#I want to get beat the shit out of in a sword duel

[blues824]

Heya bestie I mostly request a lot of females but this one is for the lads.

Akaza In the remarried empress

🏀Just imagine how a man like akaza would react he drinks his respects woman juice daily and the remarried empress is set in a medival setting so sadly woman rights are different.

🥊Like her is a childhood friend of heinley(that's how heinley got so much respect in this story for most women except rattrash ) and Duke ergi is just on the border of being his friend because of the bad luck he gives to woman.

🏀He came along with heinley the the new year Ball and people instantly knew who he was he is known in the western kingdom for his recpect to women and his brutalness towards weaker men.

🥊Akaza being surrounded by women and wanting to talk to him because they see him as a good man and they want to see if its tru he is the most respected man in the western kingdom and its tru he treats them with so much respect they fall in love.

🏀I can see the akaza reader being pissd of with sovieshit how he misteats navier for a woman who has the personality of a mere child instead of making her his concubine he could have given her a better place and gets her away from her status as slave.

🥊Imagen when sovieshit pulled the sword on heinley for "slandering his womans image " he accepts the dual and beats the shit out of sovieshit and tells him that he needs to respect all women not just one especially a woman he cheats one especially when he has a wife.

🏀I see rattrash wanting to pull him on her side by talking shit about navier that she is infertile and that doesn't make her a woman only for him to explain that she is a well respected woman and instead of being hateful to navier she needs to hate sovieshit for not hepling her how she deserves.

🥊Rattrash then talking to Duke ergi and him explaining that he beat his woman respect vision in to him when he was a child along with heinley "that's why her is a gentleman towards her "

🏀and her hearing stories of him beating women their abusive husband for hurting their wives and that he got away with it because he is so loved in the western kingdom and explains one time there was a riot because he was jailed by a noble and that even the king of the western kingdom was pissd.

🥊Meanwhile navier hears from heinley how he whoud never treat women like sovieshit does to him because of his friend akaza she knows about his story and reputation and is glad that he is friends with heinley.

🏀Later on navier gets married whit heinley and akaza visits and said if he becomes like sovieshit to tell him so he will beat the lesson of respecting women into heinley and heinley sweating in the bg.

Does not include Kosair or the Grand Duke Kaufman or Duke Ergi.

Sovieshu Vict

You were a noble in the Western Kingdom, right hand man to King Wharton III. Your reputation preceded you as a man of great respect when it came to women. The swarm of women around you was basically a dead giveaway. However, instead of ushering them away, you addressed each by name and you promised each of them a dance… that was unless they were married. You were not about to make other men angry and cause a disturbance of the peace.

However, when you saw Empress Navier upset with the Emperor, who was dancing with another woman, any thought of respect for His Imperial Majesty flew out the window. Instead, you went to Heinrey, in whom you could see the lovesickness, and you ushered him towards Her Imperial Majesty. You knew your friend like the back of your hand, and if anyone would treat her right, it would be Heinrey.

A few days later, when the prince got in trouble for “slandering Rashta’s image”, you took his place in the hypothetical duel. After all, you were the most expendable option here, as you were no heir to the throne. However, in order to prevent any fatal harm, you offered to bring Sovieshu to fisticuffs instead of a swordfight. Needless to say, it ended with him being bruised and you being scratch-free. You hadn’t studied martial arts for nothing, after all. 

Of course, this is when the story of you being thrown in jail for nearly beating an abusive man to death. You had seen the fear in his children’s and wife’s eyes, and you couldn’t take it. The King had enough with your anger issues and threw you into prison, but there was a huge riot within the Western Kingdom. Because it was disturbing day-to-day life, you were let out with a large warning and a criminal record. However, you managed to charm the Queen, befriending her in the process, which made her a valuable ally.

Rashta

She had never heard of you, but by the way that all the ladies at the New Year’s Party were swarming you, she judged that you were a good man. That being said, she definitely did want to talk to you. However, Sovieshu kind of swept her up to dance, causing a ruckus even after the whole dress drama and people debating whether Navier was copying her or if Rashta was copying Navier.

Anyway, when she was done, she saw you standing with Prince Heinrey, who seemed to be staring at the Empress. You were speaking to him quietly with a glass of wine in your hand, nudging him with your elbow. As much as the young mistress loves to pretend that she is, she is not naive. She knows what you two are doing. However, she’s not going to disrupt anything. If Navier is out of the picture, then Sovieshu is all hers.

During her—rather toxic—friendship with Duke Ergi, she asked how he knew how to talk to her and calm her down. That was when he told her about how you actually fought him for daring to disrespect a female friend that you all had in your youth. With his reputation as a womanizer, you thought it unjust that these girls who were drawn to him would be disrespected in such a manner, so you gave him a black eye, a busted shoulder, a busted lip, and a bruised pride.

Through her maidservant, she found out about your criminal record in the Western Kingdom. Even though you were the right-hand man to the king, you were still thrown in prison for nearly murdering a man who turned out to be abusive to his wife and children. However, the citizens held a riot to let you out. That wasn’t anything she could use against you, but it seemed like your respect even went to her as you could see her plans, but you both knew that it would be more beneficial if Navier went elsewhere.

Navier Trovi

She wasn’t the one to invite you, but she knew of your reputation. She had met you previously as you were an ambassador for the Western Kingdom as well since King Wharton III was constantly too ill to travel. Seeing you at the New Year’s Party was a pleasant surprise, as she had not known that her husband had invited you.

One thing that she didn’t know was that you were the one to usher Heinrey to get to know her better and even begin to court her. Infidelity was not something you often encouraged, but seeing the Emperor dancing with his mistress rather than his wife pissed you off. When you yourself spoke with her to introduce Prince Heinrey, she noticed that you were not nervous. You still spoke to her with respect, but there was a spark of mischief in your eye.

You were known for being ruthless with men who you deemed unworthy of even being alive. Your scars were kept visible because you were feared among all men in any empire or kingdom. Navier found herself curious about them, but she knew better than to ask because the last thing anyone would want is your criminal record being outed to the media

However, someone else seemed to get a hold of the papers at the time, where the headline was ‘WESTERN KINGDOM NOBLE BEATS MAN TO DEATH’. Instead of being ashamed, though, you smiled as you asked that person if he would have let that man’s wife be beaten to death along with his children if he allowed that abusive man to keep living. That shut everyone up rather quickly.

Heinrey Lazlo

You were his best friend since youth, along with Ergi. However, you were not afraid to beat your shared friend after he made a girl cry. As you all grew up, you all were heartthrobs, but you were not in the habit of leading women on. You instead wanted to find ‘the one’, as did Heinrey, but Ergi was still set in his womanizer habits.

Anyway, at the New Year’s Party in the Eastern Empire, you were there for him to talk to when he visited the Empress in his bird form. He reminded you of a puppy, but you were happy because you knew that he would never let her down the way her own husband did by ignoring her presence and not taking his wife’s side when rumors started floating around.

Unfortunately, try as you might, your criminal record always found a way to be in the spotlight. Rashta had hired someone to expose you, and you had gone to prison years ago for beating a man to death. However, what neither knew was that Prince Heinrey and Duke Ergi had your back, as you clarified that the man was abusive and you were not going to stand to see a woman and their children be beaten because he had gambled on the wrong horse (literally).

That being said, you no longer held any respect for the mistress and vowed to be there when her crimes caught up to her. You had allowed Ergi to use his charm to manipulate her into trusting him, and you gathered a bunch of evidence to help Navier and Heinrey build a case against her. Also, you had visited Viscount Lotteshu, and while he himself was a piece of shit, you learned even more about Rashta.

[privatebooth]

The epic battle with the Arishok!

Didn't think I could pull it off, but what do you know!

The world will never know just how much of... everything was put into this :')

Anyway, the duel. Sometimes you just need someone to cheer for you, so Hawke gets his little cheerleading squad! I usually take these guys with me here. Obviously, they couldn't really do much, but at least Hawke had their emotional support.

Fenris remained calm because of course he would. He must have a lot of faith in Hawke to put him forward to fight the effing Arishok! (I use the mod that makes it so he always arranges the duel - even if Isabela comes back. So happy it exists! Without it I only managed to hear this dialogue once - on my very first PT when Isabela left me for real. Got a lot less fun without her, but damn did it make this fight incomparably more epic! That one time we really fought for the entire city, and not just one friend.) Of course Fenris worries, he just really believes in Hawke this much)

Aveline had to accept her helplessness and also trust and rely on Hawke. Bear with it, girl!

Isabela was not thrilled about someone fighting for her, so she's very displeased and not hiding it.

Varric is the most openly worried one here because he's a sweetheart and gives his all to root for his buddy <3

And then Hawke gets stabbed and held up on a blade like a piece of meat and everyone looses their shit, because why the heck wouldn't they?!

With how the Arishok ran his sword through him I'm still not sure how Hawke survived at all. Isabela freaks out because it's all her fault.

Must have been very painful for all of them to stay put while Hawke took a brutal beating, and I'm sure they were all itching to rush to his aid. But no.

Thankfully, Hawke somehow managed to get up and patched himself up. Yay! The city is saved!

I'm a tiny bit bummed that the base difficulty of this fight was significantly lowered down by patches. The first time I played it... It all happened so suddenly I was not prepared at all! Didn't have nearly enough potions, was slow to notice that my foe was immune to fire, and kept wasting mana on useless spells... Running in circles to recharge... and to not die because I did run out of potions at some point. And I really didn't want to replay the game...

Oh, but we couldn't die there: the entire city was at stake!

Just... What an experience! Nothing could possibly compare to it EVER.

Next

[bi-hop]

my thoughts on rgu ep 5

god, there's... a lot to unpack with this one! holy shit! where do I even get started... I guess just at the beginning like a normal person, but wow-

so we start off with Juri and Mickey fencing, which. I dunno if the show explained them as fencers before, but it makes sense. I like how close the two of them seem to be, even outside of the student council context. there was that whole library scene last episode of course and now this. Juri's insistence that his sword is not for battle seems important... but we'll get to that later, I guess

dear God please stop flashing back to his sister <- this will not stop

Utena being like "oh are y'all having a romantic moment" is so funny to me. the denial... Anthy isn't going to do anything, bro, she's engaged to you?

anyway we're back to Anthy playing the piano for everyone... and we're back to Mickey's backstory

I will say despite the clear importance Mickey places on music and therefore on how his relationship with his sister was destroyed once she quit playing the piano, it's HILARIOUS to me that his tragic backstory is... he convinced his little sister to do a concert with him and then got measles. okay.

^ LMAO HE SAID ALL THAT AND THEN ANTHY'S JUST STIMMING TO THE METRONOME

okay jokes aside it's also obvious to me why Utena is more invested in this story and Mickey's feelings towards Anthy than Anthy is. Anthy is fully devoted to being the Rose Bride and what that entails - devotion to whoever wins her in a duel. Right now, that's Utena. so why would she engage with and acknowledge Mickey's crush right now

"It's ridiculous to make a girl someone's bride because of a duel! I can't forgive a system that deprives someone of their personal freedom!" Finally!!!!!!! We finally get Utena fully articulating her issues with the Utena-sama and engagement spiel beyond the more surface level denials of "I am a girl who must be interested in boys because I am a girl" and "this is just weird" from a few episodes ago

My GF: ... okay so the student council saying that egg shit is just their Team Rocket motto-

MICKEY... You can't just plagiarize Utena's words and alter them to solely be focused on Anthy, that's not how this works-

Also, I know the student council is like... an apocalypse cult or whatever, but could you really disband it just because some random kid said so? Like isn't Mickey 13 or something. where is the head of the school in all this?!?

... WAIT WHAT THAT'S HIS SISTER.

[The camera cuts to me gagging as I am forced to process the implication that Touga pursued Mickey's sister out of... retaliation? An assertion of control over Mickey? To instill a reaction to 'fight for' what he wants and owns, but those things being girls in a more conceptual sense than anything true and real?]

And here we go... Anthy's likes again exist, obviously. She likes animals, she likes playing the piano, she presumably likes being in the greenhouse. But her desires are always secondary to her existence as the Rose Bride. what her fiancé wants matters more. If Utena were to beat her, she'd tolerate it, as we've already seen with Saionji. If Utena were to demand she stop talking to Mickey, she'd probably do so immediately. If Utena were to say she needed to stop playing the piano, she'd do it. And of course Mickey feels so attached and entitled and threatened after the Touga shit that he's like "well, I gotta duel Utena now". UGH!

Everything is Touga's fault- /j

There is clearly something being said as well in the way in which Touga's words are repeated and re-animated, focusing heavily on his exposed chest, but I don't really want to think about the ins and outs of that right now. [The camera zooms in on me shaking my head pensively.]

Utena def feels betrayed after all of that, though. SHE WAS ROCKING WITH YOU!!! SHE WAS ROOTING FOR YOU!

I can't quite word this, but the shadow girls' pirate spiel is clearly relevant. I just can't fully word why right now. I guess the analogy is that Mickey is so beloved for everything - smarts, piano, fencing, student council stuff - but he can't ever possess what he truly wants, which seems to be... I don't know, actually. The shining thing is how he words it, but maybe he's just looking for someone to inspire and support him? And he words it in this idealized way because no one in this fucking school is healthy or normal-

"I think being seated at the piano suited you much more." I AGREE! (And so does Juri... hm...)

Okay, so obviously Mickey loses. Obviously the new duel song is great. But I am continuing to think about how Mickey is both right and wrong here. He's able to intuit that Anthy is not happy over the dueling system, though she'll never let on to that. but he incorrectly assumes that Anthy will support him because 'I'M the one thinking of her best interests', conveniently forgetting that Anthy will always support the person she's engaged to. Who is Utena, not him at the moment. and of course the shock of that makes him lose. Then again though, maybe I'm falling into the trap too like him and assuming she's unhappy... lmao who knows

The reveal that Mickey's sister was actually shit at the piano and he just didn't notice (and neither did the guy who had a crush on her)... something is going on there about idolization! Something! I wish I was like ten percent smarter today, it's slipping through my fingertips

Anyway, good episode, made me sick to my stomach in some parts! Excited for Anthy being put on trial for attempted murder next episode-

[shuttershocky]

It really is something how beloved Shimousa is when if picked apart it wasn't even that good.

WAIT before you all throw your shoes at me, know that I fully agree that Shimousa rules. It's the only FGO chapter I really want to see animated and done right. I also just don't think it was that good.

Shinjuku had the stronger narrative arc for its primary protagonist (+ antagonist) Moriarty, Salem made better use of its setting with some fantastic paranoia and the surprising introduction of the outer gods into Type-Moon, and Seraphix (the CCC event) was just Nasu showing off his skills by using the structure of the ballet Giselle and making Meltryllis follow Giselle's footsteps while making something completely different while Shimousa was a straightforward "beat these seven guys and then the boss" adventure. If it wasn't for Agartha existing, Shimousa might have actually been the worst part of Epic of Remnant. All of its strengths would have been vastly improved by being in a different, more visual medium (see: the manga version and its sick art), as the format (and just the prose + dialogue in general) just couldn't capture all the cool shit it was trying to show you.

Yet it's the most popular, and it's just so damn fun. Musashi's charisma is among the best in Type-Moon, and everything about her just clicks. Her character design is simple and yet instantly recognizable, she can turn on a dime between being the dashing hero and the goofball oaf, and most importantly, she dual wields swords. (That's rad as fuck.)

Musashi became so iconic they're literally making a whole game about samurai so she gets to appear in something else after FGO killed her off. What a star.

This part probably doesn't apply to as many people, but if you're like me and like a lot of old Type-Moon it was also just really great to see TM do dark fantasy / horror again. Shimousa went MAXIMUM chuunige: servants get horrifically corrupted beyond the point of saving and their eyes weep blood, Musashi's duels take place in a field of skulls underneath a blood moon, there's a terrifying scene where Musashi beheads Lancer of Purgatorio, only for him to keep laughing and fighting while his head reformed from warped flesh from his neck. We even got a new EMIYA remix out of nowhere. What the fuck.

Shimousa ruled so hard. I want an anime so bad, but at the same time I don't know if I can trust an anime to do it right now that I've seen what the manga did with it.

[deusexlachina]

Wannabe Warden Part 15: Defeat the Qunari with their/my own medicine and also drugs

In which I fight the most infamous battle on the highest difficulty level and am forced to actually come up with a good strategy.

Just then, Isabela shows up to save her girlfriend from being mashed. She gives the Tome of Koslun back to the Arishok. Finally, they can leave! As long as they also get the thief. Who is my girlfriend. I tell him he's already got what he came for, but the Arishok was assigned to be a general, not a compromiser, so we're at a standstill and the best solution he can think of is to duel me for the girl. Isabela objects because she is literally a duelist and holy shit is he stealing her thunder right now.

But I alone have the Arishok's respect, so it's time to duel him. He's incredibly tough and has deadlier moves than me. Everything says I will lose. But I've got a secret weapon. Back when I was dealing with the saar-qamek gas leak, I gave Other Aveline a weapon called Desdemona's Blade, a purchase from the Black Emporium just for that fight, since Fenris won't wield wimpy one-handers and only Other Aveline can decree the poison gas safe. Ole Double-D here deals nature damage because it's covered with poison or something idk.

The damage looks low, but elemental weapons ignore armour, and against enemies weak to nature damage, it does double damage. This is immensely helpful against every fight with mercenaries, such as the saar-qamek fight, since they're vulnerable to nature. It turns out, so is every single Qunari. I bought this weapon to deal with enemies trying to kill Qunari and now I'm forced to kill Qunari with it myself. I would appreciate the irony, but I'm too busy soloing the Qunari army after they wiped out my entire squad. Practice self-care. Get Desdemona's Blade.

It is almost unanimous among the DA2 fandom that this fight is next to impossible as a warrior. It is also nearly unanimous that Sword and Shield is bad and so is Pommel Strike. For some reason, they haven't seemed to realize that this fight is hard precisely because they refuse to use shields or, uh, pommels. Along with Cleave doubling my damage again, and a high critical hit rate from other gear, Double-D can do enough damage to slightly interrupt the Arishok, meaning more fighting and less running. Assault deals even more damage and interrupts him even more - with equal DPS, Assault beats any 2-handed talent for single-target damage. And I'm not doing equal DPS, I'm doing more DPS, because I have Desdemona's Phucking Sword.

Even the shield itself helps a great deal. With a shield, Courage (stuffed with armour runes like everything else I'm wearing) I take substantially less damage, which also means less force, i.e. I don't get ragdolled. Without a shield, I get thrown around the room, even getting stuck behind this Qunari beefcake. The indignity.

Pommel Strike is a warrior move where, instead of hitting the enemy with the business end of your blade, you cleverly surprise them by hitting them with the much less dangerous pommel. This is so stupid that it stuns them for several seconds. This disrupts most of the nastiest threats in the game - it shuts down commander auras, stops mages from using their nastiest attacks, and keeps rogues from stealthing. And it works on the Arishok. He sometimes resists it, but if he doesn't, he's helpless for several seconds, and by the time he's done wiggling around I've nearly got another Pommel Strike waiting for him.

But there's one truly cruel thing about the Arishok fight. Even if you're winning against him, he will...you might want to sit down for this. He will drink a potion and heal himself. Apparently he can do this up to three times, but I can't confirm this because anytime the fight lasted that long I either died or went into a fugue state as I kited him for like half an hour. "But Aveline!" you might say. "You use potions all the time, especially in boss fights. Why is it so obnoxious when they do it?" Because the boss is an NPC. They don't have to actually experience the horror of nearly winning before their enemy unilaterally decides to not die and make the fight even longer.

But my respect wasn't just to Sword-and-Shield and Pommel Strike, which, to remind you, nearly everyone says are horrible. To further spite the Wrong Dragon Age Community, I unilaterally decide to join the Templars, which is also supposed to be the worst specialization, and even the wiki thinks you should spec out of it for this fight. Yes, that means using deadly and addictive lyrium. But I'm just using it to get out of a rough patch, and I'll simply stop using it when things get easier. (THIS IS A VERY BAD IDEA. NEVER THINK THIS FOR ANY DRUG -ed.). Being a templar lets Silence the Arishok, which can lock him out of his abilities. This seems to include the potions, giving him effectively less health. This is one of the only times in a game the boss tries to use a potion and I can Just Say No, which I probably should be saying to addictive drugs but I am not. It also makes him glow white, which is pretty embarrassing.

Oh, and it also gives me another source of stun. The fight's starting to look even, but I have one last trick that makes it unfair in my own favour. The Qunari disguised deadly poison as explosives, killing civilians, forcing me to nearly get killed by deadly mercenaries and, worst of all, I had to use Other Aveline. To repay them, I hire my poisoner to make Combustion Grenades - explosives, not poison gas. These deal fire damage, which he's completely immune to, because he's from a hot country I guess. But he's very much not immune to the stun, perhaps because using fire on a fireproof man is stunningly stupid. I bring ten of these and don't even manage to use half before I've killed him. I probably didn't need them at all, but you can never be too careful.

With the Arishok dead, the City of Kirkwall proclaims me worthy. (And when I say the City of Kirkwall, I mean this milf with a crown, but the Viscount got killed so she's now the most important lady) My heart soaring, I await to be finally dubbed a Grey Warden for saving the Grey Wardens from almost certain death at the hands of the Qunari (and, indirectly, Other Aveline). Instead, I just get the Title "Champion of Kirkwall."

GOD

FUCKIN

DAMMIT

[sapphireblueandfire]

it’s the third time this month.

cold january midnight. muddy training yard. they’re beating the shit out of each other after a stupid argument. aemond can’t even remember about what. it’s clouded by the pounding on his ears. the red-hot pain piercing through the fresly-cut wound on the back of his hand and—

lucerys has gotten way better at this, so they’re both battered and breathless and in an impasse and. aemond is tired. so tired. of wanting. of not wanting to want. of every blow carving up another wound in that place between his ribs where nothing ever heals so,

he lets his sword drop into the ground.

“you know what, nephew? maybe we should call it a draw. this―” points between the two of them “this doesn’t make sense anymore”

and lucerys. fills up his lungs. a long, deep draw of air. looks at aemond that way, that makes him feel like he’s holding his head underwater. says “no.” grabs aemond’s wrist. tugs to get him close. brings his hand up and “no” repeats, and then. sticks out his tongue. licks a long, wet path of saliva along the bloody, swollen mess of aemonds knuckles. gazes locked because. aemond’s eyes had been already on him, are always on him. and it took two, three, four. five fights. but now—pupils blown-up, deep and dark— luke ’s always watching him back.

“you were the one who started this, and now i don’t want it to stop”

or; that one i probaby won't write where aemond keeps challenging luke to duel in the middle of the night so he can try and burn him out of his system and then things take a sudden turn to the unexpected (in the stables just right by the training yard, to be exact)

[bonjourxrenae]

Re: YGO x Utena AU

So - I do have a little bit of this written, and I’ll link to the document, but ehhhh I figured I’d get some ideas out here

If you want see another cool YGO x Utena AU (aka, the one that inspired me to write my own!) there's this concept!

Ahhh, I dunno… I like the concept of Utena Sword Duel in the Cool Dueling Arena in the Forest, But Also The Duel Monsters Are Here, and the story having both elements and beats from their respective source materials (the Duels are foretold and eventually the protagonist will have to duel End of the World in a bid to gain the power of world revolution; becoming the Shadow Game Heir and stopping the great and terrible evil from destroying the world) but logistically I had trouble making it all Work

Yugi is obviously our protagonist - our Utena. Yamiyu is the Rose Bride(groom) - our Anthy, and Atem is firmly in the role of Dios (Yes, this is a primarily Puzzle-based AU)

The Student Council are the Millennium Item wielders, but they really don’t correspond with anyone from Utena’s student council… Closest association I could get is Pegasus to Mikage but he wouldn’t be on the council so much as he’s a professor at this AU’s Ohtori Academy

Kaiba would be president (naturally), but he doesn’t really fit Touga to a T… if anything he’s a mix of Saionji and Touga. (I will listen to Nanibito mo Kataru Koto Nashi on repeat thinking about what those lyrics mean and SOBBING) But I imagine he does the same Suicidal Duel tactic/acting like the King who met Yugi in the past to shake him, and sort of gets sucked into the mind games of End of the World and phasing into his past life as Set (to a degree) once he gets the Rod back

I also love thinking about Mokuba as Nanami (give that boy a sword and a knife hehehe) and then he essentially takes over the Student Council while Kaiba goes on an Obsessive Depression Bender after losing to Yugi AGAIN. And I need Mokuba to uncover all the fucked up shit behind The Rose Bride and the Nature of the Duels please...

I like the idea that Kaiba’s on he Student Council despite not having a Millennium Item… I think by rights he should have the Rod, and the idea of it being Stolen would be a plot point in a chapter

(speaking of the little shit who stole the Rod) Having Malik as, like, all the motivations of the Black Rose Duelists but with Miki's motifs... just feels right to me. I also imagine the duel split into two parts - one with him and the other with both him and Yami Malik (as another Rose Bride??) I was just stuck on which monster/spell cards to associate with his duel. I had it in my mind that he'd use a combo of Helpoemer and the Mystical Space Typhoon (Spira Mirabilis plays in the BG) but ehhhhhhh

Isis in a mostly Juri-based role... with the themes of Finality, Fate Set in Stone, No Such Thing As Miracles... idk, it wasn't really vibing in my brain, and I was having trouble placing her motives clearly. But I like the idea of her in the Student Council and her suddenly trying to get a handle on the situation with Malik (also I struggled figuring out which monster/spell card to associate with her hrmmm... in my document it's Spiria but EHHHH)

... I don't even know where to even put Shadi hhhhh maybe as a Shadow Player??? idk idk

and then obviously there's the Bakurae, and I can't really do them justice ??? because Ryou is on the Student Council and is the unwitting duelist in a Miki-aligned role, while Yami Bakura is another Rose Bride scheming on the sidelines, puppeteering Ryou with Dark Necrofear and Dark Sanctuary (until Ryou fights back with Change of Heart), and hastening the duels to the final duel for Revolution

TKB/Zorc is Akio/End of the World. Because of course he is. I do refer to him in my documents as The Man In Red, while Atem (Dios) is wearing mostly whites and royal purples.

AS FOR ANZU, JONOUCHI, AND HONDA... they have all been relegated to some aspect of Wakaba - but Jonouchi is especially The Wakaba (the one that attempts to punch out Kaiba and accidentally gets into a fistfight with Yugi) Honestly, if I had the time, I'd like to see all of them becoming Black Rose Duelists and having Yugi absolutely struggle with these duels because "no!!! these are my friends!!!" but Yamiyu is here like "aibou, you have to draw your sword!!!"

Anyway, that's where most of my thoughts were - and then there's the matter of the themes of 'princes' and 'witches' and trying to make those same motifs work with 'kings' and 'thieves' and I just got really tired trying to figure it out

But if you're interested in what I have written for this, you're welcome to check it out here: [Dust and Gold]

[orangecharactersmackdown]

i literally just woke up to see the ask and yeah sure go ahead! please put it under a readmore though its like 1.3k words long iirc

awesome, here they are then!

[submission: Davesprite]

Sorry I didn't mean to caps lock but this is the Dirk Strider guy again and I feel awful for not immediately thinking about my boY DAVESPRITE!! MY GUY DAVESPRITE oh my god you don't know anything about homestuck but imagine being a thirteen year old boy who knows to some deeper capacity that your older brother is abusing and neglecting you but all you can do is try and play it off because your only three other friends have problems too, right? Everyone deals with shit from their guardian. John gets into fights with his dad over cake every other day. Rose always has some mental throwdown with her alcoholic mother whenever they pass by each other. Jade lives on a fucking island with only her literal Dog for a guardian and no one else with her because her grandpa was dead and she was the one who had to stuff her grandpa's corpse to taxidermize him.

So his problem isn't even 'that big of a problem.' Never mind that his brother literally throws him off the stairs every other day, or that he beats him down with a literal fucking sword and when he isn't beating his weak ass down, he's subject to psychological torment with all the puppets and cameras he has all around the apartment you live in. Because his brother has some fucked up interest in Saw and he's like hahaha okay it'd be so fucking hilarious if we put the thirteen year old (and younger, since who knows how long he's been doing this) in basically psychological and physiological torment. Never mind that he has to hoard food in his closet because his fridge is filled with just swords and his brother barely gives him money to get food somewhere else. That he's practically always starving but it's alright since even his friends are going through shit. He doesn't have the right to complain.

I'm not downplaying that the others also didn't have a shit time, but the fact that he repressed it so bad that, at first, he couldn't even fathom that he was living it badly? It sucked.

I mean, it's okay, right? Things will get better? He has three of his online best friends. They're going to play a game together, but, ah fuck he accidentally spilled some apple juice on that. Not only a waste of food, but he'll have to try and get his bro's copy of the game. He has to literally duel him in hand to hand combat and the only reason he gets an edge into his brother beating his ass down is because he sliced up that stupid puppet (the one who he didn't know at the time, held a fraction of an alternate version of his brother's soul). He thinks that maybe, no definitely, that his bro loved that puppet more than he ever could.

But that's okay. Now he's playing the game and its all chill. He merges a crow he killed on accident with a game construct meant to guide him and now he just has a literal bird with a sword through its gut who just caws at him periodically. This sprite thing is supposed to guide him but it's just being a general fucking nuisance.

But then suddenly its not okay. These assholes who were trolling you who knows how long ago are Really kicking up the trolling now.

But it's okay. He can vibe with that. He can vibe with that, and it's alright. He'll just have to go with the flow. The girl trolling him is actually pretty cool and is his friend now. Sick. This is amazing, actually. We stay silly. But then suddenly everything gets worse. Never mind the several versions of his own corpse he has to throw away, not wanting his friends to see it. Never mind that he doesn't want to see his corpse. Never mind that he shook when he held his own dead body to dispose of it out the window of his apartment.

John is dead. He never hears from Jade. He never hears from the trolls again.

He can fix this. He has to fix this. There has to be some way to fix this. Rose, we have to fix this, we can't leave them dead.

They try to look for a way for four months.

They don't.

John is Dead. Jade is Dead. The trolls are all fucking assholes because he just knows his 'friend' was the one who led him to his death.

But that's okay. He can manipulate time. He can just go back… but what about Rose? His Rose that was the only other person left in this timeline?

She tells him to go and stop John and Jade from dying. He tells her to go to sleep, hoping that she'll remember this in her dreams.

Dave has to leave. And he does.

But at this point, he's not Dave anymore. There can't be two versions of the same guy in the same timeline. So he has to think of a way to try and- oh, who am I kidding. He merges himself with the game construct of a bird with a sword in its chest so not only does he constantly have a sword in his chest, but he's not the 'real Dave' anymore.

He talks to John. He tries and dissuades him in his typical 'nonchalant' fashion. He can't fail. But he can't let John see his weakness.

He almost fails. But a breath of relief when John remembers to trust his friends.

But he's not Dave anymore. He's Davesprite, the guide. Davesprite the game construct.

With how much I've written, you think I'm done, huh? Nope.

Nobody counts him as a real person anymore. He's just a game construct meant to help people. He's a guide. An NPC. He's just some bird guy who slowly but surely gets more and more depressed about his situation. But it's okay. He can help. He can help his bro kill this villain who was messing up everyone's chances at winning.

It's mortifying to see the man he found invincible to be killed, even with an NPC's help. He can't bury him. He leaves. He knows he doesn't have a chance but he has no idea if he is still mortal or not. So he does what he does best- Leave.

He finds Jade. But it's not Jade. It's Jadesprite. She tells him her woes and they… bond. They went through similar things and it feels like it'll be okay. Until Jadesprite gets replaced by the Actual Jade, and she smiles knowingly at him, telling him that she still remembers before she does some badass shit that he'd never thought her possible but it's so cool.

And they're dating. You'd think this is happy and good, but he can't. Not for a while, at least. He starts feeling worse and worse and worse because John keeps separating him too much from Dave when he's still Dave. Jade… Jade is too good for him, and she deserves way better so he pushes and pushes and pushes in hopes he annoys them, finally, and it works. He breaks up with her and maybe it was a fucking lowblow to weaponize John's dead dad against him but it works. They hate him now. Davesprite.

Three long years. He spent a good portion of that alone. He doesn't really find a use for himself so he stays there while everyone fights the big fight. He's not relevant anymore, so why should he help?

Shit happens. Everyone is dead. They move to another timeline where he hears Jade spent three years alone because he and John died there. He doesn't care that he died, but he feels worse knowing Jade spent so much of that alone.

He can't meet her. He doesn't deserve it.

[submission: Davepetasprite^2]

It's that guy again. You wonder why Davesprite's infodump was so. Unsatisfactory at the end? Well. Here is the conclusion of it. But let me give you some pretext.

And also not to search Davepeta up if you are sensitive to flashing lights I am Begging you. I love them so much but holy shit my eyes hurt constantly.

So yadda yadda we put Davesprite's whole thing here but what if we added more? What if they were more tragic?

Story in: Nepeta. I won't go too into detail because she's green but she's a part of Davepeta so we have to at least go by the basics.

She's a middle class troll who enjoys roleplaying and art. She lives in basically complete isolation because her house got bombed and now she lives in the wilderness. She enjoys it here, but she's so lonely. Her romantic partner is a bit too controlling, but she knows it's because he worries about her. She just wishes it was a bit less because she wants to have fun and shes capable, but he's a higher class guy and she knows he can't quite help it. He does listen to her, but sometimes the compromise could be a bit better. But it's okay. It's alright.

She has a crush on someone named Karkat. She's a little weird about it but she's 13. She can be a little weird about it. She wants to play the game with him and their friends, and she does. They win. They win, but they don't and now they have to live in hiding. She talks to a few of the humans, maybe roleplayed with Dave a bit and talked with someone's sprite? A cat?, but doesn't do much.

Basically everyone dies. Only she and her partner are alive that are immediately reachable but her partner decides to try and stop who is killing them. He doesn't, because he dies. She gets mad and… dies.

Her life could've been so much more fulfilling, but she was too busy playing the role of someone people like or could like. She could've been more if she let herself Be more rather than just following. She could've been happier. But she's dead now.

Except she's not because she becomes a sprite and then things are weird because that cat sprite she was talking to earlier? But now also Rose? Rosecatsprite? Or something like that is trying to court her. She's confused about this because she's never really talked to Rose and the cat was… a cat! But she tries and humors her just a little bit for now…

until Davesprite comes in. Unbeknownst to her, she can still merge with another sprite.

So Davepetasprite becomes so much more. They're so sick of just taking the sideline and they want to be a more active player in this. They don't feel so useless anymore because they're now the amalgamation of the best parts of Dave and Nepeta and they're not just some dead person to themselves anymore. They're an entirely new being so bent on becoming happier and less lonely and they want to thrive and they will. In my heart, they will thrive.

[dlamp-dictator]

Actually, while I'm gushing about the story and lore I think I'll talk about another of my favorite bits about Orie, namely her one-sided rivalry with Wagner.

Basically, it goes like this:

Wagner: Come Orie Ballardiae, let us dance the dance of death as we once again clash swords. I want to slap dirt on that elegant face of yours and see you sweat as struggle in the mud and muck against each other. I need to see the darker, more merciless techniques you hold back from human foes. For what stands before you is not a human, but a flame-coated weapon in human form. Cease your hesitations and strike at me like you mean to kill me! Come Orie Ballardiae, face me! Orie: Erika, please leave me alone.

But here's the more complicated version because I had to gush a little further.

For some quick background -despite how it seems- Orie and Wagner are implied to be around the same age, or at least in the same grade.

Orie is also known to be a very hard worker within Licht Kreis and as such rose through the ranks to become a 5th Executor very quickly. To spare you all a lot of lore and technicalities, just know that Wagner, a prodigy, powerhouse, and noblewoman with connections, is a 4th Executor and on paper her and Orie are pretty equal in pure combat.

With Orie's high rise to fame, the top brass of Licht Kreis wanting to take advance of the publicity, and rumors that her strength could rival even that of Crimson Knight Wagner, a practice duel was set up between the the rising upstart Orie and known prodigy Wagner as a way to boost morale and show off both girls' skills as Executors.

Now, this is a political stunt by Licht Kreis and everyone knows it.

Well, everyone within the upper rankings of Licht Kreis knows it, including Wagner. Wagner knows that neither gal can actually afford to truly fight the other. Erika losing the fight would show the weakness of Licht Kreis's sword and strongest fighter, and Orie losing would show the weakness in their rising star and kill the morale of the common soldiers. It is very important that Wagner and Orie only fight to a certain point to show off their good sides with dirtying each other. Wagner was specifically told to not go too hard on Orie and to just keep up with her strikes, put on a convincing fight, and the referee will stop the fight once things start to wind down. This is just an exhibition where they aren't even using real swords. There are no real stakes here.

And then Erika Wagner proceeds to try and beat the shit out of Orie for realies because fuck her.

Okay, to be fair, that was part of the plan. Erika was told to go all out to a certain point then slow things down after a while so the ref could call the match at a time that'd show off both girls' strength and abilities.

But... because Erika Wagner has the social intelligence of a rock she started to buy Orie's rumored hype too much. She knew Orie was holding back and hiding some of her harsher techniques and wanted to try pulling them out, so she went harder than needed and Orie surprisingly kept up until the ref called the fight just before either girl could accidentally ruin the original plan.

And since that day Wagner has seen Orie as her sworn rival, desperately wanting to get her runback and see just how strong Orie really is.

And Orie fucking hates it.

A reminder, for all of Orie's implied elegance and levelheadedness she really is just an airhead that happens to be hard-working and good at fighting. She really didn't want to be targeted by Erika. She didn't even want to cross paths with Erika after their duel. She barely even remembers Erika's face after their duel to the point that her teammates had to remind Orie about it and give her a refresher on Erika as a person.

But.

She keeps hearing people talk about it. She keeps hearing people mention Licht Kreis's rising star who's able to keep up with the Flame Tyrant. And those rumors completely stuck, much to Orie and Erika's chagrin. And even worse, because Erika can just barely read the room if her life depended on it she's convinced that Orie is, in fact, her main rival and as such Orie is now one of the few people Wagner will listen to and somewhat take seriously. But Orie just wants to, at most, befriend Wagner so she stops trying to pick a fight with her. And even worse, Orie's mission, along with gather information in Kanzakai and stopping Hilda, is to be the holder of Erika Wagner's leash so she doesn't (literally) go nuclear and destroy the city in a tantrum.

Unfortunately, the rumors and Erika's temperamental personality makes it so that only way for Orie to have a conversation with Erika and somewhat control her behavior is to actively play to her ego and perception of Orie and pretend to be her rival.

And it fucking works.

Erika absolutely eats it up and Orie can more or less run Erika around her finger so long as she words everything like a challenge, much to her chagrin as Erika has made it very clear they're throwing hands during the Dark Hour and 'settling their score' if they cross paths while on the job.

Orie just wants to punch in and out of her job, eat ice cream, and hang out with Hyde. Orie is in a corner quietly sobbing about how management is giving her all this extra work.

[joyandfolly]

I can't believe how hard everyone is trying to ignore the incredibly obvious chemistry between Elijah and Nick. Right from the first night it was obvious that there was a strong bond of mutual respect and affection between them. I mean, Elijah was the first person to receive a token, and from who? NICK. And he’s still hanging onto it too, almost like he values it way too much to burn it.

Elijah’s the only one who consistently calls Nick by his preferred name, when his boss and his literal fellow bodyguard both called him by his full name, even though he hates it.The first letter Elijah sent him, he called him Nick and signed it with his name. Not his title. His name. That’s a huge gesture from the son of a duke to invite a non-noble soldier who’s way below him in social status to call him by his first name. Right from the beginning!

Don’t even get me started on that duel. You could tell that neither of them wanted to fight it and they were both in agony over it. Elijah has such a sexy protective streak, just like Nick, and he only gets that angry about people he cares about. And he. Was. Pissed. And then Nick deliberately threw the fight and let Elijah beat the shit out of him because he didn’t want to hurt him, even though he got in serious trouble for it. And Elijah cares so much about his skill and hates being seen as incompetent (you know he must have gotten so many people assuming he wasn’t as good with a sword anymore because of his hand), but he still surrendered because he wanted to leave Nick his honor. Which other ships constantly have them bringing out the best sides of each other like these two do?

And when the Red Duke showed up, what happened? Nick gets Noel behind him and Elijah steps up to get between them. Immediately. Like I said, protective streak! I think there’s definitely going to be a moment where the Red Duke threatens Noel (big mistake) and we see Elijah and Nick team up and kick his ass (and maybe finally acknowledge their feelings for each other?)

[vancilocs]

lore dump

so yeah the royal family life wasnt super wonderful, gandr fenrir and helle’s dad the former king spent most of his youth being more involved in overseeing his lands, politics, diplomatics and doing swordplay and horseplay than have a family,

guy had multiple wives and it pretty much always ended in “my husband is always away, i have found a better husband in some noble/knight/bard/random nice townsfella” and then her and her new boo being ousted from the court and banished to live their lives in a whole another country.

then when he got to like 40 he kinda went oh shit, i need a legitimate heir (idk if he has illegitimate ones around) and started looking for a new wife but he had a bit of a reputation as a shit husband so he didn’t really find one UNTIL he came across that one woman

he beat her in a sword duel and she agreed to marry him (”i can fix him”), she was really brash and headstrong, the marriage began pretty okay even if her family was absolutely against their mid-20s daughter marrying a guy in his like 60s and it was a whole scandal to them, her side of the family always hated her husband and they never met her children

she never ended up fitting in the court, never liked the strict etiquette, didnt really appreciate the manners and how people ended up talking behind her back, she wanted more power in politics and he didnt give her that, so she ended up just mainly sitting and drinking wine and giving him three kids

gandr was welcomed well bc healthy son, cool, you’ll be king one day. he was absolutely dad’s favorite since he even resembled him more with his hair and eye colour, he could dote on the boy all he liked and taught him to be a political powerhouse, gandr was the golden boy bc he knew politics and maths and languages and manners, all the tutors for him

fenrir was at first an okay addition, definitely not dads favorite since he had moms hair and eye colour and turned out to be a difficult child in general, bad at school, had bad manners, rebellious and prone to tantrums and growing up he had to be dragged into social situations which would make him cry so he got thrown out with the bathwater especially when helle was born. never was taught good coping mechanisms so he ended up repressing/exploding, hitting things with sticks, later on drinking and disassociating

helle resembled mom more with her dark hair and she was overjoyed (as much as she could be) to have a daughter, she figured that it was enough kids and she could then devote all her time and affection to the girl, she wasnt expected to be the heir like gandr so she didnt need all the tutors, she could do basically whatever she wanted and thus spent most of her time around mom and her handmaidens doing crafts and swinging swords

so with gandr busy being tutored by dad all day and helle being doted on by mom all day fenrir was basically left to his own devices, just followed around by hood when he wasnt being rigorously trained to be gandr’s bodyguard one day. fenrirs reputation as a naughty child wasnt helped by his anxiety making him destructive and angry and running away on occasion, sneaking out to bars and getting drunk at 15 and being brought home by gandr because big bro didnt want him to get in more trouble, it wasnt a huge surprise (nor a huge loss to his parents) when he ran off to be a mercenary at like 17

gandr was his biggest supporter and defense, always making excuses for him and soothing his dad like heyyy he’s just a little birthday boyyy don’t be so hard on him, let’s go see the ledgers again for the fifth time today, he may not have understood what fenrir was dealing with but he was a solid support to him and listened and even let the kid cry which mom and dad wouldnt have let him do

the king was around 80 and on deaths door and mom was nearing 50 when fenrir got dragged back to the castle, and from him being brought in the king understood that gandr wasn’t going to recover, so he just basically opted to give up and die rather than see his other son become king, and with his death mom took it as her cue to leave the castle too to return to her homeland, she wasn’t at fenrir’s coronation and neither was she at his wedding, hasn’t met her grandchildren

dad set everything up for gandr, even picked hassaleh for him as a bride, but gandr did go the long way with courting her and if dad did one thing well, it was picking a good wife for her son because those two were madly in love and she was accepted by the people too

fenrir kinda has gandr to thank for him being more balanced because if he had just had his parents as examples he wouldnt have believed in love like that, sure with merope he didnt immediately feel that instant connection and the deep adoration hassaleh and gandr had for each other, but he knew it was possible and that he would be the best husband he could (hassaleh still being around and a tremendous support for them both helped), so they did grow into that love even if it took a looooooong time and he put in real and true effort to make her happy even if he still struggled with his own issues

(though his dad is in a weird way kinda to thank for fenrir’s successful marriage - if dad had cared about fenrir in any way, he would have picked him a wife already and would have chosen some random woman who would have gotten the kingdom some benefits, but since he didnt, fenrir was able to choose for himself and could pick a woman he already liked and grew to truly and deeply adore)

but being a dad he had to figure out for himself, he didnt know how to show affection to babies in general, much less his own (and the births being fairly traumatic for merope didn’t help, he did blame the kids for the pain she went through), and hassaleh couldn’t help with that, but in that case it was merope’s parents who aided him as much as they could, he kinda melted into showing love to the kiddos, something like holding them and kissing their head was a thing he didn’t know about but he figured it out, and now he does it even when the kiddos are adults

but it definitely shows in the way that their first one, ylva, is much more a mama’s girl, by the time aleksandros was born fenrir knew better how to show affection. also alex’s whole birth was so convoluted and dangerous (for merope too, almost goddamn died) it caused some long-term damage and he didn’t really learn how to walk until later and had some balance issues into his youth, so he did get more attention as a kid in general than ylva had, especially from dad who knew well enough what it was like to grow up with a disability, in his case pretty troublesome dyslexia (he never wanted him to feel like he was any less worthy like he had been constantly berated bc it took him a long time to learn how to read)

thankfully nepheli’s birth was remarkably easy and quick and fenrir had dealt with his issues well enough so she can be as adored from all sides as she deserves

fenrir regrets thinking about marriage and children solely as responsibilities (he HATES responsibilities) rather than things to do out of love, he understands he approached them wrong and because of that people have been hurt, but he’s talked that through with merope and these days he lets all of his children know how much he adores them

their parents are also a big reason why helle doesn’t have children, all that time with her mom made her kinda view pregnancies as punishment and she heard her mom often say how they ruined her own body, maybe mom didnt mean it that way but helle took it to say that she ruined her mom’s body, she doesnt have a massively negative view on love or relationships but she’s for sure glad she wasnt expected to find a partner like gandr and later fenrir, and definitely has never planned on having children

[peaterookie]

Lupin III Chapter 41 Review

It's like 2 am.. friday on a school day hits hard tbh but dw I'm still alive! Lupin review is back again and not any better than last time :D

before i start, one thing i like to point out about the english title is that they somehow kept the japanese title but altered the "ku" in a different place??? why didn't they just remove it

anyways adult lupin is back along with goemon!! its nice to see them again (they are yassified in this panel fr)

goemon still doesn't like lupin as usual and lupin is back to steal from his master, as usual!

this time he wants the jito sword art, which is as best as i can describe it some kind of scroll about some sword technique he hires a bunch of assassins i believe but goemon kills all of them and hes like you cant get the scroll, asshole.

then lupin goes to goemon's master and asks for it hes quite a stubborn asshole about it so the master rejects him and he departs looking for other devious ways to get it

i love the constant gag of stuff getting thrown at him

then goemon and the master talk to each other they just shit talk lupin and how the jito scrolls can't be stolen and it has to be earned with merits

then this woman comes out of NOWHERE and she was listening in their conversation the whole time! she's like the most confusing part of this chapter for me she's either like a journalist that shoves her nose into everyone's business or working for lupin somehow

the tokyopop translation says: (after, i checked to make sure it matches the og translation and yeah they did a decent job with it)

Panel 1: "No? That's cool. I make up half of what I write anyway." (talking about how the scroll has to be earned with merits and whether it's true) Panel 2: "What a scoop! Lupin III is after the Jito Scrolls." Panel 3: "Front page for sure!"

needless to say she talks to lupin about it and he shows off the scrolls he's stolen... and some other stuff.

she's me while reading the shitty part of the manga

im glad monkey punch put in a character we can all relate to anyways lupin becomes a pervert towards her so she just smacks him on the head and leaves W move!

then we have a shot comparing the master's skills and lupin's in the master's side we have goemon and him skillfully defeating some assassins that they assumed was hired by lupin the journalist girl observes them and goes wow cool !

then we pan to lupan who tries to break these stone pillars with his legs

then ok this part is so funny the journalist girl was like wait he didnt break a single one lupin just walks away to his house all cool and then its revealed that all his limbs are broken

WHAT DID HE THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN??? im losing it rn

after that the master and lupin decides to duel he puts down the scrolls and if lupin can beat him then he can take it lupin is up on this cliff thingy while hes below the waterfall

and yeah goemon is there too he doesn't do anything he gets immediately sidelined as the master tells him to leave since its 1v1 fight

lupin asks the master to give him 10 seconds to prepare himself until they make their first move and then when 10 seconds passed lupin reveals that he was in the water the entire time, limbs intact, and kills the master classic lupin plot twist i dont even have the energy to question it tbh

im assuming after that he takes the scroll and as foreshadowed from the panel where he showed off the bras to the journalist... he tries to have smex with the journalist but he fails aaand gets a bucket smacked on his dick

as deserved!! also that left top panel looks TERRIFYING JESUS CHRIST sorry lupin but you cant get your extra trophy but at least you got the jito scrolls the end.

this chapter's ending confused me a lot at first but after the review it seems like i got it i think

even as a manga fan reading the first manga series is rough but doing these helps me appreciate it more :) my review is shitty and just done for fun after all but hopefully from this people can be more encouraged to read it

[adozentothedawn]

Consider, what if:

After Ursa was banished and Ozai stole the throne, he assigned both Zoku and Azula a middle aged, decorated war veteran as a trainer and minder. The goal was both to further shape Azula into what he wanted and humiliate Zuko when he couldn't keep up. However, he somewhat miscalculated in that because the woman was not interested in abusing children. Instead she trained both of them to the best of her ability, both in combat, politics, and recognizing when they are being mistreated, to varying success. Both children grow at least a bit closer again and a bit more suspicious of their father. It's not enough, but it could never be in situation they're all in, and she is very proud of her two charges. But precisely because it is not enough, Zuko makes his stand and is burnt. She cannot help him. She swears to not fail Azula. Zuko survives and is banished and she takes a risk in packing up some supplies he shouldn't have like his swords and the mask and has them smuggled on board before he leaves. Unfortunately she is discovered and Ozai, who has at this point grown somewhat suspicious of her relationship with his children takes the opportunity to have her arrested. An execution would be politically impractical so he has her imprisoned at the Boiling Rock. Azula is hidden in the room and watches as her only positive authority figure is dragged off. They both know she's watching and they both know it's too dangerous to acknowledge it. So they don't, and Atula never dares to bring Ozai's attention back to her by trying to establish contact. Zuko meanwhile doesn't know this happened and for 3 years thinks his mentor has disavowed him.

Time skip with a bunch of stuff that is mostly the same except Azula is slightly less vindictive and slightly more aware of her own precarious political position. She and Zuko are less in a constant fight and more carefully dancing around each other to put on a show for Ozai.

The Boiling Rock, season 3. Azula never shows up but things still happen more or less the same. Except this time when they are in the gondola and stopped, a figure only familiar to Zuko drags herself out of the crowd, beats up the guards and fixes the mechanism so they can escape. Before she is overwhelmed she smiles sadly at him and shouts Good Luck. Zuko is shocked, disturbed and itching to go back while knowing he can't. Everyone else is deeply confused. He spends the way back shouting at Chit Sang trying to find out what the hell happened to her.

Cut to the Agni Kai between Zuko and Azula. Azula is still paranoid and scared but not entirely unhinged. She doesn't want to really hurt Zuko. She doesn't particularly want the throne either. But she cannot just give up, because what if Ozai wins? So they agree on a much more structured Agni Kai. Because they are who they are they Azula still starts taunting him and eventually their teacher comes up. The duel gets a lot more emotional for both of them while they shout at each other who should have told who what when. Zuko eventually wins. Azula relents and tells him his 12 year old better damn win or they're both dead.

Zuko of course frees their mentor after he is crowned, some political and emotional shit happens that I haven't yet figured out.

The end.

[ycurkxng-a]

Resistance

Characters: (Post Mortem) Dean King, Iewa Rome, Star Crole, Jon Elias

TW: None

Notes: This hit me like a shovel to the back of the head

A trip out to the village just across the water to the roaming trader, that's all it was, that's all it should've been. Dean had decided to head over, asking for the company of the other two as he'd simply rather not be alone, even for a mundane task such as that.

But no, the situation had become something much worse when they had noticed a small gathering of villagers, circling.. something. That's when Dean was quick to rush off, see what was going on and leaving Star and Iewa to chase after him.

Elbows pressed into people's sides to push them away, allowing Dean passage through to see what was going on. Two villagers stood across from one another, swords in each hand. Jesus Christ, a duel. "For crying out- hey!" He barked, stepping into the circle and standing in-between the two, his hands held out with his palm facing each one respectively. "Can we fucking not? This isn't worth it."

It seemed his words had no impact as the two only stared at him, one seemed to lose the tension in his body while the other continued to glare and grip his weapon. "Get out of here." Jon spat, causing Dean to whip his head to stare at him. "..repeat that." Was the simple response he got, the attention now completely off of the other man and now focused solely on this one.

Stepping closer, the man did just that. "I said, get out of here. Do you really want to get hurt over this?" Dean glared back, his hands suddenly balling into fists at the same speed Iewas did. "Is that a threat?" He hissed, leaning in close until their faces were mere inches apart. "It'll be a lot more than that in a minute, get out."

When his threat and repeated command didn't make Dean back away, that was when Jon began to worry. How was the guy without a weapon staring him down, only getting angrier as he spoke? That wasn't right, no one did that, no one HUMAN did that. "You really want this?" Dean asked, the anger now radiating off of his body and heating the area around him.

He couldn't back down now, he'd already gotten here, so many people were watching- he had to go all out. And with that mindset, he raised his sword up and started to reach for his other hand to grab it to take a swing, more of a warning one. But he wasn't able to grip the handle with his other limb before the larger male grabbed onto his arm and lifted it up, using his free hand to cock it back and swing his fist directly into Jons jaw.

Shit, that wasn't something he anticipated. The hits didn't stop either, with his arm still raised up in a crushing grip and his mind still trying to process the hit, all he felt in his face was repeated blows. There was incoherent shouting from the crowd around, but no one rushed in to help. They simply watched as Dean proceeded to beat him down, a load of dickheads they were he supposed.

Eventually his legs gave out underneath the barrage of attacks, and his grip on the sword faltered. The blade fell to the ground only seconds before he did too, and Dean let go- but not for long. As Jon laid there, staring up at the sky, it became blocked out by the others hulking figure. A terrifying sight, but what came next was even worse.

Even the crowd hadn't expected Dean to continue, dropping to his knees and pressing them against Jon's sides, Dean's hands wrapped around his neck and began to squeeze. His eyes had grown dark and enraged, his grip crushing his throat and cutting off all airflow to his brain and lungs. The crazed look across his face was something that somewhat frightened his partners who now began to step in, shouting out to Dean as he continued to choke.

The rush, the adrenaline, fuck, this is what had entrapped Dean for so long. He missed the feeling of power that flooded his senses, an overwhelming amount of pleasure that overtook all senses, it was addictive.

And that's exactly what turned him into a killer in the past.

Realization hit like a shovel, and in a panicked motion, Dean threw his arms to the sides, letting go of Jons throat in the process. He began to breathe once more, desperately drawing air into his lungs as he stared up at Dean in absolute horror. If it had been the past, he would've felt a sense of pride. But no, he felt sick.

With his stomach churning, Dean slowly fell back and off of the other just to stand up. The corners of his mouth turned downwards and he seemed to have a thousand yard stare, not focusing on anything else but his own thoughts which now screamed. He only moved when Iewa stepped forward and took a hold of his arm, Star following behind and helping the other pull an almost lifeless Dean away from the scene.

His legs mindlessly moved, but his stare was unwavering in the distance. Iewa began to mumble something in his ear, the worry was evident in his voice but the words themselves seemed to slip right through Dean's head. That didn't go by unnoticed by Star, who took a gentle hold onto his still shaking hand as they continued to walk out of the village and back over the bridge.

After hearing of Dean's life after their deaths, Star and Iewa understood just why he looked so shaken up despite the fact he'd been the one who nearly murdered someone. Leaving him alone in a state like this wouldn't just be dangerous and morally wrong, it'd be downright stupid. That's exactly why they wouldn't, rather, they sat down with him when they got back to their home.

It took hours before he was able to speak, but even then, his sentences were short and quiet. It was better than nothing, and showed he was at least still with them, more than just psychically. Progress, at the very least. That was all they needed from him, to just be there at the moment.

They'd never know just how bad things had gotten in situations like this without them, but all they could do was make sure he wasn't alone with something like this. Something he was always going to be eternally grateful for, even if he'd never be able to fully show it.

[kunikuzxshi]

Ayato because a lot of people like him apparently. I get the appeal tbh

I got him literally at the most 30 minutes after his release at I think like 23 or 24 pity. I meant to pull on Venti’s banner bc I had a guaranteed 5 star. I still got him though, might not get childe now :( I had to use the pulls I saved for childe on venti instead

Random ass headcanons because I wanna get into writing again while I have energy

Sfw <3

Feel like he has his own, less expensive version of his jacket for you. It doesn’t have sleeves nearly as long as his though, I’m sorry

110% has a safe and when you look in it, it’s a piece of paper that explains how he pulls boba from behind his sleeve

Chess with him like in that one scene with him and Thoma, except he lets you beat him

^ he will crush you in chess if you start bragging a little too much about beating him

Kinda mean. Probably comes up behind you and nudges you just a little too hard to kinda knock you forward

The food he fucks up is still edible but he won’t eat it, therefore I think he’s picky. Just made something savory instead of sweet I think in his voiceline, or maybe it was the other way around

Leaves his sword straight up just sitting on your bed, probably because he forgot to grab it before he got up

On that note, it’s probably under his pillow or the bed every night bc yknow, easy access if something happens

He snores fucking louder than a jet engine, I’m sorry sweetie

Thoma’s somehow always in your room more than you. Probably to clean up the shit ayato takes in there and then leaves there

Has definitely taken some of his work into your room and finished it in bed, and then just forgot it the second he needed it

^ hence why Thoma’s practically always in there, even if he’s not cleaning

Sometimes he has Thoma pick up stuff for you when he’s busy and claims that he did everything to get it for you

He’d probably let you brush his hair while he’s working either really late or really early

Yknow how when you’re trying to do something without making much sound and you go a lot slower? My guy spends 30 minutes trying to get out of bed just to not wake you up

Thoma ends up knocking on the door and waking you up anyway while he’s halfway out of the covers

There is ONE clean spot on his desk and that’s where he lets you sit when he’s busy

Kinda likes when you just sit there with him

Maybe get a book and read a little bit of it to him. He’s paying attention… as much as he can at least

Still likes just hearing your voice. You could be gushing over some random cat you saw earlier and he would not know what you’re saying but still takes comfort in it

Probably puts his hand on you randomly. One day it might be on your shoulder, the next it could be on your thigh. Don’t point out the last one though, he does it subconsciously and will turn the same color as Thoma’s vision

Has fallen asleep during his lunch breaks because you let him rest his head on your shoulder

If you’re in bed when he’s not busy, depending on where you’re facing, he might kinda pounce on you

If you’re napping… he still would. If it’s after noon and you’re sleeping at all, it’s fair game for him to wake you up

Has memorized your favorite boba (if you like it)

Most likely had a drawer in his desk that’s solely just snacks for both you and him. And Ayaka if she manages to find them

Thoma gets none bc he can make his own food

He had someone clear out a room in the estate for you and now it’s your own little area. Not like you don’t have your bedroom-

If you draw, he insists you try and draw him and Ayaka at least once. Thoma too if you want to, but he thinks it’d be cute to have a family picture drawn by you

Jokes about you dueling with him and Ayaka a lot

Forehead kisses when he’s stressed!!! And not for him, for you, cause nothing calms him down quite like seeing you smile… except boba, but that’s besides the point

Probably squishes your cheeks when you stare at him for a little too long

Cooks with you but gets the seasoning mixed up. He sucks at measuring things too

Likes when you go with him to see another commissioner, though you have to wait outside. He just likes the walk with you tbh and he doesn’t really have much free time so that’s the closest thing he can get usually

You cannot tell me he doesn’t wear makeup of some kind, whether it’s eyeliner or… idk I suck with makeup. Anyway, he’d let you try your hand at doing his makeup, or he’d do some of yours, whatever you want <3

You can do the math. Don’t ask why I have so many pages, I wanted razor and didn’t get him until 40 pity and venti at 160

[linaselandbasil]

Lance and Valkyon childhood concepts (in my fanfiction) because we need some context for them:

Lance was a bug harasser ages 2-4 and frog bully ages 5-7

He initially never laid a finger on Valkyon but that little shit started fights and blamed him, so he started doing the same and now they're banned from the local market.

Their dad was a weird person. The kind that would go out at two in the frikin morning to collect earthworms to fish and wore full plated armour to hunt deer.

Their mom was also weird, but they didn't notice because she was the kind of weird person who has fun like a toddler. She would secretly tell them to throw pillows at guests she didn't like because she didn't want them over again.

They were forced to help their dad hunt earthworms and were told it was for soup. Technically true, it was for the fishes that would go in the soup.

Lance beat everyone up at daycare.

He was banned from daycare.

Valkyon started beating everyone up instead because someone has to do it instead of Lance.

Valkyon was a don't touch my friking hair™ kid.

Okay, mom can touch the hair, but no funny business!!

Lance fortifies the tree house multiple times a week, mom and dad approved until it's laundry day and that little menace has all the sheets with him four metres off the ground.

Valkyon never spoke, everyone thought he was cursed.

*young link noises*

Lance awnsers the usual weird questions that twins get in the most unnerving manner possible.

"Can you hear what he thinks? Is that how you understand him?" "No, he just sees the future and already told me what he was gonna say this morning."

Lance brings fluffy forest creatures home and asks mom if they can keep it. She's tempted to say yes, but her own two raccoon children are enough.

Valkyon brings home fluffy forest creatures carcasses like a cat.

They refused to wear shoes. Reject humanity, return to ooga booga.

No swords at the dinner table because they can and will duel for the last chickie nuggie.

They would steal shit and never get caught.

They wake up at the asscrack of dawn like pigeons and go out to wreak havoc. More specifically, to prepare elaborate pranks and redirect mail from around the neighbourhood.

They ate shoes like puppies. Just dragon things~

They committed arson but noone found out.

Their grandpa haunted the attic.

Their mom doesn't like the way babies smell.

I'll add more when I think of them!