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smolvenger · 9 months

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A Court of Mischief and Purpose, Chapter Seventeen (Loki x fem! Reader Hiddlesverse Crossover Miniseries)

Series Summary: Based on Sarah J Mass's A Court of Thorns and Roses series with the Tom Hiddleston characters. You are a woman of 1880's in Aldwinter in Essex, England, dying of tuberculosis. Never to be married to the local Lusty Vicar. When Loki appears to you and offers to heal you...if you spend a week of every month with him

Chapter Summary: You have returned to Aldwinter. And begin to set plans for your revenge on Will.

Word Count: 6K

Warnings: Some spicy stuff but no actual smut (please forgive me, the chapters in this fic are long enough), mentions of cheating and portraying Will's cheating as bad I am very blatantly against the Will/Cora pairing in The Essex Serpent and it shows so if you like either character or the pairing, you have been warned. Mentions of sex and religion and violence and abandonment. Supporting Women's Wrongs.

A/N: Thanks to @muddyorbsblr for the brilliant ideas about how Reader could get her long due revenge and the great suggestions!

Also,

Happy New Years Eve! Instead of going to clubs and drinking and partying or being invited to a party, I'm spending it editing fanfiction. So this is to all of you out there who too feel a little lonely like me and like you should be out there doing partying and "normal" things...you aren't the only one, and I'm sending you a hug.

I hope you enjoy the start of the "next" season of Court after that cliffhanger! Leave a comment or reblog or send me an ask or dm if you especially liked it! Happy 2024!

Series Masterlist

A03//My Ko-Fi//My Etsy Shop//Masterlist//Wattpad

Taglist: @asgards-princess-of-mischief @jennyggggrrr @five-miles-over @fictive-sl0th @ladycamillewrites @villainousshakespeare @holdmytesseract @eleniblue @twhxhck @lokisgoodgirl @lovelysizzlingbluebird @raqnarokr @holymultiplefandomsbatman @michelleleewise @wolfsmom1 @cheekyscamp @mochie85 @fandxmslxt69 @skittslackoffilter @mischief2sarawr

You could still recall your wedding with Loki.

It was night. The moons shone above. Stars sprinkled across the sky as people laughed and went out to restaurants and taverns. They weren’t the ones about to find a cauldron. They could go on in ignorance and always in safety.

But your own pulse was picking up as you held Loki’s hand. Excitement and nervousness.

You both walked into a temple, a building with a garland of roses over the door. For even gods still needed worshippers. Inside, there were two priests going about. An old man and a younger man in fine golden robes swept the floors. The younger one turned and gasped, tugging the sleeve of his sage.

They recognized Loki and both bowed.

“Ah, great prince and god of mischief, what brings you here?” the older one asked.

“I want you to marry us!” Loki announced.

Their jaws dropped, and the brown eyes of the old man grew large.

“Without the…the consent of the AllFather?” the older priest asked.

“No- I do not need it. I am not a child anymore. I am a man grown and this is the woman I want to marry.” Loki said, gesturing to you.

You walked over and placed a hand on his chest as he wrapped an arm around you.

“This is one order I give you, both as god and prince- Perform a marriage between me and Y/N. The Jotun Prophet says she is my True Love- always shall be. Don’t break the True Love Bond. Perform a marriage ceremony. I’ll reward you handsomely if you do.”

They relented. The Older Priest led you both to the large altar in the next room. It had a tall statue of Frigga smiling with outstretched hands from her gown’s sleeves. Firewood was brought to make a nice kindling blaze in the fireplace from the younger priest to the fireplace in the room.

The older priest gestured you both to You walked around it to the wooden table placed right before the statue. It was covered in runes in its tan wood. There was a small dagger, a cornucopia, and a tall, white candle that the elder priest lit with fire from the fireplace. The younger priest stood to bear witness, as well as holding a spare marriage contract for you both.

“The AllMother might feel a slight twinge in the air tomorrow, for marriage is part of her realm. But yet…if you are certain, then you are certain. Any last things you would like before we begin?” asked the older priest.

“It feels a little more like a lamb is about to be sacrificed than a wedding,” you shyly commented, for the Christian weddings of home were more what you were used to.

“The AllMother doesn’t like offerings of lamb!!” laughed the older priest.

“Here- let me make it more decorated, then,” Loki offered.

With a flick of his hand, there were flowers everywhere. Soft roses in bloom, their perfume a gentle caress in the air. They decorated the statue and the altar. Flower crowns were placed on the two priests, much to their amusement.

“Should I go back home and get that lacy bustle dress then? I know it’s your favorite” you teased Loki.

He gave you a small laugh, then lifted his hand and flicked it in the air.

Golden light came down from over your heads, he gave himself rich green robes with gold armor plates over his shoulders Both a prince and a groom.

You looked as the magic went over you and your clothes transformed on your body. You were given a long dress that was a soft blush pink to compliment his green. It shimmered when light touched it. It showed your shoulders but the sleeves were so long they draped to the floor, the way that a few of the queen’s dresses did. For that was what a woman of royalty wore. The bodice made a heart shape over your chest. On your head was a long veil that went down your back and onto the floor of sheer material, forming a beautiful train melting into a lacelike pattern. It made you look like you floated.

You smiled up at him.

“It’s beautiful, thank you!” you gasped.

Loki smiled, then nodded at the priest for him to begin.

You clasped hands. There was a prayer and some milk poured into a bowl and placed at the feet of the statue as an offering to Frigga..Loki conjured daggers for you both to trade, symbolizing how you would protect each other.

“Now, make your vows to each other,” signaled the Priest.

Loki held your hands. Though the priest whispered the words in his ear, he repeated it with sincerity.

"I, Loki, do swear before the AllFather and AllMother, take you to be my wife, my friend, my lover, and my companion. From this day until only death do us part. I pledge you my fidelity, refusing all others as long as we live. My softest words and tenderest embraces. I shall choose to respect you and choose to love you. In my bed and on my table. In battle and in peace. In sickness and in health. In joy and in sorrow. Day and night. From this hour, as long as we both live."

You took his hands and repeated what the priest whispered into your ear.

“I, Y/N, do swear before the AllFather and AllMother, to take you to be my husband, My friend, my lover, and my companion. From this day until death do us part. I pledge you my fidelity, refusing all others as long as we live. My softest words and tenderest embraces. I shall choose to respect you and choose to love you. In my bed and on my table. In battle and in peace. In sickness and in health. In joy and in sorrow. Day and night. From this hour, as long as we both live."

Then Loki’s magic brought up the ring- the very one you won from the Weaver’s cottage.

“That was why the Weaver thought I earned it…even she knew…” you wondered.

“She’s a matchmaker then, who knew,” Loki teased.

Loki placed it gently around your finger. He conjured a ring that you slipped through his finger.

There was a final prayer and chant. The younger priest brought forth the document which you both signed.

“Now seal it with a kiss- and all the nine realms shall consider you husband and wife,” announced The Older Priest.

You did, happily. Embracing each other and locking lips. They both smiled and applauded. Loki paid them generously with a conjured bag of coin.

You both were still holding hands as you hurried home. Your wedding gown and his shoulder plates glowing in the moonlight.

With the crowds around Asgard, you could slip by unnoticed. But you were smiling. He was red-cheeked, almost running and pulling you with him until you picked up your skirt and met his pace. You ran together back home at an equal speed. The thrill of being married at last soaring in your hearts.

You got home in your finery, clutching hands happily. At the entrance, no one came to meet you. The guards simply allowed you through, never asking questions.

“Husband…” you teased, tasting the word. Placing a hand on his warm chest. His eyes went big.

“In the older times, a marriage isn’t considered legal until it is consummated. Is Asgard…like that?” you asked with a slight giggle in your voice.

Loki took his hands around your waist.

“Better safe than sorry, then,” he agreed.

He scooped you easily into his arms and carried you right into his chambers. Taking you onto his green bed and laying you down.

He crawled on top of you and kissed you. Desire burned between your legs as he let in some of his tongue and touched your face, pulling you close. Hands greedily running down your body. Giggling you rolled over so he laid down and you were on top. The veil shimmered as it fell from your head into a melted, sparkly puddle on the floor. He let out a small gasp of surprise but laughed it off, his ivory face below you, his beautiful black curls splayed across the bed.

‘Now that we are wed, I’m going to make my wife scream with pleasure on our wedding night. And every night after that.”

His hands went to your hips, gripping the flesh beneath the cloth. You set yours on his broad shoulders.

“First I’ll have to spare your stallion and ride you instead!” you whispered.

“I love you, my wife… and princess,” he voiced.

“I love you too- prince and husband,” you said.

You began to grind him as he undid his own leather trousers. Then you pulled up your long skirts and began to sink onto his-

“O God, whose blessed Son was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil and make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life:...”

The vicar’s voice broke you out of your memories.

That was just the past. And here you were in a familiar scene. The memory is still warm in your body though you were back in that sterile church.

“Grant us, we beseech thee, that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves even as he is pure…’ Will continued to intone, signaling the beginning of the service.

You were sitting dutifully on the front row next to your parents. Just as you did for a long time. You were back home in Aldwinter, but you did not feel like the same lovesick girl counting down the days to her wedding and smiling up at the vicar with love and even restrained lust.

No, you kept your eyes down to the checkered floor, hands positioned to pray. You wore a dark-colored dress, but you were not in mourning. You would paint the picture of piety and repentance here. Still aware of the eyes still on you. Of the gossip.

“She left our respectable rector for that god. Yet she’s back here and - bless him, he loves her! He’s going to marry Y/N anyway despite all of that! Despite her being ruined. Despite her betrayal,” was what they were whispering in their pews and parlors.

‘They got it wrong as to who ultimately betrayed who. Twice.’ you thought. But you held back that part of you in your head. It was rather talkative lately, but you knew better than to utter a word of your true thoughts.

You looked about. There was the old chandelier that hung up with unlit candles. You wondered how they stayed on. What would happen if one were to fall? Would it hit someone?

To your amusement, you realized one hung over where Will was standing. You wished you could make a candle fall to hit him on the curly auburn head. It would have been funny, even the congregation would laugh. But you didn’t.

It deserved to be a knife aimed at his skull instead.

Everyone kept their heads down, though sometimes a pair of eyes would meet yours.

You were back. You told them- your family, old friends, and neighbors- little of what happened. As far as they knew, you were enchanted. But the spell was broken. Yhat you were returned safely- to pray, repent, and process all that happened with Loki…

And sometimes you did. The things you never imagined you would see or do when you went to Asgard. You thought you would live a plain little life in a plain little town and that you were content to do so. Did they know that you learned how to wield swords and daggers? That you were blessed with magic? Of the people you met from other worlds and timelines and planets? Stole belongings or helped in their stealing? Escaped death multiple times? Fought? Even killed? That you found new friendships with queens, princes, and warrior women? Seen aliens? Been to a ball? Met gods and learned to love one and was even married to him?

Now- here you were. In your old clothes and old church. Did those grand adventures even happen at all?

You knew they did.

There were a few extra faces in the pews. For some in town were surprised by an influx of men who built small houses and stayed nearby. Some women were thrilled for a bunch of new bachelors and hoped for marriage with one of them. They all said they were part of a construction company and factory that was nearby…when really they were of Grendel’s army. Bullies and monsters, all of them. And it was none other than Will who agreed with Grendel to let them stay in the town…if Grendel got you back here to him.

Will’s sermon continued as normal. He seemed happy as he began to discuss Paul’s book of Romans. Once you would have sat up in rapt attention. But you could hardly pay attention to it anymore. He seemed like a ghost in his long white robes. He wore a long blue sash draping down his shoulders trimmed with gold with symbols on the ends. He smiled brightly as he stood before the congregation, folding his hands so they disappeared from his robe’s sleeves.

You heard the voice of your husband through the bond.

'I’m going to kill him,' Loki said clearly in your head.

'Not yet,' you replied.

'I’m going to get out my dagger, and stab him right where he is.'

'Loki, please, don't'

'Then I’m ripping a portal to this church, slinging you over my shoulder, and carrying my wife out of this place. Right. Now.'

'Loki, I wish you could- but consider: they're watching. The whole town is watching and not just now! Everyone is obsessed and looking for you. My parents keep the doors to the house locked except for when I go on my daily walk. Everyone has purchased a weapon. They’re searching like madmen for you in Aldwinter. It’s not safe for you to just barge in.'

Now people discussed the Trickster god who kidnapped and ravished women more than the Serpent that was just a dead whale. They searched everywhere. Children played games and whispered about him. One thought they saw him in the woods. Another thought they saw him in the marshes. People kept close eyes on their daughters- he took first you, then Stella twice, and who knew which lady would be next?

One day, there was a rowboat on the river in town. It nearly ran into another rowboat. And no fishing nets were inside.

“What are you out here for?” one rowman asked.

“Lookin’ for the Trickster god! He was sighted here, wasn’t he?” answered the other boat’s first rowman.

“Blast it, not if I find and shoot him first!” said another rowman from the other boat.

‘But, my dear pet-’ Loki continued to sigh.

‘No- I don’t want you to. Besides, even if you could quickly get me out, I don’t want to leave yet…not without seeing to it that Will is punished’ you sent to him.

'You do deserve revenge, Loki agreed “So I should turn into a cat again, trot up to him purring, and then jump out and stab him.'

'Loki, it is a habit of men to avenge women they love who were wronged. It is in many stories- it is always the woman who suffers and dies horribly because of a villain’s sins and it is not her, but the man who is allowed to live to avenge her. Those writers don’t understand we ladies are perfectly capable of exacting our own revenges. I would like to do it. I am the person Reverend Ransome has wronged most of all. If anyone should do the stabbing, it should be me.'

'Then get a knife and throw it towards him in church!' Loki suggested.

'No! He will duck and it shall be me who goes into jail and shall be killed, not him. I can’t just murder him willy-nilly and with no certain escape or sanctuary. I must be careful with this if I am to get away with it.'

Part of you was impressed by him. Making a deal for your safe return at least, done by a man whose heart couldn’t be settled on one woman. You were keeping your simmering rage at bay. You took a look at the church, you noticed the walls that seemed blue-green in the overcast sky when they were really white. The light brown pews and the table with a tall wooden cross on it with two candles between. The three chandeliers. The two windows that overlooked everyone were like eyes.

When you burned Aldwinter to the ground, the church would be first.

No, no you couldn’t. Why should so many innocent people suffer because of one man’s decisions? You had to figure out how to exact revenge on the reverend Will Ransome, in a way that would affect him and only him. And in a way that no one would suspect it was you.

The service continued on as normal. Though you were always in a half-sleepy, silent daze now instead of at attention, doing every repetition of prayers and singing each hymn and crossing yourself soberly.

Sunday evening, as always, a nice dinner was made for Will, your fiancee and guest. It was as if the letter you wrote to him ending things was never sent.

It was the same picture. Everyone sitting down in your house. Napkins draped across laps as forks and knives clinked with plates. The smell of the meal wafting- your mother’s roast with salad and bread and potatoes. Laughter and chatter.

You would make a smile appear on your face, eating politely and quietly.

Then your father made one clap and rubbed his hands, looking at you and Will.

“Now- let us discuss the wedding! Do you have a date selected, my dears?” he asked.

“We have discussed about the wedding a little more…” Will began.

‘But I’m already married,’ you thought, glancing down at the emerald ring always on your finger.

Then again, Will wasn’t known for respecting the boundaries of marriage.

The Lusty Vicar placed a hand over yours and held it.

“We will reschedule the wedding for next month,” Will suggested. His blue eyes shined to you. “Then, my angel, I shall finally call you my wife.”

‘I would rather the Serpent become real and devour me,’ you thought.

“It shall be lovely,” you replied with a small smile.

“We shall have a wedding- free of interruptions and no sickness and no spells. It shall be simpler, mind you- we all know how much the first one cost,” your mother added.

“A big wedding doesn’t matter as long as it’s with a good man who truly loves you,” you commented.

Will again looked at you softly. He spoke with a smoothness, almost a seductive tone, like when he proposed to you. Not caring the others were there. In fact, they enjoyed it.

“It was God who told me you were to be my bride, Y/N.”

‘But God didn’t tell me.’ you thought. You only looked up at him and smiled.

“And we shall spend our lives fulfilling His word together,” he continued.

‘Did God also tell you to stick your fingers up Cora’s-’

“Oh, how beautiful! To see you finally married off to this godly, lovely man!” your mother sighed out loud.

“I am the happiest woman in Essex, ” you replied.

He kissed your hands and left back home.

“Y/N, now that you are a parsonage bride, be sure to attend to your duties at the church tomorrow. You must become used to them,” your mother reminded you.

One idea hit you. A small step.

Revenge you realized, was similar to cooking or baking. When one has a recipe, there are all sorts of small ingredients to gather, steps to take, and things to measure and mix. Small steps. They don’t seem like much at first, but bit by bit, they became something bigger, grander.

“Yes, mother. I shall,” you replied dutifully.

The next afternoon, the church was empty. Only Will and a few others planning out events in the meeting room. You had to help keep it tidy and check plans for Sunday School, for you were now going to join as another volunteer teacher for the children. As you looked over the lesson plans with the other teachers, you reached out your powers through your gifts. Searching. Would they be where they were last…

They reached his office. To what was under his desk.

No box. And no personal mail.

The letters from Cora were not in his office, you realized. That would take some searching.

But another thing was near his office- the church treasury kept in a safe in the next room.

Another step to your revenge.

One of the benefits of being a vicar was that while a clergyman received some of the tithes, a vicar got all of them.

Of course, some of it went to support his own church and ministry as well as put bread on the table. Will was probably discussing the budget with them from the Sunday tithes.

Finishing the Sunday School lesson planning was done.

Your senses told you the room with the safe was empty.

The old woman who taught the children’s Sunday school chattered on. Usually, women could teach children and other women. It was rare for a woman to teach a Sunday School class that included men. You got up. Saying you were going to get a glass of water and to wait for the Reverend, excuse me.

No one was in the hall. You quickly hurried in, your steps soft. To not click on the floors. Your powers unlocked the door and you stepped in. The plain brown room with a plain grey safe.

Quickly, your senses managed to unlock it. Opening up to numerous checks and huge wads of cash and coins in baskets.

You got out a few things of cash. Taking off your shoe, you slipped it beneath your foot and then retied it on. You then locked it back. Quickly walking away. You went over to the church kitchens to get your glass of water and sip on it in one of the parlors, your eyes down in innocence.

When you got home, you sat down in your chair, claiming you were tired and needed to rest. You looked at the blue gloves you had been knitting recently. Your eyes focused, your powers embracing it. You let it rip open and then reattach, sewn back together easily.

You removed your shoes and got out the cash.

You took the money and placed it in a blank envelope. Oh, how you wished you could recreate handwriting! Then you would forge Will signing it! But you could not, as much as you practiced. That would have given you away.

So at night, when no one was around, no one walking the streets, you briefly slipped the letter under your door. Then you went back to continue to knit more gloves as your parents read.

'Move' you commanded the letter silently.

And it did- it began to drift through the dirt road. You sensed where Mrs. Seaborne resided and directed the letter there as it floated through the ground as if a breeze moved it.

'Go to her house, slip it under the door,' you commanded it.

Quietly as a firefly. It located the house of a certain widow and slipped it under the door.

Your parents then said you would have to read the Bible more, to prepare for your marriage, and gave you a new copy they had bought. You turned to the Old Testament book of Judges and silently read some as they continued their own post-dinner activities by candlelight.

You poured over one story in that book. There was once a tyrant named Sisera who had long oppressed the Hebrew people. After his army lost a decisive battle with the Hebrew forces, he fled like a coward. He discovered a tent where who should be there, but only an ordinary housewife named Jael. She knew what he had done. She let Sisera have her food and sleep there as a guest, promising him that he was safe. Then as he slept, she got out a tent peg and killed him by hammering it through his skull.

You wondered why there weren’t more sermons discussing Jael. Why many never even spoke of her. Or perhaps even knew of her.

So every day you sat, sewed, obeyed your parents and fiancee, and prayed and bided your time. You had to seem like Jael- an innocent, dutiful, pleasant woman who would only do what was asked of her. Then, when the time was right, you would drive the peg through the skull of your Sisera.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── Will loved to take long walks in the mornings. Especially through the fields, the forests, and by the sea. You realized each day you sensed him. They were like clockwork-mid morning after breakfast. Then he would go out for at least an hour. If not two.

That would be the perfect time to find the letters.

The next morning, you said you were out to walk and take care of some errands. Your parents thought nothing of it but wished you well. You walked out.

You walked into the town and through. Careful that none were watching you. You knew where it was. You had been there one night before.

There it was- the tall white house, the vicarage. There was a large, plain backyard save for the little house made of sticks for the dog to sometimes rest in.

The dog was already outside, leased to the house for safety as his keeper was out. The sweet, brown terrier. He went up to you, wagging his tail, for he knew you. You got him little treats of bread from your pocket that you fed to him, so he would be happy and not bark up a storm. No more than what would alert any passerbyes. After petting him for some time, you got back up to go to the vicarage.

Your powers unlocked the door and you went inside. Now you weren’t as clouded with emotion, you could look about the place.

It was light tan wood on the inside. There was a kitchen with an empty table and vase. A little fireplace. A parlor by the windows with cushions where one could watch the outside.

It was a large house. The right size for a man who was expected to start a family.

You turned past one door, peeking inside, and you saw a bedroom. A large blue bed, neatly made.

To think, that was where the wedding night that never happened would have taken place…

Then you continued, you felt odd. Nostalgic for something you never experienced…a life you never lived, had wanted to live, and in a way, still wanted to live.

There was his study. The wallpaper on it was green, full of vines, leaves, flowers, and even birds all over. Beautiful and elaborate. There was a window where sunlight poured through the window over his desk sat. Looking out to the countryside outside. There was an oil lamp where one just turned and there it was. So many papers and journals on his desk, yet in neat piles. But most impressive in his room were the bookshelves. His study was almost a library in itself- tall bookshelves. Full of books, more than you could name. It was likely they all were books of theology or even history or anything having to do with his ministry and studies.

You looked about, pausing and smelling the musk of the place. The beautiful wallpaper. The impressive collection of books.

You could almost feel it like wearing an old shirt- the life you once had. A life that was also within your grasp again. A life where you would live in this house as Mrs. Ransome.

To sit in that bed knitting next to him as he read. To sleep beside him and with him. To fulfill your marital duties at night with quiet passion. A life where you planned the activities the children would do in Sunday school on your kitchen table. Sew up white angel costumes for the Christmas pageant every year. To go and stand by his side helping to bring out alms on a day of charity.

Sweeping and scrubbing all day instead of intense physical training. No worries about Grendel, but of making sure the dinner would be warm when he got home.

One where you would gather flowers from your garden to plop into that vase, making them look nice. A life where you would fix tea and lemon biscuits, and deliver them on a tray to him in his study as he wrote his next sermon. To give it to him and he would smile up from his papers. A life where you would sit by the fire sewing, discussing whatever sermon was coming up next with him as he made notes. Plan recipes for the newest church dinner or picnic coming up and talk to him about who was making what. Picking pastel wallpaper for a certain special room in the future for both of you. Holding hands in the middle of services.

No quests, adventures, or fighting. A quiet life, a domestic, peaceful life. A life you could no longer have. A life no longer accessible -and a life you knew you could no longer let yourself want.

Your powers reached and you found you were correct in your suspicions.

The second desk drawer on the left side. The locked one.

Your powers unlocked it and it jiggled open. There inside were letters. The love letters from Cora to the Lusty Vicar.

Because he wasn’t known as the Faithful Vicar.

Though it made your heart race and your stomach turn, you picked up the letters and began to skim through some of them. You couldn’t take all of them or he would be immediately suspicious. You had to select only a limited number of them- so they had to be the most damning ones.

You turned past one discussing the Serpent to a piece of paper with Will’s handwriting on it. A draft of a letter to respond to her.

“I apologize for not writing, there was too much to say. I cannot think straight around you. I love you, Cora.”

Love- Love! He was sure it was love! You noticed the rest of it was full of scribbled-out words.

Then you found the next one from Cora. Two words in it stood out to you and nearly made you drop the paper.

“Come quickly.”

She was asking Will to leave you for her! The shock made the letter tremble in your hands and your vision went dizzy at the edges.

“Come quickly.”

Your mind then raced, imagined, as minds do… spiraling further in its self-destructive cycle of imagination. Will told you he wouldn’t leave you…he also said he loved you. Said that he still loved you…

“Come quickly.”

What if you already married Will…and he ran off with Cora?

You imagined the scene.

You could see it already in this house. You would be doing your daily duties humming a cheerful song. Refreshing the vase in the kitchen with flowers. Planning ingredients for dinner.

The day turned to evening…and realizing he was taking longer with his church duties than normal. Wondering if something happened. Already missing him as you dusted off the countertops. Full of happy memories of him in your earlier days of marriage. The light brown kitchen where he’d lay a gentle hand on your shoulder in fondness as you stirred the soup. The doorways you teased that he was too tall for. Looking through the dinner you were going to make that night.

Panic bubbled lightly as the sun dipped down and the day became night.

You would finally wander into his study. The light shining orange from his lamp…. There, on the table was a letter addressed to you from him. You would reach for it and read it.

“My dear wife, I am in love with Cora Seaborne. I cannot think straight around her…with her, there is too much to say. I am going with her. I ask for your blessing. I will make sure you are taken care of. Thank you, for your dear blessing on us and for our love.” Will.”

And enclosed were several bills of cash money.

For he knew a married woman could not submit a check at the bank, then the money would go to her husband.

And now, your husband was gone.

The utter shock. Rereading it to make sure it was real, that this nightmare was real. The rage. The tears. The brokenness washing over you. How you would shake. Holding onto his desk for support. Until your legs gave out- how you would collapse, sobbing. Those three little words that would feel like a kick over and over: “for our love.”

Then, you would wander into another room—the pastel one. For by now, there would likely be an occupant.

A little baby in a cradle.

A nursery decorated with the theme of Noah’s Ark. A painting of the wooden boat and of doves with twigs in their beaks on the wall. Full of little animal toys going two by two. Specially decorated for this child’s arrival.

To look down at the little infant in its cradle. So lovingly swaddled safe and warm. A child who was half you and half Will.

On one hand, perhaps it would be worse if he took the child with him. A child you would never know if you would see again, for a husband could deny his wife access to their children. The law saw the child as Will’s, not yours.

And he already found a new replacement, a new wife for him, and a new mother to this child.

It was as if you never mattered in the first place.

But now, the child would be babbling and looking around. Then it would burst into tears, for it missed the cradling arms of its father. You would shush it and try to rock it. Call their name, sing a lullaby in a broken, crying voice, and kiss their forehead- the last reminder of Will you’d always have by you.

To think, once this child was old enough, you would have to look them in the eye and explain why Papa wasn’t around like the other Papas were with their children, even if Papa was a priest. That Papa loved Mama…but he wasn’t in love with Mama.

How you would cradle that child to your chest, walking through the rain, the letter in your pocket. Trudging to your parents home in the middle of a rainstorm in the night. Knocking on the door. They’d open. Seeing a sobbing baby and a sobbing mother.

To tell them what happened. You couldn’t imagine what they would say, would do. They wouldn’t have the heart to even turn you down. But perhaps people would talk.

Maybe you didn’t cook as well. Maybe you were mad and had to be sent to an asylum. Maybe you weren’t as pretty as Cora. Or as interesting or clever. Maybe you didn’t pleasure Will enough in his bed and the Lusty Vicar had to be satiated somehow.

You would not be able to file a divorce. A husband who had an affair and now abandoned you was not the legal grounds for a wife to divorce a husband.

In the eyes of both God and the Law, you were still William Ransome’s wife.

Now…you had to stay married to him until only Death did you part or he decided to initiate a divorce. Even though you were the upright, godly, proper vicar’s wife…the law would not be on your side. Not as a woman.

To wait. For envelopes that had letters- and especially money. To live at the mercy of those envelopes. Hoping the cash would be enough. For food, for warm clothes for your child- no his child, for by the law, the child belonged to the father, not the mother. The humiliation, the pain, the loneliness.

All because Will and Cora were in love.

And all because a stupid whale carcass was what brought them together in the first place!

You wanted to take that lamp that sat at his desk and throw it at the wall until it shattered into a million pieces. You wanted to tear at that letter. Topple the bookshelves and rip apart every last book that belonged to Father William Ransome. Do every violent thing to destroy that room in a rage. To run to Cora’s house armed with a cane like what men and old people used to walk with. For it was she who wrote that letter in the first place. Ready to beat the tar out of her until she-

But no…that wasn’t real. That didn’t happen. This was real, you reminded yourself. You were just sitting in his office with shaking hands.

‘I am not the Unwanted Wife of Aldwinter…I am the Princess of Asgard. Loki loves me, he says I’m beautiful, that I am enough for him- that I am great and awe-inspiring…he is who matters now. I am. Beautiful, powerful, and dangerous. I have the Aesir people, the servants of the palace, the warriors, and the army and legion of Asgard at my disposal- and I shall strike into Will and Cora until they plead for the mercy I will never give them,’ you reminded yourself.

Your senses reached out again and you found old documents from when Will was granted the vicarage and position. You memorized the names of those who appointed him. You searched thoroughly until you found papers with the address of the seminary that appointed him. Taking a scrap piece of paper on the desk and his pen, you wrote their names, as well name of their building and its address. You wrote it down and then hid it in your stocking.

And you had to hurry- what if he decided to return soon? Your senses told you he was still walking outside…but you would not tempt fate.

Taking in a shaky breath, you returned the draft of his letter- you could take it. But if it was missing, he would suspect something was afoot. You set the draft down.

You planned to take two to damn Will. Instead, you took three love letters- including the “come quickly” letter. For she was going to be punished already as harshly as he.

You stuffed them into the pockets of your skirt.

You promptly left the vicarage back to town, taking a path that made it less suspicious you came directly from there.

You did a little grocery shopping, and returned, saying you had to walk to clear your head- you had a nightmare last night. About Loki. You poured a few tears and they fixed you some tea in consolation, telling you that your enchantment and the dreadful act of warming his bed was all over.

Then, once you were alone in your room, You took out the letters from your clothes and hid them your copy of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which you kept firmly in your personal bookshelf.

They were ingredients left to simmer until boiling. You had the evidence and the first address to send one to. You now had to figure out where to send the other two to bring them down.

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katyspersonal · 3 months

Text

Another SOTE progress post!

1) Okay so like I said earlier in another post the highlight of today was finally defeating Rellana x) It felt REALLY rewarding to finally win after having to try so many things, Miyazaki forced me to use my brain AGAIN

2) After that I went to talk with the NPCs around the crosses by an advice by @val-of-the-north since not being able to summon Leda apparently meant that I've got the rune of Miquella broken. And hoooo boy.... At last I got to that part where Ansbach revealed the uncancelled Mohg's lore.

"Once, in an attempt to free Lord Mohg from his enchantment, I challenged Tender Miquella, only to have my own heart rather artfully stolen. I knew not how weak I was. I believed that with sufficient mastery, even and Empyrean would be within reach of my blade. I could not have been more mistaken... Miquella the Kind...is a monster. Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying."

"Righteous Tarnished. Miquella the Kind makes my blood run cold. I am loath to admit it, but even at this very instant I wish to run very far away indeed."

Soooo, yeah.. Apparently the bit I was spoiled is later game dialogue, this is a different one and I see it for the first time! Damn, trailer quote tho x)

3) What I did NOT know is that all these characters were under the spell of Bewitching Branch too ;-; Guess Leda is going after the hornsent guy's throat now gfhgjg Wild to see how everyone now does what they actually want, SPEAKING OF:

4) Thiollier now wants to go seek the part of Miquella he earlier had sealed away with the spell wall branded with his Haligtree symbol! There is now outright confirmation that Trina IS Miquella:

"Would Kindly Miquella chasten me? For falling for St. Trina, while knowing that she was the discarded half? The problem is... I simply cannot help it. I would sacrifice everything, just to gaze upon her, one last time."

Damn... either 1) Looks like both alters of Miquella have the capacity of compelling affection? Not just his Bewitching Branch, but whatever sleepy scent powers Trina is using or 2) Thiollier is Just Like This. Tea?

"I see you've thrown away... Something you should not have. Under any circumstances. How will you salvation offer... to those who cannot be saved? When you could not even save your other self? Kindly Miquella..."

5) The cross strangely has the message from Miquella, "I abandon here my love". All things considered it is not supposed to refer to his feelings, and recalling dialogue by Ansbach I'd say it maybe refers to his ability to wield love as weapon? Because look at how NOW Trina's power entices people into coma. Speaking OF:

6) Turned out my previous guess was wrong, and "bastardisation" of Trina's otherwise pacifist powers was not work of followers, but result of Miquella severing her from his being!

7) (or rather 6.1 lol) This is actually a good additional timeline clue! Earlier Freija mentioned that she received her Scarlet Rot wound in Caelid, so, as Malenia and Radanh fought, and Miquella was the one to heal it! So he was around that time yet. Then, change in Trina's powers happened as Miquella went to abandon his Empyrean entity, when Dolores has been using the powers as they were and she was in the Roundtable Hold! This I think will be useful for later to recover when could he have started with the plan! I already have a working suggestion for explaining events, just need more info!

8) Damn, not the area from the trailer ;-; Thiollier is so dead lol

By the way the boss in this area is RIDICULOUSLY difficult hghghg I gave up on him and kinda went to have adventures elsewhere just for the heck of it!

9) Discovered an actual dialogue by an old lady in Belurat, AND:

EMPYREAN?? I actually yelled at Val about it since I needed to know whether it is legit the same term or perhaps a loss in translation! And he researched Japanese script and confirmed that yes, indeed, this woman IS an Empyrean like GEQ, Marika, Ranni, Miquella and Malenia! @val-of-the-north be a dear and add the evidence you've found today in a reblog or another pose! Because HECK, WHAT????

10) So I went to look around in random places since that boss was too hard. Found a small piece of some ruins by Val's advice, using one of those blue Keyswords. Then I wanted to go down in a village down near Moorth Ruins but for the heck of it could not figure how to get down there. While waiting for Val's slow ass to instruct me, I started to run wherever, really. And ironically, found the exact cave leading me to the FULL version of those Ruins! Felt surprised to find the golden tree inside!

11) Went through second poisonous swamp in the game yet, truly Miyazaki xD

12) Stumbled into Kindred of Rot, but they are RED in color!!!

This was so bizarre?? Damn, still, what ARE they doing here? First turned out that Formless Mothers and rituals for her that Mohg is using originated in Shadow Realm, now this.. Makes me wonder whether all Outer Gods come from this place originally, so God of Rot too, so, Twinbird too?

13) Hey @heraldofcrow how did you lose your clothes?? Put them back on slut gdghvgbvbbh

14) I decided to explore later and instead went to bully Horned Knights and Ascetics for their sets and weapon in Belurat. Belurat has places very close to Site of Grace for both! Horned Knight farming went pretty fast and easy! Ascetic... not so much. :/ He did drop his weapon and arm piece, but past this point he's been only dropping leg piece over and over! Reminds me of that 'Seebass? No, it's at least C+!' meme vffhhhh I think I will return for his mask later :/

15) This type of posts becomes a bit too structured, I need to post more random items descs

16) However I got a note from Val that we surprisingly got lore on Fingercrawlers (lol at my recent theory post aging like milk xd) and @jarognieva said something about a couple of spots on the map looking like giant fingerprints + having many fingers within 👀 No idea what is going on yet, but I can see it now!

Okay that's it for now.. until the tomorrow's work shift ends xD

#elden ring #elden ring dlc #sote spoilers #gameplay log #screenshots

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nocturnalfandomartist · 2 years

Text

💛 I Remember You 💛

Time Elapsed: 1 hour, 11 minutes

Program used: Ibis Paint X

(This doodle is me coping with the Tears of the Kingdom trailer and pretending they aren't about to be traumatized more).

BotW/ToTK will forever be my favorite version of Zelink. They've been through a whole lot together, and seeing them reunited at the end of BoTW is so sweet (especially in the context of the diaries outside of the English translation)! Such a shame everyone's probably dead. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted...

I cannot express enough how agonizing it has been to wait for more news on TotK! So when I saw a Nintendo Direct was coming up, I was unable to focus on anything else. I knew we were bound to get info, but I was NOT READY FOR THIS

Everything about that trailer was so well done, it makes the wait for May seem even longer! A few thoughts I had personally:

1. Ganondorf is pretty decent casting. I'm admittedly surprised he doesn't sound hoarse or anything considering he's a reanimated corpse, but it's still menacing!

2. I'm convinced Ganondorf and Zelda are going to take the forms/powers of Demise and Hylia at this point with all these parallels...

3. POSSIBLE MORE RUNES MAKE ME SO EXCITED! We thought Link getting a motorcycle gave us too much power... Now we have cars and mechanical gliders.

4. It doesn't seem Zelda is getting damseled! That makes me so happy. I figured she wouldn't be playable (unfortunately), but it at least seems she'll have a presence throughout the story! Perhaps a Skyward Sword situation where she must go on a journey of her own? Maybe in the form of flashbacks to the previous Zelda from 10,000 years ago? If it goes with a SS route, maybe that leaves room for a playable Zelda in post-game.

5. All the monsters look stronger than before, and there are even new ones! I tried to see if those dino bird things matched up with any classic enemies, but they didn't seem to be so. Either way, they're awesome!

6. I can't wait to explore where all the characters are after a potential time skip. Zelda especially! She got so much character in BotW, and I am going to love seeing more of it!

7. If Zelda doesn't end up becoming Hylia, I'm also wondering if the previous Zelda ends up being revealed to be the same one (same with Link) due to time travel shenanigans like in Skyward Sword.

8. If Zelda and Link don't kiss or address Zelda's feelings for him at least once I will be very sad (but I'll love the game anyway).

9. I hope to see the cycle broken here. That seems to be where this is leading! It would be great to watch Zelda and Link finish off Demise's curse once and for all and finally have the peace Hyrule has been fighting to have for eons.

10. Hopefully Link's diary won't be lost in translation this time! Adding those little details like that made BotW even better than it already was.

11. LINK THREW THE MASTER SWORD ASIDE TO CATCH ZELDA I CAN'T- But poor Fi. Hope she's doing okay with the whole Malice infestation thing. This is a stretch, but perhaps there will be a return of Ghirahim or his sword form. That'd be cool.

12. It looks like there's potential for more old-school dungeons! With the Divine Beasts seemingly inactive, Link may have to travel through monster-ridden ruins to drive them out of Hyrule.

13. I'm excited to see details on the time between BotW and TotK, like how Zelda got her hair cut! It'll be nice to see which NPCs changed and which haven't (Beedle is probably the same and will be the same even as all of existence crumbles around him).

14. Maybe the memory mechanic will be implemented again by Link recalling his past life 10,000 years ago?

Alright, sorry for the ramblings here. I'm too excited. I have lots more thoughts, but I'll share them in the future. May 12 can't come fast enough!

Reblogging is fine, but please don't post this anywhere else without linking the original post. Thanks!

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ghostofashina · 20 days

Note

Alright so Elden Ring lore is really complicated to me so I'm sorry if this answer is obvious, but I see a lot of people debate whether Godwyn or Messmer is the first born or which is older and I wonder

Could they perhaps be twins?

Marika has had two sets of twins already. And even if Messmer has Radagon's red hair, Marika is Radagon, right? So who's to say it can't be some sort of weird magic thing? After all, Marika did father children with Rennalla.

Or, it could be like Heracles, where they're twins but with different fathers. In the mythos, Hercales' mother, Alcmene, got pregnant by Zeus and her human husband, Amphrityon, at the same time, so she has twins, the demigod Heracles and the human Iphicles. Weirder magic stuff has happened in Elden Ring after all.

Anyway. I just think it would be a fun symbolic thing: Marika's first twins being Godwyn the golden, who was apparently adored by all, while Messmer is considered cursed and exiled--and then at the end Godwyn becomes a curse on Marika's land.

Hello, hello ~

Worry not, it is quite complicated to me too! Especially after a few details brought by DLC.

It was my — and many other people — main theory when the DLC was announced and Messmer was revealed. Until then, we were used to believe Godwyn was the firstborn, considering Godrick's great rune. Once the DLC came out, it wasn't proved to be true. And yes, there's the kindling mentioning Melina is Messmer's younger sister, but it doesn't really tell us much. Despite this, unfortunately there's no further mention to Melina anywhere in the LoS. We know, though, Melina was born at the foot of the Erdtree, she said it herself. And, it's pretty obvious Messmer was already born by the time the Age of the Erdtree started. In fact, it started alongside the Golden Lineage.

So, considering it's a game that relies in interpetration, I am personally still very fond of the theory. And there is a few things around them that recalls to a twin connection.

First thing, we do not have an exact moment for when most of the demigods were born, especially Messmer and Godwyn. Their births seem to blend into each other and it feels it's on purpose, because of the duality they share with each other.

Gold and Shadow:

It's the main theme of the DLC alongside death, and for so long I believed it was meant to be Miquella and Messmer, but Miquella still is very related to Light (Circlet of Light, Light of Miquella, etc). And it's not exactly as gold. And we have this pair through the whole DLC.

"Miquella the kind spoke of the beginning. The seduction and the betrayal. An affair from which Gold arose. And so too was Shadow born."

We never got an answer for those words or what we saw in the story trailer, and perhaps these words mean exactly what we read from them. The beginning clearly recalls the start of the Age of the Erdtree, starting with Marika's ascension alongside Godfrey. And Gold and Shadow were born from it, good and evil, beauty and horror, also Messmer and Godwyn. Godwyn is the start of the Golden Lineage, even after decades of Godefroy or Godrick carrying the title, it started with him. Godfrey took for himself the title of First Elden Lord, Godwyn was the first Golden. Not enough, Godwyn is often related to the sun: the golden ring in his knight's armors, in his knight's weapons, the whole eclipse thing. While shadows is something we find related to Messmer: from the Shadow Keep, being the ruler of Lands of Shadow, to the Abyssal Serpent shorn of light.

As said by Land of Shadow incantion: This incantation channels the force of the Scadutree's power, and its gold is accompanied by shadow. Not light, which would've been the common imagery. Gold accompanied by shadow.

This theme follows them in their entire arc as characters. Godwyn was the perfect side of the empire, Messmer was the dirt part of it. Godwyn won a war using diplomacy, Messmer purged a land to the death.

Patterns:

Not only Gold and Shadow is a pattern here. They also share patterns with two known pairs.

Miquella and Malenia. Messmer certainly is a loyal blade as Malenia is, both cursed by outer gods. While Miquella and Godwyn were the best potential of their ages.

Marika and Radagon. As two sides of the same coin. If we put them together, they compose a Golden Order and its philosophy.

And, as we see in both of these pairs, there's a tendency of being torn apart, far from each other. Miquella and Malenia were divided in the end of their lives, while Radagon and Marika were divided at the start to get united after in marriage. Well, which is basically what happens with these two as well. Godwyn stayed at the Lands Between while Messmer was sent to the Lands of Shadow, even though we know they lived at the Erdtree for long enough. But, in the end, Messmer awaiths for the embrace of death and, well, who is the bearer of death? Godwyn.

Of course, do not let me forget the hair pattern. Yellow and red, shown not only once, but twice. And regarding Messmer's red hair, we must remember Rykard is not depicted with red hair either, and he is born of Rennala and Radagon. Considering Radagon is Marika, the whatever-genes are shared between them. So, it's not impossible that, as Rykard inheriting fair hair, Messmer would inherit a darker hair.

Curses:

But then. Godwyn isn't cursed, Messmer is. Every pair of twins are cursed. How come?

So, again, Marika and Radagon patterns. Marika's offspring is cursed, while Radagon's isn't. His children with Rennala are as perfect as Godwyn. Ranni, Radahn and Rykard, whatever happened to them, they were born curseless. Only when Radagon married Marika, the twins came out cursed. Besides being a pattern they share with Marika and Radagon, it could also mean a manifestation of the true of Marika and Radagon.

However... are we totally sure Godwyn ain't cursed?

I mean, Godwyn is meant to be the one outside those patterns, why would he be the only kid with the letter G then? And, I think his curse is there. And came with his death. Unlike his siblings cursed at birth, Godwyn was the one to be cursed in death. We don't know if it's something that was inside of him since the start or if something used him as vessel in the end.

And, speaking as if Godwyn is, in fact, cursed, we can again see lots of similarity with Messmer's curse. Starting by the fact — I know the kindling isn't a curse, but it's part of it, since it feeds the Abyssal Serpent. Godwyn started producing his own flames when he became the Prince of Death. It's called "Prince of Death's flames" in the Eclipse Shotel the same way it's always called "Messmer's flame". Not enough, we find both lack of eyes and amount of eyes in both situations. Both Messmer and the Abyssal Serpent is blinded after Marika's intervention with the sacred seal, Godwyn's corpses that we find in Stormveil or LoS also lack the eyes. But eyes grew anyways, the Abyssal Serpent has eyes around its whole body, while Deathroots (and lots of other stuff) carry eyes as well. Also human hair growing in both.

And, well, they are the only siblings that share this "animalistic" curse. Even though the Rot has it servants looking like shrimps, Malenia is more related to plants than animals. Morgot and Mohg share the omen features, not animalistic either. Rykard fed himself to a serpent, he wasn't a serpent. Godwyn and Messmer have animal features within them, which could tell us how deep is this connection.

The only thing is Melina, but again, it's difficult due to the lack of evidence and I can't really treat lack of evidence as some sort of evidence. Yet, she is born later in the story and we know this for certainty. So, I don't think that would actually go against this possibility.

As you can tell, I've been thinking about this a normal amount, but yeah, I still believe that it's possible for Messmer and Godwyn to be twins. Even if we can't know that. Even if they don't know that. I can see it being hold as a secret even from them.

#elden ring #shadow of the erdtree #godwyn #messmer #sote spoilers #very long post #i am very normal about this #i can talk about it all day #but i'm at work so i tried to keep it cool

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evilwriter37 · 1 year

Note

Did we ever learn all the names on Dagur's tattoo revenge list? I know we can infer that Hiccup was the next un-crossed-out name, but who was above him? Who's after? And has anyone ever written an angst-packed major character death about Dagur getting that next red line tattooed over Hiccup’s name?

----thedragon-and-hisboy

Well, I don’t know who was above Hiccup, (this is the best shot I have of the tattoo), but underneath seems to be Night Fury, some unidentifiable name, Astrid, Fishlegs, and then Sister. This is what I’m getting from trying to recall the Elder Futhark runes. I haven’t practiced reading/writing them in a while.

So yeah, I’m wondering if it was more of a “To do” list than a revenge list, just because of the inclusion of Heather there. It might have just been Dagur thinking that finding his sister is important enough to tattoo into his skin.

And about the fic: not that I know of! It’s such a juicy idea, but major character death is tough for me to write, so it will not be coming from me.

Thank you for the ask! I freaking love Dagur, honestly. He’s such a good character.

#asks #httyd #rtte #dob #dagur the deranged

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lscholar · 3 months

Text

A SEMI-REASONABLE 40 CHARACTER SMASH ROSTER

An exercise in indulgence and egoism, and posted as the same.

THE RULES:

1. Characters shall be semi-reasonable! Beatoriche I love you but this needs to be a roster composed of characters who could conceivably actually make it into Smash. They should be from video games, and ideally ones people care about.

2. Characters shall be gender balanced! I separated my picks into four categories: GUYS, GIRLS, and CREATURES AND CHARACTERS, TYPICALLY PLAYER, OF EITHER CARDINAL GENDER (like Pikachu or the Animal Crossing Villager). the number of GUYS shall be EQUAL TO OR LESSER THAN the number of GIRLS. I set this restriction on myself and so should you.

3. Characters shall be 40 of them! but you could tell that from the title.

GUYS

MARIO - You have to have this guy. also like it's been like 20+ years since Sunshine can we not give him something other than FLUDD?

DONKEY KONG, LUIGI, NESS, BOWSER, FOX, WARIO - You also have to have these guys. I cut Captain Falcon, as we already had Fox as a Smash original character.

LINK - Someday we will be able to put Link in the CHARACTERS OF EITHER CARDINAL GENDER list, but not yet.

KING DEDEDE - Sakurai made this so his faves get a little extra attention. I claim that same right.

SNAKE - Updated for MGSV, naturally.

SONIC (Palette Swap: SHADOW) - I really really don't care about these guys. I kind of actively hate them actually. but they deserve to be here, even if all their moves are the same (turning into a ball and the ball flies at you).

CLOUD - The iconic Final Fantasy pretty boy. Would I prefer Lightning? yeah. but this is the semi-realistic roster.

PHOENIX WRIGHT - I know, preaching to the crowd here. This guy is a tumblr darling behind only his boyfriend Miles Edgeworth. But they've put him in fighting games before! And he totally has a moveset, right? Presenting his badge as a jab, shooting OBJECTION and TAKE THAT! (HOLD IT! is a grab!), submitting paperwork and random items hoping and praying that they'll be accepted as evidence...

Barely missed the cut: Sans Undertale, Sekiro, Shulk, Solaire, Paper Mario, Sora.

GIRLS

SAMUS - You have to have this girl.

PEACH/DAISY - Ideally Daisy would get Luigified (this is the very technical term for when a Smash character starts out as a clone and then gets differentiated) as the Mario Sports Game Representation. But that probably wouldn't happen. Peach is fine. kind of

ZELDA (Breath of the Wild/Tears Of The Kingdom) - The opposite of the Smash Ultimate dynamic. Smash Lscholar Link is old-school Link; Zelda is newer Zelda. Like in Hyrule Warriors she fights using runes on her magic ipad/wii u pad/nintendo switch game console. Bombs, Ice Block, Ultrahand - and the ability to Recall all of them, sending them flying backwards along their trajectories when the attack is reinput. An evil zoner but let's be honest: she already is. Maybe she has a "take a picture" that can stun?

ISABELLE, ROSALINA - both need reworks. Isabelle in particular has the potential to be a Kirby for new players - but hitting with her is so hard that most try her for a round and play Toon Link instead.

BAYONETTA - No notes.

HORNET (Hollow Knight: Silksong) - Clear moveset, fan favorite, zero questions.

D.VA (Overwatch and, fine, Overwatch 2) - The single most popular Overwatch character by far, and a much needed female heavyweight character. Would translate pretty well to Smash as a pushy zippy tank-type.

EDELGARD VON HRESVELG (Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Three Hopes) - big smashy axe, avowed militant atheist, Vriska, Fire Emblem rep. Smash Lsclr's Ike. Slow but dangerous, with surprising range, much like Byleth; unlike Byleth she is an actual character. also her axe twirl has to be a taunt. Also she's canonically bisexual. which would make her the second bisexual smash character after Snake, and the third in my heart after Cloud Strife (Byleth isn't real).

REIMU HAKUREI (Touhou) - Iconic rep from possibly the single most important indie game series.

CHUN LI (STREET FIGHTER) - Honestly surprised they put Ryu in Smash. I feel like if you asked anybody to name a Street Fighter character Chun Li would be first?

UNDYNE (Undertale) - Fine. Susie (Deltarune) is also acceptable.

VI or JINX or SOME LEAGUE OF LEGENDS GIRL (LoL) - as with Sonic I don't care for these but they have undeniably earned their places. Arcane was better than it should have been and I really hope Mel Medarda survives into s2.

SABER (Fate/Stay Night) - It's Saber! I know this seems like a meme pick but I really do think she deserves to be here.

Barely missed the cut: Karlach or Shadowheart, The Silent, Arle Nadja, Vriska

CREATURES AND CHARACTERS, TYPICALLY PLAYER, OF EITHER CARDINAL GENDER (like Pikachu or the Animal Crossing Villager)

PIKACHU - You have to have this thing. Brand recognition on par with Santa Claus or Jesus. A creature for sure, even if its tail indicates biological gender.

KIRBY - This is technically a Guy but in practice this is a creature. also I have one less Guy than Girl so I could put him there, but I chose not to.

YOSHI/BIRDO - Put a trans woman in Smash. She's just a Yoshi reskin and that's fine.

MARTH/LUCINA - The other Fire Emblem rep. Why does Awakening get like three characters? may have to make Marth a bit less floaty to make this work but they really should consolidate these two.

POKEMON TRAINER (Charizard, Ivysaur, Squirtle) - good on nintendo for making it possible to play pokemon trainer as a guy or girl.

POKEMON TRAINER 2 (Gengar, Gardevoir, Lucario) - We have so many pokemon and here's three more. swap out one of your choice for Jigglypuff or Mewtwo or Mimikyu or Greninja or whatever, as long as your substitution isn't from Kanto. This pokemon trainer is a bit more of a tryhard, and wears darker clothing. also their pokemon are category balanced: one is a guy, one is a girl, and one is a creature.

INKLING - Kind of a creature and definitely not of either cardinal gender. these kids squids are nonbinary. A good addition to smash; may they goop and bloop for many games to come.

Wii FIT TRAINER - Mix in Wii Sports and Ring Fit and whatever else.

ANIMAL CROSSING VILLAGER/MINECRAFT STEVE AND ALEX/PACMAN AND MS PACMAN - CHARACTERS OF EITHER CARDINAL GENDER

NOAH AND MIO XENOBLADE (XENOBLADE 3) - Like Pyra and Mythra but less gross. Mio has faster short range chakram attacks and mobility; Noah has slower harder-hitting moves.

THE ASSASSIN (Assassin's Creed) - Snake represents Solid, Naked, and Venom; why can't The Assassin be Altair, Ezio, and whoever else?

Barely missed the cut: Duck Hunt, Toad/Toadette.

if you got mad at me about removing your favorite character reply and I'll tell you why I took them out. probably because I didn't care about them.

#Smash Bros #super smash ultimate #super smash bros #been a while since I posted here!#ritual to expiate having opinions about video games

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jinnyurr · 1 month

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Hi hello!! I want to request SFW, Archer Emiya x M! master where its the gruff care thingy, specifically the "Sit up and take the olate, im not going to handfeed you" i think that fits him very well

A/N: thank you for the first request, anon, i hope you enjoy this! Its kinda hard to write Emiya's stoic character, but i persist. A side of caster cu in the first half, i hope you dont mind.

3,07k words. Enjoy the read.

A thick layer of silence cloaked your room, broken only by the soft, rhythmic rise and fall of your chest. Curled beneath a mountain of blankets, you lay still, your face pale and etched with the strains of illness—albeit your face devoid of life, you feel your cheeks and forehead heating up with each intake of breath you take; your lungs ablaze.

You tilted your head with half lidded eyes, vision blurry as you slowly blink trying to make out the silhouette that's right next to you. You blink several times, attempting to get rid of the foggy haze clouding your mind. Not long, your head manages to recognize the patterns; blue fur robe, black tight crop top— your servant, Caster Cu Chulainn, sat perched on the edge of the bed.

No words were exchanged, instead, you feel his broad hand hovering over your forehead before gently placing it down. You wince slightly from the sudden contact, his hand cool against your fiery skin as your mouth opened slightly, taking in puffs of breaths.

Your heavy eyes are fighting to stay open as you try to peer into his gaze ; Caster's piercing crimson eyes, usually filled with a warrior's ferocity, held a tender concern as he monitored your temperature.

“Master, your temp ‘s way too high,” he sighs, pulling away his hand from your forehead while he lets out a small hiss, placing his hand back down on the sheets, “there's a cooling rune I could use, but I think archer wouldn't like that.”

Archer? Which archer?— your eyes squint as you're trying to figure out which archer he's implying to, that is until you saw the usual mischievous glint appearing in those crimson eyes, decorating his somewhat serious face.

You sighed, closing your eyes. Ah, Emiya. You remembered that Caster likes to tease Emiya about anything when it comes to you. Your archer has never been the type to directly say to you that he cares or worries for your well being, in fact, if you recall his words, it's anything but nice and caring.

You still remembered the moment he snatched the cooking utensils from your hands and said that you're better off not inside the kitchen. You saw the disappointed look in his eyes for a brief moment before your other servants snatched you away, trying to cheer you up.

“Maybe I should use it, see how archer reacts, eh?” your thoughts were broken off and your eyes opened as Caster stood up from the bed, now fully facing you with a sharp grin plastered on his face. One of his hands went up, index finger up and ready to trace shapes in the air, “cooling rune, was it..” his brows furrowed, focusing on his fingers.

With practiced movements, his fingers began tracing shapes in the air; your heavy eyes followed his movements the best you can, feeling tired midway as Caster does an elaborate gesture with his index finger.

Unfortunately, before he could finish, the door to your room opened with a smooth swoosh sound and not long after you hear Caster yelping, followed by the sound of the door sliding shut.

You shifted your head to the side again, facing the door; the pillow felt warm- unnecessarily warm from the effect of laying your head too long on one side. The smell of various foods infiltrated your senses, giving strength to your body as your eyes opened wider.

There, you saw your archer holding a silver tray filled with what seems to be a bowl of soup and some eating utensils, accompanied by some side dishes. The look on his face is the same as always; stern, firm and serious, however, your tired eyes managed to catch a slight glimpse where Emiya's gaze softened upon seeing your state- only for a brief moment before it was masked back by his usual demeanor.

A coughing fit attacked your throat as Emiya placed down the silver tray, laden with a steaming bowl with a quiet clink. A subtle frown creased his brow, a familiar line etched into his face. Your hand went up to cover your mouth as your throat felt like it was suffocating— this really couldn't get any worse.

The scent of the soup, a rich concoction of vegetables and meat, filled the air, mingling with the clinical odor of your room. Emiya's nostrils flared slightly, a silent acknowledgment of the warmth and nourishment it promised.

Unfortunately, You caught a fever during a mission, presumably because of the plants there throwing out some pheromones or something that tickled your nose buds and went further down into your system, causing a fever to ignite within your body as a defense mechanism.

Your servants easily got rid of the said plants, but their pheromones have already gotten into you, and you didn't mind it at first, which was a big mistake leading up to you getting bedridden in the present.

With a sigh, Emiya began to unpack the utensils, his movements efficient yet gentle. Swiftly, he pulled a nearby stool as he took a seat, crossing his arms in front of his chest while he faced your weakened body.

Your chest heaves heavily as your head feels like it's nailed onto your pillow; your eyes that were momentarily strengthened by the scent of delicious food quickly return to their previous state as they look up, searching for Emiya's face.

His expression remained unchanged, his face a mask of controlled indifference. A soft click of his tongue echoed in the quiet room. It was a small gesture, almost imperceptible, but it carried the weight of unspoken words. It was a silent reprimand, a chastising of his master's carelessness.

His eyes, a deep dark gray, scanned your form, taking in the pale complexion and the way the blankets were pulled up to your chin. You feel exposed albeit the weighted blanket covering almost of your entire body, his gaze left no place for you to hide.

For a brief moment, there was a flicker of something akin to disappointment in their depths, a stark contrast to the usual coldness of his expression. It was a fleeting moment, quickly masked by the familiar facade, but it was there, a silent accusation of weakness.

You blinked slowly. Weakness? Why was there weakness? Was your archer thinking you're weak?

You felt small under the weight of that gaze, a sense of inadequacy creeping into your consciousness. You huddled deeper into the blankets, as if seeking refuge from the penetrating scrutiny. Every imperfection, every sign of vulnerability, was laid bare under Emiya's unwavering stare.

The silence stretched on, heavy and oppressive, as you grappled with a mix of shame and helplessness.

Emiya's gaze remained fixed, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. His lips were pressed into a thin line, a stubborn set to his jaw. It was a posture of defiance, a refusal to yield to weakness. Yet, there was an undercurrent of concern, a flicker of empathy hidden beneath the layers of stoicism—

—oh. He didn't think you were weak— no, not at all! Your hazy brain and the fact that you're pressured under his stern gaze made you think that you were perceived as weak for falling ill just because of some plant, but truly it was far from that.

Your archer was blaming himself.

He blamed himself for he couldn't protect you, causing you to be bedridden. He blamed himself for not noticing the symptoms sooner, if he did, at least he could have prevented all of this. He was the closest to you, he's been there when you were still learning how to be a better master, he—

"I'm not going to hand-feed you,"

The silence was broken. Emiya's voice was low, a stark contrast to the usual harsh tones. His words were a command, but there was an underlying note of exasperation.

"Sit up and take the bowl." he added, his voice firm, laced with a hint of impatience.

Just as your mind wandered to how Emiya was falling into the depths of self blame, his stern voice rang through your foggy head, clearing all your remaining thoughts about him and forcing you to focus on the possibility of how you were being reckless, causing the archer to be disappointed at you.

Suddenly,the weighted blanket feels a little bit too heavy— they felt like heated bricks stacked onto each other and placed firmly down on your chest as well as your head, your heart skipped a beat at the coldness in Emiya's voice. It was a sharp pang, A wave of self-consciousness washed over you, a deep-seated fear of disappointing your archer.

With a determined effort, you pushed yourself up into a sitting position, your body trembling with exertion as your head felt like it was filled with molten lead.

The world spun around you, a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. Your vision blurred, and a cold sweat broke out on your forehead. Shit. You moved too quickly. You subtly clutched at the edge of the bed, your knuckles slowly becoming whiter than it already is as you try to keep in mind that you don't want Emiya to see you struggling more than you have.

Emiya's figure was a hazy outline, a distant presence that seemed to grow larger and more imposing with every passing moment. The archer's arms remained crossed, his expression unchanged, a silent judgment hanging in the air.

Your body felt like it was on fire, a furnace consuming you from within. You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to block out the world. But the darkness was filled with the image of Emiya, his stern gaze and disapproving expression. A deep sense of shame washed over you, a heavy weight pressing down on your chest.

Your hands trembled as they reached up to touch your burning forehead. The coolness of your skin offered a brief respite from the fiery inferno within, however, the relief was short-lived, replaced by a fresh wave of dizziness.

Emiya watched with a critical eye as you struggled to comply with his command. There was a flicker of satisfaction in his gaze as he witnessed your determination to overcome the illness. He had always believed in his master's strength, your resilience in the face of adversity.

As your hands found their way to your forehead, Emiya's attention sharpened. Your breathing was labored, your face flushed with fever. A flicker of concern passed through Emiya's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed. He had to remain strong, to provide the necessary support without succumbing to weakness.

Your body swayed precariously; grip on the bed loosening. Emiya's heart skipped a beat. This was not part of the plan.

You were weaker than he had anticipated. Panic surged through him, a cold dread settling in the pit of his stomach. His arms, previously crossed defensively, relaxed, his hands hovering near the edge of the bed, ready to intervene if necessary.

Then, not even a moment later, his instincts had proved him right. Your head lolled to one side, your eyes glazed over as consciousness slipped away; you found your head landing against Emiya's broad chest with a soft thud.

Your body felt limp as you took shallow and ragged breaths,the heat consuming your vision. Your head could barely manage to register the soft hiss that came out of Emiya's mouth, let alone the feeling of his well toned arms wrapping around your weakened form firmly yet gently.

Emiya had his arms wrapped around you in a protective way while your temple rested comfortably against his chest; the material of his clothing cool against your constantly ablaze skin. He had miscalculated his master's strength, but he admired the way you're willing to push through.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as one of his hands went up, palm pressing lightly on your forehead to check your temperature.

…

Emiya wished he had asked Caster earlier about your temperature rather than just yanking him out of the room by that stupid blue robe of his. If Emiya had known that your temperature was this high, he would've loosen the gruff personality he had while handling you.

His calloused hand slowly pulled away, back to wrapping around your frame; it seems like he was more careless than he'd like to admit.

In your half dazed state, you'd half expect him to scold you for swaying and falling unconscious from such a simple command, but you waited and waited, and the words you expected to hear never came.

Instead, all you got was Emiya easily manhandling you as he lifted you up so that your lower half were now straddling his lap instead of uncomfortably planted on the bed while your upper half leaned against his body. He carefully placed your head so that your head could lean on his left shoulder whilst the rest of your body is nestled perfectly against his own.

The cool warmth of Emiya's body cooled your feverish skin, you squeezed your eyes shut, allowing yourself to lean against him, “..this… feelsh..nice” you muttered the best you can, enjoying his presence.

“..Master, are you okay?” He had questioned as he felt you sneaking your face into the crook of his neck, much like a puppy huddling closer with his litter to seek for warmth.

You answered with a soft hum as your arms went up to wrap around his neck, shifting into a more comfortable position, “mmn,” you had always liked the way Emiya's body would feel against yours— one time he had to carry you away swiftly because an aggressive enemy had ambushed you, and at that precise moment you realized that you wished Emiya would hold you more like this.

Emiya carefully adjusted his hold, ensuring you were comfortable. The young man was limp in his arms, a weight that felt strangely familiar yet utterly foreign. His heart pounded in his chest, an unfamiliar sensation that was both exhilarating and terrifying— he had never been this close to you before, never felt his body so intimately against his own.

Sure, he prides himself on being close to his master, but not in this way. Never had Emiya been this close to you, more like he never allowed himself to be this close to you. He cares for you, that much is true, however, he doesn't show it like your other servants.

His care is shown through the foods he cooked you after farms and missions, his care is shown through the way he shields you from attack and carries you away from danger— his care is shown through the way how he wants to see you grow and become a strong master, and he'll be there to support your every step, even if it means being tough on you.

His hands found a natural home, one resting on your back, the other gently tracing circles on your waist. The warmth of your skin seeped through his clothes, sending a shiver down his spine.

He fought to suppress the emotions swirling within him, to maintain the facade of indifference. But the truth was, he was utterly captivated by the vulnerability of the person in his arms.

A sense of protectiveness washed over him, a primal instinct to shield you from harm. He had always been the protector, the one who stood between you and danger. But now, in this moment of intimacy, he felt a new level of responsibility, a desire to care for you on a deeper level.

You stirred in your sleep, your body twitching involuntarily. Emiya tightened his grip, offering a sense of stability in the midst of your restlessness. He could feel the heat radiating from your body, a constant reminder of your illness.

Right. Your illness.

Emiya let out a soft sigh, the sound lost in the quiet of your room. He glanced down at his master, your peaceful slumber a stark contrast to the chaos that had preceded it.

His mind drifted to the bowl of soup, carefully prepared with ingredients specifically chosen to aid in recovery. He had hoped to coax you into eating it, to provide nourishment for your weakened body.

His gaze shifted from you to the tray on the small table, the steam from the soup now barely visible; a wave of conflicting emotions washed over him. There was a part of him that wanted to shake you awake, to insist that you eat- It was his duty, his responsibility to ensure your health. But as he looked at your peaceful slumber, a different part of him, a softer, more vulnerable side, protested. You looked so small— so vulnerable in his arms.

A battle raged within him, a conflict between duty and compassion.The soup was cooling rapidly, its medicinal properties diminishing with each passing moment— the soup was indeed important, a crucial step in his master's recovery. But so was rest.

Perhaps a few more moments of sleep would do more good than a bowl of soup…

Emiya's fingers traced the outline of your face, a gentle caress that seemed to deepen their slumber.

With a heavy heart, he made a decision.

The soup could wait. For now, his priority was your comfort. He adjusted his hold, ensuring you were cradled securely against his chest. Your weight was a comforting presence, a reminder of your reliance on him.

Emiya closed his eyes, the rhythmic rise and fall of your chest a soothing lullaby. He allowed himself a moment of peace, a respite from the constant demands of his role as a Servant. In this quiet moment, he felt a sense of connection with his master, a bond forged in the crucible of their shared experiences.

Your room fell silent, the only sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall and the now soft and calm breaths emitting from you. Emiya held you close, a silent promise of protection and care.

For now, this was enough.

#emiya x reader #fate imagines #archer emiya #fate grand order #fgo #archer emiya x reader

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importantdestinydefendor · 3 months

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AU brainrot update! (This has been sitting for a while now oops)

Now onto AU thoughts to celebrate the newest ArSen chapter coming out! I actually had to put the phone down and stop reading due to my brain coming up with new scenes and ideas lol.

So Azar is defenitly with Team Arslan after the encounter with Zahhak (she jumps in after they have gathered around Rukhnabad and threw a light rune at him to blind him)

(I am going off of chapter 128 for a moment)

She defenitly will tease Gieve for speaking badly about Kaykusrawh and causing the earthtremor lol

but when the others make their vows of loyalty she tells Arslan that what she has to do (fighting her aunt Farah) keeps her from joing him

Daryun reminds her of their promise in Gilan and Azar makes a deal with Arslan that she will return to visit Arslans court

Azar meets back up with the Maaren army and they station themselves around the tower and on the castle wall

So now we're in chapter 129 and Team Hilmes have been confronted by Team Arslan

another - smaller- army has infiltrated via the sewers (they are neither Andragoras army nor left-behind Lusitanians)

Farzin and his army watch Hilmes struggle to keep his composure with slight pitty

Azar keeps an eye on the busted door

When Zandeh wants to fight Daryun, Chabik (Daryun's dad. Yes, Team Arslan know this by then) intervenes, not wanting to see his son fight to death (the dead had been called so that they could watch from the shadows more)

(and also Chabik is in normal parsian soldier armor and nobody relises who he is)

but gets recalled by Eldar so that he doesn't do anything stupid

(chapter goes as we see)

then the mysterious army comes in and it is Farah (Azars evil aunt, for those who can't remeber her)

the Maaren army goes into action with Chabik, Mehrin (Azar's mother) and Azar at the front

they mow down a lot of enemies but get stopped as Irsia (Daryun's mom, she is there... because of reasons) is being held hostage by Farah and Farah threatens Chabik with killing Irsia (tough luck with that, moron, she's already dead) and Daryun

Chabik goes nuts and rampages through Farahs army

they try to stop him but that makes it worse

(he gets exposed here aka his helmet flies off - the DRAMA)

Farah has no other choice but to retreat but in a last ditch effort to get the favor back into her court, she kidnaps Azar, Gieve and Alfarid (still unsure about the characters besides Azar)

now complitally impaled by weapons and being unable to prevent the kidnapping, Chabik collapses bloody all over

Irsia tries to calm him down but Mehrin is the one who does it with a slap (bc that is how you help your friends!)

Farzin asks Saam for help to help him find his (by Saam presumed dead) child

Team Arslan + Saam go to Maar!

And that is how far my mind went for the transition from semi-canon to full on fanon for my AU! As you can see, the ending is a little rough and very unstable as I now have catched up to the manga for planning and I have to go by the chapter and change a few things here and there. But this should be roughly how we get to Maar (and Azar backstory whohoooooooo! Finally, the actual reason/scene I started this AU in the first place!)

#important writing defender #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #maaren au #firelight au #this took so long to write (nearly a month now)#but i had a lot of academic stuff coming up so I had to do that first #anyway hope you enjoy this rambling!

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raayllum · 1 year

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Hey! In retrospect, this might be kinda obvious to some, but I was just thinking about the scene early in Season 4 where Callum recalls the fact that he's destroyed multiple powerful magic objects/artifacts and I realized that that scene was probably meant to highlight/make it hit harder later in the season when Callum can't do the same thing to the cube and I got excited lmao

So I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about what gets lamp shaded / referred back to specifically in S4 and possibly why, re: exactly what you pointed out, dear nonnie, in 4x02 (which made me Yell the first time around because I loved it as a lamp shade), as well as Rayllum's scene on the Pinnacle in 4x05. So why not talk about about them? If you are curious about more on Callum's "breaking magical objects" pattern I'd recommend this meta as well as this one, although there shouldn't be too much repetition here

Let's go

4x02 - Accidentally on Purpose

Including this shot because it has the Ocean-Star rune combination for the cube, my beloved.

The primal stone, Ethari -> Rayla -> Callum's pendant, and the Moon Henge all shudder. The mirror, too, will shortly be broken, although by Aaravos' own hand rather than Callum's (at least, not directly). This line and pattern also underscores one of Callum's key flaws, as his impulsive flippancy ("'It's the winter lodge, Rayla, no winter no humans' ugh" / "He tried to copy Claudia's lightning spell, but he doesn't know how to finish it!") when it comes to magic is ultimately related to how Selfish he can be. He, like many characters in TDP, can tunnel vision so hard he doesn't see or fully consider the possible consequences of his actions, but I do think Callum has a thread of like internalized focus that makes it stem from selfishness (more akin to perhaps Claudia and Viren) than it does shortsightedness/shame (Rayla) or inadvertent steamrolling (Claudia, Ezran).

For Callum, just knowing magic isn't enough. He's always focused on how he can use it.

"I just don't want to be useless," he said (S2 novelization, set during he and Rayla's late night talk about "I have to be a mage again").

He'd always known that cube was important. Maybe now Rayla would start listening to him... and maybe now he would find out how he could use the mysterious cube. [...] But Callum was awake obsessing over the Key of Aaravos. What could he achieve with it?

Now, does Callum ever mean to be selfish? No, of course not. He doesn't mean to put Rayla and Zym in danger with his pursuit of magic (or his lie to Amaya), but that's what happens anyway. 2x04 has always stood out to me as a particularly interesting episode, precisely because it shows this flaw on full display in ways that S1 could've neatly resolved. In 1x04, Callum pursues magic ultimately to the group's detriment (just how much, depending on what the cube does, remains to be seen). Then in 1x09, through smashing the primal stone (which we'll talk about more in a minute) he puts the group above his pursuit of magic. It's a nice little full circle, and it could've easily been the resolution of this behavioural pattern. But it isn't, so I'm curious to see if/how it'll come back in future seasons (maybe S5) in some capacity.

To me, this is one of the things that make TDP's characterization so realistic. Callum can learn one lesson partially in 1x04 (don't take unnecessary risks) and apply that portion fully in 1x07 (regarding elves and humans), be willing to sacrifice a more tangible pursuit of magic for Zym ("But without this, I'm nothing") in 1x09, but still not fully learn his "Look before you leap when it comes to magic" lesson by the time we roll around in 2x04 or even 2x07 (although the context for the latter is vastly different). Just like how if saving Zym or being a good enough protector could solve Rayla's self worth issues, she would've been totally fine after 1x09, but we see her have the exact same kind of breakdown two seasons later ("This is all my fault. I dropped it. I let you both down. I let the world down" / "It's me, and it's all my fault. I failed them! I let them all down") because well - issues and emotional wounds are not so easily solved.

Anyway, back on topic: what does any of this have to do with S4's lamp shading of Callum's tendency of breaking magical objects?

Well, I think you're right: the Key is seemingly rare, powerful, and possibly sought after by Aaravos. At the very least it's connected to him, and Callum is now terrified of him. But he won't relinquish/destroy it at this present time, so there's a nice contrast there. The cube has a pull over him for whatever reason, whether that's curiosity, it being Harrow's last parting gift to him, or even possibly the fact it was the first thing he and Rayla really bonded over ("Hey sad prince. Let's go get your cube") and his own potential as a mage. He does, after all, look at the moon rune specifically after lowering it.

But I also think it's indicative that the object and conversation Callum is most directly referencing is this one with Claudia in 2x02 about breaking their joint primal stone:

Which was pretty noble, and inspired a very strong character arc for Callum, full of struggle and interesting character aspects. Breaking the primal stone wasn't the ideal situation for him by any means, but it was undeniably the Right Thing To Do. On the surface, there's nothing to be worried about... except:

I have not seen the stars in centuries. But when I see them again—when the stars are forced to look upon me, their dark brother—they will know how I have waited. And when everything they have built lies shattered, I will savor their fall from the sky. (Patience, TDP reflections)

The Whole World is like a Giant Primal Stone. When backed into a corner and able to save someone he loves and/or cares about, Callum is willing to sacrifice his own source of power. He's willing to bend his morals and do dark magic. He's willing to jump off a cliff with just the faintest hope he can grow wings and save them both. We also know that Callum, either within a possessed state or outside of it, has to play into Aaravos' hands, otherwise it is unlikely the Startouch elf would be released (and he has to be released).

Which, all of this also works fairly well in tandem with

4x05 - You saved me

So Rayllum's scene on the Pinnacle is one of my favourite scenes between them in the season, as well as one of the most interesting. After all, the Pinnacle is the place for quite a few important Rayla and Callum moments in season three: Rayla finding out the truth about her mum and dad, thanks to Callum; Callum trying to tell her that he loves her for the first time (which Soren's interruption also lampshades); and of course when Callum jumps off the Pinnacle to save her. And while Soren's dialogue is a more comedic callback to the second one, Rayla's dialogue calls to mind the latter:

(Callum's face only falls in the second screencap when she gets to "certain death," by the way.)

It's not entirely clear why Callum starts crying when he looks away, as he has a lot of reasons to (the fear of what Aaravos may make him do, thus turning him into something that hurts people rather than saves them; the fact that he's had only like, 1.5 days to process the return of the love of his life and all those complicated feelings) but he does start crying. Rayla then does her best to help, but doesn't get a chance to, and it's not clear if Callum would've let her, either.

But I thought the emphasis on "saving" was interesting, to say the least. Why not be more explicit about the way this was the first time they said "I love you"? Some note of "so much has changed, but not everything's changed" from Rayla, if they wanted a nudge of some sort. Or it could've been something about Rayla's parents, grateful that she was able to forgive them and realize the truth, that'd they'd left for "a good cause".

Well, I think the most straight forward thing is first, that Callum and Rayla are a couple who has always been very defined by reciprocally saving each other; Callum defends them from the smoke wolves, Rayla defends them from Runaan, etc. Rayla saves everyone (Bait, Ezran, Zym, the downed dragon), and Callum saves her (1x05, 2x04, 2x07, 3x09). The second is that S5, if it brings back Callum's possession plot line (and it likely will, with the emphasis on darkness and drowning from some of the TDP shorts for the season: "Soren gasped the darkness like water into his lungs. He could not breathe. He was drowning") Rayla is probably going to the one to ultimately save him from it, somewhat due to the light and dark symbolism as well (Rayla showing up haloed in moonlight with the cube on her shoulder).

An emphasis on how Arc 1 culminated in a big show of love as Callum saved Rayla, if Rayla is going to be the one to successfully save Callum from brainwashing next season (and restore to her that "We can't save everyone" isn't true after all) makes a lot of sense, especially with it foreshadowed / spelled out more directly in this quote from the Book One Moon novelization:

“Wow. So they look identical, but they might kill you or they might save you,” Callum said.

“Exactly. Just like me…” Rayla smiled.

She's certainly not going to kill him and thus, Rayla has to save him. There we get that mutual reciprocation, especially when she left in TTM to try and save/spare him - it'd be a good way for her to realize that the best way to save/protect him is to stay, right here, with him instead. She'll risk the world ("You let him live but you killed us all" "You have two choices: you all die, or just the evil wretched human dies"), and it'll be worth it.

However, as I've already said, Callum has to play into Aaravos' hands in order for the Startouch elf to get out. And Aaravos is clearly pretty confident it'll happen, whether precisely because Callum is worried because of the possession (a more likely manipulation tactic) or due to the possession itself (less likely, as why reveal your checkmate move ahead of time?).

Rayla realizing she can save Callum is also, indeed, only one piece of the puzzle. She also has to realize that she deserves to be saved, which 4x05 seems like a step in the right direction of (she's happy and lovey about it, not guilty) even if her self worth issues are still very prevalent: "This is all my fault. I left [Soren] alone. I shouldn't have—" as well as trying repeatedly to go off on her own.

So 4x05 emphasizing the last time Callum saved her, setting up that he'll also save her again (and possibly risk the primal stone world again, helping to free Aaravos in exchange for also freeing Rayla) in S5?

He'll risk the world, and it'll be worth it.

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summonedglory · 1 year

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small, itsy, tiny starter call while I frantically read through baby name websites start filling my about pages. Please like this post if you'd like a starter from me, and send one of the following emojis if you'd like a specific muse (if you have no preference, I'll randomise the muse):

🩵 Camille

💖 Fiora

💛 Mel

❤️ Samira

🖤 Sarah

💚 Senna

I'll keep these short (two small paragraphs maximum), and will send them your way sometimes this week ✨

#// riot left so many characters unnamed. they're my ocs now #// let's not comment on my failure at graphics #// I was so proud of myself for making something that looks at least readable but I forgot to account for the shadow in my image size :')#runes & recalls — out of character #dynasties & dystopia — starter call

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dailycharacteroption · 5 months

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Retrograde Revision 3: Archivist

(art by suomar on DeviantArt)

Another case of bards in name only, today we’re looking at an archetype that is essentially a librarian.

Described as being “bards that eschew the dramatic aspects of their training”, that need not necessarily be the case, as archivists could easily have gained their arcane/occult magic by studying the body of work under their care rather than having gone to any bardic college.

Either way, they are still associated with academia, and may have a personal history as a scholar first.

The badass librarian has been a thing in recent decades, so whether they are archivists or scientists doing field work, these brilliant minds can prove how effective their stores of knowledge are both on and off the battlefield.

This archetype feels like a first pass at a non-loremaster knowledge-based character, the sort of thing that would evolve later into the overall vibe of the investigator class, so it’s interesting to see where it got it’s start.

Rather than inspire bravery in others, archivists instead focus on providing running commentary and guidance on how to fight the creatures they and their allies are currently facing. While they have to identify them first, doing so gives their allies an offensive and defensive buff against them as they point out vulnerabilities and limitations in the subject’s attack and defense.

Whether it be supernatural boredom or the sheer crushing weight of their focus on minutiae, these archivists can wax technical on a subject to daze or confuse those under the effects of one of their “fascinating” lectures (how fascinating they actually are may vary.” Later on, they can even affect whole crowds this way.

Predating the skald ability of the same name, these archivists know so much that they are true lore masters, able to recall incredible amounts of information on a topic a few times per day.

Additionally, their magical lore makes them better suited to identifying magic items, disabling magical traps, and recognizing magical runes in time to better brace themselves against their effects.

Furthermore, they also demonstrate proficiency with all skills, which only grows over time.

More powerful archivists are so knowledgeable that they can predict a possible outcome and occasionally take the most average result on any sort of activity, including when attacking and resisting, which can be useful in an emergency.

The archivist, with it’s eventual ability to treat every single skill as a class skill, as well as taking 10 often and 20 a few times per day at a low level, has the potential to be the arguably best skill monkey in the game. The base combat performance providing both an offensive and defensive buff against identified foes is also very nice, though the ability to daze or confuse foes that are already fascinated is of dubious unsability, since most situations in which you’d fascinate, you’re trying to avoid combat, and it’s not clear how confusion and daze work in regards to keeping people fascinated when they might start punching each other. Beyond that, however, I recommend spell and feat choices that help you have an at least partial answer to any situation you come across. Damage spells with a variety of types, utility spells, debuffs, buffs, you name it.

The nature of their ability to debuff foes they fascinate might give some the assumption that they are boring or dry lecturers, but that doesn’t have to be the case. It could be that their passionate diatribes are simply bewildering to others, and you can certainly portray them as being passionate about many a subject.

A mystic prank goes wrong when a bookish student cast a forbidden spell to get back at his classmates, and now they are all stuck inside a demiplane centered around the most popular tabletop board game in the school. Experienced adventurers are needed to enter the game’s world, master the rules, and rescue the students.

Palanz Whisperwind has never seen any of the monsters he’s spent his whole life studying. In need of a change of pace, he hires a party of adventurers to escort him on this field study. Putting up with his incessant droning and condescending attitude may drive the party up the wall, though.

The secret name of Falrax, the demon lord of night, is hidden in the secret archives of the Library of Thoumous Rang. Getting to the repository, however, will prove difficult, as the gynosphinx archivist Written Conundrum is loath to allow the ignorant and uninitiated to touch her tomes, even if the fate of the world is on the line.

#pathfinder #retrograde revision #archetype #bard #archivist #gynosphinx #Advanced Player's Guide

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nightingale-ghost-writer · 6 months

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By the Grace Of [Sorcerer Rogier x Fem!Tarnished] - Chapter Eight

Summary: Knowledge shared is knowledge gained, or so they say. Delia and Rogier both have some knowledge to share, and some little truths to get off their chests.

Author’s Notes: 1.2K words! Enter the true plot of the fix-it. Just a bit of out-of place/alternate dialogue here for flow purposes. Now, if you’re reading this and thinking “Nightingale, the thing you’re saying DOES exist, there’s your fix!”, you are correct! However, as I writer, I must say “Too easy. Everyone must suffer.” Things are gonna get worse before they get better. Also, technically speaking the items in question are late(ish) game so this is my justification for using them.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or events from Elden Ring

Warnings: abstract horror? I think? unedited (basically), unfinished story- read at your own risk!

“This… is a black knifeprint!” Rogier’s hands trembled slightly as he reached for it. Delia laid it carefully on his outstretched palms, smiling to herself.

“I can scarcely believe you managed to get your hands on this! You recall our conversation about the Night of the Black Knives, yes?” He looked up at her, too briefly to see her nod before he went on excitedly. “They say the assassins who carried out the deed were scions of the Eternal City. A group entirely of women, arrayed in armor of silver under cloaks which fooled the eye.”

He stopped then, eyes fixed on her armor. “I see.” He reached out to run his fingers over the material of the cloak where it parted at her chest. So enthralled was he that he didn’t notice Delia’s sharp intake of breath. “Fascinating,” he breathed.

“So I was wrong,” she joked, a little breathless. He hummed, looking up distractedly. “You’re more interested in the armor.”

Rogier chuckled, jerking his hand back with an awkwardness that indicated he had only just realized where it had been. He cleared his throat.

“Yes, well, it is quite curious. The knives they wielded though, were imparted with the power of the Rune of Death through sinister rite.”

He rested the knifeprint on the bench beside him and took her hands. Delia felt her cheeks heat. She liked this habit of his. “Please, I beg of you, lend me the knifeprint for a time. I'd love nothing more than to tease out its secrets. Though only a fragment, a very specific ritual had to be performed to impart the power of the Rune of Death. Traces of the one who performed the rite are sure to remain in the imprint…”

He offered a wry, self-deprecating smile. “Half my body has been suffused with Death. I'm certain it will help me see.”

Delia’s stomach plummeted with that morbid thought. “Can’t anything be done?”

He hesitated. She’d been expecting an immediate rebuffal.

“No,” he began, but she cut him off. She tugged on his hands, upsetting his balance.

“You know something, don’t you?” He looked away. “Rogier, tell me!” she urged. She squeezed his hands when he didn’t respond.

He briefly met her gaze before lowering his eyes again. “There’s no guarantee that-”

“I don’t care,” hissed Delia. She reached up to his cheeks, lifting his head and forcing him to hold her gaze. “It’s a chance. Tell me.”

Rogier swallowed, hard. “In the tomes you’ve brought me, there are various cookbooks. I’ve found recipes for boluses, medicinal concoctions used in these lands. They’re meant to cleanse the conditions one finds oneself in here.”

“And they work?” Delia asked breathlessly.

Rogier hesitated. “I don’t know. I’ve never used them. And… I’ve found no recipe for anything that cures Death Blight.”

Delia dropped her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Of course not. That would be too easy.

“And I’m no healer. But,” Rogier went on haltingly. “I did find a recipe for boluses meant to cleanse the Scarlet Rot.” Delia looked at him blankly. “It’s… a bit closer in its properties to Death Blight than to poison, or blood loss, or sleep magic.” Delia nodded, waiting for him to continue. He didn’t.

“I don’t know what that means,” she admitted softly. Her hands had loosened on his cheeks, no longer keeping his gaze fixed on her. He closed his eyes, but she felt the light pressure as he leaned into her touch.

“I don’t want to get our hopes up,” he murmured. “But… if the Scarlet Rot can be cured…”

“Then maybe this can, too.”

He nodded, smooth cheeks rubbing against her calloused fingertips. “Maybe,” he whispered.

“Well, you can consider my hopes well and truly up,” Delia teased. The look Rogier flashed her was in turns astonished, shyly pleased, and chagrined.

“I have no way of getting ingredients to test,” he began.

“I’ll get them for you.”

“As I said, I’m no healer-”

“But you’re brilliant.” She shook his head lightly between her hands. His cheeks were burning beneath her palms

Rogier reached up to lay his hands over hers. “It could be dangerous.”

“I don’t care.”

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting her body sag against his. When he didn’t flinch, when his arms came up around her, she let herself relax.

“I’ll bring you everything you need.”

“I care. And I don’t know what I need,” he grumbled.

“Then I’ll bring you cookbooks and apothecary’s notes until you know.”

“And where do you intend to find these cookbooks and apothecary’s notes?” He’d leaned back against the wall, pulling her with him. She lay awkwardly against his legs, but he didn’t seem to mind and she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“I’ve made friends with some of the merchants,” she mused. “I’m sure someone can point me in the right direction.”

“Hmm. And how good are these friends?”

She looked up. “Does it matter?”

Rogier didn’t answer right away, but his heart sped against her chest. “It matters,” he said softly. There was a long silence before he reached up to stroke her cheek, gently skirting the cut along it. “I want you safe.”

“Well, I want you whole and hale.” Delia pulled herself sideways to sit beside him. She snorted softly. “Besides, I’m not sure anywhere is safe, anymore.”

“All the same.” He seemed to be struggling to put his thoughts into words. Delia remained silent, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

“Why… have you gone to such troubles to help me?”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I mean I don’t see what you stand to gain by helping me. When we first met, at Stormveil, if you’d asked me to come along back then, I would’ve understood.” He smiled wistfully. “I think we would have made a formidable pair, gallivanting about slaying kings and gods.”

His face crumpled, fingers digging into the fabric at his lap.

“But now I’m in this sorry state. One little mishap, and now I can’t move.” His face twisted in a flash of- what, self-loathing?- that he tried to mask. “As you might guess, it’s far from ideal… and I fail to see what use I am to you like this.”

Delia felt a hot flare of anger that he might think she was only using him. She watched Rogier’s expression waver, shifting between suspicion and despair and bitterness and… hope. She breathed out, tamping down her irritation with some effort.

“Maybe you’re not of any particular use to me,” she said, more sharply than she’d intended. He flinched. “Maybe I just like you,” she rushed on. She stood to pace toward the railing, leaning against it and dropping her head.

“I just enjoy your company,” she admitted softly. She cleared her throat and went on, stronger than before. “And even if I didn’t, I hate to see needless suffering.”

She felt a light touch at the back of her knee and turned to see Rogier leaning forward. He offered her a weak smile.

“Forgive me. And… forgive me for what I said last time you were here.” He looked pale, nervous. “I didn’t mean to insinuate… anything.” Delia almost laughed at his pained expression. Instead, she let a slow smile spread across her face.

“I know how you can make it up to me.”

#nightingale writes #elden ring #elden ring sorcerer rogier #elden ring rogier #sorcerer rogier #rogier #sorcerer rogier x tarnished #sorcerer rogier x fem!tarnished #rogier x tarnished #rogier x fem!tarnished

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feeling-high-with-pride · 1 year

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Thinking about Odin and Magpie...

On some brainrot stuff again so I’m gonna ramble about the Arrow siblings.

A long while ago I saved a translation of the nordic runes in panel 1547, seen below;

I can’t recall who did the translation (whether it was from here or Reddit, so if someone knows I’ll add credits to them!) but it reads:

“I woke up this morning and realised that I could not remember the sound of her voice. Her laugh echoes in my head when I try hard enough to imagine it. But it's nothing more than an empty weightless reflection of reality teetering on the cusp of my memory and it only brings me pain to try and remember it. But my fear of forgetting her is much more powerful and so I must remember and end up at the same question of everybody in the universe. What did we do to deserve this. Why me?"

This, written in Odin’s notebook presumably, was shown directly after Moribund Malediction. There is a level of intense melancholy associated with this writing, exploring a sense of longing to remember those who are no longer with us. If Odin did write this, then there are two characters that this reflection piece could be referring to; either Magpie or Odin’s mother. I’m more inclined to believe it’s Odin’s mother in this sense, as it’s been a longer period of time since she’s been around versus Magpie’s disappearance about 2 and a half years prior to the main story.

Tragically, Odin is forgetting his mother.

It doesn’t help that Pedri (later in the story when Odin is unveiling his “tragic backstoryTM”) was shown to be tormenting Odin through the visage of his mother. Being shown so many illusions, and perhaps turning to the herbs he smokes as a way of deterring Pedri, it would make sense if Odin has begun to forget what his mother was actually like when he was younger. It seems like the only good memory or dream he has of her is from when he was born around Gildhaust and she was showing him around.

It would be really sad if Odin was forgetting Magpie too, but from the clearer shots of her in his memories I do doubt it.

Speaking of Magpie, I went back to check out some panels I knew existed (namely panels 1275-1277, which appear just after Ava is trapped in the Gate to Paradise machine.

Looking back on these...it has to be Magpie! The bow, the blue...it just makes sense!

The first image shows Magpie looking rather happy, holding the hand of a featureless figure. This is likely Magpie with her ‘inbisible friend’, as she told Odin when they were younger. The inclusion of a happy sun (I think it is one on the righthand side?) is interesting, given that Aedinfell hasn’t been with a proper sun for a long time.

The second image shows Magpie looking much more upset and crying, standing alongside two other girls of similar (if not exact) stature. This must be her sisters; Crow and Raven. As the youngest of the triplets, she often was given a lot of grief (in Odin’s words), so this drawing seems to exemplify that! It’s possible she was bullied by her sisters, or teased for being the youngest.

The third image is a bit more confusing in my opinion. There’s 6 vertical lines followed by a faceless girl. It doesn’t appear to be Magpie specifically, since the bow is missing, but it could always be her regardless. My first thought (which could be wrong) was that the lines plus the girl equal to seven, like the seven deadly sins that the Hosts are meant to portray. Ava = Wrath, Odin = Pride, Gil = Envy, Maggie = Lust, Erios = Greed(?) and then three others that have yet to be revealed. What if this signifies that Magpie is the last Host we’ll meet pertaining to these sins? Honestly she’s probably not, but it’d be pretty cool.

If anyone has thoughts on that last image I’d love to hear them.

Anyway, I guess the point of these rambles is that I think the Arrow siblings need a big hug and lots of blankets because holy shit this family is traumatised af, and definitely need the additional care and love that they missed out on getting when they were kids.

#ava's demon #avasdemon #odin arrow #magpie arrow #textpost #long post #kat's ramblings #ava's demon theory

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lyranova · 8 months

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Children of the Future: Shadows of the Past

Chapter 14: Why Didn’t We See This Coming?

Hiya guys! I’m sorry this chapter took so long to get out, my life has been a little crazy since December and I struggled a bit with this chapter. But it’s finally done 😁! The next chapter will probably take a while since I start school in February, and that will take up a lot of my time, but hopefully not! Anyway I hope you all enjoy~!

Sterling and Josele belong to @loosesodamarble and Leon and Solara belong to @thoughtfullyrainynightmare

Word Count: 3,708

Warnings: Mentions of bodily injuries, mentions of blood, character death

—————

The Black Bull's Hideout

It felt like time stood still as everyone just stared at the small pile of bodies that lied in the center of the room. It was like everyone and everything was frozen. No one moved, no one breathed, and for a moment Yami swore he didn’t see anyone blink. Until finally he heard Charlotte speak softly behind him.

“ Hana, Brielle, Lovely, I need you to take the younger kids outside for a while, alright?” She asked her middle child softly, but Hana shook her head.

“ But big sis-!” Hana began, but her mother quickly shook her head.

“ Hikari will be alright, so please just take care of the others.” She told her, her voice still soft, but it held a firmness to it. Which Hana knew meant that she was serious. Hana, Lovely, and Brielle quickly looked at each other before they began to usher the younger children out of the room.

As soon as the younger children left the room, everyone seemed to be snapped back to reality. Each parent rushed towards their child. Panic, worry, and fear laced their voices, eyes, and faces as they each reached them.

“ I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry! I only got the vision a few hours ago, and when I did, I rushed over here as quickly as I could since my communication device wasn’t working!” Sterling told them, panic in her voice as she rushed over to them. But Josele quickly shook her head as she cupped her eldest child’s face gently.

“ It’s not your fault Sterling, you did well,” She told her softly, a tender smile on her face. “ Do you mind going outside with the younger kids? I’m worried they might get into a bit of trouble if left unsupervised.”

The red haired girl nodded slowly before doing as her mother asked and running out the same door that the younger kids did.

Meanwhile, Yami quickly knelt down and carefully cradled Hikari’s cool and limp body in his arms. Her dark hair was matted with blood, her clothes were torn, and her skin was deathly pale and cool to the touch…he couldn’t ever recall a time when she was so cold. But she was still breathing, it was shallow, but it was there and that was what mattered.

He slowly looked up, he could hear the screams and shouts of the Bulls as they urged their children to wake up. But it all sounded so muffled to him. It was like his head was underwater. He could see Gordon and Henry holding Wendy and Alice tightly in their arms, with Zora and Josele trying their best to aid the girls as Nacht issued various orders to his four devils.

He could see Gauche holding Aloys in his arms, and hear his muffled shouts as Grey tried to use her healing spell on him. His grey eyes slowly moved towards where Finral and Vanessa were kneeling. The Spatial mage seemed to be in shock as he held Ezio’s body, while Vanessa was doing her best to try to snap him out of his daze.

But what pulled Yami out of his daze was Secre, who rushed over to the pile.

“ Rune! Rune, what are you doing here?!” She shouted in shock as she picked up her 21-year-old son.

Rune was the adopted son of Secre. She had found him outside the Hideout when he was 11 years old, and at first she was going to take him to the orphanage in Kikka. But the longer she was around him, the more he reminded her of Lumiere, both in appearance and in personality…and in the end she just couldn’t give him up. When he got his grimoire, he decided instead of becoming a Magic Knight, he was going to travel all around the world and see everything it had to offer. Secre was a little saddened, but still supported his decision.

But when everyone had heard from him two days ago, he was supposedly still in the Diamond Kingdom…so how on earth did he get from there to Hage village?!

Yami shook his head, that wasn’t important right now, right now they needed to get all of their kids to Owen!

“ Finral!” Yami shouted as loud as possible, making the other man blink and jump in surprise. “ Snap out of it and open a portal to the infirmary!” He instructed, and Finral quickly nodded.

He handed Ezio to Vanessa and Magna before he stood up, and with a trembling hand he quickly opened a portal large enough for everyone to fit through.

“ A-Alright! It’s open!” Finral shouted, his voice shaking almost as bad as his body was. But Yami only nodded before looking at everyone.

“ Josele, Zora, you two help Henry and Gordon take Alice and Wendy through the portal first since they seem to be in the worst shape! Vanessa, Gauche, then you two take Aloys and Ezio through. Nacht, you help Secre with Rune. Charlotte and I will be right behind you with Hikari!” Yami ordered, his voice calm and steady, despite feeling nervous and uneasy on the inside.

One by one, each Bull nodded. With Zora and Josele’s help, Gordon and Henry picked up Wendy and Alice and carried them through first. Then Gauche, Grey, Vanessa, and Secre received help from Luck, Charmy, Nacht, and Magna with carrying their sons. Finally, Yami, Finral, and Charlotte all quickly walked through the portal as well. Hoping beyond hope that Ezio had gotten the kids back to the Hideout in time.

When the group appeared at the infirmary at the Magic Knight Headquarters, they were greeted by Owen, who had a very surprised look on his face.

“ My gods! Cecil, get the other Healers in here quickly!” Owen had shouted over his shoulder, and his fifteen-year-old son quickly nodded before disappearing behind the double doors.

Soon, nearly a dozen Healers appeared before the Bulls. They quickly put the wounded onto stretchers and rushed them back behind the double doors, and when Hikari was placed onto the last stretcher, Yami looked up at Owen.

“ You better save them. All of them.” Yami growled, his tone serious and slightly threatening, but Owen didn’t even flinch.

“ I’m going to be blunt with you, Yami. They’re all gravely injured, so while we’ll do the best we can, if I were you, I would prepare for the worst…just in case.” Owen told him seriously, and as he and Cecil began to rush Hikari to the back, his eyes narrowed a bit.

Yami wouldn’t let go of Hikari’s hand.

“ Yami, if we don’t treat her now, her injuries will only get worse. So please trust me, and let her go.” Owen told him softly, his voice full of understanding, but Yami still didn’t budge.

Not until he felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder.

“ Yami,” Charlotte began softly. Her voice was firm, but he could hear a slight shakiness to it. “ We have to let her go now. The sooner we do, the sooner we get her back. So please…let her go.” She pleaded, her voice growing softer and softer and trembling more and more as the words left her mouth.

Yami felt his heart clench in his chest, and reluctantly, he let go of Hikari’s hand and watched as Cecil and Owen wheel her back behind the double doors. Only when they disappeared and were out of sight did his legs buckle, and he fell to his knees. He could hear the worried shouts of his squad members and his wife, but he ignored them and just stared at the double doors in front of him.

No matter how hard he tried, his body wouldn’t stop trembling, from both fear and anger.

—-------

A few Hours Later, Infirmary at the Magic Knight Headquarters

Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock

The clock in the infirmary ticked as the Bulls silently waited in the infirmary halls for news of their children. Gauche was restless, so he paced back and forth down the hall, while Grey and Secre sat quietly in a chair beside Charmy and Josele, who was doing her best to comfort the woman. Meanwhile, Henry, Gordon, Finral, and Vanessa were both being comforted by Luck, Zora, and Magna. Further down the hall sat Yami, Charlotte, and Nacht.

What on earth happened out there? They were just supposed to be facing off against regular bandits, which they had done many times before, so how did they end up like this?

Yami ran a hand over his tired face as the memory disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. It didn’t make sense. Hikari and the other brats were all very skilled Magic Knights, and were more than capable of handling bandits on their own…unless…

Everyone jumped as they suddenly heard the door on the other side of the room slam open, their heads instantly turned, and their eyes widened as they saw Asta and Noelle standing there.

The two were slightly out of breath and their cheeks were red, proof that they had rushed to the infirmary. Their faces and eyes were filled with worry as they stared at their friend's troubled faces.

“ We came as soon as we heard!” Asta said as Noelle nodded in agreement.

“ How did you two find out so quickly?” Nacht asked with a bit of a frown.

“ I went to the Hideout to drop off Kaiyo, and I was stopped by Gimodelo. He said he and the other Bremen devils were tasked with protecting the area until you all returned, but eventually he let me through and Sterling told me everything that happened.” She explained, and the others nodded slowly.

“ Then Noelle called me with the communication device, and now we’re both here.” Asta said, and he watched as Yami sighed and shook his head.

“ You shouldn’t be here, brat, you have more important places to be right now.” He told him seriously, but the younger man shook his head.

“ It can wait. Vangeance said he would inform the other Captain’s and cancel the meeting and push everything back until tomorrow.” Asta explained. “ He also wanted me to tell you that he would come by at the end of the day.” He added with a small smile.

“ Have… you guys heard anything yet?” Noelle asked hesitantly, but Charlotte quickly shook her head.

“ No, nothing yet.”

“ That’s good, though, right? Don’t they say no news is good news?” Gauche scoffed at Noelle’s hopeful words as he suddenly stopped pacing.

“ Whoever came up with that line of crap wasn’t a parent,” He spat, his voice full of anger as he looked at her. “ Getting no news isn’t good. It’s pure torture, and I can’t take it anymore.” He added as he suddenly spun on his heel and began walking towards the double doors, but Nacht instantly stepped in front of him.

“ If you go in there right now, it’ll cause your son more harm than good,” Nacht began, his tone firm and serious. “ So if I were you, I would wait-.”

Gauche quickly cut him off.

“ ‘Wait’? Ha! That’s easy for you to say, since none of your kids were on that mission, and you’ve got nothing to worry about,” Gauche began angrily. “ Hell, despite their friends being in the squad, your brats hardly involve themselves in the Black Bulls!” Gauche continued, his voice growing louder as he grabbed the front of Nacht’s shirt roughly and glared at the older man.

“ Speaking of, why didn’t Sterling see this coming? Isn’t she supposed to know things hours, if not days, in advance? So why the hell didn’t she warn us about this sooner!”

“ It’s not exactly Sterling's job to keep tabs on your kids and their futures! Besides, it’d be too much of a strain on her to see the future of a whole group of people,” Nacht told him in an icy yet calm tone. “ And even if she could do that, it’s not like the future is set in stone.”

Gauche growled, “ So I’m just supposed to accept that my son got messed up and there’s nothing I could’ve done to stop it?!”

“ I think you will have to accept it, Mr. Adlai,” Nacht responded. “ Because whatever harmed the kids is done and in the past. It can’t be changed. It can only be dealt with in the present.”

Gauche shook his head, he didn’t want to hear it!

“ Shut up,” He muttered under his breath, his grip on Nacht’s shirt tightening. “ Just shut up you bastard!” He repeated, his voice having grown loud and angry suddenly.

As Yami and some of the other Bulls stood and began to walk over to the two, they all paused as they heard a door squeak open. Everyone in the hallway slowly turned towards the sound, and they saw Owen standing there.

And the look on his face sent everyone's hearts straight to their stomachs.

————

The Crimson Lions Base

Loud bangs and bright flashes of light could be seen and heard throughout the training area of the Crimson Lion Kings base. Some thought maybe it was Lord Fuegoleon and Lord Leo dueling, or that maybe Lady Mereoleona and Lady Elenora were causing havoc and mischief as they trained together.

But instead, it was Lord Leonidas and Lord Alistar Vangeance from the Golden Dawn training together.

Servants, and Crimson Lion members alike, stopped what they were doing to watch the two young men go back and forth. They cheered, they gasped, and the women in the crowd squealed as the sparring session continued on.

Until finally Alistar conceded defeat to Leon, making everyone roar and cheer loudly with pride at the Lion Prince’s victory!

“ You know, our sparring sessions usually end in a draw,” Leon panted a bit as he walked over to where his friend was kneeling. “ So either you were going easy on me, or you’re distracted.” He added as he held out a hand towards his friend.

“ I totally went easy on you,” Alistar responded with a cheeky grin. “ It wouldn’t be right if I kicked your butt in your own base and in front of your entire squad.” He added as he took his friend's outstretched hand.

The young Vermillion pulled his friend to his feet with a small laugh and shake of his head.

“ So, shall we discuss what has you so distracted over a glass of water here? Or would you prefer a cup of tea in my mother's private garden?” Leon asked, emphasizing the word ‘private’ as he felt some lingering eyes from a few of the ladies staring at them.

“ Umm…I think a cup of tea in your mother's private garden would be perfect.” Alistar said as his face grew red. He could feel the women’s eyes on his back, and hear their voices and their giggles float towards him.

Leon nodded and began to lead his friend towards the garden.

The two sighed as they practically flopped down onto one of the stone benches that sat under the large tree in Solara’s garden. Both took a deep breath and sighed softly as the cool breeze washed over them.

“ So, are you planning on waiting until our tea gets here to tell me what’s wrong? Or will you tell me now?” Leon asked, and he almost chuckled when he heard Alistar heave another heavy sigh.

“ Geez, you’re almost as pushy as Hikari,” Alistar muttered before he rubbed the back of his head as Leon chuckled. “ Anyway, It’s just…something feels off today.”

“ What do you mean?” Leon asked curiously as he looked up from the porcelain cup in his hand.

“ Well, last night, my father told us that we would have an emergency Captain’s meeting because Captain Yami and Vice-Captain Nacht found some information on Cerberus.” Alistar began as he stared into the depths of the amber liquid that rested in his cup. “ But then, when I was about to go to the Headquarters, my father called again and said that something urgent had come up and that the meeting had been postponed until tomorrow.”

“ Maybe Captain Yami and Vice-Captain Nacht found more information? Or maybe Hikari and the others did while they were in Hage?” Leon suggested after humming in thought.

It wasn’t unusual for Captain’s meetings to be delayed. Sometimes it was due to schedule conflicts, and sometimes it was because Asta was either behind in his paperwork or because he had run off in search of new magic or adventure.

“ I doubt it,” Alistar said with a soft sigh. “ The mission Hikari’s on doesn’t have anything to do with Cerberus…” He trailed off softly, a frown suddenly forming on his face.

No…surely that wasn’t-.

“ Alistar!” A panicked shout suddenly echoed through the garden, Leon and Alistar both turned to see Phoebe Luftair running towards them.

“ Phoebe? What’s going on?” Leon asked as he and Alistar both quickly stood.

“ You…You need to go to the infirmary at Headquarters!” She panted as she tried to catch her breath and talk at the same time, Alistar and Leon glanced at one another before looking back at Phoebe.

“ What are you talking about? What’s going on?” Alistar asked, his tone serious, but it held a worriedness to it.

Leon stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Phoebe’s shoulder.

“ Just take a deep breath, and tell us what happened.” He urged softly, but his voice was as serious as Alistar’s. Phoebe did as her friend said and took a deep breath.

“ It’s Hikari. She and the Black Bulls were seriously injured during their mission, and it…it doesn’t look good,” Phoebe said, her grey eyes staring into his blue ones to help convey the seriousness of the situation. “ You need to go. Now.”

Alistar felt his heart sink, and a cold sweat suddenly appeared on his skin. He could see Leon’s lips moving, but he couldn’t hear a single word he was saying, because his voice was being drowned out by the loud and anxious beating of his heart.

With a slow nod, he quickly used his plant magic to create a broom out of various vines, and flew towards the Headquarters infirmary.

—------

Back at the Infirmary

As Alistar rushed down the halls of the Magic Knight Headquarters, multiple thoughts and scenarios ran through his mind. Thoughts such as how could this have happened? How injured was Hikari and the others? Who had done this?

Obviously Cerberus was involved, but just how involved were they? Did they send a group up to Hage for the sole reason of attacking the Bulls? Were they already there to begin with? Alistar quickly shook his head, now wasn’t the time to be worried about that. Right now, he had something more important that he was worried about;

Hikari.

‘ Please let her be okay. Please let her be okay!’ He frantically thought as he grew closer and closer to the doors that led to the infirmary.

Until he finally rounded one last corner and saw the big wooden door that had the sign ‘Magic Knight Infirmary’ above it.

Alistar slowly walked up to it, his breathing labored, his heart still drumming loudly in ears. What would he see on the other side, he wondered as he slowly reached out towards the door.

His hand paused in mid-air. He hadn’t realized it until now, but his hand was shaking, no, his entire body was shaking. He quickly pulled his hand back and took a deep, calming breath.

‘ She’ll be okay, so just calm down, she’ll be okay.’

With that thought in mind, he reached out again and placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly pulled it open.

As soon as Alistar pulled the door open, he heard Owen’s voice.

“ Hikari, Aloys, Ezio, and Rune are all okay. But they all suffered from major injuries and electrical burns,” Owen began as he looked at everyone. “ Rune lost his left arm, Aloys had a gash across his abdomen along with a stab wound to the shoulder, Ezio was the least injured out of all the children. He had a more serious wound across his chest along with some minor ones across his arms and hands, but otherwise he was alright, and Hikari…” Alistar inhaled sharply.

“ Hikari had the most injuries. She had a bunch of minor cuts across her face, arms, and legs. She had a serious gash across her back, and a major stab wound to her chest. But despite that, they’re all alive.” Owen concluded, and a collective sigh of relief escaped from the Bulls and Alistar.

They were injured, but they were alive. Hikari was alive, and that was what mattered. Except…

“ What about Alice and Wendy? How are they?” Henry asked, his normally slow speech seeming to pick up a bit of speed.

Owen’s face suddenly became regretful, and his eyes grew sad as he looked at Henry and Gordon directly.

“ I’m sorry…but they’re gone.”

Owen’s soft voice seemed to boom loudly in the quiet waiting area. No one moved, no one even seemed to breathe…until finally a choked voice asked.

“ I don’t understand…what do you mean they’re gone?” Gordon asked, his normally quiet voice also seemed to boom loudly in the quiet space.

“ I mean…Wendy Agrippa and Alice Legolant didn’t make it,” Owen repeated, his voice gentle as he looked at Gordon and Henry. “ Their injuries were just too great. We did everything we could…” Owen continued, although he knew deep down that his words would give no comfort to them.

The room fell silent as everyone stood there in shock. Alice and Wendy…were gone?

Alistar watched sadly as the Adlai’s comforted Gordon, and Henry crouched down with Josele and Nacht at his side. The others also began to comfort them, as well as each other.

The girls weren’t only Henry and Gordon’s kids, they were also family to the other Black Bulls as well.

Alistar suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at him, and when he glanced up he saw it was Captain Yami who was staring at him.

“ Give us a bit, will ya brat?” His eyes told the younger man, and Alistar quickly nodded and quietly backed out of the room.

As soon as he closed the door, he could hear loud, painful cries and sobs begin on the other side…

————

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day!

#black clover fanfiction #black clover oc fanfiction #children of the future shadows of the past #yami sukehiro #sukehiro yami #nacht faust #gauche adlai #oc; alistar #oc; leon #oc; phoebe #oc; hikari

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