#That was after she had defeated the demon king. Why would they want the mage from the hero party dead?

[gentrychild]

Someone wants my girl dead. :(

[dunmeshi-darlings]

Hello

Can I request a laios x reader, with the reader as laios ex-fiance, since their arrangements was broken off when he ran away without explanation reader have been sad and mad about it. But then someday laios mother told reader about laios become a new king after defeating a demon, reader decided to go there, because reader want to know why he ran away

I'm sorry if this is difficult to understand, English is not my first language, thank youuu

Oh you got no need to apologize its all ok. i understand what you meant. id be happy to do this. thank you so much for sending an imagine in.

Even though its been many years since laios cut off the arrangement and disappeared you still found yourself getting upset at him. He just cancelled it all and ran off to not be heard from again.

Of course over the years that anger and frustration faded greatly but every so often your mind would wander and you would feel your cheeks heat up at the thought of being abandoned like that. but over all you figure it was probably for the best anyway, you dont mind your life and that touden was always...strange to say the least even if he was a looker.

One day though as you are going about your day when laios mother approaches you, asking if she can come in. You agree and let her inside, despite your feelings about laios you had no bad blood with her. you get the both of you some tea as she starts speaking. "Did you hear about the rise of the golden kingdom?" she asks, you nod and say of course you had. it had been the talk of the entire world ever since it rose up out of the sea, seemingly out of nowhere one day. Apparently some group of adventurers defeated the mad mage and seemed like those rumors about becoming the new leader of it was true. You say casually as you take a sip of some tea. "yeah well apparently Laios was the one that defeated the mage and rules the golden kingdom now." she says so casually causing you to spit all the tea you were drinking out, shouting in confusion you ask her if you heard that right? she nods and explains what she had been told from letters from falin, you knew that falin had stayed in touch with there parents but laios had apparently cut them off a decade ago much to your surprise.

You decide to pay a visit, you feel like you almost HAVE to. you need to know why he just left you like that, why he did what he did all those years ago. It took you a bit to get to the new golden kingdom, laios definitely had travelled a far distance since your last time you saw him. By the time you reach the kingdom a full month has passed, you ask the guards to message the king telling him that "Y/N from his arranged marriage wanted to see him." of course you werent sure he would even respond, i mean why would he. he didnt want to marry you obviously so why should he care about seeing you, especially now that he is a KING of all things. However you were surprised when the guard came back and agreed to take you to the king.

When you entered you saw him sitting on a throne. To his left you see a young elf woman with twin braids beside him, This must have been his royal advisor maybe? you werent sure. However you did notice his sister beside her chatting with her...except she was different, she wasnt a tall man anymore..atleast not fully. you noticed a plume of fluffy white feathers poking out of the opening on her chest and down her arms. It was clear she had been changed by some form of magic.

As you walk closer laios asks if everyone can leave the room for a moment, he wants to talk privately with you as they agree and leave leaving only you and him. "So Y/N, how have things been?" He asks awkwardly, its clear he is uncomftorable and doesnt know what to say. You had thought of the things you would say to him for years now, over and over you had gone over in your head what you were going to say to the man that just up and left you like that. you would be furious and scream, sob and cry, all the words you planned to say just dissapear and all you can say is a single word. "why.."

He sighs as he rubs his neck and begins to explain, He tells you how he had began to despise his parents for how they let falin be treated, and how instead of supporting her and her talents they sent her away to the magic school on a different continent. He had grown to hate his parents (more so his father but he had no fond feelings towards his mother either) even though falin kept in contact with them. He also explained how he never felt comfortable around people, that he had always felt more comfortable around monsters...and that in truth he hated people. Plus he admits he wasnt the richest person in the world so would have been able to give you a proper dowry. All of these together made him feel like he wouldnt have been able to give you the life you deserved, he didnt want you to be stuck with a man that hated everyone around him and hated where he lived and wanted to leave and get as far away as he could. He figured that wasnt fair to you, and he didnt know how to properly convey this and let you down easily so...he ran.

The weight of his words hit you harder than you expected...all this time you thought he just didnt like you or hated you ever, or he didnt care about you at all. All this time you hated him for what he did and that you swore you would get answers one day...but these werent the answers you were expected. It would have been so easy to continue to be mad at him, if he said he just didnt like you or hated you that would have been fine..you expected it at this point, but no...he did this because he didnt want to subject you to a miserable life with him..he knew you would be miserable with him if he had stayed there and he didnt want to put you through that...god this was so much harder than you were expecting. "You know....now that im king of the golden kingdom money isnt an issue..and ive made sure the kingdom is a kind place that treats everyone with kindness." you see him slump down a bit. "and since monsters come nowhere near the kingdom...if you want, we can get to know each other better..and see how we feel about each other then?" he says softly, damn that man he was a looker. you sigh, almost relieved its turned out that way. saying you would like that

[hermitcraftheadcanons]

Skizzekai- First Few Days Summary

Now that the asks have calmed down a bit, and hermits have been established, here's a summary post to get a general idea of where we're working from. I've also cleaned up any plotholes best I can.

Skizz, a human from Earth, was summoned to this fantasy world by god-king Joel. A prophecy stated he would defeat a great evil. It did not explain how. He keeps a journal to help him figure things out and keep track of everything.

Over his adventures so far, Skizz has made both allies and enemies, and picked up a magical necklace from travelling merchants. His suit also picked up durability enchantments somewhere, but only after the sleeves came off. The necklace was made for mages, gathering and focusing ambient magic for their use. It was not designed for a creature with no magic of their own.

He probably wouldn't have stayed human either way, but the necklace certainly sped it up. He's adapted to the world, become able to use it's magic, and dragonfly wings have begun to sprout from his back.

This could be concerning. But Skizz finds he loves his wings, his adaptation to the world that is gradually becoming his home. He embraces it. Maybe he really does belong here. Maybe soon he'll even be able to fly.

Joel, the ruler of the lore kingdom and recently ascended god, was originally an ogre- but after the belief of his people sent him through a few transformations, he's settled into his divine status. He can look however he wants now! But an ogre form is still most natural to him. Just a really tall and handsome ogre.

Skizz finds quick allies in Tango, Impulse, and Zed. Tango is a being of fire, with strong flame magic connected to his emotions. He is also in possession of a magical deck of cards. Zedaph, apprentice of Death Himself, joined their group after bringing Skizz back from the dead. He insisted on the completion of some difficult tasks first, but now they're buddies! He's also capable of reality distortion magic, knows alchemy, and has a card of luck magic Tango gave him. Everyone is terrified of Zedaph. Probably for good reason.

Impulse.... may not have intended to become an ally. The demonic man used to work for the forces of evil- before Skizz showed up, and his doubts became a true betrayal to join the side of good. They became fast friends. He doesn't want Skizz to become lost like the last hero was.

That last hero is one Gemini Tay, human-turned-Drowned, who was summoned a few years back, and is not happy about Skizz. It's like she's not even needed anymore. She puts a bounty on Skizz's head. She cannot accept her failure.

Chasing that bounty is False, harpy and former pirate queen. She may have had to leave her crew after that deal lead to a mild case of possession, but she still appreciates some good treasure. That's why she's been working as a travelling merchant.

Her fellow merchants, Cub and Scar, are equally possessed but not quite as motivated. They mostly just like messing with people. Including Skizz. Maybe especially Skizz. They are fae, after all.

Skizz did have one unfortunate interaction with them- he got his name taken for a bit. Fortunately, after returning Scar's cat familiar to him, the name was given back.

Gem isn't the only former human in this world. Joe Hills, a half-ghost living in the republic of the undead, was summoned from Nashville a while back, and befriended Prime Minister Cleo along the way.

Cleo's republic was once a kingdom, run by Ren, but as soon as she got the throne she declared the monarchy over. She got voted in, and Ren is her second in command. Together they run the place, maintaining the army of constructs and fighting back against the sculk creeping into the tunnels.

Most humans that end up in this world don't tend to stay human long. The ambient magic eventually soaks in and alters them, and most embrace it. The changes are a new beginning, or a sign of belonging in this strange world. But Hypno did not embrace it.

No, Hypno was the human half of a changeling deal, and has been clinging to his humanity for quite a while. He's even gotten hold of an artifact, somehow, that pushes the ambient magic out of his body, keeping him human. His friend, Jevin, is a slime guy who enjoys being a slime guy, and doesn't understand this drive to stay human one bit. Magic is cool.

Other hermits that I couldn't neatly tie into the one ramble:

Wels is a selkie proficient in bard magic, and a former member of False's crew.

Stress is a fae queen who rules a kingdom specializing in ice magic, with Iskall as her loyal bodyguard.

TFC is a miner of unknown species who helped Skizz out during a quest

Mumbo is not a vampire, thank you very much. He's actually the former god of the night who lost half his power. Vampires were made from that stolen half.

Pearl is a moth fae who used to rule a prosperous kingdom... until a talking dog came to advise her, corrupting her into a cruel and evil queen. She has since slain the beast, fled into exile, and changed her ways. She now works delivering mail.

Etho and Bdubs are plant constructs, guarding a deep and dangerous jungle. Etho may have a metallic shell, but he's all plant inside. Doc and Beef guard the jungle as well, the four of them ensuring safe passage for travellers. Doc in particular has the ability to become absolutely gigantic.

Xisuma was a bubbling puddle of nothing that became a person and sustains itself on bones. Far too many bones. Bones in places they really should not be, such as outside the skin.

Keralis is a unicorn! He is also a menace who is very protective of his magic, refusing to use it unless he feels like it. Claims to be able to read the value of souls. Bothers xB by calling him the princess of the lake. xB is not a princess.

Grian is... something. He's strange, is what he is. He's a nice guy, and helpful to Skizz, but has these weird mutterings about "watchers", and what was that about accidentally stealing Mumbo's power?

And that's the AU so far! It's still going, so send in more ideas when you have them. Happy headcanoning!

[alexeiadrae]

Mega Brand Q&A with Hajime Kanzaka 7/2013 to 11/2013, translated

It looks like these were missed, and there are a few from 2012 and 2011 as well that I will post tomorrow hopefully, and then there are a few months where none of the questions related to Slayers but random stuff like what sort of foods HK likes and if someone else wants to tackle those, be my guest :-)

As for this one, find out how Lina started fighting bandits! Good material for a fanfic if I ever get around to tackling her origins, lol.

11/2013 

No Slayers stuff. Check out the link in the date if you like.

10/2013 

Q: I was listening to the second episode of the returning Slayers EX.2, "The Zelgadis Remodeling Project," and I was thinking. I have a feeling that by adding the idea of making a copy of Zel and the idea of adding human elements to Zel, and then adding a copy of Zel (the human part) to Zel, I can get 99.9% of Zel's body. Is this an evil method? When I first heard about this, I thought Lina was going to suggest this method. ......

KANZAKA: "The first problem is whether it is technically possible to make a copy of only the human part of Zel, and even if it were possible, it would not be possible to make a copy of only the human part of Zel. Even if it were possible, Zel, who would be as close to human as possible, would have to wonder, "Am I the original Zelgadis or the copied Zelgadis?

Q: In "The Ghosts of Sairaag," why was Eris, pretending to be a bounty hunter, persistently chasing after Zel when her number one objective was Lina? If she knew that Lina, Gourry, and Zel were going to gather in Sairaag, wouldn't it have been better to wait for them in Sairaag with Copy Rezo? Or was it that Eris was more recognized by Rezo for her magic than Zel, but her name wasn't as well known?

She defeated Lina Inverse, who defeated the Red Priest, and even Zelgadis the White (of the actual force)!" Was this to add even more glory to her name?

KANZAKA: "As for Eris, she was ultimately going to take revenge on all the members who killed Rezo. I think she decided to go after Zel who 'betrayed Rezo' first."

Q: Don't gods create subordinates like demons? "Or can't they?"

KANZAKA: This is the same as demons, it depends on their personality. When Ceifeed was about to perish, he hurriedly created four dragon kings as a countermeasure, but. However, each of them does not seem to be creating their own tribes at present. However, some of the other god clans in other worlds may have mass-produced their own subordinates.

9/2013 

Q: In Slayers vs. Orphen, Naga hides her identity from Amelia, because she doesn't want her family to know she's dressed like that? I heard that her mother hid it too.

KANZAKA: "As for Naga, I think he wanted to hide his true identity. The reason for that is that Naga thinks 'it's cooler that way.'"

Q: Is Dynast still diminished in strength? Or will it recover with time?

KANZAKA: "I think he will regain some power after a long, long time."

Q: Lina was getting a lot of suspicion from the Mage Church for her report about the incident with Fibrizo. I think Amelia is royalty and I think she is very trustworthy. If it wasn't accepted, I think Lina would have gone ballistic.

KANZAKA: "In the first place, at that time, the existence of the Demon King and his accomplices was not confirmed by the Sorcerers Guild. Even if they reported that they had defeated an unidentified one, they would not have thought of a way to confirm it. They probably just thought that they had defeated the first monster that was deceiving them about the name of the big demon tribe."

08/2013 

The first question is about a new Gundam movie and whether HK plans to see it, which he does. It’s long and I don’t feel like spending time on it, lol. Feel free to check out the link on the date if you do though!

Q: I heard that Luke was able to use the art of storing spells in objects when he met Lina, but if that is the case, did Luke create the sword that he used at first to activate the magical wind and the Sword of Absorption (Sticky Sword)? It's hard to imagine that he happen to own a number of swords that resemble Luke's fighting style to that extent.

KANZAKA: "To some extent, they were acquired by chance. It's more like Luke adjusted his spells in response."

Q: When Rezo said, "Do you want some help?” if Zel had said to Rezo, "No, I don’t need your help."  Would Rezo have given up and looked for someone else, and Zel would have continued to lead an ordinary life in human form, never meeting Lina and the others or fighting the Demon King?

KANZAKA: "As for Rezo, I think he would have created a situation where Zel could have easily said, 'Yes' but I don't think he completely forced him to do so. The reason for this is not because they are relatives, but because Rezo himself is not the type to completely force himself on anyone."

07/2013 

Q: Do you think Gourry of Slayers has love for his hometown?

KANZAKA: "Of course he is nostalgic for his hometown as much as anyone else, but I don't think he has reached the level of love for his hometown.（He may have disliked his own home (because of the family feud over the Sword of Light), but I don't think he even disliked the land where he lived."

Q: What did Zel think of his hair that grew to the same side as Rezo's?

KANZAKA: "He must have thought it was a great hindrance when he was working in forested areas."

Q: Lina is well known throughout the world as the "Bandit Killer," but she started her journey at the age of 13, and was 15 when she met Gourry. The fact that the name "Bandit Killer" was already well-known during the Specials period means that she started being called "Bandit Killer" rather soon after she started her travels. What was it that made Lina start bullying bandits? Also, being a genius mage alone, was Lina able to fight her first real battle with ease?

KANZAKA: "Let's put aside age: ...... At first, she was just going to take a request as a normal job and head out to exterminate bandits. (But she must have gotten a taste for it because it was more efficient (defeating bandits and collecting their treasures) than receiving a reward for doing the job.)

By the way, my impression at the first battle was, 'Oh, this is much easier than dealing with my sister.’

[thessaliah]

Could you please summarize Pepe’s backstory when you get to it? ;_; (i think it was in section 8-9)

When I read your ask I was scared because I assumed Pepe would get flashbacks (flashbacks = instant deathflags), but is not flashbacks, but actually just told info-dump. I think we’re safe for now. So that was a huge relief! I finished this part recently, so I can talk about it while it's fresh. The scene if in Act 9, after you battle the Golems in Count Peperon's (Pepe's new alias) land. It's Fake Vinci who takes the initiative to ask Pepe about their past. Cut for spoilers:

According to Fake Vinci, Pepe is someone the Mage Association hired to do all their dirty jobs (so a mercenary like Kiritsugu). Marisbury found them and had Pepe join the Celestial Bodies Faculty before transferring them into Chaldea. The previous life outside that is blank. After pushing a bit, Pepe agrees to tell her about the past. It doesn't exist because there's no record. They “cleaned up” everything before leaving Japan. Clean-up means that they killed everyone in their family and left no traces behind at all, as Fake Vinci realizes and asks their reasons.

So a bit of backstory (which Pepe clarifies is not a very interesting tale of a man called Myorenji Arou), Pepe's a descendant of the founder in a clan that practices a Tengudō 「天狗道」 branch of Shugendō 「修験道」. Their philosophy is to be as evil and fall as a tengu or something like that. The founder of the Myorenji Temple was a special one-generation magus who developed a unique circuit he couldn't pass on to his descendants. He had fallen into "Tengu Path" and contracted a mountain "Demon King" 「魔王尊」 but also trained his body to be superhuman without needing this power. Despite not inherited this, the clan continued and keeping up this practice of kidnapping the children of villages and the outside world to subject them to their training. Something they could do easily in the past. Pepe isn't very detailed about the training, but it sounded like was not different from child soldiers' gruesome routines. If those kids failed their training, they were throw away from the mountain (to their deaths being quite clear), and you got locked up even if you succeeded. Horrible people overall whose philosophy was to be evil.

In the beginning, the family regarded Myorenji as a rare genius. Because (as Pepe clarifies later), Myorenji mastered three of the six Abhijñā when they were ten years old, and only by achieving one was considered a tengu (they are described in LB4 already, so check out that to know the names and effects). But Myorenji had no interest in evil or family duty, rather liked beauty and just wanted to be themselves, so they were "excommunicated" (Pepe does not detail what that implies in some child kidnapping and murdering cult). Anyway, because they were hopeless in general, Myorenji killed them all before leaving the mountain and Japan. Pepe adds that because they were blood-related to them that they had to eliminate them. If they were strangers, they could have ignored them, but because they weren't, they had to "take full responsibility." In this Pepe concludes that is why they could cooperate with Chaldea so many times. They are someone who prioritizes beauty/cleanliness (however you want to translate it) over feelings as a family member or Crypter. After hearing all this, Fake Vinci comments that Pepe is a stronger person than she had assumed they were. Pepe asks her not to share this with anyone.

I clarify that, unlike their family, Pepe is fond and has a personal attachment to the Crypters (as noted in LB4, he can't leave them). They remind Chaldea they are cooperating to defeat Beryl. However, they still will be their enemy and a Crypter because Daybit is still around, so their loyalty is naturally to him first. Of course, this  goes unsaid, but it also means that if Daybit does not quarrel with Chaldea, Pepe will fully become an ally if they survive this Lostbelt. Bonus in this aspect for Pepe fans, Fake Vinci, when she asks about their past, ignores Pepe's attempts to be the shrewd, potential foe that she shouldn't trust, and calls them blatantly 「仲間」 aka nakama, so of course she wants to learn about them!

[nextwarden]

Webtoons are good for the soul [Long post] [but worth it] [hopefully]

Bit of a long one (for a change...), sorry.

I haven’t read that many that’s a lie but here are my favs!

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe [ongoing - every Sunday]

or when Hades met Persephone. It’s a love story, fluffy yet deep and sad at times. Very well told and with incredible art (as you can see from the cover ci-dessus), in a pastel/watercolour fluid style, as is the storytelling. It has compelling characters, character growth, love, funny moments, and basically the best you could ask from a romantic story. And it had enough material to get you through good number of hours of reading before you have to break down every sunday in wait of the following week like the rest of us.

mah-hart-mah-sole/10

Love Advice From the Great Duke of Hell by unfins [ongoing - every Friday]

Paul is in love with a cute girl who works in a café nearby. But Paul is shy and can’t work out how to go ask her out. So Paul does what anyone would do and summons one of the Great Dukes of Hell in order to get better at fumbling his sentences and blushing at beautiful maidens. It’s about discovery of one’s true self and how getting deep into shenanigans will lead you to find so much more. Also, sister. (You’ll understand when you get there.)

It’s funny but also compelling and serious but still incredibly funny. I don’t think I’ve laughed as much reading any other webtoon and yet the story is also really cool. It strikes a perfect balance, or near perfect. The expressions and the action scenes are just incredible too.

chenandeler bong/10

Suitor Armor by Purpah [ongoing - every Friday]

In a land with magic and war between humans and fairies, Lucia is the princess’s lady in waiting and her only goal in life at the moment is to get her Lady to have the wedding she wishes for and deserves. But then she gets a flower from a magic armor and everything changes. Also, she’s a fairy.

It’s well drawn, characters all seem unique, varied and personnality-driven. The art style is beautiful. It’s also deeper than what I expected, with inklings of different types and levels of drama.

Alright, I’ll say it, it feels like a ‘promising new Lore Olympus’. By which I mean not to compare but simply to say I felt as taken by the story as I did with L.O.

Modeus/10

Facing the Sun by ArtbyTesslyn [ongoing]

Aarya reaserches the intricacies of dobotics and artificial intelligence with her companion robot Liza who's expiration is long everdue. Things change with a hardware update. One can’t live without the other, and neither can the other.

It’s dark but beautiful, both in the art and in the story. The sci-fi elements aren’t overwhelming and pieces of lore bring begin to pain a picture over time. It’s a slow burn but oh lord! if it isn’t going to be blazing hot...

I Robot/10

Spellbound by Ronce [ongoing]

Eglantine joins a new highschool midyear and finds herself paired with a refractarian roommate. She does her best to fit in to her new school despite not conforming to all the expectations that others might have of her. Or of her strange but likeable roommate.

It’s a cute and queer little romance, very underrated in my opinion. The art is wonderful, it’s black and white in the beginning and starts having touches of colour here and there before going full blown coloured, and I didn’t even realize it had until many chapters into it... The characters all all diverse and interesting. Also did I forget to say it’s set in France and it’s a wizarding school? Because it is!

conseiller principal d’éducation/10

180 Angel by King Katbird [ongoing]

Chloe is an angel, she lives in Heaven and goes to school in the hopes of becoming a delivery angel one day! However her plan are compromised by her inability to do anything well except halo manipulation. Even flying is not easy for her. But a fateful meeting with a reaper sends her on a trip to Hell and back which changes her. Or is it that she had always been different?

It may not seem much from the banner but I tried it and I got hooke. The art is great and still improves over time, the plot takes a bit of time to set in - I’m still not sure it’s fully set in yet - but it’s worth it, and the characters are visually deep. It sometimes jumps weirdly between scenes or sequences but not so much it completely loses you.

LAMP/10

Letters on the Wall by JaelynGs [ongoing]

Tara comes back fom spain after a five years abroad to find things have changed and others haven’t, to her equal pleasure and dismay. This is how she and her friends deal with these old relatioships that they are now reviving.

Everything doesn’t go smoothly despite each and every character deserving them to. The art is good to begin with and manages to improve over time, as well as the storytelling. Where it might have been a bit hectic before, it smoothes over time. It was for the longest time the only reason I would stalk Webtoons everyday to see if there was any updates. Also each chapter has a colour in the name and that’s just cool!

If Da Yomanville Gang [see below] got me to come to Webtoons, this sealed the deal for me to stay. [And then there was Lore Olympus.]/10

Not So Shoujo Love Story by Curryuku [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Rei Chan-chan loves Hansum, the chin chin chinny goodest looking student, more than she loves her shoujo manga. But gorgeous Hannah is in her way and won’t seem to let her get her way with him. Why is that? Well, gaybe there’s a secret hidden behind her motives? Read it to find out...

It’s funny, it’s cute, and it’s so, so stupid. I love them all. It’s dumb but so much fun to read. There aren’t that many chapters yet but enough to get into it. Also, sisters. (You’ll understand when you get there. Bis) So this is what the spring of youth feels like, huh...

chips/10

Always Human by walkingnorth [completed]

Sunati, a young engineer in training, fan of all those mods you can add to change your appearance, meets Austen, a beautiful yet modless girl who she’s been admiring from afar for a while now. She thinks the girl’s beautiful, but sdly she’s refused when she asks her out on a date, and for rather good reasons.

Now watch as they gravitate around each other and how it influences them both.

It’s a slow-burn quite realistic lesbian sci-fi story about finding love and accepting oneself and others in the midst of life and all it brings upon us. It’s cute, it’s fluffy, and it’s heartwarming despite broaching serious subjects - in a good way -, and it’s finished so you can read the whole thing! (It has enough chapters to give you a few hours of reading)

hay fever sucks/10

Da Yomanville Gang by Jason King [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Layla moved recently, to get away from a dose of angst she didn’t want to have to deal with. She meets new people, fun and friendly people, but it seems the angst can’t quite seem to leave her alone. Alone is what she’s not to deal with it anymore, however.

This is the one, long before Lore Olympus, which brought bme over to Webtoons. It’s not the best drawn, not the most compelling, but the strong point and what made me love it - beyond Layla’s chara design - is the depth of most of the characters, how not all good is good and all bad is bad, and reality often lies in the middle - and how they evolve over the course of the story. Definitely worth a read.

wheelbarrow/10

Love Bot by Chase Keels and Miranda Mundt [ongoing - every Sunday]

In the near future - the year is (Blade Runner) 2049 - technology has advanced enough to creat pseudo-artificial intelligence and thus lovebots. Xada mods and repairs those emotionnaly intelligent robots for a living. What brings this story about is him toying with a less-than-friendly client’s bot so much so that he finds himself in quite a pickle when the bot ‘wakes up’.

It seems to be BL. Let it be BL, please! The art is very nice, the story feels dark but the pitch give way to many interesting possibilities, and, well, the characters are quite nice to look at, I’ll admit... Also, angst. I don’t always enjoy it but when I do, I do.

Not many chapters but it’s getting there.

i’ll let you bot my love/10

Mage & Demon Queen by Color_LES [ongoing - every Thusday]

Malori is the best and the most promising mage student at her school. Aided by Cerik, her best friend and swordsman party member, she attempts to conquer the last floor of the demon tower, reigned over by the ferocious Velverosa, the demon queen, whose defeat will bring glory and richess to those who defeat her. But all is not quite as it seems and, what is that, might it be a crush I see over there? Oh, wait, no, that’s just our protagonist getting squished by the weight of her love...

Once again, it’s fun and stupid (a pattern? noooo) but it’s worth a read.

LES/10

Down to Earth by Pookie Senpai [ongoing - every Tuesday]

Kade live alone and depressed in spite of fleeting relatioships since his big breakup, content with simply going by life while he works in retail. One day, an alien crashes into his backyard. Zaida’s an alien but she’s cute, seems innocent, is unfamiliar with everything, so he agrees to help. Thus begins a slice of life story of them roommating in his appartment until, maybe, one of them crashes into the other’s heart?

It’s cute, heartwarming, and I sort f relate with the main character. Although I don’t know if’d prefer a cute alien, a dragon or a stalking neighbour... [that’s an inside joke, I’ll explain if I ever make a list of the good yamete onii-chan! I’ve been reading] It’s a slow burn with enough depth to hook you up. Some characters are still uncertain in my eyes but that makes me curious.

loner/10

The Remarried Empress by Alphatart / Sumpul [ongoing - every Wednesday and Sunday]

Navier Ellie Trovi is an empress. Perfect and perfectly content in every way with her life until the day a mistress enters her husband’s life. Things sort of go downhill from there. Or do they? For she also learns about herself and what she might actually want out of life to be happy. Breaking the status quo might be the way.

It feels like one of those poor quality isekai comics or manga in which the MC is brought back to a time where she has the power to change her life and decides for emancipation and revenge, but it’s not. It’s more ‘yolo’ and had interesting characters, especially the MC - no pushover - and a slow-burn plot. Don’t expect to see the flash-forward in the first chapter quite yet, but come to experience the whole affaire in detail and in the most satisfying of ways! Also the art is cool!

divorce/10

Muted by Miranda Mundt [ongoing - every Friday]

On her 21st birthday, Camille fails the ritual to become a full-fledged witch and is isolated from what remains of her old and successful family. This leads to her discovering truths about herself and her powers that will change her and those around her.

By the same author as Love Bot. I haven’t read the whole thing yet but the designs are good, the plot is interesting, the characters have depth and personnality, it has witches, magic, romance [I guess, still unsure of the details though], a bit of angst, and it’s set in Louisianna. All good points.

plant magic/10

Cursed Princess Club by LambCat [ongoing - every Monday]

Gwendolyn and her sisters, each a princess in their own right, are set to be betrothed to three princes of a neighbouring country after living all their lives happy and sheltered with their father and brother. Unfortunately, Gwendolyn is not like her sisters - and brother, for that matter - in that her beauty is... less than conventionnal. Devastated by what outsiders think of her she escapes into the forest and meets kindred spirits in the form of the Cursed Princess Club - non-gendered, they also have that one prince there! - and it might just help her grow into the confident woman she is destined to become.

I clicked for the funny hahas ‘because she’s ugly’ and cursed princess trope, I stayed for the genuine laughs and smiles and the heartwarming good nature of most of te characters. Also, haha, funny characters are funny. So, yeah, I started this with a bias - still haven’t caught up yet - and have been seduced by this lesser known webtoon. Don’t let the visuals fool you, it’s really good!

respect wahmen/10

Andy Bass by KenneDuck / Gia [ongoing - every Friday]

Andy Bass is our average highschool girl. Litterally. She’s half human, half fish, a real mermaid but vertically. That leads to less-than-friendly looks and reactions from others. However, the arrival of a new, and frankly very cute, transfer student might change all that.

Haven’t read it all yet, not that there are many chapters out, but it feel fun and promising. Also, physically imperfect characters are best characters. Down with the reign of beauty and up with 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔪!

Chin Hansum 2.0/10

For the Sake of Sita by Haga [completed]

A medical student passionately falls in love with a fallen goddess during his volunteer abroad in Nepal, and he desperately tries to fight off destiny to save his love. [the actual summary]

Okay, I’ll be honest: I haven’t quite read that one yet. I’m guilty of only having looked at the beginning and the end to see if it seemed worth it and, oh my gorsh! it does. The art is beautiful, the story seems sad yet beautiful too (I had tears reading the last chapters without knowing much of the rest) and it’s short, so jump on it!

[I’ll probably come back to that later when I’ve actually read it completely]/10

Us Right Now by yurineseventeen [ongoing]

Rina's long-term girlfriend, Noa, decides to run away from home. Rina has limited time to find her.

Not much more to say other than it’s sweet and it feels real. I like the beginning, haven’t read the rest yet, but will definitely soon.

keep going/10

New Normal: Class 8 by Youngpaka [ongoing - every Sunday]

Dongwoon has a big head. It does not make life easy. But what if he wasn’t alone being so... different? He discovers it is the case when he joins his new school a special class full of people who are different. Things get weird fast but also better and fun.

I haven’t read this in a long time, it’s on my list though. But until the moment I stopped at least, it was fun, funny, and interesting. It’s slice-of-life comedy, often ligthearted and stupid, sometimes more serious, but globally a pleasure to read.

sensei/10

The Witch and The Bull by Moonsia [ongoing - every Thursday]

Tan's job as the King's royal advisor has nothing to do with his hatred for witches, but it does make him a prime target for a curse that turns him into a BULL! The only way to undo this hex is to rely on the beautiful witch, Aro. Can her kindness turn his feelings around, and break this spell? [the actual summary]

There are two bulls and they have to ask it questions to know which is the real bull? I dunno, I haven’t read this one... But it’s been recommnded by @berigolote​ so it’s worth a try I guess? She did recommend Lore Olympus to me, so it’s on my list anyway.

to try/10

The Right Knight and Our Days in Lumain by buttersphere [completed & ongoing]

A fun short comic about a play on the ‘knight comes to fight dragon to save princess in her tower’ trope and it’s sequel. The sequel is not finished yet (seems on hiatus) but they are worth the read for cute, funny, fluffy knight and dragon/witch romance and grumpy princesses.

need more/10

NetOL by Forever9Nine [completed]

A slice of life comic about a veeery shy cat-girl (not literally) falling in love with a warm-tempered bookshop employee ( and NOT her colleague), and all the shenanigans that ensue. It’s short, it’s fun, and it’s cute. What more to ask?

oh wow sports/10

Susuhara is a Demon by Soya S. Holm [ongoing]

The usual romance storyof perfectly perfect girl meets absolutely bazongers delinquent and reluctantly carries her unconscious ass to her appartment to help her after witnessing a gang fight between multiple idiots and her (future) idiot and saving her from a knife attack by bashing the last standing dude with a wooden shop sign. Legend says there’s a demon in K-city, I still am unsure of whom it might be.

fun/10

It Stems From Love by Soya S. Holm [competed]

A short story about a girl who loves flowers and finds herself unexpectedly coughing them up dramatically whenever she’s jealous of those around her crush. It’s short, it’s cute, a bit dark at times, but definitely worth a read!

bouquet final/10

Lesbiampires by fabarts [ongoing]

So, yeah, lesbian vampires. Nuffin’ ta add.

Well, anyway, it’s cute, it’s funny, it’s serious too, it makes me root for antihero type characters who actually murder people for fun (but in a fun and respectful way, I swear!) because, well, love./10

Perfect Harmony by bluebloodtanuki [ongoing]

An Overwatch fan-comic about Symmetra and her disaster roommates.

I don’t play Overatch but I like the lore and got dragged into fanfiction and shipping (by myself, mind you), so a fan-comic about similar dynamics AND it’s funny? Gimme.

Roadhog & Junkrat best duo/10

Love Doesn’t Talk by Ann [completed?]

A misunderstanding is fine. Two? Hmmm. Three? Surely that’s fate, no?

A cute love story unfolding before your eyes with no dialogue, only pretty pictures. I’m not actually sure it’s completed but even if it isn’t, the ending doesn’t feel disappointing in the least.

no words/10

AntiSTALKER by VOKIVORMOK [ongoing - every Thursday]

Humans, vampires and werewolves all cohabitate in this freaky highschool, despite tensions between the three races. A bittersweet yet fun love story between a fake stalker and his amnesiac prey...

Eugene wants Kira’s heart, she wants his head.

who?/10

Kiss It Goodbye by Ticcytx [ongoing]

Two lesbians in love recount to their drunk friends the story of how they met. It’s fun and cute, both in story and in art.

delinquent x prim&proper/10

Avril and the Divine Being by Charlie Genmor [ongoing]

Avril is a waitress, Cat is a reccuring client. Feeling blossom before they even exchange words and when they finally do, embarassment ensues.

I got hooked by the art style for this one and I have yet to be disappointed. Not many chapters but keep it close.

sunny/10

Sunflower by EtoileKonijn [ongoing]

Wednesday, an art student, meets Sophie, a friend of a friend. Feelings ensue. It’s beginning to have a good number of chapters (even if they are short) and it feels like it’s actually the slowest burn of them all. Very much worth a read though, for the art style especially.

cute/10

It Takes Two by love_of_pi [ongoing]

Common art style: imperfect but improving. Classic story: normal girl meets famous girl by accident and leave a great first impression. Shenanigans and romance ensue. However the tints of drama, the fun interaction between characters, and the smooth plot make it worth it.

Honolulu latte/10

A Mild Flavor by Ru-rin [ongoing]

A slice of life of different couples. One with a compromised relationship and bittersweet reflections of the past, and the other which is hidden from plain sight, at different times if life. It is not perfect but it managed to worm its way into my heart nonetheless.

tasty/10

The Greenhouse by Viesallon [ongoing]

Another one I haven’t read, but from the extracts I’ve seen the art is compelling, the story seems worth it - definitely deserves the drama tag it seems - and I keep it on my shortlist until I have time to read it.

supernatural/10

My Masochistic Boss by Arisas_Art [ongoing]

Debuting goth writer meets hellish boss of editing company about her new book. Disagreement and tensions ensue. It starts with a slap and might very well end in bed, stay tuned!

This one rebooted recently and the art is soooo beautiful, moreso than before is I may say.

sexy/10

Still Alive by Comic Kat19 [ongoing]

Half-zombie girl meets emo boy, baby ensues.

After the zombie apocalypse, they have to survive, and despite their differences, maybe together is better?

This I classify in the ‘Yuuutsu-kun to Succubus-san‘ category: a somewhat rough art style that I have come to love and enjoy greatly. Also the story is fun.

cat creature/10

The Biggest of Treasures by Aixn [ongoing]

That smile, that damn smile. It’s what got me to try and it got me to stay. The art style is beautiful and the chara designs is too. The plot? Not much to say yet, but cuteness is enough.

bright/10

---------- ---------- ----------

And there you go for now. These are my picks. I haven’t read everything on Webtoon, I haven’t even read everything I’ve subscribed to, but if I had to recommend anything I have tasted, here it is.

Sorry if I missed any you deem worthy; feel free to harass me and mock my lack of culture by flaunting your own.

Maybe more later, in the mean time: keep scrolling, scrub!

PART II

[dumplingfaye]

Here’s my top 30 strongest characters in Black clover

(I’m trying to be extremely fair but there is some biased so if there’s someone that doesn’t make that much sense why they’re highly ranked it’s because I’m biased one character in particular and I’m doing this because someone made a absolutely god awful top 15)

Charlotte Roselei .30

if you wonder why she’s ranked so low it’s because even though she fought Vanica and won that was when Vanica was weaker and once Vanica went 100% she creamed Charlotte plus her magic was only effective because it was cursed magic if she fought any of the other dark triad members she would have probably lost

Lumiere Silvamillion Clover/Licht .29/.28

if you’re wondering why they’re so low on the list it’s because they couldn’t defeat Zagred and contrary to some people’s beliefs Zagred is actually extremely weak at least compared to the other Devils

Zagred .27

he’s very powerful what can I say but he’s pretty low on the list because well he is smart however when it comes to fighting he’s very bland and does the exact same thing over and over

Luck Voltia/Leopoldo Vermillion/Charmy Pappitson/Mimosa Vermillion .26/.25/.24/.23

a basic summary they all have true magic and intern they all have ultimate magic (Luck has Elven magic as well which also gives him an extra boost) (Leopoldo is a Royal and trains a lot so he doesn’t gets left behind)” not that that helps”(Charmy is a hybrid of a human and a dwarf)and (Mimosa is a Royal as well as a recovery mage but that doesn’t mean that she can’t put up a good fight)

Nozel Silva/Fuegoleon Vermillion 22/.21

(Nozel to tell the truth i’m not actually sure how much powerful he’s gotten over the last six months but he’s probably going to play a big role soon so this is also kind of his biased) as for (Fuegoleon to tell the truth I kind of think he’s pretty weak but maybe he has spirit dive so that’s why he’s here if he doesn’t well he’s not even on the list in that case)

Zora Ideale .20

you’re probably wondering why he’s here This isn’t me being biased because I’m kind of indifference towards Zora but he’s here because his magic is quite interesting he can reflect someone’s attack and double its power and he possibly even has more tricks up his sleeve after all it has been six months

Magna Swing: .19

now you’re probably wondering why he’s so low on the list after all he beat Dante well that’s actually pretty simple it’s because to me this is actually kind of me being biased I don’t actually like Magna in fact I actually hate him but to me personally I think his trump card is for very pacific conditions for starters we know that Dante is extremely strong right when it comes to magic but when it comes to intellect or physical strength he has none so to me if Magna fights someone with either of those things or God for bid both I personally think he would lose but this could just be my bias talking

Gaja .18

he fought the wizard king to a stalemate and he was able to fight Devil Lolopechka to an even degree when he wasn’t even trying to hurt her but she was trying to hurt him (I could be wrong please don’t get mad at me keep in mind this is just my opinion)

Julius Novachrono(at prime) .17

Julius at his prime everyone stroke his power and even though Yami trained for six months he was still weaker than Julius he only became stronger after he surpassed his limits

Yami Sukehiro .16

(dimension slash/Equinox)(death thrust)(Black hole) etc.

Jack the Ripper .15

if I’m being honest I’m pretty sure if he fought Magna he would probably lose (because he has a weak body and doesn’t have that much intellect) but because his magic is so versatile that he can adapt to the magic attribute it’s against he possibly could do incredible things with it even though I kind a wish he would die I don’t like him either

Devil Lolopechka .14

To tell the truth I’m not exactly sure if she’s stronger than anyone who’s on the list but I assume she is at the very least I know she’s stronger than Charlotte but because she’s a devil she’s probably stronger than most of the other characters

Zenon Zogratis /Yuno Grinberryall .13/.12

if I’m being honest I don’t actually know who’s stronger because even though at the beginning of their fight (of course not in their first one) Yuno was indeed winning the fight but after Zenon went 100% it came to a stalemate so I’m not exactly sure who is stronger (one is a devil user) and the other (is a spirit user) so 50/50 ╰(0 ~ 0)╯

Dante Zogratis/Vanica Zogratis: .11/.10

I mean they’re both stupid and they’re both strong and I didn’t put them in the same boat as Zenon because when Vanica heard that “Yami was defeated by Zenon” she said that he might not be as strong as she hoped implying that she was stronger than Zenon plus Dante has the king of all devils so that’s why there here

Dorothy Unsworth .9

this might be my bias talking but because she has her own world (created by magic) she can conjure up anything she wants and of course she’s gotten stronger over the six months so that’s why she’s highly ranked

Mereoleona Vermillion .8

She’s fighting a demon God and even though her magic is being absorbed she can still fight so yeah

Noelle Silva/Acier Silva .7/.6

to me personally they don’t actually have that many differences when it comes to strengths because both of them defeated Vanica and sure Vanica was weaker when she fought Acier but (Acier had to protect both of her children plus she died because of Megicula’s interference) and Acier was able to leave a permanent mark on Vanica

Nacht Faust .5

(OKAY if I’m being honest this is extremely biased I really like him a lot) but Nacht was able to cream Asta and Liebe for two days straight and while they were being cured he wasn’t (I mean it’s possible he was but I didn’t see it and neither did you” except in Fanart”) and they were able to defeat Dante and fight on par with Yami when they were weaker and out of breath and not even working in conjunction with each other so yeah and when he fought Naamah and Lilith he was able to perform a spell that is on the same level as supreme devils and the only reason why they were able to break through it is because Naamah and Lilith burn/freeze everything even invincible concepts/constructs and they were the strongest Devils we’ve seen so far at that pint in time and even though they were playing with him at a stalemate they were still stronger than anything they faced before and he was able to keep them busy for a little while wow this one was long

Naamah and Lilith .4

I just said it before but they’re able to burn/freeze everything you need including invincible concept/constructs anyhow they’re basically extremely strong and they could cream everyone on the list except the people who are higher than them

Megicula .3

well he/she (I don’t want to assume genders and be wrong) basically trashes on everyone in mere instant

Asta & Liebe .2

Devil union is just that over powered I mean it’s able to take out transformations such as spirit dive possibly other devil unions and of course normal spells such as Valkyrie dress or princess healing flower robe as well spirit of hellfire etc. able to dispel mana-zone based rooms is able to cut through any type of magic even if it’s a physical being and the sword themselves already pack a punch by themselves so with extra power that’s just over powered

Lucifuge/Lucifero .1/.0

Who the fu*k did you think was going to be number one/number zero Seriously who they’re literally the main bad guys in this arc it is impossible to tell what they’re capable of but whatever it is we know that they can kill anyone they want in an instant without even trying this isn’t me overhyping them this is a factual thing they are practically the most overpowered creatures in Black clover we have yet to see them and frankly I don’t think we want to I mean both of them killed really kind people Lucifero killed Licita Lucifuge I mean technically he didn’t kill Morgan (Morgen died because he interfered with the Devil ritual) but they killed Nacht and Morgan parents and if we’re being honest their parents well they kind of did deserve death

[aimeelouart]

Ok I've spent a few months lurking and just being a lil too nervous to ask about The Royal House Perdel, but now that I've read the premise ohmygod I love it. I would pay actual money to read it as a book one day.

WHAT. You’re my favorite now. I love you. Take my firstborn.

Since I assume you’re also here for FF7, have a little gift writing of my protag at age 7 hopping dimensions and interacting with the SSC Firsts.

They should have known something was off when they were able to corner Cloud so quickly, but they definitely figured it out when he started giggling.

“Cloud…?” Sephiroth asked cautiously, crouched a short distance from him.

“Pfft, ahaha, your faces!” He said, pointing and covering his mouth with the other hand. Bright orange-red bled out from the root of his hair, spreading down as the strands lengthened and curled. He grew a little taller, a little ganglier, and his face…

Not his face. That wasn’t Cloud at all, though how the laughing girl had accomplished such an effective disguise was a question for another time.

“Who the hell are you!” Genesis exploded. “Where is Cloud!”

“He’s busy,” the little girl said, breaking off her laughter to stick out her tongue at them. “Meanie. He’s following a Virtue! You can’t interrupt that!”

Sephiroth growled, standing up. “Genesis, with me. Angeal, start a conference call. We will begin where we lost Cloud.” He and Genesis darted off, leaving Angeal with the strange new child.

“Wonderful,” he sighed, pulling out his PHS and doing as Sephiroth had commanded. “Another one.” He caught the girl’s arm when she nonchalantly tried to waltz past him. “And where do you think you’re going?”

She blinked. “That way,” she said, pointing.

“Not when you’ve⁠—is that Cloud’s hair?” There was a tuft of pale golden hair clenched in her hand.

“Duh,” she said, “that’s the rule for the spell. ‘A dear thing, freely given. Closer to the skin, more power riven.’”

Angeal struggled to parse through the bewildering statement. “Because Cloud gave you his hair, you were able to...cast a spell to look like him?” He tilted her arm, looking her over for materia, but saw nothing. “Where’s your materia?”

She blinked at him. “What’s materia?”

He decided to abandon the line of inquiry entirely. “Where are your parents?”

Her expression turned sheepish. She scuffed the toe of her sandal across the concrete. “Umm...Granda’ is gonna come find me soon...I’m probably in trouble.”

For the first time, Angeal noticed the glittering jewels held in the intricate lacework of her sandals. They certainly weren’t materia, but they did tell him that her parents must have been very wealthy. “And why are you in trouble?”

She flushed and looked away. “I’m not s’pposed to go through the Gates…” she mumbled.

“The gates?”

“The Gates Between. The ones that cross the Empty Spaces.” She stared down at her feet, and nervously plucked at the hem of her skirt. “Granda’ can open the Gates cuz he’s Imperator, and I can cuz I’m a Mage but he says I’m too little. I’m not supposed to be here, but...but it was calling me! I had to!” She looked up at him with wide, unnatural golden eyes and a pleading little pout.

He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

⁠—

Genesis took one look at the little redhead sleeping contentedly against Angeal’s shoulder and said “no, no, we already have one, put that back.”

Angeal looked tired and a little defeated, leveling Genesis with an unimpressed glance. With Cloud in the wind, all they could do now was wait for some sign of his whereabouts—probably in the form of demolished ShinRa property. Which left them to deal with everything else for a while instead.

“Believe me,” he said, “I’m not particularly happy about this either. But her parents are impossible to find. She doesn’t exist in any records—and I do mean any records. Even the Turks can’t find anything. And I can’t exactly just leave her with someone.”

Genesis narrowed his eyes. “Why not?”

“She has...abilities. You saw the disguise earlier, but there’s more.” He looked vaguely disturbed, glancing down at the kid like she was a ticking bomb. “A lot more.”

Sephiroth sighed. “Naturally. That seems to be the theme lately, strange children with inexplicable abilities showing up on our doorsteps.”

Finally, a hint of humor broke through Angeal’s tiredness. “Well, look on the bright side. At least this one actually trusts adults.”

“Too much, if she’s sleeping in your arms two seconds after meeting you,” Genesis scoffed.

“The polar opposite of Cloud,” Sephiroth observed, a little bit of humor entering his tone as well.

Angeal shook his head. “Her parents have the resources to keep her very sheltered, from what I’ve gathered. She seems to think that all adults are inherently trustworthy, especially if they, and I quote here, ‘look like they belong in Mama’s First Legion.’”

Genesis and Sephiroth both paused.

“That...makes it sound as if her parents have a personal militia at their disposal,” Genesis said.

“Yeah,” Angeal agreed wryly, “it does, doesn’t it?”

—

She was like a spot of sunshine in the interview room—not an interrogation room, though it did have a one-way mirror and an attached observation space—beaming up at Tseng as she sat on her knees in the chair across from him. Unsurprisingly, the Turks hadn’t exactly had a booster seat handy with their typical interview equipment.

“What’s your full name?” Tseng asked, soft and polite. It was only Angeal’s familiarity with the young man that allowed him to detect the very slight edge of unease in his smile.

Angeal could understand. It wasn’t often that even he was presented with such unconditional trust and guileless curiosity, and the Turks certainly must have experienced it much less.

The little girl opened her mouth and proceeded to deliver an extremely well-rehearsed answer. “Ameliora Octavia, First Mage of the House Perdel, Blessed of the Thirteen,” she rattled off cheerfully, “Crown Princess and heir to the Perdelesian Throne, granddaughter of the Virtuous Emperor Celsus Caesar Perdel and the Virtuous Empress Julia Atossa Perdel, daughter of Caius Julius Perdel, High King of the West, and Fera Tullia Perdel, High Queen of the East.” She gasped in a breath, having spent her entire lung capacity on the extended answer. “You can call me Lora, though, I don’t mind.” She resumed beaming at him.

Even Tseng didn’t seem to know what to say to that.

Then Lora frowned abruptly. “Oh wait, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

Tseng managed to get ahold of himself. “Why is that, Lora?”

She looked up at the ceiling as if trying to remember something. “Granda says that, uh, if I’m ever with strangers I’m supposed to...uhm...tell them ‘Lora’ but nothing else and wait until one of the Praetorians comes to get me.”

“I see. Lora, do you know where you are?”

“Nope!” she said, apparently unbothered by this fact.

“Do you know how you got here?”

“Uh-huh, I opened the Gate in the Archive because it was calling to me in the Strings, and then I walked the Empty Spaces until it felt right and now I’m here.”

Angeal glanced discreetly at the other Turks in the observation room. None of them seemed to know what the hell she was saying either, which was very reassuring.

Tseng looked like he wanted to sigh but restrained himself. “Do you know how to get back home?”

For the first time, Lora flushed crimson and ducked her head. “Umm...nooo…”

“No?”

“‘S why I’m gonna be in trouble...I know how to walk through the Empty Spaces but I dunno how to walk back yet…Granda will come find me, though.”

“How will he know where to find you?”

She blinked at him, and for a moment her unnatural golden eyes glowed like they had a SOLDIER’s mako gleam. “Granda will always find me,” she said. “He swore on the Thirteen the day I was born. ‘Sides, I’m a Mage. Magistra Mara says I look like a supernova when she uses the Strings to see me.” She smiled. “I’m hard to miss.”

“I see,” said Tseng, which was a bald-faced lie. “How old are you, Lora?”

“Seven and a quarter,” she said very seriously.

—

“Hey.” A little hand tugged on the bottom of his jacket and Reno practically jumped out of his skin. Shiva, it was the tiny unnatural demon child. With trepidation, he half-turned and looked down at her.

She was beaming up at him like he’d just given her the best gift in the world. He was absolutely certain that if he picked her up she would snuggle into his arms without a second thought.

It was hands-down the creepiest fucking thing he’d ever seen in his life.

“What,” he bit out, anxious to get away without looking like he was getting away. He could feel Rude laughing at him silently.

“C’mere,” she said, motioning him down. Reno glanced at her babysitter of the hour—Hewley—whose mako eyes promised death if he dared to scare or upset her. Reno weighed the odds for a long second and then slowly crouched.

Immediately, she buried her hands in his hair and started petting and patting, a puzzled little furrow to her brows. “Hey,” he said, jerking back a little, “what do you think you’re doing!”

“I’ve never seen hair like this,” she responded, peering closer.

“You have red hair,” he pointed out, growing increasingly uncomfortable. He could kill her a dozen ways with barely a flick of his hand and she was playing with his hair?

It was unnatural!

“Nuh-uh, my hair’s gold-red and and curls. Yours is all sticky-uppy and looks like an apple.”

“Well, that’s just how it was when I was born!”

“Oh. Huh.” Apparently that was enough for her. She released his hair and looked to Rude instead and Reno felt exactly zero shame for how fast he got up and moved out of range of her creepy, sunshiny eyes.

She motioned Rude down in the same way. He went, a lot more willingy than Reno had, even though Reno knew for a fact that is partner was also pretty fucking creeped out by her. All the Turks were. There was no one—no one—who had ever treated them with such unconditional trust. The little princess was genuinely happy to see them. Even Tseng was freaked out. Even Veld was, though he took it in stride like he did everything else.

Lora plucked the sunglasses right from Rude’s face and put them on. Her mouth made a little ‘o’ of surprise.

“Why would you want dark glass over your eyes?” She asked, holding them in place and looking around curiously.

Without missing a beat, Rude pulled a spare set of sunglasses out of his suit pocket and put them on. Lora giggled. Reno shamelessly abandoned his partner and speed walked away.

—

“Hello, my dear.”

Lora looked up, blinking at the strange man who’d addressed her. “Hello,” she said cheerfully. She was, technically, breaking the rules by wandering around like this, but she was just so curious. There were so many strange things in this place! And sometimes breaking the rules led to wonderful things, like coming here.

“Would you like to see something interesting?”

She gasped in delight. “Yes! What is it?”

“Come with me and I’ll show you,” he said, offering a hand. She took it without hesitation. It was weirdly cold. The man reminded her of her uncle Brutus, who stared at her all the time and Mama always glared at. Uncle Brutus was weird.

She remembered that she actually had to introduce herself here, because people didn’t automatically know her name. “I’m Lora, what’s your name?” she said.

The man smiled. “You can call me Professor Hojo, my dear.”

[Part 2]

[jackdawyt]

Today I’m continuing my new mini-series paving the road for the anticipated release of the next Dragon Age game. Through these videos, I’ll be delving into very particular honed-in lore and plot threads that are rather telling for the future narrative of Dragon Age.  

Last episode I discussed the blighted mineral known as Red Lyrium as it spreads throughout the land, tainting everything it touches, wreaking havoc on the eco-system of Thedas. However, today we have a subjectively worse rival that already has plans for Thedas and its people.  

A most prideful, hot-headed fool lingers. One who you could consider to be an enemy, friend or lover. But ultimately, and most importantly, he’s a man who in the end is sorry, and believes he’s only doing what he must for the sake of his people. Of course, we talking about Solas and his plans for Thedas.

In order for us to look forward regarding what Solas’ future scheme may entail; we’ve got to recollect everything that has been instrumental in his plan to restore the elvhen kingdom by destroying the Veil.  

“Cry havoc in the moonlight, let the fire of vengeance burn, the cause is clear.” (Solas, DA:I).

Solas comes from a time when everything sang the same. A time before the Veil was created. When the ancient elven kingdom of Arlathan flourished. Elves were seen as immortal, powerful mages that ruled the lands. The most impressive of their kind were the Evanuris, whom the Dalish call "The Creators".

The Creators

“Long ago, there were two clans of gods. The Creators looked after the People. The Forgotten Ones preyed upon us.  And one god who was neither. Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf. He was kin to the Creators, and in the days of old, often helped them with their endless war against the Forgotten Ones.” (Merril, DA2).

The Evanuris “were said to bestow all life's gifts and dole out its punishments” (WoT V.1). The pantheon consisted of nine “gods”:  

Elgar'nan: God of Vengeance

Mythal: the Great Protector

Falon'Din: Friend of the Dead, the Guide

Dirthamen: Keeper of Secrets

Andruil: Goddess of the Hunt

Sylaise: the Hearthkeeper

June: God of the Craft

Ghilan'nain: Mother of the Halla

Fen'Harel: The Dread Wolf

“Fen’Harel was clever. He could walk among both clans of gods without fear, and both believed he was one of them.” (Merril, DA2).

While it’s unclear what exactly happened, the Elven Pantheon declared war on anyone who dare oppose them.  

"It started with a war. War breeds fear. Fear breeds a desire for simplicity. Good and evil. Right and wrong. Chains of command. After the war ended, generals became respected elders, then kings, then finally gods. The Evanuris." (Solas, DA:I).  

Codex entries point to a longing feud with both the Titans and the Forgotten Ones:

“One day Andruil grew tired of hunting mortal men and beasts. She began stalking The Forgotten Ones, wicked things that thrive in the abyss.” (Codex entry: Elven God Andruil).

"Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!" (Codex entry: Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads).

Regardless of who or what was defeated, the Evanuris were victorious in their conquest. This triumph was the beginning of the pantheons’ corruption - with their hubris - the Evanuris became a villainous tyranny.

In their lust for power, members of the Evnauris plotted against Mythal and killed her. This act would bring forth the elven kingdoms doom known as “the Betrayal.”

The Betrayal

“You said the elven gods went too far. What did they do that made you move against them?” (Inquisitor).  

“They killed Mythal. She was the best of them. She cared for her people. She protected them. She was a voice of reason. And in their lust for power, they killed her.”

A crime for which an eternity of torment is the only fitting punishment. (Solas).

This chain of events set Solas’ scheme in motion – to avenge Mythal and right the Evanuris’ wrongdoings.  

Solas rebelled against the pantheon, he worked to free slaves bound by vallaslin, granting them sanctuary from their tyrannical masters.

He created the Veil, a magical barrier that separated the foundations of magic that Arlathan was built on. The Veil’s creation brought destruction to the Elvhen, countless marvels reliant on the Fade crumbled, the people lost their immortality and the majority of their magic.  

Then Solas banished each of the Evnauris to the Beyond, where they linger forever in torment.

This was the great quickening that the Dalish elves in Thedas still believe today. The disarrayment and destruction of the elven empire. However, ‘twas not Tevinter, nor the pride of mortal man who destroyed the elves.

A few even claim their ancestors were immortal, and it was only the arrival of humans- "shemlen" or "quicklings” that brought death to the "elvhen" people. (WoT V.1).

It was indeed Solas who destroyed the elvhen world.  

"It was not the arrival of humans that caused us to begin aging. It was me. The Veil took everything from the elves, even themselves.” (Solas, DA:I)

After creating the Veil, Solas fell into a deep slumber.  

"I lay in dark and dreaming sleep while countless wars and ages passed. I woke still weak a year before I joined you." (Solas, DA:I).

Having slept for many years, Solas awoke. He witnessed the transition of his proud and immortal people, now reduced to the fringes of human society.  

Once the greatest empire in Thedas, now a cluster of baboons with a false understanding of their existence. They spread false tales of the Evanuris’ feud, praising the false gods, and condemning Fen’Harel. Wearing vallaslin as worship, without realising their slave mark origin.  

The elves today can’t even speak the same complexities of their old language, while the remains of Arlathan are nothing but a shallow husk, its memory long since gone, along with the majority of magic.  

“My people fell for what I did to strike the Evanuris down, but still some hope remains for restoration. I will save the elven people, even if it means this world must die.”  (Solas, DA:I).

While the blame falls to Solas for the elven people’s decimation, what the Evanuris had planned would’ve destroyed the entire world. Solas believed creating the Veil was the lesser of two evils.  

“Had I not created the Veil the Evanuris would have destroyed the entire world.” (Solas, DA:I).

While Solas woke up still weak, he has plans to restore the elven people to their former glory. Originally, Solas planned to use his orb of destruction to destroy the Veil, re-establishing the world of his time. However, his slumber had made him too weak to unlock the orb, so using his agents, Solas indirectly gave his orb to Corypheus.  

Corypheus, being an ancient and powerful darkspawn would then unlock the orb and die in the resulting explosion. However, that didn’t happen.

Instead, Corypheus uncovered the secrets of effective immortality, and the Inquisitor was the one who gained the orb’s power – the Anchor.  

The Anchor

As a result, Solas joined the Inquisition with the sole purpose of defeating Corypheus and getting his unlocked orb back, so he could resume his plan to destroy the Veil. (which explains why he knew so much about the Anchor in the first place).

Of course, this plan too was unsuccessful because the orb was destroyed by failing rocks with the defeat of Corypheus. However, Solas did not expect to find someone he could relate to, as much as he did with the Inquisitor.  

“You change everything.” (Solas, DA:I).

He cared for this world, and some of the people in it. And that truly surprised him. But that vulnerability is only going to make his plan harder. No matter how much the Inquisitor tried to sway him, Solas walks the journey of death, he would not have anyone close to him see what he will become.  

“I walk the dinan'shiral. There is only death on this journey. I would not have you see what I become.” (Solas, DA:I).

If the Veil is successfully destroyed, the Evanuris (and whatever else lingers in the Beyond) will be released, after suffering years of torment. With their freedom, surely, they’ll unleash havoc on Thedas once again, exacting revenge at the one responsible for their imprisonment.  

"Wouldn't the false gods be free?" (The Inquisitor, DA:I).

"I had plans." (Solas, DA:I).

In order for Solas to grant Mythal vengeance, he will need to silence the Evanuris for good. For this plan, Solas has taken an aspect of Mythal’s power so he can rise as the Dread Wolf.  

The Dread Wolf

With that power now invested, Solas can transform into the Dread Wolf. In this form, the wolf is “lupine in appearance, but the size of a high dragon, with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a pride demon.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 496).

Solas as the Dread Wolf has taken residence in the Fade where spirits and demons serve him willingly. He has an enigmatic ritual for the Fade that has been set in motion. Since his orb’s destruction, Solas has been looking at other alternatives for tearing down the Veil.  

“As the Avvar do. But whatever fear the name Dread Wolf carries, he has earned. While we might visit the Fade, it is his natural home, and the spirits there serve him gladly. They whisper in my dreams now, accusing me of crimes I never.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).

Currently, Solas hunts the Red Lyrium Idol, which apparently belongs to him, and he has a purpose for it. Other than that, not much else is known about it, not even its location.  

"The Dread Wolf wants that idol, and he’s not afraid to get his hands bloody to get it." (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 490).

“He intends something for the Fade, and if he wants the idol, then whatever he intends will be terrible.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).

Solas has always had a network of agents working for him behind the curtains. However, the length of Solas’s spies has greatly increased. Many of the Dalish Elves truly believe in Solas's cause and have joined his fight and even the Ancient Elves have been acquired for his schemes.  

“And now we know that the Dread Wolf has agents working for him.” (The Bard, The Dread Wolf Take You).

The elves who haven’t joined his ranks have begun to call his army - “Fen’Harel cultists”  

Fen’Harel Cultists

“Each one of those damned Fen’Harel cultists. ‘Ooh, if we blow up enough people, ancient Elvhenan is definitely coming back.’” She caught my questioning glance. “They tried to recruit me a few years ago. I said no.” (Half Up Front, page 470)

Solas’ agents, or cultists, whichever takes your liking, already tried to manipulate a war between the Qunari Ben-Hassrath and Tevinter kinsman. An agent of Fen’Harel placed a Tevinter rogue on Qunari lands as a bomb destroyed the Qun’s new darvaarad.

Fortunately, the Ben-Hassrath discovered this plot before it was too late. However, If this plan was successful, it would’ve caused immediate chaos for all of Thedas.

“A Tevinter altus, striking at a Qunari settlement that had yet to enter hostilities? Ben- Hassrath wouldn’t be able to sit the war out anymore. Utter and complete chaos.” I felt nauseous. What I’d almost done, almost been responsible for. (Half Up Front, page 478).

And finally, most recently in a desperate attempt to intercept Thedas’ top spy factions, Solas disguised himself as an Orlesian Bard with a blonde wig and all the trimmings.  

Interception  

An Executor, Carta Assassin, Mortalitasi Mage, Inquisition Spy and, of course, Solas were present.  

He listened as each faction shared their knowledge on the Dread Wolf, before the Executor could speak, Solas killed them. Then he attempted to lie about his knowledge on the Wolf, but was quickly caught out.  

He turned the Mortalitasi and Carta Assassin to stone, and revealed himself to the Inquisition Spy known as Chater.  

Out of his disguise, Solas appeared tired and sad. He knows that many oppose him and that they are not fools. Telling the Inquisitor what he intended to do was a moment of weakness.

“He sighed. “It was a moment of weakness. I told myself that it was because you all deserved to know, to live a few years in peace before my ritual was complete.  Before this world ended.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 506).

He admitted he’s prideful, hot-headed and foolish. Most importantly that he’s sorry for what is to come next.  

“I am prideful, hotheaded, and foolish, and I am doing what I must. When you report back to the Inquisitor . . .” His voice faltered. “Say that I am sorry.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 506).

I’ve already addressed the most apparent plot points that regard Solas’s future scheme like the potential destruction of the Veil and dealing with the Evnauris. But other plot points linger that intertwine with Solas’s plan:

Solas's Ritual

As I already stated, Solas has started a ritual ongoing in the Fade with the help of spirits and demons. It’s a very ambiguous ritual, however, we do know that binding spirits and using blood magic undoes both the work that Solas has planned for the Fade, and the ritual that has been set in motion.  

“And as clear as the Dread Wolf’s anger at what we had done— the Mortalitasi binding spirits he considered his own, the Tevinter mage using forbidden blood magic— was the feeling that we had disrupted his own work.” (The Dread Wolf Take You, Page 498).

Perhaps more of these types of magic is needed to disrupt his ritual? This would make the Mortalitasi and Tevinter Magisters great allies in the coming war.  

The Inquisitor

Solas’ journey in modern day Thedas started with our Inquisitor, surely his journey should end with them too. The Inquisitor swore to either attempt to redeem or stop Solas, this narrative needs to reach its end. Will Solas and the Inquisitor reach a happy climax? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean our Inquisitor will easily give up. The two characters need closure to end their story for good.  

Mythal’s Vengeance  

I feel like I need to reiterate that Solas did not absorb Mythal’s spirt, he only took an aspect of her power before she placed a piece of herself in an eluvian, as she finds her next vessel. This means that whoever drank from the Well of Sorrows are still bound to Mythal, Solas did not possess or absorb her soul, she is still alive.  

All Solas did, with Mythal willing, was absorb an unknown quantity of her power so he could rise as the Dread Wolf and fulfil her bidding to slay the rest of the pantheon. I truly believe Mythal has a greater scheme at play, and Solas has fallen ridicule to her, he’s blind sighted because of the bond they share, but I believe Mythal has darker intentions, and they’ll soon come to play once Solas destroys the Veil.  

So, what does come next for Solas? There are a lot of future topics we’ve touched on, but all I can say is we should expect to see him transform into the most villainous Dread Wolf as he stops anyone who dare intercede with his scheme. Not only that, but he has an army of spirts and demons in the Fade, with his agents on the field in Thedas. The tensions are rising, perhaps soon enough we’ll witness the magic come back, as Solas rises to destroy the Veil. The Evanuris are too going to be out for vengeance, only time will tell if we can save our friend before it’s too late.

[pattyaifread]

Tales of Phantasia - Maken Ninpou Chou Prologue

Translated the prologue in its entirety this time. Please enjoy.

A reminder that this is a 2000 novel that follows the events after Tales of Phantasia from Suzu’s perspective. The prologue covers the ending of the game from Suzu’s point of view.

Prologue - The End of the Journey

--

In the end, just what was the Great Seed?

Looking up at the World Tree Yggdrasil, Suzu pondered this.

The Seed from the tree that Dhaos craved. To attain it, he defied the laws of time and tried to change mankind’s history. Warriors were summoned forth from various time periods by the screams of history. They engaged in fierce battle after battle with the Demon King Dhaos.

Now, it has all come to an end. The Demon King has fallen, and the warriors have stepped down from their roles.

Again, Suzu wondered, staring up at the Mana spiraling around the trunk of the World Tree, just what in the world was the Great Seed?

Yggdrasil remained silent.

The only sound that emanated from the great tree was the slight rustling of its leaves in the wind.

Suzu looked to her friends, who were also silently staring up at Yggdrasil.

The swordmaster—Cless Alvein. The cleric—Mint Adnade. The summoner—Klarth F. Lester. The mage—Arche Klaine. The archer—Chester Barklight.

Suzu could not imagine what they were thinking or feeling at this moment—her own feelings were overwhelming enough.

They had traveled together on a long journey. Each of their individual perks—Cless’ light-heartedness, Mint’s kindness, Klarth’s calmness, Arche’s simple-mindedness, and Chester’s sarcasm—combined into one. To be a part of that caused a strange happiness to permeate her entire body.

She was just one piece of the existence known as the world.

She felt as if she had come to understand this during her journey.

Her past self had done nothing but train day by day in Igaguri Village. Far more concerned with herself than the world, what she never could have imagined then was so obvious to her now—that there were people she could cry and laugh together with in this world.

Such a simple fact had saved her more than anyone could know.

Even so...

Even so, why is it that now, their figures seemed so hazy?

Even though they were close enough to reach out and touch; so close that she could feel their breath... Was her focus amiss now that the struggle to defeat the Demon King was over? Now that her mission was complete, was reality already rejecting them, who did not belong in this timeline?

Or was it simply because something wet blurred her eyesight—was it due to the tears?

“...I suppose this is where we part.” Suzu cast her eyes downward.

She felt her friends’ gazes direct themselves towards her.

It hurts.

Someone had to say it. Cless and the others did not belong in the year A.C. 4354. They had their own time, and own life, to return to, where people precious to them were waiting. Using the Eternal Sword, they would return home--it was the right thing to do, and the matter of course.

Somehow, it feels unfair… Suzu thought to herself. Fate had whirled her into a journey against her will, and once it was over, spat her back out. It felt so incredibly unfair.

“Farewell, everyone.” Despite her thoughts, it had to be said. Suzu forced herself to smile. “I won’t cry. I want to see everyone off with a smile.”

Chester looked as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words down. Arche clung to her as huge teardrops fell from her eyes. Klarth faced away with his arms folded, silent. Cless and Mint gave a kind smile, so that their parting wouldn’t be stained with any more sorrow. Smiles that didn’t come from the heart.

It’s not always a good thing to be able to tell...

Suzu held back her tears with stubborn ferocity.

After the light from the space-time travel faded, their figures were nowhere to be seen.

The World Tree was all that was left, swaying in place as the wind passed silently by as if nothing at all had changed. Deep silence shrouded the area, seeming to signal that nothing had even been there in the first place.

However, something had been there. Although it was now gone, something had been there.

The memory of reaching out and grasping it with her hands resided in Suzu.

The sound of laughter, quarreling, and encouragement still resounded in her ears.

But the journey had already ended. It was over. 

Tears finally started to fall from Suzu's eyes. Once they began overflowing, she could no longer stop them.

“Whenever you feel like crying, I can always lend you my chest, y’know?”

The Chester who had consoled her with those words was no longer here.

During her journey, she’d come to realize that she was not alone; however, once over, she was alone once more. Just what had been the purpose of such a journey? It was unfair. It was just far too unfair.

“Suzu,” a gentle voice called from behind, and she turned her head to meet it.

She was met with a nostalgic face. Led by Ranzou Fujibayashi, a few dozen ninja followed in suit, smiling gently at Suzu. Seeing those smiles and kind eyes, Suzu thought to herself, That’s right… I’m not yet all alone.

Suzu took a step towards her comrades.

“You did well, Suzu.”

“You were really cool!”

“Now, let us return home!”

“Let us return. To our home, Igaguri Village!”

Before heading back, Suzu turned her head back to once more gaze up at Yggdrasil. And when she did, she whispered, “Farewell. Farewell, everyone.”

--

End of prologue

[mageglory]

I have no idea if I have ever summed all my Dragon Age Canon Characters but in short. Oh and I treat Bioware Canon like my playground so be warned.

Galria Theirin nee Brosca: Brosca origins (obviously), two handed reaver berserker. She is the Warden and becomes Queen of Ferelden with Alistair, her romance. She is the first non human queen of an human kingdom in history and tecnically she converted to andrastianism for politics (and because she doesn't care anyway about religion) but the Chantry keeps annoying her until Leli becomes Divine Victoria.

Ignis Hawke: Fire magic, Force magic and Blood Magic. He follows Anders romance and is a ruthless supporter of Mage RightsTM. He keeps switching between Red Hawke or Blue Hawke answers depending on who he is talking to (Red Hawke with Meredith, Elthina, Orlesians. Blue Hawke with fereldeans refugees, mages, elves and similar). He is one of the leaders of the Mage Underground with Anders if not the leader (mainly because Anders keeps telling him he's the boss even if Ignis considers himself equal to him) and he helped enlarge the underground across all the Free Marches, a lot of the random apostate npc we fight on the wounded coast are gonna live as members of the underground. To protect his identity/keep his family safe from Templars and because Hawke is not Hawke without drama he wears a mask in his rebel persona and Meredith has been yelling to Cullen to bring her the apostates leader in chains for years. He doesn't want to hurt civilians, but he is ready to accept civilians casualties as necessary if it's to free his people. His mabari is called Templar and Varric keeps saying Ignis exausted all his life capacity for jokes in that one idea. He's the gayest revolutionary/terrorist (depends who you ask) in town.

Raphaël De Bougainville: The Marquis of Serault. He has an obviously smaller role and is kinda irrelevant to The Fate of ThedasTM but he is a good guy despite having a very orlesian centric view of the world out of ignorance/cultural upbringing. His main worries are to restore Serault glory, which he succeeded in (and he also annexxes Aloyns along the road since the neighboor Marquis tried to sabotage his relationship with Justinia and failed) and romance Krem while visiting Skyhold. He had the idea to pay some mages after the rebellion won to come work for him with the glassworkers and now there are a lot of Serault glassworks for nobles with sparkly enchantments, but nothing plot relevant, he's just rich because now every noble in Orlais wants Serault magical glass. His main quirk is that he's an enthusiast of scientific research (think the king guy in Eragon) and his dream is to teach at the University of Orlais.

Melkior Lavellan: This damn boi is a pacifist. IN THEDAS. He is not the First of his clan, but only because he left the position to travel around the clans and bring messages/organize things. I'm not sure if canon mentions something similar but he's basically a travelling Keeper, so he has a bit more knowledge of the world, especially thanks to his high emotional intelligence. Kind of guy who smiles even when he doesn't like you and the "if he yells shit is going down" character archetype. Clan Lavellan Keeper is his grandma because his parents were murdered by Gaspard De Chalons during a dalish hunt, in front of him. Gaspard would have killed him too but decided that a knife eared kid wasn't worthy of a chevalier steel. Years later, Gaspard will fail to recognize Melkior at the Winter Palace (because elves are all the same amiright? I doubt Gaspard remembers his victims faces) and that's how the Granduke died and also one of the two occasions in which Melkior got really angry. Also, Melkior is the host to a spirit of Hope, which made the entire Inquisition scream in fear of abominations when they heard about that. Melkior romances Cassandra (altought I made her supposed character arc/change matter uh Bioware?) and tries to spare/redeem/imprison if necessary as much people as possible when sitting in Judgment because he doesn't like to kill and he does that enough on the field. At the end of Trespasser he disbands the Inquisition but he also creates a constitution that blocks the power of the Chantry so that in 100 years no Divine will be able to recreate Circles or Templars and a council to oversee the constitution with elected officials with a mandate of 5 years max.

Alidda Tabris: Someone could ask why I put the Tabris after the Lavellan, well that's because Alidda Tabris, my non warden dual wielder rougue, is more linked to Briala than Origins. She was prisoner of Arle Howe dungeons with others during Origins, forgotten there after having murdered the Arle son. She was freed by the Warden before the Landsmeet and despite the long imprisonment she suffered she fought in the Battle of Denerim, defending the alienage. After the death of the Archdemon, she helped King Alistair and Queen Galria in dealing with the many issues the elves had and was later sended to Orlais to investigate the risk of a new invasion of Ferelden. She joined Briala during the events of The Masked Empire, helping Celene in beating Gaspard but hating the Empress for her genocide of elves, she was helping only because forced to choose between her and Gaspard. She joined Briala at the end of the book and the two got together shortly after. In Inquisition, Alidda breaks in Celene vault during Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearths to get her beloved medallion back and the two keep plotting the liberation of the Dales after the ball.

Livia Amladaris: Magister of Tevinter, new leader of House Amladaris, descendeant of Corypheus and the worst person ever and I love her for that. Livia is literally my favourite classic villain tropes throwed together, because if you don't do that in Tevinter what's the point. While Livia wasn't a Venatori during Inquisition, she took control of the movement later. She is considered the most beautiful woman in the Imperium by many (the Amladaris pratic eugenics unironically) and she is a political genious and probably the greatest demonologist and necromancer (the Quentin kind, not the Dorian kind) Tevinter will ever see. Sadly, all this perfection on paper was given to a woman who respects only one thing: power and hates the other Magisters because they are limited in their ambitions. Livia intends to not simply enter in the Fade like her ancestor, but to open thousands of minor rifts controlled only by her, causing an army of binded demons to invade every nation of Thedas at once. The Imperium will rise again with her as the first Imperatrix of all Thedas. Someone could call her mad, but if she is mad then she is of the lucid and most dangerous kind. She has invented numerous evil spells (the "blood sacrifices and demons" kind) and has the power to turn others in abominations against their will. She is at last defeated at the end of DA4, but not before she blood sacrificed all of her supporters inside the Imperial Senate to start her ritual and shapeshifted into a giant monster before being slain. She is the Maleficent of Thedas and I love a good old fashioned evil witch ok?

[mywitchcultblr]

The chantry is right and mages should be in the circle. Solas and anders are terrorists and anyone who believes they arent is delusional or a hypocrite. Anders killed a hundred innocent civillian non combatants and solas wants to tear down the veil killing millions in the process. But yes we should let the people causing firestorms and summoning demons go completely un supervised

                                                         MY FIRST ARGUMENT AGAINST A TEMPLAR BOOTLICKER! YAAY!

 @lordaspoons Ok listen, first of all, I'm not felassan nor dalishlicious, my writings style is different and not as good as them, and I love to use a lot of profanities in my writings, so if you ever find ‘shit ‘ or ‘fuck’ in a post, not sorry  I SWEAR THIS POST HAVE MORE THAN 7K WORDS!   That’s why it took MONTHS for me to answer it 

TEMPLAR AND CHANTRY ARE GOD-AWFUL AND CIRCLE IS NOT NECESSARY 

Let’s see the canonical narrative okay? Let's take a look at Dragon Age keep descriptions of each MAGES heroes story and background.

Mage Hawke:

The son of Malcolm Hawke and Leandra Amell, Garrett has lived in many places throughout Ferelden. His father was a mage whose gifts were passed onto both Garrett and Bethany, Malcolm's daughter.

Malcolm refused to submit himself to the Chantry's rule; he kept his abilities a secret and taught his children to do the same.

Therefore, the family was constantly on the move to avoid templar hunters. Ten years ago, the family settled in the village of Lothering, building a home on the outskirts and making a life where they wouldn't forever be on the run.

Though Leandra worried constantly that the templars would one day catch up with them, Malcolm's teachings were sufficient to keep them safe.

He died three years ago, leaving Garrett responsible for the welfare of his mother and younger siblings. When the Blight began, Carver enlisted in King Cailan's regiment, saying the horde spilling from the Korcari Wilds meant their home would be quickly overrun if the darkspawn were not defeated immediately.

If the circle is not a goddamn prison that literally abused and drive so many mages to commit suicide then why the fuck hawke father decided to escaped and run away? The fact that even though his wife is a noble, a noble who should have been powerful enough to support him and their children and protect Malcom and their children with her name and connection is Kirkwall were forced to live in secret and ON THE RUN WITH HER FAMILY! is another of many many proofs that the system that chantry created for Thedas HURT everyone, whatever you are a peasant or a noble, if you have a mage in your family then they will be imprisoned in a circle that definitely will abuse them or you are forced to hide with them and run away from home.

IS QUARANTINE DRIVE YOU INSANE? ARE YOU BORED? WANNA GO OUT WITH FRIENDS? WANNA GRAB A MEAL IN A RESTAURANT? OR GET A HAIRCUT?

Remember De’Launcet fucking quote:

“You don’t understand. I’ve been in the Circle since I was six. Six! For Twenty years I was locked up. Never had a real drink, or... cooked something for myself. Never stood in the rain... or kissed a girl.”.

You cannot treat people like that! You can’t! it’s not right to imprison and enslaved people, mages, like that, there’s no justification to deny basic human rights/rights for any races. Imagine how desperate, depressed, touch-starved and horny you are, if you are not allowed to touch a woman who consented to have sex with you, imagine beingfucking locked up for twenty years and never feel the rain on your face. 

Maybe you should try being locked up for most of YOUR LIFE, for shit you never did in your life ever, aka committed horrible crimes that you never committed in the first place? 

Where’s the logic? Where’s the humanity? Andrastianism and The chantry is the worst religion and the worst religious institution in Thedas, and templars are not champion of the just, they are champion of abusers. 

But besides because of religious zealotry and dogma, why did the chantry locked up and enslaved mages in circle and put templar in circle to fucking abused them? OH RIGHT! I KNOW! its for power and profits, because using slave labor to make enchantments and used mages as soldiers who never wanted to be dragged into war in the first place,  it was and as prison/free labor to mass products enchantments is profitable for the chantry. !GROSS! DISGUSTING! Disgusting really.   The circle system is not only a prison camp, but also an institutional slavery.  

GROSS! DISGUSTING! But it sounds like any oppressive nations/institutions ever that used prison camp free labor to built factories and to work in their factories right? 

Disgusting really. 

Hey, LOOK AT HERO OF FERELDEN AND INQUSITOR EXPERIENCES IN THE CIRCLE! WHOA, IT WAS AWFUL!

For Mage!Trevelyan:

Born to the Trevelyan noble family of Ostwick in the Free Marches, you were originally intended for a life of privilege—until magical abilities surfaced at a young age and you were forced into a life of confinement within Ostwick's Circle of Magi. Protected but stifled, educated but isolated, the Circle would have been your entire future had the mages not rebelled against Chantry rule.

Trevelyan said that templars are a piece of shit who has two fucking faces (he said it to Josie) they smiled at mages (fake) but then they turned into as still as tone when a mage was punished ‘harshly” 

Remember what Cassandra said when mages find out that Tranquility can be reversed, dipshit fucking seeker, lord seeker lucius punished mages ‘harshly’ and there were deaths, and by definition of harsh for mages in thedas is: 

Rape

Isolation in an isolation cell (like what happened to Anders for a year!)

Starved to death like what happened to the real Cole

Tranquility or they are just killed. 

Every mages, adult or child, has seen or experiences abuses daily in their life, you can imagine the physical and physiologicalphysicological damages that templar and chantry have inflicted on them. As a person who was fucking abused by her own father, Ii know too well how lasting scars could damage you for life. 

TO ANYONE WHO DISMISSED ABUSES ESPECIALLY ABUSE THAT WAS PERPETRATED BY A RELIGIOUS SYSTEM/INSTITUTION, here take my middle finger AND SHOVE IT UP TO YOUR ASSES! 

Look Hero Of Ferelden life when she was still stuck in the circle:

The Hero of Ferelden belonged to the Circle of Magi in Ferelden, and resided in the tower at Lake Calenhad for most of her life. First Enchanter Irving recommended the Hero to Grey Warden Commander Duncan; shortly after the Hero's Harrowing, Duncan recruited her into the order.

https://mllemaenad.tumblr.com/search/mage+warden+

https://dalishious.tumblr.com/post/190968276307/mage-child-are-the-templars-coming-for-us-mage

Mage child: Are the templars coming for us?

Mage child: Is death painful? Am I going to die?

HEY WANNA TAKE A LOOK AT SER ALRIK? THE SERIAL ABUSER AND RAPIST?

 This is a letter that Alrik send to justinia before he died.To Her Excellency, Divine Justinia,I am well aware both you and Knight-Commander Meredith have rejected my proposal, but I beg you to reconsider. The mages in the Free Marches are past controlling, their numbers have doubled in three years, and they have found a way to plant their abominations in our ranks. They cannot be contained!

The Tranquil Solution is our answer. All mages at the age of majority must be made Tranquil. They'll coexist peacefully, retain their usefulness—a perfect strategy! It's simply the best way to ensure mages obey the laws of men and Maker.I remain, as always, your obedient servant,

Tranquil solution? Sounds like what Henrich Himmler said about Jews!

 Because Tranquility is a genocidal weapon that the chantry used to decreased the mages population and culling them, hmmm you heard about an 11 YEARS OLD GIRL WHO was MADE A FUCKING TRANQUIL IN KIRKWAL? 

Here I will give you a link to dalishious post about a young mage, 11 years old kid who was made tranquil by templar and chantry: https://dalishious.tumblr.com/post/620951635453149184/im-confused-it-says-that-she-requested-to-be|

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING *spit on chantry and templar* 

There’s no fucking justification for turning a kid into a tranquil, neither raped woman who was made tranquil or mages in general just because they have magic. Alrik and his man are known for abusing and raped tranquil on a daily occasion, and they were granted a title, position, money, and job by the chantry, meredith is a bitch who treated mages like a slave, she was drunk on red lyrium, she didn’t do shit for refugee and she fucking took over Kirkwall seat of government, forcefully, while it was not her job to lording over Kirkwall like a power-hungry bitch. 

And for years no one checked on this bitch, because miss little grand cleric of Kirkwall is part of Meredith group, and no matter what unless the chantry got fucking destroyed or HEAVILY REFORMED like what Divine Leliana did, people like Meredith and

Ser Alrik will never be held accountable by the chantry or any rulers in Southern Thedas (except by King Alistair who gave rebel mages a safe refugee place I guess) because most shit heads who ruled in Thedas profited from oppression and slavery of their PEOPLE, OF MAGES AND ELVES. 

You are a modern man, how could you ever side with the medieval church like the chantry? YOU KNOW THAT MEDIEVAL VATICAN AND TEMPLAR OF OUR WORLD WERE AWFUL RIGHT?

You knew that the vatican/church in the medieval era trapped people in dark ages with their regressive politic and dogma, you knew that gay people and woman were burned alive just because they were gay and just because they are? Woman? Maybe some of them truly practiced magic, but hey magic is cool.

I don’t understand at all, this fucking hatred and bigotry against mages and elves that spewed by some people in the fandom, anyone who hates mages and elves inherently hates them for who they are, for simply who they are. 

My burning hatred for templar and chantry were caused by templar and chantry terrible actions for the past 10000 YEARS!!!!!!!! And not because they don't have magic or just because they are human. 

The chantry brainwashed human to dehumanize others 

I think this is one of the most disturbing crime the chantry ever committed for the past 1000 years, I can’t even help but shudder in disgust every time i heard chantry sisters or brother calling other people ‘abomination’ or ‘heretic’ because i know how dangerous religious zealotry can be.

As a Muslim who live in Indonesia i have seen people being thrown out of their house or whipped in public (In Aceh province) 

2.NOW MAGES ALLIED BY THE THE INQUISITOR AND THE INQUISITION IS THE CANON PATH!

 (deal with it honestly) 

First of all, when The inquisitor went to Val Royeaux, the inquisition met with Lord Seeker who was arguing with chantry sister, he didn’t want to listen to her, and then he punched her (bitch fucking deserve it, to be honest, chantry members except anyone whose not bigoted like Leliana and Giselle deserve to be punched) he insulted the inquisition and the inquisitor! ( what a Bastard Dick! Well, templar order is gone and he’s going to die anyway so....Whatever) 

When the Inquisitor went back to the way he came from (from Val Royeaux gate)

FIONA LEADER OF FREE MAGES HERSELF, DESPITE THE RISK AND DANGERS, WAS WILLING TO PERSONALLY GAVE AN OFFER OF ALLIANCES BETWEEN REBEL/FREE MAGES WITH THE INQUSITION.

FIONA GOES ALL THE WAY, FROM SAFETY OF REDCLIFF VILLAGE TO VAL ROYEAUX JUST SO SHE CAN meet WITH THE INQUISITOR AND OFFERED HIM AN ALLIANCES WITH OTHER REBEL MAGES (Of course The inquisitor accepted it, he’s a rebel mage after all duh!)  

From the very beginning you can see which path is the preferred freaking option, Its In Hushed Whispers and not the other one.

Besides it would make more sense for the sake of continuity to find out about the rift, time magic, who’s the mastermind behind what happened in Redcliff Village (Alexius tricked Fiona and other mages with time magic and blood magic to signed up with Tevinter) AND HOW FUTURE WITH CORYPHEUS WON LOOKS LIKE, rather than I don’t know.....Whatever bullshit in Therinfal Redoubt.

SECOND. Free alliances with rebel mages definitely would give The inquisition more advantages, first mages knew how to deal with magic and the fade, mages are more suited and powerful to fight against enemies that cannot be defeated by shield and swords. 

THIRD. 

THERE WERE NO ACCIDENT, NO UNWANTED POSSESSION OR EVEN NO POSSESSION AT ALL, NO DISASTER, AND NO ‘ABOMINATION’ .

 FOURTH. THE MAGES CONSUMED fewer RESOURCES BECAUSE THEY DONT NEED LYRIUM TO FEED THEIR ADDICTION/CAST SPELLS.

FIFTH. 

 FOR A WHOLE YEAR DURING CAMPAIGN AGAINST CORYPHEUS, MAGES HAS PROVEN THAT THEY CAN TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES, MAGES WERE DISCIPLINED, RELIABLE AND BOTH THEDAS, INQUISITION, PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN SKYHOLD AND MAGES THEMSELVES ARE FINE WITH THE MAGES BEING FREE, WITHOUT RELIGIOUS SLAVERS WHO OWN THEM, WITHOUT JAILER WATCHING THEIR BACK. 

SIX. SPIRITS AND DEMONS were LITERALLY EVERYWHERE, AND EXCUSE ME, HAVE FRANCOIS EVER RECEIVED/READ REPORTS ABOUT HIS FELLOW MAGES FALL INTO DEMON POSSESSION? HELL NO! NOT EVEN ONCE

SEVEN. 

MAGES ALLIED AS FULL ALLY WOULD BE MORE INDEPENDENT, AND THEY COULD TEACHED YOUNG MAGES HOW TO SURVIVE ON THEIR OWN, THEY COULD BE MORE INVOLVED WITH SOCIETY, AND MAGES ASSIMILATED TO SOCIETY  

AND FINALLY.

DO YOU want A ANOTHER FUCKING PROOF OF MAGES FREEDOM BEING SUCCESSFUL? DO YOU WANT LITERAL CANON PROOF THAT MAGES BEING FREE IS ONE OF THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED IN THEDAS?

 The Inquisition's mages – the former rebels led by Grand Enchanter Fiona – are left with a choice.

Alliance

Leliana is Divine

When Leliana disbands the Circles, they leave the Inquisition and reform the College of Enchanters as a new order. The College, they say, will allow mages of the South to gather in peace and seek new solutions to age-old problems. For the moment, it appears to be working – mages are enjoying unprecedented acceptance throughout Thedas. 

Epilogue for mages freedom in Trespasser:

NOW College of Enchanters, Thedas third or fourth most powerful mage order and government (third if Rivain mages flocked to The College but I think Rivain mages after all mages has been freed (remember its canon) they will unite with Rivain government or if College Of Enchanters turned out to be stronger than mages order in rivain ) , the college is third/fourth-strongest order after Tevinter obviously, Nevarra death mages, and Rivain mages.

And everything is totally fine.

Leliana Divine, Mages recruited as allies

The end of the Inquisition as it had been sent shock waves through the College of Enchanters. Madam de Fer ably played on the mages' fear. Her followers united to build a new Circle - with Vivienne as its Grand Enchanter - in direct competition with the College. What the Circle lacked in numbers, they made up for in political connections; soon they were a force to be reckoned with.

Well about this stuff in trespasser it’s just vivienne stuff I guess *shrug* 

College of enchanters will always exist because like I said before so many many many times, that ever since Hero of Ferelden Era, To Kirkwall and then to Dragon 4:41/ 4:44, the canon and preferred path is to support mages and elves equality and freedom!!!!

THERE I GIVE YOU ONE, AND IT WAS MORRIGAN WHO SAID IT HERSELF.

Even a chantry sister from haven admitted that the mages looked happier and she said that she supports/give them chance to 

 SO WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?! CIRCLE IS NEVER BEEN FUCKING NEEDED! IT WAS JUST DRAKON STUPID BIGOTED MOVES TO ENSLAVED AND COLLARED MAGES AND ELVES.

Rivain mages were fine, and their society worked well with mages have their freedom Rivain trained their female mages to be seers, and seers hold important positions within Rivain government and society, oh but what happened? When the chantry fucking find out that Rivain didn’t treat their mages like shits and slave, that Rivain treated mages with respect like any other people. 

The chantry fucking send right on annulment and committed genocide against Rivain fucking mages, chantry you shit organization, Rivain will hate you more than before and I wouldn’t be surprised if the grand cathedral in Rivain will go boom too (i will support it, fuck those people) the chantry literally murdered children there and committed genocide against people of Rivain, No one will defend them in Rivain, no one. 

Codex Entry:

 When we heard of the injustices against our fellow mages at the White Spire, the Circle of Magi in Val Royeaux, I feared what was to come. Our Circle at Dairsmuid is small and isolated; it exists largely as a façade to appease the Chantry.

When the other Circles rose up, the Chantry sent Seekers across the bay from Ayesleigh to investigate. They found us mixing freely with our families, training female mages in the traditions of the seers, and denounced us as apostates. Perhaps they thought we were spineless robes who could be intimidated with a little bloodshed. Before I was first enchanter, I was the daughter of Captain Revaud, of the Felicisima Armada. I know how to plan a battle.They brought with them a small army of templars. We fought. And we might have won. But they invoked the Right of Annulment, with all the unrelenting brutality that allowed. 

It is their right to put screaming apprentices to the sword, burn our "tainted" libraries, crush irreplaceable artifacts under their heels, tear down the very walls of our home. 

No mage has the right to disagree. We of the Dairsmuid Circle wait now, behind barricades. I have sent word to our brother and sister mages of this outrage. When they breakthrough, we will not die alone.—Final journal entry of First Enchanter R

Whoaa look at the chantry and templar, casually committed genocide because they are ass hole who cannot accept that they are wrong, maybe they should accept those different nations have different cultures and traditions? Hmmm, maybe templar and chantry should accept that people are not a mother fucking weapon and slaves to be used and imprisoned since they discovered their magic, chantry and Templar  should learn when to stop, and they should learn that they didn’t know shit and doesn’t want to know shits about spirits? self-righteous much? 

Circle system, templar system, and chantry system cannot be saved because it’s just awful, those systems systematically oppressed and abused people, and we all know that time and time again YOU CANNOT KEEP PEOPLE OPPRESSED AND ENSLAVED FOREVER, THEY WILL REBEL AND SOONER OR LATER THEY WILL WIN THEIR FREEDOM AND THE OLD SYSTEM WILL BE BURNED TO DUST.

No matter how you tried change the circle/templar system, it will always be prone to corruption, because the system put templar above mages, and when someone have more legal immunity and power above other people, then abuses of authority will always happen, hey....LOOK AT COPS IN OUR WORLD.

if anyone tries to prevent other people from being equal and free just like any outer people there who have privileges and advantages, holy shit you are horrible, that’s a shitty bigoted view. 

BEFORE INQUISITION WAS EVEN REBUILT, MYTHAL AND MORRIGAN PREDICTED THAT THERE WILL BE GREAT CHANGES COMING, MORRIGAN PREDICTED THERE WILL BE A HERALD OF CHANGES IN THEDAS. 

They were talking about The Inquisitor who will completely turn Thedas upside down and changed systems that Thedas know it with better ones. 

SO why even bother to fucking keep an old system that doesn’t work and very oppressive and it was designed to imprison and enslaved people? 

okay, listen here you little templar- oh I mean Ex-Templar, because templar order of the south is just gone forever  ( who the hell wanted to be a templar again after people knew how dangerous lyrium could be? Especially after they saw lumbering red templar ABOMINATION, *not sorry they are really ugly bastard* Wrecking havoc all across Thedas 

3.MAGE FREEDOM AND DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLAR ORDER IS A GOOD THING FOR EVERYONE AND FOR THEDAS! 

Let me explain it to ya! 

1. Mages won their freedom means, no more tranquil, there would be no more long-suffering half walking, half living person who’s cursed in the emotionless body (well at least in the south) 

2. Mages could finally raise their own children, have family, married without fear and they don't have to run away from templar and chantry if they want to marry someone, mages children who were taken forcefully from their parents could finally meet their parents again, you don't want kids who were kidnapped from their family since a young age to be reunited with a family who loves them and misses them so much? Holy shit that’s monstrous.

3. Mage Orphan who has no relatives/family/home/ or friends to return could stay with College of Enchanters with other mages.

4. No more children will be kidnapped from the parents, no more mother who will lose their mage baby again because the templar and chantry ripped their baby away from their arms, never again.

5. New Generations of Mages kids who never have to endure torture and abuses in the circle, they can grow up in a safe and happy environment with their family or with the college.

6. Mages actively participated in society, and they can invent a great many things for Thedas modernization and advancement, remember Zither? He’s a mage and he uses his magic to play in a band, imagine the possibilities of Thedas technology-magic advancement with unrestrained magic, boi based on the newest leak, it seems like Arlathan was a magical cyberpunk empire. 

7. As a free citizen, many mages abilities/ skill can be implemented for different kinds of jobs, hey remember Lysas who wanted to be a mage farmer? Agriculture in Thedas could be improved with magic, Medication, and medical studies could be greatly modernized with magic, not to mention fashion, opera/plays, and music, hell even professional chef jobs will be much easier with magic, The inquisitor used telekinesis/spell to fixes broken bridges, and lit a veil fire are another example that magic could be used for mundane stuff and not just for

8. College of Enchanters definitely would be a steadfast ally for The Inquisition and The inquisitor, and not to mention that the Inquisition new operations area would be in the north/Tevinter, mages would be able to help greatly.  9. With templar order gone forever in southern Thedas, then there will be no more people who are force feed lyrium and suffer from lyrium addiction to the point they become a beggar because they wasted all of their coins for lyrium. 10. So mages now are free, no more circle, then what’s the point of templar or seeker anymore? Actually Seeker, circle and templar are never needed, then how southern Thedas  should handle with magic related crime or just crime in general, well I’ts easy, you see mages guard in Tamriel world? You know those guards in Skyrim? Or guard/law enforcer in Warcraft world who use magic? With mages free they also can work as guards

Why templar and chantry bootlicker literally believed in The chantry fearmongering false propaganda about mages and magic? It’s like medieval Vatican bullshit! fearmongering about technology and ‘sin’, fearmongering about spirit and magic? 

We live in the modern era! So stop believing chantry propaganda! 

Stop living as if its the 10th centuries, don’t keep clinging on the awful terrible system and it’s past, dude, see the future in front of you, and  try to be positive about progressive changes. You know what happened to a world who refused to change? Yeah man look at Anor Londo, everything rot there.  And have we ever heard about terrible accident that was caused by mages from College of Enchanters? Or by any mages at all? NO ONE EVER CONFIRMED THAT FREE MAGES OF THE SOUTH WRECKED HAVOC ALL ACROSS THEDAS, BECAUSE THE FREE MAGES DIDN’T DO ANYTHING AT ALL. AND THE MAGES HAS BEEN FREE FOR TWO YEARS! COLLEGE OF ENCHANTERS HAS BEEN OPERATING FOR TWO YEARS WITHOUT ANYONE ENSLAVED AND JAILED THEM  Hey man, i gave you straight fact that mages being free is the best choice to support, and facts that nothing bad happened with mages being free, so your theory and your fear (that actually is just wrong, and it’s sounds kinda like paranoia to be honest Persecution is really stupid, that’s why it’s called persecution in the first place. HA!  

ANDERS WAS, RIGHT!

‘Terrorist’ is a term that can be overused and utilized by people in power to demean and demonized freedom fighter/Resistance movement against tyranny.

  https://mllemaenad.tumblr.com/search/is+anders+terrorist%3F

There’s fuck tons examples of people who were falsely accused as terrorists by tyrannical power to labeled them as a danger and to demonize them, while ‘the terrorist’ who fight for equality and freedom were demanding their people to be treated like a human, and they wanted equal rights. 

 examples: 

[ I am an Indonesian btw, so I knew personally some stuff about dictator and dictatorship government]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgwS_FMZ3nQ&ab_channel=PhilosophyTube

 https://www.britannica.com/event/resistance-European-history

https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/09/07/long-road-to-see-justice-over-munirs-murder.html

As an Indonesian woman, our people were oppressed by many European nations, from Dutch To British to French and Portuguese, our nations were stripped and reduced to mere colonies of European powers, our people were enslaved in their own lands, woman raped and children murdered, then after Dutch leave, because Hitler almost sunk their nation during WWII, Japan fucking invaded our land and then enslaved us again! 

Japan lost the world war alongside with its axis allies, YAAY! We are free, but wait, the Dutch Empire was such a baby they wanted their ‘toys’ , they fucking demanded the allies to helped them invaded Indonesia again because in the eye of Dutch Empire we are nothing but their slaves to be milked dry and taken advantages of, but we fought back! And now all Indonesian people from children to the elderly are free!

Did Indonesian people won their freedom and built their nation with being subservient and asked nicely? 

FUCK NO, blood was spilled and heads were cut, a lot of head, but at least now generations upon generations of Indonesian people will never taste the brutality of slavery and how does it feel to be enslaved. Our first president was considered as a menace and a terrorist by Dutch Royalty, he was imprisoned in isolation but managed to escape over and over again! 

|

But wait, if any person who rebelled against the government regardless of their intentions can be labeled as a terrorist *gasp* IS THAT MEAN GEORGE FUCKING WASHINGTON WAS A TERRORIST?! Apparently, by British Empire standards, he was.

 The guy and his friends waged a war against the crown, because British Empire keep treated American colony like shit, from the perspective of King George, Washington was a piece of shit who kept ruined his country and his colonies, but boi Americans would be angry if someone called Washington a terrorist right? Because for them, Washington's struggle and rebellion were righteous. 

YOU CAN’T SIMPLY USE THE LABEL OF ‘TERRORIST’ TO CONDEMN ANDERS AND HIS ACTIONS WITHOUT EVEN UNDERSTAND HIS MOTIVE.

Because if you keep doing then, in your perspective every single freedom fighter who rebelled against cruelty and tyranny should be condemned? 

We are talking about what is a ‘terrorist’ here, and if you want to label someone as a terrorist then you have to read their manifesto, understand their motive, try to hear what they wanted to say, and understand the core of ideas behind their rebellion. 

Here’s the thing, will you call the Stonewall riot as an act of terrorism? ( i presume from your blog description you are a supporter of LGBT right? ) 

What about Joachim Ronnenberg? A man who leads a daring raid against Nazi Germany nuclear weapon factory had the german succeded in their efforts, we might have read devastating histories about the nuclear bomb that destroyed London like what happened to Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

From the perspective of Nazi Germany...This guy  wasis a terrorist and an enemy!

But it feels so wrong to describe freedom fighter as a terrorist right? How could we label people who resist nazi Germany as a terrorist?!

Because we know, despite the casualties, despite everything that happened, what they did was right, and they needed to fight back. 

Allies marched to Berlin was the right thing to do, American colonies rebelled despite they knew that a lot of people will die in war, but have you ever condemned the founding father and his people for their rebellion? Or argued that it wasn’t necessary for them to rebelled. Soekarno wars and rebellion against dutch colonists and invaders cannot be condemned, because objectively, no one should support slavery and colonization of other nations. 

French people were so sick and tired of their nobilities and royalties bullshit to the point they cut off their own monarch head, but they were right, because French Monarchy was corrupt and incompetent, while nobles and royalties were feasting and drinking as if there’s no tomorrow, poor people in French can’t even afford bread. 

Trans and Gay people who fight back and demonstrated against injustice was right, the woman who demonstrated and rioted against the oppressive system and patriarchy was right.

WE KNEW DEEP DOWN THEIR CAUSE ARE NOT EVIL, OR CONDEMNABLE, THEIR CAUSES ARE OBJECTIVELY RIGHT! 

But what if it were someone like Adolf Hitler who hmmm rebelled against the Weimar Republic, back before his raises to power around 1920-1923, I’m sure that you are familiar with his Beer Hall Putsch, when he held 14 mass meetings in Germany, for the nazi it was a historical moment, ‘a glorious resistance against the weak and incompetent Weimar Republic’

For his supporter it was glorious, but despite their best efforts to convinced themselves that they were right, WE KNEW HE WAS NOT RIGHT, Nazi was god awful.

What is the core idea of nazism? (I'm going to compare it with socialism/communism because some people keep saying that communism is just like nazi, and it's absolutely wrong) 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/communism/Marxian-communism

https://www.britannica.com/event/Nazism

They are very different. Ya see despite some people who keep yelling that communist is just nazism by any other name. ( and I’m not a communist) 

Adolf Hitler might see himself as a savior, a martyr, and his party also people who supported him

richard spencer, see himself as a ‘liberator’ and voice of white people, but behind all of his fucking bullshit, his core ideas are just Naziism, he is a nazi, Richard Spencer is a white supremacist so does any other alt-right edge lord on the internet who insisted that they are not nazi, despite the fact they fucking followed nazi ideologies and practiced hatred ( btw nazi ideology is based on white supremacist and eugenic ideologies too, so what’s the difference really?” Nazi is white supremacists and white supremacists will always be a nazi) 

Alright and how all of it ties back to Anders and mage rebellion, you might ask, ‘why did you write about histories lessons that I already knew about?’ 

Well templar child, it’s all lead back 

TO THE CORE OF ANDERS IDEAS AND MANIFESTO AND WHY HIS IDEOLOGIES/BELIEVES AND MAGES REBELLION WAS ON THE FREAKING RIGHT SIDE. 

I wrote that fucking long-ass paragraphs so people will be able to differentiate the righteous kind of rebellion (or ‘terrorism’ from the perspective of the power/oppressors) and the god-awful kind of rebellion/terrorism.  

Because instead of listening and learning about what anders wanted, some people are often so fixated on the semantic of the word ‘terrorist’ and got too distracted by that stupid chantry explosion. THE CHANTRY EXPLODED IS THE SAME KIND OF THING IF HITLER OR STALIN’S OFFICE too  

People died? Yeah so does people who died during USA war against British Empire, was it terrible that people died? Yeah it was terrible but just like what i wrote before, the rebellion had to happened. And you said that he killed hundreds? Huh the numbers was never 100% confirmed because i don't think Isabela count the bodies, and second we cannot be sure about numbers of the casualties, because we never really see  ALL them in the first place. And actually arent Hero of Ferelden, Hawke and Inquisitor killed SO MANY PEOPLE? What about The Dragonborn? No to mention that in their journey they also destroyed private and public property and killed so many god damn animals to the point they could have been the reason why some species of animals are endangered.  And no one ever protest or raised a fuss when heroes killed tons of people.  Arent templar and chantry also killed and tortured so many people? What about mages who were killed or made tranquil for the past 1000 years? What about mages who committedcommited suicide like Orsino friend who locked herself in a closet then set herself on fire? Because she no longer can’t stand living in Kirkwall Circle prison? What about Anders friends who often committedcommited suicide because what templar did to them and that lead to severe depression? What about mages and elves who were hunted down and killed just because they escaped from their circle prison, they were killed by order of the chnatry and templar cut them down with their sword? What about Elves of Dales who died because Orlais wanted to expand its fucking territoryterrtotry and justified their racial superiority? Chantry and templar supported that. What about Karl who asked Anders to killed him because he preferred to die rather than be a tranquil again? Or captured by templar again? TEMPLAR AND CHANTRY COMMITED MORE CRIMES FOR THE PAST 1000 YEARS MORE THAN ANY PERSON DID, THE TEMPLAR AND CHANTRY MURDERED, ENLSAVED, TORTURED AND IMPRISON PEOPLE ALSO SUPPORTED GENOCIDE FOR 1000 YEARS!  IF WE CALCULATED NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WHO DIED BY THE CHANTRY ORDER AND TEMPLAR SWORDS, IT’S MORE THAN FREAKING MILLIONS!  ANDERS DID WHAT HE DID TO FREE THE MAGES AND FUTURE MAGES CHILDREN, SAME THING WITH FIONA  AND THE MAGES WHO REBELLED TO FREE THEMSELVES AND  FOR THE FUTURE OF MAGES, THEY ALSO REBELLED FOR FUTURE MAGES FREEDOM, THEY REBELLED FOR THE FREEDOM OF PEOPLE (because unlike what noodle and chantry said and spread, mages are PEOPLE!) so what are you saying again? HUH ? what is your justification? What is your defense? CHANTRY AND TEMPLAR CRIMES CANNOT BE DEFENDED!   If you justified Templar and chantry crimes then THE EVANURIS AND TEVINTER and the stupid qun ideals  can be justified too? From OBJECTIVE perspective Anders ideology WAS RIGHT! HE AND THE MAGES BELONG WITH THE RIGHTEOUS REBELS. Let’s compare chantry/templar mentality and moral vs mages and elves believes and pursuit of freedom. 

Let’s see examples of chantry/templar mentality based on evidence and popular opinion in Thedas that was forced by The chantry to people head.

1. The interpretation of chant of light that mages and nonhuman are abhorred by the maker, and they are ‘evil’ and corrupt’ i must remind you that MODERN and RELEVANT andrastianism in modern Thedas, has twisted whatever Andraste said and they strayed so far away from what andraste possibly could have wanted. 

What if Maferath Betrayal was not based on maliciousness? Or not just based on maliciousness? What if Andraste was truly a mage? The chantry lied about Shartan, the chantry fucking lied about Ameridan, if there’s one IRONIC TRUTH about the chantry, they lied, they twisted story and histories for their political power and their gains.

the whole ‘magic must serve man and not rule over him’ was purposely misinterpreted to fucking justify drakon fucking fanfic holy book, and his campaign to conquer the rest of Thedas. And the chant verses were twisted as a stupid and terrible justification to demonize and enslaved mages and elves in circle towers. 

In a nutshell that chant actually said that magic is a gift that should not be used for terrible deeds. But andrastian changed the meaning and twisted their own prophet words to enslave and oppressed southern mages.

2. The chantry believes about Everything that related to the fade/spirits/ or demon are dangerous and inherently evil, I ALWAYS LAUGHED MY ASS OFF, whenever templar/chantry/andrastian/non mages spouting hateful shits about the fade and spirits, it’s incredibly ironic, because there’s an implication that ALL PEOPLE who were not made by Titans (dwarves was made by titan) were spirits from the fade who ‘created body from the earth’ after they descended to the material world.

The evanuris, first of elven people, Solas and his people were spirits, it can be safely assumed that modern elves, humans and qunari in their truest form are spirits as well. 

 I think during his personal quest, All New Faded forFor Her, Aka The Dreadwolf Fen’harel, Solas has explained the truth about what human, elves and qunari truly are and what is their true form would be once they are died ( if they are not a remarkable person then they will simply be lost to the fade ) 

Besides it’s the chantry who spread hateful and ignorant propaganda about evil of spirits/demons, the fact that chantry spread such misinformed propaganda and derailed hates of the fade and spirit into people mind actually is one of the reasons why demons and unwilling possession as modern thedas know it exists, I know Cole explained that  spirit who crossed from the fade to the world was simply traumatized by their journey, the veil hurt them ( we can blame Solas for that) rules in the material world is just confusing, the earth and it’s mostly inflexible and unchanging rules confused them.

But if The fade can be bend and shaped by powerful dreamer/mages/ dreams and believes of people. That means...Demons were also created by The chantry ignorant and hateful propaganda. If many people believed that spirits are dangerous or ‘they are demon’, that spirits and the fade are scary then that’s how they will manifest.

The fade and spirit can be influenced by people's collective beliefs and perceptions. That’s mean it also The chantry and their dogmatic backward propaganda that made spirit/demon as we know it today, I mean for some reason Cole called himself a ‘demon’? While the boy was never corrupted nor twisted from his true nature, i think it’s because people perception of him and spirit.  The chantry dogmatic believes backfired on their own face. rule about 

3. Blind devotion to Orlais Chantry, theThe chantry foundation was made of bones upon bones and blood, emperor kordilius drakon butchered many cults and stamped out any non-andrastian religion or branch of andrastianism that didn’t conform to his cult believes so he can establish his cult of andraste as the dominant religious power in southern thedas or thedas in general. 

The Daughters of Song 

Wine. Music. Poetry. And the wanton and frenzied indulgence of carnal fancies. These things characterized the hedonistic cult known as the Daughters of Song. Calling them an order of the faithful lends them a legitimacy they do not deserve. The daughters (and sons, though they saw themselves also as "daughters") celebrated Andraste's holy union with the Maker in almost every way imaginable. And it was only the "holy union" they venerated. Andraste's life, her war, her teachings, and her sacrifice were blithely ignored.

At its height, the Daughters of Song numbered in the thousands. They maintained a stronghold in a village called Virelay, in the Fields of Ghislain. Virelay saw a yearly event during which the Daughters of Song paraded carven images of the "Maker's Glory" through the square.The Daughters of Song were wiped out by the righteous forces of Emperor Drakon during his campaigns to unite all of Orlais. When the emperor's forces sacked the village, the Daughters would not arm themselves and were either killed or captured. The village was destroyed, and the cult never recovered.—From Before Andrastianism: the Forgotten Faiths by Sister Rondwyn of Tantervale

HA! Blithely ignored her fucking war and ‘sacrifice’ is much better than using the story of andraste life as propaganda and tools to conquer, murder, enslaved, and wiped out groups of people who didn’t buy to your shit.

The daughter of the songs was not a cult of a sex-crazed hedonist, they were another group of pacifist andraste cult who didn’t do anything wrong at all (seems like they were peaceful, they didn’t even willing to armed themselves when Drakon butchered their people) and they just wanted to be left alone to their own device, but of course Drakon,  that egotistical bastard who sees himself as a martyr and narcissistic self-proclaimed holy man, so he put any people who didn’t want to listen to his bullshit to sword. 

The chantry and Orlais using their god, their prophet words, and their religion as a bludgeoning tool to conquer and forcefully converted people, the foundation of modern andrastianism religion was based drakon totalier philosophy his ambitions to rule all of Thedas. 

Ironically if there are people who smeared and desecrate andraste and the maker, its their followers. 

This kind of religious militant mentality has ledlead to people justification of exalted march, because they thought that they were doing it for the maker, they believed that the march is the maker works, anyoneany one who supported exalted march were so convinced that they were right to spilled so many blood and butchered so many people for their religious zealotry (and political ambition of their rulers but eh peasant rarely know anything about what happened in winter palace right?) 

if you supported exalted march of dales or exalted march against mages then.... As a Muslim i just want to say, what’re the differences between exalted march and Christian crusade? And we know that Crusade was a waste of resources and lives  or ISIS ambition for expansionism? 

Military and Religion is a dangerous and scary combination. And I can’t comprehend why any modern human could be so thirsty and horny to destroy other people's nations for their religion and their interpretation of their religion. and let me remind you again, the chantry and templar supported this mentality and often using the maker as a reason and justification of their terrible deeds.  The chantry refusal to acknowledge and respect different kind of andrastian religion and their outright rejection of different religion lead them to wiped out pre-chantry andrastian cult aka their own brethren and destruction of The dales, destruction and deaths of so many dalish clan, prejudice and bigotry against qunari and dwarves. and we don’t have to talk about what happen to old god religion worshipper. Y’know sounds like dark age church and their obsessions to stamped out any kind of ‘heresy’ , you like that shit? You supported it? EWWWW. D:  4. Templar and Chantry brainwashed people to be hateful bigot, I don’t care about any kind of justification or ‘positive deeds’ that andrastianism has done, a thousandthousands years of proofs and facts has proven that most of the time they spreading bigotry and hate for their own political power and gains, the chantry instilled intolerance on people mind and using terror as a way to control population of Thedas, people except for the ruling class are live in uncertainty and fear, we might see peasant in thedas just living their simple life, but if the temple and chantry find out that they are doing anything ‘suspicious’ or they hide their relatives who can use magic then that’s it, their life will end by chantry order and Templar sword, not to mention that the chantry bigoted cheating also lead to  these kind of situation, remember  that mage who were murdered in the storm coast by villager? She died because the chantry brainwashed people to hates on anything non-human and to hate on mages. NOW THE MAGES, let’s take a look at the mages and elves. 1.The mages and elves just wanted to be free and to be treated as an equal in society, not as a walking weapon to be enslaved and imprisoned and not as a servant/slave to non-mage human (or in tevinter and the qun not as a slave in general for elves and mages too who suffer under the qun ) if anyone supporting an ideology or people who deny other people rights, BASIC RIGHTS, then all of you fucktard can rot in hell. 2. Fiona, despite the chantry and Templar oppressed and enslaved her people for must I remind you again 1000 year! Fiona Was still willing to let other fraternities and other circles to vote, whenever they wanted to follow her rebellion or not, AND THE SOUTHREN MAGES CHOSE TO REBELED AND FOLLOWING HER! 3. Now mages freedom is canon, the mages now have their own government and they   rule over themselves( college of enchanters) and they never try to enslave, oppress, brutalize and hurt non mages 4. Now Briala rule in Orlais, she  could help to keep:  1. Remember that mage who died in Gaspard on leash and preventing him from invading other nations, not to mention that she definetly

4. 

Oh, Solas where are thou ~

Now about Solas and the veil, we might speculate to our heart content about Solas plans and what he might do in the future, but to be honest, truth to be told, NO ONE EXACTLY KNOW what is his actual plan for the evanuris, for the blight, for titans and to tear m down the veil. We only have morsels of information about his plans from trespasser, and Tevinter night (also from the leaks).  Who knew maybe Solas plan will ironically save the world? Doomed it? Saved some people? Only doomed half of the world? Will the world end? Or survive?  Now i want all magic to come back but without have to kill millions of people in Thedas, Because it will solve non-mages vs mages problem, everybody will be mages and the centuries of problems will be solved, not to mention that with the minuscule amounts of magic Thedas physical world now have, people seemed to slowly devolving, being cut from magic of the fade is not only horrible for mages but also for non- mages (Because the fade is the sources of power and life itself, not to mention that Solas referred to it as ‘The sea of souls’ in Tevinter Nights)  Here’s the thing, with or without Solas even waking up from his long sleep, i think The veil will be destroyed either way, here’s the evidences that supported my theories (But i still have no idea about What exactly will happen just like many other people out there ) Sandal Prophercy:  “Sandal: One day the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see.”  Grand Duchess Florianne: “ A great CHANGE  is coming for all of us lord seeker lucius:  “ We created a decaying world, and  fought to preserve it even as it crumbled, we had to be stopped” Kieran:  “My mother is the inheritor of the next age” Mythal: WE HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT WHAT SOLAS PLAN IS, what is he going to do with other evanuris? What bout the titans? What about mythal? and ghilan’nain creatures that has been slowly emerge from the sea? What about the blight and darkspawn? I feel  like Solas wouldn’t be the true next main villain, he wouldn’t be Corypheus 2.0, why? Because unlike the blight or Corypheus, Solas have important relationship with The inquisitor, while most any other fucking villain have little to no relationship with heroes. So here Solas quote from Tevinter Nights: His look pinned her “I have no choice.What  I am doing will save this world, and those like you- the elves who are still remain-may find it better, when  it is done.” Solas might call himself “Prideful, hot headed and foolish.”  but he’s not a fucking idiot, he wouldn’t just tear down the veil  just to bing elven glory back,  there must be something bigger behind his motives, like the evanuris and well titans I don’t want to say much about the possible consequences of what might Solas  do, because frankly we don’t know anything about it. It is possible tho that the veil destruction will be the same thing just  like the fifth blight, mage and elves vs Templar and chantry/human war, Corypheus rises and fall  and the fucking explosion of both Kirkwall chantry and temple of sacred ashes,  it just going to happen, it is what fucking it is man. To quote Steve Jobs “One more thing” Patrick  fucking Weekes and their wife supporting mage and mage rights MEANWHILE... if you could live anywhere in Thedas, where would you live? PATRICK: I would live in Rivain. Because Rivain is not as hung up on magic, because they have seers who let themselves get possessed... they also have a relatively peaceful relationship with the Qun. And they're kind of a melting pot and multicultural... they're a place where a lot of different cultures come together. And also? Beachfront property. KARIN: I was just gonna say... if you need further justification, they get to say, "I want to live on the beach."

Yeah, that was a really good one. Okay, moving on: Mages or Templars? PATRICK and KARIN (in unison): Mage

http://www.dumpeddrunkanddalish.com/2020/05/castles-fennecs-and-player-engagement.html http://www.dumpeddrunkanddalish.com/2020/04/chatting-with-weekeses-part-3-romances.html

[bourgeoishellion]

I rant about a manga I read

I’ve been crying over +A no Tachiichi by Geni Yuu for the past few...hours. That’s actually quite a few literal hours I’m talking about, and I will never divulge the exact number because at this point it’s a long tantrum. 

I love this manga, and I will stand by it till the end of time. I reread it with tears in my eyes and sobbed even harder the second and third time. So, listen to the synopsis:

Satoki Houma is an imaginative girl who enjoys shoujo manga. She has long comes to terms with the fact she will never be the type of girl that is the heroine of a manga purely because she isn't pretty, and she has decided she prefers to watch events unfold rather that get involved in any case. However, in the perfect shoujo manga twist, one day she gets dragged to an alternate world where the people have summoned a Holy Maiden to save them! Except so did her classmate, Haruka Toudou, who fits the exact model of a Shoujo Protagonist. Naturally, Satoki is overlooked for Haruka except it's not Haruka who has the powers of the Holy Maiden they wished for. What will Satoki do!?

Okay. It actually sounds pretty basic, cliche, and it’s the summary I tend to think, oh. . . one of those. Boring, but maybe it’ll surprise me.

I’ve been reading too many of the same kind of isekai manga lately, the overpowered and overly justified protagonist has been getting old. But this...

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for for ages.

Obvious spoilers for the ending, which is all I’m really going to rant about because I need to get this cry out or else I’m never moving on with my life...

So, Spoiler Alert: Satoki ends up returning to her own world.

That was one of the things I was looking for in an isekai. And I’ve never been more sad to have found such a perfect manga that could grant me this.

Satoki finds out that while she has stronger powers than Haruka (due to her imagination), she has a more limited fountain of power to draw from. So she can create all these fantastical, marvelous weapons, but Haruka can only create what others imagine (or something like that. It’s later explained she can also utilize this thing called memory, but what even is that? lol). 

However, the more she creates, the less “mana” she has, and it can’t replenish itself.

Haruka, on the other hand, as the true Holy Maiden, has an unlimited source of mana. 

So, in the end, Satoki really wasn’t the Holy Maiden. She really did trip into this other world. The Priestess tells her that the only thing keeping her in the world is the mana she has, and that once it runs out, she’ll return to her own world. 

And this is great news, really! Satoki has always been left out, always been just a little less important, hasn’t made so many good friends that she would overlook the pros of going back home, nor does she believe she would leave a lasting impact on the minds of everyone she met in the story. So, overall, the fact she can go back home is a positive!

Right. 

Right!?!?

NONONONONONONnodnONAFNSLDL;KJ.

Sorry, I’ll try to be a little less shaky from now on...

See, she ends up with enough mana to create a useless small thing, so the “final battle” has to be fought alongside Haruka, so that with Satoki’s imagination and Haruka’s unlimited power they can defeat the enemy!

It’s a great plan. Satoki has been forced to pretend to be the Voice of God for a while now, so she even has the important minor role of declaring Haruka the Holy Maiden (it’s a whole thing). 

After declaring Haruka “The One,” mid-battle, while they are still being attacked by both a bloodthirsty demon king and a power-hungry prince AT THE SAME TIME, Satoki decides to peace out.

And it makes a lot of sense. She does tend to be surrounded by blunders, she really should take the opportunity to leave while she still can! So she has a wonderful goodbye scene with Haruka and gives her a paper mache sword that is shiny (which is all she can do with the power she has left). 

That was wonderful. Great moment. Now, just wait for whatever will take her home to take her hom-WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, HARUKA IS NOT THE ONLY TEARFUL GOODBYE YOU HAD TO GIVE!

But of course, Satoki is a fucking idiot, she couldn’t have realized that, yes, other people wanted to say goodbye to her! They would have loved to have a moment to talk to her, to say their farewell, thank her- ugh. 

So, the mage Miva and the fake Maiden Luce are obviously who I’m talking about here. 

I fell in love with Luce the moment she appeared in the manga (relatively late) because she was so obviously taken with Satoki. While everyone often had something/someone more important than Satoki (even Haruka was more preoccupied with her love life), Luce made it clear that Satoki was important to her! 

Sure, she was taking the minimal (it was actually pretty big though!) risk by taking Satoki’s side against the prince, but it was for her! She was important to her! She and Satoki were friends through and through. 

But the dumbass thought that Luce was just taken with how much of a pretty boy Miva was. Oh yeah, she’s totally into the stupid mage she just stared down and not totally loyal to you. 

And Miva. Oh, Miva...

Lemme just...rehash what happened from the moment Satoki summoned that stupid paper mache sword.

She said goodbye to Haruka and they did the friend thing.

And then Miva grabbed her shoulder, because she just did something stupid. He straight up asks, “Why did you make such a weird decision!?”

And we have to respect that, for once in this miserable joke of a journey, she made a fucking choice of her own volition, no advice, no suggestions, she chose this herself. She thought it through and decided...hey. This is when I want to go.

So, Miva is obviously a little messed up here. Satoki is leaving. Like, right the fuck now. She didn’t tell anyone she was going to do this, and now there’s no turning back!

Before the battle, Miva had told her that he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to tell her something. But now, there’s no god damn time, she’s on the verge of leaving forever. 

And Miva is trying his damnedest to talk to her but...they’re in the middle of a fucking war. 

The Prince orders their arrest and death or whatever, so they have to dodge that shit. 

And as they do, Luce drags Satoki down to the floor and let’s her know she is the worst best friend in the history of best friends because What the fuck? “You were just gonna leave without saying goodbye? Was I the only one who thought we were friends?”

And what a time to find out your friend is your friend (even though its been obvious from the first chapter she appeared in and even though she has told you several times in direct fashion that you should be more decisive for your own good, which is something only your friends have done, ugh-)

Anyway, Luce and Satoki get a somewhat half-assed goodbye, but it’s still nice. For the last time, Luce tells her to grow a spine and not depreciate herself.

Miva comes back, and he has something to say. But oohhh, look, the king is over there, Satoki has to know if he’s on their side or naw even though she shouldn’t care, she’s not staying long enough for it to matter!

Miva does a quick explanation but “Anyway, [he] has something to tell [her]!” but oh wait, demon king is throwing shit at them now, fucking duck. Miva saves her life with magic and time is running short, honestly, it’s kind of amazing Satoki is still here at all. How much lag does this magic have?

Satoki’s worried about the ongoing battle around her, but Miva grabs her arm and pulls her in. 

“Wait...WAIT!!!” Please, Satoki, just- hear him out, please...

He let’s her know in too many words that this whole speaking mess is a mess because she chose such a stupid time to go home! I just...lemme write this out, okay, his dialogue fucking kills me...

“It’ll be fine, just listen to me!! Look! It’s because you’re trying to go home at a time like this that things keep getting in the way! We can’t even talk like this! Properly!”

“Talk?” she asks (YES TALK).

He has hold of her arm, and he pulls her in to TALK PROPERLY but.

Her arm...disappears. Her hand is gone. She’s going. He’s out of time.

He stared at the spot where her hand is supposed to be while she says the stupidest thing, “Oh, you’re right! I’m sorry, I forgot to thank you properly...” 

The silly mask she was wearing to speak in public cracks and breaks apart, which confuses her. 

“...We really...don’t have any more time to talk now, do we?”

Why is she so worried about her mask, why can’t she look at his face? He looks so fucking devastated, and it’s actually the most emotion we’ve seen on his face since chapter one, listen to him.

“I never said anything because I didn’t want you to become spoiled and dependent on me,” a justifiable fear, but it’s hitting hard, “but you’ve really worked hard. More than enough-” She has, maybe he should have had more faith in her, however, he probably did everything just right.

An explosion behind them. Battle’s still going as he speaks, she’s obviously not paying attention.

“Well...your work...” he says.

It’s always been about her “duty” when they speak, they’ve never spoken about anything else. 

The knight wants to step up to fight the demon dick, and Satoki is worried about that obviously bad idea, and she yells at him not to do that. She is not. Listening. He’s still talking...

“...your work...isn’t what’s important...” She’s not listening. 

“What? Oh no, Roswald-san, you can’t! You have to-” She’s not listening.

“...what is important...” She’s not listening.

“I’m telling you not to go!” She’s not even part of the same conversation. 

Miva looks on, obviously giving up on telling her anything. There’s too much going on. She’s so easily distracted. Her hand is gone, she’s disappearing for good, and she’s not even paying attention to him. 

“Satoki,” he puts his hand on her head. She finally looks at him, she finally listens. He smiles at her for the first time. “You did well.”

“MAS-”

And then she’s in her school hallways, absolutely alone.

“-ter. You smiled...” 

She’s back. She meets up with her normal high school friends again. 

The End.

This fucking killed me. This is actively killing me, right now. It’s so fucking unfair. Miva and Luce deserved so much better, but Satoki never even thought about them. God dammit. 

This calls for another hour of sobbing uncontrollably. There’s absolutely nothing else after this. We left mid-battle, Miva had the saddest farewell and even Satoki admits that was an unsatisfying way to end things, but I expected it. I was expecting it to end like this ever since we found out she could go home, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less. 

This is just the sort of protagonist she is, it was done so well, and it sucks...

This is actually it. The End. She has the manga in her hands, so she probably knows how things sort of ended up for Haruka and maybe even Miva and Luce, but we don’t. We don’t even get to know what Miva really wanted to tell her, though I have a guess...

Satoki is just a bit more decisive, but is otherwise unchanged and has returned to her world. Miva and Luce never got to see her again. 

I know for sure that if they could have chosen who of the two “Holy Maidens” they would have preferred stay, Haruka would not have been their choice. And that makes me so sad. 

The worst part is, there really is no reason it would have been better for Satoki to stay. This is actually the best possible outcome. I just wish...they’d had more time.

This is an unpopular manga. It’s been read by few people, and many of the people who read it were disappointed in the story because it had a premise that implied the cliche, yet it ended so. Anticlimactically. 

So, there really is nothing after this. Not even fan content, it’s so short and unknown I think there’s actually only two fanfictions (one in spanish, another a crossover, neither what I need right now), no fanart, no doujinshis, nothing. It’s over. It’s done. It was perfect, the. End. 

It’s exactly how it was supposed to end.

I’m so sad.

I’m probably going to draw something tomorrow. Maybe I’ll start and never finish a fanfiction. Maybe I’ll just let it go. 

[four-loose-screws]

FE8 Novelization Translation - Chapter 3, Section 2

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———————————

I call this a “section” because it is not a separate part of the chapter in the book, but divided from the rest of the chapter by a scene break.

———————————

Chapter 3: The Stolen Bracelet

Eirika's army continued to stealthily march west. Once again, they were not once attacked by Grado soldiers along the way, granting them another brief moment of peace and quiet.

When they reached the end of the mountain road, they saw a large forest in front of them. From afar, the tree leaves were so thick they looked not green, but black, proving the forest’s old age.

"That is the Za’ha Forest.” Seth pointed at the trees and explained. "Once we pass through it, we will arrive in a town called Serafew. From there onwards, we will be in Grado territory… and Renvall Castle will be right before us."

"We're finally almost there. And I will be able to reunite with Brother…" Eirika said, voice full of excitement. But her words were cut short when something strange came into the edges of her field of vision.

Something was glowing and moving towards them from between the trees. She could not tell what it's true form was, but it sent a chill down her spine. "Seth, what is that? Ah, there it is again…"

As they continued closer the forest, and they were able to catch a better glimpse of that figure and another among the trees, they couldn’t believe their eyes.

The first looked like a rotting corpse. It wriggled through the trees by dragging itself along with stiff, awkward movements. The second was a giant eyeball, emanating a faint light as it floated through the air.

Both were grotesque, unnatural beings that none of them had ever seen anything like before.

Seth ordered the entire army to halt. The horses neighed uneasily, and their bodies were shaking. The soldiers also slowly began to shiver, one by one.

“What are they? They cannot be… human... but also not animal…?” Eirika asked.

"This is my first time seeing anything like this as well. It appears that powers we know nothing of are at work here in this forest…”

“Is there a road that goes around it?”

“Unfortunately, there is not. We can go back the way we came and choose another road, but that will take time.”

Eirika bit her lip. She wanted to rescue Ephraim as quickly as possible, meaning she couldn’t agree to turning back around down the mountain road. “Then we have no choice but to go straight through this forest…”

“Let’s go.” Seth ushered his horse to begin moving once again. 

But before he could even take a single step, a young man appeared. He had orange, wavy hair, and was coming towards them. Eirika recognized his clothing as that of a monk. He was still young, but looked suited to be a clergyman. 

When Seth stopped his horse, the monk called out to him in a worried tone, “Travelers, the path ahead of you through the Za’ha Forest is very dangerous. I am sure you can even see that from here. Unnatural creatures are roaming about within it, so It would be best if you turned back.”

“It is very urgent that we reach our destination quickly. Whatever it might take to do so, we must go through this forest.” Eirika answered.

The monk’s expression clouded. “Is that so… Then there is nothing else I can say. Please hurry directly south, and be careful not to become surrounded by these creatures.”

“We will.... But what is going on inside? What in the world are they…?”

“Monsters.” The young monk said with a sigh. “I apologize. I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Artur, and I am a monk. My monastery ordered me to purge this land of monsters. However, there are too many for me to handle all on my own…”

Eirika couldn’t believe her own ears.

She’d only ever heard about monsters in books, which explained that they existed long, long ago as the Demon King’s servants when he waged war upon the continent. However, when the Demon King was defeated, they were supposed to have vanished along with him. Was it even possible for them to appear in this age?

“Monsters are a thing of legend, aren’t they?”

“It is understandable if you do not believe it. But they are real, and wandering this forest. And they are not only here. I’ve been told that, recently, there have been sightings of them in every region of this continent.”

“What did you just say…!?” Eirika was in complete shock.

However, the unbelievable was happening. And not just as a response to the Grado Army’s sudden invasions… something much bigger and terrifying was happening across Magvel.

She wanted to ask the young monk to tell her more, but there was no time.

“Lady Eirika! A monster is coming this way!” Seth shouted.

Eirika froze. The giant eyeball monster was floating towards her.

She was already used to fighting human opponents, but she had no idea how she should fight something like this. Her entire army started to panic.

"Please leave this to me." Artur said. He turned towards the monster without hesitation.

Eirika broke out in a cold sweat. There should be no way that a young man with such a small build, without a weapon in his hands, could put up a fight against a monster...

But that which she couldn't believe happened before her very eyes.

"Leave this land, you impure beast! It is not yours to claim!" Artur said in a harsh tone that was the complete opposite of the one he'd spoken to Eirika with, then raised one of his hands.

A light so bright that it blinded Eirika formed at the tips of his fingers.

Artur swung his hand towards the monster, throwing the concentrated ball of light at it.

The light flashed, and in the moment that Eirika was blinded, the monster’s body disintegrated without a trace.

Members of the church can follow one of two paths. Some, like Moulder, are given staves with which to heal, while others learn offensive light magic. In contrast to his kind outward appearance, this young man seemed to be a wielder of the latter.

This sight filled Eirika with courage. Though these creatures may be monsters, they were not enemies that could not be damaged. They could be fought and defeated.

"All units, attack! Provide back up for Artur!" Seth yelled and dismounted his horse. Those who'd trembled at first sight of the monster returned to their usual calm.

"Go!" Ross shouted, causing Franz, Vanessa, and several others to assume a battle stance. Moulder held his staff up with one hand, preparing to immediately heal anyone who may be injured. Colm and Neimi also steeled themselves for battle, staying close together with their weapons in hand.

"There is a river to the south!" Artur called out to everyone when he saw that they were finally ready to rush into the forest. "Just beyond the river is a village. A friend of mine should be there, guarding it all by herself. Please do your best to help her!"

"Understood.” Eirika nodded. “We'll leave her to you, Vanessa!"

A pegasus knight wouldn't need to cross the bridge, and could fly over the river in a single swoop. 

Vanessa guided her pegasus to lightly take off into the sky.

The monsters continued coming as if they were bursting out of the ground. They would even cast long range surprise attacks every so often from around hidden corners.

However, Eirika’s army did not falter. Though the foul odor of the monsters made them feel sick, fortunately, these enemies were that much easier to cut down than human foes.

The central figure in the fight was of course Artur. His light magic was more effective at hitting the monsters' weak spots than swords and lances. He took no time to rest, aiming light magic spells at the oncoming monsters one after the other.

However, because his defenses were weak, Eirika and the others had to wield their swords and support him as his guard. Though they did not have any time to exchange words, they soon picked up on how to synchronize with each other’s movements. 

They defeated the monsters trying to block their path one after the other, and were able to continue south.

The bridge suspended over the river was a very small one. It looked like it might break if everyone used it to cross, so the axe unit cut down a tree to use as an impromptu bridge, and everyone decided that those who could move freely would use it.

Eirika led the group across the tree bridge and looked for the village that Vanessa had flown towards.

"Over there!"

Everyone followed Artur's directions until they were finally able to see the entrance to the village.

Vanessa’s pegasus was in a grassy patch, resting her wings. Nearby was Vanessa, talking to a girl they did not know.

'Is that the friend Artur mentioned?' Eirika approached them.

Vanessa's face showed a rare expression of bewilderment.

The woman noticed Eirika’s presence, and went on guard in an instant. 

Eirika quickly forced a smile, wondering if the woman had mistaken her for a monster.

The woman then said in a flat, calm voice, "Excuse me, but are you alive?”

"...Huh?"

"I question that because revenants have invaded this area. They even entered the village a little while ago."

"She was burning them all black just now.” Vanessa said with a disturbed look on her face.

Eirika was so amazed that she could not respond, so the woman continued speaking.

“Of course, I was able to avoid being put into any danger. Why? Because as a prodigy, the differences between living creatures and the rotting corpses of the reanimated were obvious with just one glance.”

The girl had a very odd way of speaking. Eirika now understood why Vanessa had looked so troubled.

Eirika asked in confusion, “Um… Are you… Artur’s friend…?”

“Yes, and my name is Lute. I am an unparalleled mage with superior talent, however, you have no reason to be nervous. I am not only intelligent, but also have a great personality.”

“U-Uh… um…”

"Now that two other living beings have come to me, I cannot stand idly by any longer. I shall leave this village and fight with you. Such minor monsters are as helpless as babies before my magic. Ah, I apologize, that was offensive to babies."

"...Um…"

"Please stay calm. I am a prodigy. Now let's go." Lute walked away at a brisk pace.

Eirika and Vanessa stared at each other.

"Is she really… the friend Artur mentioned?" Eirika asked.

"I think so…"

Regardless, they tried to return to the battlefield, just for a crazed scream to assail their ears.

It was Lute.

"What!? The battle's almost over already!? I didn't get a chance to shine!" She said irritatedly with her hands on her hips.

Artur rushed straight up to her. "Are you okay, Lute!?"

"Oh, hello, Artur. You should know that just by looking at me. And you are okay as well, yes?"

"I am. This group saved me."

Since the battle was over, everyone had gathered together.

They all formed a circle around Lute and Artur. 

Eirika said, "No, you're the one who saved us! Thanks to you, Artur, we were able to defeat all of the monsters. Still, I thought creatures like monsters only existed in legends…"

"Remnants, Mogals, Bonewalkers, Mauthdoogs, Gargoyles, and Baels... “ Lute rattled off the different types of monsters. Her voice actually sounded a bit excited. "The monsters that were told of in ancient texts are all being resurrected, one after the other. The world is in danger. Though I may be a prodigy, I do have a limit when I am on my own. I'd like to travel together with you, and vanquish the monsters that are reappearing across the continent. What do you think about that?"

"Take me with you as well, if you please." Artur cut in. "My order was not only to defeat the monsters roaming these woods, but across the continent. Please allow Lute and I to go with you."

"Yes, of course! I think it will be reassuring if you are with us."

They still didn't know anything about Lute, but they'd already seen Artur's true power with their own eyes. Increasing their number of allies who could wield offensive magic was a very welcome idea indeed, considering the future ahead of them.

Her army had grown once again. Eirika thought of what Seth had said about her ability to draw people to her, and it made her happy.

She still didn't know if she really had such a power, but for the journey ahead of them, it

 certainly was reassuring to gain more allies they could trust.

"Lady Eirika…" Seth called out to her in a grave voice. He seemed to want to talk to her about something. 

She broke away from the circle to stand privately with him.

"Since we arrived here, I have considered retreating back to Frelia." Seth's words came as a total shock to her.

They'd finally made it to the end of the long mountain path and through the old forest. Serafew was just ahead of them. Was turning back even an option at this point?"

Seth saw her expression and continued talking, though it clearly pained him to do so. "I know how you feel. But now, in addition to Grado soldiers, even monsters have started roaming the lands. Such a situation is too harsh for us."

Seth was not the kind of person to be scared by the sight of monsters. There was no doubt in Eirika’s mind that he’d thought a lot about this proposal.

And Eirika herself felt unsure, too. They’d managed to defeat the monsters in the forest, but they knew next to nothing about how powerful the monsters that would appear before them next time might be. They might end up in a situation where they were no match at their current strength.

The one factor that kept her heart from being fully swayed was, of course, her brother. The more difficult their battles became, the more she worried for her brother’s well-being.

If the monsters had made it to Renvall… then Ephraim would be forced to fight not only the Grado Army. In that case, no matter how strong he may be, they couldn’t be optimistic.

“...Please allow us to keep pressing onwards.” Eirika hardened her resolve and looked up at Seth. “I understand your judgement very well. But I am really worried about Brother. It may be selfish of me to put everyone in harm’s way… And the thought that I might be doing so pains me, but I…” Eirika couldn’t finish her sentence. She looked down at her feet.

Seth was silent for a moment, then said, “I understand. We will do as you say.”

“Seth...”

“I will protect you, Lady Eirika.” His words were powerful. 

Eirika was surprised. The moment the thought crossed her mind that she might be blushing, she became even more nervous. Her breathing sped up, and she looked away from him.

“Prepare yourself!”

A sudden loud voice called out that made Eirika jump.

A person flew out from among the trees. She was a young woman who looked to be about the same age as Eirika, and held a long staff in her hands.

"Evil beasts, I will not allow you to do as you please! I, L'arachel, will send you back to your world of darkness!" She waved her staff around, but stopped when all eyes fell on her. "...Huh? What happened to the monsters? Weren’t all of you being attacked by monsters? I noticed you were in trouble from atop the cliff and rushed over here, but…”

“Um, we already defeated all of them…” Eirika answered.

The girl responded by raising her staff into the air once more and yelling, “What good fortune! You were surely blessed by the gods! But it’s a shame that they didn’t last a little bit longer. I wanted to show you all a splendid performance! I knew it was a bad idea to take a detour. We should have come straight here.”

“If we’d come straight here, then we would have gone straight off the cliff!” A new voice said. When Eirika looked for the source, she noticed a man with a large, flashy cloth wrapped around his forehead, who was coming up from behind the mysterious girl.

And further behind him was a giant man with a stiff beard. “Gah ha ha, it’s too bad, innit, Lady L’Arachel?!” The giant said with a laugh that shook the air.

Eirika took a step back and asked, “Um… Who are you?”

“Me? Well, since you asked, I am of the great Theocracy of Rausten! My name is…”

“Hush, you cannot tell them, Lady L’Arachel!” The bearded giant spread out both his arms and stepped in front of her. He gestured strangely and dramatically while arguing, “You are a very special person! You cannot give away your identity in a place like this!”

“Oh, that’s right! How careless of me! Thank you for reminding me, Dozla!”

“‘Tis nothing, My Lady!”

“In times such as these, it is much sweeter to leave quickly without giving one’s name. Fare thee well, strangers! If fate wishes it, then let us meet again!”

“Let’s go, Rennac!”

The woman and the giant disappeared between the trees, their footsteps somehow both soft and loud at the same time. The young man they’d called Rennac shrugged his shoulders if to say “Good grief,” and chased after them.

There was a long pause during which no one could say anything, questioning “What just happened…?” to themselves in unison. 

The one to open her mouth and break the silence was Lute. “What weird people. My powers of observation saw right through them. They are unquestionably very weird people.”

“So are you!” Colm whispered. When their eyes met, he looked away and corrected himself. “It’s not just the monsters! Even the people in this forest are weird. There must be a poisonous gas leaking from somewhere, don’t you guys think? Everything is weird here! I can’t wait to get out! Let’s go!”

Regardless of whether or not there was poison or anything else of the sort in the forest, it would indeed be best not to stay for very long.

Eirika’s army continued further south, leaving the Za’ha Forest behind them.

[sheyshen]

Fictober Day 2

Prompt: “That’s the Easy Part“ Fandom: WoW (World of Warcraft) Rating: G Pairing: Human Mage/Varian Wrynn

-

It felt like the maps were mocking her as Shey glared at the markers for each of the Alliance's strongholds, troop movements, and objectives she needed to see to herself. The fire crackled, popping as the wood in the fireplace at the opposite end of the table broke apart. She huffed in annoyance. Things were going well, Lunarfall was nearly completely upgraded and still had bits of winter veil decorations on some of the buildings, some due to lack of time and some because having some colorful lights up wasn't that terrible a thing.

But even with the base being complete and a majority of the conflict throughout Draenor taken care of there remained the planned push into Tannan. A push that she had been assigned to lead by her king. One that she wouldn't've minded taking on if it weren't for the nearly endless sea of demons and orcs she'd have to fight through. At least they had the Horde's assistance with this, and even better their commander was a friend of hers. Kieran wasn't very good with people but he was a hell of a tactician and she was glad to have his help with this.

Pushing off the table she stepped away, admitting defeat. It was late and she had a lot to do before both armies made their push into the final holding ground of the iron horde and their demons. She could predict all the possible outcomes till dawn, but when it came down to it going into the fight exhausted wouldn't better their chances.

She left heading to her quarters, deciding sleep was the best option, and then she could worry about the rest. Besides she had company she didn't want to ignore for too long if she could help it. Pushing open the door she found her lover tending to his armor, checking clasps and cleaning the metal until it shined. He glanced up as she closed the door the focused furrow in his brow easing as he watched her.

"Done glaring at the maps for the night?" Varian asked as he stood and placed the pieces of his armor on a display near the foot of the bed.

"For the time being." Shey smiled as she strode across the small room, unclipping her shoulder pads and cloak before seating herself at the small table in the corner of the room to remove her boots. "There's too many unknowns with this. I want to make sure we have as few casualties as possible."

She watched as he went about the room changing the rest of the way out of his armor. She hadn't seen him most of the day, he had spent most of it strategizing with Khadgar while she was running around tending to some remaining requests that she had gotten from those stationed in Lunarfall.

"Breaking the blockade and building our outposts is the priority." He said as he removed the final bits of his chest plate and set them along with the rest of his armor.

"Of course, Durotan already has the Frostwolves scouting for weakness for the assault tomorrow. but that's the easy part." Shey sighed, rubbing her bare feet as she spoke before reaching back and unclasping her leotard and pulled it off. "After that, we need to figure out how we're going to keep the ground we've gained and how to get in hellfire citadel."

"That's why we have the best planning out this attack." He stood in front of her holding out a sleep shirt for her to wear.

Thanking him she pulled it on, judging by the size and that he wore nothing but some loose pants she figured it was one of his. Not that she was complaining. She watched him as he tended to the last of his gear and made sure Shalamayne was leaning on the table next to the small bed. "That's why I'm glad Kieran is the horde commander for this. He's been a huge help."

"That's the blood elf that was here a few days ago?" Varian asked sitting on the bed.

She nodded as she stood and saw to checking that her staff was in one piece and cleaning the makeup off her face. "I've worked with him a few times. He's been an on again off again ally through the years and he's married to one of the healers that's part of the main force." Satisfied that everything was set she turned and headed to the bed as well.

Varian had laid down while she had been finishing her nightly routine so she climbed over him and settled in between him and the wall. A nice cozy spot for her to cuddle in close to her lover and still give him the freedom to reach for his sword if anything happened. The bed was too small for them to sleep any other way than pretty much on top of one another, but neither complained.

"Tomorrow is going to be a busy day." She sighed as she settled in. He held her close but had been quiet for a while. Shey had wondered if he was asleep already but when she pushed herself up so she could check before rambling on for no one to hear she found him watching her instead. "Something on your mind?"

He hummed in thought before replying, a slight twitch at his eyebrows as he debated on what to say. "Marry me." He said simply.

She had thought that she could predict just about everything about him at this point but her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What?"

He pushed himself up so he was resting on his elbows. "Marry me." He repeated. He gritted his teeth as if expecting her to say no before continuing, "we can make it official after you return to stormwind. But I wanted to ask now before I return in the morning."

"Varian?" She sat on her knees, straddling his one leg as she watched him, looking for any sign of regret of his declaration. There was none that she could see, as he waited patiently for her to continue. She smiled at him and leaned forward to kiss him. "Yes." She murmured against his lips.

He deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around her before laying back down and bringing her with him. Releasing her enough so she could get some air and settle in for the night, he kissed the top of her head. She couldn't see his face from where she lay, but based on the quiet I love you she was certain he was smiling.

Tomorrow she would make the push into Tannan and tomorrow he would return to stormwind and await to hear of their success. And after that... they had an exciting future to look forward to. A bit of happiness after so much time apart.

[prolestariwrites]

Escalin Drabble

Here is a quick oneshot I wrote last week after a group of us were discussing the future of Escalin; @solynacea was rooting for Merlin to punch him and @bertazsleepyhead wanted a kiss and I decided both were best. Hopefully, this will take the sting out of today’s spoilers.

The air slowly died down, the roaring of the wind and magic mixing together faded until Britannia was settled under a weird calm. Escanor could taste it on his tongue, like a snowfall, the only sound his own pounding heart. His breath came in quick, little pants, a grim smile breaking across his face. The Demon King was finally defeated and the battle was over, and after a minute of the world standing still, it suddenly sprang back to life.

The cheers of his friends seemed distant. Escanor took the moment to breathe deeply, the air now tasting cleaner. His ears were still ringing from the fight, and it muffled the others as they called to one another and celebrated. Let them celebrate, they earned it. Those without the power of Sunshine and the strength of the One would understandably be excited by their victory. How would they have known as assuredly as he that there would be no other outcome?

"Escanor!"

His name broke through the muted sounds, piercing his heart directly. Escanor looked towards the source and found Merlin standing not three feet away. Her hands were clenched into tight fists and her eyes were shining, although her expression was the same cool, vague look she always wore. If it wasn't for the tension in her shoulders and the tiny, almost imperceptible twitch of her lip—a twitch only he would notice, he was sure—he would not even know that Merlin must be feeling a range of emotion.

"Merlin," he said, stepping forward. "You must be pleased. A victory well-won. Not that I was—"

He was cut off as she reached out and grabbed his chin. His shirt had disintegrated long ago, and as she pinched her fingers she yanked him forward. Escanor swallowed the rest of his boast out of sheer surprise that she would dare to touch him. He did not pull away, curious now what she planned to do. As if a mage, even one as powerful as Merlin, could harm him.

Their eyes connected. Escanor arched a brow slightly, trying to read behind her gaze, almost daring her to strike him. For a moment he felt almost badly for her, for surely her hand would break? But that would be a fine lesson she learned, he decided.

"Escanor," she breathed, before pressing her mouth against his.

The shock was immediate. Escanor's eyes went impossibly wide as he felt her flesh meet his, her lips slanting to accommodate his mustache, her free hand grabbing the back of his neck to hold him in place. Her eyes were closed, and he stared at her brow, wondering how and why and what was going on, his heart pounding furiously. Then she tugged on his lips, making him gasp a little, and as Merlin leaned in to mold against him, Escanor slowly closed his eyes.

It felt as though there were two Escanors: one that stood in shock against Merlin's unexpected move, and one that still raged with the effects of Sunshine. The Escanor enraptured by her kiss tried to return it, but her tight grip on his chin and neck made it impossible to do anything but receive. That one felt his body melting as if the blood was draining from his body, his limbs and fingers and ears tingling with a mixture of excitement and mortification and fear and love that overwhelmed him.

The other Escanor—and truly, wasn't there always two of him?—was also overwhelmed. A mortal was touching him, kissing him, was not trembling in awe in front of him; and yet, he was not angry. On the contrary, it felt... nice. As nice as it could be anyway.

That Escanor also had the sensation of melting. He closed his eyes and could feel the Sunshine within him pulsing, heating his blood to boiling, and the lava that resulted began to consume him from the inside. His organs and blood vessels and muscles disintegrated until all that was left was his heartbeat and Merlin, softly brushing her lips against his before pulling away.

He blinked his eyes open, and to his surprise, Merlin was now eye-level. She still held tightly to his chin as her other hand eased away, so they stood simply staring at one another. "Merlin?" he asked, jerking at bit at the strange tone in his voice. Instead of the deep timbre in his mind, his voice was at a slightly higher pitch. Almost... human.

"You absolute ass!" she shouted. Merlin released his chin and aimed a punch right for his torso. The impact made him give an "oof", more out of surprise than pain, but the force took away his breath and he crumpled forward, falling to the ground.

As he once again caught his breath, Escanor held his stomach and wondered how this happened. How would the One, infinite power unmatched, be taken down so easily?

When he looked down at himself, Escanor understood. The huge arms and thickly muscled legs were gone, the long hair that had hung in fringes around his eyes now back to their smartly cropped length. His hands were no longer the size of small boulders and his clothes hung in rips over slightly scrawny limbs. He was gone—and with that realization, the other Escanor blinked out of thought.

"You ass!" she repeated, nearly shouting. "How could you do that? You know the danger you're in, the danger you're still in! Why would you take Sunshine again? Do you want to die? Do you want to be killed? Of all the moronic things you could have done! We had this handled, Escanor, we could have done this! And you didn't have to risk yourself! What would you have done if you died? What would I have done?"

"Ow," he replied softly.

Merlin dropped to her knees in a heap next to him. "Let me see," she snapped, once more yanking his chin upwards. This time she examined his face with a look of barely-contained fury, tsking over a cut above his brow and the bruises on his cheek, wiping a not-very-tender thumb along his slightly swollen lip. Then her hands slid down his neck and chest, feeling for injuries, and Escanor let go a nervous yelp, half embarrassment and half ticklish.

"I can't believe you," she muttered. "You were not to use that grace again. It's too powerful. We discussed this! You could have left Mael to handle things."

"Mael didn't want to fight," Escanor explained.

Her eyes whipped furiously up at him, making him shrink a bit. "Then that's on him! Not on your shoulders! Did you not think of what—what would have happened had you—"

Quickly she cleared her throat, looking away, and as Escanor watched her swallow he realized she was holding back tears. "Anyway, you survived, no small miracle," she whispered.

He huffed a little laugh. "You're right, I'm sorry," he offered.

Merlin peeked at him from the corner of her eye. "You should be. Don't scare me again."

"Never."

A moment of silence passed. He could still feel her lips on his, so Escanor leaned forward, smiling when her face turned towards him. Merlin did not pull away, so he inched closer, bringing their mouths just barely together, breathing her in as anticipation danced along his spine. Finally, she closed the tiny gap that remained, kissing him back, and Escanor reached up to pull her against him, holding her securely as her arms went around his neck.