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breezy-cheezy · 1 year

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Who are Rook and Trey (if you don’t mind my asking)? (Love your art btw)

*Takes a DEEP breath* How much time you got- /half joking

Aight so. Rook Hunt and Trey Clover are two characters from a phone game I've been into recently, Twisted Wonderland. Yes. The. The Disney one. Written and Drawn by Yana Toboso (the artist/writer behind Black Butler. No I'm not kidding.) HEAR ME OUT kjhsdjkgdf

It's one of those gacha/visual novel-like games that gets marketed as like a dating sim, but has some of the most. Un-romantic settings/characters I've EVER seen. As an aro/ace, I applaud this lmao. Also amazing character and story writing like what the heck.

Very....boys will be boys energy but not the mean way, more of a “y’all are so stupid and ridiculous” in a fond way??

Actual answer under read more because I'm insane:

So every character is like. They aren't the Disney characters themselves but more like BASED on them? Sometimes several. I'm making a powerpoint on this to connect all the dots, here's Trey's lmao

Heartslabyul house! Based on: Mad Hatter, 3 of Clubs, King of Hearts, etc. Generally chill. You think he's the normal one, then he turns around and gives you an hour lecture on how to brush your teeth properly. Ok mom.

He also reminds me along of Ignis from Final Fantasy 15. He's. That type. But also not?? Still instant attachment that way LOL

Thing is he's VERY devoted to his childhood friend/Dorm leader, Riddle. But he will never admit this, not even to himself. (due to Trauma and also being totally completely normal. Uh-huh.)

SO IN WE BRING....ROOK HUNT (who is already on that slide HAHA)

Different house (it's a school setting, like Hogwarts but more Themed Houses based around. Different Disney villains) and SO. How do you explain Rook. Well he's based off the Huntsman from Snow White, mainly.

Gives these vibes. Incoming. Smiley. Will give affection. Somewhat of a threat.

Theater kid set loose. French. Loves beauty in all its forms. Drama, sparkles, has SO much love (platonic, I must preface, every time I use that, I mean in an unromantic manner) to give and is VERY vocal about it. Compliments you constantly and finds uplifting things to say even when you did horribly on something. You fell on your face? He will tell you you fell with magnificence or something idk he's just LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME, he means EVERY WORD TOO-

This dude will not lie. His eyes are too good, he is too perceptive. Oh also he hunts some students for sport, there's that little detail (HE NEVER HURTS ANYONE as far as I know he just. Watches. Love this lil weirdo. Some of his lines are "let's play tag!" and I'm like oh NO LMAO) so like I laugh at him but he's also MILDLY TERRIFYING AND CAPABLE LIKE DUDE-

Anyway, TREY you meet early since he's in the first house you deal with, Heartslabyul. But my first exposure to ROOK was through Trey's Lab Card story, which is honestly a fun time on its own. They are science club buddies!!

So right off the bat you have a very :D :D vs calm =w=;;; dynamic, which I love. But then we have....Trey, who denies how much he cares for people, for Riddle. Who shows care through his actions, baking, Due to Reasons, words of affirmation might murder him on the spot. And then we have Rook, who is a font of flowery warm appreciative words who loves and loves loudly, watching this like 👀 I see you. (incoming shots of Halloween Event part 2)

The guy calls him Chevalier des Roses to his face. Constantly. Rook has little nicknames for alot of people (most dorm leaders he calls "King of Roses" (Riddle), "King of Lions" (Leona) etc.) but he calls Trey a Knight. Of Roses. He's calling Trey Riddle's Knight. And it's very cute.

(Halloween event tossed them together and it was WONDERFUL)

But yeah Trey has his own reasons for shying away from the title. He's a baker's boy, he has no sword or armor or anything, also it's embarrassing as heck-

But Rook still sees how he treats people. He calls a knight for what it is. Rook himself ADORES his dorm Leader, Vil, and sees Trey trying to hide this same devotion and just goes "you are like me!!!" Trey: oh please no I could never-

Also they're SUCH. PARENTS.

It's just. A really good dynamic I'd LOVE to see more of, y'know? An understanding, somehow being understood by someone more than you know yourself. Rook is also weird as HECK sometimes (what do you mean you can see how Leona is yawning ALL THE WAY ACCROSS THE FEILD) and Trey nearby is. His friend. He's just like "I'm so sorry he's just like this" and it's VERY funny akjshdjksdhfs he may have to hold Rook back from blowing up the labs again, dude gets carried away.

I do love this very CUTE fan art here.

Twisted Wonderland has some lovely character dynamics. Also no one is "normal", but Rook is just another level of w h a t.

It feels like alot of interactions were just "hm spin a wheel, see who we get, slap them together" and it WORKS. SOMEHOW. Platonic Rook Trey is just one I've become extremely fond of and it's a rarer one....

You probably weren't expecting that much but it was a fun thing to answer. And THANK YOU About the art!! I wish to post more!! After school ends....soon.

#breezy babbles #anonymous #breezy replies #twisted wonderland #twst #analysis #of a sort.....#there are more details I could go into but that's MORE spoilers #rook hunt #trey clover #brotp #idk how to tag these except.....babbies #anyway trey you meet quick he's in the first book/arc #Rook is in pomefiore he's in the 5th book.....#even tho all characters can be seen in personal character stories #and chats and events etc #even the lab one we have rook trey and jade from Octavinelle (book 3)#so literally anything goes #makes hunting (haha) for content rough tho :/#esp with fandom being....ship saturated in its natural state #also school is beating me up so there's That #final tomorrow I'm procrastinating soooo hard #oops #thanks for asking about the hyper fixation anon #I went for it......ehe #twst halloween #Rook has more character bases but those are....spoiler locked #enjoy the brain rot y'all who are curious I guess #back to animation hell I gooooo

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saberamane · 1 year

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Ngl, when I saw your tagged post about the Nergigante, I immediately had war flashbacks of me and my friend playing MonHun. Nergigante’s a beast (haha).

Nergigante is actually a good monster to turn Desmond into because it’s an elder dragon which means it’s one of the most dangerous monster in any MonHun game but it has a certain quirk to it:

It keeps fighting even if it means hurting itself.

Not to mention, it’s an elder dragon without any elemental abilities, relying heavily on brute force and it’s theorized (or maybe this is already confirmed? Not sure) that Nergigante’s null elemental status and its penchant for hunting fellow elder dragons shows that it is meant to keep the balance of the world by keeping the other elder dragons in check which would… sorta tie in with Desmond’s ‘special situation’ in terms of AC lore (especially now that he’s the Reader).

The spikes on Nergigante’s body can also be used as projectile which would make short work of Cesare’s Papal Army. Although, it should be noted that due to its large body, it’s more on the destructive side so if you want him to stop the colonizers from attacking Ratonhnhaké:ton’s tribe, it would be better for him to strike them before they reach the village, otherwise, the village would be caught in the battle.

As for saving Sef and Malik and Abbas’ coup, that would even be harder because Masyaf is a small space when compared to the normal Nergigante size. Although, at that point, I’m sure Desmond wouldn’t care about destroying the fortress if it means he can save Sef and Malik.

Another thing to note is that the Nergigante’s spikes regenerate (freaking too fast in my opinion) so… Altaïr can definitely use it to craft some things. (Nergigante-based armor and weapons usually rank high as well)

Btw, if you want Desmond to have a more ethereal flaming look, may I suggest a gold/white version of Xeno'jiiva?

While Xeno'jiiva does not have Nergigante’s devastating brute force, it does have a sense of mystery surrounding it, which would fit Desmond well, and is a fire elemental elder dragon (. It’s final form Safi'jiiva loses the ethereal look but is deadlier as well.

Although, if you want a monster with a connection with the sun, our best bet is Teostra.

Or the deadlier variant, the Risen Teostra

*******************************************************************************************

Additions by SaberAmane:

Ok, so...I have Monster Hunter World for ps4, and I’ve had it for literal months now, and just havn’t gotten time to play it. But all the monsters and such I’ve seen from the game look awesome and is the main reason I got it to play.

Now for Nergigante, his size would cause issue for doing anything in towns, or dense forests, but I love the fact that Altair could use the spikes from his body to make weapons and armor, and it wouldn’t hurt Desmond at all since they detach organically.

Xeno’jiiva looks even cooler, and yes a white/gold variation would be stunning! Also I love the ‘false eyes’ look that travel up the horns, it’s something a lot of animals do to protect themselves (there’s a moth/butterfly that literally has wings that look like a snakes head) but also it’s just a cool look, and it seems like they might be able to glow as well? That would just make him all the more menacing.

But I have to say, for my love of dragons and related creatures, Teostra would have to be my favorite choice. It seems to be a type of Manticore, which is just awesome and a fantasy creature that doesn't often get used because Dragons are seen as being ‘cooler’ and often more menacing.

My argument would be, how is a lion/dragon hybrid, which is usually venomous/poisonous, and can fit into the same space a human would go to hide, not just as cool and deadly??

The Risen Teostra looks more manticore than the regular, having a more lion-like face, but I do like the giant tusks the regular one has. And it’s probably the rendering or angle or something, but the regular Teostra seems to have bigger, more ‘ornate’ horns??

So...I would have to say Teostra would be my pick. It’s still deadly, looks cool, can fly to get places quickly, but also... you can’t hide in a building/cave to get away from it because it’s too big to fit. It can pretty much go where ever a person can. The only thing i’d change is to give it the scorpion tail manticore’s typically have so he could have that poison ability to both use himself on enemies, but to also aid the Assassin’s.

#submission

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lovetals · 2 years

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Hey I just discovered your blog and wanted to send in a request since it doesn't seem like anyone has yet....uh...may I request a Madeleine cookie x reader? I think I'd like hcs plz...possibly to get an idea for one shots I could request for him in the future lmao! Btw call me snow anon!

madeleine cookie headcanons

synopsis: general bf hcs of madeleine cookie (+ incorrect quotes)

character: madeleine cookie

deets: gn! reader, fluff, when saying your name out loud it’s written down as (reader) cookie rather than (your name), espresso mentioned in incorrect quotes

notes: hhhhhh i procrastinated on this for way too long, so sorry snow anon 😭 every time i try to write this i either get a brain crash or grow upset with what i wrote ajdkfhs—but! this is no time to complain!! this is (hopefully) a slump that i’ll get over one day. tho i will say that i’m not that proud with this, so sorry if you aren’t that satisfied with this content, but i do hope these are enough to inspire some ideas for you if you request some more!

also—my first ‘named’(?) anon!! yay!!! i didn’t think i would get one for awhile tbh, but ayy we got one! i should add an anon list to my intro post now that i think about it… 👀 but anywho—welcome to my blog! ^o^)/

❀ there’s never a moment of doubt with madeleine—he won’t let you doubt yourself or your relationship. as a prideful knight it’s difficult to bring his self esteem down or any of the confidence that those close to him have, including you

❀ even if you weren’t feeling insecure about anything madeleine still likes to praise you about everything; from your physical attributes to your personality and though it sounds like he’s repeating himself at times i can assure you he’s not merely saying it to be nice, he’s saying it because he genuinely means it

❀ madeleine is also a very touchy person, even in platonic relationships he’s always giving out hugs and piggyback rides (i hc that he gives them all the time for the kids hehe), so when he’s dating you? oh boy

❀ he’s always touching you in some way; handholding, hugs, carrying you in his arms, picking you up lion-king-style—you name it, he’s doing it. also, expect a lot of kisses. doesn’t matter if it’s in public or not, he will give you a smooch right then and there. i’d honestly say his love language is physical touch, but he seems to convey his love for you in any way possible so he doesn’t limit himself to just that, physical contact is just easy to do for him cause he can do it whenever :)

❀ whenever he’s feeling extremely happy about something he likes to pick you up and twirl you around before pulling you into a hug

❀ first kisses are an important moment in one’s relationship and i’m sure even madeleine knows this. this may come off as more of an unpopular hc, but i don’t think madeleine would initiate the first kiss. sure, he may be the cuddly and affectionate cookie in the relationship, but he wants to wait for the perfect moment to finally kiss you, which may take awhile so this task might fall onto you

❀ as a knight he probably gets into fights a lot so he tends to dedicate most of his battles to you :) (this is for you, (reader) cookie!)

❀ absolutely teaches you how to fight!! just ask and he’ll show you how to hold a sword! this causes him to daydream a lot about the two of you fighting side by side one day… maybe he should commission someone to make you some armor?

❀ madeleine doesn’t strike me as the type of cookie to get jealous. in situations like someone flirting with you he’s kinda oblivious to their intentions and drives them away without meaning to lmao (after they run away he’d just turn to you like, “was it something i said? 🥺”)

❀ but one scenario i can envision him getting jealous in is if you were to start praising someone else. madeleine loves your attention so to have it go to someone else that might be better than him?? they are clearly asking for a duel! >:( no, it’s not a fight, it’s just a contest with madeleine showing off how he’s better than them at something

❀ this gorgeous cookie is a fan of gifts—giving, receiving, it doesn’t matter, he just likes them a lot. he gives you tons of presents just because he can and they can be quite excessive… and expensive. if the amount of gifts you receive almost daily bother you madeleine says he’ll try to tone it down, but it’s kinda hard to when almost everything he gets you is because they reminded him of you

❀ madeleine would appreciate anything you get him even as something as minuscule as, let’s say, a pen, but he does have a bit of a preference for handmade things. he’s just so in awe with your talent and to think you took the time to make it just for him?? why, he’s never shone brighter than before! (and, no, angel cookie wasn’t the cause of the sudden light)

❀ will go around and show off the thing you created just for him, boasting about how lucky he was and how amazing you were—madeleine is a great way to boost your sales if you did commissions just fyi

❀ madeleine likes to return the favor btw so if he’s ever getting a handmade gift from you expect something crafted by him soon. i think he’d actually start gifting you more things he’s created after the first one—it’s just so fun! it actually leads to him taking classes to learn how to make something and inviting you to learn along with him

❀ oh, and who could ever forget matching items?! he’s such a huge fan of matching things. doesn’t matter what it is; if it’s a pair, he’ll get it. do not separate.

❀ pet names? absolutely. his nicknames for you can range from “darling” to “my sugary sweet baby schnookums <3” (he says the heart out loud somehow). he repeats the nicknames you choose for him back to you, so unless you want to be called his “little scrimblo” then don’t call him that, though i can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want that 🙄

❀ all in all, madeleine is a wonderful boyfriend to have: there’s never a dull moment with him around and he’s just so loving that there’s no room for hate in your heart towards anyone

now let’s do some incorrect quotes >:3

madeleine: here’s a toast to the cookie i love most in the world!

y/n: don’t say my name, don’t say my name—

madeleine: (reader) cookie <3

y/n: madeleine, when i said to put the star on top of the tree i didn’t mean that you should climb to the top and stay there

espresso, trying to get away from madeleine: look! it’s (reader)!

madeleine, gasping and turning around: omg where?!

(extra: he’s still looking for you even after espresso snuck away o(TヘTo) )

y/n: if i run and jump at madeleine he’ll most certainly catch me in his arms—watch

y/n, turning and running: i’m coming in!

madeleine, already dropping the plate in his hand: come here, babe!!

y/n: oh, no, you’re losing a lot of strawberry jam! quick—what’s your type?!

madeleine, bleeding out: y… you…

y/n: i meant your jam type!!

madeleine: oh! red

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deiliamedlini · 3 years

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WIP Wednesday

I wrote this last night and really don’t know where I’m going with it because I wrote another section of this that’s completely different from this first part, but I’m having too much fun so this might become a long oneshot or like a two/three chapter short fic eventually. I signed into my Guild Wars account for the first time in forever to watch the chat and apparently Lion’s Arch isn’t as interesting as it used to be. Not that any of that is really relevant.

This is Zelda and the Champions as internet friends playing a MMORPG video game called Hyrule Warriors.

Zelda Harkinian loved Fridays. Not that it was a rare thing to be obsessed with the weekend, but she maybe loved it a little too much. After a week of lesson plans, and cleaning the classrooms, and sneezing students, and emails asking for an extension on a paper that wasn’t even due yet, she relished the escape the weekend provided. Granted, she still had to grade about a hundred tests, but that was a problem for Sunday or even Monday.

Smiling down at her roommate, a kitten she’d raised when she found it in the street all alone, Zelda fed her girl—whom she’d named Duchess because she had every intent of treating her like royalty—and played with her for a bit before throwing down her bag in her room and then grabbed a water and a granola bar before heading to her desk. She flipped her laptop open and booting up Hyrule Warriors, her favorite open world MMORPG.

Her internet sucked, so she grabbed her phone to aimlessly scroll to see if there was any news or updates. But it was pretty dull.

Instead, she thought back to how this whole weekend ritual began.

She’d been in a cavern just off of Death Mountain for about three days killing fire keese, lizalfos, and beamos. As a mage, her AOE skills made short work of the larger groups, hitting them all at once. It was especially useful here because her main specialties were water and light, but she struggled when boss fights came out. The NPCs weren’t great teammates, and she constantly found herself resurrecting far from the boss, only to make a long run with a health penalty that ended with her getting killed again, until her heath penalty was maxed out and she had to restart for any hope of succeeding. As a mage, her light armor made her vulnerable to physical attacks, and this boss was very physical.

Zelda didn’t like interacting with people in this game. It was massively popular, and the chat was always running. Sometimes, she’d just sit at an outpost and watch people talk. Her favorite interactions were often the random ones. She’d begun to look up the acronyms everyone used in chat just to understand them better. WTS= want to sell.

Indigo2421: WTS: Guardian Short Sword 4k rupees

Indigo2421WTS: Guardian Short Sword 4k rupees

Britneigh4Horses: WTS My mother. 1 rupee. Will pay postage fee.

But after her days of suffering in the lonely caverns in Death Mountain, she relented.

A quick search had her hands shaking, but she typed quickly so she couldn’t back out after she’d hit enter.

xPrincessZx: LFG Dodongo’s Cavern

Holding her breath, she’d waited in the hopes of a private message being sent to her.

One did.

(PM): ThunderstruckQueen: What missin are doing there?

(PM): ThunderstruckQueen: Mission*

(PM): xPrincessZx: I have to kill the Dodongo boss for the main story

ThunderstruckQueen would like to join your party.

Biting her nails, she’d accepted.

(PM): RockRoast12345: Still need someone?

(PM): xPrincessZx: Yes! That would be great! Thanks!

RockRoast12345 would like to join your party.

That had been how it started: A goron warrior with a Warhammer and some serious defensive moves joined as the tank to take as much damage for the team as he could stand, and a Gerudo Paladin had joined her party. Zelda was jealous of the purchase-only red hairstyle the Gerudo had for her character. She had a sword and shield, but her body flickered with elemental lightening magic. In-game purchase effects.

They’d defeated Dodongo with ease, and had gone on several missions together that day, taking down their storylines with relative ease. But they couldn’t function with the NPC healer who barely functioned at all.

So, ThunderstruckQueen had taken to the map chat and put out a request.

ThunderstruckQueen: I found someone. She’s a Zora Cleric. Level 40

RockRoast12345: Let her in! I want to get this one over with

Rutella Zoran IV would like to join your party.

After that, the four of them realized they worked so well together that they’d formed a guild. The Champions. ThunderstruckQueen paid the guild fee, bought a hall, and began decorating it with merchants, and chests. Zelda still shuddered, wondering what she did to have so many rupees ready to go. Needless to say, she made herself the leader.

Some days, they didn’t play together. Other times, only two of them were on. But on weekends, they all came together.

But it had been a Monday when Zelda played, and she’d been alone. Having already tossed her tissue box across her room in frustration, she debated making a new character with more defense, but she sucked it up and went into the Castle Town map, ready to ask for help. She couldn’t wait until she could get to be a higher level. As it was, she’d only gotten to these level 40 areas as a 32 because of Rutella.

Suddenly, a random Hylian man in green with a fancy sword and shield ran up to her and bowed. Zelda scoffed at her computer screen, unsure if she was supposed to respond.

She didn’t need to.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: Hey Princess

(PM): xPrincessZx: Hello?

(PM): WildKnightOut2: Jst wondering if u have a spare flower crown from yesterday’s festival. Missed it. Will pay

Zelda pulled up her inventory, forgetting she was still wearing her flower crown from the Flower Fest. It must have been what tipped him off. In fact, she had four spares.

(PM): zPrincessZx: Yeah, I do. Come to the chest and I’ll trade.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: Thx

She’d never done a trade with anyone who wasn’t in her guild, so she’d felt nervous running to grab it.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: How much u want?

(PM): xPrincessZx: Actually, I’ll give it to you free if you’re willing to help me with a quest? Or 10k.

WildKnightOut2 would like to join your party.

She accepted and watched his character appear in the corner of her screen.

WildKnightOut2: That’s a rip off, btw. Crowns are with 15k at least. Don’t undersell

xPrincessZx: Thanks. I didn’t realize. I’m still kind of new.

WildKnightOut2: Howd u get out here then?

xPrincessZx: I had a run from a friend in my guild.

WildKnightOut2: Got room for a warrior in there?

Zelda introduced him to the other Champions when they’d signed back on, and after a few weeks, Zelda had leveled up enough that she didn’t need to constantly rely on a teammate. But still. She liked Wild the best after ThunderstruckQueen.

They’d brought in a Rito Ranger named TheBestYouveNeverMet, which immediately set Wild off.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: should I aggro a group over so he has to fight them for us?

(PM): xPrincessZx: No! Don’t do that! I’ll get sent over to deal with them!

(PM): xPrincessZx: HEY! I SEE YOU ON THE MAP!

(PM): xPrincessZx: WILD GET BACK TO THE GROUP

On the mini-map, she saw a hoard of red coming at them and rolled her eyes before joining TheBest to kill them with area attacks. Rutella stayed back to heal them, but Thunder and Rock both continued on, unfazed.

ThunderstruckQueen: Wild you’re an idiot

But that was then. This was now.

They’d been together for months as a guild, and now, the six of them knew how the others worked.

If Wild or TheBest took off on their own, no one would follow. They’d both been killed numerous times in an attempt to piss the other off. Zelda had learned to stay with Thunder and Rock. Rutella flitted between running back to revive the idiots, or sticking with the smarter members while letting them heal on their own.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: u wound me

Zelda chuckled, but he wasn’t done.

(PM): WildKnightOut2: After all ive done for u

(PM): WildKnightOut2: u leave me to die

(PM): xPrincessZx: Don’t run off next time

It was a Wednesday when she and Wild were playing alone, so they freely used party chat for ease. She’d surpassed his level, and towered as a 93 while he was an 87.

WildKnightOut2: Hang on. Fuzzball wants food

Zelda stared at his character on her screen, wondering if he looked anything like that avatar. Blonde hair, muscular, piercing blue eyes. She’d made her character look like herself, so it wasn’t hard to imagine others had. Plus, he was the only Hylian. She highly doubted that RockRoast12345 was actually a giant rock-man, or that Rutella Zoran IV was a short fish lady.

She knew everything about these people except their names, faces, and voices.

She knew that ThunderstruckQueen was a single mother who called her daughter Ri on chat. She was a chief of police, and had a few hundred of her force to look out for. Still, she wanted to quit soon to join the military reserve forces now that her daughter was getting older. Devoted and loyal, Thunder occasionally snapped when everyone would start fighting with each other, though it was usually directed at TheBest and Wild, the annoyance sometimes extended out to others.

She knew that RockRoast12345 was older than all of them and had a young grandson. He’d bonded with Thunder over their children at first, and then, without meaning to, they became the parents of the group. Recently, Rock had retired from working as a supervisor in a mine, and gaming had become his way of relieving some of that boredom. But he told the best stories when they were idling around, just stories about anything, and they were always captivating. Also, he was afraid of dogs.

She knew that Rutella Zoran IV was the daughter of a politician. She cared for her little brother like he was her own, and sometimes, he took control of her character, proudly revealing that his real name was Sidon. She was in school to be a doctor, and that made her family prouder than anything. She lived and breathed for her family.

TheBestYouveNeverMet was a pilot. His schedule was the most hectic out of everyone’s because of the flights, but he was sarcastic to the core, and sometimes, the sarcasm was simply rude and definitely didn’t translate well over chat. He was superior, and since he’d been playing the game longest, he thought it entitled him to make more decisions. But Zelda knew from her private conversations with him that deep down, he was sweet and caring. He’d always be the first to ask her how her day was, and he’d learned some of her students’ names to ask if they’d been nuisances.

But Zelda spent the most time talking to WildKnightOut2, so she knew the most about him. At first, they’d bonded over the fact that they both had cats. His was called Fuzzball, an orange, fat cat that needed to exercise more. He’d tried to leash him, but Fuzz wasn’t interested. Sometimes, Fuzz would crawl over the keys, send Wild running, and send chat a long stream of letters.

He was funny and made comments in her private chat while they were playing that had her roaring at times.

He was a rock-climbing instructor and in his free time, he was a free solo climber. When she’d looked it up, she’d been horrified to see that he basically climbed mountains without a harness or ropes, and a fall could kill him. She’d asked if he was good at it, or just did it for fun, and his answer had been an ambiguous “yes.”

She knew about his family. He didn’t live near them, but he kept in contact with his grandparents, his father, and his little sister.

WildKnightOut2: k back. Where we going princess?

xPrincessZx: I need to farm for new armor out in the Haunted Wasteland. Do you need to do anything?

WildKnightOut2: I need to help u farm in the haunted wasteland. What do you need?

xPrincessZx: 10 Rubies

WildKnightOut2: damn ok I have 2 u can have so u only need 8

xPrincessZx: Thanks. How’d that party go last night?

WildKnightOut2: Sucked

xPrincessZx: Cool details

WildKnightOut2: If ud been there, ud have hated it

xPrincessZx: Why?

WildKnightOut2: Bunch of self-absorbed idiots. Like TheBest is

xPrincessZx: Lol. He’s not that bad.

WildKnightOut2: if u say so

They headed into the Wasteland looking for red poes that had rare drops for rubies. She and Wild took out a few groups before they started to struggle. Neither could play and talk at the same time fast enough to warn the other that something was happening, and they both ended up at the shrine of resurrection more times than they cared to admit.

xPrincessZx: Hey Wild. This might sound weird, but do you have that gaming app where we could just maybe voice chat?

xPrincessZx: Unless you’re not comfortable with that. We can invite the others, and when we play together, and it would probably make life a thousand times easier

xPrincessZx: But it’s okay if you don’t want to

WildKnightOut2: yeah I have it

Oh, Zelda thought to herself. That was easy.

xPrincessZx: Do you want to add me? I have the same name

She watched her phone like it was food in the microwave, only occasionally glancing at her computer to see if Wild had sent her another message. She drummed her fingers and her leg started to bounce until her screen lit up.

WildKnight has sent you a friend request.

She hastily hit accept and grabbed her headphones from the drawer before typing into her phone.

xPrincessZx: Your name is missing a few things here.

WildKnight: Yeah HW already had someone with this name so I added on

xPrincessZx: The meaning completely changes

WildKnight: which do you like better?

Zelda froze, unable to make her fingers type. Was he flirting? Was that how people flirted online? She was really good at reading body language cues, and that was always how she knew someone was flirting. But this? There was no context! How was she supposed to know?

xPrincessZx: Which fits your personality more?

That was a safe way of getting out of answering while still sounding maybe like she was flirting. Right?

WildKnight: this one

Zelda’s face warmed up and she put her head in her hands, unsure how to respond. How does she respond to that? What if he wasn’t flirting? What if he was.

#wip wednesday #legend of zelda #LoZ AU #modern au #video games #link #zelda #zelink #daruk #mipha #revali #urbosa #writing #not proofread #zelda is a professor because I was too lazy to look up any job other than my own

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kandi-pendragon · 3 years

Text

I was planning on making a YouTube video for this but I’ve got my hands full and I’m too lazy so here we go:

I’ve seen a lot of fellow Merlinites begging for a season 6 of Merlin, probably hoping for it to follow the script that three young women came up with (look them up on YouTube under the name 3RingsLeft. I love them and their songs own my whole heart) in the absence of closure from the Merlin finale. Now personally, I don’t want that to progress further than a script, but that’s only because I’m a sad pathetic excuse for a human who’s only purpose in life is to roll around in her misery and enjoy not getting any closure whatsoever from a show. And I doubt that I’m the only Merlinite out there who feels this way. That open ending is precisely what hooks you at the very end, it’s exactly what makes you so obsessed. The acting, the plot, and the characters keep you watching, but the finale keeps you thinking about it long after you moved onto other shows. And I’m too much of a coward to put that feeling of obsession on the line by rooting for closure, because my obsession is about the only thing I have going for me right now :)

Anyway, back to my point. I have been thinking about this for several months, and I wanted to get it out there. I know it might never happen but like I said. I’m pathetic. I cling to hope until the devil comes along so I can sell my soul to make my dreams come true. What have I been thinking about, you ask? Simple: BBC Knights.

Here’s a little information I wrote down ahead of time to organize my thoughts on the matter:

What is it?

Exactly what it sounds like. The idea of BBC Knights would be a spin-off of BBC Merlin, featuring the Knights of the Round Table, set in the time jump between season 3 and season 4. During this time, Lancelot is still alive, as is Uther. Arthur is newly appointed regent, and Morgana has quieted down for the time being. We get to explore so many things that we never got to before. Nothing would interfere with the finale of season five, of course. This would only be a filler, to give more content for the fandom, as well as more information, to better understand some of the characters.

Because you can’t have the Knights of the Round Table without also having Arthur and Merlin, the two of them would still be included in the show. However, they would no longer be the main focus. This would excuse some things too, for instance, not having to use Kilgarrah anymore. If the show is not focused on Merlin, we don’t have to find our way around not including Kilgarrah, because his voice actor, John Hurt, is no longer alive. (Rest In Peace, Mr. Hurt)

Focusing on the knights and this time frame would let us see more of Lancelot being a knight of Camelot, too — something he had been working towards his whole life — while BBC Merlin only granted us 2 episodes of that before killing him off. He had an entire year of being what he had strived to become since he was a child, and we never got to see it.

It would also give us the chance to better understand some characters’ backstories, something that the actor Eoin Macken said he wanted to do in the original show, had the last two seasons not been solely focused on the plot, and achieving the finale. Gwaine once mentions that he has a sister: “Well my sister is an evil old toad, so I’d be eternally grateful.” But we never even learn her name, much less what she did to make Gwaine hate her. We know that Lancelot met Percival before the others did, but we know none of the details. We know Elyan traveled around on his own for years, but we don’t know what he did, where he went, or who he met. We know Leon has been a knight for some time, but we don’t know anything about his childhood with Arthur, nor his friendship with Gwen and Elyan. There is so much potential for backstories, not to mention character development.

Of course, this all might be hard to achieve, since it’s been 8 years since Merlin ended, and the cast has aged (though not noticeably. I swear they’re immortal.) There have been hairstyle changes, beards grown, muscle mass gained. However, it’s shouldn’t be too hard to pass off. Maybe Arthur wears a crown or circlet to cover up the fact that he doesn’t have bangs anymore, Maybe Gwaine’s hair grows like a weed, Maybe Lancelot hasn’t shaved in a while, that sort of thing. Plus, it’s the fans. Merlin’s skin could be blue and we would just be grateful to have new content to analyze and cry over.

Things to include??? This is not obligatory, however, just some of my ideas. Obviously BBC Merlin changes some of the legends that they use. The Cup of Life instead of the Holy Grail, Leon instead of Galahad, the Afanc not collaborating with how it’s described in Welsh folklore, not to mention they used characters from Arthurian legend and made them their own, like Gwaine. (Gawain) Obviously if we included more adventures that the legends speak about, we would have to change the version of those legends, to better suit the characters as the show made them. However, the legends are still worth looking into, because I believe they would make for interesting episodes if done right, and they might also provide inspiration.

* Gwaine & The Green Knight * New Characters (Yvain, Drudwas, Sir Kay, Sir Bors etc.) * Yvain & His Lion * Drudwas ap Tryffin and his Adar Llwch Gwin (his griffins) * Agravaine coming to Camelot (and everyone’s first impression of him) * Explanation of Morgause’s Injury (why did it look like half her face had been paralyzed/burned off when all Merlin did was throw her into a wall?? Idk maybe I’m just stupid) * Agravaine Meeting Morgana and Morgause * Sir Kay and the Cath Palug (Palug’s Cat) * More insight to the Knights views on Magic * More detailed and fleshed out backstories for the knights (Gwaine’s sister, How Percival met Lancelot, More depth on why Elyan left Camelot, embarrassing baby Arthur stories from Leon, etc.) * Character development * New Opening Titles (main actors will change, and it wouldn’t make sense to use scenes from the original show. Also it would make more sense to keep Kilgarrah out, since he most likely won’t have a presence in the spin-off. Music could stay the same, but the scenes and names in the opening titles would probably change, as well as the whole “The destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young man. His name… Merlin” would be replaced, since the focus is no longer on the young Warlock.) * Meliodas the Demon King ._. * More POC representation, more POC in the cast. * Maybe queer rep? Casual, passing mentions of a mlm fling in the knighthood (doesn’t have to be someone we know) a character going by they/them pronouns without explanation and without making it a big thing, etc. Small, but noticeable things. It’s 2021 we deserve the bare minimum. * Tavern scenes! We know they spend a lot of time in there, but only get to see a few moments and hear about a couple more. * Maybe a first mission with all the main knights. Them working as a small team for the first time. Bonding around the campfire. This would give an excuse to create some insight into the characters while also sticking to the plot * Arthur struggling with the responsibilities of being regent (brief scenes or mentions, him leaning on his knights for support, them having to go on adventures without him) * More Gwen and Elyan!!! Being siblings!!! Please!!! * Introductions of characters we’ve already met: King Bayard, Elena, Vivian (seriously wtf happened to her?? Is she still in love with Arthur??) * Training scenes!!! When Arthur’s busy!!! Give me Leon teaching Elyan some sword moves and laughing about something from when they were kids! Give me Percy and Gwaine sparing only a few feet away! Give me Merlin helping Lance with his armor and Gwen watching her brother from across the field! Give me insight into each characters fighting style, skills, and weapon of choice! D e t a i l s!!! * More mythical welsh creatures, like the welsh cousin of the Kelpie who’s name I can’t remember but translates to water horse. So much opportunities for cool magical creature encounters! * And more!!!!

Now that we have a director in our cast, (who was rooting for this kind of characterization chance btw) I think maybe, if we’re lucky enough, we might have a chance. Idk, maybe I’m too late, but Eoin already said that he was working on a Pseudo Merlin project (whatever the hell that means) and I just. I love entertaining this idea. Who knows, maybe the spn fandom can help us summon a daemon and we can all collectively sell what little fragments of our soul we have left.

Those who still want a season 6, I get it! And I don’t blame you! And guess what— this would not interfere with that at all. Maybe we can both get what we want :)

But right now I’ve accidentally hyped myself up and made a petition so uh. Feel free to sign? If I get enough people on board I might do something about it and message Eoin, as soon as I know he’s done with his Merlin project and it would all work out 👉👈

If you have anything to add onto this post, go ahead! What would you want out of a spin-off?

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tatticstudio55 · 4 years

Text

Let’s look at these famous “parallels” between Dany and Cersei

(Because I’ve been re-reading AFFC and ADWD simultaneously and couldn’t help noticing these. This list might be expanded btw)

Dealing with a guest who’s pissing them off

CERSEI:

"Aye," her uncle said, "and from what I saw of Joffrey, you are as unfit a mother as you are a ruler."

She threw the contents of her wine cup full in his face.

DANY:

"Be that as it may, they do not trust you. The men of New Ghis feel the same. Words are wind, as you yourself have so oft said. No words of yours will secure this peace for Meereen. Your foes require deeds. They would see us wed, and they would see me crowned as king, to rule beside you."

Dany filled his wine cup again, wanting nothing so much as to pour the flagon over his head and drown his complacent smile. "Marriage or carnage. A wedding or a war. Are those my choices?"

Dealing with war refugees

CERSEI:

A hundred gold cloaks with staves and swords and maces could clear this rabble quick enough. That was what Lord Tywin would have done. He would have ridden over them instead of walking through.

[…]

"High Holiness," she said, "these sparrows are frightening the city. I want them gone."

"Where should they go, Your Grace?"

There are seven hells, any one of them will serve. "Back where they came from, I would imagine."

DANY:

"It shall be done, Magnificence," said Reznak mo Reznak. "What of these Astapori?"

My children. "They are coming here for help. For succor and protection. We cannot turn our backs on them."

Ser Barristan frowned. "Your Grace, I have known the bloody flux to destroy whole armies when left to spread unchecked. The seneschal is right. We cannot have the Astapori in Meereen."

Dany looked at him helplessly. It was good that dragons did not cry. "As you say, then. We will keep them outside the walls until this … this curse has run its course. Set up a camp for them beside the river, west of the city. We will send them what food we can. Perhaps we can separate the healthy from the sick."

Dealing with people who knows too much

CERSEI:

Qyburn arrived before the food. Lady Falyse had put down three more cups by then, and was beginning to nod, though from time to time she would rouse and give another sob. The queen took Qyburn aside and told him of Ser Balman's folly. "I cannot have Falyse spreading tales about the city. Her grief has made her witless. Do you still need women for your . . . work?"

"I do, Your Grace. The puppeteers are quite used up."

"Take her and do with her as you will, then. But once she goes down into the black cells . . . need I say more?"

"No, Your Grace. I understand."

"Good." The queen donned her smile once again. "Sweet Falyse, Maester Qyburn's here. He'll help you rest."

DANY:

The Shavepate had urged her to put the man to death. "At least rip out his tongue. This man's lie could destroy us all, Magnificence." Instead Dany chose to pay the blood price. No one could tell her the worth of a daughter, so she set it at one hundred times the worth of a lamb. "I would give Hazzea back to you if I could," she told the father, "but some things are beyond the power of even a queen. Her bones shall be laid to rest in the Temple of the Graces, and a hundred candles shall burn day and night in her memory. Come back to me each year upon her nameday, and your other children shall not want … but this tale must never pass your lips again."

Dealing with criticism and thinly veiled accusations

CERSEI:

"The Red Keep has had no master-at-arms since Aron Santagar was slain," Ser Loras said, with a hint of reproach in his voice. "His Grace is almost nine, and eager to learn. At his age he should be a squire. Someone has to teach him."

Someone will, but it will not be you. "Pray, who did you squire for, ser?" she asked sweetly. "Lord Renly, was it not?"

"I had that honor."

"Yes, I thought as much." Cersei had seen how tight the bonds grew between squires and the knights they served. She did not want Tommen growing close to Loras Tyrell. The Knight of Flowers was no sort of man for any boy to emulate. "I have been remiss. With a realm to rule, a war to fight, and a father to mourn, somehow I overlooked the crucial matter of naming a new master-at-arms. I shall rectify that error at once."

"Night soil can be washed away more easily than blood, Your Grace. If the plaza was befouled, it was befouled by the execution that was done here."

He dares throw Ned Stark in my face? "We all regret that. Joffrey was young, and not as wise as he might have been. Lord Stark should have been beheaded elsewhere, out of respect for Blessed Baelor . . . but the man was a traitor, let us not forget."

[…]

"War is a dreadful thing. These atrocities are the work of the northmen, and of Lord Stannis and his demon-worshipers."

"Some of my sparrows speak of bands of lions who despoiled them . . . and of the Hound, who was your own sworn man. At Saltpans he slew an aged septon and despoiled a girl of twelve, an innocent child promised to the Faith. He wore his armor as he raped her and her tender flesh was torn and crushed by his iron mail. When he was done he gave her to his men, who cut off her nose and nipples."

"His Grace cannot be held responsible for the crimes of every man who ever served House Lannister. Sandor Clegane is a traitor and a brute. Why do you think I dismissed him from our service? He fights for the outlaw Beric Dondarrion now, not for King Tommen."

DANY:

The weaver raised her head. "Every day we told each other that the dragon queen was coming back." The woman had thin lips and dull dead eyes, set in a pinched and narrow face. "Cleon had sent for you, it was said, and you were coming."

He sent for me, thought Dany. That much is true, at least.

[…]

"Others blamed Daenerys," said the weaver, "but more of us still loved you. 'She is on her way,' we said to one another. 'She is coming at the head of a great host, with food for all.' "

I can scarce feed my own folk. If I had marched to Astapor, I would have lost Meereen.

[…]

"Even then some said that you were coming," said the weaver. "They swore they had seen you mounted on a dragon, flying high above the camps of the Yunkai'i. Every day we looked for you."

I could not come, the queen thought. I dare not.

[…]

"It is good that you have come," she told the Astapori. "You will be safe in Meereen."

The cobbler thanked her for that, and the old brickmaker kissed her foot, but the weaver looked at her with eyes as hard as slate. She knows I lie, the queen thought. She knows I cannot keep them safe. Astapor is burning, and Meereen is next.

[…]

"These are not apples, Ben," said Dany. "These are men and women, sick and hungry and afraid." My children. "I should have gone to Astapor."

Dealing with prophecies

CERSEI:

She promised me I should be queen, but said another queen would come . . ." Younger and more beautiful, she said. ". . . another queen, who would take from me all I loved."

"And you wish to forestall this prophecy?"

More than anything, she thought. "Can it be forestalled?"

"Oh, yes. Never doubt that."

"How?"

"I think Your Grace knows how."

She did. I knew it all along, she thought. Even in the tent. "If she tries I will have my brother kill her."

[…]

It was a pity that Maggy the Frog was dead. Piss on your prophecy, old woman. The little queen may be younger than I, but she has never been more beautiful, and soon she will be dead.

DANY:

When Reznak and Skahaz appeared, she found herself looking at them askance, mindful of the three treasons. Beware the perfumed seneschal. She sniffed suspiciously at Reznak mo Reznak. I could command the Shavepate to arrest him and put him to the question. Would that forestall the prophecy? Or would some other betrayer take his place? Prophecies are treacherous, she reminded herself, and Reznak may be no more than he appears.

Dealing with sneers or matters of disrespect

CERSEI:

"One more thing. A trifling matter." He gave her an apologetic smile and told her of a puppet show that had recently become popular amongst the city's smallfolk; a puppet show wherein the kingdom of the beasts was ruled by a pride of haughty lions. "The puppet lions grow greedy and arrogant as this treasonous tale proceeds, until they begin to devour their own subjects. When the noble stag makes objection, the lions devour him as well, and roar that it is their right as the mightiest of beasts."

"And is that the end of it?" Cersei asked, amused. Looked at in the right light, it could be seen as a salutary lesson.

"No, Your Grace. At the end a dragon hatches from an egg and devours all of the lions."

The ending took the puppet show from simple insolence to treason. "Witless fools. Only cretins would hazard their heads upon a wooden dragon." She considered a moment. "Send some of your whisperers to these shows and make note of who attends. If any of them should be men of note, I would know their names."

"What will be done with them, if I may be so bold?"

"Any men of substance shall be fined. Half their worth should be sufficient to teach them a sharp lesson and refill our coffers, without quite ruining them. Those too poor to pay can lose an eye, for watching treason. For the puppeteers, the axe."

DANY:

"We are all dead, then. You gave us death, not freedom." Ghael leapt to his feet and spat into her face.

Strong Belwas seized him by the shoulder and slammed him down onto the marble so hard that Dany heard Ghael's teeth crack. The Shavepate would have done worse, but she stopped him.

"Enough," she said, dabbing at her cheek with the end of her tokar. "No one has ever died from spittle. Take him away."

Views on torture

CERSEI:

Even in the black cells, all they got from him were denials, prayers, and pleas for mercy. Before long, blood was streaming down his chin from all his broken teeth, and he wet his dark blue breeches three times over, yet still the man persisted in his lies. "Is it possible we have the wrong singer?" Cersei asked.

"All things are possible, Your Grace. Have no fear. The man will confess before the night is done." Down here in the dungeons, Qyburn wore roughspun wool and a blacksmith's leather apron. To the Blue Bard he said, "I am sorry if the guards were rough with you. Their courtesies are sadly lacking." His voice was kind, solicitous. "All we want from you is the truth."

DANY:

"If he is not the Harpy, he knows him. I can find the truth of that easy enough. Give me your leave to put Hizdahr to the question, and I will bring you a confession."

"No," she said. "I do not trust these confessions. You've brought me too many of them, all of them worthless."

MISCELLANOUS

Dealing with adverse political faction(s)

CERSEI: gleefully send Loras off to Dragonstone to be killed, frame Margaery and Margaery’s cousins for adultery, publicly shame Mace Tyrell at Tywin’s funeral, insult the Tyrells at every turn.

DANY: marries one of their highest members, try to reach peaceful agreements.

Priorities

DANY:

“The Tolosi had replied to her request for an alliance by proclaiming her a whore and demanding that she return Meereen to its Great Masters. Even that was preferable to the answer of Mantarys, which came by way of caravan in a cedar chest. Inside she had found the heads of her three envoys, pickled.”

CERSEI:

Can’t think of a specific passage here, but we know enough of Cersei to guess that if she were in Dany’s place, it would’ve been written more like this:

The Tolosi had replied to her request for an alliance by way of caravan in a cedar chest. Inside she had found the heads of her three envoys, pickled. Even that was preferable to the answer of Mantarys, that proclaimed her a whore and demanded that she return Meereen to its former rulers.

#asoiaf #daenerys targaryen #daenerys defense squad #yo I saw another idiotic take in the tags today #parallels yeah sure

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disneygirl2202 · 4 years

Text

You Did What? (Keith x reader)

Requested?: Yes @tearjuluna

Request: Hi, not so sure if I'm doing this right. It's my first time to ask or request. May I request KeithxReader where they haven't seen each other for quite some time (like with Keith leaving for space without Reader knowing) and they suddenly met each other again? Love your work btw 😁😁😁

A/N: I had this written before my cat came and closed my tab, deleting everything I had! Which means, I wrote this twice. I hope you enjoy!

Your P.O.V.

You walk towards the shack, needing to talk to Keith about something that was bothering you back at the garrison. Three cadets going missing the same night. It wasn’t normal.

“Keith?” You ask

You look around to see the shack completely empty. You shake your head before turning out.

--Time skip to when Galra first invaded--

“Commander Holt, you wanted to see me?” You ask as you walk in

“Ahh, you must be Y/N Y/L/N?” He asks

“That’s me sir.” You laugh

“My daughter and Keith talked very highly of you when I was with them. You hold a special place in most of those paladin’s hearts it seems like.” He says “But I have something for you. It’s a video much like the one Lance and Hunk made for their families. But my wife and I thought only you should see this one.”

He leans over his desk, handing you a hard drive, closing your hand around it.

You thank him before heading towards your room. You set it down on the table in front of you, pushing the button. You watch a screen show up to show Keith in some sort of armor.

“Hey Y/N, I know I left without saying goodbye and you probably hate me because of it.” Keith laughs “But just know that it wasn’t entirely my fault. Lance can be someone you blame.”

You laugh as you sit on the edge of your bed, listening to Keith tell you the stories of what he has encountered while being in space, fighting for the universe.

“Y/N I know I never told you while I was down on earth with you.” Keith starts “But I do want to tell you this now. I love you, I don’t want you to forget that. Being up here, I never know what might happen while I’m here. I just want you to know that one truth.”

You smile before hearing your door open, James standing there.

“They need us.” He says

-~-

“Adam!” You yell as you watch his screen go dark

You look towards the Admiral as she looks over the screens, trying to process everything at once.

“We need to listen to Commander Holt!” You yell “Adam and those people didn’t have to go out there and die because of your ignorance!”

You watch the Admiral look at you, shaking her head.

“Send the MFE fighters.” She says

You look at James and your team before running off towards the ships.

“Y/N, I’m sorry about Adam.” James says through the comms

“So am I. Let’s make it to where he didn’t die in vain.” You say before taking to the air

Keith’s P.O.V.

I look around the ruins, trying to take in that this was our home at one point.

I see a shot fly past my head.

“Lance, Hunk, take out those drones!” I say

I watch as they quickly destroy the drones only to have drones and sentries head towards our position.

“What? They just keep coming!” Pidge says

I watch as an orange glow passes us, destroying three of the drones.

“We had that,” I grumble as I turn to see three people aiming their guns

I study the three standing there in front of their AMVs. I shake my head before putting my bayard away.

“Your weapons won’t scramble their distress signals like ours will.” A deeper voice says

“Now get into the cars, we need to get out of here before more show up.” Another says

Shiro and I head towards one car, hopping into the back with Kosmo sitting in between us.

“Where are we going?” I ask

“The garrison.” The driver responds

I look out to see the orange particle barrier.

It couldn’t be her. She would still be a cadet...

-~-

I watch as Pidge jumps into her mom’s arms while Lance’s niece and nephew jump into his. I smile before petting Kosmo’s head.

“James, you need to calm down.” A voice says

I look back to see two of the ones that came to our aid standing in between the cars, arguing between themselves. I watch as one takes their helmet off to reveal James Griffen as he walks away.

I watch as the other one takes off their helmet, Y/H/C hair falling out of their helmet. I watch as they turn around, Y/E/C eyes boring into mine. They quickly look away before following James.

“Shiro, I need to go do something,” I say

“Go save your relationship if it isn’t already too late.” He says “I got Kosmo.”

I follow behind them, hearing Y/N yell at James.

“They ditched you Y/N! How can you still stand up for them?!” James yells “They let us become enslaved by those people! They let people like Adam die because they weren’t here sooner!”

“James! They were trying to stop it. They didn’t know that they had come to earth.” Y/N argues

“I want to assure you, that was never our plan,” I say

“Keith?” Y/N asks

“Hey. Think we could talk?” I ask

She looks at me before nodding, watching as James looks at me as he walks off.

“You’ve changed.” She comments “You’re more of a team worker now.”

“Yeah, I kind of had to learn as I was thrown into a lion with no training.” I laugh “You’ve changed as well.”

“Well, I guess a war will do that to ya.” She tries to laugh “Watching your mentor get killed against recommendations not to send them in helps I guess.”

“I heard about Adam. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you through that.” I whisper

“You were out fighting your own battles.” She says “Besides, I had my team. I’ve gotten better at handling that loss.”

I look at her as she looks at me, a sad smile on her face.

“I never wanted to abandon you like I did,” I explain

“I know. Commander Holt told me.” She says “Doesn’t mean that I don’t hate you for leaving me.”

I look at the ground, rubbing the back of my neck. I watch as a hand reaches over and hesitantly takes mine in theirs. I look up at her.

“I wanted to tell you this as soon as I saw your recording.” She starts “I’ve missed you.”

I look at her before slowly wrapping my arms around her, pulling her into a hug. I feel her grab hold of my armor.

“I just want you to know. I won’t be leaving anytime soon, at least without a goodbye.” I whisper

“I love you too.” She whispers

I smile to myself as I hold her close to me, not wanting to let go.

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secret-engima · 4 years

Note

I am horribly sick and just want to stab everyone that tries to make me use my incredibly sick throat. May I get a ramble on fangs and feathers? Or even Prompto-Cloud thingy bit thing. (Uuughgi. Sickness makes my memory WORSE. I can't remember its name and honestly F&F was a hit or a miss but it LOOKS RIGHT SO.)

I’m so sorry to hear that!! Ummm let’s go with the Prompto-Cloud thing (Clouds and Moonlit Skies verse btw). Actually *grins* let’s go with a nutty xover.

-Zack and Cloud are ten years old in this. They trip into another dimension and at first don’t realize it. They were busy exploring an old part of the Citadel, Seph is with them, having abandoned his paperwork on Zack’s puppy eyes and Cloud’s teasing. They have fun for a while, poking around dusty old rooms and discovering a new, spacious training ground to trash later.

-Then they get hungry and troop their way for the kitchens to grab a snack.

-They enter the populated part of the Citadel and come face to face with a Crownsguard.

-The Crownsguard isn’t human.

-Well, the upper half of him is, but his lower half is some kind of fluffy tabby house cat, like a centaur, but a cat.

-Both sides stare at each other in astonishment for several very long seconds before the guard shouts in shock and rears back, tail puffing out to stupidly huge proportions as he reaches for his com to ... alert someone.

-Seph acts on pure instinct, lunging for the guard and tackling him to the ground. He knocks the guard out, but not before getting a nasty claw-made gash on one arm and the guard screaming into his link something about “Drautos is here!” Which really shouldn’t be cause for alarm because he works here- except he doesn’t, because he’s half sitting on an unconscious, man-sized half HOUSE CAT person.

-A frantic game of keep-away-what-is-going-on starts up with Noctis, Prompto, and Titus all ducking into rooms and through camera blindspots to avoid the Crownsguard who are ALL centaur cat people (Zack: Cataurs? Cloud: Not the time Zack) eventually though, they get caught, because of course they do, the Citadel is different and the cameras are too many. They get cornered in a very large, grand hallway with lots of very potentially breakable art, surrounded by wild-eyed and tense Crownsguard who range from cat people to deer people to ... is that a ferret over there? Cloud is pretty sure that’s a ferret person.

-Also Cor Leonis is there, tail swishing madly as he clutches at his sword and eyes them, fur bristling slowly as their hunters all seem to finally realize that the “Drautos and unknown intruders” they’ve been chasing are NOT half animal of some kind.

-Zack is the one to break the silence by stage whispering to Cloud, “I thought he’d be a lion. You know, with the name and all.” Seph, uncaring of leaving himself open to attack, takes a moment to facepalm with a heavy sigh while someone in the Crownsguard gives a nervous, semi-hysterical laugh.

-Tension now thoroughly ruined, the three allow themselves to be herded by a stiff-legged, bristling Cor to the Throne Room where the Regis and Clarus of this dimension are. Zack smothers (badly) a giddy laugh at seeing his dad with lion hindquarters (so cliche! Lion King!) and ooing softly over Clarus’s tiger stripes.

-Seph notices something subtly relax in the king despite his bristling tail and the way everyone keeps staring at them like they’re cryptids. That is CONVENIENTLY when Gentiana shows up (as an actual centaur???) and explains that the three of them accidentally slipped through the boundaries between worlds from a nearby world, and that it should wear off within three days time.

-She disappears and the awkward conversations start. It quickly becomes apparent that the ... Taurs are a little bit in awe at the sight of their two-legged status (apparently, as the king explains, all taurs used to be humans but were turned into taurs at the FALL OF SOLHEIM. Cloud wonders if this was how Aerith felt when people gushed over her being an Ancient). It also becomes evident that none of them trust Seph. At all. They keep their eyes on him far more than Zack and Cloud (though Regis does stare at Zack a bit, no doubt it’s weird looking at his son with human legs). Cor looks two steps away from murder at all times while glaring at Seph even as Clarus and Regis argue over where to house them for the three days that will be secure and how to keep this from getting all over the media.

-Finally Cloud snaps at Cor that if he has a problem, come out and say it. Everyone stares at him in astonishment for reasons he can’t fathom (yet) and finally Clarus explains that the Titus Drautos in their universe was a traitor who tried to assassinate Regis and conquer Insomnia. Seph blinks very slowly at that because wat. Why would he work for the people who experimented on him AGAIN. Then he realizes that without his past life memories he probably would have been brainwashed into it yeah. “I can see that,” Seph muses aloud while Zack sputters and Cloud spaces out dangerously at the distance. At the sudden tensing he waves a hand and drawls, “Niflheim and I do not get along.” He pauses, then adds just in case it come up somehow, “I cannot speak for your Titus, but I was forcibly captured out of the Crownsguard, experimented upon, and implanted with an armor unit codenamed Glauca. It did nothing to endear them to me.”

-Zack flings his arms around Seph’s and yells loudly before anyone else can say a word, “He’s mine! You gotta problem with them then fight me!” Zack pauses then adds, “Actually, you gotta problem with him then I’ll sic Prom on you.”

-“I don’t think that’s a very intimidating threat unless you know our Prompto,” Seph points out dryly but Zack loudly shushes him.

-They end up in a guest suite meant for visiting royals, with a few Crownsguard outside to make sure they don’t leave and aren’t disturbed. Of course, because their luck is their luck, the rumors have spread far enough that Regis, Cor, and Clarus are unable to run damage control before the Chocobros of this world hear about it.

-A day into their stay, Regis reluctantly takes the children to visit with Clarus, Cor, and Aulea all as backup. They enter to find all the furniture pushed to the far sides of the room, Titus on one end of the room, all three having what appears to be a mini war complete with battle lines. All three pause in their war, Noctis-Zack calmly dangling from Titus’s fist by his ankle while Prompto-Cloud lies sprawled near the door, feet up by his own head, arms splayed like he’s just been kicked in mid-air and didn’t have time to land right.

-“Are we interrupting something?” Cor asks stiffly. Noctis-Zack just laughs and Cloud attracts more than a few stares as he flips himself upright in a smooth movement utterly impossible for a Taur. Seph casually drops Zack without warning and the boy easily twists to land on his feet. Regis ... reluctantly asks if they would mind meeting their child counterparts plus a few friends, which Zack is all for and the other two fold to his whim. So Regis reluctantly lets the children enter. Noctis thunders up to Zack with bright eyes and gapes at his two-legged status while Cloud finds himself suddenly face to face with 10,000 Rays of Sunshine wearing his face and wagging a tail like a mad thing. Gladio trots up to Noctis while Ignis just kinda watches from next to the adults as the Nocti exchange greetings and then Zack hastily goes to extract Cloud from Prompto, because Cloud looks two inches away from a panic attack and stabbing is not recommended right now (Cor sees the sheer difference between his son and this human version and something in him growls. Why is the human Prompto so quiet, so alert and wary, watching everything, even himself, like it might attack?)

-Prompto deflates a bit at his counterpart’s silence and wariness, not understanding why and Seph breaks the tension by humming, “You know, Zack,” (who is Zack? The Taur adults wonder until human Noctis perks up), “I find myself a bit surprised. I would have been certain that your counterpart wouldn’t be a lion.”

-“Why’s that?” Noctis asks with a head tilt.

-Seph smirks, cool and smug and positively catlike, “Because he’s nothing but a big Puppy.”

-“Oi!” Zack yells but he’s laughing, “I make a great lion!”

-Cloud’s lips twitch against his will and he adds, “Well, this is another dimension. Some differences in temperament are to be expected.”

-Zack puts his hands over his heart with a gasp, blue eyes big and watery, “Cloud- Cloudy- My Cloudy Prompto Cloudy Spiky Buddy! How could you betray me like this??”

-Cloud just raises an eyebrow very slowly.

-Their banter is interrupted by a laugh from Prompto, “You guys are weird,” he says with a tail wag.

-Zack grins back and despite having known his son as a lion cub all his life, Regis can almost see the matching wagging tail on the boy, “You don’t know the half of it! Wanna play something?”

-The kids end up playing a strange mix of tag and the floor is lava (which Ignis RULES at because Ibex and Cloud rules over right behind him because Stubborn Mountain Boi) while Seph watches with fond eyes and finds himself slowly dragged into a conversation with Aulea.

-Some questions are exchanged and answers given, Cor snarls under his breath at the news of Prompto being given up to a neglectful home until finally being adopted by Cor where he belonged, and Regis and Aulea clutch hands when Seph slowly admits that Zack (they’re going by Zack, Cloud, and Seph to differentiate counterparts, claiming it’s an “in joke” and “nicknames”) hasn’t noticed her because he doesn’t recognize her. Queen Aulea died when Zack was a year old.

-But it’s not all sad things with the adults, Seph tells them little anecdotes of his world, and Regis notes how much more ... mellow this Titus is. Cunning yes, and somewhat cold, but not pushy and angry. Much more patient, and there is clear devotion in his eyes as this Titus watches his Noctis and Prompto play.

-Cor ends up sparring with this Titus, because Seph isn’t going to turn down the chance to Throw Hands with a cheetah man anymore than Cor will a human.

-It’s a tie that ends with both of them wheezing and tired on the floor.

-Cloud ends up falling asleep at one point and Prompto flops down next to him and soon they are both out and cuddling. All the Pictures are taken.

-Regis and Aulea are bemused and horrified by just how much of an Energizer Bunny Zack is. Like- HOW. Where do you store it all child and they thought Prompto was bad in his puppy stage.

-The three days end and the three disappear as swiftly as they came, and Zack is gleeful to have all the photo evidence Seph thoughtfully took to prove that YES they went to a world with Taur people and LOOK DAD YOU MAKE AN AWESOME LION. SO DOES MOM. SO DO I. AND HAH IGGY IS A GOAT (Ibex, Cloud corrects with a sigh and is ignored by Zack).

Tagging @robininthelabyrinth because I’m pretty sure Nocturne is your fic? Hope you don’t mind this little silly xover. I just loved the story too much to resist.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #Clouds and Moonlit Skies verse #nocturne #long post

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jeanjauthor · 4 years

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A rambling musing on mortgages, stone lions, traffic signs, & European heraldry, the symbology that rules much of our modern lives.

Stone Lions at the end of a driveway...means that the mortgage has been paid off.

I like this concept...except I think I’d want to get stone snow leopards. I grok them (get them / intuitively understand them / feel at one with them) more than lions, or any other cat...other than housecats. Might be easier to get stone housecats...but if I got them...

Would I get them as Sejant (heraldic term for cats sitting upright, butt on the ground, forelegs vertically straight, think cat statues from Egypt), Couchant (heraldic term for butt & belly/chest on the ground, forelegs semi-stretched in front, head erect, think of lions in front of the NYC Public LIbrary), Dormant (same as couchant but head down, napping), or Catloaf (not an official heraldic position/term, but basically couchant with the paws tucked under, head erect)...?

Rampant (heraldic for one foot on the ground, the other three raised as if scratching/mauling/attacking) would be difficult to acquire, and require either: hellaciously expensive stonecarving with supportive flora or flowing cloak or tail dragging on the ground, etc, to hold up the weight of the body; cement or geopolymer with steel rebar support welding it to a heavy base; wrought iron (which can support its own weight on one slender-by-comparison hind leg); or cast resin...which would require more supportive elements.

Or maybe I could go totally modern and install video screens, and just stream images of funny cat gifts & videos all the time...? (And occasionally flash a sign, “This is NOT a drive thru entrance, No U Cannot Haz Cheezborgers Here!”...?)

...Also I have no idea what to call this position, heraldically. (Which could totally be my aesthetic, not gonna lie...well not gonna fabricate, ‘cause obviously if it’s my aesthetic, it’s my position and I’ll lie down ‘n mlem it, lol.)

If it were a bird, it would be Splayed, but splayed is seen in a position looking directly at the belly of the beast, like an X shape, usually with the head at the top of the image, tail (feathered or otherwise) down at the bottom. This is like...dormant inverted?

The tongue mlemming in the .gif would not be replicatable in a static image, but tongues showing is often a part of heraldic design; you just have to say “langued (color)” (langued = we gave it a tongue, yo!) to indicate it’s visible.

And since snow leopards are automatically argent (white/silver, a metal (the other metal is Or, gold/yellow, and always written with a capital O)) spotted sable (black, a color, but in minor amounts compared to the main color)...you have to tint the langue (tongue) a contrasting hue.

This means that argent (the main ‘color’ of the beast, heraldically considered a metal) must be langued (given a tongue) with a color (often rouge (red) or azure (blue), but could also be purpur (purple) or even vert (green)). Or it could be tinted with a “fur” (spotted in special ways, or patterned in specific ways meant to emulate ermine spots, grey squirrel fur backs & bellies, etc, but let’s be honest, a tongue is too small for that, and my tongue isn’t always dead-fuzzy in the mornings, so it’s not 100% “me” to have a furry tongue.)

Confusing? I know!

But remember, European heraldry was designed to Make Things Visibly Distinct At A Distance. Before the eras of snazzy uniforms (American Revolution, French Revolution & Napoleonic Wars, the Prussian Army, etc, etc), everybody just threw on whatever armor or protection they had available and went to war...and...in the melee scrum, everyone moshpitting around you could easily end up killing folks on your own side by pure mistake.

So heralds came up with rules for heraldry...and to this day, those rules govern our lives, writers, artists, readers...and those rules have gone worldwide. Not just because of colonialism (sorry for that part of things, everyone else), but because the rules work.

If I recall correctly, I’ve blazoned (written out in fancy heraldry language) this particular sign before:

On a lozenge Or within an orle, on a billet sable, a torteaux, a bezant, and a pomm. --12th Century Norman Heraldry language (English translation: With our fancy shorthand language and its many governing rules, we are describing a yellow diamond shape with a thin black border around its edges that doesn’t actually go all the way to the edges, so you still see a little bit of yellow at the very edges of the sign; in the center of all that yellow is a black rectangle that’s vertically long, and on that black rectangle we can see a red circle at the top, a yellow circle in the middle, and a green circle at the bottom.)

Aka it’s a Traffic Sign Ahead sign. For those who aren’t visually impaired, if you’re on the internet, you’ve probably been exposed to enough other modern life images to know what this is.

The yellow background is bright but light in color, compared to the black, the red, and the green elements. (Btw, a torteaux is French for cake, bezant means the gold coin of the Byzantine Empire, and a pomme is French for green apple; it’s way shorter and more concise to say a torteaux, which is automatically defined as red & round, than a red circle, one word for the price of two.)

Here’s another one, a little more challenging to define:

Ignoring the 3D-esque shadowing and oulining, we have:

Argent within an orle sable, a fletchless arrow upright, shaft and pheon broken to dexter, sable, surtout an annulet barred bendwise gules.

...Who the what now??

Since it’s not on a diamond shape (lozenge), but instead on a square (a form of rectangle), we don’t have to mention the shape, this time. Coats-of-arms are always presumed to either go on a shield shape or a flag (rectangle or square) shape. It’s only when you get fancy (or female coats-of-arms, blah blah blah), that you have to mention it being on any other shape.

Argent (white background) within an orle sable (thin black border that doesn’t actually touch the edges, same as above), a fletchless (no feather bits) upright (arrow pointing up), Shaft and pheon (midpoint and arrowhead) broken dexter (to the viewer’s left, but the wearer’s right if they’re actually wearing this as a shield or a tabard; the fact that we include the pheon (arrowhead) in this indicates the arrowhead is off to the viewer’s left); surtout (another object lying on top of the last one(s) we just described) an annulet (fancy name for ring) barred (it’s got a stripe across it!) bendwise (hey, it’s a diagonal stripe, from dexter chief to sinister base (viewer’s top left to bottom right, but the wearer’s top right to bottom left), gules (ande hey, it’s red!!).

Basically it’s a No Left Turns Allowed sign. The red circle-with-diagonal-slash is a “Not Allowed” symbol, and the arrow points to the viewer’s left, indicating “Do Not Turn Left Here.”

Black on traffic signs is a strong color that shows up very well against yellow (the color used for cautionary rules, curvy road ahead, rocks falling, pedestrian crossing, etc) and white (absolute rules, such as Speed Limit/Maximum signs and Do Not Enter signs, etc.). Black is most often used for either text, or for arrows and other lines indicating the flow of traffic (merging lanes, etc).

It’s visually friendly to pair up a very strong color (black, red, brown, blue, green, rarely purple) with a pale one (white or yellow). People who have colorblindness issues or who need glasses to see can usually still tell the various bits apart with these high contrast choices.

But...the smaller the details, the less you want to clutter those details. So the basic rule in heraldic design is, make the image about 6 inches tall, pin it to a wall, and stand back 10, 15, or even 20 feet. Can you still tell what it is? Yes? Good design! If you cannot...rework it!

So...the reason why I got off on this tangent is that...well...I finally sold my house. Which means my mortgage is technically paid off.

So I could get stone lions for my driveway...except I no longer own the property. *sigh*

But I’m hoping to take the funds leftover from paying off the mortgage to buy land outright, and build a tiny house on it. Which hopefully would be paid off without needing a mortgage...or maybe only the tiniest of mortgages...which means I could get “stone lions” for my driveway, some day.

...Which don’t have to remain stone-colored.

See, that’s the thing: statues in medieval times weren’t always plain stone, ya know! (Certainly not in Roman & Grecian days, hoo boy did they love color!) They painted them, covered them in fabric and flowers, applied gold and silver leaf, copper sheathing, etc, etc, etc.

So I’m sitting here wondering what sort of “My House & Land Are All Paid Off” stuff I could get. Because I (technically) could...some day.

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dlamp-dictator · 5 years

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Allen Rambles About Three Houses

So last week I finished up my Black Eagles playthrough of Fire Emblem Three Houses. It was... okay. It wasn’t great. I had a few issues with the pacing how quick the plot move to the final battles and the lack of build-up for the big climaxes in the last few chapters, but I had a good time overall. Still, I was left unsatisfied. Between Fates, Echoes, and even Warriors, I think I enjoyed this game the most, but also had the most uncertainty with.

Fates was a fun game with fun mechanics and fun customization options if you were willing to grind for it, but also had the worst stories and narratives. Echoes had the best story out of the three, but had some game mechanics I really wasn’t a fan of like dungeon stamina and enemy AI nonsense. And Warriors was just fun fanservice as a fan of Dynasty Warriors, but was overall boring and repetitive after completing the story mode.

Three Houses honestly succeeds in every category so far. It has an engaging story, fun gameplay mechanics with a lot of customization options, and a lot of fun interactions and cute moments in it. But even so, I still can’t help but have issues with it.

So... I want to talk about that for a bit. I want to cover what I like and what I dislike about this game so far. Just talk a little bit with the fanbase to see where my feelings and thoughts are compared to everyone else’s.

But first, as always, a synopsis for those unfamiliar with Three Housed.

Fire Emblem Three Houses is a strategy game for the Nintendo Switch and the 16th game in the franchise. This game in particular focuses on three heirs to three different nations on the continent of Fodlan. The proud and commanding Edelgard of the Adrestian Empire who has great ambitions for her nation and its people despite how radical and blasphemous her manifesto seems. The kind well-mannered Dimitri of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus who’s smile and inviting nature hides a dark and maleficent past that still haunts and eats away at him to this day. And the easy-going and playful Claude of the Leicester Alliance who always seems to be planning something more sinister and malicious than his devil may care attitude shows. These 3 heirs all go to the same military academy at the Garreg Mach Monastery, both a religious and military center where the church resides. Together they enjoy school life, interact with students and classmates, compete in friendly competition, and learn the ways of war together. However, as political events, social changes, and possible wars erupting, the three friends are tested and eventually break part, now pointing their blades at each other for their own beliefs and goals. And as violence is all but certain as the years tick by, all the three can do is wait until they’re forced to kill each other for their beliefs, their goals, and their countries.

You play as none of these characters.

Instead, you play as Byleth, a new professor at the academy and former mercenary. You choose one of the Three Houses to teach and become wrapped up in their machinations as the plot thickens. How you train your students and ready them for the real world for the trials to come is all in your hands.

So... with that all said and the plot laid out, I think I should start with my issues first in the say way I did my quick thoughts. Just so I can at least end this on a good note after all my nitpicks and issues.

With that said, I’m going to start small and first cover...

Things That Only Annoy Allen

So last time I tried to write this I had to make my first “small” grievance into it’s own part. I’ll try and keep this short since I really want to keep this to the actual small stuff:

I don’t like Byleth’s female design. I’ll go into detail later but for now just know the lacy stockings are distracting for the wrong reasons.

There’s no female brawling class and it bugs me greatly due to Petra’s and Ingrid’s high speed growths. They could be some extremely high DPS infantry in the right hands with those things, but there’s no really class to take advantage of that aside from maybe Swordmaster.

More for story reasons than anything, I wish there was an in-game limit to how many students you could have join your class. About 3 students per House if I had to put a number on it for reasons I’ll explain later. This isn’t an issue, but it’s something I’d like.

Magic only being accessible for certain classes bugs me. I understand the in-game reason for this as a physical unit that could use some emergency (if very weak) magic after losing weapons or fighting armored units would honestly break the game even further than it can be now, but still.

Something I might mention later, but after watching a Blue Lions playthrough by one of my favorite Let’s Players I feel that the game should had limited which House we could join first, as my Black Eagles playthrough would had been more fulfilling learning of some things I’ve learned in that Blue Lions run.

Class mastery should be tied to levels instead of as a separate experience bar. I understand why that’s done, mostly keep people from really min-maxing classes and abilities, but it’s still annoying in terms of optimization.

Edelgard, the only female lord, is the only bisexual lord. Now I’m not in the LGBTQA+ community, but as a gamer and self-proclaimed degenerate I know that denying the yaoi fangirls a male gay option for a main character is... suspicious, given the lovable bisexual rouge of Niles in Fates, and it clear that Claude could had easily been a bisexual option as well given his personality. Again, not in the LGBTQA+ community or trying to play the social justice card, but it is making me raise eyebrows toward the games marketing and aimed demographics.

Byleth in general just... bugs me as a character, but I’ll get to that later.

...

And now it’s later, so let’s get to talking about the main thing that bugs me with Three Houses, and that’s...

Byleth

I don’t like Byleth. I don’t like Byleth at all. I namely don’t like how they were executed, but the fact that we have another avatar character after how well Echoes worked as a story without a self-insert character, I’m just... baffled. I’ll try and break this down a little.

Byleth’s Design

I really don’t Byleth’s design, namely the female design. The male version looks fine, if a little too black for my tastes, but the female version is trying way too hard to look sexy. This only makes me mad because both Awakening and Fates had female avatars that didn’t look overly sexy or obviously pandering to the male gaze. They were just the female version of the male version’s outfit. Maybe there was some more boobs and hips because female, but it was mostly forgivable.

And look, I’m not prude, far from it. Senran Kagura is one of my favorite video game series (cautiously hyped about Yumi being in Cross Tag BTW). Rumble Roses is a guilty pleasure I play every so often. One of my favorite anime is freaking Koihime, aka ‘Ikkitousen but better EVERYONE is a girl.’ I’m not saying you can’t have a sexy character or a bunch of sexy characters in a game or piece of media. However, that character should at least have a sexy personality to go with it. And with Byleth, who has the personality of cardboard has been with her mercenary father all her life fighting for her life, it doesn’t feel like she would actively be trying to look sexy since she doesn’t have the personality for it, or a personality at all. She looks less like a mercenary or teacher and more like Manuela forced her into some lacy stockings to make her branch out...

Huh, that would be a good paralogue/support conversation, but I’m not about to rewrite the game just for my satisfaction... yet.

If you want my quick armchair redesign ideas in terms of design I’d just stick her in Male Byleth’s armor, maybe have a more pronounced/noticeable skirt instead of a long shirt, and dear God get rid of those lacy stockings. Byleth is suppose to be a mercenary that’s only known battle with her father, the Ashen Demon that rarely shows their emotions, not a sexy fashion model. The Enlightened One model is it’s own mess, but this section ate up enough of my time already so I’m moving on.

Byleth’s Personality

Again, Byleth having the personality of a damn rock really kills my attachment to the character. They don’t speak or emote beyond generic level up phrases and crit quotes.

Which is a shame because Byleth has some really good crit quotes.

However, from what Jeralt and other students say about Byleth I can gather that their someone that’s often quiet and standoffish. They don’t speak unless prompted to or needs to interject. They tend to observe more than act, even more so after they gain the ability to rewind time, but have a razor-sharp and deadly focus when in combat. And despite their distant nature, they do care about their students, friends, and family quite a lot, willing to break the emotionless Ashen Demon persona to crack a smile even now and then, even completely showing deadpan shock when something surprising or appalling is said, as rare as it happens.

This is literally Yu Narukami’s personality in Persona 4 the Animation.

And that anime not only gave Yu Narukami more agency and personality than the self-insert the game made him out as, it also gave him a lot of a good back-and-forth with his friends and cast at large.

youtube

Seriously, this could had been Byleth if they bothered to let them speak and actively interact more independently, and it would had been great.

But that aside, I’m moving on to something a little more important, which is...

Byleth’s Importance

[Spoilers for the Black Eagles Route Ahead]

Again, I’ve only played the Black Eagle’s route, so maybe this changes in the other Houses, but Byleth seems way too important for his own good when we have 3 other “main” characters. He’s the crux of a lot of events and it doesn’t feel deserved or built up to well enough. In the Black Eagle’s path, you’re the one that convinces the class to work with Edelgard instead of Edelgard just explaining herself before the class of her goals. You’re the one leading the Black Eagle Strike Force instead of Edelgard or Hubert taking command and leading after years of not having the professor around and having to survive the war on their own. You’re the one that Rhea has a personal vengeance for instead of the woman that torn the church apart with both words of steel and blades of iron. And you just randomly find out that your the progenitor god from Edelgard and Hubert toward the very end. It feels really anti-climactic, but I also get the feeling that we were suppose to play Edelgard’s route last, something I’ll save for later.

Among other things, I just feel that the focus on Byleth stagnants Edelgard’s character a lot. I want to see Edelgard struggle with the fact that her ideals, while noble in concept, are dragging the world in the flames of war and that she’s seen more as a tyrant than a savior, but instead we focus on Byleth’s mysterious birth and power after being gone for five years. This game, at least on the Black Eagle route, was so damn close to telling a really good war drama, but backpedals due to Byleth’s existence and perceived importance.

Sothis

[Spoilers for Mid-Game Ahead]

I wish she was more active in the story. Nothing too big, but if I had to deal with emotionless rock that is Byleth, I’d like to have seen Sothis sprinkling her commentary on everything they did. Just imagine Sothis sassing Byleth about how their always eat lunch with their students. Her commenting on the fish they catch. Her giving additional small hints about who owns certain lost items after failing so many times to give the right item to someone. Her sassing every student in their support with Byleth on C-rank. Her telling you to go to sleep when you run out of activity points. It’d add a lot to her character and it’d make the moment later in the game when you no longer have her voice around feel more impactful. Imagine catching a big fish after fusing with her and... hearing nothing about it how big a catch it was. Imagine trying to give Ingrid a lost sword for the fifth time, hoping to hear a hint from Sothis and... you hear nothing.

Again, just an armchair idea, but at least that way when Byleth is being a plank of wood we’ll have Sothis to add some literal flavor text to everything they do.

Ah, but that’s enough about Byleth, let’s move on to something a little more important. Like...

The Gameplay

Thankfully, my issue with the gameplay are more nitpicks if anything, and I can actually have this in list form too.

As I mentioned in my quick thoughts, I feel like late-game/master classes are more of a pain to gain than most others. A lot of them need to have some heavy grinding in a stat you didn’t likely need to worry about before. Mortal Savant requires you to heavily grind either a physical class in magic or a magical class in swords, something that you likely didn’t do. Speaking of magic, it’s annoying that for all the customization in this game only certain classes can use magic. It makes raising a Mortal Savant or a more physical Holy/Dark Knight a nightmare. Again, I understand why this was done, but it’s annoying all the same.

Gender-restrictions, as I also said in my Quick Thoughts, are just dumb. Fates had removed this and it was great to have the freedom to give my male units the ability to become Falcon Knights, or my Female units to be... Okay, I only played Fates and Echoes, but the fact still remains that not being able to make a female Grappler/War Master or a male Falcon Knight really sucks and limits me quite a bit. Especially the inability to make Lysithea a Dark Mage. It’s practically wrong.

A lot of these maps have the same issue that Echoes had. They’re big and have a lot of enemies, but not much creativity to them. Okay, they have some thought put into them, more than Echoes anyway, but a lot of them still just feel like big fields that need at least three flying units to be manageable. Again, I’ve only played the Black Eagle route so there might be some more interesting maps in the other routes, but from what I’ve played there was no real strategy to these maps outside of baiting enemies and maneuvering around traps. I think there were probably only two maps that weren’t giant mazes or an empty field with a lot of enemies in them.

To the point above, this made slow moving armored classes almost completely useless. What point is there in having a slow tank on maps that span to what feels like 60X60 tile maps? Plus the maze-like design? Yeah, I don’t know how these maps were meant to be interesting.

And that’s it for gameplay issues. Moving on to...

The Story

Again, something that can be put into list form due to the story having more nitpicks than actual issues:

[Spoilers for Black Eagles Route Ahead]

The split decision to join Edelgard or not is dumb, as is the requirement to have the option available. I think it’s foolish to think we wouldn’t agree with her after listening to her manifesto for so long, especially if you played a Blue Lions route and seeing how Sylvain and Ingrid were screwed over due to their Crests, or just... Lysithea’s background in general. I can’t argue with her beliefs, only her execution.

The Flame Emperor reveal was... really anti-climatic. As if, again, they assumed we’d do Black Eagles last. Playing this route first just leads to a lot of anti-climatic reveals, especially on Edelgard’s route.

I just really wish Edelgard came clean with her classmates and commanders at some point in the story, to just tell them all that she was experimented on as a child and had two Crests as a result. That she wants to eliminate the nobility and Crests as a symbol of statu because of the harm it does to people both on top and on the bottom of the social food chain. It’d give a lot more weight to her cause.

Again, most of my issues with the story come from Byleth having too much screen time and importance compared to Edelgard as a whole. Especially when I did the route where I chose to go with her.

Alright, I think that’s it for all of my nitpicks, all the major ones anyway. I think I finally move to...

The Good Things

Again, this will be in list form since a lot of the nicer parts about this game don’t need as much breakdown as the bad parts.

But anyway...

As much as I don’t find the late game reward in terms of class advancement, the mid and early game are great for experimentation. I've had a bunch of fun on my second playthrough with some creative builds. I might suffer a little in the late game due to not optimizing everything, but that’s managable.

As I also stated in my quick thoughts, dismounting is hilariously broken. The amazing amount of utility you get from being about to dismount once you reach a destination and then mount at the start of the new turn for free while also being safe from arrows and horse-effective weapons is hysterical. I honestly think this was a bug that just didn’t patch and that dismounting meant you were stuck with the lower movement for the rest of the turn, but God am I going to use it until they eventually patch it out.

I’ve got... issues with the Black Eagle route, at least the route I went through, but I’ve been watching a playthrough of the Blue Lions route and it’s everything I could have wanted in a Fire Emblem game and more. If you want to play a good story I recommend the Blue Lions as your first route.

But to cut the Black Eagles route some credit, a lot of Edelgard and Hubert’s A-Supports were probably some of the best I’ve seen in the series... though I’ve only played Fates and Echoes, so...

Speaking of supports all of them were done very well. Like I said, Edelgard and Hubert had great supports, but Lysithea, Petra, Caspar, and Dorothea had great supports as well.

A lot of the supports and voice acting are great. It’s a key reason as to why I like the supports so much. The Lords are especially great to hear and were directed well.

And... yeah, that’s all the good things. Don’t let the short length fool you, folks. Like I said before, my issues are more nitpicks. The game as a whole is just fine.

That said...

In the Future

As much as I want to, even as a fun little project, I think it’s a little arrogant of me to be making any rewrites or “improvement” to the current story of Three Houses. I have various reasons for this that I might go into depth to in a later Rambling, but the short version is as someone that’s struggle to write their own story I feel like a hypocrite for trying to “correct” another’s. However, I think it’s far game to make requests and bring forth ideas for a future title, especially since this one is selling so well. And so, before concluding I’d like to present a few things I hope to be in the next Fire Emblem game:

No Avatar Character

Like I said, I feel Byleth’s entire presence can ruin scenes due to his lack of personality and engagement. And as easy as it would be to give him one that would also mean the play losing their use self-insert character. To this I say it’s probably best to just not have an avatar/self-insert character to begin with. You can easily make a character that has the stats of an above-average all-rounder as your main character/lord while still having a personality. I think Echoes did this well enough with Alm and Celica, especially Celica if we’re talking stats and utility as a healer/magic/swordsman hybrid.

No Gender-Locked Classes

This is more of a personal desire than something that needs to happen, but if the next Fire Emblem game is going to give us this much customization then I’d really like to have complete control and not be restricted by gender, especially when we’re talking stats. A War Master Hilda would be wild. As would a Hero Petra, a Gremory Linhardt, a Dark Mage Lythesia, and so on. To restrict us is not only screwing people who want to make quirky builds, but also those that want to make optimal builds. Either remove the gender lock, or have these characters with more straight-forward classes like in Fates.

One/Limited Routes

Again, I haven’t played Blue Lions or Golden Deer yet, but the Black Eagles route had a branching path that I honestly think shouldn’t have existed. Maybe this was for reasons I can only guess at, but the story of the Black Eagles Route I was on felt very rushed, or at least it assumed I had played either the other Houses or the “canon” Black Eagles route first. That left the actual story, while I personally found engaging, very rushed and underwhelming at the end. In the future I’m hoping for either one path, or for alternate paths to be locked until you complete the other “main” ones that give a fuller story, because a lot of what I’m seeing in the Blue Lions playthrough I’m watching would had been nice to learn in the Black Eagles route to see Edelgards view of things.

Smaller Maps

Like I said, the maps in Three Houses are a little too large, especially with slower armored/magic units in the early game with only 4 movement. In the next game I’m hoping for either smaller maps or at least maps that accommodate for that slow movement of early game and saving the bigger maps for when you’d naturally have some cavalry and infantry units with 5 movement. I think Fates’ Conquest and Revelations maps did this perfectly.

Brawling Weapons

No real critique here. I just really like the gauntlets and I hope they come back in the next game.

Conclusion

Overall, I think Three Houses is a good game, despite all my nitpicks. I hope the next game will be even better and hopefully have some of the things I want to see. I recommend this for anyone with a Switch wanting to play a decent strategy game.

Anyway, I got a draft to make on that story I’m writing, as well as draft up another Rambling. See you all later!

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #your dictator is speaking

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lethesomething · 6 years

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Question

Furious speculation and spoilers incoming from season 3 and 4 of Voltron Legendary Defender. Also just... so many pictures of Lotor.

So guys. Serious question.

How friggin old is Lotor?

I have many questions about Lotor (and at least one of those is 'Can we get him out of that armor?") but the most prominent that comes to mind right now is how old is he supposed to be? Because a lot of things don't add up.

Let’s do the speculative math. Lotor is half Galra, half Altean. Altean lifespan seems to be roughly a thousand years, if we go by Coran standards. (he's 600 years old but seems to look and act middle-aged by human standards). Galra natural lifespan is unknown but personally I don't think it's as long as Altean. If the Alteans are space elfs, then the Galra are space orcs. They're more militaristic, they throw themselves at their death with surprising ease, giving me the feeling that life is considered less precious, and therefore the toll of years lost should be lower. If a human dies at forty, that’s a toll of thirty years they could have had. If you have a thousand years to live, it feels Very Wasteful to kamikaze yourself at nineteen. But that might just be me. The main takeaway, however, is that neither Galra nor Alteans live 10.000 years. That is, for pretty much anyone in the galaxy, an unnaturally long lifespan. The reason Zarkon and Haggar manage, is because they use quintessence to prolong their 'life' way past what is normal or even preferable.

Puting this under a cut because I overdid it again.

So. On to Lotor.

His natural lifespan should be about 1.000 years. Tops. He looks and acts fairly young. Like early twenties, by human standards. So 200? Thereabouts? But when the frig was this guy born? And how? There’s a few things that are just really off about the Zarkon family.

1. From what we see in their interactions, his parents don't seem to remember that they were married at some point. Whatever love or connection they had, seems to have been lost when they 'turned'. They certainly don't act like a married couple and in a very real way, I'm just having trouble picturing them in bed together, ok? Their power dynamic is just too weird at this point.

2.Lotor doesn't treat Haggar as his mother. He doesn't call her that, even though he addresses Zarkon as 'father'. He doesn't even acknowledge who she is. In the same way, Haggar talks to Zarkon about 'your son', not 'our son'. To Lotor, his mother is Honerva, Altean scientist. And he respects Honerva deeply. It's her work he's trying to continue by building the rift. He seems to care a lot more about that than the empire his father (and Haggar) are so desperately trying to preserve. But Honerva, at least that part of her identity, died 10.000 years ago.

So what the hell is going on.

Option one: he's like, so old

Consider Lotor being born 10.000 years ago, to Honerva, before the whole mess that destroyed the Galra home planet. That would give him 10.000 years to start hating his dad.

But. For him to still be alive in the series, he'd have to be given quintessence. His lifespan must have been expanded way past what was natural, in a manner similar to Zarkon and Haggar.

I don't buy that. Why? For one, it’s in his eyes.

Lotor, while being a Complete Asshat and just, the best kind of villain, has pupils. This is surprisingly significant.

Voltron tends to use eyes as a way into the soul. It’s a sort of way to show a person’s... for want of a better word, humanity. That’s why Haggar has yellow slits, Zarkon has purple slits.

#NoPupils. But that’s not how it used to be.

Lotor has his father's eyes, from back when his father wasn't fully evil. So what has changed? For Zarkon and Honerva, it was a trip to an alternate reality. But most modern day Galra have no pupils. Even the good guys, like Kolivan. That’s weird, innit? Now this may be some gene evolution thing, but I personally believe it has to do with quintessence. The purple evil stuff, and the use thereof. The Galra empire uses that stuff for Everything, it's like their electricity, but we've been shown quite vividly that it corrupts.

Meanwhile Lotor is 'the outcast brat'. He may have Altean blood to keep some of that corruption off, but he’s also staying as far away from headquarters with its druids and its massive stores of quintessence as possible. He's the rebel son traipsing around the outskirts of the galaxy with his pack of badass lady generals, all of whom have pupils, btw.

But of course, the eyes could just be part of his heritage or somesuch. Now let me add this tidbit of an argument.

He's too fabulous. No, listen. Being that old takes its toll, even if you're using eldritch magics and pure evil to prolong your lifespan. And the series shows this. Haggar and Zarkon aren't just old, they LOOK old. You can even see it in the god damned cat.

Kova went from cute fluffy pet to the galaxy's oldest feline, and while the kitty retained its pupils, it does SHOW that it's super old.

That creature is a skeleton covered in leather and ennui. Meanwhile Lotor is over here looking, well, young. Like he's in the prime of his life.

Option two: he truly is a young adult

If you consider that Lotor is like 200 years old, because he really is in the prime of his life, this opens up Many possibilities.

1. He was born the natural way.

This involves his parents getting it on, which, go you I guess. But it doesn’t account for the Very Strange family dynamic they seem to have.

2. In vitro fertilization (or whatever version of it the Voltron universe has)

Consider Lotor being Created in some way. Either as a pure test tube baby, or through some druid ritual or even using a surrogate mother (I have no clue about Galra biology and I do not wish to know). Somehow that makes So Much More sense.

It accounts for the lack of any motherly bond between Haggar and Lotor

It is certainly easier to imagine a lab working on this, than the strong but not exactly life-sustaining body of Haggar growing a baby.

You can just imagine Lotor being born and handed to a set of nannies and trainers. "Hello, you're the prince. Your father is emperor Zarkon, your mother is Honerva. Time to start playing space chess and learning to fight with a laser sword." And no one even mentions who Honerva is, because that seems to be like some kind of weird secret.

Shall we go deeper?

What if this Lotor isn't the first?

What if the original son was born and raised in the normal way, but died 10.000 years ago. What if every few centuries they try clone him, or recreate him, only for Lotor to disappoint his parents by rebelling and basically not being Zarkon.

What if the memory of her motherly instincts is what compels Haggar to keep trying? To put Lotor on the throne and to hope that he'll do it right this time?

I found Zarkon's reaction to his own son's actions very strange. This is your only son, and you're firing him like that? You're treating him with pure disdain? You're chasing him across the galaxy to kill him? The main difference between Zarkon and Lotor is that Lotor is cold and calculated, whereas Zarkon is emotional and passionate. Lotor is capable of changing sides, of scheming, of doing the rational thing for his continued survival. Zarkon, meanwhile, will drop everything to get the Black Lion, will go to alternate friggin realities to save his wife. It makes sense for Zarkon to try and reap bloody vengeance on his son for disappointing him, but not until he’s found out as a traitor.

But what if he's attempt number six? At this point he'd be nothing more than a product to Zarkon. Another failed subordinate who was given more chances than others, and who squandered them all.

Why is this important

The possibilities for Angst on all sides are just delicious in this scenario, so there’s that. But mostly, it opens up character development for our villain. It would mean Lotor is a total shit, yes, but an uncorrupted one. It would mean he does not have 10.000 years of evil juice running through his veins and like the eyes, it would mean he still has some humanity left to regain. I would personally not trust this fucker as far as I can throw him but... He could have the little redemption arc I’m sure a lot of us want. And I’m kinda hype for that.

#voltron #meta #character theory #prince lotor #vld lotor #hello yes #it's tuesday morning #and i just spent too much time writing about my fave villain #again #lethey writes #in other news #i finished season 4 of voltron #come scream with me #because i obviously need an outlet #voltron spoilers

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silkygoldmilkweed · 6 years

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“A Burnt Sword,” a Dog Prince, Water, Wine, Kitchen Wenches & Whores, Cersei’s Cunt and a Fool, and finally, Sansa Stark

I know I sound insane but I am now certain that the legend of Azor Ahai is 90 percent sex metaphor, 10 percent actual sword. Forging a sword is less about an actual sword and more about a man being motivated to fight by, above all else, his cock. Bronn put a very fine point on this in “The Dragon and the Wolf.” It’s what soldiers spend their gold on and you fight for clan and family by creating clan and family in the first place by way of your cock.

THE FIRST SWORD: You know how Sandor is always says “Fuck the water, bring me wine”—like, it’s a defining character trait? It’s a metaphor for slaking your “thirst” cheaply. The Azor-Nissa-Lightbringer prophecy section about the first sword breaking in water mentions “go in search of excellent grapes such as these.” In innocence or in desperation, a man drinks cheaply. Given the opportunity, he seeks wine “red as blood.”

Now remember how LF told us Sandor was already killing at 12? I’m sure he was fucking soon after that (here is a magnificent fic about Sandor at that age). He first forged his sword in kitchen wenches and cheap whores. The exact language of Sallador’s telling of the prophecy is “Yet when he plunged it into water to temper the steel it burst asunder.” Male orgasms, how do they go?

THE SECOND SWORD: Second, Azor Ahai plunged his sword into the “red heart” of a lion. Remember how we met young Cersei Lannister in one of the show’s rare flashbacks and she was already callous and spiteful and manipulative and fearless in her way, a beautiful walking deception? Young gullible Sandor Clegane would have fallen for her with only the slightest effort on her part. Red and gold are the house colors of the Lannisters and the lion is their sigil. Lannisters and Cleganes are notoriously codependent.

This is right about the time that Tywin and Jaime are off fighting in Robert’s Rebellion and Gregor (knighted by Rhaegar himself) is raping and killing Elia and the kids (I personally believe on Tywin’s near-explicit orders but that’s a different post).

Regardless of the exact timeline, Cersei is horny, she sees sweaty, shredded Sandor Clegane around Casterly Rock and sets her sights on him. Before he knows what hit him he is completely in love with the princess and thinks he’s going to serve her forever like Aemon the Dragonknight and of course she completely, maliciously breaks his heart (this is the second sword, forged in the heart of a lion, and then shattered) and destroys his faith in love…because Cersei. (Olenna Tyrell thinks Cersei may be the worst person she’s ever met. Do you think Olenna is unfamiliar with large numbers of truly terrible people?)

Can you think of a more perfect illustration of “a cunt and her fool” (a la Jonquil and Florian) than young Cersei Lannister and young Sandor Clegane? It’s enough to put a man off love for life.

THE THIRD SWORD: All of this hangs over his feelings for Sansa Stark years later. He lusts for the princess (wine not water) and truly he loves her but he is now completely incapable of hoping for a future with her or considering himself worthy or making himself worthy. Now there’s just actual wine and when he’s very very rarely lucky, the chance to kill a worthy foe.

Also, much later, Zombie!Gregor and Cersei duplicate the weirdly intimate “sworn shield with benefits” aspirational relationship status of Sandor and Cersei back in the day. Below is an embrace universally acknowledge as the “bridal carry” and that is a knight in shining armor. (See also weaksauce Tytos–a notoriously puss of a man according to Tywin–and grandpa Clegane, the kennelmaster who saved him with his three hounds.)

(BTW I think my Sandor-Cersei theory explains some of the animosity between Tyrion and Sandor. Also if you rewatch “The Dragon and the Wolf” I swear there is a moment where Cersei checks out Sandor. I spy with my little eye a bit of recognition and nostalgia in her gaze. And then he saves her personally from the wight with that chain yank, even though she very much deserves to be eaten. Note that Gregor, Jaime and her guards did fuck-all to stop the wight from getting to Cersei. Note further that everyone on Team Dany flipped the fuck out when Euron so much as leaned in her general direction. Sandor is a prototypical hero—yes he is—so he just can’t help himself from protecting Ladies in peril, even if they are Evil ladies.)

Of course, Sansa is Nissa Nissa, Sandor’s soulmate and future wife, a worthy woman and a good queen at heart and a princess imprisoned in a tower (Maegor’s Holdfast) and desperately in need of rescue from monsters. But when our story begins, Clegane’s deep cynicism prevents him from seeing the Lannisters as being uniquely corrupt even though he despises all their gold-plated extravagance and their compulsive lying. He assumes everyone is equally terrible. Sansa (and Arya later and Septon Ray) slowly changes and challenges that uniquely hateful worldview. Meanwhile, Sandor Clegane is the unexpected Prince She Was Promised, a dog prince for Sansa Stark instead of a frog prince, if you will.

It’s only after going away for a long time and engaging in prayer and good works and silent contemplation to simmer him down a little (laboring for 100 days and nights) that he becomes worthy of his wife. Now the Red Sword of Heroes is ready to be plunged in the heart (”heart” is also a metaphor, guys!) of his wife and/or serve in her defense by killing the Night King and saving the realm.

Anyway, I’ve decided teen vixen Cersei fucked Sandor and broke his heart, and Sansa loving him back and repairing his heart and/or kissing him (burned face and/or “his sword”) is the healing love that saves the realm.

RED WOMEN: I believe that the reason Melisandre and Kinvara look the way they do is because R’hollor told someone at some point that Nissa Nissa had the ginger minge and that became the female model for their fire cult. They are always DTF presumed Azor Ahais (Stannis, Jon) because they think that might trigger the magic that saves the world. They are all fake as fuck thanks to the rubies but they are trying to be a flame-haired beauty like Sansa Stark without knowing that she is the model.

THE PRINCE WHO WAS PROMISED: Sandor being Azor Ahai is also why Rhaegar Targaryen decided to be a warrior. He was studying the PTWP prophecy that he thought applied to him or his heirs and announced one day that he needed, more or less, “armor and a big fucking sword.”

Tune in next season to find out how crazy I may be.

BTW below the cut is the full text of the Azor Ahai/Nissa Nissa/Lightbringer passage in the books. There are a few other scattered mentions you can find using “A Search of Ice and Fire.”

ACOK - Davos V

Melisandre was robed all in scarlet satin and blood velvet, her eyes as red as the great ruby that glistened at her throat as if it too were afire. “In ancient books of Asshai it is written that there will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.” She lifted her voice, so it carried out over the gathered host. “Azor Ahai, beloved of R'hllor! The Warrior of Light, the Son of Fire! Come forth, your sword awaits you! Come forth and take it into your hand!”

…

“I have attended to it, good ser. Though His Grace frowns so whenever he does see me that I tremble to come before him. Do you think he would like me better if I wore a hair shirt and never smiled? Well, I will not do it. I am an honest man, he must suffer me in silk and samite. Or else I shall take my ships where I am better loved. That sword was not Lightbringer, my friend."The sudden shift in subject left Davos uneasy. "Sword?”

“A sword plucked from fire, yes. Men tell me things, it is my pleasant smile. How shall *** A BURNT SWORD *** serve Stannis?”

“A burning sword,” corrected Davos.

“Burnt,” said Salladhor Saan, “and be glad of that, my friend. Do you know the tale of the forging of Lightbringer? I shall tell it to you. It was a time when darkness lay heavy on the world. To oppose it, the hero must have a hero’s blade, oh, like none that had ever been. And so for thirty days and thirty nights Azor Ahai labored sleepless in the temple, forging a blade in the sacred fires. Heat and hammer and fold, heat and hammer and fold, oh, yes, until the sword was done. Yet when he plunged it into water to temper the steel it burst asunder. "Being a hero, it was not for him to shrug and go in search of excellent grapes such as these, so again he began. The second time it took him fifty days and fifty nights, and this sword seemed even finer than the first. Azor Ahai captured a lion, to temper the blade by plunging it through the beast’s red heart, but once more the steel shattered and split. Great was his woe and great was his sorrow then, for he knew what he must do.

A hundred days and a hundred nights he labored on the third blade, and as it glowed white-hot in the sacred fires, he summoned his wife. ‘Nissa Nissa,’ he said to her, for that was her name, 'bare your breast, and know that I love you best of all that is in this world.’ She did this thing, why I cannot say, and Azor Ahai thrust the smoking sword through her living heart. It is said that her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the face of the moon, but her blood and her soul and her strength and her courage all went into the steel. Such is the tale of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes."Now do you see my meaning? Be glad that it is just a burnt sword that His Grace pulled from that fire. Too much light can hurt the eyes, my friend, and fire burns.” Salladhor Saan finished the last grape and smacked his lips. “When do you think the king will bid us sail, good ser?”

ADOD - Jon III

“He would know.” Aemon Targaryen had seen nine kings upon the Iron Throne. He had been a king’s son, a king’s brother, a king’s uncle. “I looked at that book Maester Aemon left me. The Jade Compendium. The pages that told of Azor Ahai. Lightbringer was his sword. Tempered with his wife’s blood if Votar can be believed. Thereafter Lightbringer was never cold to the touch, but warm as Nissa Nissa had been warm. In battle the blade burned fiery hot. Once Azor Ahai fought a monster. When he thrust the sword through the belly of the beast, its blood began to boil. Smoke and steam poured from its mouth, its eyes melted and dribbled down its cheeks, and its body burst into flame.”

#Sandor Clegane #Sansa Stark #cersei lannister #azor ahai #lightbringer #nissa nissa #Sansan #sansa x sandor #sansa stark x sandor clegane #cersei x sandor #a game of thrones #A Song of Ice and Fire #house stark #house lannister #house clegane

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ptw30 · 7 years

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Ficlet: A Secret to Share

Summary: Shiro kept a secret from Keith - but it just might save his life.

A/N: Quickly written to satisfy my burning need for a resolution to the Kuron issues. Btw, if Voltron is going the route of clones and alternate dimension, I can have this.

Keith sat down in the Black Lion’s pilot seat, closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh. The team was coming along, but he wanted – needed – Shiro back. And Red had located Keith before. Why hadn’t Black gone after Shiro – wherever he was.

Keith curled his hands about the Black Lion’s controls and murmured, “Help me. Please. Tell me how to find him.”

The Black Lion growled to life, but when Keith opened his eyes, he no longer sat in the pilot’s seat but stood to the right of it, where he always stood when near Shiro. Shiro sat in Black’s chair, and for a moment, Keith’s breath caught in his chest. Shiro was here? Shiro was back? But when he lurched forward, his hand swiped right through Shiro’s shoulder, like how the Black Lion phased through solid objects.

So Shiro wasn’t really there? Was this a memory?

Shiro looked terrible, hand covering his face, clenching fingers dipping into his white bangs. Before Keith could ask Black what was wrong, Shiro sat up. His head tipped back against the rest and showed Keith how upset his best friend was.

When he spoke, his broken voice rose no longer than a whisper. Tears shimmered on his eyelashes. “Black – please. If something happens to me, you – you have to tell him for me. I – I can’t. He’ll – He’ll think – He won’t understand. He’ll hate me for keeping this from him, and he won’t understand why. He doesn’t know just how much he means to me, and – and I can’t lose him.”

The lion snarled and grumbled. He was not happy and relayed his thoughts, that Keith wouldn’t hold it against Shiro. That he’d understand and accept Shiro, despite his personal transgressions.

But Shiro shook his head, tears slipping down his cheeks. “He’ll doubt everything, and he’s already lost so much. We both have. He’s – he’s my family, Black. My only family. I can’t lose him, too.”

Black snapped his head up, jerking Shiro in his seat in a playful reprimand. Keith wasn’t his only family, not anymore.

Shiro laughed and rubbed Black’s console. “Yes, thank you, Black. You’re right. we’re no longer alone, but – I can’t perform my duty if I die. And Keith’s going to need someone to guide him, to tell him who he truly is.”

Black whined. He’d do it – only because Shiro was a coward.

Shiro laughed again, and Keith reveled in the joyous sound. He missed it so much.

“I must be strong for the others, for Keith.” Shiro eventually sighed. “Let me have this, Black.”

Begrudgingly, Black granted his request.

All too soon, Keith found himself back in the pilot seat, fingers hanging loosely over the controls, but Keith closed his eyes again, reaching out through his bond with the lion. “Show me, Black.” Maybe he’d get to see Shiro again. “Show me what Shiro wanted you to.”

The gut-wrenching images flashed before his eyes, one after one, the story of his past finally coming to light. By the end, he gasped and slammed back against the chair, chest heaving as if he’d just broken the water’s surface. The tears came unwillingly but flowed as he tugged his legs onto the seat and curled inward.

Like Shiro had wanted, he reached out instinctively to Red and Black for comfort.

The Castle of Lions picked up a distress signal from the remains of the Galran home world, and Shiro debated not answering it.

“It has to be a trap,” he warned, and though Keith agreed, it didn’t sit well with him that Shiro didn’t want to check it out.

Allura, thankfully, agreed with him. “We cannot ignore anyone who seeks our assistance.”

What they hadn’t expected was to accept a foreign-looking ship into their hanger and to be greeted by familiar black and white armor.

The appearance of a second Shiro was like a punch to the gut, especially when Shiro tugged off his helmet and stopped, letting it drop to the floor with a loud clunk. Fresh tears glistened in his eyes.

“Keith…”

“…Shiro?”

Suddenly, Shiro – their Shiro – stepped in front of Keith, blocking him completely from the newcomer. “I said it was a trap. He’s trying to trick you!”

Though Keith couldn’t see, he heard the newcomer’s hand buzz to life. “Who – What are you?”

Keith immediately reached for his bayard as did the rest of the paladins, and it only took Lance leveling his sniper rifle for the newcomer to take a step back, hands raised. “Lance? What are you doing? It’s me!”

“Yeah, well, y’see, we kinda already have one of you.”

“Fire on him!” their Shiro ordered.

Lance gasped, eyes widening incredulously but never leaving the newcomer. “What!”

“Shiro!” Allura, this time.

But their Shiro activated his own hand. “He can’t be trusted. The Galra – they took my hand. They could have cloned me, too.”

“It’s…possible, I guess, but I’m not a clone.” The newcomer’s voice firmed, hands still leveled. “I – I was teleported by the Black Lion into another reality. I fought alongside other paladins and came back here, to my reality. At least, I…I think this is my reality…”

Suddenly, the newcomer looked so hurt, so crestfallen, like all his hopes rode on that one fact and the paladins had crushed them by showing him their Shiro.

But their Shiro never spoke about clones before and he jumped so quickly to demand Lance to shoot.

“Do it, Lance,” he continued. “What if he can steal the Black Lion from Keith? What if he can take control of Voltron? We can’t risk it!”

“Waitaminute,” Hunk tried to reason, but Shiro wouldn’t have it. “Lance!”

“Stop!” Keith yelled, hurrying about their Shiro to step between him and the newcomer. Again, his chest clenched. The newcomer’s face was familiar and kind, uncertain but firm, waiting for an outcome, not rushing to any demands. His hair, though longer than when Shiro left them, had the appropriate undercut and white bangs. He watched Keith with that gentle affection he’d always held for him, his surrogate little brother whom trusted him completely.

And when Keith looked at him, he felt safe and complete – not the way he felt with the Shiro behind him.

The words flew from his mouth in a desperate plea. “Tell me how we met.”

The newcomer’s eyes rounded and trembled, became pained and horrified. He quickly looked away, shame coloring his expression and darkening his features, but their Shiro stole Keith’s attention before he could demand more.

“We met at your outpost not far from the garrison’s base,” he spoke, a fond but forced tone overtaking his voice. “You were frightened, scared when we met. You’d been alone for so long, you didn’t know how to react.”

Keith accepted his answer with a rigid nod and then turned back to the newcomer, who lowered his arms and stepped forward, tears now coursing his cheeks. He stopped when Lance fired a single shot, hitting the floor next to his boot, and then he closed his eyes, hands forming trembling fists.

“Keith…I’m sorry.”

There was so much Keith wanted to say, heart bleeding but unimaginable relief flooding him. He needed to hear the truth from Shiro himself. “Tell me.”

Shiro swallowed but refused to meet his gaze. “I – I met you on the day of your birth…” and he collapsed, one knee upon the hanger’s floor, fist against his chest, “…your highness.”

Hunk turned to Pidge, muttering, “Did…you hear what I just heard?”

Allura blinked. “Your…highness?”

Lance pulled the trigger the moment “their” Shiro took a step toward Keith, glowing hand raised for a death blow. The clone slammed hard to the floor, blood splattering all the way to the real Shiro’s boots.

But Shiro waited, never moving, barely breathing, and from the Black Lion and Shiro’s memories, Keith knew to walk over and place a hand upon Shiro’s shoulder, as per royal protocol.

Shiro immediately looked up, expression telling a story of misery and strife. “Your Highness, I – ”

“Shut up!” And suddenly, all the rage and insecurities and melancholy spilled over. “I don’t care that you lied to me. I don’t care that the rebels made you my protector and sent us to Earth. Damnit, Shiro! You were a kid, too!”

“It’s – It’s customary,” Shiro explained, pitiful of an excuse as it was, “for a ruler and his protector to be paired during their youth. It creates an unbreakable bond as well as – ”

“I said I don’t care!” Keith collapsed to his knees, too, staring into eyes so familiar and warm, he wondered how he hadn’t realized the other Shiro was a fake earlier. “I don’t care that you didn’t tell me who I am, even though you knew this whole time.” He lunged then, wrapping his arms about Shiro’s middle and pressing his face into his brother’s chest. “You’re here. That’s all that matters.”

And that was all that would ever matter

"It's good to have you back," he muttered, and after a moment of shock, Shiro replied, arms curling about Keith’s shoulders and holding him close, "It's good to be back."

The others gave them a few moments to themselves when Keith just reveled in Shiro’s warmth, his steady breathing, his thundering heartbeat. Shiro was here. Shiro was finally home, and the nightmare that was reality ended.

Of course, it was Hunk who yelled, “Paladin Group Hug!”

Trapped between so many arms and legs, Keith barely managed to mutter, “You’re failing at your job.”

Shiro laughed, and it was the most precious sound in the world.

Headcanon: Keith is Zarkon’s son by an Altean woman (Haggar didn’t remember they were married for ten thousand years, so...), and as per Altean protocol, royalty are raised alongside their personal guards to create unbreakable bonds and loyalty. Why doesn’t Allura have a BFF guard? Idk...

#voltron #shiro #keith #friendsheith #voltron: legendary defender #spoilers #vld season 3 #ptw30 pens #gen fic #bromances in space

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the-midnight-paladin · 7 years

Photo

I saw @thebunnyartist‘s Galra twins and automatically loved them, especially Arrow, and I remembered someone else who’d like him as well :3c Commissions are open btw

More info on my Galra OC under the cut!

Rain Profile

Original name: Kaveri New name: Rain (chosen by a Paladin of Voltron) Pronouns: He/Him Voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KKnwu8neYY Sleeping At Last Height: 6'3" (short for a Galra) Physical characteristics: Tail (similar to a lion’s), large ears, light yellow eyes, stripes

Story: Kaveri was born to one of Zarkon’s commanders as an only son. From a young age his father brought him along to Colosseum fights to give him a taste for violence, he wished for his son to fight for the empire.

However, it didn’t work. Kaveri hated watching fighters kill each other, as a cub he would cry when one competitor was struck down. His father punishes him for showing empathy. Eventually, Kaveri learned to keep a straight face and keep hide his emotion.

For years this continued until his mother left their family and his father decided it was time for him to enlist in the empire’s army.

He underwent training to become a fighter, the eyes of his father on him at all times to ensure he didn’t dishonor him.

All went well until the final test when Kaveri made the mistake of stopping to help a fallen friend. He had been on his way to the high ranks of Zarkon’s army, but was quickly demoted to common ranks after his show of weakness...

The army sent him to a Galra-occupied planet in a solar system far from the main fleet. They enslaved an intelligent civilization to mine for ore used to produce weapons and armor. But Kaveri wasn’t even there for a few weeks before their base was put under siege by the civilization they had controlled.

Although the operation on the planet was fairly large, very few battalions were stationed there because their grip on the planet seemed to be ironclad.

The rebels outnumbered the soldiers at least twenty to one. Soldiers who attempted to fight back were killed, soldiers who tried to flee were killed, no Galra was left alive. Except for the one that decided to hide.

Kaveri took shelter in a basement supply closet and listened to the battle rage above him. Once all became quiet, he fled the base. All outposts were destroyed, no energy barriers were left to keep out the creatures even the natives were fearful of.

With nowhere else to go, Kaveri trekked through the thick rainforests that covered the planet. He kept walking for days, unable to find water or food. His guard began to slip. He didn’t notice the hungry beast behind him until it was a few paces away.

Kaveri spotted a crevice he could fit into and tried to run for it, his feet made it in but before he could duck down the creature’s teeth tore into his right ear. Its long claws scraped at his face as he struggled, he ended up putting a hand out to try and push the beast away but ended up losing a finger on his left hand.

He dropped to the bottom of the crevice as the part of his ear the creature had hold of ripped away. His memories became a blur after that.

The sound of voices cause Kaveri to wake up. His weak, wounded body couldn’t move to escape again. He could only hope he wasn’t seen.

But his bright yellow eyes gave him away in the darkness. A hand reached down to him, clad in white and blue armor.

“Hey buddy, you okay?”

That’s the main gist of his story that gets him to join the Paladins of Voltron. Lance finds him and seeing the state he’s in decides to sneak him onto the ship (kind of like when a kid tries to sneak a puppy into the house). But they were caught by Shiro when Lance was trying to open a healing pod.

They allowed Kaveri to rest and regain some of his strength before questioning him, and he just spilled everything in an emotional monologue. How he hated fighting, how he was forced to be a soldier, how much he feared his father... and the deep feeling of emptiness in his chest, knowing he’d been abandoned by the empire.

Shiro brought up the idea of letting him stay with them. A few of the Paladins were hesitant, but they saw just how desperate the young Galra soldier was to belong. Lance asked him for his name, but Kaveri refused to say it. That name was given to him by the ones who left him to die. He wanted to begin anew.

Lance chimed in, “We’ll call you Rain!” He didn’t question the origin of the name, but it felt right. Lance chose it because of where he found Rain, in a rainforest. And the fact that he had been crying so hard it was like there was rain indoors.

They had him on a constant watch to make sure he didn’t cause trouble, but on his first outing alone walking through the castle he came across another Galra, Arrow. That’s where this picture comes into play! Rain has a ‘shit im gay’ moment

I’ll probably revise his story and draw him more but for now this is it. Feel free to ask questions! Even ask Rain questions! He might answer~

#OC #Galra OC #thebunnyartist #Arrow #my art #Original Character #personal #story #this is almost purely self indulgent sorry #and guess who's shitty at backgrounds

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