#GUNTER THERE WERE TEARS THERE

[lemonsweet]

What kind of gunt gunts his gunters fries, and doesn't even gunt him in the eyes?

[toadily-short]

It is time yet again where I make and distribute the pride flag profile picture equivalent of Halloween costumes I wear with my friend @small-hero-six .

free to you also, internet-goer

Please do not repost/ reupload without permission, reblogging is OK

ID]: two edited pride flags with characters from despicable me. The first image has the lesbian pride flag in the background with a meme format of Gru in front of a poster with the word "gorls" in all black capital letters in a serif font. The second image has the leather pride flag and the character Vector holding his piranha weapon, with the home depot logo edited to read "the hoe depot".

[pepperediris]

Gunter

[mage-leo]

one case that doesn’t sit well with me is gunter and the ice king’s fries. why did he gunt his gunter’s fries? all these years later and i still i don’t understand

[jamiesfootball]

🌹🌹🌹🌹

Here's a snippet from a project I started before season three aired. Not sure if I'll get back to it but I might:

First time Colin met Jamie was as a starter in the U18s during a Wales v England match. Colin played first string the whole season. Football was something that came easy to him. While he wasn't likely to be the next Gareth Bale or Chris Gunter, and he was shorter than most of his teammates by a head, he was scrappier, hungrier, angrier than anyone else he knew - on the field or off. The coaches were always on him to take it easy or he'd tear something, but it was lip service at best. They kept him on because he was a force of nature: block, cross, shoot, it didn't matter. He couldn't be pigeonholed. He was inconspicuous and could slide pass the bigger players before they realized where the ball had gone; he was a threat. So Colin had walked into that match with England full of teenage vigor, thinking he was hot shit. Then at the 57' mark England took an injury, and Jamie Tartt took the stage. In the next thirty-three minutes, he'd also take Colin's self-esteem and a fucking hat trick. Nothing in his young life had prepared him for the look of intensity on the other boy's eyes as he stampeded down the field like the fucking Tasmanian Devil. He blew past Ellis and Bowen like a tap dancer, and when Colin came to tango, he was helplessly tangled in a series of checks maneuvered like a game of chess. He tripped on his feet. Got up quick with rage in his blood only to get nutmegged, the ball slipping cleanly between his unsteady legs, before Tartt took his first breakaway of the evening. The remainder of the match seared into his brain like a bloodbath. A chip shot in injury time sealed the fucking deal, the ball breezing overt the goalie's fingertips to bury into the net. Colin couldn't even blame his short legs for not keeping up. Him and Tartt were the same height. It was a lesson Colin had put other players through but never learned for himself: that you were only as good as your world was wide. The next time they met Jamie was fresh on loan from Man City. Colin called it: the guy didn't remember him at all.

[sumaneun-stars]

okay based on my last request here I'm just going to say something that's been in my head since I discovered enhypen

this is literally my comfort scenario

I always end up thinking about a very cold winter day, but what makes it all the more vivid (in my opinion) is the scenery in the room

for example the description of the temperature, the duvets, the lighting (I have a weakness for warm lights), the television on in the background but the main thing... the person with Jay, like declarations of love, a simple deep conversation... I DON'T KNOW, just his presence in itself would be perfect

I don't know if that made sense in any way, it's still something deep that I can't explain

If you want to create something with this (which in this case is very cliché but I like it 😭😭😭) feel free, I just think there should be a context (which I never stopped to think about)

Anyway, Ily 💖💖💖

Winter hangs in there — pjs.

It wasn't surprising. Another failed attempt at socialising, and another comment on your insecurities which they meant as a joke. ‘Haha, it was so funny I could cry’ you wanted to snap back, but chose the better of it. Rage turned into another cup of grief in the ocean of sadness in your head.

But no matter how much you wanted to cry and let your misery turn into salty droplets, it just never happened. With no one but yourself, you just swallowed it in and moved on. False. They gradually got collected for months and months and formed that depressing sea.

As you stepped outside, a cold wind bit at your cheeks. The air was freezing, and each breath created a mist in front of you. Wrapped up in a single jacket, you walked ahead, feeling the chill seeping through your clothes. At least the cold always hung in there with you. Also him. Maybe. So far.

You entered the building, and impatient as you were, you took the stairs. Standing in front of his door, you took your phone out to text him.

Y/n: “Password?”

Jay: “Gunter's birthday”

The warmth of Jay's home embraced you like a blanket as you walked in. You entered his room with a knock, and found him on the corner of his bed, glasses on as he typed rapidly on his laptop.

“Jay!” You whined. Despite how upset you were, you always felt playful with him. You took off your jacket as you dropped yourself on his bed.

“Back from school?” 

“Mhm”

He chuckled.

“Just imagine actually going to school”

“Hey!”

“What?”

“You're lucky”

“Why?”

“I'd rather constantly be working and having body aches like a middle aged uncle than go to that prison of a school” you said in pout.

“Aw, there there” he caressed your hair. He noticed your silence as you stared blankly into nothing. Minutes passed by, until your state was too concerning for him. “Something wrong?” 

You didn't know just two words could form tears in your eyes. You realised it wasn't your inability to cry, but the fact that no one cared to ask. No one wanted to listen to your cries. You sniffled, and he immediately understood, keeping his laptop aside as he sat you up.

“Hey hey, what happened?” The warmth of his hands met your cold skin as goosebumps rose around your entire body. You forgot about earlier in the day once you looked into his worried eyes. His face glowed in the perfect places, the low lights highlighting him like he was an angel. Now you sobbed for a different reason. You sobbed for everything, but nothing at all. You sobbed because Jay was just… perfect.

Because he treats you like a younger sister. A brat who constantly annoys him and whom he needs to tolerate. And who, considering his previous girlfriends, probably does not like younger girls.

You leaned your forehead on his chest, and he didn't hesitate to wrap his warm arms around you, patting your back. Such a big brother thing to do for a depressed younger sister. You hated it, which made your cries even worse. What a mess. You were crying in the arms of the reason for it.

“Hm?”

You shook your head. “Just school stuff”

“I understand if you don't wanna tell me” he said, before bringing you into a hug once more. Like an angel, he hummed softly into your ear as he drew circles at the back of your neck. If only life could be as beautiful as it was when he was next to you. His fingers were gentle and calming, and his body was like a blanket. You raised your head up.

“Jay?”

“Hm?”

“I need to get something out of my chest…”

“You can tell me, y/n, I won't judge” he smiled softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“I love you”

The words slipped out of your mouth without thinking after his action, until you realised and your eyes widened.

“I- I mean- yeah- no! I don't- but I do… I do. It's something- something I held in for so long and you don't really need to reply because I just wanted to let you know because… no I don't love you! I do, but I don't want- I mean, what I'm saying is- I understand if you don't wanna talk to me anym-”

“Say that again”

Your mouth opened and closed in confusion, a red tint now clearly visible on your cheeks.

“Wha-”

“Say it again” he looked at you with longing eyes, like he was begging you to.

“I- I love you…”

“Hm?” a slight smile formed on his face.

“I am in love with you, Park Jongseong”

His hands swiftly travelled to the back of your head and he brought your face closer to his. With your noses brushing against each other, his exhales came out like a soft wave of warmth. His eyes landed on yours, your lips just centimetres away.

“May I?” he asked, his voice low.

“Please”

[taylorluvsstars]

Gunter. Why did you gunte my fries. You gunted them. And they were mine. What kind of gunte guntes his gunter's fries? And doesn't even gunte him in the eyes? Gunter. There were tears there. If you gunted them would you even care? Gunter. Do you even looove me?

[tylostoma]

gunter.. why did you gunt my fries.. i gunted them... and thEy were mine... what kind of gunt gunts his gunter's fries.. and doesn't even gunt him in the eyes.. gunter there were tears there... if you gunted them would you even care... GUNTER.... do you even LOVE meee....

[fionnacampbellsoup]

GUNTER WHY DID YOU GUNT MY FRIES. I GUNTED THEM AND THEY WERE MINE. WHAT KIND OF GUNTER GUNTS HIS GUNTERS FRIES AND DOESNT EVEN GUNT HIM IN THE EYES. GUNTER THERE WERE TEARS THERE. IF YOU GUNTED THEM WOULD YOU EVEN CARE. GUNTER DO YOU EVEN LOVE ME. its rhetorical gunter

[lululeighsworld]

FE OC Week Day 4 - Tragedy!

absolutely not shocking that im thrilled to share the horrors Summoner Leigh has been subjected to (by me). if you love your oc, put them through the wringer is how the saying goes, right?

gonna immediately throw this under a readmore. content warning for character death and the usual fe villain awfulness. tl;dr Summoner Leigh has been murdered twice in two separate timelines and they end up being an undead puppet each time.

[day 1 introductions] [day 2 relationships] [day 3 backstory?]

so one of my favourite ideas feh has established is that there are an infinite amount of worlds that exist and heroes can be summoned from. this lends itself REALLY WELL to playing around with various "what if?" scenarios, especially in consideration of the different "bad ends" a character may find themself face to face with.

(gonna try and save the details of these bad ends for the last day so i can talk about them alongside the good ends. for now, i'll just focus on the tragedy side of things.)

Nemhain: Soulless Havoc

Like other cohorts of Hel, Nemhain takes their name from a mythological figure — in their case it is Nemain, the personification of the frenzied havoc of war from Irish mythology. Nemhain is to Leigh as Líf and Tharsir are to Alfonse and Veronica: soldiers in Hel's army of the dead, from an alternate timeline when both Askr and Embla were defeated by the undead realm. Having been murdered by Garon shortly after his arrival, Hel saw an opportunity with the summoner's corpse and decided to experiment with her construction of undead soldiers. Robbed of their voice and without Askr's blessing upon their soul (Hel has stolen this too), Nemhain is a ruthless and silent killing machine, roaming the battlefield with nary a trace and tearing a part their victims in the blink of an eye. They often return to Hel soaked in the blood of their victims, phosphorescent green (similar to arsenic-laced wallpaper) hue glowing sickeningly in the realm's darkness. Those who escape Nemhain's wrath report hearing the rattling of chains moments before the attack; others claim to have felt nauseous, the sensation lasting long after leaving the battlefield. Mysteriously, some succumb to an unidentifiable illness despite their initial luck.

jello-colour refs and my poor attempt at trying to put their design to paper (im a writer not a character designer okay)

oh the bird flying above Nemhain in the second picture? in this alternate timeline, Summoner Leigh nursed an injured starling back to health before they got jello'd. starlings are very good at mimicking human speech, and may have picked up on their speech patterns while in their care. after becoming Nemhain, the starling finds and follows them. it's very unsettling when heroes who knew the summoner hear their voice but see the monstrosity before them on the battlefield :')

Leigh: Beloathed Puppet

Anankos' hold on his vessels should never be underestimated, least of all by one whom wields the power to return heroes home. The arrival of Fallen!Lilith spells ruin for Summoner Leigh, convincing the wavering vessel which stands at their side to betray their trust and feelings so they can return to the Betrayed King's side. The deed is done when the point of a lance finds itself buried in the summoner's abdomen, to which they are then dragged half-dead by Gunter towards the dias where Lilith awaits. Mercy would have been leaving them in Askr to die after using Breidablik to send them home. The Mad Dragon is anything but merciful, however. With what little life they have remaining, Leigh finds themself tumbling over the cliff side of the Bottomless Canyon; they're dead before they reach Valla, just a corpse for Anankos' amusement. Similar to the kingdom's inhabitants, Leigh becomes an Invisible Soldier, now a puppet with no longer a will of their own.

:'''"") don't you just love when your oc's crush is the cause of their death. admittedly i go back and forth on the exact details of this tragedy all the time because there is just so much angst to play with.

speaking in terms of feh plot, the betrayal happens sometime during book 6 (both after Leigh first confesses their feelings to Gunter at the end of book 4 and Fallen!Lilith's appearance in book 6) but before Leigh starts studying magic under Niime and book 7 (Anankos shows up himself in book 7 and i wanna do something different with him storytelling wise).

im also undecided on how much Fallen!Leigh would remember Gunter, if at all. and yes they'll probably get a cool outfit! but ive been indecisive as hell for years and cannot for the life of me decide what i want it to look like. ah well, can't figure out everything all at once less i have nothing to brainstorm in the future!!

that's all for now! if you made it this far, thank you for reading!!

diver by Firefly Graphics

[butchingdyke]

gunter why did you gunt my fries i gunted them and they were mine what kind of gunt gunts his gunters fries and doesnt even look him in the eyes gunter there was tears there if you gunted them would you even care

GUNTER DO YOU EVEN LOVE ME

[dingdongdoodilydoodilydoo]

gunter, there were tears there...

[brainbesplit]

gunter....... why did you gunt my fries..... i gunted them.... and they were mine..... what kinda gunter gunts his gunter's fries..... and doesn't even gunt him in the eyes............ gunter there were tears there..... if you gunted them would you even care....... GUNTER......... DO YOU EVEN LOVE ME

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 118: Trust in the Face of Betrayal

As I’ve mentioned, I write the chapter recaps in advance. Although I began posting the Revelation entries in September of 2022, I actually played through the game in June of that year. I played the first 25 chapters, all of the Paralogues, and then put the game down for more than a year. During the recent Labor Day weekend, I finally picked up the game again, so I could play through the final three maps.

Revelation gives you a quite honestly absurd number of units, despite the fact that Chapters 26 and 27 only give you 16 deployment slots, one of which must be Corrin. For these final maps, I decided, rather than going with the game’s best units, to go with the ones I actually cared about. 

Jakob. Felicia. Setsuna. Orochi. Saizo. Takumi. Kagero. Effie. Arthur. Niles. Nyx. Beruka. Benny. Xander. And, of course, Kenshi.

I trained Kenshi in all of the free DLC classes and maxed out all of his stats but magic. Behold, my Level 60 Dread Fighter with Death Blow, Ignis, Aggressor, Galeforce, and Rally Spectrum. I also decided, because Jakob was Corrin’s husband in this run, to see how broken I could make him with reclassing. He ended up with Luna, Lethality, Shurikenfaire, Replicate, and Quick Draw. He’s almost as good as Kenshi or any of the royals.

Revelation Chapter 26

Team Corrin arrives in Anankos's throne room, only to find it empty, containing only a giant stone Buddha Head. Random fireballs come out of nowhere to hit all of the royals but Corrin and Azura. Leo, Takumi, and Ryoma immediately begin questioning why Corrin and Azura were spared. Gunter, who also wasn't hit, concludes that they were spared because they're both Vallite royalty.

Gunter then accuses Corrin of being a traitor and Scarlet's murder. Xander is the one person to call this ridiculous. It's unclear if the other characters believe Corrin is sus, but the scene is framed as if they believe Gunter. Because every character in this game is an idiot. Gunter accuses Corrin of leading the royals to Valla so they could all be killed. And, presumably, he is arguing that Corrin saved the lives of the other royals in battle constantly, for some reason. This is the most stupid ridiculous overcomplicated plan possible, so to be fair it does make sense that Corrin could have come up with it.

Corrin says No U, accusing Gunter of being the real traitor, then Columbos proof that Gunter is sus because he knew about the flower on Scarlet's chest, something only the killer would have known about.

Gunter laughs and sits on the throne, surrounded by a purple aura. Gunter monologues that he's always been evil and murdered Scarlet to tear away Corrin's innocence. Corrin says this is unbelievable and that they still believe in Gunter. Gunter asks if Corrin is naive or just stupid. To editorialize, both. The answer is both. Corrin says they need to be able to trust their friends and that Gunter is just being manipulated by Anankos, like Mikoto and Sumeragi. Corrin says they can still save Gunter.

Gunter laughs, saying that he is stronger than the reanimated corpses and that his body belongs to Anankos. He says that he is Anankos and Anaknos is him. Corrin refuses to give up. They fight to get Gunter back and end the war, with the help of their friends.

I mock Corrin a lot on this blog. Corrin is really really stupid and annoying a lot of the time. But, occasionally, the game gives me a scene that makes me really like Corrin.

Corrin is naive. That is their core character trait. And sometimes they act dumb. Sometimes they act frustratingly stupid and commit a bunch of war crimes. But, Corrin works the best, when they are naively hopeful in the face of overwhelming adversary. When they try to save everyone, when they try to end the war through kindness. When they see their father figure controlled by a dark god and decide to save him, even as he insults them. Corrin is a kind person put into a dark world, who brings light through their relentless hope and kindness. That’s why, in the good paths, Corrin is the one who ends the war. Because they stubbornly refuse to give up on their hope of a better world.

This is a defeat the boss chapter set in a throne room full of enemies. The map's gimmick is pools of water that endlessly spawn enemies, which can be plugged with dragon veins. Except, the respawns are slow, and the ice melts after a few turns, so I don't know what the point is. The map is filled with chests and Gunter holds a Bifrost staff, which can be used to revive one dead unit immediately after they died. Because of a blessing from Mikoto, Corrin and Azura heal nearby allies. This battle was actually kinda hard, because I didn’t account for marriages when I chose my endgame team. Still, Gunter went down easily.

Gunter's generic battle quote has him sentence people to death in the name of the King of Valla. If he fights Corrin, he calls Corrin's belief in him impressively foolish and says that they should hold onto their foolishness, as a comfort when they die.

After the battle, Azura sings the song, weakening Anankos's control. Gunter begs for Gunter to fight and remember all the time they've spent together. Gunter raises his sword and Corrin refuses to move. Gunter stabs himself in the stomach, causing a mass of darkness to fly out of his body. Gunter says he will atone for his betrayal with his life. Fortunately, Sakura and Elise can heal.

Gunter explains that years ago, when he declined Garon's gift of Dragon Blood, Garon got so pissed that he ordered the deaths of Gunter's wife, child, and entire village. Gunter says that commoners are pawns in the schemes of royals, weeds to be killed on a whim. Xander is surprised people think that of the royals, because he's an idiot. Ryoma says such an impression would easily breed resentment, and yeah no shit.

Gunter explains he vowed to get revenge on Garon and raised Corrin so they could be used as a pawn in this revenge scheme. Question: why did Garon put the man who obviously wants revenge on him in charge of Corrin? Is it because he's also stupid? Yeah probably.

Corrin says that they understand and that, regardless of Gunter's motivations, he stayed by their side and helped them. Gunter says that he killed Scarlet. Corrin says he was under Anankos's control and that, if he wants to atone, he must live. For Scarlet and for the family that was taken from him. Live to fight Anankos and protect all the people that he could still hurt.

This is a really good scene. Except, there’s something that bothers me about it. Corrin’s dialogue is slightly different depending on gender. If Corrin is Male, he says Gunter is his friend. If Corrin is female, she says that Gunter is important to her, and Gunter stares at her while saying dot dot dot. The only reason I can think of for them to make this change is to imply some sort of romantic feelings between Corrin and Gunter.

Goddamnit game! You were so close! You had a really good scene and then you fucked it up!

Support: Forrest/Ophelia

C: Forrest talks to a spice merchant and starts crying after getting some spice in his eye. Ophelia threatens to kill the merchant. Forrest says she went a little overboard, but Ophelia says it's the least she can do and pledges loyalty to Forrest.

B: Ophelia attacks a merchant for spraying Forrest with perfume. Forrest begs her to stop attacking merchants, but she says that merchants could maybe be assassins.

A: Forrest orders Ophelia to stop following him to the market. He explains that it would be dumb for an assassin to spend years working as a mechant, hoping a prince would randomly stop by. Ophelia says she'll stay back, so Forrest says she is allowed to come with him.

S: Forrest pledges himself to Ophelia because her devotion is overflowing. Ophelia decides to fill a lake with rose petals as a love ritual.

Review: I like the idea of Ophelia being Forrest's retainer. She's a bit too dumb, but her being extra to take care of a friend is better than her being extra just because.

Support: Fana/Nina

C: Kana asks Nina about her Robin Hood noble thief thing. He is confused, because his parents taught him stealing is wrong. Nina explains that stealing is wrong, but the world is complicated, and sometimes doing the wrong thing is the best way to help people.

B: Nina shows Kana letters from those she's helped by stealing from the rich to give to the poor. She says that sometimes doing nothing is worse than doing something wrong. Kana calls Nina amazing. Nina says that, even though Niles is a thief himself, he doesn't want her to steal. She says she doesn't respect him and that they fought over this.

A: Kana points out that Nina became a thief to be like Niles and that she must respect him, deep down, because if not, why would she want his approval?

S: Kana gives Nina a book on noble thieves so she can give it to Niles. Nina wonders if Kana will be as kind and honest when he grows uo. Kana promises he won't, because she's his best friend and he doesn't want to lose her.

Review: Pretty good! Nina is a noble thief instead of incredibly horny for once and the stuff about her relationship with Niles was solid.

Support: Forrest/Siegbert

C: Siegbert asks to accompany Forrest as he goes fabric shopping. Forrest deduces this is because Siegbert wants to protect him.

B: Siegbert saves Forrest from a pack of ruffians. Forrest says he doesn't want Siegbert protecting him again, because he can take care of himself. If Forrest is unpromoted, then no, he objectively cannot. Siegbert respects Forrest's suggestion.

A: Forrest apologizes for being too harsh. Siegbert apologizes for treating Forrest like a child Forrest asks to be treated as an ally, not an explanation.

Review: See, this is one of those Supports that gets messed up by gameplay and story segregation. Siegbert being too protecting of Forrest because Forrest is very feminine would be annoying, except within the context of the game, he's right! Forrest is incapable of protecting himself!

Support: Percy/Soleil

C: Percy asks Soleil to help him get Ace laid.

B: Ace doesn't like other dragons. Soleil offers to teach Ace how the right way to treat a lady.

A: Soleil teaches a wyvern to listen to women. The female dragons don't care and fly away.

S: Percy asks Soleil out. Soleil tells him he should chase other girls instead of limiting himself to the three or four girls he already knows. Percy asks her to go on a practice date with him.

Review: This one is weird and the fact that Soleil somehow trained a dragon to be a polite boyfriend is weirder. Still, this one isn't awful.

[dirtyoldmanhole]

gunter slowburn fic excerpt~

have some unbearably sweet hurt/comfort post-possession. he's spent a while in the healer's tents a bit touch-and-go, and corrin's taken him to her private quarters the night before the final battle with anankos.

unedited.

---

Corrin gently closed the door behind him, and watched as her old man took in the same space as always.

She had brewed some of his tea for him, discretely placed on the bedside table within reach. Neither one of them wanted anything that night save the quiet comfort of skin to skin intimacy.

"Do you know, all of my happiest moments have been here with ..."

He trailed off, lost in memories. She knew without looking that there were unshed tears in his eyes, and that her old knight was deeply moved.

Gunter stood there just past the threshold for a very long time, with her supporting him lightly for stability. She wouldn't breathe a word about it to him, but his newly acquired limp worried her.

'What would you like to do, Gunter?"

For a while, she thought he didn't hear her, as his eyes were closed. But then came the softest response, his voice scratchy.

"To listen to your heartbeat, Corrin."

She smiled, leaning her cheek against his bicep in an affirmative.

With gentle and slow steps, she guided him to her bed, her heart squeezing as he groaned with relief at being off his feet. Corrin set her hands to work, helping him take the borrowed shirt and trousers off. She could see the quiet gratitude in his eyes as he leaned his head against hers, still profoundly exhausted from the recovery and the ... everything.

It felt like a shared nightmare that they had both awoken from.

Eventually they would--have to--talk about it in this world, but not this night. Not when he still felt far too fragile and could crumble to bloodied dust, and not when she desperately craved the comfort of his arms to steel her for the coming battle. The last battle, one way or another.

She wanted to be selfish with him this night.

His own vein-laced hands made short, efficient work of her own clothes in contrast. Yet it was not the frenzied rush of new lovers exploring the dips and creases for the first time, but with the slow mastery of an artist and his tenderness savoring a muse - she breathed a pleasurable sigh as his thumb-pad brushed against the underside of her breast with a lover's precision.

Nearly nude at last, they both worked their way ungracefully under the covers, her taking great care not to strain his wounds by guiding his gnarled shoulders up to where she was partially propped by a mound of pillows near the headboard. After shifting over her for a few moments, he sank the side of his worn cheek to the curves of her bared clavicle, one muscled arm wrapped around her back, and pulling her to him.

They laid there for a while, him taking the occasional sip of the prepared tea, with Corrin stroking his hair.

"This takes me back." He murmured wryly. "That first time in the healer's tents ..."

"I believe you called it our flagrant scene..."

"Where, my dear, is the lie?"

She snorted with terrible fondness, and his eyes twinkled up at her. After a moment, his hand drifted down to her hip, fingertips lightly touching her skin so it prickled, and she savored each of his callouses.

As she knew he would do, that same hand slid languidly down her curves, fingering her panties that he was oh so fond of. Corrin couldn't help but smirk.

"You haven't changed one bit - still endeared to them, aren't you."

"Ever since I stole a pair from you in our castle, so long ago. You've married a panty-thief as well as a black-heart; horror of horrors."

"Gunter!"

He chuckled deeply against her flesh, his thin nose trailing an odd semicircle pattern, and she realized he was tracing her heart's position.

"No more secrets."

Corrin suddenly ached at the bone-deep regret in those three words echoed back to her.

[emblemxeno]

I watched some more of the “Good Guy Garon” mod rewrite for Fates and, for once, there's actually some interesting ideas when they got to the Valla chapter of CQ.

The first major change is that Corrin recognizes the Vallite soldiers as the same people that killed Mikoto and is infuriated when he sees them, to the point of stating that he won't leave until he's avenged Mikoto by killing them; the second is that they added in an exposition dump where, before the two of them leave Valla but after Azura has already left, Gunter exposition dumps the Nohrian siblings's backstories to Corrin, more specifically what they went through when Garon's concubines went to war with each other and why Camilla's so clingy to them; and the last major change is that Corrin and Azura's plan is changed from putting Garon on the throne in order to have him reveal his true form to the Nohrian siblings to convince them to kill him, to putting him on the throne because they think the throne might be able to exorcise Anankos out of Garon and restore his sanity if he sits on it.

The first change has logistical (I don't understand how Corrin knows the invisible soldiers are the ones who attacked Mikoto when the only person he saw attack prior to his transformation was Sumeragi, who looks nothing like the Vallite soldiers fought in the chapter, and it's heavily implied that he doesn't remember what he did during his rampage, meaning he probably shouldn't know that these are the same people who killed Mikoto), character (Corrin is bizarrely angry at the Vallite soldiers even after being told by Azura that they have no heart or soul and are empty shells, meaning that Corrin should know that being pissed at them for killing Mikoto is equivalent to being pissed at a knife for killing someone instead of it's owner, which is ridiculous, along with it contradicting his character of being peaceful and forgiving, which is admittedly downplayed through the mod but is still an integral part of his character), and gameplay (i refuse to believe that this Corrin, who JUST finished having an angry rant about how much he wants to tear apart the soldiers in front of him for what they did to Mikoto, would ever be willing to run away from the soldiers like they still can in the map itself) issues, but i do somewhat appreciate the attempt to more heavily integrate the events of the prologue into the main story, even if it was a heavily flawed one.

The second one is probably the best change made in the entire rewrite, if only because if there was a scene like this in the main story itself we would have less illiterate dumbfucks calling the Nohrian sibs stupid for being loyal to Garon because they couldn't be bothered reading supports and/or didn't pay attention to hints throughout the main story of CQ as to why they're so loyal to him, but it still has pretty major logisitical issues (why in the fuck did Gunter take this long to tell Corrin about the mess with Garon's concubines when, according to him, he saw the children being used as pawns first-hand and didn't stop them only because he didn't have the power to do so, especially when the thing that prompted him to exposition-dump all that to Corrin was Corrin making a mild complaint about how clingy Camilla was, which is a sentiment i refuse to believe he never once shared with Gunter in the decade or more he lived in the fortress and god knows how many visits from Camilla; additionally, both of them are massive morons for choosing to have this long-ass conversation in Valla, after being told by Azura that reinforcements could show up at any second and ambush and kill them. Surely they'd wait until they were safe and sound back in the real world to talk about this?). Still, those complaints aside, it’s one of the few scenes added in the rewrite that i think genuinely improves upon Conquest's story instead of either changing it into something entirely different or making it worse.

The third change is weird; while i like the domino effect that leads to Corrin coming up with the throne idea but with the intent of saving Garon instead of killing him (Garon is still somewhat sane in the rewrite, leading to Corrin being significantly more loyal to him and liking him more, leading him to theorize that he might be able to save his adoptive father from the demon that's possessed him if he were to get him to sit on the Hoshidan throne), i not only don't get why he wouldn't tell the rest of the Nohrian siblings about the plan in that case, since they ARE all fully aware and in agreement that there's something seriously wrong with Garon's mental state in the rewrite and would be much more willing to try out a method that would help fix him, unlike in the main game where Garon went insane years if not decades ago and trying to convince them to betray him would get Corrin into deep trouble, but it makes Corrin come off a whole lot worse morally; instead of winning the war for Nohr because they have no other choice at that point but to try and minimize the casualties that will come with the inevitablity of Nohr winning, they go to war because they think it might help save one person's life. While it's not a massive change in the long run, especially since Corrin's situation in the rewrite is pretty similar to their canon one in terms of their limitations and their not having much of a choice on the matter, it's still weird to change their motive to something so selfish.

All in all, this mod has been somewhat interesting; it's mostly just bad fanfiction, but it has some interesting ideas sprinkled in here and there that i could actually see being interesting what-ifs or improvements, if only there was more thought put into them and if they weren't restricted by trying to remain mostly faithful to a story that heavily relies on elements of it's plot being a certain, very specific way, for it to work, while also trying to rewrite said specific elements at the same time.

The first point I can jive with, cuz as you said, bringing more stuff back from the prologue helps its current integration into the main game not feel as rushed.

The second is kinda... ehh, I won't say bad because I agree that having the Nohrian court drama be brought up in the main plot would be valuable, but on the other hand, my problem is that people just didn't care to read in between the lines in the first place.

Why does Xander freeze up when talking to Garon and hesitate to push against him? Why does Camilla act like what happened in Cheve is just another day on the job and says to tough through it? Why do both Camilla and Leo say that Garon would execute them on the spot if they spoke out against him like Corrin almost did, and why aren't they freaking out? Why is Elise, despite being the youngest, doing a similar routine of "brush aside the trauma and horror, apologize later"?

The answer should be obvious that the siblings are victims of abuse and are forced to do terrible things (or at least be complicit in them) in order to just survive. It's my honest opinion that there shouldn't be an entire scene or aside where characters exposit at you exactly what the deal is; to me, good writing makes the answers clear without feeling like you're reading SparkNotes. Gunter I feel is also a... strange choice, because as you say, why only tell Corrin about it now? Surely this wouldn't be the first time Corrin has seen the Nohr siblings act strangely or on edge? And knowing that Garon's an asshole wouldn't change that, cuz Corrin had an entire chapter with Gunter still with them before going to the canyon, so couldn't theoretically talk about it on the road?

Tldr on the second point, I think having character backstory involved in the plot is good on paper, but it can bring in a slew of logistical issues and can drive the pacing to a halt depending on where you put it. And it's especially apparent on a mod that changes a pre-existing story.

For the third, it's a similar issue, cuz like you brought up, it makes even less sense to not tell the siblings. The whole reason why Corrin and Azura aren't telling the Nohr royals is because "your dad has to die cuz he's possessed by an evil demon" is not something you easily process as an abuse victim that's trying to convince yourself that your parent doesn't suck. Changing it to something that would be positive for Garon means there's no reason not to tell the siblings, that just makes Azura and Corrin look like assholes.

As a whole, there's certainly interesting ideas, but implementation leaves a little to be desired imo