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traditional-with-a-twist · 1 year ago

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lvii. Beauty and Her Beast

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Kiki enters the hunting lodge eagerly, her step light and quick, head up, eyes alert.

She is looking for him.

The lady knight would never betray her dignity with excitement, but she has missed Mitsuhide — felt his absence keenly, an unaccustomed space at her side, an ache that has worsened in inverse proportion to the healing of her bone.

Her arm is functional again, regaining its old strength with training and with time.

Time has not healed their parting.

Anger subsided into melancholy, invisible to almost all beneath Kiki’s implacable calm.

Then followed this dull discontent, punctuated with bursts of hot vexation when something brought him to mind — a maneuver on the practice ground, a remark he might have made, a thought she might have shared … if only he had been there.

...

Sometimes she misses him so much, she wishes him gone forever.

Better the certainty of a final and irrevocable farewell than the vexatious hope, repeatedly disappointed.

Kiki took refuge from the strain by renouncing him — casting him off in her heart, declaring the self-exile banished.

She cannot oppose his choice; therefore she affirms it, finding reasons to justify it, embrace it, declare herself satisfied.

If he will go, then she will wish it so.

She won’t think of him, but when she does, she will be glad that he left.

...

At a stroke, his letter swept all that aside.

It had arrived by royal courier, a brief but painstaking thing — perfectly in keeping with the feelings she could easily imagine as animating him.

That mingled sense of shame and duty, peculiar to Mitsuhide, runs through it all.

He disavows himself, writes as if to strike himself from the record with the very hand then pens it, yet never more clearly has he shown himself honorable in the humility of addressing himself to her.

...

She took it in at a glance, knowing at first only that he had asked for her.

Annoyance evaporated; her heart lifted. A cloud passed from her countenance.

It had lingered so long that all had forgotten what she looked like without it.

...

A second read apprised her of the circumstances, and her elation turns to urgency.

Mitsuhide had not made the request on his own behalf — of course he had not. He thought of himself first, never.

Kiki had expected something serious when he wrote; he was not a man given to trivialities, nor one likely to disturb a still pond (no matter how much it needed weeding) unless spurred to it.

Still, this news outstripped all expectations.

It answered a mystery — what had become of her friends since Shirayuki’s letters had stopped coming, since it was quietly known that the recently declared heir to one of Clarines’s largest and most prosperous estates had gone missing.

The answer was plain: nothing good.

...

Keenness of purpose mingled with brightness of anticipation, of pain relieved. She presented herself to request leave.

The first prince did not press her for explanations. “You have served well, Lady Kiki, at a time when others might have expected a greater claim on your attendance.”

He saluted her with an elegant hand; she bowed.

“Consider this furlough a token of gratitude for your dedication.”

...

As Izana spoke, he passed Kki a sheaf of papers, which she slid into an unmarked satchel.

Some would be written in code; others were not.

A good many were useless: disconnected excerpts from unrelated reports, taken at random from their proper context.

One contained her instructions for the task she had agreed to undertake, should a plausible occasion arise for her to leave the capital.

...

“Do not press yourself,” urged the prince with his half-lidded smile. “It is only your due.”

...

Kiki rode hard, eating up the miles between her and the origin of that letter.

She weathered the barrage of memories that emerged from the trees along with the hunting lodge.

The brightness of that time had crystallized like a colored pane of glass — fragile, fragmented, yet brilliant in the light of memory.

If she tried to hold on to it, the edges cut into her. She could embrace it only from a distance, and that separation was its own wound.

Another time, the hurt might have penetrated more deeply, but not today.

Hope was her shield, her ward against the doubt and pain of the past.

...

Her first misgiving came when she found the stable empty.

A dozen explanations flicked through her mind, hastening to account for the incongruity.

She settled on none of them, but let them hover around her thoughts like a curtain, a layer of obfuscation between herself and the dawning possibility that she refused to countenance.

...

Resolutely, she turned and entered the lodge.

Silence greeted her.

The sitting room, the hearth – empty. The coals smoldered; a pot hung on the hearth, but there was no one there.

Kiki stopped.

She looked, and she listened — straining for any trace of her partner-that-was.

Nothing below, so she ascended, unwilling to give up the search, to relinquish her hope.

...

Upstairs, dim candle light flickered under one door.

Kiki’s chest tightened painfully as her pulse accelerated.

She laid a hand on the latch and eased it open.

...

Inside, a solitary figure lay buried in blankets. A flush of red hair left no doubt as to her identity.

Again they were meeting in an in-between place, somewhere on the journey from one home to another.

Then Shirayuki had met them with a confidence alien to her predicament; now she looked scarcely larger than a child, her stillness a mute appeal.

Beside her, there was no one.

Kiki stopped.

Her heart sank.

As it fell, she hardened it, cutting off the shock of dismay before it could immiserate her. She looked and understood and willed herself to feel nothing.

...

“Kiki…”

The voice, delicate as a bird wing, recalled her to sensation.

The lady knight heard her friend’s call, and a gladness tangled with concern kindled in response.

She stepped quickly to the bedside and knelt down.

Shirayuki smiled at her. “You came.”

The tightness returned.

Yes, she had come — for nothing! cried her injured self, the tender core of every human, who all long to receive love where it is given.

...

For a moment, Kiki struggled with herself.

She met the impulse to lash out in pain, and she mastered it.

Coolness returned; she regarded the situation dispassionately and recognized that she had not been summoned without cause.

...

“Yes,” Kiki agreed. “I’m here.”

...

A smile illuminated Shirayuki’s face, restoring a glow of vitality to it.

Gratitude welled up in her.

As was Shirayuki’s way, she sought immediately to share her happiness.

“Mitsuhide—” she began, but Kiki’s face stopped her.

She faltered at the blank look that overtook her friend’s features, the smile vanishing into a void.

“He… he’s not…?”

...

“He has gone,” said Kiki, colorless.

“But… you’re here… How did you find us if…?”

“He sent for me,” came the reply, “and now he has gone.”

...

Shirayuki gazed at her in confusion and real sorrow.

‘Oh,’ she said softly. ‘Kiki, I’m so –’

Her friend rose, avoiding the hand stretched out in consolation.

...

“You must be hungry,” Kiki said quietly. “I will bring you something to eat.”

#Akagami no Shirayukihime #mitsukiki #obiyuki #Beauty and Her Beast #PurePassion #closing in on the end of this arc

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reginrokkr · 5 months ago

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𝐂𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐋. Following the series I started of rewatching the AQs Dain participates in, this will be the second part of AQ: We Will Be Reunited. If you want to check the first part, it is here!

✦◜...Engulf the faith of the enemy in flame, and bring glory to Her Highness, the Princess... 'Loom of Fate', initial operation.◞

One of the good things that brings revisiting cutscenes is finding about the existence of things that I swear it feels like I slept on. While the Loom of Fate operation is something that was brought up even during Caribert's AQ, the first part was completely blank to me. It's highly curious that the target of these flames discussed about in the talisman an Abyss Mage carries is highly likely to be the gods themselves, as they are the source of faith people have, which also means that the people who live under the Seven may as well be the ones considered enemies in this text here. It is in tune with some descriptions about Abyss Order members not tolerating these people's ignorance but also that the Abyss Order doesn't care if they plunge the entire world in darkness— which King Irmin himself seems to have desired too.

✧◜Only the Abyss Order has consistently sought out the remnants of Khaenri'ah. Despite being far from human, they seek out this lost human civilization quite persistently.◞

It would be interesting to complete this quote with something like [because the Abyss Order is composed of people of Khaenri'ah], but if we look into the Khvarena of Good and Evil as well as Caribert, we can tell that the Abyss Order isn't formed in its entirety of Khaenri'ahns, but of others as well. Either Abyssal creatures that already existed before the Abyss Order's foundation, or people who joined after that were looking into Khaenri'ahn things left behind as it happens in Khvarena of Good and Evil, or even the Narzissenkreuz Ordo (although it still remains to be seen if the Abyss Order has creatures like the Iniquitous Baptist, the maximum we've seen is Abyss Heralds / Lectors and Black Knight Serpents if you consider those as part of them too, although not all of them would be and we know of Jakob that, as a Neohuman he was an Iniquitous Baptist). One way or another, we always encounter people who are interested in what Khaenri'ah leaves behind and turning into Abyssal monsters or being up to no good.

✦ One of the consequences of having good builds and being at a high level brings is that this can make strong enemies feel like they're nothing (at least, this is a personal observation of mine) such as the Ruin Guards. But it's always intriguing to see someone as strong as Boreas, who used to be a god before he decided to submit to the Seven and let another do the job of an Archon as he saw himself unfit to dwell among humans like it would be expected of one, describe the first Ruin Guard in such a way that he claims that it's stronger than many allogenes too. Perhaps one of the reasons of this is that, as the first one, it was wilder than the rest which might've been more controlled.

✧◜You are as vexatious as ever, Dainsleif, enemy of the Abyss! I sense your soul is stained with terrible bloodshed, perhaps from your darkest nightmares. Unless... Oh, and something far more dangerous! You reek of a corruption familiar to me... Then we are the same. We're both dangerous. But dangerous from outside the Abyss Order must be caught and caged... ◞

Another thing worth commenting is that the Abyss Herald has been pursuing says that he's an enemy of the Abyss, not the Abyss Order alone. It does bring the question if him opposing it openly and also being unable to be defeated by any Abyss Order members makes him a genuine enemy to the entire concept, the entity built around the Abyss in Teyvat or the Abyss Twin as in Caribert Chlothar says that in Khaenri'ah it was believed that they are the Abyss due to their procedence. Also, I can't help but find amusing that around 400 years of being pursued by him and most likely know him (I don't doubt that they must've taken intel from the Abyss Twin also) only now it is when they realize that he's corrupted even though... he technically was pretty early on during the Cataclysm. Either Dain concealed this well, there is something else that kind of acts as a veil to hide this or this corruption has been mutating within him for over centuries, which can also be a possibility.

As one last point worth mentioning, I suspect that any other individual that can wield the power of the Abyss and is outside the Abyss Order sphere is considered a danger to them, too. Individuals such as Jakob, René or even Skirk and potentially Surtalogi could enter the equation as they can do it too. Now, however different it may be from what the Abyss Order uses as the power of the Abyss might have its own variations too just as the 7 elements have is a topic of discussion for another day.

✦◜That man, Dainsleif, was the "Twilight Sword", one of the royal guards of the final dynasty of Khaenri'ah. 500 years ago, he failed to prevent the destruction of Khaenri'ah. A curse of immortality was laid upon him, to forever wander the wilderness... while he watched the people he was supposed to protect turn into monsters of the Abyss.◞

And lastly, for some reason, these words hit different after seeing the Caribert AQ. Mainly because we know that two curses were laid on the people of Khaenri'ah depending on the purity of their blood: immortality to those of pure blood and to turn into hilichurls those who aren't pure-blooded. But there is nothing about these cursed people turning into monsters of the Abyss and with quests that come after We Will Be Reunited it's implied that there are those who turn into Abyss monsters willingly. I don't know if the venom the Abyss Twin has here while talking about Dain is because of this or something else, but at any rate and considering what we learn in Caribert... I can't help but find it hypocritical.

#◟༺✦༻◞ events to be remembered in blue veins ┊addendum.┊#◟༺✦༻◞ when twilight mirrors the passages of time ┊queue.┊

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ffgames2023 · 2 years ago

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Final Fantasy Origin - A Narrative Expansion with Subverted Expectations

In Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, the narrative revolves around Jack Garland, a determined individual with a profound longing to locate and vanquish Chaos, a malevolent force that plagues the realm of Cornelia. Possessing a radiant crystal backed by the monarch, he embarks on his odyssey alongside fellow individuals, all of whom possess their unique crystals, collectively referred to as the "heroes of light." Their primary objective is to unleash the formidable power held within the four elemental crystals scattered throughout the world. This endeavor aims to restore order to the kingdom, conquer menacing creatures, and ultimately confront the very embodiment of Chaos itself. Notably, the title can be perceived as a "prequel set in an alternate dimension" to the initial installment of Final Fantasy, wherein Garland emerges as the formidable antagonist. It is crucial to emphasize that this is not a mere rehash, remaster, or faithful replication of the original content but rather a substantial expansion of the narrative and its constituent elements, making it an ideal time to explore and buy PS5 games that can fully immerse you in this captivating experience.

In subsequent stages of the game, players may encounter environments that initially appear expansive but, upon exploration, reveal themselves to be frustratingly constricted. An illustrative instance involves a densely wooded region where the panoramic landscape suggests openness, yet players are confounded by a conspicuously narrow and somewhat vexatious pathway. The developers' deliberate and exaggerated manipulation of level design becomes apparent, prompting players to reconsider their initial disappointment as they tune into the subtle humor underpinning the entire scenario.

A Deeper Look into Gaming Experiences in Elden Ring and Stranger of Paradise

Another facet deserving of attention is the game's adjustable difficulty settings. In light of recent discussions surrounding the contentious topic of "easy mode" in Elden Ring, players engaging with this "Soulslike" title may be intrigued to discover that selecting the "easy" difficulty setting prompts the game to humorously inquire, "Are you certain you don't want an even easier experience?" Conversely, opting for the "Chaos" difficulty level presents a formidable challenge, necessitating a profound mastery of the game's multifaceted systems. Thus, players of varying preferences are accommodated, from those who relish a rigorous challenge to those who seek a more accessible experience. This nuanced approach reflects the developer's adeptness at crafting diverse gaming experiences.

The primary avenues for customization in Stranger of Paradise encompass the job system and the creation of elaborate combat combinations using action abilities. Fundamental job classes are closely tied to specific weapons, yet as players progress through the job trees, they gain access to advanced and expert job classes, broadening their weapon choices. Job proficiency increases through combat or the utilization of aether shards, which impart experience points to a specific job. Each job level bestows a point for investment in the corresponding job tree, with weapon-specific action abilities also unlocked in the process. Each job boasts a distinctive special ability that defines its play style. For instance, the Tyrant job permits the imbuing of weapons with elemental power for targeting enemy weaknesses, whereas the Dark Knight can significantly augment their offensive capabilities at the cost of health with every swing. In total, over twenty distinct jobs are available for experimentation, each offering a uniquely enjoyable gameplay experience. Any one of these jobs could serve as the central mechanic for character control and progression in a standalone action RPG. For more games like this, go to buy PS5 games.

Unconventional Character Progression and Equipment System

Unlike traditional character leveling systems, Stranger of Paradise eschews direct leveling for characters and instead assigns levels to individual weapons and armor pieces. These items exhibit an affinity for specific job classes, along with bonus effects and stat enhancements. Mission difficulty is gauged by the average item level, compelling players to undertake optional missions to elevate their equipment's level. Achieving a high-affinity level between gear and job tree nodes unlocks additional job perks, such as granting Paladins immunity to status ailments.

Due to the rapid acquisition of loot and the substantial impact of higher-level equipment on combat performance, players often overlook job affinity and equipment effects. Even the creation of preset loadouts proves insufficient in addressing this issue. This system may find more relevance in high-difficulty, endgame multiplayer scenarios, where meticulous gear selection is imperative. During the main game, however, job affinity appears as a somewhat tacked-on feature. The overall loot system fails to resonate with the reviewer, who expresses a preference for a meticulously curated selection of equipment.

#stranger of paradise final fantasy origin

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pact-valkyrie · 3 years ago

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hello i want. 10 11 and 44 for Britta.

ok sorry bout the delay on this one i was making terrible illustrations

10. Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing? More clothes! Britta’s a layering monster. The outfit I draw her in most of the time is the result of years of accumulating leathers and random sashes and belts. She just sorta... adds them on as she gets them or as stuff rips.

11. In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been? ok so theres actually like a big story beat that i feel like deserves a whole write up or comic or smth that i probably will never actually do so here’s some other top contenders

29. What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true? Britta was groomed from childhood to become the next Leopard Havroun. Her mother was a powerful diplomat and spy-- she oversaw relations with the other races but also served as the head of essentially the norn equivalent to Ash Legion or the Shining Blade. She raised Britta to follow in her footsteps while also positioning her in a place of power and cultural influence. Britta broke off from Hoelbrak to study corruption (and then... get corrupted) before she could have taken over as Havroun, so that never came to fruition. She did get a fucked up relationship with Snow Leopard and possibly some funky mist traversing abilities out of the deal though.

44. How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

answered

#asks #britta iskaldottir #gw2 #tysm guys ily #vexatious-knight #anonymous

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red-wood-reaper · 2 years ago

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Another batch of blorbos from the NA VS Art Party!! A wonderful time as always, and I was happy to see Wall Legion return. I was trying out a new technique for getting head-shapes down in sketching and I think it worked pretty well. Im very happy with how these turned out! I hope i got everyone’s @ right!

Veska Bonefang: @leafofkudzu

Architect Istra: @fivebrights Britta Iskaldottir: @pact-valkyrie Haustoris: @myolta Haven Crowe: @vexatious-knight

#gw2 #vsartparty #guild wars 2 #gw2 art #my art #i went a little nuts on the colors with these jkdhfkjfh #it was hard not to get too detailed #sylvari #norn #charr

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antariies · 23 days ago

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hi damerrr hi mimiii

a ME! and a SONG!

and a GINSENG!

tagging @i-mybrunettelady @vexatious-knight @cyclops-dog :3

@pithyorangecurd tagged me to do this picrew and post the last song I listened to... and I finally got to it. :) so i made me and mimi

Tagging @twilightdomain @antariies @hawkepockets @cheddargoblin @jvhdb and viewers like you. Thank you.

^ my muse

#tag games #<- i KNEW i had a tag for these posts

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mystery-salad · 2 years ago

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you KNOW I'm here for the Tirs Lilt dating sim

YOU HAVE ARRIVED!!! I am ushering u forward to skip the line in getting the dating sim game, I am handing u a direct guide to Tirs 💛

Her route would be both easy and incredibly tricky, in that you could soft lock yourself in the "booty call" ending while aiming to date her. Both endings would be great, but! It'd be easy to get locked out of actually romantically dating her.

Tirs is an extremely private person, with good reason to be wary of trusting potential partners again, but she's also extremely lesbian and always down for a good time. You'd find her in a bar after she drifted into town and she would buy you a drink! Easy excuse to start talking to her. You'd have a nice introductory talk, and then once it's done, if you caught her interest enough she would suggest you follow her to the nearby motel. You can say yes or no and still have a shot at dating her, but yes opens the option of getting the bootycall ending too so it becomes significantly harder to get the actual romantic sense of dating ending.

The ending where you just have a fun time whenever she rolls into town is great, it would probably be my go-to route! It would be tons of fun, she would show you a great time! There's really no downside here, unless you want to unlock her backstory and actually be called her girlfriend.

Her romantic route would take a lot more effort though. You'd have to pick up on the tiniest tidbits from the conversations with her, and missing any of them could lead to you failing later trivia mini games. She keeps her trauma close to herself and rarely shares enough to know. You have to prove that you really pay attention, and you're really here for her whenever she songs by. That you remember her intimately between time skips where she's traveling.

At one point, you'll have the chance to get her a very meaningful gift, and there will be one right answer through which you'll seal the deal. It'll be a fern puppy that you get not for her to care for, but yourself. But you'll let her name it, and you'll promise it's all but hers whenever she visits. And that dog's happiness and trust is gonna carry you for miles in her trusting you, because you get it and this dog is safe with you. You're not asking her to suddenly commit, just to trust that you can commit to her and what she wants in life.

In the epilog of the romantic ending she eventually sets down roots in your town, still traveling, but always coming home to you in between.

#vexatious-knight #tirs lilt #💛💛💛💛💛

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mewsmagic · 3 years ago

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I've been hit with another AU brainrot...

It's a royal au in which Venti is the heir to Mondstadt's throne. He's childhood friends with Diluc, Kaeya, Jean, Thoma and Eula :D

Diluc, Kaeya, Jean and Eula are all training to be Knights and serve the throne. Eula's family attempted a coup in the past, which's why she's considered a traitor by them (for joining the knights, like canon). One day, Thoma ran away to look for his father and never returned, which makes everyone believe he's dead.

Not long after, the royal Castle is attacked and the Queen assassinated. To protect both his life and Mondstadt's Gnosis, Venti is told he needs to run away from home. And so, Venti starts traveling the world in a disguise and everyone believes the royal family is dead.

The Knights end up taking control of the city's government, since there's no one else to rule (to their knowledge). The people think it was a coup organized by the Knights to take control over the city. Not long after, Crepus is also killed and Diluc cuts ties with the Knights, also running away from home for 4 years.

Once he's back home, he's surprised to meet a bard who looks a lot like Venti and seems to be quite popular inside his bar. However, he can't believe this bard could be his childhood friend — he is loud, outrageous and vexatious, nothing like the young princess were.

But he can't escape from the truth for too long, because suddenly one of the Four Winds starts attacking the city, and Diluc ends up involving himself in the situation as the bard and a certain honorary knight run to his tavern to hide after attempting to steal the Holy Lyre der Himmel. Now, Diluc, Venti, Lumine and Jean have to join forces to defeat the dragon and restore peace to the city (and we all know how this ends).

I still gotta figure out some details, like what was up behind the Queen's assassination and all that, but I definitely want to explore it a little more >:)

#mew rambles #genshin #diluven #i'm a sucker for royal aus hfidjsksks #and also. making parallels with canon

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tovaicas · 2 years ago

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@vexatious-knight sure, I can get into it! I know I make it seem like I utterly hated HW in those last few points but I actually don’t, it’s one of my fav expacs. it’s mostly just that I like to bitch abt the weaker parts of things I like bc constructive criticism is love and the finest form of flattery to me.

details under the cut. this is gonna be real long lol I’m sorry

ARR: full warning, I did ARR in a complete state of ‘near mental breakdown from uni stress’ kinda fugue, combined with me being more focused on Learning The Game than paying close attention to the writing (as it goes with the early stages of a new video game), so my initial memories of ARR are a lil’ hazy. regardless I’m in the camp that it Wasn’t That Bad, and knowing the backstory behind its existence makes it easier for me to forgive a lot of it’s flaws. it’s slow and a little poorly paced and very long (and the scions have little character, and the less that’s said abt their voice acting the better, tho I miss some ARR voices like ARR-ysayle, misgardsormr, and merlwyb), but it’s otherwise a fine introduction to the game. I disagree with the fandom optic of ‘skip ARR you don’t need it!’ and how people act like it’s the worst content in the game, bc ARR sets up at least some of the basics for what happens down the line, and again I don’t think it’s that bad. it’s definitely not winning any narrative awards, but it’s serviceable (esp. for smth cooked up quickly after the near-demise of a previous game version).

HW: so far competing w/ ShB for my fav expac. something to note is that I’m a writer, not a game designer, so some of my criticisms are petty just because I theoretically have the time and ability to expand as much as I want on the things I feel could’ve been done better, because I do. I understand that sometimes game design and MMO writing is just Like That bc of time and scope restraints. okay.

I generally really enjoyed HW - though I think it had a couple of missteps, it generally kept a tight narrative and kept sight of its themes. Ishgard is still my favourite setting (bc who doesn’t like rubbernecking a dumpster fire) and I like how it flipped a lot of character genres on their heads (estinien is the broody dark character but he explicitly isn’t an asshole, he’s just traumatized; aymeric is the cool collected golden boy but displays an impulsivity (that gets someone he respects killed) that you’d more expect out of someone like estinien; ysayle is almost sisterly in how much she cares for other people, and instead of being the violent cult leader you initially knew her as she’s literally the matron for a group of outcasts abandoned and harmed by the system). I like how uncertain it initially feels, I enjoy the couple of moments where the wol starts feeling less like a player avatar and more like a realized person by having character reactions and traumas (they’re utterly devastated by haurchefant’s death, and are shown to be explicitly traumatized and worn down), it does a good job of not sugarcoating how much of a hellhole ishgard is, and for the most part it does a fairly good job of having people like aymeric recognize they’re complicit in why their country is this way and making real meaningful steps to change it. I liked the revelations abt what was really going on w/ the dragonsong war.

also i’m native, so seeing a catholic church analogue get thoroughly dunked on, acknowledge, and make actual steps towards reparations (while acknowledging that an apology requires actual action and not just words) for a crime they committed is a little bit more personal to me than it might be for some others.

as for things I think were weaker....I’ve mentioned a few of them before. like I said a few times I think estinien was an exceptionally flat character and that the reveal could’ve been so much better had he been allowed to have a modicum of growth and agency and actually been made to grapple with the reality of the situation and what it means for him and his sense of self. HW has a weird fixation on humbling ysayle (ravana, focusing on how ‘wrong’ she was during its most important scene despite the fact her not knowing makes little sense bc vidofnir) and the reveal + her completely unnecessary death makes it harder to enjoy for me. speaking of, I find the fact that after she dies the heretics are completely forgotten abt to be a particularly big fumble, bc the entire reason they even exist is a huge portion of HW’s message (they’re not all evil fanatic dragonfuckers, many (if not most) of the heretics are otherwise normal people who have been harmed by the system often through no fault of their own, ex. heustienne as shown if you did HW DRG quests, and will be killed if they go back to Ishgard), so it’s a little strange to me that their voices and plights are quietly dropped as soon as they can when they really should be some of the loudest, as should brume residents. another sore spot for me personally (that I’ve mentioned) is that neither aymeric nor the game wants to acknowledge the awkward truth that aymeric, as leader of the temple knights, is directly complicit in their many (not secret at all) crimes and how his failure to control them reflects back on him as lord commander. that he can’t seem to reconcile with this and blames everything on his father is a fun character flaw, but I’d like to see it more acknowledged (both canon and fandomwise) that aymeric fails in some pretty important ways and makes some weird decisions (like restoration-era ishgard still has the inquisitors. aymeric. you kept the fucking heresy police?). I’d like to see his characterization of ‘perfect golden boy’ to be challenged more often, but I’m not gonna hold my breath lol.

StB: oh boy. as you probably know, stb is obviously (so far) the weakest expac in terms of writing - it fails in a lot of ways, sometimes to the point things actually get offensive. what I liked abt it was mostly mechanical. a lot of it’s fights were really fun, and stb is abt the point (other than fights like nidhogg) where the game starts upping the ante on mechanic difficulty across the board and starts taking the training wheels off (just a little), and I think a lot of its maps were nicely designed and are nice to look at. omega was a fun raid storyline, and I also liked little details, like how this expac’s ‘beast tribes’ are treated as equals in contrast to the uld’ahn assertion that eorzean ones are violent savages that need to be monitored and put down when they get too uppity (this is why I have very mixed feelings on the scions as an organization, but that’s for a separate post).

narrative-wise tho.....stb is a mess. it’s the classic case of biting off more than it could chew, bc it tries to do two storylines at once and fails at this hard; the ala mhigan sections are too short and underwritten across the board, and they spend too much time faffing abt just getting to Doma that that section feels too short as well. shinryu is a massive sore spot; a bahamut+ level primal is born, disappears, and just.....is never mentioned again except at the very end, where you had no buildup or way to predict this happening. I spent literally the entire expac wondering when people were gonna worry abt shinryu on the loose potentially causing another dalamud situation at any moment. things that are super interesting and have a lot of implications, like zenos’ (fake! manufactured!) echo, which is hydaelyn’s power, giving him the ability to body hop (which is in all previous appearances something only granted by or exclusive to ascians) is inherently interesting and a good segue into the shb revelations but it’s literally never brought up again.

I also didn’t really enjoy it character-wise; papalymo and lyse have absolutely no depth or development in ARR or HW so his death is utterly wasted and the reveal that yda is a fake persona has literally no punch (haha) to it bc yda had no character beyond comic relief in ARR anyway. lyse unfortunately never gets out from under the shadow of her comic relief designation, and due to pacing issues her arc is anemic as fuck (she never really grows and keeps asking the same questions over and over) and never actually materializes into what the devs wanted it to be; lyse as resistance leader was a point that was never going to work as-written, and that’s before the colourism issue comes into play. I don’t think she’s necessarily an awful character, but she was definitely mishandled.

I’m not going to talk abt hien or gosetsu here. know that I absolutely despise them, hien especially, for a lot of reasons. but if I get into these reasons I’ll write a 5k word essay on just that so I’ll spare you the pain and save it for a different post. but hien makes me angry as a character so. yugiri is the best character here by process of elimination, fight me.

yotsuyu’s arc is unsurprisingly a mess, and the post-patches fail to actually engage with it bc her main deal is that she’s been horrifically mistreated, especially by men, her entire life, and the entirety of the post-patches are hien treating her like an object to traded around and gosetsu making funney ‘jokes’ abt women. it’s awful. note that I’m not excusing her actions - yotsuyu is an awful person who’s done awful shit, and the inherent moral dilemma of how to handle her crimes as tsuyu is an interesting beat - but everything abt her is mishandled and so...egregious that at times it almost feels exploitative. it makes me wonder that as written if she’d been better off literally just being an awful person because she’s an awful person, and not awful bc she’s a sexual assault survivor (which, I want to stress, this is not the first time this game has made the implication that women who are sexually assaulted are just morally broken afterwards (the first was eline roaille) which is quite the stance to take). all in all I think stb is just across the board unsatisfying and is just a complete mess of an expac. fun fights, tho!

ShB: this is as far as I’ve gone and I’ve not started post-patches yet, so I’ll only be talking abt base ShB. like I think I mentioned right after finishing - I liked it! I think it did a good job of keeping to a tight narrative, and one of it’s bigger strengths is that none of its zones overstay their welcome (like. cough cough. ruby sea. cough cough). other than a couple areas I think it did a genuinely good job of telling what it wanted to tell, and it’s competing w/ HW for my favourite of the bunch.

it’s maps are super pretty (lakeland has some of my favourite bgm so far), it’s fights are fun as hell, and the lightwarden narrative is genuinely gripping. I really enjoyed the bleaker, more dark fantasy tone starting out, I enjoyed how it didn’t pull its punches regarding how ever-present and how...inevitable the sin eaters feel as a threat (it reminds me of ishgard somewhat, in that way). after an entire expac of feeling like a weapon and almost background character just here to solve problems through violence, shb’s narrative of the scions actually (finally) coming to care about your wellbeing as a person as you’re literally dying for the world and working as a team and the MMO player tendency to just follow quest objectives being somewhat used against you as it’s your ‘but thou must’ violence that ends up nearly killing you is a nice subtle meta thing. the worldbuilding for the first feels fairly grounded (by final fantasy standards) and I don’t really have any issues with it. I wasn’t expecting to like the emet-selch arc at the end but I actually really did, I feel they delivered on that front.

eulmore is my biggest sore spot for this expac, bc I think that while their viewpoint re: the end of the world is interesting I don’t think they’re used well. I get that their existence is to highlight the forces keeping norvrandt divided, but just...hm. I didn’t find them super compelling or dangerous as a threat. you really get the sense that without ran’jiit these guys are just hilariously incompetent. and though I’m not going to talk abt it, it’s not my place, eulmore is fatphobic as fuck.

speaking of ran’jiit, he’s obviously the weakest part of the whole show. I find him to be an utter waste of a character, especially once you consider his hook is kinda interesting in its own right; he’s the only eulmoran we see to be in it and loyal to vauthry for reasons that don’t appear to be selfish, but we never actually learn what these reasons are. nothing abt him is explained (he has a dragon? how are there dragons on the first when dragons in this universe are space aliens deposited on the source? he can fuse with it? how? the only other time we see draconic transformations is in ishgardians bc of ratatoskr’s latent aether. is this a real dragon or just smth shaped like one? what is it? we never see any other creature that looks even similar (the closest is alte roite in omega raids). how is he so strong?), and what little character he does have is often ignored if it’s in the wol’s favour (this is a man who kicks y’shtola and his own man off the side of a bottomless pit, but for some inexplicable reason fails to do the same to the wol, his greatest enemy, when they’re distracted by it). his unwinnable fight schtick is not only old at this point but it’s infuriating - I can forgive zeno’s scripted fights bc it’s reiterated over and over again that he’s not exactly normal when it comes to his combat prowess, and the first go around is shocking in its own right bc it’s the first time you’ve lost a fight soundly, not through any trickery or magic or anything. He’s legitimately just stronger than you. ran’jiit just shows up. wrecks your shit. the exarch gives a weak ‘oh no, ran’jiit!’ as explanation. nothing else is ever explained. he’s just this inexplicably strong dude following you around as an unnecessary motivator to kill lightwardens faster, that’s it. it’s a disappointment in an otherwise strong expac. ryne is however my baby.

I’m not entirely sure on how to feel abt the exarch/g’raha rn, that will probably depend on how the post-patches handle him. know that I intensely disliked him for much of shb, bc I read his actions as deeply horrifically manipulative and genuinely thought he was going the be the main villain he was so fuckin shady. no I don’t really care he was doing it for a good cause, he still forced the wol into a war he knew could kill them without giving them full information abt the consequences and held their friends as ransom and only told them the barest of information after they were already in the shits (holminster). so we’ll see how it goes.

my other quibbles are pettier, and are more the result of time/mmo constraints. like I said once, I’d have liked the lightwarden corruption to be more obviously present (as the game pointedly goes out of its way right at the start to show you exactly what being mid-change looks like) and for maybe at least one more containment failure scare in the tempest to really hammer home how little time you have left (was genuinely surprised there wasn’t one) but that’s easy as fuck to fix in writing when you have unlimited scope.

tl;dr: it’s not that I hate what happened in HW, it’s that I think that while it’s an overall good scene a lot of it’s potential was wasted by a failure to give certain people (estinien) agency or depth (despite the fact he has massive stakes in them), and focuses on the wrong aspect bc it wants to laugh at a woman being wrong instead of the big picture. I think that all of the expacs have their fumble points, and I think these deserve to be talked abt critically. I otherwise really enjoy and even love HW/ShB.

StB is however an entire trip into a minecraft canyon of an expac. I don’t think it’s irredeemably awful, but you can definitely feel the writing issues. the less I say abt hien the better.

#spoilers #major spoilers #long post #these are kinda just my general thoughts. if you have specific questions on what I thought abt specific areas or plot beats #or characters or whatever feel free to throw them at me #all in all I think each expac has it's ups and downs bc that's kinda just how it goes #I think shb/hw manage to deliver pretty well on their narratives while stb utterly biffs it.#like I said I know I make it seem like I utterly hate the content. that it's deeply flawed bc I just bitch a ton but I *really* don't #I'm just a writer who's love language re:media is ripping it the fuck apart bc I like seeing how it ticks.#when it comes to media made by huge companies at least.#saint.txt

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i-mybrunettelady · 2 years ago

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!! Music Game !!

RULES: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, and then tag 10 people. No skipping!

N.B I do not have playlists. I listen to random music on youtube. As it’s random in itself, I’ll list that and hope it’s still okay lmao

I got tagged by @just-eyris-things & @desertshrub a while back and am only responding now riiip

1. Achilles come down - Gang of Youths

2. The Tale Of Cú Chulainn - Miracle of Sound

3. Devil - CLC

4. Summon the choir - Aviators

5. Phoenix - Cailin Russo & Chrissy Costanza

6. You’re gonna go far kid - The Offspring

7. Good time girl - Sofi Tukker

8. Bones - Imagine Dragons

9. Atlas drowned - Gang of Youths

10. Meet your maker - Skittishmusic

Tagging: @sunshinemage, @scribesofcalamity, @vounoura, @cosmicteafox, @vexatious-knight and everyone else who wants to do it!! No pressure if you’re tagged <3

#tag game #im curious what this says about me lmao #this music taste i have here

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feen-feet · 2 years ago

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@dashingicecream has been playing with a Genshin AU where Fischl's fantasy kingdom, the Immernachtreich, is a real place, populated by her ravens in human form. Mona, as well as being the court seer, is descended from royalty, while Jean is a mere high-ranking knight. You can see some examples on her twitter.

Immernachtreich!Jean bears some facial scars from a sparring accident with Arnold, the raven from Fischl's summer event who had a crush on Mona.

Anyway, here's a drabble of the aftermath I rushed out before work.

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There was a muffled argument beyond the door. Sir Jean couldn’t make out the speakers, or the words – between the doctor’s analgesic concoction and the sharp ache where Arnold’s sword chipped her jawbone, her senses were overwhelmed.

The door swung open, guard stiff at attention in the opening. "The Lady Megistus for you, Doctor."

Oh no.

Jean hunched over, her eyes dropping to the floor. She would have curled into a ball and turned from the door altogether, if she’d been at liberty, but some decorum had to be maintained in front of her Lady.

Her Lady… did she still have the right to call her such?

Lady Megistus’ voice broke through the doctor’s dreary report. "Leave us." He gave a small bow and exited his own office. The Lady faced away from Jean, eyes on the locked door.

"Why did you hesitate?"

Jean felt her throat turn thick. What possible explanation could she offer? She was the Lady’s declared Champion, and before the entire assembled court she made an utter fool of herself and, by extension, her Lady. "I… cannot satisfactorily explain my lapse, Lady Megistus. I may only beg your forgiveness, and offer my resign-"

"Why did you hesitate, Sir Jean? Answer the question." Her voice was cold, and hard.

Ice washed through her chest. She could not escape so easily. "I was.. undisciplined, Lady Megistus. My mind was elsewhere."

"And what issue, pray tell, was so vexatious that it should render you helpless against a mere Ensign of the Realm?" Lady Megistus was stiff all over. "Do not lie to me."

The Lady was furious. This must be her punishment, forcing Jean to lay all her foolishness naked before her. Jean swallowed. She must not lie. "…the evening prior, Lady Megistus appeared out of sorts. I thought, perhaps, I may have been the cause of the Lady’s poor mood. It was an arrogant notion, but one I was unable to shake." Jean sighed. "This must sound ridiculous to-"

"You are a Captain of the Immernachtreich!" she shrieked. Her voice echoed off the hard stone walls. "You command two hundred knights! You slew the Lindwurm of Spessart! How… how could you…"

Lady Megistus’ voice choked off with a sob. Only now, through her dulled perception, did Jean see how her shoulders shook, and her chest heaved.

She continued, barely audible. "…how could you allow yourself to come to harm, over the childish sulking of some idiotic noble?"

The ice in Jean’s chest was sucked away, replaced with an aching void. "Lady Megistus, I-"

The Lady spun towards Jean, eyes red, cheeks streaked with tears. "Why do you address me so? Am I-" She choked on her spit, hiccuping. "…am I no longer your Lady?“

Jean flew from the cot, taking Mona in her arms. "Always, My Lady." She hid Mona’s face against her chest, allowing her the dignity of staining Jean’s shirt with her tears.

"Always, and forever."

#genshin impact #fanfic #jeanmona #jean gunnhildr #mona megistus

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deardragonbook · 4 years ago

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First week of NaNoWriMo, Prologue to The King, The Knight and the Mage, plus this is my 100th Tumblr post on this blog!

Hello! So, it’s already the 8th of November. One week since NaNoWriMo began and I am unsurprisingly behind on my word count.

But given the fact my writing style pretty much consists of sprints in between the chaos of my life I’m not too concerned (yet).

In the end I decided to go with “The king, The Knight and The Mage”, seeing as it was fully outlined and a standalone. Like I said I do plan to upload the first draft fully to the internet.

I’m currently three chapters in (the third one is really long, I’ll probably do a post explaining why that is because it’s actually quite curious). But for now I’m only going to upload the Prologue to here. I thought it’d be a good 100th post.

Quick warning: This is a first draft, that’s kind of the thing with NaNoWriMo, this means there’s more than likely typos, continuity errors and just bad writing. Also, for now the genre is fantasy, usually I do young adult fantasy but there is some heavier than usual content in this one (mostly violence and death, so may this be your warning).

With that said, enjoy!

Prologue:

Prophets talked a lot. Most of it was pointless.

However, any kingdom with an ounce of self-respect took good care of them. Usually, they lived in palaces or castles. Close to the court, the king or whatever form of government had to make decisions.

In the case of Regnoma, the prophets lived at the highest level of one of the tallest towers. They had an entire floor to themselves, one they could fill with smoke and shining liquids as they practiced their poetry. Prophets loved poetry. It was a way to make their predictions sounds more meaningful.

“I am but your sacrosanct servant,” one of the younger prophets whispered, her raven black hair fell over her face as she curtseyed as low as she could, holding the rims of her red dress.

"Sacrosanct?” the king’s bodyguard, a large man with broad shoulders, short brown hair and small narrowed brown eyes asked the king.

“Do not be concerned Leon,” the king, a tall skinny man in expensive robes that swayed as he walked and tired blue eyes reassured.

“Today I foresee, if you dare to advance outwards after the sun hits it’s highest peak, you shall find yourself aqueous, vexatious and in need of assistance, trapped by your own silks.”

The king nodded. He turned his head only slightly so he could see Leon’s concerned expression before gesturing for them to leave.

It took a moment for both their eyes to adjust once the thick wooden door closed behind them. Standing on the stone spiral staircase with sunlight slipping in through a stone window, Leon looked nervous. “That did not sound good.”

The king smiled, still looking exhausted. “All they said is that we can expect it to rain this afternoon and the water will make getting my robes of more complicated than usual.” He shook his head ever so slightly as they began to their way down the spiral staircase, “it would be wise of me to prohibit the presence of thesaurus’ around them.”

“Oh,” Leon relaxed. “That is good news... I mean, I may have put clothes out yesterday to dry that have not yet come in but... better than what I was imagining.”

“I know their speech is weird, but they can speak normally. It’s helpful to remember that the more complicated they speak, the less important the information they are giving you. If it’s urgent, they’ll make themselves understood. They seem to be under the impression that if they don’t seem important, they won’t be allowed to stay here,” he smiled. “It’s admittedly adorable.”

“With all due respect Your Majesty, what you see as adorable to me is merely agitating.”

“Well. Adorable or not. They are very important.”

“I know that Your Majesty.”

“They see the future.”

“Or they are very good guessers. What was it they told you yesterday, that your letter would arrive?”

“And it did.” The king chuckled as they reached the bottom of the staircase and began to make their way through the halls towards the court. “All you must do is visit them three times a day and inform me of anything important.”

“It’s an honor Your Majesty.”

“It is.” The king reminded. “You’re escalating in the ranks very quickly.”

“Yes, the other knights are becoming jealous. Are you certain you wish to entrust me with this and not one of your older knights?”

“I wouldn’t want to take up their busy schedule in which they gossip and bring each other down with such responsibilities.”

Leon knew how the king felt for some of the knights. He couldn’t say he felt much different. “I’ll be sure to visit three times a day. Anything important will go straight to you.”

The king nodded. “You remember the dragon attack from a couple of months ago?”

Leon sighed. “How could I forget?”

“It was horrendous. However, it could have been much worse.”

“Had the prophets not foreseen it.” Leon nodded, “I know Your Majesty. I’m serious, it’s an honor.”

“Sometimes you’re hard to read Leon.”

“Well, you of all people should not struggle so much Your Majesty. I’ve only ever spoken the truth to you.”

“That’s true... I still do not understand how a human can be as honest as you.”

“It’s a gift and a curse.”

The king chuckled once more. “The prophets protect the kingdom. In exchange, we protect them, from being abused, manipulated, we protect them from society and from discovering those new calendars that teach you a new word every day.”

“Oh my...” Leon stopped in his tracks. “That would be a disaster.”

They both laughed.

“May I take a dictionary with me, Your Majesty?”

“Take a linguist if you desire. Just bring the messages back fully translated, please.”

***

The king’s court room was a weirdly quiet place. For full-court sessions were rare, mostly it was small meetings, it would be the king, one of his main advisors and then specialists.

Perhaps it felt quieter than it was, for the room was extensive enough to hold the king, every advisor he had and a few more. It had uncomfortable wooden seats on every square meter of floor space. Over a hundred or so. All surrounding a large thick wooden table. It was pointless, for it was impossible for somebody to hear another person at the other end. Which led to either breaking protocol by shouting or playing a game of telephone with important information.

At the very end of the table was the only comfortable looking chair, a throne made of wood and velvet cushions. On it sat the king.

Today it was the king and a mere four others, sat around a thick wooden table talking about a stray cat problem in the poorer neighborhoods of the kingdom. It was hard for the king to imagine anything more boring.

He wanted nothing more than to leave this meeting behind him.

Perhaps he wanted it too much for the thick wooden doors suddenly opened. The guards standing by them on the inside pointed their weapons before recognizing the person who entered.

More importantly, the king recognized and immediately stood.

“The prophets, today there was important news, Your Majesty.” Leon looked distressed; the last two words sounded like an afterthought. Protocol was not on his mind; it was only the formality of court that got them out of him.

The king nodded. “Continue trouble shooting without me,” he ordered his advisor. He walked away from the table, and out of the throne room for privacy. Well, relatively privacy, there were guards at every door and window, but they at least pretended to not hear anything.

Leon took a couple of deep breaths, the king realized he must have come running straight from the prophet’s room, it was that time of day after all.

“Tell me, Leon, what is wrong.”

Leon took a deep breath, he stood tall, and he spoke.

--------

I hope you enjoyed this.

I’ll either keep uploading the next few chapters here, on my website or on wattpad. Feel free to tell me your preference as I haven’t decided yet. Whichever it is I’ll be sure to keep you updated!

If you did and you want to read more (and more edited stuff) of mine, head over here where you can check out some free stories on my wattpad or support me by purchasing (or reading through unlimited) my book! I haven’t sold a copy or in over a month so you’ll probably make my day.

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