senerist

[senerist]

“It depends.  Modern speech is fucking hard, as in this is very difficult, or modern speech fucks hard, as in you're having fun learning new words,” soren replies.  he carries a small smile, already proud his efforts were bearing fruit.

“Allow me.  It's been fucking hot outside of late, and all the chucklefucks running around the monastery have been un-fucking-believable in their ability to do fuck all.”

So she did have it right!

Then came the rest of it. Versatility was going to make this a fun, albeit difficult one to use. He was telling her to use it right now?

Leanne hums and rests her hand beneath her chin.

"Modern speech...fuck hard?" Expectant eyes fall onto Soren.

"Was that right?"

[senerist]

soren's grasp on the ancient tongue is lacking.  Part of him wishes he could speak it as well as she, so perhaps in teaching her a word he hopes to learn something himself.  Fortunately, the language isn't a huge barrier.  he knows many words already, and it's easy to sense the feelings around the sentences to fill in the gaps of what's missing.

“It's a very good word,” he responds.  "It is the single most versatile word in our tongue.  As you can already tell.  You can use it to rebuke something.  As a verb, it means to have sex.  As an adverb, it enhances the intensity of a sentence.  You can combine it with many nouns in order to craft an insult of your choosing, and even insert it in the middle of words to intensify the feeling they conjure, too.

“Why don't you experiment?”

📜 + 'fuck'

She stares. She's heard that word often back when she was around the mercenaries. Leanne likes to believe she knows what it means.

"F-fuck?" She doesn't think she should be saying this.

"Soren... are you sure this is a good word?" She raises an eyebrow and her hands land square on her hips. Ike said it sometimes so it couldn't be that bad of a word and it wasn't always bad.

"Fuck... many other," her mind was suddenly blanking. "Many other." Try as she might, she couldn't exactly explain this with her hand. "It means many things!"

"Yes?" She really hopes he gets what she means...

[senerist]

“Honestly, i should know better,” soren responds. A wan smile pulls his mouth to one side. “It may have been a long time for me, but you’re exactly the same as ever. i suspect even if you had as many years as i, you’d be exactly the same.”

As always, Ike sees straight through him. He doesn’t need to pull the truth out to examine, he simply comments on it and allows soren to respond as he likes. That has always made it easier to face these things; when soren doesn’t feel scrutinized doing so.

Ike’s offer is genuine, as is the man Himself. That’s always been enough.

“Of course i would, Ike. i have enough coin to treat you to a drink or two, if you’d like… Or…”

his gaze slides sideways, unsure suddenly. “i suppose if you want a tour, i’m equipped enough to offer it. As you like.”

re: rose tint my world

cont. from -> 🫂

[senerist]

“i would much prefer being some nameless expert you recruited from fódlan, rather than some war hero…” soren murmurs, “but whatever the cost, i would like to see what you’ve already found.”

So that’s how she intends to do it. If laguz don’t lose their powers from parenting a branded, would the branded be held in higher esteem? soren doubts it. No one had to know his parentage to treat him that way; the hatred was too deeply entrenched in those doling it out for such a simple solution.

But sanaki is still a child. Children dream of such idealistic things. he wonders if her experience in politics will temper her expectations, or if she truly believes that it will be so simple. Solve one problem, and every one forgets their prejudices. Surely she’s smarter than that. soren is almost insulted as he considers it.

“Students are prohibited from going to where i procured this from,” soren explains, assuming their deal is made and he may speak as frankly as he pleases. She doesn’t seem to realize that he is one of those people she thinks she’s helping - amidst all the laguz and others who have appeared in garreg mach, he had overestimated her knowledge. At the very least, it means she doesn’t know how much older he is, and he can continue to keep his cards close.

As for the tome itself, he’s seen students that shouldn’t be in that library in that library. Opening the door to sanaki can be leverage of its own. “i’d prefer to have your knowledge in front of me before i begin offering my own. Paperwork or not, i expect you understand the nature of a trade.”

nightmare office hour rotation

Sanaki + Soren, Garreg Mach Monastery

[senerist]

There’s a distinct intensity to the way fiora implores him. She’s focused on that question and the answers she believes soren can supply. It’s… eerie. he still doesn’t know what exactly she wants from him, but he can feel the fire inside of her, burning like a tiny candle despite the ferocity of her gaze.

“It likely doesn’t concern you,” he says dismissively, but he can’t ignore that fire burning in her. She’s desperate. That much is obvious, but soren doesn’t want to leave her completely hanging.

he sighs, removing his gaze from her and facing forward. “i expect you to keep this between us. And i’m only saying it at all because i can see how… desperate you are for an answer. i would have liked to remain dead.”

his fingers twitch in his lap, curling around each other and seeking some sort of comfort they don’t have. he stares at them. “My reasons for coming to garreg mach in the first place were… in service of that. i certainly don’t regret that the students i was with are alive again, but… i would prefer if i wasn’t. i don’t think you feel the same.”

What It Means to Be Alive

[senerist]

“It certainly wasn’t easy,” soren replies vaguely. “Daein’s army had reached deep into gallia by then, and had almost completely occupied crimea. When we finally found audience with the king, he was unable to lend aid without risking the envolvement of the other laguz tribes and decided for begnion which side they were to take. In order to avoid a race war, the princess was advised to petition begnion for support first, and so the Greil Mercenaries were to be her escort to sienne.”

A wry sort of smile pulls itself on soren’s face, recalling the setbacks that arose from the trip there. Had he been in charge of their movements entirely, they would not have had such trouble in the port town and Ike certainly wouldn’t have insulted the prince of goldoa.

“Shall i gloss over some of the events? Your son got us into trouble no less than twice on the trip there. Though, i believe you would be proud to hear it. When the port town housing our ship discovered we were fostering laguz in our ranks, He defended them from their stones and slurs. It revealed our presence to the daein occupation, but we both know He wouldn’t have changed it.

“The ship ride itself saw two attacks by pirates, and we got caught on a reef alongside the goldoan coast. Fortunately, the crown prince was present to assist us. Less fortunately, Ike had managed to insult him first.”

soren breathes out a small laugh. “It was fine. He always made it fine, somehow. He’d insult the empress twice as much before we finally had our army, even, and somehow she liked him all the better for it.”

hit games path of radiance (2005) and radiant dawn (2007) as told by soren von fire emblem

cont. from -> 📗

[senerist]

“He was mad before he had the power,” soren explains levelly. “There were rumors that he was somehow responsible for the plague that swept through his country before he ascended the throne. Conveniently, every person between him and the throne died of this mysterious illness. Dozens of them.”

soren sighs. And what of himself? A wretch born from half crazy, half sub-human, then discarded for reasons beyond his understanding. he has no misguided desire to understand the reasoning behind his own abandonment - it’s much easier to chalk it up to his own fundamental deficiencies in personhood, and the inane behaviors of the two disturbed people who did that to him.

“He was also known to discard his child as a baby for whatever reasoning. The known prince was found in an orphanage somewhere in the capital. i doubt he was concerned at all about securing an heir. It’s anyone’s guess whether or not he even planned for the country to remain standing after his conquest.

“As for the laguz, relationships improved between them and especially crimea. Begnion was found to harbor illegal, underground slave trades of their kind during the war, and the empress made moves to destroy them. She also formally apologized for the genocide that had taken place after the death of her grandmother some twenty years prior, which also helped. It wasn’t until the war three years after concluded that i would say tensions were completely resolved, however. The words of leaders do little when the commonfolk still throw stones, after all.”

deconstruction of hero-worship as literary analysis

[senerist]

'yes' or 'no' would prolly be a good start

soren had walked into that one. he almost voices his displeasure. Not only is he out of his element, he knows how easy it is to reveal that to the other - and that is something he absolutely won’t do.

he has other questions, obviously. What sort of date? What even is a date? What is he expected to do on a date? All of these things are probably answered in the first twenty years of a person’s life, but here soren sits with four times that many and not a single clue. Different priorities, at least. he doesn’t have regrets on the trajectory of his life, but he finds himself… curious.

Asking any of these questions would give away how green he is to the concept itself, and he doesn’t want to admit any weakness (this counts, to him). Instead, he simply shakes his head.

“Yes, then,” he responds. It may appear to be the grumpiest yes yet, brows furrowed and eyes shining. “Are you dragging me away from this tome or should i… expect preparations?”

That was something that happened in dates, wasn’t it? People got dressed up, and made dinners, and whatnot. This is a reasonable question for a date-haver to ask.

Shooters Shoot

@senerist

[senerist]

[senerist]

send me a ♡ and i’ll describe what i think our muses’ child would be like

[ can be in terms of appearance, personality, or both! ]

[senerist]

“Is that a recommendation from some one who's read it?” soren retorts coolly, grabbing a tome that's practically falling apart.  The worn spine seems to reference crestology in some capacity, and he'd like some escape from this wretched conversation.

“Obviously i don't need it.  i have no problem making out with men who will stand for what's right, clearly,” he continues.

The book opens.  The pages are barely stuck inside.  This is a tome that requires concentration, and a cautious hand.  Perfect for ignoring an annoying sellsword.

“Shall i tell you what it was like, since you seem incapable of doing it yourself?”

mr. steal your girl

[senerist]

soren does not smirk when he is proven correct.  he doesn't laugh.  he doesn't say ‘i told you so’ or any other annoying and pithy remarks.  he just stares, and watches the student learn her lesson.

She seems obstinate still, but at least she's beginning to consider the truth.

“We just leave.  Let the workers figure this mess out for themselves,” he responds, arms folded and gaze leveled on L'Arachel.  “This is, quite literally, none of our business and very much not our problem.  If anything, it's been made abundantly clear that in no way will doing any of this get us any of the information we're supposedly searching for.”

he does not think for one second that this woman's ego will allow this sort of blow to her reputation, however.

“Alternatively,” he offers diplomatically, “We steal the oranges from the fruit stall and work this nightmare backwards.”

quests aren't real. you don't have to do them.

excavation || authority +1

[senerist]

soren leans back against the wall, his gaze moving to one side as though he's simply examining the alleyway again.  That's such a terrible question.

“Bullshit,” he calls, quiet yet forceful.

he doesn't feel the need to lay it out in front of nasir.  he knows the dragon's mind is planning just as much as his own.  Nasir wants to know what he's working with - he knows soren is half-blooded refuse, and he wants to know in detail what that's done to his physiology.  Whether the motive is simple curiosity or something more insidious is not something soren can know at present.  As usual, he assumes the worst.

“Old enough that the number gives it away,” he says instead.

There's a certain freedom in the conversation, at least.  No matter how much he wishes that nasir had no knowledge of soren's cursed bloodline, he can at least dance around the subject a little easier without drawing more suspicion.

“There are people here that, were they to have the years i do, would have died by now.  i am well aware of the strangeness to time.”

You Really ARE Suspicious, Aren't You?

[senerist]

The words ‘cute’ and ‘date’ act like a one-two punch to soren.  When was the last time he'd been on a date?  Had it been ever?  he may not be a stranger to murmured sweet nothings, facetious as they may have been, or steamy one-night affairs, but a date…  That's… different.  Isn't it?  Isn't it different?

he is completely out of his element.  It's a strange feeling.  soren knows well what he is and isn't; he knows well what he needs to know and what he doesn't; but it is a very, very rare occasion that he finds something so foreign to him that actually… interests him.

And he hates that it does.  he hates that he's just as beholden to the idea of dates and romance as anyone he may look down upon for it.  he hates that despite everything, lex is somehow working on him.

“A… date,” soren repeats, tone dead.  no matter what, he refuses to let his surprise or interest known.  “Are you serious?  You find me completely busy and think i, of all people will… go on a date with you?  Where do i even begin…”

Shooters Shoot

@senerist

[senerist]

Infuriating!

There's no use in getting defensive over this lex guessing the truth randomly.  soren will chalk it up to just that - random chance and nothing more.  his image, for now, is secured.

his eyes close, exasperated.  How long has this conversation been?  Two minutes?  And he already wants to stab something.

“Keep it to yourself, Lex,” he growls.  Then, his eyes open, and he does offer his name.  “Soren.”

he remembers seeing the name Lex Dozel recently.  A knight now in service of the church.  soren wonders, briefly, distantly, pointlessly, if he's the deluded type or a simple mercenary.

“What's your angle here?”

Shooters Shoot

@senerist

[senerist]

soren scoffs.  Darios may believe whatever he wants.  He's right on that account - bandits and petty thieves don't compare at all to an army on one's doorstep, and soren's handled that too.

he doesn't need to prove himself, nor does he want to.  But he resents the laugh that leaves the other's mouth.

“Good,” he replies.  “Don't speak of things outside of your scope.”

With that, soren gives darios one last glare before turning on his heel and leaving with a metaphysical itch he can't ascribe a name to.

Words told one story that intuition didn't quite like. He could accept that he had misjudged, of course a person who knew so much, fought so hard, might seem that way to him of all people. "Bandits and petty thieves hardly compare to an army marching on one's home." He could face Soren no longer. A conqueror. That was how Ike had said it back then. A laugh left him. Of course he didn't quite get it. "Then you have my apologies. It seems getting so caught up in the hypotheticals of my studies had left me, just as you said; a bit idealistic."

[senerist]

soren doesn't like the direction he takes the conversation.  Sure, it makes logical sense that if he's going to juggle people, he would need more than one person, but soren doesn't want to be juggled at all, especially not with more than one person in that…  What even would the arc of a juggle be called?

Ugh, this is idiotic.

he's just about to return to his book with an intenser focus, intending on ignoring this interloper, when he says something particularly strange.

“Excuse me,” soren says.  The only thing polite coming from his mouth are the words chosen - there is a clear indignance with how he speaks them.  “What about me implies i want to be manhandled?!”

Never mind whether or not this is the truth - by this man or by any other.  he needs to remove this aspect of his person immediately.

Shooters Shoot

@senerist