#❁ support ; caeda. ❁

[silent-partner-412]

the smash bros fanbase characterizing marth as gay cuz he’s feminine and pretty looking and ike as straight cuz he’s masculine and buff will always be funny. in the actual source material, marth is famously straight, he’s the malewife to girlboss caeda. meanwhile ike has his entourage of twink boyfriends with soren and ranulf, and no canon wife in any fire emblem game he’s in.

[loy-ce]

i think about marth and kris a lot... their relationship is so important to me!!

[regnumaves]

[ caeda 5/5HP ] most of the herd has been thinned out by now, and it takes caeda some searching upon her pegasus to find her next opponent.

the appearance of a giant bird doesn't quite phase her now that she's met leanne, her assumption that she was simply meeting another laguz— this time on the battlefield. she'd seen them fighting someone else earlier as well. it'll be difficult to approach such a large fearsome opponent with her lance, so caeda opts to open the tome that she'd picked up earlier.

her gaze darts over the fine lines of the spell, before she makes an attempt at casting. "bolganone!" she calls out, holding her hand in the air like she'd seen many mages do before her.

[ caeda rolls to attack tibarn with bolganone from range, 9, 2 damage, tibarn 4/6HP ] [ darting blow activates! again :3, 19, 2 damage, tibarn 2/6HP ]

he's fast but she's faster.

well, that and also the explosion of bolganone is large. so much so that even she wouldn't have been able to avoid her own spell.

"uhm." caeda blinks with wide eyes, perhaps momentarily forgetting that she's on a battlefield. she was never a magic user, but apparently the spell bolganone didn't care about such a thing. she would have to think azelle for dropping the tome earlier— it could be her key to victory.

What in hell—

By the great Soan's long, fluffy tail, does Tibarn hate magic. Arcane arts of the beorc have always been the greatest bane of all laguz - beyond understanding for most of them and intimidating just from that alone, on top of the various types being particularly threatening to some of them: the winds that snap his brothers' wings, the flames that burn the beasts' hides, the thunders that pierce even dragon scales.

The one saving grace was that the users of magic would usually be vulnerable - soft, frail, lacking the protection of armor. Usually, they don't fly.

So when Tibarn's next opponent attempts to fry him, one can imagine he finds himself rather displeased.

Tibarn HP: 2/6

With a hawk's shriek piercing through the air as he wrestles himself free of the explosion, he draws a circle in the sky to gain some distance first, before charging at Caeda, talons outstretched - one leg aimed at her side, one at her mount's shoulder.

Prayer Ring heals Tibarn. Tibarn HP: 2.5/6

Tibarn attacks with Killer Knuckles: 2d20(-4)= 10, 2. Crit, Hit! (-2.5HP) Caeda HP: 2.5/5

The former lands better than the latter before Tibarn retreats. His shoulder burns; if he lets her land too many more solid hits, he may end up forced to withdraw to avoid becoming immobilized mid-air.

"Alllllright. Come on, let's see it," he grumbles, his voice unchanged in comparison to his unshifted form. He ain't fond of magic, sure, but it's not like he blames the girlie for using it. She's here to win, after all - he expects his weaknesses to be exploited.

[anankelotus]

Sir, You’re Not Allowed to Lick the Oil Paintings [Team 4 Steel Round]

His head swims at the scenery shifts around him, until a grand hall like arena seems to appear before them. It’s beautiful for sure, but he’s only filled with unease and worry as he stares at the strange painting like enemies that they are meant to face.

He does not seem to be able to attack with any sort of magic any more, nor those he feel the ability to use that warm faith magic coursing through him. Instead, he has been gifted a lance. It’s a beautiful weapon, if a weapon can be called beautiful. He stares at it and it seems to fill him with an intense longing for something, though he can’t quite place what. Perhaps it is the reminder of Cadros, a longing for a lover long past him, who used lances and... ah, so this is what his dreams had conjured for him, he thinks as he finally notices the mount that he sits atop. A pegasus, like those who had once flown in Valla’s bright blue skies. He feels like crying, but he can’t allow himself to get sidetracked by memories of someone who had been long gone.

Anankos gains 2 HP from Renewal! | Anankos HP= 6/10

He feels steadier suddenly. Ah, so he seemed to have some sort of self healing ability. Good. Then he would not have let himself hold back his allies. His grip against the lance is pale as his hands shake. He can do this. He tugs gently on the pegasi’s reins, guiding it quickly towards the enemies they are facing.

He tries to remember what it was like to watch Cadros fight with his lance atop his trusted steed. The memories are blurry, corroded from being far too long for anyone to properly and the insanity that had been suffered, but the image itself is clear. With a careful spin of the lance - he has never handle one before, and hopes dearly that he won’t end up stabbing himself - he stabs at one of the paintings that seems to resemble the emptiness of a mind that has been taken over by the darkest of plagues.

Anankos attacks using Wishblade! Roll 1d20+8= 19! Hit! | Portrait of the Void HP= 6.5/10

Just as swiftly, he manages to dodge out of the way of the painting’s counterattack. It seemed easy upon a pegasi, being able to dart and flee from attacks, compared to depending upon his own feet. Though, how was a painting supposed to attack you to begin with?

Portrait of the Void counterattacks with Prismatic Colour! Roll 1d20-16= -9! Miss! | Anankos HP= 6/10

With the speed of his mount, he feels as though he is able to get away with a second attack and jabs the lance towards the painting once again, sharp point ripping into the weak canvas.

Anankos follows up with Wishblade! Roll 1d20+8= 23! Hit! | Portrait of the Void HP= 3/10

He breathes a sigh of relief, and turns to his allies, shouting a nervous call of advice as he gestures at the painting he has just finished his small rampage on.

“If I may, this one seems to be on it’s last legs so you could say! I believe that one or two more attacks may finish it off! Sorry for ordering you, you absolutely do not have to follow my commands if you don’t wish, but I do not want to see anyone get hurt again! So please, everyone be careful...” He mutters the last part under his breath, barely loud enough for even himself to hear. He can’t bear seeing them get hurt, even if he hardly knows them outside of Julius. He simply wouldn’t be able to take it, and he is already close enough to breaking down. It would only take one more crack to break completely.

next: @disgracedvessel , @arcaeda , @amitieos , or @higaneion

[freedomarrow]

Caeda Looks Different Than I Remember || Village Team 3

@higaneion @crimsonvassalage

What should have been a simple trip to the marketplace to grab some food for the house that their team resides in, has now become a trip into a strange, warped dungeon that preys on the mind.

And a mind that is hungry and also trapped in a dream is easy to prey on. That is one thing they all learn the hard way.

The group becomes separated, Leonardo eventually finding himself only with two Mages of the Black Eagles House still by his side. The size of the company becoming quartered in a bizarre place that they do not know is a more than reasonable reason for concern, but if there is one thing the archer is good at, it is strangling silent panic inside his head and focusing on the path forward.

Granted, maybe it would be better to try to backtrack... but any hope for the ability to do that quickly leaves him as they turn - only to find an enemy that was not there before, blocking their path as she (?) floats in the air, on a ghost of a horse.

“What in the—? Watch out!” Leonardo calls out to Hubert and Lilina as he pulls two arrows out of his quiver.

Leonardo attacks Blue-Haired Romantic with Lughnasadh: 1d20-6=7. Crit. Leonardo deals 4.5 damage. Blue-Haired Romantic HP: 12 → 7.5

1d4=4. Cancel activates, counterattack blocked

Leonardo attacks again (+6 Spd): 1d20-6=-1. Miss

The first arrow strikes true, wounding the bizarre opponent and causing her to recoil aggressively, knocking her too off-balance to react in any way that would pose a threat to him; however, this causes him to briefly lose his footing as well, and the second arrow ends up off-course.

An under average performance from him, no doubt. Gritting his teeth, he takes a step back to ensure Lilina and Hubert can attack safely.

[litaum]

forest gacha

Forage in the forest outside of the village [Max 4 muses per thread] - Receive 1 basket of resource (berries, nuts, mushrooms, herbs, flowers) per post [Can now choose which type] - Villagers will inform you of poisonous plants

She mustn't forget why she’s here⁠— None of them should⁠— but the change in events is rapid with little room to pause. There is much to be done and only so many familiar faces to accompany her. Elice heads over towards the forest, opting to use her time to best aid others through collecting resources.

As she moves over towards a patch of flowers, she kneels down to run a finger atop its petals. While she is tempted to take it with her, she refrains. Instead, her attention is drawn elsewhere as she stands up and re-adjusts her bearings. While her performance during their sudden battle may not have been exemplary, it didn’t matter. Her objective never was about her own efforts— It’s on everyone else’s safety.

It is simple to gather alone, certainly, but the princess drifts herself towards her sister in-law instinctually. “Caeda,” she says in a tone quieter than normal. While she keeps her hands busy carrying an empty bucket, her eyes do not leave Caeda’s own. “May I ask you something? I can’t help and feel a sense of worry.. More for yourself than my own. Are you alright?”

@arcaeda

[sacaeblade]

i miss my pegasus knight, caeda. i miss her a lot.

The Battle of the Eagle and Lion is coming soon! The armorers are holding a seminar on the infamous hilltop ballista, allowing students to learn what goes into its maintenance and care. You’re even allowed to make a few test shots! [Grants Bow +1]

@arcaeda

Clank...clank...clank...clank...

...WHOOSH.

The ballista catapults the loaded quarrel, piercing through the air and landing a distance away in the empty field.

“See?” The instructor, a middle aged knight, slaps the wooden contraption with an armored hand. “She ain’t that accurate, but nothin’ beats the good ol’ ballista when it comes to long distance fightin’. Simple to use, too, so long as you keep your fingers outta the way. Don’t want any of your precious appendages gettin’ caught in any of the mechanisms. Only so much healers can do if there’s no finger to reattach, ha ha!”

The seminar attendees titter nervously at the attempt at a joke and Lyn crosses her arms in front of her chest as she regards the scene in front of her. In her own experience with the bow, she preferred accuracy over all else. Rather than letting loose tens or hundreds of shots, a single arrow should be enough. Any more than one well-aimed arrow needlessly prolonged suffering. And to be confined to a single spot, adjusting to the target instead of the other way around, leaves way too many openings to be counterattacked.

If asked, Lyn would have to say that she did not plan to make use of ballista in the future, but that’s not to say that this isn’t still a good learning experience. What she learns here will still find use, whether it be through her own bow or through learning how to better avoid enemy ballista.

"Anywho!” The instructor’s booming voice interrupts Lyn’s line of thought. “Partner up so you can spot each other. Simple to use or not, we can’t be having injuries right before the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, alright? Save it for the actual battle!”

Lyn extends her hand to a girl with blue hair that gently flows in the wind.

“Want to pair up? I’m Lyn from the Golden Deer.”

[cygnus-rose]

Will S-Supports Return in FE: Engage?

Reasons for No:

• the leaks do not show an “S” on the menu that displays the support conversations

• the cero rating does not list the game as having romance (unlike three houses which did)

Reasons for Yes:

• the supports could work like it did in Three Houses between non-Byleth characters with an implied romantic A-Support and special ending cards

• the cero rating isn’t super accurate, as Rune Factory 5 (which has an entire dating and marriage system) also didn’t have romance listed as part of its contents

• the game designers making a game called Fire Emblem: Engage, with ring based power ups, a main character dressed primarily in white, and a My Castle area that appears to include a church, but NOT include S-Supports, will be the biggest missed opportunity imaginable

[hresvelged]

water — "lady edelgard." caeda greets with a bow of her head, a queenly aura surrounding the very action. "i would advise you give yourself some leeway to rest and relax a little." a glass flute of water is quickly produced, offered politely. "though i would understand if you do not like standing idly around— perhaps would you like to do some casual chatting, instead?"

"Lady Caeda."

Her words are considerate and polite— Holding her presence similarly to the princess. Much like many other situations, Edelgard seldom grants herself permission to relax. Even so, the tenseness she feels in her shoulders adds to her metaphorical weights.

"I appreciate that. Thank you." Her expression draws from a line to a petite smile, recognizing the compassion. Digits touch as she takes the beverage from Caeda's and into her own, wrapping her fingers tightly around its base. "I'm not opposed to conversation. There is something I'd like to ask you." The cup finds its way towards her lips, allowing the cold water to grant her a brief moment of respite. It is refreshing— Cooling.

"What is your opinion of this ball?"

[ikazooks]

caeda's forging bonds uhhh support chain whatever you call it is extremely funny because i expected it to just be like "ohhh yeah marth is so great this marth is amazing that" and completely omit how caeda is also very cool. but then they pulled a little switcheroo on me and made the last half of the entire thing This

i'm barely joking btw

(this is in response to an endless number of people lining up to shake caeda's hand)

oh and here's a bonus quote from Marth "Lovestruck" Lowell that killed me on sight:

[theia-eos]

Sorry for the 🤓☝️ moment but there are more than three named wyvern across the series!

Here are the lists of named mounts(it's complete, as far as I can tell) if you're interested:

(for pegasi: https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Pegasus#Notable_pegasus_mounts)

(for wyverns: https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Wyvern#Notable_wyvern_mounts)

(for horses: https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Horse#Notable_horses)

Ahaha, it's all right. Maybe I forgot to specify earlier, but there's only been three named wyverns post GBA Era, and one pegasus since as well. I know there were quite a few in the SNES(Super Famicon)/GBA games. Thanks for those links, though, I don't believe I've seen them in that order before!

I'm glad to see the horses have been treated better post GBA, which three named Horses in the DS/Switch era!

But the fact that they had plenty of names before is why I'm particularly salty about the fact that there are no named mounts in Tellius. Elincia's pegasus that she inherits from her great grandmother doesn't even get a name.

And there were plenty of opportunities too! Kieran could have just said in his supports with Marcia "Some knights treat their horses like transport, but not me! (Name) here is my brother-in-arms!" If Bastian was alive when Elincia gets the pegasus, he could have interjected with a name. Jill, who has a talent for caring for wyverns, could have told Ike when she was explaining why she had to stay on the ship "I can't push (name) that far, we'd never cross the ocean" or encouraged her wyvern to go just a little father when she appears on the ship map.

And I know the mount bond isn't pushed as hard in the re-classing games that come later, but Sophia names her horse. Cherche, Percy, and Rosado name their wyverns. Hortensia's pegasus gets an implied name through her class description.

Am I really expected to believe Cynthia doesn't have some over the top heroic name (possibly after the legendary queen Caeda) for her pegasus? Odin doesn't insist upon a name for Camilla's wyvern, just her armor? Marianne doesn't try to redirect Claude to discuss his wyvern? Claude doesn't offer her a quick throwaway about his wyvern to try and put her at ease before pressing her about her secret? Ivy doesn't have to reluctantly reveal, with great embarassment, that she named her wyvern after Alear to anyone?

[phoenixkaptain]

I am choosing to never get over Marth’s supports in FE Warriors.

Specifically: Marth and Ryoma.

Just, what’s up with that opener? “You carry yourself with such grace for one so young,” Ryoma, please. And Marth’s response is to completely ignore that part and focus instead on Ryoma mentioning he fights well (Ryoma’s next line)

Every time anyone compliments Marth in this game, he either completely ignores the comment or turns the compliment on whoever he’s speaking with.

Ryoma: “You’re swordsmanship is impressive.”

Marth: “I have a long way to go before my swordsmanship reaches your level of skill.”

This seems to be a common trait of Marth, throughout his appearances. He’s a humble character, who prefers to downplay whatever he’s done to focus on his allies’ achievements. This holds true for his comments in Heroes, too, where he says all of his accomplishments are thanks to his allies.

Depending on how you play Fire Emblem, this could very well be completely true!

Anyway, I love Marth’s inflections when he speaks. I don’t know how to explain it completely, but he is… awkward? He’s very formal, and his tone is polite even when he’s arguing with Caeda. Awkward isn’t the right word, maybe stilted?

(While discussing voices and Fire Emblem characters, I want to briefly touch on Xander’s voice, which does not fit him. He sounds like a frail, little old man. Or, maybe he just isn’t pronunicating as much as characters like Xander or his own siblings? Either way, it is always a shock to me when I hear his voice)

I like Marth’s support with Tiki especially. In every support he has with absolutely anyone, he comes across as kind of motherly? Like, he just supports their decisions and is very gentle while he leads them away from exaggerating. With Tiki, his tone is very brotherly. He’s very obliging to her. It’s very funny that he tells Tiki that he knew they’d be fine when he heard she showed up.

The way Marth talks to the others, I mean aside from Xander and Ryoma, really implies that when he’s nervous, he covers it by speaking more politely. He uses less contractions, which is a shorthand way of making a character feel more refined. And he enunciates very crisply. Alongside his tone, his conversations with people he views as intimidating, like Xander and Ryoma, make him appear more stilted than Marth actually is.

Marth is a very stilted speaker, but he’s also charming? In a very blunt way. I like his conversation with Lyn, because he manages to call her beautiful without making it sound flirtatious. A wonderful talent, I wish I had that.

But also, the way he speaks to Celica and Lyn both is very interesting. Most people would get upset at Celica, since she basically questions all of his life choices, but he’s very calm about it. He doesn’t get upset with her like he does when Caeda suggests he sit off on the side. He doesn’t get frustrated at all. And it’s clear that she sees Alm in Marth, and I think the implication is that Marth knows her complaints aren’t really about him.

But, with both Lyn and Celica, with everyone really but they make fine examples, he is obliging. With Celica, he basically says “I have to fight because that’s the path I’ve chosen, but you have taught me to focus on peace after the fighting’s done.” With Lyn, “I’ll mentor you and you’ll mentor me.” His compliments just sound like a mother to me. I mean, he tells Lyn she’s beautiful in her own way, he is such a mother-

I admittedly am not sure of how old Marth is supposed to be in this game. A lot of characters talk about him being impressive for his age, but what is his age? The number 16 sticks with me, and I looked it up and yeah, no, he’s like 16. He is, by far, the youngest mother protagonist in the series. I think he might be closer, in Warriors at least, to 17 or 18, since Celica’s dialogue implies Marth’s war lasts for years, and Marth says that they’re right in the thick of it. (Not his exact phrasing.) As well, he knows Tiki already, so it has to be somewhat far into the game.

Marth is a fascinating character to dissect the conversations of. It’s difficult for me to feel like I’m speaking in character, because Marth doesn’t act his age even slightly.

The closest we get to Marth acting 16 is probably his conversation with Frederick. He says, “I don’t need anyone to hold my hand,” which would seem out of character if not for the context: Frederick is trying to clean up after Marth. Marth gets a bit flustered because of the implication that Frederick might view him as needing his hand held, like Frederick is viewing him as a child. Even so, he’s very graceful with his complaints, and one might not notice why he’s upset, or the implications behind why he’s upset at least, upon first viewing.

Warriors does a terrible job with height. How tall are these people? You’re trying to tell me that Marth is similar in height to Xander, Chrom, Lucina, Celica, Lyn, and Tiki? All at the same time? I don’t believe you.

I do, however, believe that Marth is relatively small. First: he’s young enough and his voice is high enough for me to be reasonably convinced that he hasn’t had his last growth spurt yet. Second: Lucina is consistently mistaken for Marth, and seeing her next to him, she is similar in build to him. Even if she wasn’t, however, Chrom and Lissa are both direct descendants of him too, and neither of them are exactly huge. Third: Marth grew up in a castle, but only for the most part. For a large portion of the years he would have spent growing, he was on the run or fighting in a war. This almost certainly stunted his growth, at least a bit. Fourth: Marth is bad at horse-riding. He mentions it in Heroes, but specifically, he says he needs help getting on and off of a horse.

Marth is smol. The prosecution rests.

This whole post started because I think it’s really funny that Ryoma calls Marth graceful. His exact word is “graceful.” And, don’t get me wrong, Marth certainly is, that fact is undisputed by any source material, Marth is a graceful person— it’s still really funny that Ryoma comments on it! Technically, I suppose you could view Lyn as commenting on it too. I mean, she says he holds himself “nobly” —which does make it a bit funny that she then asks Marth to teach her to act more like a noble, she really just sees him as embodying the word, huh — but you could view it as her calling him graceful without using that word.

Ofher characters’ reactions to Marth truly are very amusing. They often say “someone like you.” Lucina and Chrom are my favourite examples, because they both are SO pumped to meet Marth. Lucina is fangirling so hard!

(Lucina mentions that she thought of Marth as different than he actually is, like her mental image of him was off I mean, and it has the same vibes to me as Shen Qingqiu seeing Liu Qingge. Don’t ask questions, just take it and go-)

Chrom’s support is fun in that Marth says “I get so caught up in helping others that I forget my own safety.” Celica’s support is fun in that she says she wants to pray for him and he says, “I’ll see that your prayers are answered.” (Which, I mean, he’s kind of likening himself to a god, but I think Marth just doesn’t really get religion? I think he just doesn’t understand that gods answer prayers.) Xander’s support is funny because Xander says he has a lot of work to go to live up to his father and Marth says, “I can’t imagine someone more imposing than you.”

All in all, Marth truly is a fascinating character. I have spent so much of my time thinking about Marth, time I will never get back, and I do not regret a single second.

[goddessalexissara]

Romance Will Be In Fire Emblem Engage

I am seeing people say we are not going to be getting romance in Fire Emblem Engage and I wanted to make it clear that those people are like 99% likely to be wrong. I want to talk about the reasons people think their won't be romance, why I am sure there will be, and maybe a little bit extra so hop on.

First let's talk about why people think romance won't be in the game. It's that there is no S ranks in this game. They believe this includes Alear because a leaked screen shot before the game was revealed from a Chinese playtester showed Vander did not have an S rank with F! Alear. This however, also does not prove that S ranks do not exist within the game. A. It was a playtest build but more importantly B. You couldn't marry the old men in Three Houses. While they had S ranks, it was heavily criticized at the launch of Three Houses that they gay baited with them. So with Cander being the very likely father of Framme and Clanne and therefore likely married or a widower he probably wouldn't be a marriage candidate and they probably learned their lesson with putting an S on these kinds of characters.

Then it is important to remember that an A rank in Three Houses is how most the romance in the game worked. A ranks were for everyone but Byleth even if S ranks are removed totally, it does not actually stop romantic paired endings, it only makes it harder to see at a glance who will end up with who if you do multiple A ranks.

Why, do I feel so confident that there will be romance in the game, well it's because basically every Fire Emblem game ever made features romance to a decent level. Awakening wasn't the first Fire Emblem game to feature romance, it was the first one to give your player insert the ability to marry a character in the story.

FE1/3/11/12 has Marth and Caeda get married which is followed up in in New Mystery Of The Fire Emblem. They are not even the only non support romance in the game with Est is dating Abel in new Mystery Of The Fire Emblem.

FE2/15 has Alm and Celecia get married at the end no matter what the player does and Mathilda and Clive are married in game. Then there is also paired endings as a well as Leon's unrequited love for Valbar.

FE4 is what gave us the child mechanics that would later be mixed up in Awakening and Fates.

FE5 and 6 I am honestly not as familiar with but they are also two of the least popular games in the series. However, FE6 does in fact include romantic paired endings that you get at the A rank.

FE7 has many paired endings on A rank for characters some of which result in the birth of some characters in FE6. It also has canon married characters recruitable

FE8 also has romantic paired endings on A rank.

FE9 and 10 have romantic paired endings including a pretty much locked in romantic ending. It also has a canon married character be recruitable.

This all is to say, there is maybe 1 games in which there is not romance in the mainline series of games. Paired endings will make a return because their basically in every single game. since they created paired endings [FE6], this only excludes remakes.

Now the real question is how much romance will be Engage, will Alear die at the end meaning they don't get an ending, will Alear be able to romance only limited characters or does Alear get to hertosexually pick any character and a hand picked collection of gays, will every character be player sexual and you can romance anyone except for limited characters? We really don't know that but I doubt romance for Alear is gone. Maybe Alear needs to spend an item, maybe Alear has more limited romance choices but they know for a fact shipping is one of the biggest pulls to the franchise and I just genuinely don't believe that feature will be left on the table.

I am honestly hoping for characters to have thought out sexualities and have particular characters they can romance including many queer ones. Or that they go full player sexual including just being able to ship whatever 2 characters that aren't incest or something together and get a paired ending, a full molding the world to your vision. I mean Alear is god in this game if there was gonna be a game where your shipping mattered, it makes most sense here.

[z-cerulean]

I wrote two pieces for In the Footsteps of Fate, an Invincible Zine Server project, one about Marth and Caeda's Talys honeymoon and another about Dimitri and Marianne post-A support.

Thank you to IZS for letting me contribute and to all other contributors for their efforts. The zine in full can be perused and downloaded for free here.

(I'll also look into publishing them separately later on, for now please be sure to look at everyone else's contributions as well.)

[anankelotus]

Immortal Soldiers Find Their Way Home, But None Will Hear Their Story [Team 4, Silver Round]

He’s surprised that he isn’t dead yet, with all of the struggle they have gone through in these past few... goodness, how long had it even been? He can barely keep track of time outside of the nightmare they find themselves in now, let alone within it. His head spins, barely able to keep a handle on the reins of his mount. He just wants to go home, not just back to the academy, but back to his real home. Back to Valla. The Valla of the past, where he could be with Cadros, where he could be happy once again.

He longs for pale blue skies, and lush fields that he spent his days lying peacefully in. But what would remain for him if he returned now? Nothing, most likely. He was not even sure that the Valla he had known remained at all, even the ruins held no sanctuary anymore.

He doesn’t want to fight. He doesn’t want to have to fight anymore. He has never been a fighter. Before... before... he had never seen battle before everything. He had never held a weapon in his hands, he had never needed to. Even when he had been forced to fight, he had never used a weapon. His own body had been more than enough, claws and teeth that should have never been able to hurt anybody. And he had relied on magic since coming to the academy, until now. The lances that have been forced into his hands during the past few rounds of this hell make his traitor of a heart long, long for what could have been if he was a better person. In a happier world, he would have fought by Cadros’ side during whatever battles he had been forced to endure, both of them lances in hand, the bond they shared as a reinforcement to their strength.

But Cadros is not here, this is that not that world. He is alone, like he always has been. He is alone and he is stripped bare by the very gaze of the world itself, lost and scared to fight. He fears that he can’t do it and then-

Then he sees the enemy they are meant to be facing. The face it has chosen to wear and he screams before he can stop himself.

“You can’t do this! There is nothing for you in copying me! I’m weak and useless and I have no strengths whatsoever! I’m ugly and disgusting, I’m telling you there’s nothing! Nothing at all!” He screams as if his words will mean anything to this monster, screams until his throat is raw and he has no more words to even scream. He is... so weak.

And as if the foolish mimic is fed up with him, before he can continue his pitiful tantrum, he is frozen in place by what feels the pure gaze of his own horrid eyes staring back at him.

Mimic uses Many-Eyed Gaze! Roll 1d20+8: 18! Hit! | Anankos is Frozen!

He can’t scream, he can’t move. He can’t even avoid the attack aimed at him with his own weapon. The force of the attack is enough to shatter the ice, but it isn’t enough to save him. He’s as good as gone.

Mimic attacks using Gradivus! Roll 1d20+10: 25! Hit! (Critical Hit Because of Freeze!) | Anankos HP: 0/10

Miracle Procs! | Anankos HP: 0.5/10

Anankos counterattacks with Gradivus! Roll 1d20: 19! Critical Hit! | Mimic HP: 25/40

The last of his strength is used with a pitiful counterattack, though he’s sure that it seems strong to those around him, and as he slips from life - again, he’s died before, he has to remind himself, he’s died in that girl’s arms and burdened her with so much pain - he catchs a glimpse of blue hair, and the last of his strength is used reaching out a pitiful hand towards the sight, even though he knows he’ll never reach it.

“Cadros... don’t let me leave you again...” The world goes dark around him as he hits the ground, and though he knows he can’t die, no matter how much he wishes he could, the pain still resonates within him. It’s over. He knows that deep down. But he stills wishes he could have... fought a little bit harder to survive this time...

haha fight hard guys: @disgracedvessel , @arcaeda , @amitieos , or @higaneion

[felikatze]

Plusquam Chapter 7 director's commentary because i adore being a blabbermouth

hi hi hello. i am going to talk about my fic and nobody can stop me but i don't want to turn the ao3 author's notes into their own 30k novel so yelling on tumblr it is!!

if you are interested in SOME of the machenations of my enigmatic mind, feel free to read. If not. Well i don't care really it's your life. I'm writing this for MY enjoyment.

First of!! I dunno if I talked about them before!! (I have the memory of a goldfish). The silly codenames!!

As I may or may not have mentioned before, the inspiration for this came from the Project Thabes mod for Awakening. In the ferox duel, the mod replaces the generics with inigo, severa, owain, and gerome. The awakening trio get their fates names (a coward's move, but one i understand), but gerome is named michalis, which i just enjoy soooo much???

so when i initially planned out for all the future kids to band together with lucina, i decided they all had to have codenames! otherwise there's really no point in lucina having one....

merric for laurent was the biggest no brainer of all of them, with caeda for severa being a close second. feel free to interpret why. gerome was obviously taken from the thabes mod, and the rest were... a challenge... to come up with!

owain actually gave me a lot of trouble. what WOULD he name himself? i've not finished shadow dragon myself (I only played the prologue so far... haha...), and most i know of the cast comes from mitosis. and scarf's new mystery lunatic reverse run on youtube. and it was that run that reminded me. that kris's confect is an item in the game. meaning that awakening era people know kris exists. except wasn't kris' deal that they like. did not want to be noted down in history.

hence kris being a "heavily debated historical subject". which of COURSE owain would name himself after an unsung but vitally important hero of the shadows.

others i may discuss as they come up? eh, we'll see. not every future kid is gonna be important (god knows that's way too many characters for me to handle), but they will be There. main focus of course being the fp3 squad, with the addition of two others. it is very obvious who it will be, i think.

next up, pairings!

most pairings werent set, outside the ones that are my obvious favorites (panne/lonqu, henlivia, chrobin (duh)). others were up in the air and just happened as i wrote. as i thought about gerome in this, and chatted about the subject with friends, frederick/cherche came to be for this fic! (and for the shrek au, oddly enough. it may have just been on my mind, and i thought chrom missing freddie's wedding was funny.)

it suited my purposes best if gerome had a stronger emotional tie to the blueberry siblings, and a knightly duty to protect them served just that. hence the dialogue of lucina being his liege. he's so utterly disinterested in getting to know the people of the past that i needed that extra bit to keep him coherent. he won't get close to anyone, but he'll do anything to support lucina's aims as though they were his own.

which brings me to the next subject, lucina's PoV! This is the first perspective switch in all of plusquam (not just because I couldn't meet my 4k benchmark with morgan alone this time). Since Morgan and Lucina act separately and won't encounter often, I needed the extra time to establish her character here. To me, there's a clear dissonance between how Morgan views her and how Lucina is. Both of them are unreliable narrators to varying degrees, yet how they differ is where the meat is.

Like, for example, Morgan completely rejecting that Lucina is Robin's child as well, and not just Chrom's, because Grima told them Lucina was different. As compared to the actual Lucina still deeply affected by Robin, and even engaging with grimleal theology on an even field because of him and the other plegian influences in her life.

there's also the matter of her narration style. I waffled back and forth on whether to give her second person narration as well, but ultimately decided on third person limited, with a catch - she exclusively refers to everyone, including herself, by their codenames.

in both their perspectives, i want to create separation between their original names and who they act as. With morgan, this succeeds because the viewpoint has no need to mention their name whatsoever, and with lucina, it succeeds because she's the one creating that distance in her own mind. it's fun to play with!

ah, siblings. so different, yet so similar.

as for the pronouns situation on lucina's pov. well. schrödinger's transgender.

minor thing. i hate adapting canon scenes close to script, hence me just freestyling when lucina and co meet chrom and squad. there's also just... no future portal risen roaming about, which would've made the point moot anyway. that's a very interesting consequence to play with.

having an endless army of generic undead is lame. having to draw on the actual dead of the immediate area - now we're getting spicy!

despite everything, i have grown attached to the risen wyvern and its chittering ways, but it sadly has to go. there's a reason morgan never named it. farewell my sweet prince. aurgh. i mean. this thing has been with morgan through the entire past so far. and it just fell apart more and more over time. crashing into a wall and breaking its neck, having half its throat torn out - poor thing. good thing it can't feel pain anymore.

that is, i think, all i wanted to blabber about? if you're a reader of plusquam, hi, i love you, i hope you have a great day, you may summon me for one turn of battle without expending an action and i will appear as a shimmering blue specter to protect you from harm.

that's all!! see you next time!! as usual, if anyone has questions of their own, or wants to yell at me for hurting their feelings, shoot me an ask, a comment, or anything at all! see ya!! ily!!