#and Catherine as tsundere as ever
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Hello! Apologies for sending an ask out of the blue but considering your familiarity with localisation differences in persona 4/golden, I was wondering if anything comes to your mind regarding this aspect and how the game depicts queerness and queer themes? Thank you!
Heya! Don't worry, I was thinking people would probably ask stuff like this. After all, I already replied to somebody's tags asking this same thing previously, but I know not many people saw that, so let me use the chance to go into more detail:
Unfortunately, Persona 4's treatment of queer themes is not a result of the translation. The only things that were down to translation choices were small things, such as which pronouns are used in which situation (because Japanese does not at all have the same concept of third person pronouns as English, and the way first person classifiers that mean "I" work is very complex and a lot more vibes-based than actually tied to gender.)
But for the most part, everything is pretty much the same. Kanji's reaction to Chie mumbling about something being "off" about how he interacted with Naoto that first time, the tent scene, Yosuke's extreme insecurity in his own sexuality in addition to everyone else's... I think maybe the only thing that's a biiit better in Japanese is that Teddie is kiiinda genderfluid in Japanese, with the artbook outright stating that he doesn't necessarily consider himself "male" when he's in his bear form, unless it's necessary for a joke.
A lot of this can be traced to the really odd relationship the game's director, Katsura Hashino, has to queer themes. In interviews about Catherine Fullbody (a game which infamously has a rather weirdly handled gay romance route which, however, is notably also the only romance route in the game that cannot possibly result in a bad ending), he talks about how he's always admired queer people for being "strong" and wanted to write queer stories, but couldn't really do it until Fullbody because Atlus higher ups were afraid of backlash from the fans.
Traces of this are actually seen in Persona 4 Vanilla's data, where remnants of a surprisingly well done romance route for YOSUKE, of all people, are still present. That route made it far enough into development to have voiced lines in both, English and Japanese. However, it was dummied out in the final game and its script content was removed. Yosuke STILL has the "girlfriend flag" in the code that all the female romance options also have, but in the finished game it only checks whether you can hug him during his social link or not. Everything else was dummied out. You can still find the voice files on the cutting room floor if you want:
And yes, the "I like you" line is unambiguously romantic in Japanese. His wording is very hard to misinterpret.
However, in the finished game and the rest of the franchise Yosuke's bisexuality was reduced to an in-joke of the developers. It's most poignant in Persona Q (the first one), where if you get the "marriage" scene with Yosuke in the second dungeon, his reactions differ WILDLY depending on which Protagonist you are playing as, far more than other male characters. With Makoto Yuki he acts nonchallant and deadpan about it. With Yu Narukami he acts like a blushy Tsundere and panics constantly. So, yeah.
Okay, so, if the director had interest in writing queer stories since before Persona 4, why is Persona 4 the way it is then?
Well, because - and there's no way around it - he sucks at it.
Katsura Hashino has to be one of the clumsiest "gay activists" I've ever seen in my whole darn life. He finds queer people "cool", but seemingly never had any queer writers or sensitivity readers on his teams and it's caused enormous blunders in how these themes have been handled. For example, when after Persona 3 it was pointed out to him that the writing of the female characters in interaction with the male characters was bad, he immediately hired more female writers and gave them free reign for how to handle the female characters from then on out. But apparently the same thing never happened with his mishandling of queer themes. He wants Catherine's Erica and Rin to be empowering figures for trans women and gay men, but makes a lot of blunders in how he has other characters interact with them to the point it buries his good intentions. Erica's boyfriend having gay panic upon realizing she's trans is treated as "funny and cute", even by Erica herself. Rin technically being a monogender alien really undermines his story of becoming more secure in his sexuality. It goes on and on like that.
The intention with Naoto's story was to point out the extreme sexism in Japanese society and how it forces female nerds to find alternate modes of self-expression, but the clumsy choice of including surgery themes in Naoto's dungeon completely buried that for especially western queer audiences. Most people don't even remember Naoto's dungeon was outright modeled after a Kamen Rider villain hideout. They completely shot themselves in the foot with this one. Additionally, the way Naoto is handled AFTER the dungeon makes her (I'm using that pronoun because she calls herself a "woman" in Japanese in the game) seem more like someone who's on the verge of discovering they are X-gender (the japanese word for "nonbinary") than a repressed girl. Like, right down to how she has Rise help her experiment with clothes in the canonical drama CDs only to realize she really is uncomfortable with skirts and go for an androgynous but less restrictive look going forward. The way she dresses in the Golden epilogue and P4D is pretty X-gender core if you ask me. If they had leaned into that they could have genuinely have had something AMAZING, while also presenting the themes of sexism they wanted to explore, but the lack of queer sensitivity readers kind of ruined it.
Same for Kanji. The way they write him makes it seem like he's bisexual or pansexual, rather than straight, but they kinda shove that part of him aside after his dungeon is done, leaving his actual orientation up in the air and wasting a really good chance for representation. NOW, given what happened to Yosuke's social link, it's quite possible the original intent WAS to explore this more and it got cut, but as it stands, we'll never know. The huge problem of the internalized toxic stereotypes his Shadow presented never being reflected on and put into their right context in the rest of the game, when his social link could've given a great opportunity for that is also a huge shame.
All of this happened because of Atlus being unwilling to let their writers go all out with queer themes in fears of alienating a cishet audience AND because Hashino never sat his writing team down with any actual queer writers to sort this shit out and learn how to get across what the team was ACTUALLY trying to say. Now, given, Persona 4 was far from the only Japanese media property with that exact issue at the time, but it hurts especially much in its case because of the game's themes of exploring the truth to its logical conclusion, as well as psychology. These are issues that a remake REALLY would do well to address and correct. I feel like they actually will HAVE to do that, because sensitivity readers have become the NORM in handling these themes now in Japanese media, rather than the exception. You can thank trail blazing mainstream works like Zombie Land Saga for that.
All in all, Persona 4's handling of queer themes is an exercise in frustration that I hope is corrected soon.
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Midnight Plays Azure Gleam: Chapter 8
Time to deal with Cornelia and the treasonous western lords once and for all. And there's a paralogue battle for the first time too.
Baron Dominic has apparently been appointed as the leader of the rebels. Gustave says House Dominic would've had little choice but to go along given their location, and if they can convince his brother to change sides, along with a decisive battle victory, the rebellion would likely collapse entirely.
(Remembering Annette's AM paralogue, Baron Dominic only allied with Cornelia in appearance and for self-preservation. He was more than willing to pass along Crusher in secret after defeating him. So this feels like a similar situation.)
Cut to Dimitri and Dedue meeting with a Duscur soldier. They're going to help put down the rebellion! Dimitri's amazed at the size of the force (which we sadly don't get to actually see), and the Duscur soldier says everyone who came volunteered! <3
Dimitri thanks Dedue for making this possible, but Dedue, ever humble, defers and credits Dimitri's sincerity for winning Duscur's trust. <3
Camp (Western Blaiddyd Territory)
Sylvain's impressed with his father both stopping the Sreng incursion and coming to Fhirdiad to aid us.
Dimitri says he was up all night, and for once it's not because he was overworking himself. Felix was scolding him for awhile, then they got to talking like the old days. Then Dedue came in and started arguing with Felix, so I guess none of them got any sleep, lol.
Felix and Dedue are talking together nearby about the Duscur forces and are getting along well, though Felix is still being tsundere of course.
Ingrid is talking with a female Duscur soldier, who compliments her lance work. Ingrid offers to train/teach her. Character development! <3
Seteth is curious/worried about Cornelia.
Catherine says Shamir will be joining us at Arianrhod!
An NPC mercenary says that people are born unequal at birth (yup); what matters is what you do with your hand. He says that's what his old boss from Abyss told him. (Yuri, come join us already!)
Flayn says that she's glad Dimitri's safe and that she's noticed he seems more at ease now, crediting his friends. D'aawww.
Interlude
The Empire's launched an attack in former Arundel territory. Rodrigue wonders if there could've been spies in the army. The NPC says that the enemy marching on Arianrhod appears to be the Emperor's personal battalion. Oh boy, here we go...
Arval says Edelgard has guts to fight a war on two fronts simultaneously. (Is that really the right word? I'm more apt to say it's either arrogant or reckless.)
Regardless, suppressing the rebellion still takes priority. Dimitri prioritizes holding Arianrhod over the Kingdom's foothold in Arundel territory. Seteth suggests sending the Knights of Seiros to Arianrhod. New camp dialogue from Seteth after this scene reveals that Catherine and Miklan went too. This is where having a powerful ally like the church pays off!
Paralogue: Wildflowers for the Future
This mission takes place in Duscur, near the area where the Tragedy happened. (Oh boy...bracing myself for feels.) There's a minor insurrection going on; Dedue says Duscur is divided, with some seeking peace with Faerghus and others against it. The leader of this insurrection apparently aided the people who caused the Tragedy (and possibly killed Glenn personally? it's a little unclear), and he's to be apprehended and taken to Fhirdiad.
Shez is surprised that someone from Duscur participated in the Tragedy, saying they thought Duscur was innocent. Dedue says the vast majority are, but there were a few who did, though they weren't the masterminds.
Dedue asks Ingrid if she can stay her hand against the man they're after. Ingrid says she will, and let punishing the guilty serve as her revenge. Felix says there are a lot of people who would like a crack at this person, which is why "a certain someone" isn't here. (Definitely jives.)
The battle map is large but thankfully quite linear. We can only use Shez and the three characters involved in the story. My eyeballs bugged out at the 1800 kill count required for S-rank.
Honestly, the battle's pretty straight forward, just a matter of seizing strongholds and protecting some green Duscur allies. There's a lot of dudes to contend with, but it's not too tough. I equipped Felix with a Rapier and he just rips most of the enemies to shreds!
The character chatter is more interesting. Apparently this area is close to where Dedue's hometown used to be, so he knows it well. Relatedly, it's close to where Lambert and Glenn died. =(
Ingrid says it must be hard for Dedue to be here. Dedue says the concern is unnecessary but thanks her.
Felix expresses surprise that Dimitri sent Ingrid on this mission, to which Ingrid replies that she requested to come, to help put the past behind her. (Press X to hug!)
After saving the green soldiers, they retreat and our target appears. Felix says we need him alive, so we're apparently giving him a non-lethal beating, lol.
I got an A-rank; I had an S in everything except enemy kills, which was only a C! 1800 is way too many for this mission. Felix got MVP honors.
After the battle, Dedue asks to make a stop. We go to a nearby lake, which includes a huge field of flowers that was trampled by the Kingdom army (I'm guessing during the pogrom). Dedue says he used to come here often with his sister, and while he's happy to see it somewhat recovered, he notes that it used to be even more beautiful.
Ingrid wonders if Glenn ever saw this place, which Dedue says is likely. He says Ingrid should return after things have settled in Duscur so she can see the field as Glenn once saw it. She agrees.
(Who is cutting onions in here?)
Felix plays it cool, of course. But he does note that he will protect the same thing Glenn did. Shez can ask if he means Faerghus or Dimitri (I picked the latter). Felix says they're basically one and the same now, and that Shez better not tell "the boar." Eternally tsundere. xD
(Who is cutting onions in here?!)
On the heels of the already emotional Chapter 7, this is seriously Good Stuff.
Interlude 2
Baron Dominic absolutely eviscerates the other western lords (verbally). He's frankly still going too easy on them. These assholes didn't even attempt to speak with Lambert at all, they just jumped straight into having him murdered and framing Duscur for it. Even worse is that they aren't ashamed of it. These guys deserve what's coming to them and then some.
Cornelia enters and taunts the Baron, telling him he's part of this now, and he'd better behave. Somehow I don't think it'll be too difficult to sway the Baron to our side.
Battle
Dimitri relays that Gustave and Annette are critical to their battle plan. Felix expresses some skepticism, and points out it'd be easier to kill the Baron (he says this right in front of Gustave and Annette no less, though they sadly don't even react). Dimitri feels having the Baron as an ally will pay off later, and Rodrigue points out that the Baron has a son with a Crest, and he'd probably not like to see his father killed, lest he become the head of a new rebellion.
Dimitri says he's counting on everyone to pull off this battle successfully. Shez points out that he seems more at ease compared to before. "Perhaps I am," he says. D'awww.
Arval sounds pleased that Shez has made friends, but is quick to bring up Shez's "true purpose." Shez thinks he might be too obsessed with this "grudge match" with Byleth, and asks why their purpose can't just be fighting for Dimitri. (Ha, no one is immune to Dimitri's charisma, lol.) Arval just says defeating Byleth feels like what they're meant to do.
It's a decent sized map (seems smaller than Fhirdiad though). Gustave's joining us as a green unit, and keeping him alive is one of the mission parameters. The time limit is 23 minutes!
First task is escorting Gustave to meet with his brother. He's thankfully pretty sturdy, just slow like in 3H. And there's naturally an ambush waiting to halt our progress almost immediately. I assigned Annette to guard her dad while the rest of us clean up the streets.
God, effective weaponry is so good. No regrets on sinking resources into maxing out the Rapier.
Baron Dominic is behind a locked gate. Once Gustave reaches the gate, Cornelia summons more "Mysterious Soldiers" as reinforcements. There's quite a lot of them and their magic hurts, but fending them off isn't hard. Meanwhile, Gustave talks with the Baron, and it's only a moment later that the Baron turns into a green unit, lol. And of course, we have to keep him alive too.
Woah, Cornelia summons a Titanus! Haven't seen one of these in this game yet. The western lords show up as reinforcements too. They go down a bit faster than the Titanus, and they're still unrepentant to their dying breaths.
Dimitri: "No words can spare you now. You may plead your case to my father beyond the veil of death." (Savage!)
Now we have to escort the Baron nearly all the way back to the beginning to open a drawbridge. Cornelia activates a Viskam and a whole bunch more Argathan mages come out to play. She needs to find some new tricks.
After opening the drawbridge, Duscur reinforcements arrive to help!
Oh, Count Rowe's here too, it seems. Strange that he wasn't in any of the cutscenes. Do I get to kill him now?
Three Viskam now. But more green Duscur units appear and immediately start heading for the controls. This is so cool! Really feels like a grand, heroic moment.
Bit of a close call with Gustave's health getting low (the Viskam still hurt a lot), but thankfully Mercedes exists.
Count Rowe appears! And he dies wondering where he went wrong. You did everything wrong dude. Literally everything.
And now finally, Cornelia stops hiding behind her gullible minions. And she goes down almost as quickly as they did.
Dimitri interrogates her again and asks about his stepmother. And Cornelia claims that Edelgard killed Patricia/Anselma! But that's all we get out of her before she finally dies. Good riddance.
I got an S-Rank! This battle was fun; there's a lot going on with the reinforcements and the Viskam blasts, but the map and objectives flow in a linear manner, so it wasn't confusing. Dimitri wins the MVP again. (Favoritism from me? Perish the thought!)
Post-Battle
Dimitri (wisely) is unwilling to take Cornelia at her word, but does think Edelgard must know something. Meanwhile, the Lions are all like, "what do you mean the Emperor is your stepsister?!"
This is basically the same scene from late in Azure Moon, but Rodrigue is here to provide some extra perspective. You know, it's a pity we never hear or learn anything at all about Dimitri's birth mother, but you know...Fodlan hates moms.
Cornelia (presumably the real one, not the Agarthan plant we know) helped cure the plague that ravaged Fhirdiad twenty years ago. The only reward she asked for was to rescue a friend of hers (Anselma) from the Empire. Rodrigue says Lambert had a soft spot for those in need (must run in the family). He isn't sure if Lambert and Anselma were actually in love or not, but there were feelings between them.
Dimitri wants to know the real truth of what happened, so he's got to speak with Edelgard. Ashe wonders if that's even possible, given the war. Dimitri isn't sure, but there's no one else left with new information about the Tragedy. He leaves Gustave and Baron Dominic in charge of the western reconstruction, because it's time to go to Arianrhod. (Cue dramatic reverb.)
And we get Crusher as an extra prize on the way out!
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“ you know you love me. “ Copycat
Or
“ did you just come here to flirt with me ? “
Nanoya responding to Lovette
Copycat
"Bloody 'ell!!" Catherine hissed as she struggled with the controller, messily moving around before "Ugh!!" She slumped her shoulders, dropping the controller on her lap. "So that makes 9 wins for me and 1 win for you" Leroy chuckled as he turned to look at Catherine who huffed and turned away "Oh come on furball" he smiled, leaning closer to her "No fair...' She grumbled and it took all he could to not "awww" at his girlfriend as Leroy peered at the pouting cat "You did say you wanted to play against me" he gestured at the video game still on the screen "well yeah, but I didn't think you'd be so good at it!!" She finally turned to face him but squeaked at their closeness, her nose brushing his lightly. At the girl fumbling back Leroy couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"You okay there, kitty cat?" He managed to ask between laughs "It's not funny!!" Catherine tried to hiss but it sounded more like a kitten than a cat. Leroy laughed more, holding his stomach as Catherine pouted "S-stupid lizard!!!" She grumbled "Aww, you know you love me~" he teased leaning down to give her a quick peck on the lips followed by a wink. Catherine went bright red, reaching for a pillow before covering her face "I-I... I love you..." Her ears were against her head as she grumbled. Leroy smirked petting her.
"So, wanna rematch?" He teased "if you lose again you'll have to kiss me" he chuckled, confident as the girl groaned "You already know what will happen!!!" "So, that a yes?"
Nanoya x Lovette
"They told me you'd be here" A voice broke Nanoya out of his meditation. As he opened his eyes he saw magenta eyes peering out of the darkness "Lovette?" "Bingo~" the fox chuckled as she walked more into the moonlight "Really, I try to surprise you at your school and I'm tossed into a wild goose chase of trying to find you" she pouted, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "You.. Wanted to see me?" He raised an eyebrow "But of course, I always want to see that handsome face of yours~" her tail wagged a bit at her words though Nanoya frowned.
"Did you come here just to flirt with me?" "Of course not, I'll have you know I'm being honest" she sat down near him before thinking "Use your unique magic on me if you wish, I am quite genuine about my feelings towards you." There was a faint blush on her cheeks as she looked away. Nanoya smiled a bit "You don't have to go that far, Lovette" he spoke her name softly "You don't have to say my name like that.. Hmph and you say I'm the bad one" contrary to her words her tail wagged slightly.
"To make it up to me.. You have to hold my hand..!" The usually flirty fox kept looking away but held her hand out. 'This is... New?' Nanoya thought before putting his hand on hers, the girl still at a distance "Y-you know... I would never do this for others.. B-but I know you're not comfortable with me being all over you. And if I'm honest... I much rather prefer this..." She squeezed his hand, a moment of genuine affection from the usual faker. "Thank you, Lovette" she peaked back at him "It's fine... You're special. I don't want to fake things around you."
#twst oc#twisted wonderland oc#oc#twstoc#twst#twisted wonderland#twst ocs#catherine shire#catherine#nanoya x lovette#lovette sieglinde#Lovette is a himedere after all#and Catherine as tsundere as ever#genuine Lovette is fun to write#not just fake flirty#oc ships#oc writings#oc writing
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Non-Byleth Gay/Lesbian Paired Endings
Reposted cus tumblr ate the previous post??? For some reason??
I’ve seen lots of people on tumblr who don’t know about this yet so Reminder that paired endings between students in Three Houses are a thing, ranging from the expected hetero options to wonderfully gay pairs.
Without spoiling the content of the supports or the text of the endings, here’s some of the gayest/most sapphic paired endings I’ve found so far:
Guys:
Caspar/Linhardt: Ikesoren. They’re pretty much Ikesoren except much more lighthearted and with this Soren being taller than his Ike lol. I’m pretty sure these two are a deliberate nod to Ikesoren with how similar their endings are.
Caspar/Ashe: Although this one reads a bit different cus of the wording, I almost kinda wonder if Ashe is the “Ranulf” to Caspar’s “Ike”.
Dimitri/Dedue: Beautifully worded and wholesome, probably the most openly gay male pair the game has. The ending has a touch of sadness in it but is still super soft and sweet, brimming with tenderness and devotion. Their A support has some very touching, precious moments as well. Highly recommend these supports + ending.
Dimitri/Felix: Overall kinda angsty and intense with somber, darker supports but still a good and well written ending, just a bit melancholic in its implications. Even with the angst of the text, their joint ending expands a bit on how deep Felix’s softer feelings for Dimitri are beyond what their supports show (without having Felix’s tsundereness getting in the way) and implies an extremely deep bond was made over the years that was obvious to everyone around them.
Sylvain/Felix: Needs special requirements to happen but if fulfilled, its probably the most overtly gay of the male paired endings after Dimitri/Dedue. The A support is split up in two parts (so it’s basically a branch with A and A+ supports) and the second part really pleasantly surprised me with how cute and heartfelt it was. The wording in their ending slide gives this pair a very “fated/meant to be” vibe that not even explicitly romantic hetero endings give so I definitely recommend trying this one too.
Hubert/Ferdinand: One I personally did not expect at all but boy does it really deliver. They get so close to each other that it’s even mentioned that Edelgard herself feels jealous of how great their relationship is. Their supports are adorable and they get all flustered and cute around each other. Very quality gay, highly recommend as well.
Girls:
Dorothea/Petra: Sweet paired ending in which they are very openly girlfriends and they don’t give a fuck about what anyone thinks of their relationship. Dorothea is a bi icon and honestly pretty much all of her pairings with women are just good food.
Dorothea/Edelgard: Not Dorothea’s most sapphic ending but definitely one of Edelgard’s. Dorothea lays it on thick in their supports and makes her crush on Edelgard very obvious.
Dorothea/Manuela: Age gap. They end up very openly in love and very happy together though.
Edelgard/Manuela: Age gap. Still one of Edelgard’s most overt paired endings with women that makes sure to specify neither she nor Manuela ever married men.
Mercedes/Anette: These two have around a 6 year age gap and they’re more like just BFFs before the timeskip maybe because of it but it’s made pretty obvious that they end up having a much deeper relationship later on in life.
Catherine/Shamir: Their ending together is not overtly open about the nature of their relationship BUT their supports are seriously sapphic af so with that in mind, I think they absolutely are in lesbians together in their ending and not simply as business partners.
There’s maybe more paired endings like these but these are all the ones I know of that are the gayest. Share/reblog to sail a ship and you can add more in the notes if you know of more.
Edit: https://melohax.tumblr.com/post/186750508236/sylvainfelix-is-even-gayer-in-japanese Adding this post by nanigma about how the localization down toned the gayness of supports. They’re actually even gayer in Japanese!
#fire emblem three houses#fire emblem#fe16#fire emblem 3 houses#fe3h#feth#fraldarddyd#dimitri fe#edelgard fe#fire emblem: three houses#sylvix#petrathea#sylvelix#petradot#hubert von vestra#ferdinand von aegir#dedue molinaro#dimidue#anncedes#ferdibert
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Do you have head cannons for both Cyrus and Tomyris?
Oh my, do I ever! I have soooo many head canons about these two, you have no idea, lol.
Cyrus:
Addicted to gardening. Like, gardening is like crack for Cyrus, lmao. I like to imagine his palace as having vast courtyards and pavilions of gardens, adorned with fountains and colorful tiles and full of as many plants and tree species as Cyrus can get his hands on. (The real-life Cyrus the Great was very fond of gardening when he was not on his military campaigns, after all. And, Persian gardens are so pretty. I would like to put a miniature version of one in my backyard someday if I could, lol.)
He loves meticulously doing his makeup every day. (Take a close look at Cyrus’ in-game model, and you’ll notice that he’s wearing quite a bit of eye makeup compared to the other male leaders. In fact, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have noticed a pattern to how I draw the leaders’ eyes when I draw them in my cartoony style. All female leaders I draw with eyelashes, while all male leaders, except a few, I draw without eyelashes. The few male leaders that I draw with eyelashes (Cyrus and Hammurabi being two of them) are the ones that wear eye makeup. The bigger the eyelashes, the more makeup they’re wearing. In my Court Festival comic I posted a while ago, I gave a tiny bit of eye makeup to Alexander and Matthias (which I usually don’t do) to show how they’re more dressed up for the court festival compared to their everyday looks.)
His favorite word is “surprise.” (This should not be a surprise, honestly.)
To the surprise of the other leaders, he has quite a good singing voice. He doesn’t like to sing in front of other people, though. I like to imagine him wandering around his palace gardens sometimes, singing to himself, and then he’ll turn around and discover Catherine de Medici or somebody has been secretly listening to him, lmao. And then he gets embarrassed and runs inside and hides.
Loves playing pranks on the other leaders. All. The. Time. Cyrus is the unchallenged master of surprise pranks, tricks, and practical jokes.
His favorite flower is the purple snapdragon. (Is this because this is also my own favorite flower? Haha, maaaayyyybeeee…Also, according to Wikipedia, the snapdragon represents deception. Perfect for somebody who loves playing practical jokes on people.)
Favorite color? Purple, of course. Gold is his second favorite.
Tomyris:
Loves taking care of all her horses. They’re like children to her. (Also, if all the Civ leaders are immortal in-game, there’s no reason why Tomyris’ horses can’t be immortal as well, right? I like to imagine them being immortal too, lol.)
Very good at archery. You know the thing where you put an apple on someone’s head and then shoot it with an arrow without hitting the person? Yeah, Tomyris can easily do that. Like, in her sleep.
I imagine Tomyris as being an all-around very motherly figure who can and will kick anybody’s ass to protect those she holds dear. Unfortunately, she comes off as kind of cold when you first meet her, but, once you get to know her, you can just tell that she’s very kind-hearted and protective.
She takes very good care of her hair. We may only see Tomyris wearing braids in-game, but I like to imagine her frequently trying out different kinds of hairstyles. You know English Eleanor’s fancy wrap-around double braid hairstyle? Tomyris definitely helped her out with that.
Hates getting surprise pranked. Unless, UNLESS, the prank turns out nice in the end for her. (More on why this is important down below, lol.)
Her favorite flower is the yellow rose. (I associate the color yellow with Tomyris, as her in-game outfit and the Scythian civ main color are comprised of dark yellows and gold. Also, according to Wikipedia, the yellow rose represents friendship, intense emotion, undying love, and extreme betrayal, which I think sums up both Tomyris’ agenda and her relationship with Cyrus quite well.)
Her favorite color is gold. Navy blue is a close second.
Both:
They are both skilled polo players. (The sport of polo is believed to have originated from equestrian games played by nomadic Iranian peoples (the Scythians were Iranic), and the current form of polo played today was invented in ancient Persia, being one of their national sports and played extensively by their nobility.) Tomyris is a little better at polo than Cyrus is, though, given that Tomyris rides her horses all the time, haha.
They’re both fashionistas and very style-conscious, ‘cause why not, lol. Cyrus is the more fashionable of the two.
Both of them like the color gold, although Tomyris likes it more than Cyrus does because it’s her favorite color. Gold is Cyrus’ second-favorite color, as stated above.
My Cyrus x Tomyris ship:
It’s a total rival ship. They hate each other, but they love each other, lol. (I once saw this little ship dynamic drawing someone made online of two characters, each looking at each other with these funny lovey-dovey faces, but then each character is also holding a knife behind the other character’s back. I saw that and thought, “yep, that’s definitely Cyrus x Tomyris. No question.”)
Cyrus simps for Tomyris hard, but Tomyris is a total tsundere about it. (Deep down, very deep down, she thinks he looks cute, though. She can’t admit that out loud to anybody, however, for fear of ruining her pride.)
Cyrus has been working very hard to formulate the perfect prank to get Tomyris to at least stop totally hating him. He may be approaching this relationship fix at the wrong angle, though…Tomyris hates practical jokes, after all. (Ah, but he keeps telling himself, “oh, I’ll make the perfect prank with a happy ending that will make her fall head over heels for me! Yes, yes!” Poor guy.)
Every once in a while, Tomyris will go and spy on Cyrus singing to himself. (She hates herself for doing this, lol, but Cyrus and his singing voice is, oddly, like a siren song to Tomyris.) When Cyrus inevitably notices Tomyris watching him and he runs away, hides, and blushes from embarrassment, Tomyris can’t help but think that it’s cute when he does that, lmao. Cyrus would one day like to work up enough courage to openly serenade Tomyris, but he is just too insecure about his voice to do so, and he doesn’t think Tomyris would enjoy his singing enough. Ah, but Tomyris already secretly listens to him singing and she definitely wouldn’t mind being serenaded! Oh, the angst surrounding these two, lol.
#civ#civ vi#civ 6#civilization#civilization vi#civilization 6#cyrus the great#tomyris#cyrus x tomyris#ask
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💗 with catherine and/or shamir!!! (🐴🧣)
@horsescarves why not both!
Who fell for the other first?
Catherine: This one was a really close one, because she and Scah fell for each other around the same time, and it was a very gradual process. I think it might have been Catherine because she’s a bit more open to that possibility, but not by much if it was her.
Shamir: It was Shamir. I know that sounds surprising with how she acts, but let me explain. She longs to be cared for again, and she falls in love way before she’s willing to acknowledge that fact. She’s softer than she lets on, you know!
Who said "I love you" first?
Catherine: It was Catherine. It took a while because these two are hella slow burn friends to lovers, and they’re both stupid when it comes to these feelings, but Catherine is the most direct and clear with how she feels. Once she actually gets it, she doesn’t see much reason to keep it hidden, you know?
Shamir: It was Shamir. Scathach already knew how she felt, but she was never going to breach the topic with Shamir’s past trauma. She let Shamir come to it if and when she was ever ready, and she did.
Who is more affectionate in public/private?
Catherine: Catherine and Catherine, definitely. Catherine is just kind of very touchy feely with her, not necessarily in a weird way in public but in the patting her shoulder or throwing an arm around her kind of way. And she also wouldn’t have much shame about kissing her in front of other people. She loves physical affection and is very comfortable showing it.
Shamir: Neither is very affectionate in public, though Scah likes to tease her. In private, though, Shamir is touch starved and shockingly affectionate.
Who initiates cuddle sessions?
Catherine: Definitely Catherine. As stated before, she is affectionate and very comfortable showing it. She’s always happy to just grab Scah and hold her.
Shamir: Shamir as well. She is pretty touch starved and needs the cuddles, and she’s not tsundere enough to hide when she needs affection from Scah.
How do we cheer each other up?
Catherine: She’s actually a master at this. If Scah needs to talk, she’s good at that. If she needs a distraction, she’s ready to drag her out for a good meal or a spar. And if she needs some affection, she’s way ahead of her. Catherine is hard to drag down, but if she’s having a bad day, Scah is more than willing to offer her ear - and her arms. And besides, she knows if that doesn’t work, a good meal always will.
Shamir: Shamir knows she’s not as great with words, so she shines most when taking care of Scah. She’ll do any number of things for her, from small to big, and won’t make a big deal of them. Scah finds that the easiest way to help Shamir is to be the one listening to her - even if she doesn’t have too much to say a lot of the time, it helps for her to feel heard. And of course, she’ll return the favor for taking care of her.
Who is more likely to plan a surprise date for the other?
Catherine: Catherine - but it’s less “plan” and more “let’s go do this right now”. It usually works out, thankfully.
Shamir: Shamir, because it’s easier for her to be sneaky and plan it without Scah knowing than the other way around.
Who suggests the more creative date ideas?
Catherine: Hmm, maybe Catherine because of the impulsivity. If she has an idea, she’ll try it, and that can lead to some creative things.
Shamir: Scathach. Shamir can sometimes get into routines, and Scah can break them out of them by finding new things. That said, though, Shamir does sometimes find some cool new things for them to try.
Who steals the other's clothes?
Catherine: Haha, they both do, but Catherine is more shameless about it.
Shamir: Scathach. Shamir was confused the first time she did it, but she must not mind if she doesn’t stop her - because she definitely could and they both know it.
Who is more likely to leave cute little sticky notes for the other to find?
Catherine: Scathach, of the two of them! Catherine is more likely to sneak affection in other ways.
Shamir: I don’t think she’d have the idea at first, but the idea of Shamir doing this is really cute to me anyway.
What our favourite thing to do during the summer is?
Catherine: There’s so much! Exploring! Camping! Sparring! Just enjoying a nice meal in the sun! Catherine loves this time of year and it shows.
Shamir: Believe it or not, Shamir also appreciates her surroundings this time of year. She has to perform her normal scouting duties alone, but she wouldn’t mind coming back with Scah for a stroll come dusk.
What our favourite thing to do during the winter?
Catherine: While it may be more difficult to enjoy time outside like this, you can still enjoy a warm meal by the fire and enjoy how beautiful everything looks. She’s also definitely the type to start a snowball fight with Scah just for fun.
Shamir: She’s actually not very used to cold weather, if what the game gives us about Dagda’s climate is true. She has to deal with it for her work, but given the option she’d like some time inside to keep warm. Scathach is also warm, so cuddling up to her and having coffee sounds ideal to her.
#Anonymous#thank you mana!#flowers in the winter (with catherine)#shoot with your heart (with shamir)#long post#hoo there’s a lot here!
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Lang Plays Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I’m playing them in this order: Blue Lions, Black Eagles, Church of Seiros, and then Golden Deer. (I organized them by how likely it is to have a true final boss who is actually as relevant to the lore as the opening cutscene. And also because I thoroughly spoiled myself about that.)
So, after sinking what the game tells me was eighty hours into a single playthrough, here’s my thoughts on the first thing I tackled.
Spoilers below the cut.
Very Early Game (Blue Lions):
It’s the Fire Emblem Dad! (I played Path of Radiance. I’ve seen this dude before.)
Hi Claude. Sorry, I’m gonna steal every single one of your peers I can catch. Same to you, Edelgard.
Dimitri is so awkward it’s almost palpable.
Aww, Ashe and Annette are adorable. Mercedes has that dead anime mom hairstyle that sets my teeth on edge, but she’s super nice. It’ll take me longer to warm up to the boys, I think.
Felix is the token “I MUST BECOME STRONGER” myrmidon character. Gotta have at least one per game, apparently.
Sylvain = Sain. Token womanizer cavalier. His support list is pretty odd, though.
Dedue = the guy who done punch things. And he *has* to punch things, because he’s slow as hell and his speed growth isn’t great.
What the fuck is that strength growth, Dimitri. What the fuck is that Charm growth.
I was so close to making him my team’s designated Dancer unit, you guys.
Beleth is gonna be their teacher and somehow I don’t imagine this going super well.
Pre-Timeskip School Life:
Once again, I regret not being able to support with characters who’ve firmly attached themselves to the other two houses. (Which is only like three people in my “gotta catch ‘em all” playthrough, but whatever.)
But I can support all the recruitables, which is...something that took me a long while to do.
The first person I stole for the Blue Lions was Caspar. The first person who straight-up joined was Flayn. Yay, auxiliary punchers and auxiliary-auxiliary healers!
Ashe, your adoptive father really didn’t need to die. You were right. It was all bad all the way down.
Flayn gets kidnapped and I fuck around for a month raising everyone else’s supports and realizing Seteth’s too distraught to train my Lance level. Dangit.
I missed the opportunity to support with Leonie entirely because her personality put me off for the first few in-game months, and it turns out you can only start her support chain while Jeralt is alive.
Dammit. Now I’ve gotta train with lances.
What’s-his-fuck over at the village sure did do a thing, didn’t he. And if he hadn’t dropped his disguise just then he could have gotten away with it.
Their scheme would’ve failed faster if anybody around this fucking monastery could apply logic to shapeshifter shenanigans.
Seriously, no one should have trusted Monica.
You vanish over the course of a year, and come back with your personality totally inverted.
Tomas/Solon had just demonstrated what it looks like when these dickbags drop cover, and then everyone subsequently failed to make the correct deduction. If they hadn’t, Jeralt would’ve lived.
Dad-stabbing: A theme of Fire Emblem games. Seriously. Check out the huge list of dead dads (which goes all the way back to the first game in the series.)
Also dead moms, but for some reason moms are less prominent in the series as a whole.
For the purposes of this analysis, we are also including every single boss who had kids. Which isn’t most of them, but god damn there are still a lot of dead dads.
Dorotheaaaaaa be my frieeeeeeend
Yoinked Linhardt after finally showering him in enough gifts to get his sleepy ass to sign transfer papers.
Swiped Marianne, Bernadetta, Petra, Ignatz, Alois (kinda), Shamir (sorta), Manuela (iffy), Hanneman (yoink), Catherine (see previous), Hilda (how), Lorenz (woop woop), and Leonie (sigh).
The Death Knight remains, for the moment, unpillaged for his Dark Seal drops. This time it was an accident: I killed everyone else in the room except for him and a priest/mage, but then that last dude squared up with Felix and died.
All the points I poured into their associated skills and their supports, however, left one big gap:
DAMMIT FERDINAND, I’M TRYING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE. WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH ABOUT HEAVY ARMOR. RAPHAEL JOINED UP DESPITE THAT.
(I got a B-rank support with him and he popped into my office to say he was transferring, nbd. Ferdinand’s B-rank is locked until after the timeskip.)
tl;dr: The only recruitable character I missed was Ferdinand.
Seteth and Gilbert don’t do shit until post-timeskip and Rhea isn’t playable, so w/e.
As soon as I say that, Seteth and Flayn have a paralogue. It’s a beach level. I hate beach levels and desert levels. Seteth gets to be MVP because he’s the only jerk who can fly.
They have a little speech after the paralogue level that reveals that they’re actually father and daughter, not siblings. And the whole story of this little subplot basically confirms that they’re dragons.
Neither of them transform over the course of the game, and that’s okay.
Ruh-roh, Raggy. Let’s see who’s really under the Flame Emperor’s mask--
“AND I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT TOO, IF NOT FOR--oh wait teleportation exists. BYE!”
Dimitri proceeds to thoroughly lose any chill he ever pretended to have, and I’m 99% sure the villain in question isn’t actually old enough to have caused the Tragedy of Duscur. Unless the biographies in the notes were lying.
Now, the backup dancers over there sure as shit are, but logical reasoning has its time and place.
Whatever. Time for stabbing.
WE ALREADY KNOW THESE PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF MAKING THEMSELVES LOOK LIKE ANYONE, MASKS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY. THE VICTIM ONLY HAS TO DISAPPEAR FOR A WHILE.
WHY AREN’T WE CHECKING THAT AS A BASIC PRECAUTION.
THERE HAVE BEEN THREE OF THESE CREEPS ALREADY.
Their name is too long and I should call them Morlocks.
But seriously, check for infiltrators.
What passes for strategy around here: Take Paladin Dimitri, plunk his overleveled ass down on a corner where all the enemies’ targeting reticles converge, and wait five minutes for all the counterkill animations to play out.
If I wanna try the same with Sylvain, he needs to be backed up by at least Annette and probably Felix. Maybe even Mercedes if she’s not already busy slinging Physics around.
Dimitri’s fine with just sitting around with a forged Steel Lance and poking holes in everything.
Beleth can do the same, but is much more reliant on dodging and not just facetanking axes.
The little “no damage!” sound effect is still very satisfying. Yes, game, my Defense/Resistance has escaped the bounds of your damage curve.
Dorothea became my Dancer unit, because despite Dimitri having twenty-eight Charm to her nineteen, he begged me not to and also is better sitting on a corner and killing everything.
Huh, the monastery is sure being invad--you know, Edelgard, if it wasn’t already really obvious that your faction is basically the “villain route” in Samurai Warriors parlance, using giant mop-headed demonic beasts as shock troops would probably give it away to observers. If they weren’t already running away in abject terror.
The principle from How to Train Your Dragon still applies: A downed dragon is a dead dragon. If Rhea didn’t want to basically get mobbed, she should’ve stayed in the air and acted as flying artillery for the Knights of Seiros with her mouth laser. She could’ve sat on top of a wall and fired with relative impunity.
Sure, some demonic beasts can fly, but there weren’t any in that cutscene and the flying ones have, mechanically, one less health meter than the landbound ones.
Also, they’re pushovers.
And there’s the washed-out creep brigade! They look like the Grimleal, but with more feathers and less of a tan.
...And there goes Beleth, off to have a five-year nap.
Welp.
Post Timeskip:
Oh good, it’s been five years. Beleth, I hate to break it to you, but you’re probably at least slightly dragon at this point. Check your ears if you have a chance.
Tiki canonically napped for like 99% of her three thousand years in Awakening, ironically enough, so it’s not like dragon-people are exactly early risers.
Poor rando gets asked “what year is it” like that question is ever used outside of fiction. Beleth doesn’t read time travel books, I take it.
“oh you probably shouldn’t go to the monastery, it’s like super haunted and shit”
“sorry what was that i couldn’t hear you over the sound of me climbing up to the monastery”
Eyyyy, it’s a lance-wielding pirate.
...Hi, Dimitri. Where’d your macaroni hair go.
You know, it’s not surprising that Dimitri would think Beleth was a hallucination. He spent a lot of time yelling at his inner demons even pre-timeskip, after taking a couple of severe psychological shocks.
But he absolutely should have walked into her and been surprised when he knocked them both on their asses.
He’s been spending the last five years stabbing people, hasn’t he.
Yep.
He looks like he fell out of Game of Thrones.
Blue Lions! Rah rah something team chant. Rah rah Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen~
None of you people trained any of your skills. In five years. Dimitri you were a paladin. Did you eat your horse.
You are all getting sent to boot camp.
Hi, Gilbert. Why are you playable now all of a sudden. Why is your speed a fucking two.
THIS IS WHY MIKLAN HANDED YOU YOUR ASS.
Once again, the “plunk Dimitri’s overleveled ass down on a corner and watch people die” plan is still a valid strategy. I still don’t know where he gets all this strength (and charm). Like, goddamn.
Annette got cornered for like five turns because I was too cowardly to put her in range of a Brawler.
Then she killed him with a critical Fire.
So, I guess Felix’s remarks about Dimitri’s issues make some sense now, but he should still stop making them. I know he’s a tsundere par excellence, but still.
STop TalKing AboUT KilLing PeoPle
Warning: Sympathetic Boss Approaching.
Look, most “sympathetic” bosses in Fire Emblem kinda fall flat. The better ones are placed in the way of the player characters while they’re in the middle of a low point in the emotional arc and get utterly wrecked in a flurry of misdirected fury. Sometimes the characters even feel bad about it afterward. The worst ones are the ones who are just utterly devoted to someone who’s earned everyone’s ire by being a utter fucking asshole.
Good: Mustafa from Awakening and Shiharam from Path of Radiance. Good people forced into bad situations. Or just cornered. Henry talked up the former long after he got a Chrom to the face, and the latter was probably the best-written of the “aw, I wish I didn’t have to kill him” bosses I’ve run across.
Bad: Levail from Radiant Dawn. There is no getting around the fact that General Zelgius was a bad dude. Levail holding him up as a paragon of knightliness and swearing to serve him out of sheer admiration did not make him even marginally better.
We sure did kill Caspar’s uncle, didn’t we. I’m sure that won’t come back to bite us square in the ass. Not after he had that “this guy is a person who cares about stuff” cutscene to remind us of his pixel humanity.
I’m sure it’s fine.
Bwoop, bwoop, everyone say hello to Ferdinand and Lorenz! And say goodbye to Ferdinand, because he didn’t allow himself to be recruited pre-timeskip, isn’t recruitable post-timeskip, and then I had Felix kill him with Thoron.
Lorenz can rejoin us, though. He doesn’t count as an enemy commander once he’s been smacked down to 0 hp.
HI, DEDUE. WHY ARE YOU ONLY LEVEL TWENTY. GET IN THE BACKLINES AND DON’T TALK TO ME UNTIL YOU CAN ACTUALLY DAMAGE ANYTHING.
(Seriously, tho, I was waiting for Dedue to come back for two reasons. One: I did that paralogue of his way back in Part One and he did not get to die after all that. Two: Part of Dimitri’s epic slide into “spear-wielding mountain man who runs around killing people with his bare hands” had to do with Dedue “dying” during the timeskip. That jackass cracked a smile for the first time in ingame years thanks to the world’s punchiest bodyguard coming back alive.)
(Fortress Knight is still the worst class.)
I totally didn’t pay any attention to what, if anything, actually separated Master classes from Advanced classes other than my inability to get my hands on Master Seals. So Ashe is a Bow Knight now, while Felix made it to Mortal Savant (wtf is that name and why is the class model basically a samurai) and I spent a very long time level-grinding Sylvain’s Reason skill to make him a Dark Knight. I aimed for Gremory with all my spellcaster girls, but I admit to not really paying attention to specifics.
(I ended up with five Gremories: Annette, Flayn, Mercedes, Lysithea, and Dorothea. Bernadetta became a Bow Knight and Marianne promoted eventually to a Holy Knight. Dorothea also ended up taking Mortal Savant, which she didn’t ever use.)
(Seteth became a Wyvern Lord and Dedue eventually made it to Warrior.)
(Byleth qualified for Mortal Savant and used it precisely no times.)
(It became pretty clear that I just threw Master Seals at people whenever the possibility of promoting them came up.)
(Certification is a weird system.)
I stopped paying a ton of attention to supports around the time I realized that Ferdinand wasn’t going to be recruited no matter what I did in the final month before Shit Went Down.
Then I started paying attention again like two chapters from endgame, because I remembered some A-ranked supports meant that the characters could get paired endings.
I also stopped ignoring Cyril and started using him as an adjutant, though his stats never quite caught up to Seteth (also known as the only instructor unit I ever consistently used).
Cornelia is absolutely a Morlock plant. That is a face she just made, even in flashback.
I wish we could've seen Dimitri’s now-dead uncle, if only because I’m curious. Also, what did Edelgard’s mom/Dimitri’s stepmom look like?
Why is there always a fire level. I saw it earlier thanks to doing Ingrid and Dorothea’s paralogue, but it’s a Fire Emblem stock level type and I hate it.
Okay, yeah, this area totally got nuked. Magitech nukes, but still. It’s still on fire centuries later? Why??
Felix’s dad is a Holy Knight. Why do I have to keep his ass alive on a field when half the enemies are barely Advanced classes, never mind Master classes.
Oh right, because I want the exp for myself.
Rodrigue is possibly the single person here who can make Dimitri’s murder-bender change direction even slightly. He also gets along with his actual son so much worse than that. He’s like Annette’s dad, but with actual verbal confrontations.
There’s Caspar’s not-exactly-forgotten aunt, here to “secretly” avenge her dead brother. Dude, could you say something about that?
Three levels later: I thought we were done with the dad-stabbing.
Felix has officially lost Too Many People in pursuit of keeping Dimitri alive. As has everyone else, frankly.
In other routes, Dimitri absolutely runs his campaign off a cliff.
Here, he turns his life around. More or less. Gotta make the choice to get better.
Time to take back the Kingdom’s capital, like we’ve not been doing for four chapters now. Finally.
Cornelia is absolutely a Morlock plant. This is like the fourth character who supposedly did a complete characterization 180 after a period of being actually useful to other people. Goodbye, civil engineer we never knew.
I think the only infiltrator who did things properly was Solon, but he still dropped his disguise for no good reason early in the game. That operatic level of drama is not a trait that helps him survive a month later. Just goes to show that the Morlocks don’t have more than one type of good judgment at a time, I guess.
I know I’m supposed to avoid the giant doom robots, but...
No, it turns out I can just have Dimitri and Beleth stand in the middle of the killzone and destroy them for fun and profit.
Ding dong the witch is dead.
Welp, time to go save the Alliance, which is getting schooled by the Empire.
HI CLAUDE.
I MISSED YOU AND YOUR FAITH IN HUMANITY. And specifically in Dimitri, for some reason? I think he kinda stabbed your soldiers a lot the last time you two met, but feel free to keep being the Best Character.
Your bodyguards are top-notch, man. One of them got hit with anything over the course of the entire battle.
Your general Judith, however, necessitates Flayn using ALL of her Rescue spells just to keep her alive.
I still had to send Ashe to keep a Falcon Knight off you, but no big.
And also had to send Hilda and Petra to kill the Asshole Reinforcements to nick their stuff.
Dimitri sat there and dodge-tanked all of Arundel’s attempts to kill him until the team killed everybody else. Then Dimitri poked him and he died. Dimitri OHKOs everything except monsters now, and that’s only because they have multiple health meters.
And then Claude fucks off to become king somewhere else. Okay then. It was a nice speech, though.
Killing the Death Knight for fun and profit and now Mercedes is crying. Shit.
Doesn’t this place get vaporized in every other route?
Did killing so many Morlocks by accident lock us out of seeing an intercontinental ballistic missile?
(And it is by accident, because this route is like the only one where the Morlocks are incidentals instead of the main problem, partly due to Dimitri’s tunnel vision and partly just because they don’t drop their disguises upon death.)
Well, I guess it’s time to confront Edelgard.
It’s completely valid of her to look at the guy who was threatening to rip her head off with his bare hands and hang it from the gates of the Empire’s capital a little while ago, and then go “Yeah, diplomacy’s shot.” That Dimitri stopped being quite so all-consumingly homicidal a bit ago is not actually reason to try throwing herself on anyone’s mercy. I feel kinda bad for her, since she’s been pushed into this corner and her ace-in-the-hole allies are basically decapitated, and I stole all her potential friends back during the school phase of the game.
Also, sunk cost fallacy.
Still walloped the entire roster of the second-to-last level, down to killing Hubert with Lysithea. Hilda and Cyril killed all the bird demons.
On the final level, which starts immediately after the previous one, three characters got totally destroyed by the sheer number of mages floating around: Dimitri (whose Avoid finally failed him four times in a row), Hilda (same), and Dedue (thirded). Seteth miraculously survived taking 68 points of damage from a single attack, and then later went on to take Edelgard’s last health bar off with a crit.
Weirdly, Beleth’s Avoid was just fine. Finally let her use the Sublime Sword of the Creator and she killed most of the Gremories that took out Dimitri and Hilda.
And everybody we could save per plot constraints got to live! (Except Ferdinand.)
I’m willing to save him on subsequent routes because killing him made Dorothea sad.
Next time: Lang plays the route that screws over most of these people in service of killing the God-Pope.
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OH BOY anon now you’ve gone and done it...
in no particular order:
Dorothea/Petra: Dorothea’s supports with just about any of the ladies are really charming and blatantly romantic, including Edelgard and Manuela, but my favorite support of hers is actually with Petra, which starts terribly sweet and never stops being sweet (and ends with them talking about doing each others’ hair! aaaaaaaa). I love how kind she is with Petra right from the start, I love how Dorothea loves Petra despite her “not being money”, and I love how quick she is to accept going to Brigid with her :D
Linhardt/Marianne: a surprisingly cute support, which has Linhardt turning around Marianne’s whole “my crest causes bad luck” by declaring that actually, it causes GOOD luck because he’s happy to get to study such a rare crest and therefore it must be good, see! Their unique dining / group task dialogue is quite sweet as well. :) (Linhardt is unexpectedly smooth, hm...)
Dimitri/Dedue: this one hardly needs an introduction by now, but another “hyperloyal vassal and his lord” ship? Sign me up!! The way Dimitri speaks about how Dedue saved him (and not just the other way around), the way Dedue actually blushes about saying Dimitri’s name, the in-depth understanding Dedue shows he has of Dimitri as a person after he rejoins you post-time skip, the increasingly desperate things Dedue does to help Dimitri out in the non-Lions route... it’s all fantastic. 10/10
Dimitri/Felix: this is a weird one, because my initial reaction to them was “how would this ever work as a ship”, but it’s actually mostly stuff outside their supports that convinces me it does? Which includes: “BE THE BOAR THAT YOU ARE, AND DON’T YOU DARE LOOK BACK” (aw, look, they’re friends!), Felix’s reaction to Dimitri dying on GD (he really is quite devastated -- he does not take it well), Felix... basically going on a death seeker quest if Dimitri dies (which affects all his endings), “if my father could see Dimitri now, he’d be glad to have made the sacrifice... DON’T YOU DARE TELL ANYONE I SAID THAT” (ok sure Felix), Dimitri’s “you used to whine unless you could do everything with me” comment, and, of course, the ending. I’m glad you went out of your way to tell us Felix cared more about Dimitri than his own wife did, Koei!
Dimitri/Marianne: I’ll try to keep this one shorter than the above, haha. I think she’s easily Dimitri’s most convincing marriage option because, with them both having lead rather traumatic life, they seem to have a very good understanding of each other. It’s simple, but they fit together well, and it’s very sweet.
Felix/Dorothea: what happens when you put the two most “call everyone out on their bs” characters in the game together? This pair. And it’s surprisingly great! Felix seems to think he’s seen through Dorothea, but she ends being the one to see through him, more like; and she’s not exactly scared to tell him off when needed, which is certainly a plus. The A+ support is adorable, between Dorothea trying desperately to hold a normal conversation with Felix but him just being too awkward and Bad At Talking to respond like a normal person... to Felix constantly looking away from Dorothea as she’s speaking with him because he’s embarrassed and bad with eye contact... to his tsundering in their final support. I love them!
EDIT: I almost forgot these two (shame on me...), but Ashe/Ingrid: the two of them geeking out over books and Ashe whole-heartedly supporting Ingrid’s desires to become a knight is just adorable. Ashe knowing just how much Ingrid would love to read about a real-life female knight is just so very... Ashe.
Sylvain/Ingrid: I don’t normally like bickering couples, which arguably this is, but I adore that Ingrid never lets Sylvain get away with his nonsense, and their history as childhood friends is a big plus for me. More than anything, I can’t help but to like how much of a flustered mess Sylvain turns into when he realizes he actually likes Ingrid. Cute! :D
Catherine/Shamir: absolute power couple, and the A+ support has a marriage proposal!? They couldn’t be more clearly in love, could they? Also thrilled to see so much support for a pair involving two older women -- well, by JRPG standards. :)
I’ve yet to play Golden Deer, but I’ve very much got my eye on Claude/Hilda and Hilda/Marianne! (Ok I already spoiled myself on Hilda/Marianne I definitely ship it but I’ll still wait until my GD playthrough to gush about them)
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PT#2 (Golden Deer) FE16 reactions: Part 2:
I like watching Hilda evolve into Claude’s second. She’s already progressed in a couple of chapters. Her incidental chatter is not progressing at the same rate but her C-support with Ignatz was actually pretty endearing.
Been grinding so everyone’s coming along nicely enough. Raphael can kill some things and actually doubled someone last battle. Hilda, Claude, and Lysithea are Intermediate level now-- and we’re about to face the attack on the monastery crypt.
Meeting Catherine was a reminder that the whole Catherine/Cassandra shit was more shit that didn’t get answered in Blue Lions that I ever saw... despite its impact on Ashe directly. Maybe he has supports with her that cover it? IDK.
No Felix = nobody good enough to win the Beginner’s Sword Tournament. Ignatz came close.
Buttering up Ferdie resulted in getting his C-support, which involves Demonic Beasts, before we actually encounter a Beast in-game. LOL.
Gotta say that going from adult!Sylvain back to student!Sylvain, I love how his crit quote “I’m gonna need you to move!” is said with two different inflections. In one line you can hear what five years has done to him.
Lysithea’s shaping up to be a great unit but god-DAMN did no one tell IS that the “child mage who fumes at being called a child” was annoying the last two times they did it? I felt some days like the only person in fandom who didn’t hate Ricken and then Ricken 2.0 happened and HELL NO. And Lysithea is Ricken 3.0 with a dash of tsundere. C’mooooooooon.
Raphael’s C-support with Leonie was the first time I really warmed up to him.
God I am sick of seeing these same maps again and again and AGAIN.
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Ending slides and character thoughts! Blue Lions route.
One of the two pairings I aimed for, and only because I wanted to bump Lysithea off of Felix’s top slot.
Felix was a strong unit, that I left behind a lot. As a character he’s basically a tsundere. Just with more open disdain behind the notion his country instills in everyone. He cares more deeply for his friends than perhaps anyone else in the house, and nearly ever A-rank is someone saving his ass despite attempting to push them away.
Felix/Dorothea is not that great, honestly. He has no interest in her whatsoever and she just keeps trying for some reason. “You can sing?” really, man? I would have preferred Annette, Mercedes, Sylvain or Lysithea but...
Like hell I was gonna let her die ever again! I get enough guilt with El killing.
Also she has a shockingly low battle rate this time around.
Dedue was a good solid boy. He knows exactly the prejudice he faces, can’t fault anyone for it, yet still doesn’t like it. Sure, saying he would kill children if Dimitri asked is... well, deranged and evil. But hey, no way Dimitri would ever go off the deep end like that.
The support between these two was super-cute and I am happy for them.
Hahahahahahaha.
So, yeah, Sylvain someone weaseled his way through without a wife. I really wish he had an Edelgard support, since his own goals and feelins align deeply with hers. A hatred of Crests and nobility as a byproduct. He actively engages in reprehensible behavior out of insecurity and spite and his A supports with Blue Lion girls are trying to think of women as people instead of opportunists.
Ashe had way more fights than I thought.
Ashe is another nice, good boy who’s own troublesome past lets him empathize with the downtrodden a lot more than anyone else in the game.
Mercedes is a sweetheart, but also sort of a fatalist. She believes so utterly in the goddess she just sort of accepts life as it is instead of doing anything about her deplorable circumstances. She’s beyond incredibly sharp, she sees right through Sylvain’s crap, through Felix’s defensive acts and Lorenz’s ego.
These two cooked a lot. Which is wholesome and all, but I would have much preferred Ashe/Petra since she was gonna make an Order of Knights for him, But alas.
I would have preferred Ferdinand/Mercedes too, what with him literally breaking into her adoptive father’s mansion to find the bill of sale he used to basically buy her.
That happened, yup.
Annette is a bubbly, hardworking girl who attracts barrels. She’s a good girl, with not much bad to say about her?
God Gilbert. I get that you’re wrecked with endless guilt man, but she’s right there. Always, wanting you back! Him basiclly becoming the BL #2 is an interesting twist for the route. He’s got an otherwise decent stature if the family thing wasn’t an anvil around his neck. His NPC brother comes across as more reasonable, yeesh.
Well, that happened.
Dimitri’s usually concluded as the best developed lord, and that’s a good agreement. While his switch back to sane is rather abrupt, it still makes sense, as does the complete shift in campaign afterwords.
Catherine is more important here since House Charon actually gets to be relevant a bit more. She has a father and plenty of siblings back home who still love her despite everything.
Their support was actually pretty decent, and it’s a good pairing, even if Dimitri/Dedue is probably the closest?
3096 total battles.
867 between the two of them.
28% of my fights involved one or the other.
She saved my life. Top three wife for sure.
Ingrid is sort of “must be knight” because she sure doesn’t want to be a Crest brood mare like so many women. So she instead flips to the other of Faerghus’s extremes. Then still feels guilty because her father was nearly starving himself to provide her luxury. It’s more complex then a lot of the other Crest noble family drama.
Being Pope-wife probably means everything goes as planned though! Yay her.
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get to know me for the anon fuck u (ilu)
Gintoki: What's your favorite dessert
Lemon cheesecake put it in a box deliver it to my house and put it on my cock my cock my cock my cock my cock my cock my cock cheesy on my peeny and some cream a on my balls
Kagura: Do you eat too much, normal amount, or too little?
i eat Too Much
Shinpachi: Who's your biggest idol?
Sehun from the korean boyband EXO honestly he’s so fucking gay but i’d still marry him
Hijikata: What's the sauce/spice/condiment you add to every food?
Blue Cheese Sauce or Ranch
Sougo: Is there anyone you are jealous of?
a couple of friends who this year got the scholarship to Chile and I didn’t get it when I applied to it a few months ago
Kondou: When you have a crush do you stalk them on social network?
Actually no, since im kinda tsundere-y so i just sink in my bed and Die
Yamazaki: What's your favorite snack?
any cheesy chips
Katsura: What's your biggest passion?
Languages, I currently speak 2 languages fluently, I’m studying 2 others and on my free time i study the basics of other 3
Otae: Are you the oldest, middle, or youngest sibling?
I’m the eldest
Otose: Have you ever been truly in love?
Yeah, only twice tho, once when i was like 14 and then when i was like 16 with my ex girlfriend, haven’t felt shit since then
Catherine: What job would you hate to do?
Anything related to accounting
Tama: What's your favorite techno-logic object?
currently the Nintendo Switch which i Do Not Own
Kyuubei: What gender you identify as and your sexual orientation.
I identify as gender fluid, biologically born a woman, although the gender fluid thing is more so I don’t feel bad about myself for being too much of a boyish woman, I’m not open about it nor do I ask people to call me for other pronouns other than my biological sex’s. As long as I know who I am I’m fine. also i’m bisexual because i enjoy my cucumber but also nice papaya
Sakamoto: What place have you always dreamed of visiting?
Japan... if i get my scholarship to China next year im fuckin’ gonna travel to japan IDK HOW
Mutsu: To stay in your country or move to another country?
i’m divided. . . .. honestly i want to Travel The World (tm) but also leaving my gang would be so painful because they are the best friends anyone could ask for
Takasugi: Can you forgive easily?
Yeah and also forget, i get mad at ppl for like 10 minutes and as long as they don’t keep pushing my buttons that’s probably it, the longest i’ve ever been upset is like two days
Matako: Do you have a platonic crush?
Yeah. . . . one of my teachers... who is also one of my best friends but is still illegal (he’s 14 years older than me and married)
Takechi: What's your guilty pleasure?
for some reason i enjoy more 3d animated porn than real porn (hand on chin emoji)
Utsuro: Are you good at teaching others about the things you're good at?
hell to the fucking no i get hella frustrated when they start having to learn at their own pace. im a fast learner so i can swallow a lot of information and make it work and i get UPSET AS FUCK when other people can’t do it at the speed i do it so i just don’t teach nothin’
Isaburo: Do you want to have kids?
Not really, but im most certain one of my condoms will break and im gonna be like “o shit well im gon have it” and then fall in love with my kid and have other 8 because im a sucker
Nobume: What would you name your kids (If you don't want kids, your pets)
I have always wanted to name one of my kids “Kai” idk why, then if I stay in my country i would have to name him josé or smth
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I found a little cute ‘draw the squad’ pic by machiavellical and I decided to doodle my old ocs; I had them for so long and I feel like I’ve been neglecting them, I created them around the same time, back in 2010. Believe me or not, Nate, Lys and Cas are not inspired by the mcl boys with the same names 😂, it’s pure coincidence. (I wasn’t sure if i should upload the wip or not but here it is)
I’ll drop so more info under the cut
This old story used to be full of supernatural elements and themes, with the main characters being all vampires, I never finished it and I will never finish it, since the supernatural setting is not that appealing to me anymore; so now they are all humans
zoey (name origin: i loved the name zoey ever since first grade, what determined me to pick the name was poster for a comedy play i saw a few years later)
second oldest oc i’ve ever had
main character of the story
used to be my persona
shr went through a lot of design and personality changes
nate’s little sister
currently dating stephan
petite
orange hair
daddy’s girl
bird lover
closet pervert
can’t cook to save her life
artist and bookworm
fast, but has very low stamina
nate (name origin: back in middle school one of my friends used to watch gossip girl and all i knew about the show was from what she told me at the time; long story short the name ‘nate archibald’ caught my eyes the most)
protective big bro
somehow a mama’s boy
charming and cool
very flirty
his first design was inspired by a dream i had
very good singer
loves acting and cooking
has a motorcycle
plays piano
can’t draw to save his life
sometimes he’ll randomly speak in french
both zoey and nate have that side hair lock that sticks out (i made it as a joke that they got it from their father but ended up keeping it)
cassandra (name origin: before picking cassandra i was also considering ’catherine’ and ‘penelope’ and i asked my friend to vote for the one they like the most, that’s basicly how she got the name)
zoey’s best friend since forever
farsighted
stephan’s twin sister (she’s the older twin)
really likes stars and astronomy
random knowledge about the occult
witty and loves to joke around
writer
used to have long hair
the big dipper under her eye is makeup
will fight you if you pick up on her brothers
stephan (name origin: same process of choosing his name as i did for cassie, other names that were considered were: lance and seth)
nate’s best bro since childhood
soft and tall (6 ft)
plays guitar
loves writing songs
video game nerd
very passionate about the moon
zoey’s boyfriend
gentle giant
the moon under his eye is makeup
kind of scared of small spaces and snakes
lysander (name origin: A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
cassandra and stephan’s adopted brother
very grumpy boy (or you may say tsundere af)
had a crush on zoey
currently dating castiel
loves cats and dragons
he’s not good with controlling his emotions
wants to go to law school
he’s into fashion but will not admit it
created him before his siblings because i wanted a love interest for zoey, unfortunately for him, he never got to be with her (sorry my bby, im torturing you ;v;)
undying rivalry with zoey’s cousin, elliott
castiel (name origin: heard it from one of my friends that was watching supernatural waaay before i got to watch it, i just liked the name and wanted to make a character around it)
freckles
very cheerful and energetic
polar opposite from his bf
love chocolate a little too much
very into sports
childish and very imaginative
meme lord
clumsy af
good at voice impressions
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🌹♥️♠️ ♣️ ♦️ 🐾 for tsundere kitty?
I got another ask (that I still need to do T-T) that's for all my girls' feelings for their dorm mates so I'll do Heartslabyul there 🧡
How does Catherine feel about Ruggie?
Pre-Savanaclaw Chapter
"RuRu?" Catherine giggled, "Oh he's a lot of fun! Can't feel down when you're around him. Pretty mischievous, but I guess I am too!" She smiled brightly "He's a close friend, whenever Queenies too mad, he'll let me stay with 'em for a bit. We're in the same class so whenever I skip I can check with him. I steal some of ReyRey's treats to share with him"
Post-Savanaclaw Chapter
"Oh, him..." Her lip trembled, threatening to crumble her ever present smile "Heh, what did I expect...? Did he get close to me as an excuse to know my dorm mates better?" She balled her fist "Both ReyRey and Queenie... He knows how much they mean to me.. I can't even look at him. He's the reason I skip classes more often, it's too late to try to switch classes..." she sighed, trying to hide her sadness "I called him a friend... I thought we were friends? I doubt he ever saw me as more than a meal ticket.."
#twst oc#twisted wonderland oc#oc#catherine took it hard#even when finding it it was more Leona she still couldn't forgive Ruggie#its hard to get Catherine to fully trust someone but she did with Ruggie#won't even talk to him to try to set things straight#catherine shire#catherine
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The 5 Most Loved and Hated Animal Ears in Anime
Animal ears. The anime trademark. In no other genre do you see more characters with wildlife features that aren’t straight up animals walking upright. They’ve launched a million online debates regarding the coexistence of human ears hidden under anime hair that few anime are brave enough to tackle head-on. Turns out they’re also a great predictor of love/hate relationships, although that shouldn’t be much of a surprise for anything resembling a cat.
Love them or hate them they’re a mainstay of the genre. Our friends over at Anime-Planet spend day and night cataloguing these unique features and leaving it to the fans to vote on the best and worst ears of all animal varieties. A note before we again, these are the result of popular votes that I can and will disagree with. Only your democratic will can determine who makes it on this list. With that out of the way, below are the 5 most loved and most hated anime characters with animal ears!
Loved
5. Black Rabbit - Problem Children are Coming from Another World Aren’t They?
I’d make a No Game No Life comparison for Black Rabbit but the list kind of beat me to the punch. Happily surprised to see she made the list given the difference in visibility between the two titles, especially since the whole experience of Little Garden is a... bit... more innocent. Changing hair color is neat. Anyway, Black Rabbit does her best and, at the end of the day, probably really needed this win.
4. Jibril - No Game No Life
I know the dog ears were temporary, but I was honestly expecting to see Steph here over Jibril. Black Rabbit fills a similar role, so I’m gonna assume you all just felt guilty about stacking NGNL in the Loved category. Admittedly Jibril has one of the coolest games against the siblings, taking shiritori to a ridiculous extreme ending in the destruction of the universe (temporarily). But this is really about her wholeheartedly embracing servitude and her on-and-off sadism? That’s it, isn’t it? Do bird wing ears really count? If they do, then where is Mavis Vermilion?
3. Tomoe - Kamisama Hajimemashita
Ah yes, the world famous silver-haired wolf spirit that falls in love with a mortal girl, Tomoe. Who doesn’t feel an instant pang of of compassion when faced with a stray dog? To be honest he’s pretty cruel to Nanami so I’m a little surprised to find him on the hated side of this list, but I’m just now realizing that animal eared characters seem to fall into either servile or tsundere categories and even when he’s being evil, Tomoe’s got a look. Like a classy Inuyasha.
2. Inuyasha - Inuyasha
Speaking of. Wolf boy was destined to show up on this list. He’s got one of the most popular anime franchises in history named after him. Maybe the most famously tsundere male characters ever penned. He’s got a tragic backstory, a big sword, and even his brother is cute. He’s awkward and gullible but, at the end of the day, just wants to be loved. Pretty adorable for a 200-year-old. You can even make him sit.
1. Holo - Spice and Wolf
While Inuyasha is half wolf spirit, Holo is a wolf god, so this arrangement makes a great deal of sense. You have to hand it to her, she made a unlikely hit out of a light novel series with a pretty inauspicious premise. It takes a lot of personality to make medieval trade so fascinating but Holo pulls it off even without the personal drama between her and Lawrence. While another god may be the most famous apple fanatic, she’s definitely cornered the animal ear market.
Hated
5. Hatsuse Ino - No Game No Life
Surprised at this one mostly because Ino even got the votes to place him anywhere at all? I guess he didn’t leave a big impression on me. He didn’t exactly do anything that I could imagine inspiring such ire, at least in the context of all the other stuff going on in No Game No Life. The polygamy thing is weird but pretty low on the totem pole of that series. He even invented the popular game Gal Gun. He plays dirty, but that’s nothing new either.
4. Nashetanya - Rokka -Braves of the Six Flowers-
Ok, she’s definitely evil, but why? Great character design, great personality, and an awesome power. Think about it, if she hadn’t set up the locked room mystery, we wouldn’t have even had Rokka at all and it was a great series! She didn’t hurt any of her companions (directly) and she’s trying to stop an endless cycle of sacrifice meant to safeguard the world from horrible monsters. She’s like Yuna in FFX! Yuna got a sequel and Nachetonia gets this disrespect?
3. Catherine - Gintama
I know she used to be a career criminal but she’s a whole new catgirl now. You can’t hold her past against her. Or is there some other reason you don’t like her?
2. Inuyasha - Inuyasha
I get it, Kagome and Inuyasha got off to a bit of a rocky start with all of his death threats and calling her his dead girlfriends name. In fact a lot of the trouble with their developing romance can be blamed on him, from being caught up on his memory of Kikyo to being the one to snub most of their potential kisses for literal years of our lives. I start to get annoyed if it even takes until the end of a 24 episode series. I’ll give him this, though. He only said “Kagome!” name 568 times while Kagome belted out “Inuyasha!” 971 times. Maybe she’ll be on some future list.
1. Toby - Fairy Tail
I don’t care if saying this makes me a hypocrite but putting Toby here is totally fine. Just looking at the guy gives you a feeling of mild discomfort. Mashima created the perfect uncanny valley between man and dog. No amount of personality could save him from the curse of his physical appearance. He even gets outsmarted by Natsu. I can’t think of a single nice thing to say about him. Sorry Toby fans, if you even exist.
For those keeping track, that's four dog boys, one wolf girl, two bunny women, only a SINGLE catgirl, and a birdy lady. Most of these characters seem remarkable for being overly affectionate or your archetypal tsundere, but the cats and dogs are all wrong so I'm not sure if there's any important patterns to be found.
Didn’t see your favorite on this list? Want to know where they appear among the most loved and hated on their kind? Head over to Anime-Planet’s list of characters with animal ears to see where they rank or comment below with your most favorite fang. Tune in next week, where the subject will be the most infamous of hairstyle, the pompadour!
---
Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.
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⇷ for tsundere kitten
Is that Catherine's new nickname 😂
'Deep breaths Alice... Deep breaths....' The girl tried to calm herself down as she paced around her room. Everything she needed was in the bag on her bed. Everything else in her room was fraud, a fake painting of a perfect life. Dresses, books, art, all beautiful lies. Alice took one last look around her room 'the blood stain in front of the mirror...' She reached up to touch her ear as memories of that fateful event replayed in her mind. She shook her head, she just had to stop thinking about it. If not she'd never leave.
As she put her bag on her back one final thing caught her eye, a family painting. Her mother stern but beautiful stared into her very soul. Her father, the man that never so much as looked at his daughter finally met her eyes. And finally, her older brother. The boy's mischievous grin was the opposite of his sister's who simple looked blankly forward "Alchemi..." She spoke her brother's name softly "if only things were different... If only you didn't leave me alone with her... What made them so much better? Why were they more important to you than your own sister..!" She sniffled, shaking her head "no... He's not my brother anymore. I'm not a Pinka." In a quick moment she took down the painting, placing it face down on her bed.
The night air was crisp when Alice opened her window, making her dress and hair billow around her. Blue eyes looked down at the ground below 'cats always land on their feet...' Holding her bag close she took her leap of faith, covering her mouth. She yelped when her feet met the ground, pain shooting up her body.
Without wasting time Alice quickly ran away, through the garden and the manor's yard. Through everything she had ever known. When she was just about to leave the family grounds she turned around. With a final curtsy she bid farewell to her life. Reaching up the girl took off the ribbon that covered her ears. As it fluttered away in the wind there was only one thing she could think.
Finally, I'm free
#twst oc#twisted wonderland oc#oc#twstoc#Catherine#Catherine Shire#Catherine lore#Alice#Alice Pinka#Alice lore
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