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roseharpermaxwell · 9 months

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RWRB FirstPrince AU Recs - Part Two

I'm such a fan of an AU, and I love how many there are in FirstPrince. Any situation you can put Alex and Henry in, I'm here for it.

Here are many of my favorites so far, 10k+ words. Give the authors some love and let me know if you find something you adore!

And they call it— by @clottedcreamfudge. T, 10k. "You're late, but at least you're wearing a more interesting tie this time," The Dog Sitter says as he opens the door, leaning against the doorframe like he's a GQ model and not a law student slash dog whisperer. Henry's mouth feels incredibly dry.

"Mishap with my socks," he says, then immediately wants to throw himself into oncoming traffic. "I mean, I didn't have any trouble getting them on or anything — I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself."

"Good to know," The Dog Sitter says, looking amused and devastatingly attractive, as always. "David get ahold of them again? He looks at mine like I look at freshly-brewed coffee."

"Yes," Henry says, relieved. "Yes, exactly that."

Creative Differences by @sparklepocalypse. E, 10k. Zahra tilts her head at him, a contemplative expression on her face. “How attached are you to the notion of being a solo artist?”

(AU; Alex is a failed solo musician and Henry's band needs a lead singer.)

Dick, Dick, Dick (You Down) by @everwitch-magiks. E, 10k. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Henry Fox is an absolute dick.

Henry Fox is an A-list movie star, Alex is in charge of the craft services trailer on Henry’s new romcom, and Alex just might be the only person on the crew who has his doubts about the world’s unfavorable assumptions about Henry. Why would Henry be a dick just because he doesn’t stop to talk to his fans every time they crowd him? Henry Fox is probably like most people: not his best self every second of his goddamn life, but decent on the whole.

As filming gets underway, Alex learns both how right and how wrong he is. Henry Fox, much like Alex’s well-stocked buffet at crafty, is a goddamn snack — but he’s definitely not like most people.

(Alex doesn’t feel this specific way about most people.)

You Came Out of Nowhere (And You Cut through All the Noise) by @affectionatelyrs. E, 10k. Alex starts to feel worse about how he reacted to the man earlier — he’s usually all bark and no bite, but how is the bartender supposed to know that? Alex can be snarky, but he’s never cruel.

Allowing his lips to quirk up into a small smile, he replies “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you, really.”

“Well,” he says with a smirk, “in the event that you are lying to me simply to placate our earlier interaction, my shift ends in 15 minutes. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to stick around to chat with a perfect stranger?”

Alex’s brain stutters for a moment at his facade being so transparent that it's all he can do to stutter out a “Yeah—um, yeah. Okay, sure.” Maybe he also gets stuck on the words perfect stranger, and the immediate thought of mmmm, perfect indeed that pops up in his brain as a result. He chooses to ignore that as well.

Or, Alex is feeling insecure after a bad date - Henry shows him that he doesn't have to be

Controlled Experiment by clottedcreamfudge. E, 10k. Basically, what it boils down to is this; Alex is mostly sober when he says - to a group of people he barely knows - "Yeah, I might be a little queer, but who knows? I'd kinda like to experiment though, y'know?"

This statement, which is actually something he's thought about a lot, is met by general bobbing of heads, in the kind of bros-trying-to-be-chill way that usually happens when a bunch of straight guys are trying very hard to be non-toxic. That is to say, it's kind of awkward, but they get mad props for trying.

The only person who isn't nodding is Henry, Pez's best friend and the only known gay man in this circle of people. Alex has no clue about the others, but he knows Henry's gay because Pez once introduced him as, "the most handsome man in all of Christendom — and before you ask, no we've never shagged, which is a damn shame. Not for lack of trying on my part, of course, but Henry's one of those gays who thinks it's bad manners to get drunk and have an inadvisable fumble with your best friend for larks."

kiss my collarbone, found my archetype by uptownwarblerr5. E, 10k. English literature teacher Henry starts a new job, and immediately meets law teacher Alex (and in the process, becomes a little bit obsessed). Alex is a clueless bisexual disaster as per usual. Nora and Pez love their stupid friends. Zahra wants to go home.

Arts and Minds by @orchidscript. T, 11k. Henry felt like he was holding the shreds of his career and dignity all in one. The most profound interaction between Henry and the colleague he respected the most – had respected and looked up to since beginning his master’s degree – was now posted online, trending across Twitter, and was now up to 23 million views. Alex showing off and Henry standing there, mouth open like a fish. He wanted to throw up. He wished he had argued back, had said anything. Instead, he had all but swallowed his tongue and sunk back to his laptop, floundering for how to push forward.

23 million views.

Henry should be angry. He wasn’t.

He was going to die of embarrassment. Zahra would make sure of it.

Art history professors go viral, then go to a conference... and there was only one bed ;)

Fox Repairs (and Basic Construction) by floatingaway4. T, 11k. “Yes, so let me get your details and I’ll come over whenever it’s convenient for you,” says the voice. It’s dark and soft at the same time, kind of...velvety...and Alex curses his brain that can’t ask a simple question but can come up with a thousand adjectives for this guy’s voice.

“My details,” Alex repeats, while his brain is busy flipping through a list of similes that would get him fired if he ever put them into anything official. ‘Like honey...like molasses….like sunshine on a cloudy day…’ Nope, that’s a song lyric. He’d get charged with plagiarism for that one.

All Booked Up by @three-drink-amy. E, 11k. A book tearing up the Bestseller’s List is quickly shoved into Alex’s hands via June and Nora. Despite his resistance, he’s taken in by the book and its whirlwind romance. When Nora insists they all go to a reading with the mysterious author, Alex is drawn in by H. G. Fox, hanging on his every word. When they meet after the signing, it sets him on a path he’d thought was impossible.

Try Me On For Size by everwitch. E, 11k. "Yeah, I might be a little queer, but who knows? I'd kinda like to experiment though, y'know?"

Henry’s carefully orchestrated nonchalance melts away in an instant.

He’d been about to do what he always does at these shindigs when the topic of hypothetical queerness is brought up; come out. In this strange little pocket of humanity — this full-volume version of reality filled with red solo cups and many a youth exploring their sexuality — making his preferences known has always been Henry’s most successful first step on his path towards getting laid. And Henry does, truly, want to get laid tonight; he didn’t spend well over fifteen minutes on his hair for bloody Instagram clout. His discreet but unmistakable rainbow wristband isn’t meant to signify allyship.

The thing is, though, that Henry’s personal gay agenda for the night may just have taken an interesting turn; Alex wants to experiment.

In which Alex does experiment, and Henry is a most willing participant.

we've been here forever (here's the frozen proof) by @onward--upward. T, 12k. Objectively, I am aware that you – a stranger – cannot tell me my own sexuality any better than I can, however... Can you, please? Tell me? It’s 4am and I have been thinking about this for hours, and I can’t sleep.

Warmest regards,

ACD

It’s four in the morning, and Alex Claremont-Diaz has managed to follow a research spiral straight down into a personal crisis. It isn’t the first time.

Kinda think that I might be his type by @kiwiana-writes. E, 12k. “Bea.” He clambers onto his knees, grabbing her hands in his own. “Bea, take me to Thanksgiving with you.”

Bea blinks. Blinks again. “What?”

“Bea, I could terrorise your gran until she’s begging you to stay single forever.”

Or, Alex agrees to be his friend's fake boyfriend for a weekend. He is not prepared for his friend's brother.

Countermelody by @omgcmere. E, 12k. On an old tour bus, tucked into the corner of a bunk bed, there's a bit of wood that gets covered up when the particleboard shifts back and forth on the road. If you catch it just after the bus has gone over the right kind of bump, you can shine a light up and find a message etched there, with the tip of a key or maybe a Swiss Army knife.

Alex discovered it within his first week of the tour. He's never told anyone about it. It says:

RULE #1: DON'T FUCK YOUR BANDMATE

Luckily for him, as a solo artist, he doesn't really have to worry about it.

Alex is opening for Henry on tour and, uh, hates him. A lot.

Elevator buttons and morning air by dollarstoreannabethchase. E, 12k. Last night, Alex hooked up with the most attractive man to ever exist after getting stuck together in the elevator of his apartment complex. He's incredible, but the second day of the job that will make or break his career is not the time to be starting a relationship; even if he kind of wants to scream every time he thinks about Henry. So you can imagine his fucking surprise when he walks into the office the next day and sees none other than his Henry—elevator Henry, blue-eyed, British, dreamy, with thighs for days Henry—standing and talking to Pez. It’s in that moment that it all clicks, and Alex realizes. He’s Henry, as in, Henry, his other boss. Henry, his boss, a.k.a. the man who was on his knees in Alex’s bedroom last night. He is so fucked.

Or: Alex and Henry get stuck in an elevator together; Chaos ensues.

coyote ugly series by @smc-27. E, 12k. The bartender, in his mesh tank top, towel tucked into the back pocket of a pair of jeans, leans on the bar, eyes twinkling, and asks, “What can I get you, sweetheart?”

You Are the Wave I Could Never Tame by bleedingballroomfloor. E, 12k. That should be it. Henry is doing his job; the pool is getting cleaned, and Alex shouldn’t think anything more of it. Then why does he feel the slightest bit of disappointment when he walks back to the pool house and Henry isn’t there?

Or, the pool boy Henry AU that I couldn't stop thinking about until I wrote it.

Count The Stars And Constellations by everwitch. E, 14k. Alex and Henry meet at their first Partner Summit. After a single night of warm smiles and intriguing conversation, Henry is more than ready to follow his heart and enter a Match with Alex. But Alex is not.

Meet Your Match by allmylovesatonce. E, 14k. Alex had first learned about soulmarks when he was 10. June had just turned 13 and had woken up that morning with her soulmark. The two of them sat at the dinner table, in awe of the mark on her wrist. It was delicate and pretty. Three hearts intertwined like a triple infinity sign. Alex was almost envious. He wanted to know who his soulmate was so badly and he wouldn't get his mark for another 3 years.

Everybody needs good neighbours by @rmd-writes. E, 14k. To nora(9.37pm):

So a funny thing happened

My hot neighbour brought me the mcflurry i ordered and we fucked

From nora (9.38pm):

WHAT

DETAILS NOW

Which neighbour?

Wait, you only have one hot neighbour. Alex, did you fuck a guy?!?!?!

ALEX

Alex meets a hot new neighbour. Shenanigans ensue.

Captious (calculated to confuse, entrap or entangle in argument) by lucky (revolutionbarbie). M, 14k. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

Alex hadn't intended to be 45-minutes late to his blind date, he really hadn't.

Thankfully Henry - broad-shouldered, blond, British and downright beautiful - didn't seem to mind.

written in the stars by @indomitable-love. G, 15k. Henry has always been entranced by the transformative power of stories; the way a happy ending can heal an ache better than any medicine.

He never set out to run a bookshop, but when he’d ended up with an obscenely large inheritance and an expanding cavity in his chest before he was even old enough to drink, there was only one thing that he wanted to do, only one way he wanted to fill the void: he wanted to be surrounded by the one place that had always felt like home – between the covers of a book. No matter the time period or genre, Henry has always found a home in books.

falling in love (in the cruelest way) by @coffeecatsme. M, 15k. “Alex?”

The name makes Alex stop halfway to the register and look back. Henry is standing in the same spot, shifting from foot to foot, before he juts his chin out. He meets Alex’s eyes.

“Where are you traveling to?”

Or, Alex picks up a stranger on a road trip, only to realize too late he's the missing Prince of Wales.

Financial and Other Instruments by clottedcreamfudge. E, 15k. “I’m Alex,” Alex says quietly, and something in Henry’s stomach jolts. “I’m a trainee financial adviser — I think you know my mom?”

***

Financial instruments are assets that can be traded, or they can also be seen as packages of capital that may be traded... These assets can be cash, a contractual right to deliver or receive cash or another type of financial instrument, or evidence of one's ownership of an entity.

Alex has owned Henry since the second he laid eyes on him, whether Alex knows it or not.

maybe take me into your room by smc_27. T, 15k. “This is kinda boring, ma.”

She pats him on the cheek, leans in a little closer, and says, “Find something to do, darlin’. You live here. You can’t leave.”

She’s not exactly right, but he isn’t going to argue. Plus, her main advisor, Zahra, comes over. Alex is already a little afraid of her, so he doesn’t feel the need to draw attention to himself by smarting off at the mouth.

She’s still talking to him when he spots this really beautiful guy about his age, and fuck, wow. Okay.

“Not him,” his mom says into his ear, and he doesn’t even… Look, if she knows about the few guys he made out with at parties in Madrid last year when the opportunity arose, this is the first he’s hearing of it. “His dad is the British ambassador. I can’t have you breaking hearts and causing an international incident.”

OR: Ellen Claremont is the US ambassador to Canada. Arthur Fox is the British Ambassador to Canada.

When The Time Is Right by everwitch. E, 16k. “Maybe I could challenge you more,” Henry suggests, his eyes carefully trained on Alex. “And hold you accountable for longer. How does that sound?”

“That sounds fucking amazing,” Alex tells him, the words coming out in a rush. “Yes. That. Please.”

“Alright, then.” Henry offers him a sly grin. “Alex, love. You just gave me a wonderful idea.”

It’s really something, how quickly Alex’s heartbeat picks up. “Oh? Do tell.”

Henry’s grin widens. He looks alarmingly pleased with himself. “How would you feel about a staycation?”

When Alex asks Henry for something a little more intense in the bedroom, they end up taking more than just their sex life to the next level.

you'll be right where i left you by smc_27. M, 17k. He wakes up to a weird noise and - once he realizes he’s not dreaming it - starts trying to figure out where it’s coming from.

He takes a steadying breath and opens the closet door, and the scream he lets out is like, practically not human at all.

He did not fucking expect there to be a man in his closet. A man who is also yelling. Who’s tall, and hot, and wearing what seems like a wool suit, some kind of medal around his neck, and a sash.

OR, a time traveling Henry AU

Tell Me All Your Secrets by everwitch. E, 17k. When Henry dates Liam, he inadvertently learns about June’s brother Alex’s not-so-heterosexual tendencies of the past. But Alex has explicitly told Henry he’s straight. If Alex had the slightest interest in being with Henry, he'd definitely have set the record straight (ha) in regards to his sexuality. Except with pride month just around the corner and Alex making another trip to New York, Henry finds himself reexamining parts of their friendship. Perhaps there is more to their connection than he's ever dared hope for?

Or: the one where Alex and Henry go to New York Pride.

Fate Marks the Spot by @preppymayhem. T, 17k. Alex Claremont-Diaz wants absolutely nothing to do with Prince Henry of Wales and would be completely happy to never speak or be in the same room with him again.

Except for the tiny fact that Henry bears his mark.

A/K/A: What if Alex and Henry were soulmates, literally.

The Art of Falling in Love by floatingaway4. M, 17k. Alex Claremont-Diaz is a struggling actor, but his next role might be his big break. To research the role, his agent connects him with her friend at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The employee assigned to show him around annoys Alex before they even meet.

Will they ever learn to get along?

(Spoiler alert: Yes. Yes they will.)

Cursed is a State of Mind by @dustratcentral and @welcometololaland. E, 17k. Alex Claremont-Diaz is well aware that he’s an absolute catch. He’s intelligent and quick witted, has an ass that absolutely refuses to quit and was once voted ‘most attractive law student’ in a slightly irresponsible and probably unethical NYU student magazine poll.

Which is why he finds it super fucking weird that his new roommate, Henry, thinks his caffeine consumption habits are a bit off-putting. So what if he has some unconventional drink choices? It’s not like Alex can’t vehemently defend all of them.

5 times Henry has something to say about Alex’s coffee choices and 1 time he says nothing at all.

team henesmee series by @coffeecatsme. E, 18k. Henry isn’t home when Alex returns from his weeklong trip to his father’s lakehouse in Texas.

There is, however, a bat hanging from their fan, wings curled around its little body, a drop of drool clinging to his lips. Sleeping.

“Huh,” Alex says, tilting his head. “I didn’t know vampires could actually turn into bats.”

Or, 5 times Alex learns something new about Henry and 1 time Henry learns something new about Alex.

Luck of the Draw by LolaLand (Lola_di_Penates). T, 19k. Henry isn’t an artist, but he runs an art studio. Alex isn’t in a bridal party, but he’s arranging a bachelorette.

Neither of them are looking for love, but when life gives you lemons, you throw them in the fruit bowl and find yourself the man of your dreams.

The Beginner's Guide to Floristry by clottedcreamfudge. E, 19k. As if there's anything romantic about it; as if it's not the most humiliating death Alex can imagine. This is why he doesn't do relationships. This is why he never will. The risk, as far as he fucking sees it, is too great.

Hanahaki Disease is a fictional disease where the victim of unrequited or one-sided love begins to vomit or cough up the petals and flowers of a flowering plant growing in their lungs, which will eventually grow large enough to render breathing impossible.

Route 11 by LolaLand (Lola_di_Penates). E, 19k. Alex thought the New York City subway was a cursed public transport system. That was before he moved across the Atlantic and took the route 11 bus every day.

A public transport love story told in 11 parts.

My Songs Know Secrets You're Sick of Keeping by ma_lark_ey, paythe_piper. T, 19k. "How about this," Alex offered, "If I win AOTY, I announce Henry and I in my acceptance speech. If I don't, we do it your way."

OR: Alex is a world famous pop punk star, Henry is still the Prince of England, and the public is onto them.

A Practical Arrangement by @kiwiana-writes. E, 19k. “I know.” In fairness, he didn’t ask his mom to delay the wedding after the betrothal was made official when he turned eighteen. It wasn’t that she expected another option to materialise—he’s pretty sure she was trying to give him and Henry more time to get to know each other, maybe move past their open animosity a little. They’ve been pushed together every few months for the last three years, their marriage an inevitability. “I just… I still can’t quite get my head around it, you know? Married. To Henry.”

All the Old Showstoppers by @cha-melodius. E, 20k. “Dunno, kinda looks like you know what you’re doing. Are those macarons?” Alex asks incredulously after a little while, and a moment later Henry sees him start slowly approaching out of the corner of his eye. “I didn’t know princes could bake.”

“I’d wager not many of them can,” Henry replies as he works, letting one corner of his mouth tug upward.

(In a universe where Alex didn’t go to the royal wedding, three years later Alex and Henry find themselves both competing on an episode of The Great Celebrity Bake Off. Will old hostilities lead to disaster, or is there something else causing all that tension in the tent?)

i told myself don't get attached (but in my mind i play it back) by coffeecatsme. E, 20k. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Claremont-Diaz,” the woman behind the counter says, eyes wide and apologetic. Alex grits his teeth so he doesn’t say something inappropriate in a lobby full of scared families, crying kids, and the obscenely tall British guy that’s currently giving him a fucking migraine. “Due to the snowstorm warning, all the flights are cancelled, and unfortunately the room you’ve booked is currently occupied.”

“Occupied,” Alex repeats dumbly, nails digging into his palm. “I booked this room three months ago.”

“Yes, well, the previous occupant—”

“Should’ve been out of here by now.” Alex knows he sounds harsh, he knows the stupid blond is hovering somewhere behind him listening to the whole conversation, but he can’t help it. He’s not spending what’s supposed to be his vacation alone with another guy in his room.

Or, Alex and Henry are stuck in the same room in a hotel during a sudden blizzard

For all the world to see by everwitch. E, 20k. Henry Fox — bestselling author, mystery millionaire and infamous recluse — never gives interviews. So when June is tasked with writing a profile on Henry, Alex agrees to help her. How? By posing as Henry’s next-door neighbor, charming his way into Henry’s life for the purpose of obtaining some real substance for June’s article. Eat the rich, right? What could possibly go wrong?

i wake with your memory over me (that's a real fucking legacy) by coffeecatsme. E, 21k. The ski instructor stops in front of him, takes off his goggles, and Henry about stops breathing for another reason. “Hey,” Alexander says with a grin, his face distinctly lacking in wrinkles Henry was expecting from a renowned instructor. There’s a bright grin on his face that rivals the sun, rich brown curls spilling out of a red beanie, and Henry realizes he’s absolutely fucked for a whole other reason than his inability to figure out how to stay upright in skis.

Or, the one in which Henry is hopeless at skiing despite his family's aspirations, and Mary hires Alex as an instructor to amend that.

we might just get away with it by smc_27. E, 21k. Henry is the most gorgeous man Alex has ever seen. And Alex has seen a lot of gorgeous men. He’s a fucking model.

“This is Henry Fox-Mountchristen,” Prada’s current PR lead says, and Alex smiles and pushes his hand out. “He’s a journalist covering the merger.”

Alex doesn’t know what merger or what it would have to do with Paris Fashion Week. But he does know that Henry holding a glass of champagne as he shakes Alex’s hand is maybe the sexiest thing ever, and there is just no explanation for that.

“Hi. I’m Alex.”

Henry says, “I know,” and then does this weird, forced smile at Bianca and walks away.

Alex doesn’t know how to like, not be completely obsessed with things he wants.

OR, Alex is a model. Henry is a journalist, and a bit of an asshole. Alex wants him anyway, even when it doesn’t feel good.

Fractured by clottedcreamfudge. E, 23k. Alex has been in the New York PPC for seven years, and it's seven years too long. He's not looking for his Half, because he isn't half a person. The Algorithm can kiss his sweet, Texan ass.

He doesn't need anyone - leggy, blond, or otherwise - trying to change that.

The Snow Prince by @orchidscript. M, 24k. Two little boys meet in a dream that isn't quite a dream.

Years later, two young men dance at a ball without touching.

A governor's son falls in love with an isolated prince who cannot be held.

A winter fairytale inspired by folktales, fairytales, and other stories. Alex and Henry meet twice, then fall in love a decades-old curse. When the threatened effects begin to come true, Alex endeavors to break it.

in summer air series by Standinginmoonlight. M, 25k. There’s something magnetic about Henry, though, and his feet feel like they’re rooted to the spot. He opens his mouth again and decides to just go with it. He’s on vacation, after all. Whatever fucking goes.

Or: the one Alex Claremont-Diaz flies halfway around the world to find himself and ends up finding Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor instead.

One Wild and Precious Life by @sprigsofviolets. T, 26k. In 2015, Arthur Fox was diagnosed with cancer. He went into surgery to have a tumor removed from his brain, and fell into a coma.

Nine years later, he wakes up.

Clue Me In by bleedingballroomfloor. E, 27k. Henry and Pez’s new shelter is opening in Brooklyn, and Henry is determined to spend the entire night avoiding Alex, while Alex is determined to do the exact opposite of that.

Cracked Heart by @absoluteaudacitywrites. E, 28k. Liam takes a deep breath in and out. “I’m so sorry, Alex. I’ve thought a lot about this and I don’t want to hurt you but it’s the right thing to do.” He pauses, taking another deep breath. “We need to break up.”

after hours by @dumbpeachjuice. M, 28k. “Spend the night with me. I’ll show you around the city, take you to all my favourite haunts. Give you a sample of what the real New York is like,” Alex explains, altogether far too casually to excuse the speed with which Henry’s heart has set off galloping. “Maybe you’ll even change your opinion that we Americans have no taste.”

Henry’s mouth feels sort of dry, so he swallows a large gulp of his new martini down and immediately chews through both olives to stall for time. “Why on earth would I do that?”

Alex shrugs. “It’ll be fun. I’m an excellent tour guide. I have references.”

The Byline by @rosetintednerdglasses. M, 28k. Press Secretary Alex Claremont-Diaz serves at the pleasure of the President, and he does it excellently until a new White House correspondent darkens his press room: Henry Fox, The Guardian.

Every Star That's Ever Fallen Knows the Way to Where We're Going by @dracowillhearaboutthis. G, 29k. When Henry’s family moved in next door when Alex was four years old, Alex was not a fan.

In Your Orbit by everwitch. E, 30k. Alex, a third year student at the pilot academy — and more importantly the son of the First Commander of the Unified Systems — finds himself kidnapped by a duo of interstellar smugglers, Henry and Pez. The two space fugitives soon turn out to have a plethora of problems; between a severe illness, a freighter that keeps falling apart, and a meteoroid storm raging outside, they're in quite a pinch. Alex reluctantly comes to their aid, if only to make sure they all get out of this alive.

The thing about Henry, though, is that despite everything, he doesn’t actually seem cruel. He seems the exact opposite of cruel.

muscle memory by stutteringpeach. E, 30k. It's been ten years since Alex was in London to stage a PR friendship with Henry after ruining the royal wedding. It's also been ten years since Alex dropped to his knees in front of Henry in a Kensington Palace kitchen.

But now Henry's in the Hamptons for the summer, and who should he bump into? None other than Alex Claremont-Diaz, who happens to be working in New York all summer long.

Double, Double, Acting Trouble by @welcometololaland. E, 30k. Due to no fault of his own, Alex Claremont-Diaz winds up in a theatre class.

Due to every fault of Percy Okonjo, Henry Fox Mountchristen-Windsor finds himself roped into the very last thing he ever wanted to do - following in his father’s footsteps by being thrust onto the stage. OR

Confusion now hath made his masterpiece as Alex and Henry fall in love while performing the Tragedy of Macfish.

Be Worthy Love, and Love Will Come by @sparklepocalypse. E, 30k. "For Christmas this year, all I would like is a best friend who doesn’t mind too much that I’m a prince. Most of my classmates poke fun because of who I am, or treat me like I’m too special to be their friend. I want a best friend who knows me as much as my family does and still likes me. I know that you can’t wrap a best friend up in a box and put it under the tree, but you’re magic so you know the best way to bring one."

(Movieverse canon divergence; Prince Henry, age 8, writes to Father Christmas wishing for a best friend. A few weeks later, he finds one.)

it's you and me by smc_27. M, 31k. He can’t fucking wait to see everyone. To hug Bea. To have Catherine tell him he’s handsome and tap his nose with her index finger like she’s always done. For Arthur to make some inevitably fucking terrible joke about Alex bringing two duffels and a carryon. He also honestly can’t wait to see his mom and Arthur together.

Alex just really needs this summer. He needs time away, outside of Texas, with his family and the people outside his family who know him best.

or, an indulgent summer fic in which Arthur and Ellen are best friends and their families summer together in California

Nebuchad-never had a friend like me by clottedcreamfudge. E, 32k. When the dragons came, it was like nothing the world had ever seen before – and it hadn’t been anything like the movies either. There weren’t great, leathery wings beating up hurricanes and pinpricks growing larger on the horizon until sharp, white teeth became visible; there were no screaming citizens or calls to arms; nobody saw them coming, because they didn’t come the way Hollywood had expected them to.

The dragons had, instead, crawled out of the earth, just hatched and hiccupping smoke, barely old enough to support their own heads.

The world had fallen in love in an instant.

Waiting in the Wings by DracoWillHearAboutThis. M, 33k. Henry had always known he would end up in an arranged marriage.

He had not expected, though, to end up in an arranged marriage with Prince Alex Claremont-Diaz, who he'd secretly been in love with for the past fifteen years.

when i need to get home by smc_27. E, 35k. He drives the car he’s rented up the lane and half wonders if he’s just exhausted or if the place actually looks as bad as it does.

Oh. Oh god. Christ. What’s he gotten himself into?

He can’t help thinking if Jean knew her home had fallen this far, she would’ve been heartbroken. He’s not going to let her home sit like this. He’s going to fix it. For her, yeah, but for him, too.

or: Alex inherits an English country home, and Henry lives in the cottage next door.

Seven Years by @welcometololaland. E, 35k. Seven different places, seven different timelines, seven different meetings, seven different Decembers.

And still, Alex and Henry find each other in every universe.

Take me where I cannot stand by clottedcreamfudge. E, 36k. Henry blinks at him. “Galactapol?”

“Yeah, you know – the Intergalactic Peace Force?”

“Yes, I know them,” Henry says drily, “but you said—”

“We don't have a lot of respect for them around here,” Alex informs him succinctly. “If that's the kind of line you wanna take, then maybe—”

“No, no,” Henry says hurriedly, straightening up. “Galactapol. I like it. Catchy, even.”

“Read the contract or don't, Fox,” Alex says firmly, pressing his own hand to the line of studs between the engine room and the lower corridor. “I can find another engineer if I need to, but you'll never – and I mean never – find a ship like this again in your life. Jackie's one of a kind.”

Space, smuggling, and a ship called Applejack. Everything's shiny.

Before This, After That by @orchidscript. M, 37k. Henry Fox is lost. After suffering a serious injury from horseback, he struggles through the pain, depression, and frustration inherent with long term healing. Giving up is easier.

Discontent to leave him so unmotivated, the Fox siblings go in on a new solution: a private, personal physical therapist. Enter Alex Claremont-Diaz. He comes with glowing referrals, top of his class in all his degree programs, a sparkling personality and dug-in stubbornness to match. If anyone could light a fire in Henry again, it would be him. Right?

Most People Exist by SprigsofViolets. T, 40k. Henry Fox is a nurse at the New York Cancer Center. He’s happy with his job, content enough with his life, but it all gets turned on its head when he connects with a patient with a brain tumor—Alex Claremont-Diaz.

into the spotlight by indomitablelove. E, 40k. Alex Claremont-Diaz is a star on the rise.

A wildcard up-and-coming new actor who finds himself thrust into the Hollywood limelight when he’s nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his small-budget indie movie. It’s his more than he could have imagined in his wildest dreams. That is, until he discovers that also in his category is his mortal enemy: Henry Fox – generically attractive, completely boring and part of an acting dynasty that stretches back generations. In short, everything Alex hates about Hollywood.

So when a comment Alex makes about Henry in an interview goes viral, and the two find themselves thrust together through awards season, Alex can’t help but think his dream has become his worst nightmare.

Except, maybe – just maybe – Henry isn’t quite what he seems.

Down For the Count by LolaLand (Lola_di_Penates). E, 40k. Alex came to Las Vegas to count cards, not feelings. Henry came to win it all.

Is it possible to find something real in Sin City, where nearly everything isn’t as it seems?

Goodbye reality, hello Vegas (the blackjack/poker AU).

What's Up, Danger? series by @cultofsappho. E, 41k. “How thick do you think I am, exactly?”

Alex mumbles something under his breath that sounds like, “Got away with it this long, didn’t I?”

Henry’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline. “I’m sorry, are you bragging about lying to me?”

After a long pause, Alex says, “...No.” slowly.

“Hm. Thought not.”

In which Henry can’t recognise the sound of his own boyfriend’s voice, Alex isn’t as good of a liar as he thinks he is, and living with a superhero is both exactly, and not at all, what Henry thought it would be.

In Any Universe by SprigsofViolets. T, 54k. Boy Meets Boy.

Boys Become Friends.

Boys Fall in Love.

The Red White and Royal Blue Heartstopper AU that no one asked for.

Camp Llwynywermod by bleedingballroomfloor. E, 56k. The first night of camp with Henry is always weird. Weird in the sense that they haven’t seen each other in nearly eleven months, but Alex knows that Henry has been thinking about him in the months leading up to camp. Alex is guilty of it too; often the first thing he thinks of after applying to be a counselor is seeing Henry, Henry and his stupid blond hair and stupid English accent and stupidly gorgeous face, and thinking about just how he could outdo him in pranks this year.

Alternatively, the camp counselor AU that nobody asked for.

Fall Into You by lucy_in_the_sky. E, 56k. Alex is smart and witty and kind and clever and driven…but graceful, he is not. Several stints in the ER within one semester can confirm this unfortunate fact. The only good thing to come out of wracking up his out of pocket co-pay is the gorgeous nurse with beautiful eyes and a killer smile. Maybe breaking several bones is kinda worth it.

Basically: several times Alex was a clumsy wreck and Henry had to patch him up.

The Arrangement by cmere. E, 58k. “Gran sat me down the day I finished my A levels and made it abundantly clear I was not to let anyone know about any deviant desires I might be beginning to harbor that might reflect poorly upon the crown, and there were appropriate channels to maintain appearances if necessary.”

Shaan approaches Henry with a deal from the Queen: agree to an arranged marriage with a woman to flaunt in public, and he can enjoy the services of a male escort in private. Alex comes storming into Henry’s life with sparkling brown eyes, a mischievous smirk, and a challenge, and Henry struggles to maintain control of his emotions as boundaries begin to blur.

Alex doesn’t actually care about him; it’s just a job. Right?

Down By The Water, I Saw You by @myheartalivewrites. E, 63k. “Henry straightens up, head snapping over to look at the new arrivals. Then there’s the sound of a voice he’s not heard in ten years, a voice he never thought he’d hear again.

“Fuck, I can’t cook tonight. I think I’d rather starve.”

Henry stares, mouth dropped open. A head of curly brown hair turns slowly his way and his heart explodes.

“Henry?” Alex says, and Henry can’t bring himself to reply, so he just keeps staring. Alex looks at him for a few more seconds, eyes wide, blinking furiously, before swiftly turning on the spot and walking away from him and into the woods, but not before Henry can see the distraught look on his face.”

Henry and Alex first met and fell in love as teenagers, while on holiday in Jamaica. Ten years later, they run into each other again, and have to deal with the emotional fallout of how things ended last time. And fall in love again along the way, of course.

With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest) by @kiwiana-writes. E, 65k. Alex is a former child star struggling to make the transition into being seen as a serious actor. He jumps at an opportunity to perform on stage in the UK, seeing it as a way to break free from the typecasting and show what he can really do. But he wasn’t prepared to star alongside someone he hates.

Henry is a recent theatre graduate who accepts an amazing role in a queer reimagining of Much Ado About Nothing. And then it turns out his co-star is none other than the man he’s been hopelessly pining after for years—even though Henry made a terrible first impression when they met.

It’s… well, it’s practically Shakespearean.

You Know I Love a London Boy series by @three-drink-amy. E, 66k. When Alex has a break off of work, he decides to get away and spend that time in London. On his first day there, he meets Henry and sparks immediately fly between them. As they spend the summer together, touring the city and enjoying each other, Alex continues to keep a very big secret about himself: who he really is.

Nova, Baby by chamel. E, 66k. Agent Henry Fox-Mountchristen is an asshole.

Alex is 90% sure those exact words are going in this mission report. Yeah, they’re supposed to be objective when writing this shit up, but that isn’t his opinion. It’s a fact.

(CIA agent Alex Claremont-Diaz and MI6 agent Henry Fox-Mountchristen don’t exactly get along, but that doesn’t keep their respective agencies from insisting they work together as partners. Then a mission in Colombia changes everything, and their relationship begins to shift and grow into something that neither of them ever expected… and something that could have deadly consequences.)

Shatter Me by @historicallysam. M, 67k. Henry is resigned to the life he's meant to lead until he meets a man so full of happiness and life that he's got no choice but to confront the secret he's been keeping for years.

Deep Blue by myheartalive. E, 76k. “I picture myself in a small house by the sea, overlooking the water. Writing and reading all day and taking David on long walks and swimming everyday. Somewhere really quiet, where there’s not a lot of people. And where nobody thinks of me as Henry Mountchristen.”

Fed up of working under his grandmother, Henry quits his job in London, dropping everything for a writer’s life by the sea. He’s desperate to focus on his work and produce something worthy, but a mouthy American with a beautiful smile and a chin dimple has other plans.

But I love him, whether or no. by @leaves-of-laurelin. E, 77k. Henry moves to New York City to help Pez with the opening of his new bar in the East Village. The location—fortunately for business, but unfortunately for Henry’s sanity—is directly across the street from a fire station. The sound of sirens is bad, Alex the gorgeous firefighter is worse. But when Alex helps Henry avoid a near catastrophe the night of the bar’s opening, the two form a tentative friendship that starts to develop into something more.

I'm Taking A Ride With My Best Friend by @cultofsappho. M, 79k. When Zahra, the leader of the Fireflies, makes a deal with Alex to smuggle some guy outside of the D.C. Quarantine Zone’s walls, Alex immediately says no. He doesn’t move people, not anymore. Not since his ridiculous, and definitely past-tense, savior complex got him into hot water with June.

What could possibly be so special about some scrawny refugee? When he had his gun pointed at Henry, the expression on Zahra’s face was not one he’d ever seen on her before. She desperately needs him alive. For once, just this once, Zahra isn’t the savior today. It’s Henry.

“What’s so important about him?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. He’s just cargo, Alex.”

Alternate Universe - The Last of Us

Never a Guarantee by clottedcreamfudge. E, 87k. Henry – Prince Henry, third in line for the throne of Windsor and Alex's goddamn betrothed – has very soft hands. Alex knows this because he is literally holding them in his, both of them standing in front of just about everyone with a title in either of their two kingdoms, while a man in an extremely large hat has them repeat oaths and other things Alex has been learning by heart since he got engaged.

Looking back on their time at the altar, Alex should maybe have read a little more into the way Henry kissed him like it was the last time.

the poem you make of me by cmere. E, 91k. "Just, you know," Henry says. "If your mum weren't the president and you were just a normal bloke living a normal life, what things might be like? What you'd be doing instead?"

After being discovered on Instagram as a teenager, Alex Diaz is thriving as a social media influencer and model who just landed a high profile, high fashion contract with Calvin Klein. Alex can get any girl he wants, and he’s loving it. Meanwhile, British poet Henry Fox has just arrived in L.A. to kick off a North American tour promoting his new, steamy book of gay erotic poetry, and he’s attracting a lot of attention.

Bad blood is immediately sparked between them when Henry blows Alex off at their first meeting. Several tabloid rumors and an Instagram tantrum later, Alex and Henry are reluctantly thrust together to make nice, resulting in a grudging friendship and a magnetism between them that Alex can't explain. Why is Henry's poetry making Alex feel like this? And just what is it about Henry Fox that gets to him so much?

(our last summer) memories that remain by bleedingballroomfloor. E, 91k. Fresh out of law school and fresh out of a relationship, what Alex Claremont-Diaz needs most is a goddamn vacation. He plans to spend his summer on a small island off the coast of Wales, three months of peace and relaxation and figuring out what the hell he actually wants to do with his life. But all that is thrown out the window when he runs into his ex-fling, Henry Fox, who just so happens to be running the hotel he's staying in for the next three months.

Four years prior, Henry Fox meets the most beautiful boy he's ever seen at an NYU party: Alex Claremont-Diaz. Henry soon finds himself whisked away to Texas with Alex, a summer full of poetry and skinny dipping and stolen kisses, and everything is perfect. Almost too perfect for a summer fling. Yet Henry can't stop himself from falling in love with Alex, falling for the lake house and everything Alex loves, even when he knows it's too good to last.

Two summers, two places of falling in love, one filled with memories of the last. It leaves Alex and Henry wondering: is this summer truly going to be their last one together?

A Long Way From the Playground by allmylovesatonce. E, 96k. Henry and Alex were best friends growing up until they went to separate colleges and they grew apart. When they see each other again as adults, against the odds, both living in the same city again, will it be a joyful reunion or will the pain of the years apart get in the way? How do you become friends again when there is so much of the past in the way?

Peaches and Cream do Sexy Murder series by @dumbpeachjuice and @clottedcreamfudge. E, 103k. There are precisely three things Henry knows for absolute certain:

1. There is nothing that can’t be solved by a good cup of tea.

2. His dog, David, is probably the person who loves him most in the world, and that is because Henry is the provider of sausages.

3. His sister would do anything for him, including, but not limited to, murdering his wanker of an ex-boyfriend.

Or, Henry is a witch with a slew of dead ex-boyfriends, and Alex has a badge and a gun.

The Consequences (Of our Actions) series by @anchoredarchangel. E, 135k. "I sort of came out as bisexual to both Nora and myself when we were watching that fucking snoozefest of a Royal Wedding years ago, and I told her with no hesitation that you were on my list.”

Suddenly, Henry looks very present in this previously one-sided conversation, eyes boring into him even if he sounds a little choked as he clarifies, “I was on-”

“My No Consequences sex list,” Alex confirms brazenly, “Yeah."

Or: During an inadvisable spot of dating years back, Alex and Nora made a game out of making extensive lists of celebrities they could hook up with without it being cheating. One breakup and several years later, Alex meets someone on his list for the very first time at a charity gala and decides it's appropriate to tell him all about it.

I only tag an author once per post, but I'm still figuring out firstprince author handles. If you see one I may not know or find a broken link, please give me a heads up!

RWRB FirstPrince AU Recs Part One

RWRB FirstPrince AU Recs Part Three

Master List of RWRB FirstPrince Recs

Master List of Recommendations

#firstprince #rwrb fic recs #rwrb #alex x henry #red white & royal blue

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aloneinthehellfire · 1 year

Text

Chapter 22: Part Two: King Of The Freaks

Season One | Season Two | Season Three | Season Four

Raining Hellfire: Season Four

Word Count: 3158 words of what is wrong with me??

Warnings: swearing, death, blood, grief, it's angsty i think we all know this by now

[A/N: ... to read or not to read... that is the question]

Part Two: King Of The Freaks

Stepping over the last vine, your body began to feel tired.

You weren’t sure if it was from the use of your powers, or the unbearable weight of loss on your shoulders, but it was becoming increasingly harder to put one foot in front of the other. If you didn’t have Nancy and Robin beside you, there was a chance you’d have given up walking a while back.

Just in front, Steve glances back every so often. You wanted nothing more than to run to him and just ask him to hold you, block out the entire world even for just a moment. But you needed to keep going. After all, the worst had already happened.

You wished that was true.

It was Steve that caught sight of it first, sending a startled look to Nancy before taking off towards the trailer park in a rush.

She squints her eyes and her breath hitches, grasping your hand tightly.

“What?” You ask, heart beating faster. After your grieving walk to find Eddie and Dustin, you weren’t in the mood for any more surprises.

“I think we should wait.” Robin suddenly says, nodding. But the look in her eyes didn’t match her voice.

“Why?” You start to panic, but it was all fake.

You decided if you could at least push away that anxiety inside, you could find yourself in an entirely different situation than what was waiting for you. But you were just holding on to a fragment of hope.

You already knew. Their scared faces, the fact they were treating you like fragile property.

The bats that had been chasing Eddie when Vecna showed you the damage you had caused.

Robin tries to block your view, but you’re quick, letting go of Nancy’s hand and sprinting towards the figures you could just see in the distance.

Steve crouched beside Dustin, the young boy sobbing. Your stomach drops, mind immobilised by his tears. There was only one reason he could be experiencing that much pain.

Eddie…

You immediately slow into a stop, eyes glued to the body on the floor.

A lifeless corpse of a boy that stopped running.

“Anyway,” He said, “I never got to formally introduce myself when I made the most awful first impression in the world.”

He gets up to stand in front of you, bowing so theatrically that you began to giggle.

“Eddie Munson, at your service.” As he straightened up, his hair whipped behind him and he extended a hand, “And you are?”

“You already know my name.” You laughed, shaking your head.

“Shh, pretend I don’t, I’m trying something here.”

“Okay, I’m Y/n, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Eddie.” You take his hand, trying to ignore how the brush of his skin made your heart flutter.

“Pleasure is all mine, Y/n.” He pretended to kiss your hand before gently dropping it and sitting on the grass in front of you, stretching his legs and using his arms to prop himself up.

“No last name there Y/n?” He asked, lifting a brow..

“Not something I use very often. I’m thinking of dropping it completely, like Madonna or Prince.” It’s true. You never say your surname out loud. You weren’t even sure you were allowed to after that look your parents had given you that night.

“I like it, make a statement.” He nodded. He obviously noticed how uncomfortable the mention of your family surname made you.

“Exactly.”

Steve’s eyes drift to where you stood paralysed, an echo of footsteps of Robin and Nancy running in behind you.

Eddie… Eddie was…

The blood.

Eddie was…

“Y/n?”

In your utter heartache, you hadn’t heard Dustin’s sniffles louden, the boy stood beside you with a broken expression. Turning, your eyes catch something glinting in the light. Dustin’s palm was open, holding a small blue ring.

“He…” Dustin sobbed in between breaths, tears streaming down. “He said… he wanted you to have this.”

In a blink, the tear slipped down your cheek as you plucked it from his hand, your own trembling against the cool metal of the band.

“He… he wanted you to be strong.”

And that’s when it hit, the hurt, the pain.

You lower to the ground, eyes still set onto the ring in your hand.

“Oh! Wait, before I forget.” You rummaged through your own pockets now. It was a little harder to find the familiar object with gloves on but the small shape found your fingers and you pulled it out, unclasping your hand to hold it out for him.

His face lifted into a smile as he stared down at your hand. His fingers brushed over the shiny object before he shook his head.

“I can’t accept that. It’s yours.” He said and you just laughed.

“It’s not like I’m giving you my favourite guitar pick.” You shrugged, earning a chuckle. “Seriously, I want you to have it. My uncle… he told me to pass it on to someone I care about. That’s you.”

There was a beat before he finally lifted the ring from your hand. He just gazed at it before you became slightly impatient, taking it from him and raising his right hand. You slipped it onto one of his fingers and inspected it.

“There! Now both your hands are accessorised.” You concluded sarcastically.

Eddie looked down at the ring and for a moment you thought he’d take it off and hand it back to you.

“Eddie?”

He looked up at you with tear brimmed eyes. He cupped your face with both hands and pulled your lips into his, kissing you with passion you’ve never felt before. Your arms slotted perfectly around his torso as you cherished the moment. You’ve never felt like this before.

“It’s my fault.” Dustin cries and you immediately snap out of the trance, whipping your head up to him.

“What?” You raise yourself on your knees, grabbing his arms and moving your head so he would meet your eyes. “None of this, and I mean none of this, is your fault. Don’t ever for one second think that it is.”

He searches your eyes, as if looking for a lie. But, after a moment, his arms fly around you and you hold him, squeezing your eyes shut.

You already knew the look on his face, one you had bore many times. It was the daunting fear of holding someone in your arms as they died, watching as their life, their soul, was released. To experience that… you weren’t sure Dustin would ever recover. Even if you were grieving, you needed to bury that guilt. For him. For both of them.

Once you pull away, Steve quickly replaces you in comforting the young boy, uttering words of sympathy into his ears while his eyes stay on you.

But you were looking down at Eddie, trying not to look anywhere other than his face, knowing that the fatal wounds would break you completely. Gently taking his limp hand into yours, you squeezed your eyes shut.

Your first love was led on the ground in a pool of his own blood. That grin he would give you anytime you referenced a beloved character from one of his favourite books, wasn’t ever going to brighten your day again. Any nudge of his shoulder when he told a joke that didn’t react an immediate laugh from you, would never grace your presence ever again. You would never be able to let your friendship grow into something stronger than life, simply leaving you wondering if it would have all been different if you had just told him about the boy you had been in love with since freshman year.

So much regret. So many possibilities. You could never provide Eddie with the comfort he needed when you were dating, not really. You would hold his hand tight as you walked past his bullies, or reassure him about his potential when he was worried about graduating. You did everything a good girlfriend would do. But you were never really there. Your mind was always clouded with nightmares, constantly distracted by hidden truths and haunted memories. Similarities that brought you closer had meant the differences drove you away. You were always there for Eddie, but you weren’t truly with him.

Four years. That’s how long it took for you both to understand that you were meant to be together, just not in the way you thought. He was a kindred spirit, understanding your worst times because he had lived them himself. You kept the darkness away from him because you believed that he was the one person you could save. It took one monster with a grudge to prove you wrong.

Vecna had taken too much. This power had taken too much.

Lillian. Barb. Bob. Billy. Jack. Max. Eddie.

Enough was enough.

You didn’t want this; a power that only ever caused death. You didn’t ask for the life you were given. Nor did you think you deserved it. For once in your life, you didn’t believe you deserved this.

we all get second chances

Jack’s words echo in the back of your mind. He wouldn’t have told you it if it wasn’t important, especially not in his only chance he had to tell you anything he needed to. It had to mean more than what you thought.

Your second chance was life...

Surely that had to mean the same for everyone else.

“A second chance.” You mutter, silent whispers fading into the night around you.

“Y/n.” Nancy’s breathless voice cut through your thoughts and you open your eyes.

You are unprovoked by the sight of the black dust swarming in front of you, hovering above Eddie’s body. It didn’t speak, not that it ever did, simply being. But it communicated with you. And you understood everything.

“Y/n?” Steve called out this time and you look at him with a furrowed brows. From the tilt of your head, to the tightening grip on Eddie’s hand, he could sense what you were about to do.

“I have to.” You reply and he bites his lip, jaw set tight. He didn’t like it. But he also wasn’t going to stop you.

You felt the thrum of dust flutter into your skin, looking down at Eddie with intent. One hand reached out to lay on top of his chest, shifting ever so slightly to where his heart would lay.

“What-” Dustin starts, but Steve is quick to raise his finger to his lips.

Please, You begged silently, forcing the dust to your control. It was burning, the shoot of pain into your fingertips almost too much to bear. But it would be worth it.

Seconds ticked by like taunting voices;

You weren’t strong enough.

You weren’t powerful enough.

All you will ever do is cause death upon those that were dragged down by your storm.

You will never save them.

They were wrong.

A choked gasp bleeds into the wind and you snap your eyes open, widening your lips into a smile.

“Eddie!” Dustin tears himself from Steve’s grasp, practically hurling himself at the boy laying on the floor and sobbing into his chest. “Shit, man, don’t you ever…”

His words trailed off as an arm reaches around him and hugs him back, Dustin’s smile enough to strike tears to your eyes. He leans back, grinning at you. He was shaking his head like he was trying to muster up the words to say, but all he could simply do was smile his infamous smile and hold that gratitude with him.

Eddie mumbles, almost drowsy, and you lean it to better hear his whispers.

“...never join… I won’t…”

Goosebumps trickle along your skin, frowning at his quiet cries for peace.

“Eddie.” You place a hand on his cheek and his eyes fly open, taking a long breath. He turns his head in your direction and his expression softens.

“Hey.” He manages to say and you shake away your nerves, smiling.

“Hi.” Your voice breaks and he doesn’t know why, frowning. His eyes then drift to Dustin, widening with each second.

“We almost lost you there, man.” Steve chuckles in relief and Eddie slowly sits up, groaning at the feeling. Dustin holds his hands out to catch him, but they’re swatted away.

“Shit.” He begins patting down his torso, hissing through his teeth once he sees his legs. “Those are a little more ripped than I paid for.”

“Does it hurt?” Dustin asks, cautiously hovering his hands over the dozens of marks and scratches etched into his body.

“I don’t know, let’s see.” Eddie lets out a breathy laugh, pressing down on a wound before nodding. “Yep. Can confirm it does, in fact, hurt like a bitch.”

“We’ll get you to a hospital.” Nancy informs, a visible relaxation in her shoulders.

“So we’re gonna completely ignore the fact that Y/n just brought Eddie back from the dead?” Robin raises her eyebrow, leant over Steve’s shoulder and he jabs his elbow into her thigh. “Ow. I was just checking! I’d be more surprised but Y/n managed to even raise herself from the dead, so necromancy is definitely in her future- Ow!”

“Stop talking.” Steve hissed through his teeth, and Robin’s eyes widen.

Eddie’s face had dropped completely, surely pale from the realisation. That he had died. That you had died. And the fact that you had a power that gave you both a second chance at life.

“This is why I had no friends in high school.” Robin purses her lips, and Nancy sends her a sympathetic smile. Dustin is uncharacteristically quiet, his mind racing at the possibility that he almost lost you too.

“I… You-” Eddie struggled to string together a sentence, looking back down at his bloodied clothes. “I died.”

It wasn’t a question, but you nodded anyway, looking to where you still held his hand.

“And…” He licks his lips, frowning. “And you… also died.”

In the corner of your eye, you saw Steve’s head lower, avoiding the wide eyed stares from the young boy next to him. You remembered the day in Max’s trailer, how he had shared his biggest fear with you, his saddened eyes taking in every feature in fear he would forget.

“I’m not going anywhere. Just like you said. You and me.”

Your promise that softened his anxiety had snapped in front of your very eyes when Vecna plunged his claws into your chest. And the very worst thing was that you knew it could be your end. But you couldn’t bear to see his face if you told him. You hated that he had to see you so broken and bloodied on the floor.

“But I’m here.” You finally respond, forcing your voice to be louder than the whisper caught in your throat. When Steve’s head raised, your eyes drifted to him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve eyes soften as you lock gazes, a look that spoke a thousand words.

“I think it’s awesome.” Dustin interrupts the moment with a laugh, pulling off the hat and releasing the curls that had stuck to his forehead with a quick shake of his head. “Like, you both literally cheated death. You have the power to bring someone back to life, just- imagine how much good you can do with that! No one else needs to die because of this.”

There must have been a falter in your expression because his eyebrows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to get out of here.” Nancy interjects, looking to Steve to back her up.

He clears his throat, “Yeah. Yeah, Nance is right, we shouldn’t be hanging around here longer than we have to.”

“But-” Dustin’s protests were cut off by Steve pulling him off the floor, and Robin quickly hooks her arm under his armpit to steady him on his shaky ankle. He huffs. “Fine.”

As Steve and Nancy assist Eddie in standing, you still find yourself knelt on the ground, resting against the back of your feet. What’s wrong? There wasn't really a right answer for that. Everything was wrong.

“Max.” You suddenly say, a few surprised looks. “I, uh… I need to find Max.”

Whilst Eddie and Dustin nod in agreement, understanding your need to find your sister, the others look at you with matching faces of concern. But no one could argue or debate.

It was a short walk into the trailer, your shaking arm holding open the door as everyone made their way to stand under the gate. Before you followed, you stopped, turning back to look out into the darkness.

But there wasn't anyone staring back.

“Where’s the rope?” Steve blinks as you walk in, staring into the air like it would magically reveal itself.

Robin leans down after letting go of Dustin and picks up a clump of cloth from the ground, holding it like evidence.

“Yeah, that’s, uh…” Eddie tightens his lips, wincing as he raised his arm, “That’s my bad.”

“Never again.” Dustin stares at him with narrowed eyes and you don’t need an explanation to piece that one together.

“Is that why you catapulted out of the gate?” Steve remarks, glancing at the boy’s ankle. He held Eddie’s weight as Nancy slipped away and began searching for a replacement.

“So not funny.” Dustin glared and Steve nodded.

“Too soon.” He agrees and you find yourself trying to smile at the small interaction, a piece of normality from the life before you all entered the battle of your lives.

One you lost.

As everyone started to climb back into their home, the haunting image of Max lingered in the back of your mind, her silent screams begging you to help, before every bone snaps. It brought a sick feeling to your throat, the jacket clung to your body suddenly restricting your breaths.

You shakily tear the fabric off, letting it drop to the floor, ridding yourself of the torn outfit just in time for Nancy to call your name. Before you can move away and leave it behind, something catches your eye.

Reaching down, you pull out the slip of paper from one of the front pockets. You feel your fingers go numb.

It was covered in your blood, staining the only memory you had left of your sister.

“Hey.”

Steve’s gentle touch on your shoulder was more comforting than he’ll ever realise.

He focuses on the envelope in your hands, smile faltering as he gently takes it from your hands and places it in his pocket instead, turning you to face him.

Your head is lowered, too tired for any more tears to stream down. You felt exhausted, your death finally catching up to you as the scars on your abdomen throb. Steve strokes your hair and holds you closer, prompting you to bury your face in the crook of his neck and wrap your arms around his torso.

You didn’t have much fight left in you.

Chapter 23: The Aftermath ->

[A/N: ah you guys didn't think i'd leave him like that did you?]

taglist: @gnnnne / @beepisbeep / @paintballkid711 / @eddiesbirdie / @livasaurasrex / @darktimelegends / @jackierose902109 / @mvrylee / @chervbs / @eternallyvenus / @nervouscatsuit / @f1nn-wolfhard / @hereiamhereigo / @ladybug0095 / @fangirling-4-ever / @astrolockley / @mothmanatemycat / @sheisjoeschateau / @champagnejoker / @umidktbh / @fallinginlovewithqueue / @ilovetaylorswift132006 / @live-the-fangirl-life / @sadbitchfangirl / @cherrymedicine13 / @engenelxver / @sagaonpandora /

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thedinanshiral · 4 days

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Exciting times

As we enter the last leg of this race, please beware of the SPOILERPOCALYPSE.

The reason i'm not here much lately is precisely because of spoilers. I think marketing has done more than they should have, i don't need to see more of the game, i just want to play it. Now just checking my socials puts me at risk of getting major spoilers i'm trying so hard to avoid at all costs.

Yesterday the embargo on the preview event was lifted and all the people who was fortunate to be invited have been sharing their reviews, impresions and recorded gameplay. Unfortunately for those of us who wish to experience the game ourselves instead of having the first Act spoiled, not everyone uses spoiler warnings, hashtags or keywords one can mute or block while this lasts. Personally i'm mostly on twitter and there i muted +130 words for 30 days only to have a spoiler about Rook's origins in one of the factions still slip through.

I've been checking on YouTube carefully like it's a minefield -because it really is- for some of these content creators' videos, for the most part just to listen and what i've gathered so far is they were allowed about 7 hours of play, including the character creator and 5 selected missions from Act I, but there's a couple of late Act I missions they weren't allowed to record or talk much about, and they weren't allowed to show some menus, namely the accesibility menu as it seems there's official marketing coming up centered on that.

The big and main positive i can take from these recent developments is that there's a new consensus: Dragon Age The Veilguard looks good. Long gone are the days of first trailer bad impressions and Fortnite accusations, now that some people finally got to experience the game themselves the reviews are mostly positive, excited, and i've seen some content creators change their minds about the game entirely. Bioware took notes all these years and are ready to deliver an unexpectedly very polished game as a result. People at the event were told the game has 3 Acts and i've heard this from several people, if the rest of the game keeps up the rhythm from what they saw of Act I, then Bioware is back. GOTY contender. IMO BW was never "gone", they were just slowly cooking this upcoming full meal

Sure, combat may not be for everyone, a more linear experience may not be for everyone. But personal preferences aside all seems to indicate The Veilguard will deliver as promised.

Spoilers are unavoidable sometimes so i've actualy looked for some, namely the Character Creator, the different factions origin stories, the different surnames. I had to go out of my way to see these things tho, intentionally spoiling myself these details because I have as of now 12 different Rooks planned and i needed to know if the stories i made for them would conflict or not with what the game will offer. Only one origin has a detail that might restrict things a bit.

There's apparently also a scene from a mission i'm not sure they were allowed to show, i skipped through a video about it without really looking and just now saw something from it on my dashboard but i scrolled down as fast as i could because it's something i really want to see in game first. It's such a big thing, it shouldn't have been showned or leaked at all. All i'll say is it's about Solas, and something many of us wanted to see for a long time.

All this said, while we wait for October 31st to come quick we still have the podcast Vows&Vengeance each Thursday. I might write on it soon. This podcast is safe from spoilers, it's set pre-Veilguard and introduces the companions one per episode, and the original characters are apparently a V&V exclusive and won't show in game. I think this podcast series is currently the only safe marketing material available until release. Meanwhile the IGN coverage continues, full of minor spoilers sprinkled all over so i'm also avoiding all of it.

We're now 41 days away from an event we've been waiting for 10 years! The waiting has never been harder.

#dragon age the veilguard #dav #veilguard #bioware #veilguard spoilers #vows and vengeance #update

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lover-girl-estxx · 10 months

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Concerts

(N38 R35)

Jelly roll had told Nate Diaz was coming to the show tonight. Nate is one of my favorite fighters, I really really wanted to fangirl over him but I was gonna hopefully be cool and not completely blow it.

I was getting dressed in my trailer when Bunnie came in "your man got here" she said "he's not my man" she shrugged with a smile. "He is cute" she said I laughed she pushed my boobs up "stop" I pushed her hands away she laughed.

Jelly had done about two songs when I came to the side stage "sorry I just wanted to introduce myself" I said coming up next to him he turned and stuck his hand out "oh shit Y/n right?" I smiled "yeah! And your Nate" he smiled and nodded "well enjoy yourself it's nice to meet you" "you too".

I did a song with him and two myself Save Me Wildflowers and Wild Horses Grease

"that was really good" he said when I came off the stage "thank you!" I smiled and blushed, he nodded with a shy smile. Nate and his friend Nick hung out in the back a little longer after the show. "c-could I get you a drink?" he asked me "yeah that would be great" "what are you drinking?" "Vodka sprite" he nodded before walking away, Bubbie raised her eyes brows at me I rolled my eyes. He handed me my drink "thanks" he nodded "mind if I sit?" "no go for it" I smiled and moved over from him to sit with me.

"you from here" he asked I nodded "more socal" "nice" he smirked "I would ask about your fight but I don't want to fangirl" I laughed after I saw him relax his shoulders and laugh "you can fan girl" "okay good" I moved closer to him. "I was at your Conner fight" "you were?" I nodded "that much of a fan girl" I smirked "yeah" I looked down at my cup "don't know how I missed such a pretty girl" he moved a piece of my hair I smiled widely, he started laughing "what?" I chuckled "that was super cheesy" I laughed "it was cute".

"we should go" his friend said Nate nodded "it was nice meeting you" he said "you too" I smiled before he walked away. "you get his number" Bunnie I shook my head "no" "why not?" "he would've given it to me if he wanted too" I shrugged. I was making myself another drink when I turned Nate was walking back in the tent "hey" he said "hey" I giggled "could I give you my number?" he smiled "yeah i'll allow that" I smiled and pulled my phone out handing it to him "she was waiting all night for that" Bunnie said "shut up" I said and he laughed. "thanks" I smiled "okay now I have to go" he kissed my cheek before walking away.

'Your Future Boyfriend' I laughed before putting my phone in my pocket.

#nate diaz #ufc #nate diaz x reader #nate diaz imagine #nate diaz imagines #Nate Diaz by est

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burgers-and-french-fries · 6 months

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My journal friend,

I know that it's been about a week since I've written anything, but I promise that I have a good reason. Before I tell you though, let me fill you in on what's happened this week.

As you know, mom agreed to let Uncle Jeff teach me how to surf, so long as I am uninjured and returned in one piece. Well, that didn't last too long. You see, Uncle Jeff was showing me how to get balanced on my board before we went on the water when all of a sudden someone knocked me over and onto the burning hot sand. The wind was knocked out of me for a minute or two, and Uncle Jeff got snippy with them (it was like he knew the person that had run into me), which made them quickly apologize and run off in the opposite direction. (Real cool Jeff, real cool). It was ok in the end, but I did sprain my ankle, so right now surfing is on hold, which sucks.

When Uncle Jeff and I got back to his place after the ankle fiasco, we saw a moving truck in the driveway of the house next door. It wasn't a surprise for either of us to see because everyone in the neighborhood knew the house had been sold. What did surprise me was Uncle Jeff's reaction to the woman that walked out the front door and to the truck to collect more boxes.

Jeff told me later that evening that the woman, Liz Gilmour, was an old friend of his. Of course, I knew there was more to it by the way he spoke about it. I made a note to ask Mom about him and this 'old friend' when we talked on the phone that night but before I could do that, I had to tell her about my ankle first. Needless to say, she was not happy. I quickly changed the subject to Jeff and Liz and what mom told me was interesting.

She told me that back in the day they were something of an item. She also told me that they had been together so long that they had even talked about getting married. That surprised me because Jeff didn't seem like the husband type. I asked mom why they didn't get married, but she said she didn't know.

Our call went well, but boy was my mind spinning with all this new information.

After mom and I ended our call, Jeff and I decided to order burgers for dinner, and we watched a movie while we ate. The movie we watched was one I hadn't seen before, and I quite enjoyed it.

It was about a brother and sister who make up a plan to set their dad up with a woman. It made me laugh but it also got me thinking how it would work in the real world and this is where my main reason for not writing comes in.

I have decided to play Cupid!

It may have taken me a couple days after watching that movie to get to this point but with the reaction Jeff gave me that day, let's just say this summer is about to get interesting.

Anyway, I woke up this morning to a note taped to the front of my door from Uncle Jeff saying that he was at the bait shop and would be back later to check on me and make sure that I was ok. He also said that he left the dog at home because he thought I could use the company and because Annie refused to move from her bed that morning.

After reading the note, I hobbled over to Annie to check on her before hobbling to the kitchen to make myself breakfast. Just as I put my hand on the egg carton, I heard a knock coming from the front of the house.

I was hesitant to answer at first but then I heard a female voice say that they had just moved in next door and that she wanted to introduce herself.

I hurried over to the front door as fast as my dumb ankle would allow and when I opened it, I saw Liz. She was smiling warmly at me and properly introduced herself before she handed me a plate of baked goods and crap, did they smell good.

I thanked her for her kindness and invited her in for a cup of tea and a chat. I would have made coffee but since I'm not supposed to have it, I'm not good at making the liquid gold as dad calls it.

While talking with Liz, I learned that she had a little trailer that she turned into a mini bookstore that she was about to open, and she invited me to stop by when I was able to get around easier. I was about to thank her when Uncle Jeff walked through the door.

When Jeff saw us talking, he froze and frowned slightly, making both Liz and I feel awkward. Liz thanked me for the tea and rushed out the door without another word.

I was annoyed at Jefferey for acting so lame when Liz just wanted to get to know her neighbors. We got into an argument and then Jeff stormed out of the house and didn't return until about an hour ago.

I did talk to him about it all when he got home, and he filled me in on so much more than what mom knew and had told me.

Uncle Jeff said that Liz was his person and because of what happened between them, he never got close to getting married after that because he was afraid of getting hurt again. He also told me that he never stopped loving Liz and seeing her now brought back so many memories...Memories that still pained him.

I couldn't blame him. I could see it in his eyes and in fact, the look that he gave me when explaining everything was so sad and I swear it was the same look that Liz gave me when we were talking about friends, boys and the misery of high school.

Personally, I think they miss each other.

All of that said, my mission this summer is to get them together once and for all.

As this mission is so big though, I think I'm going to need Zarah's help; but it's too late to chat now, so I'll have to call her in the morning and begin the planning stages for what I'm going to call Operation Cupid...At least I think that's what I'm going to call it, I'm not sure yet.

Hopefully Zarah can think of something better when I talk with her about everything later.

OK. Bye.

P.S: This mission may be a rocky one, but I think I can do it, especially if I've got Zarah by my side and maybe Mom and dad as well but we'll see about them.

===

Tag List: @hauntedflamingo

#originalstory #uncle and niece #playing cupid #wattpad #archive of our own #tumblr

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yorgilord · 1 year

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XENOBLADE Chronicles 3: One Year LATER

Or: one man’s unhinged ramblings on a game that may be one of their favorites of all time.

A few disclaimers before reading this:

1: this is an enormous wall of text. This is 11849 words long and by far the longest I’ve ever written, just as a heads up.

2: This will contain spoilers for the entirety of the Xenoblade series, not counting other Xeno games because I’m from Europe and I am someone who loves having physical copies, so it’s going to take a while before I get the chance to play those.

3: there will be minor to major grammatical issues and faulty sentence structures because I’ve started writing this on this on the 26th and I suck at grammar and don’t have the time to proofread the entirety. So, uh no beta we die like Hackt.

4: This is going to be mildly unhinged, filled with swearing and is highly subjective you’re allowed to have your own opinion nothing I say is a fact as I’m just as much a fan as you hopefully are.

5: if there is anything that I say in this text that may or may not be considered to be offensive please tell me and I’ll try to fix it.

As of today, it has been about a year since Xenoblade chronicles 3 first hit store shelves, and for many of us our home. Although it would be wrong to say that this game hasn’t been without its controversy the overall reception towards the game has been relatively positive. With people praising the characters, the music, the revamped combat system, etc. To me this is the first game in the series that came out with me being fully caught up in the hype cycle (I got introduced around 2016-17 through Chuggaaconroy his lp of XC1, the date may be off but I remember watching the lp either during or just after my burnout and that was about the time of my burnout, but wasn’t as of yet fully converted, that only came after playing the first game for myself on the new 2ds I bought specifically to play it, despite owning a Wii meaning it would be cheaper for me to buy a used Wii copy as I’m from the Netherlands and we actually had Wii copies of the game and they weren’t too expensive on the local version of e-bay, which is called Marktplaats (lit market place) but tbf I also really wanted to play that new fire emblem Musou game so yeah choices were made, I don’t know if they were great ones but they certainly were choices. Despite taking a bit to warm up to the game when watching the lp it was eventually love at first sight. Eventually I bought a switch in 2018 got xc2 and loved it, (not sure if in or despite of) its differences, managed to snag myself a collectors edition of DE where I played up until after the metal face fight on day 01. I really enjoyed my time with every game in the series, even picking up a Wii-u specifically for X late last year and despite the difficulties in adapting to its take on the game also loving it. So, you can probably guesstimate my reaction to the game being announced on the of February 2022. The hype cycle was amazing, watching every Luxin vid that came out learning more details about the game salivating over the first trailer, giving myself the habit to regularly check my mail multiple times a day in order to see if the pre-orders for the Collectors Edition were up yet (I still haven’t kicked it), fantasizing about the potential of the game and just in general good vibes. I did have some doubts about the game, wasn’t really feeling the clock theming and really hoped that the gameplay was more akin 1 than 2 (to put emphasis on this the last few times I played 1/de I played the entirety of the ether mine as Sharla and I enjoyed it, needless to say I really like the first game) What I really didn’t expect was for this game to become one of my fav games of the year and most likely of all time, up there with the golden cow that is XC 1 and joined by titles such as dark souls 3 (after I played it earlier this year), Shin Megami Tensei V, DMC V and Halo: Reach. To put it briefly, I love this game. Now to finally get to the point of this introductory piece: a few months ago after reading on reddit someone claiming that to fully get the game you should play it a few times I came to a realization, there were some things that I wasn’t too sure about, so you know what I decided I’m going to replay the game. And I’m going to write a piece about it, and you are reading that piece right now. So, without further ado these are my lightly structured and sorted thoughts and feelings on this beautiful game.

Ok so now before I get to praising the game for the way too many things it gets right, I do have a few gripes with the game itself. Gripe number 1: now this is more of a petty complaint but why can’t you level down before beating Z that’s a weird choice imo and makes it kind of annoying to return to older areas if you’re over leveled. Gripe number 2: while I am glad that the game kind of returns to a more rigid style a-la xc1 when it comes to arts and such, I am kind of miffed by how they are implemented. I prefer my RPGS with characters that have rigidly defined roles and while I think that versatile parties can be fun to play around with, i.e. I love the challenge of putting together a party to specifically counter bosses in Megami Tensei games, I still in a sense prefer the games that force you to be creative in the constraints you’re given. And if I’m going to be real here this game plays, at least to me, a bit too fast and lose with those constraints, which annoys me but only mildly and not enough to detract from the joy of playing this piece of perfection. Gripe number 3 whose idea was it to not put location names on the map? I want to talk with them not hurt them, just talk. Gripe 4: the tutorials are way too overbearing. Gripe 5: I would prefer if there were more quests to be found on the world map instead of through idea bubbles, i.e., give me more X less the worst segments of persona 4. Gripe number 6: I dislike how relatively speaking the Agnian trio has less focus put on them in comparison to the Kevesi trio, at least when it comes to the main story. I have more but those will come up when I feel its necessary. Those are just however gripes and not anything major just minor annoyances, ok some are not so minor, but they don’t ruin the game.

Chapter 1: Ouroboros

“Fighting to live and living to fight” Those were the first words we heard in the first teaser trailer on that fateful day and those are also some of the first words we hear used in the game. And they describe the vibes that Aionios gives at first glance pretty well. The first chapter of the game is a bloody violent introduction to the world of Aionios it tells us in plain simple language hey, you there, welcome to hell. It introduces us to the colony system, to the flame clock and how it enforces a constant need for bloodshed, and it showcases how this affects the soldiers. A neat thing about this chapter is in how it directly showcases the power the flame clock has over its victims through integrating the flame clock as a mechanic that the player has to deal with. The opening of the game swiftly introduces us to the sheer brutality of this world by showcasing the battle between the Kevesi colony 9 (not that one) and the Agnian colony Sigma (male) which is shown in brutal bloody detail. What I love about this opening is the sheer sense of scale that is seen in this battle, which has, to my imperfect knowledge, only been seen in e.g., the battle of sword valley, the defense of NLA and the assault on / defense of the life hold core. The aftermath of this battle also showcases the mundane evil that the war makes the soldiers commit, i.e., the Kevesi soldiers casually trampling over the Agnian husks. This is also the first showcase of the sheer level of dehumanization that both sides employ on their enemies, which will come up later.

The section in colony 9 is also a good showcase of how despite the ever-present war and the constant violence a simulacrum of normal life is still possible and ongoing. Which in a profoundly fucked up sense is beautiful if you ask me. That despite the horrid dehumanization of the soldiers, the abuse that the consuls lash out, the ever-present threat of death. Life is still ongoing, no matter how shallow or how much of a simulacrum it is. I like this. In a sense it’s the idea of the indomitable human will when faced with the horrid oppressive cards that they are dealt. Which makes the position of Off-seer a small mercy granted to the soldiers, a sense of comfort to the warriors, a sense of peace not permitted to those who die on the slaughter fields of Aionios. And I love this section, the sense of atmosphere it has is unparalleled in my opinion and only rivaled, at least to me, by the Li Garte Prison Camp section. Also, as an aside I really fucking love the highly distinct uniforms that the Kevesi and Agnian forces have. Each uniform just looks so good. The black colors, almost skintight suits and visors found in the Kevesi army. The borderline Wuxia white robes, kabuto helmets and Japanese inspired aesthetic of the Agnian army. God, I just love those designs.

The introduction of Moebius D&J, although its mainly Dirk in control for this part as a misdirection, is masterfully done. Give the player what looks like a standard assignment, make it become more shifty by introducing the first hints of the lost numbers, through the automatons and later Guernica, and then pull the rug completely by revealing a monster which just doesn’t fit in with the local fauna and flora, which as an aside I have to say I really like, and by that I mean REALLY LIKE, the character designs of the Moebius and Ouroboros, (I guess I should thank CHOCO for this one huh), that are found in this game. They just feel so wrong, so unnatural, so borderline mechanical, like they saw the idea of the uncanny valley and decided to hike right into it. Their designs are, at least to me, perfect, which makes the fact that every single moebius, not counting FR, has a unique design personality and powerset especially amazing. And I really like how they sell the difficulty to beat and sheer power of the Moebius.

The introduction of the ouroboros into the story is also beautiful and one of the more wonderful scenes that is found in the game. And I really like the speech that D gives when the transformation takes place is amazing.

(Credits to the Xenoseries wiki for the script.)

“Noah: What...? This hand...

Noah & Mio: Is it...mine?

Noah & Mio: Huh? H-how are you inside me?!

Noah & Mio: Inside...? Hold on... Are we...?!

Moebius: (chuckling) Well, you sure catch on quick. So you got yourselves an Interlink going, eh? Guess I've gotta give the old fool credit where it's due.

Noah & Mio: Interlink?

Moebius: Well, whatever. That form you just merged into? It's called "Ouroboros". Sear that into yer skulls.

Noah: Ouroboros?

Moebius: Oh, and... Me, I'm Moebius. We look a bit alike, don't we? When Keves and Agnus come together in unity, you're practically one step away from being on the same level as us.

Noah: So we're...

Mio: one being...?

Moebius: Ehh, to put it bluntly, you're failures. Fact is, the two of us are mortal enemies.

Noah & Mio: Enemies?

Moebius: You got the picture? No further questions? Then let's get back on the dance floor!”

The fact that the ouroboros team are not immediately friendly with each other and there’s still some minor hostility among them is Imo pretty good. I really like that. Because their lives as of that point have been spent fighting each other and it is only through this incident that they become friends and teammates. Which at least to me feels somewhat realistic, only joining forces after being forced to abandon their own colonies due to the influence of Moebius and their weird mind control censor powers. Also I am mildly annoyed by the fact that it is jingoistic Gigantus instead of Rotbart, I mean I know that bombastic Rotbart jr is a thin but still. I’d really just prefer it if it was Rotbart.

So that was chapter one of the game, and I’m going to end it with a bit of a hot-take. I feel like this first chapter is one of the best introductions in the entire series. It has the atmosphere, it has the vibes, it has the beautiful music, it has a very engaging hook, and in general I really like this. I mean yes, the battle of sword valley, Mechon assault on colony 9 and Shulk’s vow for revenge from 1, destruction of earth and waking up on Mira from X, and the awakening of Pyra from 2 are fucking iconic, not counting any dlc here just the full games. But yes, I really do think that the introduction to this game is the best one in the series. This is however only an introduction, the real fun is just about to begin in.

Chapter 2: Moebius

This chapter of the game is when the story really gets going as it details the journey to the Aetia region, through the Eagus wilderness and leads to the confrontation with Colony 4, the resolution of that conflict and their departure for the Ribbi Flats. You know I really like the chapter transition screen which are formatted like entries from Mio’s diary which I feel like is a nice touch. This chapter also introduces us to one of the most important characters to the story Ethel. And I really like Ethel. The presence of Ethel in the story is used for some fun stuff.

One of the first scenes in this chapter shows us the beginnings of the friendship between Lanz and Sena and I really like this. Sena and Lanz are just best muscle buddies, can be interpreted as both romantic and platonic could go either way. But yeah, I really like how despite Lanz being the one most adverse to the team-up, next to Taion, he’s also the first one to actually befriend his Agnian counterpart. Also, since I haven’t mentioned this anywhere, I’ll mention this here. CHARACTER DESIGNS ARE FUCKING PEAK. THANK YOU, MAGATSU SAITO-SAMA, FOR GIVING US THESE CHARACTER DESIGNS AND OUTFITS. But yeah, I really like those designs and their characters, just heads up but Eunie best girl I will not elaborate. But yeah, the first section of this chapter is pretty good. What follows is the “water” and the Eagus wilderness, one of my favorite regions in this game when it comes to the aesthetic, Maktha is the best I will elaborate on this later, also as an aside but think that Mio’s entire bit with having difficulties with heat is a reference to the Japanese concept of “ 猫舌” which roughly translate to cat’s tongue, or rather to quote Wiktionary “(idiomatic) being incapable of drinking or eating anything hot (high temperature) due to having an overly sensitive tongue” This makes the fact that someone from Gormotti descent such as Mio, assuming that Nia has passed the Gormotti genetics she acquired from eating the flesh of her sister down, a bit hilarious and most likely highly intentional. The introduction to Chain attacks is logical and it is interesting to see how they come upon the idea of working together to kill that one really hard to kill Aspar. What makes that one Aspar so difficult to kill? But that gets us to the battle with colony 4.

I really like the conflict that the battle with colony 4 imposes upon the members of Ouroboros, and it is a great expansion upon the ideas shown in chapter 1 with the mind control abilities that moebius has, and the power of Moebius in general. Speaking of which, I love how Moebius are fully introduced in this chapter, and specifically the hierarchy, of Moebius, or rather lack of hierarchy among Moebius. In a sense the ranks of Moebius are egalitarian, each of the Moebius are only loyal to Z and the freedom that is granted to them by Z. It also introduces us to the apparent true nature and behavior of the members of Moebius. And it does this through the presence of K. The moebius are in this game childlike to say the least. They are constantly pursuing the joy and ecstasy of the highest order. They do this through the pursual of their twisted desires, whether this is through slowly orchestrating the demise of their own colony, taking to the seas as a man of the sea, acting like the director of a stage play, being a wannabe tactician or in the case of K just the childlike pleasure of killing your foes. I also think that K has a few of the best one liners in the game.

“Hahahahaha! My dear boy... Your vaunted intuition... is shit!!!” or “It's the big bad boss. Boo!”

K also leads us to the first true battle with a Moebius and the first use of the second Moebius battle theme. And hoo boy this fight is truly a banger like for real I love each and every single moebius battle and the music that accompanies it. I thought about doing a ranking of my favorite battle themes from the game, but I’m going to be frank here EVERY. SINGLE. VARIATION. OF. THE. MOEBIUS. THEME. WOULD. WIN. I really like bombastic faux opera ok, God Shattering Star is one of my favorite boss themes sue me all right.

It also features the full awakening of the Kevesi Ouroboros and I have to say I really like each and every first transformation, the mindscape the foreshadowing through shards of fragmented memories and the unity of Keves and Agnus in what I now realize is foreshadowing of what happens when they combine for too long as the animation is pretty similar to the annihilation event we are shown in the first scene of the game. And now we move on to the next part.

Chapter 3: Saffronias

This chapter, at least to my opinion, is peak Taion. Like this is his chapter.

The aftermath of the battle is also pretty interesting in how it shows the difficulties of overcoming the programming and hatred of the soldiers and how they try to adapt to life outside of the flame clock system, while also showing through that one asshole Homs that some are not so willing to overcome their prejudices. And then we get the first hero quest and the introduction to the class system. I have my gripes with the class system like mentioned earlier but overall, I like how it is presented in the game and I also like how the full customization of the heroes is locked behind beating the game, due to the aforementioned reasons.

This is also the point where the game really begins opening up to the player and granting them the choice to begin on the abundant, to put it extremely lightly, side content of the game. And hoo boy is it meaty. We first get multiple colonies to liberate and heroes to recruit with every colony also having quest lines of varying length associated with them and every colony questline delving from a differing perspective into the question of “What now?” and I do love how this varies for each colony depending on their situation. 9 has issues with acquiring food and therefore eventually turns to the farming of spongy spuds, while also reorienting the entirety of Zeon’s character around them. Gamma goes on with Teach upholding his role as a mentor to his soldiers, 30 is finally free to pursue the special interests of its commander and goes full ham on the construction of Levnises. Etcetera etcetera. Another point I really like is how the presence of gray gives hints to the involvement of the city in the larger politics of Aionios, which the player might pick up upon, but could also easily miss. I’m going to talk about each hero when they first become available, skipping ethel due to her being locked off for a large part of the game.

So first off, we have Valdi I like the goober. Like some may have picked up from the earlier word choice I choose to interpret him as being at least somewhere on the spectrum and having a fascination with Levnises. But I like him and specifically how he grows to detest the use of Levnises as weapons of war, eventually becoming more pacifistic. The fact that gruff Lanz is also acting like a brother to him is extra fun and cute. His class is reasonably useful in the early game but sadly becomes overshadowed the further it goes.

Zeon. I like how he has difficulties with reconciling the fact that ouroboros abandoned the colony and how he tries to somehow accept their help. I also really like how his entire arc is about attempting to wrangle his colony unto the path forward, I remember the colony 9 storyline being one of the darker ones and really showing the difficulties of life without the support from the castles. It’s a shame then that I only really used his class to get topple on some characters due to it being the only source of master arts that make one able to topple until you get Cammuravi.

Teach his quest is fun in how it in a sense is the complete opposite of Zeon’s quest. Where the ouroboros were welcomed with hostility in 9, Gamma opens them with wide arms and Teach at first seems friendly. And then we get his maelstrom of power speech which I find truly fascinating, I like teach. He’s cool. And I especially like how he chose to be a teacher when granted the choice by G. Also, his class is extremely useful due to his ability to both remove debuffs and grant atk up to party members in the area.

As I am also discussing the available dlc, not Future Redeemed cause I haven’t got the time to do so even if I wanted to, I’m also going to talk about Ino. She’s really interesting in how she basically acts upon xc2 rules with her being an artificial blade and like Poppi a Nopon in a humanoid body, although she acts more like a stereotypical Nopon than Poppi ever did. But yeah, I like Ino I do however agree that her voice is a bit difficult to get used to and can be a bit grating the first time. But overall, I like her character and gimmick of having to collect ether to level her. Which is fun at least to me as it gives you a long-term goal to work towards. Her class is also really good in chain attacks to increase the damage.

Gray. I like him, he’s mysterious. I like his fatherlike bond with Eunie. I like the gameplay of his class, especially the positioning pro skill which oh god yes that is so fucking good, especially when combined with unsheathing lucky 7 because it shortens the rotation to get that to cooldown. But yeah, I like gray and how he leaves a bit of a mystery to the story while also hinting at the presence of lost numbers even more than Guernica and co. Also, he’s basically fucking Kakashi but with guns. His quest is also interesting and is the first hint at the larger significance of the mysterious items we later learn to be origin shards.

Seeing as this is where she first becomes available, I’m also going to talk about Alexandria. Mythrakid suspect number two here is interesting. I like how you can fight her early but have to wait until chapter 5 to truly have a fair chance to beat her hero quest. But yeah, hers is in a sense the most traditional liberation of a colony due to the fact that you actually have to fight your way to Iota and have to beat both dame Alex and E before actually talking with Alexandria and liberating the colony from the clock.

Whew that was a detour now back to the plot. The conversation at the foot of the Saffronia tree is the first insight we as players get into the mindset of Taion and the trauma he endured, besides from the fragmented memories shown in his fusion with Eunie. And I have to say that I really didn’t expect much from him when the game first released, he seemed to be the calm aloof tactical guy whose aloofness would be used for comedy more than would be interesting. But he really surprised me, especially the scene with him recognizing the fears that Eunie has and thinking of a way he is able to help her. And thus, leading to the beautiful tea scene and one of my favorite deep bonding conversations while beautiful music plays™ that are found all over the game.

Riku and Manana’s hero quest is interesting as it takes up almost the entirety of the Urayan caverns which I have to say are just kind of sad to look at, recognizing the ruins of a once great society now crumbled to nothing, due to years of war and thousands of years without maintenance. But going back to Riku and manana I like them. They’re both “common variety Nopon” although manana is way more common variety Nopon than Riku I feel like. But yeah, I like both of them. Especially the fact that they provide a different type of humor from the main Nopon of the past few games. And I admire how in certain parts manana tries to keep spirits high despite the circumstances. But yeah, they are good. I also really like the fact that they contextualize the food bonuses and gem crafting found in this game, xc1 gems are better sue me these are just worse aux cores, and their hero quest is wholesome goodness, with minor angst about R&M being unable to fight, nothing more to add.

The section of being pursued by the forces of lambda has an amazing atmosphere and I love the effect of the smoke appearing on the floor. I mean I get why we couldn’t have something like the poisoned sections from ps4 Spiderman, but this is still pretty good for the limitations. I also really fucking love the effect of the red moebius eyes cutting through the fog. Then we get to the battle with Lambda, and I have to say hats off to mister Ian Bouillion he’s pretty good and it is amazing that he plays both the seething hatred of the mud clone and the calm gentleness of the normal Isurd. But yeah, this battle is one of the larger spectacles in the game with you actually fighting the Ferronis itself which is if I’m correct only beaten by the battle with Zu Pharg in X in regards to the scale of a fight in this series. And yeah, this entire part rocks and the culmination with the awakening of the Agnian ouroboros is amazing. Seeing Taion & Eunie lift up from the water and cloning themselves, Sena taking the lead and Lanz & Sena tipping the entire colony and the Mio & Noah dodging all those attacks. I also love the aesthetics of these ouroboros and feel like I actually prefer their general aesthetic over that of the Kevesi ouroboros, to add to this Sena & Lanz is my favorite ouroboros design.

The J reveal is one of the more impactful reveals in the game and one that some maybe saw coming from a mile away. But I was fully taken by surprise by this reveal. It is, however, a great reveal. And adds a lot of drama to the mix with Joran’s death being the catalyst for Lanz’s growth he now has to face a version of Joran completely unlike whom he remembered. And just wow Despite this being mainly Taion’s chapter, and thus mainly Olivier Huband his time to shine, Jack Bardoe absolutely kills it as Lanz iirc.

And then we get to the ending scene of the chapter Noah and Mio sending off the mud husks that were killed by J. and I feel like many moments with the weight of life playing that it is a profound moment of just wonder and sadness.

Overall whereas chapters 1 and 2 are more introductory I feel like chapter 3 really gets the ball rolling with the main conflict and themes, but that’s just an opinion. So next up is.

Chapter 4: Life

This chapter is amazing and may just be my favorite chapter in the game, yes, I know end of 5 and beginning of 6 is amazing but I feel like I prefer chapter 4’s content as a package.

However, I must interrupt the journey deeper into the Pentelas region with a minor distraction to talk about Isurd. Isurd as a character is one of the less remarkable Heroes, I think he’s cool with his tactical behavior and his skills are just amazing to use. But his class is mostly a mainstay in large parts of my playthrough, I do however feel that he’s a at some times a bit unremarkable, I do however like his grown interest / obsession with hot springs in his ascension quest.

So, we begin with the jolly walk from the falls into Maktha with the conspicuously placed Umber Drague. I don’t know why it’s there, I have no explanation for why it’s there it’s just there to give the characters a convenient excuse to experience the time limit of their interlink, as an aside if you’re really desperate for an explanation but can also enjoy some comedy I’m just going to leave this https://archiveofourown.org/works/45594703 here cause its hilarious and y’all should read it.

Afterwards we move past the falls and into my favorite (aesthetically) area of the game, the Maktha Wildwood. In order to explain why I’m going to give an example using the last of us. There are two types of people who play the last of us. Those who enjoyed the series and want to try the game, those who like / dislike the game, and then there’s me who plays it to enjoy the overgrown modern city aesthetic. And that is why I love Maktha. This beautiful fusion paradoxical of the Bionis region with the highest density of plant growth animal wildlife and overall jungle vibes, mixed together with the lifeless desolated hellscape that is Morytha. I love this place from an aesthetic point of view. However, from a level design point of view, from the perspective of this layperson who has never touched level editing software and whose opinion is therefore factually wrong, it sucks and is too confusing. I prefer the level design found in the Fornis region over this entire region. Pentelas has just a few too many bottomless pits for my taste, same for the Keves castle region and upper Aetia.

The they/them person of royalty and holy they/them agnussy themselves Juniper is fucking based. I like their character a lot and think that it is interesting how their colony lived a low sustenance lifestyle and had some sort of survival of the fittest mentality. What makes it more interesting to me is how this all apparently planned out by U, which makes me feel like U may or may not have known Juniper in their original life and that U has somehow done this more often. I do like colony Tau though. It is a pretty cool colony, the Ferronis makes me think of Nopon. But yeah, I like it. It is cool, it’s a shame though that I almost never play as Juni or their class because it is slow, and I do not understand it due to my brain being a bit too smooth and preferring arts spammy builds. (/s)

The flute scene is one of the more beautiful scenes in the game and I feel like this entire chapter has loads of introspective conversation and speeches about you know life the meaning of it the value of it. The flute exchange scene is just one of many that I feel are extremely profound.

This is followed up by the duel with Cammuravi and Ethel while the fight in itself is one of the best this game has to offer, I feel like the story revolving it is even worthier of being one of the coolest and best character driven parts of the game. The fact that Cammuravi and ethel have this realization that they can make their own choices, that Cammuravi rips out his own eyeball in order to remain in control of his own actions. And then their shared murder suicide is just wow, it is a beautiful scene, being one of the most profound scenes in the game imo, being a beautiful scene that showcases the themes of the game pretty fucking well. And fuck dude. It’s just beautiful.

The following action scene with O&P is also pretty amazing. Mio’s sheer rage over the behavior of O&P, the following part wherein every member basically joins Mio in solidarity and the 6 of them all give O&P a piece of their thoughts and really just fucking go off on them. I love this scene. The action scene following this is also a beautifully choreographed scene where I really love the beautiful choreography. Especially that first uninterrupted scene, with the female ouroboros constantly assaulting O&P with the first notes of weight of life playing in the background is just so beautiful. The sheer power that exudes from O&P just seconds before the annihilation effect starts, and then Noah and Mio REMOVING A PIECE OF LAND USING LUCKY 7, just to get them away from the annihilation event. This revelation also sort of allows me to think a bit deeper about the nature of the ouroboros time limit. Cause I feel like this time limit can be explained simply by thinking through the effects of an annihilation event. So, like an annihilation event is simply a reaction similar to the idea of annihilation we can see in quantum mechanics. Matter and antimatter collide and vanish. So, like ouroboros and moebius grow from their core. So, I feel like their core is the fused state of the interlink. So, Noah and Mio, Eunie and Taion, Lanz and Sena, D&J etc. This core is an overlap between Agnian and Kevesi matter and sustains a construct, the sustaining of this construct takes energy, energy which would be needed to keep the core stable and an annihilation event at bay. But then it gets too much. The energy is expended, and then it gets too much. Which leads to it drawing in the fog and an annihilation event taking place. Or at least that’s how it feels like. I mean I do not know quantum mechanics, but I feel like this is a possible explanation for the time limit that I have thought way too much about.

The seeing off of Cammuravi and ethel is also beautiful which is great imo just another beautiful way of life performance.

Kevesi castle region is cool, I like the castle, too many bottomless pits, but yeah, I like it. Also, it contains my favorite hero in the game Ashera. I love her colony and her story. Hell in the one piece of fanfiction I’ve written as of today in this fandom is partially about Ashera, or at least contains her as a perspective, and I really like her character. Especially how her entire persona is a bit of a façade for the truly damaged soul that lives behind it, especially her fear of dying at her homecoming. Which wow, I’m also going to be frank she’s the main hero I’ve used throughout the game. Cause you know I am a sucker for the big damage numbers that she brings. But yeah, Ashera is one of my favorite characters and I really like her relationship with Eunie, I am not sure if I consider them a friend or relationship, but I just really like their relationship in general whether it be romantic or platonic. Also, like said earlier, I really just like her character and the references she makes to imo the best character from XC1. I really do hope that she’s a good sister to panacea outside of Aionios.

The castle infiltration is imo pretty cool, especially the getting in, the fighting through the soldiers and then. A second encounter with DJ. I like the second DJ fight, it feels cool. And I love how Eunie tries to overcome her own trauma and fears, or more specifically how she utilizes her trauma and fear and behavior that D expects from her as a weapon to make DJ underestimate her and how she eventually manages to overtake him. I really like this fight ok. Also, Mythrakid suspect number one is just a villain I love to hate.

I love the bait and switch of the annihilator seeming to be the climax of the chapter, but then pulling the rug from underneath you and then throwing you into a battle with the Kevesi Queen, best girl of the first game MELIA motherfucking ANTIQUA. And wow, just wow. I remembered being panicked and having a feeling of holy shit we’re fighting her now. Last year when I first played the game, keeping in mind that I expected there to be 10 chapters instead of 7, but now I can recognize it as the midpoint of the game and in that sense, I love the battle. And the music the fucking music. I remembered reading around release that people compared it to the music from souls and now having played the games and defeated gale in 5 attempts, I do have to say that yeah it fits. False queens are one of the most foreboding and intense battle themes in the game. This combined with the first in many revelations about the true nature of the cycle of life in Aionios is just wow. I love this game. But that’s it for this chapter and just like the ouroboros escaped the Castle I will now be escaping to.

Chapter 5: Eclipse

This chapter contains some of the most iconic moments that are found in this game imo. First off, we get the reveal of the city and the reactions that the party has to the “true nature of the world” or something like that. And wow the scene with the baby is just so moving it’s so cute and adorable, I love how Taion just fucking melts, and I like the comedy that comes from A Eunie’s afterward seeming obsession with babies and B knowing that Riku most likely got a bit lost in character during that scene, or he has never seen a Homs birth and Nopon births are even weirder than we can possibly imagine.

The city also can be a bit shadier I feel like than it at first seems to be. Cause I really feel like that’s important to take in mind. This is a society in which the fact of life is that procreation is expected and necessary, cause Shania’s whole deal is definitely an example of the shit that the city would likely put people through, or at least the people who live there put others through. Cause I feel like you know the city is but one place, and less populous than it was in its first incarnation. And as can be taken from the fact that everyone looks like a baseline human / homs implies that a lot of “breeding” has taken place to make everyone so homogenized. Especially because of the diversity that can be seen at the liberator base in FR.

Speaking of FR, we due to that have also the confirmation that the lady Masha, the second dlc hero, is descendent of the one and only ZEKE VON GENBU BRINGER OF CHAOS WIELDER OF THE PURPLE LIGHTNING DREAM SMASHER GRANTED TO HIM BY HIS BELOVED LIFE PARTNER AND COMPANION PANDORIA AND THEIR PET TURTERS. So yes, we can therefore sort of confirm that being a theater kid may or may not be genetically hereditary, in spite of how serious and borderline dour Linka can be, I haven’t completed every quest in FR yet shame on me indeed. But yeah, I like the gameplay and behavior of Masha she’s a very fun borderline ojousama archetype, which is one of my fav archetypes, who’s also skilled in her craft. Also, I really like using her class, and her model is just amazing just wow. Also, it hits a few of the archetypes that I like. But yeah, I enjoy her character a lot. And like said earlier I love playing her class because it can be a lot of broken fun, I mean not as broken as an l7 based flash fencer build, I used it I do not apologize. But still very fun.

Another hero I gained access to at this point was Monica, she gave me one of the final keys necessary to fully break the game. Smash as an art. Usable in chain attacks. After this I just managed to break the game.

But yeah, the Cadensia region it’s pretty cool, lots of water so yeah there’s that. We need a boat. Like stated earlier, I dislike the boat controls, but I do love the overhaul that this game has made to water based combat by actually allowing the player to fight while submerged in water. But yeah, the Cadensia region, being one of the largest single maps in the entire game is fucking enormous and imma be real I like it. It feels nicely balanced between the marshes of the great sword base and the large open Erythia sea with its many islands. Only real issue I have is that some islands are a pain to navigate, e.g., Daedal Isle. But overall Cadensia cool, also I like the upgraded ship theme, but the original ship theme is better.

I do enjoy the steps involved in getting to the Li Garte Prison Camp and I like that it is not as easy as 1 2 3 boom completed. Such as infiltrating the radar base and having to attain some more geological data.

While drifting, maybe at night and while being carried by the waves, one may encounter an island where one can see the mighty colony 15 stride across. I like the pirate theming of colony 15 it feels different from the other colonies, although this has to do with the dementia grandpa that’s T(riton). I like how this quest shows the playful and childlike nature of Moebius from the perspective of the one good consul who is so old that he has grown past his murderous and childlike glee and is now just looking for equals. And I really like how T chooses to aid Ouroboros despite them being natural enemies. I’m even more confused as to why Z allows him to still use his powers, although that’s likely explained by him making that so because it amuses him. Anyways I like t and I prefer his create your own op class mechanic over the complicated tiger tiger addiction inducing mess that is Poppi qtπ, even though I do have my own minor gripes with the skill upgrading system, more specifically the borderline ludicrous requirements to fully level every art and skill. I also, however, love the fact that Eunie has to ask permission to punch him and the fact that Noah grants it.

The other colony with an unusual moebius would be colony Mu, I do love the minor mystery revolving round the identity of the consul and where the flame clock is placed. Also, I love mu’s Ferronis design and how it harkens to Raijin, I think? But yeah, I like mu and Fiona’s class is also broken as fuck. Also, mu contains the best NPC Nico, who is the girl that I am referring to in this sentence yup that is her Nico, she’s cute. Or well one of the cuter characters in the game. Just like Fiona. I like how her entire story is revolved around both: oh god Irma’s the consul and oh god how will I deal with the fact that Irma is dead. Also, if I’ve read it right there are also some self worth issues involved? I’m going to be frank I don’t have a really good grasp on her character, I like her dynamic with Lanz however it Is very cute, just like her nicknames.

Also this is where the first side stories and ascension quests really start opening up, I think at least with the ascension quests, which I am going to cover, not going to deal with the ascension quests, because I only completed like 4 of them and I can quickly summarize my views on them I think.

Ethel: see Cammuravi.

Valdi: I remember thinking it was fun but am also somewhat confused as to why they didn’t make the completion of Dorin the ascension.

Zeon: Spongy spuds. That is all.

Teach: I like the reveal of his past as Oleg and it recontextualizes his speech about maelstroms of power.

Riku & Manana: Manana gets a better pot, I mainly remember it because you need to complete it for the 7 legendary Smithpon.

Gray: like how this quest shows more examples of dissent in the city, the role that gray plays in keeping the peace and his bond with his wife Rozana.

Alexandria: I like how this entire quest is about the secrets that Dame Alex has while also adding some complexity to the mix.

Ino: This quest Is just sheer Nopon hilarity, and I love the Xenoblade 2 callback, also as an aside I am highly disappointed that it wasn’t a red pollen orb. I was actively saddened by this, and this impacted my day very negatively.

Isurd: I like his quest also I feel it is interesting how the entire quest is basically Karōshi prevention. Dude needs some hot springs.

Juniper: I like how this quest deals with the manipulation of the consul of the colony. Also, I like Juniper. Hope Kite at least has the chance with them.

Ashera: Depression hidden behind a layer of suicidal aggression. One of the beset side quests for one of the best heroes imo.

Monica: That one dude is a Milf hunter, and I appreciate his dedication.

Masha: I like how this gives more insight into the somewhat more depressing lives of the lost numbers and their desire to be remembered or leave memories behind.

Fiona: This one deals with the secrets of Irma and how Fiona struggles to reconcile with them I like it.

Triton: dementia grandpa has dementia, it is not funny, it actually is kind of funny, but also just somewhat sad. However also “…Just one.”

Ghondor: this one’s ok, not much to it. I do like the Tirkins, I actually really like how this game tries to humanize the Tirkins way more.

Miyabi: cooking. It is fun. Nothing to add really. Oh yeah finding the ingredients is a pain if I remembered it correctly.

Cammuravi: this is not a quest, this is 4-5 cutscenes stitched together.

Segiri: I don’t remember too much from this one, but I am sad that you have to kill her sister.

But leaving those behind we get to the first side stories.

Eunie is an interesting inspection of the system of colony ranks and gives more insight into how much the system is rigged to kill the soldiers in Aionios and allow the Moebius to harvest their life. I also like how the game uses this quest to follow up on Eunie finding her own husk on the ruins of that battlefield, and also explains as to why that happened. But yeah, this one’s cool and I also like that it gives a part of the spotlight to Brolearis. What I don’t get however is why the spark is this required to fight X in origin. Like seriously why? That does not make any goddamn sense. Monolithsoft, I love the games that you develop but its choices like this which keep me up at night.

Lanz his side story is also excellent in that it allows him to deal with the demons of his past while also foreshadowing the clock fuckery that Y commits later I the game. I also feel like it is an excellent showcase of his character growth up until this point, with him realizing that there’s more to life than just fighting.

The Li Garte Prison Camp section and Ghondor. I do like this section and feel that it is interesting in how it uses frustrating and repetitive quests to keep the player in a constant state of numbness and boredom in order to simulate the experience of being imprisoned there. As for Ghondor I wonder could you call the quests surrounding the camp her hero quest by technicality because you get her after completing the quests. Idfk. But back to the topic I do like Ghondor. Yes, she’s a foul mouthed midget who could punch my lights out for saying that, but I do like her softer moments such as the fondness she has for her mother’s cooking and her friendship with sena and the way in which she forgives Shania. Yeah, she’s a little bastard, but I feel that her heart’s in the right place. Her class is ok, I don’t mind playing it, but I don’t agree with the talent art, due to me preferring spammy builds.

When it comes to the escape portion of the chapter, I do not think that I have words enough to describe just how perfect this entire piece is. The constant tension regarding M & N the mystery they present, the beautifully executed foreshadowing, the beautiful and amazing M remixes of the moebius themes, the beautiful choreography in one of the most impressive long takes I’ve seen in a game, and the sheer despair of the prison. The fact that the vocal song is used to display the sheer hopelessness of the situation and how almost everything Mio says takes on a double meaning when you realize that it is M speaking. The excruciatingly tearjerkingly beautiful tones of a life sent on blaring as M is coming home and the amazing voice acting from Harry McEntire. I cannot put into words just the sheer excellence of this sequence which once again brought tears to my eyes and left me distraught in ways I seldom experience. I have no funny jokes or quips here, just hats off to the sheer excellence of this section.

Chapter 6: Choices

I’ve also got nothing but praise for the beginning part of this chapter. The reveal of n’s past the fact that he destroyed the city to revive Mio, Future Redeemed makes it more complicated but sticking to the main game here, the turning of the tables, n’s breakdown, the battle against N, the unsheathing of lucky 7 leading to even more brokenness, the battle against the Agnian queen, the bait and switch with he city, Shania’s suicide, hopes rest the destruction of hope’s rest. Just wow I have so much good things to say about this part that I feel like I can’t even put it into words, so I’ll leave it to holy fuck this is impressive.

Captocorn peaks are ok in comparison to the peak of the other snow areas, Valak, Tantal, the black mountains Captocorn is ok, not excellent but ok. What I do like however is the hero quests that are found in this region. So, let’s talk about them.

First off let’s get going with Mio’s side story / the Miyabi fun hour. This infodumps the information that we could glance from the first Kevesi and Agnian ouroboros fusions, A Miyabi was once Mio’s friend, B Miyabi is dead. I also like the presence of Y in this quest and how the thing that beats him is the flutes. BECAUSE FLUTES RULE BABY, in this case at least. A thing that however confuses me is the fact that only at this point do they introduce the burst mechanic through a tutorial which is weird seeing as the player could have used burst way earlier in the game if they got Teach. But anyway, that’s besides the point, I also however like that this is another point I can add to the reincarnation cycle is imperfect agenda.

Cammuravi’s hero quest is somewhat interesting in how it is somewhat about the revival of Cammuravi and showcases the consequences of his resurrection. Also, him remembering Ethel, having his left eye damaged and still hurting from the self inflicted harm. Also, I really like his mantra and how he calms himself using it. Also, his fear of heights is extremely relatable.

But with those done I can now deal with the most complicated to access hero quest in the game which is of course Segiri’s inhumanity. While I do have to say that I love the fact that it is payoff from something that happened most likely 25 hours ago. But I do feel like however that the fact that it is so confusing to access is annoying, and dislike how it is so easy to miss this quest. Because of that This is the only, non postgame exclusive, hero quest I did in the postgame the first time around.

The entire Cloudkeep section is pretty good. I got emotional when drifting soul started playing, I was surprised by the fact that they actually had the balls to kill Nia so soon after she was reintroduced, I liked the final brawl with DJ, the first time we get to fight D and J separated, the conclusion to Joran’s tale and Lanz’s arc, the reveal / reminder that Nia’s a Flesh Eater blade and therefore unkillable except if her core’s damaged. While I do agree that the later parts of Xenoblade 3 are weaker than the earlier ones I still feel that this is as good as the earlier parts.

Chapter 7: Time Moves Again

The same can be said for chapter 7, except when it comes to the fetch quest, I fully agree that almost every part of the fetch quest is just not that great. Except, for the final part. Noah’s side story is an interesting look into Noah and Crys. What makes this side story so interesting is at least to me very interesting in how it approaches the fact that Crys became a moebius. What I find the most fascinating however is his disconnect from Moebius as a whole. Whereas most did it to venge on those who harmed them or to simply enjoy their new lease on life to the fullest, Crys choose to reincarnate because he wanted to meet Noah once again. And I love how in a sense Crys is just testing Noah to see if he’s right in his points. Or at least to hear his song once more. And I feel that that is interesting, especially with the implications that he’s so miserable in the cycle that he chooses to commit suicide either through self harm or by cop. Which is just wow. This is pretty interesting stuff.

And now the other side stories which I completed around this point of time. Taion’s side story is pretty good in how it follows up to the earlier mentions of Isurd wanting Taion to bury the watch of Nimue there. I also like how this shows how like colony Tau there can be nontraditional colonies even though this one’s only nontraditional due to the defunct flame clock. I also like how he uses his tactics to beat the moebius and I think that his choice not to reveal Nimue that he knew her at this point. Overall, a great side story.

And now we get to side story Sena Ghondor, sorry that was not a funny joke. But yeah, Sena’s side story is one of the shorter ones and one of the darkest I feel like in how it fully deals with the character of Shania her becoming S and the trauma that led to her becoming S. I think that Shania’s character truly is intriguing. Especially in how the emotional abuse committed by her mother leads to her breaking down and eventually betraying the city. I think that Shania truly is a fascinating character and I’m sad for her that she never really had anything that gave her even the remote possibility of a good upbringing, with a mother who’s like the nightmare tiger mom, Ghondor not having the best tact in trying to encourage her, and the fact that she gets brought back as a Moebius. This last part is truly depressing to me. The fact that Shania who joined the side of Moebius in order to have a chance to enter the eternal now as a soldier, to be able to have multiple shots at life, to be free from the shackles of expectation, becomes a creature imprisoned by even stricter constraints than her old life. I lowkey feel like her choice to assault the city was not one made to appease her new master Z, but one made because she knew that it would fail. What I’m implying here is then is that like multiple other characters in the story I feel like this is Shania attempting suicide by cop. And she succeeds. It also adds another point to my “the city is actually not such a great place” agenda which I will discuss later. Ultimately every single one of the side stories is interesting and fun in how it further explores the messed-up corners of the hellscape that calls itself Aionios.

The assault on Origin feels like, at least to me, a way better worked out version of what the assault on the life hold could have been, except in this case it is to destroy a place instead of defending it. But yeah, Origin is in a sense an even more over the top version of the Lifehold core. The aesthetic of the area the length, making it feel like a true journey to reach the core, and THE MUSIC. All combine to make origin at least to me the best final dungeon in this entire series. I will not elaborate on this further because I feel like I’ve already made my point as to why I feel this way.

The showdown with N in the prison of eternity is amazing. The removal of his Moebius title, the fact that one of the most beautiful battle themes is playing during this fight, the sheer beauty of Harry McEntire’s voice acting here and just wow. I fucking love this fight so much. The sheer beauty of it is just amazing. Really a shame that the chain attack theme interrupts it. Really wish we would’ve gotten that toggle, oh well.

The battles with X and Y are just there, I find it weird how you can just walk away from their dissolving corpses. They should’ve at least had a cutscene commemorating their defeat and death, or were they too inconsequential to receive one despite this being their final outing? I do not get it, these are the choices that befuddle me Monolith soft.

And now at the end I’m going to give some of my thoughts on Z and moebius. Maybe a hot take but Z is a great antagonist and the fact that they lack any depth and are uninteresting and shallow with their motivation and how they interact feels at least to me like a stroke of genius. Because they are not human, they do not have any motivations, they are just a blob of emotion, and what destroys them is not killing them but rather two moebius, two of his victims, creatures that are made as the fear of the unknown future manifest, choose to accept the unknown future and the unpredictability that it brings. And to be frank I love this. And just moebius in general what others may see as complaints I feel like are choices that have been made intentionally to showcase the sole facts of their existence. They are cruel, they only want to have fun, and they enjoy the fleeting pleasure of pursuing their ephemeral fun. Not planning for what comes ahead, just eternally living in the moment, unsustainably pursuing the pleasure of ending lives and the joy that comes with snuffing out flames. And that makes them, at least to me, just terrifying, at least when you think about it a bit. They are a group of man children who have been given near omnipotent powers by their demiurge leader, and all they do with it is torture and play with those they once may have considered as friends. Or to put it shortly “Absolute power corrupts Absolutely.” Also, as an aside I think that thematically they are a better demiurge than Zanza, might elaborate on this later down the line if I ever feel like it.

And now we get to the final battle. And in my opinion one of the most spectacular final bosses that this entire series has seen up until now. While yes alpha has an amazing fight, Lao Chimera is a brilliant horrifying design, Zanza, is iconic and the final duel with Malos at the end of Torna is just amazing with how it recontextualizes the chain attack mechanic. I do have to say that I prefer the showdown with Z. Their entire presence in the game Is just exquisite and amazing and I love how they don’t go down like a chump. Their fight is comparable to the final boss of p3 and like that boss I love it for how long it is. Because it makes achieving victory feel like a true test of both your skills and endurance while it also makes the fight more memorable. I love that when they are beaten in the first phase, they just become this abstract face and mess of emotions because that is cool and an interesting way to showcase their personification of fear, how they change their face to reflect facets of the protagonists, I love this fight. I, however, do agree that it is complete bullshit and that it is annoying that they can just one-shot you at certain times. Due to time constraints related to me writing this piece I eventually just used the bonus Exp I had accrued to boost myself by 10 levels and just gank them just to get done on time. It wasn’t that easy, but it still really alleviated the stress of the fight.

But that was Z the Omega to Alpha’s, uhm well Alpha. The end to this trilogy. And wow. I’m going to be frank here when I rewatched this entire ending section for the first time in a year just a few days ago I was just shocked at rewatching this beautiful piece. I love how Noah throws away lucky 7 figuratively declaring his intentions to never fight again, I love the reveal of that one picture, I cried when I saw Poppi emerge from the ether furnace, I feel like that was an ether furnace, and the beauty of where we belong. Which like many other things in this game is I feel like the best version in the entire series, in this case being the ending credits songs. Its just so hauntingly sad while also being so fucking heartwarming so filled with hope and so filled with sadness. I don’t have any words to fully describe the beauty of this ending. I just love it. God, I love this game.

And then the post credits scene comes along. Which is a great return to, and continuation of, the first cutscene and then the first hint that all will be alright. Which FR will eventually confirm. But that is not something we will discuss today. However now we will continue to.

Chapter EX: assorted thoughts.

As I’ve hopefully already made clear in this piece, I really fucking love this game. I have a few issues, but I still feel like it is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had while playing a game. I do also have a final headcanon and some small insights to make which I here now wish to share.

First off you may have noticed that I have avoided saying certain things relating to Z namely I feel like Z has no gender, which is due to a certain hypothesis I have let me explain. First off X Y and Z feel like mirrors to the trinity processor units. The idea here is that because Z was the first, they based themselves on data they could find and what was the architecture of origin based around: The Ontos core. Ontos was meant as the balance between Pneuma and Logos, therefore Ontos has no gender, thus I feel like if Z did indeed base themselves on Ontos that they would also not have any possible gender. Then in that same sense X and Y could be based on the idea that Ontos was meant as a mediator between Pneuma and Logos and thus they created X and Y two moebius that while not acting as the balance to, do feel like polar opposites, one seeming to be a young girl who enjoys fighting, the other being an older man who talks in almost Miltonian cadence and style. There’s also what the TV tropes page puts on their page which could, at least in my opinion, strengthen these parallels between the trinity processor and the true moebius, which I will quote here.

“Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The original three Moebius, being born from Origin itself, share similarities to the three Cores forming the Trinity Processor that powers the Conduit:

X is one to Pneuma, a.k.a. Mythra. The two of them have the personalities of Bratty Teenage Daughters, serve as a foil towards whoever they're working alongside, be it Rex or Shania, and of their trios, the two perform the most direct work in the frontlines, whereas the rest of their trio take more of a backseat.

Y is one to Logos, a.k.a. Malos. Both are incredibly hammy villains, rely on technology to get their jobs done for them, and cause the most direct damage to their respective worlds of Alrest and Aionios, especially when compared to the people they directly work for.

Z is one to Ontos, a.k.a. Alvis. Although Z isn't actually a god like Alvis is, they were both the central Cores of the devices that created them, have absolute control over their worlds without anyone but their closest subordinates realizing it, and often get people to work for them simply by having conversations with them.”

And now for some overall points about the game.

This game has some of the best combat in the series, only being surpassed by Future Redeemed which is also amazing but I also feel like simplifies the combat too much, I do prefer the bond points system to the soul points or level based unlocks of the main game.

This game’s Ost is just amazing. I have many songs I really enjoy but I feel like every song with the moebius leitmotif, not counting the moebius battle themes because those are on another level entirely, almost automatically becomes one of my favorites due to how creatively and just great each variation is. If I had to rank my 5* (*way more than 5) favorite songs they would prolly be 1: moebius battle (all variations) 2: all songs containing the Moebius leitmotif, 3: carrying the weight of life, 4: the false queens, and 5: Kevesi battle.

The eclipse homecoming is one of the most well executed scenes of pure fucking despair I’ve ever seen in a game.

The art style and world are just amazing, and it truly feels large, in a sense even larger than X at least to me, that game feels kind of small after obtaining a Skell.

The challenge mode is ok and while I haven’t played too much of the gauntlet mode, I do feel like it could be pretty fun.

Also, as a final aside I like the detail of filth and grime buildup on clothes which can both be erased through washing your clothes and through swimming in water, but I also like that certain regions have higher buildup of dust and resin and such. This is way too detailed for a game like this and I love it, I mean by this that this is an amount of detail that you normally don’t see in JRPGs.

And I feel like that’s all there is to say about Xenoblade 3, within the constraints of having written this in 3 days due to my own issues with managing my time and having to compromise on my original vision in which I would have attempted a 100% playthrough. But yeah, I hope that if you did read this entire almost 12000 words long piece you at least enjoyed it. This is the first time I’ve actually written such a piece, and also the longest piece I’ve ever written, and the first time I’m posting something on this platform. But I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this. Also, if I’m allowed a minor bit of shameless self promotion, I’ve also uploaded a fanfic today to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the game which you can find here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48958873. You don’t have to read it, but you could. Anyways thank you for reading and have a wonderful day.

#xenoblade 3 #xenoblade chronicles 3 #xenoblade chronicles

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