#verdant wind spoilers

[asha-mage]

🌶️ fe3h, perchance? or barring that, fe fates (it's been too long since I've played awakening for me to have any real thoughts about it)

I have so many Three Houses spicy takes that their burning a hole in my pocket, so I'll pick one of my older ones:

A lot of the problems inherent to Verdant Wind would have been either fixed or mitigated by Lysithea being Claude's retainer instead of Hilda. The biggest thing this would have fixed is how scatter shot Verdant Winds is in terms of themes and ideas, especially compared to the other two routes. Lysithea being Claude's retainer would have allowed her to be more central to the main story, and tie in more tightly themes of 'finding the dark truth at the heart of Fodlan' by giving Claude a more personal and less abstract motivation to find that truth, as they search for answers for what was done to Lysithea and why. I understand the idea behind Hilda being Claude's retainer is give a sharp contrast between Hilda's family and her upbringing, and her loyalty to a someone from the nation her family so vehemently and bitterly opposes. But the main story of Verdant Wind never properly digs into what it means that Claude is Amlyran for his and Hilda's relationship, or manages to quite marry it's various disparate ideas together into a unique whole. Even the final confrontation with the Agarthans feels stilted- something better suited for Silver Snow or Crimson Flower. Claude doesn't have a huge personal character stake in fighting the resurrected Nemesis or plunging into Shambhala, but that could have been fixed if the game centered on him in relation to Lysithea instead- and tied together the routes disparate themes through that relationship.

#FE3h #Fire Emblem Three Houses #As always I am zipping on my metaphorical beekeeper's suit before swinging at the hornet's nest of the 3hs fandom #claude von riegan #lysithea von ordelia #Verdant Wind #Verdant Wind spoilers

[agirlinsearchof]

I’m wondering something now.

There’s a semi-common fanfic plot that involves essentially combining the Azure Moon and Verdant Wind plots, as the most realistic way of resolving all the plot threads that are otherwise left hanging in any one route alone. Has anyone done a mod of that for the game?

It would be quite a bit of work, of course, given that the game is voice-acted (and therefore either really good actors would have to be used or lines from other parts of the game would have to be repurposed, or both), but it could be awesome!

My sort of vision for how this mod would work is it would branch off from Azure Moon, with some sort of requirement for opening up the option to do this route (you’d get the choice after Chapter 19, wherein the choice involves helping Claude further in some fashion, which allows you to use Golden Deer students you haven’t recruited and didn’t kill at Grondor Field, at bare minimum Claude and Hilda). Claude then gets tipped off in some way about the Agarthans, and enlists Dimitri and Byleth’s help in investigating them (and getting rid of them once they make it clear they intend to take over Fódlan). Big epic boss battle ensues (either against Nemesis and the Ten Elites or some other Agarthan boss). Perhaps at least one turns out to be a willing ally, playable or otherwise.

#fire emblem three houses #fire emblem three houses spoilers #they’re vague spoilers but still #verdant wind spoilers

[nightshadedawn]

The Golden Deer's next mission is to take down Miklan. Sylvain from the Blue Lions decides he needs to face his demons.

Song: Dead Girl Walking (Reprise) - Heathers the Musical

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #golden deer #verdant wind #verdant wind route #byleth eisner #female byleth #golden deer musical #Youtube #byleth twins #twin au #male byleth #sylvain gautier #sylvain fe3h #fe3h sylvain #fe3h spoilers #fire emblem hilda #hilda valentine goneril #miklan anschutz gautier #fe miklan #fe3h miklan #c

[fayesdiary]

Congrats on beating VD ! What are your thoughts on the story of this route ?

Barring the feeling of "I've done this already" that permeated the majority of the playthrough, I found VW to be good, but not great.

The Deer are a great cast of characters but they're almost completely uninvolved with everything that happens in Part 1 unlike the Lions and the Eagles too to a lesser extent.

And while I now love Claude about as much as Dimitri which is a lot they're amazing, his story really doesn't play up to his strengths as a character because as we all know, it's a recycled version of Silver Snow (speaking of it's very cool that the first and currently only POC protagonist ended up with the copypasted story🙄), which is such a shame because he's so interesting and fun.

Like, does his curiosity about Fòdlan mean he slowly starts putting together and figure out its true history? No, Rhea just dumps the whole thing in the second-to-last chapter. Lysithea hinted at knowing the Twisted and revealed her history with them, so does she mean she investigates with Claude and Byleth to find them, uncover their secrets and eliminate them? No, Hubert is the one to posthumously doxx them instead.

There's both a lack of build-up and spotlight being stolen that permeated the whole route for me, and Nemesis is the perfect example.

Shows up in the last chapter out of nowhere, apparently he was just sealed in Shambhala (which is a really cool setting btw) just because and didn't fit in the Twisted's plans whatsoever, keeps yelling about Seiros when she's not even there and the Elites are also just... there. Completely silent. With none of their descendants being able to recognize them or have a monologue upon realizing their bloody legacy. (Like imagine Catherine coming to terms with the fact her ancestor helped murder Rhea's entire race as well as the fact her prized sword is actually one of her family members' remains. Or Lorenz realizing his proud noble lineage actually comes from a barbaric thief complicit in genocide)

To me Nemesis is the perfect final boss for Claude's story because he's both the (un)living symbol of the true history of Fòdlan written in blood that must be put an end to, as well as the literal embodiement of everything Claude stands against, but the lack of build-up and wasted narrative potential drags it down quite a bit for me.

I really appreciate how Claude and Byleth actually feel like equals and friends, compared to Dimitri's "only Byleth can make him come to his senses despite the fact Rodrigue had to literally die for him to stop and rethink what he's doing thereby making his entire support network feel almost worthless" and... whatever Edelgard's deal is. Helps he's actually competent without them around unlike the other two who are helpless.

That said I like Dimitri's unceremonious death. It's completely devoid of glory and fanfare and it really makes it clear where his quest for revenge would have brought him hadn't he stopped in Azure Moon. We lose the friendship between Dimitri and Claude as a consequence for it which is a huge shame but... eh, I can live with that.

Also his scheme to infiltrate Fort Merceus was fun and I wish there were more moments like that that actually made use of Claude's favorite MO

#ask replies #yanderefairyangel #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe16 #fe16 spoilers #claude #verdant wind #my rambles #you really deserved a better route that you could actually call your own claude

[yusuke-of-valla]

Incredibly funny that Byleth’s Dark Emblem is Nemesis, who they only fight on one route, instead of like, Solon or Thales, who I believe you fight on all routes or is at the very least an enemy on all routes

#I could have SWORN you fought him in crimson flower #I was going to make a joke and ask if this means verdant wind is canon but I do have some self preservation instinct #fe17 spoilers #I get that three houses doesn’t have a Big Bad but consider: everyone hates Thales

[tea-cat-arts]

Ok, so Verdant Wind was my first fe3h route and I fucking hated it, but it's been like 2 years, so I've decided to replay it and to see if I still feel the same (I just want to give it a fair chance and not have my bad, knee-jerk, "I'm still learning how this game works" reaction to be my only memory of the route). Anyways, I'm having thoughts anyways so I may as well shout them into the void as I go along. Thoughts as of white clouds ch7 (spoilers will be included. Also, I'm writing this at 4am so sorry if I dont make much sense):

Jesus christ the tonal whiplash of this route is awful. Hey Claude, Hilda- let's maybe not have a cheery talk about how cool relics are right after we killed a man

One idea that they kinda set up and I'm really sad they never really explored is Claude's friendship with "Thomas." I think it could've been interesting if they treated that relationship more like Thomas grooming Claude into the slithers. In non-VW routes, I think the betrayal could've served as a last-straw sorta moment that causes Claude to double down on his distrust in others, also further justifying why he never teams up with the other houseleaders. In VW, I think it would've been nice if by forming normal, healthy relationships with Byleth and his other classmates, Claude is able to realize on his own that something is kinda weird with his relationship with Thomas, so he actually asks for help and gets it, leading him more into genuinely trusting and relying on others. I feel like this angle could also help set Thomas up as shady, cuz I remember feeling pretty blindsided by the reveal in my first playthrough

I really like that Claude gets to have moments with the other houseleaders. I think if they played into it more, it could've been fun foreshadowing for his whole "master of diplomacy" he has going on post timeskip

Since the deer are the house with the most commoners, I think it would've been nice if they delved a bit further into the whole wealth disparity thing. Like, there's definitely bits and pieces, I just wish they went further into it. I think it would also help give further context on why half of the alliance wanted to side with Edelgard (and make Claude look more impressive when he actually does unify them)

#fe3h #fire emblem 3 houses #verdant wind #fe3h claude #claude von reigen #fe3h spoilers

[crowryes]

I KNEW ABT DIMITRI DYING AFTER GRONDER IN VERDANT WIND BUT I WAS NOT WARNED ANOUT DEDUE'S LITTLE CUTSCENE AFTER THE REVEAL 😭😭 LIKE I WAS EXPECTING DIMITRI'S DEATH SO I DIDNT FEEL ANYTHING BUT DEDUE MOURNING HIM AND PROMISING TO FUFILL HIS AMBITIONS TO THE VERY END... DEDUE MOLINARO MY LOVE MY LIGHT MY LIFE 😭😭😭😭

#fe3h #fe3h spoilers #verdant wind #dedue molinaro #im so glad he can't be killed because keeping my units away from him would've been a real hassle #the only character i avoided was mercedes... i would probably cry if i killed her lol

[seekswrath]

He feels like crying but why? This was the woman who killed Rodrigue out of revenge for the death of her father. He hardly knows anything about the ashen demon but why was there a hole now making its way into his heart? As if in another life, she was his BELOVED. There’s a voice in his head to avenge her by killing the one who took her life.

#dimileth for ts;; #dimileth: tw #three hopes spoilers;; #fire emblem three hopes spoilers;; #okay so yeah I am not okay;; #dimi dies in like crimson flower; verdant wind; and silver snow;; #but I was not prepared for Byleth's death;; #not his beloved;; #no;; #death: tw #[ the gleam of the azure. THREE HOPES verse ]

[astro-stpd]

My thoughts on the main 3 routes of FE3H (not Silver Snow, haven't done that one yet):

Quick summary:

I'm a Verdant Wind Supremacy person. Fuck Edelgard. Fuck Rhea. Some of these final battles are too hard. My top people are: Linhardt, Felix, Sylvain, Bernadetta, Lysithea, Claude, Yuri, Hapi, Ashe, Mercedes.

Verdant Wind: (F Unit)

It was my first and I fucked it up badly by doing all of the pre-timeskip phase over the span of 4 months due to college and the game being on my friend's switch. But multiclassing almost everyone into ranged fighters with magic and archery was my big strat and it WORKED. I didn't recruit really anyone which was a MISTAKE. I love almost everyone in this group with all of my heart but LEONIE CAN GET FUCKED. I dislike her so much. It was a difficult decision to pick who to marry at the end, but the random number generator chose Lorenz and tbh, it could have been worse. Loved seeing Nemesis get his ass kicked at the end, 10/10.

Azure Moon: (M Unit)

I hated the boss battle. I tried my strat of multiclassing and my friend said I did it wrong. She had to do the boss battle for me because after 11 tries, including using a strat guide for 8 of those 11 tries, I was legit about to cry from frustration. I recruited Bernadetta, Linhardt, Catherine, and Alois for this and they were lovely. There is a special place in my heart for the group in this route and I disliked killing them in VW and CF. I also couldn't choose who to marry, but the random number generator picked Bernadetta. I however got my heart stolen away by Linhardt so I knew I'd be his housespouse in my next route. 10/10 story, -40/10 final battle. We love a good guilt and trauma storyline with positive feelings towards Dimitri.

Crimson Flower: (M Unit)

IT'S SO MUCH SHORTER THAN THE OTHER TWO AND I HATE THAT. But I learned and I focused on budding talents and what the characters insisted on classing in. This was the first route I had the Ashen Wolves too, so I snatched up my prettyboy king and got Yuri on my squad. I recruited Mercedes for that sweet bro-sis ending with her and Jeritza, Shamir because she's the only adult I hadn't, and Ashe because I rely too heavily on archers. Is it bad for me to like the route where I don't have to babysit Flayn? But I liked the motive and I love the students but I'm still in the "fuck Edelgard" troupe for straight up starting a war. I get there's trauma behind it but still. This was the first route where a majority of my troupe were paired, only Shamir wasn't. AND I MARRIED LINHARDT BECAUSE I'M A SIMP OKAY. 4/10 story, -200/10 house leader. extra points for finally killing Rhea, I DISLIKE HER.

BONUS Cindered Shadows: (M Unit)

I love them all. Aelfric can go fuck himself. This route furthered my hatred for Rhea because the human experimentation bs. My only issues is that the final battle is WORSE than the Azure Moon one. I tried for 5 hours, using the strat guide. But the strat guide was actually useless. "Gambit demon mom so all 3 front tiles are gone" I HAD NO GAMBITS WHERE THAT WOULD HAPPEN. "Keep two people on Aelfric clone duty" THEY DON'T DIE IN ONE ATTACK SEQUENCE UNLESS IT'S BALTHUS DOING IT!

So I gave up on it. Still got them for the main routes for getting that far. If I want to see the ending I'll look it up on Youtube. 100/10 house. -467345643563467/10 final battle. And also Fuck Rhea.

Up next on my FE3H addiction: Silver Snow ft MARRYING THE DILF HIMSELF and giving Flayn siblings.

#risha shut up #fire emblem 3 houses #fe3h spoilers #crimson flower #azure moon #verdant wind #cindered shadows

[syneilesis]

[fic] if only for a moment

if only for a moment

Love and Deepspace | Rafayel (Qi Yu) x Main-Character!Reader | T | 3.6k words | ao3 link (with correct formatting)

Rafayel waits. And waits. And waits.

A/N: Another LaD fic!! This time it's Rafayel. Several elements of this fic are inspired by and loosely based on his story anecdotes and bond story, plus that Deep Sea card line backdrop. So more spoilers in this one, I'm afraid. I think you need to be aware of them in order to follow the flow of the fic. But if not, here's what you need to know: basically Rafayel accepts a visiting professorship at the University of Linkon to reunite with the MC/you. And the prose poetry interspersed are loosely situated in the Deep Sea card lineup setting (you can search in YouTube for the scenes. This one is a brief glimpse of the scene). That princess/knight(??) dynamic is yum yum.

If possible, please read the version on AO3. I formatted the prose poems there as if they're really prose poetry, so I'd appreciate it if you check that out. (Though there isn't too much difference between the formatting here and there, I did make the effort of coding a little 🥺)

Anyhoo, hope you enjoy, and I am sO STOKED FOR THE OFFICIAL RELEASE. rip my wallet 💸😭

JUST LOOK AT THIS MAN AND BELIEVE

There’s a type of berry in a distant land that produces a rare shade of ink that matches the color of your eyes. It takes a hundred of them to create the right hue and volume for the art that he wants to make. It comes to him in a dream: endless desert, then fireworks of verdant sparks that coalesce into stem, leaf, and, finally, fruit. Rafayel remembers that land, so much different from the iridescent blue of ocean underwater, and the acrid gold of the barren desert. His mouth filled with the succulent sweetness of the dream, the lingering sandpaper roughness of the berries on his fingers. He already knows the name of the artwork even before he’s begun—Waiting, Missing. The ache in his bones gaining form, an intangible thing taking flesh.

+

Under the ocean surface, time is muted, a deafening thickness that surrounds you with its ambiguity. On land, however, it is linear, and fast, and in a matter of blinks, Rafayel’s visiting professorship nearly wraps up.

He’s only glimpsed you once or twice. Thrice at most. The university is big, but not big enough to warrant a dearth of fateful encounters. The first time he saw you it was at a coffee shop: walking along with your friends outside, your voice mellifluous and festive wafting through the trellis of the café entrance. You were talking about him—well, about Lemuria to be specific, but these days any talk of Lemuria inevitably draws in his name.

He’s committed your schedule to memory, and yet it just seems impossible to capture a moment with you. Even just a brush of shoulders, or of sleeves—an asymptote of contact. Just navigating around your orbit, but never truly meeting.

What would it be like—finally talking to you? You in front of him, face to face? Rafayel imagines the ache of waiting fading into the background until it’s completely gone. He yearns for that feeling, the release of it. A conclusion—or maybe even a beginning.

+

i. take my hand, he told you under the glow of the lustrous moon, the only source of light that contoured the secretive valleys of his face. i want to show your highness something. there was a country, he said, beyond the undulating monochrome of the desert, blanketed by lush trees and shrubberies and flowers that buildings were made in betwixt and around them—a nation of trailing and winding architecture, a marriage of the natural and the manmade. you wanted to ask why he’d planned on taking you there, and the only answer you got was a curt turn of his head and the profile of a masked man layered by shadows and distance. it would have been nice, you thought, if the moon poured light upon his hooded gaze.

+

Eventually he begins to frequent the café. Twice a week at first—he doesn’t want to come off strong right away, of course—and then making his way up until he’s hanging out there more than his own studio. He schedules his visits around your classes, always during the ones when the probability of you dropping by the café is high and he can ‘coincidentally’ be around the same area. It’s gotten to a point that Thomas calls him out on it, and nags at him to focus more on his painting. The next exhibit is immediately after his visiting professorship after all.

“From where I’m standing,” Thomas says, “you’re not painting at all.”

Rafayel ignores him.

Five minutes later, he says, “Not painting is part of the painting process.”

Thomas rolls his eyes, but he leaves him to it.

At the café, Rafayel attracts curious looks. A few attempt to approach him, but he pretends not to see them. They linger around the periphery, like moths to flame.

And then something happens: the entrance door chimes, and you swan into the coffee shop, earphones and denim overall skirt, the kind of rosy-cheeked image Rafayel finds on teen magazines, wide-eyed and earnest. You fall in line and order when it’s your turn, and your eyes sweep across the packed café searching for a vacant seat until they finally land on him.

Rafayel’s heart stumbles.

Up close, the baby fat on your cheeks still gives you the appearance of being younger than you actually look. You turn a polite smile his way, and his heart stutters again—but this time it is taken as a warning.

“Hi,” you say, tentative. Any hint of recognition absent. “Do you mind if I sit here?”

+

ii. you're counting the steps of your inevitable parting. you're at the edge of the desert, far away from your home and its familiar scents, oriented towards a direction that promised a future sad memory, the gentle warmth of his hand, the downward denial of his gaze. this longing that grew out of your bones, aching during cold, aching during heat, aching when he looked at you with such tenderness he had to hide it through the sharp tug of your joined hands, the long strides that opened up a lonely distance. intimacy was dangerous, knowing was dangerous, the bowels of his heart like a solitary flower on a high peak. what would you do to such loneliness?

+

Memory isn't always an infallible thing. The human brain cannot hang on to every moment of your life, though Rafayel wishes it were so. But still—to think that you would forget him, and it hasn’t even been a century. You were like a phantom thief stealing his heart in the night—no recourse, no resolution.

To wait is to be in agony, the burn of yearning locked within the heart. Rafayel has been waiting for a long time, and the only memory scorched in his heart is fire, the blaze and its blinding, all-consuming want.

What would you do to such want?

+

You have a blurry childhood, Rafayel discovers. After the first Wanderer descended on Earth, the incident strummed your memories like a stringed instrument that tired of the same chord, over and over. It had bothered you at first—not being in control of your own memories—but eventually you had learned to live with it.

“Grandma and Caleb—my childhood friend—helped me through the process,” you tell him, stirring your iced mocha with its straw. “I owe them a lot.”

Eyes cast down, but still the melancholy shadows remain in your expression. Rafayel folds his arms on the table, and leans closer.

Around them only a few people occupy the coffee shop at this time. How fortunate for Rafayel to catch you during your break while every other student is trapped in class lectures.

“There’s no use in dwelling upon what's already happened. Even sharks have to give up when their prey escapes. When you remember, it will be all the more joyous, no?”

The smile you give him is crooked, disbelieving.

“If I remember.”

“You’ll remember.” Because there’s no other choice, for you and for him. Rafayel cannot bear being shelved in the history of your smile and happiness. Waiting can only be endurable if there’s an endpoint.

+

In his studio, Rafayel begins his next painting.

+

iii. the berries tasted sweet, with an edge of sourness that clung to the bottom of the tongue. it had the exact shade of your eyes, a detail that rafayel brought up the moment he plucked it from the shrub. raising it to align with your eyes, comparing them with his artist's meticulous gaze. maybe when this is all over, i'll go back here again to extract ink from these berries, and paint a portrait of your highness using these to color your eyes. he never showed you any of his paintings, merely mentioned them in passing, and you constructed a dream of him from the throwaway words that left his covered lips. i'm not used to sitting for so long, you reminded him, and he glanced at you, then at the berry between his fingers. my memory is enough, then handed you the fruit.

+

In the few weeks of meeting with you Rafayel forgets that his visiting professorship is ending soon and he has to give out his last lecture. Thomas had asked him what his topic would be. At that point Rafayel had no answer. But now he has.

“I’ve been hearing you talk about Lemuria every now and then with your friends.” He props his cheek on his hand, tilting his head slightly and giving you a charming smile. “Interested?”

You blink. “How did you know?”

“Oh, I’ve seen you a couple of times here, and I happened to hear your friends chat about my lecture. Your points were almost accurate, I’m in awe.”

“The visiting professor—that’s you?!”

Rafayel pauses, the slosh of his drink nearly spilling on his frozen hand.

“You didn’t know?”

Sheepish, you say, “Honestly, I didn’t make the connection. Is that why plenty of people have been glaring at me as of late?”

He releases a frustrated sigh, eyes rolling heavenward.

“In any case, my final lecture is on Friday next week. It’s titled “Memory and Meaning in Lemurian Art”. Why don’t you drop by and listen, and you can tell me what you think afterwards.”

You retrieve your bullet journal to check your schedule. It’s colorful, filled with stickers and doodles that Rafayel finds endearing. Then the excited moue on your face drops into a frown, and Rafayel can foresee the next words that will come out of your downturned lips.

“I’m sorry,” you say guiltily, “but I have a major test that day, and I need to get a high score in order to pass the course.”

Rafayel exhales, long and weary, but ultimately shrugs off the apology. “What a shame, but I forgive you. Just don’t fail your exam or else my magnanimity would be all for nothing.”

+

He calls Thomas that night.

“I’ll disappear for a while once the professorship is over.”

“Hey, wait, what do you me—”

“You’ll be happy to know that this is for my next painting.”

A beat. “Okay … but for how long?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?”

Then he hangs up.

+

He’s trying, he really does. The lecture ends to a resounding applause, and it’s mechanical how he answers the questions posed by the audience. But he’s trying, he’s trying. There’s no specter of you in the sea of faces in the auditorium. You’re at the other end of the university compound, sweating your way through your exam. He genuinely hopes you’d pass, for your sake.

Thomas had booked his flight to another country, where he’ll traverse to a land that he’d visited many times in his dreams and had woken up with a filmy, sweet-sour tang at the roof of his mouth. He’ll leave the morning after the closing dinner party the faculty has prepared for him. There isn’t time to pack much, and no time to tell you goodbye.

Rafayel guesses that it’s only fair: how would you feel waiting for him at that café, the chair across you empty, only the sunlight pooling from the window as your companion?

+

iv. parting, somebody once said, is such a sweet sorrow. much like those berries in that ever-green nation, a lingering sourness remained underneath, the sting of it reminding you every now and then. he was already mourned for even before he left. tell me what it's like—the ocean. he was elusive, untouchable in his grief. you'd heard through whispers, the story of his migration, the drowning before the drying, the unwanted journey. grief brought him to you and grief would steal him away from you, you knew, down to the cells of your body and the hopelessness in your blood. —and yet. and yet you wanted to have a taste of it, anyway.

+

The ever-green land is no longer green, or lush, or alive. Time corroded it into memory, sepia-faded, wizened. Past. The berries he’s searching for don’t grow here anymore. Everything here is empty, barren, helplessly so.

Rafayel hasn’t accounted for such development, but he should have known. Disappointment stings at his chest, and bitterly he turns away and stays at the next town over. At a family-run restaurant situated near the outskirts, he looks over the wide windows, across the highway road, beyond the jagged horizon. The painting won’t be finished, then. Another tragedy, pressed flat next to the forgetting, to the waiting, and his home.

The chef personally serves him his order and, after a shuffle of hesitation, brings up a question.

“Young man, you came from the direction of the old country, yeah?”

Rafayel meets his inquisitive gaze. “Yes, why?”

“It’s been a while since we had someone visiting that place. There’s nothing in there anymore, it’s been that way for years. Why did you go there?”

Rafayel is reluctant to say, but at the guileless set of the older man’s face, he concedes.

“I was looking for berries. The ones native there. They produce a shade that I need for my painting.”

At the mention of the fruit, the chef’s expression lights up. “Oh! I see, I see. You’re in luck, son. We grow them here at the farm. Plenty of those for everyone. How about I give you some? It’s rare meeting someone who still remembers the old country, it’s almost fate. How many did you say you need?”

Fate. Just like the time of your first meeting, as if the universe had gifted you to him. Just like the time of your parting, of your forgetting, of his waiting. Fate as a connection from you to him, red and burning brightly.

He doesn’t want to seem eager, but he knows he’s failed from the way the chef toothily grins at him.

“A hundred or so.”

The chef falters at that, jerking slightly back. But he accepts it with a nod, an avuncular smile making its way across his kind, powdery features.

“That sure is a huge number, but I think we can work something out.”

+

His painting takes a month to complete, inclusive of the time spent making the ink from the acquired berries. Sometimes, Thomas watches him paint, quiet in the background. His stays usually don’t last—a quick flash that Rafayel nearly misses, or deliberately ignores. But during the final stages of the painting process, Thomas hands him the exhibit details.

“I’m just thankful you’re on time for this one.” He sighs, relieved, then leaves.

Alone, Rafayel creates. Brushstroke after careful brushstroke, each varying by pressure and angle. He lets each layer of paint dry before moving onto the next. The berry ink—the color of your eyes—the solely different element of this painting. Center, central. The focal point. The beating heart. The years and years of waiting and longing. The form and the flesh. Alive.

This, too, is an endpoint.

+

v. can i see your face, just this once? your hands grazed his mask like a ghost wanting to touch. rafayel stayed still beneath your desirous fingers, observing, waiting, his own fingers twitching towards his dagger. even in the parting he could not let go of this distance. hopeless, hopeless. your highness would get nothing out of seeing my face. he's wrong, his eyes never left your face, and he's wrong. he didn't stop you from your grasping of his mask, and him—finally—bare and beautiful yet a little sad. you're wrong, you said, tracing his slightly parted lips with a trembling finger, you're wrong. it is everything to me.

+

The gallery is packed. No surprise there. It’s almost boring, in a way. Waiting, Missing hangs at the farthest hall in the floor, special and intimate as it should be. Thomas knows him well; otherwise, Rafayel would have whined at him to hell and back just so he could be granted this demand that is in reality a mandate.

He’s hiding from the throngs of journalists and art critics alike and sequesters himself in a corner that has a clear view of the painting. Loosening his collar and tie, Rafayel breathes and closes his eyes, leans tiredly against the wall. A few more minutes, and he’ll slink out of the building, reputation be damned.

He melts into the shadows whenever somebody passes by. He has neither time nor energy interacting with people today. Watching them through half-mast eyes, Rafayel stays in his secret place and studies with weightless detachment the people looking at the painting.

He’s made a bet with himself about the opinions of his followers and admirers. Who thinks what and why. It makes for great entertainment. The last time, a fresh-faced critic praised Rafayel’s technique as “innovative and a soul-rending reflection of the prodigy’s character.” He had laughed and laughed for hours until he couldn’t breathe any longer.

Another walks by, and before Rafayel retreats further into the corner, he glimpses a familiar gait and a familiar face.

His heartbeat races. He’s never told you that he’s holding an exhibit today. After the professorship Rafayel failed to maintain communication with you, convincing himself that it’s for the best that he protect you from afar that day onwards. It didn’t help that he had to leave as well. At the same time, you never made an effort of reaching out, and Rafayel thought that it was back to square one again, that waiting, that yearning.

But here you are right now, elegantly dressed, like someone gliding out of a dream. Rafayel swallows, his hands shake. You do not have someone else with you, and your eyes are brightly focused on Waiting, Missing, and for a fleeting moment your expression flickers into longing, strange and old and battered and sad, that it compels Rafayel to take a step forward—to you.

“Hey.”

The curious look vanishes; left no traces in your delighted face, as if it wasn’t there in the first place. “Rafayel!” you exclaim. “Long time no see! Congratulations on the exhibit; these are all beautiful.”

Outwardly he smirks, belying the torrential emotions he’s currently going through. He cants his head a little, works his charm on you. “Impressed? No need to hold back your compliments.”

Laughter, prismatic and crystalline. “Yes, yes. Especially this one—Waiting, Missing. What an interesting title. At the center, what paint did you use?”

Ah. Rafayel inhales before answering. “It’s actually ink. I had to make it from a hundred berries. It was a tedious process, but I wouldn’t use anything else. It has to be this, you see.”

“Whoa, no wonder you’d been radio silent all this time. You were creating this masterpiece.”

He hums, afraid that, if he speaks, he’d reveal too much.

“Well …” You throw a playful glance at him. “Shouldn’t we celebrate your success?”

His breath catches. “I—”

Before he manages to finish the sentence, a journalist calls out to him and that summons plenty more, swarming him with no chance of escape. It pushes you out of his peripheral vision, and Rafayel wants to shout your name, but you smile and gesture at him to entertain them first. You mouth, I’ll be back, and wander around other paintings some more.

When he finally succeeds in shaking the journalists off, he seeks you out and stumbles upon you near the exit, where there’s fewer people to pile on him.

“Excellent,” he says, sidling up beside you. You turn to him and smile, and there’s that lightning-flash of something again. For one unbelievably surreal instant, Rafayel thinks that despite your hazy memories, maybe you’d been waiting for him all this time, too.

And that thought emboldens him, moving closer and closer until your bodies almost touch. An asymptote of contact. But this time, he has mustered the courage to close that unbridgeable gap.

Rafayel offers you his hand. “Let’s get out of here?”

You stare at his hand then at his face, his eyes, and a meaningful moment stretches between you and him. But even before the idea of retracting enters his mind, you grab his hand joyfully, grinning ear to ear. His heart warms, full with everything.

You squeeze his hand, ready to go. “Lead the way, then!”

+

vi. a kiss is a greeting and a goodbye, and rafayel tasted of ferocious tides even if you'd seen them only in dreams. his eyes closed, as though savoring his last moments with you, guarded till the bitter end. would that i could ask you to stay—with me. but he shook his head—a final rejection. maybe in another life. there was nobody to watch you cry, in the after.

+

Rafayel is working on a new painting—a portrait this time. The model squirms on his couch, obvious about the discomfort of posing for too long. He huffs a laugh to himself, hidden by the canvas strategically placed between them.

“I heard that,” you grumble.

“Shush, you’re breaking my concentration.”

“If that already breaks your focus then I pity the rest of the art community.” A beat, then: “Is it done?”

“Patience, my dear muse. You need endure it a little more.”

“Hmph, fine. But after this you’re treating me to an all-you-can-eat buffet.”

“All right, all right.” He shakes his head, fond. “My muse, so demanding.”

Something sweet touches the edge of his tongue, succulent with a hint of tartness. Like longing. Except now, it’s layered with something new and exciting. Something like a new beginning.

In the far distance, the sea murmurs, lit fire by the setting sun.

#love and deepspace #love and deepspace fic #lad rafayel #lad qi yu #love and deepspace rafayel #love and deepspace qi yu #fic #my fic #rafayel x reader #qi yu x reader #lad rafayel x reader #lad qi yu x reader #love and deepspace x reader #love and deepspace spoilers #it's near midnight again i shall now sleep

[taelqn]

LUCIUS AND JULIUS CRUSHING ON THE SAME PERSON.

SFW + GN READER + HEADCANONS + SPOILERS ⚠️

♡ Very interesting duo we have here... Two is always better than one, anyway!

♡ First things first, Julius is not content with even the thought of Lucius crushing on you. He’s bothered by that fact, and he would prefer it if you stayed away from Lucius and stuck with him instead. It’s not even out of jealousy; it’s out of concern for your safety. It’s Lucius Zogratis, after all.

♡ Lucius, for his part, finds the situation rather amusing. When it comes to winning you over, Lucius has an unwavering faith in his ability to win your heart and sweep you off your feet before any other man can. In short, Lucius isn’t taking the situation too seriously, for he knows that he can and will have you.

♡ Not that Julius lacks confidence; rather, what I'm trying to convey is that, despite his confidence to win your love, he carries an immense amount of worry for you. Because Julius is the one who knows Lucius best, he fears that Lucius is merely using you.

♡ The situation is complicated, and it’s unlikely that it won’t be any better for you either. Sure, you have two powerful men trying to be yours, one might even say you’re suffering from success.

♡ But you can’t love two people at once, can you?

♡ Unless you can 👀

♡ But anyway, enough with all the complexities of this situation—let’s move onto the benefits of earning these men’s hearts!

♡ Julius and Lucius would literally have to alternate because they are two souls sharing a single body. But I don't think Lucius is a fair player. Since he is the dominant soul, he has the authority to determine whether or not to allow Julius to regain control.

♡ What I’m trying to say here is that if Julius or Lucius wish to spend time with you, they literally have to fight over who gets control of the body. In most cases, it's Lucius who ends up taking over, since he’s the dominant soul and all.

♡ Either way, no matter who’s in control of the body, I'm positive they’ll provide you with a beautiful experience. 

♡ You can anticipate being taken to locations with stunning scenery that are moderately populated if Julius has possession of the body. He will lead you to gorgeous flower-filled gardens, select a flower for you while you're preoccupied and not paying attention, and then surprise you.

♡ Julius won't limit himself to gardens, of course. He'll turn to other naturally beautiful places, frequently taking you to spots where you may feel the sun on your face, feel the wind tousling your hair, and hear birds singing as you and Julius stroll through verdant meadows.

♡ Furthermore, Julius will change his appearance so that no one can identify him, so you shouldn't worry about someone ruining your moment with the Wizard King. In other words, before Lucius takes back control of the body, Julius makes sure to treasure every minute he spends with you.

♡ You will also be taken to beautiful locations by Lucius when he is possessing the body. Lucius will take you to places where you feel as though you are up near the stars, where the soft light of the moon falls on your face, and where you and he can be alone with no one else.

♡ If you have a fear of heights, prepare to face your fears. Of course, he won’t go too crazy with choosing the locations once he finds out about your fear of heights. However, you should still prepare. The man can literally fly, and he wants you to show you what it feels like to roam around the night skies freely.

♡ Lucius, to put it briefly, likes isolated, nighttime locations. One of his favorite tricks is to subtly caress your arm, waist, or neck a few times, just enough to get you flustered.

♡ To sum up, the two men's drive to win your heart will never waver, even if one soul is more dominating than the other. You can decide who you love and whether to quit this game.

I feel like I went off track with this one, oops sorry. Let me know if this even made sense at all I feel like I struggled to explain some stuff here 🫠

#julius novachrono #julius novachrono x reader #black clover x y/n #black clover x reader #black clover anime #black clover manga #blackclover #wizard king #zogratis x reader #lucius zogratis x reader #zogratis siblings #zogratis #lucius zogratis

[tothepointofinsanity]

Greener Grass Awaits Lore "Masterpost"

[This post contains major spoilers for the game, so please be careful while interacting.]

[I would call this a fancy piece, but really it's just me incoherently blabbering about something I like not being talked about enough again. Read it with a kilogram of salt and view it as a discussion piece instead of what it tries to be. Be warned that this is a very long post, and it is encouraged to play the game before scrolling this.]

The Fundamentals: Greener Grass Awaits is advertised as a sport and horror game. In the former, your main objective is to finish all 12 holes on the golf course. In the latter, your character is stalked by undead entities under the moonlight that distract you from your said casual golfing spree. Before all else, we should start by considering the environments presented to us within the game itself, as it contains history and lore relevant to the bigger picture.

The Setting: You break into a prestigious golfing course known as the Green Canyon Golf Club, a club that has appeared on a magazine issue before which crowns it as one of 'the most inconvenient' courses in the world, likely due to the fact that it was built on an island, also featuring courses that loop around bodies of water. A bit of history given to us was that the course was initially meant to be left as open space before it underwent renovations accordingly in 1982. Today, you will find a large bridge that looms in the skyline between hole 9 to 11 which serves as one of the alternate entry ways to the island, as well as long walkways that cut between winding grasslands and forests.

The Golf Course: The lush and verdant environments of Green Canyon's courses boast the transplant of distinctly non-native, European trees to sport its current iconic look, and this impressive landscape is maintained by an outsource lawn-care company known as Greener Grass, a team that specialises in 'large, remote areas' and is known for its apparently weird advertisements. It is also implied from the bizarre ad and posters that plays at the end of the game that Greener Grass Co. has capabilities in helping to 'revive' dead or dried up lawns, and use a special brand of either soil or fertilising materials that assist in this process. The latter is implied from what you find around the caddy shack.

The further you pick and go with your ball, however, the more oppressive the atmosphere becomes. At some places you will see the illusion shedding its scales - bald, exposed trees on yellowed patches of ground despite being surrounded by other lush trees.

The Caddyshack: At the end of the twelfth hole lies a building you were warned to stay away from because "it's bad", according to an actual Green Canyon club member you met previously. All the doors in the building are locked except for the employee's only room, which will reveal a bloody scene. Presumably, the person you encountered previously who gave you the warning was dead on a chair, while a charred body lies on the office table in the middle of the room. Strewn about are cans of gasoline and Greener Grass Awaits co. bags, possibly containing the fertiliser or soil speculated before. The caddyshack is an important place as it functions as the gateway between the human world and the realm of the residing deity.

More of this will be explained later on.

The Forest: Entering the darkness of the room in the caddyshack will magically transport you to a different space of existence. Here, temples are separated by deep forests, with sacrificial alters occasionally in between them. The forests are dark, and staying in the light is necessary for survival. There are two objectives in this section of the game: pop The Blister and then Kill the Tree. You will need to repeat this objective twice as you march further into the home of the eldritch deity. The Blisters are pulsing gobs of flesh, like a heart, that are stuck onto the orifice of a tree in the forests. However, the game developer interestingly refers to them not as blisters, but as wounds. More on this later. Popping the blisters with your ball will open up the temples' entrance to access the Trees in question, hence the latter objective. You Kill the Trees by swinging your ball into the hole beneath its trunk. There are two Trees (so two Blisters altogether) to kill. When both trees are killed, your action provokes the deity living in this space of existence so much that a boss fight is instigated.

With that being said, it's important to now discuss the enemies we encounter in question.

The Antagonists: Sneaking in for some midnight golfing has its consequences the longer you overstay your welcome on the field and continuously stare down the face of evil. Interestingly, this game presents a surprisingly thought-out mechanism and line-up of enemies as they do not operate on a singular basis, but rather as a triangular feedback between a cult, a forest of angels, and a God out of this world.

The Cult: Under the guise of a landscape company skillful in maintaining the surrounding flora, it is heavily speculated that the Greener Grass co. are an elusive cult that has been offering human sacrifices to a foreign deity that promises everlasting scenery (satisfaction, contentment) in exchange. It is implied from some sign boards that the Greener Grass cult have been spreading the deity's influence outside of its realm and into the human world through the transplant of the aforementioned 'saplings from Europe'. The flora of this game are symbolic of the presence of this God, and potentially serves as an anchor for it to assist in the maintenance of the landscape. Some clues eluding to us that it is indeed a cult were the bloodied altars in the forest sections, as well as a weird book lying on one of the chairs in the Caddyshack. The inscription on the front cover is hard to make out.

The three enemies that stalk you through the game are Greener Grass employees, and are the poster children for both the cult and company given they are one and the same. The 'bizarre ad' that plays at the end also features the same trio, and the song played in it has lyrics hinting towards the company's true intentions. Some of these notable lyrics are: "my life is not what I imagined", "what if you could find that green, and all you had to do was come with me?", "it's the answer to your problems if you come with me". Definitely ominous, and the cult's whole ordeal with 'greener grass awaits you' is a play on the proverb of "the grass is greener on the other side".

Essentially, it is a cult that capitalises off people's insecure dissatisfaction with their own lives (which is pretty much in character for most cults in the real world anyways), takes advantage of sentiments of envy stemmed similarly, all with the lure that you will be happy if you join them. However, the cult does not just follow the stereotypical 'what if happiness was evil' trope, but because their motif is directly tied to the deity they serve under.

The 'Angels': The forests between the temples and altars are occupied with a crowd of stone statues that have that trademark grin the employees had. The angels operate in a very unique mechanism. Unlike the trio employees that stalk closer when your back is turned on them, the statues littering the forest grounds follow another modified system of the weeping angel formula - the second you stay with them in the dark without a light source, it will prompt flashing visages of their faces to psychicly overwhelm your vision. They do not directly attack you, instead choosing to paralyse you in with their surrounding numbers if you're left to wander in the darkness. I call them 'angels' as they seem to be closer to the original weeping angel family in terms of how they work, but also due to the fact that they look much more friendly in the light. They are also enthusiastic statues who rotate between striking an unnecessarily cute abundance of poses. All these poses involve them expressing their joy, almost in ecstasy. Praising, worshipping...something. The ironic liveliness of their poses grants them an impression that they are dancing behind your back.

I also like the detail that when a light source is on them, their expressions are always shut-eyed, but with the visages that flash repeatedly in dark areas, even if you can't see them well, the game shows you that their eyes are open, and thus the impression their expressions give off is that they're mocking you.

On their own, the angels are not a difficult enemy given their psychic esque attacks are ceased with keeping the light close to you. But this game is sadistic, so it eventually throws in the Greener Grass employees into the forests as well. What occurs then is that you're forced to move away constantly - so you either get killed by the employee for trying to keep the light with you, or you're killed by the angels once the employee drives you out of the light's radius. Extremely evil. Once again, it is to enforce the idea that everything that wants to kill you in the game are in cahoots with each other. Another minor detail I noticed was that the trio employees from the Greener Grass commercial also broke into dances over something viewed as trivial as growing lawn grass, which is likely a parallel to the Angels' poses. The expression of 'dancing' and a carved, permanent grin, I think, is done to honour their God.

A God: The overseer of the Greener Grass cult, a deity not from our familiar world who is connected to trees, nature, and most importantly, joy. The final enemy of this game is Exuberance, an eldritch divinity who has nefarious intentions of fully crossing over to 'our' world once the Last Sacrifice is Broke Open. A face with a grin stretched wide by tree branches.

Exuberance is an interesting name as it is generally defined by 'the quality of being full of energy, excitement, and cheerfulness; ebullience.' It's not simply the emotion of happiness, but rather, referring to a state of high spirits, of ecstatic liveliness being. Furthermore, and perhaps this is merely a clever coincidence, but 'exuberance' can also be used to describe, 'the quality of growing profusely; luxuriance' particularly with plants, which would circle back to how it is related to trees and the Greener Grass cult. The entities associated with Exuberance are then constantly in a state of 'bliss' and carve their own faces to resemble their deity. After all, since when was the last time you felt so happy the only method of expressing it is through a dance? It's a primal trait, undoubtedly.

It is thus speculated that this God is quite ancient given the appearance of its realm, the forest, contains archaic architecture of temples. Yet, the bodies we find on the sacrificial altars are fresh, the blood more red than rust. Exuberance had been collecting human sacrifices through its cult, as evident by the large amount of bodies/souls that are released whenever the deity takes damage. It has that same air of confidence and arrogance towards humans that most eldritch Gods carry themselves with. Likes to speak a lot. Here are all of its lines:

Abandon this endeavor. You can't kill a God! You will join me eventually, everyone does!

Now I realise who I'm talking to! No matter. Your suit of flesh is fragile. I will break it open, and you will pour out. That body will be the last sacrifice I need.

You cannot keep that world! I will take your dinner from you.

Upon your first playthrough, though, Exuberance's dialogue sounds like complete gibberish or madness when the context is not made clear yet. This whole journey thus far has not made much sense on how it transitions from casual golfing to killing a God, how Green Canyon Golf Club has to do with a cult; but it will hopefully become clearer with the next introduction: The Protagonist.

The Protagonist: Our local golfer may not just be as local as we thought.

We've discussed the setting and the enemies. Now we must talk about the main character: yourself. In the game, you have no reflection to view your character's appearance, but if it helps in any way, you seem to be slightly shorter than the majority of the enemies and NPCs you encounter. This isn't important information, I just think it's funny. Your character is generally regarded as a weirdo, even speculated to be mentally unstable or inebriated by some people discussing this game. The signs seem to be there: vaulting fences into a premium golf course after dark to play golf in the dark, having a tendency to stare at other characters straight in the eyes, unsettling even the security guard, and appears to be obsessed with the sport of golf. Your character is played up to be an infatuated madman with the latter, with mental barriers scribbled about how they wouldn't miss golf for the world, and the leading theory as a result was that the entire game was a hallucination birthed from their obsession with golf, or rather, too bloody drunk and passed out with strange dreams near the canyon. This would have been the case until you consider two things: Firstly, despite claiming to be a hardcore golfer, your character carries around a beginner's guide on the sport, and has only a simple putter and driver in their sling bag. When you kill Exuberance and wake up in front of the club's front door, you also do not recall where you were, only recognising your car was parked, and that you should leave. Not recognising Green Canyon Golf Club indicates to us that something is off, given as discussed prior, it is an infamous place for golfing, and had the character really been a die-hard for the sport, they would have realised it without problem. Secondly, the character you play from the start to the end of the boss fight compared to when you wake up seem to have differing personalities. The character you have been stuck with seems to know what they're doing at all times, and gives instructions on their next move. They're stiff, rigid, and are not easily excitable even in the face of the stalking employees or a dead body. They don't seem to care much about anything at all except for an odd aversion to water, as well as wanting to kill Exuberance. What is even stranger is that the font for the character's monologue is completely different after the boss fight ends.

During the game:

After the game/ending:

The former is more messy, like it's written by hand. The latter is a plain font. This implies that something about your character has changed — the truth was that you were possessed all along, most likely by another eldritch God whom is not Exuberance, and came to the golf course to slay it. There are some allusions to you being a separate eldritch entity: Exuberance recognises you. Not the character you were playing as, but whatever that was occupying the human vessel temporarily. An eldritch God has no reason to remember or know a mere human, after all, hence explaining the second and third line of dialogue by it in the temples, as well as why when the original owner of the body wakes up, they have no recollection of what occured whatsoever, and, effectively as other players have thought - it's all chalked up to both the ordinary you and the players as 'just a dream'.

Your character also refers to themselves as "this body" whenever you enter the water as the vessel you are possessing has no swimming skills. At the very start of the game, you even get to 'choose body'. You're choosing a vessel suitable to your liking to possess. What is more evident as well is the ominous answers that you can use to respond to whatever the NPCs are saying, as well as frightening them due to the possibility even they knew you felt off. You would often hear screams drone louder and louder in the background whenever you got near to these NPCs, as they are actually dead. We 'hear' the truth from what is not directly told to us by these spirits that were trying to advise against proceeding deeper into the course.

Yet, we proceed. The enemies would have directly charged at you from the get-go instead of waiting for you to look away since the way you look at something (eyes are the windows to the soul, and I wonder what kind of thing they would see in the place of one when others look at you) since you clearly hold a certain influence over them by presence and stare alone. The undead should have nothing to fear, and yet even they practice caution against something that reminds them of their patron God. Another reason I believe you're being possessed is because the font you have always used in the game feels handwritten, the same way Exuberance's font is more cursive and messy. Clearly, you are a deity by some means, just a different kind with different intentions; some intentions that are left unanswered even after finishing the game.

Just what exactly does all of this writing amount to?

The Final Story: An expansive golf course known as the Green Canyon Golf Club opens up in 1982 after being renovated from its previously barren state. It was founded on a large island, featuring a diverse, challenging number of holes for people to enjoy while they traverse the canyon's scenery. In order to maintain the green and natural state of the course, Green Canyon managers hired a company known as Greener Grass to assist them. Greener Grass co. appeared to be a rather new company, having only few reviews, but an eye catching advertisement and specialises in the lawn keeping for large, remote areas, which seemed to fit the canyon's liking and geographic description. The hired company set to work, transplanting in gorgeous trees supposedly from Europe, as well as using their own brand of soil to allow the environment of the course to prosper. The environment was clearly well tended to, with the course even forbidding golf carts due to how sensitive and delicate the fields were, as well as advising golfers to not hit their balls into the trees as native birds nested there. Despite these rules, the course was fairly prestigious, its popularity captured in several sports magazines.

What was unknown to the club, however, was that this lawnscape company they hired was actually a cult, and the permission to freely introduce foreign flora to the land had been with the company's intention to bring in anchors tied to the God they made contact with, Exuberance. Through the golf course and perhaps other places not mentioned, Exuberance had been steadily increasing its influence over the human world as it received more and more sacrifices thanks to its formidable cult. The cult worked in a caddyshack on the golf course, and would lure in members of the golfing club with normal statements of refreshments available, only to offer them up as sacrifices to the altars of the temple. The sacrificed bodies were then burned and made into the materials the Greener Grass front used to maintain the lush landscapes. Countless rinse and repeat sessions of bloodshed later, Exuberance required just one more body still to cross over to the human world and, from there, become unstoppable with the fact that its associating flora were planted everywhere by the cult by then.

But the violent rituals of the Greener Grass cult had resulted in innocent souls trapped on the grounds of the course and realm in-between worlds. The souls screamed in their fate of immortalised anguish, and eventually this unbearable abundance of noise roused the deity of the human world from its previous state of inaction. Exuberance is a source of insolence, believing it could attempt to compete with Us for the world we looked after. Something must come out of this. The problem was that Exuberance's realm was closed off, difficult to penetrate without proper mobility. A plan was thus hatched: possess a suitable vessel to appear human in order to get closer to the home of the enemy. It risked vulnerability as the human body was fragile and had a mind occupying it already, but that doesn't matter when casting a heavy filter of obsession with the sport would properly motivate them to do the bidding. This different deity knows that Green Canyon Golf Club had been discreetly converted to a massive ritual ground at this point, and playing by the rules of the world of golf, even if tedious, was necessary to reaching the gateway and destroy the anchors tied to Exuberance.

You play the role of a victim as the undead start to stalk from behind, but something was off about this sacrifice, and the employees take turns reporting back to their God of this issue. Exuberance believed the disguise of a human, not being aware of what laid hidden under the layers of blood and bones. You finish the 12th hole, enter the caddyshack, and find yourself where you wanted to be: on the turf of the enemy's temples. Staying in the light was vital to survival here, and as fresh blood collects in the basin of the altar from a previous sacrifice, the innocence of a stolen life had purified to form a glowing orb. An orb that lights up like a star in the dreary landscape, taking the filth of flesh as it goes. By the time Exuberance had realised the scheme of a trojan horse, you had already successfully killed the trees, and all that was left was to kill Exuberance itself. With each swing, you take out pieces of the God, releasing the souls into the surroundings.

The fight ends with a clear victor, and you wake up outside of the golf club with no recollection of any of this. The deity possessing your vessel had relinquished control, allowing you to continue your life as normal. What occurs after then is unclear, as the advertisement sings its jingle, and we get to see the spine of a book inscribed with strange symbols on the right as the game ends with the sound of a closing door.

TLDR; Local grass cult goes overboard with human sacrifice rituals, acidentally summons worse eldritch being to kill their patron deity just so it would shut up. Happy golfing!

#Grass Archives #Greener Grass Awaits #Greener Grass Awaits game #today on: explaining things to the thin air #i really like the game's lore since it's written like a proper cosmic horror/lvcraft esque #but even outside of ignoring the lore it's an effective horror game #and by that i mean it takes advantage of paranoid people (me) #sound design and songs for this game rock too #Yatoimtop Archives

[itsmespicaa]

"Seeds of Stories, Brought by the Wind..." (part 2/2)

(part 1 here!)   

⚠️ Contains Sumeru Archon Quest SPOILER !!!

Fun fact: Nahida’s voiceline ‘When it’s windy’ is: “The wind never blows in the Sanctuary of Surasthana...Oh, sorry. That's probably obvious to you.” I’m not crying what tHE FUC-

The fic continuation of the last page is below :D

------------

Venti shouted, waving and practically flying to her, “Buer!”

It seemed that Nahida had just escaped from a room of her people asking for her guidance and advice on what to do next with the Akademiya, from the way she was stunned at the unexpected call of her true name. 

“Eh…?”

Without warning, he grasped her smaller hands in his as the wind sang and blew wildly around them, reflecting his unrepressed joy.

Venti laughed: “Ah…it’s been much too long!”

The Traveler ran to them before looking around, worried that others would be suspicious of the strange interaction of their archon and a strange bard from afar. But it seems most had to cover their eyes due to the strong wind just a while ago, and when they turned to Venti with a raised eyebrow, he just winked at them.

“This hardly seems like a proper place for a reunion between old friends–what say you, oh Dendro Archon?”

It seems Venti’s antics finally caught up with Nahida, who smiled back, albeit more subdued than the former. “Alright. Let’s go somewhere more private.”

~0~

In a flurry of white feathers and verdant leaves, they all reappeared inside the Sanctuary, the quiet ambience enveloping them gently like a cradle to a newborn babe.

“Mm, I haven’t been here in a very long time…” Venti sighed, eyes closed as though to listen even closer to the whispers behind the walls. When he opened them again, his eyes reflected the vibrant green like fireflies at night. “It feels familiar and yet…completely reborn.”

Unbeknownst to any of them, the Traveler’s eyes widened slightly at his remarks, lips shaking slightly with words they’ve agreed to never speak of.

“I guess…that’s what happens when you lose your memories,” Venti finally turned to Nahida with a forlorn smile, who had simply been observing him from beside the Traveler. The Dendro Archon clenched her hands together before walking up to him, meeting his gaze.

“...Barbatos,” Nahida started, “just as the wind blows the seeds of every story all across Teyvat, I’m sure the wind has told you of the story that was uncovered in Sumeru as well. I…I apologize for not greeting you in a manner befitting a fellow Archon, but I would like to extend my hand in friendship once more just as I did all those years ago.”

To her surprise, Barbatos simply giggled, his airy laughter jingling like bells. “I never knew how adorably anxious you felt when we first met~!”

Going down on his knees, he enveloped her gently like a mother bird brooding its younglings, catching the other archon off guard. “And our friendship never ended,” he said, his voice tapering off into a whisper, “no matter where you are in the endless river of time, you will always be a dear friend of mine, Buer.”

Nahida felt…comfort, familiar and oh so warm, an old memory that did not feel hers resurfacing from under the rubble, like a tiny sapling that willed itself to survive amidst the harsh and unforgiving nature imposed onto it.

After a second of hesitation, she returned the hug, burying her face in the awfully familiar scent of dandelions and wind, wanting to keep this feeling with her for eternity no matter what.

But alas, nothing lasts forever.

“I also heard from a certain Traveler,” Venti nodded at the quiet person watching them from a distance, “that the wind…never blows inside this tiny bird cage of yours. I see what you mean now.”

He stood up and summoned his lyre, walking to the middle of the platform, to the place she was trapped in for half a millennium. The place where the wind could not reach, where her tears and anxieties remained unseen and hidden from the world, her fate sealed by the people she was born to protect.

Strumming his lyre, he beamed at her: “Time to correct that!”

A gentle breeze flowed within her former cage, caressing her cheeks and the tips of her feet, bumping into her as though asking her to come play with them. Nahida’s eyes glimmered as silver white wings sprouted from Venti’s back, feathers floating in the air as he sang.

Ah…this voice…

Memories flooded her vision as snapshots of beautiful moments blurred past her eyes, untouched by the ravages of time. The tiny sapling grew larger and larger until it touched the sky above, to where they would return to. Singing together with the Aranara, the gathering of the first Seven, memories never lucid enough for her to see in detail but the emotions. Oh the emotions she experienced then…

(...She?)

Nahida did not realize the tears dripping onto the floor until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, startling her to reality as she watched Venti glide down and extend a hand towards her, a gentle smile on his lips as he beckoned for her:

“Come sing with me? For old times’ sake.”

Ah…How could she refuse?

With a wide grin, she took his hand and sang.

No one but the Traveler and their floating companion would be the witness to this beautiful moment shared between the two neighboring archons, the two old friends separated by time and the earth itself. 

One born of the thousands of branches of time, while the other sprouted from the purest branch of an ancient tree.

#genshin impact #venti #nahida #rukkhadevata #sumeru archon quest #archon quest spoiler #ALSO FUN FACT: the ost that played during the mond archon quest played during the nahida rescue scene :) im not crying you are AAAAAAAAAAAAA #I LOVE PAIN WOOOOOOOOOOO #QWQ #THEYRE FRIENDS YOUR HONOR LET THEM MEEEEEETTTT #AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #SOBS #im never getting over how neither venti nor zhongli remembers rukkhadevata i cant do this yall ;-; #also in case that wasnt obvious; venti slowed down time for a bit to say goodbye to rukkhadevata for the last time before he too forgets ;-; #being a creation of istaroth has both its perks and downsides and venti didnt know what this counted as hhh _(:"

[synergysilhouette]

Remaking "Fire Emblem: 3 Houses"

(Spoilers ahead, obviously)

The time has come for another rewrite! I'm an amateur (re)writer, and I KNOW people are gonna be picky about this rewrite since many consider this entry the Holy Grail of the "Fire Emblem" series, but I hope you'll still be open to my changes, anyway! This is purely subjective and not something that reflects the fandom's opinion or me saying how to make the game objectively "better" (even though the term itself is subjective). I don't remember every single aspect of the game, so if I mention something that I wanted from the game that they actually DID do, be sure to mention it!

General

DON'T RUSH US!--From the get-go, you're on a fixed schedule. Once you become a professor, you've got one day out of the week to explore the grounds, fight battles/do paralogues/xenologues, or another activity. Every Monday, you've gotta do instruction for your student, and the other days literally breeze by until you get to your next story arc. Letting us go at our own leisure would be awesome, particularly since it'd give us more time to get to know our characters via more missions and xenologues. Between school and war, it can get a bit monotonous.

2. Give us impactful dialogue options instead of the illusion of choices--I have the same issue with "Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon." Throughout the game, we're given dialogue options, but most of the time the choices are identical or offer no affect other than a character's approval/disapproval. It felt annoying to have the option to tell the Flame Emperor that you'd join them, only for them to say they could tell you were lying. It's annoying stuff like that that makes it feel like you don't really need dialogue options at all, just cutscenes with Byleth speaking for themselves.

3. Those Who Slither in the Dark being keeping us in the loop--It's wild to me that the people who did the most damage are the most underused in the game. Someone said that making their deeds more pronounced/known would ruin the point, but I disagree. In Crimson Flower, their role in the Tragedy of Duscur is revealed, but Edelgard defeats them offscreen before restoring peace. Dimitri never learns the full truth of this in Azure Moon, and if I recall, the organization does get more attention in Silver Snow (for like 2-3 chapters) and Verdant Wind, but I can't recall for certain. Either way, I feel like each route should feel complete, given that you're playing completely different stories, rather than it feeling like you're missing some information depending on the route you play. Not to mention, Kronya deserves better, even if I'm retconning her actions (more on that in a second)...

4. Don't make us forget about marriage--having to find a ring sucks. After Jeralt dies, you have a certain amount of time in order to find his marriage ring (which I completely forgot about in my first playthrough) that you NEED if you want to reach S-supports with anyone. I'd prefer if Jeralt just gave it to Byleth rather than us having to go to his office and find it.

5. Change the confusing Byleth bloodline--I'm fine with Sitri being either Rhea's daughter or (if you wanna romance Rhea and Sothis without ethical concerns) simply working at the church where she met Jeralt. The family tree above makes things a lot more confusing than what it needs to be.

6. Marriage to (mostly) whoever, whenever--In the game, you have to wait until after the war is over to be married, and out of them, you only have 5 romantic same-sex options for female Byleth--2 of which are route-exclusive--and 3 options for male Byleth--2 of which are either DLC or route-exclusive. I'd rather make it a free-for-all, save for Gilbert and Alois, who are married, and should've never prevented you from a romantic relationship with another character.

7. Keep Jeralt alive--I'm just...I'm just TIRED of the "dead parent/evil parent" storyline that "Awakening," "Fates," and "Engage" have done, along with "3 Houses." I'd enjoy having Jeralt kept alive, in this version. Nevermind, this is probably the longest a protagonist has gotten to keep their parent in one of the recent FE games. Having him stand by Byleth similar to "3 Hopes" would be awesome.

8. Let us have Child units--As someone who got into the series via "Fates" and "Awakening," it disappointed me greatly that child units were removed. While I prefer "Fates" using the Deeprealms, I think an "Awakening" approach fits best here. Perhaps Sothis' time manipulation is more powerful than she knows, having sent the child units from the future to avoid their dark fates. Since it's story-related, perhaps it's Byleth's child who comes from the future first, referencing Chrom's daughter Lucina coming to save him and Emmeryn in "Awakening," only the child comes to save Byleth and Jeralt. Personally I made a lsit of fanmade child units almost a year ago.

9. Recruit Jeritzia outside of Crimson Flower--"3 Hopes" allowed us to do so as long as we had Mercedes in one of our routes, and I'm confused on why that couldn't be done here. Recruiting Mercedes would be the wakeup call Jeritzia needs to join our side, rather than being the opposition.

10. Keep Byleth's hair color--This is a nitpick, but I'd like being able to change Byleth's hair color back to the way it was before becoming one with Sothis. I'm fine with keeping the hair color, though.

11. A 3 Houses United Route--I mentioned in another post about a route where Jeralt survived, TWSITD as the main antagonists. What'd make this route unique (since I'd want the other two changes to be changed in all routes) is that the almost-death of Jeralt would inspire Byleth to leave the church and become a mercenary again, only getting involved years later once they see how the war has affected their students, and they can still recruit others based on their stats, and since they're not tied to a particular "side" in this concflict, they could recruit the house leaders and their aides rather than having to kill them.

12. Fix Dimitri's turnaround (Azure Moon)--It's probably just me, but it felt like Dimitri's vengence and sudden change of heart following Rodrigue's death felt...too quick? I know this is a hot take, but I'd have thought Rodrigue's death would've fueled Dimitri's anger. Plus I didn't feel like Dimitri's redemption (so to speak) was earned. It was just kinda "sorry for being a jerk, guys" even though the whole team seemed to back him. I'd have enjoyed seeing more moments of his sanity and morality kick in amidst the chaos rather than being one-track-minded. I feel like a lot of poorly done villain arcs do this (even if he isn't the villain of this route, per se). Since in my rewrite we learn about TWSITD, it's quite possible that Dimitri's anger is focused elsewhere in any case. Maybe Rodrigue didn't even have to die...

13. Utilize 3 Hopes designs--This may not be a popular opinion, but I think some of the characters looked better halfway in 3 Hopes than in 3 Houses. It would be nice to have the option to switch their costumes to their 3 Hopes looks instead (even though I know they're older in the 3 Houses timeskip than they are in 3 Hopes).

14. NO IGNORANT BYLETH--Instead of other installments that use the amnesia subplots, Byleth is simply kept in the dark about their parents' pasts, the world, and the church (which is kinda the same thing). I'd alleviate this entirely so we can have a mature and well-learned protagonist rather than a teacher who's just learning how the world works and about the tension in the land.

Hope you're not too upset with my version of the game! Lemme know what you think and if you have any questions. The next FE rewrite I do (whenever I get around to it) will be "Engage," which is the last FE game I've played.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem 3 houses #3 houses #three houses #claude #claude von riegan #dimitri #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #edelgard #edelgard von hresvelg #blue lions #golden deer #black eagles

[hubristicassholefight]

Hubristic Assholes Tourney round 1 part 2b

Propaganda below the cut (Spoiler warning!)

Richard III

HES A LITTLE BASTARD BITCH AND I HATE HIM BUT HES SO FUNNY. WITHOUT ANALYSIS HIS MOTIVE IS "NOBODY WILL FUCK ME :( IM GONNA KILL THE KING AND USURP HIS POSITION (ILL HAVE TO KILL HIS CHILDREN AND MY BROTHER TO DO THIS)." HE THINKS THIS IS GOING ALL FINE AND DANDY UNTIL HIS DUMBASS IS BETRAYED BY HIS VASSALS, UNHORSED IN BATTLE AND STABBED THROUGH THE HEAD. HE HAS PROPHETIC DREAMS ABOUT HIS DEATH AND STILL CHARGES INTO BATTLE. HE THINKS HE CAN FUCK A WOMAN WHOSE HUSBAND HE KILLS. HE SEDUCES HER OVER HIS FUCKING COFFIN. SHE KNOWS HE KILLED HER HUSBAND. HE THINKS HE CAN GO "OH HA HA I'LL GIVE YOU ALL THAT LAND LATER (I AM UNTRUSTWORTHY AND A BASTARD)" TO BUCKINGHAM AND EXPECTS HIM TO STAY LOYAL (HE DOESN'T). HUBRIS UNLIMITED

Nemesis

Nemesis is a historical figure in Three Houses, and is known as "The King of Liberation." He is accredited with using the Sword of the Creator, said to be the gift of the Goddess Sothis, to save Fodlan, only to become corrupted later on. This ends up in Seiros killing him. He is also the only recorded person to have the Crest of Flames until Byleth comes along. In reality, Nemesis never saved Fodlan, and he got his powers by killing Sothis and making the Sword of the Creator from her bones and giving himself the Crest of Flames with her blood. He and his group of bandits went on to massacre the Nabateans (a race of dragon people said to be Sothis's children) and did the same thing Nemesis did to Sothis. Seiros, one of the survivors, then led a war to avenge her mother, and ended up doing so. Nemesis's corpse was stored by the Agarthans, and during the events of Verdant Wind, they manage to revive him, and Nemesis attempts to kill Seiros and take over Fodlan again. This time, Byleth, who wields the Sword of the Creator in the present day, and their army successfully defeats him for good; Has a kick-ass final boss theme. Seriously it's just iconic.

#richard iii #shakespeare #nemesis #fire emblem #fire emblem: three houses #official #poll #hubristic assholes tourney #round 1 #round 1 part 2b

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT!

PRELIMINARY #236

Submission 816

The Dimitri focused routes of Fire Emblem Three Houses and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes are the most overrated and honestly worst routes of those games.

Spoilers ahead but I have some things to get off my chest:

It's the route that keeps the status quo the most. The status quo being the church and the nobles get no real consequences for their actions regarding mistreatment of the common class or those who disagree with their policies, crests are the main focus for most of the upper class, and the only people who really benefit from any change end up being the students we train up. Fódlan remains closed off from most of the world, and the majority of those who live there, who suffered under the old regime, don't really get the chance to change their circumstances.

Certain story beats that should have been the focus of other characters keep going to Dimitri; Felix's dad dies before things between him and Felix can start to be mended? Only Dimitri has any real feelings about it. The tragedy of Duscur? Dedue doesn't get to be the lead in a story regard in his people's genocide, we need to focus on Dimitri and how it impacted him. Byleth has certain feelings regarding the death of their father? Somehow it ties back to Dimitri's trauma. The whole thing with Edelgard's mother becoming his stepmother and being separated from her child and isolated from others? Gotta focus on how Dimitri felt about the whole thing and brush off Edelgard's feelings about it. The whole things with Those Who Slithered in the Dark experimenting on Edelgard and others and using them to take over Fódlan? Not addressed in Azure Moon and only focused on in regards to how it affects Dimitri and makes Edelgard into a damsel in distress to make him look good. Almost every single trauma of the characters from Faerghus keep being tied back to how it affects Dimitri and it's BORING and ANNOYING.

What really gets me about these routes is really reflected in Abyss in the Three Houses DLC. At one point, you can talk to one of the residents there, and she says that the soldiers from the Kingdom were treating the people there terribly, to the point where it was said they were ABUSIVE to the people who rely on Abyss to live. Most of the people who live there are poor, orphaned, abandoned, displaced, crippled, or trying to hide from people who want them dead. And there's no dialogue that implies things for them will get better under the rule of the Kingdom. Where as the other routes imply things will either be the same as before (silver snow/verdant wind) or might actually start to get better (crimson flower).

The Dimitri/Faerghus focused routes are the worst because they are the routes that end up sticking the most to the status quo of classism and racism, heavily implied eugenics, and isolationism.

Propaganda is always encouraged!

And remember to reblog your favourite polls for exposure!

Here's a link to where I found this artwork.h

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #three houses #three hopes #fire emblem warriors three hopes #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #fe3h dimitri #dimitri fire emblem #fire emblem dimitri #blue lions #azure moon #hot take tournament #tournament poll #tumblr poll #tumblr tournament #tumblr bracket #unpopular opinion #hot take #cw racism #cw eugenics #fe3h #fe3houses #fe3h spoilers #fire emblem three houses spoilers #hot take fire emblem