#Regis is a big reason for that but also just

[thisfairytalegonebad]

Finished my most recent playthrough of The Witcher 3 base game + Hearts of Stone, now we can finally get to the important part:

[ffocarchive]

he's taller than me and I am a simple man. don't click to keep reading.

I MAINTAIN, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘱, THAT 𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐔𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐗 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐓 is the only character who both cared about Lunafreya and actively tRIED to PROTECT HER over the course of the game. Everyone else was asleep at the wheel. Including Shiva.

If Lunafreya has 1 fan, it's Ravus. If she has 10 fans,

⭒⋆｡˚ It's R a v u s ˚｡⁺⭒

and 9 empty slots.

As an older sibling myself, I feel a camaraderie with him.

AND I appreciate that he disliked Noctis for solid reasons. If my sister was bent on some dinky little emo kid who has the gall to respond to her notebook messages the way you're allowed to in-game, I would simply. kill him. I love Noctis. Genuinely. But from Ravus's vantage point, that dreary walking mop is a menace. ᴬᴺᴰ ʸᴱᵀ, TO HIS OWN DETRIMENT, Ravus tries to honor Lunafreya's feelings and the prophecy she believed in by acquiescing to Noctis in the end. It's so sweet. He is ALL in. And then he's dead. Caelums are not trustworthy. I extend that criticism to every last Caelum ever, not just Ardyn — can't trust ♚Noctis♚ because if you are in danger he will find a chocobo and ride it. not toward you, just, in a big circle, meandering.

Ravus had an admirable little arc that's undoubtedly 80% happenstance and 20% purposeful character building, given the unequal force with which plot rewrites smacked Ravus specifically off a cliff, so he gets extra points for being such an underdog in this story. And then there was this book Squinex let happen because their company exists in some bizarro pocket dimension where All the Bravest was a good idea that deserved to stay on the app store for t͟e͟n͟ ͟y͟e͟a͟r͟s͟, and in this book Ravus is mentioned 13 times. These mentions are, in order:

Recalling that Ravus slept soundly when he was a kid

Recalling that Ravus didn't much care for the gods

Musing that Ravus might still live with his family if not for Ardyn

Just his name followed by a full stop.

Noting that Noctis is between Ignis and Ravus on the ground

The line from Episode Ignis where Ravus asks Luna not to leave

Noting that the above line was spoken in anguish

Recalling something Ravus said to Noctis at Aracheole

Remarking that Ravus watched Luna waste her energy on Noct

Remarking for emphasis that Ravus did not like Noctis

A passing insinuation that Ravus is good at five finger fillet

Musing that there's more to Ravus than Noctis knows

Regis wants to ask Ravus the identity of another character, but doesn't, so Ravus doesn't move or talk and that's the end of the book

Which is to say, in the longest way possible, that the book further compounds his underdog status, as does that concept art where everyone is hanging out with Luna's kids, including the man who backhanded her and killed her for fun, BUT RAVUS IS MISSING??? THEIR UNCLE??? THE UNCLE WHO HASn'T HIT A WOMAN ON-SCREEN FOR ALL OF US TO SEE??????????? THE UNCLE WHO DIDN'T KILL THEIR MOM????????

Also he looks hella good standing next to Ignis... 👀👍 i like ravnis

and that is why jaksndsjknawjklnesdfzxcd send post

[adobe-outdesign]

Could I ask a review for the good old fish boy Relicanth

Relicanth is a coelacanth, no big surprises there. Much like the IRL animal, it was considered extinct for many years before being rediscovered and hasn't really changed at all in a hundred million years. I really like that it's found out in the wild but is still water/rock, meaning that it shares the secondary rock typing of most fossil 'mons.

It's a fairly plain Pokemon, but the big thing it has going for it is its grumpy old man face. It's a pretty subtle element in the grand scheme of things, but it is fun to have it actually look as old as it is, and it adds a bit of flavor to an otherwise straightforward design.

Outside of that, the brown coloration both reflects its rock-typing but also references the Indonesian coelacanth's color. As an added bonus, its shiny is blue, referencing the West Indian Ocean coelacanth.

Beyond that, Relicanth also has the weird feature of a random red dot on it. I don't mind adding some extra color, but the way it's just stuck there with no real rhyme or reason is strange. I've heard people claim its body is a map to the regis, but I've never seen any supporting evidence for this, and given that nothing in the 'dex mentions a map I'm not terribly inclined to believe it, though that would be a neat idea.

I think Relicanth's biggest problem is just that it's fairly forgettable—it's not a 1:1 of a coelacanth but it's pretty close, and between it being fairly monotone in color (save for the aforementioned red dot) and non-evolving there's just not a lot to really make it stand out.

But then again, you couldn't have it evolve, give it a regional form, etc. because the entire point is that it hasn't evolved in 100 million years. It's probably the only Pokemon where being a straightforward one-stage Pokemon is basically part of the theme itself.

So overall: it's a coelacanth, all right. If you like silly old man faces and like coelacanths, you're going to love this guy.

[zwy01]

Raegyn doodles!

Yaaaaaaa giving my snarky smartass boy some love.

This is my OC, Raegyn Kertia! He is Regis and Rael’s son, and the latter’s heir.

I haven’t gone in depth with his backstory yet, so I figured I could do that lol. He’s one of my 15 “main” characters of my Millennium AU and his full bio is up in my pinned post.

I’ll be mentioning some other names in here too so to quickly recap, Raegyn is the older one of the two Regis/Rael kids and his full-sibling and younger sister is Arya K. Landegre. (Raegyn has three half-siblings, with his elder half-brother Kaelestis Blerster on Rael’s side, and younger half-brother Garyth J. Loyard and younger half-sister Alethea J. Loyard on Regis’ side.) Raegyn has a pretty good relationship with his loving family, buuut it wasn’t always like that, which is the fun part I’m getting to later. Woo!

Raegyn is a really interesting one and I had so much fun making his design and I can’t wait to dive into his story in detail. Let’s get started yaaa! My beloved Ray’s (almost) full backstory.

So we already know that Raegyn is the smartest and most popular of his generation. The star of the show, the center of attention, Lukedonia’s local celebrity… the number one guy. Loved by all, respected by all. Everyone wants to be his friend, maybe even competing with each other for his attention. People constantly shower him with admiration. It’s like he’s walking on the red carpet wherever he goes. People just can’t get enough of him. It’s always “how is Raegyn?”, “what is Raegyn doing today?”, and “I need Raegyn’s advice, where can I find him?”… etc. People are always saying his name, and frankly, he enjoys the attention he receives. Sometimes he thinks it’s funny how he’s not the Lord yet he arguably gets more enthusiasm from the general population than she does. Hah. Hilarious.

Raegyn’s just so lucky, isn’t he? He’s got the brains, a radiating confidence, an irresistible charm, a loving family, and a literal empire of friends… if life is a giant lottery then he had already won it all. Life can’t possibly get better than what it is now, can it? Well, for Raegyn, life is good indeed. Very good.

Everything he has ever wanted gets handed to him easily. If not, he just needs a minute to work it out in his head and say a little something to make the other person give in, and it works every single time even when his requests are obviously beyond reasonable. Basically, Raegyn knows how to use his thinking skills and his natural charm to his complete advantage. Thus life is easy for him.

But because everything comes so easily, life… is also boring. There was nothing to surprise him, to make him go “well that was fresh”. Now what? Life is predictable and repetitive, at least from his experience, because he is so capable of fine tuning things and people to be the way he wants. And the thing is Raegyn does like to be in control of every precise detail in his life, so he would rather have life be a bit boring than to give up on steering everything in his direction. Sometime in his early childhood, he had a single taste of being in control, and he has been hooked ever since. To lose that control would be a big no-no for him. Frankly, without it, he probably has little idea of how to actually live life as it is, which is letting things naturally unfold without his intervention. Yeah. He’d actually physically cringe if he had to stay idle.

This leads to my next point, which is Raegyn’s childhood. Oh boy. How do I even begin. Raegyn is the first child between Regis and Rael, but he’s not Rael first child. Rael is the soul fragment donor of Karias’ heir Kaelestis, who is Raegyn’s elder half-brother. This means Kaelestis is technically Rael’s first child, though the latter is merely a donor in both title and practice. Despite that, Rael was very much involved in Kaelestis’ early childhood as an adult figure, a mentor etc. Kaelestis adored his donor “other parent”, and Rael loved his sweet Blerster boy very much. Donor and son were close and made wonderful memories together, which led to Rael becoming very excited to have his own heir. Maybe even the exact reason why Raegyn was born not very long after Rael and Karias had Kaelestis. (Raegyn was born when Kaelestis was the equivalent of a 6-8 year old human) Rael was more than ecstatic to bond with his second son, his beloved heir, the light of his life. He loved his little boy with all his heart and he couldn’t wait to experience the joy of parenting. He was certain that it was going to be great.

Eeeexcept it didn’t go quite as Rael had expected. Uh oh. The fact that Raegyn didn’t automatically love Rael wasn’t even the worst part about it. Raegyn seemed to despise him. This hurt Rael very much, as he didn’t understand why his heir didn’t want anything to do with him. Raegyn resisted being communicated with telepathically, ignored words spoken at him, never responded to questions, looked away when being looked at, and squirmed with all his strength when any adult tried to hold him. At one point Rael gave up on trying to read Raegyn’s mind because he would find some… not so nice things Raegyn had to say about him, and he didn’t need to break his own heart any further. Rael didn’t know what he had done wrong, if anything. He had already gained experience as a parent from his time with Kaelestis; he learned how to be around kids, what to do and what not to do, and in general just how to handle them. He just couldn’t get his second son to like him. Something is wrong here. Kaelestis was fine with him, then why doesn’t Raegyn like him? And it wasn’t just Rael. Regis was also very puzzled by their son’s behavior, as Raegyn seemed to actively resist him as well. Regis tried to comfort his husband by telling him to not take it personally, because Raegyn… well, he disliked everyone equally. Rael was not convinced at all. Rip. At least Regis tried.

And so this went on for a while, until by complete chance a very tired Regis chuckled something along the lines of “You know what, child? Your behavior isn’t helpful in the slightest, and your father and I are having a hard time. Here, why don’t we make a deal so all of us get the most out of it while we’re still living in the same house?” Boom. That was it. The correct answer. To both his parents’ surprise, Raegyn actually responded. He turned around, stared at his fathers in the eyes, and said “Only if you have something good enough to offer. Just so you know, I won’t settle for less. Very well, Rael Kertia and Regis K. Landegre. Convince me.” Regis swore he heard Rael’s jaw drop to the floor, and he himself was speechless. So their son was capable of communicating with them after all, it’s just that he never did simply because he didn’t want to. The two of them came to the conclusion that their son didn’t like being treated like a child, and they were using the wrong approach the entire time. Regis and Rael thought they were doing the right thing, but they were quite mistaken, as their son needed to be treated as an adult, basically as their equal. None of that kiddie talk, mushy coddling, nonstop love smothering… nope. Interact with him like they would with any other adult? Yep, that got Raegyn talking and assured that they would get milder and even positive responses from him.

That’s when Regis and Rael realized that Raegyn was different, even if they can’t put their finger on it. It was a mix of surprise and curiosity. As impressive as it was, they couldn’t help but feel uncanny. Maybe they were even a bit reluctant to admit that they were uneasy, but Raegyn was their son after all, and they didn’t want to overthink it. I mean, this kid’s first (spoken) words were him trying to bargain with his parents. Maybe their son was just being funny and pranking them all along. They laughed it off, no big deal, all while still keeping an eye out for their unusual kid. From then on they’d modify their approach with their son and things changed for the better and Rael was finally able to bond with Raegyn, though not quite in the way he had expected. Anything is better than nothing, so Rael has no complaints. He might as well beg his son for attention if he really is that desperate.

What about from Raegyn’s perspective? Well, unfortunately, Raegyn wasn’t being funny nor was he pulling pranks on his parents. He was dead serious. He was no ordinary child, and he hated being treated as one. To Raegyn, his parents and the other adults treating him like a baby was a direct insult because he thought the adults were messing with him. That’s correct. Raegyn believed that the adults somehow conspired together and formed a sort of mutual agreement between them where they all treat him like he doesn’t know any better because they think he’s too dumb or something. It wasn’t until later, when Raegyn eventually realized that he himself was the outlier, the odd one out, not them. The adults handled him like they would with any normal noble child. Still, Raegyn disliked it, and it felt disturbing to him. In his eyes, it was like some sort of shallow game of pretend, ill humor that he can never bring himself to appreciate.

That’s why Raegyn purposely ignored the adults even when they demanded his attention, because why on earth would he respond to their silly games? That would just be positive reinforcement and they’d force that shit on him even more. But being the extremely smart kid he is, he is aware of his own gains and losses. He knew he didn’t want to pretend to be a normal kid, he didn’t want to copy their mannerisms just so he could fit in, because that just isn’t him. Blegh. Gross. Reducing himself to their level…nuh uh. But he also figured out that pretending to be one gets him what he wants. To be precise, when Raegyn is his usual self, the adults feel uncanny and have mixed reactions. On the contrary… when he pretends to be normal, they react very positively. Isn’t that weird. Turns out adults like cute kids that act like kids instead of kids that make them uncomfortable by acting way beyond their age.

So Raegyn adapts. Inquire about their day, be enthusiastic and beg to be allowed to tag along, maybe even cry some fake tears when they say no until they say yes. Smile at them and watch them sign boring paperwork all day. Fake interest in their tedious gardening tasks, patrol duty, anything the adults were up to. And when that’s done, ask for new toys and clothes. That shiny ruby brooch? Pout and say you like it very much and want to have it, and Clan Leader is the best dad in the world because he gets what Rayray wants. And with that, maybe a matching bow tie. And a matching silk shirt. And a matching fur coat. You get it. It didn’t take long for Raegyn to master the art of acting and now he’s got everyone wrapped around his little finger. That’s where the fake smiling and enthusiasm began, and he never stopped ever since. Regis and Rael were happy for their little boy, because he finally acted more like a normal child. But deep down they knew he is an outlier, as they had been dealing with his true self until now. They didn’t understand why Raegyn seemingly became normal overnight, but to question that would be useless. Well… at least Raegyn looked like he’s finally enjoying himself now, and that’s a good thing, right? Deep down, they knew something was up. Obviously there was a reason for Raegyn’s sudden behavioral change, but to investigate it would break Raegyn’s trust so ultimately they did nothing and hoped for the best. For Raegyn’s future, and their future together as a family.

Raegyn’s always constantly evolving depending on who he’s dealing with. By the time he was around the equivalent of a 10 year old human, his false persona is such an integral part of his life, he never goes outside without this metaphorical mask. Despite Raegyn’s success at adapting himself into society in the present day, his childhood was a difficult one, at least in the very beginning. It did get better as he got older, but fundamentally, he is still the same on the inside. Raegyn hated how things were structured and the expectations he was obligated to fulfill. Raegyn didn’t understand why he was automatically expected to give his parents his unconditional love, respect, and attention just because they were the cause of his birth and entire existence. That’s the reason? Wow. He never asked to be born, not that he minds existing or anything, but more so it was just weird to him how now he’s permanently stuck with two adults who are way too obsessed with him for their own good, and he won’t be able to get away from them for centuries. His parents got sad when he didn’t respond to them, especially Rael. What did they expect anyway? To Raegyn, things like respect and love had to be earned, and no one automatically deserves it just because of “family” or whatever shallow term they use. And this applies to his own parents as well. If Regis and Rael wanted him to obey and love them, then they have to earn it, and prove themselves worthy. To Raegyn, even if they are his parents, they’re just like any other person out there. They were strangers he couldn’t separate himself from. The point is Raegyn isn’t purposely trying to distance himself from his parents specifically; that’s just how his brain works.

The good news is Raegyn eventually does develop genuine love for his family, which happens during his childhood. It’s true that Raegyn had his doubts about unconditional love and whether that even existed or not, but being the smart person he is, he did pick up on his parents’ love for him. They genuinely care about him, and he… appreciates that. So they were being serious this whole time. Raegyn, who is always right, was wrong, for the first time in his life. Raegyn was finally defeated, in a good sense. It feels good to be loved. But as much as Raegyn was impressed, he was also bothered by something. He was touched by Regis and Rael’s sincerity, and for that he is grateful, but something felt off. That’s when Raegyn realized he was feeling guilt for the very first time, for everything he had done to his parents. To this day, guilt remains the only emotion Raegyn can immediately and correctly identify, which is something I will bring up later. Every other emotion, even the positive ones, he has to think about it.

For the most part, Raegyn is neutral. Even when his little sister Arya was born, he didn’t feel anything. She was just another being he had to live with from now on, just because they share the same parents. Not only was he expected to tolerate her, he was supposed to take care of her. Ick. Luckily Raegyn does develop a genuine bond with Arya, even if it took a long time. They are close as siblings, and Regis and Rael? They were super relieved that Raegyn seemed to accept his little sister immediately, and even more relieved that Arya was a normal child with normal development. To be honest, Regis and Rael were nervous about having their second child aka Regis’ heir because they were afraid that Raegyn would react negatively. Surprise surprise, he didn’t. That is character development right there, from resisting his own parents to welcoming a new sibling with open arms. The truth is Raegyn simply made an effort to prevent his true apathetic self from seeping out because he didn’t want to ruin the moment for his parents. If he were to be honest, well… he couldn’t care less if Arya vanished into thin air on the spot. Raegyn only did it because he didn’t want that feeling called “guilt” to bother him for years to come, so he might as well be nice. Even if Raegyn’s goodwill didn’t stem from true consideration, it was still a massive improvement. He is still learning, but he is getting there… right? Only he knows.

To say that Raegyn doesn’t doubt his relationship with his family anymore, and that he trusts them unconditionally, would be a lie. His parents would die for him, and his sister adores him. He’s sure of that. But on second thought… do they really? This is how Raegyn falls into the perpetual cycle of questioning himself. That’s why he is so conflicted. He feels guilty because he is doubting those he should trust the most, and then he decides to give them his complete trust in order to get rid of that sense of guilt he got from doubting them in the first place, and finally ending it by rescinding that trust because he realizes he was foolish enough to trust anyone but himself. Rinse and repeat. Then again he overthinks it because he just can’t help it. This entire ordeal bothers him, and he would never admit it. In the long run, Raegyn overthinking things would go on to hurt his own ability to make meaningful relationships with people, and that is something I will bring up later.

Now onto the last bits of Raegyn’s childhood before I move to the time skip. I want to mention Raegyn’s relationship with his peers too. Ever since Raegyn’s birth, he has been silently watching and judging everything and everyone. He could be minding his own business, but his eyes were always looking at something. Even if he didn’t want to be a part of whatever the other kids were doing, he wanted to know what’s up, so he observes them from a distance. And he was always disappointed, of course. I mean, this is Raegyn, why wouldn’t he?

They weren’t bright enough to hold an interesting conversation with Raegyn. They got bored, whined, fidgeted, or fell asleep when he wanted to talk about a very long and obscure piece of ancient Lukedonian history that he recently taught himself. Or that time when all the kids just got up and left, when he promised them he was bringing “something super valuable” to their next “playdate”, and everyone expected a treasure map or something and instead Raegyn rolled out a five meter long checklist on how Lukedonian laws can be improved. Raegyn is, of course, very offended. This is his ideal vision of a playdate, after all, because playing means having fun. And this really is what Raegyn thinks is FUN. And his peers? Raegan’s giving up on them. They’re all under-qualified. Every single one of them. Too slow, too dim. Too hyper, too lazy. Too impulsive, too cowardly, etc. They weren’t worth his time, and to spend an extra minute with them was a waste of his energy. Thus Raegyn was a lonely child. He was surrounded by people, yet he didn’t like their company. He didn’t enjoy what they had to offer, yet he couldn’t fit in as himself either.

Raegyn wanted something else. Something more grand, more controversial; something that shakes the very foundation of noble society. History, philosophy, ethics, anything really. The deeper it is, the better. Sometimes even the more taboo, the better, as he likes a good challenge. He wants to hang out with someone who has the capacity to prove him wrong, and reaaaaally force him to get those brain cells working. A good, long debate is more thrilling than the best spar. He needed someone to share that joy of thinking with, someone who truly resonates with his passions. An intellectual soulmate basically. Just a reminder that Raegyn is still the human equivalent of an elementary school kid at this point. He already knew what he wanted in a friend, which is someone who can really match his wavelength, yet this person simply didn’t exist. Raegyn was frustrated. And the thing is Raegyn is an extrovert by nature so he does need a decent amount of socializing to stay healthy emotionally, except there’s no one at his caliber to keep him in company where he genuinely feels fulfilled. This is where things get complicated, and Raegyn is conflicted. He needed that company, but he couldn’t find the right people despite his best efforts. Raegyn was lonely, and his fathers noticed how their son would just slouch and sigh all day.

This would lead to Regis and Rael insisting on Raegyn hanging out with the other kids, because there must be something they can bond over, right…? What they weren’t aware of was how Raegyn was simply at the top, and his loneliness couldn’t be solved with a simple solution, if at all. What about Raegyn? Well, he knew that obeying his parents would cause him less trouble than resisting them, so he obliged. If it makes his fathers happy to see him happy then… he’s willing to pretend to get along with the others for as long as his sanity remains.

So what happened was Raegyn put aside his desire to talk about great subjects and deep matters, and simply went with the flow. He pretended to enjoy their tea parties, tree climbing, fishing, wrestling, etc. It was all so boring and tedious. And then it hit him. Hey… they didn’t whine and run away this time. They reacted quite positively when he pretended to be interested in their shallow activities. They even invited him back. Now that was easy, wasn’t it? Raegyn remembered the tactics he used on his parents and the adults. If he could manipulate them, maybe he could do it to his peers. He did crave that social interaction, and even if what was available to him wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy him, it was still better than nothing.

And even if he honestly wasn’t interested in his peers and what they were doing, the principle of making and having friends wasn’t bad at all. Raegyn already knew that if he made an effort to someone, they would reciprocate it. Take that, and times one thousand, maybe even more. If he shall pretend to be friendly to one person, might as well do it to everyone, because the amount of effort he has to make is the same anyway. And you never know when having a bunch of friends is useful. Who knows. He could get some of them to run errands for him. Give him their things. Tell him useful secrets and information that they shouldn’t be spilling. Maybe one of them will even be willing to die for him. Neat. And this is when Raegyn decided to go all out, and there he established his signature false persona of a friendly, enthusiastic, altruistic, diplomatic, insightful and responsible Kertia heir. He calculated his potential gains, and his conclusion was that the pros outnumbered the cons and this was the way to go. Not only could he impress his parents, but he could also get himself an empire of friends that might become useful to him. Surely this is a better alternative to wandering around aimlessly trying to find his own match. Now he could aim to climb to the top AND find his own match at the same time, sweet! Kiddie Raegyn is tapping into his ambitious side, how wonderful.

(FYI Izar does come up later on but that dude is only interested in math and astronomy, which isn’t enough for Raegyn. And there is an age gap between the two of them: Raegyn is roughly 200-400 years older than the traitor clan kids group so Raegyn was already an adult by the time Izar came into existence. And I say “roughly” because nothing with the ages are set in stone and I’d like it to be flexible so that’s just approximations for context. Anyways)

Yayyyy. Fast forward to Raegyn in the present day as a young adult.

Raegyn’s reputation is perfect. He is perfect. His ambitious childhood goal was to make everyone love him, aaaaand he 100% succeeded. People knew his name, and you could bet that at any given moment, someone in Lukedonia is talking about him, praising him for everything he has done. He’s the big shot. No one would ever guess that behind the glorious, radiating light of his persona hides a cold and apathetic true self. He worked hard to get to where he is today, and he isn’t going to admit to everyone he’s been lying this whole time because that would be throwing his merits away. He has his empire of friends, why would he give up on that? They love him for his false persona, then so be it. He’ll keep it up until he dies.

Part of him legitimately believes that his gains are worth it, and part of him feels like he has gone too far to go back. As much as Raegyn would hate to admit it, he isn’t quite sure who he would be without his false persona. As in, he is afraid to know what will become of him, what will remain of him if he is left alone with his true self. Which is funny because for a person whose hobby is thinking, he doesn’t want to think about that. In a way he is running way from himself, and he knows he feels slightly uncomfortable because fundamentally, that isn’t what he wants. But all these years he couldn’t find his match, nor did Lukedonia have anything else to offer to satisfy someone of his intellectual level. He was losing his patience, but there was nothing he could do. Raegyn never forgot his true self, and he never abandoned it either; he is just suppressing it… to the best of his ability. His vision of a fulfilling life wasn’t realistic, at least from his perspective, so he turned to what he is doing now. He has many, many friends, but no one whom he truly bonds with. He owns many things and people also keep giving him things, yet he has no use for them and isn’t interested in them either. Raegyn started to feel restless. Despite that, he made sure that side of him never showed, to not worry his family, and because he is also too prideful to admit that he’s sick of it too.

That’s when Raegyn discovers a new method of entertainment. He is a nice guy, right? Everyone loves him, that’s a fact. They didn’t know that he had been silently judging them, being nice on the surface and saying mean things about them in his head at the same time. Raegyn needed a new rush of fun. Something fresh to make him feel excited again.

And then… yeah. Raegyn sets his next goal as “seeing how far he can discreetly push people’s buttons without getting into real trouble”. Only a few individuals have his complete respect therefore excluded from his list of “people I can smartass” list… and for the rest of them? They’re all there for his amusement. Even Lord Raskreia.

Oh yeah, her. Remember how I mentioned that Raegyn only believes in authority that is earned? Well, he’s one of the nobles who believe that Raskreia is incompetent. In his eyes she is not qualified to sit on the throne. Too dependent on her feelings, too stubborn, too impulsive… he could go on forever. If it weren’t for the Previous Lord, she wouldn’t even be sitting there on the throne. Raegyn thinks he’s a better candidate for the position of Lord than her. Maybe even the best candidate. Too bad Raegyn isn’t interested in becoming Lord, even if he is curious about the idea of what it is like for him to become Lord. Real life Lord? No thank you. Too many responsibilities, bleh. He wanted to have fun without responsibility, and being Lord would mean having all sources of his entertainment cut off. And his own clan, the Kertia, and Grandia, are pretty cool so… you’re welcome. Meanwhile he can just judge her from the side and keep testing her discreetly to see how smart she is. Which is even funnier because Raegyn should fear Raskreia, as she is his Lord. But just as much as he believes authority should be earned, the fear that comes with authority should also be earned. And Raskreia doesn’t even qualify for that from Raegyn’s perspective. She doesn’t deserve his loyalty. (His cousin Reiner does, which I will explain in a future post where I highlight the cousins’ relationship with one another)

Anyways. Despite Raegyn’s false friendliness and hidden apathy, he does encounter people who genuinely want to connect with him in the midst of him fooling around with his celebrity persona. He is aware that most people love him for the show he puts on, and he’s fine with that. But every now and then there would be someone who wants to know more about him. Someone who doesn’t just want to know Raegyn the great and glorious, but also the mundane Raegyn. The everyday Raegyn. The kind of music he enjoys, what flowers he finds pretty, even the kind of weather he finds the most soothing. The smaller details of his life that people usually don’t associate with him, because he’s known for his great accomplishments. And Raegyn is capable of detecting genuine effort and… this is exactly what makes him uncomfortable. He is confused, surprised, and doesn’t know what to do.

This is where my previous point comes in. Remember when I said Raegyn is struggling in a perpetual cycle of guilt and doubt? Well, this is because Raegyn believes that all relationships are fundamentally transactional. Let it be parent and child, friends, lovers, ruler and subject. People only stuck together for some sort of gain, for their own benefit. It took him a long time to accept his own parents and develop what he would call love for them, and even then, he’d occasionally find himself questioning their relationship. It’s even harder for outsiders, whom he basically categorizes as anyone who is not direct family. The thing is Raegyn is incapable of forming meaningful relationships with anyone. He has a massive following, but no one good friend to share his life with. Not because they didn’t make an effort, but because he kept pushing them away. Raegyn was the one who drove them away when they got too close, even if that meaningful connection was what he yearned for. You can say that Raegyn is projecting himself onto others. Raegyn is almost entirely unable to treat someone genuinely, as he is used to a life full of manipulation and lies where he is the one doing all the manipulating. This is the problem because he’s been doing this for so long, he doesn’t know how to treat someone genuinely. In fact, he can’t really recall when was the last time he treated someone with honesty. By his logic and projection, he believes that those who are trying to take a further step to connect to him are trying to manipulate him, and they’re being dishonest. Do you see where I am getting at. He mistakes all of that for deception from the other side. Karma, reaping what you sow… whatever it is, is coming to kick him in the ass. Now he’s stuck in the loop of pushing people away and complaining about why he just can’t find people to bond with.

If Raegyn could just set aside his need for finding his so-called intellectual rival, he could’ve found a best friend already. Someone who doesn’t necessarily share his capabilities, but truly cares for him. His unrealistic standards and need to maintain his pride is hindering him, yet he can’t quite let it go. Raegyn the glorious is truly pathetic. What a shitshow.

Good news is, eventually he does find a best friend! Like an actual best friend. No bullshitting, no lies. Someone whom he is comfortable enough with to completely drop his act and just be himself, and that person is… Jia! Wait, isn’t she the dumb one? Aren’t they the complete opposites? Yep! They’re healthy best friends, which is nothing less than a miracle. They bring out the best in each other. I’ll be talking about that in a future post!

More on his general personality. Raegyn is a bit snarky and arrogant at times, but people can’t ever get mad at him. He always gets away with being a lil’ shit, because… well, he’s never wrong. No matter how much you want to slap him in the face for something he said, even if you are dead sure that he definitely had no good intentions, when you think about it again… hey, he’s actually right. It makes sense, even if it hurts to hear. He’s totally right. Damn, how did you even get mad at him in the first place? That was dumb, wasn’t it. Now you should slap yourself in the face. You are wrong, because he is right. This is Raegyn, after all. He can present an insult as a compliment. He can turn something totally unfriendly and malicious into a piece of enlightenment, and all of a sudden you actually owe him because he gave you precious insight.

Now you’re curious and decide to stick around to see what other interesting things he has yet to show you. You discover that he’s very friendly and outgoing, and he’s actually considerate and always has solutions to your problems, and makes an effort to make your day. He’s witty, humorous, and a joy to be around, even if he throws a dark joke every now and then, but again you can’t help but let it slide. You start to really appreciate him and don’t even realize this is exactly what he wants to trick you into thinking. One more follower to add to his already super massive following; another shiny chess piece that he has successfully collected for his observation platform of… whatever they truly are to him. He makes it so that you feel like he’s there to entertain you and keep you company, but in reality, it’s the opposite. You’re there to entertain him, for as long as his shallow interest in you remains, which likely won’t last for much longer either. And when he gets bored and very discreetly kicks you out of his life, you’ll feel like it was your fault and now you’re jealous of his other friends and yearn to hang out with him again, even if it means doing whatever it takes to get him back. Raegyn is 100% aware of this, and he definitely enjoys it. He didn’t ask for an encore, yet it came by its own accord. Nice, even more drama for him sip on to ward off some of that boredom before he finds a new source of short-term entertainment.

(BTW just for clarification Raegyn never does anything illegal or anything that can potentially get him in trouble if he gets caught. He’s probably smart enough to get away with it anyway if he really wanted to commit crime for fun but then he doesn’t need to do that. His smartassing, bullshitting, manipulation etc is just on a personal level and never goes beyond that. Even if he’s borderline desperate for entertainment, he won’t do anything that has actual consequences. That’s why he’s not dangerous, he’s just petty and at most a pain in the ass. Can’t throw him in jail or anything, even grounding him would be excessive. He eventually does join Gloria and her search party for Reiner for a certain reason and that’s for another post too)

Just don’t delve any deeper or try to look behind Raegyn’s mask, because you will find something you don’t want to see, and something he doesn’t want to see, and it’s going to be a hot mess.

When he’s not being serious, he is pretty funny. If you can refrain from questioning his personality, he’s actually quite the humor depository. It manifests in the way that when he tries to be funny, it’s like he’s insulting you and when he is actually insulting you, you think he’s just being funny. If you’re in for a short-term, superficial friendship or just need to waste some time, he’s the perfect person to hang out with. He’s not going to be serious anyway, so if you’re interested, meet up and chat away. Just don’t actually develop an attachment to him and you’re good, because it’s no good for either of you. If it’s just for fun and nothing serious, totally go for it. He’ll keep you entertained and (hopefully) you’ll keep him entertained, and if you can handle some occasional arrogance and cheekiness from him, you’ll have a blast, and he’ll make you laugh. Win-win!

(I wanted to get to the details of Raegyn’s crush on Umbra + who he actually eventually settles down with in this post but it was already too long so I’ll do it separately in another post in the future)

And that’s it! Maybe I’ll do another one of these long character posts in a few months. Idk. When I feel like it. Feel free to let me know if there is any particular one you want to see next (did Kaekae last time, Raegyn this time, so 13 out of 15 left) but I will get to all of them eventually. Maybe will take years to complete but I want to get it done lol.

Again, thank you for reading, and stay tuned for future posts!

[eycsnow666]

witcher screenshot compilations

got a bunch of stray imgur links floating around on discord, but here they all are! mostly of character swaps to emhyr. be warned that character swaps involving female->male skeletons may be a bit...cursed ahah. check the reblogs for further additions, because the original post is cranky abt any more links being added to it.

shoutout to @tigerlyla-of-metinna who's done amazing edits to some of these pics and also for enabling my new hobby

Emhyr visits Kaer Morhen

quest is No Place Like Home, swaps are Lambert to Geralt, Yen to Ciri, Geralt to Emhyr. Emhyr graces Kaer Morhen with his imperial presence. in return, the witchers convince him to drink himself silly. welp, what dignity was lost was regained in camaraderie

La Cage au Fou ft.a sad hedgehog

while out trapping monsters, Geralt accidentally captures...the emperor of nilfgaard?? how he got there aside, he's in pretty bad shape and has apparently gone feral. lucky there's a witcher who's been through this rodeo before, so emhyr's in safe hands <3

Roche to Emhyr and Ves to Ciri

quests are Eye for an Eye and Reason of State, with bonus swaps Dijkstra to Dettlaff and Thaler to Regis. Ever wanted to see Emhyr plotting against Emhyr? these pics have you covered! also included: emhyr and geralt being big damn heroes, and drunk uncle Dettlaff giving Regis a headache by quoting Macbeth Vakmeth scenes. See one of my reblogs for this link, bc this post doesn't want to save with it here for some reason.

Emhyr x Geralt hugs (Blood Run quest)

Regis's expressions make Emhyr look so soft 💖

Something Ends, Something Begins (Geralt to Emhyr)

soft moments with Ciri and Emhyr getting some dad moments in.

Ciri's Story: Out of the Shadows (Baron to Emhyr)

Emhyr has a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Emhyr may be a snacc but his daughter's here to make sure he doesn't become a snack (for basilisks)

The Battle of Kaer Morhen ft.The White Flame (Geralt to Emhyr). lots of Sadmyr and tender moments with Ciri

father's day at kaer morhen

Geralt to Emhyr swap, quest is Blood on the Battlefield. Emhyr and Ciri destress with a snowball fight. Geralt's sitting out this one, probably collapsed of sheer shock from learning that Emhyr is capable of experiencing fun.

Emralt, now with reduced clothes!

Yen to Emhyr, the opening scene at Kaer Morhen. yeah these are actually Yen's body proportions bc Yen's skeleton but shhhhh

A Midnight Clear: Shani to Emhyr mod

more spooky scary (animation) skeletons

A Midnight Clear: spiciest Emralt highlights

Geralt x Emhyr action. don't look at the proportions too closely, just lie back and think of nilfgaard

[wehavekookies]

Top 5 favorite characters of all time?

Okay, this is a big one, and i actually had tough time picking five (and i ended up with six ((or even seven XD)) anyway lol), but this is what i came down to, and it was pretty interesting to think on it to be honest, a good ask:

Master Twardowski - a character from several Polish legends to which i trace all my fascinations with the Deal with the Devil trope: a noble, a sorcerer, dealing in dark arts, kinda like a Polish doctor Faustus i guess? Witcher 3 Heart of Stone expansion was heavily based on these legends too, to add a more recognisable pop culture reference here. Anyway, these were some of the stories I was reading a lot as a kid, and I think they leaked through pretty heavily lol, so even tho I am not exploring the character as is that much I'm gonna give him first place on this list.

Honourable mention on this one: Devil as a character in general.

Raistlin Majere - ok, this is actually a crime that I never painted him, so something I have to definitely change in the nearest future. But this character had a massive impact on my interests, regarding fantasy in general, and in terms of specific character tropes, and I remember being absolutely fascinated by his arc. Gotta reread these books actually.

Sheogorath - yeah, so I don't paint this dude enough too, so another thing I gotta add to my list, but Shivering Isles may be my favourite game expansion still, the aesthetics, the plot, the reveal, and I have a feeling this character influenced quite a lot, directly or indirectly, also you know, I am not that big on Funko Pops but i got one of his, and that means a lot lol.

Baba Yaga - listen, this is just gonna be a list of characters I have to paint more or actually paint lmao, but in case you wondered where the witchy themes come from.

Morte - i didn't expect this dude to show up on this list, but here he is, both because he is a damn floating skull, duh, but also for sentimental reasons because Planescape: Torment, and i needed something to reference that influence, and Morte is the best face Planescape can get (tho Lady of Pain is a close second). Also he is a fantastic character.

Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy - okay, it is a top 6 apparently, but screw that, i need a vampire on this list too. both because a vampire and all fascinations related to this one, but also because of that gentle monster trope that I do adore.

[fortunatelyenchantingtaco]

Love how the mood of basically anyone who decides to write fics for ffxv is “god i love this game but also there are more plotholes than actual plot i need a construction crew” and isnt that the truth lmao. The main reason my reverse au is on a bit of a hiatus is because firstly making ardyn and noctis talk is like pulling nails, and secondly i also in fact need a construction crew for that lore despite already having written down the timeline of events and everything hut its still now enough okay

Its funny how usually ff game have a lot of worldbuilding to go around, but due to cursed production ffxv has been changed so much there are some threads just going fucking nowhere, not even mentioning the whole big plot with the gods. PERSONALLY when writing my reverse au i took an angle that both the crystal and gods and the scourge are probably from space and the reason scourge is here in the first place is because its after the gods. Whcih is also the reason they can’t destroy it and have to rely on crystal and the bloodline that it chose. Like i havent decided if the crystal is also from cosmos or its something inherently from Eos, but gods and scourge are for sure for sure

Like as much as its fun to go and blame everyrhing on rhe gods in ffxv, im actually pretty sure they’re scrambling as much as we do lmao. Like they really kept people in the dark, then Ifrit gave them fire, then people stopped being obedient and sweet and they went to war lmao. And then we see Ardyn corrupting Ifrit, and also the fact that Empire was confident they killed Shiva. It wasn’t true but it’s a good question how close they were. Titan is busy holding the meteor, Leviathan has a horrible personality and would rather chill under the sea. Ive seen people say that Galahad specifically worshipped Ramuh which is why we don’t see him much, with Galahad kinda destoyed and i guess the old man is sad. Garuda is. Well. Scrapped for the collaboration i guess. Odin was demoted to messanger lmao, we just find one sword in game implying he was one of the messangers fighting is astral wars. Bahamut sure is fancy but we see him like once at the end? Also we know he was showing Regis the visions of bad versions of the future, was doing some training or whatever to Noctis in the crystal, and in the dlc conjured Ardyn’s beloved so that she would stab him with a trident

So like yah. Idk i dont think gods in ffxv are in no way omnipotent or even compenent, like genuinely even dominants in xvi have a better grip

So yeah, as much as its tempting to say they are the cause of everything i really dont think they are lmao. We can even assume they genuinely wanted to make Ardyn the king of kings, Somnus just was faster. Im pretty sure all they want is to eradicate scourge cause as much as human are insolent and bla bla bla its much better to have some heretics but still be a god rather than get corrupted

Dont get me wrong i would still prefer them dead esp Bahamut but like. I can in fact believe that they did what they thought would be the best course of actions because to them a thousand years is really not that much. What they did to Ardyn is endlessly fucked up and i want Bahamut dead, and scourge might be here becsuse of them, but its interesting to think they’re grasping as much as we do. That at the end Noctis after ten years in the crystal knows that gods genuinely cant do anything and have no way of saving the world, and unless he does something they die too. Its an interesting thing to think about

[fabulousprancingtrashstallion]

while you pretty much already answered this when you said you were disappointed they completely cut shani from the show ( I agree she is one of my favorite of the more minor characters and one of the few female characters from the witcher that is not either royaly or a sorsercess) but who do you think is the most important book character that the show completely cut out?, they included some of the more unimportant mage characters in the ball and coup episodes and they are including characters like Nimue, Stribog and Assire next season, and they aren't done announcing the casting for season 4 yet so we will see if they include Angoulême earlier so she can have a big more time to be fleshed out than she does in the books

They already have Milva and Regis so I expect we'll see Angoulême. She has a great backstory, and I would love to see it in depths. (Even though Stygga Castle is really going to hurt) Just hoping they don't cut out Anna Henrietta or The Aen Elle. I think the reason they cut Shani as well as Geralt's dragon threesome/foursome? and Triss' romance out because they wanted to make his relationship with Yen more romantic. Which I get. Even though I loved Shani. (my forever girl) As for the cut out... Honestly if I had to pick, I would say Eskel. I know he was not cut out per say, but they killed him off and I thought that was a really bad choice. It didn't add anything to the show or to Geralt. It just pissed us off. I'm also curious what is going to happen since they killed Rience off early. Who is going to partner up with Leo Bonhart and Stefan Skellen? I will take a lot of flak for saying this, but despite all this I really enjoyed the show personally. I look at the show like a fun fanfiction instead of taking it as heresy. (I have been told 'drink piss wh0re' by 'fanboys' because I enjoyed the show. I get being passionate about a show, but trying to hurt real people over fiction... sad. Very sad) I feel bad for the actors that are just doing their jobs taking all that abuse.

[chosenbythecrystal]

Childhood and Isolation

Growing up as the Crown Prince, a lot of people think that Noctis wants for nothing – that he's lucky – and in some ways they're right. He's privileged, there's no denying that. He has access to the best education, the newest toys, and he's well looked after. He never has to worry about going cold or hungry.

He's privileged, but he's also incredibly lonely. He has friends and family, but he feels like there's a rift between him and them.

Family

Since his mother died when he was young, his father is all he has, and all he's ever really known. They're as close as they can be, but there is always going to be a limit to how much time they can spend together. His father has a whole Kingdom to care for, and it is a King's duty to put their Kingdom before everything, even themselves.

Noctis understands this, he really does, and he feels guilty for wanting more, but at the same time, he's a kid. He's going to want his father's attention.

In the Platinum Demo, Carbuncle mentions about how Noct used to sit outside with his brand new football because he wanted his dad to play with him. He'd wait for hours, but his dad would never show. It's not that big of a surprise – Regis is a busy man, and I don't doubt that he works himself silly just so he can spare the time to tuck Noct in at night and read him a story – but it still hurts him.

So he closes himself off. He acts like he doesn't care to cope with that disappointment.

So Noctis spends a lot of time alone. Of course, he's never really alone, but as far as he's concerned, he might as well be. One of the biggest issues comes down to status. Noctis might be a kid, but he's also royalty and the staff treat him as such. They're kind to him, of course, but they try to keep a respectful distance, like they're afraid of getting too close.

Friendships

He doesn't have many friends, either. Regis sends him to a normal school so he can have that average kid experience, but he doesn't socialise. He's quite in class and he lingers by himself during breaks. He stays away from the other kids because he assumes most of them don't want to be friends with Noct, they want to be friends with the Prince.

Outside of school, there's Ignis, but as close as they are, there's always that knowledge that their relationship stems from duty. It's the same with Gladio when he comes along. Admittedly, Gladio disliked him at first, but when they did start to grow closer, there's the worry that Gladio only puts up with him because it's his job and Noct covered for Iris.

He wants to make friends, he's just scared that people only want to be around him because he's the Prince. That's why it was such a big deal for him when Prompto came along. He never treated him like a prince, so he felt like he could just be Noctis with no expectations or obligations.

This goes for romantic relationships too. He's socially awkward and very self-conscious to the point where he can't imagine any reason someone might like him other than his royal status.

So yeah. He's privileged in terms of wealth, but he'd trade all of that away for normalcy. I mean, this is the kid who, when asked what he wanted for his birthday, pointed at a sword. Not because he wanted the sword, but because he wanted his dad to tell him a story.

[clericofshadows]

big place!

Description: Kaidan, Ashley, and Regis take in the Ctiadel's sights, and Ashley ends up gaining some interesting information about her new crew.

Paring: Regis Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

“Big place!” Kaidan exclaimed, looking out over the nebula view of the Citadel.

Regis smiled, standing behind him and Williams, watching the traffic go by.  Never change, Kaidan.

Williams turned her head to look over at Kaidan.  “That your… professional opinion, sir?”

Regis coughed to hide his snort, but given the glance Kaidan gave him, he didn’t do a very good job of it.  “I don’t see how they can keep tabs on all this.  The Presidium might as well be on another planet.”

“There is definitely a gap between their presentation and what’s here,” Kaidan observed.  “Tracking arrivals must be a nightmare.”

“This makes Jump Zero look like a porta-john, and it’s the largest deep space station the Alliance has,” Williams chimed in, looking around.

“Jump Zero was big, but this is a whole nother scale. Look at those ward arms!  How do they keep all that mass from flying apart?” Kaidan leaned in closer against the railing.

“I’d love to find out, honestly,” Regis said, crossing his arms behind his back.  “But you won’t catch me living here anytime soon.  I imagine they’re careful with newcomers.”

“I don’t think it’s for me, either, but you can’t deny the allure.  They probably just want to keep everything running,” Kaidan replied.  “It has to be hard keeping all these cultures working together.”

“Or maybe they just don’t like humans,” Williams muttered.  Ah, interesting.

He knew there was a reason he liked her, but now he had a more tangible reason.  Someone more skeptical of the council, willing to speak up against the common opinion, not immediately staying quiet.  Good.

But Regis had to play with her a bit.  “Why not?  We’ve got oceans, beautiful men, this emotion called love…” He glanced at Kaidan.  “According to the old vids, we have everything they want.”

“Wait, beautiful men?” Williams turned around so she was facing him, leaning against the barrier.  “Well damn, I didn’t expect you to be so open out in the field.”

Regis shrugged.  “Not really a secret to me.  Couldn’t resist.”

“And when you put it that way, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t like you,” Kaidan said, moving to stand closer to Regis.  Not quite touching, but not exactly far enough apart to call it friendly.  Testing the waters. 

A bold move from Kaidan, but also not unlike him. Kaidan wasn't afraid to be open about their relationship, but it still surprised Regis a bit to see him toe the fraternization line.

Williams tilted her head to the side, looking at the two of them with narrowed eyes.  “Hold on, I’m missing something here.”

Regis pressed a finger to his lips and winked.  “You’re smart, Chief.  You can figure it out.”

“Damn!  Mighty bold of you two,” she said, giving them an appraising look.  Not one of judgment, but rather one of approval.  “With a mission like this, how the hell did you keep it under wraps?  The way you two fought together on Eden Prime, I figured you had years of service history.”

No words spoken between them on Eden Prime, a quiet colony turned battlefield in a blink of an eye.  A connection gained by years of learning each other through biotics, testing new mnemonics and stretching the limits of what the gravity well can do.    Combining skills to break through the walls of geth, tech hacks breaking down shields before blasting them away with a Throw.  Singularities formed by Kaidan’s strong control were wrecked apart by Regis’s powerful Warps.  Kaidan’s Pulls making perfect targets for Regis’s sniper. Williams was a great asset to have on the field, and her marksman skills blended well with their biotics.  But this was an opportunity that the lovers hadn’t had yet in their Alliance career beyond shore leaves and rare moments training together, choosing to forge their own paths apart in the service. Knowing each other beyond just years of understanding, beyond shared experiences and many intimate moments, exploring each other’s lives and bodies.  A connection only biotics can share.  The biotic corona burns brightly on the battlefield, and with it, it tells a story.   Kaidan and Regis wrote their own story within the mnemonics they share, an understanding of how the other moves, casts, and fights.   Regis’s violet and Kaidan’s blue, creating a beautifully brutal vision.   The trust they share is unbreakable. 

Kaidan and Regis shared a look.  “Actually,” Kaidan said, rubbing the back of his neck.  “This is the first time we’ve been able to serve together.  Shepard—” he nudged Regis in the shoulder— “prefers solo missions and spending his time teaching N recruits.”

After Torfan, he had the pick of any ship, any tour, any position by Captains and Admirals alike who wanted someone who could get the job done at any cost.  Regis willingly embraced the title the Alliance gave, the whispers at his presence, the worried and shocked looks from some green cadets who saw him appear as a biotic instructor.  

But that didn’t mean he wanted to give them what they wanted out of him. 

Choosing to teach and stay solo was his own form of rebellion.  These were his terms.

The Spectre nomination was a similar situation for him.  He didn’t necessarily like the idea of being their candidate knowing damn well what power the Spectres had and what they could get away with.  

Yet another title he has to embrace for the Allinace.  Turning it down would be a career suicide.

If this recent tribunal with the Council wasn’t already one…  He will find a way to pin Saren for what he did on Eden Prime.

Regis nodded.  “Yes, it’s true.  I call it biotic intuition.”

“Mmm hmm…” Williams didn’t seem convinced, rolling her eyes, but Regis wasn’t quite ready to spill his whole history to her yet. “Either way, I could definitely learn from the both of you.  I haven’t had the chance to work with many biotics.”

“We’d be happy to train with you,” Kaidan said.  “Show you how we prefer to fight and how you can adapt. And how we can adapt to you."

“I’ll take you up on that, LT.  Say, and you can tell me off for asking, but does the Captain know about… this?” She asked, gesturing between them.

“Anderson and I have history, and he reluctantly let the both of us on board knowing what Alenko and I share.  He couldn’t exactly pass up the chance to have two well decorated biotics at his disposal, and I’m picky who I work with.  I almost didn’t accept the Normandy position, but I figured it was about damn time I worked on a ship with a team again.”  Regis explained.

Not exactly true.  Anderson more or less told him that the Alliance wanted Regis on board the Normandy due to his Torfan history and that his talents were wasted otherwise, and that any objections of his were likely going to be ignored.  Regis personally disagreed with that assessment, as he was part of the key to getting more biotics into specialized positions in the N program and that many covert operations were successful because of his skills.

It was obviously a political move, and he wasn’t exactly fond of being the one they chose for that.  Knowing now that they wanted him to be the first Human Spectre didn’t exactly make him any happier about their move.

However, he wasn’t lying about Anderson’s reluctance to keep Kaidan as the head of marine detail.  Fraternization will always be an issue in the Alliance, and even if they had tied the knot, it was unlikely they would’ve been allowed to serve together on such a vessel.  

The only reason he let them both aboard was due to their biotic skills, and he knew Regis would make it part of his terms for accepting the position.  Anderson was well aware of their history at BAaT, which also meant he didn’t have to deal with Regis getting bitchy with a green L3 who wouldn’t be able to read his unique mnemonics or freak out about when Regis inevitably explodes his barrier on command.

Speaking from experience, of course.  

“Clearly it doesn’t stop you two from working well together.  Maybe if you do end up getting the Spectre position, you can make an authorization to allow your relationship on the Normandy.” She smiled.  “I’m joking, of course.”

Regis raised an eyebrow.  “I didn’t even think of that.  You’re a goddamn genius, Williams.”

“Wait, you’re serious?” She asked, breaking out into a laugh at the end of her question.  

Kaidan sighed.  “I’m afraid he is.”

“What do you mean, Alenko?  Think about it.” Regis said, egging him on.  

“I am.” Kaidan leaned against the railing.  “But unlike you, I can be professional about it.”

“So, you agree that it is a good idea?”

“All I’m saying is I wouldn’t stop you.  I’m just imagining what the response from the brass would be.”

“How the hell did I not notice something between the two of you sooner?” Williams asked, shaking her head, stopping what would easily become a long "argument" between them.  

“Trust me, we’ll be back to being good little Alliance soldiers once onboard the ship.  You just got a taste of what we’re really like,” Regis said.  “Let’s move out.  We’ve spent long enough here.” “What’s the plan, Shepard?” Kaidan asked, standing up straight, waiting for orders.  Williams mirrored him.

“Let’s check out the lead given by Barla Von first.  Seemed to be the most interesting to me,” Regis ordered.  

He could see Williams working well with his crew, with some time to get used to his style of command and combat.  She had great skills, but for whatever reason, her career in the Alliance seemed stagnant according to her files.  Multiple opportunities for advancement were denied for no apparent reason.

Something to look into after he gets more information about the Saren situation.  

Maybe also something he could use his Spectre authorization on, if it comes to it.

[talenlee]

The Ongoing Intrusion of Gender into Competitive Pokemon

I regret to inform you that the yearly article about the wonky handling of Genders in Pokemon has become a trilogy, and it’s all thanks to this thing, Enamorous.

Enamorous is a mistake and an iteration on one of Pokemon’s greater mistakes (in my entirely subjective opinion). Back in Black/White, they were introduced as another example of mythic figures in the space that were Actually, Really, Quite Real Pokemon that you could interact with and catch because you were really good and cool and interesting, something that every generation has had. In Generation 1, they were legendary birds, with Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. In Generation 2, they were legendary foxes, with Entei, Suicune and Raikou. Generation 3 gave us the Regis, which were Regirock, Regiice and Registeel. This is how Pokemon writers establish mastery, they provide the context by reciting meaningless lists.

Anyway, each of these generations had Pokemon that were a mix of good (Zapdos, Suicune), interesting (Raikou, Moltres), or pretty bad (Articuno), and they showed up in tournaments as reflected that. These Pokemon have good stats (a base total stat value of 600, which is very high), they have good types (usually, Articuno and Moltres aside), and they tend to have access to good moves that let them do their job well (Articuno notwithstanding).

Then we got the genies, and in Black/White 2, we got a new ability that let us shapeshift the genies into different forms that reference a different classic Asian mythology. That’s cool and all but one of the Pokemon in question is Landorus-Therian, a pokemon who has been important in every single metagam it’s ever shown up. It’s so good that other ground types and other flying types really need to work hard to get attention. It is omnipresent and deeply frustrating to me, just because I find anything that’s Too Good for Too Long to be irritating. That’s not to say the other two aren’t good, just that Landorus-Therian is omnipresent, while the other two genies are just extremely common. In doubles tournaments, you’re not as likely to see (say) Thundurus thanks to living in a similar space to something like Regilecki, but just on raw numbers and qualities, these genies are all very good and you should bear them in mind.

With Pokemon Legends: Arceus, we got a new addition to this family of Landorus-Therian And Two Others. Enamorous. Enamorous is an always-female, flying-fairy type Pokemon with the same stat total as Landorus-Therian. She does more or less all the same things, with the same pair of forms, has access to an enormous pool of good moves, and she can use those moves well. She also can be a turtle and a snake at the same time, which is way cooler and I like it a lot better than I like the ‘weird mean looking genie’ look.

Now this isn’t the Intrusion of Gender. There are plenty of gender-locked (and gender-less) Pokemon that exist in Pokemon, what’s the big deal here.

The big deal is that this is a tournament-competitive Pokemon with a fixed gender and potentially, access to the ability Cute Charm. Cute Charm is an ability that means when you hit a Cute Charmer with a physical attack, if your attacker is a different gender, they have a 30% chance to be given the status ‘infatuated.’ An infatuated Pokemon has a 50% chance to not be able to attack the pokemon they’re infatuated with on the next term, and I don’t just mean ‘it might attack the wrong target’ I mean ‘it will sit there and not do anything,’ losing you a whole turn.

Now, a very reasonable counterpoint here is, what are the odds? Really? How likely is it? You need to hit an Enamorous physically with an attack on a male Pokemon that then has a 30% chance to get infatuated and if it is, it’s a 50% chance to lose an attack if it has to attack the Enamorous. That’s not a lot, and if you don’t physically attack what are the chances it comes up. You can’t even guarantee that the Enamorous has Cute Charm! It might have Contrary!

This kind of pressure doesn’t have to be common. It’s just that before, Cute Charm was a functional non-presence in any competitive format. It wasn’t that Pokemon at a competitive level didn’t have access to it, though every competitive Pokemon in any format had better options. You could put Cute Charm on your Sylveon, or you could have Pixilate, which makes every attack it makes better. You could put Cute Charm on your Jigglypuff, or you could have the incredible defensive tool Friend Guard, which protects your teammate for half damage. The few Pokemon for whom it was a best option ability weren’t very worrying, and even those who used it for some reason don’t have a reliable gender, so it’s effectively a 50%/50% chance on whether or not you can protect yourself against it at the team-building stage of the game.

Simply put, up until now, Cute Charm has always been not quite worth thinking about.

But now it’s not. And worse, now it’s on a Pokemon that has ever possibility of being present in any given tournament. It doesn’t have to be super common! It doesn’t have to show up in every round of your nine on the way to the top (or really three to drop and milkshake), but if out of the fifty-four Pokemon in that space, there’s a reasonable chance any one of them is an Enamorous, and you didn’t plan for that, then you’ve presented an angle in which you have a 15% chance to give up an entire turn.

Maybe.

This is a tiny optimisation, but it’s not nothing, and the nature of Pokemon tournament competitive play is one where players are already refining processes for maximum optimisation. Pokemon have to have IVs, they have to have moves, they have to have the right nature, they have to have trained properly, PP-up’d properly, and for some people, they have to be shiny, which is an extra layer of rarity. Adding gender to this is just another thing, and I imagine for some trainers who find this very easy for some reason or another this is easy. You just always make sure your physical attackers are girls, which makes sense. They’re called broad shoulders because they’re for women after all.

But for some, it’s an extra layer of irritation and it didn’t have to be here. We didn’t need Pokemon to smack of gender.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Pokemon #Games

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

In the Secret Tunnel AU, what would happen after Solaris left? Regis obviously knows the tunnel is a big Security Hole, he will have to report this. I don't think they are going to close it, not if he invited his granddaughter to visit again. But they will likely post guards there, and have all the oldest parts of Citadel combed through to find any other old tunnels.

Also, I'm trying to imagine how Regis would start this conversation with Clarus. "So it turns out there's this ancient tunnel that leads right into the heart of archives. Oh, how do I know it? Well, you see, an elementary schooler wandered in through it. And run right into me. No, I didn't report it to the security. For reasons."

Regis would tell Clarus as soon as he got out of the archives. Him and Cor. Neither are happy about this, but the moment they hear 'clue to Noctis's whereabouts', they swallow most protests.

Clarus insists to seal the tunnel. Cor wants to explor it.

Cor wins that argument.

Clarus still stations a guard at the entrance in the archives though. Just to be sure. The guard knows to let Solaris through and to keep out of the way. (He might scare the girl otherwise and Regis won't have that.)

When Cor returns he reports to them about ruins that are at least a thousand years old. Ruins that are located at the very bottom of Insomnia's districs, where barely any sunlight reaches. Ruins that are inhabited.

It lends credence to what Solaris told Regis.

After all things are said and done, the tunnels will be sealed off with magic.

[savage-rhi]

Hello there! I saw your ffxv work and I can't believe I haven't found it sooner it is absolutely amazing writing. I wanted to make a request but only with a prompt and a ship. As I write I love sending prompts like this to people because it gives them a chance to be creative so I wanted to request a Noctis/Prompto with A tender hug, just staying together for a while.

Thank you, I appreciate the compliment! If you want to read more of my stuff, check out the drabbles section on my blog. It may be hard to access via phone, as a forewarning. Thank you for your request too! Hope you like it! 💙

Gladio and Ignis had turned in early, leaving Prompto and Noctis alone to tend to the campfire. For several minutes the two joked and horsed around, trying to take the edge off from the groups earlier hunting activities. The battle against the Behemoth had been a brutal affair. So much so that both Ignis and Gladio took heavy hits for the team. Prompto had a few scratches on him as did Noctis. By all accounts, they both felt incredibly lucky to come out unscathed.

"Mind if I say something trivial?" Prompto laughed while watching Noctis make himself comfortable by the fire.

"Shoot! Not like Mom and Dad are gonna hear it." Noctis playfully gestured with his head to the tent, grinning big when Prompto tried to suppress a chuckle.

"Well," Prompto sighed and sat beside Noctis. "I kinda feel bad for killing the Behemoth..."

"You're kidding?" Noctis was dumbfounded as he watched Prompto shake his head. "I know you have a soft spot for creatures, but this is, uh--"

"Insane, I know!" Prompto nervously laughed. He rubbed the back of his head, quietly lamenting before speaking up.

"Sure, it was killing chocobos--which I don't condone at all--but I mean, did the Behemoth really need to die? We could've found a way to lead it to a better food source."

Noctis furrowed his brows, taking his friends words to heart all the while balancing the practicalities of the situation. He never saw this from Prompto's perspective before, and it both fascinated and bothered him a great deal.

"I hear you," Noctis began. "If we had more time, then maybe we could've done something else. However, it would only be a matter of time before chocobos wouldn't sate his appetite. Behemoth's are known to attack humans just for the heck of it. Also if we didn't kill him, someone else would've. At least we have the knowledge that it was a clean kill, merciful."

Prompto hummed in thought, nodding here and there while allowing Noctis's words to settle in mind. "Merciful..."

"Are you okay?" Noctis raised a brow.

"Yeah, you just got me thinking about something else."

Noctis huffed and smiled. "You're on a roll tonight."

"Well, you bring out the worst!" Prompto teased, nudging Noctis's left shoulder. The two laughed for a time before settling down.

"I know we need to get back at Niflheim for what they've done to Insomnia, to Lucis, but--do they deserve mercy?" Prompto inquired softly.

Noctis blinked a few times. To say he was taken back was an understatement. However, he wouldn't lie to himself, it was a topic that had been marinating in his subconscious for sometime. Even he was unsure of what course to take. This was one of the many reasons why even now, Noctis felt reluctant to take the mantle of king. How could he be a ruler when he was so indecisive? How did Regis--his late father--deal with that kind of weight? It was too late to ask him for guidance, and Noctis sighed while he remembered their last conversation. There was so much left unsaid.

"I'm sorry buddy," Prompto said, interrupting Noctis's train of thought. "That got too personal, didn't it?"

"No," Noctis shook his head. No, he wouldn't stay silent. Especially not to his friend. "If I'm going to be a king, I need to hear this stuff."

Prompto smiled. "Taking it to heart, aren't ya?"

"Trying to," Noctis smiled, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugged. "I feel--"

"Scared?"

"Yeah." Noctis nodded.

A heavy silence filled the air while the campfire continued to crackle. Prompto hesitated, and moved closer to Noctis. He pulled Noctis into an embrace from the side, messing with his hair playfully. There was no bantering or quips this time around. Both settled into the hug and remained once the antics died off.

"I guess we both needed this." Noctis sighed.

"Yeah," Prompto nodded. "I got your back and I know you have mine."

If you like my work and feel generous, feel free to donate to my ko-fi account or my cash app account!

Cash App: $JayRex1463

[kohakhearts]

if i adjust my hyperfixation slightly to the left i can start working on the asld pokemon au again (likely won't happen anytime soon, but i have been Thinking fondly of it. it's been a MINUTE since i worked on it, like probably 2 or 3 years). i don't think i ever shared the cast's partner pokemon publicly but it is why my first best buddy in pokego was a glaceon named nerissa. anyway if you're interested we had

nerissa - glaceon: an ice type, obviously. it mostly just felt right, but i think there's something to be said about, like, her having a partner with SO many potential evolutions and choosing to evolve it into an ice type (a la having so many different potential manifestations of her magic but actively choosing to freeze it and favouring ice-based magic even after she becomes an angel and can do whatever the fuck she want, because she's Literally god now, etc.). my second option for her was froslass for the dual ghost-ice typing

poseidon - mudkip: i have no reasoning for this other than i think it'd be cute. and water type. starter pokemon and all that. they're both just little guys. i have a note somewhere that he received mudkip from ryes when he was 11, which is a cute mental image

ada - altaria. a shiny one because then they have matching golden aesthetics. its a big fluffy powerhouse that evolves from a small fluffy bird. in my head she met swablu as a kid when she found it injured and nursed it back to health, despite her mother's disdain for pokemon

emmet - lucario. ORIGINALLY, i thought to give him a fire type, but fighting fits so much better honestly. emmet's whole Thing is like...his ability to Stand Up And Fight. and a lot of his development is centred around this idea of inner strength > physical strength, so the aura pokemon feels...fitting

isobel - blaziken. similar vibes as my rationale behind emmet's pokemon, but obviously with the dual fire type too because she's well. she's got that inner flame. what can i say

avery - in the au she actually doesn't have a pokemon for most of her life, although adonis and amery do. however i believe as a nod to her ward-setting capabilities and self-destructive tendencies, i assigned her forretress

adonis - charizard. he's THAT guy

adrienne - arcanine. big fire puppy? that's literally her. in crafting this storyline i definitely began seeing parallels between her and james team rocket but you know. it's just how it is when youre rich and your parents suck and whatever

ely - milotic. a beautiful water type for a beautiful water mage. also in a way it sort of mirrors his relationship with adrienne (ok in the sense of shes like this guy fucking sucks [racist] and then "haha i guess hes kinda hot tho" in the way everyone hates feebas until it evolves, i don't know. but actually in the idea i wrote down for this he, like ada, found his pokemon buddy injured and nursed it back to health. UNLIKE ada, he set it free after - but then it came back to him after it evolved because it was endeared by his healer swag)

i also wrote down that amery has a deerling, which is fitting because of her and ada's shared spring motif, i suppose. ryes i assigned relicanth because i mean. yeah (side note: he would be OBSESSED with the regis, lmao). emerson was a piplup probably for the same reason poseidon was a mudkip. for whatever reason in this au i assigned aether and erebus ho-oh and lugia respectively, even though there are LITERALLY White and Black legendary pokemon, lmao. my mind is an enigma even i can't comprehend

also, elnora's was zorua, which is...such a good choice. kudos to past me for that one. stella was mightyena so i guess dark types run in the family

anyway, that's pretty much all i've got. i had like, ideas about legendary encounters, etc. too (OBVIOUSLY poseidon would encounter and befriend mew, it's kinda analogous to chaos right??) and i think reasonably nerissa would Have to meet giratina because like. underworld = distortion world, maybe. i also think she and articuno would make an epic duo strictly in the sense of they uh. both have wings. and ice beam. aether is like that guy in the one anipoke movie who somehow manages to trap arceus in his basement so he can cast judgement on the haters (that is not what happened in that movie. but it IS what aether would do, except "the haters" is just erebus). in my ideal world this is an au in comic form but i really don't draw that often so it'll probably never properly see the light of day. still. it's in my brain. and my notes app, apparently

[wyrmflight]

@fatewoven said: any of the dead 3 chosen :)c

i'm gonna do all three of them starting with ketheric

i mentioned i think ketheric should have an umbreon and it's for the same reason shadowheart does. was tempted to give each of these guys a legendary pokemon but i don't think it'd be a part of their main teams, if he did have one though it'd be like darkrai or giratina

gortash's team having the raichu feels immensely important to me and while i think there can be some discussions on the others i would never substitute the electric rat. he probably also has some more devil-y pokemon but he wouldn't flaunt them he'd keep them in the box. this is weirdly less steel types than i expected but i think it fits, all the big scary monsters + the electric rat. also i feel like his legendary would be like. a really ill-advised mewtwo, or maybe the Regis

this team planner disallows me from giving orin Six Dittos which infuriates me. i actually put her legendary on her team though because i think it fits. i do think that given the opportunity to just have six dittos she absolutely would though i'd probably have added the zoroark anyway for a little bit of spice

[swordofthreekings]

[ FIVE DEATHS ]  send for five times our muses almost died together and the one time the sender does.

I -

"Get down!"

Godsdamn , the prince was going to get them both killed at this rate, he thought heatedly, shoving the older man to the ground, one hand on the back of his head to force it down. The sound of gunfire burst through the air. There was a sharp line of pain along his thigh as one grazed him. He was just glad for the rocky Accordan landscape that gave them some cover.

He turned his sharp glare on Clarus as the Shield caught up with them. "Keep him from doing something stupid," he growled, ignoring Regis' outraged sound beneath him as he rolled off of him, getting his feet under him, and bolting out toward their enemies.

II -

Why couldn't one of the tombs be in a nice, easy to reach place, just once? He was really getting sick of trudging around in dark, cold caves. Fighting daemons. Way too many fucking daemons.

"Ugh," Cor groaned, wiping flan slime off of himself as the last of the daemons faded to mist. But the sort of strange rumbling sound that he'd attributed to one of the daemons continued, and he looked around in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sound turned into a squawk as he was yanked back by the collar of his jacket. The sound built to deafening, things were shaking. The ceiling was coming down around them!

But nothing hit him.

He was curled up on the ground, arms over his head, and slowly raised it, looking around. Regis was crouched with him one hand up, a shield around them both keeping the settling rubble at bay. He met Regis' eyes, and they both blinked at each other for a second before Cor sighed and flopped onto his back.

"You owe me a vacation after all this."

Regis' laughter let Clarus find them, at least.

III -

It was probably a bad thing that he'd never mentioned he didn't know how to swim...

He'd never thought it was really that big of a deal. The Royal Yacht was a good ship, right? No big deal. Except, now, with a storm battering the little ship on their way to Tenebrae to find the last of the Royal Arms, he was really regretting that he'd never mentioned it. He was also really regretting that he was too stubborn to let anyone else know right now.

He wasn't entirely sure what happened. A wave, apparently. All he knew was that his feet weren't on the deck anymore. He was dragged into the deep water, tossed, disoriented. He didn't know which was was up, and the water was cold. He floundered, frantic, his lungs already beginning to burn. He'd not had a chance to get a good breath before he'd been swept off.

And then someone was grabbing him. He very nearly elbowed him in the face before he realized what was going on. He was dragged up until his head broke the surface and he could breathe again. Regis had a hold of him, shouting at him to hold on over the wind and rain. He was tying a rope around both of them.

IV -

It wasn't often that Regis got to leave Insomnia anymore. Not since Mors had died and he'd become King. It would have been nice little vacation, heading out with Cor while Clarus watched over things in the Crown City. Would have been. Except Regis' desire to go fishing had ended up with them nearly getting trampled by a catoblepas. Their little fishing boat was crushed, and both of them were thrown into the water. It wasn't that deep, though, which worked to Cor's benefit - but not Regis', as the king's head struck a rock and knocked him out. Cor had to drag him away from the angry animal.

Clarus had some choice words for them when they'd gotten back to the capital.

V -

Cor had a room at the Citadel. If he wanted, he could have an apartment there, to live there, but he didn't want it. But there was a room reserved for his use on days he stayed to late or for whatever other reason. He was glad the night he flopped into the bed in that room, though, when something woke him in the night. He couldn't find any reason for it. Something just felt off. He'd taken the chance to go walk around, taking a look around.

The door to Regis' suite was open. Dread sank into the pit of his stomach as he stepped forward, moving slowly, quietly.

The assassin was beside Regis' bed when Cor threw himself at them. The ensuing scuffle woke the king.

It ended with Regis sporting a cut across his cheek, Cor stabbed in the thigh, and the assassin dead.

Cor had looked over at Regis, in the silence that followed, and then rubbed his hands over his face. "I'm getting too old for this."

I -

He was positive now that transfering him and the Crownsguard to the city shortly before the treaty had been a strategic decision. Whether it was because he had wanted to ensure Cor would survive the fallout, or if it was because he trusted Cor more than others to save as many of the citizens as possible, he didn't know. He didn't really want to know. A part of him was just angry that Regis had done that to him. Had made him live instead of letting him remain beside him.

Where he was supposed to be.

Cor picked his way through the ruined Citadel, There was a part of him that didn't want to be there, didn't want to find what he knew he would. But he had to see for himself.

The body was lying at the center of a hall. Alone. Cor's chest tightened at the sight. There was a differencce between knowing it and seeing it for himself. He hestitated, and then stepped closer slowly, sinking to his knees beside the body. His King. His friend.

He reached out and pulled Regis into his arms, bent over him, struggling against the tightness in his throat. He knew he couldn't stay there long, but the thought of leaving Regis there like that tore at his heart. He hated the idea of having to leave him there. Hated that he hadn't been there with him. He should have been there. He should have died with him.

Cor had been beside him for years. It wasn't fair for Regis to go somewhere he couldn't follow.