#soren played the long game

[adashulaz]

Guys, what if Soren knew Corvus from Camp Katolis. Like they barely interacted due to Corvus being very hard to find but Soren developed a crush on him because Corvus is pretty. So since Soren was like a young teen, he just had a crush on Corvus and never thought it would go anywhere.

Cut to the future where the two end up dating and Soren just go "LETS FUCKING GOOOO!!" because he's finally with his crush after so long. He might've had to wait years for it to happen but it happened. And Soren will be boasting about it while Corvus is just like "You had a crush on me all this time and still knocked me out with a rock????"

[thelastairsimblr]

Family Pack #4

I’m happy to share some sims with you all today! In this post, you’ll find 12 households (40 sims total), each with their own stories and biographies. All of these sims have additional Everyday outfits, skills, bonus traits, Likes and Dislikes, sexual orientations, pronouns, family dynamics, and Lifestyles. You can find them all on the gallery under my Origin ID: TheLastAirSimmer or in the tray files linked under the cut! As always, feel free to tag me if you end up using them.

Abreu

A respected food critic, Maria’s opinion is highly valued by all as the towns’ baked good connoisseur. Her husband Joaquin, a renowned pianist, is no exception; he worships the ground she walks on. Together, they project their creative outlooks onto their sons. Santiago, the eldest and a romantic, has the full support of his parents and wants to become a professional wedding photographer. Even though young Rémy feels he didn’t inherit his parents’ imagination, he still wants to make them proud.

Naval

Aparna owned her own restaurant while raising her two girls alone. Hema was able to help out when she was old enough, allowing Aparna to find success and receive critical acclaim by publishing her own cookbook. Today, Hema is focusing on her engineering studies while trying to find love; she’s very smart and sincere, but a bit naive. Ridhi is chasing a riskier path; she wants to be a famous musician. And while Aparna hopes that this is just a phase, she supports her youngest daughter anyway.

Monaghan

As young parents, Stefan and Marianne sacrificed a lot. Stefan became a cop to support his family, but still gets caught up trying to relive his youth from time to time. Marianne longs for the day that she can quit her job at the local diner and become a singer. Soren feels pressure to please his parents, but really just want to play videogames all day while Tatum and Aria constantly bicker, not at all concerned with their parents’ feelings or the wellbeing of Hunter, who just wants attention.

Larson

Quite the jazz singer in his day, Clive is desperate to find ways to stay relevant in the ever-changing music scene. Fiona, longing for the authentic soul who serenaded her years ago, knows she can inspire him again; she’s stood by him through a lot. But until then, you can find the melancholy art critic drinking to yesteryear at the bar. Jade dropped out of college to pursue a career in social media (much to Fiona’s discontent) while Candice is following the artistic path her parents paved.

Agawa

Ever the class clown, Yuto knew that he had a knack for entertaining people. This was only confirmed after he went viral on Social Bunny for the first time! When he told his parents that he wanted to pursue a life in the public eye, they saw it as further evidence that he couldn’t take anything seriously. He makes a decent living streaming video games and his eccentric personality is pure internet gold. Though to be fair, he should probably be a bit cautious with what he says and does online.

Hollifield

As a teen, Whitney’s future looked bright. But she forfeited a lot of opportunities to pursue a whirlwind romance with a boy who had a dangerous edge. They were happy for a time, but it didn’t last and the only thing she kept from that relationship was her daughter Emma. She now works a lowly job in fast food while taking classes at Britechester, hoping to find a career in social media. Her days are busier as a working single mom, but Emma keeps herself entertained by befriending her neighbors.

Catton

Following the loss of her son to avoidable circumstances, Dottie found herself in the care of his two children. Filled with regret for not doing more for her son, the college professor watches the kids like a hawk! She’s keen on using her connections to better their lives. Temperamental Owen does well to make her proud with his grades, but he has an artsy side that he only shares with those closest to him. His little sister Bonnie would rather spend time making friends than studying though.

Qian

After founding a groundbreaking app, Shirong found a place among the company of the rich and powerful. His charming wife Meifing, quite the schmoozer at elite parties, is constantly looking for funding for her next big venture (while also being the go-to-girl for all the neighborhood gossip). Nuo chose to move home after grad school to save money, but is ready to leave and start her own law firm. Her younger brother Haoyu adds to her restlessness by barraging her with his antics.

Sullivan

Atticus’ dad Clifford, a retired veteran, supported his sons’ musical dreams fully, having raised him alone after his wife died. While roaming the world, Atticus met Elisa; a fashion guru with a fiery disposition. The pair had three children and Clifford moved in to help with the newborn. Like her dad, Lydia also wants to be an artist (whether if it’s for her love for acting or a desire to be in the spotlight remains to be seen) while Malicia, afraid of being unseen, finds relief in her friends.

Kingsley-Ramirez

Jaime and Paxton met/moved in together before they could actually get to know each other, both having been new to the city at the time with zero connections. They found themselves compatible not only as roommates, but eventually boyfriends as well! Jaime always puts others before himself; it shows in the passion he has for social justice causes he advocates for. Meanwhile, Pax works a parttime job at a small coffee shop, but is intent on putting himself through school to become a veterinarian.

Tanaka-Murdock

Nigel and Shannon met at Foxbury and developed feelings for each other during study sessions. Though Nigel was the only one to graduate, he admires Shannon for making the decision that was right for her. He enjoys being the breadwinner while Shannon follows her artistic instincts, though he wishes he had his wife’s free spirit. Shannon is quite hard on herself and works tirelessly until she makes something she’s proud of while their son Kason, while a quick learner, really just wants to play.

Miyake

Even if he’s never been the most social person, Kenzo is a loyal and fierce friend to those lucky enough to make it into his circle. A patron of the sciences, he cares deeply about precision and perfection. However, when it comes to raising his son Akira, he wants the boy to follow his own path, even if it’s not exactly the one he would choose for himself. Akira seems to be doing just that; far more sociable than his father, he never fails to leave a lasting impression on anyone he meets.

[stuck-in-jelly]

A self indulgent plot line I would love to see explored in Season 7 is the direct effects of what happened to Soren in Season 6 and how it could drastically change how he interacts with Corvus

Soren is usually the one making fun quips and lighten the mood around tense situations he will sing songs make up silly stories, and overall just be a lot more goofy.

But this time Soren just got out of a ruined Katolis after weeks of living in his own personal hell of having his abusive father back under the very roof he was abused under and coping with the complicated feeling of said father’s self sacrificial death.

I would be really disappointed if we didn’t get some follow up on how it could change Soren’s demeanor. Im sure he’d still try to make jokes, with some quips here and there but Corvus is really good at reading Soren.

I would have a hard time believing he wouldn’t catch on immediately to how Soren is feeling and what he is thinking and even more of a hard time believing he wouldn’t try to cheer him up one way or another.

We know that for at least part of the season Ezran/Aanya and Soren/Corvus will be teamed up meaning we probably will see a heavy Plot A and Plot B storyline with them.

It would make sense for the plot line to follow:

1a. King Ezran working through his grief and anger juggled along with his responsibility as King to his people and trying to stop the literal end of the world

And 2a. Soren working through his grief and anger juggled with the overwhelming dread and guilt of what has happened to his family and trying to stop the literal end of the world

Then 1b. Aanya who although hasn’t known Ezran long knows far too well what he is going through being quite possible the only person in the world who can relate to being a child ruler with both of her warrior parents being dead with an older adoptive/half sibling who could not inherit the Crown surviving attempted coups and assassinations.

2b. An awkward Corvus trying to cheer Soren up after having freshly crossed a barrier that he was unable to cross by himself. Filling in the gaps and silences or even just offering his shoulder for Soren to lean on and let it all out instead of bottling it up.

Soren and Ezran love playing this game of “Im fine!” After going through the most traumatic thing of their life.

But having these two forces; both who are not from Katolis Castle, both who can relate or empathize, both who are an outside force that are less much less entangled in this complicated web that is Ezran’s and Soren’s life.

They can help them sort out the strings they are trapped in, and help unravel them bit by bit

[shelterwoodpod]

11 for the podcast thing

11. what’s a podcast you’ve listened to more than once?

Sorry it took so long to respond! I've relistened to a TON of podcasts, because I get very into figuring out how shows tick. Here's a small sampling:

Limetown, Season 1: This is such a watershed show, and I listen to it probably on average once a year. Structurally and craft-wise, the team over at Two-Up caught lightning in a bottle with this show, and its influence on Shelterwood is massive - how the show handles investigation, interview, character interactions, and sound design are worth studying for anyone interested in the mockumentary form. The monologues on this show are brilliant.

Knifepoint Horror: Soren Narnia has been steadily cranking out some of the most chilling, understated horror in podcasting for a decade and a half. His philosophy on horror is simple and grounded: the heart of fear is loss. These stories, varied as they are, share a sense of melancholy which grounds the work (strange as it can be) in reality. I feel the same way about I Am In Eskew, but I'm still on my first listen-through. Check out the episode DNK for a really cool meta-take on documentary style horror, as the story takes the form of a directors commentary overtop a documentary.

In Strange Woods: Atypical Artists (with creative director @thelaurenshippen, go drop her a follow) pushed the boundaries of what a fiction podcast could be with this one, and it makes me cry so much all the time. I have a soft spot for media about the legitimate grievances of teenagers, and this one also features Broadway-caliber musical performances from an all-killer cast. This one plays with the documentary style by fusing it with musical theater, which is genius: both forms utilize a mix of narration and scenes to balance plot, emotional release, and personal/interpersonal motivations, and both forms have established formal tropes (the "I want" song, for example) that can be expanded/subverted by using the frame of the other. Check this one out if you like Come From Away.

That's that! I hope you check out these shows if you haven't already, they're just incredible. And feel free to send me more from the ask game here!

[kradogsrats]

obsessed with the long-game payoff of "Hearts of Cinder" rn tbh

like not just in a narrative mirroring/parallels way, showing in s3 how far Viren had fallen and closing that arc in s6, or with how Soren and Viren's positions reversed, but like... either they planned this for Viren literally from the beginning or it came about through a startling commitment to lore depth and consistency

because like

a) Back in s3, the "Hearts of Cinder" spell is... weird. Like not so weird that it clashes with the setting as we know it, but at the time we're only just being introduced to things like the Draconic corrupted Sun rune spells, or the role the Staff of Ziard plays in dark magic. It's got an incantation that, at the time, is kind of unusual in the context of other dark magic spells but slots in with the series' overall recurring heart motif such that it can't really be called wrong. It's not a Spiders Georg-level outlier, but it definitely feels like there's something we're missing.

b) That's because someone planned it out in deep detail: "Hearts of Cinder" is, in hindsight, the only dark magic spell we see that is clearly intended for war with Xadia. It's a spell that comes from a much more brutal era both politically and magically, when armed conflict with dragons was high and "make your army immune to dragon fire for the low, low cost of one human sacrifice" was a deal people were willing to take. We know that's intentional, because it's right in the incantation: dark magic incantations frequently reference the spell reagent, as with "Slithering Steel" or "Ash of Fallen, Rise Again." So someone knew as far back as s3 that this spell normally used a human heart for its magical power.

c) This confirms so much stuff that it's like they put it in there for me, tumblr user kradogsrats, special interest: dark magic. The on-screen exposition drop that the Sunforge Staff contains a Sun primal stone. Confirmation that you can use a primal stone as a source for dark magic. Confirmation that you can use human essence as a source for dark magic. Another consistency example of the Staff of Ziard being used to empower dark magic spells. Confirmation that there are dark magic spells built on human sacrifice.

like... that's all stuff I knew, or at least suspected and wanted to be true, but having it all right out there like "hey who wants some resolution in the lore arc of dark magic? kradogsrats again?" just has me like

[fandombymanynames]

some season 7 thoughts mostly focusing around the disaster that was Runaan's second trip to Katolis...

buckle up lads, it's gonna be a long one

First of all, do i think Ezran was wrong for locking up Runaan?

absolutely not

This kid just had his entire kingdom burn down and is now staring at the man who killed his dad seemingly but that's another matter. He's allowed to be pissed, and he's well within his rights to arrest Runaan. I was honestly shocked he was the ONLY one acting upset. I thought for sure the second Soren saw Runaan that he'd be drawing steel, since if I remember correctly (and i could totally be wrong, it's been a while since i watched it thru from the beginning, so have mercy), Soren actually fought Runaan while trying to defend Harrow??

So Ezran's actions are not what bother me about the whole plot point. What bothers me is that this is only happening now??? Like, I'm not even convinced Ezran fully knew who Runaan was other than the assassin that killed his dad. Did Rayla ever tell him that's her dad and I just forgot? Did Callum ever tell him 'hey we're trying to free Rayla's dad (the man that killed our dad) from his coin prison that Viren put him in, just a heads up so you can digest that'? That seems like a massive thing to just spring on a person when you've been planning it for several seasons at this point. Couldn't have written him a letter even... smh

And then on top of that...they bring Runaan to Katolis like absolute dumbasses. Like if you're not going to have the decency to warn your brother that you're planning to break Rayla's dad out of coin jail, the least you could do is just let Ezran keep his blissful ignorance and peace on the matter. It was just an objectively stupid move from all three of them (Callum, Rayla, and yes Runaan himself like wait outside my dude). As the saying goes, play stupid games win stupid prizes. Naturally you bring the guy who killed the king to the kingdom...he's gonna get thrown in jail, and it was all perfectly avoidable if they rubbed even two brain cells together.

okay maybe that was a little mean, but it was a stupid thing to do and i hope we can all agree on that.

but it's what happened so we move on to the next domino in this disaster: rayla breaking runaan out.

Was I all for it?

Yes. Let me be very clear, Runaan is my favorite and he and Ethari's reunion was literally the only thing i cared about this season

Was it ALSO a stupid as hell thing to do?

YES

Like you didn't even wait for night?! You're MOONSHADOW ELVES! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT????

I wanted to strangle someone.

The only good thing, imo, is that she did tell Callum ahead of time. That's growth! She knew what she felt she needed to do and let him know. And very critically, she did not want him involved because she knew this was going to hurt Ezran and didn't want to put Callum in a position to directly pick her over his brother. It is so clear that Ezran is in turmoil and he deserves to have his brother there with him. Callum SHOULD have stayed with his brother, but they had to be stupid and stage a prison break in broad daylight like absolute bafoons. I just...it's so dumb.

I get that the idea is to not keep Ethari waiting 'one minute longer' than needed, but come on guys. You can still race back to the Silvergrove while taking reasonable precautions to ensure you actually make it back to Ethari alive. I think he'd prefer that actually.

It just all felt contrived for drama, at the cost of characters acting reasonably intelligent especially my man Runaan who's a fully grown adult and should have known better than just walk into Katolis, ffs man critical thinking skills

What's my take away from this long mess? That this should have been a building conflict within our original trio starting from the moment Rayla got the coins and understood what they were. Ezran should have been involved in the discussions on freeing Rayla's parents, especially Runaan. If that's too much to ask for, we should have atleast seen some conflict out of Callum on the matter (Harrow was his dad too). It's a fumbled arc in my opinion, thru and thru

but hey that's just me, just needed to put some thoughts to paper as it were. hopefully this mess makes sense

[emblemxeno]

Fire Emblem Series Playthrough (Tentative Itinerary)

Three Houses: Cindered Shadows (Flower: Normal and 1/11 Birthday, Snow/Wind/Moon: Hard and 7/26 Birthday)

Three Houses: Crimson Flower

Three Houses NG+: Silver Snow (Recruit Lysithea and Leonie)

Three Houses NG+: Verdant Wind (Recruit Ferdinand and Linhardt)

Three Houses NG+: Azure Moon (Recruit Everyone)

The Sacred Stones: Ephraim Hard

The Sacred Stones: Eirika Hard

Blazing Blade: Eliwood Hard (Lloyd/Kenneth/Harken)

Blazing Blade: Hector Hard (Linus/Jerme/Karel)

Binding Blade Normal (A Route and Ilia)

Binding Blade Hard (B Route and Sacae)

Mystery of the Emblem Book 1

Mystery of the Emblem Book 2

Genealogy of the Holy War

Thracia 776 (East Route)

Thracia 776 (West Route)

Path of Radiance Normal

Path of Radiance Difficult? (Ike/Soren A Rank to Transfer)

Radiant Dawn Easy (Normal)

Radiant Dawn NG+ Normal (Hard)

Engage and Fell Xenologue (Birthday: 4/20)

I'm gonna play most FE games in the series as my main way to cope through tough times. I have a month long winter break, and only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays next semester. From Binding Blade until Engage, those games will be blind so that'll be exciting!

I'll do my best to post thoughts about things I found fun or worthwhile during each game.

Not playing the 3DS games because my 3DS is dying after a decade, and not playing New Mystery because I don't have enough storage for another emulator at the moment. Probably gonna enable Elite mode for Thracia as well for both playthroughs, but I'll get there when I get there.

(Also gonna change my pfp icon to fit the game I'm currently playing heehee)

[acquariusgb]

During the pandemic, when our frenetic travel schedules came to a sudden stop, we spent more days and nights together than we had in decades. We put together puzzles of all sizes and degrees of difficulty with our family. Chelsea and Bill were, by far, the most prolific. My favorites were the Zen puzzles with wooden pieces. For a time during COVID, Chelsea, Marc, and the kids moved in next door so we could all be together in a “pod.” Bill and I loved it. Many mornings before eight a.m. our grandchildren came over to play or eat breakfast. It was sacred time. No Zooms, no calls. Just family. At home we’re not Mr. President and Madam Secretary, we are Pop Pop and Grandma. There’s nothing better. We spent our secluded days playing countless games of hide-and-seek or Tiger, which consisted of Bill or me pretending to be a tiger pursuing Charlotte and Aidan. We spent long summer afternoons in our pool, introducing Jasper to the water and watching his brother and sister gain confidence as swimmers. Water fights and dunking contests kept us all laughing. We even produced our backyard version of The Wizard of Oz. I searched online for a much-abridged children’s version of the script, ordered costumes, and convinced everybody to participate. Charlotte played Dorothy with her family Yorkie, named Soren, playing Toto. Aidan was the Scarecrow; Bill, the Lion; Chelsea, Glinda the Good Witch; Marc, the Wizard; and little Jasper, a flying monkey. Other friends in our pod played the Tin Man and the Wicked Witch. I was (no surprise) the director. It went off without a hitch but closed after only one performance.

Something Lost, Something Gained - Hillary rodham Clinton

[narrans]

A Small and Tall Collection | Chapter Five | Curious

Chapter Five | Curious

Rey usually slept throughout the night, but the night before was a weird one. He’d had a little too much to drink before bed and, try as he might, needed to get up to go to the bathroom. He was quick about it, but when he went back to the warmth of his blankets something just felt off about the room.

It didn’t stop him from going right back to sleep though.

First thing the next morning, Rey noticed that the feeling of tension was gone, so he didn’t think anything of it until later.

It was a Saturday morning and Soren had made chocolate and banana muffins as well as a loaf of something called “zucchini bread,” which sounded absolutely weird to him. Soren promised that it was going to be great, but Rey would determine that later. For now, he had something else to grumble about.

Cleaning.

He hated cleaning his room, especially when it was on a Saturday. Saturday was meant as a day of fun and games, but with Christmas coming up, Soren said that he couldn’t get them any of the gifts they wanted until some of their other things were cleared out or put away.

Soren was usually fair as a brother, but this felt like cruel and unusual punishment.

Still, Rey decided it was better to comply than try and fight his oldest brother on this one. He really wanted these things for Christmas and, if he knew his brother, Soren would deliver as long as Rey and Dorian both held up their end of the bargain.

So, the boys set off to work.

“Don’t forget to check under the beds too! Last time you shoved everything under your beds, and that isn’t cleaning!” Soren called after them as the two scurried to their room.

Rey tackled his side of the room while Dorian tackled his. Most of Dorian’s stuff was tangled cords and on their shared work desk while Rey’s inventions mostly littered the floor. On his hands and knees, he scoured the ground for all of his batteries and tools.

“Don’t forget to put your stuff in the bins, Rey,” reminded Dorian. “Yours is the bottom two since you’re short and mine are on top because I’m tall.”

“You’re not that much taller than me,” Rey grumbled as he shuffled on his knees to the drawers and pulled them open to organize his batteries and tools. Everything had a “proper place,” but putting things back was never really Rey’s strong suit. It was a painstaking process, but he and Dorian both were making good headway.

It wasn’t until Rey made it to the edge of his bed chasing a few stray batteries that he dared to glimpse under at the atrocity in the shadows. Already, he knew he wouldn’t get to any of his inventions later today. There were stray nuts and bolts, screwdrivers, and even a few toys that he noticed right off of the bat.

This was going to be a monumental task, and he didn’t like it. The young boy groaned and laid down on his stomach and began pulling out the various totes and things that were just laying there. Three handfuls in, he noticed something that he had forgotten about for such a long time.

It was his stuffed lion toy.

It was something he used to love playing with when he was younger and a toy he hadn’t seen in over a year.

This is where it went, he thought as he pulled it out from behind the leg of his bed. As he did, he felt his heart sink as his fingers were immediately met with stuffing on one side. He pulled it out and examined his once beloved toy and instantly noticed the gaping gash in the back where the patch had completely been ripped away. Shoulders slumping, he felt more determined than ever to find the piece of missing fabric rather than clean the wires and bits up from his previous endeavors.

Try as he might and after pulling everything out from under the bed, the patch was nowhere to be found. It was so weird. It was one of the patches he remembered Soren putting on because it was a starry blue fabric that was very soft. The longer he looked at it, the more curious he felt himself get.

How could a whole patch just go missing? And why were the threads cut? Rey knew enough about crafts and creation to know the difference between tearing, snapping, and cutting threads and wires. What had happened to his toy?

“Ow! Rey! You’re supposed to be cleaning, not making more of a mess,” scolded Dorian, whose area was still untidy because he’d gotten distracted looking at his old video games. He’d stepped backward onto one of Rey’s more robotic toys that had made its way into Dorian’s area.

“Sorry, Dorian. I was just trying to find the patch. Have you seen it? It’s blue and has stars on it,” stated Rey.

“The only thing I’ve seen is your toys all over the ground. Come on! We can still have movie night if you hurry,” Dorian scolded as he handed Rey the toy. Rey sighed and took the toy. He was about to put it away into one of the totes that slid under his bed when he noticed something else odd.

In the claw hand of the toy, he noticed what looked like a piece of tissue wrapped in a dark brown cloth. Confusion set in as he plucked the fabric off of the fingers of his toy and examined the folded fabric. He pulled out the piece of tissue and examined both the fabric and the white torn piece that had what Rey thought looked like a few specks of blood on it.

His curiosity was getting the better of him, and he hated a mystery he couldn’t solve.

“Hey, Dorian. Did you cut your foot when you stepped on this?” asked Rey as he held up the tissue piece to his older brother.

“Me? No. Why?” asked Dorian as he continued to put away his things slowly but surely.

“Well, I found a bit of blood on this tissue piece. It was in this fabric all wrapped up,” stated Rey. Dorian, for the first time, stopped what he was doing to go over to Rey and see what it was he was talking about.

“Well, that’s weird. No, I didn’t cut myself. And where’d you get that?” Dorian reached for the other fabric piece, but Rey managed to keep it snatched away.

“It is the thing the bloody tissue was in,” he explained. “And you don’t need to see with your hands.”

“Well, then you’re not getting my help in figuring out what it is,” retorted Dorian.

“What are you two going round about?” He didn’t need to speak loudly to get their attention. The usual thunderous voice of their older brother, Soren, startled them and they whipped around to see him standing there with a laundry basket on his hip and a confused look resting heavily on his brow. “And you two are supposed to be cleaning, not making more of a mess.”

“I tried to tell him!” Dorian interjected. “But Rey is over here pulling everything out from his bed and getting distracted!”

“You’re one to talk! And I was cleaning under the bed, like Soren asked, unlike you getting distracted with your old games,” Rey retorted in defense. “And I only got distracted because I found this thing here.”

Rey stood up and held out the blood speckled tissue fragment and the little cloth piece, placing it into Soren’s hand after huffing over to him.

Soren, keen hazel eyes used to taking in information all at once, accepted Rey’s offering and examined it quickly. He was a bit alarmed that he spotted a bit of blood on the edges of the tissue and perplexed as he noticed that the fabric Rey had brought him looked like it had been sewn into a tiny pocket.

“Was the tissue in this thing?” he asked, to which Rey nodded. “And neither of you are hurt or recognize it?”

“No and no,” replied Rey. “And a patch from my toy is missing too.” Rey hopped over the totes and snagged his stuffed lion from the ground and was back at Soren’s side in an instant. “The blue patch is missing.”

Rey was right. The blue starry patch was missing from the lion that Soren had fixed a few years ago. He remembered it because it was such a pretty material and had a different texture than the other patches he’d used for Rey’s lion. He felt his own curiosity mounting, but there had to be a reasonable explanation.

“Weird. And you haven’t found it?” asked Soren. The youngest boy shook his head and gazed up at Soren with those pale blue eyes they didn’t share. He sighed and gave his younger brother a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Well, we’ll get a new patch next time we’re out. Okay? As for this thing here, I would say don’t worry about it. It probably got caught on something and you just didn’t notice,” stated Soren. Rey stared at Soren disbelievingly, but Soren raised his finger to keep his brother focused. “Until we can investigate further, you’d better finish cleaning your room. I’m getting my chores done for movie night. It’ll be lonely there all by myself.”

“No!” Rey and Dorian cried in unison as they immediately scurried back to their room to work doubly hard.

In the meantime, Soren brought the laundry to the bathroom where their washer and drier unit sat and examined the two pieces Rey gave him further. Sure enough, the piece of tissue had something that looked like blood on it. It was so odd. It was too small of a piece to have come from him cutting himself shaving, and the cloth had odd but tiny stitching.

If he didn’t know better, he’d say that it looked like a pocket meant to hold the piece of tissue.

But why would that be a thing? This pocket was so small.

Nothing could be this small and need pockets, right?

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A Tall and Small Collection | Original Story

[lucyandherlunacy]

before i start episode 5 of minecraft story mode i thought i'd put my serious first impressions of the "wither storm arc" here

first the positives: surprisingly, i find it really entertaining how everyone talks. the little pg curse words forced into every conversation, like 'crap' and 'hell' etc.? absolute time capsule. it works for me because i can 100% believe that these are people who live in a minecraft server in the 2010s. the wither storm was an excellent threat for the first 4 episodes. genuinely one of the best monster-villains i've seen in a video game. the conflict surrounding its creation and how it spiralled out of hand mean that it can motivate meaningful character tension despite being a monster, and the way it works is honestly really cool. a regenerating, nigh-unkillable mass of destruction that drags everything around it to its death and only multiplies once it's seemingly dead for good? plus the wither sickness and amnesia it spreads and the fate of the people who get absorbed into it? love it. genuinely threatening and spooky the arc had me invested to the point that i wasn't willing to really make any kind of 'evil/mean for the hell of it' decisions in my playthrough. it felt really nice playing jesse as someone who is just earnestly a nice and caring person who tries her best and keeps her gang together. it helps that the voice actress playing femjesse sounds absolutely heavenly she killed it in this role honestly i liked jesse's character a lot more than i expected too! their inexperienced and kinda bumbling yet optimistic outlook compared to say, the kind of stoic hardened adventurer you see in petra was really fun. combined with me missing a qte or two on occasion i definitely bought into jesse as this unlikely hero that came from nothing soren, ivor, lukas and olivia were the standout characters to me in that order. idk what else to really say they're great. i liked the rest of the cast well enough even if i thought some of them were slightly underdeveloped or just didn't appeal to me personally, the former of which i'll get into in the next section. reuben the pig i can't really speak on since i have a personal bad experience with his name that made me wince every time it was said. he was cute i guess ----------------------------------------------------------------- a few criticisms: i did redstonia, and idk if this an issue unique to that area but i found it to be too short. i just kept thinking there would be more to this society or at least more buildup to meeting ellegaard. most of what you see is just people's attempts to win her favor. i especially would've liked to see more of it since it ends up getting destroyed there was only really one time that the character drama felt forced to me, and that was the start of episode 3 where lukas tries to pull the amulet off you and petra scolds you for not saving axel and reuben. it was all uphill from there but that was the only moment i really was like "yeah this is shoehorned lol" mobs are handled kind of weirdly in this game. it's a nitpick at best and not something super serious but i guess it's weird to see zombies and skeletons just kind of being treated as a given in a populous world of various humans. i dunno, i just felt that not taking advantage of the fact that half the generic monsters are the undead or even really mentioning it was a weird move i kind of wish we just had one more episode in this arc. certain moments like ellegaard's death didn't hit as hard as they should have just because i hadn't spent enough time with her to get attached. and generally i think characters like axel and petra could've done with just a little more time in the spotlight for their characters to grow. i think they needed the kind of treatment olivia got in her moment with jesse in the farlands. even having done redstonia over axel's path it really wasn't long enough to add to her character the way that moment did for me ------------------------------------------------------------------ regardless, i genuinely really liked my experience with this game despite all the silly moments. if anything they enhance the experience for me and i can't wait to play more :)

[tadbitsketch]

I haven't done one of these in forever but welcome back to Sketch Rambles About MCSM Stuff at an Unreasonable Hour of the Night 🎉🎉🎉

Tonight, I'm gonna discuss one of my favorite songs from the Minecraft: Story Mode OST, "Redstone Baby," and the potential lore that it holds. And why that's very Sorengaard related.

Disclaimer: this is me interpreting silly block people. Unless otherwise stated (or in the game), it ain't actually canon. Also, I am a teenage girl. I am not versed very well in the specifics of how music theory works and how it's used in media. Also also, I wrote most of this like two months ago and completely forgot about it.

(In case you needed a reminder of how it sounds)

This song appears twice in the season 1 episode 3: when you arrive in Soren's lab area, and again in the end credits. It can also be heard through the closed secret entrance wall in the Wool World™, and it gradually becomes clearer as you approach the door to Soren's lab, where a music disc is playing the song inside.

The instrumentation of "Redstone Baby" consists of guitar, piano, and violin. It feels comforting and cozy, whilst also giving a sad, longing sort of vibe. According to a comment written 6 years ago by Antimo on the linked video, they were going for a sorta "Fallout: New Vegas" vibe when they wrote it. The song holds an air of nostalgia, of better times. An idealized dream of how the world could be.

To get to the point: it's cute, it's cozy, and it's a love song in a game where they weren't allowed to explicitly write any canon ships (if I'm remembering correctly). Also one of the few songs in this game to be given lyrics. So, of course, we're gonna talk about this. Or rather I'm gonna write about it and you're gonna read it.

The lyrics go as follows:

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

You're the bed to my rock,

The flint to my steel.

My redstone baby doll...

My redstone baby doll.

(music)

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

My sugar baby...

aaaah ladada, awoah...

The lyrics are pretty strange, right? It seems nonsensical at first, but I (and many others) believe that it has more meaning than meets the eye.

This is a love song addressed to a someone proficient with redstone. Funnily enough, Soren's old friend group did have one of those. A brilliant Redstone Engineer: Ellegaard. And quite interestingly, these two were pretty close, as is said multiple times in canon. I think Magnus mentions their little "Nerd Club," in episode 3 at some point. Another fact to back me up on this: Soren calls the song "Symphony in E" in-game on the little radio-disk-program-thing.

And for whatever reason, Soren and Ellegaard didn't stay close or end up together. There's not really a way to know for certain what went down between them. All we do know is that Soren wishes it was different.

The "marshmallow world" that is talked about in the song is Soren's perfect world. It's safe, sweet, and fluffy. I am of the opinion that it could possibly be an indirect reference to the wool world that Soren built. It's bright. It's safe. No monsters can get him there. He can just build things and be happy. In a perfect, marshmallow world, Ellegaard is with Soren.

The metaphors Soren uses here, "the bed to my rock, the flint to my steel," they're both iconic, inseparable duos: bedrock, and flint and steel. In Minecraft, bedrock is the unbreakable foundation beneath all else in the Overworld. Flint and steel is used to set things on fire, and is most often used to light Nether portals, which is way less symbolic (unless someone can find something? maybe the whole flaming heart being a metaphor for love thing?) but still iconic and the phrase has a very nice rhythm to it.

When we first hear the song, it feels like normal wishful thinking. It's more just fluff and poetry than full-on wants and desires.

But when we hear it in the end credits of episode 3... We just saw someone die after sacrificing their safety for Jesse's. The monster that they died to help kill isn't even dead. Someone we thought was dead is actually alive and doesn't remember anything. It's loud, dark, and burning. A sickening storm of death and destruction. Anything but the marshmallow world.

Without considering which of the two died, this song is already quite jarring in comparison to what was just witnessed. This "marshmallow world" that seemed somewhat close just a moment ago now feels implausible, and thus it'd be worth so much more if it were real.

I will never not love when something in a piece of media is treated as a good sign or motif or something and then it gets recontextualized and hurts ya right in the feels.

And with Redstone Baby combined with Ellegaard dying, it's just that extra brutal.

Because now it's not just, "in a perfect world, we'd be together." It's "in a perfect world, you wouldn't be dead, and we'd be together."

If only Soren wasn't so much of a coward. How differently things could've gone.

[saijspellhart]

IkeSoren thoughts, related to heroes, but need help from Heroes fans.

So like, ive never played Heroes, but i think I have a vague understanding? Your player character is like a summoner i guess. And you summon heroes from various FE games. But they can be from like different dimensions and timelines? Thus all the alternate skins, ages, and classes for characters? Right? Please correct me if im mistaken.

But, if this is the case. That means the summoner could absolutely summon a Soren from a timeline hundreds of years in the future (future for the tellius series) where Ike is long dead and Soren is like visually 30s or 40s. Since Soren is part dragon and ages so much slower.

And this Soren misses Ike desperately. And never thought he'd ever see Ike again. But suddenly he's in that (Askr?) Dimension. And there are half a dozen Ikes all summoned there from the other dimensions and timelines.

Imagine the bittersweet heartbreak of a much older Soren, looking upon the love of his life again after a century without him.

Anyway. Again i've almost no knowledge of Heroes. I just had an angsty thought I wanted to share. And find out if it were even accurate to Heroes.

[thelogicofikeandsoren]

Layers of Canon

"Is Ikesoren canon" is a much more complicated question than a lot of people will give it credit for, namely because of all of the different layers of canon.

Layer 1: Obvious Canon. These are the things that anyone playing the game could see from standard cutscenes and base conversations including but not limited to:

Ike prioritizes making Soren happy over doing his job (PoR 13), doing his job over looking at flowers (PoR 17), and looking at flowers over looking at women (PoR 14)

Ike finds Aimee off-putting (PoR 13 and 23, RD 3-2 and 4-1)

Soren and Ike worry about each other constantly and protecting each other, including but not limited to Ike placing himself in front of Soren to protect him from a tiger attack (PoR 8) and Soren lashing out when he can't follow Ike to fight the Black Knight (PoR 27) as well as the bond bonus.

Soren knows how to woo Ike (PoR 23)

Ike, in no uncertain terms, does not want to marry Elincia (PoR epilogue and RD)

Micaiah and Yune both refer to Soren as the boy who is always beside Ike (RD 4E)... Confirmed when fighting Ike as an enemy (RD 3-13).

Ike is not (just) oblivious to love (RD 4-1)

Layer 2: Esoteric Canon. These are things that require extra effort to see but are either implied to always happen or have no long term consequences. This includes the entirety of Ike and Soren's PoR support path as well as Soren's battle quotes with Shinon and Micaiah and escape quotes. Here we also add...

Soren being able to recognize tiredness on Ike's face through a small tic Ike doesn't notice and Ike compliments him afterwards (PoR C)

Soren expressing that Ike is the only person he can rely on and Ike assuring him he will always stand by him (PoR A)

"There's only one place for me to be, Ike, and it's by your side" (PoR epilogue, if A supported)

A warm core is melting Soren's freezing heart according to Micaiah (RD 3-7)

Layer 3: Uncertain Canon. These are things that most likely happened according to game preferences, but can be avoided. This would include Ike and Soren's Radiant Dawn supports and paired ending as well as any new game+ exclusive material. Most of the nature of Ike and Soren's relationship is here, including:

"I vow to remain by your side as long as I draw the breath of life" (RD A)

"My only wish was to see you again" (RD 4-E)

The support ending where Soren sets off with Ike and Ike was never seen again

Layer 4: Implicit Canon: Sometimes things that should be obvious are not spelled out, so a lot of the disagreement happens between these two levels. Here are some good examples:

When Micaiah talks about warm feelings, she means romantic ones because both her and Sothe, and Naesala and Leanne, whom she also uses the terms for, explicitly get married. Soren saying "do not presume to understand me" is a dodge, not a denial.

When Ike says Aimee "has issues with reality", that is in direct reference to her theory that he's (just) not ready to settle down.

All of the Aimee, Elincia, and temple handmaiden evidence suggests that Ike, at the very least, does not prefer women.

Because Ike and Soren are emotionally closed-off, them sharing a tender hug (technically also an inference but not a controversial one) says more than it would for the average characters.

Ike and Soren leaving alone together forever heavily suggests a romantic relationship.

Layer 5: Word of God: At this point, canonicity starts becoming more nebulous. This could include anything from side materials such as the art book, which says that "Ike's sense of how dear Soren is to him is renewed" and that "Ike doesn't care for the affections of women." Both are already present in implicit canon. But this makes them explicit, if only outside of the work.

Layer 6: Improbable Canon: These are things that are present in the game, but require you to make choices counter to the best narrative. This will include any of the death quotes, for which all of Soren's and two of Ike's reinforce how much they care about each other. The one-sided reading could potentially fit here as well, as so much of Ike returning Soren's affections requires them to have a paired ending (and special scene if possible), so the two less-encouraged Ike endings (and by extension, one DIScouraged Soren ending) could come across this way.

Layer 7: Soft Canon: Anything that is supported not by PoR and RD or their teams, but is supported by FE crossovers such as Heroes, Engage, and the Awakening DLC. And yes, this does mean that Priam is more nebulously canon than Ike and Soren's support ending. Sorry not sorry.

Layer 8: Non-Canon: Headcanons that do not contradict any official evidence but aren't supported by it either. While some people will have these to connect Ike/Soren to Priam and/or Soren's relatives, to speculate on their future, or to further characterize either, this is NOT necessary to think Ike and Soren are a couple in general. This would also include more general crossovers such as Smash Bros.

Layer 9: Counter to Canon: finally we have this set. These are definitively untrue based on level 1 evidence and the aggregation of levels 2-6, but people will use them for a variety of reasons from trying to relate better to the characters to write a what-if scenario to... My entire "straight Ike arguments" and "straight Soren nonsense" tags.

Conclusion: Ike and Soren having their primary relationship is layer 3 at worst, it being romantic is layer 5 at worst, and being adamantly opposed to it is level 6 at best and 9 at worst.

[admirableadmiranda]

Been playing Radiant Dawn recently, finally started my New Game Plus playthrough so I can see all the special things through my own hard work and I noticed something fun.

So Sothe and Micaiah get a lot of mixed reactions due to having familial terms thrown around, but then a paired ending. Setting aside the age discourse for now because honestly it’s irrelevant, what’s fun is that despite all of Micaiah’s protests that Sothe is like a brother to her, Sothe never actually reciprocates this sentiment. He’s constantly saying that she’s precious or that she matters more to him than anyone else, but he never refers to her as being like a sister or parent to him in any way. Even when Ike asks him if the person he’s looking for is family back in Path of Radiance, Sothe’s answer is “…something like that.”

Combining all of that with their paired ending makes it pretty clear to me that Sothe has had a crush on or feelings for Micaiah for a long time, and also reminds me of Soren a fair bit, where he isn’t asking for anything but to stay by Micaiah’s side in whatever way she’ll have him.

Ardent devotion towards a loved one where you get fulfillment out of living a life with the person you love in whatever shape that happens to take is a character trait I will always love. Catching it here in Sothe makes me even happier with this beautiful duology of games.

[calamitaswrath]

Cal Lucia plays Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: Closing Thoughts

Right then! Yesterday I finally beat Path of Radiance, after starting it. . . oh boy, about half a year ago. Mind you, not because I didn't like the game, but because for any Fire Emblem game I usually just need to sit down and take my time, which was not at all helped by me having to take a break because I was on holiday.

Anyway, full thoughts are gonna be under the break, short version is: loved it a lot, story-wise a rather standard Fire Emblem game that put a very nice amount of depth and thought into story beats that normally don't really get questioned any further; gameplay didn't stand out compared to the GBA FE games but had some very nice caveats.

I think I'll just start off with the gameplay, because I think I should be able to get through that one quicker.

In retrospect, the gameplay overall was remarkably similar to that of the GBA titles, with very little to set it apart. Which is not a bad thing, mind you! And the presentation was still distinct and nice. But the things that did set it apart were really nice. Almost everyone having the ability to shove, master seals being basically unnecessary since characters just automatically promote upon levelling up after level 20 and the whole bonus experience system were very much appreciated, and it's honestly a shame that these two games are the only ones that have them. Mounted units having the ability to still move after attacking I could take or leave, though it often got very annoying with enemies. What did really bother me though was just how absurdly long it took in the beginning of the game before the concept of the convoy was introduced. I had to toss a lot of weapons because a unit's inventory was already full. And speaking of that, what also really kinda bothered me was how you couldn't access the convey during battle, since I don't really think it adds to much to strategizing. Oh, and then there was the whole "objectives for bonus experience are always secret" thing. Fine and all if it's just a map where you just have to clear things quickly, and most of the time these objectives are obvious enough, but some actual clarity would've been much preferred. Mages having seperate weapon ranks for all types of magic meanwhile was just plain stupid. I think at the end of the game my Soren only had a B rank as his highest one, even though he was the only mage I used.

Now, for the story! Early-game, I really did love the whole family-like dynamics of Greil's mercenaries, and how Greil himself interacted with them all. I can easily see why people are so attached to this group in particular. That whole sense got a bit lost as things went along and the cast got way bigger though, which is a big shame. Base conversations really could have done a lot to alleviate that, but I think for the last ten chapters or so I didn't really see anyone out of Boyd, Oscar, Rolf, Rhys, Shinon or Gartrie. Speaking of base conversations, though! Those were a really cool concept. Games like Three Houses of course had something similar going on with you being able to talk to people in the monastery between battles, but that really felt rather tedious, plus. . . Byleth isn't really the best person to bounce off of. Base conversations on the other hand are really cool in the sense that they helped characterize Ike, but sometimes also showed interactions that went beyond just the character that was shown in the menu. Much like bonus experience, that's something that I'd really love to see in another Fire Emblem game. As for the story overall - like I said in the short version up at the top, the whole story did rather feel like a straightforward Fire Emblem plot at face value. Like, Evil Kingdom™ invades Good Kingdom™, rightful heir to the throne escapes, and has to fight ~25+ strategic turn-based battles in order to reclaim it. But the way it presented itself really did add a whole lot of nuance to the simple setup. The lord is a commoner, not everybody instantly rallies behind Elincia right away, and on seemingly every step along the way you get characters behaving as if the writers asked "yeah okay, but what would actually happen in that situation?". Maybe this felt kind of heavy-handed at times, but I usually enjoyed it - even if it often felt like it was specifically Soren who was the mouthpiece for this sort of thing. It helped add to his characterization, though. Since I mentioned Soren, though: I am somewhat curious just how intentional the common fan interpretations of Ike as gay and autistic were on the side of the writers. Of course it doesn't really matter at the end of the day cause death of the author and all that, but I still can't help but to wonder if the writers really did intend for this without spelling it out. Maybe I'll look into them once I'm done with Radiant Dawn as well. As for the cast overall, I honestly didn't really find any character that I didn't like. Like, sure, Makalov was a shitty person, but he was at least funny that way, and it made Marcia far more interesting as well. From the moment that I had to pick and chose who I bring along for any given map, I always struggled since I had a legitimately hard time picking. I really might just have to read up on all the supports that I couldn't get here. As for some of my favs, there'd be Lucia (as I am contractually obligated to say but also I just thought that she had a banger design and was really cool), Nephenee, Elincia, Ike, Soren, Titania, Mist, Jill. . . and I better just cut it off here, because otherwise I'll just list way too much of the cast. Amazing character designs, too! Not quite sure yet if these are my favs in all of Fire Emblem since Shadows of Valentia and Three Houses has some bangers as well, but it's easily up there. Last thing that comes to mind right now, the music. . . yeeaaah, that really wasn't it. The soundtrack overall was passable, but it really just pales in the stuff you get from the 3DS titles onwards. Say what you will about a game like Fates, but it has a banger soundtrack. For Path of Radiance on the other hand, the only track that really sticks out to me is this ass-trumpet music for Daien, and that's not for good reasons. The final map didn't even have its own theme! And I guess I gotta wrap up here cause tumblr doesn't like the post getting any longer.

[thosefiveadoraburrs]

long story short

Summary: While sailing on the Ruthless, Rayla's past in Scumport comes to light. Written with @raayllum

“How’s your stomach?” 

Rayla took a deep breath through her nose, swallowing hard. “As good as it’ll get, for now,” she mumbled. Scumport and the surrounding ocean didn’t smell any better than it had from how she remembered, clumsily gracing its shores less than—Garlaath, had it really just been two months ago?

Callum’s hand, gently rubbing circles into her back as she leaned over the railing, though, was more than welcome, and she mustered a tiny smile. 

“I’m fine, Callum,” she assured him. “Go play cards with Soren and Ez.” And Nyx, but she was sure the Skywing elf was cheating. 

His brow remained a tad furrowed, but he shrugged, not moving away. “Not really in a playing games kind of mood.”

She glanced up at him, taking a moment to steady herself as her stomach churned again. “Is—” She swallowed again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. Just… Thinking.”

“Thinking?”

Callum shrugged again. “A lot just happened, I guess. Scumport wasn’t exactly pleasant.” He glanced over where Zym was playing, pawing carefully at the Baitlings, who were equally entranced with the young dragon. “At least it seems we got away with it.”

“Yeah.”

He nudged her hip with his. “And that key stealing trick of yours came in handy.”

read the rest on AO3