#they did something similar with Regis' lines too

[lunarlegend]

they turned almost all of Lunafreya's lines into this overly-proper type of speech in English, but i think her words in Japanese are so much more meaningful being straight to the point.

[savage-rhi]

“maybe, in another life” kisses: knowing that this is the last time you’re going to kiss them, and making it count. pulling them in and then away. parting, your lips lingering for more. Noctis and one of the chocobros? (Your choice🙂)

Coming up!

The night had been filled with all the elements of life: sharing memories that had come and gone, both good and bad. Moments of silence and reflection on past deeds and regrets. Laughter and tears shed between four men who loved each other beyond words, having one last camp night before fate and the gods would shatter the bonds of brotherhood.

As the final embers in the campfire disappeared, Noctis felt his own spirit leave his eyes. Like the dying flames, he knew the night would set upon his own light. The final battle with Ardyn--the last of the Lucian kings--was around the corner: eight hours and counting.

He wanted to sleep, but what was the point when he'd soon have all eternity to rest? After confirming Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto were sound asleep, he left his chair and wandered off.

Noctis didn't stray too far from camp due to the daemons running around, but he gave himself enough distance to where he couldn't sense the presence of his friends. Sitting down on the edge of the cliff, he looked out into the desert of the Leide region. A warm wind coursed through his hair like fine fingers cradling every strand. He hoped the end would bring a similar peace. He even prayed the outcome would be the same for Ardyn. The crystal had shown the man's suffering to where Noctis didn't have it in him to hate his great uncle for his transgressions. Although, the thought of Lunafreya and her last words came and went through his mind.

"Soon, Luna…" He frowned, closing his eyes.

"Couldn't sleep either?"

Noctis jumped, turning his head as he saw Prompto's dark silhouette approach. He let out a breath of relief and chuckled. "I could've killed you just now."

"And after that wholesome speech you gave? That would've sucked!" Prompto laughed. He plopped himself next to Noctis, patting him on the shoulder and sighed.

"Is your mind traveling a million miles too?" Noctis asked.

"Yup!" Prompto nodded. "I keep thinking about the what-ifs."

"Dad would've said something along the lines of 'worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.'"

"Did he get that out of a fortune cookie?" Prompto snickered. He let out a yelp as Noctis playfully slugged him.

"Y'know what?" Noctis scoffed, grinning as he turned his head to face him. "I wouldn't be surprised if he did!"

In between laughs, Prompto frowned. "I miss him a lot."

Noctis nodded. "Me too."

"Like…how I'm going to miss you." Prompto somberly replied.

A heavy air sat between the two friends as they both allowed one another to sit with their feelings. A tension had been growing ever since they had set up camp with Gladio and Ignis, and both knew it was coming to a head.

"Do you remember that time we stayed up talking on the motel roof?" Prompto whispered, breaking the quiet.

"Can't forget it," Noctis murmured with a smile. "This feels similar, huh?"

"Yeah," Prompto nodded. He bit the inside of his bottom lip, looking toward his feet dangling off the cliffside and continued. "I have something…just as big that I want to share with you."

Noctis frowned, turning his attention fully to Prompto. "I'm listening."

Prompto closed his eyes, gathering up his courage as he tensed his shoulders. He managed to force himself to look Noctis in the eye, vowing he wouldn't be a coward and swallow his feelings back anymore.

"When Regis told the gang you were getting hitched, I was happy for you. Hell, I was ecstatic when you asked me to come along with you, Iggy, and Gladio to the wedding. At the same time, I felt…jealous. Not only was my best friend taking a huge step, and I probably wouldn't see him for a long time, but also…"

"Prompt…"

"Look, when we lost Luna, I was devastated. I mean no disrespect to you or her. I just…gods be damned I wanted to tell you that I…ever since high school, I…" The words wanted to fall from Prompto's lips, but alas, his cowardice took hold and prevented him from trespassing any further. He sniffled, feeling tears brimming at the corner of his eyes.

"I can't do it…even knowing what's going to happen, I can't tell you how much I--"

That's when he felt it.

Noctis's lips pressed to his.

Eos, fate, and destiny, it all faded away as their mouths met each other's with tenderness. Soft and gentle, but as they both realized the depth of their mutual feelings, the kiss deepened. Emotions that had been bottled up at long last finally saw the light of day.

Prompto's heart pounded in his chest as Noctis pulled away. Breathless with their foreheads resting against one another, he started to cry as his smile grew.

As Noctis retreated a little more, he let out a breath through his nose and somberly smiled as he cupped the side of Prompto's right cheek.

"Maybe in another life," Noctis murmured. "This could've worked."

"Yeah," Prompto breathed, nuzzling his face into his palm. "Whatever happens, at least we had this moment."

"Let's make it longer."

They sat together--hand in hand--looking out at the desert landscape. The future was uncertain, but for now, they had found clarity and comfort in each other, and that was enough.

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[hanzajesthanza]

replies on post: "speaking of angoulême and regis friendship..."

@dankomanuels @onlymagpie the floodgates have been opened 🧍

i've already talked a little bit on here about why i think they would get along, catalogued their short interactions across ttos and lotl, and even written a few for myself... (here's their tag and their "posts reminiscent of them" tag if you want to catch up on the vibes)

why i think they have a dynamic

they are very similar kinds of people, with similar struggles and desires. i see a kind of similar personality-story between regis-angouleme and milva-cahir, which is why i see those two relatuonships as the kind of "i Understand you 👁️" of the hanza, and then milva-regis and cahir-angouleme are the "absolute polar opposites" relationships, and then when you divide it by gender you get some dissonance, but uh... learning opportunities lol

everyone gets off to a terrible start with angouleme, including regis, because she not only came from the group that was Going To Make An Attempt on All Of Their Lives, but she intentionally provokes the company to get reactions. however, out of them all, regis seemed quick to reconsider his first impressions and, canonically, became amused by her and found some inspiration in her human charm, i think... related to the breakfast table argument between fringilla and regis :)

angouleme only seems to give a shit about regis' opinion in beauclair as it's a joint opinion between him and geralt ('my two gay dads' much?) but i always love to repeat to myself the line "one does not preclude the other. believe me, angouleme," the vampire said gravely... which i find nice because no one ever takes angouleme seriously, and here regis took her seriously, about something that wasn't even serious and was actually interrupting their discreet conversation! even geralt was like please leave us alone. and regis was like ok Truth. you're right. and this is a pretty deep topic too.

i like how regis seems to see angouleme as having valuable contributions even when no one else does... i think the human-ness that is instinctual to everyone else makes them find angouleme base, but regis is so curious about her because for him he can learn from her example... i explored this most in my katabasis fic.

there's less backing for angouleme to care about regis, so i fill in her character with some projection of my own insecurities that i feel like are characteristic of young adults, or those transitioning into young adulthood without... well...

angouleme when we first grab her out of fulko artevelde's jail comes from such a horrible environment, and i dont mean this out of disrespect, "how did you come to be among criminals, tfu" , but that she was in a foul company, and nightingale didn't respect her and was "known to reduce women to their primal use/purpose" (if i remembered how that line goes...) and it's apparent in the attitudes angoulme carries over, when she says that milva shouldn't come with her and geralt because they won't respect company of three when two of them are women. compare to geralt's company, in which i don't think that anyone would ever doubt that milva would be respected... lol. like tell this bullshit to cloggy and his fucking wooden board wife? anyways

i feel like angouleme would hold regis in some contempt at first, or more just like distrust and dislike because he gives the impression of a haughty intellectual who's never suffered real suffering and just likes to say idiotic platitudes (well the latter is a little correct...) kind of like what ciri accuses vysogota of in chapter 10 of ttos.

regis also didn't help this impression by referring to her with that "i'm not your uncle dear child" ... though he was trying to draw a line between them, like "i'm not your dude"... but that drogie dziecko will live in my mind eternally btw :D

angouleme after an opportunity to learn regis would come to like and trust him, but she just needs to be shown that he's trustworthy, proven to that they are similar, that he understands. i feel like a huge part of being a teen/young adult is feeling like no one understands your pain and no one's ever gone through what you've gone through.

angouleme seems particularly defensive and insecure about her low birth, her background as a criminal, and her addiction to use of fisstech, which it seems (from her vehement pre-defense of) that she has been severely judged and shamed for this by others, or maybe just by general societal attitudes.

by incorrectly gauging regis initially, i set up an amusing thought here where, near the beginning of their story together, they have some moment where angouleme turns her nose up and remarks that regis has no business in her business because he doesn't know what it's like to wake up in the gutter hungover on cheap wine

and he's like........... i'd write like "the vampire's expression was inscrutable." meaning: he was trying not to laugh

tropes and stuff

on this note, i'll take this opportunity to talk about an aspect broader than just their dynamic and interactions, something i haven't spoken as much about on here.

i see them as a kind of played-straight, kind of subversion of a favorite trope of mine: the divine ally.

at least that's what i've been calling it, i don't know its actual name... divine advisor? guardian angel? fairy godmother? (that is actually relevant, for what i may talk about later)

this trope that is unfortunately less frequently seen in contemporary works, from what i can tell... (ugh, tv tropes even says: "This is also a highly Discredited Trope these days, usually associated with the most archaic parts of Fairy Tales, A Discredited Trope is a trope that has aged so poorly that it's rarely if ever played straight anymore.")

i think it still might be used somewhat, in the more general magical mentor trope (like come on. gandalf is right there), but from what i can tell of current trends, especially in YA and chick lit, when the dynamic is between a supernatural older man and a younger mortal woman... yeeeeah, :| , so what i'm interested in just doesn't follow the trend i guess, lol. hence why i hesitate to talk about them. but i will also talk about my reaction to this a bit further down.

for me, this trope is like when a hero is on their quest, and over their shoulder, has a distant guardian with supernatural powers watching them to see how they do, and possibly to bail them out when they need them to come to their side! maybe it's just because i was a percy jackson kid... and classical studies minor in college... but it's a trope that's always been so fulfilling and satisfying to me, pleasant to my heart when a god or an angel appears to help the hero when they're at their most desperate. it's so fictional for me, i think, i love it for its escapism... i think a lot of people can probably relate to being beaten down, desperate, even though you're an atheist you're praying in the dark for an angel's intervention, but nothing comes to save you. yeah.

anyhow, i like them for how they might invert this trope. a guardian angel, a fairy godmother, is usually something distant, ethereal, existing only in the mind, not human. they typically only show up in great times of need, and disappear at other times.

regis kind of does the opposite, as he does in the books... he shows up to geralt when he wants to be rid of him and his advice. he is like your conscience and you cannot get rid of him!

moreover, despite his supernatural powers (which i most often envision as flying, psychic abilities, and immaterial form like not casting a shadow, not feeling temperature, and (headcanoned) ability to glide on water or snow) do not make him a divine character in the classic sense of a god or spirit. he is kind of just a regular person, who likes to play advisor and confidant, can do some cool things, but is not godly by any means. this imperfection, this fallibility, this humanness, is what draws me to him. because especially through angouleme's eyes... okay, i'll get back to this thread eventually, (maybe in another post bc this is kind of the crux of 'book 2' of my fic).

let me get back to first, the other side of the trope: the hero. the hero is often pure, like cinderella or the virgin mary, or virtuous in other senses (odysseus is not a very "pure" character by far, pretty much the opposite LOL, but he is very clever, and that cunning is his excellence, what makes him outstanding). in other words, the hero is someone that the audience feels somehow deserves the divine, the ghostly, the godly throwing them a bone and helping them out.

angouleme is... at least, at the beginning of this arc, not a hero. actually the opposite, she's a bandit that was for all intents and purposes going to be part of geralt's assassination, but didn't get caught on the wrong side of history due to some freak accident (which was the author's pen). initially, she was intended to fade into the background, but sapkowski, like with dijkstra and boreas mun, said that they were characters who "stuck to his pen" and so they were elevated in pagetime. but even so, angouleme unlike ciri is not a princess, not a chosen one, she's not even anyone's daughter. she's a bastard, disowned and often forgotten and left behind (both in-universe, and by the fandom, i believe it's her curse and identity to be an insignificant accessory, a footnote).

so i think it would be so powerful if angouleme, who is used to everyone in her life disappearing on her, forgetting her—and regis, who is used to disappearing (both literally and figuratively, which is why i think it's fitting)—if when she needed him, he wouldn't disappear ... and then, maybe, if he would (for a negative arc, failed state, tragic take... i'll continue this also later).

either way, positive or negative, together these characters could have a really satisfying arc or two set during their time in beauclair.

which i've kind of mapped out.

fic storyline (book 1)

this continues to be a kind of really disorganized infodump so bear with me :) this is extremely unfiltered and unedited! (also haha "spoilers," but who cares though, because by the time i even start writing it you'll have forgotten what i said here. all i ask when sharing fic ideas on here is that no one write them before i do, pretty please)

so i'll now introduce my fic idea (not an actual book, but i just mean it like a volume or installment, since idk how to tell how long this story would be when i write it out). this first book is a lighthearted and comedic story set on saovine.

this idea centers on something loosely inspired by cinderella—a girl wants to go to a ball, but she's ridiculed owing to her low status and chased from her dream. but then, when all seems lost, the ghost of her deceased mother provides her with the most beautiful gifts to attend, and embrace an alter ego of herself, an elegant version no one knew existed, not even herself...

some motifs that regis and angouleme share are parties and revelry (oof), having separate identities (double oof), and being excluded from social engagement, when that's what they desperately crave (triple oof). i mentioned how i see them as very similar, how they are kindred spirits, how regis sees a lot of similarity in angouleme to his younger self, and how angouleme sees (though she's hesitant to trust it) an example of a better future in regis.

that, to me, is a sufficient motivation (initially) for him to help her in achieving her goals. especially because it involves parties and fun (i imagine regis and angouleme, sitting in the dark at the kitchen table, angouleme explaining her predicament, that it has to do with a ball, a big party. and then regis, smiling with fangs in darkness: "i like parties." haha)

and thus they have an opportunity to share the struggle of social pressure, empathize with someone who truly understands them, and then get to that damn party. and angouleme slowly begins to trust, open her heart a little, imagine that someone else could understand her dreams and have her best interests at heart...

also consider how angouleme's mother abandoned her and left a mother-sized hole in her heart. sometimes it's not who you would pray to that shows up.

another trope that i think would be really fun with these two, which i alluded to earlier, is the very common and ancient trope of the malevolent and predatory vampire specifically finding his prey in young women. regis already fucks up this trope into ten million tiny pieces in the series, his role is constantly to be the deliverance of women and girls (the girl from the camp accused of witchery, milva during her miscarriage, ciri about to be strapped to the steel chair). and i'm like, hey! i have in mind a blondie waif who's also in need of this protection.

but also especially because of the relationship between dracula and mina (in. dracula), how he attempts to make her into a vampire and she slips further into this... dracula exerts his malevolent power over her, and she withers, but also, is inextricably now linked to him via a psychic bond...

i kind of talked about how i have anxiety over people seeing them wrong, but i've also incorporated and played with this anxiety in the actual imagined story itself; how they influence each other and in that, it's misread by others as some decidedly dark influence, because as angouleme transitions to, becomes able to embody her ideal persona, a girl who will be loved instead of forgotten, she's now seen by the other characters as a girl to be saved, which invites unwanted attention, this attention being what is actually the exertion of force upon her autonomy.

what i imagine for the fic is a four-act structure. following the failures of angouleme in act 1, in act 2 through some... explosive circumstances that get out of hand, angouleme doesn't exactly fly under the radar in this merriment as she and regis kind of kick up a dust storm of trouble getting her a dress and horse-drawn carriage. there's no bippity-boppity-boo nothing here, so they use freely the strategies which bandits and vampires use.

(or instead of carriage, should i say, calèche, because i'd like another dracula reference here. by the way, just as regis has peak bartender energy, he also has peak uber driver energy. the kind where you get in, have the deepest conversation of your life, then get out. and rate 5 stars and give $5 tip. and never see that guy again).

so in act 3, when she finally gets to the ball and has her little #girlboss spotlight beloved moment where she's charismatically trying to get nobles to invest in her ponzi schemes (this is her character motivation all along... she wants a stable future ok so she is relying on inventing a new personality and scamming everyone into liking her), there's...

okay, i kind of didn't introduce the mild antagonists, but so basically, there's this club of beauclairoise noblemen who needed a hobby, so they became interested in paranormal collections and oddities... and since geralt was away, when the "hey i think a vampire just stole our horses" reports reached beauclair, these were the guys that were called. well, who you gonna call, i guess? maybe think of the witch hunter from good omens and his protege, but less aggressive and more clueless but arrogant all the same. they're comprised of three older gentlemen and one mmm... jarre-equivalent type of guy, young, around angouleme's age. i call these guys vampire hunters despite them having no experience hunting vampires

by the way also, in this introduction of them, i've brought this up slightly before, but regis' noble persona in beauclair (as they all had to assume fake identities, pretended to be nobility travelling incognito, remember)... ok he himself didn't actually come up with any script (with his experience he wanted to wing it this time) but his mysterious nature and constantly talking about the supernatural and his habits of dress, make rumors circulate that he is a vampire............ hunter. a vampire hunter. or at least, a retired one. and that's why he's in the company of the witcher geralt!

(beauclair nobility voice) "i fucking connected the dots" "you didn't connect shit" "i connected them". so the vampire hunters are like omg hi regis whats up you want to join our exclusive club of cool guys? and he's like um... ok lol. well. i'll participate in this conversation because it's funny lol. but i got my own things going on

anyways that's act 1 stuff. back to act 2. this 'crazy vampire shit has consequences' plotline is brewing underneath regis and angouleme doing said crazy vampire shit. switching POVs appropriately.

in act 3, angouleme, via making some awkward blunders (she got a little tipsy) gives them the "evidence" they need to scream "vampire" - except, they scream it in the wrong direction - at her.

cue the flight from the ball (of the cinderella story) and getting lost in the woods. after some moments spent lamenting, in fear, in regret, the two meet up and have the emotional resolution, heart-to-heart, about desperation to be someone else, fit in, be who people will love...

that kind of doesn't solve that guys are chasing them with stakes though. sooo there's a bit of an indulgent moment, for me maybe, here. regis is like: sooo, they want to fight a vampire... :D ok

angouleme is like "you're going to KILL THEM 😳☹️??? ... nice im watching this shit go down 🥺🍿." regis is like 😑 noooo...

they just scare them a little ;). it is saovine after all, and they are in the middle of some spooky, dark woods. as angouleme got her scene in act 3 charming the nobility, regis also gets a moment of excellence here.

i've played around with another joke here where the boy (blonde, grey eyes, big nose, skinny, freckles, hopeful and dreamy, but shy and anxious... i've been calling him jacek ig but i'm not set on a name yet) is the last to not get psychic-blasted or tormented by shadows or turned over on his feet out of being scared by voices in the dark ... idk what regis is doing to these guys lol...

jacek runs into angouleme and grabs her and is like "No No it's ok i'll save you i'll help you 🥺" and angouleme (to regis over his shoulder) is like 😬 making 'axe this guy' motions or eyes to him, but before regis smacks him into the fourth dimension or whatever, amidst his promises he's like "and we'll marry and you can share my fortune" and angouleme suddenly like waves her hands like 'no don't get him', mouthing exaggeratedly and pointing 'he has money' LOL idk. giving angouleme a love interest when she's not interested in love is funny. he's gone by the next installment anyways (engagement didn't work out)

so she allows him to try and 'save her from this infernal curse' and takes her (in the company of the other vampire hunters) back to beauclair, along the way they ponder over how clueless they are about this whole thing and how they don't actually know how to cure her (she's been sitting this entire ride with a garlic bulb in her mouth and her arms crossed, with jacek making big eyes at her but too scared to get close, holding a wooden stake between them lol). as they're approaching the foot of the city they realize oh shit there's an an entire guy we forgot about that knows so much about this

so they knock on regis' door and are like hey can you help us cure this girl of some Evil Vampire Affliction.. and regis and angouleme just look at each other like 😑😑 lol... anyways he kind of bats a laurel branch on her shoulders and flicks some holy water on her forehead and is like "all clear" and jacek is like yayyyy 🥺 and regis is like (gus from breaking bad smile drop meme) "but she might turn back if you get too close without brushing your teeth first ..." and angouleme (over shoulder) is like 😅👍👍 thx regis lol

so, all's well that ends well. friendship achieved, survived, fun and laughter was had and nobody died.

mmm, now onto 'book 2'... which is more of a tragedy. but i'll leave the story where it is for now :D maybe i'll continue in another post?

[sparklecryptid]

Woke up, wrote an ask, had tumblr crash before I could send it, and thus will send it again. (I'm so glad I took a screenshot so I'd remember what I wrote. So, so glad)

What would happen if Ace and Ardyn appeared in Dissidia? (With the rest of the cast staying the same.)

Would Ace be with his Father or his cousin/brother? (Chaos or Materia?)

Would they be revealed as the Accursed and the biological son of King Regis, or as the Accursed and his son, or as a different line of LCs? (I personally prefer the second, but all of them could be interesting)

My mind wants to disguise them (keeping the identities as the barkeep and the Chancellor secret), so it keeps on imagining Ardyn in a fancy getup (based on the outfit he wore when he used to heal), and Ace in something similar (but with no hood, in different colours and in a galahdian style. His hair is also braided and he wears a kind of face covering so nobody can see his face).

-snippet I wrote in 5 min-

-and then I got stuck-

Ardyn warps away, leaving Noctis to panic about everything he just learnt.

(@secret-engima was the one who came up with Crystal-o-vision (that right?), and I thought that would be fun here. The Citadel panicking about this, looking up history to prove/disprove what Ardyn said and finding a suspicious amount of Nothing, as if something or someone was erased. And Nyx et al recognising Ace and Ardyn and having discreet breakdowns. Because Ace is royalty, Ardyn is royalty, Nyx is royalty, Holy Shit!)

I have actually done this before! I simply cannot find it uwu

However; for the sake of fun, let us do this again.

They meet the Accursed first, a man in white with a hood covering his face. A man that steps in to protect Noctis when one of the other villains get too close.

“Now, now,” the man chides, “I’d rather you not harm one of my nephews.”

Noctis freezes for a second at those words, there can’t be another Lucis Caelum around but the man in front of him - despite the bored aura he’s giving off - has the armiger spinning lazily around them offering enough proof to dissuade Noctis of the idea that he and his father were the only Lucis Caelums left.

“What the hell,” Noctis says and the man turns to face him with a crooked grin.

“Come,” the man drawls, “Is that any way to greet your dear old Uncle? Somnus may have struck me from the history books but I thought that Regis at least would teach one of his sons manners.”

A clash of thunder and the others on Chaos’ side begin to retreat, the hooded man in white going with them.

-

Noctis stares.

The man with dark skin and dark curly hair looks decidedly unimpressed. He’s wearing something similar to the hooded mans but while the hooded mans outfit was white this man is dressed in black and gold.

Finally the man rolls his eyes.

“Figures he’d show up before I did,” the man looks like he wants to run his hand through his hair but decides not to at the last minute due to the prospect of accidentally tugging on knots. “Asshole.”

“You know the man that helped Noctis?” Lightning asks her arms crossed over her chest as she looks at the other man with a critical gaze.

The man shrugs.

“Yeah,” he says, “He’s my dad.”

-

The Citadel is in chaos.

-

(Later, when they’re all lounging around and Noctis has figured out who Ace is Noctis asks a question.

“Why not tell me?” Noctis asks.

Ace looks amused in a sad way.

“Why not tell you that I’m your brother? That the man I claim as father is our uncle?” Noctis nods, Ace continues. “Because there was no reason to. Your father is not mine. I do not know him, I will never know him. On the other hand Ardyn has all but raised me. He is my father in all ways that matter.”

“ARDYN?”

“Oops.” Ace’s gaze is full of mischief. “Did you not know who he is?”

[no-reply95]

Jealous Guys

Something I’ve been thinking about for a while now is the different ways jealousy manifested for John and Paul over the course of their friendship.

I’m going to look at John and Paul in turn and have a look at some of the key ways jealousy appeared, before, during and after the Beatles period. This will be a looooong post so if you want to go on deep dive keep reading below.

John

Jealousy was something that John acknowledged as a big part of his personality, as far as I’m aware, he only acknowledged his jealousy publicly in terms of his relationship with Yoko but I believe jealousy was a feature of all of John’s major relationships. John’s first real partnership was with Pete Shotton, his childhood best friend, and Pete has outlined how John’s jealousy and possessiveness was a feature in their friendship with them falling out when Pete first started showing interest in girls and with John acting out when Pete started to spend more time with other friends, instead of him, here Pete recounts John’s reflection on this period of their friendship:

“Years later John confessed to having felt acutely jealous throughout that interlude: “I was scared shitless I’d lost you after our fight in science class, when you starting playing with David Jones. I really thought I’d gone too far with you that time.“

Pete Shotton, John Lennon: In My Life , 1983

Pete’s recollections establish a pattern in John’s life of acting out due to a fear of abandonment and losing those who are closest to him so it’s not surprising that once John had formed a strong bond with Paul that would stir similar fears in him. 

Below I’ve categorised the groups of people that were the focus of John’s jealousy and have picked one person from each group as an example:

Family - Jim McCartney

Paul’s family was and continues to be a big part of his life. From the outset of their friendship, John was made aware of how important Jim was to Paul and vice versa. John and Paul had to skip school to hang out together because Jim wouldn’t have John in their house initially and John confessed his resentment of Jim’s influence over Paul’s life. It appears that after some time John grew tired of having to contend with Jim for the position of the most important person in Paul’s life, and this culminated in John giving Paul a pseudo ultimatum as John discussed in 1971:

“But Paul would always give in to his dad. His dad told him to get a job, he fucking dropped the group and started working on the fucking lorries, saying, "I need a steady career." We couldn't believe it… ���So I told him on the phone, "Either come or you're out." So he had to make a decision between me and his dad then, and in the end he chose me”

St. Regis Hotel interview, Sept. 5, 1971

Friends - Mal Evans

Throughout the active years of the band it was typical of them to refer to each other as their best friends and, given the lives they led, I think the simple fact that no one else could understand what it was like to be a Beatle would have meant they all shared a special bond. However, they all had friendships outside of the band and this was something that could cause issues for John when it came to Paul.

According to Tune In, Mal initially became friends with Paul during the band's initial shows at the Cavern Club then, after a suggestion from George, Mal became a part of the Beatles entourage thereafter. Mal had friendships with all the Beatles, as part of their inner circle, but from his comments it appears John took umbrage with the closeness of Mal’s friendship with Paul:

“Paul would suddenly come in with this circle saying, “This is Magical Mystery Tour, will you write that bit?” And I was choked that he’d arranged it all with Mal anyway, for a kickoff, and had all this idea going”

St. Regis Hotel interview, Sept. 5, 1971

Mal also comes up when John discusses his recollections of the writing of Eleanor Rigby:

“So rather than ask me, “John, do these lyrics—” Because by that period, he didn’t want to say that – to me. Okay? So what he would say was, “Hey, you guys, finish off the lyrics,”... “ Now, I sat there with Mal Evans, a road manager who was a telephone installer, and Neil Aspinall, who was a not-completed student accountant who became our road manager. And I was insulted and hurt that he’d thrown it out in the air”...” There might be a version that they contributed, but there isn’t a line in there that they put in.“

Playboy interview, David Sheff 1980

John’s discomfort with the closeness of Paul’s relationship with Mal was something that wasn’t lost on Mal’s wife Lil:

“He was always at their beck and call. He was a nice fella to have around, so much so that it could provoke little jealousies within the band. When I met Yoko years after Mal died, she said John had told her he’d been very jealous at one point of Mal’s relationship with Paul.”

Lil Evans interview with Ray Connolly, 2005

Love interests - Linda McCartney

Throughout their friendship both John and Paul had quite a few love interests, which (to varying degrees) prompted jealousy between them.

Although John displayed jealousy of a few of Paul’s love interests this was no more apparent than with Paul’s first wife Linda McCartney, which is confirmed by both John’s words and actions regarding Linda and her partnership with Paul:

“"Then Klein informed Lennon that McCartney had secretly been increasing his stake in Northern Songs. ‘John flew into a rage,’ recalled Apple executive Peter Brown. ‘At one point I thought he was really going to hit Paul, but he managed to calm himself down.’ One unconfirmed report of this meeting had Lennon leaping towards Linda McCartney, his fists raised in her face"

Peter Doggett, You Never Give Me Your Money

"Int: When did you first meet her [Linda]? John: The first time I saw her was after that press conference to announce Apple in America. We were just going back to the airport and she was in the car with us. I didn't think she was particularly attractive, I wondered what he was bothering having her in the car for. A bit too tweedy, you know. But she sat in the car and took photographs and that was it. And the next minute she's married him."

St. Regis Hotel interview, Sept. 5, 1971

“I was reading your letter and wondering what middle aged cranky Beatle fan wrote it... "What the hell—it’s Linda! . . . Linda— if you don’t care what I say—shut up!—let Paul write—or whatever.”

"Of course, the money angle is important—to all of us—especially after all the petty shit that came from your insane family/in laws—and GOD HELP YOU OUT, PAUL—see you in two years—I reckon you’ll be out then"

Draft letter from John Lennon to Linda McCartney, circa 1971

"The presumption is a) the Beatles would get together again or are even thinking about it and b) if they got together, John and Yoko split, Paul and Linda split"

John (with Yoko) talks to John Fielding on Weekend World, 1973

"John often speculated on why Paul and Linda remained married while, at the same time, resenting their evident happiness, to the extent that he had Green do a tarot reading to ensure him that Paul and Linda were really secretly miserable and were going to divorce within a year"

According to Fred Seaman and John Green, source

Paul

Of course jealousy wasn't a one-way street in the Lennon-McCartney relationship. Unlike with John, for Paul I'm focusing more on the key people I believe his jealousy, regarding John, was directed to:

Stuart Sutcliffe

John met Stu at Art College and struck up a really close friendship with him. At the point that John met Stu, John had already become friends with Paul so Paul felt threatened when Stu entered the picture:

"When he [Stu] came into the band, around Christmas of 1959, we were a little jealous of him; it was something I didn’t deal with very well. We were always slightly jealous of John’s other friendships.

When Stuart came in, it felt as if he was taking the position away from George and me. We had to take a bit of a back seat."

Paul McCartney, Anthology 2000

"Paul was saying something about Stu’s girl – he was jealous because she was a great girl, and Stu hit him, on stage. And Stu wasn’t a violent guy at all."

John Lennon, 1967 Anthology 2000

"I looked up to Stu. I depended on him to tell me the truth. Stu would tell me if something was good and I’d believe him. We were awful to him sometimes. Especially Paul, always picking on him. I used to explain afterwards that we didn’t dislike him, really."

John Lennon, The Beatles Hunter Davies 1968

Yoko Ono

Of all the relationships I've already discussed, the relationship and jealousy displayed from Paul towards Yoko is probably the most widely discussed in Beatles historiography and general discourse. From the official start of Yoko's relationship with John in 1968 it was clear that Paul resented her presence in John's life and her proximity to the band:

"He even sent them [John and Yoko] a hate letter once, unsigned, typed. I brought it in with the morning mail. Paul put most of his fan mail in a big basket and let it sit for weeks, but John and Yoko opened every piece. When they got to the anonymous note, they looked puzzled, looking at each other with genuine pain in their eyes. ‘You and your Jap tart think you’re hot shit’, it said."

Francie Schwartz, Body Count 1972

"Cause she’s [Yoko] very much to do with it from John’s angle, that’s the thing, you know. And I – the thing is that I – there’s— Again, like, there’s always only two answers. One is to fight it, and fight her, and try and get The Beatles back to four people without Yoko, and sort of ask her to sit down at the board meetings. Or else, the other thing is to just realize that she’s there, you know. And he’s not gonna sort of – split with her, just for our sakes."

Paul McCartney, Let It Be Sessions, 1969

"I told John on the phone the other day that at the beginning of last year I was annoyed with him. I was jealous because of Yoko, and afraid about the break-up of a great musical partnership. It’s taken me a year to realise that they were in love. Just like Linda and me."

Paul McCartney, interview with Ray Connolly, 1970

What are the similarities and differences in the way jealousy manifested for John and Paul?

I think it's obvious but bears repeating that both John and Paul displayed jealousy towards other people who they felt would threaten their relationship so that's central to all the instances I have flagged, Jim, Mal, Linda, Stu, Yoko all posed real or imagined threats to John and Paul's partnership.

However, you'll note that I included more sources to display John's jealousy regarding Paul and that I categorised John's jealousy targets whereas I only pulled out two key individuals for Paul, this isn't to say that John was more jealous than Paul was, as jealousy isn't something you can quantify, but to highlight my opinion that Paul's jealousy regarding John was more targeted than John's jealousy regarding Paul. I think what stands out to me is that, I think generally Stu and Yoko are held up as the prime examples of Paul's jealousy of other people getting close to John, as far as we know, Paul never had significant issues with other people who formed close relationships with John like Pete Shotton, Cynthia Lennon, Magic Alex etc., why was that? I think that Paul was more threatened when he felt that John was replacing him so by bringing Stu into the band (even though he wasn't a musician) and Yoko into the studio (one instance where Paul was especially hurt was when John gave Paul's line in The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill to Yoko to sing), Paul perhaps felt that his place as John's primary collaborator was in jeopardy and that he could lose a partnership that had become central to his self-worth as a person - that, I believe, was when his jealousy was most likely to rise to the fore. John, on the other hand, had a much wider range of targets when it came to jealousy regarding Paul, why was John jealous of Linda? Linda wasn't trying to replace John as Paul's collaborator, if anything she wanted the Lennon-McCartney partnership to be stronger. Why was John jealous of Mal? Mal wasn't a musician, Mal was a huge fan of the band and constantly worked to fulfil their requests, so why was John so threatened by his friendship with Paul? For me, John's jealousy regarding Paul was more than just a fear of directly being replaced, I believe John's jealousy was fundamentally triggered by a fear of abandonment. I think the childhood trauma John experienced, of being left by both his parents, meant that whenever any of his close friendships and relationships were threatened, or he felt that someone close to him may leave him, he would act out. John fell out with his childhood best friend Pete when he got a girlfriend, John hit Cynthia when he saw her dancing with Stu, John was rude to several of Paul's love interests and ultimately John never fully accepted Paul's relationship with Linda because, although he could see that she could offer Paul the family life he always wanted, John didn't want Linda to take Paul away and give him a family that meant that Paul would no longer be able to prioritise John in his life as he had in the past.

Ultimately, we'll never know all the ways that jealousy factored into John and Paul's relationship with each other and those around them, as I'm sure it impacted several relationships in more complex ways than I can articulate (i.e. I suspect jealousy played a part in Paul's initial resentment of Brian but they grew closer over time so maybe Paul's jealousy lessened over time or Brian became less of a threat?). I do think it's important to consider that jealousy was present on both sides and was likely a factor in the breakdown of John and Paul's relationship, the breakdown of the Beatles and was a continued factor in disrupting reconciliations between John and Paul into the 70s and 1980.

[aroaceslytherin]

Ummm...

At this point we are all making shit up in this HP fandom because the writer that shall not be named fucked up a lot of things...

time-lines... ages... places... people... things...

So... the Potters helped save Sirius after Remus bailed him out, they saw Remus and Sirius get married then Lily, Regie, and James get married, they meet their first-born grandkids; Magnolia, Hermione, Harry, and Cyprus (oc's and Hermione will be explained when I post more one-shots or later when I post the fanfic)... before dying.

Sirius has two other siblings besides just Regulus (and because Cygnus sucks at being a father... Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Andromeda became their sisters... the only nice thing Walburga did. (Pandora Lovegood was Narcissa's twin)

Remus was a mommy's boy because his father blamed himself for everything (when Hope got sick, Lyall grew a pair and decided to try and salvage what little relationship he had left with him)

Peter's mother was a single mom working in the bakery above their basement home.

James was a rambunctious child and his elderly parents could not keep up with him.

The four of them became best friends due to loneliness, chemistry, and similar "traumas" - James took in the three neglected unloved kids and Remus ended up accidentally starting a zoo in fourth year.

(Remus and Sirius had their first kiss at thirteen, don't tell me otherwise... he cherished and loved Remus since he was eleven and finally asked him out when they were fourteen... just a few months shy of becoming animagi for him... realizing his feelings when he frolicked as a wolf-dog with his best friend who happened to also be a wolf... he may have been a dick and might have saw the wolf as something he could fix and cure, but he got over it... he was just a teen after all)

And yeah, Sirius may have almost destroyed their relationship by letting slip about Remus' secret not knowing Snape walked by the library... he quickly realized his mistake because of Euphemia and did his best to make up with them. Hint: it something to do with his family. Hint: they were being dumb teenagers and we all say dumb stupid shit when we are young... we do stupid shit when we are young...

But no one is as lucky as the Marauders were to be able to love each other again after all the shit they put each other through... they lived through a WAR for Merlin's sake! You might have accidentally put your friends through danger too. I am sure there was something you wished you could take away from a friend or a loved one but couldn't, got stuck in your head about it, and didn't realize it until someone slapped you over the head for it.

Moving on...

The Marauders knew about Peter, everyone has a different story to "the prank", Peter is in Azkaban, mostly everyone was gay, Minnie and Poppy were like second moms to everyone, everyone lived, Remus and Lyall still had a sucky relationship but it got better and he went to his dad for EVERYTHING...

We may not agree on everything, we all have different HC's and AU's... but some things we agree on are; JK is not the greatest and Umbridge is worse than Voldemort (even though Tom is pretty fucking nasty as well), and Walburga Black was a bitch.

In other words... I am also slightly saying fuck the timeline and canon because I too, suck at math. (And also the books do not make a whole lot of sense... but I am canon compliant in some ways and you do you if you love canon... that's cool! I got into Harry Potter and Marauders through Pinterest and fanfictions so I already fucked it up for myself... don't come for me!)

[noirbriar]

FFXV AU: The Lion, the Coeurl and the Cub (Final)

The end of all things and farewell.

Changed the writing to suit the scene a little, since its no longer an info dump. Epilogue is not far behind. TBH I really didn’t know how my little ficlet idea would turn out, never did something like this before. Any case, thank you all for reading! :D

PART 1  PART 2  PART 3  PART 4  PART 5  PART6  PART 7  PART 8

Regis has seen many things in his lifetime and as King but he really thinks he has overshot his quota of gods and their shenanigans. Cor and Nyx charges past and gets sent flying back with a blast of Call of the Crosswinds.

“What’s the meaning of this! Etro?!” Noctis, his son, ever the eloquent one but he does’t blame him for his outrage. Now is not the time for diplomacy.

”Prompto has seen to the end of his duty. His trial completed. All who bear the mark of Gods who fail, are doomed to perish. Those who succeed however, will be granted the gift of immortality as a blessed crystal. Yet he has done it! And has far exceeded what has been expected of him…He has fulfilled his calling.”

(“No.No.No.” Oh no, Luna looks unwell…)

”I will take him back to the Beyond, forever immortalised in crystal and become a new Etro.”

A blooming light, a scream of pain and crystal shards burst out from his back, a form emerges. A chrysalis for a goddess, an ephemeral phantom. Her form grows, a giant crystal figure much like the one Regis had broken as a young child he thinks. A faceless form with an armless hollowed torso and curling pieces from her spine, a mockery of wings. A disjointed bulbous lower form with Prompto entombed in the crystals of her womb. This was Etro looming before them. The All-mother of Eos, Guardian of the Beyond and what remains of her, but still nothing less then gorgeous splendour.

( Regis desperately tries not to think of the same Prompto nearly 20 years ago, a babbling, happy baby munching on his favourite chocobo plush dozing off in his lap. Now instead, lays asleep in the hands of the Goddess of Death. )

Cor is uncontrollable as he takes his katana and runs forward to attack, Nyx warping close behind, each with thundaga and firaga ready but another protect and a Tsunami pushes the fathers back in line as Regis and Clarus quickly supports them. Regis took his child back from fate but in exchange for his friend’s son… is there no avoiding of this spiral of death?

“Eos is saved from the Starscourge! The line of royals are forever free from the will of Gods. Humanity will continue to thrive even without my crystal. Balance is restored. Things are as it should be.” Etro’s melodious voice rings, while retaliating Noctis, Gladio and Ignis’ assault. A Judgement Bolt falls, making them pull back.

Regis doesn’t like this, Etro has clearly acquired similar powers of the Astrals.

“Bullshit! We didn’t do all this just so you can take him! Prompto…h-he hates being alone and I’m not leaving him behind!”

“Unfortunately, young prince. This was the price Prompto himself has agreed upon.”

“What?”

“Long before all this, was a man who had lost all that he have held dear to the light of the new dawn. When he found a chance, he took it! Thus, a contract was forged. Each and every one of your lives and happiness and in exchange, for my own wish. He has paid the price repeatedly and endlessly yet you would disrespect it?” 

Regis can’t help but find her phrasing unusual.The King can’t put a finger where, yet Etro’s revelation got Ignis to halt his attacks.

”What-Unless…No.”

“What?!Specs!”

“This is not the first time Prompto has done this, I presume.”

”No.”

”How many times?!”

”Too many! To change the fates of all. All of your deaths, all of your destinies, rewritten! For the better.”

“Why! Prompto?!” Cor snarls at the goddess looming before them as she throws a Diamond Dust to push the Marshal back, the light of the dead endless dancing like a dream still.

”Before this all began, there was no one who weren’t in close view of the ‘Astrals’ I can use. Yet down in the depths of Shiva’s doomed land…there were plenty to choose who were able to contain and hold my power, yet I saw only Prompto survived in every one.” Gralea. The lab. The experiments. Regis sees Cor and thinks back of the report of the other children, the other clones in that lab and dares not breathe.

“And when he finally found my tomb, I made an offer. He made his choice.”

Nyx has enough and warp strikes again, only to narrowly miss a Hellfire in the face. Luna strikes with her pole arm but narrowly avoids the Judgement casted at her as Ignis sharply pulls her to safety.

Etro sighs again,”If you won’t see reason. Then at the very least,I shall let you see how beautiful he can become as my successor!”

The crystal womb pulses dimly and they see Etro bowing forward, merging into her chosen. Crystal pieces adorns his hair, a broken crown piece.Her marks also manifests on his face and skin, the Eyes of Etro awakens, the eye mark tattoo has fully replaced that cursed barcode, pulsing eerily, crystal claws gleaming.

Then, he warps.

Prompto was faster now, summoning crystal shards to fly at his command, his aim as fatal as he is with a gun.His spells sing effortlessly, the bursts of Slow and Stop ambushes them, the barrage of Flare and Meteor aimed at them with intent, a flick of Mega Death blows them back relentlessly. The party can’t attack, won’t attack, because, how could they? Gladio can’t bring himself to do anything but defend them from his Ultima casts. Clarus is busy countering the relentless barrage of crystals while Regis pulls up protect to defend them.

Luna then cries out, hoping her voice reaches Prompto. And for a moment he seems to almost falter, before he turns to attack another target.

“Unbelievable.You would actually have us pull a bloody Somnus.” ( somewhere in the back of their heads the Kings faintly hears a grunt from one of the rulers of yore ) Ardyn summons his sword and trudges forward towards the new Etro.

”What the fuck do you think you are doing?!ARDYN!!”Noctis tries to intercept his psychotic ancestor and the ancient King scoffs.

“Putting an end to all this farce as was intended!” He slams Noctis away while Gladio tries to pull Ardyn back, only to have him warp away from Regis and Clarus’s blocking his way.

Nyx tries to stop the mad king in a warp while Prompto throws an Apocalypse, forcing Nyx to pull back and Ardyn dodges, getting close enough to attack. Cor appears and swings his blade to get Ardyn away but not before Rakshasa hacks Prompto on his shoulder down. Prompto screams and slams his crystal claws on the nearest foe in retaliation. The crystalline nails landing into the Immortal’s side. Cor winces but manages to grab onto his son’s arm in a death grip, nails digging into Prompto’s wrist. Nyx close behind, preventing Prompto from warping out of their grasp.

“Prompto?”

Blood flows from Prompto’s shoulder freely, as Prompto stops, looking back at Car with an empty gaze and heavy breaths. He trembles and struggles, before swiftly summoning a crystal shard into his palm and brings it down.

Cor stills.

The crystal digs in deep, Prompto had stabbed his wrist where his barcode once was, now a growing tattoo reaching across the skin of its bearer like vines, cutting right into the middle where an eye like mark resides. Etro’s voice screeching across the void of the Astral Plane. Before her Phantom bursts from his back shrieking in pain while Prompto growls, pushes the fragment in further, his lips bitten and bleeding as the 2 beings split in a violent burst of light that nearly blinds Nyx. “Now-!” He chokes out in cold sweat while leaning onto Cor and as realisation sinks in.

This is the Astral Plane.The space without time existing between the living and the dead. Etro does not exist in the living plane…but here, they can kill the Gods. They can hurt her already fragile spirit.This was their only chance.

Cor releases Prompto and quickly force himself to slice his katana into where Prompto’s back and Etro’s spectral form meet, severing the the connection. Cor quickly pulls back his blade as Nyx grabs hold of Prompto while Etro’s spirit bursts away, dissolving into light that streaks across the void.

”N-not done-” Prompto gasps, choking on his coughs as the group hurry over to his side. The goddess’ voice then resounds in the hollow void.

“They tore me apart, taking my heart, leaving me in pieces, I became a restless soul neither living or dying between realms, with only the dead by my side for so long. Unable to do anything but see the deaths of many. I was so tired.“ Etro’s voice surrounds them in darkness. Her feeble attempt to become whole again in order to intervene with the Astrals’ mess and desire to give humanity hope finally coming to fruition.

.

.

.

“You may become lost in Time. Your soul forever doomed.”

“I want to believe.”

“You’ll die.”

“I trust them.”

“You’ll hurt them.”

“…I know. And even if it seems impossible. I must try, for them.”

Etro’s sign etches and sears into his skin like a second brand sealing Prompto Argentum’s fate in the flow of time.

.

.

.

Etro is as cruel as she is merciful. Ardyn was the first one to know of it first hand in his madness.

He finds a dead Aldecapt on the ground and the entire Zegnatus Keep massacred by someone else other than the daemons. That was when the darkness in him began to rebel. The little chocobo Niflheim had caught and he had locked in a cage now sits casually on the throne twirling his gun. Until her cold gaze falls onto him as the hunter becomes the hunted, as she lures her intended target towards the Crystal.

”Ardyn Lucis Caelum.” The goddess’ voice rings clear.

”How-“

”You may have salvation O’ fallen King. Though all you need to do in return is fairly simple.“Etro lays her hand on his face as the pain sets in, the Starscourge in him screaming and dying.

”When the time comes. Kill me.”

“And h-how do I even know if you aren’t unlike the damn Astrals-!?”A pause and he feels mortality creep deep into the bones.

”Thats just it.”Her smile upon Prompto Leonis’ face.

”You don’t.”

And he is released from his curse just as the calvary arrives.

.

.

.

In the darkness of her temple, the memories of his failures and the deaths, all return to Prompto Leonis in a flood. A reminder of what another him in another world has set out to do in the beginning. Like a horrible deja vu and a bad trip.

”Your time is running out.”

”Still gonna give it my best shot.”

The mark of Etro burns.

.

.

.

It also turns out that they had also narrowly escape destruction of timelines with how many times they have restarted. Etro becomes concerned. Griever’s appearance now was a paradox and meant Prompto was on his final run before he fails and turns into a daemon, forever damned in the crevices of time.

Her powers are waning, there are no more chances left. While his success means he becomes the next crystal of Etro, and she is free from her burden. But should they cut their ties at the very moment where Prompto can regain a hold of his senses…the child may stand a fighting chance.

The child may live while the God may die.

Essentially, Prompto and Etro each made a gamble for their own selfishness. And won.

.

.

.

”Whatever pieces of me that remain too lost to retrieve, gone like tiny grains of sand.They shall remain to keep Eos, my beloved star alive. Though the gift of magic granted to humanity shall leave with me, I shall never cease to exist! My ashes are in the soil, my breath with the winds, my blood in the sea. I shall remain in the beyond, awaiting to welcome you when the time comes, my children.”

“You have helped me regain my form, my vessel. From here on, you are free from me and the curse upon the Farseers. The weak shall obey the strong. Now. Sever my final link with the living! Lay the Gods to their intended rest.”

Her original form looms over them again, this time without Prompto encased in her womb. Now safely tucked by Nyx’s side, Noctis summons Quicksilver and hands his friend his weapon back. The gun gently laid back in his palm, a warm and comforting weight.

”Stupid.” Noctis’ words were without bite, endearing even. Gladios hand a comfortable presence on his shoulder and Ignis’ close behind. Prompto smiles sheepishly with Luna glowering at him in relief and angry disappointment as she caresses his face gently.

Prompto then turns his gaze at Etro sadly.The lonely goddess who sought to heal her star and bestow mankind her compassion. He remembers the same loneliness from another time, another world.

…Will you be alright? He wonders. After being together for so many different lifetimes, its hard to say goodbye. But he has made a promise to see to each of their chosen ends that they sought once upon a time.

They ready their weapons and gives the goddess the sending she sought now that she is whole again. When the last of her spirit fades into crystalline lights so does the Astral Plane that surrounds them in a melodious, comforting sigh.

The armiger and spells fizzles and fades out.The last of her light leaves Prompto like fireflies, and for a final time he reaches out for the fading fragments of the Goddess in farewell. The group then quickly departs from the disappearing realm through the fading portal, falling onto rubble and stone of Insomnia.

The orb then ebbs, the phantoms of the Astrals and their messengers bursts into sparks one by one into the orb, returning to the All-mother’s side. Their disappearance releases the light, the ball bursts into a harmless flare, a million stars. Or are they souls forever free? All racing across the sky and all of Eos before returning to Etro’s side with all the magic left on the planet.

And suddenly, warmth.

Dawn finally breaks. The sunlight burning delightfully on their skin. They are alive.

-----

Epilogue

[mevekagvain]

Chapter 360 - Huh, the parallels between Rayga and Urokai, and Rajak and Rael, where the former tells the latter that they're also gaining something from sparring some weaker/'undeserving' person(s). It's very nice.

Chapter 361 - Soul weapons if passed down without the previous wielder dying, has been done by them consciously willing it to the person they choose while they are together. At least, that's what clan leaders have historically done unless the situation made that impossible. Regis is also the only noble to have ever called a soul weapon. Which makes sense to me because he wasn't even calling for Regasus explicitly; he just wanted power to help those he cared for. No other noble would have ever wished for power in such a way or in similar circumstances, and even if they did the soul weapon they were in line for would not have been like Regasus.

The other nobles also ask Gechutel why he didn't inform the lord beforehand which yeah makes sense but there’s also the implication that there isn't really a ceremony of any kind for passing a soul weapon on. My guess is that there's a ceremony of sorts for appointing a new clan leader where the lord officially accepts their loyalty and service since Raskreia says she'll appoint Regis, though it's more for appearances than anything since they're clan leader regardless of the ceremony imo. Also makes sense why said ceremony doesn't occur in present day canon for any new clan leader, because they're going through too much shit to do useless stuff.

- Grandpa wanting his baby grandson to be praised by the lord is always sweet.

- Rajak having war flashbacks to Karias treating the Ye Ran schoolgirls like queens but pretends nothing's wrong when Ludis and Rozaria question him.

- Lagus!! Edian!! Gradeus!! Traitor nobles are back thank god I love them so much!! Also Gradeus just posing for the hidden cameras jsjjsjsj. Anyway just because I love Lagus doesn't mean I should be put through the torture of looking at him.

Chapter 362 - Never understood why they wore the Union white and gold though. Like from an outside view yeah it's just the artist defaulting but I wish we could have seen what they'd really wear, ya know? Like Gradeus in some atrocious holiday clothes getup or Edian in a cool not black or white suit or Lagus in a uh. Hosiptal gown. Gradeus did get the best outfit from the three though since it shows his personality and is pretty unique compared to Lagus' priest style getup which is shared with the other noble grandpa though still fitting and better than Edian who has just a generic shirt and pants.

- I think it's good that they made one traitor not an actual traitor but I wish it hadn't been Edian because I need proper evil female noble traitor rep and Ignes doesn't count since she was never a Raizel fan. She didn't hang out with the other traitors. She's still a traitor ofc but not in the same way the others are. She betrayed only Lukedonia, not Raizel as well.

- SEIRA PETTING HER BABY BROTHER 🥺

- Rajak and Reim have always had very similar energy but him going "yeah gonna train everyone around my baby brother so he'll be safe" without putting as much time into said brother is exactly what she'd do too. He takes after his grandmother.

Chapter 363 - Ludis is the one keeping this generation together. Son boy ily. Meanwhile Rozaria bullying Rajak as Kei backs her up <3

- I love their interactions so much,,,shame Rajak's gonna be dead canonically in a few chapters lol.

- NO BUT THERE'S A FLASHBACK WHERE MUZAKA BROUGHT ASHLEEN TO MEET RAIZEL AND FRANKENSTEIN IN LUKEDONIA YET EVERYTHING ELSE STATES THAT RAIZEL FIRST MET HER THE DAY BEFORE SHE DIED. It bugs me so much. Like I genuinely don't blame the author or artist that much because weekly updates are utter hell but I do still find it annoying.

Chapter 364 - Obsessed with the excuses Tao makes. Just "The bus they were riding to a remote mountain village with a specialty restaurant got into an accident because I got too into the karaoke."

Chapter 365 - Gradeus and Lagus gossiping like aunties,,, love them.

- Ah yes... Kuharu the indian caricature, Mount the giant baby warrior, Drakon the cool one, and currently undebuted but present, Kaiyo the hottest woman in this manhwa.

Chapter 367 - No but this is so unnecessary bsjsjsiis

- Gradeus being a Rayga expert makes me insane.

Chapter 368 - No but Rayga referring to mvp lord as a friend... even if it's to obfuscate who he's speaking of... endearing. That's growth! Even if he does say Frankenstein is the friend it makes no sense to me since Ashoka previously stated it was work between him and Rayga that did it. Also gonna reveal more of my bias and hc that Rayga stopped straightening his hair because he and Gradeus broke up or divorced or whatever and he misses feeling Gradeus' hands and the warmth of his aura in his hair straightening it for him.

- Ignoring the soul weapon lore of heirs not being able to use the full power if not given a complete blah blah blah it's also stupid and I don't understand it bye.

- By my hcs, Rajak's skill level would mean that he isn't simply hiding his aura, he's also replicating the aura of the surroundings so that you can't feel a weird void moving around.

Chapter 370 - Ludis son boy I can't believe nobody visits you to hang out 😢😭

- Gradeus blocking for Lagus is so interesting like okay then. Also love how he uses Messad as a shield like very cool.

Chapter 371 - Mount just shoving Rajak out of the way and crying over Kuharu... my heart. Why is this baby a warrior. They modified a fucking five year old it seems like.

Chapter 372 - ONE OF MY FAV FLASHBACKS YES.

- Literally Gradeus is the only person who goes "You're just gonna abandon your baby boy like that???" and Rayga's response is "Yes <3". It's so damn funny too like we know Gradeus isn't saying it because he's a good guy or whatever but it's still a valid point and nothing Rayga says is gonna change the fact that he's a shit father jsjsjsjks. Like am I supposed to say 'actually Gradeus is wrong it's 100% okay to abandon your toddler'? Cos I'm not doing that lmao. This flashback cracks me up so damn hard every single time.

- Also why are Rayga and Gradeus so close apparently? Why are they friends? Why does Gradeus care about him? I love it. Gradeus got so mad at Rayga that he started hating him for entering eternal sleep and being 'noble' and all that as a whole. Hates Rajak because he's a spitting image of him. Insane.

- But Rayga you can't just tell someone to go and make a kid, asshole. Like aside from the fact that they may not want kids or aren't suitable to be a parent... Who's gonna raise the damn child if they're like 20 and their parent enters eternal sleep with the lord? Gradeus' ghost? Man up instead of being a coward and offer to have his heir with him straight up if you want him to have one so fuvkin bad.

- Rip Rajak :(

- Anyway Rael got heart pain from Kartas arriving unlike Seira and Ignes so I'm guessing that's because of the two diff soul weapons joining not because Kartas being passed on is torture. Would be kinda fucked up if it was lol. Otoh he still doesn't realise Kartas arrived so... ignoring that <3

[carminite-wyrm]

Hero-of-Kvatch!Nyx AU, Part 2!

aka, Nyx continues to not have a great time in the tunnels beneath the Imperial Prison.

Again, story under the cut.

Part 1

The most ridiculous part of this whole matter, Nyx decided, was not the not-daemons (the creatures had certainly looked the part, but they hadn’t disappeared into a cloud of miasma after he’d killed them) he had encountered in the tunnels as he made his way out of the prison. It was the fact that no one had commented on both his injuries, or his tattered uniform that was very much not fitting the ‘high fantasy novel’ aesthetic he was also wrapping his head around.

Even as the brisk pace that the elderly man – who was apparently Uriel Septim VII, the Emperor of the nation Nyx now found himself in – and his entourage set through the tunnels did wonders for working out the lingering stiffness in his body, (as did the vaguely nightmarish path earlier full of the largest rats Nyx had ever seen), Nyx found his mind starting to spiral off into multiple tangents, trying to process the wealth of information he had already managed to gather.

He had died, that was almost an undeniable fact. And then he had awoken in what he was now absolutely certain was a different universe, to find himself in a cell that he was shortly released from by the Emperor of the land of Tamriel, who was fleeing cultist-assassins who had most likely already claimed the lives of his heirs. On top of all of that, the Emperor (and Nyx, apparently), were mixed up in some sort of shared fate or prophecy, that likely had to do with the gods of this realm if Nyx was understanding things correctly.

Nyx was fervently doing his best to try and ignore how the situation was rather similar to what he had just lived in his own world. It had been almost too easy for him to slip back into the role of a bodyguard and defender of a King, to the point that one of the guards, Baurus, had given him several suspicious looks when he had found their group once again, and introduced himself as Nyx.

He silently cursed the lack of his kukris, the weight of the short sword he had found in the tunnels slightly awkward in his hand, as he fended off one of the strange assassins that were chasing their group, the blade nevertheless good enough to sink through a chink in his opponent’s armour. Even the slightest drop of magic to blast some of them away faster would have been useful, but he was fairly certain that the magic he once had was now gone. Dead and gone, vanished when Regis’ body had-

He grit his teeth, shoving that thought away along with the dead body that slid off his blade.

Even if this Emperor Uriel was supposedly meant to die at some point in the coming future, Nyx would do his best to help him avoid that ‘fate’. Quite frankly, he’d had enough of talks of fate and destiny, and the fact that the Emperor looked about as resigned to his fate as Regis had been-

The group halted as they found the way to the sewers to be barred, and Nyx suddenly had a sinking feeling. He readied his sword, just in time for one of the guards– Blades, the Emperor had called them –to call out that it was a trap. He followed them as they tried a side passage, only to find that it was a dead end.

“Wait here with the Emperor,” One of the Blades ordered, as the sound of assassins entering the previous chamber grew louder. “Guard him with your life!”

And before Nyx could even muster up a shred of disagreement, that perhaps leaving their Emperor with a man who they had previously thought to be a criminal, and also visibly injured even if he wasn’t actively bleeding or burning to death was a terrible idea, the two Blades had rushed off to engage the assassins.

“Well, at least this room is somewhat defensible,” Nyx sighed, readying his sword as he briefly gave the room a once-over to see if there was something he could use to barricade the entrance. Finding nothing, he instead took up a post by the doorway, readying his sword. Once confident that he’d be able to see any danger that would appear, he turned his attention back to the Emperor, only to find an amulet with a bright red gem being held out to him.

“…Isn’t that yours?” Nyx asked, a sinking feeling starting to settle into his stomach. This was starting to look very, very, familiar. “Why-“

The Emperor’s eyes were startlingly clear, and kind, as he explained that this would be where he was to die, and that he wished for Nyx to not only take his amulet, but find his last son, a secret son that only another man named Jauffre knew the location of.

“This amulet…it isn’t just some family heirloom, is it?”

The Emperor shook his head. “It is the Amulet of Kings, and must pass to the last of the Dragon’s Blood.”

“…Don’t tell me this contains some sort of great power that only someone blood-related to you can wield, a power that was granted to you by a dragon god. And that it will help to end a world-ending calamity.”

“That…is exactly it.” The Emperor gave him a curious look. “That is not common knowledge.”

“I…I’m not quite sure how to explain it.” Nyx admitted. “It’s…a long story.”

“Take the Amulet, and then in the little time we have left, I would hear what you can tell of your story. Your fate lies past the moment of my death, I do not worry that you will fall with the Amulet.”

Nyx glanced around the room, finding it still clear of danger for the time being, even if the sounds of fighting had moved ever so slightly closer to them. He slowly took the Amulet, tucking it away in one of the pockets in his uniform.

“So…Would you believe me if I said that I’m not from this world? Or universe, probably.” Nyx began. “And that I had died, then woken up in that cell, and then a few minutes later you and your guards showed up.”

The Emperor’s eyebrows creased in thought, before he nodded slowly. “The ways of the Divines are mysterious indeed. But you are here, as I have foreseen. Your origins, or your past deeds, do not concern me.”

“I’ve already lived through this!” Nyx blurted out, before he realised that probably wouldn’t make sense without some level of explanation. “I mean, the events leading up to my death, are startlingly similar to what’s happening right now!”

He agitatedly twisted one of his braids in his free hand, decidedly not looking in the direction of the Emperor.

“You are afraid.” Nyx snapped around to stare at the other man.

“I-“

“Even though we have only just met, and yet you still care enough to fear the consequences my death will bring.”

“I just. Don’t want to fail to protect another person. I don’t want your guards, your Blades, to also fail to protect someone they swore to keep safe.” Nyx muttered.

“Oh.” The Emperor sighed, and briefly closed his eyes. There was a sudden presence in the room, ever so slight and yet Nyx could sense it, almost vibrating through the vein-like scars on his arm, the feeling similar to the rush of power that he had felt when confronting the old Kings of Lucis when he had put on the Ring.

The Emperor opened his eyes once again as the moment passed, and looked straight at Nyx, his gaze this time almost as piercing as Regis’ had been when he had spoken up for Nyx in front of the old Kings.

“Your kindness, and dedication, is a gift in these dark times. I am honoured to have met you, Nyx Ulric, and to have been granted the knowledge of the weight you bore before you were brought here. I regret the fate that has been passed onto you, so soon after your sacrifice in your old world, but, I have faith that you will not only face it, but also surpass the expectations laid upon you by the Gods. After all, this new life you have gained will not be without its blessings.”

“Wait, what do you mean-“

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a now-familiar flare of red magic, and broke off as he spun around to meet the assassin, the enemy’s mace rattling against the blade he just managed to bring up in time. The two traded blows furiously, moving across the room as Nyx attempted to use his free arm to gesture or herd the Emperor back away from danger.

Nyx hissed in pain as the mace briefly slid past his guard, the sharp edges of the weapon slicing sharp lines through the side of his uniform. The enchantments that had once been imbued into the fabric clearly had not survived his appearance in this world, though that was not surprising, given how they had hinged on Lucis Caelum magic anyways. He stumbled back a few steps from the impact, and ducked as the mace came down at his head once again. This assassin was clearly a cut above the others they had encountered earlier, Nyx thought, briefly eyeing the cracked stone where the mace had hit.

The assassin cackled, and moved to attack again, when Nyx heard the sound of stone grinding against stone. He looked around for the source of the noise, and spotted, in that half-second, a figure in red robes, wearing an even-more ornate set of black armour, a wickedly-long dagger in his hand. And that figure was stepping out of a passage that had just opened up, right next to where the Emperor was standing.

Instinctively, he flung his sword at the assassin, bracing himself for the pulling sensation of a warp. And then he remembered.

He no longer had the ability to warp.

“Shit!” He yelled, now scrambling under the first assassin as he tried to reach the new assassin in time, trying to reach the Emperor before– and why was he just standing there?! – the new assassin struck.

His fingers had just skimmed the edges of the hilt of his sword, other hand outstretched to try and push the Emperor or the assassin out of the way, when he saw the knife sink into the Emperor’s heart.

He watched as the Emperor toppled to the ground, the assassin’s knife dripping blood onto the stones. He heard, more than saw, as one of the guards appeared in the doorway and gave an anguished cry.

And then the assassins were attacking them again, and he had no time to further process the situation as he and the guard – Baurus – ended up fighting back-to-back, a grieving desperation in Baurus’ attacks as together, they managed to kill those last two assassins.

There was silence, finally, as the last assassin slowly bled out on the ground, and Nyx watched with blurry eyes as Baurus fell to his knees next to the corpse of his Emperor.

[gayregis]

What do you think Regis and Ciri's relationship would be like? I was always a little upset that Geralt said he wanted Ciri to meet Zoltan and Reinart but he didn't say that about Regis or anyone from the Hansa. Do you think he wanted Ciri to meet Regis? What do you think their relationship would be like? I didn't understand why Regis was so impressed by Citi in Stigga, if she was obviously scared and they had like 5 min to talk. I don't like that all the characters are thrilled with Ciri at first sight. I also afraid that Ciri won't overcome her dislike of vampires as a witcher, and she and Regis won't have become friends :( What your thoughts on it?

this is such a good series of questions!!

i think that geralt did want ciri to meet the hansa, and i suppose she did - she mentions that they buried the bodies of geralt’s comrades outside of stygga when they left - though in the case of regis, of course, there was nothing left to bury. but i imagine that, in these moments, geralt told ciri about each member, their memories “living on” through story, which, in the witcher, is a form of immortality after death. but i think he specifically mentions wanting ciri to meet reynart and zoltan specifically because he thought (incorrectly, in reynart’s case :( ) that they were still alive, as opposed to the hansa, who he all saw either die in front of him or their corpses later when they buried them.

specifically for regis, i think geralt would have wanted ciri to meet him as they did become close and also regis helped a lot in terms of being geralt’s confidant during the quest to save ciri. but i also think that geralt would be still concious of how bizarre his and regis’ friendship is, and would think about it before any introductions - then again, the witcher seems to have less of these “planned introductions” and rather more of “by the seat of your pants introductions,” like when dandelion first meets ciri, it was both somewhat expected as (iirc?) they knew they were going to meet up with the other party (geralt and dandelion, yennefer and ciri), but how they actually meet up is a different story, because nothing in the witcher can ever be a calm summer afternoon, of course. so i believe that “the best” circumstances would be something like a formal introduction of ciri to all of the hansa members, geralt would simply introduce them all at the same time, because they’re each equally important in relation to him and ciri. i don’t thnk it would make sense for geralt to introduce regis separately from the rest of the hansa, because it would just take his character out of context (unless, of course, they were in some situation where the rest of the hansa wasn’t around). (and besides the point, but i think the most awkward formal introduction would be between cahir and ciri, because, it wouldn’t be an introduction at all, rather a third meeting. and canonically, cahir had dreams of ciri, so it would be even weirder since he’s already seen her a bunch and she hasn’t seen him at all.)

i think, honestly, a formal introduction between regis and ciri would go well, i don’t think too much would occur, even if only because of having questions but feeling that it’s not the right place or time to ask them -- like in a class, when a teacher asks, “any questions?...” and the entire class holds their breath because everyone is confused but no one knows exactly what to say -- i think it would be like that, because regis and ciri are BOTH very very naturally curious! regis would want to ask, so this is the child of destiny, this is your daughter, etc, etc, and ciri would want to ask pretty much everything about him to understand who he is. but i think both would understand, through experience, that a first introduction isn’t the time to ask every single question you have about a person. so it would be kind, but maybe overly formal becase of that awkwardness.

 i of course have all these headcanons and such about regis becoming a parental and mentor figure to angouleme, so i’m inclined to compare their relationship to that with ciri, but i think that would be a mistake. because angouleme and ciri are similar in build and appearance, and some traits and experiences of course, but they’re still different in my opinion, and their difference is exponential when you consider the differences of how angouleme and regis met VS how ciri and regis met, and that angouleme had no one else in her life VS ciri already has parents she loves. so instead of being more parental and advice-giving, i think regis would be kind to ciri of course, but i don’t think they would ever spend a lot of time together because ciri already has parents to spend time with, so regis would be still a sort of avuncular figure, good for advice and to listen, but not the main source of support. which is fine, i think. i think that the thing that ciri would most rely upon regis for would be dealing with her actions from when she was a rat, i think both regis and ciri have come out of a period where they have been the source of a lot of violence, and ciri may struggle with this and need advice from someone who’s been through it already.

i feel like regis also wasn’t overly impressed with ciri when he met her, his reaction seems more like dandelion’s to me, where she just appears as some young girl, the young girl that she is. i think only the observant or the close to ciri will understand that she is powerful (geralt, yennefer, milva (observant), cahir (half and half, i think he only understands it later)). regis and dandelion are observant in that they are intelligent and academics, but they often miss the background, the “fabric of reality” as i’ve referred to it -- things like the horseprints in the snow, regis was very willing to explain away as being somthing mundane, not considering it could have been something else. i think this logicalness of his character and unintentional insensitivity to the “powers that be” would make him more stumped than astute with ciri, unable to really figure her out despire having experiences in common with her. another trait that ciri and regis both share is being mysterious and a little closed-off if one doesn’t pry, and since they have no real reason to pry, i don’t think they’d be as close as characters that are more opposite to one another in this respect.

although regis did frighten ciri when they first met in stygga, i feel like they would totally get over that after a while. although dandelion aphoristically says in a little sacrifice that there’s never a second chance to make a good first impression, i think to how geralt and ciri got off on the wrong foot, as did yennefer and ciri -- and even though it was a more severe misunderstanding with yennefer, she ultimately became closer to yennefer than anyone else. so i don’t think that regis’s first impression to ciri would affect their friendship down the line that much, since ciri seems to have a knack for getting into poor first impressions with adults. but i do think it would influence how she sees him, because of course it would. everyone else met regis as he is normally, the pinnacle of kindness and thoughtfulness -- ciri saw him basically turn an entire room into hellish chaos and rip a guy’s throat out! it’s comical to us as the readers because we know regis and his very mild-mannered side, but to ciri, this would have been terrifying, of course demonstrated by her clenching her jaw so her teeth wouldn’t chatter. i don’t think that there’s any reason that they couldn’t eventually get over this, but i think it would definitely influence how ciri sees regis overall -- i think that even geralt sometimes forgets about what regis is capable of, like in lady of the lake when he vehemently defends regis’s right to be present in a coversation, when regis can actually just overhear the entire conversation although he walked away. to sort of summarize the situation, if your friend, who is a normal guy to you, had epic powers that you saw a couple of times, but he never really used them around you that much, you might not think of him as some kind of force VS, when you met your friend for the first time he was demonstrating his epic powers in full force... you would be way more aware of his power. but, these friendships may not have been super different at heart, because there’s still the same people involved in them. this is what i think, that ciri would just be the one who’s most aware that regis is a vampire, because she’ll never forget the first meeting -- but that does not necessarily mean she would end up trusting or liking him less at all!

i feel with the context of ciri being a witcher, it’s interesting because by the time regis appears in the series, the term of “witcher” is beginning to be unraveled with its threads examined for the readers. regis is part of this, and cahir is as well -- though regis is a monster, geralt has no desire to kill him, and yet cahir is a man, and geralt has a desire to kill him. the term of “monster” is questioned to hell and back throughout the entire series, but especially in regards to i think to these characters: geralt, regis, cahir, ciri, vilgefortz, and bonhart. each is a “monster” in some respect, either being labelled as one or doing monstrous things, or both. in ciri’s case, it becomes way more about “good” and “evil” than it does for geralt, who is more concerned with the original exploration of “human” and “monster.” for ciri, she actually became evil, she was a monster. but through many things, she learned her lesson and becomes something much more vague than just “good” or “evil” in the end. this is a lot like regis, who transversed the dichotomy of “evil monster” and “good human” to become something that’s neither of each (well, regis strives to be a good human, but just because he strives for it does not mean he 100% is that). so i think that because they have that similiarity, they would be more understanding of one another. especially with time as ciri begins to understand herself and the concept of evil more (as she had difficulty with vysogota -- the paradox is that she herself became evil, but then of course has her famous “repay evil” speech -- by that logic, she would want to exterminate herself, her ethical logic being clouded by self-preservation... but i think by the end she comes to realize that her evil was wrong as well, that she is not innocent, and even though this is true, she can still work against evil).

tldr ciri and regis are very similar characters, they would be friends due to this mutual understanding, but he would not be the most important figure in her life. they would likely bond over their shared struggles with good & evil, and also likely bond over making fun of geralt (as everyone does in this series)

[penmankendallinterlude]

Extensive Press Release

from the pen of Mat Smith:

PAUL KENDALL

Boundary Macro

Boundary Macro is the fifth solo album from producer, engineer and electronic musician Paul Kendall.

Beginning with his tenure in anarchic London post-punk unit Dry Rib and on through his respected studio work with Recoil, Wire, Barry Adamson, Nine Inch Nails and many others, Kendall has always maintained an acute focus on the intricate properties of sound. Each of his solo albums has showcased an approach to complex sound design as well as the darker, emotive side of sonic processing. His pre-lockdown live sets with Daniel Dickel as LeCabLe were noisy, highly sculpted improvisations that drew a connective line to his work on the grimy fringes of industrial music.

The impetus for Boundary Macro came through a remix completed for Downwards, the label run by Karl O’Connor (aka Regis). O’Connor was familiar with Kendall’s tenure as an in-house producer, engineer and mixer for Mute Records in the 1980s and 1990s, and sought him out for the remix of Veronica Vasicka’s ‘From Here’ in 2018. “He liked the remix I did for him and I remember him saying to send him some of my stuff if I so wished,” recalls Kendall. “I sent him the ten tracks that make up Boundary Macro. He came flying back to me having fallen in love with a couple of pieces and offered to put the album out on Downwards. It really was a seductive enthusiasm and I readily agreed.”

Boundary Macro was recorded after the COVID-19 pandemic had first emerged and our daily lives were suddenly put on hold. “I experienced a sort of creative paralysis from the start of March until the end of April due to early lockdown and an endless concern about food supplies,” Kendall reflects. “Around May I started to experiment sound processing apps on my iPad – apps like Borderlands Granular, Tardigrain and Enso. I was astonished at the relative affordability of these apps in comparison to studio multi-effects units or computer plug-ins.”

Having identified the tools to unlock his lockdown-inflicted writer's block, Kendall began experimenting with recordings of his own voice and the Leaf Audio Soundbox instrument, capturing hours of improvised performances which were then microscopically edited, superimposed and processed to form eight of the tracks on the album. The album was completed by the addition of two older pieces created using completely different methods (‘Distor ADIO’ and ‘Are You In?’), but which were entirely in keeping with Kendall’s May 2020 experiments.

It’s easy to see why O’Connor fell for these tracks. These pieces each have a latent energy, like industrial techno with all the familiar references points suppressed under heavy distortion, blocks of noise and an oppressive, cloying blanket of impenetrable tension; music devoid of any discernible certainty, made at a time when life’s certainties had become abruptly upended. The name of the thunderous, vaguely orchestral opening track – ‘Restless’ – encapsulates the mood of this album: sounds and ideas arrive, hang around, evolve, mutate and are then immediately replaced.

On ‘The Chattering, Class’, we hear Kendall’s distinctive attention to atomised detail, with an ever-changing array of fluttering, backward sounds and brittle textures, while a subtle hint of an exotica melody feels like lonely wind chimes in an abandoned landscape. On ‘InHarmonic’ we experience a characteristic disquiet, built from a dense and unswerving drone and pulsing signals offset by minimalistic, shamanistic percussion patterns. On ‘ReBurst’ rumbling, ghostly processed voices jab at you viciously, like a pissed-off demon roused from its sleep, its relentless onslaught buffeting you like a wild storm; in its wake comes a distorted, sinewy sequence, as insistent, angular and thrilling as a prowling heavy metal solo.

The concept for Boundary Macro unifies an approach that Kendall takes to both images and sound. “I absolutely love macro photography,” he explains. “Macro photography is where you magnify the minutiae of an object. It's a similar method that I’ve used a lot in sound design, where I take found sounds then exploit and zoom in on them.”

If ‘macro’ is the descriptor for Kendall’s process, then ‘boundary’ is about revealing another personal side of himself – his hearing difficulties, a condition caused by too many loud studio sessions. “A boundary can be thought of as being like binary, with its two states – on and off. With this album, the boundary in question is the one between my ability to hear and not hear. Because of that deafness, I sometimes have to rely on graphical representations of sound to ensure there’s not something happening sound-wise which I am unable to hear. It’s also about the supposed boundary between sound and noise, which, for me, does not exist. It’s also the idea of the boundary as a limit – but a limit to go beyond, not one that stops you. Suffering with loss of hearing could have easily acted as a limit for me. Boundary Macro is the sound of me going beyond that limit.”

Boundary Macro by Paul Kendall is released on vinyl and digital on Downwards Records, 29 July 2021 through Boomkat: https://boomkat.com/products/boundary-macro

Track list:

Restless

The Chattering, Class

Nowhere, A Twisty

Missing The Fierce

Contrail

InHarmonic

Distor ADIO

ReBurst

No Door

Are You In?

Paul Kendall solo discography

The Faulty Caress (as Piquet) (Parallel Series / Mute, 1996)

Angleterror (Cat Werk Imprint, 2011)

Family Value Pack (Ant-Zen, 2014)

Mechanical Generation (Vol. 1) (self-released 2017)

[secret-engima]

Cloud Strife reborn as Prompto argentum???

*ancient plunny revives with a scream* *I slam the lid back down on it with a surprised screech*

WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME. BUCKLE UP WE’RE GETTING A FREAKING FICLET.

-Cloud Strife dies, old and ... contented for the most part. He’s lived a good life. Not an easy one, or even a kind one, but ... good. He dies and he slides into the Lifestream, and Zack and Aerith welcome him with open arms.

-And for a very, very long time, he drifts. He is ... partially aware of the world beyond the Lifestream, but he mostly doesn’t care. He did his part, saved it more than a few times, he’s earned his rest.

-Zack and Aerith like to keep an eye on the world though, partly out of curiosity and partly out of care, and they keep him apprised of certain things. Of Minerva raising new Guardians of the world via the Summons, assigning some to guard the Star from threats from beyond, some as Messengers who function much like old Summons. They tell him about the rise and fall of a civilization called Solheim and Cloud mourns a little at the rush of new residents in the Lifestream that follows Ifrit’s wrath.

-Then Aerith comes to him and tells him-

-That Ifrit went too far. His anger runs too deep. It’s ... done something. Jenova is dead and gone, but some of her taint lingered in the scars of the world and Ifrit’s anger FUSED with those old wisps to birth something new. Something terrible. Something called the Starscourge.

-And Cloud gets a nasty feeling that his time of rest is coming to an end.

-Still, he doesn’t leave. He doesn’t want to. But now he takes to watching occasionally with Zack and Aerith as the Astrals struggle to stop what one of their own created, as Bahamut crafts a mighty Crystal, a direct conduit to the power of the Lifestream and all the old magics that used to be found freely in Materia but that Gaia had long ago pulled back for fear of humanity’s abuse. Bahamut tracks down two families, one descended of Tifa’s children, blue eyed and black haired and Stubborn, another descended of Genesis of all people, skilled in magic and poets at heart. Bahamut blesses them with magic and tells them they will save the world.

-Cloud watches in spurts and flickers, dropping into awareness every century or so. The two family lines have no yet cured the Scourge, the taint still spreads, inch by inch and victim by victim.

-Aerith cries her heart out when Ardyn is born, and rises, and falls. It’s not fair. It’s not FAIR for another to suffer like this. Ardyn was as close to an Ancient as could ever be and he tried so HARD, but he was too immature in his magic, he didn’t have the same knowledge that Aerith or even Zack and Cloud had about magic and so he was infected. But his magic was too strong to let him die from it.

-Cloud goes and yells at Minerva with Zack a little bit, and she looks at them wearily and explains she CAN’T do anything. Gaia has given the world of the living to the Astrals. Minerva can no longer directly interfere and Bahamut refuses to listen.

-And time continues to unspool. Bahamut has bound Gaia (now called Eos) to a Prophecy and all they can do is watch it play out.

-Unless...

-Titan comes to them in secret, without Bahamut’s knowledge or permission. Titan is of Earth and the Earth is of the Lifestream, he is the closest still to being the Titan of old, the closest to memories of when Eos was Gaia and Gaia had Champions. Titan is a patience creature, but not unkind. He, unlike the others, has remained awake and part of the world after catching the great Meteor, has seen humans struggle and live and love and die. He remembers the old Champions... and so he asks.

-One more time?

-Cloud is tired just thinking about it. He is not a hero, not in his own eyes, he is just a screwup, an experiment gone wrong and broken free of its strings. But he loves his friends, and the people who are descended of Tifa and Genesis and all his old companions. He loves the world still and most of all ... he loves Aerith and Zack. His brother and sister of heart. So when Aerith and Zack step forward to accept Titan’s plan, what can Cloud do but quietly step forward as well and offer to fight one more time?

-Titan thanks them, and he and Minerva make a plan. Already time is drawing short. They cannot simply DO THIS and hope for the best, they must place them where they have the most chance of changing things. Titan and Minerva settle on an idea and Minerva apologizes to Cloud, specifically.

-Cloud is pulled under before he can ask why. And for a long time that is the last he knows.

-Awareness comes back in flickers and spurts and the feel of bubbling green liquid on his skin. Sight comes diluted by the water of a tank.

-Cloud emerges from his tank screaming and thrashing, and the men in white coats take note of his unusual energy and reactions to the first of the Scourge treatments.

-Cloud feels the Scourge slide into his veins like an old, hated friend and screams louder, but magic is soul and soul is magic and Cloud’s soul has already battled something far worse than this diluted, spiteful plague. It consumes the Scourge in his veins, twists it into familiar channels and patterns that will someday make Cloud unnaturally strong and fast and keen of senses despite his scrawny frame and normal appearance.

-For now though, Cloud shivers in his sparks of fragile awareness and hates that he ever agreed to this.

-Of course he was reborn in a FREAKING LABORATORY.

-Cloud isn’t sure how long he stays in the lab, fading from awareness only to launch back to the forefront of the infantile mind this body has in fits and spurts. Just that it’s too long. Long enough for the men to mark him like a candy bar, long enough for them to pump gallon after gallon of Scourge in his veins and take confused notes when his body absorbs it and twists it into something different out of self-defense.

-He wakes up at one point to hear someone shuffling around the lab they moved him into. Someone with a different tread from the guards and the scientists. Cloud whines despite himself, flails with frustrating tiny limbs as a strange face appears above his sealed not-crib. Ice blue eyes look into Cloud’s, and Cloud knows in an instant this man is not of the lab. This man is dressed wrong, moves wrong, FEELS like he doesn’t belong, like there is a star pulsing softly under his skin.

-Cloud reaches for the man with another whine he can’t help and starts crying silently because Stupid Baby Instincts.

-He’s honestly surprised when the man blinks twice, sighs at the ceiling and mutters over his own idiocy, and then breaks open Cloud’s not-crib container. Alarms screech in his overly sensitive ears as the man clumsily hefts Cloud’s tiny infant self into his arms and RUNS. Cloud has never been so grateful for another person’s recklessness in his entire life.

-The man runs and hides and carts him what feels like halfway across the world, bumbling through childcare in a way that Cloud is pretty sure a normal baby wouldn’t have survived. Cloud is probably JUST shy of a year old when the man stumbles into a city that is coated with magic and makes his way to a huge building that practically THROBS with magic in a way that makes Cloud’s baby skin crawl and the not-Scourge in his blood shiver.

-The man is apparently named Cor, at least according to the other two men who yell that name as he stumbles into a private study with Cloud wrapped in his tattered jacket. Cloud can’t stop his tiny baby body from bursting into tears at the yelling (sound was too-loud-TOOLOUDMAKEITSTOP) and the dead, stunned silence is almost gratifying.

-“I couldn’t leave him,” Cor rasps to the other two men as they tentatively inspect Cloud, “I just- the things they were DOING to him, Regis. The things in the reports- I couldn’t leave him.”

-“Well you can’t keep him,” protests one of the men as the other holds out a finger for Cloud to hold and coos, “Niflheim will become suspicious. Especially since the boy looks nothing like you.”

-“I’m not killing him,” Cor SNARLS, holding Cloud too tightly to be comfortable. Both men raise their hands placatingly and promise that was NOT what they were implying.

-They end up giving Cloud away after having their doctors poke and prod and confirm he’s not infected with anything (how they miss the not-Scourge in his veins Cloud will never know). Cloud can’t stop himself from clinging to Cor when the man gives him away, because Cor might not have a clue how to raise a kid, but Cor was kind and SAFE and Cloud didn’t want to him to leave.

-But leave the man does. And the couple takes him home. They name him Prompto Argentum.

-And for a long time after that, Cloud is all alone.

-Oh they take care of his physical needs, and they are affectionate for a while, but they are busy people, and Cloud is too mature and strange, and so they slowly drift away.

-Cloud tells himself it’s fine. He can use the alone time to study at his true mental level rather than baby books and he can train his body to keep up with the burning, roiling power in his veins from the Not-Scourge that has given him skills and abilities dangerously similar to what he had post-Hojo. He tells himself that it’s fine as he looks for Zack and Aerith in the faces of every child and adult he meets and finds nothing. He tells himself it’s fine.

-The part of him that remembers raising Denzel, the part that held Tifa close when her beau left her after she refused to get rid of the child growing insider her and then helped her raise that child as if he was the father even when he wasn’t, knows it’s not.

-Cloud watches the news for word of Cor and wonders if the man knows (or would care) that the baby he saved is growing up raising HIMSELF rather than being loved and doted on as the couple promised.

-He avoids the children at school. One because he is mentally much older, and two because he can feel his SOLDIER strength coming back to him every passing year, fed to him through the gate opened by the Not-Scourge in his blood and the dreams Minerva sends him, promising that he will not be alone forever.

-He avoids the children for their own safety in case he has a panic attack about the labs of either lifetime and the things that were done to him.

-He avoids.

-Until one day, when Cloud is seven years old and has hidden himself in the farthest corner of the playground possible to get away from the too-loud noise of gossiping children on his too-sensitive ears, the new student the teachers mentioned (that Cloud hadn’t paid attention to) tromps up, squats down next to him and holds out a hand, “Hey,” he whispers as if he knows that Cloud is having a sensory overload day, “My name’s Noctis. Wanna be friends?”

-Cloud stares at blue, blue eyes the color of the sky, feels magic already wrapping around him in a boisterous sort of invisible hug and feels tears well up, “P-prompto.”

-The boy grins at him, bright as the sun in a way that almost hides the age in his eyes, “Hmmm, that’s a cool name and all, but I’m gonna give you a nickname. How about ... Cloud?”

-And Cloud knows.

-“Zack!” He wheezes as he lunges forward to catch his friend in a hug that is returned with equal desperation.

-“I’m here, buddy. I’m here. Sorry I took so long to find you.”

-Noctis (Zack) and Prompto (Cloud) are inseparable from that point on. Zack drags Cloud to his limo after school and Cloud has no issues coming over for a sleepover that he knows is probably not going to end until they hit their age of majority. The other boy in the back seat (Ignis) eyes Cloud warily, but then smiles and welcomes him.

-Once at Zack’s house (the freaking Citadel, so much for being a simple country boy), Zack and Cloud cry their eyes out and plan and acknowledge that Minerva and Titan needed kicks in the teeth for making Zack be reborn as the CHOSEN KING. Now they just need to find Aerith.

-“Betcha she’s the Oracle” Cloud says as he sprawls on the sinfully fluffy carpet and glares at the ceiling.

-Zack whines because his wife is so far away!!

-Cloud thinks Regis chokes on his wine a little bit when Zack drags Cloud to dinner and introduces him by his “official” name. Cloud wonders if Regis remembers the tiny infant he made Cor give away.

-(Regis looks at the new friend his son has made, with blue eyes that seem to glow when in shadows and who wears a leather armband over one wrist at all times, and oh, OH he remembers. He remembers and he wonders with a swoop of dread if this friendship is really just coincidence).

-SO. Some other thoughts on this monster AU plunny: Aerith is Luna (obviously) and writes to the boys the moment Pryna and Umbra are old enough to use as messengers. Noctis is known for being a hyper, cheerful oddball while Prompto is his quiet, melancholy and too-serious friend that can bench press a suit of armor despite looking like a shrimp.

-Cor has a minor heart attack upon meeting Cloud, who instantly gloms onto him as if he remembers Cor (but that’s impossible, kids don’t remember things before the age of three right? RIGHT?).

-Prompto is not the sharpshooter in this verse. Sorry he isn’t. Cloud hates guns for Reasons (coughZack’s deathcough) and he is unnaturally strong. Of COURSE he’s going to take to swords at an early age. He designs his Fusion sword when he’s fourteen and Noctis/Zack splurges his entire royal allowance to get it forged by the royal weapons makers just for Cloud.

-Cloud is there when the Marilith thing happens, it was a road trip playdate that Regis grudgingly allowed.

-Regis shows up in time to see two tiny 7-8 year old children fighting off a Marilith with magic sparking off their bodies like supernovas, Prompto’s eyes glowing an eerie blue as he picks up a dead Crownsguard’s sword and wields it like its a paperweight and Noctis’s eyes burn blood red as he spams lightning spells and whoops like its all a game.

-Regis is Very Sure that neither of these boys are entirely normal. Or sane. But he’s just so glad they’re alive.

-Tenebrae invasion happens without Noctis being there, Luna/Aerith meets Ardyn and promptly begins working her Flower Girl magic.

-Ardyn may or may not show up at the Citadel two years later with Oracle kids in tow, looking to defect and feeling 120% more sane since taking to wearing Luna’s flower crowns and walking in the garden in the rain with her (hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge).

-Noctis spots Luna, hurtles up at top speed, and announces to all and sundry that HI. HE’S NOCTIS. HE’S GOING TO MARRY YOU.

-While Regis tries to explain art you can’t just SAY THAT, Luna kneels down to be eye level with the now younger love of her life and tells him that if he still wants to marry her when he turns 19, then she will gladly oblige.

-Cloud and Ardyn hold a staring contest during which Ardyn rapidly puts together some pieces about the Chosen King child, the Oracle, and this little escaped Lab Boy and starts cackling like a lunatic.

-BAHAMUT YOU’RE IN FOR A WAKEUP CALL.

-Also at one point Titus and Prompto are alone in the same room for like- twenty minutes because Prompto is hiding in Titus’s office. Titus and him hold a staring contest before Titus’s lips twitch and his eyes flicker an eerie green.

-“Hello Cloud,” he purrs, “You aren’t angry I’m here?”

-Cloud crosses his arms and huffs goodnaturedly, “Who do you think talked Minerva into kicking your moping butt out for a second chance, Sephiroth? Also, if you’re using that creepy armor under your skin as an excuse to hurt Zack and his family-.”

-“Never,” Sephiroth says firmly, “I have been the slave of my experimenters before. I have no desire to be so again. I currently feed Regis information gleaned from General Glauca and only give the Empire non-information cleared ahead of time by the king.”

-“Okay then.”

-“Indeed.”

-And that is the start of the Glaives living confusion fever dream where they keep walking in on their Captain holding the WEIRDEST conversations with a Smol Child (or Children, Noctis gets in on it too) that range from insult contests and mockery of each other’s sword techniques to deep, soul-searching questions of existence and magic and how it relates to the soul.

-Nyx would really like it if life could start making sense again pls. These never happened before Prompto Argentum came along.

[twilight-orchid]

Regis for the “send me a character” list!

AW YEAH THANK YOU!

favorite thing about them: I love how he’s simultaneously extremely eloquent and dignified but he’s also a troublemaker and a rabble-rouser. Like I love that he says he not only thought about becoming a burglar, but that the only reason he didn’t is that he thought it would be boring. He’s so chaotic and I LOVE IT

Least favorite thing about them: This one was really hard, but probably that he seems to kinda to take the world on his shoulders. Like he makes himself responsible for things out of his control and is willing to sacrifice himself and his happiness for others. An example I think of is him essentially torturing himself at Tesham Mutna as a way of repaying Dettlaff. And when we meet Dettlaff for the first time he says he’s working on helping Dettlaff be less bestial as if it's his responsibility and his fault if Dettlaff doesn’t integrate successfully into human society. Idk, I just feel like he’s really hard on himself and doesn’t give himself enough credit.

Favorite line: Okay this is several lines but it’s so Regis and it makes me happy. 

“When speaking of facts, tangible matters, I do indeed strive to express myself precisely and at length. However, when our discussions center on affairs of the intuition or things vampiric, my utterances are indeed towards the taciturn. For even the longest discourse would not allow me to explain to my interlocutor any issue of this purview satisfactorily.”

(side note for below, I think OTP means one true pairing but I have no clue if that's right and if I interpreted the three OTP questions right but here we go) 

brOTP: His friendship with Geralt is such goals. They banter, pick on each other, and yet they’re best friends and each would throw hands for the other. I haven’t gotten to the point in the books where we meet Regis but I am SO EXCITED. And again while I haven’t reached that part yet, I feel like he and Dandelion’s relationship would be super fun too.

OTP: While I don’t really ship characters with other characters, (I'm an x reader xOC kinda gal) I really feel like he and Dettlaff have a relationship that could be suited to a relationship rather than just a friendship. They’re personalities just feel like they would mesh well together in that dynamic. 

nOTP: If it weren’t canon that they’re friends I would never expect him to get along with Orianna. She actively participates in several activities that go against his current moral compass. And while it’s true that he used to do similar things as far as blood-drinking go, he overcame that addiction. It kinda reminds me of when you overcome any addiction and you sometimes have to part ways with the friends you had while you were still addicted because they either don’t understand you getting clean or try to drag you back into it. I kinda feel like she would be one of those friends for him. The game doesn’t say if Regis knows about what she does at the orphanage but if he did, I don’t personally feel that he would be okay it. While she isn’t killing the kids it’s still a really messed up Stockholm situation. Idk though, since he’s also a vampire he may be more empathetic or apathetic towards it especially since she doesn’t kill them. But again, idk I may be totally wrong. Sorry, that turned into an unnecessarily long thing lol.

random headcannon: I definitely headcanon Regis fidgeting when he’s deep in thought/ reading/ studying. Bouncing his knee, fiddling with his fingers, adjusting his clothes, running his tongue across his teeth, tapping his nails on the closest hard surface available, all that stuff. Idk if I’m projecting bc I do those, but the way he always holds and moves his satchel and messes with his gloves makes me feel like he has those tendencies.

Unpopular opinion: This one is kinda weird bc he also gives off mad vibes that he's a boss bitch and he knows it, but I think he has an underlying sense of self-loathing and depression. Living as a higher vampire among humans for eternity while never fully fitting in and having to watch the few mortals you become close to grow old and die would make anyone depressed. He says vampires don’t understand why human cling to life, so it’s not like he ignores that people are going to die, but I feel like it really bothers him that, for example, Geralt will die one day. He also just gives me a feeling of not being happy with himself but burying and masking it. There’s definitely guilt from his younger years but like the little journal he kept by his bed, he questions his choices in life and is at times unsatisfied that he’s chosen to ostracize himself from his peers. I think that may cause some more guilt as well since the opposite is how he used to live when he was young. Idk, I can’t really explain it, and the examples I gave weren’t all of why I think this, but I just feel like he hides self-esteem issues under a guise of eloquence and intellect.

Song I associate with them: Okay don’t laugh, but going by lyrics I think of Boulevard Of Broken Dreams by Green Day. It’s frequently pointed out that he’s a loner and yet he seems to have a hankering for company. And now that I’ve written this down, I now have a vivid image of emo young Regis with black eyeliner and an MCR teeshirt jamming to Green Day.😂

Favorite picture of them: There re a TON of screenshots posted on tumblr that I adore but since I don’t want to repost something, I’ll include my favorite of the ones I’ve taken. (which isn’t a lot I need to work on fixing that. Getting screenshots off my ps4 is a bitch tho lol) I WILL, however, tag some of my favorite blogs that post amazing screenshots and other awesome witcher content. @wholelottatiffy @gharashambles @witcher-not-quitter @mackallackattack @assbuttfromhell

He looks all focused and badass. I also just like how he looks in candlelight.

I do not think the answers were supposed to be this long but boy do I have feelings about Regis lol. Thank you so much for the ask! Also if you follow me and don’t follow @dreamerlavellan, you need to! Both she and hers blog are amazing.

[ff15trashgoldenslumbers]

So because this was just rotting in my drafts and I figured I’d do nothing with it...Here you go...

So five-ever ago, I was to write a story about Noctis’s elder sister, and how she would mess with the story line, but with more fun prompts appearing in my inbox and not really wanting to do a whole story that was basically a 15 chapter monster, and the fact I hardly got beyond the plot line and this ultra dramatic scene. I stopped thinking about. 

Plus when DLC came out and more info was being prepared I just kinda forgot about it, so it’s been rotting in my drafts untouched as it was originally created before I even touched the game myself.

But! Because I’m a lover of the drama,I decided to post it as the rough draft!

So set up to the story:

At age 15 the elder Princess of the Lucian family, had gone to visit Tarabene when Noctis had become injured as a kid. The young Princess grew close to Ravus over the visit, but witness the death of Queen Sylva, before she could rush to tell her Father the truth, a man with red hair stopped her and erased part of her memory.

Regis holding Noctis, and a grip on Lunafreya’s hand rush to get out of the way of the attack that is on them. The young Princess is found stumbling about the field, Regis stops long enough to notice that his daughter is fine, passing her Noctis and taking both her and Lunafreya’s free hand and rushes to safety. Upon hearing Ravus calls for help, Regis stops when both the hands he’s holding stop. Lunafreya rushes to her brother’s side, Regis goes to call out for her, only to find Noctis back within his arms, as his daughter races toward Ravus.

Only for the Princess to be snagged by the back of her dress and pulled into her father’s arms, as he starts moving his children to safety. 

Regis holding both his children leaves the battlefield, trying to ignore his daughter’s harsh cries for him to turn around.

At the age of 18 the Princess starts courting Ravus, and soon the two are wedded. Much Noctis horror that his sister would ever marry Ravus, until her realizes just how in love she is with him. The Princess promises to visit every Spring before she is to be returned to her husband.

Prior to the fall, the group is tasked to take the Princess home, when they leave they notice that the Princess is in tears as she says goodbye to King Regis something she had never done before when having to return home if anything she’s always smiling.

Throughout the trip, she is seen as the elder sister to everyone in the group. Often making certain that the others are fine, and having no troubles stopping arguments. When the news breaks of the Fall of Insomnia, she explained that Noctis is now King and that he will have to take up the arms. The others watch the kind sweet Princess become rather harsh to the red headed stranger they meet.

The Princess in order to help the others get away, gives herself over the Niflheim Army as they wouldn’t hurt Commander Ravus’s wife. 

While waiting in Tarabene for Lunafreya to appear, Ravus visits his wife…

“Ravus? Ravus!” She called rushing toward her husband, holding him tightly. “Ravus you’re here!”

Ravus returned her embrace just as tightly, “Are you all right?”

“Yes.”

He pushed her away only slightly to look her over “Were you hurt? Were you in the city? Did you…”

She stepped back slightly shaking her head, “I was not there during The Fall.” She replied, turning icy blue eyes to her husband. “I was not there in person, but I’ve seen it. I saw everything that happened.”

Ravus glanced away, those of the Lucian line had strange ties to the Gods. He was aware of his wife’s dreams, as they often woke himself out of his sleep when he was able to spend nights beside her, by the woman gasping.

“Ravus,” 

That harsh voice made him looked to her, but Gods how he hated that look of that beautiful face of his wife.

“Ravus, did you know that My Father was going to die?”

No, holding back. No pause! She was furious! Still she had every reason to be so.

Ravus stepped forward his arms held out to the woman, “I did not mean,”

“You did not mean what!” She cried stepping back. “My Father, my Father is dead Ravus.”

Ravus tried another step forward, but she stepped back again, “I was not.”

“Did Ardyn hide this from you? I ran into him, he’s out their chasing the boys, my brothers.” She barked, angry tears spilling from her eyes. “Ravus, I saw it, I saw Daddy get ran through, I saw him die Ravus, he was right there. I couldn’t, I couldn’t save him. Just like I couldn’t save you.” She cried, her tears falling hard, she sniffed knowing that her makeup was running and that she looked nothing like the calm collected woman that always stood by her husband side.

“Please, there was nothing I could,” This time the High Commander was stopped in his tracks, by the strong slap of his wife. The sound echoing through out the room.

“Did you want this? Did you want me to suffer?”

Ravus glanced to the floor, “I should have never let you go.”

“Let me go? Let me go! Ravus I know you hated Daddy, I know you did, and because of what?” She cried, you never brought this up, but it tugged at her for years and the words fell before she could catch them. “You hated Daddy because he left you on the battlefield! At the moment he was not thinking as a King or a Warrior he was thinking as a Father! Daddy rushed Noctis and I off that field, he went to go after Lunafreya too. At the time I was too young and stupid to know that, but seeing Noctis and the others on the field, I understood what he did so much more. That’s why I gave myself over.”

“I…”

She lowered her hand still raised from her strike, “Ravus I want you to replace yourself with my Father that day, I want you to pretend that for that moment it was Lunafreya and myself what would you have done?”

Ravus’s dual eyes widen, “I would protect you.”

She raised her hand, cupping her husband’s cheek that only moment prior she had striked, “I love you more than every star in the sky Ravus, you are my husband, you are my heart. When we are seperated my body and soul ache for you.” She whispered. “I just don’t know if I am in this alone.”

Ravus quickly embraced her, “I love you so much. I do not say it much, and for that I ask your forgiveness.” 

“Ravus you are my Family, and Noctis and the boys, they are my family too. Some of what little I have left. Please help me protect them.”

Ravus pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead, “I promise.”

After the touching reuion with husband and wife, the Princess finds herself before Ardyn, demanding to know where it is that she has hidden Lunafreya. The only answer that the Princess supplies is that “A King can move only one direction, while a Queen have full rein of the board, Chancellor.”

The Princess ends up going to Alitissa to stay with Lunafreya, knowing that the others will try and make it to the Oracle and will need Noctis to form a bond with the Goddess.

Lunafreya is determined to summon Leviathan, the Princess agrees to escort her. When meeting up with the Goddess, the Princess offers herself in place of her brother and asks to have Noctis and Lunafreya spared. The Goddess explains that the Goddess demand a sacrifice of a Prince.

During the battle, Lunafreya saves Noctis, but is left weak, (unknown to everyone the Princess freezes Lunafreya prior to the battle, casting an island on herself to take the form of the Oracle) Ardyn runs the Princess through believing her to be Lunafreya. After dragging Noctis back to safety, he constantly states that Lunafreya is fine.

When alone with Ravus, who still doesn’t understand what his wife means and where his sister is, he becomes more aggravated until the Princess turns to him, tears in eyes explaining that a Prince was sacrificed to ensure that both Noctis and Luna would survive, before apologizing that she would never be able to have children with Ravus after the one they had lost when Ardyn stabbed her.

Ravus personally escorts them to the train, while his wife keeps messing with his arm. Upon boarding Ravus states he will not, “Allow another one he loves to die, and they are to protect the woman with their lives.” 

Most of the train scene is the same, Noctis and Gladiolus butt heads. Both Noctis and the Princess chase down the fake Prompto. Only for the wound Ardyn inflicted on the Princess back in Altissa to reopen, stopping the woman from warning Noctis that the Prompto he’s attacking is indeed a fake. So watches helplessly as Prompto is pushed off the train.

When Ardyn appears, and Shiva interferes freezing and shattering Ardyn. Shiva opens her arms to the Princess, apologizing fro all the hurt that she has gone through.The Princess explains that years ago, she attempted to trade her life to spare Noctis and the others, the Gods did not want that. Upon her marriage to Ravus she would have a child of both the Oracle and King’s line. 

When Ardyn killed the child in Altissa, the Princess was granted powers similar to that of the Immortal, yet by having Oracle blood run through her, due to her and Ravus child she is immune to the darkness that swallowed Ardyn. Yet with the child gone is is uncertain of Noctis’s fate.

After the Regalia breaks down, the group becomes separated. The Princess rushes to find Ravus, and manages to stop Ardyn from taking over the man. Going after Ardyn herself, she teleports Ravus away to Luna. As a last ditch effort the Princess summons a large amount of power before exploding,seeming to kill herself and Ardyn.

The Chocobros believing her to be dead are in shock, only to be confused when she pulls herself from the rubble, more worried about them than herself as she embrace them tightly quickly falling into a comatose state from the drain of power. Only to be awoken the crystal’s power, jumping from Gladiolus’s arms, she manages to grab Noctis’s arm, before being thrown back by the crystal. The woman crying and begging the crystal to take her instead.

After 10 years have pass, Noctis returns yet the Princess dawns a battle uniform, telling Ravus to remain with a frozen Lunafreya. Explaining should she pass the ice will shatter. She mets her brother fro the first time in 10 years. Protecting the others with her magic. She explains none can kill Ardyn but Noctis.

When Noctis moves to ascend the throne and bring back the sun, Princess takes his spot, calling to the gods, “I am first born of the line, the throne is mine. A prince was given up as you wish, and for I am the rightful rule of this line it is mine, Come to me!”

The gods not truly able to argue as they had taken a Prince of Lucian blood, an Oracle child, and that the Princess was first in line for the throne, she had never given up the prophecy would stand.  So they run her through, through tired eyes, she smiles to the others before falling.

The Queen falls, so that the King may live offsetting the Prophecy as a Queen was never expected.

During the epilogue, as Noctis ascends the throne to a new built Insomnia, he is shocked to see Regis and his sister standing there awaiting him. The Princess steps forward resting her forehead to his with a soft smile of, “Long live the king.”

[writingformeandyou]

A/N: Here’s another set that I managed to finish! I’m wanting this to lead into some comrades HCs so if you can give me opinions on allegiances before the fall of Lucis that will be great! I’ll probably also write your roles during the fall also because that sounds fun and slightly chaotic. I’ll leave things at this and I hope you have a good night/day. I LOVE YOU~

~mod Amic

Chocobros x Kingsglaive S/O

Noctis

At the beginning of everything, Noctis is with a Kingsglaive that actually went to school with him.

You are Lucian by birthright but their proficiency with magic didn’t go unnoticed so they were recruited into the Kingsglaive just before high school graduation.

Soon after that you and Noctis started dating, it was a sweet relationship.

Noctis and you would go out for dinner, you two would spar, you two even moved in together around the age of twenty.

Later though this would be all lost, Noctis was to be wed to Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae, something that even upset King Regis.

Regis was fond of you, he didn’t just see you as just a Glaive but he saw you as the person that his son loved but he knew he also could not command the old wall for long so he had to do something to help gain peace with Nifelheim.

Noctis was understandably upset when he was told that he had to end the relationship, he didn’t want to marry Lunafreya but as the prince he has a duty and this duty he has to take.

The guys are not surprised when you opted to remain in Lucis instead of joining them but when you send them off each one seems to bear his own emotion about the whole situation.

When leaving Noctis looks back at you with sad eyes and leaves..

You are left to your own vices so you return to the Kingsglaive base and hang out with some of your teammates.

The announcement of the treaty and it’s agreement has your teammates going mad and you have to resist the urge to complain as they do.

You love Noctis still so you don’t want to disrespect his father but yet… wasn’t his father the one who broke you two up?

You’ve heard whispers of an upcoming betrayal to the king but yet you still can’t will yourself to do such a thing.

The choice will need to come. Will you lash out at the king that destroyed your relationship or protect him as loyally as you have for the past couple of years.

Prompto

Need I explain how much you means to Prompto?

Prompto holds his relationships close to his heart so an S/O is not an exception.

We’ll go with the same background for the glaive, they are Lucian by birthright but their proficiency with magic didn’t go unnoticed so they were recruited into the Kingsglaive just before high school graduation.

I believe that this relationship might’ve happened sooner than Noctis’s so say you and Prompto became exclusive around prom.

Prompto loves you greatly thus meaning when he had to leave to pick up Noctis’s bride to be and you stayed behind deciding to resume your duties he would give you a big hug and would ask you to stay safe while he’s gone.

Prompto promises you that he will take a multitude of pictures and would bring you souvenirs from the trip so that he can share his experiences with you.

After the Regalia leaves your field of vision you decide to return to your duties and possibly get some sparring in with your teammates just to arrive in time for a briefing.

The briefing leaves your comrades disgruntled.

The briefing is about an upcoming treaty between Lucis and Niflheim… but all Lucian territories will be surrendered.

You are of Lucian blood but you can understand why your brothers and sisters in arms are so bothered.

There are rumors of an uprising, two different forms too. One that is meant to be a distraction, and one that is meant to draw blood.

What path should you take? Should you defend the crown’s decision, should you defend your friends’ decisions, or should you do your best to not involve yourself?

Ignis

You come from outside of the borders of Lucis.

Let's say you originate from the country of Tenebrae.

You and Ignis have a very patient and understanding relationship so the two of you understand that the other may not be around for all hours of the day.

With him handling duties with the crown prince and you fighting battles it is a wonder that you even manage to get time together.

Nonetheless the two of you support each other happily.

When Ignis leaves for his excursion with the guys you are there for the send off.

Ignis reminds you to take care of yourself, also reminds you of how much he loves you, gives you a kiss on the top of your head, and begins walking away though you can see he is almost reluctant to release your hand.

Before entering the Regalia Ignis gives you one more glance and waves.

You knew that you had a duty to attend to so you decided to leave even though the car was not out of your line of sight.

You arrived to where the glaive would often congregate and discuss the current happenings with a glaive when Drautos walks in.

You are floored when the news of the impending treaty reaches your ears.

You did not understand the point of it all and things turned for the worse when your comrades started getting at each other’s throats.

You’re fairly certain that you stopped a murder from taking place when everyone started fighting.

But you understand the tension.

You might’ve lost your home years ago but your brothers and sisters in arms haven’t and yet it will happen in only the span of a few days.

You are very disgruntled about the fate given to the territories.

Whispers of a rebellion have circulated and it is quite evident that something is happening.

What line will you walk? Will you seek out the rebels or remain steadfast and loyal? 

Gladio

For this one you are from a Lucian territory, your choice.

Let’s be frank, the two of you met during your careers in the Lucian military.

The two of you understand very well what your careers entail and because they are similar the two of you actually get a fair amount of time together.

There’s only one difference of importance between your careers and that is he is responsible for the crown prince and you are responsible for the country.

The two of you tend to ‘argue’ about who has a larger responsibility.

The ‘arguments’ amuse Iris greatly too because you or Gladio always cracks at the end and questions what the hell the two of you are doing.

Anyway Gladio loves you and feels bad to be leaving you for an unknown period of time, especially since you can go into battle at anytime but nonetheless you shoo him off and make sure he goes.

When at the send off Gladio is hugging and kissing you because he loves flustering you.

Just before leaving Gladio tells you to behave yourself and to not cause trouble with the other glaive.

You tell him that you can’t promise anything so he gives a hearty laugh and kisses you again before saying goodbye and walking towards the Regalia.

You know that as long as Gladio doesn’t cause any trouble he can protect the others from it so you walk away with a smile as the car pulls away.

You enter the congregation hall and talk to Tredd about possible upcoming battles and talk about plans that you and some of the other glaive have.

When Drautos enters the hall he comes in looking very… you couldn’t explain it in the moment but there seemed to be concern and something restless about him.

Drautos got to explaining some news you never wanted to hear.

Lucis was giving up its territories to the Nifs.

You never felt so betrayed before.

You’ve fought all these years to protect your home just to lose it.

Madness broke out as your comrades began arguing and you did nothing because you felt so unsure.

Eventually you received an email inviting you to join a rebellion- no revolution that would remove the king from power and give Nifelheim the advantage… but free the territories.

You do not know how to go about this because while you want to protect your home you’ve remained loyal to lucis for so long.

Your thoughts are treading a thin line and the decision is coming close.

Should you fight alongside the insurgents to restore your home’s freedom or should you remain as is and defend the king that betrayed your trust?

[amarabliss]

Oaths and Hearts - 6 (Ignis Scientia/reader)

So this is a crossover between FFXV and Dragon Age Inquisition.

You fell through a rift into the fade fighting the demons you swore to protect your world from. When you popped out you were no longer in the lands of Ferelden instead trapped in Insomnia. The gracious king allowed you to say recognizing power when he saw it. One thing led to another and now you were part of the procession of the prince to his wedding years later. Before the final battle, after years of fighting, losses, and love…your friend…your king…Noctis has asked you to change it all…

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

“It’s not that simple. It doesn’t work like that!”

“It is that simple, you just go up!” You looked at Nyx again before looking back at a glaive training, “You just will the magic up.”

“My magic does not do that.” You told him rolling your eyes, “I go anywhere on the field I need to…”

“Except for up, which can be pivotal in a strategic sense.” Nyx stood up holding his hand down to you.

“I have never had a problem before.” You took his hand as he hoisted you up, “I think you just like to show off.”

“Says the chick who supposedly took down a dragon?” He smirked as he pulled out his dagger from his back belt.

“Three dragons.” You held up your fingers before crossing your arms, “Not at the same time…but still three dragons.”

“Oh! Excuse me, I’ll remember for sure next time.” Nyx raised his hands up faking everything before he took a strong stance, “Now it’s really easy…”

“It’s not going to work.” You stood next to him, “I don’t warp…I-I…phase…”

“Well phase up!” He threw his dagger and landed on the upper floor of the training room before warping back down in front of you.

“You’re an idiot.” You smiled up at him.

“Yeah I know…” He moved behind you smirking, “Used to think that was part of my name, but then I figured out that ‘Nyx you idiot’… was not full my name.”

You laughed as he started pointing out targets in the distance.

“That was a good day.” You looked toward the voice as you stood in a void. Nyx was standing there, arms crossed in his glaive uniform smirking.

“Nyx…” He looked at you and you instantly teared up, “What is this place?”

“Neat isn’t it? Little bland for my taste, but certainly more spacious then my dirty old apartment, right?” He looked around a bit, “I’m not a king…so I can’t hang out with the rest of the crew, but I still get a little piece of the good Luci Ring space. I think King Regis might have a hand in that but…I don’t know how all this shit works…”

“Nyx…” You reached out slowly up to his face.

“I’m about as real as you’re going to get, your Ladyship.” He leaned into your touch smiling at you as tears fell down your cheeks, “Hey…hey don’t cry. No tears. Not for me.”

“You’re such an idiot…” You spoke through clenched teeth as he pulled you close rubbing your back, “What were you thinking… putting the ring on…”

“Ha, you are one to talk. You are millimeters from doing the same thing.” He chuckled pulling away to look at your face. His smile was sad, “God…I’m sorry the only way we get to say goodbye is like this, but…at least I can help you one last time.”

“I don’t understand…” You shook your head as his hands landed on his shoulders.

“What are you doing here?” Nyx stared into your eyes.

“Wh…I want to help Noctis.” You shook your head, “I need the power of the Kings…”

“Really? You need the power of the Kings to help a King?” Nyx smirked at you, “You wanna try that again?”

“Nyx, I don’t have time for this.” You glared at him, “I have people…”

“Make time.” His face became serious, “Seriously, Y/N, I need to hear your answer because once you step out of my corner of the ring, I can’t help you anymore.”

You stared at him as he let you go continuing, “Now, I have no doubt that if you stepped over into the realm of the Kings that they would grant you that power. You are far worthy then me and they gavee the power. Then you would succeed at a cost…a cost I don’t think you realize you would making.”

“I will do what I have to.” You took a step away.

“To do what? To protect Noctis?” He pointed away from himself raising his voice, “He doesn’t need you! Even King Regis himself knew that Noctis could take care of himself and sent him away from the city.”

“Don’t…” You looked away from him feeling tension rising inside of you.

“Nobody needs you to make this sacrifice!” Nyx shouted, “Especially not that smug faced retainer…”

“Don’t!” Your eyes snapped back to him, “Don’t do that…you know how much he respected you before you left on that mission…”

“Yeah I do…” He sighed slumping his shoulders, “But he doesn’t need you either…not the way you think…”

“I am doing this for him.” You stepped toward him feeling anger rise up inside you, “You don’t know what price he paid before. I will not let him suffer again…I am…I am doing this f-for him.”

“No you’re not.” Nyx shook his head he stepped forward, “And I think you know that…it’s never been about saving Ignis or Noct…”

You stared up into his eyes as he stepped close enough to rest his forehead against yours. You whimpered when his hand pressed against your stomach, “…Nyx…”

He stared into your eyes as his filled with pain, “You never told him…you bore that pain for years by yourself. He was blind…literally he couldn’t see the glow you have now, fade away from one day to the next. You just said you missed the sun…it made you sad, but what you meant was you missed your son…the life that you carry right now.”

“You can’t know that…you can’t…It’s too soon.” Tears blurred your vision.

“Funny thing about time here…it kinda happens all at once…” He smirked a little bit, “I flattered that you considered my name…didn’t think you’d want an idiot in the family.”

You let out a choked laugh as his hands came up brushing your tears away. “There has to be at least one in each family…”

“So, tell me…do you really need a King’s power?” Nyx brushed hair from your face, “Or can the love of a mother…like all mothers…scare away the monster?”

“…how…” You shut your eyes feeling so tired suddenly.

“What did Ignis tell Ellie?” He smiled as you opened your eyes again.

“But I’m afraid…” Ellie looked at you from her bed.

“Afraid? What do you have to be afraid of?” Ignis stepped into the room tilting his head a little.

“I don’t want to be alone at night…it’s too dark…” Ellie looked over at him as he approached, “the deamons…”

“The deamons will never be able to touch you.” Ignis knelt down smiling at her, “Do you know why?”

“No…” She shook her head staring at him.

“Because my darling, you are made of starlight.” Ignis beamed at her, “And nothing can smother starlight, even in death they become brighter until they burst forth spreading more light until it recollects again into another star. You will forever shine.”

“Really?” You felt the corners of your mouth curl up as you saw relief spread throughout your daughter’s face.

“Would I ever lie to you, my love?” Ignis stood up capturing her face with kisses getting her to giggle chasing any  leftover fears away. He tucked her in tightly before exited after you.

“Starlight…that’s a new one.” You whispered to him as you walked down the hall.

“It’s the only way to describe what I see…” You stopped in front of him as he adjusted the tinted glasses on his face, “Which is a light around her…not just her, you too. I always have. It’s similar to starlight, bright and pure.”

“You never said before…” You stepped up to him nudging his nose with yours, “Why do you think that is?”

“I have speculated…” He whispered against your lips, “It has something to do with your origin. You’re not from here…you’re a stronger force then the darkness that resides here…”

You laughed against his lips before he kissed you.

“Starlight…” You stared at him taking in a deep breath, “But...”

“You’re almost there…I can see you working the problem…” Nyx told  you quickly before looking behind you as bright light shined onto his face, “But you gotta make a choice…here and now…are you crossing the line or being the big bad Inquisitor I know you are?”

The moment was over. Nyx was gone, the ring a breath away from contact with your finger. You could feel the world around moving so slowly as you stared at it. Then everything went backwards, then forward again. You looked at Ardyn, smug grin plastered on his face. He wanted you to put it on.

You watched his face as you pulled the ring back away from your finger. Shock to anger. “Thanks Nyx…”

“Change of heart?” He glared at you coming to rest on some debris a short distance away from the broken bridge you stood on.

“Just needed a gentle reminder of why I’m here.” You took the ring securing it in your pocket. You pulled the hilt of the Enchater’s Blade to your side.

“So many questions…how will that broken trinket help you?” Ardyn smirked looking at you as you stood unmoving, “I was surprised when you came in slapping the dagger away from my hand saving the Oracle, even more surprised a small woman like you had the ability to block an attack of mine. You have so much tenacity in your eyes, it’s rather beautiful…it’s a shame I’ll have to take the light from them.”

You kept quiet as he jettisoned across the water over to you clamping a hand on your throat. You clenched your hand around the hilt pushing it against his side. His hold on your neck caused you to both to stumble backward as you summoned the blade.

His grip loosened enough to for you to speak when the blade pierced through him, “You keep asking the wrong questions…”

You ripped the blade from him spinning, quickly slashing again across his chest. He fell to his knees as you spoke, “You keep asking who I am? What I am doing? You never once asked what I am?”

“A witch…” He spat at you, black ooze dripping down his face, “it is the only reasonable explanation. One of the Oracles spirits…”

“If only…” You whispered kneeling down next to him, “no…I’m a mother and I will not let you destroy this world…their world.”

You raised your hand up into the air summoning a force you had not used in such a long time. Pain seared up your arm as the familiar green hue filled the sky. You watched as he looked up with fear at the swirling vortex that had joined the Hyperion’s storm, “What are you doing?”

“Whatever it takes…” You felt a tear roll down your cheek as he pushed you away grunting to his feet. You latched on to his coat as he warped away you in tow with him. You could practically hear Nyx calling you a cheater.

Ardyn looked back at you as you both slammed on a roof, “Damn you!”

“I will not let you stay here.” You stood summoning the Enchanter’s Blade again, “I gave my word…”

“To who? That pathetic excuse of a prince?” He pointed looking over at Noctis still twiddling away at the flying beast who claimed to be a god before he launched a flurry of attacks at you, “He cares not for you!”

“Maybe he doesn’t!” You shouted back eyes burning as you fell down to a knees blocking the attack as best you could, “But it changes nothing.”

“Stop this foolishness…What mother would leave her children to fight a losing fight!?” Ardyn scowled at you his true nature beginning to show through. As hard as he tried to push it away the darkness inside of him surfaced, “Leave this ridiculousness and go back to your family.”

“Then let us be done with this!” You phased toward him pushing your marked hand against his face.

He let out a roar as you summoned forth the rift magic in your hand. Out of the corner of your eye you saw his blade hand rise and there was nothing you could do as he drove it through your leg. You let out a loud cry.

“You can’t kill me.” He growled as bits of him began to peel away drifting upward toward the rift.

“No…but I can put you so far into the fade where the deepest nightmares will even frighten you.” You spit back.

“Noct!” Gladio ran forward with Prompto on his heels. They ran over to their friend who had landed exhausted next to Luna, “Are you okay?”

“As good…as…” Noct spoke through large breaths.

“Be still Noctis.” Luna told him rubbing his shoulders, “You did what you must…but it took a great deal of energy.”

“Something he’s not used of having.” Prompto poked fun at him.

“Shut up…” Noct looked up at the sky, the wind had died down but the sky still swirled a bright green vortex, “Where’s Ignis?”

“Luna!” All them looked over seeing Ravus running forward. Luna stood up as he ran to her embracing her tightly, “Thank the Six…oh…you live…”

Following behind him was a disheveled Ignis. His face was toward the sky eyes wide with fear. Gladio stepped over to him quickly, “Iggy…what’s wrong?”

“Where is she?” He whispered quickly.

“What?” Gladio followed his gaze, “I’m not getting it, you gotta give me more.”

“Y/N…where is she?” Ignis met his friends gaze, “Sh-she wasn’t answering the radio…she…and then…I saw this…”

It was beginning to connect now, “Ignis we don’t know…”

“This is her…she…gods…” He looked panicked and it was freaking his friend out.

“Ignis, stop…stop!” Gladio grabbed onto his arms.

“She went after Ardyn.” Everyone’s eyes shifted to Luna as she stepped away from her brother, “She came here and…she saved my life, so I could protect Noctis. She’s still fighting him…she took the ring…

“We have to do something…” Ignis stepped forward again, “Ardyn…whatever he is…”

“I see her.” Prompto’s voice rippled to his ears. The blonde was looking through his camera, “Oh my god…what is she doing to him?”

“What…what do you see?” Ignis pleaded with him.

“I don’t…I don’t know. It’s like…she’s…dissolving him. They’re right at the center of that thing…” He moved the camera away still staring up.

They all watched holding their breath as a burst of light filled the sky. A large gust blew down on them sending debris their way. Gladio moved in front of Noctis summoning his shield just in time.

Ignis shielded his head bracing himself. When it died down, he looked up seeing the sky clear free of the rift. His eyes moved around frantically trying to find you.

“There!” Prompto’s sharp eyes found you and he pointed, “She’s falling!”

“Y/N!” Ignis ran to the edge of the alter eyes landing on your limp body falling through the air.