#all i know are squire knight and commander/general

[greeenchrysanthemums]

I'm so sorry for the spam reblog of your GG rivals au stuff, but!!!! I'M SO. Ahem, I'm so so normal about it (<- lies).

I'm so curious how Gem got her start in the army and how she advanced rank seemingly so quickly! I mean I don't know the ages in this but I assume she's mayyybe in her late twenties? I dunno just a guess, but it also begs the question of when she joined? I mean you said that she always wanted to join the army so I'd imagine her joining at a similar age as Etho. Either way! Geminislay!

I just love this au so much! I'm gonna think about it all the time ♡

Hello! It's so exciting to get asks for this au! I'm so glad that people seem to like it so much. And not to worry, I quite enjoying seeing everyone being so excited about my au in my notifications. It is a delight.

As for your question:

She did join the army at around the same age Etho had, so maybe 16-17 (he is 9 or so years older than her here).

After leaving her hometown and enlisting, she became Impulse's squire. This was where she met Scott as well. He was a friend of Impulse's, and therefore she naturally seen a lot of him. They all grew close very quickly.

Right from the start, she showed exceptional swordsmanship, as well as brilliant organizational skills. She was quick-witted and a natural leader capable of taking charge in stressful situations, so her climb in rank was only natural.

Her first promotion was, coincidentally, because of Grian. She was only a few months into her stay at the castle when an explosion was set off in the courtyard and the weapons room was broken in to. While everyone else was panicked and unsure of what to do, she stepped up and led evacuation efforts before running off on her own to face Grian. She was the only one who managed to stop him from taking a great deal of weaponry, and even had him restrained for a period of time before he escaped. This bumped her right up into knighthood, where she was finally able to serve beside her friends instead of under them.

She would remain a knight for several years after that, and she was regularly assigned to deal with all things Grian since she seemed to be the only one capable of subduing him. It was never anything as grand as breaking into the castle again, but she helped stop her fair share of riots, and ran him out of town before he could start anything all together.

Her next major promotion wouldn't be until she was around 23-24. She ended up fighting in a war with a neighboring kingdom (more details on that another time, I do not want to spoil everything too quickly) in which she took charge of many battles, as well as worked with the previous commander to formulate strategies.

She was at first seen as arrogant and cocky by her peers for how quick she was to input her own ideas and boss them around, but that didn't last very long as it became evident that she knew what she was doing. In fact, she quickly became highly respected, maybe even a little feared, for how deadly and efficient she was.

Following the death of the previous commander during the war, Ren only saw it fit that he give the title and responsibilities over to her despite her young age. She had more than proved herself time and time again, and there was no one better for the job.

#geminitay #GG rivals au #life series #hermitcraft #and as the current story goes she would be around 28-29 #for the record I am not fully sure how the ranking system works for knights #all i know are squire knight and commander/general #my husband has tried many times to explain it to me (he inspired this au) but it just flies over my head for some reason #but accuracy isn't too important to me to be honest I am simply having fun #it is a made up world anyhow the ranking can be what I want of it #GG asks

[allyriadayne]

could you talk more about the daynes post robert's rebellion?

SURE

first of, this is mostly my hcs, speculations and a mix of things i must have read back when there was the height of asoiaf meta in 2013 because there is almost nothing about the daynes post robert's rebellion. so bear with me.

just to set the scene, the members of house dayne left after the mess of the rebellion were the unnamed older brother of ashara and arthur, the lord and father of edric; allyria the youngest sister that i headcanon to be much younger than her older siblings seeing as she is betrothed to beric dondarrion who is was in his twenties per agot so i don't think the marriage would've occurred if allyria was in her middle thirties or forties if she was closer to ashara and arthur; edric, twelve years old, beric's loyal squire; and gerold aka darkstar head of high hermitage, also in his twenties? around arianne's age.

(c) Eddie Mendoza for the cover of A Song of Ice and Fire 2025 Calendar

under the cut because i'm crazy

i don't know if the books are ever going to make clear what happened at the toj-starfall zone but we can be sure only that ned went from one to the other with lyanna's bones and supposedly baby jon to return dawn to the daynes. ashara had a baby of father unknown and shortly after ned was there she took her own life, body never found. i go back and forward in thinking if ashara's brother lord dayne was there with her when ned went or if he was one of the dornish commanders defending the targs. in any case, his presence was completely zero during this time so i think he was too injured for a time or too sickly in general to do something to reestablish the dayne name in dorne after arthur being an important part in elia's disgrace and indirectly, her murder.

because yeah after arthur and ashara's death and going by the books there is zero mention of them, even in the chapters set in dorne or others about dornish characters make no mention of them. and it's strange considering that when you read awoiaf and f&b, the daynes are The knights of dorne. queen nymeria marries a dayne, sends a starfall king to the wall, meria martell commands a dayne to burn oldtown, arguably one of the most powerful cities of the time, out of all the sons of daeron ii and myriah martell, maekar marries a dayne, the only dornish lady. it could be nothing OR something but i think it does mean something. we see there's no daynes in oberyn's party in kl or speculation in general about the new sword of the morning beyond remembering dear old arthur. they've fallen completely into obscurity. the house was reduced to a young girl and its child lord.

edric's dad dies before agot (he doesn't seem to afflicted by his death when he meets arya if he were less than a year dead, inheriting the lordship at such a young age would've been dramatic to him), i would say just after becoming a page to beric dondarrion at 7 yo and i headcanon the marriage between beric and allyria was brokered at this time too. this was part of a fic i was writing like 500 years ago but i think lord dayne must have known he would not live too long, not to see edric grow so he must have looked for someone to prepare and take care of allyria and edric after he died. betrothing allyria to a marcher lord is......strange. if a dornish person would have to be married to someone it would go like this 1) not from the reach 2) not from the marches in that order, there is too much bad blood. the daynes have a longstanding tradition of killing oakhearts so marrying allyria to the heir of blackhaven and giving him his only heir, lord dayne entrusted a complete stranger with the future of his house.

beric would've been in charge of teaching young edric just about everything. he would be living in the stormlands for almost half his live, learning from a his maester and how to govern a stormlands' castle. meanwhile, allyria in a few years probably around agot time would be ready to marry beric when she reached her majority. she would've been the defacto ruler of starfall in edric's name when lord dayne dies, i think the idea was to swap when edric gained his spurs: he would return to starfall after a successful run as a tourney knight, probably gaining some recognition from whatever beric was tasked with at the capital (rip king) and then accompany allyria to be married to his knight master. andddd fin.

the thing is. allyria being so young during the rebellion, lord dayne absence for whatever reason and then dying, let the younger members with no connections in the wider dorne political context. it is said young children go to the water gardens and it's fun yeah but it's def a starting point for politics for many lords. it's close to the martells and it's an opportunity to make friends with future rulers, /everyone/ is going. the daynes didn't have this. allyria was probably very young when the rebellion happened (i think no older than 5) and for obvious reasons she was not sent to the water gardens; as for ned, i think lord dayne could not secure an invitation, this or he died too early to even try. if allyria had gone, she would've been for sure one of arianne's companions, she has both the breeding and the standing, but NOT and it's crucial, the reputation. see what arianne has to say in affc about gerold's standing:

"He is highborn enough to make a worthy consort, she thought. Father would question my good sense, but our children would be as beautiful as dragonlords."

it's must be passé to associate with the daynes at this point. think of the conningtons losing all standing when joncon lost the battle and was exiled.

in any case, allyria, more than edric, grew in obscurity. as of the books she's betrothed to a marcher lord nobody knows if he's alive or dead, has a missing nephew and it's in charge of one of the most ancient first men houses of westeros. sad! at least ned is having more fun. which leads me to darkstar. i see his thirst to prove himself, his notoriety as a cruel knight as another way to separate himself from what the main branch has fallen into. he is in his twenties so he was probably affected by the same dark cloud as the others.

"If I led a quarter of a million men to death, would they call me Gerold the Great? I shall remain Darkstar, I think. At least it is mine own."

he wants to have what arthur had, but not be the sword of the morning, he wants something that it's his own, as he says. he may want the sword and the fame like arthur, but not to be associated with another's bad luck so to speak. it's very telling that he's called one of "the most dangerous man in dorne" and what is the sword of the morning if not this? he's a dark mirror of the daynes pre rebellion, just like allyria would've been a renown beauty just like ashara is she wasn't cloistered. something something gerold and allyria as mirrors of what could've happened to ashara and arthur if they hadn't the protection of the monarchy.

i once read gerold is meant to have young ned's plot after germ scrapped the five year time skip and i think this is half true. i do think there is something to be done about dawn the sword and i think gerold is going to steal it and do something with it, something ned can't do because he's /still/ in the riverlands. i don't know what but i think it ties nicely with the theme of deconstructing the noble knight archetype. arthur is only great because he knew how to kill.

writing this i had a breakdown about the parallels between arthur and gerold

to finish this rambling i want to say my hopes for house dayne in what is left of asoiaf is 1) ned alive 2) gerold steals dawn 3) and like. something. honestly i will take anything at this point about allyria. DOES SHE EVEN KNOW? my poor girl and 4) if germ wants to clear the toj situation then it's fine.

thanks for asking and to anyone reaching this point lol. this is mostly general but if you want to talk about anything specific just message me! k thx muah!

#ask #Anonymous #allyria dayne #gerold dayne #edric dayne #ashara dayne #arthur dayne #house dayne #fallen and reborn #valyrianscrolls #let's give darkstar dawn i want to see something funny #all this to say 'which could mean nothing' #[keeps opening more gdox about gerold and allyria meeting] #just had to post this it's been HOURS

[yuri-is-online]

Your fantasy AU sounds fun… Do you have any other thoughts?

Mostly just world building if I'm being honest. The real spicy thoughts could count as spoilers so I'll try to put some fun things first before the building block stuff.

Yuu has a lot of physical damage on their body, and a pendant they're extremely protective of but don't remember why. I had a specific idea for that pendant was in the first outline but since I'm not 100% on this being a JadeYuu fic anymore I'm keeping it vague.

Yuu has some vague memories of being in a coma and several people talking to them, but they don't know who they were or what they talked about. It really hurts their head to think about, but they truly trust Idia and aren't afraid of him or Ortho. Somehow they know neither of them are responsible for what happened... or maybe they just don't blame them?

Idia is the one who brought Yuu to his and Ortho's house, but not everyone who should knows that they're there. Ortho doesn't know how Idia knew where to find them and has decided to not ask questions.

Ramshackle Party currently consists of Ace, Deuce, Yuu, and Ortho! Jack, Epel, and Sebek might join later but I'm undecided if they'll be permanent or temporary members. Ace is meant to be a rogue, Deuce used to be a barbarian who has been training under Trey to try and be a proper knight, Ortho is an alchemist, and Yuu is a mechanist a la FFXIV. Or gunslinger if you prefer that. Grim still follows them around and insists he's a great mage but his magic is... well you know.

Oh and Jack is a druid, Epel is an unwilling palidan/squire, and Sebek is also a palidan sworn to the oath of the crown.

Speaking of Trey, he and Riddle are influential members of the Queendom's royal guard, with Riddle being the Commander and Trey being his Second. Cater used to be a freelance information broker who has settled in the Rose Court as the chief of it's spy network, but he's publicly known as a semi famous bard. Neither Ace or Deuce know his real job ha.

Speaking of information brokers, Azul is still a merchant. He doesn't have a monopoly on physical goods since Sam is still here, but his information services can't be beat. He's actively involved in mapping the labrynth floors and has a lot of pull within the Adventure's guild. The twins still work with him but Floyd like to run off and explore the labrynth on his own for funsies sometimes.

Leona is actually a fairly influential politician in this AU, he's lacking the color scheme but he's in his Duke of the North era. He's known for being the first real adventurer in the labrynth, but how that came to happen, and all of his current personal life, are unknown to the general public. He sends Ruggie to bother Idia a lot.

No one knows how many floors the labrynth has, the S.T.Y.X. keeps detailed track of the known floors and assigns them a difficulty ranking based on things like terrain, monsters, weather etc. The Charon units are stationed at all known entrances to check if people trying to enter have the proper adventurer rank and to keep an eye out for dead mages.

Speaking of that, only mages can be resurrected if they die in the labrynth. Magicless people do occasionally venture in, but usually as merchants and never past floor 10.

The Adventure's Guild has a ranking system that determines how deep into the labrynth you're allowed go. Idia is an Obsidian ranked adventure, which prevents him from forming a party with Ortho who is only Bronze rank. Idia's party he gained that rank with has since disbanded, which makes things annoying for him as adventures are required to form a party with a minimum of four people before adventuring. Ortho has only really met one of Idia's previous party members, but he looks up to him a lot. Idia never talks about the other ones.

I have an idea for what I want to do with Malleus but it's a bit... weird? And I'm not 100% sold on it yet. I need to think more. But I know Briar Valley doesn't have much of a presence in the Labrynth or it's nearby town as they have been able to prevent it from spreading into it's territory. Silver and Sebek do occasionally participate in some of the exploration of the lower levels S.T.Y.X does though.

#<3 asks #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #fantasy au #to be clear i know what's wrong with yuu i just haven't decided on who is “responsible” #or if i want it to be vague and write a general route and then add scenes w specific characters

[magic-is-something-we-create]

LAKIA K'RON - The Millennium Saga [Firebreathers ; Echoseers ; Goddess-Touched]

[Lakia's] gaze falls back to the coals, her head ducking just enough for the shadows to hide her expression. In the low light, the scarring on her face looks almost like magma. “Not much to tell,” she finally says, bitterness caking her tongue. “[Actaea] broke my spine before I had a chance to feel any of it, and twisted the knife anyway. Not a great way to wake up, that.” Guilt punches any lingering curiosity from my mind swifter than I can take a breath. For asking, for thinking, for not giving her an easy way out. I can’t find a single thing to say other than a weak, “I’m sorry.” She scoffs, meets my eyes. “You know, first time I ever heard her say that was after I got back up.” Her unscarred lips twist into a smirk that only ignites the anger behind her eyes. “Too bad the part of me that would’ve forgiven her was the one that stayed dead.”

Basics:

She/her - Cis girl Demiromantic Lesbian - 18 [~20 on Earth] Rill Ehlf - Plant Mage Dyslexic; ADHD- an CPTSD-coded.

Where she begins:

We first meet Lakia when she declares that she's commandeered her father's ship while he was away, demoting him to second mate and promoting Isa to first. That playful moment is over quickly, however, when she meets the rest of the party and immediately resorts to insults and vulgarities that only barely veil her awkwardness in the face of peers.

For a while, Ember assumes that's all she is: a vaguely abrasive, awkward girl with some anger issues and dreams of glory.

And then they see her in battle, and it chills them to their core.

She sinks a ship with a kelp-made kraken. She leaps into the fray with vicious glee instead of the desperation of the others. She kills without flinching, and she's still a child.

Soon, they realize that glory is not her dream.

Vengeance is.

What she finds herself confronting:

Her hatred for Actaea has only managed to strengthen in the months since she stole away from Impalfahr in the dead of night to follow her brother and father in exile. And though she fears her grandmother as any sane person should, eventually, her slights against family and the world at large become too large for Lakia to care about that fear anymore.

And if no one else is willing to deal with the impossible problem, well, she's already done the impossible twice.

She'll find a way to do it again.

And the stories they tell of her will be incredible.

Important connections:

Family: K'Ron Actaea (grandmother), Elar (father) and Isa. Rillmother Veratrum (32nd generation).

Friends: Lu'Syr Typha (she wants to be a Whiptail Knight like him, someday); eventually Dusk Timber, Quartz, Slate, and Iggy Meywin.

Rival: K'Syr Dawn (for taking her place as Lu'Syr Typha's squire)

Enemies: K'Ron Actaea (she wants Actaea dead more than anyone alive), Tieling of Nimia (for never noticing what Actaea did to them), every single person who helped Actaea (she has a list)

MUSIC

Themes - El Dorado by Thomas Bergersen and Two Steps From Hell, Hymn of the High Seas by Antti Martikainen, Iron Fable by Pauli Hausmann

Vibes - There Was Time by Koethe, Warbringer by TheFatRat, Everen Maxwell, and Lindsey Stirling, parents by YUNGBLUD

#writeblr #character intro #wip intro #original writing #original character #the millennium saga #tms intros #snip #my.art

[possiblylando]

My hopes for the fallout TV show are not high.

Enough time has passed for me to talk about this in full since my thoughts have had time to solidify. As you probably know images (w/ descriptions) for the fallout tv show and the trailer itself released a few days ago. So I'll start with the good because this is primarily going to be a doompost rant afterwards. 1. The Sets, Costumes, Make-up, Props, Atmosphere, All of it is AMAZING. it looks GREAT. If the only metric to judge this on were those alone then this would be an easy 8/10-10/10. 2. I like the music used it fits fallout and its cool in the trailer. 3. theres a dogmeat in it thats cool theres always gotta be one of those its tradition 4. They thankfully seem to be doing away with the fallout 4 "trapped in the 50s" garbage they went with judging off the footage of the bombs dropping they showed.

And thats about it for my praises. Because this looks like it's going to be a lore dumpster fire. So lets start with the issues 1. This takes place in LA, California. You must be aware what other fallout properties all took place in that general sort of area.

and from those games theres a very important faction completely absent from these trailers. The NCR is completely fucking missing. I have had no luck finding any traces of them despite the fact people have posted pictures of their flag in the background of some shots I can not find it. The fact the NCR is just gone is a very bad sign. Maybe if I'm to be optimistic the reason is because they want to attract fallout 4 fans so they just showed the stuff from that game? 2. The Brotherhood of Steel. They just should not be on the west coast. They're an east coast faction with their remnants in the west being weak and scattered. They should not have an entire armed paramilitary force at the ready with somehow a second prydwin and I know it isn't the prydwin from fo4 its like some sister ship that happens to look exactly the same somehow. Which is a whole other can of worms because iirc they made the prydwin out of the remains of the enclave mobile base they sieged in the fo3 post game. 2b. The Brotherhood seems to be breaking their very own rules and lore. Now I want you to look at this image;

Off the bat nothing seems wrong with it, right? That guy in all black is a squire. Accompanying a knight. If they're just apart of a group then fine but these two ranks should not be put together if the squire is working under the knight. The brotherhood's entire chain of command is EXTREMELY important with the only times its ever broken are exceptions for the player themselves. Incase you're a normal person who just blew up their bunker in nv; The Brotherhood's chain of command is basically: "You can only command those one rank directly below you and only take orders from someone directly above you." So the elder can only command paladins and paladins only command knights ect. This is so important you can get exiled for breaking this rule. 3. Mutant Overseer in a control vault.

I doubt I need to explain why this makes no sense. 4. This is JUST megaton. Why is it in LA?

It could turn out to be really good but it seems like they only played fallout 4 and maybe skimmed a wiki cause there seem to be quite a few contradictions to the main franchise especially since this isn't an AU, this is CANON to the mainline universe.

#fallout

[a-world-of-whimsy-5]

The Favour

Pairing: Eönwë x Fem. Reader (Elf | Second Person POV)

Themes: Medieval! Ainur | Violence | Soft ending

Warnings: Violence | Mentions of blood and death | Use of weapons | kissing / mild smut (lime, I think) | Alcohol use 

Wordcount: 3.1k words

Summary: During the final day of the tourney, Eönwë approaches you, his servant, with a request that shocks everyone.

Rating: 🔥(brief paragraph) | Minors DNI | 18+

Rules and tag form here.  

The final day of the tourney dawned as it should: glorious and golden and windy and bright.

The tourney grounds were a sea of silken tents and shields and horses, knights in brilliantly plated armor, and squires running around to do their masters’ bidding. Pennants and flags snapped and fluttered with the wind. The air rang with the sounds of shouts and curses and laughter, hammers striking steel and iron, and it soon grew rich with the scents of bread and mead and meat roasting over braziers.

The royal box was already full. Everyone had been garbed in the most splendid robes and jewels. The king was present, as was the prince. Both were dressed in doublets of black and green studded with a double row of golden flames. Eru wore a crown of gold and emeralds and onyx, and his son wore none. He could not wear one until he was anointed under the light of the stars. Prince Manwë did not seem to mind. He spoke to the others, made jests, and put his name down for a wager.

What a wager it was. The king himself pledged the finest horse in his herd and an opportunity to hunt in the royal forests; a courtier pledged a fat purse of gold coin, and a lady threw in her emerald ring. Many and more threw their names into the pot, and the wager grew and grew. The sheer value was staggering. It was to be expected. The Lord Commander himself was jousting.

The Lord Commander. The Lord Commander, Eönwë Úrion. He commanded the king’s armies and was the fiercest soldier to have ever lived and breathed. A warrior without peer, so the singers said. No one could stand before him.

No one knew much of him besides his skills and prowess in battle either. Eönwë kept to himself. A disciplined man, he would start his day by breaking his fast with a simple meal before heading off to the armory to arm and armor himself. After morning rounds around Ilmarin, he would spend most of his day training himself and others and meeting with the king. He would see himself off to the baths before settling in his private library by evenfall if there were no pressing matters. Even his supper was a quiet affair. You would know; you served him yourself.

You left your mother and brother after the town crier came to the market square and shouted that the palace was looking for new maids. The coin proved too much to resist, and your family needed it. Your brother had been injured in a hunting accident, and your father left one day, never to return. Your family was left destitute. The work would be hard but the king was known to many as a fair and generous master to those who served him well. Leaving your family and the life you knew was a struggle, but it had to be done. A turn of the moon after your arrival, the Lord Commander had seen you and had asked you to serve him instead. A strange request was what it was, but you did not mind. Seeing just him was an easier task. Not having to be at the beck and call of every courtier at the palace was a pleasant prospect. The Lord Commander asked for little and barely spoke in the beginning. Then he slowly loosened his tongue.

He would ask after you, and your family. He would even laugh if you said something amusing. The moment you walked through the door and he caught sight of you, his eyes would light up. They would also follow you everywhere. 

You did not notice at first, but you felt it. A strange but pleasant prickling sensation crawled up your spine whenever your back was turned. When you turned, Eönwë would be looking somewhere else. It felt like he was not looking at all. But his cheeks… they always bore the tell-tale sign of a blush. Sometimes, his fingers would brush against yours before he locked eyes with you. He would look at you, his very gaze softening, and open his mouth to say something. Then he seemed to think better of it before looking the other way.  

It frightened you. And it flattered you. Eönwë was a kind man, one who treated you with nothing but the utmost courtesy. You soon looked forward to seeing him and talking with him, even helping him with his tasks. His touch, no matter how light or tender, would soon set your heart racing. His smile was enough to make your skin tingle. Slowly, he would find his way into your dreams. They were all sweet and beautiful dreams, filled with promises and magic. Come morning, those dreams would give way to the cold light of day and harshness of reality.

Eönwë would never go beyond brief touches and tender smiles. He was the Lord Commander, and a senior courtier besides. Courtship and marriage were matters of state for those such as him. The king had to approve of his choice, and you knew the king would never approve. You were a servant and lowborn. Eru would never bless such a union; he would expect his general to wed a lady of the highest birth. Any dream you may have had of Eönwë courting you and even marrying you would have to remain just that. A dream. Nothing more.

And now you were here, in the royal box, serving everyone. Of food there was aplenty. Guests of the royal family and the court helped themselves to figs and cheese and the finest berries of the season, and later, delicate pastries, pies, herbed sausages, and roasted corn. There were flagons of beer and flagons of ale and pitchers of cool water for those who had a thirst. You stood to one side after you had served and watched while scores of heroes and warriors rode before the king. Eönwë stood out in plated armor inlaid with golden swirls, and little sapphires and emeralds. He was a vision, tall and proud and fierce, every maiden’s dream made flesh. And his eyes only sought yours.

Eönwë had dreamed of you. He dreamed of you often, and every night. He would see himself chasing you through the empty halls and corridors of Ilmarin, always missing you by mere moments. Your laughter would ring out like a song. "Find me," you would say, and taunt him, and run away from him in a swirl of silk and ribbons. "I am here," you would say again, and then you would call out from somewhere else and say, "No. I am here. Here I am, my lord."

The game you played with him, one of cat and mouse, was both maddening and exhilarating. By the time he caught you, he was out of breath. You would whisper sweet endearments to him while he carried you to his chambers. Your laughter slowly turned to soft moans while he kissed you and lost himself in your flesh. He would grow drunk on your scent and sigh when his cheek brushed against the wisps of your hair. Your nails would rake down his back when you cried out his name. His name. Just his. The very thought of it was enough to send shivers down his spine.

Eönwë was certain he was dreaming now. He glanced up at you, hiding in the shadows, the wind sweeping through stray locks of your hair. Every high-born lady had her gaze fixed on him, but he did not see them. All he saw was you. 

Mercy, she is lovely, he thought. And he knew he had kept his true feelings towards you hidden for too long. Today, he said to himself. Everything will depend on today.

He shook his head when the Master of Revels came forth and a blare of trumpets sounded. The first tilts were announced, and riders went to take their places.

The rest of the day passed with warhorses snorting and charging down the lists, silks of red and green and silver and blue and every other color imaginable swirling around their saddles. Their charge would end in the splintering of wood and riders struck and unhorsed, and worse. More than one knight had to be carried off in a stretcher. Some would cough up blood. Those unfortunate few would never open their eyes at all.

Lord Tulkas was one of the riders who distinguished themselves. He rode brilliantly. His armor had been chased in silver and gold, and a golden bear reared on the crest of his helm. It glinted whenever it caught the sunlight. He first unhorsed Sir Tilion of House Archer, striking him with such force that he flew off his saddle and landed on the flat of his back with an awful clangor. The gasps from the crowd were loud, and the cheers that followed were louder still when Tilion rose to his feet and removed his helm to show that he was unharmed. He grinned wickedly and winked at a lady before walking off with his squire.

"Good thing it was not his Lord," Eru mumbled to his son. You were close enough to hear. "Oromë has a most wretched temper, I hear."

You kept your attention straight ahead, looking away only when called to serve. Eru called you and asked for something cold to drink. You made your way around lords and ladies and servants alike, only to slowly sneak into the ice cellar and find something you knew the king would like.

"Ah. Iced lemon water with honey?" Eru whispered, his silvery eyes lighting up with barely disguised glee when you returned. 

"The last of it, your grace," you whisper in reply before pouring a cup for him.

Eru accepted the cup with an eager hand. "My gratitude." He drank deeply and sighed in contentment. "Tell me, y/n, how long have you been working in the palace?"

You looked at him, shocked. The king knew you by name. "For… for almost a year now, your grace," you replied quickly after remembering your courtesies. 

Eru smiled. "And your family?" 

"Just my mother and brother, your grace," you told him. "My father left us one day. No one has heard a word from him since then."

"Is your brother employed?" The king inquired. "Does he have a trade?" 

"He helps my mother with the animals and her weaving, your grace. My brother is crippled, you see," you confided. "A hunting accident. He went after a boar and it gored his leg before it finally died."

It was strange that the king asked you such questions about your family. The others were straining their necks to listen, thinking the exchange would make choice gossip. It made you uncomfortable. Eru saw it. He turned and gave the rest such a look they withered into their seats. 

"Ignore that lot," he advised, not unkindly, and held up his cup. "And thank you for this."

You smiled and dipped into a deep curtsy before melting into the shadows. 

The jousts went on. Lord Tulkas went on to unhorse both Salmar of House Alqualondë and Arien of House Starfield, before losing a hard-fought match against one of his own, the lady Meássë. 

“Lady Meássë of House Shield!” The Master of Revels called. “Sir Makar, also of House Shield!”

Someone started another wager. This time it was to decide if Meássë or her twin, Makar, would win. Everyone talked in excited voices. The twins had never ridden against each other before. 

They took their places, their inky black chargers pawing at the earth. The twins were clad in armor enameled in the color of blood. Wisps of auburn hair could be seen beneath their helms. That was where the similarities ended. Makar was burly; his twin slender and lithe. Her helm bore a crouching lioness, his none. When the trumpets sounded they rode, the crowds crying out in unison. Their horses met in the center in a crash of wood against steel. It was a draw. They charged against each other a second time, then a third, evenly matched, before Meássë finally struck good fortune and her brother fell to the dirt. Makar, furious, removed his helm and hurled it into the crowd. Someone was nearly struck in the head. They shouted at him. Makar shouted back. His curses carried around the gallery. The jeers were loud. His twin laughed, and it enraged him. He would have done more had his lord not walked into the field and pointed to the king.

Makar stood to attention, his entire body tense. He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles slowly turned white. He refused to leave, when custom demanded he do so. Finally, Lord Tulkas had to grab Makar by the arm and drag him away after giving an apologetic look at the king. Meássë followed, snickering to herself.

"Looks like Lord Oromë is not the only one with a temper," Prince Manwë observed. "What are you going to do, father?"

"Leave him be for now," Eru replied. "He has already made a fool of himself. That should serve for the present."

The next match was just as anticipated as the match between the twins. 

“Sir Ossë, freerider in the service of House Alqualondë!” Came the Master of Revels cry. “Against Lord Commander Eönwë Úrion of House Ilúvatar!”

All the ladies spoke in hushed, excited tones. As an unwed lord, Eönwë could ask a favor from any unwed lady he wished. You observed discretely how they fiddled with brooches and rings and wreaths. Eönwë removed his helm and rode slowly around the gallery before stopping beneath the royal box. His dark hair had been pulled into a neat braid for the jousts. The other ladies sat up straight and smiled brightly, thinking he would address them, and them alone. The Lord Commander let his eyes skim over the crowd before they found you, keeping to the shadows as always.

“My lady y/n," he addressed you directly. "I was hoping to ask for your favor."

The entire gallery went silent. You stood where you were, struck dumb by the request. The other ladies turned to look, not all of them kind. Eönwë kept looking at you, fear and hope warring in his eyes. 

His throat had tightened when he rode over to the royal box and found you still standing there, a glass pitcher in hand. What he was about to do was unheard of. Eönwë would not just be asking for your favor; he was hoping to court and wed you, a servant no less. The revelation would unleash quite the scandal at court, and he would have to take you away to wait out the storm. Eönwë considered the storm worth it, but everything hinged on your answer. 

The crowd waited and watched. Those in the royal box waited and watched. You could not hide. Not now. Not when everyone was looking at you, expecting you to do something. And you had to do something. Answer him, at the very least. 

"My lord," you said nervously and stepped out into the sunlight. "I... I am but a servant... your request... it... it may not even be proper."

"I do not care that you are a servant," Eönwë replied, more confident this time. "I would be honored to wear your favor. And court you, once this is all over."

There was an uproar. The other nobles were scandalized. Your heart pounded even as your ears filled with the shouts of hundreds of people. You glanced at the other ladies, those who were hoping the Lord Commander would seek them instead. They were furious, their eyes ablaze with anger. It made your blood run cold.

If he left me, you thought, frightened. I would be at their mercy.

"No one will harm you." Eönwë had seen the looks and was less than pleased. He expected this to happen, but not so brazenly. "Even if you refuse," he said, his heart gripped with fear. Eönwë feared you would refuse him. "No one will harm you. I give you my word."

You looked at him and saw only him. For once, you did not see the battle-hardened warrior of legend. All you saw was a man full of hope and fear and dread. What was it that he dreaded? Your refusal?

"My lord," you said, forcing yourself forward, each step a struggle, and turning a blind eye to the stares. "What you ask of me... the king..."

"The king already knows," Eru declared to everyone's shock. "And the king approves. And once you decide on a day, the king will gladly issue a proclamation."

You turned to face the king, as stunned as the rest. 

The questions, you reflected. The king knowing your name. Him asking after your family. Did the Lord Commander approach him already?

“Lord Eönwë approached me with his intentions," Eru said, his eyes glinting with good humor. "Go on. This king is not getting any younger."

 A smile worked its way across your face. Some of the others laughed. You turned back to Eönwë. His shy looks, his attempts to speak with you, they all made sense now. He wanted to court you. He even went as far as to ask the king for his blessing. All that remained was for you to give your answer. You licked your lips nervously, remembering your dreams, how sweet they were.

There will be a storm, you thought when you caught the ugly looks. And a price to be paid. Will he be worth it?

You looked at Eönwë again. He was looking at you expectantly. Perhaps the price would be worth it, with him by my side. Finally, you said, "I have nothing for a favor, my lord. Just a ribbon."

The way his deep blue eyes lit up, like they had been lit by the light of the sun itself. It took your breath away. "Then I will gladly accept it."

You placed the pitcher on a small table before removing a thin strip of embroidered silk bound around your braid. You walked right up to the balcony, hesitant to let go of it. "My mother made this for me."

"I will guard it with my life," Eönwë promised, even as he smiled at you. The fear that gripped his heart ebbed away into nothingness. His smile widened and grew when you finally let go of the ribbon and it floated down to him. He caught it and brought it to his lips. The act was simple, but the meaning was understood by everyone. He was choosing you and forsaking all others. The thought made your eyes grow wet with tears.

"I will see you when this is over, my lady," he said, before turning his horse and riding back to his place, your ribbon firmly in his palm.

tags @cilil​ @edensrose​ @wandererindreams​ @asianbutnotjapanese​ 

#Eönwë #eönwë x reader #Eönwë imagine #Medieval! Ainur #manwë #eru iluvatar #tulkas #tilion #x reader #reader insert #valinor imagine #tolkien imagine #tolkien #the silm #the silmarillion #The silm imagine #the valar #the ainur #the maiar #fanfiction #writeblr #💫whimsy's shenanigans #💫whimsy's plot bunnies #💫a world of whimsy writes

[blue-sophia]

Winx Club: Season 1 Rewrite (Snippet)

So as I've said before, I'm working on a rewrite of the Winx Club series and as I'm writing, I thought it'd be fun to share an extract of chapter 1:

“I can’t believe we’re letting him go back to that school.”

Standing beside her, on the threshold of Eraklyon’s royal palace, King Erendor sighed as his wife repeated the same accusation she had been firing at him for weeks. “He has many enemies, Samara, and will grow up to have even more. Sending him to Red Fountain is the best thing we can do to prepare him.”

Samara didn’t bother addressing her husband, her eyes fixed on the ship that was currently being prepared for takeoff in the direction of Magix’s capital city. Palace servants were loading suitcases and bags into the cargo compartment of the ship, while the pilot and guards were discussing the route most likely to let them go undetected. “His enemies are exactly the reason we should keep him here,” She said. “Sky is the future King of Eraklyon, he should be learning how to rule a kingdom, not how to swing a sword or shoot an arrow.” 

“You think our army will take commands from a king who hasn’t known a day of battle?” As the Magic Dimension’s Realm of the Warrior, Eraklyon was well known for its strong military force. Other planets and kingdoms would trade their own products and services for Eraklyan knights to fight their battles. So for Sky to command such a strong and proud army and its generals, it was vital he earned their respect as a swordsman first. “Those men aren’t the type to listen to spoiled brats.” 

“Then have master Lowine teach him.” 

“He has been,” Erendor said. “But having one swordmaster train you is not nearly the same as getting Red Fountain’s level of military education. Besides, royals and lords all over the magic dimension are sending their sons to Red Fountain, not to mention the high-born girls at Alfea. Sky should get to know them; form alliances and gather information for when he needs it.”

“And just how is he supposed to do that when everybody takes him for that Allard boy?” Samara rebutted, her attention now having shifted to the brunette standing beside her son. “Those other kids don’t even know who ‘Sky’ really is.”

“That’s a temporary safety measurement. Once Yoshinoiya’s threats settle down we will rectify that situation.” Erenor said, his eyes too having been redirected to the young squire. “Besides, it’s not a bad thing for Sky to be friends with someone from the Southern Isles.”

“I don’t trust that boy. He’s corrupting Sky’s brain with that southern liberalism. You know his father, he’s-”

“The south’s strongest military leader, one we should keep on our side.” Erendor interjected. “And if we do that by sending Brandon to Red Fountain with Sky, then he is letting us off easy,” he said. “Christian is many things, but he’s not a traitor.”

“Well let’s hope the same thing can be said about his children then. His oldest just recently got betrothed to Lord Khai’s daughter. Quite the match I’ve heard.” Samara said, clearly unimpressed by the marriage between the two southern families. “Speaking of engagements, I was just informed that Lady Disapro will be joining us for dinner tonight?” 

Erendor wasn’t unaware of the sneer laced with the queen’s polished vocabulary. “Sky is leaving a day sooner than planned, but that doesn’t mean we should deny Diaspro a meal with her future in-laws.” He said. “Her parents will not be joining us, however, but the girl is very well informed of House Grandare’s politics.” 

“Oh I have no doubts about the girl’s devotion to her father’s lordship. I simply wonder whether we have found the best suitor Sky could be taking to marriage.” Samara said, revisiting the topic of her son’s potential fiancée once more. “Doesn’t Princess Stella of Solaria go to Alfea? I thought Sky was quite fond of her?” 

“He is, but she’s Solaria’s crowned princess, their only one at that, she’d never leave Solaria for another kingdom.” Erendor shook his head. “Besides, Radius denies anybody’s request for his daughter's hand. His pending divorce from Luna has him all sentimental about the princess’s future marriage, which he will not be arranging under any circumstances.”

Samara scoffed. “I’ve always told him that he’s way too lenient with that girl.” she said, making a mental note to have her staff reach out to the King of Solaria. “I will be attending dinner tonight, but not before reevaluating our options. I do think that an international coupling is within our best interest.” 

“Whatever you wish, darling.” The sarcasm was nearly dripping off his words. “But we will want to think about the consequences of cutting off this agreement at this stage, Lord Grandare won’t take kindly to a disruption of his plans to get his daughter married to Sky.”

“His plans to get his daughter on the throne, you mean.” Samara rolled her eyes. Lord Grandare was a good ally of the royal family, but the queen wasn’t unaware of his motives to get his daughter married off to the prince as soon as possible. Diaspro was a nice girl, pretty too, so Sky shouldn’t have too much to complain about, but Samara wasn’t too keen on the idea of the Grandares taking over the palace at her expense. “I will see what we can do about him, should this marriage be the best option available.” 

Erendor stayed silent for a moment, watching his son get ready to board and giving him a silent nod when the prince looked up at him expectantly. In the corner of his eye, he could see his wife offering her son a static wave. “Seems like they’ll be taking off soon.” He said, readjusting his cape and making his way down the steps of the palace. 

“I’ll arrange travel plans to Solaria and Lynphea for the next week. I don’t think a suitor for princess Krystal has been named yet.” Turning on one heel, Samara signalled for her handmaiden to fetch her phone. “I will have Gaston prepare duck for tonight’s dinner, don’t you think? Diaspro’s from the North, so I think she could appreciate-” 

“Samara.” 

Inhaling sharply at the interruption, Samara slowly turned her head to look at her husband. “Yes?” 

Erendor sighed as he let his eyes slide back and forth between his wife and his son. “They’re about to leave for an entire school year.” He tried to hint. However, Samara merely raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking him for further elaboration. “Don’t you think we should say goodbye?

A moment of silence fell between the two of them as Samara followed his gaze. “I have more pressing matters to attend to than sentiment,” She then stated, her eyes momentarily locking with those of her son, before stoically averting them. “Like preparing to tell Diaspro she won’t be seeing her fiancé for a year.”

That's it! Please let me know what you think!

#winx club #winx #winx club rewrite #winx rewrite #fanfic #winx sky #winx stella #winx brandon #rewrite #brella

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #77: Rhaegar Wins, but make it Indigo Montoya

One of the things I think is not addressed enough in Rhaegar Wins AUs is the fact that, for a fair portion of the Seven Kingdoms, the narrative of Robert's Rebellion reads: the crown prince of Westeros kidnapped the daughter of a Great House, raped her, and gained a crown for it. Which is not a flattering picture of a ruler, no matter how much PR he spins about Lyanna wanting be kidnapped.

Or: What if Jon Snow, raised as his uncle's bastard, grew up wanting to take revenge for his aunt's rape and murder?

Aka: The Jon the Just Fic

Just imagine it:

Rhaegar wins the Battle of the Trident, slaying Robert Baratheon in single combat. He takes his army and the remnants of the rebel forces willing to bend the knee to King's Landing, where he forces his father to step down. The Mad King is imprisoned in Dragonstone and dies shortly thereafter under circumstances that aren't nearly as mysterious as later historians claim.

Newly crowned King Rhaegar sends a pardoned Ned Stark to retrieve Lyanna from the Tower of Joy... but after Lyanna dies in childbirth, Ned disguises her son as his own and tells the new king both died in childbed.

Jon's childhood follows canon closely, albeit perhaps with a more melancholy air. He grows up hearing the story of how the man that is now king kidnapped and raped Lyanna before leaving her to die, and rages. His aunt deserves justice for what happened to her and any other man would have been sent to the Wall for his crimes - and this coming on the heels of what Aerys II did to his uncle and grandfather.

And so Jon, from a young age, decides that if the world won't give his aunt justice, he'll get it for her.

This decision is only made stronger when, circa 293 AC, he overhears Ned and Benjen arguing in the catacombs over the former's choice to keep Jon's true parentage from him.

And so when the royal court comes north as part of a grand tour of Westeros circa 295 AC, Jon convinces Arthur Dayne to take him on as squire, quite against the wishes of his uncle Ned.

For the next 15 years Jon plots. He very quickly becomes the best knight of his generation through sheer dedication to the art. He learns to wield every weapon he can, preferring the bastard sword but more than capable with a pair of knives, and wins his first tourney before he's even knighted. And though he can sing and dance with he best of them, he has little care for them - he'd much rather be in in the practice yard.

In short: he appears to be a single-minded warrior whom many in the court consider quite dull, but who is more than worthy of being named Kingsguard circa 305 AC - and appears next in line to be its Lord Commander.

By 310 AC, Jon has not only gained the confidence of his fellow Kingsguard to guard the king alone, he’s learned everything there is to know about Lyanna's abduction. Armed with this knowledge, he finally - finally - takes his revenge.

He slays King Rhaegar in his sleep, not bothering to wake the man to let him know why he is being killed - he doesn't deserve the consideration. Jon then continues to stand watch outside the door until shift change, then goes back to the White Tower and kills Gerold Hightower, Oswell Whent, and Arthur Dayne for helping to kidnap and imprison his mother. His task done, Jon cleans his weapons, and goes to the Godswood to wait.

Aegon and the remaining Kingsguard find him in the Godswood when the sun is high in the sky. They expect a confrontation. They do not expect to see Jon sitting with his back against the tree, waiting for them.

It's an even bigger shock when Aegon demands to know why Jon - who he'd considered a friend all these years - had done such a thing. "He kidnapped my mother," Jon says. "He kidnapped her and raped her and left her to die in the desert far from home. Any other man would have been sent to the Wall. Instead he gained a crown and used it to tell the world she wanted it. Such a man does not deserve to be king."

A trial follows. It should be the most sensational trial the Seven Kingdoms has ever seen - not descending into the level of farce, but used as a vehicle for all the problems Westeros has faced since the Conquest. Though some chose sides based on who they think is right, most split along existing political lines that mirror Robert's Rebellion and the War of Five Kings.

Jon had fully expected to be put to death for regicide, but after all the evidence is given the judges are gridlocked. They're forced to declare trial by combat - which Jon, being the best swordsman of his generation, wins handedly. He's free - if no longer a member of the Kingsguard.

He is, in fact, now King Aegon VI's heir after Aegon's only son, Daeron - Rhaegar always having claimed Lyanna as his second wife. The crown cannot claim otherwise without calling into question how willing Lyanna's abduction was.

Things come to a head when a group of Aegon's supporters get into a drunken altercation with a group of Jon's supporters on the streets of King's Landing. Several are killed - including a handful of well-connected heirs on either side.

War breaks out.

Jon very quickly finds himself at the head of an army for a crown he doesn't want - he had, in fact, been saying his goodbyes to his uncle and cousins in Winterfell before planning to take the Black, when the lords of the North declare him the rightful King of Westeros. In the end Robb convinces him to fight - not for the throne, but for all the people Targaryen rule has hurt who were unable to seek justice.

Both sides are evenly matched. The battles which rage are destructive but ultimately fruitless, with neither side able to gain significant advantage over the other.

Jon and Aegon VI finally meet in battle at the Trident, in almost the exact place where Robert and Rhaegar met in single combat. They fight and though Jon ultimately carries the day, he dies of his wounds before the night is out.

Back in King's Landing, Aegon VI's ten-year-old son is very quickly crowned Daeron III. Perhaps in an ideal world his mother, the beloved Queen Daenerys, and his regency council would have been able to restore order - but both are soon deposed by Viserys III, who, seeing weakness, seizes power for himself.

Viserys, proving himself to be every bit as cruel, vain, and greedy here as in canon, sets out to punish those who rebelled against the crown - to some success, having a staunch ally in Twyin Lannister, whose daughter Cersei he married after his first wife, Princess Rhaenys, died in childbirth some years earlier.

But eventually this cruelty proves too much, and soon Viserys is being called a second Maegor - and this time there is no rival claimant to the throne. Viserys has no children, no living nieces or nephews or siblings, and most everyone else with a drop of Targaryen blood has been killed in the Rebellions or the Reprisals. To find an alternative heir one has to look to the descendants of Maron Martell or Elaena Targaryen, so far removed as not to count.

And so the Great Houses of Westeros form a Quintuple Alliance - Houses Lannister and Greyjoy not being included for obvious reasons, and House Baratheon having been killed off and replaced by a Targaryen loyalist - that eventually manages to depose Viserys. Then they order the Iron Throne destroyed and dissolve the Seven Kingdoms, ending the Targaryen Dynasty once an for all.

Bonuses include: 1) Ned never realizing that Jon was aware of his true parentage until he's summoned to court to watch Jon stand trial for killing King Rhaegar and three brother Kingsguard. He should be torn between pleasure that Lyanna finally has her justice and anger that Jon has disgraced his vows this way - and eventually dies in Viserys' Reprisals without having decided how to feel about his nephew; 2) The ultimate bromance between Jon and Aegon as they grow from squires to knights together. It should be a true and honest friendship only slightly marred by Jon's knowledge of what his plans will do to his half-brother, and should make Jon's apparent betrayal all the worse for Aegon; and 3) The simmering pot of Westerosi politics scarcely needing an excuse to boil over. House Targaryen built an empire on the backs of dragons - and never learned how to keep it after losing them. The breakup of the Seven Kingdoms should be seen as both inevitable (to the reader) and unthinkable (to the characters).

And that's it. That's all I have. As always, feel free to adopt this plot bunny, just link back if you do anything with it.

Other Jon Snow Headcanons: Aelor the Accursed | Aegon the Adopted | Aegon the Undying | Aegon the Unyielding | Aemon the Adventurous | Baelor the Brave | Bastard of Winterfell | Black Prince | Daemon the Destroyer | Daena the Dreamer | Daeron the Desired | Duncan the Damned | Dyanna the Defiant | Elia the Magnificent | Jon the Fair | Jon the Just | Jon Whitefyre | King of the Ashes | Lady Arryn | Lady Baratheon | Lady Lannister | Lady Stark | Lord of the Dance | Lord Protector��| Maekar the Maester | People’s Queen | Prince Consort | Prince of Summerhall| Queen Mother | Queen of Nightingales | Red Queen | Rhaegar the Righteous| River Queen | Shiera Snowbird | Visneya the Victorious | Weirwood Queen | Wolf Queen

More Terrible Fic Ideas

#plot bunny #fic ideas #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #got #asoiaf #jon snow is a targaryen #jon snow #ned stark #house stark #house targaryen #aegon son of elia #aegon vi targaryen #rhaegar targaryen #rhaegar x lyanna #robert's rebellion

[laurelsofhighever]

Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins Characters/pairings: Alistair x Cousland Chapter: 12/? Rating: M Warnings: Canon-typical violence Fic Summary: The story of the Fifth Blight, in a world where Alistair was raised to royalty instead of joining the Grey Wardens.

Read on AO3!

Haring, 9:30 Dragon

The paper crinkled under the twist of anxious fingers, the words of the letter contorting as the linen fibres split just enough to crack the strokes of oak-gall ink. Alistair paced. The messenger had presented the royal missive with a silent bow, its urgency betrayed by the fact that it was done in the relative privacy of a corridor and not at the spectacle of breakfast, where the custom was to deliver any letters accumulated from the day before so that all the nobility of Starkhaven might better pry into one another’s business. Conscious of Princess Meghan’s particular love of gossip, Alistair had come to the deserted upper courtyard without even stopping at his rooms to retrieve his cloak, but agitation stirred his blood too high to find the mild Marcher weather cold.

A Blight. A full muster of the Bannorn underway. A personal request from Cailan to come home.

Water poured into a carved basin from the mouth of a bronze lion set into the white marble wall. Emerald vines scrambled up the pillars of the arcade to proffer clusters of scented, dawn-yellow flowers, their colour blanched against the deep blues of the glazed tile floor. When he turned, he caught the brown flash of a sparrow darting into the low hedge under the lemon tree.

“He says the Warden-Commander himself requested an audience,” he worried. “He says the darkspawn are massing in the Wilds.”

Across from him, his companion stared down at the floor, his chin resting grave against his knuckles and his stern brow knotted over tired blue eyes. Nathaniel Howe had always been serious, quiet growing up in the shadow of his father, and seven years spent as the squire of a Marcher lord had done little to temper that early melancholy. Still, wintering as he was while the Grand Tourney gained enough energy for the new season, he was the closest thing to a friend to be found in Starkhaven’s labyrinthine palace, his judgement sound and his manners a comforting reminder of home.

“I should be going with you,” he said. “It’s my duty as much as yours to defend Ferelden.”

“Ser Rudolphe won’t spare you,” Alistair replied. Although the knight could be generous in his way, he also enjoyed the comforts that could only be provided by a bevy of squires. “If he even believes it to be a true Blight. Teyrn Loghain is kicking up a fuss, apparently.”

Nate’s mouth twisted in a grim parody of a smile. “No doubt this is all some Orlesian plot.”

“Something like that.”

Silence fell heavily over them once more. In truth, nothing much could be said; the war stories they had grown up hearing by the fireside told of great battles against enemies that valour and sound strategy could defeat, not a horde of darkspawn that would come wave on wave and kill for the senseless pleasure of blood, like ants, driven by instinct to swallow everything in their path.

“Will you go by Highever?” Nate asked after a moment.

An image cut into Alistair’s mind of Castle Cousland burning, the orchards at its feet withered black with disease. “I… no. Denerim’s closer from Wycombe.”

“You can’t avoid her forever.”

Instead of answering, Alistair chose to watch the sparrow hunting for insects through the leaves, fluffing its dull feathers against the cold as a cloud passed over the sun and pressed its darkness into the already shaded courtyard. He did not need to answer. The truth had come spilling out in the bottle of Satinalia brandy they had shared the previous year, and now Nate knew every detail of how he had betrayed Rosslyn’s trust, then skulked away like a thieving dog. She had probably grown beyond him anyway, won accolades and admirers far better than –

“I know you’re still in love with her,” Nate said when nothing else filled the silence.

“What –?” he spluttered. “Still – I’m not –”

“It’s been obvious since you were fifteen.”

With a sigh, he gave in and slumped on the bench next to his friend, wistful for a few moments before when the conversation had been about darkspawn. “Not to her.”

He still recalled the day Fergus and Oriana had publicly announced their betrothal. Hiding in the gallery to avoid the adults who had all come to wish her brother well, they had stolen a carafe of deep Antivan red and giggled their way through the speeches, their own small rebellion against those who fawned over Rosslyn like a plaything and pretended the king’s unacknowledged bastard did not exist at all. She had been dressed in layers of samite that rippled in shades like winter fog, like her eyes, with enamelled brooches in the shape of laurel leaves to hold the tumbling night of her hair at bay like storm lanterns on the prow of a ship. That had been the first night he wondered what it would be like to loose the pins and let the silk of it fall through his fingers.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” he continued, shaking off the memory. “When I go back, I’ll be fighting, and she’ll hate it but there’s no way her father will let her join him on the field. When it’s over…” He sighed. “Maybe. When it’s over.”

His mind turned to the others he had left behind, to Thea and her family in the alienage, the denizens of Redcliffe, and in between every farm and hold that would be swept away if the king could not turn the horde. He doubted a single child in Thedas had grown up without hearing stories of the Blights, or the unimaginable scale of destruction the darkspawn left in their wake. They were dark tales for dark winter nights – to think they might soon become a reality for everyone he gad ever known…

Trying for a smile, he turned to Nate and folded the letter away into a pocket. “You never know, maybe your father will call you back, too, and we can all take to the field together.”

“Perhaps I’ll write to him first, and see if I can glean anything before you finish packing.”

“Hey! I’m not that disorganised.”

“Of course not, Your Highness,” his friend replied in a placid voice. “And I’m off to join the Grey Wardens.”

#dragon age #dragon age fanfic #dragon age fanfiction #dragon age: origins #dragon age origins #da:o #alistair x cousland #alistair x warden #warden x alistair #cousland #warden cousland #rosslyn cousland #nathaniel howe

[goodqueenaly]

Thought: the story of Ser Shadrich and Sansa is (in part) a sort of ironic, cynical twist on the Knight of the Laughing Tree story.

I’ve always wondered why GRRM gave Shadrich a distinctly albino sigil: “a large white mouse with fierce red eyes, on bendy brown and blue”. Almost exclusively, GRRM uses albino characters and features to remind readers of the old gods, whether it be weirwoods, Bloodraven, the Ghost of High Heart, or Ghost the wolf. Yet there appears to be no similar connection between this faith (or even the North more generally) and Ser Shadrich (don’t anyone bring that “Shadrich is really Howland Reed” nonsense into my house): his appearance has no distinctly northern hallmarks (as he is “a wiry, fox-faced man with a sharp nose and a shock of orange hair”), he gives no further information on where the “Shady Glen” is from whence he hails, and he demonstrates no particular piety toward any religion, much less the old gods.

So my conclusion is that his sigil is meant to recall both the device and the character of the Knight of the Laughing Tree. As Meera told Bran, the epithet for the mystery knight at Harrenhal derived from “his” shield: “a heart tree of the old gods, a white weirwood with a laughing red face”. Moreover, as Shadrich explains to Brienne, his mouse is “mad” (and so, it may be implied, different from the common, that is non-albino, mouse) because “[y]our common mouse will run from blood and battle” but “[t]he mad mouse seeks them out”. That eagerness for martial danger may in turn echo Lyanna’s willingness to don armor and participate in the joust at Harrenhal - if not quite as serious as a pitched battle, still certainly related to martial practice, and not without the real risk of blood and injury - all while bearing her own albino device.

Of course, the reason I say this is an ironic or cynical take is because Shadrich undermines the idealism and romanticism of these base stories. Lyanna’s motivation to fight as the Knight of the Laughing Tree came directly from her earlier defense of Howland as “my father’s man” while he was being assaulted by the squires. In turn, she insisted, in the guise of the Knight, on taking no ransoms, instead commanding that her defeated foes “teach [their] squires honor” in order to have their horses and armor returned. Shadrich, however, is blunt about his aims:

Brienne kept her face a mask, to hide her dismay. “Who is this Sansa Stark, and why do you seek her?”


“For love, why else?”


She furrowed her brow. “Love?”


“Aye, love of gold. Unlike your good Ser Creighton, I did fight upon the Blackwater, but on the losing side. My ransom ruined me. You know who Varys is, I trust? The eunuch has offered a plump bag of gold for this girl you’ve never heard of.”

Shadrich not only lost a (wartime) ransom himself, but explicitly wants Sansa for her own ransom payment. Where the Knight might have focused on the protection of another, the importance of honor, and the divine justice of the old gods - not just choosing their natural temple as “his” device but even hiding “his” face, the more to seem almost an avatar or champion of those gods - Shadrich’s motives are purely selfish and mercenary. 

Too, the story of Shadrich and Sansa reverses and twists the dynamics from that of the Knight of the Laughing Tree and Rhaegar and Lyanna stories. Instead of a Stark maiden hiding her identity to participate as a knight in a great tourney, we have a Stark maiden hiding her identity and a knight participating in (what is at least locally) a great tourney (and who, incidentally, has not at all hidden his own identity). Likewise, here it is not a prince who, at the insistence of his royal father, seeks the identity of a mystery knight (who was in fact a Stark maiden) but a knight (and a lowborn hedge knight to boot) who seeks the identity of a highborn, indeed royal Stark maiden (insofar as she is the sister of the late King in the North, with some potential claim to his kingdom). 

(We can only speculate, but it would be nevertheless interesting to do so, how the contrast might be furthered should Sansa choose to give her favor to Ser Shadrich. Sansa has certainly decided to promise her favor in the joust to “another” - someone, likely, sufficiently lowborn to tease and annoy Harry Hardyng, who had demanded the right of her favor - and Shadrich, a hedge knight in her purported father’s service, might well fit the bill in her mind. Should she do so, the move might recall Rhaegar at the Tourney of Harrenhal, shocking the attendees by giving the crown of the queen of love and beauty to Lyanna Stark, perhaps in testament to her stunt as the Knight of the Laughing Tree, their meeting thereafter, or both.)

In turn, while the Knight of the Laughing Tree story ended with the mysterious identity of a Stark maiden preserved (by Prince Rhaegar, of course, who swore that he had failed to find the mystery knight), I think this story will end with another mysterious identity of a Stark maiden revealed to all. Shadrich has all but explicitly told Sansa that he is going to kidnap her - saying in “Alayne I” TWOW that “‘[a] good melee is all a hedge knight can hope for, unless he stumbles on a bag of dragons. And that's not likely, is it?’” - and with Sansa (as “Alayne Stone”) now betrothed to the heir presumptive of the Vale, Shadrich may think there is no time like the present to make off with her before she’s too well guarded by Harry, the Waynwoods, and/or any other Vale faction. While I definitely do not believe Ser Shadrich will succeed - Sansa’s story is north, not south, along with the rest of her family - I do think that it will be his attempt to abscond with her which will reveal her as not Alayne Stone, daughter of Petyr Baelish, but Sansa Stark, eldest surviving child of Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn. Just as well, while Lyanna may have believed that running away with Rhaegar would save her from marriage to Robert Baratheon (who himself shares some parallels with Harry), Shadrich’s attempt to kidnap Sansa may accelerate her marriage to Harry (with Littlefinger now jumpstarting the pitch he described to Sansa, of the chivalry of the Vale winning her back her birthright).

#asoiaf meta #ser shadrich the mad mouse #sansa stark #twow #knight of the laughing tree #speculation

[druckkugelschreiber]

What the people want they get! @mxkelsifer requested my Why Rowan is a horse girl list.

Again the horse girl list:

horses are love, horses are life

You will put your horse above people and everything else in your life (this includes the love for your country and romantic partners)

You will find a way to talk about horses

Horses are friends not food (you are willing and ready to starve instead of eating your favorite horse)

You have no survival instincts when it comes to horses

You played horse as a child

You have more horse friends than people friends (you spent more time with them than people)

The barn is practically your home

basically we're weird and passionate to a degree that everyone finds concerning

And now Rowan:

She's noble and horses were a matter of independence and freedom. She might have learned to fight but her early betrothal to the prince also still heralds some form of women don't fight all that much class hierarchy no matter what the codex says. We all played the game. When atop a horse Rowan can be someone else, she can fight, maybe even her inferior strength most men like to wield over her vanishes because everyone who dares to insinuate that will get trampled by her horse. Horses are freedom.

Horses can be ridden by everyone, she could do it in a dress or in armour. It's all about what she can do, not what she's supposed to do. It's about expressing herself in a way that doesn't have to be unladylike when she wants to and is still useful to the war. It's something that's just hers.

first time we meet her is on a horse, as a fucking cavalry knight (saving Maric's ass) introducing someone on a horse always means something and introducing someone as a cavalry knight means that person knows how to RIDE. Riding is hard. Riding in heavy armour and fighting? That's badass. So yeah, Rowan gets introduced as a badass horse woman. She'll find a way to talk about them if under the guise of strategy and war.

She leads a cavalry charge, saving Loghain's and Maric's ass, and generally being badass. Like leading the charge is a big deal, cavalry charges in general are a big deal. Not every horse is a war horse, so she probably as one or two specific mounts and while knights do have squires she strikes me as the type to take care of her mount well. Again, she needs them for the war, she won't eat them.

Oh that one definitely. Rowan might be noble but because of the rebellion and everything she grew up wilder than most kids. I bet she mounted a horse really young and did some really dumb and reckless shit when no one was looking.

This one just yes, probably with Maric as well

See, Rowan is known for her prickly temper and having to prove herself to her father and her men (which we know she did expertly), but being a woman in fighting business is hard and some days she'll probably just go hang out with the horses because they get her

I mean, she lived on the road a lot, though I can actually see her not really being a barn person

definitely, both as the woman that loves the freedom she gets on horseback (away from the war, away from responsibilities, be someone else just for a moment) and as a cavalry commander

I might be projecting a bit on Rowan with the fighting and horse girl stuff but that woman has about as much character as flat carboard. She deserves some spice!

Also Maric canonically is bad at riding, so he's the perfect useless and clueless barn boyfriend always running after Rowan

#my mom interrupted me while proof reading this and it instantly brought my bloodpressure back up to 180 #rowan guerrin #rowan is a horse girl and you can't change my mind #dragon age

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #4P: Artoria Pendragon (Saber Lily)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re finally building the last of the Artorias we’ll see for a while, Artoria Lily! (Note: Check Castoria’s release date before using this opening.) Lily hasn’t taken up her Champion’s oath yet, so she’s still just a Fighter. Don’t worry, we’ll still get sword lasers somehow. I’ve probably already said it’s kind of weird to make a 20 level build for a character all about how they’re not powerful yet, but we’ll do it anyway! We’ll also make Lily a Marshal to rally her allies, and a Duelist to get the most out of her smaller sword.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Ancestry and Background

Artoria’s always been a Human, but she hasn’t traveled around enough to be Versatile yet, so we’re making her Skilled at Nature instead so she can ride those horses she loves so much. This means she’s trained in nature right now, and she’ll be an expert at level 5 at no cost. She also has a Cooperative Nature that gives her a +4 bonus on Aid checks. You also get a boost in Charisma and Wisdom.

At fifth level you become a Clever Improviser, so you can add half your level to untrained skill checks, or your full level at level 7 or higher. You can even use skill actions that require training, even if you’re untrained. I don’t think anyone can truly be trained to pull a sword from a stone.

I know it’s probably an athletics check, calm down.

At ninth level your Cooperative Soul lets you always succeed at aiding someone if you’re at least an expert in that skill.

At thirteenth level, your Stubborn Persistence lets you attempt a check when you’d become fatigued. If you succeed, you can shrug off that fatigue until your GM makes you roll again. God knows Artoria’s always had a hard head.

Finally, by level 17 you’ve come into your own and cultivated a Heroic Presence, letting you cast zealous conviction once a day on up to 10 creatures, granting them temporary HP, a bonus against mental effects, and you can command them unless your commands go against their nature.

You might not be the King of Knights yet, but you still start off as a Squire, giving you another set of boosts in Constitution and Charisma, as well as training in Athletics and Heraldry Lore. Finally, you have the Armor Assist feat, so you can don armor in half the time if you pass an athletics check. You can also help your allies into armor as well. Not exactly teleporting your armor on and off, but we’ll take what we can get.

Class Levels

1. Since Artoria’s not a Champion yet, we’ll make her a Fighter instead. All the physical training, much less pressure from above. At level one you have Strength as a key ability, giving you an extra boost in that stat. You’re also trained in will saves, advanced weapons, and all armors. She’s also an expert in perception, fortitude and reflex saves, and general weapons.

Finally, her intelligence-based skill list. In order: acrobatics, religion, diplomacy, survival, arcana, crafting, society, performance.

Now for actually being a level one fighter. You get another four ability boosts in Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma. You can also make an Attack of Opportunity as a reaction when they manipulate, move through your area, or make a ranged attack. You can also make a Power Attack that acts like two attacks and consequently does two dies of weapon damage.

Finally, you can also use the Shield Block reaction like a Champion, though again you’re not likely to use it if you’re playing to character.

2. Level two’s where stuff gets interesting. Most of your training comes from MHX, whose teaching style is… unique. She throws you at enemies til you learn something, is what I’m saying. So if you’re gonna learn anything, you’d better get good at Combat Assessment, letting you make a recall knowledge check as part of your attack, gaining a +2 bonus if you score a critical hit. You can use this once per day per target.

We’re also going to make you good at horses because by god the world is going to beat that out of you by the time you’re older. So let’s learn how to Train Animal, letting you teach an animal an action over the course of a week. If the animal already knows that action, you can skip the nature check when you command them. Otherwise, add the action to the list of commands and make checks as normal.

We’ll also pick up the Duelist Dedication so you can summon Caledfwich, which is another name for Excalibur, except it’s also a different sword here? Like always, Arthuriana is ridiculous. Anyways, it works like Artoria’s, so you can’t really summon a weapon, but you can attack with the same action you draw your sword with. Don’t worry, Caliburn is a lot smaller than Excalibur, so we can actually use these feats this time around.

3. At third level you gain Bravery, making you an expert in will saves, and successes against fear effects are critical instead. Plus if you do get frightened, you’re frightened for one less than you should be.

You’re also a Keen Follower to learn more from MHX, so when you use the follow the expert action while exploring you get a bigger bonus the more skilled your ally is.

Finally, we’ll bump up our diplomacy so you can talk your way out of getting murdered by the Anti-Saber assassin you’re learning from.

4. At fourth level you can spend two actions to Swipe up to two creatures, using one attack roll to fight both of them. Try spinning, that’s a good trick!

To make you more graceful fighter, we’ll also give you the Steady Balance feat so you get critical successes instead of regular ones while trying to keep your balance. You’re also not flat-footed while balancing, and you can make acrobatics checks instead of a reflex save to grab a ledge. Though your reflex save is actually better right now, so I’d stick with that.

Finally, you might not be a paladin yet but you sure act like one, which is why you can issue a Duelist’s Challenge, turning one foe into your dueling opponent until they’re defeated, they flee, or the encounter ends. This gives you a bonus to your damage against them, but decreases your damage against any other creatures. Be careful when you use this- you play fair, but you can’t be sure everyone else will.

5. At fifth level you get another ability boost in dexterity, intelligence, charisma, and wisdom. You’ve also gained Fighter Weapon Mastery, making you a master with swords, and you gain their critical specialization for all mastered weapons.

Also by this point Merlin’s probably caught up to you in Chaldea, so we’ll bump up your Arcana while we’re here.

6. Time for another round of feats! As a fighter you can Shatter Defenses as an action, making a strike against a frightened creature. If you deal damage, they become flat-footed until the fear wears off. If they’re already flat-footed, they can’t stop being frightened next turn. Admittedly only working on frightened creatures is a) finicky and b) out of character, but your NP can certainly shatter some defenses. We’ll get a more reliable version later.

As a duelist you can make a Dueling Parry as an action, giving you a +2 bonus to AC for a round as long as you’re using a one-handed melee weapon. A dress is not good armor, but this will make it slightly better.

Finally, you can spend a week hanging out with a horse to make it a Bonded Animal, making it permanently helpful to you and easier to command. Look she likes horses I just want her to be happy alright?

7. At seventh level you get even better at learning through combat as a Battlefield Surveyor, making you a master at perception, plus you get a +2 bonus to initiative checks, which apparently use perception in Pathfinder. I’m learning new things all the time here!

This lets you make an Expeditious Search, so you take half as long to search a given area, and if you become legendary in perception that’s reduced to a quarter as long. If you want to pull the sword in the stone, you’ve got to find it first.

You also become a master in Nature. Plus, you have Weapon Specialization now, so you deal 2 extra damage with weapons you’re an expert with, 3 if you’re a master, and 4 if you’re legendary. Sword go switch, bad guy corpses go flump.

8. Let’s take a break from the training for a bit with some fun feats. Your Resounding Bravery makes you even harder to frighten, and makes it an even worse idea to try scaring you in the first place. If you critically succeed on a will save against an enemy, you get a +1 bonus to all saves and some temporary HP for a minute, with these benefits doubling if you critically succeed against a fear effect. Which you have a much better chance at crit succeeding at since you always do that if you don’t fail. Combos!

You can also Glad-Hand people, immediately making an impression on them instead of waiting for a minute of conversation. You take a -5 penalty to the check, but if you fail you can try again after a minute of conversation so it’s like the first one never happened. Somehow you convinced the person whose life goal is “Kill All Sabers” to not kill all sabers, which is impressive especially considering you are, in fact, a saber.

Finally, you can make a Selfless Parry, so when you use your Dueling Parry all adjacent allies also get a +1 bonus to their AC. Most sabers have little to no armor, so it’s nice to help out, y’know? Impractically dressed anime characters have to stick together.

9. At ninth level your Combat Flexibility lets you pick an eighth level or lower fighter feat to swap out each day. For my money I’d go with Disorienting Opening so you can make a creature flat-footed with each attack of opportunity, but you can swap it out pretty freely so go with your gut! That’s what Artoria would do.

We’ll also add the Marshal Dedication this level as you start getting more comfortable taking charge of situations, giving you a marshal’s aura so you and all your knights in a 10’ radius get a +1 bonus to saves against fear effects. This also seems to make you a master in Diplomacy? That’s how Wanderer’s Guide is ruling it, anyway.

Rounding off the level with some training- you’re a master at fortitude saves, and trained in medicine. You’ll have to patch yourself up on your travels, after all.

10. Tenth level starts off with yet another Ability Boost in Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence.

You can also spend two actions to Knockdown an enemy, making a strike, and if you hit them, you can automatically make an Athletics check to try and trip them. I’m not sure if I want Lily’s NP to knock people prone or make them flat-footed, but either way it’s not pleasant.

You can also use Battle Medicine in the middle of combat, letting you treat wounds as an action once per day per creature. That being said, you can’t actually remove wounds this way, just give more HP.

Finally, you can enter an Inspiring Marshal Stance, making a diplomacy check to bolster your aura. On a success, all allies in the aura get a +1 bonus to attack rolls and mental saves, and a critical success increases your aura’s range for extra pain-I mean protection. Eh, little bit of both, tbh.

11. At level 11, you’re really good at a lot of stuff thanks to Armor Expertise and Fighter Expertise, giving you the implied amount of training in all armors and your class DC.

You’ve also traveled enough to gain some Dubious Knowledge- MHX is as dubious as it comes, so not everything she teaches you will work in this dimension. When you fail a recall knowledge check, you’ll learn a little true info and a little false knowledge. It’ll make your Combat Assessment arguably more effective.

Speaking of being more effective, we’re also bumping up your Acrobatics skill so you can truly become the Lily of the battlefield.

12. Speaking of, this level you can use a Dueling Dance, letting you get into a stance where you and your friends always have the benefit of a Dueling Parry.

For even more friendship, you become an Express Rider so you can increase your mount’s speed while traveling. England’s kind of a big place, so- sorry, I can’t finish that sentence with a straight face. Still, faster horses are good.

If you’d rather speed up your knights, you can issue a Coordinated Charge- you can stride up to your speed and attack something. If it hits, nearby allies can use their reaction to stride too, as long as they end up closer to the creature you hit than they started.

13. At thirteenth level Merlin’s meddling makes you a master in Arcana, and you also become a Weapon Legend. This makes you a Master with most weapons, as well as a legend with swords and a master with advanced swords.

14. Once a day, you become filled with Determination, ending an effect of your choice. If you pick a spell you have to make a will save to counteract it. This doesn’t prevent future effects from ongoing issues though, so you can’t just shrug off Excalibur’s effect on your body with this.

You can also Evangelize other creatures once per day per creature, making a Diplomacy check against their will DC. This doesn’t work on people who already agree with you, or who change their point of view because of this argument, but if it works, they’ll be stupefied for a round, reducing all their checks and DCs based in Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. They’ll also have a slightly harder time casting spells. You gotta gather up the round table somehow.

Speaking of, you can now issue a Cadence Call, making your allies quickened for a turn, where they can use that extra action to stride. If they use the action, they’ll miss an action the turn after. It’s like haste, but short-term.

15. At fifteenth level you get another round of ability boosts in strength, dexterity, intelligence, and wisdom. You also gain Evasion, becoming a master in reflex saves.

You can also Pick up the Pace to speed up all your allies, not just your horse. Now you can make them hustle a little more while exploring.

Your Greater Weapon Specialization helps you deal even more damage with your trained weapons, and your Improved Flexibility lets you add a second feat to your combat flexibility, up to level 14.

Finally, you’re a legend in Diplomacy. You’ve got to get good at it someday, right?

16. At sixteenth level you become a Stance Savant, letting you drop into any kind of stance as part of rolling initiative.

Stances only work in combat though, so if you want something cool to do outside of fighting you should check out Legendary Negotiation, letting you make an impression and then request your enemies stop their current activities and negotiate with you. You’re not strong enough to win with brute force (yet), so a mutual understanding might be your best shot at defusing a situation. You take a -5 penalty to the diplomacy check on account of them being your opponent and all, plus diplomacy can still fall apart and leave you fighting them again.

If that happens, you can use your Tactical Cadence to get all the benefits of the Cadence Call, with the additional bonus that they can use that extra action to Strike as well, and they don’t lose an action the turn after.

17. Your Armor Mastery, appropriately enough, makes you a master in all armors. We’ll also bump up your Athletics skill so your NP is more likely to break through an enemy’s defenses.

18. At eighteenth level you can score a Savage Critical when you hit someone with legendary proficiency. This lets you score critical hits on a 19 as well as a 20, so now you have two targets to aim for! Ha ha, ball jokes!

You can also make a Shameless Request without reducing your target’s attitude towards you, and it’s a little bit easier to do. Again, “please don’t kill me even though I’m a saber” might be a hard sell for anyone who isn’t you.

We’ll head back to duelist this level to make a Dueling Riposte- while parrying, you can react to a creature critically failing to hit you to hit them back or disarm them. Thanks to Selfless Parry, you can even do this when someone messes up hitting an ally next to you too.

19. At level nineteen you start getting a little more regal, giving you A Home in Every Port. We’ll also make you a master in athletics to trip and rip enemies more easily.

On top of that, you are a Versatile Legend, making you legendary in most weapon types, and a master in advanced weapons and your Class DC. Again we’re only here for the sword, but flexibility is never a bad trait to have in a character.

20. For our final level, we get one last ability boost in dexterity, constitution, intelligence, and charisma. We can also finally get a proper sword beam. Sort of. With Sever Space, you can strike an opponent with a slashing weapon from up to 80’ away. This then either makes you teleport to your enemy or tries to make them teleport to you if they fail a fortitude save. It’s laser adjacent, and it lets you use all your neat tricks to weaken their defenses too!

Your mana burst strength also starts taking hold, letting you Quick Climb and move faster on successes.

Finally, your Improved Dueling Riposte gives you an extra reaction each round to make a dueling riposte, even if you’re not parrying. You don’t have the power of a king yet, so that sword’s all you’ve got. Make sure you use it well.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

This build is really good at weakening enemies and then hitting them where it hurts without sacrificing tempo. Knock them over, leave them flat footed, and clobber them with your entire party. Great stuff. She’s especially good at hitting weak points if you don’t have the animation update yet.

The one thing it’s better at weakening enemies is strengthening allies, with all sorts of auras and stances to improve your party’s AC, saves, and damage. There’s a reason so many people decided to follow you.

Even outside of combat you’re great at working in a team, whether that means you’re helping people or receiving help from them, you’re a little better at it than most. Plus, you speed up the whole party so your DM doesn’t have to make as many random encounters between dungeons. Yay…?

Cons:

Despite being so good at empowering your party, you don’t deal that much damage. Sure Greater Weapon Specialization is nice, but Artoria proper also got that plus a giant sword laser.

You might also run into issues with the size of your aura if you abuse Sever Space too often. It’s hard for the rest of the knights to keep up if you keep teleporting all over the battlefield.

I deliberately spread out Lily’s stat boosts evenly to give more of a “weakened servant” kind of vibe, so it’s really easy to make this build stronger by just focusing on the stats you actually need.

#artoria pendragon #fgo #fate grand order #pathfinder 2nd edition #pf2e #fighter #marshal #duelist

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

🖊 Reinhardt! I feel like I know way less about him than every other OC you have.

Ah yes.

Derpgoon.

(so nicknamed for the absolutely clueless expressions I used to screenshot him in by accident)

Reinhardt is the last son of a once lesser noble family brought low by political scheming and the Inquisition. A Brume-brat, he was noticed by a House Fortemps dragoon one day--even when he was small, Reinhardt showed a natural ability for jumping, climbing, and general agility and grace. With permission, the dragoon more or less corralled Reinhardt out of the Brume and into the House itself. Educated in the manor and training in the Congregation as a dragoon-squire, Reinhardt shot to the top of his class and stayed there. However he would have difficulties in the form of the Inquisition dogging his heels and migraine headaches--his Echo's manifestation.

Vishap's defeat brought about Reinhardt's ascension to full dragoon, but an incident with his Echo left him open to an Inquisitorial trial. But by this time Riven had arrived in Ishgard and was able to figure out the young dragoon's affliction. With proof that Reinhardt's gift wasn't heretical, the Inquisition was forced to release him.

Estinien would assign Reinhardt to be Riven's bodyguard--a move that Count Fortemps gave his blessing to. Riven would enjoy the unofficial protection of the Knight-Dragoon order, and Reinhardt had protection in the form of the Archbishop's current favorite guest. The two hit it off quite well, to the point where following the final battle with Nidhogg, arrangements were made to permit Reinhardt to stay with the Scions while still allowing him to be a member of the Order.

For much of Stormblood Reinhardt was in Ishgard, assisting with the rebuilding efforts. Riven's second encounter with Zenos however had Reinhardt grabbing his spear and high-tailing it to Doma. He would have a guest along for the ride--during his time in Coerthas he'd been forced to trigger his dragon curse, resulting in the full manifestation of his inner dragon, named Paien.

*Like the rest of Riven's Companions, Reinhardt was able to be pulled body and soul to the First. However as the Light slowly began to poison her, Reinhardt and the others became infected as well. Of them all, Reinhardt could keep it at bay...by calling upon the dragonfire in his blood and allowing Paien to take control. By the time Riven was on the cusp of becoming the Norvrandt Lightwarden, Reinhardt was dangerously close to turning into a dragon. Returning to the Source had him going to Ishgard and quarrentining until he was back to normal.

Reinhardt is well-liked in the Order, and holds several records for speed and vilekin kills. Like his fellow dragoons he's always up for a good fight, and rumor in the Congregation has him possibly claiming Brucemont's title of First Lance when the elezen either dies or retires. Reinhardt however is rather happy just being a grunt, only finally getting a long-overdue promotion to Commander for his work during the blasphemy attacks in Corethas.

(he then proceeded to fuck right off)

Currently he's back on duty in Coerthas, though a rather...crazy trip to R-a-H with the Order's about to happen.

*I headcanon Riven's WoL Companions were also the ones who traveled with her as Azem. Bonds of friendship and found-family love that not even the Sundering could shatter. As a result they're tied to her aetherically, and she to them via the Blessing of Light. This...unfortunately meant that while on the First, Riven was inadvertently poisoning them with the Light she was taking in.

In the Ancient World, Reinhardt was known as Hector, a supremely skilled (but rather prideful) fighter.

#ffxiv #ffxiv dragoon #ffxiv drg #oc ask meme #reinhardt sauveterre #wol/companion reinhardt

[unusual-raccoon]

🔥Dunkegg NSFW ficlet🔥 below the cut (warnings: underage omegaverse, omegas have pussies, size difference, size kink, scent kink, dry humping, come play, coming untouched, intercrural sex)

Egg loves squiring for Ser Duncan — most of the time.

“Have you put on your salve?”

His master asks sternly, nose wrinkling. Egg frowns. He pulls the small ceramic pot from a satchel. The paste was made from herbs Aemon had told him about on their trip to Oldtown. It was a horrid substance that could entirely mask a natural scent.

Ser Duncan forbade Egg from traveling without it. He believed Egg invited too much untoward attention with his scent unmasked, though Egg never ceased to remind his master that he was perfectly safe with the towering Alpha knight.

“Yes.” Egg answers exasperatedly. Though he flushes as Duncan doubles over to sniff discerningly near the young Omega’s neck.

He shivers at the nearness, feeling his skin prickle tight in a primal delight. Subtly he presses the silken curve of his neck to his master’s nose. He feels a large hand tighten like a manacle around his upper arm — it keeps him from moving any further or closer.

“Not enough,” Duncan mutters, his breath warm on Egg’s neck. His pupils are larger than they had been before. Big black pools spread through the green of his eyes.

“Mm, should I apply more, Ser?” Egg asks, wringing his tiny pale hands together.

Duncan sighs, sitting on the edge of the strawbed in the room they had rented. His tunic is unlaced and the fabric parts across the breadth of his virile body. His trousers hug tight to the beginnings of arousal thickening between his powerful thighs.

Egg feels his mouth and cunny begin to water.

“Bring it here,” his master beckons, and the boy knows what will happen before it happens.

He shuffles close on bare little feet and holds the pot of salve in his palms.

He offers it like a tribute to a benevolent god, raised between his cupped hands. His heart races a bit faster as his master dips a large finger into the small ceramic pot, the substance makes a squelch that makes Egg’s tummy flutter.

“You put some on your neck?” Duncan asks.

And Egg nods.

“Yes, ser.”

“Only your neck?”

He nods once more, albeit more reluctantly. He knows now he is in need of correction. Instruction.

Duncan’s throat bobs thickly as he swallows.

“Scents come from more than just the neck, Egg.”

The young boy nods. It all sounds terribly familiar and he’s certain Aemon had taught him all of this before, but he could be so forgetful.

“Put your foot here.” His master commands, and so he does. He balances a bare little foot on the edge of the bed. His chemise flutters, soft as the rain.

Ser Duncan bares a thick finger wet with the greenish scent-blocking paste. Slowly, he hikes up the hem of the chemise, past a bony ankle, to a knobby knee. Egg’s breathing turns shallow.

The first smear is innocuous. Rubbed into the soft skin behind his knee until it is fully absorbed.

Ser Duncan repeats the process with Egg’s other knee. His large, calloused hands make the young boy’s soft skin prickle with gooseflesh at the attention.

He continues to apply the substance to other unassuming parts of Egg’s body. Upon his wrists where tiny scent glands lay.

Dunk gathers another generous glob of the salve upon his fingers.

“Lift your arms,” he says.

Egg flushes, he feels a bit dizzy, but nods. He wriggles an arm free of the gauzy material of his chemise, baring a little sunken underarm, smooth and hairless.

At the barest touch, his body buzzes with sensation, a laugh rips out of him and he crosses his bony legs.

“Hold still,” Ser Duncan huffs.

“It tickles,” Egg replies with a pout.

He squirms as Ser Duncan applies the salve, eyes watering with the effort not to laugh. When they are done, he exhales a big breath, giggling in the aftermath.

He’s sticky all over and hates it.

Ser Duncan pauses, like he isn’t sure what to do next. Or rather he does know what to do, but doesn’t want to.

Egg wonders if he should ask to be touched.

Please, Ser, touch between my legs, it’s very hot there and it’s all your fault, he thinks with all of his might, hoping beyond reason it might penetrate that thick skull.

Ser Duncan, red in the cheeks and ears, clears his throat.

“Raise your shift.”

Egg all but tears is over his head, tacky thighs made bare. He’s dripping nectar that smells of apple blossoms and sweet smoke.

Ser Duncan’s nostrils flare deeply and Egg hips inch forward, anticipating the way the large Alpha lists forward subconsciously, ensorcelled.

He licks his lips, yearning for a taste and Egg wants Duncan to taste…

A large hand cups the entirety of his pasty little bottom. He squirms at the disparity in their size. His cunny pulses.

Touch me, he thinks, on the verge of tears. So very desperate.

A finger dips into the pot of salve and comes away with a coating of the masking substance. Slowly and with considerable effort, Ser Duncan begins to apply the paste along the supple skin of Egg’s inner thigh.

They both tremble at the exertion needed to not come together.

But Egg needs more.

When Ser Duncan’s hand approaches a second time, the green of the towering knight’s eyes are barely visible.

Egg’s hips grind forward in search of relief. A thick digit presses between the valley of his thighs, all wet with nectar, to brush against the pulsing pink heartbeat of his desire.

A moan whirls up from the young Omega’s throat. His Alpha growls, exasperated and outwitted.

“Please,” Egg croons, hips canting slick and fast.

A shrill sound drips from his lips as his master’s finger, heavy, callused digit bumps properly against the cleft of his quim, peachy and plump.

His Alpha is kind and chivalrous and perfect and rubs dutifully at Egg’s swollen cunny with the heel of his palm.

The friction leaves him buzzing.

He whines between his teeth, pulling at the fabric of Duncan’s tunic. He cries out sound so thoroughly relieved as he is plucked up with one hand cupped beneath his tiny, round bottom and sat upon the bulge of his master’s cock. His hips rut mindlessly in an instant.

Ser Duncan lays back on a bed much too small for him, limbs sprawling in every direction. Egg braces tiny hands on the breadth of the Alpha’s powerful chest, bare little cunny scraped raw on Duncan’s roughspun trousers.

His tongue droops against his chin, dripping and pink as he grinds against the massive bulge between his master’s thighs.

The fabric of Dunk’s trousers doesn’t chafe as horribly when thoroughly wetted with his slick. Egg yelps out little happy sounds the closer to his peak he becomes.

Broad fingers spread the plump lips of his cunny, where his shy bud is nestled, letting it grate deliciously against the harsh fabric of Duncan’s trousers. Tiny white-gold sunbursts flash behind his eyes.

His back arches and his toes curl and he comes with a cry, body tingling and tacky with sweat and salve and slick. Beneath him, his Alpha’s cock pulses, stiff as steel.

An encouraging pinch to his soft little bottom keeps his hips rocking, despite the way pearls of overstimulated tears bead along his long, white lashes.

“Good lad,” Ser Duncan purrs and Egg moans, his head feels on the verge of splitting like an overripe melon, bursting with pheromones.

“Legs together,” Duncan tells him, where the salve upon his skin is applied thickest. The towering knight wrestles down the soaked roughspun fabric of his trousers far enough for his manhood to spring free against the stern muscle of his abdomen.

Egg braces his legs together, skinny, yet soft little thighs making a lily-white prison around the width of his master’s cock.

The slip of his slick and cling of the salve make each thrust smooth and wonderful. Sweat beads on Ser Duncan’s brow, laced with his scent, Egg wants to lick it away —— to taste him in the truest sense.

Teakwood, blackened bread, and steel.

The wet clap of their bodies fills the room. The strawbed squeaks at his master’s ardor, as does Egg. He lays now, cheek pressed into the bed, bottom lifted well into the air, his legs together.

His thighs are fucked raw, relentless until Ser Duncan’s seed spills across the ruddy flesh like a soothing palm. The towering knight braces a hand against the wall, steadying himself against such a potent release.

And Egg, not one to waste, rubs the seed and salve alike into the white of his pasty skin.

He smiles up at his master as he does it, turning over on his back to show how it absorbs into his skin.

One substance masking his scent, the other dominating it.

Duncan’s throat bobs thickly as he watches. The green of his eyes returns slowly.

Egg angles his neck in invitation. A pearl of seed had landed on his chin and he eagerly rubbed it into the glands upon his neck, like the highborn Beta’s that perfumed themselves with faux scents.

“Do I smell better, Ser?” He asks innocently.

And sure enough, Ser Duncan bends over, partially dressed, with trousers around his knees and his tunic yet unlaced to get a good whiff of the little Omega.

Egg giggles at the intimacy of Duncan’s nose at his neck. Ser Duncan must smell himself, his seed, on Egg’s neck for his manhood twitches against Egg’s flat little belly. He wants to loop his arms around the Alpha’s neck and keep them tangled forever.

Eventually though Duncan pulls away, his face burns scarlet once more.

“Yes” he grunts in response and Egg beams, delighted.

In truth he didn’t smell very much like himself, the salve had done its job… mostly.

Though Egg had found there was a far more natural alternative to masking an Omega’s innate sweetness, far better than any herbs or paste —— An Alpha’s musk.

#my writing #my ficlet #dunkegg #dunk x egg #dunk & egg #ser duncan the tall #aegon v targaryen #asoiaf

[awellboiledicicle]

I think i’m going to have Morgott fall for Lana in the lil crumb au just so i can have the Drama of them pining for each other and not wanting to overstep to act on it.

Because he’ll be convinced he might be worthy of being her companion, but not her lover because who would love A Cursed Being Like That? She deserves better. Meanwhile she’s totally smitten with him after several years of getting to know him and is sure that he could never think of her as anything but a servant while he’s an esteemed commander, beloved by the king. Meanwhile Crumb is in the background like “so is he going to be my dad or not, because i need to determine the level of sarcasm i can get away with when we’re not working.”

The Knights have a betting pool going after Lana’s lived in the barracks complex for like four years. One has deffo bet that he never says anything but she does. Another bet they confess at the same time. Another bet he says something to have something to beat himself up over/get it out of his head and she reciprocates. General bet is that nothing happens before Crumb is a squire, which is a cop out bet because that’s a whole like 10 more years of time. Who knows what could happen in a decade. Wildcard bet is nothing at all comes of it, to be collected if Crumb becomes a knight without anything happening.

#lil crumb au

[moominpapasfanficblog]

The Squires

On finding daring new ways to have fun

William Harris Snork had spent his time acclimating himself with Moominvalley the previous year all the while deliberately ignoring the Moomin Knights and their castle. The Snork and Sniff had naturally told him about the appearance of the castle in the heart of the village and how Moominpapa had forged an alliance with the ghosts and how The Inspector had formalized that alliance and won the approval of his fellow Inspectors and the Chief Constable of the Hemulen Police for it. However, that many ghosts all at once was too much for him to deal with. His time running his elite resort in France for his parents had meant inevitable encounters with the small number of ghosts who haunted the massive, ancient estate that he had redeveloped, but he had never dealt with a haunting this big. William still prided himself on appearing unruffled and composed at all times, so he never let his fearful reactions to the Knights and their castle slip.

During April, William continued following his nephew Snerf on expeditions throughout Moominvalley every day. He noticed that Snerf would carefully avoid the ghostly castle and the Moomin Knights who patrolled the valley with the Constables. He decided to ask him about it directly on their afternoon walk on the third Saturday of the month.

“Snerf, are you scared of the Moomin Knights? I just want you to know that it’s perfectly all right if you are…because I am, too. If you ever feel like talking about it or even doing something about it, I’m here for you.”, said William as the castle came into view.

“Thanks uncle!”, said Snerf gratefully, “I do feel left out when my friends invite me to play in the castle and I get too scared to join them. Sniff is very understanding since he’s as scared of ghosts as I am, but that doesn’t help me overcome my fear. Do you have any ideas?”

“Let’s see now.”, said William, “Well, they are knights. I imagine that it’s been centuries since they’ve had proper squires; servants who help them with their equipment in exchange for training in the hope of becoming knights. I’m sure that your friends would think that it would be a grand game and the Knights would surely welcome restarting a tradition that they haven’t had a chance to practice in so long. We’ll look for a Moomin Knight on patrol and ask him together.”

“That’s a great idea! Just one ghost won’t be so scary if you’re with me! Let’s go to center of the village. There’s bound to be a patrol there. I…I’m ready if you are!”, said Snerf, gripping William’s paw tightly in his claw.

As they tried to move past the cottages of the villagers and the General Store as casually as possible, waving to everyone who was out and about, they nearly ran headlong into The Inspector and King Moomin himself. William apologized profusely and collected himself forcefully.

“A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Your Majesty.”, said William, bowing deeply. Snerf copied him self-consciously, “I am William Harris Snork, and this is my young nephew, Snerf. I have a proposal for Your Majesty, if it pleases you. My nephew and I wish to enter your service as squires to your knights. I am certain that we can recruit many of the young beasts of Moominvalley to join us. We are most willing to adhere to whatever conditions you may impose upon us.”

“Ah! Well met! Thou must be the long lost brother of that most eminent inventor, The Snork and his lovely sister Snork Maiden! Thy proposal pleases us. We command thee to appear before us in our throne room in a weeks’ time with as many recruits as thou canst find. We shall restore the grand tradition of the squires in earnest! Be sure to tell them that the requirements are most strenuous.”, said King Moomin, winking knowingly at William.

“A…are you sure that it’s alright if become a squire too?”, asked Snerf nervously, sniffling audibly as he struggled not to cry.

“But of course it is, my noble hearted young monster! All beasts of good will and courage are more than welcome!”, said King Moomin, patting Snerf gently and kindly on the head between his horns.

As William and Snerf walked back to their home they enthusiastically began planning to invite all of Snerf’s young friends to join the squires. Snerf’s tears of fear vanished and he turned to his uncle with a very hopeful expression on his face.

“Will you be joining us, uncle William? I don’t think that I will be scared at all if you become a squire, too.”, said Snerf.”

“Well, as you know, I’m no good at athletics at all. I would never be able to pass the basic tests to become a squire, but I promise to be there to help look after you all and cheer you on.”, said William.

Snerf leapt into William’s arms and they gave each other a loving hug to seal the deal.

To Be Continued

#moomin fanfiction #moomin #moominvalley #moomin oc #ghosts