#«douse the light and embrace darkness (ooc)»

[regalblades]

MUNDAY! ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS

tagged by: all of you buffoons

nicknames: i chose ren for myself to go along with my decision to use they/them pronouns; i do not perceive any of my past internet nicknames. have also been called renny, rennifer, renold, rennington, etc etc by several of you, as well as “goose” in viet by my parents.

zodiac: leo sun, pisces moon, leo rising. fire ox + rabbit ascendant (eastern)

height: 5′4″ though i haven’t actually measured myself in years LMAO so who knows

timezone: EST

listening to: fate/grand order original soundtrack iv, disc 2

last movie i saw: i could not tell you because i watch movies maybe once a year or so, but probably promare…

last thing i googled: …code geass because i had to double check something. i don’t trust my memory a lot of the time HAHA

average amount of sleep: somewhere between 6-8 hours. i can function on less, but i won’t be happy about it.

what i’m wearing: viet pjs but like the summer kind

dream job: something that pays enough for me to live comfortably but also isn’t physically demanding because my ankles hate me. minimal conversation also preferred do not interact with me

dream trip: idk honestly, my family used to travel for vacation every summer so there’s nowhere i really want to go anymore.

favorite food: kettle-cooked salt and vinegar chips

play any instruments: used to play violin. also used to sing and still technically do but exclusively to myself

eye color: brown.

hair color: dark brown, reddish tint under sunlight

languages: english, vietnamese (speaking only, and even then i’m not fluent), some fragmented japanese from studying it in high school

most iconic song: paramore’s brick by boring brick stuck out to me for all of middle and high school tbh

random fact about me: i let my sister try to cut my hair about a month ago because it was Goddamn hot and long dark hair bad. she was too impatient to do more than just haphazardly hack off chunks of it with scissors so my mom had to sit me back down and fix it to the best of her ability and i have very short hair now but my bangs constantly fall into my eyes without a hairclip.

reason for my url: regalblades is a nod to the weapon morph!lloyd wields in the final chapter of fe7, though ‘regalblade’ was taken so i tacked on an S at the end. alfvangr is a combination of ‘alfonse’ and ‘fólkvangr’ to match fenrena (sharena’s url), though i previously had his url as ‘sessrumnirse’ which was a nod to the goddess freyja’s hall located within fólkvangr in norse mythology.

tagging: if you haven’t done this yet. come closer.

[regalblades]

🌸 = roleplay petpeeve

(munday symbols)

One that’s probably stuck with me since even before I joined TOA is the use of script/chat format. It’s just so... soulless, if that’s the right word for it? I like prose because you get a feel for the writer’s voice within their work, and man, some people are really good at stringing words together in a way that has me going oouughghhgh okay.

I’m also not very keen on super short replies, like three sentences kind of short. No one here’s guilty of that though, so I don’t think about it much.

[regalblades]

What is your favourite thing about your muse? Why did you pick them up, what do you want to explore?

(Munday Things)

Again, I haven’t spent enough time writing Lilina to say anything about her, but for the other two:

FE7 was the first Fire Emblem game I played, which I got into because my sister was looking for GBA games to emulate back in late 2014-ish. Despite playing a lot of Smash Bros. at the time and being a Marth main specifically, I knew absolutely nothing about Fire Emblem and confess that I was mainly drawn to it because the sprites were cool, lmao. While I came to love (almost) all of its cast, I fell hard for the Black Fang; fighting the named members that weren’t blatantly evil like Jerme gave me an Emotion I’ve never fully recovered from. I’ve always had a fondness for antagonists who aren’t necessarily villains, and while I enjoy what-if scenarios with them, I appreciate that canon takes my heart and stomps it flat because the fates of Lloyd, Linus, etc. are so tragic when you know things could have been different. (See also: the optional scenes for Cog of Destiny should your main lord deal the finishing blow to the boss. “He only wanted to avenge his brother” hurts me every single time.)

I’ve always wanted a space to write Lloyd, especially one with an ocean’s worth of survivor guilt post-Cog of Destiny, but until a few months ago Tumblr RP didn’t feel like something I could see myself engaging in; I also seldom ever finish my fics, so those don’t go anywhere (hello, permanent dissatisfaction with my writing). My desire to have that space won out over my reluctance to go through the blog-making process, haha... and maybe I felt bad about joining the Discord server in August of last year only to mute it and vanish. What really convinced me to take the plunge was seeing that the group had a Nino—my brain honestly would not let me have peace until I let her reunite with one of her brothers. That said, I greatly enjoy the catharsis of a broken character learning to let themself heal and move on, which is what I’m hoping to do with him in TOA.

I confess that I was watching like a hawk to see if any of the previous Alfonse reserves would stick or not, and when none of them did and I was free to take another muse I jumped at the bit. Like with Nino, a big part of my interest/investment came from the group having a Sharena, and I kind of like to pick up characters if the pre-existing connections are there haha. It just happens that Alfonse is also a character I can heavily relate to, being that I’m the older sibling in my family and am actually just a pile of insecurities held together with rubber bands. And I’m often too serious for my own good. Since he’s post-Book III I mainly want to dig into his feelings of inadequacy and wanting to be worthy of Gustav’s legacy while also exploring his potential friendships with other characters.

[regalblades]

💐🌻

(munday symbols)

💐 = my favorite part about the fandom

As far as broader fandom goes, I won’t actively engage with it, but I enjoy the fanart and meta posts it produces well enough (mostly... but let’s leave it at that). People who do music arrangements and the like are also very powerful, though I rarely listen to those.

If I narrow it down to just the people in TOA, everyone’s pretty stellar, and I feel like I’m regaining my passion for reading because good prose just hits a certain way. I’m thankful for that, honestly; it was making me sad how rarely I was in the mood to sit down and lose track of time devouring someone’s work. Getting to write with those same people is also a delight (anxieties about my own work aside), and it allows me to make my 2020 resolution a reality (in that I’m taking the plunge and putting my writing out there for people to see). I hope I can continue to clown with you guys in the months to come, too.

🌻 = a character I wish to write with

hhhhhhhrrgh I’ll limit it to three for those currently in TOA, or else this post will grow unreasonably long. Without going into reasons, I’d love to write with Ferdinand, Takumi, and Innes at some point with any of my own muses.

For characters not in TOA yet (if ever), it goes without saying that I really want more of the Black Fang to show up someday (but mainly Legault and Linus), as well as Bruno. Jeralt too, since I’m smothering my own muse for him indefinitely.

[regalblades]

🌷!

(munday symbols) (also asked by @rivclry​ and @fenrena​)

🌷 = a song I identify with my character

I was dreading this one, haha. I listen to music all the time, but I don’t immediately register what I listen to as fitting for a certain muse and whatnot...

For Lloyd, Désir by GARNiDELiA. Mainly fits how he is in the TOAverse, with these lyrics standing out in particular:

No matter how I may wish, the tomorrow I seek will never come. Nonetheless, I closed my eyes and continued walking onward.

I'm seeking a light that will never go out No matter how many nights may come. Even if it means I can never return back down the road I've traveled.

As well as:

No matter how much I may scream, there are tomorrows that cannot change. I turned my back on them, but I still wasn't able to let go.

No matter how many times I lament to the stars, they're too far-off And my wishes can't reach. Even if the answer I choose won't even be allowed.

For Alfonse, A World Made for Someone by Akiko Shikata. Suits him on a whole, but more so following the events of Book III of Heroes.

Someone hurts you, and you take on the pain, And when you hurt someone, you immediately start running. Even if you are blown around by the severe cruel wind, You still keep those feelings you won't give up hidden in your heart.

See also:

Force open the door of grief and move ahead. Even if this world was made for someone's sake, It is strong, fleeting and kind, and filled with truth and lies, And betrayal and sins. Accept them all.

I’m sorry my taste in music is like this, haha... The lyrics though...

[regalblades]

🍄 = my opinion on crossovers

(munday symbols)

Oh, I eat them up like a fool haha. Basically every mobile game I actively play is technically a crossover (albeit all of them are inter-franchise so how much that counts is up for debate), and for anyone familiar with the “Tales of” games, many of their spinoffs on console are also classed as crossovers (again, inter-franchise specifically) i.e. the Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology trilogy and so on. It’s actually a pretty neat way to get to know characters and the games they originate from, especially if accessibility is an issue (see: I’ve played exactly 2 Tales games on console, and every Fire Emblem that isn’t for the 3DS or Switch I’ve had to emulate), and also think of all the character interactions that’d never happen otherwise.

tl;dr love them, they’re fun.

[regalblades]

Is there a correlation between the muses you like to pick up? Something in particular that draws you to a character and makes you want to write them?

(Munday Things) (also asked by @jehannanmage)

I mentioned this in a previous ask, but I’m generally drawn to introverted/aloof/socially awkward characters... because I am also introverted and socially awkward, haha. (Not so sure about the aloof part, though.) It’s easier to write what you’re familiar with, and it helps that I actively like the characters enough to take the leap and try my hand at exploring them.

I’m also a big fan of swords and magic, which may or may not influence which characters I pick up—I nearly made all three of my TOA muses swordies before deciding that I really want a mage muse. Note that me musing Lilina specifically is also me not wanting to admit I have a very specific Type when it comes to muses... but I love her so all’s good.

[regalblades]

“If one sword has a power of 100, then using two swords would make it 200, right?”

[regalblades]

What types of threads are your most favourite?

(Munday Things)

I am weak for threads with a lot of Emotions involved. Just in general, really, but I’m extra tender for characters allowing themselves to be vulnerable only for specific people haha. It’s good stuff, gets me excited when it’s on the dash.

[regalblades]

Does fandom intimidate you, or make you critical of your portrayal? Do you have any irrational doubts in what you are doing? // What draws you to roleplaying as a hobby? What do you find fun?

(Munday Things)

16. I generally don’t involve myself in fandom, but it did make me self-conscious about how I write characters for a while until... I just stopped caring about what other people think, haha. I don’t think I’ll ever not worry that what I do isn’t good enough even then, but the best I can do is grit my teeth and keep going.

18. Writing fics on my own is great and all (is it really though), but there’s just something about collaborative writing that really speaks to me. I think it helps that with RP I’m only focusing on one character’s perspective, and plotting tends to go a lot more smoothly when you have someone else to bounce ideas off of. What makes it fun for me is getting to explore concepts and relationships that wouldn’t be possible otherwise—it’s like a sandbox, one I really like playing in.

[regalblades]

5.What is your least favourite thing about your muse? What makes them difficult to write, or interact with?

(Munday Things)

Disregarding that I’ve yet to write very much for Lilina (I’ll come back to her soon... I just need to get some overdue replies out of the way first...), there are definitely times where I find myself struggling with my muses. I often gravitate toward introverted or standoffish characters—which Lloyd definitely is and to a lesser extent, Alfonse—which is great until, you know, they need to actually interact with others. This isn’t much of an issue for Alfonse, since he does actually like spending time with other people (in moderation), but Lloyd as I’ve handled him thus far keeps more to himself unless he has to work with others for missions and the like.

cough There’s also the fact that Lloyd dies in canon, so his presence in TOA is based entirely on a “what if” scenario. I’ve tried to keep his personality as intact as possible while exploring how he’s (not) coping with everything that’s happened to him, but I worry that he comes off as too depressed at times. (Given what happens if Linus dies first though... maybe I’m not that far off the mark.)

With Alfonse, I sometimes wonder if I’m playing up the “These aren’t the people I know” angle too much or too little due to his backstory for why he’s in TOA, but I find him somewhat easier to write in general because it’s easy to project a few of my insecurities onto him. For all that he gets plenty of dialogue in Heroes’ story, I actually wish they’d do more with him... but applying my own interpretation of his inner workings is fun, too.

[regalblades]

🎄 = my opinion on AUs

(munday symbols) (also asked by @herrings)

Blanket answer: hell yeah. More detailed answer: hell yeah, though I can be a little picky with regard to how they’re done. If it’s the kind of AU where you’re just slapping people into roles they loosely fit into and calling it a day, I probably won’t pay much attention to it. Where’s the substance in those? I like things I can really sink my teeth into, which... is probably why I really like AUs based on Fate/Stay Night and its related titles, haha. Meaty.

Even just a change in setting is interesting enough to me that I’d bite, though. (Yes, I’m still thinking about a deserted island-type thing thanks to ACNH.)

[regalblades]

۞ (YEEHAW)

If we were in a relationship? | Accepting.

Pros:- Dead family baggage but also dead brother baggage specifically- Baggage aside, Lloyd feels like he has to keep an eye on Hector because he reminds him of Linus (read: they both get into trouble easily)- Probably won’t say no to sparring, maybe someday Hector will win in a 1v1- Hey, maybe the bounty hunters will back off if he sticks close to Marquess Ostia when they return to Elibe

Cons:- Lloyd’s distant/aloof nature as it is now would probably grate on Hector’s nerves. On the opposite end of the scale, Hector reminding Lloyd of Linus is all well and good until it hits him that Linus is gone and never coming back.- Hector’s unlikely to forget that Lloyd was a member of the Black Fang anytime soon. He’s not Jaffar, and they were being used by Nergal, but…- Even if they hadn’t actually been the ones to kill Linus, it was being assigned to eliminate them in the first place that brought about his downfall. Lloyd isn’t one for grudges, but he’s bitter all the same.- Talking out their problems is liable to open new wounds instead.

[regalblades]

What kinds of threads do you think you are best at writing?

(Munday Things)

I think I’d have an easier time writing about types of threads I don’t do as well with, haha. They say you’re your own worst critic, and I tend to judge my own work harshly enough that I don’t feel like I have a “best”. (See also: why my AO3 account is practically barren. Even if I were to finish the fics I write, I wouldn’t feel like they’re good enough to post where everyone can see.)

If I really had to think about it, though, I do best when I get to write threads that really dig into what makes my muses tick. I love exploring a character’s depth, I love thinking about what they might do when pushed hard enough, that kind of thing. That’s not to say I dislike more comedic or lighthearted threads—I just have a strong preference for serious content.

[regalblades]

19. What kind of writing partners do you tend to merge well with? Do you like people who communicate, or more impulsive personalities?

(Munday Things) (also asked by @houseofreglay)

I like a healthy mix of both! Granted, my communication skills are... lacking... but it’s fun to hash out thread details with my partner so long as it still feels natural in writing (have to agree with whoever previously said that it feels Manufactured if it’s discussed too thoroughly). It’s also fun to just see what happens and run with it, so we can look back on it later and maybe share a laugh or two.

[regalblades]

۞

If we were in a relationship together? | Accepting.

Pros: - Both are reserved, distant individuals. They’d probably be comfortable with each other, maybe even commiserate over the pain they’ve suffered.- Sharing silence in a quiet place? Absolutely.- Lloyd would find Azura’s singing soothing, especially when he’s troubled.- Black and white duo hell yeah- He’s only four inches taller but will get out-of-reach objects for her if necessary.

Cons:- Both are reserved, distant individuals. This is a double-edged blade if they’re unwilling to open up to one another.- Imagine trying to introduce him to her family.- They might be too similar in some aspects? Not entirely sure about this one.