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jahiera · 6 months

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speaking strictly from a plot & writing perspective here, not a commentary on characters or who or who is not my favorite blorbo (they all are). it's gale time and I wanted to get down everything I thought about this go around with his romance & the writing before it escapes me.

so I once again had a ton of fun of course, the game is still a blast, and several arcs were way more satisfying this time around simply because I ... did not skip the creche, unlike my very first run (I was an idiot) (I didnt think it would be that important) (it really really was). love it 10/10. I cannot WAIT to do my gith run & really focus in on that because the lore there is just, so cool, and that subplot was really rich & rewarding this time around since I had someone who was not orpheus become a mindflayer instead.

as for Gale, Thank Fuck I started before they bugged him up again too much. but let's deep dive into The Material.

shoutout to Tim first of all, he's a legend, dreamboat, superstar. there are so many lines delivered so effortlessly when they would sound ridiculous in anyone else's mouth. he gives gale so much soulful intensity and subtle, nuanced gravitas befitting someone like gale; with enough of Gale's own moments of silliness, cheekiness, wry wit & understated sarcasm, to outright flabbergasted at times, I was Giggling every conversation fr. I'm not usually prone to the "I LOVE YOU" Romances that come earlier rather than later, but ohhhhhhh tim gives each line with all the weight & agony that you can feel inside Gale when it comes (the looming death; not knowing what the end may bring; not wanting to leave any regrets behind) so like. MWAH to him. MWAH MWAH. all the kisses in the world.

okay mandatory compliments to the actor aside. I came out of the whole thing with breadth of new appreciation for Gale as a character in terms of the... concepts, threads, that make him up, and act 2 is where he REALLY shines overall.

I didn't necessarily come away from it with the same... weepy...... done-no-wrong? interpretation of Gale that I've seen floating about. he's lovely. he's intense. he's got soul-crushing devotion on his mind, no doubt. but for every fracture of tenderness, raw sincerity, & off the cuff soliloquy, he's got a lot of interesting flaws/characteristics I'd love to unpick with a fine-toothed comb on some replays or rewatches. Still trying to turn over in my brain exactly what that is, but it's there, and I love it. will say I'm really glad I played it mostly in a vacuum rather than getting too into others' thoughts on him, because What I Had Seen on the Webbed Site had near put me off entire (seeing someone say he's not prideful or pompous at all... when he self-describes as pompous?) -- maybe it's my tendency to focus in on what makes a character tick, when are they sharper, or harder, or meaner, and I enjoy watching that play out a lot, but? yeah. I didn't come away thinking him a super soft mushy mwahmwah -- ROMANTIC, yes, but overall as a character not nearly so lovesick and in desperate need of some protector. in fact when you tell him you don't want to be his crutch, he says as much too -- you've helped him, but you're not the sole focus of his person or the only thing keeping him alive.

there's enough of the humanity in his cheekier moments (stop licking the damn thing!!) and plenty of tear-jerking aside all of that. gale my canon-depressive-episode, mildly suicidal, chronic pained up, still-kind-of-full-of-yourself king. I adore you I love you I cradle you softly in my arms. he charmed me entire! I think that the themes hey were trying to tackle are really interesting and nuanced and I do have some thoughts on the success of the game in actually tackling those, what is there is really wonderful. some gorgeous writing in act 2, especially, and it was sold so well by the voice acting & sincerity in the writing I was just like. PERFECT. 10/10. NEED TO WRITE 98 FLUFF PIECES RN. which does not happen often, to me, as a person.

with. some exceptions, going back to critiquing act 3 as a whole.

act 1 & 2 are both strong, really nice. however this romance definitely needed at least one or two more scenes in act 2 to pad out the space between awkward flirting at the party to "I like it when you're sweaty and bloody-- sorry who said that" to "I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU." -- these scenes should've elaborated on Gale's personal feelings; of mystra, of what's been asked of him, of Tav. they should've set in threads of Gale's anger earlier, rather than the jarring shift from late act 2 "yeah I'll kill myself" to "actually... mystra fucking sucks! lol!" in act 3 at sorcerer sundries. yeah babygirl, mystra DOES fucking suck, wish I could've listened to you as you arrived to these conclusions rather than connecting empty character lines between act 2 and 3. and act 3 desperately needed more space to talk gale in or out of the crown. because by the time we get to the end, if he's really into the crown, he's into it beyond the focus of all else. but in the scenes where you talk him off that particular ledge, it doesn't even take very long to do so, and leaves kind of a weird... gap of intention.

I feel like they wrote themselves into a bit of a corner, honestly. because Gale's personal quest literally cannot be resolved until 5 minutes before the end, any climax wouldn't have much space afterward to pad the aftermath. so the solution to that would've been more character focus scenes, more flavor text depending on how you've influenced gale, something that actually makes the choices feel rewarding -- some hurdles to cross too, checks of some kind. but there really isn't any of that, and so the conflict is almost nonexistent. you squirt gale with a water bottle and he gives up the crown with no real additional dialogue. or you tell him "ma...maybe???" and he's suddenly a power obsessed little freak (complimentary) with no recourse, and in either case, we never got much dialogue to get some insight into his personal thoughts on it. this doesn't make Gale a bad character, but it does leave the narrative to be lacking in some regard.

like, for example. Astarion gets dialogue changes depending on the quest outside of character-specific moments (such as a spawn Astarion changing his dialogue after you help Aylin with Lorroakan), post-quest conversations, PRE-quest conversations with his siblings, moments where he reveals more of what he thinks (such as "You're... you. no one is like that.") etc., Gale gets None of that. the only other characters who really do are Lae'zel and Shadowheart; everyone else is either shafted or resolved in the last few minutes too. I came out of this most satisfied as a player overall with LAE'ZEL'S conclusion (also at the end of the game!!) because we had gotten a few more moments where her focus is obvious and her motivations are clear.

anyways, those are just general writing issues. Act 3 overall is the weakest, most agree, and that's still true here. Sadly it kind of takes some of Gale down with it in this case, because his personal quest is both so removed from the overall plot (despite him being a literal fixture as the only character who knows anything about the crown & was decreed by a literal god to take out the absolute).

however none of this is related to Gale as a guy. as a guy I'm Fucking Obsessed With Him. taking him with me everywhere was so rewarding especially in act 1 / 2. his commentary & insights, when they were there, ranged from funny as fuck to genuinely insightful & interesting for the overall plot. the ideas behind him, the glimpses we get of the life he led before, and the life he wants to lead after with Tav -- or what he alludes to wanting to lead with Tav, thinking that he'll still probably die at the end of this -- are lovely, interesting, TOUCHED MY SPIRIT. he's such a neat version of how to do a character that is as endearing as he can be foot-in-mouth, and as intelligent as he can be a little belligerent. I looooved every moment I could talk with him about magic in act 1, see his passions (beyond mystra), argue with him about how to do something (I'M the magical wonder here actually and I get to make the shadowlantern), all of that really MADE the romance for me in the lulls where his Silence or the gaps in his writing were more clear. 10/10 would kiss that fucking wizard again and cry a little bit thinking about exploding with him aboard a giant alien brain while one of those "ITS YOUUU I LIE WITH" songs plays in the bg

#tldr he's my special guy. some of the writing was disappointing as a pacing thing but he's MY SPECIAL GUY #I also cried a little bit as lae'zel got to take off on a red dragon with orpheus but that's secondary #also I said orpheus is hot & NO ONE agreed with me. fine. I'll carry this banner alone #men who are capable of executing a rebellion or instant apocalypse with their swaths of power. What.#who said that.#anyways. GALE MY DARLING. my belovedest. I want to write 1000 dialogue snippets in act 2 and 3 for you #and MAYBE I WILL. who knows.#still chewing on him and need to Ponder if I want to actually make any sort of character studies for him because. um.#some of you.. can be off the rails about this man. but I do think of him fondly and love what was there #he can be a bit of a bitch he can be the most wonderful man in the world he can hold your hand he can cast globe of invulnerability #he can also make the FUNNIEST fucking oneliners known to man. I crave him carnally & emotionally #I want to Add scenes to his romance. I wish act 3 was better. goddamn.#still one of my favorite games though. I am Back on the nautiloid as we speak. Durge and Minthara time #bg3 meta

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furbovision · 1 year

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a selection of banners from adoptafurby.com

#i was playing w the wayback machine earlier #this was my FAVORITE website as an 11 year old #i was so sad that it was defunct by the time i got to it #didn’t stop me from watching all of the flash animations and playing around on the dead site to see which links actually still worked #i always loved these banners they’re such a cool relic of old web design #crawling the forums was fun too #never posted anything but i loved lurking and finding ancient posts #allfurby #safefurby #furby fandom #webcore #old internet

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yumenari · 4 days

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Penacony’s star Robin! 💜

#I LOVE HER 🥹#I have her guaranteed I’m so ready for her banner 🙏#AND WE’RE GETTING A MUSIC ALBUM AAAAAAAA SO EXCITED #her design is so pretty I actually loved drawing it….#i love you robin star rail #robin honkai star rail #robin hsr #HSR #honkai star rail #penacony #hsr robin

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sexynetra · 3 months

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Guess who wrote a fic loosely based on this video 🤭

Thank you @thecollectionsof for encouraging me <333

“You trust me, don’t you?” Dawn smiled hopefully — a dazzling grin that had Amanda’s brain shorting out.

She did trust Dawn. More than she trusted anyone in the world.

#I’ll make another post with the big ao3 banner thing soon but I needed you all to see the video that inspired this #drag race #rpdr #RuPaul’s drag race #drag race 16 #rpdr 16 #RuPaul’s drag race 16 #Amanda Tori meating #Dawn #up until dawn #amandawn #pls read this guys 🥺#yes I double linked it what about it #eat my ass if ur mad about it #Jk jk I love you all and I am such a nice and sweet person actually #but I wrote this entire fic at like 3 am on my phone so.#do with that information what you will #botfe

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impostorsshow · 1 month

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Happy International Trans Visibility day

I remembered people used to make Terfs memes back in like. 2019

#drawing this i was going to draw my trans ocs #but i actually dont have any??? all of my trans ocs are nonbinary so oops #art #sam and max fanart #sam & max #sam and max freelance police #trans day of visibility #ill be making genderbent max art since i have a design im happy with. its simple but i love her #need to workshop samantha as always though #s&m ranch dip #im assuming theres a nonbinary visibility day and that this is for trans men and trans women #either way im drawing my nb ocs in pride month so #actually. im gonna make maxine my banner fuck it. i hate my banner rn

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jackmkelly · 5 months

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jack crutchie & race need to win an award for the way they ruined my life. the best found siblings in the world.

#newsies #jack kelly #racetrack higgins #crutchie morris #they just love each other so much #no one rlly looks at race and crutchie but Omg. they love wach other so much its sickening.#when (bway) crutchies teasing race about his cigar in carrying the banner :((#lights of my life i could speak on them all day #(kath also counts for the ruined my life shes on my mind constantly i love that angel so much)#(spot smalls and sniper too)#(add all of the brooklyn girls actually)

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moeblob · 4 months

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I'm so close...... NY!Hrid is at +9. One more and I can drop the game.... I just love him so much and this alt is so happy and I need it for him...

#fe heroes #hrid #man i was looking back at my hrid art and i wanted to reblog some of it but then im like #mm nah most of my followers have seen it i wont force it upon them again #but i really do love hrid so uh here im so close to being done but i have to grind orbs #because my luck is abysmal right now as i glare at the red he shares with his sister #as i stare at the singular reds that drain my orbs just a bit faster than multiple reds #i mean GRANTED im at least GETTING reds but still #wild to me that i pulled a ny unit on his banner as a four star special after pulling her on her rerun banner #like i didnt already have her .... and it wasnt a red #so at least my pity wasnt broken by it but still wild that i pulled a ny rerun hero on a ny rerun banner that wasnt hers #i think i actually traded a couple of ny!gunns for feathers previously bc i keep pulling her instead of hrid #this alt is so much fun and i love it for him he deserves it ! since is doesnt want to acknowledge him otherwise #i say as i stare at last years summer banner casually name dropping him to say #wow sure is a shame hrid isnt here with us - maybe he will be next year #let hrid have nice things 2024 challenge

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kaiserouo · 2 months

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Marking

#i love this idea so much #like the marking publicly declares that they belong to each other #or own each other #MMMMMMMMMMMMM #so freaking seductive #gods help me #why do i keep doing lineart #also i like that banner-like edge #i've seen similar stuff on ghostrunner's cover art and it look so cool and simple and effective #uh i guess i should sign my work? that's a thing i should do right?#(made that sign a year ago and never remembered to actually use it)#partially inspired by other pic so ref in notes i guess #valorant #omen #valorant omen #kay/o #valorant kay/o #my art

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miraclewoozi · 3 months

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hi everyone ! <3

i very recently hit the milestone of 500 followers on this blog! first and foremost, i want to say a super huge massive great big THANK YOU to everyone who has followed me here, and also to anyone who has ever interacted with one of my fics! i want you to know that genuinely, every like, every reblog, every ask and every single piece of feedback warms my heart so much. couldn't do this shit without you guys. second and... secondmost? (don't look at me like that) i wanted to try to give back some of that love and play around a little (especially with writing for members i've never written before) by doing a little event. SO... until my birthday on the 14th MARCH, i'm going to be be taking prompt requests! (t's + c's under the cut, please read them! i will delete any asks that don't follow these simple guidelines.)

EVENT RUNTIME —

exactly four weeks, from today! any asks sent with requests after THURSDAY 14th MARCH will be deleted!

HOW TO —

to send a request, just send me an ask containing both the member you're requesting for and a prompt from one of the following lists! fluff | smut | angst

PLEASE NOTE —

regardless of whether your request is for smut, fluff or angst, MY BLOG IS STRICTLY FOR PEOPLE 18+ ONLY. please respect this. minors, do not interact with me: you will get blocked.

if you can, try not to be too specific with your requests: ideally, member + prompt only. however, if you picked a fluff prompt but wanted it to be a smut piece, that's okay! just let me know. otherwise, keep it minimal.

i'm going to try to keep these relatively short (ie. no more than about 2.5k words each). don't hold me to that though. if something tickles my fancy it'll no doubt be more.

please be patient with me. i'm new to this. i may not (probably definitely won't) write these in order of receiving them. i might take some time to get to yours. i am not ignoring your ask! i'll likely even end up writing some of these after the event has ended. please don't come into my inbox asking where yours is because i might cry. thanks. <3

everything for this event will be tagged mw500party! do with that what you will.

i am not taking regular requests at this time! hard hours are always welcome (please come and drop your most unhinged thoughts in my inbox, i'll love u forever) but if you send a request that is not linked to a prompt as per this event, it will just get deleted.

if (strong on the 'if', i am 90% expecting this to flop and therefore for this post to self destruct in like 3 working days) i get overwhelmed with the number of these that get sent in, i may choose to close this up early. that's at my discretion. i'll try not to! and i'll let you know if that seems likely to happen.

and... that's it? i think! again, i really can't overstate how much it means to have you guys all here and supporting me. thank you, from the bottom of my silly little heart. i hope you'll stick around for wherever my brainworms take me from here on out. peace.<3

#j talks.#psa.#mw500party!#i'm not kidding if this flops none of u saw this post and we won't mention it ever again. KISSES <3 #i will pull a rita ora on you all. don't think i won't.#(no i have been debating over doing this for several weeks now but if i don't post it tonight perhaps! i never will! so here we are!)#(and am i procrastinating writing high fidel despite the fact it is 218 in like three days? maybe. WE AREN'T GONNA TALK ABOUT IT)#(me to me: i can finish this fic by his birthday and also write a dk fic too. easy.) (turns out me? is a fucking liar) (who knew)#(PLS SEND SOMETHING OR I WILL COMBUST MWAH MWAH LOVE U BYE)#i beg that u ignore the banner. my fucken brain juice equals zero.#OK ACTUALLY BYE NOW. bye

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jamesunderwater · 9 months

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Tidbits:

you can call me james or jamie. transmasc autistic ace/arospec writer. lover of books magic music boobs and boys.

multi-fandom blog run by a multi-shipper. my main fandoms are: marauder's era harry potter, percy jackson, hbo's succession, bbc merlin, and stranger things

i do write and post smut, just as a content warning. minors be warned.

don't put up with transphobia/terf/transmed shit, racism, antisemitism, ableism, sexism, and the like.

itsjamespotter on ao3

**for anyone triggered by harry potter content, i try to tag all harry potter related posts with #hp, so you can block that tag**

Tumblr Fic Tags:

Jily

Prongsfoot

Dorlene

Smut

AO3 Highlighted Fics

Dead to Me [playlist] [tag] - 91,625 words - jily, angst, hurt/comfort

I saw a quote once that said: "How many times have I loved a thing, just because you loved it? Including me." This story is about love, but is not to be confused with a love story. It's about the love we should have had. The love we don't think we deserve. The crooked love we settle for. It is about how, in letting others love us, we learn to love ourselves.

Call and Response - 6,685 words - first war, hurt/comfort, minor jily

A series of vignettes showcasing how, despite his own personal tragedies, James Potter never fails to show up for the ones he loves – which might be his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. Set in a world where James and Lily never got together in school, the Marauders, now twenty, are fighting in the Order at the height of the war. Consider this my love letter to James “would have died rather than betray his friends,” “would have regarded it the height of dishonor to mistrust his friends,” “until the very end” Potter.

Bring Your Kid to Work Day(s Never End When Your Godfather is Sirius Black) - 2,012 words - good godfather sirius black

Written for Good Godfather Sirius Black Fest. Day 11, prompt: bring your kid to work day.

Promises to Keep - 1,142 words - dorlene; canon first war; angst

Marlene and Dorcas have run out of ways to say goodbye.

Just This Once - 6,196 words - jily, muggle au, gratuitous smut

When they were teenagers, James Potter promised his best friend, Sirius Black, that he would never, ever touch his sister. Lily Evans promised herself long ago that she would never, ever give into her feelings for her brother's best friend. But maybe…just this once?

Completed Fics August '23 - Present

Jily: Sweet Seventeen - oneshot - 792 words - canon school years, fluff

James is dating an older woman. She loves snow. He loves... well, it's too soon to say it.

Prongsfoot: here comes a thought - oneshot - 634 words - psychiatric unit AU

sirius is just one of those kids you can't fix. no one has ever thought otherwise. until james potter.

Jily: you are my heaven - oneshot - 1,815 words - soulmates AU, jily reincarnated

What, you thought all they got was a few years together? this is for anyone who has watched what dreams may come (1998) and it's a wonderful life (1946) and is also a pisces. 'cause you get it.

Jily: Happy Holiday, You Filthy Potters - oneshot - 6,098 words - fix it fic, jily never died AU, married smut

"jily christmas family fluff!" but with sex on the stairs.

Prongsfoot: "truth is i'm so damn in love with you i don't know what to do with myself" - oneshot - 804 words - canon first war, one bed

prongsfoot + near death experiences + trapped with only one bed + gay pining

Prongsfoot: "you have no idea how long i've been wanting to do that" - oneshot - 1,017 words - muggle AU, transmasc Sirius Black, bathroom smut

prongsfoot + a locked door public bathroom on my knees trying to make you scream vibe

Prongsfoot: not going anywhere - oneshot - 2,341 words - song fic, canon death, grief

when they were boys, james potter made sirius black a promise. and not even death can make james potter break his promises.

Prongsfoot: i don't even know where you end and i begin - oneshot - 482 words - first war, canon death, grief

Remember when we were such fools? And so convinced, and just too cool? I wish I could touch you again. I wish I could still call you, friend. I'd give anything.

Jily: Tall Dark and Glasses - oneshot - 3,292 words - coffee shop AU, fluff

Tall Dark and Glasses (or TDG as he is more affectionately known) is the mysterious, painfully good-looking stranger who has been frequenting Lily's favorite coffee shop for months now. But despite having an embarrassing acronym for him, Lily, a burned out STEM major, is too comfortable being a wallflower to go up to him herself. Thank god for playing cards, I guess.

Prongsfoot: I Only Breathe When You Breathe - oneshot - 643 words - first war, angst, hurt/comfort

Sirius and James and a nearly fatal order mission. Don't worry, it isn't gay at all.

#look i made actual banners!!!#my writing #intro post #pinned intro #prongsfoot #jily #dorlene #dead to me #a love letter to james potter #good godfather sirius black #james potter #lily evans #dorcas meadowes #marlene mckinnon #wolfstar #the marauders #me

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the-priestess-of-dawn · 5 months

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Grima and Final Blows

The other day I mentioned that I had an essay about Grima to write that I'd been putting off, and between that and all the great essays my fellow Grimleal scholars have been putting out recently, I decided to sit down and finally get it done.

So here you go. An analysis of Grima's difficulties with directly killing people.

Okay, so I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time, because one of my favorite things to explore when it comes to Grima is the gap between their villain act, which they actively play up in front of others in both Awakening and FEH, and their true feelings, which are hinted at in Awakening (particularly through the Future Past DLC) and made even clearer in FEH— their own evil actions are repulsive to them, and they wish they could live normally among humans, but they don’t believe they have any choice but to be the monster that “the fell dragon, Grima” is supposed to be. They are committed to this “fell dragon” character, to putting on a show for everyone, and they are so good at it that it’s easy to overlook that they… uh… aren’t very good at killing anyone important. Not directly, anyway.

Sure, Grima is responsible for numerous deaths. But what is their actual kill count? Well, in Awakening’s main game… zero. (Unless you count Chrom, but, as we witness, that was not a voluntary act on their part; Validar took control of their body. You could also make the argument that Grima “claiming the sacrifice” at the Dragon’s Table counts, but the problem with that is, although it’s obvious that Grima accepts the life force of the Grimleal members as a sacrifice, it’s not at all clear whether or not Grima personally kills them. Although it’s possible that they did off screen, it’s also possible that Validar killed them, or that they were ordered to take their own lives; there’s no reason Grima would have had to lay a hand on them.) In the Future Past, it’s… one, maybe one and half (Naga’s spirit, and Tiki, but only in body. More on this later.)

And it’s not as though Fire Emblem shies away from showing villains directly murdering people, Even in Awakening itself, the intro to Chapter 9 shows Aversa killing a Plegian soldier for delivering an unsatisfactory report, so it wouldn’t have been out of place to let Grima stab a few NPCs as a show of brutality. Especially seeing as Grima is the evil dragon final boss. As early as Mystery of the Emblem, we can see Medeus killing his cleric hostages to restore his own health if you fail to rescue them before trying to defeat him, and as recently as Engage, we get a whole cutscene of Sombron eating Hyacinth. Fantasy violence my beloved <3

Anyway, the point is, Grima could have been written to be much more violent and I don’t think anyone would have complained. Instead, though, Grima repeatedly— and consistently across the series— tries to avoid engaging in direct combat.

Let’s start with what Grima does in the main game of Awakening. We know that Risen pursue Lucina into the past, because we see them fall out of the portal with her in Chapter 1. We also know that those Risen, as well as the others that are appearing throughout the land, are not being directly controlled by Grima, because later in Chapter 13, as the Shepherds are leaving Plegia after meeting with Validar, Aversa, and the Hierophant, they are pursued by more skilled Risen, and Frederick notes that “Either they are learning our ways, or someone is commanding them…” So… It seems that sending the Risen—with or without specific orders—to attack while Grima is not themself present is a favored tactic.

But what about when Grima is present? Take a look at the Endgame: Grima chapter. Yes, you eventually get to engage Grima in direct combat. But not immediately. What Grima does first is…

Grima attacks the Shepherds with dark spikes from a distance, reducing everyone’s hp to 1. Now, here’s what happens next: Grima attempts to possess their past self, Robin hears the voices of their friends and breaks free, Naga heals everyone back to full health, and then the fight against Grima begins… Except actually, the Shepherds have to get to Grima first, because they’re at the top of the map and they’re not budging. Naga warns them that “Grima’s servants will beset [them] to no end.” and she’s not kidding. Grimleal reinforcements will spawn infinitely, and they can hit pretty hard. Even with everyone starting at full health, it’s possible to lose units to these Grimleal soldiers if Grima isn’t defeated quickly. Can you imagine what would happen if Naga hadn’t healed the Shepherds first?

Well, I’d guess that they’d probably all die to the Grimleal without Grima having to face them up close. Which was probably what Grima was going for.

This isn’t the only time Grima tries the dark spikes trick, either. Grima attempts this exact same move in the Future Past 3 when they face Lucina, Severa, Laurent, and Gerome.

Grima announces “With the next blow, I will kill you.” and then demands that they hand over the Fire Emblem as well as the gemstone they hold. The threat is very real. But…

Given that at 1hp, a gust of wind could take the kids out, would it not have been easier and faster to kill them and just loot their bodies immediately? And yet Grima lets the kids have an extended discussion about sacrifice, and even suggests that Lucina would indeed buy a little more time by running… Again, I cannot stress enough that Grima should be able to finish them off in one hit at this point.

So the plan was almost certainly to back off and let the Risen do the actual killing, even though that would be a lot less efficient under the circumstances. And when Chrom and the Shepherds arrive, Grima immediately turns their attention to them, saying “If it’s a reunion you seek, my soldiers shall welcome you on my behalf.” Then they once again pick a spot at the back of the map and refuse to move from it, forcing the Shepherds to fight through the Risen in order to engage Grima in combat at all.

And sure, Grima has some excuses. “I was hoping not to have to flex any muscle,” they say right before the dark spikes attack, as if to justify why they didn’t do it sooner. And of course they taunt Lucina over having to choose to whether to run as her friends sacrifice themselves for her or to stay and fight and die with them. “I must say I shall enjoy this either way!” Yes, Grima, we get it, you’ve made it very clear that you’re an arrogant asshole.

But is arrogance really all there is to it? If we look at what Tiki tells Grima in the good ending of the Future Past, it looks as though Grima’s arrogance has brought their own downfall. “If you had left Mount Prism alone, Grima, you might have stood a chance. Instead, you have brought the Awakening right to your feet.” However, when you think about it… Is Tiki’s continued existence not in itself a result of Grima’s repeated pattern of not really wanting to land a finishing blow? The game states that Grima did in fact kill Tiki… but only in body, not in spirit. This is, according to Tiki, because Robin intervened.

Now, the question I have is… Is it really possible that Robin could have intervened both against Grima’s will and without them having any idea? Honestly, it’s hard to tell exactly how aware Grima is of Robin’s resistance, because they lie about it a lot, e.g. stating that Robin’s spirit perished in sending Chrom back to his own world, even though just moments later, Robin is once again overpowering them. So, keeping in mind that Grima is a liar, was Grima really arrogant to leave Tiki’s body in Ylisstol, and to not make sure that her spirit was fully destroyed? Or was Robin simply able to capitalize on Grima’s propensity towards backing off?

Because surely the only way Grima could be unaware that Robin had acted against them is if Robin hadn’t actually acted against them. I don’t think I believe that Grima really wanted Tiki gone. Naga, sure—longtime nemesis and all. But if Grima had truly cared about seeing Tiki’s existence destroyed… Well, I doubt Robin could have interfered that much.

But maybe it could still be a matter of arrogance. Maybe Grima just didn’t think Tiki’s spirit could do anything with Naga’s spirit gone, and thus didn't care to pay attention to her anymore once she seemed dead enough.

If that’s true, it doesn’t explain why Shadows of Valentia Grima exhibits the exact same habits when fighting Alm and Celica, despite never having been outside of the Thabes Labyrinth at this point in their life. As opposed to the various Terrors throughout the rest of the Labyrinth, which chase Alm (or Celica) down in the overworld to force a fight, Grima is immobile in their room, and will wait patiently there indefinitely until the player chooses to engage. You can even evacuate from the dungeon.

But if you do choose to fight Grima, it proceeds much like the battles against them in Awakening go. The main difference is that they actually will move from their starting position this time, if you position someone in their range. That still requires a fight against (proto-)Risen who are spawning in from the sides to stop your party’s advance.

So… Now it’s starting to look like Grima actively prefers this one particular trick… And it’s a fundamentally defensive maneuver, which makes perfect sense from SoV Grima’s standpoint (they were attacked out of nowhere, after all), but is not really an obvious standout strategy for Awakening Grima, whose taunts and threats suggest an aggression that would be better supported with a more offensive strategy… Consider, too, that Awakening Grima is in fact being even more defensive than their SoV iteration, since they don’t move towards you at all.

With all that in mind, it really, really looks like Grima doesn’t want to fight, especially in Awakening. Not that they don’t intend for the Shepherds to die—on the contrary, they’ve set everything up so that the Shepherds will eventually be overwhelmed—but that they don’t want to land the killing blow.

(And gee, I wonder what might be fueling their reluctance? Being controlled and made to kill your best friend by your own hand wouldn't be totally traumatic or anything, right?)

And then... Funny thing here, I’ve been procrastinating writing this essay for a long time. I originally started thinking about it shortly before the Depths of Despair banner was released in FEH, so imagine my surprise when I saw this characterization hold up in the writing of Fell Exalt Chrom’s Forging Bonds as well… The Grima there says that Chrom was the one to kill the rest of the Shepherds. Now, it’s pretty clear that it was through Grima controlling him, but that’s not the point. The point is that once again, Grima didn't have to do any direct killing.

Look, if it had only ever happened once, I could buy that maybe Grima was just underestimating their opponents, that maybe they thought they could get away without having to put very much work in. But for Grima to operate this way so many times, so consistently, and to their own detriment? No...

Grima doesn’t like direct combat. Grima has trouble even when it’s a fight they asked for.

And when you think about it, that makes their reaction to Robin choosing to land the final blow themself in the sacrifice ending all the more understandable.

“…YOU WOULD… NOT DARE!”

Because Grima would not dare. Grima has always preferred to let someone else land the final blow.

#grima #fire emblem awakening #fe13 #grima studies #honestly realizing that main game grima doesn't kill anyone kind of shook me #future past grima only has naga and tiki... neither of which we get to see on screen so tbh grima might have weaseled out of them too #expiration has 5 range after all. naga could have just taken some dragon breath to the face from afar. we truly have no idea what grima did #to my knowledge the only time we see grima actually try to KILL kill (not dark spikes 1hp em) is... rearmed grima in the forging bonds stor #not her specific forging bonds but the general overarching one for that banner #which i have major problems with for other reasons anyway #and which might be retconned by feh itself bc thrasir said arcane weapons should be avoided at all costs yet... so many rearmed heroes now #so i don't feel too bad ignoring that one #but yeah like... writing this essay made me feel for grima even more #um... you know that one quote that the robin who's part of the day of devotion duo with chrom has...#“Having someone to express your love to is an amazing thing. There IS more to life than constant battle!”#yeah. i think about that quote and i think about grima's defensive fighting style and i. feel things.#to exist always on the defensive...#such an exhausting life they lead

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