#so you cant just dislike them you have to make people who like em feel ashamed

[nerdy-hyperfixations]

Breaking news: local doctor arrested for sunscreen incident and is facing life in prison. More at 5

Okay, but seriously, tho. I hadn't gone to the Luau somehow until very recently, and when I heard people talk about Harvey's line there, I got really concerned. Like one person claimed, he asks to rub sunscreen on Maru's back, and Maru gets really uncomfortable. I was genuinely concerned because I personally rather there be no implications that Harvey, a doctor who owns the hospital he runs, would have a crush on Maru, his employee. Even if some people can accept that age gap they must obviously have, it's just actually immoral...

But bro. I read the dialog that everyone is so creeped out by. He doesn't say that. He legit says, "I wonder if Maru could use some sunscreen on her shoulders," with a completely neutral face.

It's weird at best that he's pondering out loud to you instead of asking her, but the game doesn't really let people talk to each other outside of cut scenes. Sure sometimes their dialog can be related, but the game can't predict who you'll talk to first. If he were to ask her in his dialog but you talk to Maru first it'd be strange to watch her answer a question he hasn't asked yet.

Some people point out that it's weird he specifically singled out her, and *that's* why it obviously points to something more creepy, but... considering she was standing right next to him. And is his only friend if you don't count yourself. (According to the wiki. Some people headcanon he has more friends lol) It's really not all that strange if he were just concerned about her getting a sunburn and thus thinking of her.

The other evidence I've seen is that Harvey asks Maru to dance with him at the flower dance, so he obviously has a crush on her. But like. Again. She is his only friend. If you talk to him, he talks about being nervous to ask someone to dance. I think some people read "someone" as meaning he has someone in mind, that being Maru, but I've always kinda assumed it meant he literally is just nervous to ask anyone. Which, of course he'd end up asking the one person he knows. It's ultimately understood that the person they dance with doesn't have to be a romantic interest but can be, so I don't know why this is used as Harvey *obviously* having a crush on Maru.

The shoulders specifically being mentioned is pretty strange, however, directly quoting an article here, that's right I'm pulling out the big guns, "people are most likely to under-apply protection to their chest and shoulders." (Source linked at the end) Someone has pointed out that her shoulders are covered, but only by what looks like a loose t-shirt, which you can get sunburns through. It is entirely possible that *as a doctor* Harvey might know people often miss their shoulders when putting on sunscreen, and is genuinely concerned she might end up a little sunburnt.

Also, Harvey is an easily flustered man: he blushes, a lot, pretty much every time he flirts. And maybe it's just cuz the characters aren't able to blush around anyone but the farmer, I wouldn't know, but he has a *completely* neutral face. Not even smiling.

Maybe this is just me in denial because I like Harvey too much that I don't want to believe it, but idk. I'm willing to say it's not out of line, and that he's not interested in Maru because that would be... insanely inappropriate of him as her employer.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.huffpost.com/entry/surprising-place-getting-sun-damage_n_595157ebe4b02734df2c8176/amp

[lilbirdblu]

obligatory disclaimer to all the "its just mc eggs its not that deep" people that this is about characters. we are allowed to post character analysis, even ones that arent positive, about fictional characters no matter what medium theyre from. this is 10000% about the characters, not the admins and there are moments i may not know about since i cant watch every pov but heres my thoughts on the sunny/leo "beef"

which it feels wrong, at this point, to even call it beef when its mostly one sided on leo's part and the adults are failing both sunny and leo

does leo have the right to be wary about the new eggs? 100%, absolutely

does that excuse her recent treatment of sunny? no

is leo to blame for her behavior? well, no, she's a child

do i think q!foolish and q!tubbo are good fathers? yes

did they both drop the ball in regards to this situation and should have handled it better? yes, but that doesnt mean its not too late now

again, i dont fault leo for being distrustful and cautious of the new eggs, its more than reasonable given what shes gone through. im glad she's warmed up to pepito and i think it's a good choice on foolish's part to not force her to interact with anyone she doesnt like while still encouraging her to try. that being said, i think he should say something to leo about how she has recently been treating sunny because it is quickly getting to the point where it is bullying, not "beef"

to be fair, maybe he hasnt seen [in character/roleplay] the extent to which she has treated sunny, and obviously none of the parents are aware of the baby fight club, but even then, someone should say something to leo if they see behavior similar to how leo treated sunny after the fight [although i believe foolish and roier are two of the only people she will actually listen to /neu] with that being said, i dont think foolish takes it very seriously and at the end day has a rather "well what can you do" type of mentality about it.

we know that leo is stubborn and can be a little hard headed, which is one of the reasons why i personally love her, but its been toeing the line in regards to sunny and i feel as though she crossed it during the baby fight club. sunny has been trying to take leo's feelings into consideration [among other eggs, such as tallulah, who excuse it as distrust of the new eggs despite being warm/neutral to both em and pepito while being harsher to sunny].

the fact that the fight ended and sunny was trying to leave when leo blocked the exit and continued to hit sunny shows that her feelings towards sunny are more than just apprehension. even ramon, leo's triplet, felt the need to step to in and separate them out of concern for sunny's well being.

i can also see the nuance of leo's behavior: its the first time where she has disliked someone and been forced to be in close vicinity/interact with them, and no one has taught her that this sort of behavior isnt ok so how is she supposed to know better?

its not an excuse by any means, but it doesnt make it any less bullying than it is. this is where the adults are failing not just sunny [by being bystanders] but theyre failing leo, too.

and sure, disagreements and fights between the eggs is interesting.. when it comes from both parties but when you have one egg--one child--who doesnt want to be around another egg child in consideration of their feelings while the other egg child vandalizes their things and hits them to the point of almost being downed--that's not a disagreement. thats bullying.

does leo have to like sunny? no

do i think that they have more in common and similar feelings of loneliness that they both dont realize, which could make way for a friendship? yes

would i mind if leo never warms up to sunny? no

its realistic. sometimes kids just.. dont get along and thats ok, its good to teach children that we arent going to get along with everyone or even like them [and not everyone is going to like us and we shouldnt try to force them to], but its also important to teach children that not liking somebody doesnt make it okay to treat them poorly or bully them.

in fact, this would be a really good situation in which both leo and sunny can learn the aforementioned, especially since their fathers are good friends that enjoy one another's company so i dont see them stopping hangouts anytime soon so leo and sunny will hopefully learn to, at the very least, be civil with one another. i hope this is the direction the story goes because a bully arc is one of the last things i personally want to watch

i understand its hard, especially when their first languages are not one that they share, but thats what the qsmp is all about, isnt it? coming together in spite of language barriers

im hoping the sunny/leo situation takes a turn for the better, even if it takes time to get to a point where they are mostly indifferent to one another w/o excessive antagonizing

with all that said, i will always have faith in the admins to give us their best, even if the outcome isnt what we wanted or expected

[angelwishess]

Nyallo angel! 🔪 and 🏆 for all 3 of em, or just Kyra if you want :3 (Chose these two cause i feel like it gives a lot of insight as to what type of people they vibe with lol)

HEHEE HI TATO!! 💗💗🎀

🔪 - Enemy/nemesis

— Kyra :

Definition of ‘I have no enemies’. She doesn’t hold a grudge against anyone. Though she may dislike people at first— she usually warms up to them. She does, however, absolutely despise anyone who underestimates or looks down on her and WILL go out of her way to prove them wrong. (She once beat up a beastman for taunting her about being “weak and defenseless”, it was a shock to everyone since she usually never loses her cool LOL)

— Elena :

Jamil Viper. She absolutely has a crush HATES him. Love at first sight?? No, it was HATRED at first sight with Elena. She cant explain it but his very existence makes her annoyed. Mostly because she can’t read him as well as she does other people.

(She also has a strong dislike for Trey for some reason.)

— Jester :

Another character that tries to get along with everyone— but she does dislike the octotrio. You’d think she’d like Floyd, but honestly hes on thin ice too. They tried to trick her into giving Azul her Signature Spell and she bolted out of there SO FAST. She does NOT trust any of them, and prefers to stay out of anything that involves the three.

(People think that she and Riddle are enemies— which is funnt because they absolutely arent LMAO)

🏆 - Best friends (past, current or future)

— Kyra :

Answered this question in This Post!!

— Elena :

Her best friend is Azul!! She loves and cares for him very dearly, and acts like his older sister even though shes the one younger than him. Unlike her brothers, she dotes on him alot and makes sure hes taking care of himself. Will drag him away from his desk herself if thats what it takes. She always has his back!! His most trusted, most loyal friend and does NOT tolerate any bad mouthing of Azul in her presence. Will drop kick anyone that dares to speak ill of the people she loves.

Funnily enough, she also has another very close friend at NRC! Malleus. Weird, right? She didnt expect it either, it kind of just… happened. As Mostro Lounge’s “spy” / informat, she joined the Gargoyle Appreciation club in order to get info on Malleus.

Instead, she found herself actually enjoying his company and learning about gargoyles. She eventually found out about his situation, how everyone is terrified of him because of his magic. And damn, she could relate so much. They were basically in the same situation. She has a soft spot for him, and always makes sure to include him whenever she can!

Birds of a feather n’ all that, right?

— Jester :

Jester’s best friend is Kalim !!

Both she and Kalim enjoy throwing parties, and have many similar interests!! They get along swimmingly, so much so you’d think they were siblings lol

She also adores Che’nya! Throws a party whenever he comes around to visit Heartslabyul, and they could talk in riddles for hours and hours!! She seems to be one of the only other people who can understand his odd way of speaking and his eccentricity.

[catboyklug]

sam & max hcs

title

this is specifically for sam & also max bc im most confident w my interpretations of them but once i play & finish tdp i'll make a post for every single other character .

quick disclaimer that this is for my sorta-AU thing where i make sense of the games and cartoon and comics by saying that each was an autobiographical (or just biographical) piece of media that they signed their rights away to. the comics were more or less exactly what happened, the cartoon was scripted half the time (with the bad day on the moon episode actively having been staged) and the games are more or less 1:1 to what happened except for the occassional references to them being. games.

also this isnt a totally exhaustive list

sammy

canon to get it outta the way: he's black, bisexual, autistic and might be trans & objectum (i hc him to definitely be the last two lmao) . i hc he has Narcissistic Traits tee em and also might have OCD

he started developing arthritis in his 20's, which was made only worse by his horrible posture due to his career path of Massive Fucking Nerd. though he fixed his back posture-wise by the time he formed the freelance police, he still is in a lot of pain near constantly.

even when he makes jokes, he wants to be taken seriously at all times. he wants you to laugh at his cleverness, not at the fact that you find him inherently funny. he tends to take this a bit far sometimes, which is part of one of the many reasons as to why he treated max so terribly in the early telltale games

since he was a pup he's tried to hide the fact he's bisexual, even if he's completely normal abt max being out as gay and doesn't see an issue with it in any sense of the term

he really wanted to be an engineer for years, but the intense sexism of the field, a desire to stick around with max, and the fact that other jobs would pay him better lead him to abandon the thought

though he wouldn't mind having children, he doesn't actively want them as much as max does. this doesn't mean he dislikes children at all, though - he actually likes them more than max does, at least conceptually

not too long after the cartoon's release, he lost contact with most of his family, excluding ruth. this was fully intentional on his part: max's refusal to talk to his family except at gatherings he stole food and drugs from inspired him to take more control of his life and contact with people he's related to

he sort of wants to grow his hair out again, but isn't sure what style to get... (i like drawing him w afros though)

completely opposite to max's feelings, sam feels a strictly familial or platonic attraction to lumpy. and platonic being based offa that plato fun fact is very very definitely relevant here i think (im sorry)

if he went with any other job, it'd have to be letterist, full stop. he has several styles of handwriting and they're all gorgeous

he's a super sweet, incredibly silly drunk, and lets himself relax and show more of his dog mannerisms when drunk enough (thank you celebrity poker 2 i love you)

maxamillion

canonically a narcissistic psychopath who might have schizophrenia. its ok i can reclaim him<333 (no i cant but my partner can) he also has a horrible family life but his family stuck together out of mutual hatred and a desire to reap society's rewards for the nuclear standard

this horrible shithead has prolly claimed to have every physical disability at some point but he's only been diagnosed w/ hypermobile joint disorder / ehler-dahlos

in the more modern time of 2024, he usually sticks to only mocking people for things that are a. traits he shares with them or b. actually disturbing, inhumane or generally Yucky

he's wanted kids for years, which is why he's constantly not-so-subtly mentioning it.

he's a deeply unprofessional drag queen AND drag king and loves playing around with both sides of the coin. he also does drag creature stuff but that's just how he normally looks so!

thanks to the autism and schizophrenia he's very touch averse. the only people he really wants touching him are sam (and sometimes, maybe, rarely, flint paper)

to say that he doesn't have any familial affection for lumpy is understating it. he uses lumpy as his personal (and fully consenting) stimtoy whenever he feels like it, regardless of where or who might see 'em.

he sometimes pretends he's still president to make people do stuff for him. this only works on sam though

though he's physically capable of handwriting so gorgeous it rivals sam, he saves that for the disgustingly cheesy, 'anonymous' love letters he sends him every year or seven

he's a mainer. a mainiac if ya will. grew up closer to the south and he's got some relatives from mass so he's got that masshole/bostoner accent. he's usually good at hiding his accent, but it's obvious when you ask him to say shit like "clam chowder" and "lobster" and "fish"

though he hates most country music, he still loves johnny cash

HES A SYSTEM BTW!!!!

botha them

they invented paralell play. sam w his computers and his papers and max with his drawing and stabbing the desk until it looks like a modern art piece

they're both extremely jealous of other people, but somehow have both missed that. sam's worried he's too jealous and overprotective, while max thinks he could stand to be a little more obsessive

one of their favorite things to do together is go to the comic book store and laugh at how horrible their childhood favorite comics have gotten (or always were)

every wedding shown is canon in some way, but around the telltale games sam started thinking they were just 'ironic' and 'a joke' and etc. despite the EXTREMELY high budget each had. he knows better now

max's whole "not making fun of anyone unless they're enough like him (or suck)" actually extends to sam as well. he's more than fine with making fun of someone bc they're fat or whatever despite the fact he clearly isn't. this is MOSTLY because he keeps forgetting he and sam don't share every single experience.

though sam is against drinking as a whole, the two sometimes go out to horribly shitty bars to get the worst in junk food & beer. every time they do, max happily proclaims that it was the best date EVER.

max almost likes sam's singing, sometimes, but this is usually only because he just really likes sam's voice

neither of them know how to use modern technology. when one finds out a single way a single program or feature works, they excitedly show the other like they just found the missing link between humans and neanderthals or whatever

sam helps with max's injections since max really seriously can't handle needles. it's the worst for the both of them, but the treats and snacks and ten-hour-long movie binges after help with the fear

generally speaking, max can get up and out of bed any time from around 6 to 13. sam gets up at 6:30 or 7:45 exactly every day, which means he usually makes breakfast if he feels up to cooking.

other than the aforementioned horrible bars, they have a lot of 'weird' date locations, like the dog park, the local sewer system, hell, etc.

yeay

[kaz-playz]

hi :) do you have any spare headcanons for the Illiyork children, please?

:O

!!!!!

I personally make the cities the IlliYork kids for convenience sake, so

NYC and Chicago are the main reason the banned words list keeps expanding.

They have petty arguments over everything

But theyre the closest in age so they try and get along when they can.

The illinois kids have big opinons and even bigger mouths, so they usually come out victorious in family fueds (mostly because the york kids get tired of that shit real fast and dont have the patience to argue)

Theyre a very close knit group but they tend to confide in their own side more often than not. I feel like they grow out of it as they get older though.

I feel like illinois makes them get family photos.

All the kids except like upstate NY and Peoria, Springfied, and Aurora mildly dislike/violently hate it

On the HATE scale its mostly NY kids bcs their family photos are mostly candid shots and so they dont have to pose or wear matching outfits.

I feel like chicago has a midwestern accent. Like how can they not? But they never speak in it and it only slips if theyre embarrased. The others enjoy flustering them just so they can record it.

When the kids have a shared intrest, they will beg to be drowned in merch. Mostly bcs if they have sb who ALSO enjoys it, they feel less awkward repping it.

I love older sibling chicago so uhhh, they pick up their baby siblings and just swing em around and then tosses em on a soft surface, like a lot. They also do it just to carry them around.

I also have angst hcs for Chicago bcs my brain is so silly

So this comes from the songs i associate illiyork with, Anthony Kiedis by Remi Wolf is the song in question.

Theres one line that goes "I fit in my family dynamics like a Red Hot Chilli Pepper."

This line is a refrence to the band but!

When i think of the midwest -esp the rest of illinois- i think of mellow tame flavors, no kick or spice bcs white people would melt

But the rest of the state hates chicago, theyre too loud, demanding, commandeering the politics of illinois. They directly contrast the views of the rest of their state most of the time. So they are the red hot chilli pepper, per say. And cant keep a peaceful relationship w their fam w/o silencing themselve or compromising their views.

(I tried to keep all prns gn so let me know if you spy any gendered ones bcs i dont want my gender hcs to influence anyone.)

[sieglinde-freud]

1,3,5,6 and 15! I love women <3

hi faye!! 🩷 i already know this gonna be long hooboy

1. One of your favorite female characters?

frederica aesfrost triangle strategy. that is my GIRL. i dont know how many of you guys have played triangle strategy but me personally it changed my life. not gonna say too much because i dont wanna spoil it, but shes such a great female lead. shes basically fighting for the liberation of her people, the roselle, who the society of the game has basically condemned for no reason so if you go through her arc, you see how she deals with the pressure of having to free them, how hard it hurts to witness them in the state that theyre in, and the sacrifices she has to make to get what she wants and GOD. its so good. shes so good. also she cant fucking cook. me too girl.

3. What’s a female character you look up to?

ema skye ace attorney, specifically in aa4-6. ive never seen a character that made me go ‘GOD shes just like me fr’ like her (and apollo justice. but this isnt about him). i feel like it’s rare to see main characters like her really love something, and then FAIL pathetically at it. over and over. not that i enjoy seeing her not getting her forensic license, but it just feels so real. sometimes you love something and you’re so passionate about it but you just dont get it. and how does she react? is she still the bubbly ema you see in rfta with a “we’ll get em next time!” attitude? no!! no she’s not, she’s bitter, grumpy, snarky, dealing with the most annoying prosecutor of all time, and she’s so fucking real. be frustrated! be angry! life hands you shit cards you can be mad about how you have to play it! it’s nice seeing characters who pick themselves back up so easily, but most people arent like that and im certainly not, and seeing a character who’s just so honest about that is really refreshing. of course, she finally gets her dream in aa6, but that doesnt come without years and years of trying. in a universe where people are becoming lawyers at 18, it’s nice to see someone realistic. (im also trying to step foot into the forensic field eventually sooo… the fact that shes on the same path as me just kinda makes it hit harder, you know?)

5. A female villain you love?

pissing off both sides of the argument by calling her a villain and saying i love her but edelgard von hresvelg. before anyone says anything my favorite lord is yuri leclerc and the rest of them are equal in my heart <3 but edelgard clearly takes on more of a villain role in every route except her own, and even then she’s not entirely morally correct (duh). but i dont know. i wont say too much on your ask faye cuz i know you havent finished the other routes yet, but even when i played azure moon i couldnt bring myself to dislike her. her past with dimitri, the way she kept the dagger, and everything she reveals to you on her own path and how her past shaped her into who she is and what she wants and how she will stop at nothing to get it. i dont agree with the ends justifying the means, but i love characters who believe in that because it’s just so interesting. you want this thing so bad, nothing will stop you? your friends, your family, knowing you’re doing wrong because you think it’ll turn out right? what if it goes wrong. what if it blows up in your face? what if history remembers you as the villain forever? you’re already too deep in it i guess, so just keep going. shes so… ggrarghj. edelgard 🥹

6. A female character who got done dirty by the narrative?

athena cykes ace attorney. you’re telling me the entirety of aa5 is revolves around HER story, HER past, HER relationships, and it’s called “Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies”? the dual, by the way, refers to apollo. and you dont even play as athena during the climax of the game, you play as phoenix and shes just WATCHING. will they redeem her in aa6? you mean “Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice?” you mean the game where she gets ONE case on her own and it’s a FILLER CASE? admittedly a pretty good filler case but still. god. what the hell. i get phoenix sells but if you’re make new lawyers to take on his legacy, maybe? let them do that???

15. Female character you would defend with your life?

as usual there are so many to pick from. but i think this time i’m gonna pick nyx fire emblem. now, dont get me wrong. i will not defend her design. fates’ female dark mage design is pretty bad, especially since its used on ophelia and nyx. as much as i sincerely dont think nyx looks like a child as opposed to just a pretty short young woman, it’s…. blerghh. but aside from that? i cant STAND when people say shes just generic loli bait that acts like a child. because where? WHERE? point to where in her supports she acts like a child seriously. i know in her supports with charlotte she attempts to try it, but the point is that its unnatural and uncomfortable for her to do so. she is just. not like that. she doesnt try to play around like nowi or myrrh. shes not a child in dragon years or anything. shes just an older woman stuck in the body of a younger one, and if you would just READ one support, literally any of them, you would know that. but fates haters dont read, do they? clearly not. and its just a huge disservice to the rest of her character, which i think is incredibly beautifully written. shes such a standout in fates and i cant stand people ignoring that because “waaah nowi clone!” fuck you.

[auspex]

🍓, 🥭, 🍑, and 🍏 for Eden? :3c And also 🍐 for Mark? :D

OH GOD i have realized i do not know much about eden yet because ihave yet to play here so everything below issubject to change because i am also drunk

🍓 [STRAWBERRY] How do they feel about 'cute' things?

yeah she actually likes em. she wont act like she hates or dislikes them but also wont act like she likes em as much as she does. a cute doggy will make her d'awwww as much as the next person and cute gifts from someone she loves already is a good gift. but yea just as much as the next person not intense.

🥭 [MANGO] What colours best represent them and why? Does this differ from their favourites?

black represents her well - classic lasombra - as does red as in like a fiery orang-y red due to Rage and also former Firefighter . and id say those are some of her favs too... it actually all works out :D

🍑 [PEACH] How do they show their kindness? How kind are they truly?

she's not that nice tbh lol she has Issues and thinks people should always be able to push through their issues. but she's not 0 percent nice so when she is feeling nice she will show it by helping silently, not making a big deal of her help.

🍏 [GREEN APPLE] How do they differ from the norm and how are they punished for it?

uhhh well other than the ways in that. kindred are different than most people lol. she's a butch lesbian so like. theres that. sadkjflkdsfj i should think of more stuff but i havent played her yettttt

uhh. in kindred terms. shes faked her death already so shes a rare fledgling that already cant talk to ppl she knew and is disconnected from her humanity. and obviously that takes a toll on her mentally, i think her humanity is gonna drop fast . : ( :( : ( as well as this shes more reliant on her sire than she'd like for sure.

-

🍐 [PEAR] What is their current social standing? If they could change it, would they, and to what?

LMAOOO mark's standing in kindred society is so iffy. on one hand he is kind of untouchable because his sire is sooo mega important and powerful in the tremere. on the other hand if you dont know who his sire is you prob hate the fucking guy cause its like. why is he getting so much shit when hes a Baby Fledgling who the fuck is he?? and on the other other hand if you know who his sire is *and hate his sire* you hate mark as well and give him problems. soooo its very tumultuous but on the surface he is Safe but things could go wrong at any time. its strressful. as fuck. mark knows it. i know it. augh.

[crimsononiarataki]

"It is how I see it and I'm real glad we became friends too, I dunno... bein' close to the three of ya just feels like it was supposed to happen,"

Sure, the Oni was now officially affiliated with the Yashiro Commission due to his Gang working closely with them to aid in the recovery of homes, and farms upon the islands, but he'd technically been an affiliate for years. Just on non-working terms since his Gang wasn't yet viewed as and official organization to the Tenryou Commission.

"I do, remember a few times, when I first started gettin' taller. Thoma and Ayato had to carry me into the teahouse cause I had a severe reaction to beans some locals chucked into my face."

He hated that his allergy was so well known to the people who disliked him, but there were a few times where the group were incarcerated for assaulting him when he'd done nothing wrong, and of course, there were the times where Thoma was informed that the Yokai had been arrested for "assault" himself, despite the three of them knowing that the Oni would never raise a hand to defend himself with those people.

"Heh, I'm thrivin' thanks to Granny, the Gang, and... well you three. You've all really helped me a lot. Probably more than any of us really realize."

He wouldn't know he had any effect on Ayaka's life. He wasn't the sort to assume things, or look deeper into something said for meaning that likely wasn't there in the first place. He was smart, smarter than most people knew, but his Gang, Granny, the Kamisato siblings, and Thoma? They all knew. They'd seen it firsthand, or even in action depending on who it was. He had skills that most people weren't aware of though. Not even his closest friends knew he could draw for instance.

"Princess, I could never just go to your room - it ain't appropriate for a guy to enter a lady's private quarters casually. At least, I'm pretty sure it ain't."

He knew what she meant even before she tried to correct it. He'd never assume anything so forward as that kind of invitation from someone he valued as an incredibly close friend. Woman or not, Ayaka was someone he cherished every moment he spent with her. Perhaps a bit more than with anyone else but he wasn't thinking about that right now.

"Hm?"

When she started saying something and then stopped, he'd cant his head briefly to the side. At least, until she finished what she was saying. Her words making his face heat up brightly as his eyes widened.

A few moments would pass before he was able to calm his own heart - which had become hammering due to her words down again. His breathing became normal again as well.

"Ayaka, I... wouldn't wanna ruin your reputation by goin' on practice dates with ya."

As she called him wonderful, his cheeks lit up again, he wasn't sure why he was reacting so strongly to her comments. She was just being sincere, so why, why was his face burning so hot due to them? He didn't understand. He'd briefly look at their hands and how she'd entwined them - chalking it up to a comforting, albeit unconscious action on her part. Especially as she continued to speak afterward.

"I don't really have the best self-esteem, princess, I mean... ya have heard some of the comments thrown my way, I know ya have."

He'd seen her hiding her frown behind her fan on more than one occasion while out with the three of them, heading to the teahouse. Comments thrown toward, or about him were things like 'monster', 'curse', 'unwanted filth', and some that were much worse. His free hand would move to rest on his chest briefly, a fang worrying against his lower lip a few moments before his hand dropped back down, though his face remained pink still, he wasn't stammering as badly as he likely would normally.

"As an Oni, what I know of my kind - they did stuff similarly to non-Yokai. Datin', gettin' married, that kinda stuff. Apparently my folks were married, but - I know nothin' about 'em, not their names, what they did for work, just... our surname."

Before befriending the oni, her life had been quite colourless. The companionship she shared with Thoma had been the closest thing she had to a 'friend' for a great deal of time, and at first, there had been some part of her that blindly believed that she had navigated that happenstance. Unbeknownst to her, it had actually been his insistence that a real bond occur. It would never be something she would take for granted, given her socially recluse state most of the time, and their strengthened relationship left her feeling confident about furthering herself into the world around her.

As a woman who had grown up in such a sheltered environment, going out and befriending new people was a yearning that she could never seem to quench. Even extending conversations with officials over topics that were deemed ‘trivial’ to most did not seem to land her any closer to the level she wanted to stand with others. Upon meeting Arataki Itto, a colourful spark had made its way into her life, providing something unattainable to others. It had been around that time she more regularly stuck around, finding Itto to be beautiful, inside and out.

Not a sentiment she could ever express without fearing for the response. Instead, she vowed to observe him, only daring to get close when it was necessary, or if she felt as though providing support overruled that fragile heart. The way people would treat him would leave her disheartened, wanting nothing more than to express just how gentle he truly was. His heart was so big, giving to anybody who showed even the slightest bit of kindness. It was a trait she held a deep regard for.

“If that is how you see it, then perhaps it is a blessing we became friends when we did.” A shy expression of emotion, with a lighthearted smile sent his way, her eyes twinkling with intensity unseen before, though she gathered the impression he would not sense it. Every time she had personally helped him out after an attack, her heart would do its best to make the admiration show, to showcase her belief in his resolve. His soul was so wonderful, brightly painted, even within the starry skies at night.

Kamisato Ayaka let out a gentle hum as he recounted the story, drawing in every word he spoke into an imaginary framework, replicating the memory with a mere idea of what it must have felt like. Part of her felt guilt, knowing she would never truly understand the level of torment he had experienced in his lifetime. Within the scope of her mind, she knew that the modern world was not so accepting of the existence of his kind, even if he was the biggest goofball on the planet. Still, there were a rare few who knew and accepted his existence. Not enough to even begin the eradication of the discrimination, but a fair few that could expand his circle of friendships and connections.

“I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that is like. You have come a long way since then, and it makes me happy to see you thrive.”

Seeing a smile in his handsome face was enough to relax her thumping heart, his heat overpowering the sun’s rays easily. How did she manage to get so lost within him?

“If you are granting me permission to visit you at any time, then I must reciprocate. I know that you are free to visit the estate whenever you choose, but… you’re free to come to my room whenever you need anything!” Her enthusiasm lasted for a burning moment, before the phrasing of her words finally sunk in. “Y-you know what I mean.” Rather than become a hamster trapped within a wheel, she chose to brush off her comment, despite the initial portrayal remaining sincere and open.

His words rang in her ears, her mind swirling with a mix of thoughts. Did he really believe that a person was incapable of loving him the same way mortals love one another and settle down? She was sure an oni would have a similar custom, even if it did not involve the decree of marriage. Pity. All she wanted to do was argue against it, convince him that he was worth far more than what he was saying, but all that would come out—

“But what if I…” a painfully long pause, not a single breath to be passed. The silence was killing her internally, so she had to be quick about it. “G—go on practice dates with you?” The dismissal of her original intent had twisted her mind. What was she going to say? Why was she going to say it? There was no way she had harboured these kind of emotions toward Itto all this time, right?

“You don’t place a lot of value on yourself. You’re… so wonderful.” Subconsciously, the muscles in her hand had moved to warmly hold his own, with her mind focused on something far more important; ensuring he was aware of just how important he is to those around him. “I quite enjoy it when you break into loud fits of laughter. It is endearing — ah — and you contribute so much to everyone around you. Please, don’t dismiss that.”

[threepointseven]

🌚 im starting to really be interested in Japanese urban legends again so i thought of a yokai!reader - it can be any type

(Scaramoochie, Gorou, Venti maybe if you're comfortable with writing for Gorou)

- 👩‍🦲 anon

You’re a yokai!

Type- HC’s 🌷

Flowers included!🌼= gorou x oni! Reader, scaramouche x yurei! Reader, venti x kitsune! Reader

Note🍀= I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOKAIS ARE ABT SO I HAD TO RESEARCH ABOUT EM 💔💔 ALSO IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!

Genshin masterlist

💐Your bouquet has been delivered <3💐

Scaramouche

- when he first met you he was simply going home in a fairly good mood after finishing a mission

- He wouldve been in a much better mood if he didnt come across a terrified yurei screaming and shouting running away from some exorcist’s

- You werent watching yourself and you bumped straight into scaramouche while he was chuckling in amusement at the scene

- So fast forward to now you, a clumsy yurei that literally cannot help but be hated by the entire exorcist community in inazuma is dating a feared fatui harbinger that kills everyone that attempts to make you disappear.

- Its kinda saddening that you cant exactly touch him since your a ghost- so he searched through the entirety of tevyat for finding someone to put a temporary seal on you that allows you to touch things,

- He always threatens the people and the maiden’s at the shrine’s that try to put an actual seal on you, he’s killed so many-

- He adores learning about the history about your kind (he’ll never tell you that but just believe me)

- He actually pities you a lot, how you died without anyone giving you a proper funeral, and how you cant pass on since you have no one to give you prayers.

- Apart of him thinks maybe its better if he lets the maidens exorcise you, its for the best.

- But then again, scaramouche is one of the most selfish people on this planet so, stay with him for a few more lifetimes as a yurei wont you?

“I promise one day, i’ll make you a human my love.”

(Your 100% asleep when you say that btw.)

Gorou

- Your an oni! He’s seen a lot of oni’s before like itto and the others,

- He keeps it a secret but i actually see him as someone who’s deeply interested in inazuman culture, and inazuman culture came with the concept of yokai’s

- When he started dating you he prioritized learning about your kind

- He knows oni’s are very disliked amongst the citizens of inazuma so he makes sure to cheer you up everytime someone says you should be banished since your an oni

- He loves playing with your horns dhdhehehehe, whenever yall are cuddling the first place his hands go are your horns, he knows their pretty sensitive so he tries to be gentle

- He thinks theyre so fascinating and pretty, if anyone ever insults your horns he’ll riot

- Once Kokomi whispered to gorou “oni’s are dangerous creatures gorou, be careful with them..” while he was with you and he was so angry. Its the first time he’s ever been angry at the divine priestess but he couldnt help but be offended on your behalf at those words

- He loves you so much he may look like a cute adorable lil fox but he’ll hurt everyone that makes you feel ashamed of yourself

Venti

- He met you in the woods, you had ears and a tail and eyes filled with regret brimming with tears

- He thought you were a cute thing but as he came closer you looked cautious and tense. You warned him not to come close to you as you grit your teeth and your tail tensed up

- When he got to calm you down you explained to the man in green that you were a kitsune, not the kitsune that protects humans and shrines but a kitsune that plays tricks on humans and trick them. A mischievous fox that plays pranks on people.

- You cried as you regret your actions from when you were brainwashed by the urge to keep causing trouble.

- When you and venti started dating you had already straightened your ways and prioritized being responsible. At that even venti’s more mischievous than you-

- Even if your a kitsune that has straightened their ways people still look at you as a threat, but venti is quick to take your mind off the words

“Ah dont listen to them windblume!! You arent a monster your my beuatiful, handsome, adorable, sweet, kind lover!”

- it makes you laugh everytime

- He dotes on you so much!!!! He wants to make you feel like a human more than anything and he’d do a lot for you to feel like one.

- Loves playing with ur ears btw-

- Your tail is one of his favorite things in the world and he will not hesitate to bury his head into it

[devildamn]

You plan on making poly headcanons? Id love to read them

Heck yee, I love poly ships >w< Tbh, the way I see it, even as a harem, there are some pretty distinct smaller groupings. A bunch of em…. Hmmm… I’ll make a list with my thoughts on each. Just plz keep in mind, for the MC ships, I’ll explain more the relationship between the named characters than with them because… MCS are just so varied, I cant account for everyone and how they’d be. And if I do bring em up, it’s based on what I like in my MCs lol <w< Or what I think would mesh the best.

-        Diavolo/Lucifer/Barbaratos: Yee I ship these council goons. Their friendship is so cute, especially how both Lucifer and Barbaratos have a soft spot and give in to Diavolo’s antics uwu Like, I swear, anytime one of them tells Diavolo no to something, the other will help enable him anyways. I’m a sucker for ‘touch starved/needy Diavolo’ too, so I like to imagine the three’s relationship starting as professional with the occasional moments of showing they care, but once they get closer and Diavolo confesses (particularly to Lucifer) about his insecurity in feeling alone, their level of touchy-feely-ness will gradually increase… behind closed doors that is. Barbaratos has no shame in his affections being public, he likes making Diavolo happy, but Lucifer is hesitant to make their relationship known. He’d rather keep up appearances, and Diavolo doesn’t want to ask too much of him, so this is their compromise.

-        Asmodeus/Solomon/MC: Ahahaha look v-v I am not much of an Asmo fan. But I can see his appeal, and I do like the Solomon/Asmodeus ship. That said, how their poly ship can work depends entirely on the MC (tho that’s a given with how different MCs can be lol). Asmodeus is sure to love having two powerful humans be in control of him, even flaunting it as a sort of status symbol. And he’d most definitely act like a brat. I don’t see Solomon as being one to give into Asmo as much as he’d want someone to, so I can imagine this scenario being common, lol:

Asmo going to Solomon for whatever reason. Solomon is busy/distracted and keeps brushing off Asmo’s attempts to get his attention. Asmo gets HUFFY and storms to MC to demand attention from them instead.

Basically, MC would have to bear the brunt of Asmo’s needs lol. Solomon won’t always be so obtuse, but he’s just not as inclined to emotional stuff.

-        Solomon/Simeon/Luke: Love their dynamic. Just friends looking out for each other <3 I can especially imagine them in domestic situations. Their dissing Solomon’s cooking? Solomon’s and Simeon’s shared custody of keeping Luke from trouble? <3 <3 <3 Bonus, heres a scenario I like:

Luke being a ‘helicopter parent’ to Solomon’s annoyance when he gets super into a project. Bringing him snacks, tidying up his workspace, sending him texts to remind him of stuff he needs to do. All the while scolding him for not taking better care of himself, but secretly feeling happy that he is needed. Simeon helps take care of Solomon too, but not to the extent that Luke does. He’s better at watching from the sidelines, amused at Luke hauling a semi-conscious Solomon from bed to get a proper breakfast.

-        Belphegor/Beelzebub/MC: >-> Here’s a bit of a rant. It’s no secret I hate Belphie. No hate to Belphie lovers, y’all are great and free to love who you love, my gripe is just with how little the story did to redeem him to us. Anyways, my hate for him extended so much that it affected my love for Beel too ;o; See, before his return, I LOVED Beel. He was cutting it close with Mammon in being my favorite. He’s such a wholesome boi full of love for his family <3 But with Belphie’s return… loving Beel and hating Belph is just not good for him.It’d never work. They are a package deal. The closest of the brothers. Of course all your time with Beel or Belph would be spent with the other as well. Even Belph tells you that in his dream scenario, he’d run away with you and Beel and live happily together. They are already set on loving one person together, that’s just how it is -w-“

-        Lucifer/Mammon/MC: Mammon is Lucifer’s favorite brother. In particular, people note that he finds Mammon to be cute. Weeeeeellllllllllll, here’s a bit of tmi for my take on my MC, the reason they dislike Lucifer is because his personality is a bit like theirs too, with some key differences. And of course, that being the case…. Mammon is their favorite too. So, the way I see this is, both Lucifer and MC sharing Mammon. Lucifer scolds him, MC comforts and enables him, Lucifer tries but can’t stop MC, and the song and dance continues. <3

-        Leviathan/MC/Mammon: Listen, the beef these two had is the first thing you’re thrown into and I find it hilarious in retrospect. Levi does not like you, and only approaches you to use you to get back at Mammon. This makes Mammon the first to form a contract with you, and later, become your first genuine friend out of the brothers. The first to care uwu Then, WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE and Levi has grown to like you, his dialogue about you preferring Mammon? “Is it because he was your first?” Motherfucker, you could’ve been the first if you weren’t so up your ass in calling me ‘Normie Trash’ X,D Jealous shit. But it’s cute in a way. His rivalry with Mammon, their bickering. Both vying for MC’s attention, calling out each other’s bs, later having moments of defending the other when shit gets too far or others attack em, it’s entertaining to me.

-        Asmodeus/MC/Beelzebub: I’ll keep this one short. I can see this solely because Asmo has, on multiple occasions, spoken of his interest in Beel. To be FAIR, Asmo would form a polyship with ANY of his brothers, lol, just typing this one in particular for that reason.

-        Beelzebub/MC/Luke: Absolutely wholesome. Adorable. I feel that out of all the brothers, Luke has the best relationship with Beel. I’d love to see them interact more -w- (I am on Lesson 29). As it stands, I’m jumping into headcannon territory straight up lol:

MC and Luke get close first. Luke is the first person to have reached out to MC with good intentions (which compared to the brother’s hostile initial meetings, is a HUGE relief), and since MC respects and does not tease Luke, he attaches to them like a puppy. Beel and them grow close too with the reveal of the family history, and Beel generally feeling at ease with both people. Can you picture Beel feeling drowsy, draped over Luke as he studies and finding the scent of baked goods and vanilla coming from him comforting? Cuz I can -/w/- Hella cute. Luke IS pushy, and Beel finds it annoying at times. They’d have arguments, and initially, Beel would subconsciously make Luke feel threatened with his size and temper, but with the help of MC interfering, he’d be more mindful of it in the future. With the curbing of Beel’s temper, Luke would also learn to feel more comfortable around him, and ALSO with MC’s interference, he’d be more mindful of his nagging nature. All in all, their arguments would lead to them feeling huffy the next day and giving the other the silent treatment… but then after a while, Luke would bake too much of something and aaah, he GUESSES Beel could have some since it just so happens to be his FAVORITE… and they’d be back to snuggling. Bleeh.

Aight, so that was the list <3 I’m open to others, and if you’d like any more specifics on any you are free to send me more asks! Just that these were the ones I could think of immediately and distinctly. To be fair, MC could be added to any of the ships I have without em, but as stated before, it’s hard to characterize MC as anything other than what I like uwu So I’ll refrain from doing so unless it’s specified as such. My MC, Boo <3 Thank you for the ask!

[animeheadspace]

hope I ain’t to late- if so then feel free to ignore this!

for the matchup:) I’d like a Tokyo rev char.

- my personality is pretty chaotic, I’m a huge ambivert and socially awkward- mostly with new people or just random,though sometimes around family members N friends,rarely. When I’m feeling talkative I’m a huge chatter, pray that I’m not talking about a anime or manga I read,because honey, ill go on for hours. Other times when I’m feeling quiet, I just sit and do my own thing. with friends I can be so extra and dramatic,some times well all the time I crack flirty jokes and VERY flirty nicknames,mainly to get my friends to laugh! I like seeing people in good moods,negative ones just like bummer. Leading into Ive been told i can’t read between the lines or I’m oblivious- which leads to a lot of my friendships ending. I’m also pretty like quick to change things, my mind just races everywhere. I can get pretty angry,depending on what it is. I can handle it the right way, walk away,not speak on it and be nice. But if it bothers me, I’m a whole bomb,I will explode on someone and not hold back, which is more of than often what I do,but I know when something aint worth it. Though I do a lot of extra stuff, I’m shy- I can’t even talk to a cashier without stuttering Or just wanting someone to help. (like they ask me ‘speak up’ I CANT JUST GIVE ME MY STUFF’). But mostly I’m called weird, which is because of my view points on things, more about someones style, or what people like in relationships. laziness is me, i will cry if I have to get up and do anythin… I will procrastinate to the max. I’m also very understanding and supportive, I try to be the best help and listen, I hate judgmental people, I feel like everyone should be able to speak there mind and feel comfy. Which I expect back for me :).

my likes/dislikes - I like food- more sweet foods! indie/alt music, editing n writing! Chatting with close friends, oversized clothes, and monsters (the energy drink.) anime n manga, deep talks about personal issues (I just like to get it out,with someone I trust ofc)

now some things I dislike, BUGS. I hate them to the max, I will scream,run. Any type of bug,even a ladybug,I’m gone, really loud noises (like yknow them cars with loud engines? Or like a sink disposal , those sounds bother me.), hot weather, bullying, people who think they can talk to someone however, and lastly people who eat,with,there,mouth,open. LIKE CLOSE UR MOUTH JESUS. my love language is Quality time. I’m not really big on like touching n stuff, I wouldn’t mind it,yknow if the other person is into it, but certain times, I just cringe at it. Hand holding and stuff cool,but cuddling i cannot do unless Im tired. I will give 10 minutes to cuddle before I need to move around. I JuSt nEed Movement and I’d be too awkward. But like I said, if the person wants it, I’ll try. (If i like em enough JDJDJDJJD)

pass time activities, learning piano, I’m trynna practice my writing alot more! Tho mainly watching YT.

My appearance! I’m around 5’2-5’3, it think more to 5’3 though, I’m very close In height to someone 5’4,but there is a pretty noticeable difference. I have medium length black hair, in the front, my hair is orange/darker brown from the top (FROM A FAILED HAIR DYE ATTEMPT) they call me splotch bc it literally is. Splotch on my head fading to black👁👄👁. I have dark brown eyes! I have a kinda chubby face, chubby cheeks :> my body is curvy, with chubbiness ( insecure go brr-) which I like to hide in oversized clothes. Thick thighs save lives 🦵🏻🦵🏻

my pronouns are she/they!

I hope this is good,make sure to drink water bub!!!

hi! you aren’t too late, so dw about that…thank u for participating <3

ah, so you get the king of them all, sano manjiro. you included so much here and all the arrows point to mikey!! yall definitely met in a dorayaki shop. he was in front of you in line, attempting to buy his share with the change he had in his hand, but it was obvious that he didn’t have enough. you walked forward, a little bit embarrassed, and paid for the rest of mikey’s dorayaki with what extra you had on you - you share the love of dorayaki and what kind of person would you be to deprive another of sweet food? and mikey was shocked. he was so unused to people doing nice things for him, caring for him, that he asked if you wanted to share his dorayaki with him after leaving the cashier. you shook your head, pointing to your own dorayaki in your hand, but before you knew it, mikey had already shoved half in your mouth, awaiting your reaction. your mouth closed around the sweet cake and your eyes gleamed, despite your previous attempts at telling him you didn’t want it. mikey laughed a bit, and decided that he was never going to let you out of his sight.

obviously, you share his love with sweet food and snacks. his favorite activity to do with you is to go food hopping throughout tokyo, trying out new stuff with his hand in yours. mikey absolutely loves it when you fill up your conversation with whatever you’re obsessed with at the time - as someone who is canonically an introvert, mikey enjoys it when someone can talk to him casually in not an overbearing way. you always try to put a smile on mikeys face, especially after knowing about what happened to his family, and mikey couldnt be more appreciative of your kindness. he loves your weirdness, and never ever puts you in a situation where you feel uncomfortable. mans is literally leader of toman, a feared fighter known throughout tokyo and then he eventually becomes leader of bonten?? yeah, no one is touching a single hair on your head without his permission. he likes your hair too - he thinks that it definitely fits your personality!! he couldn’t care less about your chubbiness, instead choosing to see the real you through your passions of writing and playing the piano.

i think mikey is just as scared of bugs as you are though (cue draken coming in and rescuing the both of you). and i also think that mikey’s bluntness is just something you’d have to get used to, but you know that mikey would never intentionally hurt you. when whatever happened to emma and draken, you know happened, you became the sole tether he had to love, and you made sure to shower him with it every single day, telling him that he was enough. you even worked with takemitchy too to ensure that mikey could get the help he needed. yeah, he may have still formed bonten and consequently was paranoid about keeping you safe, but at least he wasn’t easily influenced by kisaki’s manipulation tactics - you help save hinata. mikey is complicated, but you’re there for him, and he knows you’re there for him too, which leads me to believe that everything will turn out perfect for the two of you.

hope you liked it!! also btw, im obsessed with your blog imma be participating some time soon 💕💕

[curechocolattymilk]

TES V OC Thingie

[Got tagged by @jessaryss​ ! ]

Pause your game! Wherever your OC is in their game currently, tell me about their story so far.

✧✧✧ General

Current Level: 56

Name: Jeer-Tei Perdes

Name Meaning: Literally got it from a name generator lol. But lore wise it was a name gifted to them in honor of an Argonian who served beside Tei’s mother during the Great War

Pronouns: They/Them

Age: Early 30s where they are story wise???

Race(s): Argonian

Place of Origin: Hammerfell

Pick A Theme Song For Them: oof that's tough... From a Crowded Wound or maybe even Firstwake? If you really played around w personal interpretation/the lyrics that is haha

✧✧✧ Locations

Where Did You Begin Their Game?: Argonian Assemblage, Windhelm (Alternative Start)

Where Are They Currently In Your Game?: Whiterun

What Are They Doing There?: Just finished attending a party held in their honor (Post Blood of Kings)

Homes?: Breezehome, Proudspire, Lakeview & Autmnwatch

# of Locations Discovered?: 274

Dungeons Cleared: 104

Misc. Quests Completed: 87

Favorite Areas and/or Locations: Falkreath / Lakewview Manor. Both areas are where Tei heads off to in order to collect their thoughts/feel some sense of calm.

✧✧✧ Main Quest

Are They Dragonborn / Do They Know It At This Point?: Yes & yes

How Do They Feel About Being Dragonborn: It's...complicated, being thrust into the role of savior by gods of the Cult, which in turn are followed by the folk who see you lesser than them. Tei already has a dislike towards the Divines, this doesn't really help lol

Main Quests Completed: 21

Where Are They In The Main Story Line: Alduin's dead, currently trying to ignore the Civil War as long as they can before the Empire forces its hand into forcing them to join their ranks

Dragon Souls Absorbed: In total overall? 147. The amount currently stored in Tei? 45

Words of Power Learned: 64

Shouts Mastered: 21

Favorite Shout: Firebreath / Dragonrend

✧✧✧ Combat

Most Used Weapon(s): Daedric war axe OR Dragonbone battle axe. Tei technically has both on them at all times during adventuring, alongside a shield, so which they used depends on the situation/which they grab fastest.

Combat Style: Two/One-handed tank. Main tactic is to rush in, cause as much damage/chaos as possible to shake up the opponent, & clean up what the ranged attackers of the party (usually Rumarin, Inigo and/or Lucien) weren't able to deal with.

Armor Type / Level In It: HEAVY ARMOR BABYYYYY (Level 100 + 35 extra points via enchantments)

# of Training Sessions: 99 in-game, lore wise its a lot of self-teaching/keeping their skills learned from Hammerfell sharp. Some of these are magic but lore-wise this doesn't happen cus Tei is not a magic user, save for shouts. I just did those in-game for exp OR so I can help Lucien raise his magic skills :'D

Who Taught Them?: In-game?? Fuuuck so many npcs. Lore-wise? They learned this from their schooling in Hammerfell, going off the canon-lore that it's p much expected for everyone to have a grasp on combat & weaponry! Though they did learn a few things from Kaidan & Anum-La.

Favorite Enemy Type: Dragons! Despite the fact Tei does not have the best magic resistance, it's one hell of a challenge they love to meet.

Least Favorite Enemy Type: Automatons, because of a bad experience with them as a child. Also Undead, because they were raised not to disturb them & it just feels so wrong having to fight them/go into tombs.

People Killed: 945

Animals Killed: 749 (Hunterborn makes hunting fun lol)

Undead Killed: 766

Automatons Killed: 105

Daedra Killed: 136

✧✧✧ Magic

Favorite School(s): None, actually. Destruction is okay though....they guess

Most Used Spell(s): Firebreath or Dragon Aspect. Tei doesn't consider shouts spells though. It's totally different guys shut up they ain't no smelly mage gods

Spells Learned: 9 in-game, mainly due to the spells you're kinda forced to learn for some quests/the ones you automatically know

Items Enchanted: 19 (Tei technically doesn't enchant, and wont next playthrough for sure I wont give in this time >:[ )

College of Winterhold Quests Completed: 8

Where Are They At In The Questline?: Main quest is done bcus i dont like seeing unfinished quests in my journal lmao. Tei's involvement is completely different from canon though in my take. Moreso was hired as a guard for the expedition & was, unwillingly, dragged into the rest of the mess. Is not offered the Archmage position, that went straight to Tolfdir.

Opinions on Magical Guilds (Arcane University, Winterhold, Psijics, Synod, Radiant Dark, etc.): As they get older, they tolerate the guild & magic users more n more, BUT, Tei grew up in an environment that frowns upon the practice of magic, & it shows. They mainly mistrust necromancers/illusionists & still hold onto that belief that reliance on magic, especially for combat, is a weakness.

Bold words for someone with shit magic resistance.

✧✧✧ Crime

Current Gold: 10,640

How Did They Acquire Their Gold?: Odd jobs, selling a lot of the items they made/harvested from smithing & hunting (jewelers are their go-to hirers bcus Tei is great at getting things like ivory), Dwemer ruin diving (they refuse to loot the tombs), also yknow....being part of the Dark Brotherhood helps

Largest Bounty On Their Head: 11,240

For...?: Unfortunately they did not stand down when they were being falsely accused of murder in Markarth. First time Tei called down dragons (Sahrotaar, specifically, Tei managed to get command of Miraak's dragons post-Dragonborn) to absolutely smite some fools.

Current Bounty: None! They're good at not getting caught/threatening and/or bribing guards. :)

Locks Picked: 15 i think?

Jail Time: 1, Cidhna Mine

Jail Escapes: 1, teamed up w the Forsworn lol

Murders: 28

Assaults: 307....In their defense people keep getting in their way during dragon attacks

Items Stolen: 37, most of them from the nobles of Windhelm

Thieves Guild Quests Completed: N/A (wont be doing this storyline unless i cant find a mod that'll let me get the shouts locked behind it)

Dark Brotherhood Quests Completed: 20

Where Are They At In Those Questlines?: DB is completed main arc wise!

✧✧✧ Relationships

Relationship Status: Married to two lovely fellas

Current Companions: atm? none

Housecarls: Lydia & Rayya

Friends (outside of party): Zora Fair-Child, Inigo, Lucien, Anum-La, Morndas, Aela the Huntress, Nazir, Babette, Scouts-Many-Marshes, Isobel, Madesi

Children: Khash, Chases-Starlight, Ram-Ku. (going of where Tei is now - Otero & Mei come around later on in Tei's story!)

Romantic Interest(s): Kaidan & Rumarin.

Sexual Orientation:

GAY

✧✧✧ Religion

Pantheon: Yokudan, with a hint of Hircine worship in there

Patron Deity(ies): From the Yokudan pantheon: Tei mainly views HoonDing as their main patron, but also prays to/pays respect to Satakal.

They are also Hircine's champion.

Daedric Quests Completed: 3 (Hircine, Vile, Dagon - the last Tei didn't really help, moreso pissed off)

Aedric Quests Completed: 1 if you count the whole Alduin thing I guess?

How Devout Are They?: Tei is rather devout, esp to their Yokudan patrons, praying or making offerings daily. They aren't the type to really push it in your face though, but have no issues answering questions one might have.

How Do They Feel About Talos Worship?: Deep down they acknowledge & admit trying to ban worship is terrible, but....Tei also lets their bias/experience with Windhelm, the Stormcloaks & especially Ulfric kinda cloud over this. If the Nords want their old ways so damn much, why fight for a divine from the Imperial Cult? Why not go back to the actual old ways? No, this isn't about worship, not to the men leading this so-called rebellion, they just needed something other than their racist bullshit to fool the common man into throwing their lives away for the nobles sitting comfortable in their thrones.

Also during their whole thing of getting into their role of dragonborn, they get a bonus 'fuck this dude actually' towards Talos, Ysmir, whatever the fuck he calls himself. (tldr; it sucks but good luck hearing Tei say that fully)

✧✧✧ Politics

Gray-Mane or Battle-Born?: Neither, ask them again they will punch you for the love of Ruptga they get asked that every time they enter Whiterun.

Stormcloaks or Imperials?: Also neither, Tei hates em both n think they can all choke. Unfortunately they were forced to join the latter due to, yknow, calling dragons & causing massive damage in Imperial territories during isolated fits of rage and the group being more aggressive in wanting something in return for "letting it slide"....oops

Opinion on the Thalmor?: Oh absolutely despises them, they loudly complained having to work with them during the CW & would go out their way to disrupt their plans/piss them off. Sneaking was an option they did not take during the Embassy quest, if it helps paint the picture.

Opinion Of Ulfric Stormcloak?: Tei doens't say they hate people often...but they sure as hell hate Ulfric. Again, their experience in Windhelm added to this heavily, how both the Dunmer & Argonians were treated like shit, with no help whatsoever from the Jarl or guards when the local Nords targeted them. It's still up in the air if I keep this for Tei's story, but I have it where they knew Chases-Starlight's parents, who were killed. When Tei went up & demanded justice/an investigation, only to be brushed off because it "wasn't a priority," it completely destroyed what little empathy or hope they had left for Windhelm as a whole.

Opinion of The Empire?: Cowards too weak to continue fighting back against the Thalmor, in their opinion, & holds these views they grew up with even when being strong-armed into aiding them. If anything they're at least attempting to use their influence to hint towards a rebellion against the Thalmor, but the Empire could also full-on dissolve & they could give less of a shit.

Civil War Quests Completed: 0

✧✧✧ Personal

How Are They Doing? Need Some Juice? A Nap? A Hug?: The whole event of Blood of Kings has fucked with their head, to say the least. It's the starting point of Tei's eventual spiral. So uh...yeah they're not sure how they're doing everything they knew about reality was kinda challenged & they don't rlly have anyone to talk to about it so its cool, its fine, its all good.

A nap is probably needed, not sure about a hug theough they're super flinchy rn

Days Past In Game: 196

Hours of Sleep: 846

Food Items Consumed: 1833

How Many Playthroughs Have You Done With This Character: Tei actually is an older character from the 360 days so uh...maybe 5 at most? This playthrough & their S:EC one coming up when the mod releases being the main ones focusing on their story

Overall How's Your Level Of Fun: Alright I would say! I just been stepping away from Skyrim more often lately to avoid burning out from it

Must Have Mods To Play This Character (for story or other reasons): Ordinator, Wintersun Faiths, Immersive Armors, Sarcastic Player Dialogue, 3DNPC, Inigo, Lucien Flavius, Kaidan 2, Khash the Argonian, Alternative Start, Leviathan Animations, Beast Race Body Paints, Beast HHBB, Apocalypse Magic, Deadly Dragons, Growl: Werewolf Overhaul, Pronouns, uhhh....idk what else without actually listing my current modlist lmao

----

And that's it for Tei! Anyone who wants to do this go on ahead!

[varusai]

who do you think is the most dateable dark matter thief?? i know you have an opinion and i need to hear it

sorry for the late response anon i honestly had to think abt this one for a few days lmao, but yeah i have opinions. below the cut bc fr i have opinions, all of them have major pros and cons (based on my characterization at least) and really i just have to break it down for u

Boros, everyones obvious first choice, but certainly not mine.

Pros: rich, tall, pretty, fun af, passionate, will kill for you np, give you anything you want, literally anything.

cons: has a god complex, doesnt respect you, not his number one priority at all, will forget about you once its not interesting for him anymore, probably argumentative/combative af, is very very smart and has no problem manipulating you in all the worst ways, is very entitled so he will never feel bad about anything, cant win arguments either bc he’ll want to settle it with combat, will get offended over little things just to argue bc he thinks thats fun

this is a relationship you’d get into if you literally have nothing to lose and dont care about your mental health. like hes hot but this shit would be toxic af and he will ruin your life and leave you to go fuck around and fight someone on the other side of the universe. this will be the best of times and the worst of times for you and you will never be the same afterward mentally or emotionally. the only way i would even consider it is if i lost my damn mind. The only way a relationship with him would ever work long term is if you were physically stronger than him and were capable of putting him in his place OR you were smart enough, suicidal enough, and interesting enough to him to engage in some psychological warfare and reject him if he asked you. Make him chase you for years, say yes, then decide that /he’s/ boring /you/ and leave him for another member of the squad to just destroy their established hierarchy and humble him to the point that he’s obsessed with you.

i dont have the energy for all that, so i’ll just smash and pass.

0/10 completely undateable

Geryuganshoop, also a probable second choice for many:

pros: cute, nice, tentacle alien (obviously), will respect you np, will also give you anything you want, not antagonistic at all, telepathic communication so no risk of miscommunication, emotionally intelligent and available, loyal to a fault,

cons: horrible boss/best friend that you will have to listen to him vent about for at least 3 hours a day, complete yes man as well so he will not tell boros no or cut him off and you will be stuck dealing with this no matter what, severely mentally ill and wont go to therapy bc he thinks hes handling it well, workaholic, needs a lot, and i mean A LOT of attention

this relationship would be great if not for boros lol. boros sabotages his social and romantic life but geryu has been friends with him too long to either cut him off or establish boundaries. he has no backbone (figuratively and literally) and wouldnt even consider it. he’ll ignore you in favor of his job too, to a massive degree. also i think that while the telepathic communication would be a major plus in most cases, here i feel like i’d have no less than 16 different, never before seen on earth, mental illnesses projected right into my brain just from being within a certain radius of him.

im already fucked up enough in that sense so pass unfortunately.

it would be a yes without boros in the picture tho lmao

so prob like 4/10 iffy datablillity, 1 level increase with each decade of therapy he gets tho so a lot of potential :D

Groribas, my fav girl:

pros: straightforward, realistic, very clear expectations, will not fuck around with you whatsoever like there is no mind games or anything here, will kill for you, rich and non materialistic so she’ll basically just let you do whatever with her money since she doesn t care about it, cares about her job but like...a normal amount. she absolutely has a good work/life balance, highly organized so she will not forget important dates, loyal af and will defend your honor under any circumstances, mean but in a funny way, a ton of fun to hang out with if you’re into that, no eyes so i dont have to worry abt eye contact ever

cons: extremely high expectations, like exhaustingly high, and not even a bit of flexibility there, if you dont meet the cut its a no, she’ll let you know and leave same day, she will also bully you, you need a thick skin and great sense of humor to survive, bad at feelings if you need emotional support???? go elsewhere, shes mega emotionally unavailable, will probably want to share bodies as a form of intimacy

overall its a solid 6.5/10 dateability for me i love the directness and no bs approach, we would def get along well. however, while im not sensitive, shes def gonna hit on some insecurities at some point and it will cause an argument lol. but i mean whatever. it happens. the body sharing would be an issue though, same reason i wouldnt be chill with having a symbiote despite being a major venom fucker. i need my space i cant deal with that. so thats a possible deal breaker if she couldnt get over that lol. and she wont, so we wouldnt work out. i wish it fuckin would tho😭😭😭 i would take whatever crumbs of attention she would be willing to give me

Melzalgald, my fav they/them bastard:

pros: amorphous and shapeshifting aka extremely attractive according to my taste in monsters, tall af but could chose to be a more reasonable survivable size lol, self contained and self-entertaining so they dont need a ton of attention to be happy, funny af, rich, will give you whatever you want and probably a bunch of shit you didnt know you wanted, very fun, built in friend group if you didnt already have friends, extremely emotionally intelligent and great people skills due to living in a collective, stupid af by choice, like some of em are very smart, but they dont claim that, will say fuck work and tell boros to eat shit to spend time with you, will kill for you as well, but only if you ask them to bc their first inclination is to just bother someone to death, very loyal, once they like you they like you really forever, it would take some pretty extreme circumstances to make them dislike you

cons: annoying af and its unavoidable, will talk over you, all of them at once will talk over you and do so loudly, no respect for personal space, they dont even know what that is, will probably accidentally manhandle you, they act stupid but arent so they can be manipulative, even if it isnt bad and they dont really mean to be, impulsive, forgetful of the needs of organic creatures so they will bother you at all hours of the day and night if you arent firm with boundaries, disgustingly extroverted and will bring randoms to your place without asking, or just...make new cluster members and you have to roll with it, will eat or absorb literally anything you have, will antagonize and bother you for fun, major jump scare risk since sometimes the forms are....fleshy

this ones hard for me like theyre hot af and i feel like they’d be super fun and good partners, but god....the noise. idk how long i could deal with that lol i dont like people in my house. it would drive me up the wall, but then again...i can simply kick them out when ive had enough. they arent projecting mental illness directly into my brain or requiring me to share a body sintelligento major plus. creepy thing/symbiote style hot monster without any of the invasiveness so tbh 8/10 dateability

some people date loud annoying extroverts who dont understand personal space that /arent/ rich, loyal, or emotionally intellegent so i’d be winning on a few different fronts lmao

[holycalf]

i started watching sku bc of your blog (and i really enjoy it!) but i dont get why you seem to like shiori but not ruka....i mean it seems like his intentions were a lot better than hers ever were tbfh am i missing something? not saying he went about things GREAT but....at least he actually seemed to care. shiori was just a bitch for the sake of being a bitch it seemed like...

hi! im glad ure enjoying it! it can definitely be a lot at times, and i think the first 12 eps can rub ppl the wrong way so props to u for getting thru those (even tho i liked em :) ) this is gonna be long so if u feel like reading an essay feel free to read under the cut

um.. i dont really know where to begin tbh? i mean you cant really talk about any of these characters without talking abt the other two so.... this is gonna be long.

so lets take shiori, who has a very classic case of internalized homophobia. which is confirmed by ikuhahras outtake on ep. 17 which states the following

 “I finally realized the truth. To think that she loved me back! What a miracle! But...‘The loser in love is the one who lets their heart be ruled by it.’Everyone's adopted a provocative attitude toward someone of the opposite sex that they like at least once or twice, to get that person to notice them. So it's okay if I do that.This love will crumble if we touch. But when people don't touch, the love eventually dies away .That's why I decided to keep your love prisoner. To make sure that you love me forever. That game will make our love ‘eternal.’ I'm sure of it.We were ‘lovers lost from the beginning.”

so shioris in love with juri. im not sure if thats something u caught onto or not but its definitely the quintessence of her character, and needs to be considered when we consider her against ruka- since its a shared affection. also, i just like shiori, i dont necessarily think shes GOOD i just enjoy watching her and she feels very raw. shiori has a crippling inferiority complex, you can even tell through off handed conversations with her friends in hallways she exaggerates her stories to be more liked. juri is someone who has things come easy to her, and doesnt even really seem to care or notice. in the shows canon shes: liked by the student body, liked by teachers, admired by men (and girls too), academically inclined, good at bowling, captain of fencing club (and likely the most talented duelist- since shes the only one utena never properly beats) and a MODEL?????????? and shiori, at least in her own eyes, is painfully mundane. growing up next to someone who seems to have everything go in their favor, all of the while youre harboring having feelings for them (and jealous that youre among SO many suitors) is so frustrating! especially when you dont believe to have any at all. the elevator sequence when she discovers juris locket is a bit of a power trip for shiori, and also just a sort of confusion. shioris “why do you look at me like that?!” when she considers juri mid breakdown is a clear reflection of her own confusion, she may as well be saying “how could you possibly love me?”...but that was the black rose arc which all got undone anyways- so by the time we see shiori ruka arc she doesnt even know juris got the hots for her. when she first sees ruka, shes staring at juri first and only zeroes in on ruka once she hears people talking abt him. she takes ruka the same way she did that boy in middle school because he seems to be something coveted by the girls around her, its a very closeted gay girl move to decide to go for a boy just because other girls are into him... and it definitely helps that hes in such close contact w juri...he could easily be the one stored in that locket of hers, so why not take him? 

so then we have ruka, who the entire time we watch him is smug, condescending, and genuinely one of the most unpleasant characters on the show. by the end we learn hes in love with juri, so maybe this persona was embellished to push her towards revolution to “free her from shiori” or whatever but.... sorry i dont care LOL! the way he treated shiori ALONE was enough for me to dislike him, there was NO need to tear apart and embarrass the girl like that. he took clear advantage of her crush on juri. his locker is seen right next to juris, and shiori is pressed up against one of the two lockers, but we arent shown which,  “after all, that wasnt my sword,”....he knows shiori has been going to juris locker (and potentially polishing her sword but who knows. all we know is that she goes to juris locker.) and it is later revealed hes extra certain of her feelings because upon publically dumping her (another dick move) we hear her kinda stutter “I love you more than.... I love you more than anyone else” shes clearly beating around a bush because theyre in public, hes pinpointed she and juri are both into eachother, and instead of being a normal ass guy about it and just SETTING THEM UP and telling them to work their stuff out he chooses to, “out of love”  assault juri, emotionally manipulates the girl juri is in love with,  then inadvertantly cause juris locket to break which upsets her so deeply she forfeits her duel with utena. and upon that locket breaking he has the AUDACITY to think hes somehow freed her from something... when the girl is breaking down crying in the rain (the first and only time we ever see juri cry...even if its implied she does it in the shower that one time lol).......then just???dies??? like all he does in his time on the show is cause problems and die, all because he couldnt get over his feelings for a lesbian.... it just feels SO gross to me that he hides his assault and general abuse (can we talk abt how he likely took shioris virginity, JUST to break her down???) behind some icky hero complex

PLUS we see shiori at the end of that episode realize shes in that locket while juri is dueling, and we see her run up to juri at the end of the ep and it doesnt look malicious, it feels very...resolutiony? esp when you put it next to the miki/kozue closing scene of their car arc duel, which is explicitly bad terms, this feels more hopefully....suggesting some part of shiori has at least changed. ruka never got that luxury, he completely exploited two girls in order to add dramatic flare to his last few days and felt valid in doing so..... shiori never seemed to think her actions were JUSTIFIED.....which is sort of the point of the black rose arc where shiori is arguably at her worst........... the very ugliest part of ppl are brought out in those elevator sessions so thats what we see of shiori? 

sorry for the essay!! but i hope this helps and make sense :-) feel free to ask any more questions u have abt the show, and i hope u continue enjoying it! im assuming ure still watching it, i dont know how far u are but if u JUST finished 29 then that means ure getting to some of my fave episodes! (33,37,39 :) ) 

tl,dr: shiori never assaulted anyone

[kendrixtermina]

The Team Dynamics of the Three Houses

Essay time! =D

Part One: Team Makeup and Thematic Framework Blue Lions

Overarching Theme: Classic basic fantasy archetypes but with a dark twist (We have Prince Charming/ Guilt-ridden softboy standard-issue JRPG protagonist, Handsome Lech/Idiot Friend, Standoffish Rival, Gentleman Thief, Lady Knight, Sweet nice healer, Adorable spellcaster Girl, the Gentle Giant etc. )

Composition: Has the most people with crests, and the one guy with a naturally occurring major crest. Foreshadows how the crest obsession is particularly bad here, due to Faerghus’ harsh environment and a society that’s both religious and has a serious element of hero worship

History: Notably the most tight-knit group. Everyone knows each other already. It’s basically Dimitri, Dimitri’s longtime best friends, the daughter of Dimitri’s former instructor who heard lots of stories about him and her super nice BFF who gets along with everyone... and Ashe, who didn’t know the others until the academy, but since he is a honest sweety who loves cooking and knight stories, he hits it off with the others right away. 

Atmosphere: Everyone has kind of the same hobbies (cooking, handicrafts, weapons collecting, knight stuff) and a lot of history, some posters have remarked on missing the “family ambiente” in the other routes but since the bonds are stronger they’re also more charged, it’s also been said that it’s the group with the most inter-team drama, especially when you feature in their relatives - You have Dimitri’s whole character arc, all the family drama between the Fraldariuses and the Dominics, Ingrid’s hangups regarding poor Dedue etc.

As expected if you recruit any of them they’ll kinda have a hard time going after their old home, even the tsundere ones. 

The Leader’s position: For all that Dimitri’s friends refuse to drop his honorifics they really are his friends. They’re just all kinda polite with the obvious exception of Felix, and he’s largely tsundere. Despite the afore mentioned drama we see plenty of Dimitri just hanging out with his friends and even coming to them for help, he’s really just one of the bunch . 

Since Faerghus is in chaos everyone’s pinning a lot of hopes on Dimitri and it’s not like he’s completely unaware of that or doesn’t have the corresponding sense of duty, he’s always torn between that and his revenge plan which eventually just takes over. He pursues this entirely on his own, too, with not even Dedue knowing what he’s sneaking around the library for. 

How this “flavors” part one: Gives it a very “personal” touch. Faerghus, it’s culture, recent past and current state of chaos are fleshed out a lot (we learn plenty about the Alliance and the Empire but Claude and Edelgard have greater scope plans) and since a lot of the part I missions concern the instabilities in the kingdom they affect the characters directly. Basically since they’re more “regular” fantasy protagonists we gotta hit em all with the Drama hammer to keep things fresh. And that’s how it continues - They follow Dimitri because of personal loyalty (both toward him specifically, and because it’s in their culture), and Dimitri just wants to protect (or avenge) the people he cares about. 

How this Ties into The Themes: The Kingdom route eventually becomes very much a Power of Friendship story where they all stick it out with Dimitri in his time of need because he’s their friend and they want to be there for him and that makes a lot more sense if there was a big emphasis on friendship/ found family before that, and of course their friendship is what eventually helps him turn his life around. 

How does Byleth fit into this: Dimitri, like Hubert and Leonie, can be filed into the box of those who aren’t immediately awed by their heroic charisma. He doesn’t really get people who aren’t as outwardly expressive as him (eg. Edelgard) But unlike, say, Leonie, Dimitri has no settings between crushkilldestroy and stilted politeness and seldom expresses or responds to overt hostility most of the time. On the one hand there’s a side to him that’s a bit judgemental and vindictive, but that extends to himself too so he’s very ashamed of his flaws and is afraid that he won’t be accepted, so he projects outward that same acceptance that he likes to receive.

So the end result is that he goes out of his way to befriend Byleth, he encourages everyone to speak with them in a familiar manner, insists that they join the victory celebrations etc. Then of course he gets to see that they’re actually quite supportive and so in time they become, as Dimitri puts it “the heart of the group”.

By the time they find out that Dimitri ever disliked them, that’s long past. He’s a very high-empathy, emotional person so once he likes you he really likes you and will regard your troubles like his own. Some ppl might say that maybe the bond feels more special since it took longer to “earn”. He’s practically ready to swear a blood oath with them once Jeralt dies.  There’s an unappreciated Symmetry here like he goes through the trouble to ‘defrost’ them, and then they return the favor by supporting him through his difficult times when they perhaps get to see the ugliest side of him.

Further Dynamic Notes:

So you have a dynamic of working past/ understanding and accepting each other despite one’s flaws and differences. (whereas Claude and Edelgard are interested in Byleth right away, because they’re unusual, but in slightly different ways - Claude can kinda relate to the experience of sticking out itself but is still stumped by being unable to read them, whereas Edelgard sticks out in the same way  so you’re actually on the same wavelenght to begin with)

“opposites attract” specifically in the way that they balance each other out. A cool steadfast leader type certainly has a grounding effect on Dimitri as a very reactive person, but he also pulls them into the ‘normal’ world a bit after they spend all this time just wandering the world like all places are the same to them. They basically put the magic destiny on the backburner to help him out. They still become archbishop and all to fit the standard fantasy look of it all but not like full messiah like on the church route

Even after the timeskip Byleth kinda plays the mentor role or at least that of the dominant person/ big spoon in the relationship (though Dimitri ends up waaay taler than them especially fem Byleth), “Excuse me this is my emotional support mercenary”

If you go the platonic route you very much stay at „mentor“, Byleth is basically the brains of the operation post timeskip ‘cause the old Mitya can‘t come to the phone right now and Gilbert and Rodrigue would follow him off a cliff

Plot wise, their contribution is to stop the revenge trip when it gets to be a too obvious kamikaze stunt, which they, as a relative outsider to Faerghus and experienced, pragmatic fighter, would do when someone like Gilbert would not

Character journey wise, they refuse to give up on Dimitri and still see the good in him so that he eventually comes to a point where he could envision his own redemption/ come to accept/forgive himself and learn that its okay to move on and live his own life

Byleth can be said to somewhat even out the flaws in everyone‘s leadership styles (while the house leaders help Byleth find their own direction – i didnt come up with this alone there was a brilliant post a while ago that i cant find rn) – In Dimitri‘s case, he has authority/credibility/integrity („Pathos“), being the rightful king with many loyal followers,  and emotional/ personal leadership as an emphatetic person who inspired respect for his character („Ethos“) but is lacking in plans („Logos“)

Golden Deer

Overarching Theme:  Ragtag Bunch of misfits /Unlikely Heroes (let’s see, we have trickster turned lying politician, upper-class twit turned opportunistic conservative, lazy rich girl,  shy glasses boy and his best friend dumb muscle, cursed werewolf girl, stuckup teen genius and the mean money obsessed one )

Composition: Has the most honest-to-goodness commoners - and they largely got in on their own merits, too, while almost all the others had connections. You have a few peeps from the Alliance’s prominent merchant class and one completely ordinary village person whose father was a simple hunter. 

History: Bar the two merchant kids none of them know each other and even they’ve been a little estranged since the demise of Rafael’s parents. There are a few backstory connections (Such as Lorenz’ dad basically having murdered everybody’s dead relatives, or Leonie’s village being in his territory) but they’re largely indirect. They come from a range of different backgrounds and life experiences. Even Claude just showed up the year before and doesn’t know anybody. Of course this is all so you can watch them grow into a team on-screen all leading up to Claude’s epic speech about how they got along despite being from different backgrounds (or be surprised if they show up as one post-timeskip)  

Unlike Dedue or Hubert, Hilda can still be napped early on because she doesn���t really become Claude’s right-hand person until halfway through part oneIf you recruit any of the deer they’ll say that they didn’t have that much ties to their homeland anyways. 

Atmosphere: These are definitely Garreg Magh’s party animals.  Or like a bunch of theatre kids. They’re tremendous fun. “Less complicated” as Claude puts it though some have missed the intensity/drama of the other bunches. The Alliance itself might be full of political intrigues but this younger generation is fairly chill with the important exceptions that are Leonie and Lysithea but Leonie’s lack of chill is largely Byleth-specific, she’s plenty chill in her other supports, and though Lysithea probably donated all the extra chill for the other deer and hence doesn’t have any left, the others  love her anyways wether she wants to or not because try as she might she can’t really get an argument out of them. 

This certainly jives well with Claude’s “friendly surface level extrovert” gimmick they all get along on a surface level and you’ll be hard-pressed to find an ounce of social skills in the Black Eagle house, and the Lions have the Drama Moments, but some have also perceived the deer as not quite as open. 

At the same time they’re not superficial. We have a large abundance of Artsy Ones, we have Ignatz, Claude and Lorenz both write poetry, Leonie isn’t good at it but she does draw etc There’s enough insightful ones for depht and insight to be a significant undercurrent in the group dynamics. They all have different sortts of insight - Hilda can read people well, Ignatz has this sort of intuuitive thoughtful understanding, Lysithea is observant and logically astute, Leonie has street smarts etc. 

The Leader’s position: Precarious. No one knows him, no one trusts him. He just showed up one day, very suspicious timing, not long after his uncle dropped dead (that was Lorenz’ dad but it’s not like anyone knows) and then he’s a shifty weirdo who cannot help being slightly unnerving despite his friendly extroverted demeanor. 

Still he’s a big believer in teamwork, appreciates the value in everyone’s perspective and he can do the friendly extroverted charm well enough to eventually win over most people based on that, though its not until waay after the timeskip that he even considers letting anyone past the soft outer layer.  (In Recruited, Raphael remembers him mainly a lover of feats and merriment)

The longer the story goes on the more the Deer transition to being “Claude’s jolly detective bureau” in which he pulls on all their individual insight for maximum info collection. 

How this “flavors” part one:  It’s taken up largely by Claude’s search for information with the various events being seen in that light.

Claude’s first reaction is often to ask questions and be curious with the emotional response hitting him somewhat later, though it’s definitely also that he keeps up a cheerful face for the team. 

Ironically he’s the only one who came to Garreg Magh for it’s intended purpose: To get a ruler’s education and do networking. Dimitri and Edelgard were already onto Thales courtesy of his having killed their families, him searching on his own, her making preparations for her takeover, and Claude doesn’t know - it’s probably a game balance thing because Claude is the smartest person in the game and if he started out with all the info there would be no plot. 

How this Ties into The Themes: It all builds towards Claude’s big speech about people from different backgrounds coming together. It’s like a microcosm for what he wants to do with the world, to bring people from different places and backgrounds together and have them understand each other.

Lorenz takes until halfway through part II to come around, but come around he does. (markedly, this happens only on Claude’s route, otherwise he sticks with the empire out of self-preservation and opportunism, though he gladly jumps ship to join the kingdom. )

How does Byleth fit into this:  Now I‘ve seen some people saying that Claude initially didn‘t like Byleth or just wanted to use them, but I don‘t think that‘s true. I do think he actually liked them, found them interesting and wanted to befriend them. But Claude, on principle, doesn‘t trust easily, and will in any interaction look at how he can use it.

It‘s a habit born out of both natural curiosity and intelligence (What the 12type eneagramm calls a „Mercury“ Personality type) and the need to survive in a hostile environment where people tried to kill him as a child, and as such it‘s automatic second nature. He has a strong overruling self-preservation instinct.  Claude is suspicious and will interogate people completely independent of how much he likes them. No amount of like makes him trust implicitly.

He doesn‘t have a bad impression like Dimitri, but he doesn‘t immediately click like Edelgard and the curve is pretty nonlinear: With Dimitri we have a clear progression from dislike to like and then the reversal where Dimitri had defrosted Byleth and now Byleth must defrost Dimitri. With Edelgard she likes them immediately out of similarity (like Felix likes Byleth, or like Edelgard likes Lysithea and Petra), and the difficulty/drama only comes later when Byleth‘s connection to the church and Edelgard‘s plots become apparent, but mostly she‘s sad that she‘s „destined“ to be enemies with this person she likes, her level of like never goes down. Claude meanwhile – you might compare him with Dorothea. He‘s used to being able to charm people as well as read them, and Byleth is not only a brick wall, but remains one upon closer examination. They really don‘t know about their past – but Claude takes that as evasions and becomes more and more suspicious.

A big turning point here is the Jeralt situation, where Byleth finally opens up and tells him everything, and Claude realizes they‘re not hiding. And that‘s something I really love about their dynamic – Byleth tells him all and Claude is so interested in them and looks out for them.

Though you could assign each of the three a „turning point“ after which they open up - The diary for Claude (which shows him that Byleth really isn‘t hiding anything) Flayn‘s dissapearance for Dimitri (which convinces him that Byleth cares) and the holy tomb scene for Edelgard (which shows her that Byleth won‘t betray her)

Further Dynamic Notes:

Claude and Byleth relate because they both stick out, but it‘s notably about the experience of sticking out in and of itself, whereas in Edelgard‘s case they stick out in the same way. They’re also alike in that they only found out some secrets about themselves when they were already young adults, Byleth’s magical destiny, and Claude finding out he was related to the ruling house. From how he mentions “not being raised in the lap of luxury” and how his royal connections in Almyra are also “distant”, he might in fact have been raised in a normal village and not known he was the king’s bastard son for some time, though once the secret was out he definitely got some princely instruction like training with Nader. 

The dynamic both interpersonally and as an action duo is very much a complementary one. Dimitri is very different and has that sorta morality chain dynamic going on. And though they each have their specialties that the other is lowkey jelly of Edelgard and Byleth actually fill a fairly similar niche as the charismatic superhumanly powerful field commander. Meanwhile with Claude there’s a division of labor: Claude’s the planner and Byleth’s the enforcer. He repeatedly observes that his plans would be way less effective without someone of Byleth’s caliber to carry them out.

Out of the three lords Claude is the only one where you get the sense that Byleth works for Claude post-timeskip or that Byleth becomes his subordinate. Dimitri’s lost without them, and while Edelgard offers them a formal position as royal advisor after the mock battle and gets this line about how they can’t yell orders at her in public now that she’s the emperor, but it’s phrased in such a way to suggest that she just wants them to yell orders at her discreetly. They certainly balance out Claude’s presentability/trustworthyness problem the way that Hubert quickly puts them in charge of morale to patch Edelgard’s PR shortcomings, but Hubert pretty much says this to Byleth’s face whereas Claude is the only one who knows where the ship is going for the majority of verdant wind. And in the end he’s like “Babysit fodlan for me while I finish world peace” He’s also the dominant one on an interpersonal level, he gives Byleth this speech about how they should use their position more confidently and promise to detective out their mysterious past for them. He also tries dropping hints that maybe Rhea’s not to be trusted though Byleth’s dialogue options are written to suggest that they bought her maternal act and want her back – some ppl said but this way really expositions that „well meaning deception“ aspect of Claude‘s character. He frequently steers ppl toward something they don‘t want but with the hope that they‘ll want it eventually. Perhaps he could be said to have a very fluid/dynamic view of things and people; The other two lords view them more as fixed, hence „I respectfully disagree… lets settle this by stabbing each other“ 

The platonic end result is your basic Epic Friendship, tell each other everything, very supportive, look out for each other, take down a zombie warrior together in an epic team attack, what more could you want I think I‘ve made a whole post about what a good friendo Claude is, initial ulterior motives nonwithstanding… He certainly had strategic advantages in the back of his mind but I don‘t think he ever faked liking Byleth

Plot wise, having The Messiah on his team gives Claude a bargaining chip to seize control of the church with its greater influence. On the other routes, he wisely refuses to touch that particular hot potato with a ten foot pole.

Character wise Byleth‘s influence largely serves to mitigate his jaded cynism. He starts to actually believe his far-flung dreams might happen, so he plays far less defensively than on the other routes.

Claude is smart and charismatic („Logos“ and „Ethos“), his main problem is that nobody trusts him. This is a bit more dimensional than just a flaw though, because he hides his real goals (though they are not truly sinister) both to avoid fights with people who would oppose these goals (contrast Edelgard who declares her intentions openly and deals with the fallout, so she has to fight the knights whereas claude manipulates them) and get the chance to gradually convince them and reveal the truth once ppl agree, also he‘s more a tactician than a strategist and often changes his plans in accordance with what he thinks is doable under the circumstances, and not telling what his plans are gives him the freedom to do that – either way, a downside of that is that no one trusts him. He lacks credibility and, having shown up out of nowhere, has less loyalty and support. Byleth, as a chrch-sanctioned charismatic figurehead, naturally mitigates that.

Black Eagles 

Overarching Theme: Subverted Villain tropes. We have Emperor Evulz / mad science supersoldier, Black Mage classic,  Seditious Chancellor Junior, Sexy Mage, Eccentric Scholar, Pretty Barbarian, Fighting Obsessed Blood Knight and Antisocial Sniper

Composition: It‘s nobles all the way down, even the one commoner used to be famous and is from the capital where all the wealthy ppl live (as opposed to the decentralied alliance and the very spartan kingdom nobles) – The capital‘s a heaven for culture and sophistication but you also see the evident elitism/corruption/inequality problem going on. In keeping with Adrestia being more secular, Ferdinand‘s the only one who‘s explicitly stated to be a believer (in the Marianne support) and he‘s not even super devout

One should also appreciate the irony that the side with the ‚saintly‘ crests is now against the church whereas Faerghus, ruled by the descendants of Nemesis‘ former allies and where he used to have his stronghold are now fighting for the church. But should you go with the church route it also makes a kind of sense as they‘d be goig back to the empire‘s distant origins in a sense.

History:  They all vaguely know/ have heard of each other due to their parents being co-workers or living in the same town, many have at least met each other but at the same time they‘re not BFF like the Lions and many take a bit to warm up to each other.

Another thing of note is that while many of the Lions‘ families were also friends and have been associates since the days of Nemesis, many of the backstory connections for the adrestian studenrs would seem to predispose them to being foes rather than friends, half their dads‘ essentially dethroned Edelgard‘s and are various degrees of complicit in what happened to her siblings, Petra was basically taken hostage by the previous administration, Dorothea has good reason to have beef with the local rich people etc

Atmosphere: I‘ve seen some ppl who played the other routes first say things like how they were struck by how individualistic they are and how there‘s far less team cohesion, or how they „all seem to hate each other“ - I don‘t think that‘s correct assesment but they definitely are quirky, independent-minded or both. They scamper off in all directions when introduced and definitely don‘t bother with formal politeness or friendly facades, if they‘re annoyed with you most of them will probably say so. Even Bernie gives Ferdinand a lecture once XD They‘re basically goth. Though I do think it‘s sorely underappreciated that there definitely IS friendship and admiration between them esp. later in the story, admiration & appreciation being key factors especially since they‘re none too easily impressed.

Of course being independent minded makes it likely that they wouldn‘t blindly follow a leader who‘s up to no good, but it would make them just as suitable to participate in a rebellion

Another thing of note is that while the Kingdom nobles all learned to hold sharp objects in the nusery and many of the deer have street smarts or survival experience having had to live through tough circumstances most of the Eagles are complete greenhorns when you first deploy them – sure many have seen their share of effed up stuff but not in a warlike setting. And you have many of the sensitive/reluctant ones like Bernie, Linny and Dorothea. This of course could either make you think twice about the church sending them on missions or predispose you toward Flayns brand of pacifism.

Of course this just leads to Hubert and Edelgard (and to a lesser extent Petra) to clearly stand out as the experienced ones. El-chan and Hubie dear have most definitely killed a man before. The rest of them will definitely have to measure up to pick up the slack after the two of them leave.

The trajectory certainly goes differently, in CF they all return notably more confident after the timeskip (most notably with Bernie) perhaps in keeping with how Edelgard believes in & promotes self-reliance whereas in Silver Snow they never quite stop being like „AAAAA“ though I suppose the point is that they get their act together and do the deed regardless.

The Leader’s position: Absolute both in terms of power (sorry Ferdie) and dynamics. Definite ‚student council president‘ vibe, she largely interacts with them as a taskmaster/ to make them do their homework. She markedly doesn‘t like this and would like to be one of the bunch but genuinely finds it hard to step out of boss mode.

She does try her best to cultivate an equal atmosphere and for what it‘s worth most do drop the honorifics and tell her when they disagree.  

How this “flavors” part one: The emphasis is certainly on expositioning how much everything in the setting sucks especially on the church‘s horribleness, I mean in the end if she‘s essentially like „We‘ve all seen it this past year“ but of course there‘s also definite foreshadowing that sHE is up to something, there‘s certainly peeps who picked her ‚cause she‘s pretty and she looked more put-together/less obviously dodgy than the others but then didn‘t personal taste wise jive with her character. The whole scene after Jeralt‘s death is definitely a point where you either decide you hate her or love her forever; You get both „WTF“ and „I get it“ type of dialogue options.  

How this Ties into The Themes:

No matter what route yo pick you essentially get a story about going your own way and putting right what the previous generations done fucked up – wether they do this by leading Adrestia back to its holy origins, or by backing Edelgard‘s revolution.

On a political level they either go against their homeland or the previous administration, and personally they‘re all sorta expected to take over their parents‘s job and follow these expectations of proper nobility that they have no interest in and many of them renounce their titles or cut ties with their folks. Only Ferdinand particularly wants his fathers job and even them he means to do it very differently. The happy ending, for most of the eagles, is getting to choose their own paths

How does Byleth fit into this: 

Mostly, they shift the team dynamics from Edelgard as the absolute leader in a lofty, distanced position to her coming closer to being „one of the group“ working under Byleth.

There‘s a reason she later names her elite troop the „Black Eagle Strike force“ in honor of their time at the academy. This is almost the bigger difference, because Byleth isn‘t there for the timeskip. The big change is caused by creating this situation where all the black eagles leave with Edelgard, so she knows she can trust them and having real allies needs the slithers less.

It‘s very hard for her to step out of boss mode for reasons ranging from her personality, backstory, monarch obligations and fear of vulnerability, but having Byleth be the boss for once helps. Some of her most formative experiences were a) Her family betrayed by almost all its allies including her own uncle b) being helplessly dragged around as a hostage. She wants to avoid being helpless ever again at all costs and thus grew to be a very proactive decisive adult which is mostly a good thing but can cause her tome come off blunt and unyielding at times. I mean when she‘s worried that Hubert, her best friend, is hiding some worrysome secret from her she‘s like „Tell me that‘s an order!“ and when he expertly sidesteps that (since he knows her well and understands that she wouldn‘t actually force it out of him) she‘s stumped and doesn‘t know how to tell him that she‘s worried about him – and this is a guy she knows since forever. With the other eagles she really looks out for them but can only really show it through her „leader“ persona, she has this one trick, and when it doesn‘t work (like with Caspar or Linhardt who don‘t really want anyone to boss them around or talk politics) she‘s stumped.

This is hugely mitigated when another person of her caliber shows up with whom she can share the responsibility or even leave it to them so she learns to allow herself to be soft and do stuff like admit her doubts, this starts with Byleth but also radiates into the other relationships. See Caspar and Linhard revising their bad first impressions of her later in the support chains

Further dynamics notes:

A recurring theme is being misunderstood (outright stated in the introduction and that one quote by ladislava – and also in the church route dialogues where Seteth says that „the people will never understand her ideals“ ) and finding someone who understands, which is different from Claude and Dimitri who ultimately want the world at large to understand and accept them. Edelgard has given up on that long ago - her version of the „pep talk“ scene implies she thinks its impossible to truly understand anothers sorrow – I like to think that after her siblings died she found great comfort in Hubert being „not much for condolences“ and talking plans rather than sympathies while everyone else was showing pity for something they couldnt understand. Dimitri is basically traumatized (he relates to Dedue about losing everything and thats why they‘re so tight knit), Claude is basically an outcast and relates to all that dont quite fit in, but Edelgard… yes her family‘s dead much like Dimitri‘s, but in addition to that, she has been through an indescribable science fiction fantasy thing that no one has any context for. She views herself as so altered that she considers herself a whole different person and her past self basically dead. Hence someone like Byleth or Lysithea who could relate to all that is very, very tempting to her – we‘re not told if that‘s the truth or just her perception though, Hubert doesn‘t note her being extremly different, and later on she kinda admids that she herself distanced herself from other people.

Likewise the ship dynamic is ‚birds of a feather‘. Edelgard tells you right away: She feels that she and Byleth are similar and is drawn to them because of that. It‘s not just the mad science background,  both are stoic natural leaders with a bit of a dorky side. This goes both ways – While others are often mildly stumped by Byleth, she can read them pretty well and gets a lot of dialoue like „wow you‘re telling the truth“ or „I can tell you‘re lying“ - that happens so often that it‘s even used to hint that she‘s the flame emperor.

If you had to name a dominant person it would probably be Byleth but overall this combination is disntinguished by being relatively equal and balanced. She likes having Byleth‘s support but repeatedly mentions wanting to support Byleth as well  - As she says after the big mock battle, „sometimes its better to have someone to rely on to support each other through the darkness“. Team dynamics wise they feel a similar niche – the abnormally powerful, stoic charismatic leader who inspires many followers and is a gifted field commander. When they‘re not allies they are foils after all. But as pointed out in their A support despite their similarities each of them have their own particular strenghts that the other envies – Byleth is a better tactician and ultimately better at moral support (though their time powers help). On the flipside, Edelgard is more proactive whereas Byleth struggles with that, and at least her 22 year old self probably has more raw strenght (judging by her stats total and how they‘re evenly matched in the church route reunion cinematic though she isn‘t using her preferred weapon)

If you don‘t marry her then the note the A support ends on would suggest that Byleth sorta gets adopted as a honorary big sister/brother with how El asks them to use her childhood nickname and just lampshading the sense of kinship between them – the platonic outcome is a family bond, which buils as much on similarity and alikeness as their romantic outcome

Plot wise, Byleth‘s presence gives Edelgard something that she wouldn‘t otherwise have: Reliable allies. This means not just Byleth themselves, but the other Black Eagles whom she feels are more firmly on her side as they never defended Garreg Mach from her assault. As she puts it when she tries to recruit you as the „Flame Emperor“, the slighterers will go around causinga strocities but with the sword of the creator on her side she could courttail that better and generally has less need to coorperate even for purely pragmatic reasons so she is free to weaken them ahead of time, kills Cornelia right away rather than work with her etc. Interestingly this is why the front lines are actually further back when Byleth returns than they are in the other routes, but then the war ends the quickest.  

Character journey wise, Edelgard goes from being convinced that she has to give up everything to be a tough leader to allowing herself to just be a person, cummulating in the ending where she pulls a washington/cincinatus, abdicates and gets a normal life.

In terms of leadership style, Edelgard has „Logos“ and „Pathos“ to spare, she‘s described as a remarkable leader who inspires remarkable devotion and has a cause/ rationale – but she‘s got her weakness with inspiring loyalty on an interpersonal level. The followers are loyal to the cause – Edelgard herself is perceived as unapproachable and shady/unsavory, see Dimitri‘s rant about how she‘s „strong“, or statements by herself and Ladislava that people tend to misunderstand her. As a superhuman science experiment she is by definition not a „relatable“ leader. So once Byleth proves trustworthy Hubert immediately puts them in charge of morale and of support/pep talking the reluctant recruits.

(In part II we‘ll get into decision making processes but I think here we have to separate by route rather than house since it’s most evident post-timeskip and dependent on plot events.)

Team Dynamics and Decisionmaking

Empire Route

Here, there is a very clear distinction between inner circle and outer circle. Edelgard and Hubert have their own thing going on and once you prove loyal, you’re in, and you get to see a whole different side to both of them, Edelgard lets down her guard, Hubert acts polite and sympathetic where he was previously suspicious and mocking, and they basically tell Byleth everything, including the unsavory pursuits that they keep secret from everyone else – but overall the secrecy, maintained for realpolitik reasons, never truly stops. Basically those three make all the decisions.

Notable is that if you’ve recruited Lysithea she hovers on the threshold between inner and outer circle. She was fed the cover story of the nuke being a church weapon (though she did’t buy it) but WAS told about the secret assault on Arianrhod. This is prolly cause Edelgard likes her, she can become her main advisor in their paired ending.

Kingdom Route

Dimitri describes himself as as someone who thinks change should come from the people and that the leadership should serve them, for all that he prefers to uphold the basic order of society, and this is reflected in his leadership style – though this also reflects that he is a ‚people person‘ rather than a planner, so the plans are left to his advisors like Byleth, Gilbert and Rodrigue. He is more the emotional/ spiritual lynchpin than the mind or will of the group.

In Azure Moon, especially later on, the decisions are really made by the entire group and you see them considering their next step together. Dimitri spills the backstory as soon as it comes up, telling everyone about his relationship with Edelgard for example.

In early part 2 this is at an extreme in that Byleth, Rodrigue and Gilbert are de facto making the decisions and Dimitri is at best a grumpy figurehead that they‘re putting up because they need him as a symbol, but at the same time he doesn‘t really compromise on his revenge obsession and is just dragging the whole team along/ not really reacting to how they are making him the lynchpin for their hopes. (though it is important to note that he didn‘t ask him too either – they decide to follow him out of friendship or loyalty to his house) yet inwardly Dimitri too is blindly following what he believes are his obligations.

A huge turning point is when he returns after the whole rain conversation and Byleth gets to ask him some variety of „What do you want to do“ in which Dimitri makes a step toward both inner and outer self-directedness, but precisely because of that becomes are more complete/better consensus leader.

I also want to stress that Claude and Edelgard LOVE togetherness and cooperation and equality as concepts every bit as much as Dimitri does they want to be one of the team but they find it difficult. And of course Dimitri’s style has its own flaws too

Alliance Route

While the Blue Lions decide everything together and either variation of the Black Eagles setup has an „inner circle“ that makes the decisions, in the Golden Dear that inner circle is basically just Claude.

Even Byleth doesn‘t find out his plans until part two, and it‘s later still till he comes clear with the team (and still doesn‘t reveal all but points to Cyril as a stand-in) Hilda and Lysithea are discernable as preferred right hand people, and Byleth and Marianne as special confidants, but in the end Claude rarely shows his real self and only he knows the plan. If Hilda and Lysithea pick up alot about him and his true self it‘s because of how observant THEY are and how much Hilda is basically a lot like him.

Claude does all the thinking and motivates followers (from Lorenz to the random merchans who support him) by promising them things they want – because even if he can‘t trust peopöle, he can trust their self-interest.

Church Route

Since you are with the church that is ideally a sort of benevolent parental authority under the supposition that people need guidance and that‘s a good thing it is perhaps fitting that though Byleth winds up the nominal leader, this is actually the route where they are more of a follower. They do watch Seteth says, who is doing what he believes is his duty and mission, and we have Flayn as an innocent, pacifistic voice.

They lost their dad, and the Nabateans are a sort of surrogate family. (wether its one that youre born into or marry into, the wiord „family“ is stressed) – they are the „inner circle“ making the decision and the empire kids, ragtag misfits estranged from their homes, follow. On the one hand they‘re going against their home country on the other they have the saint‘s blood and Adrestia USED to be church aligned so it also makes a kind of sense.

Among the Adrestian kids themselves, Ferdinand and Petra get a chance to shine as the ostensible leaders. They are stalward, competent leader-like people in CF too , but there they are more overshadowed by the much more experienced Hubert and Edelgard.  - Though when you think about it they are like „pure hero“ versions of them who were never forced to become as cold and pragmatic. Ferdinand, like Hubert, is a nobleman from a storied family who is proud of it but wants to fix its tarnished reputation from his corrupt father. Petra, like Edelgard, is a former political hostage who experienced hardship at a young age and worked her way up all on her own, being very serious and competent despite her young age. I prefer the version where they stay buds rly.

It‘s worth noting that Seteth, ‚Heir of Purpose‘, sees it as their families duty to protect Fodlan and is the only one really doing that – his brothers noped out, and Rhea, uneknowst to him, twisted „protect“ into „rule/subjugate“. One might question who gives him the right to decide things because his mom is magic but on the other hand he really is 100% benevolent and I see no sign that he has any greedy intentions especially in in Silver Snow, all the countries collapse and someone needs to keep order, he doesn‘t understand what the empire‘s doing and why just sees their agression and really is rising to the challenge of upholding peace because something needs to do something about the violence. He had withdrawn to protect his daughter but then in the end he‘s the last one who is really doing what Sothis would have wanted. He looks most like her too having the slightly darker, ‚spikier‘ hair.

Further Thoughts

I’m curious to see how Yuri, the Ashen Wolves, and Cindered Shadows compare/contrast to this and i theyll manage to make the dynamics sufficiently different so that its neither a carbon copy or a blabk mary sue ish superlative. 

I mean the other routes are so interesting to dissect because its a tradeof and all have their own flavor so really CS would do better to try to be “different” or, better yet,  “complementary” than “better” or “cooler”

[originlist]

give me a chara from my collection of dipshits and lemme tell u three ships for em // accepting // @memorylost​ gonna do archimedes in a diff post actually but. this is long and theyre all ritsu/dudes bc im hugely gay i guess. more women need to seduce ritsu theyre a good bf ok

1) robinritsu. robinritsu is real and canon. also endgame in ritsus mainverse. with charris robin especially i guess is where these are based off of but its just so GOOD. they’re both dweebs who are really comfortable with each other and who both kinda. accept each others flaws and know how to help them grow. ritsu tends to want to hang out with the servants who have low views of humanity as a whole, because (mostly subconsciously) ritsu feels like they want to have the people fighting for humanity want to fight for it. they want their servants to have hope for the future just like they do, and feel love for something that makes them want to protect it. so for someone like robin who always feels frowned upon, impossible to be close to, not the type of person to be loved and someone who distrusts and dislikes humanity at large, ritsus just “im about to be so open hearted with this fucker that he cant help but have some of it rub off on him”. and its just. its wholesome!!!! ritsu and robin are able to play around a lot and they trust each other So Much. out of everyone in chaldea, robin is the person ritsu feels most comfortable with if they had to put their life in someone’s hands. robin’s the only person ritsu tells when they’re feeling so burnt out in the lostbelts, and ritsus the only person robin’s let himself get properly close to and [me removing my heart from my chest] HGGH

2) ritsudantes. what i said about dantes earlier still stands. also ritsu is the vessel for the best possible “someone will die” “of FUN” ship dynamics and dantes fills the first half of that trope remarkably well. i love ritsu “i will use my inherent poison resistance to hang out with a dude who always talks about how his presence itself is toxin because i think he should have friends :)” fujimaru and dantes just being like. [leans in to microphone] against my will and intentions, i have caught feelings. you can tbh blame kirby @noirenfer​ for my love for edoguda LOL but look. i just think count deserves friends. and also to be maybe teased a bit by people like ritsu who physically cannot be intimidated. plus its canon that dantes cares a bunch about ritsuka and goes extremely out of his way to protect and watch over them while still being like “[scoffs] do i LOOK like a man who cares, foolish” and i just. i love that. its extremely cute. i shovel ritsudantes into my gaping maw.

3) ritsu/kotr. just in general, barring obvious exceptions like gareth (baby) and agravaine (does not respect women and we don’t give ppl love and cherishing if they cant drink that respecting women juice). im allowed to live vicariously through my muses right? and i want to fuck the kotr. if i cannot make out with lancelot du lac myself, then it’s time for ritsu to live my dreams for me. every knight is cute every knight is good. gawain? wholesome and has strong arms to give u  hug. bedivere? the perfect boy i would do anything for him and so would ritsu. lancelot? i would singlehandedly fistfight everyone whos mean to lancelot or calls him a thot. both versions of lancelot. i want berserker to [REDACTED]. mordred? very cute and i love his punk vibes and transmasc ppl with mord’s fashion sense are so fuckin choice and money and good. tristan? well he is there also I Guess.