkward conversations with people you nearly killed when you’re dead.

“I think Miqol would be proud,” Lady Meyneth’s voice makes Egil turn, flinching as his side protests. “Only your family could make a weapon like that, and only you could make that grand statement, after all.”

“Lady Meyneth…” He groans a bit as his side finally stops stinging. “I was simply speaking what was on my mind. I have no interest in whether Miqol would be proud or not.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I told him?” She asks, a smile on her face.

He frowns at her. “I would rather you not. The less I have to do with that man at the current time, the better.”

He knows why Miqol wanted him dead, why he thought that was the only way, but he doesn’t have to like it. He and his father… it’s hard for him to even see Miqol as his father anymore, really. They were two sides of one stubborn coin at best, enemies at worst.

“Egil…”

“I cannot stop you if you wish to, my lady,” he starts for the stairs. “I have bigger things to worry about right now.”

“Like?” Lady Meyneth asks as she follows him.

“I need more rest, and a wound on my side may have opened,” he pauses for a moment. “...And I need to work on blueprints for other potential Replicas. Shulk deserves to have choices, so long as he can gather any materials I need for them.”

Lady Meyneth laughs a bit. “That’s the kind of idea I like to see from a bright mind like yours!”

“Don’t get used to it,” he replies with a huff. “When this is over, I plan to take them all and burn them. The sooner this world can exist without any of Zanza’s influence, the better.”

“Sure, Egil,” Lady Meyneth sounds more amused than anything. “That sounds fine to me.”

--

Fiora finds Vanea on Junks after things have settled a bit and a plan has been made. She’s talking to Egil, a wide smile on her face. Egil is smiling too, and she almost feels bad for what he’s about to do, but… oh well.

“Vanea,” she starts in a singsong tone. “Could I talk to you for a minute.”

“Fiora!” She glances at Egil who gives a nod as if to assure her he would be here when she returned. “Of course.”

The two walk a ways away from anyone else, finding themselves once again on the platform on the outside of Junks. Funny, she thinks, the last time they were out here they were talking about Meyneth… Fiora rests her hand where the goddess’s Monado once rested and prepares herself.

“You fought well outside of Colony 6,” she starts. “We could use help like yours against Zanza and his disciples.”

Vanea nods. “Thank you, I am not the best fighter… but I am glad you think I could be so useful.”

“So,” Fiora kicks her legs out, hands clasped behind her back. “Do I need to ask you outright, or did I imply my question well enough?”

“Oh Fiora,” Vanea laughs. “If you’re asking me to accompany you, I would love to. You all risked your lives for the sake of my people. It’s my turn to do the same.”

“To be fair,” Fiora begins. “Your people are also at risk. But I like the way you think, Vanea, thanks.”

“I just ask for one thing in return,” Vanea steps forward, placing her hand on the center of Fiora’s chest. “Do not push yourself too hard. I know you’re dying Fiora.”

“I guess one of the people behind the Faces would be sure to know that, huh?” Fiora smiles at her and gives an awkward laugh. “Don’t worry, my Monado will keep me going.”

Vanea frowns. “I’m worried, you know. As is Lady Meyneth and Linada and Egil -- not that he would ever admit it.”

“Egil, worried about me?” Fiora’s right eyebrow shot up at that. “Not sure I can believe it.”

“Trust me, he’s a big old worrywart,” Vanea snickers. “There’s only so much the staff of Junks can do to keep him calm. I worry he may faint when he hears I’ll be going with you.”

Fiora snickers at the mental image. “I’d pay to see that.”

“Then come on, let’s go tell him together,” Vanea gives her a grin. “I’m sure someone will catch him before he hits the ground.”

“Let’s hope so, or Linada may chew us out for giving him brain damage!”

[childrenofmeyneth]

Egil and Vanea find yet another strangely violent Pokemon, and Egil decides it's time to try and figure it out.

Hey! Another Pogeymon AU fic! This time: Machina time, hence posting on this blog! You can read it under the cut, too!

“Egil… what’s wrong with her?”

Vanea’s question makes sense, but Egil has no answer. He holds the Mawile in his arms and she lashes out. He has wounds from it, plenty, but he’s used to Pokemon that act like this now. He holds her and waits for her to stop thrashing.

Even Pokemon like this seem to run out of energy, after all.

Soon, she finally passes out in his arms and he sighs, looking at Vanea. “Another trouble case, I suppose.”

Another one to push to the side until they figure out what’s going on, a part of him whispers. He doesn’t like that part of him, not at all.

“Another one,” Vanea frowns, putting her hand over her face. “I’ll talk to Professor Meyneth, then. She’s at work trying to find a way to help them, so maybe this one can help, too?”

“I don’t know,” Egil frowns, pulling the Pokemon a bit closer. “...I think I want to keep this one for now, and see if there’s anything I can do.”

Vanea nods. “Then I’ll see what I can do to help that Haxorus you found last week.”

“That’s too dangerous--”

“And your Mawile isn’t?” She raises a brow. “I’ll be fine, Egil, don’t worry about it.”

Egil can’t help but worry about it, but he nods for now. “Alright… keep me updated.”

She gives him a pointed look. “You do the same.”

She stands and walks out of the room before he even has a chance to reply.

--

“Well, it seems some fights have calmed you down,” Egil watches as the Mawile lets out a huff after about the twentieth fight.

She’s gotten a bit violent, even more than to be expected given her mysterious ailment… But a few calls to her and she’d gone back to usual. Now? She seems a little calmer overall. She looks at him, and he wonders if she’s expecting more battles.

“Come on,” he says, gesturing with his head. “We’re heading home.”

She half-shrieks half-pouts at him, but follows after. There’s a few wild Pokemon on the way, and she makes quick work of them. She seems even chummier after that, and he pats her head. What’s the deal with that, then…?

He makes it to the lab and there’s Professor Meyneth, poring over notes. Likely on these strange Pokemon, trying to figure out their affliction. He wonders, is she making any progress? He hopes so.

“Professor,” he starts as his Mawile lurks behind him. “We’re back.”

“Egil!” She looks up from her notes. “How goes it? Any changes?”

“She enjoys battling, sometimes a bit too much,” he huffs, looking back at her. “She seems to be kinder to me now, though.”

Mawile makes a noise in response, hiding behind his leg now. Looks like she at least likes him now, or maybe the correct word is tolerates.

“That might just be the lead I need!” Meyneth pushes some papers to the side. “I’ve formed a theory, these Pokemon… I’m calling them Shadow Pokemon. They seem to have closed their hearts off from love and care, likely due to their old trainers being less than kind, or maybe there’s more to it. Either way, it’s where we need to start.”

Egil furrows his brow. “You mean… I’m helping just by treating her right?”

“That’s it exactly,” she looks at him, eyes sad. “I can’t be certain, but… if you’re making progress just treating her well, it seems the most likely scenario.”

Egil feels his blood boiling. Treating your Pokemon like trash, to the point they close off their own hearts? He doesn’t know how they could even be called trainers. Humans, sure, they could be shit… But what did Pokemon do?

He pats Mawile’s head, trying to keep his anger from rubbing off on her. “Is there anything you can do, Professor?”

“I’m looking into that now,” she replies. “I’ve been able to study a lot of them recently, and I think I can help push through the worst of it, but… They’ll need a caring hand before they get to that point.”

“I see,” Egil looks at Mawile and frowns. “...I’ll keep working with this one, then.”

“Perfect,” Meyneth gives him a smile. “Keep at it, you and Vanea are doing amazing.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

--

Things were going slowly, Professor Meyneth and Vanea doing what they could to build something that could stop this. Egil taking time to record every day with Mawile… She seemed to be a brave sort, getting better every fight and every call to her.

He pats her head again, and he’s pretty sure they’ve made a lot of progress over these weeks. She looks up at him and gurgles, she seems happy… Almost trusting of him? He laughs a bit, and wonders if that’s a good sign.

“Well, should we head home then?”

She replies, and they’re about to head out, when Egil sees a Celebi. That’s odd, what’s a Celebi doing here? And why does it seem interested in him of all trainers? Wild Pokemon usually didn’t seem to care about the power or rank of a trainer, after all.

But it gestured for him to follow, and so he did. Mawile was close on his heels, not letting him out of her sight. Jeez, she was so protective he may as well call her Vanea…

He snorts at himself for that and turns his attention back to Celebi. Soon enough, they exit the woods and enter a clearing. There’s a large stone in the center and the Celebi stops at it. With a frown, Egil approaches and reaches out…

He touches it, as does Mawile. It only takes a moment after that to see a clear change. Mawile… she freezes for a minute, and the next? She’s in his arms, cuddlier than she had ever been. Really a Vanea now, he guesses.

“Are you alright?” He asks, a bit concerned by the sudden change.

Mawile cooes and he checks the data he’s still recording. The doors to her heart had opened, after a specific energy spike caused by the rock. He couldn’t believe his eyes, but there it was, in plain text…

“We should get back to the lab, Vanea,” he mumbles, deciding he will indeed name her after his sister. “This is big news.”

--

“Egil, you’re back!” Vanea smiles widely when her brother walks in. “How goes your work with Mawile?”

“She’s… her heart is open again,” Egil is able to manage out, still carrying little Vanea in his arms. “I… have data.”

He places his recorder on the table and Meyneth pounces, while Vanea’s shiny Haxorus growls, apparently not trusting it. Doesn’t matter to the professor, though, who is now poring over the findings.

“Fascinating! The final lock on their hearts can be broken with the right frequency… It may be a bit hard to recreate, but… I think it’s possible!” Meyneth looks at Egil, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re a lifesaver, Egil.”

“Maybe we can try helping you next then, hm, Egil?” Vanea seems to be talking to Haxorus, and Egil is a bit offended… Though he has no room to talk, given little Vanea.

Haxorus lets out a noise that seems somewhere between pleased and scared and she pats it on the head. Egil almost wants to laugh, he’ll never get tired of seeing his Garchomp sized sister end up taller than most of her Pokemon.

“We can try that soon,” Meyneth agrees. “It’ll take just a bit… We may finally be able to fix this problem!”

[childrenofmeyneth]

Vanea - Mumkhar Dynamic in the Face Unit Special AU

The basic idea of this AU is the Face Units not only have more interaction with each other, but also Egil and Vanea. Basically, an AU centered around the beings on Mechonis.

This post: Vanea and Mumkhar's dynamic in the AU!

Vanea is largely in charge of repairing damaged Faces when they come back... Meaning she has to spend a lot of time with Mumkhar, who seems to always get messed up in some way.

Vanea is kind, Vanea is patient. She's been putting up with Egil for years! But Meyneth help her, Mumkhar is testing that patience.

Mumkhar is constantly poking fun at her or talking about the Monado Boy or Dunban (and Vanea is just like "stop telling me about your ex or whatever he is" internally constantly).

Metal Face is on screen with some sort of broken bit and Vanea braces herself for more of Mumkhar's bullshit.

It builds, and Vanea mostly holds it in. Mostly. Until Mumkhar breaks the last bit of patience she has.

Mumkhar mentions Egil in some way, likely negative. Vanea, already fed up, snaps at him. Mumkhar was not expecting this and is in shock for the rest of the repairs.

Mumkhar learns to hold his tongue with Vanea after that. You do not bring her loved ones into your bullshit around her. Ever.

Vanea suddenly begins to enjoy repairs a bit more! Gee, I wonder why...

Mumkhar finds himself respecting her a bit because of this... Doesn't mean he'll ever admit it, though. He's taking that to his grave, thanks.

Vanea, meanwhile, does not respect him at all. She feels he feeds into Egil's violent impulses too much.

Next Time: Vanea and Xord!

[moved-to-void-kissed]

2 and 15 for your xenoblade/xenosaga SIs? :0

Thank you very much for this!!

(question source: "ask game: self-insert lore" by inserthaven)

2. when in canon do your self-inserts come in? do you have a scene in mind for your entrances? -

Sapphire first shows up in Chapter 3 shortly after the battle with Vandham, when the party enters Garfont Village. I sort of have an image of her leaping off one of the roofs since she’s quite agile, spotting Pyra and blushing, and then Vandham introduces her as his daughter and then the cutscene goes from there.

Aline appears early into TTGC when the party are exploring what remains of Torigoth Village. She is scared of the party initially because she worries that they are the brigands that razed the village, only to then recognise Lora due to her resembling Rynea. When Gort appears shortly after, she and Avalon help the others to fight him and his allies, which is when they then ask her to travel with them because they are impressed by Avalon’s power. Aline agrees (mostly for Avalon’s sake, as they are her Blade), but also because a) she has nowhere to go with the village destroyed and b) because she wants to get to know Lora and the others more.

Calanthe enters Alrest during Chapter 7 of XC2, when Rex touches the third Aegis Blade in the Vault of Heroes and it resonates with the Conduit; this also affects the Zohar in the world of Xenosaga, which KOS-MOS draws power from, and Calanthe was working on KOS-MOS at that moment so the effect of that power overflow transported her across worlds. She actually appears in the Architect’s room, where she and the Blade version of KOS-MOS (that she awakened upon entering Alrest) talk to him for a bit before exploring the World Tree; however, the two of them fall off one of the skyports and down through the Great Void before it closes, so the party spots KOS-MOS’ distress shot before seeing the pair falling from above the Land of Morytha where Poppi flies up to catch them both.

Mera appears at the same time Vanea does, as the two of them had gone to save the party from Jade Face together. I imagine they would probably notice her underlying resemblance to Face Nemesis here, so she would explain her position as Vanea’s design inspiration and her bond with Lady Meyneth at that point too.

15. how do your self-inserts play a role in the plot of the story? do they help directly defeat the villain, support the heroes, etc.? - All four of these self-inserts are protagonists of some kind, working to stop the antagonists by either directly fighting against them as part of the playable party (in Sapphire and Aline’s cases) or indirectly supporting the playable party in stopping them (in Calanthe’s and Mera’s cases)!

Sapphire becomes a playable character after Chapter 4 of XC2, replacing Tora as Poppi’s “Driver” when he goes back home with his father. She does not have the ability to awaken Blades herself, but since Poppi is an artificial Blade, she doesn’t need to have aptitude to fight alongside her like a typical Blade-Driver pair. Notably, after the first awakening of Pneuma on the Cliffs of Morytha (which in my version of events was only possible since Sapphire filled in the missing piece of Pyra’s Core Crystal with her own ether crystallisation ability), Sapphire kicks Malos off the cliff during the fight, because.. he deserves it at that point.

Team Aline (which consists of Aline herself plus her Blades Avalon and Ursula) would be part of the party of TTGC after visiting Torigoth Village, although we might not become playable until later since Aline might find and awaken Ursula’s Core Crystal during everyone’s travels. She isn’t much of a fighter herself, but supports the party and wants to stop Malos to end the war.

Calanthe could in theory join the party as a playable Driver with KOS-MOS as her starting Blade, but since Sapphire is already playable and Calanthe would probably not be overly eager to resonating with other Blades despite having aptitude (as well as early Chapter 8 being really late to introduce a new party member), she might just remain a non-playable supporting part of the cast who travels with them. If she had remained in the world of Xenosaga, I again imagine her moreso as someone travelling with and supporting the party rather than a playable character in combat, mainly since I have no idea what type of weapon she would use.

I don’t especially envision Mera as a playable party member (though I reaaaally wish Vanea had been!!), but she wants the people of the Bionis and the Mechonis to be able to live peacefully together, so she works together with the party to help them navigate the Mechonis like Vanea does.

I hope that all of those answers were alright!! Thank you very much again for sending in the ask!!