#Dialogues: Kiran

[moe-broey]

Actually I have a deep need to repost this entire FEH comic right fucking now

[foolilazuli]

Ok Alfonse, can you talk about anyone else who isn’t your father? It doesn’t have to be about me, it could be about your mother, sister, Anna. Heck, why not Zacharias? Just someone who actually supported you

Or better yet, talk about yourself and how far you’ve come. That isn’t a credit to your father, that is credit to you

[hulloitsdani]

What do u think Kiran is

How do u think the order sees kiran

*slowly sits up in my chair*

I think Kiran is a very normal person. This is someone you and I have met before. Be that from the other side of grocery store cashier, waiting in the same elevator, or walking by on a crosswalk. Kiran is a civilian from our world trying to roll with the punches of being warped somewhere completely alien. And you can see it in how they conduct themselves.

I always have a lot of fun writing Kiran’s dialogue because their casual modern speech almost feels like a dialect in comparison to the more formal fantasy tone everyone else speaks with. An “ain’t” will never exit Alfonse’s mouth, you know? And there’s a difference in “Do you have gold?” vs “You got gold?” To me, this gives Kiran an air of unfamiliarity to anyone they interact with. Let’s use Grima as an example, because it doesn’t sound like this grammatical change would make much of difference until Kiran has the audacity to hit Grima with a bro mid sentence. But that’s just how they talk. And as sweet and friendly as they are, there’s always moments like that to remind that no one has the cultural context to fully understand Kiran. Except for the audience, who can realize that Kiran let the customer service voice drop to talk to Grima like he’s an actual person.

And that’s just about how they talk! This view is only emphasized by every other thing about them! They’re a lovable goof, which is normal chill person behavior in the audience’s eyes but feels REALLY ODD to the characters of FE’s medieval fantasy war setting. There is this air of unknown about them that the more socially perceptive will pick up on and will try to come to a conclusion about. Example, I imagine Soren would interpret a lot of this as a dangerous and deeply annoying lack of intelligence from someone he has the displeasure of sharing a tactics table with. Or looping back to the Grima example, he would totally think Kiran has greedy ulterior motives behind that pleasant facade. It takes a lot of work for those types to realize that the discrepancy present isn’t really any of those things. But I also wouldn’t be too surprised if Kiran doesn’t try to directly prove any of those assumptions wrong unless they have to.

Why? Well now it’s time for the implications! Oh how we love the implications.

Because the Summoner is a different story. No one has any fucking clue what that is.

I can tell you what Kiran has pieced together so far. Summoning people from across time and space is apparently not easy. It’s not some school of magical study that some mage could pull off with enough time and research. Trust, Eitri tried. It’s a lot of complex moving parts. For example, the contracts. The contracts Kiran automatically binds their summoned to don’t even compare to the ones Veronica used in book 1. They are far more intense and infinitely harder to break. The only way out of them is if Kiran wills it so. Not even death is an option, because Kiran can come in for the revive. If they had to guess, it’s an older, more completed version of the art. Something lost to time. But no matter the case, Kiran has the ability to take full control of whoever they manage to summon. From a lowly farmer to the divine. And their power only grows.

In a similar vein, if there was any character to canonically see the hud, I think it would be Kiran. It’s genuinely part of their power set. I have previously described Kiran as the party mage until Veronica shows up to be the actual mage, but it would be way more accurate to call them a mystic/seer. They see the map, everyone’s stats, and is doing a fast amount of math to give the combat forecast. Then, upon processing all this information their enemies couldn’t dream of having at their disposal, Kiran can telepathically communicate any change in plans to anyone under contract. Kiran is not inherently some great tactician the moment they touch ground in Askr; they simply can do things no one else can. They’re learning the actual tactics part on the fly. This makes them simultaneously the largest ace up the Order’s sleeve and potentially its biggest liability. If they fall, it could cause a whole system cascade. By that same token, some of the biggest threats the Order has faced are the ones who do their research and rightfully target Kiran.

Now. Thinking critically about all that. That’s downright terrifying. A ridiculous amount of power has been dropped callously into Kiran’s lap and they have to work extremely hard to be moral with it. It’s terrifyingly easy not to be. It would actively take less effort to ‘take the reins’ as it were. But in order to be able to sleep at night ever again, they go the extra mile to not invalidate the will of their summoned. To take over like that. To make a colony of worker bees out of people. Because oh dear god they just summoned a child and the fact that they could easily force them to fight and die for them, only to be revived and do it all over again, is HAUNTING. No. No the Order has an in house orphanage now. This kid is getting adopted and cared for god damnit or Kiran might just pop a blood vessel. And sure that child is going to be a child and there will never be a world where they get along with everyone else, but that’s just going to need be a problem they address when they get there and not an excuse to use Hubris; the power set. Now replace the word child with everyone they ever summoned and you have the wider philosophy they apply to the entire Order.

They’re hyper aware of the power imbalance. They hate it with every bone in their body. They work really hard to correct it in whatever way they can.

So Kiran might not jump on the opportunity to correct those who think lesser of them. It’s… oddly comforting to know someone is keeping a critical eye on them. Holding them accountable. Especially since so much of the order just thinks of them as this quirky yet well meaning host. And, really, what can they even do about that? They have gone over the contract with every hero they summon and despite that they still choose to stay. So, what, do they try to inspire more mistrust? The problem with that they would have to actually do acts that intentionally inspire mistrust. And even if that was successful they can’t just waste the extra man power because every other month there’s some new divine asshole who wants them all dead. And if they fail that means they have to start their life from square one and god they can’t do that again so—

Just breathe Kiran.

It’s fine. You’re fine. Just breathe.

You have work to do.

[fras-redacted-shapes]

Early drafts/unused content in other languages

redditor AloysHellsalem posted about certain text strings that exist in localized files but are missing from English ones. So I took a look at the Spanish string table and tried translating them - these are machine translations, so they are bad and also funny (sometimes).

All of these seem to be some sort of very, very early draft given the number at the end of the speaker's name and because they don't even have corresponding text-to-speech files unlike files from demos/proof of concept.

More of a fun thing than anything else.

Most of them are from Saga's side of the story.

AMBIENT DIALOGUE - RETURN 2

CASEY_4585: I found more of those knit ornaments near [Witch’s] Ladle. The cult has been around here. SAGA_4586: Do you think they’re the ones behind all this? Dead people coming back to life certainly sounds like cult material. CASEY_4587: It feels like they’re connected. We need more evidence. CASEY_4588: Do you really think a ritual will do something? SAGA_4589: My rational brain says no, but maybe it’s time I leave it on the backseat. CASEY_4590: I’ve certainly had cases that made sanity look like a sick joke. SAGA_4591: I can’t believe you knew what Ikea was. CASEY_4592: What? A guy like me can’t have affordable furniture?

Original text:

PROFILING CASEY - RETURN 6

SAGA_4984: What’s happening to Casey? CASEY_4985: I can’t turn into one of them. I won’t. Fuck it. I’ll go to hell before I turn into one of those soulless demons. CASEY_4986: Well, I guess that’s literally what they are: demons.

That last sentence may be a weird translation on my part. I'm not sure how to make it make sense.

Original text:

Leaving the full string here, Saga profiling Casey about him feeling like a fictional character?:

MP_RE06_CASEY_FICTIONAL_SAGA_4987: being a fictional character. MP_RE06_CASEY_FICTIONAL_CASEY_4988: Was I even who I thought I was, or just an average detective torn from the pages of a bunch of mediocre crime novels? Did I exist in printing ink like I did in real life?, and vice versa? The thought always bothered me. The jokes. The similarities. The constant feeling that no amount of coffee could drown.

Original text:

There're lines that look like bullet points or just rough ideas, like the last one here:

SAGA_6910: What’s happening to Casey? CASEY_6911: Casey is turning into a taken, blame Alan Wake for it WAKE_SAGA_6912: Wake WAKE_CASEY_6913: Casey never liked Wake, even before all this. References to cult case in New York

Original text:

PROFILING ESTEVEZ RETURN 6

This looks like a very early draft of Kiran having a girl crush deputizing Saga into the FBC.

SAGA_4989: The FBC. ESTEVEZ_4990: Saga Anderson, she’d be a great FBC agent. She clearly has what it takes: wit, guts and drive. And she’s not backing down from a paranatural fight. I can appreciate that. ESTEVEZ_4991: I should give her the recruitment (draft?) pitch. She’d be a great asset. SAGA_4992: I guess I should be flattered.

Original text:

SAGA_4993: What’s this “AWE”? ESTEVEZ_4994: What reactivated the AWE in Bright Falls? Does the threshold below the lake work in cycles or does it have a trigger? ESTEVEZ_4995: Whatever it is, it seemed more powerful than ever. SAGA_4996: The “threshold” in Cauldron Lake. That’s where I have to go.

Original text:

The following one is nearly incomprehensible

SAGA_6914: Parautilitarians ESTEVEZ_6915: Estevez relives a trauma, says the area of parautilitarians susceptible to supernatural forces (???)

SAGA_6916: doesn’t wake up ESTEVEZ_6917: They told Estevez the Dark Presence can steal forms, making it difficult to know who to trust SAGA_6918: Dark Place ESTEVEZ_6919: Estevez doesn’t know much, other than those who go there generally don’t come back.

PROFILING TOR AND ODIN - RETURN 5

Lots of fun tidbits

SAGA_3003: Where is Tor? TOR_3004:... Polaris ... in a web of hypocrisy. ODIN_3005: Take ... Control. duh duh duhuhuh. Take ... Control ... TOR_3006: Take ... Control. duh duh duhuhuh. Take ... Control …

SAGA_3012: The girl in the painting. ODIN_3013: I won’t remove it. That’s our family. Your (his?) daughter. TOR_3014: She left us! She took Saga and fucked off! So take that damn thing! I don’t wanna see her face!

MP_RE05_TOR_MOTHER_SAGA_3069: My mother. TOR_3070: But I wasn’t made to be a dad. I’m a god of rock! I can take the sky, rock stadiums but can’t change a diaper! TOR_3071: My life is a fucking storm. Freya deserved better. TOR_3072: It broke my heart, but I was proud of her for leaving. She could take care of herself. And her little girl. Saga will be a fucking star. I saw it the day she was born.

SAGA_3074: My dad. TOR_3075: …If she goes with you, she can never come back! It’s a one way trip for her. And I’m not letting a punk take me (?)! UNKNOWN_3076: (STATIC) TOR_3077: Freya isn’t ready for a nursing home. We kept it hidden for a reason! If you try this, I’ll hit you so hard with my hammer there won’t be any door left to open!

PROFILING TOR AND ODIN - RETURN 9

Now, these are super interesting :)

SAGA_5287: Mr. Door. TOR_5288: Freya couldn’t trust that bastard! He wouldn’t have stayed anyways! It’s not in his nature! We had to go! ROSE_5289: Tor, you’re scaring the other residents. I need you to put down that hammer. TOR_5290: A father needs to protect his kids, dammit! The door is a fucking spider and I’ll be damned if I was going to let my little girl get caught on its fucking web.

MP_RE09_ODIN_01_DOOR_SAGA_5293: Mr Door. ODIN_5294: I just can’t let you play with her heart. It’s nothing personal. DOOR_5295: Do you realize Freya will never forgive either of you for this? ODIN_5296: You’re not wrong, but… neither is my brother. Today you’re here, you’re Martin’s door, but eventually you’ll leave it behind and she won’t know why. Better she hate us than she hates herself. DOOR_5297: Then let’s see what you and your drunk brother can do.

Weird translation that last one.

The text for "I can't let you play with her heart" can be translated more literally to "I simply can't make you play with her heart." Which doesn't make sense, at least not without more context.

The line about Martin was probably meant to say "You're Martin Door".

There're a few other tidbits but none as interesting (in my opinion) as these ones.

[valiant-if]

Who’s your favorite character to write

Hi, anon!

I hope this isn't a cop-out, but it honestly changes, sometimes depending on my mood and sometimes at random. I think it's easier to remember my favorite moments about characters than decide on a favorite character.

My favorite moments with CAIT are when I get to let that confusion shine through. She's a sentient AI trying to understand her place in the world, and the moments where that gets to come to the surface are my favorites with her.

Anton's introduction remains one of my favorite moments with him, especially if you choose the Fight route. It's fun to write the juxtaposition between his gentle side and his not-so-gentle side.

Switch is a delight when she's being absolutely real—when she drops that sky-high wall of intimidation that's wrapped around her and has a heart-to-heart with someone. There are some choices in conversation with her during Chapter 2 where you get to see genuine glimpses of her, and I really loved writing those moments.

The little cooking scene with Zero if you hang out with her in Chapter 2 completely blindsided me. It wasn't what I was expecting to write at all going into her section, and it's always wonderful to be surprised by a character in that way.

It's especially fun to write Path when he's upset about something very specific and trying to hide it. He's not usually very nice to MC, but he can get especially nasty when there's something specific getting under his skin, and those changes in his character are really fun.

Kiran's introduction if you picked the Fight route in Chapter 1 is probably my favorite moment with him so far. I really liked sprinkling in the hints of ruthlessness into some of their lines

The other characters don't have any existing scenes in Valiant yet, but the original novel this is based on did have a chapter told from Yulia's POV that I really loved writing. There was almost no dialogue because it was a chapter told when she was alone, so it was really fun to showcase her analytical nature as an astrobiologist in the scenario she was in for that chapter.

So they all have their different things that I love about them. Maybe when I've written more, I might actually end up with a favorite. For now, though, I love them all.

Thanks for the ask!

[pangtasias-atelier]

Summoner's Sedentary Supports: Corrin

After taking time and struggling to write smaller sizes without going crazy, so going back to writing absurd fat fuck sizes was easy though I still crave to embellish like blob sized dialogue without stretching it so much lol. Hopefully enjoy cause had fun just blurring this out.

Warning: This is a fetish story!

In the very distant, most remote wing of the Order of Heroes brick white castle—the area originally physically remodeled a couple of years back before being magically reinforced another year afterwards—the entire wing is only occupied by the Order's summoner and all of the men he's supported. The area would appear vacant from the lack of activity in the expansive hallways, if not for the loud whirring of machines sounding out from every room alongside the small yet incessant tremors that ring out from varying unknown gurgling sources, said sources all ones that Kiran intimately knows and takes care of. The only room that currently displays some different sort of sound is Corrin’s.

“Oh come on, no need to be shy,” Kiran lays down on Corrin’s corpulence, using the widespread flabby shoulder fat that’s coalesced with his numerous neck rolls as well as his plump, overly swollen breasts. So unused to being allowed to whatever he wishes, Corrin indulges himself and Kiran, gladly allowing himself to be fattened up as he craves to be, no longer having to adhere to a strict schedule. Corrin’s lard near his face is practically indistinguishable from the rest of his landscape of fat. The main distinguishing feature showing Corrin’s head is his silvery mop of hair. Not that it helps all the time with how much his face sinks into his blubbery tonnage. Kiran caresses Corrin’s face. His bloated cheeks spread out on both sides of his face with all the flab stored into them, each ponderously sized jowl far too fat for Kiran to handle just one with both of his hands. 

Corrin merely whimpers. His eyes focus on anything but Kiran. Unfortunately, everything else besides Kiran is either the walls in the distance or the lard of his own enormity, nothing else in the room besides the two men, and Corrin takes up almost the entire space on his own even with a spell meant to infinitely expand the room to accommodate for Corrin’s immense, ever growing weight. Corrin's size leaves him more of a blubbery blob than a man. All of Corrin's weight is well spread out, every single inch of his immobilized figure pumped up with fat, fat, and more fat. So much of Corrin to go around, even his tail has gotten much wider; the large, extra limb which once used to be nearly as big as him back when he used to not weigh several multiple tons of lard is now fat enough to smother an entire mattress from its width alone, and yet even his fattened up tail manages to look small compared to the rest of his enormity, his tail wedged in between the insurmountable cascading hills of fat for an ass.

The portal leading to Corrin’s mouth—a portal linked to a location supplying him an endless torrent of buttery laden, fattening Hoshidan and Nohrian food that only Kiran knows about—now sealed off, Corrin’s faint blush from Kiran’s remark slowly evolves into a darker, more vibrant hue, the light dusting of pink of his jowls turning a much more noticeable red; partially from Kiran’s remark, but mostly from the bit of peckish hunger he feels in his room crushing belly quickly growing into an empty starving pit that begins to demand food in mere minutes of going without even so much as a little snack to satisfy himself. 

And do so loudly, a thunderous growl of a tremor resounding from his tremendous gut, enough shaking caused to leave Corrin a wobbling mess, his numerous, countless rolls of flab sloshing against each other for quite an extended period of time. “Hnnngh,,,” Corrin whines. So unbearably hungry, he looks at Kiran, the summoner’s own prodigious 600 pound figure surrounded by Corrin’s own. “I waaghnnnt…moooore -wheeze- fooohhd…” Corrin’s eyes droop. His energy nearly depleted, he gets just what he needs to recover the recently spent calories—calories wasted to both Corrin and Kiran.

And Corrin’s body does desperately need the food with his body requiring such an absurd amount of calories simply to keep his weight stagnant. Not that either man intends to maintain such a goal, Corrin stuffed with more and more each and every single day to keep him growing. At such an excessively high weight, Corrin’s gut is large enough to cover up his sizable room back in the Northern Fortress, twice as much in fact, and his entire body spreads out far enough to take up as much space as he was allowed to roam in the moderately sized abandoned fortress he grew up in. Corrin's large immensity manages to remain somewhat dressed. All thanks to Kiran’s magic. Likewise, his room is enchanted with the same expandable magic to grow and contain all of him. Corrin’s simple attire highlights nearly every inch of flab on his figure. Not all of his corpulence is clothed despite the enchantment on the clothes. Corrin’s stretchable black workout attire he always used to wear underneath his armor—back when he could actually lift and swing a sword unlike now where talking is the most strenuous thing he does in a day—is now all he wears. The top black tank barely fails in fulfilling its job of covering up his immense, rotund belly, instead doing its new job of showing off the lurching mass of adipose that makes up the lowest roll of many on his stomach. And despite making it past his cavernous belly button, the fabric clings to his navel, the outline of it showed off just like the rest of him. Corrin’s stomach resembles a nearly toppling massive stack of hotcakes, each roll on top of the other just ever so slightly coming close to oozing far enough to sag and overtake its lower roll. Unlike Corrin’s gut, his breasts are practically exposed in their entirety, the sides of his massive tits spilling out the sides of his sleeveless top. Corrin’s own breasts are large enough to come close to rivaling his transformed state. The crevice of space from where his chest presses up against each other seems to suck in the fabric of his top, the upper portions of his rack also visible. Only around half the width of each breast is covered up, his wide, puffy tits ever so slightly pressing up against the edge of fabric with the rest poking out. And they press up against Corrin’s useless arms. Corrin is completely incapable of moving his arms with how wide and heavy they are, multiple men required to lift up just a single one of Corrin’s engorged biceps the size of tables. Corrin’s wrists are in the same situation, the flabby wrists swallowed up by his bloated forearms much like his biceps do to it, Corrin’s elbows completely unbendable as a result. His hands fare no better; the bloated digits can only just barely be wiggled much like his toes. Corrin’s pants manage to cover the expansive hillside for legs. The patterning on them is so stretched out from his blubber so as to leave it completely unrecognizable, the meant to be solid shapes bloated out into massively rounded out spheres much like his actual body. Corrin’s thighs are partially trapped underneath the expanse of his gut that extends far past his feet. And Corrin’s ass juts out far out behind him, the black mass of stretched out fabric only broken up by the smidge of visible white from the underside of his engorged tail which doesn’t go as far out as his enormous, shapeless rear. 

“Coming right on up. Like I’d let such a big, handsome dragon waste away,” he says with a quick snap of his fingers, a portal summoned back up just for Corrin. Food immediately begins to pour out the portal within seconds, carb laden noodle dishes of ramen and pasta magically rushing their way to Corrin’s face. The magic practically ends there, Corrin’s greedy and noisy guzzling all his own doing as he opens his mouth wide and tears into every mouthful of food flung his way.

Corrin goes on for quite some time, his eating only slightly slowing down as he begins to huff and pant. But Corrin says nothing, a slight pathetic little whimper occasionally sounding out in between the entire dishes he devours like appetizers.

Simply enjoying the peace and comfort from resting atop Corrin’s overflowing bed for a bed, Kiran grins up hearing him. He opens up an eye, glancing at his sunken face. “If you want something, you gotta tell me,” he pats and rubs Corrin’s flab, not even sure of what exactly he grabs with so much of him to grab. “Remember, I’m here to please you,

“I  crahveh…-uhhhrrgh- ishhee -nggnhh- creahmm…” Corrin demands while diligently stuffing himself with everyhitng given to him. “-huff- Pleasshe,,,,” Corrin throws in after a massive belch, another whine coming from him in between all the food happily allows to be shoveled down.

Kiran closes and opens a portal, instantly replacing the food upon Corrin’s request. “You keep enjoying yourself and I’ll make sure to keep you well fed,”

“Hnnnghh mmmhmmm,” Corrin lazily replies with his eyes closed in contentment. Corrin’s moans grow louder as the warm pasta becomes replaced with a cold deluge of strawberry ice cream mixed with chocolate fudge slushing down his gullet. 

Kiran speeds up the volume of ice cream pouring into Corrin’s mouth, his moans growing more muffled despite his increased enjoyment. “Extremely well fed,”

[poulpemou]

Kiran's register in Teatime w Alfonse

I love love love this event for canonical Kiran dialogue. Finally, we can see how IS thinks Kiran speaks!

Whether or not you think game!Kiran ––who we know is not the same as comic!Kiran, and who I would argue does have distinctive personality traits despite being a silent self-insert soft-harem protagonist–– is the same Kiran as the one IS depicts here, I just think it's interesting how IS decided to write their dialogue.

Kiran's register is less formal than Alfonse's, but they're still pretty far from casual. A regular teen-to-early-20s person from the modern age is unlikely to use language like this in their day-to-day life. (The second line might seem more relaxed, but "let loose" is not a term you often see nowadays.)

Are they influenced by the language grammar/structure/register those around them use? We don't often get hints of Kiran's way of speaking in-game, though the ones we do get (mostly from implied dialogue with Heroes during 5 star confessions) seem to imply mirroring. Makes sense for them speak in a way that is most clear to the person they're speaking with, and in this case, they're speaking with Alfonse, whose vocabulary and sentence structure is noticeably formal.

But this isn't something you can just imitate, and with game!Kiran canonically spending a lot of time reading when they should be resting, I think they were a well-read (if not well-educated) person even back in the World of Steel. I think they're in fact an avid and voracious reader, and that while they may default to casual language more representative of youths from our time, they feel perfectly at home with more complex vocabulary and sentence structure.

(Maybe they consumed a lot of regency-era movies/shows/books! This could be a fun avenue to explore with your Kiran!)

I guess we'll have to see from the remaining teatimes what Kiran's like with other people!

[ro-botany]

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far: What Heroes Tells us About Validar

I blame @the-priestess-of-dawn for this one. <3

One of Awakening’s worst dads has finally weaseled his way into the mobile game, and so, here we are. If I can make a serious analysis post about Groom!Robin of all units, then I suppose Validar deserves a post as well.

For the most part, Validar’s dialogue in Heroes is unsurprising. There’s a lot of gloating about his plans, a lot of mocking everyone else for being feeble. But there’s one very key place where that pattern falters, and when you really dig into that crack... what at first looks like a shallow villain turns instead into a hollow one.

---

I’ve talked before about how the sprites in Heroes can affect your read of a character’s tone and ultimately change the meaning of their words. Such is the case for Validar’s 5* level 40 conversation. It’s easy to read it in a snarkier tone with his sprite sneering at you, but I invite you to read it without the visuals and really take it for what it is:

Askr's future is none of my concern. I aid you only to gain power for myself. I care not for the people of Askr. The evils of this world are nothing to me. I am an agent of fate. Whatever pitiful bonds you share cannot stop the inevitable! But do go on... I will enjoy your struggling.

Notice anything?

What I immediately notice is that for 4/5 text boxes, a solid 80% of the conversation, all the condescension and insufferable confidence is gone. There’s not one linguistic flourish, not one jab at Kiran or anyone else, not even any punctuation beyond the humble period. The sentences are short and to the point. And you know what it sounds like to me?

Like he’s reassuring himself.

He’s calmly repeating things that he thinks ought to be fact, like mantras. Oh sure, he’s trying to convince Kiran that he’s an uncaring shithead who’s only here to further his nefarious plans, but it sure sounds like he’s trying to convince himself of it, too. He only switches back to his usual sneering and mockery with the very last text box, as though he suddenly remembered himself.

What’s also striking about that conversation is how similar it feels to dialogue from other Grima-adjacent characters, and hell, even Grima themselves.

If you told me those first four text boxes were dialogue from one of the fallen Morgans (Future Past edition OR Heroes edition), I would believe you. They’re in a very similar state of mind, with a lot of lines dedicated to calmly repeating they’re only tools of Grima’s will. That they help you only to further Grima’s plans.

And while the phrasing of it is different, the underlying feeling of those lines is eerily close to some of Risen King Chrom’s dialogue, too. “I am the king of corpses” vs “I am an agent of fate”; both of them characterizing themselves as little more than weapons for a god to wield or discard.

We only ever see Validar in a vacuum in Awakening, but we can’t forget that the cycles of abuse that are the story's core apply to him too. I’ve written a lot about how Grima’s agency is constantly stripped from him. I think that if we can acknowledge how much that fucked Grima up in his first life and again as Robin, and how much it fucks up Morgan and Chrom in the bad timelines... We would be hypocrites to deny that that fucked up Validar, too. It must have.

The Grimleal have been trying to resurrect Grima for a long, long time, and Validar is one of the last born of that fucked up lineage. Only unlike Robin, Validar didn’t have the luxury of being swept away from the cult at a young age. No, he grew up steeped in the knowledge that he was born for one singular purpose. The brand he bears is just barely too faint for him to be an empty shell to hold their god, and so like his parents before him, he becomes living weapon and breeding stock. Expected to lead the Grimleal, as the one with the purest fell blood. Expected to produce a warm body suitable for pouring their mad god into.

The course of his life was decided for him long before he was even conceived.

He doesn’t have a choice.

Everyone he cares about and everything he knows is relying on him.

He doesn’t have a choice.

The Exalt of Ylisse hacks and slashes and burns through their home in the name of his god, and the whole damned world must answer for this suffering.

He doesn’t have a choice.

He is an agent of fate.

Validar never got to be a person, not really. He has only ever been a tool of someone else’s will and I think that’s left him empty. He gloats and mocks and insults and laughs about how much he wants it all to burn, but the fact that it’s all he ever does doesn’t paint a very healthy picture. He has no sense of self outside of how he can be useful to the cult. By all accounts he doesn’t even really think of himself as a person.

Many of the parallels between Validar and Robin/Grima start to make a lot of sense this way. The way they both bluster and monologue at least half as a cover, the way they cling to the concept of unalterable destiny to soothe the injustice of having so many choices ripped from them, the way they view every relationship as a means of controlling or being controlled. “Agent of fate” vs “wings of despair”. And I would bet money that Validar’s father was similar, because he too would've been brought up similarly. Risen Kings, the lot of them.

[justanotherrcblog]

So @robintora asked about my KCD ending, & perhaps others are curious too. My Kindness+loyalty+high respect epilogue, with ALL THE SPOILERS:

Ratan and Amala are running the cult together, even though Amrit & Rishi are both alive (their fate seems contingent on some dialogue & diamond choices, so fyi these two may not be alive for you)

Ratan is still a diety. They talk about how they are (& always will be) too busy to spend any time together, & when they do they only talk about politics. He does call her his June Lily 🪷, and they kiss…but it all feels so mid. Also since they’re connected via the ritual, he’ll die when she dies. However this just feels…sad & banal, not epic or emotional

I then spent 100 💎 for them to get married, but this only buys a few pages of dialogue, no cg or anything 🤡

You also hear very little about anyone else’s fate. Her Uncle becomes the mayor, and a saved Sana lives on as Amala’s maid 👍. But as for Lima, Killian and Kiran 🤷‍♀️. They all survived, but may as well be dead along with Priyanka, Vimal and Gabriel

At least her outfit is pretty? 🤦‍♀️

[msweebyness]

Class of Heroes AU: Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

And here it is! The second in my series of songfics, and was this a punch in the feels to write, lemme tell ya! Artzy, this one goes out to you! As always, credit to @imsparky2002 and @artzychic27! Special thanks to Sparky for helping me with some of the dialogue! Our tale begins just a few months after the tragic deaths of Queen Penny and Queen Alyssa of Arendelle…

A solemn and mournful feeling hung in the air in the palace of Arendelle. The deaths of their beloved queens, just months before, still weighed heavily on the hearts of everyone in the palace.

The servants in the grand hall looked up as four-year-old Prince Kiran darted past them, no doubt heading for his older brother’s bedroom. Hesitantly, they smiled. Perhaps some fun would lift the spirits of both boys.

Stopping outside one of the large windows in the hall, Kiran gasped excitedly when he saw the snow falling from the sky, before racing to his brother’s door.

“Marc?”

Kiran knocked on the door in the special beat he and Marc had come up with as a sort of passcode. Practically bouncing on his heels, he asked…

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Come on, let's go and play!

The large mounds of snow outside were perfect for some winter fun, and Kiran just knew that a day of sledding and snow angels would cheer the both of them up.

I never see you anymore

Come out the door!

It's like you've gone away…

With a sad expression suddenly overtaking his features, Kiran slumped downward, sitting with his back against the door.

We used to be best buddies

And now we're not.

I wish you would tell me why!

It had been over a month since he and Marc had last played together, and Kiran missed his brother terribly. Why wouldn’t Marc come out of his room? Had Kiran done something wrong?

Do you wanna build a snowman?

It doesn't have to be a snowman...

Kiran pressed his eye up to the keyhole, trying to see what his brother was up to in there.

“N-Not now, Kiran.”, came Marc’s quiet and hesitant reply. The younger prince slumped sadly and turned to walk away from the door.

“Okay, bye...”

Sitting, looking out over the kingdom, that evening, the elder prince of Arendelle jumped back in fright as his windowsill was suddenly coated in a thick layer of ice under his hands.

Alarmed, Marc called for Su-Han, the chief Royal Advisor, who came in bearing a solemn expression. He opened an ornate wooden box, revealing it to contain a pair of dark gloves made of a thick fabric the boy didn’t recognize.

“Put these gloves on. They will help you to control it.”, he said sternly, and Marc quickly obeyed. To the prince’s relief, the gloves seemed to work to stop his magic.

“Conceal it…”, the old advisor prompted. Marc knew what came next, it was an old rhyme meant to help him withhold his magic.

“Don't feel it.”

“Don’t let it show.”, the two finished together. Su-Han nodded, before his solemn expression turned deadly serious.

“Now, you must NEVER take these off. You could KILL someone with that power if you're not careful.”, he told the young prince coldly. With a frightened expression, Marc nodded.

“O-ok. I promise.”

Two years passed since that night, and young Prince Kiran, now six, was once again racing to his brother’s room! Maybe Marc would come out to play today. They had been sharing meals together as of late, after all! Sure, he sat at one of the long table and Marc at the other, and they didn’t really talk, but it was something!

Kiran knocked the cheerful beat of their secret code in Marc’s door, before he asked the question he did about every two days or so.

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Or ride our bike around the halls?

I think some company is overdue

I've started talking to the pictures on the walls!

Kiran was honestly starting to go mad with no one to play with! So he hoped with all his heart that this would be the day Marc would say yes!

It gets a little lonely

All these empty rooms

The servants all just went about their business, mostly keeping to themselves, leaving Kiran to wander the halls of the enormous palace with nothing much to do but stare at the time passing.

Just watching the hours tick by...

The young prince flopped down in front of the large grandfather clock in one of the various sitting rooms of the palace, making ticking sounds with his tongue against his teeth.

Meanwhile….

Sitting on the floor of his bedroom, surrounded by jagged ice stalagmites, tears running down his cold cheeks, was Prince Marc. Looking up, he met the angry, cold and disapproving gaze of Su-Han.

“I-I didn't mean to do it...it-it's getting stronger, no matter what I do...”, Marc stammered out, the icy spires growing larger as he curled in on himself.

“Getting upset makes it worse. Calm down, now.”, the elder man said sternly, making a motion to grab the prince, who jumped back in panic.

“NO! Don't touch me! I don't wanna hurt you!”, he cried, as he took tentative steps back toward the wall. Su-Han shook his head with a look of disappointment.

“You'll only ever hurt people if you don't learn to control yourself and your emotions. THIS is why you can't see your brother. Why the people of the kingdom can't know what you are.”

Trembling, Marc looked at the man, pleading for any answers he could give.

“Wh-what can I do? How do I fix this?”

His expression turning solemn as stone once again, Su-Han answered:

“You must learn to keep your power sealed away inside you at all times, and at any cost. You must master discipline and control, and until you do that, you MUST remain isolated. With this magic of yours, it's simply too dangerous.”

Marc looked at the man in utter despair. At this rate, he would spend the rest of his life alone in this room! And Kiran…

“Just... let Kiran keep seeing me for meals, please? I'lI wear the gloves. I'll stay far away, I won’t even speak. Please, I…I just need to know he's ok!”, Marc pleaded, feeling his spirit start to break once more.

“Once I see proof of you improving, we'll discuss it.”

Another two years passed, and a letter arrived at the palace of Arendelle. The elder prince had been invited to attend the prestigious Francois Preparatory Academy! He would be leaving in only a day’s time. Eight-year-old Prince Kiran now walked solemnly down the hall, having just spoken with Advisor Su-Han.

“There is something…very wrong with your brother. He is going away to get it fixed.”

And so Kiran found himself, yet again, in front of Marc’s door, giving three solemn knocks, unable to even muster their special code.

Marc, please I know you're in there

People are asking where you've been…

Gossip was spreading through the kingdom about the reclusive elder prince. Kiran didn’t believe any of the ridiculous stories the village folk came up with, but he longed to know what was actually going on with his brother. What was this “terrible illness” that made Marc isolate himself?

They say, "Have courage," and I'm trying to

I'm right out here for you

Just let me in

Kiran wondered if his brother felt the same sadness he did. It had been years since they had a proper conversation. If they could even spend a moment together, perhaps this rift between them could heal. The deaths of their mothers had hit them both so hard, but they still had each other. If only Marc would open this door…

We’ve only had each other

Now, you’re about to leave…

What am I gonna do?

Even if he rarely ever saw Marc nowadays, just the assurance that he was there was one of the few things that got Kiran through each day. Now, he wouldn’t even have that…

Do you wanna build a snowman?

When he received no response from his older brother, Kiran pushed himself to his feet and walked down the hall to his own room, tears slipping from his silvery eyes.

On the other side of the heavy oaken door, Prince Marc stood with head against the ice-coated wood, tears of his own sliding down his frigid cheeks.

Kiran, I know you're out there…

I hear you every day

Four long years, he had listened to his brother, asking him to spend some time together, his heart breaking a little more with each time he had to refuse. He missed Kiran more than anything.

I want to tell you everything, I really wish…

That I could say…

As far as Kiran knew, Marc had a terrible sickness that required him to stay away from everyone, for their own safety. He longed more than anything to tell him the truth, to let him know that the last thing he wanted was to push his little brother away like this.

I want to be beside you! To help you through…

If only he could just have a moment with his brother, he would give him a hug and tell him that everything was going to be alright. But Su-Han would never allow that, and perhaps he was right in feeling that way. Marc never forgot the…accident for a moment.

Believe me I need you too…

I want to build a snowman…

Marc sank down to sit with his back to the door, burying his head in his knees as a fresh swell of tears overtook him, the ice around him spreading even further.

‘Goodbye, Kiran. I promise I’ll come back better for you…’

I’m not crying, YOU’RE CRYING! Anyway, there it was folks! LMK what you thought in comments and reblogs! Oh, FYI, Marc’s part is Elsa’s Reply by Elsie Lovelock on YouTube!

Link: https://youtu.be/MutnK1UbdRk

Coming up next in this series is Zero to Hero! Keep and eye out! Love and hugs!

[moe-broey]

LMFAOOOOOOOO ANNA....... you could not have misread the situation more. At least in my case 🧍

[yanderefairyangel]

Fun fact, in the japanese dub, Chrom and Robin call each other “半身” “hanshin”. The localization translate it by “other half” but literaly it means “half the body”. WAY LESS ELEGANT if I must say.

This is also referenced in this FEH comic : 

Kiran’s reasoning is due to 半身 meaning half the body in the LITERAL sense, when Chrom and Robin use it in a metaphoric sense meaning that’s their are two halves of a whole. 

Meaning that it’s what their japanese dub introduction sounds like

And yes I know that because I got my hands on clips of the japanese dub. 

By the way, anyone wondering, those events are not badly translated though the localization did a lot of stuff to make it sounds elegant compared to a literal transaltion, keeping freedom but still convying the same idea.

For instance when Chrom wakes up, he says that he won’t be able to use his catchphrase “There are better place to sleep than the ground you know” when the localizers have him says that he won’t be able to tease Robin for his long naps, which is more or less the same idea but... the fact that they erased an Awakening easter egg is unforgivable.

For the one wondering what they say about Emmeryn, Robin originally state “When we lost Emmeryn, Holy King Chrom’s sister, I swore that I would become his half so that we could make up for each’s other’s immaturity” (have mercy on me, it’s ugly I know, but it’s the literal translation).

And the one wondering if Chrom killed Grima making it canon when we all know that the sacrifice ending, that’s the translation again. When Lucina interacts with Robin she ask if Reflet-san comes with her father and he answers “Yes, I keep on fighting by Chrom’s side” 

before she declares this 

“I am not confident in fighting you, my father’s half-body, but I’ll do my best”... YES OTHER HALF IS MUCH BETTER!! OR USE THE FRENCH DUB SOLUTION (the french dub refers to Robin ( Daraen in the European version) as Le second de Chrom, in short his right hand man, but in French the pun with  半身 still survives due to the fact that well..; second is transparent so I guess you would understand)

But overall there is no weird thing of the localizations concerning Awakening’s plot being mistreated, they just erased easter eggs and sometimes over translated stuff that can creates confusion, especially when Emmeryn’s paralogue as debatable canoncity

And while it’s not really important, the localizers kind of change the original Lucina reunion scene because in the Original, Reflet says “ Chrom was really worried about you, he could not shut up” (literaly but it can also be understood that Chrom was noisy) and Chrom answer “There was no need to tell her, Reflet” or more literaly

Like I said it doesn’t really change much except Robin is being less teasing towards Chrom and erasing the fact that Robin is teasing Chrom the same way he calls Frederick Freddy Bear is an unforgivable crime against humanity

Asides from that the dialogue pretty much display the same idea except Chrom saying he was relieved to see Lucina’s face makes me wonder if he ever misses his OTHER daughter. No, not Cynthia! I am talking about baby Lucina !

And also, hanshin is your answer to “Why is Robin so small”. He is the small half.

[bethanyactually]

I was tagged by @ladytharen to list ten comfort movies, and that is what I shall do!

The Mummy (1999) - This movie has its flaws, but also it is perfect.

Pride & Prejudice (2005) - I love all the many adaptations of P&P but this is the one I turn to when I just need something pretty and soothing to watch.

Josie and the Pussycats - This movie is just exactly my sense of humor, the satire about our advertising-saturated culture is on point, Alan Cumming is there, and the music slaps.

Groundhog Day - I have loved this movie for 30 years, I can recite every line of dialogue. The line "Paaastry, Larry?" gets quoted surprisingly often in our house.

Pacific Rim - Mako Mori. Raleigh Beckett. Giant robots powered by teamwork fighting giant aliens. And it's super gorgeous to look at.

That Thing You Do! - This movie is also perfect. And the music slaps. My only complaint is that I wish more people would watch it and write fanfic.

Say Anything - A very formative movie for me personally.

Little Women (1994) - I've enjoyed other adaptations but this is the adaptation of my heart, and a movie I am virtually always in the mood to watch.

The Princess Bride - As you wish!!!

You've Got Mail - Don't you love New York in the fall?

Low-key, no-pressure tagging a few folks from my recent activity: @the-errant-bard, @brazenbells, @silikat, @thepotentialpolyglot, @kiran-wears-science-blues, and anyone else who'd like to do this!

[nerds-yearbook]

Solo: A Star Wars Story premiered on May 25th, 2018. The screenplay was by Jonathon and Lawrence Kasdan. Lawrence Kasden had previously scripted the Star Wars films Episode V: The Empire Strikes back, Episode VI The Return of the Jedi, and Episode VII The Force Awakens. There was some debate over who was going to be listed officially as director. Ultimately, Ron Howard, who reshot 80% of the original footage, was given credit and the original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were given executive producer credits. The movie took place between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story/Episode IV: A New Hope. The movie told how Han Solo (originally played by Harrison Ford, but in this version played by Alden Ehrenreich) left Corellia, joined the Emperial Infantry, met Chewbacca (originally played by Peter Mayhew, but in this version by Joonas Suotamo), became a smuggler, met Lando Calrissian (originally played by Billy Dee Williams, but in this version by Donald Glover), made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, got his hand blaster, got the disguise that Lando would use in Jobba's palace, got the Millinium Falcon, and why the Millinium Falcon had a unique dialogue pattern. The film kept it as a surprise that it also had the first cinematic appearance of Darth Maul (still protrayed by Ray Park and voiced by Sam Witwer) since his supposed death in Episode I: A Phantom Menace. The movie also introduced new characters to the Star Wars cinematic universe such as Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke), Val (Thandiwe Newton), L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), Rio Durant (Jon Favreau), Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman), Lady Proxima (Linda Hunt), Rebolt (Ian Kenny), Korso (John Tui), Weazel (Warwick Davis), Margo (Charlotte Louise), Chanteuse (Sema-Tawi Smart), Ralakili (Clint Howard), Quay Tolsite (Dee Tails), Sagwa (Attila Vajda), Tak (Anthony Daniels), Karjj (Kiran Shah), Eager Scrumrat (Fraser Kelly), Lexi (Lily Newmark), Ottilie (Samantha Colley), and Argus Panox (Derek Arnold). The reaction to the film did not meet expectations and delayed and changed the plans for further theatrical Star Wars Story films. ("Solo: A Star Wars Story", flm, event)

[phthalology]

I’ve made a little bit of progress on my Saga &/Kiran fic, a little bit of progress on creechurfadens, and a lot of progress on a Hatch & Ogawa drabble that is growing into a full story but is utterly structureless at the moment. I may need to rewrite it entirely from the other POV in order to figure out why my brain is convinced there’s a good hook in it somewhere. Right now it’s just a thousand words of vague dialogue, inconsistent plotting and descriptions of cars. With any luck I’ll drop three remedyverse oneshots on you at once.