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rafent · 11 months

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◜ ₊ — 𝓡 ˚ ₊ 𝐏𝐀𝐖𝐍

cw; decapitation.

Nil liked the Hooded Man.

His unquestioning adherence to orders so long as there was a battle to be had. His creative and violent solutions that demanded no direction or to be told what to do. His enthusiasm for all those things. For a Corrupted the circumstances of his transformation even differed from most. He had let Nil come to him, not forced, only compelled, and simply accepted the offer laid before him with relish. Never mind that it was no offer at all. That Nil would have killed him regardless.

He was, in any case, his most recent pawn. One that Nil’s hand needed. Someone able to be stretched thin, traveling over the various sectors of the chessboard where the crown royals couldn't be, simultaneously the most invisible and the most visible- which was why he wore the hood. To avoid the bevy of complications at being recognized, to avoid pulling apart a white spider's delicate web, so patiently exacted over years—

And for all that, Nil didn't even remember his name. Only that he’d been a prince once. Only that he was useful. Or perhaps it didn’t matter anymore; the lives that his Corrupted lived, when all of them served their best uses dead.

“You’ve returned with news of success, I hope. I've been waiting a long time for this,” he said softly without turning, knowing there would be nothing to see so much as hear from the obscured, hooded prince. Suspecting it. But the occasion was marked with surprise- instead of a report, a burlap sack dropped wordlessly at his feet without explanation.

Silence. Nil cocked his head, still imbued with an air of innocence, though his confusion was real.

“What's this?”

Wordless, again. It wasn't often that the talkative Corrupted feigned silence, or deigned a lack of response to his master. Some haunting note of importance accompanied this decision. Curiosity compelled the Fell Dragon prince at last to bend down, to untie the cord and peer inside upon a scene of. . .of—

He covered his face with one hand, obscuring an unknown expression. His shoulders trembled, beneath the skinny jut of his collarbone his chest heaved with scarcely contained emotion. Even the weak and spindly body doubled over at the waist in agony. It was almost as if he were crying until—

a giggle.

—no, it was laughter.

“Kaha..”

Unremitting, truly genuine laughter.

“Hahahaha!”

Years—centuries—over a millennia's worth of desire led to the sound. A harsh and gleeful peal; that high-pitched throttle only once exhausted of all fuel faded to a dying note. A driblet of saliva that he wiped away on the backside of his hand.

“. . .Hah.” Light-headed, Nil steadied.

Then he straightened. Like something within him had snapped back into place. Or simply, just, snapped. His kind eyes twisted into fragments of bloodied ice as he reached deep into the sack to surface the singular item that composed its contents- a decapitated head lifted from the depths into the light. Into the range of his hatred, his yearning, and his goal.

“What a sorry fool. Did you think you could run? Did you think I would not find you? Every speck of dirt belonging to this world lies within my web.”

With this final foxhunt, there was no more of them that remained. Brothers and sisters flushed out from the hinterlands of Gradlon by the Emblem bracelets. Worn on the bodies of his Corrupted, a roused-awake Emblem emitted the smell of honey- a 'revived' father's power- attracting the surviving children of Sombron like bees, leading them into ambush and annihilation. And yet—

“You called me a failure and yet look who it is that remains standing!" The mass of flesh was thrown squarely onto the ground, smashed viciously against it beneath the sole of his boot. That sole rubbed and smeared and ground any surface that it could. "None of our brothers and sisters remain. I am Father’s sole heir—me!!”

A smear lead to one stomp, then another. Then another. Another after that.

It was only when there was nothing to recognize- nothing more of a scornful expression and face to remember- that he stopped. Only then was it enough. Panting, he rose to his full height, faced with the smirking lower face of his pawn who even then didn't say a word.

“What. You’re still here?” He gave an ugly scowl, but there was no venom and no distaste in the observation. No; Rafal was in too good of a mood. One chapter closed by Rafal’s machinations, and countless others soon to begin. His tenor dropped to the pit of his chest. Deep and inky and honest.

His hand wiped on the Hooded Man's chest as he moved past.

“Clean this mess up. I have no need for it any longer—but keep close to the vicinity of Lythos Castle. Do not be caught. Should a new Divine One step foot into this world, you will know what to do.”

And he left quickly. It was too long a time to be away from Nel’s side. Sweet Nil would never stray for long from his precious older sister or the protective enclave of the castle. Not even for 'a breath of fresh air'. Rafal made his way back to it from the grassy outskirts, his eyes wavering with anticipation. A ribbon soon to be cut, paving the way to the Divine One’s gift- whether willingness was a factor or not.

All would go according to plan.

Because Rafal’s pawns moved as he willed them to.

#◜ ₊ — 𝓡 ˚ ₊ 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ╱ drabble.#engage spoilers #pre xenologue drabble with a placement close to chapter one #the recently translated nintendo life interview made me really reassess the depth of his war crimes #if we're talking masterminds the off screen rafal/nil is more terrifying than sombron #patiently exacting assassinations from the shadows and raiding kingdoms under the smokescreen of his growing corrupted #did i mention he culled his own siblings off screen #another note: an isolation of the hooded corrupted (fogado) as nil's most uniquely appearing pawn throughout the dlc #fogado's versus dialogue against alear interestingly implies that he's not only one of rafal's most recent corrupted but one who consented #god. rafal (clutches my head)

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hyliacursed · 1 year

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T*TK STORY SPOILERS IN TAGS.

#🌟 *:･ﾟ✧ out of prayers ╱ i heard it speak to me .#im on my phone i cant do readmores rip #um ill just do this?#*#**#***#****#*****#******#i just think about zeIda who grew up with relatively absent/unsupportive parents and how their journey in t*tk involved a lot of healing #from that trauma by reconnecting with their ancestral roots #its so personal to me that zeIda is a native person of color who has still been displaced from their cultural identity bc of colonialism in #history whathaveyou (hyrule had many civil wars and i get that theyre of royal blood and seem colonizer coded but i still think hyrule has #fallen victim to imperial forces considering how absolutely fucking tiny this kingdom is)#and that they're given the chance to reconcile with their bloodline and its entire history as a reward for the special care and attention #and respect they pay to hyrule's ancient past #yannowwwwww T_T #ok i forgot to mention the story spoilers but s*nia and r*uru representing the mother and father of hyrule and stepping up to become zeIdas #parental figures is fucking HNGNGGNKGNGNFNGKGNGKGNFNFJG #I THINK ABOUT THEM #THE BROWN FOUND FAMILY THE GENERATIONAL HEALING THE REINVIGORATION OF SOMEONES CULTURE IN THEIR LIVES

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sharkneto · 1 year

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1, 6 and 16?

.1. fave book? MEAN why did you ask me that when it was one of the options, hard question. My default answer is Aron Ralston's autobiography, Between a Rock and a Hard Place (what the movie 127 Hours is based on). I've read it quite a few times and Twin gave me a signed copy for Christmas one year. Idk, reading about a man's mental and physical survival journey to cutting off his own arm (and all his adventures before this moment) hits me in the right spot. Books I've read recently, as I'm getting back into the whole reading thing, I supremely enjoyed Six of Crows and The Goblin Emperor.

6. fave trope? Another hard one. For this I'll say... main character denying that they're Special as they figure out they're Special. I'm listening to The Way of Kings at work and the few chapters it took for Kal to realize something was up, making excuses for why x or y happened, was delightful.

16. fave day? Fan of Thursdays. Something about it being over the hump of the week, get to look forward to the fact that tomorrow is Friday and then the weekend. It's nice.

faves ask game

#i appreciated the goblin emperor for how straight forward it was #loved the main character and you were absolutely rewarded as a reader for paying attention and predicting things #and then obviously six of crows - kaz is a blorbo and that heist is french chef's kiss #this is now just books i enjoyed and gideon and harrow the ninths both get mentions here #gideon was just a great ride and then harrow had the *best* twist. the pov reveal i had to pause and walk around for a minute #it was So Good #and i've been enjoying Way of Kings!#my friend sent me the audio book because she and another friend are obsessed with it #so i report to them as i get to different parts and have thoughts about what's happening #fun for everyone #kaladin has the worst fucking time guy can't catch a fucking break #i have a whole prediction for where he ends up but i dont know the pacing of this series for what happens when in what book #or even what the necessary overarching plot is of the entire series #the war obviously and uniting the kingdom i suppose - and the return of the knights radiant and the implications of that #but again idk the pacing of it - i'm almost done with book 1 and Kal is still having a terrible time with bridge four #and my prediction is that he's obvi gotta get out of there and end up in a place of prominence in the army #probably with dalinar because he's not a sack of dicks - and get a shard blade #(even though he doesn't want one I know - so it has More Implications when he does accept one)#my pet theory is he gets Dal's #but - again - first he has to get out of being a bridgeman #which assume will be a terrible time for him yet again and all his fellow bridgemen will die on their escape attempt #ah fuck and then however Shallan fits the fuck into all of this what is she even doing #any way if anyone else has read way of kings/stormlight archives enjoy my probably very wrong predictions #please do not spoil it for me i'm having a great time listening and guessing #ANYWAY thank you for the ask lizzie lol #ask game response #ask response

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atopvisenyashill · 9 months

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i got too obsessed with big brother bc i can only hold one obsession in my mind at a time but one of the house guests (name is matt) was talking about how much he likes game of thrones & house of the dragon and he’s definitely a show only local BUT he actually knows dany’s name (as in, didnt just call her khaleesi like a lot of show only real life fans do) and had opinions on pacing & production which makes me feel like he’s less of a “i am team x” watcher and more of a “oh i love watching people in fun clothes murder each other” watcher and tbh i find those people much more tolerable lmao. it was cute watching him ramble about it on the feeds for like ten minutes straight while everyone else was like “oh isn’t emilia clarke in that? she’s so good in romcoms” and the light died in his eyes a bit lollll. this is him:

#he says weird things to women sometimes so i’m sure he has bad opinions on sansa but i still found it endearing #also i like the second group more bc that’s what my grandpa is aksjdj. some people just like watching war & politics & fun clothes.#he mentioned vikings & the last kingdom and i was like ‘oh my grandpa would love you’ akskjs. gonna @ him on insta and tell him to watch #marco polo & read dunk & egg akskskskdkd #getting on my soap box #he’s not my winner pick but i think he’s amusing #also the braids aren’t a culture vulture thing he’s in an alliance with two older black women & they did his hair. he’s #been feeling himself ever since akskdk. just rambling about how he likes the fast pace of hotd better while they moisturize his curls.#gonna see about finishing a chapter today while feeds are down tho akskskskdjd

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bellatheinkdemon · 1 year

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*Quietly and slowly walks away and whistles while leaving this*

#cookie run #cookie run kingdom #cookie wars #jellywalkers #cookie run au #cookie run kingdom au #wind archer cookie #fire spirit cookie #millennial tree cookie #he's mentioned ok??

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hamartia-grander · 1 year

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When it comes across with fandoms, what’s your top ten fave fandom you’ll never get tired of? Plus also, perhaps also along with your main ship or main character as well deepening you don’t mind from adding.

Coming myself as a multiple fandom, I have like, more than 24 fandoms but can’t proper answer when it comes with one of those questions myself 🤔😶🤣✨

Dang, top ten? That's tricky

Honestly really the only fandoms I could keep coming back to are star wars, DBH, Rick Riordan's works, assassin's creed, and LOTR. I've been in tons of other fandoms but those are the only ones I've stuck with and still bring me joy years later, the only ones I'll most likely never be tired of. I grow out of interests after a while but these fandoms have transcended hyperfixations for me fjfjdjsk

As for ships I mean it honestly depends which fandom I'm most active in at the time. Currently though it's definitely Simarkus, hands down.

#Asks #Honourable mention being the last kingdom #I could see myself getting back into it someday just not rn #dbh #Star wars #LOTR #rick riordan #Pjo #Assassin's Creed #Simarkus

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firedragon1321 · 10 months

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I think Kingdom Hearts fandom is going through a “renaissance” into bad behaviors I haven’t seen in a while.

Kingdom Hearts shipping toxicity usually increases the longer we lack canon content. That’s not entirely unique to KH. Fandoms tend to spin their gears during downtime between installments, and a lot of that gear-spinning is shipping. But. Like. Kingdom Hearts shipping is so toxic, I’m slipping under.

I put this under a read more for length. And also a sprinkle of vent. Ship names are censored to keep this out of their tags.

Prologue

This is not meant to bash on any ship. It is simply chronicling what I saw in the past and now, and drawing a line between them.

Regarding S0wwiku and S0k@i- I’m not trying to bash S0wwiku as a concept. It actually makes more sense to me than S0k@i, which smacks of someone behind the scenes forcing the characters together. I might even ship Sowwiku openly, if not for the bad behavior outlined here.

Regarding akuw0ku- That ship is my nOTP for reasons that will become apparent in this rant. If you ship it, I mean no ill-will towards you. But I personally can’t stomach it.

A Brief Prehistory

To understand what I’m seeing, we need to explore how we got there. The real birth of the mega-toxic shipping culture was back around Kingdom Hearts 2. There was a fandom around the original game and COM era, but from what I’ve seen, it wasn’t as noxious as it was today with the shipping. I’ve seen S0ka! and S0wwiku (which is my new censored spelling you’ve gotta deal with). But not much else.

The reason is simple and clean- there wasn’t much else to talk about. The game only added four original characters (Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Ansem SOD, the last of whom was ignored when Riku wasn’t in the room). The introduction of the original Organization XIII was the spark for the toxic fandom of the mid-to-late 2000s.

I’m not 100% sure on the history for the CoM era, but it wasn’t long. There were only about 1-2 years (depending on your country) between CoM and KHII. That’s just enough time to get bored with speculating on the purpose of the Organization before you’re introduced to the whole boy band.

There were four years between KHII and 358/2 Days. Four years. Of basically nothing (remasters don’t count, and Coded was Japan-exclusive at the time). Armed with tons of pretty guys and free time, the bad seeds were able to sprout.

Ship wars. Character bashing. Creepy behaviors.

The Living Nightmare

I once knew this girl in real life who shipped akuw0ku religiously. Once, I went to a cosplay party dressed (sort of) as Roxas. She was there with a roll of duct tape. She chased me and tried to tie me up with duct-tape (she didn’t). But the thing that sticks the most with me is she didn’t call me by name while she did this.

She called me Roxas.

Most people were not as loose with their behavior in real life as her. But they were all over Internet spaces. Where- unrestrained by real life- they spit out the most toxic garbage you’ve ever seen. Age might have been a factor in this era. A lot of what went down could only be accomplished by bored teenagers. But the absolute deluge of horror was something I haven’t seen before or since.

The ship bashing and the insistence on pairings being canon was at an all-time high. “Evidence” was often based on purposefully mistranslated or false info. I believe the lie that Nomura insisted there were no romantic pairings in the series was created as an attempt at damage control. But there was just no stopping it.

“Consoled” by the “evidence”, people felt free to write OOC garbage using the seme/uke dynamic. Once the seme and uke positions were set, the characters could not leave them. Any person who attempted to criticize any of this was dogpiled. If they were targeting a gay ship- and they often were- they were instantly labeled as homophobic regardless of explanation.

Some people were. Make no mistake. But a lot of people weren’t. Some people (i.e.- me) were new to fandom and didn’t understand slash shipping as a concept. I said things that probably were homophobic without understanding (I was 14-ish). I probably shouldn’t have said those things. But every conversation eventually became a fight for my life. After a single rebuttal, I was always personally attacked. No-one noticed I was a fresh fish in the pond. No-one tried to explain to me.

“Don’t like don’t look” wasn’t used as good fandom advice or for safety. It was used as a weapon. This is why it took my years to accept it as valid advice.

The female characters got a lot less “love” than their male counterparts. When Xion was revealed, fans attacked her for the crimes of being a woman and “cockblocking” akuw0ku. All they had at the time was a picture and a name. Kairi faced such terrible abuse that there was legitimately a fic called “The Horrible Bloody Death of Kairi”, where Sora and Riku actually kill her.

The reason was all down to shipping. Kairi/Xion existed to threaten or “de-canonize” the gay ships. So it was best if they didn’t exist at all.

I know Kairi- amongst most of the female cast- is poorly written. But the animal behavior of these people was still excessive. It wasn’t merely disliking a character. It was wanting them to suffer to the point of obsession. Never mind how their fans might feel about this behavior. I wonder if anyone who liked Kairi read or was messaged that wretched fic...

Shippers of this type were- in some places- a very vocal minority. But they ruled the roost. The rules were simple. The ship was law. What ship didn’t matter- it depended on what corner of the Internet you were in. The roles were set. The puppets played their parts. Move the puppets, object to the group, and you were incinerated like Vexen.

A Brief Dark Age

This nonsense continued through 358/2 Days up until around Dream Drop Distance. In 2012, it petered out. But from KHII to 3D, we got three games. 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, and 3D itself. But no properly numbered titles. No major releases.

358/2 Days/BBS was just enough of a drip-feed to keep the fandom beast alive, without really progressing Sora’s story. Terra and Ventus formed a new couple, but Aqua wasn’t as poorly treated as Kairi/Xion. People were maturing. Nature was healing. Once Sora’s story creaked forward with 3D, it came with tons of new lore to talk about. To obsess over. To focus on.

Something outside of shipping.

And then the dark age came. Not counting Re:Coded, we didn’t get a new game until 2019. I haven’t really monitored the fandom during this time. But they seemed to grow up a bit. With Kingdom Hearts 3, new ships- like Axel and Isa- rose up. But they never became cults. Seme/uke roles were lessened. Not gone, if they already existed. But definitely weaker.

We might be able to move on. Or so it seemed.

And Yet You Understand Nothing

We are in a new dark age. Sora’s story hasn’t progressed since 2019. We’ve gotten prequel upon mobile game. But time has yet to move forward. The last time I saw people get super excited was with the end of Union X. Dark Road also brought some chatter. But since Dark Road ended, we’ve just been waiting for KH4. It has no release date- just windows that will be moved several time. You know the game.

In the void, there’s nothing to talk about. Nothing but the old fallback. Nothing but shipping.

I’ve seen a return of the canon-grubbing cult. With nothing else to talk about but old content and shipping, it was only natural. Especially regarding S0wwiku.

Sora’s tag is about 95% S0wwiku right now. People in that tag want it canon so damn bad that they draw false conclusions, and bash female characters or rob them of their accomplishments. It’s the old game in a new era.

Some people- from what I understand- place their own experiences onto the characters. Which is fine. Okay. I get that. But the drive to be canon- to be right- is coming back in full force. I fear we could go back.

Ship wars. Character bashing. Creepy behaviors.

We can pretend we grew up, but these elements never really left us. In the void without new content, desperate for something to do, we cling to darkness. And darkness is the heart’s true essence...

Kingdom Hearts is Light- Advice for New Fans

I want to end this ramble with things I wish someone would have told me. If the evil really isn’t defeated, people will jump in blind. I want them to have a better, safer fandom experience than I did.

Gay ships are okay. They are someone else’s interpretation of the characters. They are allowed to have that opinion. You are not homophobic/a monster for not liking the ship, or having a different opinion.

If you don’t like something, don’t look at it. That’s not an attack. That’s for your safety. Click the back button. Close the tab. Block the person.

Your hatred of a ship or type of content will not make it disappear. Your comment will never make content you don’t like get deleted. Attacking the author of a fic with a pairing you hate will do nothing but hurt someone’s feelings.

Blocking is not cowardly. The block function exists to protect you. If a conversation is going south, or morphs into a personal attack, block them.

If you have a ship you really like, it doesn’t have to be “canon” or “right”. If the ship-cult is trying to insist that it is, be wary (they could be exaggerating in light-hearted fun). If they attack people with other opinions, cut ties or block.

A ship is not more important than other people’s feelings. Don’t attack people who ship something you don’t like. Don’t retaliate when people tell you to ship something you hate. Block them. On sight.

If you don’t like a character, think of their fans. There is a way to say you don’t like a character other than writing fics of that character being brutally murdered.

On Tumblr, keep character or ship rebuttals out of their tag. Censor ship names or character names. This isn’t an “unalive” situation where using the full word is important.

Never, ever, ever bring the conversation out of the fandom and into personal attacks. For example, if someone says “I don’t like this ship”, your response shouldn’t be “kill yourself” or “you’re a bad person”. Your response should be ignoring them (if they are non-aggressive) or blocking them (if they are).

I’m going to make this section its own post, because I feel like it’s so important. We always believe that fans are seasoned veterans. We never account for people who just left the islands and are starting their adventure. It would be wrong to post this without addressing the facet of this issue that led it to scar me.

#kingdom hearts #ship names censored for obvious reasons #tw assault #ship wars #vent #long post #do you love the color of the sky length #i have an opinion #tw homophobia #tw cyberbullying #tw suicide mention

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unxpctedlygreat · 2 years

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#as many mentioned before #the Central Church's influence was ABSOLUTELY not that great over Leicester #if they can declare war on it and NO ONE reacts #how is Rhea the enemy when NONE of your people even care about the Central Church Claude...........#also they pat themselves on the back for their work with the Eastern Church I think #so once AGAIN it's a government using their local faith as propaganda (maybe on a lesser scale than the Empire but still)#yet the Central Church who is minding their business and intervening only when asked or required is the bad guys #Rhea sweetie I'm so sorry two third of your homeland are idiots who want to kill you #(before few3h i was fine with the church but didn't care much)#(now i am 100% on the church side and sympathetic to Rhea et al)#in this house we love and care for both the Kingdom and the Central Church #i need a tag for my few3h ramblings

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dmclemblems · 2 years

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I know this is in AG in regard to Edelgard, but I think this also says a lot about GW. What Ashe says here is the truth for how things would be in that route too. Not only do I think it Claude and Edelgard’s already shaky alliance would fail ultimately because of reasons like this, but I think the Kingdom would be hard pressed to ever forgive the Alliance or Empire. GW is like... a super bad ending imo bc I can’t see any of the territories ever getting past what happened, at least in the current generation.

All of Fodlan will probably be in a tense situation even if the war ends (whether post final GW chapter or if they keep fighting and Edelgard has to be defeated or something for it to stop). It’s kind of a cruel irony because Claude wanted the exact opposite, but in the second half of GW his choices are all just... bad. All he ended up doing was causing a rift.

Considering Claude won’t continue an alliance with Edelgard if she doesn’t stop the war after Rhea is killed, that just puts them back into battle, and the Kingdom sure as shit won’t help the Alliance at that point. Either it’d be a three way battle (especially considering Matthias’ death and I imagine that would have a huge impact on people’s motivation to fight, i.e. wanting revenge) or the Kingdom would try to stay out of it. If Edelgard kept attacking them then they would attack back, but they also wouldn’t care if the Alliance was involved at any point because they wouldn’t have any qualms about fighting them either.

I know some characters bring up how bad everything is turning out at camp in GW, but I think what Ashe says here is especially true about all the territories in GW. In SB I’m not sure if it would be the same as GW, since I feel like in general most of what Claude is involved in after engaging in the alliance with the Empire is unknown. Maybe the Alliance could still reconcile with the Kingdom, though I don’t think they’d want to reconcile with the Empire as long as Edelgard is in charge of it. If she continues the war in SB after defeating Rhea and Thales, then same as in GW, the alliance between the Empire and Alliance would be off, and it would be back to war. Maybe not quite as bad, since the Kingdom might not hate the Alliance as much if outright hate them at all, but I think things would be kind of shaky with them since the Alliance did attack them and assist the Empire at all.

#Three Hopes #Three Hopes Spoilers #I just can't imagine that anything after SB and GW would actually go smoothly #Edelgard is still out for conquest in SB/GW and the Kingdom and Alliance would have a shaky relationship at best #if Edelgard continued the war in GW then everyone would just outright hate each other and it would be a literal disaster #definitely the same kind of ''bad end'' vibes I get from CF #like how I've mentioned other lands invading post CF. they'd be able to do that pretty easily in SB/GW too

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