#THE QUEST TO FIX IT AND BE ABLE TO KEEP HIM ALIVE

[sunlightontheseaa]

Getting pretty close to the end of odyssey I feel, and jfc the shit i have to go through to keep my idiot asshole brothers alive.

The whole second encounter with Stentor I was like... It's rotten work. Especially to me, especially if it's you. I'll do it but christ alive

And Alexios. Jfc where do I even begin. Im like, you're gonna be my fuckin friend whether you like it or not idc. I love you bitch, die mad about it!

I am dragging everyone kicking and screaming into being a family and it's pretty funny

[amoreva]

KISS THE GIRL

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pairing: luke castellan x fem!reader

summary: two times luke knows he’s in love with you + one time he can’t hold it in anymore

warnings: pre tlt luke, ooc luke

a/n: percy jackson 🔛🔝 (request some fics for the characters), i think i ended this terribly, but i’ll fix it later at some point!

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I. SCAR

“You are an idiot.”

That’s the first thing Luke hears when he wakes up in the Camp’s infirmary. He feels groggy, sluggish and slow and barely registered that you were in the room.

He faintly tasted his mother’s cooking. A small comfort for the consequences of failing his quest. His heart is filled with embarrassment and pity and dejection.

You snapped your fingers by his ears. “I know you’re awake. You hear me? You are an idiot!”

“If you’re here to make fun of me failing my quest, go away.” Luke groaned and turned on his side, despite the pain flaring in his abdomen.

"Luke." You said in a much softer tone. You were concerned about his injuries since he returned from the quest. "You know I wouldn't do that, not with something this serious.”

You helped him sit up in the infirmary bed and cup his cheek. He felt a gauze patch rather then your warm palm on his right cheek. “I’m saying you’re an idiot for not letting me come with you!”

“You can’t do everything by yourself.”

Love is fickle and strange thing. Luke and you promised that if either of you went on a quest, you’d bring each other. Yet, Luke couldn’t keep his promise.

He couldn’t see his girl—best friend, his best friend get hurt because of a stupid promise. He wouldn’t forgive himself if you went out he quest and got injured in some way, shape or form.

Even if you hadn’t gotten hurt, he might’ve— he would’ve gotten worse injuries from being distracted by your beauty. He could never tear his eyes from you whenever you entered the room.

In hindsight, it was a really bad way to go about things.

“I’m fine, aren’t I?” Luke responded and couldn’t hold himself back. He interlaced his fingers with yours, knowing you were still pissed when he didn’t choose you or anyone, for that matter, to join him on his quest to retrieve a Golden Apple from the Garden of Hesperides.

He resented his father and the gods for not caring for his wellbeing during the quest.

“Yes, but—” You protested.

At least you cared for his wellbeing. You caring about him was better than any god or goddess on Olympus.

His eyes softened. His mind screaming the words he was too scared to say to you out loud. “I love you.” He loved you for caring about his wellbeing. His safety.

“Yes, but nothing.” Luke retaliated and squeezed your hand to assure you. “I’m okay, I’m alive and have some cool ass scars now.”

Luke grinned as he was able to produce a laugh from you. Your laugh was like music to his ears. His own ambrosia in human form.

“Shut up.” You rolled your eyes playfully.

“Never.”

II. SPARRING

“Again.” Luke demanded as he pointed the celestial bronze sword at your throat. The sun beating down on the two of you as you trained. A past time as the days got boring.

“Fuck off.” You scoffed and laid back in the grass that laid beneath the pair’s feet. The grass tickling your arms and legs.

“C’mon! Up and at it. The momentum will wear off.” Luke helplessly convinced you to try and spar him again.

“Oh no, what ever will we do?” Sarcasm bled through your tone. You pushed yourself to sit up and leaned against the rack contained to celestial bronze swords.

Luke shook his head and grinned. He pushed back his chocolate curls to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He joined you on the grassy floor.

“Five minute break then.” Luke nodded.

“Ten minutes.” You negotiated and looked over at Luke. His scar was healing nicely, no infections—just a clean cut from his eye to his jaw. “You can’t expect to be up and at it after training with the greatest swordsman for an hour straight.”

Maybe it was the heat or maybe it was from the training. Luke’s cheeks became pink. He knew his siblings and other demigods talked about him being the “greatest swordsman”, but hearing it from you was different.

“You think I’m the greatest swordsman?” Luke said with a teasing grin.

“Not after I’m done with you.”

“Say that to the many times you hit the floor.”

“I was going easy on you!”

Luke and you burst out in laughter at your banter, unable to keep a serious conversation. He thought your laughter could brighten up the Underworld. Hades would even agree.

Again, those three words would cross his mind. “I love you.” He loved bantering with you back and forth. How dare he try to ruin the moment with his romantic phrases.

“C’mon!” You huffed and pushed yourself to stand up. You were obliviously to the admiration in his eyes. The celestial bronze sword gripped loosely in your hand.

“What happened to the ten minutes?” Luke titled his head up only slightly to look at you. A stupid grin on his face. He stood up to get in position

“I can train when I damn want too.”

“Don’t start complaining about being tired then.”

He never tore his eyes away from yours as you thrusted the blade at his torso.

III. STARS

Luke had no idea where the line between lover and friendship was crossed. He had absolutely no idea when he started to see you more as a crush rather than his best friend.

Though he did notice his stomach started to twist and turn every time he saw you. He noticed his heart raced a little faster every time he heard your laugh.

Luke found himself gravitating towards you during dinner, training, capture the flag—like a moth to burning flame. Would he find himself getting burned for pursuing you?

“Hey.”

Luke spoke as the wooden dock creaked beneath his feet. You were sitting on the edge of the dock. The night sky lit up with tiny bright lights. You gave him a smile (one that could melt his heart) and patted the space next to you.

“You doing okay?” Luke asked and sat next to you. His leg touching yours. The lake rippled. The moonlight shining down on it.

“I just—needed a break.” You reassure Luke. “From gods, goddesses, prophecies, quests…all of it.”

The chirps and cheeps of the birds and animals filled the silence. A background noise. Luke felt your head lean against his shoulder. His heart beat quicker. He hesitantly wrapped his arm around your shoulder. Comfort, he convinced himself.

“You can’t really escape being a half-blood.” Luke consulted and rubbed his hand up and down your arm. You hummed in agreement.

You were quite glad Luke joined you. These nights on the dock, after dinner, were getting lonely. The silence is comfortable save for the wildlife in the forest.

Faintly, ever so faintly, you heard Luke speak three words. Three words you would never hear from him.

“I love you…”

Gods.

He didn’t even realize it. His lips were making the consonants and vowel sounds. Luke didn’t know until you picked up your head from his shoulder. Your eyes wide with shock and what he had hoped was…relief.

“What…?” You mumbled.

Did he just ruin his friendship with you? Did he just lose his best friend because he said his thoughts out loud? Luke thought he had better control over that.

“What?” He responded and let his arm fall from your shoulders.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Luke.”

His breath hitched. He felt lovesick. Like Aphrodite personally made his body malfunction during this moment. “I…”

“I love you…” Luke avoided your gaze like he was ashamed to have a crush on you.

How did you feel? Would you reject him in a heart beat? Would you ridicule him? Thoughts swam his mind.

Before he could get too into his head, he felt a soft pair of lips pressed against his. Your eyes closed and he willed himself to close his eyes as well. Melting, melting into your touch, your lips.

When you pulled away, his eyes opened. He was graced with the sight of you in the moonlight. “What?” He spoke breathlessly.

“What?” You responded slightly confused and scared you made the moment uncomfortable.

“You…” Luke paused and closed his mouth as he tried to formulate the words. To form a coherent thought. He just…he wanted that to never end. He finally got what he yearned for (and he wasn’t rejected?). He got you.

“Is this real?” Luke asked and you laughed. His stomach churned with butterflies.

“Yes!” You answered and interlaced your fingers with his.

“May I?”

“You’d be a pretty bad demigod if you didn’t.”

And once again, Luke got the kiss the girl. He got the kiss the girl he been pining over for gods know how long.

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[sunderwight]

SVSSS AU where Shen Yuan transmigrates as usual, except it's to find that his system is freaking out because it's been several years since Luo Binghe was supposed to show up at the sect trials to start his plot but so far there's been no sign of the protagonist, the Protagonist Halo Features aren't working correctly, and there's another transmigrator who arrived earlier, somehow hacked into the system, and erased its ability to track or punish him before disappearing into parts unknown (it was Airplane).

So Shen Yuan, now Shen Qingqiu, reasons that anyone who was trying to interfere with the plotline had either rescued or killed Luo Binghe while he was still young. Hoping for the former (but braced for the latter) he uses what scant knowledge the novel provided about Luo Binghe's origins, plus his new skills and some of the sect resources available, to track down Luo Binghe.

Turns out, in this version of events, some "random benefactor" showed up and gave Luo Binghe's mother some life-saving medicine. So she didn't die. But her health remained poor and Binghe never left her side, instead doing as much of her work as he was able to. So teenaged Binghe is basically a seemingly average, run-of-the-mill servant.

Shen Qingqiu is like "well this is pretty easy to fix actually" and approaches Luo Binghe as a wise immortal master type, says he sees Binghe's potential, and offers to take him on as a disciple. Luo Binghe is thrilled and kind of gobsmacked, but won't abandon his mother. Not a problem! Shen Qingqiu figured he wouldn't, so he offers to make arrangements to have Mama Luo comfortably set up in one of the villages at the base of the mountain. Sure, having her be alive and letting Binghe visit and write to her would be a deviation from the usual tragic backstory, but not a huge one! Shen Qingqiu is ready to mark this problem solved (and start dealing with all the other problems it creates for him) but the system is weirdly unsatisfied.

Turns out that even though Shen Qingqiu has found Luo Binghe (and a few discreet tests confirm that he has some sort of seal in place, and what are the odds of some other random orphan found on the Luo river, raised by a kindly-but-ill laundress, and named "Luo Binghe" exists in the same region?), the system still can't detect the Protagonist Halo Feature. The stupid glitching thing can't recognize the protagonist without it, so it keeps insisting that Shen Qingqiu locate him, even when he's kneeling right there and performing the tea ceremony for his initiation!

It's really annoying!

Especially since this means that the system won't actually safeguard Luo Binghe from harm. Which means it's up to Shen Qingqiu to make sure that his little white lotus disciple lives long enough to become the ruler of everything. This is easier said than done! Between the skinner demon side quest, and the demonic invasion, and various other side missions to build up the protagonist's potential, Luo Binghe is constantly getting into trouble and Shen Qingqiu keeps getting poisoned or injured trying to drag him back out of it in one piece!

Matters come to a head at the Immortal Alliance Conference (as they so often do). Shen Qingqiu is not planning to yeet Binghe, of course. Like this there's no guarantee of survival, and the system isn't even demanding it of him (because it still doesn't recognize the protagonist), but it seems to be demanding they turn up for the event anyway. Shen Qingqiu is a nervous wreck and fighting the urge to hover, because as expected, there is still a demonic invasion. Except this time Mobei Jun is there, and so is a mysterious cloaked figure who seems to be searching for something.

As soon as Shen Qingqiu claps eyes on the figure, the system chimes happily.

Protagonist Halo successfully located!

Turns out, part of Airplane's hacks involved stealing the halo and reassigning it to himself. Except that means that narrative destiny still wants him to hit certain plot beats, so he's been busily conquering the demonic realms -- in MBJ's name of course -- and mostly doing the bare minimum to satisfy the requirements while evading the system's efforts to regain contact. But now he's gotta go get Xin Mo somehow, except the minute Shen Qingqiu spots him so does the system.

The system, which immediately reassigns Airplane as the protagonist, and orders Shen Qingqiu to throw him into the Endless Abyss.

Which is like, better this rando than Binghe, so okay, but Mobei Jun is not cooperating plus the mysterious hooded stranger also seems pretty resistant to the idea (Airplane is NOT a heavenly demon, Protagonist Halo or no he's still actually a relatively squishy human cultivator, and he does not want to go into the hell pit), and between one thing and another Airplane manages to fall int the Abyss with Luo Binghe.

Not ideal. Which is to say, Shen Qingqiu is emotionally devastated and almost convinced that Luo Binghe has died for real and that Mysterious Halo Thief is going to come out somehow in a few years and chop off all his limbs, and Mobei Jun is extremely distressed because the man he intends to marry just fell into the Endless Abyss, and that seems like a difficult thing to somehow Evil Vizier your way out of.

The other peak lords arrive to keep Mobei Jun from killing Shen Qingqiu, and so everyone just kind of despairingly returns to their separate corners of the universe to wait and see what will happen.

Meanwhile, down in the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe has unlocked his heavenly demon blood and is now constantly trying to kill Airplane. But thanks to the transferred protagonist halo it just doesn't work. The system interferes and creates a last-minute unlikely survival route for Airplane every time. They eventually reach an impasse where Airplane can't die but only Luo Binghe is strong enough to actually fight most of the creatures in the Abyss, and all this "fighting" between the two of them (generous description) keeps attracting big monsters.

So, Airplane offers a deal. He knows things about this place. Including how to get out. If Luo Binghe helps him fend off the monsters, then he'll help Luo Binghe survive and escape as well. He even offers to help him get away from Shen Qingqiu and make a place for himself in the demon realms! Luo Binghe tries to kill him again for that, so he drops that line of attempted bribery really quick and switches tactics. He knows more things! Things about Shen Qingqiu's past! Secrets he'll share if Luo Binghe helps him!

Is this the start of a beautiful new friendship?

No.

Turns out Luo Binghe and Airplane have exactly the correct combination of shared traits and differences to find one another mostly intolerable. But not intolerable to the point of not being able to manage teeth-clenched teamwork. By the time they get out of the Endless Abyss, Luo Binghe never wants to hear about cup noodles or tax collection or Mobei Jun's tits ever again, and Airplane feels much the same about anything at all to do with Shen Qingqiu (and either Shen Qingqiu is a fellow transmigrator now or else Luo Binghe has inserted a shockingly vivid delusion over the scum villain he wrote). But they're both alive and in joint custody of an evil sword.

Unfortunately, due to the bickering and the complexities of Shang Qinghua's sketchy memory for his own plots, it takes them even longer to get out of the Abyss than it took PIDW Luo Binghe to manage on his own.

And, uh. Well.

They don't find things in great shape, considering how they left them...

[lover-of-mine]

Hello love, I read your masterpost about color theory and I find the last part about how Eddie is wearing a lot of black in season 7 interesting, because it caught my attention too.

Do you have any more ideas about that? Because every episode we get more moments of Eddie wearing black in important scenes, like him meeting Shannon's clone in today's episode!

Have a good day!

Hi, darlings, thoughts on the black. I have thoughts on the black and I have theories about the black, but I actually only solidified them after talking about it with @stagefoureddiediaz and honestly, if you want costume analyses she's the blog to go because her insights get me mindblown all the time because she talks a lot about patterns I kinda saw but didn't fully understand were there, so seriously, props to her with this one.

But to talk about Eddie in black, I'm gonna go back to Shannon in s2. And his love interests in general.

Shannon was a character that was always wearing color, and she always wore warm, bright tones, and considering Eddie's earthy, somewhat muted, still army colors palette, she literally brings color to his life. They go as far as making this quite literal in 213, because the hospital scene, Shannon is literally a point of color in this very dark moment, since most people around are in darker colors, her orange stands out. And obviously, the yellow she died in is a staple.

Ana was very muted when it was about the 2 of them, she was allowed color when it was about Chris, but about Eddie, it was black, white, or soft colors.

Marisol also follows that same pattern, she's mostly in black and white adjacent stuff, but she was allowed color during Chris' date and when Eddie was daydreaming Shannon. But with Marisol is worse, because Ana was allowed he's baby blue outfits, and Eddie had color around her, Marisol is just whites, greys, and blacks. And Eddie too. She brings no color to the table.

And the thing is, Eddie has been looking for the yellow. In very simple terms the dude has been looking for the color he thinks Shannon was supposed to bring to his life. I think that was even more exemplified by the way the daydream about Shannon didn't have the usual muted colors flashbacks have in the show.

And the thing is, black is the absorption of all colors, right? Dude is trying to find something to absorb, to get that color, but he has nothing to show for it because these relationships don't bring color to his life in any way. I think this even ties to the way he keeps getting hit by the sun when it comes to Buck or gets some random pops of color even if his outfit is black when he's around Buck, maybe even the random rainbow lens fair that keeps happening this season on him. But he is trying to force something that's not there and it's never gonna be there, if you mix black with white all he's gonna keep getting is grey. And when you think about the implications of black, the association with mystery, something hidden, and, yeah, even mourning, Eddie being consistently in black can also be a way for him to hide behind the ghost of Shannon and never face what he's actually searching for, because he can't get what he wants. He will never have the future he planned with Shannon, he's never gonna be able to fix the mistakes he's made. He needs Shannon to tell him is okay he fucked up, but that can never happen because she's dead so he's holding on to the widow status. It's something I talk about a lot, Eddie was always written to be the tortured widower, even when Shannon was alive, he already had the archetype, and considering we found out they met when they were 14, Shannon is literally all he knows, but the Eddie we meet and deal with, only knows her when she left him and he's searching for that color the plans you can only make when you're a teenager going through you first love give. But considering the black he also has nothing to give this woman he meets in this quest, he's not reflecting anything back because he wants a do-over and that's not something someone can give him.

Also, no one asked but I gotta say it, I am obsessed with the way Kim is blue where Shannon was yellow/orange, but she is also in neutral colors when interacting with Eddie.

And he is still very much in black interacting with her.

But the blue/yellow thing is interesting because when you look at a color wheel, they are on opposite sides. They are complementary colors and complementary colors create contrast and it's very deliberate the way Shannon was warm-toned and Kim is cool-toned.

But the idiot (affectionate) is still in black, because he's not reflecting what he needs, he's absorbing what he thinks he wants.

But that's just a theory, a game theory. (Sorry, I read this back and my brain filled the space with this, I had to say it okasoasoaksas)

if you read this, I love you 💜

[ofstardustanddreaming]

AHHH!!! I saw that you write for my FAVORITE character ever which gale from bg3!

So if you haven't done this already could you please do some cuddle time with him? I need the fluff 🩷 thanks so much!

this is genius, i love Gale lol. cuddling with him would fix every issue i have. i also hope you don't mind if i took the request in a slightly different format! i wanted to do the 4 times character does x, and the 1 time you do x.

cuddle bug

oneshot summary: 4 times gale initiates cuddles with you, and the 1 time that you initiate cuddles with gale. (gale is a major cuddle bug and would love pulling you in at any point. not that you wouldn't pull him in for a cuddle, he just loves pulling you in more.)

content warnings: none

fandom: baldur's gate 3

character: gale dekarios x reader

gender neutral reader

one: The first time that Gale pulls you into a cuddle session is at camp, and you're both new to the relationship. It's a nerve wracking way to make contact, and it feels awkward. But it's warm. He wanted to cuddle and be close to you, and what better way than to do it awkwardly.

The night is warm and fireflies are flying around everywhere. The camp members are enjoying themselves for the first time in a couple months, where missions are completed and there's a little bit of down time to enjoy the night. You and Gale officiated your relationship last week, and now have the first night to enjoy the branching of your relationship.

You sit next to him at a more secluded area of the camp, ensuring a moment of silence for you both. Gale grabs your hand as you both talk the night away, the feeling of warmth causing you to shiver.

"It's a nice night. And you're a great leader to be able to pull this off tonight." He glances over at you, both of you smiling at one another. Then he does the unexpected, where he pulls you into his arms, holding you close. You lean into the warmth of his embrace, enjoying the body heat when you're both away from the fire.

He pulls you over to his bed roll to continue the cuddle session, where you both felt a bit odd about it. You could never figure out if you were applying too much pressure, or if you adjusted yourself if that would create an issue of moving too much. Sure, it was awkward. But it allowed you both to know what cuddling positions you'd love moving forward.

two: The second time Gale pulls you in for a cuddle is after an intense session of a battle. He was worried that you had died, and never wanted to let you leave his arms again.

The fight with Thorm nearly took you out, your health very low. Shadowheart barely managed to keep you alive with her healing, but advised you get strong rest before moving on to the next quest to be filled. Gale, the man that he is, was sick with worry throughout your entirety of healing.

He found himself sitting next to you while you rested, very hesitant to touch you within the first few days, not wanting to make any injuries you had worse. But when you show some signs of being on the mend, he wasted no time laying down next to you, pulling your head on his shoulder and wrapping his arms around you as delicately as possible. He didn't want to move you too much, knowing that it can worsen injuries. But it was a nice initial point for him to have.

"Gods, you had me worried deeply for a while there." He murmurs to you, who's barely conscious to hear him say that. He slowly runs one hand over your arm that had reached over to wrap around your chest.

He just wanted to see you safe, the worry he felt seeing you on the brink of death was enough to shake him. He vowed from then on to be as much of help as possible to you in fights.

three: The third time Gale pulls you in is when he senses you've had a bad day. He's never one to shy away from the thought that a good cuddle session can fix a bad mood.

He finds you kicking dirt around on the outside of camp. You have the list of quests in your hand, frustrated at how much needed to be completed. You truly want to be helpful to them, to help as many people as you can, but it was burning you out at both ends. Something that Gale could tell, and his heart hurt for you.

He approaches you where you are, grabbing you by the shoulders. It takes one gentle look from him for you to start choking on your cries, and he pulls you close. He knows you need the lightest cuddle session to help you feel better, with light bouts of praise from him. Which is exactly what he supplies.

He wrestles you over to his tent, the headache you have pounding away. The dusk of the night was coming upon you all, and you feel as if there would be no time to sleep if you had to get to these missions soon. But he pulls you down with him, ensuring you were comfortable.

"Oh, sweet love, you're doing so well. You have the weight of the world on your shoulders right now, but you're doing so well." He says, the way he was cuddling with you feels like a weighted blanket. It lulls you to a calm sleep that night, to wake in the morning with a fresh start.

four: The fourth time that Gale wants cuddles is after an argument. You both always need a breather after an intense argument, but you'll always find your way back to each other to talk things through, and then move into comfort of each other's arms.

Oh, the argument was massive. It took a toll on you both, where eventually the camp had to pull you guys away from each other to cool it down. They really felt worried when Gale's magic started sparking, not wanting the orb to go off, and you had your hand on your weapon, they didn't want you to pull it out to start swinging.

The camp had split off into teams to watch over the both of you, letting you both get what you needed to off your chests. Then they would all shove you towards each other to say those rants to one another in a calmer fashion. You both speak with a softness to one another now, trying to see the other's viewpoint.

"I'm so sorry love." Was how Gale responded to your responding of love, and he pulled you in close to him. He is usually the first to reach to you after an argument as well, wanting you in his arms as quick as he can.

You lean into the touch, craving the touch of the man you love. You're always there to accept it, glad he would be the one to offer, always nervous about the rejection if you offered it. You always tend to worry after an argument, if he would ever take you back. So it always makes you happy that he wants to cuddle you close after such an argument.

one: The one time that you pull Gale in for a cuddle session is when he's had a bad day. When he's had a day of insecurities, wondering if he's good enough for you, is when you know you have to pull him in. He'll be too nervous to seek you out. He finds solace in your arms at night, getting comfort from you when you hold him and say he's enough.

Mystra had really done a number on him. He felt he had to live up to imaginary expectations you had in order for you to still want him. It takes time to get over that sort of line of thinking, and you reassure him that you'd never leave him based on what he thought you would want from him.

"I don't expect you to be perfect, or to be a strong wizard in order for me to be with you, you know. I'm with you Gale, because you're the kindest, sweetest person who does kind things for me. Such as cuddling me when I'm feeling down. You brighten my days with your stories." You comfort him, pulling him into your chest, where he buries himself into your neck.

"I don't ever want to leave you." You whisper to him, letting him get every ounce of emotion out on you, as you run your hands through his hair. He sighs shakily, and you feel the tears on your neck. It's a quiet night, nothing more is needed as you continue to whisper praises into his ear as you both fall asleep.

[autumnmobile12]

So I had a thought:

Dr. Garaki straight up says that due to his catastrophic injuries, Dabi shouldn’t have survived a month after escaping the facility and because of that, none of All-For-One’s cronies bothered retrieving him, and everyone involved was pretty shocked when he turned up years later for the villains’ social upheaval/anarchy quest.  The explanation we get for this medical improbability is he remained alive because of his absolute hatred for Endeavor and need for personal vengeance/validation.

Me:  “There’s no scientific or medical explanation that makes this remotely plausible outside of bullshit anime willpower and——*side eyes H.P. Lovecraft’s Cool Air*——You!”

Long story short, Cool Air is one of Lovecraft’s lesser known short stories about this guy Dr. Muñoz who is technically dead, but through sheer willpower, he’s able to keep himself alive, and through the use of a janky cooling system he keeps in his apartment (an air conditioner, it's an air conditioner) he’s able to keep his body from rotting.  The contraption fails one night, and in a desperate attempt to stave of the inevitable, he recruits his downstairs neighbor to keep him supplied with ice until they can get the machine fixed.  They can’t fix it in time, Dr. Muñoz dies, his horrible secret comes out, and that’s pretty much the plot.

To sum up, a technically dead guy who keeps himself alive through sheer willpower…and ice…?  And Rei’s Quirk is…

It’s still implausible because Lovecraft should never in a million years be taken with any kind of scientific/medical seriousness, but neither should My Hero Academia, so my new headcanon is Rei’s Quirk manifested way earlier than everyone thought it did and Dabi just never noticed it and credited his survival to the aforementioned hatred and determination.

In short, Dabi is a Lovecraftian abomination.

...

And for good measure, when I re-watched Overly Sarcastic Productions video on Lovecraft to see their rundown on Cool Air, this description of Dr. Muñoz came up:

This shitpost is writing itself.

[alwayschasingrainbows]

With all the amazing conversation about "Emily's happy ending" going on, there is one question I keep asking myself: Would Emily ever go back to writing if she married Dean Priest? And, however crazy it may sound, however unpopular this opinion is, I came to the conclusion that she would... in a time.

Now, I know that Dean is extremely possesive. He won Emily by a lie, he crushed her dreams, he laughted at her ambitions. He hated her writing, because it took her away from him. He wanted to possess her wholly, body and soul, he wanted her to belong to him whole-heartedly. I also know that Emily was deeply hurt, crushed, that her hopes and dreams were in shatters. I know that she kept telling herself she was going to be satisfied with being only Dean's wife and that her writing was no longer important. I know that she didn't believed in herself and her talent at this point of her life.

The problem is - she wouldn't be happy, or satisfied, or fulfilled, or whole. She had to write, just as she had to breathe. She got engaged to Dean during the most vulnerable period of her life, when she was hardly herself; weakened after her long illness, afraid of the future, ashamed of her past. But the need to write was still alive, deep inside her soul, unactive yet, but not dead.

In canon, it was Dean telling her the truth about A Seller of The Dreams, that allowed Emily to write again. But I think it was only a trigger. It is equally possible that, in a time, something else would make her want to write. It could be anything: Teddy's painting The Smiling Girl, a letter from someone who read her stories, Aunt Elizabeth's sickness, a loss of someone she cared about, reading one of her old poems, anything. I believe that Emily would feel the need to write herself out. Montgomery once said that only lonely people wrote journals, but there are many kind of loneliness - a loneliness of unshared thoughts, for example. So, I feel that once Emily encountered something she couldn't deal with or talk over with with Dean, she would turn back to her writing.

Also... it isn't impossible that Dean would have told Emily the truth about her first book later, during their marriage. Now... I know, it is not exactly in his character, but please, hear me out. Of course, we see Dean being jealous - of Emily's writing, of her friends. But, for many years, he showed Emily his support, he read her stories and poems. The scene in Emily Climbs, when he gets angry at Emily for wanting to see Teddy, shows his character - he doesn't want to let her go, but doesn't stop her.

Also, the moment Dean decided he hated A Seller of The Dreams shows that however he is guilty of Priests' jealousy, he usually tries to fight it: "The one black drop in his veins—that Priest jealousy of being first—suddenly made its poison felt." (Emily's Quest). It is in Dean's nature to be jealous, indeed, but he isn't possessed by it 24/7. He is capable of tenderness, and he isn't an evil person. He decided to tell Emily the truth about A Seller of The Dreams after she broke their engagement, even though he could walk away, knowing that Emily wouldn't be able to escape his grasp. But he chose not to. Why? In my opinion - because he regretted what he had done and felt ashamed. He wouldn't be able to go on, if he hadn't told the truth.

Montgomery's scholars interpreted Dean's wanting to buy Emily a writing desk as "limiting her writing to a small space", but in my opinion, it was something else. It was Dean's way of dealing with his regrets over killing a vital part of Emily. It was his way of trying to fix something he destroyed, even if he wasn't ready to say it plainly, yet.

I know it probably sounds as if I am trying to defend Dean and whitewash his character. I am not. He is not the supportive partner Teddy would (hopefully) be. Dean would have trouble accepting Emily's devotion to anything that wasn't him. That being said, I think that Dean, at this point, was lying to himself that this Emily was going to be enough. One of the reasons he wanted to marry Emily was her fierce spirit and vitality:

"What a child!” he muttered. “I’ll never forget her eyes as she lay there on the edge of death—the dauntless little soul—and I’ve never seen a creature who seemed so full of sheer joy in existence." (Emily of New Moon).

Emily who couldn't write was crushed - destroyed - a shadow of herself. She found it difficult to dream, or to be truly happy. Dean Priest, looking at her with the eyes of adoring man, might not have realized this change yet.

But once they were married, his regrets and fears would probably creep in, slowly, gradually. The realization that he killed the part of Emily would come in a time - years, possibly - but I think he wouldn't be able to stand this thought.

He'd spill his secret - he'd tell Emily the truth. Perhaps she wouldn't be able to forgive him - perhaps he'd lose her forever, but he would tell her (even on his deathbed, I think).

I know it is a very unpopular opinion, but I honestly think Emily Starr would sonehow find the strength to write again, even if she married Dean Priest.

[huntingrays]

man, i have an idea for a jason revival fic/valgrace fic that i rlly wanna do, but I already have like… 3 valgrace wips, one of them being a different revival fic. also i dont have much of a plan for the whole fic, just some small ideas.

basically, the premise is that due to the prophecies n shit being messed up in toa, peoples’s fates are messed up as well.

so, after toa, the fates are trying to fix the fates of those whose fates were messed up by the whole ordeal. one of them was jason. so, they bring him back (but don’t bother to tell him… or anyone else, really).

the only problem? the classic issue of bringing someone back. jason comes back wrong. instead of being normal human jason, he can shift into a wolf, and a big one at that (my personal headcanon is that he’s like torso/shoulder height on an average, fully grown adult. ye, a big boi). also, he comes back in wolf form, and can’t shift back. he’s vaguely aware of who he is, but not much beyond that. he’s also vaguely aware of the smells of people he knows and trusts (but not what they look like or specifically why they’re important to him… or that he should somehow inform them that he is jason grace, back from the dead and now a wolf).

so basically, leo is sent on some quest (mayhaps a solo quest? or he’s separated from his friends for a time) and during it, he ends up having to fight vicious beasts under the control of some monsters. they decide to start out with their most vicious, which is wolf jason. leo doesn’t want to fight an innocent creature so he thinks fast and he’s able to escape with both himself and the wolf. once they’re safe, he takes off the device controlling wolf jason, and the two end up becoming friends. jason doesn’t realize leo is his best friend, but he gets from his smell that leo is important to him and that he’d do anything to keep him safe, which is just what he decides to do. leo doesn’t know this wolf is jason (literally why would he?), but he does think the wolf reminds him a lot of jason (with blue eyes and a scar on his muzzle that reminds him of the scar on jason’s lip) so he decides to call him “jay” and keeps him around as a much needed companion.

that’s pretty much the bulk of what i wanted to write. didn’t have much else planned besides that… expect for a vague idea for how the reveal/shift back happens. basically, the idea i had was somehow, maybe towards the end of the quest, there’s a fight by a cliff. also, maybe others are there, for more people to bant with and added tension. in the fight, leo nearly gets knocked off and is hanging on by just a hand. wolf jason goes to save him, but he doesn’t have arms or hands or thumbs to grabs him with, so he just like, bites his arm and starts to drag him up that way. however, as he’s pulling him up, the ground crumbles under them and they both fall. and jason, he cares about and loves leo. he would do anything to keep him safe. so, just in time, he manages to shift back out of sheer desperation to save leo, and safely floats them to the ground. I’d imagine leo would be very shocked (his dead best friend is now alive and as the wolf he’d been traveling with but now he’s very alive). idk what happens after that… probably meeting with some very shocked friends, bc if they were there with people, those guys just saw leo and a wolf fall to their death but suddenly float back as leo with a somehow alive jason and no wolf.

idk the only other ideas i had were just shenanigans at camp with wolf shifter jason. i imagine he’s not that scary as a wolf, just like… a big, dumb dog. a big, dumb dog that only bites if you hurt leo. leo does really mind jason being all protective, he loves any form of positive attention. he just thrives off of it. jason would definitely weaponize his sad puppy dog eyes to get leo to take a break. maybe we can apply some werewolf rules and say he like has to be in wolf form during the full moon? and leo definitely messes with him, like pretending to throw a ball but actually not, which jason gives him the silent treatment for a day after. also, jason being clean in human form doesn’t transfer over to wolf form, so leo has to give him bathes. and wolf jason hates the bathes and is very vocal about it. leo also hates the bathes because jason is very stubborn and makes it much harder than it needs to be. he ends up getting more clean than jason by the end. idk, the idea of serious jason being a silly, dramatic, goofy wolf strikes joy. i also imagine that, when he sees leo lying down, if he’s in wolf form that he just goes over to him and lays his whole body down on leo’s, much to leo’s dismay. but leo allows it bc he spoils wolf jason. also no clue how valgrace get together… just that it happens at some point. also, idk i imagine that he loves human jason and wolf jason in different ways. human jason is his bf but wolf jason is just his silly lil guy.

[astro-pioneer]

Dottore's Monster 『Il Dottore』

He dared to advance in his experiments while also reviving you forever. He succeeded in both; it was something Abattouy failed to replicate. | Minor spoilers for Tighnari's story quest and major 3.2 spoilers | Usage of Dottore's (unconfirmed) real name | Mmmm psychopathic hot bastard <333 | Small gore warning!!!!

"Don't worry, my dear, soon you'll no longer have to worry about me outliving you. We'll be together forever, no matter what." It saddened him to see your cold body cut open on his workshop table like this. Your blood stained the gloves he wore while he worked on you, tweaking with the mechanical parts and wires that sat in your emptied chest.

"I'll give you a steel-cast heart, running the current through your body to mimic blood. You'll think like me — no, like how you did. No one will know you're now a human being fueled by electricity! Isn't this amazing, my love!?"

It was tragic, your death, but you're still helping him while in the state of limbo. He knows you wouldn't mind waiting there as he fills his curiosity until there is nothing else to learn. Then he'll fix your body up until it's in the same condition as it was before you were attacked. You'll be back to normal and live with him for eternity. Yes, that's the perfect plan!

No one ever had even the slightest suspicion that you were technically a walking corpse. You were basically the same as you were before, the only evidence being the faint discolouration the serum that was applied didn't heal as of yet. The only person who was allowed to lay eyes on them was Dottore, his segments being an honorary mention.

Lesser Lord Kusanali could sense someone a little less than human enter the borders of Sumeru. Even from her physical location in the sanctuary, the feeling was strong. It was a weird feeling for the archon; being the god of wisdom and knowing that something that defied the natural phenomenon such as life felt wrong. The need to tell the traveler of this outlier of the world was strong; the need to find out who was causing the disturbance was even stronger.

The traveler watched the documented video with Tighnari and Paimon, listening as Abattouy talked about a past event. "Zandik, that crazy bastard! He was able to do this to his lover! Figuring a reverse way would be a breeze...if only I had his papers with me. Maniac took them with him after he succeeded and kicked out..." The tape ended there.

Both blinked, the same question appearing in their heads while Paimon voiced it, "Who's Zandik? And what'd he do to his lover?" Tighnari placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"We can only assume this 'Zandik' was a past Akademiya student who used mechanical parts to keep his lover alive and acting normally, like a human. It seems as though Abattouy wished to do something similar but less morbid, thankfully, in order to present the research to the sages." The traveler couldn't help but feel a little sick at the thought.

The want to achieve something that no one in Teyvat has ever even thought of was what led you, Dottore, and his Omega segment in Sumeru. Corruption of the sages in the Akademiya had already begun long before the preparation for the journey happened. Both versions of Dottore were adamant on not allowing you to go, but caved in at the end. He didn't want you to have a run in with the traveler, either. That'd be a whole new issue.

The Balladeer was more trusting of you than he was of The Doctor. It was a well-known fact to all of the harbingers, so Dottore had you slowly manipulate the puppet into being more welcoming of any new ideas. If you said it was for the better, then it was, right? It had finally got to a point where you no longer needed to be in the laboratory the whole day and could finally sightsee.

The somewhat close relationship you had with the lower ranked harbinger threw you into the radar of the traveler and his Sumerian companions. With their consciousnesses connected, the blond was able to see how you looked, acted, and even felt, weirdly enough. Whenever you appeared, the outlander would get lightheaded due to the ley line energy that laid inside you.

The news of you was quickly shared and spread through the small group. However, it was advised to not interfere with anything you may do in order to not be deemed suspicious. If one word of them reached the ears of Dottore, their whole mission of saving Sumeru could be ruined.

You were seen once by Paimon in the city. Strolling calmly with no fatui guards in sight, just looking at the stalls and occasionally asking questions. It was such a contrast from what she actually knew. Not really being alive, somehow dating the sociopath they had the misfortune of meeting earlier, and manipulating The Balladeer did not at all seem like anything the person she saw would do or be.

Too bad it was. Your loyalty lies with your Zandik, and nothing anyone says would change that. You'd do whatever it takes to help in his experiments.

Neither Dottore nor you were there to witness The Balladeer fail. He already knew that creating a god with the group the traveler rounded up wasn't going to lead to success, but it did its purpose anyway. You were not there to witness what your manipulation did to the boy as he crashed headfirst to the ground.

You were with Omega as Dottore and the archon made a deal. The gnosis for information on you and the destruction of all of the segments. You were the only witness to see the clone have a small breakdown before collapsing into nothing but a ragdoll. It was terrifying, but not as terrifying as knowing the same fate could happen to you at the blink of an eye if desired.

[insecateur]

okay now that it's no longer french friday i can say this,

i'm genuinely really happy people like the comic— it's doing numbers i didn't expect on twitter (nothing huge but i'm used to my more silly drawings doing this well haha) and i've had a few people tell me it resonated with them personally which is what makes me glad most of all

i don't remember whether i talked about this on tumblr or not tho i do know i mentioned it on twitter at least once, but back when the game came out, i was recovering from a very fraught situation which i won't get into details about. it had been a couple years already and i had not made as much progress as i thought i had at the time, to be honest. it seems silly when you consider that i'm talking about a pokémon game of all things, but when sycamore called me after beating team flare and we met up so he could apologize for his role in everything that had happened, it struck a chord in me in a way that i definitely wasn't ready for (especially in this context)

it's funny bc i do very much ship them and i do think it's easy to read them as having been in a more intimate relationship, but at the time, there was something really powerful to me about seeing this kind of... complicated, messy relationship that had been soiled by one of the involved party misleading the other (however much you believe sycamore was misled) that was not presented outwardly as romantic. betrayal is a subject that, in fiction, especially between adults i feel, usually involves a "closer" relationship than friendship. it's usually lovers, or family, or the kind of bond that blurs the line between family and friendship. but here, at that time when i needed this, professor augustine sycamore told me, "he was my friend and so this is my fault as well" and i was like, NO IT ISN'T!

and so... i don't think pokémon xy healed me from whatever wound i carried from all of that. but being able to see that, and think to myself, no this wasn't his fault, but i understand why he'd think this way, and i understand how that feels, i think did somehow help me toward at least beginning to make peace with it. and i think it was why i was so mad for a long time at the people who were treating it like a joke, and the people who were blaming him, too.

i don't regret how i acted during my own situation as much as i did back then, and i'm glad i gave up on trying to fix it. yet there's definitely something my brain craves when i'm thinking about augustine sycamore never giving up on trying to fix it, finally facing everything head on, for ever staying true to himself as he persists in his quest to make things better... to be kinder both to himself past and present and to others...

i'm glad i'm alive right now and that i managed to keep believing in others (i'm not very good at believing in myself yet but it's getting there) reconciling with being known and knowing other people... i think it'll always be worth it in the end... that's what i'd like to communicate when i write about them working together to become better people and make the world better as well...

uhhhhhh. and also i'm gay i guess 🧍‍♂️

[xenodile]

A while back, I decided to do a proper write up of my Stormblood Fix AU where I address my issues with the story while trying to stay as close as I can to canon.  I’ve been working on it bit by bit for several months and I’ve got it to a point where I’m for the most part happy with it.

My basic thought boils down to the entire 61-70 section needs to be just Doma, and then Ala Mihgo is addressed in an extended post-game.  Like it doesn’t fit nicely in the usual x.5 patch cycle or even the standard number of dungeons/trials but sacrifices must be made.

So first off, I’m begrudgingly leaving the 3.5 patch and Baelsar’s Wall unchanged because I haven’t planned far enough ahead to account for Papalymo being alive.  Overall, the set up is the same.  Ilberd unleashes Shinryu and frames the Eorzean Alliance for attacking Baelsar’s Wall, the Alliance moves into Gyr Abania.

The biggest tonal shift is the Scions’ motives.  Though the Empire is the enemy of all Eorzeans, the Scions aren't soldiers.  Their goal is Shinryu, and the danger a primal on the level of Bahamut presents to the realm.  However, Shinryu and Omega’s abrupt disappearance into Garlean-held Ala Mhigo after their clash will make any kind of investigation extremely dangerous.  

Lyse is in favor of taking the fight to the Empire and assisting the Resistance in freeing Ala Mhigo, and by extension making it easier to search for Shinryu.

Alphinaud has sympathy for the Resistance and the people of Ala Mhigo, but fresh out of Ishgard and the Dragonsong War he cannot in good conscience support instigating a new war, regardless of Ilberd’s actions.

Alisaie tries to meet them in the middle, carve a path through the Garlean ranks and cut off the head of the snake.  It worked well enough against Ultima Weapon, Thordan, and Nidhogg, and the Warrior of Light already has two Legatuses under their belt, what’s a third?

The WoL has the chance to agree with any one of them, or say they’re unsure as a fourth option.

Y’shtola, Thancred, and Krile are all of the mind that it’s too early to make a judgement call.  Too many unknown factors in regards to the Garleans forces, Shinryu itself, and even the terrain of Gyr Abania.  Each of the three approaches has its merits and its dangers, and there is no pressing need to come to an immediate decision as Shinryu appears to have gone dormant following its battle with Omega.

Thancred offers to begin scouting Imperial territory, while Y’shtola and Krile will set about learning more about the land from those in Rhalgr’s Reach, leaving Lyse, WoL, and the twins to take to the field for the standard Fringes/Ala Ghanna starting quests.

Zenos’s introduction mostly goes the same, but a greater focus is on Grynewaht directly telling of how he failed and was the sole survivor of his squad, to which he is reprimanded by his superior, whom Zenos kills after his whole “The XIIth Legion is no place for cowards that hide in their castrums” bit.  The biggest change is Zenos must keep the helmet on the whole time, we do not see his face, just the scary horned skull helmet, and he takes note of Grynewaht mentioning that the WoL was among those that attack the Garlean patrol.  He has heard of this eikon slayer, the peerless hero of the savages, and wonders if perhaps he has finally found worthy prey.  Zenos promotes Grynewaht for his tenacity, transfers him to Doma, and urges him to hone his skills further. At this point, Zenos addresses the rest, and opens the floor to the assembled captains/commanders how they should respond to the presence of the Scions and Eorzean Alliance in Gyr Abania. Fordola speaks up, and that sequence goes the same.

The attack on Rhalgr’s Reach plays out the same, save for the WoL’s duel with Zenos.  The crown prince is surprised and intrigued that a single person is able to match him blow for blow, and yet he does not feel any intense drive to live, the furious hate that he’s come to expect from enemies of the Empire.  Also Zenos can just DO magic, that’s why he’s so insanely strong compared to everyone else, he’s the only Garlean that can actually manipulate aether.  Zenos and WoL fight to a standstill, culminating in Zenos’s blade snapping in half after the WoL blocks a particularly heavy hit.  Raubahn arrives with the Eorzean alliance forces, and Fordola begs Zenos to retreat, and he begrudgingly does so, irritated that his hunt has been interrupted.

With the Resistance crippled and Y’shtola critically wounded, the Scions have to reconsider their options.

Alphinaud moves to withdraw from Gyr Abania, as it was the Scions' presence, especially that of the famed Eikon Slayer, that brought the Empire’s wrath down on Rhalgr’s Reach.

Y’shtola’s injuries are too severe to safely move her, so Krile opts to remain and see to her treatment.  Thancred also elects to remain so he can continue scouting Gyr Abania, and hopefully locate Shinryu while the rest of the Scions figure out a course of action to actually reach it.

Back at the Rising Stones, WoL, Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Lyse consider what to do next.  Getting directly involved with the Resistance put more people in danger, just as Alphinaud feared, and defeating the Legatus seems less viable having seen Zenos’s monstrous strength firsthand.  A new approach is necessary.

It’s then that Tataru chimes in that perhaps going after Gosetsu and Yugiri might be the way to go.  She’s no tactician, but she's overhead a lot of chatter from the Domans about how there's only a token Garlean presence, and the Domans specialize in covert action in small group, better suited to how the Scions themselves operate. Alphinaud agrees that drawing Garlean attention away from Gyr Abania will do much to ease the hunt for Shinryu, but is wary of getting involved in another liberation movement after the disaster at Rhalgr's Reach. The gang discusses it, and then heads to Kugane like usual.

Events in Kugane play out the same, WoL, Lyse, Alisaie, and Gosetsu make for the Ruby Sea, Alphinaud remains in Kugane to gather information and build connections.

Things progress as usual til the group finds Yotsuyu in Isari, demanding tribute from the poor villagers and ordering they divulge any information they have on Hien's whereabouts and the Resistance, reminding them that withholding information is treason against the Empire. Rather than Gosetsu going in alone to buy time, Lyse is reminded of Fordola's troops beating a villager in Ala Ghanna, Gosetsu is perturbed by WHO the Viceroy is, and Alisaie can't stand to sit idle when she can do something. The group rushes in to defend the villagers, WoL and Grynewaht go another round, forcing him and Yotsuyu to retreat.

While the element of surprise is gone, it feels good to be able to save people. Before the party departs however, Alisaie proposes investigating the Ruby Sea further. With the Scions' cover blown already, they'll need allies and information, and it wouldn't do to leave Isari unprotected after they stuck their noses in things.  Of particular concern are the Kojin of the Red, who are openly allied with the Empire.  The gang agrees to disrupt the Red Kojin and organize the defense of the Ruby Sea before going further.  Things go pretty much the same as usual, Alisaie takes point and the gang goes between the Confederates, the Kojin, and Sui no Sato getting everyone on the same side and agreeing to look for one another while the Scions draw the Empire’s attention in Yanxia.

Violet Tides and Kurenai’s questline are mandatory because I said so, and also Kurenai takes up the role of healer for the dungeon in duty support.  With things taken care of in Sui no Sato, the gang goes back to Tamamizu, and then Soroban and Bunchin send them to hit the Isle of Zekki where we get the Susano fight.

Instead of all the faffing about, the party of WoL, Gosetsu, Lyse, and Alisaie just fight Susano, who challenges them to battle and doesn’t permit the Red Kojin to interfere.  The gang triumphs, and the Red Kojin begrudgingly allow them to leave having earned the kami’s favor.

Susano appearing just because of the treasures and not actually being summoned by anyone has Alisaie and Lyse spooked, because up to that point it was believed primals always needed a person to give them form.  With business wrapped up in the Ruby Sea and everyone on the same page, Alisaie breaks off from the group to go back to Kugane and inform Alphinaud of the new information while WoL, Lyse, and Gosetsu rendezvous with Yugiri in Yanxia.

Meanwhile, as the party splits up, Yotsuyu and Grynewaht arrive at the Isle of Zekki to reprimand the disobedient red Kojin.  Yotsuyu extracts information on the Scions from the Kojin, and confiscates a number of treasures, including an impressive katana and a lunar mirror.

In Yanxia, WoL, Lyse, and Gosetsu head to Namai and things play out the same, where the villagers are fearful and urge them to leave. They meet up with Yugiri at the House of the Fierce and discuss the situation. Yugiri delivers Hien's ultimatum, his sword or his head, whichever the people want, and set about determining the mood of the people.

It's bad. In the course of exploring Yanxia, the gang gets a history lesson on Doman culture, learning of the oppressive control of the nobility, the ideals of fealty and honor unto death, and how they choked the life out of the common folk even before the Empire invaded. Gosetsu also speaks from experience that there are a massive number of Doman conscripts abroad, and those in the mainland fear for their compatriots safety if Doma rebels again.

Meanwhile, in Kugane, Alisaie finishes sharing the findings on Susano when a message arrives at the Ruby Bazaar inviting a representative of the Scions to the Garlean embassy. Deciding it's better if Alphinaud keeps his cover, Alisaie elects to go, and there meets privately with Yotsuyu.

Yotsuyu is well spoken and courteous with Alisaie, but remains guarded. Yotsuyu tries to explain the futility of opposing the Empire, and requests the Scions cease assisting the Domans. When Alisaie refuses, Yotsuyu says that if Alisaie really wants to protect her brother and the WoL she'd be better off currying the Empire's favor. She goes on to say that she understands Alisaie's position, to feel powerless and second best compared to her "perfect" brother, and that serving as an Imperial spy would give Alisaie the leverage to make real change happen, as Yotsuyu herself can demonstrate.

Alisaie doesn't reject the offer outright, stating she needs to think on it first, mostly to hide how shaken she is by Yotsuyu knowing so much about her at their first meeting. She returns to the Ruby Bazaar and relates what little she learned to Alphinaud, omitting Yotsuyu's offer, speaking only of the Viceroy's uncanny knowledge of Alisaie's personal history and her request that the Scions stand down. Alisaie then departs for the Ruby Sea, to reunite with the others.

Back in Yanxia, the WoL, Lyse, and Yugiri have had little success in rallying the people's spirits. The mood is dour everywhere they go, either with resignation and acceptance of Imperial occupation and Yotsuyu's cruel whims, or fear of a return to the old ways, where landed nobles could use common folk like chattel. The people have simply given up.

Gosetsu in particular is much less boisterous than usual, especially whenever Yotsuyu is mentioned. Lyse is surprised to see his spirits dampened so, and prods at what is bothering him. After a bit of coaxing, he finally regales WoL, Lyse, and Yugiri with a tale from Doma's heyday, of a poor sickly peasant girl whose parents died of illness and poverty, only for her aunt and uncle to beat and abuse her while forcing her to work as her neighbors looked the other way. How the beautiful young girl caught the eye of a wealthy noble from Lord Kaien's court, and so he bought her from her "parents" to be his bride and paraded her about the court, all dressed in fine clothes to cover the marks he'd leave on her. After the nobleman died, his young bride simply disappeared, never to be seen again, until now, to exact her terrible revenge on the country that abandoned and tormented her.

The group is stunned, Lyse in particular taking the news hard. She had been grappling with how Fordola could betray Ala Mhigo and side with the Empire, so hearing of Yotsuyu's past, she begins to understand how someone could have no attachment or even resent their homeland.

Yugiri is still determined to fight and unwilling to let Hien sacrifice himself, and fortunately, the Empire makes a move on Namai and we get the sneaking mission with Yugiri. That plays out the same, and saving the people of Namai convinces them to open up at least that of COURSE they want to be rid of the Empire and live their own lives, but they just don't have the people, the weapons, the anything to make a rebellion possible. They can't risk their lives and the lives of their families on a hopeless cause.

That's enough for Yugiri to be satisfied that they can truthfully answer Hien that the will to fight remains in the hearts of Doma’s people.  The party reconvenes at the House of the Fierce and discuss their next move as Alisaie arrives.  She shares information she learned from Alphinaud and Yotsuyu, while Yugiri shares what they’ve learned of the situation in Yanxia.  Upon hearing Alisaie’s account, Lyse has an epiphany.  Recounting her own familiarity with the WoL and Minfilia’s experiences, Gosetsu’s testimony, and Alisaie’s account, Lyse suggests that Yotsuyu may possess the Echo, with her supposed poor health in childhood being her gift awakening, and explaining how she could learn so much about people so quickly.

While the revelation does give them more to consider, there’s little they can do about Yotsuyu herself at this juncture.  Yugiri suggests it’s time to find Lord Hien, now that they have an answer to his ultimatum.  Alisaie volunteers to remain at the House of the Fierce and help coordinate the Rebellion’s limited forces and correspond with Alphinaud about what resources they’ll need.  WoL, Lyse, Yugiri and Gosetsu set forth to the Azim Steppe, where Hien has been hiding.

MEANWHILE, at the Royal Palace of Ala Mhigo...

Zenos sits on the throne, regarding the katana he broke during his duel with the WoL at Rhalgr’s Reach.  Fordola attempts to discuss strategy with him, but fails to gain his attention.  A messenger arrives bearing word from the Acting Viceroy of Doma.  Rebel forces have taken action against the Imperial garrison, and Yotsuyu requests Zenos bring reinforcements, as Doma is still technically under his rule.  Not to make an offer without incentive, Yotsuyu adds in that she wishes to pay tribute to the Crown Prince that can only be delivered in person.

While initially unconvinced, the messenger continues, stating that the Eorzean insurgents known as the Scions of the Seventh Dawn have been sighted in Yanxia, the Warrior of Light among them.  This grabs Zenos’s attention and causes him to consider Yotsuyu’s offer.  Fordola is taken aback that Zenos would just leave when the Scions’ absence from Gyr Abania means the Alliance and Resistance forces are ripe for the crushing, and Fordola pleads with Zenos to seize the opportunity to stamp out the Empire’s remaining foes.

Zenos chides Fordola, stating that she is free to do as she wishes in his absence, but striking at the Resistance now will give her no satisfaction. Chasing the Resistance when they’re wounded will make her seem fearful and desperate, inciting further insurrection.  She would be far better served by waiting until they have gathered their strength and rallied their spirits, ready to throw themselves entirely upon her blade and destroying them utterly.  Only by laying low her foe when they are the peak of their rage and power will she get what she wants, or so he says.  Zenos makes ready to depart for Yanxia, eager to see what tribute Yotsuyu has prepared for him.

(It’s also critical that we the audience do not see Zenos’s face in this scene.  His helmet is off, but every angle is posed in such a way that Zenos is being seen from the back or his head is obscured.  More focus is placed on Fordola as she reacts to Zenos’s words.  At most we get a glimpse of Zenos’s eye reflected in the broken sword as he talks about facing a foe at their full strength.)

Lyse, WoL, and Gosetsu arrive in the Azim Steppe and rendezvous with Yugiri.  Events here mostly play out the same, the gang meets Cirina, get introduced to the Xaela, and finally find Hien.

Yugiri relays what they learned in Yanxia, that the people of Doma yearn for freedom from the Empire, but lack the strength to face the might of Garlemald.  It will fall on what limited forces still muster under Hien's banner to defeat the occupying forces. Hien is in agreement, assuming that to be case even before he spoke with Yugiri. As their leader, it falls to him to save the people of Doma, not demand they give their lives in his service. Before they can leave the Steppe however, Hien must repay his debt to Cirina and the Mohl by helping them win in the Nadaam.

Events in the Steppe play out mostly the same, Lyse hangs with the kids of Mol Iloh and grapples with the meaning of "a country" as she tries to process Yotsuyu's past, Fordola's actions, and her detachment from her own Ala Mhigan heritage due to living in Eorzea as a Scion.  Deals with a bit of internal bias as she initially thinks the xaela kids have a difficult upbringing out here on the Steppe, but sees them happy and content with their nomadic lifestyle, realizes her idea of what makes a nation and a culture are biased by her time in the Eorzean city-states.  Meanwhile WoL, Hien, and Gosetsu go hunting and help prepare dinner like usual.

After dinner, we get the scene of Hien and Gosetsu sparring, and Gosetsu calls Hien "Shun", his childhood name.

At this point, WoL has an Echo vision.  In it, they see a younger Gosetsu, his hair and beard still dark, supervising a younger Hien speaking with a girl in fine clothes that looks uncannily like a younger Yotsuyu.  She and "Shun" are chatting cheerfully, until a Doman noble walks in and calls Yotsuyu away, her expression darkening as she diligently obeys, and the noble, clearly drunk, grabs her by the arm and roughly leads her away.  The young Hien is frustrated at the sight of the Yotsuyu being taken away, and moves to speak up but Gosetsu stops him.

No matter how detestable he may seem, the noble is an honorable man that has served Lord Kaien for many years, and it would be ungracious to butt one's nose into the domestic affairs of such a prestigious house.  Hien grimaces in dissatisfaction as the WoL returns to the present.

WoL explains what they saw and asks if Hien knows Yotsuyu. Sheepishly, he confirms, he and Yotsuyu were of a similar age when she was brought into the court, and was her only friend in those days. It is why he first gave his ultimatum to Yugiri. Yotsuyu is as much one of his subjects as any other Doman, and the cruelty she faced at the hands of her family and the nobility weighs on his mind. He worries about how he will lead Doma should he return, refusing to become the kind of ruler that allows or fosters the treatment that Yotsuyu went through, wanting to build a better Doma but not really knowing how.

As the Nadaam draws closer, WoL, Lyse, Gosetsu, and Hien go through Bardam's Mettle and get their yols, and meeting Sadu and Magnai goes the same.

While Lyse and Hien are prisoner at the Dawn Throne, they discuss their respective concerns about their cultures. Hien fearing a return to the old ways, Lyse wondering what it means to be Ala Mhigan now that it's been an Imperial province for so long. They come to the conclusion that it falls upon individuals like them with the strength to fight for what they believe in to inspire others. Hien will personally shape Doma into a nation its people can be proud of, and tells Lyse that he believes she is capable of the same.

At the Dotharl camp, Gosetsu comes clean about his crimes in the Empire's service as a conscript, and his own desire to seek death to atone for not only failing Kaien and Hien, but all the people of Doma that looked to him for protection, including Yotsuyu.

Meanwhile, in Yanxia...

Alisaie sets out from the House of the Fierce to scout the the surrounding area. At least, that is what she claims. In truth she has arranged a clandestine meeting with Yotsuyu, to tell her that WoL and co. have gone after Hien in the Azim Steppe.

Thinking she's won, Yotsuyu applauds Alisaie making the right decision to side with the Empire. Alisaie corrects her, saying that she's telling Yotsuyu this to give her a chance to surrender.

She's thought on Yotsuyu's offer, and decided against. She knows she's weak, feels powerless and angry, but she has seen what people are capable of. She believes in her brother, the WoL, their friends, they WILL succeed. And knowing what she does of Yotsuyu's past, she tells her that things need not end in bloodshed. Alisaie knows what it's like to feel helpless and alone, at the mercy of fate as she lost everything that was good in her life. But rather than give up and wallow in anger and grief, she clung to the memories of the good and fought to change things for the better. She reminds Yotsuyu that as someone that was so hurt by the old system, she is the best qualified to change things, and it's not too late to seize a better future.

Yotsuyu lashes out at Alisaie, angry and humiliated that Alisaie called her out so hard, spitting venom about how Alisaie is a privileged brat that could never understand Yotsuyu's hate, and she will never let go of it. Alisaie leaves Yotsuyu, warning her that if she wants a fight she'll get one, and no amount of forewarning will save her when the Scions come knocking. Yotsuyu is left glowering as Alisaie departs before regaining her composure as a messenger informs her that the Crown Prince's airship has arrived.

Back in the Azim Steppe, it's time for the Nadaam. It starts with a brief solo duty that leads to the second trial, consisting of a three phase three way fight between players, Sadu, and Magnai. The battle culminates in WoL and Lyse holding off the khatuns while Cirina claims the ovoo for the Mol.

Cirina is declared Khagan and the other tribes defer to her and the Mol as the new authority of the Steppe. As Cirina humbly accepts and gives thanks to Hien and company for their assistance, Grynewaht and a massive regiment of Garlean troops and war machina arrive, demanding the immediate surrender of the Scions and the Domans.

Hien is preparing to surrender himself but Cirina steps forward and declares that she speaks for the xaela, and the ones Grynewaht seeks are her honored guests. When he persists, Cirina rallies the tribes, asking if warriors of the Steppe will allow invaders to intrude upon the sacred Nadaam and threaten the Khagan's allies.

The combined Xaela forces route Grynewaht's army, sending him fleeing back to Yanxia. From there, we get the regular send off. The gang says good bye to Cirina, and she promises to confer with the khatuns about sending aid to their new Doman allies. WoL, Lyse, Gosetsu, and Hien return to Yanxia to plan the attack on Doma Castle.

As the group enters Yanxia however, Yugiri arrives bearing urgent news.  The Crown Prince and the Viceroy have been seen outside Doma castle with only a token escort. The mood immediately turns grim as everyone present recalls how brutally Zenos put down the Ala Mhigan Resistance and previous Doman rebellion.

Hien is undeterred, reminding everyone that the House of the Fierce is still secure, and they need only be patient until Zenos leaves Yanxia again to make their move. Yugiri however, is of no mind to wait and believes it would be easier and safer to assassinate Zenos and Yotsuyu than go through with the plan. Hien advises against doing anything rash, but Yugiri won't listen and leaves. Lyse and Alisaie ask WoL to go after her and try and talk her out of it, because regardless of how they feel about the plan, they've seen what Zenos can do firsthand and know that Yugiri trying to face him alone is tantamount to suicide.

Upon catching up with Yugiri, she confesses that even if doing so goes against Hien's wishes, her honor as a shinobi will not let Hien risk his own life in the attack when she could defeat his enemy here and now, and her pride as a Doman demands justice for Yotsuyu's and the Empire's crimes against her people.

Rather than discouraging her, WoL can say they have their own reasons for facing Zenos again, that they too want payback for Rhalgr's Reach and Y'shtola, or that as a friend, they won't let her do this alone. Yugiri is surprised and relieved to know the WoL will have her back.

Night falls, and Yugiri and WoL get ready to ambush Zenos and his retinue. Yotsuyu is obviously tense and sticking close to Grynewaht while Zenos is out at the front, alone. One by one Yugiri silently dispatches the guards, before making her move on Zenos himself. Zenos blocks the attack effortlessly, commending Yugiri on her technique and the fire in her eyes, but laments she has not the strength to give it meaning. Zenos repels Yugiri, and Grynewaht springs into action to stop her from attacking Zenos again, as the WoL steps out to face the Crown Prince.

Zenos is pleased to see his quarry alive and well, musing if their travels in the fallen nation of Doma have stirred something in them. Hate? Or perhaps something more.

WoL has the option to respond with wanting revenge for hurting their friends, confronting Zenos for the sake of Ala Mhigo and Doma, or that they have their own reasons for wanting him dead, to which Zenos responds with amusement, disappointment, and intrigue, respectively.

During the solo duty it plays mostly the same as the initial duel in Rhalgr's Reach, but WoL clearly has the advantage. Zenos's health drops faster and he is taken aback by just how much stronger WoL has gotten since their last encounter. At around the 40% mark, Zenos stumbles and begins laughing. He unsheathes the Ame no Habikiri and the music changes. In phase 2, Zenos gains significant damage resistance and the frequency of his raidwide and AoEs increases to the point that it is not possible to avoid everything. The fight continues until the player is reduced to 1% health or Zenos is brought to 15%. The entire time Zenos is clearly enjoying himself, cackling and goading the WoL to fight harder.

Regardless of how the battle ends, in the scene that follows Zenos clearly overpowers the WoL and sends them reeling. Even bloodied and his helmet broken, Zenos is the unambiguous victor of the duel. Yugiri breaks away from fighting Grynewaht and his guards to come to the WoL's aid.

Zenos is panting and tears off his broken helm, throwing it to the ground. This is the first time the player sees his face. He speaks in glowing terms of how ferocious WoL has become, and how he was right to put faith in them, before giving his "Live, hero." speech, and turning to leave. Yotsuyu orders the remaining guards to finish the WoL and Yugiri off, but Zenos countermands her, stating that their business here is done, and all troops are to return to Doma Castle. Before Yotsuyu can protest, Alisaie, Alphinaud, and Lyse arrive with reinforcements from the House of the Fierce, and Zenos mockingly warns that the Viceroy seems to have overstayed her welcome. Yotsuyu bitterly warns Alisaie that she now has proof of how her hero will fail her, and that it's not too late to surrender, before she too takes her leave.

Alphinaud is almost in tears as he heals the WoL, and scolds them for being so reckless because he wasn't there. Alisaie teases him for worrying so much, and he shoots back that she was practically frantic when he arrived.

The party returns to the House of the Fierce, and Yugiri apologizes for disobeying Hien, to which he replies that he is just happy she's unharmed. Now that everyone is settled in again, Lyse calls attention to Alphinaud's unannounced arrival, and asks what brings him to Yanxia. He explains that he heard of Zenos's arrival ahead of time via his connections in Kugane, and realized things in Doma must be coming to a climax, so he began making preparations. We get a brief flashback montage of Alphinaud in various parts of the Ruby Sea as he explains that by working with Hancock, he was able to strengthen the foundation that Alisaie laid and secure the Confederates, Kojin, and Sui no Sato as allies to the Doman Liberation Front.

With the addition of a fleet and the Kojin, the chances of actually cracking Doma Castle seem greatly improved, and spirits rise at the House of the Fierce. Hien's return is met with great celebration, and some small amount of worry, as Hien is surprised to find that a significant portion of the Liberation Front are former nobility, and many expect to return to their previous authority once the Empire is ousted.

Hien needs time to think, so he leaves the House of the Fierce to visit Monzen. Lyse goes after him, worried about him being alone so close to enemy territory. Hien contemplates his history, that of his people, their culture, and what it means to be Doman. How so many fight to regain what was lost in the occupation, but he cannot in good conscience restore if they win. Lyse voices similar doubts, admitting that it was her Ala Mhigan heritage that motivated her to push the Scions into conflict with the Empire, but she doesn't really know what Ala Mhigan culture is, and that her father and sister, the residents of Little Ala Mhigo, those in the Fringes, and someone like Fordola that lives in the city proper, can all have very different versions of what being Ala Mhigan means. She regrets that trying to build a better future means doing so on the ruins of these other ideas.

"Ruins" gives Hien a flash of inspiration as he looks at Doma Castle, and he tells Lyse that he's figured out how they will take it. The two return to the House of the Fierce.  Hien gathers the Liberation Front to make an announcement.  They’re going to destroy Doma Castle.

The castle is too well guarded to facilitate infiltration, and they don’t have the resources to outlast the entrenched Garleans in a siege.  Trying to preserve the artifice of the past will cost lives in the present, and that’s not a sacrifice Hien will make.  If Doma is to have a brighter, better future they must let go of the past, and the greatest symbol of Doma’s inequality must go with it.  There’s a lot of rumbling of discontent from the older members of the Liberation Front, but even Gosetsu speaks in favor, saying that it is long past time for the nobility to repay the debt they owe to the commonfolk they failed so long ago.

As if to vouch for the young Lord of Doma, the screeching of yols heralds the arrival of Cirina, Sadu, and Magnai. Cirina says that having discussed with the khatuns of many tribes, they have agreed that it is in the best interest of all people of the Steppe if the belligerent Garleans are expelled from their neighboring nation, and so the Dotharl and Oronir have pledged a number of fighters to assist the Domans.

The House of the Fierce is abuzz with activity as everyone prepares for the coming attack. WoL heads back to Kugane to meet up with Tataru and get Cid's manual so that Alphinaud can assist with deactivating the magitek gate, Hancock is coordinating with Rasho and Soroban as to how the Confederates and Kojin will blockade the Castle and secure the Enclave, Hien and Lyse talk with the xaela leaders about shutting down the Imperials' air support.

Meanwhile, at Doma Castle...

Zenos stands on the balcony overlooking Monzen, contemplating his now broken helmet. Behind him, Yotsuyu is prostrated, apologizing for her failures to curb the rebellion sooner, swearing she will crush the insurgents, and so on, but Zenos interrupts her, saying she played her part well. He believed she had, in her hatred, completely snuffed out the will to fight in Doma, and is pleased to see otherwise. Yotsuyu hopes this means he will stay and help, call for reinforcements, reward her loyalty with protection...but he does not. Zenos states plainly that he and the troops he brought will be returning to Ala Mhigo, and it falls upon the Viceroy to see to her own fate. Fight, kill, and survive, or die and whet his prey's bloodlust. He cares not which. Yotsuyu breaks and asks him as a friend to save her, which he does not dignify with an answer. Grynewaht attempts to comfort her as Zenos departs, but she lashes out at him, tears in her eyes, saying that the Prince's orders were clear. They are to fight, unto the death, and she will not be a flower waiting to be plucked, as she clutches the lunar mirror in her hand.

We go back to the House of the Fierce where final preparations are made. Hien and Gosetsu raise a glass to victory or death come tomorrow, Gosetsu thanking his master and the Scions for their beliefs in him and a chance to make things right.

The next morning, the siege begins. Alphinaud leads the Shinobi to capture the moon gate so the Confederates can secure the Enclave, the Xaela take to the skies and bring down the Empire's airships, and WoL, Alisaie, Lyse, Hien, Yugiri, and Gosetsu enter the flooded Doma Castle. Yotsuyu watches from the balcony and waits, eyes cold.

The party defeats Hypertuned Grynewaht, shocked at what the Empire has done to one of its own, and proceed up to the balcony chamber at the top of the castle where Yotsuyu has taken refuge.

Hien confronts Yotsuyu, demanding her surrender and an end to the conflict. She refuses, disinterested. If she fights, she'll die, if she surrenders, she'll be executed, even if she escapes, she'll be branded a failure by Zenos and disposed of. At least if she fights to the last, her death will be on her own terms.

She fires on Hien, but he deflects the bullet and closes the distance. As she fires again, he cuts the shot and disarms her. She hisses at him to do his country proud and finish her, but he sheathes his sword.

Hien kneels down to eye level with Yotsuyu tells her that honor would demand her death, but that is not his way. The old ways fall with Doma Castle itself, and he would give her the chance to live that she was denied all her life as a daughter of a new Doma, a better Doma than the one that destroyed her. The party each steps up in turn to ask Yotsuyu to listen to Hien, that there is always time to change things and be better, that no matter what mistakes and wrongs we commit, culminating in Alisaie asking her if this is really how she wants things to end, or if she's willing to have faith.

Yotsuyu falters, speechless and reeling. Finally, Hien and Gosetsu apologize. They admit they saw her pain and looked the other way in the name of honor and "propriety", and they were wrong to do so, asking if she will forgive them, and accept the chance they offer.

Yotsuyu doesn't immediately answer, looking away and trembling. Then, her voice seething with anger, she asks if they really think they can fix everything with just a few kind words while she's powerless and at their mercy. She asks if they were so repentant, why they never bothered to look for her in the years after she was sold to cover her husband's debts? Why did it take destroying everything they ever worked for to get them to suddenly grow a conscious and admit their failures?

It was by her action, her will that she clawed her way out of the hell that Doma trapped her in, and be it her parents, her husband, her owner, or Hien, she will not suffer to live by another's "kindness" ever again. Her fate is hers and hers alone. She pulls out a magitek remote and hits a button, detonating charges throughout the castle, and it begins to collapse.

Hien gives the order to retreat but is stopped in his tracks when a naginata of ephemeral light thrusts towards him, narrowly missing his heart. Yotsuyu rises from the floor, clutching the lunar mirror with conviction in her eyes as the skies darken. She is shrouded in radiant light as she manifests Tsukuyomi, and declares that no one shall escape the castle alive.

The Tsukuyomi trial plays out identically, only with memories of Hien and Gosetsu coming to her aid to defend her from the shade of Zenos instead of just Gosetsu.

After the WoL defeats Tsukuyomi, Yotsuyu collapses, her hair turned white. The battle against the moon kami has cost the party precious time to escape, and the roof finally gives out. Gosetsu catches the collapsing ceiling and tells Hien to get Yotsuyu out. Hien protests, refusing to leave his old friend behind but Gosetsu insists that Hien must not give in to anger and grief. If he is to build a new nation, it must start with saving Yotsuyu. The party has some rushed good byes and escape, as Doma Castle collapses on Gosetsu.

Hien is grief stricken as he comes to terms with Gosetsu's death, and his wish that Yotsuyu be given a chance to live in a new Doma. The mood is melancholy as the Scions reconvene with their allies and explain what transpired in Doma Castle. From there, things play out the same, Hien puts on a brave face to address the people of Doman Enclave, telling them the new nation they build will not be one of nobles and kings, that he would be their protector rather than their master, meanwhile Yugiri and the Shinobi discreetly get Yotsuyu to a secure room within Hien's new estate. Celebrations are had and credits roll, then post credit stinger has Zenos looking up at Shinryu, contained by Omega in the Royal Menagerie, talking to himself of how he eager he is for his and the WoL's next meeting. Alphinaud goes back to Kugane to do what he does best, Alisaie and Lyse remain at the Doman Enclave to help people adjust to life without Imperial occupation.

Now we move into the post-game, or rather, part 2 because as I said before, Stormblood dearly needed more time to let everything going on in it cook, similar to how Heavensward and Shadowbringer's post-games up to patch x.3 was really just a continuation and finale of the plot started in the x.0 MSQ.

So, Yotsuyu finally awakens after the battle with Tsukuyomi in Doma Castle, and everyone is taken aback when she remembers nothing, her memory a blank slate. There's a discussion about what to do with her because yes it was Gosetsu's last wish that she be shown mercy, but it doesn't change what she did as Viceroy and seeing her may cause unrest among the populace, but they can't exactly keep her locked up forever. The matter of her amnesia is also a worry, since it wouldn't be right to hold the innocent "Tsuyu" responsible for what the Viceroy of Doma did. Before any kind of decision can be reached, Alisaie gets a linkpearl call from Alphinaud saying that an Imperial airship arrived in Kugane and an ambassador has requested an audience with the Scions at the Garlean embassy.

Lyse, WoL, and Alisaie are all a bit weary of speaking with a Garlean politician after assisting in Doma's revolution, but head to Kugane all the same. Once there, the party goes over what to say, make sure they don't do anything to incriminate themselves, basically let Alphinaud do the talking.

At the Embassy, the Scions are introduced to Maxima, of the Populares. After a bit of initial tension, Maxima explains he is here to negotiate peace between the Empire and Doma in the wake of the rebellion, but he wished to consult with the Scions as a third party given their history of conflict with Imperial forces despite their shared interest in destroying primals. Everyone gives their most level headed take on the Empire and its foreign policies and why the Scions have been opposed to them, which Maxima takes in stride. He shares his own history of touring the provinces and being appalled by the treatment Imperial citizens face just for not being Garlean, citing Doma as proof that the current Imperial model is unsustainable. Maxima goes on to share the goals of the Populares as a political group, seeking to empower the citizens and establish peaceful connections with other nations. Maxima then says that Gaius van Baelsar was one of their more prominent supporters, and his reign in Ala Mhigo was a huge step in the right direction for the rights of provincial citizens.

This takes everyone off guard, Lyse in particular, who speaks up about the awful treatment that the people of Gyr Abania face, and their opposition to the Garlean occupation.

Maxima takes a moment to consider, surprised himself by the news of tension in Ala Mhigo. He then divulges a bit of history on the relations between the two nations prior to the Imperial occupation. How Garlemald had quietly assisted the Resistance in the form of funds and materiel, and aid to civilians all while His Radiance Emperor Solus maintained a cordial relationship with the Mad King, enabling the Empire to maintain a presence in the capital in spite of the Ala Mhigan king's rampant paranoia. When the Resistance overthrew the king and began infighting over leadership, Garlean forces stepped in to establish order. To the more radical elements, it was seen for the foreign takeover it was, but many welcomed beneficent Garlean rule after suffering under the Mad King. From there, van Baelsar and van Darnus made their moves on the rest of Eorzea, and the outer reaches of Ala Mhigo got less attention due to their proximity to the Black Shroud.

Lyse pieces together how this lead to the difference in perspective between Ala Mhigans in the capital that grew up with an Imperial education and security like Fordola, vs those on the outskirts like her that only saw the Empire as tyrants.

Alphinaud is grateful that Maxima is willing to share so much, but questions what he hopes to gain by divulging such secrets to enemies of the Empire. Maxima reasons that such information is commonly taught to Garlean children in school, and is not something to hide. If anything, His Radiance encourages the study of history so all can understand the necessity of the campaign and the good that Imperial rule can bring to others, and the danger that outsiders pose, such as the sabotage of the Ultima Weapon.

The WoL's interest is drawn when Maxima's account of the Praetorium neglects all mentions of Lahabrea, saying it was Ascian influence that caused the devastation that broke the XIVth Legion.

Maxima is shocked, having never heard of any such beings as Ascians. This triggers a discussion over glaring discrepancies in the Scions' accounts and the official military reports, as the group piece together that the existence of the Ascians had been carefully expunged from Imperial records and their actions attributed to the "barbarous nature of magic-tainted savages".

The group realize it is highly likely that the Empire's foreign policy may have been influenced by the Ascians specifically to sow chaos that lends to the summoning of primals. Maxima is shaken to his core, and announces he must return to Garlemald with all haste to investigate the Scions' claims. However, his mission is unchanged, and he leaves the Scions with a proposal to deliver to Hien. A prisoner exchange between the Empire and Doma, to calm the waters after the revolution, and recognize Doma's independence and sovereignty.

As the Scions return to the Ruby Bazaar to mull over what they've learned, a missive arrives for Tataru from Eorzea. As she reads through it, she reveals it is a coded message from Thancred, saying he's located Shinryu and requesting the gang return to Gyr Abania. The course is clear.

The Scions go to the Doman Enclave and give Maxima's message to Hien, as well as the startling revelation that the Empire may be under Ascian influence. Hien is wary of trusting the Empire, but for the sake of returning the many Doman conscripts home, will consider the offer and discuss with his advisors. Yugiri speaks up, and asks if Hien would permit her to go with the Scions. Having left when Gosetsu arrived and been unable to assist in the hunt for Shinryu, she feels she owes it to her friends to see their mission through now that hers is finished. Hien agrees, and sends her off with his blessing. The Scions say goodbye to their Doman friends, then go back to Kugane to make the journey back to Eorzea, sans Tataru, who elects to stay in Kugane and work her mercantile magic.

(Tataru here offers the quest to unlock Hell's Lid, with the trigger for her financial venture being recovering all that was spent to set up the Doman Liberation.)

The Scions reconvene in Rhalgr's Reach, where Y'shtola has recovered from her injury and is back on her feet, and even Urianger has stepped in to lend what aid he can in the hunt for Shinryu. Everyone shares what they've learned from their time in Doma, and Thancred explains he's confirmed Shinryu is in Ala Mhigo proper, contained in a magitek field. Knowing first hand from the Meteor Project and Warring Triad that the Empire and sealed Primals is a recipe for disaster, the Scions are resolved that they'll have to help the Resistance if there's to be any hope of stopping the Primal.

The Scions confer with Raubahn and Conrad if there's been any progress in Gyr Abania and how they can help. They go on to explain that things have been quiet and Imperial patrols are few and far between, almost like the Empire assumes the Resistance was broken by Zenos's initial attack. As a result they've had plenty of time to regroup and rebuild, and rumors of the Doman Liberation have spurred many to action in other provinces, keeping Imperial forces distracted and divided.

From here, the Ala Mhigo story proceeds as normal, with a few changes. The Scions are witness to Fordola messing up and killing the Qalyana Matriarch's daughter after her forces are routed at Castellum Velodyna, and the subsequent summoning of Lakshmi. Fordola escapes during the panic as the WoL steps in to deal with the primal. As Lyse, WoL, and the twins recover at the Peering Stones with M'naago's family, they talk about why Fordola would take a Qalyana hostage when they've been model Imperial vassals, and they come up with it being a result of Fordola being cityborn and Garlean-educated, and thus out of touch with the non-hyur members of the Ala Mhigan community, confirming what they learned from Maxima.

When Lyse, WoL, and the twins return to Rhalgr's Reach, they get the news that a number of Imperial agents infiltrated Resistance headquarters while the bulk of their forces were occupied at the bridge and abducted Krile. All are shocked and their motivation to fight is reaffirmed. Alphinaud stops and wonders however, what the Empire could be planning, as trading such a vital strategic location for a single prisoner hardly makes sense from a tactical perspective. Urianger offers that it may have something to do with her Echo, given the interest Zenos had shown in both the WoL and Yotsuyu.

Meanwhile, Fordola reports her defeat to Zenos, preparing for the worst. Zenos chides her for failing, but says it ultimately is of no consequence, as her bumbling served another purpose, revealing that Krile has been captured by his personal guard. When Fordola questions how a single captive is going to help them secure Ala Mhigo's future, Zenos cryptically answers that stoking their foes hatred will make them vulnerable, but only if Fordola herself is willing to seize the opening at any cost.

The combined Resistance and Alliance forces move into the Peaks and set up in Ala Ghiri as usual, questioning why the Empire would leave the town unguarded, but not looking a gift in the mouth. Things proceed at Specula Imperatoris, culminating in Fordola bitterly carrying out Zenos's order to fire on Imperial forces to hit the Resistance, and as before, Estinien intervenes and damages the cannon before it can fire again.

The group reconvenes at Ala Ghiri to lick their wounds and take stock of their losses. Conrad names Lyse his successor before dying, much to her surprise, but she swears to do him proud.

Estinien arrives shortly after, to the Scions' surprise. He explains that he had been travelling in the Far East when he caught wind of a terrible wyrm that wrought havoc on Eorzea, and came to investigate. If the player has done the level 70 DRG quest, it will be referenced here. WoL and Alphinaud explain the deal with Shinryu being born of Nidhogg's eyes, and Estinien decides he's going to stick around and do his part to deal with the primal, as anything Nidhogg related is his responsibility.  (Alisaie is absent in this scene, preoccupied with something else, to preserve her and Estinien not meeting until post-ShB.)

The gang set their sights on Castrum Abania and taking out the giant cannon before it can be repaired, and the Scions set out.

Meanwhile, we cut back to Ala Mhigo where Fordola delivers her report of the battle at Specula Imperatoris to Zenos through gritted teeth.  Still hurting from the loss of her friends, she blames the Resistance for continuing to prolong the bloody war when she and other loyal Ala Mhigans have only been trying to preserve their future.  When she remarks as much though, Zenos descends upon her, demanding she drop the pretense and say what she really wants.  That’s when she snaps and admits that she wants to kill all the Resistance for ruining things.  That she’s angry and spiteful and wants to make the ingrates pay for looking down on her and other cityborns for being happy with their lots in life.

With her rage exposed, Zenos offers to grant her the power to capitalize on her fury, a taste of the power that even the Warrior of Light cannot match.  Fordola readily agrees and that’s where Aulus steps in and she undergoes the Resonant treatment.

Back in the Peaks, the gang moves in towards Castrum Abania.  Estinien and Yugiri run interference on the outside while Thancred, the twins, and WoL plan to take one route, and Urianger, Y’shtola, and Lyse take another.  Dungeon proceeds as usual, and both parties meet up at the cannon control room.

Fordola angrily tells the Scions that life in Ala Mhigo was perfectly good until the Resistance started making a mess of things.  How Ala Mhigans were respected and trusted Imperial citizens until the greedy rurals started refusing to pay their tithes, stealing from supply lines, and killing soldiers.  How she and the Skulls were trying to save Ala Mhigo and redeem their culture’s place in the Empire by being loyal and dutiful soldiers, and they were succeeding before the Scions stuck their noses in and destroyed everything they worked for.

The fight goes the same as before, Fordola’s Resonant powers let her go toe to toe with Lyse and Alisaie at the same time.  Fordola wounds Alisaie and escapes, and the Scions take Castrum Abania.

The Scions fall back to Rhalgr’s Reach to see to Alisaie’s injury, and discuss what the hell just happened.  Everyone comments that Fordola’s abrupt leap in skill and strength is unnatural, and Lyse in particular describes Fordola as somehow knowing what she was going to do ahead of time.  Urianger has the eureka moment and wonders if somehow Fordola has gained the power of the Echo, and if so, it may explain Zenos’s interest.  Alphinaud adds on that Krile was particularly gifted at “hearing” the emotions and intentions of others, and Fordola’s ability to “see” her opponents moves before they happen may be a manifestation of the same trait.  Y’shtola connects the dots and suggests that if Zenos has the ability to forcibly confer the Echo on others, it is likely he has undergone the same process, and may go some way to explain his inhuman strength.  Furthermore, if they can find where Zenos gave Fordola her “gift”, it may lead them to Krile.

The WoL takes a moment to check in on Alisaie, who is understandably frustrated that she lost and needed to be saved again.  Despite Alphinaud’s fussing, her wound is not so severe that she cannot fight again, but she will need some time to recuperate.  Urianger meanwhile, makes plans for how to deal with Fordola, and Estinien goes on ahead to try and pin down Shinryu’s location for himself.

Lyse and WoL have their moment on the Palm of the Destroyer, Lyse gets her new outfit, talks about how she still doesn’t feel like she’s ready to lead the Resistance, but for the sake of everyone that believes in her, she’s going to step up, and knows she has the WoL and the Scions to put her on the right track if she starts to slip up.  Good vibes all around.

The lead in to the battle for Ala Mhigo remains the same.  The Alliance forces mass in the Lochs to prepare for the siege, Urianger continues his experiments with a countermeasure for Fordola’s Resonance, Thancred and Estinien go ahead to scout the city, Alphinaud, WoL, Lyse, and Y’shtola investigate the settlements to gather intel.

Thancred finds a way in, Estinien confirms Shinryu’s location, Scions get the key, and Urianger produces his mystery device.  The plan is all set, and the Scions share their intel with the Alliance.  Scions infiltrate Ala Mhigo and open the door, Lyse and WoL confront Fordola, using Urianger’s funny doodad to overload her artificial Echo.

Rather than have Lyse call Fordola a traitor, the scene where Fordola is captured focuses more on Fordola’s crushing realization that despite everything she and her friends have sacrificed, they’ve lost.  The Ala Mhigo they believed in is going up in flames around them, and the Resistance has seized the city.  Even if the Scions are defeated by Zenos, he doesn’t care about them, and he never did.  Lyse is resolved but still sympathetic.  She understands that Fordola truly believed she was fighting for Ala Mhigo’s future, and the peace and prosperity that that the cityborn knew under Imperial occupation is as much a part of Ala Mhigo’s culture and history as the Mad King, the Autumn War, the Fist of Rhalgr, and the Resistance.  Lyse promises Fordola that the future will be brighter, and that those lost will be remembered.

With Krile rescued, and the Scions reunited, it’s time to take the fight to Zenos.  Instead of Hien swooping in with the Doman forces, Yugiri vouches for the Scions and de-escalates the situation with Hakuro and the lupin, and Estinien fills the role of decimating the Garlean air support while the Scions enter the palace on foot.

Ala Mhigo dungeon happens, we got all the Scions available for duty support since the plan for them is to ignore as much of the Imperial forces as they can and beeline to Shinryu in the Royal Menagerie.

At the end of the dungeon, Zenos gives his usual spiel and goes off, and WoL tells the Scions they’ll deal with Zenos and Shinryu alone.  Everyone objects saying Zenos is too strong.  WoL has a few options to explain themselves:  The risk of Tempering is too much, they need to face him alone for their own sake, asking the group to have faith in them.

Alisaie is the first to vouch for the WoL, followed by Alphinaud, and they convince the rest of the Scions to go back up the rest of the Eorzean alliance.  Everyone says their piece, wishes the WoL luck, and Alphinaud and the Scions depart.  Alisaie gets a parting moment where she makes the WoL promise that they’re coming back, before she too heads out.

Royal Menagerie sequence is unchanged.  Same Zenos speech, same options, same fight.

Zenos is beaten, Lyse hears him explain himself, how everything was solely so he could finally have a foe worth fighting, and he cuts his own throat.

Ala Mhigo is freed from the Empire, the Resistance raises the Ala Mhigo flag, credits roll as Lyse gives her “monsters are made, not born” speech as the camera shows Yotsuyu and Fordola. Post credits, we get the stinger of Gosetsu fishing on the island out at sea.

Now we move into the ShB lead in.  Lyse officially leaves the Scions to stay as Commander in Ala Mhigo, Alphinaud, Arenvald, and WoL have their silly Skalla adventure, Urianger heads back to the Waking Sands to further study a strange thinning of the land’s aether that he had observed prior to his arrival in Gyr Abania, and Estinien disappears into the night as per usual.

Alphinaud helps catalogue the Mad King’s hoard and assists with getting the Saltery trade set up with Nanamo and Lolorito, and we get the crowd calling for Fordola’s blood.  Lyse settles the crowd same as before, talking about how taking revenge won’t bring anyone back, and Fordola deserves a chance to be better.  Finally, Raubahn and Nanamo have their moment to say goodbye as Nanamo dismisses him as Flame General so he can stay in his home.

To finish things off, we get the Lakshmi duty with Raubahn and Lyse organizing the meeting of community leaders to decide the future of Ala Mhigo, including the Tempered Ananta.  However, rather than it being some clown shoes nonsense of “all the guards were tempered and crystals were hidden in the throne room” the Qalyana that summon Lakshmi sacrifice their own lives to power the summoning, and Lakshmi produces like, a wall or something to barricade everyone in, necessitating Arenvald tagging in Fordola.  She gets her moment, the day is saved, everyone’s grateful that you were present to pull them out of the fire.

With things just about wrapped up in Ala Mhigo, it’s time to return to Doma, as Yugiri receives a message from another shinobi that Hien has at last received word from Maxima regarding the prisoner exchange.  WoL, the twins, Yugiri, Y’shtola, and Hakuro depart for Doma.  Krile is still recuperating from her captivity and experimentation at Zenos’s hands, and Thancred stays in Gyr Abania to help Lyse keep on top of things and watch for any suspicious primal activity.

Upon arriving in the Doman Enclave, Hien welcomes the Scions and the returning lupin conscripts, then gets to business, recounting the letter he received from Maxima.  In it, Maxima explains that his proposal was met with some opposition in the Garlean senate.  While some are open to more diplomatic peace with the “independant provinces”, others are critical of peace being a show of weakness, especially in light of the recent Ala Mhigan insurrection.  In particular, a rival political group known as the Telophoroi have been pushing against peace at every turn, as they seek an end to conflict worldwide via total Garlean dominance.  However, the leader of the Telophoroi, one Asahi goe Brutus, has surprisingly agreed to meet with Hien and discuss terms instead of stonewalling the Populares further.

Upon hearing the name, Alisaie remarks that “Brutus” was Yotsuyu’s Garlean given name, and Hien confirms that Asahi is the same brother that manifested as a hateful shade when Yotsuyu manifested Tsukuyomi.  The group cannot help but be suspicious, but Hien is determined to see it through, as it is his responsibility to bring home the Doman conscripts in Garlean custody if he’s able.

But there is much to be done before Ambassador Brutus arrives.  Alisaie means to inquire after Yotsuyu and see how she’s doing after the whole Tsukuyomi thing, to which Hien talks about how she’s been well behaved, but laments his inability to actually let her out of his estate lest the sight of her cause unrest.  Already there are rumors of the late Viceroy’s ghost haunting the Enclave from citizens catching glimpses of her in the windows or when she occassionally wanders out after dark.

Yugiri vouches that “Tsuyu” truly has forgotten everything and is effectively not the same person she was as Viceroy, but remarks that it is cold comfort to those that suffered under her reign.  Hien too has to bite his tongue, recalling Gosetsu’s parting words that she deserves another chance and struggling with his own desire for revenge for his friend and mentor’s death.  Alphinaud offers some consolation that the right thing is rarely the easy thing.

Y’shtola speaks up, inquiring about the aether thinning phenomenon that Urianger spoke of and noting that she has noticed the same in Doma with her aetherial sight.  Hien mentions the Burn and its lack of aether, and Y’shtola asks to investigate it.  The Scions head out for the Burn and we get the dungeon.

It plays out as usual, we find the Allagan shield generator, and Y’shtola sees an aether current leading back to the Azim Steppe, so the party heads back that way, while the twins break off.  Alisaie returns to the Enclave to check on Tsuyu, while Alphinaud heads back to Kugane to see how things are going with Tataru and Hancock.

We get the same events in the Azim Steppe, WoL duels Sadu, Y’shtola emasculates Magnai, we find out the Burn is where Azys Lla came from and thus predates the rise of the Garlean Empire and Emperor Solus using it to justify his imperialism.

Before we can explore that historical inaccuracy further however, WoL gets a linkshell ring from Alisaie.  Tsuyu has gone missing.

Y’shtola opts to remain in the Steppe to continue studying the Allagan device in the House of the Crooked Coin. WoL and Hien return to the Enclave with all due haste and reconvene.  Yugiri explains that Alphinaud returned from Kugane with urgent news, having learned from his contacts of a giant Doman samurai resembling Gosetsu that was recently seen in the Ruby Sea.  Tsuyu reacted strongly to his name, but the twins and Yugiri were preoccupied with discussing what to do and their amnesiac charge escaped the Enclave.

Fearing what will happen if Tsuyu is seen out and about, the gang sets out for Namai to find her before it is too late.  WoL and Hien arrive in Namai shortly after Tsuyu, who has already drawn a crowd.

Tsuyu is frightened and confused, unsure why everyone is angry or afraid of her.  Some of the crowd call for her blood, demanding retribution, and she doesn’t understand what it is she’s done wrong.  Azami, the little girl from earlier in the Doma story, comes to her defense as Hien arrives and explains who she is.  The people are unmoved, beseeching Hien to punish Yotsuyu for her crimes and the sake of their lost.  Hien grits his teeth and considers it for a moment, before refusing.  He restates his belief that the old laws of honor would demand blood for Yotsuyu’s actions, regardless of circumstances, but that is not Hien’s way, and he will not execute an innocent, nor would doing so undo any of the pain of the past.

The crowd disperses, accepting Hien’s decision, and tragedy is averted.  Before the party returns to the Enclave, Jifuya, prominant member of the Doman Resistance, stops them and asks for a word with Hien.  WoL recognizes Jifuya as someone they interacted with during the Doman Liberation, as well as one of the voices that called for a return to the old ways when the Empire was removed.

Jifuya asks Hien if he can speak in private, or at least, away from Tsuyu.  Yugiri and the twins escort Tsuyu back to the Enclave while Hien, WoL, and Jifuya go to the outskirts of Namai to converse discreetly.  Jifuya opens up that he was Yotsuyu’s master, the one who bought and put her into bondage as a courtesan after her husband died, and requests Hien’s permission to leave Doma.  Hien is outraged that a slaver was among his ranks, but Jifuya retorts that he has ever been a loyal and true ally of Doma, as a noble and then as a soldier.  Honor dictates that his service earn him clemency, and if Hien will not respect the old ways, then this new way of mercy and forgiveness that compels Hien to forgive someone as wicked as Yotsuyu demands he let Jifuya go as well.  Or is the young lord of Doma a hypocrite?

Hien stumbles, but before he can say anything, a familiar voice rings out, asking Jifuya if seeking to escape the consequences for his crimes is truly the actions of an honorable man.

Gosetsu walks in, using his sword as a cane, limping as he goes.  Without missing a beat he approaches Jifuya and asks again, if he is so honorable, why was he among the first to incite the crowd to call for Yotsuyu’s blood, why would he flee if he had done no wrong.

Jifuya falters, looking for an escape, sheepishly saying that he only did what was common for the time, he cannot be blamed for what one stupid girl did in response.  Gosetsu sternly states that Doma’s fall was brought about by selfish old men like them that cared more about their pride and honor than the people they were meant to serve, and that same honor now demands they repent for their failings, in whatever way their victims see fit.

Jifuya attempts to run, stating he refuses to be at Yotsuyu’s mercy for what he did to her, but before he can escape, Gosetsu draws his blade and cuts him down.  Gosetsu himself falls to his knees after his strike, saying to Hien that he seems to have slipped, and hopes the Lord of Doma will forgive his retainer’s clumsiness.

Realizing that Gosetsu has spared Hien from having to publicly go back on his principles, he obliges and helps Gosetsu back to his feet.  The trio return to the Enclave and Gosetsu is welcomed home.  Yugiri and the twins are apprised of what transpired with Jifuya and Gosetsu regales the party with stories of his adventures following the collapse of Doma Castle.  All the while, Tsuyu dotes on him, fussing over his injuries and making sure he’s comfortable, which he finds unsettling.

Yugiri explains to him what became of Yotsuyu, and her new life as Tsuyu.  Gosetsu dryly suggests the mercy fate has shown them both must be the work of the kami, to be forced to live on in spite of their crimes, to atone by bearing the weight of a guilty conscious.  Gosetsu’s injuries combined with his age are too much for him to fight as a samurai again, and he needs assistance in his day to day, and Tsuyu has no memories of her old life, only that she committed a terrible crime she cannot remember or even who she hurt.

MEANWHILE, IN GARLEMALD, we get the conversation between Varis and Elidibus, with the stinger that Elidibus is up to something.

When we next pick up in the Enclave, Hien has received word from Maxima that Ambassador Brutus’s ship is en route and should be arriving soon to carry out the prisoner exchange, and potentially a proper ceasefire between the Empire and Doma.  Last minute preparations are made, including keeping Tsuyu hidden, given the bad blood between her and Asahi.  The only other concern is a strange increase in activity from the Red kojin of late, given they had settled down since the Empire left Doma and Susano was defeated.

Asahi and his retinue arrive alongside Maxima, he is welcomed to Hien’s estate as an honored guest.

Contrasting with Maxima’s prior letter, Asahi seems positively thrilled with the idea of the prisoner exchange and peace between the Empire and Doma as equals.  When questioned about the politics of his party, the Telophoroi, he says that the militaristic stance is born of precaution, not hostility, and so long as Doma does not seek further conflict he has no reason to pick a fight.  But that does entail the return of all Imperial prisoners...including the missing viceroy, his “dear” sister Yotsuyu.

The group is shocked that Asahi is aware of Tsuyu’s survival, and Yugiri tentatively explains that she lost her memory after the battle of Doma Castle, and was given a new identity for her own protection.  Hien states that Tsuyu would likely not wish to leave Doma to go with a stranger to a strange place, and Asahi, surprisingly, agrees.  She is a Doman citizen now, through and through, though he would like to see her for himself, if time permits.

Back to business, Asahi says that in addition to ceding prisoners and pursuing no further restitutions from the Empire, Doma and its people must never again summon eikons.  Alisaie speaks up, saying the people of Doma never summoned to begin with, which prompts Asahi to mention Susano and Tsukuyomi, TWO summonings by Doman citizens in less than a year.  WoL disputes this, as Susano manifested without being summoned by anyone, and Tsukuyomi was called by Yotsuyu, the Imperial Viceroy.

Asahi insists that these are semantics, and it was ultimately Doman religious practices that gave rise to the primals.  The Empire will not demand an end to all worship, only that such “incidents” be prevented.

At this point, Asahi suggests going around and touring Doma a bit, estranged as he is from his homeland by his time in Garlemald.  Hien, Yugiri, WoL, and the twins escort him around Yanxia, from the Enclave to Monzen, Namai, and Castrum Fluminis.  It’s there that we get the encounter with the Red Kojin attacking Isse and Azami, and the gang rushes to the rescue, Asahi included.

With enough excitement for one day, the group returns to the Enclave, and Asahi retires for the evening.  Afterwards, the group plus Maxima discuss how odd the whole situation is, Asahi knowing of Yotsuyu’s fate and her summoning Tsukuyomi at Doma Castle, the unusual actions of the Red Kojin to travel so far inland, especially on the same day Asahi arrives, the bizarre change of heart compared to Maxima‘s initial report.  Something is obviously strange, but no one can quite pinpoint it, and Maxima hopes it is simply nerves.

The next day, Asahi sets about preparations for the prisoner exchange at Castrum Fluminis, but as before, requests he be allowed a chance to meet with his sister.  Hien tentatively agrees, not wanting to jeopardize the safety of the Doman conscripts by refusing, and the group travels to Castrum Fluminis with Tsuyu in tow.

From here, things play out more or less the same, Asahi surprises Tsuyu by bringing out their parents, and Yugiri notices a number of suspicious crates that Asahi’s retinue seems to have brought with them.  Asahi and his forces fall back to the fortress, leaving the WoL with his parting vitriol and the Echo vision of his first meeting with Zenos, and Tsuyu is very agitated following the unexpected reunion with her parents.  At this point, all involved are aware the prisoner exchange is a trap, but for the sake of bringing home the Doman conscripts, they’ll have to follow through for now and just be ready to react to whatever scheme Asahi tries to pull.

The next morning, Hien’s estate is throw into a tizzy as Tsuyu has disappeared overnight.  Yugiri takes responsibility, saying that she had grown lax in her observance as she became more accustomed to Tsuyu’s every day routine.  With the airship bearing the conscripts on its way, there’s no time to dispatch a full search party, and Hien asks the WoL and the twins to investigate while he travels to Castrum Fluminis.

WoL and the twins split up and search for Tsuyu, WoL goes to Monzen and finds the bodies of Asahi’s parents and gets the Echo vision.  Tsuyu, having regained her memory, cannot live with the guilt of being shown such kindness and mercy after what she’s done, and plans to kill herself when her parents arrive and begin harassing her.  She turns on them and murders them both, then Asahi arrives on the scene and congratulates her on the miraculous recovery.  He tells Yotsuyu the plan to regain her place in the Empire by summoning Tsukuyomi again at the prisoner exchange.

WoL meets up with the twins and they rush to the Castrum proper to warn Hien.  They arrive just as the Doman conscripts are being brought through, and Alphinaud calls out that it’s a trap.  Asahi seems shocked at their arrival, but carries on, giving the signal for Yotsuyu to show herself.  The crates Yugiri identified are opened, showing off a number of crystals, and Yotsuyu uses them to once again turn into Tsukuyomi.

Asahi cackles madly, laughing that a Doman citizen has summoned an eikon in direct violation of the peace agreement in what can only be called an act of war.  His victory is short lived however, when Tsukuyomi runs him through with her lunar swords, voice seething as she recounts that he more than any other she hated, her own brother that beat her and used her, never protecting her from their parents, leaving her to suffer as he reaped the benefits of her abuse and enslavement.  As Asahi chokes on his blood and curses her for being the one Zenos chose over him, the transformation fades, and Yotsuyu collapses, the lunar blades holding Asahi aloft disappearing as he plummets to the ground.  Yugiri and the twins run to Yotsuyu’s side as Hien and Wol look over Asahi, with his last breath saying that Zenos will come for them and avenge him.

WoL gets the Echo vision of a somehow still living Zenos giving Asahi his mission to sabotage the prisoner exchange, and shares what they learn with everyone present.

Alphinaud is bewildered, asking how Zenos could have given the order when Zenos died at the Royal Menagerie, to which Maxima reacts with shock, saying that the crown prince is alive and well at the Imperial capital, already recovering from the wounds he sustained at the Ala Mhigan insurrection.  The contradiction presents only one possibility.  An Ascian has taken possession of Zenos’s body.

In spite of everything that has occurred, Hien asks Maxima if they intend to go through with the prisoner exchange.  Maxima agrees, as the ambassador’s plan was as much of a shock to the Populares as the Scions, and he still believes in the mission. 

Yotsuyu then awakens, her hair evenly split between black and white, much like Tsukuyomi.  She is unharmed, if exhausted by the summoning, and bitterly asks what the Scions intend to do with her now that she’s finally had her fill of revenge.  Hien states that her amnesia was her only defense against the peoples’ ire, and he may not be able to protect her if she remains in Doma, to which Yotsuyu replies she has no desire to remain anyway.

Alisaie offers Yotsuyu join the Scions, as they’re always looking for people with the Echo, and it’s a politically neutral group far from Doma.  Yotsuyu wonders aloud how long Alisaie has been waiting to turn Yotsuyu’s initial offer on its head, to which Alisaie only smirks.

Yotsuyu makes no commitments, as she will need time to decide what she wants now that her life is actually in her own hands for the first time.  Yugiri escorts her back to the Doman Enclave.

Alphinaud then addresses Maxima, asking what he intends to do now.  With the news that Zenos may be an Ascian, he must return to Garlemald forthwith and resume his investigation, and regrettably, it might not be wise to bring the Imperial prisoners back to the capital in such circumstances.  Hien volunteers to help see the prisoners back to their homes with the help of Doma’s shinobi, as most of them are foreign conscripts anyway, and with the Ambassador dead on Doman soil, the prospects of peace are well and truly off the table.

Alphinaud volunteers to join Maxima in the journey back to the capital, believing he would do more good helping the Populares fight the Ascians politically and potentially prevent further conflict at the source.  The WoL has the option to encourage him, stay neutral and advise caution, or disagree with Alphinaud’s decision as too dangerous.

Regardless, Alphinaud and Maxima depart, and the WoL, Hien, and Alisaie return to the Enclave.  When they arrive, Yotsuyu and Gosetsu are waiting for them, both in new outfits.  “Tsuyu” states it’s better if she let go of her old name for good, and Gosetsu declares that the two of them are going on a pilgrimage of atonement, to understand where they belong in the world as a pair of sinners who were denied honorable death.  Tsuyu comments she’ll keep Alisaie’s offer in mind, and the two depart.

At the same time, a yol arrives dropping off Y’shtola, who explains that her research in the Steppe has reached a satisfactory conclusion.  WoL and Alisaie tell her about all that has transpired in her absence, and she grimly wonders if Alphinaud has not made a rash decision.  On a happier note, she says that she has undone the stifling of aether caused by the Allagan device, and it is possible the Burn may recover in time.

Hien thanks the Scions for their assistance, and swears he will pray for Alphinaud’s safety in the coming days.  He then asks if they can deliver a letter of introduction to the Eorzean Alliance, pledging Doma’s friendship.  The Scions graciously thank Hien for his friendship and hospitality, and depart for Eorzea. 

From here, things proceed pretty much as they do in the original story.

Thancred, Krile, Lyse, and Urianger are updated on the Zenos situation, and his grave is confirmed to be empty, as we get the shot of the unknown Elezen soldier watching in the distance.  Thancred departs for Garlemald to find out what’s going on.

WoL and Alisaie deliver Hien’s message to the Eorzean Alliance, pledging Doma’s support against the Empire, Maxima and his unit arrive in Ala Mhigo, and the WoL and Alisaie learn of the attack on their ship and how Alphinaud went off with the mysterious Shadow Hunter.  We get the introduction of Emperor Solus and the big reveal of Garlemald’s founding.

Thancred returns, bringing grim tidings of imminent conflict with Eorzea and retribution for the Ala Mhigan and Doman rebellions.  As Thancred delivers his report, the mysterious voice happens and he goes comatose.  Alisaie and WoL return to the Rising Stones to tell Urianger and Y’shtola, who soon follow suit.

WoL and Alisaie travel to Doma together one last time to let Hien know what’s coming, he informs them that he has been in contact with Cid and the four of them head out to burn to get the Allagan shield up and running to protect Doma while the army travels to Eorzea to assist the Alliance, Gaius delivers Alphinaud’s comatose body to the Scions and warns of Black Rose.  WoL and Alisaie return with the Doman forces then take some time to check on the Scions, visit with Matoya and Krile to diagnosis what’s wrong, visit Ga Bu in Limsa, then attend the big meeting with Varis and the Alliance leaders prior to the battle of Ghimlyt Dark, and the 4.5 story plays out unchanged.

And so that’s my edit of Stormblood, how I would modify events to keep things mostly the same, but tie the narrative together a bit more smoothly and keep things consistent.  The big points I want to focus on are developing both Yotsuyu and Fordola, giving them more screentime to actually understand and sympathize with them before the game tells you you’re just supposed to, giving Zenos more build up as a character, making Lyse’s growth as an individual more pronounced, and removing or reording some events I felt were particularly unsavory or jarring with the rest of the story.  And of course, Yotsuyu lives so she can do stuff in the future.  If you’ve made it this far, thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed my ideas for how Stormblood could be improved as a story.

[ceo-of-sloppy-men]

Post-Game Outer Worlds Headcanons

I needed to write these. I'm in a sort of a funk. So have 'em.

This assumes the following conditions: chose to help Phineas post-game, sided with Phineas and didn't turn him in, and helped companions with their personal quests when needed.

The first thing "officially done" is getting Phineas back to his lab. The crew helps pitch in to clean up around the space (with Phineas reluctantly agreeing).

Ellie patches him up as Felix helps drag dead bodies out with Nyoka, SAM and the Captain do some cleaning, Parvati fixes broken mechanics (because she gets super excited and ends up throwing herself into more work on accident), and Max cooks something half-decent to eat.

The real work is done later when they start reviving the Hope's colonists. The crew doesn't immediately split with most of them helping to revive some colonists until there are enough people for it to be "self-sufficient."

Nyoka is the first to "leave". She's intent on going back to Monarch to lend a hand were she can and needs the rush of battle to truly feel alive. The lab just isn't her pace.

Parvati is the next to leave. She fixes Phineas' ship and many parts of the Orbital Lab, as well as necessary parts of the Hope, but expresses her desire to go to the Groundbreaker and help Juneli. The goodbye is tearful, both when she leaves the lab and when the Captain flies her over.

The Captain gives their old ship to Ellie, as Phineas' is fixed, and they don't need two ships at the lab. She keeps the old Monacair and they have to do a great deal of convincing to have ADA accept the change.

In the end, Ellie takes Felix, SAM and Max with her.

Max had requested to be dropped off in his home settlement and would make is way across Halcyon. Helping those who need help, and helping to usher hope through the colony.

Felix and SAM stay with Ellie, aiding her as she makes supply runs and less-then-legal trips around Halcyon.

As for the Captain, they put their skills to use helping Phineas in any way he may need. Most colonists are revived directly on the Hope and the newly rebuilt Board are responsible for the transport and reintroduction of said colonists. The lab itself is kept quiet and private.

Many supply runs are done for caffenoid and other ingredients; however, as the Hope is slowly revived, plants are grown in the lab so that boxed food isn't necessary. A part of one of the restructures from a Hope colonist.

As the years go by, occasionally, one of the Captain's former crew stops by to tell the Captain in elaborate detail about their adventures or simply grab a drink

Nyoka can always be found on Monarch when the Captain needs to kill something

When Phineas does eventually pass, he leaves the lab to the Captain. What they choose to do with it is up to them. However, they continue their quiet solitude, the Hope now able to revive themself without further assistance

Occasionally they are called upon to offer advice on certain matters, but mostly they're left to their own devices to truly take in Halycon or become a hermit in their own right. They truly have earned it.

Their companions stop by more frequently after Phineas passes, mostly to check in on the Captain. Some end up staying a few weeks, or going out on odd jobs.

Ellie has an open invitation for the Captain to join her on any runs

None of them live to see Halcyon truly flourish and heal, however, they see the startings of improvement. Without Earth's guidance, Halcyon is forced into independence, and with the help of the Hope, pulls itself up by the bootstraps

Or, that's what it looks like will continue to happen when the infamous crew of the Unreliable is dead and gone

[animationstarlover1983]

Fnaf system reboot au

Character design changes ideas

1. Freddy: Freddy is slightly bigger and taller, he has a blue star on his back, he now has red painted pants with a star buckle and he’s has a tuft of hair on his head, his stomach hatch is bigger and looks more safe and actually ridable, Freddy also now has a tail.

2. Chica: chica now has a metal feather tail on her now.

3. Roxanne: Roxy is slightly bigger and taller, a bit more of Roxy’s hair is dyed red and purple and even the end of her trail is dyed green.

4. Montgomery: monty is slightly bigger and taller, he now has a purple nose piercing and his red Mohawk is much bigger and slightly longer.

5. Dj music man: the upper half of music man is much like his original variant with 2 long big arms, his lower half is more like his normal spider design with 6 arms as legs, this version is slightly bigger and taller and wears a built in jacket and his face also slightly resembles a boom box, his appearance is inspired by a counterpart from Roblox TPRR called glamrock music man.

6. Sun/moon: the daycare attendant is slightly taller and has much longer arms/legs, the back of their head now has a cover to protect the circuit board, they also have a hook/wire on their back that can be controlled and latch onto anything.

7. Tangle/The Blob/Cluster: the blob face looks like a combination of Funtime Freddy and Molten Freddy, his face color scheme is white and gray, his left eye is blue and his right eye is red, his body’s upper half is giant rusty/dirty animatronic looks like a fixed molten Freddy, his left arm is replaced with the scooper from the ruin dlc and the inside of his body is made from multiple parts from machinery, technology and past animatronics, his body’s lower half is like a snake, giant wires and cables connected to make a snake like tail to slither around, he also has multiple animatronic eyes poking out everywhere, his design was inspired by a fixed fnaf 6 scrap animatronics video on YouTube called fixed vs original animatronics by haze cinema, he was also inspired by art of glados from portal with the appearance of a robot snake figure made by one_tiny_snake (instagram), also in this au the blob will also be know as cluster (because let’s be honest that’s honestly a cooler name than blob or tangle)

8. Glitchtrap: glitchtrap looks more alive and realistic, he is able to move his eyes and mouth and facial expressions, he now wears a white suit with a purple vest covered in green rabbits over and dark purple pants, he’s a slightly brighter yellow and has claws and a few sharp teeth, when in his princess quest sludge form he looks a little like venom and can alter his shape and size, most of the time glitchtrap stays in his springbonnie/glitchtrap plush form that’s been given longer arms and legs and a built in camera and speaker system for him to interact with the physical world, as burntrap he keeps most of his appearance except most of his burntrap shell has been fixed and instead of Williams body it’s Luca from tales from the pizzaplex story pressure, as cybertrap he looks similar to glitchtrap but in animatronic form.

[notplatamium]

My speculation on what Kazuscara's eventual interaction might be like.

There are so many possibilities as to how these two will interact, but I have some conclusions based off of what we've been given by the game so far.

Kazuha has openly stated before that he wishes to recover the lost Isshin art. With Sumeru being the nation of wisdom and containing a tree of pure knowledge, it would be reasonable to believe that it would end up being one of the first areas Kazuha may go to for more information. Scara is definitely staying in Sumeru for quite a bit of time, considering himself Nahida's prisoner there to do the dirty work for her as well as also being a good source of correcting what he changed in history.

From Scara's voice line about Kazuha, it's clear that he is made well aware of Kazuha's existence and strength. When they meet somehow (I suspect maybe in the academiya so Kazuha could find the most information there and see Scara writing a thesis or something) they're given a mission or something that will prevent Scara from immediately telling Kazuha the truth in fear of inhibiting progress of their current main goal if Kazuha does seek revenge. Through this, they are able to get to know each other better and Kazuha will see Scara without the bias of the knowledge of Scara's involvement of his past.

But as soon as they're done, Scara will tell Kazuha the truth about what happened to the Raiden Gokaden, sparing no details and fully expecting a painful punishment. But Kazuha, after seeing the kind of person he is right now, acknowledges that Scara has already recognized is and attempting to atone for his sins- something he has previously hoped to see before the Irminsul incident. Kazuha wouldn't necessarily completely forgive Scara (his actions would still be considered atrocious in his eyes), but would give him the opportunity to become a travel companion. Kazuha will see Scara as valuable information in the Isshin art as he was alive at the time of its existence. No possible misinformation, and he will get an actual teacher who is alive and learned directly from his own ancestor. So, Kazuha will not only get a source that will make reviving the art easier, but he will also acquire a traveling companion that he's yearned for.

Another area I see them meeting would be Inazuma, specifically Tatarasuna. Tatarasuna is a blacksmithing village after all and there are still remnants of forges where Kazuha might find some valuable information. Scara might just go back to reminisce about the past and just apologize at the graves of those he once considered family. Tatarasuna is still full of Taratagami and just other things that made the place uninhabitable. Maybe fixing the bad stuff in the air would be that quest where Kazuha will get to know Scara before he is made aware of the truth. This situation is a lot more coincidental and relies a bit too much on the power of "fate", but the idea of Scara going back and apologizing to his former family makes me more emotional so I'm keeping that idea. Maybe to make it less of them unexpectedly meeting up, Scara could be actively looking for Kazuha here and was told that he was in Tatarasuna.

But that's just my speculation. In the end, it all relies on the mercy of Hoyoverse.

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 20: THE FLEECE WORKS ITS MAGIC TOO WELL

"At least these things aren't long, no offense Percy," Magnus said as he thumbed through the last few pages and glanced at the still staggering pile.

"None taken," Percy quickly assured. "You think I want more crap happening to me in each book!" He was rubbing his necklace where the second one resided. The silver pine tree painted in detail on the golden clay bead had been obvious at the start, but ominous now.

Magnus nodded agreement to that, silently thinking that whatever happened to Percy inevitably also affected Annabeth and the less of that the better as he theatrically cleared his throat and read the new title.

Percy felt un unpleasant buzzing in the side of his head for definitely being able to figure this one out early. Thankfully it wasn't quite painful, but left him jittery in his seat all the same like he should be waiting for something to go wrong with Thalia now permanently back in the picture, but at least she'd been here all along so it didn't torment him to guess right.

"That would be a real puzzling one if the evidence wasn't right in front of us," Jason chuckled as Thalia lounged out in her chair.

"Something good came out of this misadventure for everybody," Will laughed at the explosive following weeks where Percy and Thalia hadn't exactly blossomed into immediate friends, but he'd never seen Annabeth happier.

That afternoon was one of the happiest I'd ever spent at camp, which maybe goes to show, you never know when your world is about to be rocked to pieces.

"So dramatic, such intrigue, what on earth could be about to happen?" Thalia said with almost a straight face.

"Remind me to enter you into a poker tournament," Percy rolled his eyes.

Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with us before resuming his quest for Pan.

"Well I would hope so," Jason yelped. "Guy spent long enough and nearly died on the last one."

"Like that's going to stop him," Percy grinned as the happy feelings flowed right back into him now. Grover had been getting cheered by every bush he'd passed for being the first satyr to come back alive, but more importantly, he was safe at home again.

  His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month fur-lough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much. He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around our feet like they were trying to strangle us.

"If Polyphemus had just given him some reed pipes, I bet he'd have annulled the marriage himself," Nico chuckled.

I guess I couldn't blame them.

Grover told me he could dissolve the empathy link between us, now that we were face to face,

Percy was already shaking his head as the sentence started and was pressing a stubborn hand to the back of his head like he could hold it into place, nobody needed the following outburst from him saying as much.

but I told him I'd just as soon keep it if that was okay with him. He put down his reed pipes and stared at me. "But, if I get in trouble again, you'll be in danger, Percy! You could die!"

"If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And I'll come help you again, G-man. I wouldn't have it any other way."

In the end he agreed not to break the link. He went back to playing "YMCA" for the strawberry plants. I didn't need an empathy link with the plants to know how they felt about it.

"Thrilled enough to murder, that's a real accomplishment on some level," Alex's lip was quivering by the end he tried so hard to say that sincerely.

Later on during archery class, Chiron pulled me aside and told me he'd fixed my problems with Meriwether Prep. The school no longer blamed me for destroying their gymnasium. The police were no longer looking for me.

"How did you manage that?" I asked.

Chiron's eyes twinkled. "I merely suggested that the mortals had seen something different on that day—a furnace explosion that was not your fault."

"You just said that and they bought it?"

"I manipulated the Mist. Some day, when you're ready, I'll show how it's done."

"That's a thing!" Percy burst out. "Why has he not been teaching me that this entire time!"

Thalia had to press her fist against her mouth to stop herself from busting out laughing he still didn't know it to this day.

"You mean, I can go back to Meriwether next year?"

Chiron raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no, they've still expelled you.

Then she and everyone began laughing once more, and Percy sighed but waved it on. "Fine, whatever, I'm worried the apocalypse would come early if I managed to ever leave a school without getting expelled. Surely it's one of the coming signs of doom."

"I still think we should talk to Chiron about implementing some of their school curriculums," Will insisted, "deadly dodgeball would be a hit with the Ares kids, and blowing shit up would be a class the Stoll brothers would ace."

"I'm sure Chiron will squeeze it in between the lava wall, arts and crafts practice, and their roller coaster of doom," Percy agreed as he waved vaguely at the Norse kids.

Your headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, said you had—how did he put it?—un-groovy karma that disrupted the school's educational aura.

Percy made a strange face as he tried to decide if that was insulting or not. Was the principal implying he was too smart to go there?

...that was a first.

But you're not in any legal trouble, which was a relief to your mother.

"Frankly I don't know what she's going to do with all of her free time now she's not worried about that," Percy said with nothing but relief.

Oh, and speaking of your mother ..."

He unclipped his cell phone from his quiver and handed it to me. "It's high time you called her."

Percy expected more snickering laughter on his part for having to check in with his mom, but all he saw were sad smiles and a strained delivery from Magnus. Nobody had forgotten poor Sally had been left in the dark for the entirety of Percy's quest on what was going on with him.

The worst part was the beginning—the "Percy-Jackson-what-were-you-thinking-do-you-have-any-idea-how-worried-I-was-sneaking-off-to-camp-without-permission-going-on-dangerous-quests-and-scaring-me-half-to-death" part.

Alex gave him a slow clap for managing all that in one breath though.

But finally she paused to catch her breath. "Oh, I'm just glad you're safe!"

That's the great thing about my mom. She's no good at staying angry. She tries, but it just isn't in her nature.

Percy was smiling so much it looked painful. A part of him still hated himself for leaving her in Hades's realm for moments like this, how could he ever have hoped to keep going without her there at the end of every crazy summer he had?

"I'm sorry, Mom," I told her. "I won't scare you again."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Percy," Thalia said ruefully.

Percy sighed because he knew she was right. Wishing and regrets didn't get you much, and no action he ever took would hold that promise.

"Don't promise me that, Percy. You know very well it will only get worse." She tried to sound casual about it, but I could tell she was pretty shaken up.

I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but I knew she was right. Being a halfblood, I would always be doing things that scared her. And as I got older, the dangers would just get greater.

"I could come home for a while," I offered.

"That probably was the best thing you could have said to her," Jason nodded diplomatically.

"No, no. Stay at camp. Train. Do what you need to do. But you will come home for the next school year?"

"Yeah, of course. Uh, if there's any school that will take me."

"Oh, we'll find something, dear," my mother sighed. "Some place where they don't know us yet."

"Not Canada, California, New York, and probably St. Louis if they're still holding a grudge against you blowing up their arch," Thalia ticked off on her fingers. "You're not even a teenager yet and you're already racking up a considerable list."

"I chose to take that as a compliment," he rolled his eyes.

As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. I would've been happy to have him as my cabin mate forever, but that evening, as we were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took me by surprise.

"He adopted a cat to help his sphynx fear?" Magnus grinned.

"He and Clarisse teamed up for the next chariot race and you're screwed," Jason chuckled.

"He was secretly Poseidon all along?" Alex snickered.

"This is what you guys have been reduced to?" Percy asked in exasperation. "You can't guess the chapter titles anymore so you drag this out?"

"We've having fun," Jason reminded.

Percy huffed and glared at the stack of books. Surely they couldn't all be about him, and they'd get their dues how 'fun' this was.

"Dream came from Daddy last night," he said. "He wants me to visit."

I wondered if he was kidding, but Tyson really didn't know how to kid.

"True," Will nodded, "Connor tried to teach him a knock-knock joke once and it didn't go well." They'd repaired that whole in the Hermes door with smiles.

"I'll take him as is," Percy reminded with pride.

"Poseidon sent you a dream message?"

Tyson nodded. "Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclopes' forges. 

"Wait," Magnus went cross-eyed in that now familiar expression of something strange everybody else hadn't looked twice at. "Underwater? Forge? Don't forges require, you know, fire?"

"He's immune to fire," Percy shrugged like that's all the explanation he'd ever thought up for this, a great look of disappointment on his face he clearly hadn't been invited to come obviously bothering him a lot more than normal rules of physics.

He called it an inter—an intern—"

"An internship?"

"If it's anything like that school's charity case, I'd be worried," Alex scoffed. "All work and no pay while being criticized."

"Hope they at least have decent office supplies to steal," Magnus agreed.

"Yes."

I let that sink in. I'll admit, I felt a little jealous. Poseidon had never invited me underwater.

"Go with him!" Jason looked ready to start shaking Percy in hopes the memory of that happening would appear. "I'd call that plenty of training!"

"Now I'm being encouraged around fire huh?" Percy brushed him off, no matter how tempting the idea was. One notorious way to get attention from your parents was to sneak around right? Why not right into his dad's domain, see how long he was ignored then.

Then he remembered he was trapped at the bottom of the ocean without so much as a wave of hello and his scowl only grew.

But then I thought, Tyson was going? Just like that?

"When would you leave?" I asked.

"Now."

"Now. Like ... now now?"

"Now."

"I think he's going now," Magnus added helpfully.

"Perceptive as your cousin," Percy huffed.

I stared out at the waves in the Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset.

"I'm happy for you, big guy," I managed. "Seriously."

"Hard to leave my new brother," he said with a tremble in his voice. "But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them."

Unfortunately, I knew he was right. The Fleece hadn't solved all the camp's problems. Luke was still out there, gathering an army aboard the Princess Andromeda. Kronos was still reforming in his golden coffin. Eventually, we would have to fight them.

All of the Greek kids grimaced at this, and Magnus sighed as the book dipped in his hands and he looked uneasily around at the others to come. They were only just done with the first two, it would be a miracle to survive all of them.

"You'll make the best weapons ever," I told Tyson. I held up my watch proudly. "I bet they'll tell good time, too."

"I hope he does that exclusively, starts a haberdashery of weapons and watches," Alex beamed.

Hearth smiled to himself maybe Blitz would like a business partner.

Tyson sniffled. "Brothers help each other."

"You're my brother," I said. "No doubt about it."

He patted me on the back so hard he almost knocked me down the sand dune. Then he wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. "Use the shield well."

"I will, big guy."

"Save your life some day."

The way he said it, so matter-of-fact, I wondered if that Cyclops eye of his could see into the future.

"Maybe, if it's a one-time-only kind of use," Jason muttered as he hadn't exactly done much of that yet, but he was quickly adapting to the idea he shouldn't assume he knew otherwise.

He headed down to the beach and whistled. Rainbow, the hippocampus, burst out of the waves. I watched the two of them ride off together into the realm of Poseidon.

Once they were gone, I looked down at my new wristwatch. I pressed the button and the shield spiraled out to full size. Hammered into the bronze were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was Annabeth slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, me fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis. I ran my hand across a picture of Tyson, battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts.

"I need whoever's permission I have to get to turn that into a vase!" Alex seemed to demand of the universe as a whole.

"You have my blessing," Percy assured.

I couldn't help feeling sad. I knew Tyson would have an awesome time under the ocean. But I'd miss everything about him—his fascination with horses, the way he could fix chariots or crumple metal with his bare hands, or tie bad guys into knots. I'd even miss him snoring like an earth-quake in the next bunk all night.

"Hey, Percy."

I turned.

Annabeth and Grover were standing at the top of the sand dune. I guess maybe I had some sand in my eyes, because I was blinking a lot.

"Tyson ..." I told them. "He had to ..."

"We know," Annabeth said softly. "Chiron told us."

"Cyclopes forges." Grover shuddered. "I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all."

"Where did he hear that from?" Nico asked, it's not like Grover had ever struck up a conversation with a cyclops before.

"Nymph gossip, maybe a cyclops has even visited camp before," Will shrugged. "Poseidon might have sent one as a blessing to help, or the tree spirits are just full of it. Chiron's never shared a lot of stories about children of his," he reminded with a sad smile at how uniquely troubling Percy was.

Annabeth held out her hand. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Time for dinner."

We walked back toward the dining pavilion together, just the three of us, like old times.

Percy couldn't hold back a longing sigh. He liked all of the friends he had around him now, but he couldn't shake the feeling of who was missing too.

A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did.

Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in our valley. We were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, sealed inside our magical borders.

Still, my dreams were restless. I heard Kronos taunting me from the depths of Tartarus: Polyphemus sits blindly in his cave, young hero, believing he has won a great victory.

"Hopefully it keeps him off the dating game for the next few millennia," Percy scowled.

Are you any less deluded? The titan's cold laughter filled the darkness.

Then my dream changed. I was following Tyson to the bottom of the sea, into the court of Poseidon. It was a radiant hall filled with blue light, the floor cobbled with pearls. And there, on a throne of coral, sat my father, dressed like a simple fisherman in khaki shorts and a sunbleached T-shirt. I looked up into his tan weathered face, his deep green eyes, and he spoke two words: Brace yourself.

I woke with a start.

There was a banging on the door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission. "Percy!" he stammered. "Annabeth ... on the hill ... she ..."

The look in his eyes told me something was terribly wrong. Annabeth had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened—

Thalia closed her eyes for a moment, the sad smile lingering on her face so her eyes could hide the pain. She almost hadn't recognized the girl, nearly a teenager, the same kid now closer to the age Thalia had been when she'd fallen. Absolutely nothing had been the same when she'd opened her eyes again, but here she looked around with as eager a smile as everybody else. Maybe Zeus had even had some inkling of this passage of time would be her best path.

I ripped off the covers, my blood like ice water in my veins. I threw on some clothes while Grover tried to make a complete sentence, but he was too stunned, too out of breath. "She's lying there ... just lying there ..."

Percy sort of wanted to rip one of Grover's horns off for nearly giving him a heart attack, but he was to grateful his best friend had come to tell him at all rather than staying with Annabeth and rousing around the first child of the Big Three he'd found.

I ran outside and raced across the central yard, Grover right behind me. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way toward the hill, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas.

"How the best sleepovers end up," Alex nodded this made perfect sense on every blade of grass at that camp.

I heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind us, looking grim.

"Is it true?" he asked Grover.

Grover could only nod, his expression dazed.

I tried to ask what was going on, but Chiron grabbed me by the arm and effortlessly lifted me onto his back. Together we thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.

I expected to see the Fleece missing from the pine tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was bloodred.

"Curse the titan lord," Chiron said. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The Fleece," he said. "The Fleece did its work too well."

"Ooo, actual chapter title being quoted," Magnus shook his head at how all of this had worked out. The uncomfortable question of how they would ever manage to beat a Titan who was already so many steps ahead of them still sort of made him wish for his ignorance of this world back if they were all doomed.

We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her.

Blood roared in my ears. I couldn't think straight. Annabeth had been attacked? But why was the Fleece still there?

Percy was looking from Thalia to the book with a heavy sense of forbidding. 'Was Kronos right to play this card,' a nasty voice whispered in his mind. Thalia wouldn't do that to Annabeth, but then, neither should Luke. It suddenly bothered him quite a lot Oceanus had 'accidentally,' not managed to pull in his girlfriend or best friend, just a couple of strangers he got vague impressions about and kids he didn't even know. How did he know what side Oceanus was on? Could this all be some weirdly elaborate trick into trying to convince him to switch sides away from them?

The tree itself looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the essence of the Golden Fleece.

"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."

Then I realized Annabeth wasn't the one lying on the ground. She was the one in armor, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw us, she ran to Chiron. "It... she ... just suddenly there ..."

Her eyes were streaming with tears, but I still didn't understand. I was too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off Chiron's back and ran toward the unconscious girl. Chiron said: "Percy, wait!"

I knelt by her side. She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth—a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of bands I'd never heard of.

She wasn't a camper. I didn't recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet I had the strangest feeling I'd seen her before...

"It's true," Grover said, panting from his run up the hill. "I can't believe ..."

Nobody else came close to the girl.

I put my hand on her forehead. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning.

"She needs nectar and ambrosia," I said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. I could sense that just from one touch. I didn't understand why everyone was acting so scared.

I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Come on!" I yelled to the others. "What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House."

No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned.

Will gave a guilty wince he'd been just as stunned stupid even as he admired Percy stepping in like that. Will had never met Thalia, but her story was legendary, it could have been no other Half-Blood in their leader's arms, and the whole camp seemed to have been holding its breath at the time as they all wondered what was coming next.

Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.

Her irises were startlingly blue—electric blue.

Jason studied her now the same way he had himself in the mirror. It wasn't just the eyes, it was the same powerful aura Percy gave off. There was something in the air about her nobody could mistake, and yet as he started unconsciously rubbing his tattoo, all he could think was how strange his mind had to be for not ever having found her threatening like he often did Percy.

The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who—"

"I'm Percy," I said. "You're safe now."

"Strangest dream ..."

"It's okay."

"Dying."

"No," I assured her.

Thalia shivered, just the smallest bit like a cold chill had passed over her, and Percy immediately felt like a jerk for any second guesses he might have as his first impulse was to assure her now. He could now claim same as her to wake up a stranger in a strange land and she'd been nothing but a friend to him, looking out for him the entirety of his stay here. It was no regret then, that no matter the outcome, he'd at least given her the same honor upon first meeting her.

 "You're okay. What's your name?"

That's when I knew. Even before she said it.

The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play—another chance to control the prophecy.

Even Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future. And I was holding someone who was destined to be my best friend, or possibly my worst enemy.

"Dun, dun, dun," Percy chuckled for himself.

"Don't count yourself off either of those lists yet Jackson," Thalia rolled her eyes, not understanding the strange look he gave her. Like he didn't know whether to laugh at that for the joke it was for once.

"I am Thalia," the girl said. "Daughter of Zeus."

"That would have been a lot more dramatic if you hadn't been hanging around with us the past few days," Magnus told her as he finished looking up and around.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she grinned, "next time we all get sucked into a room together, I'll hide behind the couch until my grand arrival."

"Thank you, finally, a woman with some class," Alex nodded.

Perhaps the snickering that circled the room was a little more exhaustion induced than they would have admitted, but it must have been late enough in the day for all of them nobody cared. Percy was first out the door fighting off a yawn, everybody else's conversations lulling easily to a close.

Alex and Magnus lingered around still practicing their signing to each other and Thalia and Hearth were happily adding in, watching the two in an almost paternal way.

When Nico gestured Will out and he gladly jumped to his feet, Jason watched them leave discreetly and debated if he should follow or invest more into learning ASL. Though he'd disclosed his secret, he still wanted to talk to Nico again now that he was more confident his other secret wasn't exactly being held over his head, but he still didn't find Nico the easiest person to talk to either. Not as standoffish as he was that first day, but still giving off the aura of antisocial he had no clue how Will kept bypassing. When Thalia called his name and asked how late he planned on staying up, he found himself getting easily sucked into their group without another thought.

Nico lead him up to the terrace, and Will closed the door and watched him with that same casual, laid-back attitude like there was nothing at all in the world to worry him. At least he didn't seem to be holding a grudge?

"Sorry, for um, snapping your head off before," he fidgeted guiltily in place and couldn't look at Will to long. Ugh, he was so bad at this; but he wasn't taking Will to that other camp, let alone Tartarus with him, it was too dangerous to risk anyone but a solo mission. That stupid prophecy line of Clarisse's mocked him though, and maybe he would go to Camp first, get a useless prophecy and let Jason decide if he wanted to take that risk...He couldn't explain that though and didn't know what else to say. "What do you want from me?" He demanded point blank why Will cared at all, why he'd asked and started all of this!

"Nothing!" Nico still wasn't doing this right, Will looked hurt anew at his accusatory tone as he answered. "Just, I know some people prefer to be alone, and I'm not judging, honestly! I'm sorry for pushing, I just wanted you to know you had a friend, if you wanted one."

Nico kept scrutinizing him for a few moments more with lingering guilt. There was no lie in Will's voice...but that couldn't be it? What reason did Will have for wanting to be friends now? "Well, Jason's going through some crap and I, um, guessed and offered help. It, it's up to him." He found himself suddenly hoping Jason would invite Will along to the other camp, but then, maybe he should pass the buck altogether and just let even Thalia and Will deal with Jason with clear directions and go straight to Tartarus when they got out of here. He was putting it off to much, trying to delay it, and Gaia would not wait. Her plans may already be in motion, and somebody had to stop them.

"Okay," Will said, clearly at peace with this decision left out of his hands, a baffling thing all its own. Nico was the only demigod capable of stopping the Earth Mother in Tartarus, and he'd be the only one who wasn't missed if all he could do was send a dream message for a warning to come.

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments more and Nico wished he could leave now. Will seemed to sense this, he stepped away from the door in invitation but said gently, "I know you're not looking forward to the next book. If I could pay Connor to steal it away and stop this, I would."

Nico found himself hesitating now, but all that came out was the odd comment, "you talk about Connor a lot."

Will shrugged that off like he seemed to everything. "Kind of have a crush on him, and Katie Gardner too, but they're dating each other so sorry if it comes out wrong. I'll try to stop bringing it up." Will bit his sun-chapped lips at the end and gave him a funny look he didn't know what to call.

Nico stared. He'd never imagined a guy could say something like that so casually in his life. He'd seen men displaying affection for each other on the streets during his travels, sometimes with horrible commentary from other passersby on the street, sometimes without a second glance. He had no idea which and when in this culture it would be taken, but it was strangely nice if Will could say it so off-hand, maybe he just hadn't been at camp long enough to find out. "No, um, just, I just noticed."

Will squatted, then lounged out on the crumbling balcony and now looked up at him, an oddly vulnerable position as he gestured back to the stairwell. "Nobody in there is going to judge you for what comes next Nico, we've all got our secrets."

"Not for long," he bitterly reminded. Percy may fling him out of the ocean when he found out he'd been hiding away who his dad was, Jason and those Norse kids might too. Will was just too nice to know better apparently, naïve enough to blindly trust him. He didn't know Thalia's score, maybe pity as she might understand why he wouldn't go parading the fact.

And when he finally heard in vivid detail what had really happened to Bianca, he might wish for it...

"Your sister is a hero," Will whispered gently as if reading his thoughts. "You take after her. You've done nothing wrong, Nico, by not sharing every detail of your life. Nobody held a grudge against Jason or Alex for not sharing their vulnerabilities the second they showed up in here."

"You don't know the half of it," Nico scoffed, but it came out a bit watery, and it had nothing to do with the ocean. Hades had betrayed his trust once and Percy had blamed that on him, Pan hadn't given him a second glance in his last words, Minos had tricked and manipulated him for months. Before, he'd felt the need to do something irrefutably good to maybe someday impress Percy, but even that notion was withering away. He didn't know why he still didn't tell Will about Gaea's rising, maybe because he was afraid the Son of Apollo would try to talk him out of it.

"And I won't if you don't want me to," Will shrugged while Nico did a double take.

"How?" Now studying the blonde and waiting for the trick.

"Oceanus isn't sitting on top of us making us all be there, it just seems a common courtesy," he reminded with a wave of his hand. "I don't even think I was supposed to be brought here, probably an accident like those Norse kids. If you want one person Nico, who doesn't know every single thing you've done printed out and still trusts you, I'll leave the room whenever you ask, no questions."

Something so warm and unfamiliar flooded through Nico, he decided he should sit down too as light-headed as he was. "Thank you," he murmured, his hands felt oddly heavy in his lap, a weight settling on his back that had nothing to do with the responsibility he felt hearing the whispers of the dead and coming horrors, it was a different kind. The pressure seemed less in fact, like he'd only just now noticed it lighten now it was gone.

There were no lights in the gloom below, no passage of time to speak of. They sat together in silence for an untold time until they both mutually got up at once and went off to beds.

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Here I am, being a liar by once again ending dramatically on Nico and Will. I swear I don't try to play favorites on purpose. I'm sure you're all so disappointed.

I'll start the next book around early June, see you all then!

[pawnshopsouls]

Event: Taken, Dead or Alive! — Orphaned Ghost Quests!

With the trouncing of the Pinstriped Taken, it seems the Orphaned Ghosts have come out of hiding to help bring the rest of Taken and bring their Guardians home!

Send an ask to one of the three Orphaned Ghosts for a task and get an Event Clue for the Taken Guardians!

Titan Ghost: Clay

“Hey! You’re one of the guardians looking to help us get our Guardians back right? Well, we’ve got some leads that might be worth looking into! I’m Clay and these are my companions and Compatriots Lunos and Vermilion. They’re... also orphaned ghosts. Lunos is partnered with a warlock who had a thing for engrams. So if you help him, chances are he’ll give or decrypt those for ya.

“Vermilion, on the other hand, is a Hunter’s ghost and knows a whole lot about the cartography of places and where all the best loot caches are. Help her out and you’ll be rolling in the stuff!

“Me? I’m uh, I’m a resource gatherer! I get stuff so Lunos, Vermilion, have something to trade for guardians’ help. You can’t get something for nothing you know, even in the Vanguard. But if you’re doing stuff for information, I’m your guy. My pal Klein always wanted to know what he was heading into before he jumped in and I’m willing to do the same info-runs if you’re up for it.

“Either way though, so long as we stand together and do our part, we’ll DEFINITELY be able to defeat those Taken and get our guardians back!”

Info Quest: Lore Hide and Seek!

Warlock Ghost: Lunos

"Look, I’m not a good talker so I’ll keep this short. The Taken took my warlock and we’re going to take them back. I have supplies, a ship, and armor we can use to get them back but you’re going to have to do the work. Get me results and I’ll get you your stuff. Even better if you bring me Engrams. Rahool isn’t the only one who can decrypt those things and by the end of this, I’ll have my guardian and you’ll have a whole new treasure trove to work out. But first, the guardian.”

Decode an Engram: Crack a cypher!

Hunter Ghost: Vermilion

“Oh! Hey, hi! I’m Vermilion and if you’re here to help, then I have a job for you! Ah, yeah I know Ghosts don’t usually give bounties but at this point I’m desperate. If you can help me get my guardian back, I’ve got bounties. She’s a hunter and was really great at what she did before she was turned into a Taken. Now she’s causing problems all over the place and I want you to help stop her and maybe bring her back so I can try to fix whatever that pinstriped pin-up did to her. I’ve got enough glimmer and the locations of some pretty sweet weapons and gear caches, but that’s only if you help me get my guardian back. Help me get her back and the whole thing’s yours. Deal?”

Cache Hunter: Location finder!