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butwhatifidothis · 1 year

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Ever get tired of talking about cans fic? Wanna talk about the absolute missed opportunity that was making sothis a gremlin child and not a milf or even possibly a gilf instead?

Eh, kinda yeah kinda no regarding getting tired of talking about the fic.

Like, the actual act of reading the actual fic? Genuinely ass. Like, I've actually read up to and fully written out the notes for Chapter 62. I tried reading the first sentence of Chapter 63 right afterwards, saw it was a Rhea POV chapter, and went back to reading my otome isekais. That was around late November, and I've still yet to read any more of Chapter 63. The act of reading through something this horrible requires a lot of long breaks in-between sessions of reading.

But! In doing so I also get to talk about aspects of writing, and about 3H in particular, which I love doing. I like geeking out over aspects of writing like characterization, consistency, logical throughlines, character growth, etc. and being able to do so with such a horrible example of pretty much all of that is kinda fun, ngl.

And I also get to see and tackle so, so many of the asinine, horrendous takes that have made this fandom such a volatile space, such as:

Teacher Theory

Edelgard being some poor hapless maiden waiting for her love to save her from her unfair and unjust fate of being "branded" a villain

Dimitri being so toxic and "gone" that he needs to be killed since he just can't "listen to reason" anymore (and that actually him getting killed would make him happier)

the same essentially being said about Rhea

Lonato being a just man during his rebellion, as well as Christophe being just in his attempt to kill Rhea

Nabateans as a race being to blame for all of humanity's problems and so needing to take accountability for all of humanity's wrongs

Claude not actually caring about Fodlan and just wanting to conquer it so he can do better when he goes back to Almyra

Byleth needing to be completely human and needing to reject their Nabatean heritage in order to become happy

Edelgard being the only one among the lords + Rhea to ever care for Byleth

Everyone's best self being found only on CF

the idea that anyone defending themselves against Edelgard's attempt on their life in the Holy Tomb would be the aggressor instigating war against Edelgard

Edelgard caring so much about the people and being the only lord to care about the people

Sothis wanting Byleth to choose Edelgard over everyone else

Everyone making Edelgard kill them

And so on and so forth; this fic has pretty much all of them. In a way, reading this fic and breaking it down lets me have one, concentrated area where I get to dissect exactly how and why all of these takes are either shitty, genuinely disgusting, stupid as hell, or a mix of some/all of those things. And given the fact that Cap'n and multiple people in the fandom want this fic to be taken as meta/required reading, and with this basically being an amalgamation of all of Cap'n's genuine takes on the game (+ those of other Edelstans), going over exactly why such an influential thing is so wrong feels fitting lol. It's a pain to actually have to read through, especially with the pretentious and self-pitying holier-than-thou prose making things hard to actually physically read, but the result of doing so makes it worth it imo.

Buuuut to get off of that: yes, it was an extremely huge missed opportunity that Sothis was a stupid fuckin' loli instead of her actual self. Or, I guess more accurately, that she didn't physically become her actual self after merging with Byleth, or at least become physically closer to it. Full Mommy Sothis is so beautiful from the little we see of her! And the idea of her looking more like how she used to as she gains more of her memories would've been cool to see! And, uh, also, I feel an adult body would make her garb feel less... unfortunate to look at (ngl I get Nowi vibes looking at Sothis and I Do Not Like Nowi's clothing design that much).

I feel there was a lot missed with Sothis tho, and that that's mostly the case because the game more wants the feeling of a mystery to hang around the game more than it does actually writing a mystery with a conclusion. Sothis was seen regaining bits and pieces of her former life as a god, so if she stayed around long enough she could have revealed things to the player that were meant to be hidden. Same with Rhea - she could talk about a lot of the background knowledge of Fodlan's history that could have fleshed out the world so much more. But doing that would "spoil the fun" so to speak; there wouldn't be a mystery anymore, which the writers seemed to prioritize more than actually making the mystery fulfilling to figure out.

So Sothis gets yeeted out of the story halfway through, and Rhea is either an unavailable damsel in distress or a person pushed past their breaking point and thus unable to talk to. That's why Rhea's lore dumps on SS and VW are so rushed and forced - the writers knew they had to eventually get to the end of the mystery, and so held off as long as possible. At least, that interpretation of the writing can exist, given how they've written everything lol

#ask #anon #o captain my captain #also kinda explains Byleth/Claude's lack of a real reaction to Rhea's words in SS/VW #like they DO react but ngl hearing about the horrific shit Rhea went through warrants more than a O_O from Byleth #and a ''damn that sucks'' from Claude #but guess that's what fanfiction's for lmao #but yeah to TLDR it while reading the fic is very tiring talking about it lets me talk about stuff I like a lot so it's fine lol

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raxistaicho · 2 months

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Crests have fun parallels between the characters that hold them. Some I just noticed while writing up my whole "the Crest of Flames and Crest of Seiros are representative of the two stars that make up Sirius," thing (which to me is extremely fascinating because it explains why and how Byleth, Edelgard, Rhea and Sothis all have ties to deep water and blazing flames which are contradictory themes, especially since Sirius itself has ties to both.)

When I had the thought that beyond personality similarities in the crest holders of CoS and CoF they also share kind of subtle but story relevant plot details, beyond how Rhea and Edelgard are narrative foils I mean.

Hiding Their Identity: While it would be unfair to say this is a Crest of Seiros exclusive, it's also something everyone with the CoS does. Jeralt, Rhea, and Edelgard all hide their identity from the world in such a way that it informs the grander narrative. Jeralt would have been found sooner, Rhea may not have her sway, and Edelgard's is pretty self explanatory. Each of these revelations is followed by a major story change.

Missing Past: Byleth, Sothis, and Edelgard have no significant memories of who they were before. Obviously we can't account for Nemesis, but all three of the others not having any solid idea of where they're from/what happened to them does matter a significant amount, especially for Edelgard and Sothis.

It may be intentional, but it might not be either. I will point out though that during her battle with Nemesis, Seiros DOES actually ask him to recall something which isn't something he recognises on sight. (Which, y'know, could also be a call forward to the events of Crimson Flower with Edelgard and Dimitri and how she remembers him.)

I wouldn't really say either of those parallels are significant proof of anything, I'd say they're additive at best to more robust ideas. Anything that can be in part refuted with "Gilbert tho" like the Crest of Seiros one, is just not that useful.

Still fun to think about.

Those were some neat points, thanks for sharing :)

I hadn't thought about the hidden identities part.

Well the thing with 3H is that it has tons of little additive things that demonstrate how much care the writers had for the world, even if they aren't super important. For example, Fodlan year 1180 was a Leap Year!

(And sorry it took me an ungodly long time to get to this post :'D)

#fire emblem three houses

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nagihono-stan · 1 year

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My comfort characters?

One of my long time comfort characters was Juudai Yuuki from Yu-Gi-Oh GX, a trend that you'll ses with my comfort characters is that they're either A, super adorable, or B, a suffering wet cat in the rain. Juudai is an example of A, at least in season 1. He's also a comfort because, like a lot of other people, I can relate to him. I will always stand by the idea that GX is really just a coming of age story, and Juudai represents that well. I can make a whole essay about this boyo if I wanted.

One of my more significant (if that makes sense idk how else to describe it) comfort characters is Dimitri (fe3h). He's got the best of both worlds, imo. He's both adorable and a suffering wet cat in the rain, oh the duality of man. Can I just give him a hug? I wanna give him a hug. He was a surprisingly big influence on my writing. The way he was written (at least in azure moon i haven't played azure gleam yet and i refuse to be spoiled) like... that's how I wanna write a character. I also cried during his supports with Marianne, and it's definitely an achievement for a work of FICTION to make me cry.

I get a lot of comfort from the Kirby characters a lot. It's because they're just so freaking cute I can just turn my brain off and enjoy the spoingles :D If I could be in any fictional world I would definitely be in the Kirby world. Even when there is stressful world ending stuff, it's still super cute! Very stress free and I need to be stress free... 😅

I have more but I don't really have as much to say about them other than whether they're adorable (A), or a suffering wet cat in the rain (B), so I'll just give a list. Some of them are from fandoms that I'm no longer a part of, just a heads up!

Yuusei Fuudo (Yu-Gi-Oh 5DS) A but in a mature way if that makes sense

Kaiser Ryo (Yu-Gi-Oh GX) Sometimes I just find comfort in other people's suffering. (People being fictional characters,I'm not a sadist irl don't arrest me)

Ok this might sound really weird and you're probably gonna lose a lot of respect for me for this but Sans the Skeleton. He's the exception to the A or B rule. I really only find comfort because some (keyword SOME) fan art is just really, really pretty and calming to look at. Also he's chill.

ENA (ENA YouTube Series) A. I find them (I still don't know what gender they are) to be just really fun. They're world is definitely number 2 for which one I would be in. ENA's kind of an "unreality" thing for me. They're world is a form of escapism.

I just started watching The Owl House and I'm kinda obsessed with it lmao, and with this obsession came my newest comfort character that I think about too much to be healthy! 🥳 It's the mother fricking Golden Guard. He's both A and B, if you were wondering. I'm a little ashamed about it, and I don't really know why, but then again I feel shame for everything I've ever done soooooo

#ask game #long post #i hope you're satisfied with my answers #i oopsed all over this one

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bayalexison · 1 year

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🦋💛🎨📗 for the fanfic writer asks!

Oh hey hey! Lol I sent in a few for the fanfic writer ask to you too but forgot to mention that in my ask oops. Anyways, gonna answer those!

🦋 Which character is your favorite to write?

Nanu from the Pokemon franchise is fun because he has a complet backstory but also his indifferent behavior and dialogue is funny at times. Dimitri from Fire Emblem Three Houses is also fun because he's pretty flexible on where you can take his characterization.

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

So, you know how folks worry about their idea been done before? Well I'm the opposite where I worry my premises won't get much traction because they usually don't fit the usual popular fanfic/writing tropes. I then learn to not think too much to make my stories "mainstream" and write what I'm passionate about.

📗 Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

There's one original story idea that's been in my head for a while. Basic premise is a modern Faust inspired story where millinienal burn out Emma makes a deal with the devil and shenigians happens. Someday it'll make it pass the outline stage loool.

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Oh, I can think of plenty lol. I already have some lovely fanart for Thunder Without Rain from my art partner for the Dimileth Big Bang, but I still would love art of Chapter Ten where Dimitri was talking to his and Byleth's unborn baby. I also would love art for my Dimileth Trick or Treat The Azure Queen after seeing some nice fic and art collabs going on. Especially some concept art of the Byleth twins and demon Dimitri!

(If any of my Dimileth art mutuals are reading this, ummmm anyone want to take that offer for The Azure Queen? = P Kidding, don’t worry no obligations haha)

From Fanfic Ask Meme!

#ask meme #replies #dynadratina

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chess-blackmyre · 11 days

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4, 10, 28 for the writing ask!

4. Do you have any OCs? Do you have a story for them?

I have so many OCs. But I am going to talk about my favorite three: Kai Morita, Morgana Arnim, and Maeve.

Doctor Kai Morita, (my beloved firstborn) is a main player in my Jade Mantis AU that explores a ‘what if the main character’s mom was a vigilante’. Things have kind of spiraled out from there, with Kai starting out as a kind of Robin figure who is now the main character’s adopted older sister. I don’t want to get too big into details about her story cause of BLAM spoilers, but themes of control and trust are pretty central to her character arc.

Morgana Arnim (formerly Morgana von Ernest). She is a trans woman 🏳️‍⚧️, and an Agarthan, specifically the biological child of Cleobulus (Cornelia Arnim). She was assigned to infiltrate the Blue Lions in preparation for a coup, but ends up developing actual friendships with them and falling in love with Dimitri. Her story has strong parallels to Plato’s allegory of the cave—learning to see the world and other people as they are and not just how Those Who Slither In The Dark says it is. Basically, relatively well adjusted for someone raised by a fascist technomagic cult! She’s still delightfully messed up though, as she still has murder as one of her primary love languages.

Maeve is a version of Madam Mim that could exist in the “Once Upon a Time” show universe. She’s fun because on the surface she’s just a disaster lesbian who is also a witch. But! The more you read the more I peel back the layers of her character, showing “no she’s not a perpetual party girl who refuses to grow up, she’s an incredibly traumatized individual who’s been self medicating and very bad self-esteem issues.” Her story is one of learning how to make actual connections with other people and how to deal with her trauma.

Also writing her allows me to explore the more messed up parts of Once Upon a Time lore!

10. Top three favourite fic tropes

A ship being absolutely OBSESSED with each other. I don’t care if it’s “unhealthy” or whatever it is FUN and I LOVE IT!

One of my favorite kind of fic premises is ‘hey what if we explore this fucked up/interesting implication that canon just kind of glosses over’? For example, Star Trek TOS fics that explore how living through Tarsus IV affected Captain Kirk later on.

As for a third thing…fake dating. I know I know it’s pretty simple but I just eat it up.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

Try experimenting with different styles of writing! Like epistolary writing, where the story is conveyed through documents/journals/etc. Try editing the story so it’s presented in a non-chronological order (but still makes sense of course).

Also, research is important, as while there are certainly things that can be hand-waved or not delved into in your story sometimes researching different topics can give you IDEAS or other insights.

Also, it bears repeating but do read stuff that isn’t fanfic, it’s the literary equivalent of going outside to touch grass. (And also can help with writer’s block! At least for me)

#writing ask #ask chess #Morita Kai #Morgana Arnim #madam Mim #BKBC

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awkwardgtace · 3 years

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Corus realizes his feelings

Corus is smart but dumb and realizes things. Also thanks to everyone who's enjoyed my writing hope you keep liking the random stuff my brain spits out <3

Corus Realizes His Feelings

Corus could barely contain his excitement. His little roommate had still been reluctant to spend much time with him, but he found something she was curious about. Movies. She’d never seen one and had mentioned being curious to some of the ones he’d watched before he found her. He would make this perfect, they would watch movies all day and she might actually relax around him. He grabbed the pillow he’d bought for her, this was the best place for her to sit after all. Placing it carefully on the table, he’d put some pillows on the ground for himself. He wanted to be close in case any of the movies scared her.

Once the room was set he went to the kitchen to get some snacks. He wasn’t sure what she had tried so he got a normal movie fest set up. Some candy, popcorn, soda, the works. Although he put together a collection of foods he knew she’d eaten before in case she hated the snacks. She would never ask if she wanted something else. He was careful about placing them out, a few popcorn kernels placed on a napkin on the pillow. He added a little of each type of candy and set the bowls and bags on the floor. He didn’t want her nervous about him reaching into a bowl or bag. He checked the time, there was only a few more minutes before she was supposed to be showing up, although she might already be nearby. He was just about ready to sit and wait when he realized he forgot to bring a cup for her.

He ran back to the kitchen grabbing the doll cups he’d ordered. She was annoyed at first, saying she didn’t need his help, but he wanted things to be easy for her when around him. He tried to keep his pace steady as he rushed back to the coffee table. He couldn’t let anything go wrong today, he’d make sure to focus on light hearted movies and then next time he’d explore with her more. He carefully placed the cup down and took the seat he set for himself just to the side of where Mira’s pillow was on the table. He didn’t want to make her feel crowded. He took one last look around before finally trying to relax. The two were just going to watch some movies, nothing to worry about.

He didn’t have to wait long before he heard a small noise. He tried to be casual as he looked over and saw her fish hook on the table edge. He had been pretty sure she was nearby waiting for him to stop rushing around, here was his proof. He blushed a little, she must have been watching for most of it. He was glad too, she came up as soon as he seemed settled so she must be starting to trust him more. He didn’t realize he’d been staring at the spot she’d appear until her lavender hair popped up over the edge. He knew she’d notice him turn away, but couldn’t help it. She hated him staring, but his eyes always found their way back to her.

“Quite the set up,” she said. She had made her way over to the pillow looking around at everything he’d placed on top.

“Had to make your first movie marathon the best,” his excitement bleeding out of his words. “So Mira, you said you’d seen parts of some movies, any you want to describe to try and start with?”

Mira carefully climbed on to the pillow, trying to avoid jostling any of the food, “There was one you had on a lot, there was music in it.”

“Oh, sure I’ll put that on,” he said, a little embarrassed. Sometimes he forgot Mira had been around long before he’d found her. She probably heard him the times he’d put on kids movies to sing along to while working on something. He assumed she’d meant Anastasia, it was one of his favorites growing up. At this point, he knew the story and all the songs, mostly using it for white noise. He couldn’t help his desperate hope that Mira would like it too.

He let himself focus on the movie, trying to just wait for Mira to comment, but by the time Anya met Dimitri his eyes had drifted. Mira sitting on a pillow on a coffee table felt surreal. She could fit in one hand and yet from the second they, officially, met he’d been borderline intimidated. Even on the table that day, she seemed to radiate this energy that she could handle anything. He smiled, thinking back to when he found her asleep by the kitchen sink. He didn’t fully believe she was real until then. She looked so fragile, nothing like the person who’d been ready to try and climb down smooth wood.

He still can’t believe she ever lets him hold her. The first time he thought she might have been hurt and he made it worse. All he can think of when she’s in his palm is a porcelain doll. They’re beautiful and fragile, how she appears if you go by just looks. That’s probably the best way he could describe her to anyone without revealing much. She’s pale enough to be one too in all honesty. She looks like she should stand out and yet he’d only found her by chance. He couldn’t help but feel lucky.

He couldn’t bring himself to stop watching her. She was focused entirely on the movie, it didn’t even seem like she was on edge about him. She seemed to put so much trust in him, he just wanted to make sure she never doubted it. Pushing his thoughts away, he tried to just focus on the movie, listening while watching Mira. As he slowly gathered what was happening, he realized his mistake in following through on this choice. It was a children’s movie with a relatively scary villain who was reckless and rough with his treatment of the small creatures around him. As the scene revealing Rasputin’s return began he could feel his pace pick up, this could be a setback.

He kept his gaze locked onto Mira, waiting for her response. He expected fear, a betrayed look, something blaming him, instead he saw her stiffen. She relaxed once the scene began to end, but seemed on edge still. He had messed up, he ruined the whole day. He picked the worst movie, he should have picked anything else. A horror movie would probably be better than this. He kept a close eye on her, turning his head back to the movie to avoid it being obvious. He was expecting her to start inching off the pillow, to be ready to run. He looked to the edge she climbed up and froze, her hook wasn’t there. He knew this table wouldn’t let it fall. Did she take it with her to the pillow?

“Mira,” he asked, wincing when he saw her jump, “do you want something to drink? I brought some of the cups out.”

“Sure,” she answered. He couldn’t believe how calm she sounded. He passed her one of the cups he’d bought her, watching closely for any nervousness. Once he’d poured some of the soda into his own cup, he put it near the pillow so she could scoop some out.

“I don’t like that Rasputin guy. He’s just cruel,” she said as she crawled over to the pillow edge.

“I don’t think anyone does. He is the bad guy.” Corus answered with an awkward laugh.

“Good. The others seem like they’d be humans like you.”

Corus felt his eyes go wide, humans like him were good, right? That meant she thought he was a good human. That means she must actually trust him. He couldn’t fully understand the feelings he had from those words. He was positive she’d hate him, connect him to the bad guy and never come out again. He just let himself accept the relief and tried to focus on the movie again. Although he wound up just staring at Mira more. Taking in her reactions to each part and just barely stopping himself from trying to comfort her when he saw her go stiff. He only realized the movie ended when she turned to look at him.

“So what did you think?” he asked. He desperately hoped he seemed casual and it wasn’t obvious he had barely taken his eyes off her.

“The music was pretty, I get why you sing them a lot,” she said, making his cheeks flush. “That one early, with December, I liked that one a lot. The bad guy was awful. I'm glad he’s gone.”

“So overall you liked it?”

“I think so.”

“Do you want to watch another one?”

Mira took a moment to think, and he panicked a little. She could have just stayed to seem strong. He should probably say he can’t. He could also just pick movies without villains like this one. Maybe just do some romantic comedies instead. He could also just show some simple cartoon movies, ones without any characters close to her size. He could also pick ones where giants get killed, maybe she’d like that, although it could give her ideas.

“Are there others with music like this?” she asked, he melted at the hopeful look in her pink eyes.

“Yeah there’s plenty more, I know a few I think you’d like,” he smiled quickly, switching to a somewhat softer movie he tended to watch. The afternoon went by in a blur after that. He had mild panics when he thought a scene might scare her, but overall she seemed to enjoy each one. It did seem like Anastasia might be her favorite of the day. He was ecstatic she loved the same one he did. He didn’t want today to end.

“I should go back, I have things to take care of,” she announced, standing and stretching before jumping off the pillow. He tried to hide how sad he was, today was better than he’d imagined. He wanted to spend more time with her.

“Well let me know if you want to do this again, movie marathons are always fun,” he gave her the best smile he could muster.

She walked to the table edge placing her hook and turned to start climbing down, “I think I’d like that.”

She was out of sight before he could say anything. He could have called out, but decided to leave it and respect the idea that she’d ‘left the room’. He waited a few minutes so she could be safe before cleaning up, his mind taken up by the day. He still didn’t understand why being called a good human made him almost giddy. Thinking back, he didn’t understand why he was so nervous for this movie marathon either. He just wanted to let her relax and enjoy some movies, there wasn’t a reason to be nervous.

The clean up went fast and he went straight to bed. He fell onto the bed, his eyes locking on to the discolored patch on the wall. He could have felt relieved because she finally considered him good, although that didn’t seem right. He tried to decipher it, this wasn’t just a clear or clearing conscience. He felt as nervous today as he did for his last date, but that didn’t seem to match up. He was nervous Mira wouldn’t have fun, not that he’d mess up like back then. That line of thought wasn’t helping him figure it out, he wasn’t sure why he made that connection in the first place.

Mira was beautiful, brave, strong, and in rare moments she seemed fragile. He hated that she didn’t seem to want to stay near him. Today he was desperate to just reach out and hold her. He wanted to protect her, maybe that was it, just a need to keep her safe. Although she didn’t seem to need any help to take care of herself. She was amazing as far as he was concerned. If he didn’t see her first hand he wouldn’t believe she wasn’t the same size as him. He couldn’t really get her out of his mind most days. He just stared at the wall for a while trying to think of what this could be. After what felt like hours, his eyes went wide and he rolled on to his back. He put his arm over his forehead, the realization feeling like a truck crashing into him.

“There’s no way,” he murmured. He wanted to laugh at how absurd it was. He might actually have a crush on the woman who lives in his walls. Hell he might even love her. He had no idea how to handle this, she already had a weary view of humans. If he said anything she might just think she couldn’t say no. He would just have to get her to believe he’d never do anything to hurt her. Eventually she may stop seeing him as a threat and he could be honest, for now he would just ignore what he felt. He might even be reading into it, he never really felt something like this for someone before.

Corus tried to push the thoughts from his mind, focusing on sleep. It didn’t work leading to an early start he didn’t want. He was half awake as he walked into his kitchen, starting some coffee to help him through the day. He was lost in his thoughts again, jumping a bit once he saw Mira. She didn’t seem like herself, more reserved. He assumed she had trouble sleeping too, maybe thinking about the movies.

“Thank you for yesterday,” she said, but she sounded off. “I, uh, could I watch that first one again?”

“Yeah if you don’t mind using my tablet in my room, you can watch others you think might be interesting while I get some work done too.”

She nodded and quickly moved out of sight again. He never really understood why she’d be fine some days, and terrified again the next. He sighed as he finished making his coffee. He walked slowly to his room, in case Mira popped out again for some reason. When he walked in she wasn’t there yet, so he pulled out his tablet opening his streaming app and set it to sit up in front of Mira’s pillow. He sat at his desk quickly connecting to the network so he could help her get comfortable before starting his day. He didn’t want her to be stuck waiting on him.

“Is this really all right?” her voice was meek, he wondered if she wound up changing her mind about who he reminded her of..

“Yeah it’ll help me focus too,” he turned to give her a smile and paused. She had a piece of fabric wrapped around her shoulders he didn’t recognize. It didn’t come from anything he owned, and didn’t match what his grandmother used. “Are you cold?”

“Wha-?” her brows furrowed, she gripped the blanket closer only then seeming to realize. “O-oh, no I, um, it calms me down.”

“Did something happen?” Mira flinched and he felt like an idiot. She didn’t like it when he asked her about her life in the walls. She would quickly leave after as if afraid he’d do something.

She looked away, and he opened his mouth to try and fix this when she spoke up, “I had some nightmares, they just happen sometimes. The movies seemed like they’d help me stay distracted. I didn’t have a lot of thoughts other than the movies yesterday. I uh...”

“Well let me know if you do need anything. I’ll listen if you want to talk about it.” He smiled and she gave a small nod. He wasn’t going to make her explain anything she didn’t want to. She quickly climbed from her spot near the edge of the bed onto her pillow and looked at him. He nearly hit himself in the head, of course she doesn’t know how it works.

“You can just press it like this,” he said and slowly reached over to hit play. She nodded and focused on the movie, he’d help her all day if she needed. Work wasn’t usually hectic, and he could work some late hours. He felt that almost giddy feeling again, her telling him what’s wrong was new. He turned to focus on his work, letting himself focus and just listen to the movie as it runs. Once it ended, he waited a few minutes before turning to see if she needed help. He smiled when he saw she’d fallen asleep, carefully he grabbed the blanket he kept nearby for her and laid it over her small frame.

Corus had to accept it, he was at the very least falling for Mira. Honestly days like this were more than enough for him. If he could be someone she could go to, that's more than enough. At least that’s where he’ll stay for now and if he ever says anything, well hopefully she’ll know that he won’t force anything on her.

#gt writing #gt #OC:Mira #OC:Corus #giant/tiny #gianttiny #g/t #g/t writing

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mrpenguinpants · 3 years

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hellooo this is not a request but what do u think of the new upcoming character (he'll probably get release like... at least after 2 years ig TAT) Dainsleif?

Major spoilers for Kaeya’s Character Story and Khaenri'ah Lore.

TLDR: I like the potential Dainsleif has plus his design is really nice. He might be a catalyst or sword user with empowered auto's or he might be similar to Zhongli that uses field effects and has a delete button for his elemental burst.

I have many theories on who Dainsleif is and that he is either some type of traveler/god/homunculus and he has the element of ash or quintessence. The opposite of dendro and nature. I'd like to believe that the lore of Khaenri'ah relates to his story and his attitude (since he's from there originally) and it's a desolate place with no archon blessings so the people themselves had to develop their own methods to survive, hence the art of alchemy Khemia. When Dainsleif get's introduced, mostly likely towards the very end, we might find out why Scaramouche said the sky and the stars was a gigantic hoax and the truth behind Kaeya.

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ANON. YOU. YOU GET A COOKIE. I LOVE TALKING ABOUT STORY AND CHARACTER LORE SO MUCH.

Please, if any of you wanna talk about this I’m totally on board. I love Dainsleif and I’m so upset he’ll probably be released towards end game so yeah two years at least;;

Okay, so level with me. I’m about to bring out the whiteboard for this. I tried to format it so it was easier to digest but this is pure word vomit and I went overboard again.

What do u think of the new upcoming character Dainsleif?

I’m very excited. I think his design is beautiful and I want those lore bomb drops.

Firstly, I can’t wait for him to drop. I’m always a sucker for lore and he’s been dropping hints from the start since he narrates all the character’s collected miscellany. He does remind of me Dimitri from FE3H but I’m excited for more Khaenri’ah lore.

I have some theories about where the story will go with him and Khaenri’ah but those are some major spoilers so I left a read more tag if you’re interested.

Tumblr won’t let me upload his splash art but just google it lol.

Which weapon will he use?

Catalyst or Sword. He might have empowered autos like Diluc and Razor or he might apply a mark like Childe.

I can see him being a castor since his right arm is glowing. But he might also be a sword user that uses empowered auto’s like Diluc and Razor. Since the name Dainsleif was King Högni's sword during the battle of Hjaðningavíg. According to the reliable source of wiki, whatever wound the Dainsleif sword cause could not be healed.

I think it would be cool if his auto’s apply a stack/mark (similar to Childe’s riptide mark), and after 3 auto’s the mark is consumed and the enemy gets dealt heavy damage. Or maybe you can apply debuffs like “defense down” or maybe even a blind, based on the number to stacks you have on the mark.

What vision will he have?

A hydro vision or a custom one (similar to a delusion). Or he doesn’t have a vision at all and uses alchemy or is secretly a “god”.

As for vision, he might be a hydro character since his splash art appears like he’s coming out of a ball of water. I’ve heard people say he might be cyro also, which wouldn’t be extremely off if visions actually correspond with their user.

Or he might be introduced with an entirely new element (perhaps a new type of alchemy?). His star is a dark blue too so he might have the element of black mist/dust or ash/shadows as a potential power.

In the Albedo trailer he mentions:

"But I know it well. It hails from Khaenri'ah: The Art of Khemia. Soil and chalk, the universe and earth, pure dust and the birth of life.”

Perhaps this is the vision/power that Dainsleif has? Maybe even the creator or maybe he even taught Albedo’s Master how to do Khemia. I don’t think he really encompasses the Geo vision (I will seriously write an 11 page essay on how vision’s correspond with their holder). We don’t know a lot about Dendro but I think he might be related to it. But just like Khaenri’ah, he’s reflects the opposite. Instead of “birth of life” and tree’s, he’s the “death of life” and ash. (wow doesn’t that sound deep lolol sorry I don’t really know how to explain it). The way he talks in trailers, he says “mortals” a lot but does vouch for them so it makes me wonder if he might actually be a god.

Also his title is the “Bough Keeper”. A bough means: a main branch of a tree. This makes me believe that he can either do something similar to what Albedo showed us and can create life or he does the opposite and creates ash. Honestly, a part of me believes he might just have generic moveset’s like everyone else but let me dream lol.

Or he might not even be a vision holder since we don’t see him holding one, but we only have this angle and art to go off on. He might even use stars haha. If anyone remembers, during the falling star event, Scaramouche says the sky and stars were a gigantic hoax. I would not be surprised if the world is actually upside down or the “sky” isn’t even a sky at all. More like a sheet over Teyvat or some kind of illusion.

Or another theory, perhaps Dainsleif is the god of time since he says in Travail during the Traveler chapter:

“Defeat me, command me to step aside, show me that you are worthier than I to rescue her. Then, the threads of all fate will be yours to re-weave“

It would explain how he knows so much about the other characters and what happened in the past since he brings up “the war” a lot. I’m assuming it’s either the Archon War or something before that.

Or mihoyo could shred my thesis paper and Dainsleif has nothing to do with this and he’s some random guy from Khaenri’ah with plot convivence.

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I just want to mention at the bottom of this, but the classical elements are water, earth, fire, air and (later) aether. I find it funny that the male MC shares the name.

“Aether, also called quintessence, is the fifth and highest classical element. It’s a material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere.”

“It permeates all nature and is the substance composing the celestial bodies. The essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form,”

Or this is just a hint to the traveler’s power since the traveler is the only one that can use all the elements.

Possible moveset?

He might use stars or air/anemo in his moveset. He could be a very good dps with a lot of trapping potential. Or he might be a field effect support like Albedo, but can still do a lot of damage.

Imagine Dainsleif uses stars haha, throwing them to do damage like Ningguang’s rocks. The splash art of him shows two stars in the top left. He might have a teleport (similar to Keqing + Mona dash), or maybe he could even have some sort of telekinesis with his right arm. I’m just getting Xayah from league of legends vibes where he can throw the star, it places itself at max range, then he can recall them and the star does damage on the way back. Similar to how Keqing’s elemental skill works but instead of teleporting to the stiletto, the stiletto comes back to you when you press e again. (Sorry I play on keyboard).

The opposite of nature is void or cosmos so that could be relating to his power as well since the only animation we get of him is in Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail (I’m just gonna say Travail) and this black mist comes from his hand and he says:

“"We will defy this world with a power from beyond.”

Could be interesting hehe. He might even be a field effect character like Albedo. He doesn’t really strike me as the guy that likes fighting but in the Albedo trailer he says:

“I am content to watch most crises play out from the sidelines. But if Albedo were ever to make a single wrong move...I could not let myself ignore it.”.

Seems to be that Dainsleif is pretty powerful or at least has some type of influence. It could be interesting if he’s similar to Zhongli and has a giant delete button for his elemental burst haha. Or he has some type of imprisonment power like Mona’s burst. Or as I mentioned earlier, it would be fun having telekinesis but this is just me taking liberties haha.

(and yes I totally understand that I’m forcing the story to support my theory BUT IGNORE IT OK.)

Black Mist/Dust and Ash/Shadows?

Uh I gave up on these summaries lol

I touched on it briefly but I say black mist or shadows since I believe that Khaenri’ah is probably not a good place to live originally. Similar to how Mondstadt was in the past, it is probably surrounded by some type of barrier (hence the mist or even the sky) that both traps and makes sure no one get’s in or out. Khaenri’ah is quite the opposite of most regions besides the whole “no archon” business but in “Travai”, when Dainsleif brings up Khaenri’ah this shows up:

It seems like a star to me in some hidden pocket in the sky and what not. This is what I would assume Scaramouche saw (possibly, we have no idea) and therefore there are people and an entire region that’s in the sky. But why would Khaenri’ah be above Celestia? Since you can see Celestia in Teyvat. I would like to think that Teyvat is either upside down and Khaenri’ah is actually below everything or this pocket in the sky isn’t even in Teyvat and is similar to how you reach spiral abyss. You have to go through this circle in Cape Oath and you get sucked into this worm hole thing and you make it to Musk Reef. Where we saw Scarachmouche and he tells us the sky is a hoax.

This idea kinda supports my idea that Teyvat is either upside down or the sky isn’t real since how could Dainsleif know who all these people are (since he narrates all the 5 star character’s trailers). Either the man is just really smart and travel’s around a lot but he’s aware of who Zhongli is, an archon from 6000 years ago. This makes me believe he is either a god himself or if he is also a homunculus. Or he’s in the third category and perhaps he’s also a traveler like the main character’s.

I don’t believe he’s an archon but it would be interesting if he was a potential candidate for becoming the Khaenri’ah archon. Since I believe vision holders (human) can become archons and rise to Celestia but Dainsleif refused or he was capable of becoming an Archon

“A human with a Vision is an allogene — one with the potential to reach godhood; however, it isn't clear if having a Vision is a requirement, or simply makes a person more likely to meet the qualifications to reach Celestia.”

But going back to the state of Khaenri’ah, I’d like to think that since the art of Khemia is from Khaenri’ah that would mean that they had to learn how to make their own food and life since they didn’t have an archon to bless their lands. Barbatos had swept the snow and land away in the region of Mondstadt but Khaenri’ah doesn’t have that luxury. Naturally, I would imagine that there are some downsides of Khemia when it was first being practiced, hence the ash. But ash isn’t a bad thing, in fact you can use ash to amend soil and boost your lawn.

But obviously having a vision would be a whole lot more useful since it’s literally god given talent/blessing so if you have a vision, you might be able to break out and go to the “above” world of Teyvat. If you have a vision you’re seen as being blessed by the gods and you might be able to ascend to Celestia itself. I believe that Khaenri’ah is secretly the abyss and doesn’t see the sun so it’s always dark and it’s hard to grow anything so the people of Khaenri’ah had to find ways to make their own food, hence alchemy. This could be why Dainsleif is so adamant about humanity and questioning the Archons and visions.

If we are going on the theory that Dainsleif is actually a normal human, then I’d like to imagine he was one of the people that prayed for a vision or some type of blessing and finally got it. But an incident happened and he lost his faith or resolve in the Archons. He mentions it a tiny bit in the Diluc trailer but this is just me spit balling.

Also, Kaeya’s talents also mention about an abyss and void before the change. I don’t think abyss was made to relate to the abyss order and more the actual definition of abyss but it’s still interesting.

What is Khemia?

Well I don’t know and I don’t know how accurate google is but let’s try and go through it together. I have no idea if what I’m about to type is offensive since I do not have a history degree and I’m pretty much paraphrasing what google tells me.

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So Khemia, is an Egyptian sacred science. When Egypt was occupied by the Arabs they added “al-” to the world “Khemia” and “al-Khemia”. Al-Khemia means “The Black Land” and is now seen as a possibly origin of the world alchemy.

Not gonna lie, I did not know al-khemia meant the black land so idk if my hindsight is 2020 or it was just super obvious for my monkey brain.

As for the world “Chemeia”, it was used to designate the art of metal-working, specifically changing base metals into gold and silver. The Arabs later prefixed it with “al” and the world “alchemy”. Alchemy came to signify the art of chemistry in general. However the word "Chemeia” was probably derived from the Greek word “chemi” which means “black”. This could be because:

In the sense of "dark" or "hidden", since the Dark, Hidden or Divine Art was the only name by which this science was known to the ancients.

However, the word chemistry might have had a Chinese origin. It may have been derived from the Hakka term KIM-MI or the Cantonese term KEM-MAI, which signifies "gone astray in search of gold" or "secret of gold".

Assuming it’s from Egyptian origin, the ancient Egyptian word khēmia means the transmutation of earth, thereby the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale. According to some etymologists, khēmia or “preparation of black powder” ultimately derived the name from Khem or Kēme, Egypt, the land of black earth.

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So if we are going with the Chinese origin, I’d like to think that this is a hint towards the story and people trying to find the “gold” or perhaps a vision. This could explain why Kaeya was sent to Mondstadt to hopefully require a vision and come back.

What is the lore behind Khaenri’ah then?

So, why do I think the people of Khaenri’ah are looking to be saved or want a vision so badly? Well, time to go through the entire Khaenri’ah lore with you lads.

The Khaenri’ah lore goes as this:

At least 200 years ago, the Eclipse Dynasty threw the kingdom into chaos (meaning it was the last Dynasty).

The people were cursed and transformed into monsters.

Mondstadt’s Knights and Grand Master Arundolyn went on an expedition to Khaenri’ah to fight off the monsters.

In the present, Khaenri’ah is still struggling against the effects of the curse. Kaeya was sent to Mondstadt as their last hope and for the sake of the “ancient plot”.

1. For those not aware, China’s time periods were separated into Dynasty’s (sort of). The Chinese characters of “Eclipse Dynasty” are [古国黑日落] or "The Ancient Civilization of the Black Sunset". There is probably some type of history or connection to this since Zhongli’s voicelines are full of them but this post is long enough and I don’t know if people want to or care about hearing Chinese history but um let me know? Cause I’m really into that and I will gladly write about it.

2. We’re not completely aware if the people transformed into Hilichurls or were apart of the Abyss Order. But since the last dynasty was literally called Eclipse I would like to believe this supports my idea that Khaenri’ah isn’t someplace you can easily reach and you have to entire a fucking worm hole to get to. I’m in love with the idea that Khaenri’ah is the spiral abyss or at least part of it, that Childe fell into when he was a younger. Perhaps even the spiral abyss is where he landed since time technically doesn’t pass in spiral and it’s just a wave of enemies. I would 100% not be shocked if we have to enter the that wormhole to get to Khaenri’ah or something similar.

3. Arundolyn was a previous Grand Master and while he did not possess a Vision, he was naturally gifted through intense training. He was formerly one of the Four Winds and had the title of “Lion of Light”. So Khaenri’ah is possible to get to and someone from Mondstadt has done it, but without a vision. The Traveler also doesn’t carry a vision so it might be interesting to see. Kaeya didn’t get his vision until he was 18? 17? When he had a falling out with Diluc.

I would like to think that perhaps the Archon’s betrayed Khaenri’ah or someone fucked up in their pursuit to develop Khemia to it’s fullest potential or wanted to make their own vision, hence the delusion and how it transforms Childe into a foul legacy form. The Dragonspine lore could point to how Celestia has the power to seal away Khaenri’ah. This also might have been where Dainsleif lost his resolve (assuming he’s a human and just happened to get some sort of power or is really good at Khemia he saw the past or fate or whatever lol)

“Murals, Record of Serial No., and other lore bits in Dragonspine indicate that those who dwelled there attempted to fight against Celestia but lost. As punishment, the Skyfrost Nail was dropped, and the area was turned into a frozen wasteland.

Therefore, people with visions cannot enter Khaenri’ah because of the Archon’s and people that receive visions (which I still think is highly unlikely if you’re in Khaenri’ah) might be able to break out. Think of spiral abyss as some sort of “purgatory” except to enter Khaenri’ah you go down. To get out, you start AT FLOOR 12 and make your way up. Similar to Kid Icarus and how the hardest level was at the beginning and as you went up, it slowly became easier.

4. I like the idea that Khaenri’ah is a land that either doesn’t have vision holders or the people that do have visions aren’t seen the same way as other regions. People are are actually cursed by the Gods or people that require visions leave Khaenri’ah because they now have the power to. In Travail Dainsleif says this:

"Some say a few are chosen and the rest are dregs, but I say we humans have our humanity. We will defy this world from a power from beyond”

Naturally these are his ideals and I’d like to believe that Khaenri’ah is actually split on this. Some believe in Dainsleif ideals while the other half doesn’t. If we’re going on the theory that Khaenri’ah is actually the abyss then the abyss order makes a bit more sense.

Plus the idea that Lumine/Aether (I think the story is just going to stick with Lumine being the “villain ”) working for the abyss, it could be because their twin was separated by an unknown god. Aether was asleep and plagued by nightmares with his sister saying “it was too late”, perhaps he lost his memory since he doesn’t know what he was late for? Maybe this is what she meant since I’d assume the story has you going from place to place and the Archon’s stepping down like in Liyue and the Tsaritsa collecting all the gnosis.

Why is the Tsaritsa collecting all the gnosis?

“She is a god with no love left for her people, nor do they have any left for her. Her followers only hope to be on her side when the day of her rebellion against the divine comes at last."

I can imagine that Tsarista or the Cyro archon is collecting all the gnosis because she believes in the Khaenri’ah attitude and is apart of the ancient plot or is trying to protect them somehow since she isn’t an evil person based on Childe’s voicelines:

“Her Royal Highness the Tsaritsa is actually a gentle soul. Too gentle, in fact, and that's why she had to harden herself. Likewise, she declared war against the whole world only because she dreams of peace. And because she made an enemy of the world, I had the chance to become acquainted with you.”

Or maybe even more interesting, she was actually a citizen of Khaenri’ah since the Tsaritsa wasn’t apart of the original seven but this is a huge stretch. Maybe she’s collecting all the gnosis to finally break the seal on Khaenri’ah? Plus the people of Sneznaya strike me as “I don’t care if you’re blessed by the gods or have a vision, if you can fight then you’re good in our books”. Plus the people of Khaenri’ah are probably pretty mad at the Archons so when the rebellion does come I’d assume the Tsaritsa wants them on her side.

What happened to Kaeya?

Now Kaeya’s character story goes into how he met Diluc and Crepus. It’s hinted that it was on purpose since Kaeya’s father left him there specifically.

"One afternoon near the end of summer a decade ago, my father and I passed by the Dawn Winery."

This matter-of-fact description hides a carefully constructed lie. Kaeya has never once spoken the truth about what happened that afternoon:

"This is your chance. You are our last hope."

Kaeya would never forget the look of both hope and hatred in his father's eyes as he uttered those words.

Now you can interpret this as many things, either collecting all the gnosis and obtaining a vision to hopefully come back to save Khaenri’ah could be what he meant or he want’s Kaeya to stop the Abyss Order from literally setting Teyvat on fire. You can probably sympathize with the Abyss Order if we are following the theory that they are actually the mutated monsters of Khaenri’ah citizen’s during the Eclipse dynasty but it’s also like, how about we not set the world on fire ya know?

But interestingly, the reason why Kaeya’s father left him with Diluc’s family is because they have a long history of participating in the rebellion against Decarabian 2,600 years ago and Vennessa’s rebellion against the Aristocracy.

What will happen when Dainsleif get’s introduced?

So, I’m fully on board with the “Kaeya being the secret prince of Khaenri’ah” theory. I like the idea that Dainsleif is Kaeya’s servant or trusted advisor but I think that’s mainly rooted in the ship. Dainsleif strikes me more as someone who observes and only steps in if he has to because it might affect fate or whatever.

“I am content to watch most crises play out from the sidelines. But if Albedo were ever to make a single wrong move...I could not let myself ignore it.”

I don’t think Dainsleif is the King of Khaenri’ah that Jean mentions in her hobbies voiceline but perhaps he was related to them somehow. Maybe the first King or the King that Jean mentions was real and Dainsleif was his friend or the God that helped him become King, then the Eclipse Dynasty happened and everything went downhill. Since I believe in Kaeya being a secret prince from Khaenri’ah, Dainsleif would still be somewhat loyal to the Kingdom or perhaps he had lost faith after what happened and how so many people got corrupted and turned into monsters.

I was talking about this with my friend but what if genshin pulls an fgo and “kills” Kaeya? Similar to FGO where Leonardo “died” in a car accident and when we visited a shop, there was just a hologram. What if genshin’s story kills Kaeya in a cutscene, and we can no longer use him since Kaeya was a free character, only to return as - THE 5 STAR WE WERE ALL WAITING FOR - the prince of Khaenri’ah.

When will we see Dainsleif?

According to the “Travail” the order of appearances is this:

I believe part 1 is finished with Zhongli and dragonspine was just an add on for Albedo. But this makes me believe that Dainsleif and Khaenri’ah will be after we go to Snezhnaya. Also side note, the music for Natlan slaps hard.

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But yeah, I kinda went a bit off track and started talking about the story haha. I really love lore so if anyone has any questions about other characters or want’s to discuss the genshin story I am all ears^^. Also, if any of this becomes true in two years time I WILL BE BACK TO SAY I TOLD YOU SO.

Or genshin prepares to rip this post apart and none of it is true. If you actually read my word vomit I appreciate you and you get a free cookie. If you’re wondering where I’ve been, it was writing this haha.

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin lore #genshin impact lore #genshin theory #genshin impact theory #genshin dainsleif #genshin impact dainsleif #genshin kaeya #genshin impact kaeya #genshin khaenri'ah #genshin spoilers #genshin impact spoilers

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dimitribelikov · 3 years

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The Belikov Chronicles: Becoming a Mentor

✶ What if I rewrote different scenes but from Dimitri’s point of view? I have no idea if this is something people are interested in, but this was too fun not to write. Honestly, for all the times Rose is going on about what a god Dimitri is, it’s too amusing to imagine that he’s thinking he’s a total weirdo most of the time. ✶ trigger warnings : some adult language ✶ ship : none but hints of romitri I guess, as well as hints of Dimitri/Ivan ✶ notes : All dialogue is taken straight from Vampire Academy, chapter 2, written by Richelle Mead. The rest is mine.

✶✶✶

As the double doors opened and we walked into the commons, it seemed as though every set of eyes in the place turned on us. Ok, not much as us as they were on her. Rose Hathaway had been walking by my side, but clearly feeling the effects of scrutiny, she began to lag a little. It was certainly a cruel punishment to walk her though the throng of her peers, like dangling a piece of meat in a lion’s den. Headmistress Kirova had requested it, wanting to teach her and the Princess Vasilisa a bit of humility. Honestly, after the stunt they pulled, I couldn’t help but think a slice of humble pie would do them some good.

But my thoughts weren’t on the effects of a public, teenaged shaming. I was still thinking about the short conversation I’d had with Rose on the plane. Meeting her had exceeded my expectations. When I was tasked with apprehending Janine Hathaway’s daughter, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Janine was a well respected guardian, one that I’ve had to honor of meeting on more than one occasion. Her work, the stories of her past, continue to inspire me, but if I’m being honest, she also terrifies me. Janine is someone not to be messed with, so naturally her daughter would seemingly follow suit.

From the moment Rose squared off with us, ready to take on a whole team of experienced guardians by herself, I knew she had her mother’s fighting spirit. But when I asked her about it, why she’d do such a thing when she was clearly outnumbered, she answered with such conviction that I couldn’t help but be taken aback. “Because I’m her guardian.”

She wasn’t of course. Not yet. But while I was supposed to be reprimanding her for such a foolish tactic, I couldn’t help but be impressed. Perhaps I even admired her. It wasn’t too long ago, after all, that I felt the same way about my own charge. I would have stood against armies of Strigoi by myself to defend Ivan, but in the end, not even that was enough.

Finally reaching our destination, I took up my stance in the back of the room, across from Alberta. The captain of the school’s guardians was another person I had admired. I mirrored her stance and unreadable expression, knowing my place. Being reduced to nothing more than furniture was a good chunk of life for a guardian. It wasn’t as bad as it sounded, though. Being ignored and overlooked meant you pick up on all sorts of things. I’ve always been curious about the world around me, so I had learned years ago how to take in every detail while standing as still as a statue.

The only move I made was when Rose shot up and yelled at the Headmistress in outrage. She was angry, but not threatening to I stayed in my spot, eyes trained on her. She was unruly, stubborn, and very reckless. Damn, I admired her spirit.

“I kept her safe!” she continued to yell. The dark curls of her glossy hair bounced against her back as she shook with anger. I wasn’t going to admit that she was pretty when mad, but... “I kept her safe when none of you could do it. I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren’t going to.”

I could feel the concern radiating from Alberta, but I actually had to work to keep a small smile from my face. Sure, the teenaged girl just insulted my own capabilities, but I didn’t take it personally. She had a point. Seeing the way she had thrown herself in front of Vasilisa to protect her from us back in Portland, I had no doubt that Rose truly believed she was protecting her. She needed guidance, though. Proper training. Her brash attitude made her jump to conclusions and solutions were way out of left field.

I ignored the voice in my head that told me how I wasn’t much different with Ivan before he’d died. Sure, I never took him out of school and fled the Moroi authorities, but I’d still concocted some pretty crazy schemes to keep him safe. He was my best friend after all. More than that. Ivan was everything and if there was a threat big enough, I didn’t entirely rule out the possibility that I’d have done exactly what Rose did. His death had sobered me, though. Tamed me from my more headstrong ways.

“You will be sent away as soon as possible.” It the Headmistress who had spoken. She was talking about Rose, of course. That was the exact opposite of what she needed. Didn’t Headmistress Kirova know who she was dealing with? The daughter of Janine Hathaway had too much potential to be wasted, especially with guardian numbers as abysmal as they were. The verbal sparring match that continued after that was intense. I followed every word between the two, and noted the look of sheer panic in the princess’s eyes. Those two couldn’t live without each other. If Vasilisa was my new charge, I had to keep her best interests a priority. This couldn’t stand. Surely Alberta would have an opinion? But she was remaining rooted the spot. The argument was getting more heated. Shit. I had to do something, to speak up or–

No, no, no, no. Furniture. You’re just a piece of furniture. I internally berated myself, biting my tongue. This doesn’t involve you. Stay out of it.

“They have a bond,” I said. And just like that, I dragged myself in the middle of something I had no business being in. Fuck it, I decided as all eyes turned on me. I kept my expression neutral as though my speaking was fueled by perfectly rational thoughts. I always hated being in the spotlight, so rather than deal with the whole room, I stared solely at Rose. There was something comforting about her, as though if anyone in the room could understand me, it was her. “Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don’t you Rose?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the headmistress look entirely startled by the claim. “No... that’s impossible. That hasn’t happened for centuries.”

Her doubt only encouraged me to continue as I felt a better handle over the situation. “It’s obvious,” I said. “I suspected it as soon as I started watching them.” My eyes were still locked on Rose’s. She was defiant and strong, and I couldn’t help but feel my own strength bolstered by her presence. Perhaps I was starting to come off as a creep, though, because she quickly looked away from me as Prince Victor gave this theory praise.

Turning my gaze onto Kirova, I continued. “The best guardians always had that bond. In the stories.” I added the last part, hoping that I didn’t somehow sound like a total loon. I technically wasn’t supposed to be talking at all, yet here I was, spouting of old myths straight from fairytales. But every word I said was the truth. I had seen it, and it was something that couldn’t be ignored.

“Stories that are centuries old! Surely you aren’t suggesting we let her stay at the Academy after everything she’s done?” Kirova countered.

I guess I am just a loon, after all. With nothing more to lose, I shrugged. “She might be wild and disrespectful but if she has potential–”

“Wild and disrespectful? Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?” It was Rose who had interrupted and I wish I had a way to tell her to shut up. Couldn’t she see that I was the only one actually standing up for her? I suddenly thought of a few more adjectives to add to “wild and disrespectful”.

“Guardian Belikov is the princess’s guardian now. Her sanctioned guardian,” Kirova corrected. I know I wasn’t supposed to be on her side, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit triumphant.

That feeling fell immediately with Rose’s next words. “You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?” Thank God I had mastered an unreadable expression, because if I could have thrown daggers at the novice, I would have. She knew nothing about me, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt by the statement.

Kirova threw her hands up as though her point had just been made. “You see?” she said, directed at me. “Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and very raw potential in the world can’t make up for that. A guardian without discipline is worse than no guardian.”

I couldn’t disagree, which brought me back to my original point. Pushing my irritation over the insult aside, I knew I had to stand up for the guardian Rose could be. “So teach her discipline. Classes just started. Put her back in and get her training again.” Honestly, wasn’t that the whole point of school? If being undisciplined got students kicked out, there wouldn’t be any left.

“Impossible. She’ll still be hopelessly behind her peers.”

“No I won’t,” Rose finally spoke up. If she was standing up for herself in a rational manner, then surely we could sway Kirova to let her stay at the Academy by Vasilisa’s side.

“Then give her extra training sessions,” I quickly added, feeling victory within our reach. And just like that, the negotiation started. It was the first real hope I felt in this battle. We continued for a while and I could feel Alberta’s eyes on me the whole time. Surely there would be words when we were back in the guardian’s headquarters.

“Who’s going to put in the extra time?” Kirova sounded tired of the conversation and I knew I had my foothold. She was ready to accept, she just needed the logistics of it all hammered out. Just as I was feeling triumphant again, the rug was once again pulled out. “You?”

I froze. Me? Train Janine Hathaway’s daughter one on one? The princess needed her and I could respect that, but Rose was quickly becoming a thorn in my side with her harsh comments. The two of us alone together in a sparring ring would surely end in blood being drawing. “Well, that’s not what I–” I trailed off, feeling like a total idiot. I didn’t think this through at all.

“Yes. That’s what I thought.” Shit. Just like that, Kirova won.

My eyes fell on the two girls, and when I looked between them I saw... Ivan and me. For the hundredth time that day, my mind came back to my old friend. I loved him more than I could put into words. I would have died for him, but instead, it was the other way around. One day off, one day away from him, and disaster of the worst degree had struck. I could imagine with painful clarity how Rose would feel if anything were to happen to Vasilisa while she was sent away. Of course, I would make sure to never again lose a Moroi on my watch. No more day-off’s for me. But if Rose had no choice...

“Yes. I can mentor Rose.” I almost didn’t recognize my own voice as I spoke. The moment the words left my mouth, though, I knew I didn’t regret them. I made a vow, and Vasilisa was now in my care. I couldn’t hurt her chances by taking away someone she was bonded with. And Rose... Rose deserved a fighting chance. “I’ll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones.”

We agreed that Rose should still be punished for her actions in addition to the extra training. With words of encouragement from Victor and Vasilisa herself, Kirova finally caved. Yet I’d hardly call it a victory. I’d just traded in practically all my free time to train a wild and disrespectful girl. She was my responsibility now and as I held her gaze again, I had a feeling I had my work cut out for me.

#ᴏɴᴇ sʜᴏᴛ ✶ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇʟɪᴋᴏᴠ ᴄʜʀᴏɴɪᴄʟᴇs #dimitri belikov #vampire academy #rose hathaway #lissa dragomir #romitri #[ should I tag this as romitri? there's moments...

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agent-cupcake · 4 years

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Imagine having a child with a guy named Jimmy. Cursed.

OTHERWISE you all pretty much echoed what I was thinking, bless you.

cw pregnancy / forced pregnancy

(As ever, this is all in the context of dark personalities. I hesitate to say yandere, although that’s kind of become synonymous with dark personality AU’s and an obvious argument can be made that a darker take on the characters could lead into a yandere scenario)

Ferdinand von Aegir

~While I don’t think he’d go out of his way to have a baby, he definitely wouldn’t take any steps to avoid it, either. That is, he wouldn’t really stray into breeding kink territory or anything of that kind but he’s not gonna pull out either.

~But, yeah, if you were to get pregnant, Ferdinand wouldn’t be displeased by any means. He’d legitimately think it was the best way to “fix” things and out of a misguided attempt to ignore any negative aspects of the relationship and cling to the idealism of a happy marriage.

~Just a side note, but I def see him with a body worship kink and I can only begin to imagine how that would intensify with his weakness for the softness and so-called beauty of motherhood. Whatever that’s supposed to mean.

~Honestly, I don’t see him overtly leveraging as a manipulation tactic. No, he’s good enough that his genuine feelings could do the job for him. Like, it’s not just you anymore. You’re responsible for another life so don’t you think you just trust him and let him take care of you? Oh, sure, he’d humor you (on account of the hormones) and say that he understands why you’re upset, but please just calm down. Everything will be all right, he’ll take care of you.

~I think that Ferdinand would want a family even without the whole dark personality aspect. The way he’d see it is that children are a natural result of a union and love. He’d absolutely cherish your children if for no other reason than the fact that they’d be half you, although you can’t tell me that he wouldn’t have a horrible weakness for kids.

~You’d be barely showing and he’d be picking out baby names and getting opinions on how to decorate the nursery and occasionally freaking out due to anticipation and nerves. He’d be really, disastrously, over-the-top protective, too. I just assume white magic would greatly lessen the infant and mother mortality rate but that doesn’t entirely remove the risk of complications so he’d be cloyingly careful about everything you ate, keeping tabs on any possible oddity going on with you. And, you know, I think he would enjoy emotionally taking care of you. Like if you were scared or sad or anything, I think he’d enjoy comforting you in a way that’s definitely not healthy. He’d enjoy being needed, I suppose.

~Yeah, so overall I view any sort of darker personality take on Ferdinand to be him, but with his sweet and noble and protective traits dialed up to an eleven without any sort of self awareness to make him pause and consider that maybe you don’t feel the same so having a child like this, as an intentional act of manipulation to make you stay or not, would be within the realm of possibilities.

Sylvain Jose Gautier (Bastard Man)

~Sylvain is pretty easy to imagine with a dark personality. I mean, assuming you have no pity in your heart and are willing to write him in a way that he never was able to get over his myriad issues, self hatred, severe distrust of people’s true intentions, and familial trauma.

~Assuming all that, and entertaining the idea that he could never find a good balance of repression and escapism, I think Sylvain would create an unhealthy emotional bond to a single person he believed to be exempt from his overall dismal regard for people and do this fun little thing where he’d chaotically flip flop between extreme emotions of distrust, blame, and anger and adoration, need, and a desperation to be seen as he was and still loved.

~But it’d be a brutal cycle because he’s not the delusional type. Sometimes he could be, both with the good and the bad, but those would be kind of episodic. There’d be bad days where he’d be utterly convinced that you were just like the rest and he’d pick little fights and generally just be pretty pissy. But then sometimes he’d be blinded by love and so caught up in it that even if you told him no, he’d take it with a cheeky wink because of course you loved him and everything was so good. But, mostly, it’d just be a lot of dysfunction and Sylvain trying to lure you into a nice, good relationship with him by being mostly normal and decently charming and even, occasionally, being vulnerable (and tricking you into being vulnerable with him).

~Anyway, back to the point. With all that context, why not bring a baby into the mix, right?

~How many times does Sylvain bring up crest babies. Please, someone do a hard count and get back to me because damn son. So, may I just say, if anyone of these three were to have a breeding kink it’d be him. Is that controversial? Just think about it. Every girl ever wants him mystical crest cum, right? So, mentally, the whole thing would have a lot of weight and significance. Also Sylvain just strikes me as the type who’d be self aware enough of his dark and unhealthy needs that staking as intimate of a claim as that would be erotic. Unlike the other two, the act of forcing an irreversible and tangible change in your body and mind would be interesting. Not that he’d tell you any of that, or even dwell on it himself.

~I’m torn between Sylvain saying it was an accident and him using the argument that since the two of you were in love, it was only natural that you’d start a family together. How could you not want to have his children? Better yet, how was he supposed to know that you wanted to wait.

~But if you continued to be unreasonable, he’d go on the defensive. Like, what are you going to do? Leave him? For what? To raise his baby on your own? Or, worse, abandon your child? If you thought he’d voiced unfairly negative opinions about women before, the way he’d talk about a mother who abandoned her child and such a good, happy life with a loving husband would be infinitely worse. After all, he wanted to make a change in your relationship and be happy together. He wanted to be a good, loving father. He wanted a family with you. After everything, what kind of person would you be to throw that all away?

~So that’s... a lot.

~But Sylvain’s the type to be awful in the moment then regret it after the heat dies down. Knowing he’d hurt you would genuinely tear him up inside. All of that adoration and desperation to keep you with him because he’d feel like he needed you to be happy would kick in and he’d break down under the guilt and tell you how much he loved you, how happy it made him to think that the two of you could have a family, that he knew you would be a great mother, that he knew he’d messed up but he would make it up to you, that you really could be a happy family.

~Just saying, I can see him taking a perverse sort of pleasure in the physical effects of pregnancy. Also, he’d definitely be a lot softer with you. Guilty conscience, anyone?

Dimitri (Dimi) (Jimmy)

~You, dear anon, said it better than I could have myself. I agree SO HARD that Dimitri would be terrified of being a parent, but at the same time I think, if it were to happen, he’d be utterly enamored with the idea. There’s a lot more that I think about how he’d regard fatherhood, but that’s the gist.

~Funny thing is, darker Dimitri is just like... More needy... unbearably protective... Paranoid... less stable... bad at managing his emotions when it comes to you... But, like, the same general emotions about fatherhood would apply because that’s already pretty complex. Only, this time, with an obvious emphasis on how it would effect you and your relationship.

~I was going to say that I can’t see Dimitri purposefully impregnating you, but that’s not entirely true. In a fit where he’s feeling especially raw and paranoid, I think he would do it very purposefully and even almost-kinda-sorta relish in the idea.

~I view his obsessive feelings to be like an itch he can’t quite scratch because he knows better than anybody how easy it would be to lose you and doesn’t know how to manage both his own instability with the unpredictable world because at any moment it could all spiral apart.

~So, this in mind, he could believe that having a baby would make things different. More than just vows or words or rings or anything, it would be a concrete and absolute tie between the two of you. He would have an unquestionable claim over you that would go beyond the scope of just your relationship, you’d be carrying the royal heir which would give Dimitri even further valid excuses to be suffocatingly overprotective.

~It would be... So messy... On the one hand, I think the concept of fatherhood, of being given another chance, of being needed that much more by both you and the child, would really appeal to him. It could even sand off some of the rougher edges of his darker traits, now that he had this assured security in keeping you with him. Sure, the itch wouldn’t be scratched entirely, but it would be easier to ignore, there would be a solid way to reassure himself that you were his.

~But Dimitri’s got this awful middle ground of self awareness. Anything that would come off delusion would be a result of his endless attempts at rationalizing his unhealthy feelings and trying to make sense of it all without having to actually confront the issues. But that wouldn’t mean he wouldn’t know, on some level, that what he was doing wasn’t healthy and how bad it was for you. The guilt would be intense, which would be apart of the reason he needed to keep you so close all the time because then he could pretend that you needed him just as badly, that everything was all right because he could take care of you better than anyone else.

~Dimitri’s self aware guilt would allow a part of himself to understand that he should let you go. He could even, on the bad days, convince himself that maybe, one day, he would allow you to leave him because he loved you, because what he was doing was wrong. As long as you were near him, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself, he would always hurt you.

~But using pregnancy to force you to stay with him would, perhaps even in an intentional subconscious way, cut off that last-ditch contingency to ease his own guilt and pain of what he was doing by keeping you with him. Now that you were going to be having his child, the royal heir, would mean that you could never leave. He’d know it. You would probably know it, too.

~After that point, Dimitri would double down with proving his affection, proving that he was capable of taking care of you and his child and that you could be a family and everything would be okay.

#fe3h #fire emblem three houses #ferdinand von aegir #sylvain jose gautier #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #yandere #fe ferdinand #fe sylvain #fe dimitri #pregnancy tw #headcanons #this is fucked up and i didn't intend to have this much to say #fucking jimmy #i'm not even INTO this like fuck having children but when it's all mental fuckery it tastes so good #i'm sorry guys

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existential-fox · 3 years

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses Thoughts

As someone who has always enjoyed JPRGs (thanks FFX) I kind of went into FETH knowing I would probably enjoy it. It’s character driven! It has different classes for each character! You can romance a character of your choice! There are goddesses, ultimate weapons, dragons, and a magic system! How could I not like this game?

The thing about FETH is it didn’t really throw any twists or turns that I couldn’t have predicted my way but the conclusions were still satisfying. The story was good but not in a ‘woah, change my life’ way. It did its job but its not FFVII or Tales of Bersera good in my eyes. No. It’s the characters and their individual stories that kept me playing.

I played Verdant Wind btw so there will probably be some spoilers for this route in my notes below.

You can’t really speak about Verdant Wind without first mentioning Claude. He’s the House’s Lord and the person you chose to align with at the start of the game. I chose The Golden Deer because of Claude. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I spoke to all the students, liked the look of some of them, felt meh about others, but when it came down to the choice I had to go with my gut feeling- this guy feels down to earth compared to the other two. I feel like he would be a laugh to hang out with. Plus he’s pretty.

I wasn’t wrong. Claude speaks to others as if they are his equal... because they are to him, and part of that also means that he isn’t afraid to make fun of his classmates or even his rival houses. Claude is top bants, and of course he remains pretty up to the point of the time skip- where he looks straight up handsome. Golden Boy indeed.

But my favorite thing about Claude- and the rest of the characters really- is that what you first see isn’t what is really going on. Claude might speak causally with people but he is extremely mistrustful of people at the beginning of the game. He keeps all his cards close to his chest under the pretence of being a ‘schemer’ but while he does have a sharp mind the real reason for this is he doesn’t trust others to take him and his goals seriously. He’s been treated as an outsider his whole life. Been discriminated against. Moved from pillar to post at the will of the nobles and seen discrimination happening from the other side as a result of this. Which is why his route is perfect for him. In between Edelgard, Rhea, and Dimitri, Claude is the third party, trying to make the best of a situation and struggling to see both sides. He wants to gather all the information he can because he would hate to have a wrong opinion due to trusting the biased opinions of others. He finds the truth for himself.

But Claude doesn’t stay that way. Yes, his goal from the beginning has been to tear down the wall separating Fodlan from the outside world but.... ironically he had to tear down the wall within himself that was separating him from others as well. Claude at the end of the game is a very different person to the Claude at the beginning. He is open to Lorenz and Hilda’s suggestions, willing to share his plans with Byleth and others, up to the point where he reveals his ultimate goal to the others and they stand by him. Nobles, commoners, Crestbearers and Crestless. Claude truly becomes a leader in that scene. He inspires in a way all leaders should and leads by example.

And it’s not just Claude...it’s all of them: Hilda, Lorenz, Leonie, Lysithea, Ignatz, Rapheal and Marianne all develop over the course of the story (especially if you do their Supports) and their development feeds into both Claude’s and Verdant Wind’s story.

Let me talk about Marianne for a second. I honestly didn’t think much of her to start with- oh here’s another ‘I’m so sorry’ fragile girl- I thought- I’m sure she’ll stay exactly the same, the way they always do.

Nope. Marianne is a mess. She’s a severely depressed, suicidal, living from day to day, barely taking care of herself, mess. I like that the game highlights this as her being utterly unhealthy. It’s not edgy goth girl, or cute shy girl, it’s Marianne being a danger to herself. The game writes her despair as being rooted in her Crest (the cursed Crest of the Beast) but it is ridiculously easy to read this Crest as a metaphor for Mental Illness. She’s told to stay away from others because of it because she might hurt them. Her father suffered from it before her and it was passed down to her. If people knew the nature of her Crest they would shun her as something dangerous and untrustworthy. And lastly, it is achingly clear how much she wants to be freed of it... even if that freedom costs her life. I’m reading it as a mental illness metaphor and I’m sticking with it.

But its her supports that bring her back to life. The people around her speak to her in various ways befitting their character (I like this too) and each one highlights something different that they see in her that is admirable and good. Rapheal admires her affinity with animals. Lorenz admires her quiet nature. Ignatz recognises how easy it is to appreciate the small things when with her. Claude recognises her strength in being different. Etc. etc. None of these things cure her but by being around people and seeing that they don’t reject her but accept her instead her shell begins to crack. Maybe it doesn’t have to be this way, Marianne begins to think. Maybe there are small parts of myself that are not only tolerable but... wanted in others. Maybe I don’t have to apologise for my existence.

It’s hard to say when Marianne truly turns a leaf because much like real life, change doesn’t happen in one moment, but it’s important to recognise that she does change. She still has the Crest at the end of the story (read Mental Illness) but she noticeably is able to speak her mind without apologising, able to offer her help rather than shying away, and most importantly able to laugh. It’s amazing how vocal Marianne is after the time-skip. She’s still Marianne but a healthier person. And I love her for it.

I won’t go over the other characters as I’ve spoken plenty about my two faves but I do love them all. Yes, even Sylvain. Can’t agree with his methods but I do understand and empathise with his reasons. And people are often like that.

Going off characters and into other things:

Gameplay-

I liked it but made the mistake of choosing Normal. It was ridiculously easy by the mid-way point. I would defo play on Hard in future games. However I love the strategy of choosing who fights who, when to draw someone back, when to use Gambits etc. Also love the class system. Pegasus Knights go brrrrrrrr.

Music-

This is a ‘it does its job’ for me. Nothing really stood out asides the final boss theme. But it didn’t annoy me or get bland so there’s that!

Monastery Life-

Pre Timeskip- Was fun. I liked trying to recruit students and finding lost items and doing all the support raising stuff. It was a nice break from battles.

Post Timeskip- Eh. Not enough students around to justify it tbh. It didn’t bore me but I did find myself wanting to go back to battles, story, or supports.

Verdant Wind story- I like this route for its lore and for how it mirrors Claude’s character. I did not like last minute villain even if I liked his theme. I was kind of surprised Sothis never came back?? Killing the students I didn’t recruit was fucking cruel. Have no idea what happened to Dedue. Maybe he went to the Bahamas for a long holiday after losing out to the kill.

I want to play the other routes to understand Edelgard/Dimitri/Rhea’s viewpoints but I do feel like VW is a complete story in itself. You don’t need anything else but Claude really. Why get messed up in politics and Crest shit when you can try to end racism, right? Who the fuck cares about that other stuff.

Anyway in conclusion this game to me succeeds for two things- compelling character development and compelling character relationships. I’m kind of astounded tbh that the writers wrote so many characters and yet made them all compelling in their own ways.

I bought a Golden Deer shirt because I am so invested in these characters so they’ve got to be good.

#fire emblem:three houses #verdant wind #claude von reigen #marianne von edmund #golden deer #video games #fire emblem

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morkofday · 3 years

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list 7 comfort films n tag 7 people

thank you for tagging me jaz @jazthespazz ♥ i always love thinking about all the things that bring me comfort even if when met by this type of questions, my brain suddenly goes blank.

i’m tagging @foxofninetales @jockvillagersonly @i-am-just-a-kiddo @zhanqzhehan @manhasetardis @yibobibo @ashenlights ♥ no pressure!

my movies and my ramblings you can find under the cut!

I. The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

i have no idea what this movie did to me. maybe something got twisted or broken or fixed, i don’t know, but it affected me a lot. like i’ve said before somewhere, i have never rewatched a movie this many times. i just keep missing it and as am writing this, i wish to watch it again. the atmosphere and the story and the characters just fill me with so much love that i feel like choking. i want to cry a river. i want to hug someone and i don’t even know who. i feel warm. where am i supposed to put all of this feeling?

(this movie also made me fall in love with deng lun and gosh, i’ve never seen such an adorable human in my life, he’s a delight ♥)

II. Fast and Furious (Hurjapäät)

i have a huge fondness to the whole f&f series but the first movie gives me comfort. it is such simple stuff when it comes to the plot but the found family themes are amazing and the cool cars and heists get me hyped. the fifth movie is my other favorite but the first one is the one that makes me feel at home. i always loved brian and how he finds his own place with the torreto family, and i have shed so many tears for paul walker’s sudden death and how wonderful the other actors have been about it. i love them. i miss them. if i want something nice and fun to watch, i am going for the fast and furious movies bc i know that they feel like home.

(look at this pretty boy! look at that million watt smile!! also, as f&f is the first fandom that got me into fanfics, i have to mention that am eternally fond of the way brian’s eyes were always described as “baby blues”)

III. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (Spirit - villi ja vapaa)

if i had to pick one movie to describe my whole childhood and who i am as a person, it would be this one. spirit has affected me so much. i am so utterly in love with it. i have watched it maybe a thousand times and i always cry about it. the whole story is just so lovely and the themes about freedom and fighting for your self have hit me hard. i remember wishing to be as fast as spirit as a kid. i remember wishing i had a hawk (eagle?) friend too lol. i adore this movie and it has always felt like a hug or like a carrying wind.

(the way this movie looks and sounds are just perfect ok. i have never seen anything better. am sad i never got to learn how to ride a horse as a kid)

IV. Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (Prinsessa ja kerjäläistyttö)

i have to mention the barbie movies here. i have watched many of the relatively older ones way too many times. this is not probably my favorite but this is the comfort movie out of all of them. my fave is 12 dancing princesses but i have not watched it in a long while bc i cannot find it from anywhere and this one is just. i adore the songs. i looooved erika as a character. i loved her cat! also i think she was some type of queer icon to me bc i felt like i could relate to her character as a kid when i didn’t have any knowledge about anything. i owned a doll of her. i can still remember the song lyrics by heart. i had severe princess dreams ok.

(out of context this movie so meme worthy. i love that for us. also this just,,, in relation to my queer projections on her lol)

V. Anastasia

another animated movie that i absolutely adore. anastasia is one of those princess movies just makes me swoon every time. the songs are amazing and make me very emotional and the story is somehow so different? i love dimitri as a male character too which is a lot. tho i was always legit scared of rasputin bc his character has been made to look and act so creepy?? it’s,,, disturbing. i remember having my hands over my fave and just peeking through my fingers as a kid when i watched some of his scenes. but otherwise, this movie gives me a lot of comfort. once again i feel like the big theme is freedom (in some sense at least)

(look at them!! they’re so nice ;; i love them. i love their relationship. ugh)

VI. The Avengers

i have no idea if this movie will ever be my fave or what marvel movie even is my fave but avengers and marvel in general have been very important to me. there is a lot of bad in there and i am pissed about many things (especially when it comes to avengers and their relationships with each other) but i am also just very fond. i remember watching every avengers related movie after going to see captain america: winter soldier with my ex gf when it was in the theaters. i was very in love with all of them. i still look at them with great affection. end game made me cry horribly. they give me comfort even if the found family in avengers isn’t on the level it could be (but fics and fanons fixed that for me)

(i was, for a while, very much in love with stony. i am still very fond of the idea of them as those ppl i think they are and could be. am sad the movies kinda ruined them :/ otherwise, i still am and forever will be utterly in love with hawkeye/clint barton)

V. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Maailman laidalla)

the last movie of the trilogy has a special place in my heart. it’s the ending, of course, and in all of its glory it is epic and lovely and bittersweet. it was always a perfect ending for the trilogy in my opinion. i love the whole story that pans out throughout the three movies (and that we continue a little bit in the next two but which i want to leave out for now) but there’s something very tender about the ending. i love the visuals in this. i love davy jones’ locker as an idea so much. i love jack and watching him somehow... grow in this? i have also listened to this one as an audio book as a kid and that has only managed to deepen my love for this movie

(throughout my childhood i had a horrible crush on jack sparrow. i still think of him as my fave character out there. nothing can top him. no one can ever replace him. also elisabeth swan is the reason i’m gay)

thank you for reading if you got this far! i had so much fun with this and this just made my heart feel full :’) now i can return to kick my so’s ass in mortal kombat (yes i am lying. they might kick my ass instead. does it lessen the fun? not at all) i hope you all have a wonderful day ^^ ♥

#tag game #gosh i feel so full #with love and adoration #also pls don't come at me #if i remember some of the names wrong #also the names added #are the finnish titles for some #bc i know them like that #thank you jaz!!#sorry this got so long

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chubbyheroesworthyheroes · 4 years

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This was a request I got before even getting into 3H, and I never forgot about it! Just finally got around to writing it up. Anon didn’t give another character for the prompt, so I tried to do a fun solo thing for Sylvain here. Hopefully it came out okay!

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There were many things you could call Sylvain -- and many people did, whether to his face or behind his back -- but one couldn’t really call him personally vain. Towards women he held fleeting interest in, he could be, but towards himself? Not too much. He was perfectly content with who he was, and had no trouble being himself, even if it wasn’t particularly favorable to be so in certain situations. He stayed out late most nights, chasing women and having fun, and despite his great potential, tended to shirk non-mandatory training. Put these two things together with the free food at the monastery, as well as a few students in the Blue Lions that either enjoyed to cook or practically came up with reasons to give snacks away, and it all led up to one thing…

Personal growth.

Just...not in the way most people likely thought he needed to grow.

Sylvain had always been attractive -- certainly to himself, but clearly to the fairer sex as well, considering his track record. He was above average in height, had a perfectly charming physique that was fit but not overly muscled. He was fair of face and styled his hair to have that slightly roguish look that caught certain ladies’ eyes.

To his estimations, he was a prime specimen of the male variety.

And he continued to think so, even when muscle definition started to melt away from a lack of consistent exercise and clothing became too tight due to helping Dedue out one too many times in the kitchens. It was also frequent for Felix to foist unwanted sweets on him, and even Dimitri gifted him certain foods, knowing that Sylvain enjoyed them and not wanting to “waste” them on his own compromised sense of taste.

With so many enablers around when it came to food, it was only a matter of time before weight really started to pile up. For someone with far less confidence in themselves, this would have been the point at which to change bad habits. But if there was one thing Sylvain had in spades, it was self confidence. He didn’t think anything of it. Sure, he was aware of it -- hard not to be, besides, he wasn’t a dunce! -- but nothing had really changed in his life on account of it. He still went out to have fun and pick up girls, he was still fairly able on the battlefield. Truly, the only thing that had changed in his life was that he had to constantly up the size of his wardrobe.

Examining himself in the mirror, Sylvain liked what he saw -- as always.

His face was cherubic now; round, rosy cheeks and the soft outline of a double chin. His shoulders and waist weren’t as sharp and tapered anymore; shoulders slightly rounded with padding, and his waist bulged out with a pleasantly plump roll from the love handles that had settled in there rather early on. His arms weren’t all that flabby, some definition still there to give a bit of hard substance to the chub. His chest was soft with a pair of perky moobs that were starting to give in to the pull of gravity, only just able to rest against his stomach when he was sitting down or slouching while standing. A lot of the weight he’d put on had gone to his middle, giving it a pillowy give that he’d found some girls just went absolutely nuts for -- they simply couldn’t keep their hands off, rubbing or squishing and squeezing at the girth of his gut.

Shifting around, his body jiggling lightly as he did, Sylvain smirked as he took a gander at his rear. Really, even if it had gotten him near to being stuck in some chairs recently, it was worth it to catch peoples’ attention with an ass as fat as this. It was a firm sort of fat, wobbling weightily when given a hard slap. His thighs, too, had gone sort of the same way, the pudge there bolstered by muscles from his horseback riding.

He was thick, and frankly, it was delicious.

Sylvain rubbed a palm over the chubby curve of his stomach, making a faint “oh!” sound as an idea struck him. Pacing away with an excited pep in his step, he went rummaging around in his clothes drawers for a bit. He was pretty certain he still had-- Aha! There it was! Yanking the uniform out from its shoved-in-the-back prison, Sylvain held it up for inspection for a moment before padding back to the mirror.

His old uniform.

He had long since outgrown it, but now, he was really curious to see by just how much he’d gotten larger since he’d come to the monastery.

Dropping the bundle of clothes on the floor, Sylvain figured he’d start with the shirt first. It was a bit of a struggle to get his pudgy arms through the long, white sleeves of the formal shirt, but he did manage it. It pulled tightly across his shoulders and squeezed his upper arms. It was on, but actually buttoning it up was going to be the real challenge here. He started from the top, the button near his collarbone coming together without much of a hitch; it wasn’t abhorrently tight, but it sort of constricted his breathing as he was forced to tuck his soft chin to his chest in order to look down at what his fingers were doing. He made it one and then two buttons down, his puffy chest causing the space in between the buttons to gap open and reveal plush flesh.

Grunting, Sylvain struggled with the next button. He pulled and yanked, sucking in his tummy as much as he could; the pearlescent smoothness of the button almost slipped from his fingers, but he eventually managed to slot it into its buttonhole. The fabric stretched as far as it could, a deep crease in the material cutting into the soft crest of his belly, and then -- rip, ping! -- the shirt button gave way, tearing away from the crisp fabric and rocketing to one of the corners of his room.

Sylvain let out an involuntary sigh of relief as the pressure was immediately removed from his stomach, chubby face gone a soft pink from excitement over popping a button off the shirt so easily. He reveled in the moment a bit, before taking the shirt off and tossing it to the floor, opposite the pile of yet-to-be-tried clothing.

Next would be the jacket, but as he bent to pick it up, ass slightly in the air and the weight of his belly hanging off his round frame, he had his doubts on even getting it on.

The sleeves were awfully tight, and while he squirmed and wiggled a pudgy arm through as far as he could, he gave up after not making much headway past his elbow. The jacket quickly joined its shirt brother, Sylvain giving it a mock salute before turning his attention to the trousers.

Now these...these were the big breakthrough. There wasn’t anything quite as satisfying to him than outgrowing a pair of pants. It held weight, pun possibly intended. Even back when he wasn’t as heavy, these pants were form fitting -- bordering on tight, but not uncomfortably so. Giving them a look over, Sylvain grinned, “Time to test your endurance, old friend.”

Holding them open, Sylvain daintily stepped into one leg, then -- with only some awkwardness -- plopped his other leg into the remaining one. With the black material pooled at his ankles, he made sure to get a good angle in the mirror before starting to pull the trousers up. Ankles? Cleared. Calves? Not too much resistance, until he got further down the leg of the pants, but he could still keep going without much fuss. He got the fabric up past his knees and was heading towards his thighs, and that is when he met an immediate roadblock.

He yanked and tugged, wiggled himself back and forth, trying to gain any ground. He won maybe a quarter inch before the waist of the pants slipped from his hands in another attempt to pull them higher up. The black trousers stayed exactly put, stuck on the circumference of his thighs with the waist tightly molded to the underside of his thick rear.

Sylvain almost squeaked with the pleasure of it, panting from the exertion. He couldn’t get the damned things past his thighs, let alone even try to get it up beyond the swell of his ass. He moved a hand up to grope at his chest, the other coming down to squeeze at the bulge of his middle as he watched himself in the mirror; face a bright scarlet, excitement and pleasure coiling in his lower stomach.

“Fuck, I’m hot…,” Sylvain moaned, body wobbling as he tried to quickly shimmy out of his pants enough to get a hand on his stiffening cock.

There really was no sweeter treat.

#male weight gain #male wg #chubby!sylvain

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iturbide · 3 years

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So, Claude's probably pretty touch-starved since he's gotten to Fodlan, and really needs some good hugs. Dimitri is also DEFINITELY touch-starved, and he seems like he could give some really good hugs. Is this an excuse for Claude and Dimitri to just be able to give each other hugs?

......

Maybe

Friend let me tell you a fun-fact: this whole touch-starved notion is actually a big reason why I think Hilda ends up being Claude’s right hand in the Golden Deer House.

See, I have this idea that Almyran culture on the whole (and Claude’s family in particular) are very casual with physical affection. Claude grew up getting lots of it from his parents in the form of hugs and hand holds and hair pets and the like, while friends like Nader and the apothecaries he bribed for plant info would pat his arm or back or shoulder in greeting, parting, even at random. Touch is very commonplace in Almyra, but that is really not the case in Fodlan, and especially with his grandfather; Judith, who took over most of his initial education before he headed to Garreg Mach, at least tried to help fill his touch quota, but she’s only one person, so it was a struggle -- and she couldn’t come to the Officer’s Academy at all, so at that point he was pretty much on his own.

Meanwhile, the Alliance at large might not be super big on extreme displays of physical affection, but the Gonerils are not the Alliance at large. I tend to see Holst as this big, rather boisterous guy, good-humored and prone to laughter (though watch out when he gets down to business, especially since his business is combat) -- think Hector and you’re on the right track. And Holst loves his baby sister: she complains in her supports that if she doesn’t write to him he worries about her, so she has to send him lots of letters. With that kind of attitude, I can’t help but think he’s big on hugs and tends to smother Hilda with attention and affection, so while it’s certainly nice to get away from it at first when she comes to Garreg Mach, after a while she really does miss the connection.

And these two end up in the same House.

Claude, who is basically conditioned to show casual physical affection to people around him (something Judith didn’t manage to train out of him), slips back into old habits, which instantly puts Lorenz off, strikes Lysithea as super weird, sends Marianne hiding, makes Ignatz blush and fidget a little, earns him a playful (but still painful) punch in the arm from Leonie, results in a rib-crushing hug from Raph...but Hilda? Hilda, who has been trained not to be touchy in public, but who’s been missing these kinds of casual little touches she’d usually be getting from her brother? She instantly falls into the same habit with him. He sidles up shoulder to shoulder with her and she leans into him. She flops down at the table next to him where he’s working and he starts twirling her hair around his finger while he thinks. They thrive on each other’s need for physical contact in this endless feedback loop and it’s kind of great.

(This will get played off a lot in Bad End AU where they’re hanging out together in Almyra for a good ten years.)

As for Dimitri...at this point, I think he’s gotten to a point where he doesn’t recognize his desperate need for human contact as that anymore. It’s there, absolutely, but he doesn’t know how to interpret the ache of it, and feels guilty about craving touch when he watches others -- like Claude and Hilda -- so playfully trading platonic intimacy the way they always do when they’re together. So he buries it like everything else: his trauma, his fear, and that darkness that Felix still claims he sees no matter how hard Dimitri tries to crush it down.

Of course, with Claude being Claude, he’s not going to limit his contact to just Hilda. It’s ingrained in him, so unless he’s physically prevented from doing it, suffers extreme consequences for it, or can’t stand a person, he’s going to keep doing it. (And yes, this does mean that he even gets cozy with Edelgard in Pre-Timeskip Fix-It -- in fact, the biggest sign that she’s fucked up with him is that he cuts off that contact.) So of course he starts it up with Dimitri, casually patting his back when they meet up, leaning against the prince’s shoulder, that sort of thing -- and despite not fully understanding it, Dimitri relishes this contact. He doesn’t avoid Claude, he actively seeks the archer out in hopes of getting that casual bit of physical contact...and though he tries to be subtle about it, Claude figures it out fast. He gets much freer with that casual intimacy around Dimitri, and though the prince is very awkward about it, he tries to reciprocate, which Claude considers another part of his charm.

(Also yes, they do end up hugging a lot, especially in Spite project and Pre-Timeskip but also in Kintsugi with increasing frequency after the reclamation if Fhirdiad. Yes, I have written parts specifically because I wanted the hug.)

#answered #anonymous #fire emblem: three houses #headcanon #claude and hilda as best bros is near and dear to me okay #i love that i'm getting to play with them so much in bad end #for all that it's a sad traumatic au #it does let me have best bros together #but i mean it i have written things in pre-timeskip especially #just for the hugs that happen #i am soft for the platonic intimacy

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gascon-en-exil · 3 years

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Who Can Say if I've Been Changed For the Better?: Ferdibert Does Wicked

This concept has been a bit in building. It started from a much-loved cover by Hubert and Ferdinand’s VAs inspired by their support line and the broad observation that these two are a musicals couple who absolutely would sing their feelings in all manner of theatrical AUs. It continued through my later observation that there’s ample material to carry that idea even further, albeit with a shift outside of Crimson Flower for a better tonal match. Still, I’m not quite sure what to call this project; it’s not really a headcanon nor is it fanfic by any means. I’ve written a handful of longform character/narrative explorations before, although when it comes to FE I’ve previously been inspired to do so only for Jugdral characters. That setting is somehow both underdeveloped and deceptively dense - and I suppose in a way you could say the same of Three Houses as well, insofar as it’s been incredibly popular for fan content of all sorts.

Regardless of what this post is in terms of my fandom output, the following isn’t exactly a Wicked AU as such. Rather, it’s how I would envision a hypothetical blend of the non-CF routes of FE16 centering around the Eagles trio and set to the structure and songs of the musical as organically as possible. There are no 1:1 analogues with characters and plotlines from Wicked, because few if any would exist without a lot of tweaking; to use the VA cover example, Ferdinand might be a decent proxy for G(a)linda, but the mere presence of Edelgard substantially complicates Hubert’s claim to the Elphaba role. The similarities only unravel further from there, but I did my best.

Writing this out gave me the opportunity to play around with Edelgard’s character as a way of addressing what I and many others in my circle have long considered to be some of the major problems with her canon presentation. For Ferdibert meanwhile I got to make use of my headcanons for how their relationship would develop outside of their support line, in a way that mostly preserves Hubert’s delightful evil wickedness. Add some ruminations on how one would splice together the non-CF routes in a dramatically satisfying fashion, some snark directed at the non-character of Byleth, and a bit of background Dimidue/Lions OT5 for spice and that just about sums it up. Enjoy this…whatever this is.

Act I

“No One Mourns the Wicked”

The show opens on the citizens of Adrestia celebrating the death of their emperor and the end of her bloody war. Ferdinand rides in, resplendent on his steed, and is hailed as the new Duke Aegir as he relates to the crowd the news of Edelgard’s death at the hands of the combined army of liberators. The “Are people born wicked?” flashback sequence is replaced with a summary mostly in pantomime of Edelgard’s backstory: the Insurrection, her being taken to Faerghus and then returning, and then being experimented on by the Agarthans before agreeing to work with them. Notably Hubert is not named or referenced anywhere in this song, appearing only as a boy at Edelgard’s side at appropriate times during the flashback.

“Dear Old Shiz”

Someone in the crowd finally brings up Hubert, the emperor’s vile and murderous minister, and accuses Ferdinand of having been his friend. With Ferdinand even more flustered than Glinda since his “It depends on what you mean by friend” definitely carries sexual undertones, so begins the flashback to Part 1. There’s an equivalent intro of Garreg Mach, so one may feel free to insert any headcanons for school songs here. The following dialogue scene establishes the student body in general and the dynamic of the Eagles trio in particular: Ferdinand pompous and eager to one-up Edelgard at any opportunity, and Edelgard and Hubert cold and dismissive toward his antics and just about everyone else for that matter. Edelgard is instantly enamored of the quiet new professor, of course. Because the room assignment conflict doesn’t make a lot of sense with the monastery’s setup, instead Ferdinand is incensed that Edelgard is chosen as the Eagles’ house leader over him even though it’s been ages since a Hresvelg has attended. Neither Nessarose nor Morrible has an exact equivalent (although Seteth can act in Morrible’s role as the academy’s main authority figure), so the segue into the next song ends there.

“The Wizard and I”

Now alone together, Edelgard and Hubert have a brief dialogue outlining their villainous plans for the school year. This establishes Hubert’s hypercompetency but also how detached and professional Edelgard is around him. Then comes the song, now “My Lady and I,” which serves as Hubert’s character introduction. In tones more sinister than Elphaba ever reaches - you know he’d have fun with “When people see me they will scream” - he outlines his history with his lady, that he delights in serving her because she validates his work ethic and gives him an outlet for his ruthlessness and cruelty. Where Elphaba fantasizes about the Wizard removing her green skin, Hubert instead goes full Nice Guy, believing that once he’s given Edelgard her continental empire and crushed all her enemies she’ll be so grateful that of course she’ll put out for him.

“What Is This Feeling?”

You could rip the tone of this one directly from the Ferdibert C support and change nothing - homoerotic subtext included. I like the thought of Hubert replacing Elphaba’s deadpan one-word summation of Galinda with a mocking imitation of Ferdinand's most memetic line: "He is Ferdinand von Aegir!". The chorus can be made up of any number of other students excluding Edelgard, who’d happily agree that Hubert is ugly, creepy, and downright unpleasant.

“Something Bad”

The content of this song and surrounding scenes would have to be completely altered, but they work as a necessary reminder that the plot of Part 1 is still going on in the background of all the school drama. Seteth runs through the major events up to Chapter 9 of the game, including the bandit threat, Flayn’s kidnapping, and the experiments on the Remire villagers. The audience/accompaniment for this exposition dump ought to be Dimitri and Claude with Byleth as a silent observer (more on them later), with Edelgard brushing off the news and eventually being the one to shut down the song as Morrible does. There could be some small side character moments in here as well particularly involving the Lions and Deer since they get so little focus in this story.

“Dancing Through Life”

Speaking of which, this was an awkward sequence to place. It matches up chronologically with the ball in Chapter 9 and the main part, Fiyero’s, is a dead ringer for Sylvain and his flirty, hedonistic nihilism (“Nothing matters / but knowing nothing matters!”), but it’s hard to tie into what’s going on with the Eagles trio particularly with the Ferdibert timeframe preserved, i.e. unlike Elphaba and Galinda they don’t become closer until after the timeskip.

As such I see this song as an opportunity for little vignettes with the other students: Dimitri angry over how Dedue’s talked about and hoping they can share a dance (fitting contrast with the coldness of Edelbert), Felix prickly between Dimitri’s recent outbursts and Sylvain’s showboating, Claude hinting toward the bigger picture with Hilda flitting between her excitement over the dance and knowing more than she's letting on, Dorothea casually taking note of Edelgard’s fascination with Byleth (see just below), Bernadetta as a wallflower who doesn’t want to be disturbed (a setup for Act II), etc. Thanks to one of the Forging Bonds events in Heroes I had the thought that the "You/we deserve each other" through line that later gets attached to Nessarose can become one for Dimitri's relationships, with Felix initially throwing it out at him and Dedue and the two of them then turning "We deserve each other" into a romantic line...and then an ironic one and finally a triumphant one come Act II, by that point with Felix et al included as well.

I’m not sure that the following scene of Galinda and Elphaba bonding on the dance floor really needs an equivalent, although it could be altered to something Edeleth-related. In any case Ferdinand ought to get a dance scene of some nature, so he can try to show up Edelgard as he brags about in canon.

“Popular”

It would be a travesty to have a musical starring FE16’s cast and not give Dorothea and/or Manuela a solo. This song works quite well for the former, and it doesn’t intrude on the Ferdibert development with the aforementioned timeframe and how the lightly sapphic vibe doesn’t translate well to two guys. Dorothea has taken note of her good friend Edie’s crush on their mysteriously wooden professor, and she senses the opportunity for a makeover. Not as exaggerated as Dorothea trying to make over Hubert, naturally, but I still think this works out well. Also, Galinda’s observation on leaders, “Did they have brains or knowledge? / Don’t make me laugh! They were popular!”, is darkly comedic when said to Edelgard.

“I’m Not That Girl”

This song comes with preceding dialogue scenes for setup, so those first. Edelgard emerges fresh from her makeover (given her general hot for teacher fixation, I’m thinking she’d lean pretty hard on the naughty schoolgirl look) to Byleth silently grieving Jeralt’s death - bad timing there. She’s as callous about it as she is in canon, only now with more clumsy flirting, and while it’s impossible as always to tell if Byleth notices or cares Hubert most certainly does. The scene segues into the Eagles trio together, with Edelgard alluding to the upcoming events in the Sealed Forest and indicating that Hubert should meet up with her later for some more villainous scheming after he’s ditched Ferdinand. Ferdinand, indignant about being left out of the loop as he is in canon, grumpily points out that he was a much more splendid dancer at the ball than Edelgard, makeover or not. To his utter surprise, Hubert acknowledges that this is true before leaving. This leads into the actual song, altered from homoerotic via triangulation of desire to an outright sexual awakening for Ferdinand. He realizes that part of his jealousy toward Edelgard is that he wishes Hubert were devoted to him instead, and tells himself not to get his hopes up because he’s, well, not that girl or even a girl. We shall of course leave aside how anyone could be attracted to someone as repulsive as Hubert; that’s part of the inherent comedy of this pairing.

“One Short Day”

This was the hardest song to place in this whole project. The touristy trip to the Emerald City just doesn’t have an analogue in the story of Three Houses, especially not late in Part 1 when tension is mounting toward the upcoming reveal and war. It took me a while to realize that it works wonderfully as an Edeleth piece: Edelgard invites Byleth to Enbarr for her coronation, but that scene is left offscreen in favor of a light romp through the city that further highlights Edelgard’s crush as well as her emotional immaturity in spite of everything she’s about to do. She just wants to have a fun day out and take in the sights and eat sweets with her beloved teacher, and it’s all very “Edge of Dawn”-esque where Edelgard knows she’s about to do terrible things that will change everything forever and hopes to prolong the time until she has to take that step. Adjustments to the lyrics could even work in reference to that song to make the similarities more apparent. An awkward/funny issue here is that I envision Byleth to be totally silent throughout this musical with no sung or spoken parts, which would naturally make them having a duet impossible and make Edelgard’s fascination with them even weirder. Even their gender should be left ambiguous throughout, somehow never confirmed if it’s m!Byleth or f!Byleth. It would take a lot of reworking, but I can see the value in it.

“A Sentimental Man”

The core of the Wizard’s character is not all that different from Rhea’s. Both were thrust unexpectedly into positions of authority that required them to enact a large-scale deception to maintain their power/safety, and both are driven somewhat by parental feelings. The tone of the Wizard’s songs doesn’t align well with Rhea, but once you cut out the vaudeville and do some rewording I could see this one working as Rhea addressing her child (among other things) Byleth at the Holy Tomb just before the Flame Emperor reveal. Of course the dramatic irony hits differently; Rhea knows who and what Byleth is whereas the Wizard doesn’t learn about Elphaba until the end of the show. Nonetheless this would still establish Rhea’s character and motivations as well as set the stage for the impending betrayal.

“Defying Gravity”

Said betrayal being Byleth’s, who decides to stand by Rhea and condemn Edelgard as the Flame Emperor when she arrives with her army. This is another song in parts that would need to be broken up. Edelgard gets the bulk of it, but the middle sections between Elphaba and Glinda could work as a kind of separated duet with Edelgard and Hubert attempting to convince Byleth and Ferdinand respectively to join them. Because of Byleth’s silence only Ferdinand can reply in song; only he and Edelgard add the “my friend” bit to the end of this segment, to illustrate the unevenness of Edeleth and Ferdibert at this point in the story. Then things turn to full bombast, albeit darker than in Wicked proper. Edelgard does the belting, Hubert’s sinister laughter reverberates below her (would it be too tasteless for him to be leering up her skirt the whole time?), Ferdinand has Glinda’s mournful “I hope you’re happy!” toward Hubert, and through this and the reprise of “No One Mourns the Wicked” the major events of the timeskip are enacted in pantomime or silhouette. Byleth tumbles off a cliff, Rhea is taken captive as is Dimitri but Dedue rushes after him, and Claude makes a tactical retreat. Side note: “And if I’m flying solo, / at least I’m flying free” is classic Edelgard fixating on Byleth and forgetting that Hubert exists.

Act II

“Thank Goodness”

A surprisingly tough one here. The core of the song, pivoting around the double meaning of “I couldn’t be happier,” suits early Part 2 Ferdinand perfectly, second-guessing his choice and, outside of CF, melancholy about fighting his homeland. In terms of plot it’s an easy translation too, with the crowd announcing the terrible things the Empire has been doing to win its war - persecuting believers, abducting civilians and turning them into Demonic beasts, consorting with inhuman shadowy figures who can disguise themselves as ordinary people - and the assembly working as a way to bring together the leads of the three routes: Byleth, Dimitri (who had Dedue always at his side and thus never had a full psychotic break), Claude, and Seteth, with Ferdinand representing the Adrestian resistance. It’s only the wedding announcement that’s hard to pin down, and I toyed with a number of ideas including Dimidue making yet another public declaration of devotion to one another or Ferdinand planning to follow through with his arranged marriage to Bernadetta they have in their supports (which makes more sense in light of the following sequence). In the end though I don’t think the marriage element is strictly necessary, leaving the song as a means of catching up with the cast five years later and seeing them united against Edelgard - with Ferdinand’s private regrets the only sour note.

“Wicked Witch of the East”

More a dialogue than a song, but still important. Bernadetta is arguably the Eagle other than Hubert most comfortable supporting Edelgard, because all Edelgard has to do is put Count Varley under house arrest for Bernadetta to sing the emperor’s praises. I can also see her as the same sort of self-centered, negligent ruler that Nessarose becomes in Wicked, not because of an unrequited attraction but because of her reclusive desire to be left alone. I see this scene playing out as Hubert surprising Bernadetta at her estate, angry about rumors that she may be helping the rebels and/or engaged to Ferdinand if going with that plot point after Edelgard has done her the favor of locking up her father. He’s fully prepared to, ahem, “persuade” Bernadetta, but before he can break out the torture implements Ferdinand arrives asking for her to support the rebels’ cause.

Farcical, sure, but it gets the two of them together again after five years and underscores how strong their UST has become in their time apart, with Hubert too flabbergasted to attack a known enemy and Ferdinand expressing how happy he is to see Hubert again despite everything. Each learns that the other isn’t as happy about his chosen path as he’d hoped, in Hubert’s case because his lady has grown ever more distant from him as the war has dragged on. Bernadetta cuts through the tension by bringing things back to the song (sort of) and blurting out that she knows both sides are marshalling their forces near Gronder Field. Ferdinand is too caught up in the fraught romance angle to do more than leave with this new information, but Hubert recovers enough to condemn Bernadetta for her flagrant misrule (venting by inference his frustrations toward Edelgard in the process) and resolve to set her on fire for her treachery.

“I’m Not That Girl (Reprise)”

The Gronder rematch happened offscreen - and Bernadetta was indeed set on fire - and on the Imperial side Edelgard is left increasingly frustrated over her losses and hurt that Byleth still refuses to listen to her and continues to fight her regime. You may notice that I’ve shuffled around the middle of Act II, necessary at this point in order to better line up with FE16’s story and Hubert and Edelgard’s separate narrative climaxes while also ensuring that those climaxes don’t overlap too much. This song is only a brief reprise, but it’s a significant one; Hubert finally realizes that Edelgard will never love him. It’s also kept gender-neutral, because Byleth.

“As Long as You’re Mine”

That segues naturally into this moment. Ferdinand sneaks into Enbarr using his unexpected stealth powers (I usually talk about Dedue having them, but Ferdinand shows he’s no slouch in his Mercedes supports) and encounters Hubert. Their UST boils over in a furor of awkward, impassioned sex and also this song. I like the idea of rewording some of Fiyero's lines to incorporate Hubert's acidic snark: “Maybe you’re brainless, / maybe you’re wise.” It’s all very desperate and sensual, ending with Ferdinand taking Elphaba’s line about feeling wicked for the first time - which will have a dark reverberation two songs from now.

“Wonderful”

Again, axe the vaudeville and it’s a solid Rhea song. There’s just the small problem of Rhea being captured at this point in the plot; I thought about moving this number toward the very end at first before reconsidering. While Hubert and Ferdinand are rolling in the sheets, a distraught Edelgard confronts Rhea in prison. Rhea responds to Edelgard’s frustrations with Byleth with her backstory in song, much more somber than the Wizard but, like him, still willing to rehabilitate her estranged listener. The bits of this song about the nature of history are especially relevant to what Edelgard falsely believes about the church and what she views as her own legacy, so I could see this as an interesting character study on what Edelgard actually wanted with her war apart from dragon genocide. There’s a lot that could be done here in the dialogue surrounding those revelations.

“No Good Deed”

However the interrogation of Rhea turns out, Edelgard takes a leaf out of SS Dimitri’s book and visits Byleth alone at the monastery, only to be as harshly rebuffed as is possible to be without the rebuffer speaking. Then comes this song, which was incidentally the one where I realized that Edelgard would need a major role in FE16-does-Wicked even with the Ferdibert focus. Hubert fully embraced his evil wickedness long ago and wouldn’t think twice about being wicked or being perceived as such, but Edelgard is a different matter. Here she breaks down, admitting that her good intentions were largely selfish and that she regrets that her war has cost her any relationship she could have had with Byleth (continuing the joke at his expense, Hubert goes unmentioned when Edelgard names the people she’s lost/failed). It ends with a foreshadowing of her Hegemon form, the sign that she’s abandoned all pretense of goodness and become truly wicked.

“March of the Witch Hunters”

Another ensemble/vignette piece, checking in with the various members of Byleth’s army as they prepare to storm Enbarr. Dimitri hopes for the chance to forgive his stepsister, Claude has big plans for the continent and wants to remove the threat Edelgard poses, Seteth is desperate to find Rhea, and Byleth…is there. As in many of the songs, the self-righteousness of the crowd here rings more sincere and less hypocritical than in Wicked given Three Houses has actual villains, but it still works.

“For Good”

The song that inspired this whole thing, now with many paragraphs of context to set it up instead of only some fluff based on the Ferdibert A+ support. Ferdinand sneaks into Enbarr (again) ahead of the battle, and their second love ballad is more somber as they resign themselves to their fates. As in the VA cover, Hubert refuses to ask forgiveness for anything and Ferdinand is fine with that.

“Finale”

Wicked reduces the final battle from The Wizard of Oz to silhouettes backed by sections of “No One Mourns the Wicked,” and that’s what comes here: Ferdinand and Hubert facing each other in battle, Edelgard becoming the Hegemon before being defeated and then dying as in AM’s final cutscene, and Dimitri taking the throne with Dedue at his side and proclaiming his intention to do all he can to restore both the Kingdom and Duscur - and that his first act as king is to announce that he and Dedue have decided to open their marriage up. This is met with much manly cheering and stripping and someone (Ashe?) saying incredulously that he didn’t even know they were married. End silhouettes.

The final scene with the Wizard and Morrible becomes Claude, Seteth, and Byleth rescuing Rhea. Rhea names Byleth her successor as leader of the church and says that she will go into quiet seclusion and do what she can to correct her mistakes. This all suits Claude just fine, who tells everyone that he’s off to take care of some other business and that Byleth will make a great archbishop - and also they can have the Alliance, no big deal. As with the King of Faerghus’s gay orgies, the King of Almyra’s grand ambitions are too large for this story to do more than allude to.

Next, Ferdibert does a version of the Elphaba/Fiyero scene, with Ferdinand revealing that he had Hubert spared on the condition that he help root out any remaining Agarthans and that he remain under house arrest at the Aegir estate. Ferdinand was also required to assume governance of the Empire, because Dimitri wasn’t getting that dumped on him as well. They can be together, but the general population can’t know that Hubert survived lest Ferdinand’s reputation and basic ethics be compromised…which in a darkly funny hypocritical twist then segues to Ferdinand pontificating before the crowd at the beginning of the show, reprising “For Good” with Hubert until they’re drowned out by “No One Mourns the Wicked.” Thus the story concludes on one of my favorite things about Ferdibert: perhaps even in this non-CF continuity Ferdinand wasn’t changed for the better by falling in love with the Most Wicked Man in Fódlan, but they’ve both been changed….

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Ferdibert #Hubert von Vestra #Ferdinand von Aegir

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nowis-scales · 3 years

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Pre-Verdant Wind Endgame Update

An Update on the ol’ Three Houses Verdant Wind playthrough, since I’ve been neglecting documenting my journey properly for a bit:

• My current placement is Ch.20, so I’m only a few chapters away from the last one. It’s kind of a weird thought because I feel like I just hit the timeskip, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will feel well-paced out. In terms of writing, I’m known for being a bit of a stickler for good flow. It’s why all of my fanfics take so long to update! I have to make sure my flow is perfect.

• The fact that they have been giving background information on characters has been so amazing. Learning that Raphael’s sister’s name was Maya and getting to hear about her has made me irrationally happy.

• Also, just generally, holy shit people sleep on Raphael and Leonie. Raphael often gets shoved to the side, and Leonie is treated like her only trait is liking Jeralt, and for me it all just culminates in the question of “so did you like... not do their support conversations, or...?” Seriously. I think Leonie might be one of my favourites in the game so far, and I adore Raph. He’s so sweet!

• The Flame Emperor reveal for some reason gave me “and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids” vibes. I liked the venom Cherami Leigh had there as Rhea, too. I think I read from someone that in Japanese, Rhea’s actually super calm in that scene. I don’t think I have a preference towards the anger or the calmness, honestly. I think I just liked how smoothly the emotion came across. Plus, I’m a little biased, I’m fond of Cherami as an actress. I haven’t found a performance from her I haven’t enjoyed yet.

• I was really confused as to why Seteth showed up in my house after Chapter 12ish I think? I wasn’t expecting him to just be there after the paralogue, but I definitely wasn’t unhappy. I do like him! I just never use him, because I recruited Bernadetta and Sylvain, so I kinda have a full roster going...

• I was also confused in the Gronder Field fight because I couldn’t see what people meant about Bernie getting set on fire. Then I remembered Bernie wasn’t on the hill because she was with me. I recruited her. Whatever this proves about me, I don’t know.

• I did end up beating Marianne’s paralogue! It actually wasn’t as hard once I levelled her up a bit and classed her to a Holy Knight. The big thing with her in that paralogue seems to be that she needs a decent amount of power and movement to really get by, so that’s what I’d recommend for anyone else playing it. Using rescue will also probably help you out, but I tried to avoid using Flayn there because it’s kinda easy to kill her.

• Admittedly, I’m not 100% sure how I feel about the support system. In some ways, I think it’s better that not everybody has that forced S-Support. Oftentimes we were either squeezing a love confession out of two characters who were unlikely to have one, or characters with decent potential might get snubbed because their connection was less apparent to the writers (and unfortunately that still does happen in the case of same sex S-supports in 3H). Having the conversations only go to a certain point is helpful, but at the same time, the inherent romantic undertones of several of the A-supports do make things feel strange. If it weren’t for the fact that I know characters can have only one partner as their paired ending, I would think lots of them were in a polycule. Nothing wrong with that as long as everyone’s comfortable, but because I know they can only have one person in their ending, I find it pretty jarring.

• I think it was interesting that they went to do the fights for breaking into Enbarr and then taking down Edelgard back-to-back. I’m glad they did, honestly, because while I don’t usually like to do two fights next to each other unless I’m grinding, it doesn’t mess with the suspension of disbelief. It would be stupid to break into Enbarr and then just run right back to the Monastery.

• I have still not completed the randomized quest from just after the timeskip. You know, the one I was yelling about with the weeds? Still haven’t gotten any weeds. I think I might just have to give up on it. It’s hilarious that my luck is so good that it’s actually bad.

• The fact that Byleth is praised for having more of a personality than Corrin is the biggest slice of bullshit I have heard from this fanbase in a long time. Byleth is literally designed to be a silent protagonist with nothing going on with them – they even came up with a story reason for why Byleth is such a blank sack of meat! In the kindest way possible, I don’t think most people realize that they are implementing whatever personality they want onto Byleth. Personally, I don’t find anything relatable about being stoic, calm, and not inclined to anyone (until plot happens, of course). I’ve always been the overly enthusiastic and caring type, with a tendency towards nervousness. Trying to relate to Byleth was like trying to relate to the experiences of a cactus. While I definitely don’t think Corrin is the strongest of the modern FE avatars – that award goes to Robin – they still had some things I could understand and relate to. If you’re not the type of person who loves the cool, “I fight for my friends” types like Ike, though, you’re likely to have a hard time relating to Byleth. If you can manage that type of character, then you’re more likely to have present them with a personality of their own.

• Actually, while we’re on the topic of Byleth getting praised for things Corrin got dragged for, the fact that Corrin is still cited as the character who receives the most “player pandering” is ridiculous too. Do a lot of characters like Corrin? Yeah! But most of them who do are deeply traumatized in a way that inclines them specifically towards Corrin. The Nohr siblings cling to each other due to their abusive childhood, the Hoshido siblings all in some capacity seem to suffer from abandonment issues (oldest) and/or attachment issues (youngest), and the official foursome of retainers have also had some sort of abandonment struggle in their past (forced separation from parents, murdered loved ones). While the cast of Three Houses needs therapy and is traumatized too, there is no reason why the inclination moves towards Byleth. Bernadetta feels safe around them just because. Edelgard is obsessed with them just because. Marianne learns to feel better about herself just because. Why are there so many exceptions for Byleth, and so many just without explanation? I don’t hate Byleth by any means, but these two things make my opinion of them lower than it would be otherwise. It kinda sucks that my image of Byleth is tainted by the fanbase’s hypocrisy, but I know I can’t have everything.

• The gameplay overall for 3H has been pretty fun! I love the addition of the Demonic Beasts, as annoying as they are to fight. There’s a charm to having some of your stronger units working to take on the soldiers blocking the path, meanwhile your army’s more intermediate strikeforce works to keep them safe by bringing down the beast. Once you get the hang of it, gameplay with the new additions is fun. The only thing I don’t use is Divine Pulse, but that’s because I’m on Casual and usually when I want to rewind, I want to just plain start over. So I use the old “turn off and start again” trick.

• Edelgard’s death scene was actually pretty good. I must confess that I went out of my way to avoid Edelgard in the academy phase, as I knew how hard the game was going to hit me with the “she’s obessed with you” thing and I wanted to see how wonky it would feel if I didn’t speak to her much. I was right that it’s incredibly awkward in terms of writing when you haven’t spent the time with her, but surprisingly, her death scene still holds up. Good voice acting, animation, and music. My only beef with it is something they have done in FE before, and it’s something I wish they’d stop. If a character is dying, you either let them have a few last breaths after their last lines or you kill them mid-sentence. It’s probably just a personal nitpick, but hearing them get their last word out without struggle and then immediately die just makes me aware of how badly the directors wanted the whole line to be in there. I can totally understand it but I find it so troublesome in the grand scheme of things that I just can’t.

• I also like that in the fight against Edelgard, they tried to make it ambiguous who had the key. Immediately as it told me that, I decided it was Petra and ended up being right. I was kind of sad to kill her though, to be honest. I don’t know her well, but she’s probably one of the Eagles I like more.

• The fight against the Death Knight at Fort Merceus ended up being surprisingly pretty easy. In fact, while I paved the way for most of my army, Nader ended up making it to the Death Knight just as Claude did. He did most of the damage – I’m not kidding, the Death Knight was down to 1 HP – and then Claude took care of the rest. It was a weird fight. They said impregnable a lot leading up to it.

• I understand why they kill Dimitri off-screen at the Gronder Field fight, but I was admittedly a bit disappointed. Again, Salli Saffoti does a good job doing Hilda’s voice for it, but I would have liked to see it animated. It was also nice to have that little rapport with Dedue! If only we could have allied with the Lions a bit more. Everyone always says Claude and Edelgard have similar goals; however, it’s their methods that differ. Claude seems to align himself a bit closer to Dimitri, so I’m usually a bit confused by the idea that Edelgard and Claude would work together. I was spoiled on enough to know her background and story, and even so, I think that her methodology is just a bit too violent for his tastes. But that’s just my two cents.

Alright. I think that’s about all I can drain out of my brain from the top of my head. With that, I am off to kill the slithers! We’ll see how this goes. Wish me luck!

#koto plays 3h #spoilers fire emblem three houses #spoilers FE3H

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