#she had big ambitions that she wanted to keep a secret as to not have her ideas stolen but also constantly longed to enthuse abt her genius

[illmother]

GIVE ME THE 2K WORDS DOMESTIC DEREN HCS RUELLA. HAND THEM OVER

(if ur comfy w it ofc <333 no pressure if not uwu)

yes my liege 🙏

— deren wakes up at around 10am, give or take. at that point, the kids are already at school, you at work. but somehow—when she wakes up there’s always always a lipstick stain on her cheek, some smeared around her lips. ah- you must have been in a rush, she wonders if you noticed you also smudged your lipstick a bit giving her this kiss. oh, well…she can always ask tease you about it later. still, she couldn’t help but run her fingers over her lips. she’ll make a mental note to repay you when you get home.

— MOVIE. NIGHTS. at least twice every week. the kids would always ask to see “mama’s movies” (since i imagine it’s kinda hard to keep it a secret, when your girlfriend is a legendary director and is all over the news once every few months, you’d tell them anyways against your better judgment) and you and deren would comply, an amused smile on her face as she watched the look of amazement on the kids’ faces. in the end, you’d always be the one to tell them to go to bed. and as your kids groaned and whined about wanting to finish deren’s movie, all deren would say is “listen to your mother, kids.” she waited a long time to say that.

— if i had to describe a parenting dynamic between you and deren, it would be…good cop, bad cop. deren, being the more laid back parent obviously being the good cop. you, being the stricter parent is the bad cop.

— you take deren on dates very often. yes, you are the one who suggests going out on dates. i imagine the first time you asked her out after the whole thing blows over, she’s just a bit stunned, staring at you for a moment to make sure if she heard it right, might space out a bit. it’s only when your daughter lightly tapped her cheek that she finally snapped back to reality.

— obviously, deren could never say no to you, so every Friday night you both indulge in each other’s company. your kids are left with a babysitter (maybe a trusted sinner from MBCC i can imagine how chaotic it’d be LOL) you’d either go to high end restaurants or a cheap fast food court and get ice cream right after.

— speaking of MBCC i can imagine every time deren visits for any reason at all, she often brings you and the kids along. i can imagine luvia ray, and OwO will absolutely adore your kids! i feel like luvia would often show them some acting tricks if they even ONCE mentioned the word ‘acting’ OwO is like a big sister to them, they admire her dance and ambition. (OwO and the kids often have playdates together)

#idk if this is 2k words but let’s pretend it is #path to nowhere #ptn #ptn x reader #deren #ptn deren #deren x reader

[chisatowo]

I need 2 stop making salmonid ocs I cannot design all these fuckers I need 2 design the many many characters from my actual stories and aus that need designed and yet all I wanna do is make more emo fish ppl help-

#rat rambles #oc posting #splat posting #thinking abt valiant's ex friend who was the person that she got annoyed with and left because of #he was smth of a found brother to her as they largy stuck together during their childhoods and as such initially both physically developed #in similar ways with him beimg slightly more akin to your average adult smallfry #but during his late teens he started growing again and most assumed he was just a late bloomer #but as he was in his early 20s approaching mid 20s and he was still going he started realising that it was probably. not gonna stop. #he never ended up gettimg the chance to tell valient tho before she left #valiant was not necesarily an outcast but she was considered hard to connect to and she herself was very secretive around most #she had big ambitions that she wanted to keep a secret as to not have her ideas stolen but also constantly longed to enthuse abt her genius #so her one friend was the person shed usually go off too and he usually tried his best to listen and engage as best he could but he wasnt. #the best at it. and that only got worse as the looming prospect of being possibly seperated from everyone he knows and loves started to get #to him and since he didnt tell anyone valiant assumed he didnt care abt or stopped believing in her ideas which hurt and frustrated her #after one particular conversation where at some point he straight up told her that he wasnt up for talking she took it personally and left #nowadays she looks back on that with a lot of regret since in hindsight she can tell that he was probably going through some shit #she feels like its too late to go back or even reach out tho since its been over 20 years at this point #she doesnt know that even if she did he wouldnt be there :( #as for him himself I imagine that being a collasol salmon comes with. a lot of complicated feelings for some #its a deeply honored and even celebrated roll and theyre very well cared for but at the same time it kind of requires being much more #isolated than your typical salmonid even if they have a handful of caretakers with them most of the time #they usually have to be moved out to the deeper parts of the ocean too meaning that its difficult for family and friends to visit sometimes #plus there is this level of envy thay exists in some salmon around the titans sometimes which for my big boys case does fuck with him #he is a very anxious person who tends to overthink things and boy howdy does every last element of all of this not help #it especially doesnt help that his best friend left before he could even say goodbye and he hasnt heard from or even of her since :( #his crew ends up getting picked off by predators while escorting him to a nearby border for a grooming session leaving him alone and lost #in the depths of the ocean with little tools to navigate #he knows that death is not supposed to be a scary thing for him but he is so scared in this moment #not because of death itself but much more so him desperately not wanting to die alone #he was supposed to be celebrated. it was supposed to be a joyous event. his family was supposed to be there. he'll never see valiant again

[fsfghgee]

Bi-Han Breakdown: because I think he deserves it. And unfortunately, he's receiving a lot of hate for no sane reason

Bi-Han is not a saint, but clearly complex and misunderstood. I hope this post can help you to understand his character and alignment in MK1 better.

1° HE LET HIS FATHER DIE, HE IS EVIL!

Bi-Han letting his father die is the main reason that make people think he is evil, but let's think about it...

Bi-Han let his father die, he didn't kill his father in cold blood and Liu Kang knew about it! Why he kept Bi-Han close, had high hopes for him (his words) and still wants him back if he is so evil?

Liu kang: Come in from the cold, Bi-Han. ("Come in from the cold" Definition & Meaning: to become part of a group or of normal society again after one has been outside it.)

Bi-Han: And again kneel before you?

Liu kang to Scorpion (about Bi-Han): I had such high hopes for your brother.

Scorpion to Geras: I want to see the moment my father died. (so yeah, Liu Kang knows how Bi- han/Tomas/Kuai Liang's father died. And he doesn't blame Bi-Han for his death)

Besides, who said his father couldn't have done the same thing with Bi-han's mother, since she was also a warrior who followed Liu Kang and letting someone die is not a big deal for Lord Liu Kang...

Tomas: Did you intend for me to be orphaned?

Liu Kang: Some threads must be cut to weave time's fabric. (Translation: YES, I DID. WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?)

Why doesn't he resent his mother for following Liu Kang like he does with his father? Why does he genuinely believes that she would be pround of his actions?

Tomas: If mother were alive...

Bi-Han: She would applaud my actions.

C'mon, look at his eyes! You can see the pain in them:

Bi-Han to Kitana: Your mother's death is regrettable.

He never shows remorse for anything, but he's truly sorry for Sindel's death, because he wasn't there to help them defeats Shang Tsung's god counterpart and maybe prevent her death. He truly admired Sindel. Also, Sindel was a mother. And he loves his mother.

Bi-Han to Sindel: You wield the power that I aspire to.

Bi-Han to Sindel: I don't want your throne. Just part of Earthrealm.

He only despise his father and Liu Kang's authority...

Bi-Han to Liu Kang: My father was a fool to follow you.

Kenshi to Bi-Han: Why do you so resent Liu Kang's authority?

He keep saying to everyone:

Father was a fool, lacked vision, never saw the Lin Kuei's potential etc. Then, you can say BUT HE NEVER SAID HIS FATHER WAS EVIL...

True. But who knows? He doesn't see himself as evil for not trying to save his father (nor Liu Kang, a GOD.) when he had the chance, but a lot of people thinks he is evil for it. And his father was a man of many secrets...

That demon who thinks it's cool kill "evil creatures" whithin her parameters to get what she wants "a pure form/soul": There are many in the Netherrealm (hell) just like you.

Bi-Han: You conflate ambition with evil, Ashrah.

Bi-Han to himself: Our father was a man of many secrets.

2°

HE IS MEAN TO TOMAS AND TRIED TO KILL HIM, HE IS EVIL!

I truly love Tomas, but Bi-Han not accepting him as a brother in front of him, doesn't make him evil. Tomas's family was murdered by Lin Kuei's warriors in front of him and the grandmaster (Bi-Han's father) took him in to make of that broken child a powerful warrior who could also kill! In Bi-Han's eyes, Tomas was always a potential threat to the clan and he state it in his face:

Bi-Han to Tomas: Your treachery does not surprise me.

But despite everything, he also, multiple times, recognize Tomas as a worthy fellow Lin Kuei and even as his brother:

Look at how proud Tomas seems to be 🥺

How could Bi-Han think about harm Tomas when everything happened so fast?! He couldn't even see where Tomas was, he rushed to check where he was and not even looked at the ground to purposely kick a rock on him:

Liu Kang: Your brothers regret losing your fellowship.

Bi-Han: Then they shouldn't have disobeyed my commands.

He clearly recognize Tomas as his youngest brother, just not in front of him. You ask me why he doesn't do the same in front of Tomas? Firstly, he always had a foot out the door in his relationship with Tomas because of his background (TOMAS'S BIOLOGICAL FAMILY WAS MURDERED BY HIS CLAN); Secondly, Tomas was supporting all that Kuai Liang's mourning for their father's death and Bi-Han was clearly fed up and lost it. You can even see how surprised Tomas was:

He clearly wasn't expecting to hear him talk like that.

And we can't forget that Bi-Han was Tomas's idol before his betrayal. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't idolize and really miss someone who is constantly mean to me, so yes, I don't believe that Bi-Han was constantly an asshole to Tomas, just cold how his own statement:

Tomas: You've always been cold to me.

Bi-Han: Because your blood is not Lin Kuei.

And after defeating Nitara and Ermac the first thing that comes to his mind is the physical integrity of his brothers. He checked BOTH of them:

3°

HE TRIED TO KILL KUAI LIANG, HE IS EVIL!

We must have been watching different things, because there's no way that the GRANDMASTER of an ancient warrior clan, who can easily kill and is trained for it since childhood, would miss this chance if killing his brother was his true intention:

They trained since childhood, Tomas not even tried to separate them...

You ask why? Because he is used to it! They trained since childhood, they fight against each other since childhood too.

He only shows up to check Kuai Liang when he worries that Bi-Han could have blinded him, that is, gone too far.

And he quickly goes back behind the scene when he sees it was just a scratch:

End this, brother! Embrace the future!

He wasn't trying to kill him (look how he deliberately made this blow go soft here), he was trying to PUNISH him for disobey. And then, I ask you, with whom do you think he learned to do that?

And after this blow, he was holding back so much that he lost to him

4°

HE BETRAYED HIS BROTHERS! HE IS EVIL!

They feel betrayed by him, Bi-Han also feel betrayed by them, but Bi-Han actually betrayed earthrealm and more than once offered them the chance to join him, which they refused because they just want to defend earthrealm not govern it. Which hurts Bi-Han so much, since the entire clan and his best friends (Cyrax and Sektor) believe in his vision, make the clan great again (lol, I mean, achieve greatness, bring glory and respect to his clan etc), but his brothers don't:

Kuai Liang to Tomas: You forget Cyrax and Sektor. Their loyalty to Bi-Han is absolute.

Tomas to Kuai Liang: That the Lin Kuei won't aid us is unforgivable. Bi-Han has corrupted them totally.

His only wrongdoing was trust in Shang Tsung and Shao. They fooled him with false promises. And he already regrets having believed in them:

Bi-Han: I was wrong to trust you.

Shao: Yes, Earthrealmer. You were.

Shang Tsung: You have been cold to my entreaties.

Bi-Han: Because you proved you can't be trusted.

Havik: We were both played for fools.

Bi-Han: Shang Tsung and Quan Chi will pay.

But, unfortunately he has been hunted for helping Shao break out of prison and they are calling him a traitor for it, nothing more:

Sindel: With one act you betrayed two realms.

Bi-Han: Neither deserved my loyalty.

Bi-Han: I helped you, but I've earned no respect.

Shao: Because there's nothing lower than a traitor.

Bi-Han: You would still be in prison, were it not for me!

Raiden: I never thought you would betray Earthrealm.

Bi-Han: My only loyalty is to the Lin Kuei.

#lin kuei #bi han #sub zero #kuai liang #scorpion mk #tomas vrbada #smoke mk #mortal kombat 1 #mortal kombat #mk1 spoilers #mk1 #mk2023 #mortal kombat spoilers #bihan #bi han sub zero #mk bihan #liu kang #havik #mk havik #sub zero mk1 #bihan subzero #mk smoke #mk tomas vrbada

[millylotus]

Super Villain Summer Internships [Everlasting Trio, DpxDc]

Everlasting Trio don’t know what they’re going to do for college, so they decide to just bite the bullet and do a few internships. Although they all forget to tell each other that they’re each interning with villains.

Danny is with Mister Freeze, going under the name Blizzard

Danny is basically the one doing a bunch of intern work while also not, at first he was just kinda there cause he liked being cold

But then he and Freeze begin to bond over feeling responsible for things that aren’t really their fault, Danny promises to help Freeze revive Nora

They have a father-son relationship, in how they’re actually pretty similar in personality & powers

Sam is with Poison Ivy, under the name Blood Blossom

Sam is the only one to have a legal internship because Ivy actually wrote her down as her legal lab assistant

She and Pam are very Big Sis-Little Sis energy, Sam is the annoying younger sibling who wants to do everything their big sister does

Pam finds this devotion to their ideals adorable, and supports Sam in their joint endeavors

Tucker is with Bane, going as Ruin

Tucker acting as Bane’s tech guy, he’s been working on a new type of venom for Bane he doesn’t get into many fights but if he needs to he doesn’t back down

They have an Uncle-nephew relationship going on but also Tucker gets a bit obsessive about making the best venom that they have Frankenstein & Frankenstein’s Monster going on too

It’s mainly just Tucker getting to cackle evilly while Bane just say “Alright chiquito, have you eaten breakfast yet? You get angry when hungry.”

The batfam is not prepared to deal with two mini rouges and a secret mini rouge who they haven’t met yet but are still worried about

A couple weeks into their internship the Gotham Rogues have their bi-monthly meeting where The Everlasting Trio is introduced to everyone

Ivy, Freeze, & Bane were also surprised to see that their interns actually knew each other/are dating

The Everlasting Trio are the entire reason why the Gotham Rogues are even talking to each other at the moment

Now the bats are even more confused & concerned because the rogues are usually at each other’s throats

It’s the only thing keeping them from taking over tbh

When the batfam find out that the three interns they’ve had to deal with for like most of June, all know each other and are actively in a polycule, they feel like everything makes so much more sense

The trio do have an ulterior motive to this whole thing, at first it’s just indulging in their less than stellar morals

Until it’s not

They become more enthralled in their ambitions, Sam begins to care less and less about the world outside of plants, she cares less about the civilian casualties, she begins to use ecto-science on plants

Pam & Harley are very concerned because they’re both on their path to redemption and Sam is going in the other direction

Danny becomes just as obsessive as Mister Freeze with trying to bring back Nora, he’s bringing in ecto-science in an attempt to bring her back through re-bonding her soul back to her body

Freeze isn’t against this exactly, but he’s unsure if it’ll bring the real Nora back, he’s still gonna go with it

Tucker has fully fallen into the mad scientist idea, he wants to make Bane the best version of himself the best human possible, his new version of venom is directed by ecto-science and such

Bane of course wants to be stronger but he knows at some point Tucker is gonna go to far, so he’s willing to hold the kid back if need be, but he isn’t going to actually do it he wants Tucker to go bad

By the time the Trio reaches the point of no return their bosses realizes this is not going to go their way anymore

Everlasting Trio: You’re just afraid to take it, One. Step. Further.

The fight to take back Gotham from the Everlasting Trio is a long one

Sam has complete control over Robinson Park [biggest park in Gotham] along with its botanical gardens and such

The surrounding neighborhoods are overrun with plants, she has people asleep and under her control for the most part

Tucker has most of the upper districts running wild on the venom he’s made, people are now more powerful than Superman himself and have lost their minds in their blind rage, they’re all mainly under his control

Danny has the east bays and the graveyards near by, everything is frozen over, the bodies in the harbor and in the ground have been reanimated into ice soldiers and are under his control most of the time

Ivy, Harley, Freeze, & Bane have to call in the bats for help with the Trio and their plans

They split up to go for their kid, with a few bats behind them to back them up

Ivy & Harley pull on Sam’s care for the rest of the world

Bane brings Tucker down from the high, making him think this through

Freeze gets Danny to realize that nobody he brought back is who they first were

By the end of it the trio is subdued after a big fight and some impassioned speeches

They’re admitted into Arkham Asylum, they promise their mentors that they’ll do better, that they’ll get better & make them proud of them

Admittedly I completely forgot to mention the trio’s family back in Amity

Let’s just say they don’t all know the nature of their internship

Jack & Maddie are aware that Danny is interning under an important doctor but they weren’t sure who he is

Angela & Maurice don’t know what’s going on with Tucker he hasn’t given them any stable information, he wanted to keep it that way with them thinking he’s still a good kid

Jeremy & Pamela know exactly what Sam was doing, she made sure of it, she wanted them to know they’re baby girl was running with villains now

Jazz is actually living in Gotham while this is going on, she going to college at GU for psychology, she’s interning at Arkham

She’s actually close with the bats, having met Jason, she’s one of the few psychs they trust at all

She knows that Sam is working with Ivy, she’s tried reaching out to her but Sam refuses to talk to her

She’s only ever seen Blizzard from afar, and was unable to connect him with Danny

She didn’t even know Ruin existed until the bats told her, and even then she didn’t know he was Tucker

When they’re taken down Jazz finds out who they are and she’s crushed, she feels she not only failed Sam, but also Danny & Tucker as well

Since the trio are all 18+ by the time they’re arrested nobody from Amity is sent anything to tell them they’ve been arrested

For about a week Jazz is actually their therapist at Arkham before she’s re-assigned when it’s realized she knows them personally

Jazz ends up telling the Foleys and the Fentons what happened

Then Amity gets the broadcast of their very own Samantha Manson being arrested in Gotham, New Jersey for eco-terrorism

Everything else just blows up in their faces after that, The three families don’t even dare show face around for awhile

They go to Gotham to actually visit their kids in Arkham

The Foleys are so disappointed in their son for what he’s done, Tucker can’t even look them in the eyes as the yell at him about everything

For the Mansons it sprouts into a huge shouting match with Sam almost jumping to table to try and physically fight her parents

All the Fentons do is stare at each other, they try to ask Danny why but he’s not cooperating with his biting remarks and not wanting to even see them for almost a week

Regarding their sentence and institutionalization the trio only has about five years or until they show sufficient mental stability for two years straight

This is another one that's been sitting around for awhile. And I also remembered the the banner i made for Batfam & Everlasting trio content

Main Story Index [It's kinda messy but it's got links to most everything]

#dark everlasting trio #villain everlasting trio #everlasting trio #sam manson #tucker foley #danny fenton #danny phantom #dpxdc #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dc x dp #poison ivy #dr freeze #bane #millywrites

[callivich]

Random Shameless headcanons I have for characters other than Ian and Mickey post-finale….

Fiona comes back to Chicago when Frank dies. She’s dreading it. Even though she misses her family like crazy, it’s hard coming back. She gets to the airport and nearly turns back around. She’s anxious the whole flight. But when she sees her siblings waiting for her at arrivals, she breaks down in tears. There’s a big family hug. She doesn’t stay for long but she’s glad she came. From then on, she returns often.

Debbie and Carl end up running the Alibi with Tipping. Debbie hosts an LGBTQ+ quiz night once a month and meets the love of her life at one of these nights. Carl may or may not end up having a bisexual awakening at a different one of these nights. Carl and Debbie work on a whole menu of cocktails that they name after their family and friends. They bicker a bit but they don’t fight. They find they actually work well together.

Svetlana has a comfortable life. She’s single for a long while, just focused on raising Yev. She works at a run-down Eastern European restaurant as a waitress and very quickly works her way up to manager. She turns the place around and one day is able to apply for a loan and buy the place. Now she spends her days running a tight ship - a well reviewed restaurant with a perfect health score - and some of her nights sipping an ice cold vodka at the bar, impeccably dressed. There may or may not be a beautiful, rich widow who woos her….

(Don’t hate me for this one) Lip and Tami end up moving to Milwaukee where they have another baby. It’s ok for awhile but then they break up. They move back to Chicago and co-parent well together even though the breakup is bad. They try dating other people casually. But they eventually fall back in love. It takes time and a lot of trying but they get there in the end. It’s very messy. But isn’t life?

Lip ends up staying with Ian and Mickey for awhile after the break up. Although they’re family and they love each other, it feels like forever for everyone.

Despite Tami and Lip breaking up, everyone treats Tami as family and nobody cuts her out of things or sides with Lip over her. Everyone is neutral and supportive. Lip is kinda amazed at everyone’s maturity. It makes him realise how much they’ve all grown up.

Liam is a straight A student. He does incredibly well in school. He has a lot of ambition and dreams. He wants to be a defence lawyer and do as much pro bono work as he can, he wants to be a doctor and work at a free clinic, he wants to get involved with politics and help speak for those who can’t. There’s a lot he wants to do, so he starts by doing a lot of volunteering at different organisations. Because of this his applications to college are amazing. He may or may not get his siblings into volunteering too.

Debbie gets a ‘franny’ tattoo on the top of her arm near her shoulder. It’s done from Franny writing her own name. It’s both very sweet and very cool.

Mandy comes back to Chicago after a bad breakup. She’s determined to build a good life. She misses Ian and Mickey but can’t find the strength to get in contact. She knows Terry is dead. So, she has a good job, a nice apartment. Everything’s going well and then she runs into Debbie. And…it’s nice. It’s nice to see Debbie happy and healthy and with a sweet kid. Debbie encourages Mandy to get in contact with Ian and Mickey but says she’ll keep her secret if she doesn’t want to.

She doesn’t have to. Mandy gets their address off Debbie and turns up at their apartment. It’s a lot emotionally. They have a long catch up session with alcohol, some very, very good weed (better than they ever had as teenagers) and takeout. There’s laughter and tears - mostly from Ian and Mandy but also from Mickey. Yes. They saw those tears. Stop lying. She stays close with them and Debbie.

Franny and Fred and Lip and Tami’s second kid have so much fun growing up together. They have sleepovers and days out and are close like siblings. They’re close to all the older Gallaghers but they idolise Liam and he’s their favourite. He teaches them fun facts and helps them with their homework.

Kev and Vee occasionally return to Chicago with the girls, they are doing well and they rent a big house on a lake and invite the Gallaghers. It becomes a tradition once a year. Usually Fourth of July so they can watch other people’s fireworks, get drunk and party. The kids have a great time swimming and exploring. The adults enjoy Ian and Mickey’s premium weed. There may or may not be midnight swimming and very drunken Marco Polo games.

Vee and Fiona meet up for a girls weekend once a year where they find a hotel with a spa and a bar. They end up inviting Debbie and Tami after a while. Lip jokes there should be a boys weekend but he can’t be bothered to organise it.

#fiona gallagher #debbie gallagher #carl gallagher #svetlana yevgenivna #lip gallagher #mandy milkovich #liam gallagher #tami tamietti #kevin ball #veronica fisher #franny gallagher #fred gallagher #calli talks #headcanon

[tommyxgrace-always]

Ppl say that to my disrespects grace because he called Campbell to tell him he's about to fuck grace, and that's the only reason why he wanted to fuck her, to brag about bedding her. Can u provide an analysis on this please. Why did Tommy really do it if not to brag about fucking grace.

Excellent topic dear anonymous!

I was thinking about this scene the other day and how haters and May/ Lizzie shippers love to use it to justify their “version” of the story.

The show has always been sincere in portraying Tommy’s feelings for Grace quite clearly throughout the course of the series. There are numerous dialogues and events before and after that scene that prove the truth about his feelings.

💕 since s1 we know he was genuinely in love with her and did not stop loving her even after finding her true identity.

💕In the beginning of s2, we are specifically shown a private conversation between Polly and Tommy where Polly brings up Grace. Now Polly is one of the few persons who knows Tommy, especially the sensitive side he keeps hidden from everyone. She acknowledged he loves her in s1 and we see her bring Grace up again. It reiterates the fact that she has been closely observing Tommy for the past 2 yrs and she knows who he is missing the whole time.

💕 Haters can deny everything they want but one thing that is very well established on the show is that Tommy’s love for horses is pure. He hates people in general and uses them but he is too sensitive when it comes to horses. So for him, naming his first ever racehorse which he actually bought had great emotional significance. He would not name the horse just for the sake of it or to spite a man he doesn’t see worthy of respect. He named the horse from a pure place in his heart. I think he really wanted to honour the horse’s beauty and grace. Plus he wanted to name it after the only woman who brought beauty and grace in his life! Maybe he added Grace’s secret to make it a bit more mysterious and apt as horse’s name!! In the scene he appears to give it a moment’s thought before saying the name outloud as if it is not a big deal. But c’mon who is he kidding!! He must have thought of the name night after night. May was right in front of him and he keeps the emotions on his face as neutral as possible to not give away his true feelings.

💕 As per the show’s timeline, buying a racehorse is something Tommy always wanted to do. Campbell came unannounced and involved him in a political plan. Tommy already mocked him and embarrassed him in the hospital, he even mentioned about Grace shooting Campbell. So he didn’t have to buy a horse and name it after Grace to mock him again. It serves no purpose.

💕Also Tommy had no idea Grace would be coming back to England. Remember he even burnt her letter. He bought and named the horse way before he found out she was here. If Grace never came back and Campbell had found out that Tommy owns a horse named after her, it would make Tommy look like a fool. A love sick fool who is still not over her while she is married to another man!!

💕The whole time May was chasing and showing interest in Tommy. They even spend the night together and when Tommy comes back, he goes straight to the phone and calls Grace. Again reiterating he has feelings for her. Simultaneously Campbell’s plan is revealed and it has nothing to do with racehorses or derby. The place of assassination is a house. It is again established that Tommy’s ambition of buying a racehorse and being involved in Campbell’s plan are separate from each other and there is no connection.

💕 The real issue starts when Campbell decides to screw up Tommy personally. He seems determined to do Campbell’s dirty work and get out of the business. But when arthur and Michael are arrested and his business gets attacked he gets pissed because Campbell crosses the line and makes it personal. In the mean time, Grace calls him. Now the important thing here is, he was anyways trying to reconnect with her before shit happens. So her calling back was a deeply emotional moment. It is something he wanted but just came at the wrong time. They have their reunion. We see how they are still in love with each other and he confesses “I haven’t spent a day without thinking about you”, a callback to the conversation he had with Polly back in ep1 of s2. So the feelings were always there and nothing had changed.

💕 Had Campbell not made it personal, I do not think Tommy had any plans to tell him about his letters or his meeting with Grace. But since he attacked Tommy and cornered him, he hit back exactly where it hurts! Grace! And letting him know how she still chooses him!!

In summary, Tommy loved Grace and horses more than anything in the world. If he named the horse after Grace, it was from the most genuine place in his heart. We see him choose Grace over May in a heart beat. Look at the way Tommy looks at Grace, the way he touches her or kisses her. He thinks that he might die at the end of the plan. And the only thing he wanted to cherish was their time together. Even in the finale, he stands at his grave and there is only one person in the world he thinks of!! DO NOT LET DELUSIONAL SHIPPERS MAKE YOU DOUBT THAT!!

#tommy x grace #tommy shelby #peaky blinders #grace burgess #thomas shelby #grace shelby #cillian murphy #tommy x grace forever #annabelle wallis #tommy and grace

[bidisastersanji]

Laputa: castle in the sky-inspired ZoSan AU !!! Strap in gang because it would be just SO perfect- and they can even join the pirates at the end! ALSO AIRCRAFT PIRATES!!

Sanji as Sheeta: peaceful teenager of royal blood, managed to escape his dangerous family as a child with his mom and lived on the ground herding sheep and farming- but she died very shortly after their escape, and passed on the stone and the secret words of laputa to him.

He is then adopted by his adoptive father figure Zeff, a neighboring owner of an inn and cooks to earn his keep

Zoro as Pazu, kind orphan teen working in the mines who’s childhood best friend Kuina died a couple of years ago. Her dream was to find Laputa, and nobody believed her that it was real. One day Zoro will prove to everyone that Laputa is real.

Sanji is abducted from Zeff and being transported in an airship by Agent Muska Captain Bege, himself funded by the military might of General Charlotte LinLin, who wants the fabled power of Laputa for herself

The airship is attacked by Dola Luffy and his gang of pirates, who just want the treasure of Laputa + their crewmate Robin wants to learn the history of the land but they have no idea what they’re getting into

Sanji climbs outside the airship window to try and escape the Baron but ultimately slips and falls

It’s a normal evening/night in the mine for Zoro when he sees a blue light descending from the sky

He catches this mysterious floating boy in his dark clothes and takes him home

The next morning Sanji makes him breakfast and talk, and Zoro opens up about his ambition to complete Kuina’s dream and find Laputa

They’re found and pursued by the straw hat pirates as well as Bege- Sanji disguised in Kuina’s girl clothes, despite his long hair, doesn’t work when they find his old clothes and deduce the “teen girl” was him, starting a long chase

They are saved by the crystal when they fall down the mine, floating down, deep into the pit

Sanji reveals his link to Laputa and his secret name (super long secret name ending in Vinsmoke)

They’re eventually captured by Big Mom’s forces, they show Sanji the robot and reveal he is now the rightful heir to Laputa- although he is not told what exactly caused his family’s downfall in the end

They needed the stone and him because Charlotte wants to marry him to her daughter and thus link her by blood to the power of Laputa, legitimising her claim

Zoro is put in the dungeons and tied up and he tries to escape to save Sanji but no luck. He’s forced to take some money and go home.

When he gets home, depressed, Luffy and his gang are waiting for him and they team up to go save Sanji

Super cool scene where they fly in on the fortress - Sanji accidentally activates the killer robot with the ancient phrases and is shocked by the destruction as the robot tries to protect him- Zoro manages to save Sanji but they drop the crystal behind

Working together with the strawhats, Sanji shares what he saw with their navigator Nami in terms of directions and they manage to tail Big Mom’s ship

Airship shenanigans and outfit change (Sanji in the big poofy pants!!) Sanji starts cooking for everyone and the strawhats never want him to leave! Meanwhile Zoro helps Usopp and Franky with running the machinery

Cute scene where they snuggle under a shared blanket in the crows nest during night’s watch

They’re attacked by General Charlotte’s ship and Sanji and Zoro are carried away by a storm in the crow’s nest, partly because of Zoro’s bad sense of direction when using the controls - he sends them straight into a huge cloud

They wake up on Laputa, tied to each other, and Sanji is trembling, overcome with bad memories as they go exploring, and Zoro holds his hand the whole time.

Charlottes forces invade Laputa but Bege betrays them and takes control of the fortress.

Meanwhile, the strawhats had been captured: Zoro goes to help them escape and arms them - but Sanji gets captured by Bege who needs him to access the royal areas of Laputa.

Bege starts playing around with Laputa’s destructive power and Sanji bites his hand and steals the crystal, running away

Meanwhile Zoro is in hot pursuit, gets lost and nearly falls off of Laputa (it keeps moving on its own!!) and starts crawling back up through some weird tunnels

Bege is shooting and Sanji, cutting off his braids, and Zoro gets to him just in time and bargains for just a hug to say goodbye

Sanji teaches him the ancient words and together they trigger Laputa’s destruction

They manage to get away and are found by the strawhats, who managed to get lots of gold

And thus begins their adventures as pirates!

Gosh i wish I could imitate the Ghibli style it would look so cool to see the strawhats as Dola pirates!!!

Also, thoughts on replacing « Laputa » with « Skypeia »?

#one piece #zosan fic idea #zoro x sanji #one piece zosan #one piece au #ghibli au #Laputa One piece au #roronoa zoro #black leg sanji #pazu!zoro #sheeta!sanji

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

Finally finished Team Pretentious (affectionate, and also not actually sdnkfdgsd) for the Royal!Legacy AU, and you can prolly see why they took longer than these guys :V

Lloyd is the High Central Prince, only son to the Emperor and Empress of the Central Kingdom. Their Province is supposed to be dedicated to communications and maintaining stable connections with the other kingdoms, given their perfect geographical positioning for the job, but his father has overly ambitious plans to expand their territory and unite all the kingdoms under one rule instead, which...Lloyd doesn’t entirely agree with. Does his best to maintain good relations with everyone despite his father pushing him to “prove that they’re superior”, and genuinely just doesn’t want to start trouble. He...doesn’t actually that big of a role in the romance side of things (or really at all) but I didn’t want to leave him out ;w;)/ 

Zane is the grandson of the elusive ruler of the Northern Kingdom, a Province that thrives on tactical strategy and battle maneuvers...but doesn’t actually use any of it, instead putting more efforts into just making sure everyone else leaves them alone. But with his grandfather and his father both recently passed, the current Ice Queen realizes that Zane is becoming quite lonely, and to mend the disconnect with the others kingdoms they embark to attend the Western Kingdom’s Spring Festival for the first time in decades...thus, it’s understandable that they may have gotten a little lost along the way. 

Harumi is the adopted Imperial Jade Princess of the East, torn between thriving on her power and despising the expectations that come with it. She believes in the High Emperor’s ambitions for uniting the kingdoms under his name (primarily because she believes it will dissolve the rest of the royals of any proper responsibility, and thus end the obsession with upholding old traditions/keeping up appearances), blind to exactly what the High Emperor would actually do. In the meantime, she’s known for studying up on Deception Magic, and winds up using it to assist Jesse in his pursuits for Cole (mostly to shake everything up a little, but who knows, maybe all the crazy people she gets involved with just might grow on her). 

Skylor is the Princess of the Archipelago, a kingdom that’s had bad blood with the Southern Kingdom in the past. Despite that, they’re also a nation of trade and export, even moreso than the South, leading Skylor’s father to amass a large amount of wealth via the economy + him marrying into royalty, and loves to flaunt it when he can...even by decorating his own daughter to the nines, shoving her off to the latest royal get-together, and hoping she’ll catch the eye of someone equally as influential and powerful. And, if not, he’ll probably send her off to the highest bidder. Too bad she’s already caught the eye of the current heir of the Southern Kingdom, although forced to keep their relationship secret...but, perhaps once she’s inspired by the other royals and one gardener, maybe she’ll make a move to change things?

#ninjago #ninjago fanart #ninjago au #lloyd garmadon #zane julien #skylor chen #harumi hutchins #legacyverse #the ninja legacy whip #art tag #art of mine #works of mine #sidestories #*stares at the amount of details in these losers* #absolutely worth it #was gonna just do the casual outfits #but that wouldn't do them justice snksnk #and man mobile really do be killing my quality #Royal!Legacy AU

[insomnikat-mused]

I wanna hear about "Noir!"

Okay. *rolls up sleeves* I hope you're comfortable, because this is a journey of epic ambition that goes through the deepest, darkest forms of denial and procrastination. For now it's contained and just passes for doable, but oh man. Like a parasite in my head it can transform into a monster at the drop of a hat.

In its first, baby incarnation, this was going to be an FE3H fic. I had just finished playing Supergiant Games' Transistor and I was absolutely in love with the look and feel and art of it all. I had this image of Dorothea as Red, a singer who'd lost her voice and was looking for someone (Byleth). She joins a private detective (Yuri) initially following a lead on an unsolved murder (Jeralt's death) and the big sprawling city of Fodlan unfolds before them.

The Empire was an 'old money' business empire. The Alliance was an alliance of 'new money'-types with questionable and shady reasons for their success. The Kingdom was 'old money' former mafia that had renounced its former ways and was now, with the blessing of the region's church, struggling to do good but was constantly being dragged back down by its past. -- Anyway, at this point, it became a monster and I just. Cried and couldn't. Not by myself. I entertained the idea of recruiting other authors to help me world-build this, create a collection of stories that could co-habit this AU and eventually merge into a climactic showdown (Byleth is found and we decide which route the ending will take). But, again, the ambition was too great and my commitment plus activity in the fandom not strong enough. So it languished.

But god the aesthetics! I couldn't just walk away from it. I wanted it. I needed to create something with it. And if I couldn't wrangle it into something feasible within FE3H, well, maybe I just needed to change the fandom?

So it entered it's second incarnation in a second fandom with a narrower scope. I call it: Kakashi x Sakura (Spy/Assassin Secret Society) Noir.

Prelude to the storm was my pilot run using the 2022 Wumptober prompt 'Lost Voice' and kksk event prompt 'Swapped'.

This. This was doable. This... could manifest into a real fic!

But as I tried to flesh out an outline, ambition once more got the better of me. Inclusion of any kind of Uchiha clan-related plot just explodes the story arc, you know? And anything that looks like it'll be more than +50K is daunting to even think about. I had recently lost the luxury of all-night binge writing (it isn't good for my health or sanity). So I had to shelf the idea for a year.

I'm now in a more stable and confident (accepting) frame of mind and... so what if it might end up over 50K? Or, worse, end up perpetually unfinished? It's a concept and theme I seem to keep coming back to. So one of my 2024 resolutions is to finally start writing this.

I still haven't quite pinned down the vibe of the story, but I'm leaning heavily into this cut scene from Transistor and Halsey's If I can't have love I want power album. Specifically, these lyrics:

But what's worse? / Tellin' you my feelings / Or to die without revealing / That you crawled inside my head / And set a fire there instead? / Letting all my insecurity / Devour me with certainty / That love is just a currency

So. Yeah. Noir.

#my wip #noir au #the fe3h AU that never was #kakasaku fanfic #if you haven't played supergiant games' transistor at least see the cutscenes on youtube #because they are GORGEOUS and the voice acting SMOLDERING #i have never been so simultaneously turned on and moved to tears by a giant weaponized USB stick confessing 'I love you.' #i probably never will be again #naiatabris #you asked i answered

[hermesserpent-stuff]

Tobacco Beetle AU (part 2 villains)

HUrrah i got through a lot of the villains. some that I haven't talked a ton about, like Graveyard, Tombstone, and Poseidon. I am so pleased and so ahh

Villains (?)

What is it to be a villain in a world that has turned its back on you?

Name: Phineas Mason

Aka: Tinkerer

Powers: semi-resistant to electricity. More than a normal person. 

Toolkit: an entire secret lab to work on underground weapons

Age: ?? Maybe 4... He wont tell anyone for sure.

Height: 5' 7'

Weakness: not good at fighting.

Backstory: weapons creator who had a bit of a name for himself in New York. And then he got a kid and had to start worrying more and more about the number of heroes and eyes on New York. And so he decided to move down south. He creates weapons in Richsten and operates a technology repair shop. 

Name: Adrian Toomes 

Aka: Falcon  (this world’s vulture)

Powers: none. But he is very smart

Toolkit: operational wings. Not attached to his arms. These help him adjust the speed and direction of his flight pack

Age: 50

Height: 5’ 7” ish

Weakness: Old. Quick to anger

Backstory: He is an older inventor whose work has been stolen from him over and over and other ideas have failed multiple times. He is tired and done. Osborn takes his glider design and this was his breaking point. He is now bent on revenge and Baccy is bent on getting him to calm down and not let his life be determined by wanting revenge on someone who could care less

Name: L. Thompson Lincoln

Aka: Tombstone/ The Big Man

Powers: Thick skin caused by an “accident”

Toolkit: He has a crime “empire”. Since the city is small it’s more of a fiefdom

Age: 27

Height: 6’ 2”

Weakness: mOrAls. Oops. Not in love with fight rings or drugs being sold to children. Also not a fan of people under 18 working for him. Dan sorta is an exception in his crime network rather than the rule. 

Backstory: Tombstone has always been involved with crime, using fighting as a defense mechanism to both get people off of him and to keep people from messing with him. He does not like people having power over him. Often such people used their power against him, so he slowly made it his goal to gain more and more control over time, so no one can control him like that again. At one point there was a minor crime boss that got him trapped in a chemical vat that was meant as a root protector for crops. The boss had been fearful of his growing ambitions. He was doused in it and his skin grew thicker, almost impenetrable. He broke out and killed the man, taking over that gang. 

He killed the last crime lord in Richsten (because it was dived into 6 or 7 gangs before) and takes over, cleaning up the disorganization and reorganizing everything to his liking. It has been seven years since that. He also has a legal business that he runs which is a towing, removal, and repair company: Sea Shore Towing 

He is not sure what to think of Baccy. She causes a slowly growing number of people to turn from crime and she ruins many operations by showing up. But also the atmosphere of the dying city is lightening and she seems able to handle the slowly encroaching villains that keep popping up. Not to mention the ghosts.

Baccy can't go in his office. He keeps it too cold for her to be able to without falling asleep within minutes. He has no idea that's the case. She leaves notes on his window to ‘threaten’ him. Like cut-out letter ransom notes. Most of them are lighthearted notes. He leaves some in reply on occasion when a playful mood strikes him on the roof with a signal for her to know to check. He just thinks she is not willing to face him head-on. 

Also Tombstone+symbiote: Graveyard

Aka: Graveyard

Powers: Being a symbiote? So the ability to form shapes from symbiote material. Enhances the strength of the host. Can form a suit around the host, but Tombstone tends to not do this. 

Extra-

Can read the surface emotions/thoughts of people the host touches.

Makes the host impenetrable to possession by ghosts or demons. Its host is its host, back off!!

Toolkit: … being a symbiote? And Tombstone. 

Weakness: Fire. Loud noises.

Backstory: Graveyard is an alien captured by AIM when one of their experimental rockets hit an astroid during reentry. It was experimented heavily upon and lived in deep hunger and agony for years. Eventually, it was able to escape its container during a move and consumed everyone on the submarine it was on. The submarine ran aground and Tombstone’s company is brought in to examine and clean it off the beach. Tomby comes to investigate the wreckage himself and the symbiote slips out and latches on, intent at first on feasting, sure this is another scientist. And then as it digs, it finds a mind different from the scientist. Just as calculating and organized, but the morals are new and the memories of pain convince it to still. Tombstone lets it stay if it promises to put a halt on eating people. SHEILD sweeps in and marks the wreck as their property and asks if anything was found on the ship that could explain the clean-licked bones. Tombstone shrugs, and says he barely had the time to look at the thing to figure out removal logistics. Wishes them luck, cause he really would rather flesh-eating stuff not be loose in his city, and really they should have come faster if they knew it was an AIM ship before, does SHEILD know how to run a tight ship? 

Graveyard is enormously pleased to not be in pain anymore and to be safe. It also happens to love the cold, thriving in it.

They are a decent match

Name: Norman Osborn

Aka: Green Goblin 

Powers: Enhanced strength and mobility.

Toolkit: bombs, glider, funny hat. Sick earrings. 

Age: 31

Height: 5’ 6” ish /as goblin in heeled boots: 5’ 7” ish 

Weakness: Mocking. He mocks but is bad at being mocked in return. Especially as Norman by children like Quentin. 

Backstory: Norman Osborn dragged his father's company back from the brink and has fought for everything he has. Scheming, cheating, blackmailing. Whatever he has to do. And now his eyes are on the underbelly of Richsten, hoping to take it for his own. He takes globulin green, originally conceptualized as something to strengthen weakened animals (or people like his daughter)  

Speaking of his daughter. He is terribly distressed at her ‘weakness’ and heart for fantasy. He wants her to focus on more serious subjects like the hard sciences. He keeps her at home and hates the excursions brought about by Martha. Strongly dislikes Martha. But he likes Gwynn. Wishes he had a son like him. So he allows the friendships to continue. Quentin is banned though.

Name: Otto Octavius 

Aka: Land Octopus (this world’s Doctor Octopus)

Powers: Four arms attached to his back. He also communes with technology through Electro. This can be good and bad. 

Toolkit: his arms.

Age: 22

Height: 5’ 1”

Weakness: He has five voices aside from his own in his head. He can get overwhelmed if they all get distracted by something different. He gets better at blocking out his arms and Electro, but in tiredness and extreme panic, he struggles. Without his arms, he is physically weak.

Backstory: Otto was working towards getting his doctorate at the local university: Spartan University. Unfortunately, the person in charge of approving his doctoral research fails him, cheating him out of his doctorate. The person who does this is  Doug, the son of the chancellor, who was paid off by Osborn to do this. 

During this time he is working with his arms in a lab at the school, a lab funded by Agrioscorp. After finding out that he is not passing and not getting his doctorate this semester, he is working in the lab and then there is an accident that frees the AIs of his arms and merges his brain with Electro. He breaks out into the city, determined to destroy the university. And maybe the city. Or take over the city. Hard for him to be sure what he wants, given that his arms are slowly developing slight personalities and that Electro’s subconscious also bumps up against him. 

Name: Maximilian “Max” Dillan

Aka: Electro

Powers: generates and controls electricity, can become pure electricity to travel through wires if he is emotional enough or on purpose after some training. Has a mental connection with Otto.

Also, able to sense ghosts and demons, and other supernatural beings nearby. Can see them when these entities are too weak to be seen by others and talks to them. A lot of people think he is just talking to himself. Otto also thinks this for a bit, not believing in ghosts

Toolkit: determination and a desire to live. 

Age: 25

Height: 5’ 8”

Weakness: Water. 

Backstory: Electro has been working as a repairman around the university as a way to help pay for college. He goes only part-time, with two or three classes a semester. He is trying to make his life better than that of his father’s to drank himself to death when he was 7 or his mother who vanished off the face of the earth after talking to the air for a month when he was 9. He was raised by his maternal grandmother from 9 onwards. She died when he was 23. He wants to be a mechanical engineer and is clawing his way to the degree slowly. 

Then while doing repairs in the university labs, he is electrocuted and knocked into a vat of electric eels that they were experimenting with in the hopes of finding a renewable energy resource. The world explodes into pain and electricity. When he wakes up, he is fully electric and has a metal link to Otto. 

Now he has a beef with the unsafe working conditions of the university and running around with Otto who is trying to find a workable cure. He is in danger, as elements of the city and the world beyond see him as a potential source of renewable energy. He'd much rather not be captured and forced to generate energy for people who don't care about his well-being. 

Name: real name lost to time

Aka: Poseidon

Powers: Similar to Hydroman but spooky. Possesses the ability to transform his whole body into salt water. He can control every droplet that comprises his body. 

Toolkit: Water. And being a ghost

Age: ???

Height: ????

Weakness: Holy water. Certain symbols. Buckets. 

Backstory: A diver who drown many many years ago off the coast near Richsten. His ghost now haunts the waters and tries to drown people. Rises from the waters when the right conditions are met. Those conditions? Unknown. Has to be banished back to the water. The people that he drowns become possessed and shamble like zombies to try and grab other people and hold them still so he can drown them too. But when vanished people return to themselves, slightly worse for wear. 

Name: Sally Stevenson

Aka: Viper

Powers: enhanced strength and enhanced sense of smell.

Toolkit: Venom in her mouth, and in the claws on her arms and shoes. The venom paralyzes people for a few moments in which she can attack. Like the fusroda in Skyrim only impact enemies for a few moments before they recover.

Age: 23

Height: 5’ 6”

Weakness: Not well trained in fighting. Relies mostly on her venom and intimidation to accomplish her goals.

Backstory: TBD

Oh and a doc for edits in the future that has everything:

#tw: child abuse #spidersona #spidersona au #spidersona writing #tobacco beetle au #hermes speaks #tombstone #tinkerer #graveyard #posideon #goblin #land octopus #electro

[chaoslulled]

@pontevoix : hc + farlan & isabel's memory for levi !

they are an ache in his heart that never fully leaves. it isn't lost on him that he is the reason that they are dead –– no matter what bullshit erwin tries to feed him over the years, it's plain and clear who is the real killer behind it. if he hadn't agreed to the job and taken them out of the underground, then none of this would have ever happened. would they still be daydreaming about getting topside? sure. but they would still be alive to dream about it. it doesn't change anything –– feeling real blinding sunlight on his face for the first time outside of the walls, seeing isabel and furlan looking starstruck up at it, like it holds all the secrets of the world. the fresh air, the nature –– not sewage and rot and the underbelly of a knife wanting to sink itself into your skin. nothing but trees and grass and horses and animals –– and the utter glee across isabel's face the first time she pets one and it licks her cheek. not the grin on furlan's face at him the first time that they eat something homemade and it's not scraped together from what they could possibly steal. the way that he keeps trying to convince levi that they can do this without bloodshed. that they can do this period. that they can have this life. the wings of freedom might not've meant much to them, but it meant something.

and he has torn it down like the monster that he is, bloodied knuckles and screams that tear his throat raw. he should've never left them in the rain. he should've never broken the formation. and what for? so he could have a petty kill of erwin for bringing them into this newfound freedom? so he could complete a mission that meant nothing?

he still sees furlan's face, sees the wave that he sent him as he was being brought up to the titan's mouth. still feels that cold, numbing fear in his body and hears the crunch of bones, feels like his entire system goes into overdrive and shock at the same time. because at the end of the day, this is who he really was, wasn't he? just a monster that broke things. that took lives in his hands and shattered them in seconds for his own selfish reasons.

furlan, who was full of dreams and ambition, who was always better than the underground –– now nothing but a smattering of blood underneath the palm of a titan, singing in the rain as it dances around them. dragging in the mud. desolate and foolish to follow a monster like him around.

and then sweet isabel, her head torn straight from her body, his heart racing in his chest as he stared down. even when he closed her eyes he felt that searing guilt, the gasp for air –– isabel, who had wanted nothing more than to be topside, than to prove her worth and smile as bright as the sun, now dead and silenced because she had followed her big bro through hell. he had pulled her out of it and tossed her straight back in. he has cut her life short for a stupid job. he has watched her crash and burn, her angel wings implemented in the mud, and then there's nothing left but rage and grief that pummel him until he's ready to lay down his blades and die.

some days it's easier than others –– these days, they lose so many recruits every time they go outside the walls that it's hard to find room in his heart for sympathy, for regret. even when his team gets pummeled by the female titan, he can't find it in him in the moment to regret his choices. it's only afterward that their deaths haunt him, that he looks for isabel and furlan in all of their faces, in their death notices that he signs right alongside erwin.

but isabel and furlan never once had a death notice to sign –– there is only him to miss them, and it weighs on him, heavy is the head that holds the crown of their demise.

he sees them everywhere and nowhere all at once –– in a bird chirping in the trees, in a new recruit that's pulling on another's hair, in the surefire sass of someone who thinks they know it all. he sees furlan in every star hanging in the sky, sees isabel in every horse in the stable, hears their voices and laughter in the ghost of the halls at night.

#cc. ❝ levi ackerman ⧽ ❪ headcanons ❫

[larathia]

Dazai’s origins?

Okay. 

I may never find out if I’m right or wrong, but I am so putting chips on this.

Dazai’s father was the ‘old boss’, the man Mori killed to assume leadership. It just explains too much about the ongoing weirdly special relationship the mafia seems to have with Dazai, when they really ought to be hating his guts.

* Dazai remembers when Koyo tried to leave the Mafia with her lover, ‘when she was Kyoka’s age’ - that is, when Koyo was 14. Koyo’s 26 now. So Dazai would’ve been all of ten when that happened.

* Dazai calls her ‘big sis’ and frankly, I don’t know any teenage boys that’d call an older girl that. (I mean, it’s only four years.) But...I could see a kid doing that. (Mind you, it’s still kind of a weird stretch to think of Dazai ever doing such a thing, except he did, so...maybe he was younger than ten when he met Koyo.)

* Fifteen says that Mori knew Dazai was “neither an orphan nor Mori’s illegitimate child” and stops there. The only other thing it states fully is that Dazai was in Mori’s care for a failed suicide attempt. But Mori’s a mob doctor. Normal people do not wind up in the hands of a mob doctor if they’re rescued from death, they get sent to a hospital. So...someone whose family knows Mori brought Dazai in, and given how generally unfeeling the City of Demons is toward little kids, they had some reason to save him.

* Mori uses Dazai as witness that the old boss died of ‘natural causes’. The word of some random suicidal fourteen year old ...I do not see that counting for much in the mafia. But if Dazai were the old boss’s kid...I think that’s a different story.

* The way that Mori keeps Dazai’s executive seat open - and some of the old guard of the mafia (the ones we know about) treat Dazai deferentially, and help him anytime he asks and it doesn’t conflict with their orders...again, if he’s the old boss’s son, that makes both these things make sense, when as a straight up traitor who’s not only left the Mafia, but knows their secrets and methods and has worked against them as part of the ADA, they should ALL be trying to murder him. Like. All the time. 

* The mafiosi frequently say they think Dazai was ‘born to be in the Mafia’. Which. I mean. Okay, yes, Dazai’s definitely got the mind for it, but maybe he really was ‘born for it’, too. That Mori seems to have legitimately feared that Dazai would cut his throat and take over eventually is also kind of indicative, because really...there’s nothing about teenage Dazai that suggests he had any such ambitions.

* Just the fact that he was around the Mafia enough, from ten to fourteen, to be aware of all/most of what was going on, and just hanging around the new boss while not being part of the Mafia himself is also kind of a big “seriously?” flag. I mean. Teenage boys are kind of a security risk in general, I’d think. Especially suicidal ones who genuinely don’t seem to give a rat’s whether other people live or die.

* Can I harp for a second about the ‘letter’ business Dazai pulled back at the beginning, when he wanted to know why the Mafia had such a big bounty on Atsushi? I really want to just say “that HAD to be one of Dazai’s lies”, but just the fact that Chuuya, who knows him best of the currently living mafiosi, had to take him seriously, suggests that whether true or not it was well within Dazai’s power, and that Chuuya was willing to believe Dazai wouldn’t just get a death mark for being a mad crazy security risk, which has to be the usual mafia approach.

* Thinking of Chuuya for a second - granting that Chuuya is ‘new guard’ in that he only joins after Mori is the boss - but Mori finds a great deal of amusement in partnering Chuuya with Dazai. It just occurred to me that part of that may be that really, that would mean he’s putting two princes together - Dazai, the ‘prince’ of the Mafia, and Chuuya, the prince of the Sheep. (Yeah, I know Chuuya is actually called a king, but the novels are pretty clear that he was still learning his role - so, again, you’ve got the very experienced prince with the inexperienced king, and that’s definitely poetic enough to amuse Mori.)

* This is circumstantial, but...when Atsushi’s old headmaster gets killed, the conversation he has with Dazai about it is just...really strange. Like...the sheer vehemence - which is quite unusual for Dazai - that Atsushi did not have to forgive, that what the headmaster did was unforgivable...but that it was still okay to cry. I’m just saying...even if I’m wrong and his father wasn’t the straight up murderous batshit guy that Mori killed, I’m betting Dazai’s relationship with his family meant he knew very well what Atsushi needed to hear.

Anyway. Y’all don’t need to believe me. It’s probably not going to be important. I just had to put it all down because it felt like a bunch of puzzle pieces clicked together in my head and I kind of wanted to shout for a bit.

#bsd analysis #bungou stray dogs #bsd dazai

[sentofight]

ooc. quick sum up of my ocs down below!

Einar Vilho | F/inal Fantasy type 0

Captain in the Militese army--the White Tiger, Byakko. He is not on board with the whole war idea but he can't defect because his uncle's life on the line. He is a cat enthusiastic. Due to a past mistake, he lost his right arm and was given a magitek arm instead. Only army personals know of this. He is stoic and pragmatic.

Roland of Ylisse | F/ire Emblem: A/wakening

Pessimistic and does not trust people easily, the complete opposite of his father, Chrom and older sister, Lucina. Roland is the son of Ylisse's Exalt an the village maiden (Daughter of loyal village chieftain.) Roland prefers the company of animals and plants than people since neither of the two will plot to kill him. He got acute sense of hearing thus makes him less happy about crowded places. He is germaphobe which makes it even harder to communicate with him. His present counterpart does not have all the negative traits of him because he was not exposed to a big ass dragon.

Thomas of Ylisse | F/ire Emblem: A/wakening

Chrom and Rebecca's son child, and only boy. He is the i-do-whatever-i-want kid. Thomas takes a lot from his aunt Lissa meaning he is fan of pranks and causing chaos. Though he holds deep resentment to the Ylissean council for the treatment his mother had to go through when she became a Queen. Especially when she was accused of cheating on Chrom since Thomas leans more in look to her biological parents than Chrom. He is one of the future children that came with Lucina. His present counterpart is mostly similar to him but he is less chaotic and more of mama's boy.

Maria of Ylisse | F/ire Emblem: A/wakening

The third child of Chrom and Rebecca, and the second daughter. Maria suffered the most in term of personality development. She was forced to see destruction as soon as she opened her eyes to the world. Maria grew up without knowing a lot about her parents, only through Lucina and Thomas' stories--as well from S.T.A.R. It took Maria a lot of courage to break from her shell--relying on both Lucina and Thomas for everything. Her present counterpart does not have Maria's stuttering and low self-esteem problems.

Chloe of Ylisse | F/ire Emblem: A/wakening

Fourth child of Chrom and Rebecca, and the third daughter. Chloe is not one of the future children but was born in the saved present. Because of that, she lacks some empathy and well, sense of human life than the future children. She can be arrogant at times that is due to be spoiled by her parents, mostly Chrom. She loves fashion and her role model is Maribelle. Despite all that, she is still good kid in heart. Plus, her grandfather does a good job at keeping her checked.

Rahma Samer // Amina | F/ire Emblem: A/wakening

A woman who devoted her life to practice medicine got strayed by her own ambitions and dreams at the cost of people's lives. She had to run away during the war between Ylisse and Plegia and lay low in Valm, Cho'sin. She had to change her identity in order to come back to Plegia. The ex mad doctor now refuses to practice medicine and hopes to atone for her sins somehow. The years passes by and she only grow fearful of being found out. Perhaps when she is about to die she will reveal her secret ...

Feiruz | H/arvest Moon // S/tory of Seasons

A beginner farmer who wants to make something of herself, and stop relying on her family. More like come out of the shadow of her sisters and do something she likes. Plus, her family already raises animals so it was not hard to branch a little bit and work on a farm on her own. She is a sweet sunshine who is loud to compensate feeling ignored. Please be gentle with her.

Sohrab Errol | Original lore / established originally as FE:A oc

A young man who likes alchemy. He is a good at it because he keeps practicing and trying every possible idea that comes to his mind. His latest was to infuse the minerals into his body in order to create items/weapons at free will. That worked out but at the cost of poisoning himself every now and then. He is quiet and reserved because he likes to observe and listen more than participate in conversations. Animals hate him for the smell he emits because of the minerals he house inside of his body which is a running gag that he found himself in unfavorable situations because of that. He is from Horiyah (mermaid) Kingdom which is shrouded with extremely disturbing past.

Jokull | Original Lore

Half human, half yuki-ona(snow woman/spirit) who lives in Ardam kingdom in Brightwood village. Jokull inherits some of his mother's race traits--the ability to control ice. However, being half came at a cost. Jokull is 24/7 cold and even to the people around him. He has to wear lots of layers and human touch hurts him, as it hurts them. That is why he became a little bit reclusive until he started working in the black smithy and got to come out of his shell somewhat. Still, he is awkward at times. His wish is to be able to feel things and people without hurting them.

Ren Amamiya | God Eater

My take on Lindow Amamiya and Sakuya Tachibana's kid. Born to the best duo in the Den, Ren inherited the corrupted Aragami cells from his father whether he likes it or not. He became a god eater at the age of 16 during the 3rd game timeline. He works between Fenrir and Port H.O.P.E. in order to save as many people he can. He crushes so hard on Licca. He likes to troll and manipulate people for fun not for bad intentions. Most of his victims are his surrogate sister Setsuna (@/kinships), Kota, his father, Teru, Haru, but never his mother, Licca, his aunt Tsubaki and ofc his idol Soma.

now i got sneep. love my children mwah~ <3

#ooc.| faty speaks #[a/iden will be here soonish #[needs time....

[faroreswinds]

Final Thoughts - Three Hopes Golden Wildfire

If you haven’t already read my review of Scarlet Blaze, I would recommend it, because in this review I will be making references to it, as well as building off of what I said previously. As I experience the game, my understanding of the entire story unfolds, and to fully separate the routes as I understand them would not be fair, in my opinion.

Plus, it keeps me from repeating myself.

To be frank, there was a lot I did not cover or only glossed over in my Scarlet Blaze review. Part of that was because I was so overwhelmed with information, and I lost steam by the end of the review to the point I just wanted to get it over with. 

I’m not entirely proud with how I ended my last review as a result, because of just how much I didn’t discuss, and how much I skipped. But I think those points can be brought up here as needed, to fully cover my bases as I move forward. 

As before, I won’t be speaking too much about Houses in general unless I think it’s worth being brought up. I want to make this review to more about how Hopes stacks up on it’s own. However, I will admit that this is harder to do with this route than Scarlet Blaze.

Also. I am splitting this into 2 parts, since it has gotten so big that tumblr has started to delete my work and I lost some of my writing in the process. When part 2 is done, I will publish it then. 

So after another 40+ hours or so, I have finally completed Golden Wildfire.

Golden Wildfire has been compared to Three Houses’ Crimson Flower route pretty early on in the Hopes discourse, and after playing the route for myself, I find myself agreeing with these claims, although there are some differences. 

This is the route that really makes Byleth’s absence from the story really seem like it hurts the most. Not necessarily in the quality of the writing, but rather in how it affects the main lord and the path he chose to go down. Now, I haven’t played Azure Gleam yet, but between Scarlet Blaze and Golden Wildfire, it is no contest.

Scarlet Blaze shows a rather confident Edelgard who finds a lot of success without Byleth as a teacher, especially if you manage to recruit Byleth to your side. The route seemingly has a shorter war, the Slithers and the Church have been ultimately removed, and the Alliance and the Empire end on amicable terms and start marching on the Kingdom to take care of it once and for all. By all accounts, Byleth not being a part of her life really doesn’t affect her much at all. So long as she has a strong ally on her side with the power of a protagonist, she will come out on top. The only thing you can say that maybe she isn’t as well off is how many fires she had to put out during her route, but if she had only a six month war to two year war or so versus a 5 year war, I would say that still puts her Hopes version ahead of her Houses one. Especially since she takes care of the Slithers in Hopes, while in Houses she still has to go into a secret war with them in the epilogues. 

This is not the case in Golden Wildfire, where we get a Claude who went from a curious young lad who always thought before he acted, and investigated wherever his curiosity took him, to a young man who’s ambition is his defining feature, who is shortsighted and uninterested in seeking the truth, and who dresses up his lack of intelligence with pretty words to hide the ridiculous mental gymnastics he goes through.

This is particularly a shame, because Golden Wildfire actually has a really strong start. The first four chapters set up Claude with a lot to do that he didn’t have in Houses. Claude suffered in Houses from having a copy-pasted route, which was a duplicate of Silver Snow instead of something unique to him. So we didn’t really get to explore a unique story with him spear-heading the plot, since we are trapped in the same story with different lead characters. 

Here, however, the route starts with Claude having an Almyran conflict that is uniquely his, as well as issues with his control over the Alliance Roundtable (as he is a newcomer that came out of nowhere), and finally the war with the Empire knocking at his doorstep. This is exciting for Claude. Edelgard’s route, while better than Crimson Flower, still ultimately feels like an extension of her Houses’ route. Rhea is still the final boss. The Slithers are still part of her story. Dimitri is still in her way. Etc. It’s a better story to be sure, but still overall a very familiar one. 

So it was nice to see Claude’s route starting off strong, giving him something new that the other lords can’t possibly have due to not being part Almyran, as well as providing a new frontier to a story set in Foldan previously unexplored. 

Like SB, Golden Wildfire’s first four chapters are at a neck-breaking speed. Again, this is not an issue if you’ve played Houses. The first few chapters are identical, and really only change when you get to chapter 3 and start to slow down a bit. Instead of raiding Enbarr, Claude is fighting back his older brother Shahid and his invading Almyran force. 

The chapter itself is a little baffling, considering that Shahid does not recognize Claude as his younger brother, but overall it sets up for an exciting story. A brilliant young tactician who has to balance the two sides of his lives, as well as potentially two war fronts! Where could this story go from here? 

There is a real sense of urgency from the early chapters of the war, as Claude scrambles to corral stubborn lords, build up his army and secure his defenses to Edelgard’s conquest. And we are presented with a Claude who suffers from a lot of doubt, which is surprising but refreshing. The early part of the route takes the time to show Claude struggling with doing right by the Roundtable and by the Alliance, constantly wondering what he SHOULD be doing. In a way, he feels trapped, because he has obligations to his people and yet, still wants to honor the history of the Alliance. We see this doubt expressed in multiple early supports, such as with Shez and Hilda and Lorenz. We see this doubt in the main story. Again, a nice change of pace from SB, since Edelgard rarely expresses doubt or concerns, and is confident in her decisions and her chosen path. 

There is some real intelligence behind the writing here, noting that the newer commanders of the Alliance are younger and inexperienced, while there are older nobles with more experience, yet perhaps also more stubborn to newer ways that could be beneficial to the nation. It’s not perfect - there is an early implication that the younger blood is the ideal and the older blood is to be cast out, but characters should always be set up to learn and grow as people and so it didn’t bother me at first. 

We also get the sense that the Alliance is quite weak despite its wealth, adding to that urgency in the early chapters that is quite enjoyable. It also builds upon the need for schemes - the Alliance cannot meet the Empire with overwhelming force, so they need to go through crazy battle plans that come down to “and it just might work!”. This makes the battles honestly a lot more exciting, because unlike SB, where it’s just you and an overwhelming force pushing everyone over, it’s you with a weaker, messier force trying to outsmart the bigger opponent. In fact, I would say the early battles are more intense and chaotic than the SB battles ever were. 

I would even put forward that the first half of the route keeps true to the promise of Claude fighting two fronts - one with the Empire, and one with Almyra, and that the route itself is far more interesting than Edelgard’s. While Edelgard’s promised a conqueror route but spent more chapters fixing issues within the Empire rather than conquering, Claude actually gets to defend his territory. First, we defend the Great Bridge of Myrddin from Empire forces. Then, we route the Imperial army from marching into Derdriu, the Alliance’s capital. With the invaders isolated, we finally clear them out of Alliance lands, bringing us into chapter 7 that was a rather fun and exciting ride. 

Not only that, but GW is a bit more creative with its chapter maps overall. SB had the players drive through territories in a nearly straight line, giving the impression that you are forcing your way through enemy territory. But there is little variation from this pattern.

Meanwhile, GW has more variety in the way its side maps are laid out. Sometimes surrounding the main map, or putting it super close to camp, etc.

It really seemed like Golden Wildfire was on a golden path to victory, gearing to become an exciting adventure with a wacky crew and a pretty endearing young leader with a charming smile.

Then the rest of the route happened. 

Well, sort of. The switch isn’t suddenly flipped until after the time skip. No, it just starts to.... dip around this point. 

Chapter 7 is when Claude does something a little strange. He announces that Alliance troops are going to march upon Empire lands and take the Bergliez territory, which is known as the breadbasket of the Empire due to the rich fields ideal for growing crops. Claude’s plan is to not only return the favor of the Empire attacking them, but also to gain agricultural lands for the future of the Alliance. 

Why is this strange? Well, it’s... Claude.

Claude up to this point in the story had always expressed that he wanted to do what was best for the future of the Alliance. So the idea of taking fertile lands by this characterization alone is not entirely bizarre. 

However, Claude had also up to this point continued to express concern about his “choice” to enter this war. I say choice because Claude feels he chose to be part of the war, rather than the fact Empire troops were literally knocking at the door of their capital. Which is... I mean, it’s either get conquered or fight back. And Claude does express that he doesn’t want the Alliance absorbed into the Empire. 

But Claude spends some time in the main story, as well as several supports, worrying about what he should do. He feels so unsure of himself, so lost and stressed by the choices he has been making up to this point. He wants to honor the Alliance’s past and do right for his people. 

There are even points where it’s noted that commoners are blaming Claude for what has happened to their fields and livelihoods, considering that the war has consumed their fields and ruined their crops. And this isn’t even mentioning how often Claude wonders why enemy soldiers continue to insist on fighting when they about to lose, worrying about the deaths that will come with it. 

So when you take all these aspects the story has been focusing on to this point into account, then it makes Claude’s decision to suddenly declare invading the Empire for land on the stranger side. If he cares so much about the lives of his soldiers and of the enemy soldiers, and he stresses about being in the war in the first place, why make that push for enemy land and prolong the fighting? It’s not like Claude is even trying to end the war, he just wants to take the opportunity to take the land in general. 

You could argue that it’s because the Alliance lost farming land to begin with, as noted before, but that point is relegated to a support, not the main story, so it’s easily missable and is not even considered a point as to why Claude invades. He invades purely for “the future of the Alliance”. 

That said, it’s not so bad that I cannot believe it. It’s just a little confusing with how Claude has been presented here so far in this route. The battle itself is fun and I didn’t mind playing it. Byleth and Caspar’s father are the biggest enemies here, where we must defeat both. But as soon as we defeat Caspar’s father, we suddenly find ourselves... in a retreat. 

I take some issue with the retreat. For one, Holst and Caspar’s father are literally at each other’s throats. I mean literally, their blades are against each other’s necks. But at the call of the retreat, they both stop and... let the other go. 

The battle is over, because now Almyra is attacking and they need to get back as fast as they can to prevent the largest Almyran invading force in over a century from getting past Foldan’s Locket. 

It feels a little silly, considering that these two men would just stop killing each other because one side decided to retreat. The reason why we are even allowed to retreat after attempting to take land isn’t so bad at least - we are allowed to escape because pursuing us would mean the chances of razing the Empire’s source of grains to the ground, and that is not a risk the Count can take. 

But the fact we are suddenly retreating anyways is a bit of a mood whiplash. We had the Empire on its knees, but now we must flee to stop another invading force that is quite literally knocking at our door. 

We then reach the route’s last chapter before the time skip, where Shahid attempts his last invasion. This is also where it really starts to sink in that Claude keeps a lot of his plans and ideas close to his chest. 

There had been nods to this part of Claude prior to this chapter, but it’s really noticeable here. When Shahid attacks, it becomes known during and after the battle that Claude had actually reached out to Nader two years ago, after Shahid’s first attempt, in order to get ahead of Shahid’s next attempt should it come again in the future. 

Not only did the characters not know of this save for Holst, who also met with Nader, but there were no hints that this happened to the player either. It’s done completely under our noses, and this is not the first time Claude had done this. 

Claude had done several schemes prior to this chapter where the player and the characters are not privy to his thoughts or actions. Claude had a plan with Lorenz’s father about betraying the Empire to trap them, by making it seem like the Count had joined the enemy side. 

There are a few other miscellaneous “schemes” Claude cooks up in battle to get the upper edge too, like attacking one side to give the credit to Holst to drag out enemy commanders who would itch to take on the big man himself. 

But for all these schemes, there had been hints that there was something going on that we as a player don’t fully know about. Claude apologizing to Lorenz in advanced. Claude actually explaining his plan to one person, only for another person to catch up to the plan a bit later. And so on.

However, the plan with Nader is the first time where there was literally no hints to this at all until the start of the chapter, and this plan had been in the works for nearly 2 years. It really starts to make you wonder what else Claude has going on in his brain that we don’t know about yet. 

The battle ends with Nader turning on Shahid as per the plan, and Claude killing his brother by hitting him with an arrow off a cliff. He had wanted his brother to surrender, but was ultimately not given much choice if he wanted to stop the invasions for good. 

And just like Shahid falls off a cliff to his death, so too does the plot suddenly take a nosedive into a deep abyss of absolute chaos. 

Even with the last two chapters’ minor issues, like Claude’s weird choice to invade the Empire and the whiplash to go stop Almyra, I found Golden Wildfire to be a better route than SB up to this point. It was more interesting, had less tonal issues, and the map designs were better. The goals and actions of the characters were a bit more understandable and easier to root for. The characters were more likable and less bloodthirsty. 

I was really enjoying it. 

And yet, this is where the time skip occurs. And it felt like I got thrown into a different route entirely. 

Part 2 of Golden Wildfire opens up with Claude announcing that the Alliance has been dissolved, and that now he is king of the newly dubbed Federation instead. While the Five Great Lords still technically have a voice, with Claude as king he is able to finally make decisions quickly without needing to consult the roundtable at all. 

This is a little shocking, although not entirely overboard. There had been hints leading up to this possibility throughout part 1 and in the supports. The route keeps reminding the player that the Alliance gets things done slowly due to needing to convene with the Alliance lords, and that it sucks because not every lord is on the same page. Claude’s C support with Shez in particular is about this, and it is Shez who actually suggests to Claude that he just take power so that decisions could be made.

Therefore, Claude proposes to the Five Great Lords that he become king and that they make the Federation out of the Alliance. The Five Lords did agree to it, at least. While it is a power grab, Claude did at least allow the lords put their vote into the proposal. And I understand where Claude is coming from, since the route did a decent job setting up this situation. However, I could not help but feel that it felt like this:

But Golden Wildfire completely loses me literally in the next scene, where Claude and Edelgard finally meet up. 

I will say that at least GW leads to their eventual meeting better than in SB. In SB, it just jumps to them agreeing to ally with each other, giving no support in the writing that this would happen; not a peep from Claude and nothing from Edelgard at all. While in GW, we get a scene where Edelgard concludes that trying to conquer the Alliance through military means is probably going to lead to nowhere, and instead wishes to try something else. 

It made this transition not completely out of left field. Even the start of the conversation was ok. Claude is rightfully angry that Edelgard invaded at all, while Edelgard insists that it was not an unprovoked attack since she was invited in by a traitorous Alliance lord (and Claude points out that this isn’t really an apology, but is willing to allow the Empire to make amends for their actions). 

But eventually, Claude agrees to... ally with Edelgard because he read her letter and agreed with her that the Central Church was a threat to Foldan’s future that needed to go. And since Edelgard promised to provide stability to their shared borders, Claude agrees. 

And then it gets worse. 

Because while I can understand why Claude would ally with Edelgard for the sole reason to reach some stability to the warfront, I cannot follow his logic as he announces this new plan of action to the rest of the crew.

This scene is jammed pack full of nonsense that I would like to take the time to parse through it carefully. Let’s just start at the top:

In a 180 degree twist, we are suddenly against the Central Church and the Kingdom in one fell swoop. 

Declaring war on the church, in my opinion, is no different than declaring war on the teachings. Which I will get back to in a moment:

What is particularly baffling about these lines is that in SB, where the Central Church has been an antagonistic force since chapter 4, Edelgard makes many proclamations about not killing Rhea, but merely capturing her. 

Edelgard wants the Central Church gone, but she also doesn’t see any reason to kill Rhea provided she just steps down from power. She tells Claude as much in their talk in the Side Chapters near the end of the SB route, and declares it even while in battle. Although Edelgard also says that she will make the monastery Rhea and Thales’ tombs, she still ultimately puts forth she would rather capture Rhea alive.

And even in those chapters, Claude seems surprised that Edelgard did not wish to kill Rhea, and basically says that keeping her alive simply isn’t enough. 

His surprise, coupled with Ignatz’s statement that they must kill Rhea (and there was no one who refuted him in return), tells me that Claude and Edelgard did not actually discuss at length what the terms of the Central Church’s disappearance would mean. 

It is odd to me that this route jumps to murder, when the route that actually HAS the Church as a main antagonist for the entire thing merely wants to capture her. 

Not only that, but Shez says that Rhea and Seteth are not all that they appear to be, or so the Empire says.

Judith says it best here. Shez, along with Claude, have basically bought entirely into the Empire’s words. 

Shez does express some confusion prior to this talk about suddenly having the Kingdom and the Church as enemies at least. It seems forgotten here, but Shez does need to get everyone on Claude’s side on these new plans. 

This comes from almost nowhere. Claude has discussed before that he wanted to do right by the Alliance’s history and wanted to improve the Alliance in any way he could. But this goes beyond just improving the new Federation.

As I stated before, Claude's primary character trait in GW is ambition. We got a glimpse of it when he invaded the Empire for new territory when the opportunity presented itself, but this is a much larger scale. He’s now using Edelgard and her army as a means to not only stay independent, but to also expand his nation’s influence more than ever before, which was NOT something that was very much alluded to at all. 

The boy at the start of the route, riddled with worry about joining the war and doing right by his people, is gone, and suddenly seems more interested in power. Even if he had been selected into the position of king, he still ultimately suggested that he consolidate power and dissolve the roundtable first. It’s dressed up as something for the good of the Federation, but again I feel like I go back to:

I have seen arguments online about how this is the real Claude, that people who played Three Houses did not pay attention. That he always wanted power, that he always wanted to be supreme ruler. But this isn’t really true. Claude in Houses was defined by his obsessive need to seek the truth, to get to the bottom of things. It was to the point where he would read other people’s journals, or pry into people’s private affairs even if they didn’t want him to. He hungered for knowledge, he hungered for truth. 

Yes, Claude had ambitions in Houses. He wanted to break down the borders of the lands. He wouldn’t have minded if Rhea died. He didn’t really like the Central Church in general. This is true.

But it was more than that. Claude always seemed to consider his options carefully. That he didn’t just buy into the words of others, and that he needed to get to the bottom of things. 

But here, he’s more ambition and power hungry than his Houses counterpart. Claude had always worried about war because of how it affected the common folk. Even IN Hopes, he expresses concern for the enemy soldiers when they don’t surrender. He doesn’t want war or bloodshed. He made no allusions to wanting to expand his nation’s influences. 

It is like I am meeting a different person. 

Is this the Claude the developers wanted to make in Houses? Probably. In one of their interviews, they admitted that Claude was supposed to be a “bad guy you couldn’t help but love”. However, they “ended up making him a lot nicer” than he was originally conceived to be.

In Houses, Claude was a man who mixed non-lethal poisons (alluding he would use them on his foes). He seemed like the guy that wouldn’t mind play mind games with others to get the upper edge. But he had never used allies to further his causes like he is using Edelgard here. He never declared war on a side that had done nothing to him. He didn’t seem like the type of man that made such rash decisions like that. 

Making a “bad guy you just can’t help but love” is not impossible. But it doesn’t work if you trade sensibility for unfounded ruthless conquest, and instead make the “bad guy” seem ridiculous and almost moronic. Especially at what follows here: 

This was all said by the man who, prior to this, didn’t want there to be bloodshed from his enemies since they should just give up in the face of defeat. 

This was said by a man who, just a few chapters ago, attempted to take land from the Empire since the opportunity presented itself. 

He claims that the Kingdom was at fault first.... because they conquered the Alliance before it was the Alliance over 300 years ago. Something that he also just tried to do himself. 

He has no personal qualms with them, but since the Kingdom had once did some crappy things to them literally centuries ago, that it was ok to throw them back to the wolves. 

Does that not sound insane? To blame a nation of people for the actions of their ancestors, to know that you will be killing them and your justification is “once upon a time, their great-great-great-great grandfathers made us angry?” 

Not to mention that the situation with House Daphnel was an internal issue of the House, and the only thing the Kingdom did was welcome them with open arms when they decided to defect. 

(He also forgets to mention that the Kingdom and Empire and Alliance once banded together to stop Almyran forces a century ago, and helped them build Foldan’s Locket!)

I cannot stress enough how much this comes out of left field for this route. 

In Houses, Claude does say he doesn’t really like or trust the Central Church. If you had played Houses, you would know this, and this speech isn’t too terribly surprising.

But in HOPES, Claude has made absolutely no statements at ALL about the Central Church or that he doesn’t like them. There are TWO scenes were he has something to say about the Central Church and the Kingdom up to this point. 

That’s it, that’s all he really had to say about them up. Making his claims about how the Kingdom fucked them over 300 years ago and his dislike for the Central Church even more baffling.

There had been no discussion about how the Central Church gave Crests legitimacy. Not even Edelgard’s route really went into that- it focused more on bloodlines in general rather than Crests. 

No talk about how they force their beliefs onto others, and that there is no room for others of different backgrounds or faiths. And remember how Holst said they weren’t after the teaching of Seiros, yet here is Claude condemning them for their teachings?

Plus, for those who have played Houses, you would know that the holy book of the Church says to NOT abuse Crests, that those who abused their Crests and the power they brought made the goddess so sad that she left the world!

Not to mention that there are quite a few nobles with no Crests in the Alliance, nor is there very much talk about nobles striving for Crests in their family. Hell, Claude has HOLST in his army, who was made head of his house despite his younger sister having a Crest! 

And while I can somewhat forgive this route for thinking that the Church didn’t allow for different backgrounds or faiths due to lacking people from outside Foldan beside Claude himself in the base roster, I do want to note that people like Petra are recruitable to SB who IS from outside Foldan and OPENLY practices a different faith. 

Oh wait, I forgot about Shamir, who is given to you in GW as a base member of your party, who is from OUTSIDE Foldan, worked FOR the Church, and was never forced to practice the belief at any given point!

This is the first time we get to actually hear what Claude’s goals are, since he had basically played coy this entire time. 

I find there are two... well, three major issues with this moment.

Firstly, it does not match up with his previous actions at all nor his previously established motivations. Claude early on is more concerned with the future of the Alliance, while trying to honor what the Alliance stood for in the past.

The second, it took this long before we got any clue as to what he REALLY wanted more than anything. 

And the third is that it is hypocritical, but just as Edelgard is played straight despite her hypocrisies, so it is here as well. 

As I have said before, after Part 2 it is like playing an entirely different route. The first part was about Claude and the struggle of keeping true to the Alliance while also trying to do what’s best for them without getting conquered by two other nations. The second part has become a declaration of expanding influence and tearing down the old ways in all of Foldan. 

When I started this review, I had commented that this route was a lot like Crimson Flower 2.0, and this is where it starts. Because Claude’s ambitions are nearly identical to Edelgard’s, with the desire to change the entire continent by tearing down the Central Church no matter what or who is in the way. And while the finer details might be different, as Claude doesn’t want to unite Foldan under one banner for instance, it’s too similar to not feel like Claude is just a male Edelgard in this instance. 

Claude had just declared that the Central Church was forcing its own ideals on all of Foldan, and that it was his intentions to blow the door open and change that through force. Is he not, then, forcing his own ideals on all of Foldan? 

At least with Edelgard’s route, I was more convinced why she wanted to take out the Central Church. Although not much time was devoted to them as antagonists and did very little to try to convince me that they are actually as corrupted as they say, SB did at least have them send assassins and have Rhea say some mean things.

SB also devotes time early in the route to both Dimitri and Rhea, although not much, as enemies to fight. Both of them are fought before the time skip. While GW only sees both of them in one cutscene and then doesn’t deal with them until Claude declares them as enemies along with his alliance with Edelgard. 

What does make this route a bit more palpable than Crimson Flower, and maybe even SB, is that Claude’s allies are willing to call out Claude’s actions, and even the narrator himself mentions that Claude’s actions are about to have some consequences. I will circle back to this in a moment. 

Funnily enough, this chapter starts out with a few Federation nobles along the Kingdom border start considering defecting to the Kingdom since they are unhappy with the changes in their homeland. Unfortunately, why this might be the case is relegated to mostly camp dialogue, but essentially the old system allowed even minor nobles to have some say to a degree. Now, in the new system, even their voices are basically not worth listening to. Feeling betrayed and angry, these nobles have started looking towards the Kingdom.

Since the shift from “the Empire is our enemies” to “now the Kingdom and Church are our enemies” is in this chapter, this also changes the focus off these nobles. They are relegated to the side maps instead, where they are defeated unceremoniously for trying to defect. It’s all kinda hush-hush and swept under the rug a bit. 

For what time the route DID give to this issue, it tried to paint it as if the Church was Seiros was preying on these Nobles instead, and that these particular nobles are not the “good ones”. But this is so underdeveloped and more time is spent on the fact that Thunder Catherine is nearby that you would be forgiven for forgetting this little side plot entirely. There were actually some serious consequences to declaring the Alliance a Federation and taking away the republic is once was, and it was just... a little side feature. How terribly disappointing. For a nation’s who’s history is in being a republic with no king, the Alliance was shockingly willingly to jump that ship and be perfectly happy with Claude as king with little issue. It reminds me of SB, where most of the nobles are ok with Edelgard flipping their lives and way of life upside down with little discourse or anger, where our lords have free reign to be tyrannical without the hinderance of examination. 

This chapter’s main battle instead is with the Knights of Seiros, who have been battling Imperial Soldiers and winning. Randolph is here as well, and the mission is to rescue him and his fellow soldiers, and route the Knights. 

Except it’s not, because Claude’s scheme this time is to allow Randolph and his troops to die as bait so that the Federation could encircle Catherine and the Knights. This battle ends with Catherine dying, Randolph dying, and all Imperial and Church soldiers dying. Very few casualties happened to the Federation as a result. 

So to be clear, Claude, who called out Edelgard for using her citizens as meat shields in VW and in Hopes had hoped enemy troops would surrender as to not cause bloodshed (even tried to parlay with Ferdinand), used his newfound allies as bait almost immediately, and did not even allow the Central Church’s forces a chance to surrender or survive the battle at all. 

Claude does make it clear here (to himself) that the Imperial troops aren’t truly allies, since he’s using Edelgard’s army as a means to an end, and he still considers the Imperial troops enemies at the end of the day. However, even his own actions kinda put a bad taste in his mouth - yet, he will continue to move forward. 

I think what makes this so frustrating is that Claude DOES realize his actions are slimy. He even, to a degree, doesn’t like them. 

Edelgard may have been frustrating for never realizing that her actions may be wrong, but that shielded her from Claude’s problem. Claude realizes what he is doing is pretty awful. However, he STILL goes forward with it anyways! He KNOWS better and yet, does not stop! 

Circling back to his allies calling him out, we see a bit of that here. During the battle, Lorenz seems disgusted with the idea of what they had done. Shez and Judith address Claude directly, telling him that he is not instilling loyalty among his allies if they cannot trust him to have their backs. 

This somehow leads to “you need to trust us more” as the primary concern instead of the sacrifices of lives Claude had just done, but it was at least something. It was a bit refreshing to see considering how everyone basically worships Edelgard’s actions nearly all the time in SB. 

Even the narrator says that Claude’s actions will have upcoming consequences, again something Edelgard almost never sees in her own routes, where she is able to sidestep most serious consequences to nearly everything she does and is constantly rewarded instead. 

All that said though... the lesson this chapter wanted to impart was not that “using your ally as bait is probably not a great thing”, but rather that Claude did not tell anyone his plan, nor did he open up to anyone about his plan and so did not take any new ideas in. 

This is at least consistent with what was set up throughout the route - Claude constantly keeping his schemes to his chest and surprising his allies (in a negative way) over and over again. But the lesson learned could not have come at a worst time. Claude should have instead lost allies due to his schemes and their lack of distrust to bring about a lesson of trust and openness. It should not have come from the sacrifice of an ally, and then the sacrifice not be a vital part of a different lesson learned. 

It is absolutely bizarre. 

And then the route immediately forgets about it as no one else talks at length about Claude’s actions. Instead, it goes into how no one in the Federation even cares about the war on the Central Church. And I mean literally no one.

And somehow, this does not signal to anyone that the Church is probably not the power Edelgard or Claude thinks it is.

Let’s pause for a moment to talk about the powers of the different Churches, or at least the Central Church versus the Eastern Church. 

It is made quite clear in Hopes that the Eastern Church is a more passive force. They have no standing army - they are quite literally not allowed to have one by the lord whose territory their base lives on. We meet quite a few NPC priests at the camp from the Eastern Church who have offered their prayers and supports, and convey some tidbits of information. 

You learn that 1) the Eastern Church as little power. And 2) that Claude did not require a blessing from the Church in order to become King, yet the priest insisted just because some people in general may have wanted to see it. 

That’s it. 

If Claude didn’t really need a blessing from the Church, not even the central one, and the Central Church has meddled very little with the Alliance just in general, where is this idea that the Central Church has this iron grip on Foldan even coming from? If anything, the Alliance has neutered any form of the Church in their region to the point that no one even cares about the Central Church at all. 

The characters claim that it was the hard work of the Eastern Church that has allowed the people to not riot over the idea of the Central Church to be dissolved, but is that really what it is? I remain unconvinced. 

Also, Claude has this to say, just after he made a point to kill every soldier in the last battle:

Remember this line. 

---

We have now reached the chapter of this route, chapter 10, where we recruit Byleth or kill Jeralt. Just as in my SB review, Path A will be recruiting Byleth, and Path B will be killing Jeralt moving forward. 

Now one thing I did not touch on in my SB review very much was Byleth or Sothis. I wanted to take the opportunity in this review to rectify that mistake. 

In Hopes, Byleth is a speaking character and not the silent self insert this time, which give Byleth some room to actually express himself without being trapped as being the protagonist. 

I cannot say that it makes Byleth a particularly more interesting character overall, considering his quiet nature and lack of screen time keeps us from really getting a solid sense of who he is as a person. However, we do get to know a few things. 

One is that Byleth is very serious. He clearly lacks social skills, likely due to Jeralt’s upbringing, and so misses sarcasm and jokes, and has a hard time expressing what he really means in a given situation. He gets called a cold person by Leonie for only focusing on the details of a job, rather than making an alternative decision to save the lives of others. 

While he might be hyper-focused on getting whatever job has been given to him to an extreme degree, he is not an unfeeling person as we see when he thinks about the loss of his father and revenge. Byleth expresses that he doesn’t really necessarily seek revenge for Jeralt (if Jeralt dies), although can eventually be convinced by Sothis to follow through with a revenge plot... somewhat. Byleth does care about people, people like his father, and it’s necessarily out to kill for the sake of killing. Even after agreeing with Sothis to get revenge, it is implied throughout the final battle with him that he is fighting Sothis’ control instead of trying to outright destroy Shez, implying that he didn’t really want to follow through with killing him. This is what leads to Shez getting the final blow on Byleth, since Byleth and Sothis were internally fighting for control over the body rather than focusing on the fight. 

Speaking of Sothis, meanwhile, I skipped over this part purposely in my SB review, saving it for this one. Because Sothis is almost a seemingly different character here, while also being a complete wasted opportunity. 

Sothis in Houses is characterized of being a rather harsh, but kind, goddess living inside of Byleth’s head. Since she lacks her memories, she cannot give Byleth a lot of information, and as a result has little to say on the realities of the past or the world at large. She is mean but funny, sharp-tongued but motherly. She handed over her power willingly when the time came, and considered Byleth a separate person from other than herself. 

This Sothis, however, seems to have a bit longer to cook in the oven before she woke up, and thus woke up with either most or all of her memories. And she is ruthless.

She threatens to take over Byleth’s body, calls Byleth a vessel and a glove to be worn. She scorns him, gaslights him into seeking revenge even when Byleth didn’t necessarily want it himself. She knows more than she lets on, but never actually explains anything to Byleth or the player. She even says she is not there to answer questions. 

I know the developers in their interview said they wanted to explore a side of Sothis we didn’t get to see in Houses, but only makes Sothis seem like an uncaring and cruel deity, rather than the snappy mother-figure we had gotten to know and love. Sothis acts in a manner no one would have ever guessed from her portrayal in Houses. 

And it’s even more frustrating is that the devs and the story refuses to engage with her character in any meaningful way, because the devs do not want the players to know about the past, and instead side-step that issue by making Sothis aggressively silent about anything important. 

They even portray Sothis as a bad mother just in general. While in Houses she had the excuse of basically having no memories, here Sothis seemingly has all her memories. She even knows the epithets of the Nabateans in the game (such as the Nabateans who are now Felix’s Shield and Dimitri’s Lance). And yet, she allows Byleth to slay Rhea without so much as a word spoken to them from our perspective. Maybe she did express doubts but... we don’t hear about it. Byleth can just be part of the group that takes Rhea down in both SB and GW, and it seems as if Sothis has condoned these actions on the virtue of being there and saying nothing. 

Sothis is fundamentally wasted potential. The story is so focused on the war at hand that it would rather not engage with revealing more about the Nabateans and their past. I suspect because it would invalidate a lot about what we know about the war, and would therefore give no reason to doubt which side is the “bad side”. 

The Nabateans are basically background characters in both SB and GW, and for a game that is about expanding lore, this is insanely frustrating. 

In fact, there is ultimately a lack of meaningful lore in general. I’ll circle back to this point a bit later. 

I will say, at least, that Sothis is given somewhat of a redeeming moment... if you have recruited Byleth and watch his supports with Shez. In the A support, Byleth will comment that “maybe it was the goddess who said that it was Arval who tried to protect Shez out of love” after the events of the Side Chapters. Of course, the language plays coy, but the line suggests that Sothis was really the one who suggested that Arval had loved Shez (although we do not get to see her say it) and relayed the knowledge to Byleth as an act of kindness. 

It’s not much, but it’s something. 

---

With Byleth and Sothis more or less out of the way, what happens in this route when you decide to recruit Byleth, or to not recruit him? 

Well, like SB, this is meant to be a moment that is harrow for the lords and their companions, as it was their actions that led up to this moment. In SB, it’s Edelgard struggling to keep her vassals in check that led to the death of Randolph. But in GW, it led to the death of Judith. 

While I have harped thoroughly on GW so far, I do have to give some praise to chapter to better a better version of “losing someone” in Path B than SB tried to do. Randolph in SB remains an unexplored and underutilized character who’s most interesting feature is dying in AM as part of Dimitri’s recovery arc. SB did not give him the chance to breath in the narrative, so by the time his death scene rolled around, you find that you really don’t care all that much. It’s sad because the other characters are sad, but as for the player, you never got a chance to get attached.

GW, however, has given Judith time and space to be part of the cast, even if she isn’t playable (which was a missed opportunity to be sure). She’s right there with everyone else, voicing her concerns, laughing, scolding. Everyone loves her, and for good reason - she is charismatic and sort of Claude’s supportive adult-figure. You really do get the feeling that she is a beloved member of the crew, well respected and intelligent, and you yourself get the time to get more attached to her than anything Randolph had to offer. 

Furthermore, the lesson taken from her death in Path B is far more important and meshes better narratively with GW than anything SB tried to drive home. I don’t think there really was a lesson in SB that came with Randolph’s death. It was just one of the many things that happens along the way while trying to put out fires. 

But here, Judith’s death is a direct result of Claude’s foolish and brash actions where he allowed his newfound ally Randolph die in battle just so he could get the upper edge. 

Fleche learns of her brother’s death, and is manipulated by a Slither in disguise (I believe it’s meant to be Myson) into wanting to seek revenge on Claude in return. So she raises a small army of her own and launches an attack on Claude in hopes to assassinate him. She brings along with her Jeralt’s mercenaries, which is how you end up facing Byleth one last time. 

She ends up dying in this battle no matter what your choice ends up being, but if you take Path B, Jeralt also goes down in this battle too, along with Judith. This battle is literally due to Claude’s callous decision to sacrifice Randolph’s life, and this is when a lesson he should have learned back in chapter 9 seems to really pay off. Since Claude should have learned that sacrificing lives as he did was brash, here it comes back full circle and really gives him the chance to realize how badly he fucked up. That he cannot just do such schemes without paying some deep price for it. Frankly, it’s almost accidentally good here. 

But what about Path A? 

Path A unfortunately loses this lesson entirely. In SB, where there wasn’t a lesson to really be had, this difference isn’t as big. But here in GW, it’s a much bigger difference. Since Claude didn’t have to face losing out on the death of someone close to him, the consequences of his actions are significantly neutered.  

In fact, there is almost no reflecting at all, instead the characters are more concerned with Byleth and with Claude not-so-subtly saying how great and wonderful Byleth is and so on and so forth.

Even SB still took some time to reflect on the deaths they at lost regardless.

Regardless of your choice, Judith becomes a non-entity after this in the story anyways. Her only purpose after this moment is to allow for access to Claude’s paralogue. So instead of writing scenes where she continues to exist organically in the story if she lives, she becomes a camp character no different than Randolph.

And I have to dock points off even more for GW not giving Byleth and Jeralt the time they needed in the route. 

When chapter 10 rolls around, Byleth has appeared as an enemy uniquely to GW exactly 2 times. Just two. And in neither case were they has harrowing and terrifying as SB had given him the space to be. 

In SB, Byleth and Jeralt bounce between the Alliance and the Kingdom looking for work until you finally face them in chapter 10. But in GW, they only ever work for the Empire. It does make sense, since the Kingdom had no reason to fight against the Federation  (at least until now), so the Empire hiring them was really the only logical conclusion for this route. 

However, GW actually gets to the skip skip earlier than SB by a chapter, giving Byleth less time in the early part of the war to have a presence at all. So by the time recruiting them came around, you don’t really feel like a proper antagonistic relationship between Shez and Byleth had been set up. 

Frankly, the entire relationship between Byleth and Shez is generally poorly done. 

I remember when I was first playing SB, I wondered what jobs Byleth and Shez had that had them cross paths in the first place. What destiny led them to them crossing blades? What big job was so important that led to their strained relationsh- 

Oh, it was nothing, just a random job from some minor lords in a squabble, that’s it. 

If you were like me, and had watched the trailers and viewed the box art, you probably came away with the conclusion that the rivalry between Shez and Byleth is meant to take center stage. Byleth and Shez face off in the art. They are the biggest characters on the box. They had a whole trailer dedicated to their big fight. 

But it’s ultimately almost entirely meaningless. The big focus is the war- Shez and his beef with Byleth is a side feature that is basically over the moment you recruit him, or comes around for one more big battle with no resolution to who Shez is. The same is true for Sothis and Arval - they actually do not know each other personally, Arval is not a god, and Sothis just thinks Shez is a descendant of the Slithers. 

Oh, and speaking of Shez, do you want to know more about his past and where he might have come from? Did you want to know about his connection with the Slithers more?

I’m afraid you are out of luck here yet again. SB skirted telling the players anything about Shez, teasing it constantly but never revealing anything. It is the same here but even worse - not only do they discuss Shez’s past even less than SB, they even practically throw out the Slithers from the plot except for one chapter. 

Having the Slithers removed from the plot isn’t itself a problem - AM from Houses is a stronger story as a result of the Slithers being side-lined for a more character-driven story. But here, they still devote enough time to Slithers that it feels empty with them nearly gone.

Again, I must circle back to the Crimson Flower comparison. CF suffered because the Slithers were a decent threat but were relegated to “well, we will deal with them after the war is over” and as such, are only mentioned in the epilogues as being defeated in a shadow war. 

It is the same here, were characters like Lysithea talk about the Slithers as a threat that must be dealt with, but unlike SB where Thales appears on the last map to die, the Slithers appear in a single map identical to their SB version, where they are just killing civilians.

For... some reason. Yet again. 

In fact, the GW version is much sillier than the SB version, because in this route the opera company comes to help in the fight. This is just a contrived way to give the players a chance to recruit the allied Dorothea, but right before the battle everyone is slobbering over the idea of meeting the famous singers. At least SB was more serious in what the Slithers were doing from start to finish. 

This is likely to set up the Side Chapters, where Shez faces the Slithers and Arval one last time (and ultimately leads to nowhere), but it feels completely out of place. It’s a single chapter devoted to the Slithers where you learn nothing about them at all, and it was forced upon you in a hasty retreat. 

Yes, you read that right. A retreat. Again. Because you see, Claude and co decide to use Almyran ships to invade the Kingdom by sea. 

----

The next two chapters follow Claude and his companions over the sea to invade the Kingdom and force Dimitri to give up the church, as Claude believes this is the course of action that will lead to the end of the war the quickest. 

This, of course, catches Dimitri off guard because the Federation lacked the naval capability to launch such an assault, his lack of Claude’s Almyran back pockets notwithstanding. 

Chapter 11 has us attacking a fortress in Felix’s territory, where Felix and Rodrigue escape thanks to the sacrifice of Sylvain’s father who came to their rescue, and chapter 12 has us attacking the Kingdom capital directly after that. 

I must say that I found these two chapters particularly frustrating for a number of reasons. 

Firstly, we learn that part of Claude’s plan to invade the Kingdom is to get the Kingdom’s long-time border-sharing, aggressive and antagonistic neighbors, Sreng, to attack in order to tie up many of the Kingdom’s troops. This, in turn, would make their smaller attack force have an easier time to force open the doors to Dimitri. 

Claude spends quite a bit of time discussing how the Central Church, and by extension Foldan, does not allow for any relations with foreign nations. He complains about this, that the people of Foldan are xenophobic as a result of the Church preventing communication through doctrine. He wishes for nothing more than to force the borders open, to have the people of many lands learn from each other and converse freely.

Except his usage of the Sreng (whom he also manipulated into attacking) runs antithesis to these ideals. You cannot claim that people hate each other based on nationality alone and that people need to get along, only to turn around and cause a literal race war so that your own army gains favor in the battlefield. You cannot say those bolster your ideals, or be confused as to why people on the borders don’t like each other. How can a country get over their ancient feuds if you only flame the fires for your own ambitions?

It is no wonder the Kingdom doesn’t like the Sreng, when the Sreng can so easily be tricked into attack when they think they have the chance! 

Not to mention that the side maps consists of mostly routing bandits, who see a chance to cause havoc due to your invasions.

And to top it all off, you kill Sylvain’s father, who died for his friends’ safety. 

And what did Claude have to say about this great sacrifice? 

This is followed by Claude criticizing the Kingdom’s code of chivalry, that it was chivalry that led to the Margrave’s death since he refused to give up or run away, and that he intended to create a world where such sacrifices would not be necessary. 

In other words, this man invaded a foreign land, killed one of their leaders, and blamed their culture for it. Then topped it off with a call to change their culture.

Is that not horrific to think about? Not to mention that it ignores the reality that the Margrave died to protect his friends, not for some code of honor. He did it because he loved them and wanted them safe. But this does not occur to Claude. 

(In fact, the Kingdom’s code of chivalry gets racked across the coals in both SB and GW as something disgusting). 

And then, in chapter 12, Claude forces his way into Fhirdiad to “talk to Dimitri” to get the message into his “thick skull”. Claude had not bothered to send a message to Dimitri prior to this. He simply woke up and chose violence first. 

What is also unsettlingly is the entire cast is on board with this plan. Like in SB, the playable cast sees no issue with invading the lands of those who did nothing to them, killing people along the way. 

At least Dimitri evacuated the city prior to Claude’s invasion. But the lives of those soldiers who defended till the last will be on Claude’s hands, and the hands of his friends who were so excited about what they were doing that they would cheer. 

The frustration goes further than that. I have picked out a few lines that I want to briefly go over. 

In other words, Claude’s plan is to force Dimitri to give up the Church to remove the Empire’s moral crutch for the war. He believes that if the Church is gone, then the Empire will be unable to continue on because their reason for fighting in the first place will be eliminated.

Ignoring that House’s blatantly disproves this logic, Hopes allows Shez to mention that this plan might not work. 

In camp dialogue. 

Shez can rightfully point out that the Empire has intended to unite Foldan as well as remove the Church. After all, Edelgard still plans (by her own admission) to conquer the Federation, just no longer through military means! Not only does Claude openly agree with you, he still goes after the Church and will still continue to insist that the war will be over if the Church goes down! 

And it’s not just him, the other characters firmly believe that the Church, and not the Empire, are at fault.

(Lorenz here is talking about the Margrave and how he died after they invaded).

And after all this, after you force Dimitri into submission and have the entirety of the Kingdom’s capital... you are ordered into a hasty retreat due to that single Slither event I mentioned before.

That’s right. You retreat out of nowhere not once, but twice in this route. 

Not only does it feel artificial, that you would just leave after literally having the Kingdom on their knees like that, but it also feels callous. Remember that line from before, where Claude claims to do this war so that the fewest lives will be lost. Well, how can you claim that if you are so easily able to just run away before securing your victory for good?! All those lives, lost for no reason, since now Claude will have to march on the Kingdom once again in order to get the Church to be driven out.

It’s absolutely appalling that this route praises these actions as heroic and clever, rather than insane and cruel. 

-------

The remainder of the review will be continued in a reblog in the near future, please look forward to it. 

#Three Hopes #Golden Wildfire #my-playthrough #Golden Wildfire review

[deadstarred]

LADY MYRIELLE FLORENT OF BRIGHTWATER KEEP , THE WANNABE QUEEN.

THE BASICS ,

name   :   myrielle florent.

title   :   lady of brightwater keep.

age   :   thirty.

marital status   :   secretly set to be betrothed. 

house   :   house florent.

homeland   :   the reach. 

gender   :   cisgender woman.

pronouns   :   she & her.

sexuality   :   bisexual.

faceclaim   :   zhu xudan.

hair color   :   black.

eye color   :   brown.

height   :   five feet, four six. 

religion   :   none, though she'd claim it's the faith of the seven.

western astrology   :   tbd sun, tbd moon, tbd rising.

alignment   :   true neutral.

positive traits   :   open-minded, sociable, strategic, ambitious, tender.

negative traits   :   self-serving, dishonest, manipulative, cowardly, sensitive. 

THE INTRO ,

for as long as myrielle has been alive, she's been told florents deserve better. they had the superior claim to highgarden. they were descended of kings, and myrielle had better behave in a way that suited that.

as long as myrielle has been alive, death has also swung above her head like an axe. a mother who died in childbirth left her a resented child, and the difficulties of said birth lead her to be an ill one. she was ill and small for the first years of her life, doted on by maesters.

her brothers, motherless, never quite seemed to forgive her, and her father became somehow doting and hypercritical all the same. she felt very isolated from her family since she was very small, but myrielle is also deeply loyal to them.

what better to do with an unwanted child than send them to highgarden? myrielle has additionally been a lady in waiting to avantika tyrell since their youth. any grumbles or bad blood about a superior claim are set aside, and myrielle does share affection and love for the tyrells. even though the florents really should—

this bit is tbd and updated as i plot!

myrielle is not without ambition. she could see herself in an advantageous position, even all the way at the top of westerosi politic, if you catch her drift. she views marriage as something purely political or social, not really a matter of love.

hence her promiscuity. men, women, anyone who catches her fancy is someone she's willing and ready to spend a night with. she uses plenty of discretion as to not, ahem, gain a reputation, but in her impatience to be married, myrielle has taken several lovers.

she is presently set to be bethrothed — basically the only reason she isn't already is because i want it to be a wc, and plan timelines and things accordingly with whoever plays that character! it can be purely advantageous on both their parts, they can share an affection, this person can love myrielle and be being taken as a fool, they can be manipulating one another... the possibilites are endless. point is, she's going to be going to be getting married, for maximum lady in waiting drama purposes.

myrielle isn't mean, but she IS firm and she doesn't let herself get pushed around. be mean to her, she'll be mean back. be nice to her, she'll be nice back. scratch her back, she'll scratch yours. she just might stab you in it if it means she can advance her place in life.

myrielle loves a good glass of wine, and perhaps indulges a little too much. it's five o'clock somewhere in westeros, am i right? she's also a major gossip, especially when secrets can be traded for one another, and especially when it benefits her. also especially when she's had said wine.

ultimately, i'm unconvinced myrielle knows what she really wants. she knows she has ambition and likes the security of power, and she knows she's been told what she should want. she just doesn't know she can redirect her energy into anything that isn't social climbing.

will sometimes play mind games for fun. she's not a bad person, she just wants to sharpen her skillset, she swears.

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE FLORENTS HAVE A SUPERIOR CL-

WANTED PLOTS ,

the betrothed : this is the big one. like i said above: this can be any sort of plot, but i will say i don't think it's realistic of myrielle is the one being taken for a ride, but i'm open to hearing people out! this would also need to be a husband that would somehow advance her in some way, either by tendering an alliance or placing her in a more powerful house.

the brothers : myrielle is not close with either of her brothers, and they are intensely resentful of her after the death of their mother. whether this was their own decision or if it was essentially fed to them is up to you, but it's caused a great source of tension for all of them. myrielle rarely saw her brothers as a girl and there is considerable distance between them.

the leech : while myrielle likes to keep around anyone she can just in case they become useful (or because she genuinely likes them!) but... thus is not the case with this person. myrielle cannot hide her distaste, and yet, they keep coming to bother her time and time again. whether they genuinely like her and want to be her friend and she just finds them annoying, they're a flirt she's disgusted by, or they're particuarly cruel to her and she just wants to stop being bothere doesn't matter. they approach, she grits her teeth. that's the plot.

more friends in general , fake ones or real ones.

lovers , most realistically from the reach but also from anywehre.

enemies , someone that sees right through myrielle and into her games.

#MYRIELLE FLORENT . INFO

[faiirytalcs]

ANITA DEARLY is based on ANITA from 101 Dalmatians. She is a 30 year old GIFTED HUMAN, JOURNALIST, and uses she/her pronouns. She has the power of PERSUASION.

Important History

there's barely anything in life that anita loves more than knowing. it doesn't have to be anything important either, she just wanted to be one of the people who knew about it; the people inside the room where decisions were made, where important discussions were being had. Was that so wrong?

she could be nosey, but she wasn't one of those gossip mongers who got a thrill in spilling other people's secrets, that wasn't her schtick. she wanted to disseminate the information that every day people had a right to know about.

seeing those reporters on screen, the ones who went out in the field - that was what anita wanted to do with her life

as a little girl, anita dreamt of winning a pulitzer for her reporting and, no, most people her age didn't know what that was, but anita didn't mind ( that just meant less competition ) - she had a goal, and she was going to get there

there were some hiccups along the way, some bosses that turned her ambition into a weapon to keep her working for them, like cruella, but there was some good with the bad when it came to the other woman.

she knew cruella was something big and even though she got trapped in evermore while tracking her down, anita didn't entirely mind?? talk about a story worth breaking

whatever was happening in this town, anita was going to get to the bottom of it. With her knack to uncover things she shouldn't, if anyone was going to crack this case wide open, it was her.

a millennial through and through just trying to figure it out with the hand she was dealt, making a lot of mistakes along the way

always has a notebook in her bag, usually two - one that is ratted and pretty much filled up and one that is brand new ready to take its place

constantly cleaning her glasses. could she have contacts? yes, but there's a whole vibe with wearing glasses that she isn't about to give up

dates like crazy but isn't super into the random one-night stands. on her mission to find "the one" so she says yes to pretty much anyone who asks her out; she likes to be wined and dined, thank you very much. she does believe that she's a proper lady but more often than not takes a few tumbles between the sheets after one too many glasses of wine

even when she's out with friends, anita is constantly keeping an eye out for some scoop or inside dealings - she really can't help it. it's like she's programmed to try and get involved in other people's business without actually getting involved in it

for a long time, she didn't realize that her persuasiveness was something outside of the realm of normal. she honestly just thought she was really good at it. but one time when she was at university, she got out of a situation that would have been impossible for someone to get out of if they didn't have some kind of supernatural ability

anita does say off the record constantly and people should probably do the same around her, in case they don't want whatever they're saying to end up in an article one day. it's not that anita wants to always be thinking about work but as evermore's ace reporter ( self-appointed ) she has to be ready all the time

APPEARANCE

Face Claim: rose matafeo

Height: 5'10

Build: tall

Eye Color: dark brown

Hair Color: brown

Piercings: ears

PERSONALITY

Positive Traits: adaptable, observant, resilient, witty

Negative Traits: compulsive, nosey, obsessive, workaholic

Likes: fresh sketchbooks, old books from thrift stores, weighted blankets, matching pen sets, mornings in the park, robust red wines, a fresh pot of tea

Dislikes: unscheduled interruptions, mansplainers, unsourced essays, open mouth chewing, taking things out of context, squirrels, loud phone ringtones

Phobias: hemophobia

Hobbies: reading, sketching, collecting tea

Aesthetic: being the first person to tell someone new information, the scratch of ink on paper, statement glasses, the smell of a new book, a planner full of first dates, freshly cleaned button down with sleeves rolled up, downloading and deleting yet another dating app, long nights writing leading to early sunrises

FAMILY

Mother: daniella dearly

Father: paul dearly

Sibling(s): amanda dearly ( older sister )

Pet(s): perdita ( dalmatian )

#𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 ;; anita dearly