#who also happened to be the emperor of the country he was currently in

[syncopatedid]

Thinking out loud about The Apothecary Diaries #19... and my observation on how many have expressed disdain about Jinshi's muted reaction in rushing to get treatment for Maomao's injury. How could he remain so calm when the one he cares about is unconscious and bleeding? Why was he not running out of the temple with Maomao in his arms, flailing and yelling for a physician? Why was he not more distressed about it? Anyone would have lost it upon seeing their loved ones hurt like that, would they not? And to that, I'd like to offer this for consideration: Jinshi isn't just anyone. He is the Crown Prince. And to add an extra layer of nuance, consider also that Jinshi, attending the purification ceremony as the Crown Prince, meant that all eyes were on him that day.

Even undercover as an eunuch, Jinshi takes great care in conducting himself with the propriety expected of his role, only ever letting his guard down with a select few whom he trusts enough to have his full immaturity on display. In all likelihood, Jinshi has been made aware of his status and the politics of the palace since he was young. It's not a stretch to assume that the allegiances and loyalties of people who serve the palace are constantly in flux. Everywhere we turn, we see politics at play; amongst the court officials, the Emperor's consorts, and even the handmaidens serving their respective mistresses.

In earlier kerfuffles, when it came to protecting Maomao from being bullied by the handmaidens, Jinshi would approach it in a way that his actions would not be seen as favoritism towards Maomao. Jinshi also didn't cry when he was seeing Ah-Duo off, and would only allow himself to be vulnerable when he was alone with Maomao. In every situation where we see him acting in an official capacity, Jinshi is always conscious and careful about how he is being perceived. So it goes without saying that appearing as the crown prince that day, Jinshi knows his every action is being watched and scrutinized by the people around him. Any move that could be potentially perceived as "weakness" or "unbecoming" of a successor to the throne could start rumors that might reach the enemies of the state, who could use that intel to sow discord among the common people or persuade disgruntled officials to turn against the current regime. The fact that the crown prince's life has been targeted only serves to remind him that there are those actively plotting to destabilize the kingdom by causing massive panic and chaos. Jinshi knows the weight of his role and cannot act impulsively in any situation, even if it's about someone he deeply cares about.

When we consider the above, it would be understandable why he showed as much restraint as he did when it came to what had happened to him and to Maomao. He's used to putting the needs of the country above his own all his life. To step out of the temple maintaining the dignity of royalty after an assassination attempt has just been made on him sends a message of defiance to the ones who were most certainly watching somewhere. And while sullying his hands with the blood of a mere servant girl might send some tongues wagging, Jinshi's composure and quiet indignation would cement his position not only as a man befitting of his lineage but also as a man not to be underestimated. Just something to think about. p.s: As much as I think Jinshi is seething with rage, I kind of feel he would still hold back on the death sentence when it comes to meting out punishment to the guard who was only doing his job, let alone when it's about a servant's disobedience towards a ranked official... so maybe Jinshi could still spare his life and throw him to the gallows or something. That won't matter anyway, since Lakan will probably use his connections to see that he will not live long enough to serve out his full sentence RIP get wrecked!

[pillow-anime-talk]

his pregnant girl.

synopsis: A little slice of life scenes where his significant other is pregnant.

# tags: headcanons; current marriage relationships; slice of life; soft romance; mostly fluff; maybe a bit of comedy; pregnancy; mention of faint and vomit; sfw

includes: female reader ft. qin shi huang, adam, jack the ripper & nikola tesla {ror}

author’s note: i just woke up, thought about it and wrote it. enjoy :)

— QIN SHI

↘ When Ying Zheng saw you for the first time, he thought you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen; you had a lovely and gentle smile, your eyes sparkled in the sun like the most pretty gemstones, your skin looked healthy and tidy, and you were wearing a flowery dress that was perfect for the current weather in the city. That day, the Emperor went for a walk to the capital to see how his people were doing. However, the moment he saw you – when you were buying fresh fruit from one of the sellers – his thoughts were only focused on you and your blushes. On the same day you were brought to the palace as the first concubine, although you quickly felt something more for the King of China and he also felt the same in a very short time.

↘ Qin Shi Huang never had any more concubines; you completely occupied his mind and heart by being by his side until the very end. In the meantime, however, you began to spend private time with each other: talking, eating together and walking around the gardens in the huge palace. Those were really beautiful and memorable years for you.

↘ A few long months after your first meeting, after you moved into the palace, and after becoming the country’s first empress, a huge, loving smile lit up your face. The trusted doctor that day gave you very important information and as it turned out – you were pregnant. You almost cried at the news, thanking the doctor for his help. At first, you suspected food poisoning because of the morning sickness, but the information of having a small child under your heart, the fruit of your and the Emperor’s love, was the best thing that could have happened to you.

↘ As soon as your beloved returned to the mansion, you asked him for a private conversation. He instantly sent all the gathered guards away and took your hand. For a moment he was afraid that you were sick, that you didn’t love him, that you wanted to leave, but the truth turned out to be completely different.

↘ “...I’m pregnant.” You whispered a simple sentence, touching your slightly swollen tummy, and the man frowned. “The baby is doing well at the moment, but I was recommended daily visits because this will be our first kid.” You added quietly. After a short while, you felt a warm touch of fingers on your cheeks, and then a light kiss in the middle of your lips.

↘ “I am very happy, my Queen. I hope he or she will be born healthy.” He whispered and you nodded shyly. “Now you have to take care of yourself more than before. I’ll ask the maids to fill the tubs with warm water. If you want, I can join you. I want to see you.” He added directly to your ear and you blushed instantly on the cheeks. Even if Zheng was the Emperor, he was your husband in the first place... a bit of a playful and provocative husband.

— ADAM

↘ You realized something was wrong when your tummy was bigger than it should have been – of course you could have blamed it on eating too much fruit or drinking too much water, but that wasn’t it. You felt different; a little insecure, a little weird. For the next few days you were looking for answers to your ailments, stomach pains, swollen fingers and ankles, slightly aching spine.

↘ “... Are you okay, Y/N?” A calm voice reached your ears and you looked up at the fair-haired, handsome man who was lying on his back in the grass and looking up at the night sky. You hesitantly touched your stomach, shaking your head. You already knew the answer to your question yesterday, but you were still getting ready to confess the truth to your partner. “Tell me what is going on.” He said, this time looking straight at your face. His eyes were calm, slightly tired, but still full of warmth.

↘ “I have... a child in me, Adam.” You spoke softly, almost inaudibly, but the man understood your words perfectly. He lifted his head a bit and then the whole body. A second later he walked over to you sitting on a flat rock. He touched your face hesitantly, looking for a bit of a joke in you, but when he couldn’t find one, he just smiled. “You are mad at me?”

↘ “Where did this idea come from?” He asked surprised as he sat down next to your person. His arm wrapped around your waist and his hand touched your swollen belly. “It’s mine, so I love it. I love you too.” He said confidently and you sighed in relief. “When will I be able to see her? Or him?”

↘ “Oh, I don’t know.” You admitted slightly amused, then touched your tummy as well. “Sometimes I feel it moving. I think it’s healthy.” You said, nodding your head and your lover hugged your body tighter to his. You looked definitely different than a few weeks ago, but still the most beautiful in Adam’s eyes. Your eyes were feisty, your hair got a beautiful golden flash, your complexion definitely improved.

↘ The state of blessedness was a time full of worries, but also assurances that you two will be fine.

— JACK

↘ You and Jack have been trying for a baby for many months. Your relationship was strong and connected by marriage, so the child was the next stage of your love and confirmation of your feelings. However, it was difficult for you to predict whether the expected pregnancy was already developing in your womb or not yet; so far you have not felt any pain or nausea, on the contrary, you felt very well. Nevertheless, one day, you found a trusted doctor who had successfully provided prenatal care to many local pregnant women. After a short conversation with a middle-aged man, you were examined.

↘ “... I’ve been working for many years and if my experience doesn’t deceive me... I can say at this moment that you are expecting a baby.” He said in a calm tone. “All of my patients had the same symptoms as you, including amenorrhea and increased appetite. I can’t tell how many weeks the baby is currently, but I assume it’s the second or third month of pregnancy.” He added, and then on a slightly yellowed piece of paper he wrote you some recommendations for taking care of your health in the coming weeks. You almost passed out after leaving the cabinet, but the excitement was overwhelming in your mind. You quickly returned to your apartment in a small tenement house, where your partner was waiting for you.

↘ He was about to drop a cup of beautifully scented tea as soon as he looked into your eyes and noticed the bright orange aura surrounding you. Your aura was strong and visible like never before.

↘ “M-My darling, are you okay?” He asked anxiously as your hand embraced his much larger, slightly colder, hand. “Everything’s all right?” He asked again and you nodded your head, hugging his body as quickly as possible.

↘ “Honey, I think I’m pregnant. I went to the doctor and he said it’s the second or third month.” You whispered, a bit ashamed. Your partner looked at your belly and then at your pretty face. He instantly hugged you tighter, smiling. He was so happy and fulfilled.

↘ “My lady. Even that, we can make sure of the doctor’s words and talk about it in the bedroom, what do you think about it?” He said in a low voice, making your nose blush. You only nodded your head in response and a moment later the man lifted your body up.

— NIKOLA

↘ You’ve known Nikola since... always. You were best friends who grew up together and over time started to feel something more about each other. Nikola was a man with a big heart, both for science and for people who were especially important to him – his beloved brother, the rest of his immediate family and, most of all, you.

↘ You were a harmonious couple who supported each other always and regardless of the situation. You were proud of your husband’s zeal and achievements, of his inventions, of his failures, of all his attempts, of his small and big mistakes, of his great desires, of his smile and much more. You supported him as much as you could, always offering him a hot meal, a sweet or a cup of fresh coffee. Sometimes you would come to his studio to spend some time with him and talk. Sometimes you helped him with his ideas and not infrequently your reasoning helped him get things going.

↘ Not one invention has been named after you or the first letter of your name.

↘ As an engineer’s wife, you knew many things; you could construct a simple mechanism, describe it, you could calculate difficult mathematical formulas and you read books with interest. So when your body started changing you knew you might be pregnant; all the girls close to you had similar or even the same symptoms as you. You’ve been thinking for a long time about telling the truth to a man who is currently dealing with his greatest work in life. But if you hadn’t done it then, you probably wouldn’t have had the courage to do it later.

↘ “... Honey, do you have a moment?” Upon entering his studio, you asked uncertainly, shaking a brown basket filled with food. Your lover nodded quickly and tightened the last screw, then came over to you, kissing your forehead. “Your favourite.” You added and he just chuckled and thanked you.

↘ You sat in carefree silence for a while. Your fingers brushed the hem of your dress and your eyes wandered from one corner of the room to the other. Finally, the man asked if you were feeling unwell. You sighed, playing with the sleeve of the clothes.

↘ “I’m pregnant, Nikola.” You giggled in your soul, looking at his face.

↘ A fork with a piece of meat fell on the table next to important papers and your husband looked at you in indescribable shock. It took him a moment to recalculate what you just said to him, and then he felt that the world around is getting darker... and darker.

↘ “Nikola?!” You screamed, catching his body falling to the side. Although the reaction at first scared you, the moment your partner woke up, you experienced the greatest love attack of your life. The man gave you soft kisses all over your face, shouting every now and then that he would be a father and that he would name his next invention after your son or daughter.

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Don't you think it's funny cause actual canon gay characters in BL manga will say "I love you" but only the shounen bromance can spew out some of the most romantic shit akin to a 19th century poet writing a letter expressing his surpressed love for his lover 😭.....

Genuniely can't tell if it's bait or not, but I'm going to treat this ask seriously anyway.

Here, have some examples of beautiful and poetic expressions of love in BL media!

I'm going to start with my favourite murder husbands, Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu from Word of Honor/Faraway Wanderers!

This happens in episode nine, less than one third into the story- it's that early, they've known each other for like a week and are already able to tell they're meant to be. They've made their decision to be together, and over the course of the story:

They defend each other multiple times and fight side by side in multiple episodes, sometimes protecting their adopted kid/mentee Chengling as well

Zhou Zishu is willing to go against the whole martial arts society for his boyfriend. With zero hesistation, might I add.

They both know the other has done horrible things (lots of murder on both sides here) and that's not only okay, it's a big part of why they're soulmates and get each other so well!

Zhou Zishu is slowly dying (poisoned nails in his chest, long story) and Wen Kexing can and will risk his life to save him. Don't worry, they get a happy ending both in the show and the novel even if the show's last episode is behind a paywall and Netflix didn't even include it for some reason?

But enough about them, let's move on to the immortal fantasy genre boyfriends Hua Cheng and Xie Lian from Heaven Official's Blessing!

Please note how Hua Cheng is ready to accept Xie Lian in whatever state he's currently in- as a god, a fallen outcast, even grieving and angry and at his absolute lowest. He's stood by Xie Lian in his worst moments, even if at the time Xie Lian had no idea it was him.

Hua Cheng has loved Xie Lian for 800 years, ever since he was a boy Xie Lian saved from falling to his death during a procession.

Xie Lian became a god, then fell due to horrible circumstances, almost committed a war crime against another nation that destroyed his country, spend 800 years wandering the mortal realm as a poor cultivator with his powers greatly reduced, and eventually ascended to become a god again. Throughout it all, Hua Cheng loved him and did his best to help him and then find him.

They're both adorable and the definition of a power couple once they're reunited- no spoilers, but they eventually fight an incredibly powerful god side by side and win & the last scene in the story is them reuniting for good since there's no more obstacles to their immortal love.

Let's move on to my favourite Japanese BL, Our Dining Table (also available as a series that came out semi-recently, but the examples below are from the manga.)

Yutaka is a lonely salesman who meets Minoru, a restaurant worker and his much younger brother Tane grieving the death of their mother.

Yutaka and Minoru hit it off by bonding through food they cook and share. The series is incredibly heartwarming, and as seen above Yutaka becomes a much happier person thanks to both his new relationship and big brother-like bond with little Tane.

As a little bonus, the whole found family together!

This post can't be complete without Golden Stage (or Golden Terrace, as the English official translation calls it).

Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan aren't even in love at this point! This is at the beginning of the story, when their marriage has just been arranged by the emperor and they're still bitter rivals.

Yan Xiaohan is already protective of his future husband- later on, he also builds him a mansion meant to accommodate his disability (nerve damage in both legs, which requires a wheelchair and/or crutches). They're both incredibly powerful military generals, and the emperor was an idiot thinking an arranged marriage would humiliate them.

Of course they fall in love, of course they're a power couple, of course they send each other letters through trained geese when they're separated during the war, of course they run to each other as fast as they can across a wide cold river when they're finally reunited! Of course they're important to me!

....Aaand how about some Wangxian to wrap up this post? They need no introduction, an absolutely wonderful and complex relationship in a complex fantasy/intrigue story available in several forms - the books, the animated series (as seen above), the live action series, the audio drama, there's so much!

Some of their most beautiful moments:

Lan Wangji writing a song for Wei Wuxian and naming it Wangxian. Years after it's composed, Wei Wuxian plays it and LWJ is able to recognise him even in a different body.

LWJ begs WWX to come with him to Cloud Recesses, to safety, after WWX makes himself an enemy of the whole cultivation world for protecting innocent people.

They confront the final villain together, and work together to expose his crimes. This is also when their final love confession happens, and it's hilarious- in front of everyone's salad, WWX declares he also wanted to sleep with LWJ.

Despite censorship, the animated series was still able to allude to their wedding, showing them in red wedding robes (unfortunately can't find a gif rn)

Respectfully, if you genuinely think BL doesn't have beautiful love confessions and displays of romance, you need to find better BL.

[emblemxeno]

Ideas for a Fire Emblem Game

Hi, I wanted to post my ideas for some things I'd include in a Fire Emblem game, because I never shared a creative thing of mine on here before.

I have outlines for Lore, General Plot, Themes, Chapters, Characters/Personal Skills, Classes/Unit Types, Weapons and Items, and one Other thing.

This is LONG. The longest blog post I ever made, so I'm putting everything under the cut. I don't really know if I wanna do anything more than this, since I've never written fanfic before, but maybe I'll be inspired to do so in the future if I feel like it.

Lore

---For lore inspiration, I drew from the Four Symbols in Chinese culture. I'm using their Japanese names because FE is a Japanese series.

---Backstory is that before life existed, there was emptiness. Then suddenly a flash of light that led to life. Unfortunately, one these lives was a Gold Demon Dragon (Kohryu) that threatened humanity. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, four divine beings defeated and drove off the Demon: Seiryu, Suzaku, Byakko, and Genbu. They were celebrated across the continent, and before their passing, four countries formed and took their names in reverance. Over time, the four kingdoms began a cycle of going between feuding/warring with each other and peace time, eventually leading to each country evolving into their current forms with new cultures and aesthetics, with only the names of their deities and a shared faith remaining.

---The countries are the Genbu Kingdom, a snowy northern land famed for its knights and with Norse/Germanic aesthetics; the Suzaku Theocracy, a southern desert country home to the major religious establishments and Egyptian aesthetics; the Byakko Empire, a meritocratic temperate western land covered with forests and jungles with Yoruba inspirations; and the Seiryu Dynasty, a relatively isolationist island nation that's the capital of the arts, famed for war ships and dragon riders, and Japanese inspirations.

---Each country also has their own holy artifact, said to be the concentrated powers of their deities; Genbu's Black Tiara, Byakko's Pearl Bracelet, Seiryu's Jade Sigil, and Suzaku's Fire Emblem. These artifacts are responsible for maintaining magical balance, for advancing warriors to new levels of power, and granting mysterious cognitive powers, such as preserving historical records and premonitions of possible immediate futures.

General Plot

---Four main characters to parallel the Four Symbols. The primary main character is a jaded but compassionate young Dark Mage/Savant of mixed ancestry, who comes from a village on the Genbu border that houses families from different cultures and countries, which serves as thematic foil to the countries at large being at odds aside from annual conferences. Dark Mage is raised by his father, a retired Genbu knight. After displaying remarkable tactical and diplomatic skill in quelling a long time bandit group, the Dark Mage/Savant and his father are invited back to the Genbu capital to sit in on a conference between groups of country representatives.

---There he meets the other main characters, a suave Swordmaster/Hero from Suzaku, a melancholy Falcon Knight/Valkyrie from Byakko, and a brash Dancer/Kabuki from Seiryu. Genbu's royal family (including a generous prince), Byakko's imperial entourage (including the emperor himself), and Seiryu's dynasts (including a branch family chancellor) are in attendance, as well as the high bishop of Suzaku standing in for the holy family, the reason for this being a civil war happening within the theocracy and each side lead by heads of the holy family, a sister and brother.

---Unnerved and annoyed with the pomp and circumstance of the conference, Dark Mage exits the court in a fit, which both tenses and intrigues the important figures there. Under surprising circumstances, he and his father are employed by the high bishop to help end the civil war, with direct assistance from Genbu knights. The high bishop also gifts him the Fire Emblem, Suzaku's precious holy artifact.

---Dark Mage/Savant employs cold yet efficient tactics, weaponizing the power of words and rumors to minimize as much direct combat as possible by causing the rebel forces to crumble from within. Eventually the civil war is ended in Suzaku with much less bloodshed than expected, a feat that Dark Mage/Savant is celebrated for, especially by his Swordmaster/Hero compatriot, who takes a liking to him.

---However, everything is turned upside down upon returning to Genbu, where warfare and destruction runs rampant. In the chaos, the boy's father is seemingly killed by an unknown magic user. The boy's party escapes to the borderlands, where the other main characters (Swordmaster/Savant, Falcon Knight/Valkyrie, Dancer/Kabuki) meet him and relay what's happening: the prince of Genbu committed treason and slew his family with support of forces from Byakko's emperor and Seiryu's chancellor, all in a grand scheme to forcibly unite the continent under one banner once more.

---After regrouping, the main characters make a risky play to topple the Byakko Empire from within, with covert support from the now defending Suzaku Theocracy. Despite Byakko's renowned military might, its merit based society is fragile and on the verge of mutinous infighting due to the disparity of privilege and strength in its population. Fed up with her country's unforgiving and misguided way of governance, the Falcon Knight/Valkyrie personally takes command and leads the party to liberate her countrymen, in the name of fighting for the weak. Due to these surprise attacks and waning support from his people, the Emperor is killed in a last stand, and the Byakko Empire is now allied with Suzaku under the guide of the Falcon Knight/Valkyrie.

---Taking the next step to secure the alliance, the party heads to the border, but is locked into a battle between their forces and the combined might of the Genbu Prince and Seiryu Chancellor who were targeting a battalion lead by Suzaku's high bishop. Repelling the forces, the party take the high bishop into their protection, where they are also greeted by surprising guests: apparitions of the Four Divine Deities.

---Big lore drops happen. The high bishop explains that another player in this conflict is his would-be successor, a nihilist bishop who, through forbidden magic, gained the power of the ancient Gold Demon Dragon, Kohryu. The deities reveal that they didn't defeat Kohryu, but rather they are all facets of the Demon, having split off from each other upon bearing witness to humanity's beauty. This fact was lost to history over millennia and the ascent of the deities to a new plane, but after their passing, they left their powers encased in artifacts to support humanity's progress. However, this proved to be a double edged sword: were their powers to ever be reunited, it would spell the return of the Demon. Despite this, this also meant that the deities still had ties to the plane of humanity, and could descend back through a divine prophecy: "Bearers of our virtues, through our caller we may return, grant our gifts, and become one with the land beloved."

---Through a divine rite led by the high bishop, the four main characters are bestowed divine powers and weapons. Coming to terms with her country's misdeeds, the Dancer/Kabuki calls for the party to launch an offensive on the Seiryu Dynasty. Upon arrival to the island nation, the Dancer's/Kabuki's resolve serves as inspiration for disillusioned commoners and lower ranked nobles to rise against their home's ambitious chancellor.

---As the party fights further into Seiryu, it's revealed that Seiryu's dynastic family had been turned into puppet figures by the chancellor, who was blackmailing them with secrets of past crimes committed by the nation yet hidden from the public. Seiryu's chancellor, Genbu's prince, and Byakko's emperor all shared ideologies: they believed their continent has suffered disarray and tragedy due to being split apart, and humanity will stay weak and at war with each other unless forcibly united under a single banner. In a previous conference, they were all approached by the high bishop's successor/the nihilist bishop, who promised power and influence through religious dogma as tools to further all their ambitions.

---The chancellor and her loyalists are defeated, and the family dynasts freed. The family decides to divulge their secrets to the public: their ancestors once sought to use forbidden magic on their holy artifact and, by means of war, declare full independence from the rest of the continent and dissolve the legitimacy of the church, one of the few remaining unifiers that the continent had left. This was discovered by the high bishop at the time, and this plot was ended before it began. As punishment, the dynasty's secret was used by the church and the other countries as leverage to justify possible pre-emptive subjugation in case of future wars. This information was privy only to the leaders and other high ranked officials in each nation. Despite this being done under the guise of keeping the peace, this act ironically exacerbated tensions between the nations as well as the church, with more and more conflicts sprouting throughout centuries due to shifting power dynamics.

---The final piece of the puzzle falls into place. The high bishop's successor had lived a life of tragedy. He was orphaned at a young age by bandits in a Genbu village. The Genbu knights were warned about a rising bandit group terrorizing more and more villages, yet they did nothing to quell this problem until it was too late for many families. The future successor began wandering, rejecting his homeland of Genbu. When he was too weak to make a life in Byakko, and the decadence of Seiryu disgusted him, he turned to the church in Suzaku. There he finally found solace; that is, until the years of secrecy and backstabbing (as well as the origins of the Four Deities) was taught to him in preparation for his succession and responsibility. This was his breaking point, and he began a plot to erase humanity from the face of the earth. As a religious figurehead, he devised to use forbidden magic on the holy artifacts in order to combine them and bring back the Demon. He enthralled ambitious leaders of the nations, manufactured the Suzaku civil war through lies to draw eyes away from him as he came into contact with each artifact, and planned the grand war to afford him time to further complete the Demon's resurrection.

---To end this war, the party marches back to confront this nihilist bishop as well as Genbu's prince. A sideplot has been occurring alongside the main one ever since the party's first major attack on Byakko: a dangerous, ghostly horseman has been appearing in various battles, seemingly targeting the Dark Mage/Savant main character relentlessly. This turns out to be his father, corrupted by the nihilist bishop's attack back when Genbu was usurped. The father's mind became distorted; while he was supposed to be killed and brought back as a soldier under the influence of the Demon, his previous contact with Genbu's holy artifact (because he's a pre-promote) in combination with his strong willpower and love for his son led to him instead surviving and becoming a rogue, unpredictable force. While he would previously attempt to settle things peacefully or justly, now he would slaughter those who angered him (ironically, this happened to be to the detriment of the nihilist bishop, whose soldiers were often victim's of the father). However, his killer instinct and longing to see his son again became entangled with one another, leading to him attacking his blood. Before the party of heroes is able to advance on Genbu's capital, they take on the Dark Mage's/Savant's father one more time, and thanks to their newly bestowed divine powers and access to three of the artifacts, they are able to ward of his corruption and revive him.

---This, in turn, leads to the deities regaining more of their powers, as they themselves were born from the Demon. They take the father's corruption/darkness unto themselves and once again take physical forms to assist the party in their final battles. The party faces off against magically resurrected knights, court officials, and even the former king, queen, and princess, before finally meeting the prince, who has gone mad in combination from his actions during the war and his side's continuing losses. The party defeats him, and eventually confront the nihilist bishop. However, this is a trap! According to the forbidden rites, "To revive the Demon, a soul of emptiness must be freed from the shackles of flesh to serve as host." Killing the bishop brings back the Golden Demon Dragon, Kohryu. In a last stand the party throws all of their might at the Demon, but in order to destroy him for good, the Four Deities decide to use their very lives to do so. They ask their inheritors to make a world for all, where love can bloom freely, and light will always pierce the darkness.

---In the epilogue, each nation goes under reconstruction: the father of the Dark Mage/Savant is elected Knight Lord of Genbu's new kingdom; the Falcon Knight/Valkyrie recruits a roundtable of people from different walks of life to push Byakko into a direction of charity; the Dancer/Kabuki works with the dynasts to end the nation's isolationism and is on the verge of a cultural renaissance as a result; the heads of the Suzaku Theocracy and the high bishop tirelessly fund international reconstruction and provide sanctuary for war vicims, with the Swordmaster/Hero working as ambassador; the four main characters routinely meet up to journey together for days, even weeks at a time so as to maintain their bond and love for their homes.

Themes

----I intended the themes for this plot to be: rejection of destructive nihilism and misanthropy; rejection of both isolationism and forced unification, instead promoting mutual cross-cultural trust and companionship while still respecting each other's borders; the power of words and diplomacy, for good and bad; the idea of true strength comes from a foundation of wanting to help your fellow man despite differences, rather than one of everyone simply being under one banner (i.e. not having differences to possibly clash over at all).

Chapters

Here are what I outlined for chapters and character join times. I also have an idea for paralogues being accessed through memory events a la the memory prisms in FE Echoes, and completing them gives Bonus EXP, but I haven't thought far enough ahead as to what the paralogues would be.

Prologue-Page of History: M!Dark Mage/Savant, M!Sword Paladin, M!Fighter, MtF!Pegasus Knight

Chapter 1-Compassion: M!Myrmidon, M!Soldier, F!Archer

Chapter 2-Rare Opportunity: M!Mage, F!Priest

Chapter 3-Hall of Pride: F!Sword Armor, F!Lance Armor

Chapter 4-March to Suzaku: F!Axe Cavalier

Chapter 5-Desert Divide

Chapter 6-Faithful Clash

Chapter 7-The Ruthless Strategist: M!Thief, F!Hunter

Chapter 8-The Weight of Words: M!Fighter

Chapter 9-Vision of Love: M!Swordmaster/Hero

Chapter 10-Shattered: Lose M!Sword Paladin

Chapter 11-Tooth and Nail: F!Falcon Knight/Valkyrie, F!Kabuki

Chapter 12-A War For Whom?

Chapter 13-Braving The Forest: F!Dragon Master

Chapter 14-Duty to Protect: FtM!Lance Paladin, M!Sniper, M!Axe General

Chapter 15-Tiger’s Keep: M!Tamer

Chapter 16-Imbalance: F!Sorcerer

Chapter 17-Value of Strength

Chapter 18-Brink of Collapse: F!Sage

Chapter 19-The People’s Champion: F!Halberdier

Chapter 20-The Four Gods

Chapter 21-Turning the Tides: M!Saint, M!Dragon Lord

Chapter 22-The Jade Dynasty

Chapter 23-Betrayer’s Resolve: F!Trueblade, M!Druid

Chapter 24-Desperate Measures

Chapter 25-Sinking Below: F!Assassin, F!Falcon Knight

Chapter 26-Catharsis

Chapter 27-A Future’s Cost

Chapter 28-Welcome Home: Re-gain M!Sword Paladin/Great Knight

Chapter 29-Snowfall Memories

Chapter 30-For Our Children: M!Manakete, M!Phoenix, F!Beastkin, F!Guardian

Chapter 31-Court of Ice

Chapter 32-The Bloody Dais

Chapter 33-Emptiness

Finale-A World For All

Characters and Personal Skills

---I haven't come up with names for anyone besides the Four Deities lol. All I have are personal skills (which for the main characters change as they are granted divine powers at the end of Chapter 20, and the Dark Mage's father when he returns after being cured of his corruption). I made the Personal Skills powerful because I envisioned no other skills in this game, offensive or otherwise. Personal skills and equippable items are the name of the game in team building here.

M!Dark Mage/Savant: (Pre-Chapter 21) Understanding-Allies within 3 spaces recover 5 HP per turn/(Chapter 21 onward) Compassion’s Pulse-When this unit uses a healing/support staff, grants Def/Res +5 to target allies for 1 turn

M!Sword Paladin: (Prologue-Chapter 10) Doting Father-Enemies suffer Def/Res-5 for 1 turn after combat with this unit/(Chapter 28 onward) Stalwart Father-Str/Spd +5 if HP > 50%, Def/Res +5 if HP < 50%

M!Fighter: Stubborn Ox-Def/Res + X for the rest of the current map, with X = number of times this unit has taken damage (max = Def/Res +5)

MtF!Pegasus Knight: Unicorn Dame-Female allies within 2 spaces deal +3 damage and take -3 damage

M!Myrmidon: Like Water: Grants Spd +3 and Avo +15 when foe initiates combat

M!Soldier: Seeking Strength: Str + X for the rest of the current map, with X = number of enemies this unit has defeated (max = Str +5)

F!Archer: Hidden Vitriol-Damage dealt +5 when initiating combat

M!Mage: Young Elemental-Use ‘Adept’ Command to attack two foes within range at 50% damage each

F!Priest: Open Warmth-Allies within 4 spaces take -2 damage

F!Sword Armor: Brash Beauty-Unit can move 3 more spaces in the cardinal directions

F!Lance Armor: Sly Sister-If unit’s HP > 50%, grants Mov +2

F!Axe Cavalier: Idle Idol-Use ‘Rally’ Command to grant Dex +8 to and gain support with units within 3 spaces

M!Thief: Plucky Spy-Unit is immune to poison, and gains Avo+20 when attacked by an offensive staff

F!Hunter: Seasoned Huntress-Deals X more damage during combat, with X = number of spaces this unit or enemy moved before combat began

M!Fighter: Atoning Brigand-Hit/Avo/Crit/Eva +20 during combat when adjacent to an ally

M!Swordmaster/Hero: (Pre-Chapter 21) Charm-Hit/Avo +10 to allies within 3 spaces/(Chapter 21 onward) Lover’s Visage-Hit/Avo +20 to all allies on the map

F!Falcon Knight/Valkyrie: (Pre-Chapter 21) Solidarity-Crit/Eva +10 to allies within 3 spaces/(Chapter 21 onward) People’s Champion-Crit/Eva +20 to all allies on the map

F!Dancer/Kabuki: (Pre-Chapter 21) Performer-Use ‘Dance’ command to give an adjacent ally another action/(Chapter 21 onward) Divine Actress-Use ‘Dance’ command to give all adjacent allies another action

F!Dragon Master: Draco Madame-Use ‘Rally’ Command to grant Def+4 to and gain support with units within 3 spaces

FtM!Lance Paladin: Haughty Baron-Male allies within 2 spaces deal +3 damage and take -3 damage

M!Sniper: Smooth Operator-Use ‘Potent’ Command to add an extra strike at half damage during combat

M!Axe General: Thundering Giant-Use ‘Advance’ Command to move 1 space toward a foe that is 2 spaces away and attack with double weapon might

M!Tamer: Crafty Hermit-Grants Crit +30 when not adjacent to an ally

F!Sorcerer: Grand Enchantress-Using a healing or stat boosting item applies the effects to both unit and adjacent allies

F!Sage: Author of Spells-Deals X more damage during combat, with X = 2 * the number of tomes in unit’s inventory

F!Halberdier: Famed Officer-Grants Avo/Crit + X, with X = how many enemies are left on the current map

M!Saint: Heaven’s Caller-Staff range +5 and AoE +1

M!Dragon Lord: Draco Gallant-Use ‘Rally’ Command to grant Str +4 to and gain support with units within 3 spaces

F!Trueblade: Passing A Legacy-Use ‘Rally’ Command to grant Spd +4 to and gain support with units within 3 spaces

M!Druid: Font of Knowledge-Use ‘Rally’ Command to grant Mag/Res +4 to and gain support with units within 3 spaces

F!Assassin: Earth Walker-Unit deals effective damage against all enemies at the cost of avoid rate being cut in half

F!Falcon Knight: Wings of Hope-Str/Spd/Def/Res+4 and Hit/Avo +10 when fighting a higher leveled enemy

M!Manakete: Azure Dragon-Mag/Dex +5 during combat to units within 3 spaces

M!Phoenix: Vermilion Bird-Spd +5 and Avoid +10 during combat to units within 3 spaces

F!Beastkin: White Tiger-Str +5 and Crit +10 during combat to units within 3 spaces

F!Guardian: Black Tortoise-Def/Res +5 during combat to units within 3 spaces

---Here are allegiances/nationalities as well, I made sure that each nation has an equal amount of characters in the party:

Genbu Kingdom, Winter, Norse: F!Genbu, M!Dark Mage/Savant, M!Sword Paladin, M!Fighter, M!Myrmidon, F!Sword Armor, F!Lance Armor, F!Axe Cavalier, F!Assassin

Suzaku Theocracy, Summer, Egyptian: M!Suzaku, M!Swordmaster/Hero, M!Soldier, F!Archer, F!Priest, M!Thief, F!Hunter, F!Sage, M!Saint

Byakko Empire, Autumn, Yoruba: F!Byakko, F!Falcon Knight/Valkyrie, MtF!Pegasus Knight, M!Fighter, M!Axe General, M!Tamer, F!Sorcerer, F!Halberdier, F!Falcon Knight

Seiryu Dynasty, Spring, Japanese: M!Seiryu, F!Dancer/Kabuki, M!Mage, F!Dragon Master, FtM!Lance Paladin, M!Sniper, M!Dragon Lord, F!Trueblade, M!Druid

Classes and Unit Types

-I brought back Radiant Dawns 3 tiers of classes, Engage's unit type systems, and the Trinity of Magic.

-The Weapon Triangle and Trinity of Magic each function like Engage's Break system, but the Weapon Triangle requires damage to be dealt to Break a foe, while the Trinity of Magic's version is called 'Seal' and doesn't require the foe to be damaged, only for a hit to be made; this is to possibly incentivize using magic against other magic users.

-There are no promotion items, as the holy artifacts are used to promote. Every character has a level ranging from 1 to 30. At level 10, units auto promote to tier 2 classes. At level 20, tier 2 units auto promote to tier 3.

Myrmidon (Sword) - Swordmaster (Sword) - Trueblade (Sword)/Hero (Sword, Axe)

Soldier (Lance) - Halberdier (Lance) - Sentinel (Lance)

Fighter (Axe) - Warrior (Axe, Bow) - Reaver (Axe, Bow)

Archer (Bow) - Sniper (Bow) - Marksman (Bow)

Thief (Knife) - Rogue (Knife) - Assassin (Knife)

Sword/Lance/Axe Armor (Sword/Lance/Axe) - Sword/Lance/Axe General (Two Weapons) - Marshall (Three Weapons)

Mage (Anima) - Sage (Anima, Staff) - Archsage (Anima, Staff)

Priest (Light, Staff) - Bishop (Light, Staff) - Saint (Light, Staff)

Dark Mage (Dark) - Sorcerer (Dark, Staff) - Druid (Dark, Staff)/Savant (Dark, Staff)

Sword/Lance/Axe Cavalier (Sword/Lance/Axe) - Sword/Lance/Axe Paladin (Two Weapons) - Great Knight (Three Weapons)

Hunter (Bow) - Tamer (Bow, Knife) - Fenrir (Bow, Knife)

Pegasus Knight (Lance) - Falcon Knight (Sword, Lance) - Seraph Knight (Sword, Lance)/Valkyrie (Sword, Lance)

Dragon Knight (Axe) - Dragon Master (Lance, Axe) - Dragon Lord (Lance, Axe)

Dancer (Knife) - Kabuki (Knife)

Guardian (Breath)

Manakete (Breath)

Beastkin (Strike)

Phoenix (Strike)

Prince (Lance) - Usurper (Lance)

Heiress (Anima) - Chancellor (Anima)

Emperor (Sword, Axe)

Demon (Breath)

The unit types below apply for the entire class lines

Backup: Myrmidon, Soldier, Fighter, Hero, Demon

Covert: Archer, Thief, Dancer

Armored: Sword/Lance/Axe Armor, Guardian, Emperor

Mystical: Mage, Priest, Dark Mage, Savant Manakete, Heiress

Cavalry: Sword/Lance/Axe Cavalier, Hunter, Beastkin, Prince

Flying: Pegasus Knight, Dragonknight, Valkyrie, Phoenix

-The Hero, Savant, Valkyrie, and Kabuki classes are tier 3 excluive promotions for the four main characters when they're blessed by the Four Deities. Guardian, Manakete, Phoenix, and Beastkin are the classes of the Four Deities. Prince/Usurper, Heiress/Chancellor, Emperor, and Demon are enemy exclusive classes.

-Pretty much all the classes are self explanatory as they return from previous FE games, but special mention to the Hunter/Tamer/Fenrir line. I combined the classic Hunter/Nomad class with Engage's Wolf Knight, just so I could have another class to work with.

Weapons and Items

---S Rank Weapons are named after gods/things in various mythologies, Prf Weapons were bestowed from the deities onto their champions

---5 slots for weapons, and 3 slots for items

Swords: Iron, Storm Sword (D), Steel, Armorslayer, Wyrmslayer, Killing Edge, Levin Sword (C), Silver, Tempest Blade, Wo Dao (B), Brave (A), Heimdall (S), Ivory Blade (Prf for Valkyrie)

Lances: Iron, Javelin (D), Steel, Ridersbane, Killer Lance, Flame Lance (C), Silver, Spear (B), Brave (A), Ogun (S)

Axes: Iron, Hand Axe (D), Steel, Hammer, Killer Axe, Hurricane Axe (C), Silver, Tomahawk (B), Brave (A), Hermóðr (S), Scarlet Cleaver (Prf for Hero)

Bows: Iron (D), Steel, Killer Bow, Longbow, Radiant Bow (C), Silver (B), Brave (A), Yemoja (S)

Knives: Iron (D), Steel, Killer Knife, Rune Dagger (C), Silver (B), Brave (A), Horus (S), Jade-Sea Fan (*)

Anima: Fire (D), Thunder (C), Blizzard, Bolting (B), Bolganone, Excalibur (A), Izanagi (S)

Light: Lightning (D), Shine (C), Divine, Purge (B), Aura, Nova (A), Isis (S), Golden Void (Prf for Corrupt Bishop)

Dark: Ruin (D), Nosferatu (C), Luna, Swarm (B), Goetia, Waste (A), Izanami (S), Ebon Verse (Prf for Savant)

Staves: Heal, Mend, Physic, Obstruct (D), Restore, Rewarp, Freeze, Silence (C), Recover, Warp, Rescue, Fracture (B), Fortify, Entrap (A), Osiris (S), Vegvisir (Prf for Savant)

Items - Useables: Vulnerary, Antitoxin, Elixir, Pure Water, Stat Tonics, Torch, Seraph Robe, Energy Drop, Spirit Dust, Secret Book, Speedwing, Dracoshield, Talisman, Goddess Icon, Arms Scroll

Items - Equipment: Renewal Ring, Speed Ring, Mystic Ring, Prayer Ring, Canto Ring, Paragon Ring, Weapon Brace, Full Guard, Chain Guard, Sword Band, Soldier Band, Fighter Band, Archer Band, Armor Band, Pegasus Band, Wyvern Band, Mage Band, Thief Band

Other

----In between chapters, you go back to a base a la the Tellius games. There you view/manage characters, sort inventory, shop and forge items (bringing back paint jobs for weapon forges cuz that's fucking cool), participate in limited number of activities to improve support and gain bonus exp (arena, walking together, managing stables, secure provisions, and eat together), view support conversations, and view base conversations and memory prisms, as well as past custscenes and music.

EDIT: ----Forgot to mention that the holy artifacts are the new rewind features, hence why I described them granting powers to view the immediate future. With each artifact obtained, you gain 5 more rewinds, but given how I planned the story, you'll have just 5 for a long time, then 10 after defeating the Byakko emperor, and 15 after defeating the Seiryu chancellor. I guess after defeating the Genbu prince, you'll then have 20, but there's only 2 chapters left after that... meh, guess it still works.

But there's still a mid-battle save feature like in Engage.

EDIT 2: Had to edit stuff out, like taking skill scrolls out of the useable items list, forgot to delete that when I decided not to include skills

[atomosphericnonsense]

The thing is as a gay black man in popular music Lil Nas X was always going to get hate and vitriol from conservatives, he’s just leaned into it for the sake of marketing and comedy, which is truly the only thing he could do if wanted to somehow get something out of the inevitable. When he sang “a sign of the times every time that I speak” in masterpiece track Call Me By Your Name, he was truly speaking the truth. Because when Old Town Road came out there was controversy, a whole big controversy about whether or not the song was country! It wasn’t on purpose it just happened because Lil Nas X is black!! The whole 7 era he was just releasing amazing music, with inspired videos that had vivid and captivating visuals! He tried minding his own business, and people could not handle him existing! So he decided to be hilarious, while and I cannot emphasize this enough, also delivering truly beautiful and thought provoking art! The J CHRIST video is fucking hysterical, this whole build up of “I’m escaping the industry and becoming a Christian” only to then release the Crucifixion mech suit was just like watching a loony tune train crash, you know what’s coming and you know that it will be backed with a slide whistle. And this is very clearly the perfect leading single, “is he up to something, only I know,” Lil Nas X continues to execute the flawless strategy of pissing off people who will already be pissed off anyway while continuing his rise to Supreme Pop Emperor. Anyone thinking this Strategy is overdone seems to be functioning under the delusion that the conservatives obsessed with lil nas x would react in any other way if Nas decided to drop the biblical concepts from his videos and music.

Anywho looking forward to the next release and currently only listening to J CHRIST <3

[nekodere07]

Grian Reincarnation Curse HC AU

(/p because I wanted it to be)

Obligatory "also posted on AO3" link

Grian and another Hermit/friend have been cursed to die when he reaches 20 yo and reincarnates over and over again by the gods (interesting if it's one of the Hermits and not an OC) if he can't figure out who he's soul bound with. When his 20th birthday comes, he only has 3 days to find his reincarnated friend before they die again.

The problem is, Grian is so afraid of interacting with other people since he regains his memory of his 100+ past lives, so he knows all the tragedies that unfold before him, either losing his friends by a third party or his own hands to save his own skin. A few times he lost them when he can't control his powers and destroyed an entire country in one night, reducing it into a large sink hole.

Not only Grian has to find his soul bound from amongst the people around the world, he also has to deal with tragedies that are bound to happen 100% despite it seems to be impossible. The god/s said that it helps "spicing things up", so he really needs to be careful of accidents or even as simple as misunderstandings to not die before the expiration.

Grian's soul bound/friend doesn't remember every reincarnation, making Grian's situation harder than it already is

The previous soul bounds are every Hermit/Life Series/Emperor, but the soul of his friend is still the same. It's just they changed appearances, personalities, and identities every reincarnation, but Grian's appearance barely changes compared to them (on purpose by the god/s)

The current and last soul bound is either Pearl/Mumbo/Scar before the curse is finally broken permanently

(Have I told someone that I'm obsessed w/ reincarnation trope?)

[ofdreamsanddoodles]

sorry i'm still thinking about greedling crusader kings nonsense. i'm not going to have the energy to write out a fic so i have to write it out here

ling comes back from amestris like "i have found immortality by sharing my body with a humonculus" yadda yadda & lets greed front to rip out their chest to prove it

emperor is understandably pretty Impressed. he gives the rest of his children a month to find something better or else ling & greed become king. (greedling also has to consent to being studied by the emperor's most trusted doctors in the hopes of giving him a similar immortality but they know that wont happen so its like whatever)

cue: country-wide panic

the older siblings form an alliance of What The Fuck Who Said He Could Do That where they each try & find a way to cut down greedling & put themselves in power instead, which is what they assumed would happen if no one could find immortality in the first place

new forms of poisons are invented Specifically to fuck over greed but ling has lived like this his whole life so most of the time he just. doesn't drink it

one of the siblings tries to find blackmail on him, correctly assuming that immortality must come at a Cost but mostly what he finds is that he was spotted a lot with a state alchemist, which COULD be suspect because it proves he could have an allegiance to another country but this specific alchemist also happens to embody all the ideals of their "golden" immortality so it kind of cancels out

one sibling is like "well maybe he's immortal but his friends arent!" but the only one currently in the country he hangs out with is lan fan who is immune to assassination attempts

younger siblings are like "hell yeah! one of us actually managed to figure it out!" so ling actually forms a lot of alliances with the kids who were also in the later ends of the succession line and offer their own intelligence agents to ensure that his siblings don't actually manage to put a dent in his rep before he becomes king

may shows up with the envy jar! she knows she's been beat so she just asks for resources so that her clan can usher in a new age of alkehistry science & study Jar Boy (thus also giving them the money they need to survive) she also brings scar bc she wants to study his tattoos

siblings try and put a hit out on her because she's clearly now favored to take over if something happens to ling but scar is so terrifying they can't bribe anyone enough to keep it up for long

at the end of the month ling brings ed to the emperor & says that he was invaluable in getting ling to his state of immortality & wants to reward ed by making him his First Wife (<-political title, not a gendered one) & ed shows off some of his alchemy

the emperor is so impressed because he never even thought of marrying a man so he thinks this is a great political strategy

at this point the rest of ling's siblings just kinda. give up

[randomnameless]

The thing is, in JRPG's churches were originally a good thing. They were the place to go to heal, revive or remove curses from your characters and at times the player character was chosen by some deity. Just look at the Dragon Quest games, which are to the Japanese the definition of fantasy much like LotR is in the West. While there was the SMT franchise, in Breath of Fire 2 on the SNES the Church being bad was meant to be a twist because it went against the perception of Churches in RPGs. Later on, Final Fantasy Tactics and especially Final Fantasy X made it a lot more common.

If you ever want to see a really cool take, Breath of Fire 4 really depicts humans as bastards and the gods/dragons are beings they called down to their world against their will. It ultimately ends with the player being given a choice whether humans are worth saving, either playing as the final boss and wiping out the party or rejecting that, stopping the final boss. The final boss wants to wipe out humanity because, while he was benevolent, the atrocities he's seen humanity commit (in order to kill him so the current emperor can maintain power of the empire the final boss founded) turned him against them. And even then, when defeated his belief mankind doesn't need gods anymore results in the gods, summoned against their will to serve humanity, return to their home while the MC becomes mortal (while another god remains, and this was a prequel to the previous games where she was a party member or at least an ally). But then again, one of the villains is still around and he says he can make as many "gods" as he needs for his plans, again highlighting how humans are the problem.

Oh I forgot to mention Golden Sun too in the list of games i've played that had that "old/classic" vibe to it and had mostly... churches/temples used as places where you're resurrected or purify curses without any "gods bad" - the closest thing to a God this verse has is actually a giant rock trying to prevent people from destroying themselves by sealing magic (sure, at the cost of the world and its people disappearing into nothingness, but the sequel basically proves him, sort of, right because when magic is unleashed the cast was manipulated into launching a WMD and that has several consequences like, a lot of people (even named characters!) dying, cute NPCs and to make it sting even more, you can interact/talk with the corpses of the people who died (basically their spirit hasn't left yet, and you have some NPC going all "I was living my regular life, then I heard a sound and now I'm like this, what happened?")).

I'm sure some people already thought about it more than me at 10pm lol, but basically, I wonder if those games emphasis on "humans can be shitty themselves" wasn't tied to a certain mindset that was prevalent in the 80-90-00s Japan, like humans do their shitty stuff, which summons/results in a "higher being" either punishing them or being a consequence for their shitty stuff, "higher being" must be convinced that humanity can change and thrive to do better, rinse and repeat.

I confess I've never been a fan of the FF franchise nor followed it at all but basically as @zeroabyss said, in the Tales franchise the various Churches/Gods (Spirits the Tales verse!) are more nuanced, you have corrupt/shitty people, nice people, etc etc.

Xillia had the novelty of the protag choosing to become God, because the current one shits on humans (because humans shit on spirits to survive!) when basically God should protect both humans and spirits and thanks to a McGuffin everything works out in the end ! Until Xillia 2 happens, but the second opus, while dealing with spirits and all, also gives more meat to the "how humans try to live together" angle and well, it's not all roses and sunshine - sure some spirits can be asses and not like humans that much, but even humans themselves, because they come from different countries, find ways to hate each other (there's even a subquest where you pwn a bunch of racists civilians/NPCs turned enemies for this special fight that are named "drunken man" "uptight girl" "crabby old lady" "self righteous man" etc etc lol)

[hubristicassholefight]

Swordswoman Showdown Round 1 Part 2

Alanna of Trebond (The Song of the Lioness) vs Mu Nihuang (Nirvana in Fire/Langya Bang)

(Better here in a "preferred character" sense, not "who would win in a fight")

Propaganda below cut

Alanna of Trebond

Literal lady knight, has never lost a duel as King's Champion

Disguised herself as a boy to train as a knight and learn the sword. Practices with a giant sword to increase inductance. Finds (is found by?) a special magic sword. One of the best swords people in her country.

She was the first lady knight in Tortall in centuries and paved the way for other lady knights like Kel. She's also a shortstack hero who regularly kicks butt. Won several sword fighting tournaments against her male peers while disguised as a man.

Can't stand the idea of getting sent to a convent, so she switches places with her twin brother and disguises her gender to go off and become Tortall's first lady knight. Engages in much sword-wielding badassery, not just through inherent talent but through working twice as hard as the boys who skate by on their size and comparitive strength. In later Tamora Pierce books she shows up again as a mother, but even having kids doesn't stop her from going off and doing more heroic sword-swinging. H*ck yeah.

She’s her realm’s first Lady Knight in centuries and a genuine hero. She disguised herself as a man to earn her shield. She was the King’s Champion for decades; One of the first major women heros in YA fantasy, from the 1980! According to the author, if Alanna had the words for it, she would be gender fluid

disguised herself as a boy entirely to learn swords and become a knight, becomes the first lady knight in her country in centuries; Alanna is so iconic that decades of queer fans have seen themselves in her and any author signing is accompanied by a mob of sobbing millennials over how much finally meeting and thanking the author for writing Alanna meant to them

Mu Nihuang

She's introduced to the narrative riding to the gates of the capital at the head of a caravan. She sees two characters we've just spent a couple of scenes getting to know, grins with delight, draws her sword, jumps off her horse and engages them in a two-versus-one duel, handily defeating them after a short exchange of blows and promptly complimenting them that they've obviously been practicing, because she would have won much faster last time. She's the most eligible bachelorette at the Imperial Court due to her control of a personal army of several hundred loyal soldiers. She's a respected general, whose favoured tactic is to personally lead a cavalry unit to outflank the enemy on a daring raid to kill their general, at which point the superior discipline of her troops will win the day; I'd love to say more about the quiet tragedy of her deep love for Lin Shu and the way she circles around Mei Changsu for most of the story, full of love and respect and pain from past loss, but if I get into it I'll have to do the fandom's traditional ritual: lie down on the floor, try not to cry, and cry a lot.

She arrives on screen to duel two competent swordsmen to a standstill (while her former (current? unclear) fiancé pines piningly from a distance). She's highly ranked on the in-universe BuzzFeed listicle of Swordspeople Who Will Kick Your Ass. When she's manouvered into being the prize in a martial arts contest for her hand, she stipulates that the winner has to defeat her to truly win, which is generally recognised as Not Going To Happen; She's also extremely proficient with a polearm on horseback, being the Gandalf-at-Helm's-Deep to everyone else's Everyone-Else-at-Helm's-Deep in a climactice battle. Also, she is just. So very ready to overthrow the emperor. (He deserves it.)

[oraclemoontarot]

Hi can you do what is ode ideal type and what kind of girl is he interested to?

hii ofc!! i already did a reading on ode's ideal type here:

xdinary heroes ideal type

but here's a more detailed version including how he would be like in a relationship ♡ thank you for your request !!

ode as a boyfriend (+ his ideal type) - tarot reading ★

disclaimer - for these readings i only look at current energies, take these as a grain of salt too as they are for entertainment purposes only!!

his ideal type ★

ode wants someone stable, possibly good with money yet also generous and humble. he wants someone who works hard to achieve what makes them happy, someone who strives to be better. he also wants someone who makes him feel at peace, someone who he can simply be. ode is attracted to the queen of swords - people who are intelligent and great with words - they could be witty, but also stand firm in their beliefs while also setting clear boundaries. he wants to be with someone who feels familiar - like a friend yet also a partner.

ode would also likely want to be with someone who is from the same background/culture/country.

ode wants someone who enjoys life's simple pleasures - like the small moments: drinking wine, enjoying the arts like music and galleries, simply being together and experiencing life.

within a relationship ★

ode in a relationship, especially at the beginning, will be inspired, excited and bursting with ideas. he may start planning dates and activities he and his partner can do together. he'd be passionate, determined and loving. he would want the relationship to last.

ode would jump straight into the role of boyfriend - he would be committed and would constantly be learning and growing. he wants to be better for his partner, especially as he would be the emperor card when it comes to relationships. he would be protective, committed, and supportive. ode wants to be someone his partner can lean and depend on - to strip away burdens and worries.

however, he may tend to put his partner before himself. it is important that he balances between the needs of his partner and his own.

his worries ★

ode might fear/avoid change and may also fear heartbreak. this could link to his fear of change such as breaking up.

if something upsets him within a relationship, he may focus on the negatives too much or hold grudges. it is important that he looks at the whole picture rather than focusing solely on one thing. instead of dwelling on his doubts, he should remain hopeful when change happens.

overall ★

ode would be patient when it comes to relationships. he will be committed, supportive and put in a lot of work to make sure it lasts long-term. he would love to set goals with his partner and work on things together but also plan lots of activities and dates - the relationship would be full of adventure, fun and comfort.

[jurakan]

Fun facts about the Crusades?

Today You Learned about Frederick Barbarossa.

I wasn't planning to use his profile pic from Wikipedia, but I just thought it looked kind of funny.

Born in 1122, Friederich I, nicknamed 'Barbarossa' because of his red beard, was the Holy Roman Emperor. This dude has a reputation as a badass. See, the Holy Roman Empire (not the same as the Roman Empire you probably think of) wasn't quite as awesome as it had been in the past, so Friedrich wanted to fix that. Upon ascension to the throne, he solidified his power base, did international politicking like a pro, made friends with the Pope (though his relationship with the Papacy later turned sour), and proceeded to wage several major campaigns in northern Italy to re-establish Holy Roman presence there.

He grabbed the relics of the Three Magi and put them in Cologne, Germany, where they're kept to this day. He worked hard to get Charlemagne canonized--which kind of happened, by an antipope though, so it doesn't actually count for us Catholics. He built a friendly rapport with the Byzantines. And then he built tons of family connections by getting kids hitched to Italian nobles.

Also! Fun fact: while he later put a tax on the Jewish population of his kingdom, he also passed laws protecting them, and punishing anyone who would preach against or harm them. Which in this point of history is mind-blowing.

Dude didn't have a spotless record, but he was a certified badass and experienced statesman.

And then the Third Crusade happened.

After a sermon pitching another Crusade, Freddy Barbarossa asked an assembly if he should take the Cross. The crowd overwhelmingly cheered for it, and so he did, making preparations to go East and free the Holy Land. And this Crusade was going to be AWESOME, right? Three Kings on Crusade: Frederick Barbarossa, Philip II of France, and... some guy from some island people hardly cared about.

[That last one's an exaggeration, but I'm doing it for dramatic effect so stick with me.]

Philip and the other guy decided to sail. Friederich went over land, with an army a hundred thousand strong, with tens of thousands of knights. This was THE SHIZ, man, he was going all out. They had some opposition on the way, because some kingdoms don't like it when you march an army through them! But they pushed through, and this was going to be the Most Awesomest Crusade Evah. Saladin was quaking in his boots.

So, uh... yeah, he stopped somewhere on the way there, and uh... drowned.

Goshdarnit, Friederich.

There are conflicting accounts as to how that happened. Some say he went swimming across the river and drowned in unexpectedly strong currents. One account says he got thrown from his horse and drowned because he was in his armor. Some (including some Saracens) declared it was God's punishment.

Regardless of exactly what happened, we still had a dead Holy Roman Emperor. A lot of his army just packed up and went home. Philip of France saw that the biggest guns for this operation were gone, and decided he's also turn around. Without Frederick Barbarossa, it was going to be a bust.

And so that third guy, that nobody from a backwater? He decided not to go home. He decided, "Screw it! Frederick's dead, and the French are leaving! I'll do this Crusade on my own!" And he did; it made his career (and arguably bankrupted his country). For his role in the Third Crusade, Richard, the last guy standing, was later known as "King Richard the Lion-Hearted".

[Okay, so England wasn't exactly a backwater no one cared about, but it wasn't considered as important as France or the Holy Roman Empire. Richard helped make them more noticeable on the medieval world stage.]

For whatever reason, some people decided that it was difficult to believe that Frederick got himself killed so lamely. So there's a popular German legend that came up in the Middle Ages claiming that he's not dead, he's just sleeping under a mountain somewhere, and will pop back up when he's needed.

Of course, given German history, you can probably guess what unsavory sorts co-opted this story, or the imagery of Frederick as the great warrior king, while also forgetting that he put up historic protections for the Jewish people. The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union was titled "Operation Barbarossa" after this guy.

Nazis suck and they lie about history. What else is new?

Putting the 'fun' back in 'Fun Fact', Barbarossa's death is also a major Plot Point in the novel Baudolino by (the notably anti-fascist) Umberto Eco, where it's turned into a bit of a mystery. Also there's a lot of weird stuff in that book, and Barbarossa's death is maybe the least weird thing going on.

Hope this was an enlightening Fun Fact for you!

[purplehairedwonder]

Chapter 1080: Holding Out for a Hero

Man, the events happening outside of Egghead continue to be fascinating, don’t they? We’re going from one Emperor’s territory last week to another’s this week, as this chapter takes place entirely on Hachinosu.

So, Blackbeard took Coby hostage with the intent of using him to bargain with the World Government to make Hachinosu an actual country with Blackbeard as king. 

This is an unexpected development. On the surface, it lines up because Blackbeard is quite power hungry, and what could be more powerful than a king? It worked for Doffy for a decade. We also know he wants to be Pirate King, and this would make him king of Pirate Island... a kind of Pirate King, I suppose. My assumption, though, that Blackbeard’s desire here is part of a larger plan, like him becoming a Warlord to get access to Impel Down. The question is what next step this might lead to, though.

Could he be scheming to gain access to Mariejois at the next Reverie? (Yes, I’m aware the next one isn’t for four years; we’re also talking about a guy who stayed with the Whitebeard Pirates for twenty years before making a move.) Let’s not forget the existence of the national treasure that Doffy mentioned needing the Ope Ope no Mi for?

(And where is Blackbeard currently? Oh, you know, just fighting the owner of the Ope Ope no Mi.)

Anyway, Blackbeard assumes the World Government will go out of their way to rescue their young hero, but Coby tells him that is not going to happen because...

And, according to Kuzan (who many also believe to be a member of SWORD), the World Government won’t negotiate over a member of SWORD.

Slight tangent, but this explanation doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. If the members of SWORD have resigned their commissions, doesn’t that mean they’ve literally quit their jobs? How are they still employed by the Marines (e.g., we saw Coby escorting the Dressrosan entourage to the Reverie)? And, if members of SWORD resigned their commissions, then the World Government would be aware of who the members are, which seems counterintuitive for a group that is the direct opposite of CP0/Aegis.

Hopefully we’ll get more clarification here, but the explanation is, well...

Aaaaaaaaaanyway, Blackbeard plans to try to negotiate anyway because the optics will be terrible if the World Government doesn’t help the hero of Rocky Port.

SPEAKING OF ROCKY PORT. We got another mention. And it turns out Rocky Port was on Hachinosu this whole time?!

That’s quite surprising for a few reasons. One, it means that apparently civilians live on Hachinosu, not just pirates (as Coby became a hero for helping civilians). Two, it likely means that Law made it all the way to Hachinosu during the timeskip. My boy was just jetting all over the New World while preparing to take down Doffy, wasn’t he?

I need to know what happened at Rocky Port, Oda. I’m begging you. (I wrote some other thoughts about Rocky Port in a separate post here.)

Another wrinkle in this whole thing is that Perona has arrived to rescue Moriah, who apparently is not dead after all. 

The fact that Blackbeard took Moriah captive rather than killed him seemed to support the idea that he’d take Law hostage rather than kill him if he comes out ahead in their fight.

Another thing we learn in this chapter is which members of the Blackbeard Pirates are present on Hachinosu: Shiryu, Avalo Pizarro, Vasco Shot, and Sanjuan Wolf. (Also, some of their Devil Fruits are wild. Pizarro’s seems like an upgraded version of Pica’s, for instance.)

Meanwhile, Blackbeard, Van Augur, Jesus Burgess, and Doc Q are at Winner Island, facing off against the Heart Pirates.

That leaves Lafitte, Catarina Devon, and Kuzan to be on the ship heading for Egghead.

At the end of the chapter, the cavalry arrives. We meet some more members of SWORD, including Tsuru’s granddaughter. 

I just wanted to include this page because it’s a really freaking cool angle.

We also see Helmeppo and Tashigi. (No Smoker, though. Where is he, I wonder?)

And then there’s Garp.

Last chapter we finally got a named attack from Shanks. Now we’re getting one from Garp. And neither disappointed. WOW.

Wow wow wow.

(I hope Coby wasn’t caught up in that explosion, heh.)

Another break so soon is brutal. But these last few chapters have been absolute bangers, damn.

[realcatalina]

More mystery with portraits of Hasburgs

These two paintings are located in different museums, but are believed to be once a part. Currently they are labelled currently as Philip of Austria and Margaret of Austria, 1483, by Master of Legend of Magdalene.

And it's kind of a problem. Because at least the boy doesn't look like early work of this artist at all! Not even remotely close.

So other artists have been suggested instead, and for example the girl's has been most recently labelled as by Pierre Coustain.

Which doesn't make any sense either. Because while this was court artist in Burgundy, he specialized in making coat of arms and flags, sculptures etc. Like we can speculate on Pierre Coustain's involvement in these portraits(figures by Pieter van Coninxloo):

But only about the coats of arms. This guy wasn't portraitist.

...And you know me, I am nitpicker. I my motto is:

Never trust period label...because often times they are added centuries later.

So of course I checked the labels. On first glance, they seem as very genuine. This form of letters was around in 15 and 16th century.

...So I needed some help reading it, but luckily on wikipedia it was in description of paintings.

Girl's:

Gedaen Int Jaer ons here 1483 tsinen v en Jaerre/FAT LAN M.IIII.C.IIII.XX ET TROIS QUE LORS AUOIT TROIS ANS ET TROIS MOIS)

This was created in 1483 and she is 3 years and 3 months old.

(Very specific...oddly so.)

Gedaen Int Jaer ons here 1483 tsinen v en Jaerre / Fat Lan m. III c. IIII xx. z trois ou ve. an de son eage.

Once again it says year 1483, but that Philip is 3 or 5 years old.

Like how does nobody question this? You cannot be specific to month with girl, and not know how old the boy was!

Unless the label is not original at all! And likely not even done in 15th century. Because at those days, labels weren't really popular. They took off mainly in 16th century. And given the amount of mistakes I doubt Margaret nor Philip were even alive when this occured.

Because have they been, somebody would take greater care in getting it correct!

(And, If the text is from much later it is damn well-made.)

So if text is untrust-worthy, the dating of 1483 is also untrust-worthy, and then we cannot even be sure it is Philip or Margaret!

And though the boy doesn't fit Master of Legend's early work, he damn sure looks very alike to his late work! (1510-1527)

But then these kids cannot be royals from Netherlands. This is not its fashion from 16th century. We have portraits of Philip's kids raised in Netherlands, we know what they wore.

And while, yes the girl's hat looks bit like 1460-1470s male hats worn in netherlands, girls didn't wore this I checked. And given Netherlands were already back then northern capital of painters. It's very unlikely it wouldn't appear in art of that time from that country.

So possibly these are foreign royalty. But whom?

Well, artist started working around 1480/1490 and stopped about 1527. (Assuming we have correct artist.)

And the boy wears order of golden fleece around his neck. And clearly he is not adult. List of knights of Order of Golden fleece is on wikipedia and it includes when people got it and their birth year.

So finding people who got it before age of 15 in corrrect timeframe wasn't that hard.

Six candidates:

Philip of Austria (who it is currently identified as)

Henry VIII

Charles V

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

Louis II, King of Bohemia and Hungary

Philibert of Chalon

But at age of 14 and 13, Henry VIII and Philibert are simply too old...to be depicted here. And Louis II's sister was older than he. And we know what Charles and his sisters raised in Netherlands wore.

Thus if not Philip and Margaret, the only other valiable option is Ferdinand and Catherine of Austria.

(if the list of candidates was complete...)

And it just so happens that if you put correct dimensions to these(in cm), and put them in order of birth, they don't look so weird...

Potentially this might have once been full set of siblings.

Done firstly around 1507(first four)

and rest after 1515, when Ferdinand became the member of the order.

...And if we compare what the girl wears with spanish fashion, then at least in examples from 1490s similiar hats were popular(not as much raised, but we always see them on adults. Maybe then the raise is not so high, and traluscent veils of this kind even much later(those are with cofia de tranzado)...this shape of neckline, also very popular in Spain at least around turn of the century.

In my research into iberian fashion, i didn't go that much into fashion after 1505(not in debt) and it's not ideal that I point to examples about 20 years prior to when I think it might be.

But it is a possibility, and would explain the resemblence.

...

However then we have to assume 2 more possibilities.

A) the list of knights of order of fleece was not complete...and we're missing candidates...and then once again, where does the fashion point us?...Spain in case of girl...

B) But what if the boy and girl don't belong together?

What if they just had same background(popular in Burgundian/Netherlandish court from 1450? to about 1507)

and same dimensions(by chance, or they were later cut to make them same dimensions)?

(C)what if both options? L)ist wasn't complete and boy and girl don't belong together?

Well, the boys who got orders of golden fleeces as kids were usually royalty, with whom Hasburgs had friendly relationship.

Only other option already not covered, would be either Christian II of Denmark-but he was made member in 1519-so he is on the list, as adult...

or John, Prince of Asturias and Girona. He married Margaret of Austria, in 1497 and died that same year. And Joanna married Philip of Austria in 1496.

We know Margaret's portraits were created in early to mid 1490s, likely to be sent to Spain, and probably Philip's also.

But what if Spanish send reply? And Hasburgs send their own painter, to paint Spanish royal children? That would also explain resemblence to Joanna's children. Because boy would have to be her brother, and girl Joanna herself.

Again, the boy seems to be later work of the master, but it was a workshop. It is possible one of its member simply became more prominent later in workshop's lifetime and it happened to be him who was sent to paint the boy.

And i cannot get further than this. Dendrology would be helpful here.

However as these portraits have year upon them, the institutions who own them think they have the correct date already. We can only hope they decide to test it anyway.

[warsofasoiaf]

In regards to my previous question, I was wondering if I could ask a political question about Avatar? At the end of Avatar's sequel series (Legend of Korra) the current Earth King decides he wants to abolish the Earth Kingdom's monarchy. He says he thinks it would be better if the country's states were "independent with elected leaders." It's unclear what he means when he says "independent," but let's say the country remains intact. I was wondering if I could ask you what type of national government the Earth Kingdom should have when this democratization process is finished?

The main political unit the Earth Kingdom is centered around seems to be the city-state. The capital of the Earth Kingdom is Ba Sing Se, but an Avatar novel that came out a few years ago reveals that no Earth King ever held absolute power over the country due to its enormous size. In fact, in the original series Aang's friend Bumi is the ruler of Omashu, the nation's second largest city. The city is semi-autonomous, and Bumi is even referred to as a king. Also, in the novel I mentioned there is a reference to other lesser Earth Kings below the king in Ba Sing Se, who presumably rule their own cities/trade centers.

At the time of Legend of Korra, a map shows there are 56 Earth Kingdom states. These states seem to be controlled by the city-states they are named after. It reveals that Ba Sing Se is also the capital of its own state as well as the nation, Omashu is the capital of its state ("The Kingdom of Omashu"), and Toph's hometown of Gaoling controls its own state ("The State of Gaoling"). What would be the best form of government for a nation composed of semi-autonomous city-states?

I would imagine that something close to the Achaemenid Persian model would be the best for such a vast land empire with wildly different governing models between states. That was one of the Persian core strengths is that great autonomy was given to local traditions and customs provided taxes were paid and levies were provided when needed. So that would mean that the individual Earth kingdom states could have their own component kings (that was why the Persian Emperor was called the king of kings), or practice other forms of governance to even include vassal democracies. The Earth King would likely appoint regional bureaucrats to assess taxes and make sure things ran smoothly in the provinces but otherwise keep a relatively loose hand by virtue of administrative necessity. So in that sense, the Earth King would probably have a title like "King of Kings," "Great King," or "High King."

However, this would require the Earth King to make regular journeys amongst the various city-states. One major thing about Achaemenid Persia is that the Persian Emperor would involve themselves in the local traditions of their component regions to help secure local legitimacy - Achaemenid Persian Emperors would travel to Egypt and perform religious rites as a Pharaoh would have done. So in Avatar, the idea of the Earth King that never leaves the palace, let alone Ba Sing Se, would not happen under that model.

Thanks for the question, Ryu.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[weirdw33b]

My Descendants x Enstars au pov Eichi

So please read the history post because that's where most of the lore is

This is like, lots of generations later

Anyways, the Tenshouins' curse is really really bad, literally if you're not a stillborn you'll be dying at 25 unless you get lucky because someone has to continue this curse down

Anyways, Eichi's gonna die thanks to the curse except the family's too stupid or prideful to fully try and research why this is happening

Not Eichi, that is

This man is finding it out even if it kills him goddamnit

So, Eichi starts by looking at history books to find out how this whole shabang happened

Eichi finds out about the revolution (I forgot to mention but the Tenshouins are the ruling people, the emperor if you know what I mean) and the random apperance of 'the forest of the lost' and he puts together that this is clearly not normal

And btw, magic is straight illegal

And you'll need magic to reach the forest of the lost

And you can tell what's going on

(Legit don't ask me how they had kids on the forest if no ones' there, the world just spawns them in lol)

Anyways, Eichi is stuck in the pallace since the family is still hiding the fact that the 'illness' the Tenshouins have so he gets treated at the palace with doctors, nurses and all workers sworn to secrecy

And oh look, Eichi's wing has direct asscess to the library

Oh look, the world decided to keep the Tenshouin's hidden magic and history books in the library's secret room to make it more fair to the future Tenshouins

Oh look, no one actually gives a fuck about Eichi unless it's about his academics skills or health

Oh, and there's a really nice place for him to hide the books to read and become fascinated with magic, politics and the revolution

Oh, and the curse is also in the hidden magic book

Oh, and Eichi trains his magic skills to the best it can possibly be

After fully understanding the scale of the curse, he thinks that an eccentric has to kill him to fix everything, or at least be enough for the world to forgive them

And so, at some point, the world seems to finally found the boy they need to fix everything

So at night, it sends a message to the forest and Ichika (eichi's ancestor, read the history post) to move the pieces, and this starts with a very important thing that gets the Tenshouins' out of the country long enough that the rule of 'if the current rulers are out of the country out for long enough, the heir will rule in their place with all the aurthority of the emperor'

So a gentle dethroning

With Eichi's very trained magic plus the will of the world itself, a perfect opportunity finally appears

The world kinda just brainwashed everyone except Eichi into believing that this is a transfership program allowing innocent children from the forest to attend Yumenosaki Private Academy since their ancestors were the ones causing problems even tho history states that they've been stuck there ever since the revolution ended

They got brainwashed, okay

The eccentrics sense that this shit is sus, so they go only to find out why

Why would they know the state of affairs in the Tenshouins? The forest gets them newspapers, duh

They still go just to find out the truth lol

I'm not a professtional writer, I'm a teen who writes shitty fanfics I haven't finish yet

(btw everyone in 'star'. the world's world believe that the revolution was just the eccentrics being arrogant and greedy)

Time for some romance and political drama at Yumenosaki

[fantasyinvader]

I was thinking some more about the meaning of the Reversed World Arcana when it comes to Edelgard, how it signifies her falling short of her goals. In both English and Japanese, it mentions that her reforms are meant to abolish the nobility.

The thing is, in the Japanese version of Constance's solo ending it's mentioned that Edelgard restores her house's noble status for ONE generation. One, after that her family's status is up in the air. We know that Edelgard promises that nobles who support her can keep their positions, so the Constance ending gives us an idea of how it's supposed to work. Support Edelgard and the current head of the family keeps their job, but the children aren't automatically made heir as that power should revert back to the throne and the Emperor picks the successor. However, the Byleth/Lorenz ending says that they either hand over the position to their son (English) or that the son INHERITS it (Japanese). And this is when Lorenz is old and weak, no longer able to do his job.

Byleth hooking up with Lorenz indicates that Edelgard failed to actually abolish the nobility, instead all she was able to do was make a few reforms. But this got me thinking further.

In the Japanese version, Hubert's Solo ending calls him black-hearted or wicked. It's basically saying that he was immoral or even evil as he went around doing whatever it took to support Edelgard. This includes spying on the public and putting down rebellions, getting his spouse in on the action in a couple of the endings. Edelgard says in her S support that maybe people would have been happier to continue ignorantly living under the Church, but Hubert's endings point to people attempting to rise up against her on multiple occassions only for this black-hearted man to put them down for Edelgard. So I was asking myself, why was the history books painted Hubert as such considering that Byleth's solo ending in conjunction with their Jeritza ending indicates the Empire is spreading false information by making it seem they always used the Sword of Seiros? Anna's ending is from centuries after the war, so why are they looking back on Hubert like that?

The Japanese version of Caspar's endings indicates that while he's made head of the Imperial army, he can't actually control them while they're on missions in other countries. Yet he's given the credit for the success of those missions despite being unable to do his job. Petra is remembered for bringing independence to Brigid, but she also has endings where she has to move to Fodlan as a sign of “friendship” between the Empire and a country that hates the Empire and wanted to support the Church. It really looks like Petra ends up becoming a hostage against her people yet again. Dorothea's merit isn't recognized and if you S support Bernie? She fights against TWSITD against her will to support her husband, becoming the supportive wife her father wanted her to be. Speaking of TWSITD, the history books do know about them despite Edelgard's attempts to make sure no one does, and in Byleth's solo ending it's implied they're still fighting them. They're still fighting TWSITD after Anna's ending states that centuries have passed, so the only way to defeat them is to have someone help them rather than rely on their own strength a la Edelgard's ideals. I guess that also points to Byleth not having a normal lifespan after Flower either unlike what it's supporters say.

Honestly, looking at this I can't help but think that it's not just that Edelgard's reforms failed, but sometime after her retirement the Empire collapsed or something, That it fell back into the same old patterns of the nobility abusing their positions to keep their power, taking it back from the emperor over time. By the time the endings are made, it's hard to look back on Edelgard's war and all the bloodshed that happened and everything that was done to support it and say it was the right thing. Especially with the moral judgement they're making on Hubert.

It would be yet another parallel to Cao Cao, going from the guy who worked to bring peace to China through any means to the villain who usurped power for himself while the likes of Liu Bei, a man who had an unproven connection to the Imperial bloodline and was once denounced for holding up the reunification of the Empire, becomes the hero for opposing him with his flaws scrubbed becoming a Confucian ideal rather than the man who wanted to be an Emperor. Plus the general theme of the novel where those who inherit the Kingdoms fail to live up to the examples of it's founders.