#The Arc Mage

[nervous-trash]

take dnd stuff

First image refs

First image w/o text

[ineed-to-sleep]

Blacked out in front of my tablet and woke up with sketches of my Touchstarved mc + Kuras my beloved. woops

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

The Wildfire Mage: *Throwing fire* HELP ME FIGHT ARC!

The Rusted Knight: *Blocking and bashing* I Would, But my sword's kinda Broken! Isn't THAT interesting CINDER!

Cinder: Oh For the love of-

Cinder Grabs a cast iron pot and Crocea Mors, melting the pot into the blade

Cinder: THERE! IT'S FIXED! HELP ME FIGHT!

Jaune: *Dumbfounded* Could you have done that the WHOLE TIME!

Cinder: FIGHT NOW TALK LATER!

[fumifooms]

"Marchil? I guess I can see it on Chilchuck’s end, but what about Marcille’s? What makes you think she could develop feelings for him?" I’m glad you asked!

The first thing to note is that she does think highly of him

In the page on the right, literally defending his virtues and literally comparing him to Dalclan. And oh…

She does love a brooding mysterious guy who closes himself to love. But surely, Chilchuck isn’t her type at all, right? He’s not princely or knightly at all. In apperances certainly not, both looks wise and demeanor wise, but then that’s why she seeks to know him on a deeper level, to not only look shallowly.

And hmm. Chilchuck really is quite selfless isn’t he? Always looking out for others, and saving specifically her often, always making sure himself and, staying in or even running towards danger for her sometimes. Modesty is often considered heroic…

And can we talk about that drowning one… You can definitely frame the special attention as him knowing she tends to hesitate or be clumsy, and then his insistance on pulling her out of danger that she’s the healer aka the most important to keep alive, but. From the one who says that he just keeps his ass out of fights and won’t help this is a lot of risk to take, and he does die trying to pull her to safety in the dungeon rabbits chapter. And the drowning bit??? That’s when the dungeon collapses. The only reason they DON’T die of drowning here is that the water then gives way to outside. There was NO hope of pulling her to safety here and resurrections would likely not work either, he truly preferred to die with her than try to survive himself.

Sit your ass back DOWN you are in no state, self-sacrifical hero much damn

And Marcille definitely noticed this imo, after all she loves learning all she can about him, remembering things like how he hates waiting on people too. She pays attention to him and what he does and what he says. This to say that it’s notable, whatever reason for it you may think (though we know by this point at least she was already aware he was an adult though it wasn’t internalized), out of everyone it’s Chilchuck’s bed that she wants to sleep in during the Golden Kingdom stay. He’s safe and comforting to her: dependable, the defining trait in her view of him as is shown by the relationship chart in the Adventurer’s Bible.

^ Lending handkerchiefs is a romance trope btw and handkerchiefs have irl history of being used for courting. Especially in old English literature and plays like Shakespeare’s Othello, and personally I do see a lot of Shakespeare in Dalclan (nobility political drama with some romance). There’s how his cowl is a dearly beloved souvenir from his family too, there’s a lot of aesthetic tropes you can apply to him.

All this to say you can 100% romanticize Chilchuck into a princely noble guy if you try and that’s exactly what Marcille does with the wife roleplay. She doesn’t need much in the first place, she latches onto crumbs and makes aesthetic narratives out of details, give her an inch she’ll take a mile.

But what’s interesting about the shift throughout the arc of her and his relationship is that she starts out idealizing him into a little angel of a kid (shapeshifter), and she ends it idealizing him as a virtuous husband and family man instead.

And what’s doubly interesting is that in the former, she’s actively warping who he is personality and demeanor wise to fit the aesthetic, he doesn’t have that bitter pride of not asking for help and the edges have been smoothened. But what she does during the wife roleplay is something else, she acknowledges the flaws and just… Accepts them, rolls with them. She’s aware of his flaws and implements them into the narrative, but the reason why his wife left doesn’t capitalize on them even, rather Chil is chilblivious and his wife loves him very much still, she’s just testing him after having had a night of feeling out of place at his side.

And this is what separates the idealization vs romanticization, she’s not twisting him into someone else she’s just uplifting what he is and focusing on the good sides.

Marcille: "he has a shitty personality sometimes but if he was my husband I’d still cherish him" "If I were your wife I’d be overjoyed to go out with you and would get myself prettied up while you complain about me taking a long time, your friends would tell me that I’m nice and that’d make me happy, but I’d also be sad because you wouldn’t tell me that you love me enough"

He’s angry and his wife left him, he’s *flawed*, but he’s still worth hyping up, still worth having his own romance story, still has a shot of winning back his beloved. She sees him for what he is, human and real and not a carefully scripted character that fits an aesthetic, and she thinks it’s still worthy of love and admiration and fighting for

And what’s funny too is that you might expect her to cool down on him once she learns more about him but actually she only gets increasingly into his business. You tell her your age and next thing you know you promise to introduce her to your family. Give her an inch she takes a mile. And too the thing is, Senshi is equally mysterious but she doesn’t pester him like at all, asks him ONCE about his succubus and he doesn’t even answer and that’s like… It. With Chilchuck it starts off innocently enough with her wanting to know his age, hometown, the stuff she mentions having asked pre-canon. But it just keeps and keeps going and escalating. Think she’ll be satisfied now knowing you have a wife and kids, maybe she’s disillusioned now? Wrong! She wants to know their names and ages and occupations and hey how did you propose to your wife? Do you think she’ll stop after meeting them? What’s next? What will she want to know next????

She’s… Like it’s not a reach that Marcille is all over him. Like it doesn’t mean it’s romantic but she just is. She is not normal about him idk. Can you not ask him about what tongue technique he used when first kissing his wife, give the man breathing room

Marcille could literally go "if I was Chilchuck’s wife" having deeply pondered and thought out the hypothetical and people would still ask where anyone sees any romantic potential between them. Oh wait

There’s a platonic explanation for everything (almost?) in Dungeon Meshi don’t say I’m saying otherwise, but it’s definitely not like there’s nothing here to read into lol

Going off a bit more under read bc it’s my fave topic

Marcille has a whole theme with the charming prince trope with her idealization and storybook motif and Chil is kinda the "Well someone perfect like that isn’t very realistic and romance is usually more complex and that’s ok and good and flawed people can still be ✨virtuous✨" catalyst

Do you see do you see she starts canon thinking the most romantic thing is a prince charming but her arc in the end has her romanticizing an average, flawed, real and realistic family man, who’s on the poorer side and is on the verge of divorce. And that’s what he needed, too, seeing the positive of himself and the situation instead of focusing on the negative is explicitly what inspires him to hope that he might be able to reconcile with his wife, gives him the courage and self-esteem to shoot his shot.

He IS a prince figure instead that now it’s not about idealizing the grand and overt it’s about romanticizing the small things in real life!! About finding joy and beauty in things that seem normal or mundane and uplifting them to make the world feel kinder!!!!

He’s the devoted virtuous man that she wantsss not the storybook prince that’s unrealistic and could crumble like a script at any time. He’s the perfect example of a flawed realistic but virtuous & devoted & loving man. Far from a prince charming, but not fully detached from it either. Something worth fighting for despite the flawed cracks. Like literally, flawed romance being worth fighting for is literally the finale of Chilchuck and Marcille’s arc on the matter, where their separate arcs and issues intersect at the most crucial moment.

Marcille is important to Chil’s arc not only because of her optimism, but also because of her interest and knowledge in romance & matters of the heart, and that’s what he needs to both open his heart up to hope and to try to reconcile with his wife, like idk sounds gay

Their arc together is literally learning to 1) see each other for how they are and not undermining their qualities capacities etc etc while still not leaving flaws unchecked either and 2) opening up to people. Marcille LITERALLY makes Chil open his heart up to hope like idk man. What do you want from me. He’s literally the guy helping her through deconstructing novels and fantasy and rose tinted glasses and like. Deconstructing the prince charming figure into something more real but still romantically beautiful like KUI KUI STOOOOP STOP I’M ALREADY HOOKED I’M ALREADY-

 Ok fine that’s me reading into the tropes too much forgive me for being storybook brained but like. Speaking his heart out to a lone woman on a balcony, Romeo and Juliette shit, asking if she, too, doesn’t want to meet his family, madly blushing. And like she’s learned with Chilchuck it’s all in the little things, all the implications he cannot speak aloud. She does reciprocate, does blush madly back, and the first thing she does is shower him in flowers and jewelry and what in her heart is coded as romantic gifts

A lady, stashed away in a high tower by her lonesome, waiting for someone to call out to her from below… Romeo courting type shit with an offer, a heartfelt spiel, implicit confession from underneath her balcony. Offering him flowers because he succeeded in calling out to her heart…….. And they have to climb to her too…. Crazy

Doesn’t it sound like a proposal. One that’s both so storybook-like and not, contrastedly real and grounded, all about the implications rather than in your face grand gestures, "Don’t you want to meet my family?". They literally have an arc about the topic of romance and this is the climax/pinnacle of it like god?? This is @ the woman who said "Chilchuck is a shy/bashful man so I know he wouldn’t tell me he loves me, but…" btw

To quote a friend, truly the shiny secret unlockable dating sim capture target : THE DUNGEON LORD BIT WAS SO FUNNY BECAUSE HE KNEW SHE'D TAKE IT HOOK LINE AND SINKER HES THE ONE WHO GOT HER TO TURN AROUND COMPLETELY SHES LIKE. WIDE EYED FLAG RAISED???? FLAG RAISED WITH CHILCHUCK 👀👀👀‼️👀👀‼️👀

And the way that this is the culmination of their arc together… Like people are not ready for the ‘Chil calling out to dunlord Marcille on the balcony has Romeo and Juliette romance novels imagery’ take. Or the ‘their arc is about growing to see beauty even in the non-idealized, in the flawed and in the real’ take which makes it so so perfect if she were to lower her ideal from a charming elven prince to a virtuous halfling man (which she does end up romanticizing)

So there, you got to witness in real time what happens when I think about marchil for longer than 2 minutes, there are so many layers it’s a deranged rabbithole. I saw the necronomicon of subtext and it’s driving me to madness with forbidden knowledge that no one else sees

……. Like what if I told you she implicitly picked Chilchuck over a "unrealistic prince charming who’s actually disingenuous" much earlier in the story already. If she was given the choice to think through going with a guy that seems perfect and chivalrous like her succubus she’d pick Chilchuck over the other actually. If I sound insane rn tune in for my full analysis on them coming this month hopefully thank youu. Interwoven arcs of fantasy vs reality and idealization vs pessimism I love youuu

So now you know the general thesis of my planned analysis about the importance of the prince charming figure in Marcille and Chilchuck’s arc, where she romanticizes things to a sometimes worrying degree or idealize people into something easy and digestible and poetic (like Chil being a kid, and then him being a virtuous ✨✨✨husband), and how she needs to value aesthetics less and actual acts and facts more, be more grounded (like seeing people for what they are flaws and all, and accepting that people need money and not pulling through on principles of honor or unity shouldn’t get Namari shamed) and a part of that is accepting that Chilchuck is BOTH flawed and virtuous, a loving husband that still has shitty moods and fumbled his marriage so bad etc etc. So it’s like, her image of perfect prince charming that will whisk you away on an ethereal romance -> realistic flawed middle aged dad with personality issues and a failing marriage but he still is worthy of love and having his cute grand romance story and his happy ending. Ik I keep repeating the same point through this but I need it to be burned into everyone’s brains it has its grip on me I can’t do this. They are so special……

[raayllum]

I can't believe you used dark magic again. So why? Why would you do it again? / Enough. I told you that staff must never be used again.

[brokentrafficknight]

[dragon-razor-writings]

RWBY x MMO Nonsense

*Cinder and Jaune are having friendly PVP match*

Cinder: *Does Blazing Slash*

Jaune: 'This is fine.'

Cinder: *Immediately does Fire Spear*

Jaune: 'Still fine.'

Cinder: *Dashes in with Lunge*

Jaune: 'Less fine.'

Cinder: *Does Triple Slash*

Jaune: 'Not fine!'

Cinder: *Does Burning Rosary*

Jaune: "Oh, come on!"

*Emberhail Wins!*

Jaune: "What the hell was that?!"

Cinder:

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

TDP theories time!

These are all about Aaravos!

Y’all remember in Season 3 when Aaravos killed Khessa by practically vaporizing her with just a slip of his finger?

And in Season 4, when Zubeia was telling Ezran and Rayla about Aaravos and about how Luna Tenebrus mysteriously died? And when we watch the backstory sequence we see her disappear just like that? What if the way he killed Khessa was the same exact way he killed Luna? 😩😭

Moving on from that, I know there’s differing views on how Aaravos would be able to corrupt/possess Callum ranging from him needing Callum to use dark magic again to the fact that he has other ways to corrupt like he did with getting Pharos bit by the star caterpillar.

Thinking back to Season 5 with the corrupted banthers and how even a scratch from them would result in corruption really got me thinking. WHAT IF AARAVOS COULD JUST CORRUPT CALLUM WITH JUST A SCRATCH!! 😭😭

Heck, I’m scared that even him just laying a finger on Callum and just touching him could be enough at this point. 😭😫

Especially after seeing him released from his prison and literally being a whole freaking titan, coupled with seeing what he did to Khessa and all of Lux Aurea while he was still imprisoned, I’m really terrified of what this startouch elf will be capable of now that he’s free 😭😫

[princehendir]

Mm thinking about act 3 Adrian fucking around with amulets and stuff because the blood magic is finally catching up with him and inhibiting his ability to heal but he's still not quite to the point where he's willing to accept Self-Interest's offer.

[pinacoladamatata]

if they Tamlen solas' ass, that might just be IT for me

[mourn-and-watch]

one thing that especially irks me about cullen's so-called redemption is the attempts to redeem him through cole's words.

templars' abuses affected cole so badly it damaged his connection to the fade and his own nature. he was a spirit of compassion and witnessing what was happening in white spire turned him into a killer. he murdered lord seeker lambert in cold blood for what he did and most of the time he doesn't regret it — and then he just. drops the "he's not like the other girls" lines about cullen.

and this is such a lazy and annoying move. another thing that is established about cole is that you particularly can't lie to him — about your real feelings and intentions at least. whatever he states about other characters must be true and it is often used as a tool to deepen the characterizations of the main cast and in cullen's case it is just. blatant apologism. there's literally a banter where cole talks about atrocities commited by the templars and then he adds "oh no but cassandra and cullen aren't like that" and never elaborates. the game itself doesn't elaborate either.

like please don't tell me that the spirit who was shaken by knowledge that an innocent boy can die from starving because his jailors simply forgot about him would look in the eyes of a person who used to be meredith fucking stannard's right hand and still thinks that her methods were just a little too harsh but necessary and justified and say yeah. this guy is such a friend of mages. if only there were more templars like him

[sun-stricken]

I hope this isn’t too much of a bother but do you have any hcs abt grays time in avatar? Cannon is frustratingly vague about his time there. Have a nice day!

i totally thought i responded to this days ago holy shit its been a minute

I havent read or watched the avatar arc in forever, and refuse to do it again so i played it a bit fast and loose with the dynamic

This gets a bit dark, just a little forewarning

* if you asked the mages that shared his time at avatar, Gray had earned the reputation of someone callous and cold and untouchable, who didnt get his hands dirty

* he used more charismatic techniques to obtain information, or fear, but it was rare to see him physically harm them

* If you asked Gray about his time in avatar, he wouldn’t give you a straight answer, if he gave one at all

* Avatar knew who he was, for an undercover mission he wasnt under a whole lot of cover. He was sent in as himself, his “cover/backstory” was a lot of half truths and a warped narrative

* He climbed through the ranks faster than expected, which caused a lot of rumors and speculation, such as maybe the ‘Higher Ups’ were so enthralled by an ex-light guid member turning over they rushed him through, or he did something so heinous they were impressed, or maybe he slept with them

* there were a lot of rumors.

* Of course, most arent true, Gray just had more to offer than the average person

* In most dark guilds / cults there are ‘trials’ of sort to prove someone loyalty, hazings of sorts

* He had to go through them ten times over

* It lasted weeks, around a quarter of the time spent at Avatar was his ‘initiation’

* There were certain points where Gray thought they might actually break him

* He refused to use his ice-make magic during his time in Avatar, he couldnt bear using Urs magic for something like this

* He developed these piercing migraines from his eyes constantly darting around his surrounding, and he rarely slept

* Avatar wasnt a inherently paranoid guild, but it was protective and unrelenting, being caught as a traitor was terms for a public violent execution

* There were two other alleged traitors in Grays time there, when they were accused they were tortured and executed in front of the entire ‘guild’

* and he wouldn’t allow himself to even twitch in case that set his own death in motion, It just served to further his reputation

* He never told Erza about this.

* Despite his reputation, the untouchable aura he gave off proved attractive to some people, they thinking being seen fraternizing with someone like him would earn them some respect, and given some of the rumors surrounding him, they thought he would reciprocate

* He didnt, for obvious reasons, and he often left the more handsy and assertive with frostbite and frozen to the ground for hours

* He had bi-weekly check-ins with Erza so he could relay his and their progress and so she could gauge his mental state; Gray gave her watered down versions of the things hed seen and endured during the months he was there unless it pertained to what she needed to close the operation

* He and Erza had a system where he would call her and she would help him smuggle out any victims Avatar took for information or as a message

* He had killed once while in Avatar, it was a man they were ‘interrogating’ who couldn’t provide anymore information and they couldnt just let him go, so they entrusted Gray taking care of him while they watched, it was a test to see if he would, it was as fast and humane as killing someone can be but he will never ‘get over’ it

* He can still remember exactly how he looked, how he sounded, down to the smallest detail

* That was what almost broke him

* He didnt draw it out, it was fast and clean, which was another reason for his ‘doesn’t get his hands dirty’ reputation

* He tried to live by the ‘the ends justify the means’ principle, he survived Avatar by doing what he had to, regardless of what that was that was

* He tried so hard to help himself cope with it, but he just couldnt no matter how hard he tried

* Even though he acted annoyed when the rest of his team burst into Avatar and tore down his whole operation, he was relieved, so fucking relieved he didnt have to stay any longer

* The transition after Avatar was, for lack of a better term, fucking terrible. there was a lot of panic and guilt and paranoia and dissociating to get him through it

* He trained his instincts to act to the slightest trouble, which would be fine considering every movement towards him before was trouble

* But hes back with his friends now, with the people who wouldnt hurt him. So instead of being proud of his reflexes all he feels is panic and guilt

* Gray was constantly searching for an exit and always kept one open and in sight, and would forget he was with safe people and lash out if they blocked one

* Months following the reformation of Fairy Tail held a lot of blanks for Gray, his brain in an attempt to finally protect him would have him go on autopilot, dissociate. He did this a lot early on after Deloria but he thought he ‘grew out of it’, clearly not

* His sleep got even worse after Avatar, he thought the familiar environment would help him but it only made him more on edge

* He knew what could happen to them if he let himself sleep at the guild, the thought of something happening while was taking a fucking nap was nauseating enough that his brain wouldn’t let him let his guard down enough to feel tired

* And sleeping at home was out of the question completely, if a dark mage decided tonight was the night for vengeance against him for tearing apart their cult, how could he defend himself if he was asleep?

* This was fine for a while, but when the adrenaline crash of no longer actually needing to be on guard 24/7 and the weeks of no more than half an hour (involuntary) naps caught up to him, it caught hard

* i mean, it was brutal, collapsed at the first moment of relative peace he came across, it felt almost like withdrawal, with a lot of sleeping

* in some ways he feels so fucking angry and almost betrayed by Erza for asking him to go undercover for her, for making him go through everything he did. But he knows if he didnt its possible she wouldve, and he would do it all over again if it meant that wouldnt happen.

* In other way, hes angry at himself for letting himself get to this point, for letting them break something in him like they did.

* He’ll realistically never be able to go back to before, never be able to trust people, his friends, truly and without reservation again

i hate the avatar arc sometimes but it provides such good material

[theeflowerofcarnage]

Stawwwpp Cullen romance in dai is so cute u get to the war room n it’s just Leliana and Josie giggling in the back, Lily going “we were just eagerly awaiting your presence inquisitor- some more than others 😏” n cullen all red faced: “I wasn’t..I mean yes I was actually 😳”

[whatsthisascianbullshit]

Muireann Uais

STATS

Age: physically around 25 in ARR to 29 in EW (she was soul-snatched in Shadowbringers, age is a little funky)

Gender // pronouns: demigirl but not bothered to correct assumptions // she/her

Notable physical features not supported by in-game character creation:

lightning marks that start on the backs of her shoulders and spread down her back like wings.

Allagan channelling tattoos on her hands, arms, and legs.

Aether-burn scar on her chest as a result of frequent overuse of the dreadwyrm trance following the Archbishop's flee from the Vault.

Quirks/other things to note:

she has heightened hearing that is comparable to, though not quite as good as, Miq'ote hearing.

Her eyes are somewhat reflective in low light. She is bisexual and polyamorous, but she's also incapable of flirting once actual feelings are involved.

Muireann has an invisible disability in that she has ~fantasy lupus & fibro~ (I'm not arsed coming up with a ffxiv name for it) this mainly impacts her with chronic pain, fatigue, and light sensitivity. She manages this with the help of her many aetheric constructs and support from those closest to her.

SKILLS

Martial Skills: Allagan summoner, Nymian scholar and marine, marine status is derived from the warrior questline (using Bahamut as the Inner Beast), archer with some bardic knowledge, monk-in-training

Additional skills: she can tap into the dragonsong chorus after Shadowbringers, she has a unique manifestation of the Echo which is similar to Krile in that she can sense emotions. Muireann can also convey her own emotions and intent. These skills are largely limited to creatures and attempts to use them on another person will rapidly drain her of energy.

RELATIONSHIPS

Family (biological): Silvairre (father) and Illiette (mother) Canaux. Somewhat estranged for most of the MSQ, reconnection timeline is wishy-washy. Additional extended family somewhere in Werlyt.

Family (adopted) (Muireann is the one who did the adopting): Raer Angathril (brother) and Haname Angathril (maternal figure) buth @azure-dragonsinger, Jehantel (grandfatherly or uncle figure), Ramuh (grandfather figure)

Partners (current and historic, multiple flavours - not all romantic/sexual): Haurchefant Greystone, Y'shtola Rhul, Hien Rijin, Runar, at least half of the marauder's guild, technically Shin Bokairo @accidentaloracle (legal wives, technically platonic)

Warrior Bonds(tm): Match Munroe @a-soul-full-of-stars, Alka Zolka, Surito Curito, Y'mhitra Rhul

PAST LIVES

Panthea - architect and creations consultant at the Bureau of the Architect specialising in apex predators. Her parents returned to the star when Panthea was still quite young and she was hurt that they did not view supporting and caring for her as part of their life work. She suppressed her grief and hurt for countless years after this in order to fit in and started designing and creating extremely deadly and vicious creatures in part to try and examine her relationship to death and in part to force herself to let her emotions out through fear. She is responsible for several of the creatures in Pandaemonium including the protocarbuncle.

Laisirhfíona - real name unknown. Laisirfhíona was a mage on the reflection that fell to lightning causing the second umbral calamity on the Source. In the lead-up to the catastrophic event that spelled the reflection's final doom, Laisirfhíona was manipulated by Ascians who granted her knowledge of more advanced magic than was known to her and the wizard she was apprenticed to. Foregoing her healing magic for ones forbidden in her world she broke down the doors to the tower that staged the final battle for the shard. She was tricked into dooming her home while believing she was saving everyone.

Pandora Brooks - chief administrator of the Azys Lla research facility. Pandora (begrudgingly) worked alongside Amon and others bringing the horrific fruits of the research facility to life. With the knowledge of how to entrap an eikon and harvest its power granted to them by the Ascians, Pandora perfected the method through which tempered worshipers of the eikons could be preserved to ensure that the devotees would never die, nor would they be so comfortable that they would cease their prayers for deliverance from the pain they endured. She oversaw the project to automate the summoning arts, killing Sari's followers to gain his cooperation and initiating the order that led to Sari's eventual death.

Ufufu Ufu - a Nymian scholar during the War of the Magi. When the Green Death arrived on Nymian soil Ufufu was amongst the scholars tasked with treating the victims and finding a cure. Seemingly immune to the affliction herself, she remained in Nym keeping the entonberried comfortable and placated while others risked their lives to find a cure elsewhere. She diligently maintained the wards on the Wanderer's Palace until the Sixth Umbral Calamity destroyed her city. Her final known act was to seal her codex, soul stone containing her fairy Bluebell, and a report on all those sealed within Wanderer's Palace in a secure container should any of her colleagues survive the flood.

[arimabari]

touching inquisition for the first time in ages and have decided I am going to romance Cullen. I will however be making him much much worse.

[raayllum]

Callum's canonical dark side