#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????"

[raayllum]

fics of mine to check out if you haven't, a non-comprehensive list (and some co-written with thosefiveadoraburrs)

MULTI-CHAP:

21 days: They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. // Rayllum from 1x03-3x05. 14k, Complete

looking for a way to break in: Canon divergence/AU. In a world where the moral lines of Dark Magic are less evenly divided, Rayla is a Moonshadow elf in the service of the royal family of Katolis. Rayla is Prince Callum's bodyguard AU, slowburn. Complete, 97k.

if heaven and hell decide: Claudia convinces Soren to play the long game. OR: a post 2x03, canon divergence where Claudia and Soren travel with the trio rather than betraying them right away. 53k, Complete

love you again: AU as of S3. A prominent mage and on the cusp of his thirtieth birthday, Callum thinks he’s finally starting to truly leave the past behind. Until a kid claiming to be Rayla’s shows up on his doorstep, that is, asking for his help. Ongoing.

Horizons: Callum and Rayla make their way from the Starscraper to the Nexus. Set during S6; rated E. Twoshot

Teach Me How to Name the Bigger Light: Fanon S6 with a strange amount of overlap with canon S7 and speculative S8. 115k, Ongoing, probably the best thing(s) I've ever written fandom wise

(if time is money then) i'll spend it all for you: Runaan and Rayla's parents are de-coined. Now it's time to adjust to how the world and their daughter has changed, including her relationship with one particular human. 146k, Complete, canon up to S3.

as the poets say: When Amaya is accidentally caught up in a Sunfire prophecy and its subsequent ritual, her and Janai's journey to Mount Helios may finally force the two to confront their feelings for each other. Janaya, twoshot

ONESHOTS:

this fall just might kill me: Callum goes to the Sunfire elves to be purified in hopes of ridding himself of Aaravos' hold on him. It doesn't quite go according to plan. Rayllum, oneshot (canon up to S5), 7k

say the wind won't change on us: Callum discovers that Rayla came back to Katolis, secretly injured with a slow-acting curse, when they're already two weeks deep into sailing the Sea of the Cast Out. Arguments, caretaking, and the search for a cure ensues. 11k

a frightening thought: Soren thinks he may be falling in love with Corvus. This is a problem for more reasons than one. Sorvus, Rayllum, Soren&Callum

Hard to Please: A rumour regarding the prince of Katolis starts when he keeps rejecting proposals. 6k, set during the post s3 timeskip

will not be denied: Per the monarchs of old, King Ezran is visited by Lady Justice in a dream. 1.5k

i care if i am guilty: The Moon primal has its own consequences in store for Rayla’s choices. 3.8k

just wait for me to come home: Canon up until S3. Rayla runs and Callum chases her. It’s their own cycle to break. OR: the post-TTM reunion fic with a whole lot of angst. 16.8k

[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!

[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

[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

[sorinethemastermind]

Whumpuary 2025 | Prompt: Rescue | Part 3 of 3

 Soren sagged back against the post as soon as his captors had left, chin bumping against his chest, the restraints above his head the only thing keeping him upright. The rope dug deeper into his wrists as his full weight pulled against it, but he ignored it.

 What was the point? They had Ezran. He’d failed. Again. One job and he’d somehow managed to fail at it twice.

 And yet, some small part of his brain that he couldn’t quite smother was still so happy to have the air back in his lungs - to be able to breath - that he nearly smiled.

 Soren choked back a sob, picturing the young king’s face as they led him away.

 “It’s going to be okay, Soren. You’re going to be okay now.” He squeezed his eyes shut, but all that did was summon an image of Claudia before him, her eyes black voids, skin palid, hair falling across her face, a white streak through it. “You’re gonna be better now. That's all that matters.”

 He could hear them as though they were in the room with him, sacrificing themselves over and over for him. Claudia. Ezran. Viren.

 Why wouldn’t they just let him do this one thing for them? Was it really so much to ask? To let him go, to let him do the one thing he might actually be good at?

 There was a muffled sound from the balcony, followed by a low creaking as the doors swung open. Soren didn’t bother turning to look. It was probably just the wind. Or, if it was something, he doubted it was anything he wanted to see.

 Ezran, I’m so sorry. I failed you.

 Footsteps approached, two sets. One nearly silent despite the hard stone floor, the other bearing the faint clip of a heel. Still, Soren kept his eyes firmly shut. Caspian and his pet mage, back again, no doubt. Better he didn’t see it coming.

 There was a sharp intake of breath and the footsteps came to a halt. Would they kill him? Try and get information out of him? What more did they need to know, now that they had Ezran? Unless Evren wanted to know something about Viren. Soren swore that, if it was the last thing he did (or the last thing he didn’t do) he wouldn’t tell them anything.

 His eyes snapped open and he stared upwards to tell them just that, but the words died on his lips as he saw the two figures standing over him. He averted his gaze, quickly. “What do you want this time?”

 Corvus - or the figure pretending to be Corvus - stepped forward. Soren couldn’t quite help but glance at him out of the corner of his eye, catching sight of the wide, worried brown eyes and pained expression. They were laying it on a little thick, weren’t they, with the tremor in his voice as he spoke?

 “Soren… Soren what happened. Are you-” Corvus broke off, dropping to his knees before him. He reached out hesitantly, like he was afraid he’d break him, and gently brushed the hair out of Soren’s face. “What did they do to you?”

 Soren flinched away from his touch. “Stop playing games, you already got what you wanted.”

 “What do you-”

 “Where’s Ezran?” Callum spoke up, cutting Corvus off, gaze scanning the room, voice high and scared.

 Soren stared at him, then, after a long moment, he laughed. It was a hollow, bitter sound that echoed off the cold stone walls. They both gazed at him, eyes wide and scared, Corvus’ lips a thin line, tugging down at the corner’s.

 “You really think I’m going to fall for this crap?” Soren jerked forward, rope biting into his wrists, fresh blood oozing from the cuts already there. “I’m done playing your games, you already got what you wanted. Just fucking finish this.”

 Corvus, still kneeling before him, dropped a hand to his belt, resting it on the handle of his knife. Soren let himself fall back down, drooping from the restraints above him once more. He wanted to fight, to scream, to spit in the mage’s face, grab the knife from his belt, and stick it where his heart was supposed to be. He wanted to run down the corridor, fight his way out into the courtyard, and drag that traitor Caspian all the way up to the highest battlement before flinging him from it. He wanted to see Ezran tomorrow, jelly smeared on his nose from a hearty breakfast, chatting with Opeli in the council chamber.

 But, more than anything, he wanted the Corvus kneeling before him to be his Corvus. Not some cruel figment of his imagination or a mage’s trick. At least, he thought, I got to see him one more time. In a way.

 “Do it then,” Soren said, glaring daggers at the man before him. But his gaze softened as it met those familiar brown eyes, and his shoulder relaxed. If this was it, then maybe it would be nicer not to be alone. Even if it was pretend. So he pretended the man was Corvus, and he met his eyes as he slid the knife from his belt.

 And cut the bonds around Soren’s wrists.

 Soren slumped to the ground without them to hold him up, eyes widening with surprise, wincing at how stiff and sore his arms were from being held in the same position for so long. Corvus caught him before he could topple over, placing a steadying hand on each of his shoulders. 

 “Soren?”

 “This is a trick.” Soren’s voice wavered as he spoke. “An illusion.”

 “I’m real.”

 Soren snorted, “That’s what you would say if you were an illusion.”

 “What’s something only I would know?”

 “We don’t have time for this,” Callum said, voice urgent, hands clenched at his sides. “Ez could be-”

 “What is something only I would know?” Corvus repeated, eyes still locked with Soren’s, ignoring the prince entirely.

 “When I asked you to join the Crownguard,” Soren mumbled, eyes darting across Corvus’ face, searching for some sign that this was real. That he was real. “Where did I do it?”

 “The wall, overlooking the forest. You said it was your favorite place in the castle.”

 “How did I do it?”

 “You fumbled a bit,” Corvus admitted. “You didn’t stick to your script. But then you said that Ezran wanted me to stay.”

 “Who wanted you to stay?” Soren asked, voice barely a whisper.

 Corvus’ hand reached out, and this time, when he brushed the hair from his face, Soren didn’t move away. “You did,” he said, lips barely moving, voice so hushed Soren almost didn’t catch it.

 Soren leaned into Corvus, burying his face in the other man’s shoulder. He smelled like him. How would Evren have known how Corvus smelled? Or the way his eyes smiled even when his lips weren’t? Or the way that-

 “You’re here,” he managed, emotion swelling in his chest, making his words come out half choked.

 “I’m here.” Corvus wrapped his arms around him, giving him a gentle squeeze. “But Soren,” his grip didn’t loosen, but he pulled back slightly, just enough that their eyes could meet, “where is Ezran?”

 “They took him. I’m so sorry, they took him.” Soren choked back a sob. “I- I tried so hard to protect him but they… I’m so sorry.” He stared at the ground, unable to meet Corvus’ gaze and too scared to look at Callum. “I failed,” he whispered. “Again.”

 Corvus pulled him close again, hands clenching behind his back, grip tightening. “Where? When?”

 “I- I don’t know. It couldn’t have been that long. Maybe ten minutes. But Corvus, they’ve got people on the inside. I don’t know who to trust. And- And they had a mage.”

 “A mage?” Callum’s voice was sharp. “Was it-”

 “No,” Soren’s voice shook. “Someone who… who knew Viren.”

 Corvus slowly released him, easing him back down to lean against the side of the bed. He cast a nervous glance over Soren, taking it all in; the bruises and the cuts and the blood. The wide, scared eyes and wobbly voice.

 “Did they… are you alright?”

 “I’m fine,” Soren said, fighting to keep his voice level. “We need to go. We need to find Ezran.”

 “We will,” Corvus said, getting up. “But you need to stay here. Soren, you’re hurt and-”

 “I-” Soren gritted his teeth as he pushed himself to his feet. “Am not… Staying here…” he gasped as he shifted his weight to his bad leg and Corvus rushed forward, catching him as he staggered.

 “Soren, please.” His eyes were wide and worried. “Just let us handle it.”

 Soren opened his mouth to argue, but shut it at the look in Corvus’ eyes. It was pointless. He knew they were right. He was in no shape to fight. “Be careful. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t trust what you see.”

 “We will.” Corvus eased him back down, this time to sit on the bed itself, and lingered for a moment before releasing him. By the time he stepped back, Callum was already halfway to the door.

 “Come on,” the mage urged. “We need to hurry.”

 Corvus threw one last worried glance over his shoulder at Soren before rushing from the room. Soren waited until he could no longer hear their hurried footsteps, then he gritted his teeth and pushed himself off the bed, prepared this time for his injured leg to meet the ground. It didn’t stop the small gasp from escaping his lips. 

 Being in no shape to fight didn’t mean he wasn’t going to. With Callum and Corvus, they might actually stand a chance.

 Soren staggered from the room, wincing with every other step, leaning on the wall for support. He clung to the uneven cobbles, levering himself along. There were bodies in the hall, their armor all the same, making it impossible to distinguish between friend and foe. Soren stopped just long enough to wrest a dagger from one of their belts. Their swords, and most of their other weapons, had already been taken to arm the other insurgents.

 “Sorry,” Soren apologized to the fallen form. “Or not sorry, if you’re a traitor. Only sorry if you’re a good guy.”

 He stumbled further down the hall, shifting the knife between his hands until the feeling fully returned to his fingers. His grip tightened around it, knuckles white except for the blotches of red blood dried upon them. Light flashed outside, followed by a boom of thunder that rattled the window panes. It was swiftly followed by the sound of metal on metal, voices rising from the courtyard. 

 Soren hurried down the hall, pushing off the walls and careening around corners. He had to be there. He had to be there. He had to-

 In his haste Soren put his full weight on his injured leg and it gave out, sending him crashing to the ground. He groped for the knife in the dark, wishing for another flash of lightning to see by. After a moment his wish was granted and thunder boomed outside again. Light glinted off metal and he grabbed the blade from where it had fallen, pushing himself back to his feet.

 He hurried onward, finally pushing out into the courtyard as another peel of thunder sounded. He squinted against the bright light of Callum’s lightning spell, grip tightening on the dagger in his hand. When his vision cleared he stared around, taking in the chaos unfolding before him. Several of the insurgents were already on the ground, most seeming to have been taken out by Callum’s spells, a few bearing the telltale marks of Corvus’... Hook? Chain? Thing?

 Soren didn’t have the time or the energy to figure out what the thing was called just then.

 A few steps away, Corvus was engaged in combat with Caspian, Callum struggling to keep the rest of the others away from the pair of them so they couldn’t group up on him. The Dark Mage was nowhere to be seen.

 Soren watched as Corvus’ chain wrapped around Caspian’s blade, but hope turned to fear as the traitor leaned into the motion, using the connection to tug Corvus into range. He pulled a shorter blade from his belt, the steel flashing in the moonlight. Corvus, still struggling to free his weapon from Caspian’s grip, didn’t appear to notice as the traitorous guard slunk half a step forward, adjusting the shortsword in his grip.

 “Corvus!” Soren yelled, but all that did was draw the other man’s gaze. Caspian took advantage of the moment of distraction and lunged forward at the same time that Soren did, a cruel smile playing across his lips.

 Steel met flesh as the short blade dug into it’s target’s side and the three of them stumbled back from one another. After a moment Caspian stared down, hand going to the wound in his abdomen, fingers pressing futilely against the gush of blood. His eyes widened with shock and pain. Soren lunged forward again, knocking him to the ground, blade held aloft. 

 The traitor raised his hands, one of them stained red, in an attempt to ward him off. “Don’t! Please, don-”

 The dagger sunk into his chest like a knife through butter, right through the chink in the armor Soren had once taught him how to defend. Anything else Caspian might have said was cut off instantly. Soren raised the blade above his head to do it again, but a hand caught his wrist. He jerked away from the grip, snarling as he turned, knife still raised, to find Corvus standing above him. 

 The other man dropped his hand, voice pleading. “Soren, don’t.”

 Soren glanced down to the dying man below him as Caspian made a horrible gurgling sound, blood spilling from his lips. He watched as his eyes, wide and staring, glazed over. Slowly, Soren’s shoulders slumped, and the blade fell from his hands to the pavement with a clatter. He rose unsteadily to his feet, glancing around. It was just them. Them and-

 Callum was a few steps away, arms thrown around his brother, shoulders shaking, the both of them clinging tightly to one another. 

 “Is he okay?” Soren managed, voice suddenly hollow once more, all the anger draining out of him. And with it, whatever had been keeping him standing. He staggered, and Corvus caught him once more.

 “He’s fine. We arrived just in time.”

 Soren sank to his knees, Corvus dropping to the cobbles beside him, the only thing keeping him upright.

 “Thank the stars.”

 “I think we have more to thank than the stars.”

 “I- I failed, Corvus. If it wasn’t for you and Callum-”

 “Soren, look at me.” He did, meeting those big, brown eyes that were focused solely on him. They sparkled, as though they weren’t crouched in a courtyard full of bodies, blood smeared across both their faces and armor. “You were willing to die for him, Soren. That’s more than he could ever ask of a Crownguard. More than anyone could ask.”

 “He doesn’t need to ask,” Soren said, gaze traveling over to the brothers once again. “None of you do.”

 “I know.”

 “I’d do it for you, too,” Soren said, absently, not quite thinking about the words or what they meant.

 Corvus swallowed. “I know that, too. Please never do that.”

 Soren’s gaze flicked back to him. “Thanks for coming back.”

 “Isn’t that my job, as a Crownguard?”

 “It’s a pretty dangerous job,” Soren said, after a moment, sitting on the cold cobbles with a groan. Everything hurt. “Painful, too. Not the greatest benefits.” He thought that, if he hadn’t been so worried about him, Corvus might have chuckled at that. “Why’d you do it?” Soren asked. “You didn’t have to.”

 Corvus sank down to sit on the ground beside him, wrapping an arm gingerly around Soren. He let the blond rest his head on his shoulder, taking a long moment before replying. “You asked.”

[hulloitsdani]

Fighting for your life with heroes against brand new ones that sweep your team. Henrietta lore? That power she must keep in check? Summoner just won't die. Only in some timelines. and badly. Sharena. Ragnorok?!?! Loki's shenanigans.

Thank you stranger! In no particular order, let’s go through these

First off, OH I LOVEEEEEE BEING IMMEDIATELY PROVEN WRONG ABOUT LOKI. FINALLY. THANK FUCK. The validation I felt when the question of her motives was IMMEDIATELY brought up this book. I don’t care that my read was wrong— what I truly wanted more than anything was something of more substance to read into. As for actual predictions, my bets are that her aims are on bringing about Ragnorok and the end of the gods. For fun. As a treat. For the silly.

As for the actual state of the game, idk man, I play this game weird. I’m both free to play and entirely causal, so it’s entirely up to luck if I ever have any relevant units. In my many years of playing this game, I have never managed to +10 merge a unit that wasn’t a grail unit. So I don’t tend to play game modes where that matters much, with the exception of aether raids sometimes. I like clearing the challenge maps and making the story mode levels really difficult by using strictly Askr trio.

For events outside of that, I have a lot of fun using about one team per six months and trying to creatively use them and their base skills to solve whatever new bullshit is added. The game is clearly not built for you to do that, but I like the challenge it poses. I got really lucky on the CYL7 banner and got all four of the guys from that event. Brave Robin, Corrin, Soren and Gullvieg was my go to team for wayyyy longer than it should have, especially with zero changes to their kits and no merges. Hell I didn’t even have dragon flowers on half of them because Askr Trio building has long stolen most of flower supply. But god was it fun. I know how that group of units play off each other like the back of my hand. And considering how most people tend to just be frustrated with this game’s gameplay, it feels like I must be doing something right. I am constantly broke tho, so rip.

On the lore side, Henriette and Gustav are such a fascinating two for one package for me. Marketable plushies often bought together please don’t separate. The :) to his >:(. They’re both are great rulers and loving partners, but fumbled a bit in their parenting in ways that make total sense. For you see, I am a firm believer that everyone walks out of their childhood at least a little fucked up. Even the best parents are still human. And I adore Askr’s royal family unit, because it digs into that idea! Henriette and Gustav weren’t abusive or harboring malicious intent, but they were neglectful and lacking in ways that cannot be denied. Which is extremely cool! More of this please and thank you.

Looping back to the quote in question, to be perfectly honest, I would be pleasantly surprised if we ever got answers for her day of devotion alt voice lines. However, Gustav having a wife with the power to kill him easily would be so fucking funny. Like father, like son. If your romantically coded life partner can’t theoretically ensure your body is never found, what’s even the point. She doesn’t even need to be secretly divine or anything— I would be satisfied with her being something as simple as an abnormally strong mage. She can accidentally fold people like an omelet if she’s not being careful. Which, now that I’m putting that into writing, might contribute to her relationship with her kids.

Speaking of, Sharena!!! My best friend Sharena!!! I’ve got a multitude of thoughts cooking for her, but currently the one at the forefront is making home girl jacked as hell. Not joking. Dead ass. We all know the role she plays on a personality level— she’s the heart. The emotional glue that keeps these loner trickster types together and in check. But considering that this is the theater of war and everyone else has a role to play, I think it could be interesting if she was the beefiest fighter in the Askr trio. She’s able to dedicate the time fully to that craft, you know? She’s not balancing the responsibilities that arise from being the Order’s commander, tactician, or right hand man/history buff. Not to mention she was trained to fight by Bruno, who presumably played the role of group muscle before her. Therefore, when it comes to feats of physical strength, Sharena should be the Order’s go-to lady! I think it would be neat! She deserves the ability to easily carry her commanding officer and beat Alfonse’s nerdy ass in an arm wrestle.

Last but certainly not least, summoner bad ends! What could possibly go wrong? A lot, apparently. And it happens much more often than you’d expect.

See, I don’t think it’s that the summoner cannot die. Polar opposite, if anything. Each success is built upon the littered corpses of millions of failures. This idea loops back to the alternate version of Askr the group finds in book 3. In order to defeat Hel, they must loot the corpse of a dead world. By its very nature, not every summoner has an alternate corpse to loot. At least half of all realities where the summoner exists results in death and ruin by book 3 ALONE. This is saying nothing of all the dangerous odds they must beat from then to book 9. Just pulling one example off the dome, in order to defeat Gullveig, they had to die a truly eldritch and inconceivable amount of times. But we the audience don’t bear witness to that. We get to see the one world with the one summoner who is hitting those fraction of a fraction odds. The universe’s luckiest bastard. Others are not so lucky.

[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)

[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?

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

Continue

Previous

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

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 :)

[adashulaz]

I wanna yap about these two concept designs for modern Soren.

Yellow Soren

I'm assuming he's a painter of sorts, considering the mask, large rolling paintbrush, and spray paint can, along with the fact that his outfit seems to have paint stains on it.

But I like the way he looks. He's in a yellow jumpsuit(at least I think that's what it's called when it's not pajamas) and wearing a shirt with Baits face on it. He's wearing a gas mask that most painters wear when dealing with spray paint. He's also wearing a necklace and bracelet that look kinda like copper but more yellow. He also has a belt or just built in string to keep his jump suit tight around his waist. Soren also has long hair(a dream come true even if it's just a concept) with one side shaved.

I know that the game had little notes for each skin/design(based on screenshots I've seen on Tumblr) so I wonder what the little note would've been. Like if it would mention what Soren does to cause him to wear something like that. Because in the show, the most artistic talent we see Soren exhibit is poetry but this design has him carrying paint and covered with a few paint stains. So I wonder if he's like a street artist or if he's more of a work thing like he makes murals or something.

I also wanna know what could've caused him to grow out his hair, like if it's something he decided one day or if he just stopped caring to cut it short and instead just shaves down the side. I also wonder how Viren feels about this because he seems like the type to keep up appearances and Soren isn't really following that.

Also his jewelry, in the show Soren isn't seen wearing any and I think this is the one of the only designs regarding the game where Soren is wearing jewelry(I've never played the game so I'm not 100% sure). Like why is he wearing them? Were they gifts from like Claudia or Corvus? Maybe even Lissa if they ever repaired their relationship? Or possibly something he found in Kpp'Ars house? Or are they just things Soren bought for himself because he wanted a simple change of appearance?

Giant ass brush Soren

Soren in this design also has a paint brush, obviously, like a massive fucking paint brush an dis carrying a bucket of paint. He also looks like an art teacher so I'm assuming that's what he's meant to be.

He's wearing a long sleeved purple shirt under a light gray cardigan(I think it'd fall under the cardigan category) with the Crownguard badge at the edges and black baggy pants. He's wearing a long necklace with what looks like a feather charm. He might also have an earring but I'm not sure, it looks like there's something there tho. His hair is long once more and I'm assuming he has all the sides shaved.

I'm curious as to what inspired this fit tho, cause it makes him look like an art teacher. I'm also curious about his necklace, like why a feather? And why the giant ass paint brush, what's the point of it?? How does one paint with a paint brush that fucking big. I'm sorry but I will not be able to get over that.

[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.

[stuck-in-jelly]

Nightmares and Lullabies

Summary:

Two inches. Ezran has grown a whole two inches over the past five months. It’s been a bit jarring, to say the least, for everyone in the castle including the young king himself. The tailors have begun to leave growing room for each time they’ve fitted him, his clothes now hanging just slightly looser on his frame. Bags under the boy’s eyes revealed just how little sleep he has been getting, his movements slower and overall morale lower. To make matters worse there is unrest within the walls of Katolis Castle leading up to the first ever summon of the Pentarchy after the Battle of The Storm spire. Corvus, Soren, and Ezran all can't seem to shake the strange dreams they've been having coupled with their day to day duties and their own set of personal issues. Together, they may have a better shot at easing the mess in their minds.

Posting the first part of this very self indulgent fic that has been plaguing me.

I'll be posting the rest of the chapters tomorrow on AO3.

There was a sob Corvus kept lodged in his throat, one he fought back bitterly against.This wasn’t a time to cry, it was a time to act.

Dust scattered into his lungs, making his body lurch in a heavy cough, eyes stinging as he pushed forward still clawing at rubble. Underneath the seemingly endless pile his father looked back up to him, eyes calm despite what was happening.

Corvus haunches his panicked eyes looking up to the sky as the sound of dragon wings filled the forest shadows darting across the floor.

A hand touches his cheek, soft and gentle to bring his attention away from the danger.

“ It’s alrigh’...it’s alright little crow.” Corvus couldn’t understand how his father could say that now. It wouldn’t be okay until he fixed this. His father’s thumb continued to brush his cheek even as he desperately pushed at the cave debris. He was strong enough to move it now, but now it wouldn’t end.

In the distance he heard another dragon roar and a horse crying out somewhere in the noise he swears he could hear his mom crying.

With a gasp Corvus’s eyes shot open. His chest beat up and down inhaling the cold night air in sharp gasp that struck a slight pain in every breath. Another nightmare, he groaned at the realization then shame quickly filling the panic he felt before.

Corvus pulls himself up from his spot on his far too soft bed struggling for a moment to crawl out of the plush trap before he swung his legs over the side of the bed to allow his mind to catch up to him.

He thought he had gotten better, he is better. It had all happened so long ago so why now is it resurfacing? Corvus’s mind drifts to the unsent letter on his desk, the one meant for his family, the one he had planned on sending two weeks ago but had kept avoiding.

Screwing his eyes shut Corvus stands up to begin stretching in hopes the movement would provide relief to the ache in his body. A few moments pass as Corvus cycles through his usual morning stretches, his body faces towards the window as his eyes observe the outside.

It was still dark out, based on the height of the moon, it was somewhere around 1am to 1:30 a.m. The guards below shuffle on their feet, clearly not the most attentive and a few even sat on the ground, a card game sprawled out at their feet.

With a soft huff of disapproval Corvus turns his back to his window once more, his mind still racing with memories he would much rather bury.

A few days ago young Prince Azymondias had joined them, he frolicked and played with the king as one would expect but the dragonling had grown quite a bit. Perhaps it was normal for dragons but it certainly caught Corvus off guard.

It isn’t something he is proud of, but there had been a moment when the boys were playing where Zym had rushed over, wings spread out as the pair accidentally ran into him. A paralyzing fear had shot through him, one he hoped to never feel again at the sound of, although young, powerful wings.

Luck would have it that he did not strike and that his throat closed instead out shouted.

In the moment he played it off well enough, letting them get back to their game after they gave quick apologies but…Despite himself his heart skips a beat and he groans.

Already he can tell he wouldn’t be able to get himself to settle down again no matter how many Innean chickens he counted or plants he listed. 

Ever since he had moved to the castle he’s been trying to kick his habit of midnight walks to clear his head, he hated having to awkwardly nod and acknowledge the other guards who would inevitably ask what he was doing up so late or start small talk like ‘isn’t it a nice night’. 

But he thinks of the letter at his desk once more and lets out a soft grumble of defeat.

Corvus began to dress. Dawning his usual armor set but without the shoulder guards, he clips his weapon to his belt scanning it over to ensure no rust had slipped through his eyes. Corvus hangs his scarf around his neck and rubs the fabric between his fingers, a comfort tic, before making his way out of the door.

For sure he will send the letter. Tomorrow. Maybe.

---

“ We just have a few more items on the agenda today!” The words from Opeli brought a wave of relief over Ezran, anticipation grew at the idea of finally having some time to relax for a bit as he shifted in his seat.

“ So, the Kingdom of Neolandia has requested,” as Opeli went on, something warm dripped onto Ezran’s nose, he reeled back a bit in shock, wrinkling his nose in confusion. Tentatively he touches the spot but Opeli’s words begin to fade as a shaky hand pulls away from his face. Red colored his fingertips.

Another stream of the red began to drip down his cheek like sweat and in a panic he looked up to the ceiling only to find there was none, just black. His chest begins to heave as he tries to figure out where it's coming from. Ezran’s hands find his crown only for more to spill out coating his face.

It’s coming from the crown.

Ezran whimpers, as he stands up from his throne reaching up to pull at the offending piece of metal.

“ King Ezran. Is everything alright?” Corvus asks, but Ezran can’t see him. The blood covers his eyes as he tries to look around.

“ T-the crown it-its leaking.”

“ Hey, just calm down Ez, just take deep breaths.” Callum speaks, as if Ezran is a child as if he isn’t a child either.

“ Breaths? J-just help me get it off.” Ezran resorts to painfully rubbing his face trying to rid himself of the blood that has begun to seep into his mouth.

“ I know this is hard, but you can get through this!” Ezran shook his head, why weren’t they listening to him? Why was no one as bothered about this as he was?

Ezran wakes in a panic, struggling to gasp for air but it isn’t long till his gasp of panic turns to strangle groans as the very real ache of his limbs rapidly catches up to him.

The young king couldn’t help it, before he could stop himself his gasps became hiccupy, tears sting in his eyes forcing their way out in hot streams. Desperately he wipes at his face, not unlike his dream, and the image only makes the tears burn hotter.

A soft croak forces Ezran’s eyes open.

‘Are you okay?’ Bait asks, his eyes full of worry as he nudges his arm with his face. Ezran can't find it in him to respond, instead he pulls Bait into a hug and curls around him. Soft reassuring grumbles come from the toad as he nuzzles his boy softly.

In just a week he would be heading off to his first Summit of The Pentarchy, and the first one since...well everything. Evenere had finally selected a leader and things were finally stabilizing so the kingdoms wished to come together again to maintain peace and work out everything that had happened.

Ezran wasn’t looking forward to it, he had been reading books on all of the kingdoms etiquette and formalities, he thought it was already a lot learning about his home but this just confused him. For one kingdom what was considered polite was unforgivably rude to another.

How is he supposed to memorize all this in time? Bait’s tongue licks away the tears and Ezran finds he can still laugh, shaking his head at how gross it was but the pain persisted. Callum had told him about growing pains, how it hurts for a while but you just have to push through.

Ezran thought about how tall dad was, and wondered how much it had hurt his father to grow.

The thoughts in his mind were becoming uncomfortable, so Ezran pushes himself up, slinking away from his blankets that had become too warm. A glance around the room reminded him there wasn’t much to keep myself busy with besides his books and studies but his head hurt too much to sit down and focus on them.

Instead his wandering eyes eventually find a vent across the room, and his eyes light up. Quickly standing Ezran shuffles on some slippers and trots over to the covered opening on the floor.

‘Ezran? What are you doing?’ Bait croaks with a raised eyebrow but Ezran doesn’t listen, simply kneeling down to the vents level before giving it an experimental tug. To his delight, it only takes a bit of wiggling and some effort grunts for the cage to be pulled from the wall.

“Ah ha!” He cheers in triumph before he turns to Bait with a large grin, but Bait simply gives him a disapproving stare, making Ezran frown.

Bait was usually all for the heist and adventures through the castle vents, it was strange he was hesitating now.

“You don’t want to come?”

‘I don’t think you should go. You can just take the doors.’ Ezran quickly shook his head.

“No, because then the guards will want to follow me! Besides, this is more fun right?”

Ezran crawls in but uncomfortably notes how his shoulders now touch each end of the walls.

Bait behind him croaks skeptically.

“It’ll be fine, just...stay under the blankets! If anyone tries to check on me it should look like someone is in bed.” Despite the roll of his eyes Bait nudges the blankets and curls underneath them.

‘If we get in trouble it will be on you.’

“I won't get in trouble,” Ezran counters as he crawls further in with a bit of effort “I’m the king.”

The phrase still hurts, he finds.

---

Soren laughs as he walks through the town square with, well, everyone! Somehow everyone had time today, even Rayla strangely enough but he can't seem to remember why that would be so strange.

Corvus lingered closer to the back, his eyes scanning the marketplace slowly and methodically while Ezran, Callum, and Rayla dash from stall to stall looking at all kinds of weird items. Soren was just happy they were all here, it’s been a while since he felt this way.

Passing a stall Soren notices some jewelry with delight, quickly rushing over to get a closer look.

But one catches his eyes, one that makes his heart drop down to his stomach.

A snake bracelet.

“ Soren!”

Soren snaps around, eyes wide as he looks around and through the crowd.

“ Claudia?” he asks out loud, her voice unmistakable. Without thinking he begins to break through the crowd in search of the voice, he moves past so many faceless people he begins to feel nauseous. 

Finally he looked around and noticed he couldn't spot the others anymore. 

He’s lost, the realization made him panic.

“ Callum!? Ezran!” his breath was getting short and panicked.

“ Corvus?” The last plea was desperate and shaky. At the corner of his eye a purple mist trailed. Snapping around Soren catches a glimpse of purple tipped black hair ducking around a corner.

“ W-wait for me!” Soren dashes towards the smoke. He can hear her laughter, it sounds everywhere all at once.

“ Claudia...”

“Claudia!” Soren bolts out of bed, nearly sending himself flying off the end of his bed, he just barely catches himself on the wooden pillars. Soren shakes, his eyes glued to the floor where he almost fell, as he swallowed thickly. A moment passes before he manages to catch his breath and tosses himself backwards onto his bed.

It was that dream again, he realizes as he runs a hand across his face. Somehow every night he has this same dream or at least very similar dreams. The beginning was always nice, sometimes he was hanging out with Corvus by the ramparts other times he was carrying Zym on his back and chasing Ezran but it never lasted. In the end he always heard her.

No matter what there was the strange garbled mix of her voice when he last saw her and her voice from when she was a child, the tones overlapping and echoing, he could never resist going after it. Trying to find where she was hiding in the midst of everything.

If he’s being honest though he has even begun to hear it when he’s not asleep. Sometimes her phantom voice springs out a ‘Sor-Sor!’ or a ‘come on!’, something that manages to make him spin on his heel and startle anyone he is with.

Of course it wasn’t real though, it never is. Maybe it never will be again.

A loud grumble mercifully brought Soren’s mind elsewhere.

“Food will be good.” Soren muses with a smile thinking about what Barius could’ve left in the kitchen.

[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.

[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.